History

An inscription stone found near Begur reveals that the district was part of the Ganga Dynasty until 1004 and was known as Benga-val-oru, the City of Guards in old Kannada. The Cholas of Tamil Nadu ruled over the city from 1015 to 1116. The district came under the rule of the Hoysala Empire until the establishment of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1336. Kempe Gowda I (1510 - 1570), chieftan of the town of Yalahanka, established the city of Bangalore as we know it today, under the Vijayanagara Empire.

After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, Bangalore’s rule changed hands several times. It was captured by the Maratha chief Shahaji Bhonsle prior to a Mughal invasion. In 1686, the Mughals, after conquering the Sultanate of Bijapur, invaded Bangalore. After capturing the city, the Mughals leased Bangalore to Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar in 1689. Haider Ali, Commander-in-Chief of the Mysore Army, proclaimed himself the de-facto ruler of Mysore in 1759. After his death, the kingdom passed on to his son Tipu Sultan, who renamed it the Sultanate of Khodadad. Bangalore was eventually incorporated into the British East Indian Empire, after Tipu Sultan was defeated and killed in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799).

Bangalore was hit by a plague epidemic in 1898. Telephone lines were laid to help coordinate anti-plague operations. Regulations for building new houses with proper sanitation facilities came into effect. A health officer was appointed in 1898. In 1906, Bangalore became the first city in Asia to have electricity, supplied by the hydroelectric plant situated in Shivanasamudra.

A former British military cantonment, Bangalore rapidly expanded after 1881. The names of many of its streets are derived from military nomenclature - Artillery Road, Brigade Road, Infantry Road and Cavalry Road. In 1883, Richmond Town, Benson Town and Cleveland Town were added to the cantonment. Basavanagudi and Malleshwaram were created during in the early 1900s. Kalasipalyam and Gandhinagar were created between 1921-1931. Kumara Park came into existence in 1947 and Jayanagar in 1948.

Bangalore was included in the dominion of Mysore State after Indian independence in August 1947. Mysore State was renamed Karnataka in 1950.

Geography

Bangalore is situated in the southeast of the South Indian state of Karnataka. A landlocked city, Bangalore is located in the heart of the Mysore Plateau (a region of the larger Deccan Plateau) at an average elevation of 920 m (3,000 feet). It is positioned at 12.97° N 77.56° E and covers an area of 2,190 km2 (1,360 mi2). Bangalore district borders with Kolar in the northeast, Tumkur in the northwest, Mandya in the southeast and Mysore and Tamil Nadu in the south. Bangalore has two unique topological terrains - North Bangalore taluk and the South Bangalore taluk. The North Bangalore taluk is a relatively more level plateau. Low lying areas in this taluk are marked by small water bodies. The Bangalore south taluk has an uneven landscape with intermingling hills and valleys.

The topology of Bangalore is flat, except for a ridge in the middle running NNE-SSW. The highest point in Bangalore, Doddabettahalli (962 meters), is on this ridge [6]. There are no major rivers running through the city. Bangalore has a handful of freshwater lakes and water tanks, the largest of which are Madivala tank, Hebbal lake, Ulsoor lake and Sankey tank. Groundwater occurs in silty to sandy layers of the alluvial sediments. The cheif source of recharge is seasonal rainfall.

Bangalore has a mature topography with hills such as the Nandi Hills located in the periphery of the city. The Peninsular Gneissic Complex (PGC) is the most dominant rock unit in the area and includes granites, gneisses and migmatites. The soils of Bangalore consist of red laterite and red fine loamy to clayey soils

Bangalore has not been affected by major seismic activity due it being located in a seismically stable zone (Zone II). Only mild tremours have been recorded in the city.