Whitefield — it’s evolution

7 min readMar 11, 2024

Whitfield has many fables about the source of the name. Some say it was because of white sand covering the fields, some others say it is because it is an erstwhile residential layout of White (British).

The place is named after David Emmanuel Starkenburgh White of Madras. Mr. White (1832–89) was the founder of the Anglo-Indian and Domiciled European (AIDE) Association of South India. A successful professional, Mr. White was close to the Indian National Congress, and a friend of Allan Octavian Hume. He wanted a place that would serve as a self-contained settlement of Eurasians and Anglo-Indians, with agriculture as the primary mode of sustenance.

Anglo Indians are offsprings of British men and Indian women and have always been in between two identities. British found them easy to deploy in sensitive positions including the army, and got their loyalty during the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. But as the ambivalence of their identity took root, and leaders like David White started campaigning for home-bred ICS and Indian judges for trying Europeans, the opportunities for the community dried down.

David White and other leaders felt that community land ownership would provide basic sustenance through farming even in the worst circumstances. In 1881, the association wrote to The Maharaja of Mysore Chamarajendra Wodeyar X for the allotment of land near Bengaluru. The draw was a significant European population in the city (being a garrison town), Kolar Gold Fields as a significant employer, and the weather.

The association worked with Dewan Rangacharlu, and in April 1882 five sites totaling 3,900 acres were approved. Final allocation was Glen Gordon — 527 acres, Haldwell Green — 757 acres (in Srigandha Kaval on the Magadi road) and Whitefield — 542 acres, Sausmond — 926 acres, value being approximately INR 1/ acre. However, only Whitefield (previously villages of Nellurhalli, Nagondahalli, and Hagadur) took off.

The core idea of the Whitefield layout was an integrated settlement. It was planned with a Circle in the middle (6.4 acres — still exits), and then four concentric circles with 90 homes (of which two were completed).
The idea was to have smaller plots on the inside, followed by increasingly larger plots on the outside which will house common areas like the club, inn, church, etc., while the center space will hold the school and the library.

Original plan.

Incidentally, the circular layout remains a relative novelty in India even today (Chandni Chowk notwithstanding). Some speculate it was inspired by the Garden City movement, but there is no evidence. But whatever may be the inspiration, the settlement perspired to scale.

It faced challenges from early on, especially from an agricultural perspective. The Eurasians and Anglo-Indians were not conversant with farming. Add to that the water scarcity in the area.

Transport was a challenge — the nearest station Kadugodi (now Whitefield) was two miles away, but the only transport was a bullock cart (for which one has to communicate to Ms. Rose White, widow of David White. Also, post sundown no Indians were to stay in the area. The families who believed and relocated did not scale beyond around 20.

Soon, a few early residents made Bengaluru city their residence, with Whitefield being a weekend gate away. Also, the foreigners and Anglo Indians working in Kolar Gold Fields set up residence here (Kolar being an hour’s drive then), but they were not agriculturalists.

Whitefield did not scale as a colony of the Anglo Indians. But common facilities came up:

Memorial Church

Whitefield Club

The General Store

Waverly Inn

The School

Urban legends of Winston Churchill visiting Waverly Inn during his stint in Bangalore, and even his solicitation of Rose Hamilton, daughter of the owner James Hamilton.

Incidentally, the Church was for multiple faiths among the Christianity, as that was the ask from the Wadiyer family for the land grant. There have been multiple instances of tensions among the faiths, including a case where the church organ was stolen one night and dumped at a nearby pond.

Whitefield colony saw a downward spiral post-independence when many migrated to the UK, Australia, Canada, etc. — spurred by the prospect of a better future, and uncertainty of integration with mainstream India. Many sold their properties, and some kept them in the hope of coming back (which happened in a few cases too). These unoccupied properties and the vast common lands came into sight of the developers when the IT boom reached Bangalore.

IT took wings in India in the 70s with the first wave of automation, when local companies came about to maintain the infrastructure. But the boom came in the early 90s, when Indian IT was at the forefront of the Y2K issue, and the skill of its engineers was known globally.

There was a wave of global firms who wanted to set up operations in Bangalore (weather, connectivity, and talent pool were easy draws). It started with the setting up of Internation Technology Park, Bangalore in collaboration with Singapore.

Soon more players were looking for space, and the employees were looking for residences in proximity. Whitefield with large plots, often infirm and even absentee landlords, the drowning voices of the aging Anglo-Indian community enabled rapid expansion. As private infrastructure came in, the government also joined the same bandwagon of taking over land either to sell it to builders, or build infrastructure.

Multiple instances of demolitions have been reported, even the Church was served notice to let go of the boundary wall to widen a road. Some heritage-loving residents, who are either descendants of the original inhabitants or ones who moved in in search of a serene life, are putting up their struggle (can be seen in the INTACH series). But the market forces are very powerful.

The INTACH study of Krupa Rajangam (referred to below) paints a bleak picture of the current status.

Whitefield today is the shadow of what it was, and we may soon lose its past too. But Whitefield has also been instrumental in giving the most successful export business of India, and gave the country and its people a global footprint. So for sure, it is a mixed bag.

Unfortunately, the history of Whitefield has been reset to IT, forgetting its heritage. The pioneers were all dead, and their families mostly migrated. Also, the Anglo-Indians steadily lost their social and political clout in India, so much so the two seats reserved for them in the Parliament have also been lost.

Past will not come back, but can we still preserve the present? The Inn, the Church, the Club, and the last houses standing (The Emerald House, Perfect Peace).