Home grown modernity: gardens and urban development of Bangalore under the princely state of Mysore, 1881-1947

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper illustrates how the princely state of Mysore used gardens and horticulture for shaping the urban development of Bangalore between the late-19th and mid-20th century. Despite being constrained by the British colonial regime's policies of indirect rule; the Mysore State drew on an approach to modernisation and urban development which their pre-British predecessors had initiated during the eighteenth century. Between 1881 and 1947, it pursued this home-grown modern approach in Bangalore City by using gardens and horticulture to expand urban industry and shape the urban landscape, establishing Bangalore as one of the most progressive cities in British India.