THE PEOPLE

POPULATION

ACCORDING TO THE 1971 CENSUS THE POPULATION OF Sholapur district is put at 22,53,840 (11,65,927 males and 10,87,913 females) spread over 11 talukas covering an area of 15,021 square miles as stated in table No. 1.

Variation: From the year 1901 [As per 1881 Census, the district population was 5,82,487 or 128.84 per cent to a square mile. The percentage of males to the total population was 50.61 and of females 49.39. The corresponding figures for 1872 were a total of 7,19,375 or 159.89 per cent to a square mile. Compared with the 1872 returns the 1881 returns showed a decrease of 1,36,888 or 19.02 per cent which was due to mortality and emigration during the famine of 1876-77.] there has been a considerable variation in population. Among the major factors that led the changes in the population figures, were influenza epidemic and some changes in the boundary of the district. The following statistics show the variation in the population figures since the year 1901:-

The population of the district increased by only 8.2 per cent in the decade 1901-11. In the following decade the severe influenza epidemic took a heavy toll of life and the population decreased by nearly 5 per cent. Conditions improved after 1921 and there had been a distinct change in the trend of variation since then. The population increased by 17.6 per cent in 1921-31, 14.8 per cent in 1931-41 and 22.6 per cent in 1941-51. The higher growth rate in 1921-31 than in 1931-41 may be attributed to the recovery from the influenza epidemic of 1918.

In the two decades (1941-51 and 1951-61), the population had increased at very high rates, viz., 22.6 per cent and 23.6 per cent, respectively. The rate of growth in 1951-61 was almost of the same order as that of the State.

During the last decade also the district population increased but at a lower rate of 21.17 per cent compared to 23.57 during 1961-71. The lower rate of variation during 1961-71 may be attributed to the increasing propaganda of Family Planning Programmes and control of epidemics and other diseases in the district.

The 1951-61 decade variation in the district and each of the talukas was as follows:-

Malshiras taluka which had no town in its limits had shown the highest decade rate of growth in the district. This may be due to the growth of sugar factories in the taluka. At the same time the Barshi taluka with textile industry had recorded a low rate.

The net percentage increase since 1901, 1921, 1951 and 1961 for the district and the State was as follows:-

Density of population: The statistics of density of population in 1961 and 1971 are given in the following statement:-

The density of population increased sharply from 156 persons per square mile in 1921 to 320 persons per square mile in 1961 and 150 per square kilometre in 1971. The district density was, however, always lower than the State average. Within the district the density varies from 662 persons per square km. in Sholapur North taluka to 94 persons per square km. in Karmala taluka. These differences correspond to those of topography and land utilisation and also to the growth of urban areas. The high density in Sholapur North and Barshi talukas is due to rapid development of urban centres like Sholapur city and Barshi town. Mangalwedha, Karmala, Sangola and Mohol talukas are having very low density because of the hilly and mountainous areas in those talukas.

According to the 1971 Census observations, the population of the district is concentrated more in the areas of relative high density. The Sholapur North taluka forms 21.61 per cent of the population of the district. Karmala taluka, on the other hand, had only 6.72 per cent of the district population. Excluding North Sholapur taluka concentration of population is observed in Barshi and Akkalkot talukas.

The urban population of the district and of every town at each Census and its variation since 1901 are shown in table No. 3.

Urban population: The number of towns, the rate of decade variation and the percentage of urban population to total population at each Census since 1901 in the district and the State are shown in table No. 2.

If population of those towns is excluded from 1951 urban population, the 1961 urban population would be higher by 20.97 per cent over 1951. The net increase of 10.56 per cent was thus due solely to the change of the definition of urban areas and the consequent declassification of four towns.

Sholapur city is the most important urban area and also the most densely-populated town in the district and is well-known for its cotton textile industries. The population of Sholapur city in 1971 has increased by 429.12 per cent over 1901 and 233.13 per cent over 1921. As per 1971 Census, the city alone accounts for more than half of the urban population of the district. Barshi and Pandharpur are the other two important towns in the district. The population of Barshi town has increased by 157.30 per cent over 1901 and 205.02 per cent over 1921. For Pandharpur town, the growth is 65.52 per cent over 1901 and 112.76 per cent over 1921.

The areas of Sholapur, Barshi, Akkalkot, Dudhani and Pandharpur decreased in 1971 compared to the area figures in 1961 due to revised computation. The areas of two towns, viz., Akkalkot and Dudhani decreased heavily in 1971.

Rural population: According to the 1971 Census there are 948 villages having a rural population of 16,37,288. The details are shown in table No. 4.

The rates of variation in rural population and the percentage of rural population to total population of the district since 1901 are given below:-

The net increase in rural population of the district in 1971 is 132.85 per cent over that of 1901 and 139.36 per cent over that of 1921.

The percentage of rural population gradually decreased both for the district and the State since 1911. Only in 1961 and in 1971 it showed an opposite trend. The rates of variation in rural population never followed any trend. It showed a decrease in 1971 (+22.16) compared to 1961 (+29.48). The high rate of growth in rural population of the district in 1961 might be partly due to the declassification of four towns and addition of their 1961 population in the rural population. The urban population had grown faster at the expense of rural population. Thus the rural population increased at a lower rate than the total population.

The distribution of population by size of villages for the district and State in the year 1971 is as follows:-

As per 1971 Census, villages with less than 1,000 population account for 39.45 per cent of the total number of villages in the district and are inhabited by 14.78 per cent of the district rural population. The corresponding figures for the State are 68.95 per cent and 32.48 per cent, respectively. Villages with more than 1,000 population account for 60.55 per cent of total number of villages and are inhabited by 85.22 per cent of the district rural population. Thus, more than three-fourths of the rural population of the district is concentrated in villages with more than 1,000 population. The State figures for the villages with more than 1,000 population account for 31.06 per cent of the total number of villages and 47.52 per cent of State rural population. Thus less than half of the State population is concentrated in villages with more than 1,000 population. Villages with more than 5,000 population in the district as also in State are very few in number.

Average population per village in 1971 is 1,120 in the district against 970 in Maharashtra. The average population per inhabited village in the district varied from 1,305 in Mangalwedha taluka to 3,020 in Malshiras taluka.

Table No. 6 gives taluka-wise distribution of villages and their population in the district in 1971.

It may be added that the above discussion is based on villages with their administrative boundaries and does not take into account the existence of wadis, padas or hamlets within those boundaries.

Distribution by age-groups: Table No. 7 shows the distribution of district population according to age and marital status for the year 1961.

The distribution of district population by age-groups in rural and urban areas as per 1971 Census is given in table No. 5.

Sex ratio: The following are the sex ratios [For details refer to District Census Handbooks of 1961 and 1971.] (number of females per 1,000 male population) for the district since 1901 for total, rural and urban areas:-

Marital status: Table No. 8 gives the distribution of the district population by marital status for males and females for the two Census years. [1971 Census statistics relating to marital status is not available.]

Migration: As per 1961 Census, 64.32 per cent of the population was enumerated at place of birth. This percentage for males was 74.84 and for females 53.08. The difference was due to women married outside their places of birth. It is further evidenced by a very high proportion of females among persons born elsewhere in the district. This is also true for those born in other districts of the State as in the migration stream females out-numbered males to a great extent. Even among persons from outside the State marriage was one of the major contributory factors in rendering females a preponderance over males. The 1961 Census [1971 Census statistics regarding migration is not available.] showed the proportions of population by places of birth as follows:-

The percentage of non-workers was lower in the population born at places other than the place of enumeration. The cultivators had a high proportion among those born at the place of enumeration. Agricultural labourers had a higher proportion for those born elsewhere within the district. 14.64 per cent of the males born outside the district were engaged in manufacturing other than household industries. Textile industry in Sholapur city must be responsible for this high percentage as it attracts large number of migrants for employment so also Barshi town.

Housing: As per 1971 Census, there are 4,83,510 census houses of all description in the district. Of these, 3,48,610 are in rural areas and 1,34,900 in the urban areas of the district. Of the total 39,435 census houses were found vacant at the time of listing, of which 30,220 were in rural areas and 9,215 in the urban areas of the district.

Table No. 9 gives statistics about the different uses to which these census houses are put.

The district percentage share of population, census houses and houses used as residences is as follows:-

Looking at the classification of owned and rented categories, 69.16 per cent of the dwellings in the district in 1971 are owned and 30.84 per cent are rented. The proportion of owned is higher (83.90 per cent) in rural areas but very much lower (31.07 per cent) in urban areas. This low proportion of 31.07 per cent for the urban areas in the district is slightly lower than the average of 31.61 per cent for all urban areas of the State.

Out of the various materials used for walls, stone appears to be predominant in the district with a proportion of 66.8 per cent used in all the census houses. This may be attributed to the availability in abundance of good building stone like the Deccan trap or basalt found either in quarries or in boulders in every part of the district. The proportion of stone used in North Sholapur taluka is very much lower while brick-wall houses are also considerable in number. Stone is used more in rural areas than in urban. Burnt bricks are used more in urban houses with a proportion of 83.00 per cent against only 25.2 per cent in rural areas. Grass, leaves, reeds, bamboos, etc., are also used for 7.30 per cent of the total census houses in rural areas and 7.40 per cent in urban areas.

Out of the material of roof, grass, leaves, reeds, thatched wood, bamboos are predominant in the district. The corrugated iron, zinc or other metal sheets are also equally used along with above-referred materials. Houses are generally built with flat roofs covered either with lime or mud. In some talukas of the district, mud-roofed houses with layer of bricks laid over the planking and covered with white earth or with karal, a kind of sandy oily loam, are generally noticed. Flat roofs are, however, more common all over the district for the fact that the rainfall is very scanty and uncertain.

Scheduled Castes: Although 24 castes are notified as the Scheduled Castes in the district, only 12 (including Mang Garudi) are reported in 1971. Out of these, the largest number is of Mahars.

The second predominant group is of Mangs and the third of Chambhars. The remaining Scheduled Castes had together 3,123 population which accounted for less than 0.2 per cent of the total population of the district. The distribution of population according to scheduled castes notified in 1971 census is shown in table No. 10.

The comparative position of the Scheduled Castes population in 1951, 1961 and 1971 in the district is as follows:-

The proportion of Scheduled Castes decreased from 15.36 per cent in 1951 to 12.84 per cent in 1961 and again increased to 14.21 in 1971. The decrease in percentage in 1961 was the result of conversion of a large number of persons from the Hindu Scheduled Castes to Buddhism. Such conversion to Buddhism was, however, chiefly from among the Mahars who were formerly also numerous in Scheduled Castes in the district. The combined proportion of the Scheduled Castes and Buddhists was 16.15 per cent of the total population of the district in 1961 which was slightly higher than that of 1951. The Scheduled Castes population of the district increased from 2,38,863 in 1961 to 3,20,319 in 1971. The district Scheduled Castes population in 1971 accounts for 10.59 per cent of the State Scheduled Castes population. The talukas having more than 10 per cent of the total Scheduled Castes population in the district in 1971 are as follows:-

As per 1971 Census 21.8 per cent of the total Scheduled Castes population of the district are literate and educated, of whom 15.7 per cent are from rural areas and the remaining 6.1 per cent from urban areas.

Table No. 11 throws sufficient light upon the educational and literacy conditions of the Scheduled Castes population of the district.

Scheduled Tribes: Twelve Scheduled Tribes out of 19 notified tribes of the district are reported in the 1971 Census. Their total population, however, is only 8,608 or 0.29 per cent of the total Scheduled Tribes population of the State and accounts for 0.38 per cent of the total population of the district. Pardhi with 5,643 persons is the largest Scheduled Tribe in the district. They are mostly found in the talukas of Barshi, South and North Sholapur and Karmala. Koli Dhors come mostly from urban areas of the district.

The distribution of the Scheduled Tribes population as per 1971 Census is shown in table No. 12.

Out of the total Scheduled Tribes population as per 1971 Census the literate and educated persons account for 15.8 per cent, of which 10.79 per cent are from rural areas and the remaining 5.05 per cent are from urban areas. Table No. 13 gives detailed taluka-wise statistics of illiterate as well as literate and educated Scheduled Tribes population of the district.

Language: The following table shows the population by language in the district:-

Percentage distribution of languages in rural and urban areas in 1961 was as follows:-

Marathi is the principal language and is the mother-tongue of 71.5 per cent of the population. In rural areas Marathi-speakers account for 90.1 per cent of the population. They constitute 49.1 per cent of the population in urban areas. Kannada has the second largest number of speakers. It forms 11.5 per cent of the total population in the district. It is spoken more in urban areas where its speakers form as much as 12.2 per cent against 11.2 per cent for rural areas. Urdu has the third largest number of speakers. It forms 8.8 per cent of the total population of the district. It is spoken more in urban areas where its speakers form as much as 16.3 per cent against 5.9 per cent for rural areas. The speakers of Banjari language are concentrated in rural areas and so also Gujarati-speakers to some extent. Hindi, Tamil and Telugu speakers are mostly concentrated in urban areas. Kaikadi-speakers are almost evenly distributed in rural and urban areas.

The comparative position of the languages in 1901, 1951 and 196! is as follows:-

Religion: The population by religion in the district and each taluka as per 1971 Census is shown in table No. 14.

The comparative position of the religions in the district in 1901, 1961 and 1971 is as follows:-

The proportion of Muslims has increased over the last seventy years. The proportion of Jains has decreased during the period of 1901.1961 but increased in 1971. The percentage of Hindus has gone down from 90.42 per cent in 1901 to 86.44 per cent in 1961, because some persons belonging to Hindu Scheduled Castes returned their religion as Buddhists or Nav Bauddhas but again increased in 1971 to 87.65. The combined proportion for Hindus and Buddhists has decreased than that in 1901. Most significant changes are the reporting of 3.31 per cent of the population as Buddhists in 1961 which again decreased in 1971 and the increase in Muslims by nearly one per cent. The proportions of Hindus and of Muslims to the district population are larger in Sholapur district (87.65 and 9.33) than in the State (81.94 and 8.40, respectively). The percentages of people following other than these two religions are higher in the State than in the district.

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