Uttara Kannada
Uttara Kannada, formerly known as North Canara, is a district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Its headquarter is Karwar.
Variants
Location
It is bordered by the state of Goa and Belagavi District to the north, Dharwad District and Haveri District to the east, Shivamogga District, and Udupi District to the south, and the Arabian Sea to the west. The city of Karwar is the administrative headquarters of the district.
Major cities
Karwar and Sirsi are the major cities of the district and Sirsi is its commercial centre. Kumta, Bhatkal, Yallapur and Dandeli are other major towns in the district. The district is known for a number of beaches and water falls. Eighty percent of Uttara Kannada's area consists of forest.
The district's agroclimatic divisions include the coastal plain (consisting of Karwar, Ankola, Kumta, Honnavar and Bhatkal taluks) and Malenadu (consisting of Sirsi, Siddapur, Yellapur, Haliyal, Joida, and Mundgod taluks).
History
The first known dynasty from Uttar Kannada District are Chutus of Banavasi. Uttara Kannada was the home of the Kadamba kingdom from the 350 to 525. They ruled from Banavasi. After the subjugation of the Kadambas by the Chalukyas, the district came under successive rule of empires like Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas and Vijayanagar empire.
Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta is said to have stayed for a time in the district under the protection of Nawayath Sultan Jamal Al-Din at Hunnur.[1] This place is presently known as Hosapattana and is located in the town of Honnavar. Ruins of an old mosque and its minaret can still be seen in the village. The district came under the rule of Maratha Empire in the 1750s and later part of Mysore Kingdom, who ceded it to the British at the conclusion of the Fourth Mysore War in 1799. It was initially part of Kanara district in Madras Presidency. The district was divided to North and South Kanara districts in 1859. The British finally transferred Uttara Kannada district to Bombay Presidency in 1862.
After India's independence in 1947, Bombay Presidency was reconstituted as Bombay State. In 1956, the southern portion of Bombay State was added to Mysore State, which was renamed Karnataka in 1972.
Significant and picturesque, the Sadashivgad fort of historical importance is now a tourist destination located by the Kali River bridge, which has been built at the confluence of the river and the Arabian Sea. The renowned Bengali poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who visited Uttara Kannada in 1882, dedicated an entire chapter of his memoirs to this town.[2] The 22-year-old Rabindranath Tagore stayed with his brother, Satyendranath Tagore, who was the district judge in Uttara Kannada. There is a substantial amount of Chardo families in this area as they had migrated due to the persecution of the Portuguese in Goa.
External links
References
- ↑ Ross E. Dunn; University Ross E Dunn (2005). The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century. University of California Press. pp. 221–222. ISBN 978-0-520-24385-9.
- ↑ Uttara Kannada in Tagore's memoirs