Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/78

 BANGALORE CITY AND CANTONMENT.

68

handsome

palace, of hewn stone, has been There are altogether eight churches of the different Christian sects, and many Hindu temples and Muhammadan mosques. Bangalore is the head-quarters of the Mysore Division of the Madras army, and contains separate barracks for artillery, cavalry, and infantry, as well as Sepoy lines. The Lai Bagh, about a mile east of the fort, is a beautiful pleasure garden, said to have been first laid out in the time of Haidar Ali. It is now under the charge of a European superintendent from Kew, and contains a rare collection of tropical and sub tropical plants. Irrigation is supplied from a neighbouring tank. Periodical flower and fruit shows are held, and the weekly gathering at the band stand attracts large numbers both of Europeans and natives. History Bangalore is not an ancient city, though it figures promi-

north

of the

town

a

recently built for the Maharaja.

.

—

nently as a place of military importance in the recent history of Mysore.

The

fort is said to

Kempe Cauda, the whose chief residence was at

have been founded in 1537 by

ancestor of a line of local chieftains

In 1638, Bangalore Magadi, with Savandrug as their hill fortress. was captured by Rand-ulla Khan, the general of the Adil Shdhf Prince of Bfjapur, the representative at that time of the

power

in the

Deccan (Dakshin).

The

first

Muhammadan

Bfjapur deputy-governor of

these southern conquests was the Maratha Shahjf, father of the

celebrated Sivajf.

The

fort

more

of Bangalore was included in the jdgir

This granted to Shahji, in order to attach him to the cause of Bijapur. jdgir descended to his degenerate son "Venkoji, or Ekojf, who preferred the security of his distant throne at Tanjore,. to the

and consented

Hindu Wadeyar of Mysore, who was then

to sell Bangalore

rising to power.

For a

few days the fort was occupied by Kasfm.Khan, the general of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, who finally surrendered it to the Mysore Raja for _;,^3o,ooo, the sum which had originally been agreed upon with Venkojf.

This transfer took place

in

1687.

Bangalore

is

not

again

men-

tioned in history until 1758, when the fort and surrounding District were conferred as a jdgir upon Haidar Ali, in consideration of his

Raja of Mysore against the Marathas. During Haidar Ali was conspiring against his Hindu master with varying success. Bangalore was always his military headIn 1761, the first year quarters, and a safe retreat in time of danger. of the fort, and enlargement commenced the of his independence, he his reign, During stone. and towers of walls existing the built and also during that of his son Tipu, though Seringapatam was the recognised capital, the palace inside the fort of Bangalore was often In 1791, in the course of what is known occupied by the royal harem. as the third Mysore war, Bangalore was besieged by the British army. military services to the

the period

when