Jammalamadugu Taluk
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.
Jammalamadugu Taluk
jamhulu-madugu, ' the pool of rushes
North-western taluk of Cuddapah District, Madras, lying between 14degree 37' and 15degree 5' N. and 78degree 4' and 78degree 30' E., with an area of 616 square miles. The population in 1901 was 103,707, compared with 101,296 in 1891. The density is 168 persons per square mile, the District average being 148. The taluk contains one town, Jam- malamadugu (population, 13,852), the head-quarters; and 129 villages. The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 2,72,000. The annual rainfall averages 22 inches, compared with 28 in the District as a whole, and is less than in any other taluk. Two small hill ranges run from east to west through the southern portion of Jammalamadugu, both of which are parts of the Erramalas (Errakondas) or ' red hills.' One of them divides the taluk from Puli- vendla; and the other, which lies parallel to it, reaches its highest point at the fine gorge where the Penner bends sharply to the north and flows by Gandikota to the town of Jammalamadugu. The Penner and Chitr&vati rivers join near Gandlur on the west of the taluk, and their united channel drains the greater portion of the country. In the precipitous gorge of Gandikota, the river is reduced to an average width of 200 yards ; but in the level plain near the chief town it is at least three times as broad. Its waters are utilized to some slight extent for irrigation channels, but the manner in which the land rises from the river banks prevents any great use being made of them. Except the Penner basin, the whole of the taluk may be included in the black cotton soil tract. The quality of the land varies considerably, being excellent in the north and west, but only mediocre in the south. The wide plains of black soil are almost entirely divided between the two crops of cholam and cotton. Indigo, gram, and oilseeds are also raised ; but water is so scarce that rice and ragi may be said to be confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the Penner and its channels. The taluk has been liable from time to time to inundations. In 1 85 1 the village of Chautapalle, at the confluence of the Penner and the Chitravati, was totally destroyed by flood. Enormous freshes came down both rivers simultaneously and carried away the whole place, drowning about 500 of its inhabitants. On the morning of Septem- ber 12, 1902, a sudden deluge of rain swept away two spans of the railway bridge near the Mangapatnam railway station, with the result that the mail train was precipitated into the gap and seventy-one lives were lost. The Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal touches the north-east corner of the taluk.
