Forts around Tumkur

The Maps

Original map courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.(Click to enlarge).

For the original map, see link. As always, the ones I could locate on Google Maps from the map above are marked in blue, those that I found listed in the map but not through satellite are in red.

1. Nijagal – 13.2474648,77.2174072 Also see the first post.
2. Devaranyadurga – 13.3810609,77.2141993
3. Unknown overlooking Tumkur – 13.3241381,77.1631193
4. Channarayandurga – 13.5967189,77.2084272
5. Maddagiri/Madhugiri – 13.65488,77.2061419
6. Sira/Kasturi Rangappa Nayaka Fort – 13.7435851,76.9138563
7. Basavangi betta/Bhasmangi – 13.7489209,77.035253
8. Ratnagiri – 13.8165357,77.1289372
9. Madakasira – 13.9444957,77.2689754
10. Gudibanda – 13.9741724,77.1023512
11. Lakki halli fort ruins – 13.9285273,76.4455748
    I am not quite certain about this one. There does seem to be some sort of wall surrounding the settlement.
12. Hosadurga – 13.7873415,76.2821746
13. Unknown – 13.6240704,76.3388658
14. Bairavadurga – 13.0931942,77.1741888
15. Midigeshi – 13.8319752,77.1935248

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Finding Nijagal

A little over two years ago, Sandeep blogged about his climb up Nijagal and the Battle of Nijagal. In my book, that post remains one of the best descriptions of a fort and the period of history surrounding the battle. Soon after, I attempted to locate the hill on a map. The directions on Sandeep’s blog were exact enough for me to pin-point the hill on the map below. Generally, I move onto to using Google Maps to see the satellite image of the area but in this case, at that time, Google folks probably hadn’t purchased detailed imagery of the area. So I left it at that. Recently, I went through my list of pending identifications and decided to check out Nijagal once again. Fortunately, this time Google Maps got the scale just right and here is the result.

Nijagal is on the left side of NH4 when driving from Bangalore to Tumkur, just a few kilometers ahead of Dobbespet.

Map snippet below shows Nijagal and Dobbespet on a more detailed map. The hill with the fort is marked with a cross on a topographic map along with markings for “Nijagal” and “Dobbespet”.

"Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin."

And finally, the satellite image that helped locate the ruins of the fort on the hill.

While mapping a fort, I usually look out for other fortifications in the same area. Such fortifications generally form an outer line of defense or outposts over villages and towns that deserve closer attention of the rulers.

In the case of Nijagal, another hillock due NW seems to have a portion of a fortification still standing. In any case, the walls of Nijagal are fairly noticeable. Zooming into the two marked points on the map below will highlight the walls that I have marked.