Siruguppa
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.
Siruguppa
Town in the northern corner of the Bellary taluk of Bellary District, Madras, situated in 15" 39' N. and 76° 53' E. It is the head-quarters of a deputy-tahsildar. Population (1901), 5,805. It stands on a narrow branch of the Tungabhadra, which splits just above it into two channels, enclosing between them the island of Desanuru, 6 miles long. The picturesque reach which separates the town from the island is flanked for about a quarter of a mile by the old Siruguppa fort, while the other bank is fringed with the coco-nut palms of the island. The name Siruguppa means 'pile of wealth,' and is well earned by the striking contrast which its rich ' wet ' land, watered by two branches of a channel from the river, affords to the ‘dry ' land around it. These fields are the most fertile in the District. From them are sent to Bellary and Adoni large quantities of rice, plantains, coco-nuts, sweet potatoes, pineapples, and garlic. The town boasts a larger revenue assessment (Rs. 26,000) than any other in the District. It has not, however, advanced rapidly in size. It lost 9 per cent, of its population in the great famine of 1877, and during the thirty years between 1871 and 1 90 1 the inhabitants increased by only 5 per cent.
