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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 12, p. 376.

376 GULDARGA DISTRICT Akalkot State of Bombay on the west. It lies between 16° 40′ and 17° 44′ N. and 76° 22′ and 78° 20′ E., and had a total area of 4,092 square miles in igor, including paigdh and jdgirs; while the area of the khdlsa and sarf-a=khds lands was 2,428 square miles. A range o1 hills enters the north of the District from Osmanābād Physical on the west, and continues in a south-easterly direction aspects. for about 6o miles through the Mahagaon and Chin- choli tdluks, which are hilly. The remaining tāluks are almost flat, the slope of the country being from north to south and south-east. The principal river is the BHĪMA, a tributary of the KISTNA, which rises near Poona in British territory, and, entering. the District near Afzalpur in the west, traverses the tdluks of Gulbarga and Andola for a distance of 150 miles. The other rivers are the Kāgnā, and its tributaries the Benithora, Mullamari, and Kāmāluti. The Kagnā is itself a tributary of the Bhlma, as is also the Awarja. The geological formations are the Archaean gneiss eastward, the Bhima series about the centre, and the Deccan trap the north and west. The region has been fully described by Mr. R. B. Foote (Memoirs, Geological Survey of India, vol. xii, pt. i). Generally speaking, the District is devoid of forests, except in thej hilly portions of the Mahągaon and Chincholi tdluks, which contain teak (Tectona grandis), eppa (Hardwickia binata), drnzan (Anogeissu~ latifolia), sandra (Acacia Catechu), babiil (Acacia arabica), tarvar (Cassia auriculata), b~āsdl (Pterocarpus Marsupium), malldmaddi (Terminalia tomentosa), nim, tamarind, mango, and several species of fig. In the hills and jungles in the northern portion of the District tigers, bears, leopards, nilgai, and wild hog are found; and in the plains, hare and antelope. The climate differs materially in the several geological divisions. The Carnatic or trappean portion is hot and dry during the summer, whereas the Telingana or granitic portion, which has wooded hills and tanks, is damp, and not so hot in the dry season. Fever prevails from July to October, and during recent years plague has been prevalent in some tdluks. ,. The rainfall is very capricious, causing occasional droughts. It average amount for the twenty-one years ending 1901 was 29 inches. The great famine of 19oo was the result of the abnormally scanty rain fall (14•7 inches) of 1899. Prior to the Muhammadan conquest the District was included in th territory of the Kakatiyas of Warangal. In the early part of the four History. teenth century Ulngh Khān, afterwards Muhamma bin Tughlak, annexed it to the kingdom of Delhi since. which time it has continued under Muhammadan rule. After the death of Muhammad bin Tughlak it fell to the Bahmani kingdom,)