Town · The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Bengaluru, the site

The name Bengaluru is recorded as early as the Ganga period (an inscription from Begur of about 890 on the usual reading), but in 1200 it is a plain village in the dry plateau.

Who holds it

Name
Hoysala governor of the Nolambavadi marches (not named)
Title
lord or governor
Confidence
low

Lord in 1200

Hoysala governor of the Nolambavadi marches (not named)

How things stand that morning

A village; the Chola, Hoysala and Telugu Choda claims touch the region.

Places of note

  • Bengaluru, the site: village in the dry plateau; no fort and no market of note

Where the sources disagree

  • Common accounts give Bengaluru a Hoysala foundation (Ballala II is said in a popular tale to have named it 'town of boiled beans'); we found no source for that tale and treat it as legend.
  • Kempegowda's fort is of 1537 and is later.

Evidence: A site, not a town; the Begur date is from general knowledge, not re-read.

Primary sources for Hoysala kingdom

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Epigraphia Carnatica: inscriptions of the Mysore country, Various (Hoysala chancery and temple scribes), edited by B. Lewis Rice and R. Narasimhachar (inscriptions of the 4th to 19th centuries; the series ran from 1886 to 1905, revised from 1972). The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II (reigning 1173 to 1220) is documented almost wholly by the inscriptions in this series, arranged by district and taluk with full English translations. Read online
  • Inscriptions of the Silaharas, Various (Silahara chanceries), edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 9th to 13th centuries; edited 1977). Collects the records of the three Silahara houses: North Konkan (Thana), South Konkan, and Kolhapur.
  • Sanskrit and Old Canarese Inscriptions relating to the Yadava Kings of Devagiri, Various (Yadava chancery), edited by J. F. Fleet (inscriptions of the 12th and 13th centuries; edited 1876). The first collected edition of the Yadava (Seuna) records, with texts and translations, from the Indian Antiquary. Read online
  • South Indian Inscriptions (Archaeological Survey of India), Various (Chola, Pandya and other chanceries and temple scribes), edited by E. Hultzsch, V. Venkayya, H. Krishna Sastri and successors (inscriptions of the 7th to 17th centuries; the series ran from 1890). The temple inscriptions printed here are the primary record of the Tamil country in 1200. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. OMNIA board notes for the place (a lead, checked against the other sources)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.