Cox Town, Bangalore

Cox Town
Suburb
Cox Town
Coordinates: 12°59′39″N 77°37′27″E / 12.9940515°N 77.6242794°ECoordinates: 12°59′39″N 77°37′27″E / 12.9940515°N 77.6242794°E
Country India
State Karnataka
District Bangalore Urban
Metro Bangalore
Government
 • Body BBMP
Languages
 • Official Kannada
 • Spoken Kannada, English, Tamil, Telugu
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 560005
Lok Sabha Constituency Bangalore Central
Vidhan Sabha Constituency Sarvagnanagar
Original Planning Agency Bangalore Civil & Military Station Municipal Commission

Cox Town is located North in the Bangalore Cantonment,[1] named after the last collector and District Magistrate of the Bangalore Civil and Military Station, Alexander Ranken Cox (A R Cox), Indian Civil Services.[2][3] It is one of the suburbs which came out of the plan to de-congest thickly populated areas of the Bangalore Cantonment after the bubonic plague. Agricultural fields were converted for this purpose, and town was planned according to modern hygienic standards, with drainage and conservancy conveniences.[2] Cox Town is bound by the Bangalore-Madras Railway line on the North and East, Wheeler Road in the East and the Ulsoor Polo Ground in the South.[2] It comprises the localities of Sindhi Colony, Jeevanahalli, Doddigunta, and roads such as Assaye Road, Charles Campbell Road, Wheeler Road, etc. and is adjoining the suburbs of Fraser Town, Clevland Town and Cooke Town. Cox Town is a well planned, posh and preferred suburb in the Bangalore Cantonment, created during the British Raj.[4] The residents of Cox Town follow a liberal 'live a let live'attitude, with suburb still retaining much of its green cover, without excessive commercialisation.[5] In 1998, the BBMP renamed Cox Town as Sarvagnanagar, after a 16th-century saint poet.[6] However, the name has not caught on and continues to be popularly known as Cox Town.[7][8][9]

Alexander Ranken Cox

Alexander Ranken Cox, ICS, was a civil servant of the British Madras Presidency,[10] who served as the Collector of the Bangalore Civil and Military Station[2] between 1912 to November 1917.[3] Cox, was educated at Clifton and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, passing the ICS in 1901 and arrived in India on 31 December 1902.[11] During his tenure at the C&M Station Bangalore, he was successful in continuing the reforms started by the previous collector the C&M Station F J Richards, ICS (after whom Richards Town is named). The C&M Station municipality decided to name the new extension of the Bangalore Cantonment after A R Cox.[12] A R Cox also served as the District Collector of the Tirunelveli District between 21 October 1918 to 7 November 1920,[13] the District Collector of the Niligris between 27 October 1928 to 9 March 1931,[14] Collector of Madras around 1931,[15] and Member of the Board of Revenue, Madras Presidency in 1931.[16]

Military Heritage

Many roads in Cox Town are named after battles in which the Madras Sappers took part in. Assaye Road is named after the Battle of Assaye, Meanee Avenue is named after the Battle of Meeanee and the Malakand Lines Training Battalion is named after the Siege of Malakand - All battles in which the Madras Sappers took an active part.[8][17]

Sindhi Colony

Sindhi Colony is a quite residential area of Cox Town, located between Assaye Road and Wheeler Road, with majority Sindhi residents. The Sindhis trace their ancestry from the Sindhi Hindu Refugees who fled the newly formed Pakistan after the Partition of British India, in the face of Hindu-Muslim riots in Sindh. The Colony has 60 houses, a Sindhi Temple, Community Hall and Sindhi Society. Most of the original inhabitants crossed into India through Rajasastan, going towards Bombay and finally settling down in Bangalore Sindhi Colony. The Mysore State Government allocated the land for the Sindhi migrants, offering land at subsidised prices. A The Sindhi Cooperative Housing Society was established to help community members buy land and build houses. Most of the Sindhis are into business and run well known businesses such as Kids Kemp, Bhagatram Sweets and Favourite Shop.[18][19]

Cox Town Market

The old British era Cox Town Market was demolished by the BBMP in 1999 after evicting the traders, replacing it with an office block. The promised new Cox Town Market has not come through, and the traders are forced to ply their trade on the footpath and streets, endangering pedestrians and worsening traffic jams.[4][20][21][22][23]

People and Culture

Like in other suburbs of the Bangalore Cantonment, Cox Town has a large Tamil population. They trace their ancestry to the large number of Tamil soldiers, suppliers and workers who were brought into the Bangalore Civil and Military Station, by the British Army, after the fall of Tippu Sultan. Cox Town along with other suburbs of the Bangalore Cantonment was directly under the administration of the British Madras Presidency till 1949, when it was handed over to the Mysore State.[24][25][26][27][28][29]

British Period Cox Town

Cox Town, like the rest of the Bangalore Cantonment had a distinct British influence on its culture. It was common sight to see families taking out pedigree dogs out for walks in the mornings. Westen attire was also common. English vegetables, meat, pastry, Indian crispies were readily available, with coffee and dosai costing only one quarter anna. Butlers were dressed in their best, and orthodox people wore a coat and tie along with their Indian attire.[30]

One of the residents of British Cox Town was Lydia Muthulakshmi, a young Telugu widow of the Naidu caste, who broke shackles of caste regulations (in those days, widows were not allowed to re-marry, they were forced to stay indoors in Zenanas and not allowed to go outside their homes) and went on to re-marry. At that time caste Hindus fought legal battles by giving police complaints, representations to the government and legal battles in Bangalore, Madras and Trichy, in order to stop Muthulaksmi. She stood firmly against all these efforts and married Rev. Paramanandam of the Wesley Tamil Church. The incident also led to caste hindus withdrawing their children from christian schools for a brief period. Her story is told in the book 'From an Indian Zenana: The Story of Lydia Muthulakshmi' by Rev WH Jackson Picken. The book also has an old photograph of the Wesley Tamil Church Haines Road and Narayan Pillai Street, dated 1892.[30][31]

References

  1. ↑ Johnson, Ronnie. "Bangalore around the late 1920's ...". Children of Bangalore. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Pani, Narendar; Radhakrishna, Sindhu; Bhat, Kishor G (1 August 2008). Bengaluru, Bangalore, Bengaluru: Imaginations and Their Times. SAGE Publications India. p. 180. ISBN 9788132105435. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Harshitha, Samyuktha (6 August 2013). "The forgotten leaders of Bangalore". Suttha Muttha. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 R, Aarthi (7 September 2010). "Cox Town - a posh ward once, now a problem area" (Bangalore). The Times of India. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Singla, Tania (6 July 2013). "Cox Town’s managed to retain its community fabric: Biju Cherayath" (Bangalore). The Hindu. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Prashanth, G N (14 April 2011). "It's all in the new name" (Bangalore). The Times of India. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  7. ↑ Narasimhan, Sakuntala. "Road names change, roads don't". Citizen Matters. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "What’s in a name? Perhaps, the past" (Bangalore). The Hindu. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Sights, sounds and smells from Bangalore". Bangalore Buzz. 15 September 2005. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  10. ↑ Ayyar, K N Krishnaswami (1933). Cox, Alexander Ranken, ed. Statistical Appendix And Supplement To The Revised District Manual (1898) For Coimbatore District . Volume 2. Madras, British India: Government Press. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  11. ↑ Office of The Secretary of State for India in Council (1905). The India List and India Office List for 1905. Pall Mall, London: Harrison and Sons. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Srinivas, S (5 May 2013). "Bangalore Cantonment-Its Origin, Growth and Retrocession with Bangalore Town". Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Tirunelveli District: Roll of Honour". Tirunelveli District. District Administration, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "District Administration: Collectors of the Nilgiris District". District of the Nilgiris. District Administration The Nilgiris, Tamilnadu, India. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  15. ↑ Gandhi, Rajmohan (1997). Rajaji: A Life. New Delhi: Penguin Books India. p. 131. ISBN 9780140269673. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Stoddart, Brian (2011). A People's Collector in the British Raj: Arthur Galletti. New Delhi: Readworthy Publication (P) Ltd. p. 217-218. ISBN 9789350180419. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  17. ↑ bglr_usha (12 April 2006). "Road names – Trivia". Blogs,Entertainment,Living. Bangalore MetBlogs. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  18. ↑ Rizvi, Aliyeh (6 July 2013). "Discovering the heart of Sindh in Cox Town" (Bangalore). The Hindu. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  19. ↑ Nathan, Archana (18 July 2012). "Inside every home is a small piece of history" (Bangalore). The Hindu. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  20. ↑ "14 years on, Cox Town market still on footpath" (Bangalore). The Times of India. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  21. ↑ Rodricks, Allan Moses (14 April 2014). "I am… M. Jayachandran: Fruit vendor, Cox Town" (Bangalore). The Hindu. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Niranjankumar, Nivedita (5 April 2013). "Evicted from Cox Town market, vendors have nowhere to go" (Bangalore). Decccan Herald. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "Citizens market plan, Cox Town buys it" (Bangalore). Deccan Herald. 19 July 2004. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  24. ↑ Srivatsa, Sharath S (31 October 2007). "Bangalore calling: it all goes way back…" (Bangalore). The Hindu. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  25. ↑ Steve, Arul (17 April 2013). "Specialization On Social And Cultural Indifference Among Kgf Tamil Migrants". Word Press. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  26. ↑ Rizvi, Aliyeh (18 July 2013). "Greet.Meat.Eat.". A Turquoise Cloud. Word Press. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  27. ↑ Dasharathi, Poornima (23 July 2008). "Cantonment: colonial past, multicultural present". Citizen Matters. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  28. ↑ Aam AdMo (7 July 2012). "Right to be a Minority institution (and make majority profits)". Word Press. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  29. ↑ Harshitha, Samyuktha (1 June 2013). "The Mootocherry of Bangalore". Suttha Muttha. Blogspot,com.au. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Balraj, James E (2003). A Salesman's Journey to Mission. Delhi: Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK). p. 10,11. ISBN 81-7214-781-3. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  31. ↑ Picken, W H Jackson (1892). From an Indian Zenana: The Story of Lydia Muttulakshmi. London: Charles H. Kelly.