Dharwad

Karnataka > Dharwad

Dharwad Fort

Dharwad, a district headquarters on the Pune-Bangalore Road, 437 km. from Bangalore is the cultural headquarters of North Karnataka. It was the home of Alur Venkatrao, the father of Karnataka Unification Movement, poet Bendre and outstanding Hindustani Vocalists Mallikarjuna Mansur. Now a part of Hubli - Dharwad Corporation, Dharwad became the district headquarters when it came under the British from the Marathas in 1818, and grew to be a centre of learning due to the English School opened in 1848, high school opened by the Basel Mission in 1868 and the Training College was initiated in 1867 which became the centre of Kannada Movement. The Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha (1890) sowed the seeds of Kannada Renaissance. Mentioned as "Dharawada" in a record of the 12th century of the Kalyana Chalukyas, the place came under the Sevunas, Vijayanagara, Bijapur, Mughuls,Marathas, and Haider and Tipu. The Vijayanagara rulers built a fort here which was strengthened by Bijapur rulers.

Its door-frame alone remains now. The Durgadevi temple near the fort is renovated now and the Someshwara on Kalghatgi Road has a Chalukyan temple and a tank. The Mailara Linga temple at Vidyagiri is a Kalyana Chalukyan monument converted into a mosque by Bijapur army but again changed as a temple by the Peshwas. The place has many temples like Venkataramana, Nandikola Basavanna, Dattatreya, Ulavi Basavanna etc. The Murugha Matha is a centre of religious activity. The Sanskrit College is a four-storeyed building of the late 19th Century. The Karnataka University (1949), the Agricultural University (1986) and the All India Radio Station gave new life to the educational and cultural life of the the city. Dharwad played a prominent part in the freedom movement. Dharwad firing in 1921 which killed three Khilafat Workers caused a stir in the country. Dharwad has churches of the Basel Mission and the Catholics. Annigeri is one of the tourist place in Dharwad District

History of Dharwad

Chalukyas ruled Dharwad during 12^th century. A stone inscription indicates that there was ruler by the name BhaskaraDeva in 1117 AD. Later Dharwad became a part of the Vijayanagara empire. After then fall of the Vijayanagara empire(1453 AD), Bijapur's Adil Shah captured Dharwad and built a fort. The fort area was called MannaKille, and later Nazratabad. With this fort , the strategic importance of Dharwad increased and it thus became part of everyone's empire, Auranjeb, Shivaji ,Auranjeb's son Mu Azam, Peshwe Balaji Rao, Hidar Ali, Tipu Sultan and finally British.

During early 19th century , when British were expanding their kingdom , they faced lot of opposition from local rulers.To mention two of them, Baba Saheb of Naragund and Kittur Rani Chennamma.

Dharwad was peaceful for much part of late the 19th century. During those times, the British started English Medium school in Dharwad in 1848 and in 1856, started town municipality. Later in 1863, the Bassel Mission organization started another school. In 1867 British opened another school, Varmal school, which later on became known as Training college. In 1883, the municipality area included Sidapur, Lakamanhalli, Haveri Pete, Bagtalan, Madihal, Galaganjikop, Malapur, Kamalapur, Narayanpur, Saptapur, Atti kolla and Hosayellapur. The British government also established the Railway station in 1888.

Historical studies show that people from early Paleolithic age inhabited Dharwad district. A few places of antiquarian interest and several sites of historical importance are found in the district. The district was ruled by various dynasties from the 5th century onwards. Important among them are Badami and Kalyan Chalukyas, Rastrakutas, Vijayanagar, Adilshahi, Mysore kingdom and Peshawas of Pune. Due to the rule of Peshwas, influence of Marathi is seen in the early decades of the 19th century. During the British rule, Dharwad became the divisional headquarter of educational administration and Kannada the vernacular language of the people gained prominence

The major religions in the district are Hinduism, Islam, Jainism and Christianity. The majority of Hindus are found in both urban and rural areas. The population of the district is divided mainly into 3 categories, viz., main workers, marginal workers and non-workers. In the district, dry farming is the backbone of the agricultural economy. Agriculture is even now labour-intensive enterprise. Hence the district has an above average proportion of workers in its population and offers opportunities to seasonal workers.

In 1962 the erstwhile towns of Dharwad and Hubli were amalgamated to constitute the Hubli Dharwad Municipal Corporation. Thus strictly speaking, the district takes its name from a portion of the pre-eminent town of the district. In 1830, the southern Maratha country was brought under Regulation VII and the territories were formed into one Collectorate called Dharwad District or Zilla. Before trifurcation of the district into Gadag and Haveri, the district consisted of 17 talukas.

Geographical Features of Dharwad

Dharwad district is situated in the Western sector of the northern half of Karnataka State. The District encompasses an area of 4263 sq. kms lying between the latitudinal parallels of 15002' and 15051' North and longitudes of 73043' and 75035' East. The district is bounded on the North by the District of Belgaum, on the East by the district of Gadag, on the South Haveri and on the West by Uttara Kannada district. All these districts, which surround Dharwad district, belong to Karnataka State itself.

The District lies approximately about 800 mts above the sea level, which is why it enjoys a moderate and healthy climate. The District may be divided into 3 natural regions, viz., the Malnad, Semi-Malnad and Maidan. These regions, on an average, receive moderate to heavy rainfall and have dense vegetation. Kalghatagi and Alnavar area in Dharwad taluka in particular receive more rainfall than other talukas of the District.

On the agricultural front, the presence of black soil helps in raising crops like Cotton, Wheat, Ragi, Jowar and Oil seeds and that of red soil is more suitable for paddy

Transportation and Communication of Dharwad

Dharwad District has 156 kms of National, 163 kms of State and 599 kms of District Highways. Apart from this it has 777 village roads, 437 TDB roads, 32 Forest Roads and 189 other roads. There are 12 big bridges in the district.

There are 151 kms of railway line, which has been converted into broad gauge. There are 21 railway stations on this line. There are 216 post offices, 167 telegraph and 73 telephone exchanges as means of communication for the general public.

Public Health and Family Welfare of Dharwad

The public health infrastructure of Dharwad District consists of 26 Primary Health Centres, 3 Sub-Health Units, 5 Govt. Hospitals, 27 Private Nursing Homes and Hospitals and 6 Family Welfare Centres with 185 sub-Family Welfare Units.