Kempe Gowda, who was a chieftain of the Vijaynagar
Empire, founded the city of Bangalore four centuries
ago. The former name of the city was 'Bangluru'. Some
of the oldest Ganga inscriptions suggest that the village
of Bangaluru existed even before 10th century.
There is an interesting story that tells how Bangalore
got its name. It is believed that King Vuira Bhallal,
the 10th century Hoysala ruler, was separated from his
army while on a hunt. He met an old lady in the deep
green forest who served him with her meals. It was boiled
beans (benda kalu). When he came back and narrated his
experience to everybody, the word spread so wide that
villagers started addressing that place as Bendkaluru-
that meant village of ben kal (boiled beans). Today
the name has shortened to Bangalore.
Kempe Gowda also named Bangalore during hunting bouts
to one of its forest. During the hunt he saw a hare
chase his dog and was surprised. This incidence left
its marks on his mind. He felt something especially
heroic about this land and thus named it as, 'Gandu
Bhoomi' (heroic place).
Kempe Gowda I built a mud fort in this reign in 1537.
With the help of king Auchutarya, he built little towns
of Balepet, Cottonpet, and Chickpet, all inside the
fort. Today, these little areas serve as the major wholesale
and commercial market places in the city. Kempegowda,
the II built four watchtowers to mark the boundary of
Bangalore. A hundred years later, Vijaynagar Empire
fell, and in 1638, Mohammed Adil Shah, the Sultan of
Bijapur, conquered it.
After 49 years of Maratha rule, the Mughals captured
and passed it to the Wodeyars of Mysore for 3 lakh pagodas.
In 1759, Bangalore came into the possession of Hyder
Ali, father of Tippu Sultan. It was during these two
heroes, Bangalore flourished with parks, gardens and
palaces. When Tippu died, British restored Bangalore
back to the Mysore rulers, the Wodeyars, but were not
too sure of their entrpreuner abilities. So they ruled
Bangalore directly.
Under the British influence, Bangalore bloomed with
modern facilities like the railways, telegraphs, postal
and police departments. In 1881, the British returned
the city to the Wodeyars. Diwans like Mirza Ismail,
and sir Vishweshwarayya were the pioneers to help Bangalore
attain its modern outlook.
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