Devanahalli

Devanahalli lies north of Bangalore and is known for its fort and its association with Tipu Sultan, who was born nearby. The fortified town began as a settlement of the Avati chiefs under Vijayanagara. Its walls and rounded bastions mark a place contested by Mysore, the Marathas and the British during the eighteenth century.

Malla Baire Gowda built the first mud fort in 1501, and his descendants held it for generations. Mysore forces under Nanjaraja took Devanahalli in the mid-eighteenth century; Haidar Ali distinguished himself during the siege, and his son Tipu was born here. Haidar later rebuilt the fort in stone. Tipu renamed the town Yousafabad, although the name did not become popular. In 1791 Lord Cornwallis captured the fort during the war against Mysore.