BELGAUM, a town and district of British India, in the southern division of Bombay. It is situated nearly 2,5ooft. above sea-level, 245m. S. of Poona by rail, and has a civil and military cantonment. An ancient fortress, dating apparently from 1519, and covering about iooac. and surrounded by a ditch, has within it two interesting Jain temples. Belgaum is a considerable centre of trade and of cotton weaving, and has a cotton mill, clay, soap and pottery works, and a tannery. Pop. (1931) The district of Belgaum has an area of 4,612 square miles. To the north and east the country is open and well cultivated, but to the south is intersected by spurs of the Sahyadri range, thickly covered in some places with forest. Pop. (1931) 1,076,701. The principal crops are millet, rice and cotton. There are considerable manufactures of cotton cloth. The West Deccan line of the Southern Mahratta railway traverses the district from north to south.
The ancient name of the town of Belgaum was Venugrama, which is said to be derived from the bamboos that are character istic of its neighbourhood. The most ancient place in the district is Halsi, which, according to inscriptions on copper plates dis covered in its neighbourhood, was once the capital of a dynasty of nine Kadamba kings. It appears that from the middle of the 6th century A.D. to about 76o the country was held by the Chaluk yas. It, or a part of it, was then held successively by the Rash trakutas, the Rattas, the Kadambas of Goa, the Yadavas of Devagiri, the emperor of Delhi, the rajahs of Vijayanaga, the Bahmani dynasty and the Moguls. In 1776 the country was over run by Hyder Ali, but was retaken by the Peshwa with British assistance. In 1818 it was handed over to the East India Com pany and was made part of the district of Dharwar. In 1836 this was divided into two parts, the southern district continuing to be known as Dharwar, the northern as Belgaum.