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
