Southern Division (Bombay)
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.
Southern Division (Bombay)
A Division of the Presidency of Bombay, lying between 13° 53' and 19° 8' N. and 72° 51' and 76° 32' E., with an area of 24,994 square miles. It comprises the Konkan Districts, as well as Belgaum, Dharwar, Bijapur, and North Kanara. During the last thirty years population has increased by
8 per cent.: (1872) 4,693,629, (1881) 4,370,220, (1891) 5,008,063, and (1901) 5,070,692. In the last decade, owing to plague, the in- crease was only one per cent. The density of population is 203 persons per square mile, compared with an average of 151 for the Presidency. In 1 90 1 Hindus formed 89 per cent, of the population, Musalmans
9 per cent., while Jains numbered 73,069, and Christians 35,154. The area, population, and revenue of the Districts are : —
Kolaba and Ratnagiri lie in the Konkan, where the rainfall is plentiful ; Kanara is half above and half below the Ghats. The Division contains 50 towns and 7,527 villages. The largest towns are Hubli (population, 60,214), Belgaum (36,878, including canton- ments), Dharwar (31,279), Gadag (30,652), and Bijapur (23,811).
The chief places of commercial importance are Hubli and Dharwar. Bijapur is a place of historical interest, and has many archaeological remains dating from the time when it was an independent Muham- madan kingdom. Saundatti-Yellamma in Belgaum is an important place of pilgrimage.
The Political Agencies shown in the table on the next page are under the supervision of the Commissioner of this Division. The head-quarters of the Commissioner are at Belgaum.
