Seringapatam Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Seringapatam Town
(properly Snrangapattana Head-quarters of the taluk of the same name in Mysore District, Mysore, situated in 12 25' N. and 76 42' E., on an island in the Cauvery, ro miles north- east of Mysore city. The population fell from 12,553 in 1891 to 8,584 in 1901, chiefly owing to plague. The island on which the town stands is about 3 miles long and about i in breadth.
In the earliest ages Gautama Rishi is said to have had a hermi- tage here, and worshipped the god Ranganatha, whose temple is the principal building in the fort. The Gautama kshetra is a small island west of Seringapatam, where the river divides. Under two large boul- ders is the Rishi's cave, now closed up. In 894, during the reign of the Ganga kings, one Tirumalayya appears to have founded the temples of Ranganatha and Tirumala on the island, then overrun with jungle, and, enclosing them with a wall, called the place Sri-Rangapura. About 1117 the country on both sides of the Cauvery was bestowed by the Hoysala king on the reformer Ramanuja, who formed the ASHTAGRAMA or * eight townships ' there, appointing over them his own agents under the designation of Prabhus and Hebbars. In 1454 the Hebbar of Nagamangala, descended from one of these, obtained permission from the Vijayanagar king to erect a fort, and was appointed governor of the district, with the title of Danayak.
His descendants held it till 1495, when it passed into the direct possession of the Vijayanagar kings, who made it the seat of a viceroy known as the Sri Ranga Rayal. In 1 6 10 the Vijayanagar viceroy was ousted by the Raja of Mysore, who made Seringapatam his capital. It was besieged on a number of occasions, but without success, the enemy being either repulsed or bought off. The most memorable of these sieges were ; in 1638 by the Bijapur army ; in 1646 by Sivappa Naik of Bednur ; in 1697 by the Marathas; in 1732 by the Nawab of Arcot; in 1755 by the Subahdar of the Deccan ; and in 1757 and 1759 by the Marathas. Haidar took possession in 1761, and it was again besieged by the Marathas in 1771. In 1792 and 1799 took place the two sieges by the British, previous to which the fort had been greatly strengthened and extended. On the former occasion Tipu Sultan submitted to the terms imposed but in 1799 he prolonged resistance till the place was stormed, losing his life during the assault. By this victory Seringapatam became the property of the British, who leased it to Mysore for Rs. 50,000 a year. At the rendition in 1881 it was given up to Mysore, the Bangalore cantonment being taken over instead as an 'assigned tract.'
The historical interest of the place continues to attract many visitors, who view the site of the breach, the ramparts, the dungeons in which British prisoners were chained, and other parts in the fort itself. Out- side the fort, on the east, is the Darya Daulat, a pleasure garden, with a lavishly painted summer palace of Tipu Sultan's time, afterwards occupied by Colonel Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington). On the walls are elaborate panoramic paintings of the defeat of Colonel Baillie at Pollilore in 1780, Haidar and Tipu m processions, and numerous representations of Rajas and other notabilities.
Farther east is the suburb of Ganjam or Shahr Ganjam, to populate which Tipu forcibly deported 12,000 families from Sira. East again of this is the Gumbaz or mausoleum of Haidar and Tipu, situated in what was the Lai Bagh, another pleasure garden with a palace of which nothing now remains. The island is watered by a canal which is carried across the south branch of the river by an aqueduct constructed by Tipu. In 1804 the Wellesley Bridge was built across the eastern branch by the Diwan Purnaiya, and named after the Governor-General. It is an interesting specimen of native architecture, being supported on rough stone pillars let into the rock in the bed of the river.
Since 1882 the railway has run through Seringapatam, the fort walls being pierced in two places for it. Several new buildings for office purposes have been erected, with a new bathing ghat as a memorial to the late Maharaja. These, and various municipal improvements, have given the place a more prosperous look than it had worn since the removal of the British garrison in 1809. The municipality dates from 1871. The receipts and expenditure during the ten years ending 1901 averaged Rs. 11,000. In 1903-4 they were Rs. 8,400 and Rs. 14,600 respectively.
