It has already been mentioned that the area which now makes up the Gódávari district was originally placed under the Chief and Council at Masulipatam; was divided in 1794 into the Collectorates of Cocanada and Rajahmundry; was included in 1802 in the new Rajahmundry district; formed part of the Gódávari district first formed in 1859; and was increased by the addition of Bhadráchalam taluk in 1874 and two muttas of Golgonda Agency in 1881.
The district thus constituted increased enormously in wealth, population and importance when the irrigation from the Gódávari anicut took full effect, and became a heavier charge than one Collector could efficiently administer. Accordingly in 1904 the portion of it which lay south and west of the Gódávari river (with the single exception of the Pólavaram division) was transferred to the Kistna district, which latter in its turn was lightened by the formation of the new district of Guntúr. The existing divisional charges are as under:—
| Division. | Taluks. | Area in square miles. |
Population in thousands. |
| Rajahmundry (Sub-Collector) | Rajahmundry, Amalápuram, Nagaram. | 993 | 542 |
| Bhadráchalam Agency (Head Assistant Collector). | Bhadráchalam | 911 | 49 |
| Pólavaram Agency (European Deputy Collector). | Pólavaram, Yellavaram, Chódavaram. | 2,229 | 111 |
| Peddápuram (Deputy Collector). | Peddápuram, Rámachandrapuram. | 800 | 387 |
| Head-quarter (Cocanada) Deputy Collector. | Cocanada, Pithapuram, Tuni. | 701 | 357 |
| Total | 5,634 | 1,446 |
It was not till 1866 that the village establishments of the district were thoroughly reorganized on modern lines. At that time the village servants were paid partly by certain customary fees and partly by the profits of the cultivation of inam lands granted them free of assessment. The customary fees had been collected with, and included in, the old joint-rent settlements; and then deducted under the head of ordinary remissions and disbursed to the village servants entitled to them. At the settlement of 1862-67 these fees were not included in the assessments fixed upon the land, and the Government expressly reserved the power to levy a regular cess for the proper remuneration of the village officers. It
