Kanara, North
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.
Contents |
Kanara, North
District in the Southern Division of Bombay, lying between 13 degree 53' and 15 degree 32' N. and 74 degree 4' and 75 degree 5' E., with an area of 3,945 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Belgaum District ; on the east by Dharwar District and the State of Mysore ; on the south by South Kanara in Madras ; on the west for about 76 miles by the Arabian Sea ; and on the north-west by the territory of Goa, The District is not to be confounded with the District of South Kanara in Madras. North Kanara is the roost southerly of the coast Districts of the Bombay Presidency.
Pysical aspects
The Western Ghats, varying in height from 2,500 to 3,000 feet, run through the District from north to south, dividing it into two parts: namely, the uplands or Balaghat (area, asoecte!! 2 39 square miles), and the lowlands or Payan- ghat (area, 1,306 square miles). The coast-line is broken only by the Karwar headland in the north, and by the estuaries of four rivers and the mouths of many smaller streams, through which the salt water finds an entrance into numerous lagoons winding several miles inland. The shore, though generally sandy, is in some parts rocky. Fringing its margin, and behind the banks of the brushwood- bordered lagoons, rise groves of coco-nut palms ; and inland from this line of palms stretches a narrow strip of level rice land.
The whole breadth of the lowlands, never more than 15 miles, is in some places not more than 5 miles. From this narrow belt rise a few smooth flat- topped hills, from 200 to 300 feet high ; and at places it is crossed by lofty, rugged, densely-wooded spurs, which, starting from the main range of the Western Ghats, maintain almost to the coast a height of not less than 1,000 feet Among these hills lie well-tilled valleys of garden and rice land.
The plateau of the Balaghat is irregular,
varying from 1,500 to 2,000 feet in height. In some parts the country
rises into well-wooded knolls, in others it is studded by small, isolated,
steep hills. Except on the bank of streams and in the more open
glades, the whole is one broad waste of woodland and forest. The
open spaces are dotted over with hamlets or parcelled out into rice
clearings.
Both on the coast, where the green curtain of the forest forms
a pleasing background to the long stretches of white sand, on which
the rollers break beneath tall palms or dense patches of casuarina,
and above the ghats in the vistas of giant hills covered with evergreen
jungle, the scenery is of rare beauty. Owing to the absence of railway
communication the greater part of the District is seldom visited, except
by officials or sportsmen ; but the traveller who strays into these
unfrequented paths will find surroundings that compare favourably
in picturesqueness with any of nature's handiwork.
Stretching across the watershed of the Western Ghats, North Kanara contains two sets of rivers — one flowing west to the Arabian Sea, the other east towards the Bay of Bengal. Of the eastern streams, the Varada, a tributary of the Tungabhadra, alone calls for mention. Of those that flow westwards, four are of some importance — the KallnadI in the north, the Gangavali and Tadri in the centre, and the Sharavatl in the south. The last of these, plunging over a cliff 825 feet in height, about 35 miles east of Honavar, forms the famous Gersoppa Falls. Along the coast the quality of the water is good, and the supply throughout the year abundant.
The prevailing rocks are granite and trap, the former largely pre- dominating. At the base of the granite hills a laterite formation is common. Along the coast from Karwar to Honavar the surface rock is almost entirely hard laterite, a stone admirably adapted for building purposes.
The humid climate and the high and equable temperature of North Kanara account for the predominance of heavy forest and the mois- ture-loving types of tropical vegetation. Teak prevails in loose lighter- coloured soils. Bamboos of several valuable kinds grow over the whole of the District. The chief liquor-yielding tree is the coco-nut, which is luxuriant in Karwar, Kumta, Ankola, and Honavar. Liquor is also manufactured from the baini (Caryota urens), which grows profusely in the Ghat forests. A detailed list of important trees, shrubs, and common herbs is given in Sir James Campbeirs Bombay Gazetteer, Kanara is almost the only part of the Bombay Presidency abounding in wild animals.
Within the last thirty years elephants have been shot in the District, but they are now extinct Tigers are numerous, though they have decreased considerably in recent years. Leopards are found in large numbers, and occasionally the black variety. In the western portion of the above-gkat division, bison are common. Black bear, sambar y the ribbed-face and mouse deer are frequently met with ; and at times the game are much harried by packs of wild dogs who pursue the deer relentlessly till they succumb from exhaustion. In the smaller forests chital (Cervus axis) are not uncommon. The absence of legal restriction on the number of deer shot has, however, led to such a reduction in their numbers that rules are now being brought into force to save them from extinction.
Twenty years ago a herd of eighty chital was not unknown; it would be difficult nowadays to meet with eight together. Among game-birds are the peafowl, jungle-fowl, spur-fowl, partridge, snipe, quail, duck, widgeon, teal, the green and the imperial pigeon. Red squirrels are frequently seen. Snakes are numerous, including the hamadryad or king cobra, and the python.
The climate of different parts of Kanara varies greatly in salubrity. The coast portion, though moist, is healthy; but the forest tracts, especially the upland forests, are always malarious and at intervals are visited by especially fatal outbreaks. The most unhealthy time in the forests is the first two months of the rains and the four cold-season months. The valleys of the KallnadI and of its feeders are tracts where fever has a specially bad name. In December, January, and February the uplands at night and early morning are often wrapped in mist.
From May 20 the south-west wind freshens and blows all day, and throughout the hot season the greater portion of the District is rendered agreeable by the prevalence of cool breezes. The tempera- ture falls to 59 in November and rises to 91 in May. In March and April severe thunderstorms serve to cool the atmosphere. The highest annual rainfall is in Bhatkal, 156 inches, while Mundgod records only 46. Of the two divisions of the District, the lowland or coast tract has a heavier rainfall than the upland. The annual rainfall at Karwar averages 119 inches.
History
In the low-lying lands near the coast heavy rainfall and a stormy sea sometimes cause floods which damage the crops. In 183 1 and again in 1848, owing to the tempestuous weather, the Honavar coast lands were flooded with salt water and the crops destroyed.
In the third century B.C. Asoka sent missionaries to Banavasi in Kanara. From numerous inscriptions the country appears to have been controlled successively by the Kadambas of Banavasi, the Rattas, the Western Chalukyas, and the Yadavas. It was for long a stronghold of the Jain religion. In the sixteenth century, when the Portuguese established themselves upon the coast, Kanara was subject to the Vijayanagar kings.
It is said to have been extremely rich and prosperous, and for a long period firmly withstood the efforts of the Muhammadan Sultans of the Deccan to extend their conquests to the south. Eventually, after the crushing defeat at Talikota (1565) and the sack of the capital city of Vijayanagar, the local chiefs of Kanara assumed indepen- dence. The Musalmans then attacked the Portuguese settlements on the coast, but were unable to subdue them. The power of Bijapur, however, was generally established over Kanara, and con- tinued until the Marathas obtained an ascendancy about 1675 ; but with the advance of Aurangzeb the country passed under the Mughals after the fall of Bijapur in 1686, and the chiefs of Sonda and Bednur tendered their submission and tributes. Some time subsequent to 1700 the Marathas again held Kanara.
In 1763 Haidar All captured Bednur and obtained an immense booty. Sonda and the sea-coast were also subdued by him, and this brought Haidar into collision with the Marathas; but he was able to maintain his conquests, and even to extend them as far north as the Kistna. War breaking out with the British, Tipu lost Honavar in 1 783. After the defeat and death of Tipu at Seringapatam, Sonda was annexed by the British in 1799. It included the Kanara country above the ghats 9 which had been so desolated by war and pillage that there was little to govern except trees and wild beasts. This, with the coast tract taken from Haidar, was attached to the Madras Presidency in 1799, and placed in charge of Munro.
It continued to form part of Madras until 1861. In that year, owing to its relations with Bom- bay and to the fact that the forests supplied the Bombay dock- yard with timber for ship-building, North Kanara was transferred to the Presidency of Bombay.
The chief buildings of interest in the District are the Jain temples of
Banavasi, Gersoppa, and Bhatkal. The temple at Banavasi, which is
attributed to the legendary Jakhanach&rya, is of considerable dimen-
sions. It is ornamented with sculptured figures and designs, and has
a short Dravidian spire. A loose slab in the courtyard bears an
inscription of the second century a.d. At Nagarbastikere near the
modern Gersoppa several Jain temples mark the site of the old town.
They are much damaged by time, but the images representing the
twenty-third and twenty-fourth Tirthankars are still intact. They are
finely modelled in black basalt.
At Bhatkal fourteen Jain basils are still preserved, dating from the reign of Channabhaira Devi in the fifteenth century. At the same place are three stone tombs of Euro- pean merchants who were buried in the year 1637. The numerous Hindu temples at Gokarn are ascribed to the fifteenth century. That of Mahabaleshwar is the most imposing. Many Kanarese inscriptions have been found at Bhatkal, Gersoppa, and Banavasi. At Ulvi in Supa there are a few Lingayat caves and the well of the Lingayat saint Basava.
Population
The Census of 1872 showed a total population of 398,498, and in the next nine years the population increased to 421,932. By 1891 it had further increased to 446,453. The Census of 1901 recorded a population of 454,490, or 115 per- sons per square mile, residing in 8 towns and 1,281 villages. The distribution was : —
The chief towns are the municipalities of Karwar, the head-quarters of the District, Kumta, Bhatkal, Honavar, and Sirsi. Owing to the large areas of forest the country above the ghats is very sparsely populated, and in parts the population is decreasing. Much of the labour required to cultivate the upland tracts is therefore drawn from outside, the chief sources being Goa, Savantvadi State, and the Coondapoor taluk of South Kanara. The language of the District is Kanarese, which is spoken by 57 per cent, of the total population. On the coast north of Gokarn and in the stupa petha, Konkani replaces Kanarese as the common tongue.
Among the Brahmans of Kanara (72,000) the most important are the Haviks (41,000), who are chiefly engaged in cultivation, being the owners of the areca-nut gardens of Sirsi and Siddapur s. They are reputed to have come originally from Southern India, and to have intermarried with the local cultivating caste of Gaudas. The second Brahman caste of importance is the Gaud Saraswat (25,000), also known as Shenvi, with the two kindred sub-castes of Bardeskar and Kudaldeskar. The Gaud Saraswats, who are very fair, claim a northern origin, and certainly came from Goa in the early part of the sixteenth century.
They commonly eat fish, on which account other BrShmans
usually deny them the full status of their caste. Closely allied to the
Gaud Saraswats, and probably in former times one caste with them, are
the Saraswats (2,000), also known as Kushasthali or Shenvipaiki, many
of whom have lately come from South Kanara. Between Saraswats and
Gaud Saraswats there is chronic enmity. The establishments of the
Government offices in the District are largely recruited from the former.
Apart from the Brahman castes, the special interest of the North
Kanara population centres in the primitive classes, such as the Hal-
vakki Vakkals (4,000), Gamvakkals (12,000), Halepaiks (52,000),
Mukris (5,000), Kumairpaiks (9,000), and Harakantras (6,000), who
have much in common with the population of Malabar and South
Kanara, and but little affinity with the rest of the Bombay Presidency.
Among these primitive pjeople there exists to the present day an organ- ization by baits or exogamous divisions strongly suggestive of totems. Thus, in the caste of a bait named after the sambar deer, the members may not harm the animal, and do not intermarry. Descent is traced through females. With the gradual Brahmanizing of these castes, such as the recent promotion of the Kumarpaiks to Kshattriya rank, it is to be expected that this organization by baits may in time disappear. It has survived long enough, however, to throw valuable light on the nature and origin of the Maratha devaks in the Deccan. The Marathas in North Kanara number 48,000, and are all cultivators, apparently a relic of the former Marathi dominion. Locally they are collectively described as Arer or Aryans.
It is to be noted that the Gangavali river is popularly considered the extreme southern limit of the Aryan race and languages in India. South of this river the dark complexion, coarse features, Dravidian speech, and primitive customs of the people seem to lend much support to the popular view. Muhammadans (29,000) are distributed as follows: Pathans, 3,000; Saiyids, 2,000; Shaikhs, 19,000. Besides the regular Muhammadan population (de- scendants of local converts to Islam), generally in poor circumstances, employed chiefly in agriculture and by Government as messengers and police, there are, in Kanara, two special bodies of foreign Muham- madan settlers. Of these, the more important and well-to-do are the Navayats or seamen, representatives of the colonies of Arab mer- chants, of whom a remnant still exists along the whole coast-line of the Bombay Presidency, from Gogha southwards.
The other foreign Musalman community is the Sidis, descendants of African slaves for- merly owned by the Portuguese. Although they have intermarried for several generations with the low-caste population of the District, the Sidis have not lost their original peculiarities. They still possess the woolly hair and black skin of the pure negro. Some of them have been converted to Christianity, and some have become absorbed in the lower Hindu castes. They are for the most part very poor, and, settled in remote forests, live on the produce of little patches of rude cultivation.
The Christians in the District, who are almost all Roman Catholics,
belong to two classes, the first of which consists of a few families from
Goa, of Portuguese extraction, though much mixed by intermarriage
with the natives of the country ; the second are descendants of local
converts to Christianity. Christians of the higher class are clerks, the
rest principally artisans and labourers. The total number of native
Christians in 1901 was 16,126, of whom 15,116 were Roman Catholics.
The chief centres of Roman Catholic Christians are Honavar, Kumta,
and Karwar.
During their time of power and friendship with the
Vijayanagar kings (1510-70), the Portuguese were probably allowed
to make converts. But, as far as the record 0f treaties remains, it was
during the early part of the eighteenth century, after the Mughals had
withdrawn and when the Sonda chief in the north and the Bednur
chiefs in the south were their close allies, that the Portuguese were
most successful in spreading Christianity along the Kanara coast.
When in 1784 Tipu succeeded in driving the British out of Kanara,
he determined, on both political and religious grounds, to convert the
native Christians of Kanara to Islam. After taking a secret census he
dispatched troops who arrested 60,000, or, according to other accounts,
30,000 out of the 80,000 Christians found.
The churches were dis- mantled and every trace of the Christian religion disappeared. Except infirm women and children, the prisoners were marched under a strong military escort to Seringapatam, then the capital of Mysore. The men were circumcised, the unmarried girls carried away as concubines, and many of the married women were badly treated. The change of climate from the coast to the Mysore uplands, harsh treatment, and the unhealthiness of some of the places to which they were sent, so broke the health of the converts that within a year 10,000 are said to have perished. A few Protestants are found in the towns of Karwar and Honavar. The only mission in the District is the Basel German Mission, with its head-quarters at Honavar. It was established in 1845 and supports five schools.
Agriculture
The cultivated portions of the lowlands are either sandy plains lying along the shore and the banks of rivers, or narrow well-watered valleys, which are for the most part planted with rice, coco- nut groves, and areca-nut gardens. In the uplands the soil is generally a stiff clay, retentive of moisture. Owing to the want of inhabitants, and also to the malarious climate, many fertile and well-irrigated valleys lie waste and covered with forest ; and difficulty is experienced in finding a sufficiency of labour for the lands already under cultivation.
The District is entirely ryotwari. The chief statistics of cultivation in 1903-4 are shown below, in square miles : —
.
Rice, of which there are many varieties, is the staple crop, the area in 1903-4 being 297 square miles. Jowar, chiefly grown in the Haliyal y occupied one square mile. Ragi, occupying 8 square miles, is grown in the hills for the food of the poorer classes. Pulses occupied 10 square miles, the chief being mug y kulith, and udid 9 mostly grown in the coast talukas. Sugar-cane and safflower are also grown to a considerable extent ; and coco-nuts, areca-nuts, the lesser cardamoms (Elettaria Cardamomum) and pepper are produced in gardens in large quantities for home consumption and for export. The cultivation of coffee has been tried but proved unprofitable.
Rice and garden lands are irrigated, the water being obtained from perennial streams. Near villages, especially on the coast, there are groves and avenues of Alexandrian laurel, which attains a large size. East Indian arrow- root grows wild and is also cultivated in some parts. The coco- nut palm is common along the coast, and is the chief liquor-yield- ing tree in the District. The palms, grown solely for their nuts, are calculated to yield, on good coast garden land, a net yearly profit of about Rs. 50 per acre.
The areca-nut gardens, which are situated in the upland valleys, are surrounded by strong fences, within which are planted rows of coco-nut, jack, and mango trees. The pan or betel-leaf vine (Piper Betie) is extensively grown ; also the areca palm. The upland gardens further contain pepper, cardamoms, ginger, plantains ; and sometimes pummelo, orange, lime, and iron-wood trees (nag-chdtnpa) are found in these higher tracts. Of vegetables, the bfundi is largely grown on the coast; and the egg-plant, the water- melon, and various pumpkin gourds and cucumbers are common.
Formerly, in the more open parts of the forest, nomadic cultivation
by brushwood burning (kumri) was carried on, principally by tribes
of Maratha, extraction. The chief difficulty experienced in regard to
cultivation in North Kanara since the practice of kumri was stopped
is that known as the betta and soppu question. Bctia is forest land
assigned to the adjacent garden cultivation for the provision of soppu
or leaf manure, which is indispensable in the cultivation of betel,
pepper, and cardamoms.
The improvident use of betta assignments, leading to the destruction of the forest on the land, results in a constant demand for further assignments, which cannot be continuously met unless the forest is to be entirely sacrificed to cultivation. Efforts are being made to come to a final settlement with each garden holder, by the allotment of an area of betta that is adequate for his requirements if treated with proper care. The salt marshes on the coast are offered for reclamation on very favourable terms. ' The cultivators have little recourse to advances under the Land Improvement and Agriculturists' Loans Acts. During the decade ending 1903-4 only 1.5 lakhs was advanced, of which Rs. 27,000 was lent in 1899-1900 and Rs. 67,000 during the last three years of the period.
The cattle are inferior everywhere, especially below the Ghats. Karwar, Kumta, Ankola, and Honavar contain few domestic animals of local breed. In Karwar, Kumta, and Honavar the Goanese and other Christians rear pigs. Fowls are kept by all classes except Brahmans.
Of the total area of cultivated land, 30 square miles or 6 per cent, were irrigated in 1903-4. Canals and wells supply about 2 square miles each, tanks 4 square miles, and other sources 22 square miles. The Mavinkop tank supplies 579 acres in the Haliyal taluka. The other special irrigation works are insignificant In 1903-4 there were 18,205 wells and 5,534 tanks used for irrigation. Rice and garden crops are watered by runnels brought from streams or rivers. Near the coast in the dry season, dams of earth, stones, and tree branches are thrown across streams and the lands near are watered, the dam being removed at the close of the dry season or left to be swept away by the floods. Some places are watered by canals from ponds.
Where the level of the water is below the field, if not very deep, it is raised in a basket hung on ropes and swung through the water by two men. If water has to be raised from a greater depth, the lever and bucket lift is worked by either one or two men ; and, if the depth is still greater, it is drawn by the leathern bag worked by a pair of bullocks. When brought to the surface, the water is generally carried to the crop along the hollowed trunk of a palm-tree. The cost of constructing wells varies from Rs. 200 in sandy soil to Rs. 700 in the loam.
Forest
The forests of North Kanara are very extensive. Of the total area, 3,262 l square miles are under forest, of which 548 square miles are 'protected.' The Forest department has charge of the whole area. The forests are divided into three sections : the table-land above the Ghats, the main range, and the western spurs. The first of these contains splendid forests of teak* black-wood, and other trees 80 to 150 feet high, with fine clean stems 60 to 90 feet high and 5 to 12 feet in girth.
The central belt has some of the finest forest of the District, including the magnificent teak tracts along the KallnadI, Bedti, and Gangavali rivers. Bamboos of several valuable kinds grow over the whole of the District The more important trees in the Kanara forests are khair, Aedu, siras, dhaura, kdju, moha, phanas , undi, sisu, abnus, jambul, nandruk, bhirand, nan, mango, sandal-wood, tamarind, teak, and hirda.
The forest revenue in 1903-4 exceeded 9 lakhs, mainly derived from the value of the timber sold from the depots. The cultivators are allowed to gather dry wood for fuel and leaves for manure, and to cut bamboos and brushwood for their huts and cattle-sheds. They are also supplied, free of charge, with such timber as they require for their own use. In former years most of the produce of the Kanara forests went westwards to the sea-coast, finding its chief markets in Bombay and Gujarat. Of late years the sea trade has fallen off, and the bulk of the timber is now taken eastward to the open country in and beyond Dharwar.
Iron ore is found in different places in the main range and spurs of the Western Ghats, and in the island of Basavrajdrug about half a mile off the coast of Haldipur and about 2 miles from the town of Honavar. The building stone in general use below the Ghats is iron- clay or laterite, and sometimes granite or granitic schist and clay-slate. Above the Ghats it is nearly always gmnite. In the same tract lime is usually made from limestone pebbles dug out of the banks of streams. On the coast, lime is prepared by burning cockle and oyster shells, which are abundant in most of the creeks and rivers, especially in the KallnadI.
Trade and communication
In Kumta and Banavasi there are skilled carvers of sandal-wood. A few hundred persons are employed in cutch- boiling. In the Ankola tdluka are 131 salt-works, of which 107 were working in 1903-4 and produced 39,000 maunds of salt. With these exceptions North Kanara has no industries worthy of notice. The ports of Bhatkal and Honavar were known in the early centuries of the Christian era, and rose to importance in the fifteenth and six- teenth centuries as centres of the trade in horses from the Persian Gulf.
At the present day the chief ports are Karwar, Kumta, Ankola, 1 This figure is taken from the Foiest Administration Report for 1903-4. Honavar, and Bhatkal, with a total trade in 1903-4 of 61 lakhs: namely, imports 20 lakhs, and exports 41 lakhs. The principal articles of export are rice, timber, coco-nuts, and spices ; imports are piece-goods, metals, sugar, and spirits. Cotton from Dharwar, formerly exported in large quantities from Kdmta, now goes by rail direct to the port of shipment for Europe.
The Southern Mahratta Railway crosses the north-west angle of the District. North Kanara is traversed from north to south by two main roads, one above the Ghats and one along the coast, and by four main roads at right angles to them which climb the Ghats and link up the principal coast towns with Belgaum, Dharwar, and Mysore State, These roads run from Kadra to Belgaum via Supa, from Karwar to Dharwar via Yellapur, from Kamta to Dharwar via Sirsi, and from Honavar to Mysore territory via the Falls. In 1904 the District possessed 340 miles of metalled and 885 of unmetalled roads. All these, except 24 miles of metalled and 585 of unmetalled roads in charge of the local authorities, are maintained by the Public Works department. Avenues of trees are planted along 166 miles. There is steamer communication with Bombay during the fair season only, the steamers of the Bom- bay Steam Navigation Company calling at Karwar, Gokarn, Kumta, Honavar, and Bhatkal twice a week on their way to and from Mangalore.
Famine
North Kanara, with an assured rainfall, is practically exempt from famine. Bad seasons have been known, but the records point to the fact that local scarcity has only occurred owing to an influx of immigrants from the Deccan and Ratna- giri, or to the depredations of dacoits causing hindrance to the arrival of supplies. The District suffered from these causes in 1806, when men were forced to feed on roots and rice husks, and about 3,000 persons are said to have died of want. In the famine of 1877 relief was necessary on a small scale.
Administration
The Collector is usually assisted by a member of the Indian Civil Service and a Deputy-Collector. The District comprises the eight taluka of Ankola, Honavar, Karwar, Kumta, Siddapur, Sirsi, Haliyal, and Yellapur. The Mahals or pethas are Supa attached to Haliyal, Mundgod to Yellapur, and Bhatkal to Honavar . There are three Forest officers.
There is a District and Sessions Judge at Karwar and four Sub- ordinate Judges. The District Judge acts as a court of appeal from the Subordinate Judges, of whom one decides all original suits with- out limit in value. Three of the Subordinate Judges exercise the powers of a Small Cause Court There are twenty-five officers to administer criminal justice in the District. Crime is not of a serious nature below the Ghats, save an occasional case of forgery ; while above the Ghats the most common offences are murder and dacoity, usually committed by persons coming from Dharwar District.
The ancient Hindu revenue system involved theoretically the levy of a sixth part of the gross produce of the land as the share of the State; but in practice much more than a sixth was taken under various pretexts, either in kind or commuted into money. Probably in late years as much as one-third was exacted; but when Haidar All and Tipu held Kanara, the District was rack-rented to such a ruinous extent that population was diminished by a third, and only half the nominal revenue could be collected.
When the District was
taken over by the British, it was at first proposed to introduce a per-
manent settlement; but, in consideration of its desolate condition,
large reductions of revenue were made as a temporary measure, and
a permanent settlement postponed. Before many years the opinion
was expressed that the Government demand was far too high and
unequal in its incidence, and operated against the spread of cultiva-
tion; and after an unsuccessful attempt to fix the revenue upon an
average of past receipts, a survey was begun in 1822. This was rather
a rough inspection than an accurate survey, but it showed that the
area under cultivation was larger than had been supposed. By fixing
the assessments at about a third of the produce, the general rate of
taxation was lowered ; but the revenue was increased and paid with-
out difficulty. Some progress was made with the survey on this
principle, when it was discovered that, as the rate was the same on
all lands, good or bad, the worst lands were being abandoned ; and
it was then decided to classify the lands according to their quality.
In 1848 a minute was recorded by the Collector, demonstrating that it was not possible to assess the District satisfactorily without positive information as to the extent and capabilities of the land and the amount of Government as distinct from private lands, and pointing out that private owners were on all sides extending their boundaries at the expense of Government. Still it was considered that the ex- pense of a survey could not be afforded, and nothing was done until the District was transferred from Madras to Bombay. On its transfer, a survey was introduced, the greatest difficulty being experienced in identifying boundaries of villages and fields. Between 1864 and 1867 a survey settlement was made in 199 villages above the Ghats, the whole District being completed by 189 1.
As the settlement spread towards the coast, the landholders showed signs of opposition ; for it was found that the old assessments were far short of even a moderate rent, and that the revenue would be doubled. They refused to pay the new rates, and appealed to the civil courts for redress, carrying their suits to the High Court, which finally upheld the right of Govern- ment to revise the assessments in Kanara, and since then opposition has died out.
The survey increased the land revenue by 13 per cent, in Honavar, by 36 per cent, in Ankola and Kumta, by 63 per cent, in Yellapur, and by 115 per cent in Karwar. The revision survey of three s was completed between 1895-1900, the assessment and area remaining unaffected. The total assessment on Government occupied land is now 10 lakhs. The average assessment per acre is : on ' dry ' land 7 annas, on rice land Rs. 2-5, and on garden land Rs. 11-15.
Collections on account of land revenue and revenue from all sources have been, in thousands of rupees : —
There are six municipalities in the District— Karwar, Kumta, Sirsi, Haliyal, Honavar, and Bhatkal — besides two temporary muni- cipalities at Gokarn and Ulvi. Outside the limits of these, local affairs are managed by the District board and eight boards. The total income of these bodies in 1903-4 was Rs. 1,18,000, the principal source being the land cess. The expenditure was Rs. 1,38,000, including Rs. 58,000 expended on roads and buildings.
The District Superintendent of police is assisted by 2 inspectors. There are 14 police stations in the District; and the total strength of the police force is 646, including 12 chief constables, 138 head constables, and 496 constables. The District jail at Karwar has accommodation for 252 prisoners. In addition, there are 10 subsi- diary jails and one lock-up in the District, with accommodation for 180 prisoners. The daily average number of prisoners in 1904 was 189, of whom one was a female.
Compared with other Districts of the Presidency, Kanara stands fifth in point of literacy. In 1901, 8.4 per cent, of the population (15 males and i-i females) could read and write. Education has spread widely of late years. In 1865-6 there were only 16 schools, attended by 929 pupils. By 1880-1 the number of pupils had in- creased to 6,511, and by 1890-1 to 12,214. In 1903-4 there were 208 public and 26 private institutions, attended by 9,689 male and 2,062 female pupils. The public institutions include one high school, 10 middle, and 197 primary schools. Of these one is maintained by Government, 147 are managed by local boards, and 37 by munici- palities, 19 are aided and 4 unaided. The total expenditure in 1903-4 was Rs. 82,500, of which Rs. 16,000 was derived from fees, and Rs. 17,000 from Iocal funds. Of the total, 66 per cent, was devoted to primary education.
There is a hospital at Karwar, and 12 dispensaries, including a railway medical institution, are situated in the District, with accom- modation for 85 in-patients. In these institutions 50,500 patients were treated in 1904, of whom 749 were in-patients, and 941 opera- tions were performed. The total expenditure was Rs. 22,800, of which Rs. 10,060 was met from municipal and Local funds.
The number of persons successfully vaccinated in 1903-4 was 11,850, representing a proportion of 26 per 1,000, which slightly exceeds the average for the Presidency.
[Sir J. M. Campbell, Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, vol. xv (1883) ; Selections from ihe Records of the Bombay Government, No. CLXIII (1883).]
