History of Bengaluru :
An inscription, dating back to 890 AD, shows Bangalore is over 1,000 years old.The district was part of the Ganga kingdom ruled from Gangavadi until 1024 and was known as 'Benga-val-oru', the City of Guards in old Kannada.In 1024 CE, the Chola Empire captured the city. Today, little evidence can be seen of this period. A small village in south Bangalore and one in Anantapur district bear the chola name but the residents are of native stock. The later Gangas often fought alongside the Chalukyas, Rastrakutas and the Hoysalas. In 1117 AD, the Hoysala king Veera Ballala II defeated the Cholas in the battle of Talakad which leading the downfall of the Chola empire.
History speaks that the 11th-century Hoysala king Veera Ballala II, while on a hunting expedition, lost his way in the forest. Tired and hungry, he met an old lady who offered him shelter for the night and served him boiled beans for dinner. The grateful king named the place "benda kaal-ooru" (literally, "town of boiled beans"), which was eventually called as "Bengaluru". There are also theories that the name has a floral origin and is derived from the tree Benga or "Ven-kai", also known as the Indian Kino Tree. The city as it is known today was named by Kempe Gowda I.
Kempe Gowda I(1510 - 1570), Modern Bangalore was founded by a feudatory of the Vijayanagara Empire, who built a mud fort in 1537. Kempe Gowda also referred to the new town as his "gandu bhoomi" or "Land of Heroes". Within the fort, the town was divided into petes (or market). The town had two main streets: Chickkapete Street ran east-west and Doddapete Street ran north-south. Their intersection formed Doddapete square the heart of then Bangalore. Kempe Gowda's successor, Kempe Gowda II, built temples, tanks including Kempapura and Karanjikere tanks and four watching towers that marked Bangalore's boundary.
The four watching towers built then in Bangalore are still seen today.
- in Lal Bagh
- near Kempambudhi tank
- near Ulsoor Lake
- near Mekhri Circle