Bangalore Through the Centuries - Revised, Enlarged and edited by Naresh V Narasimhan, 2nd Reprint, 2025 Edition
Bangalore Through the Centuries was first published in 1970 and has been one of the earliest milestones in the historiography of Bengaluru. The city’s tumultuous past has been recounted beautifully by Shri M Fazlul Hasan – starting from the city’s founding by Kempe Gowda, its capture by the Bijapur Sultanate and the Mughals, its purchase by Chikka Deva Raja Wodeyar, and the wars between Tipu Sultan and the East India Company, the book traverses through the Cantonment town of the colonial era and the ambitious project of the post independent India up to 1970. Taking us through the power struggles, economic transactions, administrational challenges and wars that governed the city’s history, Shri. M Fazlul Hasan highlights it through stories of people, civil society, and the culture of this charming city, whose emergence as a place of education, innovation and employment has thrust it to international relevance in the 21st century. Bengaluru has always been a city constantly moving in two directions, one racing towards the future, while the other stays rooted in its heritage and past. In this confluence of the past and the future, lies the true identity of Bengaluru; one where it’s inherent old world charm meets its modern cosmopolitan avatar. In order to understand the inherent character, it is important to take a step back to unravel the layers that have made the city the palimpsest that it is today. This book by Shri M Fazlul Hasan, does just that: Reminiscence of the past. Celebration of the present. Preparation for the future.
