Devanahalli Fort

The history of Devanahalli dates back to 15th century, when a family of fleeing refugees from Conjeevaram (modern day Kanchipuram), camped near the foot of Ramaswami betta, located east of Nandi Hills. Their leader Rana Baire Gowda was apparently directed in a dream to set up a settlement in this region. He and his Morasu Wokkalu family settled in a small village, Ahuti, which was later known as Avati. His son Malla Baire Gowda founded Devanahalli, Chikka-ballapura and Dodda-ballapura. Kempegowda, the founder of Bangalore city is also from Morasu Wokkalu family.

Devanahalli was part of Gangawadi and later came under the rule of Rashatrakutas, Nolamba, Pallavas, Cholas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara rulers. During the time of Vijayanagra rule, Malla Baire constructed the initial mud fort in 1501 AD with the consent of Devaraya at Devanadoddi, the previous name of Devanahalli. In 1747 AD, the fort passed into the hands of the Wodeyars of Mysore under the command of Nanja Raja. It was conquered many times from the Marathas and later came under the control of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan.

Tipu also renamed it as Yousafabad (the abode of Yousuf, the finest man) which never got popular. The fort finally fell into the British, under Lord Cornwallis in 1791, during the Mysore War.

Tipu Sultan was born in Devanahalli in 1750. The birthplace of Tipu Sultan, located very close to the Devanahalli Fort is just a small pillared enclosure with a stone tablet which declares the place to be the birth place of Tipu Sultan. The area around the enclosure is known as Khas Bagh.