Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 2 (2nd edition).pdf/246

 BELGAUM.

236 inland,

no

without

railway

or

navigable

the

river,

District

possesses

Cotton is the only article for which the demand is not purely local. European manufactures and other articles required for the European population in the Belgdum cantonment are brought by shopkeepers from Bombay. In several villages throughout the District markets are held at fixed intervals, usually once a week. These markets supply the wants of the country round within a radius of about 6 miles, containing as a rule from 25 to

30

foreign

villages

Next

of

trade

importance.

and hamlets.

to agriculture,

hand-loom weaving forms the chief industry are generally Lingdyats or Musalmans,

The weavers

of the District.

with a small sprinkling of Marathas.

The

finer

sorts

of cloth are

two or three towns. With the exception of a small quantity of cloth sent to the neighbouring Districts, the produce of its hand-looms is almost entirely consumed in Belgaum. Simple dyeing and tanning is carried on over the whole District. Gokak town was once famous for its dyers, and is still noted for a coarse kind of manufactured only

in

made in large quantities. Gokak toys, made both from light wood and from a peculiar kind of earth, are also celebrated. They consist of models of men and gods, fruits and vegetables. paper

kinds of

Adtnmistration

divided into

7

.

— For

Belgaum District is Athni, Belgaum, Bidi,

administrative purposes,

idluks or Sub-divisions,

viz.

Chikodi, Gokak, Parasgad, and Sampgaon. The administration in revenue matters is entrusted to a Collector and 4 Assistants, of whom For the settlement of civil disputes 2 are covenanted civil servants. In 1 880-8 r, the total cost to the State of the there are 5 courts. and the amount realized from maintenance of these courts was court fees and stamps ;£i3,^96.

There are 20

officers for the

admini-

whom

6 are Europeans, 4 being covenanted civilians and 2 military officers. In the same year the excise

stration of criminal justice, of

revenue amounted to ^^12,898, and the license tax produced ;^45i4. In the year 1881, the total strength of the District or regular police 1,330. force was 674 officers and men, maintained at a total cost of These figures show i man to every 6*9 square miles as compared with the area, and

i

man

to every 1497 souls as

compared with the popula-

cost of maintenance was equal to ;^2, 8s. per square mile, In 1881, the Belgaum jail contained a or 3d. per head of population. showing daily average of 683 convicted prisoners, including 13 females

tion.

The

—

prisoner to every r265 of the population; the total cost was ^3864, or ;,^5, 13s. 2d. per prisoner. The District contains 18 post-offices and I

I

telegraph office at Belgaum town.

The

District local funds for

works of public

utilitj',

and

for the

spread

of rural education, yielded in the year i88o-8r, ;,^i2,203. The disbursements amounted to ^6460, expended in the construction of new