Kittur

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Kittur" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Kittur, historically as Kittoor, is a town in the

Kittur was known as Geejaganahalli in the 12th century. In 1746, Kittur came under the Maratha Empire when it was handed over to them by the Nawab of Savanur. In 1782, Mallasarja, the most powerful of the rulers of Kittur ascended the throne. His only son predeceased him, and so on his death in 1816, his second wife, Chennamma succeeded him to the throne. She is famous for her campaigns against the British East India Company.^[1] On the outskirts of the town lie the ruins of the palace within a fort. The palace was the residence of the Rani Chennamma.

In the 18th century, Kittur was ruled by the Marathas, until the Third Anglo-Maratha War, when it came under British suzerainty.^[2]

In connection with a disputed succession to this chiefship in 1824, St John Thackeray, Commissioner of Dharwad, was killed in a battle when approaching the Kittur fort. Later another unit stormed Kittur and captured

Her death was followed by subsequent revolts by her general Sangolli Rayanna, who also waged several campaigns against the British East India Company. He was later hanged in 1831.^[1]

The town lends its name to the fictitious coastal town in the 2008 novel