CUDDAPAH, in Hindustan, a British district within the jurisdiction of the presidency of Madras; bounded N. by the British districts of Kurnool and Guntoor; E. by Nellore; S.E. by Arcot; S.W. by the native state of Mysore; and W. by Bellary. It lies between 14. and 17. N. Lat.; and 78. and 80. E. Long. Area 12,970 square miles. The surface of the country has a general slope from the western frontier, where it attains an elevation of 1180 feet above the level of the sea, to the eastern boundary of the district, where the average elevation does not exceed 450
Cuddapah feet. All the streams which intersect the country are consequently discharged into the Bay of Bengal. Of these the principal is the Northern Pennar, which though a formidable torrent during the monsoon rains, with an average width of 300 feet, is almost wholly dried up in the dry season. The mineral wealth comprised in the hilly parts of the district consists of iron, lead, and copper; while various tracts are impregnated with carbonate of soda, salt-petre, and culinary salt. The population is by no means dense; its amount, which has been officially returned at 1,451,921, furnishing little in excess of 100 to the square mile. Cuddapah came into the possession of the British government in 1800, under the provisions of a treaty concluded with the Nizam, or ruler of Hyderabad, subsequently to the fall of Tippoo and the partition of his dominions.