ADMINTSTRATION
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relief works and 16,ooo in receipt of gratuitous relief. The total
cost of the famine in this District exceeded 13 lakhs. In 18gi the
rainfall was capricious, and relief measures became necessary in parts
of Gadag, Ron, and Navalgund. In 1896 the kharif rains were very
light and the District suffered partially (857 square miles or one-fifth of
the total area). The last scarcity was in igoo, when the area affected
was 357 square miles or one-twelfth of the total area. Relief works
were opened in December, 1899, and were continued till :December,
r9oi, but the number relieved reached only 2,ooo at the worst period
of distress. In October, 1878, swarms of rats appeared, chiefly in
the black-soil tracts, and devoured a part of the cold-season crop.
They reappeared in 1879, when at a cost of over Rs. 95,000 large
numbers were killed and the harvest saved.
The District is divided into 11 talukas, with 2 pethas or petty sub-
divisions. These are DHARWAR, HUBLI, GADAG (including Mundargi
petha), NAVALGUND (including Nargund petha), BAN-
KAPUR, RON, RANIBENNUR, KOD, HANGAL, KARAJGI, Administration.
and KALGHATGI. The administration is entrusted to a Collector and
four Assistants, of whom three are members of the Indian Civil Service.
The Collector is ex-officio Political Agent of the Savanur State.
The District and Sessions judge at Dharwar is assisted by an
Assistant judge and four Subordinate judges, who dispose of the
civil work of the District. The Subordinate Judge of Dharwar exer-
cises a special jurisdiction over the whole District in suits of more
than Rs. 5,ooo in value. The other Subordinate judges try suits of
less than Rs. 5,000 in value. The District Court is chiefly a court
of appeal. All the Subordinate judges exercise the powers of a Court
of Small Causes. There are altogether 35 officers in the District to
administer criminal justice.
The foundation of the system of assessment in force under the
Bijapur (1489-1686), the Savanur (1686-1752), and the Maratha
governments (1752-1817) was laid during the reign of the Vijayanagar
king Krishna Raya (1509-29). He originated the unit of land assess-
ment and measurement known as the riiya-rekha or I royal line,' which
the Bijapur Sultans took as the rakam or `basis' of their settlement.
In the Vijayanagar settlement ` dry' lands alone were measured, the
area of a `wet crop' being estimated by the khanda's or measures of
seed required to sow it. The Bijapur government increased the
share claimed from the ryot by cesses, which were introduced from
time to time nominally to last for a short period, but in practice
became permanent. The Savanfir Nawab, Halim Khan, increased
the assessment rates and reduced the country to great distress. From
the acquisition of Dharwar in r8r8 till 1843 the original assessment
remained without revision. Before the survey settlement was begun in
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