The battleground that was Bangalore

Bangalore is one of the few cities in India that has never seen a war in over 250 years. The last time cannons boomed, swordsmen hacked at each other and bayonets used was in the final Anglo-Mysore war of 1799.

The British troops had overcome Mysore and several other towns before proceeding to Srirangapatna where Tipu died on May 4, 1799, defending his island capital. Since then, Bangalore has never seen any major battle.

This really appears rather strange as Bangalore was coveted by almost all dynasties and kingdoms right from the time of the Cholas.

The Cholas, who were basically a Tamilian dynasty, wrested Bangalore from the Western Gangas (350AD-1000AD) first and other local rulers before they were forced to ceded it sometime in the 12th century to the Hoysalas.

However, the name Bangalore is believed to have much earlier history than the advent of the Hoysalas. The earliest reference to the name of Bangalore is in a ninth century Ganga inscription, on a hero-stone (viragal) in Begur village, about 14 kms south west of Bangalore.

The inscription clearly mentions the name Bengaluru, and it also refers to a battle that was fought at that place. Historian Rao Bahadur R Narasimhachar, in his Mysore Archaeological Report,  (1914-15) dates the inscription to the 9th century A. D.

The Ganga rulers, Vishnugopa (410-430) and Madhava III Tandangala (430-469) and their eastern territories comprised modern Bangalore, Kolar and Tumkur districts. Bangalore then was known as  Benga-val-oru, or the City of Guards as it is known in Hale Kannada or old Kannada.

After the fall of the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas managed to subjugate the Gangas who had they had their provincial capital at Manne. Later, the Ganga Emperor Shripurusha (728-788) made Manne or Manyapura, today a small village in Bangalore district which even today has a few temples belonging to the period, as his capital.

Subsequently, Bangalore fell to the Rashtrakutras. When Indra IV (973–982 CE), the last Rashtrakuta Emperor committed Sallekhana or death by starvartion, Bangalore automatically came to the Gangas.  

In 1024 C.E, the Cholas captured Bangalore. Today, little evidence can be seen of this period except for a few temples in and around Bangalore. One such temple is that of Chokkanatha or Chokka Perumal Temple in Domlur, Bangalore. Located just off the Old Airport Roar, it was commissioned by the Cholas.

A small village in south Bangalore and another village in Ananthapur district in Andhra Pradesh bear the Chola name but the residents today mainly comprise natives.

In 1117 C.E, the Hoysala king Veera Ballala II defeated the Cholas in the battle of Talakad which lead to the downfall of the Chola empire and the Hoysalas gained Bangalore.

With the death of  Veera Ballala III (1291–1343), the Hoysalas disappeared from history and left the scene for the Vijayanagars to rue over large parts of  Karnataka, including Bangalore, Tamil Nadu  and Andhra Pradesh.    

Kempe Gowda I (1510–1570), who is fondly regarded as founder of modern Bengaluru was a feudatory of the Vijayanagars. He took the permission of the Vijayanagar Emperor, Achuta Deva Raya, to build a mud fort in 1537.

Kempe Gowda and his descendents ruled over Bangalore and surrounding areas till they were defeated by the mighty Adilshahis in 1638.

The Adil Shahis were led among others by Shahaji, the father of Chatrapathi Shivaji and the redoubtable Ranadulla Khan. However, during the siege of Bangalore, Shivaji's elder brother Shambaji was killed by Shahaji’s rivals, led by the Ghorpade of Mudhol, for which Shivaji was to later exact revenge.

Bangalore remained under the Bijapur Kingdom till 1686. It soon became the southern military headquarters of the Adil Shahis who appointed Shahaji as Governor.

Though Shahaji had little time for administration, he made Marathi one of the languages of the area and very soon Bangalore became the centre for Marathi and Marathi also became the official language displacing Kannada.

The Adil Shahis established a garrison in Bangalore and also set up training camps, military bases and  ammunition dumps. Shahaji soon appointed natives of Maharastra as officers and Pandits in his palace and office.

Shahaji had a palace enclosed within high walls in the petes. Maharashtrian officials soon occupied all major posts in the Adil Shahi durbar in Bangalore.

After Shahaji's death in 1664, his second wife’s son, Venkoji or Ekoji, became the Governor of Bangalore.  

It then fell to the Mughals who extinguished the house of the Adil Shahis under Emperor Aurangzeb in September 1687.

After conquering Bijapur, the Mughals under Khasim Khan, marched to Sira and then arrived in Bangalore, which was then being ruled by Shivaji's brother Vyankoji Bhonsale or Ekoji as a Jagir of Bijapur.

However, Vyankoji or Ekoji had no stomach for a fight. He failed to resolve problems of Bangalore. In 1675, he left to Thanjavur and settled there never to return to Bangalore. When Shivaji heard of this, he forced his half-brother to arrive at a compromise and cede part of Bangalore and surrounding areas to him. He marched into south Karnataka in 1677 and occupied his father's Jahagir, keeping to himself Kolar, Chikkaballapur, and Doddaballapur. He, however, gifted Bangalore as Choli-Bangdi (pin money) to Ekoji's wife, Deepabai.  

Once an agreement was reached on sharing of the revenue of his father’s Jagir (Bangalore), Shivaji chivalrously went back. Shivaji died in 1680 and the Mughals began pressing hard in the Deccan to defeat the Marathas.

Ekoji then tried to sell off Bangalore to Chikkadevaraya Wodeyar, for Rs. 3 lakh. Unfortunately for him, before the sale  materialised,  Sambaji's army from Ginji and Aurangazeb’s army from Golconda, marched towards Bangalore. The Mughal Commander, Khasim Khan, marched faster and captured Bangalore in 1687.

Thus, the Mughals occupied Bangalore. They held Bangalore for three years before leasing it to the Wodeyar King Chikkadevaraja in 1689.

The Mughals gave up Bangalore but formed a new province in 1687 A.D., with Sira as its capital. The new province composed of

of Basvapatna, Budihal, Sira, Penugonda, Doddaballapur, Hoskote and Kolar. The Mughals made the states of Harpanahalli, Kondarpi, Anegundi, Bednur, Chitradurga and Mysore as tributary states.

Bangalore remained under the Wodeyars till 1759, when its Commander-in-Chief, Hyder Ali, assumed de facto powers of the Mysore Kingdom. Most of the Mysore Kingdom, including Bangalore, came under the sphere of influence of Hyder.   

During the reign of Hyder and his son, Tipu, Bangalore saw a few battles but none as ferocious as the one on the third Anglo-Mysore 1791.

Hyder realised the importance of Bangalore militarily and he kept a fairly big army. He repulsed several attacks by the British on Bangalore, particularly, in 1768. The then British Colonel Nicholson of the British Army was forced to lift his siege of Bangalore.

The commander of the British forces, Lord Cornwallis, had to face the valorous and fearless fort or Quila Commander of Bangalore, Bahadur Khan, who gave a stiff fight to the British on March 21,  1791.

The scene of the battle was the area surrounding the Ulsoor Gate police station and Siddi Katte (City Market). The Madras Sappers played s vital role in breaching the fort.

This was the last major battle in Bangalore as Tipu demolished most of the fort after 1791 and the present fort was all that was standing during the final Anglo-Mysore war. Since then, Bangalore has become the permanent home of this regiment.

After this war, there was no other in Bangalore and its vicinity. The only other war like events that Bangalore faced was during the two world wars but that is a matter for another post. So till then, Good bye.

The lost capital of the Gangas

Just over a thousand years ago, the present day Bangalore was nothing but a thick forest. There was no mention of Bendakaluru or any pother place by the name. Yet, this place formed part of a once prosperous and bigger City that finds mention in ancient texts and copper plates of yore.

The Cholas knew about it and so did the Rashtrakutas. Both the Cholas and the Rashkrakutas tried their best to exterminate the city but to no avail. However, nature did to the city what several dynasties could not.

Today, the city is gone and in its place is a small sleepy village which still has some links to its once glorious past. All that remains are three temples that stand as mute sentinels at the very place where the once magnificent city of the Gangas flourished.

The Gangas as a dynasty have long been consigned to the pages of history. However, the buildings they built such as the temples of Talakad, the sculptures that they left behind like the Gomateshwara at Shravanabelogala still continue to tell their tale.

Unfortunately, apart from Talakad and Shravanabelogala, both people and historians seems to have forgotten the other monuments that the Gangas left behind. Infact, we seem to have entirely forgotten the small village of Manne in Nelamangala taluk of Bangalore rural district.

Manne, more than a thousand years ago, was a  thriving city. It was also the capital of the Gangas. The earlier Gangas had Talakad near Mysore as their capital. However, one of is powerful rulers, Sripurusha (725-778 AD), shifted his capital from Talakad to Manne.

Sripurusha killed the Pallava ruler Nandi Verma, the second, at Vilande in 731 in a war. He also wrote a book in Sanskrit on taming of wild elephants called Gajashasthra. He assumed the title Permanadi after killing the Pallava King.

Sripurusha assumed the title of Muttarasa. The Javali inscriptions says that Sripurusha ruled for 62 years. He married a Chalukya princess and was given the titles Rajakesari, Bhimakopa and Ranabhajana.

The Devarahalli inscription calls Sripurusha as Maharajadhiraja Paramamahesvara Bhatara. The Salem copper plates of  Sripurusha and a few other plates are very useful in reconstructing the history of medieval Kongu and Ganga emperors. He was a close ally of the Chalukya King Vikramaditya.  741 or 742

Sripurusha  established Manne as his capital, which today presents a desolate and pitiable sight. There are just three temples to showcase the Ganga architecture here. The other structures have long crumbled to the onslaught of modernization and official apathy.

What once was a bustling city is now a mere hamlet with a few thousand people. Apart from a welcome arch that proclaims Manne to have been the capital of the Gangas, there is no other written material in and around Manne to give more details of the once beautiful city to tourists and visitors.     

All that remains are a few inscriptions scattered about the village, testifying to the grandeur of the long gone days.

Manne was also called Manyapura. The main temple in the village or rather the chief temple of Manne is Mannemma. Interestingly, this deity is reckoned to be the sister of Annamma, who is the grama devathe of Bangalore. Apart from them, the other sisters are Madapuradamma,  Madhugiri Maramma, Kuralliyamma and  Dandina Sirada maramma.

Another ancient temple is that of  Kapileswara. This is believed to be 1200 years old. Though it is in ruins, it can still give you a feeling of awe. The life-sized Dwarapalakas at the temple, beautifully carved windows and pillars are all that remain of the grand temple that it was.

Apart from this temple, another interesting structure is the Sule Gudi or the temple constructed by a prostitute. This is a Jain Basadi. Inscriptions uncovered by B. L. Rice, an epigraphist and historian, ascribed this temple to a general in the Ganga Army named Srivijaya.

The inscription says Srivijaya built the Jina temple in Mauyanagara or Manyapura. It say Sripurusha granted his General the village of Kru-Vekkur. The priest of the temple was

apparently Prabhachandra, a disciple of Pushpanandi, the learned head of his gana or group.  Pushpandi, in turn, was one of the many disciples of Toranacharyya, who is described as the wisest man of this country.

Thee inscriptions, were engraved on plates and found at Manne itself. They were engraved by Virakarmmacharya, the Royal Engraver.  

Another fine structure is the Someshwara temple which  too is in ruins.

Others temples in the village are dedicated to Hanumanthraya swamy, Eswara, Maramma, Ganesha and Kukkalamma.

Sripurusha had a palace here and once Manne became the capital, it prospered. At that time, Bangalore perhaps was so small that it did not even merit a mention. The Bangalore we see today had not been formed.

Manne soon became the centre of  the Ganga trade and commerce. Sripurusha endowed Manne with some of the most beautiful temples, palaces, lakes, wells, and other structures, including a fort. None, of them survive today.

After Sripurusha, Manne slowly began losing its importance. The Gangas too began losing ground and towards the eleventh century, they were overwhelmed by the Cholas. Manne was their second capital after Kolar.

After the decline of the Cholas, Manne was an important city for the Rashtrakutas. Tamil records state that Mannekadakam or Manne was the headquarters of Rashtrakuta Governor Kambarasa.       

Manne is about 24 kilometres from Nelamangala. To reach the place, travel on the Tumkur road till you reach Budhihal. Take a right turn there and travel for about 16 kms till you reach an arch.

The arch proudly states that this is Manne, the capital of the Gangas.

Interestingly, Sripurusha’s wife, Kanchikabbe, ruled over Agali principality in Andhra Pradesh. Today, Agali is a small village in Ananthapur district. Inscriptions dated 748 AD confirm Kanchikabbe as the ruler of Agali.