Kurnool 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.
Kurnool Town
Head-quarters of the District and subdivision of the same name, Madras, situated in 15° 50 N. and 78° 4^ E., on a low rocky spit of ground at the confluence of the two rivers Tungabhadra and Hindri, 900 feet above sea-level, 33 miles from the nearest railway station (Kurnool Road or Dhone, on the Southern Mahratta Railway), and 350 miles from Madras city. The population in 1901 was 25,376, nearly half being Muhammadans, an unusually high proportion. Christians numbered 369.
The fort is said to have been built by Achyuta Raya, the successor of Krishna Deva Raya, the greatest of the Vijayanagar kings. The history of the place is referred to in the account of the District of which it is the capital. The fort has been completely dismantled, except one bastion preserved on antiquarian grounds, which is at present used by the police as a powder-magazine. The tomb of Abdul Wahab, the first Muhammadan governor, on the bank of the Hindri, which was built in a.d. 16 18, is the only other antiquity in the place that deserves mention.
Kurnool is the head-quarters of the Collector and of the usu^l District staff. Being situated in a hollow, the place is very sultry in the hot season. Formerly it was regarded as one of the most unhealthy stations in the Presidency, but since the introduction of a water-supply its salubrity has considerably improved.
Kurnool was constituted a municipality in 1866. The receipts and expenditure during the ten years ending 1 900-1, excluding loans from Government, averaged Rs. 42,000. In 1903-4 they amounted to Rs. 57,000 and Rs. 51,500 respectively. Most of the income is derived from the taxes on houses and land, tolls, and the water rate. Formerly the water-supply of the town was brought by means of open channels from the irrigation canal which flows close by. This water was greatly polluted during its passage, and water-works were in consequence constructed in 1897 at a cost of 2-6 lakhs, three-fourths of which was contributed by Government. AVater is now lifted by two steam pumps from the canal into two settling tanks situated on a high level, and from there passed into four filter-beds, from which it is taken into two service reservoirs carefully preserved from contamination and situated on a level which commands the whole town. The municipality main- tains a hospital, with beds for 24 in-patients.
Kurnool shares with Nandyal the main part of the commerce of the District, and is the centre of the grain trade of the northern half. There are two steam cotton-presses belonging to native merchants. The chief manufactures are carpets and cotton cloths of coarse kinds. A small tannery has been opened recently by a Musalman. The municipal high school had 183 boys on its rolls in 1903-4. There is also a lower secondary school with 123 boys, under the management of the American Baptist Mission, which has its head-quarters here.
