Lewin Bentham Bowring

“ Kiladi, now a petty village in the north-west of Mysore, was the homestead of two brothers who, about the year 1560, having found a treasure, and duly sacrificed a human victim, according to the barbarous practice of the time, received from the Rájá, of Vijayanagar a grant for the territory which their wealth enabled them to overrun. ”

“ Haidar, hearing of Khande Ráo's flight, attacked his troops, and gained an easy victory, capturing all his guns and baggage, while the infantry readily sided with the conqueror. For some months he was actively engaged in reducing all the forts below the passes which had come into possession of Khande Ráo. ”

“ During his rule the town increased rapidly, and became eventually of such importance as to merit the appellation of nagar, or city, the name which it still bears, while the possessions of the chief included not only the greater part of the Malnád, or hill region, but also the plain country below the passes extending to the western coast, now called Kánara. In fact the territory comprised nearly 10,000 square miles, while the Náyaks were at the beginning of the eighteenth century of greater importance than the Rájás of Mysore. ”

“ This was a central position in a difficult hilly country, surrounded by thick forests, whilst the Náyak fortified the town with strong outposts extending several miles, which made it, if not impregnable, at any rate sufficiently strong to defy all attacks by undisciplined troops. Horses were rarely found in the country, while no forage could be procured for them without great difficulty. ”

“ In the distracted times when the Vijayanagar dynasty was tottering towards its fall, Ikkeri was considered unsafe as a capital, so the chiefs headquarters were moved in 1640 by Sivappa Náyak to Bednúr, or Bidurúrú, i. ”