View source for Seringapatam Town

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This article has been extracted from <br/>

THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908.<br/>

OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
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[[Category:India|S]]
[[Category:Places|S]]
''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.