V.-PARGANA MAHA'-BAN.
THE Haha-lan pargana lias a population of 116,829 and an area of 239
square miles, It forms the connecting link between the two divisions of the
district. Its western half, which lies along the bank of the Jamuna, forms
part of the Braj Sfandafj -and closely resembles in all its characteristics the
tracts that we have hitherto been describing : its towns are places of consider-
able interest, but the land is poor and barren, dotted with sandhills and inter-
sected with frequent ravines. To the east, beyond Baladeva, the country is
assimilated to the rest of the Doab; the soil, being of greater productiveness;
has from time immemorial been exclusively devoted to agricultural purposes,
and thus there are no large centres of population nor sites of historic interest,
In area and subordination the pargana has undergone several changes;
for originally it formed part of Aligarh, and then for some years recognized
Sa'dabad as its capital, before it was finally constituted a member of the dis-
trict of Mathura. In 1861 it mad&over to Sa'dabad some few villages on the
border} and received instead the whole of the Raya circle, including as many
as eighty-nine villages, which till then had been included in Mat; together
with three others, Baltikri, Blrbal, and Sonkh, which were detached from
Hithras. A glance at the map will show that a- further rectification of its
boundary line to the north is still most desirable ; as all the 18 villages of the
Aym-khera circle occupy a narrow tongue of land that runs up along the
Aligarh border, in such immediate proximity to the Mat tahsil that they would
deady be benefited by inclusion in Mat jurisdiction.
The river forms the boundary of the pargana to the south as well ss the
west, and in the lower part of its course is Evolved in such a aeries of sixmo*
sities that its length is out of all proportion to the area it traverse, and thns
necessitates the maintenance of no less than elevea crossing places, $n#«, the
pontoon bridge at the city, a bridge of boats at Ookul, and ferries at Pkd-g&nw,
Habib-pur or Basai, Baroli, Kanjauli, Koila, Tappa Saiyid-pur, Sehat, Akos,
and Nera. The contracts for all these, excepting the one at Koila, are given
in the Agra district.
Of the 151,846 acres that form the total area, 110,613 are ordinarily
under cultivation. The crops principally grown axe jodr, bdjra and the like
on 573000 acres; wheat and barley on 38,700; cotton on 8,000, and chana
m 4/XKX Water-meloiw are also raised in large quantities on the river-sands;