History

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.