Dharwad

The Chalukyas ruled Dharwad during the 12th century. A stone inscription indicates that there was a ruler by the name of BhaskaraDeva in 1117. In the 14th century, the district was first overrun by the Bahmani Sultanate, after which it was annexed to the newly established Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar, an official of which named Dhar Rao, according to local tradition, built the fort at Dharwad town in 1403. After the defeat of the king of Vijayanagar at Talikot (1565), Dharwad was for a few years practically independent under its Hindu governor; but in 1573 the fort was captured by the sultan of Bijapur, Adil Shah, and Dharwad was annexed to his dominions. Adil Shah built a fort in an area later called Manna Killa, and later Nazratabad. With this fort, the strategic importance of Dharwad increased and it attracted the attention of subsequent conquerors, including Aurangzeb, Shivaji, Aurangzeb's son Muhammad Muazzam known as Bahadur Shah I or Shah Alam, the seventh Mughal emperor (1707-1712), Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao, Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan and finally the British colonizers.

In 1685, the fort was taken by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, and Dharwad, on the break-up of the Mughal empire, fell under the sway of the Maratha Peshwa of Pune. In 1764, the province was overrun by Hyder Ali of the Mysore, who in 1778 captured the fort of Dharwad.[1] The fort was retaken in 1791 by the Marathas. After the final defeat of the Peshwa by the British in 1818, Dharwar was incorporated into the territory of the British East India Company's Bombay Presidency. During the early 19th century, when the British were expanding their domains, they faced a lot of opposition from local rulers, including Baba Saheb of Naragund and Kittur Chennamma. Dharwad was independent before 1947.

The population of the twin cities as per provisional figures of Census 2011 is 943,857 and is urban.[4] Hubli-Dharwad's population increased 22.99% between 1981 and 1991, from 527,108 to 648,298, and by 21.2% between 1991 and 2001. The municipality covers 213 km².

Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) was constituted in 1962 by combining two cities separated by a distance of 20 kilometers.[5] The area covered by the corporation is 213 km². spread over 45 revenue villages. The population of the city as per the 1991 census was 7 lakhs. The population of Hubli-Dharwad is 943,857 according to 2011 Census

• Hubballi: Under the Government of India Act of 1850, the Hubballi-Municipal council was established on 15 August 1855.
• Dharwad: The Dharwad Municipal Council first came into existence on 1 January 1856. The first non-official President of the Council was S.K. Rodda in 1907, and Shri S.V. Mensinkai, was nominated in the following year. But the credit of being the first elected President goes to Shri S.G. Karigudari, who took office in 1920.

Hubballi is well known as a commercial as well as industrial centre, whereas Dharwad is seat of learning.[6] Popularly believed that, it is this diversity and geographical positions that the state government amalgamated the two cities.[3] The twin-city corporation occupies unique place in Karnataka State. After the capital city of Bangalore, this is the largest city Corporation in the State.[3]

• Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad (IIT Dharwad)
• Indian Institute of Information Technology, Dharwad (IIITDWD)
• Karnatak University
• Karnataka State Law University (KSLU)
• University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (UASD)
• KLE Technological University

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dharwad.

• Hubli – Dharwad Municipal Corporation
• Dharwad at Curlie
• Karnataka State Government Gazetteer, Info on Hubli
• City population
• Hubli-Dharwad city profiles