BANGALORE
2000 years of Bangalore
Bangalore as a geographical entity has existed for
500 million years when the Deccan trap was formed. Our city is
on a highland that seperate the river valleys of the Dakshina
Pinakini and the Arkavati. The focus of this story is 2000 years
of Bangalore.
The region
in which Bangalore is now located was a part of the Stavahana
empire around 2000 year ago. Roman coins excavated in the
northern parts of our city attest the transoceanic contacts that
our ancestors had established. The region was later ruled
successively by the Gangas, the Cholas, the Hoysalas, and the
Vijayanagar kings.
Historically, the name Bengalooru occurs
for the first time on a 9th century stone inscription in Begur,
a village in south Bangalore taluk. (So the story of the 12th
century Hoysalla king Ballala II, while on a hunting expedition,
being pleased with an old woman’s offering him boiled beans, and
calling the place Benda Kalooru or town of boiled beans in here
honour is just a legend after all.) This Bangalore hamlet was
part of Gangavadi 96000, the numeral being a revenue –pin code
of those days.
The city of
Bangalore was founded by Kempegowda I, a Chief of the Yelahanka
province in the Vijaynagar empire.
Hale (old) Bengalooru at
Kodigehalli (near Hebbal) may have been the source of the new
city’s name. To build the city, the Vijayanagar emperor gave
grants of the revenue of twelve hoblis including Hale Bengalooru,
Varthur, Begur , Ulsoor, Jigani, Banavara and Talaghattapura, Kempegowda’s daughter-in-law sacrificed here
life to help build the fort. A temple in her memory was built at
Koramangala.
Kempegowda I
built the four watch towers and temples in Ulsoor, Basavanagudi,
Gavipura and near the fort.
The borders
of city were today’s K.G. Road, Cottonpet Road, City Market and
Cubbon Pet. The central bus station area was Dharamambudi lake
and Kantheerava stadium was sampangi lake. Different categories
of traders and artisians were allocated commercial areas like
Chikkapet, Balepet, Tharagupet. Today’s Avenue Road and Chikpet
Main Road were the principal streets.
In the next
two centuries, Bangalore was under the rule of the Bijapur
Sultans, the Marathas (Chatrapati Shivaji’s marriage took place
here!) and the Mughals.
In 1690, Mysore’s Chikkadevaraja
Wodeyar purchased Bangalore for 3 lakh pagodas from the Mughals.
In 1759, Hyder Ali fortified the town into a cantonment. A 16
acre Lal Bagh was laid by him.
After the
death of Tipu Sultan in 1799, the Mysore Wodeyars ruled the
region till 1947. Between 1831 and 1881, British Commissioners
were the direct rulers and Bangalore was their headquarters.
After
independence, Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State and
of the Greater Mysore State in 1996. As we all know, Bangalore
today is the science and technology capital of India, and one of
the world’s major IT centres.
