One such town, which today,
is known for its special economic zone, is Nandagudi and its antiquity goes
back to hundreds of years even before there was a place or rather city called Bangalore or the village Benda
Kalaooru.
Nandagudi has been in the
news recently for the decision of the State Government to set up a SEZ there. Located
just 45 kilometres from Bangalore
in Hoskote taluk, the State Government proposed SEZ generated a lot of “heat
and dust” and political parties and NGOs jumped into the fray backing and
opposing the acquisition of land.
In the brouhaha over the
issue of land acquisition and displacement of farmers, what was forgotten was
that Nandagudi has a history dating back to the Nandas or the period when the
Maurya dynasty took shape.
Much like Nandigram in West Bengal , Nandagudi too saw farmers in the forefront of
the protests against the acquisition of the 31007 acres for the proposed SEZ and
a modern township.
Even as political parties
took sides and made hay, “scoring “brownie points over each other”, the history
of Nandagudi and its link with Kautilya or Chanakaya took back seat.
As the name itself suggests, Nandigudi
was more than two thousand years ago, a province of the Nandas who were overthrown
by Chandragupta to found the Maurya dynasty.
Chandragupta was helped in his
endeavour to build the first kingdom if India by Chanakya. This was
sometime in 321 BC and if we calculate the timeline, it would be more than 2334
years ago. So ,we can safely say that the antiquity of Nandagudi goes back even
years before this date.
Nandagudi, more than to thousand
three years ago, was the capital of Uttunga Bhuja who ruled over these areas. This
King traced his lineage to the Pandavas. He belonged to the kakatiya clan,
which says its ancestry is derived from Janamejaya, the King of Hastinapur.
Janamejaya was the son of
Parikshit and the grandson of Abhimanyu. He was followed on the Hastinapur
throne by Satanika and then by Kshemaka who was the last Puru King. He ruled for
50 years before he was killed by his commander Vishrava.
Kshemaka had two sons,
Vishnuvardhana and Uttunga Bhuja. Both of them came away from north India and settled
down in the south. While Vishnuvardhana made Dharmapuri the capital of his
kingdom, Uttunga choose Nandagudi.
Nandagudi then became the
capital of the Kingdom with four hundred or more villages. His son, Nanda,
improved Nandagudi and called it Nandagiri. One of his ministers was Dandasasi
Nayaka.
The Nandas are believed to
have invaded south India .
Three ancient Tamil poets, Mamulanar, Parankorranar and Attiraiyanar, write about
this invasion. They talk of how the Nava Nandas came to Kosar and Vadugar and
the defeat of their Tamil king of Mohur (Mohur in South
Arcot ).
Then, Nanda married a Chola
princess of Kanchi in Tamil Nadu. His son was Vijayapala, who was said to have governed
the province wisely. Over time, Nandigiri came to be known as Nandagudi. This
account of the place and its history is dated in history to about 400 AD or
nearly two thousand years ago.
Another legend, and this is
true, is associated with the nine Nanda princes. All of them were taken
prisoners by Uttunga Bhuja. These princes together were called the Nava Nandas.
They were releases , thanks to the intervention of Chanakya or Kautilya and they returned
to rule.
This account is contained in
the Sanskrit drama, Mudra Rakshasa or the Signet of the Minister by
Vishakadatta. The Mahavamsa, a Buddhist text. also corroborates this fact. It
says, “Nava Nanda (Nava bharato), tato asum”.
However, the name Nandagudi has
created confusion in the minds of historians and research scholars on the
origin of the place and the usurpation of Nanda Empire by Chandra Gupta as
dramatised in the Mudra Rakshasa and as contained in several pother Greek and
Indian accounts.
The Mysore Gazetteer states that the Rakateya family that ruled over Nandagudi had links to the Pandavas and that the line of the Kings of this province proceeds from Janamejaya, Satanika, Kshemaka and his two sons, Vijayarka and Somendra. It says the sons of Vijayaraka and Somendra called Vishnuvardhana and Uttunga Bhuja, left northIndia
and settled to the south of the Godavari .
The Mysore Gazetteer states that the Rakateya family that ruled over Nandagudi had links to the Pandavas and that the line of the Kings of this province proceeds from Janamejaya, Satanika, Kshemaka and his two sons, Vijayarka and Somendra. It says the sons of Vijayaraka and Somendra called Vishnuvardhana and Uttunga Bhuja, left north
When Nandagiri was built, it
was initially the place where the four castes of Hindus were located. Even
today, there are old buildings at Nandagudi which residents claim mark the site
of Patalipur, the erstwhile capital of Uttunga Bhuja.
What happened to the capital
of Uttunga. It is mystery that is waiting to be resolved. Perhaps, the Cholas
overran Nandagudi or the Gangas who had nearby Kolar as their capital. What we
are sure is that over a period of time, Nandagudi lost its importance and it
could never again regain the glory of earlier times.
Many other towns and cities
in and around Bangalore such as Bangalore itself, Anekal, Yelahanka, Magadi,
Manne (near Nelamangala), Chennapatna, Ramanagar, Sira, Kanakapura grew in
importance and relegated Nandagudi to the obscure town that it is today.
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