Sultan Batteri

sultan Battery (2)At Boloor Mangalore stands on the mouth of the river, it overlooks the confluence of the Gurupura River with the sea.

The monument was built by Tippu Sultan after destroying a large number of churchesโ€™s built by the British. ย Though a watch tower it was armed, so that the British did not enter into the Gurupura River. There are eight locations for cannon placement and number of musket points.

The Gurupura river from the watch tower
The Gurupura river from the watch tower

Historically Mangaluruโ€”or Kudlaย  as was known is mentioned by the 23rd BC Greek geographer Pliny. It is also mentioned by Ptolemy in 150 AD.ย  Kudla or Mangalore was under the Alupa rulers,

1526 saw Mangalore being taken over by the Portuguese.

The musket points on the wall
The musket points on the wall

18th century the Bidnur Nayakaโ€™s freed it from the Portuguese only to be captured by Haider Ali in 1763.

In 1768 the British took over Mangalore. It is believed that the British hung Tippuโ€™s Mentor Purnayya at Mangalore for betraying Tippu.

Cannon point, musket point, flag stone and graffiti on the watch tower.
Cannon point, musket point, flag stone and graffiti on the watch tower.

Despite the fact that the archaeological survey of India has put it under protection and defacing or destroying could lead to imprisonment or fining the place stays defaced.

The negligence of the Karnataka Tourism sector and the Mangalore citizens is rather disappointing.

kabhi to swach banega india.
kabhi to swach banega india.

Comments

7 responses to “Sultan Batteri”

  1. dr sweetyshinde Avatar

    Defacing historical monuments is a terminal disease within Indian minds. It s such a sorry sight that we value it so less.
    Recently saw a programme on Epic channel where Noor Inayat Khan, Tipu Sultan’s great grand daughter’s real life spy story was enacted.

    1. parwatisingari Avatar

      One of favorite fantasies is to do a TV series presenting the forgotten histories of southern India. ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. dr sweetyshinde Avatar

        Do you see Epic channel? I recently saw few episodes there about forgotten temples/ forts and also Indian spies since ages.

      2. parwatisingari Avatar

        No I am nomad, and right now with daughter at home, she picks what she wants. I think I shall check it online. My older daughter told their serials are good.

      3. dr sweetyshinde Avatar

        Nomad? How interesting. You conjured up a mental image of a gypsy.

      4. parwatisingari Avatar

        ๐Ÿ™‚ Did you see my tag line? a meandering gypsy on a mystic journey looking for the mythical shambala. ๐Ÿ™‚

      5. dr sweetyshinde Avatar

        wow – that’s poetic, dreamy and lyrical

Leave a comment