Karwar Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Karwar Town
(Kadvdd). — Head-quarters of the taluka of the same name and of North Kanara District, Bombay, situated in 14 degree 49' N. and 74 degree 8' E., 50 miles south-east of Goa and 295 miles south-east of Bombay. Population (1901), 16,847, including suburbs. The municipality, established in 1864, had an average income during the decade ending 1901 of Rs. 13,000. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 12,000.
Old Karwar, on the banks of the Kalinadi, 3 miles to the east of
the new town, was once an important place of commerce. It is first
mentioned in 15 10 as Caribal, on the opposite side of the river to
Cintacora or Chitakul. During the first half of the seventeenth century
the Karwar revenue superintendent, or desai, was one of the chief
officers of the Bijapur kingdom, of which it formed a part. In 1638
the fame of the pepper of Sonda induced Sir William Courten's
Company to open a factory at Karwar. In 1660 the factory was
prosperous, exporting the finest muslins in Western India ; the weaving
country was inland to the east, at Hubli and other centres, where as
many as 50,000 weavers were employed. Besides the great export of
muslin, Karwar provided pepper, cardamoms, cassia, and coarse blue
cotton cloth (du/igan). In 1665 SivajT, the founder of the Maratha
power, exacted a contribution of Rs. 1,120 from the English. In 1673
the faujddr, or military governor of Karwar, laid siege to the factory.
In 1674 Sivajl burnt Karwar town; but the English were treated civilly,
and no harm was done to the factory. In 1676 the factory suffered
from the exactions of local chiefs, and the establishment was withdrawn
in 1679.
It was restored in 1682 on a larger scale than before. In
1684 the English were nearly driven out of Karwar, the crew of a small
vessel having stolen and killed a cow. In 1685 the Portuguese stirred
the desais of Karwar and Sonda to revolt. During the last ten years of
the seventeenth century the Dutch made every attempt to depress the
English pepper trade ; and in 1697 the Marathas laid Karwar waste.
In 1 715 the old fort of Karwar was pulled down, and Sadashivgarh was
built by the Sonda chief. The new fort seriously interfered with the
safety of the English factory ; and owing to the hostility of the Sonda
chief, the factory was removed in 1720. The English, in spite of their
efforts to regain the favour of the Sonda chiefs, were unable to obtain
leave to reopen their factory at Karwar till 1750. The Portuguese
in 1752 sent a fleet and took possession of Sadashivgarh. As the
Portuguese claimed the monopoly of the Karwar trade, and were in
a position to enforce their claim, the English agent was withdrawn.
In 1 80 1 Old Karwar was in ruins. Very few traces of it remain.
The new town dates from after the transfer of North Kanara District to the Bombay Presidency, before which it was a mere fishing village. The present town and neighbouring offices and residences are in the lands of six villages, and within the municipal limits of the town are nine villages. A proposal was strenuously urged in Bombay to connect Karwar by a railway with the interior, so as to provide a seaport for the southern cotton Districts. Between 1867 and 1874 the hope that a railway from Karwar to Hubli would be sanctioned raised the value of building sites at Karwar, and led to the construction of many ware- houses and dwellings. The scheme was finally abandoned in favour of the line through Portuguese territory to Marmagao. The trade of Karwar has markedly decreased since the opening of this railway.
Karwar is the only safe harbour between Bombay and Cochin during all seasons of the year. In the bay is a cluster of islets called the Oyster Rocks, on the largest of which, Devgad island, a lighthouse has been built. There are two smaller islands in the bay (138 and 120 feet above the level of the sea), which afford good shelter to native craft and small vessels during the strong north-west winds that prevail from February to April. From the Karwar port-office, on a white flagstaff, 60 feet from the ground and 65 feet above high water, is displayed a red fixed ship's light, visible three miles ; with the light bearing east-south-east a vessel can anchor in 3 to 5 fathoms. About 5 miles south-west and 2 miles from the mainland, the island of Anjidiv rises steep from the sea, dotted with trees and the houses of its small Portuguese settlement. Coasting steamers belonging to the Bombay Steam Navigation Company call twice a week at Karwar throughout the fair-weather season.
These steamers generally make
the trip between Karwar and Bombay in thirty-six hours. The value
of the trade at Karwar port during the year 1903-4 is returned as
follows : imports 3-34 lakhs and exports Rs. 82,000. Karwar bay is
remarkable for its beautiful scenery. It possesses a fine grove of
casuarinas, beneath which the sea breaks picturesquely on the long
stretch of white sand, from the mouth of the Kalinadi to the sheltered
inlet of Baitkal cove. Besides the chief revenue and judicial offices,
the town contains a Subordinate Judge's court, a jail, a hospital, a high
school with 237 pupils, 2 middle schools, and 8 other schools.
