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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 7, p. 148.

148 BELGA ,U] DISTRICT also. During the next hundred years the Vijayanagar Rajas made numerous efforts to recover their territories, in which they were assisted by the Portuguese; but they failed to make any lasting conquests, and were completely overthrown in the battle of Talikota (1565). For the next hundred and twenty years Belgaum may be said to have remained part of the territories of the Bijapur Sultans. On the overthrow of Bijapur at the hands of Aurangzeb in i686, the District passed to the Mughals and was granted as a jagir to the Nawab of Savanftr, who subsequently had to relinquish a share to the Nizam. Some part of it, however, appears to have been in the hands of the Marathas. About 1776 the whole country was overrun by Haidar Ali, but was subse- quently retaken by the Maratha Peshwa with the assistance of the British. In 1818, after a period of great disorder, during which the country was alternately harried by the troops belonging to Sindhia, Kolhapur, Nipani, and other chiefs, the country passed to the British and became part of the District of Dharwar; but in 1836 it was con- sidered advisable to divide the unwieldy jurisdiction into two parts. The southern portion therefore continued to be known as Dharwar, while the tract to the north was constituted a separate charge. Copperplate inscriptions have been discovered at HALSI. The Dis- trict contains some hill forts, the chief of which are Mahipatgarh, Kalanidhgarh, and Pargarh. Scattered temples are ascribed to Jakha- nacharya but are really Chalukyan, a very fine one being found at Deganve. There is an interesting group of prehistoric burial dolmens at KONNUR. Many temples dating from the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries are scattered over the District, of which nearly all were originally Jain but have been converted into Zingam shrines. The most noteworthy are a group in Belgaum fort; those at Deganve, Vakkund, and Nesargi in Sampgaum; groups at Hull, Manoli, and Yellamma in Parasgad; those at Shankeshwar in Chikodi, and at Ramtirth and Nandgaon in Athni. The finest Musalman remains are the fort and Safa mosque at Belgaum, and the mosques and tombs at Hukeri and Sampgaon. According to the Census of 1872 the population of the District was 946,702. The next Census of I88i returned 865,922, showing a decrease of over 9 per cent., due to the famine in 1876. In i89I the population increased to 1,013,261, but again fell in 901o to 993,976, owing to the bad years of 1892, I896, 1899, and 1900. The table on the next page gives statistics according to the Census of 1901. The Chikodi and Sampgaon iailukas contain many large and rich villages and are well peopled. The chief towns are BELGAUM, the head-quarters, NIPANI, ATHNI, GOKAK, and SAUNDATTI-YELLAMMA.