Brief History of Tumkur (ತುಮಕೂರು)
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| ತುಮಕೂರು ಅಮಾನಿಕೆರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಕ್ಷಿಗಳು |
Tumkur is the headquarters town of the district and district is also called by the same name. Popular tradition has it that Tumkur once formed a part of a territory, whose capital was Kridapura, now a small village known as Kaidala, 3 miles south of Tumkur and that it was presented by one of its rulers to a tom-tom beater. Tumuke is the small drum or tabret which is used for tom-toming and the town might be called Tumuke-ooru to indicate that it belonged to the beater of tumuke. But the original name of the place, according to inscriptions of 10th century is Tummegooru, which means the place of tumme or tumbe (ತುಂಬೆ) . It is said that present town was built by Kante Arasu, a member of the Mysore royal family.He seems to have called it as Tumme-ooru or Tumbe-ooru which is in course of time came to be pronounced as Tumakuru.
In accordance with the usual practice Tumkur district too has been named after its headquarter town. Tumkur is the angliciscd form of Tumakuru which is itself a derivative of Tummeguru, the original name of the place. The present town has a history of just a couple of centuries and is said to owe its origin to Kante Arasu, a member of the Mysore royal family. The town does not have any historical relics to boast of, for even the traces of the fort, said to have been erected at the time of its founding, have already vanished completely. The area comprised in the district consists of a few places of great antiquarian interest and several places of historical importance.
During the Hoysala supremacy also different tracts of this district were being administered by different local chiefs. For instance, an inscription dated in 1151 AD., states that a chief named Guli Bachi was ruling Marugerenad in Kaidala near Tumkur. He built the temples of Gangcshvara, Narayana and Chalavarishvara at Kaidala. The Vijayanagara empire gradually absorbed the Hoysala dominions including this district. The earliest of the Vijayanagara inscriptions found in Tumkur district refers to the reign of Bukka Raya (1344-77 AD.). and is dated III 1354 AD. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Vijayanagara kings granted various tracts of lands to their vassal chiefs bearing different titles, in recognition of the services rendered. Some of the petty principalities already in existence were allowed to continue to administer their traditionally acquired territories. Among such feudatory principalities that arose in this district a mention may be made of those with their headquarters at Nidugal, Holavanahalli, Madhugiri and Hagalavadi.
In 1638 A.D., under the command of Ranadulla Khan, the Bijapur army invaded the northern portions of this district. Along with the southern principalities of Doddaballapur, Bangalore, Kolar and Hoskote, Sira was placed under the charge of Shahji and for quite some time Malik Rihan was the governor of Sira. With the capture of Bijapur in 1686 A.D., Aurangazeb established tlie Moghul supremacy in this region. Sira was made the capital of a new province consisting of the sevenparaganas of Sira, Basavapattana, Budihal, Doddaballapur, Hoskote, Kolar and Penukonda and was placed under the charge of a Subedar or Faujdar. Kashim Khan was the first Subedar and Dilawar Khan (1724-56) the last. During this period Sira and its neighbourhood assumed considerable importance as a seat of administration and received royal patronage. Sheikh Farid for instance built a big mosque. Rustum Jung, who earned for himself the title of Bahadur built a fort and a petta.
During the same period parts of this district came to be annexed by the Wodeyars of Mysore in a phased manner as it were. In 1650 A.D., Kanthirava Narasaraja Wodeyar (1638-59) made a beginning by acquiring Hebbur in Tumkur taluk from Immadi Kempe Gowda. By 1673 A.D., the kingdom of Mysore had been extended as far as Chiknayakanhalli in the north. This was followed by the conquests of Chikka-Devaraja Wodear (1673-17). He is said to have captured Jadakanadurga (which he named after himself as Chikka Devarayana Durga), Maddagiri, Midigeshi, Bijjavara, Channarayadurga and several other places, "By the end of his reign except for Sira and its immediate surroundings, rest of the Tumkur district formed part of Mysore. These areas too were taken during the period of Haidar Ali on his conquest of Sira in 1761 and the annexation of Hagalavadi in 1776. With the fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799, this territory too passed into the hands of the British who restored it to the Wodeyars of Mysore, from which date the history of the district coincides with the history of the erstwhile Mysore State. During the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar-III (1811-31), the State consisted of six Faujdaris and the present Tumkur district stood included in the Maddagiri i.e., Madhugiri, ,,'Faujdari.: In 1834, these were reconstituted into four divisions and Tumkur became the headquarters of Chitradurga division which encompassed the areas now included in these two districts.
