Welcome to Bangalore!!

Bangalore once used to be the pensioners paradise!! Not sure if you can say that anymore- but it certainly has a lot to offer for any kind of a Traveler. If there is one city in India that's paid a huge price to development and attract Global companies is Bangalore. No doubt- with the development we have seen some of the largest companies set-up their base in India that contributed to the upliftment of many people. We are now famous for IT Parks, Large Malls, World-Class Hospitals and proudly call our city the Silicon Valley of India!

With this new tag- it has attracted a large population from across India that moved in our city and now call themselves Bangalorean. Its a city that's truly Cosmopolitan and Thanks to the British that ruled us for over 150 years- we also have a huge Anglo-India population living here. With so many people coming from different cultures, regions and religions- they have also brought various markets, food streets offer various delicacies and shopping avenues that amazes any kind of Traveler!

Be it a vacation with family, Business Trip, Leisure or a medical trip for seeking treatments- Bangalore has a lot to offer and keep you occupied. 

History of Bangalore

Bangalore (previously Bendakaluru), as a city, was founded by Kempe Gowda I, who built a mud fort at the site in 1537. But the earliest evidence for the existence of a place called Bangalore dates back to c. 890.

Kempe Gowda I (1510–1570), Modern Bangalore was founded by a feudatory of the Vijayanagara Empire, who built a mud fort in the year 1537. Kempe Gowda also referred to the new town as his "gandu bhoomi" or "Land of Heroes".[6] Within Bangalore, the town was divided into petes or market. The town had two main streets: Chickkapete Streetran east-west and Doddapete Street ran north-south. Their intersection formed Doddapete square — the heart of then Bangalore. Kempe Gowda's successor, Kempe Gowda II, built temples, tanks including Kempapura and Karanjikere tanks and four watching towers that marked Bangalore's boundary.[7]

The four watchtowers built at the time in Bangalore are still seen today in the following places which are :

  • Lal Bagh Botanical Garden (The Garden was built by a famous Indian King named- Tipu Sultan)
  • Kempambudhi Tank
  • Ulsoor Lake
  • Mekhri Circle

It was captured by the Maratha chief Shahaji Bhosale, father of Shivaji, then working for the Adil Shahi sultans of Bijapurin 1638. During the siege of Bangalore, Shivaji's elder brother Sambhaji/Shambhuji was killed by Shahaji's rivals, led by the Ghorpade of Mudhol, for which Shivaji was to later exact revenge.

After conquering the Sultanate of Bijapur, the Mughals under the commandership of Khasim Khan, then arrived in Bangalore, which was then ruled by Shivaji's brother Veankoji/ Ekoji Bhonsale as a jagir (fief) of Bijapur in 1686; Vyankoji retreated further south.

The Mughals in turn sold Bangalore to the Kingdom of Mysore's ruler Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar in 1689 for three lakhs which he had originally negotiated with Venkoji / Ekoji Bhonsle. Bangalore was given as a personal Jahgir by the then Woedeyar King Immadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar to Haider Ali made in 1759. But by 1761 he had become a de facto Ruler and was proclaimed as the Saravadhikari (Regent) of the Kingdom.

When Hyder Ali died in 1782, his son Tipu Sultan deposed the weak Wodeyar, proclaimed himself Sultan. Under Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali the state progressed economically and trade flourished with many foreign nations through the ports of Mangalore. Several attempts by the British to capture Bangalore were repulsed by the Mysorean Army, most notably in 1768 when Hyder Ali forced Colonel Nicholson of the British Army to lift his siege of Bangalore. The French under Napoleon had promised to drive the British from India. Tipu successfully stalled the British in the first, second and third Anglo-Mysore Wars.

Bangalore fort was captured by the British armies under Lord Cornwallis on 21 March 1791 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War and formed a centre for British resistance against Tipu Sultan, being incorporated into the British Indian Empire after Tipu Sultan was defeated and killed in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799). A prominent role was played by the Madras Sappers in the capture of the Fort and subsequent development of the cantonment and the city. Bangalore is the permanent home of this Indian Army regiment since the mid-nineteenth century.

Upon the passing of Tipu Sultan, the Wodeyars returned to the throne of Mysore, and therefore Bangalore, although only as figureheads. Bengaluru remained part of British East India until Indian independence in August, 1947.

The 'Residency' of Mysore State was first established at Mysore in 1799 and later shifted to Bengaluru in the year 1804. It was abolished in the year 1843 only to be revived in 1881 at Bengaluru and finally to be closed down in 1947 with the departure of the British. 

The British troops which were first stationed at Srirangapatna after the fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799 were later shifted to the Civil and Military Station of Bangalore in 1809.

The salubrious climate of Bangalore attracted the ruling class and led to the establishment of the famous Military Cantonment, a city-state close to the old town of Bangalore. The area became not only a military base for the British but also a settlement for a large number of Europeans, Anglo-Indians and missionaries.

Bangalore Palace, built in 1887, was home to the rulers of Mysore

In Cantonment, the names of many of its streets are derived from military nomenclature — Artillery Road, Brigade Road, Infantry Road and Cavalry Road. The South Parade (now known as Mahatma Gandhi Road) was to the south of the Parade Ground. The Plaza theatre was constructed in the year 1936 on the South Parade and was used by the soldiers for viewing Hollywood movies. The British representative maintained a residence within the cantonment area and his quarters was called the Residency and hence the name Residency Road. Around 1883, three developments were added to the cantonment — Richmond Town, Benson Town and Cleveland Town.

The Cantonment has retained it distinct atmosphere through the years with large populations of Anglo-Indians and Tamils from the British era.