Presidency. In 1860, the British split the area into South Canara and North Canara, the former being retained in the Madras Presidency, while the latter was made a part of Bombay Presidency in 1862. Kundapur Taluk was earlier included in North Kanara but was later re-included in South Kanara. South Kanara included present Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kasaragod districts and the Aminidivi Islands. Independence movement During the 1920s, several newspapers in the district drew inspiration from the freedom struggle such as Tilaka Sandesh, Satyagrahi and others. South Kanara participated in the non-cooperation movement led in the district by Karnad Sadashiva Rao. All independence movement movements gained significant traction in the district, and Gandhi and Nehru both visited Mangalore during the Freedom struggle. In 1942 large numbers of leaders were jailed in the Quit India movement. Post-independence In 1947 South Kanara joined India as part of Madras State. In 1956, the states were reorganised on linguistic lines. The Malayalam-majority Kasaragod subdivision became a part of Kerala, the Aminidivi Islands were joined with the Laccadive and Minicoy islands in a union territory, while the Tulu and Kannada majority Dakshina Kannada subdivision became a district of Mysore State in 1956 which later was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The Udupi district was formed from the northern taluks of Dakshina Kannada in 1997. Later, the Karnataka Government, for the purpose of administration, split the greater Dakshina Kannada district into Udupi and present day Dakshina Kannada districts on 15 August 1997. Three taluks of the former district – Udupi, Karkala and Kundapura – formed the new Udupi district. Administration The district comprises seven talukas: Mangalore, Puttur, Sullia, Bantwal, Belthangady, Kadaba and Moodabidri. It used to include seven northern talukas (Udupi, Kundapur, Karkala, Hebri, Brahmavar, Kaup and Byndoor), but these were separated in August 1997 to form Udupi district. Important cities and towns in Dakshina Kannada include Mangalore, Surathkal, Puttur, Sullia, Bantwal, Vittal, Moodabidri, Kinnigoli, Uppinangady, Nellyadi, Kadaba, Belthangady, Guruvayankere, Venur, Mulki, Dharmasthala, Ujire and Subramanya. The district is well known for beaches, red clay roof tiles (Mangalore tiles), cashew nut and its products, banking, education, healthcare and cuisine. Mangalore being the second largest city of Karnataka and Puttur are the largest and the major cities of Dakshina Kannada. Dakshina Kannada District has 1 City Corporation (Mangalore), 2 City Municipal Councils, 3 Town Municipal Councils, and 8 Town Panchayaths. Demographics According to the 2011 census, Dakshina Kannada has