SNIPPETS:
Connecting Bangalore
Recorded history tells us that Bangalore was founded in 1537 AD by Kempegowda I, a Chieftain belonging to the Yelahanka Prabhu dynasty.

An excellent location
Probably Kempegowda—like many after him —recognised the region’s strategic and commercial value. The area was well protected by Savandurga towards the east, the little fortress of Huliyurdurga towards the west and the castle of Hutridurga (with its seven encircling walls) to the north. It was a central, secure location and it straddled overland trade routes.

A township begins to take shape
Kempegowda obtained permission from Achyuthadevaraya, emperor of Vijayanagar to develop a settlement in this area. In due course, permission was granted to build a mud fort. (The Vijayanagar rulers never allowed their vassals to build stone walls, for fear of their becoming comfortably entrenched and thereby a threat.)

Having selected the site for his new township, Kempegowda had the exact centre of the settlement identified. The land was first purified and consecrated by the royal priests. Then, in a simple ceremony that took place in what is now known as Doddapet Square, the foundations of modern Bangalore were laid. Four pairs of white bullocks were harnessed to four decorated ploughs. On the royal command, young men led the bullocks in four different directions, furrowing a path that prescribed the new township’s limits. 

Master plan: Gates and Gateways
The town was surrounded by an elliptical mud fort, which in turn was surrounded by a deep moat, spanned by drawbridges, and a thick, thorny soap nut hedge.

Entry to the town was through eight different gates, placed to correspond with the eight cardinal points. The principal gates were:  Yelahanka Gate to the north, Halasur Gate to the east, Anekal and Mysore Gates to the south, Agrahara, Sondekoppa and Kengeri Gates to the west and Bale Gate to the north-west.

The four furrowed paths became the main streets of the town. Today, they are familiar to us as Avenue Road and Chikpet Main Road, running east to west from Halasur Gate to Sondekoppa Gate and north to south from Yelahanka Gate to Anekal Gate.


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Kempegowda’s township stood in what we now consider ‘Old Bangalore’: the area that includes Balepete and Chikpet, to name just two pétés. The entire fort and its fortifications were demolished in the days of the British Commission, over a century ago, to allow for city expansion. Halasur Gate, behind the present Halasur Gate Police Station near Corporation Offices, was in existence till 1992.

Admirable urban planning
The settlement was divided into different sections or pétés. People were grouped according to caste or occupation, and lived in proximity to their place of work and worship.

The location of each pété was carefully planned. For instance, lime kilns (which gave off strong fumes) of Sunkalpete, were located on the fringes of the town.

Gates and Gateways once again
They say time and events run in a cyclical pattern…The Brigade Gateway enclave, in the Malleswaram-Rajajinagar area, is a gateway to Bangalore, located as it is on NH 7. And it shares some points of similarity with Kempegowda’s township: it enjoys a strategic location; is well-planned, well organised and self-contained, with different sections for different activities. And, coincidentally, it too has eight gates.

Pétés and their specialisation in Old Bangalore
Akkipete Anchepete Aralepete Balepete Chikkapete Doddapete Ganigarapete Huriopete Halasurpete Komatipete Kumbarapete Mamanavarthapete Mutyalapete Nagartapete Patnoolpet Ragipete Sunkalpete Taragupete	Rice market Postal communication Cotton market Bangle makers Gold and silver shops, Residential locality for wealthy merchants Jewellery and craft items in gold Oil pressers Yarn twisting General Trading Pottery Daily provisions Pearl trading, Cowherding Weaving Weaving Ragi market Limestone manufacture Grocery trading