Shivajinagar is an area in Bangalore, a metro city in Karnataka state, India. Shivajinagar is named after the great Maratha king Shivaji. It is adjacent to Bangalore Cantonment area and next to M.G Road, and it is next to Fraser Town. Shivajinagar or Blackpally was a barren region when Kempegowda founded modern Bangalore. The first settlers in the area were farmers from Gingee, who set up a village and cultivated white rice. It is believed that the name Black pally for the area came from the bili akki (white rice) that they grew in their fields.