You call it Bangalore or Bengaluru, the city is everyone’s favourite and is a polestar for varied cultures and languages. We know that in 2014, the city was renamed to Bengaluru from Bangalore. No, it is actually the other way around. It is not renamed but restored to its original name. Have you ever wondered about the original roots of this city? How Bangalore became Bengaluru and Vice versa? Come, let’s flip the pages of history to know why Bangalore renamed to Bengaluru.
Story of Bengaluru to Bangalore
The earliest hint to the name ‘Bengaluru’ was found in ninth-century. An inscription dating back to 890AD says that the city has a history of more than 1000 years. Exploring the pages of history we come to know that there is an epitaph written in old Kannada at Parvathi Nageshwar temple (Begur) referring a ‘Bengaluru war’ that happened in 890AD. So, this proves that the district was a part of Ganga Kingdom until 1024 C.E and that time it was called as ‘Bengaval-Ooru’ meaning the ‘city of guards’ in old Kannada.
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The chronicle of Bengaluru getting its name from the word ‘Benda-Kal-Ooru’ is a known story that dates back to 1120 AD. A story of Hoysala king Veera Ballala losing his way in the forest and an old lady offering him a shelter and some boiled beans for dinner. Then the king as a token of gratitude decides to construct a town for saving his life and calls it as Benda-Kal-Ooru (City of Boiled Beans). Later on in 1537, Kempegowda re-designs the town to give it an advanced look.
Bengaluru from Adil Shahi to British Rule
After Kempegowda, Bengaluru was ruled by Adil Shahi, Marathas, and thereafter it goes to Wodeyars of Mysore. It is said that the city was then handed over to Hyder Ali who was a Jagirdar (commander in chief) of Mysore province.
From Hyder Ali, the kingdom was passed to his son Tippu Sultan. Tippu ruled Bengaluru for some time before losing it to British in the ‘Third Anglo Mysore War’. Now, the city which was called as ‘Bengaluru’ became ‘Bangalore’ in the mouth of British and the same was written in all the official records. The reason is simple. It was difficult for British colonials to pronounce the name ‘Bengaluru’ and thus anglicised it to ‘Bangalore.’
Government of India restored the city’s Original name in 2014
On November 1st, 2014, the GOI restored the city’s original name and changed it to Bengaluru from Bangalore. This way, 3-4 other metro cities have also changed their names for the same reason. It is a great move and a right way to revitalize our respect for our national heritage and ancestry.
So, this is how Bengaluru became Bangalore and then restored to its original name. If you have anything to share about this topic then please contribute your words in the comments below.
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