Legend goes that King Veeraballa
of Vijayanagara once lost his way in forest. Hungry and tired, he
came upon a lone hut in the thick forest where he met an old
woman.When he asked for food, she gave him baked beans ('Benda
Kalu' in Kannada).The King found this humble meal taste better
than the richest fare.To commemorate this incident, he called the
place "Benda Kalu Ooru" (place of baked beans).
Bangalore today is getting popular though for a different variety
of Beans-JavaBeans.
Another
historical figure instrumental in shaping the city of Bangalore
is a feudal lord who called himself Kempe Gowda, and who served
under the Vijayanagara Kings. Hunting seemed to be a favourite
past time in those days. During one of his hunting bouts, Kempe
Gowda was surprised to see a hare chase his dog. Either his dog
was chicken hearted or the hare was lion hearted one does not
know, but the episode surely made an impression on the feudal
lord. He told himself this is a place surely for heroes and
heroics, and he referred to Bangalore from then onwards as
"gandu bhoomi" (heroic place). Kempe Gowda I, who was
in charge of Yelahanka, built a mud fort in 1537. With the help
of King Achutaraya, built the 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 watch towers to mark the
boundary of Bangalore. A hundred years later, Vijaynagar empire
fell, and in 1638, it was conquered by Mohammed Adil Shah, the
Sultan of Bijapur.
Pleased with the services of his trusted lieutenent Shahaji
Bhonsale, (father of the great Maratha king Shivaji), Adil Shah
gifted Bangalore to him. After 49 years of Maratha rule, the
moghuls 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.
The bracing climate of the region, the high ground nippiness
of its air and the sheer beauty of the landscape of the plateau
country never failed to fascinate the Britishers. Back
then, B'lore was nice, pretty and people called it home away from
home. The Britishers were not too sure of the Wodeyar's
entrpreuner abilities. So they ruled Bangalore directly. The
city's pleasant climate made it an ideal place to be in during
the hot Indian summers. 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.
Bangalore
has one of the highest percentage of land covered by gardens IN
INDIA. This gives it the title "The Garden City of
India". The Lalbagh is one Indian oldest botanical gardens.
It was built by Hyder Ali, the father of the very brave Tipu
Sultan(see previous sections.)
In 1909 Indian Institute of Science was established in Bangalore. With this started a very long association of science and research with Bangalore. The Indian Institute of Science is one of the premier research institutes in the world today. It was here that Sir. C.V. Raman founded his very famous 'Raman Effect', something that won him the Nobel Prize of physics. In the 1960's the Indian Government decided to set up many defence and space research institutes in Bangalore. Its climate and its distance from Pakistani jets were seen as a great advantage. A vast population of India's scientific man power was moved to Bangalore. Today, Bangalore is the head quarters of ISRO(Indian Space Research Organisation) and many other defence institutes that are responsible for India's formidable space and missile powress.
Ever since Texas Instruments, one of the leading chip company set up its development center in Bangalore in the late 80's, Bangalore has become the 'byte-basket' of India. It is home to some of the most high tech industries in India. Some of the major Computer Software companies in the world have chosen Bangalore to set up their offshore development centres. Bangalore has the highest number of registered computer companies in India. The many engineering colleges in Bangalore churn hundreds of computer engineers every year. The cosmopolitan culture and the pleasant climate(not any more) has easily been able to absorb talent from other parts of the country. Some of the major computer companies having development centres in Bangaore are:
and many more
Some of the major Indian IT companies are from Bangalore. These are:
and many more.
The late 80's and the early 90's saw Bangalore getting another
title. It became the pub capital of India. With a very strong
liquor lobby and cosmopolitan population, this was something
expected. Today Bangalore has some of the highest number of
liquor joints(which call themselves pubs) in India. They form an
excellent place for the city's many Software Professionals and
other people to catch up with friends and while away time.
