Mangalore
a seaport, military station, and chief town in the district of South Kanara, presidency of Madras, India. A clean, picturesque town, embosomed in cocoanut palm groves, it ships large quantities of coffee (from Coorg and Mysore) in small Arabian and Indian vessels. The town has a Roman Catholic bishop and college, and is also the headquarters in India of the Basel Lutheran Mission. 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. Pop. about 50,000.