Pattikonda 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.
Pattikonda Taluk
(Cotton-hill '). Westernmost taluk of Kurnool District, Madras, lying between 15 7' and 15 52' N. and 77 21' and 78 i' E., with an area of 1,134 square miles. The population in 1901 was 143,033, compared with 138,703 in 1891. The density is 126 persons per square mile, compared with the District average of 115 and the Presidency average of 270. The taluk was the worst sufferer in the District in the great famine of 1876-8, when it lost about 60 per cent, of its inhabitants. It contains 104 villages, includ- ing five ' whole inams; but no town. PATTIKONDA, PYAPALLI, Kodu- mur, and Maddikera are places of some importance, the first being the head-quarters. The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 3,20,000. The Tungabhadra forms the northern boun- dary, separating it from the Nizam's Dominions. The only other river is the Hindri, which rises near Maddikera and drains nearly two-thirds of it. Pattikonda was part of Bellary District till 1858. It was then called Panchapalaiyam, or the 'land of the five poligars; Almost every village contains a ruined fort. The rainfall is 23 inches, about two-thirds of which is received during the south-west monsoon. The taluk is almost entirely 'dry; there being only 34,925 acres of 'wet' cultivation supplied by petty tanks and wells. The prevailing soil is black cotton soil, but the southern portion is gravelly and hilly. The taluk contains 112 square miles of ' reserved ' forests, almost the whole of which lies on the Erramalas in the southern and south-eastern portions.
