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Bellary is a city in Bellary District in Karnataka state, India.
History
Bellary takes its name from the word Balari which refers to goddess Durugamma as this goddess had manifested herself in the town. Some of the events in the great epic Ramayana are related to this historical place. It is said that Rama while searching for Sita met Sugreeva and Hanuman at a place near Hampi, the celebrated capital of the Vijayanagara empire. The history speaks volumes about significant role it acquired during Satavahanas, Kadambas, Chalukyas of Kalyani, Kalachuris, Sevunas, and Hoysalas' period. The Vijayanagara rulers built the "City of Victory" on the bank of Tungabhadra River at Hampi in Hospet Taluk. This area which had witnessed the prosperity to its peak fell into political turmoil after the defeat of Vijayanagara in 1565 by the Deccan sultanates.
The district was annexed to the Sultanate of Bijapur after 1565. Bijapur was conquered by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1685, and was placed under the authority of the Mughal governor of the Deccan, called the Nizam. In 1724, the Nizam broke away from Mughal control to establish Hyderabad as a separate state. The Nizam traded a piece of territory which included Bellary to the British in return for military protection, and it was added to the Madras Presidency as a Bellary District, which was considerably larger than the present district. Anantapur district was separated from Bellary in 1882. The princely state of Sandur was surrounded by Bellary district.
This district was transferred to the erstwhile Mysore state (Karnataka) on October 1 1953 from Madras State (Tamil Nadu). With the re-organisation of the districts during 1997, the number of taluks is reduced to seven. The Harapanahalli taluk has been transferred to Davanagere district.
Bellary District
Bellary district is spread from southwest to northeast and is situated on the eastern side of Karnataka state. The district is 15° 30’ and 15°50’ north latitude and 75° 40’ and 77° 11’ east longitude. This district is bounded by Raichur district on the north, Koppal district on the west, Chitradurga and Davanagere districts on the south, and Anantapur and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh on the east. It comes under the administrative control of Gulbarga division and development jurisdiction of H.K.D.B, Gulbarga.
As per 2003 census the population of the district stood at 2,245,000. The geographical area is 8447 km². It has 2 revenue sub divisions, Bellary subdivision and Hospet subdivision, which in all have seven taluks. The Bellary subdivision has 3 taluks, while there are four taluks in Hospet subdivision. There are 27 hoblies, two CMC's, one town municipality, seven town panchayats, 542 revenue villages, and 436 thandas/habitations. The rural population constitute 70%. The density of population is 196 per km²., which is much lower than the state average of 235 per km². However the decimal growth rate for 1981-91 was 26.92% which is higher than the state growth rate of 21.12% The scheduled caste/scheduled tribe population constitute 28% of the total population. The sex-ratio was 965, which is slightly higher than the state average of 960. The normal rainfall is 639 mm.
The major occupation of this district is agriculture and 75% total labour force is dependent on agriculture for its livelihood. The important crops grown are cotton, jowar, groundnut, paddy, sunflower and cereals. The net irrigated area is 37% to the net area sown. The pattern of land utilization in the district is as under (1997-1998).
The main source of irrigation is Tungabhadra Dam. The Canal network accounts for 64% of irrigated area. The important rivers are Tungabhadra, Hagari and Chikkahagari. The western taluks of the district are dogged with scarcity conditions with the failure of rains during successive years. However during the current year and preceding year heavy rains have created havoc in the district leaving many in lurch.
Bellary district is rich in natural resources which need to be tapped to a great extent for overall development of the district. This district is endowed with rich mineral resources. It has both metallic and non-metallic minerals. The metallic minerals include iron ore, manganese ore, redoxide, gold, copper and lead. The non-metallic minerals include andalusite, asbestos, corundum, clay, delomite, limestone, limekankan, moulding sand, quartz, soap stone, granite and red ochre. The metallic minerals are abundant is only three taluks, Sandur, Hospet and Bellary in the order of mining activity intensity. The annual production of Iron ore is anywhere between 2.75 to 4.5 million tonnes, and manganese ore between 0.13 million tonnes to 0.3 million tonnes (1991).Bellary presently is the second fastest growing city in the state of Karnataka after Bangalore which is the capital city. The real estate prices have already started to shoot as more and more industries are finding their way into this city. Bellary to its credit has the second largest single rock mountain in the world.
Despite the availability of minerals in large quantities, this district is considered to be an industrially backward district. There are 23 units of large and medium scale industries in this district with an investment of Rs.447.76 crores employing around 9,222 persons At present it occupies ninth place in the state. Sathavahana Ispat Ltd. is the first Pig Iron plant setup in the region to utilize the abundant iron ore reserves available, Kirloskar was the next to follow with their Pig Iron plant. However with the commissioning of Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Limited at Hospet, the industry scenario of this district underwent sea changes. It is understood that Mukund Steels and Kalyani Steels have started industries in this area. The inflow of investment into these industries would be around Rs.30,000 Crores. The district will therefore come under heavy pressure on basic infrastructure such as power, communication, health, education and police stations which again invite heavy investment to create the needed infrastructure. Urgent action is needed to pool the resources under various sectors such as District Sector, State sector, Border Area Development, HKDB etc., and prepare a perspective plan to the emerging challenges. It has already drawn the attention of social scientists economists, administrators and other related functionaries to think over the possible positive and negative impact in this area.
353 km from Bangalore and 74 km from Bellary is Hampi. A World Heritage Site, Hampi is the most beautiful and evocative of all the ruins in Karnataka. The erstwhile capital of the Vijayanagar kingdom, Hampi is full of delightful surprises. Like the King's Balance where kings were weighed against grain, gold or money which was then distributed to the poor, the Queen's Bath with its arched corridors, projecting balconies and lotus-shaped fountains that once sprouted perfumed water, the two-storied Lotus Mahal with recessed archways, the huge Elephant Stables, the splendid Vithala Temple with its musical pillars and the Stone Chariot, the Virupaksha Temple, still used for worship, Ugra Narasimha, the 6.7 m tall monolith, the Pushkarini Tank, the Mahanavami Dibba and so much more.
"Bellary"