Amrit Mahal was originally bred by the Hallikar community traditionally known for cattle rearing and animal husbandry.^[4] During Chikka Devaraja Wadiyar's reign a department was created within his administration known as "Benne chavadi" literally "butter department" which maintained cows and bulls, branded (with his initial ದೇ /Dē/) and maintained for supplying butter and milk to the royal household. This was taken over by Hyder Ali and he renamed the administrative unit as "Amrit Mahal". The British took an interest in these cattle when Hyder Ali used them to move guns 100 miles in two days to Chelambram during the Battle of Porto Novo and when Tipu Sultan used them to march across south India in a month. They were then adopted for use in the army by the Duke of Wellington. After the defeat of Tipu Sultan, the British allowed them to be maintained by the Maharaja of Mysore but in thirteen years they were found to have regressed. In 1813, the pasture lands known as kaval or Kaaval (Kannada:ಕಾವಲ್) and the cattle were placed under a Captain Harvey of the Madras Commissariat for management of the breed. In 1842, a report stated that the English Army was served efficiently by 230 Mysore bullocks in Afghanistan. In 1860, Charles Trevelyan closed down this unit as being uneconomical but it was re-established in 1867 with the assistance of the Mysore Maharaja and by 1870 about 4000 cows and 100 bulls were under government care. The charge moved back to the Maharaja of Mysore in 1883.^[5][6]