Prior to the beginning of this course, I had a very shallow and vague understanding
of the history of Bangalore or for that matter, the history of South India as
such. However, after this brief, yet effective introduction to the history of
the Cantonment, I had a strong basis for further research into the same.
The various legends behind the name of the city meaning the “land of
boiled beans” was something I found rather fascinating as Kempegowda intrigued
by the rabbit chasing the dog, named this city as ‘ Veerabhoomi’, the city of
the brave. He then conducted a ground breaking ritual by ploughing the land
with four decorated white bulls, the focal point of which, was the present
day Avenue Road and Old Taluk Kacheri Road,
to demarcate the boundaries of the city, after which, this fort was
constructed and completed.
On further research, I came across an interesting legend regarding the
building of the Bangalore fort, which required a human sacrifice for its
successful completion. However, Kempegowda was against the idea of taking
someone else’s life for his own well being. Nevertheless, his daughter in law
selflessly gave up her life so as to be able to ensure the completion of this
mud fort, which later became the famous Bangalore fort.
The whole process of Hyder Ali, a common foot soldier, ultimately
ruling a kingdom as vast, raised a sense of curiosity regarding his whole
journey from a commoner to a mighty ruler and administrator. Tipu Sultan and
Hyder Ali’s as keen gardeners were hard for me to visualize as one does not
really think of such mighty warriors to be having interests as inconsequential
as gardening. Tipu Sultan’s son, due to which he was emotionally disturbed and
lost the war. It would be interesting to know about how this whole conspiracy
took place. The fact that Tipu Sultan would have won the Anglo Wars, had he
been supported by the French, which would have changed the entire history of
India as we know it, made me question how every single decision can alter our
present as well as our future, considerably. It is believed that the British
kidnapped
After the defeat of Tipu Sultan,
the Cosmopolitan lifestyle that came in with the British seemed very
extravagant and lavish. The entire Western culture had a great impact on the
architecture as well. Most of the stately bungalows, with well-groomed gardens
and “monkey tops”, reflected the garden culture and the extravagant British
lifestyle. The foliage of various species that they brought in raises the
question of how they managed to grow and cultivate species of plants that would
be unable to withstand the intolerable climate here. The British, trying to
settle down willingly married Indian women, to give birth to Anglo Indians. The idea of the British intermingling with
Indians and having a fluid identity by following multiple religions was
something that fascinated me, because such religious freedom The whole culture
of music, dance and partying is something that I would like to do further
research into.
Also the contrasting ideas, that co existed within the area of
Bangalore was rather interesting. The fact that the British influence created a
very liberal and relaxed environment within the city and a very conservative
and orthodox atmosphere outside of this area. These conflicting ideas,
manifested in the form of physical barriers, known as Petes. Their concept was
so stringent and orthodox that they restricted free movement of people from one
part of the city to the other. This was also evident as the Rex theatre within
the cantonment screened only English films, whereas the films in native
languages were screened only outside this area. Further investigation needs to
be made into the cause for this rift in a society as cosmopolitan as the one
that existed during that time.
Initially, I had always wondered about the extensive English influence
in Bangalore as most roads had very English names. It was only once I delved
deeper into the History of the Cantonment that I realized that the military
presence in names such as Brigade road, Artillery road and Infantry road was
reflected the significance that the military played in the establishment of the
Cantonment Area.
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