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
Dharwad is an administrative district of the state of Karnataka in southern India.The administrative headquarters of the district is the city of Dharwad, also known as Dharwar. Dharwad is located 425 km northwest of Bangalore and 421&n ...
of
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...
and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merged with
Hubballi
Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad distr ...
in 1962 to form the twin cities of
Hubballi-Dharwad. It covers an area of and is located northwest of
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 ...
, on
NH-48, between Bangalore and
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( 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 As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
.
Etymology
The word "Dharwad" is derived from the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
word 'dwarawata', 'dwara' meaning "door" and 'wata' or 'wada' meaning "town". It means a place of rest in a long travel or a small habitation. For centuries, Dharwad acted as a resting place for travellers and a gateway between the ''
Malenadu
Malnad (; Malēnādu) is a region in the state of Karnataka in India. Malenadu covers the western and eastern slopes of the Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountain range, and is roughly 100 kilometers in width.
Malnadis a region of Karnatak ...
'' (western mountains) and the ''
Bayalu Seeme'' (plains).
History
The
Chalukya
The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynast ...
s ruled Dharwad during the 12th century. A stone inscription indicates that there was a ruler by the name of BhaskaraDeva in 1117. In the 14th century, the district was first overrun by the
Bahmani Sultanate, after which it was annexed to the newly established
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
kingdom of
Vijayanagar, an official of which named "Dhar Rao", according to local tradition, built the fort at Dharwad town in 1403. After the defeat of the king of Vijayanagar in the
Battle of Talikota (1565), Dharwad was for a few years practically independent under its Hindu governor; but in 1573 the fort was captured by the sultan of
Bijapur,
Adil Shah, and Dharwad was annexed to his dominions. Adil Shah built a fort in an area later called Manna Killa, and later Nazratabad. With this fort, the strategic importance of Dharwad increased and it attracted the attention of subsequent conquerors, including
Aurangzeb,
Shivaji
Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adil ...
, Aurangzeb's son
Bahadur Shah I,
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 ...
Balaji Baji Rao,
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 ...
,
Tipu Sultan and finally the
British colonizers.
In 1685, the fort was taken by the
Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb, and Dharwad, on the break-up of the Mughal empire, fell under the sway of 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 a ...
Peshwa of
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( 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 As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
. In 1764, the province 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 ...
of the
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 o ...
, who in 1778 captured the fort of Dharwad. The
fort was retaken in 1791 by the Marathas. After the final defeat of the Peshwa by the British in 1818, Dharwar was incorporated into the territory of the
British 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 South ...
's
Bombay Presidency. During the early 19th century, when the British were expanding their domains, they faced a lot of opposition from local rulers, including
Baba Saheb of Nargund and
Kittur Chennamma.
Geography
Climate
Hubli-Dharwad has a
tropical wet and dry climate. Summers are hot and dry, lasting from late February to early June. They are followed by the monsoon season, with moderate temperatures and a large amount of precipitation. Temperatures are fairly moderate from late October to early February, with virtually no rainfall. Dharwad is 750 meters above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...
. The average yearly rainfall is .
Demographics
The population of the twin cities as per provisional figures of Census 2011 is 943,857 and is urban. Hubli-Dharwad's population increased 22.99% between 1981 and 1991, from 527,108 to 648,298, and by 21.2% between 1991 and 2001. The Hubli-Dharwad municipality covers .
Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation
Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) was constituted in 1962 by combining the two cities separated by a distance of 20 kilometres. The area covered by the corporation is spread over 45 revenue villages and is the second-largest city corporation in Karnataka state. The population of the city as per the 1991 census was 700,000. The population of Hubli-Dharwad is 1,158,000 (2020). Hubli Municipal Council was established under the Government of India Act of 1850, and the Dharwad Municipal Council first came into existence on 1 January 1856. Both were merged later forming Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC)
The headquarters of HDMC is situated in
Hubballi
Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad distr ...
, comprising 82 members covering four Vidhan Sabha Constituencies of Hubli-Dharwad. There has been a huge demand by people of Dharwad to create a separate civic body and get itself detached by HDMC. Claims are that most of the funds are allocated to Hubli solely.
Transport
Road
Hubballi-Dharwad BRTS (also known as HDBRTS) is a bus rapid transit system built to serve the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad, located in the North-Western part of Karnataka state in India. Hubli-Dharwad BRTS (HDBRTS) project is a Government of Karnataka initiative to foster long-term economic growth in the region. The project promotes fast, safe, comfortable, convenient and affordable public transportation between the twin cities and aims to reduce congestion and air pollution in the region. But it has severely affected the private traffic, by restricting the lanes. Many don't approve the project, as BRTS system has failed in many cities across India, for example both in Pune and Delhi.
The length of the Hubli-Dharwad BRTS corridor is from CBT Hubli to CBT–Dharwad with the width of the cross-sections ranging from . The BRTS corridor includes segregated bus lanes, access-controlled bus stations, physical and fare integration with BRT feeder services, off-board ticketing through smart cards and bar-coded paper tickets, intelligent transport system and high-quality buses (Standard AC buses). The corridor is designed for operating regular and express services. It consists of two lanes for BRTS buses on either side of the median bus station facilitating overtaking lanes for express services. Foot overbridges at six locations, PELICAN signals, and synchronised signal management are proposed to facilitate the easy approach of passengers to bus stations.
Air
Hubli Airport is the nearest airport that serves the twin cities of
Hubli-Dharwad and North Karnataka in the state of
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...
, India. It is situated on Gokul Road, 8 kilometres from city centre and from Dharwad. It is the third busiest airport in
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...
and the 45th busiest airport in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. In March 2020, Hubli airport received the best airport award under government of India's Regional connectivity scheme.
Hubli airport connects to 10 destinations throughout the country. Efforts are being made to make
Hubli Airport as international Airport.
Media
Mangaluru Samachar was the first ever kannada language news paper distributed in Dharwad, along with region of
North Canara.
In current times the 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 ...
,
Vijayavani,
Kannada Prabha, Prajavani and Samyukta Karnataka, in Kannada; The
Times of India,
Deccan Herald and
The Indian Express in English.
All India Radio (AIR) 765 AM is the online station serving Dharwad and few other districts of the state. Vividh Bharati - 103.0 FM is the primary station. Dharwad's private radio stations include Radio FM and Big FM 92.7
Civic administration
Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) was constituted in 1962 by combining two cities separated by a distance of 20 kilometers. The area covered by the corporation is }, spread over 45 revenue villages. The population of the city as per the 1991 census was 7 lakhs. The population of Hubli-Dharwad is 943,857 according to 2011 Census. There has been a huge demand by people of Dharwad to create a separate civic body and get itself detached by HDMC.Claims are that most of the funds are allocated to Hubli solely.
*Hubli: Under the Government of India Act of 1850, the Hubli-Municipal council was established on 15 August 1855.
*Dharwad: The Dharwad Municipal Council first came into existence on 1 January 1856. The first non-official President of the council was S.K. Rodda in 1907, and Shri S.V. Mensinkai, was nominated in the following year. But the credit of being the first elected president goes to Shri S.G. Karigudari, who took office in 1920.
Hubli is well known as a commercial as well as industrial centre, whereas Dharwad is seat of learning. Popularly believed that, it is this diversity and geographical positions that the state government amalgamated the two cities.
The twin-city corporation occupies unique place in Karnataka State. After the capital city of Bangalore, this is the largest city Corporation in the State.
Educational institutions
Dharwad hosts many Universities, Colleges and Autonomous Institutions, some are listed below.
*
Indian Institute of Information Technology, Dharwad (IIITDWD) - One of 25 IIITs, it was established in 2015.
*
Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad (IIT Dharwad) - One of 23 IITs, it was established in 2016.
*
Karnatak University
Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). As of 2014 ...
- established in 1949.
*
University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (UASD) - established in 1986.
*
Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha
Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha is an organisation whose main goal is to improve Hindi literacy among the non-Hindi speaking people of South India. The headquarters are located at Thanikachalam Road, T. Nagar, Chennai.
The organisation wa ...
, Dharwad provincial branch. In 1964, the institution was recognized by the Indian Government as one of the Institutes of National Importance.
*
Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (DIMHANS) - established in 1845.
*
Karnatak College - established in 1917.
*
Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad - established in 1979.
References
External links
Hubli – Dharwad Municipal Corporation* {{curlie, Regional/Asia/India/Karnataka/Localities/Hubli-Dharwad/
Karnataka State Government Gazetteer, Info on HubliHubli-Dharwad city profilesAll about Hubli Dharwad
Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2001
All articles containing potentially dated statements
Cities and towns in Dharwad district
Cities in Karnataka