Hubballi (formerly Hubli, is a city in the state of Karnataka in India. Hubballi-Dharwad is the second-largest conurbation in Karnataka, after Bangalore. Dharwad is the administrative headquarters of Dharwad District. city is situated about 20 km south-east of Dharwad, is the commercial centre and business hub of North Karnataka. Cotton and peanuts (called groundnuts locally) are grown aplenty in the surrounding rural areas, and Hubballi is a major trading center for both commodities. Sea food from Karwar, a coastal town 165 km away, is packed and shipped from Hubli. It is also an important city for the Indian Railways, being the headquarters for South Western Railway Zone and the Hubballi Division. On the occasion of celebration of golden jubilee of formation of Karnataka state called Suvarna Karnataka, the Hubli city was named as Hubballi. The name Hubballi literally means "Hu" - flower and "Balli" - creeper in Kannada.
History
Rayara Hubli, also called 'Eleya Puravada Halli' or 'Purballi' was the old Hubli, where there is a Bhavani Shankara temple and Jaina basti. Under Vijayanagara Rayas, Rayara Hubli grew as a commercial centre, famous for trade in cotton, saltpetre and iron.
The British opened a factory here when it came under the Adilshahis. Shivaji looted the factory in 1673. The Mughals conquered it and the place came under the Savanur Nawab who built a new extension named Majidpura and trader Basappa Shetty built new Hubli around the Durgadabail (fort maidan).
There is the famous Moorusavira Matha, and the Matha authorities claim that it was begun by a Sharana of Basaveshwara's period.
Hubli was conquered by the Marathas from the Savanur Nawab in 1755-56. Later Haider conquered it, but it was recaptured by the Marathas in 1790, and the old town was administered by one Phadke under the Peshwa and the new town by Sangli Patwardhan.
British took old Hubli in 1817 and the new town with 47 other villages was handed over to the British by the Sangli Patwardhan in lieu of the subsidy in 1820. Hubli is a prosperous handloom weaving centre and has a Textile Unit.
The Railway Workshop started here in 1880, made it a reckonable industrial centre.
The Bhavanishankar temple in old Hubli and the impressive Chandramauleshwara / Chaturlinga temple in Unakal are of Chalukyan times. Kundgol, 15 km. south of Hubli, has the huge Shambhu Linga temple of Chalukyan times.
