KISTNA, a river of Southern India, which runs almost across the Peninsula. Its source is in lat. 18° 1' N., and long. 73° 41' E., near Mahabaleshwar, at the ancient temple of Maha deo, at the foot of a steep hill, at an eleva tion of about 4500 feet above the sea. Inside the temple is a small tank, into which a stream of pure water flows from a spout fashioned into the image of a cow's month. This is the traditional fountain-head of the river. On reaching the frontier chain of the Eastern Ghats, the Kistna turns southwards to reach the sea. Its delta, for about 80 miles from the mountains to the Bay of Bengal, lies entirely within British territory, and is now known as the Kistna district, embracing the lands on each side of the eastern third of Kistna river, and part of it in the great alluvial flat formed by the deltas of the Godavery and Kistna. The district suffered from famines in 1686 and 1832-34, the latter especially in Gun tur; and in 1763, 1843, and 1864 31asulipatain and other parts were inundated by storm-waves, destroying many people. The famine in 1832-34 cauged•a decrease of 200,000 in the population. It was most severe in the Guntur portion, and was due to the failure of both the monsoons. Since 1852, to provide for irrigation, the British Indian Government has dammed up the river and its tributaries. The head-waters of the Minn are dammed up at Kharakwasla to furnish Poona with a water supply. The Madras Irrigation Company have drawn water for the Kurnool district from the Tumbudra. On the istna itself a small work has been constructed high up in the Satara district, where a dam has been thrown across the bed of the river, from which a canal is taken parallel to the left bank, capable of irrigating an area of 1825 acres. But the greatest Kistna work is the Baizwara anicut, first i corn menced in 1852, at a point where the river is confined by rocky hills on either bank. The length of the crest of this weir is 1280 yards. In 1874 the river rose 19.42 feet above the weir crest. This anent is 1280 yards long, has a breadth of 305 feet, and a height of 21 feet. The river here is 1300 yards wide, has a rise of from 6 to 36 feet, and its maximum flood dis charge is 1,188,000 cubic feet per second. The
principal canals are navigable, and the length in 1873 available was 254 miles. The irrigated area is 226,226 acres, and the revenue Rs. 8,90,753. The Baizwara anicut is a great tranverse dam thrown across the river from hill to hill. The total cost of constructing this dam, which con sisted of a wall backed with stone, was less than £75,000. More than 340 miles of canals have also been opened, and on these a large number of cargo and passenger boats and rafts are constantly plying for hire.
The Kolar Lake, which covers an area of 21 by 14 miles, and the Romparu swamp, are °natural receptacles for the drainage on the north and south sides of the Kistna respectively. Kolar Lake is navigable from June or July, according to the setting in of the heavy rains, till February.
The Kistna is One of the sacred rivers of the Hindus. The temple at Pandarpur, on the left bank, is visited by large bodies of pilgrims, and at other spots on its banks fairs are annually held. The chief of these are at Baizwara and at Culla pilly, where at high tide the salt water of the sea meets the fresh water of the river. There are Saiva shrines, and a Vaishnava shrine at Srica colam, midway between Cullapilly and Baizwara. At Baizwara a considerable trade is carried on in dressed hides. Kistna district is, speaking generally, a flat country; but the interior is broken by a few low bills, the chief of which are Belhun konda, Kondavir, and Condapilly.
In the hilly tracts of the more western and northern portion, minerals of value occur,--cor undum and garnets in the Narsaraopet Taluk and other places ; galena from the neighbourhood of Karunpudi ; chrysoberyl, amethystine quartz, quartzose minerals used as inferior gems, agates at Condapilly, Madgol in the Palnad and other places, and diamonds in the mines at Partiyal. Diamond mines are still worked to a very slight extent in five villages belonging to the Nizam ; and at other places in the district there are traces of mines which were abandoned long ago.