Belgaum is officially known as Belagavi, a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its Northern part along the Western Ghats.
Unveiling the Significance of Belagavi’s History:
Belagavi was founded in the 12th Century AD by the Ratta dynasty , which shifted from nearby Saundatti. The Belagavi city was the capital of the Ratta dynasty from 1210 to 1250. The fort of Belgaum was built in 1204 by a Ratta officer named Bichiraja, and then the Rattas were defeated by the Yadava dynasty of Devagiri and Belgaum became a part of the Yadava dynasty kingdom (Seuna) in the early 13th Century.
Shortly after the region was invaded by the Khalji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century, the Vijayanagara Empire was found. Thereafter, Belagavi came under the rule of Vijayanagara. The Bahmani Sultanate conquered Belgaum in the year 1474.
A melting pot for the Kannada, Konkani, Marathi, and Goan cultures of the modern Belagavi includes the original cantonment, the site of an oval stone fortress with a 16th-century mosque and two Jain temples, and the suburbs of Shahpur and Madhavpur. In 1686,the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb overthrew the Bijapur sultanate and nominally it has passed to the Mughals.
However, in 1707,the Maratha confederacy, his principal detractors took control of the region during the rule of the peshwas. Again in 1776, the country was overrun by the Hyder Ali of Mysore, but was retaken by the peshwas with the assistance of the British. In 1818,the British deposed the last peshwa and annexed his kingdom, which included Belagavi.
From the year 1778 to 1829,Kitturu Chennamma was the queen of the princely state of Kittur in Karnataka. She was one of the lady Warriors who actively participated in the Freedom Movement and is known for the resistance to British rule. Rani Chennamma, along with Sangolli Rayanna and Babasaheb were the first freedom fighters to start this movement.
Belagavi was chosen as the venue of the 39th session of the Indian National Congress in December 1924,under the presidency of Mahatma Gandhi. The city served as the major military installation for the British Raj, primarily due to its proximity to Goa, which was then a territory of the Portuguese. Once the British left India, the Government of India continued to have armed forces installation in the city.
It has a significant military presence ,with the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Center (MLIRC)Commando Training Center, CRPF COBRA center, ITBP center ,the Indian Air Force Station and Airmen Training Center being the oldest air bases in India.
In the year 1961,the Indian Government, under the former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, used military forces from Belgaum to end Portuguese rule of Goa.
In 1947,when India became independent, Belgaum and its district were a part of Bombay State. The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, a Belagavi based regional organization fighting for the merger was formed in 1948.
In the year 1956,the Indian states along the linguistic lines were reorganized by the State Reorganisation Act and included the 10 taluks of Bombay state , which were transferred to the state of Mysore, later renamed as Karnataka in 1973.
From the late 1960s Belagavi began holding a subsequent increase in the number of professional education Institutions. Initially, it was more in the medical and engineering fields.
In present days, Belagavi holds top institutions which serve on a number of other professional streams as well. Meanwhile the establishment of the Viswesvaraya Technological University in 1998,with its affiliated colleges of more than 208 engineering colleges, raised the importance of Belagavi as a centre of education in Karnataka. Over 67,000 students graduate from VTU every year.
Considerably, The impact of this growth has changed the cultural, linguistic and industrial profile of the city due to the involvement and interest of the students from all over India and even across the world.
Till 1961, the Belagavi was a part of the Bombay state. Additionally, with the creation of states based on the languages, it was brought under Karnataka State. And the languages spoken in the region includes Kannada and Marathi.
Historically, the district was ruled by the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas, the Rattas, the Goa Kadambas, the Vijayanagar rulers, the Yadavas, the Bahmanis and the Marathas. It consists of ten taluks namely; Athani, Baihongal, Belgaum, Chikkodi, Gokak, Hukkeri, Khanapur, Raibag, Ramdurg and Saundatti.
In the year 2006,The Government of Karnataka announced that Belagavi would be the second capital of Karnataka and, the city would be a permanent venue for the Annual 15-day winter session of the State legislature. It has also decided to hold one week sessions of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly every year during the winter session at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha administrative building, constructed and inaugurated in the year 2012.
On 11 October 2012,the Government of Karnataka, proposed making Belagavi the second capital of Karnataka hence a second state state administrative building Suvarna Vidhana was inaugurated.
In 2010,the Rani Channamma University was established by upgrading the post graduate center of Karnatak University, Dharwad. The Karnatak University was established in the year 1982 in the city, with the aim of providing an opportunity to develop access to the students for higher education hailing from North Karnataka Region. Karnatak University was declared as Rani Channamma University in the month of July, 2010 with the jurisdiction of Belagavi, Vijaypur and Bagalkot districts.
On 1st November, 2014, the city’s name was changed from Belgaum to Belagavi by the government of Karnataka. The decision was approved by the Central Government of India, along with 12 other cities.
Belagavi District is the largest and the most prominent district of Karnataka, situated near the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountain Range. The city is a rich heritage that is a blend of local Kannada Culture and the cultural flavors of Maharashtra and Goa. The city has many religious Temples and Churches to visit along with Belgaum Fort, an ancient architectural Pre-Muslim monument.
The Belagavi district is popularly known as the sugar bowl of Karnataka with 150000 hectares, used for commercial production. The city’s industrial growth began when an entrepreneur named, Babu Rao Pusalkar set up a small unit in the city over a century ago which transformed the Belagavi city drastically.
Belagavi district is also a home to three universities which includes; Visvesvaraya Technological University, Rani Channamma University, Belagavi and KLE University. Additionally, it has 9 engineering colleges, 2 medical colleges, 2 dental colleges, 15 polytechnic, 7 Indian systems of medical colleges and 180 degree colleges.
Currently, Belagavi district stands as a prominent and an important economic and education center in the state of Karnataka. With a mixture of historical heritage and modern developments, it plays a very crucial role and continues to thrive as an important part of the economic development of the country.
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