Bangalore
Bangalore (/ˈbæŋɡəlɔːr, ˌbæŋɡəˈlɔːr/ BANG-gə-lor, -LOR), officially Bengaluru (Kannada pronunciation: [ˈbeŋgɐɭuːɾu] ⓘ), is the capital and largest city of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than 8 million and a metropolitan population of around 15 million, making it India's third most populous city and fourth most populous urban agglomeration. It is the most populous city and largest urban agglomeration in South India, and is the 27th largest city in the world.[11] Located on the Deccan Plateau, at a height of over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level, Bangalore has a pleasant climate throughout the year, with its parks and green spaces earning it the reputation of India's "Garden City".[12] Its elevation is the highest of India's major cities.[13]
This article is about the city in Karnataka, India. For other uses, see Bangalore (disambiguation).
Bangalore
1537
Vacant
741 km2 (286 sq mi)
8,005 km2 (3,091 sq mi)
920 m (3,020 ft)
8,443,675
11,000/km2 (30,000/sq mi)
10,456,000
Bangalorean, Bengalurinavaru, Bengalurean, Bengaluriga, Bangalori
KA:01-05, 41, 50-53, 57-61
The city's history dates back to around 890, as per the old Kannada stone inscription found at the Nageshwara Temple in Begur, Bangalore. In 1537, Kempé Gowdā, a feudal ruler under the Vijayanagara Empire, established a mud fort, considered the foundation of modern Bangalore and its oldest areas, or pétés, which still exist. After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, Kempe Gowda declared independence; in 1638, a large Adil Shahi Bijapur army defeated Kempe Gowda III, and Bangalore came under Shahaji Bhonsle as a jagir, which later became his capital. The Mughals later captured Bangalore and sold it to Maharaja Devaraja Wodeyar II of the Kingdom of Mysore.[14] When Haider Ali seized control of the kingdom, Bangalore's administration passed into his hands.
The city was captured by the British East India Company after victory in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799), which then returned administrative control of the city, along with the kingdom, to Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar III. The old city developed under the dominions of the maharaja. In 1809, the British shifted their cantonment to Bangalore, outside the old city, and a town grew up around it. Following India's independence in 1947, Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State, and remained the capital when the state was enlarged and unified in 1956 and renamed Karnataka in 1973. The two urban settlements of Bangalore, the town and the cantonment, which had developed as independent entities, merged into a single urban centre in 1949. The existing Kannada name, Bengalūru, was declared the city's official name in 2006.
Bangalore is considered to be one of the fastest-growing global major metropolises.[15][16] Recent estimates of the metro economy of its urban area has ranked Bangalore as one of the most productive metro areas of India.[17][18] The city is considered the pivot for high-technology-based heavy manufacturing industry, with numerous large multinational technology corporations setting up their headquarters there. It is home to many top-tier engineering and research institutions. Bangalore is known as the "Silicon Valley of India" because it is the nation's leading software exporter as well as a major semiconductor hub.[19] Several state-owned aerospace and defence organisations are in the city. The presence of numerous notable sporting arenas in Bangalore makes it one of the country's sporting hubs.
Etymology
Bangalore is an anglicised version of the city's Kannada name Bengalūru. It was the name of a village near Kodigehalli in Bangalore city today and was used by Kempe Gowda to name the city as Bangalore at the time of its foundation in 1537. The earliest reference to the name "Bengalūru" was found in a ninth-century Western Ganga dynasty stone inscription on a vīra gallu (Kannada: ವೀರಗಲ್ಲು; lit. 'hero stone', a rock edict extolling the virtues of a warrior). According to an Old Kannada inscription found in Begur, "Bengalūrū" was the place of a battle in 890 CE.[20][21]
It was also referred to as "Kalyānapura" or "Kalyānapuri" ("Auspicious City") and "Dēvarāyanagara" during the Vijayanagara times.[22]
An apocryphal story states that the twelfth-century Hoysala king Veera Ballala II, while on a hunting expedition, lost his way in the forest. Tired and hungry, he came across a poor old woman who served him boiled beans. The grateful king named the place "Benda-Kaal-uru" (literally, "town of boiled beans"), which eventually evolved into "Bengalūru".[20][23][24] Suryanath Kamath has put forward an explanation of a possible floral origin of the name as derived from benga, the Kannada term for Pterocarpus marsupium (also known as the Indian Kino Tree), a species of dry and moist deciduous trees that grows abundantly in the region.[25]
On 11 December 2005, the Government of Karnataka accepted a proposal by Jnanpith Award winner U. R. Ananthamurthy to rename Bangalore to Bengalūru.[26] On 27 September 2006, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) passed a resolution to implement the name change.[27] The government of Karnataka accepted the proposal and it was decided to officially implement the name change from 1 November 2006.[28][29] The Union government approved this request, along with name changes for 11 other Karnataka cities, in October 2014. Hence, Bangalore was renamed to "Bengaluru" on 1 November 2014.[30][31]
Media
The first printing press in Bangalore was established in 1840 in Kannada by the Wesleyan Christian Mission.[270] In 1859, the bi-weekly Bangalore Herald became the first English newspaper to be published in Bangalore, and in 1860, the Mysore Vrittanta Bodhini became the first Kannada newspaper to be circulated in Bangalore.[271][272] Vijaya Karnataka and The Times of India are the most widely circulated newspapers in Kannada and English, respectively, closely followed by the Prajavani and Deccan Herald – both owned by the Printers (Mysore) Limited, the largest print media house in Karnataka.[273][274] Other circulated newspapers include Vijayvani, Vishwavani, Kannadaprabha, Sanjevani, Bangalore Mirror, Udayavani, and local sites like Explocity that provide localised news updates.[275]
All India Radio, the Indian national state radio service, started broadcasting from its Bangalore station on 2 November 1955.[276] All broadcasts were AM until 2001, when Radio City became the first private channel in India to start transmitting FM radio from Bangalore;[277] a number of other FM channels have been initiated since.[278] The city probably has India's oldest amateur (ham) radio club – the Bangalore Amateur Radio Club (VU2ARC), established in 1959.[279]
Bangalore got its first television network when Doordarshan established a relay centre on 1 November 1981.[280] A production centre was established in the Doordarshan's Bangalore office in 1983, thereby allowing the introduction of a news program in Kannada on 19 November 1983.[281] Doordarshan also launched a Kannada satellite channel on 15 August 1991, now named DD Chandana.[281] Star TV was the first Bangalorean private satellite channel, starting in September 1991.[282] Direct To Home (DTH) services also became available in Bangalore from around 2007.[283]
The first Internet service provider in Bangalore was STPI, which started offering internet services in early 1990s.[284] This Internet service was, however, restricted to corporates until VSNL started offering dial-up internet services to the general public at the end of 1995.[285] Bangalore has the largest number of broadband Internet connections in India.[286]
Namma Wifi is a free municipal wireless network in Bangalore, the first free WiFi in India. It began operations on 24 January 2014. Service is available at M.G. Road, Brigade Road, and other locations. The service is operated by D-VoiS and is paid for by the Karnataka state government.[287] Bangalore was the first city in India to have access to 4G mobile internet services.[288]
