Mangalore

Mangalore, a seaport and military station, and chief town in the district of South Kanara, in the presidency of Madras, India. A clean, picturesque town, embosomed in cocoa-nut palm groves, it ships large quantities of coffee (from Coorg and Mysore) in small Arabian and Indian vessels. The total trade reaches an annual average of nearly £800,000 in value. Pop. (1891) 40,922, including a large body of Roman Catholics, who have here a bishop and a college. Mangalore is also the headquarters in India of the Basel Lutheran Mission, the members of which teach their people to weave cloth, print and bind books, and make roof tiles. The town, which was three times sacked by the Portuguese in the 16th century, was taken by Hyder Ali in 1763, and made the headquarters of his navy. In 1784 its English garrison yielded to Tippoo Sultan after a nine months' siege. It became British in 1799, and was burned by the Coorg rebels in 1837.