Bangalore

“ Around the English cantonment, more especially on the north side of it, is the modern town of Bangalore, containing about sixty or seventy thousand inhabitants, who are chiefly Tamulians, the descendants of those native camp-followers and adherents who accompanied the British forces from Madras and the plains of the Carnatic when they conquered and took possession of the land. There are likewise at Bangalore a goodly number of English and Irish pensioners, who have chosen rather to abide in India than come back to this country ”

“ Bangalore as a city is not at all compactly built together. The compounds round bungalows are really parks, and the roads are so wide and long that it takes hours to call on the nearest neighbour. R. had been stationed here some time, but his wife is a new arrival, so we found her engaged in making a round of first calls—the newcomer calls on the residents in India—seventeen in one day was her record I believe—possibly a Bangalore record—it would have killed any man. ”

“ Many are the beautiful roads stretching away from this parade-ground into the country, where are the picturesque dwelling-houses of civilians and officers, whose encircling gardens all the year round are in perpetual bloom—for Bangalore, though in a tropical region, has an Italian climate. The fortunate Europeans who are stationed there are not scorched up by the terrible heat under which their unlucky countrymen must swelter at Madras and in the southern plains ”

“ After changing at two junctions, and a tedious but eventless journey, Kipper and I arrived in Bangalore, and drove off in a dusty, shuttered gharry to 202 Infantry Lines, the abode of Mrs. de Castro.
Bangalore itself lies chiefly around a maidan or parade ground about a mile long, bordered with a ride and trees, and encircled and traversed by the principal roads in the station. Parallel to the maidan are the infantry lines; they lie behind what once were infantry barracks, and are now commissariat stores. ”

“ The church will greatly mistake her duty if, in her missionary labours in Hindustan, she neglects to raise up Hindus to go forth and conquer the land in the name of the Lord of Hosts.
The town of Bangalore is distinct from the fort, and contains 100,000 inhabitants. Of these, 60,000 inhabit the pettah, and 40,000, chiefly Tamil people, live in a separate quarter, and are mainly supported by trafficking with the troops. The inhabitants of the pettah, or walled town, are purely Canarese, with a language distinct from the Tamil, though allied to it, the language of the ancient realm of Canara. ”

“ The country around is well cultivated. Much of it is devoted to gardening, as Bangalore supplies not only its own population, but that also of the metropolis, with potatoes and vegetables, as well as wheat. ”

“ Bangalore ́, a town of Hindustan, capital of Mysore, and giving its name to a considerable district in the east of Mysore State. The town stands on a healthy plateau 3000 feet above sea-level, has a total area of nearly 14 sq. miles, and is one of the pleasantest British stations in India. In the old town stands the fort, reconstructed by Hyder Ali in 1761, and taken by Lord Cornwallis in 1791. Under English administration the town has greatly prospered in recent times. There are manufactures of silks, cotton cloth, carpets, gold and silver lace, &c. ”

“ We live here under a native name, for part of the year, and in the hot weather we go into camp out in Mysore, or to Bangalore, where I have a large house, near the Fort. Time, and money, have blunted the raw edge of my misery; I have my luxuries, shooting, horses, motors, yes! the rupees are a wonderful balm. I take a keen interest in native and European life, and am acquainted with many matters that are hidden from my countrymen, and I pull various strings for my country's good. I have had my eye on you, Geoffrey, my namesake. ”

“ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Bangalore has not been left without some to make known to its people the way of life. Both the London and the Wesleyan Missionary Societies have stations here, and are doing a good work; although their success has not been so marked as that of missionaries in some other parts of India. They maintain labours in three languages: in English, for the benefit of the English troops here stationed; in Tamil, for the thousands in the bazaar or outer town, who speak that language ”

“ Many thousands of natives went out several miles to meet the regiment on the morning it was expected to reach Bangalore, and their enthusiasm knew no bounds when they beheld the stature of the men, their kilts, their plaids, and plumes. At last, as the regiment approached the cantonment, the pipers struck up, and this so enchanted the natives that they were absolutely beside themselves with delight. The regiment was halted as soon as it was known that the General and staff, with all the élite of the station and a great number of fair equestrians, were coming out to greet them. ”

“ The rajah, though not led to question the ability of these liars to bear his sins, was filled with rage at their effrontery, and drove them from his court.
For the three millions of inhabitants of the Mysore there is but one European missionary, beside those stationed in the city of Bangalore. Need we then wonder that, though Christ has been preached in the capital, the way of salvation is so little known and heathen idolatry so strong? Yet the whole country is completely accessible, and residence perfectly safe in any of its towns or villages. ”

“ Sometimes a man in Bangalore would be moved to song, and a man on the Bombay side would answer him, and a man in Bengal would echo back, till at last we would all be crowing together like cocks before daybreak, when it is too dark to see your fellow. ”

“ The wedding was to take place on December 20. Valentine was very eager to witness the wedding. But U.G. prevented her. He told her: "It's hard to arrange for your stay in a remote village. The couple will come to Bangalore on the third day after the wedding. You can see them then."
When Suguna and I arrived in Bangalore on December 24, Kumar met us at the doorway. "U.G. is at Brahmachariji's ashram. He told me to tell you to come there tonight even if you are late," Kumar said. We instantly hired a taxi and drove to the ashram, which was about 20 kilometers away from Bangalore. ”

“ Bangalore, up country in the Madras Presidency, was the allotted station of the 30th Light. The regiment had barely settled down in the upland cantonment, when tidings came south of the mutiny of Bengal native troops on the parade-ground of16 Berhampore. ”

“ He will not show his handsome face amongst us again, that you may rely on; and if he takes my advice, he will get himself moved out of Bangalore as soon as practicable." And thus the matter ended; the Colonel lost his money, Mr. —— his character.
[Pg 108]
'About this time, or shortly after, it became known that a Highland regiment was to pass through Bangalore en route to Hyderabad—I should say Secunderabad, as the cantonment is called—situated about three miles from the native city, Hyderabad. The natives, who had heard highly-laudatory accounts of the Highlanders, were greatly excited. ”

“ Channapatna.—This is the third station south of Bangalore. It is just the place for an artist to come to to paint, and a mere step from Bombay. There's a Dak bungalow where he could put up, a charming place in a compound, with a servant in attendance. He'd just have to pack his sticks, take a second or third-class ticket on say the Massagerie—for an artist to be honest must be frugal—pick up a Boy in Bombay at twenty to thirty rupees a month, and once out here there's little to spend money on but the bare cost of living. ”

“ It has an area of 13 sq. m., and had in 1901 a population of 89,599, showing a decrease of 10% in the decade, due to plague. Bangalore is the headquarters of a military district, its elevation rendering it healthy for British troops, with accommodation for a strong force of all arms and an arsenal in the old fort. It is the headquarters of a brigade in the 9th division of the Indian army. A considerable number of European pensioners reside here. There is a modern palace for the maharaja. There is an aided Roman Catholic college, besides many schools for Europeans. ”

“ No officers sick, no children—I mean European children—sick or well, in the cantonment, and no lady, except Mrs. G., who had but lately been married, and was in perfect health. But the F. Rocks was a single station, and if any accident occurred, or sudden sickness broke out, no medical officer was to be had nearer than Bangalore. For at this time there was no Durbar surgeon at Mysore, fifteen miles off, and the dwelling-place of the Rajah. ”

“ Bangalore (Second Mysore War) . This place was besieged by the British under Lord Cornwallis, March 5, 1791, and notwithstanding numerous efforts to relieve it on the part of Tippu Sahib, it was taken by storm on the night of the 21st, Tippu's final attempt being beaten off by the reserve with heavy loss. ”

“ In a pretty little village near Madras, called Poonamalee, as well as in Bangalore, there dwell very many of those pensioners with their families. I was wont to pay periodical visits to this place on professional duty; and certainly I found it at first not only strange but grotesque to see young men and maidens and numerous children, with faces as black as a minister’s coat, but yet bearing some good old Scottish name, and speaking the English with an accent as if they had been born and bred in the wilds of Lochaber. ”

“ Pop. 189,485.—The Bangalore district has an area of 3070 sq. miles, of which more than half represent cultivable land. Pop. about 760,000.
Bangkok ́, or Bankok, the capital of the kingdom of Siam, extending for several miles on both sides of the Menam, which falls into the Gulf of Siam about 15 miles below. The inner city occupies an island surrounded with walls and bastions, and contains the palace of the king and other important buildings. The dwellings of the common people are of wood or bamboo, often raised on piles ”

“ He made an attempt on the baggage on the 5th of March, but was frustrated, on which occasion the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders had a few men wounded: in the evening the army took up a position before the town.
On the 7th of March the pettah was stormed by the thirty-sixth regiment, supported by the third brigade of sepoys; and the siege of Bangalore was immediately commenced. During the night, the SEVENTY-SECOND Highlanders were posted under the outer pettah wall, close to the gate. “The enemy kept up a sharp fire ”

“ In the single province of Bengal are districts containing seven million five hundred thousand inhabitants, without a missionary; and in other parts of India you may journey through district after district, and province after province, with millions and millions of inhabitants, and find but two or four men, toiling amid the masses of heathenism around them, as if attempting to empty the ocean by buckets-full, or to tunnel the mountains with bodkins. In other places you will find no man at all to shed one ray of light upon the unbroken darkness of false religion. ”

“ It is not only to the voyager fresh from home that the ascent of the Ganges is novel and interesting. These things are as new to the resident of Madras as are the scenes of Italy to the Englishman. The people of Bengal differ from those of Southern India in language, dress, and looks, as well as in other respects. In frame, they are more slightly built, and less manly; indeed, they have the reputation of being the most effeminate of the Hindu races. ”

“ The great stream which fertilises the soil is, at the same time, the chief highway of Eastern commerce. On its banks, and on those of its tributary waters, are the wealthiest marts, the most splendid capitals, and the most sacred shrines of India. The tyranny of man had for ages struggled in vain against the overflowing bounty of nature. In spite of the Mussulman despot and of the Mahratta freebooter, Bengal was known through the East as the garden of Eden, as the rich kingdom. Its population multiplied exceedingly. ”

“ Janghera, thus happily placed between the rugged scenery of the upper provinces, and the smiling landscapes of Bengal, partakes of the nature of both: the Ganges spreads itself like a sea at the foot of the rock, which on the land-side overlooks a wide expanse of fertile country, having for a back-ground the low ranges of hills which separate Behar from Bengal. ”

“ No special theory is required to account for the physical and mental qualities of the Mongolo-Dravidians of Bengal. No doubt the original population was Dravidian with a strong intermixture of Tibeto-Burmese blood, especially in the east and north-east. But the Hindu religion, developed in the sacred Midlands round Benares, spread to Bengal, bringing with it the Indo-European speech which in medieval times became the copious and supple Bengali tongue. From the west too came what we in Europe would call the gentry, the priestly and professional castes. ”

“ The ancient Banga formed one of the five outlying kingdoms of Aryan India, and was practically conterminous with the delta of Bengal. It derived its name, according to the etymology of the Pundits, from a prince of the Mahabharata, to whose portion it fell on the primitive partition of the country among the Lunar race of Delhi. But a city called Bangala, near Chittagong, which, although now washed away, is supposed to have existed in the Mahommedan period, appears to have given the name to the European world. ”