Bangalore
Bangalore [ bæ ŋ gəl ɔ ː, English], capital of the state of Karnataka, South India, 915 m above sea level, with (2011) 8.5 million residents (1991: 2,670,000 residents) the fastest growing metropolis India.
Numerous universities and institutes; the Indian Institute of Science (with university status, founded in 1909) is one of the most important centers for basic research in the natural sciences and engineering. Numerous technical schools, national law school, social science institutions and organizations, botanical garden (Lal Bagh Gardens), seat of a Catholic archbishop. Center of Indian information technology since the 1990s with significant electronic and electrotechnical industry and software production; Headquarters of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for rocket and satellite manufacture; most important industrial city of the south Indian plateau country with aircraft and machine tool construction, textile industry and railway workshops, breweries; Railway junction, international airport.
Dense old town and garden city-like suburbs with a chessboard layout.
Bangalore emerged from a settlement around a fort founded in 1537. From 1831–81 it was the seat of the British administration of Mysore, after the re-establishment of the Maharajah (1881) part of the city remained under British occupation until India’s independence (1947) as an administrative and military base.
Pune
Pune, formerly Poona [ pi ː nə], Puna, city in the state of Maharashtra, India, in the Western Ghats, urban agglomeration (2011) 5.1 million residents.
Catholic bishopric; University (founded 1949), colleges, Sanskrit and Prakrit Research Institute (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute), National Chemistry Laboratory, Military Academy; Information technology, automobile, machine and tractor construction, textile, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Pune, mentioned in the 8th century as Punya Vishaya [-vi ʃ -] or Punya Vishayak (“vishaya” denoted an administrative unit), was the center of power of the Marathas in the 17th and 18th centuries, the seat of the Peshwadynasty from 1749-1818 and after the conquest by the British (1818) seat of government of Bombay during the monsoon season. At the end of the 19th century, Pune became one of the intellectual centers of the Indian national movement. 1974–81 it was the seat of the Bhagvan movement.
Surat
Surat [ s ʊ rət], city in the state of Gujarat, Western India, at the mouth of Tapti in the Gulf of Khambhat, (2011) 4.6 million residents.
University (founded in 1967); Theaters, museums; international center of diamond trade and diamond grinding, textile industry and handicrafts (brocade and silk weaving, embroidery), food, building materials and chemical industry; Port.
In the 19th century, the city suffered great damage from fires and floods. In addition to a castle (1546, later rebuilt) on the Tapti Bridge, Surat has several mosques (16th and 17th centuries) and temples of the Parsis, Hindus and v. a. the Jainas.
Surat rose to become India’s most important seaport in the 17th century. With the fall of the Mughal rule in the 18th century, the city began to decline, which came under British rule in 1759 and was soon replaced in importance by Bombay (now Mumbai).
Jaipur
Jaipur [ d ʒ a ɪ p ʊ ə] capital (since 1949) of the state of Rajasthan, North West India, on Arawalligebirge as agglomeration (2011) 3.0 million residents.
The city is a cultural center with a university (founded in 1947), an art school, Jaipur museum, and an arts and crafts museum in the city palace. Important branches of the economy are the traditional gemstone cutting and gold jewelry production (partly for the world market); Textile, food, metalworking and chemical industries; Tourism.
The city was laid out according to plan with a right-angled road network and surrounded by a city wall with seven gates. House facades painted in pink predominate in the street scene. The city center of Jaipur has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019. The old palace, now a museum, takes up one seventh of the built-up area; the “Chandra Mahal”, the seven-story “moon palace”, stands in the middle of the complex. The most famous buildings are the » Jantar Mantar « observatory, built 1718–38 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010, and the »Palace of the Winds«, »Hava Mahal«, built by Maharajah Mahdo Singh I (1751–68), five-storey, often subdivided with bay windows.
Jaipur was founded in 1728 by Maharajah Jai Singh II (reigned 1699–1744) and named after him Jai-pur, the city of Jai.
On May 13, 2008, 61 people were killed in a series of bomb explosions in the old town. A group called the “Indian Mujahideen” claimed responsibility for the attack.
Ahmadabad
Ahmadabad, Ahmedabad, city in the state of Gujarat, India, on the Sabarmati River, (2011) 6.4 million residents.
University of Gujarat (founded in 1950), Gujarat Vidyapithi University (recognized by the government in 1963) and other universities; Seat of a Catholic bishop; Museums; Cotton trading center and (after Mumbai) the second largest textile city in India. The pharmaceutical industry as well as the automobile and jewelry industries are also important, as is the construction industry. Ahmadabad is an important transport hub (road, rail) and has an international airport.
Cityscape
The building plan for the old town divides it into firmly delimited building blocks (“pols”); these originally self-governing neighborhoods of individual caste groups represented as almost independent small towns. Century includes the palace with the Ahmed Shah mosque (1411), the central Friday mosque (Jama Masjid) with the mausoleum of Ahmed Shah (1423-40) and east of it the tombs of the queens (1440), the Rani Sipari tomb (1505) and the Sidi Sayyid Mosque (1515). The old town of Ahmadabad has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017.
History
Ahmadabad was founded in 1411 by the Muslim ruler of Gujarat, Sultan Ahmed Shah, and was part of the Mughal Empire in 1572 (seat of the viceroy of Gujarat). After a period of decline under the late Mughals and the Marathas, it was annexed by the British in 1818.
