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KOLHAPUR

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 889 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KOLHAPUR , a native See also:

state of See also:India, within the See also:Deccan See also:division of Bombay. It is the See also:fourth in importance of the Mahratta principalities, the other three being See also:Baroda, See also:Gwalior and See also:Indore; and it is the See also:principal state under the See also:political See also:control of the See also:government of Bombay. Together with its jagirs or feudatories, it covers an See also:area of 3165 sq. m. In 1901 the See also:population was 910,011. The estimated See also:revenue is £300,000, Kolhapur stretches from the See also:heart of the Western See also:Ghats eastwards into the See also:plain of the Deccan. Along the spurs of the See also:main See also:chain of the Ghats See also:lie See also:wild and picturesque See also:hill slopes and valleys, producing little but See also:timber, and till recently covered with See also:rich forests. The centre of the state is crossed by several lines of See also:low hills See also:running at right angles from the main range. In the See also:east the See also:country becomes more open and presents the unpicturesque uniformity of a well-cultivated and treeless plain, broken only by an occasional See also:river. Among the western hills are the See also:ancient Mahratta strongholds of Panhala, Vishalgarh, Bavda and Rungna. The See also:rivers, though navigable during the rains by boats of 2 tons burthen, are all fordable during the hot months. See also:Iron ore is found in the hills, and smelting was formerly carried on to a considerable extent; but now the Kolhapur See also:mineral cannot compete with that imported from See also:Europe. There are several See also:good See also:stone quarries.

The principal agricultural products are See also:

rice, millets, See also:sugar-See also:cane, See also:tobacco, See also:cotton, See also:safflower and vegetables. The rajas of Kolhapur trace their descent from See also:Raja See also:Ram, a younger son of See also:Sivaji the See also:Great, the founder of the Mahratta See also:power. The prevalence of piracy caused the See also:British government to send expeditions against Kolhapur in 1765 and 1792; and in the See also:early years of the 19th See also:century the misgovernment of the See also:chief compelled the British to resort to military operations, and ultimately to appoint an officer to See also:manage the state. In See also:recent years the state has been conspicuously well governed, on the See also:pattern of British See also:administration. The raja Shahu Chhatrapati, G.C.S.I. (who is entitled to a salute of 21 guns) was See also:born in 1874, and ten years later succeeded to the See also:throne by See also:adoption. The principal institutions are the Rajaram See also:college, the high school, a technical school, an agricultural school, and training-See also:schools for both masters and mistresses. The state railway from See also:Miraj junction to Kolhapur See also:town is worked by the See also:Southern Mahratta See also:company. In recent years the state has suffered from both See also:famine and See also:plague. The town of KoLHAEUR, Or KARVIR, is the See also:terminus of a See also:branch of the Southern Mahratta railway, 30 M. from the main See also:line. Pop. (1901), 54,373.

Besides a number of handsome See also:

modern public buildings, the town has many evidences of antiquity. Originally it appears to have been an important religious centre, and numerous Buddhist remains have been discovered in the neighbourhood.

End of Article: KOLHAPUR

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