View of the Pettah Gateway, Bangalore - 1792

This is a wash drawing of the interior of Bangalore Fortress in Karnataka by Robert Home (1752-1834) in 1792. It is part of a series of 22 loose drawings together with a map and three plans completed by Home when he accompanied the British army under Cornwallis during the 3rd Mysore War 1791-1792.

Bangalore Fort was originally built out of mud by Kempe Gowda, a feudatory chief of the Vijayanagar Empire and the founder of Bangalore city. In 1761 the fort was reconstructed in stone by the Raja of Mysore, Haidar Ali (r.1761-1782) and was an important stronghold during his reign and that of his successor and eldest son, Tipu Sultan (r.1782-1799). The fortress was built in an unusual oval shape with eight gates, only one of which survives today. Bangalore fort was captured by Lord Cornwallis and his army on 21 March 1791.

This view was used by Home for the background to his oil painting 'The Death of Colonel Moorhouse', now in the National Army Museum. The painting was commissioned by the Freemasons of Madras in 1794 in memory of Joseph Moorhouse, a member of the Madras Lodge.

Source : British Library