Karwar

Karwar

Taluk: Karwar

District:Uttara Kannada

State:Karnataka

Country:India

Coordinates: 14.8°N 74.13°E

Karwar is a city in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka state, India, and the administrative centre of Karwar taluk. Karwar lies on the west coast of Southern India at the mouth of the Kali river. Its geography creates a natural harbour with protection against monsoon weather. As well as being a port town, Karwar is a centre for agriculture, some manufacturing and tourism.

Karwar, at the mouth of the Kali river has long been recognized as a sheltered harbour and was used by Arab, Dutch, Portuguese, French and later British merchants. Ibn Battuta, the 14th century AD Moroccan explorer, visited Karwar.

The hill fort of Kawar, Fort Sadashivgad, was constructed on a defensive high point on the north bank of the river. It was named after Sadashiv Nayaka (1730- 1761), a Keladi king (and not after Shivaji (1630 - 1680), the Maratha warrior king, who did use the fort as his base for some time.) The surrounding village was also called Sadashivgad.

Kot Siveshvar, another fortress, was built near Karwar (in Siveshvar village) by the Sultan of Bijapur to counterattacks from the north. At the ruins of Fort Siveshvar are a Muslim graveyard and a tunnel at the eastern gate.

Portuguese traders knew Karwar as Cintacora, Chitrakul, Chittakula or Sindpur. In 1510, the Portuguese captured and burnt a fort at Karwar. They called it Fort Pir, Forte de Piro or Pito due to the presence of a Muslim Dargah (tomb of a Sufi saint, Shahkaramuddin). In the 17th century, refugees from Portuguese rule in Goa moved to Karwar.

In 1638 the English trading Courteen Association established a factory at Kadwad village, 6 km east of Karwar and traded with merchants from Arabia and Africa. The common commodities were muslin, black pepper, cardamom, cassier and coarse blue cotton cloth. In 1649 the Courteen Association merged with the British East India Company, and Karwar became a company town.

The East India Company built fighting ships in the Karwar harbour. For example, the Britannia (1715) which had 18 guns was built to defend Bombay from attacks by Maratha admiral Kanhoji Angre.

In the 1700s Karwar was part of the Maratha Empire. In 1784, at the time of the Treaty of Mangalore between Tipu Sultan and the East India Company, Karwar and Sadashivgad were spelt Carwar and Sadasewgude, respectively. After the defeat of the Marathas in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, Karwar fell to the British.

The Bengali poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who visited Karwar in 1882, dedicated a chapter of his memoirs to this town. At 22 years, Tagore stayed with his second brother, Satyendranath Tagore, who was a district judge in Karwar.

From 1862 to the re-organisation of the states, Uttara Kannada district was part of the Bombay Presidency. During this time, major public works carried out included improvement of roads, building of a wharf, wharf road and a sea wall at the Karwar port as well as the construction of a multi-floor storage building, staff housing, a post office, kutcheri (kutcherries or zamindar's offices) and a Christian burial ground.

At the same time, the local Konkani-speaking people had close connections with Mumbai. Many Marathi middle schools were established in the Karwar and Joida taluks. Marathi films were released in Karwar. The visit of Marathi drama troupes from Mumbai and Pune was an annual feature.During World War II Karwar was an Indian Naval training site.

In 2006 Konkani-speaking people became disenchanted when Marathis claimed the Konkani language was a dialect of Marathi. P. S. Kamat argued before the Mahajan Commission that Karwar was an integral part of Karnataka. In 2006, the Goa State Konkani Ekikaran Manch (GSKEM) was convened by Asha Palankar. Their aim was to organise a movement for the unification of the Konkani speaking Karwar and Joida taluks with Goa.The local unit of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi (MES) at Sadashivagad and its leaders including Vishnu Kalgutkar and Shivanand Rane joined the GSKEM and said they would dissolve the MES unit and fight for a merger of Karwar and Joida in Goa

Attractions

Binaga beach,Devbagh beach,Kali bridge,Karwar beach,Kurumgad island,Majali beach,Oyster Rock Lighthouse, a round white masonry construction with red trim protects ships from the rocks of Devgad Island, the largest off the Kali Estuary.Tilmatti beach,Hinterland,Anshi national park,Chaitanya park,Chendia and Nagarmadi falls (a small waterfall which passes under a large rock),Devkar falls,Guddahalli peak,Habbu mountain,Hyder Ghat pass,Mudgeri dam,Shirve Ghat,Historic sites,Kot Shiveshvar,Sadashivgad Fort,Shahkaramuddin dargah, Sadashivgad (tomb of a Sufi saint),Maritime museum.

Major Religion : Hindu

Other Religions: Christian,Muslim ,Buddhists

Official Langauage:Kannada

Other Languages:Hindi,Konkani,Urdu,Marathi

Attractions | Attractions on Map