It is believed that Bangalore has got its name from the words “Bendha KaaLu” which meant boiled beans in Kannada, the local language of Karnataka. The story reveals that King Veera Ballala of the Vijayanagara kingdom was once lost in a forest and happened to stumble upon a lonely cottage. An old woman that lived there could offer the starving king only boiled beans “Bendha kaaLu” and the place came to be known as “Bendha kaaLu ooru” (ooru in Kannada means a city). BendhakaaLooru later on came to be known as Bengalooru in Kannada. However, historical evidence shows that “Bengalooru” was recorded much before King Ballala's time in a 9th century temple inscription in the village of Begur.
The city was designed by Kempe Gowda in the year 1537. Kempe gowda was a hunter and hunting was his favourite past time. One day while he was hunting Kempe Gowda was surprised to see a hare chase his dog and thus named the place as "gandu bhoomi" which meant heroic place. Kempe Gowda I, who was in charge of Yelahanka, built a mud fort in 1537 and with the help of King Achutaraya, built the little towns of Balepet, Cottonpet and Chickpet, all inside the fort. In todays present day , these little areas serve as the major wholesale and commercial market places in the city. Kempe Gowda's son erected the four watch towers to mark the boundaries of Bangalore which are traceable even today and they stand almost in the heart of the present city.
In the year of 1638, Shahajirao Bhonsle, father of Shivaji, captured the city. In 1687, Aurangzeb's army captured Bangalore and sold it to the Wodeyars. The Wodeyars then built the famous Lal Bagh in 1759, one of Bangalore's most beautifully laid out gardens. Later Hyder Ali fortified the southern fort and made Bangalore an army town.
In the beginning of the 19th century, the General Post Office was opened and the Cantonment was established nine years later in 1809. In 1831 the British took over the administration of the Mysore Kingdom.
It was under the British influence that Bangalore bloomed with modern facilities like the railways, telegraph, postal and police departments. The first train was operational in 1859 and five years later in 1864, the lovely Cubbon Park was built by Sankey. Then in the end of the 20th century the Attara Kacheri and the Bangalore Palace was built.
In 1881, the British returned the city to the Wodeyars. Sir Mirza Ismail and Sir M Visveswaraya were the pioneers to help Bangalore attain its modern outlook.
From that time till now , the city has grown in magnitudes, emerging into what you see and know of today as “Bangalore”. Bangalore is India's fifth largest and the fastest growing city in Asia.
|