Belagavi District

Bhuvaraha Narasimha temple Halasi, Karnataka

Panchalingeshwara temple Hooli

Belagavi is the Divisional Headquarters of North Karnataka. The original name of the town of Belgaum was Venugrama, meaning Bamboo Village. It is also known as Malnad Pradesh. The most ancient place in the district is Halsi; and this, according to inscriptions on copper plates discovered in its neighborhood, was once the capital of a dynasty of nine Kadamba kings. It appears that from the middle of the 6th century to about 760 the area was held by the Chalukyas, who were succeeded by the Rashtrakutas. After the break-up of the Rashtrakuta dynasty a portion of it survived in the Rattas (875–1250), who from 1210 onward made Venugrama their capital. Inscriptions give evidence of a long struggle between the Rattas and the Kadambas of Goa, who succeeded in the latter years of the 12th century in acquiring and holding part of the district. By 1208, however, the Kadambas had been overthrown by the Rattas, who in their turn succumbed to the Yadavas of Devagiri in 1250. After the overthrow of the Yadavas by the Delhi Sultanate (1320), Belgaum was for a short time under the rule of the latter; but only a few years later the part south of the Ghataprabha River was subject to the Hindu rajas of Vijayanagara. In 1347 the northern part was conquered by the Bahmani Sultanate, which in 1473 took the town of Belgaum and conquered the southern part also. When Aurangzeb overthrew the Bijapura sultans in 1686, Belgaum passed to the Mughals. In 1776 the country was overrun by Hyder Ali of Mysore, but was taken by the Madhavrao Peshwa with British assistance. In 1818 it was handed over to the British East India Company, and was made part of the district of Dharwar. In 1836 this was divided into two parts, the northern district becoming Belgaum.[7]

Yadur is situated beside the Krishna river, and there is a famous veerbhadra temple there. Many devotees visit the area from Karnataka and Maharashtra. Hooli is one of the oldest villages in Belgaum district. There are many Chalukya temples in the village, including the famous Panchaligeswara temple.

Kittur in Belgaum district is a place of historical importance. Rani Chennamma of Kittur (1778–1829) is known for her resistance to British rule.

The British had a sizable infantry post here, having realised the military importance of its geographic location. It is one of the reasons for Belgaum's sobriquet The Cradle of Infantry. Development of a rail network for the movement of resources and later troops was one of the means employed by both the British East India Company and the British to exert control over India. Belgaum's railway station, the Mahatma Gandhi Railway Station was established by the British. A signboard declaring the sobriquet can be seen hung on Platform 1 at the station.

The administration of Belgaum District has been divided into 14 taluks. Athani taluk is the largest with an area of 1,997.70 km² and Raybag taluk is the smallest with an area of 958.8 km². The district comprises three revenue sub-divisions headquartered at Belgaum, Bailhongal and Chikodi which are headed by the Assistant commissioner and taluks headed by Tehsildar[8] and has six police sub-divisions. Apart from the Belgaum City Corporation, there are 17 municipalities, 20 towns, 485 gram panchayats, 1,138 inhabited villages and 26 non-inhabited villages. Belgaum is also the headquarters of the Belgaum Revenue Division.

According to the 2011 census Belgaum district has a population of 4,779,661,[6] roughly equal to the nation of Singapore[10] or the US state of Alabama.[11] This gives it a ranking of 25th in India (out of a total of 640).[6] The district has a population density of 356 inhabitants per square kilometre (920/sq mi).[6] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 13.38%.[6] There were 969 females for every 1000 males,[6] and a literacy rate of 73.94%.[6]

Belgaum district is a home to three universities: Visvesvaraya Technological University, Rani Channamma University, Belagavi and KLE University. Also, it has a nine engineering colleges, two medical colleges, two dental colleges, 15 polytechnics, 7 Indian system of medical colleges, and 180 degree colleges.[12]

The district has seven industrial areas, one special economic zone (India’s first precision engineering SEZ with more than 200 acres) and 16 industrial estates.[3] The city's industrial growth begin when Babu Rao Pusalkar set up a small unit in city over a century ago and that transformed Belgaum city into foundry and hydraulics base. Now, the city has a large number of crankshaft, industrial castings and forging, machinery, hydraulics, and aluminium manufacturing units.[13]

List of industrial clusters in Belgaum district that are identified by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises[14]

• S. Ballesh - Shehnai artist
• Hemant Birje - actor
• Phadeppa Dareppa Chaugule - India's first Olympic marathon runner
• Kittur Chennamma - freedom fighter
• Gangadharrao Deshpande - activist
• Kumar Gandharva - classical singer
• Balappa Hukkeri- singer
• Shamba Joshi - writer
• Kaka Kalelkar (1885–1981) - independence activist
• Chandrashekhara Kambara - poet
• Basavaraj Kattimani - writer, novelist
• Laxmanrao Kirloskar - businessman
• Betageri Krishnasharma - writer
• Atul Kulkarni - actor
• Sudheendra Kulkarni - Indian politician, Columnist
• Shirasangi Lingaraj - provincial ruler
• Panth Maharaj - Hindu yogi
• Belawadi Mallamma - warrior queen
• Ronit More - cricketer
• Renukamma Murugodu - actress
• Pramod Muthalik - chief of Sri Ram Sena
• Bandu Patil - hockey player
• D. C. Pavate - Indian Mathematician
• Charan Raj - Indian actor
• Sangolli Rayanna - freedom fighter
• Raja Lakhamagouda Sardesai - ruler of Vantmuri princely state
• Acharya Shantisagar - Jain Digambara monk
• Acharya Vidyasagar - Jain Digambara monk

• Belgaum district gazetteer (1905) by Reginald Edward Enthoven [15]
• Belgaum district gazetteer (1987) by Suryanath U. Kamath. [16]
• Belgaum by James Macnabb Campbell (2004)[17]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belgaum district.

• Official Website of Belgaum district

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belgaum district.