Dharwad

Dharwad (ðärwäɖ)(), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merged with Hubballi in 1962 to form the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad. It covers an area of and is located northwest of Bangalore, on NH-48, between Bangalore and Pune. In 2016, Hubli-Dharwad was selected for solar city / green city master plans. In 2017, government of India included Hubli-Dharwad city for a smart city project, a flagship scheme for overall development of infrastructure in the twin-cities. The word "Dharwad" is derived from the Sanskrit word 'dwarawata', 'dwara' meaning "door" and 'wata' or 'wada' meaning "town". It means a place of rest in a long travel or a small habitation. For centuries, Dharwad acted as a resting place for travellers and a gateway between the Malenadu (western mountains) and the Bayalu Seeme (plains). The Chalukyas ruled Dharwad during the 12th century. A stone inscription indicates that there was a ruler by the name of BhaskaraDeva in 1117. In the 14th century, the district was first overrun by the Bahmani Sultanate, after which it was annexed to the newly established Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar, an official of which named "Dhar Rao", according to local tradition, built the fort at Dharwad town in 1403. After the defeat of the king of Vijayanagar in the Battle of Talikota (1565), Dharwad was for a few years practically independent under its Hindu governor; but in 1573 the fort was captured by the sultan of Bijapur, Adil Shah, and Dharwad was annexed to his dominions. Adil Shah built a fort in an area later called Manna Killa, and later Nazratabad. With this fort, the strategic importance of Dharwad increased and it attracted the attention of subsequent conquerors, including Aurangzeb, Shivaji, Aurangzeb's son Bahadur Shah I, Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao, Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan and finally the British colonizers.