KOLAR DISTRICT CHAPTER I GENERAL OLAR, which is the headquarters town of the district and by Origin o'f K which name the district is also called, was known as D,ame ' Kolahala ', ' Kuvalala ' and 'Kolala' in the former times. There are varying accounts as to how the t:.wn got its name and three _of them are narrated below. According to a legend, Arjuna, son of Kritavirya, also called Kartaviryarjuna to distinguish him from Arjuna of Mahabharata fame, was ruling over a kingdom which included the Kolar a:.rea. This king had a boon conferred on him by sage Dl'.hltatraya, which gave him a thous~md arms and other mighty powers with which he oppressed both human beings and Devatas. Kartaviryarjuna is said to have humbled even Ravana, the mighty king of Lanka, by seizing and tying him up. About this time lived sage Jamadagni (nephew of Vishwamitra), who had married Renuka, daughter of the king Prasenajit. The couple had five sons, the last of whom was Parashurama or Rama with the axe. Sage Jamadagni had in his care Surabhi, the celestial cow of plenty given to him by Indra, which had the miraculous power to ,give all tltat was asked for. Karttwiryarjuna in one of his hunting expeditions chanced to visit the ashrama of Jamadagni and the sage regaled him in such a magnificent manner that his curiosity was roused and he was not satisfied till he learnt the secret about the heavenly animal and its powers. Avarice took l10ld of king Kartavir~ yarjuna and he demanded the cow for himsel:t. This, as could be expected, was refused and he felled the trees surrounding the ashranw, and tried to take the cow by force. When Parashura.ma came to know of what happened, he atu'l.cked Kartaviryarjuna and cut off his thQusand arms and later slew him. Jamadagni was in turn killed by the king's sons during the absence of Parashuram~t. Renuka cursed the murderers and committed ~YSORE STATE GAZETTEER sati by burning herself on her husband's funeral pyre. Paraslm­ rama's anger knew no bounds and he thereupon took a vow to destroy the whole Kshatriya race. The joyous battle-cries consequent on the defeat and extermination of the king, Kartaviryarjuna, ·and his followers echoed through the hills, and this kolahala or shouting gave the place its name. Early in the Chri•stian .era, the Gangas founded Kolar and became overlords of the area and made it their capital city till they shifted to Talkad on the banks of the Cauvery after about a century. This illustrious Ganga dynasty ruled a large region known as Gangavadi including the Kolar area and used the title Kuvalal:apuravareshwaraJ i.e., Lords of the great city of Kuvalala, even upto the eleventh century. The Kalinga-Ganga inscription from Vishakhapatnam contains a full and circumstantial account connected with Kolar. According to the details furnished by the inscription, Gangeya, the pxogenitor of the line, was succeeded by 18 kings. The 17th king was called Kolahala. This king is said to have built the city and hence it was called Kolahala. The Chola:S subverted the power of the Gangas by the capture of Talkad in about 1004 A.D. The important city of Kuvalala and broadly the area of the district thus came into the political fold of the Cholas. In accordance with the Chola tradition, they gave the name Nikarilicholamandalam to the district.· In about 1117 A.D., the Hoysalas drove out the Cholas. 'Kolala' is specially mentioned among their conquests. During the sway of the Cholas, one of the kings in the line called Rajendra Chola is stated to have built the existing Kolaramma temple at Kolar. Lettenodaey There is yet another theory about the foundation of Kolar, a(:eount the traditional account of: which relates again to the reign of the Cholas. A herdsman called Kola discovered a hidden treasure at the site where the town now stands. When king Uttama Chola heard about this, he ordered the herdsman to go over to Kanchi. Having been warned before in a dream by Renuka in the form of Kolahalamma, the king erected a temple in Kolar in her honour, founded the city of Kolahala and invested the treasure­ discoverer, Kola, with the authority of government and the surrounding areas of Yerakaluve, 1\-fulbagal, Murgande and Betha­ mangala were also annexed and given over to the new chief, Kola. The name Kolll,hala might be thus, with equal probability, derived from Kola-hala, Kola's plough, the implement which was 111sed to unearth the treasure, whatever the exact period of its ongm. The local tradition also points to the probability that the name might have been derived from the presiding deity of the town, Kolaramma. Whatever it is, the legendary theory dating back to the days of Parashurama and other subsequent versions as to how the place got its name establish the fact that Kolar is an ancient city dating back to many c.entruries. (See also KOLAR DISTRICT Chapter II under Cholas and Hoysaias and Chapter XIX under Kolar). Kolar belongs to the 11UJ;idan (plains) group of districts as Location distinct from the hilly western portions of the State called ma1nad and it is the easternmost district of Mysore State. It is- situated between 12°46' and 13°58' north latitude and 77°21' and 78°35' east longitude. Its greatest Length from north to 1:outh is about 85 miles and its greatest distance from east to west is also roughly the same. It is bounded by the districts of Bangalore and Tumkur on Gl~:n,exal the west, and on all the other sides it is surrounded by the ba,u'nd~ries districts of the adjoining States of Andhra Pradesh and Madras. On the north, it is bounded by 'Anantapur district and on the east by Chittoor district, both of Andhra :Pradesh, and OllL the south by the districts of North Arcot and Dharmapuri of Madras State. The shape of the distriet is roughly a rectangle, the larger side being in the south-easte1dy to north-westerly direction. The area of the district occupies that portion of the Mysore plateau, which immediately borders on the eastern ghats. ' But the border of the district touches the eastern ghats only in the north, east and south. Between these points, the border recedes from the hilll range to a. mean distance of 1,5 miles:. The total area of the district is 3,180.1 * square miles or A~·ea and 8,236. 5; square kilometres, which is nearly 1/23rd of the whole ,populati.o:n area of the State. The population of the district has been growing steadily; from 7,~,072 in 1901, it had risen to 12,90,144 in 1961. In area, it occupies the twelfth place among the districts of Mysore State, but in population, it stands ninth. The density of popula- tion, in 1961, WaS 406 persons per sqlUlare miile or 157 per square kilometre and was more than the State average, which was 319 per square mile or 123 per square kilometre. The density in taluks variied from £17 per square mile in Gudibanda to 831 per square mile in Bangarpet talluk. In density, it was the fourth being next only to Bangalore,. South Kanara and Mandya.. An attempt is made here to trace mainly the history of the A.<llminiistra­ district as an administrative unit and of the changes iu its tive histury component parts. From the second to the third century, Kolar was the capital of the Gangas as already stated. Under them, the whole kingdom was divided into nadus, each nadu having a number of villages. The Cholas, who overthrew ithe Gangas · in ------·--------- *According to the figures furnished by the Survey of India, the area o:f the district is 3,175. 18 square miles or 8,~123·65 square kilometres. See also Appendix- Table--!. · ~IYSORE STATE GAZETTEER 1004 and occupied south and east of Mysore including the ·whole of the present Kolar district, divided their kingdom into a number of provinces called '1'1Wndal.am.s and these, in turn, int.o vala-nadus or districts. The latter were again divided into nadu.~ (analogous to taluks) consisting of villages or gramas and puras. Roughly the area of the present Kolar district was a province under them and it was called Nikarilicholamandalam. The Chola king was the head of the administration and his son, the co-regent. The king had· advisers consisting of prominent persons to assist him in the administration of the kingdom. During During the reign of the Hoysalas ·who ruled after the Cholas, B,otysalas the lower ghat of Nangli iin Kolar district formed· the eastern boundary of their kingdom. Under them, administrative charges appear to have been reorganised and modified to suit new conditions. The king was the supreme head of the State and his son was the Chief Governor known as llfahamandalika. Under him were Mandalika,s or Governors. Each Mandalika had under him a number of 1lfahanalprabhtu;, under each of whom were a number of Nalprabhus, under each of whom again were a .number of U1'-0deya.s in charge of towns and villages. In 1254, when the Hoysala dominion was partitioned between the two sons of king Someshwara, Kolar district was, however, included· in the Tamil provinces that went to Ramanatha. In the next reign of Ballala III, the kingdom was once again reunited. After the destruction of Dorasamudra or Halehid, the capital of the Hoysalas, by the Muslim invaders in 139l6, a new capital was formed at Hosavidu, now called Hosur, in the Gauribidanur taluk.