Bangalore

Bangalore /bæŋɡəˈlɔːr/, officially known as Bengaluru ([ˈbeŋɡəɭuːɾu]), is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of about 8.42 million and a metropolitan population of about 8.52 million, making it the third most populous city and fifth most populous urban agglomeration in India. Located in southern India on the Deccan Plateau, at a height of over 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level, Bangalore is known for its pleasant climate throughout the year. Its elevation is the highest among the major large cities of India.

A succession of South Indian dynasties, the Western Gangas, the Cholas and the Hoysalas, ruled the present region of Bangalore until in 1537 CE, Kempé Gowdā – a feudal ruler under the Vijayanagara Empire – established a mud fort considered to be the foundation of modern Bangalore. In 1638, the Marāthās conquered and ruled Bangalore for almost 50 years, after which the Mughals captured and sold the city to the Mysore Kingdom of the Wadiyar dynasty. It was captured by the British after victory in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1799), who returned administrative control of the city to the Maharaja of Mysore. The old city developed in the dominions of the Maharaja of Mysore and was made capital of the Princely State of Mysore, which existed as a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj. In 1809, the British shifted their cantonment to Bangalore, outside the old city, and a town grew up around it, which was governed as part of British India. Following India's independence in 1947, Bangalore became the capital of Mysore State, and remained capital when the new Indian state of Karnataka was formed in 1956. The two urban settlements of Bangalore – city and cantonment – which had developed as independent entities merged into a single urban centre in 1949. The existing Kannada name, Bengalūru, was declared the official name of the city in 2006.

Silicon Valley of India

The Silicon Valley of India is a nickname of the Indian city of Bangalore. As Bangalore is on the Mysore Plateau, the area is also sometimes referred to as "Silicon Plateau". The name signifies Bangalore's status as a hub for information technology (IT) companies in India and is a comparative reference to the original Silicon Valley, Santa Clara Valley, California, a major hub for IT companies in the United States. One of the earliest mentions of this sobriquet occurred in late 2012 by CNN. The more prevalent application of the nickname Bangalore began in the 1990s based on a concentration of firms specialising in Research and Development (R&D), electronics and software production.

History

The Silicon Valley was the brainchild of R. K. Baliga. He was the first Chairman and Managing Director of Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation (in 1976 the government agency was created to expand the electronics industry in the state of Karnataka). Baliga proposed the concept of developing the electronic city in the 1970s. The agency purchased 335 acres (1.36 km²) of land 18 km south of Bangalore for its Electronics City project, which was meant to establish an industrial park in Bangalore. Not withstanding complaints by the industrial park's tenants on the condition of the roads, power and water availability, KEONICS claimed initially that the title of Silicon Valley of India belonged to the city's Electronics City campus. As part of its promotion of this concept, KEONICS distributed reprints of an article entitled "Can Bangalore become India's Silicon Valley" that first appeared in "Plus: The Total Computer Magazine".

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley is a nickname for the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area, which is located in part of the U.S. state of California known as Northern California. It is home to many of the world's largest high-tech corporations, as well as thousands of startup companies. Geographically, it encompasses all of the Santa Clara Valley, the southern half of the San Francisco Peninsula, and southern portions of the East Bay. It includes parts or most of Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and Alameda County.

The word "valley" refers to the Santa Clara Valley, where the region has traditionally been centered, which includes the city of San Jose and surrounding cities and towns. The word "silicon" originally referred to the large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers in the region. The term "Silicon Valley" eventually came to refer to all high tech businesses in the area, and is now generally used as a synecdoche for the American high-technology economic sector. It also became a global synonym for leading high-tech research and enterprises, and thus inspired similar named locations, as well as research parks and technology centers with a comparable structure all around the world.