Navalgund Town
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.
Head-quarters of the taluka of the same name
in Dharwar District, Bombay, situated in 15° 33' N. and 75° 21" E.,
24 miles north-east of Dharwar town. Population (1901), 7,862. The
town is celebrated for the excellence of its cotton carpets, and for its
superior breed of cattle, which are chiefly, sold at the weekly market
on Tuesdays. In 1454 it appears as the head-quarters of a sarkar
under the Bahmani Sultan Ala-ud-dln. In 1690, under Aurangzeb's
governor of Savanur, it was the head-quarters of a revenue division,
managed by an hereditary Lingayat officer styled the Desai of Navalgund.
In 1 747 it was ceded to the Peshwa. It was conquered by Tipu Sultan,
and taken from him by the Marathas, who gave the Desai's family a
maintenance in land yielding Rs. 23,000 per annum. Between 1795
and 1800, in the struggles which convulsed the Maratha State, Dhundu
Pant Gokhale took Navalgund and Gadag from the hereditary Desai.
In 1837 General Munro appointed one Ram Rao as the military officer
of Navalgund, who seized possession of more than half the district,
and defeated the son of Gokhale. Hearing of this defeat, Gokhale
came from Badami and was himself defeated by General Munro,
marching from Dharwar. The Desai of Navalgund still enjoys some
itidm lands. In 1838 adoption was allowed, on condition that the
Desai abolished all duties on trade. A municipality was constituted
in 1870, of which the receipts during the decade ending 1901 averaged
Rs. 7,200. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 6,700. The town contains
a dispensary, and three schools, including one for girls.