Bellary Taluk

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This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

Bellary Taluk

Eastern taluk of the District of the same name, Madras, lying between 14° 57 and i5°44'N. and 76° 40' and 77° 10' E., with an area of 962 square miles. The population in 1901 was 193,401, compared with 180,353 in 1891. The taluk contains two towns, Bellary (population, 58,247), the head-quarters and the capital of the District, and Siruguppa (5,805); and 156 villages. The demand for land revenue and cesses amounted in 1903-4 to Rs. 4,23,000, being the highest in the District. As much as four-fifths of the total area, a higher proportion than in any other taluk., is covered with black cotton .soil, the remaining fifth being red land. Except in the extreme south, where it is bounded, and in places broken up, by the spurs of the Copper Mountain, it forms a wide level expanse diversified only by low granite hills. It slopes north and north-eastwards towards the Tunga- bhadra and the Hagari ; the Pedda Vanka, one of the streams which carry its drainage into the latter, is of a respectable size. It is the largest, most populous, and best-educated taluk in the District ; and it contains the highest proportion of Musalmans, nearly four-fifths of all the Christians, and an unusual number of the few Jains who are found there. More than half the population speak Kanarese, only a fifth speaking Telugu. The land served by the Tungabhadra channels about Siruguppa is the most fertile in the District. Cholam and korra are the staple crops, but the area under cotton is large and a considerable amount of cambu is grown. The forest area is smaller than in any taluk except Alur, and the rainfall is the lightest in the District.