Bangalore (Bengalūru) (Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು; pronunciation: [\'beŋgəɭuːru] in Kannada and /\'bæŋgəlɔː(ɹ)/ in English) is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore has an estimated metropolitan population of 6.5 million (65 lakh), making it India\'s third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area.
Though historical references to the city predate 900, a written history
of continuous settlement exists only from 1537. In that year, Kempe Gowda I, whom many regard as the architect of modern Bangalore, built a mud fort in the city and established it as a province of the Vijayanagara Empire.
During the British Raj, Bangalore developed as a centre for colonial rule in South India. The establishment of the Bangalore Cantonment brought in large numbers of migrants from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and North India for developing and maintaining the infrastructure of the cantonment.[2]
After India gained independence in 1947, Bangalore evolved into a manufacturing hub for public sector heavy industries—particularly aerospace, telecommunications, machine tools, heavy equipment, space and defence. The establishment and success of software service firms in Bangalore after the liberalisation of India\'s economy has led to the growth of India\'s information technology industry. Bangalore is referred to as the Silicon Valley of India and accounts for 35 percent of India\'s software exports.[3]
Home to prestigious colleges and research institutions, the city has
the second-highest literacy rate among the metropolitan cities in the
nation. However, as a large and growing metropolis in the developing world, Bangalore continues to struggle with problems such as air pollution, traffic congestion, and crime.
On December 11, 2005, the Government of Karnataka announced that it had accepted the proposal by Jnanpith Award winner U. R. Ananthamurthy to rename Bangalore to its Kannada name, Bengaluru.[4] On September 27, 2006, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike
(BMP) passed a resolution to implement the proposed name change,
pending approvals from the Government of Karnataka and citizens of the
city.[5] On October 7, 2006, the Government of Karnataka accepted this resolution and decided to officially implement the name change on November 1, 2006.[6]
Etymology
The name Bangalore is an anglicised version of the city\'s name in the Kannada language, Bengaluru. The earliest reference to the name "Bengalooru" was found in a 9th-century Ganga Dynasty stone inscription on a "veera kallu" (literally, "hero stone" "veeram" is Tamil word meaning as courage, a rock edict extolling the virtues of a warrior). In this inscription found in Begur,
"Bengaluru" is referred to as a place in which a battle was fought in
890. It states that the place was part of the Ganga kingdom until 1004
and was known as "Bengaval-uru", the "City of Guards" in Old Kannada.[7] An article, published in The Hindu, states:[8]
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