Belagavi: A crucial Kannada document dating back to 1907 could well upset the Maharashtra government’s plans to stake its claim to Belagavi city in the ongoing case over the inter-state border dispute in the Supreme Court. A family in Belgavi city has found a vital document in Kannada language pertaining to ancestral land which the then British government issued in 1907.
According to the records, the then Bombay government had gifted land in Survey 221 at Shindholli in 1907 to a resident of Belagavi, Abdulsaheb Kalandarsaheb Mulla, the great grandfather of retired District Judge Abdulsaheb Mulla of Belagavi. The land was given to Mullas as ‘Inam land’ which means a gift by the British government ruling Bombay state.
All land records pertaining to this land are in Kannada language and even the numbers are mentioned in Kannada. According to a noted advocate from Belagavi, Ravindra Totiger who has the original copy of the old land records, the government in 1953 decided to take possession of all Inam land in the country but handed over the acquired land of Kasimsaheb to his family in 1979 considering the services rendered by Kasimsaheb when he was alive. The acquired land of Kasimsaheb was regranted to him by the government in 1979.
Advocate Totiger contends that the most popular language in Belagavi during British rule was Kannada in 1907 and prior to that as well. The documents produced by the Mulla family reveal that the administrative language in Belagavi during the British regime was also Kannada.
The Mulla family has submitted the old documents to Mr Totiger and wants the state government to produce it in the Supreme Court to contest Maharashtra’s claim over Belagavi city. Mr Totiger feels the document will emerge as a crucial record for the counsels of Karnataka to trace the history of Belagavi.
In the past few years, Maharashtra government has been able to gather vast information through leaders of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) about the history, geography, language and culture of Belagavi. The counsels of Maharashtra have already submitted several documents pertaining to Belagavi to the court in its attempt to stake claim to it.
On the contrary, the Karnataka government has been able to collect only five old records of Belagavi region ever since the Legal Advisory Committee formed by the government over the boundary row started work.
