Kodagu district
Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies an area of in the Western Ghats of southwestern Karnataka. In 2001 its population was 548,561, 13.74% of which resided in the district's urban centre, making it the least populous of the 30 districts in Karnataka. The nearest railway stations are Mysore Junction, located around 95 km away and Thalassery and Kannur in Kerala, at a distance  of 79 km. The nearest airports are Kannur International Airport in Kerala (59 km from Kodagu) and Mangalore International Airport (118 km from Kodagu). Geography. Kodagu is located on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. It has a geographical area of . The district is bordered by Dakshina Kannada district to the northwest, Hassan district to the north, Mysore district to the east, Kasaragod district of Kerala in west and Kannur district of Kerala to the southwest, and Wayanad district of Kerala to the south. It is a hilly district, the lowest elevation being above sea-level near makutta. The  highest peak, Tadiandamol, rises to , with Pushpagiri, the second highest, at . The main river in Kodagu is the Kaveri (Cauvery), which originates at Talakaveri, located on the eastern side of the Western Ghats, and with its tributaries, drains the greater part of Kodagu. Administrative divisions. Taluks. The district is divided into five administrative taluks: Representation. Two members of the legislative assembly are elected from Kodagu to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, one each from the Madikeri and Virajpet. M P Appachu Ranjan represents the Madikeri constituency while K. G. Bopaiah represents the Virajpet constituency; they are from the Bharatiya Janata Party . Kodagu, formerly part of the Kodagu-Dakshina Kannada (Mangalore) constituency, is now part of the Mysore Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency. The current MP for this constituency is Shri Pratap Simha, from the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Codava National Council and "Kodava Rashtriya Samiti" are campaigning for autonomy to Kodagu district. History. The Kodavas were the earliest inhabitants and agriculturists in Kodagu, having lived there for centuries. Being a warrior community as well, they carried arms during times of war and had their own chieftains. The earliest mention about Coorg can be seen in the works those date back to Sangam  period (300 BCE - 300 CE). The Ezhimala dynasty had jurisdiction over two "Nadu"s - The coastal "Poozhinadu" and the hilly eastern "Karkanadu". According to the works of Sangam literature, "Poozhinadu" consisted much of the coastal belt between Mangalore and Kozhikode. "Karkanadu" consisted of Wayanad-Gudalur hilly region with parts of Kodagu (Coorg). The Haleri dynasty, an offshoot of the Keladi Nayakas, ruled Kodagu between 1600 and 1834. Later the British ruled Kodagu from 1834, after the Coorg War, until India's independence in 1947. A separate state (called Coorg State) until then, in 1956 Kodagu was merged with the Mysore State  (now Karnataka). Coorg in British India. In 1834, the East India Company annexed Kodagu into British India, after deposing Chikka Virarajendra of the Kodagu kingdom, as 'Coorg'. British rule led to the establishment of educational institutions, introduction of scientific coffee cultivation, better administration and improvement of the economy. Demographics. According to the 2011 census of India, Kodagu has a population of 554,519, roughly equal to the Solomon Islands or the US state of Wyoming. This ranks it 539 out of 640 districts in India in terms of population. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over  the decade 2001–2011 was 1.13%. Kodagu has a sex ratio of 1019 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 82.52%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 13.27% and 10.47% of the population respectively. Language. At the time of the 2011 census, 30.91% of the population spoke Kannada, 20.83% Malayalam, 14.86% Kodava, 8.92% Tulu, 5.81% Are, 4.66% Yerava, 4.23% Tamil, 2.95% Urdu, 1.74% Kurumba, 1.55% Telugu and 1.16% Konkani as their first language. Kodava Takk is the spoken language native to Kodagu. Are Bhashe, a dialect of Kannada, is native to Sulya in Dakshina Kannada. Both use  Kannada script for literature. Kodava tribe and other Kodava language speakers. According to "Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy" (Karnataka's Kodava Literary Academy), apart from Kodavas, and their related groups, the "Amma Kodavas", the Kodava "Peggade" (Kodagu Heggade) and the Kodava "Maaple" (Kodava Muslims), 18 other smaller-numbered ethnic groups speak Kodava Takk in and outside the district including the "Iri" ("Airi", or the carpenters and the village smiths), the "Koyava", the "Banna", the Kodagu "Madivala" (washermen), the Kodagu "Hajama" (barber, also called Nainda), the "Kembatti" Poleya (household servants and labourers) and the "Meda" (basket and mat weavers and drummers). Among  other Kodava speaking communities are: the "Heggades", cultivators from shimogga; the "Kodava Nair", cultivators from Malabar; the "Ayiri", who constitute the artisan caste; the "Medas", who are basket and mat-weavers and act as drummers at feasts; the "Binepatta", originally wandering musicians from Malabar, now farmers; and the "Kavadi", cultivators settled in Yedenalknad (Virajpet). All these groups speak the Kodava language and conform generally to Kodava customs and dress. Kodagu Aarebashe Gowda. Less frequent are Tulu speakers Billavas, Mogaveeras, Bunts, Goud Saraswat Brahmins. The Arebhashe gowdas, or "Kodagu Gowdas", and Tulu Gowdas, are an ethnic group of Dakshina Kannada and  Kodagu. They live in Sulya (in Dakshina Kannada) and in parts of Somwarpet, Kushalanagar, Bhagamandala and Madikeri. They speak a language known as Arebhashe a dialect of Kannada. Guddemane Appaiah Gowda along with many other freedom fighters from different communities revolted against the British in an armed struggle which covered entire Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada. This was one of the earliest freedom movements against the British called "Amara Sulliada Swantantrya Sangraama" ("Amara Sulya Dhange" formally called the 'Coorg Rebellion' by the British) started in 1837. Religion. Hindus are the vast majority. They include the Kodava tribe, other Kodava language speakers , Arebhashe Gowdas, Brahmins, most Yeravas and Kurubas. A huge minority of Muslims dot the Coorg district, especially the towns of Kushalnagar, Virajpet and Mercara. A sizeable of them are the Nawayaths who shifted in the eighties from Bhatkal and Murdeshwar in order to pursue coffee & arecanut plantations and textile business. The numerous mosque dotting the landscape is the testimony of Muslim presence in the district. A small number of Mangalorean Catholics are also found in Coorg. They are mostly descended from those Konkani Catholics who fled the roundup and, later, captivity by Tippu Sultan. These immigrants were welcomed by Raja  Veerarajendra (himself a former captive of Tippu Sultan, having escaped six years of captivity in 1788) who realising their usefulness and expertise as agriculturists, gave them lands and tax breaks and built a church for them. Tourism. Kodagu is rated as one of the top hill station destinations in India. Some of the most popular tourist attractions in Kodagu include Talakaveri, Bhagamandala, Nisargadhama, Abbey Falls, Dubare, Nagarahole National Park, Iruppu Falls, and the Tibetan Buddhist Golden Temple.