The History Of Bangalore

In this pivotal interlude, Ramjee Chandran explores the transformation of the East India Company from a group of London merchants into a "sovereign merchant" with a global footprint. This episode tracks the shift from commerce to conquest, sparked by the hollowed-out Mughal authority after 1739. From the "transaction" of Plassey to the decisive Battle of Buxar, we witness the moment the Company acquired the Diwani—the right to collect Indian taxes to fund its own wars. This is the story of how the wealth extracted from a starving Bengal provided the military machine that would eventually march toward the gates of Bengaluru.Key Details from the Script:


The Shift in Constraints: For most of the 17th century, the Company was constrained by functional Indian states; it only became a territorial threat after Mughal authority collapsed following Nadir Shah's 1739 sack of Delhi .


Plassey as a Transaction: The 1757 victory was less a battle than a financial conspiracy orchestrated by the banker Jagat Seth, who bribed General Mir Jafar to stand aside .


The Turning Point at Buxar: The 1764 victory over a coalition of indigenous powers led to the Treaty of Allahabad (1765), where the Company was appointed Diwan of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa .


Self-Sustaining War: Acquisition of the Diwani allowed the Company to pay for its own wars using Indian revenue rather than British bullion, creating a cycle where Bengal's wealth funded military campaigns in the South .


The Human Cost: The Company’s systematic extraction led to the 1770 Bengal Famine, where up to half the population perished; despite this, the Company increased revenue collections by ten percent .


The Target - Mysore: By 1772, the Company realized that coastal ports were not enough to secure trade; their attention turned inland toward the one state on the southern plateau that was not a puppet: Mysore under Hyder Ali.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Prestige Group, that makes this podcast possible.

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The theme music for the show was composed by German-Indian Koln based percussionist, Ramesh Shotham. Ramjee Chandran's photos by Asha Thadani.

RESEARCH AND SOURCES: All our episodes are based on published research and archive records. To request information about our sources, write to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know if you are a researcher (either institutional or independent) and also provide some information about why you need this information. Researchers will get priority. We only have time to engage serious, academic queries so please understand if we do not respond to casual requests.

How did a company of London merchants, originally obsessed with the price of pepper, end up commanding an army larger than that of most European nations? Ramjee Chandran explores the pivotal transformation of the East India Company during the mid-18th century. This episode tracks the shift from "counting house to counting territory," centered on the shockwaves of the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the acquisition of the Diwani of Bengal. We see how the Company’s new-found wealth in the North provided the "sinews of war" necessary to turn its sights toward the formidable challenge of the Mysore plateau and the gates of Bengaluru.Key Details from the Script:


The Plassey Pivot: The Battle of Plassey (1757) wasn't just a military victory; it was a hostile corporate takeover of an entire province. It gave the Company the keys to the richest treasury in India.


The Diwani Rights (1765): The Mughal Emperor granted the Company the Diwani—the right to collect all land revenue in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. Overnight, the Company became a "sovereign merchant," using Indian taxes to buy Indian goods and fund Indian wars.


The Contractual Soldier: Unlike traditional Indian armies built on personal loyalty to a commander, the Company developed "Sepoy" regiments. Their loyalty was contractual and permanent, creating a disciplined machine that could be relied upon for sustained campaigns.


The North Funds the South: The immense wealth extracted from Bengal provided the capital the Company needed to sustain the long, expensive wars against Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in the South.


Parliamentary Anxiety: Back in London, the British government began to fear the "Nabobs"—Company servants who returned home with unimaginable wealth—leading to the first attempts to rein in the corporation.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Prestige Group, that makes this podcast possible.

Follow The History Of Bangalore on social, here:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/historyofbangalore/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfBangalore⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/HistoryOfBLR⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@HistoryOfBangalore?si=mnH3BsYfI4BUU234⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

iHeartRadio: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1323-the-history-of-bangalore-163453722/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Ramjee Chandran on Instagram and Twitter: @ramjeechandran

The theme music for the show was composed by German-Indian Koln based percussionist, Ramesh Shotham. Ramjee Chandran's photos by Asha Thadani.

RESEARCH AND SOURCES: All our episodes are based on published research and archive records. To request information about our sources, write to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know if you are a researcher (either institutional or independent) and also provide some information about why you need this information. Researchers will get priority. We only have time to engage serious, academic queries so please understand if we do not respond to casual requests.

Before the British East India Company could claim dominance over the Mysore plateau, an older European power had to fade into the background. Ramjee Chandran explores the decline of the Portuguese—the first Europeans to arrive in India and the first to leave its major political stage. This episode tracks their journey from the aggressive "Cartaz" naval pass system of the 1500s to their 18th-century status as marginal merchants. Witness the final, sardonic stroke from Hyder Ali, who cleared the diplomatic board for the coming struggle with the British by "rebranding" the Portuguese merchants of Bengaluru with a single administrative decree.Key Details:


The Cartaz System: The Portuguese didn't just come to trade; they came to tax the ocean. Their cartaz system forced every vessel in the Indian Ocean to pay for protection or face seizure.


The Religious Friction: Unlike the later British "mercantile first" approach, the Portuguese were driven by a militant religious mission, which created deep friction with local Hindu and Muslim rulers.


The Dutch Blow: The Portuguese monopoly was shattered not by Indians, but by the Dutch, who seized their coastal strongholds and left them with only a few pockets like Goa.


Hyder’s "English" Decree: In a masterclass of political maneuvering, Hyder Ali seized the assets of wealthy Portuguese merchants in Bengaluru by simply declaring them "English" for the duration of his war with the British—essentially seizing their wealth as "enemy property" without a single shot fired.


The Cleared Stage: By 1780, the Portuguese were a spent force, leaving a power vacuum that only the British East India Company was positioned to fill.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Prestige Group, that makes this podcast possible.

Follow The History Of Bangalore on social, here:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/historyofbangalore/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfBangalore⁠⁠⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/HistoryOfBLR⁠⁠⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@HistoryOfBangalore?si=mnH3BsYfI4BUU234⁠⁠⁠⁠

iHeartRadio: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1323-the-history-of-bangalore-163453722/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow Ramjee Chandran on Instagram and Twitter: @ramjeechandran

The theme music for the show was composed by German-Indian Koln based percussionist, Ramesh Shotham. Ramjee Chandran's photos by Asha Thadani.

RESEARCH AND SOURCES: All our episodes are based on published research and archive records. To request information about our sources, write to ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know if you are a researcher (either institutional or independent) and also provide some information about why you need this information. Researchers will get priority. We only have time to engage serious, academic queries so please understand if we do not respond to casual requests.

In one of the most unexpected chapters of global history, the fate of Bengaluru was once inextricably linked to the birth of the United States. Ramjee Chandran reveals how Hyder Ali became a household name in Revolutionary-era America. Following his crushing defeat of the British at the Battle of Pollilur in 1780, Hyder was toasted by George Washington’s inner circle as a "liberator." From Philadelphia shipyards naming warships the Hyder Ally to the technological DNA of the Mysorean rocket ending up in the American National Anthem, this episode explores how a military-industrial city on the Deccan Plateau helped humble the British Empire on a global stage.Key Details from the Script:


The Global Enemy: In 1781, as the American Revolution reached its climax, the British were fighting a "World War." The same General Cornwallis who surrendered at Yorktown would later seek redemption by attacking Bengaluru.


The Toast of Trenton: Following the victory at Yorktown, American leaders held a celebration where the fourth toast was dedicated to "Hyder Ali—may he continue to be a scourge to the British!".


The Hyder Ally Sloop: In 1782, Pennsylvania merchants commissioned a formidable warship named the Hyder Ally. Under Captain Joshua Barney, it won one of the most celebrated naval duels of the war against the HMS General Monk.


The Racehorse "Hyder Ally": The name became so synonymous with speed and power that one of the most famous racehorses in North Carolina was named after the Sultan, leading to a landmark legal case in American property law.


The Rocket’s Red Glare: The episode traces the direct technological line from the iron-cased rockets made in Bengaluru’s Taramandalapete to the British "Congreve Rockets" used against Americans in 1812, immortalized in the Star-Spangled Banner.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Prestige Group, that makes this podcast possible.

Follow The History Of Bangalore on social, here:

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/historyofbangalore/⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfBangalore⁠⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/HistoryOfBLR⁠⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@HistoryOfBangalore?si=mnH3BsYfI4BUU234⁠⁠⁠

iHeartRadio: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1323-the-history-of-bangalore-163453722/⁠⁠⁠

Follow Ramjee Chandran on Instagram and Twitter: @ramjeechandran

The theme music for the show was composed by German-Indian Koln based percussionist, Ramesh Shotham. Ramjee Chandran's photos by Asha Thadani.

RESEARCH AND SOURCES: All our episodes are based on published research and archive records. To request information about our sources, write to ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠. Let us know if you are a researcher (either institutional or independent) and also provide some information about why you need this information. Researchers will get priority. We only have time to engage serious, academic queries so please understand if we do not respond to casual requests.

This episode reveals how Hyder Ali transformed Bengaluru from a traditional market town into a military industrial complex. No longer just a trading post, the city became a massive arsenal—a place where French technology met Indian craftsmanship to produce the world's most advanced rocketry. Join Ramjee Chandran as he explores the rebuilding of the Bengaluru Fort into its final, formidable stone form and the arrival of the first European garrison in the city’s history. This is the story of how Bengaluru became the "military-industrial" heart of a kingdom that was about to challenge the might of the British Empire. Also, the advent of the French and how the Mysore rocket inspired the US national anthem.Key Details from the Script:


The Granite Transformation: Hyder replaced Chikka Devaraja's old mud walls with massive granite blocks, creating the oval stone fort that would eventually define the city's geography for centuries.


The First Cantonment: Long before the British "Cantonment," Hyder established a military station in Bengaluru, housing three hundred French Hussars and disciplined infantry—the first time European soldiers were permanently stationed here.


The Rocket Arsenal: The script highlights Bengaluru as a manufacturing hub for the Mysorean Rocket. These weren't just fireworks; they were iron-cased missiles with a range of over a kilometer, a technology that terrified and baffled the British. And how they used against the Americans in Baltimore.


A New Kind of City: Hyder didn't destroy the pete (market); he integrated it. He used the city's commercial wealth to fund foundries, gunpowder factories, and weapon workshops, creating a "military-industrial" hybrid.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Prestige Group, that makes this podcast possible.

Follow The History Of Bangalore on social, here:

Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/historyofbangalore/⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfBangalore⁠⁠

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/HistoryOfBLR⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@HistoryOfBangalore?si=mnH3BsYfI4BUU234⁠⁠

iHeartRadio: ⁠⁠https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1323-the-history-of-bangalore-163453722/⁠⁠

Follow Ramjee Chandran on Instagram and Twitter: @ramjeechandran

The theme music for the show was composed by German-Indian Koln based percussionist, Ramesh Shotham. Ramjee Chandran's photos by Asha Thadani.

RESEARCH AND SOURCES: All our episodes are based on published research and archive records. To request information about our sources, write to ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠. Let us know if you are a researcher (either institutional or independent) and also provide some information about why you need this information. Researchers will get priority. We only have time to engage serious, academic queries so please understand if we do not respond to casual requests.