Bagalkot
is 90Km away from the city of Bijapur. According to a legend, the town
was believed to be granted to the Vajantries (ie. Village orchestra)
of Ravana. In inscriptions, the old name of the twon was quoted as
Bagadage, and headquarters of a unit called Bagadage-70 under the Chalukyas.
one of the Bijapur kings said to have presented the town to his daughter
as a bangle or ornament money; consequently the place is said to have
been called Bagdikot and corrupted to Bagilakote or Bagalkot. Earlier
to this, vijayanagara kings had held sway over this part of the country.
between 1664 to 1755 this territory was under the management of the
Savanur Nawab from whom it was annexed by the Peshwa, Balajirao. During
1778, Haider Ali took possession of Bagalkot and was later held by
the Savanur Nawab as his vassal.
Again it fell into
the hands of the Marathas by the agreement of Srirangapattana(1792).
In 1800, the provincial
manager, Anandarao Bhikaji belonging to the Rastia family residing
at bagtalkot built a palace. In 1810, Peshwa Bajirao II gave the
area to Nilkantharao Sarsubedar who held Bagalkot Fort supported by
a garrison
till Gen. Munro occupied it in 1818. The chief Temples of the Place
are of Shri Bhavani, Panduranga and Kotalesha, Raghavendraswamy
Matha and of Motagi Basaveshwara. There is a Jaina basadi of Parshwanatha.
The place has a Virakta matha. The Place has several mosues of
which
Panka Masjid is a very fine stone structure. The civic administration
is managed by the municipality. The Basaweshvara Vidyavardhaka
Sangha here runs several colleges and education institutions and the
late
S.C. Nandimath, noted scholar was closely connected with this organisation.
The place was a noted
centre of freedom movement and also of Unification movement. It is
on the banks of the Ghataprabha river and after
the completion of Second stage of Upper Krishna Project, a large
part of
the the town is expected to be submerged (Already Submerged).The
place has a cement factory and it is a centre of trade in cotton
and groundnut.
Kaladgi is a big village situated on the South bank of the
Ghataprabha river, about 24 Km from Bagalkot. In the initial stages
of the
British regime, cavalry was stationed here by the Sourhern Maharashtra
Jahgirdars.
It was found to be a very suitable place for the movement of
troops. After the war, in 1864 it was made tthe district headquarters.
in 1884 the district Hq was shifted to Bijapur. In this place is
a
fine temple
of Basavanna, built out of famous Shellikeri Blackstone,. In
geological circles Kaladgi range is very familiar. The place is well
known
for fruit gardens. Several old buildings and tombs of the British
days, still remain at this place. The town has a town Panchayat and
a
Khadi
production Unit .