Bangalore

The Vidhana Soudha

The Karnataka High Court building in Bangalore

Bangalore is the capital city of the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka. Bangalore is India's third most populous city and fifth-most populous urban agglomeration. Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India because of its role as the nation's leading Information Technology (IT) exporter. Located at a height of over 3,000 feet (914.4 m) above sea level, Bangalore is known for its pleasant climate throughout the year.

A succession of South Indian dynasties, the Western Gangas, the Cholas, and the Hoysalas ruled the present region of Bangalore until in 1537 CE, Kempé Gowdā — a feudatory ruler under the Vijayanagara Empire — established a mud fort considered to be the foundation of modern Bangalore. Following transitory occupation by the Marāthās and Mughals, the city remained under the Mysore Kingdom. It later passed into the hands of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, and was captured by the British after victory in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799), who returned administrative control of the city to the Maharaja of Mysore. The old city developed in the dominions of the Maharaja of Mysore, and was made capital of the Princely State of Mysore, which existed as a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj. In 1809, the British shifted their cantonment to Bangalore, outside the old city, and a town grew up around it, which was governed as part of British India. Following India's independence in 1947, Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State, and remained capital when the new Indian state of Karnataka was formed in 1956. The two urban settlements of Bangalore – City and Cantonment – which had developed as independent entities merged into a single urban centre in 1949. The city was renamed Bengaluru in 2006.

Quotes

• Bangalore is known especially for its beautiful parks, wide avenues, busy bazaars, and pleasant climate. It’s a thousand meters above sea level and usually feels somewhat cooler than most South Indian cities, even in midsummer. Most of the city is rather modern, especially around Kumpegowda Circle and along Gandhi Nagar and Chickpet streets. In fact, it’s the second most westernized city in India, next to Mumbai, with a population of more than 4,000,000. But not far away is the old part of town around Sri Narsimharaja Road, and farther south is where you can get a feel for the earlier culture of the area. The streets there are narrow and winding, and the older temples and cottage industries and historical landmarks are also there.
  • Knapp Stephen, Spiritual India Handbook (2011)

• It was somewhere between the interview with the Indian entrepreneur who wanted to do my taxes from Bangalore and the one who wanted to write my software from Bangalore, and the one who wanted to read my x-rays from Bangalore, and the one who wanted to trace my lost luggage from Bangalore...I was realizing that, while I had been sleeping, while I had been off covering the 9/11 wars, I had missed something really fundamental in this globalization story. I had lost the thread, and I found it in Bangalore.
  • Thomas Friedman, "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century".

• Bangalore is a brand the world identifies India with. It is also the single biggest reason why India has become such a hot investment destination.
  • Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India. Union Budget 2005-2006, 12 Feb. 2006

The city's main activity is Information technology and information technology-enabled services. Being the leading contributor to India's IT industry, it has been dubbed the Silicon Valley of India.

• The city's main activity is Information technology and information technology-enabled services. Being the leading contributor to India's IT industry, it has been dubbed the Silicon Valley of India.
  • Rediff Business Desk, in India's hottest IT destinations]

• A recent study also revealed that the rupee millionaire club in Karnataka's capital is the largest in India.
  • Rediff Business Desk, in "India's hottest IT destinations".

• Bengaluru also boasts of having the largest number of households with an annual income of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) or more.
  • Rediff Business Desk, in "India's hottest IT destinations".