Overview

Bijapur district, officially known as Vijayapura district, is a district in the state of Karnataka in India. The city of Bijapur is the headquarters of the district, and is located 530 km northwest of Bangalore. Bijapur is well known for the great monuments of historical importance built during the Adil Shahi dynasty. == History == While archaeological evidence indicates that the area was settled by the late Paleolithic, the legendary founding of the city of Bijapur was in the late 900s under Tailapa II, who had been the Rashtrakuta governor of Tardavadi, and after the destruction to the empire caused by the invasion of the Paramara of Malwa, declared his independence and went on to found the empire of the Chalukyas of Kalyani, where the city was referred as Vijayapura ("City of Victory"). By the late 13th century, the area had come under the influence of the Khalji Sultanate. In 1347, the area was conquered by the Bahmani Sultanate of Gulbarga. By this time the city was being referred as Vijapur or Bijapur. In 1518, the Bahmani Sultanate split into five splinter states known as the Deccan sultanates, one of which was Bijapur, ruled by the kings of the Adil Shahi dynasty (1490–1686). The city of Bijapur owes much of its greatness to Yusuf Adil Shah, the founder of the independent Bijapur Sultanate. The rule of this dynasty ended in 1686, when Bijapur was conquered by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. In 1724 the Nizam of Hyderabad established his independence in the Deccan, and included Bijapur within his dominions. In 1760, the Nizam suffered a defeat by the Marathas, and ceded the region of Bijapur to the Maratha Peshwa. After the 1818 defeat of the Peshwa by the British in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Bijapur passed into the hands of the British East India Company, and was assigned to the princely state of Satara. In 1848 the territory of Satara, along with Bijapur, was annexed to Britain's Bombay Presidency when the last ruler died without a male heir. The British carved a new district by the name Kaladagi. The district included present-day Bijapur and Bagalkot districts. Bijapur was made the administrative headquarters of the district in 1885, when the headquarters were moved from Bagalkot. After India's Independence in 1947, the district became part of Bombay state and was reassigned to Mysore state, later Karnataka, in 1956. The former southern taluks of the district were separated in 1997 to form Bagalkot District. The citadel, built by Yusuf Adil Shah, a mile (2 km) in circuit, is of great strength, well built of the most massive materials, and encompassed by a ditch 100 yards wide, formerly supplied with water, but now nearly filled up with rubbish, so that its original depth cannot be discovered. Within the citadel are the remains of both Hindu temples and old mosques, which prove that Bijapur was an important town. The fort, which was completed by Au Adil Shah in 1566, is surrounded by a wall 6 m. in circumference. This wall is from 30 to 50 ft (10 to 15 m) high, and is strengthened with 96 massive bastions of various designs. In addition there are ten others at the various gateways. The width is about 25 ft (8 m); from bastion to bastion runs a battlemented curtained wall about 10 ft (3 m) high. The whole is surrounded by a deep moat 30 to 40 ft (10 to 12 m) broad. Inside these walls the Bijapur kings bade deference to all comers. Outside the walls are the remains of a vast city, now for the most part in ruins, but the innumerable tombs, mosques, caravanserais and other edifices, which have resisted the havoc of time, afford abundant evidence of the ancient splendour of the place. Badami, Aihole, and Pattadakal, near Bijapur, are noted for their historical temples in the Chalukya architectural style. == Divisions == Bijapur District is divided into five talukas and 199 panchayat villages. Bijapur, with forty-six panchayat villages, Basavana Bagewadi, with thirty-eight panchayat villages, Sindagi, with forty panchayat villages, Indi, with forty-four panchayat villages, and, Muddebihal, with thirty-one panchayat villages. == Cities and towns in Bijapur District == Basavana Bagevadi Bijapur Indi Muddebihal Sindagi Talikota Nagathan Chadchan Almel == Geography == Bijapur District has an area of 10541 square kilometres. It is bounded on the east by Gulbarga and Yadgir districts, on the southeast by Raichur district, on the south and southwest by Bagalkot District, on the west by Belgaum district, and on the northwest and north by Sangli and Solapur districts of Maharahstra. It consists 5.49% of Karnataka state area. It lies between 15 x 50 and 17 x 28 North Latitude and 74 x 54 and 76 x 28 East Longitude. The administrative headquarters and chief town is Bijapur. Geographically, the district lies in the tract of the Deccan Plateaus. The lands of the district can be broadly divided into three zones: the northern belt consisting of the northern parts of Bijapur Taluks of Indi and Sindagi; the central belt consisting of Bijapur city; the southern belt consisting of the rich alluvial plains of the Krishna Rivers parted from the central belt by a stretch of barren Trap. The northern belt is a succession of low rolling uplands without much vegetation, gently rounded and falling into intermediate narrow valleys. The upland soil being shallow, the villages are generally confined to the banks of the streams and are far away from one another. The Don River Valley has plains and consists of rich tracks of deep black soils stretching from west to east in the central part of the district. Across the Krishna River is a rich plain crossed from west to east by two lines of sandstone hills. Further south towards Badami and southwest to east by two lines of sandstone hills. Further south towards Badami and southwest of Hunagund, the hills increase the number and the black soil gives way to the red There are 34 rain gauge stations in Bijapur District. The average annual rainfall for the district is 553 mm with 37.2 rainy days. The monsoon generally breaks in the district during June and lasts till October. The highest mean monthly rainfall is 149 mm in the month of September and lowest is 3 mm in February. The annual rainfall variation in the district is marginal from place to place. The soils of Bijapur District can be categorised as a low to moderately yielding area (1000 to 8000 L/h) 72.2% of district falling in this category. From considerable part of the district (9%) poor yielding (less than 1000 L/h sources) or non–feasible areas have been reported. The talukas having largest poor yielding area, are Muddebihal (19%) followed by Indi (15%), Bijapur and sindagi (13% each), Basavan Bagewadi (4%). Low yielding areas (1000 to 4000 L/h source) in the district constitute about 40% of the district, with the largest being Basavan Bagewadi (54%) and smallest in Indi taluka Moderate yields (4000 to 8000 L/h source) are reported from 36% of the district, highest being in Bijapur with 70% of the area, and lowest being in Sindagi with 19% of the taluka. High yielding areas (more than 8000 L/h sources) over 15% of the district. The smallest area under this category are in Sindagi Taluka (2% each) and largest is in Muddebihal (29% each) where very lengthy contact zones occur between traps and other formations On the basis of projections from this information, the main parameters affecting water quality in Bijapur can be expected to be brackishness (salinity) and hardness (PH). Salinity affects the district in high to low groundwater problem areas and occurs in areas all along the major and minor river courses and stream courses. == Demographics == According to the 2011 census Bijapur district, Karnataka has a population of 2,177,331, roughly equal to the nation of Latvia or the US state of New Mexico. This gives it a ranking of 210th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 207 inhabitants per square kilometre (540/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 20.38%. Bijapur has a sex ratio of 954 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 67.2%. 23.05% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 20.34% and 1.81% of the population respectively. Bijapur district has a population of 1,806,918 (2001 census), an increase of 17.63% since the 1991 census. The district is 21.92% urban. At the time of the 2011 census, 74.96% of the population spoke Kannada, 15.57% Urdu, 5.13% Lambadi and 2.47% Marathi as their first language. == Attractions and tourism == Bijapur is rich in historical attractions. For the many attractions in Bijapur city, including Gol Gumbaz, the Jumma Masjid mosque, the Uppali Buruj tower and the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shah II (Ibrahim Rauza), see Attractions of Bijapur city. Shiva Statue: The 85-foot tall statue is three kilometres on Ukkali Road from the city of Bijapur. A round temple is built underneath the huge idol weighing 1,500 tonnes.it is the Third tallest Shiva idol next only to the one at Murdeshwar in Uttara Kannada district. Parshwanath Basadi: About three kilometres from the city near the dargah is a basadi of Parshwanath. The black stone idol is about one meter high and of beautiful workmanship. A serpent with 1,008 small hoods spread over the deity as umbrella is delicately carved. Some years back while digging a mound, the figure is stated to have been unearthed. Golageri - 78 km from the city, contains the Gollaleshwar Dev temple. Toravi - In the western direction of the district town of Bijapur at about 8 km one can locate Toravi Village in which historical Laxmi-Narasimha Cave Temple, Village Goddess Mahalaxmi Temple and Navarasapura Sangeet Mahal which are important tourist destinations that attracts the tourists. Basavana Bagewadi – 43 km from the city, is the birthplace of Basava, a point of pilgrimage for people of the Lingayat faith. Their Sri Sangameshwar Temple is nearby in Bagalkot District. Almatti Dam – 56 km, from the city. Korwar -60 km from Vijapur, Shri Korwareshwar Temple at Korwar, Sindagi taluk. This temple is established by Shakaracharya. Yankanchi : this village is located around 75 km from Vijayapur Contains Shree DawalMalika Temple. == Oldest trees in the state == Adansonia digitata-Malvaceae in Bijapur taluk, which is 600 years old; Adansonia digitata-Malvaceae in Bijapur taluk, 359 years old; Tamarindus indica (tamarind) in Devarahipparagi village of Bijapur – 883 years old; Azadirachta indica (Bevu) – at T Venkatapura in Chikkaballapur district 200 years old; Ficus benghalensis (Alada mara) in Chickkahalli in Mysore taluk – 260 years old; Ficus religiosa (peepal) in Manasagangothri of Mysore – 160 years old; 'Kempu boorga mara' in Palace Gate of Mysore – 130 years old; Ficus benghalensis (Doddalada mara) – Kethohalli in Bengaluru, 400 years old; Araucaria cookie – Lalbagh, 140 years old; Pilali (Ficus Micro Corpus) – in Banavasi of Shimoga district – 400 years old. How the Adansonia digitata tree came to Bijapur Two of these trees, commonly known as the baobab trees, have been listed and identified in Bijapur. One is near the Ibrahim Roza monument in Bijapur with a girth of 10.84 m and height of 5 m and another at Yogapur Dargah, near Bijapur, which is believed to be at least 359 years old with 9.2 m girth and seven m height. Both these trees were planted during the reign of Adil Shahis. Experts say that the kings of Adil Shahi dynasty were all fascinated by nature, and these particular saplings of the Adansonia digitata had been imported from Turkey to be planted in Bijapur. The kings were very particular about the nurturing of these plants and took care of their needs like their own children. == Transport == Bijapur is connected by rail and road. There is a non-commercial airport at Solapur (IATA: SSE), some 100 kilometres to the north. The nearest