Raichur district


Raichur District is an administrative district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located in the northeast part of the state and is bounded by Yadgir district in the north, Bijapur and Bagalkot district in the northwest, Koppal district in the west, Bellary district in the south, Mahabubnagar district of Telangana and Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh in the east.

Geography

The district is bounded by the Krishna River on the north and the Tungabhadra River on the south. The wedge of land between the rivers is known as the Raichur Doab, after the city of Raichur. Bijapur and Yadgir districts lie to the north across the Krishna River. Bagalkot and Koppal districts lie to the west. Across the Tungabhadra lies Bellary District of Karnataka to the southwest and Mahabubnagar of Telangana to the southeast. Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh state lies to the east, and includes the lower portion of the Raichur Doab.

History

The recorded history of the district is traced to as far back as the third century B.C. The fact that three minor rock edicts of Ashoka are found in this district one at Maski in the Lingasugur taluk and the other two near Koppal, prove that this area was included in the dominions of the great Mauryan king Ashoka. At that time, this region was under the governance of the Viceroy or Mahamatra of Ashoka. Early in the Christian era, the district appears to have been a part of the kingdom of the Satavahanas. The Vakatakas, who reigned during the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D., seem to have held sway over Raichur for sometime, after which it appears to have been included in the Kadamba dominions. The next dynasty of importance, which ruled over this region, was that of the Chalukyas of Badami. According to an inscription from Aihole, Pulakeshin II having defeated the Pallavas, occupied this area and made it a province in his empire under the governance of his son Adityavarma. Later the whole of the present Raichur district was included in the dominions of the Rashtrakutas, who rose to power in the eighth century, as could be gathered from the inscriptions of that period found in this district. According to an inscription from Manvi taluk, one Jagattunga, a subordinate ruler under the Rashtrakuta king Krishna-II, was ruling the province of Adedore Eradusavirapranta, i.e., the area constituting the present Raichur district. Nripatunga, a Rashtrakuta king, has described Koppal in his Kannada work, Kavirajamarga, as the great Kopananagara.
Numerous inscriptions of the Western Chalukyas, found in the various parts of the district, testify to the fact that this region was under their sway for a considerable length of time between the 10th and 12th centuries A.D. It is learnt from an inscription found at Naoli in Lingsugur taluk that during the reign of Chalukya Vikramaditya-V, the Adedore-pranta, i.e., the Raichur region, was being ruled by his younger brother Jagadekamalla-I. Another inscription from Maski describes the place as a capital and makes a reference to the reign of Jayasimha. There were, however, frequent wars between the Chola kings of the south and the Chalukyan kings of Kalyani for supremacy over the Raichur region and the territory had passed into the hands of the Cholas for a brief period. The Haihayas and Sindas also seem to have ruled some parts of this region for sometime. Later, after the fall of the Chalukyas, Raichur passed into the hands of the Kalachuris of Kalyani and later Sevna Yadava kings. Then came the Kakatiyas in the 13th century. From an inscription on the fort-wall of Raichur, referred to earlier, it is learn that the original fort was built by one Gona Ganna Reddy, a general of the Kakatiya queen Rudramma Devi of Warangal, in 1294 A.D., at the instance of the latter. Raichur was sacked by Malik Kafur, was commander of Sultanate of Delhi in 1312.
Raichur district was passed to Vijayanagara Empire in 1323 after demise of Kakatiyas due to invasions of Sultanate of Delhi. It was captured by Bahmani Sultanate in 1363. It was passed to Bijapur Sultanate in 1489 after fragmentation of Bahmanids. Vijayanagara recaptured it after Battle of Raichur in 1520 but Bijapur recaptured it in 1565 after Vijayanagara's defeat at hands of Deccan Sultanates during Battle of Talikota. Aurangzeb, emperor of Mughal Empire captured the district in 1686. Finally 1724 Raichur became part of Nizam of Hyderabad between 1724 and 1948 except British Empire rule between 1853 and 1860 as part of Madras Presidency. During Nizam rule it was part of Gulbarga Division.
After the Operation Polo, Hyderabad State was integrated to Indian Union on 17 September 1948. Between 1948 and 1956, it was part of Hyderabad State. During division of the state on linguistic basis, it became part of Mysore State and later was renamed at Karnataka.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Raichur district has a population of 1,928,812, roughly equal to the nation of Lesotho or the US state of West Virginia. This gives it a ranking of 246th in India. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.27%. Raichur has a sex ratio of 992 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 60.46%.
Raichur District has seven taluks: Raichur, Devadurga, Sindhanur, Manvi, Maski, Sirwar and Lingsugur. The capital of the district is the city of Raichur, which is 409 km from the state capital, Bangalore.

Tourism

Among the historical attractions in the district is the Raichur Fort, built in 1294. Also notable is the nearby town of Anegundi, which has a number of monuments from the Vijayanagara empire, including the Ranganatha temple, Pampa Lake and Kamal Mahal,
MahaLaxmi Temple is located in a nearby village, Kallur, at a distance of 20 km from Raichur.
The Raichur Thermal Power Station at Shaktinagar and Yaramaras Thermal Power Station at Yaramaras, generate electricity for Karnataka.
Raichur District is one of few places in India with gold resources. Hatti Gold Mines are situated in Raichur District, around 90 km away from Raichur city. All the five talukas mentioned above are well irrigated, with water from the Tungabhadra Dam on the Tungabhadra River, and the Narayanpura Dam on the Krishna River. Raichur is known for its paddy fields and its rice, which is exported to different countries. It also has a good trading market in cotton industry.
In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Raichur one of the country's 250 most backward districts. It is one of the five districts in Karnataka currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme and that is going to local politicians home.