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BELLARY

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 696 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BELLARY , or BALLAItI, a See also:

city and See also:district of See also:British See also:India, in the See also:Madras See also:presidency. The city is 305 M. by See also:rail from Madras. Pop. (1901) 58,247. The fort rises from a huge See also:mass of See also:granite See also:rock, which with a circumference of nearly 2 m., juts up abruptly to a height of 459 ft. above the See also:plain. The length of this rock from See also:north-See also:east to See also:south-See also:west is about 1150 ft. To the E. and S. lies an irregular heap of boulders, but to the W. is an unbroken precipice, and the N. is walled by See also:bare rugged ridges. It is defended by two distinct lines of See also:works. The upper fort is a quadrangular See also:building on the See also:summit, with only one approach, and was deemed impregnable by the See also:Mysore princes. But as it has no See also:accommodation for a See also:garrison, it is now only occupied by a small guard of British troops in See also:charge of prisoners. The exnatvab of See also:Kurnool was confined in it for See also:forty years for the See also:murder of his wife. It contains several cisterns, excavated in the rock, Outside the turreted rampart are a ditch and covered way.

The See also:

lower fort lies at the eastern See also:base of the rock and See also:measures about See also:half a mile in See also:diameter. It contains the See also:barracks and the See also:commissariat stores, the See also:Protestant See also:church, See also:orphan-See also:age, Masonic See also:lodge, See also:post-See also:office and numerous private dwellings. The fort of Bellary was criginally built by Hanumapa, in the 16th See also:century. It was first dependent on the See also:kingdom of Viiayanagar, afterwards on See also:Bijapur, and subsequently subject to the See also:nizam and Hyder See also:Ali. The latter erected the See also:present fortifications according to tradition with the assistance of a See also:French engineer in his service, whom he afterwards hanged for not building the fort on a higher rock adjacent to it. Bellary is an important See also:cantonment and the headquarters of a military See also:division. There is a considerable See also:trade in See also:cotton, in connexion with which there are large See also:steam presses, and some manufacture of cotton See also:cloth. There is a cotton See also:spinning See also:mill. In 1901 Bellary was chosen as one of the places of detention in India for See also:Boer prisoners of See also:war. The district of BELLARY has an See also:area of 5714 sq. m. It consists chiefly of an extensive See also:plateau between the Eastern and Western See also:Ghats, of a height varying from Soo to ratio ft. above the See also:sea. The most elevated tracts are on the west, where the See also:surface rises towards the culminating range of hills, and on the south, where it rises to the elevated tableland of Mysore.

Towards the centre the almost treeless plain presents a monotonous aspect, broken only by a few rocky elevations that rise abruptly from the See also:

black See also:soil. The See also:hill ranges in Bellary are those of See also:Sandur and Kampli to the west, the Lanka Malla to the east and the See also:Copper See also:Mountain (3148 ft.) to the south-west. The district is watered by five See also:rivers: the See also:Tungabhadra, formed by the junction of two streams, Tunga and Bhadra, the Haggari, Hindri, Chitravati and See also:Pennar, the last considered sacred by the natives. None of the rivers is navigable and all are fordable during the dry See also:season. The See also:climate of Bellary is characterized by extreme dryness, due to the passing of the See also:air over a See also:great extent of heated plains, and it has a smaller rainfall than any other district in south India. The See also:average daily variation of the thermometer is from 67° to 83° F. The prevailing diseases are See also:cholera, See also:fever, small-pox, ophthalmia, See also:dysentery and those of the skin among the lower classes. Bellary is subject to disastrous storms and hurricanes, and to famines arising from a See also:series of See also:bad seasons. There were memorable famines in 1751, 1793, 1803, 1833, 1854, 1866, 1877 and 1896. In Igo' the See also:population was 947, 214, showing an increase of 8 % in the See also:decade. The See also:principal crops are See also:millet, other See also:food-grains, See also:pulse, oil-seeds and cotton. There are considerable manufactures of cotton and woollen goods, and cotton is largely exported.

The district is traversed by the Madras and See also:

Southern Mahratta See also:railways, See also:meeting on the eastern border at Guntakal junction, where another See also:line branches off to See also:Bezwada. Little is known of the See also:early See also:history of the district. It contains the ruined See also:capital of the See also:ancient See also:Hindu kingdom of See also:Vijayanagar, and on the overthrow of that See also:state by the Mahommedans, in 1564, the See also:tract now forming the district of Bellary was split up into a number of military holdings, held by chiefs called poligars. In 1635 the Carnatic was annexed to the Bijapur dominions, from which again it was wrested in 168o by See also:Sivaji, the founder of the Mahratta See also:power. It was then included in the dominions of Nizam-ul-mulk, the nominal See also:viceroy of the great See also:Mogul in the See also:Deccan, from whom again it was subsequently conquered by Hyder Ali of Mysore. At the See also:close of the war with Tippoo See also:Sultan in 1792, these territories See also:fell to the See also:share of the nizam of See also:Hyderabad, by whom they were ceded to the British in i800, in return for See also:protection by a force of British troops to be stationed at his capital. In 18o8 the " Ceded Districts," as they were called, were split into two districts, See also:Cuddapah and Bellary. In 1882 the district of See also:Anantapur, which had hitherto formed See also:part of Bellary, was formed into a See also:separate collectorate. See Bellary Gazetteer, 1904. See also:BELL-COT, BELL-GABLE, Or BELL-See also:TURRET, the See also:place where one or more bells are hung in chapels or small churches which have no towers. Bell-cots are sometimes See also:double, as at Northborough and See also:Coxwell; a very See also:common See also:form in See also:France and See also:Switzerland admits of three bells. In these countries also they are frequently of See also:wood and attached to the See also:ridge.

In later times bell-turrets were much ornamented; on the See also:

continent of See also:Europe they run up into a sort of small, slender See also:spire, called Jleche in France, and guglio in See also:Italy. A bell-cot, gable or turret often holds the " Sanctus-bell," See also:rung at the saying of the " Sanctus " at the beginning of the See also:canon of the Mass, and at the See also:consecration and See also:elevation of the Elements in the See also:Roman Church. This differs but little from the common bell-cot, except that it is generally on the See also:top of the See also:arch dividing the See also:nave from the See also:chancel. At Cleeve, however, the bell seems to have been placed in a cot outside the See also:wall. Sanctus-bells have also been placed over the gables of porches.

End of Article: BELLARY

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