Karimnagar

Karimnagar is a district in Telangana, a state of India. The district lies on the northern part of Andhra Pradesh approximately between the latitudes 18° and 19° and longitudes 78°30' and 80°31'. This district is bounded on the north by Adilabad district, on the west by Medak District, on the North West by Nizamabad, on the South by Warangal District and on the East by Godavari River. The District derives its name 'Karimnagar' by Qiladar late Nizam, Syed Karim Uddin.

As per the Census 2011, there are five revenue divisions in the district namely - Karimnaggar, Jagtial, Sircilla, Peddapalle, and Manthani. Karimnagar has 18 Mandals, Jagatial 14, Sircilla 9, Peddapalle 9, and Manthani 7. There are altogether 57 Mandals. There are 1,079 villages (42 Uninhabited and 1,037 habited), 13 Towns - 6 Statutory Towns (1 M. corp and 5 M unicipalities) and 7 Census Towns, and 4 Urban Agglomerations.

District Highlights - 2011 Census

• Karimnagar district stands 12th position in terms of area with 11,823 Sq. Kms and ranks 12th in terms of population with 37,76,269 persons in the state.
• Karimnagar district stands 4th in terms of urban area with 383.90 Sq. Kms and ranks 12th in terms of urban population with 9,51,225 persons in the state while it stands 12th in terms of rural area with 11,439.10 Sq. Kms and ranks 9th in terms of rural population with 28,25,044 persons in the state.
• The district ranks 8th in terms of households with 9,76,022 as against 8,13,797 households in 2001.
• The district ranks 13th in terms of total number of villages with 1,079 as against 1,092 in 2001.
• The district ranks 5th position in the state in terms of Sex-ratio with 1,008 as against 998 in 2001.
• The district ranks 11th in terms of Density with 319 persons per Sq. Kms as against 295 in 2001.
• The district ranks 10th in terms of literacy with 22,06,829 literates as against 16,61,089 in 2001.
• The district is with 18,76,768 workers and 1,899,501 non-workers as against 17,11,559 workers and 1,780,263 non-workers in 2001 respectively.

History

'Ruling Races of Pre-Historic Times' by Hewitt has made references about the Telangana region. The district was under the successive rules of the Andhras, the Chalukyas, the Yadavas and the Kakatiyas. Vemulawada, also known as Lemulawada, was the capital city of Chalukya rulers. They ruled a large area of the region first as the feudatories of the Rashtrakutas, and then probably under Arikesari, Vemulawads became headquarters of this branch of Chalukya dynasty. Narasimha II was another great ruler. Vemulawada inscription informs us that he conquered the seven Malavas single handedly ruling at that time on the hills in Kalapriya. Arikesari III (AD 966) was indicated in the rock inscription of Vemulawada and Parbhani plates as the last ruler of this dynasty. His father Baddega is said to have built the Jain temple at Vemulawada.

The Chalukyan empire under Arikesari III was a loose federation of several states. Due to rivalry among them for dominance, the empire started declining in power. Arikesari III was supplanted by the Yadavas of Deogiri and Kakatiyas of Warangal and thus Vemulawada lost its status of the capital city of the Chalukyan dynasty. Bhodeniapur, now Sarkar Yeligandal, village situated at about 5 km north of Karimnagar, was the outpost of Kakatiyas. An inscription found near Chintamani tank has "Tella Kandulu" engraved on it, suggesting the place was earlier known as Tella Kandulu. It later came to be known as Elgandal were Kakatiyas have erected a fort, which was taken over from Kakatiyas in 1195 in and attack by Jaitugi of Yadava dynasty. The Kakatiya monarch Rudra was killed, and his nephew Ganapati was taken as prisoner. During the reign of Raja Prataprudra (1295-1323) the Kakatiyas of Warangal re-annexed the fort which had been under the Yadavas of Deogiri for about a century.

Alauddin Khilji, the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, had sent his general Malik Kafur to subjugate the Yadavas of Deogiri and the Kakatiyas of Warangal. Malik Kafur succeeded in his constant attack and both were made to become faithful allies of the Sultan in 1309 and 1310 respectively. After the death of Alauddin Khilji the Sultanate's power over them was weakened. However in 1323, during the reign of Giyasudding Tuglaq, Warangal including Elgandal Fort was finally captured by Mohammed Bin Tuglaq.

At the time of the rise of Bahmani Kingdom, Warangal was an independent kingdom under the rule of Kapaya Nayaka, who started to act in alliance with Vijayanagar kingdom, against the encroachment of his territory by Bahmanis. During the reign of Ahmed Shah Bahmani (1436-1445) a war was fought between the two parties which ended in submission of Warangal Kingdom including the Elgandal Fort. Daulatabad was the capital of Bahmanis during the reign of Alauddin Hasan Gangu Bahmani, which was later shifted to Gulbarga and finally Bidar became their capital during the reign of Ahmed Shah Bahmani.

Qutub ul Mulk and Qoam ul Mulk Sagir were subedars of Golconda and Rajahmundry under Ahmed Shah Bahmani. When the Bahmani Kingdom broken up, Qoam ul Mulk attacked the forts of Elgandal and Mulagnoor in absence of Qutub ul Mulk and plundered them completely. In 1523, Qutub ul Mulk attacked Elgandal and Mulagnoor, and conquered the forts by defeating Qoam ul Mulk. However, Qoam ul Mulk escaped to Berar. It is worth mentioning here that Qutub ul Mulk was the founder of the Qutub Shahi dynasty. After a while, Qoam ul Mulk led a military expedition against Qutub ul Mulk with the help of the Shah of Berar, Imad ul Mulk, however, was defeated by Qutub ul Mulk at the Ramgir Fort and the fort came under Qutub ul Mulk.

Sultan Quli Qutub Shah, the founder of Hyderabad city, gave Elgandal and its dependencies to his son-in-law Ain ul Mulk as jagir, which remained about 175 years under the Qutub Shahis, who had also constructed a Mosque in the fort. The last ruler of the Qutub Shahis was Abul Hassan Tana Shah. Moghuls under Aurangzeb captured the Golconda Fort in 1687. Elgandal was also annexed. Aurangzeb used to visit Elgandal on pilgrimages to a Muslim saint of the area and constructed a Alamgiri Masjid and Bindraban tank there. Elgandal remained under Moghuls for about 39 years. The last subedar of the Deccan and Golconda was Mubariz Khan.

At the time of decline of the Moghul power, Nizam ul Mulk Asifjah I, once Governor of Deccan under Aurangzeb, came to Deccan and declared war against Mubariz Khan. In the battle at Shaker Khera in 1724, Mubariz Khan was killed, and Elangadal came under Asifjahi dynasty. Nawab Amin Khan became jagirdar, and after his death jagirdari was transferred in the hands of his son Nawab Mukrab Khan. After his death in 1759, his brother usurped the jagirdari. The widow of Nawab Mukrab Khan appealed in the court of Asifjah who marched against the usurper, defeated him, and handed over the jagir to Fakir Munawar Khan, the son of the widow. Nawab Mubaz ul Mulk Zafarudowla Bahadur Mirza Ibrahim Khan Dhosa was appointed subedar by the Nizam Nawab Salabat Jung to strengthen his position in Elgandal. The present Elgandal Fort was constructed by Jung who died in 1795 and buried in Ibrahim Bagh at Nirmal town of Adilabad district.

His son Mirza Ehthesham Jung ruled after his death. However, he became rebellious against Mir Nizam Ali Khan, popularly known as Asifjah II. Mir Nizam declared war and defeated Jung, but was then pardoned on request of his mother, and appointed subedar of Ellachipur.

Khan Bahadur Khan was appointed Qiladar during the reign of Nawab Sikanderjah. Syed Karimuddin was Qiladar during the reign of the the last Nizam who had founded a village at about a distance of 5 km from the fort and named that village Karimnagar after him.

At the time of Qiladar Nawab Munawar Khan, resident of Moghulpura, a locality of Hyderabad city, he petitioned Slarjung I, the Prime Minister of the Nizam to grant him Mansab, for he had no son and it was not possible for his wife to manage the jagirdari after his death. Mansab, ie compensation for life, was granted to him and Elgandal Fort area was amalgamated into the civil area.

Karimnagar finally became a district in 1905 in Nizam's dominion. The district became part of Hyderabad state after Independence of India. It was merged in the state of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. On creation of Telangana by carving it out from Andra Pradesh in 2014, Karimnagar became a district of Telangana.

Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) constituencies and their areas after delimitation order of 2008

20 Koratla Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Ibrahimpatnam, Mallapur, Koratla and Metpalle Mandals.

21 Jagtial Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Raikal, Sarangapur and Jagtial Mandals.

22 Dharmapuri Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Telangana (SC) - Dharmapuri, Dharmaram, Gollapalle, Velgatoor and Pegadapalle Mandals.

23 Ramagundam Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Ramagundam Mandal.

24 Manthani Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Kamanpur, Manthani, Kataram, Mahadevpur, Mutharam (Mahadevapur), Malharrao and Mutharam (Manthani) Mandals.

25 Peddapalle Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Peddapalle, Julapalle, Eligaid, Sultanabad, Odela and Srirampur Mandals.

26 Karimnagar Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Karimnagar Mandal.

27 Choppadandi Vidhan Sabha Constituency (SC) - Gangadhara, Ramadugu, Choppadandi, Mallial, Kodimial and Boinpalle Mandals.

28 Vemulawada Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Vemulawada, Konaraopeta, Chandurthi, Kathlapur and Medipalle Mandals.

29 Sircilla Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Yellareddipet, Gambhiraopet, Mustabad and Sircilla Mandals.

30 Manakondur Vidhan Sabha Constituency (SC) - Manakondur, Ellanthakunta, Bejjanki, Timmapur (LMD Colony) and Shankarapatnam Mandals.

31 Huzurabad Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Veenavanka, Jammikunta, Huzurabad and Kamalapur Mandals.

32 Husnabad Vidhan Sabha Constituency - Chigurumamidi, Koheda, Husnabad, Saidapur, Bheemadevarpalle and Elkathurthi Mandals.