History of Bengaluru

There is an interesting history and pecularity in the city's nomenclature. Hearsay, the king of Vijayanagar Veer Ballala once went out to hunt and lost his way in the forest. He was tired,famished and thirsty. A woman served him Bend-Kalo which in Kannada language means the boiled bean. The king was so impressed that he named the place as'bende kalu ooru' which means the town of boiled beans.

It was Kempe Gowda, the feudal lord of Magadi tribe under Vijayanagar empire who actually designed and founded the city. He built a fort made of mud and also the little towns of Balepet, Cottonpet and Chickpet inside the fort founded the city Bandakalooru in the year 1537. Today these tiny areas have taken the shape of vibrant markets. However, the ancient inscriptions mention the existence of a village named 'Begur' around 10th century. In course of time, from Bandakalooru the name changed to Bangalooru or Bangalore because of British influence.

High Court BangaloreThe year 1638 witnessed the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire and was annexed by the Sultan of Bijapur, Mohammed Adil Shah. The city remained under the rule of the Sultans for the next sixty years. After that it was the turn of the Mughals who captured it for a short period and in 1687, the city was bought by King Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar of Mysore.

The year 1759 saw the change of power and the ruler was Hyder Ali who was given Bangalore as a jagir by Krishna Raja WodeyarII. The reign of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan led to the construction of several magnificient palaces, parks and gardens. After Tipu's death, the city was returned back to the Mysore rulers, the Wodeyars but due to their inefficiency, it was finally ruled by the British.

Bangalore TempleThe British rule gifted the garden city numerous facilities like telegraphs, postal, railways and police depatments. In 1881, it was handed over to the Wodeyars. The 19th century was marked by rapid growth of the city and it became the administrative center. In 1947 Mysore State was acceded to the Indian Union with Bangalore as its capital. Mysore State was renamed in 1973 and it became Karnataka.

People like Sir Mirza Ismail and Sir M Visveswaraya are given the credit for making Bangalore modern. Today, the city is the face of contemporary India and has asserted its presence as one of the fastest growing cities in the global map.