Originally a part of the British cantonment’s infantry barracks, this building was later converted into a military jail, called the Alipore (Allipura) jail, towards the end of the 19th century. The jail lodged prisoners of war from various First World War theaters, including France, Denmark and Turkey. Even the crown prince of Turkey was an inmate of the jail; his body was buried in Bellary’s Turkish martyrs’ cemetery. In 1920, this military jail became an additional civilian prison, Bellary Central Jail, when over 2,000 Mappilas from Travancore were imprisoned there. Famous personalities of the freedom movement were imprisoned, such as C. Rajagopalachari, V. V. Giri, Tekur Subramanyam, Kamaraj Nadar, Potti Sri Ramulu, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Bezawada Gopala Reddy, E.V. Ramasamy, O. V. Alagesan, Bulusu Sambamurti and Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao. This jail was closed (the only other in the subcontinent to be closed, apart from the Cellular Jail at Port Blair) in 1958 and the old buildings and the entire area of 173 acres (0.70 km2) was converted into a medical college campus in 1961. However, unlike the cellular jail, the entire Alipore jail with over 14 jail blocks was not considered for the status of a National Heritage Museum. The records pertaining to this historic jail in Madras Presidency were sent to the National Archives in Chennai. The jail blocks were assigned to the Government Medical College. All the blocks except one were converted into laboratories and hostels. Mahatma Gandhi spent about eight hours on 01 October 1921 at the City Railway station during his visit to Bellary.
Mantapam inside the Upper Fort. The upper fort (wikimapia) is a polygonal walled building on the summit, with only one approach, and without accommodation for a garrison. It consists of a citadel on the summit of the rock at 1,976 feet (602 m), guarded by three outer lines of fortification, one below the other. It contains several cisterns excavated in the rock. Outside the turreted rampart a ditch and covered pathway are present. The main turret on the east currently features a huge mural of the Indian Flag facing east (wikimapia). There is only one way up to the fort, which is a winding rocky path amongst the boulders. On the top, outside the citadel. there is a small temple, the remains of some cells, and several deep pools of water. Within the citadel there are several strongly constructed buildings, and an ample water supply from reservoirs constructed in the clefts of the rocks. Muzzaffar Khan, the Nawab of Kurnool, was confined here from 1823 to 1864 for the murder of his wife. The Lower Fort
Bellary has a historic garment industry dating back to the First World War period, when the Marathi speaking “Darji” (tailor) community with its native skills in tailoring migrated from the current Maharashtra region to stitch uniforms for the soldiers of the colonial British Indian Army stationed at Bellary. After the war, the community switched to making uniforms for school children, and gradually the uniforms made here became popular all over the country. Currently, Bellary is well known for its branded and unbranded denim garments, with brands like Point Blank, Walker, Dragonfly and Podium being successfully marketed nationally and internationally. There are about 260 denim garment units in Bellary with nearly 3000 families working in these units. The Karnataka State Government has proposed to build an apparel park at Bellary at the cost of 27 crore (US$4.9 million), setting aside 154 acres (0.62 km2) of land for the purpose at Mundargi and Guggarahalli villages on the south of Bellary city.
This school on Ananthapur Road is over 150 years old. One of the oldest institutions in the town, it was started as a composite school for students from the Class IV elementary to Class VI form school final, with English as the medium of instruction along with other languages like Telugu, Kannada and Urdu, besides ancient languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian. John Neale was the first headmaster of the school, followed by eminent people such as Arcot Ranganath Mudaliar, T. D. Logan, Arcot Bheemachar, K. S. Vedantham, B. Madhava Rao, and Bahaddoor S. Seshagiri Rao. The foundation for the present building on Anantapur Road was laid on 16 July 1926 by R. G. Grieve, Director of Public Instruction, Government of Madras, when Nagaruru Narayana Rao was the chairman of the Bellary Municipality. Moulana Abul Kalam Azad High School (MAKA High School)
The lower fort (wikimapia) lies at the eastern base of the rock and measures about half a mile in diameter. It probably had an arsenal and barracks. It consists of a surrounding rampart with numerous bastions, faced by a deep ditch and glacis. The entrance to the lower fort is via two gates, one each on the western and eastern sides. Just outside the eastern gates of the lower fort there is a temple dedicated to Hanuman – the Kote Anjaneya Temple (Kote (????) = fort in Kannada) (wikimapia). Later additions to the lower fort by the British include a commissariat store, Protestant church, orphanage, Masonic lodge, post office, and numerous private dwellings. Now the lower fort contains a number of public buildings, government offices, schools and other educational institutions, and churches.
After the Sevuna Yadavas and the Hoysalas were defeated by the Islamic sultanates of Delhi, the Vijayanagara Empire arose under Harihara I and Bukka I, who dominated the Bellary area. Bellary itself was ruled by the family of Hande Hanumappa Nayaka, a Palayagara of the Vijayanagara rulers. After the fall of the Vijayanagara empire, the Hande Nayakas of Bellary were successively subsidiary to the Adilshahi sultanate, the Mughals, the Nizam, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, and finally the British Empire after the Nizam ceded a large part of the southern Deccan to the British East India Company. The Hande Nayakas ceased to be rulers of Bellary after Major Thomas Munro disposed of the palayagars of the ceded districts and established the Ryotwari land revenue system.
Bellary Fort is located on top of Ballari Gudda (“Fort Hill”). The fort was built around the hill during Vijayanagara times by Hande Hanumappa Nayaka. Hyder Ali, who took possession of the fort from the Hande Nayaka family in 1769, renovating and modifying it with the help of a French engineer. The lower fort was added by Hyder Ali around the eastern half of the hill. Legend has it that the unfortunate French engineer was hanged for overlooking the fact that the neighbouring Kumbara Gudda is taller than Ballari Gudda, thus compromising the secrecy and command of the fort. His grave is believed to be located near the east gate of the fort, though some locals believe it to be the grave of a Muslim holy man instead.
A new international airport is being planned by the Infrastructure Development Corporation of Karnataka (iDecK), to be constructed near Sanganakallu on the north-eastern end of the city, around Chaganur and Siriwar villages. Nodal agency Infrastructure Development Department, Karnataka Government, has identified 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) for the airport. The contract for the development and operation of this greenfield airport has been awarded to Chennai-based MARG Limited, which has incorporated a special purpose vehicle, MARG Krishna Devaraya Airport Pvt. Ltd. In addition to terminal buildings, runways and control towers, MARG will develop access facilities and build utilities necessary to serve the airport during the operational phase.
As of 1901 AD, Bellary was the seventh largest town in Madras Presidency, and one of the chief military stations in southern India, garrisoned by British and native Indian troops under the British Indian Government. The town included a civil railway station to the east of the Bellary Fort, the cantonment and its railway station on the west, the Cowl Bazaar and the suburbs of ‘Bruce-pettah’ (currently spelt Brucepet) and ‘Mellor-pettah’, named after two British officers once stationed in the town. The industries in the town included a small distillery and two steam cotton presses. The steam cotton-spinning mill established in 1894 had 17,800 spindles and employed 520 hands.
15.15°N 76.93°E. It has an average elevation of 495 meters (1459 ft). The city stands in the midst of a wide, level plain of black cotton soil. Bellary has a semi arid climate. As the city lies in the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats, it receives little rain from the southwest monsoon. Temperatures remain high throughout the year, but the months from March to June are especially hot, with temperatures sometimes reaching 45 °C (110 °F). The months from October to February are relatively mild, with average temperatures of around 22 °C (71 °F). The city receives about 24 inches (610 mm) of rain every year, mainly in the months from August to October.
Currently, two railway stations serve the city, both built during British rule. The city station (Bellary Junction) and the Cantonment station (Cantonment). The city is served by the Hubli–Guntakal line and the extended Bellary–Rayadurgam–Chitradurga line and falls under the jurisdiction of South Western Railway. Bellary is well connected by rail to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Raichur, Anantapur, Hindupur, Tirupati, Hubli, Guntakal, Adoni, Guntur, Vijayawada, Howrah, Pune, etc. Guntakal is an important junction near Bellary from where trains to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and most other places in India are available.
According to the 2011 India census, Bellary has a population of 409,444.Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%.Bellary has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 82% of the males and 77% of females literate.12% of the population is under 6 years of age.While Kannada is the administrative language, Kannada and Telugu are dominant languages spoken by the residents, along with Dakhni (Deccan Urdu). A majority of the population is multilingual, speaking both Kannada and Telugu, and some speak Dakhni and Hindi as well.
A museum to exhibit findings from the Sanganakallu and other neolithic sites is proposed to be built at the Kannada and Culture complex, adjacent to the deputy commissioner’s residence in Patel Nagar, Bellary. The proposed museum complex aims to bring into focus the history and cultural heritage of Bellary. There are also plans to create an audio-visual time capsule of landmarks of the people of the region through the ages. A fully built two-storied building of about 8,000 sq ft (740 m2) has been made available by the district administration for the museum.
The growth of the famed cotton and silk Ilkal saree is attributed to the patronage provided by the local chieftains in and around the town of Bellary. Additionally, the nearby town of Rayadurgam, formerly in Bellary district but now in Andhra Pradesh, is also renowned for its silk and cotton sarees. Similarly, Molakalmuru, a town in Chitradurga district but much closer to Bellary than its district headquarters, is known for its silk sarees branded by the town’s name. However, Bellary itself has no saree manufacturing industry. Cotton processing
Founded in 1842 as Sabhapathy Mudaliar Hospital, with 40 beds. Rai Bahadur A. Sabhapathy Mudaliar donated the building for the hospital. Now popularly known as Ghosha hospital, it is situated in the heart of city, spreading over an area of 15 acres (61,000 m2) and with 210 beds for Paediatrics, Gynecology and Post Mortem cases. A 20 bed Infosys ward has been added recently for the treatment of Japanese Encephalitis cases. This hospital is soon to be moved to the VIMS campus. Government Wellesley Tuberculosis & Chest Diseases Hospital
On 1 October 1953 AD, the Bellary district of Madras State was divided on a linguistic basis. Areas with a significant Kannada speaking population were transferred to Mysore state, which later became Karnataka state. Areas of the district with a significant Telugu speaking population were merged into the Anantapuram and Karnulu districts in what would later become Andhra Pradesh state. Bellary city itself, with large numbers of both Kannada and Telugu speakers, was included into Mysore state after protracted debate and controversy.
This school in Kaalamma Street was founded as a school in 1846 by the Rev. R. S. Wardlaw, D.D. of the London Mission, and raised to a second grade college in 1891. For a long time, it was the only arts college in the Ceded Districts. In 1903–04 it had an average daily attendance of 319 students, of whom 17 were in F.A. Class. This is the oldest educational institution in Bellary town and it continues to offer quality education to the people of Bellary. Prof. U. R. Rao of ISRO studied at this institution. Municipal Junior College
Ashoka Siddapura, 30 km to south of Bellary, is an important archeological site where Emperor Ashoka’s edicts were found. The nearby Brahmagiri village is the ancient site of Ishila, one of Emperor Ashoka’s provincial capitals. One of his earliest rock edicts, dated circa 3rd century BC, written in Brahmi script in the Prakrit language and containing Kannada words, was discovered here. Nearby is Ramagiri, a hillock that has mythical associations with the epic Ramayana and a temple dedicated to Rameshwara built circa 926 CE.
With cotton being one of the major agricultural crops around Bellary historically, the city has had a thriving cotton processing industry in the form of ginning, spinning and weaving plants. The earliest steam cotton-spinning mill was established in 1894 AD, which by 1901 AD had 17,800 spindles, and employed 520 hands. The city continues to thrive in this sector with one spinning mill and numerous cotton ginning and pressing mills, hand looms and power looms. Garment manufacture
There are several legends explaining how Bellary got its name. The first is that a few devout traveling merchants halting in Bellar, could not find a Shiva Linga for their worship. They then installed a balla (a measuring cup or seru used to measure grain) upside down as a Shiva Linga and worshiped it. Eventually, that place was turned into a temple dedicated to Balleshwara or Shiva, which became distorted to Malleshwara’, and thus Bellary derives its name from this temple.