Belgaum (

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi division and Belagavi district. The

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

has proposed making Belagavi the second capital of Karnataka alongside

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, hence a second state administrative building

Suvarna Vidhana Soudha The Suvarna Vidhana Soudha () is the legislature building of the State of Karnataka in Belagavi in the Belagavi district of Northern Karnataka. It was inaugurated on 11 October 2012 by President Pranab Mukherjee. The building The Suvarna V ...

was inaugurated on 11 October 2012. Belagavi has been selected in first phase out of 20 cities, as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a

smart city A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in return ...

under PM Narendra Modi's flagship

Smart Cities Mission National Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with the mission to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen friendly and sustainable. The Union Ministry of Urban Devel ...

History

Belgaum was founded in late 12th century AD by the

Ratta dynasty Ratta dynasty was a minor Indian dynasty who ruled over the Belgaum region of modern Karnataka as a branch of Rashtrakutas. Savadatti (Saundatti), historically known as ''Sugandavarti'' was the capital of Ratta dynasty during 875-1250 CE perio ...

, who shifted from nearby

Saundatti Savadatti is one of the oldest towns in Belagavi district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is a celebrated pilgrimage centre located 78 kilometres from Belagavi and 41 kilometres from Dharwad. Savadatti is also the name of the t ...

. A Ratta official named Bichiraja built

Kamal Basadi Kamal Basadi is a Jain temple located inside Belgaum Fort in city of Belgaum, Karnataka. History The Kamal Basadi was built by Birchiraja, also called Jaya Raya, an officer in the court of Kartavirya IV of Ratta dynasty in CE under the guida ...

, a Jain temple, dedicated to

Neminatha Neminatha, also known as Nemi and Arishtanemi, is the twenty-second ''tirthankara'' (ford-maker) in Jainism. Along with Mahavira, Parshvanatha and Rishabhanatha, Neminatha is one of the twenty four ''tirthankaras'' who attract the most devo ...

in 1204, which came to be called Kamalabasti. Pillars found inside Belgaum fort have Kannada inscriptions in Nagari scripts, one from 1199 by Ratta King Kartaveerya IV. The city original name was Venugrama, a Sanskrit word which means "village of bamboo". Alternatively, it is referred to as Venupura in early Indian texts, which means "city of bamboo". Belgaum became a part of the

Yadava dynasty The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadavas of Devagiri ( IAST: Seuṇa, –1317) was a Medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a kingdom stretching from the Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in the western part of ...

kingdom (Sevunas) in early 13th century. An inscription from 1261 of King Krishna belonging to the Yadava dynasty attests to this. The region was invaded by

Khalji dynasty The Khalji or Khilji (Pashto: ; Persian: ) dynasty was a Turco-Afghan dynasty which ruled the Delhi sultanate, covering large parts of the Indian subcontinent for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

in 14th century. Shortly thereafter, the

Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hinduism, Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana an ...

was founded, and Belgaum came under the rule of Vijayanagara. In 1474, the

Bahmani Sultanate The Bahmani Sultanate, or Deccan, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim Indian Kingdom located in the Deccan region. It was the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan,

conquered Belgaum with an army led by Mahamood Gawan. Gandhi at the Belgaum Congress 1924

The Belgaum fort was strengthened by the Adil Shah dynasty Sultans and they built the Safa Mosque. A Persian inscription states that the mosque was built by Asad Khan, a Bijapur Commander. In 1518, the Bahamani sultanate splintered into five small states and Belgaum became part of the

Bijapur Sultanate The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's T ...

. The Adilshahis extended their control to the port of Goa, but retreated after the arrival and wars with the Portuguese. In 1686, the Mughal emperor

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

overthrew the Bijapur sultanate and Belgaum passed nominally to the Mughals, who called it "Azamnagar". However, the Mughal empire control collapsed after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. The

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

confederacy took control of the area during the rule of the

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, ...

s. In 1776, the region was overrun by

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...

and

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...

after Hyder Ali's coup in the

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

. The Peshwa regained Belgaum, after Tipu Sultan was defeated by the British forces. In 1818, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

annexed Belgaum and the region in the control of the Peshwa.

Kitturu Chennamma Kittur Chennamma (23 October 1778 – 21 February 1829) was the Indian Queen of Kittur, a former princely state in present-day Karnataka. She led an armed resistance against the British East India Company in 1824, in defiance of the Paramountcy ...

(1778–1829) was the queen of the princely state of Kittur in

and in 1824 she led an unsuccessful armed rebellion against the British in response to the

Doctrine of lapse The doctrine of lapse was a policy of annexation initiated by the East India Company in the Indian subcontinent about the princely states, and applied until the year 1858, the year after Company rule was succeeded by the British Raj under the ...

. Belgaum was chosen as the venue of the 39th session of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

in December 1924 under the presidency of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. The city served as a major military installation for the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, primarily due to its proximity to

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, which was then a Portuguese territory. Once the British left India, the Indian government continued and still continues to have armed forces installations in Belgaum. In 1961, the Indian government, under Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, used forces from Belgaum to end

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

rule of

. When India became independent in 1947, Belgaum and its district were part of

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding Sou ...

. In 1956, the Indian states were reorganised along linguistic lines by the

States Reorganisation Act The States Reorganisation act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's States and territories of India, states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have b ...

and Belgaum including 10 taluks of Bombay State were transferred to

Mysore State Mysore State, colloquially Old Mysore, was a state within the Dominion of India and the later Republic of India from 1947 until 1956. The state was formed by renaming the Kingdom of Mysore, and Bangalore replaced Mysore as the state's capital. ...

, which was renamed

in 1973. In 2006, the

announced that Belgaum would be made the state's second capital, and that the city would be a permanent venue for the annual 15-day winter session of the state legislature.

City names

On 1 November 2014, the city's name was changed from Belgaum to Belagavi by the Karnataka government, with approval of the

central government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

along with 12 other cities. Belgaum is known as Belgaon (IPA: eːɭɡaːʋ in Maharashtra and amongst

Marathi people The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

Geography

Topography

Belgaum is located at . It has an average elevation of . The city is in the northwestern parts of

and lies at the border of two states,

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and

on the western ghats ( from the Goa state border). It is one of the oldest towns in the state, lying from

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, from

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, and from

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

. The district comprises 1278 villages with an area of and a population of around 4.8 million according to the census of 2011. Belgaum district is the biggest district of Karnataka. Situated near the foothills of the Sahyadri mountain range ( Western Ghats) at an altitude of about , from the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

with the Markandeya river flowing nearby, Belgaum exhibits swift and kaleidoscopic changes in topography, vegetation and climate.

Climate

Belgaum has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Aw''). It is known for its pleasant year-round climate. Belgaum is at its coldest in winter (lowest temperature in Karnataka is usually recorded in Belgaum) and it experiences almost continuous monsoon rains from June through September. Belgaum sometimes receives hail storms during April.

Demographics

Population

According to the 1881 census, 64.39% of the population of Belgaum were

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

speakers and 26.04% spoke

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. As per the 2011 India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, the population of Belgaum city is 490,045. Males constitute 246,537 of the population and females 243,508. Belgaum has an average literacy rate of 88.92%: 93.78% for males and 85.84% for females. 10.71% percent of the population is under 6 years of age.

Languages

(37.46%) and

(32.91%) are the predominant languages.

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Konkani (2.64%),

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

(2.42%) and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

(1.92%) are also spoken.

Government and politics

Administration

Belgaum is located in the

Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency Belgaum, officially Belagavi, Lok Sabha seat, is one of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the Indian state of Karnataka. Vidhana Sabha segments The composition of Belgaum Lok Sabha seat has undergone several changes. In 1962, there were three ...

Assembly session

In 2006, the Government of Karnataka decided to hold one week sessions of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly every year during the winter season at the

administrative building, constructed and inaugurated in Belgaum in 2012. Suvarna Soudha

Belgaum border dispute

The Belgaum border dispute is a dispute involving the Indian states of

and

. Belgaum, currently a part of Karnataka and earlier the erstwhile

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

, is claimed by Maharashtra on linguistic grounds. In 1956, the States Reorganization Act incorporated the Belgaum district including the 10 taluks in the

Mysore state Mysore State, colloquially Old Mysore, was a state within the Dominion of India and the later Republic of India from 1947 until 1956. The state was formed by renaming the Kingdom of Mysore, and Bangalore replaced Mysore as the state's capital. ...

, which became Karnataka in 1973. Though according to the 1881 census, 64.39% of the population of Belgaum were

speakers and 26.04% spoke

. In 1948, the

Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (Committee for Integration with Maharashtra)( MES) is a linguistic socio-political committee based out of Belagavi city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It acts as a party demanding the merger Belagavi district ...

, a Belgaum based regional organisation fighting for the merger, was formed. On 17 January 1956, Marathi activists against the inclusion were shot by the police forces of Mysore state. Since then, 17 January is observed as the 'martyr's day' by Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti. On 11 November 2005, Karnataka Rakshna Vedike (KRV) activists daubed Belgaum Mayor Vijay More's face with black paint (and later surrendered to the police) in the wake of Belgaum City Corporation (BCC) passing a resolution to include the district of Belgaum into

, a neighbouring state. Upon his return to Belgaum, Vijay More was served with several show-cause notices by the Government of Karnataka and later dissolved the council. Following this incident, in the following year's election, Prashanta Budavi, wife of KRV (Karnataka Rakshana Vedike) City President Shantinath Budavi was appointed as mayor of the Belgaum City Corporation. Maharashtra has asked to bring 865 disputed villages including Belgaum under centre's rule until

Supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

's final verdict. N.D. Patil, head of legal-committee appointed by Maharashtra government said that Karnataka is intensifying the problem. He added that Marathi people of border region are not able to live with honour and dignity under Karnataka's rule pointing out to the 'unconstitutional' dissolution of Belgaum city corporation and manhandling of Belgaum mayor by Kannada activists at

. In 2019, Deputy CM of Maharashtra

Ajit Pawar Ajit Anantrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: �d͡ʒit̪ pəʋaːɾ born 22 July 1959) is an Indian politician. He is the Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and was the 8th Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra in his ...

called for the incorporation of Belgaum along with Karwar and Nipani area in

citing it was of dream of

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...

founder

Bal Thackeray Bal Thackeray (; 23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012), also known as Balasaheb Thackeray, was an Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena, a right-wing pro-Marathi and Hindu nationalist party active mainly in the state of Maharashtra. ...

, a statement reiterated by CM

Uddhav Thackeray Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: d̪ʱːəʋ ʈʰaːkɾeː born 27 July 1960) is an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022. He was also the president of Shiv Sena prior to ...

in January 2021. Thackeray went on to term the region as 'Karnataka-occupied areas'. The case regarding the dispute is pending before the Supreme Court for many years.

Economy

The city's humble industrial growth begin when an entrepreneur named Babu Rao Pusalkar set up a small unit in city over a century ago and that transformed Belagavi city into foundry and hydraulics base. Belgaum is an important source of vegetables, fruits, meat, poultry, fish, mining production, and wood (due to heavy rainfall, rivers and the abundance of water). Trading in

North Karnataka North Karnataka is a geographical region in Deccan plateau from elevation that constitutes the region of the Karnataka state in India and the region consists of 13 districts. It is drained by the Krishna River and its tributaries the Bhi ...

is mainly with

and

along with major cities like

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

and

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

. Rich deposits of

Bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

are found in Belgaum district and have led to the creation of the Indian

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

-producing company

Hindalco Industries Hindalco Industries Limited an Indian aluminium and copper manufacturing company, is a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group. Its headquarters are at Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company has annual sales of 25 billion and employs around 20,00 ...

of the

Aditya Birla Group Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. It operates in 100 countries with more than 1,40,000 employees directly and indirectly. The group was founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla in 1857. The group ha ...

Uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

deposits have been found at Deshnur, a small village near

Bailhongal Bailhongal is a Taluk in Belagavi District of Karnataka state in southern India. Bailhongal Taluk is located towards the north-east part of Belagavi. The taluk headquarters is about 44 km from the district headquarters. The total geographi ...

town. A

Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

(India's first Private

Aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

SEZ A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

) is being set up along the Pune-Bangalore National Highway (NH-4) to cater to the

precision engineering Precision engineering is a subdiscipline of electrical engineering, software engineering, electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, and optical engineering concerned with designing machines, fixtures, and other structures that have excepti ...

requirements of the global aerospace, automotive and industrial verticals.

Defence training centres

Belgaum's salubrious climate, proximity to the coast and strategic position near

commended it to the British as a suitable location for an army training centre and

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British India, colonial-era). In military of the United States, United Stat ...

, which it continues to be today for the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by ...

, along with an air force station of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

. The British had a sizeable

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

post here, having realised the military importance of its geographical location. Development of a rail network for movement of resources and later troops was one of the means employed by both the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

and the British to exert control over India. Belgaum houses the

Maratha Light Infantry The Maratha Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It traces its lineage to the Bombay Sepoys, raised in 1768, making it the most senior light infantry regiment in the Indian Army. The class composition of the regiment ...

Regimental Centre (MLIRC). It also houses the Commando Training Wing which is a part of the Junior Leaders Wing (formerly known as Infantry School,Belgaum). This establishment is affiliated to The Infantry School,

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 20 ...

. Herein, Infantry Officers and Soldiers are trained in endurance, escape and evasion, guerrilla and commando warfare techniques and to live off the land. The

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

course at Belgaum is mandatory for all Infantry Officers. Officers of Other branches of the military and even some foreign officers undertake the course, upon being nominated to do so. In between the Military Hospital and the Junior Leaders Wing lies the

Belgaum Military School Rashtriya Military School, Belgaum is one of the five military schools in India. Entrance tests for the military schools are held each year in December. About 70,000 to 80,000 students attend this test and around 350 students are selected. The ...

, established in 1945 spread over an area of . The School provides quality education to sons of wards of Servicemen and Ex Servicemen of the Armed Forces. Several of them go on to join the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

. The

Indo-Tibetan Border Police The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a border patrol organization of India deployed along its borders with Tibet Autonomous Region. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces, established in 1962 in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian ...

, ITBP, is building a full-fledged recreation and training centre in Belgaum at Halbhavi. Belgaum provides an excellent climate for recreation and

ITBP The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a border patrol organization of India deployed along its borders with Tibet Autonomous Region. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces, established in 1962 in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian ...

will have large family bases in Belgaum for its soldiers after high altitude stressful duty. The

Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a federal police organisation in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India. It is one among the Central Armed Police Forces. The CRPF's primary role li ...

Institute of elite central paramilitary forces is setting up a national-level training institution (for jungle warfare) at Khanapur in Belgaum. The establishment, called the CoBRA School of Jungle Warfare is already operational.

Culture/Cityscape

Cuisine

the cuisine of Belgaum is derived from the food cultures of three regions

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

and

. Typical breakfast items include poori-bhaji, idli-dosa, upma, sheera, sabudana khichadi and sabuvada. Chapatis, rice, phulka, jowar rotti, thalipeeth, jhunka and vegetables are taken in lunch. Non-vegetarian items such as various seafoods are cooked in Goan, Maharashtrian and North Kannadi style. Belgaum is noted for a specific kind of

biryani Biryani () is a mixed rice dish originating among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. It is made with Indian spices, rice, and usually some type of meat (chicken, beef, goat, lamb, prawn, fish) or in some cases without any meat, and so ...

, the ''Belagavi Biryani'', which uses ''Belagavi Basmati Rice'' for its preparation. Belgaum is known for ''kunda'', a sweet made from milk. A special sweet called ''mandige'' in Kannada and in Marathi as ''maande'', is a prerequisite for weddings.

Transportation

Road

Belgaum is connected by road via national highways 4 (connecting

(now part of the Golden Quadrilateral),

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

) and 4A (connecting

and

North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation The North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation - (NWKRTC), is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. It serves routes to towns and cities in ...

(NWKRTC) run buses to all corners of Karnataka and to neighbouring states. There are many prominent private bus companies providing services to all major destinations in Karnataka and surrounding states. KSRTC services almost all villages in Karnataka. 92% villages are served by KSRTC (6,743 out of 7,298 Villages) and 44% in other areas. KSRTC operates 6463 schedules in a day covering an effective distance of 2374,000 km with a total fleet of 7599 buses. It transports, on an average, 2457,000 passengers per day. The North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation was established on 1 November 1997, under provision of the Road Transport Corporation Act 1950, on the auspicious day of

Rajyotsava upon bifurcation from

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation - (Karnataka SRTC), is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. It serves routes to towns and cities in ...

to provide adequate, efficient, economic and properly coordinated transport services to the commuters of North Western part of

. The Corporation jurisdiction covers the districts of Belgaum,

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

Karwar Karwar is a seaside city, ''taluka'', and administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district lying at the mouth of the Kali river on the Kanara coast of Karnataka state, India. Karwar is a popular tourist destination and with a city urba ...

Bagalkot Bagalakote, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India, which is also the headquarters of Bagalakote district. It is situated on branch of River Ghataprabha about 481 km (299 mi) northwest of state capital Bengaluru, 410 km (2 ...

Gadag Gadag-Betageri is a city municipal council in Gadag district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Gadag District. The original city of Gadag and its sister city Betageri (or ''Betgeri'') have a combined cit ...

Haveri Haveri is a city in Karnataka, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Haveri district. Haveri is famous for its cardamom garlands and Byadagi red chillies. Around 25 km away, there is a place called Bada, which is the birthplace ...

. NWKRTC operates its services to all villages, which have motorable roads in its jurisdiction, and also covers intra- and inter- state transport operations. The Government of

operates KADAMBA bus service from Goa to Belgaum city and some other parts of the Belgaum District. The Government of

also operates

MSRTC The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation abbreviated as (MSRTC, or simply ST), is the state run bus service of Maharashtra, India which serves routes to towns and cities within Maharashtra as well as to its adjoining states. It has a flee ...

buses from various parts of Maharashtra to Belgaum City and some other parts of the Belgaum District.

Air

The city is served by

Belgaum Airport Belgaum Airport , also known as Belagavi Airport, is a domestic airport serving Belgaum, Karnataka. The current integrated terminal building was inaugurated by then Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju on 14 September 2017. Near th ...

at Sambra, which is the oldest airport in

and lies from the city on State Highway 20. Belgaum airport is included in UDAN 3 scheme. Alliance Air,

Spice Jet SpiceJet is an Indian budget airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is the second largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers carried, with a market share of 13.6% as of March 2019. The airline operates 630 daily fli ...

, Star Air,

IndiGo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

and

TruJet TruJet was an Indian regional airline based at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. The airline commenced operations in July 2015 and ceased all operations in February 2022. History Turbo Megha Airways Private Limited was incorpo ...

have flights to

Kadapa Kadapa (colonial spelled Cuddapah) is a city in the southern part of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in the Rayalaseema region, and is the district headquarters of YSR Kadapa district. As of the 2022 Census of India, the city had a popula ...

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is refe ...

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...

and

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Flight connectivity to

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the Ki ...

will be soon started by Star Air in the future days.

Rail

Belgaum railway station is on the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

grid, being part of the South Western railways, and is well connected by rail to major destinations.

Education

VTU

Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), named after Bharat Ratna Sir M Visweshwariah, is located in Machhe in Belgaum. It has more than 208 affiliated colleges. Over 67,000 students graduate from VTU every year.

Rani Channamma University

Rani Channamma University was established in 2010 by upgrading the post-graduate centre of Karnatak University, Dharwad. Before the Rani Channamma University came into being in 2010,

Karnatak University Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission (India), University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accre ...

KRCPG Centre of Karnatak University,

was functioning at Belgaum. The Karnatak University PG Centre was established at Belgaum in the year 1982, to provide an opportunity to develop access to the students for higher education hailing from North Karnataka Region. In 1994 the PG centre was shifted to the present campus of 172 acres of land at Bhutramanahatti adjacent to the Pune-Bangalore National Highway – 4 NH 4, about 18 km from Belgaum. Karnatak University PG Centre has been declared as Rani Channamma University in the month of July 2010 with the jurisdiction of Belgaum, Vijaypur, and

districts.

Media

Newspapers include ''

Vijaya Karnataka ''Vijaya Karnataka'' is a Kannada newspaper published from a number of cities in Karnataka. The newspaper is published from Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Gangavathi, Belagavi, Davanagere, Hassan, Chitradurga. It wa ...

'', '' Vijay Vani'', ''

Kannada Prabha ''Kannada Prabha'' is a morning daily jointly owned by Jupiter Capital a company founded by Rajeev Chandrasekhar who is Bharatiya Janata Party’s member of parliament and ''The New Indian Express'' Group, is a major Kannada newspaper in Karna ...

'', ''

Samyukta Karnataka ''Samyukta Karnataka'' is a major Kannada newspaper which has its headquarters in Hubballi, Karnataka. It is also published from Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Bagalkot, Kalaburgi and Davanagere. The incumbent editor is Hunasavadi Rajan. The newspape ...

'', ''

Prajavani ''Prajavani'' (Kannada:''Voice of the People'') is a leading Kannada-language broadsheet daily newspaper published in Karnataka, India. Having a readership of over 2.01 million, it is one of the largest circulated newspapers in the state. His ...

'', and ''Kannadamma'' in

; ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' and ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printe ...

'' in ''English'', and ''

Tarun Bharat ''Tarun Bharat'' is a Marathi newspaper based in Belagavi, India. RNI , Reg. No.3735/1957 , Name: TARUN BHARAT , Publication City: BELAGAVI , Link: http://rni.nic.in/registerdtitle_search/registeredtitle_ser.aspx It is the seventh-largest- ...

'',''

Sakaal ''Sakal'' (Marathi: सकाळ, meaning "Morning") is a Marathi-language daily newspaper by Sakal Media Group, its headquarters established in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Sakal is the flagship newspaper of the foundation publication, Sakal Med ...

'', ''

Pudhari ''Pudhari'' is a popular Marathi daily, printed in three centres and distributed in Maharashtra, Goa and North Karnataka. It is the leader in Kolhapur and Western Maharashtra and the third-largest Marathi newspaper daily in the entire state of M ...

'' in

Notable people

* Phadeppa Dareppa Chaugule, India's first Olympic marathon runner *

Raosaheb Gogte Balkrishna Mahadev Gogte (IAST: Bāḷakr̥shṇa Mahādeva Gogaṭe; 16 September 1916 – 26 February 2000), known colloquially as Raosaheb Gogte (IAST: Rāvasāheba Gogaṭe), was an Indian lawyer, industrialist, philanthropist and education ...

, industrialist of the Gogte Group. Namesake of the

Gogte Institute of Technology Gogte Institute of Technology (GIT) is a college in Belgaum, Karnataka, India, which is An Autonomous institution affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University. History The college was founded in 1979 to meet the growing demand for techni ...

, Gogte College of Commerce and Science, and the Gogte Circle in Belgaum. *

Atul Kulkarni Atul Kulkarni (born 10 September 1965) is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, English, Odia and Telugu language films. Kulkarni won the National Award for the Best Supporting Actor ...

, actor *

Raai Laxmi Raai is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: *Raai Laxmi (born 1989), Indian film actress and model *Seba Al-Raai Seba Al-Raai (born 25 June 1982) is a Syrian road cyclist. In 2011, she represented her nation at the 2 ...

, actor *

Ronit More Ronit Gajanan More (born 2 February 1992) is an Indian first-class cricketer who plays for Karnataka i He is a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He is a member of the Chennai Super Kings squad since 2013 and debuted in the IPL against Kolkata Knig ...

, Indian Cricket Player * Bandu Patil, Indian hockey player *

Nima Poovaya-Smith Dr Ammanichanda Nima Poovaya-Smith OBE is a museum curator, art historian and writer. She is known for her work on transcultural and post-colonial South Asian museum collections in Bradford. Early life and education Poovaya-Smith was born in ...

, museum curator, art historian and writer *

Alice Maude Sorabji Pennell Alice Maude Sorabji Pennell OBE (July 17, 1874 – March 7, 1951) was an Indian physician and writer. She was the daughter and wife of Christian missionaries, and the first woman in India to earn a bachelor of science degree. Early life Alice Mau ...

, Doctor and writer *

Charan Raj Charan Raj is an Indian actor, director, film producer, and writer who works in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Odia and Hindi movies. Career Charan Raj is a versatile actor who is popular for his villainy and character roles in South Indian ...

, actor *

Pavani Reddy Pavni Reddy also known as Pavani is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films. She acted as the lead female role in the blockbuster film ''Thunivu'' (2023) opposing actor Ajith Kumar. In 2021, she was a contestant on t ...

, actor *

Cornelia Sorabji Cornelia Sorabji (15 November 1866 – 6 July 1954) was an Indian lawyer, social reformer and writer. She was the first female graduate from Bombay University, and the first woman to study law at Oxford University. Returning to India after her ...

, lawyer and writer. Notably the first woman to practice law in India and Britain. *

Shri Thanedar Shri Shamal Thanedar (born February 22, 1955) is an American businessman, author, and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 13th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Thanedar served as a mem ...

, politician

References

External links

*
Municipal Corporation of Belgaum

Government website for Belgaum district

Directorate of Industries & Commerce
{{Authority control Cities in Karnataka Forts in Karnataka Tourism in Karnataka Former capital cities in India Cities and towns in Belagavi district Smart cities in India