The Raichur Doab is a
Doab
''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...
, in this case the triangular region of land in the southern Indian states of
Telangana
Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and ...
and
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 ''Kar ...
lying between the
Krishna River and its
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...
, the
Tungabhadra River. The doab is named for the town of
Raichur in the
Raichur District
Raichur District is an administrative district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located in the northeast part of the state and is bounded by Yadgir district in the north, Bijapur and Bagalkot district in the northwest, Koppal distric ...
. The Raichur Doab is considered to be very fertile because of the sediments carried by Krishna & Tungabhadra rivers.
The doab includes
Raichur district
Raichur District is an administrative district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located in the northeast part of the state and is bounded by Yadgir district in the north, Bijapur and Bagalkot district in the northwest, Koppal distric ...
and
Koppal district in Karnataka, and
Gadwal district in Telangana.
Some areas of Raichur doab also called as Nadigadda region became a part of Telangana during Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act in 2014.Those areas are Gadwal, Alampur and Maganoor. Gadwal is one of the 31 districts of Telangana State.
Resources
Hatti Gold Mines
Hatti Gold Mines, also spelled Hutti, is a notified area council in Raichur district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Karnataka. The mines are owned and operated by Hutti Gold Mines Limited.
Hatti is situated in Raichu ...
: Situated in Hatti of
Lingasugur taluk, is currently the only working gold mine in India.
Evidently, it is one of the oldest mines dating back to Pre Ashokan times. During late 19th century, the gold mines were rediscovered.
Raichur Thermal Power Station
Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) is a coal-fired electric power station located at Yadlapur D(Shaktinagar) in the Raichur district of the state of Karnataka, India. It is operated by the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) and was the ...
at Deosugur, commissioned in 1986 was the first coal fired thermal electric power station to be established in the state. It accounts for 40% of electricity, generated in Karnataka.
Agriculture
Raichur Doab has the fertile tracts of deposits from
Krishna river and its tributary
Tungabhadra.
Sindhanur and
Gangavati along with
Siruguppa produces largest amount of paddy in
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 ''Kar ...
Raichur district ranks first in Mosambi /Sweet Lime production in the state.
Geography
The
doab
''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...
, named after
Raichur is formed by
Krishna river in the North and
Tungabhadra river in the South. It lies within the
Deccan Plateau
The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by t ...
region of
Bayalu Seeme.
History
Raichur Doab is inhabited since the Prehistoric cultures. The early village settlements during the Neolithic and Iron Age are base for sedentary lifestyles in Raichur Doab, and they exhibit rich faunal ecology of the region through rock art. During ancient period, the region was part of
Maurya Empire as its southern capital was
Kanakagiri.
An edict of emperor
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
discovered in the town of
Maski
Maski is a town and an archaeological site in the Raichur district of the state of Karnataka, India.Amalananda Ghosh (1990), p282 It lies on the bank of the Maski river which is a tributary of the Tungabhadra. Maski derives its name from Mahasa ...
, was an important discovery as it solved the mystery of the title 'devanampriya' which was found in many inscriptions scattered throughout the subcontinent. The Maski edict had the name of
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
written along 'devanampriya' (Beloved of the Gods).
After Mauryan empire, the doab came under the control of
Shatavahana dynasty which ruled over central and eastern Deccan. Later in the early medieval period,
Chalukyas of Badami,
Rashtrakutas and
Kalyani Chalukyas ruled over the Raichur doab region.
In the subsequent centuries, the region was ruled by
Kakatiyas of Warangal
The Kakatiya dynasty (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan Plateau, Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of easte ...
and
Hoysalas before being conquered and annexed by the
Delhi Sultanate.
As
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, was established at
Gulbarga in 1347 AD, the region of Raichur doab was fiercely contested and bloody battles were fought over the forts of
Mudgal and
Raichur between the Bahmanis and
Vijayanagar empire
The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a 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 and Mahar ...
.
Forces of Vijayanagar empire under
Krishnadevaraya won the decisive
Battle of Raichur in 1520 CE against
Sultanate of Bijapur, and pushed across the Krishna river. But these short-term gains were decisively reversed when a confederate alliance of
Deccan Sultanates defeated the Vijayanagar empire at
Battle of Talikota in 1565 CE.
During late 17th century, the region came under the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the ...
and then passed into the rule of their successors under
Nizam of Hyderabad. It remained under the
Hyderabad State
Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and ...
until 1948 when the princely state was annexed by the Indian Union.
During reorganisation of states on linguistic basis in 1956, the eastern part of the doab,
Gadwal was incorporated in the state of
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 t ...
(currently in
Telangana
Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and ...
). The remaining part of the doab that formed Raichur district was incorporated in
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 capita ...
(Renamed as Karnataka in 1973).
In 1998, a new district of four taluks was formed with
Koppal as administrative headquarter.
References
{{Reflist
Regions of India
Regions of Karnataka