HISTOR Y 1 47
The moderate heat, the early and fresh sea-breeze, and its altitude
above the sea, make Belgaum pleasant and healthy. The lowest tem-
perature recorded is 53° in January, while in May it rises to Ioo°. The
most agreeable climate is found in a tract parallel with the crest of
the Western Ghats between the western forests and the treeless east.
The cold and dry season lasts from mid-October to mid-February, the
hot and dry season from mid-February to early June, and the wet season
from early June to mid-October. The heat of April and May causes
occasional heavy showers, attended with easterly winds, thunder, light-
ning, and sometimes hail. Even in May the nights are cool, almost
chilly. Near the Ghats the south-west monsoon is very constant and
heavy. Farther east it is fitful, falling in showers separated by breaks
of fair weather. The rainfall at the District head-quarters averages
about 50 inches. In the east it is as low as 24, while in Chandgad in
the extreme west I07 inches are registered. From March to September
the prevailing winds are from the west and south, and from October to
February from the east and north.
The oldest place in Belgaum is Halsi, which, according to seven
copperplates found in its vicinity, was the capital of a dynasty of nine
Kadamba kings. In all probability the Early (550- History.
6ro) and Western (610-760) Chalukyas held Belgaum
in succession, yielding place about 760 to the Rashtrakatas, a trace of
whose power survived till about I250 in the Ratta Mahamandaleshwars
(875-I250), whose capital was first Saundatti and subsequently (1210)
Venugrama, the modern Belgaum. Inscriptions discovered in various
parts of the District show that during the twelfth and early years of the
thirteenth centuries the Kadambas of Goa (980-I250) held part of the
District known as the Halsi 'twelve thousand,' and the Venugrama or
Belgaum 'seventy.' The third Hoysala king, Vishnuvardhana or Bitti
Deva (II04-4I), held the Halsi division fora time as the spoil of battle;
but the territory of the Goa Kadambas as a whole had by I208 been
entirely absorbed by the Rattas. The last of the Rattas, Lakshmideo II,
was overthrown about I250 by Vichana, the minister and general of the
Deogiri Yadava, Singhana II; and from that date up to their final
defeat by the Delhi emperor in 1320, the Yadavas seem to have been
masters of Belgaum and surrounding tracts. During the brief overlord-
ship of the Delhi emperors Belgaum was administered by two Musalman
nobles, posted at Hukeri and at Raybag. About the middle of the
fourteenth century, the District was partitioned between the Hindu
Rajas of Vijayanagar, who held the portion south of the Ghatprabha,
and the king of Delhi, who held that to the north. On the foundation
of the Bahmani dynasty in I347 the territories contained in the latter
half fell under the sway of that dynasty, which subsequently, in 1473,
took the town of Belgaum and conquered the southern division
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