Sholapur City, 1908
Sholapur City
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.
Solapur(=)'sixteen villages'
Head-quarters of Sholapur District, Bombay, situated in 17 40' N. and 75 54' E., on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. Population (1881), 61,281, (1891) 61,915, and (1901) 75,288. Hindus number 55,988; Muham- madans, 16,103; Jains, 1,206,; and Christians, 1,681.
The strong fort in the south-west comer of the city, surrounded by a ditch, is ascribed to Hasan Gangu, the founder of the Bahmani dynasty (1347). On the dissolution of that kingdom in 1489, Shola- pur was held by Zain Khan ; but during the minority of his son it was in 1511 besieged and taken by Kama! Khan, who annexed it with the surrounding districts to the Bijapur kingdom. In 1523 Sholapur formed part of the dowry of Ismail Adil Shah's sister, given in marriage to the king of Ahmadnagar But not being handed over to Ahmadnagar, it was for forty years a source of constant quarrels between the two dynasties, until it was given back to Bijapur as the dowry of the Ahmadnagar princess Chand Bibi (1562). In 1668, in accordance with the terms of the treaty of Agra, Sholapur fort passed to the Mughals, from whose possession it fell to the Nizam in 1723, at the time when Ramchandra Pant, the Maratha, threw off his allegiance to Muhammad Shah the emperor. In 1795 ^ was ceded by the Nizam to the Marathas, after the battle of Kharda. At the close of the war with the Peshwa in 1818, it was stormed by General Munro. Since then the city has been steadily increasing in importance.
Its convenient situation between Poona and Hyderabad has made it, especially since the opening of the railway in 1859, the centre for the collection and distribution of goods over a large extent of coun- try. The chief industry of Sholapur is the manufacture of silk and cotton cloth, more than 12,000 persons being engaged as hand-loom weavers, spinners, and dyers. Sholapur has one spinning and weaving mill and two spinning-mills. The first mill, belonging to the Sholapur Spinning and Weaving Company, was opened in 1877, with a capital of 8 lakhs. The three mills have 528 looms and 144,520 spindles, giving employment to more than 5,000 persons. The total capital invested is 30 lakhs.
Sholapur is situated in the centie of a large plain 1,800 feet above sea-level, on the watershed of the Adila, a feeder of the Sma. To the south-west, close to the city wall, lies the fort, and farther on are the officers' bungalows of the old cavalry lines, now mostly occupied by railway servants and the railway station. To the south is the Siddh- eswar lake, with a temple in the centre. On the south-east bank of the lake is the municipal garden; and about 1,000 yards more to the south-east are the Collector's office and bungalow. About 100 to 500 yards south-west of the Collector's office stretch the officers' bungalows of the old cantonment ; to the west of the officers' bungalows are the Protestant church and the post office. The chief public building is the Ripon Hall. The old military cantonment of Sholapur has been transferred to the civil authorities, and is included within municipal limits. No troops are now stationed here.
Sholapur was formerly enclosed by a wall 2^ miles in circuit. About 1872, to give room to the growing town, the municipality pulled down the whole of the east wall and parts on the south-west and north. The walls, where still standing, are 8 to 10 feet high, 4 to 6 feet wide at the base, and 3 to 4 feet wide at the top.
The fort is an irregular oblong about 230 yards by 176, enclosed by a double line of lofty battlemented and towered walls of rough stone 10 to 20 yards apart, and surrounded, except on the east or Siddheswar lake side, by a wet moat TOO to 150 feet broad and 15 to 30 deep. The whole work is Muhammadan, the outer wall dating from the fourteenth century, and the inner wall and four great square towers from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The outer wall, with battle- mented curtains and four corner and twenty-three side towers pierced for musketry, and with openings and vaulted chambers for cannon, rises 20 to 30 feet from the edge of the moat. About 20 yards behind, the inner wall, also towered and battlemented, rises 5 to ro feet above the outer wall. It has about twenty-five towers, exclusive of the four square towers.
The houses in the city are mostly built of mud, but sometimes of stone and burnt bricks, and are covered with flat roofs. On account of the absence of any high ground in the neighbourhood, Sholapur is on all sides exposed to the winds. The climate, except during the months of March, April, and May, is agreeable and healthy.
The municipality, established in 1853, had an average income during the decade end- ing 1901 of i\ lakhs. In 1903-4 the income was 2-| lakhs, including loans from Government (Rs. 45,000) and octroi dues (Rs. 60,000). Water-works, constructed by the municipality between 1879 and 1881, give a daily supply of about 13 gallons a head. The water is drawn from the Ekruk lower level canal through a line of lo-inch pipes into a settling tank, and thence pumped by steam-power. Sholapur has 39 schools, attended by 1,425 boys and 638 girls, including a Govern- ment high school with 165 pupils, four middle schools, one normal school, an industrial and a commercial school. There is also a kindergarten class supported by the American Mission. Besides the chief revenue and judicial offices there are two Subordinate Judges' courts, two hospitals, of which one is for females, and four dispensaries. Sholapur is the head-quarters of the American Pro- testant Mission, which has branches at 8 villages in the Sholapur tdluka.
Sholinghur. Town in the Walajapet taluk of North Arcot District, Madras, situated in 13 y'N. and 7925'E, Population (1901), 6,442. The station of the same name on the Madras Railway is 7^ miles from the town. The name is said to be a contraction of the words Chola-linga-puram, and to have been given to it because one of the Chola kings here found a natural lingam and built a shrine over it called the Choleswara or Sholeswara temple. The town is extensive, and a brisk trade is carried on in its bazars and at its weekly fair; but the place derives its chief importance from its temples. Besides that of Sholeswara, another shrine within the town is dedicated to Bhaktavatsala. This is of fine proportions and is thought to have been built by one of the Vijayanagar kings. The other chief temples lie outside the town. The most celebrated is that of Narasimhaswami, situated upon the summit of the loftiest hill in the neighbourhood. From it a magnificent view may be obtained of the country round, with its reservoirs and fertile cultivation. Upon a lower hill to the east is a temple to Anjaneyaswami which, though not so pretentious as its neighbour architecturally, enjoys an equally wide reputation. Women suffering from dementia or hysteria (who are supposed to be possessed by evil spirits) are brought to it to be cured.
Another fine shrine lies below the Narasimhaswami hill. It is now in ruins, having been struck, it would appear, by lightning, and its finely carved columns lie about in confusion. There are very many sacred pools or tlrthams round Sholinghur, the chief being the Brahma tlrtham^ in which people bathe on Thursdays. In the neighbourhood of Sholinghur, in 1781, was fought the battle between Sir Eyre Coote and Haidar All in which the latter lost heavily. Two large Muhammadan tombs by the side of the road on the south of the town mark the spot where the bodies of the slain of the Mysore army were interred in two common graves.
