History

The word Bangalore came from the Kannada word Bengaluru which means town of boiled beans. Bangalore, the Capital of the south Indian state of Karnataka is better known as Silicon Valley of India, a hub of most of the tech companies around the world. It is also known as the Pub City with the highest number of pubs in any Indian city and as Garden City for its year round blossoms and greenery.

The history of Bangalore  can be traced back to 1100 A.D. A popular belief recounts that in the 11th-century Veera Ballala II,  the Hoysala king was lost on a hunting expedition in a remote forest. While searching his way back, he met an old woman who served him boiled beans. The king named the place "benda kaal-ooru" means town of boiled beans which was eventually colloquialised to Bangalore

Modern Bangalore was founded by Kempe Gowda in 16th Century.  During the 17th Century it was ruled by the Marathas. The Mughals came in 1868 to wrest Bangalore from Shivaji's brother Vyankoji Bhonsale. Bangalore was then leased to ruler Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar, the ruler of Mysore Kingdom in 1689. In 1759, Haider Ali took over the Kingdom. Tipu Sultan, the son of Haider Ali inherited the kingdom from his father and proclaimed himself as sultan. After the defeat Tipu in the Fourth Anglo Mysore war by East India Company, the maharaja of Mysore took administrative control of the state from the British. The state capital was shifted to Bangalore in 1831. The growth and development of the city started when the British established the Cantonment in the Bangalore City area and built a railway line from Bangalore to Chennai in 1964.
It was the first city of India to get electricity from a Hydel power plant from Shivanasamudra, a place near Bangalore, built on the river Kaveri in 1906.
The Government of Karnataka officially changed the name of the city from Bangalore to Bengaluru from 1 November 2006.

Today’s Bangalore is the proud host of the Indian Aeronautical Research and Development driven by Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) and Space Research and Exploration by ISRO.

The flourishing IT industry in Bangalore started way back in 1985 when Texas Instrument set up a R&D center in Bangalore. Today most of companies around the world have their software development center in the city.

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Geography:

Bangalore is located in the heart of the Mysore Plateau at an average elevation of 920 m (3,000 feet). Bangalore covers an area of 741 sq; km with a population of 6,200,000 (World-gazetterr.com, 2007). It is the third most populated city in India after Mumbai and Delhi.

Some Facts and Figures:

Coordinates: : 12°58′00″N 77°34′00″E

Altitude: 920m
Area: 741 Sq. Km
Population: 62 Million

Annual Growth: 2.69%
Population Density:  8,367 /Km²
Literacy: 83%

Religion: Hindus 85.92%; Muslims 11.05%; Christians 2.96%; Sikhs 0.02%; Buddhists 0.11%
Rainfall: 3000mm
Highest Average Temp. : 36°C
Lowest Average temp. : 14°C
Economy: 100 Billion US $

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Climate:

The city is blessed with a  very pleasant climate, particularly as compared to other major Indian cities. Summers are mild (April-June) and winters are cool (October-February). In summer, the temperature varies between 36°C and 20°C while in winter it is between 27°C and 14°C. The city experiences south-western monsoon rains in the period between June and September. Statistics shows that most of the rains fall in the evening time. Though the city of Bangalore experiences a moderate weather throughout the year, the best time to visit is between October and February.


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