Part of Vijayanagara Empire Vellore Fort was built by Chinna Bommi Reddy Nayak and Thimma Reddy Nayak, subordinate chieftains under emperor
Sadasiva Raya of the
Vijayanagara Empire in the year 1566 CE. The Fort gained strategic prominence following the re-establishment of Vijayanagara rule with
Chandragiri as their 4th capital after the
Battle of Talikota. The
Aravidu Dynasty that held the title of Rayas in 17th century resided in this fort, using it as a base in the battle of Toppur in the 1620s. This major battle took place for the claiming of the Raya title between two factions of the Raya family. Each faction included their respective subordinates: the
Nayaks of Tanjore, the
Gingee and the
Madurai taking sides to suit their interests. The Rayas also had long-running battles with their longtime rivals, the
Turko-Persian Bijapur Sultans, and with their subordinates in the
Nayaks of Madurai and the
Gingee over non-remittance of annual tributes. In the 1640s, during the reign of
Sriranga Raya III, the fort was briefly captured by the Bijapur army, but was eventually recaptured with the help of the
Nayaks of Tanjore. During Emperor
Sriranga Raya's reign in 1614 CE, a coup broke out within the royal family and the reigning Emperor
Sriranga Raya and his royal family were murdered by the rival factions of the royal family, with the younger son
Rama Deva Raya of the emperor smuggled out from the fort by supporting factions of the emperor. These events led to the
Battle of Toppur in 1616, one of the largest Southern Indian wars of the century. In 1639 CE, Francis Day of the
East India Company obtained a small strip of land in the
Coromandel Coast from the
Nayakas of the Vellore-Chandragiri regions to do trading, which is in present-day
Chennai.
Under Bijapur (1656–1678) In the 1650s, Sriranga allied with the
Mysore and Tanjore Nayaks and marched south to attack
Gingee and
Madurai. His first stop was the capture of Gingee Fort, but
Thirumalai Nayak of Madurai responded by requesting the Sultan of Bijapur to attack
Vellore from the north to divert Sriranga's attention. The Bijapur sultan promptly dispatched a large army and captured Vellore Fort. Subsequently, both the Madurai-Bijapur armies converged on Gingee, defeating the Vellore-Tanjore forces. After a melee, both the forts ended up in the hands of the sultan of Bijapur. The defeat also marked the end of the last direct line of Vijayanagara emperors. Within 20 years after this incident, the
Marathas seized the fort from the Bijapur sultans.
Under the Marathas (1678–1707) In 1676, the Mawlas under the Great Maratha King Shivaji marched south to the Tanjore country, which had recently been attacked and captured by
Chokkanatha Nayak of Madurai. That same year,
Ekoji, the brother of Chh Shivaji Maharaj took control of Tanjore, but was under threat from his immediate neighbours Madurai and
Bijapur Sultans, based in Gingee and Vellore respectively. Shivaji Maharaj’s army first captured the
Gingee Fort in 1677, but left the task of attacking Vellore to his assistant and rushed to Deccan as his territories were being attacked by
Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb. In 1678, after a prolonged fourteen-month siege, the fort passed on to the Marathas. Shivaji's representative strengthened the fort's fortifications and ruled the area in relative peace.
Under the Mughals (1707–1760) In 1707, the year that Aurangazeb died, the Delhi Army under
Daud Khan captured Vellore Fort after defeating the Marathas. The struggle for the Delhi throne empowered the
Deccan Muslim governors to declare independence. In 1710 the recently established
Nawab of Arcot under Sadat Ullah Khan followed suit.
Dost Ali, the latter's successor in 1733, gifted the fort to one of his sons-in-law.
Under control of the British (1799–1947) The fort was the scene of the Vellore Sepoy Mutiny, popularly called the Vellore Mutiny. In 1806 Vellore Fort was used by the British to station two infantry regiments of the
Madras Army plus four companies of an English regiment. The British
commander-in-chief of the Madras Army had prescribed a new round hat for the Madras
sepoys to replace their turbans, plus ordering the removal of beards, caste markings and jewelry. These measures were intended merely to improve the appearance of the Madras soldiers on parade but the sepoys considered them to be an offensive meddling with their religious beliefs. The situation was worsened by the fact that the hat included a leather
cockade, made from cow hide. On 10 July 1806, before sunrise, the Indian sepoys stationed in the fort attacked the European
barracks there, and by late morning had killed about 15 officers and 100 British soldiers and ransacked their houses. Some of the rebelling soldiers also urged the sons of
Tipu Sultan to lead them. The news quickly reached the
colonel commanding the
cavalry cantonment in
Arcot, who reached the fort within nine hours with several squadrons of British and Indian cavalry, accompanied by
horse-artillery. The mutineers, numbering more than 800, were scattered with heavy losses. By noon the mutiny was put down. The events lead to a court of inquiry by the British, who decided to shift the Tipu Sultan's family from Vellore to faraway
Calcutta, in isolation. The news of the
Vellore Rebellion sent shockwaves to
Britain. The governor,
Lord William Bentinck, and Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army,
Sir John Cradock both were recalled on this count. The Vellore Mutiny was the first significant military rebellion experienced in India by the British, although it has been largely overshadowed by the Bengal mutiny of 1857. ==Architecture==