Belagavi district (also spelled Belgaum) is an administrative district in the north-western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is named after its headquarters town, Belagavi city. The district lies along Karnataka's border with the states of Maharashtra and Goa, and is one of the largest districts in Karnataka in terms of both area and population. It is traditionally important for sugar cultivation, dairying, defence establishments and as a centre of Marathi–Kannada cultural interaction.
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| State | Karnataka |
| Headquarters | Belagavi (Belgaum) |
| Region | Belagavi division (Kittur Karnataka) |
| Borders | Maharashtra (north and west), Goa (south-west); Karnataka districts of Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkot and Vijayapura |
| Major rivers | Krishna, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Markandeya |
| Official languages | Kannada (with significant Marathi and Urdu speakers) |
The district occupies a transitional zone between the Western Ghats and the Deccan plateau. The western talukas, including Khanapur, lie in the hilly, forested ghat region with higher rainfall, while the eastern talukas form part of the open black-soil plains drained by the Krishna river system. The Ghataprabha and Malaprabha, both major tributaries of the Krishna, flow through the district. Reservoirs such as Hidkal (on the Ghataprabha) and Renuka Sagar/Navilutirtha (on the Malaprabha) support irrigation in the district and beyond.
Belagavi district is part of the Belagavi revenue division, which also includes neighbouring districts of north Karnataka. The district is subdivided into several talukas, including Belagavi, Bailhongal, Khanapur, Hukkeri, Gokak, Athani, Raibag, Ramdurg, Saundatti (Savadatti), Chikodi, Kagwad, Mudalgi, Nippani and Yargatti, following reorganisations carried out by the Karnataka government. The district administration is headed by a Deputy Commissioner, with a Superintendent of Police in charge of policing and a Zilla Panchayat for rural local self-government.
The Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, inaugurated in 2012 in Belagavi city, serves as a second seat of the Karnataka Legislature and hosts the annual winter session of the state legislature.
The region has been ruled successively by the Rashtrakutas, Kadambas of Goa, Western Chalukyas, Yadavas of Devagiri, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Bahmani and Bijapur Sultanates, the Marathas and the British. The town of Saundatti was the seat of the Ratta dynasty, and Kittur, also in the district, was the centre of the resistance led by Rani Chennamma against the British East India Company in 1824, an early episode of armed Indian opposition to colonial rule.
Under the British, Belgaum was a district of the Bombay Presidency. The 1924 session of the Indian National Congress was held at Belgaum and was famously presided over by Mahatma Gandhi—the only Congress session he chaired. Following the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, Belgaum district was transferred from Bombay State to the newly formed Mysore State (renamed Karnataka in 1973). The status of the district has been the subject of a long-running boundary dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra, the latter claiming several Marathi-majority areas.
In 2014, the Government of Karnataka officially adopted the spelling Belagavi for the city and district, in line with the Kannada pronunciation.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the rural economy. Major crops include sugarcane, paddy, jowar, maize, cotton, tobacco, groundnut, soyabean and pulses; the district is one of Karnataka's leading producers of sugarcane and hosts a large number of cooperative and private sugar factories, particularly in the Gokak, Athani, Chikodi and Hukkeri belts. Dairy cooperatives affiliated to the Karnataka Milk Federation are widely active.
Belagavi city is an important industrial centre, known historically for foundries and high-pressure die-casting and aluminium components, and more recently for an aerospace and machine-tool cluster. The district is served by National Highway 4 (the Pune–Bengaluru corridor), the Bengaluru–Mumbai railway line, and Belagavi Airport at Sambra, which offers scheduled domestic flights.
Belagavi has been a military cantonment since the British era. The