A Few Good Things

Why did the British soldiers move from Srirangapatna to Bangalore? 

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.

Mysore was hot and malaria infested. 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.

Why are the names of many streets in Bangalore derived from military nomenclature?

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.

How was British rule beneficial to Bangalore?

Bangalore saw rapid development under the British Commissioners. Infrastructure, Law & Order, Education under Missionaries, and Health Services were improved under the direct administration of the British. The Wodeyars were in full alignment with the British and there was finally peace in the region. The 1857 mutiny which was strong in N & Central India had no impact in Bangalore

Did you know that Bangalore was the first city in Asia to get Electric Street Lights?

Thanks to the Maharajas of Mysore for being visionaries and putting Mysore state in the forefront of the industrialisation, Bangalore was the first city in undivided India and even Asia to get electricity. Asia’s first hydel power station was set up at the foot of the Shivanasamudra falls. This was done primarily to supply power to Kolar Gold Fields. The power lines went through Bangalore and since there was excess power being generated it was used to light up the streets of Bangalore. On the evening of August 5, 1905, it had blazed to life at the flick of a switch by Sir John Hewett of the Viceroys’ Council – inspiring awe among the townsfolk, when the rest of India was lit up by oil lamps. Below is the photo of the street lamp that was lit that day. It still exists near the KR Market flyover.

Whats the history behind Cubbon park?

The old city built by Kempegowda and the new Cantonment built by the British for its officers and soldiers was quite a distance by walk / carriage. There was a lot of movement between these two places and hence it was decided to create a rest area for the people. Thus was born Cubbon park. The Cubbon Park has a history of over 100 years. It was established in the year 1870 by Sri John Meade, the then acting Commissioner of Mysore. The vast landscape of the park was conceived by Major General Richard Sankey, the then Chief Engineer of the State. As a mark of honor to Sri John Meade, the park was initially named as “Meade’s Park” and subsequently it was called the Cubbon Park.

Right next to the Cubbon Park is the St Marks Cathedral. It began as a garrison church in 1808 of the Madras Army of the East India Company. The foundation stone was laid in 1808, and construction was completed in 1812.The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1816. The church was expanded in 1901, and went through reconstruction in 1927 after the fire of 1923.

The great famine of 1876 – 1878

A severe famine hit the Bombay, Mysore and Madras presidencies. The death toll was alarming.The mortality in Mysore Presidency was appalling, reaching the terrible total of 1,250,000, one-fourth of the population of the province. More than 5 lakh bullocks, buffaloes, sheep and goats died alongside. Bangalore became a heaven for the huge influx of people who migrated for food and work from other parts of the state. These people were engaged in civil works and in turn were paid in grains. Around 20,000 migrants were employed for constructing the Bangalore Mysore railway line. New tanks were constructed and renovation and repair of old tanks were also taken up in a war footing manner.

How Bangalore weathered the great Plague of 1898

The most documented and dreaded outbreak in India was of bubonic plague (1896-1899) that spread terror across Bombay and Calcutta Presidencies, Mysore State, Dharwad and Hyderabad. There were 36,381 seizures in Bombay, 7,176 in Bangalore and around 36,459 in Dharwad. That wiped out almost 10 percent of Bengaluru’s population. Strict control was established, houses were marked, stations and trains were sanitised and Inoculation drives were started city wide. But people were scared to visit hospitals – on account of religious bias a Brahmin did not want to share a ward with a lower caste. People were scared of inoculation. The disease spread widely and caused havoc. Post the plague people were requested to move from the densely populated areas of the Petes to the newly created colonies of Malleswaram and Basavangudi. There was resistance. But the few who moved – their ancestors will thank them for their wise decision.

The Indian Institute of Science was set up in 1909, laying the foundation for Bangalore becoming the “Science Capital” of the country.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was conceived as a ́Research Institute ́ by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, in the final years of the 19th century. A long period of almost thirteen years was to elapse from the initial conception in 1896 to the birth of the institute on May 27, 1909. The people who made it happen include – its charismatic and generous founder J.N. Tata, Swami Vivekananda (whom J.N. Tata befriended on his famous voyage to the United States) the Maharaja of Mysore, Shri Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV and his mother then acting on his behalf, and Lord Curzon the Viceroy of India,

Swami Vivekananda and Tata met during a voyage to the US aboard the steamship SS Empress of India. Tata was on his way to test his bags of Indian soil for iron content in Germany. Swami Vivekananda discouraged this stating the European nations will not support this and discourage anything indigenous. He asked Tata to come up with a research institute in India itself, and train Indians for this. Originally the institute was to be setup in Bombay. The Noble prize winning scientist Ramsey was asked to tour India to find the best place conducive to research. He suggested Bangalore, but Tata favoured Bombay. Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. was taken as the model.  The Mysore government would, in the end, provide more than 371 acres of land for the institute, as well as grants to help set it up. This help from the Mysore government also ensured that the institute was situated in Bangalore.

Did you know that Mahatma Gandhi visited Bangalore many times. 

He visited the city five times between 1915 and 1940. An ailing Mahatma Gandhi stayed at Nandi Hills for 45 days in 1936 to recuperate from a spell of high blood pressure. The guest house atop Nadi Hills is still called Gandhi Bhawan.

Bangalore once had 141 lakes of which seven cannot be traced, seven are recognisable as small pools of water, 18 have been unauthorisedly occupied by slums and private parties, 14 have dried up and are leased out by the Government. In the area where there were once 28 lakes (in different locations, of course), the Bangalore Development Authority has distributed sites and built extensions. The remaining 67 lakes are in fairly advanced state of deterioration.

• The Siddikatte Lake has now become the bustling City Market
• Sampangi tank now houses the Kanteerava Sports Stadium
• Dharmambudhi is now the busy Kempe Gowda Bus Stand
• The Karanji tank is the Gandhi Bazar area
• Kempambudhi is now a sewerage collection tank
• Chennamma tank a burial ground
• Akkithimmanahalli tank is the Corporation Hockey Stadium
• Jakkarayanakere is also converted into a sports ground
• Miller Tank area houses the Guru Nanak Bhavan, schools, and several buildings.

It was only in 1894 that Bangalore city got clean protected water supply. Prior to this, unfiltered water was being supplied to Bangalore in the Karanjee system from a number of tanks viz., Dharmambudi, Sampangi, Ulsoor etc, supplemented by local wells and Kalyanis or Stepped Ponds. In the year 1894, the first protected water supply scheme “Chamarajendra Water Works” was started by Sir.K.Seshadri Iyer, the then Dewan of erstwhile Mysore province. The source of water was Hesarghatta lake on Arkavathi River.

In his travel account of 1800, Francis Buchanan refers to the greenery of Bangalore owing to its vegetable farms, coconut gardens, beetle leaf farms, and flower gardens. Today most of these gardens have given way to residential localities which have retained the old names such as Chikkanna Gardens, Tulasi Thota, Wilson Gardens, Yellappa Gardens, Sankamma Thota, Rudrappa Garden, Mavina Thota (Banashankari), Pillanna Gardens, Thengina Thotada Raste (Coconut Garden Road), Margosa Road, and Sampige Road.

Some more developments since 1840 

• The first printing-press in Bangalore was established in the year 1840. In 1859, Bangalore Herald became the first English bi-weekly newspaper to be published in Bangalore and in 1860, Mysore Vrittanta Bodhini became the first Kannada newspaper to be circulated in Bangalore
• Girls’ Education – Mysore state was one of the most progressive regions in pre-independent India. It was a pioneer in establishing modern systems of education; the London Mission was the first girls’ school in the state, established in Bangalore city in 1840.
• The Raj Bhavan (known as Residency earlier) was built by Sir Mark Cubbon (the Commissioner of Mysore territories of the British) in 1840-1842.
• At the east end of M G Road, what used to be known as Parade Grounds, lies the Holy Trinity Church, a Protestant church built in 1852 to accommodate the increasing English speaking congregation in the Cantonment area of Bangalore.
• 1864 Bangalore gets a train line – Bangalore mail starts running to Cantonment station, probably the first regular named train service in India.
• Attara Kacheri (literally means 18 government offices), located at the entrance to the Cubbon Park was built in 1864 A.D. It is a two storied stone structure in an intense red hue, with Corinthian (most ornate of the Roman architecture) columns in Gothic Style of architecture. The Public offices (Secretariat of the Government of Karnataka) were located here from 1868 AD to 1956 AD, which were later moved to the Vidhana Soudha. The building now accommodates the Karnataka High Court.

• Bangalore City Municipality established in 1862 when the city’s population was just over 1 Lac. The BCM’s revenue for the year 1862-63, according to the Karnataka Gazette, was Rs 21,981.
• St. Mary’s Basilica located in Shivajinagar, is the oldest church in the city, which dates back to 1685. It used to be a small chapel, which was rebuilt by Abbe Dubois, who came to Bangalore after Tipu Sultan was defeated at Srirangapatna. As it stands today, it was built between 1875 and 1882 at a total cost of Rs 30,000.
• St. Joseph’s College was founded in 1882 by the Fathers of the French Foreign Mission. The Foreign Missions Society of Paris bought a plot of land on St. John’s Hill and gradually made the transition to the location it occupies today.
• Whitefield established in 1882 – On the 27th April, 1882, His Highness, Chamaraja Wodeyar, the Maharaja of Mysore, granted 3,900 acres (16 km2) of land to the Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association, Mysore and Coorg (E&AI) for the establishment of agricultural Settlements at Whitefield (then Mysore state)
• The Central College, Bengaluru was started in 1886 by the British government to award University Degrees. It was renamed as the Bangalore University by the University Grants Commission on 10 July 1964
• In 1887, a British woman named Mrs. Bronson started a boarding house with 10 beds. As the popularity of the first hotel in the city grew, it began to expand. In 1912, the place changed hands, with Spencer’s buying it for a princely Rs.4,000. Decades later, in 1984, it was sold again, to the management of what is now the Taj West End

• Ramakrishna Math, Basavangudi –  Bangalore devotees requested to establish a permanent Centre of Ramakrishna Order in Bangalore. Upon their requests Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore came into existence in 1904 in a rented building. The foundation stone for the Ashram at Basavangudi was laid in 1906 by Swami Abhedananda. On 20 January 1909, the Ashram building was inaugurated. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi visited Bangalore in March 1911. She stayed at Ramakrishna Ashrama for 4 days and blessed the devotees
• Mysore Sandal soap has been manufactured since 1916 when Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the king of Mysore set up the Government Soap Factory in Bangalore. This was done to deal with the excess sandalwood reserves. It is the only soap in the world made from 100% pure sandalwood oil.
• Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR) founded in 1924 is an iconic landmark of Bangalore. The food served at MTR is a regular, wholesome Karnataka Brahmin food. During World War II, MTR found it difficult to make idlis since rice was in short supply. According to MTR, they experimented with semolina instead of rice and thus invented the very popular breakfast item of Rava idli. The other iconic restaurant Vidyarthi Bhavan was started in 1942. As the name suggested it was initially a mess for hostel students living in that area.

• K R Market was established in 1928. The location of the market is said to have been a water tank and then a battlefield in the 18th century during the Anglo-Mysore Wars.
• Nilgiri’s opened their first store on Brigade Road in Bangalore in 1939. The store continues to stand at that location till date. (Walmart opened its 1st store in 1962)

• HAL was established as Hindustan Aircraft in Bangalore in 1940 by Walchand Hirachand to produce military aircraft for the Royal Indian Air Force.
• 1942 Bangalore and World War II – Seaplane landing strip at Bellandur lake was created during World War II. The lake could accommodate six huge planes
• The Raman Research Institute was founded in 1948 by the Indian physicist and Nobel Laureate, Sir C V Raman, to continue his studies and basic research after he retired from the Indian Institute of Science. Sir C V Raman served as its director carrying on his personal research until his demise in 1970.
• The foundation of Jayanagar was laid in 1948. It was one of the first planned neighbourhoods in Bangalore and, at the time, the largest in Asia. Jayanagar was traditionally regarded as the southern end of Bangalore. The “South End Circle”, where six roads meet, and the historic Ashoka Pillar bear this fact.
• The Vidhana Soudha, completed in 1956. Kengal Hanumanthaiah is credited with the conception and construction.  The cost of construction at that time was just 1.75 Crore. Without a doubt it is the most impressive state legislature building in the country.

• Karnataka Milk Federation set up in 1965  – Biggest Dairy in Karnataka with 1.5 lakh liters per day (LLPD) liquid milk processing facility set up in Bangalore; in 2012 it reached a record level procurement of 50 LLPD. After Amul, it is the second largest milk cooperative in india.
• 1969 Chinnaswami Stadium  – The foundation stone of this stadium was laid in 1969 and construction work commenced in 1970. The stadium was first used for First-class cricket matches during the 1972–73 season. It earned Test status during the 1974–75 season when the West Indies toured India.The first Test played at this stadium was on 22–29 November 1974. Incidentally, this was the debut Test match for the West Indian batting giants Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge
• 1975 Dharmambudhi lake becomes Majestic – Kempe Gowda bus terminal (popularly known as ‘Majestic’ because of the theatre by the same name) was constructed in 1975
• 1974 City gets Cauvery water – To meet the growing needs of the city through new sources of water supply, State Government constituted an Expert Committee in 1958 that recommended tapping the perennial river Cauvery rather than any of the other three sources Arkavathi, Hemavathy or Shimsha. This recommendation was accepted by the Government in 1964 and administrative approval was accorded to the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme (CWSS) 1 st Stage Project. Work was started during 1969 and the supply of Cauvery water to Bangalore commenced from 24th January 1974.
• Electronics City was the brainchild of R.K. Baliga, the first Chairman and MD of Keonics, Karnataka Electronics. In 1978, Keonics established Electronics City on 332 acres of land in Konappana Agrahara and Doddathogur villages. About 120 companies have their offices there
• Wipro hires a few technocrats and engineers from IISC and starts Wipro Infotech, manufacturing IT products in 1980. Infosys was established by seven engineers in Pune, Maharashtra, India with an initial capital of $250 in 1981. In 1983, it relocated its office to Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
• Sampangi lake gave way to the Kanteerva Indoor Stadium in 1995, while the Koramangala lake became an apartment complex called the National Games Village in 1996.
• Bangalore International Airport opened in May 2008 as an alternative to increased congestion at HAL Airport. Named after Kempe Gowda I, the founder of Bangalore, Kempegowda International Airport became Karnataka’s first fully solar powered airport. Kempegowda Airport is the third-busiest airport by passenger traffic in the country. It handled around 33 million passengers in the calendar year 2018 with 658 aircraft movements a day. Its one of the most well designed airport in the world.

• Conceptualised in 1977, Namma Metro becomes the 1st operational Metro of S india in 2011. At its peak it was carrying 4.5 Lacs commuters every day with 50 trains.
• Bangalore becomes Bengaluru – On Oct 17th 2014, the union Ministry of Home Affairs approved, 8 years after the proposal was first presented, the changing of name of the city of Bangalore to Bengaluru. 11 other cities of the state of Karnataka also had their names changed. Following the approval the Karnataka State Government issued a notification making the name change officially effective from Nov 1st 2014

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In 1901 Bangalore had a population of over 1.5 Lacs and was ranked 14th in the country. In 2020 with population of over 12M Bangalore is ranked 3rd in importance after Mumbai & Delhi. The explosive growth has stretched the city to its limits but the cosmopolitan culture and safe environments continue to make Bangalore the #1 destination for job seekers. The garden city and pensioners paradise had indeed evolved into the brand conscious upmarket Silicon Valley of India. A city which we all love and are proud off.