The Belgaum district is a district in the state of
Karnataka in India. The administrative headquarters of this district are located in the city of Belgaum. The Belgaum District has been divided into 10 talukas. The biggest taluka, known as Athani taluka has an area of 1,995.70 sq km and while Raybag taluka, the smallest taluka has an area of 958.8 sq km. The district is made up of three revenue sub-divisions and six police sub-divisions. The district is a part of the Belgaum division which also includes the districts of
Bagalkot,
Haveri, Gadag, Uttara Kannada,
Bijapur and
Dharwad.
As per the 2001 census of India, the Belgaum District has a total population of 4,214,505. 24.03% of the people live in urban areas. The district spreads over an area of 12,000 square kilometers. It is surrounded on the west and the north by the state of
Maharashtra, on the northeast by the
Bijapur District, on the east by the
Bagalkot District, on the southeast by the Gadag District, on the south by the Dharawad District and the Uttara Kannada districts, and on the southwest by the state of
Goa. The main languages spoken by the people of this district include
Kannada and
Marathi.
The most prehistoric place in the Belgaum District is Halsi. Inscriptions on copper plates discovered in the vicinity of Halsi provide evidence for the fact that the town was once the capital of a dynasty of nine Kadamba kings. It is probable that from the middle of the 6th century to about 760 the region was under the possession of
the Chalukyas, who were followed by the Rashtrakutas. The Rattas, ruling during the period 875 to 1250, made the town of Belgaum their capital. The Rattas were succeeded by the Yadavas of Devagiri, who were in turn succeeded by the
the Delhi Sultanate.
After a few years, certain parts of the region came under the rule of the Hindu rajas of
Vijayanagar. Then came the Bahmani Sultanate who were followed by the
Mughals led
by
Aurangzeb and then by the Peshwas. In the year 1776 Hyder Ali of
Mysore captured the region but the Peshwa restore it with British support. In 1818 the district was totally under the control of the
British East India Company. The British had an infantry post in this region and the place is used as a military base till date. The Mahatma Gandhi Railway Station in the district was set up by the British.
Kittur, a place in the district, is of considerable historical significance. Rani Chennamma of Kittur (1778-1829) is known for her confrontation with the British. Another person from this region, known for her incessant struggle with the British is Sangolli Rayanna. There are many places of tourist attraction in the Belgaum District. Some of these are the evergreen forests of Jamboti, the Varapoha Falls, the Belgaum fort, an ancient Jain temple made up of black stone and an ancient Masjid.
There are many educational institutions in the Belgaum District providing good quality education. Some notable ones are the Visveswaraiah Technological University, the Airmen Training School, the Karnataka Lingayat (K.L.E.) Education Society, the Indian Institute of Hydrology and Vaccine and a military school.
