BELLAR Y. Nagaradona, as well as several
and breached 253 of the land was rendered
villages,
destroyed the roads and canals,
Much
largest tanks in the District.
sterile
valuable
by the deposits of sand, and the loss
property and cattle was enormous.
most severely affected
247
in the
in
Bellary formed one of the Districts It
was the
in the
shape of
great famine of 1876-77.
centre of an extensive system of organized
both
relief,
public works and gratuitous distributions of food.
Commerce atid Trade cotton takes the
first
.
— Among the agricultural products of the place.
In the raw state
it
District,
largely exported
is
both to Madras and Bombay, where it is pronounced equal to the best Western growth; and the manufacture of cotton goods cloth, rope,
—
—
and carpets occupies large numbers of the people. Oil-seeds, sugar-cane, hemp, and indigo, all represent important mercantile interests. In woollen goods, the chief articles of export are the blarikets of the Kudlighi taluk, for which there is a demand all over the Madras Presidency. The woollen carpets, however, cannot compete with those of Ellore and Mysore. Chintz-stamping still forms an important industry in the Gooty taluk of Anantapur District, where also tape,
there
is
carried
A
a considerable manufacture of glass bangles.
on
Hospet and other
in the
Iron-smelting
is
taluks.
portion of the ^Madras Railway (north-west line), 56 miles, runs
boundary of the District, passing the town of Adoni, a branch line from Guntakal station, 32 miles in length, being carried due west to the town of Bellary. A section of the Southern Maratha State Railway also falls within the District, running for a distance of 40 miles, due west, from Bellary to Hospet. There are 974 miles of imperial and local roads. A District road cess,
just
within the north-eastern
levied at the rate of about i|d. in every
2s.
of land revenue, provides
maintenance of the roads. The principal ferries over the Tungabhadra are at Hampsagra, Hathalli, and Madavaram, and those over the Hagari at Permadavanhalli and Moka. The right of ferrying is rented out at about ^^900 per annum, which supplements the regular road fund. Numerous local funds contribute to the District revenue. The public bungalow fund,’ derived from the fees paid by travellers for accommodation in the public rest-houses ; the pound fund and the chaultri fund, derived from economies in the administration of the resources of endowed charities, sufficiently denote the institutions of the District. A District Gazette is published in the town of Bellary for
the
‘
monthly, and a private printing-press Administration separate District,
.
— Until
its
1808,
is
when
also maintained.
Bellary was
first
history forms part of that of the
recognised as a
Ceded Provinces
With the rest it suffered throughout all the changes of government from anarchy and extortionate revenue collectors. In 1800, when the District was ceded to the Company, it was found that
generally.
