Bengaluru Pete - History

History

Even though historically Bengaluru is chronicled to the period of 900 AD, but with confirmed history of the Bengaluru Pete traced to 1537, when Kempe Gowda I (pictured), a Chieftain of the Vijayanagara Empire, widely held as the founder of modern Bangalore, built a mud fort and established the area around it as his province. He was the great grand son of Jaya Gowda who established the Yelahankanada Prabhu clan, in 1418 AD and whose principality was in Yelahanka, north of the present day Bangalore. Kempegowda I who showed remarkable qualities of leadership from his childhood had a grand vision to build a new city which was further fueled by his visits to Hampi (now a UNESCO heritage city) the then beautiful capital city of the Vijayanagar Empire. He persevered with his vision and got permission from the King Achutaraya, the ruler of the empire, to build a new city for himself. The King gifted 12 hoblis (revenue subdivisions) with an annual income of 30,000 varahas (gold coins) to his Chieftain Kempegowda to meet the expenses of his venture of building a new city.

Kempegowda moved from his ancestral land of Yelahanka to establish his new principality, having obtained support from King Achutaraya. One version for the site selection process for the Bengalore Pete is that during a hunting expedition along with his Advisor Gidde Gowda, he went westward of Yelahanka and reached a village called Shivasamudra (near Hesaraghatta) some 10 miles (16 km) from Yelahanka where, in a tranquil atmosphere under a tree, he visualized building of a suitable city with a fort, a cantonment, tanks (water reservoirs), temples and people of all trades and professions to live in it for his future capital. It is also said that an omen of an uncommon event of a hare chasing away a hunter dog at the place favoured selection of the place and a dream of goddess Lakshmi (Hindu Goddess of wealth) that prophesized good indications of the events to happen further sealed his decision on the place for his capital. Following this event, on an auspicious day in 1537 A.D., he conducted a ground breaking ritual and festivities by ploughing the land with four pairs of decorated white bulls in four directions, at the focal point of the junction of Doddapet and Chikkapet, the junction (Pictured) of the present day Avenue Road and Old Taluk Kacheri Road (OTC).

Thereafter, he constructed a mud fort (now in the western part of the city), with a moat surrounding it and which had nine large gates. Building of the mud fort is also steeped in a legend which is a tragic but heroic story. During the construction of the Fort it was said that the southern gate would fall off no sooner than it was built and human sacrifice was indicated to ward off the evil spirits. Kempe Gowda could not accept such a situation nor permit any such event to occur. But his daughter-in-law, Lakshamma, realising her father-in-Law's predicament, beheaded herself with a sword at the southern gate in the darkness of night. Thereafter, the fort was completed without any mishap. In her memory, Kempegowda built a temple in her name in Koramangala. Thus, Kemepgowda's dream fructified and the Bengaluru Pete evolved around the Mud fort called the Bangalore Fort. This mud fort (see infobox) was converted and enlarged into the present stone fort during Chikkadeva Raya Wodeyar's rule between 1673 AD – 1704 AD and Hyder Ali's rule, in 1761.

It has also been reported that Guru Nanak, the Sikh Guru, on his way back from Sri Lanka halted at Bangalore. Kempegowda met him and sought his blessings.Gurunak not only blessed Kempegowda but als told him to develop the place.

The Pete

The Pete as built by Kempegowda I had two main streets, namely the Chikkapete Street, which ran east–west, and the Doddapete Street, which ran north–south. Their intersection formed the Doddapete Square (present Avenue road), the heart of Bangalore. Halasoor, also called Ulsoor (east), Sondekoppa (west), Yelahanka (north), and Anekal (south) were the four gates erected at the cardinal directions. Five more gates were also built and these were named as Varthur, Sarjapur, Kanakanahalli, Kengeri and Yeshwantapura gates. Relating the Pete to the present landmarks of the city, the following are mentioned:

• The fort extends from 'Binny Mill' in the west to the Ulsoor Police Station in the east, and from the Anjaneya Temple (pictured) near Mysore Bank in the north to Prof. Shivashankar Circle (near Fort High School) in the south.
• The main street extends from Sunakkalpet Circle in the east to the Goodshed Road in the west and this stretch is now known as Old Taluk Kacheri Road.
• The main street of the Pete from Avenue Road (Doddapete Road) in the north to Krishna Rajendra (KR) Road in the south.

Temples and lakes were planned and residential layouts, or agraharas (residential area of Brahmins), around each temple were built during the rule of Kempegowda I, in and around the Pete, which along with the mud fort built by him, changed Bengaluru from a village to a centre of culture based on the Hindu religion. These developments were fashioned in the tradition of the Vijayanagara cities. The montage of bazaars, temple complexes and agraharams in and around the Pete got a further fillip during the rule of Kempegowda II, who built four cardinal towers setting limits for the growth of the Bengaluru pete. But the growth of Bengaluru has far outstripped these limits by several folds.

The visionary approach of the Kempe Gowdas, perceiving the needs of the growing population of the Pete, resulted in building a number of lakes/ponds (called 'Kere' in the Kannada language)and temples (some are pictured in the gallery) in and around the fort. Some of the notable ones are :

• The lakes in the inner circle are the Kempe Gowda Agrahara, Siddikatte, Sampangi, Dharmambudhi, Kempambudhi kere, and Karanji.
• The outer circle lakes were the Yediyur, Chennamma, Mavalli, Akki Thimmana halli, Jakkaraya kere. Most of the lakes have been encroached for the present urban needs
• The early temples built or improved were the Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, Nandi (Bull Temple) (Basavanna), Dodda Ganapathi, Karanji Anjaneya, Ulsoor Someswara, Koramangala Lakshmi, Mahakali, Veerabhadra, Vinayaka and Kalabhairava.

Pete expansion

With the decline of the rule of Kempegowdas' clan, the Maratha rule and culture followed for some time. In 1638, Pete was conquered by Bijapur Sultan who ruled for the next 50 years. The Mughals took over in 1687 and leased the town and the surrounding areas to Chikkadeva Raya Wodeyar of the Mysore Kingdom, in 1690 AD. Chikkadeva Raya Wodeyar (1673 AD –1704 AD) built an oval shaped fort south of the old mud fort and after his death in 1704 AD, the rule of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan ensued till Tippu's death at the hands of the British in 1790 AD. It was Hyder Ali who rebuilt the mud Fort in stones. During their reign, a palace called the Tippu's Palace was built at the South end of the fort and a Hindu temple for Lord Srinivasa was also built adjoining the Tippu Palace, which is called the "Kote Venkataramana Temple" or "Fort temple". At this stage, the old Pete had expanded to a circumference of 5 kilometres (3 mi) into a prosperous economy with well laid out streets and flourishing shops – of the Pete to the oval fort]. A beautiful botanical garden called the Lalbagh was also built in 1760 AD. The Pete became not only a commercial centre but also a military centre of strategic importance. The Pete initially developed as a pedestrian precinct with the public spaces evolving with bazaar streets, temple squares, lakes and maidans (open grounds). But, under Wodeyars' rule, during the British Raj, in the 19th century, public gardens developed along with the suburbs, adjoining the traditional Pete, in western planning concepts with wider roads. The streets were built in gridiron pattern and designed to cater to heavy vehicular traffic.

During the colonial rule the British expanded the Pete to include the cantonment to position their garrison, which was separated by an 11.5 kilometres (7 mi) wide strip of open land. The colonial city by coincidence decongested the old native city (Pete) and also provided much needed 'lung space'. Since then several developments, post independence (1947 till date), have led to the rapid growth of the city.