northern and eastern part of Mysore. Only a small portion of their troops under Hari Panth marched with the British army.
Seringapatam, or Srírangapatan, is a place of considerable antiquity, and is situated at the western end of an island three miles long and one wide. It derives much of its celebrity from two temples built there about a thousand years ago (894) by one Tirumalaiya[1]. In the time of the Vijayanagar dynasty, about 1454, a fort was erected on the island by Timmanna, to whom had been confided the government of the Ashtagráma, or eight townships on either side of the Káveri, which constituted the district. The stones for this fortress were obtained by the destruction of numerous Jáin temples in the vicinity. From the time of its seizure by Ráj Wodiar in 1609, successive Rájás had given attention to the defences, and they had been further added to by Haidar and Tipú. The river, full of rocks and frequently unfordable, was in itself a serious obstacle; while along its banks, huge walls with lofty cavaliers and deep ditches cut through solid granite increased the natural strength of the position. On the northern face were strong redoubts, supported by an inner fort. Beyond all and outside the island was an almost impassable belt of thorny trees extending from the river, first due north and then in a south-easterly
- ↑ A peculiar sanctity is attached by Hindus to a point in the Káveri called the 'Paschima Váhan,' or 'western flow,' where the river, making a sudden turn, flows to the west instead of to the east, contrary to the regular course of the stream.
