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^/^RA^V^'

GAZETTEER

OF THR

BOMBAY PRESIDENCY

t'WVWWX'VXNNXW'WWXWS.NN/VN.'NiVWWWVVXX.

VOLUME XVII.

V^NWV^AAA,■<

''^w^%^.^^A>xx'^A.^/v^A^'\lv^^^A^^^

Under Q-ovemment Orders,

BonAiqd:

PBnmS AT THB

GOVERNMENT CENTRAL PRESS.

1884

T/v^^f^' 7

The names of contribntors are given in the body of the book.
Special acknowledgments are due to Messrs. T. S. Hamilton^ C. 8.,
Major H. Daniell former District Saperintendent of Police, and
Major 8. Babington.

Mach help was also received from Messrs. B. E. Candy, C. S.,
J.A. Baines, O.S., A. P. Woodbum, C.S., E. 0. Ozanne, C.S.,
J. C. Pottinger, C. E., Major Q. Goassmaker, B&o Bah&dar N&r^yan
Ganesh Deshp&nde, and Mr. Kharsetji N. Sethna.

Mr. J. Elphinston, O.S., Collector, has contributed many yaluable
notes and corrections.

JAMES M. CAMPBELL.

August 1884.

CONTENTS.

AHMADNAGAR.

Chapter L— DescriptioiL paqb

Position and Area ; Boundaries; Aspect; Mountains ... 1-5

Rivers; Geology; Olimate 6-15

Chapter IL— FroductioiL

Minerals ; Forests ; Trees 16-26

Wild Animals ; Game Birds ; Domestic Animals ; Reptiles ;
Fishes 27-45

Chapter IIL— FopnlatioiL
Census Details; Houses ; Villages ; Communities 46-49

Hindus :

Br^mans 50-64

Writers ; Traders ; Husbandmen 65-91

Craftsmen 92-143 •^

Musicians ; Servants ; Shepherds . 144 - 152

Labourers 153-162

Depressed Classes 163-176

Beggars 177-187

Unsettled Tribes 188-213

MusalmAns ; Chbistians ; PArsis . « . 214-238 ^'

Movements 239-240

Chapter IT.— Agriculture.
Husbandmen ; Soils ; Seasons ; Holdings ; Arable Land ; Stock ;

Crops 241-248

Tillage ; Manure ; Irrigation 249 - 257

Field Processes; Fallows; Crop Changes; Mixed Sowingb^;

Dalhi Cultivation 258-261

Crop Details 262-279

Field Plagues ; Famines 280-293

Chapter Y.— Capital.

Capitalists ; Saving Classes ; Bankers ; Bills ; Currency ;

Insurance 294-299

Moneylenders; Rates of Interest; Grain Advances; Bor-
rowers; 'Labour Mortgage; Deccan Riots; Relief Act;
Slavery 300-320

Wages ; Prices ; Weights and Measures 321 - 325

ii CONTENTS.

Cliapter YI.— Trade and Crafts. rxoK

Roads ^ Railways; Passes; Tolls; Rest-Hooses; Post and

Telegraph Offices 326-334

Trade; Trade Centres; Markets; Fairs; Shopkeepers;

Peddlers; Carriers 335-342

Exports ; Imports ; Railway Traffic 343 - 346

Crafts 347-360

Chapter VII.— History.

Early History (b. g. 240 • ▲. d. 1294) ; Delhi Governors

(I3I8 - 1347) ; Bahmani Kings (1347 - 1490) ; Nizim Shihi

Kings (1490-1636); The Moghals (1636-1769); The

MarAthAs (1759 - 1817) ; The British (1817 - 1884) . . . 351 - 420

Chapter YIIL— The Land.

Acquisition ; Staff; History of Land Assessment ( 760- 1884) ;
British Management (1818 - 1884) ; Survey Settlements
(1848-1853); Survey Results; Revision Survey (1880-
1884) ; Season Reports ; Alienated Villages 421 - 557

Chapter IX. —Justice.

Civil Courts; Civil Suits (1870- 1883) ; Registration ; Arbi-
tration Court; Magistracy; Criminal Classes; Police;
Offences; Jails .558-566

Chapter Z.— Finance.

Balance Sheets; Land Revenue; Stamps; Excise; Local

Funds ; Municipalities 567 - 572

Chapter XL -^Instruction.

Schools J Staff; Cost; Progress; Aided Schools; Inspected
Schools ; Girls' Schools; Readers aLd Writers ; School
Returns; Town and Village Schools; Libraries; News-
papers .573-581

Chapter XIL—Health.

Climate ; Hospitals ; Dispensaries ; Infirmities ; Cattle

Disease ; Cat Plague ; Vaccination ; Births and Deaths . 582 - 586

Chapter XIII.— Sub-Bivisions.

Boundaries ; Area ; Aspect ; Soil ; Climate ; RainfaU ; Cul-
tivation ; Water-supply ; Irrigation ; Crops ; People ; Roads ;
Railways ; Markets ; Trade ; Crafts ; Survey ; Changes . 587 - 650

Chapter XrV. —Places 651-741

INDEX . . . ^ 743-752

AHMADNAGAR.

/■

a 1 1 1 1 ^ ^

AHMADNAGAR.

CHAPTEE I

DESCRIPTIONS

Alimadnagar, lying between 18° 20' and 19"* 59' north latitude
and 73° 40' and 75** 48' east longitude, with an areaof 6666 square miles,
liad, in 1881, a population of 751,228 or 112*69 to the square mile,
and in 1882-83, a realizable land revenue of £139,430 (Rs. 13,94,300) .

The district is very irregular in shape somewhat resembling a
slanting cross with a length of 120 and a breadth of 125 miles. It
is bounded on the north by the Yeola sub-division of Ndisik; on the
north-east, east, and south-east by the Nizdm's dominions; on the
sooth by the Karmdla sub-division of Shol^pur; on the south-west
hy the Bhimthadi, Sirur, and Junnar sub-divisions of Poena ; on the
west by the Murbd.d and Shdhdpur sab-divisions of Th^na ; and on
the north-west by the Igatpuri and Sinnar sub-divisions of Ndsik.
Except a few detached villages and groups of villages surrounded
by the Nizdm's territory in the south-east, and one isolated village
lying towards Aurangabad on the north-east, the district, though
irregular in shape, is compact.

For administrative purposes Ahmadnagar is divided into eleven
snb.divisions with, on an average, an area of 606 squai*e miles, 125
villages, and 68,293 people. Their positions are : In the north
Kopargaon ; in the east Nev^a and Shevgaon ; in the south Nagar,
Karjat, Shrigonda, and Pdrner ; in tne west Sangamner and Akola ;
and in the centre B^huri. The groups of villages in the south-east
form the sub-division of Jdmkhed. '

Ahuabnaqar Administrativb Details^ 1882-83.

StTB-Dmsiov.

AttMA.

^^ ^opftigAOn ...

Aev&M
«.^«vgaon ...

Kftriat
Shriji^iidft ...

Mngamner...

Bhnrt
Jifflkhed ..

Total

511
607
670
619
680
625
779
706
688
497
482

VlLLAOBS.

>
o

•i

Hamlkts.

Population.

1881.

Square
Afile.

Laitd

RKVKfUB,

1882-88.

6666

119

118

160

107

161

162

111

1226

164

126

148

188

117

123

169

167

118

1380

209

688

8
8

7
17

• • •

10
8
4

1
14

218

104

700

63.789
78,168
87,113
106,950
34,820
61,-i91
78,701
68.367
60,800
68,289
60,960

761,228

124

128

180

176

108

127

126

112

21,786
18,071
16,692
18,661

6682
10,641
10,960
14,832

7996
17,794

7496

139,430

1 Contribated by Mr. T. S. Hamilton, C. S.

Chapter I
Descriptioi

BOUNDARIEI

SUB-DlVISIOl

■ 772—1

[Bombay

Chapter I.
Descriptioiu

ASFXCT.

Ddng.

Dtik.

DISTRICTS.

0^\

t .

The whole district lies on the elevated tableland of the Deccan
which has a general slope from west to east. The westerti
sub-division of Akola, which abuts on the Sahyddris^ is the highest
part of the district, and indeed of the Deccan. averaging 250O feet
above the sea-level. The plain of Shevgraon which lies to the
extreme east of the district is not more than 1500 feet above the seu.

As only the western comer of the district touches the Sahy&dris,
the extent of what is known as th^^lKg or hill country is Umited
to about a hundred villages of the Akola sub-division. In "this
region the rainfall is excessivd^ and tfi^mTgh and hilly ground is
seamed by torrents which wash the soil from the mountain slopes into
the valleys where its progress is arrested by walls of mud and stono
erected at different levels^ thus forming terraces on which rice, the
staple crop of the Ddngs^ is grown. On the shallower soils of tlie
hill-sides^ often on slopes so steep that it is difficult to stand uprig-ht^
many coarse cereals are grown by what is known as dahli or wood-&aIi
tillage. The enormous rainfall necessitates the use of manure, and. as
wood-ash is readily obtained in the D&ng country it is universally
employed. Patches of ground are covered with layers of lopped
boughs, leaves^ and grass, which are fired in the hot weather, and^
after the first rain, the seed is sown in the ashes from which tho
seedlings are, in some cases, subsequently transplanted. Thoag-h
undeniably successful, this system of cultivation is disastrous to the
forests which unhappily are fast disappearing under yearly lopping.
Such few trees as remain on the lower hill-slopes are miserably
stunted. Unless the present system is checked, at no distant time
the whole of the once verdant valleys at the sources of the Pravara
and the Mula will be a sterile waste. On the upper slopes the trees
are carefully preserved by the forest department but the damage to
those below is irreparable.

The houses of the better cli^s of cultivators in the Ddng villages
are built of baked earth with tiled roofs. Those of the poorer
classes are mere huts of wattle and daub thickly thatched. They
are frequently oval in shape with a trellis in front covered with
creeping goords. In the extreme west, all classes live in such
frail habitations that it not unfrequently happens that a whole
"Ullage is destroyed by fire in a few hours. The western hills
furnish an abundance of somewhat coarse fodder.

The transition from the hilly to the open or Dbsh country of the
Deccan is rapid; from the crest of the Sahyddris^ where the rainfall is
believed to vary from 150 to 200 inches, to the town of Akola, where
it averages twenty inches, is a distance of less than twenty miles.
The open or Desh country of Ahmadnagar presents an endless
variety of aspect. In the north, centre, and east are the fertile
aliuyial plains of KoparTOOn. Rdhuri^ Nevasa, and Shevgaon, lying
in the valley ol the 2£d^£||^ where wheat an^T various milleta and
vetches are grown ; intneextreme south are the alluvial but less
fertile plains of Shrigonda an dKariat, lying in the valley of the
B^iima. Between tlie (jrodavarTlLna tfie Bhima valleys there is
every variftty nf ji^^g hj]] ^^ pp1f.Ti|rA.fftr| dpJe in the sub-divisions
of Sangamqer. P6mer. NgfiCi' W^ J^i9]i:hed^ Some parts are well

StoeaaJ

AHMADNAOAB.

flooded wiUi mang^ and tamarind groves; in other parts, thoagli the
Bofl is equally fertile for grain, scarcely a tree of any size is to be
R«&. The summits and slopes of the hills are uniformly bare of
trees, the depth of earth apparently not affording nourishment for
Anything more than stunted bushes of khair Acacia catechu^ and
prickly cactus which at a distance can hardly be distinguished fron
the basalt boulders which are strewn broadcast oyer the hill-sides*

The villages are usually compact, the houses are built of stones

«Qd mad or sun-dried pricks and have mostly flat roofs of the

cheaper woods. Over the wood of the roof is spread a thick layer

of white earth which keeps the interior cool in the hot weather and

at the same time is a sufficient protection against the light rainfalL

Houses of well-to-do village officers and moneylenders are frequently

cbnble-storied with tiled roofs. Many of the villages are surrounded

by walls built either of baked earth on a substructure of coarse

masonry or of stone and mud throughout. These with their coraer

bastions and their gateways give a deceptive air of substantiality to

ibe villages which from a distance look like fortresses, especially

when built as they frequently are on ground slightly raised above

the level of the surrounding plain. Of late years many village walls

have l>een allowed to fall into disrepair and the people show no

desire for their restoration.

On the whole, partly owing to the want of trees, partly to the
ninous state of so many village walls, and partly to the geological
conformation of the hills, the general aspect of the open country of
Ahmadnagar is desolate. Only after heavy rain are the hill-slopes
green and the green qoickly turns to dull yellow as the thin
Kurface layer of earth becomes heated and the tender grass withers
ander the scorching sun. During the hot months^ after the late
crops have been harvested, the country is as black and hideous as it
ia possible for a country to be. •

The Sahy^ri mountains form, for a distance of about twenty-
five miles^ a continuous natural boundary between the Ahmadnagar
and Th^na districts. When viewed from the west or low level of
the Konkan the appearance of this range is that of a mighty wall
of rock, 2000 to 3000 feet high, of dark hue relieved by narrow
horisontal belts of grass and evergreen forest, surmounted ty
isolated peaks and rocky bluffs rising in many places to a further
height of 1000 to 1500 feet.

The three hill-forts of Kulang, Eatangad. and Harishohai^dragad
are among tne most striking ot tnese masses oi rock wicnin
Ahmadnagar limits. These mark the points of divergence from the
main line of the Sahyddris of three great spurs, Kalsub&i, BAleshvar,
and Harishchandragad, which stretch far across the district, gradually
decreasing in height as they pass eastwards. •

The K^jSUB^ Range, branching off at Kulang, is the northernmost
ot the CCSreespurs and for some twenty miles forms the boundary
between the Ahmadnagar and Ndsik districts. Viewed from the
Ndsik side it presents the appearance of a continuous and in many
places a precipitous wall of rock. Almost every hill in this range has

Chapter I.
Desoription

Aspect,
Deth.

MoiTirrAiKs.
Sahyddrit.

KakubdiBani

[BomlMj GattUasr,

DISTBICTS-

Chapter I. been a fort and many still liave water cisterns and granafiee. Bast
)e8cripti<m. ®^ Kulang is the twin fort of Alang, both of great natural strength.

Then come a series of rocky and precipitous peaks, areraging 5000
MouifTAnw. fgg^ jj^ height, followed by Kalsubdi, the conical summit of which,
aUubdi Range. 542? feet, is the highest point in the Bombay Presidency, East of

Kalsnb^ is a natural depression in the range over which, winds the
' Bdri pass road leading from the R4jur hills to the plain of the D^ma
river in the Nasik district below. The truncated hill of Fandira
commands this road on the east. The next noteworthy peaks are
Palan, Bitangad, and Mahdkdli. The range here sweeps northward
to the once celebrated forts of Patta and Anndha which vrere the
scene of many a fierce contest between the Mar<ith&s and Moghals.
The magnificent amphitheatre of rock between these two forts is one
of the most striking features of the range. Two smaller spurs which
run in a south-easterly direction, enclosing the valley of the Adula
river, branch ofE near Bitangad and Patta. On the main range
east of Aundha is the fort of Ad, which lies in the Nasik district.
The hills now take a south-easterly direction, running parallel with
the spurs and enclosing the valley of the Mahdlungi. Crossing
the south of the Sinnar sub-division of Ndsik, the range enters the
Sangamner sub-division about eight miles north of the chief town,
and, after a further course of fifteen miles, ends somewhat sharply
with the hill of Dudheshvar, 2748 feet above sea level and about
950 feet above the bed of the Pravara river in the valley below.

The tract of country which lies between the central portion of
this range and the Pravara river is extremely rugged. The two
flat- topped hills of Tdva 3526 feet, and Baula, which lie a few miles
north of the town of Akola, are conspicuous objects from all parts
of the Pravara valley. Another striking hill is MAnbh&v 3013 feet,
which lies east of Tdva on. the boundary between Akola and
Sangamner. As far east as j^alsub&i the mountains are fairly
wooded with mango, jdmbhul Syzigium jambolanum, and other
evergreen trees ; in the central part there are fewer evergreens, but
teak abounds especially on the slopes of the spurs jutting towards
the south ; the part of the range which lies in Sangamner is covered
only with scrub and in places is bare.

dkshvar Mange. JThe Balsshvab Range, the second great spur of the Sahy^ris,

which brancjies off at Batangad seven miles south-east of Kulang,
completely traverses the Akola and Sangamner sub-divisions
forming on the north the valley of the_Pravara and on the south the
valley of the Mula. East of Ratauf^rad are a series of lofty mountains,
Kdtrdbii, Mura, Shirpunj, and Sindola, the last towering over
Pabar 4452 feet, which juts out with a long shoulder to the north
at right angles to the range. Next comes Asvalya 4195 feet, then
Ghdtsari ^159 feet, and Dhagya 3885 feet The range culminates
with B41eshvar, as a central mass whose summit 882S feet high
is crowned with a ruined Hemddpanti temple, surrounded by spars
radiating from the centre in all directions, the whole covering an
area of some twenty-five square miles. On an isolated hiU at the end
of one of these spurs, projecting to the north-west, is the fort of
Femgad. Between Bdleshvar and Dhomya 8027 feet^ which is the

OeecftiL]

AHMADNAGAB.

last notable point in the range^ is the Chandnfouri pass crossed by
the Poona-Kdsik hicrh road. East of Dliamya the hills decrease in
height and finaUy subside in the open plL near Bdhuri. This
raoge^ which is abont sixty miles long, has mach the same forest
cbaracteristics as the Kalsab^i range. As far as Pdbar there are
evergreen belts^ from P&bar to Bdleshvar teak trees are the prevailing
feature, and farther east there are the same sterile hills^ bare or at
most covered with low scrub.

The third range which leaves the Sahy^dris at Haris hchandbagad
is the longest in the district and forms the water-shed between
the Ooddvari and the Bhima rivers. Its direction for the first
fifteen miles is easterly^ shutting in the valley of the Mula river
which flows between it and the B41eshvar range, and forming
the boundary line between the Ahmadnagar and Poena districts.
East of the Harishchandra fort lies the fort of Knnjal; near
BrAhmanvada the range^ gradually decreasing in height, takes a
turn to the south-east^ crosses the corner of the Junnar sub-division
of Poona, and enters Pdrner which it completely traverses. The
sammits of the hills here widen into the plateau of Kanhur. of a
mean height of 2800 feet above the sea and 700 feet above the plain
of the Ghod river on the west towards which the range presents a
wall-like front. Near the village of Jdmgaon on the Nagar side of
the plateau a flat ridge shoots to the nortn-east ; this, though of no
great height and in many places hardly distinguishable from the
country round, forms the water-shed line between the tributaries
of the Godavdri and those of the Bhima. The ridge enters the
Kagar sub-division and as the ground on the north gradually
acquires a slope towards the Mula river, it becomes the crest of
a tableland having a gentle slope towards the south-east. North
ol the town of Ahmadnagar the crest rises again to the dignity of
a mountain range. The hills of ^orakhn&th 2982 feet, Mdnjar-
gqmba. and Gnnjdla are conspicuous from all parts of the sub-
division. On the north side the range . presents an abrupt front
towards the lowlying plains of Bahuri and Nevdsa in the valley of
the Goddvari ; on the south side the country has a mean elevation
of 2200 feet with a slope towards the south-east indicated by the
direction of the Sina river. At the foot of M^jarsumba is a little
glen opening towards the north, commonly known as the Happy
Vaflej^ the natural beauty of which attracts many visitors from
Ahmadnagar, and down an adjacent ravine still further east winds
the road to Toka and Aurangabad. The range here turns south-
east keeping its wall-lLke lace towards the Goddvari. Some of the
hills attain considerable elevations, that on which the tomb of
Salibat Kh&n is built being 3080 feet above the sea level and 1000
feet above the town of Ahmadnagar which lies six miles to the west
hi the vaUey of the Sina. Extending still further the range
gradually loses its continuous character ; minor branches jut out on
both sides giving a varied and rugged appearance to the sub-
divisions of Shevgaon and Jdmkhed. Still further to the south-east
the summits of the hills widen and gradually spread into the flat
deyated country known as the BaUgh&t which extends far into the
Ki24m^tt dominions^ the western comer only lying within Ahmadnagar

Chapter
Deacriptii

MonsTAU

Hariahchandi
Range.

IBomliay OftHtteer,

DISTEICTS.

[Ihapter L
)egcrip1io]i.

MOUNTAIKS.

BlVSBS.

Cfoddvari,

limits. The length of this chain of hills from the main line of the
Sahy&dris to the Bdl&gh&t is about a hundred and twenty miles.
Another branch of the range leaving the K^nhur plateau crosses the
north-east comer of the Shrigonda sub-diyision and enters Earja4:.
8till pursuing a south-east direction, the hills gradually decrease
in height and disappear near the Bhima river. A distinguishing
feature of this branch is the succession of pathdrs or flat-topped hills
which are so uniformly horizontal as to bear an almost artificial
appearance.

Besides these leading ranges there are many hills both isolated
and forming the backbones of ridges between streams* These^
though often of considerable height above the sea, present no striking
appearance from the tableland out of which they rise. They are
usually covered with coarse grass and loose stones.

The district is drained by two chief rivers, the God&vari and the
Bhima a tributary of the Krishna. The water-shed line is the
great spur of the Sahy^dris which branches off at Harishchandragad
and stretches completely across the district from west to east.

The GodIvaei, which drains by far the larger part of the district,
includin^gTCeT^sub-divisions of Kopargaon, Sangamner, Akola^
Bdhuri, Nev^sa, Shevgaon, the northern half of P^rner, and parts of
Nagar and J^mkhed, rises near Trimbak in N^ik on the eastern
slope of the Sahyddris. After passing the town of N^ik it
receives the Bdnganga and the Kd.dva from the north and the Ddma
from the south, and is already a considerable stream, when, after a
course of about sixty miles, it enters the north-west comer of the
Kopar^on sub-division. It then flows south-east through a rich
alluvial plain past Kopargaon to the town of Puntamba, which is
situated on the Nizam's frontier, where it receives from the south the
combined waters of the Kdt and Khara rivera From Puntamba to
a point beyond Paithan, a distance of sixty miles, the Qoddvari forms
almost continuously the boundary between Ahmadnagar and the
Niz&m's dominions. At the village of Toka it receives on its right
bank the combined waters of the Pravara and the Mula. A few
miles below, the Shiva and the G4nda join it from the left and the
Dhora from the right. Two miles east of Mungi the river enters
tHe Nizdm^s dominions, and thence, flowing across the peninsula, it
empties itself into the bay of Bengal after a total course of 900 miles.

The bed of the river is for the most part sandy, but in many
places bands of rock crop up and lie across its course, damming the
stream into large pools above and forming rapids below. In these

?ools, which are often of great extent and depth, fish usually abound.
*he banks are sometimes sloping but more generally are steep and
broken. Where sloping, cultivation rarely extends within the
ordinary %ood line, and the banks being denuded of their surface
soil by the action of the water and fissured by side streams present
a desolate and barren aspect. Where the banks are steep and high
they are generally cultivated up to the edge. In the &ir season the
stream occupies but a small portion of its channel^ and in many
places crops of wheat and vegetables are raised on the alluvial
deposits within its bed, while the gravelly sand is generally jdanted

DeecBiL]

AHMADNAGAR.

with melons. The river is at this season fordable except in the deep
pools. During the rains it cannot be crossed withoat the help of
rafts or boats. This river^ which is styled the Ganga of Soathern
India^ is held in the highest veneration. Its waters are believed to
purify from sin and many yearly visit it to bathe and be cleansed.
For tiie same reason the ashes of the dead should rest in the Ganga,
and nnmbers come from long distances to gain this advantage for
their relations. So much is the holy river the centre for those who
live near it that for miles from its banks, the ox in the plough, the
stack in the farm-yard, or the gate of the village nearest the river
is known as OanQekadil or Ganga« wards. The chief tributaries of
the Godavari are the Pravara and the Dhora.

The PBAVAjtA. rises on the eastern slopes of the Sahy&dris between
Knlang and ilatangad. After a sinuous course of twelve miles in an
easterly direction, near the village of Banad, it falls into a rocky
chasm 200 feet deep, and then winds for eight miles through a deep
narrow glen which opens into a wider valley east of and below the
central plateau on which the town of Rdjur stands. After flowing
BcroBS tiiis valley the river enters the Desh or level portion of the
Akola sub-division. As it passes the town of Akola it receives on
the left the Adula river and further on the Mahdlungi on the same*
side. Through Sangamner and Rdhuri the Pravara flows between
low cultivated banks. Still keeping its easterly course it receives,
as it enters Nev^sa, the waters of the Mula river, and the united
streams then turning to the north-east fall into the Goddvari at the
sacred village of Toka. The total length of the Pravara is 120
miles. Its water is much used for irrigation and is considered by
Hindus to be more wholesome for drinking even than the water of
the Godavari.

The Adula rises in the north of Akola on the slopes of Patta and .'
Mahdk&li. It flows for fifteen milA in an easterly direction between (
two ranges of hills which enclose the Samsherpur valley ; then,
after falling into a rocky chasm some 150 feet deep it winds between
rugged and precipitous hill-sides for a couple of miles, when,
debouching into the plain of Sangamner, it turns south and falls
into the Pravara three miles west of the town of Sangamner.
Though only twenty-five nules in length the Adula during the raitiy
season is subject to sudden and rapid floods owing to the rocky
country and the heavy rainfall in the upper part of its course. In
the lower part of its course the banks are sloping but fissured by
minor tributary streams to such an extent that approach to the bed
of the river is a matter of some difiBculty. It has a perennial flow
and near the town of Samsherpur, where the bed is flat and rocky,
the water is much used for direct irrigation.

The DfAQ^iiSI^ai rises on the southern and eastern" slopes of <
Pa>tta and Aundha. After a course of three to four miles it passets
east into the Sinnar sub-division of N^ik, flowing to the north of
and nearly parallel to the Adula. It re-enters Ahmadnagar after
taking a bend to the south, and, still preserving a course parallel to
that of the Adula, it joins the Pravara at the town of Sangamner.
In the lower part of its course it has a wide shallow sandy bed, and

Chapter I
Bescriptio

RrvxBs.
Ooddvari,

Pravarck,

Adula.

MohiXyM/g^

[BonAay Oftntieer.

DISTRICTS.

Chapter I.
DescripHoiL

RiTXBS.

Mnki.

Dhora.

Bhima,

\ r\

Ohod, \ i

after a heavy &I1 of rain the force of its current is terrifici often
causing the waters of the Pravara to back up and overflow their
banks for a long distance above the town of Bangamner. The
Mahdlungi like the Adala is about twenty-five miles long. Its iv^ater
is not used for dam irrigation as the stream disappears from the
surface soon after the close of the rainy season.

The Mttla rises on the eastern slopes of the Sahy&dria bet^reen
Batangad and Harishchandragad. For the first twenty miles it
flows parallel to the Pravara draining the southernmost or Kotnl
valley of the Akola sub-division. Its bed throughout is tortuous
and deep, and the surface of the valley is cut by vast fissures formed
by the mountain torrents that dash into the main stream. Passing
the town of Kotul it takes a bend to the south winding between
the rocky precipices at the foot of Baleshvar. It then crosses the
south-west comer of the Sangamner sub-division and pursues a mean
easterly coarse between Sangamner and Pamer^ flowing in a deep
bed between rugged hills on the north and the tableland of Visunda
on the south. lb then takes a sudden turn to the north-east and
enters the plain of B^hnri four miles south-west of the sub-divisional
town. Passing across the plain in the same direction for another
eighteen miles ic joins the Pravara at the village of Sangam. The
total distance from its source to its meeting with the Pravara ia
about ninety miles. Except in the lower part of its course^ on
account of the great depth of its bed^ the water of the Mula ia little
used for irrigation.

The Dhora rises on the slopes of the hills east of the town of
Ahmadnagar. It flows north-easterly, draining the Shevgaon and
part of the Nevdsa sub-divisions, and falls into the God^vari four
miles west of the town of Paithan. Its total length is under thirty-
five miles.

The Bhima river drains the wfiole of the southern portion of the
district, comprising the greater part of the Parner and Nagar sub-
divisions, the whole of Shrigonda and Karjat^ and nearly the whole
of Jd.mkhed. It first touches the district near Dhond in Poena, and
for some thirty-five miles, forms continuously part of the boundary
between Ahmadnagar and Poona. It receives on its left bank the
waters of the Ghod, a stream of considerable volume, and further
east it is joined by the Sarasvati, the Lohkera, and the Ndni. On the
right, on account of the nearness of the hills, the drainage is insignifi-
cant. The course of the Bhima is continuously to the south-east.
It passes along the western boundary of Sholdpur, crosses that
district, and, after skirting the northern boundary of Bij&pur, enters
the Nizam's dominions near Baglur, and falls into the Krishna a few
miles above Rdichur. The banks of the river are generally low and
cultivated%,nd in places fringed with babhul Acacia arabica. The
river bed is sandy, crossed here and there by a barrier of rock.
There are many deep pools, but during the hot months the stream is
inconsiderable. The chief tributaries of the Bhima are the Ghod
and the Sina.

The Ghod, the main tributary of the Bhima, rises on the
slopes ol the Saliyddris in the Junnar sub-division of Poona. It

Deecu.1

AHMADNAGAR 9

flows in a south-easterly direction, and, for over fifty miles, forms part Chapter I.

of the Bonth-western boundary between the Ahmadnagarand Poena Descriptioii

districts. Near the cantonment of Sirur, it receives on its left the

Kakdi, a stream of about the same size, and further down its volume Rivers.

is increased by the waters of the Hanga, the largest of the numerous ^*^'

streams which convey to it the drainage of the Pdmer and Shri-

gonda snb-divisipns. On the right bank, the proximity of the

water-shed renders the drainage small The banks of the stream

are low and cultivated and its bed is generally rocky. In the dry

months the stream is scanty and fordable in maay places, but can

seldom be crossed in the rains without boats. The Ghod falls

iBto the Bhima at the place where the Bhima begins to form the

south-western boundary of the district.

The ^jjjl^ has two chief sources, one near* Jimgaon fourteen I J(^ I Sina.
miles west of the town of Ahmadnagar, the other near Jeur ten / '
miles to the north-east. The town of Ahmadnagar is built on the *
left bank of the river, which there takes a south-easterly course, and,
for a distance of forty miles, forms the boundary between Ahmad-
nagar and the Nizam's dominions. On the left it receives the
waters of the Mehekri. Leaving the district boundary it enters
ShoUpur and ultimately falls into the. Bhima. The banks of the
Sina are low and cultivated and its bed is sandy. After heavy rain
its stream is somewhat rapid as is shown by the directness of its
course, but the surface flow ceases in the hot months.^

Besides these rivers many smaller streams intersect the district,
bat they contain water only during the rainy season. Little has
hoen done towards storing the water that falls during the south-
west monsoon. Only a little canal irrigation is found chiefly in
the basins of the smaller stream^. The chief irrigation works are
tlie Ojhar canal in Sangamner, the Ldkh canal in Bahuri, and the
Bhdtodi lake in Nagar. The two Irst are new, the third is an old
work improved and extended.^ There is a good deal of well
irrigation especially in the north, where the gardens are more or
jess verdant throughout the year. .

' The whole district forms part of the groat trap region of the Gholooy.

Deccan. Throughout Ahmadnagar the trap rock is distinctly Trap.

stratified and, as in the rest of the Deccan, the alternative beds of
fcasalt and amygdaloid preserve a striking parallelism to each other.
To the eye they appear horizontal, but surveys have shown that the
flows have a slight dip to the east. That intertrappean rocks of
the cretaceous system exist may perhaps be inferred from the lime-
stone outcrop at several places on the west side of the Kdnhur
plateau, a prolongation of the main spur of the Sahyddris. This is
^pocially noticeable in the glen of Vadgaon- Darya, three miles west
of Kdnhur, where the limestone cliffs worn by the falling water,

. -

1a 1562, a flood on the 8ina is said to have carried away ahout 25,000 men of the
^y of Rim-IUja, the Vijayanagar king, who was camped on its bank. Briggs*
i^^ ni. 245.

^DeUiJa are given in the Agricultare Chapter.
umttenant-Colonel Sykcs, Geological Papers on Western India, 89-115.

» 772-2

[Bombay Oasetteer.

DISTRICTS.

Chapter I.

)e8criptioii.

Geology.
Trap,

Columnar
Basalt,

decorated witli pendant stalactites and clothed with delicate ferxi8»
present all the charming characteristics of Derbyshire scenery on a
diminutive scale. At J^tegaon^ further souths is a smaller glen of
the same kind. The descent from the summit of the Sahyidris in
the west of the district to the Konkan is precipitous^ and stupendona
escarpments occasionally occur, the scarp on the west face of
Harishchandragad being fully 3000 feet high. In such places the
numerous layers form a continuous wall being piled exactly over each
other. On the eastern side the descent is by terraces which often occar
at long intervals. In the alternation of the strata there does not
appear to be any uniformity. But the general levels thickness, and
extent of a stratum are preserved as in sedimentary rocks on both
sides of a valley^ the basalt and hardest amygdaloids being traceable
for miles in the parallel spurs or ranges, but the imbedded minerals
and even the texture of the rocks vary in very short distances.
Frequently three or four beds of amygdaloid are found between two
strata of compact basalt ; the former becoming disintegrated leave
a slope often covered with evergreen forest forming a picturesque
belt. The basaltic scarp above remains entire or it may be partiaJIy
buried by the ruins of other amygdaloidal strata above ; but its
great thickness usually preserves it from obliteration, and it rises
from the wood with majestic effect, its black front contrasting finely
with the skirt of rich green. It is these strata arranged in slopes
and scarps repeated several times that, when isolated from the
surrounding country, constitute the inaccessible hill-forts of the
Deccan. Often when the basaltic flows are columnar they weather
into fantastic pillars, spires, towers, and needles as shown tin the
peaks between Kulang and Kalsubdi.

Prismatic disposition is observed more markedly and perfectly in
the basalt strata than in the amygdaloids. Perfect columns are
generally small, of four, five, or aix sides, but the prismatic structure
sometimes manifests itself in basaltic and amygdaloidal columns
many feet in diameter. In the face of the hill at Kothul, a small
village in Shrigonda twenty-four miles south of Ahmadnagar, there
is a thick stratum of close-grained gray homogeneous basalt which
is crowned by a temple of Khandoba. Vertical and horizontal
fissures are seen in the lateral or exposed edge of this stratum, but
they are so far apart as to leave huge blocks between them giving*
the appearance of massive articulated pilasters supporting the super-
structure of the hilL Parts of the exposed edge are detached from
its mass leaving rude columns four or five feet in diameter and eight
or ten feet in height composed of three or four huge stones which
have a disposition to geometrical form.

In the water-courses near Kadus in P&mer are columns of basalt
of a bluisk gray colour, compact texture, vitreous hue, and sharp
fracture. Columns also occur abundantly in the slope of the hills
on either side of a very narrow valley running westward from the
village of Akolner in the Nagar sub-division. They are five or six
sided, articulated, from one to two feet in diameter, and of various
lengths ; the lateral planes are for the most part perfect, though
in some instances slightly weather-worn; their texture is close-
grained, their colour is almost black, and **• ^--^htly affect the

Beooan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

needle. In the banks of a water-course half a mile east of the town of
P4rDer basaltic columns are very numerous. They are five to six
feet high^ nnarticulated^ and slightly oat of the perpendicular. This
formation is evidently extensive as the ends of the columns, chiefly
pentangalar, appear in the bed of the watercourse for some distance
forming a pavement of geometrical slabs. The ends of similar
columns of different lengths also appear on the opposite bank form-
ing flights of steps. The basalt of which these columns are com-
posed is very close-grained and almost black with shining specks of
a metallio lustre. At Harishchandragad there is a sheet of rock
wliich has the appearance of a pavement of pentangular slabs which
are doubtless the terminal planes of basaltic columns. At Jeur in
the Nagar sub-division, and near a principal source of the Sina
river, is an isolated hill on which columnar disposition occurs in red
amygdaloid, which, as a rule, does not show the slightest trace of
8ach conformation.

Bound or oval masses of compact basalt, with concentric layers
like the coats of an onion, known as nodular basalt are widely
difFased and form another characteristic of the Deccan trap forma-
tion. They are observed at all elevations in rock-cuttings and are
freqaently found loose at the base of hills buried in the ruins of
decomposing strata.

The basaltic dykes are all vertical and do not occasion any
disturbance or dislocation in the strata through which they pass.
The most remarkable example is the dyke which runs vertically
from east to west through the hill-fort of Harishchandragad.
It h first seen of a thickness of six or seven feet at the extreme
soQth-east angle of the mountain about 400 feet below the crest
of the scarp, where its prismatic fracture at right angles to its
planes affords a few available steps in the diflScult ascent. It is
traceable for some 300 feet in perpemdicular height. On the top of
the mountain about a mile further west it is discernible at intervals,
cutting through basaltic and amygdaloidal strata. Whether it
appears on the western face of the mountain cannot be ascertained
as the point to which its course is directed is inaccessible.

Another distinctive feature is the occurrence of strata of red
ochreous rock underlying thick strata of basalt or amygdaloid. It
passes through every variety of texture from friable clay to indurated
and compact earthy jasper. The stratum is from an inch to many
!eet in thickness. When thin and lying under thick beds of basalt
or amygdaloid the exposed edge of the stratum projects and is much
thicker than the stratum itself looking as if it heA once been in
& tenacious fluid state and was squeezed out by the superincumbent
l^salt. At BarAgaon-NAndur in the lUhuri sub-division it is found
niany feet thick as a porphyritic stratum with embedded crystals of
lime and is used as a building stone. It occurs abundantly in the
Sahyddris and their spurs, frequently discolouring the rivulets and
giving an iron-laden character to large areas of soil.

Another distinctive feature of the Deccan trap formation is the
^^^^^^vrence of immense quantities of loose basalt stones of all sizes
vhichlook as if they had been showered on the land ; also of masses

Chapter L
Description.

Gboloot.

Columnar
BoadU,

NoduUxr Basali

Dykes,

Iran Clay.

Boulders^

(Bornbar Qaietteerr

DISTRICTS.

Chapter 1,
Descriptioii.

Geolooy.
Boulders,

Shut Hock.

Pot-holes.

Glimatk.

HaitlfaU.

of rock piled into heaps as if by the labour of man. Their partial
distribntion is not less remarkable than their abundance. Many of
these stones show a geometrical form^ and it is by no means rare
to meet with prisms of three or four sides and cubes almost perfect.
Stones with two perfect planes are very common. Their texture
is close-grained and their colour verges on black. In many places
they cover fields several acres in extent so thickly that the black
soil on which they rest is not distinguishable^ while neighbouring
fields have not a stone.

Sheets of rock oi considerable superficial extent and totally
destitute of soil occur in all parts of the district but especially in
the hilly tracts. They are intersected by fissures lined internally
on both sides with layers of chalcedony, cachalong, homstone, and
semiopal, the innermost layer being frequently composed of crystals
of quartz generally colourless and sometimes, though rarely, asso-
ciated with calcspar. These veins, together with the nodules of
the amygdaloids, supply the majority of the siliceous minerals so
abundantly strewn over the district.

Pot-holes in the rocky river beds are of frequent occurrence.
Those above the falls of the Pravara, at the village of Rauda in the
Akola sub-division, and at Kund-Mahuli in the Kukdi river a
short distance from the village of Nighoj in the P^rner sub-
division, are specially noteworthy on account of their number and
size.

The climate of the district is on the whole extremely genial. In
the cold season which lasts from November to February the air is
dry and invigorating. A hot dry wind from the north-east then
gradually sets in, blowing with varying force till the middle of
May. This is usually succeeded by sultry oppressive weather,
lasting, unless tempered by the showers which frequently precede
the regular burst oi the south-t^est monsoon, till the middle of June
when the south-west rains set in and the climate at once becomes
temperate and pleasant. The south-west monsoon is considered to
end early in October though violent local showers frequently fall
till the end of October. In January or February slight rain is not
unusual ; but from February till May the sky as a rule is cloudless.

Though heavy near the SahyAdris in Akola and plentiful in the
hilly parts of Sangamner, Rdhuri, Shevgaon, and Jamkhed, the
rainfall is uncertain. In the plains the early rains are often scanty
and the late rains capricious, so that droughts, especially in the
Bhima basin, appear to form the rule and a good year the excep-
tion. In the western half of the Akola sub-division which abuts on
the SahyAdris, where the rainfall is more than JlbO inches, the
climate, though malarious in the cold weather, is temperate
throughout the year, the extremes of heat and cold not being felt as
in the rest of the district.

Rain returns registered for the twenty-three years ending 1 882
at the eleven sub-divisional stations give for the whole district an
average fall of twenty-one inches. The greatest fall was forty-seven
inches at Ahmadnagar in 1 869 and the least five inches at Nev^isa
in 1807 and 1870 and at Sangamner in 1870. Arranged in order of

Beecaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

rainfall, 1870 and 1876 are lowest with ten inches ; 1871 is next

with thirteen inches; 1863, 1863^ and 18G7, thirds with sixteen

inches; 1864, 1880, and 1881, fourth, with eighteen inches; 1877,

fifth, with nineteen inches ; 1862, sixth, with twenty inches ; 1866

aDd 1873, seventh, with twenty-one inches; 1872, eighth, with

twenty-two inches; 1860, ninth, with twenty-three inches ; 1861,

tenth, with twenty-four inches; 1875, 1879, and 1882, eleventh,

with twenty-five inches ; 1868, twelfth, with twenty-seven inches ;

1874, thirteenth, with twenty-eight inches ; 1878, fourteenth, with

thirty inches ; and 1869 is highest with thirty-one inches. The

details are :

Ahmadnaqa r Rainfall^ 1860 • 1879,

Station.

1860.

1861.

1802.

1868.

1864.

1866.

1867.

1868.

1800.

1870.

1871.

AhiDftdiuigsr ...

P&rner

ShiimndA ...
KMfa

• ••

• •»

• •■

• •«

• • •

• •■

JiTdkhed

BhevKaon

*It

K«Ttea

lUhuri

K'>pttrg«oii ...

157

S«ni(iiianer ...

AtoU

18
21

Avnif^

Statiox.

1872.

1873.

1874.

1876.

1877.

1876.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1R82.

Aver<

age.

23
21

Hmr

S^'gr ::•

Jiakhed

Shergion

NeviM

Whtirf

Korargaon ...

416

Sugunnar ...
Ak<3»

•

Avtnge

The following statement for the thirteen years ending 1882 gives
the rainfall at the town of Ahmadnagar for each month in the year.
Of the twelve months in the year, March is the driest with no rafn
in eight of the thirteen years and in the remaining five years with a
fall varying from 0-59 of an inch in 1880 to 0-08 of an inch in 1872
and 1881, and for the thirteen years averaging 008 of an inch;
i^ebmary comes next with no rain in nine of the thirteen years and
in the remaining fonr years with a fall varying from 0*89 of an inch
in 1873 to 0*09 of an inch in 1877 and averaging O'l of an inch;
January is third with no rain in eleven of the thirteen years and in
tlie remaining two years with a fall of 1*64 inches in f 871 and
^'17 of an inch in 1877, and averaging 0*14 of an inch;
IWmber is fourth with no rain in ten of the thirteen years and in
the remaining three years with a fall varying from 1*41 inches in
1875 to 01 1 of an inch in 1877 and averaging 0*15 of an inch;
^pril is fifth with no rain in four of the thirteen years and in the
Tcmaining nine years with a fall varying from 088 of an inch in

Chapter I.
Description.

Glimatb,

[Bombay OmMtteer*

DISTRICTS.

Cluq»terl.
DescriptioiL

Climatb.
HainfalL

Temperature.

1878 to 013 of an incli in 1873 and 1881 and averaging 0*27 of an
inch ; November is sixth with no rain in one of the thirteen years^ and
in the remaining twelve years with a fall varying from 3*03 inches
in 1873 to 0*06 of an inch in 1874 and 1875 and averaging 0*73 of
an inch ; May is seventh with no rain in two of the thirteen years and
in the remaining eleven years with a fall varying from 3'51 inches
in 1874 to 0*05 of an inch in 1878 and averaging 0*98 of an inch ;
October is eighth with no rain in three of the thirteen years, and in
the remaining ten years with a fall varying from 17*43 inches in
1870 to 0-0 1 of an inch in 1872 and averaging 2-46; July is ninth
with no rain in one of the thirteen years^ and in the reniaining
twelve years a fall varying from 8"33 inches in 1879 to 0*31 of an
inch in 1871 and averaging 2*79 inches; August is tenth with no rain
in one of the thirteen years, and in the remaining twelve years with
a fall varying from 8*35 inches in 1878 to 0'57 of an inch in 1871
and averaging 2*86 inches ; Jane is eleventh with no rain in one of
the thirteen years, and, in the remaining twelve years, with a fall
varying from 9*93 inches in 1877 to 1*44 inches in 1880 and aver-
aging 3'04 inches ; and September is the wettest month with no rain
in one of the thirteen years, and, in the remaining twelve years,
with a fall varying from 13*48 inches in 1872 to 1'16 inches in 1879
and averaging 6*39 inches. The details are :

Ahmadnaqar Mostblt Rainfall^ 1870-1882,

■

liavm.

1870

1871

1872

1878

1874

1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880

1881

1888

Atkb-

AOS.

January ...

• ••

1-64

'•••

»••

• ••

«■•

•17

• ••

...

• • •

■' «•

•14

February...

• ■•

*■«

««•

•89

•18

• •«

■ « •

-09

• ••

•11

• • «

• « a

• ••

•1

March ...

■ ■•

■ ••

•08

• ••

•18

• ««

•18

• ••

• ■ •

•69

-08

•••

•08

April ...

• ••

•ed

•77

•18

•26

•28

• • •

•16

•88

• ••

■ ••

•13

•18

•27

May

• ••

•24

•40

t'firt

8-51

•14

• « •

1-88

•06

i-(i9

-69

•21

1-46

•96

June

• ■•

8-8T

7 14

6-47

8-56

1-78

824

9*93

164

8*63

1-44

276

4-16

804

July

■ ■•

•81

4-66

es4

6-62

2-80

•40

4-14

6-88

2-63

T8S

i-n

«-79

August ...

• «•

•67

1^86

6-39

2-16

418

1-28

3*68

8-86

1-40

2-28

\-n

2-86

September.

• • •

4-26

12-70

6-48

13-48|

8-94

• »•

4 61

6-38

1'16

tt-18

8-76

10-27

6-39

October ...

17-48

•08

•01

« • •

2-4?

■ « ■

2-78

286

2-18

2-88

1^15

• •«

2'4«

November »

0-36

•96

•2«

8-08

-06

•06

■ ••

•42

•22

•20

111

•95

1-87

•73

December

• ■•

•87

• •

• •■

1-41

• ••

•11

• ••

• ■■

• •■

• ■•

•Id

There is no meteorological station at Ahmadnagar. The follow-
ing are the daily thermometer readings at the civil hospital during
t)ie six years ending 1882 :

Ahmadnagar Thkrmombter Rkadinqs^ 1877-1883.^

Rbadikos.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

April.

Mc^.

June.

July.

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec

Maximum

116

114

109

102

Minimum

b-i

Mean Maximum ...

107

106

100

Mean Minimum ...

Mean Range

'/6

The statement shows that May is the hottest month with an
extreme maximum of 114^ and an extreme minimum of 68", and

1 The figures are probably three or foar per cent too high owing to the radiation
of heat from the baildingi surrounding the hospital which is situated in a crowded
part of the town.

DeeeaiL]

AHMADNAGAR.

tliat December is the coldest month with an extreme maximum of
88** and an extreme minimum of 40^. The mean daily range of the
thermometer is greatest^ 55°^ in May and leasts 25^, in September.

On a few occasions during the past ten years thin films of ice
have been observed in the early mornings of December and January,
and on one day in January 1871 so intense was the cold that parrots,
sqairrels, and birds were found dead in large numbers after mn and
bail lasting several hours. Not unfrequently irrigated crops are
totally destroyed by a sudden fall in the temperature and even
ordinary diy crops suffer damage from the same cause.

Chapter I.
Description.

CUMATE.

[Bombaj Gflsettaar,

DISTRICTS,

Chapter n.
Productum.

FORSBTS.

is at present wooded. Most of the forest Ifinds are bare tracts
which have been made over to the Forest Department to be covered
with timber. At present the only reserves which yield any
considerable timber revenue are the teak coppice in Akola and
Sangamner, and the bdbhid Acacia arabica groves along the banks
of the Godavari, the Sina, and the Bhima. About forty per cent of
the whole forest area is in Akola and Sangamner and the rest is
scattered over the nine remaining sub-divisions.

Of the district forest lands about four-fifths are on hills and one-
fifth in the plains. The hill forests lie chiefly along the slopes of the
Harishchandragad range that crosses the district from north-west to
south-east, and of two spurs that stretch from the central range, an
eastern spur that forms the northern boundary of Shevgaon and a
western spur that runs into Pdrner. Arranged according to the
water-sheds to which the hill-slopes belong, about 12,500 acres,
forming one-third of the southern slopes of the Sdvargaon reserves
and the northern slopes of the Ardala reserve, are on the gathering
ground of the Ardala river ; about 25,000 acres, forming the western
portion of the Harishchandragad and Kalsub^ reserves, belong to the
Fravara river ; about 24,000 acres, forming the southern portion of
the Harishchandragad and Ealsubd^i reserves, belong to the Mula river;
about 1400 acres^ forming the Khelvandi and Mohori reserves in
Shevgaon, belong to the Dhora river ; and about 7500 acres, forming
the reserves on the hills east of Nagar and Jeur, belong to the
gathering ground of the Sina river. The staple tree of the plain
forests is the bdbhvZ Acacia arabica. It grows freely especially along
the banks of rivers and canals. In such places, if there is soil, and
cattle are kept away for a few years, a bdbhul grove almost certainly
springs up. The bdbhul generally grows either by itself, or mixes
freely with the bor Zizyphus jujuba, limb Azadirachta indica, tivas
Dalbergia latifolia, tamarind, ^aranj Fongamia glabra, aaundad
Prosopis spicigera, sandal, hivar Albizzia leucophloea, and other less
important trees. Hill forests belong to three classes, the lower
slopes, the central teak region, and the evergreen western forests.
Of the lower slopes the more open and less remote are bare and
yellow, broken only by cactus, calotropis or rui bush, the henlde,
apd other scrub. The outlying parts and the sides of ravines and
water-courses are stocked with trees and bushes. These at present
are little more than scrub, but if protected, khair Acacia catechu,
dhdvda Conocarpus latifolia, and other bushes would grow into
trees. The teak region includes the centre and east of Akola and
fourteen villages round the hill of Javla-B^eshvar in Sangamner.
The eastern limit of the teak region corresponds roughly with the
line of the Poona-Ndsik road between Chandn4puri, five miles south
of Sangamner, and Ambi further south. Tne western limit is
obtained*by drawing two lines from the village of Eodni two miles
below the Pravara falls at Rande, one two miles northward to
MahaJungi and the other south-east to Is&rthan. The teak of this
region is of excellent quality. It is treated as coppice, the demand
being chiefly for poles and rafters. Under the teak, dhdvda, khair,
«rhd some kinds of underwood are encouraged as they form a valuable
protection for the soil. To the west of the teak line the character

SeeetiL]

AHMADNAGAR.

of the forest suddenly changes. Yellow barren hills with teak coppice,
leafless except in the rains, give place to wild black basalt cliffs
varied by belts or patches of evergreen forest. The characteristic
trees of these wilder regions are anjani Memecylon edule^
bamboo^ msiigo, jdmbhul Syzigium jambolanum, beheda Terminalia
belerica, ain or arjun Terminalia glabra and tomentosa, and the
bright green karvand Carissa carandas. These evergreen forests
are not worked. There is no local demand, the trees are of little
value as timber, and even if they were valuable the want of roads
would make their carriage to market ruinously costly. These forests
have suffered much from the lopping and cutting of the forest tribes
and villi^ers.

As much timber and jBrewood as the impoverished reserves can
supply and as will command a sale is brought into the market by
the Forest Department and is sold to the highest bidder. Little if
any timber or firewood leaves the district. Kaf ters and poles, the
produce of the Akola and Sangamner teak forests, are divided
according to girth into first class over two feet, second class from
one and a half to two feet, third class from one to one and a half feet,
and fourth class under one foot. Besides these the ends, stumps, and
twigs are classed separately and sold in the lump. The demand for
t«ak poles is purely local. The bidders at the auctions belong to the
neiofhoouring villages. A considerable portion of the timber is taken
to Snnar, but it rarely finds its way further. Some Marathi Eunbis
go to Jambai and Dah^nu in Thana and drag up a few rafters and
beams and sell them in Akola and Sangamner.

A certain quantity of fuel is cut and sold every year in the
Kopargaon, Nagar, and Shrigonda bdhhul reserves. Some is gathered
in Akola, but it is not bought except perhaps by KdsSrs who use it
in their glass-bangle kilns. Care is taken to limit the quantity cut
to what the forests can spare withoA loss ; only trees fit for cutting
are felled. In 1881-82, the departmental cuttings were confined to
Akola, Sangamner, Shevgaon, and Shrigonda. In Akola the yield
was 39,120 pieces of teak and 1534 otjdmbhul, besides 325 kJcandia
of firewood J in Sangamner 8192 pieces of teak; and in Shevgaon
218 and in Shrigonda thirty-four pieces of bdbhvl. The receipts were
£o98 (Rs. 59»0) and the cost of cutting about £72 (lU. 720). •

The minor forest produce includes grass, hdrvi Strobilanthus gra-
hamianus stems, bamboos, myrobalans, bdbhvl pods, bor and tamarind
lorries, and mangoes and other fruit. In all lands not set apart
for the growth of young trees cattle are allowed to graze. In each
village Mie right of grazing is sold by a yearly auction in May and
June. When the grass is valuable outsiders run up the amount. In
otber cases the grass is generally bought by the villagers, often by
the headman. The buyer enters into an agreement with Go'f ernment
promiang to pay the amount of his bid and to keep the boundary-
Baarka in order. Where the soil is good the grass yields a fair acre
fent. 1 Jd to 3d. (1 - 2 as.). In 1882 as much as 10s. (Rs. 6) for the
lOO acres and in 1883 as much as £1 4s. (Rs. 12) was paid in some
parts of the district. In closed numbers, that is in land under
^f^&tme&t for the growth of trees, cattle are not allowed to graze ; the

Chapter II.
Prodiiction.

FORKSTS.

Timber,

Minor Product.

[Bomba J OasettiMrt

DISTRICTS.

Chapter II.
ProductioiL

FORBSTS.

JUinffT Produce,

right to cut and remove the grass is sold. Of late years there has
been a great increase in the quantity of grass in the forest reservea
The bushes which have begun to spring on some hill-sides give
shade, prevent soil from washing off, and keep the ground moist.
In some places a juicy grass is taking the place of dry spear-grass.
The grass and grazing revenue was £479 (Rs. 4790) in 1877-7i<,
£344 (Bs. 3440) in 1878-79, and during the three years ending
1881-82 it averaged £986 (Rs. 985()). In 1883-84 it rose from
£1400 to £1800 (Rs. 14,000-18,000). Myrobalans, Jcdrvi stems,
and bamboos are found only in the western villages of Akola.
Kdrvi grows only on the tops and slopes of the nighest hills ;
bamboos are not imcommonly found at some distance up hill-sides»
more often on level tracts along the edge of the Sahyadris.
Myrobalans or hardds, of which about fifty tons (147 khandia)
worth about £254 (Rs. 2540) were gathered in 1881-82 at a
cost of about £85 (Rs. 850) are the fruit of the Terminalia
chebula, and are used largely in Europe for tanning the finer
sorts of leather and in making ink. They also contain a
yellow pigment. They grow in the upper portion of Akola within
the region of heavy rainfall and in exposed situations, their choice
in these points being exactly the opposite of the choice of teak.
They are capricious in growth. The seed takes three years to
sprout and the young plant, even when unharmed by cattle or
goats, often dies after three or four years. Myrobalans were
formerly gathered by contractors who paid a royalty to Government.
Since 1877-78 the system of departmental collections by hiring
labourers has been introduced. Central stores for groups oi
villages are established and the people are invited to gather the
fruit and bring it to the stores. The price varies from £l 168, to £2
(Els. 18 - 20) a ton (3 khandis). It increases as the season advances,
because as less fruit is left Jt takes more time to gather, and
because the longer the fruit is left on the tree the heavier and more
valuable it becomes. In occupied numbers the myrobalans are
disposed of directly by the holders. Travelling buyers, mostly
VAnis, act as agents for exporting firms in Bombay. Bdbhul pods
are in great demand &s fodder for goats and sheep. They were sold
imtil 1879, when the sales were stopped that abundance of seed might
be available for sowing bdbhwl reserves. The seed does not sprout
freely unless it has been eaten and spat up by goats.

The bark of the tarvad Cassia auriculata is gathered in moat villages
round Ahmadnagar, and brought in head and back loads from places
eight to twenty miles distant. Fifty to 150 loads can sometimes be
bought in the city at 6d. to Is. 3d, (4-10 as.) the load or about 6s»
to 8a. (Rs. 3-4) the paUa of 240 pounds. When the buyer has
gathered several cartloads, he sends it to Bombay where it is used in
tanning. Bdbhul and khair bark are also bought by tanners for a
trifling cost. The leaves of the palas Butea f rondosa and of the
vad Ficus indica are gathered by the villagers and stitched with
reed-pins by Gurav and other castes into leaf -plates or patrdvals and
cups or drona. The leaves of the ternbhumi Diospyros montana and
the dpta Bauhinia racemosa are sold in bundles of 100 to make
country cigarettes or vidis. The leaves of the limb Azadirachta indica.

Deccaa.]

AHMADNAOAB.

lakdn Melia bokhan, bdbhvZ, and other trees are also used as fodder
for cattle and sheep and goats.

The inquiry into the rights of the people in the lands gazetted as
forest is being conducted under the provisions of the Forest Act by
a special forest settlement officer. In the western sub-divisions, in
addition to the privilege of grazing there are prescriptive privileges
affecting the supply of thatch, firewood, roots, branches for manure,
and other necessaries for forest tribes.

Before there was any special forest establishment contractors
occasionally entered into agreements to protect the teak in teak-
growing vUlages on condition of receiving one-fourth of the revenue
when the coppice was cut. These agreements, some of which date
from as far back as 1848, appear to be still valid.

In 1863 the forests of Ahmadnagar, Poona, and Sat&ra were the
charge of one European officer with a separate establishment for
Ahmadnagar. In 1882-83 the forest staff of the district which is
now a separate forest charge included the assistant conservator of
forests ; eleven range executives, two of them rangers on £5 to £10
(Rs.oO-lOO) a month, and nine foresters on £2 to £4 (Rs. 20-40) ;
sixteen round-guards, one of them on £1 10s, (Rs. 16), five on £1 4«.
(Rs, 12), and ten on £1 (Rs. 10) ; and 130 beat-guards, ten of them on
18». (Ks. 9), twenty on 16«. (Rs. 8), and one hundred on 14s. (Rs. 7).

The teak of Akola and Sangamner is all coppice teak, that is the
young trees grow from the stock. Where teak sowings are under-
taken the same method is followed as is described below in growing
hdbkul. In other parts of the district two methods are pursued,
preserving and sowing. Preserves are forest lands in which
nothing further is attempted than to keep out cattle and men.
A large proportion of barren land, especially sheltered hill-slopes,
contains the germs of trees, either ^n-«eeds or in small bushes
and stumps, which have been so often eaten over by cattle and
otherwise injured as to be scarcely discernible. So soon as cattle
are kept out these stumps begin to grow into brushwood and
young trees. In several cases this simple preserving or excluding
taa yielded good results. At present about 1 00,000 acres are closed
as preserves. If they contain no bush or tree stumps good soilg
are sown. In the plains the seed sown is chiefly hdbhul with a little
ic^; in the hills it is Wiair, and, in some parts, it is teak mixed with
iAair. To help the seed to sprout small plots, about a foot square
and eight feet apart, are dug to the depth of about a foot and three
or four seeds are sown in each plot. Planting has not been tried
and no exotics have been introduced.

In 1881-82 £96 (Rs. 960) were spent on plantations, in ploughing
Jand, and dibbling seed, of which about forty tons (130 ihandis)
were gathered by the forest guards. All of these sufiered from the
scanty rainfall. Though the forest reserves are protected by a
8j*8tem of fire lines in 1881-82 about three square miles of forest
vete burnt.

The Ahmadnagar forest receipts are small. In 1870-71 they
«aounted to *2616 (Rs.26,160), and during the next six year^^

Chapter XL

Production*,

FoaisTS*

Ouardi.

Staff,

Sawing.

Revenue*

[Bombay Ckoetteer,

Chapter II.
ProductiolU

FOBXfllB.

0/enc6&

TsBn.

DISTRICTS.

varied from £813 (Rs. 8130) in 1876-77 to £1779 (R«. 17,790)
in 1874-75 and averaged £1306 (Rs. 13,060). During the six years
ending 1882-83 they have gradually risen from £956 to £2772
(Rs. 9560 -27,720) and averaged £1778 (Rs. 17,780). In 1870-71
the charges amounted to £363 (Rs. 3630) and in 1871-72 to £466
(Rs. 4660); during the next five years they varied from £891
(Ra. 8910) in 1875-76 to £1339 (Rs. 13,390) in 1876-77, and
averaged £1 1 72 (Rs.l 1 ,720) ; and during the six years ending 1882-83,
they rose from £1129 (Rs, 11,290) in 1877-78 to £3397 (Rs. 33,970)
in 1882-83, and averaged £2652 (Rs. 26,520). The details are :

AHMADirAOAR F0RB8T RscsiPTS AifD Charobs, 1870*71" 1882-88,

Tear.

Receipts.

Ghaiigea.

Revenue.

Ybar.

Hooeipta.

Charges*

Reveautt.

1870-71 ...

2616

363

2258

1878-79 ...

1024

2159

-1185

1871-72 ...

1167

466

701

1879-80 ...

1869

2881

— 1012

1872-73 ...

1828

1280

1880-81 ...

1975

8156

-1181

187:<.74 ...

12S8

lll'i

176

18t«l-82 ...

2072

3189

-1117

l?74-75 ...

1779

1286

493

1883-88 ...

2772

8897

-62S

1875-7« ...
l«76-77 ...

1461
813

891
1889

670
-526

1877-78 ...

966

1128

-178

Total ...

21,071

87.488

-16,417

From year to year forest produce varies greatly in price. During
the 1876-77 famine wood could hardly be sold. In 1878-79 the
average price of teak was for first class poles £3 88. (Rs.34) a hundred
inAkolaand £6 48. (Rs. 62) in Sangamner, for second class poles
£2 8«. (Rs. 24) and £3 188. (Rs, 39), and for third class poles £1 188.
(Rs. 19) and 108. (Rs. 5). In 1879-80 the prices were for first class
poles £8 (Rs.80) in Akola and in Sangamner, for second class poles
£4 (Rs, 40) and £2 (Rs. 20), and for third class poles 68. (Rs. 3) in
Akola. The cost of cutting averages 58. to 68. (Rs. 24-3) the
hundred poles. Fuel on an average sells at l8. to 28. the one-third
of a ton (1 khandi) or about fifty cubic feet of stack measurement,
which is the measurement no^ introduced throughout the district.
The cost of cutting is 68. to 7^(1. (4-5 as.) the khandi. All forest
work is done by day-labour. The workmen are Ednad&s, Kolis,
Kimbis,Mhars, Musalmd,ns, and Thdkurs, and the daily rates are 4^(2.
(3 08.) for a man, M, (2 as.) for a woman, and 2^^. (1^ as.) for a child
According to a recent calculation the net yearly return from bdhhul
forests on good black soil growing on the banks of rivers is about
two to three tons (6-9 khandis) of the total value of 128. to 188.
(Rs. 6-9) the acre. Near large towns, especially where there is a
demand for grazing, the return is considerably higher.

In 1881-82 there were fifty-two forest prosecutions against
ninety-one in 1880-81. Of these forty-five were cases of theft^
three of mischief, and four were miscellaneous cases. Of the
prosecutions twelve, or twenty-three per cent, failed. About £15
(Rs. 150^ were recovered as fines and £2 (Rs. 20) were realized by
the confiscation of property.

^The western parts of thedistrict,particularly the Akola sub-division,
being close to the Sahyddris have a great variety of trees. Some yield

^ Mr. O. A. Hight, Assistant Conservator of Forests ; Mr. KArdyan Anant, Forest
Officer ; and Captain H. DanieU, late Police Superintendent.

SecciaJ

AHMADNAGAR. 23

excellent timber and are largely used in houde-building, and some Chapter II*
we used for panels, chairs, tables, field-tools, and carriages. A few p^ — 1.
make capital firewood, and the roots, bark, fruit, or pods of many ^^ ^^

possess chemical and medicinal properties Trbbs.

The chief trees in the district arranged in alphabetical order are;
A 2 n,Tenninalia g]abra,is a straight high-growing forest tree ; it yields
good timber and fuel, and its astringent bark gives a black dye which
is used in tanning. AUu, Yangueria spinosa, is common in the lower
hill slopes and in the teak region ; it yields a fruit which is often
brought for sale to villages and towns and is eaten by children; the stem
is covered with large thorns and the wood has no special value. Amba,
MaDgifera indica, the mango, except in a few gardens, is generally
the wild harsh-fruited variety ; the wood makes fair planks
and is largely used in house-building. Anjani, Memecylon edule,
is common in the region of heavy rain. Arjwn, also called addada,
Terminalia tomentosa, is a variety of ain ; it is common in the
Sahyidris. Apia, Bauhiniaracemosa, makes excellent firewood. On
DasaraDay in September- October the 4pto is worshipped and the
people give and take its leaves in presents calling them sone or gold ;
the leaves are also used to roll tobacco into native cigarettes or
^'icIUjite strong fibrous bark makes good ropes. Asan, Briedelia
spinosa, is found both in the region of teak and in the region of heavy
rain, and yields a wood which is much used in house-building,
ivk, Fhyllanthus emblica, is a tree whose healing qualities have
made it sacred. Krishna wears a necklace of dvla berries^ and,
with tamarind and sugarcane, dvlds are offered to Klrishna in October-
iVovember when he marries the tulas or basil plant. The wood is
hard and somewhat brittle and is little used. The fruit, which
npens in the cold weather, is in size and appearance much like a
gooseberry. It is ribbed like a melon and is semi-transparent and
yellow in colour. A stone with edges ribbed like the dvla berry and
called dmalak, apparently from the ^acredness of the fruit, is a
favourite and characteristic feature in the spires of temples built
teth in what Mr. Fergusson calls the Jain and Indo-Arian styles.
yie v-ery sour berry is cooked or preserved and used in pickles. In
Its dnea state it is called dvalkdthi, and is considered an excellent
cnre in bilious complaints. It is also employed in making ink. The
^^ which is valued in tanning is very astringent. BoJcd.n, Melia*
tokhan, grows only in the plains. Bakul, Mimusops elengi, grows
oiJy in the teak region ; its sweet cream-coloured flowers yield
»^ oil which is used in perfumery. The fruit is eaten by the poor
*Dd the bark is an astringent and tonic. The very hard and lasting
jood is used for house-building and for furniture. Bdhava, Cassia
fistula, 18 a firewood tree whose pods are used medicinally and form
^ article of commerce. Bdbhul, Acacia arabica, the most useful
tree m the Deccan plain, yields excellent firewood. The woodis used
'or making posts and beams for the poorer sort of houses, and for
cjit-wheels and field-tools. The pods and leaves form a good food for
f^^'ep and goats. The tree yields a large quantity of gum. The bark
15 also useful. A variety of bdbhul cafled the devbdbhul, Parkinsonia
|'^uba^ grows abandantly in the plains. Another variety called
m vedi or wild bdbhid Acacia famesiana, is a small-leavea e^rub^

[Bomtey Gasettaeir,
S4 DISTRICTS.

Chapter XL which breaks into branches soon after leaving the ground and never
Frodnctioii. grows to any size . Behada, Terminalia belerica, found both in the lo wer

slopes and in the teak region, is a well-known tree, differing little
from the ordinary harda. Bel, Mg\e marmelos, is sacred to Shi v. The
flowers have a sweet smell, and the fruit, which grows when the tree
is bare of leaves, is used in medicine. Biba, the marking-nut tree,
sacred perhaps because of its caustic properties, is of little importance.
jBi6ia,Pterocarpu8marsupium, yields wood used in building. Bondara,
LagerstrsBmia lanceolata, common on the Sahyadris but not found
further inland, yields wood which is used in building and occasionally
in making knees for native boats. Bor is of two kinds, the common
Zizyphus jujuba and the wild or ran bor Zizyphus vulgaris. The
common bor yields fruit of which the people are very fond and a
hard wood used in building. The wood of the wild bor is also used
in building. Its bark gives a kino-like gum both by oozing and by
boiling! Bliokar, Cordia latifolia, is a common tree, useful only for
firewood. Bhogdra, Casearea elliptica, is found only in the lower
hilly region. Bhvikda, Elseodendron roxburghii, grows only in the
teak region. Chdr, Buchanania latifolia, bears an edible fruit from
which an oil is extracted. The wood is useful in building and
the stitched leaves make good leaf-dishes. Chera, Erinocarpus
nimonii, is a common straight-grown tree whose shoots make good
raftera' The strong bark is used in making ropes. Chinch, Tama-
rindus indica, is a common tree, yielding pods which are used in native
cookery. The wood is burnt in large quantities to make charcoal.
Dhdman, Grewia tilisefolia, yields excellent rafters. The bark is
fibrous and strong and is often made into ropes. Dh&vda, Conocarpus
latifolia, as firewood is second only to bdbhvl. The wood is largely
made into field-tools, and the leaves yield a dye useful in tanning.
Lhdyti, LagerstraBmia indica, is found only on the Sahy^ris.
Oondkan, Diospyros cordifolja, bears an edible fruit, and the wood
makes good fuel. Oorakhchinch, Adansonia digitata, the baobab,
is somewhat uncommon and is of little value. Gulchdi, also called
pi8a, is a common tree whose straight shoots are used as rafters. It
is found only on the Sahyddris. Many fine trees occur near
Harishchandragad. Halda, Chloroxylon swietenia, yields wood good
for building and for field-tools. Hed, Nauclea cordif olia, yields wood
*fit both for ordinary building purposes and for cabinet work.
Hinganbet, Balanites aegyptiaca, is a tree of no value except for its
fruit, which is used in medicine and in making gunpowder. Harada,
Terminalia chebula, is well known on account of its nuts, the
myrobalan of commerce, which yield a valuable dye. Since the
demand for myrobalans has increased the tree is rarely cut.
According to a local saying 'A felled Aarcia is as rare as a dead donkey.'
Hivar, Acacia leucophloea, is a common tree, yielding fair firewood.
JdmbkUl, Eugenia jambolana, is common. It is of two sorts, one
growing in the plains and in river beds and the other on hills.
The wood is the most favourite building timber on the Sahy6dris,
and from the bark kino gum is extracted. KadHahevga yields a
wood used generally as fuel ; the bark has healing properties. Kcdak,
Bambusa vulgaris, the bamboo, is found in considerable quantities,
but only within one or two miles of the Sahyadris. It is used

JhCOBJLl

AHMADNAQAR. 25

for buildings and for rafters and cane work. The shoots are cooked Chapter II.

as a vegetable, but they require many washings before they are fit ProductioiL

for cooking. Kalamb, Nauclea parviflora, yields good building

timber. Karanj, Pongamia glabra, is rare ; its wood makes good Tbibs.

fuel. The seed yields a bitter oil, which is valued by the people

as a cure for itch. Karap, Memecylon tinctorium, yields a wood

which is used for field tools and sometimes for carts. KaraTnb,

Olea dioica, a handsome leafed Sahyddri tree, with thick and dark

foliage, yields good building timber. Karal, Capparis aphylla,

grows generally in the plains. Karmal, Dillenia pentagyna, is found

almost solely in the heavy rain tract. Kavith, Feronia elephantum,

the wood-apple tree, is found only in the plains. Karvana, Carissa

carandos, grows on the tops of the Sahy^ris and disappears as

the hiUs sink into the Sangamner plain. Kdkad is a tree of little

importance. Kdmchan, Bauhinia variegata, grows only in the

plains. Kinhai yields good building timber. Kihdni is bf little

use, and is found in few places. Kauth, Hydrocarpus inebrians,

makes good firewood and the seed yields an oil. Koahimb,

Schleichera trijuga, yields good building timber. Kuddl is almost

valueless- Kumbha, Careja arborea, is of crooked growth and of

little use except as fuel. The bark was formerly made into a slow

match for matchlocks. Kumbhul is a rare and not a useful tree.

KhaddiiTig, Bignonia xylocarpa, has a bark which yields an oil

valued as a remedy for skin diseases. Khair, Acacia catechu, is

much used for building and catechu is frequently made from the

beart-wood. Khajuri, Phoenix dactylifera, occasionally occurs, and

P. montana is found on the higher slopes in the region of heavy rain.

Khimi, Mimusops hexandra, is found only in the lower hilly region.

Larhdi, lod, and lendi, which have not been identified, are of littde

importance. Limb, Azadirachta indica, is generally found in the

plains. The wood is hard and used for building and for field tools.

The bark and leaves possess healing properties, the leaves making

aa excellent poultice. These healing properties give the limh a high

place among holy Hindu trees. Lokhanai yields wood which is used

for building. Mahdduk, Ailanthus excelsa, grows in the plains and

in the skirts of the Sahyddris. It has a soft useless wood and a

fine spreading leaf. Matva wood is used for building. Moha, Bassia

latifolia, is a valuable tree from its flowers, which are largely

employed in distilling native liquor ; the fruit also yields a valuable oil.

The leaves make excellent leaf -plates or patrdvals and the wood,

which is seldom cut, makes good fuel. Manjin, Modhri, Murdi,

and Murmi are Sahyddri trees of little use or importance.

^dna, LagerstrsBmia parviflora, is foimd in the lower hilly regions

only. Ndmdrukh, Ficus benjamina, is an excellent road-side tree.

^draly Cocos nucifera, the cocoa-palm, is rare. Neptad yields

timber which is especially useful in making joists. Nirgwndi, Vitex

negundo, is a small tree of no importance. Fcdas, Butea f rondosa,

yields good firewood. The roots are made into strong ropes and

its bark yields 4 clear red kino- like gum. The scarlet flowers give

ft briffht yellow dye, and the leaves stitched together form good

patrdvals or leaf -dishes. Pan jdanbhid, Jambosa salicif olia, from a

wooked stem sends out straight shoots which are largely used as

[Bombay Oasetteer,
2G DISTRICTS.

Chapter XL rafters. P6/ng^ra, Erythrina indica, the coral tree, is a light-wooded
FrodoctioiL ^^^^ vn\ii trunk and branches covered with spines^ common in some

Sahydxlri villages. The wood is used for burning and for making
Trxbs. light packing cases. Pdyar, Ficus cordifolia, grows in the regions

of teak and of heavy rain. Pimpri, Ficus tsiela, yields fair fuel.
Pimpal, Ficus religiosa, a sacred tree, perhaps from its ash-gray
ghost-like trunk and arms and the windless rustling of its leaves,
is almost never cut. Pdchdva, PUvam, and PuUidti are uncomwon
trees of little value. Hdmkdthi is a species of Acacia arabica,
closely resembling it. Raghatroda, Bignonia undulata^ is found
mostly in the lower hilly region. Rohin and Ruhuni are two
common trees of little importance. Scdai, Boswellia thurifera, the
frankincense tree^ is found only in the plains. Sdvar, Bombax
malabaricum^ the silk cotton tree, yields wood useful for light
packing cases. The cotton is used only for stuffing beds and
pillows. Shevan, Gmelina arborea, yields a fine wood used in
making tables and chairs, and in panelling. Shirns, Acacia
odoratissima^ a hardy tree of the plains, makes good firewood. Its
bark yields an oil Shiaa or Shisva, Dalbergia latitolia, the blackwood
tree, one of the best timber trees, is scarce. Saundad, or shami,
Prosopis spicigera, yields pods which are used as a vegetable. The
wood makes good fuel. Shindi, Phoenix sylvestris, the wild
date^ found in only a few places, is a liquor-yielding tree. The
leaves are made into brooms, and the trunk is used in making
temporary bridges, piers, and embankments. Shendri, Rottlera
tinctoria, yields useful building timber. Sher, the milk-bush.
Euphorbia tirucalli, is used chiefly as hedging round villages and
grain-yards. Its wood is lasting, but too small to be used for
building. Its charcoal geterally makes good gimpowder. Perhaps
from its caustic juice it has a place among Hindu holy trees.
Shikekdi, Acacia concinna, yields pods which when dry are used
like soap. The wood makes fair fuel. Sdyri is common both
in the lower hills and in the teak region. Shevga, Moringa
pterygosperma, the horse-radish tree, is found rarely in the
Akola hills. Sitdphal, the custard apple, Annona squamosa, is
found only in certain parts of the district ; it is chiefly valued for its
fruit.. Sag, Tectona grandis, the teak tree, is the most important
timber tree in the district. Tdd, Borassus flabelliformis, the fan
palm, is rare and occurs only in the region of heavy rain. TdTtibat,
Flacourtia sepiara, is found in the lower hills and in the teak region.
Telia yields wood used for building. Tembhumi, Diospyros montana,
yields wood used chiefly for making field and other toola Tivaa,
Dalbergia oojeinensis, grows only in the teak region. It is a very
hard, tough, and useful timber tree with a pretty clustering flower.
Turan, Syziphus rugosa, and tdhir, little more than a shrub, are
found both in the hilly west and in the plains. Vmbar, Ficus
glomerata, grows almost everywhere. The wood is used for
planks and shutters. Vad, Ficus indica, the banian tree, is found
everywhere save in the heavy rainfall tract. Bec^se of its shade
and as it grows readily from large cuttings the banian is a favourite
roadside tree. Its sap is sometimes used to reduce inflammatioa
The timber is of little value^ and as the tree is held sacred, it is seldom

Oeccaa.

AHMADNAGAR.

{elled or turned to any use save for shelter and shade. The fruit
is much eaten by birds, but is said to be poisonous for horses. Its
leaves are used as plates or patrdvcds. Varaa, Bignonia
(|uadrilocularis, yields wood useful for building and other purposes.
As it burns quickly and leaves little ash, it is never used for
ash-manure. Vdvla, XJlmus integrifolia, grows only in the region of
heavy rain. Ventur is a tree of little importance.

^ Big game is almost unknown. About twenty years ago a Bison^
gam, Gavaeus gaurus^ is said to have been shot by Sir Frank Souter,
C.S.I., in the Bdri pass forest above Igatpuri in Ndsik. None have
since been shot. An occasional Tiger, vdgh, Felis tigris, is heard of
in the hills about Harishchandragad. The Brown Indian Bear, dsval,
Ursus labiatus, was formerly found in the Akola forests near the
Sahy^ri hills. The Leopard, chitay Felis jubata, is found occasionally
on the hills which skirt the north of the Nagar and the south of the
Shevgaon sub-divisions. The Panther, Felis pardus, is of two kinds,
the bibla with small close spots and the khadia. They occur in the
Saiigatoner hills and along the central and the Sahyddri ranges
fuur or five panthers are killed every year. The Wolf, Idndga,
Canis pallipes, is met in small numbers in all but the highly tilled
tracts, in the centre and east of the district and in the Sahyddris.
They hunt in twos and threes, and cause much loss of sheep and
goats. Of late wolves have increased to a serious extent in the
north of the Parner sub-division, and also in the Karjat uplands or
'ouils. The Hysena, taras, Hyaena striata, is found on the hills to
the south of Shevgaon and on the banks of the Goddvari in the
Shevgaon sub-division. The Jackal, kolha, Canis aureus, and the
foXflckokctd, Vulpes bengalensis, are scarce and confined chiefiy to
the reserved forest lands. They do much damage to fruit and to
poultry. The Tree Cat is occasionally seen. The Porcupine, sdyal,
Hystrix leucura, is found in the hills find near villages where prickly
{>ear abounds. The Scaly Ant-eater, Manis pentadactyla, is some-
times seen on the hill sides. It is disliked by the people as it is
supposed to dig out and devour human bodies. The Fruit-eating
Bat, or flying fox, vanvdghul, Pteropus edwardsi, is common. During
the day they hang by their claws, head down from the branches
of trees generally of high village pimpals. At night they go in
search of food, their favourite fruits being the mango and the
different figs. The Wild Hog, dukkar, Sus indicus, is found in the
Akola hills, but is more common in the reserved forest lands in the
south of the district. Even there their number is small, and boars
of any size are scarce. They are increasing rapidly with the spread
of forest enclosures. They do much damage to crops, especially to
sugarcane. Of the favourite haunts of wild pig may be mentioned
some of the Bhimd's tributaries in the south-west of the dj^trict ; a
palui-^ve in the Shevgaon village of Akola ; the hills near Chikhli
And Aolgaon in the north and the groves and grass lands of Behlandi,
Yelpane, and Cj^mble in the south of Shrigonda ; an island in the

^ NUjorH. Daniell, late roUce Superintendent, and Mr. J. C. Pottinger, Asaoc.M.
"»*t.C.B., Executive Kogineer.

Chapter Ih
Production.

Wild Anuaals

[Bombay Oasetteer'

DISTRICTS.

Chapter II.
Production.

Wild Avimals.

Bhima near Pedgaon in south Karjat; and near Fatevddi in the north-
east of the same sub-division. An occasional stray hog is sometimes
met near some of the Ahmadnagar and Karjat villages. The Ante-
lope or Black Buck kdlvit, Antelope bezoartica, formerly very nume-
rous had become much scarcer during the last ten years, but has again
begun to increase in numbers with forest reservation. They are
stiU found in large numbers in Nev&sa, Parner, Karjat, and Shrigonda,
as also along the Goddvari in the Kopargaon sub-division. The
Gazelle, chinkdra, Gazelle bennettii, is common among low stony hills
in most parts of the district. The Hare, aaea, Lepus ruficaudatus, is
common throughout the district except in Akola. The Monkeyj vdnar,
Presbytis entellus, is found at Daryabdi P^i and other parts of
PAmer. Hindus think it a sin to kill the monkey. The Ichneumon,
mumgua, Herpestes griseus^ is common ; it kills poultry and snakes.
The Wild Dog, koluana, kolaara, or koldsa, Kuon rutilaus, was
common along the Akola Sahyddris. In 1836, Captan Mackintosh,
then superintendent of police, described it as about the size of a
panther with powerful forequarters, narrow tapering loins, black
and pointed muzzle, and small erect ears. The tail was long with
a bunch of hair at the end. The koluana was of a darkish red. It
was very swift and was known tq hunt in packs of five, eight, fifteen,
and even twenty-five. It was very active, artful, and cunning in
mastering its prey. At night time the kohisnda moved in search of
food and during the day remained quiet in their hiding places. They
would also attack an animal if it came near them anhour or two after
sunrise or a short time before sxmset. When a kolusna discovered an
animal it made a barking or whistling noise. On hearing the whistle
the other members of the pack who were on the alert came in
rapidly and posted themselves slily round the spot, gradually closing
on the animal. The animal on seeing one or two of the kolusnd^
got frightened, and its fright* changed to confusion when it found
that wherever it fled there were dogs. At length in despair it stood
still, and the dogs ran in, pulled it down, and tore it to pieces. If ^1^®
pack was small the dogs sometimes gratified their hunger before
the animal fell, each dog tearing a mouthful while the animal
remained standing. Few cases were known of their attacking
.village cattle, but they would kill a stray calf if they met with one.
The Kolis who lived near the Sahyddris were glad tg see the wild
dogs and considered them the guardians of their cattle and fields.
The dogs hunted and killed sdmftar, nilgai, hysena, deer, jackals,
hares, hogs, bears, porcupines, quails, and occasionally tigers. Ali
of these animals feared the wild dog. They were believed to kill
tigers by making water on their tail and spirting it into the tiger's
eyes.^

Durimg the eight years ending 1 882, besides sixty-two persons and
one head of cattle killed by snake-bites, nine persons and 2679 head
of cattle or an average of 332 a year were killed by wild animals. ^*
the nine persons, two were killed by tigers, five by wolves, and two
by other animals. Of the 2679 cattle, 297 were killed by tigers, 2190

1 TranBactions Bombay Geographical Society, I. 20Q.

DecfiAA.]

AHMADNAGAR.

by wolves, thirteen by hysBnas, and 179 by other animals. During
the same period, besides eighteen snakes, thirty-nine tigers, fourteen
leopards, 312 wolves, and fifteen other wild animals were killed.
The Government rewards for their destruction amounted to £206
(Rs. 2050) or an average of about £25 (Rs. 250) a year. Of the
£205 (Rs. 2050), £55 12j?. (Rs. 556) were for the destruction of
tigers, £18108. (Rs. 185) for the destruction of leopards, £130 16«.
(Rs.l308) for the destruction of wolves, and 28. 7 id. (Re. If^) for
the destruction of snakes. In 1882 there was no loss of human life
attributed to tigers or wolves, but twenty-seven cattle were destroy-
ed by tigers and 481 by wolves.

^ Rats and Mice, which sometimes do much damage to crops, are
iDclnded in the MurinsB sub-family of mammals, and belong to
several groups. The first ^oup is that of Jerboa Rats. They are
between the kangaroo-like jerboas and the true rats. In the rat
plague of 1879 the Indian Jerboa Rat, Gerbillus indicus, between
January and March proved most widely destructive, and destroyed
more grain than all the other rats together. It is called the haran
or antelope rat. Its colouring is like that of the female antelope,
its ears are prominent, and its eyes are large and gazelle-like. It is
fawn-coloured above and white below. It has long black whiskers
and a tuft of black or blackish hairs at the end of its tail Its head
and body are about seven inches long and its tail is more than eight
inches long. Its forefoot is half an inch and its hind foot two inches
long. It weighs six to seven ounces. It burrows among the roots
of bushes or in the open ground and forms long galleries. These
have branches that end in chambers which are several inches wide
and are carpeted with dried grass. They do not usually hoard their
food, which consists of grain and roots, especially of the sweet roots
of the harydli grass Cynodon dactvlon. The female brings forth
eight to twelve and sometimes sixfcen to twenty younff. In the
dusk of the evening these rats, which may be recognized by their
fine large eyes, may be seen leaping about in places where there are
many fresh rat-holes. In the 1879 plague these rats used to climb
the;t;rfn stalks and cut off the ears. The second group is that of Mole
Bats. It contains the Indian Mole Rat, Nesokia indica, kale undir,
called kokw or kok by the Vadars. This may be known from the
common brown rat, Mus decumanus, by its shorter body and
shorter tail and also by being stouter and heavier. When pursued
it grunts like the bandicoot. In colour it is like the common brown
rat, but there are fawn-coloured hairs mixed with the fur and it
is lighter below. Its eai*s are small and round. Its tail is naked
and looks short. Its incisor teeth are very large, flat in front,
and orange yellow. Its entire length is about thirteen inches of
which the tail is six inches. The palm of its forefoot is nearly half
an inch long and that of its hindf oot an inch and a half. It lives
alone and forms extensive burrows, sometimes fifteen or twenty
yards in diameter. It stores large quantities of grain. The Vadars
dig them out and eat both the rat and its stores. The female brings

Chapter n.

Production.

Wild"* Animal

1 Bay. S. B. Fairbank, D.D., Ahirudnagar.

[BomlMj Gtesdtteer^
80 DISTRICTS.

Chapter II. forth eight or ten at a birth and drives heryoung from her burrow

Prodoctioit ^ ^^^^ ^ ^^®y ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ themselves. This rat is usually found

near sugarcane fields. In 1826 Mr., now Sir Walter, Elliot said that
Wild Momals. ^j^^ j^j^ abounded in the richly cultivated black plains on cotton

grounds ; that the heavy rains often flooded their hearths, destroyed
their stores, and forced them to seek new habitations. In the
opinion of the people, great numbers of the rats that inhabit the
black soil are yearly killed by the first heavy fall of the south-west
rain. The black soil swells with heavy rain and the rats are caught
in the holes and fissures, and are smothered. The great increase
of these and the metdd rats in 1879 is partly accounted for
by the absence of any sudden burst of rain in 1878. Under
the influence of gentle showers, the black soil swelled gradually
and the rats escaped sufibcation. The third group of rats is that
of the typical rats which belong to the genus Mua, including the
bandicoot rat, Mus bandicota ; the black rat, Mus rattus ; and the
brown rat, Mus decumanus. These usually infest houses and eat
the food stored in them. Sometimes they attack adjoining fields
of grain and destroy large quantities of the ears. The fourth
group, Vandelenria, contains some tree-climbing longtailed mice.
They have the upper incisor triangular and grooved in front;
ears hairy ; hind feet very long and slender ; claws small ; tail long
with scattered hairs more crowded at the tip ; and the fur soft, with
long bristles interspersed. Of these the long-tailed Tree mouse,
Mus oleraceus, is very pretty. It is of a bright rufous colour
above, with its feet and lower parts pure white. It frequents
trees and creepers and very commonly palm-trees. This mouse
probably did not help much in the destruction of the grain crops in
1879. The fifth group comprises the house mouse, Mus urbanus.
Its habits are like those of tne English house mouse, from which it
diflers in its smaller ear aixl much longer tail. It is a dusky
reddish brown above and paler below. It has larger eyes and smaller
feet than the English mouse. The fur too is of a very different
texture. The sixth group comprises the field mice. The Earthy
Field Mouse, Mus terricolor, is not common in the Deccan. Its
length from its nose to the tip of its tail is only four aad a half
inches, of which the tail is about two inches. It is fawn-coloured
above and white below, the two colours separating abruptly.
The seventh group comprises the Brown Spiny Matt&e, Le^gada
platythrix. It is well known to the Vadars who caU it legyade or
legadgandu. Its entire length is six inches of whi^h the tail is 2*5
inches. Its ears are only half an inch long. It is of a sandy brown
above and white below. The flattened spiny hairs on the back are
transparent and noticeable. They are smaller on the belly. This
mouse J^urrows on hill-sides or in banks. Its burrow may be
known by the smaller pebbles which it gathers round the
mouth ana uses to close the mouth. It lives mostly on vegetables.
It may have helped in destroying the crops in some places in 1879. It
increases less rapidly than some other kinds and it is probably not
one of the chief pests. The Fulvous Spiny Mouse, ahitadgandu, is well
known to the Vadars, but seems rare. A full grown male is six inches
long including a tail of three inches. Its colour is dusky, the tips of

DeecanJ

AHMADNAQAR.

its hairs being fulvous on the sides and below. Both the dusky
and fulvous grow lighter below. Its whiskers are black. Its upper
incisors are orange and its lower incisors a glossy slimy white. The
srnall Spiny Mouse, Leggadalepida,8Am^ad burkkai,8ki7Uadphurkha
or cJiita burkani, is commoner. A large one is about 6*5 inches long
of which the tail is nearly one-half. It is of a pale sandy brown
above and white below, the meeting of the two colours being
distinctly marked. Its spiny hairs are tine and transparent and not
rough to the touch. Its habits are like those of L. plotythrix.
It is not likely to have done much damage in 1879. The Bush Rat,
fjidandif is rare. It is 10*5 inches long of which the tail is 4*3
inches. Its ear is 0*6 inches long, its colour is a dusky fulvous
facing into a light tawny. Its muzzle is blunt audits face is covered
with rough hair. Its whiskers are long and very fine. It does not
burrow, but makes its ball-like nest among the branches of some
thorn bush. Its chief food seems to be the roots of the harydli
grass Cynodon dactylon. The Large-eared Field Mouse, Golunda
metta/la, mettade or Ttiettangandw, is one of the chief pests. It is a
aoiVfurred mouse, and yet has a few flattened and spiny hairs
among it« fine close fur. Its colour is reddish brown with a mix-
ture of fawn becoming lighter below. Its whole length is about
tea inches of which the tail is 43 inches. It is distinguished by its
large ears which are two-fifths of an inch in diameter. The female
produces six or eight young at a birth. This rat has long been known
as a plague. It lives entirely in cultivated fields in pairs or small
societies of five or six, making a very slight and rude hole in the root
of a bush or merely harbouring among the heaps of stones thrown
together in the fields, in the deserted burrow of the kok, or in deep
cracks and fissures formed in the black soil during the hot months.
Every year great numbers perish when these fissures till at the beginning
of the rains. In 1826 the fall at the beginning of the south-west
rains was unusually light, and iii^hiettadea bred in such numbers
as to become a perfect plague. They ate the seed as soon as it was
sown, and continued their ravages when the grain began to ripen,
climbing the stalks of /vaH and biting ofi" the ear that they might
the more readily devour it. Many fields were completely wasted.
Vadars employed by the husbandmen killed the rats by thousands,
Hiceivinff a measure of grain for so many dozens, but without
perceptibly dixninishing the number. This Large-eared Field Mouse,
the Jerboa Itotvahd' the Mole Rat, that is iu Vadar language the
'^idiodt, harcuTh^ and kok, were the three rats which in 1879 destroyed
the crops over thousands of square miles in Ahmadnagar and
Sholapur. They ruined some fields, cutting down with their sharp
incisors some cartloads of stalks every night, and either eating the
pwn, or dragging the heads into their burrows. Into other fields
an army of rats suddenly entered and in a few hours ate« up the
grain like a flight of locusts.

^ Of Game Birds, there are among Rasores, the common Peacock,
Pavo crifltatus, and the Gray Jungle Fowl, Gallus sonnerati. Pea-

Chapter IL
Production.

Wild Akimals.

Qamx Birds.

^ Mr. J. C. Pottmger, Aa80C.M.Inat.C.E., EzecntiTe Engineer.

IBomliay Oaxetteer,
32 •• DISTRICTS.

Chapter 11. fowls are found in a few places in the west and souths being almost al-
Prodnction. ways, if not always, preserved by the people of the neighbouring vil-
Oamb Birds lag^s. The Gray Jungle Fowl is found in the reserved forests on the

top of Harishchandragad ; even there they are in no great numbers.
Of Partridges both the Painted, Francolinus pictus, and the Common
Gray, Ortigomis ponticerianus, are very scarce and are found only
in reserved forest lands where they stay throughout the year. Of
Quail, the Rain or Blackbreasted Quail, Coturnix coromandelica, is
believed occasionally to remain all the year, though, at least in the
places where they are shot, their number increases after the rains
begin and decreases in the hot weather. They breed towards the end
of the rains. The Large Gray Quail, Coturnix communis, comes in
October and November towards the end of the south-west rains and
in the beginning of the cold weather. Some certainly breed between
August and October. In November and December they are found
in the cut bajH fields, and a little later in the grass. In January they
are generally in the jvdri fields, and in February in the ripening
wheat and in the grass along stream beds where there is water. They
disappear in March or early in April. Formerly large bags were
made by driving the jvdri fields, but during the last few years gray
quail have not oeen numerous apparently owing to short rainfall.
Still in places, especially when the wheat is &ing cut, a bag of
twenty brace can be made by one gun in the morning.

Sand or Rock Grouse, Pteroclidae, are plentiful in the well watered
low hills between Belvandi in Shrigonda and Sirur in Poona, and
also more or less in other low hilly parts where there is water. They
stay all the year.

Among Grallatores the Indian Bustard, Eupodotis edwardsi, is
fairly numerous. It breeds on the high, murv/ni or broken-trap
ridges north and east of Beldpur in Akola and in the south between
Belvandi in Shrigonda and Dhond. During the rains large numbers
can be seen in these places. In the cold weather they scatter over
the coimtry and leave in February returning in June or July. The
Lesser Florican, Sypheotides aurita, is rare and is seen only in the
rains and cold weather. They are confined to the reserved forest
lands. Of Cranes the Demoiselle kalara or karkocha, Anthropoides
virgo, are only occasionally seen and seldom shot, as they generally
J)ass south at a great height ; occasionally they are found on river
banks in the cold weather, especially near wheat fields.

Snipe come in moderate numbers with the cold "Weather and leave
in February. The want of ponds or even of marshes prevents their
staying in any numbers. In a few places one gun may sometimes
get bags of eight or ten brace in a morning.

Of Plovers, the Stone Plover, iEsacus recurvirostris, and the
False or Bastard Florican, ^diknemus scolopax, are rare ; they are
belie vecf to remain all the year. The White Ibis, and the common
Lapwings, Vanelinae, are fairly numerous and stay all the year.
They are unfit for eating.

Among Natatores, Duck, Teal, and Coots come in moderate
numbers with the cold weather and leave in February. The want
of ponds or even of marshes prevents their stay in any numbers.

Dflccan.]

AHMADNAQAB.

Of these the commonest varieties are the Shoveller Duck, Spatula
clypeata, and the Bluewiuged Teal Querquedula circia.

^The chief Domestic Animals are oxen, cows, buffaloes, sheep
and goats, horses, and asses. Their number considerably decreased
during the 1876-77 famine but the returns seem to show that the
rtock is gradually regaining its former strength.^ The best breed-
ing grounds for homed cattle are Muthdlne, Kumbh&liie, and Tirde
in Akola, which are favourite resorts for the Kd,nadas and other
cattle-breeders. The chief markets for their stock are Bhiwndi and
other places in Thdna. Of Oxen the 1882-83 returns showed a total
(if 252,602. Oxen are of three kinds, Laman or Malvi a MAlwa breed
belonging to the Lam^Uiis or pack-buUockmen, the Deccani or local
bullock, and the Khil&ri oxen bred by the tribe of that name whose
head-quarters are said to be in Khdndesh. A well-to-do husbandman
lia« at least two pairs of KhiUri oxen usually large and known by
their long straight horns and pretty shape, costing £15 to £30 (Bs. 150-
300) the pair. Dhangars bring young animals from Khandesh and the
Satpuda hills. They are prized above any other oxen, especially for
their speed in light travelling carts. The Lam^ni or Mdlwa bullock is
generally brought by Vanjdris when full-grown. It may be known
by its curved horns and broad face. They cost £8 to £15 (Bs. 80 - 150)
the pair, and are used by middling and poor husbandmen chiefly for
heavy work. The Deccan or locid bullock, like the Lam&ni bullock,
is used by middling and poor husbandmen. Though poor and small
in comparison with the others, it is well set and strong and very useful
for tillage and cart-drawing. They cost £10 to £20 (Bs. 100 - 200) the
pair. If allowed plenty of milk when young, the Deccan bullock
turns oat a stout useful animal. Besides the above a few Gujardti
bulls and cows are reared by Ahmadnagar Gavlis or milk-sellers
because of the large yield of milk of the cows and because they cost
little to keep as they graze in the f q^est and grass lands along the
banks of the Bhima. In Akola there are an unusual number of dingy
white cattle marked with great spots and blotches of brown black.
They have black curly horns and are a heavy inferior animal of
Kttle value. Twenty years ago before the introduction of pony carts
or Umgas, the hunum breed of oxen of a cream-white colour with
^e pointed straight horns were found in great numbers and used

Chapter XL
Production.

Domestic
Animals.

(keen.

J^ajor Conssmaker; Mr. S. Eyte, Police Inspector; and H^ Sdheb Nilkanth
Bbaxra&t Male, M&mlatddr.

^ The foUowiog statement shows the retnms of cattle and horses during the seven
jmt ending 1881-82, These and other returns of animals cannot claim to be more
^ rough estimates :

Ahmadnagar Dmnettio AnimaU, 1875-76 - 1881-99.

Tkal

BttUookB.

Cows.

He-
boffaloes.

She-
bnffaloefl.

Horses.

Mares.

Foals.

ASNiJ

Sheep
t anrt
Qoata.

1875-76 ...
1878-77 ...
WT7'78 ...
W7S.79 ...
1879-W ...
vm%\ ...

un-n ...

274,068
804,000
907 J61
221,501
837,968
242,284
240,289

100,8R6
218.191
1S2,2S7
128,248
132,738
168,282
168,540

10.038
12,400
7459
6463
7024
9349
10,290

88,146
43,874
28,884
27,178
28,060
29,857
81,941

7484
7770
5557
5878
5566
5546
5881

9009
9618
7044
7484
7A86
7788
7829

4877
4872
2695
2411
8442
4558
8741

9874
9877
7694
7100
7661
7048
8066

411,966
45,2.iO
846,885
888,438
892,450
415.897
417,197

8T72-5

IBombay Oaiettaer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XL
Production.

Domestic
Animals.

Oxen,

Cow$.

Smfaloe$,

chiefly for riding and drawing carts. Field oxen of an ordinary
middle size were also abundant, and are said to have been cheaper
and stronger than those now seen. Before the time of rail^rays
herds of 100 to 500 cattle were brought into the district by Vanjaji
traders loaded with grain, salt, and firewood. From June to January
grass is generally abundant and husbandmen give their bullocks
nothing else to eat. At other times the supply of grass is eked
out by millet stalks or kadba, and by oil cake, oil seed, and grain, of
which in the dry season three to four pounds a head are given
daily. Husbandmen are usually careful to leave the calves a large
share of their mother s milk. Mdrwdr Vdnis, Br^hmans, and other
non-agricultural classes take most of the milk for themselves and
leave little to the calves. Bullocks pinched in this way are small
and weak, and unfit for ploughing or drai(ght. They are bought
by butchers and sent to Poona or Bombay.

Of C!ows, the 1882-83 returns showed a total of 195,210 head.
A husbandman has generally one to six cows worth £2 to £4
(Es. 20-40) each. The cows are of an ordinary middle size,
lighter and smaller than the Kh^desh breed. After the calf has
its share, the milk is partly used for house purposes and partly
made into clarified butter and sold. A cow for eight months after
calving yields two to ten pints of milk (1-5 skers) a day. At
the same time they are capricious, will often prevent a stranger
milking them, and if the calf dies the cow will generally refuse to
give any more milk. Before beginning to milk a cow the milker
generally lays some food in front of her and lets the calf draw
the milk down. When the milk has begun to flow the milker takes
the calf away and milks till the cow becomes restive or the milk
has all been taken. He then lets the calf have another suck.

The Kunbi keeps many cattle which at first sight seem useless.
Many are too weak for the ^ough or the cart. But these weak
cattle have a great value as fuel and manure makers. During
the day when the cattle are grazing the droppings are carefully
gathered and made into fuel cakes and in the morning the dung
and broken millet stalks that are found in the cattle shed are put
with all the house-sweepings into the manure-pit which nearly
•every landholder has outside of the village. Besides this important
reason for letting all his calves grow, the landholder thinks that some
may become finer than others, that there may be more fodder one
year than another, and that there may be a demand for cattle. As
he spends much less upon his cattle than they bring him in, he never
goes out of his way to part with them.

Of Bufialoes, the 1882-83 returns showed a total of 46,522 head,
11,547 of them male and 34,945 female. She-buflaloes are reared
for their milk, which is a necessity in every household. They
are stout and healthy, and are found in large numbers. For
ten months after calving their daily yield is eight to twenty-four
pints (4 - 12 ehers) and sometimes more. They are of five kinds,
Surti from South Qujardt, Mahuri JAfrAbadi and Bardi from
South E^thidw^r, and local Deccan buffaloes. Of these the JUrAhidi,
costing £15 to £20 (Es.loO-200) and yielding nearly twenty-four

AHMADNAaAB.

pints (12 shera) a day^ is the most valuable^ but as it is very larse and

costly it is uncommon. The Deccan or local buffalo is of two Kinds,

the GauUdru or herdsmen's buffalo, and the Gdvrdnu or villager's

buffala Of these the Gauldru, with long horns and thin lace^

reared by Gavlis and costing £10 to £15 (Rs. 100-150), is the best,

yieldingiromfourteentotwentypints(7-10 8A6r8)ofmilk a day. The

Gdvrdnu, the commoner variety, costs £5 to £10 (Rs. 50-100) and

yields a smaller quantity of milk. Except by the Gavlis who make

and sell clarified butter the milk is generally kept for home use.

Male buffaloes are seldom reared except for breeding. The male calf^

as a rule, is neglected. It is sometimes given to Vadars, who use it

in drawing their low solid-wheeled stone-carrying trucks. Male

buffaloes are seldom worth more than £3 or £4 (Rs. 30 - 40), and are

often used by Yadars, Beld^s, Kaik^is, and Ghisddis in carrying

their loads. Except in Akola where there is much forest and pasture

land, there are no wandering herdsmen who deal solely in norned

cattle. In Akola a caste known as Kd^nadds, whose home speech still

bears traces of their Kdnarese origin, live in fixed houses and have

fifty to 200 cows, and buffaloes which they graze during the day and

pen at night in enclosures fenced by felled trees and branches.

Like the Gavlis, they move in the dry season in search of grass and

water, but do not desert their houses.

Weekly cattle markets are held at Valki in Nagar ; at Gadgaon,
Kukuna, and Pimpalgaon in Nevdsa ; at Pd^thardi in Shevgaon ; at
Mirajgaon in Karjat ; and at Kharde in Jimkhed.

In 1825, the cattle of the district were reported to be inferior.
Mr. Dunlop, the Collector, asked Government to supply him
with twenty bulls for breeding, ten of them from Kh^desh
and ten from Kankrej to the north of Ahmadabad where the finest
Gujarat cattlQ are grown. In 1826, the first annual show of cattle
and horses* was held at Ahmadnagar when £40 (Rs. 400) were
distributed in prizes for bulls and cows.^ In 1882 a horse cattle
and field produce show was held at Ahmadnagar at which £160
(Rs. 1600) were paid in prizes. At the 1883 show the amount

Sent on prizes was raised to £250 (Rs. 2500). Most of the animals
own were local owned by landholders chiefiy of Akola, Kopar-
gaon, Nagar, Nevdsa, and P^jner. «

Of Horses, Mares, and Foals, the 1882-83 returns showed a
total of 18,978. Ahmadnagar, especially the Bhima valley, was
once famous for its horses. Now horses are few and poor.
After 1803, when the English became responsible for the peace of
the Deccan the Nagar breed of horses seems to have been
allowed to decline. In 1821, the Collector, Captain Pottinger
wrote that the breed of horses seemed to have been neglected
for some years. There were some good brood mares in» several
parts of the district, and some of the proprietors and rich heads of
villages owned a few large and strong horses. Still they seemed to
be chiefly anxious to rear a middle-sized inferior horse for which

Chapter II.
Production.

DoMEsno
Animals.

Bufahet*

Bona.

^ Mr. Dimlop, 8th July 1S25, and the Prize Committee's Report dated 16th
October 1826.

[Bombay Gaaetteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter 11.
ProductioxL.

DoBncsTic
Animaus.

PonU$.

they expected a ready sale among the local Br^mans and other
public oi&cers.^ In 1S27, to restore the character of the Deccan
breed, a Govemmeut stud was* established at Alegaon in Poona on
the left bank of the Bhima. Good horses were occasionally turned
out, but the average was inferior to the horses imported from the
Persian GuK and wie Cape. The establishment was continued till
1842 when it was abolished. Of late years fresh efforts have been
made to improve the breed of horses by stationing Government stud
horses in different parts of the district and offering their services
free of charge to any one person who brings a mare. Breeders are
also encouraged by the offer of prizes at yearly horse-shoes held at
Ahmadnagar, Sirur, and Poona. Of late more system and vigour
have, been introduced into the arrangements by the appointment
of aL special Superintendent of Horsebreeding Operations. The
present stud of Government horses, which are under the charge
of the Police Superintendent, numbers six. Of these one is an
Australian, one an English, and one an Arab horse, two are Arab
galloways, arid one is an Arab pony. In 1877, 359 mares were
served. Almost all well-to-do Kunbis have a mare or two, the
Bhimthadi mares being worth £20 to £40 (Rs. 200-400). At the
1881-82 Mdheji horse-show in KhAndesh a large number of exhibitors
were from Ahmadnagar and Poona. At the 1^3 Ahmadnagar
show most of the horses were ownect by P^mer, Nagar,
and Shrigonda landholders. The produce of country nj^res and
Government stallions is much in demand, and advances are
often made when the mare is in foal. In such cases the colt id
taken by the buyer when five monthi old, at a price varying from
£5 to £10 (Rs. 50-100y» If taken to the yearly faSr at MSegaon
in the Nizam*li dominions, colts fetch £10 to £20 (Ra. 100-200),
and if well fed and taken to the same fair as two year olds they
realize £40 to £50 (Els.4d0-5P0). So large is the demand at the
Mdlegaon fair that hardly any colts of more than a year old are to
be found in the Ahmadnagar district. Brood mares owned by well-
to-do husbandmen are left to graze where they can during the day.
On coming home in the evening, they are given a daily allowance
of not more than two pounds of gram or of millet, besides a few
^bundles of millet stalks. They are not groomed except when
ridden or on going to a fair, and often become diseased from dirt
and neglect. A mare generally carries for eleven months. Except
in Akola horses are bred in every part of the district especially, in
Nagar, Shrigonda, Karjat, Shevgaon, Nevdsa, and Kopargaon. Next
to the M^egaon fair the best market is at Yeola in Nasik.

Thirty years ago Ahmadnagar was the chief breeding ground o{
the Deccan ponies, a hardy and well-made b^eed, twelve to thirteen
and a h^lf hands and upwards. Before the time of railways the mails
were mostly carried by these Deccan ponies. Hundreds of ponies
could then be bought in a few days. * Of late they have become scarce
and their value has risen nearly threefold. The breed is well suited
to the wants of the people. But except when at work they are

I Collector's Outward Volume, X. (1821),

Deeean.]

AHMADNAGAR,

neglected and left to pick what grazing they can, without any
allowance of grain. Still they are highly valued and much in demand
for riding and drawing pony carta or tongas, £15 to £20 (Rs.l50-
20()) are sometimes paid for a good pony. Some Dhangars or
shepherds have a class of specieJly good ponies which are known
fts Dhangaris. They are generally thought to be a special breeds
but Mr. Lamb, the superintendent of breeding operations, holds that
their excellence is due to the Dhangar's practice of castrating their
ponies. They are small but hardy and are almost never shod,
kunbis have some curious rules about the colour of their horses
and mares. A piebald with a white face, white legs^ and wall eyes,
aud a wall-eyed cream-coloured mare are considered lucky and
fetch a high price. On the contrary, a mare of any other colour
with black points or with one w&U-eye is unlucky and, whatever her
qualities^ is difficult to sell.

Of Asses, the 1882-83 returns showed a total of 8565. Asses
are small and light in body. They are reared by Kumbh^s or
{Kitt^rs, Londris or lime-burners^ Parits or washermen, Belddrs or
QnanTmen, Kolh^tis or rope-dancers, and Kaik&dis a wandering tribe.
Thej* are generally employed in carrying loads. They cost £2 to £3
IBs. 20-30).

Of Sheep and Goats, the 1882-88 returns showed a total of
45()»625. The only professional shepherds are Dhangars and Khildris,
who ureH^ formerly wanderers but are now settled. The Dhangars
are either graziers of the Kotek4r and 94tkar subdivisions, or
weavers of the Birvalle, Dl^ule, and Thumra subdivisions. They
hold aloof from other castes with whom they neither eat nor marry.
In October, soon after the rains are over, the grazieni set out chiefly
for Khandesh taking their flocks of 200 to 500 sheep. They return to
Ahmadnagar for the cold and hot se^ons^ During the fair months
when the fields are bare they pen xheir sheep in fields at night,
changing the spot every night till the whole field is manured. For ten
to fifteen nights of a flock of ten to twelve scOfe or khandis of sheep
a hasbandman will pay about one hundred pounds (1 man) of grain.
Dhangars show little care in rearing their sheep. The fodder and
treatment are of the roughest, and they pay no attention to choosing
ranis and crossing breeds. In many villages it is the exception to
iind sheep the property of a Dhangar or an individual of the shepherd
caate and the keeping of a flock of breeding ewes is not usual except
among well-to-do Kunbis. Every Kunbi who tills garden land,
especially in the east and south of the district, tries to have his own
flock of sheep, and most villages have three or four husbandmen
with flocks of their own. Sheep for stock are bought by the score,
the price varying from £1 16«. to £6 (Rs. 18-60). The price is
^mctimes as high as £8 (Rs. 80) when the buyer chooses esSbn sheep
picking one ram and nineteen ewes, all between three years old and
of good colour. A favourite custom among Kunbis is to buy an old
ewe with her sixth lamb, kill the mother as soon as the lamb can
^^hift for itself, and bring up the young one as a pet for the children.
The pet is kept till it begins to be troublesome when it either
follows its mother or is sold to sheep-brokers or mutton-butehers
who come regularly from Bombay and Poona and buy goats, kids.

Chapter II.
Production.

Domestic
Animals.

Ponies,

A49e$,

Shfep and
OoaU,

(Bombty GftnttMrt

DISTRICTS.

Chapter II.
ProdactioiL

domestio

Animals.

Sheep and
UoaU,

sheep, and lambs, paying 2a. to 8e. (Rs. 1 - 4) a head. If the flock
is large Kunbis generally engage a Dhangar or a man of any other
labouring caste to tend them. During the rains sheep are m poor
condition ; the damp does not suit them and they cannot move freely.
Grass less than six inches high is the best grazing for sheep. They
are also fond of herbs and vegetables. In the hot months they
feed on dry grass and on grass roots. Sheep are generally taken
to graze about eight in the morning, watered at eleven, left to graze
till three, then again watered, and left to graze till dark. The ewe
carries five months, and, though known to yean in every season of
the year, November and June are the favourite times. It gives
birth to one to three lambs. It is not known how long a ewe will
go on bearing. The Dhangars think it advisable to sell them after
they have had five lambs. The age of the mothei' when the first
lamb is born varies from 400 to 600 days and the intervals at which
the lambs are dropped vary from six to 14 J months. Ewes are
milked once a day, and the yield is small not more than two ounces.
Sheep's milk is used medicinally, very little is made into butter.
Mixed with maidalkadi Oriodaphne opefera powder it is applied
to a bruize or strain, and the part is afterwards fomented.
With a few drops of limejuice, and a grain of opium, it is
taken by the poor as a cure for diarrhoea. Sheep are sheared
twice a year, in Januaiy and in July or August according as the
rains are late or early. When the shearing time comes, the sheep
are taken to a stream having on one side clean rocks vr sand,
and on the other a steep sloping bank. From the top of the
bank the sheep are thrown into the water, where they remain
for some time and then swim to the other side. They are left to
stand on the rocks till they are dried by the sun when their wool is
cut with large scissors. The wool is sometimes sold to Musalm^n
traders who go buying from village to village, and send it to Poona
and Bombay. The yearly yield of wool from one hundred sheep
fetches IQs. to £1 (Rs. 8 - 10). The Dhangar weavers spin and
weave the wool. Blankets, the chief articles woven, are of two
sizes, the chavdia two pieces joined together each measuring about
six feet by three, and the kdmhli a larger chavdia measuring ten to
twelve feet by six. The chavdia and the kdmbli are the usual dress
of the Kunbis and other poorer classes. The kdmbli is white or
black, and the chavdia is black with white stripes. Half of the
chaonla is csAled a, paiti, SiXid in the market the chavdia is bought
in the form of a pair of pattis which the buyer sews together.
They are made by all Dhangars except Hdtkars and Shegars.
Including the time of the women who spin the thread and or the
men who weave, a kdmhli takes six or seven days to make. As the
wool costs about 1«. (8 as.) about 3**. (Rs. IJ) are left to pay for
the labour. The demand for blankets is fairly constant. BurnuB
or namday a coarse felt made of wool stuck together with a
mixture of soap and linseed^ is used for matting, for packing load.s,
and for many other purposea Namdda are generally made in pieces
eight feet square. Chhdp is a smaller burnus about four feet by
one and a half; it is generally used for putting under saddles.
Chhdps and bimiua are made by Pinjdris or ootton^cleaners. Th«

BiOOOEj

AflMADNAGAR.

holy blankets of white wool which are worn by Br&hmans and

others are seldom made in Ahmadnagar. The dsan, a two feet

square piece of white woollen cloth is used by Brahmans and others

as a seat while saying their daily prayers and performing other

religious ceremonies. Cushions are sometimes stuffed with wool

instead of with cotton. No lamb is sheared till it is six months

old. The wool of the first clip is called jdvli htkar. It is

fine and specially strong. In chavdids and Jcdmblis where strength

is needed, lamb's wool is generally used for the cross threads carried

by the shuttlea A blanket made entirely of lamVs wool is very

soft and fetches as much as 4$. to IO5. (Ks. 2 - 5). Sheep skin is

nsed for making dnfi, timkisyeLnd other small drums and as the inner

lining of shoes. Dhors and Sultdnkars tan the sheep skins which

are used as shoe-lining. A sheep's skin fetches 4 Jd. to 6d. (3-4 as,).

Except in towns, scarcely any class use mutton as a daily article of

food Its price is 2\d. to Sd. (1^-2 aa.) the pound. Brdhmans and

LingAyat Marwar and Gujardt Vdnis and a few others never touch

mutton. Those who have no objection to animal food eat mutton

Bs a dainty on holidays and festivals. In almost all Mardtha and

Knnbi families, on Dasara Day in September- October a sheep is

offered to the goddess Devi. As the local demand for mutton is

small many sheep are sent to Poona and other places.

Though not nearly so numerous as sheep, one or more goats are
kept by all except some of the higher classea The local goat is
small, but some either of pure or of half-Surat breed are fair sized
and give one to two pints (^ - 1 slier) of milk a day. The price of a goat
varies from 6*f. to 12«. (Rs. 3-6). Goats live on green grass and tree
leaves ; they will not eat dry grass. Goats are milked twice a day,
in the morning at six and in the evening at seven. The daily yield
varies from two and a half to four pints (Ii-2 shera). Goat's milk
is used chiefly by the poor. Beside^ being drunk by children it is
made into clarified butter. Goat's hair is never cut or used. The
skins fetch Is. 3d. to 2«. (Re. | - 1 ) and are sent to Bombay in
large numbers. The outer red coating of native shoes is generally of
goat skin.

Hens are of two kinds, aeil a larger and phetial a smaller variety. «
They are found in every village, reared by Musalm^ns, Kolis, Bhils,
Mings, and Mh^rs. They lay eggs six times a year, laying one egg
a day for about a month, then stopping for a month, and again
beginning to lay. The price of an asil hen varies from 2*. to 2«,
6/i. (Rs. I - H) and oi& phetial fowl from 6d. to la. (4-8 as.); a chicken
«o»t8 ijrf. to 6d. (3-4 as,) ; and eggs 3d to 4^d. (2-8 as.) the dozen.
Mh^rs and Kanjdris collect the eggs and take them to Poona by
road. Ducks are sometimes reared along with hens chiefly by
Uhiira and Mangs. They are worth about 68, (Rs. 3} a pair?

'Seven kinds of snakes, all believed by the people to be more or
le« poisonous, are found in the district. Of these the Ck)bra, nag,
Naja tripudians, has three varieties, the black-brown or domia, the
yellow or gavlia, and the copper-coloured or bachcha. The domia.

Chapter II.
Frodnction.

dombstto
Animals.

Sheep and

FOWXA.

HXFTILZS.

> Mr. S. Kyte, Police Inapector,

[Bombay QaBOtteer,
40 DISTRICTS.

Chapter IL measuring four to five feet long, has besides a ring on its hood
ProductioiL which is of a grayish colour, two throat bands and a collar below

the hood. The yellow or gavlia cobra is a little larger than the
KvpnLEs. black-brown variety, and has a whitish spectacle mark on the hooA

The copper-coloured bachcha is smaller, but is quicker in its move-
ments than the other two. Its hood is darker than the body and
has a white spectacle mark with a dark-brown lining. The cobra,
though it sometimes moves about during the day, generally seeks
its food at night, chiefly birds, eggs, frogs, toads, and rats. The
cobra is found in holes in ruined houses, under logs of wood, and it
hollow trees. During the rainy season, it lays twenty to twenty-
five eggs about the size of pigeon's eggs and having a tough skin.
Cobras seldom attack without being disturbed. But they will
probably turn on any one who chances to tread on them, and for
their bite no cure is known. In attacking the cobra raises itself,
spreads its hood^ and makes a hissing sound. All hooded snakes,
including the cobra, are believed by the people to be females, and
those without hoods to be males. The cobra is worshipped by the
people, being supposed to be the guardian of treasure. Some
believe that to have a cobra in the house brings good luck, and
many refrain from killing cobras and feed and protect them. If
they wish to get a cobra taken from their houses, V4nis have it
caught with round wooden scissors and set at large in some
neighbouring field. The dhdman, Ptyas mucosus, measuring four
to seven feet, is of two varieties, the malsi dhdman and the thalta
dhdman. The malsi is of a dark brown, with its head and tail a
little darker and the belly a pale yellow. The thalia is yellow and
its trunk is marked by brown bands at an equal distance from each
other. The movements of both kinds of dhdman are very quick
and graceful. It is sometimes found in water and on the banks
of streams, but more often iuiruined houses, in holes, in fields, and
under brushwood. It is not poisonous and is said to • be fond
of milk. It is said to be seen at times sucking the milk of cows
and buffaloes coiled round their hind legs and keeping them from
moving. The people believe that if a buffalo or cow is sucked by
a dhdman, it loses fiesh and never again yields milk. It is also
.believed that if a buffalo happens to meet the gaze of a dhdman the
. buffalo instantly dies. The pnurse, Bchis carinata, a little more than
a foot and a half long, is brown with oblong whitish spots on the body,
and a lighter belly. The neck is thin and the head, with very bright
yellow eyes, is irregular in shape and broadest at the mouth. This
snake is armed with long fangs and is aggressive and venomous.
When disturbed it throws itself into a double coil, and, with a fierce
hiss, springs at its enemy. If it fails to strike, it slides back facing its
enemy all the time. The ruJchi or udatldgya, that is the leaper from
the way it springs while moving, is about two feet long, of a brownish
gray, with white stripes down the back. Its movements are very
quick, and it is supposed to be poisonous. The kandia or karathui,
Bungarus coeruleus, is of a blackish brown marked with pairs of
white cross streaks. The belly is of an uniform white. It is found
generally in fields, grass plains, and low scrubby brushwood, and is
at times seen in houses, behind doors, and in bath-rooms. It varies

DoecaiL]

AHMADNAGAR.

in length from two to three feet. The fangs are short and the poison
works slowly. Its bite is considered dangerous and sometimes fatal.
The kirdu, Tropidonotus plumbicolor, half a foot to two feet long and
of a dark grass green, is found in water. Its head and tail are a
little darker and the belly is of a yellowish green. It is harmless.
The makdndol, Eryx johnii, commonly called gdndmukhi, a dark
brown snake about two feet long, on account of the bluntness of
its tail is supposed to have two heads. The head is not distinct
from the neck and the cleft of the mouth is*very low with short
narrcvi: jaws. It has a very slow motion and is harmless. According
to Mr. Baines it is the only snake which makes a noise, the male
when after the female not hissing ^ut booming like a bittern.

When a native is bit by a snake two or three cords or bands of
cloth are tightly bound above the wound. His friends take him to
some special temples in the village, generally to Bahiroba's temple
and set him in front of the idol. Leaves of the limb tree, Azadirachta
indica, crushed vdth chillies are given to the patient to eat.
A <iruin is beaten and charms or verses are intoned. While the
patient is seated before the idol, limb branches are made into a
Kroom, and for about an hour are passed over his body from head to
foot This treatment has the good effect of keeping the patient in
heart. The ceremony is sometimes performed, at home. As most
snakes are harmless, and as the bite, even of " poisonous snakes is
not always deadly, there are many recoveries. But from the bite
of a vigorous cobra or other very venomous snake the chance of
recovery is small. During the three years ending 1882 thirty-
seven or a yearly average of twelve persons were reported to have
l)een killed by snake-bites. In 1882 eighteen snakes were reported
to have been destroyed for which 2s. 7 id. (Rs-l-j^) were given by
Government as rewards.

* The Ahmadnagar rivers like other Deccan rivers flow through
the rainy season and on to January or March. While rain is
falling they suddenly become floods of muddy water and rapidly
shrink as the rain ceases. Few flow to the end of the hot season,
but all rivers have deep pools whose water never dries. Dams
and water-channels are also valuable as breeding grounds for fish
and some of the large ponds^ notably the Bh^todi lake in the'
Nagar sub-division, which is a mile long and i;iever less than two
or three fathoms deep, are safe fish-homes a^ breeding grounds.
The store of fish is considerable, though few of them have much
market value. Several kinds of fish may always be found in ponds
so long as the pond holds water. When the water dries the fish bury
themselves in the mud, and wait in torpor till a fresh supply
of water comes. If enough rain falls to soak the mud in their
hidine places, they at once become active ; in pools supplied only
by ram water, within a day or two after a heavy fall, fish will be
found. As nimierous fry are found in fiooded places a few days
after the rains begin, it seems likely that the eggs from which they
came were in the dry mud, ready to be hatched so soon as they

Chapter Ii:
Production.

Rrftilbs.

Ftshrs*

I Contribated.by the Rev. S. B. Fairbank, D.D.

77a-e

[Bondrnj Gftiatteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XL
Production.

FlSHEik

were moistened by water. After any heavy rain^ Btreams of muddy
water are formed^ and fish, especially of the Carp family, leave the
rivers and rush up these short-lived streams on exploring expeditions.
When the rain is over these treacherous flood-streams cease and the
fish are left high end dry. This explains stories of fishes that have
fallen with the rain. Unless it had been carried there by a crow
no one ever found a fish on the roof of his house.

Besides Bhois, Kahdrs^ Kolis and R&moshis, who are the chief
Ahmadnagar fishers, many Kunbis, Mar^thds, and Dhangars at all
seasons fish with nets and cloths. The fishermen complain that
there are fewer fish in the rivers than there used to be, and the
markets are said to be insufficiei^tly supplied.

The chief fish are :

RHTNCHOBDELLiD-fi. The Spiny Eel family has one representa-
tive which is common and abundant. It is the Mastacembalns
armatus, Cuv et Yal., vdm or vdmb. It is found in all streams
and particularly in rocky pools. The anterior part of its single
long back fin consists of about thirty free spines. It is usually of
a rich brown colour, becoming lighter below. Some have black
spots or bands. One variety, M. marmorata, is purplish and
marked all over with a deeper shade, while its head has wide dark
bands broken into irregular spots by narrow white lines. This eel
grows two feet long and when curried or fried is good eating.

Ophiocephalid^. The maral family has three members.
Maral are lon^ cylindrical fishes wit^ the dorsal fin running along
the whole back, and the anal fin along the hind half of the belly.
The ventral fiiis have only six rays. Their heads are flattened and
are thought to resemble the heads of serpents, and this has given
them their generic nama On tinn account some people object to
them, but by most they ar* highly esteemed for food. Those
taken from running water are better flavoured than those from
stagnant water. The colour of the back of all three species is
grayish green, but there are spots and marks peculiar to each. Of
the three kinds the one that attains the largest size is the Ophioce-
phalus marulius, B. H. This grows to four feet in length and to
►twenty pounds in weight. Its special mark is a large round black
spot, covering the upper third of the base of its gray tail fin. Its
ventral fins are orange. In young specimens there is An orange
band along the side froni the eye. There are pearly white spots on
the posterior third of the body and the adjacent fins and tail.
Ophiocephalufi leucopunctatus, Russel, grows three feet long
and twelve pounds in weight. It has numerous white spots on
its body and on its fins posteriorally where they are black. It
lacks ^he black ocellus which marks the tail of 0. marulius«
Ophiocephalus gachua, B. H., is a smaller species which grows only
thirteen inches long. Its Hindustani name is said to be dhari dhoh
It is greenish above and lighter below. Its steel-coloured fins are
edged with orange. There is often a large ocellus, dark with a
light edge, on the last five rays of the dorsal fin. Some are deco-
rated with white spots and some with orange spots. It is found
from the sea level to the tops of mountains and often thrives in

Deceaii.]

AHMADNAGAB.

wells. It is so amphibioQS that it may be carried in a wet cloth for
three or four hours without sufFering.

SiLURm^. The Catfish family which is represented in the
Deccan by at least sixteen species, have a tough and scaleless skin,
lliey prefer muddy to clear water and abound in deep sluggish
rivers. They have long feelers or barbels round their mouths, which
help them to find their way and to procure food in their dark muddy
homes. It is these barbels which are arranged somewhat like the
whiskers of a cat which have given them the popular name of
CatfisL Shan) or jagged spines at the front edges of the dorsal
and pectoral fins of these catfish inflict dangerous wounds, and
some are thought to contain poison. The vernacular names of several
kindsy Bhingij shingte, shifigvi, ahingala and shingada, seem to be

?[iven from the large horn or ^Atn^-like spines. All are used as
ood. MACBOyES AOR, B. H., shingdla is of a bluish leaden colour
above and white below. The fins are yellowish^ and a black spot
bA large as its eye marks the adipose dorsal fin. It grows three*
feet long. Its maxillary barbels extend to the base of its tail.
The upper surface of its head is roughened by lumpy ridgea
Hacrones seenghala, Sykes, so called shingdla, is brownish
along the back, silvery on the sides and below^ and has a round
black spot on the adipose back fin. The front spine of its back
fin is rough but not saw-like. The chest spines are toothed on the
inner side. The upper surface of its head is roughened by ridges.
Its maxillary barbeb extend to the middle of the back fin. It
grows to a great size. Rita PJlVDCENTATA, Yal., ghogtm, is of a dull
yellow with dark or even black fins. The upper surface of the head
IS smooth and covered with skin. The maxillary barbels are shorter
than the head, while the mandibular pair of barbels are a little
longer. The back spine is finely tooth-cut behind and the breast
spines are tooth-cut on both sides. It ^ows at least six inches long.
This species has been found only in the Qoddvari and its feeders.
Sn.tJKDiA Sykesh, Day, pddi or guglya, is bluish above and
white on the sides and belly. It has two pairs of whiskers, the
maidllAry reaching to the Inreast fin. Its back spine is rough before
and saw-like behind. It is found in the Goddvari and its feeders.
It grows eighteen inches and more in len^h. Baoarius tarrellii»
Sykes, hirad or khirad, is srsiy or yellowish with bload dark cross-
hands or irregular markings. Its fins have a black base and
generally a cross-band. , Its head skin is rough, its back spine smooth,
and its breast spine toothed on the inside. The upper fork of its
t^l is elongated. Its maxillary whiskers are rather longer than its
head and are thick at the base. It grows at least six feet long. A
five feet long specimen weighed 136 lbs. It is often called a iresh*
water shark, partly from its greed and partly from its undej-hung
mouth and genera} ugliness.

Cypbxswjsl The Carp Family, including forty-cme species, is.
largely represented in the rivers and other waters of the Deccan.
These and the catfish make up the bulk of the Deccan fresh-water
fislies. Catfish delight in mud and filth ; carp love clear water
and are clean feeders. Their flesh is well flavoured, but they am
tilled with fine branched bones which trouble the eater. Still ia

(Shapter II*

Production.

Fishes.

FBombay Oaietteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XL
Production.

Fishes.

spite of the bones the common people of India eat carp with deliglii.
Catla buchanani, Cuv. et Val. (Cyp. abramoides, Sykes), ih
called tdmbada from its reddish copper colour. It is sometimes
grayish above and silvery below, its fins being dark or nearly
black. Its copper colour is caused by each scale having a red
lunule or crescent- shaped mark as well as a copper-coloured edge.
It is a very powerful fish^ and when caught in seines or large nets
usually succeeds in leaping out and escaping. It grows to be at
least six feet long. When not above two feet long it is much
esteemed for food. In Calcutta it is largely used for stocking ponds.
Inch-long fish in six months grow to be ten or eleven inches long
and to weigh twelve to fourteen ounces. Thynnicthys sandkhol^
Sykes, sdndkul or sdndi, is silvery with a purplish head and very
small scales. It grows more than eighteen inches long. It has
been found only in the Goddvari and its feeders and neighbouring
ponds.

The fishes classed in the genus Babbits have no homy covering
to their lips, and their eyelids are not adipose. Barbus tor, H. B.,
mhdaala, the mahaseer of English sportsmen, is greenish above,
becoming silvery shot with golden below. Its lower fiins are reddisli
yellow. Its sc£des are large. It grows at least five feet long and
ninety pounds in weight. One 3^ feet long and one foot high
weighed forty-two pounda It grows to the largest size and is most
abundant in mountain or rocky streams. Nemacheilicthys
RUPPELLi, Sykes, mura, is greenish yellow with brown bars down
to the lateral line, and a white abdomen* It has an elongated snout
and six promin^it whiskers. It grows to be four inches long. It
seems to be peculiar to the Deccan. Nemacheilus botia, B. H.,
(C. mooreh. Sykes), also called mura (M.), is grayish with about a
dozen sloping bars above the side line. Its back fin is orange with
rows of black spots. The slightly forked tail has seven dark bars.
Its length is three inches.

MuRENiDiE. The Eel Family is represented by one species,
Anguilla bengalensis. Gray et Hard. (A. elphinstonei, Sykes), akir.
Its ground colours, which are brownish above and yellowish
below, are often covered with black spots and blotches. The back
• and bottom fins have light coloured edges. It is an irritable creature,
swelling its head when angered, and looking in general like a
serpent. It grows more than four feet long, but the native stories
of eels fifteen feet long are probably mistaken. It is valued in
medicine and sells at a good price.

Besides these the following species have been recorded ;
VdUhivday like a shingdla but with a bigger head ; kurdu, about
four inches long and three round with a red body, round head,
and wdghing one-eighth of a pound ; dmblya, a white fish of the size
of a man's finger ; mala like dmblya but black ; potuh, half a foot
long, and white, weighing from one-eighth to one-half of a pound ;
khandri, half a foot long, dark brown, and weighing one-fourth to
one-half pound ; kdnusha, like the Tchandn, but reddish ; padi
jhorya, also called jhirugal or thegri, three inches long, white, and
weighing one-sixteenth of a pound; kolas, six to eighteen inches long.

Deoean.)

AHMADNAGAR. 45

reddish, with a big head and fins ; chdlai, six inches long^ white and Chapter II.

tut, weighing one-eighth to one-half pound ; valanj, three feet long p^ , — j.

and weighing eight pounds ; vddis, three feet long, fins yellow and ^ ^^

red, and weighing six to twelve pounds ; dokda, one inch long and Fishes.
black ; teplya, like the dohda but of mixed white and black. Jhinges
or prawns^ from one to six inches long and one-sixteenth to one inch
round are also found.

Except the maral, all these species breed only once a year at the
beginning of the rains. The maral breeds twice a year in January
and in June. They lay their eggs in the banks of rivers and ponds
where the water is shallow^ or in small channels or water-courses.
The fry can live only in places of this sort as they can get their
food without being carried away by the current.

There are no private rights in fisheries, and as the rivers are
dragged and fished without restriction large numbers of spawn-
ing and undersized fish are destroyed. Fish are caught by nets,
pieces of cloth, and hooks and lines, and sometimes at night by
torch-lighi The smallest mesh is about the size of a grain of
gram | to ^ of an inch. Besides by hooking, baiting, and trapping,
fish are caught by poisoning. The plants generally used in poisoning
pools are kitchla or kdjra Str jchnos nuxvomica, the rdmet Lasiosiphon
speciosus, hinganbet Balanites roxbnrghii, supti Tephrosea suberosa,
and sher Eaphorbii tirocalli. Pool poisoning is wasteful as it kills
all the fish old and young, and it is unwholesome, injuring the fish
as an article of food and spoiling the water. Fish are sold or eaten
fresh by fishermen, and are n«ver salted. They are sold in markets
or taken from house to house in villages and towns. Their price
varies from |i. to l^d. (i - 1 a.) a pound in villages and from 2d. to
*M. ()|-2a9.) a poimd in towns. Fish are sometimes exchanged
for grain. The small fish weight for weight are not as valuable as
the large fish. Dry fish are imported from the Konkan. About >
two-thirds of the people eat fish, but fish does not form part of the
regular diet of any except the fishing classea

CBombaj Oaietteeri

Chapter III.

Population.

DxNsns Details.
1S72'188U

Birih-place,

Language,

Age.

CHAPTER III.

POPULATION.

AccosDiNG to the 1881 census the population of the district was
751^228 or 112*69 to the square mile. Of these Hindus numbered
706,557 or 94-05 per cent; Musalm^ns 39,592 or 5*27 per cent;
Christians 4821 or 0*64 per cent; P^rsis 179 or 002 per cent; Jews
65 ; Sikhs 8 ; and Buddhists 6. The percentage of males on the
total population was 50*79 and of females 49*20. The corresponding
returns for 1872 were a total of 778,387 or 117'09 to the square
mile, of whom Hindus numbered 732^447 or 94*10 per cent ; Muaal-
m&ns 42,722 or 5*48 per cent; Christians 1973 or 0*26 per cent;
Pdrsis 91 ; Jews 67 ; Br&hmos 6 ; and Others 1031. Compared with
the 1872 returns the 1881 returns show a decrease of 27^109 or 3*48
per cent which is due to the mortality and emigration during the
1876-77 famine.

Of 751,228 (males 381,602, females 369,626), the total population,
682,451 (males 360,589, females 331,862) or 85*52 per cent were
bom in the district. Of the *68,777, who were not born in the
district, 25,328 were bom in the Niz&m's country; 14,806 in
Poena ; 8185 in Ndsik ; 5243 in Sholdpur ; 3847 in the Rajputana
states; 2348 in Satdra; 1206 in Khdndesh ; 1101 in the Konkan
districts ; 1036 in the Bombay Eamdtak districts ; 922 in Gujardt ;
620 in Bombay ; 314 in Madras ; 129 in Goa, Diu, and Daman ;
fi707 in other parts of India; and 985 outside of India.

Of 751,228 the total population, 679,960 (343,738 males, 836,222
females) or 90*51 per cent spoke Mardthi Of the remaining 71,268
persons, 42,051 or 5*59 per cent of the whole spoke Hindustani ;
18,163 or 2*41 per cent spoke M&rw^ ; 6242 or 0*83 per cent spoke
Telugu ; 2487 or 0*33 per cent spoke Gujardti ; 1164 or 0*15 per cent
spoke English ; 504 or 0*06 per cent spoke K&narese ; 362 or 0*04 per
cent spoke Hindi ; 163 or 0*02 per cent spoke Portuguese-Konkani
orGoan^e; 64 spoke Tamil; 58 spoke Arabic ; 4 spoke Burmese;
2 spoke Beduchi ; 2 spoke Danish ; and 2 spoke German.

The following tabular statement gives the number of each reUgious
class according to sex at different ages, with, at each stage, the
percentage on the total population of the same sex and religion.
The columns referring to the total population omit religious distinc-
tions but show the difference of sex :

Seeeaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

Abmaditaoab PopuLArtos ar Aom, 1881,

AOBOI
YlABS.

HiVDUB.

MubalmAkb.

Ohrirtuhb.

Percentage
on Males.

Peicentage
on Males.

Females.

•a •

Percentage
on Males.

•

Percentage
on Females.

Uptol ...

9462

2*60

10,860

2-07

607

3*62

633

2-78

2-27

2-00

i to 4 ...

83,626

0-85

86,81410-57

1830

9 10

1008

1026

304

7-14

341

l'J-26

6 to 9 ...

62,030

14-51

61,460 14-78

2065

14-69

2867

14-71

850

13*25

380

17-25

10 to 14 ...

46.982

18-10

88,869 11 16

2637

13-11

2174

U15

311

10-88

232

11-80

1» to 10 ...

26,006

7-26

25,692

7-88

1312

6-52

1310

6-73

206

7-21

137

6*97

SO to 24 ...

25.644

916

31,874

001

1447

719

1606

8-70

400

14-00

173

8*80

«& to 29 ...

85,288

0-84

33,373

0-58

1886

9-38

1786

015

406

14-18

177

9-00

80 to S4 ...

32,665

Oil

80,787

8-84

1795

8-92

1747

8-96

265

9-27

165

8-89

96 to » ...

28,561

6-57

10,848

6-70

1360

6-71

1188

6-00

188

6-68

102

6-10

40 to 40 ...

S4,068

0-40

81,803

8-00

1886

9-38

1705

0-21

229

801

153

7 78

60 to M ...

15,638

4S6

16,207

4-36

940

4-72

802

4-57

8-11

3-86

66 to 69 ...

6012

1-92

6108

1-76

433

2-16

369

1-80

1-78

1-47

Abore 60 ...

16,668

4-61

16,846

4-84

1116

6-65

1186

5-83

08 ' 8-25

4-27

- J

^ . ^

N^ . J

^ , . .. ^

^ .. /

Total ...
Up to I ...

868,

,614

848,043

20,103

•

10,480

8866

1065

PiBSn.

Orel

BR8.

Total.

115

5-43

9-63

• ••

10,229

2-68

10,064

2-06

I to 4 ...

11-49

7-60

.7-14

31-63

36,573 0*82

30,068

10-56

6 to 0 ...

18-70

22-82

16-66

18-91

55,363 14-50

64,703

14-70

10 to 14 ...

10-84

0-78

714

8-10

49.042 13-08

41.277

11-16

\U to 19 ...

6-80

4-84

714

2-70

27,5831 7-21

27,144

7-84

SO to 24 ...

010

8-60

238

16-21

27,6001 7-20

83,257

8-00

26 lo 29 ...

6-80

10-87

7-14

270

37,683

9-84

35,346

9*66

»tQS4 ...

9*10

6-52

714

8-10

34,736

0-10

82.706

8*84

36toS9 ...

6-74

6-43

9*52

6-40

26,108

6-57

21,140

671

40 to 49 ...

674

11-95

10-04

8-10

36,186

0-48

83,265

800

60 to 64 ...

6-80

1-08

2-88

6-40

16,678

4'37

16,178

4-87

6$ to 60 ...

4-60

108

••t

■•■

2-70

7400

1-98

6508

1-76

AboteOO...

8-04

4-84

4-76

• • •

• ■

17,771

4-65

18,068

4-88

rV.

- ■»

». . t

^>— .r

V . ^

V ,,.._ ^

1 Toted ...

381.602

860,626

Cihapter in.
(opnlatioiL

CsNSus Details.
Age,

The following table shows the proportion of the people of the
district who are unmarried^ married^ and widowed :

AhUADNAOML MaRRTAOM DBTAlLSt 1881,

Marriage.

'«^

HINDUS.

Under Ten.

Ten to
Fourteen.

Fifteen to
Nineteen.

Twenty to
Twent.v-nine.

Thirty and
Over.

Total.

Males.

FS-
males.

Males.

Fe-
males.

Males.

Fe-
males.

Males.

Fe-
males.

Males.

Fe-
males

Males.

Fe-
males.

UmoBTried.
Harried ...
lidow«S ...

08,071

1401

00,288

8186
184

80,677

7030

276

13,004

25.130

826

18,606

11,046

866

708

24.107

702

0780

40,356

1043

781

50,717

4149

4231

110.479

14,672

772
70,006
49,226

161,004

180,200

17,310

105,628

187,243

55,m

<«

MUSikLMANS.

Cmnancled.
iCarricd ...
Widowed...

6348

61R3

806

2486

143

1270

877

1006

203

103

1168

1064

2103

8149

287

461

6160

900

lis

4017
2906

10,242
8842
1010

6778
0410
8202

CHRISTIANS.

Unmarried
Marrud ...

Widowed...

614
6

624
IS

380

168
64

166

106

658

241

313

16i

706
47

10
417
183

1770

idli

843
012
811

OTHERS.

Unnsurried.
Manied ...
Widowed ..

• ••

•••
• ••

11
1

8
1

• ••

1
4

• ••

6
18

• ••

1
28

• ••

28
11

62
8

61
66
18

[Bombay Oaaetteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Popxdatioii.

Census Details.
Occupation,

House*.

Viilages^

Communities.

According to occupation the 188 1 censas returns divide the
population into six classes :

I. — ^In Grovemment Service, Learned Professions, Literature, and Arin,
18,039 or 2-40 per cent.
II. — In Domestic Service 6970 or 0*79 per cent.
III. — In Trade and Commerce 4458 or 0*59 per cent.
IV.— In Agriculture 268,428 or 3673 per cent.
V. — In Crafts and Industries 53,554 or 7*12 per cent.

VI. — In Indefinite and Unproductive Occupation, including Children,
400,779 or 53*36 per cent.

According to the 1881 census^ of 188,204 houses, 108,796 were
occupied and 29,408 empty. The total gave an average of 20*73
houses to the square mile, and the 108,796 occupied houses an
average of 6*90 inmates to each house.

According to the 1881 census seven towns had more than 5000
and one of the seven more than 10,000 people. Excluding these
seven towns, which together numbered 69,862 or 9*29 per cent of
the population, the 681,366 inhabitants of Ahmadnagar were distri-
buted over 1327 villages, giving an average of one village for 5*02
square miles and of 513*46 people to each village. Of the 1327
villages 118 had less than 100 people, 219 between 100 and 200,
545 between 200 and 600, 800 between 600 and 1000, 118 between
1000 and 2000, 17 between 2000 and 3000, and 10 between 3000
and 6000.

Except in Koli parts of Akola where the duties of the village clerk
and of many of the village servants extend over a group of four or five
villages, the village communities are generally complete. The chief
men are the pdtUs of whom, except in some small villages^ there are
nsually two, one the revenue or mulki and the other the police pdtiL
As the representatives of Government the pdtils have great authority
and as a rule are much respected by their neighbours. Still as
knowledge carries with it power, the kulkami or village clerk has
often more influence than the headman. Under the police pdtil are
the jo^ZiVi* or village watch of whom there are one two three or
more according to the size and wealth of the village or town. In
addition to these who are all in receipt of Government allowances, in
each village are a certain number of servants who are paid by their
•fellow-villagers in return for certain specified work which they are
expected to perform whenever called upon. These payments are
made yearly at harvest time in grain and are called balutds. These
village servants are divided into three classes and receive baluids
according to their class. The first class including the sutdr or
carpenter and chdmbhdr or cobbler, are entitled to two shares ; the
second class including the nhdvi or barber, the parit or washerman,
the lohdr or blacksmith, the mdng or rope-maker, and the kumbhdr
or potter receive 1^ shares ; and the thira class including the bhat or
Hindu priest, the mulla or Muhammadan priest, the koli or water-
carrier, the aondr or goldsmith, and the gurcuv or temple ministrant
receive one share each. The share varies according to the crop ; it
is yearly fixed between the Bhat and the Kunbi. When the Bhat
has received his allowance all the others come and claim theirs. In
the case of millet and other grain crops a share would be about 2^

Deceao.l

AHMADNAQAR.

per cent of the outtam. On sugarcane crops it is calculated some-
wliat differently and a share would represent twenty to twenty-five
pounds of gul or coarse sagar^ for every high a or half an acre of
crops. Besides these classed servants the Mhd.rs are entitled to an
allowance somewhat less than that claimed by the first class that
is two shares. In addition to these a host of persons live on the
Knnbi, and partly as a right and partly out of charity get grain
allowances. Thus the T^mboli or betel leaf seller in reward for
snpplying pan or betel leaves on certain festivals^ the Gondhli and
Bhai^di for playing the drum at the temple, and the Gosdvi or
beggar all expect and receive something. In return for these
allowances, the Sut^, Loh&r, and Ghdmbhdr are expected to keep
all field tools in repair. If any new yrork is required of them they
receive extra payment. The Mdngs on being provided with materials
make whatever ropes are required. The Kumbh^r provides all the
earthen pots necessary for ordinary house use. The Kh&vi is expected
to attend and shave the male population whenever called upon, but
on each occasion he receives a cake of bread in addition to the yearly
allowance. In the event of a marriage he distributes water to the
guests, and, in return, he is entitled to a cake of bread from each and
to the turban which the bridegroom takes off during the ceremony.
The Parit washes the villagers' clothes, and at marriages lays down
floor cloths for the bridal procession to walk over, and thereby
becomes entitled to the present of a new sddi or robe for his wife.
The Bhat or priest practically does nothing in return for his share.
When called to a marriage or other ceremony he is always paid
according to private arrangement. The MulWs position is much the
samei He is always expected to attend and pronounce the blessing
when a sheep or a goat has to be slain. For thin he too is always paid
by being asked to partake of the feast. The Son&r has also a
sinecure. In former days he was expected to test all coins but this
daty has ceased. The Koli supplies water on festivals and at
marriages, and it is also part of his duty to clean and keep in order
the village office. The Gurav cleans and takes care of the village
temples, and on any public feast has to provide leaves for the guests
to dine off*. The Mhdrs are the village messengers and servants of
all work. One of them is always supposed to be present at the village
office and to forward to the next village any Government letter or"*
package that may arrive. It also falls to them to show the way to
any traveller who may want a guide.

Bra^bmans^ according to the 1881 census included fifteen classes
with a strength of 32,586 or 4'51 per cent of the Hindu population.
The details are :

Chapter III.
Population.

CoifMUNrrY.

BBiHMAKa

' Tho Ahmftdnftgar Hindu population details are compiled from materialB supplied
br ICajor &. Babington, Superintendent of Police, and lUo BahAdur Nar&yao Ganeah
[AMhptedA, Biatriot Deputy Collector.

» 772—7

[Bombay Oaisttaer*

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IIL
Population.

B&iHMAKS.

Akmadfmffor Brdkmans^ 18SL

Detha$th9^

DiTIUOK.

Hale.

FfluuJe.

ToUL

DiVUION.

Male.

Pemele.

Total.

DMbMths

Devrukhia

DnvMi

Oovordlunt

Oujafftlit

Jib

^•Jtnbui

Kinftdii

KMTb&iUa ...

18,900

283

478

100

18,349

368

478

27,249
7

486

301

186

KonkMiMths

lUrwftrls

PardeshU

ShenrlB

Tirguls

¥id«ra

Total

684
606
490

67
106

671

S«6

865

1266

971
666
ISl
194
96

16.846

16,740

83.686

DeshasthSy meaning either Local or Upland Br&hmans, are
returned as numbering 27,249^ or 83*74 per cent of the Brihman
population. They are found all over the district. Each village has at
least two Br&hman Houses, the village priest's orjoaAt'^and the village
clerk's or kulhvmV 8. They seem to be very early settlers, Tbe word
Deshasth according to some authorities means local ; according to
others it means upland to distinguish them from the Eonkanasths or
Chitpdvans of the coast. The Nagar Deshasths have no tradition or
memory of any former settlement. Unlike Chitpavans they have no
regular surnames, their family names being either place or calling
names. The names both for men and for women do not differ from
those in use among Poona and S^t^ra Deshasths. Their family
stocks are Agasti, Angirasas, Atri, Bhrigu, K^shyap, Vasishth,
and Vishv&mitra. Their family gods are Bahiravnath of Bon&ri in
Ahmadnagar, Shridevi of Tuljdpur, Shriganpati, Ehandoba of Jejuri,
Shrinarsinh of Poona, and Shri Vyankatesh of Tirupati in North
Arkot. They belong to two divisions Rigvedis and Tajurvedis,
called after the Veds which they study and follow. Of Yajurvedis
there is a further division called E^nvas. Yajurvedis are also
called M4dhyandins because they perform their religious ceremonies,
including the prayers or saiidhya, at noon instead of at dawn as
is done by Rigvedis. The two divisions eat together but do not
intermarry. The Yajurvedis are somewhat darker and are said not
to be so cleanly as the Rigvedis. As a class Deshasths are dark
strong and somewhat coarse-featured for Brahmans with round and
flabby cheeks, the women being fairer and shorter than the men.
► Their Mardthi differs from classical Marathiby the use of the lingual
instead of the dental n, and by changing the short a of roots to t long
when the termination to of the present tense is added, as kari-uto
instead of karate he does. This practice is commoner among women
than among men. They live in one or two-storeyed houses with mud
or stone walls and tiled or thatched roofs which are covered with
earth and beaten hard. Their house goods include low stools, cots,
carpets, blankets, bedding, and metal vessels. The rich have begun
to use ^air.s, tables, hanging lamps, and other articles of European
furniture. They keep Brihman serisrants as water-drawers and
god-servants who worfship the house gods Vishnu, Shiv, Surya or
the San, Ganpati, and Devi Marath4s, Dhangars, Eolis, and other
lower class servants employed outof doors are not allowed to enter into
their kitchens, dining rooms, or house-shrines. Brahman women
never touch the low class servants ; if they do they afterwards bathe.

Deoeaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

MliSrs, di^mbhars^ and other impure classeSi if they visit a Brihman
hoase may not pass inside of the veranda* Deshasths own cattle
and keep horses, dogs, peacocks^ and parrots as pets. The dogs are
never allowed to enter the god-room or kitchen, nor do the women
touch them. They are good cooks, and moderate eaters, except
the priests whose gluttony is abyeword. Their staple food includes
rice, millet bread, split pulse, vegetables, wafer biscuits or papadtf,
and condiments, with clarified butter and curds. Poor Deshasths
eat millet bread and pulse boiled in water and mixed with pounded
chilUes. At the houses of the rich special dishes are daily prepared
for the head of the house, which the other members of the family do
not share. This practice has given rise to such phrases as Rdv
sdhebd purti dmbti A Sauce for the Bavsaheb, or Khdshya
purti VdtiOhar the Master's Cupful. Deshasths are known for
their skill in cookery. Their special dishes are polia or rolls of
sugar and dough corresponding to English roUy-polies, sweet balls
called Iddus, sugar and rice or sdkharbhdt, curds seasoned with
sugar and spices called shrlkhand, biiftundi of boiled milk sugar
and spices, and various condiments called koahimhira. They bathe
daily. After bathing they dress in a silk or newly washed and
untouched cotton waistcloth and some elder or the family priest
worships the house gods, and offers water or tarpan to the gods and
family ghosts, and food with sandal paste and flowers to the gods.
After finishing their morning prayer or sandhya, all of the men
dress in their sacred robe and sit to their morning meal. Before
tasting the food they perform the chitrdhuti or invocation of Chitra^
the officer of Yama the god of death and the god himself with his
staff of spirits. Then follows the aposhani or water-sipping in the
name of the fire in the human body, eating five morsels in the names
of the five airs that sustain human life.^ When they have eaten
they again sip a little water and wash their hands and faces. They
are strict vegetarians except when, at long intervals, they eat what
is left of the offering at a goat sacrifice. Their caste rule» forbid
the use of liquor, but, especially of late years, this rule is not carefully
keptw Hemp water or bhdng is freely drunk by some, and many
chew tobacco with betel leaves nuts and lime. Men shave the head
except the topknot and th^ face except the moustache and eyebrows.
Women plait the hair into a braid or veni which they tie in an open'*
half ring or khopa at the back of the head. The open half ring or
khopa fashion is slowly giving way to the practise of rolling^ the hair
into a soUd ball or knot known as the bitchcida or knot. The men'a
indoor dress includes a waistcloth or pancha, a shoulderdoth,^ and
sometimes a shirt or handi of chintz or woollen clotk When men
go abroad, they wear a turban, a long waistcloth^ a coat, and a pair
of country shoes. Elderly and pious men wear white turbans,, and
sever put on red silkbordered waist or shouldercloths. Women,
whose favourite colours are black and red, dress in a kxug Maratha
robe passing the skirt back between the feet and covering the

Chapter ni.

Popmation.

BaiUMAKS.

* These five aira or spirits ajre prdn chief air, apdn down air, vydn through air, uddn
vp air, and Bomdn digestive air, with Brahman the spirit of the universe at their
head.

[Bombay Oaaettoer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.

Populatioxi.

B&Ihuans.
J>e8ha9th$,

Dtvrvkhds,

inferior. A Deshasth will neveraaka Cbitp&yan or a Devaniklia to
dine at his honse on a mind or shrdddh feast or to officiate at any of
his ceremonies^ while a Ghitpdvan lias no objection to ask a Deshasth.
They are held in respect by other Br^hmans, and, as the possessors of
all religious knowleage, and the chief and indispensable persons in all
religions ceremonies, they have considerable importance among all
Hindus. They are either Smarts that is followers of Shankar^h&rya
the apostle of the doctrine that the soul and the universe are one, or
fifll6gvats who hold that the soul and the universe are distinct.
They worship all Brdhmanic gods and goddesses, and keep the
ordinary fasts and feasts; they make pilgrimages to Alandi,
Allahabad, Benares, Gaya, Jejuri, N&sik, Pandharpur, R£meshvar«
and Tnljdpnr. Their customs are the same as those of the Chitp&van
Br^hmans of Poena or 'the Deshasths of ShoUpur, and they
perform their ceremonies according to the ritual laid down in the
Yajurved. On the birth of a male child the father throws himself
into a well with all his clothes on, dresses in fresh clothes, and, in the
presence of his and his wife's relations, lets a couple of drops of honey
and butter fall into the child's mouth. Mother Sixth or Shashtlu
is worshipped on the fifth day with flowers, sandalpaste, and food.
The mother remains impure for twelve days when she is bathed and
becomes pure, and the child is laid in a cradle and named. At
four months old the child is taken out of the house to see the sun,
and after its fifth or six month it is fed with cooked rice. When
between one and three years old, if the child is a boy, his head is
shaved, and between his fifth and his eighth year, he is girt with the
sacred thread or jdnava. They marry their girls before they come
of age, and their boys before they are twenty or twenty-five. The
offer of marriage comes from the girl's father. When a girl comes
of age, she is held impure for three days, is seated in a wooden
frame, and is g^ven sweet dishes by her relations and friends.
On the fourth day she is bathed and presented with new clothes.
Musicians play for three days, and, on any day before the
sixteenth, when she joins her husband. They bum their dead,
do not allow widow marriage, and practise polygamy and early
marriage. They shave their widows' heads. They have a caste
council and along with Konkanasths, Karh&das, and Devrnkh^
*form the local community of Br^hmans. Caste disputes are
settled at caste meetings and doubtful matters are referred to the
Br&hman communites of Ndsik, Wdi, or Benares. The decrees of
Shank&r&chdrya at Shankesvar in Kolh^pur are final and any one
who disobeys them is put out of caste. The power of the pontiff
is said to be on the decline. They send their children to school .
Town Deshasths are fairly off ; village Deshasths are poor.

Devnikha^S, or Br&hmans of Devinikh in Ratn^giri, are returned
as numt>ering seven, and as found in Pdmer, Shevgaon, Kopargaon,
and Akola. They are not permanent settlers and are employed in the
revenue and judicial service of Government. They say that their
ancestors were Deshasths before they went to Ratn^giri. Formerly
the Deshasths thought it unlucky to dine with them ; but this
feeling is passing away. Devrukh^ have no divisions and they
marry among themselves. Their samames are Bhole, Dinge,
Ghondse, Joshi, Jnnekar, Mule, Padvale, Shitup, and Soballnr. They

DMcaiLj

AHMADNAGAB.

belong to fifteen family stocks or goiras of which the most important
are Atri^ Bh^radvdj, Gargya^ Kdshyap, Kaundinya, Kanshik,
Jamadagni^ Shdndilya, Savanak^ and Vasishth. Members of the
same family stock cannot intermarry, bat sameness of surname is
no bar to marriage. They look like Desheisths and both men and
women are strong, healthy, and somewhat dark. They speak
correct Mar^thi, and in house, food, and dress do not differ from
Deshasths. They are clean, hardworking, thrifty, and hospitable,
bat hot-tempered and ruda They are Sm&rts or followers of the
doctrine of Shankardch^rya that the soul and the universe are one.
They hare no special religious or social customs. In all these
points they follow local Deshasths or the Devrukh&s of Batndgiri
and Poena. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at
meetings of castemen. They send their boys to school^ and are
well-to-do,

Drayid or South Indian Brdhmans, numbering thirteen, are a
poor and needy class of beggars.

OOTardhan or Golak Br^hmans, numbering 485, are scattered
m small nambers all oyer the district. They perhaps take their
B&me from Goyardhan or old Ndsik near which many hold posts as
Tillage priestfi. The name of Golaks or bastards was perhaps giyen
to them by later Br^hmans because they continued to allow widow
marriage.^ They are diyidedintoKunds the descendants of aBr&hman
widow and Bands the descendants of a Brahman woman by a man
wbo is not her husband. The two diyisions eat together and
intenzauTy. Both are also caJled Gomukh or cow-mouth Brdhmans.
They do not differ from Deshasths in appearance, language, or dress.
T^J lieein houses one or two storeys high with brick walls and tiled
roo&, and their house goods include boxes, stools, cots, cradles,
carpets, blankets, and metal vessels. They own seryants, cattle, and

EUTots. They profess to be strict yegetarians but rank below
r^hmans who take neither food nor water from their hands. Both
men and women are untidy, but hardworking, frugal, and grasping.
Like regular Br^hmans they employ themselves for the most part
in seryice, trade, and landholding, and occasionally act as priests
both among themselves and among the low castes. At other times
they call Yajurvedi Brdhmans to whom they say their forefathers «
mortgaged their Brahmanical privilege of priesthood. A good
^Qy hold the position of stipendiary village clerks; it is not
blown whether any are hereditary clerks. They rank next to the
i^gnlarBr&hmans who are careful to debar them from theBrdhmanical
privileges of receiving gifts ddnpratigraha and the study of the Veds
^^^^hydpana, and treat them as low class Hindus. They send
tlieir children to school, and are fairly off though none are rich.

C^ujara'ti Bra'hxnans, including Audichs, N&gars, and
Shrimalia, numbering eighty-nine, are found in small numbers in the
to^n of Nagar and in the Plirner, Shrigonda, Karjat, Kopargaon,
^gamner, and Akola sub-divisions. They remain in the district

Chapter III-
Population.

BrAhmans.
Dewntkhdi.

Drafrids.

Cfovardhana.

Ch^ardiU.

Compare Bombay Gasetteer, XVI, 41.

[Bombay Oazetteeri

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

BRA.HMAN8.

Kdnaddi,

Karhddds.

learned and respectable local Br£hmana. They send their children
to school. As a class they are poor.

Jambus are returned as numbering forty-nine and as fonnd
only in the Nagar sub-division. They are said to have come £rom
Jambusar in Broach, but when and why is not known. They are
also called Khisti or moneylending Brdhmans from their former
occupation of moneylending. They are strict vegetarians and
drink no liquor. Nothing in their dress or customs differs from
the appearance and customs of local Br^hmans who during the last
twenty-five or thirty years have begun to eat with them. But
Jambus as a rule marry among themselves. They are owners and
cultivators of land, and some are employed in Grovernment service
as clerks. They are fairly off.

Ka'nadaand TelangBrdhmans, with a strength of fifty-three, oome
from South India and are not settled in the district They speak
Mar^thi introducing into their speech many foreign words and phnises.
In religion they are Bigvedis, and their customs and ceremonies are
the same as those of Rigvedi Deshasths with whom they eat and
drink though they do not intermarry. They hold Mah^ev and
Vishnu in special reverence, and earn their Uving either as clerks or
AS beggars. As a class they are well-to-do.

Karha'da'S, from Karh^ in Sdt^ra at the meeting of the Krishna
and Koyna rivers, are returned as numbering 186. They are chiefly
Government servants posted in Ahmadnagar city. Most are in the
district only for a time but a few are settled. They have no
subdivisions and marry among themselves and occasionaUy with
Deshasths and Konkanasths. The names for men and women do not
differ from those among Konkanasths, and their surnames are B&kre,
Devasthali,Dhavale,Dhore,Qh&nte, Gune, Gurjar, Haigriv, K&rkirde,
Karmarkar, Kibe, Shah&ne, and Shevade. They have ten family
stocks which are the same as the Ghitp&van stocks, the chief being
Atri, Jamadagni, K^hyap, Kutsa, and Naidhruv, and families
belonging to the same stock do not intermarry. Though a few are
fair and handsome, as a class they are darker less well-featured and
sturdier than the Konkanasths. Their speech is Deccan Mardthi.
Their houses are of the better class, one or two storeys high with
'brick walls and tiled roofs; and their house goods include cots,
bedding, chairs, benches, low stools, and metal drinking and cooking
vessels. They keep servants, cattle, parrots, and monkeys. They
are vegetarians and have strict and well-kept rules against the use
of liquor. Their women are famous for their skill in cookery. A
family of five spends £1 to £2 (Rs. 10-20) a month on food.
They dress like local Brdhmans. The women wear false hair and
deck their hair and bodies with flowers and ornaments. As a class
they ar^ clean, neat, hardworking, orderly, and hospitable. They are
writers in Government service, pleaders, husbandmen, traders, money-
changers, moneylenders, astrologers, and beggars. They are Sm&rts
holding that God and the soul are one, and paying equal honour
to Shiv, Vishnu, and other Brahman gods. They principally
worship the goddess Bhav^ni, and were formerly believed, apparently
with truth, occasionally to propitiate her during the nnvtxrafras in

Deccatt.]

AHMADNAGAR.

September by the sacrifice of a Telang or Karb&da Br&hman
whom they asked to their hoase for dinner, and poisoned. Their
family priest belongs to their own caste, and their religious teacher
is Shankarich&rya of Shankesvar in Kolh&pnr. In religion and
castoms they do not differ from the local Deshasths who eat and
occasionally marry with them. They are one of the four classes
who form the local Br&hman community, and settle social disputes
at meetings of the men of all four classes. They send their boys to
school, and are well-to-du.

Konkanasth or Konkan, also called ChitpaVan apparently
Chiplun Br^hmans, numbering 1255, are found in small numbers all
over the district. They are not residents and have latelv come in
search of employment. They are fair and thrifty like the Chitpdvans
of Poena from whom they differ little either in appearance or in
religions or social customs. They are divided into Rigvedis and
Apasthambhs or Yajurvedis. On account of the legend in the
Sahyidri Khand that the name Chitpdvan means pure from the
pyre, ajid that they are descended from foreigners, they prefer
Deing called Konkanasths to beinc^ called Ghitpdvans. A few are
priests^ and most are clerks or pleaoers. They are a well-to-do and
saving class.^

Ka^rwa'ris, or M&rw&r Br&hmans, are returned as numbering 971
and as found in almost all parts of the district except in Shrigonda
and Kaijat. They belong to the Panchgaud or northern group of
BnUimans, and are called Chhadny&ti or more commonly Chhany&ti
Brihmans, as they include six divisions, D&yam or Davich otherwise
called Ddyave, Onjargaud, Gaud Sdrasvat, Rhandelvdl or Gaud,
Pirikh, and Shikhav&L These eat together and form one community
bat do not intermarry. They came into the district about two hundrea
years ago as priests to Meshri Ydnis who were already settled
in the district. The names in former use among men and women were
Kke those among Osvdl and Meshri M&rwAris, Hukumchand,
Hemchand, and Ritkama. Now they are caUed after gods and
sacred places as Hari Ndrdyan and Rdmchandra among men ; and
Gan«, Sarasvati, and Yamnua among women. MaUraji or sir and
panaydji or learned sir are added to men's names, and di, bdi and mdi
to women's names. Each division is marked by different surnames. «
Those of the Ddyaves are Ch^pade, Kakade, M&lavadi, and Murdel;
those of the Gauds, Bayfidajoshi, Baval Preydth, Bivalya Byds,
Bhad&nyajoshi, By&s, Gurav Pradh&n, Haritv&I, Kalavade, Kata,
N&gvinioshi, and Panchlungya ; those of the Gujar-Gauds, Chobe,
N4bara]oshi, and Panchajdraujejoshi ; those of the Parikhs,
Agnotistivade, Baragajoshi, G4v]abora, Gt>lyaby&s, Ejkshap&joshi,
KhatAdeby&s, Madatv41 Tivadi, Mudakyaby&s, Takingydbora, and
Tivadabaya ; those of the S&rasvats, Bodavajhe, Bhandiye, C^udgile,
6ur&ve,Kay&Ijoshi,Bal&ni,Lodvajhe, Motjoshi, Pdthak,Samudrajoshi,
SarsuT&joshi, Tayanyftjoshi, Tugn&it, and tTp&dhe; and those of
the Shikav&Is, Dukhdrtivade, randit, T&vadindgale, and Vajhe.

Chapter III.

Population.

Bbahuaiis.

KarhdiddB.

Konkancuthi.

Mdrwdrit.

^ Details are given in the Poona Statistical Account.

[Bombay Oanttier,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter in.
Population.

BRiHMAirS.

Their family gods are B&laji of Tirupatiy Devi, and Saryandr&yazx ;
and their family stocks are Bh&radyd], Kasliyap, Yasishth, and Yatsa.
Members of the same family stock cannot intermarry, bat sameness
of surname is no bar to marriage. They are like Meshri M&rw4ri
Yinis ; their home tongue is Marwd.ri and they speak a corrupt
Mardthi abroad. They live in hired houses one or two storeys high
with stone or mud walls and tiled or thatched roofs. Their houses are
clean, and their vessels are well scoured. Their house goods include
low stools^ carpets, boxes, and metal vessels. They keep servants and
own a cow or a horse, but have no pets. They are great eaters and
good cooks. They eat once a day either at noon or at night when they
feel hungry. At home they are moderate eaters, and, when asked
to dine, they eat so much that they can last without food for one or
two days. They are known for their fondness for sour and sweet
dishes, and their special dishes include wheat or gram flour, sweet
b^^Us or Iddus, fried cakes or ahirdpuris stuffed with wheat-flour boiled
in clarified butter and mixed with molasses, rice, split pulse, and
clarified butter with sugar. They are strict vegetarians and of veget-
ables never touch garlic, onions, or carrots. Their staple food inolades
wheat or millet bread and split pulse with clarified butter ; rice is one
of their, holiday dishes. They bathe regularly before their morning
meal and perform the daily Br&hmanio rites like other district
Br&hmans. They keep from flesh and liquor on pain of loss of caste^
and some of them eat opium, smoke tobacco and hemp flower or gdnja,
drink hemp water or bhang, and chew tobacco with betel leaves nuts
and lime. Men and women dress either like Mardthas, or like Meshri
Mdrw&ris with two-coloured turbans and M4rw&r-shaped shoes. They
shave the head except the top-knot and side knots and the face
except the moustache and eyebrows. They wear gold earrings or
hudis, a silk thread or anant tied round the right arm, and a
talisman or tdit with a string passed through it about their neck.
They are hereditary priests and beggars and take to no new callings.
Their monthly earnings vary from 16«. to £1 (Rs. 8-10). Their
numbers have lately increased, and their profits have been lowered
by competition. The men rise at six, bathe, worship their gods,
say their morning prayers and go to their patrons' where they read
the almanac or panchdng, and tell them what time is lucky and
what unlucky for their business. While moving to and from their
patrons' they buy vegetables and leave them at their houses, and
come home at noon. They again either bathe or wash their hands
and feet, perform the daily sacrifice or vaishvadevj that is a boiled rice
offering to all Yedic goos and sages or rishis, offering water to the
Yedic gods and family ghosts, and food to the family gods, and take
food after, as a rule, performing the usual Br&hmanic rites before
and after the meal. When their meal is over they smoke or chew
tobaccC) with betel leaves, nuts, and lime, and rest for an hour or two
or sit repeating the god's praises or atotraa. They again wait on their
patrons, return home at sunset, wash their hands and feet, repeat
sacred prayers or atotras, sup on some one article of food or on sweet-
meats, indulge in their usual habit of smoking or chewing tobacco,
and retire for the night. The women rise before their husbands,

Deccaa.1

AHMADNAGAR.

clean the Iionse and the yard, wash them with cowdang, separate
grain from the husk and pound it, scour pots, wash glothes^ and
attend to the kitchen. They eat when their husbands have finished^
clean the. kitchen and vessels, rest for a time, make ready for
cooking, take to needle work, fetch water, light the house at night,
sup after the men, and go to bed at ten or eleven. Boys attend
school, and girls work under their mothers or play with their
neighbours. They rank with Deccan Br&hmans and never eat with
them though each may take water from the other. They are
religions, worshipping their family gods and keeping all Brahmanic
rites. They have a priest of their own, who officiates at their
marriage and other ceremonies. They revere Deshasth Brdhmans as
a class and give them money gifts or dakshinds, but do not ask them
to conduct their ceremonies. Some are Smarts and others are
Bhiigvats. They worship all Brdhmanic gods and visit all Hindu
sacred places. Their chief holidays are Qungor and Shildsaptami
in April, Akshatritiya in May, Ohhoti and Baditiths in July and
August, X)a«ara in September, Sankrdnt in January, and Basantpan-
ehami or Shimga in February -March ; and their fasts are the lunar
elevenths ekddaahis, and fourteenths pradoshaa, Bdmnavmi in April,
Ooiulasktami in August, Oanesh chaturthi in September, and Shiv^s
Night or Mahdshivrdtra in February. Besides these the pious
among them keep fortnightly fasts or chdndrdyan vrats, when they
eat morsels of solidified milk increasing the quantity as the moon
waxes from one to fifteen morsels and again reducing the quantity
from fifteen morsels to one as the moon wanes. Their religious
teacher is a Dravid Brdhman of the Smdrt sect. Their pontifE is
Shankardchdrya of the Shringeri monastery in North Maisur. They
brieve in witchcraft and soothsaying and in the power of evil
spirits. Early marriage and polygamy are allowed and practised ;
widow marriage is forbidden, and polyandry is unknown. They
keep the sixteen Hindu sacraments or acmskdrs, except the ceremony
when a girl comes of age. On the fifth day after a birth the goddess
Satv&i is worshipped as among local Brdhmans, and the child is
named on the twelfth or thirteenth. The mother is given a mixture
of pipal roots, ginger, and cumin seed for the first three days, and
rice and clarified butter for the next ten days. Boys are girt with
the sacred thread after they are eight, and married when they are'
twenty. Girls are married between eight and fifteen. They bum
their dead and mourn them ten days. Their rites at all the sacra-
ments or sanskdrs do not differ from those observed by local
Br^hmans. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling, and
settle social disputes at meetiiigs of castemen. Breaches of social
discipline are punished with loss of caste for a time or for ever.
They have no headman, and do not refer caste matters to their
pontiff Shankar^h^rya. They send their boys to school sftid keep
them at school till they are about fifteen. They take to no nseful
pQDrsuits.

Piardoslli, or North Indian Brihmans, are returned as numbering
855, and as found scattered in search of work over the district
especially in the town of Ahmadnagar. They have come lately
into the district from North India in search of work and many of

Chapter IIL

Population.

BbAhmams.

Mdnodrii.

Pardakis^

[Bombay Gasetteei.

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Populatioii.

BrAhmans.
Pardethis,

them^ when they have enough to live on^ retire to Northern India.
All are of the Gaud or northern stock including Eanaujs, KAfttha,
S&rasvats^ and Sarvary&s. They claim to belong to the Angimeaaj
Brahaspati, Bhdradvdj^ K&shyap^ K&ttyijran^ and Yaaiahth family
stocks. The names in common use among men are Day&sfaankar,
Dv&rk^hankar^ Devidin^ Ghbuj^^sham, Gaurishankar, Girdh&ril&l,
Gang&din, Hanumdnpras&d, B&mpras&d, and Shivapras^d; and among
women, Dhond&b^i,Gang&bdi, IUdhib&i,Stoh&b&i^ Sit^b^, and Yamo*
nilb^i. The words Mah&r&j, L&lasdheb, B&busiheb, and Panditjiare
added to men's names; and Bav^&heb^ E^kis^heb, and M&is&heb to
women's names. Their surnames are Agnihotri, B^hapCj Ghaube,
Dave, Mishra^ P&de^ Fdthak^ Shukla, Tiv^ri, and Trivedi. Samenesa
of stock but not sameness of surname is a bar to marriage. They
speak Hindi at home and a corrupt Mar&thi abroad. Their family
gods are MahAdev and Vishnu wnose shrines are both at Benares
and Gudh. They are divided into Gkiud, Kanauj, MaithU, S^rasvat,
and Utkal^ who neither eat together nor intermarry^ except that
if a girl gives a large enough dowry she can be married to a boy
belonging to a higher subdivision. Gf these the Kanaujs alone are
found in Ahmadnagar. They are again divided into Bigvedis,
S&mve<^s, Atharvavedis^ and Yajurvedis^ who neither eat together
nor intermarry. As a class they are wheat-coloured, tall, strong
and well-built and can easily be known from the people of the
district by their size^ their fine features^ and their martial bearing.
They live in one-storeyed houses of the better class like those of
local Br^manSj with walls of brick and tiled roofs. Their houses
are proverbially clean^ and their house goods include low stools and
metal vessels. Very few own cattle or pet animals though some keep
servants. They are great eaters but not such good cooks as Deccan
Br4hmans. Few eat more than once, and none eat more than twice
a day. Their staple food is wheat-flour cakes with pulse and relishes ,
curds, and clarified butter. Their special holiday dishes are balls or
Iddus^ wheat-flour cakes fried in clarified butter or j7um, milk boiled
with rice and seasoned with sugar and spices or khir, and wheat
cakes stuffed with pounded pulse and molasses or puranpoUa. They
are strict vegetarians, and are careful to keep the rule against the use
of liquor. Many smoke gdnja or hemp flower, drink hemp water
'or bhang, and chew tobacco with betel leaves, nuts, and lime* The
men never shave the head, but cut the hair close. They shave
the face except the moustache and whiskers. Women dress tbeir
hair with care and plait it into braids which they draw back and
wear at the top of the neck, decking the braids with false hair and
sometimes with flowers. The men to a certain extent have
assumed the local style of dress, and wear a waistcloth, a shoulder-
cloth, a shirt, a coat, a Mar&tha turban or headscarf called phenta
rolled round the head, and a pair of shoes or country boots. The
women hold to the Upper India dress, a petticoat, a pair of drawers
or lahangas, a coloured sheet or odhani which covers the bosom
and part of the head, and a backless bodice with its ends tied at
the back. Both men and women have a store of clothes for
holiday wear or for great occasions and put on ornaments like
those worn by the Br&hmans of the mstrict. Every married

DeceaiLl

AHMADNAGAR.

woman wears the luckj necklace or mangaUutrafihe nosering or nath,
and wristletB or pdtliSf bnt, unlike local Br&hman women, they never
wear toerings. As a class they are clean, honest, hot-tempered,
independent, courteous, and hospitable. They set great store upon
the honour of their women. They are hereditary soldiers, traders,
iuTQers, and contractors. Their earnings vary from £1 to £8
(Rs. 10-80) a month, and as a class they are free from debt. Most
of them leave their wives in Upper India, those who bring their
women get no help from them except that they mind the house.
Their daily life does not differ from that of local Brdhmans and
they stap work on all Hindu holidays. They rank with Deccan
Br&hmans but do not eat together, though they do not object to
drink water at each other's hands. One marked difference between
the practical religion of the two classes is that Deccan Br&hmans
have little scruple about committing sins, even crimes. Washings
and penances wipe off sin as easily as they cleanse from ceremonial
imptirity. The Upper India BrAhmans profess a horror of these
views. Nothing they say can wipe away the stain of a wilful
breach of the religious or moral law. In other points the purifica-
tions of the two classes of Br^hmans closely resemble each other as
they perform the same rites and study the same Veds. They are
religious, followiug the Veds, worshipping all Br&hmanic gods, and
keeping all Hindu &sts and feasts. They have their own family
priests but ask Deshasths to conduct their ceremonies, which
differ little from those of Deshasths except that they worship the
goddess Satv&i on the sixth instead of on the fifth day after the
birth of a child. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling,
and settle social disputes at meetings of adult castemen. Breaches
of social discipline are punished with loss of caste which the offender
is seldom again allowed to join. They recognise Shankar^h^rya
as their high priest, but never refer social questions for his decision.
They send their boys and not their girls to school, keeping them at
school till they can read and write and cast accounts. They take
to new pursuits and are fairly off.

Shenyis, numbering 131, are found in small numbers in Ahmad-
Dagar, P&mer, Shrigonda, J&mkhed, and Shevagaon. They are the
descendants of Sham^, and are said to have been brought by
Parashnram the sixth incarnation of Yishnu from Bengal to help
him in performing ceremonies in honour of his ancestors. They
settled in Gba in the Southern Konkan, and are said to have left
Goa and passed chiefly to Belgaum and Dh^rwir in the sixteenth
or seventeenth century in consequence of the Portuguese hatred of
Hindu rites. The Ahmadnagar Shenvis are new-comers probably
within the last fifty years and live as Government servants and
traders. They are divided into Shenvis or S&rasvats, Sdstikars,
Bardeshkars, Kud^ldeshkars, and Bhdlavalkars. In the Konkan these
dirifflons neither eat together nor intermary, but in the Deccan, where
all are strangers, they eat together though they do not intermarry.
In appearance, house, dress, food, drink, and character they do not
differ from their brethren in E^nara or Goa. They are followers of
the Bigved and are either Sm&rts that is believers in the doctrine

Chapter III
Population

BrJLhicaks.
PardeshU.

ShenvU,

[Bomliay Oflzetteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IIL
Popxilatioiu

BBiBMAliS.

Tirguls.

Vidura,

Wbitxbs.

that the aoul and the universe are one^ or BhiLgvats who hold that
the soul and the universe are distinct Their religious teacher who
belongs to their own caste is the high priest of the Sonavda
monastery in S&vantv&di. They believe in witchcraft^ soothsaying,
and the power of evil spirits. Early marriage and polygamy are
allowed and practised^ and polyandry is unknown. The heads of
widows are shaved, and they are not allowed to marry on pain of
loss of caste. Their social and religious customs do not differ from
those of the Shenvisof Onara and Goa.^ They are bound together
by a strong caste feeling, and settle social disputes at caste councils.
The decisions of their religious teacher are final in caste matters,
and persons who do not obey him are put out of caste. They send
their boys to school, and are well-to-do.

TirgulSy or Betel- Vine Growers, with a strength of 194, are
found in Ahmadnagar, P4mer, and Jamkhed. The name Tirgul or
threefold is locally derived from the Sanskrit ^rt^uJa of three families.
The story is that a Br^man married three wives, a Br&hman a
Elshatriya and a Yaishya, whose descendants formed the class of
Tirguls. Whence and when they came into the district is not
known. They have no divisions. Their surnames are Arenkelle,
Arole, Bhinge, Javalkar, Kogule, Mah^jane, Mahdshabde, Main-
darge, and Supekar. Their names do not differ from those in use
among local Brahmans. They belong to five family stocks or gotras,
Bhdradv^j, Kaushik, Kdshyap, Lohit, and Napa. Persons belonging
to the same family stock cannot intermarry. They speak corrupt
Mardthi, live in houses of the better sort, and neither eat flesh nor
drink liquor. Both men and women dress like Mardth^s, and are
clean, thrifty, orderly, hardworking, hospitable, and honest. They are
well-to-do. Except a few who are in Government service they are
employed chiefly in growing the betel vine. They used to rank with
local Brahmans, but a meeting of the Brdhman community declared
them degraded because they killed the insects which infest the
betel vine. They are Smdrts and worship all Brdhmanic gods, and
keep the ordinary fasts and feasts. Their social and religious
customs are the same as the local Deshasth customs. They study
the Veds and follow the tenets of the Yajarved. They have a
» caste council at which social disputes are settled. They send their
children to school, and are fairly oflT.

Vidurs, or Bastard Br&hmans, numbering 98 are found all over
the district except in Pdmer, Shevgaon, and Akola. They are the
illegitimate sons of Brdhman women. Like J^is they follow the
same occupation as ordinary Brdhmans except the priesthood,
and are identical with them in appearance, character, customs^ and
religion.

Writers include two castes with a strength of 167. Of these
148 (males 77, females 71) were Kfiyasth Prabhns and 19 (males 14,
females 5) were P&tdne Prabhus.

1 DetailB are given in the North K&nara StatiftiCAl Acc<mnt, Bombay Gasetteer,
XV. Part L 139-168.

DeceaiLl

AHMADNAGAR.

KSL'ySLSth Prabhus are returned as numbering 148, and as found
in the town of Ahmadnagar and the sab-division of J^mkhed.
They have come from EoUba and Th&na in the Konkan in search of
employment^ some of them being clerks in G-ovemment offices and
others pleaders. They formerly held high posts nnder Government^
and there is one Prabhu In^mdir in J&mkhed. In look^ speech,
food, drink, and dress they do not differ from their brethren in
Kolaba, Th£na, and Poona.^ They eat flesh and drink liquor,
and, as a rule, are clean, orderly, honest, thrifty, and hospitable.
They are clerks and pleaders, and as a class are well-to-do. They
mnk next to Brdhmans and above Kunbis. Daring the time of the
PeshwAs the Ghitpi^vans are said to have treated Kdyasth Prabhus
very harshly because they wore the sacred thread and because
they were dangerous rivals both as soldiers and as civil officers and
clerks. Their family gods are Ganpati, Khandoba, Tuljdbhavdni,
and other Brilhmanic gods, and they keep the regular Brihmanic
feasts and fasts. Their priest is a Deshasth Brihman who conducts
all tbeir ceremonies. They worship their family gods with sandal
paste and flowers daily and offer them food. Larly marriage and
polygamy are allowed, widow marriage is forbidden, and polyandry
is unknown. Their social and religious customs do not differ from
those of their caste people in Kol&ba. They send their children to
school and are a pushing class.

PA'ta'ne Prabhus are returned as numbering eighteen and
as fosnd in the town of Ahmadnagar only. They have come to
the district during the last fifty years, and are employed in
Goyemment service as clerks and pleaders. They resemble their
kinsmen in Th4na and Bombay in all points. There have been no
changea in their religious or social customs, as they generally go
to their native places to marry their children. They are well-to-do.

Traders include eight classes with a strength of 21,108 or three
per ceufe of the Hindu population. The details are :

Ahmadnoffar Traders, 1881.

Dirmoir.

ICidM.

FemalM.

Total.

O^jMftt Jains

Ditto Vftnis

Xmntis

Kniuun V&nis

Ud Viaia

Meihri lUnrftrii

0«t41 ditto

SanaAxi Jangims

To*ftl '.!'.

176
SOO
90
790
195
870
790S

leoi

110

272

666

106

231

6666

1608

201
672
188

1446

S61

601

14,661

8904

11,410

9698

81.106

Jains, also called Shr&vaks, numbering about 300, are
band in small numbers in Akola, J&mkhed, Kopargaon, Sai\gamner,
Shevgaon, and Shrigonda. Rishabhdhvaj and Pundarik are said
U> be the founders of their class, and Yardham^sv&mi and Oautam
the founders of their faith. According to their own account they
(ormerly dwelt in Oudh and accepted Jainism along with Bharat
^ Solar* S^shatriya the great disciple of Yardham^nav&mL They

Chapter III.
Population.

WaiTKBa.
K&yasih Prabhus

PdJtdne Prabhus.

Tbadbbs.

Ovjardt Jains.

• 772—9

I DeUilfl are given in the Poona Statistical Account*

[Bombaj Gftsetteer.

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
PoptQatLon.

Tradkbs.
Oujardt Jain§,

are called Gajars because after lea^nng Oadh they settled in Gujardt.
When and why they came to Ahmadnagar they do not know. The
names in common use among men and women are the same as those
used by Yaishnav Gujars and the men add shetji or master and
bhdyiji or brother to their names. Their surnames are Bhanddri^
Ganchi^ Mald*vera^ N£n&vati, Patu^ Parekh^ Saraph^ Shaha, and
Vakhdriya. Persons bearing the same surnames may not intermarry.
Their home tongue is Gujardti, and their family god is Pdrasndtb.
They marry among themselves. In appearance and habits they do
not differ from Gajar Vdnis. They lire in one-storeyed houses with
brick Walls and thatched or tiled roofs. They own cattle and employ
servants. Their dress does not differ fi^om the dress of Vaishnav
Gujars except that the women wear the petticoat or lahanga under the
robe. They live on millet breads pulse, and vegetables, with clari6ed
butter and sugar. They are strict vegetarians, use no narcotics,
and drink no liquor. They take two meals a day one about noon,
the other before sunset. They are hardworking, sober, frugal, and
orderly, and live as shopkeepers, moneylenders, landholders, and
petty dealers. The women spend their time in house work and
embroidery. The men rise at six, bathe, visit PdrasndtVs temple,
and sit in their shops till eleven. They return at noon, take
their midday meal, rest till two, and again go to their shops. They
take their evening meal before sunset, go back to their shops, and
stay there till nine, and retire to rest at ten. The women bathe, visit
the temple, and mind the house, taking their food after their
husbands and going to bed at eleven. Boys go to school or work
under the eye of their fathers or of some relation, and girls help
their mothers in the house. They rank with Vaishnav Gujars
though neither class eats from the other. They are religious, and
their family god is P^asndth. The devout fast on the second,
fifth, eighth, eleventh, fourteenth, and fifteenth of every fortnight.
In Chaitra or April from the seventh to the fifteenth of the bright
half and the first nine days or Navaratra in Ashvxn or September they
strictly abstain from food and drink. They belong to the Digdmbar
or sky-clad that is naked- god worshipping sect of Jains. Their
priest is a Gujardt Brahman whom they ask to ofl&ciate at their
» marriage ceremonies. They hold Brahmans in great reverence, and
their religious teacher is a Brahman of their own sect to whom
they pay yearly tribute. He preaches Jain doctrines among his
disciples, and is succeeded by the one among his pupils whom the
Jain community considers the most worthy. They believe in
soothsaying but profess not to believe in witchcraft or evil spirits.
Their only sacrament or aanskdr is marriage. On the fifth day after
.the birth of a child the women of the house worship the goddess
Satvdi ^nd the child is named on the twelfth. Though the mother is
not considered impure in consequence of the birth, the members of
her husband's family do not visit the temple for twelve days.
The girl's brow is marked with vermilion by a Brahman priest
who worships Ganpati and Varuna in the presence of the boy's parents
and relations, and announces the proposed marriage. When the
betrothal is completed neither party can draw back from a marriage.
After two or three years comes the ceremony of simanfi or bridegroom

Oec€a]i.J

AHMADNAGAB.

worship at the boundary of the village^ when the girl's father presents
the boy with a oocoanut and 2«. (Re. 1). The pair are rubbed with
tarmeric paste two or three months before the^ marriage day. The girl
first receives the turmeric powder mixed with oil, and the women of
her house, with music and a band of friends, take a little of the oil and
turmeric to be rubbed on the boy. On the day before the marriage,
at both the boy's and the girl's, to please the gods, an earthen
pot or sugad is brought from the potter's, its outside is white-
washed, and a red thread is coiled round its neck. The boy in his
hoQse and the girl in her house fills the pot with rice, offers it
aaadal paste, vermilion, and flowers, and leaves it in one of the
comers of the house. The other details do not differ from those
performed at a Brahman marriage. They do not raise the marriage
altar or bahule, but form a square of earthen pots, arranged in lines,
with a bamboo stake driven into the ground at each comer of
the square and with horizontal bamboos lashed . to the comer
poles. The Br4hman priest blesses the pair strewing rice on them
and thev are husband and wife. The priest performs all the rites
while tne couple sit before him. During or before the ceremony
the bride is presented with ornaments and the priest is given a fee
of U (Rs. 40). They have no sunmukh or mother-in-law's
looking at the bride. The mother-in-law sees the girl's face at the
time oi marriage ; she is not, as among Deccan Br^hmans, brought
with great pomp after the troth plighting or vdnigrahan.
Frieods and relations are feasted for two or three days and the
Qurriage ends with a caste feast at the girl's. Then the
pair go to the bridegroom's and throw rice on the earthen
pot or sugad, whicb was already worshipped in the name of the
marriage guardian or devak. The Kunbi customs oijhdl or handing
over and of the jhenda or war dance form part of their wedding rites.
Girls are impure for three days after coming of age. On the fourth
they are bathed and allowed to join their husbands without any
special rites. They bum their dead. Kinsmen are not held
impare because of a death happening in the house, nor are any
memorial or mind rites performed. The mourners do not leave the
l^ose for three days after the funeral and shave their heads on the
Wth day and visit the temple. Early marriage and polygamy are
ttDcommon and polyandry is unknown. They have a caste council
snd settle social disputes at meetings of the caste without any
reference to their religious teacher. Breaches of social discipline
lire panished with loss of caste. They send their boys to school and
keep them at school till they are fifteen or sixteen. They take to no
Dew pursuits and are well-to-do.

Qujara^t Va'nis are returned as numbering 512, and as found in
Akola, Jimkhed, Nagar, Nevd^, Rdhuri, Sangamner, and Shoj^gaon.
They include the two divisions of Vadnagari and Visnagari Vdnis, and
claim descent from the Vaishyas the third of the four traditional
Hindu tribes. They have no record or tradition of their coming to
Ahmadnagar, except that they are supposed to have been settled
ibout ten generations or three hundred years. Tbe names in common
ose among men are DAmodardds, Dwarkadis, Haridas, Krishnadds,
Midhavdas, Parabhudils, Vallabhdds, Vishnudaa, Vithald^a, and

Chapter IIL
Population.

Tbadxbs.
OujardA Jains,

Ovjardt Vdnis,

FBombay Oaaetteer*

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
PopalaUon.

Tradbrb.
GtijardU Vdnia,

Uttamd^ ; and among women Bh&girthib&i, Janm&b&ij E^rishnab&i,
K^veribfiiy Motib^i, lUkhamdbdi, Sandardb&i| and Yithib&L They
have no samames. Their family god is Vyankatesh or Bil&ji of
Tirapati. Some are Vadnagars and others Yisnagars from the
towns of those names in North Gujarat. All in the district are said
to belong to the Yishe division of these two classes. The two
classes eat together bat do not intermarry. As a rule they are
wheat-colonred^ regular and delicate featured, and weak, the women
being fairer than the men. Their home tongue is Gujar&ti, bat oot
of doors they speak Mar^thi. They live in houses like those of upper
class Hindus, one or two storeys high, with brick walls and tilo
roofs, and floors of beaten clay. Their house goods include
tables, chairs, low stools, bedding, quilts, blankets, and metal vessels*.
They own cattle and sometimes horses ; parrots are their only pets,
and they keep servants. They are good cooks and moderate eaters.
Their staple food includes rice, wheat flour cakes, split pulse, and
vegetables, and their fondness for sweet and sour articles and their
dislike of pungent articles are proverbial. Their special dishes
include fried wheat cakes stuffed with boiled wheat flour mixed with
molasses called shirdpvHa, various sweet flour balls or ladxtSj sugared
rice or sdkharbhdt boiled in clarified butter and seasoned with spices,
and hdsundi that is boiled milk sweetened with sugar and spices.
They do not eat onions, garlic, radishes, or carrots. They bathe
daily and offer food to the family gods with flowers and sandal
paste. Before they take their morning meal, they feed the
cows on rice and clarified butter with pulse called gogrds or the
cow's share. They give caste feasts at marriages. They neither eat
flesh nor drink liquor, and use no narcotics except hemp water or
bhdng which they drink on festive occasions and during the hot
weather. Some of them chew tobacco with betel leaves nuts and
lime. The men have assumed the local Br&hman style of dress
including a waistcloth,Bhouldercloth, coat,'Brdhman turban,and shoes.
The women dress in the backed and short-sleeved Deccan bodice, and
a long Maratha robe^hanging like a petticoat from the waist to the
ankles without drawing the skirt back between the feet. The upper
end is drawn over the head and covers the shoulders and bosom.
Men shave the head except the topknot, and the face except the
moustache and eyebrows ; and women plait their hair in braids which
they tie in an open semicircular knot at the back of the head. They
do not deck the hair with flowers or false hair. Both men and
women keep a store of rich clothes brought from Ahmadabad,
Ndgpar, Paithan, and Yevla, and have a large number of ornaments
like those worn by local Brdhmans. As a class they are dean,
social, orderly, thrifty, and hospitable, but timid, dishonest in their
dealings, and frugal even to stinginess; their love of money is
proverbial. Trade is their hereditary calling. Those who have
no capital begin by working as servants and clerks at the shops of
rich merchants and in time become partners. None of them till
the land or earn a living as house servants. They are grocers, cloth-
dealers, moneylenders, and moneychangers. Their trade is brisk in
the fair season and they are well-to-do, though they complain that of
late years competition has greatly reduced their profits. They bathe

Doocaa.}

AHMADNAGAR.

at six in tlie morning and sit in their shops from seven to eleven or

twelve. They dine at twelve, rest till two^ and again go to their

shops. They do not retnrn till ten^ snp, and go to rest. Women

mind the honse and do not help the men in their shops. They rise at

six, clean the honse, cook the food^ and dine after the men. After

a nap they take their needle work^ make and receive visits, bow

to the god in the temple, make supper ready, sap, and go to bed

about eleven. Old^ women pass much of their time in prayer.

Boys go to school wd girls work in the house under the mother's

eye. They rank below Brdhmans and above Mar^th^, and eat

from the hands of their own Br&hmans, and occasionally from Deccan

and Shenvi Brdhmans and Pdnch&ls. They are religious worshipping

all firihmanic gods and keeping all Hindu fasts and feasts. Their

family gods are Bal&ji or Vyankoba of Tirupati in North Arkot

and Vithobaof Pandharpur in ShoMpur, and they make pilgrimages

to the leading Hindu sacred places. Their priest is a Qujardti

Br^man, and in his absence a Deshasth Brdhman is asked to

officiate at their marriage, puberty, and death ceremonies. They

belong to the Yalabh^ch^rya sect Every male and female should

receive religious instructirju from the teacher and repeat the verse or

mantra which the teacher whispers into the ear of the initiated.

They bow before him and offer him flowers and sandal pasfce. They

believe in soothsaying and astrology, but profess not to believe in

witchcraft, omens, or evil spirits. Of the sixteen Br&hman

ceremonies or sanskdrs they perform the naming, hair-clipping,

maniage, puberty, and death ceremonies. The details on

each of these occasions differ little from those in use among

local Brdhmans. When a boy begins to learn to write he is taken

to school on a lucky day with music and a band of friends. In the

name of Sarasvati, the goddess of leftrning, he lays before the slate

flowers, sandal paste, vermilion and turmeric powder, sweetmeats,

with betel leaves and nuts and a cocoanut, and bows to the slate.

Packets of sweetmeats are handed among the school boys. The

teacher makes the boy write Om namaa siddham, corrupted

ioto 0 nd md si dham^ that is, Bow to the perfect, and is

presented with a roll of betel leaves, nuts, and mon^y, and the

learning ceremony or Sarasvati pujan is over. Unlike local

Bnihmans, girls worship the goddess of fortune or mangaldgauri

before, and never after they are married. Early marriage is allowed

and practised^ widow marriage and polygamy are forbidden on pain

of loss of caste ; polyandry is unknown. They have a caste council

and settle social disputes at its meetings. Breaches of caste discipline

are panished with fine and the decisions of the council are obeyed

on pain of loss of caste. They send their boys to school, take to

new pursuits, and are well-to-do.

Eomtis are returned as numbering 183, and as found all cSVer the
district exceptin Jamkhed, Karjat, lUhuri, Shevgoan, and Shrigonda.
They seem to have come into the district from Telangan, though
when and why they came is not known. The names in common use
among men are Govinda, Rdma, Vishnu, and Vithoba ; and among
women Chima, Granga, Lakshmi, Rama, and Tamuna* Their
surnames are Bhiug^kar, Chhet, Chitte, Gdndhekar, Konakam,

Chapter III.
Population.

Tradbrs.
Oujardt Vdniik

Komtis,

IBomlMiy Gawiteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ni.
Fopiilation.

TRADEB&

Komtia.

Nimbdlkar, Niradkar, Pdnkar, Sodal, Tamtam, and Vadkar. Persons

bearing the same surnames cannot intermarry. Their home tongae

is Telugu, and their family god is B^laji or Vyanktraman of Tirapati

in North Arkot. They are divided into J^nav and V&d Komtis, the

J&navs weaving and selling sacred threads which the Y&ai Komtis

neither wear nor sell. These two classes eat together but do not

intermarry. There is a third class of bastard or Kada Komtis who eat

but do not marry with the other Komtis. They are dark, strong, and

flabby, with a round face and small livdy eyes. They mark their brows

with two perpendicular lines of white sandal paste with a black Hne

between, and shave the head except the topknot, and the face except

the moustache. The women tie their hair in a knot but do not wear

flowers or false hair. They live in houses like Knnbi houses with brick

walls and tiled or thatched roofs. Their house goods include low stools,

quilts, and metal and earthen vessels, and they own cattle and horses

and other beasts of burden. They are moderate eaters and good cooks

and are fond of sourand sharp dishes. Their staple food is millet bread,

split pulse, and vegetables, and their pet holiday dishes are polls or

sugar roUy-polies. They eat flesh except beef and pork and drink

liquor. They never ofFer their gods animal food and on all holidays

and fasts abstain from spirituous drinks. Some of them smoke ^dn/a

or hemp flower and drink hhdng or hemp water, and all chew tobacco.

Men dress in a waistcloth, a shouldercloth, a turban, and shoes or

sandals; and women dress in a bodice with a btck and short sleeves

and a robe falling to the ankles without drawing the skirt back

between the feet. Both men and women are fond of bright colours

and have a store of ornaments like those of local Brdhmans. As

a class they are dirty, hardworking, honest, orderly, and showy,

but thriffcy and hospitable. Their chief and hereditary calling is

dealing in sacred threads or jdnavas and in copper, brass, and iron

vessels which they put in a basket and hawk about the streets,

sometimes selling them but generally exchanging them for old

clothes. They attend all fairs and visit distant plaees where they

think their wares will find a good market. The women mind

the house and beg about the streets. The men rise early, go about

selling their pots, and return home in the evening. The women and

children leave their homes at six, beg till ten, return homo, eat, and

• rest, leave the honse again at two, and beg till dark. They rank below

Brdhmans and above Kunbis. A family of five spends 16«. to £1

(Rs.8-10) a month. A house costs £2 108. to £10 (Rs. 25-100) to

build, and their belongings are worth £2- 10 to £10 (Rs. 25- 100). A

birth costs 10«. to £1 (Rs. 5-10), a thread-girding £1 to £2 10a.

(Rs. 10-25), a marriage £2 10«. to £10 (Rs, 25^100), and a death

£1 to £2 lOa. (Rs 10-25). Every day they lay flowers, sandal

paste, and food before the image of Vyankati-aman of Tirupati, of

Vithoh«i of Pandharpur, of Devi of Tuljdpur in th« Nizdm's country,

of Ganpati, of Khandoba of Jejuri in Poona, and of Maruti, and

keep all Hindu fasts and feasts. Their priest is a Telang Brahman

who lives in Poona, and visits their villages once a year, but does

not take food at their hands. He officiates at their marriages and

receives a yearly tribute in money from each of his followers. In his

absence local Brdhmans are asked to take his place at their ceremonies

Deecan.1

AHMADNA.GAR.

and are much respectecL They make pilgrimages to Jejuri in Poona^
Pandharpur in Shol&pur^ and Tirupati in North Arkot. They believe
in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits. Early marriage, poly-
gamy, and widow marriage are allowed and practised and polyandry
is unknown. On the fifth day after the birth of a child the goddess
Satr&i is worshipped. On the twelfth neighbour women meet at
the mother's and name and cradle the child. Packets of betel
leaves and nuts with boiled gram are handed to the guests and the
cradling is over. Boys are girt with the sacred thread between
eight and twelve. A booth or porch is built in front of the house
and an altar or bahule is made. The boy stands on the altar and is
girt with the sacred thread or jdnava with PurAnic not Vedic rites.
Kinsfolk and friends are asked to dine and the boy's sacred thread
is renewed every year on the Shrdvani Paurnima or August fuU-
moon« Boys are married between fifteen and twenty-five and girls
between five and fifteen. The offer comes from the boy's side. His
father proposes the match to the girl's father, and, if he agrees, the
boy's &ther marks the girl's brow with vermilion. The priest chooses
a lucky day for the marriage, and invitation cards are sent round
by the parents both of the boy and of the girl. On a day before
the marriage day, to please the gods, a married couple worships a
copper coin with a cocoanut and betelnut at the house of each of the
parents in the name of Vyankoba and lays sandal paste and flowers
before them. The bAdegroom visits the bride's village with music
aud a band of friends, and is married with the same details as
Briihmans, except that Sanskrit verses are used instead of Yedic
verses. Friends and relations are feasted and the couple are taken
to the bridegroom's. When a girl comes of age she sits apart for
three days and is bathed on the fourth. Her brow is marked with a
ronnd spot of vermilion and her lap is filled with rice, cocoanut,
and fruit. They mourn the dead ten days, and bury or bum
them with the same details as Kunbis. On the third day
the chief moamer gathers the ashes of the dead and has his face
clean-ahaved on the eleventh, and caste people are treated to a
dinner on the thirteenth. They do not employ a Brahman at their
fanerals and hold no mind-feast or ahrdddh in honour of the dead.
They are bound together by a strong caste feeling and settle
social disputes at meetings of castemen. Smaller breaches of social
rales are punished with fine by the castemen, and graver offences
are referred to their religious teacher Krishn&chdrya whose decision
is final and is obeyed on pain of loss of caste. They send their
boys to school, but take to no new pursuits and are badly off.

La'd Va'nis are returned as numbering 361, and as found only
in Nagar and Shevgaon. When or why they came into the district
is not known, but their name seems to show that they CE^pie to
Ahmadnagar froml^outh Qujar&t whose old name (a.d. 150) was L&d
orL&t Desh.^ The names in common use among men and women do
not diflFer from those used by local Brahmans. Their surnames are
B&late, Chav&n, Chikhale, Chaudhari, Gosdvi, Joshi, JMre, Eardde^

Chapter IIL

Population.

Traders,
KomtU^

Ldd Vdnis.

> Gtoipare Bombay Gazetteer, XIL 57 note 1 and XIII. 43d note 4.

[Bombay G«iettatr.

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IIL
Population.

Tbadxrs.
Ldd Vdnis.

Kvnamh

Khele, Modi^ Paithankar^ and Shete. Their family gods are Devi of
Talj4par,Mah4deyof Singnipar inSdt&ra, andVithobaof Pandharpur
in ShoUpar, and their family-stocks are Agasti^ Bh&rady&j, Qarga,
Gaatam, Jamadagni, Kaushik^ Kdahyap, Naidhrav^ and Vishv4mitra.
Sameness of family stock bat not sameness of surname is a bar to
marriage. In appearance and speech they do not differ from local
Brdhmans or Son&rs. They live in one-storeyed houses like those
used by Kunbis. Their house goods include metal vessels and they
own servants, cattle, horses, and pet animals. They are great
eaters and poor cooks, and their staple food is bread, pulse, and
vegetables. Their dainties include rice, sugar roUy-polies, and split
pulse with clarified butter. They bathe daily and worship their
family gods before they take their morning meals. They smoke
hemp«flower or gdnja and tobacco, eat opium, and drink bhang or
hemp-water but never touch animal food or liquor. Both men and
women dress like local Br&hmans and have all their ornaments
shaped in Br&hman fashion. As a class they are clean, honest,
hardworking, orderly, thrifty, and hospitable. They are hereditary
dealers in rice, cloth, spices, and groceries. Village L&ds are hus-
bandmen or clerks in G-ovemmont service or under shopkeepers.
The women mind the house and help the men in their calling. Child-
ren above twelve work under their fathers' eye and in a few years are
skilful traders. They work in the shop from morning to noon, return
home, bathe and take their food, rest till two, tod again go to their
shops. They come home at seven, sup, and retire for the night. Their
trade is brisk during the Hindu marriage seasons from November
to May and on holidays, and they never entirely close their shops.
Their monthly earnings vary from 8«. to £4 (Rs.4-40). They
complain that competition has lowered their profits. Still they are
comfortably off and contented though they have to borrow to meet
marriage expenses. They rank above Eunbis and below Br^Lhmans.
A family of five spends £1 to £1 4«. (Bs. 10-12) a month. They are
religious people, worshipping their family and other Brdhmanic gods,
and visiting holy places. Their priest is a Deshasth Brdhman whom
they ask to officiate at their leading ceremonies. They keep the
leading Hindu holidays, and put on afresh sacred thread ovjanava
every Shrwvan full-moon or Cocoanut Day in August. They believe
in witchcraft, soothsajring, and sorcery. Early marriage and poly-
gamy are allowed, and polyandry ieT unknown. Widow marriage
is forbidden but the widow's head is not shaved. Boys are girt with
the sacred thread at eight and married between fifteen and twenty.
Their customs are partly like those of Kunbis and partly like those of
Br&hmans, except that the texts are in ordinary not in Vedic Sanskrit.
They burn their dead and mourn them ten days. Social disputes are
settle^ at meetings of their castemen, and breaches of social disci-
pline are punished with fines which are generally spent on caste
feasts. They send their boys to school and are fairly off.

Kunam or Kunbi Va'nis, or Mardtha traders, are returned as
numbering 1445, and as found all over the district in small numbers.
They rank as Shudras or lower class Hindus. They are old settlers
who have neither record nor memoir of a former home. The names
in common use among men are B6pu, Balvant, Dhonda, Govind,

AHMADNAGAR.

and RAma ; and among women, BhAgiratlii, Chimani, Ganga, Mann,
Sakiii, S^la, and Thaki. They add the word shet or merchant to the
nameaof men and bdito thenamesof women. Their aamames are Are,
Aviii, Ahir, Bodake, Bornle, Dandndik, Dhdvare, Godase, Goldde,
Gajar, H^ane, Holkar, Jagddle, Kadekar, Kalaskar, Kile, Kdsid,
Mitkari, MoUUe, Ndndnre, Nikam, Pibhore, Pdndule, Pansambdl,
Sajgore, Scheie, Sadivarte, Sinde, Todekari, Vfekar, and Yevari.
Persons bearing the same surname cannot intermarry. Their family
gods are Bahiroba of SoQ&ri in Ahmadnagar, Devi of Tuljdpur and
of Basin in Ahmadnagar, Dival Malik in the town of Ahmadnagar,
Khandobaof Jejori near Poona, and Yyankatesh of Tirupati in North
Arkot. They have two divisions, one which wears and one which does
not wear the ling, and who differ in no points except that the ling'
wearers rnb their brows with cowdung ashes. They eat together and
intermarry. They do not differ from local Mar&tha Kunbis in appear-
ance or dress, and live in one-storeyed houses with mud walls and
thatched roof s. Their house goods include metal and earthen vessels,
and they keep servants, own cattle and ponies, and have pet parrots.
They are great eaters and poor cooks. Their staple food is millet
bread, split pulse, and vegetables, and they are fond of hot dishes.
They bathe daily before the morning meal, worship Shiv^s
emblem the ling and their family gods, and offer them food. Caste
feasts are given during marriages and after deaths. Their special
dishes include wheat cakes stuffed with boiledpulse and molasses, rice,
varions kinds of wheat-flour balls or Iddus, and clarified butter.
Tfaey neither eat flesh nor drink liquor but many chew tobacco
with betel leaves nuts and lime. The men shave the head except
the topknot and the face except the moustache and eyebrows. The
women tie their hair in a knot at the back of the head without decking
it either with flowers or with false hair. The men's outdoor dress
includes a loincloth or waistcloth, a shouldercloth, a shirt or bandi,
a coat, a sheet of different colours, and a Br&hman turban. The women
dress in a long Maritha robe with the skirt drawn back between the
feet and a bodice with a back and short sleeves. Both men and
women have a store of clothes and ornaments for holiday wear and
for great occasions. As a class they are somewhat uncleanly, hardwork-
ing, honest, wanting in forethought, hospitable, and with a good name
for honesty. Their hereditary calling is trade. They are grocers,
basbandmen, cart-drivers, pack-bullock men, Government and private
servants, and labourers. Tbe women help the men by sitting in the
shop when the men are away or at work in the field. Boys over eight
work in their father's shops or in the fields. Grocers are busy in
the fair season and are better off than the others, most of whom are
in debt. Traders work from seven to twelve in the morning and
from two to eight in the evening. Between October and August
which is their busy season husbandmen work in the field froih six in
the morning to six at night, return home at sunset, and retire for the
night soon after supper. The women mind the house and help the
men when they have leisure. They stop work for some days during a
marriageor after a death. Theyrank with Kunbis. They are a religious
people, worshipping all Br&hmanic gods and keeping all Hindu fasts

B 772— 10

Chapter ni.
Population.

Tjiadess.
Kunams.

[Bombay Oaeetteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

Traders.
Kunams,

MfsJiri Mdrwdris,

and feasts. They pay almost equal reverence to Shiv and Vifihna
and go on pilgrimage to Alandi^ Benares, Jejuri, Tnljipar, and
Tirapati. The priest of those who wear the ling is a Jangam^ but
they also call a Br&hman to their chief ceremonies. They are
Samprad&is or followers of Tnkdr&m the famous Mar&thaYtei moral
and religions poet who lived in the seventeenth century, wear rosaries
of basil beads, and repeat his couplets or abhanga in honour of Vithoba
of Pandharpur. Their religious teacher is a devotee of Vithoba and
a follower of Tukdr^m, whom they bow before and offer uncooked
food, flowers, and sandal paste. They worship local gods, and
believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and spirits, whom they scare by
repeating prayers and with the help of Devrushis or Hindu exorcists.
Early and widow marriage and polygamy are allowed, and
polyandry is unknown. Of the sixteen Hindu sacraments they
observe only birth, naming, marriage, puberty, and death with the
same rites as those practised by ICunbis. On the fifth day after
a birth the goddess Satvai is worshipped and the child is
named on the twelfth. At the time of marriage, the god-pleasing
or deva pratishtha is held at the house of one of the castepeople, and
the wedding guardian or devak is laid in a winnowing fan and
worshipped. Married girls are not allowed to wear the nose-ring
before they come of age. On coming of age a girl is consideretl
impure for three days, and on the fourth her lap is filled with
rice and she is bathed. The followers of Tuk&rdm bum their
dead and mourn ten days ; {tn^-wearers bury with Ling&yat rites
but hold after-death ceremonies in Brdhman fashion. They havo
a caste council or panch, and settle social disputes at meetings of
castemen under the control of the council. A headman, called ehetya,
attends marriages, and the fathers of the bride and bridegroom
present him with betel and mark his brow with sandal paste. Hin
office is hereditary, and tra^ders consult him on trade questions. He
fixes the market rates and all members of the community are
forbidden to undersell on pain of fine or loss of caste. They send
their boys to school, take to no new pursuits, and as a class are
somewhat depressed.

Meshri Ma'rwa'ris, or Brdhmanic V^is from Marw&r» are
returned as numbering 561, and as found in small numbers all over
the district. Meshri is a short form of Maheshvari, that is worshippers
of Mahesvar or the Great God. They are staunch worshippers of Shiv,
and say that Shiv restored them to life after they had been turned
into stone by a saint whose hermitage hunger forced them to
plunder. They are said to have come from Marwdr and settled in
Ahmadnagar about two hundred years ago. The names in common
use among men are Ambdd^s, BijArdm, Gopdldds, Lachhir&m,
Mayan^r^m, Mangald^, Otar^m, Kdmsuk, and Sav^irdm; and
among women, Gting&b^i, Jamn&b^i, Mathurdbai, Pritabdi, and
Tamundb^i. The men add Shetji or Sdhdji to their names, and
their surnames are Aju, Bdbari, Baladave, Bajij, Batad, Bang,
Bhaditde, Bhand^ri, Bhutade, Buvi, Byah&ni, D&ge, Darag, Dram^ni,
Gelada, Qilade, Hede, Jud^ni, Jakhote, Jhanvar, Jodar, J viil, E&lya,
Eak&ni, Kdvare, EhadaUya, K^thiye, Lada, Loya, Lakhote, Loh^ti,

SeeeanJ

AHMADNAGAR.

Midhanej MaUvi^ M41u, Miniy&r^ Mintri^ Mod&ni, Mudane, Mnndade^
S^dadOy Shikachi^ Soni, Totale^ and Tosaniv&r. Persons bearing the
same sarnames can not intermarry. Their home tongue is M4rw&ri,
and their family god is B^l&ji of Tirapati in North Arkot. In
appearance, dwelling, food, drink, dress, character, calling, and
position they do not differ from Osval M^rwiris. They rise at six
and sit in their shops till noon, when they go home, bathe, dine, rest
till two, and again go to their shops where they stay till eight,
check Uieir accounts, snp, and retire for the night. The women
mind the house, dine aiter the men have dined^ and sew and
embroider till dark. They cook supper, snp after their husbands,
clean the dishes, and go to bed. Boys below twelve go to school,
and mothers teach the girls embroidery and singing. As a class
they are well-to-do. They are religious, worshipping their family
god Bdldji or Vyankoba of Tirupati among other Bi^manic gods,
and keeping all Hindu fasts and feasts. Their priest is a Deccan
Brahman who is asked to officiate at their death and marriage
ceremonies. Though they belong to the Shaiv sect, they wor-
Khip Vishnu and visit all sacred places. Their chief holidays are
Akakairitiya in May, the lunar thirds in Shrdvan or August when
they worship Shitalddevi, Dasara in September, Diudli in October,
SankfAnt on the twelfth of January, and Shimga in March. They
fast on all lunar elevenths and fourteenths, on Rdmnavami in April,
on Jeaimdshtami in August, and on Shiv^s Great Night in February.
The women's fast days are Vatsdvitri in June and Shildsaptami
ia March. Their religious teacher is a Bair^, otherwise called
kkdki that is the ashman, because he rubs his body with
ashes. They believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits.
Of the sixteen Hindu sacraments they perform only four, birth
loarriage puberty and death. On the fifth day after the birth of a
child the goddess Satv^ is worshipped, but they do not offer her
pomegranate flowers or lemon fruit. The mother^s room is lighted
daring the whole night, and her impurity lasts twelve or twenty-
seven days. At the end of this she is bathed, and, aa among
Brdiimans, the child is shown the sun and named. Boys are married
between fifteen and twenty, and girls before they are thirteen. At
the betrothal the girl worships Ganpati and Varun, and the boy's
father marks her brow with vermilion. Six months before the
marriage day the girl is presented with ornaments and rubbed with
turmeric from three days to two months before the marriage, the
intermediate period being spent in feasts, and gadganer or processions
in which the girl or the boy is seated on horseback and taken from
bouse to house and welcomed by the house women with songs. On
returning the boy or girl dismounts and a dough lamp is waved by
the sister. Friends and relations are feasted. On the marriage
day the boy is seated on horse-back, the marriage coronet or brow-
horn is tied to his brow, and he is taken to the girl's house. Be-
fore he dismounts a stick is handed to him with which he touches
the marriage porch. The Brdhman priest measures the time by a
water-clock, close to which a picture of Granpati is fixed, the
couple are made to stand face to face with a curtain drawn between
them, and are married at the lucky moment. The ritual is the

Chapter IIL
Population.

Tradsbs.
Meshri Mdrwdris,

[Bombay GflMlteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
PopnlatioiL.

Traders.
Meakri MdriodrU,

Otvdl Mdrwdris.

same as that followed at an Osv&l Mdrw&ri's marriage. When a
girl comes of age she is considered impore for three days, bathed
on the foarth, and presented with sweet dishes by her female
friends and relations. Her lap is filled and she is sent to live
with her hnsband. They burn their dead and mourn ten days.
The dead are laid on the bier with a bellmetal cap placed under
the pillow, taken to the burning-ground, and burned with the same
ceremonies as those performed at the funeral of an Osv^ Mi^rw^
or a Mdrwdr Brdhman. They are bound together by a strong
caste feeling, and settle social disputes according to the opinion of
their castemen under the presidency of the council or panch. They
do not send their children to school, take to new and useful pursuits,
and are well-off.

Osval Ma'rwa'ris are returned as numbering about 14,500 and
as found scattered in small numbers all over the district. They are
said to have come to Ahmadnagar for purposes of trade within the
last 200 years, and many have joined since the beginning of British
rule. The men add chand or moon, dda or slave, Zal or favourite, and
Tnal or warrior to their names, as Punamchand, Bhagvdnd^, Mdmklal,
and Bahdrmal ; Bdbdji, Bhaydji, and Kdkaji are terms of respect used
to elders and caste leaders. The names in common use among
women are Chandkuvar, Jamni, Kesar, Kasturi, Moti, R^jkuvar,
Bambha, Sankri, and Suryakuvar. Bdi or lady is generally added to
women^s names. Their surnames are Bahira, Bhalkat, BhandAri,
Chdndgire, Chopade, Gadhe, Gddhdte, Q^ndhi, Gugale, Gulecha,
Eothar, Loda, Lukadrap, Mini, Mutachopada, Pdrakh, Pothame,
Punavate, S&nA, S&ngide, Shinge, Sigavi, Sukhadi, Suma, Sur^na,
Surap^ni, and Ydgm&r. Persons bearing the same surnames
cannot intermarry. As a rule, like Gujar&tis, relationship on the
mother's side is held to bar marriage as much as relationship on
the father's side. Their home tongue is Mdrwdri and their family
gods are Ajitn&th and Pdrasn^th of Benares, and Rikhabn^th of
Dhuleva in TJdhepur. Osvdl Mdrw&ris have two divisions. Bade
Sajans or Big Good men who are of the Dases or Tens, and the
Chhote Sajans or Little Good men, who are of the Vise or Score
division of the caste.^ Of the cause of the split in the caste the
story is told that, about 800 years ago, a caste feast was given at
a Tillage in M^rwdr when all members were asked except an old
widow and her son whose names were forgotten by mistake. The
old lady took offence and she and her son separated from the rest
of the caste and founded the Bade or senior branch of the
community. The two classes eat together but do not intermarry.
As a rule Mdrwdris are darker and stouter than local Brihmans
and Vdnis. The face is long, the eyes rather small, the teeth
good, and the whiskers and moustache long and bushy. The
home tongue is M&rw^ri, but they write their account books in
Qujardti, and speak Mar^thi or Hindustani with others. They
live in good houses one or two storeys high with brick walls
and tiled roofs. The houses are clean inside but are badly aired.

1 The origin of the common Gujar4t and MArwir caste division into Tens and
Scores seems to mean that the Vise is the fall and the Dcue the half caste.

Deeeatt.1

AHMADNAGAR.

Their house goods inclnde boxes, beddings blankets^ and metal
vessels. They keep servants to do the house-work and to help them
in their business^ and own cattle and horses but never burden them-
selves with pets. They are great eaters and good cooks^ and their
f Qindness for sweet and dislike for hot and sour dishes is proverbial.
Their staple food includes chapdtis or wheat flour cakes, khichadi or
rice and pulse boiled together and seasoned with clarified butter and
spices, and vegetables. All bathe daily and worship the house gods
before their morning meal. They neither eat flesh nor drink liquor
on pain of loss of caste. On the second fifth eighth and eleventh of
each lunar fortnight, they do not eat vegetables. Even on other days
few of them taste onions or garlic. Most of the men take a pill of
opium in the morning and at noon after they have taken their food.
The men usnaly dress in a waistcloth, a shouldercloth, a coat, and large
towering turban, and the rest of the dress is the same as that of local
Brihmans except that it looks greasy and dirty. Some have lately
taken to wear a turban shaped like the local Brdhman turban. They
shave the head except three knots, one on the crown and one above
each ear, a practise which has given them the name of the Tm-ahende or
Three-knotted Mdrwiris. The women keep their hair well combed and
carefully smoothed with gum water. They plait the hair into braids
which they stiffen with gum water and wear in an open semicircular
braid at the back of the head. Unlike the people of the district,
they do not use wild cow hair but tie the hair with dyed cotten
thread. They use no flowers in their hair and no ornaments,
except a gold bud or Jcali which is worn either on the crown or
in the middle of the knot or above the braid. They are fond of
gay colours, and dress in a petticoat with a particoloured robe
and a backless bodice or kdcholi closed in front and tied behind
with strings. Out of doors when they meet strangers and
respectable or elderly persons, they veil their faces with the upper
robe. Both men and women use both local handmade and Bombay
and European machine-made cloth The ornaments worn by men
are ehaukadds or earrings, the gold necklace or harUhi, the wristlets
called Jeadds and pochis, the silver belt called katdora, and gold or silver
anklets or todda. Women as a rule wear ivory bracelets on their arms
up to their shoulders, the armlets called vdnhis and bdjubands, the
bracelets called laaanyds, the anklets called vdldssdkJialishndpainjana, *
the necklaces called bormdl, putalydchimdl,\Biii mohordnchimdl, the
sose^rings called natha, the ear-rings called kama phulia, and
the finger rings called mudia. All the9e ornaments are made of
gold inlaid with pearls. Of late years many Mdrwdri women have
given up wearing ivory bracelets. They use very thin ivory
bangles which cost £5 to £6 (Rs. 50-60); and some of the poor
wear on their fingers gilt or silvered cocoanut-shell rings. Many
women also have taken to the local style of dress and ifear the
robe instead of the petticoat or Idhanga, but without passing the
skirt back between the feet. A man^s stock of clothes is worth
l(h. to £3 (Bs. 5-30) and a woman's £1 IQa. to £50 (Rs. 15-500).
A man's ornaments are worth £5 to £20 (Bs. 50-200) and a women's
£20 to £100 (Rs. 200-1000). As a rule M&rw&ris are slovenly.

Chapter III.
Population.

Tradebs.
Osvdl MdrwdrU,

[Bombay Cktsetteer*

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

Traders.
Owdl MdrtaAris.

hardworking, fragal, orderly, and cool-tempered. They are
exclusiye and saspicions, very wide-awake in forwarding their own
interests and very indifEerent to the interests of others. They
have a bad name for canning, greed, fraud, and cruel selfishness.
They neither trust nor are trusted. The people hate, fear, and despise
them. Trade is their chief and hereditary calling, and many are
moneychangers, moneylenders, and landowners. Those who have
no capital begin business as clerks and servants of established traders,
make a little money, and set up a shop on their own account. In
this way new shops are being continually opened, and in some places
they enjoy almost a monopoly of moneylending. They are bad
landlords, spending no money in improving their property and
grinding their tenants to the uttermost farthing. Those who hold
land as husbandmen, that is without an underholder, do not till
with their own hands. The field work is done by labourers gene*
rally their debtors, who are miserably paid in grain or in cash.
The village shopkeeping il&tw&ri, deals in all kinds of wares
grain, cloth, tobacco, oil, spices, and sugar. They advance the
villagers supplies of groceries and grain, and receive grain in
return at harvest time. The women do not help the men except
by minding the house. The excessive profits which they wring
out of their debtors have been reduced by the Rayats' Relief
Act. Still their calling is well-paid and as a class they are
free from debt and well-to-do. Men rise at six and go to
their shops. They return at noon, bathe, dine, return to their
shops at two, and stay till eight, when after working up their
day's accounts, they go home, sup, and retire for the night.
Their business is brisk from November to June. During harvest
they spend most of their time in the fields securing their share of
the crop. They sell their grain to husbandmen and to merchants
chiefly of Poena and Bombay. The boys go to school and take to
shopkeeping about eighteen. Women rise at six, clean the house,
and make ready the morning meaL They take their food after the
men have eaten and spend their leisure in embroidery and singing
songs. Girls help their mothers in the house and learn singing
and needle work. Milrw&ris never close their shops during busi-
^ ness hours except when a death happens in the house. A family
of five usually spends £2 10^. to £3 (Rs. 25-30) a month. A house
costs £50 to £500 (Rs. 500 -5000) to build, and is. to £1 10^. a
month to rent. A marriage costs £30 to £100 (Rs. 300-1000), and
a death £10 to £100 (Rs. 100-1000). They take water from local
Br4hmans and from Mar&tha Kunbis and hold aloof from the impuro
classes. They are religious, worshipping their family god Parasndth
and visiting his shrine at Satran ja hill in P&lit&na, and the shrine of
B41dji or Yyankatraman at Tirupati. Their priest is a M&rw^r
Brahman whom they calLpadhdnevdla or teacher, and, in his absence,
they ask local Br&hmans to officiate at their ceremonies. They
respect Brihmans of all classes and often make them money gifts
or dakahina. They belong to the Digambar or sky-clad, that is the
naked-god worshipping Jains. Under the Peshwds^ they were
occasionally treated with harshness and in some cases their temples

Decean.]

AHMADNAGAR.

w^ere tnmed into places of Brihmanio worship. Their leading

doctrine is that the taking of life is a sin. Thej worship images of the

Jain gods without the help of a Jain priest. They keep as feasts the

briofht ninth and fifteenth of Ashddh or July, of £dr^ift or October^ and

of Phalgun or March^ and the bright eighth and fourteenth of these

months as fasts. Of ordinary Hindu holidays they keep the feasts of

Shimga in March, New Year's Day in April, Ndgpancharm in August,

Shrdvan full-moon or Cocoanut Day in August, Oaneshchaturihi

^XiAAnant Chaturdaahi in August - September, 2>a«ara iu September,

and DivdU in October. Their other fast days are the lunar

second, fourth, and fourteenth in every fortnight, the elevenths in

Aahddh or July, and the first week in Bhadrapad or September. They

keep images of Pdrasnftth in their houses made of stone metal or

white marble in human form and wearing no clothes. They profess

not to believe in witchcraft or in evU spirits. Early marriage and

polygamy are allowed and practised, widow marriage is allowed

bat is rare, and polyandry is unknown. Lying-in women call in

Mar&tha midwives. When the child is bom a little cold water is

pciured over it and close to it a metal plate is beaten with a rod.

The navel cord is cut and the mother is bathed in warm water. Some

of them dig and others do not dig the mori or bath water hole in

the lying-in room. Those who do not dig the hole bathe the child in

a large and deep metal tray. The mother and child are laid on a

cot under which an earthen jar with burning cowdung cakes is

placed. On the first and three following days the child is

giren a rag soaked in castor-oil to suck. From the fourth

the mother suckles the child and is given to eat a pounded

mixture of cumin seed and molasses mixed with clarified butter.

Daring the first three days her diet is wheat flour boiled in clarified

hotter mixed with sugar, and from the fourth she eats rice and

palse with clarified butter. On the fifth day a few among

them worship the image of Satv&i placed on a stone slab as among

the Knnbis of the district, while as a rule all of them place sandal

paste flowers,- turmeric powder, vermilion, and fruit with sweet food

cooked in the house before an inkstand reed-pen and paper with or

withoat an ima^e of the goddess Satv&i. They say the worship

of the image of Satv&i is not a M4rw6r custom and that it has been

adopted by their women since they settled in the district.

Lamps of dough filled with clarified butter are lighted and set

before the goddess or the pen, ink, and paper and in the place

where the mother and child are bathed. These lamps are

placed so that the child may not see them : if the child sees the

light it is likely to fall sick. The mother remains unclean

for ten days. Unlike most local castes they do not worship Satv^i

on the twelfth nor do the child's aunts name it. A Brahman

priest generally attends the naming on the thirteenth, and fixes the

name after consulting his almanac. A cradle is hung in the

lying-in room and the mother's female friends and kinswomen are

called and formally cradle and name the child. Boys are married

between fifteen and twenly-five and girls between eight and fifteen.

The boy's father, with ten to fifty Castemen, visits the girl, and

presents her with a silver ring worth 6d. to 2«. (Re. J - 1). The girl's

€9iapter III.
Population.

Tbadkrs.
0$ihU Mdnodris.

[Bombay Oaxrtteen

DISTRICTS.

Chapter UL

Fopnlatioii.

Tradsbs.
Osvdl MdnadriM,

father treats the company to betel and her priest pnts die eilyer
ring on the girPs finger. ' The girl's father returns the visit
presenting the boy^s younger brother with 2s. to 6». (Bs. 1 -3)
and treats the guests to beteL Cocoanuts are served and in the
presence of both fathers the priest fixes a lucky day for the
marriage. Some days before the marriage the boy^s father presents
the girl with ornaments^ invitation cards are sent roundj and
the boy and girl are rubbed with turmeric paste. The turmeric
rubbing takes place as a rule at least a month before the
marriage. A thready tinged with turmeric powder, is cut into two
and each of the pieces is passed through an iron ring and tied
round a piece of lac bangle, and one of the threads is fastened
to the girl's right foot and the other to the boy's right hand.
The month between the turmeric rubbing and the marriage is a
time of gaiety. The friends and relations both of the boy and
the girl in turn send one of their household to the boy's or the
girl's house. The messenger places a cocoanut and silver coin
into the boy's or the girl's hand, and asks him or her to come
to their house in the evening. After sunset the boy or girl is
seated on horseback and with music and a band of friends is taken
to the entertainer's house, the procession being known as
gadganer or entertaining the bridegroom or bride. The house is
brightly lighted and carpets are spread in front on which the guests
are seated. The women of the house and the guests take
their seats in the verandah, and sing M4rwdri marriage songs.
Betel is served and the men withdraw. The women go on singing
till the sister of the boy or of the girl waves a light, and is
presented with a cocoanut and a silver coin. On the marriage day
the girl's priest goes to the boy's and formally asks his family to the
wedding. The bridegroom is seated on horseback and, with music
in front and a band of friends behind, is taken to the temple of the
bride's village Mdruti The marriage party leave the bridegroom
at the temple and go to the bride's house where her father wel-
comes them, and betel is sei:yed. The Br&hman priest tells the
bridegroom's father the lucky moment for the marriage, and the
party return to the temple with music. When the lucky hour draws
near, it generally falls when it grows dusk, the bridegroom lays
a packet of betel leaves, a nut, and a copper before the village
M4ruti, bows, and starts on horseback for the bride's housa On
reaching the bride's booth a stick is handed to the bridegroom
who strikes with it the entrance to the porch, bows to the picture
of Ganpati, is presented by the bride's father with a turban worth
2«. to £2 lOtf. (Bs. 1 - 25), and dismounts. Until the lucky hour for
the marriage the guests amuse themselves watching dancing girls
in the marriage hall or return home to take their food, while the
bridegroom, with five or six of his men, steps into the house and bows
to a betelnut Ganpati, lays before it sandal paste, rice, flowers, red»
powder, vermilion, and scented powder or abwy bums frankincense
before it, waves lamps fiUed witli clarified butter round it, and offers
sugar. The pair are seated in the booth on a soft cushion laid
on a carpet, and a Br&hman priest makes an altar of black earth,
kindles the sacred fire or horn on the altar, and drops into the fire

Deeeaa.l

AHMADNAQAR.

clarified butter^ grains of barley^ and bits of sandalwood. The pair
look on in silence and are not allowed to move from the place until
the fire-worship is over. When the fire-worship is over the priest
tells the pair to walk four times round the altar. Then comes the
daughter^giving or kanydddn when the bride's father pours water
on Uie bridegroom's hands with a money gift varying from 2«. to
£10 (Re. 1-100). The Br^man priest is paid 10«. to £10
I Rs. 5- 100), and the bridegroom takes the girl to his home with
music and friends. At the boy's house the pair again sit before
the betelnnt Ganpati which is set on a heap of rice and the priest
lays flowers and redpowder before it. When the Ganpati worship
is orer^ the bride's women take her home, and the first marriage
day is ended. The bride's parents who have fasted all day dine
with the bride when she comes home from her husband's. No
caste feast is given on this day. Next morning in the bride's house a
list is made of households to be asked to dine, and the list is given
to the priest who goes round to the houses named ending at the
bridegroom's. At noon the invitations are again sent through the
priest as in the morning and the bridegroom's party goes to the
bride's, and is treated to a sumptuous dinner along with a party
of the bride's friends and relations. The Bi^man priests cook
and serve the guests with food not allowing any of the guests to
touch them and themselves eating when the others are done. At
night the guests are treated to a rich supper and the party retire
after betel is served. The third day passes like the second. On the
fourth comes the j9&a{ or cloth-presenting ceremony when the marriage
party goes with music to the bride's. The bridegroom is seated on
a seat somewhat higher than the rest and the bride's friends and
relations arrive. A low wooden stool or chaurang is set before the
bridegroom, and on the stool a bellmetal dining dish marked with
upright and cross lines of vermilion. A metal cup is set in the dish
and a silver coin is dropped into the cup in the name of the family
gods. The bride's father presents the bridegroom with as rich a dress
and ornaments as he can afford, or at least with a cocoanut, and
tnrbans are handed to his male friends. The bride's party throws
redpowder at the bridegroom's, who withdraw taking the pair with
them. After death the body is seated on a low stool bathed and
dressed in new clothes. A woman who dies before her husband is
dressed in a new robe, her hair is decked with flowers, and her body
with ornaments. These honours are not shown to a widow's body.
Poor M&rw&ris lay their dead on a bamboo ladder-like bier like
that used by Brdhmans. The rich use a • mod or raised bamboo
seat with a bamboo canopy like an English umbrella fastened to it
sad ornamented with small particoloured flags decked with tinsel.
When the bier is used the body is laid on the back with the faise to
the sky* If the mod or canopied chair is used the body is kept in a
sitting posture. Two dough balls with a copper coin in each are tied
in a piece of cloth which is put in a bellmetal cup and tied on the
bosom of the dead. The funeral party starts for the burning
ground with the bier or mad on their shoulders, the barber going
before carrying a fire-pot and the chief mourner following with the
others, all of whom are men. Unlike local Brfthmanip Hindus they

ft 772-11

Oiapter III.
fopolation.

XSADEBS.

OiM Mdrwdrii,

[Bombay Oa«etieer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III. have no rule against the fire-pot carrier taming ronnd and looking
Fonniation. back. As they draw near the burning ground they halt, lay down

the body, and throw the dough balls to the left and right* They go

Traders. ^ ^^^ nearest water, strip the body of its ornaments, and hand them

Osvdl JUdrwdris* ^ ^j^q j^^^t of kin when he returns home. The pile is made ready

and the body is laid on it and the fire is kindled by the son or nearest
relation. When the body is burnt they bathe in the nearest water and
go home. Neither the bearers nor the mourners are held to be impure,
and nothing is done to cleanse the house or the spot where the
death took place. Next day the mourning family both men and
women visit P&rasn&th's temple, lay two pounds (1 sher) of Indian
millet before the god, bow to him, and go home. They do not
gather the ashes of the dead nor do they perform any mind^rites nor
keep the yearly death-day. Their only observance is that on some
day between the twelfth day after the death and the end of a year,
the caste people are treated to a dinner of sweetmeats and the dead
are forgotten. Their position as strangers and hated strangers
binds them to one another by specially strong ties. They settle social
disputes at meetings of castemen, whose decisions are obeyed on
pain of loss of caste. They send their boys to school but have no
taste for learning, and take them away as soon as they have learned
to read and write Mar&thi and work sums. They keep their
accounts in Gujarati which they teach their boys at home. They
are a well-to-do class and do not take to new pursuits.

Sanadri Jangams. Saiisa'ri Jangams, or Secular Lingdyat Priests, are returned as

numbering about 3200 and as found all over the district. They aro
said to have come from the Bombay-Eamd^tak, but when or why is
not known. Like the Lingdyats of Dhdrwdr and BijApur, fiiey
revere the founder of the LingAyat sect who lived at Kalj&n a
hundred miles west of Haidarabad in the Deccan during the reign
of the Kalachurya king Bijjal (1156). The story of Basav*8 lifo
which is known to roost Sansiri Jangams is taken from the Basav
Furdn. They say that Basvdchiirya or Ba^veshvar, that is Basav, was
bom of Brdhman parents, who after long remaining childless were
rewarded by Shiv, whom they constantly worshipped, with the promise
of a son. The mother was with child for three years. Before tho
• child was born Shiv appeared to the mother in a dream and told her to
call the child Basav, tiie Kfearese name for Nandi Shiv's bull. Hence
it was believed that in Basav the god Nandi had become flesh. Miracles
were not wanting to confirm this belief. When he was about eight
years old Basav's father wished to gird the boy with the sacred
thread. Basav refused as if he wore the thread he must learn the sun-
hymn or gdyatri. For this act of disobedience Basav was driven from
his father's house. He went to Kaly^ accompanied by his sister and
marred a daughter of the king's minister who was his maternal
uncle. He improved his prospects at court by giving his sister in
marriage to king Bijjal. After the death of his father-in-law Basav
became prime minister. He made use of his high position to
spread his new doctrines and gathered round him large numbers of
all castes.^ The king grew jealous of Basav's power, and put out the

1 DetAU0 are given in the Dh^rw&r Statislaoal Aoootmt.

DeecaiLl

AHMADNAGAR

eyes of three of Basav's staanchest followers. Basav ordered another
of hia followers to avenge the wrong done to the three Ling&yatSj
cursed Kaly&n and withdrew to Sangameshvar a hundred miles
west of Bell&ri, where he was absorbed into the ling. According
to the Jain books the king, distrusting Basav^s power and influence,
sent troc^s against him but was defeated and afterwards poisoned
by Basav. On hearing of his father's death Bai Mur^ the king's
SOD came against Basav who fled to Ulvi in North Einara, was
porsaed^ and in despair threw himself into a well. According to
the books, Basav's chief doctrines were tenderness for animal life,
doing away caste distinctions and ceremonial impurities, and
admitting women to a religions and social equality with men. If
they were ever carried into practical life these doctrines have been
greatly modified not only in Ahmadnagar but in Bijdpur, Dh^rw^r,
and other K&naresedistricts where Ling&yats are probably as numerous
and as powerful as they ever were. Lingayats are divided into
laymen and priests or Jangams ; and the priests are divided into
eecular and religious priests who eat tc^ether and intermarry.
The names in common use among men are Bh&u, Bhujang,
Sambhn, Shivrudra, and Vasurupiksh; and among women,
Bhigirathi, Bhima, Girja, Mathura, and Saku. Men add appa
and women add bdi to their names. Their surnames are Agv^le,
Bagle, Bhinge, Kavde, Eam&ne, Pakh^le, P&thre, and Vibhute.
Persons bearing the same surname cannot intermarry. They
are dark strong and regular featured and speak Mar&thi both at
home and abroad. Their family gods are Malik^rjun of Shri
Shailya in the Nizdm's country, N&goba of Vadole in Ahmadna^r,
Basveshvar of Kaly&n in the Nizdm's country, and Virbhadra.
They live in one-storeyed houses with mud walls and flat roofs.
Their belongings include low stools, blankets, quilts, cradles,
and metal vessels. They own cattle and sometimes employ house
servants. They are moderate eaters and good cooks, and are
prcnrorbially fond of hot or sharp dishes and spices. Their staple
food IB millet bread, chopped chillies, relishes, pulse sauce, and
vegetables. They neither eat flesh nor drink liquor. Their special
dishes are the same as those of local Brdhmans. They bathe daily and
lay flowers, sandal paste, and food before the ling and mark their
brows with cowdung ashes. Both men and women chew tobacco
and eat betel. Men shave their head without leaving the top-knot,
and shave the face except the moustache and eyebrows; women tie the
hmr in a back knot and deck it neither with false hair nor with
flowers. Men dress in a waistcloth, an ochre-coloured shoulderoloth,
a shirt, a coat, and a headscarf with a pair of shoes or sandals ;
women dress in a Mar&tha robe and bodice with a back and short
filceves, but do not pass the skirt of the robe back between the feet.
Both men and women have a store of good clothes and ornaments
like those worn by local Eunbis on great occasions. They are clean,
neat, honest, hardworking, orderly, thrifty, and hospitable^ Their
hereditary calling is begging, but they make a living as silk thread
or katdora and marriage coronet or bdahing makers and sellers.
The women mind the house, beg, and help the men in their work.
They take to no new pursuits and live from hand to mouth. The

Chapter IIL
Population.

Tbadbrs.
Sanadri Jangams,

Bombay Ofliettea*<

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IIL
PopulatLon,

Traders.
Sanadri JangarM,

only day in jtlie year on wliicli they will not work is Shiv's Night
or Shivrdtra in February. They rank below local Brdhmans
and above husbandmen. They worship Shiv's emblem or ling
and keep all Hindu fasts and feasts. They hold Mah&dcv
in great respect and make pilgrimages to Benares^ Pandharpar
in ShoMpur^ and Tuljdpur in the Niz^'s country. Their priests
are religious Jangams who officiate at their births, marriages, and
deaths. Their religious teacher is Gurusv&mi the high priest of
the religious house of Manur in the Nizdm's country. He visits their
villages at stated times and levies from them a yearly money tribute.
Of late years there have been great changes in their practices and
beliefs and their religious and social customs are coming closely to
resemble Brd^hmanic customs. They believe in witchcraft, sooth-
saying, and evil spirits, and worship all local and boundary gods.
Early marriage and polygamy are allowed and practised^ and
polyandry is unknown. As soon as a child is bom word is sent to
the priest. He either comes at once or he waits till the fifth or the
thirteenth day after the birth when he rubs the brows of the
mother and child with cowdung ashes and touches the child's
neck with a ling and gives the Ihig to the mother. The mother's
impurity lasts five days. On the night of the fifth an embossed
image of Satv^ is set on a stone slab or pdta in the lying-in room,
and before it are laid moss, sand, a -piece oinivdung or prickly pear,
aud food. A flour lamp fed with castor-oil is waved round the
goddess and kinsfolk are treated to a sweet dinner. The child is
named on the twelfth and handf uls of boiled gram and betel packets
are served to the female guests. The child's hair is cut for the
first time when it is three months old, and the diksha or purifying
is performed between its seventh and twelfth year. Their religious
teacher names a lucky day and visits the place where the puri^ing
is to be held. Friends and relations meet at the house, and the
boy or girl sits on a low stool, washes the hands and feet of the
teacher, who is seated on another low stool before him or her, and
sips the water in which the teacher's hands and feet have been
washed. Sweetmeats and bel leaves are ofEered to the teacher who
whispers a verse or charm into the novice's right ear. The ceremony
ends with a dinner to the teacher and the guests. Boys are married
between eight and twenty, and girls between five and twelve.
When the parents of the boy and the girl agree the mdgni or
asking and the turmeric rubbing are performed as among Mardth^.
The Jangam priest names a lucky day for holding the marriage.
A conch shell or shankh is laid on the threshold, and an earthen
pot filled with water is set near the houde gods, and they
are bowed to as marriage guardiaois or devaks, and sandal paste
flowers and food are laid before them. The bridegroom
goes«to the bride's village with music and friends, halts at
the village Mdruti's temple, sends his brother or vardhd/va to
the bride's, and on his brother's return dresses in the robes
which he has brought from the girl's, and goes to the
bride's with music and friends. At the entrance to the
booth, he is met by a married woman generally the bride's
mother, who waves round him wheat-flour lamps fed with clarified

Itoecftu*]

AHMADNAGAR

butter or ooooannti-oil and retires. The bridegroom is seated on a
carpet spread in the booth. The bride sits before him face to face
and the Jangam priest lays before them five waterpots filled with
water and set on small heaps of wheats pieces of cocoanat^ copper
coins, and betel. He repeats sacred verses while another priest ties
the lucky thread or mangaUutra to the bride's neck and makes
her pat on toe-rings or jodvis. The first priest blesses the pair
throwing rice on them^ and puts a wristlet or kankan on the
bridegroom's right wrist and on the bride's left wrist The pair are
seated on the marriage altar or hahuU, and their brows are marked
with vermilion and rice by kinspeople of both sezes^ each of whom
waves a copper coin about them and retires. Caste people and the
friends who came with the bride and bridegroom are treated to a dinner,
on the firstdayat the bride's and on the second day at the bridegroom's.
On the third day the pair are bathed together in warm water.
The priest wprships two copper pots full of water, with sandal
paste and flowers^ and betel is served. The parents of the bride
present the bridegroom and the parents of the bridegroom present
the bride with suits of clothes; the pair bow before the family
gods and at the bidding of the priest each unties the other's thread
wristlet. On the fourth day the bridegroom's party take the
pair to the bridegroom's^ the marriage guardians or devaks are put
away, and at noon the marriage ends with a caste dinner. When a
^l comes of age she remains unclean for three days, is bathed on
the fourth, and, on the sixteenth, her lap is filled with rice and
cocoanut. They bury the dead like Ling^yats. A death is not
considered to cause ceremonial impurity. On the fifth or seventh
day after the death the chief mourner dines friends and relations
and is given a present of a mourning turban or dukkavatydche
pdgoU and goes with them to the temple of the village Mdruti. The
death*day is marked by a punyatith or holiday feast, and the dead
are remembered on the day in dark Bhddrapad or September
which corresponds to the day of the month on which the death
took place. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at
caste meetings. Breaches of social rules are punished by fines which
generally take the form of a caste feast. They send their children
to school, but take to no new pursuits. They are a poor class and
show no signs of improving.

Husbandmen include five classes with a strength of 840,480
or 43*18 per cent of the Hindu population. The details are :

Ahmadnagar Huahandmen, 1881.

Diruiox.

Males.

Pennlet.

1V)tal.

DiVIBIOR.

Malea.

F«ma]fl8.

TMal.

BftllfHV

HOBOiC

MmIs ••• •••

114

158,969

16,S01

110

U0,847

16,138

804,810
33,639

Pifthftdis

RaJputB

Total ...

6
U8i

7
1S12

fiu

172.065

168,414

840,47»

Bftngars are returned as numbering 126 and as found in small
numbers scattered over the district. They seem to have come
from the Bombay-Earnatak^ but cannot tell why or when they came.

C9iapter III.
Population.

Tbabeks.
Sanadri Janganu,

HUSBANDMKN.

Bangarsm

[Bombaj Ckunlieer*

DISTRICTS.

Chapter HI-
Population.

Husbandmen.
Bangars.

Kunbis,

They have no sabdiviBions. The names in common use among
men are EUappa^ Gyanappaj Ling&ppa^ Matippa, and Bdyappa;
and among women^ Ganga, Lakshami, M&nki, Sagana, and Sita.
Their samames are Bhinkar, Boras^ Jires&lei Phnt&ne, and T^Uasbe.
Persons bearing the same surname cannot intermarry. In
appearance and speech they are like local Mar^thds. They live
in one-storeyed houses with mad walls and thatched roof&
Their house goods include blankets^ carpets, quilts^ low stools, and
metal vessels^ and they own cattle and keep field servants. Their
staple food is millet breads split pulsoj and vegetables^ and they
never eat flesh. Bice is a holiday dish. The men dress in a
waistcloth, a shouldercloth^ a coat, a Brdhman or Mar&tha tarban^
and shoes or sandals. They wear the ling and mark their brows
with sandal paste and cowdung ashes. The women dress in the
full Mar&tha robe and bodice and mark their brows with
vermilion. They tie their hair in a knot at the back of the head
and do not use either flowers or &lse hair. They are clean and
neat, honest, hardworking, orderly, thrifty, and hospitable. They
are landowners and cultivators and field labourers. They worship
all local gods and hold Mah&dev in special reverence. Their priest
is a Jangam whom they ask to officiate at their births marriages
and deaths. They make pilgrimages to Shri Shailya Pdrvati in North
Arkot, and to Malik&rjun of Signapur in Sdtdra and of Phaltan. On
the fifth night after the birth of a child they worship the goddess
Satv^i and treat friends and relations to a dinner. On the seveath
a Jangam priest is called to the house, his feet are washed, and
the water is sipped by the people of the house. He presents the
new-bom child with a ling which he lays on the bed near the child's
head. On the twelfth a party of women are called and the child
is laid in the cradle and named. No impurity attaches to a woman
on account of child-birth, but women in their monthly sickness are
not touched for three days. They marry their girls before' they
come of age and their boys before they are twenty-five. Though
Ling^yats in all their observances they ask Brihman priests to
officiate at their marriages. The Br&hman repeats lucky verses and
the Jangams wait upon the Br&hman and blow conch-shells. They
allow widow marriage and polygamy, but not polyandry. They
bury their dead in Lingdyat fashion, do not mourn them, and think
that a death does not make near relations impure. Castepeople
are feasted on the third or fifth day after a death, and the death-day
is marked by a shrdddh ceremony or mind rite. They have a
caste council and their headman or aheiya settles their caste
disputes in consultation with the caste councilor pancA. They send
their children to school and show a tendency to improve.^

Kunbis are returned as numbering about 304,000 or forty-three
per ceifli of the district. They are found all over the district, but in
the western division of Akola are less numerous than Kolis. In caste
they do not differ from Mar&thds, who are of two classes God
literally sweet or legitimate Mar&th&s, and Kadu literally sour, also

1 Details of Bangar customa are given in the Poona Statistical Account

OeeeAJLl

AHMADNAGAR.

called Akarmjshes or one part wanting^ that is bastard Mar&th&a
Among Ood Mardthds are some families of high social position who
let their sons bnt do not let their daughters marry into ordinary
Mav&tha families. After foar or five generations bastard Mar&th&s
are allowed to become sweet or legitimate. The Mar^tha names
for men and women do not differ from those nsed by local
Bnibmans. The men add too adheb and the women add bdi to their
namea All Mar&tlUis hare surnames among which perhaps the
most common are Bhonsle, Chora, D&bh&de, Dhamdere, O^ydd,
Ghiidge, Hande, Jadhav^ Jagdhale, K^le, Khirsdgar, Mhaske,
Modhe^ Podval^ Povdr, Shelke, Sinde, Samvanshe, and Thorat.
As a class Mardth^s are dark, middle-sized, strong, hardy, endaring,
and mnscnlar. Except in the higher families whose women are
veiled or goaha and are generally weak, the women are strong and
hardy like their husbands. They speak Marithi with a broad
accent Mar&tb^ live in better class houses with brick walls
and tiled roofa. Those whose women do not appear in public
divide the house into two ; the back part called the janankfuina is
given entirely to the use of women, and the front called the devdi or
vestibule is used by the men. One of the many rooms in the back
port ifl used as a kitchen. Mar&th&s who hold estates or jdgira
and some rich families have houses built at great cost. These fine
houses contain a great number and variety of rooms, kitchens, men's
and women's rooms, sleeping rooms, a spacious guest room, a stable
for horses and a shed for cattle is generaUy attached to the
himse. All round the house is a high wall with a large door in
front The houses of middle-class Mardth&s, who do not object to
Iheir women appearing in public, are built with lower brick or mud
walls and tiled or thatched roofs. The floors and walls are fresh
cowdunged every fortnight and the veranda is always swept clean.
The furniture in the house of a rich Mardtha includes tables, chairs,
low stools, bedding, blankets, and carpets with a large stock of
metal vessels. The furniture of middle class houses besides field
toolsj includes low stools, blankets, quilts, baskets, cooking vessels, a
grindstone and pin, a hand-mill, a mortar and pestle, and a bed-
stead varying in value from £1 10«. to £3 (Bs. 15-30). The poor
live in one*storeyed hoases with mud walls and fiat roofs. The
houses have generally a front and often a back yard, with a sweet
basil plant in the centre. An ordinary house with room for a family
of five does not cost more than £15 (Rs. 150) to baild or 8^. to 12«.
(Rs. 4 - 6) a year to rent. They employ house servants and own cattle
and pet animals. Mar&th^ are great eaters^and are proverbially
fond of hot dishes. Besides grain, pulse, fruit, spices, oil, curds, and
butter, they eat fish, fowl, eggs, sheep, goat, hare, deer, and wild hog,
and besides water and milk they drink liquor. They do not eat
flesh except on marriage and other family festivals and oit a few
leading holidays as Shimga in March, Dasarain October, and DivdU
in November. They sometimes vow to offer an animal to one of
their gods, have it killed by themselves or their servants, and eat the
flesh* They drink liquor stealthily about sunset, for, though drink-
ing is not forbidden, it is considered disreputable. No Mardtha
women drink liquor. The men smoke tobacco in pipes and the

Chapter III.
Population.

HUSBANDMSN.

Kunbia.

[Bombay Gazetteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ni.
Population.

HUSBANDKEK.

Kunbis.

women sometimes chew tobacco with betel. They eat three meals
a day^ at mornings noon, and night. They bathe daily before they
take their midday meal and worship their family gods and the
sweet basil plant before their house. Men dress in a waistcloth, a
shoulderclothy a ooat^ and a turban. The proper Mar&tha turban is
light and three-cornered made of twisted breadths of cloth wound
tightly together. But most bind the twisted cloth carelessly round
the head and some wear turbans in Mardtha-Brdhman fashion.
They used to wear breeches or tumdni and a long coat falliiig to the
ankle, and men in the service of Mardtha chie& still keep to the old
fashion. The field labourer wears a loincloth or a short waistcloth^ a
shirt or smock, a headscarf, and a blanket which he throws across
his shoulders or draws over his head like a hood^ and a pair of
sandals. Mar&tha women wear a bodice with a back and short
sleeves and a long and full Mardtha robe without passing the skirt
back between the feet^ and draw the upper end over the head using
it to cover the bosom and shoulders and if necessary to veil the face.
The men mark their brows with white sandal powder^ and the women
with vermilion. The men wear a number of ornaments for the head,
ear, neck^ arm and hand^ and the women earringSi a nosering,
wristlets, armlets^ and necklaces.^ Most have a store of clothes for
holiday wear and for neat occasions. As a class Kunbis are humble,
hardworking, and enduring, simple, temperate, hospitable, fond of
children, kind to strangers, and cruel in revenge. Except with their
creditors, whom they seldom scrapie to cheat, they are just and fair in
their dealings. Though fragal in every-day life they spend extra*
vagantly on their children's marriages. As a class tbey are land-
holders and husbandmen. Some of the higher families are landed
proprietors, deshmukhs, and pdtils. A considerable number hold good
posts in native states and a few in Government employment. The
families of high social position take service or enter the army ; they
never work in the fields. The deshmukhs and those in service are well
ofF, but the husbandmen as a class are poor. They are good husband-
men and understand the growth of watered and of garden crops.
The uncertainty of the rainfall, the 1876-77 famine, and since then loss
from rats and locusts have kept a large section of the husbandmen in a
state of depression. Many of them are in debt to Marw&ris who leave
them little more than is required for their bare subsistence. They
work in the fields from morning to evening taking a short rest at
noon. They go home at sunset, sup, and go to bed. The women
mind the house and help in the field. The rich rise about six
'look after their business or talk till nine, bathe and worship their
gods, breakfast and talk till noon when they dine, rest till two, and
attend to business or pay visits to friends, returning at sunset.
They sup at nine and go to rest about eleven. The women do no
work except in the house. Husbandmen are busy from June to
January. They rest on the leading Hindu holidays chiefly on the
Bull or Pola feast in August. They rank next to Brdhmans and
traders and above craftsmen and impure classes. They are prover-

^ Details are given in the Poona Statiatical Account.

])6omiO

AHMADNAQAB.

biall^ a religions class worshipping all Br4hmanic and local gods^ and
showing special reyerence for their family gods Devi of Tnljdpnr in
the Nizam's country, Ehandoba of Jejnri in Poona, Mah^ev, M^rutij
B4iD, Vishnn, and Yithoba. Their priests are lo€»l Brdhmans whom
they highly esteem and ask to conauct their marriage and death
oeremonies. They cannot tell whether they are Sm&rts or Bh&gyats.
Their religions and social cnstoms and their fMts and festivals are the
same as those of Poena Ennbis. One of the chief Nagar village
festivals is the Boll Day or Potoin Angnst. They cover the cow-honse
with tinsel paper or red painty tie palus fibre tassels to the tips of the
bnllocks' homs^ deck them with flowers, feed them with sngar^ bow at
their feet, and rub them with sandalpaste^and vermilion^ and lay before
them boiled rice. In the evening all the cattle are led to M&mti^s
temple and driven ronnd the temple the headman^s bullocks leading.
HigQ Mar^tha fomilies keep almost all Brdhman ceremonies except
that the texts are repeated in ordinary not in Vedic Sanskrit. They
wear the jdnava or sacred thread patting it on for the first time on
their marriage day and without any special ceremony. They believe
in witchcricf t, soothsaying^ and evil spurits. Early marriage, polygamy,
and widow-marriage are allowedand practised ; polyandry is unknown.
The higher Mai^tha families have no rule that a girl must be
married before she comes of age> and they forbid widow marriage.
Among middle and low class Mar4th^ wiaow marriage is practised,
but married widows have not the same honor as other married women,
and are never asked to dine at caste feasts. They are bound together
by a strong caste feelings and settle social disputes at meetings of
the castemen under some wise man or elder. Breaches of social
discipline are condoned by fines and caste feasts, and the decisions
are enforced on pain of loss of caste. Some of them send their boys
to school but few of them attach much value to schooling. They
find few openings except tillage and as a class are poor.

Mails, or Gardeners, are returned as numbering about 32,600 and
as found all over the district. They seem to have originally been
Mardtha-Kunbis who took to gardening and by degrees formed a
separate community. They have four divisions Phul MAlis or flower
growers, Jire MAlis or cumin-seed growers, Haldi M&lis or turmeric
growers, and Kdcha Mdlis or cotton-braid weavers. Phul M41is are
considered the highest of the four and in Ahmadnagar are allowed
to eat with Mar&thte. K&cha and Phul Mdlis dine together, and
Jires and Haldis dine together, but K&cMa and Phuls will not eat
with Jires and Haldis. The names in common use among men and
women are the same as those of Mar4tha Kunbis. Their surnames
are Ambekar, Analang, AnArse, Banakar, Bhajaue, Bhujbal,
Bhinbarekar, Borade, Chdkne, Chipade, Chaure, Chaudhari, Dalave,
Ddtrange, GAdalkar, G4ikav4d, Gholap, Godhale, Guldpgade,
HajAre, Hirve, Jagt&p^ Jarad, Kade, E&jale^ EL4nade, Kante^ K4te^
Khanddre, Kolhe,Koke, Labdde, Lilbdge, Ledkar, Lokhande,M&niar-
pudane, Mehetre, Mule, Parvat, Pirakhe, Phulsundar, Ilas41, B&skar,
Shinde, Shitdphale, Tfihksfli, and Thordt. Persons bearing the same
surname cannot intermarry, but sameness of devah or wedding guar-
dian is BO bar to marriage. Their family gods are Bahiroba of Son&ri
and Agadgaum in Ahmadnagar^ Devi of Tulj&pur in the Niz^m'a

B 772-12

Oiaptor ni.
Pppnlatiiin*

HUSBAHBHXN.

MdHt.

[Bombaj OsMtfeecrt

DISTRICTS.

ChapttrllL
Popnlatioik

HUBBANDMXN.

Mdlis,

country and of Saptashring in N4sikj and Elhandoba of Jejnri in
Poona. In look^ food^ drink, and dress they do not differ from
local Maritha-Knnbis. Their home tongue is a corrupt Marathi, and
they live in one-storeyed houses with stone or brick walls and tiled,
thatched, or terraced roofs. Their house goods include garden
tools, low stools, cotsj blankets, quilts, and metal yessels. They
own cattle and keep pets. They are great eaters and poor cooks,
and their staple food is millet bread pulse and vegetables, and they
are fond of hot dishes. Except on fast days they eat any flesh
but beef and pork and the men and a few of the women drink liquor.
They eat mutton or fowl on Shimga in March and on Dasara in
October,at the in-gathering, and when the corn is thrashed, winnowed,
and made into aheap. Before it is measured a goat is sacrificed
to please the field guardian that by his favour the com may not
measure less than it ought. They cook the flesh of the goat and
eat it. Both men and women chew tobacco with lime and betel and
many men smoke tobacco. The every-day dress of the men is a
waist<;loth, a shouldercloth, a coat, a turban folded irregularly
round the head, and a pair of shoes or sandals.^ Women wear the
full -backed bodice and the long Mar&tha robe without passing the
skirt back between the feet. Both men and women have a stock of
good clothes for holiday wear and a store of ornaments like those
worn by Mar^tha-Eunbis, every married woman wears at least a
lucky necklace and toe-rings or jodvia. As a class they are fairly clean,
hardworking, honest, orderly, frugal, and hospitable. They grow
garden produce being much helped by their wives. They are skil-
ful gfrowers of wet and garden crops and add to their income by
selling dairy produce. They live from hand to mouth many of them
being in debt. They rank with Mardtha Kunbis above craftsmen
and impure classes. They worship all Brihmanic and local gods
and keep the usual Hindu fasts and feasts. They have a great
reverence for their family gods and cannot tell whether they are
Smarts or Bh4gvats. Their priests are local Br&hmans who conduct
their marriage and death ceremonies. They make yearly offerings
of a goat and a fowl to Mhasoba and Khandoba, and go on
pilgrimage to Benares, Jejuri in Poona, Pandharpur in Sholapur,
and Tuljapur in the Nizam's country. They keep images of their
family gods in the house and daily before their morning meal wash
them with water, mark them with sandal paste, and deck them with
flowers. They believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits*
Early marriage polygamy, and widow marriage are allowed and
practised, and polyandry is unknown. On the fifth day after a birth,
as among Mardtha Kunbis, the goddess Satv&i is worshiped and on
the twelfth the child is named and cradled. After child-birth the
mother remains impure for ten days when she is cleansed with
water ^brought from the house of the Brdrhman priest Girls are
married between eight and fifteen, and boys between nine and
twenty-five. They bum their dead and mourn them ten days. The
details of their marriage and death ceremonies do not differ from

1 Fhnl M4Ii8 wear Muitha shoes without the flower scrolls on the upper part
which almost all other Hindus wear.

Ileeeuu]

AHMADNAGAB.

those observed by Mar&tba Knnbis. They are bound together by a
strong caste feeling, and settle social disputes at meetings of caste-
men under their headman. At caste feasts the headman is the first
to have his brow rabbed with sandal paste and the first to be pre-
sented with betel. Breaches of social discipline are punished with
fines which take the form of caste-feasts. They send their boys to
sdiooli take to new pursuits, and show a tendency to rise.

PahA'diSi or Hillmen, are returned as numbering twelve and as
found in Kopargaon and Sangamner. Their origm is unknown,
and they have no tradition regarding their arrival in the district.
They claim descent from Mardtha Kunbi parents and their names
and surnames and their appearance are the same as tho8ex)f Mardtha
Kunbia. Their family gods are Devi of Saptashring in N&sik and
Khandoba of Jejuri in Poena. Their home tongue is Mar&thi.
They live in wattled cottages thatched with straw, own cattle and
dogs, and keep servants to help in their gardens. They are bad cooks
and great eaters. They eat flesh and drink liquor and their staple
food is millet bread, pulse, and chopped chillies. They eat three or
four times a day and do not keep the rule df bathing before eating.
A3 a rule they dress like Mar^tha Kunbis but some wear Deccan
Brihuian turbans. The women wear the Mardtha backed bodice
and a robe hanging from the waist to the ankle like a petticoat
without having the skirt drawn back between the feet. As a rale
they are cleaner and neater than Mardtha Kunbis, orderly, honest,
hardworking and hospitable but often given to drink. Their chief
and hereditary calling is growing and selling vegetables. Some are
husbandmen and live from hand to mouth. They are skilful garden-
ers and their vegetables are in good demand especially on holidays.
They rank with Mardthd>s but Marathds do not marry with them«
They worship all Kunbi gods and hold their own family gods in
specnal reverence and visit their shrines whenever they can afford it.
Their priest is a Deccan Brahman whom they highly respect and
ask to officiate at marriage and death ceremonies. They have no
house gods but the pious bathe on their family gods' high days,
fast in the morning, »nd before eating put on fresh clothes and visit
Mirnti's temple, empty a metal pot oi water over the god, mark his
brow with sandal paste, bow before him^ and, to wash away their
sins, sip a little of the water which has trickled into the pit at the
god's feetb They believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits,
and like the local Mardtha-Kunbia perform only three ceremonies at
btrtfaj marriage, and death. The chief difference in detail is that^>
instead of the Kunbi's axe, the Pah&dis worship a balance and scales
called tardju as the wedding guardian or devak. Polygamy, child
marriage, and widow marriage are allowed and practised, and
polyandry is unknown. They settle social disputes at meetings
of the caste council and punish breaches of social diiscipKne by fines
which take the form of caste feasts. They send their boys to school
and are a pushing class whose condition is likely to inrprove.

Sajputs are returned as numbering 2^735' and as found all over
the district. They claim descent from the ancient Kshatriya or
warrior race and are said to have come into the district from Upper

Chapter ni.
Population.

HUSIUNPMEN.

PahddM.

Rajputs.

[Bomte J Gawtteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

HnsBANDHSN.

Craftsmsst.

Bdngdis*

India witlim the last two hnndred years. The oldest settlers are sup-
posed to have come as soldiers in the Moghal armies which overran
the district early in the seventeenth century. Their chief divisions
are Ahirsod^ Bais, Choh^n, G^rdya^ and Bdjbansi, none of which
either eat together or intermarry. Their home tongue is Hindu-
st&ni but out-of-doors they speak Mardthi. Their family deity is
Bhav&ni. They live in one-storeyed houses with brick walls and
tiled or flat roofisi. They own cattle and keep pets. Besides field tools
their belongings include low stools^ blankets^ quilts^ and metal vessels.
They are good cooks and gpreat eaters. Their staple food is wheat
cake or millet breads clarified butter, pulse, and vegetables and roots,
except garlic and onions. They eat flesh but never touch liquor.
Unlike the local Marath^s they do not buy flesh from butchers, but
have the animals killed either by the mulla or Musalm&n priest
or by themselves. Both men and women dress like Mardthte
except that unmarried girls wear a petticoat and the robe or
pharaki wound roand the waist and drawn over the shoulders. Their
women like Musalm&n women do not appear in public. They live
as husbandmen and by taking service in the army and police.
They are clean soldier-like and orderly. Their chief object of
worship is Bhav&ni and their priests are Kanauj Br&hmans. Their
marriage and other ceremonies do not differ from those in use among
Deshasth Br^hmans. They have a caste council and settle social
disputes at meetings of castemen. They send their boys to school,
take to new pursuits, and are fairly off.

Craftsmen include twenty-nine classes with a strength of 68,836
or nine per cent of the Hindu population. The details are :

Ahmadnagar Craftsmen.

DlVUION.

Malea.

Femalea

Itotal.

Diynioir.

Malea.

Femalea

TVitol.

Bteffdifl

Beldiln

Bhadbhunjfis

Oavaodia

QliiaAdU

Jain bhimpia

Jingen

Kaflc4dia

Khatiia

Koahtia

Kmnbb&n

Ukheriaa

Lingfiyat Buruda ...
Lonua

214

206

103

1761

186

846

1630

100

4160

8061

146

too

1050

188

210

106

1600
180
874

1407

168

8778

8007
134
106

1848

807

416 1
880

8451
274
720

8087

858

7038

6U68
270
885

8802

Loii&ria

Mochia

Nftmdev Shimpia

Nirfila

Ottria • ...

Pardeahi Halvaia

Sftlia

Saltangsn

Sonftn

Sutftra

Tftmbata

Telia

Vadira

Total ...

280

436

616

8061

134

4210

4082

861

3664

1804

270

800

601

2876

117
8080
8SM

840
8642
1787

500

834

1206

6056

251

8130

7858

501

7206

8681

82,762

81.064

63,886

Ba'ngdiSy or Blanket- weavers, are returned as numbering thirty*
two, and as found in Karjat and Shrigonda. They bave no memory
or tradition of any earlier home. Their names and surnames are
the same as those of the local shepherds or Dhangars. Their
home^ngue is a corrupt Mar^thi, and they are dark, strong, and
robust and like Dhangars in fe^ce. They live in one-storeyed houses
with mud walls and terraced roofs, and their house goods include
low stools, quilts, blankets, and metal and earth vessels. When they
are on the move they live in small tents or pals. They are great
eaters, and their staple food is millet bread, onions, and vegetables.
They eat flesh except beef and pork and drink liquor. The men dress

AHMADNAaAB.

in a waisiclotli, a Bboaldercloth^ a blanket, a turban^ and a pair of
HandaTft or shoes ; the women dress in the backed and short-sleeved
Martttha bodice and the full Mar^tha robe without passing the skirt
back between the feet. They are hereditary blanket-weavers. Those
without capital mend old blankets and sell river fisL They live
from hand to mouth. They worship Khandoba» Mari&i^ Tolja-
BhaTini, and Firs or Mosalm&n sainta They do not keep images of
their goda. When they visit their gods' temples they throw handf als of
water at the feet of the god^ bow» and withdraw. Their priests are
local Br4hmans whom they ask to conduct their marriage ceremonies,
The^ make pilgriniages to Alandi, Benares, Jejuri in Poona^ and
Tuljipor in the Nizam's country. They keep the regular Hindu
holidays and fast on the lunar elevenths or EhadoMhU in every
fortnight^and on Shivratra or Shiv's Night in February. They believe
in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits. Early marriage,
polygamy and widow marriage are allowed and practised, and
polyandxy is unknown. They perform birth marriage and death
ceremonies with the same details as those observed by the local
Dhaogara They have a caste council, and settle social disputes at
meetings of the castemen. Breaches of discipline are punished with
fines which generally take the form of caste feasts. They do not
fiend their children to school, take to no new pursuits, and are poor.

Belda'rSi or Quarrymen, probably from hel a pickaxe, are returned
as numbering 897 and as found all over the district. They are
divided into Mar^tha Belddrs and Pardeshi Beld&rs, who neither eat
together nor intermarry. Mar&tha Belddrs do not differ from
Jiaratha Kunbis in look, food, dress, or customs The names in
common use among Pardeshi Beld&rs are for men Bd.lsing,
B&pnsing, Dagadu, Devmani, Harising, Moghdji, Panchamsing,
Blimsing, and Tulshir&m ; and for women, Bhimi, Chimni, Ganga,
6omi, Gnlaki, Jamni, Lakshmi, Mohani, and Sita. Their sumamea
are B&varu, Chukhale, Gurade, Hirade, K&thivalve, Kud4vale,
Mavale, and Navate; persons bearing the same surname eat together
but do not intermarry. They are tall, dark, dirty, robust, strong,
hardworking, and quarrelsome. The men shave the head except
the topknot, and the face except the moustache and whiskers ; the
women wear their hair in a back-knot and never use either flowers
or false hair. They speak incorrect ELindust&ni at home and Mardthi
abroad, and live in dirty clumsy thatched houses. They own asses
and dogs and employ no servants. Their house goods include
low stools, boxes, quilts, blankets, and earthen vessels. They are
great eaters and poor cooks, and their staple food is millet breads
split pulse, and vegetables with hot relishes. They eat flesh and fish
especially during their marriage feasts, and drink country liquor and
hemp water or bhang. Their special holiday dishes are puranpolia
or wheat cakes stuffed with boiled pulse and molasses, and shtrdpuria
or wheat cakes rolled round boiled wheat flour butter and molasses.
On hoUdays they bathe in the morning before eating, and rub the
village M^ruti with sandal paste, and lay flowers and food before him.
They offer goats to Mari&i or Mother Death on Dasara in October and
feast on the flesh. The men wear a waistcloth, a shouldercloth, a shirt,
a coat| a Mar^tha turban> and a pair of shoes or sandals; the women

Chapter III.
Populatioxu

CaAfTSMKN.

Bdngditt,

Belddra.

[Bomlmy Cfftwttaar,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

ORAfTSUBN.

Bdddrs.

dress in a petticoat or lakanga and an open backed bodice^ and draw
a coloured sheet across the head and shoalder. Men mark their brows
with sandal paste^ and women mark theirs with vermilion. Both men
and women have a spare holiday dress and a store of ornaments like
those kept by Kunbis. Every married woman wears daily the Incky
necklace or mangalsutra and toe-rings or jodvis. They are hereditary
quarrymen and some contract to mend roads or to ballast railways
The women and girls mind the hoase and do not help the men out
of doors. The men rise at six and quarry till noon when they go
home and dine. They go back to work at two, return at sunset,
sup, and retire for the night. The women eat when the men
have eaten, clean the kitchen, and go to rest at ten. The men earn
good wages during the fair season, but they are idle during most of
the rains, and, as they are an unthrifty class, the bulk of them are in
debt. They rank below Kunbis and above the impure classes. A
family of five spends £1 IO9. to £2 (Rs. 15-20) a month, a house
costs £5 to £1 0 (Bs. 50-100) to build, a birth costs 4«. to 6«. (Rs. 2-3),
a marriage £2 10«. to £5 (Rs. 25-50), and a death 14«.tol69. (Bs. 7-8).
They worship the ordinary Br^hmanic gods, have house images of
Devi of Tulj^pur, of Khandoba of Jejari in Poona, and of Mari^i,
and keep all Hindu fasts and feasts. Their priests are local
Brdhmans whom they ask to conduct their marriage and death
ceremonies. They worship the local gods Mahddev, M4ruti, and
Yithoba of Pandharpur, and make pilgrimages to iLlandi, Benares,
Jejuri, and Tulj^pur. They keep the Navratra feast which ends in
Dascbra in October and fast on Shiv^s Night or Shivrdtra in February.
They believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirita Of the
sixteen Br&hmanic sacraments or sansJedrs they keep only birth,
hair-clipping, marriage, and death. The details do not differ from
those observed by Kunbis. On the fifth day after a birth they
worship Satv^i or Mother Sixth, and name the child on the twelfth.
The mather remains impure for six weeks after a birth when she puts
on new glass bangles and is pure. The Br&hman priest chooses a lucky
name for the chila,and the mother'sf emale friends and relations repeat
it in the child's ear while they cradle it. Between the second and
the fifth year the child's hair is clipped for the fir^t time. On a lucky
day the child is seated on its maternal uncle's knee and its head is
shaved by the village barber. A goat is slaughtered in the name of
Satv^i and the castepeople are feasted on the flesh of the victim.^
Boys are married between four and twenty-five, and girls between
three and fifteen. They bury their dead and mourn ten days*
They offer no rice balls to the crows, the mourners do not shave
the moustache, and they hold no mind feast or skrdddha at the
end of the year. The caste people are feasted on boiled mutton on
the twelfth day, and, when the dinner is over, his friends and
relatioift present the chief mourner with a turban. Pardeshi
Beld^rs have a caste council and settle social disputes at caste
meetings. They do not send their children to school or take to
new pursuits. They show no signs of rising.

] Fuller details of BeldiUr customB are given in the Poona Statistical Aoooont.

SeeeiHil

AHMADNAGAR.

Bhadbhuilja's, or Orain-Parchers, are retnrned as numbering
nineteen and as found in the town of Ahmadnagar only. They
belong to Upper India, and have come into the district in
search of work during the last sixty or seventy years. The names
in common use among men and women are the same as among
Rajputs from whom they do not differ in look^ dress, food, or drink.
Tbej live in ooe-storeyed houses with walls of mud and stone, and
tiled or flat roofs, and they speak a correct Hindustani both at home
and abroad. As a class they are dirty, hardworking, orderly, frugal,
and hospitable. They are psrchers and sellers of parched grain
and pulse, and are poor living from hand to mouth. They are
Smirts and worship the images of Bahiroba, Devi, and Khandoba.
They make pilgrimages to Alandi, Benares, Pandharpnrin Shol4pur,
and Tulj&pur in the Niz4m^s country, worship all local gods, and keep
aO Hinuu fasts and feasts. Their priest is a Pardeshi or l^nauj
Brahman whom they ask to conduct their marriage and death
ceremonies. Child-marriage, polygamy, and widow-marriage are
allowed and practised, and their customs are the same as those of the
Bhadbhunjis of Poona. Women are held impure for twelve days
after a birth and their chidren are named on the evening of the
twelfth. They do not worship Satvdi. Boys are married between
sixteen and thirty, and girls between twelve and sixteen. They bum
their dead and mourn nine days if women and ten if men. Persons
dying of smaJl-pox are usually buried. On the thirteenth the chief
mourner treats the caste people to a dinner and they subscribe and
give him a turban. Social disputes are settled by the caste. They
do not send their children to school and they take to no new pursuits^
They are a falling class.

GFavandis and Pa^tharvatSi or Masons and Stone-dressers, are
returned as numbering 416, and as found in all sub-divisions except
Ner^sa. They have no tradition of their oHgin or of their settling
in Nagar. They seem to be Mar&tharKunbis whose special occupation
has formed them into a separate community. The names in common
use among men are Dhonai, Gy^u, Gop41a, Tjakshman, lULnu, and
Sakhir^m ; and among women, Bh&girthi, Bh^gu, Chandrabhfiga,
Chimni, K&shi, Lftkshmi, Bevu, T&i, and Yamni. Their surnames
are Bhonpale, Ghante, Eanake, Eese, Eetkar, Pedv&n, Rdj&n,
Rijpure, Sindivdn, and Sitole. Persons with the same surname
cannot intermarry. Their family gods are Devi of Tuljfour,
Khandoba of Jejuri near Poona, and Vyankatesh of Tirupati in
North Arkot. They have two divisions Uavandis and P&tharvtits,
who eat together bat do not intermarry. As a class they are^ dark
strong and well made like Kunbis. Both at home and out of doors
they speak Mar&thi with a br jad accent, and live in dirty one-storeyed
houses with walls of mud or stone and tiled roofs. Theif house
goods include low stools and metal and earthen vessels. They own
cattle but keep neither pets nor servants. They are great eaters and
bad cooks, their staple food being Indian millet bread, pulse, and
vegetables. Their dainties include hot dishes and stuffed cakes
caUed polis, rice flour cooked in water and coooamilk and mixed with
molasses called gulvani, and fried rice cakes or telchis, with sour
difthes. The elaers bathe daily^ and mark their house gods with

Chapter m.
Population.

CBAirBMBN.

CfavaitdU and I
PdUtarvtUsm

[Bombay 0«wtteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter m.

Popnlatioxi*

Ckaftsmsit.

Oapandia and
P<Uharvat8»

aandal and lay flowers before them before sitting to their morning
meal. They allow flesh except beef and pork and country liqnor on
special occasions. Some eat opinm, drink and smoke hemp> and chew
tobacco. The men shave the head except the top-knot and the face
except the eyebrows^ moustache^ and whiskers which they do not even
clip. The women wear their hair in a back-knot but nse neither flowers
nor false hair. The men dress in a loincloth or waistoloth, a shonlder-
cloth or pdsodi, a shirt or smock called baiidi, a Mar&tha turban, and
sandals or shoes. The women dress in a Mar^tha robe hanging like
a petticoat from the waist to the ankles with the skirt passed back
between the feet and fastened to the waistband, and a bodice with a
back and long sleeves. Both men and women wear ornaments like
those worn by local Knnbis. They have no separate clothes for special
ceremonies. As a class they are dirty, but honest, hardworking,
orderly, thrifty, and hospitable. Their chief hereditary calling is
working in stone or earth, hewing stone, and building walls and
houses, ponds, and wells. They also till land. Their monthly earnings
vary from 10«. to £1 10^. (Bs. 5-15) ahead. They live from hand to
mouth. The women mind the house and help the men in the field.
During the fair season their services are in good demand and they
are well paid, but they spend more than their means and many of
them are in debt. They rise at dawn and work till noon, when they
go home dine and rest tUl two. They work again from two till sunset,
when they go home, sup, and retire for the night. They never stop
work because of holidays or of a marriage or a death. Boys of ten
begin to work under their father's eye and are skilful workmen fay
eighteen. They rank with local Kunbis. A family of five spendfs
£1 4a. to £1 68. (Bs. 12-18) a month. A house costs £5 to £10
(Bs. 50-100) to build. Their house goods are worth 10«. to £3
(Bs. 5-30) ; abirth costs 6^. to£l 48. (Bs. 3-12), a marriage £2 to £10
(Bs.SO- 100), a girl's coming of age£I to £210«. (Bs. 10-25), and a
death 10«. to £1 (Bs.5-10). They are a religious people,
worshipping their family gods, Mahddev, M^ruti, and Yithoba of
Pandharpur in Sholdpnr, and visiting Alandi, Paithan, Pandharpur,
Tuljfipur, and other sacred places. Their priest is a local Br&hman
who conducts their marriage and death ceremoni^. They keep all
Hindu holidays and fasts like the Kunbis, and their religious teacher
is either a bairdgi or ascetic or a man of their own or of some high
caste who regularly visits the shrine of Yithoba at Pandharpur and
is called Pandharieha Vdkrkaritlie Periodical Pilgrim of Pandharpur.
They believe in witchcraft soothsaying and sorcery, and perform birth,
hair-clipping, marriage, puberty, and death ceremonies with the same
details as the local Eunbis. Early marriage, polygamy, and widow
marriage are allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown.
Before a marriage married women from the bride's and the bride-
groom^s go to the potter's, present him with uncooked food and a
bodice, take an earth pot, cover the mouth with a flat lid or velni^
whitewash the pot and the lid, and leave them at a neighbour's. A
married couple, with the hems of their garments tied together and a
white sheet neld over their heads, walk to the place with music, and
take the earth pot with the lid to the house of the bride, lay it
on wheat heaped on the ground in front of the familv gods^
and as devaik or marriage guardian mark it with sandal paste^

Deccan.}

AHMADNA6AB.

and lay before it flowers^ dressed food, and betel. They then repeat
each other's name and the knot in their garments is nntied. They
monm the dead ten days. On the tenth the chief monrner has his
faoe shaved except the eyebrows, makes ready ten flour balls on the
hank of a riyer, sets three of them on three small cakes, lays sandal
paste vermilion and flowers before them, and performs the service
with the same details as Knnbis. On the thirteenth castepeople are
feasted. The chief mourner is not presented with a mourning suite,
but he washes the dead man's turban, puts it on, and visits Mdruti's
temple with friends and relations. Thev are bound together by a
strong caste feeling and settle social disputes at caste meetings.
Breaches of rules are punished with fines which generally take the
form of caste feasts. They send their boys to school, but do not take
to new pursuits. They are &irly off.

OhlBa'dis, or Wandering Blacksmiths, are returned as numbering
389 and as found in all sub-divisions except Akola, Kopargaon,
lUhori, Sangamner, and Shrigonda. Their traditional ancestor and
name-giver is said to have been called Ghisddi because he knew the
ghitta pench a special grip in wrestling and beat a great gymnast.
They have no memory of any earlier home, but the Gnjardti of their
home speech shows that they were formerly settled in Gujardt.
Tliey move from place to place in search of work. The names in
common use among men are Amrita, Dagadu, Ganu, Mahdlu, Pdndu^
lUma, Tnk&rdm, and Tithu ; and among women Rakhma, Rangu,
Santi, Sita, Tahni, and Thaku. Their commonest surnames are
Chav^n^ Khetri, Padavalkar, Pavdr, Sdlunke, Seldr, Shinde, and
Survansi. Their home tongue is a dialect of Gujardti and out-of-
doors they speak a corrupt Mar&thi. Their family god is KdlkdL^
They are divided into Ghis4dis proper and Bastard or Kadu Ghis&dis,
who eat together but do not intermarry. The men shave the head
except the topknot, but neither shave nor clip the beard on pain of
loss of caste. They are regular-featured and well made like Kunbis
bat darker and taller. They live in one-storeyed houses with walls
of brick and mud, and tiled or thatched roofs, some live in wattled
hats and others in tents or pals. Their house goods include earth
vessels and blankets and thgy own buffaloes and bullocks
peU of asses and dogs^ Tfiey are great eaters andT poor cooks, their
staple rood bemg nee, millet bread, pulse sauce, and vegetables.
Hot dishes and sweet cakes stuffed with boiled pulse and molasses
with meat are among their dainties. As a rule they neither bathe
nor perform religious rites before taking their morning meal. Like
local Kunbis they eat all kinds of animal food except beef and pork,
^rjgk liquor and hemp, smoke hemp and tobacco^and eat opinm._.
The women eat flesh out touch neither stimulants nor narcotics.^
They tie their hair into a back-knot or plait it into braids without
using* flowers or false hair. They are fond of ga^y pojnnrfl- The men
diesa in a pair of short drawers called mdrid cholna, a loincloth or
a waiBtcloth, a shouldercloth, a smock or bandi, a Mar&tha turban,
and a pair of shoes or sandals. The married women wear the Mar&tha
bodice with a back and short sleeves and the full robe, but, except
girla^ without passing the skirt back between the feet. They wear
the ankle chains called sdiikhlis, the nosering called nath, and the

a 172-13

Chi^ter III.
Population.

Craftsmen.

Oavandia and
Pdtfiarvals,

Ohisddia^

[Bombay Oasotteer.

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

Craftsmbk.
Ghisddis.

necklace called galsari. Both, men and women have some g^d
clothes in store and their ornaments are made in Kunbi fashion. As
a class they are dirty, but hardworking^ orderly, honest, thrifty, and

hospitable. They are wandenng blacksmiths and tinkers ; none of
them till land or work as labourers or beggars. They work from six

i or seven in the morning to eight or nine at night except a aliort
interval for dinner at noon. The women mind the house and help
the men in their work by blowing the bellows. Their calling is well

' paid and they are fairly off. Their only holiday is Dasara in.
September-October, when they lay flowers and sandal paste before
their tools in the name of their family goddess Kalk&i. They rank
with Kunbis and above the impure classes. A family of five spends
1&8. to £1 IO9. (Bs. 8-15) a month. A house costs £2 10«. to £5
(Bs. 25-50) to build, their house goods are worth IO9. to £5
(Bs. 5 -50), a birth costs 10^. to £1 10«. (Bs. 5-15),a marriage £5 to
£30 (Bs. 50-300), and a death £1 to £2 10». (Bs. 10-25). They are

I a religious people, worshipping Devi of Tulj^pnr, Ganpati, Khgixdoba
of Jejuri in. Poena, Mdruti^ and other Brahmanic jsoda. and
asking Brahman priests ^conduct their marriages. They reverence
Brdhmans as a class and keep all Hindu holidays and fasts
like local Kunbis. They make pilgrimages to Pandharpur in
Shol&pur and to TuljApur in the Nizam's country and believe in
witchfiraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits. Of the sixteen Hindu
ceremonies or sanakars they""pefform only four, birth, marriage,
puberty, and death. Early marriage polygamy and widow marriage
are allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown. The women
mark their brows with vermilion daily, and the men mark theirs
with sandal paste when tbey bathe. On the fifth day after the birth
of a child, an image of Satv4i is worshipped in Kunbi fashion, and the
child is named and cradled on the seventh or ninth by female friends
and relations who are asked to dine at the house. The mother keeps
her room and is held impure for forty days. On the day before the

I marriage the god-pleasing or devakdrya is performed, when their
marriage guardian or devak, the leaves of the mango, umbar Ficus
glomerata, jdmbhul Syzigium jambolanum* saundad Prosopis
spicegera, and rui Calatropis gigantea, are laid in a dining dish with
a sword on them, and taken to the temple of the village M&ruti with

( music and a band of friends by two married pairs one from the
bride's and the other from the bridegroom's whose skirts are tied
together. They are again brought back and laid before the house-
gods until the ceremony is ended. The family gods are worsbipped
with the customary offerings, a goa^j2r a sheep is slain in their
namej^aiid JJie-caatfi4)eople are leasted. All the rites connected
with marriage, before and after the guardian worship, are the same
as among local Kunbis, and the caste people are treated to a
dinner at the houses of the pair, or uncooked food is sent to their
houses. When a girl comes of age she sits apart for four days and
is bathed on the fifth, when her female friends and relations meet
at her house, dress her in a new robe and bodice, and fill her lap
with rice and a cocoanut. They mourn their dead twelve days,
burying the unmarried and burning the married after the Kunbi
custom. The son or other chief mourner gets his face clean shaved

Dacdflu]

AHMADNAOAR.

except the eyebrows either on the tenth or twelfth without
requiring the services of a Br&hman priest, and on the thirteenth
treats the castepeople to a dinner of stufEed cakes or puranpolis
and rioe with split pulse. The death-day is marked by a mind-rite
or skrdddh and the dead are remembered in the Mahdlya or
All Soul's Fortnight in dark Bhddrapad or September, on the day ,
which corresponds to the death-day. They are bound together by a /
strong caste feeling,and settle social disputes at meetings of castemeny
Breaches of rules are punished by fines which generally take the form!
of caste feasts, and a free pardon is granted to those who submit.
They send their boys below twelve to school and begin to train them
as blacksmiths when they are twelve. They do not take to new
pursaits, are contented withjheic daily earnings, and show no sign]
of improving their posiSon.

Jain Shimpis, or Tailors, are returned as numbering 3451 and as
found in small numbers all over the district. They have no memory
of any former settlement. They claim to belong to the Shatvil
division of Jains, and seem to have come into the district from M&rwdr
in search of work, though when they came is not known. Their
&irer skins and more refined manners distinguish them from the
local Konbis and craftsmen ; they have many Kunbi customs and
ways, bat signs remain which support their claim to have a strain
of Kahatrya blood. Their names and surnames do not differ from
those of the localKunbis, and,a3 amongKunbis, persons with the same
surname cannot intermarry. All belong to the Rukhum family
stock a name which does not appear among the family stocks of
any other caste in the district. They speak Mardthi both at home and
out of doors. Their family god is Pdrasndth but they also worship
the Br^manic gods Mahddev, Yishnu, and Yithoba. They have no
divisions, and in look, food, drink, and dress, do not differ from
local Bri^hmans. They smoke hemp flower and tobacco and
abstain from animal food and spirituous liquors. They live in
one-storeyed houses like those of middle-class Hindus, with mud and
stme walls, and tiled or thatched roofs, the veranda or front part
being used as the shop. Unlike Eunbis they neither cook in nor
drink from earthen pots. They are moderate eaters and good cooks.
They eat modaks or rice cakes stuffed with cocoa scrapings and
molasses on Ganeithehaturthi or Ganpati's Fourth in August- September,
wheat cakes staffed with boiled pulse and molasses or polia on
IHvali in October, and rice cakes or divasas on the thirtieth or
no-moon day of KdHiJc or October. As a rule they are clean,
hardworking, orderly, and hospitable but proverbial cheatSe They
are a class of hereditary tailors and dress-makers. They take
to no new pursuits and some who own sewing machines are well
off. The rich deal in cloth for coats and shirts and have reg^ular
^hops. Kone are husbandmen, house servants, or labourers. ^They
rise at six and work in their shops till noon, return home, bathe,
and worship their house-gods dine and rest, at two they go to
their shops, come home at eight, wash their hands and feet, sup and
retire for the night. The women and girls above ten mind the
hoase and help the men in their sewing. Boys above ten act as
apprentices to their fother and work under his eye. Their trade

Chapter III.
Population.

Craftsmen.
Ohisddis.

Jam Shimpu,

[Bombay OaMttaer,

100

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.

Population-

Cbaftsmen.
JoJin SMmpi8.

is always brisk, especially dnring the marriage seasons. They
almost never close their shops. Though their calUng is well paid
their earnings hardly meet their expenses and they often spend
more than ti^ey can afford. A family of five spends 16«. to
£1 lOa. (Rs. 8-15) a month. A house costs £7 lOs. to £50 (Ra. 75-
500) to build, and their house goods are worth £2 lOa. to £13
(Rs. 25 - 150), a birth costs 10^. to £1 10«. (Rs. 5 - 15), a marriage
£10 to £100 (Rs. 100- 1000), and a death £1 to £2 10«. (Rs. 10- 25).
They rank below Br&hmans and above Kunbis. They are religious
and their family god is Pdrasn^th whom they wor^ip daily with
flowers and sandiJ! paste in their houses and at the time of thread-
girding, but at no other ceremony. They belong to the Digambar or
sky-dad Jains, that is worshippers of naked gods who are also called
Digambars, or to the Shatvdl division of Jains. They are not strict
Jains and practise many Br&hmanic customs, worship all the local
Br4hmanic gods, and keep the regular Brdhman rites. Their priest
is a village Joshi who conducts el\ their ceremonies except thread-
girding, which they perform in the presence of their family god
Pdrasn^th without the aid of apriest. They make pilgrimages to Girndr
in South Kdthidwdr, to Kantagiri in Sirpur, to Jejuri in Poona,
to Tuljdpur in the Nizdm's country, and to Pandharpur in Sholapur.
They keep all the Jain festivals Akahatritiya in May, Bhiflrapad
Panchami in August- September, and Nirvdn-chaturda^hi in
September, aud fast from vegetables on the second, fifth, eighth,
eleventh, and fourteenth of every Hindu fortnight besides on the
Brdhman fasts. Their religious teacher is Yish^lkirt the head of the
Jain religious house at Ldtur near B&rsi in Sholdpur. He never
marries, and gives religious instruction to all his Shimpi followers
above five years who make him yearly cash payments. He is
succeeded by his favourite disciple. They believe in witchcraft,
soothsaying, and evil spirits. Early marriage and polygamy are
allowed and practised, and widow marriage is forbidden on pain of
loss of caste. They perform the thread-girding after the Jain fashion,
and birth, marriage, puberty, and death ceremonies after the Brdhman
fashion. The child is bathed as soon as it is bom and its mother is
given a mixture of pounded nim leaves and kdt bol catechu mixed with
gum myrrh. For the first five days the mother is fed on rice and
clarified butter. On the night of the fifth a stone rolling pin or
varavanta is dressed in a child's hood or kunchi, set on a stone slab or
pdta covered with a yellow cloth, and worshipped by the eldest man in
the house in the name of Satvdi with coils of thread, redlead, turmeric
paste, vermilion, pomegranate flowers, five dates, and half cocoanats;
frankincense and lights are burnt before it sometimes for twelve days.
On the floor of the lying-in room, M'here the mother's head and feet
rest when she lies down, two figures of Bali R4ja are marked with
wheat flour, and betel is laid before the stone slab. The mother
and child are impure for twelve days« Girls are named on the
twelfth and boys on the thirteenth, when turmeric paste and
vermilion with betel and sugar are served to the women guests.
They name and cradle the child and are dismissed with handfuls of
gkugH or wheat and gram boiled together. The midwife waits on
the mother for twelve days. Her services ai-e rewarded with a robe

Deceaitl

AHMADNAGAR.

101

or bodice^ glass bangles worth Sd. (2 as.), and tbe rice and cocoanuts
which are daily nsed in filling the mother's lap. Boys are girt with
the sacred thread before they are twelve. Before the thread-girding
the parents visit Pdrasn&th's temple^ lay flowers on the image, and
fire kinds of fruit, coVs milk, cocoanut, cloyes, betel, and a piece
of silver or of copper, and the father girds the boy with the sacred
thread or jdnava, the people present repeating Jain texts. Not
less than five caste people are fed and the girding is over. Girls are
married between eight and fifteen, and boys between ten and twenty-
five. Marriage proposals come from the boy's parents and the
betrothal takes place on the first lucky day after the parents of the
boy and the girl agree. At the girPs the Brihman priest lays
flowers and sandal paste before the Brahmdnic gods Ganpati and
Tamn the god of water, and the father of the boy marks the girl's
brow with yermilion and presents her with a packet of sugar and
as rich ornaments as he can atFord. A day or two before the lucky
day fixed by the Br&hman priest for the marriage, five married
women of the boy's family take turmeric powder which the boy has
mixed with water to the girl's with music and friends. Thej make
the girl sit on a low stool in a sqtiare of wheat flour, rub her with
iormeric while the musicians play, bathe her in warm water, fill
her lap with rice cocoanut and betel, and dress her in a new robe and
bodice* They bring back what is left of the turmeric to the boy's,
whena women, some belonging to the boy's and some to the girl's,
rub him with it and bathe him in warm water from five pots, and
dress him in a turmeric stained white sheet. Both at the boy's and
at the girl's a flat-lidded earthen pot, with a cotton thread , coiled
round its neck, is whitewashed and coloured red and green, and set
on a heap of wheat in a winnowing fan or sup. Before this pot, which
i» the bouse of the devak or wedding guardian, a man and woman
of the family set flowers and coloured powder, and leave the fan
before the image of the house god. Part of the turmeric paste is
distributed among friends and relations as an invitation to the
marriage. After dinner the girl's father goes to the boy's with
music and friends. He takes a horse for him to ride and presents him
with a waistcloth, a shouldercloth, and a turban. The bridegroom is
dressed and all go to the girl's attended by music and friends and
reJatioDS. The bridegroom's sister follows his horse carrying on her
head a metal pot full of water. The bride's mother meets the bride-
groom atthe entrance to the booth, and red riceon leaf plates are waved
round bim and thrown away as an offering to evil spirits. He walks
in and the pair are bathed and dressed in silk cloths or pitdmhars.
They stand opposite each other on low stools with a curtain held
between them. The maternal uncles of both stand behind them ;
the priest repeats texts and at the lucky moment claps his hands, the
masicians raise a blast of noise, and red Indian millet is thrown over
the pair. Betel leaves and nuts are handed round and the guests
withdraw. Then follows the daughter-giving or kanydddn. The
priest passes a thread round the necks of the pair so as to make it
twenty^onefold, the girl's father puts money mto the girl's folded
hands which are placed above the boy's hands, and the priest pours
water over the money receiving double the offering from the boy's

Chapter III.
Population.

CRArrsKXN.

Jam 8himp%8,

[Bombay Oaietteer;

102

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

Crattbiakn.
Jain Shimpis.

father. The father-in-law presents his son with metal pots and ar
silk cloth or mugta, and the marriage wristlets are tied to the right
wrist of the bridegroom and the left wrist of the bride, who throw
fried rice or Idhia mixed with clarified batter, honey» sosamom, and
barley into the sacred fire^ which the priest has lit on the marriage
altar or bahule. ' The pair eat from the same dish and their marriage
coronets or bashings are taken off and not again puton till the jhdl or
handing ceremony before they leave the bride's house. Next day the
women of the bridegroom's family meet at the bride's with masic and
friends and bathe the couple. The bridegroom's party is asked to dine
by the bride's people and the caste is feasted on staffed cakes or polis.
Next comes the sunmukh or seeing the daughter-in-law's face. The
bride's mother leads the bridegroom's mother over white sheetsor pay
ghadis which are spread by the village washerman. The bride and
bridegroom are seated on the bridegroom's mother'slap who pats sugar
into the bride's mouth and for the first time looksat her face. On the
third day the bridegroom's party are treated to a dinner of staffed cakes
or puranpolis, and at a lucky hour the jkdl or handing ceremony
is performed, when the bride is formally consigned to the care of the
bridegroom's parents^and the bridegroom , taking his bride with him on
horseback^ goes to his house attendedby music and acompany of friends
and relations. At the house the marriage guardians are worshipped
with rice, betel is handed among the guests, and the ceremony is over.
When a girl comes of age she remains impure for three days and is
seated in a wooden frame or makh ar. On the fourth she is bathed and
fed on sweet food ; her brow is marked with vermilion, and her lap
filled with rice, cocoanut, and five kinds of fruit with betel leaves and
nuts. Neighbour women are asked to the house and are dismissed
with presents of turmeric and betel. On the sixteenth day, or on
some lucky day before the sixteenth, the girl and her husband are
seated on a square marked with lines of wheat-flour and the priest fills
her lap with rice, cocoanut, turmeric root, five kinds of fruit, and beteL
The boy and girl are presented with suits of clothes by their fathers-
in-law and from that day the girl goes to live with her husband.
The ceremony ends with a dinner to the caste or to five married
women. They mourn their dead ten days and burn them with the
same observances as local Br^hmans. When the body is burnt they
bathe in the nearest water, each takes a small branch of the nini
tree and follows the chief mourner to his house where a pot filled
with water and ashes is placed at the entrance. They all throw
about a quantity of the ashes, wash their hands, sit for a while, and
go home, where they again bathe and are clean. Next day they
gather the ashes of the dead, unless the next day is a Saturday or a
Sunday which are unlucky for bone-gathering. The ashes of the
dead are thrown into the river or put in a pot and buried on the
river bacik to be purified and sent to some sacred place or holy
water. The spot where the body was buried is washed with water
and the five cow gifts. On the tenth they go to the river, prepare an
altar or ota, wash it, and set on it three small earthen pots or
holahis with their mouths covered with small cakes or damiis, and
having before them balls of rice or pinds offered to crows. The
Brdhman priest is presented with an umbrella, a pair of shoes, metal

JtaccMi*!

AHMADNAGAR.

108

veeaelB, and money in tlie name of the dead. On the twelfth the
caste people meet at the house of the dead and purify the house
people by sprinkling them with water mixed with sandal-powder.
On the thirteenth day the friends and relations are feasted in the
name of the dead^ and the dead are remembered on their death day
by a shrdddh or mind-rite, and on the day corresponding to the
death-day in the Mahdlaya PaJeaha or All Soul's Fortnight in dark
Bhddrapad or September. They are bound together by a strong
caste feeling and settle social disputes at meetings of adult caste-
men. Breaches of discipline are punished by fines which generally
take the form of caste feasts and the decisions are enforced on pain
of less of caste. They send their boys to school till they are twelve
to fourteen and their girls till they are eight to ten. They take to
new pursuits and show signs of improving.

JingarSy or Saddle-makers, are returned as numbering 274 and as
found scattered in small numbers in all sub-divisions of the district.
They say they have passed many generations in the district, and
in look, house, food, drink, dress, and character they do not differ
from the Jingars of Poona.^ Many of them are goldsmiths,
coppersmiths, filers, and husbandmen, as working in leather is held
in contempt by Brdhmans and Kunbis. Their callings are well
paid, but they spend more than they ought in marriages and are
badly off. Their religious and social customs are the same as those
of Poona Jingars.

Kaika'dis are returned as numbering 730 and as found in small

numbers all over the district. Their origin is unknown and they have

no memory of former settlements. The names in common use amoug

men are Bahiru, Bdpu, Bhuja, D^ji, Ganu, Govind, Jijydba, Malhari,

Miinya, Niiku, Sakhdr^m, Satvya, and Sidya ; and among women

Bhigu, Chimn&i, Dhanu, Dhondu, Gajdi, Gangu, Kond4i, Manjula,

Saku, Satvai, and Vithai. Their surnames are Ddue, Ditarii,

Dyagirij Hyanasare, Idgale, Jalamsa, K4de, K^ysare, Kumar&i

Lode, Madansar, Mudhune, Mdnki, Neri, Patti, Shdmdire, Tirkale,

Utalsaspatal, and Valsade. Their clan or kul names are Jddhav,

Madiiavant, and Po7&r. Sameness of clan name but not sameness of

surname bars marriage. Their home tongue is Telugu and out-of-doors

tbey speak a corrupt Mardthi. They are of five divisions, Borivdle,

Kunchevdle, Kdmathi or Lalbaj^v^le, Mdkadvale, and V&ibase.

The last or V^dibase are a settled class and look down on the others,

Knnchev&las or brush-makers andM&kadvdlas or monkey-men wander

from place to place, the Kuchev&l^s making brushesf or Sdlis and other

weavers and the Mdkadvdlas owning and training monkeys. K4m&thi

Kaiklidis, basket-makers and courtezans, are the largest class of

Kaikadis in the district. Borivales and Vdibases are seldom seen.

As a class Eaikidis are dark, thin, middle-sized, and strong, jind li\re

in wattled huts, or in small tents called pdU when they are on

the move. Some of them live in huts with walls of brick and straw

frames covered with leaves and open to the sky. They are great

Chapter III.

Population.

CaArrsMEx.
Jain Shimpis,

Jingan^

Kaikddis,

^ DetaOfl «re given in the Poona Statistical Account.

[Bombay Oaiettoer.

104

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Populatioii.

Craftsmen,

eaters and poor cooks, and .their staple food is millet bread, pulse,
chopped chilUes or chaini, and yegetablea Their special dishes
include wheat-flour cakes stuffed with boiled pulse and molasses,
fried rice cakes or telchis eaten with guUwni or boiled rice flour
mixed with molasses. Caste feasts form part of their marriage
festivities. They bathe before their morning meal only on holidays
and fasts; on other days they have no objection to eat without
bathing. Except on their holidays and fasts the men and a few
of the women eat flesh, drink country liquor, and smoke tobacco.
They offer flesh to sdl their gods except Ganpati, Mah^dev, and
M&ruti. The men wear a waistcloth or loincloth, a shouldercloth, a
shirt, and a Mar&tha turban. The women dress in a bodice with a
back and short sleeves and the long Mardtha robe without drawing
the skirt back between the feet ; they cover the head and bosom
with the upper end of the robe. They tie their hair into a back-
knot, but neither use flowers nor false hair. The men's ornaments
are ear-rings or bhikbdlis and waist-ornaments or katdords, and the
women's nose-rings or natha, necklaces, and ear-rings or Imgdis,
Men mark their brows with sandal paste and married women with
vermilion. Married women always wear the lucky necklace or
mangalsutra, and toe-rings or jodvis, and tattoo the comers of the eye
and their hands and feet with sweet basil or tulsi leaves, a lotus, or
the lucky cross called nandi, and lucky words as Shrirdm Jayra/m,
Jayjayrdm, As a class they are dirty, humble, honest, hardworking,
orderly, and kind to strangers and friends. They are hereditary
basket makers. The women mind the house and are skilful wicker
workers. The boys and girls begin to work about eight and by ten
are of much use to their parents. They work from sunrise to
sunset with a short interval at noon for food and rest. They even
work at night, but their work is poorly paid, and, especially during
the rains, they are sometimes pinched for food. They suffered severely
during the 1876 famine as during and for sometime after the famine
the demand for their baskets was very slack. Some have lately taken
to tillage. They rank below husbandmen and above the impure
classes. A family of five spends 10^. to 12«. (Bs. 5 -6) a month, a
marriage costs £2 to £3 (Rs. 20 - 30), and a death 68. to 10«. (Rs. 3 - 5) .
Besides all local and boundary gods they worship Bahiroba,
Bhavdni, Mari&i, Phirangai, Tukdi, and Yam&i whose images they
keep in their houses with the masks or tdJcs of their married ancestors.
When they bathe they mark the masks with sandal paste, and
lay flowers and cooked food before them. They ask local Brahmans
to conduct their marriages. Their worship of the local gods
consists of pouring a handful of water at the door of the temple. They
almost never go on pilgrimage. They keep i)a«ara in September and
Divdliin October and&st on every lunar eleventh or ekddasi. They
believe«in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits. Of the sixteen
Hindu sacraments they keep three, birth marriage and death. Child
marriage polygamy and widow marriage are allowed and practised,
and polyandry is unknown. On the birth of a child, a bath-water
pit or ndhni is dug in the lying-in room, the child^s navel cord is
cut, the mother and babe are bathed and laid on a quilt or vdkal as
they are too poor to buy a cot. The navel cord is buried outside of

DeccaiL)

AHMADNAGAR.

105

tlie house, and the cbild sacks one end of a rag soaked in a cup
of water mixed with molasses. The mother begins to suckle the
child on the fourth. She is fed with rice for the first four days and
for the first twelve days her whole body from the shoulders down is
daily bathed. Her impurity lasts forty days during which she is not
allowed to worship the house-gods or to fast. On the fifth day two
embossed figures of Satv^i are laid in a winnowing fan with the
halves of a oocoanut at their feet. In the evening the mother lays
Uurmerio powder, vermilion, and flowers and bums frankincense
before them, ofEers them a packet of betel leaves with nuts, waves
a wheat floor lamp round them, and sets it before them. The
house owner kills a goat in her honour, and the flesh is boiled
and offered to the goddess and eaten with cakes by the mother
friends and relations. A lamp is not lighted every day in the
lying-in room. On the seventh the bathwater pit or ndhni is
worshipped with flowers turmeric and vermilion, and friends and
relations are feasted on wheat cakes or muthakyas and on rice mixed
with oil and molasses. On the eleventh the mother worships Mother
Sixth or Satv^i outside of the house with flowers vermilion and
food, bows before her with the child in her arms, and goes home.
They do not name the child on any fixed day. They wait till
a Br&hman chances to call at the house, he asks when the child was
born, looks up his tables or pcunchdng, and gives it a name ; betel is
served to friends and relations and the naming is over. Boys are
married between five and twenty, and girls between three and
fifteen. Their marriage season is the same as the local Kunbis'
marriage-season. When the parents of both the boy and girl approve
of the match, the Brahman priest names a lucky day for the marriage.
At the house of each, two married women lay a turmeric root and a
betelnut in a piece of cloth and tie them at the mouth of the

rd-stone or jdte, grind turmeric at it, and prepare the powder
rubbing on the boy and girl. The god-pleasing is the same as
among Kunbis. A day or two before the marriage the boy and girl,
each at their own house, are rubbed with turmeric paste by married
women, amidst the blowing of country pipes and the beating of
drams. The bridegroom is taken to the bride's village and seated
at M&ruti's temple, where the bride's father visits him and presents
him with a waistcloth and a turban. The marriage takes place usually
about sunset. The bridegroom is seated on horseback and taken to
the bride's with music and friends. The Mhdrs often stop the way
nntil the bridegoom pays them Sd.to 6d. (Be. i-^). Cocoanuts are
broken to please the boundary spirits. When the bridegroom
reaches the bride's the pair are made to stand on two dining dishes
facing each other, with a curtain drawn between them and held at
both ends by Br&hman priesta A priest repeats verses and
men and women throw millet over the pair. At the lucky motnent
the cnrtain is drawn aside and the pair are husband and wife. They
are seated face to face and pieces of thread are passed round the necks
of each by the priest. He then takes the threads off, twists them into
wristlets called lagna kankans, and passes them round the wrist of
the bridegroom and of the bride. The priest lights the sacred fire and
the couple throw grain into it. Friends and relations are treated to a

M 772-14

Chapter IIL
Population.

ORAITBlCBir.

KaMdu.

[Bombay Oftiettoer>

106

DISTRICTS.

Chapter in.
Population.
Craftrmbn.

Kaikddii.

Kdidra.

Kumbhdn,

dinner of fried cakes or ^dZcAi^andboiledrice floor mixed with molasses
called gulavanL This ends the first day of marriaga Next day the
bridegroom is taken out of the village and brought back with music
and friends to the bride. The pair are again rubbed with turmeric
and bathed in warm water. Friends and relations are feasted on
fried cakes and boiled rice-flour mixed with molasses. The couple
are taken to the bridegroom's with drums and pipes^ and followed
by friends. They take off each others' thread wristlets and the
ceremony is over. They bum their grown dead and bury youths
and children. They mourn ten days and perform the same death
rites as Kunbis, except that they never leave a burning lamp on the
spot where the dead breathed his last. They are bound together
by a strong caste feeling and settle social disputes at meetings of
adult castemen. Breaches of social discipline are punished with fines
which generally take the form of caste feasts. They do not send
their children to school and take to no new pursuits. They are a
poor class with little chance of rising.

Ka'sa^rSi or Brass-makers^ are returned as numbering 3027 and
found scattered all over the district. In look^ food^ dress and
character they resemble the K&sixs of Poona^ and their social
and religious customs are the same as those of the Bogi^rs of Kdnara
and the K&s&rs of Bijdpur.^ They are both makers and sellers of
lac bangles^ and dealers in copper and brass vessels which they
make themselves. Their calling is well paid and they are fairly off.

Kumbha'rs, or Potters^ are returned as numbering 6068 and as
found all over the district They claim to be Mard.th£. The names
in use for men and women and some of their surnames are the aame
as those of Mardtha Kunbis. These surnames are Buddhivdn^
Devtrdse^ Divate^ Jddhav^ Jagdale, Jorvekar, Lonkar^ Sinde,
Y&gchaure^ and Y&gmdre. Sameness of surname is a bar to marriage.
Their family gods are Bahiroba of Sondri in Ahmadnagar, Devi of
TnljApur in the Nizdm's country, andKhandoba of Jejuri in Poona.
They have no divisions. They hold aloof from food and marriage
connection with Bdlde, Bhonde, H^tghade, L^dbhuje, and Pardeshi
Kumbh&rs. Their home tongue is a corrupt Mar^thi spoken with a
broad accent like that of the Mar&th&s. They are dark, strongs
middle-sized, and well made. They live in houses like those of
Mardtha Kunbis one or two storeys high with walls of brick or mud
and tiled or flat roofs. Their house goods include, besides tools, low
stools, blankets, quilts, and metal and earthen vessels. They own cattle
and asses and sometimes ponies or dogs. They keep no servants.
They are great eaters and poor cooks and their staple food is millet
bread pulse and vegetables. They eat flesh except beef and pork and
drink liquor. The men shave the head except the top-knot and the
&ce«except the eyebrows, moustache, and whiskers. Women tie their
hair into a back-knot and use neither flowers nor false hair. Both men
and women dress like Mar&tha Kunbis and have a store of good clothes
and ornaments for their special ceremonies. Men mark their brows

^ Fuller detaib are given in the BijApur Sutifttical Account.

Dtccaal

AHMADNAGAR.

107

with sandal paste aa soon as they bathe, and married women mark
theirs every day with vermilion, and pat on a necklace and toe-rings
called jodvis. As a class they are rather dirty, humble, hardworking,
honest, orderly, frugal, and kind to strangers. They are hereditary
potters and tile makers and are fairly paid in grain by the villagers in
retom for the pots which they supply at weddings. They work from
morning to sunset with a short break at noon for food and rest,
return home at dark, sup, and go to bed. The women and children
help the men. Their business is brisk during the fair months,
except that they stop work on all Hindu holidays. They rank next
to Ikuiritha Knnbis and above the impure classes. They worship all
Brihmajiic gods and keep all Hindu fasts and feasts. Their priest
is a village Joshi whom they ask to conduct their marriage and
death oeremonies. They make pilgrimages to Alandi, Benares,
Jejori in Poona and Tuljkpur in the Niz&m's country, and believe in
witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits. Early marriage, widow
marriage, and polygamy are allowed and practised, and polyandry is
unknown. They worship the goddess Satv^i on the fifth night
after the birth of a child and name the child on the twelfth. The
mother is held impure for ten days, and bathed on the eleventh and
purified with water and sweet basil leaves. They marry their boys
between fifteen and twenty-five and their girls between five and fifteen.
They bom the dead and mourn ten days. Their religious and social
customs do not differ from those of Mard.tha Kunbis. They have a
caste oooncil and settle social disputes at meetings of adult castemen.
They have no headman. Breaches of social discipline are punished by
fines which generally take the form of caste feasts in which they drink
profusely at the cost of the wrong doer. They send their boys to
school, take to new pursuits, and show a capacity for improving.

Katteis^ or Leather-workers, are returned as numbering thirty-
iiine, and as found in Nevdsa, Rdhuri, Sangamner, and Shevgaon.
They claim descent from Bohid^s Chambhdr the great worshipper of
Vithoba of Pbndharpur. They are old settlers and have no memory
or tradition of an earlier home. Their customs are almost entirely local,
bat the use of sing at the eod of men's names suggests that they
are of Upper Indian origin. ' The names in common use among men
are Bh4nsing Chhotesing, Ghnd&mau, Durga, Gangdsing, Hir^mau,
Jfaamba, Kasirdm, Manii^m, Mohan, Phatru, Ramchandra, Ramsing,
Sivakisan, Subhirdm, Tuk^rdm,and Yitthalsing; and among women,
Anandib&i, Budhia, Ghhoti, Dhania, Oang&bai, Himiya, JamnAb&i,
Laliya, Loh^b&i, Maniya, and Pdrvatib^i. The word kdrbhdri or man-
ager,cAat«£7artorheadman,andnngrorwarriorare added to men's names,
and bdi lady and mdi mother to women's. Their usual surname is
Dorav^re. Their family gods are BAlAji of Tirupati, Devi of Tuljipur,
Kab&dev of Tryambakeshvar in Ndsik, and Vithoba and Rakhamii
of Pandharpur in Sholdpur. They have no divisions and persons
beanng the same surname can intermarry. They are dark strong and
well-made, like Upper India Rajputs or Pardeshis, and can readily
be known from Ch^mbh&rs and other local castes. They speak
Hindustani at home and Mardthi abroad, and live in one-storeyed
houses with brick and mud walls and tiled or thatched roofs.
Their houses are generally dirty but their temples are clean. Their

Chapter Ill-
Population.

CBAITSMiy.

Kumbhdrs,

KattaU.

[Bombay GftsetUer.

108

DISTRICTS.

Ckapter IIL

Population.

Craftsmkzt.
KaUaU.

honse goods include earth and metal Tessels, bamboo baskete, grind-
stones^ and working tools. They keep no servants, and rarely own
cattle or pets. They are great eaters and poor cooks^ and their
staple food is bread and yegetables with sour dishes. Wheat cakes,
rice, stuffed cakes^ vegetables^ and curds with clarified butter are
among their dainties. They bathe and worship their temple images
on holidays and fasts, before they take their morning meal. On other
days they are not bound to worship or wash before eating. They
eat the usual kinds of flesh except beef and pork and drmk liquor
on Shimga or Holi in March. They may take opium and smoke or
drink hemp but they are moderate in the use of these indulgences.
The men shave the head except the top-knot and the face except the
eyebrows, moustache, and whiskers. Women tie the hair into a
back-knot but never use flowers or false hair. The men wear a waiat-
cloth^ a shouldercloth^ a shirt, a Mardtha turban, and a pair of shoes
or country boots ; the women dress in a petticoat or langha, a short
sleeved bodice without a back, and cover the breast and shoulders
with a sheet or odhni. Men wear no ornaments and women have
theirs made in Mirwdri fashion. Both men and women have clothes
in store for holidays and great occasions. They are dirty but orderly,
hardworking, thrifty, and hospitable, andhave agoodnamef or honesty.
They are hereditary shoe and harness makers and as their calling is
well paid they take to no new pursuits. Their boys serve as appren-
ticesto their fathers. Their monthly earnings vary from £1 4«. to
£1 10a. (Rs. 12-15), but they run into debt by spending more than
they can afford. They work from morning to evening with a short
break at noon for food and rest. Their women mind the house and
sift gold and silver dust from rubbish or ashes gathered at village
goldsmiths' shops. Their calling is brisk at all seasons but they
rest on holidays and fasts. They rank below Kunbis and above the
impure classes. A family of five spends £1 4a. to £1 10a. (R8.12-
15) a month ; a house costs £5 to £10 (Bs. 50-100) to build, and Sd.
to la. (2-8 as.) a month to rent. A birth costs 12a. to 16a. (Bs. 6-8),
a marriage £3 to £10 (Bs.30-100), and a death £2 10a. to £3
(Bs. 25-30). They are a religious people, worshipping Yyankatra-
man of Tirupati in North Arkot with special reverence, and respect
local deities and visit their shrines on their fair day& Their priest is
a Pardeshi Brdhman from Upper India, who conducts their leading
ceremonies. They belong to the Ndth sect. Among Hindu holidays
they keep Shimga in March, the Hindu New Year's Day in April,
AJcahatriiiya in May, Bdkhi Paumima in Aagasty Doaara in Septem-
ber, DivdU in October, and Champdshashthi in December. They fast
on the lunar elevenths or Ekddashia of Ashddh or July and Kdrtik
or October, on all Mondays, and on Shiv's Night or Mahdshivrdtra
in February. Their religious teacher is a Bairdgi or ascetic whom
in retom for religions teaching they present with clothes, uncooked
food, metal vessels, and cash. The teacher is generally succeeded by
his favourite disciple. They believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and
evil spirits, and call in the help of Hindu exorcists or devtv^is to
scare the ghosts which haunt them. Early marriage polygamy
and widow marriage are allowed and practised, and polyandry is
unknown. On the fifth day after the birth of a child. Mother Sixth

DsceaB.]

AHMADNAGAR.

109

or Satv&i is worshipped with flowers yermilion and food. The child is
named and cradled on the twelf th, when caste people are feasted and
ihe women who have been asked to the house are dismissed with
packets of sagar and betel. Boys are married between fifteen and
twentj-fiye and girls b^ore they come of age. The fathers of the
boy and girl arrange the match and meet at the hoase of an astro-
loger who compares the horoscopes of the pair and chooses a lacky
day for the marriage. Before the marriage comes the betrothal^
when the bridegroom presents the bride with a packet of sugar
or sdkharpuda, a roll of betel, a robe and bodice^ and ornaments^
and booths are raised before the houses of both. The bridegroom^
with a marriage coronet of wild date or sindi leaves and
attended by music and friends, visits the temple of their gods in
their own suburb, and goes to the bride's where the Brahman priest
joins their hands, musicians play, women colour the fingers of the bride
and bridegroom red with pounded mendi or henna leaves^ and the
owner of the house serves the guests with betel. Friends and rela-
tions are treated to a dinner of cakes and boiled mutton. In the
evening the maternal uncles of the boy and girl lift them on their
shoulders and dance with them, a performance which is known as the
jhenda or war dance. At nighty to please the family gods, the gondhal
dance is performed. The ceremony lasts four days^ castepeople
are i^ain feasted^ and the pair go to the bridegroom's with music
and friends. They bum the dead. After death the body is laid on
a bier, ahroudedin a new white sheet,and taken to the burning ground
by four castemen with the son or the chief mourner walking in front
holding an earthen fire-pot. The pile is made ready and the
body is laid on it and burnt according to the directions of the
Pardeshi Br£hman priest who accompanies the funeral party and
repeats texts or mantras. When the body is nearly consumed, the
cluef mourner walks three times round the pile with an earthen vessel
or ghdgar filled with water on his shoulder, at each round pierces
a hole in its bottom and lets water flow out that the dead may drink.
Rites are performed for thirteen days after a death. They end with
a feast to the friends and relations of the dead on the thirteenth.
He rich alone mark the death-day by a mind-rite or shrdddh. They
are bound together by a strong caste feeling and social disputes are
settled at meetings of a council or vanch under their headman or
tJumdharL The office of ehaudhun is hereditary. He is highly
respected by the castepeople who present him with a turban on
marriages and show him great respect at caste feasts. The coundrs
decisions are obeyed on pain of loss of caste! The religious teacher
is not consulted on points of social discipline. They have lately
b^nn to send their boys to school. They are fairly off and with a
little more thrift would be well-to-do.

EllEtliSy or Weavers, are returned as numbering 853 and as found
in Ahmadnagar and Scmgamner. They say they were originally
Kabatriyas, whom, to save from slaughter by Parshur&m, Devi
advised to take to weaving. They say that they formerly lived at
Sahaararjun ia Mindugad the old capital of Mdlwa. The names
in common use among men are Alisa, BUiask, B&pusa, D&masa,
Govindasa, Mann&sa, NdrAyansa, Rdmusa, and Vishnnsa; and

Chapter III.
Population.

CaAFtSBCBN.

Kaitak.

KhtUria,

[Bombay Oaiettecr.

110

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Populatioii.

Craftsmsn*
Kkatris.

among women^ Durga^ Granga, Gopika^ Rakliama, and lUdba. Men
add sdvavjik or chief and women bdi or lady to their names* Their
Bumamea are B^ji, Bikh&ve, Borg&vkar, Chingi, Kh&de, Kh&mbe,
Ehdnapure, Kheralkar^ Magaji, Pav&r, and Panchang. Persons
bearing the same surname cannot intermarry. They include three
diTisions. Brahma Khatris, Kapur Khatris. and Sahasr&rjon Khatris.
who neither eat toprether nor intermarn^. Most Akmadnags^r Khatris
are Brahmakhatris and to them the following details apply. As a
class they are dark, strongs and well-made^ and their speech is a mia;^
titfe of Mar&thi and Gujardti. They live in one-storeyed housea
with mud walls and flat roofs^ and, besides weaving tools, their
house goods include low stools, blankets, quilts, and metal vessels.
They own cattle but do not keep servants. They are great eaters
and good cooks, and their staple food is millet bread, split pulse,
chopped chillies, and vegetables. Their special dishes include puran-
folia or wheat flour cakes stuffed with boiled pulse and molasses, and
fried rice cakes or tehhis. They bathe daily and daily lay before
their house gods sandal paste flowers and food, and feed caste-
people during thread-girding, marriage, and death ceremonies.
They eat flesh except beef and pork and drink liquor. They offer
meat to their family goddess Devi on Dasara in October, and keep
from animal food and liquor during the nine weeks between the first
of Shrdvan or July- August and the seventh of Ashvin or September*
October. The men eat opium and smoke hemp and tobacco, but few
of the women drink liquor or smoke hemp. The men shave the head
except the top-knot and the face except the eyebrows, moustache, and
whiskers. Youths between eighteen and twenty-five whose parents
are alive let their beards grow and do not shave till the castepeople
allow them, when the men of the caste are called to the house and treat-
ed to a sweet dinner and packets of sweetmeats are served. The
women dress their hair with neatnessand plait it into braids or tie it in
a back-knot. They deck their hair with flowers but do not use false
hair. Men dress in a waistcloth, a shouldercloth, a coat, a turban,
and a pair of sandals or shoes. Women wear a bodice with a back
and short sleeves, and a full Mard^tha robe, whose skirt is drawn
back between the feet and the upper end is drawn over the back,
shoulders, and bosom. Every married woman wears a lucky necklace
or mangalsTdra and toe-rings or jodvia and marks her brow with
vermilion. Both men and women have a store of dothes and orna-
ments like those kept by local Kunbis or Brdhmans. As a class they
are humble, clean, honest, hardworking, and orderly, but somewhat
extravagant. They are hereditary . silk-weavers, and weave silk-
bordered cotton waist and shouldercloths and robes. The rich work
both as weavers and moneylenders, and many are landholders.
Few among them have capital to invest in weaving and many are
at the* mercy of the local Marw&ris. They earn enough to keep
them, but are always spending more than they ought. The women
mind the house and do as much work as the men. They work
from sunrise to sunset and even at night, with a short interval
for food and rest. They stop entirely on the last or no-moon of
the Hindu lunar month and on Dusara in October^ Their business
is brisk in the fair season and slack during the rains. They rank

DooeMi-l

AHMADNAGAB.

Ill

below BdQunans and above Mar&tha Kunbis. A family of five
spends £1 to £1 10«. (Rs. 10-15) a mouthy a birth costs 10«. to
£2 10b. (Bs.5-25), a thread girding £2 lOs. to £5 (Rs.25-50), a
marriage £5 to £20 (Bs.50-200), and a death 10«. to £3 (Us. 5-
80)* They worship all Br^hmanic gods and keep all Hindu fasts
and feasts. They hold Devi their family goddess' in special
reverence keeping her image in their houses and daily laying sandal
paste, flowers^ and food before her. Their great holiday is
Dasara in September which they hold with great solemnity in
konoar of their jhmily deity Devi. Their priest, who is known
as Khatribhat belongs to their own caste. He conducts their
birth, thread-girding, marriage, puberty, and death ceremonies.
They make pilgrimages to Benares, Jejuri in Poena, and
Pandharpur in Shol&pur. They worship all village and boundary
gods, and believe in witchcraft^ soothsaying^ and evil spirits. Child
marriage and polygamy are allowed and practised, and polyandry is
unknown* On the fifth night after a birth the goddess Satv^ is
worshipped as among Mar^tha Kunbis. The child is named on the
twelfth by women friends and relations who are called to the house.
The mother remains impare ten days when she is bathed and purified
with water brought from the house of the priest. They gird
their boys between eight and fifteen, and marry them between
fifteen and twenty-five. Their family guardians or devdka, both at
thread-girding and at marriage, are earthen pots brought from the
potter's and marked white and red. A married couple sets them at
the comers of a square and lays before them sandal paste, flowers,
and vermilion, with food or sweetmeats. No bahuh or altar is raised,
but care is taken to please the family goddess Bhav&ni or Devi by
offering her a goat which is killed and his boiled flesh is ofEered to the
goddess. The Eiiatri Bhat repeats lucky verses, girds the boy with
the aacred thread, kindles the horn fire, and throws clarified butter
into it. Friends and relations are feasted for two days and the
thread-girding is over. Girls are married between five and fifteen.
The bridegroom's priest pays the bride money and settles the match.
The betrothal is the same as among Mar&tha Kunbis, and the brow
of the bride is marked with vermilion. The goddess Devi is pleased
with a goat, and the bridegroom visits the bride's where the priest or
Khatribhat blesses the couple with lacky rice and kindles the sacred
fire. The couple throw mango jdmbiU Syzigium jambolanum, rui
Calotropis gigantea, umba/r Ficna glomerata. and shami Prosopia
spioegera leaves op the fire and their brows are marked with
vermilion to which rice is stuck. This which is called the
9ida or cloth-presenting ceremony ends with a feast to friends
and relations. Next day the bridegroom's party take three to five
goats to the bride's and the bridegroom asks her father to give
him a feast and to treat the castepeople to a dinner. The bride's
&ther lays in supplies, kills the goats, and asks the bridegroom's
partv and the caste people to a rich dinner. The couple start for
the orideCTOom's with music and a band of friends and the wedding
IB over. When a girl comes of age she is impure for three days.
On the fourth day she is bathed and presented with new clothes by
faer hnaband and father. The priest kindles a sacred fire, her lap

Chapter III.
Population.

Craftshbn,
KhairiB,

[Bombay Gaietteer,

112

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
PopnlatioiL

Craitbhbn.
Khatris.

KoahOs.

is filled with rice cocoanat betel and irait, friend^B and relations
are feasted, and the girl goes to live with her husband. Except
children who hare not been girt with the sacred thread and who are
buried^ they barn the dead and monm ten days. The death rites do
not differ from those performed by local Br4hmans. Their chief holi-
days are Daaara in September and the dark fifth of Shrdvan or Aagast
A week or ten days before the dark fifth of Shrdvan they fill a basket
with earthy sow rice gram and wheats and water it. On the Shrdvcm
fall-moon they set the basket in their god-room and lay before it
sandal paste^ flowers, and sweet food, and tie a wristlet o^rah9habanJ^
hcmot hushagTsas aboat their wrists. Five days later, on the dark
fifth, all meet and hang a swing from the ceiling ; women are asked,
and they take their seats on the swing and sing songs, and sweet-
meats and betel are served. The women gaests, with music and a
band of friends, take the basket to a river or pond, and throw it
into the water. Money is paid to priests and sugar and betel are
handed to the guests. This feast is known as the gauHpujan
or gauri worship. They have a caste council and settle social
disputes at caste meetings under their headman or chandharL
The office of headman is hereditary and he lives at Aurongabad*
They send their boys to school and are a steady class.

KoshtiS, or Weavers, are returned as numbering 7983 and as
found all over the district. They belong to two main divisions
Mar&tha and K&nada Koshtis. The Mardtha Koshtis are divided
into Devdng Halabe, H&tgar, and Junare, and the E4nada Koshtis
into Eurn^val and Patandval. Of the Mar^tha Koshtis H&tgars and
Dev&ngs came from Vdi in Sdtdra ; Junares from Junnar in Poena ;
and Halabes from N^gpur. Both the Kurnfivals and the Patan^vals
are said to have come from Kanara. They rub their brows with
cowdung ashes, wear the ling, and hold aloof from the four Mar&tha
divisions who eat together and intermarry. In the Mar&tha group
the names in common use among men and women are the same as
the local Kunbi or S^li names. Men add tatya or uncle^ shetji or
merchant, and kdrbhdri or manager to their names^ and women
mdvasJU or aunt, nd^i or grandmother, and tdi or sister to theirs.
Their commonest surnames are Aikdde, Badade, Bahirat, B4vad,
Bhdkre, Bhdgvat, Bhalesing, Bhand^re, Bibve, Bide, Bomdarde,
Botre, Chakre, Chipdde, Chorde, Dahure, Dandavate, Dhage, Dha-
valshankh, Dhimate, Dhole, Dide, Dinge, Divate, Doiphode, Dugam,
Oal&nde, G-hodake, Ghd.te, Godase, Gulavane, Gursale, Hamade,
Harke, Hule, Javare, Jh&de, Ealse, Kaltavane, K^mbale, Khadge^
Kh&ne, Kh^rve, Kudal, Kurkute, Kusurkar, Lad, Lakare^ M&hure,
Makvate, M41ge, M&lvande,Mantarkar, Manyal, Mukhavate, Nem&ne,
Padole, Pakhale, P&ndkar, Panddre, Pdrkhe, Phdlke, Rahitade,
Bangdre, lUsinkar, Sevdle, Silvant, Sopdte, T&mbe, Tarake, Taralkar,
TdvardJ Taravade, Tatparuk, Tipare, Ukarade, TJpare, Varide,
y&hal, and Yedorde. Persons with the same surname cannot
intermarry. Their home tongue is Mardthi and they are dark,
strong, and middle-sized with well-cut features like Kunbis or Balis.
The K&nara Koshtis speak K&narese at home and Mar^thi abroad.
They live in hired dwellings like S^lis' houses, and their staple food
is millet breads pulse^ and vegetables with chopped chillies. The

OeecanJ

AHMADNAQAB.

lis

E&aara Koshtis and Mar&tha H&tgars use neither flesh nor liqnor.
The remaining divisions take flesh and liquor on any day of the year
except fiasts, and always use flesh and liquor at Shimga in March
and at Damra in September. They never offer their gods flesh
or liquor* They rarely cook their food in earthen vessels. At
marriages and deaths the caste are fed. They smoke hemp and
smoke and chew tobacco. They dress like Sdlis^ the men in a
loincloth or waistoloth, a coat^ a shouldercloth^ a Mardtha turban^
and a pair of sandals or shoes ; the women in a full Maratha robe
with a bodice. Both men and women have a store of good clothes
and ornaments for great occasions, and married women always
wear the lucky necklace or mangaUutra and toe-rings or jodvis.
Like Sdlis they are mild, hardworking, orderly, honest, thrifty, and
hospitable, and their hereditary and chief calling is weaving coloured
robes and bodicecloths. They take to no new pursuits, and
their women besides minding the house work as much as the men.
They work from morning to evening with a short rest at noon for
food and sleep. Boys begin to learn weaving at fifteen and in two
or three years are skilful workmen. They suffer from the competition
of European and Bombay machine-made goods and many of them
are in debt. Some are employed in Government service and are
well off. Their trade is brisk in the fair season especially during
the marriage season ; it is dull during the rains. They close their
shops on all Hindu holidays and on the last day or no-moon of
every lunar month. They rank with Mardtha Kunbis and above
Sdlis. As a class Koshtis are religious, worshipping all Hindu gods
and keeping all feasts and fasts. The Mar&tha Koshtis daily worship
their family goddess Devi of Kolh&pur or of B&d&mi in Bij^pur,
laying flowers and sandal paste before her. They hold Br^hmans in
great reverence and ask them to conduct their marriage and death
ceremonies. The £&nara Koshtis worship Mahddev of Singn£pur
in S4tdra and ask Jangam priests to conduct their birth, marriage,
and death ceremonies. They were formerly Ling&yats but are not
sow strict observers of their faith. Their religious teacher is the
high priest of the religious house of Akalkot, who visits their
viUages and levies yearly tribute from his followers. They raise a
8Qm of money by contribution, and hold a feast in his honour, wash
his feet, and piously sip the water that their sins may be cleansed.
The religious teacher of the Dev&ngs and H^tgars is the high priest
of the religious house of Mhaisgaum near Pandharpur in ShoUpur ;
the high priest of the Halbes who is called Kolba B^va lives at
Dhspev&d near N^gpur ; and the Junares have no high priest. They
make pilgrimages to Alandi, Benares, Kolh&pur and FaDdharpur; and
believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits. The customs of
the Mardtha Koshtis are nearly the same as those of the local
Mardtha Kunbis or S&lis. One of the few points of differejice is
that at marriages, after the jhdl or handing the bride to the bride-
groom's mother, SAlis worship Devi, while Koshtis worship the caste-
people who have been asked to the house presenting them with sandal
paste and cocoanuts and packets of betel or sweet balls. K&nara
Koshtis perform their ceremonies as directed by their Jangam
priest. Child marriage^ polygamy, and widow marriage are
b772— U

COiapMr in.
Population.

CRAWtBUXK.

KoskUt.

[Bombay Gaaetteer.

114

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Populatioii.

CRAwrsiaat,
Koshtis.

LdkherU,

allowed and practised^ polyandiy is imknown. They never pat their
hands to any work after sunset without bowing before the lamp whioh
is kindled in the house. They have a caste council and a headman
called mehta/r, and settle social disputes at meetings of adult castemen
under their headman whose office is hereditary. Petty breaches of
discipline are enquired into and punished by the priest^ and graver
offences by the headman and council. The punishment is fine which
is spent in buying metal vessels for the use of the community. They
send their boys to school till they are fifteen. Girls are seldom
taught reading and writing. They do not take to new pursuits and
as a class are fairly off.

Lal^heris, or Lac6racelet-makers^aTeretumedasnumbering279
and as found in Pdmer and Shrigonda. Their home tongue and many
customs and other details support their belief that before coming to
Ahmadnagar they were settled in Mdrw&r. The names in common
use among men are Amardji, Ddkaji^ Lakshamanji, Ndr^yanji,
Parsdjiy and Pundji ; and amoug women, Dhondki, Juk&bai, Jhuma,
Mungibdi, Bakhamdbdi, Rajkuvar, and Tuls&bdi. Their surnames
are B&gade, Bhdte, Chavdn, Hatade, Ndgare, Padiy^, Rdtvad^ and
S&lunke. Men add^t or sir to their names. Persons with the same
surname cannot intermarry. Their family god is BdldLji otherwise
known as Vyankoba of Timpati in North Arkot. There are no
divisions among them and bastards can eat but not marry
with the rest. They are dark^ strong and middle-sized with
lively eyes and regular features. Their home tongue is Mdrwdri
and out of doors they speak a rough Mardthi. They live
in hired houses like those of traders and own neither cattle
nor pet animals. They are great eaters and poor cooks and
are specially fond of sweet dishes. Their staple food includes
bread, pulse, and vegetables, and their special dishes stuffed cakes
or poUs and rice. They take their morning meaJs without bathing
or performing any rites, but, as a rule, they do not use animal food,
though they may drink liquor without restriction on marriage and
other special occasions. Like Mdrwdris besides the top-knot they
wear ear-knots and grow whiskers as well as the moustacha The
women dress their hair neatly, plaiting it in braids or tying it in a
back-knot without using flowers or false hair. The men dress in a
waistcloth or a pair of drawers, a shouldercloth, a smock or btaidi,
a turban folded in Mar^tha fashion, and a pair of shoes. The
women dress in a pair of short drawers, with a backless bodice, and
cover the breast and shoulders with a sheet called chunadu The
ornaments both of men and women are in M^rw&ri fashion except
that the women wear glass instead of ivory bracelets. As a class
they are dirty, but honest, hardworking, orderly, thrifty, and hospitable.
Their chief hereditary calling is making and dealing in wax-bangles.
Theif women and children help in their work, but they do not take
to new pursuits and ejre badly off as wax-bangles have lately gone
out of fashion. They are badly paid poor and often in debt. They
rank above local Kunbis and below Brihmans. They rise with the
sun and work in their shops till eleven, when they stop to dino
and rest till two. The women mind the house and sit in the shops
when the men are away. Their shops are almost never closed. A

Deccan-l

AHMADNAOAB.

115

tunily of five ependa 16«. to £ I 4*. (Rs. 8-12) a montli. Their house

goods are worth about £5 (Rs.SO), a birth costs 10«. to £1 lOs.

(R8.5-15),amarriage£5 to £15 (B8.50-150), and a death 10«. to

£2 10«. (B8.5-25). Their family god is Bdl^ji whose image they

keep in their houses and worship with flowers^ sandal paste^ and

food. They have no priest of their own^ but ask local Brdhmans to

condnct their ceremonies. They worship Devi of Tuljjipur and

local Muhammadan saints. They have three leading holidays^

Shimga in March, Baaara in September, and Divdli in October^

aad they fast on every Ekddashi or lunar eleventh and on Shivrdtra

or Shiv's Night in February. They have no religious teacher^ and

share the ordinary local beliefs in witchcraft^ soothsaying, and evil

spirits. Of the sixteen Hindu sacraments or mnskdrs they perform

only marriage and death. Early marriage, polygamy and widow

marriage are allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown. Like

M&rw4ris any number of men and women can eat from the same

dmlng dish. After a birth the babe and the mother are bathed and

fed as among local Brdhmans. No Satv^i worship is performed on

tlie sixth and the child is namedand cradled on the twelfth. Ceremonial

imparity attaches neither t6 a birth nor to a death. The boy^s

ifttber finds a suitable match for his son and pays the girl £2 108.

to £10 (Bs. 25-100] before the day of betrothal when he marks her

brow with vermilion. Friends and relations are asked to the wedding.

They have no devak or wedding guardian ezcept an earthen Ganpati

and a copper or brass Bila ji who are worshipped before the wedding

day. No raised altar or bahule is made at the bride's. The bridegroom

is taken to the bride's on horseback, where a tinsel arch is raised

before the house, the girl's head is decked with a net of false pearls,

ftod a square is marked off by setting an earthen pot or utarandi at

©Bch comer. No marriage coronet is tied to the bridegroom's brow.

The women sing Marw&ri marriage songs and Brdhman priests

repeat luckv verses, the hems of the couple's garments are tied

together and they are husband and wife. The bride's brow is marked

^th yermilion, the women of the house rub her cheeks with turmeric

paste, and the father-in-law gives the bridegroom a new suit of

clothes. The bridegroom takes his bride to his own hoase and treats

the caste-people to a dinner of stuffed cakes or puranpolis. On a

girFs coming of age she sits apart for three days. On the fourth she

is robbed with turmeric paste and bathed in warm water. Women

friends fill her lap with rice, cocoanut, five fruits, and betel, and she

is allowed to join her husband. The bodies of children of less than

a year old are buried, the rest are burnt. The son or other chief

mourner has his face shaved on the first day, and, as the members of

themoarning family arenot allowed to cook, £riendsor relations supply

them with khichadi or rice and pulse boiled together and mixed

with clarified butter. On the third day they gather the ashes of the

dead and eat rice and curds. On the tenth a Brahman is asked to

the house and they hold the dashpindi or ten ball-offering with the

same details as among local Kunbis. On the twelfth friends and

relations are feasted on stuffed cakes called polia or Idpams, The

friends of the dead are feasted at the end of six months and again

At the end of a year, and a mind rite is performed on the day in the

C9iapter III.
Population.

CBijrrsMBN.
Ldkheria.

[Bombay Oaiettaeri

116

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Fopnlation.

Cbavtshen.

lAnffdyat
Burwii.

Mahdlaya pahsha or All Sonls's Fortnight in dork Bhddrapad or
September which corresponds to the death-day. They are bonnd
together by a strong caste feeling. Social disputes are settled at
caste meetings. Smaller breaches of caste rales are punished by
fines which either take the form of caste feasts or are spent in
charity. They do not send their boys to school^ and do not take to
new parsnits or show signs of improving.

Linga'yat BurudS, or Basket-n^akers, are returned as number-
ing 385 and as found in all sub-divisions except Akola. They
claim descent from Med&rket one of the followers of Basav (1100-
1160) the founder or reviver of the Ling^yat faith. They are said to
have come from the Bombay-Kam&tak and most be old settlersj
as except in a few religious and social customs^ thev have adopted the
speech and ways of local Kunbis. The names both of men and
women do not differ from local Kunbi names. Their surnames are
Dukare^ Gdde, Qandhe^ Ghorpade, Hatage, Hole, J&mkar^ Kite,
Khaire, Elharade^ More, Pimpale, Pharfive, Shinde, Sole, Sonavane,
and Yartale ; persons bearing the same surname cannot intermarry.
Their family gods are Ambdb&i of Saptashring in N&sik and of
Tuljdpur in the Niz&m's country. Their speech both at home and
abroad is a rough Marathi, They form a distinct class from
Maritha and Kdm&thi Buruds with whom they neither eat nor
marry. They are of two divisions Buruds proper and bastard
Buruds who eat but do not marry with the pure Buruds. In look
and speech they differ little from local Kunbis and live in one-
storeyed houses with brick walls and thatched roofs. They own
neither servants, cattle, nor pet animals except dogs and sometimeaa
bullock. They are great eaters and bad cooks, and their staple food
is bread, pulse sauce, and vegetables. Their special dishes include
polis or sugar roUy-polies, gulavani that is rice Sour boiled in cocoa
milk and water mixed with molasses, and friqd cakes or telchis.
They bathe daily before their morning meal, and, before any one has
broken his &ist, lay sandal paste, flowers, and food in front of the
house gods. The nse of flesh and liquor is forbidden on pain of loss
of caste, but they freely smoke hemp and tobacco and eat opium.
Both men and women dress like local Kunbis except that they
wear the ling. The men mark their brows with cowdung ashes
instead of sandal paste and the women with vermilion. The orna-
ments both of men and women are the same as those worn by local
Kunbis. They have no separate stere of clothes for holiday wear
or for great occasions. They are dirty in their habits not
changing their clothes, for many days at a time, hardworking^
thrifty, and hospitable, and have a good name for honesty. They
are hereditary basket makers and bamboo and cane ^workers. The
women and children above nine help the men. Their work is steady
at all times of the year but is poorly paid. They work from six to
eleven, dress themselves in a small piece of cloth and bathe, dine at
noon and put on their usual dress again, rest till two, and work
again till six. They never work at night. The women mind the
house and help the men when they have time. They live from hand
to mouth, and, as a rule, are burdened with debt They rank below
Kunbis and above the impure classes but they take food from no one

DeoMit]

AHMADNAOAB.

117

not even from Brdhmans who hold them pure and freely touch them.
A family of fiye spends 168. to £1 4^. (Bs. 8-12 a month). A house
costs £10 to £50 (Rs. 100-500) to build, a birth costs 10^. to 14^.
(lb. 5 - 7), a marriage £2 to £10 (Bs. 20 -100), and a death £1 to £1
IO5. (Bs. 10- 15). They are a religions people worshipping the chief
Lingkyat deity Mah&dev with the Devi of Tnljdpur and Khandoba
of Jejari near Foona, and all Br&hmanic gods, and visiting Alandi,
Dehn and Jejnri in Poena, Paithan, Saptashring in N^ik,Tulj&pnr
in the Nizam's country, and other sacred places. The priest who
condocts their marriages and deaths is a Jangam or Lingdyat
but they also hold Brahmans in high respect. They keep three
chi^ holidays, Shimga in March, Dasara in September, and
Divdli in October. They fast on lunar elevenths or Ekddashis
and lunar fourteenths or Pradosha, on all Mondays, and on Shiv's
Great Night in February. Their religious teacher is a Jangam
Virap^ksha of Manur in the Niz&m's country. They are &r from
being strict Lingdyats. Besides Shiv in the form of the ling
they worship all local boundary and village gods. Their rites
except their death rites are Br&hmanip rather than Lingdyat. Early
marriage polygamy and widow marriage are allowed and practised,
and polyandry is unknown. On the fifth day after a birth, Satvii
18 worshipped with vermilion and food, and the child is named on the
twelfth. A birth causes no impurity to the woman's relations. The
motheir is unclean for three and keeps her room for twelve days.
The child's hair is cut for the first time before it is five. Their
marriage rites are the same as Kunbi rites, except that while the
Brdhman repeats verses a Jangam priest blows a conch-shell. They
have no observance when a girl comes of age, and women in
their monthly sickness are not held to be unclean. They mark their
browa with white cowdung ashes or hhasma. After death the body
is rubbed with white cowdung ashes or hhasma^ it is placed in a seat
or jhcU folded in hammock fashion, and flowers are laid before it.
Rwiraksha bead earrings are put into the ear lobes, flower garlands
are fafitened round the neck, and the body is shrouded in a new
white sheet. As among local Kunbis the chief mourner walks in
front carrying a fire-pot. The Jangam follows blowing his conch-
shell or thankh amid loud cries from the funeral party of Har Ear,
8kio Shiv, and Shankar, difEerent names of the god Mah&dev.
The body is placed in the grave sitting and the grave is filled
with earth mixed with sand and salt. When the body is seated
in the grave, the chief mourner pours water into the dead mouth
from an earthen pot which he carries on his shoulders. He walks
three times round the grave and at each turn pierces a hole
in the pot by striking it with a stone which is called the life«-
stone or aahma, and lets the water from the hole spout into the
dead mouth. When the grave is filled they bathe and go « home.
Next day they go to the grave and lay on it sandal paste, flowers,
sweetmeats, ana fruit. Frankincense is burnt before it and rice,
bread, and stuffed cakes or polis, are laid on it. The party bathe in
the nearest water and go hom& The ceremonial impurity caused by
a death affects kinsmen for three days, and for ten days the chief
monmer ia not allowed to wear his turban. On the eleventh the

Oiapter IIL

FopulatioEi

CaAnsMXK.

Linffdjf<U
Buruds*

[Bombaj OaMtfceeTr

118

DISTRICTS,

Chapter m.

Popiilation.

Crastshxn.
Lingdfat

Lohdn,

caste is feasted and the chief xnoamer is allowed to wear his turban
when he meets his friends^ but is not required to visit Miruti's
temple^ as he is among Kunbis and other people of the district.
The dettd is remembered on the corresponding day of the Mahalaya
pakaha or All Souls Fortnight in dark Bhadrapad or September,
when uncooked food is given to Brdhman and Jangam priests and
the caste people are feasted. They are bound together by a strong
caste feelings and social disputes are settled at caste meetings. Their
religious teacher never meddles with social matters. They send their
boys to school, and take to no new pursuits. They are a poor
depressed caste.

Loha^rs, or Blacksmiths^ are returned as numbering 8802 and as
found in all sub-divisions of the district. They have no tradition of
their coming into the district or of any earlier home. The names
in common use among men are Amrita^ Bab^ji^ Bala, Bapu, Bhiva^
Govinda, Oop&la, Hari, Kdshin^th, Lakshman, Mahddu, Ndrayan,
Baghun&th, Bdma, and Tdtya ; and among women, Anandi, Bh&gu,
Bhima, Chandrabhdga, Ganga, K&shi» Lakshmi, P^rvati, Rima,
Bakhama, R&hi, Radha, Sd^ldi, 9.nd Si^vitri. The men formerly added
deshmukh or district head and now add kdrdgir or workman to their
names. Their surnames are Agdr, Ambekar, Ankush, Bhor&nt, Ghdm-
phakdrande, Ghav^n, Chor, G4dekar, Javane, Jagt^p, JMhav, Kala*
84it, Kdle, Kdngale, Kd»vare, Lokhande, Ldndge, Pavi>r, Popalghat^
Sonavane, Thor^t, and Tingare. Persons who have the same surname
cannot intermarry. Their family gods are Bahiroba of Son&ri,
Agadgaum, Devagad, and Simpalapur in Ahmadnagar ; Devi of
Tulj^pur in the Nizam's country, of R&sin in Ahmadnagar, and of
Saptashring in Ndsik ; Jandi or Jokh4i a Konkan deity ; and KDian-
doba of Jejuri or of Pd,li in Poena. They have no divisions. They do
not differ in appearance from local Kunbis being dark strong and
well-made. Both in-doors and out-of-doors they speak Kunbi*
Mar&thi. The men shave the head except the top-knot and the
face except the eyebrows and moustacha Their dwellings are
like Eunbi houses one or two storeys high with brick walls and tiled
roofs. The houses are dirty and their house goods include cots,
low stools, and metal vessels. They have no house servants but own
cattle and pet animals. They are great eaters and bad cooks, and
their dainties include stuffed cakes or puranpolia, fish, and flesh.
They eat animal food on all days of the year except fast days and
abstain from beef and pork like other Hindus. Though their caste
rules do not forbid liquor, they are sober. Some eat opium, and
smoke and drink hemp. The women tie their hair into a back-knot
like Kunbi women and use neither flowers nor false hair. Both
men and women dress like Kunbis and have a store of good holiday
clothes. As a class they are clean, orderly, honest, hardworking,
thrifty^ and hospitable. Most of them earn their living as smiths
and carpenters. Their work is constant, making field tools for
husbandmen and nails and other iron articles used in house building
for townspeople. Their chief work is making and mending field
tools for which the villagers pay them a grain allowance or baltUe.
Some have taken to husbandry but none are labourers. Though
well paid they spend more than their means and are often in debt.

Deocan.]

AHMADNA6AE.

lid

Their monthly earnings vary from £1 to £2 10». (Rs. 10-25). They
eat from Br&hmans and look down on Kunbis and other middle class
Hindos. They rise early^ work till twelve, dine and rest till two^ and
again work till snnset. The women mind the house and help the
men by blowing the bellows. Their work is slack between October
and Febraary and brisk at other times. They close their shops on
the last day of every month, on solar eclipse days^ on Ndgpanchami or
the Cobra^s Fifth in August, on Dasara in September, and on Divdli
in October. A family of five spends 14s9. to £1 (Bs.7 *10) a month,
and their birth, marriage, and death expenses closely agree with those
of the local Kunbis. They are a religions people with Bifthiroba, Devi,
J&n&ij andKhandoba as their family gods, and also worshipping the
village M4ruti, Ganpati, and other Hindu gods, and the house anvil,
the bread-winner and guardian, which they call KdlaJcddevi and wor-
ship on all holidays with flowers, sandal paste, and food. Their priest
is a Brahman whom they highly respect, and ask to conduct their
ceremonies. They keep all Hindu holidays and fasts, believe in
witcbcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits, and employ the same means
as local Kunbis for scaring or coaxing spirits out of the possessed.
Early marriage polygamy and widow marriage are allowed and
practised, and polyandry is unknown. Their birth, marriage, death,
and other rites are the same as those of Kunbis. They are
bound together by a strong caste feeling and settle social disputes
at caste meetings. Smaller breaches of discipline are punished
with fine in the form of a caste feast and caste decisions are enforced
on pain of loss of casta They send their boys to school and keep
them at school till they can read and write Mardthi and cast accounts.
Village Lobars do not leave their village for fear of losing their
yearly grain allowance nor do they take to new pursuits. Village
blacksmiths are poor and town blacksmiths are fairly skilful and
prosperous.

Lona'ris, or Lime-bumers, are returned as numbering 500 and
as found in all sub-divisions except in Akola and R^huri. They say
they are Mar&th&s and have no memory or tradition of any earlier
home. They do not differ from Mardthds in look, speech, dwelling,
food^ or dress, and eat and marry with them. The names in common
use among men and women are the same as the names of Mardtha
Kunbis. Their surnames are Adalkar, Adhdo, Ajge, Bondre, Dddre,
Dhanjekar, Dhemare, Dhone, Dodmishe, Ganganmah&le, Gherade,
Oite^ Godshe^ Jarad, Jdtge, Jh&dge, Kalaskar, Kdlel, K&rande,
Kavande, Karche, Kurhe, Kute, Lagad, L&ndge, Lavdrkar,Limbdrkar^
Limgare^ Molekar, More, Muthekar, N&ndurkar, Nardle, Navthare,
Palaskar, Potbhare, IWkshe, Sdble, S6tpute, Shinde, Tdmbe, Tnlaskar,
Tupsnndar^ Undo, Vagh, and Vfighm^re. Persons with the same
samame cannot intermarry. They have two divisions, Londria
proper and bastard or E^du Londris, who eat together but 4o not
intermarry. Their home tongue is a corrupt Mai^thi, and they are
dark, tall, strong, and well-made. They live in one-storeyed houses
with walls of mud and tiled or thatched roofs strewn with hard-
beaten earth. Their house goods include low stools, blankets, quilts^
and metal and earthen vessels, and they own asses, mules, and some-
times a pony^ parrots, and dogs. They are great eaters and good

Chapter III«
Populatum.

C&AnsiCBv.
Lohdra»

Londri9,

[BomlMj Oaiflttoer,

120

DISTRICTS.

Cliapter m.
Population.
CRAFreiaBir.

cooks, and are fond of sonr, oilj^ and hot dislieB. Their staple food
is millet bread, split poise, and vegetables. Daring their marriagea
they feed their caste people with wheat cakes or polia stuffed with
boiled pulse and molasseSi and fried cakes or telchis. They eat
flesh except beef and pork, and drink country liquor on all
days of the year except fast days, and specially on Shimga
in March and Dasara in October. Men shave the head except the
top-knot and wear whiskers as well as the moustache. Women
tie their hair in a back-knot, and use neither false hair nor
flowers. Men dress in a loincloth or waistcloth, a shoolder-*
cloth, a coat, a Mar&tha turban, and shoes or sandals. Women
dress in a bodice and a long Marktiha robe hanging from the waist
to the ankle without drawing the skirt back between the feet.
Both men and women have a store of clothes or ornaments for their
special ceremonies, and every married woman wears a lucky necUaca
or mangalstUraBJii. toe-rings or jodvia. As a class they are dirty^
humble, hardworking, honest, orderly, frugal, and hospitable. They
are cement makers and charcoal burners. Tbey buy wood, bum it
and make charcoal, and some contract to supply the Public Worka
with cement and charcoal. The women gather wood and cowdung
cakes and fetch fuel from the forests. They work from six to
twelve, load their asses with fuel and cowdung cakes, and go home*
After spending about two hours in bathing, dining, and resting
they fill the lime kiln with shells, cowdung cakes, and limestone, and
set it on fire about four or five in the evening. They return at
seven dine and retire to rest. Women mind the house and sell
charcoal, buy what is wanted from the market, and help the men in
filling the lime kilns. They eat after the men have finished, clean
the dishes, and retire for the night at ten. Their calling is brisk
in the fair months and slack daring the rains, and they close their
work on all Hindu holidays and fasts. They are a poor class
living from hand to mouth, as their earnings are much reduced by
competition. They rank with local Kunbis. They worship all
Brdhmanic and local gods and keep the regular Hindu fasts and
feasts. Their priest is a local Brihman whom they ask to conduct
their marriage and death ceremonies. They make pilgrimages to
Alandi, Benares, Jejuri in Poena, Pandharpur in ShoUpur, and
Tuljdpur in the Nizdm's country. They believe in witchcraft,
soothsaying and evil spirits, and, of the sixteen Hindu sacraments^
keep four, birth marriage puberty and death, the rites on all these
occasions being the same as those among Eunbis. Child marriage
widow marriage and nolygamy are allowed and practised, and poly-
andry is unknown. On the fifth day after a birth the goddess Satv&i
is worshipped with flowers and vermilion and the child is named on
the twelfth. The mother's impurity lasts twelve days, and the
child ig not allowed to see the dough lamp which is b'ghted in
honour of Satv&i. Boys are married between fifteen and twenty-
five, and giris between five and fifteen. The bride and the
bridegroom are rubbed with turmeric paste a day or two before
the wedding, and on the next day the parents of both, as marriago
guardians or devahs, worship the five leaves of the paJas Butea
frondosaj jdvibhul Syzigiam jambolannm^ shami Prosopis spicegera

Deecftn,]

AHMADNAGAR.

121

mi Calotropis gigantea, and mango, with sandal paste, flowers, ai\d
food^ and tie them to a post in each marriage porch. They burn their
dead and moam ten days. When a widow has to marry she makes her
own choice and asks her friends and relations. If they approve of
her choice the priest names a iacky day and goes to her house after
all the other members have gone to bed. The pair are seated
on a sqaare spot which the priest marks with wheat flour. The
bridegroom visits the house with one or two male friends and the
bride joins them with some of her kinsmen. The priest worships
a beielnot G^npati and a metal water-pot Varuna whose mouth is
covered with betel leaves and a cocoanut. Sandal paste, flowers,
turmeric, and vermilion powder and sweetmeats are laid before the
betelnat and the water-pot, the hems of the pair's garments are
knotted together, and the lap of the bride is filled with rice, cocoanut,
betel, and fruit. She bows before the gods, and the priest marks
her brow with vermilion, and leaves her. She is unlucky for three
days after her remarriage and must take care that no married
woman sees her face during that time. They have a caste council,
and settle social disputes at caste meetings. They send their boys to
school but show no signs of rising from their present position.

MochlSy or Shoemakers, are returned as numbering fifteen,

and as found only in Shrigonda. They are of southern and

eastern origin and are said to have come into the district

abont 250 years ago. They include three divisions K^narese,

MadriLsi, and Telangi, who eat together but do not intermarry.

Each division at home speak the language of the district

they come from and all speak a corrupt Mardthi abroad.

The names in common use among men are Bdlu, Bhujya, Govinda,

Husena, Lilappa^ Lingn, Nagdu, Naglu, Ndgu, Narsu, P^pdu,

Pochana^ Pochati, Bdjana, Saidu, Sidapa, Shivdpa, and Vyankati ;

and among women Ajammaka, Akamma, Ohhalamamma, Durgamma,

Gordda, Ndgamma, Narsdmma, Shivama, Timdka, Vadamma, and

Yallamma. Their surnames are Belalu, Chandralu, Gadapolu,

Gaureln, Gy&t&rln, Gold Kondaulu, Itakdlu, Mapdtarlu, Manolu,

Pomdgu^ and Rdmsvdmi. Persons bearing the same surname

cannot intermarry. The family goddess is Devi of Tuljdpur

in the Nizam's country. They live in one-storeyed houses little

better than huts, with walls of mud and tiled or flat roofs.

Their household goods, besides their shoemaking tools, include low

st<x)Is, quilts, blankets, and metal and earthen vessels together

worth £1 to £2 (Rs. 10-20). They own no cattle and keep no

servants. They are moderate eaters and poor cooks, and their

dainties include wheat cakes stuffed with boiled pulse and molasses,

rice, split pulse, fish, and flesh. Their staple food is millet

bread, pulse, and vegetables. They eat the usual kinds of

animal food except beef and pork, drink wine and offer nfeat to

their family goddess Devi on Dasara, especially on days when a

gtmdhal dance is performed in her honour. They feed caste people

daring their marriage and death ceremonies, bathe regularly on

holidays, and worship the family goddess with flowers, sandal paste,

and food. They smoke tobacco and hemp flowers or gdnja and

cat opium. The men shave the face except the eyebrows and

B 772— 16

Chapter Ill-
Population.

CttAFTSMBN.

Londris,

Mochis.

[Bombay Gaxetteer,

122

DISTRICTS.

Cliapter IIL
Population-

CiurTBinEN.
JfodUa.

monstacbe and the head except the top and side knots* The
women tie their hair into a back-knot and use neither flowers nor
false hair. The men dress in a waistcloth, a shouldercloth^ a coat,
a coloured Kdm^thi-like turban, and country boots. The women
dress in a bodice and a long Mar&tha robe hanging to the ankle
without drawing the skirt back between the feet. Both men and
women have a store of clothes and ornaments for great occasions.
Every married woman wears the lucky necklace or mangahutra and
silver or bellmetal toerings or jodms. They are fond of gav colonrs.
They are dirty, hardworking, honest, orderly, and hospitable. They
are shoe and harness makers and play the pipe and drum during their
marriages. Some enlist as soldiers and as a class they are fairly
off. The women mind the house and help the men in cutting and
sewing leather. The boys work under the eyes of their parents or
neighbours and in a year or two become clever shoemakers. Men
women and children above ten work from morning to seven at
night with a short rest at noon for food and sleep. They sup at
nine or ten and retire for the night. They earn enough for
their daily wants but are burdened with debt as many of them spend
beyond their means. Their trade is brisk at all seasons and
they close their work on Shimga in March, on Dasara in September,
and on Divdli in October. They rank among the impure classes, and
Kunbis and high caste Hindus do not touch them. Still they hold a
better place than the other impure classes as they refrain from pork
and beef. A family of five spends 1 6a. to £1 49. (Bs. 8-12) a month.
A house costs £5 to £10 (Bs.50-100) to bnild and 6d. toU. (Ra^-
^) a month to rent, a birth costs 4«. to Os. (Rs. 2-3), a marriage £4
to £5 (lU. 40-50), and a death £1 to £1 lOs. (Rs. 10-15). They
are religious worshipping their family goddess Devi of Tuljdpur
in the Nizdm^s country, MaJiddev of Tryambakeshvar in ]^&sik,
Yithoba of Pandharpur in Sholdpur, and the village M4ruti.
Their priest is a Lingfiyat Jangam, and, in his absence, they
ask the local Br^mans whom they highly respect to conduct
their marriage and death ceremonies. They belong to the
Shdkta sect being worshippers of Devi of TuljApur, and their
religious teacher is a Jangam or Ling^yat priest named Jurka
Ghandaiga who lives in Tel^ngan. They keep all Hindu fasts and
feasts, and believe in witchcraft soothsaying and evil spirits. They
perform only three of the sixteen Hindu sacraments, at birth
marriage and death, and on those occasions their rites do not differ
from Kdmdthi rites. Child-marriage polygamy and widow-marriage
are allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown. On the
fifth day after a birth a silver image of the goddess Satv&i is placed
on a stone slab or pdta near the bathing pit or mori and worshipped
with sandal paste, flowers, vermilion, turmeric powder, cotton
thread, rice, pulse, and wheat cakes. Friends and kinsfolk of both
sexes are asked to dine and women keep watch till morning, placing
a shoe under the child's pillow to keep spirits away. The impurity
caused by a birth lasts ten days. On the twelfth women neighbours
meet at the house, set five wheat cakes under the cradle which is
hung from the ceiling, and turmeric powder and vermilion are
handed round. The child is named and the women guests are

DMcaii.1

AHMADNAGAR.

123

treated to a dinner. Betel is served and the gaests withdraw.
After the fonrteenth day SatvAi is again worshipped. Five stones
are laid in a row and turmeric powder and vermilion are set before
them, and the kinspeople are feasted. The mother puts on new
bangles and from that time is free to move about the house as usual.
Boys are married between ten and twenty-five and girls before they
come of aga The offer of marriage comes from the girl's side.
When the fathers agree to the dowry and other terms the boy's
lather visits the girl's house and presents her with a robe and
bodice. Her brow is marked with vermilion and a packet of sugar
is laid in her hands. This is called the mdgani or asking. The
priest fixes the day for the marriage and the bride is brought to the
bridegroom's house. The couple are rubbed with turmeric from one
to five day& The bridegroom is rubbed after the girl and both are
bathed in warm water. A boofch is raised in front of the bridegroom's
house and a goat is slaughtered to the family gods^ and the
kinspeople and friends of the bride and bridegroom are feasted on
boiled mutton and wheat cakes. At night dancing girls or mu/ralia
sing and dance till the morning, and the god-pleasing is over. The
brideigroom gives the bride a new robe and bodice and her brow is
decked with a network of flowers. Three earth pots filled with
water are set in the boy's house^ two in front and one behind, and
worshipped with sandal paste, flowers^ and wheat cakes. No marriage
guardian or devak is installed at the bride's. As the lucky time
draws near the pair are made to stand face to face on the marriage
altar or bahule with a curtain between them. The priest repeats
texts and throws red millet over the pair. He ties marriage
threads round the right wrist of the bridegroom and round the
left wrist of the bride. The lucky thread is fastened round the
bride's neck. Their maternal uncles take the bride and bridegroom on
their shoulders and dance in a circle scattering redpowder. When the
dance is over the hems of the pair's garments are knotted together,
and they bow before the house gods and the family elders. The
bridegroom's sister unties the knotted garments^ betel is served^
and the guests withdraw. For four days friends and kinsfolk are
feasted. On the fourth the pair receive presents from their others-
in-law and their brows are decked with palm-leaf marriage-
coronets. In the evenin&r of the weddinsf day or on the fourth day,
the yarat or bridegroom's procession sLts from his house wi&
music and friends, moves through the streets, and returns home. The
pair untie each other's wristlets in the presence of the priest,
throw them into an earthen vessel filled with water, strive to
be first to pick them out, and are bathed in warm water. A
goat is sacrified to the goddess Devi, at night a gondhal dance is
performed, and the marriage is over. When a girl comes of age
she sits apaii; for three days and is bathed on the fourth? Her
brow is marked with vermilion and her lap filled with cocoaniit and
rice« At night friends and relations are dined, betel is served, and
the girl joins her husband. They bury their dead and mourn ten days.
The boay is tied on a bier, taken to the funeral ground, and laid in
the grave* When the grave is filled with earth the chief mourner walks
three times round it with an earth-pot full of water on his shoulders^

Chapter III.

Popnlatioii.

CaAmMBK.

Jlochu.

[Bombay Oftsetteer.

124

DISTRICTS.

piapterllL
Population.

Craftsmkn.

Ndmdev SJiimpis.

breaks the pot^ and beats his mouth with his fist, while the Jangam
priest blows the conch shell. Friends and relations are feasted on
the thirteenth and other details are the same as araong K4mathis.
They are bound together by a strong caste feeling and settle social
disputes at caste meetings. They have an hereditary headman called
mehtar whose voice is obeyed in all social matters on pain of loss
of caste. Small breaches of social rules are punished with fines ;
and serious offences are referred to their religious teacher in Telangan.
They send their boys to missionary schools, take to no now pursuits,
and as a class are fairly off.

Na'mdevShilupiSjOr Ndmdev Tailors, are returned as number-
ing 834^ and as found scattered over the district in small numbers.
They claim descent from Ndmdev Shimpi the famous devotee of
Vithoba of Pandharpur who died about 1300.^ They are said to have
come into the district from Poena and Bombay. The names in common
use among men are Nama, Pdndoba, Rdmkrishna, Vithoba, and
Yashavant; and among women Bhagirathi,6angi, Rdhi, andRakhmdi.
Women add bdi or leAjyjiji or madam, mdior mother, SLXxdidi or sister
to their names, and men shet or merchant to theirs. Their surnames
are Avasare, Bagade, Bakare, Bdrber, Bartake, Basdle, Choke, Dare,
Den the, Ganchare, Gote, Gujar, Indre, Jachav, Javalkar, Kalas,
Kalasekar, Kdle, Kambale, Karangkar, Kavitkar, Khedkar, Khokale,
Kolhe, Kumthekar, Lachake, Litake, Mahadik, Mdlvade, Mete,
Nevdskar, Nikhal, Pddalkar, Pdrpate, Phutdne, Pote, Sarode, Sarolkar,
Sayad, Sindekar, Tikdr, Upare, Uredkar, Vade, Vachrane, and
Vahutre. Persons with the same surname cannot intermarry. Their
family gods are Devi of Tuljdpur in the Nizdm's country and
Saptashring in Nasik, Khandoba of Jejuri in Poena, and Vithoba of
Pandharpur in Sholdpur. They have no divisions and belong to the
Shdndilya and Mdhendra family stocks. Members of the same family
stock cannot intermarry. Like local Kunbis they are dark, strong, and
well made. Both in -doors and out of doors they speak broad Marathi.
Their dwellings, food, and drink do not differ from those of Kunbis.

^ Ndmdev, one of the old«lbt Mar4th» poets, was a contemporary of Jnyisidev who
died about A.D. 1300. His father's name «ras Diim^heti and his mother*8 Gondi,
of the Shimpi or tailor caste. Thcy.coati»ucd childless late in life, and, in the hope
of getting a child, took to the worship of Vithoba of Pandharpur, who was then not
much known. According to one tradition Dimdsheti while returning from the
Bliima, where he chanced to bathe before his morning meal, found a boy of twelve
wliom he brought home and reared as his son. According to his own account NAmdev
was the eldest child of Gon&i. From his boyhood N&mdev was a constant
worshipper at the temple of Vithoba and cared nothing for the world. Be was always
absorbea in his godly thoughts. For his dreamy unpractical ways he was often
scolded by his mother and by his wife Rdjdi, fle used to put a wreath of tulM beads
round his neck, and sing his verses or Miangs in praise of Vithoba, himself playing
an accompaniment on cymbals or tdls^ The present practise of accompanying songs
in honour of Vithoba with one drum and cymoals, and of visiting Vithooa'a shrine at
Pandhafpur in A'shddh or July and Kdrtik or October, are said to owe their origin to
Ktoidev. The date of his death is not known, but as he wrote on the death of hit
friend Jnytodev, he cannot have died before A.D. 1300. He was a fluent writer
and is said to have pomposed several thousand verses or abhartgs. It was TukArilm,
the great moral poet of the seventeenth century, who made Ndmdev's writings
popular. Ndmdev 's style is pure smooth and easy, and though not pointed often
insinuates satire. His writinffs give much prominence to faith or bhakti^ and his
works are full of an unselfish love of god and man. All classes of Hindus honour
Ndmdcv's name.

]ta€caiul

AHMADNAGAR

125

The men wear a waistclotli^ a shoaldercloth; a coati and a Br&hman or
Mardtlia tnrban. They shave the head except the top-knot, and the
face except the moustache and whiskers. The women tie the hair in
a back-knot and deck it with Sowers and false hair^ and are fond of
gay colonrs ; they dress in a bodice with a back and short sleeveSj
and a long Mardtha robe with the skirt passed back between the feet
and fastened to the waist. Both men and women have a store of
fine clothes and ornaments like those of Kunbis for special ceremonies
aod great occasions. They are clean^ neat, hardworking, orderly^
thrifty, and hospitable, but have a bad name for cheating, as the
Marathi proverb says. My friend have no dealings with the gold-
smith, the tailor, the trader, or Mister village accountant.^ Their
chief and hereditary calling is needlework, bat some deal in cloth
and others are servants. None work as labourers. The women mind
the hoase and help the men in their needle work. They rise early
and set to work ; stop at noon and dine and rest till two ; work till
nine, sup, and retire for the night. Their trade is brisk at all times
of the year and they never close their shops. Their calling is well
paid but they run in debt by spending more than they can afford
on marriage and other ceremonies. They rank below Brdhmans
and Eunbis. A family of five spends IGs. to £1 (Bs. 8 - 10) a month.
They worship all Brdhmanic gods like Kunbis and hold Yithoba of
Pandharpur in special reverence. Like their great ancestor N&mdev
they belong to the Yaishnav or Bhdgvat sect, wear necklaces of tivlH
or sweet basil beads, and every year visit Pandharpur in Shol&pur
00 the lanar elevenths or ekddashia of Ashddh or July - August and
of Kdrtik or October -November. They keep the usual Hindu
holidays and fasts, and believe in witchcraf t, soothsaying, and evil
spirits. Child marriage, polygamy, and widow marriage are allowed
^ud practised, polyandry is unknown. On the fifth night after a
birth a silver image of Satv4i is placed on a stone slab or pdta, with
a knife and a sickle, and the women of the housq lay before it
pomegranate flowers, five kinds of fruit, betel, turmeric pastOj
and vermilion, and an embossed figure of the goddess with a string
passed through it is tied round the child's neck. During the first
three days after its birth the babe is made to*8uck one end of a rag
dipped in a saucer of honey mix^ wfth castor-oil, and on the fourth
the mother begins to suckle it. She id fed with rice and clarified
batter for the first ten days. The impurity caused by child-birth
lasts twelve days. On the thirteenth the mother worships five stones
on the road in the name of Satvd.i laying before them flowers^
ihread, dry dates, cocoanuts, betel, and rice mixed with cnrds. The
midwife is presented with a robe, a bodice, and cash, her lap is filled
with rice, three cocoanuts, betel, turmeric root, and a packet of
vermilion^ and new glass bangles are put round her wrists* The
mother's women friends and relations are asked to the house and
name and cradle the child. Bo^ed gram or ghugri and betel are
served and the guests withdraw. Boys are married between ten and

Chapter HI.
Population.

CaArrsHSN.

Ndmdev^Shimpis,

' The Mmiithi mnfi r Sondr, Shimpi, Kulkami Appa, hydncM sangai nakore hdpa.
The tailor probably spoiled his name by cutting away bita of tbe cloth sent to him to
tuakeupb

[Bombay Gaxetteeri

126

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IIL
Fopulatioii.

ClUITSlCBN.

Ndmdev SlUmpis,

twenty-five and girls before they come of age. The offer of marriage

as a role comes from the boy's father^ who^ at the betrothal^ presents

the girl with a robe and bodice and silver anklets or vdlis, marks

her brow with vermilion in the presence of specially invited caste

people and hands her a packet of sweetmeats. Betel is served and the

boy's father is dined. The two &thers meet at an astrologer's who

compares the horoscopes and fixes a Incky day for the marriage.

The caste are asked^ and the couple are rabbed with turmeric paste

at their homes by women who bear certain names fixed as lucky by

a Brahman priest From the girl's turmeric paste is sent to the boy's

in a dining dish, and the dish is sent back filled with undcLS or cakes

stuffed with boiled pulse and molasses. The marriage guardian or

devak is a pair of scissors/ some needles, and the measuring rod

or gaj. These the parents or some elderly married couple take to

the temple of the local M4ruti, lay them before the god with a disk

filled with rice, pulse, flour, sugar, and betel, bring them home, and

tie them to the mango branch which forms one of the posts of the

marriage porch. As the lucky time draws near, the girl's father

with music and friends goes to the boy's, presents him with clothes,

and brings him to his house on horseback with music in front and

friends and kinspeople behind. The pair, on whom their maternal

uncles wait, are made to stand face to face in the booth with a curtain

held between them by Brdhman priests who sing verses. At tho

lucky moment the curtain is drawn aside and yellow and red rice

is showered on the pair. The bride and bridegroom do not throw

flower- wreaths round each other's necks. They attend to the sacred

fire which is lit by the priest on the marriage altar or hahule. The

bridegroom's mother is respectfully asked to the bride's ; she comes,

takes the bride on her lap, and makes her drink a cup of milk

mixed with sugar. This is the sunmukh darshan or seeing the

daughter-in-law's face. Next morning the bridegroom goes out to

ease himself when music and a company of friends wait on him. On

his return he is bathed in warm water. Friends and kinspeople are

asked to dine with the bridegroom, and the phal or lap-filliug is

performed by filling the bride's lap with rice, turmeric root, fivo

fruits, cocoanut, and betel. Xhe bridegroom, with music and friends

takes the bride to his house, where the maternal uncles perform the

jhenda or war dance by lifting the bride and bridegroom on their

shoulders, dancing in a circle, and beating each other with wheat

cakes. The house women fill a dish or tali with rice, cocoanut, and

betel in honour of Khandoba of Jejuri, and an odd number of men

not less than three take up the dish with shouts of Saddnand

EUcot, that is Thy favour. Oh Elkot or Khandoba.^ Betel is served

and the guests withdraw. Contrary to the practise among

local Brdkmans and Kunbis, Shimpi girls do not get a new

name irom their husbands but keep the name which was given

them as babes. When a girl comes of age she sits apart for

three days, and is bathed on the fourth. Her lap is filled with rice

turmeric and a cocoanut, her brow is marked with vermilion and

I Mkot is supposed to mean the leader of crores of spirits.

DeecanJ

AHMADNAGAR.

127

sbe is decked with flowers. Kinsmen are feasted and the girl goes
to live with her husband. Like local Kanbis they bnm the dead
and monm ten days. When the body is consumed the funeral
party bathe^ visit the temple of the village Mdruti^ and return to
the house of mournings each with a small nim branch in his hand.
At the house of mourning they dip the nim twig in a saucer of
cow's urine and purify themselves by sprinkling a little oow urine
on their heads. They mark their brows with ashes and go home.
According to the chief mourner's means the after-death rites last
one to ten days or on the tenth day only. The details differ little
from those observed by Kunbis. The death-day is marked by a
mind feast or shrdddh and the dead is remembered on the day
corresponding to the death-day in the Mahdlaya Pakaha in dark
BKddrapad or September. They are bound together by a strong
caste feeling and settle social disputes at caste meetings. Breaches
of rules are punished with fine or suspension of caste privileges, and
enforced on pain of loss of caste. They send their boys to school.
They do not take to new pursuits and are fairly off.

Nira'lis, properly Nilaris or Indigo-dyers, are returned as
numbering 1206, and as found all over the district and in large
numbers in towns. They have no memory of any former home
or of their first settling in the district. They seem to be Mar&tha
Kunbis and to have separated from the main body of their caste
when they took to dyeing. The names in common use among men
are Aba, BdUji, Ddda, Dhondi, Eknd.th^ Ganp^ti, laiha,, Jij^ba,
Shankar^and Vithu; and among women, Ghdnguna, K^ai, Manjula,
Sakuy and Kakhmdi. Men add appa or father, and women add bdi
or lady and di or mother to their names. Their surnames are
Bhurakar, Kadarkar, E&laskar, Kurandi, Mishdl, Nakde, Nehulkar,
Pdtankar, and Pingre. Persons bearing the same surname cannot
intermarry. Their family gods are Bahiroba of Son&ri in Ahmad-
nagar, Devi of TuljApur in the Niz&n's country, K&lk^devi of
Ahmadnagar, and Khandoba of J e j uri in Poena. They are dark strong
and well-built like the local Kunbis, but Nirdlis can readily be known
by their black-stained hands. They speak a corrupt Mardthi both at
home and abroad, and live in one-storeyed houses with mud walls and
tiled or flat roofs. Their house goods include low stools, blankets,
qailts^ and metal vessels. They prepare their food and colours
in earthen vessels, own cattle, and keep . servants to help them.
They are great eaters and poor cooks, and their staple food is millet
bread, pulse, chopped chillies, and vegetables. They eat flesh and
drink bquor. They bathe daily and worship their house gods
before their morning meal. On marriages and deaths they feast
their friends and relations. Their special dishes are the same as
those of Mar^tha Kunbis. Men shave the head except the top-knot
and grow the moustache and beard ; women tie the hair into a
back^mot and use neither false hair nor flowers. Men dress in a
waistcloth, a shouldercloth, a coat, a Mar&tha turban, and shoes or
sandals. Women dress in a Mar&tha robe and a bodice with short
sleeves and a back. Both men and women wear ornaments like
those of Kunbis and have a store of clothes for special ceremonies.
As a class they are clean, hardworking, orderly, honest, frugal, and

Chapter III.
Population.

Craptshsn.
Ndmdev 8himpi$.

Nirdlis,

[Bombay Oazetteer.

128

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

Craftsmbn.
Nirdlis.

Otdris.

hospitable. They are hereditary dyers, the women helping the
men in pounding the colours and dyeing the cloth. Many Niralis
are weavers of robes and should ercloths, and are well-to-do. They
work from morning to evening like Koshtis with a rest for dinner
at noon. Their calling is well paid. Their business is brisk in the
fair season and slack during the rains. Those who dye are specially
busy during the great Hindu and Musalmdn festivals. They rank
below Kunbis and above the impure classes. They worship their
family gods with sandal paste and flowers, and have much reverence
for local and boundary gods. They keep all Hindu fasts and feasts,
and ask the local Brahmans to conduct their marriages and deaths.
They are Sm&rts and make pilgrimages to Alandi, Benares, Jejuri,
and Tulj&pur. They believe in witchcraft soothsaying and sorcery,
and allow and practise widow-marriage polygamy and child-
marriage. Their customs do not ^differ from those of Mar^tha
Kunbis. They have a caste council and settle social disputes under
the guidance of the council. They send their children to school and
take to new pursuits. They are a steady class.

Ota'ris, or Casters, are returned as numbering seventy-one, and as
found in all sub-divisions except Akola and Shevgaon. They have
no memory of any former settlement and say they have been eight
to ten generations in the district. The names in common use among
men are B^pu, Ganu, Oovinda, Nardyan, R4ma, and Vithoba ; and
among women Ahelu, Bh&gu, Devakn, Ganga, Salu, andThaku.
Their surnames are Mdli, Mangarant, Ndgre, Pigale, Saluke, Tigare,
y&y&l, and Ydyd&ne. Persons bearing the same surname cannot
intermarry. They have no subdivisions, and their bastards are
allowed to eat but nottomaiTy with them. They are dark, tall,
strong, and well-built. Their speech both at home and abroad
is like Kunbi Mardthi. They live in one-storeyed houses with
mud walls and tiled or thatched roofs. They have bullocks for
carrying their goods, but have neither servants nor pets. They are
heavy eaters and poor cooks, and are fond of sour and hot dishes.
Their staple food includes Indian millet bread, pulse, and
vegetables, aud stuffed cakes and rice are among their special dishes.
As a rule they perform no rites before the morning meal
except on Dasa/ra when they bathe and worship their family
godaess Devi with flowers and boiled mutton, and eat the mutton
as a favour or prasdd from the goddess. They eat fish and flesh
except beef and pork and diink country liquor. Few use opium
hemp flowers or hemp water, and many smoke tobacco. Tho
men shave the head except the top-knot and grow both the mous-
tache and whiskers. The women tie their hair into a back-knot or
plait it into braids but use neither flowers nor false hair. Men dress
in a w^stcloth, a shouldercloth, a smock or bandi, a Mar&tha turban,
and sandals or shoes. Women dress in a rdhe hanging like a
petticoat from the waist to the ankles and a bodice with a back and
short sleeves. Both men and women wear ornaments in shape like
Kunbi ornaments and have a separate store of good clothes for
holiday wear or great occasions. They are clean, hardworking,
honest, thrifty, and hospitable. Their chief and hereditary calling is
casting metal. They never take to new pursuits. Their calling is

DeccanJ

AHMADNAQAR.

129

not well paid and they hare often to borrow to meet their marriage
expenses. The men rise at six and work till noon^ dine, rest till two^
again go to work, and return at six when they take their food and
retire for the night. The women mind the house or hawk their
metal work about the streets and visit the neighbonring fairs with
their goods for sale. They work at all times of the year but as a
rule close their shops on the last day of Ashddh or July. They may
be ranked with Knnbis,thoughneither take food from the others' hand.
A family of five spends 16«. to £1 4«. (Rs. 8-12) a month. Their
boose costs £2 lO^. to^£5 (Rs. 25-50) to build ; a birth costs 48. to
10^. (Rs. 2-5), a marriage £2109. to £5 (Rs. 25-50), and a death
10». to £1 (Rs. 5-10). They are a religions people, worshipping
the imaged of their family gods Kdlak^i, Khandoba of Jejuri near
Poona, and Devi of TuljApur in the Nizdm's country. Their
priest is a Brdhman whom they ask to conduct their marriage
and death ceremonies. They keep all Hindu holidays and fasts,
and believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits. They
keep only four of the sixteen Hindu sacraments, birth marriage
paberty and death. On the fifth day after a birth Satv^i is
worshipped as among the Kunbis, and the child is named on the
twelfth. Boys are married between ten and twenty, and girls
before they come of age. As a rule the boy's father does
ngt pay anv money to the girl's. The Brdhman priest names the
lad^ day for the wedding and all the rites are the same as among
Kanbia Before or after Hie marriage they have the gandhal dance
in honour of Devi, to whom a goat is slaughtered, and its flesh eaten
by the caste peopla When a girl comes of age she is held impure
for three days and is bathed on the fourth ; her brow is marked
with vermilion, her lap filled with rice and cocoanut, and she is
alk)wed to join her husband. Their death ceremony is the same
as among the Kunbis. On days when they bathe but not on other
days men mark their brow with sandal paste, and married women
mark theirs with vermilion. Two or three men or women can eat
from the same dish. Early marriage widow marriage and polygamy
are allowed and practised. They are bound together by a strong
caste feeling and settle social disputes at caste meetings under the
guidance of one of the elders. Breaches of caste rules are punished
by fines which generally take the form of caste feasts and decisions
are enforced on pain of loss of casta They send their boys to school,
take to no new pursuits^ and show no signs of rising from their
present rather poor condition.

Pardoshi Halvais, or Oonfectioners, are returned as numbering
thirty. fonr^ and as found in the town of Ahmadnagar and in Pdthadi
in Shevgaon. They belon&r to Upper India and have come to the
district within the last seveVfive /ears. The names in commo|i ose
amon^ men and women, and their surnames are the same as among
the Pardeshis. Their home tongue is Bnj and out-of-doors they
speak Mar&thi. In look, food, drink, and dress they are like other
Pardeshis and live in one-storeyed houses with mud walls and flat
roofs. They eat flesh except beef and pork, and drink hemp water
or bhang, smoke hemp nowers or gdnja, and eat opium. As
a class they ore rather dirty, hardworking, orderly, honest, and

B 770-17

Chapter III<

Population.

Cbaitbmbn.
Nirdli8.

PardeM
HcUvaiSm

[Bomliay GaaeUeer,

130

DISTRICTS.

Chapter m.
PopiilatioiL.

CRATT^MSir.

Pardeahi
BalvaiBt

SdUs.

hospitable. They make and deal in sweetmeats and occasionally
work as servants to other HaJvais. They are a poor class
partly because they fell into difficulties during the 1876
laminey and partly because they spend on marriages larger sums
than they can afford. Besides other Brahmin gods they worship
Devil Mahidev, and Vishnu^ and keep the usual Hindu &BtB and
feasts. Their priest is a Pardeshi or Kanauj Brdhman whom they
ask to conduct their marriage and death ceremonies. They believe
in soothsaying and witchcraft. Polygamy, child marriage, and
widow marriage are allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown.
Their customs do not differ from Pardeshi customs and most go to
Upper India to marry their children. They have a caste council and
settle social disputes at caste meetings. They send their boys to
school and are badly off.

SaUs, or Weavers^ are returned as numbering 5956^ and as found
all over the district, They claim descent from Vastradh&ri the
robesman of the gods, whom the gods accompanied on earth in the
form of useful tools. They have passed many generations in the
district and have no memory of any earlier home. The names in
common use among men and women are the same as among
Mar&tha-Kunbis. Their surnames are Ambte, Ashkar, B&gde, Bhut-
kar,Changte,Dhaphal,Dhotre,Div4ne, Gore,K£mbale, Mishal, Nich^l,
Patak, Sfitpute, Sekatkar, Smashe, Sonak, Songe, Td.mbe, and 7aUe.
Persons bearing the same surname cannot intermarry. Their family
gods are Bahiroba of Sondri in Ahmadnagar, Devi of Tuljdpur in the
Nizdm's country, and Khandobaof Jejuri in Poena. They belong to
four divisions, Sakul, Nakul or Lakul, Padam, and Ch&mbh&r S&lis.
Sakul S&lis are the pure descendants of the founder of the caste,
Lakuls are bastards, Padmas are Telangs, and Chimbh&rs are of
unknown origin. Sakuls neither eat nor marry with the other three
divisions. Lakuls, Padmas, and Ghfimbhdrs neither eat together
nor intermarry, but all eat from Sakuls. They are dark strong and
muscular like Mar&thfis, and their speech both at home and abroad
is Mardthi spoken with a broad accent. Like local Kunbis they
live in one or two-storeyed houses with brick or mud walls and tiled
or terraced roofs. Besides their weaving tools and appliances,
their house goods include low stools, cots, bedding, blankets, quilts,
and metal and earthen vessels. They own cattle and pets and keep
servants to help in weaving. They are good cooks and moderate
eaters, and their staple food includes millet bread, split pulse,
and chopped chillies with vegetables. Rice is a holiday dish, and
sweet balls of gram or wheat flour and wheat cakes stuffed with
boiled pulse and molasses are among their dainties. They eat fish
and flesh except beef and pork, and drink country liquor. They do
not use animal food on fast days, bathe daily, and worship the sweet
basif plant before their morning meal. They give marriage and death
feasts, and, on Daaara in September, in honour of Devi of Tuljtour,
slay a goat and perform the gondhcd dance. They dress like local Ma*
rdtha Kunbis, except the rich who have begun to dress in Brrfliman
fashion. The men dress in a waistcloth, shouldercloth, coat, turban
or headscarf, and sandals or shoes. The women tie their hair into
a back-knot, and neither wear flowers nor false hair. They are fond

OaceuJ

AHMADNAGAR. 131

of bright colours and nsnally dress in the fall Mar&tha robe and Cbapter III,
bodice. Both men and women have a store of clothes and ornaments PADnirtia
for special occasioos. Men mark their brows with sandal paste
and women with vermilion. Every married woman wears the Craftbmbn.
lacky necklace or mangahvira and toe-rings or jodvis, and every man ^^^

&e ear-rings called hhikbdlis. They are clean and neat, orderly^
honest, hardworking, patient, and hospitable. Their chief and here-
ditary calling is weaving robes or sddis, and bodicecloths or khans.
They buy cotton and silk yam from yam-deaUng M&rw&ris and
weave it into cloth. The women, besides minding the house, do as
much work as the men, arranjging the thread in the warp, sizing
the warp, and sorting the warp threads and the silk edgesi Of late
years the cheapness of yam has helped them, but the fail in price of
English and Bombay made cloth leaves them little margin of profit
The demand for their cloth is brisk during the &ir months, especially
in the marriage season from January to June and is slack during
the rains. They work from morning to evening with only a short
rest at noon. They stop work on the day before and on the day of
the Mahdahivrdtra or Ship's Great Night in February ; on the first of
PluUgim or March ; for two days at Shimga the Phalgun or March
foU-moon ; for five days ending the bright twelfth of Ohaitra or
April, all Mondays in Shrdvan or August, the day before and the
day after Daswra in September, JHvali in October, and all sun and
moon eclipses. They rank below Mar&tha Eunbis and above the im-
pure classes. They worship all Br^hmanic and local gods, and keep
all Hindu fasts and feasts. They daily worship the images of their
house gods with sandal paste, rice and food cooked in the house. They
make pilgrimages to Alandi near Poona, Benares, Jejuri in Poena,
Pandharpur in Sholdpur, and Tnlj^pur in the Nizam's country.
Their priest is a village Joshi whom they ask to conduct their marriage
and death ceremonies. They have no religious teacher. They believe
in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits. Child marriage, widow
marriage, and polygamy are allowed and practised, and polyandry is
unknown. On the fifth day after a birth a silver image of Satv&i
is set on a handful of rice heaped on a stone slab near where the
mother and child are bathed, and worshipped with sand, prickly
pear or niodungy vermilion, sandal paste, flowers, rice, curds, and
sweet cakes. Five married women are asked to dine and a light is
kept burning all night in the lying-in room. The mother is impure
for ten days and keeps her room for twelve days. On the evening
of the twelfth she worships five stones on the road in honour of
Satvai, and the child is named by female friends asked to the house.
Boiled gram or ^^u^ri, betel and sugar are served, and theguests with-
draw. Boys are married between fifteen and twenty-five, and girls
between five and fifteen. They bum their dead and mourn ten days.
Their funeral rites are the same as those of the local Kunbia and
the Poona SdUs. They have a caste council^ and settle social
disputes at caste meetings. Breaches of discipline are punished with
fines varying from 2«. to £2 (Bs.1-20) the amount being generally
^pent on a caste feast. Decisions are enforced on pain of loss of caste.
Thfv send their boys to school, and keep them at school till they

[Bombay Guetieeri

132

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Popalation.

ClUmMEN,

SalUmgara,

lure able to read and write. They do not take to new pursuits^ and
on the whole are fairly off.

Saltangars, or Tanners^ are returned as numbering 261 and
as found in Ney4sa and J&mkhed. They have no tradition of their
origin and no memory of their settlement in the district. The
names in common use among men are Bdldr^msing^ DhaBsing^
Kisansing^ Lakshamansing, Mohansing^ Padasing, R&msing, and
Bupsing; and among women, Champ4b4i^ Dhanabiij Hiribai,
Jamndbdi, and Rnp^bki. Their surnames are Aisiydni Badgnjar,
Bhavan, Chayle, Jainvale, J4vare^ Ndgore, Padiy41, S^mare,
Tandulke, and Tepan ; persons with the same surname cannot inter-
marry. They are dark^ strong, and muscular like local Kunbis. Their
home tongue is Hindustanis and out of doors they speak a cormpt
Mar^hi. They liye in one-storeyed houses with mud walls and flat
roofs. They are great eaters and poor cooks^ and their staple food is
millet breads pulse^ and yegetables. They eat fish goat and fowl, use
opium^ smoke and drink hemp, and drink country liquor. Wheat
cakes stuffed with boiled puke and molasses are their chief dainties.
The men shaye the head except the topknot and grow the moustache
and beard. The women tie the hair in a back-knot and use neither
flowers nor false hair. The men dress in a waistcloth, a shoulderolotb,
a smock or coat^ a Mardtha turban or headscarf , and shoes. The
women wear an open-backed bodice and the Upper India petticoat or
lahanga with a small robe^ the lower end passed round the vraist
oyer the petticoat, the upper end drawn oyer the head and shoulder.
Both men and women haye a store of clothes for special occasions.
They are dirty^ hard workings honest, orderly, frugal, and hospitable.
They are hereditary tanners and leather dyers^ and many of them
patch drums. The women mind the house and pound the bark which
is used in dyeing. They rank below Kunbis and aboye the impure
classes. They worship Bahiroba of Sondri in Ahmadnagsr,
Khandoba of Jejuri in Poona, and Deyi of 'J^uljApur in the
Nizdm's country, and keep the regular Hindu fasts and feasts.
Their priest is a Brahman whom they ask to conduct their
marriage ceremonies. They are Smarts and make pilgrimages to
Benares, Jejuri in Poona, and Tuljdpur. They belieye in witchcraft,
soothsaying, and eyil spirits. Child marriage^ polygamy, and widow
maiTiage are allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown. When
a child is bom a Nhdvi or barber woman is called in, who bathes the
mother and child, and lays them on a cot. For three days the child
is made to suck a rag soaked in water mixed with molasses. On the
fourth the mother begins to suckle it, and is fed with wheat flour
boiled in clarified butter and mixed with molasses or sugar. On the
fifth a silver embossed figure of Mother Sixth or Satyai is worship-
ped with turmeric paste, sandal, yermilion, rice, pulse, and wheat
cakef. On the twelfth Satydi is again worshipped out of doors
with flowers sandal-paste and yermilion. The mother's impurity
lasts forty days during which she keeps her room. At the end she is
bathed and purified and the child is named. Boys are married
between ten and twenty-five, and girls between five and fifteen. The
bridegroom has to pay for the bride and the niurriago ceremony is
performed as among Marwaris. They burn their dead and mourn ten

BeeeaiLl

AHMADNAGAR.

133

dajB. The dead is bathed^ laid on the bier^ and carried to the burning
ground, the chief mourner walking in &ont carrying the earthen
fire pot. On their way they halt for a time, leave a copper coin at
ihe restiug place, chajige places, and take the bier to the burning
ground. The chief mourner drops water into the dead mouth, the
body is laid on the pile, and the pile is kindled. All bathe and go
home. They gather the ashes on the third day and hold a caste feast
on the twelfth. They have a caste council and settle social disputes
at caste meetings. Breaches of rules are punished with fines which
generally take the form of a caste feast. They send their boys to
school. They do not take to new pursuits and are fairly off.

Sona'rSy or Goldsmiths, are returned as numbering 8139 and as
found all over the district They are of eight divisions, Ahim,
Devaxigans,Eadu8, E^nades, L6ds, Mdlavis, P&nch^ls,and Vaisbyas.
Of the origin or history of the different classes little information has
been traced. The Ahirs probably belong to the great tribe or nation
of Ahirs who are closely allied to the Yddavs and are found in large
numbers in Khdndesh whence they probably passed south to
Ahmadnagar.^ Dev&ngans, properly Dev^gni Br^hmans,^ are found
in large numbers in I^^ik, and are said to be the same as P&nch&ls.
Radns are the children of Son^r mistresses who eat but do not
marry with the division to which their fathers belong. Kdnades, as
their name shows, have come north from the Kam^tak, but all
memory of a former settlement has perished. Ldds must at some
time have come from South Gujarat, and M^lavis from M&lwa, bat
no trace of the time or the cause of their migration remains. The
Vaishyas, probably like Vaishyas among V^nis, are the earliest
local settlers of the Son&r class. The Panch^ls are an interesting
community from their high claims and their rivalry with local
Brdhmans. Pdnch&l is generally supposed to mean the men of five
crafts.^ They are an important class in Southern India from which
according to their own tradition which is probably correct, they have
travelled north. Sir W. Elliot notices that in parts of Madras the
Panch^ls are the Brdhmans' great rivals, the leaders of the left-hand
castes, with priests and hidden rites of their own which he thought
pointed to a Buddhist origin.^ Like the Pdnchdls of Poena and
other parts of the Deccan, the Nagar PAnchdls claim to be I>aivadnya
or astrologer Brdhmans and to be of higher Brdhman rank than
any of the local Brdhmans. The local Br4bmans scoff at their claims,
and show, which apparently is the case, that fifty years ago P^nchdl
Sonars made no pretensions to be Brahmans and followed Kunbi
customs. Only lately have they begun to make use of Brahman
ceremonies. According to local accounts the Brdhman dislike to

^ Dciatis of the Ahirs are given in the Kh^ndesh Statistical Account, Bombay
Gazetteer, XII. 71.

' In mipport of Dev&gni being the correct form of their name, Sonirs have fPlegend,
that, in tne beginning of the world, a pair came out of fire or agniy the male with a
blow-pipe and the female with a bnming hearth holding molten gold. They framed
the world and their descendants are called Devdgni or sod-fire Brdhmans. The
J<>geod« of the Chitp4van Brdhmans and the Agnikul Rajputs suggest that the
tMrvignia were either foreigners or men of low caste whom tine cleansing power of
tirt raised to be BnUimans.

' The five crafts are uncertain. The usual classification is workers in gold and
ailvcr, in brMS, in wood, in iron, and in stone.

* Journal Ethnological Society of London, New Scries, I. 111.

Oiapter lU.
SopQlation.

CiiaFTBiaEN.

SaUcmgars,

Sondrs,

(Bombay Oasetteer,

134

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Popiilation,

ClUVTSIRN.

8<mdr8,

P&nch&l Son&rs is not dae to the recent pretensions of the P^oh&ls
to be Brdhmans. Before and daring the time of the Peahwis,
Son&rs were not allowed to wear the sacred thread, and they were
forbidden holding their marriages pnblicly as it was nDlacky to see
a Son^r bridegroom. Sondr bridegrooms were not allowed to use
the state umbrella or to ride in a palanquiui and had to be married
at night and in oat-of-the-way places, restrictions and annoyances
from which even Mh&rs were free. The above eight classes form
two groaps, Dev&ngans, Kdnades, Panch&ls; and Yaishyas, who claim
to be of high caste and to keep the Br&hman rites of purity or sovale,
and Ahirs, Eladus, Ldds, and Milyis who do not claim the right
to perform Brahman practices. The eight classes do not eat
together, but, except the P^nchdls, all take water from each other.
As a rule each of the eight classes marry among themselves, but
there is no rule against intermarria^ and intermarriages sometimes
take place. In appearance the different classes are much alike,
town oondrs being like local Brahmans and village Sonars like local
Kunbis. All speak Mar^thi both at home and out-of-doors, in style
more like Brahman than Kanbi Mar^thi, but with a drawl and with
an odd fashion of using ah for s. The personal names of all the
classes are the same : among men they are Dagad, Dhonda, Govinda,
Krishna, and lUma, and among women Ahalya, Anusuya, Bh&girathi,
Oanga, and Sita. Men add shet or merchant to their names. Their
surnames are chiefly place names, Bansode, Belekar, Ch&kankar^
Gh&mphekar, Chothekar, Dah41e, Ghabdde, Holam,HondvaIe, Jojare,
Junnarkar, Kapdle, Kdljante, Mahdmune, Mathdme, Mish41, Nighoj-
kar, Pdrkhe, Ph^Ckatkar, S&tpute, Shah&ne, and Ud^vant. Persons
bearing the same surname cannot interman^. The names of their
family stocks are Abhavashya, Bhdrdv&j, Dadhincha or Dadhich,
Kashyap, Pratamasya, Sanakasya, Sandtan,Supam,andya8hishtha.
Persons belonging to the same family stock or ^o^ra cannot intermarry.
Their family gods are Devi of Tuliipar in the Nizd^m's country,
Khandoba of Jejuri in Poona, and Vyankoba of Tirupati in North
Arkot. They live in high-class houses one or two storeys high with
brick walls and tiled roofs with a place in the front veranda set apart
for their shop. Their house goods include metal and clay vessels,
boxes, chairs, low stools, and tools. They own cattle and keep pet
animals except dogs. They are moderate eaters and good cooks, and
are specially fond of sweet, sour, and hot dishes. The staple food of
town P^nch&ls is Indian millet bread, pulse sauce, vegetables, and
condiments, and their holiday dishes are puran polls or wheat cakea
stuffed with boiled pulse and molasses, and Iddua or balls made of
wheat or gram flour mixed with clarified butter and sugar. Pan-
chals, Yaishyas, E4nades, and Dev&ngans bathe daily before their
morning meal, dress in a sacred or silk waistcloth, repeat the morning
prayeK or sandhya, and offer sandal paste and flowers to their
hearth or bdgesar%. They perform the vaishvadev or offerings to all
gods, throw boiled rice into the fire, wash their hands and feet, and
sit down to eat. Their ritual differs greatly from the Brdhmau ritual.
In the evening they repeat their sandhya or twilight prayer before
supper. The four remaining divisions, Ahirs, Kadus, L&ds, and
Mdlavis, do not practise the rules of purity or sovale^ and eat without

OeeeaiL]

AHMADNAQAR.

135

any regnlar ceremonies* All claim to be vegetarians^ bat L&ds eat
flesh on Dasara in September^ and Ahirs^ Mdlavis, and Eadns on all
days of the year except holidays and &st days. They offer a goat to
their &mily deities and present them vnth boiled matton. They say
they do not eat game birds. P^nch^ls proper^ Yaishyas, and K&nades
drink no liqnor; the other divisions drink but not to excess. All
freely and openly nse hemp-flower or gdnja, opium, and tobacco.
The men of all divisions shave the head except the top-knot^ and
grow the monstache. They dress like local Brdhmans^ except that
some of the men wear a loincloth or a double cloth like Mardth&s,
and like Knnbis some women do not pass the skirt of the robe back
between the feet. As a class they are clean^ orderly, thrifty, and
proverbially cunning ; the Mar&thi proverb says, My boy shun the
company of the golasmith, the tailor, and the village clerk.^ Their
favourite mode of cheating is to make away with some of the
gold or silver which has been given them to work. To prevent this
people generally call the goldsmith to their houses and make him
work in their presence, or go to his shop, stand over him when he
is at work, and search his fire-place when he is done. Though
their hereditary and chief calling is working in gold and silver, some
Sondrs deal in gold and silver and are moneylenders and money-
changers. Men without capital and boys above twelve work under
the eye or at the shop of a skilful workman, and open a shop of
their own when they gain credit among the rich men of the place.
Town 8on&rs engrave different designs on gold and silver ornaments
and are well off ; village goldsmiths are generally poor with little
work. Formerly in return for testing the village coin the village
Son4r was styled j^o^cZor, was ranked among the village office bearers,
and was given grants of grain by the landholders. Though their
duties as coin-testers have ceased they still work for the villagers and
are paid at harvest time in grain. Their trade is brisk in the hot
weather and dull during the rains. Many villages have more Sondrs
than there is work for, and so several of tbem are poor and in debt
As has been noticed the P^ch&ls claim to be Br&hmans and higher
than the local Brfihmans. The other divisions rank themselves below
Br^mans and above Enabis. All rise early, and begin the day by
hammering a piece of silver. They close their shops on the last or
Do-moon day of every Hindu month and on Dasara Day in September,
when they set up a new hearth called bdgesari or goddess of
wealth. They worship all Brihmanic gods and keep the usual Hindu
f astB and feasts. They have a priest of their own caste in whose
absance the village Joshi officiates at their birth, thread -girding,
marriage, and death ceremonies. Except the P^chdls they hold
fr&hmans in great respect. Their family deities are Devi of Tulj&pur
in the Niz^m^s country, Khandoba of Jejuri in Poena, and Satv&i
whose images they keep in their house and worship daily withf sandal
paste, flowers, and food. They also offer daily sandal paste, flowers,
and food to their hearth bdgesari or goddess of wealth before taking
their morning meals. They go on pilgrimage to Benares, Jejuri in
Poona, Pandharpur in ShoUpur, and Tulj&pur in the Niz&m's

Chapter IIL
Population.

Craftshkn.
Sondrs,

1 The IfUr&thi rami : Sondrt Skmpi, KuOsami Apa, hytinehi iangat nakore bdipa.

[Bombay Oaietteer,

136

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

Craftsmen.

Sondr8»

country. Their greatest holiday is Dasara in September- October,
when they setup a new hearth, mark it with sandal paste, and lay flowers
and cooked food before it. They believe in soothsaying, witchcraft,
and evil spirits. On the sixth day after the birth of a child the
goddess Satvdi is worshipped with flowers, sandal paste, vermilion,
and food, and the child is named on the evening of the twelfth.
The mother*s impurity lasts ten days. Boys are girt with the
sacred thread between eight and fifteen and are married between
fifteen and twenty-five. Girls are married before they come of age.
F^nchdls, Yaishyas, Kanades, and Dev&ngans claim to celebrate
their marriage according to the Brdhman form except that they
do not sprinkle the pair with water from a mango twig. At
their weddings Ahirs, Mdlavis, Ldds, and Kadus follow Kunbi
practises. As Kunbis use five leaves or punch pallav as their
wedding guardians, these Son&rs make guardians of their pincers
or adndas and their blow-pipe or phukani. In other respects their
wedding is the same as a Kunbi's wedding. Pdnchals, Vaishyas,
K&nades, and Devdngans shave their widoVs heads and do not
allow them to marry : Ahirs, M^lavis, L^ds, and Kadus allow widow
marriage under the same rules as Kunbis. All bum the dead and
mourn ten days. On their way to the burning ground the bearers
halt at the temple of the local Md«ruti and then go on. If the dead
has a son the face is left open ; if the dead has no son the face is
covered. As soon as the body is .moved from the house the spot
where the spirit left the body is covered with quartz powder or
rdngoli if the dead is a widow or a man, and with vermilion powder
or kunkun if the dead is a married woman who has left a husband
alive. A metal pot full of water is set on the spot and the spot is
covered with a bamboo basket. Unlike local Brahmans, after the
body is consumed, Sondrs do not offer the dead a handful of water
mixed with sesamum, but at once visit the temple of M^iruti and go
home. Next day they remove the bamboo basket from the spot
where the death took place, and examine the quartz or vermilion
powder to see if there are any marks from which they can tell into
what animal the soul of the dead has passed. On the same day
they go to the spot where the body was burned, gather the ashes,
wash the place with cow urine, milk, curds, cowdung, and butter,
leave flowers and vermilion, and lay two small cakes of wheat flour
rubbed with clarified butter. On the tenth day the chief mourner
goes to the burning ground, makes ready wheat flour balls, and lays
before them sandal paste, vermilion, and flowers. He goes to a
distance and waits to see whether the crows will come and eat the
balls. If the crows do not come the chief mourner makes a grass
crow and touches the balls with it, because it is believed that unless
a crow touches the balls the dead is angry and will haunt the living
as a gndst. On the thirteenth kinspeople are treated to a dinner.
P£nch&ls perform both monthly or mdsik and year mind-rites or
sh/rdddhs in honour of the dead. Formerly Panch&ls used to observe
the same after-death ceremonies as Kunbis. Of late years, since a
party among them have begun to claim to be Daivadnya Br^mans,
they have begun to copy the full Brdhman ritaal. They are bound
together by a strong caste feeling and settle social disputes at

Deeeaa.]

AHMADNAGAR

137

meetings of their caatemen^ under wisemen called pancha or mehtara.
Smaller breaches of caste discipline^ as keeping their shops open on
the last or no-moon day of the month and on holidays^ are punished
with fines which take the form of caste feasts ; graver offences are
punished with loss of caste. Sondrs employ Jh&rekaris or spies
who are Son^r converts to Isl&m to tell them if any man works on
the nmdvdsya or no-moon day. These Jhdrekaris call the members
to caste meetings^ and^ in return for their services, and for a monthly
payment of Is. to 2$. (Re. | - 1) are allowed to take the ashes from
all the Sonilrs' fire-places or bdgesaria, which are valued as they
sometimes contain small pieces of gold and silver. These men visit
the larger Sonar shops once a month, and the smaller shops once a
week. Caste decisions are obeyed on pain of expulsion. Drunkards,
open flesh-eaters, and adulterers are called before the caste and
publicly rebuked. Intricate caste disputes are referred to Shankar-
ach4rya, the SmM pontiff. They send their boys and girls to
school and many of them are employed in Government service.
Town Sonars are well off; village Son&rs are poor.

Suta'rS) or Carpenters, are returned as numbering 7858 and as
found all over the district. They call themselves Panchdl Sut&rs
and say that they are descended from Tvashta the divine architect.
They have no memory of any former home and no tradition of their
settlement in the district. The names in common use among men
are Annilji, Bdla, Dhondiba, Gang^rdm, Govinda, Kesu, Krishna,
Lakshiman, Mah^u, N^rdyan, Rakhamdji, R&ma, and Shankar;
and among women Bh^u, Chandrabhiga, Chima, Gungu, Gropika,
Kondu, P&ru, and Yashvada. The men add mestri or iineat, that is
foreman to their names. Their surnames are Bh^erdi, Cbandane,
Ch&nkar, Dolas, Dorale, Gore, Jagt&p, Jhende, Kangle, Khdmkar,
Khare, Kothale, Pagdr, R4vut, Sasdne, Sinde, Sonavane, and
V^hch&ure. Persons bearing the same surname cannot intermarry.
Their family gods are Bahiroba of Sondri in Ahmadnagar, Devi of
Tulj^pur in the Nizdm's country, and Khandoba of Jejuri in Poena.
They have no divisions and neither eat nor marry with Bastard or
Kadu Satdrs. Tiike local Mar4tha Kunbis they are dark strong
and muscular. The men shave the face except the moustache and the
head except the top-knot. The women are fairer and weaker than the
men. They wear their hair in a back-knot and use neither flowers
nor &i8e hair. They speak a corruptMardthi both athome and abroad,
and live in dwellings like Maratha Kunbi houses with brick or mud
walls and tiled or flat roofs. Besides their carpenter's tools their
house goods include low stools, blankets, quilts, bedding, and metal
and earthen vessels, and they own cattle, dogs, and parrots, and keep
servants to help in their work. They are great eaters and good cooks,
their staple food being millet bread, split pulse, chopped chillies, and
vegetables. They bathe daily before the morning meal and worship
their house gods. Their special dishes are like those of Mardtha
Knnbis and local BhLhmans. They are fond of hot and sour dishes
and profess to use neither flesh nor liquor. They smoke hemp flower
and tobacco, and eat opium. The men wear a loincloth or waist-
cloth, a s;houldercloth, a coat or shirt, a Mardtha turban, and
aandals or shoes. The women are fond of g^y colours and dress in

• 772—18

Chapter III.
Population.
Craftsmen,

Sutdrs.

[Bombay Oasettaeri

138

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Popnlation.

CRATRUiBN.

the full Mar&iha robe or sddi and a bodice with a back and ahort
sleeyea Every married woman wears the lucky necklace or
mangaUfdra and toerings or jodvis. Women mark their brows with
yermilion and men with sandal paste. Both men and women have
a store of rich clothes and ornaments like those of Brihmans or
local Mar&tha Kunbis for holiday wear. They are clean, honest,
hardworking, frugal, orderly, and hospitable. They are hereditaiy
carpenters, and many of them are employed in the public worloi
and railway workshops. They make and mend carts, ploughs, and
other field tools, and add to their earnings as carpenteni by
working as husbandmen. They are one of the old village servants,
making and mending field tools and being paid in grain at harvest
time. Women mind the house and boys above ten work under
their fathers or some other skilled workman. Town carpenters are
fiEorly off, and village carpenters are poor, many of them in debt.
They work from morning to evening with a short rest at noon for
food and sleep. They go home at seven, sup, and go to bed.
Women mind the house, cook the food, dine after the men, clean tbe
dishes, and go to bed about ten. They are busy during the fair
season, and, except those who work as husbandmen, are idle duringr
the rains. They close their shops on all Hindu holidays especially
on the last day or no-moon of the lunar month. A family of five
spends 16«. to £1 IO9. (Rs. 8-15) a month, a birth costs about £1
(Ks. 10), a thread-girding about £3 (Rs. SO), a marriage £7 10«. to
£15 (Rs. 75-150), and a death about £2 (Rs. 20). They rank above
Mar&tha Kunbis and below Brdhmans. They worship all Brdhmanic
gods and keep the usual Hindu fasts and feasts. They keep metal
or stone images of their family gods either in their houses or
near a stone slab set at the root of an Indian fig tree and
covered with redlead or shendur* They offer sandal paste, flowers,
and food to these gods and to the fig tree, calling them muf{fcba
or Father Munfa, that is the ghost of an unwed youth. Their priest
is the village Joshi whom they ask to conduct their thread-girding,
marriage, and death ceremonies. They make pilgrimages to Alandi
near Poena, Benares, Jejuri in Poena, and Tulj&pur in the Nizam's
country. They believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits.
Early marriage, widow marriage and polygamy are aUowed and
practised, and polyandry is unknown. On the fifth day after a birth
Mother Sixth or 8atv4i is worshipped and the child is named on the
twelfth. Boys are girt with the sacred thread between ten and fifteen.
Boys are married between fifteen and twenty-five and girls between
five and fifteen. All their customs are like those of Kunbis except
the thread-girding when the Br&hman priest repeats lucky texts, girda
the boy with a sacred thread, kindles a sacred or ham fire, and tluows
clarified butter into the fire. The boy asks and receives sweetmeats
from hts kinswomen and the girding is over. They are bound
together by a strong caste feeling, and settle sociJf disputes at
caste meetings under their hereditary headman, who is treated with
much respect Decisions are enforced on pain of loss of caste,
and breaches of social discipline are punished with fines which
generally take the form of caste feasts. They send their boys to
school, take to new puvsnits, and show a disposition to improve.

Seocaal

AHMADNAGAB.

139

Ta^mbatfl, or Coppersmitlis, are retnmed as numbermg 501
and 80 found in all parts of the district. They claim descent
from Tvaahta the divine architect and form one of the class
of Panch&ls which is generally supposed to mean five craftsmen.
They seem to have come into Ahmadnagar from the Bombay
KamAtak. The names in common use among men are B&la, N4na,
and S&val&ram ; and among women Chiman&bdi^ Qanga, and
Yith&b^i. Their surnames are Bhing&rkar, Bhokre^ Ghaugule,
Dak&r, Daspnrkar^ Ouj&kar, Hamakar^ Jitakar, Kalkute, Kharvand-
kar, and V&lekar. They have no divisions or family stocks, and
persons bearing the same surnames cannot intermarry. Their
nmily godess is E^ikAdevi of Sirur in J^mkhed, and their speech both
at home and out of doors is a dialect of Mardthi. They rank with
local Satyrs or Carpenters and differ little from them in look or
dreaa. Town coppersmiths generally live in one-storeyed houses
with brick or stone walls and tiled roofs^ and village coppersmiths in
houses with mud walls and thatched roofs like Kunbi houses. As a
rule their dwellings are clean. Except a few poor families^ TAmbats
do not cook in earthen vessels. Their house goods include low
stools, oots, bedding quilts, blankets, and metal vessels. They
are moderate eaters and good cooks. They are vegetarians, and
stuffed cakes or puran polis and modtJce or rice flour balls stuffed
with molasses and cocoa scrapings, with sour and sharp dishes, are
their chief dainties. They always bathe before the morning meal.
Though when they eat they wear the silk cloth or mugta, they do
not mELke offerings to Ohitra the officer of Yama the god of death.
Their caste rules forbid the use of spirituous liquors but allow the
uiie of opium, the smoking and drinking of hemp, and the chewing
of tobacco and beteL Women wear their hair in a back-knot and
use neither flowers nor false hair. They wear the full Mar^tha
robe, passing the skirt back between the feet, and fastening it to
the waist behind, and a bodice with a back and short sleeves. Men
dress in a waistcloth, a shouldercloth, a coat, a Mar&tha or
BrAhman turban, and shoes or sandals. Men mark their brow with
sandal paste when they bathe, and married women mark theirs with
vermttion and wear a lucky necklace or mangaUvira and toerings
or jodma. Both men and women have a store of rich clothes and
ornaments like those of local Brdhmans and Kunbis. They are
clean, orderly, hardworking, and hospitable. Most of them work in
copper and brass, and the rest in wood, iron, and gold. Their
chief and hereditary work is making and repairing brass and copper
▼easels. Their calling is well paid and brisk at all seasons. Still
some are in debt partly on account of heavy marriage expenses ;
partly from losses incurred during the 1876 famine. None of them
work as day labourers. Women mind the house and help the men
by blowing the bellows and selling their wares. They close their
worit on the last day or no-moon of every Hindu month and on all
holidays and fasts. They eat from the hands of none but their own
caste, and are looked down on by the local BriUbimans. A family of
five spends £1 4«. to £1 10«. (Bs. 12 - 15) a month. They are a religious
people worshipping their family gods among other Brihmanic and
locjd gods and keeping all Hindu fasts and feasts. Their jpriest

Chapter III.
Population.

Craftsmbk.
TdmbaiB.

rBombay Gazettaer.

140

DISTRICTS.

Chapter HI.
Population.

Craftsmen.
TdmbaU.

Tdis,

is a local Brdhman whom they ask to conduct their ceremo&iest.
They hold their family goddess K^lildLdevi in great reverence
worshipping her on the last or no-moon days of Chaitra or April and
of Ashddh or July. On these two days they close their shops, do not
break their fast till sunset^ at night in the name of the goddess lay
before their tools sandal paste, flowers^ vermilion^ and wheat cakes,
and then break their fast. Next day they again worship the tools
with sandal pEiste^ flowers, vermilion and food cooked in the house,
and feast on rice^ pulse^ clarified butter^ and wheat cakes stufied
with boiled pulse and molasses^ as a favour or prcudd from the
goddess. They have a religious teacher of their own caste whom
they highly respect and whose decrees are held final in all social
disputes. His office is hereditary and he is the head of a religious
house at Mirajgaum in Ahmadnagar. He visits their dwellings
every year, and receives a yearly money present from each of his
followers whom he advises to be fair and just in their dealings and
pious to the gods. They believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and
evil spirits, ana there have been no recent changes in their practices
or beliefs. Child marriage, polygamy.and widow marriage are allowed
and practised, and polyandry is unknown. Their customs differ
little from those of the local E^s^rs, except that the local K^sArs
do not gird their sons with the sacred thread, while these men gird
their sons between eight and thirteen, with the same details as at a
Sonar's thread-girding. Boys are married- between twelve and
twenty-five, and girls before they come of age. They burn their
dead and mourn ten days. They are bound together by a strong
caste feeling, and settle social disputes at caste meetings. Breaches
of social rules are punished with fines which generally take the form
of caste feasts. The caste are responsible to their religious teacher
whose decisions are obeyed on pain of expulsion. They send their
boys to school, and as a class are well off.

Tells, or Oil-pressers, are returned as numbering 7206 and as
found all over the district. They have no memory of any former
settlement. They seem to belong to the Mar&tha-Kunbi caste and to
have formed a separate community because they took to oil-pressing.
The names in common use among men and women are like Mar&tha-
Kunbi names. Their surnames are Divkar, Dolse, G^ikavdd,
Ghodke, Kerulkar, K&tekar, Lokhande, Mangar, Saijandar, and
Yalmunjkar. Persons bearing the same surname cannot intermarry.
Their family gods are Bahiroba of Son^ri in Ahmadnagar, Devi of
Tuljdpur in the NizAm's country, Khandoba of Jejuri in Poena,
and Mah&dev of Sigo&pur in Sdtara. They are dark, strong, and
regular-featured, and in look differ little from local Ling&yat V^nis.
The men shave the head except the topknot and grow the moustache
and whiskers. Women tie their hair into a back-knot and use
neithSr flowers nor false hair. Both at home and abroad they
speak a corrupt Mar&thi and live in one-storeyed houses with brick
or mud walls and tiled or flat roofs. Their house goods include,
besides the oil-press or ghdna which is kept either at the front door
or in the back part of the house, blankets, quilts, and metal and
earthen vessels. They own cattle and keep servants. They are
moderate eaters and poor cooks, and their staple food is millet

Dmwii*)

AHMADNAGAR

141

breads split pnlse^ chopped chillies or chatni, and vegetables^ and
they are fond of sour or hot dishes. They eat fleshy drink liquor^
and smoke tobacco. Women dress in a fall Mar&tha robe and
bodice like Knnbi women. Men dress in a loincloth or a waist-
clothj a shonldercloth, a shirty and a Mar^tha turban or headscarf.
Men mark their brows with sandal paste^ and women with vermilion^
and wear ornaments like those worn by Kunbis. As a class they
ara dirtyi humble, hardworking, honesty frugal^ and hospitable.
They press oil from cocoa-kernel^ sesamum, kdrla Momordica
charantia> kardi Carthamus tinctorius, groundnuts, the fruit of the
oilnot tree or undij and the hogplum or amSdda, Many of them
are cart-drivers^ husbandmen, and oilcake-sellers. They are busy
except during the rains, and, besides minding the house, their women
help them by selling oil in their houses and going about hawking
it Boys above twelve help their fathers by driving the oil-press
and selling the oilcakes. Few oilmen have capital and none are
rich. They do not work on lunar elevenths or Ekddaahis, on the
last or no-moon day of the month, or on Mondays. They rank with
Kunbis. They worship all Brahmanic and local gods and keep the
usual Hindu fasts and feasts. Their priest is a village Joshi whom
they call to conduct their marriage and death ceremonies. They
belong to the Yaishnav sect and make pilgrimages to Alandi, near
Poona, Benares, Jejuri in Poena, and Tuljdpur in the Niz&m's
country. They bebeve in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits.
Their customs are the same as Mardtha customs. On the fifth day
after a birth they worship the goddess Satvdi and name the child
on the twelfth or thirteenth. Boys are married between fifteen and
twenty-five, and girls before they come of age. Polygamy widow-
marriage and child-marriage are allowed and practised, and
polyandry is unknown. They bum their dead and mourn ten days.
They are bound together by a strong caste feeling and settle social
dispntes at caste meetings. They send their boys to school, take to
no new pursuits, and are a steady class.

Vada'rs, or Earth-diggers, are returned as numbering 3681 and
as found in small numbers all over the district. They are said to
have com'e from Telangan but have no memory of their arrival in
the district. The names in common use among men are Bhav^ni,
Chima, Durga, Gang^r^m, Govinda,Hanmanta, Eliandu,Lakshnman,
N^lgu, Pdndu, Parsu, Sheshdpa, Vithu, and Yesu ; and among
women, Bhdgi, Bhima, Chimi, Ganga, Girji, Kdshi, Kondi, Lakshmi,
N&gi, Narmadi, Pdrvati, Bakmi, Rami, Bangu, and Sfilu ; men add
anna or brother and dpa or father to their names, and women ava
or mother, aJca or sister, and amma or mother. Their commonest
nomames are Alkute, Changole, Dandvat, Dhotre, Gunj^l, Kusmdnd,
Mah&rnavare, Malage, Mtodkar, M^rkad, Pavdr, Pitekar, SeUr,
and Vardhappa. Persons bearing the same surname cannot
intermarry. Their home tongue is a corrupt Telugu and out-of-
doors they speak a corrupt Mar^thi. Their family gods are BdUji
or Vyankatraman of Tirupati in North Arkot and Mabddev.
They include three divisions Gadi VadArs or cartmen, Jfinti VadArs
or grindstone makers, and Mdti Vaddrs or earthraen. The first
own carbs and bullocks, the second are makers of grindstones or
)\inH9, and the third take their name from mdli or earth. They are

Chapter IIL
Population.

CRAmMXN.

TtUa.

Vaddr$.

[Bomtey OaMtteer,

142

DISTRICTS.

Chaptnr III.
P^QlatioiL.

CiurnBMEK.
V€uUir8,

dark, strong, mascnlar, and able to bear great fatigae. They Ifve
in wicker-work hats thatched with straw. Their honse goods are
blankets, qailts, and vessels all of earth except one or two of metaL
They own bollocks, buffaloes, or asses and sometimes dogs and pigs.
They are great eaters and poor cooks, and their staple food is millet
bread, split pulse, chopped chillies, and vegetables. They are fond
of sour dishes, and their special dishes are wheat flour cakes stuffed
with boilM pulse and molasses and fried cakes or telchis. They boil
rice flour in water and eat it strained, with something sour. This
ihey oallmtmtida, and say that it takes away the feeling of weariness
after hard work. They give caste feasts at marriages and deaths.
They eat flesh except beef, and drink liquor. They do not bathe
every day nor do they perform any rites before their morning or
evening meals. They eschew animal food and liquor on weir
fast days, and offer flesh to their gods on Dasara in October, and
drink liquor. The men smoke hemp flower and tobacco and eat
opium. The men shave the head except the top-knot and grow the
moustache and whiskers. Women tie their hair in a back-knot and
use neither flowers nor &lse hair. Men dress in a waistcloth or a
pair of short breeches, a coarse shouldercloth, a shirt or coat, a rough
Mar&tha turban, a wallet or tihiy and sandals, as shoes are forbidden.
The women wear the full Mar&tha robe and bodice. Both men and
women have seldom a store of good clothes and ornaments for
special occasions. Every married woman wears the lucky necklace
and bell-metal toerings and a number of tin and brass ornaments
made in Kunbi fashion. They wear a number of bangles and
wristlets on the right hand but none on the left. They are
dirty, humble, hardworking, honest, orderly, thrifty, and hospitable.
They are quarrymen and contract to supply building stones ; others
are bricklayers and make clay and stone walls. The women
mind the house and help the men by fetching stones and earth. Boys
above fifteen do the same work as men. Men and boys above
fifteen go to the quarries at sunrise and remain at work till sunset.
Women mind the house and join their husbands with their dinner.
Both men and women rest at noon, dine, and sleep, and set to work
about two and work till dark. They are fairly off. Their trade
is brisk in the fair months and slack during the rains. They
rest on all holidays and when a marriage and a death happens in
their house. A family of five spends 128. to £1 (Rs. 6- 10) a month.
A house costs 60. to £2 (Rs. 3-20) to build, their house goods are
worth £1 to £2 108. (Rs. 10-25), a birth costs 6«. to £1 4^. (Rs. 3-12),
a marriage £2 to £5 (Rs. 20-50), and adeath 8«. to£l 10«. (R8.4-15).
They worship all Br&hmanic gods and keep the usual Hindu
&sts and feasts. They revere the local BriUtmans but do not ask
them to conduct any of their ceremonies. They worship their
house* gods on holidays and fasts and make pilgrimages to
Pandharpur in ShoUpur and to Tirupati in North Arkot. They have
a religious teacher of their own caste who occasionally visits their
dwellings and levies a yearly tribute in money from his followers. He
settles social disputes but gives no religious or moral teaching. They
believe in witchcraft, sootiisaying, and evil spirits. Of i^e sixteen
Hindu sacraments they keep birth, hair-clipping, marriago, puberty,
and death. After the birth of a child the mother is bathed for

Oeccan.l

AHMADNAGAR.

143

five days by castewomen who viait her daily each bringfing a pitcher
of water. On the fifths the father asks a Br&hmaxij who chooses
a lucky name for the chUd, They do not worship Satv^ or Mother
Sixth and the mother's uncleanness does not last more than five days.
Friends and relations are asked on the fifth and dined. In the
evening the women name and cradle the child, and leave with
presents of boiled gram. At the time of the child's hair-clipping, a
cocoannt is broken and the kernel is handed among the castepeople.
They marry their boys and girls between five and twenty-five,
and have no rale that a girl must be married before she comes
of age. Child marriage, polygamy, and widow marriage are
allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown. The &thers
of the boy and the girl arrange the match, the castemen approve
it, and the local Br^man names a lucky day for the marriage.
On the day before the marriage the castepeople meet at the
girPs, take her father with them, visit the boy's, and return to the
girl's accompanied by the bridegroom and his party. He halts
for a time in a small blanket tent which is pitched before the girl's
house. The family gods are worshipped and the boy's brow is marked
once with sandal paste and five times with turmeric. The girl also
goes through the same ceremony and the couple are bathed in
warm water by married women of the girl's house. The bride-
groom is dressed in fresh clothes and seated in the tent while the
girl joins the women in the house. Their marriages generally take
place about sunset. The bridegroom steps into the house, takes the
bride by the hand and leads her into the tent, where they stand
together facing the east, the married women sing lucky marriage
songs^ and both men and women guests throw red rice over the
pair. The pair sit side by side on the blanket and are husband and
wife. UnliKe the local Maratha Eunbis they do not tie a marriage
coronet to the bridegroom's brow, they have no marriage altar or
bahtUe, and no music. The pair bow before the family gods and
the elders, and are treated to a dinner of rice, clarified butter,
pulse, and sweet cakes, and friends and relations are feasted. On the
seconder third day the phal ordresspresentingceremony is performed
when the pair pour milk five times on each other's hands and play
hide and seek with betelnuts. Relations present the pair with
cJothea and the bridegroom gives the bride a new suit of clothes and
ornaments. A caste feast with meat and liquor ends the ceremony
and the guests go home. When she comes of age a girl sits apart
for three days, is bathed on the fourth, and her lap is filled with
rice, » cocoannt, and fruit as among the Kunbia. They bury their
dead and mourn ten days. They never offer rice balls to crows in
honoar of the dead or perform any mind-rites or ahrdddhs. They
feast the caste on some day between the eleventh and the fifteenth
after the death. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling
and settle social disputes at caste council meetings. They have an
hereditary headman called ehaugida^ who is greatly respected by the
caste though he has no authority over the members of the caste
oooneil or panch who are chosen from time to time. Their religious
teacher visits their homes, settles social disputes, and hears appeals
from the council's decisions. Breaches of discipline are punished by

Chapttf III.
PopulatUNDu

CRAVT8MKN.

Vaddn.

[Bombay Oafietteen

144

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Popolatioii.

Musicians.

Ohadahii,

OuravB.

fines which generally take the form of caste feasts. They do not
send their boys to school, their services are in great demand, and
they work by the piece and earn high wages. As a class they are
well-to-do.

Musicians include two divisions with a strength of 2707or0'38
per cent of the Hindu population. The details are :

Ahmadnagar Musicians, 188U

DiTinoH.

Malas.

Feanalea.

ToteL

Ghadflhls

Guravi

Totol ...

32
1S06

1826

76
26S2

1S88

isa9

2707

OhadshiSi or Musicians, are returned as numbering seventy-five
and as found in small numbers all over the district. Most of them
have lately come into the district from Poona, S&tara and Shol&pur,
and have no settled homes. Some come in search of work in the
fair season and go back to their homes in Poena, S^tdra, and Shold-
pur during the rains. The names in common use among men and
women are the same as among Kunbis, and their surnames are
Bhonsle, Chav&n, Gdikav&d, Ghorpade, Jddhav, More, Pavi.r,
lULndge, and Sarvanshi In look dress and food they resemble
local Kunbis. They are clean, hardworking, goodnatured, and
hospitable, but given to drink. They play on the drum or cAatt-
ghada and the pipe or sanai and are good singers. Some of them
get a yearly grain allowance from villagers in return for playing at
the village temple. They are busy during the marriage season
from October to June, and on holiday evenings amuse the people
by singing songs. They worship all Brahman gods and keep the
ordinary fasts and feasts. They are Smarts and their priest is a
Deshasth Brdhman whom they ask to conduct their marriage and
death ceremonies. Child-marriage polygamy and widow-marriage
are allowed and practised, and polyandiy is unknown. Their
customs do not differ from Kunbi customs. They have a caste
council and settle social disputes at meetings of the castemen.
Breaches of social discipline are punished by fines which generally
take the form of caste feasts. They send their boys to school and
are a steady people.

Ouravs, or Priests, are returned as numbering 2632, and as
found all over the district. They are said to be descended from
a Br&hman by a Kunbi woman. When and why they came into the
district is not known. They are probably early settlers the original
ministrants in all ling temples. They are of two divisions Junares
who belong to Jimnar in Poena and Nagares y^Ilo belong to Ahmad-
nagar ; these two classes do not eat together or intermarry. The
names in common use among men and women are the same as
among local Brihmans and Kunbis. Their surnames are Ach&ri,
Bhade, Dhum&l, (rajbhdr, Jagdamb, K&tekar, Khar^te, Sfarimant^
Sinde, and TIior4t. Persons bearing the same surname cannot
intermarry. Their family gods are Bahiroba of Sondri, of Ambadgaou,
and of SimpUpur in Ahmadnagar, Devi of Tulj^pur in the Nizam's

DMean.)

AHMADNA6AR.

145

coontiy^ and Ehandoba of Jejnri in Poona. As a rule, they are
dark strong and well made like Kunbis and live in middle-class
houses with brick walls and tiled or terraced roofs. Their speech
both at home and abroad is Mar&thi, and their houses are well
supplied with clay and metal vessels. They keep cattle and some-
times servants to help in the field. They are moderate eaters and
good cooks, and their staple food is millet bread, pulse, and
vegetables. They regularly bathe before the morning meal, wash
the image of Shiv and those in the village temples with water
and lay sandal paste and flowers before them. At their meals
some cbess in the sacred silk cloth and others in a freshly washed
aad untouched cotton waistcloth. Nagare Guravs are strict
vegetarians and do not drink liquor ; the tJunares eat with Kunbis
and take flesh and country liquor. Their special dishes are the
same as those of local Br&hmans and they hold caste feasts in
honour of marriages and deaths. They dress like Br&hmans or
Mar&th^s. The women wear the bodice and the full Mardtha robe
passing the skirt back between the feet and tucking it into the waist
behind. They are clean, neat, orderly, honest, and hospitable.
Thej beg and are hereditary ministrants in Shiv^s temples living on
the offerings made to the god, and on grain allowances from the
nllagers in return for their services in the village temples. Every
Saturday they sweep and cowdung the village shrines, bathe and
nib the village Maruti with redlead and oil, put a garland of rui
Calotropis g^gantea flowers about his neck and offer him food.
They are also good musicians, and, at marriages, accompany
(lancing girls on the double drum called tabala and the clarion
^ alguj. They also mskke leaf plates and saucers and sell them
to toe villagers. They are said to have power over the gods
whose servants they are, and are much respected by the villagers.
They belong to the Shaiv sect and have house images of Bhav4ni,
Ganpati, and Khandoba. They keep all Hindu fasts and feasts,
^d their priest belongs to their own caste,' but they often ask
the village Joshi to conduct their marriage and death cere-
monies. Nagare Ouravs perform their ceremonies in Br&hman
&ahion and Juuare Quravs in Kunbi fashion. They have a caste
council and a headman called mehetrya and settle social disputes at
meetings of adult castemen under the headman. Breaches of social
nilee are punished by fines which generally take the form of caste
feasts^ and men put out of caste are not allowed tp come back until
they give a caste feast or at least a service of betel. They send
their boys to school, but take to no new pursuits. They are a
steady dasa

SerVEIXtS include two divisions with a total strength of 11,600
or 1'64 per cent of the Hindu population. The details are :

Ahmadnoffar 8erva$U$^ 1881.

DiTinoir.

llAlei.

FenuUfls.

Total.

NhiiTia

TbtAl ...

4022
1066

8886

2055

7858
4042

eoos

5801

11.600

Caiapter III.

Population-

MusioiANa.
Quram.

SlBVAHTB.

a 772-19

[Bombay Gfteetteer*

146

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

SmVANTS.

Nha'viSy or Barbers^ are retamed as nnmbering 7858, and as
found all over the district. Tbey have no story of their origin and
have no memory of any former home. The names in common use
among men and women are the same as those among Knnbis. They
are of two divisions, Mar^iha Nh&vis and Mash£l or Torch-bearing
also called Kh&ndesh Nbdvis. The surnames of the Mar&tba Nhiivis
are Amte, Bhdpkar, Bhople, Bhosloi Bidvii, Chavin, Dalve,
Dandvate, Gadekar, Q&tk&yid, Gore, Hdr&le, Hirave, Italkar,
J&dhav, Kdle, E&shid, Eeskar, Ehadke, Eshirs^igar, Lonkhande,
Mdlkar, Mohite, More, Nirabdlkar, Pavdr, B&ikar, S^Iunke, Shinde,
Sonvane, TAkpithe, Tanpure, Thordt, and^ Y&gm&re ; and those of
the Mash^l or Torch-bearing Nhivis, Avti, Bhad^ni, 6&ikav)&d,
Gavli, J^hav, Ear&nde, Nikamb, Pag&r, Pav&r, B^vut, Shinde, and
V^hm&re. In both divisions sameness of surname bars marriage.
Mardtha Nhdvis have no objection to shave the heads of Bumas,
Saltangars, and Jingars, whom Mashil Nh&vis refuse to shave.
In look food drink and dress Nh&vis difEer so little from local
Kunbis that one may be easily mistaken for the other. They live
in one-storeyed houses with mud walls and tiled or thatched roofs.
As a class they are dirty, honest, orderly, thrifty, and hospitable.
They are proverbially quick and crafty as the Mardthi saying runs.
Among men the barber ; among birds the crow.^ Their chief and
hereditary calling is hair-dressing, but some of them play on the
pipe or sanai and beat the double drum called tahala or ehaughctda,
Khtedesh or Mashdl Nh&vis, besides shaving, hair-cutting, and
shampooing are professional torch-bearers, scour metal lamps, and
sweep and clean their masters' houses. Some Nhi.vis are employed
as constables and many in hospitals as wound dressers, surgery with
some being an hereditary caHing. Their monthly earnings vary from
12«. to £5 (Bs. 6-50). Village barbers are not paid in cash but in
grain at harvest time their share being estimated at about one-
sixtieth of the crop.^ Besides his yearly grain allowance the barber
is given a cake every week when he comes to shave his patron.
Some also work in the fields. Town Nhdvis are fairly off and village
Nh&vis are poor. In former days the barber used to attend every
feast at Eunbi's and M&li's houses and pour water on the hands of
the guests both when they began and when they ended eating. For
this little service every guest was bound to give the barber a quarter
or chauth of a cake. They have forfeited this right by taking to
shave the heads of Buruds and Jingars. At every hair-clipping
ceremony the barber is presented with a pair of scissors and a pieoe
of bodicecloth or khcm, or 28. (Be. 1) as the price of both. At a
marriage, the barber serves the bridegroom as a groom, and waves the
fly whi^ or chauri round the pair at the lucky moment when red millet
is thrown over them, and, at the end of the ceremony, is rewarded
witlf a turban and a cocoanut or some money. At every thread-
girding the barber shaves the boy's head and is given a bodicecloth
with a cocoanut, and after every death he receives the waistcloth
worn by the chief mourner when he has his moustache shaved. A
Brahman widow has to give her robe and bodice to the barber who

The MarAihi ruiui : Mdn9dtU Nhdvu^ paishdnt him.

AHMADNAGAR.

147

aharves her bead for tlie first time. At Divdli in October the barber
robs bis patron^s body with oil and holds a mirror to his face and is
rewarded with money or a bodicecloth. Of late villagers have become
less careful than they used to be to give the barber diese perquisites.
The women do no work except minding the house. The men
are bnsy shaving, hair-dressings and shampooing every morning
till noon when they bathe and take their meal. After bathing
they do not dress hair and if they are called to attend a customer
tbey must again bathe. They pass their evenings playing
on the pipe and drum. Their calling is well paid in the fair
season and they never entirely rest from work. The musicians
Hre well ofE during the marriage season and at other times work as
barbers. A barber^s earnings are generally enough to keep him in
fair comfort, but they spend more uian they ought on marriages and
many of them are in debt. They rank below Kunbis and above the
impure castes. They worship all Br&hman gods and keep all
the ordinary Hindu &st8 and feasts. Their priest is a village Joshi
who conducts their marriage and death ceremonies. Child-marriage
widow-marriage and polygamy are allowed and practised ; and all
their social and religious customs are the same as those of local
£anbis. Maritha NhiLvis dress the hair of Hindus except the impure
castes, and of Musalm^s and Christians ; Mash&l Nh&vis attend no
one bat pure Hindus. They are bound together by a strong caste feel-
ing and settle social disputes at caste meetings. They send their
boys to school, take to new pursuits, and show a tendency to rise.

I'aritSy or Washermen, are returned as numbering 4041, and as
found all over the district. They say they were originally Kunbis
and separated when they took to clothes washing. They have no
memory of any former home and cannot tell when or why they
came to the district. The names in common use among men are
Ananda, R&pn, Bha,v&ni, Bhima, Chandrabh^n, Chimna, Dhondo,
Gabena, Ganu, Ooma, Eesu, M^ruti, Mh&t&rya, N6gn> F^ndu,
Tulfiirim, Yyanku and Yesu ; and among women, Bhagirthi, Chimi,
Gahni, Godu, Kishi, Manjula, Mathi, Mnla, P^u, Bakhmi, Bdgu,
SaknTbaku, and Yamuna. Men add mehtar or headman, and women
bai or lady to their names. Their surnames are Abhauge, Adm^ne,
ArAde, Barite, Barude, Borh&de, Bombale, Bh&gvat, Dalvi, DesAi,
GavK, GMikavid, Graiv^rdikar, Eadam, K&te, Kothale, Ldndge,
M^ne, Phand, R^vut, Rokad, Sdlunke, Sasdn^, Sirs^t, Sonsale,
Sonavne, Tarote, and Th&nekar. Persons with the same surname
cannot intermarry. Their marriage guardians or devaks are five
kinda of leaves or pAnchpaivis, a mango branch, the leaves of the-
mi bosh Calotropis gigantea, an Indian millet stalk, flowers or twiga
of tbe kalamb Nauclea cadamba, and of the kartah creeper. Their
family deities areBahirobaof Agadgaon in Ahmadnagar, D&va]malik
of Poona, Devi of Tuljfipur in the Nizdm's country, and Khandoba of
Jejuri in Poona. They are of two divisions Parits proper and Kadu
or Bastard Parits, who neither eat together nor intermarry. In look
and speech Parits cannot be distinguished from loeal Kunbis.
Tbey Uve in one-storeyed houses with mud walls and thatched roofs.
Tbeir bouse goods include low stools, blankets, quilts, and metal
and day vessels, and they own goats, poultry, bullocks, and

Chapter III<
Pepulation-

SiBVAlTTS.

Nhdvii.

PotUb.

(Bombaj QmlUtr,

148

DISTRICTS.

CSiapter in.
Popvlatioii.

Se&taihii.
PariU.

asses. Dogs are iheir only pets. They are great eaters and poor
cooks. Their staple food is Indian millet breads pnlse, and onions
or garlic^ and their special dishes are roUj polies or punmpoUs^ fried
rice cakes or telchisy rice, fish^ and flesh. They bathe regularly on
holidays and fasts, when they offer flowers, sandal paste, and food to
their gods in the house and eat their morning meal. On other daya
they wash only their hands and feet before taking their midday
meal. They nse all kinds of flesh except beef and pork, and drink
country liquor and hemp water or bhang. They eschew flesh and
liquor on all special ceremonies and fast days. Men shave the head
except the topknot and the face except the moustache and whiskers ;
and women roll their hair into a solid ball called bucJuxda at the back
of the head. Men dress in a loincloth, or a waistcloth, a shouldercloth,
a coat, a Mardtha turban, and a pair of sandals or shoes ; women
wear the full Mar&tha robe and bodice with aback and short slecTes^
but do not pass the skirt of the robe back between the feet. Both
men and women have a store of ornaments for special occasions, like
those worn by local Kunbis. They keep no clothes in store as they
wear clothes given them to wasL As a class they are clean, hard-
working, honest, orderly, thrifty, and hospitable. They are heredi*
tary washermen, and many of the village Pants are husbandmen.-
Women, besides minding the house, help the men in washing clothes
and if required work in the fields. Town Parits earn 10s. to £1
(Rs. 5-10) a month. Village Parits, as a rule, are paid not in cash
but in grain, receiving a share of the harvest estimated at one-sixtieth.
Besides this, every Parit is given a cake when he brings back
clothes from the wash, and, on every holiday, each landowner and
husbandman is bound to give the washerman a dining dishful of
cooked food. Parits rise at six in the morning and go to the river
with their clothes to wash, work all day at the river with a short
rest at noon for food, and return home at sunset ; women mind the
house and join the men as soon as their food is ready. Their trade
is brisk in the fair season and slack in the rains, and they close their
work on all leading Hindu holidays. They rank below local Kunbis
and above the impure classes. Br^hmans hold clothes freshly wash-
ed by Parits impure and will bathe if they happen to touch a Parit
carrying newly washed clothes though at other times they treat them
as Mar^tha Kunbis. When a Brahman receives his clothes from
the wash, he purifies them by dropping a little water on them from
a sweet basU or tuln leaf. In marriages^ the village washerman
supplies the pdygliadia or foot-cloths which are strewn before the
marriage procession at the aunmuhh or looking at the bride's £ace
by the bridegroom's mother, and at the vardt or receiving the
couple at the bridegroom's house. At Divdli time in October, the
washerman, accompanied by his wife with a metal dish on which are
a light, betel, and red rice, moves from door to door waving the lij^lit
about his patrons each of whom pays him }dL to Is. (Re. ^* i)*
Parits worship all Brihman and local gods, keep the usual Hinda
fasts and feasts, and make pilgrimages to Alandi in Poena, Agad-
gaon in Ahmadnagar, Jejuri in Poena, Pandharpur in Shol&pnr,
and Tuljdpur in the Niz&m's country. Their priest is a village Joahi
who conducts their marriage and death ceremonies. They believe in

AHMADNAGAB.

149

witchcraft^ soothsaying, and evil spirits and in their social and reli-
gioofl costoms do not differ from local Kanbis. Child-marriage poly-
gojnj and widow-marriage are allowed and practised and polyandry
is nnknown. They bury their dead and mourn ten days daring
which the next of kin do not wear their tarbans. They have a caste
ooanoil and an hereditary headman called mehtar, and settle social
dispntes at meetings of castemen under the headman. The decisions
of the caste council are enforced on pain of expulsion. At every
caste feast and marriage the headman's brow is first marked with
sandal paste, and to hun betel is first served. They send their boys
to school but do not take to new pursuits. Town Parits arei fairly
offy and village Parits are poor.

Sbepherds include three divisions with a strength of 40,589 or
&'75 per cent of the Hindu population. The details are :

Ahmadnagar Shepherds, 1881,

DiTIBIOR.

Vftles.

•

FtauilM.

Total.

Dlungwi

G»TUi

Kbftttks

Total ...

19,802

460

10,786

412

89,627
87i
140

20,882

20,807

40,689

Dliangars, or Cowmen, with a strength of 89,527, are found all
over the district. As distinguished from E&m&thi or Telang Dhan-
gars Mar^tha Dhangars are divided into nine classes, Ahirs, Banajis,
Gadges, Hatkars, Ehutekars, Mar^thds, Sangars, Segars, and Yaidus.
Of these Hatkars, Segars, and Khutekars eat together but do not
intermarry ; the rest are entirely distinct neither eating together nor
intermarrying. The following details apply to Mardtha Dhangars.
The common names among men and women are the same as those
of local Eunbis. Their surnames are Ag&se, Bh^gvat, Bh&nd,
Bhite, Bhonde, Bhus&ri, Buchade, Bule, Chitar, Daph&l, Gavate,
Ghodage, Ghume, Hai4ri, Holkar, Jadhav, Eaitake, E&pdi, Edpri,
Kasbe, E&sid, Eh&tekar, ElhilUri, Ldmbhdte, Makhar, Mandlik,
M&ng, Marie, Matkar, Mitge, Nagare, Pandit, Phanas, Pingle,
R&hi], Easink^r, Bode, Bodge, Sarode, S^vale, Sol&te, Sonaval,
Sudke, T&gad, Tong, Vdgmdre, and Virkar. Persons bearing the
same surname cannot intermarry. Their family deities are Biroba or
Bahirobaof Son^ri in Ahmadnagar, Devi of Tuljdpur in the Nizdm's
country, and Ehandoba of Jejuri in Poona. As a rule they are dark
strong and muscular. The men shave the head except the topknot and
the face except the moustache and whiskers. A few among them let
their beards grow. In language, house, food, and dress they resemble
local Kunbis. As a rule they are dirty, but hospitable, thrifW, and
free from crime. They are proverbially foolish, obstinate, and dull.
One common Mar&thi saying runs : A Dhangar s madness has ]^ot into
bis kead^; and the phrase Dhangar is used of a dullard.^ They are
diepherds and cattle sellers, more often rearing sheep and goats than

■ TIm MairAthi niiiB : Dhangar ved tydehe dohyd/ni MrU dhe, Dhangir madness hM
gpot iolo his beiid, or Tydla Dhangar ved IdgcUe dhe, Dhangar madnesa haa
' * tjBi< ^ The Mftrtthi ia, To Dhangar dAe, He is a Dhangar.

Chapter ni.
Population.

SSBVANT8«

ParUe.

Dhangart^

[Bombay Oautteert

150

DISTRICTS.

Oiapter III.
Popnlatioii.

Shephbbds,
Dhangars,

Oavlis.

COWS. Some who live in the plains rear horses which are called
Dhangars' horses or Dhangari ghodds and are famed for hardiness and
endurance. Some deal in wool, andmanj weave coarse blankets called
chavdles. The women mind the house and help the men in spinning'
wool^ and those who have cattle in selling dairy produce. A few
Dhangars are husbandmen and makers of the weaver's brushes called
kunchaa. They rank themselves with Mardth&s, do not eat from
Buruds, Kdt&ris^ and Ghisidis and keep aloof from the impure classes.
They worship all Br^hmanic gods and goddesses, keep the usual
Hindu fasts and feasts, fasting on the lunar elevenths or Ekddashis in
Aahddh or July and Kartik in October, on Ookulaahtami in Shrdvan
or August, and on Shiv's Night or Shivrdtra in Mdgh or February.
On these days as a rule they eat only once either at noon or at night.
Their favourite god is Biroba or Bahiroba, in whose name they set
a stone on the hill where they pasture their herds, rub the stone
with sandal paste, and lay flowers and bow before it. Their priest is a
Deshasth Brahman whom they ask to conduct their marriage cere-
monies. They cannot say to what sect they belong. They make
pilgrimages to Alandi and Jejuri in Poena, to lULsin in Ahmad-
nagar, and to Pandharpur in Shol&pur. They keep images of their
family gods in their houses, bathe them on holidays, and rub them
with sandal paste and lay flowers before them. They believe in
witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits, and some of them are clever
soothsayers and astrologers. Child-marriage polygamy and widow-
marriage are allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown.
They perform only birth marriage puberty and death ceremonies, and
their ritual is the same as the Kunbi ritual On the fifth day after
the birth of a child they slaughter a goat in the name of Satv^i and
offer boiled mutton to the goddess. The mother's impurity lasts
ten days. They name their children on the evening of the twelfth
and distribute boiled grain among their friends and kinsfolk.
They marry their boys between fifteen and twenty-five, and their girls
before they come of age. On a girl's coming of age she sits apart
for three days, is bathed on the fourth, and her lap is filled with rice
and cocoanuts. They burn or bury their dead and mourn them ten
days. On the twelfth they present uncooked food to Brdhmana
in the name of the dead, and treat the caste people to a dinner.^
They have a caste council, and their hereditary headman is called
G&vda, Kdrbh&ri, Mirdha (H. meaning a village overseer), or Patil.
They say he has no authority to settle social disputes which are
generally referred to meetings of elderly castemen. Breaches of
caste rules are punished with fines which take the form of caete
feasts. Few among them send their boys to school or take to new
pursuits. They are a contented class.

OaYliSy or Cow-keepers, are returned as numbering 872, and as
found scattered all over the district except in Akola, Nev&sa, and
Sangamner. They move from place to place in search of pastaro
for their cattle. They have no story of their origin and no memory
of any former settlement, or of the reason or the date of their coming

1 Fuller deUila of Dhaogar cnsfcoms are given in tbe Poona Staiirtical Aooouat.

Deceaitl

AHMADNAGAR.

151

to Alunadnagar. The names in cotnmon nse among men are Bhiva,
Govinda, Khandn^ Nimba, Satyd>ji, and Shetiba ; and among women
ATad&b^, Bhdgij Qop&bdi^ Ham^i, T&r&htA, Rakhmdi, andVithdbdi.
Their surnames are Atmnkarin^ Aurangdb&de^ A vdsekar, fiahirv&de^
Bh&g&nagari, Chankade^ Dahirade^ Divate, Godalkar^ Harab,
H&tdark«r, Hnchche^ Jnmiydle, Khatdde, Langde^ Langoto, Malkn,
Ndbade, and Sh^pnrkar . Sameness of snmame is a bar to marriage.
Their feunily god is Mah^ev^ and they have house images of Devi
of Tolj^por in the Nizdm's country^ of Khandoba of Jejuri in Poona,
and of Vithoba of Fandharpnr in Sholapur. They are divided 'into
Ahirs^ Dhangars, and Ling&yats. The number of Ahir Gavlis
found in the district is very small^ and Dhangar Qavlis are also rare.
The following details apply to Ling^yat Ga»vlis. As a class they
are strong, dark, and well made. The men shave the head except
the topknot and the &ce except the moustache and whiskers. Their
speech both at home and abroad is a corrupt Mar^thi like that of
the local Kunbis. Town Gavlis live in one-storeyed houses with
brick or mud walls and tiled or flat roofs, and village Gavlis in
cottages with wattled walls and thatched roofs. Their house goods
include low stools with a store of metal and clay vessels, and they
keep servants to watch their cattle. They own cows» buffaloes, and
■heep and goats, and dogs are their only pets. They are great
eat-ers and poor cooks, and their special dishes include roily polies
or puranpolis rice and condiments. Their staple food is millet
bre«d, pulse, and curds with milk and butter. They do not bathe
daily before they take their morning meal, but, like other Ling&yats,
always wear Shiv's emblem the ling, wash it with water every
morning before they dine, and lay food before it. They are
forbidden to use aninial food or liquor on pain of loss of caste, but
diink hemp water or bhang, smoke hemp flower or gdnja, smoke and
chew tobacco, and eat opium. The women do not use narcotics
except tobacco which they chew with betel and lime. They plait
thedr hair in braids which they wear in a semicircular ring at the back
of the head or roll it into a solid knot called buchada without putting
flowers or false hair in it The men dress in a pair of short
drawers or a loincloth, a smock or bandt, anda head-dress which seems
the rude form of turban from which the present Br^man turban
has been developed. The women wear a robe hanging like a petti-
coat from the waist to the ankle and a bodice with a back and short
sleevea The ornaments worn by men are gold earrings or murahist
silver wristlets or Jeadds, a silver waistchain or katdora, and silver
finger rings ; and those of women, gold and silver necklaces, silver
armlets or dandolis, a nose ring or nath, toe-rings or jodms, and
silver wristlets or gots. Married girls can wear nose-rings or nathg
as presents from their mothers and from no one else on paiq of loss
of caste* Both men and women are fond of gay colours and have a
apeetal dress for great occasions. As a class they are clean, hard-
working, honest, orderly, thrifty, and hospitable. They are heredi-
tary owners of cattle and deal in dairy prodnca The men take their
cattle to grass lands in the morning and watch them till sunset. They
return at dark, milk them, eat, and go to rest Women, mind the
home, feed and rear the calves, and prepare and sell the dairy produce.

Chapter III.

Population.

Shxfhsrds,
QaxUa.

[Bombay Gacettecr.

152

DISTRICTS.

Chapter m.
Population-

OavSt^

They lately suffered greatly daring several years of short rainfall.
They rank above Ennbis and below local Br^hmans. They worship
all Brihman gods and keep all fasts and feasts. Their priest is a
Jangam or Ling&yat or in his absence a village Joshi who condacts
their marriage and death ceremonies. As a mle they bathe on all
holidays and &sts, wash the house gods, and lay sandal paste, flowers,
and food before them. Men mark their brows with ashes and
women with vermilion on holidays and with white ashes on
&st days. Their chief holidays are Shimga in March, Dasara
in ' September, and DivdU in October ; and their fast days
are Shiv's Night or Shivrdira in February, and all Mondays in
Shrdvan or August They profess not to believe in witchcraft
or evil spirits, but have faith in soothsaying. Early marriage
widow-marriage and polygamy are allowed and practised, and
polyandry is unknown. As soon as a child is bom, the Lingdyat
priest or Jangam visits the house, touches the child's head with a
ling, and hands over the ling to the child's mother who keeps it
until the child is about twelve years old. Both men and women
wear the ling round their necks on pain of loss of caste. It is worn
either tied round by a ribbon or silk cord, or in a silver box fastened
by a silver chain. After child-birth they do not worship Satvii or
hold the mother impure. Some women neighbours are asked to the
house on the twelfth day, and they name and cradle the child.
Boys are married between ten and twenty-five, and girls before they
oome of age. The boy's father goes to the girl's and settles the
marriage with her father in presence of some members of the caste.
Both the fathers then go to an astrologer who looks at his almanac
or panehdng and names a lucky day for the marriage. They tie
a mango branch as their marriage guardian or devaJc to the first post
of the marriage booth both at the boy's and at the girl's. The bride-
groom goes with music and a band of friends to the bride's where the
pair sit together on two low stools and have red Indian millet thrown
over them by the Ling&yat priest or Jangam, or by the village
Joshi if the Jangam is absent. The pair are then seated on the
raised altar or bahvle and their brows are marked with vermilion
and rice. Friends and kinsfolk are treated to a dinner of boiled
rice and pulse or khichadi, milk, curds, and fried cakes or tekhU^
Cows are not milked and calves are not tied on the marriage day.
When a girl comes of age she does not sit apart, but rubs her brow
with ashes and is held pure. She is not allowed to work in the dairy
for three days though she may cook if she bathes in warm water
from head to foot. They bury the dead. The dead are seated in a
wooden frame or tnakhar, their brows are marked with ashes, and
Shiv's emblem the ling is tied to their garments. Four men take the
frame gn their shoulders and bury the dead. The Ling6yat priest
or Jangam attends the funeral, and the grave is filled with earth
and salt by the chief mourner and the funeral party. The next of
kin are not held impure in consequence of a aeath but the chief
mourner has to feed the caste people on the seventh day or on the
first no-moon day after the death. They do not perform mind rites
or ihrdddh and tihie dead are never rememberea in the McJidlaffa
Pakaka or All Soul's Fortnight in September. They are boimd

Ooccaii.l

AHMADNAQAR

153

togetHer bj a strong caste feeling, and settle social disputes at
meetings of castemen. A free pardon is granted to those who
submit, and serioas breaches of social rnles are punished with fines
which generally take the form of caste feasts. They do not send
their children to school or take to new pursuits.

Klia'tiks, or Butchers, are returned as numbering 140 and as
found all over the district except in Karjat and Sangamner. They
belong to the Maratha Dhangar caste and eat but do not marry
with Kunbis and M&lis. They do not differ in appearance from local
Dhangars, and their language both at home and abroad is a Kunbi-
like Mar&thi. They live in one or two-storeyed houses with walls of
nnbumt brick and mud and tiled or flat roofs. They own sheep>
and dogs are their only pets. They are great eaters and bad cooks,
and their staple food is millet bread and vegetables with hot dishes
and chopped chillies or chatni. Their special dishes are fried cakes
or telehis and gulavni or rice flour boiled in water and mixed
with molasses. They eat flesh except beef and pork and drink liquor.
They dress like Dhangars and have no separate clothes for great
occasions or special ceremonies. As a class they are dirty, hard-
working, and hospitable, but somewhat given to drink. They rear
and deal in sheep and wool and some of them weave rough blankets
or ehavdle$. Women mind the house and spin wool, and children
above ten watch sheep. They worship all Br^hmanic gods and keep
all Hindu fasts and feasts like Kunbis. Their family gods are Devi
of Tulj&pur in the Nizam's country, and Khandoba of Jejuri in
Poena. They keep the images of their gods in the house, and offer
them sandal paste, flowers, and food on Mondays, and on full-moon
and no-moon days. Their priest is a local Brdhman, whom they
ask to conduct their marriages. They have no religious teacher
of their own and they cannot tell to what sect they belong. They
perform birth marriage and death ceremonies only, and their
customs are similar to those of the local Kunbis. Child-marriage
polygamy and widow marriage are allowed and practised, and poly-
andry is unknown. They are bound together by a strong caste
feeling and settle social disputes at meetings of adult castemen.
They do not send their boys to school, some have become husband-
men and others weave coarse blankets or kdrnhlis and chavcUes.
Their calling is well paid and they are fairly off.

Labourers include four divisions with a strength of 33,045 or
4*66 per cent of the Hindu population. The details are :

Ahmadnagar Labouren, 2S81,

Oivnioir.

Hal«8.

(lemalet.

ToUU

BhoU

Kihln

Kim&thh

VanjftriB

Total ...

462
S60
128
808
16,000

448

326

117

220

15,008

806

676

240

682

80,702

16,887

16,208

88,046

BhoiSy or Fishers, are returned as numbering 895 and as found
m river bank towns and villages all over the district except in
Akola and Kopargaon. The names in common use among men are

« 772—20

Chapter III«
Population-

SUBPBSRDS.

LABOnRKBS.

Bhoii.

[BomlMiy Ottsetteer^

154

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
PopnlatloiL

LABOtmSRS,

Bliikya C!hima^ Oangar&m^ Hari, Khandu, Malhari^ Malya, MhAda^
N^riyan, Phakir^ Sahdda, and Vitha ; and among women^ Bhigi,
Bhimiy Chimin Qanga, Jamni^ Kisa^ Rdhi, Bangi, Sakn, Siti» TAi,
and Tamani. The men add ndik or headman and tbe women bai
or lady to their name& Their commonest sarnames are Bhokare,
Ghavdn^ Dongro, Galavant^ Ghatmal^ Jh&te^ KAaH, E&thavate,
Khatm&le^ Mahulkary Nirmal, Sinde> Singar, and Tila Persons
bearing the same surnameB cannot intermarry. Their family deities
are Bahiroba of Agadgaon in Ahmadnagar, Deyi of Tuljdpur in the
Nis&m's country, and Khandoba of Jejnri near Poena. They are
divided into Mar&tha Bhois, Mala Bhois, K&chi Bhois, and Pardeshi
Bhois, who neither eat together nor intermarry. Of these
Mar^tha Bhois are alone found in large nambers in the district with
their bastards or Lenkavalds, who eat but do not marry with them.
They are dark, strong, muscular, and regular-featured like Mardthis,
and both at home and abroad speak a dialect of Mar&thi. In look,
dwelling, food, and drink they differ little from Mar^tha Knnbis.
The men wear a loincloth, a pair of short drawers or chaddis, or a
waistcloth, a smock or bandi, or a waistcoat without buttons^
a shouldercloth, and a Mardtha turban with sandals or shoes ; the
women dress in a robe and bodice with a back and short sleeves.
Both men and women have a taste for gay colours. Their omaiQents
are like those worn by Mar&tha Kunbis. The men do not mark
their brows with sanded paste nor do the women mark theirs with
vermilion. As a class they are clean and hardworking and have a
good name for honesty. Though hospitable and given to drink they
do not outrun their income. They are hereditary palanquin-bearers
and fishers, and their monthly earnings vary from I6«. to £1
(Bs. 8-10). The men fish in the rivers from six to twelve in the
morning, take their dinner, and again fish till sunset. The women
and girls above ten mind the house and sell the fish, and boys above
twelve learn fishing under their father's eye. Their trade is brisk in
the fair season. They rest on the principal Hindu fast days but on
no holidays except Daaara in September. They rank below Mari-
tha Kunbis and above the impure classes. They are religious, every
day worshipping their family deities Bahiroba, Devi, and Khandoba
with food cooked in the house, and visiting Alandi in Poena, Hadhi
in Ahmadnagar, Pandharpur in Sholdpur, and Tuljdpur in the
Nizam's country. They worship all local gods and among them
Mahddev, ]\ldruti, and Yithoba of Pandharpur. Among Hindu holi-
days they keep IShimga in March, Sanvaisar Pddva or New Year's
Day in April, Akshatritya in May, Ndgpnnchmi in August, Da^ara
in September, and Divdli in October. They fast on all Mondays, on
the eleventh days of Aahddha or July and of KdrtHc or October, and
on Shiv's Night in February. Their priest is a local BrILhman who
conducts their marriage and death ceremonies. Their religioua
teacher is a Kdnph^tya or slit-ear Gosdvi or a pious Brahman. They
believe in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits, and employ
devrushis to drive ghosts out of possessed persons. Early
marriage widow-marriage and polygamy are allowed and practised,
and polyandry is unknown. They perform only four ceremonies,
birth, hair-cutting, marriage, and death. Their customs differ

DeceuLl

AHMADNAGAB.

156

Little £rom Kanbi customs. On the fifth day after the birth of a child
the goddess Satv&i is worshipped with ofPerings of sandal paste,
pomegranate flovrers, five kinds of fruit, and food consisting of stuffed
cakes and rice with pulse. Indian millet stalks are set upright
over the stone slab on which the embossed image of Satv&i is placed
and a lamp is kept burning before the ima^e one to ten days. Assa-
fcBtida or king is burnt before the goddess, and the brows of the
child the mother and other members of the family are rubbed with the
ash€«. The mother keeps her room for eleven days. On the twelfth
five stones are set outside of the house and worshipped in the name
of Satvili with offerings of a coil of thread or ndddimdi, betel leaves
and nuts, molasses, and burnt frankincense. The child is cradled
and na^ed by women asked to the mother's house and the
distribution of handfuls of boiled gram or ghugris completes the
ceremony. A child's hair is cut for the first time before it is five
when the parents visit the temple of Satvdi. The barber cats
the child's hair and friends and relations are feasted. Marriage
proposals, as a rule, come from the boy's father, the girl's father
agreeing to them in the presence of some of the friends. At the
betrothal the girl worships a betelnut placed in a wheat square in
the name of Oanpati, and a metal pot filled with water with betel
leaves dipped in it in the name of Varun the god of water, with
offerings of flowers, sandalpaste, vermilion, and copper coins. The
boy^s father presents the girl with a green robe and bodice,
marks her brow with vermilion, and fills her lap with rice and
fmit. Betel leaves are served, and the betrothal or kunkum Idvane
is over. The Br&hman priest writes invitation cards and lays one.
of them before the house-gods and others are sent round among
friends and kinspeople. The turmeric rubbing lasts one to five days
before the marriage. The girl is rubbed vrith turmeric paste first,
and what is left of the paste, with music and a band of majried
women, is sent to the boy's to be rubbed on him and his parents.
The parents of the bridegroom and the bridegroom himself are
seated in a square spot prepared by the bride's kinswomen, with a coil
of thread passed round the necks of four earth pots, one in each comer
of the square, rubbed with turmeric, and bathed in warm water.
A married couple belonging to the bridegroom's house and a second
couple belonging to the bride's house, with the hems of their
garments knotted together by the priest, each in separate parties
visit the temple of the local M&ruti with an axe and five kinds of
leaves or pdnch jtdlvis with flowers of the kanheri or Oleander odorum
as their marriage guardian or devaJe, lay a betelnut and leaves before
the god, and return home with their guardian, covered with a white
sheet held over the head of the pair by two friends, one of whom
walks in front and the other behind. On drawing near the house
the pair tie the devak or marriage-guardian to the first post In the
booth and lay before it sandal paste, vermilion, and food. Friends
and relations of the bridegroom and of the bride are feasted at the
two fathers' houses. In the evening the bridegroom goes on horse-
back with music and a band of kinsfolk to the temple of Mdruti in
the bride's village, bows before the god, and halts in the temple.
Meanwhile an unmarried brother of the bride's is seated on horse-

Chapter IIL
Populatioai

liABOtTREBS,

Bkoii.

[Bombay Oasetteer.

156

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Ill-
Population.

Laboubebs.
Bhois,

back with an abddgiri or ornamental umbrella held over him, a&d,
among a shower of onions^ is taken by the bride's party with music
to the local M^ruti's temple. At the temple he presents the bride-
groom with a suit of clothes, and decks his brow with a marriage
coronet or baching. Lastly the bridegroom lays before the idol
a packet of betel leaves and nuts, bows before the god, and mounts
the horse brought for him by the bride's brother. All go to the
bride's house with music playing before them. On reaching the
house, the bride and bridegroom stand face to face on two low
stools, with a curtain held between them by the Br&hman priesta
who repeat texts and throw red Indian millet over the pair. The
pair are next seated on the marriage altar or bahule, from which
they throw clarified butter into the sacred or horn fire which haa
been lit by the priest. Marriage wristlets are passed round the
hands of both. Then comes the troth-plighting or pdnugmhan,
when the bride's father pours water into the hollow of the bride's
folded hands laid on the bridegroom's hands, and completes the
ceremony by putting a money gift or dakshina into her hands.
Betel leaves and nuts are served, and the guests withdraw. Next
morning the bridegroom goes out to ease himself with music and
a band of friends. On his return he is seated with the bride in
a square spot at each corner of which an earthen vessel is set. The
pair are bathed in warm water, throw chiksa or the fragrant mixture
of turmeric and Indian millet ground together at each other, and
are dressed in fresh clothes, when married women mark their brows
with vermilion and wave lights round their faces. Next comes
Hie phal or cloth-presenting ceremony. The bridegrooms party
go to the bride's with betel, a turban, a robe, and a bodice, and
uncooked provisions, rice, pulse, molasses, and clarified butter, and
the priest lays before the bride rice, five half cocoa-kernels, five
dry dates, and five betel leaves with nuts. Her father-in-law
presents her with a robe and bodice and jewels, the musicians play
their instruments, and the friends and kinspeople both of the
bridegroom and bride are feasted at the bride's. The bride's
mother respectfully asks the bridegroom's mother to visit her
house and look at the bride. She goes to the bride's, attended
by music and a band of friends, takes the bride on her lap, and puts
sugar in her mouth, presenting her with jewels. Lastly the jhdl
or handing ceremony at the girl's house completes the marriage.
The bride's parents hold a bamboo basket with four dough lamp^
laid in it, gently touch the heads of the bridegroom's parents
with the basket, and formally hand the bride to the bridegroom's
parents after seating her on the lap of the bridegroom's father
and repeating the words, ' She was ours up to this time, now
she is yours.' ^ The pair are then seated on horseback and taken,
to the bridegroom's, where the bridegroom gives the girl a new
name, and the guests are treated to a sumptuous dinner. Among
Bhois no special ce»emony is performed when a girl comes of age.
She sits- apart for three days, is bathed on the fourth, and allowed

Th« MarAthi runs : Jjavar hotidmchii dta jJtdli lumchi^

Daccam^]

AHMADNAGAR.

157

ti> join her husband. They bury their dead, and monm them ten
davs. After death, the body is bathed in warm water, laid on a
bier covered with a white sheet in the hem of which a cake and a
copper coin are tied, and flowers with redpowdor or guW, and
borne to the burning ground on the shoulders of four kinsmen.
The chief moomer carries in his hand a fire-pot hanging from a
string and walks in front of the bearers. Women who die before
their husbands are dressed in a green robe and bodice, their brow is
marked with vermilion, their hair is decked with flowers, and
lamp-black or kdjal is put in the eyes before they are taken to the
burning ground. Widows receive no such honours and are treated
in the same way as men. On their way the bearers set down the
bier for a time at some place which they generally call the rest-
place, visdvydchi jdya, throw away the copper coin and cake which
were tied to the hem of the shroud, change places, take np the
bier and lay the dead in the grave which is generally dug on
the bank of a river. The bier is broken and thrown away. The
chief mourner drops some earth on the dead, and, while one of the
party keeps the mouth of the dead open, the chief mourner carries
an earthen vessel filled with water on his shoulders, and walks
thrice round the grave, a man who walks with him at each turn
piercing with the ashma or life-stone a hole in the jar out of
which water spouts into the dead mouth. The grave is then filled
with earth. The ashma or life-stone is carefully kept for ten days.
On the second day the mourners visit the grave, sprinkle it with cow-
curds and clarified butter, bathe, and return home. On the tenth
with their Brahman priest they again go to the burying ground.
The chief mourner has his face shaved, if he did not shave it on
the first day, bathes and fixes four small yellow flags, one at each
comer of an altar or oia prepared near the grave, and lays an
earthen vessel in the centre of the altar or ota. Wheat flour balls
are made and laid on the altar and the largest of them is left on
the altar and offered to the crows. If no crow touches the ball the
dead is supposed to be angry and his ghost will surely haunt the
living. So they make a crow of kush grass and push it against the
ball. The priest is g^ven the metal vessels used in performing the
rites with some money or dakshina. The castemen are treated to a
dinner on the thirteenth day and the dead is remembered every
year on the day corresponding to the death-day in Mahdlaya Paksha
or All Soul's Fortnight, when uncooked provisions with cash are
^iven in the name of the dead to a Brdhman, and kinspeople are
featfted. The chief mourner receives from his friends and relations
a mourning turban or dukhavatydchi pdgoti which he puts on and
goes to worship in Monti's temple. Bbois have a caste council and
settle social disputes at meetings of the castemen. Breaches of
social rules are condoned by caste-feasts and decisions of the casto
coancil are enforced on pain of expulsion. Among the Bhois the
caste coancil is highly respected and greatly feared. They do not
send their children to school or take to new pursuits.

KAlldr'rs, or Bundeli Bhois, are returned as numbering 676 and
as found in small numbers in the sub-divisions of Kopargaon,
J4eviUa, Rahuri, Sangamner, and Shevgaon. They say they came

Chapter IIL
Population.

Laboubers.
Bhois,

KdhdrK

(BomlutT Gasetteen

158

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.
Labou&sbs.

KdhArB.

from Bundelkhand in Upper India during the time of Aurangzeb.
The names in common nse among men are Dagadu, Dhondir&m^
Grang&rdm, Ganpati, Eisil^ lAjkn&n, and Shiyr&m; and among-
women^ Bh&gu^ Uhima^ Pdrvati^ and Sita. Men add rdm or sing
to their names, and women bdi or lady to theirs. Their
commonest surnames are Bhanddre, Gangole, Lachure, L&kde^
Lakreyda, Libre, Luchnare, Mebere, Padre, and Sdmbre. Persona
bearing the same surname cannot intermarry. Their family
goddess is Saptashringi in Nasik, and their home-tongue is
Hindustdni. They have no subdivisions. They are dark strong
and muscular like Bhois, and live in clean airy one-storeyed houses
with mud walls and terraced roofs. Their house goods inolade low
wooden stools and metal and earthen yessels, and their staple food
is millet bread, pulse, and vegetables. They eat fish and the flesh
of sheep goats and game animals but not of game birds, and offer
boiled mutton to their family goddess on Dasara in September.
They drink country liquor and smoke hemp-flower or ganja and
tobacco. Men shave the head except the top-knot and sometimes
side-knots, and the face except the moustache and whiskers;
women roll their hair into a solid knot or buchada and never use
flowers or false hair. Men dress in a loincloth or a waistclotli, a
shouldercloth, a smock or bandi, a Maratha turban or a headscarf,
and a pair of sandals. Women wear a Mar&tha robe and backless
short-sleeved bodice, but do not pass the skirt of their robe back
between the feet. Both men and women use ornaments like those
worn by Eunbis except that Edh&r women wear no nosering or
nafh. As a class they are hardworking, honest, thrifty, orderly,
and hospitable. They are hereditary palanquin-bearers, and catch
and sell fish. Some of them grow vegetables. The women mind
the bouse, sell fish, and grow vegetables. Their work is brisk in
the fair season and slack during the rains. Their calling is well
paid and their profits steady, bat they spend more than they can
afford on the marriage of their children. They rank above Bhois and
below Pardeshis or Rajputs, and eat at the hands of local Kunbis.
They worship all Brahman gods and keep the ordinary Hindu
fasts and feasts. They have images of their family deities in their
houses and worship them with sandal paste, fiowers, and food.
Their priest is a Pardeshi or Upper India Brahman whom they ask
to conduct their marriage and death ceremonies. They profess
not to believe in witchcraft and evil spirits but have &ith in
astrology. Child-maniage polygamy and widow-marriage are
allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown. When a child
is born its navel-cord is cut and thrown into a river. The mother
and the child are bathed in warm water and laid on a cot. From
the first to the fifth day the mother is fed on dry cocoa-kernel
mixed with molasses. The mother is held impure for five days*
On the evening of the fifth she worships stones laid in the name of
Satv&i on a place washed. with cowdung, with offerings of vermilion
lemons and pomegranates. Boiled rice and curds are laid before the
goddess and five married girls are treated to a dinner. If the house-
owner can afford it dinners are daily given from the fifth to the
twelfth day^ and lights are laid in the lying-in room from the fifth td

OftCcaiLl

AHMADNAGAR.

159

the tenth Dight. Two charcoal figures are drawn on the wall of the
lying-in room and sandal paste and flowers are laid before them.
On the twelfth the mother and child are bathed. The mother takes
the child in her armsj crosses the village boundary^ picks np small
stones, and lays them nnder a tree. She offers the stx)nes turmeric
paste^ flowers^ thread, and a toy cradle or pdlni, and lays before
the atonee cooked rice and molasses, in the name of Satvdi, and
returns home. When the child is between one aud two months old
it is presented to the Brahman priest who names it, and the house
owner distributes among friends and kinspeople packets of sugar and
betel leaves with nuts. Boys are married between ten and twenty-
&ve, and girls before they come of age. Their marriage customs are
like those of Rdjputs or Pardeshis. They bum the married and bury
the onmarried dead, mourn ten days, and perform all death-rites
with the same details as local Bhois or Kunbis. Unlike Kunbis
they do not remember the dead in Bhddrapad or September
but perform the mind-rites or shrdddh of those who die between
February and October on Divdli in October, and of those who die
between October and February on Shiv's Night or Shivrdtra in
February. The married dead are alone entitled to these honours,
and on these days any member of the caste can join the dinner party
unasked. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling, and
settle social disputes at meetings of castemen called pancha. Small
brea<^hes of social rules are condoned by the nominal punishment of
giving pdnsupdri or betel to the castemen, and graver faults by
C85te feasts, and the decisions of the caste council or punch are
enforced on pain of expulsion. They have a headman whose office
is hereditary and who is shown special honour at all marriages and
caste feasts. They have of late begun to send the children to school.
Boys remain at school till they can read and write Mardthi and
girls leave as soon as they are married. They do not take to new
pursaits but as vegetable growers and fishers they make fair profits
and show a tendency to improve.

Ka^xna'this^ are returned as numbering 240 and as found in
Nagar, Nev4sa, P^mer, Sangamner, and Shrigonda. They seem to
be of Telugu origin and are said to have come from the Nizdm's
country about a hundred years ago. The names in common use
among men are El&ppa, Karadi, Lingu, N^gu, Posheti, Rajinna,
ShivAppa, and Yall&ppa ; and among women Akubdi, Bhdgi, and
Yallomi. Men add appa or father and anna or brother to their
names, and women bai or lady to theirs. Their surnames are
Kutolu, Pilaleli, and Totoladu. Persons bearing the same surname
cannot intermarry. They have no subdivisions and are dark strong
and well made. The men shave the head except the top-knot and the
face except the moustache and whiskers. They live in middle-class
houses with brick or mud walls and tiled or thatched roofs. TTheir
house goods include boxes, cradles, cots, low stools, carpets, mats, and
earthen and metal vessels. They own cattle and pet dogs and parrots.

Chapter III.

Population.

Labour KBS.
Kdhdra,

Kdmdthis,

1 TuXlm details axe giTen in the Poena Statistical Aecoant.

[Bombay Ofti«iteer.

160

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
PopolatioiL.

Labourers.
Kdmdthis,

Lamdns.

They are great eaters and poor cooks. Their staple food is iQdian

millet bread, pulse, and vegetables, and they are fond of sour and hot

dishes. They do not bathe daily or perform any rites before their

morning meals. They eat flesh and drink country liquor. The women

tie their hair in a back-knot and do not wear flowers or false hair.

The men dress in a waistcloth, a shouldercloth, a coat, a Mar^tha

turban, and a pair of shoes. The women wear a Mardtha bodice

and a robe with the skirt passed back between the feet. Both men

and women have a store of clothes and ornaments similar to those of

local Kunbis for special ceremonies and great occasions. As a class

E^mathis are dirty and untidy in their habits, hardworking,

irritable, and vain. Most of them are masons and house builders,

some make cigars, a few are landholders, and others work as

labourers. Boys of ten begin to help their fathers. Women mind

the house and work as labourers or make cigars. They rank with

Kunbis and worship Bhavdni of Tuljapur in the Nizam's country,

Ehandoba of Jejuri in Poena, Mahadev, Yirbhadra, and Yyankoba

of Tirupati in North Arkot. They make pilgrimages to Alandi in

Poena, Pandharpur in Sholdpur, and Tuljapur in the Nizam's

country. They worship all local gods and keep the regular Hindu

fasts and feasts. Their priest is a Telang Brdhman who conducts

their marriage and death ceremonies. Their priest is their religions

teacher and they share the local beliefs in witchcraft, soothsaying, and

evil spirits. Their social and religious customs are the same as those

of the Poena Kdm^this. On the fifth night after a birth they lay

a cocoanut and a lemon before a silver image of Satvdi and offer the

goddess vermilion, turmeric, a coil of thread, and food. The mother

is held impure for ten days and the child is named on the twelfth.

Boys are married between ten and twenty-five, and girls before they

come of age. Child marriage polygamy and widow marriage

are allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown. When a

girl comes of age, she sits apart for three days, is bathed on the

fourth, and her lap is filled with rice and a cocoanut. They either

bury or burn the dead, and, except that they hold no death^day

feasts, they follow all the rites observed by local Kunbis. They

have a caste council and settle social disputes at meetings of caste-

men. They send their boys to school, take to new pursuits, and show

a tendency to rise.

Lama'ns, also called Cha'ran Vanja'ris to distinguish them from
Mathurji Vanj^ris who are seldom seen in the district, are returned
as numbering 532 and as found in small numbers in all sub^divisions
except in Jdmkhed and Shrigonda. They have no story of theii*
origin, and they say they have come from M^rwir and settled in the
district though when and why they do not know. The names in
common use among men are Chatru, Devu, Gemdpa, Ghola, Ktiya,
Kildt, Kharadya, Krishna, Lakshman, Punja, lUma, B^vanjra, l\ilsi,
and XJdad^pa; and among women Avani, Budhi, Ch&lki, Dadi,
Dhamki, Hunki, Kes^li, Patki, Phupi, R&dhi, Saki, and Suva.
Their surnames are Chav&n, Holkar, Mudh, Pavdr, lUtvad, and
Sinde. Sameness of surname is a bar to marriage. They have
no subdivisions. As a class they are dark strong and well made.
Their home tongue is Mdrwdri, and they speak a corrupt Mardthi

Xteccaa-l

AHMADNAGAR.

161

abroad. They live in cottages with wattled walla and thatched
roofs or when travelling in small tents or pais. Their house goods
indade earthen vessels with one or two metal pots^ and they own
cattle and dogs. They are great eaters and poor cooks, and sugar
roily polies or puran polis with hot and sour dishes are among their
dainties. They perform no rites before the morning meal, and
their staple food is millet bread, pulse sauce, and vegetobles. Men
eat fish and flesh except beef and pork, and drink country liquor,
bat as a mle women abstain from flesh not even cooking animal
food. The men shave the head except the top-knot and grow the
moostache and whiskers ; the women plait the hair in three braids
which hang loosely about the head and are decked with silk tassels
and cowrie shells. Some women tie the braids in a back-knot ; none
of them nse flowers or &lBe hair. The men dress in a waistcloth
worn after the Mar^tha fashion, a smock or bcmdi, a shouldercloth,
a Mar^thft turban, and a pair of sandals or shoes. The women wear
a M4rw4r petticoat and a backless short-sleeved bodice and cover
the bosom and shoulders with a parti-coloured sheet. The men's
ornaments are gold earring^ or bhiJebdlis, a silver waistchain or
bUdora, and silver wristlets or kadda ; and the women's, gold nose
rings or naiTiB, silver earrings or bugdis, silver or tin necklaces, ivory
bangles^ cowrie wristlets, feet ornaments or p&ijhuvds, and brass ankle
chains or ednkhlis. Neither men nor women have any special dress for
great occasions. They seldom change their clothes twice in a week.
Aa a class they are dirty, but honest, hardworking, orderlv> and
frngaL Their chief and hereditary calling is carrying and dealing
in aalL They complain that their trade has suffered by the use of
baUock carts and the opening of railways. They have taken to deal
in fuel which they carry on their bullocks from the forest lands to
the towns : they also sell gunny bags which they weave at home.
Some are landholders^ but none are domestic servants or labourers.
The women mind the house and help in selling fuel, work in the
fields, and watch the beasts of burden. Their trade is brisk in
the fair season and they close their work on Dasara in September
and Bwdli in October. They rank below local Kunbis and above
the impure classes. With Yyankoba of Tirupati in North Arkot and
Hari£i as their family deities they worship all Br^hmanic gods.
Of the regular Hindu fasts they keep only Ookulashtami in August,
and their feasts are Shimga in March, Dctsara in September, and
Divoli in October. Their priest is a village Joshi who conducts their
marriages. They make no pilgrimages and share in the ordinary
local beliefs in witchcraft, soothsaying, and evil spirits. They
perform only two ceremonies at marriage and at death. Child
marriage is rare. Widow marriage and polygamy are allowed and
polyandry is unknown. The mother is held impure for forty days
&fter childbirth, and the father calls the child by his favourite name
when the child is old enough to answer him. Boys are married
between fifteen and twenty-five, and girls generally after they have
come of a^ At the time of betrotbd^ the boy^s father presents
tbe girl with £1 to £10 (Bs. 10- 100) in cash, a petticoat and bodice,
and one to four bullocks, while, in return, the Doy receives a waist«
cloih and torban from the psVs father. No musicians and no
band of friend^iand relations wait on the bridegroom when he goes

Chapter III.
Popniation.

Laboitbxm.
LamdmM,

[Bombay Oaietteer*

162

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Popiilation.

liABOUaSBS.

' Lamdns.

Vca^dris,

to the bride's. He ties a piece of silver worth about 2^. (Re. I ) to
the hem of his garments, nominally in the nameof his religionsteaoher,
bnt none of them know either the name or the dwelling place of this
teacher^ and sets out for the bride's with one or two of his nearest
kinsmen. The bride's father receives the bridegroom, and the
Brahman priest conducts the ceremony. The pair are first seated
in a square with an earthen vessel at each of its corners, and the priest
ties the hems of their garments in a knot, lays rice and a cocoanat
in the lap of the bride, and marks her brow with vermilion. Lastly
.the pair bow to the gods and elders, and they are husband and
wife. The caste people are treated to a dinner of balls of rice
.mixed with molasses and oil, the tobacco pipe is handed round among
the guests, and they withdraw. The couple are not immediately
allowed to leave the bride's house even though the ceremony is
over and the bride's father is badly thought of if he lets them go
home soon. As a rule they pass two or three months at the bride's,
and are treated daily to a dinner of bread, rice, pulse, and vegetables.
When the pair go to the bridegroom's house, the bridegroom gives
the silver coin which has been tied in his garments to the priest or
spends it on a caste feast and the wedding is over. They bum their
married and bury their unmarried dead. The body is laid on a bier
and taken at once to the funeral ground. The chief monmer does
not carry the fire-pot before the corpse-bearers, but kindles fire at the
burning ground with his chaknuxk or flint and steel, which every Lamdn
always carries with him. After the body is bnmt or buried, the
party bathe,^ wash their clothes, and return homa Kinsmen are not
held impure in consequence of a death. On the third day friends
and kinspeople are treated to a dinner of balls of wheat flour mixed
with oil and molasses, the tobacco pipe goes round, and the gnests
withdraw. They hold no mind-rite or shraddh in honour of the
dead. They have a caste council, and settle social disputes at
meetings of castemen. They do not send their children to school or
take to new pursuits, and are a falling class.

VaDJa'ris, or Caravanmen, are returned as numbering 30,702
and as found all over the district. They say they came into the
district from the Bombay Karndtak though when and why they do
not know. Vanjaris are of four divisions Bhusdrjin, Lddjin, Mathu-
r&jin, and RAvjin. Of these Rdvjins are the chief Anmadnagar
class and to them alone the following details applv. The common
names among men are Apa, B^pu, Ganu, Govmda, Rama, and
Yithoba ; and among women Ganga, Manjula, Mnkta, Rakhma,
Saku, and Thaku. Their commonest surnames are Akh^de, Bakre,
Bhad6de, Bodke, Chdngle, Dfegat, Evul, Kdlhdte, Kinhere, Karke,
L&mbe, Murtadak, R^mdyane, Sdrange, S&vale, and Var&de. Their
famjjy deities are Bahiroba of Soniri in Ahmadnagar, Devi of
TuljApur in the Nizim's country, and Khandoba of Jejuri in Poona
Their marriage guardians or devaks are the pdnchpdlvis or five
leaves, the feathers of the taa or Blue Jay Coracias indica, and of
leaves of the ndgvel or betel vine. Sameness of surname but not
sameness of devak is a bar to marriage. As a rule they are dark
strong and well built like local Kunbis. The men shave the head
except the top-knot, and grow the moustache and whiskers. The
women tie the hair in a back-knot without using flowers or false

DecciiL]

AHMADNAGAR.

163

hair. Like the Kunbis of the district they speak a broad Mardthi^
and live in one-storeyed houses with brick or mud walls and tiled
or thatched roofs. Their house goods include low stools^ cradles,
cote, and metal and earthen vessels, and they own cattle and dogs.
They are great eaters and poor cooks, their special dishes incladiog
sugar roily polies or puran polin and condiments. Their staple food
is Indian millet bread pulse and vegetables. They regularly bathe
before their morning meal, lay sandal paste, flowers, and food before
their house gods, and then take their meal. Men use animal food
except beef and pork, and drink country liquor: women strictly abstain
both from liquor and from flesh. The men dress in a loincloth or a
waistcloth, a smock or bandi^ a coat, a Mardtha turban, a blanket,
and a pair of shoes or sandals. They have strict caste rule against
wearing godadis or quilts. The women wear a bodice with a back
and short sleeves and a Mardtha robe whose skirt they do not pass
back between the feet. Both men and women have ornaments like
those worn by Kunbis. As a class they are dirty in their habits,
but honest, hardworking, thrifty, and hospitable. Of late years the
opening of roads and railways has greatly reduced their carrying
trade. Some have taken to husbandry and trade and many work as
laboorera and hoase servants. The women mind the house, help in
the fields, and work as house servants. They work from morning
to evening. Their holidays are Shimga in March, the Cobra's Fifth or
Ndgpanehmiin August, Daaarain September, BSidDimli in October.
They rank with Kunbis and worship all Brdhmanio gods and keep
the regular Hindu fasts and fea8t& Their priest is a local Brdhman
who conducts their chief ceremonies. They lay sandal paste,
flowers, and food, and bow before all local gods, and make pilgrim-
ages to Jejnri in Poena, Pandharpur in Shol4pnr, and Tuljdpar in
the Nizam's country. Their religious teacher is the priest at the
religious house of A.h&]i Bava of Kasdrgaon in Sangamner, and their
socud and religious customs are the same as those of Mardtha
Kunbis. They share in the local beliefs in witchcraft soothsaying
and evil spirits, and allow and practise child-marriage polygamy
and widow-marriage. They bury or burn their dead and mourn
ten dajTS. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling and
nettle social disputes at caste meetings. If the disputants do not
agree to abide by the decision of the caste council they are referred
to the religious teacher whose decision is final, and is enforced on
pain of loss of caste. They send their boys to school, and take to
new pursuits.

Depressed Classes include five divisions with a total strength of
96,832 or 13'7 per cent of the Hindu population. The details are :

AhmadfMgar Depressed Claues, 1881.

DtnsioH.

Halei.

Females.

Tbtal.

Bh^nglH

Chimbfaira

Pbon

M&DgB

Mhirft

Total ..

99
0886

961

'9642

80,771

6682

926

9528

81,820

171
18,618

1887
19,166
62,091

48,359

48,478

96,882

Chapter III.
Populatian.

IiABOUBBBS.

BxrRBSSSD

Classbss.

[Bombay Gazetteer,

161

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

DbP&V88XI>

Classbiu
BhangU^

Bhangis, or Sweepers, are retamed as numbering 171 and as
found in Akola, Nagar, Ner^lsa, and Sanganmer. Their origin is
unknown, but they seem to have oome into the district from G-QJar&t
and M&rw&r, though when and why they cannot tell. The common
names among men are Dava, IMLyadeT, Dhana, Evaj, 3&]i, Eallu,
Kesay, Kisen, Pdpa, Seva, and Shaikbanna; and among women,
Bann, J4ngi, L6du, Muli, Panha, Py&ra, and R&dha. They have
no surnames and persons of the same kin cannot intermarry. They
are divided into Bhasods, Ghajgadis, Helas, L^begis, Makhiyirs,
and Shaikhs. Of these Ldlbegis and Shaikhs eat together but
do cot intermarry, and are considered higher than the other four
who do not intermarry or eat together. They are dark strong and
muscular like Musalmans, and speak Hindustani, both at home
and abroad. They liye in poor one-storeyed houses with mud walla
and flat roofs and generally keep pet dogs and pigeons. They are

freat eaters and poor cooks and are fond of oil and hot dishes,
heir staple food is millet bread, pulse, vegetables, and fish oorry*
They give caste dinners in honour of marriages and deaths. They
eat flesh and drink liquor. Their special dishes include rice, wheaS
cakes, sweet wheat flour balls or Iddus, khir or rice boiled in water
and mixed with molasses, and mitha puldv or mutton and rice mixed
with sugar and seasoned with spices. They do not eat animals who
have died a natural death, and have no objection to use beef. As a
rule all Bhangis except Shaikhs eat no flesh during the month of
Shrdvan or August. Both men and women are given to excessive
drinking. They smoke gdnja or hemp flower and tobacco. Women
chew tobacco with betel and lime, but rarely either drink or smoke
hemp. Men either shave the head, except side knots above the
ears, or cut the hair close, and let the beard grow. The women
roll their hair into a solid ball or buchada. Both men and women
dress twice a day, once in the morning when they go to their work
and again in the evening when their work is over. In the morning'
the men dress in a loincloth or a waistcloth, a shirt with short sleeves^
and country boots or shoes. Women wear a bodice with a back and
short sleeves and a Maritha robe. They pass the skirt back between
the feet and tuck it into the waist. The men's evening dress is a
pair of trousers or a waistcloth, a coloured waistcoat or shirt, a coat,
a Mar&tha turban and shoes. They pass a handkerchief over their
turban and knot its ends under the chin. The women dress in »
petticoat and a short-sleeved backless bodice or a Maritha robe and
lx>dice, but do not pass the skirt back between the feet. Both men
and women have a store of clothes and Musalm4n ornaments for
holiday wear and for great occasions. As a class they are dirty^
hardworking, irritable, extravagant, and fond of show. They are
scavengers and nightsoil men cleaniug the streets from morning to
noon. *J3efore starting on their day's work they bow to the basket and
broom and then take them up. Women mind the house and work aa
much as the men^ and boys above twelve follow their fathers' calling.
Formerly they say they were better off as they could exact any
amount of wages from the house-owners in addition to the food which
they daily obtained from them and presents of clothes and money
on holidays. They complain that municipal oflSoers have reduced

DecoMi)

AHMADNAGAR.

165

their sonrces of income to a fixed payment and that they nsed to be
better off. Bhangis are one of the lowest castes. They do not eat
from the hands of Mh4rs and MAngs^ btit neither do Mhars or
MiUigs eat from Bhangis. Persons are allowed to join the Bhangi
caste from all Hindn classes except Mh&rs^ M4ngs^ and Chilmbh&rs.
They get up at sunrisOi break their fast and go to their work,
return at noon, bathe and eat their morning meal, rest an hour or
two, change their dress, and again go about their work. Bhangis
worship both Hindu gods and Masalm&n saints. Of Hindu feasts
they keep Shimga in March, Daaara in September, and Divdli
in October. They fast on the lunar elevenths or Ekddashis
of Ashddh or July and Kdrtik or October, on Ookulaahfami
in August and on Shiv's Night or ShivrcUra in February. Their
priest, a Husaini Br&hman,^ conducts their marriages. Shaikhs
pro&8B to be Musalm^ns, do not keep Hindu holidays or fasts, and
ask the K^i or Musalmdji priest to officiate at their marriages, and
to circumcise their sons. Ldlbegis make a miniature tomb or turbat
in a niche in the wall and plant a green flag near the tomb. They
keep Musalm&n as well as Hindu holidays and &st8, and belieye
in witchcraft soothsaying and evil spirits. The leading customs
observed by Bhangis^ areatbirth,marriage,anddeath. Child-marriage
polygamy and widow-marriaffe are allowed and practised, and
polyandiy is unknown. Shaikhs circumcise their sons between five
and twenty. Bhangi boys are married between fifteen and twenty-five
and girls between three and fifteen. They have no rule that a girl
should be married before she comes of age. They bury the dead, and
they treat the castepeople to a dinner in honour of the dead on the
twentieth or fortieth day after the death. They are bound together
by a strong caste feeling, and leave their headman or mehtar to settle
social disputes. Breaches of caste rules are punished with fines
which take the form of a caste feast. Offenders who cannot pay the
fine have to carry round a tobacco pipe for the castopeople to smoke
and are pardoned. Caste decisions are enforced on pain of loss
of cstfbe. They do not send their children to school, nor do they
take to new pursuits Their calling is well paid, but they are an
extravagant class and poor.

dLa'xnblia'rB, or Shoemakers, are returned as numbering 1 3,518
and as found all over the district. Their origin is unknown. They
haTe no tradition of their arrival in the district and no memory of
any earlier home. Their surnames suggest that they originally
belonged to the Maritha Kunbi caste and were degraded because
of working in leather. The names in common use among men are
Aniji, B]^v4ni, Dhondi, Govinda, Hari, Krishna, Mukta, N&na,
and B&Doa ; and among women, Ahili, Bhdgu, Chimi, Gangi, Mathi,
ttaW]>fnii. Bangi, Sahi, S&lu, and Sivitri. Their surnames are
Ag&vane, Bansure, Bh&gvat, Dam&re, Deshmakh, Devre, Dhorge,
Dorge, Giikav&d, Girimkar, Hulamke, J6dhav, Jamdhare, Eab&de,
Kadam^ Kadme, K&lge, K^le, Kimble, K&nde, Kavde, Kedir,
Ligobavrej Natke, PavAr, S&lve, SAtpute, Sinde, Sonavni, and

Chapter III.

Population.

dxpubsbbd
Classics.

Chdmbhdrs.

of Httsaini Brihman customs are siven in the Poona Statistical Account,

> Details are g^ven in the Poona Statistical Account.

[Bombay Gazetteer,

166

DISTRICTS.

Chapter m.
Popalatioii.

Defbsssed

OlA8S£S.

Chdmbhd/rs,

Vdghe. Persons bearing the same samame cannot intermarry*
Their family gods are Bahiroba of Pimpalipur and of Earjat in
Abmadnagar, Devi of Tuljdpor in the Niz&m's conntry^ Khandoba
of Jejnri in Poona^ and Mahadev of Singndpnr in Satara. They
have no subdivisions. They are dark strong and well made with
a dull expression and high cheekbones, but their women are fair
and better looking even than local Brahman women. They speak
Mardthi both at home and out of doors^ and many of them live
in one-storeyed houses with walls of bamboo or milkbush sticks
smeared with mud, and with thatched roofs. The houses of the
well-to-do are cleaner and better built with sun-dried brick walls
and flat roofs. Their house goods beside their tools include low
stools, quilts^ blankets^ metal and earthen vessels. They own cattle
pigs and dogs. They are great eaters and bad cooks, and are fond
of hot and pungent dishes. Their staple food is millet breads split

Sulse, vegetables^ and chopped chillies or chatni, and their special
ishes include wheat cakes polis, sweet cakes stuffed with boiled
pulse and molasses piiran poUs, rice and pulse sauce or dmbti. Their
caste rules do not require them to bathe daily, and their women
do not eat from their husband's dish unless it is cleaned. They eat
flsh and flesh except beef and pork and drink country liquor. Their
marriage and death caste feasts are wheat cakes stuffed with boiled
pulse and molasses, and they sacrifice a goat to Devi when the
gondhal dance is performed at their house. Men shave the bead
except the top-knot and the face except the eyebrows, moustache,
and whiskers. Women tie their hair into a back-knot and use
neither flowers nor false hair. Men wear a loincloth or langoti, a
shouldercloth, a shirt, a coat, and a Mar&tha turban or headscarf ;
women dress in a Mar&tha robe and bodice with short sleeves and a
back. Neither men nor women change their clothes daily, and
their ornaments are like those worn by cultivating Mar&thas. As a
class they are dirty, hardworking, thrifty^ orderly, and hospitable.
They work in leather, cut and dry skins^ and maJke shoes, sandals,
and water-bags. The women mind the house and help the
men. They work from sunrise till after sunset with a short rest at
noon for food and a sleep. They often work till about eight, sup,
and retire to rest Town Ch4mbh&rs are well-to-do, but village
Gh&mbh&rs are somewhat depressed from the rise in price which
has followed the large export of skins and because they have
now to pay for bdbhul bark which they used to get free. Unlike
other village craftsmen they have no claim for grain allowances
from the husbandmen^ and most village Ghdmbh&rs are in debt aa
they spend more than they can afford on marriages. Their business
is brisk in the fair season and slack during the rains. They stop work
on the new-moon and no-moon days of every lunar month, on all
Sundays, and when a marriage or a death happens in their honsa A
family of five spends 128. to £1 (Bs. 6-10} a month. A birth costs
As. to £1 (Bs. 2-10), a marriage £2 to £10 (Bfi. 20-100), and a death
£1 to £10 (Bs.lO-lOO). They rank at the head of the impure
classes. On their feast and fast days they worship the inoages of
Bahiroba, Devi, Khandoba, and Mah&dev, and keep all Hindu &8ts
and feasts. Their priest is a Deshasth Bi-ahman to whom they

DemmO

AHMADNAGAR.

167

fihow great respect. They make pilgrimages to Alandi near Poona^
Benares, Jejari in Poena, and Taljkpar in the Niz&m's coantrj. They
worship all local gods but are not allowed to enter the shrine.
Their religions teacher is a Ldngdyat priest before whom they bow
and whom they give a money present. They believe in witchcraft
soothsaying and evil spirits. Child-marriage polygamy and
widow marriage are allowed and practised, and polyandry is
nnknown. When a child is bom, its navel cord is cat and it is
bathed in warm water. For three days it is fed on honey mixed
with castor oil, and on the fourth the mother suckles it. On the fifth
tbo goddess Satv4i is worshipped with turmeric paste, sandal-
paste, flowers, a coil of thread, and wheat cakes and pulse. For ten
days they keep a castor-oil lamp burning in the lying-in room taking
care that the child does not see it. On the wall near the mother's
bed a picture of Satv^ is marked with charcoal and five married
women are asked to the house to worship the goddess and dine in
her name. At last the mother bows before the image with the child
in her arms, saying that the child belongfs to the goddess and praying
her to guard it from evil. Friends and relations are feasted. The
mother remains impure for ten days and on the twelfth the child's
aunt names and cradles it. Betel and boiled gram are served and
the gnests withdraw. Boys are married between four and twenty-
five, and girls before they are sixteen. The boy pays the girl's
marriage charges and at betrothal marks her brow with vermilion
and sticks on to the vermilion an eight-anna piece or a rupee. She
is presented with a new robe bodice and ornaments and the boy
reeeiyes a turban and shouldercloth from her father. Her lap is
filled with rice and a cocoanut and the boy's friends and relations are
feasted. The Brahman priest names a lucky day for holding the
marriage, and neighbour women meet at the house of the boy and
girl each with a dining dish filled with grain, wave it about the boy
and the girl who are seated each in a square marked out with lines
of wheat flour by the village Gurav woman, and throw away a copper
coin. The grain is gathered in a heap and the copper coins are
given to the Grurav woman. Wheat cakes or undda are handed
among the guests, and a yellow c^oth wrapped round a turmeric root
and betelnut is tied to the house grindstone and large water vessel
or rdnjan. Booths are raised before the houses of each, and the god-
pleasing is performed on the day before the marriage. Five married
women from the bridegroom's house go to the temple of M&rutieach
with a water-pot in her hands followed by a pair with the wedding
guardians or devaks the man carrying an axe and the woman a
vermilion box with sandal paste and turmeric. All bow before the
image of Mdruti, leave sandalpaste, flowers, a copper coin, and betel
at the temple door, return home with music and friends, and tie the
axe to one of the posts in the booth. A cake is waved rotnd the
man while he carries the axe to and from M&ruti's temple, and
five married g^rls are feasted. The bridegroom goes to the bride's
with music and friends and on the way halts at M&ruti's temple.
The bride's father meets him there and treats his party to wheat
cakes and dmbil that is millet flour boiled in water and mixed with
curds seasoned with spices. The bridegroom's brother goes to the

Chapter III.
Population.

Dbprbbasd
Gi^Assn.

Chdmbkdrs.

[Bombay Gaietteer,

168

DISTRICTS.

Cbapter III.
Population.

Deprisssd

CuLBSJca.

Ckdmhars,

Dhom.

bride's and presents the bride with the lacky necklace and returnB
with a turban for the bridegroom. The marriage coronet is tied ta
the bridegroom's brow and he is taken on horseback to the bride's.
Mhar women meet him at the village border and wave a lamp round
him. On reaching the booth, the bride's mother waves wheat tekes
round his head and he is taken into the booth. The girl's brow is
decked with the marriage coronet or haahmg and the pair are made to
stand face to face in the booth near the marriage altar or hakuU, with
a screen or antcurpat held between them. The priest repeats texts and
throws red rice over the pair and they are husband and wife. The
priest ties a thread wristlet round the right wrists of the pair, and
afterwards kindles the sacred fire on the raised altar hahule where
the bride and the bridegroom are seated. The bride's father presents
the priest with money and fetches the axe and the vermilion box
guardians or devaks from M&ruti's temple. Friends and relations
are dined and the rest of the ceremony does not differ from a
Maritha-Eunbi marriage.^ They bury their dead and mourn ten
days. Women go with the men to the grave. The body is laid on
a bier and taken to the burial ground, a Jangam priest following the
bearers and blowing his conch when the body is laid in the grave.
The chief mourner drops water into the dead mouth and the grave is
filled with earth and over the grave the Jangam blows the conch.
The rest of the death ceremony does not differ from that of Mar&tha
Eunbis. A Brdhman priest conducts it and on the thirteenth the
friends and relations are dined in the name of the dead. Gh&mbhi&rs
are bound together by a strong caste feeling and settle sooial
disputes at meetings under the advice of their hereditary headman
who is called inshtar. Breaches of caste rules are punished with
fines which generally take the form of caste feasts. If he cannot
pay the fine a poor man has to bow before the caste and ask their
pardon. They send their boys to school. They take to no new
pursuits and are at present somewhat badly off.

Dhors, or Tanners, are returned as numbering 1887 and as found
all over the district except in Akola. They have no tradition of
their coming to the district or of any former home. They have
no subdivisions. The names in common use both among men and
women are the same as Kunbi names. Their surnames are Borode,
Hasanale, Holkar, Kalambe, Eatakdavande, KaikandddrOi EHvale^
Eelgandre, MILnkar, Munimdni, N&vdyane, Ndnande, Sad^phale,
S&lunke, Sinde, and Trimbake; persons with the same surname
cannot intermarry. In look, speech, food, drink, and dress they
are more like Ch&mbh&rs than any people of the district. They
live in one-storeyed Eunbi-like houses with mud walls and tiled
or thatched roofs. The women mark their brows with vermilion
on holidays only. They are dirty, hardworking, orderly, thrifty,
and heritable. They are hereditary tanners and leather workers.
In villages they keep in order the water ba^s or fiiots and are paid
in grain at harvest. The women mind the house and help the men
in tanning. Their expenses differ little from those of Chiimbh&rs.

^ Detuls are given under Ch&mbbirs in the Poona Statistical Account.

OmokI!.!

AHMADNAGAR.

169

They rank at the head of the impure classes and below Knnbis and
M4]i8> not eating from the hands of Chdmbh^rs and other classes
reckoned impore. They are a religions people worshipping all
Brihmanicy bonndary, and local gods and keeping all Hindn holidays
and fasts. They have a special reverence for their family god Mah^ev
of Singn4pur in Sit4ra, to whose shrine they often make pilgrimages.
Their priest is a village Joshi who conducts their marriages^ bat his
place is often taken by a Jangam whom snch of the Dhors as worship
Shiv hold in high hononr. Most Dhors choose some holy man of their
own caste as a religions teacher ; if he dies they seldom choose a new
teacher. They believe in witchcraft soothsaying and evil spirits.
Of the sixteen Hinda sacraments or sanskdrs they perform only two
marriage and death. Their marriage ceremonies are the same as
Ch^Lmbhiir marriages, except that Dhors have meat at their wedding
dinner and Ch&mbh&rs have no meat. They sometimes bum the dead,
but as a role they bnry. After death the body is laid on the bier and
carried to the burying ground on the shoulders of four castemen.
A married woman who dies before her husband is dressed in a new
robe and bodice, and glass bangles are put onher wrists; thesehonours
are not shown to widows. The son or the chief mourner leads
the funeral party holding a fire*pot hanging from a string and the
bearers follow repeating Jay Jay Bam Victory to lUm. On the way,
at a spot called the rest-place or visdvydchijdga, they set down the
bier^ leave a copper and bread on the ground, change places, lift the
bier and take it to the burial grounds At the burial ground they lay
down the bier and one after the other pour water into the dead
mouth. They then lay the body in the grave. They fill thegrave with
earth, hold ninth leaves in their teeth, bow to the village god, and
return to their homes. Next day on a winnowing fan, they bring
to the grave two small earthen pots called bolhis one with cow's
urine and the other with curds, and three smaU cakes or ddmtis.
They leave one of the cakes at the resting place, empty the cow's
urine over the grave, and lay the two other cakes and the curd-pot on
the grave fixing near it three little red flags. They bathe and
go home. On the tenth, the chief mourner visits the grave with
ihe village Joshi, makes ten wheat-flour balls, lays flowers sandal-
paate food aod vermilion before them, and leaves them on a river
bank. He waits for a time to see if a crow touches them, if no
crow comes he leaves them, goes home, and asks his castepeople
to dine at his house on the eleventh. The usual funeral dishes are
telehis or fried cakes and gulatmi that is rice flour boiled in
water mixed with cocoanut m^k and molasses. When the feast is
over friends and relations present the chief mourner with a turban
and withdraw. They are bound together by a caste feeling, and
settle social disputes at caste meetings. Breaches of social rules
are punished by fines which take the form of caste dinners and the
decisions are enforced on pain of loss of caste. Some send their
boj^ to the k>cal mission schools. They do not take to new pursuits
or show signs of improving.

Kft'ngB are returned as numbering 19,165, and as found all
orer the district. They trace their descent from a Mhdr whom
the saint J&mbrishi set to guard his cow and who ate the cow
» 772—22

Chapter III.
Population.

DKPRXS8Vt»

Clabsbb.
Dhori.

Mdngu

[Bombay Oautleer,

170

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.
Dbpbisbkd

CL48BB8.

instead of watching her. For this he was cnrsed by the saint
with the name mdna or cmel. They are divided into Chapalsindes^
Gdradis, Hol&rs, Jir&its, M&ngs proper^ and Thokarphodee who
neither eat .together nor intermarry. The balk of Ahmadnagar
Mdngs are Jirdits. Their personal names are the same as among
Mh&rs, and their surnames are Alhdt^ Apte^ Av&r, Bhise, Bhode>
Divte^ Gavli, Jddhay^ Jagt&p^ J^n-nayare, K&ble, K&lakhe, Khade,
Eote, Kunchekar, Lokhande^ Londhe, N^e^ Netke, P&rdhij Pdltaley
Pav4r^ Pit&re^ lUjgara^ Sas&ne, S&the^ Shenge^ Thokar^ and Vair4t.
Persons bearing the same samames cannot intermarry. Their home-
tongue is a dialect of MariLthi. They never pronounce nasals properly
and cannot rightly sound two consonants joined by a single vowel.^
Their family deities are Bahiroba, Khandoba of Jejuri in Poena,
Mah&m&ri, and Mhasoba. They are strong coarse-featured and
well made and can be readily Known from Eunbis and Millis by
their darker colour. They live in wattled huts like those of Mh4r8»
and have a store of earthen cooking vessels with one or two blankets
metal pots and quilts. Those who are husbandmen own cattle ;
they seldom have any pet animals except dogs. They are great
eaters and bad cooks^ and their special dishes are fried cakes or
telchis, mutton^ puran polis or wheat cakes stuffed with boiled pulse
and molasses^ and gulavni or rice flour boiled in water and mixed
with molasses. They give caste feasts on occasions of marriage and
death. Their staple food is millet bread and chopped ohilUes or
cluUni. They eat all kinds of fleshy even that of dead animals, and
drink liquor. They drink bhang or hemp water and smoke gdnja
or hemp flower and tobacco. The men either cut the hair short
or let it grow to its natural length, and shave the &ce except
the moustache. Women tie the hair into a solid knot or huckada
which they wear at the back of the head but do not use folse hair or
flowers. Men dress in a loincloth, a shouldercloth, a shirt, coat or
blanket, and a Mar^tha turban. Women dress in a bodice with
a back and short sleeves, and a Mar&tha robe without passing the
skirt back between the feet, and wear glass bangles on their wrists.
They are poor and rarely have gold or silver ornaments. The rich
wear ornaments like those of Mh4rs or Eunbis. As a class they
are dirty and lasy cruel and revengeful and have a bad name for
honesty. During outbreaks of cholera the men smear their faces
with shendiir or jredlead and move about the streets, frightening
women into giving them liberal alms in case they should be angry and
bring the Cholera goddess over whom as her devotees they arebelieved
to have power. They are husbandmen, messengers, beggars, and
hangmen. They make leather ropes for the use of husbandmen and
plait bamboo baskets. Holir M&ngs are musicians, and Oirudia
or sorcerers catch and pretend to have power over serpents, profiess
to kni»w something of witchcraft, and earn their living by moving
about the streets and performing to any audience they can find on
the road. Women mind the house and fetch firewood from the

I Among their peculiar words and expressions are rdhas for rdithm demos, ptrU
for furush a male, map for majpdAin with me, tup (or hQpdshin with you, ffuAa or
mdjha mine, and fvha for ti^ha thine.

Oaoean-l

AHMADNAGAR.

171

forest lands^ or make bamboo baskets. Of late in some villages,
instead of their old rivals and enemies the Mh&rs, they have been
engi^^ by the villagers and receive the yearly grrain allowance or
habite. Mh&rs and M^ngs hate each other bitterly, and are said to
poison each other's cattle. As a class Mtogs are poor and live from
hand to moath many of them in misery. They rank lowest among
Hindas and call themselves antyajaa or the last-bom. They say they
worship all Hindu gods, keep all feasts, and fast on the lunar
eleventh or Ekddashi in every fortnight, on Shiv's Night or Shivrdi/ra
in Febma]^, and on Mondays and Saturdays in Shrdvan or August.
They ask Deshasth Brdhmans to conduct their marriages. Their
favourite goddess is Mari&i or Mother Death the cholera goddess.
They are not allowed to enter the village shrines but stand at a
distance and bow to the god. They say they do not believe in
witchcraft soothsaying and evil spirits. When the planet Saturn
or Shani has blighted any one, the sufferer calls a M&ng to his
house and feeds hun with millet bread pulse and oil, and gives him
an iron nail or some cotton. When cholera ra^es in a village,
the M6cig8 gather the villagers together and asK them to make
some offerings to Mahdm&ri, a stone worshipped with redlead and
flowers at the village boundary. The villagers each bring one or
two millet cakes and a potful of rdgi gruel seasoned with salt
and chillies, and meet at the village temple, subscribe together to buy
a goat, bow before the god, and walk to the hut which is raised
over Mah&m4ri's or Mari&i's stone at the village boundary. The
Ming takes the goat to Mariii's hut and the villagers follow
him. He prays to the goddess to be appeased with tiie offering
and to guard her worshippers. A large hole is dug in the ground
near the hut and the rdgi gruel is poured into the hole and covered
with earth. All return except the M&ngs who offer the goat to the
goddess, cut its throat, and feast upon the cakes and the boiled mutton.
On the fifth day after the birth of a child they set a dough image
of Satvai, or if they have no image five small stones, on a low stool in
the lying-in room, lay sandaJpaste and cooked rice and pulse or
ddWkdt before the goddess, keep two dough lamps burning during
the night near the low stool, and give their castepeople a dinner.
On the twelfth the mother and child are bathed, her clothes are
washed, and the lying-in room is cowdunged. The mother sets
seven pebbles in a line outside of the house, lays before them
sandal paste flowers and vermilion in the name of Satv&i, offers
them sweetmeats, and, taking the child in her arms, bows before them.
The Brahman priest names the child and the women neighbours
cradle it on the same day. Boys are married before they are
twenty-five and girls either before or after they come of age. They
marry their children standing face to &ce in two bamboo baskets
with a curtain held between them by two of their kinsment The
Brihman priest stands at a distance and repeats lucky verses. At the
endof the verses he throws yellow millet towards the couple, the curtain
is withdrawn, and they are husband and wife. The girl's father
feasts the bridegroom's friends and relations and his own kinspeople,
and the bridegroom takes the bride to his house on horseback, with
music and a band of friends and kinsfolk on both sides. They

Chapter III.
Population.
Drprssbkd

CLA98B8.

IBombaj Oantteer,

172

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IIL
FopiUation.

DSFKXSSKD

Mding$,

Mhdra.

allow and practise early marriage polygamy and widow marriage,
bary the dead^ and mourn them thirteen days. On the
thirteenth day the chief mourner g^es to the burying ground with
his friends, has his whole face and head shaven^ and bathes. He
sets thirteen saucers or drons side by side^ fills them with water^
and returns home with his frienda On the same day friends and
kinspeople are asked to dine at the house of mourning. They
present the chief mourner with a turban and the mourning is at an
end. They liave a caste council and settle social disputes at oaste
meetings under their own headman or mehta/r. A few send their
boys to school. As a class they are very poor.

Mha^rs are returned as numbering about 62,000 and as found
all over the district. They are found on the skirts of all Hindu
settlements and say they belong to one of the four cow-bom castes.
Their story is that the cow asked her sons how they would treat
her after she died. The first three sons answered they would
worship her as a goddess ; the fourth said he would bear her inside
of him as she had borne him. The horror-struck brothers called
him Mahdhdr or the Great Eater^ which, according to the story, use
has shortened to Mh^r. According to a Hindu tradition Mhi.r8 were
originally night rovers or niahcLcharSy whom the god Brahma turned
to men lest they should eathis whole creation. Mhdrs have no memory
of any former home. They say tbey are sprung from the moon, and
were ruled by many kings of the moon race among whom N^ was
the most famoas. Mhfirs are commonly known as Dhamiche put or
sons of the soil. They were formerly arbiters in all boundary
disputes. They also hold an important part in all village religious
rites. Attached to every Hindu temple is the shrine of the Mhdr
Lev who is regularly worshipped by villagers of all classes
including Brdhmans, at the same time as the god of the chief
temple. The names in common use among men are B^lya, Bhdgya,
Gondd^ppa, Khima, Mah^dji, Munja, N^rya, Sadya, Saka, and
Tuk^ppa ; and among women Aheli, Bh&gi, Chimi, G&gi, Kushi,
Mani, N^gi, and Tuki. The men add nak, properly ndik or
leader, to their names. Their surnames are Abhang, Auchat,
B&helime, BhAmbal, Bhingdr, Bholke, Bdsede, Chhettise, DAhane,
D^rule, Davie, Detge, Dive, G^ikv^, Goto, Ghode, Kadam, K&kte,
Kdmle, Kek&de, Khupte, Lokhande, Mak^are, Mehede, Mhasket,
PAcharne, Pdkhre, Patekar, Pavur, SAlve, Samidar, Shinde, Sirsit,
Tadke, Tdpichere, Umbdle, Vdghmore, and Vidhd,te. Sameness of
surname is a bar to marriage. Their speech both at home and
abroad is a corrupt Mar&thi, and they find it difficult to pronounce
nasals and two consonants when they come together.^ Their
family deities are Bahiroba of Son&ri in Ahmadnagar, Bhddvi,
Devi of TuljApur in the Nizdm^s country, Jtodi, JokhJj, Khandoba
of Jej\iri in Poona, and Mesdi in Ahmadnagar. Mhdi's are divided
into Anantkulyte, Andvans, B^vnes, Bdvises, Bels, Dharmiks,

' Among them pecaliar words are namindar for samudra the sea, samasig for
wangam the aouroe, sahdr for shdhaar a town, hhnU for khwUi a peg, tnoAa for
majha my, tului for tt^ha thy, mang for mag afterwards, and hava tot «ema«

Deoeaa.1

AHMADNAOAB.

173

Koaaryas, L&dvans, Fans, Sirs^kars, SomyansliiBi and Tilvana.
Of these Anantkaly^^ Andvans, B&ynes^ and Bels are found in
Ahmadnagar. These four eat together and intermarry. ^Somvanshis
are said to be bom of the moon or som ; Anandyans or Andvans are
said to be descended from a widow ; L^vana from an unmarried
girl ; and Anantknly^ from a Mhdr rwurli or devotee of Khandoba.
As a class, Mh&rs are dark, tall, strong, and muscular, with well out
features and low foreheads. Most of them live outside of villages
in poor huts with mud walls and thatched roofs. The houses are
clean inside and at the doors, and the ground near the houses and
the neighbourhood are dirty and strewn with bones. Except a
few which are of metal, the cooking dining and water vessels
are of earth and cost 10«. to 12a. (Bs. 5-6). The well-to-db
rear cattle and sheep, and the poor rear fowls. They are
great eaters and poor cooks, and are fond of hot and sour dishes.
Their staple food is Indian millet bread and onions or garlic. The
well-to-do daily eat pulse sauce and vegetables, or fish. They eat
flesh and drink liquor. When cattle, sheep, or fowls die the Mhdrs
feed on their bodies, eating strips of the flesh roasted over a fire,
often with nothing else but sometimes washed down by liquor.
They do not eat the flesh of the pig, the horse, the ass, the dog, or
the crow. They give caste feasts in honour of marriages, deaths,
and anniversaries of deaths. Their special dishes include gulavni
or rice-flour boiled in water and mixed with molasses, telchis or fried
rice cakes, and wheat cakes or polis. The men smoke hemp and
tobacco and drink hemp water, and many men and some women
chew tobacco with betel and lime. They say the men bathe every
day before the morning meal, bat, as a rule, perform no religious
rites ; women bathe about once a week. The men dress in a loin-
cloth or waistcloth, a shoulderdoth a blanket a coat or smock, and
a dirty Mar&tha turban. They carry a large staff furnished
with bells. The women wear the bodice and the long Mar&tha
robe with the skirt passed back between the feet. The men
shave the head except the top-knot and side-knots, and the &ce
except the moustache and whiskers. The women tie their hair in
a back-knot without using flowers or false hair. They use Kunbi-
shaped ornaments of brass, while the well-to-do use gold or silver
ornaments. The men mark their brows with sandal paste on all
holidays and&sts, while married women mark theirs with vermilion,
and put on lac bangles like the other women of the district. They are
untidy and careless about their dress. The women do not change
their clothes or mark their brows for weeks together. As a
daas Mhars are dirty and drunken, lazy and careless, vain, cruel,
thriftless, and quarrelsome; still they are religious, trusty, brave,
hardy, and cheerful. One proverb charges Mh&rs with ingratitude ;
according to another, the E^dnarese is crafty, the Telugtfman
thievish^ and the Mhdr is the eater of forbidden food.^ They
dislike regular work, and many of them are robbers. Mh&rs have
stit>ng memories and are oft^ famous for their skill in telling
stories* They are hereditary servants, carriers of dead animals.

Chapter III.
Population.

DXFSBSSKD

CLAisssa.

1 Tli« MjuRttbi rang : Kdnada kapii, Tehng ehor^ dm Mltdr hardmkhcr.

[Bombay Gazetteer.

174

DISTRICTS.

Chapter in.
Population.

Dbpressxd
Classis.

husbandmen^ messengers, labourers, scavengers, sellers of firewood
and cowdnng cakes, and beggars. The chief source of their
income is the yearly grain allowance or baliUe, and half a cake
a day from each villager, which they get as yesJcara or veskar^
that is door-keepers. Formerly their allowance was five hundred
sheaves of com on each chahur or seventy-five acres of land ; now
the rate has in many places fallen to two hundred sheaves. Tho
500 sheaves share the Mh&rs call the great line share or ihorlya
oliche balute. The yeskars or boundarymen hold grants of rent-frea
land and hav^e to serve as watchmen and messengers at the village
office. The Mhdrs of a village either divide their duties amongf
them or serve at the village office in turn for one year and distributa
the produce of the land among themselves. The public duties of
yeskars or boundarymen are to watch the boundaries and the village
office, to carry government letters, to repair the village office and
village gate or gaonJcvsu, to sweep the village roads, to care for the
public garden and the village trees near the village office, and to
serve as guides to Government officers passing through the village.
According to pressure of work ten to fifteen Mh^ attend the
village office every day. Their duties to the villagers are to cut
firewood, carry letters, and sweep and clean the yards in front
of their houses. For their private services they are paid in cash, or
what they like better in cooked food. Mh4rs say that they used to
have fifty-two dues but now the number is greatly lowered. At
present when he gathers his com into aheap every landholder gives
the Mh&r a share. The com that falls on the ground at the foot of
every stalk of unthrashed com also is theirs, as well as five sugar*
canes and some molasses and sugarcane juice from every sugar-
cane field. From every grain pit or pev the Mh^rs get a little
when the pit is opened, and, at every marriage, the Mhdr has a right
to a scarf or shela from the bridegroom before he goes to the bride'a.
Now the scarf or shela is seldom given and in its stead the Mh&r
receives a three-penny or six-penny piece (2-4 o^.). They have a
monopoly of the dead village animals, of the shrouds used in cover-
ing the village dead, and of the copper coins which, in the name of
the dead, are thrown to one side at the resting place or visavyachi
jdga. Many Mh^rs are employed as soldiers and have risen
to the rank of Jam&d&r or subaltern or lieutenant ; others are
employed by Europeans as house servants, while a few are miners
and porters on the railway lines. The women, besides minding the
house, help the men in the field but not in carrying or skinning
dead animals. Many women are day labourers, and children begin
to help their parents after twelve. They are a steady class, and^
except some who have been;Eorcedto borrow to meet their children's
wedding charges, few are in debt. They hold a low position among
Hindlhs and are both hated and feared. Their touch, even the touch of
their shadow, is thought to defile, and in some outlying villages in the
early morning the 'ilDi&r, as he passes the village weD, may be seen
crouching that his shadow may not fall on the water-drawers. They
are considered the lowest of Hindus but claim to be superior to Bhanna
and Mdngs. A family of five spends 10s. to 14jr. (Bs. 5 - 7) a month ;
a house costs £2 lOs. to £10 (R8.25-100) to build; and their house

Deoeaa.)

AHMADNAQAR

175

goods may be valued at 4«. to £l lOs. (Rs. 2-15). A birtb costs 4«. to

S$. (Rb. 2 -4), a marriage £1 lOs. to £7 10«. (Bs. 15-75), and a death

is. to 10«. (Be. 2-5). Among other Br^manic and local gods they

worship Bh^dvi, Chokhoba, Mari^i, and Mes^i, and have hoase images

of Bhav&ni, Khandoba, and Yithoba, and metal masks or tdks as

emblems of their deceased ancestors. Their priests are either local

Brifamans whom they ask to condnct their marriages, or men of

their own caste whom they call Bh£ts and also ask to conduct their

mamages. They call in Brihmans only when no Bhilt is available.

Iliey make pilgrimages to Benares, Aland! and Jejuri in Poena, and

Singn^pur in S&td.ra, and keep the usual Hindu fasts and feasts.

They are both Sm&rts and Bndgvats ; some of them belong to the

Mdnbhiv sect, and many are followers of Kabir. A few, who are

disciples of Chokh&mela, wear sweet basil or tulsi bead necklaces,

and make periodical pilgrimages to Aland! and Pandharpur in

SholApur, passing their nights in praying or singing sacred songs or

iibhangs. When they go on pilgrimage to Aland! and other places,

they are not allowed to enter the temple but stand outside of the

temple or at the entrance and bow before the god. The pious among

them have singing clubs where they sing in praise of some Hindu

god especially of B4m or Yithoba of Pandharpur. Both men and

women are good singers, and go in bands of two or more singing and

begging. Their religious teachers belong either to the Eabir, the

Yaishnav, or the lUUnbh^v sects. These teachers are Mhirs and

are ia-eated with the greatest respect. Before they are a year old

both boys and girls are taken to the teacher with a cocoanut, a

waistdoth, grains of rice, flowers, and frankincense. The child's

father marks the teacher's brow with sandal paste, presents him

with a waistcloth and 8d to 2^. (Re. |-1) in cash, and bows before

him. The teacher takes the child on his knee, breathes into both

its ears, and repeats some saored verse into the right ear. This is

styled tiie kwn phukne or ear-blovrin^. Mh&rs worship all local and

boundary gods and spirits, and believe in witchcrart soothsaying

and evil spirit& They think that diseases are the work of evil

spirits, and have a great belief in the spirit-scaring power of the

ashes of frankincense burnt before the gods. They divide spirits into

house spirits and outside spirits, and think that they have great

influence over men and women but not over cattle. The usual

offerings made to the spirits are rice and curds, fried cakes or telchie,

and gulavni that is rice flour boiled in water and mixed with

molasses. Cocks or goats are also offered. The exorcist burns the

seeds of chillies before the possessed person, and asks the patient

that is the spirit in the patient to say who they are. After a

time the possessed person sways to and fro and gives out the

names of the possessing spirit. The spirit then speaks through

the possessed person and promises to leave if certain articles are

offered* The articles asked for are brought and waved round

the possessed person and laid at a place named by the spirit,

the spirit leaves, and the sick recovers. Early-marriage widow-

marriage and polygamy are allowed and practised, and polyandry

is unknown. When a child is bom a handful of water is

sprinkled over it, and a metal cup is beaten with a nail close to its

Chapter III.
Population.

DWPKWBSKD

Clabssb.
Mhdra.

(Bombay Gaxetteer«

176

DISTRICTS.

Caiapter III.
Population.

Deprbssbo
Classbb.

ears. The child's navel cord is cut^ pnt in an earthen pot^ and
buried somewhere outside of the house. A bathing pit or nhdni is
dug in a comer of the lying-in room^ and the child and mother are
bathed and laid on a cot. For the first three days the mother is
given a mixture of kdtbol or gum myrrh and nirnb leaves pounded
together^ and the child is made to suck the end of a rag resting in
a saucer of honey or molasses mixed with water. On the fourth day
the mother begins to suckle the child. For the first three days the
mother's diet is strained millet mixed with oil and molasses, and
from the fifth she takes her ordinary food. A lamp is kept in the
room day and night particularly during' the night at least for the
first twelve days. On the evening of the fifth a silver image of the
goddess Satv4i is set on a stone slab or pdta, and flowers, a coil of
thread, and food are laid before the goddess and a wheat flour lamp
is placed at the bathing pit. Five married women are asked to
dine at the house and the child is not allowed to look at the wheat
flour lamp at the bathing pit, as the sight at the lamp is said to
make its eyes squint The mother is held impure for eleven days.
On the twelfth, the child and the mother are bathed, the lying*in
room is cowdunged, and the mother's clothes are washed. The
mother sets five stones under a tree near the house, washes them,
lays sandal paste, vermilion, flowers, and sweetmeats with betel
leaves and nuts before them in the name of Satv4i, and bums
frankincense, bows before the goddess, and rubs the child's brow
with frankincense ashes saying, ' Hail Satvti, keep the child safe.
It is not mine it is yours.'^ She walks round tiie stones and returns
home. They name their children either on the twelfth day or at
the end of five weeks, when boiled gram is handed among friends,
a cradle is hung from the ceiling and women neighbours cradle and
name the child. Packets of betel leaves and nuts are distributed
among the guests and the ceremony is over. Boys are married
between twelve and twenty-five, and girls either before or after they
come of age. The boy's father has to give £1 to £2 10«. (Bs. 10-25)
to the girl's father and marks her brow with vermilion. This is
called the mdgni or asking when the boy's father has to present the
girl with a robe and bodice and ornaments or at least with a parti-
coloured sheet or phadhL The girl is dressed in the new clotbes,
receives a packet of sugar and a cocoanut from the boy's &thery and
bows to him. Marriage ceremonies last three to eleven day& Two
or three days before the marriage, five married girls are asked to
the house. The Br^man priest names the lucky day and the
lucky woman who should rub the boy with turmeric paste. The
woman named by the priest, with four other married women,
takes a little yellow Indmn millet, some turmeric roots, and betel
leaves with nuts, divides the mixture into two, puts each share in a
piece *t)f new cloth, and ties one of them to the house water vessel or
rdnjcm and the other to the grindstone or jdnte. The boy is rub-
bed with turmeric p^ste and the rest is sent to the girl with a new
robe and bodice. Their marriage customs in most particulars are

1 Jasf 8aMh fwl mMi ikev ; md/he ndhi, ivfhe dhe.

Deecanl

AHMADNAGAR.

177

the same as those of local hasbandmen^ except that the couple are
made to stand in two bamboo baskets at the time of marriage^ and
that a yellow thread is passed seven times round their necks. They
worship five leaves or pdnch pdlme as the marriage guardian or
devak with sandalpaste and flowers^ the bridegroom goes to the
girVs house with music and a band of friends^ the priest repeats lucky
verses^ and when the verses are over the musicians play and yellow
millet seed is thrown over the pair. When the couple go to the
bridegroom's, the bridegroom's mother waves a piece of burnt
bread round their heads and pours water at their feet. When they
enter the house their marriage coronets are taken off and again put
on and the ceremony ends with a service of betel among the guests.
When a girl comes of age she sits apart for three days, is bathed
on the fourth, and her lap is filled with rice and a cocoanut. They
bury the dead and mourn them ten days. Their death rites do not
differ from those of Kunbis. They offer food to the dead on the
eleventh and feed the caste people on the thirteenth. They have a
oaato council, and settle social disputes at caste meetings. Some of
them have begun to send their children to school. They take to
new pursuits and show a tendency to improve.

Beggars, include thirteen divisions with a strength of 7766 or
1*09 per cent of the Hindu population. The details are :

Ahmadnagar Beggars, 1881,

DinaioK.

Bbocpif

ChltfakAUiis

OoodlUis

lUaj&rUi
Kolhfttto
M»MiM
MtobhiTS

MalM.

Femalei.

TbtaL

100

aoi

186

387

S6S

334

606

1976

1561

8636

237

360

697

400

372

778

DiTISIOM,

Mar&UiA Oopfi]&.
Pftnguls

Sahadev Jofhis...
TakArifl
V&BudevB

Total ...

Males.

Females.

Total.

894

350

768

320

880

640

143

4060

8716

n66

Bhorpis, or Strolling Players, are returned as numbering 109
and as found in J4mkhed, Sangamner, and Shevgaon. Their
somames are Bodke, G^av&d, Qhumre, Pavdr, Sinde, and Vdgh-
mire, and the names in common use among men and women are the
same as among Kunbis. Persons bearing the same surname do not
intermarry. They are dark strong and muscular like local Kunbis,
and their speech, both at home and abroad, is a corrupt Mar4thL
They Uve in wattled huts thatched with straw, and while on their
wandering tours, in pals or small tents. Their staple food is millet
bread, pulse, and vegetables, and they are fond of hot dishes. They
eat flesh except beef and pork, and drink liquor. Both men and
women dress like local Kunbis. As a class they are dirty, hard*
working, orderly, thrifty, and proverbially honest, putting cfht of
caste persons charged with theft. They are a class of wandering
beggars and strolling dramatic players, but many of them rear and
deal in cattle. Women, besides minding the house fetcb fuel from
the forest lands, and gather cowdung cakes, and children beg
about the streets, help their parents in watching cattle, and gather
cowdung cakes. They are Sm&rts by religion, and, on holidays after
B 772— 23

Chapter III.
]^opulation.

Dkprxrskd
Clabsbb.

Mhdn.

Bbooars.

BhoTpis,

[Bombay Oasetteer,

Ohapter III.
Population.

BSQOABS.

CUtraktdhiM,

Cf^mdhlU

173

DISTRICTS.

bathing and before dining^ lay flowers and sandal paste before tbe
images of Bahiroba^ J^n&i, JokMi, and K&nboba. They worship all
local gods^ and ask a local Brdhman to conduct their marriage and
death ceremonies. Their social and religious customs are the same
as those of Kunbis. They have a caste council and settle social
disputes at meetings called pcwichs or caste councils. A few send
their children to school^ but they take to no new pursuits and live
from hand to mouth.

Chitrakathis, or Picture Showmen, are returned as numbering
887 and as found in Earjat^ Nagar^ Ner^Lsa^ R^Lhuri^ and Shrigonda.
Their names and surnames are the same as those of Kunbis^ from
whom they do not difier in food^ drink^ or dress. They are a class
of wandering beggars^ clean, orderly, istnd hardworlong. When
settled they live in wattled huts thatched with grass like those of
Yad^s, and when travelling in small tents or pals. They beg by
showing pictures of gods and heroes, and reciting stories and songs
regarding them. Women mind the house and beg by singing songs.
Boys and girls beg through the town or gather cowdung cakes.
Some Chitrakathis deal in cattle. They keep images of Bahiroba,
Devi, Gkinpati, Khandoba, Mahddev, and M&ruti in their houses, and
daily lay sandalpaste and flowers before them in the morning after
bathing. They keep all Hindu feasts and fasts, and believe ia
witchcraft soothsaying and sorcery. Their social and religious
customs do not differ from those of Kunbis. Child-marriage
polygamy and widow marriage are allowed, and polyandry is
unknown. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at
caste meetings. They do not s^nd their children to school or take
to new pursuits. They are very poor.

Gondhlis, or Gondhal Dancers, are returned as numbering 696
and as found all over the district. Their origin is unknown. The
names in common use among men and women are the same as among^
Mardth^. Their surnames are Bekre, Bhandare, Dhumiil, Dungu^
G&ikav^d, Ghdtekar, 6ur&dkar, Jddhav, Jagtdp, K&te, Kolhdtkar^
Mardthe, Mdherkar, Palaskar, Renke, Sinde, Supalkar, Tarte, Thite,
Tipke, and TJble. Persons bearing the same surname cannot
intermarry. Their speech at home and abroad is a corrupt Mar&thi.
They are of two divisions Renukdrdi and Kadamr^, who eat
together but do not intermarry. They live in one-storeyed houses
with mud walls and tiled or flat roofs, and their house goods are
low stools and metal vessels. They own cattle, and their staple food
is millet bread, pulse, and vegetables. Some elderly person in the
house daily bathes and lays sandalpaste and flowers before the
house image of Devi, and all the family sit to their morning meal.
They eat flesh except beef and pork, and drink liquor. The men
shave the head except the topknot, and the face except the
moustache and whiskers. The women roll their hair in a solid knot
and do not wear false hair or flowers. The in-door and out-door
dress of men and women is the same as that of local Kunbis. As
a class they are dirty, humble, orderly, and hospitable. They beg
by dancing and singing songs in honour of Devi during the day
and perform the gondhal dance at night. They say they are growing

Deccan]

AHMADNAGAK.

179

poorer on accoant of the competition of Bhar^dis. They rank
Delow Kunbis. Men women and children beg from morning to
evening and return home at sunset. The women also mind the
house. Men dance at night if they are asked. Their family goddess
is Devi of Tuljapur in the Kiz&m's country, and their priest is a
village Joshi who conducts their marriages. They worship all
local gods and keep the usual Hindu fasts and feasts. Their social
and religious customs are the same as those of the Poena Grhondhli&
Child^marriage polygamy and widow marriage are allowed and
practised^ and polyandry is unknown. They have a caste council
and settle social disputes at caste meetings. Their hereditary head-
man is called pdtU or chaugulcu They send their boys to school, but
take to no new pursuits and are a idling class.

Gosa'viS, or Passion Lords^ including Bair^gis or Hermits^ are
returned as numbering 3536 and as found all over the district.
Most members of their order or school of brotherhood belong to
Upper India. They are divided into two classes^ regular Gosdvia
or mahanU and secular Gosavis or addhus. The regular Gt>s&vi8
are a class of wandering beggars who make pilgrimages to all sacred
places in India^ and are not allowed to marry on pain of expulsion ;
the secular Gosdvis can marry.

Kanja'ris are returned as numbering thirty- two and as found
in Nevdsa and Shrigonda. They have come from Shol&pur within
the last twenty-five years and look like local Mangs. They live
either in straw-thatched wattled huts or in small tents ot pals.
Their home tongue is Gujar&ti and they speak Mar^thi abroad. Their
staple food is millet bread, pulse, and chopped chillies, and they eat
flesh and drink liquor. The men dress in a waistcloth^ a shoulder*
cloth, a headscarf^ and a pair of native made shoes or sandals ; the
women dress in a bodice with aback and short sleeves^ and a Mar&tha
robe without passing the skirt back between the feet. As a class
they are dirty, hardworking, and orderly. They make and sell the
brushes or kunchds used by weavers in cleaning wool. The women
mind the house and beg through the streets singing songs and
clapping their hands. Though the songs they sing are indecent,
the Elanj&ri women are said to be chaste. The children beg about
the streets and watch their parents' asses. They rank above the
impure classes. They worship the images of Mari4i and Muham-
niadan saints or pvrs^ but do not keep holidays or fasts. They have
no religious teacher or priest, and they make no pilgrimages. Child-
marriage and polygamy and widow marriage are allowed, and
polyandry is unknown. On the fifth day after the birth of a child
the mother bathes herself in cold water and her child in warm water,
and in the name of Satv&i lays food and boiled gram in front of
a two-anna or a four-anna piece. The mother keeps her « room
for six days and is presented with a robe at the end of five weeks*
They have no particular time for naming their children. Boys are
cnarried between twelve and twenty-five, and girls generally before
they come of age. They hold their marriages at any season of th&
year. At the betrothal or pdn/vdti, literally the betel leaf cup, frienda
and kinsfolk are feasted, and the intended marriage is declared.

Chapter III.
Population.

BWOABS.

OfmdhUs.

ChidvU,

IC«i|ftfrM.

[Bombay Gatetteer*

180

DISTRICTS.

Cliapter III.

Population.

Bbggabs.

KoOuUk.

The boy's father takes the girl on his lap, presents her with a new
robe and bodice and betel leaves with nuts, and holds a cap of milk
mixed with sugar before her, that she might drink it* Their
marriages are usually held before nine in the morning. They raise
no booths or mamdavst and have no music. The couple are rubbed
with turmeric for five days before the marriage, and, on the marriage
morning, the father or some elder of the bridegroom's family takes
the bridegroom on his shoulders and the girl's ^ther takes the bride
on his shoulders and they dance in a circle five times, and knot
together the hems of the pair's garments. This makes the pair
husband and wife and a caste feast ends the ceremony. As a rule
child-marriage is not allowed, and married girls do not live in their
husbands' houses before they come of age. Widow marriage and
polygamy are allowed, but not polyandry. The married dead are
burned and the unmarried dead are buried. They lay their dead on
the bier and take them to the funeral ground. On the way they
halt for a time and throw a copper coin to one side. Each of the
bearers throws a stone, but they do not change places. The chief
mourner and the bearers bathe and each offers a handful of
water to the dead. They gather the ashes on the second day and
treat the castepeople to a dinner on the third and on the seventh.
If he is wandering at the time the chief mourner cannot leave the
village where the death happened until he gives the caste dinners in
the name of the dead. They wander in groups of fifteen and twenty,
each group forming a separate caste council. They settle social
disputes at meetings of their castepeople, and breakers of casta
rules are forbidden huka pdni or smoking and drinking with their
castefellows. This punishment is much feared, and the offender
craves pardon by giving a caste feast, when he is allowed to smoke
with the rest. They do not send their children to school. They
take to no new pursuits and are a falling class.

Eolha'tis/ or Tumblers, are returned as numbering 597 and as
found wandering all over the district except in A kola. They are a
goodlooking class, particularly the women. They speak a mixture
of Marathi Gujar^ti K^narese and Hindustani. They are a wan*
dering tribe and carry their huts on their heads or on donkeys.
The names in common use for men and women and their surnames
are the same as those of the Poena Kolh^tis. Their staple food is
millet bread and pulse with vegetables and chopped chillies or ehaini.
They eat flesh except beef and pork and drink liquor. At home
both men and women dress like local Kunbis. While performing
the men dress in tight-drawers or chaddi, and the women pass the
skirt of the robe back between the feet, tie a handkerchief across
their shoulders, and put a turban on their heads. The women
dress gaily especially those who are courtezans. As a class they
are dirty, hardworking, and somewhat given to drink. They live
by showing feats of strength, by rope-dancing, and begging. They
worship the Devi of Tulj^pur in the Niz4m's country, Ehandoba of
Jejuri in Poena, and the local M^uti with flowers and sandalpaste.

1 Details ore given in the Poona Statiatical Account*

D^ceaiul

AHMADNAGAR.

181

and keep all Hindu fasts and feasts. Their priest is a local Brah-
man who conducts their marriages. Their religious and social cus-
toms are the same as those of the Foona Kolhdtis. When they gird
their boys with the sacred thread the village Joshi is asked to their
house^ the boy's brow is marked with vermilion and rice^ coUyrium
is put in his eyes^ and he is rubbed with turmeric paste. He is
bathed and presented with the thread by the priest. Child-marriage
polygamy and widow marriage are allowed and practised^ and poly-
andty is unknown. They bum their dead^ and feed the caste people
on the third day and at the end of the sixth month in the name of
the dead. They have a caste council and settle social disputes at
caste meetings. A few send their boys to school but they take to no
new pmsuita and show no signs of improving.

Ma'nbbaVs, or The Respectable, are returned as numbering 778
and as found in all parts of the district except in Karjat. They
have no tradition of their origin. The order seems to have been
for agc^ recruited from children vowed to M&nbh&v saints by parents
who have long remained childless. They are divided into Secular
and Regular M^nbhdvs. The Secular Mdnbh&vs are divided into
Gharbhari Milnbh^vs who are Regular M&nbh&vs who have for-
feited their religious position by marrying or by breaking any
other role of their order, and Bhole or Nominal Mdnbh^vs men who
accept the principles of the order so far so as they do not interfere
with the rules of their caste. The members of the regular Arder
are known as Bair&gi or True Mdnbh^vs. They admit both men
and women of all except the impure castes, but they are not allowed
to many on pain of forfeiting their order and falling to the position
of lay or GharbhariManbhdvs. They live in strict celibacy, entirely
give up caste distinctions, and follow the rules laid down in the
holy Bhagvat Gita. Of the Secular Mdnbhdvs who marry and live as
lay honaeholders, the Gharbhari M4nbh&vs give up all caste distino-
tions^ and members of all castes except Bhole or Nominal M&nbfadva
eat together but do not intermarry. Secular M&nbh^vs keep their
original family surnames and customs, and among them persons
bearing the same surname do not intermarry. Chndren vowed to
Minbhdv saints are admitted to the order of regular or cleric
M4nbh4v8 when they are fifteen or sixteen. The names in common
use among men are Govinda, Krishna, and R4ma j and among women
Bhagi, Gbnga, and R^Ulha. They speak Mar&thi both at home and
abroad, and live in one-storeyed houses with mud walls and tiled
ToofB, In their religious houses or maths arrangements are made
for the convenience of travellers of other castes who occasionally
vi^it the maths. The head of the religious house is called Mahant
or 6aint. He owns cattle and sometimes horses, and the novices or
ehelds wait on him as servants. Their staple food is wheat cakes or
millet bread, pulse with clarified butter, vegetables, and chopped
chillies or ehatrU. They are strict vegetarians, and do not drink
liqoor on pain of loss of order. A few drink hemp* water or hhcmg
mm chew tobacco with betel leaves nuts and lime. They regularly
bathe and lay flowers and sandalpaste in front of the images of
Dattitreya and Krishna before the morning meal. Some, instead of
bethingj wash their hands and feet with water, as they are afraid that

Chapter III.
Population.

Bbgoabs.
KclhtUis.

Mdnbhdvt,

[Bombay Gazettaerr

182

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Popnlation.

Bbooars.
Mdnbhdva,

in bathing they may take the lives of the small water insects. On
the day after OolculaslUami in Shrdvan or August and Dattajayanti
in Margahirsh or Dec^mber^ they treat their fnends and relations to
a dinner of wheat cakes stuffed with boiled pulse and molasses called
puranpolis, rice, wheat flour balls or Iddus, and fried wheat cakes
or puria. The regular or religious M&nbhiivs keep only these two
holidays^ while the lay or Secular M^nbhavs keep all days observed
by the men of their caste. Both men and women shave their
heads clean, and the men the face as well as the head. The men
dress in a black waistcloth^ a black shouldercloth, a coat or
kaphni, a skullcap^ and country shoes or sandals. Neither men
nor women pass the end of their waistcloth back between the feet,
and they are not allowed to use any colour but black. They wear
a garland of sweet basil or tuUi wood beads about their neck. The
women do not wear the usual bodice and robe, but dress in a
black piece of cloth, and put on a coat or kaphni covering their
head with a skullcap, or surrounding it with a headscarf. Women
wear shoes and never put on any ornaments except the tulsi neck-
lace. Lay or householding Manbhdvs dress like the people of
their original caste, and have a store of clothes and ornaments for
holiday wear. As a rule the religious M&nbhavs are clean, honest,
orderly, hardworking, hospitable, and particularly independent.
Regular MdnbhdLvs are beggars and householding and nominal
M&nt>hdvs follow their hereditary callings, living as husbandmen
weavers and moneylenders. Regular or religious Mdnbh^vs, both
men and women rise early, go through the streets begging, and
return at ten. The men then bathe and worship their gods, while
the women cook the food. The men then eat, and after dinner
read their holy books. The women mind the house and listen to
some of the men reading sacred books. In the evening the men
again worship their gods, sup, and go to bed. The women eat
after the men and retire for the night. Secular Md^nbhdvs beg alms
in the morning, return home, bathe, and lay sandalpaste flowers
and food before Datt&treya and Krishna, and dine. After dinner
they take to their calling of weaving or husbandry, return home
in the evening, wash their hands and feet, pray to their gods,
sup, and go to bed. The women mind the house, eat after the
men, and retire for the night. Secular Mdnbhdvs are not bound
to beg, but they must offer prayers to their gods both before the
morning and the evening meal. As they include men of all castes,
except the impure classes, Manbhdvs rank below Br&hmans
and above the impure classes. They worship Datt^treya and
Krishna, following the rules laid down in the Bhdgvat Gita. They
neither worship other gods, nor stay or even drink water in local
temples. They make pilgrimages to the monasteries of their saints.
The Agulars ought to remain in strict celibacy, and forfeit their

S^sition if they break this vow. For at least three days, regular
dnbh^vs do not take food in or live in a village where a murder has
been committed or an accidental death has taken place, and if a death
happens at any place they are living at, they will not eat until the
corpse bearers have returned from the funeral ground. Their lead-
ing belief and rule of conduct is to take no life. In obedience to

Jteocan.)

AHMADNAGAR.

183

tliis rule, they neither cut living trees nor pluck plants, grass, or
fruit. The most religious member of a Mdnbhfiv religious house is
chosen to be the head and is called mahant literally great. They
keep two fasts on Gokulashtami in August and on Dattajayanti in
December, passing the days in worshipping Krishna and Dattdtreya
and the nights in reading sacred books. Next day they feed the
castepeople. Regular or Bairdgi M&nbh&ys do not respect iBr&hmans,
and profess not to believe in witchcraft or evil spirits. Gharbharis
worship the local gods, keep the usual Hindu fasts and feasts, and
belieye in witchcr^ soothsaying and evil spirits. Regular M&nbh&vs
perform the initiation and death ceremonies only, while householding
and nominal Idijibhdvs keep all their original caste customs. A
Bovice is admitted into the order at fifteen. The time of entering
the order is Ohaitra or April, Shrdvan or August, Kdrtik or October,
and Margashvrah or November, and the place is the temple of Krishna.
On the day of entering the order, the M^nbh&vs meet at the temple
of Krishna and the boy gets his head and face clean shaved, and is
bathed and presented with a black waistcloth and shouldercloth.
Bib head is marked with white sandalpaste, and garlands of tuUi or
sweet basil wood are tied round his neck and wrists. He bows
before the image of Krishna and before the monk who acts as his
reb'gioas teacher, and tells him the three chief rules of the order, that
a novice ooght to live by begging, ought to keep from any kind of
life-taking or hinsa, and ought to follow the way of truth. Next
day the ceremony ends by a dinner to all M^nbh^vs at the expense
of the novice or of his teacher. The novice has to wait on his teacher
or guru, and follow him like a slave wherever he goes. Gharbhari
lUnbhivs are initiated, but they do not put on black clothes and they
follow their father's callings. They marry among themselves with rites
aimikr to those of Kunbis. Formerly a Mdnbhd.v man and woman
were considered husband and wife if they laid their wallets QTJholis
together. This practice is said to be no longer in use. Gharbharis
and Eholes do not shave the whole head and face. They treat the
Minbh&v monks with great respect, and follow M^nbhdv rules
except when they come in the way of their cajste customs. They
keep to the customs of their parents which they . perform after the
fashion of KunbiSv/ All M&nbh&vs bury the dead. A religious
MiLnbhiv is laid in a wooden frame called makhar. with his wallet
OTjKoli and his staff, and taken to the burial ground with music and a
band of mourners. If there is no makhar or frame the body is laid
on a blanket and carried by four men to the burial ground. A grave
ia dug and the dead is laid in the grava The mourners offer
prayers to Krishna and fill the grave with jalt^ and earth. The
dead brother's favourite disciple feeds a company of Mdnbh&vs
one to nine days, and on the tenth presents them with a waist
afid shouldercloth and with about 4«. (Rs. 2) each in cash. 9har-
bhari M&nbh&vs buiy the dead, and on the tenth feed castemen in
the name of the dead. They aJlow widow marriage and polygamy,
hot not polyandry. Reli^ous M^bhdvs have a caste council, and
breaches of the rules of the order are punished with expulsion, or
with fine which generally takes the form of a caste feast. If the

Chapter III.
Population.

Bkooabs.
MdnlMvs,

[Bombay Oazetteert

184

DISTRICTS,

Chapter III.
Population.

Bbooars.
AfavrdU.

Mardtha Oopdls.

offender refuses to pay the fine, he becomes a Gharbhari or lay
Mdnbh^y. They do not send their children to school bat teach them
at home. They are a steady class.

Mairals are returned as numbering eight and as found only
in J^mkhed. THeir personal names and surnames are the same as
those in use among Kunbis. They speak Mar&thi both at home
and abroad^ and live in one-storeyed houses with mud walls and
flat roofs. Their staple food is millet bread, vegetablesj and chopped
chillies, and they are fond of hot and sour dishes. They eat flesh
except beef and pork, and do not drink liquor. Their special dishes
are rice, sugar roily polies or puranpoKs^ and fried cakes or vadds.
The men shave the head except the topknot, and the face except the
moustache and whiskers. The women tie the hair in a braid or
roll it in a knot at the back of the head. Men and women dress
like local Kunbis. As a class they are clean, orderly, thrifty, and
honest. They are ministrants at Khandoba's temple and live by
begging alms at the houses of the rich worshippers of the god.
Some of them are day-labourers and many work in the field. The
women are employed solely in minding the house. Besides other
Brdhmanic gods they worship the Devi of Tulj&pur in the Nizam's
country and Ehandoba of Jejuri in Poena, and keep all fasts and
feasts. Their priest is a village Joshi who conducts their marriage
and death ceremonies. Their religious and social customs are like
those of local Kunbis. On the fifth and the twelfth day after the
birth of a child they worship an embossed image of Satv6i with
sandal paste flowers and food. They marry their boys between
fifteen andtwenty-five,andtheirgirlsbeforethey come of age. Widow
marriage and polygamy are allowed, and polyandry is unknown.
They bum their dead. They have a caste council and settle social
disputes at caste meetings. They send their children to school, but
take to no new pursuits and are a falling class.

Mara'tha Gopals, literally Cow-keepers, are returned as
numbering 753 and as found all over the district except in Akola
and Kopargaon. They are said to be descendants of children vowed
to the gods. The names in common use among men and women are
the same as those among Kunbis, and their surnames are B&hmane,
Dhangar, Dhogde, Grajdkos, Gdikavdd, Qavne, Giro, Hambirrdv,
Jadhav, KukU, Londre, Pavdr, S^, and Yanj^. Persons bearing
the same surnames cannot intermarry. Their home tongue is Mar&thi
and their family deities are Bahiroba, Devi of Tulj^pur, K&nhoba,
Khandoba of Jejuri, and Mariai. When settled they live in houses
of the poorer class, with mud walls and flat roofs, and when on the
move tiiey live in small tents or pdU, which they carry on asses*
backs. They own cattle and dogs, and their house goods include
earthen vessels, cots, and low stools. They are fond of sharp and
sour dishes, and their staple food is millet bread, rice, vegetables, and
chopped chillies or cluitni. Their special dishes Brepuravpoli^ wheat
cakes stuffed with boiled pulse and molasses, and fried cakes or
telchis. They eat flesh except beef and pork, and drink country lioaor
especially on Dasaxa in September after offering it to the godaess
Devi of Tuljipur. Men shave the head except the topknot, and

Deccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

185

the face except the moaatache^ thougli many grow the beard.
Women wear the hair rolled in a solid knot at the back of the head.
Men dress in a waistcloth or in tight drawers or chaddis, a shirt, a
shooldercloth, a Mardtha turban, and shoes or sandals. Women
dress in a short-sleeved bodice with a back^ and a robe worn like
the Knnbi women's robe. As a class they are dirty, hardworking,
qaietj and orderly. They earn their living by showing feats of
strength and by begging. Some rear and deal in cattle and many
are day*laboarers. They rank below husbandmen and above the
irapnre classes. They worship the images of Devi of Tulj6pur in
the Nizam's country, K^nhoba, Khandoba of Jejuri in Poena, and
Mhasobawith ofFerings of sandalpaste, flowers^ and food. They ask
a Deshasth Brihman to conduct their marriage ceremonies, worship
all local Rods, and keep all Hindu fasts and feasts. Every family
among them offer a she-buffalo to Kdnhoba, call her Jdni, rear her
with care, and do not load her or sell her milk or butter, but present
them to a Brdhman. They believe in witchcraft soothsaying and
evil spirits. Their social and religious customs do not differ from
those of Kunbis. On the fifth day after the birth of a child they
worship Satv&i with vermilion, flowers, and food cooked in the house.
Families of the Qire and Hambirrdv divisions offer a goat to the god-
dess, and feast on its flesh. The mother is held impure for ten days
and the child is named on the evening of the twelfth. When boys
are between three and four their hair is clipped, except a small tuft
which is left untouched in the name of the family deities. At some
convenient time after the haircutting, the parents take the boy to the
temple of Satvai at Manakeshvar in Earmala, to the temple of Devi
at Garbha or at Pimpalgaon in Ahmadnagar, kill a goat in the name
uf the goddess, and shave the whole of the boy's head. The boy is
bathed, and bows before the goddess, and friends and kinsfolk are
treated to a dinner of boiled mutton and wheat cakes. Boys are
married between ten and twenty-five, and crirls before they come of
age. They have no.rale tha/a girl ahouTd be married 4fore «he
comes of age. Their marriage rites are the same as those of
Kunbis. When a girl comes of age she sits apart for' three days, is
bathed on the fourth, and her lap is filled with rice and a cocoanut.
They bury the dead and mourn ten days. The dead is bathed,
seated on a low stool, taken to the burjring ground, placed sitting in
the grave, and covered with earth. The cUef mourner shaves his
whole head and face, and treats the castepeople to a dinner on any
day between the third and the thirteenth, and once at the end of
the sixth month, and again at the end of the year. The dead are
remembered every year in the Malidlaya Paksli or All Souls Fort-
night in Bhddrapad or September. Child marriage is rare, widow
zoarriage and polygamy are allowed, and polyandry is unknown.
They have a caste council and settle social disputes a^ caste
meetings under the presidency of their headmen or pdtiL They do
Qot send their children to school, but have begun to take to new
pursuits. Their hereditary calling is poorly paid and they are
badly cS.

Pa^ngnls, or Cripples, are returned as numbering sixty-five and
sis found wandering all over the district. Their personal names and

B771^-24

Cbapter III.
Population.

BSQOARS,

3iardlha OopdU,

PdnguU.

[Bombay Oaietteer.

186

DISTRICTS.

Chapt^ III.

Fopulation*

Bbooabs.

P4ngul8,

Sahadeo Jciki$.

their surnames are ihe same as tliose of Kunbis from whom they do
not differ in look, dress, food, or drink. The live in wattled huts
thatched with straw, and, when on the move, they lodge at the houses
of Eumbh&rs with whom they do not eat. They speak a corrupt
Mar&thi both at home and abroad. As a class they are clean,
hardworking, honest, and frugal. They are wandering beggars,
who ask alms in the name of Mah&dey, Yithoba, Tukoba, and other
saints. The women also beg, mind the house, and fetch fuel and
cowdung cakes from the forest lands. They worship the images
of Bahiroba, Devi, J&ndi, Ehandoba, and Mahddey, and keep all
Hindu fasts and feasts. They visit local shrines, bow before the
idols, and ask local Brdhmans to conduct their marriage and death
ceremonies. They are Sm&rts and their social and religious
customs are the same as those of the Poena P^nguls. They are
bound together by a strong caste feeling and settle social disputes
at caste meetings. A few among them send their children to school,
but they take to no new pursuits and are very poor,

Sahadev Joshis,^ or Astrologers, are returned as numbering
640 and as found all over the district. They trace their origin to
Sahadev the son of a Br^man astrologer by a Kunbi woman, but
have no tradition when and why they came into the district. Their
personal names and their surnames are the same as among Knnbis,
and their family deities are Devi of Tuljdpur, Khandoba of Jejuri
in Poena, Mari&i, Sidoba, and Yallamma. They are divided into
D&dhiv£ULs or beard wearers also called Mdnkars that is respectables,
and Kudmud^ or rattle-boz players also called Gadvals that is
fortune-tellers who eat together and intermarry. Like the distinct
class of Tirmalis, D&dhlvdla Joshis keep a large bull, deck him with
coloured clothes and brass bells and ornaments, and beg by showing
him to the people. Kudmuda Joshis play upon a sandglass-shaped
double drum called dcmr and beg from door to door; M^nkar Joshis
throw a wallet around their shoulders and move from door to door,
pleasing the house-owners by wishing them well and foretelling good
things. As i| class they are dark, thin, and middlesized. The men
wear the topknot and the moustache and whiskers, but not the beard.
Their home tongue is a dialect of Mard.thi, and they live in poor
houses with mud walls and flat roofs. Their house goods include
metal and earthen vessels, cots, and low stools, and, while on the
move, they live in tents or pals. Their staple food is millet bread,
rice, pulse, curds, and vegetables, and they are fond of hot dishea
They drink liquor every Daaa/ra in September and eat the flesh of
goats and sheep after offering them to their goddess Bhavdni. Both
men and women dress like local Kunbis. They are quiet and
orderly, and make their living as beggars and astrologers. They
rank below Kunbis and above the impure classes. They worship
all BAhmanic gods and keep all Hindu fasts and feasts. Their
priest is a local Brdhman whom they ask to conduct their
marriages. They believe in witchcraft and evil spirits, and many
among them profess to be soothsayers. Their social and religious

^ DetMlflar« given in the Poon« Statietical Account.

Dac»ui.l

AHMADNAGAB.

187

cQstoms are tlie same as those of Knnbis. On the fifth day after
the birth of a child tbej worship Satyii with flowers, thready
vermilion, and food, and slaughter a goat in her honour. They worship
Satv4i on the seventh and again on the twelfth day^ and name
their children on the evening of the twelfth. Boys are married
between ten and twenty-five^ and girls before they come of age.
Widow marriage and polygamy are allowed^ and polyandry is
nnknown. They bury the dead and monm ten days. They have
a caste council and settle social disputes at caste meetings. Most
disputes are referred to their hereditary headman called pdtil, who
lives in Poena and settles disputes. They send their boys to
school^ but take to no nevv pursuits and show no signs of improving.

Taka'ris, or Handmill Makers^ are returned as numbering 143
and as found in J^mkhed^ Karjat^ and Nagar. They seem to have
come from Telangan, and are dark, strong, and muscular like Eunbis.
Their home tongue is Telugu and they speak Mar&thi abroad.
They live in wattled huts thatched with straw^ and their staple food
is millet bread, pulse, and chopped chillies. They eat flesh except
beef and pork, and drink liquor. The men dress in a loincloth or a
waistdoth, a shouldercloth, a smock or hcmdi, a coat, a Mar^tha
turban, and shoes or sandals ; the women wear a Mar^tha bodice and
a robe but do not pass the skirt back between the feet. For great
occasions both men and women have a store of clothes and ornaments
similar to those of Kunbis. As a class they are clean, hardworking,
orderly, and hospitable. They belong to the class of Uchl&s or pick-
pock^». A few of them work as day-labourers and some are
hnsbandmen. The women mind the house and gather firewood
and cowdung cakes. They keep the images of Bahiroba, Devi, and
SLhaadoba in their houses, and lay flowers and food before them on
all Hindu holidays and fasts. Tbey worship all local gods and
keep the usual fasts and feasts. Their priest is one of tiieir own
number, whom they ask to conduct their marriage and death
ceremonies. They never repeat texts from the Veds or Pur&ns at
their ceremonies. They believe in witchcraft, but not in soothsaying;
and allow widow marriage and polygamy, but not polyandry. At
the time of the marriage the father or some elder in the bride's
family knots together the hems of the bride's and bridegroom's
garments, and they are husband and wife. Their other customs
are similar to those of the Kunbis. They have a caste council and
settle social disputes at caste meetings. They do not send their
children to school or take to new pursuits. They complain that
their movements are strictly watched by the police.

Va'sudsVB^ are returned as numbering twenty-two and as found
in Nev^to only. They claim descent from Sahadev the son of a
Brahman astrologer by a Eunbi woman. They are late comera and
wander from place to place all over the district. In look, dwelling,
food, drink, and dress, they do not differ from Eunbis. As a class
they are dirtj^ honest, orderly, and hospitaUa They are wandering
beggars. The men rise early, wash their hands and feet, put on

Chapter HI.
. Population.

BXQOABil.

Seihadev Jo9hi$,

Takdru,

Vdiud«9i»

1 Detuli sre giyea in the Pooas Stfttittioal Aeooxmt.

[Bombay Gasetteeri

188

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Fopnlatioit

Beooabs.
VdsudevB,

Unsxttlid

TlUBXS.

BharddU,

their dothee and a coronet of peacock feathers^ take metal caps or
idU in their hands, and go begging from door to door. They
return home at ten, dine, and rest. The women mind the house
and beg when they have leisure. They rank next to Kunbis and
above the impure classes. They are Smdrts and worship the
images of Bahiroba of Sondri in Ahmadnagao*, of Devi of Tuljdpur
in the Nizdm's country, of Khandoba of Jejuri in Poena, and of the
local Maruti. They keep all Hindu fasts and feasts, and make
pilgrimages to Alandi in Poena, Pandharpur in Sholdpur, and
Tulj^pur. Their priest is a local Brahman who conducts their
marriages. They believe in witchcraft soothsaying and evil spirits.
Their social and religious customs are similar to those of Kunbis.
On the fifth and twelfth days after the birth of a child they
worship Satv&i with flower6, vermilion, and food, and name the child
on the twelfth. Boys are married between twelve and twenty-five
and girls before they come of age. Widow marriage and polygamy
are allowed and polyandry is unknown. They bury their dead and
mourn them ten days, a Eumbhar or potter officiating at the
ceremony. They visit the burying ground on the second day, and
make ten balls before which they lay flowers and vermilion in the
name of the dead as directed by the Brdhman priest, and feed the
castepeople on the thirteenth. They call Eumbhibrs their paternal
uncles or kdkds, and while on their wandering tours, lodge at
Enmbh&rs' houses, presenting the house-owner with two halves of a
cocoanut. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling, and
settle social disputes at caste meetings. They send their boys to
school, but take to no new pursuits and are badly off.

nnsettled Tribes include eight divisions with a strength of
36,814 or 5*2 per cent of the Hindu population. The details are :

Ahmadnagar Unsettled Tribes, 1881,

DnrniON.

Hales.

Females.

Total.

BharftdiB

Bhila

KoUs

B&moshis

JRvb V BUS ••• ••• ••• *••

Th&kan

Tlrmalia

Vaidua

Total ...

402

2196

18,681

2084

126

160

204

406

2045

18,067

19.17

185

140

282

808

4841

26,748

8991

261

800

486

18,816

17,999

86»814

Bhara'dis, a class of dancing beggars, are returned as numbering
808 and as found all over the district They say they are Mardtha
Kunbis who were put out of caste when they joined the N^th sect
and beca.me followers of Gorakshndth. They are wandering beggars
who sing praises of the gods, dance and play on the daur or hourglass-
shaped drum. They have no memory of any former home and seem
to have lived in the district for mauy generations. The names
in common use among men are Bahim&th, Dhondu, Goma, Gop^Ia,
Govind, Hari, Joti, Khandu, Kusha, Pindu, E4jnAth, B&ma, Tuka-
ram, and Yam&ji ; and among women AhaWi, Bhagi, Bhima, Dbondi,
Gftji, Ganga, Mains, Manjula, Mukti, P&rvati, Bakhmu, Kanpu,

Deccas]

AHMADNAGAR.

189

SakOi Sain, Thaku^ and Thami. The men add ndth or lord to their
names and the women bdi or lady to theirs. Their commonest
8iiroame9 are Aher^ Chavdn^ Dev-gune^ Dhdrde^ Gdikav^^ Gund^
Haral, Jadhav^ Rajle, Sinde, Vdble, and V4mne. Persons with
tlie same samames cannot iDtermarry. Their speech both at home
and abroad is a dialect of Mardthi^ imd their family deities are
Bahimvndthof Son^ri in Ahmadnagar, Devi of M^nr and of Tulj&pnr
both in the Nizdm's country^ Jotiba in Batn&giri^ and £[handoba
of Jejari in Poona. They belong to three divisions Bhar^dis proper,
Mendjogis meaning rude beggars^ and Sali M&lis who neither eat
together nor intermarry. Bharddis proper are divided into God
literally sweet that is pure, and Kadu literally bitter that is bastard
BharadiSy who eat together but do not intermarry. They look like
local husbandmen, and live in poor one-storeyed houses with mud
walls and thatched roofs. Their house goods include low stools and
earthen vessels, and they own no servants, cattle, or pet animals.
Their staple food is Indian millet bread, pulse, vegetables, onions,
and garlic, and their pet dishes are stuffed cakes or polia^ fried rice
cakes or telchis, and gulavni that is rice flour boiled in water mixed
with molasses. They eat flesh except beef and pork, drink country
iiqnor, and smoke tobacco. The men shave the head except the
topknot, and the face except the moustache and whiskers. The
women tie the hair in a back knot, but neither deck it with flowers
nor with false hair. The men dress iu a loincloth or a waistcloth,
a gfaoaldercloth, a smock or handi, a particoloured Mardtha turban
folded round their head, and a pair of sandals or country shoes.
The women wear a robe which hangs like a petticoat from the
waist to the ankles and a Mar4tha bodice with a back and short
sleeves. Both men and women have a small store of clothes for
special occasions and wear ornaments moulded in Kunbi fashion.
The men, while performing the gondhal dance, wear a long and
ioc»se coat falling to the heels, a light scarf thrown over the neck
and shoulders, a long cowrie shell necklace, and a circlet of jingling
bells called ghungris about their ankles. They are dirty, but orderly,
hardworking, thrifty, honest, and hospitable. Their chief and
hereditary calling is begging alms at the houses of their rich neigh-
bour3 and performing the gondhal dance. They find their calling
badly paid and a few have taken to tillage, but almost none are day-
labourers or house servanta Husbandmen pay them yearly grain
allowances for performing the gondhal dance at the village temples
during the navrdtra that is the nine nights before Da^ara in
i^eptember. Worshippers of Devi also ask them to perform the gondhal
daacein honour of theirgoddess and pay them about 2«. (Be. 1) a night.
The dance usually bemns at sunset and lasts till dawn. They first
^iiig ballads or pavddas in praise of Devi and secondly of Bhairavn^th
amid beatings on their double drum or samel accompanied fay the
one-stringed fiddle or tuntime and two metal cups or tdls, and amuse
the audience with a number of short merry tales about the Hindu
jfods and heroes. The house owner gives them free grants of food
on the day they dance, and they earn IO5. to 12«, (Rs. 5-6) a month.
Their services are in demand during the fair season, but they find
little employment during the rains. Besides minding the house the

Chapter III.
Population-

Unsbttlbd
Tribes.

Bharddis,

[Bomhay Gasettamr.

190

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Fopnlation.

UNSnTLSD

Tbibbs.
Bharddis*

women spin wool and hemp^ and weave girdles or Jcdchda. Men and
children above eight, are up by six and go begging through the
streets, return home at noon, and if they are engaged to perform
on the coming night, rest till sunset. They never rest entirely
during any day of the year. They are a poor class and have no
credit with the local moneylenders. They rank with local Kunbis.
They are a religious class worshipping besides all Br&hmanio and
local gods, Bahiravndth of Son&ri in Ahmadnagar, Devi of Tnlj&pur
in the Niz&m's country, Jotiba of Ratn&giri, and Ehandoba of
Jejuri near Poena, and keeping the regular tasts and feasts. Their

?riest is a village Joshi whom they ask to conduct their marria^s.
'hey belong to the Nath sect, worshipping Bahiravudth and making
pilgrimages to Jejuri in Poena, Mahur in the Niz&m's country,
Pandharpur in Sholdpur, Son&ri in Ahmadnagar, and Tuljdpur in
the Nizdm's country. Their religious teacher is a kdnphdlya or
slit-ear Gk)sdvi whose post is elective and falls to the worthiest
discipla When the religious teacher visits the house of a Bhar&di
the householder washes his teacher's feet, seats him on a low
stool, rubs his brow with sandalpaste, ofFers him flowers and
sweetmeats, bows low, and lays money before him. Bhar&dis
believe in witchcraft soothsaying and evil spirits. They perform
only four ceremonies, at birth, mudra or earring wearing, marriage,
and deatL Their birth and marriage ceremonies are conducted in
Kunbi &shion. The earring or mudra wearing, as a rule, comes
before marriage, the ceremony being performed both on boys and
on girls between five and eight. On the day of the ceremony the
religious teacher is asked to the house and seated, the child is seated
before him and a hole is cut in its ear lobes with a knife so that some
drops of blood fall on the ground. Brass or horn rings called
mtidroa are passed through the holes, and a brass or horn pipe or
shingi is tied to a string and put round the child's neck to be blown
before worshipping the gods or taking his food. After death the body
is carried to the funeral ground seated in a bag. The chief mourner
walks in front with an earthen lirepot and the bearers follow with
other mourners blowing the brass or horn pipes called ahingis. On
reaching the burial ground, the body is seated in the ready dug
grave, cowdung ashes or Wiaam are rubbed over it, flowers and bel
leaves are laid on it, and the chief mourner dips the skirt of
his clothes in water and squeezes the water into the dead mouth.
The chief mourner sprinkles earth on the dead and the other
mourners fill the grave. The chief mourner lays cowdung ashes
or hhasm and fiowers on the grave, bums frankincense before it,
walks three times round it, and beats his mouth with his right
palm. The funeral party walk round the grave, return to the house
of monming, chew niwh leaves, wash their mouths, and go to
their 4iomes. Unlike local husbandmen, Bhar&dis do not set a
lamp on the spot where the dead breathed his last. On the third
day the mourners go to the burial ground, set flowers, bel leaves,
cowdung ashes, and food on the grave, and rub the shoulders of
the corpse-bearers with oil that their fatigue may be removed, and
treat them to a dinner. They do not hold the nearest kinsmen
of the dead impure. The mourners rub their brows with cowdung

Iteocia.]

AHMADNAGAR.

191

liabes and are porified. Bhar^is do not perform the ten-ball
ceremony or keep the death day of the dead, bnt aak the caste
people to dine at the hoase of monming on any day between the
third and the eieyenth after the death. Child-marriage polygamy
and widow-marriage are allowed and practised, and polyandry is
unknown. Bhar^dis haye a caste oonncil and settle social disputes
at meetings of castemen nnder headmen called chaugulds, pdtila,
and kdrbhdris. Breaches of social rules are punished with fines,
which take the form of caste f easts^ or, if the offender is poor, of a
betel fiorvica The pdtils, chaugulda, and kdrbhdris are much
respected and feared by the caste people, and their office is here-
ditary. They send their boys to school, but take to no new pursuits,
and are badly off.

Bhils are returned as numbering 4241 and as found all over
the district except in Akola, J&mkhod, Karjat, and Shrigonda.
lliey have no tradition of their coming into the district, but they
beliere that their original home was in the Sditpuda hills. During the
eighteenth century disturbances the Bhils tried to become indepen-
dent. The Mardtha officers treated them with the greatest cruelty.
Even the lowest officer might take a Bhil's life without offence
and without trial. Under the British Government, though they
continue given to thieving, the Bhils have settled to an orderly life.
The names in ordinary use among men are Ahalvadi, B&pu, Bhima,
Chandu, Dagdu, Granji, Hirya, Khaba, Khanu, N&r&yan, Navji,
R^ma, Tuk&ram, and Yithoba ; and among women, Bhdgi, Bhimi,
Bhi?ra, Changni, Devki, Granga, Ghodi, Guji, Kamla, Puni, Bagi,
Kahi, Sani, Sugandi, and XTlsL Their surnames are Aher, Barde,
Chavdn, D^vli, G4ikav^d, Gang, Gdnudi, Gtogurdi, Godhde, J&dhve,
More, Nikam, Pavdr, Piple, Rahire, and S&lunke. Men add ndik or
headman to their names and women hdi or lady to theirs. Persons
bearing the same surnames cannot intermarry. Ahmadnagar Bhils
are of two divisions Mar^tha and Tarvade Bhils, who neither eat
together nor intermarry. As a rule Bhils are a dark wiry and
active people often with fiat noses and high cheekbones and curly hair.
The men shave the head except the topknot and the face except the
nionstache and whiskers. At home they speak a dialect which is
difficult for strangers to understand, and abroad they speak corrupt
Marfithi. They live in villages^ most in wattled huts thatched with
straw, and some in houses like those of Kunbis. These houses for the
most part are dirty, and ^their house goods are low wooden stools
and metal and clay vessels. They own hunting dogs and milch
catUe, and rear domestic fowls. They are great eaters and
bad cooks, and are fond of oily, pungent, and sweet dishes. Their
ataple food is millet bread, vegetables and chopped chillies or
chatni. Among them rice is a holiday dish. Many of them to a great
^tent li?e on wild fruit, roots, and herbs as the rumbad otherwise
«Iled «miar Ficns glomerata figs and nivdung or prickly pear,
iney eat the flesh of the usual domestic and game animals except
the cow and the pig, and of game birds except crows, kites, and
vnltures. Whenever they cook animal food in their house they
offer it to their gods and eat it as a prasdd or god-gift. They
kill goats in honour of their family gods on Damra in September,

Chapter III.
Population.

Unsxttlsd
Tribes.

Bharddia.

BMU.

IBombay Qasetteer*

192

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

Unssttlkd
Tribes.

BhUs.

and, on the fifth day after the birth of a child, feast on the
victims' flesh. They drink all sorts of coantry liquor and use
hemp flower, opium, and tobacco. Women seldom drink except at
marriages. The men dress like local Eunbis ; the women seldom
comb the hair and generally let it fall loose about the head. Some
tie it in a back-knot or buchada, or plait it in a braid once or twice a
week but they seldom deck it with flowers or false hair. The men
wear a loincloth while at home and put on a blanket or Jcdmbli when
they go out. The women wear the bodice and the robe in Kunbi
fashion without passing the skirt back between the feet. The men
wear gold earrings called bdlis, silver wristlets called hadds, silver
waistchains, and bellmetal toerings. The women wear either gold or
brass earrings and noserings, brass or silver bracelets necklaces and
armlets, and bellmetal toerings or jodvis. As a class they are
thievish, dirty, cruel, extravagant, and given to drink, but brave,
hardworking, truthful, and faithful when trusted. Their hereditary
calling is shooting and hunting with bows and arrows, gathering
honey and wild fruits and herbs, but most of them live pai*tly by
stealing and pilfering. Some have lately taken to tillage and some
are employed as constables. A few catch fish and work as day
labourers, and many deal in firewood and sell dairy produce. They
have almost given up their predatory habits and taken to peaceful
pursuits. Women^ besides minding the house, gather fruit and
herbs in the forest lands, make cowdung cakes, and bring fuel and
cowdung cakes to market. They rank below Kunbis and above the
impure classes. Among other Brdhmanic gods they worship Devi
of Tuljdpur in the Niz&m's country, and Maridi, and keep all Hindu
holidays and fasts. Their priest is a local Br&hman who conducts
their marriages, and they make pilgrimages to Jejuri in Poona and
to Tulj&pur in the Nizam's country. Their religious teacher is a Bhil
ascetic called a Bhil goadvi. They believe in witchcraft soothsavine
and evil spirits. Chifd-marriage widowmarriage and polygam/ail
allowed and practised, and polyandry is unknown. On the fifth day
after a child is bom they place a stone slab in the lying*in room, lay
a coil of thread or ndddpudi and flowers on it, and the mother bows
to the stone in the name of Satvdi. The mother is held impure for
ten days ; on the twelfth the child is bathed, and on some convenient
day the priest is asked to the house and names the child. Well-to-do
Bhils slaughter a goat in the name of Satv4i and treat the caste
people to boiled mutton and bread. The mother is fed with bread
oil and molasses for the first twelve days, and, from the thirteenth,
she takes her ordinary meals, leaves her room, and minds the house.
Boys are married between fifteen and twenty-five, and girls even
after they come of age. A Br&hman priest names a lucky day for
the marriage, and booths are raised before the houses both of
the liioy and of the girl. A married pair at the house of each tako
their marriage guardian or devak to the temple of the local Maruti,
bow to the god, and return with the devak attended by music and a
band of frienda The bridegroom goes with music and a company
of friends to the girFs, bows to the village Mdruti on his way, and
visits the girl's house. The priest repeats the marriage verses and
the marriage is performed as among local Kunbis. A feast to tlit^

Daocaiu]

AHMADNAGAR.

19S

caaiepeople ends the ceremony. If an unmarried girl is reported to
be of bad character^ she is not allowed to marry, but lives with one
of her castefellows and her children are admitted into the caste. Any
higher class women who live as Bhils' concubines can join the Bhil
community and their children are treated as legitimate Bhils ; the
children of mistresses belon^sfing to classes lower than the Bhils
do not enjoy this privilege. Women in their monthly sickness are
impure for four days. When a girl comes of age she sits apart for
three days, is rubbed witli turmeric and bathed on the fourth, and
her lap is filled with rice and cocoanut. They bum the dead and
mourn three days. The chief mourner does not shave his head and
face, but rolls a shouldercloth round his head on the third day, and
treats the castepeople to a dinner in the afternoon. When the dinner
is over he takes ofE his head covering and the funeral rites are at
an end. Many Bhils have begun to perform the same funeral rites
as Kunbis'. They are bound together by a strong caste feeling, and
settle social disputes at caste meetings under their hereditary headmen
or mahants. Breaches of social roles are punished with caste feasts
or fines, and poor delinquents are allowed to beg pardon by bowing
before the caste council or by setting their 'shoes on their heads.
An obstinate ofFender is put out of caste, and, on pain of loss of caste,
the other castemen are forbidden to take water from his hands or to
smoke with him. His household is excluded from caste feasts, and
be is not allowed to rejoin the community until he submits. If
the parties are unwilling to abide by the decisions of the caste
council they appeal to their religious teacher whose decisions are
held final in all caste matters. They do not send their children to
school, or take to new pursuits.

Soils, returned at 26,748, are found all over the district and
in greatest numbers in the hilly sub-division of Akola^ Nagar
Eolia belong to three classes Pd.nbharis or Malhi.ris, Dhors, and
Mah^devs.

PXnbhabi or WATKB-viLLrNra Kous, also called Malhiri or Malhdr*
worshipping Kolis, are found in almost every plain village in the
district. Captain Mackintosh (1836) describes the Malh&ri Koli aa
one of the purest and most respectable of all Koli tribes.^ One or
more families, he says, are settled in almost every village in the
Deccan and in Kh^ndesh, along the Balegh&t in the Niz&m^s
country east to Kandah&r, Indur, and Boden in the Ndnder district
between the God&vari river and Haidarabad ; near Naldurg further
to the south-east ; in many villages around and south of Pandharpur ;
and to the south of Poena in the hills of Purandhar, Sinhgad«
Toma, and Rdjgad. As the name Pdnbhari or water filler shows,
their usual calling is to supply villagers and strangers with water and
to clean out the village rest-house and oflice. Near Pandjiarpur

Chapter III.
Population^

Uksbttlkd
Tbibes.

KoHi^

' Th« geneimlly reoeired ezplanatioa of the word Koli is clansmen from hd • clan
as opposed to Kimbi the family man from kutumh a family. The mythic Brihmaaio
ori£in of the Kolii is that they are the same as the Kir&ts of the Purins, who are said
to be desoendants of Kish&dh who was bom from the arm of Yen, a king of the
Sun nee. The Kolis claim aa their mythic founder V&lmiki the author of the
RAmAyaa. Mackintosh in Trans. Bom. Qeog. Soc. I. 201-202.

'^ Trans. Bom. Oeog. Soc. 1. 191.

B 772— 25

[Bombay Gazetteer,

194

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

Ukskttlsd
Tbibes.

Kolis.

many Malhdri Kolis are yeskars or village door-keepers ; in Kh&n-
desh and Ahmadnagar a few are headmen ; and^ to the south of
Foona, Malh&ri Kolis were the hereditary guardians of the hill forts
of Porandhar^ Sinhgad^ Toma^ and lUjgad.^ Malh^ Kolis are also
called Chumlis from the cloth-fenders they wear on their heads
as water-pot rests. They are also called Kunam Kolis, because,
according to Mackintosh, they eat and associate with Kunbis.^

Dhob Kolis are said to get their name from dhor cattle because
they go about selling cattle.*

Neither Pdnbhari nor Dhor Kolis are of much importance in
Ahmadnagar. The leading tribe in Ahmadnagar is the Mah^dev
Kolis who Kve in the valleys in the east slopes of the Sahy^ris
from Mulshi in the south-west of Poena north to Trimbak in
Ndsik, a distance of about 120 miles. Mah&dev Kolis are also
found westwards in Javh&r in the North Konkan, where one
Pauperah, a Nasik Koli from Mukni near the Thai pass, established
a chief ship in the fourteenth century, and eastwards in the B&legh^t
or Mahddev hills in the Nizdm^s country, the traditional home of
the Nagar Mah&dev Kolis. According to Koli traditions preserved
by Mackintosh,^ the west Deccan originally belonged to Ghadshis or
low class musicians who are described as the musicians of Bavan
king of Ceylon. The Ghadshis were conquered by the Gavlis or cow-
keepers. Then the Gavlis rose in rebellion against the king of the
country. The king sent an army from the north through Kbdndesh
by the Kasarbdri pass, but near Kasarbdri the rebels attacked and
defeated the king's army and put it to flight The country was so
wild and unhealthy, that, though a high reward was offered, none of
the king's officers were willing to undertake to punish the rebels.
At last Sonji Gopdl, a Mardtha, volunteered, and, with the help of a
Koli named Yyankoji Kokatta, whose name and exploits in 1830 were
still familiar to the Kolis, attacked, defeated, and almost destroyed
the Gavlis. To till the empty country a number of Kolis were brought
from the Bdleghdt or Mahadev hills in the] Niziim's country.
According to their own account the Kolis' first settlement was in the
Ghod valley in the north of Poena, and from this they spread north
through Nagar to Ndsik. The tradition that the Kolis came from
the Niz&m's country is supported by the fact that before the times
of the Peshw^, the priests of the Kolis were Raval Gos&vis of the
Lingdyat sect, whose descendants in 1836 were still settled in Chia
and Manchar.^ Again the tradition that the first settlements of the
Mah^ev Kolis in the West Deccan were in the Ghod valley finds

* Trans. Bom. Geog. Soc. I. 191, 192. » Trans. Bom. (reo. Soc. I. 19U

' The Ahmadnagar Dhor Kolis seem to differ from the Dhor Kolis of Sonth Gujarit
and the J^orth Konkan who eat the flesh of cattle and were described by Captain
Mackintosh in 1836 as the most degraded of ail Kolis. Trans . Bom. Geog. Soc, L ISO,
The Dhor Kolis of Th&na, stiU eat the cow. Th&na Statistical Account, Part L 167.

* Trans. Bom. Geog. Soc. I. 236 - 238.

* Mackintosh in Trans. Bom. Geo. Soc. I. 237-238. The tradition is further
supported by the fact that some of the Telugu-speakins people of Shol&Aur, whom
other people call KtoiAthis, style themselves Maii&dev Kolis. Some of the Bombay
KAm&this also call themselves Mah&dev Kolis. In Ahmadnagar and Nevi^ about
eiffhty K&mAthis call themselves Mah^ev Kolis and speak Telugu at home. They
hold aloof from the local Kolis. Mr. Elphinaton, C\ S.

AHMADNAGAR

195

support from the fact that the Eolis of that part of the Gountry hold
a specially high social position. According to Mackintosh, in 1836,
in the neighboarhood of Jannar, Kunbis woald drink water and eat
food from Kolis, farther north in Kotal and B^jar they took water
and food bat not withoat scraples, and in M&ldesh Kanbis would take
neither food nor drink from Mahadev Kolis. The explanation seems
to be that as they conquered northwards the Eolis lost caste by
iutermarzying with the earlier and lower tribes whom they conquered.
Twoclans^the Damsahs and the Y^ghmorias^ are said to represent the
residue of the Gavlis who were allowed to join the Koli tribe, and the
Poriah family of the Kadamclanand the Potkulla family of the Agh&shi
clan are considered the descendants of the Ghadshis.^ The Kolis
seem to have freely allowed women of other castes to join them^ as in
1836 they had still an initiation ceremony for women of other castes.^
The fact that about 1340 Muhammad Tughlak found the fort of
Kond&na or Sinhgad, about ten miles south of Poena, in the hands
of a Koli chief makes it probable^ that, at the time of the Musalm&n
conqaeet of the Deccan, Koli chiefs held some of the North Poena
and Nagar hill forts. The overthrow of the power of the Devgiri
YadaTS probably helped the Kolis^ as about 1347 a Mah&dev Koli
named Paapera was acknowledged by the Bedar king chief of Javhar
in North Thdna a tract which yielded a yearly revenue of £90,000
(Rs. 9ldkhs) and included twenty-two forts several of which seem to
have been in Ahmadnagar.^ By the Bdhmanis (1340-1490) and by
the Ahmadnagar kings (1490-1636) 'the Kolis were left almost
independent under their own hereditary chiefs or nd/iks. The Koli
conntry was known as the Fifty- two Valleys or B&van M&vals each
of which was under its ndik or Koli chief, and all the chiefs were
under a Musalmdn head captain or aamdik whose head-qaartera
were at Junnar. Besides the Musalm&n samaik who was the
political head of the Kolis, there was a social and religious head, a Koli
samaik of the Vanakp41 clan of the Kheng tribe who was president
of the caste council or gotami which settled civil and religious
disputes. The Koli chiefs held a good position both in the B&hmani
and in the Ahmadnagar kingdoms ranking among the nobles called
sarddrs or manscibdars of the kingdom.^ The first reference which
has been traced to a rising of the Kolis is about the middle of the
seventeenth century. The Kolis disliked the introduction of the
survey, apparently Todar MaVs survey which Sh&h Jahdn introduced
into the Ahmadnagar territories on the final Eall of Ahmadnagar in
1636. They resented the minute measuring of their lands and the
fixing of aregular rental. A Koli of the name of KheniNaik persuaded
many of the chiefs to promise to rise against the Moghals on the first
chance. The successes of young Shiv&ji (1645-1657) seemed to the

1 TnxtBn Bom. Qeog. Soc. L 236. A relic of the Gavlia and Ghadshifl is believed to
nm^n in some hero- stones near the source of the river BhAma aboat flix miles south of
BhimAahaoikar. These stones are covered with roughly carved figures, some drumming
whom tfifi people say are Ghadshis and some with a circle of women wtih waterpota
whom the people say are Gavlis. Trans. Bom. Geo. Soc, L 237.

* Tnma. Bom. Geog. Soc. 1. 231.

> Hackitttoth in Trans. Boul Geog. Soc. I. 240.

^ Mackintosh in Ttbbb, Bom« Geog. Soo. I- 240.

Chapter III.
Population.

Unsxttlbd
Tribss.

Kolia.

{BouHmj QuMit9T»

196

DISTRICTS,

Chapter m.
Fopnlatioxi-

Unsxttlid

T&IBB9.
K0U9.

Kolis the chance they were waiting for. The coantry rose and the

revolt was not put down without extreme severity. After this

outbreak was crashed the Kolis were treated with favour by Aurangzeb.

Under the Peshwds they gained a high name for their skill and daring

in taking hill forts. One of the most famous exploits of this kind was

in 1761 the capture of the fort of Trimbak from the Niz&m. The

leaders of this storming party, Qtimdji Bhdngria and Kheroji Pattikar,

were rewarded with grants of money and villages.^ During the latter

part of the eighteenth century and for many years after the beginning

of British rule West Ahmadnagar and the Konkan were at intervals

disturbed by the robberies of bands of Koli outlaws. Under the

Mardth&s the most famous leaders of Koli outlaws have been

J^vji Bomle between 1760 and 1798, Kolh^ta and Shilkunda in 1776,

and Bdmji Bh&ngria between 1798 and about 1814; and, under the

English, B&mji Bh^ngria and Grovindrdv Khdri from 1819 to 1829,

lUtma Kirva in 1829 and 1830, and R^oji Bhdngria from 1846 to

1858.' During the l857Mutinies the soldier-like qualities of the Kolis

were turned to account. An irregular corps 600 strong was formed

under Captain, now General Nuttall, and proved most useful and

serviceable. In spite of the want of leisure, the Kolis mastered

their drill with the ease of born soldiers and proved skilful skirmishers

among hills and in rough ground. Their arms were a light fusil with

bayonet, black leather accoutrements, dark green twisted turbans,

dark green cloth tunics, dark blood-coloured waistoloths worn to the

knee, and sandals. They marched without tents or baggage. Each

man carried his whole kit in a havresack and a light knapsack.

They messed in groups, and on the march divided the cooking

vessels. They were greater walkers, moving with the bright

springy step of Highlanders, often marching thirty or forty miles in

a day over the roughest ground, carrying their arms, ammunition^

ha^gage, and food. Always sprightly clean and orderly, however

long their day^s march, their first care on halting was to see that

their muskets were clean and in good trim. Every time they met

an enemy, though sometimes taken by surprise and sometimes

fighting against heavy odds, they showed the same dashing and

persevering courage. Though disturbances were at an end, posts of

regular troops were maintained till May 1860. When they were

withdrawn their places were taken by detachments of the Koli corps.

The Koli corps continued to perform this outpost duty till March

1861 when they were disbanded, and all except a few who entered

the police returned to their former life of tillage and field labour.

The wisdom of raising the corps had been proved. Instead of

heading disturbances, as had often happened before and has

happened since, the disciplined Kolis were a powerful element in

repregsing disorder.'

Among MahAdkv Kous the men's names in common use are
Bi^brya, Dasumankya, Dhankya, Ohaba, Gogya, Grotrya, Hiru, Khema,
Euma, Lankya, Luma, Mdvji, P&ngya, revji, T&na, and T&tya ;

> Tnuu. Bom. Geo. Soc. L 244.

' Detiils of these risings sie gi▼e^ in the History Chapter.

* NAsik Ststisticsl Acconnt, Bombfty Gssetteer, XVI. 200-204.

BmsuI

AHMADNAGAR.

197

and the women's Bhori, Bibti, Hiri, Lidi, Lomi, NAki, PAki, PAii,
Pill, SAkri, Thaki, and Tavli. According to Captain Mackintosh/
Mah&de7 Kolis originally belonged to twenty-four clans or kuls from
each of which many offshoots numbering about two hundred aud
eighteen in all have sprung. The main clans are the Agh&si with
three, the Bhagivant with fourteen^ the Bhonsle with sixteen, the
Budiyant with seventeen, the Ghavdn with two, the Dajai with
twelve, the Dalvi with fourteen, the GAikv&d with twelve, the Gavli
with two, the Jagtap with thirteen, the Kadam with sixteen, the
Kedir with fifteen, the EharAd with eleven, the KhirsAgar with
fifteen, the N4mdev with fifteen, the Pavar with thirteen, the Polevas
with twelve, the SAgar with twelve, the ShaikhAcha Shesh with
twelve, the Shiv with nine, the Sirkhi with two, the Suryavanshi with
sixteen, the Utercha with thirteen, and the YanakpAl with seventeen
Bobdivisions.' Many Kunbis are said to have joined the Kolis and
founded new dans or famflies.^ These families are very local and
confine themselves to certain valleys. Thus in the valley of the Mula
river near Kotul in Akola are found Barmals, B^mattis, Bh&gvats,
Dindles, and Ghodes ; in the valley of the Fravara to the west of
lUjnr, Bhandes, Ghanes, Jarres, E4res, Khad&les, Pichavs to which
family belongs the deahmukh of Bdjur and Sakte ; in the country to
the north-west of Akola are families of J&dhavs, Godes, Sables,
E^hetrisj and Thalpdres. Persons bearing the same &mily name or
surname can eat together and intermarry, but sameness of hul or clan
is a bar to marriage. As a class Mahddev Kolis are dark, short, and
slender, but strong and muscular, with, as among Kunbis, a dull
expression. The women are occasionally pretty and generally
pleasing, well made and slim, and fair and neat •compared with the
Kunbi women of the plain. Their speech both at home and abroad
iB corrnpt Mar^thi. The poor live in wattled huts with grass roofs,
generally large and divided into several rooms. The family meet in
the largest room. In another which is the women's room, and is

Chapter III.
Population.

UVSSTTLED

Tbibxs.
Kolia.

I Tnns. Bom. Oeog. Soc. L 203. •

' The aameneM of several of the Koli hul or dan names and Mardtha somamos,
Bhonsle, ChavAn, Dalyi« GAikvid, Kadam, and PovAr, sn^est a common element
in the two classes. Their appearance also shows that in origin the two classes differ
littk. At the same time it is probable that formerly, when Kolis MarAtlUs and
other warlike tribes were in the predatory state, the holding of a clan or family
same did not necessarily imply that the holder by birth belonged to the clan or even
to the tribe or caste. The case of the UchUs or Bhdmt^, the pick-pockets of Poona,
one of the few Deccan classes who are still in the predatory stage, shows that a man
of aoT Hindu caste, except the impure tribes, and Musalmdns as well as Hindus, may
be admited not only into the caste but may be adopted itAo the clan subdivision
of the caste. All XTchlAs are either G^vids or JAdnavs. A Br^man, a MArwAr
Viai, or a Muaalmin who wishes to join the UchUs, is first initiated into the Uchla
oaate and then adopted into the G^kv&d or into the Jidhav clan or family. It is
probable that when the Kolis were in the predatory sta^ they were joined byjrefugees
or plunder-loving spirits from the Mar&thilB and Rajputs whose followers, like the
Gordo&fl and Campbells among the Scotch hishlanders, adopted the names of their
ctcmoger leaders. Captain Maddntosh says (Trans. Bom. Geog. Soc. I. 204), we are
supported by tfitdition in stating that in former ages, from necessity choice or other
cause, persons of rank occasionaUy joined the Koli communitv and became founders of
new dans. The name of one of the Koli divisions Shaik^ha Shesh may, as Biackintosh
anppotes, be religious, but the case of the Uchlis and of the Pendhiiris supports the
view thai at one tivie MusalmAns were received into the Koli caste.

' Mackintosh in Trans. Bom. Geog. fioo. I. 204.

KoliB.

[Bombay Gaietteer.
198 DISTRICTS.

Chapter III. sometimes nsed as a sleeping room, grain is stored. The houses of
PopiUatioxi. *^® well-to-do and rich do not differ from Kunbi houses. Their house

goods include two or three coarsely made cots and low stools, a few
^tSb^ copper and brass vessels used for cooking and for boiling water, some

small and large earthen pots for holding water, clarified butter, oil,
spices, and grain, and large number of bamboo baskets plastered with
cowdung. They own poultry and cattle generally stabling the cows
in the dwelling house. The well-to-do keep servants, and many have
hunting dogs. They are great eaters and poor cooks. They eat all
the usual kinds of flesh except beef and pork and drink country liquor
to excess. Their staple food is ndgli or sdva bread and vegetables and
they are fond of hot and sour dishes. They say they all bathe
before their morning meal. Some elderly man in each family
bathes every morning, lays sandalpaste flowers and food cooked in
the house before the house gods, offers water to the sweet basil
plant or tuhuf^ and bows before them all. All the men of the
house sit in a line to eat their morning meal. Rice, vari bread,
and wheat cakes are among their holiday dishes. In some
outlying parts many Xolis, after finishing their stores of grain,
live for a time on wild roots, herbs, and fruits, and on the flesh
of game animals and birds. On the bright sixth of Pauah or
January they offer a goat to Khandoba, take its life, and lay boiled
mutton before the god with rice and cakes. The men smoke
hemp flower or gdnja and tobacco and drink hemp water or bhdng,
but the women, as a rule, hold aloof from all intoxicating drinks
and drugs though they eat flesh and chew tobacco with betel and
lime. The men shave the head except the topknot, and the face except
the moustache and whiskers. The women dress their hair neatly
and roll it into a solid ball called buchada which is worn at the baok
of the head. The men dress in a loincloth, a shouldercloth, and a
headscarf which they tie closely about their heads; when they go out
they draw a blanket over their shoulders and carry a billhook or kaytu
tied to the waist. The women wear a short-sleeved Mardtha bodice
with a back and a robe which is generally girt as high as the knee
and is sometimes worn hanging likaa petticoat. Some pass the upper
end of the robe over the head and with it cover the bosom and
shoulders, and many coil it round the waist and wear apiece of cloth
over the head. The men and some of the women mark their brows
with sandalpaste whenever they bathe, but most married women mark
their brows with vermilion. On the whole the E^oli's dress is partly
like the local Kunbi dress and partly like the R&val dress. Few among
them have a store of clothes for great occasions. The men wear
silver wristlets or kadds and gold earrings or bhikhdlia ; and the
women, silver or tin wristlets called vdnkis, the lucky neck string or
mangalautra, a necklace of red and white glass beads, and a number
of brass or tin ornaments made in Kunbi fashion. The well-to-do
have a number of gold and silver ornaments and a good store of
clothes for their special ceremonies. Mah4dev Kolia are an
agricultural people, and as a rule are fairly hardworking and
diligent husbandmen. Though quick and shrewd, Kolis are neither
such steady nor such intelligent workers as Knnbis, being
often lazy and vranting in forethought. As a class they are now

OiooiA*]

AHMADNAGAR.

199

orderlyandfairly freefromcrime. Still among them are many unsettled
disorderly spirits who leave their homes on slight provocation and
are easily persuaded to take to gang robbery. With outsiders and
with enemies Kolis are said to be suspicious cunning and cruel. But
to their fellow-villagers they are kindly and ready to help and in
criminal cases when not tntored are notably truthful The Kolis
are fond of proverbs and similes. Very few can read and write. But
excellent memories are common and they relate traditions with great
precision. The Kolis are blessed with keen senses and are often
remarkably quickfooted and nimble.^ Koli women have a good
same for courage and virtue.' They are affectionate to their
friends and kind to strangers^ hardworking^ honesty and cheerful.

Mah&devandMalhar or F^nbhari Kolis are hereditary husbandmen,
cattlekeepers, and labourers. Many are landholders^ and many
till the lands of others^ though they are not so skilful as the local
Kunbis. Dhor Kolis are cattle breeders and deal in dairy produce.
Koli women besides minding the house look after the cows, plant
rice^ weed, and help the men at harvest. Many Kolis are employed
as watchmen, a considerable number are pdtils or village headmen,
and a few are deshmukhs or hereditary district officers. Formerly
KoUs were appointed ndikavdis or leaders to watch the husbandmen's
interests. The ndikavdi received forty pounds of grain, a fowl, two
poonds of clarified butter, and one rupee in cash from each village
under his charge. This office has fallen into disuse. Kolis as a class
are poor, and forest conservancy has pressed somewhat severely on
them limiting their supply of brushwood and leaves for dalhi
cultivation, wild roots and fruit, and reducing the pasture land*
The daily life of Kolis differs little from the daily life of Kunbis.
They take three meals a day, one at nine, a second at noon, and
a third at night. During the hot weather, when they have little
field work, Koli men and boys are fond of going in a body to the
forest lands and getting any game they can secure, their favourite
»port being hunting wild pig. They are good shots. As a rule
thev do not work on Saturday, as Saturday is sacred to their family
gods and ought to be a day of rest. They close their work on the
bright second of Mdgh or February, called Dharm Rdjachi Bi or
Dharmrdja's Second. They rank below Mardtha Kunbis and above
the impure classea Kolis claim to have been originally Mar&th^.
They say that before and during the time of Shivdji, Kolis and
Man&thds used to eat together, and even now in Ahmadnagar
Hah4dev Kolis are said to eat with local Kunbis. A family of five
spends 8«.to £1 (Rs.4-10) a month on food and 4«. to 12«. (Bs.2-6)
a year on clothes. A house costs lOa. to £5 (Rs. 5-50) to build and
house goods cost lOs. to £2 (Rs.5-20), a marriage costs £3 to £7
(Rs. 30-70), and a death lOs. to £2 (Rs. 5-20). Kolis are religious
and keep house images of Bahiroba of Sondri in Ahmadnagar,* Devi
of Tnljipur in the Nizi.m's country, and Khandoba of Jejuri in

Chapter III.
Population.

Unskttlbd
Tribes.

KoUa.

' M«ckioto«h in Truu. Bom. Geog. Soc. I. 218.

' Qaptoio Mackintoah mentiaDS two Koli women one in 1780 the other in 1881 who
Jrettea as men and joined the police. The passages are given in the ThAna
Statistical Accoimt, Part I. 171,

[Bombftj Gftsettoer,

200

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III*

Population-

Uksbttlxd
Xribks.

KoUs.

Poona, and on all holidays and fasts are caref al to lay sandalpaste,
flowers, burnt frankincense^ and food before their gods. The^
keep all the leading Hindu fasts and feasts, worship Dary&b4i^
Ghorpaddevi, Gundivir, Hiroba, Ealsubdi, Mhaisoba, and Mavldi,
make offerings to Musalmdn saints, and pay divine honours to the
tombs of those who have died a violent death especially if they or
their ancestors had any part in causing the loss of life. Their
priests are local Brdhmans whom they ask to conduct their leading
ceremonies. Their original priests were lUlval Oosdvis, Lingiyats hj
religion, who were supplanted by Br&hmans during the reign of the
third Peshwa B&Id.ji Bdjir&v (1740-1761). Kolis make pilgrimages
to Jejuri in Poena, N&sik, and Pandharpur in Sholapur, their leading
holiday is the bright second of Mdgh or February, and their chief
fasts are Shrdvan Mondays in August, and Shiv's Night or Mahd-
ahivrdtra in February. All cattle-owning Kolis dedicate one of their
cows to their house gods and strictly abstain from using the
milk of the consecrated cow on fast days. Her milk is turned into
clarified butter aad burned in the evening in a lamp before the
house gods. To keep off the evil eye and enchantments in making
butter they stick a sprig of the bhnt khet tree properly bhut kes
Mussaenda frondosa into the slit end of the cburning staff. They
sometimes burn some clarified butter near a precipice or near water
to please the place spirit and induce it to ward off evil from their
cattle.

Kolis have a strong belief in witchcraft and soothsaying. Many
of them are said to be professional sorcerers and soothsayers.^ They
are afraid of incurring the displeasure of magicians and witches
especially of Tbdkur men and Thdkur women who are skilled in
necromancy. They believe that the spirits of persons dying with their
wishes unfulfilled or killed in cold blood haunt the living and torment
them. Whatever malady or disease may seize man, woman, child, or
cattle the Kolis believe it is caused either by an evil spirit or by aa
angry god. When ordinary remedies fail the head of the house goes
to an exorcist or devrvshi. Exorcists are of all castes goldsmiths,
carpenters, smiths, Kolis, Thdkurs, and Mh&rs : the Thdkurs are the
most noted. The sick person's friend asks the devrushi to come and
see the sick. The seer generally begins waving pomegranate flowers
and fowls round the patient's head. If these remedies fail the Koli
again applies to the exorcist or devrushi who makes a minute
enquiry regarding the sick person and the nature of his sickness,
and promises to visit the house on the following day after
asking his god what steps he should take to cure the sick. Next
day when the exorcist comes he tells the family that some of them
have been remiss in worshipping Bhavini, or Hiroba, or
Khandoba, and that the deity is angry and must be pleased by
suitable peace offerings. The family promise, if time is given
them, that they will make the necessary offerings, and asK the
exorcist how long the sick will take to recover. The exorcist

^ Capt. Mackintoah 1836 (Trans. Bom. Geog. Soc, 1. 225) mentionB a Koli family near
Kotul who were great hlvutdAhydaoTconyiaiSk^ Theydestoyed the crops and in other
ways worked the ruin of aU whom they disliked. The power waa hereditary.

Deecan.]

AHMADNAGAR

201

Bays a weok or a fortnight according to the symptotng, and tells
them to give the patient certain kinds of food. One of the family
goes with the exorcist to his houRe and gets a pinch of frankincense
ashes from before his house gods and this is rnbbed on the sick
man's brow. Sacrifices are vowed to the gods if by their help the
sick recovers before the time named by the exorcist. When
a vow has been made^ if the sick can afford it^ on or before the
day fixed for the offerings three or four male sheep are brought^ and,
on a Monday evening, two or three of them are slaughtered as a
peace offering to Khandoba and Bahiroba, and the gondhal dance
is performed at night Friends and kinsfolk are asked to dine and
join the party at the house. At sunrise the exorcist gives a signal
for slaughtering the sheep which was set aside as an offering to
Hiroba. A number of villagers meet at the house to see the rites.
Women and children are made to retire as their shadow is believed
to pollute the offering. The exorcist sits before the house gods
and kindles a fire. A pot with some oil is set on the fire and some
of the &mily busy themselves in making cakes and choice bits of
mutton which are set in front of the fire ; others cook the rest of
the mutton. A band of drummers beat their drams close to the
exorcist. Meanwhile the exorcist loosens his top-knot, his body
sways to and fro, and he seems to be seized with strong convulsions.
The musicians stop, the god Hiroba is supposed to possess the
exorcist, and all look on in dead silence. The exorcist asks the
head of the house if the oil is boiling and calls to the people to
stand at some distance in case their shadows should pollute the rite.
He takes a handful of turmeric or bhandar in his right hand and
in the left holds a bunch of peacock's feathers with an image of
Hiroba fastened to the end of the bunch. He walks twice or thrice
round the fire-place, runs his hand along the rim of the pot, raises
his hand a little, and lets the turmeric gradually fall into the pot.
He lavs his open hand on the surface of the oil and pulling it up
sharply, jerks some oil on to the fire and greatly strengthens the
flama He drops into the boiling oil the cakes and pieces of meat
which were before made ready, and, when he thinks they are
sufficiently cooked, puts hib hand into the boiling oil and searches
about in it till he has found all he put in. In this way he cooks and
consecrates all the food and serves a share to every man present.
The guests sit to the feast and the head of the house asks the
Wiseman or devrushi if the rites have been properly conducted and
the deity is pleased. The wiseman says that the sick has
recovered, and, as the peace offering has been suitably tendered,
they ought to show their gratitude to the god by making him a
similar offering every third year. If, when he puts his hand into it,
the wiseman nnds the oil unbearably hot, in an angry disappointed
tone he says something has spoiled the ceremony and that they must
begin the whole again, Kolis often consult wisemen regarding
^ absent friends, thieves, and stolen property. Many thieves throw
themselves on the mercy of the seer that their names may not be
given out. When a Eoli misses one of his cows he asks a seer,
and he, after asking his god, te}ls the man to go west or to go
east and he will find the cow. Kolis believe that a cameleon's tail

B 772—26

Chapter III.
Population.

UlfRKTTLXD
TSIBBS.

KoUb,

[

[Bombay Gazetteer,

202

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Fopiilation.

Unsettled
Tbibbs.

Kdis,

has many virtues and is a certain care for intermittent fever. To
make sure of a proper healing tail the cameleon mnst be caught on a
Friday^ kept all night in a pot with a little grain^ and killed on the
Saturday morning. The tail is cut into small pieces and kept in a
copper case. If a crow^ a cat^ or a deer crosses a Koli's path from
left to right, as he is leaving his home on important business, it is
considered a warning omen, and the Koli goes back and waits some
hours or probably a day or two. If less particular he merely makes
a circle round the place where he was standing when he saw the
omen, changes his shoes from one foot to the other, and goes on
with his journey. Kolis have a great reverence for and swejar by
Mah^ev. The oath which is most binding is sworn on the bank
of a river or near a well, when one of the party takes a little water
in the palms of his hands, mixes it with turmeric powder, sweet basil
or tulaa and hel leaves and a few Indian millet seeds. Each of
them pours this mixture on the other's hands calling evil upon
themselves if they break their oath.

As a rule Kolis perform only three ceremonies, at birth marriage
and death. When a child is bom, the midwife cuts the navel-cord
and digs a bathing pit or nhdni in a comer of the lying-in room.
She touches the part where the cord was cut with ashes, rubs the
child with turmeric and oil, bathes it in warm water, and swathes
it in swaddling bands. She also bathes the mother in warm water,
dresses her in new clothes, and lays her with her child beside her
on a small cot under which is set a dish with a small fire. The
child is dosed for two days with a little water mixed with molasses^
and the mother is fed with wheat flour boiled in clarified butter or
oil, with molasses, and myrrh pills. From the fourth day the mother
begins to suckle the child. That no evil spirit may come in with
them all visitors sprinkle a few drops of cow's urine on their feet
before entering the room. A lamp is kept burning in the lying-in
room during the night. Next morning the mother and child are
bathed and given wheat flour boiled in clarified butter or oil,
and the child is fed with water mixed with molasses. At noon
neighbours and kinswomen begin to drop in. As each comes, she
touches the soles of her feet as if taking a pinch of dust off them,
waves it round the child, and blows the dust partly into the air
and partly on the ground. She then cracks the finger joints of
both her hands, and takes her seat. If the child begins to cry,
frankincense is burnt in the lying-in room, and Bahiroba and
Satv&i are begged to save the child. On the fifth day, one of the
elderly women of the house lays a low wooden stool in the lying-in
room, rubs it with turmeric powder and vermilion, sets on it a bete!
nut and a cocoanut, lays before the low stool flowers and sandalpaste
in l^e name of Satvdi, bums frankincense before it, and offers
it boiled rice, split pulse, bread, and curry. The mother with tlie
child in her arms bows before the goddess and prays her to save
the child from the evil eye and from evil spirits. The mother**
diet continues the same during the first five days, and from the sixth
to the eleventh she eats simple rice with clarified butter. The
mother remains impure for ten days. On the eleventh the lying*
in room is washed with cowdung and the mother and child are

Beecaii}

AHMADNAGAR.

203

bathed* As a rule the mother keeps her room for ten days,
and from the eleventh freely moves abont the hoase. They name
their children on the evening of the twelfth. The family priest
is asked to the house and told the day and the hoar when the child
was bom« He looks to the tables in his almanac or panchdng^ draws
a horoscope if the child is a boy^ and fixes its name. Women
neighbours and friends attend the naming or bdraa, that is twelfth
day ceremony, cradle the child, and call it by the name given
it by the priest. Boiled gram or ghugri and betel are handed
among the guests and the naming is over. To ward off the evil
eye the eyelids of both the child and the mother are touched with
lampblack or kdjal, and to guard it from evil spirits a black thread
with two black nuts or bajarbatus is hung round the child^s neck.
Boys are married before they are twenty-five and girls between
twelve and sixteen. The offer of marriage as a rule comes from the
boy's parents who have to pay the girl's father £1 10«.to£3 (Bs. 15-30)
and threecwts. of grain before the mdgni or asking. Many Kolis are
too poor to raise this sum and remain unmarried all their lives. When
an unmarried man dies the Kolis call him an dtvdr, literally an eight
year old that is a marriable bachelor. Before any marriage takes place
his spirit must be pleased or the couple will be plagued with barrenness
or other sickness. Some turmeric^ jvdri, and betelnut, and a burning
lamp are laid in a plate and carried by a woman over whose head
a canopy is borne. Behind the woman comes a boy on a man's
shoulder with a drawn sword in his hand who never stops shouting
and screaming. They go to a stone^ rub it with redlead^ and lay
the articles before it.^ Before a marriage can be fixed it must be
ascertained that the boy's and the girl's fathers' devaks or marriage
guardians are not the same. They may bear the same surname^ but
the guardian or devak must be different. Sameness of guardian on
the mother's side does not bar marriage. When the boy's father has
fixed on the girl whom he thinks best fitted to be his son's wife^ on
a lucky day he sends some elderly person to the girl's house to
ask the girl's parents whether they approve of the match. If they
approve, the fathers meet at an astrologer s who brings out hisalmanac
and sets it before them. The fathers lay a betelnut and a copper
coin on the almanac or panchdjig, bow before it, and sit down in
front of the Brdhman. The Brdhman takes the betelnut and the
copper coin, opens the almanac, asks the names of the boy and girl,
cottnta his fingers, and says whether the intended alliance will
prove lucky. If the priest says tha match will prove unlucky it is
broken off. If the priest says the marriage promises well, the
fathers go to their houses, and, with the help of some elderly third
party, settle the sum to be paid by the boy to the girl, and the
number of persons to be brought by the bridegroom when he visits
the bride's house for the first time. On some lucky day later on the
formal asking or mdgni is performed. The boy's father with some
kinsmen visits the girl and presents her with a robe and bodice. The
girl's father receives the guests in presence of some of his kinsmen.

Chapter IIL

Population.

Uksettled
Tkibes.

Kolie.

1 Mackintosh in Trans. Bom. Geog. Soc. I. 2224.

[Bombay Oaxetteer,

204

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
FopnlatiolL.

Unsettled
Tribes.

KoUg.

All are seated on a blanket spread in the veranda ; the girl is
dressed in the new robe and bodice^ and lays a betelnut and bows
before the house gods. She is shown to the boy's father who marks
her brow with vermilion, and she bows before him and goes into
the hoase. The boy's &ther dines with his party at the girl's^
tobacco and betel are served^ and the guests leave. Again the
fathers visit an astrologer's who names a lucky day for the marriage.
Invitations are sent round. The priest of each family names the
meuried women who should conduct the turmeric rubbing, and
marriage porches are built at both houses. On the lucky morning
not less tnan five married women are asked to the house of the
boy and of the girl, mark a square with lines of wheat flour in front of
the house, and lay in the square a grindstone or jdie and a pestle or
muml. The married women tie a turmeric root in one yellow cloth
and a betelnut in another and fasten one to the pestle and the
other to the handmiU, grind some wheat in the handmill, and of the
flour make lemon-sized balls or undds. They rub the boy or the
girl with turmeric paste, and bathe him or her, receive a ball each
from the boy or the girl, and retire. At both houses the man takes
in his hand a mapgo or some other branch which he looks on aa
his family crest or devak, and a woman takes a basket filled with
boiled rice, pulse, and cakes,and, with thehems of their clothes knotted
together by the priest and a white sheet held over their heads by
married women who walk in front and behind of them, they walk wim
music and friends to the village Mdruti, lay the mango branch and the
basket before him, bow to the god, offer him a copper coin and betel-
nut, and return with the mango branch, with a sheet held over it as
before, and tie.it to the marriage porch in front of the house together
with the pestle or muaal. These they call their marriage deities and
offer them sandalpaste, vermilion, flowers, bamt frankincense, and
rice pulse and cakes. Friends and kinsfolk are treated to a dinner at
noon, and the marriage is held in the evening. With music and a
band of kinspeople the bridegroom, his brow decked with the mar-
riage coronet, mounts a horse and goes to the temple of Mtoiti at the
bride's village, halts for a time at the temple, lays a cocoanut befosne
the god, and asks his blessing. Unlike the custom among Nagar
Kunbis, the Koli bridegroom's sister or karavli does not follow his
horse but sits on the horse behind him carrying on her head an
earthen pot filled with water and with a cocoanut in the mouth.
Four or five sticks, each with a piece of bodicecloth tied to its end
are raised round him as dhoajas or flags. When the bridegroom
and his sister are seated in the temple, the bridegroom's unmarrried
brother or vardhdva rides the bridegroom's horse to the girl's
house. A married woman, carrying in her hand a robe and bodice
and the lucky string or mangal^utra, follows him with music and
frien&s, dresses the bride with the new suit, and marks her brow
with vermilion. The bridegroom's brother and his party return to
the temple with the bride's &ther who presents the bridegroom with a
turban. The bridegroopi puts on the turban, mounts his horse, and
the whole party starts for the bride's with drums and pipes.
When they draw near the booth in front of the bride's house, the
bride's mother meets the bridegroom at the door, waves dough lamps

Deocaa)

AHMADNA6AB.

205

round tlie bridegroom's head^ and ponrs water on his feet in order
that the spirits may not enter the booth with him or cross the
water mark on the groand. A raised earth seat or ota is prepared
in the booth and a square is traced on it with wheat flour. Two low
stools are set in the square opposite each other^ and the bridegroom
is made to stand on one of them facing east and the bride stands
before him &cing west. A white sheet or pdsodi is held between
the pair, a Brahman priest repeats the marriage texts, and
the guests of both sexes throw yellow rice on the pair. At
the lucky moment the priest draws the curtain aside, the
musicians play, and the pair are husband and wifa The pair
are then seated close to each other the girl on the boy's left on a
blanket spread near the altar in the booth and the hems of their
garments are tied in a knot. The priest kindles the sacred or horn
fire before them on the raised altar or bahule and throws rice and
clarified butter into the fire. The pair then leave their seats and
lay a cocoannt before the house gods and bow to them. Priests
from both houses are presented with 48, to 69. (Rs. 2-3) in cash
and the guests with betel. The boy and girl bow to the elders of
the house and their garments are untied The bridegroom and his
party are treated to a dinner and the first day is over. At the bride's
house neither the jhdl or handing the girl to the bridegroom's
mother nor the jhenda or war dance is performed. The couple
alone remain at the bride's, the rest of the bridegroom's party
retiring to a house close by as soon as dinner is over.
Next morning at the bride's the pair are rubbed with
turmeric, bathed in warm water, and treated to a dinner of rice
and pulse. In the evening the bridegroom's pa^ty are asked to
the bride's with music and the phal or lap-filling is performed.
When the guests are seated^ the bridegroom's father presents
the bride with a new robe and bodice, a sheet called phadki, and
if he is well-to-do with ornaments. The pair are seated close
together, the bride on the bridegroom's left, the bridegroom's sister
knots together the hems of their garments and fills the bride's lap
with rice, five cocoanuts, five betel leaves and nuts, five dates,
and five turmeric roots. The priest marks the brows of the pair
with vermilion and on the vermilion sticks grains of rice. Laistly
each guest comes forward, marks the brows of the pair with vermi-
lion, sticks rice on the vermilion, waves a copper coin round the
ooople, and throws it away. The bride's father feasts the bride-
groom's party if he can afford it, or at least feeds the pair and pre-
sents the bridegroom with a waistcloth. The marriage coroneti
which was tied to the bridegroom's brow before the marriage is taken
away and another is put in its place. The pair are seated on horse-
back and taken to the bridegroom's house with music and a band
of friends. The bridegroom's father treats the guests to a dinner
and serves them with betel after the meal is over. Two men
perform the jhenda or war dance by bearing the pair on their
shoulders and dancing in a circle, while musicians play and guests
throw turmeric powder. When the dance is over the brow-horn
is taken off the bridegroom's head and the marriage ceremony is
over. When a widow marries she makes her own choice and asks

Chapter III.
Population.

Unssttled
Tbibbs.

KolU,

[Bombay OaMtteerr

206

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
FopulatioxL.

Unskttlkd
Tribes.

KolU.

her friends and relations. If they approve of her choice the priest
names a lacky day and goes to her house after the rest of the
household have gone to bed. The pair are seated in a square
which the priest has marked off with lines of wheat flour. The
bridegroom comes to the house with one or two male friends and
the bride joitis them with some of her kinsmen. The priest
worships a betelnut Gttnpati and a metal waterpot Yarnn whose
mouth is closed with betel leaves and a cocoanut. Sandal paste,
flowers, turmeric, redpowder, and sweetmeats are laid before the
betelnut and the waterpot, the hems of the pair's garments are
knotted together, and the lap of the bride is filled with
rice, cocoanut, betel, and fruit She bows before the gods and
the priest marks her brow with vermilion and leaves her. A
widow bride is unlucky for three days after her marriage,
and must take care that no married woman sees her until the
three days are over. If, after the marriage, the widow bride
or her husband sickens, or if any evil befalls them, they send
to ask a bhcLgat or medium what is to be done to remove the
evil. The medium generally says the evil is caused by the spirit of
the dead husband who is annoyed at his wife marrying again. The
bride gives a feast, spends some money in charity, and has a tiny
silver image of her husband made and put in a copper case and
either wears it round her neck or sets it among the house gods.
When a girl comes of age she sits apart for three days, is bathed on
the fourth, and her lap is filled with rice and a cocoanut. They bury
the dead and mourn them ten days. When a Koli is on the point
of death, his son or his wife lets fall into his mouth a few drops of
water from the point of a sweet basil or tulsi leaf. When the dying
man has breathed his last the women of the house raise a loud cry
and friends and relations come and mouni. A fire is lighted outside
of the house, rice is cooked in one earthen pot and water is heated
in another. The body is carried out of the house and laid on the
veranda with the feet towards the south. The head is rubbed with
butter and washed with warm water. The body is covered with a
white sheet or a piece of cloth, laid on the bier, and shrouded from
head to foot in another sheet in the hem of which some boiled rice
is tied. On the sheet red and scented powders are sprinkled and
the chief mourner is given a small piece of cloth to tie round his
chest, He holds the jar of boiled rice in his left hand and a jar
with live charcoal or cowdung-cakes in his right hand and starts
walking from the house. Four near kinsmen raise the bier and
follow him. On the way near the burying ground the bearers set
three stones together, lay the bier on them for a short time, raise it,
and change places those in front going behind and those behind
coming in front. On reaching the river near the burying ground
the bidr is lowered and the chief mourner dashes the jar with the
burning cowdung cakes and live coal on the ground and beats hi^
mouth with the back of his open hand. The mourners then dig a
grave and lay the dead in it on its back. Meanwhile the chief
mourner bathos in the river, fetches an earth pot filled with water,
and pours a little of the water into the dead mouth. The chief
mourner scatters a little earth on the dead and the other mourners

Deeoan-I

AHMADNAQAR.

207

fill the grave with earth. The bodies of persona who die of a

lingering disease or who die suddenly are bnmed not buried as

the death is believed to have been due to witchcraft. Either the

same evening or the next morning they examine the ashes to see

if they can find any unconsumed bits of cloth or of some article of

food. If they find a piece of cloth or some grain they believe that

what they have found was the cause of deaths and that it was worked

into the dead man^s intestines by a witch who had been employed to

do this by some one from whom the dead man had stolen some cloth or

some grain. Under Mar&tha rule if the friends of the dead man found

articles of this kind, the magician, unless he bribed some local officer,

was sent for a time to some hill f ort.^ The chief mourner takes an earth

pot fall of water and walks three times round the grave. At each turn

a man who stands near him pierces a hole in the vessel and water

gushes out. At the end of the third turn the chief mourner throws

the vessel over his back and beats his mouth with the back of his

open hand. All bathe and return to the house of mourning. While

the funeral party are away the women smear the whole house with

cowdung, they spread rice flour where the deceased breathed his last,

and set a lighted lamp on the flour, and cover the lamp with a

bamboo basket. When the chief mourner returns from the burial

ground he fills a copper pot with water, and pours a little water on

the hand of each of the funeral party who in turn throws it on the

chief mourner and goes home. Next day the funeral party examines

the spot where flour was strewn for marks of footprints. If the

footprint of any animal or if any mark like an animal's footprint

is seen the people are relieved because the dead has ceased to be a

disembodied spirit. The mourners then pour a little cow's urine into a

hollow castor or erand stick, take the stick with them to the btjrial

ground, the chief mourner carrying four wheat cakes in his hand.

Two of the cakes are laid at the spot where the bearers changed places,

and the chief mourner pours the cow's urine and the milk on the grave.

He lays one of the cakes at the head and the other at the feet of the

dead, and covers the grave with prickly pear and other thorny shrubs

that foxes and jackals may not disturb the dead. On the tenth day

the chief mounter accompanied by his priest visits the burial ground

with a little rice, wheat flour, sesamum, turmeric, and vermilion,

bathes in the river, has his face clean shaved, again bathes, and

prepares eleven wheat flour and twelve boiled rice balls. He offers

sesamum, turmeric, and vermilion to the balls, bows to them in the

name of the dead, and asks the crows to come and feed on them.

If the crows come and eat it shows that the spirit of the dead has

entered a new body and is happy. If the crows refuse to eat,

the dead is displeased or anxious. If the crows keep away the

moumera call on the dead and promise to take care of his ramily

and his goods. Every means is tried to persuade the crows^to eat.

If none of them succeeds, the mourners tkrow the balls into the river

or feed oowa with them. All bathe in the river and return home, wash

Chapter III.
Population.

Unsettled
Tribes.

^ Mackintosh in Trana. Bom. Geog. Soc. I. 225.

[Bombay Gai^tteer,

208

DISTRICTS.

Chapter in-
Popiilation.

Unsettlbd
Tribes.

Kolis.

the house with cowdnng, and on the thirteenth day feed caste
people who generally come unasked. If a person dies without
children^ the ten-ball or dcupindi ceremony is performed not on the
tenth day but on the first no-moon day after the death-day. The
bodies of married women who die before their husbands are generally
dressed in a green robe and bodice and green lac bangles are put
on their wrists^ their brow is marked with vermiUon^ and rice is
stuck on it^ aad their lap is filled with rice and cocoanut. They are
taken to the burial-ground and buried. The bodies of widows are
not adorned, and are buried with the same rites as the bodies of
men. Kolis have a caste council and settle social disputes at meet-
ings of castemen. In former times, the Mah&der Kolis had a
tribunal named gotami or family council for settling social disputes
and punishing breaches of morals and social rules. There were six
members, the president or rcigatvdn, the deputy or metal, the con-
stable or aabla, the rod or dhalia, the cowbone or hadkya, and the
earthen pot or madkya. These members were hereditary and acted
under the authority of the chief Eoli ndiJc who formerly lived at
Junnar. The president or ragatvdn, who belonged to the Shesh
clan, after consulting the chief nddk, ordered the trial of any one
accused of a breach of rules, and no one was let back into caste till
he had eaten from the same dish as the ra>gaivan. The deputy or
metal, who was of the Eed&r clan, helped the president and actea for
him when he was away. The constable or adbla, who was of the
Ehirsdgar clan, moved from village to village inquiring into the
people's conduct, seizing people accused of bad morals, and handing
them to the president. The rod or dhalia, who was of the Shesh
clan, placed a branch of umbar or jdmbhul over any offender's door
who refused to obey the council's decision* The cowbone or hadkya,
who was of the Shesh clan, fastened the bone of a dead cow over
the offender's door. This was the formal act of expulsion ; but, if
contrite, the offender might again be admitted. The earthen pot or
madkya, who was also of the Shesh clan, superintended the purificar-
tion of the offender's house and took away his earthen gprain pots.
The usual punishment was a fine, part of which was paid to tho
members of the caste council and part if the fine was large waa
used in repairing village temples. Bastards, both boys and girls,
were allowed into caste if the mther gave a dinner at a cost of £4 to
£6 (Bs. 40-60), and women of other castes except the impure onea
were allowed to become Eolis if they stated before the president
that they were willing to join the tribe, and in the presence of fifteen
Eoli women ate food, part of which had been eaten by the members
of the caste council. Though there are no local officers in Ahmad-
nagar there are some traces of the caste council, but it is not
respected as ^it used to be. Now smaller breaches of social disci-
pline a»e punished at caste meetings, the offender being called on to
aistribtHie a certain quantity of clarified butter among the village
households. If he is obstinate the offender is turned out of
caste. ^ They do not send their children to school or take to new
pursuits. Still they say they are better off than they used to be.

Beeootl

AHMADNAGAR.

209

Ba'mosliis,^ said to be originally Bdmvanshis or desoeDdantB
of BAca, nambering 3991 are found all over the district. Like the
Bimoshis of Poena they seem to have come into Ahmadnagar
from the south and south-east though when and why is not known.
A Rimoshi can hardly be distinguished from a Eunbi or other mid-
dle class Mar^thi-speaking Deccan Hindu. The features are gene-
lully coarse and harsh though many Rdmoshis have fine active and
well made bodies. In language^ dress, house^ food^ and character
they differ little from the R&moshis of Poena. As a rule they are
dirty^ hardworking, hot tempered, cunning, extravagant, and fond of
show, and have a bad name for honesty. They formerly committed
gang and highway robberies, and ikej are always apt to &11
back into their old ways. They ga either alone or by twos and threes
and break into houses by day or nigbt. They are notorious cattle-
stealers but never rob in their own village. They call in the aid of
Mhirs and M4ngs and have the village goldsmiths in their pay ready
to smelt stolen ornaments. Men living on the borders of the
Ni24m's territories, leave their houses at night, march some miles
across the border, rob, and before dawn return with the plunder.
They keep on friendly terms with the village officers and in^^
formation against them is difficult to get. Still as a class the
Ramoshis of Ahmadnagar are to a great extent reclaimed from their
old criminal and unsetUed habits. Many have become husbandmen
and many work as labourers. Many are village watchmen earning
16$. to £1 (B8.8-10) a month, and some are police constables,
messengers, and soldiers. Though treacherous with outsiders, they
are faithful to each other. A Bamoshi will die rather than betray a
friend. They are intelligent and useful detectives. They worship
Bahiroba, Khandoba of Jejuri in Poena, Mah^ev, and M&ruti, keep
all Hindu feasts, and fast on all Ekddaahia or lunar elevenths. They
ask a Ueshasth BhLhman to conduct their weddings. They believe
in witchcraft soothsaying and evil spirits ; cluld-marriage polygamy
and widow^marriage are practised and polyandry is unknown. Boys
are married between twelve and twenty-five, and girls between
three and Siteen. All their social and religious customs are the same
as those of Poena B&moshis. Few among them send their boys to
school, but they have lately begun to take to useful pursuits.

BaValfly or Priests of Bhairavn&th, are returned as numbering 261
andasfound in small numbers all over the district except in Nev&sa and
Pamer. They claim descent from Gorakshn&th the favourite disciple
of Maohhendran&th. The names in common use among men are
Bandu, Bhdu, Bhav^ni, Divba, Garibndth, Govinda, B&mn^th,
Righaji, SakMrdm, Satv&ji, S&vl&r&m, and Vithaln&th; and among
women Bh&girthi, Dhondi, Gangu, Kondi, Bakhma, R&td, Saku,
and Sarasvati. Their commonest surnames are Badke, Bh&leri^
Bh^lerai, Gajalkar, L&khe, Lamde, Mohite, Nityan&th, Barvat,
Tant and Y&njhe; and their family gods are Bdra Jotilisg and
Mahidev* They have no subdivisions and persona bearing the
same surname cannot intermarry. They look like Jangams or
Ling^yat priests^ and are strong, dark and well made. They live

Chapter III«
Population-

Unseitlvd
Tribes.

BdvalH

^ Det^Ia of Btmoshf cnstoma are given in the Foonft Statistical Account,
a 77^—27

(Bombaj Oantteer,

210

DISTRICTS.

OhftptflrlH.
Fopiil&tiioiii

Unbcitlkd

RavaU.

in one-Btoreyed hired bonses with mud walls and 'thatched roofsj
and their hoose goods include bamboo baskets, grindstones, and
metal and clay pots. They rarely own servants or domestic
animals, and dogs and parrots are among their pets. They are
great eaters and poor cooks, and their staple food is Indian
millet bread and vegetables. They are fond of sour and pungent
dishes, and their special dishes inclnde rice, poise, fried cifikes or
telchia, sweet wheat cakes and rice flour boiled in water and mixed
with molasses and seasoned with spices. They say they do not use
mutton, and liquor is forbidden on pain of loss of caste. They aro

E'ven to smoking hempflower or gdmja and tobacco, and drinking*
impwater or hhang. Like Gk)s£vi|, the men dress in ochre-coloured
clothes including a waistcloth, a snouldercloth, a coat, and a Har6-
tha-shaped headscarf or turban, with a pair of sandals and a neck-
lace of rudrdhsh beads about their necks. The women tie their
hair in a back-knot without using flowers or false hair and wear a
Mardtha robe and bodice, without passing the skirt back between
their feet. Their ornaments are like those worn by local Knnbis.
As a class they are dirty, but honest, orderly, thrifty, and
hospitable. They are hereditary beggars, and of late have taken to
husbandry and coarse blanket weaving. The poor work as labourers^
earning about 6d, {4 as,) a day. The women mind the house and
beg when they haye nothing to do at home. They lire from hand
to mouth and are often in debt. They stop work only on holidays.
They rauk below Kunbis and above the impure classes. They wor-
ship their family deities, local and boundaiy gods, keep all Hindu
fasts and feasts, and visit the shrines of Ehandoba of Jejuri in Poona
and of Vithoba of Pandharpur in ShoUpur. Their priest is a local
fir&hman who conducts their marriage and death ceremonie& The
popular fast days among ihem are the lunar elevenths or Wcddashis in
A'shddh or July and Shrdvan or August. They belong to the Natli
sect, and theirreligious teacher is a RdvalGk)8ivi who preaches the Nath
doctrines to his disciples in the form of a harikirtcm or songs in praise
of Hari or Vishnu. His office is elective and he has no share in
settling oaste disputes. They say they do not believe in witchcraft
Boothsaying or evil spirits. They perform only three ceremonies or
aanskdrs at birth marriage and death. Satvdi is never worshipped
after the birth of a child nor is the mother held impure in
consequence of a birth. The mother keeps her room for forty days
after the child is bom and the child is named and cradled on the
thirteenth day by women neighbours who are asked to the house.
Boiled gram or gkugris is handed among the guests and they
leave. Boys are married between fifteen and twenty-five, and girla
generally bafore they come of age. The offer of marriage as a rule
comes from the boy's parents. If the girl's father agrees, the boy^a
fathef visits the girl and presents her with a new robe and bodice
and ornaments. The girl is dressed in the new suit, her lap is filled
with rice and a cocoanut, and her brow is marked with vermilion by
the boy's father. The priest names a lucky day for the marriage
and guests are asked. The bridegroom puts on the marriage
coronet and visits the girPs house with music and a band of friends
and kinapeople. The pair are made to stand on two low alools

Seooai^j

AHMADNAaAB.

21x

oppo^te each ofiher witli a cortom held between tiiem. The priest
chants marriage verses and the gaesta throw yellow Indian miUet
seeds over the pair. At the lucky moment the priest pulls the
curtain to one aide and tibe pair are husband and wife. The bride's
£ftther serves the guests with betel and treats the bridegroom^s party
to a dinner. The second and tiiird days are spent in the jhdl or
handing the bride to her new parents and the^i^Tuia or war dance
which is performed as among local husbandmen. They bury the
dead. The dead body is seated in ekjholi or cloth caught up at the
comers and carried by four men to ike funeral ground. . The chief
moomera walk in fronts and the dead is laid in the grave and
covered with salt and eaj^. The chief mourner carries an earthen
pot full of water on his shoulders and walks three times round the
grave, and throws the pot over his shoulder. Kinsmen are not held
impure in consequence of a death and castepeople are treated to a
dinner within forty days of the death. Among Bivals^ widow
marriage early marriage and polygamy are allowed and practised
and polyandry is unknown. They have a caste council^ and settle
caste disputes at meetings of adult castemen or panch under their
hereditary headman or kd/rbharu Breaches of social rules are
punished with fines which generally take the form of caste feasts, and
the decisions of the caste council are obeyed on pain of ezpulsiou.
A few of them send their boys to school, but they take to no useful
employments and are badly off.

Tirmfllis, or Performing Bullockmen, are returned as numbering
436 and as found all over the district except in Akola. They are
WBiidering Telugn beggars of the shepherd casta The names in
oonunan use among men are Butu, Govinda, Lakshman, Phakira, and
Satviji; and among women, Bhav&ni, Lakshimi, Tukdb^i, and
Tal^bii. Their surnames areOadn, Kadam,Kanchkemodu,Patar, and
B&aoti. Persons bearing the same surname cannot intermarry. Their
hometongue is a corrupt Telugu, and out of doors they speak a broken
Marithi. They live in tents or pdls outside of the village, and
their staple food is millet bread, split pulse, and vegetables. They
eat flesh except beef and pork and drink liquor. Sweet wheat flour
cakes stufibd with boiled pulse and molasses and meat are among
their chief dainties. Both men and women dress like local Mar&tha
Kunbia As a class they are clean and hospitable but lazy and
improvident. Begging from door to door is their hereditary
calling. They keep a buU decked with brass ornaments and bells,
and cover his back with a patched quilt of various colours. The
driver dresses in a red turban and throws a scarf round his neck
while a follower beats a drum or dhoUd. They are very poor and
are content with their daily earnings. They are worshippers of
fihavAni of Tulj^pur in the Nizdm's country, Mah^ev, and
Vya&koba of Tirupati in North Arkot but they worship other local
gods and keep all Hindu fasts. They pay great respect to all
claeses of Br^mans, and, if their means allow, offer them uncooked
prorvisions on holidays and &8ts. They profess not to believe in
witohcmft and soothsaying. Widow marriage earlj marriage and
polygamy are allowed and practiaed, and polyandry is unknown. On
the SBkh day after the birth of a chHd, three stones are worshipped

Ontpter m.
Fopulatioii.

UmsnxxD
Tribsb.

TirmcUis.

[Bombay OtaeUeer,

212

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ni.
Population.

UnSKTIIiBD

TaniBs.

■

Tirmalis.

Thdkun.

VaidMi.

in the name of Satv&i and lamps of dough are waved aboat them.
A very faint feeling of imparity attaches to childbirtL The mother
is laid on a blanket spread on the ground in the tent or pal, is
fed on boiled millet, and, from the sixth day, is allowed to move
out of doors. Before a marriage a booth is made in front of the
tent or pal and an altar or baJiule is raised in it. Their marriages
are generally performed in Shrdvan or August when all castemen
return home from their tours. The couple are rubbed with turmeric
two or three days before the marriage and ndid pulse is worshipped
as the marriage guardian or devak. The Brdhman priest visits the
booth and joins the hands of the couple, while musicians of their
own caste play, and the pair are husband and wife. They bury
their dead. The body is laid on the bier and without a rest on
the way is taken to the burial ground by four kinsmen. At the
burying ground the body is at once laid in the grave, water is
squeezed into its mouth and it is covered with earth. Ceremonial
impurity lasts ten days when friends and relations are asked to
dine at the house of mourning either on the thirteenth day or on
any day before the end of tihie fifth month. They have a caste
council and settle social disputes at caste meetings. Breadies of
rules are condoned by caste feasts. They do not send their children
to school or take to new pursuits and are a poor people.

Thalcars properly Thd,kurs or Chiefs are returned as numbering
300 and as found in J^mkhed and P&rner. They have no memory
of any former home and are believed to be one of the earliest
tribes in the district. Their names and surnames are the same as
the names of Th&na Th&kurs, and in appearance, food, character,
calling, and customs they do not differ from the TMkurs of Th£na.

Vaidus or Drug Hawkers, returned as numbering twenty-nine^
are found roving all over the district. They are a wandering dass of
Telncru beggars. The names in common use among men are Bhimda,
Elldpa, Gangdr^m, Govinda, Xdshirdim, Machdu, M&rnti, and
Sinhr^m ; and among women, Bhima, Ganga, Gita, P&rvati, and Sita,
They have no surnames or family names and all except dose kins-
people inay intermarry. Their family deities are vyankatraman
of T^pati in North Arkot and Chatarshingi of Poena. They
belong U> four divisions, Bhoi Vaidus, Dhangar Yaidus, Koli Yaidas^
and M61i Vaidus. Though these four classes neither eat together
nor intermarry, they differ little from one another in look, food,
character, calling, or customs. They are dark strong and well
made, and speak a corrupt Mar&thi abroad and a dialect of Telugn
at home. They are an unsettled and houseless class. They
generally live in grass mat huts or in small tents or pals. Their
house goods include earthen pots and one or two blankets, and they
own ^ses and dog^. They are great eaters and poor cooks, and
their staple food is Indian millet bread rice and vegetables which
they gather by begging through the streets in the morning. They
eat the usual kinds of animal food except beef and pork. On
Dasara in September they are careful to lay boiled mutton before
their house gods and afterwards eat it as the god's gift or prasdd.
Both men and women drink liquor, the men smoke hemp flower

J>ee6aa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

213

cr gdnja, and tobaoco^ bat none drink hempirater or bhang or
eat opimn. The men ehave the head except the top-knot and
wear the beard which on pain of loss of caste they must neither
shave nor trim. Women tie their haiv in a back-knot^ bat do not
wear flowers or false hair. The men wear ochre-coloored clothes
indading a loincloth or a pair of short drawers called cJiaddis, a
shoolderclothj a smock or bandi, a Mar&tha-shaped tarban^ and a
parr of sandals or shoes ; the women dress in a robe hanging like a
petticoat from the waist to the ankles and a bodice with a back and
short sleeves* They are very poor and have no store of gold or
silver ornaments^ wearing ornaments of tin moulded in the shapes
worn bv Kanbis. The women wear glass or tin bangles on
their rignt wrists^ tin bracelets or gots on the left wrists^ and strings
of ooral beads round their necks. They are hardworking orderly
and thrifty^ bat dirty and deceitful to their patients. Their chief
and hereditary calling is gathering healing herbs and roots and
hawking them from village to village^ or begging alms from door to
door* They never work as labourers or house servants. On halting
at a vills^ or town^ they walk through the streets with two bags
filled with medicines tied to the ends of a pole slung across their
shoulder, and call Mandwr mdtra void The drug selling doctor, or
Ifddi paaikaha vaid The pulse-testing doctor, if they are called into
any noose they prescribe some healing drug or metallic oxide, or
bleed the sick with a conical copper cup. The women also hawk
medicines from door to door and beg alms ; the children play on a
bamboo pipe or ndgsur and dance through the streets asking alms.
They live from hand to mouth and are a contented class. The men
rise with the dawn, take a meal, and go to the forest lands to hunt
for birds and beasts ; the women mind the house or go begging
about the streets with their children. They rank below local
husbandmen and are careless about religious rites. Their family
god is Vyankoba of Oiri or Tirupati in North Arkot, but when
they are on their wandering tours they seldom carry his image
with them. They never go on pilgrimages or keep any fast or feast
except Daswra in September, when they offer boiled mutton to their
gods and feast on it. Local Joshis are seldom asked to conduct
their marriages or any other ceremonies, and they seldom have any
religious teacher. They say they do not believe in witchcraft
soothsaying or evil spirits. £arly marriage polygamy and widow
marriage are allowea and practised among them and polyandry is
uaknown. On the birth of a child the mo^er is fed with pounded
Indian millet boijed in water and mixed with molasses. They seldom
worship Satv&i on the fifth day after childbirth, or name and cradle the
child on the twelfth or thirteenth day. If the child is a boy they ask
the village barber to shave its head, present the barber with a copper
coin and some betel, and bathe the child. The father proeents
the child with a new coat or a shouldercloth and names it, A girl
is named by her parents without any ceremony when she is old
enough to answer to her name. Boys are married before they are
twenty.five, and girls generally after they have come of age. They
a^tle th^r marriages at Madhi in Shevgaon where all Vaidus meet in
the month of Phdlgun or March. The offer of marriage comes from

C9iapter IIL
Population.

Unssttlxd

VaiiduB.

IBcmibair Gaavttier.

214

DISTRICTS.

C9iapter III.
Fopiilftti0ii*

UN8KETLED
TaiBES.

Yaidua,

MU8AL1CA5S.

ihe boy's father, aad if the girl's father agrees the boy's father asks
him and the girl, with soiae of his kinspeople to his hotxse. The
boy's father receives the gneats, gives the girl 2tf.(Be.l) for oil
and serves betel to all present. After this betrothal the match
cannot be broken off on pain of loss of caste. Thoagh girls are
often not married till after they come of age the betrothal takes
place while they are yonng. On pain of loss of caste no man is
allowed to take money from the boy's father. They never worship
a marriage gaardian or devak before or after a marriage. On
the marriage day both families, each at their own village, visit the
local M&ruti, smear the god with oil and redlead, lay a copper coin
before him, crack a cocoanut, and wash the god's feet with its water.
The brideeroom visits the bride's honse with masic of bamboo
pipes or nagsurs and a band of friends and kinsfolk, the coaple
are seated together on a mat the bride to the bridegroom's left, tho-
village barber is asked to the house, and, after plucking with
pincers some of the brow hairs shaves the bridegroom's headAKOept
the top-knot and his face except the moustache. The pair are
bathed in warm water, dressed in new clothes, and the heoaa of their
garments are tied in a knot by the Br&hman priest or some elderly
married person of tl^ bride's honse. A flower garland is thrown
romid the neck of the bridegroom and a lucky thread about tho
bride's neck. The bridegroom never wears a marriage coronet or
hdshirhg. If a priest attends he ties the hems of the pair's garments,
is paid id. to |(2. {\*i a.) and retires. The gprl's cheeks are rubbed
with turmeric paste and her brow is marked with vermilion.
Friends and kinsfolk are treated to a dinner at the bride's and the
pair go to the bridegroom's. When a girl comes of age she sits
apart for three days, is bathed on the fourth, and her brow is
marked with vermilion. They bury their dead. After death the
body is placed in a sling hung from the middle of a pole which is
carried to the burying ground on the shoulders of two men. They
lay the dead in the grave, and fill it with salt and earth. They then
boil dmbil or rice gruel, leave it at the grave in the name of the
dead, take a meal, and go to their houses. Some hold the kinsmen
of the dead impure, others observe no impurity. They have no
mind-iites to the dead except on the twelfth or thirteenth day
after death, when they feed the castepeople with dmbil or rioe
gpruel. Yaidus who keep grindstones orjcmtea and patched quilts
or godhdis in their houses are put out of caste. They are bound
together by a strong caste feeling, and settle social disputes at
meetings of castemen under their headman or pdtil who lives in the
Niz&m's country and coiq^s every year to visit them at Madhi in
Shevgaon, during Phdlgvn or March. Breaches of social rules are
condoned by caste-feasts or fines which genefrally take the form of
casterfeasts. The decisions of the headbnan or patU are final and
no one but him is allowed to meddle with caste matters. They de
not send their children to school or take to new pursuits. They
are a falling class.

Musalma^ns^ are returned as numbering 39,592 or 5*27 per oent

1 Compiled from muterifclB rappUsd by Mflisra. fiafiz Wadr All and Mobuunad
KhAn.

BbocuuI

AHMADNAQAR. 215

of (he population. They inclode thirty-five diyiaions^ seventeen of Chapter HI-
which marry together and form t^e main body of vegnlar Musalm&ns, Population,
and eighteen form distinct commnnities marrying only among ^ ^^
themaekes.

All Nagar Mnsalmdns wear the beard. They are stronger and
Bsore muscnlar^ and the Bohor&s, Memans, and T&mbatgars are
fairer than most Nagar Hindna The home tongue of all Mnsal-
mAas^ except of Bohor&a and Memans who speak Gujardti and
Catchi, ia Hindustani spoken either correctly or with a mixture of
Maritthi. Many Tdmbatgars and M4rw&r dyers nsed to speak
lA&rw&n at home^ but they now use Hindustani with a Mirwdri
accent. Some well-to-do jdgirddrs or land proprietors and
Government servants have two storeyed houses with stone or brick
walls, tiled roofs^ and four to eight rooms^ and a ddlan or men^s
hall with European tables, chairs, and sofas. Some well-to-do
Bohords and Memans have two storeyed well built houses with
tiled. <y fiat roofs. Men of these classes seldom use European
fumitore. Craftsmen live in one or two storeyed houses with
walls of ^sun-burnt bricks or planking with dhdba or flat roofs.
Some of t&e well-to-do have the inside of their houses neatly white-
waned and coloured, and generally have a cot or two and some
quilts, blankets, and carpets. They do not use European tables and
chaira. In their kitchen they have copper and brass vessels tinned
both iaaide and outside and some earthen pots. The houses of
well-to-do Muhammadans cost £50 to £300 (Rs. 500-8000) to build,
a middle-class house £10 to £100 (Bs. 100-1000), and a poor house
£5 to £20 (Bs. 50 - 200) . The furniture in a rich house is worth £20
to £50 (Rs. 200-500), in a middle class house £5 to £20 (Rs. 50- 200),
and in a poor house lOa. to £2 10«. (Rs. 5-25). Some well-to-do
land proprietors. Government servants, and Bohora and Meman
tiaders keep a woman and two men servants and some keep she
buffaloes, cows, and horses. Middle and poor families have no
servants and seldom any animals except goats. Almost all Musal-
m4ns live in their own houses. Some have more than one house
which they let The yearly rent of the better class of houses is
£2 8«. to £6 (Rs. 24-60), of middle class houses £1 49. to £3
(Rs. 12-S0)» and of poor houses 6^. to £1 48. (Rs. 3-12). The every-
day food of rich and well-to-do families includes boiled rice, wheat,
bread,pul8e,eggs,vegetable8,fiBh,andmutton ; of middleclassfamilies
millet bread and sometimes wheat bread, gram and other pulses^
vegetables, beef, and sometimes mutton; cmd of poor families, rata,
rice, bdjfi or vari, pulse, and vegetables. Almost all Deccan Musal-
zuins eat more chillies than other Musalm4ns. Well-to-do proprie-
k>rB and Government servants take two meals a day, breakfast about
sxDe or ten in the morning, and supper between eight and nine in
the evening* In.addition to the two main meals a few rich proprie-
tors and Oovemment servants drink tea with bread about seven in
the morning and some drink milk. The monthly cost of food in a
rich proprietor's or Government servant's family of not more than
six persons with a yearly income of £120 to £200 (Rs. 1200-2000)
varies from £3 to £6 (Ks. 30-60); in a rich Bohora or Mehm4n
£mwlj with a yearly income of £60 to £70 (Bs. 600-700) £2 IO9. to

[Bombay Gasetteeri

216

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

MvsalmIns^

£3 (Rs. 25-30) ; in a well-tb-doDeccan artisan's family £1 to £2 10«.
(Rs. 10-25) ; and in a poor Musalm^n family Ss. to 16«. (Rs. 4-8).

All ricli proprietors^ Government servants^ Bohor^s^ and Memana
eat mntton daily and some well-to-do Decoan artisans eat mutton
once or twice a week. Middle class Deccan Musalmdns eat ^eef,
some daily and some twice a week. The poor try to have mutton
on the Bamzdn and Bakar Ids and on other great days. Almost all
Deccan Musalmdns eat buffalo or cow beef without scruple as it is
cheaper than mntton. Rich land proprietors^ Bohords, Memaus, and
Goyemment servants eat fowls and eggs> daily^ weekly, or once a
month. At the public dinners of almost all classes the chief dishes
are birydni, rice boiled with fried mutton clarified butter and spices;
jarda, rice boiled with clarified butter, sugar, saffron, almonds,
cardamoms, cloves, pepper, and cinnamon ; puldo, rice boiled with
mntton clarified butter and spices ; and khushka kalia boiled rice
and curry. To feed lOO guests on hiryam or fried mutton and
spiced rice costs about £5 (Rs. 50), on j7u{ao or spiced rice and boiled
mutton £3 (Rs. 30), and on khushka kalia or curry and rice £2
(Rs. 20). Almost all rich and well-to-do townsmen and artisans
give hirydni s,nd jarda on public feasts and middle or poor families

five puldo or khibshka kalia. These dinners are given On marriage,
eath, initiation or bismillah, and sacrifice or akika ceremony. The
Musalm&n's usual drink is water and milk, but some of them take
tea once or twice a day. Of intoxicants some Kasdbs or butchers,
Tak^r^ or masons, Pin]d,rds or cotton teasers, and others drink
fermented palm juice, country spirits, hempwater or bhdng, and
millet beer or bqja. Almost all men and women are very fond of
betel leaf and betelnut, some chew tobacco witb betel leaf, and
some old men take snuff. Except Bohor^ almost all Musalm^ns
smoke tobacco in water pipt^s or hukkds. Some smoke Madras
cigars and some smoke bidis or leaf cigars. Some servants, land
proprietors, and low Deccanis are given to opium eating, opium
or chandul tmoking, and gdnja or hempflower smoking. The dress
of the different communities vai;^es greatly. Among respectable
Syeds, land proprietors, and Government servants men wear the
small flat Moghal tnrban of fine white cloth which is known aa
naMalik or plain.^ Plain turbans are also worn by Attdrs or perfum-
ers, Gaundis or bricklayers, Rangrezes or dyers, Sutdrg or carpen-
ters, and T&mbatgars or coppersmiths, but most of the men of these
communities prefer red to white and wear the turban larger than
the correct Moghal shape, Bdgbd.ns or fruiterers and other classes
of local converts wear large white or red loosely rolled Hindu-like
tnrbans. The Bohora turban is white oval and tightly wounds and
Memans wear silk or silver-bordered phentds or headscarves. A
plain cotton turban costs 8^. to IQs. (Ks. 4-8), one of cotton with
gold^ends£l to £3 (Rs. 10-30), of silk £2 to £5 (Rs. 20-50), of
silk with gold ends £3 to £10 (Rs. 30-100), and all of sUk and gold
called mandils from £10 to £15 (Rs. 100-150). Some wear cotton
or half cotton and half silk turbans daily; and silk and gold

1 NdUdlik la ^ Penaan word moBmog phin.

Deccas.]

AHMADNAGAR.

217

turbaoB on holidays and pnblic feasfcs. An evory-day turban lasts
ono or two years, and a holiday turban for nearly thirty years. Some
land proprietors. Government servants, and well-to-do traders and
craftsmen wear the kudta or muslin shirt falling to the knee, and>
over the shirt a kafcha or tight waistcoat and an angarkha or
overcoat, and some of them the kdba or Moghal buttoned coat.
Bohords and Memans wear a shirt &lling to the knee, and over
the shirt a waistcoat and a long coat. Other Deccanis, the
Kasdbs or batchers, the Many&rs or braceletmen, and the Pinj4rto
or cotton teasers wear an angarkha or long coat without the
shirt or waistcoat. Proprietors, Government servants, and some
well-to-do merchants and artisans, Bohor^s, and Memans, some
Bigb&ns or fruiterers, Saikalgars or armourers, and Warraks or
paper makers, dress in tight or loose trousers. Some B^gbdns or
fruiterers, Kasiibs or butchers, Pinj&r&s or cotton teasers, and
Takar^ or stone masons wear Hindu waistcloths or dhotis. Except
some who prefer broad curl-toed and high heeled Upper India shoes,
almost all the younger proprietors and Government servants and
some Memans and Bohoras use English-shaped shoes or boots with
socks or stockings. Almost all the middle and low classes of local
converts wear country shoes of different fashions. Some Bohords
and Memans like Gajardti shoes. Almost all country-made shoes
are of red goat's leather called nari and cost 28. to 5«. (Bs. 1-24)
the pair. A rich man's wardrobe is worth £30 to £60 (Bs. 300 - 600) ;
a middle class man's £10 to £15 (Bs. 100-150) ; and a poor man's
£2 to £5 (B& 20-50). A rich man spends £2 to £6 (Bs. 20-60) a
year on clothes; a middle class man £1 to £1 10«. (Bs. 10-15);
and a poor man 10«. to 16«. (Bs. 5-8). The women in rich and
well-to-do families dress in the odwi or headscarf, the kudti or
short sleeveless shirt, a few in angids or short-sleeved bodices
worked with gold and silver thread and many in cholia or short-
sleeved bodices oovering the back and fastened in a knot in
front, and tight pdyjamds or trousers. Except widows whose
coloor is white women generally dress in red, yellow, green,
crimson, and other bright colours. Tdmbatgar or coppersmith
women di^ess somewhat like Mdrw&ri women in an odni or
headscarf^ and a long shirt falling to the ankle which is sewed to
the short-sleeved and backed bodice. The chief difference is that
they wear light trousers instead of the M&rw4ri petticoat. Bohora
women wear the short headscarf or odni, the short-sleeved backless
bodice or anyia and the petticoat or ^/la^ra, and, out of doors, the all-
covering inmca or veil with gauze eye-holes. Meman women dress
in a short headscarf, a long shirt falling to the knee, and loose
trousers. Some women of other Deccan classes Attdrs or perfumers,
Dalils or brokers, Qaundis or bricklayers, Eal4igars or tinners,
RangreKes or dyers, Saikalgars or armourers, and WarnScs or
paper makers, wear the high class Musahn&n trousers while others
wear the Mar&thi robe and bodice. The women of all other Deccan
clasaea and old women in almost all classes dress in robes and
bodioes. The women of high class Musalm&n families always wear
low heeled slippers called ;sanam jute, and Bohora women wear
wooden sandala indoors and leather slippers on gobgont The

Chapter III.
Population.

MusAUcijrs.

[Bombay Gazetteer,

218

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Popnlation-

MubalmIkb.

women of all liigh class Musalmdn families and of most classes of
local converts, except the B&gh&a fraiterers^ Kasdb butchers, Pinj&ra
cotton teasers, Tamboli betel-sellers and Tak&ra masons never appear
in public. When Bohora women go out they shroud the whole iigore
in a large cloak with gauze eye openings. The women of some
of the local classes who appear in public, when they go out of doors,
cover their bodies with loose white sheets, except the face and feet.
The women of Bohords and proprietors when they can afford it
almost always dress in silk. The every-day dress of other women is
cotton. The women of upper class families embroider their shirts
and bodio^s with gold or silver lace, generally with much skill and
taste. In poor families the women have seldon more than one or
two changes of raiment and their whole wardrobe in most cases id
of cotton. The wardrobe of a rich woman is worth £50 to £100
(Rs. 600-1000) and the yearly cost of her clothes is £2 to £6
(Rs. 20-50) ; the wardrobe of a middle class woman is worth £5 to
£20 (Rs. 50-200) ; and of a poor woman not more than 10«. to £1
(Rs. 5-10). Upper class families keep their children clean and
brightly dressed. Boys wear embroidered skull caps, satin shirts
embroidered with gold or silver lace, and China silk tight or loose
trousers, and girls a headscarf short trousers or a petticoat Boys
wear as ornaments the hansli or large gold neck ring, kadds gold or
silver bracelets, and bedia or silver anklets. The girl's ornaments are
a nosering, either the nath in the side flesh of one nostril or the
buldk in the gristle between the two nostrils, the earrings called
balls, silver or gold bracelets, and silver anklets. The children of
most local and poor classes have to help their parents in their work
and are seldom neatly or gaily dressed. The onlv ornament worn
by the men of upper and respectable Musalmia families is a gold
or diamond finger ring. Kas^b butchers, Pinjara cotton teasers,
Takdra masons, and Tdmboli betel-sellers, when they can afford it,
wear a bdli or large gold earring and a ioda ct silver anklet on
the right foot. The women of upper class families wear many
kinds of gold necklaces, noserings, earrings, bracelets, and silver
anklets. Except their noserings and necklaces the ornaments of
most local Musalman women are of silver. Almost all women wear

flass as well as gold and silver bracelets. Of the stranger classes
tohora and Meman women always wear gold necklaces, bracelets,
earrings, noserings and silver anklets. The gaUar or gold and glass
bead marriage necklace is put on during the marriage night and is
never takenoff till tha husband's death. Almost all women begin their
married life with a good store of ornaments. A rich woman's orna-
ments include mirs^d^epart^a and ^tA;a for the forehead, thusi, vaxirtik^
male, chandrahdr, putlis, mdl, chdvalddne, and pa/npot for the neck ;
naih and buldk for the nose ; bdlis, bugris, karanphuls, kdmps, murkist
idlas, and halkds for the ear; bdzubands and dandulis for the arms ;
pdtlis, pounchisy kangans, and gajrds for the wrists ; arsis and chullds
for the fingers; kadds, todds, pdzebs, lulsy sjid painjdrM for the
ankles ; and jodvds for the toes. Ankle and ix>e ornaments are always
of silver. When a woman is married her parents give her at least
one gold nosering and a set of earrings of gold among the well-
to-do, and of silver among the poor, and silver finger rings. The

Bseoaii.]

AHMADNAGAR

219

ricbgiVe many other ornaments and suits of costly dresses to their
daiighters. The women of the poor Deccan classes have few
ornaments. A rich woman's ornaments vary in valae from £200 to
£500 (Rs. 2000 - 5000] ; an upper middle class woman's from
m to £60 (Rs. 300 - 600) ; a lower middle class woman's'f rom £5 to
£10 (Rs. 50 - 100); and a poor ;woman*s from £2 to £4 (Rs. 20-40).
Proprietors and hereditary landholders do not till with their own
lianda. They either entrust their lands to servants or let them on
lease. Many hereditary landholders whose lands are burdened
with charges and mortgages have become Government servants.
Almost all the classes of local converts are traders or craftsmen.
Thej sell perfumes^ hardware, fruit, cloth, mutton, and beef. Some
Dcccazus are grain and pulse dealers. The Bohords deal in hard-
ware, European furniture, and kerosine oil. The Bakar Kasdbs sell
matton and the Gdokasdbs sell beef. The Bdgbans deal in fn^it,
the Attars in perfumes, the Memdns in cloth, the Many&rs in glass
baDglefl and hardware, and the Warraks are paper dealers and
bookbinders. Of crafts cotton cleaning is followed by Pinjdrtia,
stonecatting by Takdr^s, dyeing by Rangrezes, masonry by Gaundis,
arms-cleaning and razor-making by Saikalgars, tinning copper and
brass vessels by KaWigars, carpenter's work by Sutdrs, copperpot
making by Tdmbatgars, shaving by Hajdms, broking in horse sales
by Dalils, and silk-weaving by Patvegars. Some poor grantees or
amaldars serve as sipahis or watchmen to Mdrwdri shopkeepers. In
high class families the women do nothing but housework and embroid-
ery. In middle class local or Deccani families, besides minding the
house, the women do silk twisting ovpatva work. Among craftsmen
and ahopkeeping classes, Kas^b women sell mutton, Pinj^ra women
clean cotton, Ttoboh women sell betelnut betel leaf and tobacco,
Bligbdn wopaen sell fruit, and Many^r women sell glass bangles.
Some poor women earn a living by grinding com. The yearly
income of the Deccani or local traders is believed to be not
more than £30 to £50 (Rs. 300 -500) and of the Bohor^s and
Hem^s £50 to £300 (Bs. 500-3000). Among shopkeepers a
Bohora makes £20 to £30 (Rs. 200 - 300) and craftsmen £10 to £20
(Ra. 100 . 200). A servant is paid 85. to £1 (Rs. 4 - 10), and a
labourer 10^. to 16^. (Rs. 5-8) a month. During the fair season
most Musalm&n traders work in the morning from six to nine in the
market where they buy and sell through brokers, and again from
six to nine in the evening at their houses in settling their accounts.
■Between Jane and October their business hosrs are not regular.
Craftsmen and labourers work from six to twelve, go home, dine,
and rest till two, and again work till six. Shopkeepers stay in
their shops from six in the morning to eight or nine in the evening
except a short rest for dinner about noon. Some Patvegars or silk-
twisters and Momins or hand-loom weavers work till about eleven at
night Almost all Nagar Musalmdns rest for one day each on the
Ranndn and Bakar Ids and for two days the ninth and tenth of
Muharram, Except Bohord^s, almost all classes, in remembrance that
the Prophet Muhammad dined in a garden after his recovery
from severe sickness, keep as a half holiday and go out in parties to
gardens and picnics on A'khari chahdr shambah, the last Wednesday

Chapter m.
Fopulatioii.

MUSALMAKS.

MUBALHiNS.

[Bombay OaMttoeri
220 DISTRICTS.

Chapter III. of the month of Safar, All classes of Mosalm&ns mark a death in
FovohKtion. ^® family by resting one day and a family marriage by resting two

days.

Almost all local Deccan classes and of the richer classes the
Bohoras and Mem&DS are steady and hardworking. The npper
classes are clean and polite and generally sober and honest.
B^bdns or fruiterers, Gktundis or bricklayers, Kasdbs or bntchers,
Pinj&r^ or cotton cleaners, and Tak&rds or masons are strong and
rough ; Attars or perfumers and Bangrezes or dyers are humble ;
T&mbatgars or coppersmiths are shrewd, vigorous, arid hardworking ;
Kanj^rs or poulterers are disorderly dirty and notedly quarrelsome ;
and JMrds or dust-sifters are proverbially cunning. Bhi,ty&t&a or
cooks are dirty but obedient.

Among all the Deccan classes some B^b£ns or fruiterers,
Barutgars or firework makers, Graundis or bricklayers, Many^s or
hardware dealers, and T^mbolis or betel-leaf sellers, and among
others Bohords,Memans,and Tdmbatgars or coppersmiths are well-to-
do, can meet marriage and other special expenses, and save. Attars
or perfumers, some Sutfirs or carpenters, Patvegars or silk-twisters,
some Kas&bs or butchers, Saikalgars or knife-grinders, Warraks or
paper-makers, some Gaundis or bricklayers, and B^bins or
fruiterers are fairly off ; they are not scrimped for food, clothes, and
other necessaries, but cannot meet marriage or other special charges
without borrowing. Pinjdrds or cotton cleaners, Kanj&rs or
poulterers, some Jhdras, a few Patvegars or silk-twisters, and
Eal^igars or tinners are very poor, and can hardly get food and
clothes sufScient for their daily wants.

Except B^gbdn fruiterers, Jhira dust-sifters, Kanj^ poulterers,
Easdb butchers, and Manyar bangle-sellers, who marry only among
themselves, almost all Deccan classes intermarry. Though most
Musalm^n communities are not bound by regular rules, some of the
local communities, the Bdgbdns or fruiterers, the Bhistis or watermen,
the Jhdrte or dust-washers, the Kanj^s or poulterers, the Easabs or
butchers, theMany&rs or bracelet-sellers, thePinjar^ or cotton-teasers,
the Bangrezes or dyers, and the Tak^r^ or masons have adopted some
simple rules.^ Social disputes are settled and breaches of rales
punished by a headman called chaudhari who decides in accordance
with the opinion of the majority of the class. The punishment is
either a fine of 2«. Qd. tolOtf. (Rs. 1^-5) or the stopping of the pipe
and water that is expulsion. The Bohor^ have a separate religioas
organization and a religious o£Scer called mulla to settle disputes.
The proprietors and other higher classes have no special community
or headman. Their religious difficulties are solved by the fmivJvi
or law-doctor and their social disputes by the arbitration of the
eld^rd* without any fine or punishment. The T&mbatgars settio

1 The chief of these rules are, that when a man dies a member of each family most
go to his funeral ; that when a public dinner is given, unless all agree to take it.ao oae
may take it; that at public dinners no one may leave till all are finished ; thftt Uio
women's public dinners should come after the men*s; that no one may oontinne a job
which one of their olasomen has broken off owing to a quarrel with hia emplflgfer.

AHMADNAGAR. 221

dispntes hj calling the men of their community together when the Chapter m.

oldest and the most respected members pass a decision. Except Ponidatian.

Bohor^ and T^mbatgars who spend the fines in the repair of their

mosqnee or in giving alms to the poor almost all classes waste Musauians.

the fines in public dinners. Social and other roles are less carefully

enforced than they used to be.

Except the Bohor&s who are Ismaili Shids of the D^udi sec^
almost all Nagar Musalmdns are Sunnis of the Hanafi school. The
Bohords have a separate mosque and never pray m tbe regular Snnni
mosque. Bohord^s are careful to pray regularly during Ramzdn, Almost
all of them go to their mosque daily to pray. Another irregular sect are
the Ghair Mahadis or Anti-Mahadis who hold that the Mahadi or
expected SSaviour has come. In Nagar the followers of this sect are
chiefly servants and soldiers. They believe that Muhammad Mahadi
who rose to fame in Northern India, Gujardt^ and^Xhurds& at the
end of the fifteenth century was the promised Habadi. Affer his
death in 150 1 (91DH^,'^eing persecuted by the Moghal emperors of ':\ •'^ '
Delhi, his grandson Syed Ahmad came to Ahmadnagar during the j
reign of Burhiln Hiz&m Shdh (1580). He found favour with the
king, and not only made him and many of his nobles his disciples
but also received in marriage the daughter of the saint Shdh Sharif.
Ghair Mahadis divide the country in which members of their sect
live into dairds or circles of one of which Nagar is the centre.
Though free to profess their opinions the Ghair Mahadis practise
concealment and are always anxious to pass as orthodox Muslims.
The chief differences between the regular Sunni and the Ghair
Mahadi services are that a Ghair Mahadi does not lift his hands
while he repeats the dua or blessing at the close of the namdz
or prayer ; he does not require an imam or prayer leader as all
Mahadis pray together without standing behind a learned viaulvi ;
and they have no mimba/r or pulpit. Many of them live at Haidarabad
and all are well-to-do. Besides Ghair Mahadis some Tdmbatgars and
a few N&ikvaris^ mostly living at Nagar, are Wahdbis. The present
nnmber of Wahdbis in Ahmadnagar is small aiM Ho converts are made.
WalUlbis though free to profess their opinions are afraid of the
orthodox Musalmdns and practise concealment. Meman, T&mbatgars,
and the bulk of Nagar Musalm^ns are fairly religious and go to
pray daily in the mosque. A few Bdgbdns or fruiterers^ the Easdbs
or batchers^ the Pinj^ras or cotton teasers, and the Takdras or
masons are Mnsalmdns in little more than name, and seldom pray
to Allah. Bakar Easdbs and Pinjdras still worship Hindu gods
and have idols hid in their houses. Almost all Musalmans attend
public prayers on the Ramzdn and Bakar Id festivals. Almost all
the apper classes of Nagar Mu8alm&ns.are careful to give free alms
to the poor. They pray in the morning and read the Kuran^for an
hour or two, and, on Fridays, meet together to pray in the J&ma
mosque.

Except Bagbins or fruiterers, Kanj&rs or poulterers, Kasabs or
butchers, Pinjirds or cotton-teasers, Takar^ or masons, and
T^mbolis or betel-sollers, no Nagar Musalmdns let their women
appear in pul>lic. Proprietors and other upper class Musalmans

[Bombay Oazettaer*

222

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
PopTdatdon.

MuSALMiKS.

never allow their women to go ont^ but the women of some Deccan
Muhammadans go out at night and sometimes daring the day
coyering the bodj except the face and the feet with a large white
sheet. When Bohora women go out they shroud their figures in
a dark cloak with gauze eye openings. Bi^gban^ Kanj^^ Kas&b,
Pinjdrd*^ Takdra^ and Tdmbat women appear in public in the same
dress they wear at home, j&lmost all MusalmAns employ t^he kdzi
to register their marriages. The kdzis, some of whom as in Nagar^
Sangamner^ Nevdsa^ and other large towns are hereditary^ and hold
indm lands but most elective are paid in cash by their employers.
They are chosen by the general body of Musalmdns.

Nagar Musalmdns are never married in childhood. Some rich
and well-to-do Musalmdns perform the betrothal ceremony
a month or two before marriage. The marriage ceremony lasts
about five days. The first three days are passed in seclusion
when the bodies of the bride and bridegroom are rubbed
with turmeric. At ten in the morning of the fourth day gifts
of henna pass between the bride and bridegroom and of sweet
scented oil in the evening of the same day. At noon on the fifth
the dowry or bari, including ornaments, clothes, sugar, almonds,
sugarcandy, cocoanuts, and betel leaf and betelnut, passes from the
bridegroom to the bride, and, in the evening, the bridegroom
mounted on a horse goes in a procession called shab gaaht or iardt
to the bride^s with music, lighted torches, and fireworks. On
reaching the bride's the kdzi or his deputy registers the marriage,
takes his fee, and leaves. The men spend the rest of the night in
listening to hired dancing girls and musicians, and the women
spend it in singing in a room separate from the men. .Before
morning the singing stops and the guests leave. In the moruing a
feast is given at the bride's, and in the afternoon the bridegroom is
taken to the zandna or women's quarters to perform a ceremony
which is known as jalva that is face-showing. In this ceremony
while singing women gr domnis sing songs the bridegroom is led into
the women's room and seated on a bed facing the bride, and a
mirror is held between them. Both of them are covered with a
white sheet, which, after a short time, the bride removes from her
face and shows the bridegroom her face for the first time in a
mirror. Before looking at her face the bridegroom draws a gold
ring on the bride's finger. Their kinswomen wave a silver or
copper coin round the heads of the pair, and crack their finger
joints over their heads to take away their ill-luck or baldydn Una.
The coin waved round their heads is called bele. The Kurfin is
laid between the bride and bridegroom and he reads the chapter
called Peace. When the chapter ifl ended the bridegroom bids
farewell to the bride's father and mother, lifts the bride in his arms,
seats her in a carriage or litter, and takes her with pomp and
music to his house. Next day a party is held at the bridegroom's
in which t^p kinspeople of the pair throw fruit and flowers at tlie
pair and at each other. After the marriage their relations give four
Friday parties. A rich man spends £50 to £100 (Rs. 500 - lOOO)
on a son's marriage and £30 to £S0 (Rs. 300 - 800) on a
daughter's ; a middle-class man £20 to £40 (Rs. 200 - 400) on a

Seeean.]

AHMADNAGAR.

223

son's and £15 to £30 (Rs. 150 ^300) on a danghter's ; and a poor man
£10 to £20 (Rs. 100-200) on a son's and £8 to £10 (Ra.80-100) on
a daaghter *8. Some of the lower Deccan classes keep the ceremonies
called the satvasa in the seventh month of the first pregnancy.
They also keep chati on the sixth day after the birth of a child on
which they say Allah writes the destiny of the child. Another
ceremony called chilla is also performed on the fortieth day
after the child's birth. Up to the fortieth day the charges
connected with the birth vary among the rich from £10 to
£15 (Rs. 100-150), among middle class families from £3 to £6
(Rs. 80-60), and among the poor from £1 to £2 (Rs. 10-20).
Musalmins perform the akika or sacrifice ceremony, some as early
as on the nfth or fortieth day after the birth of the child, and
others as late as in the seventh year. As the^e is no religious
restriction as to the age it is sometimes performed in the fortieth
year and in some cases even after that age. For a girl one and for
a boy two goats are killed, the bonea being taken ofE the joints
insteisid of being broken. Except the child's father and mother all
relations share in the dinner. On the sacrifice a rich man spends
£4 to £8 (Rs. 40-80), a middle class man £1 10«. to £3 (Rs.l5 - 30),
and a poor man £1 to £2 (Rs. 10-20). When a boy or girl is four
years foar months and four days old, comes the Biamilldh or In
AllaVs Name that is the initiation ceremony. Guests come and one
of their religious office bearers, a kdzi or a maulvi, attends and the
child repeats to him the confession of faith or Bismilldh. The
parents give a dinner, if rich spending £2 to £3 (Rs. 20 - 30)
and if poor IO9. to £1 (Rs. 5-10). All Musalm&n boys are
circumcised by the barber before they are ten years old and
generally at six or seven. If the parents are well-to-do, the. barber
is given a suit of clothes, bs. (Rs. 2|) in cash, and 2^ pounds
(1| shers) Off rice, i aher of molasses, and betel leaves and nuts.
If the parents are poor the barber gets 2^. 6d (Rs.l^) in cash,
a phetcb or headscarf, and 2| pounds (1^ shers) of rice, one pound
(I sher) of molasses, and betel leaves and nut^

When a Musalmdn is at the point of death a man reads the
ydsin, the chapter of the Kur^n which describes death and the
glorious future of the believer. All near the dying man repeat the
creed and the prayer for forgiveness and salvation, and the dying
man's favourite, his wife, his son, or his mother drops honey or sweet
water in his mouth. After death the attendants close the mouth
and eyes and cover the body with a white sheet. The ghassal or
body-washer, a man if the dead is a man, a woman if the dead is a
woman, comes, and, laying the body on a wooden platform, washes it
gently and carefully with hot water among the Sunnis and with cold
water among the Shi^. It is perfumed with abir or scented jjpwder,
kapur or camphor, guldh or rose water, and attar or scented oil, and
covered with a white scented shroud called a kafan. When the
friends and relations have taken the last look the body is laid on a
bier or janazah which is covered with a white sheet, flower garlands
are spread over it^ and it is raised on the shoulders of four men and

Chapter IIL
Population.

MuSALMiKS.

[Bombay Oasetteer,

224

DISTRICTS.

Chapter m.
•FopolatuuL

MuSAUliKS.

borne away amid the women's lamentations and the men's cry
L(Uil laha-iUa allah. There is no God bnt Allah. When they reach
the f^veyard they set the bier in an appointed place^ and all pray
that the sins of the dead may be forgiven and that he may be saved.
Mus&lmans must pray for the dead before they bury them, either at a
mosqne on their way to the bnrial ground or in the barial ground. The
present practice is to pray in the graveyard, some of which have a
mosqne which is used solely for holding prayers for the dead The
Musalm&n grave is of two shapes baghli and sadi. The bagUi grave
is six feet long, two and a half feet wide, and four feet deep, and has a
long hole in the west side to hold the body leng^hmse. The body
is laid with the head to the north,' the feet to the sooth, and the
&ce to the west. The whole is covered with planks slanting from
the west edge to the bottom of the east side of the grave. The sadi
grave has no side hole, but two feet high walls of burnt brick and
mud close the east and west sides. The body is laid between the
walls and is covered by laying planks across the walls. Before the
body IS buried, if the dead is a man, he is dressed in a kafni or
beggar's cloak covering the whole body but the head and forearms,
and made of a single sheet with a hole in the middle to pass over
the head. Over the kafni is the kafan or shroud, and over the
shroud is a chddar or white sheet. The kafni and kafan are buried
with the body and the sheet or chddar is given to the man who
has charge of the graveyard. If the dead is a woman the body is
dressed in the kafni, shrouded in the kafan, and wrapped in two
ch4dar8 instead of in one. The kafni, kafan, and one chddar are buried
with the body,and the remainingcAadar is given to the man in charge
of the burial ground. When the gfrave is filled, the mourners scatter
a little earth on the grave repeating an Arabic text meaning. Wo
creatures of the earth give you to the earth, where we shall soon follow
you. Musalm&ns do not leave a lamp, flowers, or water with the
dead. When the grave is filled the mourners return to the hoose of
mourning. At the door of the deceased's house a prayer for his soul
is repeated, and all go to their homes except the near relations and
friends who dine with the mourning family. On the third morning the
zidrat or feast is held at which all relations and friends meet in the
house of mourning or in the nearest mosque, read some verses from
the Euran, and pray that the merit of the act may pass to the soul
of the dead. They then hand flowers and sweetmeats among the
guests and the guests withdraw, except a few^relations and friends,
who go to the grave and strew it with flowers. All Musalm^lns
give dinner parties on the tenth, twentieth, and fortieth days after
a death. The dinner parties on the tenth and twentieth days are
given only to some friends and near relations ; but the fortieth-
day dinner called chdlisvdn or fortieth is a public dinner. Poor
Decc&is keep the third and the tenth, or the fortieth only. A death
costs a rich man £10 to £20 (Rs. 100 - 200), a middle class man
£5 to £10 (Rs. 50-100), and a poor man £8 to £5 (Rs. 30-50).
Proprietors and other upper class Musalm&ns, as a rule, are careful
to give their boys good schooling. They teach them to read the
Kuxkn, and almost all of them teach them Urdu, Persian, Mar6thi,

Beooaa-I

; AHMADNAGAR.

225

and Englislu Meman and Bohora boys learn Arabic enongb to
read the Kar&n and are also taught Gajar&ti and Urdu. T^mbatgar
boys learn to read the KnrAn^ and some Persian, Urdn, and Mardthi.
Some Tdmbal^ars have began to teach Mieir boys English. Except
the Kanjars or poulterers, the Pinj&r&s or cotton teasers, and the
TakdMs or masons, most of the Deccan classes teach their boys to
read the Knr&n, and to read and write a little Urdu and Mar&thi.
Almost all the Deccan classes in Nagar city and some in
Sangamner, Ney&sa, Shevgaon, Kopargaon, Eharda, and Shrigonda
give their boys some schooling. About eight Deccan boys and
three T4mbatgar boys are learning English in the Ahmadnagar
high school There is a Government Hindustani girls^ school,
where some of the Deccan classes send their girls till they are nine
or ten years old to learn Urdu and Mar&thi. On the whole except
the Jhiria or dust-washers, the Pinjir^ or cotton teasers, and the
Takar^ or masons the Nagar Musalmdns are a rising class.

The thirty-five classes of the Musalm&n population of Ahmadnagar
may be brought under two divisions, four main classes, and thirteen
minor classes who intermarry and together form one body ;
and eighteen small communities most of which have some peculiar
or irregular customs and all of which are distinct in matters of
marriage. The main body of Musalm^ns, who intermarry and differ
little in look customs or dress, besides the four main classes of
Moghals, Path&ns, Shaikhs, and Syeds include thirteen minor classes
of whom two Att&rs or perfumers and DaUls or brokers are
traders, eight B^rutgars or firework-makers, Darjis or tai^rs,
Goniv^Uiis or grain-sellers, Kal^gars oi tinners, N^lbands or far-
riers, Patvegars or tassel-twisters, Bangrezes or dyers, and Warraks
or paper makers are craftsmen ; and three Bhistis or water-carriers,
Niikv&ris or messengers, and Tirgars or arrow-makers are servants.
Ofthe
most
strani

___^ Gujar&t

or beef butchers. The remaining fifteen are chiefly of local
Hindu or Deccan origin. They are, B^b&n fruiterers, Bakarkasdb
mutton butchera^ Bhaty&ra cooks, Dhobi washermen, Gaundi
bricklayers, Ghair-Mahadis or Anti-Mahadis, Haj^m barbers, Jhdra
dost-sifters, Kanj&r poulterers, Momin weavers, Pinjdra cotton
teasers, Saikalgar knife-grinders, Sut&r carpenters, Tak&ra stone-
masons, and T^mboli betel-sellers.

Of the four leading Musalmdn classes Moghals, Pathdns, Shaikhs,
and Syeds the Moghals and Path&ns are small bodies and the Shaikhs
and Syeds are found in large numbers throughout the district.

HogbAlB are found in small numbers in some of the larger towns.
They claim descent from the Moghal conquerors of the Peccan
in the early part of the seventeenth century. In appearance they
do not differ from Shaikhs. The men take mirza before their names
and the women add hibi or begam to theirs. They do not differ from
Syeds and Shaikhs in dress, manners, or customs. They are either
proprietors, or soldiers, constables, and servants. They marry
witnSyeds, Shaikhs, or Pathdns. They are hardworking, thrifty,

a 772— 29

Oiapter III.
Population.

MusalmAks.

Moghals.

[Bombay Gaietteer.

226

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

MUSALMAKS.

Shaikhs.

Syeda.

AtUrq.

and sober, but most of them are in debt. Like Syeds and Shaikhs
they teach their boys Mar^thi, English, and Persian. Some of
them have entered the revenue and police services.

Patha'ns are found all over the district. They claim descent from
the Afghan mercenaries and military leaders who conquered or
took service in the Deccan. They are generally tall, well made,
and dark or olive-skinned. The men add khan to their names and
the women bibi. They are husbandmen, soldiers, constables, and
servants. Though hardworking and thrifty their fondness for
pleasure and good living keeps most of them in debt. Their
manners and customs do not differ from those of Shaikhs and other
leading classes and they generally give and take daughters from
Shaikhs and other regular classes.

Shaikhs claim descent from the three leading Kuraish families,
the Siddikis who claim descent from Abu Bakar Siddik, the F^rukis
from Umar-al- F&ruk, and the Abbdsis from Abbasone of the Prophet's
nine uncles. The bulk of the Shaikhs are chiefly if not entirely
the representatives of local Hindu converts. The men take Shaikh
or Muhammad before their names, and the women add bibi to theirs.
They, do not differ in their look dress or manners from Syeds and
like them are neat and clean. They are hardworking, thrifty, and
sober. They are proprietors, Government servants, or traders, and
are generally well-to-do. They marry either with Shaikhs or with
Syeds. Many of them are careful to give their boys a good schooling,
and a considerable number have gained appointments as clerks and
in the police.

Syeds, or Elders, claim descent from Fatima the daughter and
Ali the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. They are said to
have settled as mercenaries and religious teachers chiefly during the
time of the Ahmadnagar kings (1490-1636). The men take mir or
eyed before or shah after their names, and the women add bibi to
theirs. . They are generally tall, strong, well made, and fair. Both
men and women are neat and clean in their habits, but as a rule they
are fond of pleasure and indolent. Syeds are either land proprietors
or Government servants. They marry either among themselves or
with Shaikhs. They are careful to send their boys to school, and
many have risen to high revenue and police appointments.

The thirteen classes who form part of the main or regular Musal-
m&n community are :

Atta'rSi or Perfumers, are found in small numbers in Ahmad-
nagar city and in some of the larger towns. They are either tall
or of middle height thin and fair. The men shave the heard, wear the
beard full, and dress in a turban, a shirt, a coat, and tight trousers.
The women are like the men in appearance and dress in a robe and
bodied. They are neat, clean, and tidy in their habits, and some of them
are well-to-do. They have fixed shops where they sell flowers,
jessamin oil, abi/r powder, frankincense sticks, and masila a
mixture of aloewood, sandalwood, and dried rose leaves. They
marry generally among themselves but also give their daughters to
Shaikhs and Syeds. In social matters they form a separate commu-
nity under an elective headman, and settle social disputes according

Oeocaa]

AHMADNAGAR,

227

to tbe votes of tlie majority of the members of the community and
with the consent of the headman. They do not differ from the
main classes of Musalmans in manners or customs, and are said to be
religious and careful to say their prayers. They teach their children
a little Hindustani and Mar&thi. None of them take to new pursuits.

Ba'ratgars, or Firework-makers^ are found in small numbers
in all the larger towns of the district. They are either tall or of
middle height thin and dark or olive-skinned. The men shave the
head, wear the beard fuU^ and dress in a fcurbau, a shirt, a waistcoat,
and a pair of tight trousers. The women are thin and of middle height
with good features and fair skins. They dress in a robe and
bodice. Both men and women are neat and clean in their habits.
Firework makers were formerly highly esteemed but their craft
has greatly declined. Though hardworking and thrifty, few are
well-to-do or able to save. They do not form a separate community
nor differ in manners and customs from the main classes of Musal-
mdns with whom they marry. They are Sunnis of the Hanafi
school but few of them are religious or careful to say their prayers.
They teach their boys Marathi and Urdu, and besides as firework
makers many earn their living as servants and constables.

BlliStiSi or Water-carriers, are found in small numbers in all
district towns and large villages. They are a branch of Shaikhs
from whom they do not differ except in being rather dirtier and
more untidy than the bulk of Shaikhs, lliey are servants to
Europeans and upper class Musalmdns and Parsis bringing water
in leather bags on bullock-back. When employed by European
masters who require their undivided services, they are paid 16^. to
£i (Rs. 8-10) a month, and when they serve four or five native
families they get about 2s. (Re. 1) a month from each. They give
their daughters to any of the regular classes of Musalmdns and do
not differ from the main classes of Musalm&ns in manners or
customs. They do not send their boys to school or take to other
pursuits.

DalalSy or Brokers, are found in small numbers in Ahmad-
nagar city. They were originally aipdhis or soldiers from the Nizam's
country. They dress in regular Musalmd,n fashion. The men
wear the atpdhiywni or military twisted turban, and some of their
old women dress in the Mardtha robe and bodice. Some are quiet,
sober, thrifty, clean and well-to-do ; others are badly off smoking
hemp and eating opium. They never act as brokers except in horse
sales. They are given a five per cent brokerage on the price of the
horse by the seller when they are engaged by the seller or by the buyer
when they are engaged by the buyer, and in some cases by both.
They are Hanafi Sunnis but seldom say their prayers. They are a
very small body and have no class organization. They marry 'either
among themselves or with any of the regular Musalmdn classes.
They teach their children a little Hindustani and Marathi. None
take to new pursuits.

DaXJiSy or Tailors, are found in small numbers and are a branch
of Shaikfas. Except that they make their living as tailors* they
differ in no way from other Shaikhs.

Chapter III.

Population.
MusalmAns.

B4ra1igan.

BhiBtis.

Dalils.

Dwjif.

iBombay Gftietteeri

228

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

MusalmAns.
KaUigars.

N^ikvdris.

N^b^nds,

Patvegan.

Qoniw'ala's, or Grain Sellers, wlio like DariiSy do not di£Eer in
any way from Shaikhs, are fonnd only in Ahmadnagar from which
they carry grain on ballook-back over the whole district. On the
whole they are well off.

Kalalgars, or Tin-smiths^ who are fonnd in large numbers in
Ahmadnagar and in other large towns^ are said to represent Hindus
of the same class converted by Aurangzeb (1658- 1707). They call
themselves Shaikhs, and neither men nor women differ from Shaikhs in
look,dress,or manners. They tin copper and brass vessels at 10«. (Bs. 5)
the hundred vessels. Their services are always in demand. They
have a well managed union with an elective headman or chaudhari,
who^ with the consent of the majority of the members, fines any one
who breaks their caste rules. They keep no Hindu customs and do
not differ from regular Musalm&ns with whom they intermarry.
They are Hanafi Sunnis in religion and many of them are religious
and careful to say their prayers. They teach their boys to read the
Eurdnand Mar&thi« They take to no new pursuits.

Na'ikva^iB, or Messengers^ are fonnd in large numbers over
the whole district. Apparently to account for the ndih in their
names^ their own story represents Mar&tha Kunbis converted to
IsUm by Haidar Naik of Maisur (1 764-1 782). They speak Hindustani
with a mixture of Mardthi. Both men and women dress in the
regular Mardtha fashion. They are like Mardth&s in features, strong
muscular and dark or sallow-skinned. The men wear Mardtha
shoes and kardords or silk waiststrings. They are quiet hard-
working and sober, and some of them are well-to-do. They are
husbandmen^ constables, and watchmen. Some have a fair knowledge
of English and have become Hindustani Munshis. They are Sunnis
except a few who are W&h&bis. Most of them still follow some
Hindu customs, keeping Holi in March -April and Divdli in
October -November. In Ahmadnagar city they are too few to
form a separate community, but in Sangamner and other towns and
villages they have a separate council of their elders who pnnish
breaches of caste rules with fines which generally take the form of
caste dinners. Of late some have begun to send their boys to school
and some have got posts as teachers and clerks.

Nalbands, or Farriers, are found in considerable numbers
in almost all large towns and villages. According to their own
account they have come from the Nizam's country. They do
not differ from Kaldigars in look, dress, manners, or customs.
They are hardworking, thrifty, and sober. They shoe horses and
bullocks, and are well-to-do and able to save. Like Kaldigars or
tinners they marry with any other regular classes of Musakn&ns.
They do not send their boys to school or take to new pursuits.

PatVegarSy or Tassel-twisters, who are a small class, like Eal^igars
and others do not differ from Shaikhs in look, dress, manners, or
customs. They sell silk tassels, silk waistcords, false hair, and fly
flaps, and set gold necklaces and other women's ornaments in silk.
They earn la. to 28, (Re. i-1) a day, and are hardworking, thrifty,
and sober. They marry with any of the regular MnsalmAn classes.
They do not send their boys to school or take to new por8iut&

fieoeaii-]

AHMADNAQAR.

229

BailgrOZeSj or Dyers^ f onnd in small numbers like the Patvegars
call themselves Shaikhs, and do not differ from Shaikhs in look
dress and manners* They dye tnrbansi headscarves, and silk. Their
work is constant. They are paid 28. to is, (Rs. 1-2) for dyeing a
turban. Is. to 1^. 6(2. (8-12a«.) for dyeing a headscarf, and 8«.
(Rs. 14) for dyeing five pounds weight of silk. They dye crimson,
red, yellow, blue, and black. They are hardworking thrifty and
sober, and are well-to-do and able to save. They marry with any
regular Musalm&ns. They give their boys no schooling and take
to no new pursuits,

TirgarSy or Arrow-makers, who do not differ in any respect from
Shaikhs, are found in a very small number only at Ahmadnagar.
They got their name from their old trade of making bows and
arrows for native troops. They have lost their trade as there is no
demand for their bows and arrows^ and work as servants. The
present ehobddrs or staff-bearers of the Ahmadnagar district
judge's court are Tirgars.

WarrakSy or Paper-makers, are foand in small numbers. Like
many other classes they are a branch of Shaikhs and do not differ
from them in look or dress. They used to make paper but their
craft has been ruined by the competition of cheap European goods,
and most of them are now servants and messengers. They marry
with any of the regular classes and do not differ from them in
manners and customs. They give their boys no schooling and are
very poor.

The eighteen distinct and irregular communities are :

Ba'gba'UB, or Fruiterers, are found in considerable numbers
throughout the district. They are said to have come from different
parts of the Deccan and to have been converted by Aurangzeb.^
Theyare tailor of middle height, well made, and dark or olive-skinned.
The men shave the head, wear the beard full, and dress in a large
carelessly wound Mardtha turban, a tight jacket and a shirt, a pair
of tight trousers or a waistcloth. The women are like the men and
wear the Mardtha robe and bodice. Both men and women are
neat and clean in their habits. The Bigbans sell fruit and pot
herbs, pomegranates, plantains, guavas, oranges, figs, potatoes,
brinjalfi, cabbages, and peas. They are hardworking and thrifty, and
are generally weU-to-do and able to save. They form a separate
community and marry only among themselves. They have strong
Hindu leanings, eschew beef, and keep Hindu festivals. Though
Sunnis of the Hanafi school in name they seldom pray or keep
Musalm^ customs. They respect and obey the kdzi and employ him
to register their marriages. They take to no new pursuits.

Bakarka8al>8, or Mutton Butchers, are found all ov^r the
district. They are said to represent LiLd converts made by the emperor

1 Xa Ahmadiuigar, aa in other {Murts of the Deocan, all classes of Hindu origin trace
tbeir oooveraion either to Aorangzeb (1670-1707) or to Haidar of Maisur (1663-1681).
It is probable that all stories of conversion centre in these two men because they
wtre the greatest and most lealous Mosalm^n rulers of modern times. There seems
little reason to doubt that considerable bodies of Hindus turned to Islim under the
BahziiJULi(1347*14SK)) and the Ahmadnagar kings (1400-1599),

Caiapterlll.
Population.

MUBALMAKS.

Bangrezes.

Tii^ars.

Warraks.

Bigb^Uis.

Bakarkasdbs.

[Bombay Oaatetteer,

230

DISTRICTS.

Chapter m.
Popnlation.

MubalmAhs.

BhatyMs.

Bohor^

Anrangzeb. They have come from different parts of the Deccan.
Like other Deccan Masalm&ns they are either 1^ or of middle height
and dark or olive-skinned. The men shave the head and wear a
short or full beard^ and dress in a large Mardtha turban or head-
scarf^ a tight jacket^ a shirt, and a pair of tight trousers or a waist-
cloth. The women are like the men and dress in a Hindu robe
and bodice. Both men and women are rather dirty and untidy.
They have fixed shops where they kill sheep and goats, and are hard-
working thrifty and sober, some of them being well-to-do and able
to save. They form a separate community and many only among
themselves. They have strong Hindu leanings, eschew beef, and
consider the touch of a beef butcher impure. They keep Hindu
festivals and worship Hindu gods. Though Sunnis of the Hanafi
school in name few are religious or careful to say their prayers.
They respect the regular kazi and employ him to register their
marriages. They do not send their boys tu school or take to new
pursuits.

Bhatya^ra'8, or Cooks, are found in small numbers in
Ahmadnagar city. They are said to have come from Delhi about a
hundred years ago ; and to have married with low class Deccaji
Musalmans from whom they do not nowdifferin look, dress, or mannera
They are employed to cook public dinners, and also keep shops
where they sell cooked meat and country handmade bread. Some
of them have bakeries and prepare English loaves and biscuits.
They are hardworking and thrifty, and some are well-to-do and
able to save. They have no separate union, but marry either
among themselves or take wives from other low class Musalmdn
families. They respect and obey the regular kdzi, and employ him
to register their marriages. They give their boys no schooling and
take to no new pursuits.

Bohora*8, probably from the Gujardti vohoravu to trade
also known as D&udis from a pontiff of that name, are found
in small numbers chiefly at Ahmadnagar. They are said to have
settled in the district soon after the beginning of British rale.
Their home tongue is Gujardti, and with others they speak Hindustani
and Mardthi. They are generally active and well made, but are
wanting in strength and robustness. Their features are regular
and clear cut, the skin olive, and the expression gentle and shrewd.
The men as a rule shave the head and wear the beard long and
thin. The women are like the men delicate, fair, and regular
featured. Both men and women are neat and clean in their habits.
They deal in English piecegoods, Chinaware, and iron oil and
water buckets. They are hardworking, thrifty, sober, and generally
well-to-do and able to save. They form a well organized body and
have If strong class feeling. They show much respect to their chief
Mullah Sdheb whose head-quarters are at Surat They are regular
in paying his dues, and conform to all the rules of their religion.
They marry among themselves only, and, though they do not
associate with other Musalm&ns, they differ little from them in
manners and customs. They teach their children Gujar&ti> but none
take to new pursuits.

Oeccaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

231

Ga'okasallSy or Beef Batchers^ are found in small numbers in
the city of Ahmadnagar. They are said to be descended from
Abyssinian slaves in tiie service of Haidar Ali of Maisur^ who came
to Ahmadnagar with Qeneral Wellesley's army in 1803 and settled
in the cantonments. They are tall^ strong, well made^ and dark.
The men either shave the head or keep the hair ; they wear the
beard full, and dress in a headscarf, a jacket, a shirt, and a pair of
tight trousers. The women are like the men in appearance, and dress
in a Hindu robe and bodice. Both men and women are dirty and
untidy in their habits, and are proverbially dishonest and quarrel-
some. They kill cows and bufEaloes, and have shops. The cow-beef
is used by Christians and Musalmdns, and the bufPalo beef by
Musalm&ns, Mh^rs, and M&ngs. They are hardworking but much
given to drink and are seldom i?rell-to-do. They marry among
themselves only and form a distinct class under a chavdhari or head-
man chosen from the most respected members, who, with the
consent of the majority of the members, has power to fine any one
disobeying his orders. Though Sunnis of the Hanafi school in name,
few are religious or careful to say their prayers. Their manners and
customs do not differ from those of regular Musalm&ns, and like
them they obey and respect the regular kdziB,nd employ him to
register their marriages. They give their boys no schooling and
take to no new pursuits.

GktundiSi or Bricklayers, are found in small numbers all over
the district. They are said to have come from Bij^pur in the
sixteenth century. Like other Deccan Musalmins they are either
tall or of middle height and dark or olive-skinned. The men shave
the head, wear the beard full, and dress in a large Mar^tha turban,
a coat, a waistcoat, a shirt, and a pair of tight trousers. The women
dress in the Hindu robe and bodice. Bricklayers are hard-
working and thrifty and some of them are well-to-do and able to
save. Most work as day labourers earning Is, to 28. (Re. |-1), and
some take building contracts. They form a separate community
marrying only among themselves. They are Sunnis of the Hanafi
school, and of late years have become very religious, building
mosques, and praying regularly. They send their boys to school
and some have risen to be clerks and hospital assistants.

Obair Mahadis, or Anti-Mahadis, are found in Nagar and
Aurangabad and a few in Sholdpur. In Ahmadnagar they used to form
a separate union and lived in a small walled place called daira or circle
two miles east of Nagar city. This daira is called after Syed Ahmad
otherwise called Shdh Sharif. Mdloji the grandfather of Shiv&ji
prayed for a child at Shdh Sharif s tomb and when he got children,
he named his first son Sh&h^ji and his second Sharifji in honour of
his patron saint Shdh Sharif, and built a reservoir near the^tomb
which still remains. A yearly fair or urua is held in honour of the
saint and is attended by 300 to 400 Musalm&ns and Hindus. Besides
the Ahmadnagar Daira Ghair-Mahadis have a daira at Chichodi
about fifteen miles south-east of Ahmadnagar. They are sober
thrifty and fairly off, except some who smoke hemp and drink liquor.
Some have hereditary lands which they say were originally granted
by Buxh&a Nis&m Sb&h (1508-1553). They are foot and mounted

Chapter III.
Population.

MuSALMiNS.

Gaundis.

Ghair MeJiadis.

[Bombay Qazetteer*

232

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ni.
Popnlatioii.

MubalmAns.

Haj^Lnuu

Jhdhbs.

Kanjdrs.

constables and messengers. In social matters they have a distinct
organization under a headman named miira&u2 or instmctor who
registers marriages, and punishes breaches of class rules by making
the offender beg pardon in public by repeating the words Toba
istighfar, that is Sorrow and pardon. They teach their children a
little Hindustani and Mardthi. None have risen to any high post in
Government service. Their peculiar religous beliefs have already
been noticed.

Haja'ms, or Barbers, are found in small numbers in the city
of Ahmadnagar. They are fresh settlers from the North- West
Provinces. The men are thin, tall, and olive-skinned. They keep the
hair and wear full beards. They dress in a skullcap or a headscarf,
a coat, a shirt, and a pair of tight trousers. The women dress in a
headscarf, a shirt, and a pair of tight trousers. Both men and
women are neat and clean in their habits. The barbers shave
Musalmans and circumcise their boys, and are paid Sd. (2 as.) for
shaving a man's head and 2^. 6d. (Bs. 1^) for a circumcision.
They are hardworking and sober, but are poor and have to borrow
to meet special charges. They form a separate community and
marry among themselves only. Their manners and .customs do not
differ from those of other Musalmdns. They are Sunnis of the
Hana£ school and are seldom religious or careful to say their
prayers. They give their boys no schooling and take to no new
pursuits.

Jha^ra's, or Dast-sifters, are found in small numbers all over
the district. They are descended from Hindu converts and are said
to have come from different parts of the Deccan. They buy the
sweepings and ashes of goldsmith's shops and furnaces and sift out
particles of gold and silver. They also sift the ashes of dead Hindus
tor melted ornaments, diving and bringing up the mud when the
ashes are thrown into water. They are hardworking and thrifty
but live from hand to mouth as the returns from the dust sifting
are small. They form a separate community and marry only amon^
themselves. They have no special customs. They are Sunnis of
the Hanafi school in name, but are seldom religious or careful to say
their prayers. They respect and obey the regular kdzi and employ
him to register their marriages. They never send their boys to
school. Besides as dast-sifters some earn their living as servants and
messengers.

Kanja'rs, or Poulterers, are found in Bhing&r about two miles
north-east of Nagar, and in Sangamner and other large towns. They
are said to represent local converts from the tribe of Hindu P&rdhis
or bird-catchers. They now make their living by selling hens and
eggs. They are black or sallow-skinned vnm high cheek bonos^
thick^ips, and flat or high noses. The men dress in a small twisted
loosely wound turban, a shirt, and a waistcloth ; and the women in
the Mar&tha robe and bodice. They speak Hindnst&ni with a
mixture of Mar&thi. They are rude strong and dirty, and almost
all of them smoke hemp and drink liquor. All are poor living on the
sale of their hens and eggs. Some of them wander from village
to village making and seUing hemp ropes and begging. Their women
are proverbially quarrelsome. They are Musalm&ns in little more

Beoottit)

AHMADNAGAR

233

tiian in name and never say their prayers. They form a separate
commnnity with a headman of their own^ who punishes breaches
€ft mlee by stopping the pipe and water, or by a fine. They
spend the amount of the fines in pablic drinking and eating. They
marry among themselves only and hold a low social position. They
gire their children no schooling and take no new pursuits.

Kanya^rs, or Bangle-sellers, are found in small numbers over
the whole of the district. They are said to be partly incomers from
Anrangabad and partly to represent local converts from the K4s&r
casta The men dress like the common Deccan Musalm&ns and the
women wear the Mar&tha robe and bodice. They are hardworking
sober and honest. Some of them are poor but as a class they are
thrifty and well-to-do. The poorer of them hawk glass bangles and
put them on women's wrists. The better-oS bring big boxes of

flass bangles from Bombay and sell them to the bangle hawkers,
'he women help in selling the bangles and appear in public. A few
travel from village to village selling bangles to Kunbi and other
village women. They are Hanafi Sunnis but are not careful to say
their prayers. They form a separate commnnity with an elective
headman who lifts power to punish breaches of caste rules by fining
the offender or turning him out. The fines go to meet the wants
of the poor or the expenses of the nearest mosqua They marry
among themselves only. They teach^their boys a little Hindustani,
and as a class are fairly prosperous.

KemanSy properly Momins or Believers, are found in small
nnmbers in Nagar city. They have come to Ahmadnagar from
Bombay within the last sixty years. They are converted Cutchis
and LoMnas of Cutch and K&thidwdr. They speak Cutchi at home
and Hindust^i abroad. They are tall, strong, robust, and fair. As
a rule the men shave the head, wear the beard full, and dress in a
silk or silver-bordered headscarf, a long Arab coat, a shirt, and a
pair of loose trousers rather tight at the ankles. Their women are
like the men and dress in a long shirt or aba almost reaching the
ankles, a headscarf, and a pair of tight trousers. Both men and
women are neat and clean in their habits, Memans are general
merchants chiefly dealing in English articles, piecegoods, furniture,
and glassware. They are honest, hardworking, thrifty, an^ rich.
They marry only among themselvs, or bring wives from Bombay or
Cutch. In religion they do not form a separate community and
liave no specisd customs. They are Sunnis of the Hanafi school,
and are religious and careful to say their prayers. They obey and
respect the hizi and employ him to register their marriages. They
teach their boys to read the Kur^ and Gujarati, but no English.
They follow no calling but trade. They are a rising clasa

HomixiS, or Hand-loom Weavers, are found in small nuAbers
in Ahmadnagar, Nev^, and Sangamner. Some have come from
Northem India and others from Haidarabad and Aurangabad.
The men of the North India Momins wear the tdj or Hindustan
8cull«cap and loose trousers, and those of Deccan Momins wear a
turban and either tight trousers or a waistcloth. Deccan Momin
women dress in the Mar&tha robe and bodice, and North India
■ 772-30

Chapter III.

Population.

MusalmAns.

ManydvB,

JlicnuuM,

MonUM,

(Bombay Gaietteer>

234

DISTRICTa

Chapter ni.
Population.

MuSAUCiKS.

Pinjdrds,

SaikcUgars,

Sutdrs,

Tahdrds.

women in headscarves^ shirts falling to the knee, and loose trousers
a little tight at the ankles. They are quiet and sober but not well
off. They work Hindu wearer's looms on daily or monthly wages
averaging Is, to 2«. (Re.^-1) a day. They are Hanafi Sunnis and are
fairly religious. They form a separate social community but marry
with other Musalmdns. They teach their children to read the
Kuran and a little Hindustani. On the whole they are a rising class.

Pinja'ra'Si or Cotton Cleaners^ are found all over the district
in small numbers. They are said to represent Hindu converts. In
look and dress they do not differ from other Deccan Musalmins.
They are cotton cleaners by craft and are hardworking and thrifty,
but as their work is not constant they are generally poor and live
from hand to mouth. They move about the streets in search of
work and clean cotton for pillows and quilts. They marry only
among themselves, and form a separate class. They respect and
obey the kdzi and employ him to register their marriages. They
do not send their boys to school, and, besides as cotton cleaners,
many are found as servants and messengers.

Saikalgars, or Armourers, are found in small numbers all
over the district. They are said to represent Ghisadi Hindus
converted by Aurangzeb. They are like other Deccan classes in
look and in dress. They clean swords, knives, scissors, and other
tools. Though hardworking, few of them are well-to-do, as with
the disuse of arms most of their earnings have ceased. Many of
them have taken to service. They marry among themselves only^
but have no separate union. They respect and obey the regular
kdzi and employ him to register their marriages. They give their
boys no schooling, and none have risen to any high position,

Suta'rs, or Carpenters, are found in small numbers in some of
the larger towns. They are said to represent Hindu converts and to
have come from different parts of the Deccan. They look and dress
like other Deccan Musalmdns. They are carpenters by craft, are
hardworking thrifty and sober and some are well-to-do. They fomi
a separate community and marry among themselves only. They are
Sunnis of the Hanafi school but are seldom religious ot* careful to
say their prayers. They respect and obey the kdzi and employ
him to register their marriages. Their manners and customs do
not differ from those of the regular Musalmd.ns. They give their
boys no schooling and take to no new pursuits.

Taka'ra'S, or Stone Masons and Quarrymen, who are found in
considerable numbers all over the district. They are said to represent
Shol&pur Dhondphod^. In look and dress they do not differ from
other Deccan Musalmdns. They are stone masons and quarrymen^
are hardworking skilful and thrifty, and some are well-to-do and able
to save. The poor among them go about the streets roughening
grind-mills or work as labourers ; the well-to-do take contracts to
supply stones or work as masons. They have a union which
settles social disputes at caste meetings under a headman choseu
from among the rich and respectable members. They marry
among themselves only, and their manners and customs do not dtffiet^
from those of other Musalmfins. They respect and obey the kdzi

Becean^l

AHMADNAGAR.

235

and employ him to register their marriages. They give their boys
no schooling and take to no new pursuits.

Ta'Hibolis, or Betel-leaf Sellers, are found in considerable
nambers all over the district. They are said to represent mixed
Hindus converted by Aurangzeb^ and are said to have come from
different parts of the Deccan. They are either tall or of middle
height and are dark or olive-skinned. The men shave the head,
wear the beard full, and dress in a large Mardtha turban, a coat, a
jacket, and a pair of tight trousers or a waistcloth. The women
are delicate and fair, and wear the Hindu robe and bodice. Both
men and women are neat and clean in their habits. They have
fixed shops where they sell betel leaves betelnuts and tobacco.
They are hardworking thrifty and well-to-do. They form a separate
community and marry only among themselves. They are Sunnis
of the Hanafi school in name, but few are religious or careful to say
their prayers. They do not send their boys to school or
new pursuits.

Christians^ are returned as numbering 4821 and as found im
small numbers all over the district. They are Hindu and Musalmda
converts to Christianity. They belong to the American Mar&thi
Mission and the Mission of the English Church Society for
Propagating the Gospel. The Ahmadnagar branch of the American
Mar&thi Mission, the first Protestant Christian mission in the district,
was opened in 1831. Among the laymen who aided the establishment
of the Ahmadnagar branch, the chief was Dr. Graham then in
medical charge of the Ahmad uagar military hospital, who procured
for the mission the free use of the mansion known as Tewri Bdgh.
Shortly afterwards, with the munificent aid of Sir John Malcolm
and other European gentlemen, under Dr. Graham's care, the
mission opened a charitable dispensary called the Poor Asylum..
To give shelter to lepers and blind and deaf beggars quarteis were-
raised sloping from the city wall ; and every Sunday provisions^
were distributed among the infirm who lived there. The first
convert was a lame Mhar named Kondu, who was baptised in 1832.
The number of converts gradually increased, and on the 6th of March.
1832, the station was organised as an independent church.
According to their capabilities the converts were trained for and
provided with employment. Br&hman and other high class converts
who could read and write, were employed as Catechists or Biblemen.
Mhar gunis or teachers,^ who had some knowledge of Mar^hi
and were accustomed to speak on religious subjects, were
employed as preachers among Mh^s and M&ngs. Illiterate
Mhars and M^Lngs were employed as domestic servants in the
hooses of missionaries. From the first the mission opened boys'
and girls' boarding s<^ools for Hindu and Christian cl^ldren.
Besides the boarding schools the mission opened several schools in
the district for high class Hindus; but as the number of converts

Chapter III.
Population.

MUSALMAVS.

TdmboHs.

GhRIST1A2«8.

^ From materials supplied by the Rev. L. Biaaell, D.D., of the American Mar&thi
Missioa and the Revt J. Taylor ol the Society for Propagating the Gospel.

[Bombay Oaietteer,

236

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
FopnlatioiL.

CHRIMIAirS,

increased, these schools were closed, and, in their place, new schools
under convert teachers were opened for Christian children, generally
in Mhdr quarters. The boys' boarding school was afterwards
turned into a school for training catechists and teachers for the
mission district schools. In 1866 the school was closed and the
boys were sent to the Christian Vernacular Society's normal school
which was opened in the same year. At present (1883) Ahmadnagar
has two American mission churches, one under a European missionaxy
and the other under a native pastor. Besides these two churches
every large Christian settlement has its church under a native pastor.
Since 1864 the churches have been bound into an union. Each
church sends two delegates to the union, from among whom, the
president, the vice-president, the secretary, and the treasurer of the
union are chosen by the majority of votes. The union meets once a
year in October at Ahmadnagar. It suggests what is for the good
of the churches, settles points of doctrine, and gives advice and aid
to the churches. It also examines the students of the Theological
Seminary and has power to give or to withhold the licenses of
preachers and pastors. It can drive a church out of the union for
holding unscriptural views.

The Ahmadnagar Mission of the Church of England Society for
Propagating the Gospel was started in 1873, on the suggestion of the
Reverend W. Boswell, the chaplain of the station, who for some
time had attached to himself two families of native converts. In
the same year the Beverend T. Williams came as a missionary,
and within two years his zeal and energy were rewarded by the
baptism of about 200 converts. Mr. Williams was succeeded by
the Reverend W. S. Barker under whom, by 1877, the number of
converts rose to 404 After an interval of nine months Mr.
Barker was succeeded by the Reverend J. Taylor, who before
January 1879, by the help of a European layman and two native
clergymen, baptised 1900 converts, and opened new schools, the
chief of which were a boarding school for girls and a training
school for boys and lads. In Jatmary 1879 the Reverend T.Williams
returned and remained till June 1882, during which time 1500
more people wore baptised. Since June 1882 the mission has been
under the charge of the Reverend J. Taylor. At present (1883) the
adherents of the mission number about 3500 scattered over 150
villages which are visited by the Reverend J. Taylor and other
missionaries aided by a native stafE of two catechists, four sub-
catechists, eight preachers, and forty-three schoolmasters. The
mission has forty schools, each with ten to fifteen boys and a few
girls.

The followers of the American Mar&thi Mission are found all over
the d^trict except in the south-west. Every village has one or more
resident families. Except a few Brahmans, Prabhus, Kunbis,
Vanjiris, and Musalm^ns most of them were Mhars and Hingis^
They speak Mardthi both at home and abroad. Most of the converts
have kept their names and surnames ; but in naming their children
they generally prefer Christian to Hindu names. Persons
bearing the same surname intermarry; but close relationship

BeceuL]

• AHMADNAGAR

237

is a bar to marriage. They live in ODe-storeyed houses with
either flat or tiled roofs and mnd walls. They form one
community eating together and intermarrying. But Br&hman and
other high class converts are averse from marrying with families
who originally were Mhdrs and M^ngs, Their daily food is Indian
inilleti pnlse^ and vegetable curries. They eat the usual kinds of
flesh including beef and drink Uquor; but most of them have
signed temperance bonds. Their dress varies according to their
means. The men wear the waistcloth, trousers or loincloth, the
ehonldercloth^ the waistcoat or bandi, and the headscarf with
coontzy or European shoes. The womM dress in a full Mar^tha
robe without passing the skirt back between the feet, and a bodice
with short sleeves and a back with country or European shoes.
Some of them are native pastors^ some preachers, some catechists,
some mission schoolmasters, some domestic servants, some village
watchmen and messengers, and some labourers. Within the last
few jears many Christians have taken to husbandry and some are
doing well. They earn enough for their living, and, as a class, are
free from debt, being helped by the mission in time of need.
They rank with Mnsalmdns and are touched by high class Hindus
&nd Mnsalmans. The Mh&rs and M&ngs, though much looked down
on, are allowed to draw water from public wells, a privilege which
is refosed to Hindu Mhdrs and Mdngs. A poor family of five spend
68. to 8«. (R8.3.4), and a well-to-do family £1 to £1 4,8. (R8.10.12)
a month on food and dress. They pray twice a day secretly. In
this prayer those who can read the Bible, read it and meditate on
the portions read. Family men have family prayers at least once a
daj, when, if one of the family can read, a passage from the Bible
is read and a hymn sung. The whole community has to attend
rhnrch on Sunday, and to keep Sunday as a Sabbath or day of rest.
At the Sunday meeting they pray and sing with the pastor who
preaches on a text from the Bible. Besides the Sunday services
they hold prayer meetings on some week day when they pray
together and exhort and encour^e each other. On the first
Monday of each month a meeting is held to hear missionary news and
pray for the spread of the Gospel. Money is gathered at all meetings,
And, according to the majority of votes, is spent on some Christian
work. Once a year all go to Ahmadnagar to attend the yearly
meeting held to commemorate the beginning of the mission.
Except those who have near relations and friends, all lodge in
a rest-house built for their use. On this occasion a kirtan or
story-telling is generally held. Except that its hero is Christ, the
Christian kirtan or story-telling does not differ from a Hindu kirtan.
They do not observe any ceremonies except baptism, marriage,
death, and the Lord's Supper. When a Hindu or Musalm&n
wishes to become a Christian he is first taught Christian doctrines and
conduct and is then baptised. In marriage the bride and bridegroom
go in separate parties to the church where they are married by the
pastor according to the ritual of the Protestant Church, and the
community is feasted. Soon after death the body is washed with
water, dressed decently, laid in a coffin, and buried in the grave-
yard. Before the body is buried the minister who attends reaos the

Cihapter III.
Population.

CHBisnAKa

[Bombay Oazetteeri

238

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Population.

Christians.

burial service. The followers of the mission are bound by a strong
feeling of fellowship. When one is known to behave badly his
neighbours report him to the pastor. The pastor admonishes and
warns the oflEender. If he continues to behave badly, he is called
to the mission house and examined, and if he shows no signs of
repentance, he is put out of the mission. Adultery, habitual
drunkenness, idol-worship, and the observance of caste rules are
considered grievous offences. Most send their children to school
and show signs of improving. Nearly half of the community can
read and write.

The converts of the Mission of the Society for Propagating the
Gospel are found in Kopargaon, Nagar, Nevdsa, Rdhuri, Sangamner,
and Shevgaon. They do not differ much in speech, food, or dress
from the converts of the American Marathi Mission. Except
a few Brahmans and Kunbis most of them are Mh4rs and Manga.
All eat and drink together, but Brahman converts are averse from
marriage with low caste families, and Mhdrs from marrying with
Mdngs. They are sober hardworking and thrifty. The high class
converts are mission servants as pastors or preachers and a few are
clerks. Most of the low class converts, especially the Mhdrs and M&ngs,
keep to their old means of livelihood as village servants, a position
which is at all times precarious and dependent on the goodwill of
Kunbi and other landholders. Some of the converts have taken to
farming, cattle-dealing, stone-cutting, and house-building. They
earn enough for their living and avoid borrowing in times of
sickness or scarcity. A family of five spend about 148. (Rs. 7) a month,
on food and dress, a house costs £5 to £15 (Rs. 50-150) to build,
a birth 2^. to £1 (Rs.1-10), a marriage £5 to £15 (Rs.50-150),
and a death 10«. to £1 lOs. (Rs. 5 - 15). Intermarriages between
converts of different castes have not been common, nor do the
mission authorities encourage respectable converts to marry their
social inferiors. Marriages, especially among Mhdrs and M&ags,
according to Hindu rites, when either party is under age, or a
Hindu, are common, and efforts to hinder such irregularities have
not been so successful as missionaries wish. The Christian
festivals of Sunday, Christmas, Easter, and other days are gradually
taking the place of Hindu holidays, but Sunday markets and the
disregard of Sunday by the Hindus with whom the converts are
closely linked and on whom they depend, make th^ converts'
strict observance of Sunday extremely difficult. At a birth in a well-
to-do &mily if the babe is a boy 4s, (Rs. 2) are given to the
midwife and if it is a girl 2a. 6d. (Rs. 1^) are given. Besides the
cash the midwife receives two to four pounds of wheat, one pound of
dry cocoa-kernel, two pounds of dry dates, and the robe worn by
the woman at the time of her delivery. In poor families la. (8 o^.)
is given for a boy and 9d, (6 as.) for a girl with Indian or spiked
millet instead of wheat. Few keep the sixth day and twelfth day
birth ceremonies. The well-to-do make a small feast at baptofim.
Marriage proposals come from the boy's parents. At a betrothal^
the boy's father makes a present of a robe to the girl at her house,
to which he goes with his friends, and her father gives a feaf^t.
Dowries are not required though presents of turbans, waistcloth^?^

Deecanl

AHMADNAGAR.

239

coats, and sboes have to be given by the girl's father to the bride-
groom with corresponding presents to his mother, brothers, and
sisters. Rather it is the custom to take from £1 to £5 (Rs. 10 - 50)
for the girl's ornaments. In poor families £1 to £3 (Rs. 10-30) are
tftken from the boy's father to give a feast at the girl's house. Their
marriages are attended by native music. The boy and girl are often
rabbed with turmeric and their brows adorned with tinsel marriage
coronets. They do not hold any ceremony when a girl comes of
age. At death the more advanced converts do not give a feast,
bat pat a bit of sugarcandy or a little water into the mouth of
the dead as a token of respect. They wash the dead body and
dress it in white. If the family is poor the dead body is borne
on a country bier instead of in a coffin. If there is no Christian
grave-yard, the body is buried in the Hindu burial ground. They
are not so anxious to teach their girls as the Missionaries wish
them to be, but on the whole are anxious to better their condition.
The education given, in addition to Christian teaching, is according
to the Gk)vemment standards in English and Mardthi, and the
intelligence and progress shown give promise that the Christians,
even of low class origin, will ere long be able to take their place side
by gide with high caste Hindus.

Roman Catholics are found in very small numbers especially at
Ahmadnagar. Some of them are local converts and others are
emigrants from Qoa. The local converts most of whom were drawn
by the Jesuit missionaries from the Mission of the Society for
Propagating Gospel, follow the ritual of the Catholic Church, but in
customs and other important particulars do not differ from the
converts of the Mission of the Society for Propagating the Gospel.
The Goanese have come into the district in search of employment
and are mostly domestic servants of Europeans. They do not differ
in any respect from their Goa brethren.

Pa'rsis are returned as numbering 179 and as found chiefly at
Ahniadnagar. They are emigrants from Bombay and Surat. Their
home speech is Gujar&ti. Out of doors they speak Mar^thi and
English. As shopkeepers, ' merchants, contractors, and liquor
sellers they are well-to-do and prosperoas. They have priests of
their own. They have three Towers of Silence one of them in use,
and a Fire Temple.

The population is almost stationary ; few leave and few settle
in the district. Most Deccan Br^hmans would starve at home
rather than seek employment in distant places and hence are called
Mmgda or stay-at-homes. A few English-taught youths have
left the district for service in the Berirs and the Niz&m's country,
And the neighbouring districts of Poena, Naaik, Khdndesh, and
Bombay. As a rule a youth starts by himself and if he prospers
retnrns to fetch his wife and children. The rest of his housenold
i*emain in the district and the family constantly returns to perform
the marriages of their children and to see their friends and
kinsmen. They settle in the district after they retire from service,
aa their feeling for home is strong. Most local men of capital
are content with what employment their money may find at home.

Chapter III.
Population.

Chbistians.

PAbsis.

MOVEMXNTS.

240

[Bombay OazattMr.

DISTRICTS.

Chapter III.
Populatioii.

MOTXMXNTS,

This class is recruited from among Marwar and Gujardt traders
or vdnis. Except this immigration of outsiders^ the moyements of
traders are generally confined to the neighbouring districts. They
leave their homes about Divdli time in October -November and
bring a stock of goods or wares from Belgaum, Dh&rw4r^
Bombay, Poena, and N4sik. The hardship and cost of these
journeys have been greatly ireduced by the opening of railways. A
few Ahmadnagar Mochis or shoemakers and Shimpis or tailors
leave the district in October go to Poena, Sdtdra, and Bombay
in search of work and return home at the beginning of the rains.
Beld&rs or stonecutters used to leave the district but of late years
railway and other public works have given them abundant local
employment. Mauy Phulmdlis or flower growers find work in
Bombay and Poena as fruit and flower sellers. A few labourers go
as far as the Grod^vari, remain there during the rains, and return
home after the harvest. Kunbi landholders have a strong dislike
to leave their villages. Of late years chiefly in connection with
local railway and other public works unskilled labour has been in
constant and well paid demand. Though they prefer local
employment labourers are not so opposed as landholders to leaving
the district in search of work. Few of them are so wanting in
energy a^ intentionally to let pass the chance of highly paid outside
employment. As a rule they return to their homes as soon as the
work is over. At the reaping season aome wandering tribes come
into the district, and leave soon after tbe harvest is past.^

1 The ISSl cenBOB shows that 56,512 people bom ia Ahmadnagar were in that
year found in different parts of the Bombay Preaideney. The details are, KAsik
15,786, Poena 15,164, Bombay City S274» Khindesh 7353, ShoUpur 4088, ThiUia
385§, S4ttoi 445, KoUba 305, Sniat 265, Ahmadabad 206, Belgaom 186, Ratnigiri
135, Dh&rwir 183, Aden HI, Bijipur 69, EAnara 44, Broach 27, Panch Mahilfi II,
andEaira6.

Decca]i.J

CHAPTER IV.

AGRICULTURES

AcGOBDiKQ to the 1881 census agriculture supports about 486,248
people or 64' 72 per cent of the population. The details are:

Ahmadnagar Agricultural Population, 188t.

Ao*.

MaleiL

Females.

TtotaL

Under Fifteen...
Over Fifteen ...

Total ...

97,807
149,193

94,609
144,789

192,816
29S.982

247.000

239,248

486,248

The chief cultivating classes are Eunbis, ^alis, Vanjdris, and
MusalmlLns. Of these ICunbis form the bulk of the agricultural
population, and M41is come next. Yanj^i cultivators^ most of them
f&tiUnxidi other vatanda/rSj are found in large numbers in the Shevgaon
sub-division, and Musalman Cultivators are found all over the district.
In rural parts all classes except Gujarat and Mdrwdr Y&nis work in
the fields. Only in large towns are there craftsmen who entirely
depend for their living on their craft income. The large demand
for garden produce at Ahmadnagar, Sirur, Poona^ and Bombay,
and the improved communications nave of late increased the amount
of garden tillage, especially in Pamer, Nagar, Jdmkhed, and
ShevgaoBu Most of the Malis or market-gardeners of these places
are skilful and hardworking. In addition to what they earn from
tilling their lands, some husbandmen go for a time to Bombay and
other places to work as labourers and carriers. In January when the
busy season is over many with their bullocks are hired by Marwdris^
and other traders to carry grain and oilseeds to Ahmadnagar and
Poona in the traders' carts from Jdmkhed, Karjat, P&mer^ and
Shrigond^ In some hill villages the husbandmen rear cattle and
sheep and sell butter. Vanjdris and other poorer husbandmen bring
firewood to the Ahmadnagar city and cantonment markets. In
Nevdsa a few husbandmen hold farms of over 200 acroi and have
twenty to thirty bulloclis, and a good many are £ree from debt and
have grain stored in pits. The M^s or market-gaxdeners close to
Ahmadnagar are perhaps the most prosperous husbandmen in the
district They are men of capital and hire labour to till their fields.
In a few Pernor villages some headmen and leading husbaifilmen
rear sheep and cattle and are well-to-do. In Jdmkhed, where the
hills yield good pasture and the leading landholders send butter aai

Chapter IT.
Agriculture.
Husbandmen.

^ This chapter owes much to additionB and correctioiui by Mr. £. C. Ozanne,
C. S., Director of Agricalture, Bombay, and Mr. A. F. Woodbum, C. S., Acting
C^Oeotor of Ahmadnagar.

B 772-31

(BomlMiy Gasettaer,

242

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IV.
Agricnltnre.

HUSBAMDMKN.

SOILSi

grain to Ahmadnagar and gain much from the presence of large
traders and moneylenders belonging to the Nizdm's country, many
are well off. Except these, even in the neighbourhood of the excellent
market of Ahmadnagar, the husbandmen as a class are poor and
depressed. They are i^orant and improvident and suffer greatly
from scanty rainfall and from the pressure of moneylenders. Perhaps
two-thirds of the whole are in debt. In Nevdsa for a long series
of years much rich land has remained untilled^ and in Ni^ar many
husbandmen have forsaken field-work for labour and servica

The three chief soils are Mli or black, tdmhat or red, and
barad or gray including pdndhri or white. The subdivisions of these
soils are very numerous and their names differ in different parts.
Mr. Ozanne notices three chief divisions of black or kali : black
proper, known as black cotton soil but in Ahmadnagar more suited
for wheat than for cotton, a heavy clay, rich and moisture-holding,
excessively sticky and hard to work in the rains, and full of cracks in
the hot weather ; clayey loam or khalga easier to work than the black
proper and like it apt to cake in the rains, and to crack in the hot
weather ; and a lignt soil or sandy loam called chopan which comes
very clpse to one of the white varieties. In the hilly west of
Akola, a red soil, which is usually deeper on the slopes tnan on the
levels, grows magnificent trees. In the desk or plain lands of Akola
and in Sangamner, alon^ both banks of the Pravara, the soil is
extremdv rich and gradually grows poorer as it draws near the
hills. The lands near the hills to the north of the Rravara are poor
and the uplands to the south of the Pravara are still less f ertile»
being light and friable and much mixed with gravel. To the north-
east of Sangamner, the Kopargaon plain has in general a good dejpth
of soil, and near the Grod^vari are many wide tracts oi deep rich
land. It has also many large barren patches along the river banks.
In Rfihuri, to the south of Kopargaon, the soil is generally black,
deep, and rich, and in parts near the rivers clayey. To yield a large
crop it wants much rain, buiit has unusual power of holding moisture
and in favourable seasons yields abundant late or rabi crops. In
the south it is shallow and much cut by the deep winding feeders
of the Mula To the nortJa and north-east of the Pravara the soil is
poor, with clayey lowlands and rocky and barren uplands. In
Nevdsa the soil is good and with careful tillage is capable of yielding-
rich crops. It varies considerably in character. The best is a deep
rich munjal a reddish soil generally near the Pravara and the Mula
which is admirably suited for garden crops. Being alluvial and
friable it wants less moisture and is more easily worked than the
stiffer and more clayey soils along the Goddvari which are also good
and with abundant rain yield largely. In other parts of the sub-
division are tracts of rich deep soil of various textvie, but not so
unif ohnly fertile as close to the GoddVari and its feeders the Mula
and the rravara. Mixed with these richer lands are many tracts of
poorer soil, fiats of murum or gravelly and of khadkal or stony laud,
low plateaus of hard barren land, bare ridges or water-partings of
mdl or upland separating the Goddrvari the Pravara and mauv
smaller streams, and near the hills shallow easily worked aoiU
Shevgaon, though on the whole rich, has a more variable soil than

ItaOGttU]

AHMADNAGAR.

24S

Nev£s& The same rich stiff soil occurs near the God^vari and the
same slightly raised belts of hard poor mdl or upland mark the water-
partings of the different streams. The best soil is in the Dhora
valley and in occasional low patches near the hills. The rest of the
soil is light and easily worked. The southern sub-divisions of
Pteier, Nagar, Shrigonda, and Karjat with their cross ranges of hills
have deep-soiled tablelands or pathdrs in the west, rich valleys, and
a few levels with good soil. Many plateaus, especially the K^nhur
plateau, have good though not very deep soil, and without much
rain yield wheat gram and other crops. The hUl sides and slopes are
stony and bare, broken by terraces with patches of poor arable soil
and with richer fields occasionally near streams. ]m)st of the plain
land is poor and shallow suitable only for the growth of millets.
Among these poor soils are some lowlands with a rich black easily
worked soil and in some valleys black and red soils rich and yielding
good garden crops when watered. Two specially barrei\ tracts may
be noticed, one on the borders of Karjat and Shrigonda, the other
north of a Une drawn east to west through Tdkli-Dhakeshvar ten
tnilea north of P&rner, and as far north as the slopes down to the
Mula. The second waste is of great extent and is mostly unarable
bein^ little better than bare basalt, unfit for anything but sheep-
grazing. Near the Bhima there is considerable variety, very poor
stone lands or mdl, deep stiff and hard to work mwnjal or reddish
soils which in wet seasons 3deld large crops, and a few favoured
plots of rich moist alluvial or dheli. To tiie north-east of Ahmadna^ar
city there is much poor soil, though close to the city and in the valley
is found deep munjal or reddish soil very heavy to work especially
near the Sina, but in wet seasons yielding large returns. Near the
ran^e of the hills that runs south-east down the centre of the
Shngonda and Karjat sub-divisions is much very poor land with
occasionfiJ patches oi good light soil near Karjat, Koregaon, and
other placea Along Uie Bhima valley in the south-west and south
are heavy deep soils whose barrenness in dry seasons is more than
made up by great harvests in wet years.

In the south-east the soil of JAmkhed is generally light and easily
worked. Low levels of reddish or mur\gal land are mixed with
stretches of poor soil and separated by low ridges and waving
uplands. In the north-east and east of J^mkhed the tableland of
tne B^U^hAt is in parts stony, but is generally rich especially north
in the neighbourhood of Manur and further north in the valley of
the Sinphana.

All cultivated land in AJimadnagar, as in the rest of the Deccan»
comes under the two great heads of jvrdyat that is dry-crop and
bdgayat that is watered. Dry-crop lands are either kharif that is
sown with early crops, or rabi that is sown with late cropa
The early crops are sown in June or July and reaped at the
end of August or in October or November. The late crops are
sown in October and November and reaped in February and
March. In the dang or hilly west of Akola near the Sahyddris
the early crops including rice and the coarser hill grains
are the most important. During the cold weather a little

Chapter IV.
Agriculture-
Bona,

Seasons.

[Bombay Oasetteer,

244

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IV.
Agriculture.

SCASONS.

HOLDIKGS.

wheat, peas, gram, and lentils are groy^n Over the rest of the
sub-division in parts the early and late harvests are of about equal
consequence, and in other parts, on the whole a larger area, the late
harvest is the chief. Furthereast&o/rior millet mixed with the pulses
tur,math, ejidhulga or AiitK^fcDolichosbiflorus, the oilseeds, niger-seed
or khurdani, hemp or ambddi, and sesame, and Indian millet, cotton,
and tobacco are the leading early crops. They are mostly grown in
and succeed best in poor shallow soils near hills. Hot weather or iusdr
crops, such as mug and udid the forerunners of the early harvest, are
grown only in good friable moisture-holdinff land and are reaped at
the end of August, when the land is again ploughed and prepared for
a late crop. The late or cold weather crops are Lidian millet or jvdri,
wheat,gram,and lentils. Jvcmaxid gram are often mixed with oilseeds,
safflower or kardai, nigerseed called kdrli or khurdani, and linseed or
alsJd. This mixed crop grows in some poor soils, but not where
bdjri succeeds and thrives in rich soils. Wheat grows well only
in rich black land. In s«me alluvial or dheli lands vegetables and
castor-plants are raised in addition to the usual late crops. Garden
crops are grown in small quantities in almost every part of the
district. They are vegetables, chillies, onions, garlic, gnavas, limes^
sugarcane, betel-leaves, grapes, plantains, aiid wheat and granu A
little rice is also grown as a change. The best garden tillage in the
district is in parts of Pdmer, Nagar, Shevgaon, and Jdmkhed.

More than one hundred acres is a large holding, fifty to one
hundred a middle-sized holding, and less than fifty a small holding.
In 1882-83, including alienatea lands, the total number of holdings
was 161,107 with an average of about fifteen acres. Of the whrfe
number 43,404* were holdings of not more than five acres, 22,723 of
six to ten acres, 52,079 of eleven to twenty acres, 29,500 of twenty-ono
to thirty acres, 7581 of thirty-one to forty acres, .1731 of forty-one to
fifty acres, 2995 of fifty-one to 100 acres, 908 of 101 to 200 acres, 111
of 201 to 300 acres, twenty-seven of 301 to 400 acres, and forty-eight
above 400 acres. The small holdings are chiefly in Akola. Of
holdings above 100 acres 508 are found in Eopargaon, 490 in
Shrigonda, thirty all of them above 400 acres in Nev^, seven
in P&ner, seven in AJcola, three in Earjat, and two in R4huri»
Middle-sized and smijl holdings are generally owned by Hindoa
while large holdings are owned by mndus as well as Musalmana
and F&rsis, who either cultivate them themselves or sublet them.

Ahmadnagar Holdings, 1882-83.

ACBBB.

Total. 1

SUB-DlTIBIOX.

1-6

6-10

11- SO

21-30

81-40
680

41-60

61-
100

101-
200

201-
800

801-

400

Above
400

Number

Acree.

KopunoD ...

108

828

1810

1408

1345

453

6212

275,911

Nevin

611

1186

2828

2629

887

• •«

• •#

•«•

8168

S4S,S08

ShevgAn ...

1687

8416

4298

2798

600

• ••

• •t

11,798

265,182

Magftr

690

1180

7824

4620

1961

• »•

t«»

• •■

f ••

...

16,260

225,306

Karfat
Shrigonda ...

1791

1848

6181

3661

418

• ••

• •«

>••

18,827

161,408

818

970

976

766

860

1228

406

6211

26.167

Piniev

6514

8096

6668

•688

1088

186

•••

r»«

19,092

246,066

Sanframner ...

«&41

4412

6S06

ft968

468

216

168

• •»

«VI

•••

• ••

21,262

961,710

Akola

2i,S67

8888

6206

1777

816

112

■«•

••«

««•

83.780

187,699

R&huri

1681

8404

6712

8119

2i7

*••

■ «i

14,016

209,127

Jimkhed ' ...
Total ...

2466

1801

4681

2077

837

167

11.668

170,747

48,404

22,7i8

62.070

29,600

7681

1781

2996

908

111

161,107

2.806.88$

DeeeaaO

AHMADNAOAR

245

One to five pairs of bollocks, and sometimes in stiff soils as many
as six and eight pairs, are wanted to drag a plough. A couple of
bullocks with a light plough have easy work in the west of Akola,
while on stiff soils, such as those of the Bhima, it is no uncommon
sight to see ten or twelve bullocks labouring heavily as they slowly
drag the big plough after them. As a rule^ the husbandmen have
only one pair, and borrow a second pair from a neighbour lending
their own in return. In this way two pairs of bullocks plough
twenty to thirty acres of ordinary light land.

Of an area of 6666 square miles, 6510 have been surveyed in
detail Of these 520 are the lands of alienated villages. The rest
includes 2,750,239 acres or 74*60 per cent of arable land ; 360,227
acres or 977 per cent of unarable ; 1027 or '03 per cent of grass
or kuran ; 462^528 or 12'54 per cent of forest reserves^ ; and
112,764 or 3'06 per cent of village sites, roads, and river beds.
From the 2,750,239 acres of arable land, 209,352 or 7*6 per cent
have to be taken on account of alienated lands in Government
villages. Of 2,540,887 acres, the actual area of arable Government
land, 2,278,125 or 8*96 ^er cent were in 1881-82 under tijlage.
Of these 2,222,980 acres were dry-crop, 51,212 watered ^garden,
and 3933 rice land.

As in other parts of the Deccan the number of farm cattle was
greatly reduced by the 1876-77 famine. During the seven years
ending 1882-83 they have nearlv regained their former strength.
In 1875-76 the year before the famine the stock included 23,221
carts. 63,619 ploughs, 274,058 bullocks, 190,886 cows, 48,183
buffaloes, 21,330 horses, 9874 asses, and 411,965 sheep and goats.^
According to the 1882-83 returns, the stock included 24,928 carts,
64,680 ploughs, 252,602 bullocks, 195,210 cows, 46,492 buffaloes,
18,978 horses, 8565 asses, and 456,625 sheep and goats. The details
are:

Ahmadnagar Farm Stock, 1882-83.

Oaetb.

FliOUOHB.

BCL-
LOCKB.

OOWB.

BUFFALOES.

HoBsn

Shup

AK9
QgATB.

ASSE**.

1803
1271
641
870
668
896

losa.

761
806
616
297

SOB-DXYIBIQB.

Bid-

LcMd-
ing.

Two
Bui-
lodu.

Four
Bul-
locks.

Malflt.

Fe-
males.

P&rner
Sbrlgonda ...
lUrJst
Jioikhed ...
Shevgaon ...
N«*fc^ ...
R&toQri
Kopwgaon ...
SiiaifnnT ...
Akotft

Total ...
1675-76 ...

880
666

660

90
1126
1016
11T9
9087
1338
456

1628

1787

887

780

1109

1344

1640

1717

1861

1761

714

2787
2866
1928
698
782
6611
8426
1896

2835
8747

8846
4481
4312
2107
2861
6816
4515
2948
4161
4144
2068

27,262
32,251
26.038
17.100
80,898
82,946
27,624
19,804
21,377
2687
16,266

19,611
23,879
14,967
11,020
21,907
20,818
19,165
12.430
13,873
19.678
19,472

607

730

877

1821

1044

631

860

819

719

4489

8178
4060
2184
2171
6712
4461
2672
1382
1499
8491
4206

1674
1788
18S6
1264
2006
2700
2430
1684
1514
1614
703

48,881
7298
89,626
64,321
87,180
62,770
89,787
41,838
38,427
79,289
12,768

9941
9000

14.987
14,212

23,941
22,464

40,739
41,105

274,068

196,210
190.886

11,547
10,088

84,945
88,146

18,978
21,880

456,636
411,9(S

8666
9874

In 1881-82 of 2,278,125 acres nnder tillage, 11,485 acres were
twice cropped and 319,901 were fallow. Of 1,969,709 acres, the

Chapter IT.
Agriculture.

Ploughs.

Arable Land.

Stock.

dtoiu

1 The forest area has been lately raised to 493,360 acres or 774 square miles.
* Honea and asBes though classed with farm stock are noYer used for field work.

[Bombay Oaiettoer*

246

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IV.

AgricBlture.

Cbofs.

Field-Tools.

Piough,

Harrow,

actual area under cultivation, grain crops occupied 1 »662,250 or 84*39
per cent, of which 783,150 were under spiked millet bdjri PenicillariA
spicata, 679,879 under Indian millet jvdri Sorghum vulgare,
151,026 under wheai, gahu Triticum lestivum, 22,820 under rdgi
or ndchni Eleusine corocana, 7078 under rice bhdt Oryza sativa,
1497 under chenna sdva Panicum miliaceum, 1086 under ^ maize
makka Zea mays, 416 under Italian millet rdla or kdng Panicum
italicum, 245 under kodra or harik Paspalum scrobiculatum,
104 under barley jav Hordeum hexastichon, and 14,949 under
other grains of which details are not given. Pulses occupied
162,175 acres or 8*23 per cent of wmch 64,470 were under

fram harbhara Cicer arietinum, 38,153 under kulith or kulthi
)olichos biflorus, 33,122 under tur Cajanus indicus, 5455 under
mtig Phaseolus mungo, 1922 under iidid Phaseolus radiatus, 1455
unaer peas vdtdna Pisum sativum, 267 under lentils mdsur
Ervum lens, 31 under chickling vetdi, and 17,300 under other
pulses. Oilseeds occupied 88,226 acres or 4*48 per cent, of which
10,794 were under gingelly seed til Sesamum indicum, 4930 under
linseed alshi Linum usitatissimum, 287 i^ider mustard rdi Sinapis
racefnosa, and 72,215 under other oilseeds. Fibres occupied 38,683
acres or 1*96 per cent, of which 32,231 were under cotton kdptis
Qossypium herbaceum, 6108 under Bombay hemp san or tdg
Crotalaria juncea, and 344 under brown hemp ambddi Hibiscus
cannabinus. Miscellaneous crops occupied 18,375 acres or 0*93 per
cent, of which 6428 were under tobacco tambdkhu Nicotiana
tabacum, 5327 under chillies mirchi Capsicum fmtescens, 2801
under sugarcane us Saccharum officinarum, 1146 under hemp
gdnja Cannabis sativa, and the remaining 2673 under various
vegetables and fruits-

* The chief field-tools are the plough ndngar, the harrow auf,
vakhar, or hulav, the bullock-hoe kutpa or joK, the drill tiphan, woghady
or pdbhar, the beam-harrow phdla or maing, the seed-narrow rdkJiia
or pha/rdtf and the cart or gdda.

The plough, ndngar or ndngri if small, differs little in the Deccan
districts. Properly speaking it is not a plough, but a cultivator or
grubber with a single tine. It does not turn over a furrow, but
breaks the soil into V-shaped trenches. It is generally made of
babhvl Acacia arabica wood. It includes three parts, the pole holds,
the share phdl, and the yoke ju. The share is fixed by a ring or
vasu and the whole la kept together by a rope or vdhan usually of
leather, which passes back from the yoke oehind the plough-tail
and forward <again to the yoke. The plough varies in size but is
generally cuigOTOUs, requiring four, six, or eight, and sometimes
twelve or even sixteen bullocks in the stiff soils of the Bhimaand
the Goddvari. Near the Sahyddids in Akola and Sangamner, the
plough is li^ht enou^ to be carried on a man% shoulder and requires
only two buUocks. Except the iron shoe the ropes and the yoke, the
heavy plough, when not in use, is often left in the field. A plough costs
46. to hs, (Ks. 2-2^) and with care and yearly repairs lasts ateut five
years. The harrow, called aut, vakhar ^ or kulmM nsed after the plough
for breaking the surface fine and for loosening it when Uie plough is

Oeoeu.]

AHMADNAGAR.

247

not used. It is of a curiously shaped beam of bdbhid about two
and a half feet long somewhat like a large irregularly shaped
wooden dumb-bell. Projecting perpendicularly from each of the
enlarged ends is an iron tine with a cut at the lower end to
receive an iron knife or phda. The knife is two feet long and its
low edge is slightly sharpened. It works two or three inches or
even more below tne surface, stirring the surface soil and cutting
weed& It is drawn bj two or four Dullocks. A pole joins it to a
yoke and it is guided by an upright handle. To force it into the soil
heavy stones are laid or the driver stands on the harrow. It costs
abont 7s, (Bs.3i) and lasts four or five years. The bullock-hoe, called
kulpa or joli, has a beam two feet long. About three inches from each
end perpendicular tines project. To each tine is fastened a knife eight
inches Ions. There is thus a space of about two inches between the
end of eacn knife. The tine and knife on each side are of one piece
of iron bent at right angles like a mason's square. The two indies
between the ends of the knife blades are required because the hoe
passes over each row of the growing crop. It cuts the weeds on each
side of the crop and stirs ^the earth between the rows. As it cannot
weed the rows of com, it is always followed hj hand-weeders; The
two muzzled oxen which draw the hoe move in the space between
the rowa Two hoes, each with a driver, are often drawn by the
same pair of oxen. The bullock-hoe costs about 48, (Bs. 2) and
lasts five years. The seed-drill, a very ingenious instrument, is
used for sowing grain. It is of three kinds the tiphan, the
mcffhad, and the pdbhar. The Uphan consists of a heavy bdbhul
beam 8f feet long and 2f feet round. Its transverse section is a
8quara» It is provided with three tines with interspaces of eleven
or twelve inches. The tines project forwards and downwards, and
are pierced in the centre of the exposed portion by holes which
receive bamboo seed tubes. These meet above the beam and
are there brought together by a cup-shaped receiver or chdde, into
which the seed is poured by the hand of the sower. A hole in the
bottom of the cup communicates with each seed tube. The pointed
coulters cut drills for the seed, and each drill is directly before
the lower mouth of its seed tube. The lines of the drills are kept
straight by making the off-bullock on the return journey travel on the
outside drill of the three made in the first journey. The moghad
is the Uphan with the middle coulter and its tube removed. The
two drills made in the up-journej are thus twenty-two or twenty-
four inches apart. In the down journey the outer tine of the moghad
is made to bisect the two first formed drills. It is used when the
seed has to be laid at a greater depth than the Uphan would reach,
for two tines pass deeper than three. Thepabhar is a four-coultered
drillj and is used in light land anfd when the depth at which the
Keed is laid is even less than in the case of the Uphan. All j^hese
are held by ropes and are drawn by two oxen. On the side next
the sower each pipe has small holes which show if anjrthing
blocks the way of the seed. After removing the two middle
coulters^ the bamboo tubes, and the wooden bowl, the drills
are often used as harrows. They cost about bs. (Rs. 2^) imd

Chapter IV.
Agriculture.

Ftbld-Tools.

Bidlock-Hoe,

Seed'Dria.

[Bombay Oftsetteer*

248

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IV.
Agricaltare«

Field-Tools.
Beam- Harrow,

Seed'ffarrow,

Scoop,

Field-Cart,

Hand TooU.

Plouobino.

with care last four or five years. The beam-harrow called maing
or phdla, is used chiefly in high tillage to break the clods and
level the surface. It is a large beam of wood fitted with a
yoke and an upright handle, and requires four oxen and two men
to work. In the case of wheat and gram the beam-harrow is also
used after the seed is in the ground to keep the soil moist by
pressing it down. It costs about Ss, (Rs. 4) and lasts many years.
The seed-harrow, rdkhia or phardt, is a light harrow very
like the kulav, except that both the beam and the knife are much
longer and lighter. The knife is three feet long and the beam
about 3^ to four f eiXi. It follows the seed-drill to cover the seed and
level the ground. The cost is about 4^. (Rs. 2). The scoop or petdri is
used only in rice land. Its bottom lip is a three-feet long plank to
which oxen are harnessed. A stout handle is fixed in the middle of
the plank, sloping backwards and supporting a aeries of string-laced
bamboo slips which rise two feet six inches high. These string-
laced slips form a curved sloping surface against which as the oxen
draw the scoop the earth gathers. It is drawn by two oxen driven
W one man. As there is no iron it does not cost more than 3s.
(Kali). The field-c^ or gdda is a large dumsy wooden frame
supported on two solid wooden wheels and held together by tightly
strained ropes. It is the only cart used for field purposes. The axles
work in an iron tube which is fitted inside of the nave. It is used to
carry crops and with the help of a large basket manure. A field-
cart costs about £10 (Rs. 100) and is usually owned by two or
three and sometimes by eight or ten husbandmen. The wooden axles
often break, but if the axles are kept in repair the field cart lasts for
generations. In addition to these appliances the hand tools incopimon
useare, the A;uc{a2 or pickaxe costing about 1«. (8 a«.), tiiekhore or
hoe costing 1^. to Is, 6d. (8-12 as,), the khurpe or 'sickle for weeding
*andgrasscuttingcosting3(2.to6c{.(2-4a«.), thevt2a or reaping sickle
costing Hd, to 1^. {5-8 as,), the kayta or small billhook costing Is.
to 2s, (Re.i-1), and the ddntdle or rake with four or five broad
wooden teeth for gathering chaff and straw on the thrashing-
floor generally made by the husbandman. A landholder s usual
stock of tools is worth about £2 (Rs. 20) and costs him 6«. to
8s. (Rs.3-4) a year to keep in order. They can be bought in any
village. The village carpenter does the wood-work and some
wandering blacksmith the iron-work. The ropes are made by the
husbandman himself or by the village Mdng.

Only the lighter northern soils of Akolaand Sangamner are plough-
ed every year and there the plough is light drawn by two to four
oxen. In other parts of the district the shallower black and light
fioils are ploughed every other year, and the deep heavy soils not
oftener than once in four, six, or sometimes ten years. In the
seas(Ais between the two ploughing yeai^ the harrow is used.
Except in the stiff Bhima and Goddvari soils, where a twelve
or even sixteen bullock plough is required, a six or ei|?ht bullock
plough generally suffices. One man manages a u>ur-bullock
plough^ turning them at the end of the furrow by voice

Deccan]

AHMADNAGAR.

249

alona The furrows are never straight. The plough can be m^e
to cut a deep or a shallow furrow by changing tiie angle of the
coulter, and in most cases a field is twice ploughed along and
across. Land is ploughed in December January and February,
and JYist before sowing in June or July the harrow is used to brei^
the surface.

In hilly land the seed is sown broadcast ; in other places it is sown
by the drill called tvphan or pdbha/r. Only one man is required to work
the drill. He drives the oxen and at the same time keeps filling the drill
with grain from a large bag hung within his reach. For wheat
and gram the drill called moghad is used. When a mixed crop
is to be sown one of the tubes is stopped^ and an extra horn-tipped
tube, fastened by a rope and fed with the required seed, is made
to pass in the furrow left by the stopped coulter. In sowing seed
>)roadcast much skill is shown. The seed is covered by the phardt or
need'harrow which immediately follows.

Manure is scarce. It is generally applied only to garden
lands, and if available to dry-crop lands especially near hills. Where
the rainfall is regular and plentiful the ajRreepings of the house
and of the ox-stalls, ashes, and every sort of rubbish are thrown
into a pit and turned during tihe rainy months so that the whole
may decav equally. Where carts can go manure is taken
to the field or garden in carts furnished with large baskets of
tur Cajanus indicus stalks ; where carts cannot go the manure is
carried by bullocks or by men. The supply of manure is generally
l)oth wecJc and scanty. To ensure a good crop of gram, wheat, betel-
leaf, and groundnut, for every acre fourteen to twenty carts (7-10
tons) are required, for an acre of sugarcane forty to sixty-five carts
(20-32^ tons), and for an acre of betel- vine a still larger quantity.
The price of manure varies from 7 id. to 1*. (5-8 as.) in the country,
and from Is. to Is. 6d. (8-12 cls,) the cart or gdda near towns.

Villages with garden land have seldom manure to spare for
the dry-crop fields ; where there are no gardens the millet lands
are manured every other year. Some of the deep soils are better
without manure. The people say that if they put manure on such
land, unless there is plenty of water, the crops will be burnt.
Garden lands want manure before every crop, though, if much is
given before the first crop, the second will require something less
than the full share. A common method of manuring land,
especially land which has been long fallow, is to fold or hurdle
nheep on it. The landholder pays the shepherd 6 to 9 pounds
(3-4| shera) for a night of every hundred sheep.

In the ddng or hilly western villages of Akola no manure is used
except rob which differs very m\ich from ordinary manure. Rob
niBji^ ecmsist of almosit anything that will bum, branches feaves
cowdnnff and grass, small branches with the leaves on being con-
sidered best. The material is arranged on a little plot and when
dry is burnt. On the first fall of rain the seed is sown in the ashes
and when the seedlings have reached a certain height, they are
planted in the field. This system is used both for dry-crop and
rice lands. It gives the plants a vigorous start to enable them to

Chapter IV.
Agriculture.

SOWTNO.

Manttre.

[Bombay Gazetteer.

250

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IV.
Agriculture.

IbrigaHon.

stand the climate when tender and beat the weeds. The people lay
great stress air the ground being thoroughly burnt.

Both well-watering or motasthal and channel-watering or
pdtasthal are carried on. Partly from the poverty of the people
partly from the want of water, the area of neither class is large.
The chief watered crops are in garden lands chiefly sugarcane,
rice, sweet potatoes, earthnuts, onions, carrots, and the
egg-plant, but, where water is available, late or rabi crops, espe-
cially Indian millet, wheat, and gram, are also watered. Channel-
watering requires so little labour that it is very profitable. At
the same time the want of a large enough supply of water and
of land at a suitable level make the area of channel-watercil
land much less than the area of well-watered land. Except the
Government works there are almost no large water-channels.
Most of the dams or bandhdrds are built of mud and have to be
renewed every year after the rains. These are found throughout
the district, but chiefly in Ptoier, Shrigonda^ Karjat, Nagar, Kopar-
gaon, and Sangamner, built across the many small early-dry streams
which seam the country, while deep channels "are cut in all direc-
tions to take the water to the fields of those who provide the labour.
The supply of water from these dams lasts one or two months
after the rains generally long enough to ripen the ordinary garden
crops. The better garden crops are chiefly watered from wells,
tKe well supply being sometimes helped by channel water.

Except near the Bhima and the Goddvari where they are very
deep, wells are used for watering all over the district. In Jdmkheil,
Karjat, Pdrner, and Shrigonda, wells already exist in nearly all
places where water is plentiful near the surface, and any very large
increase of tveil-watering is not to be expected. Buildmg a well in
now in most cases a speculation. Numerous sinkings for wells all
over the country show that much money has been lost in searching
for water. In rdruer where the surface rock is hard basalt tho
first cost of sinking a well is unusually heavy, but the work lasts
much longer without repair than in the parts of the district where
the well sides have to be built.

Wells are the property of individuals, but a dam or bandhdra
belongs to all who shared in its building or in its repairing.
The sluiod-man or pdtkari, whose business is to keep the
channel in order, arranges the share of water according to the area
of land held by each sharer. The sluice-man is paid by a grant
of land or by a small share of the produce of the watered land.
Some wells used in watering fields and gardens are square with
» flight of steps but most are round. They are eight to ten feet
across and range from eighteen to seventy-eight feet deep.
They*'are built with brick or stone and mortar or dry cut stone,
but often only on the side on which the bucket is worked.
The bucket ermo^ used for lifting the water is a leather tube* one
half of which is two feet broad and stretched at the mouth by an
iron ring ; the other half is much narrower and its mouth is not
stretched. A thick rope fixed to the centre of two stout bar^ of
wood crossing the broad mouth of the bucket at right angles to eadi

DeccaB.]

AHMADNAGAR

251

other, is passed over a small wheel, supported by a rough wooden
frame four feet above the trough or thdrol into whid| the water is
lifted. A second thinner rope is fastened to the small mouth of the
bucket and passed over a roller which works on the lip of the trough.
Thea^ two ropes are fastened to a yoke drawn by oxen. The length
of the ropes is adjusted so that the narrow half doubles along the
broad half of the bucket, and the two mouths are brought on a level
with each other when falling or rising. When the full bucket
reaches the top of the well, the narrow mouth follows its own rope
over the roller into the trough or thdrol and allows the water to
escape, while the broad mouth is drawn by its rope to the wheel four
feet higher. Leather water-bags are of two sizes, a larger worked
by four oxen and measuring ten feet when stretched from mouth
to mouth, and a smaller worked by two oxen and measuring five to
jiix feet. The larger bag costs 1 6s. to £ 1 1 Os. (Rs. 8-15) and the smaller
10s. to 16s. (Rs. 5-8). About 40,000 gallons of water can be drawn
by one pair of bullocks in one day. A class of people called Pdnddis
or water-showers, who are generally Marathds, Mhdrs, or Gosdvis,
profess to point the spot where water will be found. They examine
the soils and the adjoining wells and sometimes lie down with one
ear to the ground .professing to hear the trickling of water below.
Landholders often consult these men, paying a small fee in advance,
and afterwards a larger fee or nothing according as the undertaking
succeeds or fails. In 1882-83, of 26,306 wells 1718 had steps and
24.588 had no steps. Their average depth varies from about
eighteen feet in Kaijat to about seventy-eight feet in Jd.mkhed.
Tlie cost of sinking and building a step -well is £12 to £500
(Rs. 120 -5000) and of a stepless well £10 to £300 (Rs. 100-3000).
Tlie details are : • .

Ahmadnagar WeUa, 1882-83.

SDB-DIV18I05.

Wills.

Average
Depth.

With steps.

Without steps.

Nnm-
ber.

Cost.

Nam-
ber.

Cost.

Kopargaon

Nevtisa

Sbevgaon

Nagrar

KaHat

Sbrfgonda

P&rner

Banficamncr

Akola

lUbari

J&mkhed

Total ...

74
125
100
198
385
231
166
137
108

60
133

£
100-200
50-200
20-100
50- 150
50-800
60-500
12-COO
20-500
60-100
20-200
90-260

2557
2233
3338
3111
1299
16«5
2051
8495
796
2042
2001

50-100

20-70

10-100

30-100

80-100

10-800

10-250

10-150

80-60

10-100

60-160

Feet.
80
60
76
SO
18
40
42
60

«o .

1718

12-500

24,588

10-800

18-78

Chapter IV.
AgricnltTire-
Ibeiqahok.

*The Government water- works are the Bh&todi lake and the
Ojhar and L^kh canals which form part of the Pravar%, river water

GoYGmment
Water Worluk

* The Government water-works account owes much to corrections and additions
liy Mr. C. T. Burke, M.Inat.C.E,, Executive Engineer for Irrigation, Ahmadnagar,

[Bombay Gazetteer,

252

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IV.
Agrienltiire*

iRBIOATION.

Government
Water Works.

Bhdtodi Lake.

scheme. The Bh&todi lake is an old work restored and improved ;
the Ojhar and L&kh canals are new. The Bhdtodi lake depends
OB the local rain. Still even in the 1876-77 drought the supply
met the demand. The Ojhar and Ldkh canals draw their water
from the Pravara river which is fed from the SahyAdris and never
fails from June to November that is during the kharif or early
season. After the rains cease, the supply rapidly dwindles, and, in
the Lakh or lower canals, sometimes entirely fails. To meet this
want, a large reservoir called the Malddevi Lake is to be constructed
on the Pravara river. Plans and estimates for this work have been
prepared and have been sanctioned by the Government of India.
This lake is designed as a storage work to supplement the hoi
weather supply of the river. When completed it will provide an
abundant supply for the existing works, and will also make it
possible to extend irrigation to an extremely dry yet rich tract on the
right bank of the river in the Sangamner and R&huri sub-divisions.
The water rates, which vary according to the time of the year in
which the water is required, are given below under the different
works. The use of the water is a matter of choice. Though the
people are slow to use the water for their ordinary crops, the area
watered and the revenue of the works are steadily increasing.

The Bh&todi Lake was built by SaUbat Khdn, the minister of the
Nizdmshdhi king Murtaza Nizd.mshd.h I. (1565-1588). It is on the
Mehkri a feeder of the Sina, which rises ten miles north-east of the
town of Ahmadnagar.^ Unlike most native works of the kind the
dam was in two parts, a low massive masonry wall and some distance
behind the wall an earthen bank forming the chief part of the dam.
The explanation of this double line of defence is believed to be that
the original <tam was made entirely of earth and was breached either
from want of a proper flood escape or because proper care was not
taken to prevent leakage. To remedy this mistake a masonry darn
was be^n but never finished. As it was evident that much of the
old work could be turned to use in restoring it the project has received

1 The monthly rainfall at Bhdtodi for the eleven

I years ending 1881 was :

•

Bhdiodi BaiTtfhll, 1871-1881.

MONIflft

1871.

1872.

1873.

1874.

1875.

1876.

1877.

187a

1879.

1880.

1881.

In.

January

7-84

0-00

0-20

0*00

0-00

0 00

0-00

0-81

February

0*00

0-00

OfiO

0-05

000

0-00

000

0-00

000

0-06

March

0-00

008

000

0-84

019

0-00

0-52

0-00

O'll

April

0-00

077

000

0-00

0*19

0-00

OOO

0-48

OHX)

0*00

0-00

0-14

May

0-93

0-40

0-86

1-90

0-00

000

0-85

0*00

2-39

0*00

0-00

C-68

June

3-87

7*14

2-06

6-97

2-30

4-65

10-73

218

3-70

1-67

410

4<50

July*

0-31

4-56

2-16

7-83

2*05

6-22

0-69

0-34

6*29

6*89

4'00

«-8a

August

0-19

1-86

10-03

138

5-63

1-84

3-53

7-11

8-72

OHK)

1-78

4-03

September ...

8-76

12-70

4-30

817

12-47

2-53

4-93

6-87

000

8-17

4-43

6-Sd

October

0-98

001

000

1-32

0-78

0-00

2*48

6*42

3-55

1-81

2-22

1^62

November

0-89

0-00

1-83

0-00

0-08

0-00

0-80

0*00

0-00

1*30

0-51

0-49

December

Total ...

000

0-31

0-00

2-04

0-00

000

o-oo

0-00

0-83

18-72

27-83

2232

26-06

26-02

15*24

94-86

28-40

24-65

18-84

10-90

•.•3-39

SeccanJ

AHMADNAGAR.

253

considerable attention among others from Captain Meadows Taylor.
It was not until the formation of the Irrigation Department in 1862
that complete plans and estimates were prepared and sanction^
The work was begun early in 1868 and was finished in 1877. It is a
masonry dam 2316 feet long and fifty feet in greatest height. The
waste weir has been constructed on the left bank and is 450 feet
wide. Through this the overflow passes into a channel which
joins the river some distance below the dam. On the right bank
is the main irrigation canal 4^ miles long capable at the head of
dlscharsini; 140 cubic feet a second. There are also branch canals
with al^gregate length of 3i mUes. The take-off level of themain
canal is 22 j^ feet below the crest of the waste weir. The lake drains
forty-four square miles, and when full has an area of 310 ax^res
and an available capacity of 149 millions of cubic feet. It is esti-
mated to fill with a rainfall of 5f inches of which a quarter of an inch
runs ofi*. The work was partially completed and opened on the 1st
of November 1871. As the water rose 8J feet over the masonry in
the gap the dam was ra&ed five feet more, and a cistern was added
to break the force . of the falling water. The storage was thereby
iucreaaed to 108 millions of cubic feet. Before the rains of 1876,
the dam was raised 2^ feet and was completed before the end of
1876-77. In 1882-83 as the heavy fioods which pass through the
main canal had caused large deposits of silt in the canal, two of
the four waterways of tie masonry escapes were enlarged. The
total outlay to the end of 1882-83 has been £37,625 (Rs. 3,76,250).
The available area under the immediate command of the canal is
12^124 acres.

The are^ watered in 1882-83 was 1023 acres and the water assess-
ment £352 148. (Bs. 3527). In 1882-83 the giQ^ earnings of the
lake amounted to £399 148. (Rs. 3997). The acr» water-rates
charged are, for twelve months' crops £1 4s. (Rs. 12), for eight months'
crops Ss. (Ra, 4), for late and four months' crops 4«. (Rs. 2), for early
or dry crops 28. (Re. 1), and for special hot weather crops 88. (Rs. 4).
During the eleven years ending 1881-82, the area watered has
lisen from 363 acres to 785 acres, the receipts from £97 to £448
(Rs, 970-4480), and the charges from £5 to £175 (Rs. 50-1750).
The details are :

Bhdiodi Lake Receipts and Charges^ 1871 -188$.

Wathrid
Aria.

AflSBSBMurr.

Actual RBonns.

Ybab.

Water-

Other

Total.

Water-

other

Total.

CUABGW

Ratea.

Beoeiptfl.

Bates.

BeoeiptB.

Aoret.

£.

1871-73 ...

868

127

1878-78 ...

306

1873-74 ...

200

169

1874-75 ...

889

118

165

79 a

1876-76 ...

814

106

151

114

159

1876-77 ...

239

122

113

1877-78 ...

555

131

180

W78.79 -.

511

167

232

217

266

127

1879^ ...

788

239

298

118

198

120

ISSO-fil ...

756

299

283

297

837

167

1881-82 ...
Totel ..

785

286

834

895

448

175

4909

1539

500

2039

1403

494

1887

1316

Chapter IV.
Agricuitare.

Irbiqation,

Government
Water Works.

Bhdtodi Ldke.

[Bombay Oatetteen

254

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IV.
Agricultiire*

IliRIOATION.

Dhdtodi Lake,

Ojtuir Canal.

The returns show that, during the nine years ending 1881-82, the
area of early crop land watered has varied from forty-four acres
in 1873-74 to 429 acres in 1879-80, and that the corresponding area
of late crop land has risen from 156 acres in 1873-74 to 410 acres
in 1881-82. The watered areas show a nearly constant rise from
200 acres in 1873-74 to 785 acres in 1881-82. The details are :

Bhdtodi Irrigation and Rainfall, 1871

•1882.

Tbar.

iRRtOATlOlf.

Raikpall.

Early.

Late.

Total,

Early.

Late.

Total.

Acres.

Acroa.

Acres.

Id.

In.

1871-72 ...

• ••

*••

■ • *

863

8 -IS

1-82

9*95

l»72-78 ...

• «•

• a •

• ••

26-26

0-32

26*58

1873-74 ...

• ••

166

200

1914

1-83

20-97

1874-75

■ • «

100

2S9

889

23-35

1-82

24-67

1876-76 ...

• ••

229

814

22-54

8*70

26-24

1876-77 ...

• ••

124

215

839

15-24

0-29

15-53

1877-78 ...

• ••

2S4

821

555

19-88

3-32

23-20

1878-79 ...

• ••

279

281

510

22-50

5-42

27-93

1879-80 ...

• ••

429

803

732

18-71

3*55

22*26

1880-81 ...

• « •

420

S37

757

15-73

3*11

18-84

1881-82 ...

• ■ ■

375

410 786

14*26

2-7 3

16*99

Average ...

18*70

2-49

21*19

The right of fishing in the Bhdtodi lake is sold yearly by public
auction. The highest bidders wereMdrwdrVdnis who bought the ri^ht
to fish to save the fish from being killed. In 1873-74, as this deprived
the people of cheap and wholesome food, the highest bid was not
taken and the fishing, was let to fishermen. The restoration of the
lake caused the transfer to the British Government of two of the
Nizdm's villages, Atoda and Bhdtodi.

The head-works of the Djhar canal are on the left bank of the
Pravara above the village of Ojhar, about ten miles below the town
of Sangamner. At this point the river drains an area of about GOO
scjuare miles. The south-west supply of rain is generally certain
though in some years it falls short in September. In two out of
four years there is an ample supply to thfe end of October. It then
fails and after January the stream is very small.^

1 During the five years ending 1881 the rainfall at Ashvi, on the fifth milo of the
canal, averaged 19*10 inches. The details are :

Ojheyr Canal RainfaU, 1877-1881.

Month.

Ybar.

1877.

1878.

1879.

1880.

1881.

In. ct.

In. ct

In. ct.

In. ct

In. ct.

Jamnury

• • •

«•*

• ■•

• ••

February

0 6

• ■•

0 4

March

0 26

• ••

0 16

April

*••

• p •

• ••

0 6

May

0 60

8 76

• • •

1 2

Jane

6 12

i 49

6 8

8 66

1 89

July

0 61

4 66

680

2 88

S80

August

0 88

7 77

4. 0

0 SO

0 95

September

3 iS

10 11

122

6 17

8 79

October

4 39

I 64

5 47

1 76

1 2

November

• « •

■ ■ *

• • .

0 08

0 7

Oeoember

Total ...

• ••

...

• « »

■ • •

> a •

10 74

25 66

27 88

16 1

11 SO

Deccan]

AHMADNAGAR.

255

Besides distributing channels of a total length of twenty miles,
the Ojhar canal is nineteen miles long. The discharge at the canal
head is 113 cubic feet the second, and the arable area commanded
is 20,088 acres. In March 1869, when the people were suffering
from the failure of crops caused by drought, the earthwork was
begun as a relief work ; the workmen who at one time numbered
as many as 10,000 were paid half in money and half in grain.
The relief was continued for about four months, when the
earthwork of the first ten miles was completed. A section
3 J miles long was opened late in the cold weather of 1873-74,
but no water was used till 1874-75. A further section to the fifth
naile was opened in 1875-76, and during 1876-77 ten miles of the
canal were opened. The remaining nine miles were completed in
1879. The canal is completely bridged and regulated. A weir
of rubble masonry, 830 feet long and twenty-nine feet in
greatest height, on the top of a rocky barrier, raises the water to
the head-works. The whole outlay to the end of 1882-83 was
£31.102 (Rs. 3,11,020). Of this amount, the weir, which, without
change, will serve for a much larger work on the right bank
which is soon to be started, has cost more than one-third. During
the five years ending 1878-79, the average acre rate for watering
land was As, S^d (Rs. 2 as, 2 J). In 1882-83, 3161 acres were watered
compared with 3093 in 1881-82.

During the six years ending 1881-82 the area watered has risen
from 1381 acres to 3093 acres, the receipts from £115 to £385
(Rh. 1150-3850), and the charges from £299 to £555 (Rs. 2990 -5550)
The details are :

Ojhdr Canal Receipts and Chargm, 1878-1882,

YlAR.

Watkrrd
Laho.

AS8BH8MENT

•

Rbobipts.

OnAROBS.

Wator-
Kates.

other
HeoeiptB.

Total.

Water-
Rates.

Other
Booeipta.

Total.

AcrM.

187S-74 ...

• • •

* ••

• • •

l>*74-76 ...

• ••

1875-76 ...

185

• • •

l«7e-77 ...

1381

287

289

116

• •■

116

299

l»77-78 ••..

1840

339

356

814

330

183

1878«>^ ,*t
]b7(»^ ...

558

167

177

262

284

605

052

294

302

103

111

536

188<^«l ...

siei

646

661

142

155 •

741

18&1-S2 ...
Total ...

3093

623

632

381

386

655

11,178

2421

2510

1817

1899

3894

The variations in the area watered during these eight years are
in great measure due to variations in rainfall. The years of small
area, 1878-79 and 1879-80, were years of heavy rainfall, and the
years of large area, 1880-81 and 1881-82, were years of short rainfall.
The details during the eight years ending 1881-82 are : •

Chapter IV.
Agriculture.

Irrigation.

Government
Water Works.

Ojhdr Canal

[Bombay Oasetteer*

25G

DISTRICTS.

Oiapter IV.

Ojhdr Canal Irrigation and BainfaU, 1874-1832.

Agricultme.

Tear.

Watbrkd Aaba.

R&IKTALL.

Irrigation.

Early.

Ute.

Total.

Early.

Late.

Total.

Government

■

Water Works.

Acrcfl.

Acres.

In. Ct.

1874-75

• ••

19 90

1 70

21 60

OjMr Canal,

1875-76

• a*

186

185

21 93

0 8

21 1

1876-77

86S

1018

1381

6 45

0 14

6 69

1877-78

877

963

1840

10 54

4 39

14 93

1878-79

126

4S3

558

24 a

1 54

25 56

1879-80

249

70S

952

18 10

6 47

23 67

1880-81

1319

1842

3161

12 41

2 44

14 85

188182

1797

809S

9 43

I 9

10 62

Ldkh Canal,

By the side of the canal 11,574 trees have been planted. The
canal promises well, as the people are unusually eager to make
use of the water.

The head works of the L^kh canal are on the left bank of the
Pravara, twenty-eight miles below those of the Ojhar canal.^ A
masonry weir, 1290 feet long and 15J feet in greatest height,
founded on rock, raises the water to the level of the canal. The
canal is twenty-three miles long crossing portions of Bdhuri and
Nevdsa on the left bank of the Pravara river, with twenty-two
miles of distributing channels. The twenty-three miles of canal
command 23,026 acres of fine arable black soil Ijdng between the
meeting of the Pravara and the Godd,vari. The canal is completely
bridged and regulated. The first three miles were opened in
March 1868. Two miles more were opened in the following June,
and in August 1869 water was passed along 214 miles. The
extension to twenty-three miles and the tail distributaries were
begun m 1872-73 and completed in 1873-74. To the end of
1882-83 the total outlay amounted to £36,237 (Rs. 3,62,870).

During the fourteen years ending 1881-82 the area watered has
varied from twenty-one acres in 1870-71 to 1541 acres in 1877-78.
The variations have been very irregular. The areas in 1 880 and
1881 are higher than in most years but much below the areas in
1871, 1876, and 1877. In 1874 the water-rates were reduced to

^ During the five years ending 1881 the rainfaU ganged at Malunga on the third mile
of the canal varied from 16*66 to 27*42 and averaged 22*59 inches. The details are :

Ldkh Canal RainfaU, 1877-1881,

MoirrH.

TXAR. 1

1877.

1878.

1879.

1880.

1881.

Inches.

Gents.

Inches.

OentB.

Inches.

Cents.

Inches.

Cents.

Inches.

Cents.

Januaiy

• ••

■•■

•••

• ••

• ■•

•••

February

• »•

• ■•

• ••

• ■■

• «■

• ■•

B • •

««

Haroh

• •■

• a*

• •■

• ••

• ■•

■ ••

• ••

• •■

AprJJ

• ••

»•■

• ••

«••

• ■•

• •ft

May'

• ■ •

• • ■

■ •«

• •■

June

• ••

■ « t

July

• ••

• «•

August

• ••

• •■

»■«

September

• • t

• ■•

October

■ ••

November

• ■•

• ••

«••

■ ••

• ••

It*

• ••

December
Total

• ••

■ •«

• ■•

• ••

• •«

• ••

■ ••

ONcan.]

AHMADNAGAB.

257

one-half. Before 1874 the receipts varied from £14 (Rs. 140) in
1871-72 to £347 (Rs.3470) in 1872-73. Since 1874 they have
varied from £34 (Rs. 340) in 1875-76 to £322 (Rs. 3220) in
1877 -7a The charges have varied from £306 (Rs. 3060) in
1879-80 to £1459 (Rs. 14,890) in 1872-73. The details are :

Ldkh Canal Seetipti and Charges, 1868- 188i.

T>AB.

Watbrb)
Lamd.

AMI88MKIT.

RBAUtATIOKB.

Ohaeok.

Water
lUtea.

Other
BeeeiptB.

Total.

Water
lUttee.

Other
Receipts.

Total.

1868^ ...
1869-70 ...
1870.n ...
1871-72 ...
1872-78 ...
1373.74 ...
IW4.75 ...
1875-76 ...
1876-77 ...
1877-78 ...
1878-79 ...
1879-80 ...
1880-81 ...
Iffil-^ ...

TotaJ ...

Acm.
134

21
786
158
U7

1203

1541

122

71
842
$16

£.
58
18
14

840
78
60
30
51

291

289
81
91
76
74

£.

• ■•

■ ••

• ••

■ ••

18
8
2
8

10
8
6

£.
58
18
14

840
82
68
88
58

204

299

■ 109

£.

889

812

208

£.
"'9

••■
»••

8
17
8
2
8

£.

*.•
62
18
14

847
06
66
84
62

832

816
80
53
77

£.

f68
979
4S8
1459
592
666
544
584
625
820
806
998
420

4951

1416

108

1518

1822

115

1437 8588

The rain returns for the nine years ending 1881-82 to some extent
explain the variations in the watered area, 1876 and 1877, the
years when the canal water was most used, having been years of
unusually short rainfall. The details during the nme years ending
1881-82 are:

Ldkh Canal IrrigfUkm and Rainfall, 187S-X88B.

Watbrio A&ka.

Rainfall.

T«AK.

Early.

Late.

Total

Early.

Late.

Total.

Acres.

Inches.

Gents.

Inches.

Gents.

Inches.

Gents.

1873.74 ...

117

1874-75 ...

1875-76 ...

1876-77 ...

1148

1203

1877-78 ...

541

1000

1541

1878-79 ...

122

X879.80 ...

W80.81 ...

190

152

343

1881^ ...

134

182

816

^ ^

•

Of the two remaining Pravara river water-works, the Ojhar
right bank canal and the M^&devi storage lake^ plans and estimates
have been submitted to Government. The Ojhar right bank canal
is intended to increase the area under command by the left bank
canal and to water an extremely dry tract in Sangamner and p.dhuri.
The head-works already constructed for the left bank canal will
supply the new canal, which is designed to be thirty-two mile&long
and to command an area of 60,000 acres in fifty-two villages (S
Sangamner and lUhurL The area available for irrigation is
estimated at 48,000 acres. The proposed carrying capacity at the
head is 327 cubic feet a second. The entire cost is estimated at
£66,800 (Rs. 6,68,000). The M&lddevi storage reservoir, as ahready
mentioned, |b intended to aid the small and uncertain Pravara

B 772- 33

Chapter 17.
Agicnlture.

Irrigation.

Government
Water Works.

LdJA Canal

[Bomliay Oaietteer*

258

DISTRICTS,

Chapter IV.
AgrictQtiire.

Irrigation.

Gfovemment
Water Worlu.

WSKDINO.

Watching.

Reaping.

Thrashing.

Winnowing,

discharge during the hot weather and thus increase the supply
* both of the Ojhar and of the L4kh canals. The site of M&laidevi
lake is in Akola on the Pravara river, nineteen miles east of the
Sahy^dris and twenty-four miles above Ojhar. The average south-
west rainfall on the hill at the head of the catchment area is about
100 inches. The lake is estimated to store 3724 millions of cubic
feet of water. As at present proposed an earthen dam 4340 feet long
and 107 feet in greatest height will include an area of 3509 acres,
and a total capacity of 3724 millions of cubic feet. Flood water
will escape bv a waste weir on the south bank 1000 feet long, the
crest being nmeteen feet below the top of the dam. The estimated
cost is £105,149 (Rs. 10,51,490). The whole tract commanded by
the two Ojhar and the Li,kh canals will include 101 villages of
the Sangamner, Rdhuri, and Nev&sa sub-divisions, a tract of
exceptionally small and capricious rainfall and wanting only water
to make it highly productive.

When two or three inches high the crop requires weeding. There
are two modes of weeding, one by ^ sickle, the other by a bullock-
hoe with two or three shares drawn by two muzzled bullocks.
As the hoe moves the shares weed the space between two rows of
crop which pass untouched between them. The early or rainy
season crops are weeded two or three times ; the cold weather crops
seldom want weeding as the ground is dry.

From the time the grain forms the crop is watched from a
wooden stage called mdla by a man who drives off birds with
shouts and stones. The protection of the crops from birds entails
an immense amount of laoour, men women and children all taking
part in it.

The ripe crop is reaped either with the sickle or vila, or it is pulled
out by the roots. It is bound in sheaves and for some days left to dry
in the field, and carried to the thrashing-floor, where it is stacked for
several months, the best-looking ears being set apart in a separate
bundle or in a stack for next year's seed.

The thrashing floor is made in the hardest part of the field or
sometimes near the village. The floor is wetted and beaten till it
is hard and flat, and is then smeared with cowdung. An upright
post or tivda, is planted in the centre and a sheaj of the crop is
tied to its top. The heads of bdjri and jvdri are broken off by
women and thrown into the centre round the post Six to ten oxen
are tied to the pole, half on one side and half on the other, facing
opposite ways. They are muzzled, except in the case of wheats
and driven round and round treading the grain. Wheat is
trodden straw and all ; the pods of tur and alshi or javas are beaten
againjjb a log so as to fall on the floor ; and of math, mug, and some
other crops sometimes the whole plant and sometimes only the
upper stalk is trodden out.

The grain is .winnowed by the wind. The chaff and grain are
filled into baskets, which are handed one by one to a man standings
on a high three-legged stool called vdvdi and emptied by him slowly
with a shakimr motion. The heavy drain falls straifirht and

fiecout*)

AHMADNAGAR.

259

the chaff 18 carried away by the wind. A man sits at the foot of the
stool with a small broom or haini, sweeping the chaff from the edge
of the grain.

In the hilly parte, grain is stored in large cyUndrical baskets
called kaningt or kangis. In the plain country, besides in large
baskets, ^ain is stored in under-ground chambers. The under-
ground diambers are of three kinds, the balad, a narrow room of
solid masoniT with a small door built under a staircase ; the talghar,
twenty feet long by twelve feet broad, built of solid masonry under
ground, generally within the house and entered by a single trap
door ; and the per, a conical pit outside a dwelling house, about ten
feet deep and narrowingfrom twelve feet across at the bottom to
three feet at the top. The house store-rooms^ the balad and the
ialghar, C5an be opened at any time. The pev or outdoor store-pit
is opened only after the south-west rains to see if the grain has
suffered from damp. Grain can be stored for only about two years.
After this it begins to go bad and is soon unfit for use. The
cylindrical grain baskets are nlaited with nirgundi twigs or tv/r
stalks and are smeared insiae and out with cowdung. The
surface of the grain is also thick plastered with cowdung^ and the
basket is covered with a little conical thatch roof. These baskets
or kaningg stand in the house veranda or in case of fire^ at some
distance in front of the house^ with a few loose stones under them
to keep off white ants.

The husbandmen take great care to secure good seed. If his
own crop is fine, he picks the largest and best heads and keeps
them separate as seed for the next year. The grain of an
unusually fine crop is often kept and sold as seed grain at half
as much again as the price of ordinary grain. Ydnis also always
keep seed grain in stock. Their practice of exacting fifty or a
hundred per cent more in kind is due not only to the fact that
grain is dearer at sowing time than after harvest, but because they
run the risk of receiving inferior grain instead of the picked grain.

The greater part of the cultivation is done by the husbandman
Kimftftlf and by his regular farm labourers. But even the poorer
husbandman has to employ hired hands for hand-weeding, reaping,
binding, and thrashing.

The soil is freshened both by fallows and by changes of crops.
TTie land is not allowed to lie fallow for any particular crop, but as
a rule it is allowed to rest every fourth year. Except in Nagar
where the poor soils are rarely allowed a fallow, the practice of
allowing fallows prevails in poor soils among the inferior class of
husbandmen who have not the means of proper tillage.

In heavy black soil the usual crop changes are jvdri, wheats, and
gram each the sole crop of its year. No fallows are allowed and
no manure is used. With all the crops of this rotation kardai or
safflower is mixed at the rate of about half a poimc^to a pound the
acre, or in the proportion of three pounds (one aher) of fcardai to
192 pounds (one man) of wheat or gram, or to twelve pounds (one
pdyK) ^jvasi. The mixing of seeds seems to cause no harm.

Chapter IV-
Agricoltore.

Stobino.

Sbbd G&ain.

Fallows.

Crop CHANoUk

Ceop Changes.

[Bombay Oasetteer.
260 DISTRICTS.

Chapter IT. When the leading crop is poor^ the Jcardai more than sn£5ces to
AffricaTtare* meet the assessment on the land. It at any rate yields the oil

which the cultivator requires for his home use, and the cake or
pend which remains after the oil is expressed, is given to his best
cattle. This rotation of crops in wheat lands does not allow of any
ploughing and has little effect in keeping down such noxious and
troublesome weeds and grasses as kunda Cynodon dactylon and
hariali Ischsemum pilosum. Some exceptional black soils which
are free from such weeds are not ploughed once in twenty years and
yet show no si^ns of exhaustion. As a rule the land needs
ploughing and leaning at le€ist once after every two complete
rotations. To enable this to be done the rotation is temporarily
disturbed, and a crop of tur Cajanus indicus, is taken as an early or
kharif crop. This is sown at the end of June or early in July in
rows about two feet apart.

At about Divdli time in mid-October when the tur has grown
well and the groimd is still soft, the plough is driven up one side
and down the other between the rows. The plougliing opens the
land and at the same time earths up and improves the tur. The
tur is an eight-month crop. The October ploughing brings up the
weeds and grass but' strengthens rather tlmn weakens them and so
in the next hot weather after the tur has been reaped the land is
cross-ploughed. This ploughing is called the dunani. After the
monsoon has begun to bring up weeds the land is harrowed with
the moghad or two-tined seed-drill deprived of its seed tube.
Hand-weeders follow to pick out the hariali roots, and the regular
rotation is resumed. Jvdri is the best crop to begin a fresh rotation
and gram the next best. Wheat is always poor after tur.^ Occa-
sionally safflower is sown separately with the moghad parallel to
the rows of jvdri. Many cultivators sow three or six rows of
linseed round the headlands to keep cattle from the wheat. But
the belief is general that linseed gives wheat the mist and in many
places the people either sow linseed separately or do not sow it at
all.

In khalga or clay loamy land two rotations are observed, (1 ) bdjri,
cotton, and jvdri or wheat ; (2) bdjri and wheat. Bdjri is sown in
July after a hot weather harrowing with the two-buUock aut and

1 A ffood farmer, Mr. Balvant Deshptode of Nev^U», has improved on the ordinary
plan which does not eifectually rid the land of Iiaridli and kunda grass. He acts on
the right principle that a thorough cleaning however expensive is cheaper in the end
than a number of half cleanings, especially as the ploughings and coltivation tend
to increase the root-growth of the grasses. He plants tur as above and gives the
ploughing and the cross-ploughing. After rain has faUen he follows tne cross*
ploughing with two harrowings and cross-harrowings with the moghad aocompaiiiod
oy ha^d-weeders. The roota taken out are carefully burned. He takes jviri
next aud follows with gram. Before sowing the gram he gives the land a good
ploughing and a harrowing and oroas-harrowing with the moghad. The ground is
levefied with the aut and sown. Next year, at the earliest opportunity afbar the
rains have begun, he sends men with hand-hoes or kuda^ to the field in pouriiu^ rmiu
to dig out and take off every trace of grass. As these men have to be car^ol to
break the roots as little as possible and to dig deep to take them out clean, the work
is very costly, but Mr. Balvant is convinced that it pays in the end. Mr. £. C.
Ozanne, C.S,

DecoftB.]

AHMADNAGAR.

261

the cross-haxTOwing in the eaiiy monsoon. It is always sown with
tur and a variety of leguminous and other crops having the general
name irad or virad that is extras and comprising ambddi Hibiscus
cannabinus» math Phaseolus aconitifolius, mug P. mungo, black
til Sesamum indicum, and occasionally rows of rata Panicum
italicum. The proportion is two pounds, or three pounds for late
sowings, of bdjri to one pound of irad in which ambddi, rnath, and
mug taken equally form thirteen ounces and til about three
ounces.^ Rdla is sown at the rate of half a pound an acre ; after
sixty rows of bdjri and tur have been put in come three rows of
rdla. These crops are all reaped at different times in the following
order : rdlaf bdjri, mug, math, ambddi, and tur. By Div^i time in
mid-October all are gone but the tur, and then the land is ploughed
between the rows of tur. This loosening of the soil enables the
Iiushandman to cross-plough in the hot weather and thus prepare
the land for cotton as in the first rotation or for wheat as in the
second. When the early rains are not favourable, the rain crops
bdjri, tur, and trad, are not taken, but in the cold weather jvdri is
sown. In the following season, wheat and cotton cannot generally
be sown as the land has missed its ploughing and so bdjri comes in
again. When cotton caanot follow, bdjri is taken a second year.
Cotton requires a more favourable early rainfall than bdjri. When
neither cotton nor bdjri is feasible, the hardy jvdri which is the
crop which can best adapt itself to all soils and rainfalls is resorted
to. In light land called chopan or sandy loam, bdjri is grown
continuously with yearly ploughing and cross-ploughing. It is
mixed with pulse generally tur and rdla. In very favourable
seasons wheat is occasionally sown, and jvdri when bdjri cannot be
got in. In garden land the change of crops chiefly depends on the
area of ground attached to the well for dry-cropping. After
sugarcane, either bdjri, whea,t, jvdri, or gram is generally sown. The
change of crop also varies with the means of the landholder and the
nature of the soil.

On the lighter soils as many as six different crops are grown
together year after year. In the early season, bdjri, tur, ambddi,
tU, rdla, mug, and shdlu may all be seen growing in the same field ;
in the late or cold season safSower and linseed are always mixed
with the staple crop whether it is shdlu or cold-weather millet,
wheat, or gram.

In the hilly tracts in the west the style of cropping known as dalhi
or kurari is practised. This dalhi or kumri is confined to small

Elota on hill-sides which are often extremely steep. Work is
egun in the cold weather by felling the brushwood and lopping
the branches of large trees. By the end of the hot weather the
fallen branches are dry. They are set on fire, and thus the ground
is at once cleared and manured. After rain has fallen, the surface

Chapter IV.

Agriculture*

Crop Changes.

Mixed Sownros.

Dalhi

Cultivation.

1 Ail thcM teeda are verv small. Tha devices hy which the small seeds are
dvposited at a small depth and the larger tur at a greater depth are woi*thy of
remark and so ia the mixture of palaee with cereals.

[Bombay Oaiefetoerr

262

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IT.

Agriculture*

Dalri
Cultivation,

Crop Dbtailb«

Indian Millet.

is loosened with the hoe or kudal and the seed is sown in the
ashes and the crop allowed to grow without transplanting. The
grains grown are ndgli, vari, and sdva. The ground will some-
times bear a second crop tiie following year, and then, to be
cultivated again, must have a rest of six to ten years to allow
the brushwcxxl to grow. If it is not intended to repeat the
process cultivation may be continued in the burnt plot under the
rob system.^ In 1849 when the original survey was introduced
the dalhi system was prevalent in forty to fifty villages in west
Akola. It is still earned on by some people in their private
holdings, but as it causes great damage to forests, of late it has
been limited in forest lands to eight villages and in these it
was reduced to a system three years ago, a portion of forest being
marked off and cUvided into ten compartments and the villagers
invited to daUii in one of these each year. This the people have
declined to do and it may be hoped that if other means of
subsistence can be found for the people the system may die out.
Almost the only classes who practise this hill-clearing tillage are
Kolis, Thdkurs, and other wila tribes.

The Ahmadnagar crops differ little from the Poona crops either
in the kinds grown or in the seasons or modes of growing them.
Most of the details of the different crops given in the Poona
Statistical Account therefore apply to Ahmadnagar. The following
is a summary of the local information available regarding the chief
crops of the district.

Indian Millet, jvdri or jondfda, Sorghum vulgare, with in
1881-82 a tillage area of 679,879 acres, is the staple grain of the
open country, and is largely exported. Except two early varieties,
kondya or hwndya and kdlbandi, Indian millet forms the chief
cold-weather crop, and without either water or manure jrields
plentifully especially in black soils. It requires little outlay and
is grown by all the poorer landholders. The most esteemed
variety is shMu, It is grown in black soils and is seldom watered
or manured. The grain is white and the stalk thin three to five
feet high and with sweet juice. Other varieties are dudlt/mogra
which is sown with sbMu either mixed or in separate furrows.
The grain is full and milky and is much valued when parched and
made into WiL The stalk is inferior to bJi61ii as fodder, being^
straight and hard. The head is so thin and feathery that birds
cannot rest on it or harm it. The stem of a dark-hufiked variety
of chidhmogra is sometimes used as a hand-rod by weavers. Tdmbdi
or red jvdri is sown earlier and in lighter soils than shdlu and
ripens more rapidly. . The stem is three or four feet high and
makes poor fodder. Of the two early varieties, kondya or hundya
is grovcn and cut for fodder before the head appears, and kdUxmda^^
80 called from its dark husk, gives the husbandman food in bad

^ears before the regular crop ripens. The stem is six or eight feet
igh and the head is large. In black soils in March an^er tiie

1 Sm above under Makubi.

fieccaii.)

AHMADNAGAR

263

wheat is harvested the land is as hard as brick, except two or
three inches of the surface soil But by April, the cracks and
seams become two or three inches wide and often two feet deep
and the surface soil becomes pulverised. The cultivator then
harrows it with the two-bullocK harrow or aut The pulverised
soil is driven into the cracks and a new layer is brought up to the
immediate weathering influences of the hot sun. The value of this
change of soil is fullv appreciated. The soil weathers till the rains
in June. As soon aiter this as it is workable it is harrowed with a
four-bullock aut in a direction opposite to that of the former
harrowing. By this means the sprouting of annual weeds is
hastened, and the surface soil is loosened. In the next break in
the monsoon the two-bullock aut is again brought on the land. It
works in the same direction as the hot- weather harrowing. It cuts
down and kills the annual weeds^ and levels the land. The seed
bed is now ready, though seed is not sown till the Uttara Nakshaira
that is from the 22nd of September to the 6th of October. Meantime
the more harrowings and cross-harrowings the land receives the
better. The seed is sown with the three-tined seed-drill or tiphan
which is followed by the rdkhia or beam-harrow. Except that late
sowings require five or six pounds, the seed is put in at the rate
of about four pounds the acre. Kardai or safflower is mixed with
the seed at the rate of about half a pound to a pound the acre. The
mixing does no harm. Generally when the jvdri crop is poor, the
safflower more than suffices to meet the assessment on the land The
two early varieties of Indian millet are sown thick and broadcast in
June and July taking twice as much seed as by the drill In clayey
loam or khalaa land, when the early rains are not favourable, jvari
is sown as in black soil in the cold weather. When the jvdri is about
a foot high it must be weeded with the bullock -hoe. Two hoes or
kulpda are placed side by side each in charge of a man but drawn
by only one pair of bullocks. With the bullock-hoeing, hand-
weeding along the rows by women is necessary. Till the crop has
grown so as to shade the land and prevent weeds from coming up^
one or two hand-weedings by women are usual. This work has to
be done quickly, both because the breaks in the rain do not last
and because the weeds mrow apace. It is usual to put at least ten
women on a field, though as many as twenty and twenty-five are
set to work by good cultivators, as supervision is not then so costly.
Watching is a heavy item in the cost of growing jvdri. One man
to about ten acres of land where there are no trees, and double the
number if there are trees, are required. These sit on raised
platforms in the field armed with slinga Watching begins
when the crop begins to ear and lasts 1^ to -two months. When
ripe the crop is pulled up and tied into sheaves. Five sheaves form
apdehunda. The sheaves are laid in pdchundda to dry. Th!b size
oi the sheaves varies with the length of the stalk which is used as
a binder. Occasionally when the husbandman finds it in-
convenient to carry the produce home at once, he builds it into
stacks or kdirds. On the thrashing floor women are employed to
hreak off the ears and throw them on the floor. When this is
dome, muzzled bullocks tread out the corn which is then

Chapter IT.
Agriculture.

Crop Details.
Indian Millet.

[Bomkay Oaietteer,

264

DISTRICTS.

Chapter 17.
AgricTdtnre.

Crop Dbtails.
Indian Millet.

Millet.

winnowed by three men. One stands on a raised platform and
another hands up baskets of the grain mixed vrith the outer
coverings of the grain and the small stalks. When there is wind
enough the man on the platform slowly empties the basket. A
third man below keeps the pile of good grain separate from the
chaff. Two practices materially affect the outturn, if it is
judged by the yield on the thrashing floor. First, that of eating
parched unripe ears while the crop is standing. Not only are the
watchmen allowed to eat as much as they like, but the owner and
his family and his invited friends mainly live on the unripe ears or
hurda in a good season for six or eight weeks. Secondly, that of
pulling up the standing crop for fodder. This is more usual in a
poor season when many of the stalks are earless or so behind in
growth that they are not likely to be ready for reaping with
the rest of the crop, and when other fodder is scarce.* Tha
acre yield varies from 150 to 1000 and averages 500 pounds.
Jvdri is chiefly in use as a bread grain, but is also eaten

Srched as Idhi, The parched unripe beads called hurda are a
iding article of food with the laKx)uring classes a short time
before and after the harvest season. In£an millet is the only
cereal whose straw is used as fodder in its natural state. The
fodder though not abundant is superior. In parts of the west it is
stacked and thatched ; in the east where the rainfall is lighter it is
stowed in long grave-like ridges covered with clods of black soil.

Millet, bdjn, Penicillaria spicata, with in 1881-82 a tillage area of
783,150 acres, is the chief early crop in light soil tracts. It prospers
also in shallow black soil but in rich black soil it is little grown.
Millet is seldom watered. The tillage of millet differs little from
the tillage of Indian millet except that as it is an early crop it is
sown in June and July. Bdjri is generally sown with the three-
tined seed-drill or tiphan. The middle seed tube is blocked, but
behind the tiphan following in the drill made by the middle
coulter comes a single seed tube or mogha, held by a woman
and fastened to the tiphan by a rope. By this tube the tur
is sown. The irad or extra seed is mixed with |;he bdjri before
sowing. The proportion is two pounds of hdjri, or three pounds
for late sowings, to one pound of irad in which ambddi, math, and
mu^ taken equally form about 13 ounces with 3 ounces of til.
All these seeds are very small. The devices whereby the
small seeds are deposited at a small depth and the tur, a
larger seed, at a greater depth are well worthy of remark.
Bdla is sown at the rate of about half a pound an acre; after

^ The following are Mr. Ozanne's estimates of the cost (A jvdri caltiTatton. In
harrowing l^e work done may be estimated at 1 J acres a day for the two-buUock and
one acre lor the fonr-buUock harrow. Monthly hands are paid Bs. 4 or 2 <u. a day.
With the bidlocks at 6 cm. a pair a day, the cost will be for a four-bullock harrow
14 a«. an aero and for a two-bmlock harrow 7 <u. an acre. Four to six pounds of jvdri
are used to sow an aero. Sowing costs 6 to 7 ow. an aero, covering 6 as,, hoeing 10
to 12 «., each hand- weeding 12 om., watching for each man 12 pounds of grain ao acr«»
and harvesting at six per cent of the stanmng orop. The claims of vilb^ lenranta
amount to about 96 pounds the aero (6 mans to 12 acres). The ropUcing of oxea
represents a yearly aero incidenoe of 10 cw.

Deccan-l

AHMADNAGAR.

265

sixty rows of bdjri and tur have been put in, come thr6e rows of
fdlcu These crops are all reaped at different times^ in the following
order : rdla, hdjrij mathj aTtihddi. The acre yield of bdjri varies from
50 to 500 and averages 300 pounds. Three kinds of millet gwri, kali,
and sajgure, are grown in Ahmadnagar. They are so like that it
is not easy to distinguish them. Oari is an inferior variety which
ripens in three and a half months, hali is longer and takes more
time to mature, and sajgure ripens quickly^ has a small grain, and is
seldom grown without water. Bdjri is the chief food of the middle
classes. It is pleasanter to the taste and is more nourishing
ihanjvdri and is used chiefly as a bread grain though it is sometimes
parched into Idhi. The stalks called sarmad are given to cattle,
bat unless trodden into chaff are inferior to almost all other
fodder. The green ears are parched and eaten under the name
{filler.

Wheat, gahu, Triticum eestivum, in 1881-82, had a tillage area
of 151,026 acres. The uncertain rainfall is a great obstacle to the
growth of wheat in Ahmadnagar. Five varieties two of them
watered or garden lakshi and khapleotjod^ and three dry-crop or
field varieties, pivle, Jedte^ and pothe, are grown. Bdkahi, which is
also called hanshi wheat, is yellow and large, and in ripening
turns purple-bearded. It is the most esteemed variety, but it is
not hardy enough to be much grown. It is occasionally grown in
dry-crop land. Khaple, also called jod, is very hardy but
requires pounding to separate the husk. The differences in
the dry-crop varieties are, in Mr. Ozanne's opinion, the result of
climate and soiL In some soils and climates the field wheat or
shetgahu keeps the characteristics of a hard light-yellow semi-trans-
parent grain, in shape long and arched. It is then styled pivlcL It
is also called ddudkhani and ranks next to bakshi which it resembles.
In most parts of Ahmadnagar, even where the purest pivla is sown,
in a year or two a mixture of hard red or dull brown grains
>ears. Where the inferior grains do not exceed fifty per cent,
appropriate name is kdtegahu. In some seasons, notably when a *
heavy monsoon is followed by October rain and also by a little rain
after the wheat is sown, a number of the yellow and red grains
develop a non-transparent white ricey look. When these appear the
wheat is said to have become potha. The merchants keep the names
hakahi and pivla, but call the kdtegahu and pothegahu by the
oomnaon name of laskari. In the present season (1884) pothegahu
or white-marked grains have "appeared where they were scarcely
ever knoim before. The market price is highest for baJcshi and
ptvfa, and considerably lower for kdtegahu or dull brown. The more
jjotha or white-marked grains in the dull-brown the smaller the
\'hlue of the wheat. In many parts of Ahmadnagar pivla wheal in
two or three years will always become mixed with kdtegahu or dull-
brown and froquently with pothegcJiu or white-spotted. On the other
hand there is little doubt that even in the best sea^sons pothegahu
or white-spotted will not produce good pivla} The general opinion

*■ The following are Mr. 0zaime*B estimates of the cost of growing wheat : Hairowing
is thnce repeated^ a hot season harrowing 14 oa. an acre, a first rain haxrowing 14 a«.,

B 772-a4

appears,
the

Chapter lY.

Agricnltare.

Gbop Dxtaus.
MiUet.

Wheat

[Bombay Gatetteer,

266

DISTRICTS.

Cliapter 17.
Agricnlture.

Crop Details.
Wheat.

is that the quality of the wheat is better in the lighter soils^ but the
outturn is generally so much larger that black sou is preferred.^

The hot weather harrowing for wheat is with a two or sometimes a
f our-buUock harrow. It is sown as gram with the two-tined seed-drill
or moghad. Wheat is sometimes grown by itself, sometimes mixed
with ,0afflower. It is sown during October and November and reaped
during February and March. If the previous jvdri and gram have
been well weeded, neither bullock-hoeing nor hand-weeding is
wanted. The thick sowing in part explains the fact that weeding
is not as necessary as for jvdri which is also sown earlier and takes
s, long time before it begins to grow rapidly. The kolpa tends aka
to loosen the upper soil, but wheat likes a firm seed bed. In
England it is rolled before and after sowing. The rapid consolidation
of tiie wheat lands here make rolling unnecessary. Moreover, there
is no danger of the crop being thrown out as in England by frosfc.
Except in watered land^ where one man in a field suffices^ no watching
is usual The crop is pulled up or sickled when dead ripe. It is tied
into sheaves and spread in pdchundds to dry like jvdri. If
temporarily stacked in the field, the stack is styled a mandalL To
'erect a mandali one sheaf is placed upright as a centre and the others
are carefully ranged round it, heads down. If the field is large^ a
second or third storey to the staqk is made, the centre sheaf being
placed upright as before. Regularity of stacking is carefully attended
to^ so that the theft of one or two sheaves may be readily detected.
The first operation on the thrashing floor is to beat out the earth
•clin^ng to the roots of the plants. When this is done, the sheaves
are loosened and spread over the floor, and trodden with unmuzzled
bullocks till the stalks are broken into fine pieces and the grain
is freed. The grain is then winnowed. The l^e-product or chaff
is used as cattle food. It is poor stuffy but in wheat districts is
given with gram chaff which is more nourishing. It helps to make
up the necessary bulk. Whenjvd/ri is poor and stunted the cattle
have to live on the wheat and g^ram chaff. In winnowing wheat,
the man who watches the fall of the chaff and grain is careful that
small grains, such as result from frost-bite, are separated from the
best. The average acre yield is estimated at about 1000 pounds

«nd a cross harrowing 7 cu., that is a total harrowing cost for wheat of Rs. 2A ; sowing
10 CM. an acre ; covering %(u, ; hand- weeding 8 a«. an acre ; harvesting eight per cent
•of the crop ; thrashing and winnowing 4{ per cent ; repUcing of oxen 10 as, an acre ;
craftsmen's claims about 96 poimds the acre (6 mans to 12 acres).

^ Mr. Ozanne is of opinion that not much improvement in wheat cnltxyation wiU
result from the use of imported seed. The wheats of each district show what variety is
l)est suited to them. After the famine, JabalpurjTMt wheat, a soft white, was sown in
the Athni subdivision of Belgaum. It nupidly degenerated to ahard red. K^har>patb&r
•dry-cr§p bcbkshi, a celebrateid variety mm an elevated portion of the P4mer sub-
division of Ahmadnagar, was sown mr two good farmers in Nev&sa in dry-orop land.
In two years it became so like tiie ordinary shetgahu that it could not be distinguished
from it. In certain P4mer villages especially Bhlhmangaon the jpivla wheat
keeps its colour and other characteristics. This, sown in Nevisa, in two year*
degenerated into kdtegcthu,, Mr, Ozanne thinks that in dry-orop land everv
encouragement should be given to the sowing of good pivla. If it falls off fresh
«eed should be brought from villages where it grows welL The people are aliv»
to their own benefit and would adopt such suggestions. But their interest ia
improving w:heat is of recent date. llU wheat came into foreign demand, it wa«

Deccaa*]

AHMADNAGAE.

267

in watered land and at about 500 pounds in dry land. Wheat
is subject to a disease called tdmbera or rust which is generally
brought on by excess of rain when the wheat is in ear. The
grain slightly rots and becomes covered with a reddish powder.
Ohira or khira is like rust except that it attacks the crops in
circle^ and causes only partial damage. Wheat is used as a bread
grain and is seldom eaten by the poor except on feast days. The
flour is used largely in pastry and sweetmeats. Wheat keeps good
for several years in pevs or grain-pits ; in the open air it soon
turns bad. The flour cannot be kept so long as the flour of
American wheat. Parched green wheat ears called omhya are
eaten and the straw mixed with chaff is used as a fodder. By
itsei^ wheat straw is held to be unwholesome for cattle. Small
quantities of wheat come from the Nizam's country and large
quantities are sent to ShoUpur, Foona^ and Bombay.

Rice, hhat, Oryza sativa, with in 1881-89 a tillage area of 7078
acres, is grown in the west near the Sahyd.dris and as a change crop
in garden lands in the east. It is sown in June and reaped
sometimes in September but generally in October and November.
Most rice is sown in seed-beds and planted in small bunches when
six or eight inches high. The straw is valued as fodder, especially
for cattle. Bice is part of the daily food of the middle ana upper
cl&sses, and is eaten by the poor on feast days. It is either
simply boiled or parched or scalded in the forms known as ldh%
poke, and mv/mmre,^ Rice flour is used in many preparations.

Ifdchni, Eleusine corocana, with in 1881-82 a tillage area of 22^820
acres, is grown in wet lands sometimes by planting out and
sometimes by sowing with the drill. It is also often grown in
high-lying landa It is sown in June and ripens in October or
November. It does not require a deep or rich soil, but wants
moisture. The straw mixed with chaff is used as fodder. Ndchni
is used as a bread-grain only by the poorer classes near the
Sahyddris. The green heads are parched and eaten. Like green
jvdri heads they are called hurdds.

Barley, adtu, Hordeum hexastichon, had in 1881-82 a tillage area
of 104 acres. It is sown in black soils in November, is always
watered and manured, and is reaped in February. The flour is
used as ready cooked food. The grain is parched and ground and
mixed with a little gram and wheat flour and flavoured with seeds.
It is usually eaten in little dough balls mixed with ^ water. It
is also used in Hindu shrdddh or anniversary and Shrd/vni or
yearly purifying ceremonies.

grown less extensively and stored in pits to be used in yean of scarcity. Natnrally
utile care was taken to improve it- Mnch more intelligence and care are shown
in th« choice oi jvdri and bdyri seed, which proves that the people understand the
principle of picked seed, but that it has not hitherto paid them to apply it to wheat.
* For fohe rice is soaked in water, scalded, and left to drain in a basket, parched, and
poandeo. For murmtire, rice is partially dried in the sun after a three davs' soaking
ftod subsequent scalding. It is sughtly parched, and the husk is separated by rubbiiu;
lime. Salt water is thrown over it, and the grain is again parched in hot suidl
Both pohc and murmure are sometimes used aa iSady-cooked food for a joamey.

Chapter 17^
Agriculture-

Crop' Details.
Wheat.

Rice.

K^ehni.

Barley*

[Bombay Gazetteer.

268

DISTRICTS-

Chapter IT.
Agriculture.

Crop Details.
Maize.

Cajan Pea.

Gram.

Maize, Tndkka, Zea mays, with in 1881-82 a tillage area of 108S
acres, when unwatered is sown in June in black soils and ripens in
August. With water it can be grown at any season. The heads
or hitds are usually'>eati}n green, and the ripe grain, parched into
Idhi and ground to flour, is used for various purposes. The stalk is
a very coarse fodder.

Cajan P^a, tv/r, Gajanus indicus^ with in 1881-82 a tillage area of
33^122 actes, is eaten as a pulse by almost every class. It is sown
with bdjH in June and ripens in January or February. One of the
four tubes of the drill is stopped and a separate tube is fastened
to the drill by a rope. This tube is held by a man who walks
behind and drops the seed through it into the furrows made by the
coulter attached to the previously stopped tube. It is sown in this
way because it is a large spreading plant which requires much room.
During the eight months it is on the ground jtur is said to flower
and seed ei^t times^ all the pods remaining on the bush till harvest
It yields a superior yellow split pulse or ddl; only a little less valuable
than gram. The green pods are also eaten as a vegetable The
leaves and pod-shells are an excellent fodder. The stalks are
generally used for wattling house walls and roofs and for making
baskets and brooms and as fuel by the poor. Tur charcoal is much
valued in making gunpowder.

Gram, harbhara, deer arietinum, had in 1881-82 a tillage area of
61,470 acres. It requires good black soil and is not largely grown
as a dry-crop except in the Gangthadi or God^vari vaUey. Gram
follows Indian millet or jvdri, the best time for sowing it being the
Hast Nakakatraihai is from the 7th to the 1 4th October or alittlelater
than wheat. Gram is sown with the two-tine or moghad seed drill.
The land is prepared in the same way as ior jvdri, but, owing to the
spreading growth of the plant, bullock-hoeing is not possiUe. As
gram also keeps down weeds hand- weeding is not necessary except to
slovenly cultivators. Watching is not usual except against thieves
The crop is pulled up by the hand protected by a cloth or cut by the
sickle, and piled in the field in small heaps each about a bead-load
csXLed peta or bimdle. When convenient the crop is stacked in the
field in hvdis or tdpds. When brought to the thrashing floor the
stalks are spread and the pods beaten out by sticka The stalks are
picked out by hand and thrown on the manure heap for watered land
or else burnt. The rest, containing the pods mixed with leaves and
small twigs, are winnowed, and the poos are thrown over the floor
to be trodden out by bullocks. The chaflT or bhvsa is carefully
preserved as cattle food, measured by the mot or large double blanket.
When the grain is thrashed or trodden out by cattle the pod shells
are separated by winnowing, and used as manure or burnt They
are too sharp for cattle and injure their mouths. The oxalic acid
whio^ falls from its leaves kills the weeds. The pea is eaten green
as a vegetable, either boiled or parched when it is called hda. When
ripe like other pulses it is split into ddl and eaten in a variety of

Becfiut]

AHMADNAGAR.

269

ways. The ripe grain is also given to horses and the dry stalks are
good fodder.^

Green Gram, ^t^^ Phaseolus mungo, had iix 1881-82 a tillage area
of 5455 acres. It is sown in June in shallow black or light stony
soils without water or manure and is harvested in September. The
green pods are eaten as a vegetable, and the ripe danc-green pea is
eaten boiled either whole or split into ddl. It is parched> ground
to flour, and made into spice balls. It is also made into porridge.
The leaves and stalks are good fodder. Mugi, a variety of mug is
sown with bdjri in June and reaped in November. Ibe pea is
small and blackish.

Black Gram, udid, Phaseolus mungo, had in 1881-82 a tillage area
of 1922 acres. It is sown with bdjri in June and harvested in
September. Its split pea or ddl is highly esteemed and is the chief
element in the thin wafer-biscuits called pdpad. The grain is
considered the most fattening food for> horned cattle and bears
about the same market value as gram. Udadi is a smaller variety
sown with bdjri in June and cut in November. Its pea like the
vdid pea is black. *

Horse-Gram, huliJii or hvlga, Dolichos uniflorus or biflorus, in
1881-82 had a tillage area of 38,163 acres. It is sown with bdjH
in June and ripens in November. It is eaten boiled whole or split
as ddl and in soup and porridge, and is also given to horses. The
leaves and stalk are good fodder.

Lentils, 7na9wr, Ervum lens, in 1881-82 had a tillage area of 267
acree. It is sown in black soils in November or December and
harvested in February or March. The green pods are sometimes
eaten as a vegetable, and the ripe pulse is eaten boiled either whole
or split.

The Pea, vdidna, Pisum sativum, in 1881-82 had a tillage area of
1465 acres. It is sown in October or November and matures in
four and a half months. It flourishes only in moist soil. The
aeed is eaten green as a vegetable and when ripe in various ways.
It is not made into split pulse or ddl. The leaves and stalks are
good fodder.

Sesame, til, Sesamum indicum, in 1881-82 had a' tillage area of
10,794 acres. It is" of two kirtds white gora or havra and black
hUa, Except in colour there seems to be no difference between
these two sesames, but from its pleasanter colour in sweetmeats the
white commands a higher price. It is sown in June usually with
bdjri either mixed or in separate furrows, and sometimes by itself
on land that has long lain fallow ; it is cut in November. It yields
an oil wbi(^ is preferred in cookery to all other oils. The cake or
pend from whicn the oil has been pressed is eaten by Kunbig with
salt and given to cattle. The plant is not used as a fodder.

^ The following are Mr. Ozazme's estimates of tlie cost of gram cultivation :
HuTOwing is thrice repeated a hot-weather harrowing costing 7 ew. an acre, a first rain-
baiTOwing oosting 14 as. and a second costing 7 a«. that is a total harrowing
coat for gram of Ba. IJ ; sowing 10 a«. ; seed-covering S as* ; hand- weeding S a«. ;
harvesting 5 per oent^ and thrashing and winnowing 4S ponndoi and oraftamen's daima
ahoat 96 pounds.

Qhapter IV.
Agriculture.

Crop Details.
Green Gram.

Black Gram.

Horse Gram.

Lentils.

Pea.

Sesame.

[Bomba7 &U6ttoer»

270

DISTRICTS.

Chapter 17.
Agriculture.

Cbop Details.
Safflower.

Linaeed.

CutorSeed.

Cotton,

Safflower, kardai, Carthamus tinctorius, is grown mostly in
Shevgaon. It is sown in black soils in October or November aJong
with wheat or late jvdm mixed or in separate furrows, and is cut
in February or March. It is the chief oil plant of the district and
is highly esteemed for fattening sheep. The yoimg leaves are boiled
as a vegetable and the oil is much valued in cookery. The flowers
yield a red dye.

Linseed, dUhi, Linum usitatissimum, in 1881-82 had a tillage area
of 4930 acres. It is sown in rich black soils often with gram or
wheat in separate fiirrows or by itself as a separate crop, and,
without water or manure is harvested in February. The seed is
eaten in relishes or chatnis, and the oil which is produced in the
proportion of one pound of oil to four pounds of seed is used in
cookery. The fibre of the plant is not used.

Castor-seedj erandi, Bicinus communis, is sown either in June or
November in black soil, sometimes round other crops and oftener
in patches by itself. It grows without water or manure, and is
harvested in November or February. The stem and flowers are red.
It is not much grown and the oil is more used as a lamp oil than as
a medicine. The oil is extracted by husbandmen for home use by
boiling the bruised bean and skimming the oil that rises to the
surface. By this process four ahera of seed yield one sfier of oiL
The leaf is used as an application for guineaworm and the dried
root as a f ever-scarer. A larger variety with green stem and flowers
but otherwise the same as the smaller variety is grown in gardens
round other crops. Both varieties are perennial and grow to a
considerable size. They are never allowed to remain on the ground
for a second year.

Cotton^ kdpu8, Gossypium herbaceum, in 1881-82 had a tillage
area of 32^231 acres. The quantity grown is small compared with
that in other Deccan districts. It is sown in June in black or red
SOU and without water or manure, is fit for picking in November
and December and sometimes as late as February or March. It is
gathered in three or four pickings. The seed called aarki is much
prized as food for milch-cattle. The stems are used in inferior
basket-work and cattle graze on the leaves and shoots after the
picking is over.

In 1822, according to the Collector, Captain Pottinger, of about
25,000 bighda under cultivation not five were sown with cotton.
Cotton was brought from Berar in small quantities ; none left the
district. There was no trade in cotton ; the sale even of one khandi
had never been known. It sold at seven pounds (3| aken) the
rupee or at £7 (Bs. 70) a ihamdi of 500 pounds. Cotton was sown
in A^^bdd or June -July with the early crops and was picked in
PatwA and Mdgh that is January -February. The tillage was far
from careful. The fields were cleared, the seed was rolled in clay, and
passed through the two-tined seed-drill or moghad. When the plants
were six or seven inches high, some landholders earthed them np ;
others did no more than weed them at intervals till the crop wa^
ripe. Ahmadnagar was not a cotton district because cotton would

Deccanl

AHMADNAGAR

271

grow in none of its soil except in the best black and also because
the rainfall was generally too scanty and occasionally was untimely.
According to a local proverb, if rain fell in the svdti fortnight in
October-November there would not be enough cotton to make lamp
wicks. ^

In 1830 an enterprising Hindu merchant of Ahmadnagar named
Basvantfiing, offered to grow and supply Government yv^ith clean
cotton, provided he received an advance of money free of interest.
The Collector was authorised to advance him £5000 (Rs, 50,000)
on substantial security. Basvantsing the first season delivered in
Bombay about fifty bales of cotton at the rate of Rs. 116 per khandi.
London brokers described this cotton as of good staple and clean
^r Indian cotton except that it was mixed with brown. It was
valued at 5d, to 5^d, the pound.^ The example of Basvantsing was
followed by others to whom advances were made on similar terms.*
Some rather good though small parcels of cotton were delivered to
Government and consigned by them to China, but no material or
lasting improvement residted. Some American cotton-seed sent by
Government to Basvantsing did not thrive, apparently because
it was too late of being sown. The Collector sowed some of the
seed in his garden. The first year it yielded a poor crop, but
the plants were left in the ground and in the next season
were in great strength a.nd covered with blossoms.^ In 1836, as
an encouragement to cotton cultivation in the Deccan, Govern-
ment declared all lands on which cotton should be grown free
from the land tax for five years or till the 30th of April 1842.
This measure was not approved by the Court of Directors and was
cancelled on the 20th of January 1838. The cancelling of the
concession put a stop to cotton-growing. Cotton did not prosper ;
the landholders thought grain a much more paying crop. Foreign
oottoQ had nowhere been adopted or grown with success. In 1840
Dr. Gibson was satisfied that, except New Orleans the foreign cotton
he had tried was unsuited to the Anmadnagar soil and climate. He
thought further experiments with Pemambuco and Egyptian cotton
would end in useless expenditure. In 1 844, as in 1 822, the Collector's
opinion was that cotton would flourish only in a small tract in the
south near the Bhima and that there it would suffer much from want
of raiiL* All the men who took the Government advances lost by
their venture. In 1848, Mr. Spooner, the Collector, reported that the
persons to whom money had oeen advanced were ruined. In 1848
only 2638 acres were under local and none were under foreign cotton.
The local produce was bought by local Mh^rs whose women made it
into thread which was used in weaving coarse cloth. In 1851 the
dryness of the air was thought to be the reason why Ahmadnagar

s Etst India Papers, IV, 763-5.

» Between 1830 and 1832, besidea a loan of £5000 (Rs. 50,000) withont interest
inada to Basvantsing, a loan of £2500 (Rs. 25,000) was made to one P&ndarang
Sakhtotox, of £400 (Rs. 4000) to one Vithal BAlkrishna Divekar, and of £25 (Rs, 250)
each to the headmen of R&huri-Khurd and Sarah. Rev. Rec 625 of 1835, 243.

* Casseira Cotton in the Bombay Presideney, 20.

« Bmr. Rec 406 of 1832, 251-52. ^ Rev. Rec. 1664 of 1844^ 54, 55.

Chapter 17.
Agriculture-

Cbof Dktaiis,
Cotton.

(BomlMV flautteer,

CheptnlV-

Agticnltnre-

Ckop Dnuu.

Cotton.

DISTRICTS.

was so poor a cotton-growing district. The sub-division where most
cotton waa grown was JUmkhed and in J&mkhed the whole ares
was only 1000 acres. Up to 18Q0-61 a small import from F^than
and Birai served to meet the demands of the local weavers. The
price was a trifle over l^d. (1 a.) a pound. In 1859-60 the area under
cotton bad risen to 46S5 acres.

The following table shows for the nineteen years ending 1860-61
the total tillage area, t^ area under cotton, and tJiie area capable
of yielding cotton :

Ahnadnagar Cotton, 18^1-1861.

TlLUOI.

Conov AuL

TILLMM.

c^^

nitd.

Ctaabteot

■^ wr

1S4I-41..

ista-uV.'.

I9M-«,..

1 IBM-tl..

i.aos.oie
j.aso.MT

1.6i8.2«
l.ftM,106

, eg,Mg

18B1-6S..
OM-K..
18GI-H,.
IBM-M..

\. K

'< S

ACM*

4Bn

sats

IftW

£834
WfA

g8,6m

Though little cotton was either grown or used in Ahmaduagar,
in 1862 a considerable through traffic went from Berar and the
Niz&m's country through the Imimpur pass forty-ix miles from
the town of Ahmadnagar. It entered the Ahmadnagar district at
Navgaon on the Qodilvari about eight miles below Paithan and wont
through the Tjll^es of Knspmi, Kiri, Manka, Shevgaon, ClHftei^aoQ,
and EadgaoQ.

The demaad' for cotton which followed the Americas War in
1862 greatly increased this trade. The country round was searched
for every available pound. Thisfound its way chiefly to Ahmadnagar
as it was a convenient market, and carts and bullocks would
protttbly be able to aecnre a return load of salt or groceries from
the coast. As the cotton was usually carried by pack-bnllocks
the name hoja or bullock-load was commonly applied to two bales
or^ dokdds. On reaching Ahmadnagar the cotton was left at
Bandubhdj's adda or station, an open space within cantonment limita
in front of the distillery. Bandubh^ was a headman or muJuidam
who let carts on hire and was allowed to use the land as a
convenient standing ground for his carts. There was no shelter and
there were no godowns. The only convenience was a well from which
water could be drawn for men and beasts and a wide space on which
loads could be piled and left under the doubtful chaise otja^lids or
watchuMi who as often as not pilfered the property entrusted to their
care.- In the rains whatever cotton was left at Ahmadnagar was
stored in empty houses, chiefly at the Fara B^, which, as a cotton
store, yielded Government about £20 (Ra 200) a year. In 1878
through the exertions of Mr. T. Stewart, C.S,, the Acting Collector,
a new Ahmadnf^ar cotton market was built. Fees were
levied of id. (i a.) for storing the cotton in open ground, and 3d.

Ssecn.]

AHMADNAGAB.

273

(2 as.) in the godown. During the five yeats ending 1881-82 the
quantity of cotton stored at the Ahmadnagar market has gradually
increased from 18,496 in 1878-79 to 83,972 dokdds or bales in
1881-82.^ In 1882-83 there was a further marked increase. It was
estimated that a 100,000 dokdds or bales would be brought to market.
As iu former times most of the cotton continues to be grown in the
coontry to the east of the distriot;

Brown Hemp, ambddi, Hibiscus cannabiwifi, with in 1881-82 a
tillage area of 344 acres, is sown along witii bdji^ in June. It
requires about a month longer than bdjri to ripen and is left in the
field when the bdjri is cut. Most field ropes are made of hemp.

Sugarcane, ua, Saccharum officinarum, with'ln ]l881-82 a tillage
area of 2801 acres, is one of the most important of watered crops.
If the crop is good, in spite of the outlay on manure and water, the
profit is very large. Four chief kinds of sugarcane are grown,
kola or black, pundydbds or pale yellow, bahinani white and purple,
and huli or wliite. Kdla or black, also called tdmhda or red is
of a dark mulberry colour and grows six to ten feet high and one
and a half to two and a half inches thick. It is very juicy and
yields dark brown raw sugar or guL Pundydbda, also called pdndhra
or white, is pale yellow in colour and is thicker but shorter than
the black and yields a lighter coloured and higher priced raw sugar.
BahTfuini, a variegated white and purple cane, is soft in the bark
and is chiefiy sold for eating raw. Kadi also called balkya or bet is
white, and is stender, shorter, and less juicy than the others. It is
sown along the edges of fields of the other varieties as it requires
little water, manure, or care. In damp lands the kadi or bet yields
a second growth from the original stock. In growing migarcane tho
ground is several times ploughed in different directions ana harrowed.
Forty to seventy cartloads of manure to the acre are sf)r«ui over the
field. The' furrows are eighteen inches apart lengthways and four
and a half to seven and a half feet apart crossways. The cane is
propagated by means of layers which are cut in lengths of about
a foot or a foot and a half. The planter takes a number
of these pieces of caae in his hand, and, after a stream of
water has oeen turned into the furrow, he walks along it dropping
the pieces of cane one after the other lengthwise into- the
trench and treading them into the soft yielding earth. This
eane requires watering every fourth, fifth, or sixth day ; shallow soils
requiring water oftener than deep. During the hot season while the
shoots are tender, to shade the young canes, in the spaces between
the rows it is common to seir some creeping plants, generally the
ffhevdi, which is cut as soon as the young canes have gained a certain
height. As soon as the canes are planted the garden is surrounded
neith a thorn fence to keep out cattle. Grovnng sugarcane wants
constant watching, the jackal being its chief enemy from its fondness
for biting the young stalks and sucking the juice. After about
twelve months, the cane ripens and is cut down and carried in

Chapter IV.
Agrionltnre*
Gbop Details.

Ambddu

Sugarcane.

t The dfltails are : 1878-79, 18,496 btjds ; 1879-80, 45,000 j 1880^1, 46,266 ; 1881.82,
83,972-

B772-35

[Bombay Oaxattoerf

274

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IV.
Agricnltare.

Cbo? Details.
Sugarcane.

Tobacco.

bundles to the sugar-mill. In the Akola ddnga or hill lands a
purple sugarcane is grown without watering. As soon as the rice is
off the ground in good level red soil in valley bottoms, the ground is
ploughed and manured^ and in January the cane joints are planted.
They • soon sprout, and next January the crop is fit for cutting
without being watered in the hot seasoir. This cane is said to take
little out of the soil, and is followed by rice in the following rains.
The mill or charak, which is used in pressing the juice, is very rude
tnd cumbrous. It is made entirely of wood and is worked by two
pairs of oxen. Two upright solid cylinders, eighteen to twenty
inches across and called husband and wife or navra navH^ whose
upper pai'ts work into each other with oblique cogs, are made to
revolve by means o£.a Jevel beam whose centre is fixed to the
husband screw ancL whose ends are yoked to oxen. The cane is
stripped of its leaves, cut into lengths of two or three feet and
thrice passed by hand between the cylinders. The juice is caught
in a vessel below which from time to time is emptied into a shallow
circular boiling pan called kadliai. When the pan is full the fire
beneath it is lighted and fed chiefly with the pressed canes. After
eight to twelve hours' boiling ana skimming the juice is partially
cooled in earthen pots and finally poured into round holes dug
in the earth and lined with cloth. In these holes it forms solid
lumps called dhep or dhekul and in this state is fit for market. The
whole sugar-making goes on in the open air or in a light temporary
shed, and stops neither night nor day till the crop is finished. The
mill usually belongs to one or more landholders, and costs £1 14^.
to £2 48. (Es. 17 - 22). The wood for the press is often supplied
by the Kunbi who pays the carpenter 108. to 168. (Rs. 5-8) for his
labour. The pan is generally hired jointly by one or two landliolders
at £1 (Rs. 10) or at 6d, to 7|d. (4 - 5 08.) a day.

Tobacco, tambdkhu, Nicotiana tabacum, in 1881-82 had a tillage
area of 6428 acres. Sandy friable soil and river borders enriched
with flood-loam are specially suited to the growth of tobacco. It
is sown in June in a nursery, and, when large enough, the seedlings
are planted out. Only one or two weedings are required. At
the second weeding the lower shoots are picked oflf, and, when
the plants are full mrown, the tops and blos^ms are also
picked that the strengui of the plant may go to make the leaves
thick and large. When the leaves begin to wither, the stalks
are cut near the root and are spread to dry. When the leaves
are dry water in which »urad grass, probably the spikenard
grass, has been soaked is sprinkled over them for two or three
days. The leaves and sometimes the jStalks are tied in small
bundles and packed in a pit at the bottom of which grass or jt^n
stalks have been laid. They are covered with grass and earth and
are kept in the pit about seven days. When taken out of the pit
the leaves are again dried and are then ready for sale.

Vines, drdkah, Vitis vinifera, are grown in the best garden lazidsi
near Ahmadnagar and to a limited extent in P^rner, Shevgaon,
Shrigonda, and Jtoikhed. The vine is grown from cuttings. In
August or September the vine-grower gete cuttings each with three

Beccan-l

AHMADNAGAR.

275

or four eyes and puts them into a bed near the well, each cutting

being buried till the lower eye is level with the ground and the top

of the cutting is sealed with clay and cowdung to keep in the sap.

These cuttings are watered daily and in about ten days begin to

shoot. The ground in which the vines are to be planted is ploughed

several times till it is free from clods and weeds. At intervals of nine

to twelve feet, pits are dug a foot and a half square and as deep and

filled half with good soil and manure mixed in equal quantities. The

sprouting cuttings are planted in pans in these pits, firmly set int«

their pU^ with plain earthy and watered every six days. As the

shoots grow four small stakes are placed round each cutting, and the

tihoots are trained from one to the other, tying them in their places

but keeping each vine separate. In five mc^hs they grow to the

height of a man when thick stakes of the coral tte%pdngdra Erytiirina

indica» are planted near them as permanent supports, and the

top shoots of the vines are nipped off and they are trained on the

coral trees. The coral tree is often a growing stump about five feet

high and pollarded. For twelve months other garaen produce, the

^g-plant, onion^ and pumpkin are raised in the vineyard^ care

being taken to water tne vines once a week unless the rainfall is

heavy. In the following October all the branches are pruned to

three eyes from the stem^ the prunings being available as cuttings,

and the flower soon appears. After the fruit has begun to form

water is not allowed to remain in the bunches, and every morning

for the first two months the husbandman walks round and gently

shakes each vine, holding a basket lid underneath into which dead

or diseased leaves, fruity and insects fall and are carried away and

bumt^ A vineyard is calculated to yield a quarter crop at

the end of the &cBt year, a half crop at the end of the second

year, and a full crop at the end of the third year, and, with a

moderate amount of care, lasts for about fifty years giving a full

crop each year. The vine is also trained on a strong open trelUs

which is set over the vineyard about six feet from the ground.

The pollarded plant is said to give the best yield, but the rich prefer

the trellis training both for its look and its shade ; it is also said to

keep the vme in strength to a greater age. The vines yield a crop

of aweet grapM in January February and March, and a crop of sour

^apes in August. The sour crop is large but the husbandmen do

not encourage it as it is of little value ; the sweet crop receives the

^eatest care but is not easily brought to perfection. After each

crop the vines are pruned, and after the sour crop they are manured

with salt, sheep's oung, and salt-fish which is particularly valued as it

Ls supposed to keep off white ants. Once every five or six days the

ea^rtn b loosened round the roots and the vines are flooded. When

the buds appear the vine is often attacked by a blight. To remove

the blight tne branches are shaken over a cloth into whifth the

blight falls. It is then carried to a distance and destroyed. The

diseased branches have to be shaken three times a day till the buds

are an inch long. To grow vines requires an outlay much beyond

Chapter IV.
Agriculture-

Caop Details.
Vines.

Major G. Couaimaker, former Soperiateadent Photoziaoog]»phio Office, Poona.

[Bombay Oasetteer,

276

DISTRICTS.

Cliapter 17.
Agricultore

Chop Dstails.
VineB.

Betel Leaf.

Vegetables.

the means of most market-gardeners. There is no profit for the
first two or three years. Men from Bombay, Ahmadnagar^ and
Sirur buy the growing crop, the gardener agreeing to continue to
water them and the buyers pajring for the watchmen who are kept
day afl^d night and in some cases for hoeing and manuring. The
Ibuyers, who pay only half the sum agreed, count the bunches and
estimate their value at about 2d, the pound (6 shers the rupee). A
vineyard, estimated to contain about thirty-five bullock loads of
120 pounds each, yields a crop worth about £35 (Rs. 330). No'attempt
is made to separate the ripe fruit from the unripe, the diseased from
the sound. The bunches are wrapped more or less securely in
grass, put into large baskets, and caxried on bullocks to the nearest
railway station, which sometimes takes two days to reach. From
the railway station the owner consigns them to a broker at the
Bombay Crawford Market who puts them to auction, and^ deducting
his fee, remits the proceeds to the purchaser who pays the husbandman
the remainder of the sum agreed. The grapes are sold at the
Crawford Market at about 4d. the pound (6^ tfhers the rupee).

Betel Leaf, pan, Piper betel, is much grown in Kariat, Nagar>
F^mer, Samgamner, Shevgaon, Shrigonda^ and J^mkhed. It is
raised from layers. The ground is carefully ploughed and
cleaned and is given as much as seventy-five cartloads of manure
the acre. Layers of the betel-leaf vine are laid in rows about 2 J
feet apart and the field is surrounded by a thorn fence. In the month
of August shevri Sesbania asgyptica plants are sown six to nine
inches apart in a row, and when the plants are three feet high betel-
vine layers are put in. After the first year some of the shevri plants
are cut so that the remaining plants may be one foot nine inches
apart. On each of these a betel-vine climbs. After five or dx
years the shevri plants die and pdngdrc^ Erythrina indica branches,
about eight feet long and three to four inches round, are put in
which generally take root and grow into trees. In a few cases ahevga
Giiilandina morinda plants being more durable are used. The trees
are allowed to grow eight to nine feet and then pollarded so that
there may not oe much shade and coolness. The betel-vines have
to be watered at least once in ten days and do not yield leaves fit
for use until the third year. They are then plucked every eight
or ten days. Once a year the plante are cut to the ground, manure
is given, and the young shoots are allowed to spring. The leaves
have a pungent aromatic taste.

Carrots, radishes, and onions are grown in garden lands. When
the crop is ready, the husbandman cuts ofi* a thick slice from the
crown end of the roots of the carrots and radishes and from the
root end of those of the onions. These he puts two fingers deep
below Jbhe soil in any place where there is a liberal supply of water.
After a few weeks the roots shoot into vigorous flower stems, the
seed of which is gathered four or five^months after they have been
planted. There are thus two crops in the year, one the root produced
irom the seed, the other the seed produced from the root.^

^ Major G, Couismaker, former Snperintende&t Fhotooncographio Office, Poona.

Daecan*]

AHMADNAGAR. 277

Gourds, melons, and other vegetables are frequently grown in Chapter IT.

dry river beds during the hot weather. The stream is confoied AimcSture

within narrow limits by banks of sand, and the beds are generally . ^^

well supplied with water and the outturn is large. The risk that ^^^ Djctails,
the labour of weeks may be lost by an untimely fall of rain is
considerable.

1 In 1824-25 Captain Pottinger, the Collector, planted in his garden silk.

about eiffhty-five yards of mulberry hedge and reared worms, which

produced about 13 ounces (33 folds) of supgerior silk. In 1830, to

encoiirage the growth of the mulberry tree, Tukar&m Dhondi PSnsare

andAnandr^v Keshav Ekbote were each granted a loan of £50

(Rfi. 500) without interest and each presented with twenty bighda

of rent-free land whose yearly assessment was £6 14«. (Rs. 67). A

third loan of £100 (Rs. 1000) also without interest was made

to one Yithal B^lkrishna. All of these attempts ended in

failure. *At the same time morQ systematic and more costly

experiments were made by the Civil Surgeon Dr. Graham in

the Fara garden about tiwo miles south-east of Ahmadnagar. In

July 1830 about 263 acres (351 bighda) of the Fara garden assessed

at a yearly rent of £60 48. (Rs. 602) were leased for twenty-five

years rent-free to Dr. Graham the Civil Surgeon. A sum of £300

(Rs. 3000) was also advanced to him. Some Chinese and Bengali

convicts who were skilled silk-workers were also placed at his

disposal. Up to the 31st of December 1831 Dr. Graham was

chiefly busied in plantiog a small mulberry, which was probably

the Moms indica. The tree, which grew six to ten feet high, had

a small berry and in favourable soils threw out a fair-sized leaf

which was sometimes indented and sometimes not. It was planted in

close hedgerows, as in Bengal, and when it was four or five feet high

every alternate row was tal^en up and the bushes planted in other

parts of the garden in holes twelve feet apart. The gain of having

so much space round each plant was that the soil round them could

be worked by buUock instead of by hand. In this way 12^000 to

15,000 bushes were planted. It was aflerwards found that the

waste of water in watering these trees was so great as to overbalance

the saving in labour. The empty spaces were accordingly filled,

and hedgerows formed twelve feet apart. The intermediate space

was well ploughed, and, except two or three feet on each side of each

row, was sown with gram and other low grains which did not rise

high enough to harm the trees. This was partly to make the ground

j>ay. At the same time, it was on the whole the most economical

plan for watering the trees and keeping the ground clean. The

small mulberrv was grown because its leaf was sweeter, more

resinous, and less fibrous than the large coarse leaf of the Moms

rubra, and the worms fed on it yielded finer silk. The small

liaulberry did no^ thrive. Its roots were not strong enoflgh to

pierce the hard black Ahmadnagar soil. Towards the end of 1831

> Bom. lUv, Bee. 406 of 1832, 251-252.

' Silk in India by Mr. Googhegan, Under Secretary to the Government of India
iia72).

[Bombay Oazetteeri
278 DISTRICTS.

Chapter IV. Dr. Graham turned his attention to growing a mulberry intermediate

Affricnltiire ^^ ®^^^ between the large and the small mulberry which his Chinese

^^ " gardener had pointed to him as the best mulberry in the country.

Crop Details. j^ grew into a pretty large tree. In, the latter half of Decen^ber

^*^^- 1831, about 800 trees of thia middle mulberry were planted out To

give them every chance large holes were dug and filled with white

earth and manure so that the roots might grow strong enough to

(>ass into the heavier and closer black soil. One field was laid out
n hedgerows of this middle mulberry twelve fee* apart. Sixty
budfl of the middle mulberry and ten of the large mulberry were
grafted on to the small variety. Some cuttings of the Morus alba
were brought from the village of Jdmgaon^ where, in black soil, were
four large vigorous trees. A plant of the white mttlberry and a
kind of Morus indica belonging to St. Helena^ and a plant of the
Italian Doppia foglia had been sent by Dr. Lush from Ddpuri in
Poona and were flourishing. About f orty-five acres (60 bighds) were
under mulberries^ but as most oi them were of the small kind for
which the soil was unsuited the outturn ^ leaf was not large.

Dr. Graham found the soil of the ¥ara garden unsuited for
mulberry-growing. It had a very great proportion of alumina
without any silicious earth to keep it open. It consequently
sucked in and held much water. As it parted with this water in
the fair weather it shrank and split iuto fissures which laid bare
the roots. Again the strength of the soil had been weakened by
constant watering and cropping without manure. A third difficulty
was the harydli and ruTida grasses. These gave incessant trouble.
Their roots ran underground on all sides to a depth of four feet or
more. They were about the size of a writing quill, and had joinia
from which fresh roots struck out. They often formed a complete
basket-work round the mulberry roots and stunted their growth.
Scarcely was one plot of ground cleaned when another was found to
' be overrun, and the store of grass in the first was soon renewed from
the underground roots. The palace of the Fara garden was repaired
at considerable expense. A passage was made across the pond and
feeding rooms were fitted up on the plan recommended by Count
Dandola, The size and coolness of the building made it excellently
suited for a feeding place. Two Chinamen^ at a monthly cost
9 of £6 88. (Es. 64), were placed at Dr. Graham's disposal. These two

Chinamen, one of whom was paid £4 16s. (Rs. 48) and the other £1
I2s. (Es. 16) a month, reeled the silk. They had a most simple
winding machine which they had brought secretly from China.
The most approved English winder and the favourite Italian
winder had been sent to Dr. Graham. Neither of these machines
was so well suited to make reeling a house process as the simple
China winder. It required only one person to manage it and might
be usetl by Hindu or Musalmdn women in any corner of their house.
It was so light that the reeler could carry it about and work
where he pleased. The silk throwsters brought their women
and sons and learnt under the Chinamen and did not receive
any wages from Dr. Graham until they were expert enough
to be regularly employed The quantity of pure silk which

Deoeaii.}

AHMADNAGAR.

279

Dr. Qraham 8 Bengal worm cocoons yielded was one-eleventh of their
weight. This was the proportion yielded in Italy and was much
higher than the Bengal yield. The China tdti or screen on which
the worm spun was two feet broad and about four feet long^ and
was formed of bamboos twisted into .loops. Tho worms were
thickly placed among these loops and exposed freely to the open air
which hardened the cocoon and dried the fluid of which whea'
spinning the worm throws out such large quantities. In November
1831 the first urop of worms yielded four pounds of silk. . By,
miscalculation the supply of leaves was too small. The worms W^re
bcully fed and the cocoons were soft and small. The Ahmadnagar
silk-dealers offered Dr. Graham the same price as for the China silk
that is £1 8«.to£l 16». (Rs. 14-18) the two-pound s/i^r. Of the
quality of the Ahmadnagar silk, Dr. Lush wrote that valuations of
samples showed that it was precisely suited to the wants of the
weavers. If it had been finer, it would not have fetched a higher
Drice, and it would have had to bQ sent .to Bombay for export,
llie samples were classed in Bombay with the China silk called
iaj/sam which sold at 12^. lo ISs. a pound (Bs. 12-13 a 2'lh. sher).

The sUk in damaged, deformed, abortive, or moth-eaten cocoons was
spun into a coarse thread after being soaked for a night with some
lentil seed. This spun-silk fetched 6«.,a pound (Bs. 6 a aher) ; when
made a little finer it was expected to sell at 88, a pound (Bs. 8 a sher).

In 1832-33 the mulberry trees suffered from want of wat^r. As
the black mulberry was found to be the kind that suffered least from
the drought several hundred cuttings were made. The Ahmadnagar
silk merchants said that this year's silk crop was second rate.^
Dr. Graham continued planting standards till he had some 1500 trees
of the Madras mulberry when he fell ill and was forced to go to
England. In his absence Dr. Straker conducted the silk experiments
for about three years, but without much success, the worms being
badly reared and yielding small cocoons and little silk. On
Dr, Graham's return the advance made by Government was paid
back and the establishment was made over to a Lieutenant
Shortrede, who took a Major Byne, a retired officer, into partnership.
Major Byne preferred the St, Helena mulberry to any of those
grown by Dr. Graham and devoted most of his attention to its
cultivation. In 1837, Signor Mutti was appointed superintendent of
silk culture in the Deccan. He was to establish nurseries among
other places at Ahmadnagar and Teola in Ndsik, to turn grass lands
or hirana into mulberry gardens^ and by the offer of premiums, to
encourage husbandmen and others to plant the mulberry tree^ to teach
them how the tree was reared, and at the outset to superintend all
mulberry plantations. In 1838 Dr. Graham's lease was extended for
nineteen years. The garden passed from Major Byne to a Captain
or Mr. Fen wick who in 1842 had about 15,000 trees, mostly two and
a half to five years old, and an establishment of good pruners worm-
rearers and silk* winders. In 1842, as the trees were much neglected

Chapter lY.
i^n^culture.

Crop Details.
Silk.

1 Bev. Bee. 626 of 1836, 238-246.

[Bombay Qasetteerr

Chapter IV'
Agriculture.
Crop Details.

FiiLD Plaoubs.
Bats.

280

DISTRICTS.

and required very mild treatment, only fifty-two pounds of silk
were made. With such results it was not likely that the growth
of the mulberry would be popular. Not even the promise of a five
years* remission of rent induced the people to plant the mulberry.i
By July 1845, from want of knowledge and mismanagement,
aided by some defect in the soil, the whole experiment was
Admitted to be a failure. Signor Mutti's undertaking was abandoned
in 1848. In 1880, Major Coussmaker, who'between 1875 and 1882
carried on tasar silk experiments at Poona, was working in
Ahmadnagar.* In March and April he found many cocoons hanging
from bor tree branches. By paying boys Jd. (h a.) a cocoon in
one village he got over a thousand cocoons. At first tlie cocoons were
found almost entirely on the bor Zizyphus jujuba tree, but in 1881
they were found on the amor doc^oaaTerminaliatomentosa, and on
the karvand Garissa carandsA. Akola^ where every year large
numbers of trees were pollarded to make wood-ash, was a favourite

?lace for silk-worm$. The constant lopping troubled the worms* great
oes the sauirrels, birds, lizards, and wasps, and the fresh shoots
of the pollarded trees yielded the best possible food for worms.
The Akola cocoons were more perfect than any Major Coussmaker
had collected. No attempt to rear worms was made at Ahmadnagar.
In 1883 on Major Coussmaker's advice the collecting of cocoons
ceased and the experiments in tasar silk came to an end.

In most years the first rainfall in June by swelling the black
soil fills the holes and fissures in which the different kinds of
field rats live and destroys large numbera In seasons when the
early south-west rains fail the number of rats is always excessively
large. Since the district passed under British management^ threo
years, 1826 1835 and 1879, are marked as Rat Years. In 1826, a
failure of the early south-west rain was followed by a plague of the
rats called Tnettddes Oollunda mettada They ate much of the seed
and when the grain began to ripen they climbed np the jvdri stalks
and nibbled off the ears. So completely were many fields wasted
that no rents could be recovered. The landholders paid
Yadars and thousands of rats were killed but without perceptibly
lessening their number. In September 1835 a quite incalculable
army of rats infested many of the subdivisions for a considerable
time. They seldom failed to completely destroy the crops of such
fields as they attacked.^ Between January and March 1879^
when the country was covered with jvdri and wheat crops, hosts
of rats and mice chiefly hararis Qerbillus indicus, Tnettddes Oollunda
mettada, and koks Nesokea indica appeared in Ptfrner^ Shrigonda^
and Earjat. They attacked the fields before the grain was ripe
enough to cut. They ruined some fields slowly^ every nignt
cutting cartloads oi jvdri and either eating the grain or dragging
the heads into their burrows. An army of rats suddenly enteretl
other fields during the night, and, in a few hours, had eaten the
grain like a flight of locusts. Qovemment offered 2a. (Re. I) and

^ Rev. Rec. 1564 of 1844, 57-59. > See Poona Gazetteer, Part IL €7-71.

> Bom. Rev, Rec. 691 of 1836» 195,

SeccanJ

AHMADNAGAR.

281

some time after la. {8 as,) for every hundred dead rats. Yadars
Bhils and Mh&rs killed large numbers, some by poison and most by
trapping. A serviceable trap was a thin board of wood eighteen to
twenty inches long with a hinge near its middle fastened to the
edge of a rdnjan or a barrel half full of water and baited near the
end with some tempting food. The rat went for the bait, the hinge
yielded, shot the rat into the water, and recovered its place ready
for the next comer. The process of digging the rats out though
tedious was found the most efficacious, but only a small part of the
land which was riddled with their burrows was explored. It is
doubtful whether their numbers were appreciably reduced by
artificial meauff. About 1,768,000 rats were killed and the rewards
amounted to about £1687 (Rs. 16,870). Dead rats were taken
before the m^mlatddrs who paid the sanctioned reward and had
the tails cut off and the rats buried. Rewards were begun on the
22nd of July and the plague ended in the first fortnight of
December 1879. Under tne Collector's directioBf experiments were
made in the Burmese method of catching rats and also with
siiffocating fumes^ but in neither case with success. The people
thinking them spirits were disappointed of the attempt to rid the
eountry of the rats. When the suffocating plan was first tried the
Collector got the loan of nets from some fishermen. On applying to
them a second time they declined as they had been put out of caste
for the help they had given. Many believed that the rats were the
spirits of those who died in the 18/6-77 famine. Others thought
tney were a plague sent by the gods to punish sin. Goats, fowls^
and cocoanuts were offered to the village gods, Br&hmans were fed,
and saptdhda or seven days* prayers were held in village temples.
It is believed that the rain destroyed the greater number of the rats
either directly by drowning them or indirectly by causing the
soil to swell and close their burrows. It is also said that the frosts
in November and December killed great numbers in Eopargaon.
The story about tha frost may be true as the commonest variety
was a delicate creature.

In October 1879, when the millet was in ear, a swarm of locusts
came from the north, swept over a belt of country about fifteen
miles wide, and passed south. As they flew, they looked bright-
red and had a red under- wing. The people called them toL Some
fields where they alighted were cleared of their grain in an hour
asid a half. Dr. Fairbank believed they were the true migratory
locusts of Mirw^ and Sind. Locusts did not again appear till June
1882.^ The 1882 locust was the same species of locust that haa

gassed through the district in 1879 and the people again called it tol.
everal M^rwiris recognised them as locusts. The rest of the
people did not know them and had never heard of their troubling
the country. Early in Jime from a Tuesday to a Saturday, every
morning between eight and eleven, great swarms flew past. They
irere not close together, perhaps one every two yards, but the flight
-w&B in depth about an eighth of a mile and in breadth about sixty
miles from Faithan in the east to IU.huri in the west. Some of

1 Bom. Gov. Bes, 38S1 and 8140 in the Revenue Department, dated 2l8t May
^nd ^ November 1883.

Chapter IV-
Agricnlture.

FUELD PlAGUBS.
BAtB.

Locusts,

» »3*rA «»<«

[Bombay Ga2ette6r.

282

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IT.
Agriculture.

FncLD Plaouis.
Locusts.

those who came first ros^ and joined the swai^ as it jyassed.
Their flight was from the south-east to tlie north-west. Many,
apparently weak one/s, stayed and laid eggs about the end of June*
The people said the eggs were like lumps of clean rice, and that
the eggs laid by each locust seemed stuck together in a small
heap. Though this was not known at the time the male locust
died soon after pairing and the female soon after laying her eggs.
Towards the end of July or the begmning of August minute green
things, hopping like crickets, swarmed in the fields doing no harm
and causing no alarm. In September there came heavy showers
separated by gleams of sunny weather and the insects sprang into
new life. They shed their green skins, became of an olive hue shaded
with green and brown, and grew rapidly. Their growth was
accompanied by a ravenous hunger ; they greedily devoured every
green thing and caused most serious damage. Under the orders of
Government the district officers, European and native, revenue and
police, used every eiFort to destroy the locusts. Their energy and
labour were of little avail. The number of the locusts was so
enormous, millions in every small field, that all endeavours to
destroy or even perceptibly to thin them were useless. The people
were hopeless of success and gave no willing aid. A considerable
sum was spent on rewards. But as the few thousands which were
being killed had no practical effect in reducing the swarms rewards
were stopped. The damage to the early crops continued unchecked
till the beginning of October. A few of the locusts got their wings
at the beginning of October, and, by the middle of the month, most
of them were fully fledged. For five nights during the October full
moon swarms of locusts were seen at Ahmadnagar passing in front
of the moon, travelling south-west. By the beginning of Jf ovember
not a trace of locusts was left. These locusts though full grown
differed from the ruddy under-winged hot weather locusts in
having no red markings. Dr. Fairbank at the time correctly
supposed that the ruddy tint would come with age. The flight of
the locusts was the saving of great part of Ahmadnagar as they
left before it was too late to sow the late crops. In more than 500
villages the early crops had suffered. In fifty-nine villages in
Kopargaon the early crops were entirely destroyed and in idl the
other Kopargaon villages they suffered severely. Serious damage
was also done in 128 villages of Sangamner, fifty-seven of Nev^lsa,
153 of Akola, ninety-two of Rdhuri, and seventeen of Nagar. The
loss caused in Nagar was estimated at about a quarter crop (4 a^.)^
in other subdivisions it ranged from three-eighths to a half (6-8 as.y
Akola suffered mosi as there were no late crops to make good the
loss of the early crops. As parts of the district had suffered from
several previous bad harvests Qovernment remitted or postponed
the collection of about £16,000 (Rs. 1,60,000) of land revenue,
chiefly in the parts of the district where no late crops could be
grown. Though little distress was anticipated, grants of £700
(Rs. 7000) and £500 (Rs. 6000) were sanctioned for expenditure on
two roads. In November, after leaving the cultivated parts of
Ahmadnagar, the locusts rested for a time on the Sahyddris and then
passed south into the Konkan where they caused great damaoc. iu
places stripping bare miles of cocoa-palms. As there seemed iittlo

X^eooanO

ABLMADNAGAR.

283

»eaaQn to doubfc that with the beginning of the southerly winds in

May the flights would be again borne north and breed in the Decean

during the rains^ efforts were made to spread a knowledge of the

habits of the locusts and of the means which in other countries had

been found successful in destroying them. The experience of the

past year showed that the only hope of destroying the next swarm

of locusts lay in attacking them in time. The locusts it seemed

might be successfully attacked at two stages of their growth. First

by collecting and destroying the eggs and secondly oy destroying

the young locusts before they reached the hungry stage.

Towards the end of the hot weather, with the setting in of

southerly winds, great swarms of locust passed north through the

North Konkan to Ahmadnagar. In June they paired, laid eggs, and

<lied. Great efforts were made to destroy the eggs. The district was

divided into circles and each circle was placed under an officer and

all villagers weie called on to help. The efforts to destroy the eggs

were not successful In laying the eggs the female locust buried

them an inch or two below the surface. No trace was left and no

lafge quantity of eggs was destroyed, though a reward was

offered of i^d, a pound (3 as. the aher). Efforts were redoubled

in July when the young locusts began to appear. All available

officers of every brancn of Government service were employed

as circle inspectors and in supervision, and the bulk of the people,

stimulated by their losses in the year before and pleased with

the success of the new devices, showed much wilungness and

activity in the work of destruction. The Sind trench system and

the Cyprus screen and pit system were tried. But as the locusts

were chiefly in the crops and in the grass lands at the edges of fields

it was impossible to drive them and both of these methods failed or

were only partly successful. More successful measures were laying

long cloths on the ground and driving the locusts on to them and

then dosing and crushing the cloths; Khdndesh traps of poles

with a frame covered with sticky paper moved across the- field ; and

Tli^na bag-nets drawn through the crops. The most successful

method was skimming places which were full of locusts with a

waistcloth or dhotar held slightly aslant. The young locusts jumped

on to the dhotars and remained till the dhotars were full when they

v^ere crushed to death. By these different devices enormous numbers

of locusts were killed. The efforts made to destroy the locusts were

aided by heavy rain under which numbers of the young locusts

perished. The insects were also less healthy and vigorous than in

the year before and seemed to suffer from worms and other

parasites. By the end of November 188^ the locusts had

disappeared. The damage done to the early crops was smalL

Almost the whole work of destruction was completed without the

gTHut of rewards. In August l{d. (la.) was offered for'* every

pound of full-grown locusts, but, probably because by that time

most of the old locusts had perished, only £3 48, (Ks. 32) were spent

in Tewards. At the end of the season £50 (Rs. 500) were spent in

luiyiQg turbans to present to the heads of the villages who had

cxorted themselves most in destroying the swarms. Some

JifTcreiiae of opinion existed as to the variety of locust to which the

Qiapter lY;
Agriculture,

Field Flaoubs*
LocuistB.

[Bombay Gasetteer.

284

DISTRICTS,

Cli&pterIT*
Agricaltu^ro*

Field Plagues.
Locusts.

Famines.
1396-1408.

1460.

swarms belonged. When ^all and green the insect looked like a
cricket As it grew it shed its skin, its colour turned to olive
brown with dark shadings, and two wings were developed one over
the other. The under-wing was at first reddish and the upper wing
gray, but the red fringe soon disappeared. The body of the full-
grown insect was about two and a half inches long and the folded
wings stretched nearly an inch farther. When mature the wings
a^ain grew ruddy. The flights that passed north through Th&na in
May reddened whole hill-sides when they alighted.* A Bombay
naturalist identified some specimens with Pachyfilus indicus, a
locust peculiar to India, but Dr. Kirby of the British Museum
thought the specimens shown to him belonged to a variety of the
Acrydium perigrinum.*

Besides from rats and locusts the crops occasionally suffer from
grasshoppers or khapuraa, ants or mavas, and worms or hignes. Of
blights the chief are frost or hiv. Not unfrequently, perhaps once
in ten years, in January and February the cold weather gram
wheat and millet are frost-bitten. The heads turn black and
rot. The severest frost of which record has been traced was one
in January 1835 which is described as more intense than any
remembered by the oldest inhabitant. On many lands the crops
were wholly destroyed.* Next cold weather, on the 26th of December,
a severe frost did incredible damage. In the south at the close of
1836 and the beginning of 1837 the crops were again ruined by
frost.* Grain crops, especially wheat in ear, suffer from rust or
tdmbera, Bdbar is a blight which prevents grain flowering. A
vapour^ called dav or dew^ sometimes settles on fields of grain and
destroys them m one or two nights.

During the last five hundred years there is either traditional
or historic mention of twelve famines. The first is the awful
calamity known as the Destroyer or Durga Devi which wasted
Southern India at the close of the fourteenth century. The twelve
years ending 1408 are said to have passed without rain, and grain
is said to have sold at two pounds (one sher) the rupee. Whole
districts were emptied of their people and for thirty years after the
famine the country between the God^vari and the Krishna yielded
little revenue. The hill forts and strong places, previously
conquered by the Muhammadans, fell into the hands of local
chiefs and robbers and the country was so unsafe that the people
who returned were driven from their villagea Dddu Narsu and a
Turkish' eunuch of the Bedar court were appointed to arrange the
country and bring back the people. As the former village boundaries
were forgotten Dddu Narsu greatly extended the new limits and
threw two or three villages into one. Lands were given to all who
would till them. For the first year no rent was asked and for the
secon(f the rent wa» limited to a horse-bag of grain.^

In 1460 a failure of grain is said to have been followed by famine
over the whole of Southern India. This is known as D&m&jipaut a
Famine. Damdji was the keeper of a large government grain store

^ Mr. Ramsay, C. S. Collector of N^ik. ' Mr. J. Davidaon^ C. S.

' Rev. Rqc 691 of 1836, 195 and 692 of 1836, 37.

* Rev. Rec. 769 of 1837» 143, * Grant Duff's MarAth&8, 87.

DeooU']

AHMADNAGAR.

285

at Mangalvedha, twelve miles south of PAndharpur in ShoUpnr. He
used much of the grain in feeding Br&hmans, but was saved from
punishment by the god Vithoba whom he worshipped. To save his
worshipper Vithoba, in the form of a MhAr, went to the court at
Bedar and paid the value of the missing grain.^

In 1520, the Deccan was so unsettled that no crops were grown
and there was a famine.

In 1629-30 a failure of rain was followed by famine and
pestUenoe.*

The five years ending 1794 was a time of much suffering. The
great famine of 1790, though it is doubtful how far this was caused
by a local failure of crops, raised the rupee price of millet to six
pounds (3 shera). The disorders of the four following years kept
the rupee price of millet as high as twelve pounds (6 ahers) and
. caused great misery in Akola, Jdmkhed, Pdmer, and Sangamner.
In 1794 large numbers died from want and from cholera

Eight years later the district passed through a time of greater
misery than, as far as information is available, it had suffered since
1408. The rainfall (June-October) of 1802 was plentiful, and, though
the crops failed^ in parts prospects were on the whole good ; and water
and grass were abundant. Yashvantr&v Holkar was at war with
Sindia and the Peshwa and during the last months of 1802 the
country was covered with swarms of troops. Two of his officers
Fatesing M&ne and Muhammad Eh^n Path&n destroyed all the
villages on both sides of the GodAvari. Bands of Pendhiris were
spread all over the country plundering and wasting. The ripening
crops were cut as fodder and what was not used as fodder was
destroyed. The late or cold weather crops either could not be sown or
were destroyed. The grain stores were plundered and the husband-
men were stripped even of their seed grain. This ruin was not confined
to Ahmadnagar ; it spread from the Narbada to the Krishna. No
grain was l5tin the country. Even at two pounds (1 sher) the
rupee, no grain was to be had. Wild vegetables were eaten boiled
with a pinch of rotten wheat flour. Young tamarind leaves were
mixed with white earth and made into a jelly. Hindus ate the
cow, Musalmdns the pig, and in some cases parents ate their
children. The streets of the large towns were strewn with
dead. In Ahmadnagar alone the deaths were estimated at 5000 to
6000 ; in many of the villages every soul perished. AD who could
leave fled to Gujarttt.' After three months of extreme misery, when
the treaty of Bassein (31st December 1802) introduced order
into the Deccan, Vanjdris began to bring grain from Gujarat.
Od the top of this distress came an entire failure of the late
(September-October) rains of 1803. On the 14th of October
General Wellesley wrote that there was every reason to fear ^ great
scarcity of grain in the next season if not a famine. The troops at
Ahmadnagar could be supplied only from Bombay* and so great was
the scarcity in Bombay that the Governor Mr. Duncan for a time
stopped all exports of grain. In the Deccan the crops everywhere*^

^ Iieut.*ColoDel Etheridge^s Report (1S6S) on Famines in the Bombay Presidency.
' <jr»iit DaflTs Mar&th^, 45. ' T.^Anf. .Pnlnnpl F^tharidcre's RenoriL

' Weilington's Despatches, L 441.

Chapter IV.
Agriculture*

Famines.

1620.

1629-30.

1790-1794.

1802.

180S:

Lieut. -Colonel Etheridge's Report.
» Wellington's Despatches, I. 442,

Famines.
180S.

[Bombay OaseUeer.
286 DISTRICTS.*

Cluster IV. failed. General Wellesley had a fair store of food for the fighting
Agricultara* ^^^ ^ Ahmadnagar.^ On the 29th of March 1804^ Generiu

Wellesley in directing Major Graham the Collector, regarding the
mode of providing relief for the destitute and famine-stricken,
stated his opinion that the free issue of grain would do more harm
than eood : it would draw numbers to Ahmadnagar and increase
the distress. The best course was to undertake some useful work
such as the completion of the glacis or covering slope of the fort, to
perfect it, to knock down the bad work in front of the gateway,
and in its stead to make a good modem fleche. All workmen should
be paid in grain.* On the 11th of April 1804 General Wellesley
wrote: The sufferers from famine belong to two classes, those who can
and those who cannot work. The class who cannot work includes
old persons, children, and sick women ; those whose former situation
in life has unfitted them for labour ; and those whom want of food
h&s made too weak to work. All who can work, both men and
women, ought to be employed. Those who cannot work ought to
be taken into an hospital and fed, and receive medical aid and
medicine at the expense of the public. A building should be
provided in the town of Ahmadnagar to receive those who cannot
work.^ About 5000 people were led daily at Ahmadnagar, and in
spite of this provision about fifty persons died every day.* Many
came from the neighbouring country and the numbers both on the
works and in the relief -houses considerably increased.* On the 9 th
of May General Wellesley suggested that the destitute should be
employed in clearing the conduits leading to the fort and to the
town.® In the beginning of June the famine was still raging.
Some rain had fallen, but General Wellesley was satisfied that the
distress must increase till the next harvest.^ General Wellesley
was long remembered as the saviour of the poor in Ahmadnagar.

18S4. In 1824 the early rains failed and there was much distress for

about four months, probably from May to August. The rupee
price of millet rose to sixteen pounds (8 shers). In Septeml>cr
Captain Pottinger sanctioned an expenditure of £20 (Rs. 200) on
ceremonies for rain, to soothe the people all of whom were in
the greatest alarm. Numbers took their cattle and went to the
Nizdm's country where the rains were favourable. Many cattle
• perished. Good rain fell about the end of August, but many had

taken land in the Nizdm's country and could not come back. The
fields remained waste and large remissions had to be granted.'

18S2'S3. In 1832-33 a partial and in some places an almost complete fulurc

of rain caused much distress. The want of grass and fodder
drove away the shepherds and stopped the carrying tra de.

1845-46. In 1845-46 a failure of rain raised the rupee price of millet to

twenty pounds (10 shers). Distress lasted for six months.

> Wellington's Despatches, I. 447. ■ WeUington's Despatches, IIL 52^

* W^ellington's Despatches, III. 600. < Wellington's Despatches, III. 257.
3 Wellington's Despatches, 11. 224. 7 WeUington's Despatches, UL 6^*

* WeUington's Despatches, U. 22, 224, 2S4. " Rov. Hec. 156 of 1827, 2.

9 Bev. Rec. 625 of 183d, 228, 229.

Deeoan.)

AflMADNAOAR.

28?

In 1862 the failure of the early rains was followed by great scarcity.
Numerous public works were sanctioned to employ the destitute.
Among them were the making of a road from Ahmadnagar to
Karm^la, the improving of the road from Ahmadnagar to Sirur, the
improving of the Ghandndpur pass road^ the making of a road from
Ahmadns^ar to the Baldghat^ the improving of the Kolhdr-NdLndur
road, of the road from Paithan to the foot of the Imd,mpur pass, and
the road from Jeur to Karmdla in the Shol4pur district. To
relieve the distress among the lower grades of Government
servants grain compensation according to a fixed scale was
granted to all Government servants whose pay was less than £20
(Rs. 200) a month.

In 1868 relief works connected with the Pravara water scheme
were begun.

In 1876, an ill-timed rainfall of only 10*65 inches caused a failure
of crops and distress amounting to famine over about two-thirds of
the district.^ The east and south-east suffered most. On the
12th of September, when no hope of a change for the better
remained, in Akola the early crops seemed good ; in Shevgaon they
were fair ; in Jimkhed, Kopargaon, Nagar, Nev^sa, P^mer, and
Sangamner, they were bad ; and in Karjat^ Bdhuri, and Shrigonda,
they were very bad. In addition to the failure of the early harvest
September and October passed with only a few showers. Except in
watei*ed lands no cold- weather crops were sown. With high grain

5 rices, millet at twenty-one instead of sixty-six pounds,^ and no
emand for field-work, either in harvesting the early crops or in
preparing the land for the late crops, large numbers of the less careful
of the labouriDg classes fell into distress. The need for Government
help began about the middle of September ; it grew keener and
wider-spread in December and January when private grain-dealers
held back their stores ; the pressure was lighter in February as large
supplies of grain poured in and irrigation was more general than was
expected ; the hot months brought a return of distress with a
further rise in prices, and afterwards the failure of the early rains
caused much anxiety and suffering, which were gradually removed by
a timely and plentiful rainfall in September and October. At the close
of November, the demand for special Government help had ceased.

The following details show month by month the progress of the
di.stress and the means which were taken to meet it. In September
1S76, as rain held off and the people were unable to prepare their
fields for the cold-weather crops, the loss caused by the very scanty
early rains began to deepen into distress. On the 19th a fall of four
inches of rain in Shevgaon in the east greatly benefited the scanty early
harvest ; elsewhere the fall was lighter. Elxcept in the west where
it promised well the early harvest failed and the late crops'could
not be sown. Cattle were dying from want of fodder and the price
of grain was rapidly rising. To meet pressing wants £100 (Rs. lOOO)

Chapter 17.
•Agricnltare.

Famines.
1862.

1876-77.

1876.
September,

^ The ectiin&te was in area 6650 square miles of a total of 6666« and in population

677,376 out of 773,938.

* Suty-«!x pounds for miUet or b^jriy and seventy-six pounds for Indian millet or
jrdri were the ordinary prices in the previous season.

[Bombay Oaietteer,

288

DISTRICTS.

Chapter T7.
Agricnltore.

Famines.

1876,

October^

November,

December,

were placed at the disposal of the mdmlatddrs of Karjat^ Sangamncr,
and Shrigonda. October passed with very little rain. The
early harvest fell short even of its small promise, and such of the
late crops as had been sown, withered.^ The failure of the harvest
was beginning to force people to leave their homes. Some went to
find work ; others drove their cattle to the western hills in search
of fodder. Others wandered to the Goddvari, Berar, J^na, and other
parts of the Niz&m's country. Many settled in their new homes and
many died there. Already the Goddvari was shrunk to its usual hot
weather volume and in some places the water supply was failing.
Grain prices were rising rapidly and cattle were dying from want
of fodder. The poorest field- workers were showing such signs of
distress that local funds works had to be opened over most of the
district. In November little rain fell and there was no improvement
in the crops. People continued to leave the district going in search
of work to Igatpuri in Nasik, to the Niz&m's country, and to
Bombay. The rupee price of Indian millet rose from twenty-seven
to twenty-three pounds. Not only were prices high, but the local
traders held back their stocks. So great difficulty did the relief-
labourers find in getting food that the Collector made use of a sum
of £2500 (Bs. 25,000)^ advanced without interest by two wealthy
ladies, to import grain from Ndgpur and sell it at cost price in part
payment of relief wages.^ Soon after this, large quantities of grain
Degan to find their way into the district and the need for any special
provision for the supply of grain ceased. As distress spread, the regular
district staff was strei^hened by dividing the assistant collectors'
revenue charges, and placing a special relief officer and a special
relief m&mlatd^ over each sub-division. Relief works carried on by
civil agency, chiefly road-making and prickly-pear clearings, were
started, the average daily number of workers rising from 20,439 in the
beginning of the month to 35,770 at the close. Of 29,555, the average
daily number for the month, 16,236 were able-bodied^ expected to do
a full day's work and superintended by ordinary public works
officers, and 13,319 were aged or feeble, expected to do two-^thirds of
a day's work and superintended by the assistant collector or other
famine officer. For charitable relief a sum of £2500 (Bs. 25,000) was
placed at the Collector's disposal December passed without rain and
with no change in harvest prospects. People and cattle continued
to move to the western hills. The Bhils and Mh^s were beginning
to clamour for work, and, under the pressure of want, one gang gave
trouble in Pimer. The failure of village wells began to cause
anxiety^ but Government repaired dams and dug and cleared wells,
and added greatly to the available water supply. During the
month large stores of grain, brought chiefly by rail from N^lgpur to

^ In Akola in the west and in Nevisa in the north, the early harvest was esUmafced
at a one-half (8 <u. ), and at Jdmkhed in the south-east at a jtbs (6 as, ) crop ; ebewb^Tv
it was withering or had perished. In the few places where they had been sown Uui
late crops were withering. Collector to Bevenue Commissioner, 10th October 1$7A.

> fiambh&b&i, widow of Bhagv&ndib Pitale 8het, Ba. 15,000 ; BakhmAbl&i. wife cvf
Lachmand^ji Manoti of Ahmadnagar, Rs. 10,000. Government Beeolntion 6054 of
24th October 1876.

Ofooutl

AHMADNAGAB.

289

Manmad and Dhond, and from Manindd by cart to Eopargaon
and Ahmad]iagar» and from Dhond to Shrigonda, lowered* the rupee

Erice of jvdri from twenty-six to thirty pounds, and forced local
ciders to offer their supplies for sala Fodder was extremely dear
and cart-rates rose from la. 6d, to 2a. 6d. (Bs. f -li) a day. The
niuabers of the destitute considerably increased, rising on public
works from 16,286 to 24^227, against a small fall on civil works
from 13,319 to 12,058. The distress was still almost confined to
the labouring classes.

About the middle of January 1877, 170 inches of rain followed
by a very severe storm of hail, thunder, and wind, did much damage
in Shevgaon in the east, where prospects had hitherto been fair.
Towards the close of the month the centre of the district, J&mkhed
Kopargaon Nagar and lUhuri, was visited by another hailstorm
severe enough to injure garden crops, strip trees of their leaves and in
places lay the CTound two inches deep in hailstones. During this
month the people kept moving about in considerable numbers, and
BomCy though fewer than in the months before, continued to leave
(he diistrict. Others were coming back, having failed to find work
for themselves or fodder for their cattle, and in the north-east a
number of destitute wanderers passed through Nevdsa on their way
from the eastern Deccan to the Nizam's country. The fall of rain
towards the close of the month greatly lessened the risk of a failure
of water. Grain continued to be so freely imported that during the
montii the rupee price of jvdH only rose from thirty to twenty-
nine pounda In the beginning of the month cart-rates became
dearer, even sugarcane was used as fodder, and cattle, failing to find
pasture^ were coming back from the hills. The hail and rain storms
later in the month, though they damaged some stores of fodder,
were in places followed by a slight growth of grass. The numbers
seeking relief fell on public works from 19,371 in the beginning to
18,383 in the middle of the month, and on civil agency works from
8537 to 7972. On the 19th of January, as the civil works seemed
too popular, the pay of non-able-bodied workers was reduced. The
new rates were, for a man the price of one pound of grain and Id.
(4 a.) instead of l^d. (1 a.) ; for a woman the price of one pound of
grain and |rf. {{ a.) instead of f d (J a.) ; and for a boy or girl, instead
of one pound of grain, either the price of three-quarters of a
pound or the price of half a pound and |d. (i a.). The result of this
change was a fall in the number of civil agency workers from 8537
in the beginning of the month to 6064 at its close. At the same
time by enforcing distance and task teste the numbers on public
works fell from 19,371 to 15,758. Some of the people who left
relief works moved into the Nizdm's territory, and to 944 gratuitous
relief was granted. A special class who called for charitable sup-
port were wanderers from the very distressed tracte in eastern roona
and S^tAra. On the 27th of February a sharp shower fell in Nevasa
in the north-east and watered wheat and millet looked well. The
condition of the people was fair. In Ptofer in the west there
was little distress, as the stock of food was supplemented by the
f mlt of the wild fig. In Shevgaon in the east there was no distress,
a 772—37

Oiapter IT.
Agriculture^

Famines.

1876.
December*

1877.
January*

Fkhrwrjf^

[Bombay Oftaettetr*

290

DISTRICTS.

Chapter 17.
AgricQltiira

Faminss.
1877.

Mardu

April

May.

and in the north-east the state of the people was fur. Tlie lowering of
weakly workers' wages had caused large numbers in different parts of
the district to leave the works and go to their homea^ In some pari)
before the close of the month the people were beginning to come back.
In Nagar small-pox was prevalent, and in Slmgonda there were a
few cases of cholera, but public health was on the whole good The
rupee price of jvari remained almost constant, rising from twonty-
six pounds in the beginnlBg to 25^ pounds at the close of the
month. Cattle were fed partly on imported fodder, partly on the
produce of garden land. There w&s much demand for carts, and the
rates were rising. The grain trade was very active, lines of carts kept
coming and going, and grain though dear was nA soiree. The numbers
on relief works continued to falT, on public works from 15,332 in the
beginning to 9837 at the end of the month ; on civil works from
9907 to 997 ; and on charitable relief from 944 to 889. In March
some heavy showers swept away the river-bed crop of melons and
damaged the wheat. Large numbers of the people continued un-
settled, some leaving the district, others pressing for work on the
lately started Dhond-Manm^ railway. In the south many villages
were almost deserted, but the people who remained showed no signs
of suffering. The supply of grain was abundant, the rupee price of
jvwri remaining unchanged at 25^ pounda The number of workers
rose considerabfy : on public works from 10,861 to 21,493, on
civil works from 912 to 984, and on charitable relief from 889 to
1118. Towards the close of April, some heavy showers proved a useful
help to the water supply. In most parts of the district the people
were in fair condition, and the famine was not severe. In Shevgaon
distress was only beginning. In the west tlie hill Thikurs and
Eolis though bauly off, were accustomed to live on roots and wild
fruit. There was little movement among the people. During the
month the rupee price oijvwri remained unchanged at 25| pounds.
The cattle were in great measure living on tree leaves, and in
Shrigonda many died* Grain kept pouring in. The numbers on
pubhc works rose from 21,493 to 24,580, on civil works from 984 to
1770, and on charitable relief from 1118tol7il. By this time thefaminc
organization was complete. Most of the able-bodied in need of relief
were sent to the railway and other works were closed. The infirm
and sick were gathered it. large relief camps or fed at their homes.
Circle inspectors were told on to groups of villages. On each hi^h
road were inspectors moving about on the look-out for fainting way-
farers, and at places relief shops were opened where travellers could
find bread and water. ^In May a good deal of rain fell in different
parts of the district. The distress among the hill tribes had greatly
increased. In the north, people were moving to Nisik in search of
work ; others were coming back bringing with them small stores of
grain!^ The rupee price of jvdri rose from 25^ to twenty-three
pounds. In the east there was much want of fodder, anil
numbers of cattle were dying. Lar^e grain imports contimitHh
During the month th# numbers on public works rose from 24,528 to

1 In Visn&t the works were for a time almost abandoned.

' Lvnh Azadirachta indica, vad Ficus indica, and pimpri Ficns tsieU were the
chief leaves.

Deeoaft.)

AHMADNAGAR.

291

2«5,851, on civil works from 1826 to 2949, and on charitable relief from
171 1 to 3512. In June an average of 4*7 inches of rain fell^ and the
sowing of the early crops was general Over the whole district people
were coming back and setting to field work. In some parts the ref asal
of the moneylenders to make advances caused much distress. The
rupee price of jvg^ri rose from 23 J to 22 J pounds. Fodder was
very scarce and- many cattle were dying, though there seemed
to be no want of plough bullocks. The rain had made the roads
inipassablo in places aild the grain trade was at a stand. The numbers
on public works fell from 27,921 to 26,356, on civil works from 2874
to 2273, and on charitable relief from 3512 to 5539. July passed with
OB average fall of imly. 3' 1 7 inches. In most places field work was
stopped, and the crops were withering. Towards the close of the
mouth, in Jdmkhed in the south-east some showers improved the
crops, but on the whole prospects were gloomy. The people were
disnearteued, most had returned^ but some had again left in despair
of a good season. In P^rner in the west many of the people were
Uviug on wild vegetables. Considerable quantities of grain were
sent to ShoMpur and the rupee jqrice oijvdri rose from 22^ to fifteen
pounds. In many places fodder was very scarce. The numbers on
public works fell from 29,366 to 22,690, on civil works from 738 to
104, and on charitable relief from 5539 to 3218. August was a
month of much anxiety. The rainfall was very slight^ an average
of fif tv-six cents, and the crops over almost the whole district con-
tinaed to suffer. General rain at the close of the month did much good.
At this time the famine pressed hard on the people, and they were
onsettled, leaving the district in search of work. The rupee price
oijvdri, with a few changes in the middle of the month, remained
at fifteen pounds.^ The supply of grain continued sufficient, but
fodder was scarce and cattle were dying. The numbers on public
works rose from 28,387 to 33,685, and on civil works from 104 to
187. On charitable relief they fell from 3218 to 2967. During
September, an average of 4*15 inches of rain fell, and, though in Akola
b the west and Kopargaon in the north, the early crops partly failed,
by the end of the month over almost all the district the prospects
of the early harvest were good and the sowing of the late crops had
bemm. The first part of the month was a time of difficulty, but
before its close emigrants had begun to come back, and the state of
the people was somewhat improved. The rupee price of jvdri
which during the month had risen to 13| pounds fell to fifteen
pounds before the end of the month. Early in the fnonth fodder
was scarce, but before its close grazing was plentiful. The numbers
on public works rose from 25,932 to 27,956, on civil works from
1166 to 2369, and on charitable relief from 2967 to 3429. Early in
October rain fell in places so heavily as to harm the ripening crops,
bat on the whole the fall was seasonable, giving for the m^th an
average of 4*07 inches. In the north the early millet failed, but in
parts it yielded a fair harvest. The people were returning from
other districts, leaving the relief works and finding employment in
the fields. There was still much distress. But as the new crop

Chapter IV.
Agriculture.

FAMINS&

1S77.
June.

July,

AuQuat,

Sfptember,

October.

^ The Abtmutnagar Municipality opened a grain-stiop for tho retail sale of grain
la tlw poor. Gov. Iio0. 323.P. of 13th August 1S77.

[Bombay

292

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IT.

Agriculture.

Fahink.
1877^

November.

began to find its way into the market the rupee price oijvdri fell from
ei^teen to twenty-four pounds. Fodder was sufficient, and the
condition of the cattle was improving. In the first days of the
month on public works the numbers feu from 27,966 to 1202, but
many continued to be employed though not as famine labourers ; on
civil works the number fell from 483 to 420 ; and on charitable
relief it rose from 8429 to 4546. In November the weather continued
favourable. On an average 2'27 inches of rain 'fell. Except
in a few places the early harvest was reaped, tod the cultivati<m of
the cold-weather orops was pushed on. The state of the people
steadily improved. In spite of a slight rise in the rupee price of
jvdH from twenty-seven to twenty-six pounds, the numbers on public
works fell from 1545 to 893, on civil works from 392 to 209, and
on charitable relief from 4546 to 727. At the end of the month
relief works were closed. In December, though Gtovernment con-
tinued to oifer charitable relief, the numbers wanting help fell from
727 in the beginning to seven on the 22nd of the month.

The following statement of a^rage monthly millet prices and
nunflbers receiving relief, shows tHat during the first half of 1877
Indian millet kept pretty steady at about twenty-four pounds the
rupee, or more than thrice the ordinary rates ; that its price rose rapidly
in June July and August, till it reached thirteen and a half pounds in
September ; and that it then fell quickly to twenty-seven pounds.
As early as December 1876 the numbers on relief works reached
36,285. By lowering wages and enforcing task and distance tests,
in February the total was reduced to 13,661. From this it steadily
advanced, till in June it reached 31,762, when it again feU. The
decrease went on slowly during July August and September, and
more rapidly in Octooer and November, when the works were
dosed. The numbers on charitable relief rose steadily from 944
in January 1 877 to 5539 in June. They fell to 2967 in August, and,
after rising to 4546 in October, when almost all the relief works
were closed, fell in November to 727 and in December to seven :

Ahmadnagar Famine^ 1876-77.

MOMTH.

Ateraob Dailt Nuubkbb.

Baih.

On Belief Works.

OnChra-

toitotts
Relief.

POCKM m
KtPBB.

CiviL

Public.

Total.

1876.
November ...
Deeember ...

1877.
January
Februanr ...
March
April
May
Jnne
July
August
September ...
October
November ...
Deoember ...

18.819
U,068

8S76
2786

651
1874
3492
8800

851

1077

494

276

••••

16,236
24,227

18,279
10,926
17,101
24,414
26,849
28.962
28,296
28,891
26,812
1625
886

39.556
86,'»6

26,555
13,661
17,762
25,788
20.841
81,762
28,647
28.442
27,889
2119
1161

• ••

...

944

889
1118
1711
3512
6589
8218
2967
8«29
4546

727
7

86J

24|

19}

18*

20{

25|

86}

28
26i

29^

QSk

181

27
27

Heavy Baio.

Uttle Rain.

115
Good Bain.

817

416

4*07

2-27

0-44

Total ...

Average ...

Total Cost

46,854

-258,004

298,958

28,607

• ••

19-86

8585

19,463

23,997

2384

• ••

...B&

810,978

48,895^

8,59^868

DeooanO

AHMADNAGAR.

293

A spedal census taken on the 19th of May 1877^ when famine
pressure was general and severe^ showed that of 34,211 workers
31,512 on pubEe and 2699 on civil works, 16,046 belonged to the
sub-divisions where the works [were carried on, 16,204 belonged
to different sub-divisions of the district, 1823 were from other
districts, and 138 from neighbouring states. As regards their
occupation, 570 were craftsmen, 10,360 were holders or underholders
of kmd, and 23,281 were labourers. The total cost of the famine was
estimated at £85,936 <R3. 8,59,360), of which £81,097 (Rs. 8,10,970)
were spent on public, and civil works, and £4839 (Rs. 48,390) on
charitable relief. Compared with the former year the criminal
returns showed a total increase of 1242 offences.^ In the Commis-
^oner's opinion almost the whole of thia increase was due to the
pressure of want on the lower classes. The special mortality was
estimated at 30,000, but compared with 1872 the 1881 census shows
a fall of 27,109. The addition of the normal yearly increase of one
per cent during the remaining seven years gives 81,590 as the loss
of population caused by death und migration in 1876 and 1877.
The loss of cattle was very great. In Uie east a large area passed
out of tUlage for want of plough cattle, but the loss was soon recovered
as, in 1878, the tillage area was short of that in 1876 only by 6071
acres. Between 1876 and 1880 about £15,000 (Rs. 1,50,U00) of
rental were remitted. The chief famine works were the earth- work
of part of the Dhond-Manmdd railway, the making of roads, and
the digging of ten miles of the Ojhar canaL

Chapter 17.
Agricnltare>

Famines.

1877.

Famine Census.

Cost.

Famine Effects.

1 The details are, an increase under mnrders of 6; nnder attempt to nrntder,
one; under culpable homicide, 3 ; under dacoity, 24; under robbery, 12; nnder
Berioua mischief and cognate offences, 9; under lurking house trespass or house
breaking, 55; under mischief, 30; under cattle theft, 220; under ordinary theft,
807 ; under criminal breach of trust, 6 ; under receiving stolen property, 63 ; and
under bxeaking closed receptacles, 6« Police Reports, 1877«

* [Bombay Gasetteer,

Chapter T.
Capital.

Capitalists.

CHAPTER V.

CAPITAL.

In 1872^ according to the census^ besides well-to-do hasbandmen
and professional men^ 10^075 persons held positions implying the
possession of capital. Of these 886 were bankers^ moneychangers^
and shopkeepers ; 7578 were merchants and traders; and 1611 drew
their incomes from rents of houses and shops^ from fonded
property^ shares^ annuities, and the like. Under the head of
Capitalists and Traders, the 1880-81 license tax assessment papers
showed 1820 persons assessed on yearly incomes of more than £50
(Es. 500). Of these 705 had £50 to £75 (Rs. 500 - 750) ; 315 £75
to £100 (Rs. 750 - 1000) ; 264 £100 to £125 (Rs. 1000 - 1250) ; 107
£125 to £150 (Rs. 1250- 1500) ; 163 £150 to £200 (Rs. 1500-2000) ;
144 £200 to £300 (Rs. 2000 - 3000) ; fifty-nine £300 to £400
(Rs. 3000 - 4000) ; twenty - three £400 to £500 (Rs. 4000 - 5000) ;
twenty-four £500 to £750 (Rs. 5000 - 7500) ; nine £750 to £1000
(Rs. 7500 - 10,000) ; and seven over £1000 (Rs. 10,000). Besides
these the 1879 papers showed 16,652 persons assessed on yearly
incomes of £10 to £50 (Rs. 100-500). Of these 9436 had £10 to
£15 (Rs. 100-160); 3930 £15 to £25 (Rs. 150-250) ; 2263 £25 to
£35 (Rs. 250-350) ; and 1023 £35 to £50 (Rs. 350-500).^

The men of capital are chiefly Gujardrt, Mdrwdr, Lingdyat^ and
Lad y^nis, and local Brd.hmans. A few Ch^mbhdxs, Kunbis,
M^is, Mar&thds, Mhdrs, Musalmans, Pardeshis, Sondrs,and Telis with
small capital are scattered over the district, and in the city and
cantonment of Ahmadnagar are a few P^si capitalists.

Gujarat V&nis are said to have come to the Deccan about 250
years ago when Surat was the chief centre of trade in Western
India (1608-1658). They appeared as travelling dealers in foreign
spices and groceries, visiting the Deccan in the fair season. After
a time they settled as grocers in different parts of the district, and
taking to moneylending soon grew rich. They are still considered
foreigners, and except in dress keep all Gujardt customs and
mannq]:^, and visit their native country every three or four years to
perform marriage and other ceremonies. They have increased
under the British^ though of late years their number has been
stationary. Except a few rich traders and bankers in the city of
Ahmadnagar, most Gujar&t Vdnis are petty shopkeeperSj traders.

I Tho 1879 figures are given because inoomos under £50 (Bs. 600) have since beca
freed from the Ucense tax.

DecQUr]

AHMADNAGAR.

295

and moneylenders. The M&rw&r Ydnis came later than the
Gnjar&tiSi but were settled in the district in large numbers before
the beginning of British rale. They were looked on with disfavour
by Mardth^ as aliens who took hoards of money to their native
country^ and as Jain heretics their temples were often turned to the
use of Brdhmanic or local gods. Many have settled in the district
within the last forty years. Their head-quarters are in the town of
Ydmburi in the Bdhuri sub-division, about fifteen miles north of
Ahmadnagar. It iB the seat of a large M^rwdri community and
ia the centre of their exchange and banking business.^ They
usually begin business as clerks and servants of established
shopkeepers and lenders. While working as clerks^ generally by
baying old gold lace and embroidered clothing or broken glass
bangles and by saving, they put together a little capital. When
the clerk has gathered enough capital^ he severs his connection with
his master and starts as a shopkeeper aud moneylender. In this
way new shops are being continually opened. Rich and long
established M&rwfiri firms are careful to do nothing to injure their
good name. . On the other hand^ as a class^ the small M&rw^ijs are
unscrupulous as to the means they use for making money. *Still
though harsh and unscrupulous to his debtors, even the petty and
poshing lender and shopkeeper^ as a rule^ deals straightly with his
own people and with other traders. The M&rwfiri lender's chief
characteristics are love of gain and carelessness of local opinion. He
has much self-reliance and great industry. He has usually education
enough to understand the law and procedure of the courts to which
he often resorts. He is an excellent accountant and is generally
qaickwitted in all that concerns his business. Knowing that the
people look on him as a stranger and a hardhearted usurer^ he
nolds alooffrom them and has no sympathies with them. Though
a few of them still go to their native country to perform marriage
and other ceremonies, many have obtained by mortgage or sale landed
estates and for the most part marry in the Deccan. Besides as a
moneylender and general broker he is employed as a retail and
wholesale dealer in groceries^ grain, and cloth. Ling&yat or Kam^-
tak Y^nis are chiefly ironmongers and grocers and are seldom money-
lenders. The Lfid or local Y&nis are grocers. The Brahman capitalists
who belong to the district are mostly Konkanasth Brdhmans in towns
and Deshasth Brdhmans in villages. The town Brahmans who engage
in trade are bankers and moneylenders, and the village Brdhmans
who engage in moneylending belong to the village accountants' or
kulkamis* families. Eunbis and other smaller capitalists, besides
engaging in moneylending, work in the fields and at their crafts.
Masalmiln capitalists are landlords and traders. Parsi capitalists
are contractors and traders.

Of townspeople, merchants, traders, shopkeepers^ brokers^
contractors^ and highly paid Government servants, and of country
people, landlords, petty shopkeepers, and moneylenders, and a few
rich cultivators save money. These are chiefly Marwdr, Oujardt,

Chapter V.

Capital.

Cafitalists.

Saving Classxs.

1 The OeccanRiota Commiasionera' Report, 23.

[Bombay Oaietteor*

296

DISTRICTS.

Chapter V.
Capital.

Saying Classes.

Lingdyat, and L&d Y&nis wilyh a sprinkling of Br&hznans^ MoBalmfins,
P^sis^ and Konbi headmen or pdtils*

Traders spend much of their savings in adding to their basiness
and in house property. Mdrwdr and Grujardt V^nis whose capital is
generally more than they require for their business hoard their sayings
and sometimes employ them in building large houses. .With all
classes of natives^ except Md.rwdr and Gujar&t V^nis^ the first invest-
ment is ornaments and jewelry. Next to ornaments come land
and house property and lending money on mortgage. Caltivating
classes especially village headmen^ spend their savings in buying
cattle, sinking wellsy and adding to their holdings or building houses.
Much money is also spent in marriagiB and other festivities. Govern-
ment savings banks and Government securities are resorted to by the
higher classes of townspeople who cannot make a better use of their
money and by others as a safeguard against loss and because they
can take out the money whenever they want it. Formerly
considerable sums were invested in private native banks, chiefly by
friendless widows and others, who got six per cent interest. But
savings banks and Government securities, though they pay onlj
8|, 4, and 4^ per cent, have greatly reduced this form of investment.
Mill or joint stock company shiy es are unknown.

The thirteen years ending 1882-83 show a considerable though not
a constant increase in the advantage taken of one at least of the two
forms of investment provided by Government, savings banks and
Government securities. In 1870-71, the deposits in the savings banks
at Ahmadnagar and other sub-divisional towns amounted to £1993
(Rs. 19,930) against £7182 (Rs. 71,820) in 1882-83. Partly perhaps
chiefly from changes in the savings banks rules, the amounts invested
in savings banks during these thirteen years have varied greatly.
They rose from £1993 (Rs. 19,930) in 1870-71 to £4703
(Rs. 47,030) in 1873-74; fell to £2524 (Rs. 25,240) in 1874-75,
rose to £5378 (Rs. 53,780) in 1877-78, fell to £4355 (Rs. 43,550)
in 1878-79, rose to £12,576 (Rs. 1,25,760) in 1880-81, and fell to
£7182 (Rs. 71,820) in 1882-83. The great increase in 1880-81 was
owiugto an order raising the highest amount of a single deposit from
£150 to £500 (Rs. 1500-5000), which was again lowered to £150
(Rs. 1500) in 1881-82. New savings banks have also been recently
opened in connection with post offices. The depositors are chiefly
Hindus, (3ovemment and railway servants, and a few well-to-do
private persons. During the same period (1870-X883), the
interest paid on Goverment securities has fallen from £1057 to
£547 (Rs. 10,570- 5470).! In 1871-72, the interest fell from £1057 to
£361 (Rs. 10,570-3610), rose to £1474 (Rs. 14,740) in 1872-78, and
in the next ten years, except in 1873-74, 1874-75, and 1876-77,
when^it stood at £3 J 8 (Rs. 3180), £867 (Rs.8670), and £153G
(Rs. 15,360), it varied between £436 (Rs. 4360) in 1875-76 and
£627 (Rs. 6270) in 1879-80 and averaged £650 (Rs. 6600). The
details are :

1 Up to 1876-77, a banker of Aaransabad in the NoAm'a t^ritory drew the amoont ot
the interest on hia notes from the Abmadna{;ar treasury.

Deona]

AHMADNAGAR.

297

Ahmadua/gKt Qovenanent ItmettmaUt, 1870 • 1883^

Tear,

Savings

Banks

Depoaitt.

Seoarltios*
Interest.

Ybar.

Savings

Banks

Deposits

Seotttities'
Interest.

1870-71
1871-72
1872-78
1878-74
1874-75
1875-78
1876-77

1003

2413

4502

4703

2534

3400

8441

1067
361

1474
818
867
486

1586

1877-78
1878-79
1879-80
1880*1
1881-82
1882-83

5378
4355
6011
13,576
8268
7182

645
402
627
58G
548
547

Nine or ten banking establishments at Abmadnagar^ Eharda,
Sangamner, Sonai, and Vamburi, deal with Bombay, Poena, Sholdpar,
N^ik, Dlialia> and the chief towns of the Nizdm's dominions. The
bankers most of whom are Mdrwd.r Yd.ni8 cash bills of £1 to £500
(Ra 10-5000).

No firms confine themselyes to banking ; all are also moneylenders
and traders. The rates of commission for a hundi range from a
quarter to one per cent, being high during the busy season, October
to May. Interest is charged according to the number of days the
bill has to run* The highest discoomt allowed is one-half per cent.
Discount is allowed during the cotton season when the brokers
are in want of cash. At such times rokad or cash is specially
ordered from Poena, Bombay, and other places. Before the
introduction of currency notes and the money order system the
rate of commission Taried from 1^ to two per cent and bankers
made large profits.

The two most usual forms of exchange bills or hundis are
bills payable at sight called darahani and bills payable after
an interval generally of nine to fifteen days called mvdati.
Cotton bills are drawn at sight. Bills are of three kinds,
personal or dhanijog when the grantee is the person to whom
or to whose order the payment is to be made; on trust or
9hdfidjog when payment is made to a nominee of the grantee known
to the payer ; and descriptive or nishdjog where a description of the
payee is embodied in the bill. It is not |usual to draw bills
in sets. A letter of advice to the agent or banker, stating the
amount drawn, the number of the bill, and the name of the person
to whom or in whose favour the bill has been granted, is considered
enough. Bills before they reach the correspondent of the drawer
are in some cases several times sold, and the purchasers endorse
them each time with their signatures or hechaiia. When the
amount of the bill is remitted in cash, by another bill, or in any
other form, the bill is signed by the payee, returned to the grantor,
and filed as a voucher ovlchoha. Unless the bill is binijdbti, tbat is
unless it requires no letter of advice, it is usual for the correspond-
ent of the grantor to send a letter of advice, intimating the payment
of the money to the payee. No days of grace are allowed. The
bill, if demanded^ must be cashed on the specified day. If the
payer delays, monthly interest is charged varying from one-half per
cent if the drawer is a banker to three-quarters per cent if the

a 772— 38

Chapter 7.

Oapitai.

Savino Classes.

Bankbrh,

Bills.

[Boml>a7 Oaietteeri

298

DISTRICTS.

Chapter V.
Capital.
Bakkxbs.

BiUs,

drawer is a mercliant. If payment is asked before the bill falls
due^ disconnt at a similar rate is charged. ]f the bill is dishonoured
and sent back uncashed^ the grantor mast pay interest at doable the
rate of current interest from the date when the bill was boaght. He
must also pay a non-acceptance penalty or nahrdi^ which varies in
different places. Carriage was also formerly charged acoDrding to
the distance the bill had travelled.

If the bill is lost or stolen a duplicate or peth letter stating the
amount of the bill and asking for payment is usually granted. If
the duplicate letter is lost^ a triplicate or parpeth mentioning both
the bill and the duplicate is issued ; and, if the triplicate is not
forthcoming, an advice or jab mentioning the bill, the duplicate, and
the triplicate, is sent to the same effect. The payer must satisfy
himself as to the identity of the bearer of the bill and in doabtf ul
cases should demand security before payment is made. If he pays
the wrong man he has to bear the loss, and pay a second time to the
holder of the duplicate and the triplicate. The payee in the case of
an advice letter or jdb passes a separate receipt, while the bill, the
duplicate, and the triplicate are simply endors^. After payment the
banker debits the drawer with the amount paid. If a drawer over-
draws his account, and the bill is lost or dishonoured, he alone is
responsible. It is usual after endorsing them to sell bills to bill-
brokers or daldlsy who are paid brokerage at {he rate of |d, (^ a.)
on every £10 (Rs. 100) bill. As treasure is seldom sent, bills are
generally adjusted by debits and credits and exchange bills or
hadli hundis whose rates vary according to the conditions of the
transaction. The drawer pays commission or hokshdi to the
correspondent who disburses the cash to the payee, and both drawer
and purchaser pay a brokerage or daldli for the sale of badli
hundis. The interchange of bills has been greatly simplified by the
introduction of an uniform coinaga Formerly the different rupees
and the different ratesof exchange made the system most complicated
and was the source of no small profit to local bankers.

Where there is an agent or munim, the clerk or gumdsta acts
under the agent. As a rule there is no agent, and the clerk^ who
is generally a Brdhman, is subordinate to his master alone and is
treated by outsiders with much respect He keeps the accounts,
makes and recovers advances to husbandmen, superintends his
master's establishment, looks after his lands and servants, and goes
abroad to buy and sell gooHs according to his master's orders.
Exclusive of food and other charges and travelling allowance^ the
clerk's yearly pay varies from* £5 to £30 (Rs. 50-300)'. At Divdli
in October -November he is given a turban or some other article of
clothing and small presents on weddings.

Bafikers as well as traders and well-to-do moneylencTers keep
three books, a rough and a fair journal or rojmel and a ledger or
khfitevahu Some traders keep only one journal. Where two
joumalB are kept the transactions of the day are entered in tJie
rough journal as they take placa At the end of the day they
are corrected, balanced, and entered at leisure in the fair joomaL
A general summary of each man's dealings is posted in the ledger

Deccaa^l

AHMADNAGAR.

299

under its proper head and the pages of the journal which refer to
the details are noted. Many village lenders trust to the evidence
of bonds and keep no books.

At the beginning of British rule the chief Mardtha silver coins
were Ankushi rupees^ Beldpuri rupees, Chdmbhdrgondi mpeeSj
OhdndvaM rupees coined at Ch&ndor in N^ik, Jaripatka rupees
coined at N^k, and Vdphgdvi rupees.^ The coining of these old
rupees was discontinued soon after the British conquest. They
were taken at a discount till 1835^ and have now almost disappeared
from use. At present, besides notes which are used only in the
town and cantonment of Ahmadnagar, the currency is partly silver
partly copper. The silver coins are the Imperial rnpee, half -rupee
adheU, quarter-rupee pdA)lif and one-eighth rupee chavli. The
ordinary copper coins are a half-anna piece dhabu, a quarter-onTta
piece paisa, and a one-twelth-anna piece paL Kavdis or cowrie
shells are largely used in Ahmadnagar and other market towns in
buying vegetables and other cheap articles. Their ordinary value
is eighty kavdis to a quarter anna.

The insurance of goods against loss by robbery was formerly
common. The insurance agents, with whom the work of insurance
formed part of the business of banking, undertook to send goods
from one place to another, on receipt of transit cost and insurance
fees varying from one to two per cent. The orderly state of the
country and the introduction of railways have made the expenditure
unneoessary and the practice has ceased. Property is seldom
insured against loss by fire or by accident. The Ahmadnagar agent
of the Oriental Life Assurance Company does some business in the
town and cantonment of Ahmadnagar.

Most of the moneylending is in the hands of M&rwdr and
Gujardt Ydnis. A considerable number of local Br^hmans and a
few Ghdmbhdrs, Kdisdrs, Koshtis, Eunbis, L^d and Lingayat Y&nis,
Huaalm^ns, Sonars, and Telis, and others having capital also engage
in moneylending. Fifty to seventy-five per cent of the moneylenders
are M&rw&ris, ten per cent Brdhmans, and the rest are local Ydnis
and others. Moneylending is not the lender's sole pursuit. About
sixty per cent are traders including grocers and clothsellers, and
forty per cent are husbandmen and othera Mdrwdri and other
T&ni tenders are rich traders or shopkeepers. Brdhman lenders are
landholders and sometimes Government pensioners, and Musalmdn
lenders are landholders and sometime^ shopkeepers.'

Of all lenders the M&rwdri has the worst name. He is a byeword
for greed and for the shameless and pitiless treatment of his debtor.
Some say Brdfamans are as hard as Mdrwdris, others say they are
loss hard. Almost all agree that, compared with Mdrw&ri and

Cihapter Y.
Capital

BANKBftS.

Currency*

Insttbanoi.

MOKETLSNDSBS.

^ III 1S20, aooordin^ to Government orders for eveiy 100 Kore or new AnXmM
rapees were demanded 101 Snldkhi or tested Anmsfu^ NirmaX CKdndvodi, and
iTofv Vdphndvi, lOli Nirmtd Jaripatka, IWiSMkhi Chdndavdi, and StOdkhi VdjAgdvi,
102| StiUUAi Jaripatka, 105 mrmai Bdrik Beldpuri and Kore ChdmlMrgandi^ and
106| Mdkki moehe Beldpuri^ Chopi, and Chdmhhdrifomii. Captain Pottinger to
Hr. Cbi^Un, ComnunioQer, 2eth Deoomber 182a

* Mr. QphinstoD, C. 8.

[Bombay Gasatteer^

300

DISTRICTS.

Qhapter V.
Capital.

MONETLSNDSBS.

Rates of Interebt.

Brdhman creditors, Marath^^ Kanbis^ and Gajardt V^nis are mild
and kindly. A Mdrwdri will press a debtor when pressnre means
ruin. The saying runs that he will attach and sell his debtor's
cooking and drinking vessels even when the family are in the
midst of a meaL Brdhmans, whose position in society tends to
make them popular, are shrewd and cautious in their dealings, and
as a class avoid extreme measures for the recovery of their debts.
A Gujardt Vdni, a Maratha, or a Kunbi creditor will seldom ruin
his dibbtor. It is not easy to make moneylending pay. Want
of experience often leads to loss of capital. Except when their
immadiate interests clash moneylenders as a class are friendly to
each other, avoid competition, and deal honestly among themselves.

^The rates of interest prevailing in 1839-40 are given nnder throe
heads, vydj that is interest in cash, manuti that is interest in grain,
and vydj-manuti that is interest in cash and grain. Twelve per
cent and cent per cent formed the two extremes of interest in cash,
and some few instances of both were found. The current rates of cash
interest varied from thirty-three to eighty-three per cent. When a
loan of £10 (Bs. 100) was given a bond for £11 (Rs. 110) was made
out, and the highest monthly interest charged was half an anna and
the lowest a quarter anna on the rupee, that is 83^ and 46§ percent
a year. Manuti or interest in' grain was charged at eight pounds
(1 pdyli) of inferior grain, and four to six pounds (2-3 shera) of
superior grain the rupee a month or seventy-five to 150 per cent a
year. The manvJti or grain interest transactions lasted for only a
iew months when they were either settled or commuted into cash
transaction. Vydj-manuti or part-cash part-grain transactions were
charged a quarter or half an anna and six to eight pounds of grain .
the rupee a month, and amounted to 120 to 192 per cent a year.
These transactions rarely lasted beyond the year. When they did
they were turned into money transactions if the price of grain was
high and if it suited the lender's convenience. Manuti or grain
payments in both its forms originated tn and lasted during the
season when revenue instalments and agricultural wants pressed
heavily on the husbandmen and when the demand for money was
great, and the rate of interest was high. The smallness of the sums
generally drawn on such occasions formed further grounds for
exorbitant usury. Interest on grain advances consisted of half aa
much or as much as the quantity advanced, and was equal to fifty
or a hundred per cent for six or eight months. When grain was
scarce, this rate of interest was proportionally high. This system
known as vddhi or increasing originated in the deficiency of grain
left in the possession of the husbandman for food and seed, from
the sowing to the harvest time (June •December).

Im 1848, from two to four per cent a month appeared to be the
usnal rate of interest. If articlsB were pawned or fields mortgaged
as little as one per cent a month interest was charged*^ In 18&2,

1 Bom. Rev. Rec. 236 of 1862-1864, 289-295.

^ Lieutenant Burgess, aaaigtant ffarvey suporinteadait ; Doocad Biote Coxddlu*
sionen' Beporti Ap. A, 14.

Deocan-l

AHMADNAGAE,

301

lu transactions between Mdrw&ris and bankers the prevailing rates
of interest yaried from a quarter to one per cent a month. In
transactions between Mdjrw^s and husbandmen Government
^$ervant8 and others^ the prevailing rates varied from a half to two
per cent a month. When the lender and borrower were poor and
the same at issue trifling a quarter or half anna interest was
charged a rapee a month, or 3^ to 6^ per cent a month. This
applied mainly to very needy persons^ not more than ten per cent
of the people who borrowed a rupee or so to be repaid within the
month or earlier. Some bankers took a fee called manuti on the
amount lent in addition to the interest. This varied from two to
five rupees on every Bs. 100 lent. In what were called khisti or
instalment loans, the loan was repaid by fixed instalments, and no
separate interest was charged. Thus a loan of £10 (Bs. 100) was
rotomed by twenty-five instalments of 10«. (Bs. 5) a month, equal
to a monthly interest of about 1^ per cent. Interest on mortgaged
property varied from ^ to f per cent a month in the case of gold^
and one to two per cent a month in the case of other metals or
of perishable articles. When gold was mortgaged its full value
was given in loan ; in other cases only one-fourth to one-half of the
value of the article pledged was advanced. The practice of manuti
or grain payments was said to be /lo more known, but vddhi still
existed. A quarter, a half, and in emergent cases and in days
of scarcity three quarters of the quantity of grain advanced was
returned in addition in the case of wheat, gram, and millet.
Vddhi or loans were confined to the poorest classes or about fifteen
per cent of the people.

At present 1884 the current rates of interest are : In small
transactions when an article is given in pawn interest is charged
at twelve to twenty-four per cent a year; in petty agricultural
advances on personal security at fifteen to twenty-four per cent;
with a lien upon crqps from 18| to seventy-five per cent or quarter
to one anna a rupee ; in large transactions, with a mortgage on
movable property fifteen to twenty-four per cent; and with a
mortgage on houses and land with possession ten per cent and about
thirty-three per cent without possession. In the« C€kse of land
mortgages without possession, the interest soon amounts to the
original sum lent, when the time comes for a renewal of the bond
under the law of limitation. Moneylenders also charge a heavy
discount when making over the amount of the loan to the borrower*
They also claim the whole produce of the mortgaged land and
make no allowance to the debtor for the crop thus passing into their
hands. Altogether, to the needy borrower the real interest on the
loan directly and indirectly amounts to cent per cent a year.

Interest is charged for the ShaJc year^ which begins on the ^st of
Chaitra in March. The intercalair month is provided for by the
charge of one month's additional mterest every third year. The
Government rupee is the standard coin in all transactions.

A common practice among landholders is to borrow grain for
seed and for home nse^ agreeing to return it at the time of the
harvest with an increase of fifty per cent This, as is noticed above^
is called the vidhi didhi or increase to one and a half. One great

Chapter V.
Capital.

MONKTLENDKRS.

Rates of Interest.

Gradn Advances.

[Bombay Oasetteer,

302

DISTRICTS.

Ckapter V.
Capital*

Borrowers.

Craftsmen.

disadvantage of this practice is that in bad years when the borrower
has no grain in store and grain prices are high, the lenders demand
the equivalent in money and get a bond for the samoj interest being
fixed at ^ anna the rapee or aboat 37^ per cent.

Borrowers may be divided into two classes townsmen and villagers*
Under townsmen come bankers, traders, artificers, and craftsmen,
and under villagers, landholders and field labourers. Bankers
and first class traders dealing in gold and silver, generally borrow
from men of large capital They seldom pass a bond or receipt for
what they borrow, the extent of the transactions depending on their
credit. The only record of transactions of this sort are the account-
books, where the name of the clerk receiving the money is entered
with the remark haste that is immediate receiver. The accounts are
closed every year at the DivAli holidays in October -November.
The interest charged is not more than six per cent a year and as it
is usual to allow a remission of id. {\ a.) &om each rupee paid for
interest, the actual rate of interest is reduced to a little more than
5} per cent Second class traders, those dealing in grain and piece-
goods, borrow from bankers and first class traders. Borrowers of
this class have to give their signature in the lender's books for the
amounts they receive, the entry being called ghdm daMak or bond-
passing. The yearly rate of interest varies from six to nine per
cent according to the credit of the borrower. About ten per
cent of the craftsmen are free from debt. The Ahmadnf^ar
craftsmen are not intelligent and are often duped by the lendera,
though in large towns lenders have not the same means for
defrauding their clients which they have in villages. The ordinary
monthly earnings of a man wife and two children range from
12^. to £1 10^. (Bs. 6 - 15). Many of them can buy materials worth
2«, to 4>8, (Rs. 1 - 2). Others borrow money by arranging with a
moneylender with whom they pledge the materials. The materials
are not handed to the lender, but he can seize them at any time if
the debtor does not act up to his agreement. Of craftsmea
goldsmiths, carpenters, masons, tailors, dyers, ivory-banglemakera
and firework-makers are tbe best off. They own property and
being mostly free from debt sometimes manage to save monev ia
the form of ornaments, or sometimes lend at interest to their f eilow«*
workers. They can easily raise loans of £10 to £50 (Rs, 100 - 500)
with or without security. Other classes, including handloom^
weavers, as a rule are involved in debt, and find it difficult even to
borrow money. They seldom can raise money at less than twenty-four
to thirty-six per cent interest, and without giving securities or
mortgaging property. The loans seldom exceed £20 (Rs. 200). Au
intelligent weaver occasionally puts by some of his earnings in the
form •f ornaments or lends his savings to his fellow workmenor invests
them in a loom. But this is rai*e. As a class handloom-weavera
are entirely in the hands of moneylenders. The moneylenders
advance all the yam and silk required and tcJce possession of the
article. The workmen are paid by the piece, from is, to 4»«
(Rs. 1-2) for a piece of cloth fourteen to sixteen cubits long and
two to 2^ cubits wide, representing six to eight days' work of the
weaver and his wife.

Deecan]

AHMADNAGAR

303

Fifty-five years ago labourers were not so well off as they now are.

With the increase of money in circnlation wages have risen. More

land is under tillage and the services of day labourers are more in

demand. At the time of the American war (1862-1865) day labourers

got higher wages and their condition was somewhat better than at

present^ but the conditions of that time were abnormal due to the

inflation of trade and prices. During the 1876-77 famine day

labourers suffered severely. Still as they had little or no credit they

were not able to run into debt and the seasons of good wages and

employment and cheap grain which have since passed have restored

them almost if not quite to the level of comfort they had reached

before the famine. Moneylenders advance to day-labourers up to

£2 (Rs. 20) on the security of the borrower and two friends^ or if

the borrower owns gold or silver ornaments, these are taken as a

security for the loan. For a loan of £1 (Rs. 10) the labourer signs

a bond of £1 10^. (Rs. 15) payable at a certain date. A labourer's

savings are generally spent in ornaments for his wife and children.

When in profitable employment he spends no more than before on

clothing and beyond a slight increase in the family allowance

of clarified butter and sugar, his food remains the same. A

labouring woman is seldom seen with a new robe^ and the Ahmadagar

labourers indulge neither in liquor nor in opium. Labourers^

as well as craftsmen and petty vendors, have a practice of

borrowing money on what they call the savdi hhiat^ that is repaying

by instalments one quarter in excess of the amount borrowed. For

every £10 (Rs. 100) borrowed a bond for £12 \0s. (Rs. 125) is

passed, and the borrower agrees to return this sum in regular

monthly, weekly, or daily instalments, and if he fails to pay an

instalment^ to pay monthly interest on it at a quarter to a half anna

the rupee that is twenty to thirty-eight per cent a year. In such

ca^es when £10 (Rs. 100) are borrowed the instalments are 3d. to

44d. (2-3 as) a day or 8«. to 12«. (Rs. 4 - 6) a month, the whole to

be paid in twelve months.

Mortgage of labour is not uncommon among the lower class of
husbandmen and among labourers. A kusbandman, who has fallen
hopelessly in debt, has lost his land, and still owes money, as his last
resource, will mortgage his labour for a term of years. It also
sometimes happens that a family of three or four brothers, wishing
to borrow money to buy cattle, will agree among themselves
to work o£E the loan by one of their number serving the
lender. Among labourers the usual reason for mortgaging
their labour is to raise a loan to meet marriage or other
expenses. A stamped agreement is drawn up in which the
amount of the debt is entered as the labourer s wages. Money-
louders are the only class in Ahmadnagar to whom labour is
mortgaged. The services of a bondsman, or one who has mortgaged
his labour, are rated at £1 16». to £2 85. (Rs. 18-24) a year,
exclusive of food and clothing. An ordinary grown workman
takes four or five years to work oflE a debt of £10 (Rs. 100). One
case is recorded in which four persons, two brothers and their wives,
mortgaged their joint labour for twenty-five years against an

Chapter V.
Capital.

Borrowers.
Labourers.

Mortgage qf
LcSbour^

[Bombay Oautteer.

304

DISTRICTS.

Chapter T.
Capital.

BOBBOWBBS.

HoslMmdmen.

outstanding debt of £90 (Rs. 900)* The bondsman's whole time is
at his master's disposal and he can spend no portion of it in working
for his own benefit The master has no power to transfer his right
over a bondsman's labour to any other person, nor can he command
the services of the bondsman's wife or of his children. The bondsnian
is simply fed and clothed and is allowed to sleep on his master's
premises. If he is a married man, he must make his own arrange-
ments for housing his family. These engagements never become
hereditary and corporal punishment cannot be inflicted on the
bondsman.^

^Since before the beginning of British rale the greatest borrowers
in the district have been the landholders. The ordinary Kunbi is a
simple well-disposed peasant content with the scantiest clothing
and the hardest fare. Though unschooled and with a narrow
range of intelligence he is not without manly qualities and meets
with a stubborn endurance the unkindly caprices of his climate and
the hereditary burden of his debts, troubles whic^h would drive a
more imaginative race to despair or stimulate one more intelligent
to new resources. The apparent recklessness with which he will
incur obligations that carry the seedsof ruinhas gained for the Deccan
landholder a character for extravagance and improvidence* The
apparent recklessness is often a necessity. His extravagance is limited
to an occasional marriage festival, and his improvidence is no
greater than that of all races low in the scale of intelligence who live
in the present. The want of forethought, which prevent.3 the land-
holder overcoming the temptation to which the uncertainty of the
seasons and the varying value of his produce give rise, is caused by
a want of power to realize future troubles rather than by a spirit
of extravagance or waste. In 1875, in the opinion of the members
of the Deccan Riots Commission, the expenditure on marriage and
other festivals was less the cause of the husbandman's indebtedness
than was commonly supposed. Compared with his means the
expenditure was extravagant, but the occasions seldom occurred.
In a course of years the total sum spent was probably not largor
than a landholder was justified in spending on special and family
pleasures. Though the expenditure on family pleasures formed an
important item on the debit side of many accounts it was rarely
the nucleus of a debt. Even at twenty-four per cent interest the
£5 to £7 10«. (Rs. 50 - 75) spent by an average landholder on a
marriage, with fairnesf on the lender's part and without tho
addition of other debts, could be rapidly paid. In the opinion of
the Commissioners the bulk of the landholder's debt was due less to
the large sums spent on ceremonies than to constant petty borrowings
for food and other necessaries, to buy seed, to buy bullocks, and to
pay i)he Government assessment. The Commissioners held that iu
a district with so uncertain a climate as Ahmadnagar, and with
people whose forethought was so dull, the payment of a regular
money rental, even when the rental was far below the standard of a
fair season, must lead to borrowing.

^ Major H. Daniell, Polioe SuperintendBnt.

' Deccan Riots GomminioDera^ Beport (1875). 22«

Deoeaa.l

AHMADNAGAR

305

When the coantry came under British role^ the bulk of the
lanholders were in debt. In 1822 according to Mr. Chaplin, owing
to the oppression of revenue contractors^ the landholders in many
villages^ though frugal and provident, were much in debfc to bankers
and merchants. Many of these debts were of long standing. They
were often made of compound interest and fresh occasional aids so
mixed and massed that the accounts were exceedingly complicated.
A husbandman who fell in debt could seldom free lumself .

The husbandmen's debts were of two kinds, village debts and
private debts.^ The village debt usually arose from advances or loans
made by bankers to the Mar^tha government on the security of the
revenues of certain villages. The private debts were the result of the
revenue farming system under which the state dues were collected
through bankers or sdvkdrs who usually received in kind from the
villagers what the bankers had paid to the Qovemment in cash and
drafts. The mass of the husbandmen had not interest or title enough
in their land to be security for a large debt. Mirda or hereditary
holdings were sometimes mortgaged, but their selling value was
estimated at not more than two or three years' purchase, and land
yielding £20 (Rs. 200) of gross produce could seldom be mortgaged for
more than £10 (Rs. 100). The ordinary dealings between the money*
lender and the landholder were based on the teaching of experience
rather than on any power of compulsion in the hands of the creditor.
The recognized mode of recovering debt was for the lender to send a
dun or mohasal whose maintenance had to be paid daily by the debtor.
Another mode was to place a servant in dhamat or appeal at the
debtor's door, or to confine the debtor to* his house or otherwise
subject him to restraint. Against the humbler debtors severer
measures were used. The landholders' constantly recurring
necessity could not be relieved unless he maintained his credit by
good faith. On the other hand the Government in no way helped
tlie lender to etitct more than a fair profit which considering his
risks would also be a large profit. Honesty was the borrower's
best policy and caution was a necessity to the lender.* There was a
considerable burden of debt and many- landholders were living in
dependence on the lender, delivering him their prodace and drawing
upon him for necessaries. The landholder's property did not offer
security for large amounts. The debtor's cattle and the yearly
produce of his land were the lender's only security. As immovable
■ ■ ■ m

I In 1822, where village debts were of a very old date exceeding twenty yeftrs.
Captain Potttnger seldom gave orders to the claimants for their recovery. The
Mime rule was applied when the lenders and borrowers were dead and the lands had
fallen into the hands of a Ihird person. Many cases had also come to Captain
Pottmger's notice where the lands had been obviously obtained through collusion
between the mimlatd^rs and their clerks and the moneylenders. In all these instances
he dismissed the suits and rendered the documental null. East India Papers^^V. 26.

s Deccan Riots Commissioners* Report, 26. ,Mr» Chaplin adds: The Collector of
Ahmadnagar, notwithstanding some embarrassi^ents is of opinion that there is an
nuivoraal tone of satisfaction among the landholders resulting from the improvement
of their condition, and he thinks that they are gradually extricating themselves from
their ^ffioulties. The general feature of the picture is correct; but it is perhaps
charged witli colours a little too brilliant. He thinks that the complaints against
them from the moneylenders are decreaakig, but this circumstance is partly to be
Mohbed to many of these debts having been declared inadmissible.

B 772— 39

Chapter Y^
Capital^

Borrowers.
Huabandmen.

[Bombay QftMtfeeer,

806

DISTRICTS.

Chapter V.
Capital

Borrowers.
HoBbiiidtteii.

property was not liable to sale for debt, and as the hereditai; or
mirds title was of no value to a non-agricnltaral landlord, the
mortgage even of hereditary or mirds land gave the lender a bold
on the produce rather than on the land. Rates of interest were veij
high and nmch of the debt consisted of accnmalations of intetest
The causes of indebtedness were chiefly the revenue system and
sometimes expenditure on marriages or similar occasions. The
amount of individual debt was usually moderate. Most moneylenden
were men of substance who had a staff of duns and clerks. In
recovering debts the lender had little or no help from the state. At
the same time he had great license in privaie methods of oompulsioxL
Under British management the lenders power of private oompnlBion
was curtailed and courts presided over by the Collectors were openad
to suitors.^ At first the lenders did not go to the courts. This and
other causes caused a contraction in the moneylender's dealings.
Still the landholder's necessities compelled him to keep on terns
with his creditor.

There are no records bearing on the relations between the
husbandmen and their creditors in the years immediately following
Mr« Chaplin's report. Later information shows that the bnrden of
debt grew heavier rather than lighter before the introductioD of
the Civil tourt Procedure in 1827. The first regular Civa
Procedure was introdftced into the Bombay Presidency by Begola-
tions II. III. IV. and V. of 1827. Regulation IV, provided the
procedure and Regulation V. the limitations for civil suits. In
Regulation IV. th^ cattle and tools necessary for the support of the
agricultural debtor were* declared exempt &om seizure on account
of debt. Regulatk>n V. limited the yearly rate of interest recoverable
in a civil court to twelve per cent. When the new laws came into
operation^ except in hereditary or mirds land^ the husbandman had
no title to his holdings and on account of the fall in the value of

Produce the revenue demand left little margin to the landholder.
Fnder these circumstances the lender had httle security for debt.
As the courts gave the lenders the means of speedily realiang
their claims they were soon resorted to.

In 1832, whM the extreme cheapness of grain was preening with
terrible weight on the agricultural classes, the French traveller

1 Sdvidr* or bankers were supposed by Captain Pottinger in 1822 to have been losers
by the ehaage of government, especiallv those who made their livelihood by lending
money to hnsbandmen and estate-holaers or jdffirddrs, of whose exigencies tbey
used to take advantage to extort the most usurious interest, besides premium, anu
other gain under a variety of names. These men no doubt ran considerable risk by
this traffic, but if one-half their creditors paid they were secured from loss. Captun
Pottinger had heard of instances where the whole crops of a district had lieen
mortgi^[ed to them before they were ripe, so that the husbandmen were entirely
at theUr mercy ev«n for food uiroughent the year. The British method of allowing
the culttvators to remove their cro^ whenever they were ready and thereby eoabling
them to sell tlie produce tf the htghest bidder, had put a stop to thd ^ratalliQg of
these usurezB and consequently their profits were greatly diminiihed. Captain
Pottioger waa not of »piaion that this change had gone so far as to cMse bankruptcy
amonff them. The moneylenders were a set of ^^sedy and needy adventarors who
lived oy the ruin of the husbandmen. Captain Pottinger hoped some of them would
leave the district ; it was impossible the country could go on supporting tnch a host of
moneylenders. East India Papers, IV. 725^ 726,

Deeeanl

AHMADNAOAR.

807

Jacqoemonti a somewhat unfriendly critic^ described the cultivators
aU over India as owing instead of owning. They had almost always
to borrow seed from the banker and money to hire plough cattle.
Every husbandman had a running account with a lender to whom
during all his life he paid the interest of his debt| which swelled in
bad'years and when family ceremonies came round. In no part of
India did indebtedness cause more misery than in the Deccan.
Formerly the law or custom prevented a lender fyym more than
tripling the original loan by compound interest; neither personal
arrest nor seienre of immovable property was allowed. The English
law removing all such restraints caused much horror. To carry out
the law judges had to strip old families of their ancestral homes.^

In 1836 Captain Mackintosh described the Eolis of lUjur in
north Ahmadnagar^ and the description applied to the whole of the
hilly country and many parts of the pJain^ as almost universally
suffering from the high rates of interest and the unjust and
unfeeling proceedings of the moneylenders. He was satisfied
that the Kolis' bitter complaints were well founded. The money-
lenders of Bdjur were foreigners from Gujar^t^ visited their homes
at intervals, and retired to their homes when they made a
competency. There were four headmen who had .agents in
different villages to buy up the grain. The money^nders had
induced the district hereditary officers to take shares m their shops
as when people of local rank were mixed with them the Eolis were
afraid to complain against the lenders. The Eolis keenly felt the
injustice of which they were the victims, and weie eager to engage
in any undertaking which gave them a chance .of revenge. The
Y&nis supplied the Eolis with cloth, spices, salt, tobacco, money,
and seed grain. They often kept their accounts and strongly
resented any attempt of the Eolis to dispose of their grain to any
one but to them. The lenders charged ten to fifteen per cent
liremium on a loan and made eight to eleven per cent more by
advancing BeUpur rupees and taking payment in Poena rupees.
The debt was generally settled in four months or at any time aflJbr
when the state of the grain market suited the lender. Spirited
Kolis sometimes attended the courts when the lenders sued them,
but they generally failed to get redress. The victim was completely
ensnared in bonds and was lodged in jail chiefly to strike fear into
other Eoli debtors. Many surrendered cattle and property rather
than go to court. Others fled. Outlaw gangs were always
recmited by men whom debt had driven from their homes. The
Eolis sometimes attacked the Yanis' houses and destroyed their books.
They occasionally held naked swords at the V^nis' throsts or
slightly wounded them. To guard against fire the V&nis generally
kept several copies of their accoui^ in different fdaces.j The
Kolis were often anxious to understand their aooounts and asked
headmen or ^ther intelligent villagers to look thrbngh their account
but to this the V^s objected. Tbe bulk of the !E^lis lired is the
greatest distress and poverty .2

Chapter V.
Capital*

BOBKOWBBS.

Huib^iidinoBf

> Jaoqaemont'B Voyages, III, 559, ' Trans, Bom. Qoog. Soc, I. 216-235,

[Bombay Ga2etteet%

308

DISTRICTS.

Chapter V.
Capital.

Borrowers.
Husbandmen,

^The first detailefl record of the relations between husbandmen
and their creditors is the result of an inquiry made in 1843 by
Mr, Inverarifcy the Revenue Commissioner of the Northern Division.

The Collector of Ahmadnagar wrote that the measures which
Government had from time to time adopted for the relief of the
agricultural people had only made the moneylenders more rapacious
and unrelenting. Bonds were renewed at exorbitant rates, the
interest and principal being entered in the fresh bond. The Collector
quoted a case in which in fourteen months a loan of £6 28. (Rs. 61)
was run up to £18 IBs. (Rs. 189), and a decree for that amount was
given against the debtor. In summing this and other evidence
the Revenue Commissioner noticed that the moneylender was
frequently part of the village community. The families had lived
for generations in the same village helping the people from father to
son and enabling them to meet urgent caste expenses. Government
observed that opinions differed on the subject, some viewing the
moneylender as the husbandman's friend, others regarding him as a
keen designing person chiefly bent on securing his own advantage,
even though his gain might cause his debtor's ruin. These opinions
might all be true in a greater or less degree. Among the money-
lenders or bauids as they were called, there was no doubt every
possible variety of character, and it might be safely averred that
with them as with most men, self-interest was the ruling principle
of action.

In this correspondence the attention of the reporting oflScers
was usually fixed on the question of usury. It appears that as yet
the operation of t}^ law had not aggravated the burden of debt
to any degree of severity. This was natural. The husbandman
had generally no title in his land except the title conveyed by the
hereditary or mirds tenure and his stock and field tools were
safe from seizure. Another notable point in this correspondence
is that the moneylenders are spoken of as the village Bania^
the village banker^ and under similar terms which show that
the old banker was the only lender with whom the landholders
had dealings. It is also noteworthy that expenditure on marriages^
caste rites, and similar occasions is generally assigned as the cause
of indebtedness. One reason why social charges are noticed as the
chief cause of debt may be found in the rapid spread of tillage which
in different parts of the district followed the lowering of the rates
of assessment in 1848 and the following years. The lowering of
assessment gave the landholder a strong inducement to add to hia
bolding and the lender was encouraged to make advances bv the
enhanced security and the ready machinery which was available for
recovering debts. It was hoped that the permanent title and the
lightc assessment guaranteed by the survey settlement would so
increase the landholder's profits and stimulate his industry that by
degrees he would free himself from debt. The increased production
and the stimulus to agricultural enterprise did indeed follow^ but
debt instead of diminishing increased. The following records
belonging to the period between 1848 and 1858 bring to notice two
marked features in the relations between the lender and the

iFrom the Deccan Riots Commissioiien' Report (1876).

Oeocan.J

AHMADNAQAR

309

husbandman which followed the changes in the revenne and judicial
systems. These two features are the growth of small moneylenders
and the operations of the laws to the disadvantage of the land-
holders.

Ample evidence of the indebtedness of the Ahmadnagar land-
holder and of the exactions of his Mdrwdri creditor is found in the
papers relating to the revision of the Ahmadnagar survey between
1848 and 1853. According to Captain G. Anderson, the survey
superintendent, the great majority of the husbandmen in Nev&aa
were deeply involved in debt. About two-thirds of the husbandmen
were in the hands of the Mdrw^ris and the average debt of each
individual was not less than £10 (Bs. 100). This under any
circumstances would have been a heavy burden on the landholders ;
and, owing to the harsh and usurious proceedings of many of the
M&rwaris, the system had engendered so much bad feeling and
the outcry regarding it on the part of the husbandmen was so loud
and general that it would have been most satisfactory if measures
could have been adopted for the mitigation of its attendant evils.
So far as Captain Anderson could ascertain, from conversing with
intelligent natives on the subject, the general opinion appeared
to be that the law required amendment and th^t the Marwdris
committed many frauds and plundered the husbandmen, to whom
the civil courts were either unable or unwilling to do justice.
There were few large capitalists in the district. Most of the
moneylenders were Miirwdri, Gujar^ti, and other foreign traders
who had only lately come to the country. Most of these strangers
were without funds when they arrived, and many of them after
making fortunes returned to their own country.* When a M&vw&ci
came to the district, he generally entered the service of one of
his relations or countrymen, and, when he saved a little money, set
np a small shop in some village, where he thought money was to be
made. At first he was very meek and forbearing in his dealings
with the husbandmen and sometimes persuaded pdtils or other
inJSuential villagers to lend him money to enable him to enlarge
his business and provide for the poorer villagers' wants. By
degrees he extended his operations until he had the husbandmen
completely in his hands, and, by dint of usury and of any oppressive
dealings in which he might be able to obtain aid from the civil
courts, he gathered £300 to £400 (Rs. 3000-4000) and went to
his country to marry. On his return he played the same game.
Other members of his family joined him, and with his help set up
separate shops. In this manner the country had not benefited by
the M^rw&ris as it would have benefited from respectable resident
men of capital. Within the past few years matters had somewhat
improved and the Marwaris had begun to show an inclination to
settle with their families in the district. Still the people were'much

fireyed upon by needy adventurers, and a ^reat deal of reckless and
raadulent trading was carried on, which appeared to Captain
Anderson not only to entail much injury and oppression on the
hnsfcandmen, but also subjected the traders themselves. At least
the honest traders, to loss. The doings of M4rwdris far exceeded the
limits of fair trading, and in many localities it did not appear to be
so much their object to trade with the husbandmen as to get them

GOiapter 7.
Capital

BORBOWBRS.

HnwhftndfnftHi

[Bombay Gaietteer.

310

DISTRICTS.

Chapter V-
Oa]^

BORROWBRS,

Hiuib«ndmeii,

by &ir means or fotl into their handsj so that they xni^ht nse them
as tools. A husbandman might borrow two mana of grain worth
4a. or 6«. (Bs. 2 or 3). This^ by tricky proceedings on the part of
the M&rw^ri^ was turned into a money debt of £1 49. (Bs. 12X and
then by writing ont a new agreement the debt ffradnally grew to
£5 (Bs. 50) or upwards. In this way the hnsbandman became bo
deeply involved that it was not in his power to free himself by any
exertions of his own and he remained either in a slavish state
of poverty and indebtedness^ or if he showed signs of resistance
to the M^rw&ri's exactions, he was dragged into court and
ruined to deter others from disobedience. Husbandmen seldom
attempted to repudiate their debts unless they &ncied themselves
unjustly and dishonestly treated. Captain Anderson thought the
Mdrwiris would have made more out of them if they had dealt
more &hirly with them. Besides being moneylenders the M^rwaris
were generally retail traders in cloths and other articles. Writing
of the southern sub-division of P&mer and part of Shrigonda then
included in Earde, Captain Anderson said that the husbandmen
were probably poorer than those of Nevdsa. The chief outcry
here as elsewhere was against the M&rw&ris and the civil courts.
The husbandmen thought the Government ha4 no daya or pity
for them in allowing such a system to continue. In 1841, their
aggregate debts were estimated at about £42,948 (Bs. 4,29,480) or
an average of £5 or £6 (Bs. 50 or 60) to each landholder. The
husbandmen were generally in debt and their condition was anything
but flourishing. In bad years many villages in the Bhimthadi or
Bhima valley were almost deserted and the husbandmen went for
work to the Gbngthadi or Qed&vari valley where the rainfall was
less uncertain. In Earjat and part of Shngonda then included in
the Korti sub-division, many husbandmen, especially in bad years,
left the district and sought temporary employment elsewhere. They
were generally poor though in a few villages some of the headmen
and leading villagers who kept sheep and cattle were well-to-
do. In proportion to their means, they were probably equally
involved in debt with the husbandmen of other sub-divisions,
though their more limited resources might prevent moneylenders
from being so liberal in their advances as in richer parts of the
district. In Shevgaon 1148 of 1764 or 65 per cent of the husband-
men were in debt The average debt of each might be something less
than in Nev^a. Lieutenant Burgess, the assistant superintendent, in
describing the state of Nev&sa said (28th September 1848), that over-
taxation and the exorbitant demands of the moneylender lyere the
causes of the decline in the prosperity of the country. Much the
same habits, customs, and modes of life seemed to him to prevail
amon£^ the husbandmen of all the parts of the Deccan which he had
visited and he did not perceive any difference in these respects
between the people of Nev&sa and other sub-divisions. All were
weighed down by the same yoke. People had more than once said to
him : The Government is excellent, all evils come from the money*
lenders.*

1 Deooan Riots CommiaBionen^ Report. Ap. C, lieut. Burgeafi ^ves tiie following

Deoeaa*]

AHMADNAGAR

311

lAentenanfc Day wrote to mucli the same eS^ regarding TSey&sa.
He aaid tliat ftach was the poverty of the husbandmen of this and
other districts that they appeared to be all dependent upon the
moneylender who exacted twenty, thirty^ or even forfy per cent, and
when they advanced money they usually kept back one anna in each
rupee. A highly respectable man near Nev&sa who occupied 300
bighdeoi land wanted seed to sow in June 1848. He obtained some
froB^ the Bania at 2^ pay Us the rupee and when he repaid him four
months later he gave the Bania nine pdyUs the rupee. Lieutenant
Day did not believe that the moneylenders realized these enormous
rates of profit. He could not think that the country could possibly
rapport such a drain on its resources. Tfte profits were probably
nominalj as village moneylenders were generally poor and they
imposed these hi^ rates to make up for the many bad debts they
incurred. He thought the moneylenders would willingly compound
for half the sum they nominally demanded. In fact in his opinion
the moneylenders indirectly did good. It appeared to Lieutenant
Day ihatr but for the moneylenders a famiue year would have found
the country without grain. Lieutenant Day had visited a few of
the Kizim's villages the year before and he was told that^ with ell
their arbitrary mq^ures^ the revenue authorities were considered
more tolerable than the relentless moneylenders in the Company^s
territories. Mr. Gooddine said of iCarde that the chief cause of the
landholder's poverty was the general want of capital and the
very high rate of mterest. The lender ran much risk in making
advances to people without capital and consequently the rate of
interest might be high. Owing to want of education and the state of
native society and of the landholding class, the lender's risks were
much less than they seemed to be. Large capitalists, bankers, and
others, might borrow money at nine and shopkeepers at twelve per
cent a year, but the Kunbi was seldom or never able to raise money
at less than two per cent a month or twenty-four per cent a year^and
these rates, from the precautions taken by the lender, such as the
taking of new bonds on principal and interest, in the end generally
amounted to sixty, seventy, and even a hundred per cent a year.

Chapter T.
Capital.

BORROWIRS.

Husbandmen.

detaila of tiie mtoBof interest and terms on whioh the husbandman borrowed money,
Snpposiag a husbandman wants money for a marriage he goes to the moneylender and
asks foriflO (Rs. 100). If he is a poor man, and the lender has doubts of getting back
his money, he takes off from Rs. 6 to Rs. 10 as premium or manuti and gives the man
Ba, 90 in cash. The man writes an affreement to pay back Ra, 100 in six months at Rs.2
per cent ateonth interest, which, if paid, would at the end of the six months amount
toBs. 112, As the husbiuidman received only Rs. 90 he is Mb, 22 out of pocket. If
a smaller premium or fnanuH is taken the interest is even as much as Rs. 4 a month.
If Ra. 6 is deducted as premium or manidi and 4 per cent a month interest is charged
with the agreement that the original sum borrowed is paid back in twelve lAontns,
the borrower, having had Rs. 6 deducted at fisst and Kb. 48 interest to pay, will
actually lose Ra^ 64 on the transaction. At the «nd of the twelve months, should
no money have been teid, the lender makes the borrower write a new ^reement in
whi^ the prindp*! has risen from Rs. 100 to Rs. 148. If the lender sees that there
is gBsai difuttlty in paying up this sun), he will probably change less interest. Two
to four ^ oeoftjk month seemed to be the usual interest. It articles weito pawned
or fields mortoaged as little as one per cent a montti interest was charged. When
the borrower snowed no sign of paying the sum due by him, and refused to write any
further agreements or make any settlement the lender took him into court.

[Bombay Oazetteer.

ai2

DISTRICTS.

Chapter V.
Capital.

BOTIBOWEBS.

Husbandmen.

The Government of the day in reviewing their reports said:* In
many parts of his report Captain Anderson has referred to the evil
influence exercised by the Mdrw^ris over the hasbandmen, the
nsurions and unfair nature of their dealingBi and the almost universal
bondage into which the landholding classes have fallen from their
indebtedness to these foreigners. He is evidently of opinion that
the civil courts as at present constituted unduly uphold the interest
of the moneylender and that legislative interference is called for to
protect landholders from usury and fraud. Government were not
prepared to recommend any special measures regarding money-
lending. They hoped that Small Cause Courts would place some
check On the usurious practices of the Mdrwdris, and they looked to
the gradual spread of education to make the landholders less easy
victims to the unfair practices of the usurers.

In 1852, Captain, the late Sir G. Wingate, then Survey

Commissioner, wrote that the facilities for the recovery of debt

offered by the civil courts had called into existence an inferior class

of moneylenders who dealt at exorbitant rates of interesir with tho

lower agricultural poor. As the value of the landholder's title

under the survey settlements came to be recognized, his eagerness

to extend his holding grew. A fresh start was given to the

moneylender in his competition with the landholder for the fruits of

the soil. The bulk of the people were very poor and the capital

required for wider tillage could be obtained only on the credit of

the land and its produce. Even under the reduced rates of

assessment existing debt left the landholder little margin of profit.

This margin of profit would not go far towards covering his increased

needs to provide stock and seed and to meet the assessment on the

additions to his holding. At the same time for the first year or two

his return in produce would be nominal. Even the most cautious

could not wait till their profits enabled them to take up fresh land

because they feared that the more wealthy or the more reckless

would be before them. In 1855 it had become well known that

the Regulation restricting the rate of interest to twelve per cent

was evaded by the moneylenders by deducting discount, or more

properly interest taken in advance from the amount given to the

debtor. The usury law had the effect of placing the debtor in a

worse position by compelling him to co-operate in a fiction to evade

the law. The bond acknowledged the receipt of an amount which

had not been received. Aq Act was therefore passed repealing

the restriction on interest. Another result of the enhanced value

of agricultural investments caused by the survey settlement was

the spread of the practice of raising money on mortgage of land

and of private sales of land to moneylenders. Private sales of land

were* doubtless made in liquidation of debt and not for the purpose

of raising money as no landholder would part with his land to raise

money. It must therefore be presumed that in such cases the

moneylender compelled the transfer by threats of imprisonment or

by other terrors. Although moneylenders were adding to their

Vo. 3722 of 5th December 1855.

Deccan^l

AHMADNAGAR.

313

land by priyate pnrcliases the sale of occupancies ander decree was
rare. This was probably due to several causes. The people had
not acquired full confidence in the title given by the survey
settlement ; they probably had hardly confidence in the stability of
the British rule. The only land sold was hereditary or mirds which
as it was held by a recognized title was reputed to be safe. It was
seldom a creditor's interest to sell his debtor out of his holding.
Thetlaudholder's stock and field tools were protected from sale and
the creditor was likely to inake more by leaving him in possession
of his land than by lowering him to a tenant. The sale of
immovable property for debt was opposed to custom and public
opinion, and unless the land was directly made security the courts
would be reluctant to have it sold if the claim could be satisfied by
other means more consonant with native usage. The judicial returns
show how much more favourable the mode of disposing of business
in the courts before 1859 was to defendants than the more strict
procedure which was introduced in 1859. The suits in subordinate
courts adjusted without judicial action averaged a proportion of one
to four to those actually heard. In 1850, 2395 suits were adjusted or
withdrawn against 9048 decided. In 1859 as many as 4538 suits were
adjusted or withdrawn against 15,622 decided. The rate at which
the growing work was disposed of is well shown by the proportion of
suits left undisposed of at the end of the year. In 1850 of 16,560
suits filed 3473 remained in the file at the end of the year, in 1858
of 25,257 suits filed 10,400 remained on the file. It is also evident
that an immediate and considerable impetus was given to litigation
after the introduction of the survey settlement (1848-1853). There
was a temporary reaction in the expansion of agriculture in 1854,
the people having taken more land than they could cultivate, and
accordingly the work of the courts was reduced during this year
and the next, only however to increase again until the number of
suits in 1859 had reached 25,136 compared with 15,633 in 1850. At
this time (1850-1859) the returns show that the imprisonment of the
debtor was a favourite method of procuring the settlement of a debt.
The sale of land was rare and the sale of the debtor's house was an
innovation. Imprisonment would therefore be more often used.
During the three years ending 1863 there was an average of 49 civil
prisoDors in the Ahmadnagar Jail, compared with an average of 29
in the three years ending 1863.

In June 1858, Mr. Tytler the Collector of Ahmadnagar wrote
that the husbandmen cordd not writ% or read, and, provided they
had their urgent wants supplied, whether for a marriage or any
other object^ they cared not what document they signed. The
M^Lrw&ris took advantage of this state of things *and they cared not
what document they forged or how extravagant were the terms
entered in the bond. Yet documents thus framed passSd as
agreements betwjeen the parties. The aid given by law to money-*
lenders and borrowers was all on the side of the moneylenders
who required no aid being well able to take care of themselves, and
the borrowers who required it all had no protection whatever. Mr.
Tytler believed that nine-tenths of the disturbances in India were
attributable to the evil and one-sided working of the civil courts.

■ T72— 40

caiapter 7.
Capital.

Borrowers.

[Bombay Gazetteer,

DISTRICTS.

Chapter V.
Capital.

BORBOWBRS.

HttBbwadmen,

The position of the litigants was not simply debtor and creditor ;
it was the fraudulent M^wdri backed by the civil courts against
the helpless husbandman signing any bond without even a true
knowledge of its contents and powerless to oppose any decree that
might be passed. This matter spread a constant angry sore through*
out society. The people threw the whole blame on the civil courts,
but the fault was not in the courts but in the law which was at
fault in assuming debtor and creditor to be equal while they were
more in the position of master and slave. The question was one
of vital importance both to Government and to the people. Even
the passive society of the east could not bear so great a burden
without from time to time struggling to shake it off. These
efforts must increase in frequency and strength unless the
legislature took up the matter and removed the cause of evil.
Mr. Tytler quoted an instance of the working of the existing laws.
A man borrowed a quantity of jvdri worth about 12«. (Ks. 6)»
Two or three bonds followed and in sixteen months the borrower
Was sued for £7 4«. (Rs. 72) which the lender was awarded with
costs. The judge considered the thing iniquitous but there was a
bond and a bond covered all iniquity. Thousands of parallel cases
could be collected ; every division and every village teemed with
them.

The Revenue Commissioner Mr. Inverarity laid the matter before
the Government pf the day. Lord Elphinstone, the Governor of
Bombay^ recorded his conviction that the labouring classes suffered
enormous injustice from the want of protection against the
extortionate practices of moneylenders.* He believed that the civil
courts had become hateful to the mass of the people because they
were made the instruments of the almost incredible rapacity of
usurious capitalists. In Lord Elphinstone's opinion nothing could
be more calculated to give rise to widespread discontent and
dissatisfaction with British rule than the practical working of the
existing law.

In 1869 two enactments aggravated existing evils. These wore
the Civil Procedure Code and the Statute of Limitations. Whatever
facilities the law afforded the creditor in 1852 were greatly enhanced
by the introduction of the 1859 procedure, and by the punctual
conduct of judicial duties which was now exacted from the
subordinate courts. At the same time the landholder's credit was
enhanced by adding his land and his stock and field tools to the
security wluch was liable for his debts.

Shortly after this the rise in produce prices improved the
landholder's condition. Notwithstanding the pressure of debt and
of injturious laws, about 1860 the landholders were better off than
they had been for years. The conditions of agriculture had been
favourable. For more than ten years landholders had enjoyed a
fixed and moderate assessment and large tracts of arable waste had
been brought under tillage. Communications and means of
transport were improved, a railway was within easy reach of many
parts of the district, and in spite of a series of good seasons produce
prices had risen. Although the lender might take bim to courts

Deecan.]

ahmadnagar;

315

a landholder had a chance of being able to borrow f i*om a rival lender
and the conrt would give tima If a decree was passed against the
borrower, his stock and field-tools were safe and his land was not in
danger. He might be imprisoned nntil he signed a new bond ; he
was not likely to be made a panper.

In 1862, the Collector Mr. Tytler, after sixteen years' acquaintance
with the district, recorded the following remarks on its progress in
wealth. Mr. Tytler believed that a comparison of the past and the
enrrent^rates of interest afForded an excellent test of the progress
of wealth. High interest was a sign of poverty. A poor nation and
high interest and a rich nation and low interest everywhere went
together. The great fall of interest indicated unmistakably a marked
increase in the capital and wealth of the peopla Oood seasons and
steadily rising prices in the past few years had made a marked
difference in the indebtedness of the husbandmen. Averse as they
were from admitting improvement, they freely allowed that they
had to a large extent shakei) off the trammels of debt, which
for years had damped and depressed their energies. In 1864
the most prosperous period of the American war was reached.
In 1865 the introduction of compulsory registration of deeds
dealing with immovable property jprotected the creditor from
attempts to repudiate or dispute a registered bond. In the
meantime the landholder s estate had risen in value and new
cultivation offered securities for new loans. His personal solvency
was assured by the large demand for labour on the railway and
other public works, and in 1865 his title in his land was recognized
and secnred by an Act which confirmed the rights vested in lum by
the survey settlement. Between 1862 and 1865 the American war,
while on the one hand it poured money into the country to seek
investment, on the other hand raised to an extravagant pitch the
value of agricultural securities. To these causes tending to attract
capital to the business of agricultural moneylending it may be
added that in the dearth of other industries, with a population whose
wants embraced little but the merest necessaries, capital, which under
other conditions would find employment in trade or manufactures,
naturally turned to agricultural investment. Almost the only course
open to the clerk or servant who had saved a little money in a
village moneylender's employment, was to set up as a moneylender.

The most unscrupulous class of petty moneylenders increased
considerably during the ten years ending 1875. It became the
landholder's common practice to borrow from one lender to pay
another or to borrow from two or three at a time. One result of this
competition of low-class lenders was that even respectable lenders
were obliged to resort to the methods of swelling the debt and
coercing the debtor which the petty lenders had introd»ced.^

Chapter 7.
Capital

BoSROWBBa.

Hiubfmdmen.

I Sir G, Wingate thus described the change in the relations between the lender and
the landholder : The prosperity of the landholder is no longer necessary to the
prosperity of the lender. The village lender needs no longer to trust to the
landholder's good faith or honesty. Mutual confidence and goodwill have given
place to mutual distrust and dislike. The ever-ready expedient of a suit gives the

[fiombfty Gueftteer.

316

DISTRICTS.

Chapter T.
Ca^tal.

BOBROWKItS.

Husbandmen.

In the process of swelling the account the lender was gr^tly
helped by the Limitation Act of 1859. This Act was passed with
the object of helping the borrower by making it impossible for the
lender to bring forward old claims which the borrower could not
disprove. The lender wrested the provisions of the Act to his own
advantage by forcing the debtor, under threat of proceedings, to pass
afresb bond for a sum equal to the amount of the original bond
together with interest and often a premium.^ His inability to pay
on account of the uncertainty of the seasons made this practice of
passing new bonds at the end of every two or three years pres^
specially hard on the husbandman.

Though the landholder's gains from the high prices of produce
during the four years of the American war (1862-1865) were to a
great extent cancelled by the badness of those seasons, still the
husbandmen drew large profits from the high wages of unskilled
labour, which in Bombay rose from 15a. 6d. to £1 7«. (Rs. 71-13^) a
month. Besides in Bombay high wsiges were paid to the workers in the
railway especially on the Bor pass which was not completed till 1863.
Shortly after this came an increased expenditure on public works.
Besides the advantage of high wages the agricultural population drew
a more questionable advantage from their position as landholders.
Through the immense stimulus given to the production of cotton uud
because of the cheapness of money field produce and land had rlscu

lender complete command over the person and property of the debtor. It bec(
the lender^ interest to reduce the borrower to hopeless indebtedness that he

becomes
may
appropriate the whole fruits of his industry beyond what is indispensable to the
borrower's existence. This the lender is able without difficulty to do. So lone as a
landholder is not deeply involved the lender readily affords him the means of indulging
in any extravagance. The simple and thoughtless landholder is easily lured into the
snare. He becomes aware of his foUy only when the toils are fairly round him and
there is no escape. From that day he is his creditor's bondsman. The creditor
takes care that the debtor shall seldom do more than reduce the interest of his
debt. Do what he will the landholder can never get rid of the principal. He toils
that another may rest; he sows that another may reap. Hope leaves him and
despair seizes him. The vices of a slave take the place of a freeman's virtues. Ho
feels himself the victim of injustice and tries to revenge himself by cheating his
oppressors. As his position cannot be made worse, he grows reckless. His ffreat
endeavour is to spoil his enemies the moneylenders by continual borrowing. When
he has boiTowed all that one lender will advance, it is a triumph to him, if lies and
false promises can win something more from another. The two creditors may fight ,
and auring the fray the debtor may snatch a portion of the spoil from both^ Doccan
Riots Commissioners' Report, 45-46.

1 On the 17th of May 1875. Mr. W. M. P. Coghlan, C. S, the Sessions Judge of ThAna,
wrote : 'In bonds founded on old bonds which have nearly run the period ox limitation^
it is impossible to estimate what proportion of the consideration was actual cash
payment. The Limitation law, a statute of peace made for the protection of borrowera ,
has become an engine of extortion in the hands of the lenders. When a bond is nearly
three years old the creditor by threatening proceedings presses the debtor to pass a
new bond for a sum equal to the principal and interest of the old bond and sometimes
with a# additional premium. Accoraing to the Judge of the Small Cause Court ol
Ahmadabad, I st September 1875, the short term which the Limitation Act introdnccKl
caused great hardship and furnished lenders with opportunities for cheating tiiesr
debtors. The debtors are harassed every two years to pay the money or to pass a
new bond. Creditors always leave a margin of one year as a measure of precaution.
If the law makes three years they always make it two, l>ecau8e they may sMve to go
to another place or the debtor may go elsewhere. Two years is not a long enough
time to give a husbandman to pay money. Perhaps it was borrowed for nia sun's
marriage, or for planting sugarcane, or making a garden, and will take bim six or
even years to clear.

Oeeeaii.]

AHMADNAGAR.

317

so high that the landholder's power b» a borrower was that of a
capitalist rather than of a labourer.

The increase in the value of land is illustrated by the rise in the
number of suits connected with land from seventy-five in 1851
to 318 in 1861 and to 689 in 1865.^ The civil prisoners at
Ahmadnagar also averaged six during the three years ending 1866
against 29 during the three years ending 1863. At the same time
the increase in the landholder's credit is shown by the fall in
compulsory processes for the recovery of debt. Thus, though
during this period of extremely high prices, the husbandman's land
may have, on account of the badness of the seasons, brought him
little actual income it brought him the fatal gift of unlimited credit.

In 1865 with the close of the American war the inflow of capital
ceased. This decrease of money contributed to contract the land-
holder's means and materially reduced the margin available for the
lender, while it is possible that the landholders did not contract in
the same proportions the more costly mode of living which high
wages had justified. Debts increased and the husbandmen began
to mortgage their lands more deeply than before. In 1871 the,
failure of crops called for large remissions. This bad season was
followed by a marked fall in produce prices between 1871-72 and
1873-74. The effect of this fall of prices aggravated by other
circomstances, was first to reduce the landholder's power of paying,
secondly to make the creditors seek by all means in their power to
recover their debts or to enhance their security by turning personal
debt into land mortgage, and lastly to check further advances to
husbandmen. During the same period there was a notable increase
in the difficulty of collecting the land revenue. The period from
1868*69 to 1873-74 was marked by an unusual amount of remissions
and arrears. The business of lenders was also reduced to the last point.
At the same time the area held for tillage considerably contracted.

The pressure on the landholder to pay what he owed and the
unwillingness of the lender to make further advances were gradually
increasing from 1869 to 1875. An order of Government in the
Revenue Department,^ framed with the object of preventing the
sale of land, directed that process to recover land revenue should
issue first against the movable property of the occupant, and that
the land should not be sold until after the sale of the movable
property. This order the moneylenders turned to their own
advantage at the expense of the landholders. In February and
March 1875 the lenders refused to pay the second instalment of
revenue on land whose produce they had received from their debtors.
I^iandholders who found their movable property attached, after they
had handed their creditors the produce of the land on the
understanding that they would pay the rents, naturally felt that
they were the victims of deliberate fraud. The feeling of ill-will
was strong and widespread.

Chapter T«
Capital.

BOSKOWBBS.

HusbaQdmeii.

1 The detaila are : 1861, 318 suits ; 1862, 354 ; 1863, 520 : 1864, 449; and 1865, 689 ;
ID 1861 there were only 75 cases under this head.
3 fiMolutiott 726 of 5tb February 1875.

[Bombay Oaietleer,

318

DISTRICTS.

Chapter 7.
Capital.

BORBOWKRS.

Husbandmen.

Deccan Biots,
1875,

In 1874 a band of Koli outlaws, on the western hills of Ahmadnagar
and Poona^ directed their robberies almost entirely against the
lending class. So great was the terror that for many months a
large tract of country enjoyed complete freedom from the exactions
of Marwdri creditors and their agents.^ This fact and the story that
an Englishman^ who had been rained by a Marw^ri^ had petitioned
the Empress and that she had sent orders that the Marwaris were to
give np their bonds brought matters to a crisis. Even the more
educated villagers believed that on a report from India orders had
come from England that the M&rwdris were to have their bonds takoQ
from them. In some form or other this report was circulated and
a belief established that acting under orders from England, the
Government officers would connive at the extortion of the
Mdrw&ri^s bonds. During 1874 the district officers had been called
upon to furnish information regarding the people of the district
for the compilation of the Bombay Gazetteer. Among other
subjects the business of the mone^ender, the leading characteristics
of his professional dealings, and his relations to the landholding
classes had been inquired into. This gave room for supposing that
the Government, hearing of the ill-treatment of the landholders by
the lenders/ had caused inquiry to be made and had now given an
order which would redress their wrongs. This resulted in the Deccan
Eiots of 1875.2

The first outbreak occurred at Supa in Poona, about twenty-five
miles from the south-western boundary of Ahmadnagar on the 12tb
of May 1875, and similar riots took place or were threatened in
several villages of Sirur, Bhimthadi, Haveli, Purandhar, and Indapur
in Poena, and of Pdmer, Shrigonda, Nagar, and Karjat in
Ahmadnagar. The people of the town of Pdrner were amongst the
first to follow the example of Kirde, Nimune, and other villages in
Sirur whose people had placed the Mdrwdris in a state of social
outlawry, refusing to work for them, to draw water, supply necessaries,
to shave them, and at the same time subjecting them to annoyance
by throwing the carcasses of dogs and other filth on their premises.
Parner had about fifty moneylenders the chief of whom were
M£rw£ris. The whole body had an evil name for greed and
fraud. That there was no riot at Parner was owing to the vigilance
of the police and the activity of the assistant collector in charge who
scoured the country with parties of Poena Horse.^ In the xiots at
Ghospuri in Pernor, on the 23rd of May where the lenders were the
Brdhman kulkami family and one Gujarati, the kulkarni's house
was surrounded by the rioters, but, owing to the precautions takon
by the family, the rioters only sat in dharna or appeal at tl^ir door.

' Between April 1871 and October 1874 moneylenders suffered in two cases of
murder, five of dacoity including one case of mutilation, three of riot, seven of house*
breaking with theft of property and bonds, one of arson, or a total of eighteen offence*
in three years and six months. Deccan Riots Commissioners' Report, 9.

' The feeling of hostility between the landholders and their creditors which fontid
expression in the riots had been increasing for some time, and had it not been for a
transient period of prosperity, the crisis would have happened long before. Bom.
Gov. Sel. CLVII. (New Series), 2.

^ Deccan Riots GommissioDers' Report Appendix C. 66.

Deecan-I

AHMADNAGAR.

319

They attacked the houses of the Gnjardti lender and after getting all
the bonds from him destroyed some of them before his eyes. Some
were afterwards found in their possession most of them torn and a
few complete. In Ghorgaon in the Shrigonda sub-division all the
moneylenders had their bonds burnt. The Police pdtil was
convicted as the leader of the rioters. Disturbances took place in
six villages of P^mer^ eleven of Shrigonda/ four of Nagar^ and one
of Karjat. They were threatened in many other villages but were
prevented by the timely avrival of the police or military. A
detachment of Native Infantry was moved to Shrigonda and parties
of the Poena Horse were active in patrolling the villages in the west
within reach of their head-qaarters at Sirur. In all 392 persons
were arrested, of whom 200 were convicted and 192 discharged.
Punitive police posts were established at the expense of the
inhabitants among the disturbed villages.

In a few instances personal violence was used and in several places
stacks of produce belonging to 'moneylenders were burnt ; but as a
rule the disturbances were marked by the absence of serious crime.
In every case the object of the rioters was to obtain and destroy the
bonds and decrees in the possession of their creditors. When bonds
were peaceably given the mob did no further mischief beyond burning
them. When the moneylender refused or shut his honse violence
was used to frighten him into surrender or to get possession of the
papers. In most places the police interfered in the first stage
of assembling and prevented violence. From many villages the
Mdrwiris fled on the first news of the outbreak. In other villages
they opened negotiations with their debtors for a general reduction
of their claims, and in some cases propitiated their debtors by easy
settlements. In almost every case inquired into, the riot began on
hearing that in some neighbouring village bonds had been extorted
and that Government approved of the proceeding. Almost the only
victims were Mdrwdris and Gu jars. In most villages where Br^hmans
and other castes shared the lending business with Mdrw^ris the
Mdrwiris were alone molested. In Ghospuri in Pdmer, and in a
few other exceptional cases where he was the leading or the only
lender, a Brdhman suffered. The feeling of discontent among the
orderly and patient landholders of Ahmadnagar and the neighbouring
districts wm so bitter and widespread that some changes in the
existing relations between the lender and the borrower seemed
necessary. The summary of the results of the Commission which was
appointed in 1875 to inquire into the causes of the riots, of the
changes which were made in the Civil Procedure Code in 1879,
and of the provisions of the Deccan Ryots Relief Act which was
passed in 1879 is given in the Poena Statistical Account and
applies equally to Ahmadnagar. According to the latest infori^ation
(1883) the result of these changes in Ahmadnagar is much the same
as in Poena. The landholders seem to be better off than they were

Chapter T*
Capital.

BORBOWEBS.

Husbandmen.

Rditf Act,
1879.

1 In thirty-five vilUges of Shrigonda the husbandmen's debts amounted to about
£60,000 {Be. e hikhs) and in the whole sub-division to about £120,000 (Bs. 12 kUthi)
or nearly tea timse the yearly Government revenue, Mr. A. F. WoodbaruyCS.

[Bombay Gazetteer,

320

DISTRICTS,

Chapter V«
Capital

BOBBOWXRS.

Husbandmen.

Slavxbt.

before the Belief Act was passed. The decrease in fresh loans has
led to a diminution of indebtedness : old debts are being gradually
worked off, compromised^ or barred by time ; a good beginning has
been made towards clearing off the load of debt ; the people as a
rule are sensible of the change^ and in consequence show a growixig
desire to practise thrift and to combine for purposes of mutual help.
Many experienced revenue and judicial officers hold that^ if the
present conditions remain unchanged^ a few more years will see
the landholders to a great extent igbo from debt and in ordinary
years able to meet their expenses without the help of the money-
lender. At the same time it is to be remembered that the last three
seasons (1880-81^ 1881-82, and 1882-83) have been seasons of
average prosperity and that the Act has not yec stood the test of a
failure of crops. Matters are still in a transition state, and during
the transition period it would be unreasonable to eirpect the Act to
endure a severe strain. Once freed fiiom debt the landholder in
ordinary years wiU be able to get on without borrowing. In periods
^ scarcity or distress he will have to look to Government for help,
unless in the meantime the relations of the lending and the
borrowing classes are placed on a more rational footing than that
on which they rested in times past. The Belief Act has done much
to restore solvency 'to the most important class in the district with
the least possible disturbance of tne relations between capital and
labour.

Under Mardtha rule fgur kinds of house slavery existed in
Ahmadnagar. Family slaves were either children sold by their parents
under pressure of want during a general famine ; children kidnapped
or enticed from distant homes and sold in the district ; persons
who had followed Yanj&ris and other travelling merchants from
foreign territory during times of scarcity, and, as the only means of
preserving their lives, agreed to allow themselves to be sold when
purchasers offered ; and children sold by their parents to dancing girls
to be brought up to their profession. Of the four classes the largest
were those who had followed travelling grain-dealers and agreed
to be sold to the first buyers. Slavery was never prevalent in the
district. It was commoner in large towns than in the villages and
in great measure was confined to the houses of Br&hmans and
Musalmdns. Some village headmen had slaves, but slaves
were rare in Kunbi families. The price of a slave varied
from £2 lOa. to £50 (Bs. 25 - 500) according to circumstances and
the qualities of the slaves. Women were always dearest, and their
price depended chiefly on their youth and good looks. Besides
being the servants of the family, women slaves were usvally the
concubines of the master of the house. Where both male and
female slaves were kept, they were allowed to intermarry, and the
offspring were not considered slaves. In 1819, a good number of
people of all ages and sexes were brought by Vanjaria from tho
I4^iz&m's dominions, where there was a famine and had promised to
allow themselves to be sold. On arriving in Ahmadnagar they
objected to fulfil their agreement as thOT could support themselves
by their labour, and complained to Captain Pottinger that they
should not be sold as the Yanjdjris had made use of their services

Decean.)

AHMADNAGAR.

321

on the road. Captain Pottinger notified tbat if any one bought
these immigrants they did so at the risk of losing their money. No
one would buy the slaves and the Yanj^ris were glad to set them
free to save the cost of feeding them. A great many children were
a]so carried to Nisik where under Captain Pottinger's instructions
they were given to respectable householders^ to be well treated^ fed,
clothed, and to be allowed to go when they chose to quit their
protectors. After this the custom of keeping slaves rapidly fell into
disuse. Some complaints reached Captain Pottinger from Ndikins
or dancing girls from whom the young women whom they had brought
up and trained had run away with lovers. The lover in some cases
was allowed to keep the girl on agreeing to pay the Ndikin her
original price and to declare the girl free. Such cases were left to
friendly settlement^ but in no case was the girl forced to return. In
1821, a few female slaves were bought by rich Br&hmans and by
N&ikins. In both these cases the girl might be considered fortunate,
as she was sure to be well fed and treated with the utmost kindness.^

In purely agricultural parts where markets are distant as in*
Shevgaon and Nevasa, labour has always been and is cheaper
than near cities. The wages of a common labourer throughout the
district range between 2«. and 10«. (Rs. 1-5) a month. In and
near Ahmadnagar they are as high as 12s, (Bs. 6) a month. Near
Ahmadnagar when land is tilled by hired labour, two men are
generally able to manage a field of about thirty acres of which three
may be garden or bdgdyat. The yearly money wages of each amount
to about £1 4^. (Rs. 12). Besides these cash wages each workman
receives a monthly allowance of about fifty pounds (6 pay lis) of grain
and a present of salt and pepper.^ The services of field labourers
are in special demand at harvest time and afterwards on the
thrashing floor, from October to March. At other seasons, the
labourer has chance jobs in the fields, besides unskilled buildings
work, cart-driving, and brick-making. Reaping and thrashing are
paid in kind daily, and other work in cash weekly. Men or women
reapers are given five sheaves in a hundred of the number cut or
uprooted and tied. Children are not employed in reaping. For
thrashing two pounds (1 slier) of grain are allowed for every 200
pounds (100 shers) trodden and winnowed. The wages of field labour
paid in money are not more than lid. (1 a.) a day. For other work a
man's day's wages vary from 3d, to 44(2 (2-3 as,), and a woman's from
2\d, to S<{. (14-2 a«.), achild is usually paid l^d, (1 a.) a day. Some
villagers go to Bombay as labourers, and many landholders after

Chapter V.
Capital

Slaves.

Waobs.

^East India Papers, IV. 762-3.

* Fifty years ago (1830) an able-bodied field labourer, in return for a year's ^ork,
QMd to reoeive four mans and 3^ pdylia of jvdri valued at Rs. 8-5-2 ; six pdyli$ of tur
poise Tftluad at Rs. 1-3-7 ; three pdylia of salt valued at Re. 0-9-8 ; chillies valued at
Ke« O'12-O ; and Rs. 20 in cash ; that is a total payment estimated at Rs. 30-14-5.
A female labourer received three-fourths of the amount of food given to the male
Ubonrer valued at R«. 10-2-10, and clothes instead of cash worth Rs. 17-2-10, that is
a total estimated at Rs. 17-10-10. In 1848 field labourers engaged for the season were
laid Rs. 4 a month ; if engaged for the year they were paid Rs. 25 to Rs. 30 with two
pounds (1 «Aer) of grain daily and wheat bread, and raw sugar or gtd on the twelve
IcMiing holidays, and five articles of drees. Bom. Gov. Sel. GXXUL 175.

B 772— 41

[Bomltay Gtauttoer.

822

DISTRICTS.

Outpter T«
Capital.

tlieir field work is over are liired with their bullocks by traders to carry
grain and other exports to the coast The wages of skilled artisanfl
range from 9d. to ia, 4^(2. (6-11 as,) for bricklayers, 1«. to Is. 6d.
(8-12 as.) for carpenters and masons, and 6d. to ld.(4-S as.} for tailors.
Cart hire is 2s. |d. (Re. IrSr) ^^^ camel hire Is. 6d, (12 as.) a day.

The oldest prices available for the district are for the sixteen
years of scarcity and dear grain incladed in the thirty-eight years
ending 1809. These sixteen years are divided into three periods.
In the three years ending 1775 rice varied from 16 to 25| pounds
the rupee, jvdri from 59 to 72, and bdjri from 38 to 64^ pounds ;
in the five years ending 1795 rice varied from 8 to 16 pounds,
Jvdri from 14| to 52^ pounds, and bdjri from 18^ to 43 pounds ; and
in the five years ending 1809 rice varied from 5 to 40 poundH and
bdjri from 4^ to 50^ pounds. The details are :

Ahmadnagar Produce Prices {Pottnds the Bupee), 1772-1809.

•

■i

•

Rioe

JvdH ^.

I 1^

62i

• ••

• ■

•m •

• *•

«« •

Bdjri ...

18|

601

Wheat ^.

■ ••

29i

•»«

Tur

f6^

•v«

» « •

Qnm ...

25} 48

82 12

•»•

• • »

From 1810-11 to 1821-22 the average price of jvdri was 40
pounds and of bdfri 36 pounds in J^mkhed and 35 pounds of jvdri
and 42 i pounds of bdjri in Korti that is Karjat and ohrigonda. By
the end of 1821-22, 375,000 acres (500,000) bighds of waste laud had
been brought under the plough, and, as the next year (1822-23) was
one of extraordinary production, prices fell one-third below what
they were in 1820-21. Nothing approaching such a fall in the value
iQf produce had taken place in the Deccan within the memory of the
oldest inhabitants. In Ahmadnagar townyvari sold at 176 to 192
pounds the rupee and b^ri at 128 to 144 pouods and in the district
prices were a fourth lower. In 1821 grain was so plentiful that
the cultivators found it difficult to find a sale for the produce of their
land.^ Though the two next seasons (1823-24 and 1824-25) were
years of great and general failure and thoufi^h the crops were
again greatly deficient in 1832-33, during the ten years ending
1833-34 all field produce prices fell to nearly one-half below what
they were during the ten years ending 1821-22.* From 1834-35 to
1837-38 the average rupee price oi jvdri was 64 pounds and of bdjri
65 pounds in Ji,mkhed and 88 pounds oi jvdri and 65 pounds of bdjri
in £[arjat and Shrigonda. For the next six years endingl 843*44
no prices are availabia In 1844-45 /t7dri was sold at 117 pounds in
San^mner and bdjri at 93 pounds in Sangamner and at 90 pounds
in Kopargaon. The next year (1845-46) was a year of scarcity and
jvdri rose to 57 pounds in Sangamner and bdjri to 39 pounds in
Sangamner and to 33 pounds in Kopargaon. The three years ending

1 Bom. Rev. Bee. 96 of 1839, 31.

> East India Papers, IV. 730. Bom. Rev. Rec. 692 of 1836, 36-38,

Beccaii.]

AHMADNAGAR.

32a

1848-49 were years of very low prices, jvdri selling at 120 to 270
and ayeraging 209 poonds and bdjri at 72 to 220 and averagin|^
148 pounds.

Daring the twelve years ending 1860-61, thoagh there were
considerable fluctuations there was no decided or long continued
rise in prices. During these twelve years, in the villages, jvdri
sold at 58 to 140 and averaged 100 pounds, and in Nagar at 48 to
79 and averaged 59 pounds In 1861-62yt7dri rose to 33 pounds in
BAhari and 294 pounds in Nagar. During the fourteen years endii^
1875*76, in the villages yt;ari sold at 33 to 99 pounds and averaged
58 pounds, and in Nagar at 21 to 67 pounds and averaged 37
pounds. The four years ending 1879-80 was a time of famine and
suffering. In the villages jvdri sold at 20 to 45^ pounds and
averaged 26 pounds, and in Nagar at 19 to 34^ pounds and averaged
24 pounds. The next two years, 1880-81 and 1881-82, show a
gradual fall in prices, jvdri falling in the villages from 46 to 77
pounds and in Nagar from 41 pounds to 72 pounds. In 1882-8S
jcdri was sold in the villages from 46^ to 60 pounds and in Nagar *
at 56 pounds. The details are :

Ahmadnagar Produce Prices fPai^a the BupeeJ, 184445 - 1882-8S^

Btijn

Wbcat

Grftm

1844-45.

117

09
OB

90
86
70

A
03

3
I

1845^40.

■c

1840-47.

57
89 38
47
83 I 34

286

180

72
80
38

(S8

1847-48.

■ ■ •

210
174
ISO
108

270

137

1848-49.

■ ••

■ ••
f ••

■ ••

120 220
90 220

90
108

97
99

• ••

Oapter T^
Capital-

Peigss.

Jvdfi ...

1840-60.

1850-51.

1861.62. ^

1852-5Sw

1858-54.

122108

80 61|

*«•

117

03i

132

115

123

Bd^ri ...

117

08 40^

• ••

105

441

58»

644

100

Wlieat...

• ••

44{

8.3

47i

3H|

Oram ...

• «•

• ••

... 02

ft ■ •

• ••

• mm

Jv4iri ...

1854-65.

1866-60.

1866-57.

1867-58.

1858-59.

117

• ••

117

102

100

102

140

10660

SUJri ...

100

90 54

Whasit ...

85^

• ••

S4i

884

81441

Gmm ...

*■•

• ••

00 ...

75...

•

Jcdiri ...

1859.00.

1860-61.

1861-62.

1802-68.

1803-04.

110

100

... 00}

• ••

29i

Bdiri ...
WhMt ...

• • •

861

60 25|

OniD ...

■ »•

44 ...

• •*

• «

• ••

[Bombay Gaaatteer*

824

DISTRICTS.

Chapter V.
Capital

Ahmadnagar Produce Prices iP(nmds the Rupee), 18U'4^- W^f-^«— oontinned.

Asncu.

JvdH ...

Bdjri ...
Wheat ...
Gram ...

o
M

1864-66.

46
84
28
26

86
60
22
22

80
27
27

41
261

1865-66.

74 I 88
66 28
24 28
24 , 22

78
88
88
80

28*

74
66
24
24

1866-67.

62
60
84
27

82
26

t6*

21
17*

1867-68.

62
47
86
80

42
86
24

46
44

88
27

82
22

186868.

42
27
27

Jvdn ...

1869-70.

lg70.7L

1871-72.

1872-78.

1873-74.

flO

.Bdfri ...
Wheat ...

27*

•7

26*

4«

Oram ...

• ••

22*

80*

JvM ...
B4fri ...
Wheat ...
Oram ...

1874-76.

1876-7B.

1876-77.

1877-78.

1878-79L

78
42

00
75
46
46

84
68
42
41

81*
48

66
44

86
48

66
64

89
61

60
64
86
47

66
62
85
68

28
26
24
28

80
26
26
27

27
27
28

80
29
80

20
21
15
16

22
20
16
18

17
19
21
24

19
19
17
18

S3
24
16
16

18
18

17
17

SI
fi
15
16

WnOHTS AKD

AincLB.

187»«)L

1880-81.

1881-82.

1888-88.

Jvdri ...

45* 27*

47*

76J

77*

fiO 46*

S^"* •

21*

m 26

45*

50*

62*

48* 40

Wheat ...
Oram ...

17
18*

20
24

17
20*

87
68*

•

82
60

34 29
40* 82*

;i»

2S
43

Metals, cotton, cotton yarn, silk, coffee, raw and refined' sngaTi
clarified batter, oil, drags, and spices are sold by weight. In the
case of gold and precioas stones, the following weights are used :
Two gahusj one gunj ; IJ gunjs, one rati; 2f gunjs, one vdl ; eight
gunjs, one mdaa ; six Tndsds, one sdhdmdsa ; and two sahdmaads or
forty vdUf one tola. The gahu is a grain of wheat, the gunj is the
seed of the Abras precatorias, and the vdl of the chilhdri tree. The
rati, is a small piece of copper weighing nearly two grains. The
mdsa is a square, and the tola an oblong piece of metal. Goldsmiths
often nse a piece of china or crockery ground to the exact weight.
The tola weighs a little more than the Government rupee which is
^qual to lUmdsds. Silver is sold by the weight of the Government
^pee. For inferior metals and other articles sold by weight the
foUoiT^ng table ^s used : Five tolds one ehhatdk, four chhatdks one
pdvsher, two pdvahera one achher, two achJiera one sher, forty
aliera one man, three mams one palla, and 20 mans one khandi
Except the tola, the pdvaher, the achher, and the sher, which are
sometimes made of copper or brass all these weights are made oi
iron. They are bell-shaped and flat-topped, and have a ring at the
top to lift them by. Oil when bought from the pressors, small

DeccaaJ

AHMADNAGAB.

825

quantities of clarified batter broughtto market by villagers, andmilk,
are measured by cup-sbaped copper or brass pots, about one and a
half times as large as the weight measures. Grain, pulse, oilseed,
and Ealt are measured^ according to the following table : Two ahera
one adholiy two adholis one pdylt, sixteen pdylia or twelve pdylis
one man, thirty pdylis one palla, and twenty mans one khandi.
As the adhoU measure is the largest in use the measuring of large
quantities of grain is tedious. The contents of a shsr measure
weigh three to four pounds. The length measures used in cotton
and silk goods are the tasu, the gaj, the hdt, and the vdr. The
table is : Fourteen tasus or thumb joints one cubit orjidt, 1| cubits
ODe gaj, and two cubits one yard or vdr. Wholesale purchases are
made by the piece or tJidn of twenty to forty yards. Waistcloths
or dhotars and women^s roi>es or lugdds are sold by the pair or
singly. Woollens blankets and chavlds made by shepherds are
Bold by the score or Jcari to retail and by the hundred to whole-
Bale buyers. Stones, timber, and earthwork are measured by tho
sqoare gaj and masoniy by a hdt of sixteen inches. Three such hdts
make ose khan. Hewn stones are sold by the hundred. The local
land measure is : 5|- hdts long and one hdt broad one kdthi, tweniy
Mthis one pdnd, twenty pdnds one bigha, thirty bigJids one paiku,
and four paiktts one chdhur. The kdthi is either a stick or a piece
of string. One and a third to two bighds equal an acre of 4840
square yards.

Chapter T.
Capital.

WSIOHTB AND

MEABUaiS.

^ It is not above two centnries since eveiythingin this country was sold by weight.
Measares were introdnced under the sanction of some of the latest Muhammadan
rulers. At the present time (1822) grain is sold by weight in someof the neighbouring
l^iMm*B districts. Captain Fottinger's Letter to Mr. Chaplin.

[Bombay Oasetteert

CHAPTEK VL

TRADE AND CRAFTS.

SECTION L— COMMUNICATIONS.

Chapter TI« In tlie centums before and after the Christian era^ when Paithan

Trade and Craits ^^ ^^^ eastern border of Ahmadnagar was one of the chief centres

of trade in the Deccan^ traffic must ho^e crossed the Ahmadnagar
Routes. district over the Sahy^dri hill to the coast Again traffic must

have passed pretty much along the same lines as from Paithan
between the twelfth and the middle of the fourteenth century
(a.d. 1100-1350) whenDevgiri, or as it was afterwards (1338) called
Danlatabad^ was the chief centre of trade in the Deccan. From the
elose at the fifteenth to the early part of the seventeenth century,
with a great trade centre at Ahmadnagar in the heart of the district,
the traffic must have greatly increased. The ehief line of trade was
probably by Junnar and the N4na and Bor passes to Cheul in the
Konkan. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when
the great centre of trade was at Surat and the country was disturbed,
local traffic was small and the through traffic did not cross Ahmad*
nagar. About the close of the eighteenth century when Bombay
took the place of Surat as the leading port in Western India, trade
once more set west across Ahmadnagar and along the Bor and Tal
pass routes.

At the beginning of British rule there were no made roads and
no lines of traffic fit for wheels. The chief lines of communication
were from Ahmadnagar and Kopargaon. From Ahmadnagar the
chief lines were the ATimadnagar-N&sik route, ninety-seven miles,
passing through B^huri, Sangamner, and Sinnar; the Ahmadnagar-
Kopargaonroute, sixty-one miles, through R&huri, Kolh&r, and Ashtd-

Bihuri,
further

.either

through the Nimbedehera or the Jeur pass, and then through Pravara*
Sangam and Yelunja, a branch passing to Jd^lna ; the Ahmadnagar*
Sholapur route 129 miles or through Mdndva, Mirajgaon, P4tegaon,
Ch^padgaon, Karmdla^ and Madha ; th# Ahmadnagar- Sdtara route
120 miles through Vdlki, the SAkli pass, Kotnui, liolgaon, Pdtas,
Supa,^ and G-uluncha ; the Ahmadnagar-Poona route, seventy-seven
miles, through Akolner, Bdnjangaon, and Vaghote, and seventy^ono
miles further through Panvel to Bombay ; the Ahmadnagar-Kalv4n
route, 130 miles through Junnar and the Mals^ pass, and twenty
miles further to Bombay ; the Ahmadnagar-Gang&khed route 151
miles through the D^rur pass. From Kopargaon besides the
M&legaon route a line passed towards Poena 119 miles. None of
these routes were more than fair weather tracks.

Oeecul

AHMADNAGAR.

327

Aboat 1841^ in great measure throngh the enterprise oE Sir
JaflOfletji Jijibb^i of Bombay, tbe export of Berdr cotton was
turned from its former eastern conrse to Mirzdpnr to a western route
across the Beccan to Bombay. About 1850 a large traffic from
Ber^ went to Bombay by the Imdmpur or Jeur pass in Nagar, and
the post line from Bombay to Calcutta ^also crossed Ahmadnagar
and went by the Jeur pass to Aurangabad. According to Mr.
Mackay tbe Poena- Ahniadnagar road formingpart of these lines though
not metalled, was bridged and fairly ditched, the surface being covered
in some places with loose round stones or coarse grayel, and in others
with small fragments of hardened clay. Occasionally the gravel and
the clay were mixed, and in such places the road was generally at its
best. During the dry season it was a fair driving road; during the rains
it was indifferent throughout, and at many points bad. It was
built for military purposes as Ahmadnagar was the head-quarters
of the Bombay Artillery, and it had proved of great advantage to
trade. Although it crossed a comparatively poor country, it was
the chief feeder of the Poona-Panvel road. With its continuation
througk the Nizam's territory to Aurangabad it drew much of
the traffic of BeT&r, out <d what would be its natural coune if aa
easy road had been opened down the Tal pass to the coast. To
reach the line of made road, much Berdr traffic was turned south at
Ajanta from which it reached Bombay by the made road after
traversing nearly three-quarters of the circumference of an enormous
circla^ Of the route which ran from North Ahmadnagar through
Rahuri towards NAsik, the only made portion was the eleven miles
between Ahmadn^ar and the foot of the Nimbedehera pass. At
Kolbar a branch struck off to Yeola and TSTSlegaon. Tn December 1852
troops marching from Ahmadnagar to Mdlegaon were brought to a
stand as heavy rain had fallen and the road was impassable to carts.
About the same time Captain Gaisf ord made a good road from the city
of Ahmadnagar twelve miles to the top of the Im&mpur pass. A
tolerable fair weather road from Poena to Sholapur crossed the Ghod
and passed through the district, and another fair weather road from
Sirur passed through Ukadgaon and Ch&mbhdrgonde or Shrigonde.
Two lines from Ahmadnagar west to Junnar and the Sahyddris were
scarcely passable by carts. They were chiefly used by VanjAris who
preferred them to the made road because they were shorter and better
supplied with forage. Except along these western routes the Yanj^ri
traffic was disappearing and cart traffic was growing. The badness
of the roaiis and several small passes were serious barriers to
internal traffic. In the south of the district little had been done to
help traffic. The country T«as greatly in want of roads. There was
no made road, though with a little smoothing and repairing several
of thaipountry tracks might be made into good cart roads. The cart
traffic was considerable and the roads were still frequented by
Vanjdiis. The three leading lines were : From east to west from
Biirsi and Earmala in Sholipur by Alsunde and Pedgaon towards
Poona; from the Bdk^h&t and Kharda in Jdmkhed by Nimbodi

Chapter VI.
Trade and Craft

Routes.

1 Mackay*8 Weatem India, 384.

[Bombay 6ai«tte«r,
828 DISTRICTS.

Chapter VI* and Ch&mbMrgoi34e towards .the north-west and #ath-east and

Trade ^d Crafts. ^^^^ Ahmadnagar to Karmdla an^ ShoUpnr along thg right bailr of

^ the Sina. East of Im&mpnr twelve miles north-east of itfimadnagar

BoxTTBs. jjQ Q^Y^ roads crossed the B^ldghdt hills. All cart traffic went by

the Imampar pass which could be reached only by 0 considerable
ronnd from some of the sonth Shevgaon Tillages. A much used
bullock track was between Tisgaon and Ahmadnagar by the B^i-
y&di pass and the Shah Dongar. Another was the N^thali pass
between the south of Shevgaon and Jdmkhed. Spveral attempts
to take carts over this pass had ended in a Breakdown. In
J^mkhed the ground was too rough for carts and except a very
difficult line from Maour through the Nagthali pass to Ashti and
Kade there wa% no road either to Ahmadnagar or Poena. The
passes towards Jdmkhed and Eharda were almost impracticable.
The country tracts from Kharda and Jamkhed towards Poena
and Ahmacbagar^ though not good^ were passable by carts. To
Ahmadnagar carts generally went round by Mirajgaon, as the
direct line was difficult. Little cai^ traffic passed between
Nagar and the Jamkhed villages in l^e Sina valley. The small
passes between the Sina and Sinphana valleyn were not fit for carts.
The Mohori pass^ on the Sina side near Kharda, was in use but was
greatly in want of repair, though it had been cleared for guns when
* the Nizam's army came down it before the battle of Kharda (1795).
On the Sinphana side east as far as Bid n^pass was fit for carts. The
Dongar-Kinhi pass between P^thardi and Kharda was not easy for
carts. But there was a large traffic between Kharda and Poona.^
BoABs, * Since 1863 when the levy of a special cess for local works was

introduced road-making has made rapid progress. At present (1884)
besides the cantonment roads and the road up to Sal^bat Khan's tombi
about twenty-five miles, which are charged to imperial revenues, the
district contains 301 miles of provincial and 22(^.miles of loAl fund
roads. The six provincial roads ar« : The Im&mpur-Toka road,
twenty-seven miles, leading towards Aurangabad and the Central
Provinces. It was built at a cost of about £19,000 ^s. 1,90,000)
from Imperial funds, is bridged except across five stre^ns, and ia
now being metalled throughout. It costs about £500 (Rs. 5000) a
year for repairs and yields a yearly toll revenue of about £150
(Rs. 1500). At Toka a ferry boat plies during the rainy season.
The Ahmadnagar-Paithan road of fifty-two miles was made at a
cost of £8094 (Rs. 80,940) from Imperial and Provincial funds. It
is unbridged, metalled foe the first forty miles and then gravelled or
murummed, costs about £1160 (Rs. 11,600) ayearto repair,and yields
atoll revenue of about £125 (Rs. 1250). The ImdmpurtoU bar which
is common to both the Im^mpur-Toka road and the Amnainagar-
Paithan road also yields on an average about £1091 (Rs. lO'jMO) a
year. The Ahmadnagar-Sirur road of thirty-one miles is a seclaon
of the Ahmadnagar-Poona road, and includes the two nkiles from
the Ahmadnagar city to the railway station. It was made at a coat
of £23,027 (Rs. 2,30,270) from Imperinl add Provincial funds, is

1 Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIU. New Series, 140.

> Mr. W. S. Howard, M.InBt.C.E., Sxecative B&gineer.

AHMADNAGAB. 329

met^ed dndned and bridged tlironglioat, eosts about £880 Chapter 71.

(BlAsOO) a yiar for repairs^ the #wo miles to the railway station Xradeiod Crafts.

being yery^txpensive to maintain on account of the great traffic

upon them^ and yields a yearly toll revenue of about £425 (Rs. 4250). Roads.

The Ahmadnagar-Pimpalgaon road of sixty miles is a section of

the Poona-Mdlegaon road. It was made at a cost of £13^452

(Rs. 1^34,520) from Imperial and Provincial funds^ is unbridged in

many places and simply gravelledi costs about £940 (Rs. 9400) a

year for repairs^ and yields a yearly toll revenue of about £230

(Rs. 2300). Of {he five unbridged rivers along this route, three^

the Mula, the Pravara, and the God^vari^ are crossed by ferries in

the rainy season. The Ahmadnagar-Dhond road of ''45| miles was

built at a cost of £11,502 (Rs. 1,15,020). It is mostly metalled

drained and bridged, and before 1878 when the Dhond and Manm&d

railway was opened for traffic, cost about £1 1 00 (Rs. 1 1,000) a year for

repairs, and yielded a yearly toll revenue of about £820 (Rs. 8200).

At present as the road is little used, the cost of repairs has been

reduced to £300 (Rs. 3000) and the toll-receipts to £68 (Rs. 680).

At Dhond a ferry boat crosses the Bhima which has been handed

over to the vill^era who work it at their own risk. The Ambe-

ghadgaon-Ndndurshingote road of thirty-one miles is a section of the

Poona-Ndsik road. It was made at a cost of £2774 (Rs. 27,740)

from Imperial and Provincial funds, is gravelled and partly bridged

and drained, costs about £450 (Rs. 4500) a year for repairs, and

yields a yearly toll revenue of about £130 (Rs. 1300). At Ambe-

gfaadgaon a ferry boat crosses the Pravara. The seventeen local fund

roads are : The Ahmadnagar-Shevgaon road of forty miles made at

a cost of £3739 (Rs. 37,390), is unbridged and except on the Earanji

pass is gravelled as far as Tisgaon twenty-six miles, and is then

partly gravelled and partly cleared. It costs about £350 (Rs. 3500)

a year lor repairs and yields a yearly toll revenue of about £380

(Rs. 8800). The Ahmadnagar-Karm&la road of forty-eight miles lead-*

ing towards ShoUpur was made at a cost of about £3195 (Rs. 31,950) .

It is unbridged, gravelled for thirty-two miles and then cleared, costs

about £150 (fts. 1500) a year for repairs, and yields a toll revenue

of £lbO (Rs. 1500). The Ahmadnagar-An^ghdtroad of thirty-three

miles leading towards Junnar is unbridged and insufficiently

gravelled. It costs about £300 (Rs. 3000) a year for repairs, but has

now been given up. The ten miles in the Nagar sub-division is in

good order, and the rest is only a fair weather country road. The

Ahmadnagar-Chichondi road of fifteen miles is unbridged and

graTelled. It costs about £150 (Rs. 1500) a year for repairs and •

yields a tolWevenue of about £170 (Rs. 1700). The Shendi-Vfimburi

road of %ignt miles was made at a cost of about £1043 (Rs. 10,430).

It is gAyrelled and bridged in the Dongargaon pass, costs ahovif, £80

(Rs. 800) a year to repair, and yields a yearly toll revenue of about

£S0 (Rs. 800). The Nandur-Kolh^r road of twenty-eight miles is

gravelled and bridged at smaller streams. Up to Loni it cost about

£65 (B8.650) a year for-re|iiirs, and beyond it was in bad order.

The whole road has now been given up, as carts prefer the route

through Scuigamner since the Loni-!B&ri road was opened. The

Loni-Bdri road of fifty-eight miles passing through Sangamner

• 772-42

[Bombay Oaaetteer.

830

DISTRICTS.

phapter ¥!•
Trade and CraftB*

BOADB.

Bailwats.

Akola and R&jur^ was made as a famine relief work in 1876*77 at a
cost of about £5500 (Rs. 55^000) from provincial and aboat i^lOO
(Rfl.71,000) from local funds. It costs abont £600 (Rs. 6000) a
year for repairs and no toll has yet been levied on it. Tbe P&mer-
Supa road 7^ miles and the P4rner-Chincholi pass road of fonr
miles are only gravelled, as also are the Loni-Kolh^r six miles,
Pdmer-E&nhnr seven miles^ Arangaon-Vdlki five miles, Tisgaon*
Pdthardi seven miles, and Thagaon-Kothal ten miles, which are
nnder constmction. The cost of yearly repairs on these roads varies
from £10 to £50 (Rs. 100- 500). Besides these the following rail-
way feeder roads are being or have been made from Provincial fnndf,
and will be maintained from Local funds : Kopargaon-Sign^pnr or
Kopargaon station road three miles, Rdhdta-Chitali eleven miles,
NeviLsa-Bel^pur road twenty-two miles, Loni-BeUpnr fifteen miles,
Bel4par station road four miles, Khospuri-Ydmburi ten miles,
Belvandi station road three miles, and Shrigonda-Pimpri four miles.
Projects for the Malegaon-Vamburi road two miles, Supa-Sirola
roaa four miles, Sirur-Belvandi road, fifteen miles, and Dhond-
Pimpri road two miles, have also been prepared.

Under the British, besides by roads, the diajj^rict commnnications
have been improved by the opening of railways. Though neither
branch of the Great Indian Peninsula railway enters the district, the
north-east section which was opened for traffic in 1861 passes within
twenty miles of the northern border, and the south-east section
which was opened for traffic in 1858 within one or two miles
of the southern border. The Dhond and Manm&d railway forms a
chord line 145| miles long between the two sections of the Peninsula
railway, connecting Manm&d 162 miles from Bombay on tfae
north-east section, with Dhond in Poena 167 miles from Bombay on
the south-east section. The line crosses the district from south to
north. It enters the district by a magnificent masonry bridge over the
Bhima at Dhond and runs due north to Ahmadnagar tapping the trade
of Shrigonda and P4mer. It crosses the Mula about two miles north-
east of R^huri and the- Pravara at Ldkh where are the head-works
of the irrigation canal. It then takes a very windiitg course to
Puntdmba on the Goddvari tapping the trade of Bel&pur, Eolbdr,
and R4h&ta. From Puntdmba it runs to Yeola in Ndsik taking
Kopargaon by the way and thence to Manm&d where it joins the
main line to North India. Of 145^ miles, the total length of the
line, one or two miles from DhOnd are in Poena, abeot 121 miles
with fourteen stations, Pimpri twelve miles from Dhond, Belvandi
twenty-one miles, Vis^pur twenty-nine miles, Sdrola thirty-nine
miles, Akolner forty-three miles, Ahmadnagar fifty-one mile?, Yil^
sixty miles, Y&mburi sixty-eight miles, R^hnri serenty-sii miles,
L4kh^ighty-five miles, Beldpur ninety-two mile9> Chitali lOOtnile?,
Pnnt&mba 105 miles, Samvatsar 110 miles, and Kopargaon Road
120 miles are in Ahmadnagar, and the remaining twenty-two miles
with three stations, Yeola Ankai and Manm&d, are in NAsik. The
line was first surveyed in 1868 by the Peninsula railway engineers,
bat no progress was made till the rains of .1876, when the Bombay
Government directed Mr. Hallam, Executive Engineer, Pablic Worb

Oeeoaa-l

AHMADNAGAR. 331

Department, to start another snrvey. Mr. Hallam's lines showed Chapter VI.

an ittkproyed gradation in some 4>lace8 and avoided a tunnel in the Trade BAdCrafti

Chikhli ridge, thirty miles from Dhond. The earthwork was began

in February 1877 and half of it was finished as a famine relief work. Railways.

the labourers being chiefly from Ahmadnagar, N4sik, and ShoUpur.

The gauge is 5' 6^, the same as on the Peninsula lines, and the rails

which are each thirty feet long are of the best Bessemer steel. The

sleepers are pot-sleepers and are three feet apart. The ballast is

cleaa river shingle and the banks are of gravel. The width of land

t^aken up varies with the height of the bank and averages about

forty feet.

The chief bridges are on the Bhima, the GodAvari^ the Pravara^ and
the Mula. The Bhima bridge, 535 yards long, with twenty-eight
fifty feet spans, cost about £49,410 (Rs. 4,94,100) ; the Goddvari
bridge, with twenty-one fifty feet spans, cost about £41,230
(Rs. 4,12,300) ; the Pravara bridge, 280 yards long, with eighteen
forty-feet spans, cost about £23,000 (Rs. 2,30,000) ; the Mula
bridge, with four 147 feet girders, cost about £33,570 (Rs. 3,35,700),
All these except the Mula bridge are founded on rock. Near
the Mula, thirty fe^ of shifting sand and then ten feet of black
deposit had to be dug through. Sheet piling had to be used and
it required six ten horse-power engines working day and night
to keep the pits dry. The stone used in all these bridges is boulder
trap brought in by Yadars. The arching of the three large
bridges is all of through stones two feet nine inches in depth.
The lime nodules or hanka/r were of the best quality, proving on
analysis to contain ninety per cent of fat lime. They were burnt
with charcoal in the proportion of two to one, the average cost per
hundredweight burnt and delivered being £1 16^. (Rs. 18). Besides
these there are in all sixty-nine bridges, twenty*six of them major
and the^est minor, ranging from four to sixty feet long, and built
at a tot^ cost of £93,000 (Rs. 9,30,000). In all cases the stone
was boulder trap cemented with the best mortar. The line has not
yet been fully fenced. In some places, especially near Ahmadnagar
and L^kh, the banks have been thickly planted ynthbdbhul and other
trees. When finished the whole line will have cost about £1,350,000
(Rs. 1,35,00,000) or about £9380 (Rs. 93,800) a mile, of which about
£13,000 (Rs. 1,30,000) were paid for land compensation and
preliminary expenses, and about £105,000 (Rs. 10,50,000) for earth-
work. The line was opened for traffic on the 17th of April 1878.
Home large bridges which were begun in 1879 were not finished till
the rains of 1880. Op to the end of 1880 the line was managed by
Grovernment ; it was then handed to the Peninsula railway authorities.
At the Ahmadnagar station there isapassengerplatform 800 feet long
and a ggoods platfown 700 feet long. The station building cost^ about
£3500 (Rs. 35,000). Quarters for clerks and signallers, built at a
cost of £1800 (Rs. 18,000), for police at a cost of £500 (Rs. 5000),
and for porters at a cost of £500 (Rs. 5000), have also been provided.
There is also a goods shed. At Yis&pur, Sarola, Ahmadnagar,
Vdmburi, Ldkh, and Chitali tank houses and water columns have
been boUi at an average cost, of £1060 (Rs. 10,600). The station

[Bombay Oaietteer,
332 DISTRICTS.

Chapter TI- yards are all planted with mango trees, a waterman and gardener
Trade and CSraits* 1^®^? ^®P^ ^^ ^^^^ station on the line.

Passes. ^ ^® hill passes of the district belong to two systems, those that ran

east and west across the main range of the Sahy&dris and those that

run on the whole north and soath across the spurs that stretch east

. from the main range of the Sahy&dris. The Sahy^dris touch the

/ Ahmadnagar district only in the Akola sub-division in the west.

' y ' The chief passes in the Ahmadnagar section of the range are the

'' Chjendhya and MmpHYA on the direct route from Akola and Edjur

to SHShipur and jSniwndi in Thilna. They descend by two tracts
from^ GhJLtghar on the crest of the Sahyddris, eighty to eighty-five
miles north-west of Ahmadnagar, the Chendhya two and the Mendhya
three miles long. In 1826 these tracks were steep, stony, and
dangerous for cattle at the upper part, but passable for laden cattle
and used for driving sheep and goats for sale to the Konkan markets.
At present they are passable for pack animals but traffic is not
large owing to the rugged country on the Ahmadnagar side,
and the neighbourhood about twelve miles to tbe north of the
Tal high road. Large quantities of myrobalans and rice from the
Sahyddri villages are exported on pack bullocks. About twenty
miles south of &e Chendya and Mendhya passes is the SadhyAchzpAbi
a very steep and difficult tract of about five miles, which leads from
PAchne about sixty miles north-west of Ahmadnagar to^ Belp&da
in the Murb&d sub-division of Thdna. This was formerly a favourite
route for gang robbers in making raids into the Konkan. Between
these two are the PAthbia and Umab passes each about three miles
long leading fro^TSisket seven or eight miles north-west of
P^hne to Ehanshet in Th&na. Besides these larger tracks are
many very intricate Sahyadri footpaths along which people travel
with much difficulty loaded with the produce of their fields to
the different weekly inarkets. Where the rock is very steep they
use a simple bamboo ladder which enables them to keep to the
most direct routes. The ladder consists of a substantial bamboo
stripped of its branches with a small stump left at each joint or
division to be used as a step./ Of the passes which cross the spurs
which stretch east from the oahyidris the chief are : In the north
in the extreme west of the Kalsubdi range a footpath passes from
the head of the Pravara river in Akola round the western spur of
Kulang fort to the village of Jdmundha in Igatpuri. Four miles
east between Kalsub&i and the Navra-Navri hill are two footpaths
used only by Th&kurs and so steep as to be almost inaccessible.
About seven miles east, BlBi^he main pass in the Kalsnb4i range
crosses under the east shouISerof Kalsubdi hilL A road has lately
been made through the pass from the Ahmadnagar side, and, in
N^ikf a road carries on the line to the Ghoti railway station.
Though the Loni-B^ri road was opened about 1877, the Bdri pass
was made rather earlier. The trade is increasing rapidly and is now
ten to fifteen carts a day, but is almost nothing during the monsoon
owing to the want of a ferry over the D&ma river near Ghoti. East

1 The Ahmadnagar HiU Passes Account owes much to additions and corrections by
Mr. J. G.Pottinger, Assoc •M.Inst.C.E., Executive Engineer.

AHMADNAQAR. 333

of Bin the Ealsnb&i range for many miles is impassable except for Chapter YI.
cattle or foot traffic^ and^ as the paths lead from the very ragged Xrade t^ Crafts
lands of Akola, carts are never nsed. One of these is the Mhaisva

{»ass leading from Ekdara near Patta fort to Adjhare Biidruk in
gatpuri. It was formerly made fit for cart traffic, but having been
neglected for many years the lower part has become a stream bed fall
of Donlders. A cart-track leads from Dabere to the east of the Ad
fort in the Sinnar sab-divisibn of Nd.sik to the large town of
Thantoaon on the bank of the Mahdlungi, also in N&sik, and a
similar though less steep track communicates with the Mahdlungi
valley from Ddpur ten or twelve miles sooth-east. About thirty
miles east of Ban at N^ndur-Shingota is the Hanmant pass on the
provincial road between Ndsik, Ahmadnagar, and Poena. Beyond
this the Kalsub^i hills fall into the plain,^^he second range of hills
which leaves the Sahy4dris at Kumshet a little to the north-west of
Kotul in Akola has several fine passes, especially on the road which
enters the Sangamner sub-division from the south, near the village
of Bota, and passes north through the town of Sangamner. The
chief of these is the ChandnApubi pass, on the Poona-Ndsik
road eight miles south of Sangamner with an ascent of nearly a
thousand feet through grand scenery. About thirty-five miles south-
east of Chandndpuri in the north of the Kagar sub-division, across
the same line of hills, is the Nimbbdkhbba pass through which runs
the chief cart-road of the sub-division the A.hmadnagar-MAlegaon
road as well as the Dhond-Manm^ railway. About ten miles east of
Nimbedehera is the rMAMPUB or J eur pass which in 1850 was the only
pass fit for carts on the Ahmadnagar- Aurangabad road, and by it
went the Bombay-Calcutta post and a large cart traffic in Berdr cotton.
At present (1884) the Jeur pass has a very large traffic as all the
cotton and seeds from Toka and Paithan come into Nagar by this
route. About fourteen miles south-east on the same range is the
KAfi^jyipass on the road between Tisgaon and Ahmadnagar. It has
a good deal of traffic in cotton and seeds from the Nizdm's territory
south of Paithan especially from Pathardi about eight miles east of
Tisgaon. The NAgthali pass is between Manur and Ashti and Kad^''
Farther south-east in J^mklied are small passes in the hills between
the Sina and the Sinphana valleys. The Mo||onass six miles north
of Jamkhed is gravelled and bridged. TEeMuNQEvi.Di pass, six
miles east of Kharda, is in its natural state and fit only for pack
animals. There is aj very considerable trade down these passes,
and it is proposed to improve the Mungev&di pass especially as the
Niz&m's government have done a little to their end from rakrud.
The MoHOBi pass on the Sina side six miles north-east of Kharda
18 in its natural state and passable for lightly laden carts. The
passes in the south in the direction of J&mkhed and Kharda are
almost impracticable for carts. Of these the chief the DoNQAJs^KmHi

f\asa between P&thardi and Kharda is almost iqipassaole to"^neeis.
n 1854 several of the passes across the Harishchandragad range
between the Mala and the Ohod valleys presented barriers to internal
traffic. None of them were very difficult and it was said that they
might be cleared of large stones without much expense. Along the
pass between Brahmanvddi in Akola and AmbegawMn in Poena

[Bombay Gaietteer,

334

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YI. timber is at present (1884) dragged from the Akola forests into
Trade and Crafts* ^^^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^ used by pack animals.

Ptortw^. Of eleven local fund ferries which ply from June to October, two,

at Pedgaon and Nimbgaon-Khalu in Shrigonda are on the Bhima ^
two^ at Kopargaon and Toka in Nev&sa are on the Godavari ; three,
at Sangamner and Kolhar in R4huri and at Ealas in Akola are on
the Pravara ; and f onr at Ambeghadgaon in Sangamner, at Rahari
and BeUpur in Bdhari, and at Eotul in Akola are on the Mala.
These ferries are yearly farmed. The 1883-84 receipts amoonted to
£281 (Rs. 2810) against £234 (Rs. 2340) in 1882-83.

Tolls. Of twelve toll bars, ten are on provincial and two on local fund

roads. Of those on provincial roads, two are on the Ahmadnagar-
Toka road, two on the AhmadnagarSirur road, two on the Ahmadnagar-
Dhond road, three on the Ahmadnagar-Pimpalgaon road, and one on
the Ambeghadgaon-Ndndurshingote road. Of those on looal fund
roads one is on the Ahmadnagar-Shevgaon road and one on the
Shendi-Vamburi road. In 1883-84 the receipts on the provincial
roads amounted to £2683 (Rs. 26,830) and on the local fund roads
to £944 (Rs. 9440) against £2226 (Rs. 22,260) on provincial and
£885 (Rs. 8850) on local fund roads in 1882-83.

Rest Houses. Besides three district officers' bungalows at Sangamner

Dongargaon and Bel&pur, and nine European travellers' bungalows
at Imdmpur Vadala and Toka on the Ahmadnagar-Toka road, at
Supa on the Ahmadnagar-Sirur road, at Ismalpur Kolhar and Rah&ta
on the Ahmadnagar-Pimpalgaon road, at Kolgaon on the
Ahmadnagar-Dhond road, and at Ahmadnagar, there are fifty-nine
rest-houses or dharmsdlda for the use of native travellers, kept
by local funds and six in and about the town of Ahmadnagar
kept by the Ahmadnagar municipality. The largest of the town
rest-houses is the one outside the Sarjepura gate. It has a water
cistern, latrines, and stables, and has room for about 300
travellers. The three district officers' bungalows are in charge of
the first assistant collector of the district, whose leave must be asked
before the bungalows are used. These and the European travellers'
bungalows are mostly furnished with chairs, tables, and bedsteads,
and a messenger or a messman is always in attendance. Each of
the local fund rest-houses is divided into two or three rooms and
none have furniture.

Ahmadnagar forms a part of the Ahmadnagar postal division.
Besides a disbursing post office at Ahmadnagar, the head-quartors
of the district, it has one town sub-office, twenty-five sub-post
offices, and thirty-two village post offices. The chief disbursing office
at Ahmadnagar is in charge of a postmaster whos^ yearly salary is
£120 (Rs. 1200) rising to £168 (Rs. 1680). The one town sub-office
in th^ciiy of Ahmadnagar and the twenty-five sub-post offices at the
Ahmadnagar railway station, Akola, BeUpur, Belvandi, J^mkhed,
Kada, i^rjat, Eharda, Eolh&r, Kopargaon, Kotulj Murshidpor,
Nevasa, P4mer, Pdthardi, Punt^mba, R&h&ta, R&huri, Rijar,
Sangamner, Shevgaon, Shrigonda, Sonai, Tpka, and Vimburi, are
in charge of sub-postmasters whose yearly salaries vary from £12
to £48 (Rs. 120-480). The thirty-two village post offioea at Akoln^,

Post Offices.

OeccanJ

AHMADNAGAR.

335

Alkntij Ashviy Bh&n&sliiyi^j Bodhegaon, Chichondi, Dhandarphal, Chapter VI-
J&mgaon^ Jivla, Jeur, K&nhar^ Karanji^ Khadamb^ Kolgaon^ Trade and Crafts*
Korhdla^ Mirajgaon^ Miri,Nighoj, Nimbgaon- Jili, Nimon, Padhegaon,
Pjrgaon, Pedgaon^ R^njangaon^ Rasin, Sdrola, Sirur, Supa^ Tisgaon, Post Officbs.
Vadihira, VAlki, and Viri, are in charge of schoolmasters whose
yearly allowances vary from &2 8s. to £7 4«. (Rs. 24-72). Thirty
postmen who deliver letters are paid from £7 4^. to £12 (Rs. 72-120)
a year. At some places delivery is made by runners who receive a
gratuity of £1 4». (Rs.l2) a year for the additional work. Seventy-
seven village postmen are employed in delivering letters at villages.
Of these fifty-four, with yearly salaries varying from £8 8s. to £12
(Rs. 84-120) are paid from Imperial funds, and the remaining twenty-
three> ten of whom receive £12 (Rs. 120) and thirteen £10 16^.
(Rs. 108) eachy are paid from provincial funds. All the village post
offices and the two sub-offices at Kotul and Toka, issue money orders.
The remaining post offices issue money orders and act as savings
banks. Mails for the Ahmadnagar district for and from Bombay are
carried by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway between Bombay and
ManmSd and Bombay and Dhond, and from these stations by the
Dhond and Manmdd State Railway. The Ahmadnagar post offices are
supervised by the superintendent of post offices Ahmadnagar division,
whose yearly salary is £300 (Rs. 3000). Be is helped by an
inspector whose head-quarters are at Ahmadnagar and whose yearly
salary is £96 (R«. 960).

After the opening of telegraph offices at the stations on the Dhond Tblroraph.
and Manm&d railway^ the Ahmadnagar telegraph office was (26th
March 1878) closed. In 1875-76 the total number of messages at
the old Ahmadnagar office was 672 of which 181 were Government
and the rest private, against 623 in 1870-71, of which forty-seven
were Government and the rest private. A telegraph branch is now
(1884) added to the Ahmadnagar post office.

SECTION n. — TEADB.

The earliest details of Ahmadnagar trade belong to the third
century after Christ (247), when, according to tbe Greek author of
the Periplus of the Eiythrsean sea, a great traffic passed between
Broach in Central Gujardt and Paithan on the east border of the
present Ahmadnagar district and through Paithan ten days (about
200 miles) east to Tagar, a still greater centre of trade, whose site
is unknown. The chief imports from Broach to Paithan and
Tagar were wine, brass, copper, tin, lead, coral, chrysolite, cloth,
storax, white glass, gold and silver coins, and perfumes. The
exports were, from Paithan, a great quantity of onyx stones, and
from Tagar ordinary cottons in abundance, many muslins, m^low-
colonred cotton, and other articles of local production.^

To the trade which crossed Ahmadnagar between the eleventh
and fourteenth centuries when Devgiri or Daulatabad was the

Tkads.
U7.

1 McGrindle's Peripliu, 125, 126. Th« sold and silver ooina .were imported not
froin a want of tbe prMioui metala, bat raUier m worka of art or charmB. Tbe writer
vtatea ^t they yielied a profit when exchanged for the local money. Ditto, 123,

[Bombay OaiettecTr

336

DISTRICTS,

Tbadb.
1614-

1850.

Chapter TI*^ chief trade centre, or to the trade which centred in Ahmadnagar
Trade and Crafts* during the sixteenth century, no direct references have been traced

Of the chief exports from Cheul the great Ahmadnagar port men-
tioned by the Portuguese traveller Barbosa (1514), wheats millet, a
share of the cotton cloth, and the bulk of the muslins probably came
from the Deccan ; and of the imports horses, copper, quicksilver,
vermilion, betelnuts, dates, drugs, palm-sugar, and spices probably
found their way to Ahmadnagar. In 1830 there was a considerable
carrying trade, chiefly in the hands of Lamdns or Yanj&ris who
owned large herds of bullocks. ^ About 1850 Nev^a in the east
had little valuable trade. Grain, the chief export, found a sale in the
Ahmadnagar and Poena markets. Some wool and a good many
sheep were also sent to Bombay and other places. The imports
were almost entirely of necessaries such as salt, rice, cotton stuffs,
hardware, iron, cocoa, and betelnuts. A few cattle were also
imported for farming purposes and were sold at Ghotan, Ghodegaon,
and Kuk&ne. Though the local trade was small a large outside
traffic passed through it especially the through trade in cotton
from Berdr to Bombay. All the year round a heavy grain trade
went along the Imdmpur pass road, and during the four months of
March April May and June the Berar cotton swelled the traffic*
The average traffic for the four busy months of 1854 was 6863
carts, 21,266 pack-bullocks^ 2386 horses, 5736 asses, 443 cows
and buffaloes, and 2999 sheep and goats. The details are :

Imdmpur Pcus Traffic, March -June 1854*

MOHTH.

Cartg.

Pack
BoUodca.

Hones

and
Poniee.

Aaaee.

COWB

and
Buflkloee.

Sheep

and

Ooate.

Maich ...
April

dsAjT ... ...

June

Average ...

4686
6667
7880
8870

16,307
10.687
10.986
38.004

1020
2280
2406
8021

4810
6878
6726
6081

288
666
411

618

1006
2800
8640
4071

6863

21.266

2886

6786

448

2000

Yanj&ris also used a few of the cross roads, but pack buUocka
were giving way to carts. ^ In P&rner the leading markets were
J&mgaon belonging to His Highness Sindia, K&nhur, P^mer, and
Alkuti. Except Jdmgaon the traffic in these markets was nearly
confined to supplying the wants of the neighbouring villages and
chiefly an outside traffic moved along the main line through the sub*
division. The roads from Ahmadnagar west to Juunar were chiefly
used by Vanjaris. Grain was the leading export, being sent to Poena
Junnar and the coast. Dhangars and husbandmen sold their sheep
to travelling Khatiks or butchers, and a few horses reared in the
Bhima villages also left the district for sale. The imports included
cotton *goods, salt, rice, sugar, and other articles in local demand.
^In the Nagar sub-division, as Ahmadnagar was the head-quarters
of the artillery and as a native infantry regiment was stationed
there, large supplies were required for the military market. Besides

> Bom. Gov. Sel. New Series. CXXIIL 10, * Ditto. 51, 52. > Ditto, 82.

Deccan]

AHMADNAGAR. 337

the cantonment; the city with a population of aboat 28^500 was a Chapter TL
busy market with industries and trade. A large traffic also passed Xrade ud Craffcs
through the sub-division. The bulk of the local trade was in the
hands of the Ahmadnagar moneylenders. There were upwards of Tradb.

1000 traders, moneylenders, grain merchants, and shopkeepers, ^^^'

but few of these carried on business on a large scale and the
number of wealthy firms was small. The ten chief trading houses
were branches of firms whose head-quarters were in other parts of
the country. The chief exports were grain, cotton goods, and hard-
ware ; the chief imports were grain and other field produce from the
country round ; sugar, salt, iron, and English cotton goods and yam
from Bombay ; rice from Poena and Junnar ; oil, turmeric, clarified
butter, and betelnuts from the Nizam's country and Bal4gh4t ;
clarified butter from Jimkhed and other places ; cotton goods from
Ndgpurandotherplacesjandsilk and embroidered stuiFsfrom Paithan
and Yeola in Nasik. The Ahmadnagar market was on the whole
well supplied and the place appeared to be thriving. Besides
Ahmadnagar the sub-division contained six market towns none of
which were of much importance except Ydlki which was the largest
local cattle market and was frequented by husbandmen and ^

cattle dealers from all the country round who wished either to buy or
to sell cattla ^The exports from Karjat and Shrigonda were
chiefly grain and vegetable oils which were sent to Poena and in
small quantities to Ahmadnagar. A good many sheep and a few
horses were also reared in the district and sold for export chiefly
to wandering butchers. Landholders sometimes reared and sent
horses to Malegaon in the Nizam's country and other markets.
Most of the imports were necessaries wheat, gram, rice, raw sugar
avgul, salt, cloth, and petty market supplies. The general proverty
of the people did not admit of a very brisk trade. The cart traffic
was considerable and Vanj&ris still thronged the roads.

^Of ten market towns in Shevgaon the two chief were Pdthardi
and Bodhegaon, both belonging to His Highness Sindia and reported
to contain several wealthy traders. Shevgaon and Tisgaon had fair
markets. At Shevgaon there were about 120 shopkeepers, traders,
and moneylenders. At Mdnikdaundi and Kharvandi several money-
lenders carried on a considerable business in the neighbouring
Niziim's villages. The yearly fair at Madhi was attended by about
lt5,000 people. The chief exports of the sub-division were cloths
which generally found a sale in the neighbouring sub-division, and
grain, vegetables, oils, clarified butter, and safflower kusumba which"
were sent to Ahmadnagar and Poena. The imports were the same
as in other sub-divisions. Paithan on the Goddvari about two miles
from the northern border of the sub-division had a fairly large
weaving population, and would have been the centre of a thriving
traffic had transit and town duties not driven much of its trade
to the neighbouring British villages and to Ahmadnagar. ^As a
rule the J^mkhed villages were not well placed for the Ahmadnagar*
and Poona markets and all exports and imports carried through the

» Bom. Ck>v, Sel. New Series. CXXin, 105. » Ditto, 124. • Ditto, 140.
» 772— 43

[Bombay Oawttetr.

838

DISTRICTS.

Trade.
1860,

1868'1S78.

Chapter YI. Niz&m's territories were subject to transit dnes. Within tlie limits

Trade and Crafts* ^^ ^^ ^^^^ valley was the large market town of Kharda and the

coantry towards Poena was open enough for carts. Kharda had
about 195 merchants^ shopkeepers^ and moneylenders many of
whom carried on a large trade in grain and other articles brought
from neighbouring villages or from the B&l^h&t and sent to Poona
and other places to the west. Kharda was also the largest grain^
cattle, and money market within the subdivision and was frequented
not only by the neighbouring villagers but by distant traders and
others. J^Lmkhed and Kade were mirly large market towns with
a ffood many traders. The northern or hilly villages were not so
wdl placed for markets as those in the Sina valley. Though the
villages were badly placed for outside markets, they were generally
thriving and contained a large trading and mannfaotoring
population. The former disturbed state of the neighbouring
Niz&m's territories had driven into British villages a considerable
number of moneyed and industrious settlers, and most villages
contained a good many trading and moneylending firms.

When the two lines of the Peninsularailway s were made ( 1 85S- 1 86 1 ),
oneskirting the north-east and the other the south-east of the district,
most of the through traffic left the district and most of the long dis-
tance carting business ceased. Ou the other hand the district gained
by the cheapening of imports and the increased value of some of its
field produce. The railway stations used for the traffic of the
district were Dhond, DiksS, and Jeur on the south-eastern and
L^salgaon and Devl&li ou the north-eastern lines. From Lisalgaon
wheat went in large quantities from the north of the district.
A large traffic also passed to and from the Niz&n's territory east to
Aurangabad and along the Poona-N&sik highroad. At the time of
the American war (1862 - 1865) the cotton cart traffic and the Vanj^ui
rack-bullock traffic in salt were still of considerable importance.
Field produce from the south was still carried to Poona and even as
far as Bombay by bullock cart. The railway was little used, as
besides the high rates of carriage the dealers were put to much
inconvenience. Since the opening of the Dhond-Manmid railvray
in 1878, except in the south of the district, almost the whole trade
passes by rail. Since the opening of the Dhond-Manm^ railway
the towns of Shrigonda and P&mer in the south and of Bel&pur,
Kolhdr, and B&h&ta in the north have increased in importance.

At present the agencies for spreading imports and gathering
exports are trade centres, weekly or half-weekly markets, faire^
village shopkeepers, and peddlers. Besides Ahmadnagar, the chief
trade centres in the Nagar sub-division are Bhing^, Chichondi-
Shir^i, Jeur, and Yalki. The chief traders at Ahmadnagar are
Marw^ and Gujardt Vdnis, Bh^tias, and Bohor&s. They generally
act ai^the agents or adtyda of cotton and grain-growing landholders.
Daily and weekly markets are the chief agencies for gathering
exports and spreading imports. The agents receive articles sent to
them for sale in the city markets. On receipt of the goods they
advance money to the producers to sixty or eighty per cent
of their value and with the consent of the owners sell them
when prices are favourable. The agents are generally paid two or

1878-1884.

TSADS AOKNOIXB.

CentreflL

DcccaHpI

AHMADNAGAR. 389

tbree per oent on the prices received and also charge interest on the Chapter VI.

money advanced generally at one-half per cent a month. The x^i^^ ^^ Craft

capital of the Ahmadnagar cotton merchants or agents, of whom

there are about twenty-five, varies from £1000 to £8000 (Rs. 10,000- ^"^^^^ AaBNcus.

Rs, 80,000), and of the grain merchants, who are about fifteen in Centsres.

number, from £500 to £3000 (Rs. 5000 - 30,000). Bhing&r is almost

a snbnrb of Ahmadnagar, about 1^ miles to the north-east.

Chichondi^Shir^li is about sixteen miles north-east of Ahmadnagar

and four miles south of the Ahmadnagar-Paithan road. Jeur is ten

miles north-east of Ahmadnagar on the Paithan road. At all of

these towns the chief traders are M^Lrw^r and Gujarat Y&ma,

Musalmtos, and a few Br4hmans. Their capital varies n-om £200 to

£10,000 (Rs. 2000 - Rs. 1,00,000) . About two-thirds are independent

traders and the rest are gumdstda or agents. The gvmdstda usually

act for persons living in large towns such as Ahmadnagar, Poena;,

Bombay, and N&ik. Scarcely any export or import trade passes

direct from the sub-division. Nearly all the articles go through

Ahmadnagar which is the great receiving and distributing centre

for the whole district. Shevgaon has seven chief trade centres,

Balam-T^kli, Bodhegaon, Dhor-Jalgaon, Kdmbi, Khirdi, P^thardi,

and Shevgaon. Of about one hundred traders more than one-half

are independent and the rest act as agents. They are chiefly M&rw&r

and 6u]ar&t V&nis, Musalm&is, and a few Brdhmans. Most of the

trade centers in Ahmadnagar. Nev&sa has thirteen trade

centres, Bhanas-Hivri with twelve traders, Ch&nde with nine,

Dahigaon with five, Ghodegaon with four, Khdmgaon with three,

Kharvandi with four, Kukdne with eighteen, Miri with four,

KevAsa-Khurd with twelve, Pravara-Sangam or Toke with eight,

Rast^pur with three, Shahar-Tdkli with seven, and Suregaon with

five. The traders are M&rwdr Gujardt and Lingdyat Ytois, MusaU

m4n8, and a few Brdhmans. Their capital varies from £500 to

£10,000 (Rs. 5000 -Rs. 1,00,000). Most of them are independent

traders. Akola has three chief trade centres Akola, Kotul, and lULjur.

Akola, the subdivision head-quarters, is on the left bank of the Pravara

about fourteen miles west of Sangamner close to the Loni-BAri road

which leads through the R&jur hill country to the Ghoti railway

station in Ndsik. The traders are M&rwiris and Shimpis owning in

all about £200 (Rs. 2000) and trading on their own account. Kotul,

eight miles south of Akola on the right bank of the Mula river, is

the diief place of trade among eighty Ddng or hill villages. R^jur,

ten miles west of Akola on the Loni-Bdri road, is the chief trading

town in the surrounding hill villages. Gujardt Vdnis and Shimpis

own about £4000 (Rs. 40,000) and trade on their own account.

Sangamner has seven trade centres, Chincholigurav in the north of

the subdivision with independent M&rw&ri traders owning in all about

£1500 (R& 15,000); Dhandarphal on the left bank of the Igravara

seven miles west of Sangamner; Ndndur-Khandirmdl near the

Boathem boundary of the sub-division with independent M&rw&ri

traders owning about £2000 (Rs. 20,000) ; Nimon in the north of

the sub'division with Mdrwd>ri traders acting as a^nts and having^

dealing worth about £7500 (Rs. 75,000) ; P&nvadi in the south-east

with independent M&rwdri traders owning in all about £150^

IBowbBj Oazetteer,

S40

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VI. Rs. 15,000) ; Sangamner^ a mnnicipal town, the Bub-division head*

Trade and Crafts, quarters at the meeting of the Poona-N&eik and Loni-Bdri roads.

Trade Aoknciks ■ ® Gujar4t and Mdrwdr Vd.ni, Brahman, and Rangdri traders

^^^^ ' owning about £15,000 (Rs. 1,50,000) ; and Songaon in the east of

the sub-division on the right bank of the Pravara has independent
M^rwdri traders owning about £3000 (Rs. 30,000). Kopargaon has
six centres of trade : Kopargaon, the sub-division head-quarters oa
the left bank of the Goddvari within about seven miles of the north
of the sub-division with independent Marw&ri traders owning about
£1000 (Rs. 10,000); Korhala, twelve miles west of Rahata with
Brahman, Sondr, and Dhor traders, the Dhors dealing in hides and
leather, and all trading on their own account and owning aboat
£1600 (Rs. 16,000); Puntdmba, one of the Dhond-Manm6d
railway stations on the right bank of the Goddvari on the eastern
limit of the sub-di^sion bordering on the Nizam's territory with
Mdrwdri and Brdhman independent traders owning in all about £6000
(Rs. 60,000) ; Undirgaon, on the south-western limit of the sob-
division near the border of the Nizd.m's territory with independent
Mdrwdri traders owning about £500 (Rs. 5000) ; and V4di, one of
the Dhond-Manmdd railway stations about eight miles north-west
of PunW-mba near the Nizam's border, with independent M^w^ri
traders owning in all about £200 (Rs. 2000). RiLhuri has three
centres of trade BeMpur, Rdhuri, and Y^mburi ; Beldpur, about five
miles south of the Beldpur railway station with which it is joined by a
new road, and from which a line leads to the Ahmadnagar-N^ik
road, has Mdrwdri and Teli independent traders owning about £600
(Rs. 6000) ; Rdhuri the subdivision head-quarters on the left bank of
the Mula, three miles south-west of the R^uri railway station along
the Ahmadnagar-Ndsik road has independent Mdrw^ri traders owning
about £15,000 (Rs. 150,000) ; Vimburi about nine miles south-west of
Rdhuri and three miles south-east of the railway station at Khad^mba
has Mdrwdri and Teli traders owning about £600 (Rs. 6000). Pimer
has nine centres, Pdrner, Mhasne, Pddli, Yadjhire, Dhavalpure,
Ghincholi, Nighoj, Bhdlavni, and Rdnjangaon ; Karjat four, Earjat,
Koregaon, Mirajgaon, and R^in ; Shrigonda five, Shrigonda,
K^hti, Pimpalgaon, Kolgaon^ and Mdndavgan ; and Jimkhed five,
Kharda, Amalner, Sirur, Tdkli, and Kade.

The leading traders of the chief trade centres deal directly with
Ahmadnagar, Poena, Bombay, Pen, and Panvel in ThAna, and the
Nizam's territory, exporting jvdri, wheat, gram, chillies, oil-seeds,
cotton, cloth, grass, and yam, and importing groceries, cloth, field
tools, Ghina-ware, European and Bombay cloth and yam, and salt.

MarketB. The internal trade is carried on in permanent and weekly

markets in village shops and by peddlers. The chief permanent
markers are at Ahmadnagar, BeUpur, Eharda, Pdthardi, R4hita,
Sangamner, and Ydmburi In villages and towns weekly and
half -weekly markets are held. Of the whole number twelve are in
Nevdsa at Bhana-Shivra Bhokar, Dahigaon, Ghodegaon, E&Waon,
Kuk^ne, Miri, Nevdsa, SaUbatpur, Sonai, Snregaon, and Yarkhed
are attended by 500 to 4000 people ; eight in PAmer at Alkuti,
Jdmgaon, Javala, Nighoj, K^nhur, Pdrner, and Rdnjangaon are

Deccaa]

AHMADNAGAR.

841

attended by 100 to 700 people ; five in Nagar at Ahmadnagar,
Bhingir,Chinoliodi, Jeur, and V^lki are attended by about 500 to 2000
people ; five in Hdhnri at Bcldpur, Kolhdr^ Pdchegaon, Rdhnri^ and
V imburi are attended by about 2500 people ; nine in Jiimkhed at
Arangaon, Amalner, Bhalgaon, Dongar-Kinhi^ Jdmkhed^ Kharda^
Sirasmarga, Sirur, and Tdkli are attended by 200 to 400 people ; six in
Sangamner, at Sangamner, Nimon^ Sakur^ Satral, Asbvi, and Pemgiii
are attended by 300 to 1000 persons ; three in Earjat, at Karjat
Miraj and Riisin are attended by 200 to 400 people; ten in Shevgaon
at P^thardi^ Bodhegaon, Erandgaon, Kambi^ Koradgaon, Mungi,
Tisgaon, Shevgaon^ Kbarvandi^ and Vadule are attended by 200 to
5000 people ; six in Eopargaon at Mamddpur^ Kopargaon, R^hdta,
Puntdmba^ Korbala, <uid Undirgaon are attended by about 2500
people; five in Shrigonda, at Shrigonda, Pedgaon, Kolgaon,
M^ndavgan^ and Belvandi are attended by 2S0 to 1500; three Jn
Akola at Rdjur, Akola^ and Eotul are attended by 700 to 1500
people.

At these markets the chief articles of trade are cattle, grain^
€X>tton^ cloth, groceries, vegetables, blankets, fruits, betel leaves,
sweetmeats, drinking and cooking vessels, and shoes. Barter takes
place to a limited extent among the Eunbis and other lower classes
in cattle and other articles.

Someof these markets are great cattle fairs. At Ghodegaon about
twenty miles to the north, and at Y&lki about ten miles to the south
of the city of Ahmadnagar, 300 to 400 bullocks and fifty to 100
cows and buffaloes are brought for sale. At both these markets the
seUers are mostly Eunbis, and the buyers butchers and cattle-dealers
who come from Poena, ShoMpur, Yeola, Ealy^n, and Bombay along
the line of the railway, bringing groceries and household and other
commodities. Live stock can also be bought at Erandgaon,
Sangamner, and Shrigonda. Next to Ahmadnagar the chief grain
markets are Y^mburi, Bodhegaon, and Sangamner. At Mamdd-
pnr the price of a pair of field bullocks ranges from £2 lOs. to £6
(Es. 25 - 60), of a she-buffalo from £2 to £4 10«. (Rs. 20-45), and of
ponies and galloways from £1 to £7 10«. (Rs. 10 - 75). The markets
of BeMpur in Rdhuri and of Vihirgaon in the Nizdm's territory are
attended by some Eopargaon landholders while Mamddpur, R^hdta,
and Korh^la in Eopargaon are largely attended by the people of
Sangamner. People of almost all castes, Mdrw^s, Grujardtis,
Musalmdns, Brdhmans, Dhangars, Eunbis, Mh^rs, M^gs, and
lAng&jskt y^is attend these markets.

Fairs lasting one to twenty days with an attendance of 1500 to
36,000 and with a trade worth £15 to £4000 (Rs. 150 - 40,000) are
held at thirty places, five in Nevdsa, six in Eopargaon, three in
Rihari, two in Jdmkhed, one in Earjat, one in Nagar, two in ShevfinK>n,
three in Shrigonda, and seven in Pdrner. The articles sola are
groceries, sweetmeats; vegetables, wooden wares, plantains, cloths,
bangles, hides, clay figures, bamboos, lanterns, needles, and shoes ;
also wooden drums, rings, fruit, betelnuts and leaves, and dates.
The sellers are Bdgv4ns^ Bohor^, Chdmbhdrs, Dhangars, Dhors,
B^yHs, K&a&TB, Eunbis, Lohto, MdJis, Mdngs, Shimpis, Sut&rs,

Chapter VI.
Trade and Crafts.

Trade Aoenciss.
Markets.

Fairs.

[Bombay Oasetteer,

342

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VI.
Trade and Crafts.

Tradx AosNcns.
FaixB.

Shopkeepers.

Peddlers.

Gftrrieis.

and at MadM Qbisddis, Gajardtis, Eaik^is, Mdrwdris, Fardeshis^
Vfeis, and Vanjdris. Besides these fairs in several villages Mh^rs,
Mdng8,and Kunbis to the number of 500 meet to barter. Of these fairs
those at Bhing^r and Ghdtshiras are attended only for distributing
purposes ; while those in Shevgaon, Kopargaon, IWLhnri, and Nev&sa
are both distributing and gathering centres. The fairs in J^mkhed
are largely visited by Khdndesh traders who bring blankets which are
bought by the people either for use or for local sale. Barter t^es
place to a limited extent and chiefly among Kunbis in cattle, drinking
and cooking vessels, and other every-day wares.

Almost every town and village of not less than twenty-five houses op
of a hundred people has one or more shops kept by USArw&r Grujarit
or Ling^yat Vdnis, Brdhmans, or K^sirs. Of these the M&p^^s m
much the largest class. When he comes to the district a M&rwtiri
chooses a suitable village and with a capital of not more than a few
rupees, his own or borrowed from a relation or castef ellow, opens a
shop for the sUe of grain, clarified butter, raw sugar or gul, chillies,
sweetmeats, oil, salt, pulse, tobacco, betelnuts, and in a few villages
cloth. The buyers are the people of the village or of neighouring
villages and occasionally travellers. The shopkeepars are generally
paid in cash, but sometimes from the poor they take srain,
cotton, and other exports. When a cartload or more is gathered
the whole, at a time of high prices, is taken to some weekly market
and sold. Most shopkeepers do business for themselves, but some
of the better ofiE have agents. They visit or send their agents to
fairs. Some lay out money at interest, some impart from the chief
town of their subdivision, and others direct from Poena or Bombay.
The Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act has turned many money-
lenders into traders and shopkeepers.

Peddlers, called H&likars, belonging to the large local towns
or to Milegaon and Yeola in N^ik, visit the weekly markets^
bringing grain, cloth, copper, and brass vessels, groceries, snices,
glass, and lac bangles, and blankets. They buy their gooaa in
large market towns and carry them on ponies, bullocks, and sometimes
on their own backs. They are mostly Mdrwdr and lingdyat YAnis
with a few Shimpis and Brdhmans. They travel with their packs to
places forty or fifty miles from their homes. The buyers are villagers
who attend the markets from a distance of several miles. Thej
sometimes bring for sale goats, sheep, fowls, eggs, date-matting,
blankets, ropes, waterbags, wooden cots and cradles, and brooms.
They do a little business by barter.

Within the last twenty years pack bullocks have become com-
paratively few and almost the whole trade is carried either by the
railway or in carts. The cartmen are chiefly K^bdrs, Kunbis,
Lingdiyats, M^is, Mdrwdris, Musalmdns, and Telis. Some of these cart*
men are landholders who take to carrying when field work slackens
in the beginning of the hot weather ; a few are traders bat either
ply for hire, or are the servants of M4rw&ris and other traders to
whom the carts as well as the goods belong. The opening of the
Dhond-Manm^ railway has in a great measure stopped long distance
carting to Poona and Bombay. Most of their employment is

Decca&'l

AHMADNAGAR.

343

carrying cotton, salt^ cooking and drinking vessels, oiUseed^ Chapter VI.
vegetables^ and grain to the diflerent railway stations. A very Trade aid CraftB,
large traffic comes every year from the Nizdm's territory to
Ahmadnagar and other railway stations on the Dhond-ManmAd line
through ^evisa, Shevgaon, and Nagar^ and large *qiiantities of rice
and salt go back to the Nizdm's country.

The chief exports are hdjri, jvdri, wheatj gram^ gingelly seed^ Exports,

Unseed^ safflower, earthnuts, hemp^ raw sugar or gu^t clarified butter,
oil, cotton, country cloth^ drinking and cooking vessels, horns, hides,
barks and other dyes, and small quantities of chillies of an estimated
total value of about £350,000 (Rs. 85,00,000). Most of them find
their way to Bombay and Poena. Besides being exported hajri^jvdri,
and granitire imported in large quantities. Wheat, the produce of the
late harvest is sent chiefly from the north of the district. The grain
trade, which is the chief trade of the district, is carried on by local
dealers and moneylenders, chiefly M&rw^r and Gujardt Ydnis and a
few Brihmans and Kunbis. Especially since the opening of the
Dhond-Manmdd railway much grain is imported from Jabalpur and
NiLgpur in the north, and from Beldri in the south. Since these
markets have become available the grain dealers have given up the
old practice of storing grain in pits or p&vs. The change in the
trade is said to have greatly reduced the profits of the grain-dealers.
Oil-seeds, such as gingelly seed and linseed, are largely exported to
Bombay for the European market. Safflower or kardai oil, used
for burning as well as instead of clarified butter, is sent in large
quantities to Poena, Bombay, and Gujardt, and also to Europe. The
oil-cake is also sent all over the district as food for cattle. Cotton, Cottoo.

though little is grown locally, forms the chief export of the district
Before 1 850 there was no cultivation and scarcely any trade in cotton.
In 1850 a small trader named Lakhamsi Punja started the practice
of advancing cotton-seed to the husbandmen. The first yield was
about 1200 pounds or five hojaa. From this time cotton cultivation
spread. Bombay merchants began to visit the district and a cotton
market was started at Ahmadnagar, to which cotton came from long
distances. During the American war (1862-1865) Ahmadnagar
exported 50,000 bundles or hojds equal to about 3400 full-pressed
400-pound bales a year. After some years of depression the trade
again revived, and during the three years ending 1879 the average
exports rose to 60,000 bundles that is about 40,000 full-pressed bales.
Of these about two-thirds or 40,000 bundles came from the Niz&m's
country. The cotton dealers, who are M&rwdr and Gujardt V&nis,
advance money to the landholders and buy their crops often before
they are ready for picking. They pack it in bundles or dokdds of
about 120 pounds (60 shersj^ajid send it to their agents in Ahmadnagar,
of whom there are about twenty, all M4rw4r Ydnis by caste. From
these agents the cotton dealers receive advances and draw bills or
himdia to the extent of seventy or eighty per cent of the value of the
cotton. After the cotton has come, the Ahmadnagar agents sell it to
Bombay merchants who generally send their clerks or gumastda to
bny for them. The Stewart cotton-market at Ahmadnagar, which
was completed in 1878^ has been of much service to the cotton trade

[Bombay Gazetteer.

344

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VI. by providing at a very low rental safe and clean storage for ootton
Trade and Grafts. ^^^^ ^ ^^^ railway station and the cotton presses.^ Daring the

four years ending 1883-84 267,900 bojda or on an average 66,975
^ttT™ to/ew or 133,950 dokdda of 120 pounds each were brought to the

' market. Of these about a third was received from the Ahmadaagar

district and two-thirds from the Niz&m's territory. The cotton
brought by the agents of the Bombay firms is either offered for
sale in Bombay or is pressed and shipped to Europe. Before tho
opening of the Dhond and Sholdpur stations on the south-east
section of the Peninsula railway, cotton went in bullock carts to
Panvel, and from Panvel in cotton boats to Bombay. After the
opening of the Dhond and Sholdpur stations special arrangements
were made with the company to carry Ahmadnagar cotton to
Bombay at reduced rates and to allow a drawback on the whole
quantity booked if it exceeded a certain amount. In spite of this
concession the agents found it cheaper to send their cotton by Panvel.
Since the opening of the Dhond-Manm4d railway the whole cost of
carriage has been so much reduced that carts are no longer able
to compete with the railway and almost the whole of the cotton now
goes by rail to Bombay. Three cotton presses were opened in
Ahmadnagar in 1879 by Bombay firms. Two of them buy ootton
on their own account and send it pressed to Bombay. About 784
pounds (1 khandi) of cotton is pressed into one bale, valued at about
£14 8^. (Bs. 144). The cost of pressing and binding with iron hoops
comes to about 6^. Sd (Rs. 3^) and the cost of sending by rail to
Bombay from Ahmadnagar is about Ga. 1|(2. (Bs. 3^^) a bale. The
difference in the railway charges between pressed and nnpressed
cotton is only £2 2«. (Rs. 21) the khandi of 784 pounds. This saving
is not enough to cover the cost of pressing, and, as loose cotton is
preferred in Bombay, about two-thirds of the cotton still leaves
Ahmadnagar nnpressed. The cotton season opens after the Divali
holidays in October -November when the merchants begin to sell
their old stock. The new cotton begins to come in about January
and the season lasts till July.

The export neatt in importance to cotton is country cloth. The
women's robes or sddis and lugdda, the men's waistcloths or dhotars,
and the turbans woven in Ahmadnagar have a good name for
strength and cheapness and go in large quantities to Bombay,
Poena, and the neighbouring districts and to the Nizdm's country.

The imports are grain, chiefly bdjri, jvdri, rice, cotton, sugar,
salt, dates, cocoanuts, English and Bombay piecegoods, English and
Bombay yarn, linseed, copper vessels, metal, silk, glassware, ironware,
China silk, sacking, and sundry articles of European manufactura to
the value of about £360,000 (Rs. 36,00,000). This estimate includes
manj^ imports which merely pass through the district as there are no
means of ascertaining how much of the whole imports are for purely
local use. The demand for English cloth depends on the harvest
and the husbandman's profits. In a season of a scanty rainfall tho

Imports.

^ The market is called after Mr. Theodore Stewart of the Bombay Civil Service by
whom it was started.

Deoefta.1

AHMAONAOAB.

845

Imfobts.

demand for oloth &Il8 below tlie ayerage and in a good season largely Chapter VI.
exceeds the areraga Dealers bring most of the articles direct to Jjji^q |^ Grafts,
the market and sell them wholesale or retail so that they do not
pass throagh more than two or three hands. China and European
goods commonly come from Poena and Bombay ; and rice^ sugar^
and salt from the Konkan. Large qoantities of grain of all kmds
pass through the district to the yarioas railway stations from the
Nizim's territory.

Since the opening of the Dhond-Manm&d railway^ in years of local
scarcity considerable qnantities of grain haye been brought from
Jabalpur^ N^gpar, Mdlwa^ Indur^ and Cawnpnr^ and in ordinary
years from Khindesh and Jabalpur. Rice is brought partly by raU
from Kslfy&D. in the Konkan and partly on pack-bullocks and in
carts from Junnar and other parts of West Poona. Linseed, chiefly
from the Niz&m's country, is brought by BhAtia merchants and sent
to Bombay for export to Europe. Kerosine oil is brought by rail
from Bombay by Bohor&s and Bh^ti^ and sold partly to city dealers
and partly to yillage shopkeepers, most of whom are M&rwSris.
Salt comes from Panyel and Fen in KoUba. M^rwd.riR, both local
and from the Niz&m's country, send agents to Panyel, and, all
through the cold and hot weather, small quantities, a wagon-load or
two at a time, are brought to Ahmadnagar. Here local dealers buy
the salt and send it to the leading towns of Sheygaon, Pdmer,
VAmburi, and Sangamner in quantities enough to last for two or
three months. It is then bought by yillage shopkeepers and
distributed among the yillagers. Cloth is imported from Bombay,
Sholipur, Paithan, Ahmadabad, Bdgalkot, Earmdla in Sholapur,
N&gpur, Yeola, and a few other places. Copper brass and iron are
brought in large quantites from Bombay. Copper and brass yessels
are made in Ahmadnagar. There are also considerable imports of the
coarser class of yessels from Poona and of the finer class from N^ik
and Benared. During the last twenty-fiye years its cheapness, fijoeness,
and yariety haye greatly increased the demand for European cloth,
and, within the last ten years, the cheaper kinds of European cloth
haye to a great extent been supplanted by the 'produce of the
Bombay mills. Almost no import trade is carried on in ornaments,
stimnlants, or other articles of luxury. The famine of 1876-77 and
seyeral other recent seasons of short or damaged crops haye left the
hasbandmen little to spend on anything but necessaries.

Complete railway traffic returns for the district are ayailable only
for two years 1879 and 1880. The two years show a rise in the
number of passengers from 182,540 to 276,488, and in goods from
26,894 to 42,959 tons. The chief passenger station was Ahmadnagar
with an increase from 85,126 to 111,216 passengers. Other important
passenger stations were Puntdmba witn an increase from 16,165 to
29,802 passengers, Bdhuri with an increase from 10,082 to 23,388,
I^h with an increase from 8180 to 20,108, V&mburi with an increase
from 7369 to 17,606, Sdrola with an increase from 14,356 to 15,731,
and Pimpri with an increase from 11,788 to 13,444. In 1880 the
passenger traffic at the remaining stations yaried from 4399 at Yil4d
to 9286 at Vis&pur, Ahmadnagar was also the chief goods station
with an increase from 20^164 to 27^964 tons. Other important goods

£772-44

RAn.WAT

Tbaifio.

[Bomtoy Gwetteer,

346

DISTRICTS.

Railway
Tbaffio.

Chapter VI. stations were y&mbnri witH an increase from 1973 to 5330 tonsi

Trade aud Crafts. ^^ ^^^ ^^ increase from 987 to 1937 tons, Godavani with an

increase from 144 to 1787 tons, and B&hnri with an increase from
777 to 1705 tons. Puntdmba showed a decrease from 1569 to 1175
tons. In 1880 the goods traffic at the remaining stations varied from
two tons at ViULd to 820 tons at Sanvatsar. Dnring the three years
ending 1883 traffic returns are available only for nie Ahmad nagar
station, where the passenger traffic increased to 138,726 in 1881 ,
152,664 in 1882, and 178,463 in 1 883 ; and the goods traffic to 25,725
tons in 1881, 38,413 tons in 1882, and 41,843 tons in 1883. The
available details are given in the following table :

Ahmadnagar Dhond-Manmdd RaXLway Traffic^ 1879-188S.

0TATIOR.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

1883.

Paasen-

Goods.

PsMen-

Goods.

Passen-

Goods.

Passen-

Goods.

Passen-

Goods.

gors.

gen.

gers.

Tons.

Tods.

Tons.

Pimpii ..•

11,788

898

18.444

766

• ••

■ is

••■

...

a«»

Belvandl ...

7218

160

7126

240

• #•

• •a

• 4*

• ••

.11

»••

VLs&pur

8014

9286

857

• ••

••ff

••i

»•*

S&roU

14.866

16,731

126

• *fl

• ••

• •■

• ••

•••

■ **

Akolner

• • •

• •■

...

a • •

• ••

f»*

• ••

• «•

*..

• • ■

Ahmadnagar.

86,186

80,164

iii.aio

27,964

188,786

85,726

152,664

88,413

178.468

41,B1S

VllM

8462

4899

• ••

• •i

• a«

• ■•

Viliubuii

7869

1978

17,606

6830

• ••

• #•

• ••

• ti

• »•

Rfihori

10,082

• 777

23,888

1706

• •a

• ••

• •■

• «•

•••

• •■

lAkh

8180

087

20,108

1987

• ■•

• ••

!••

kt«

•••

• »•

Oodavani ...

1781

144

6927

1787

• ••

• •«

•*•

Chitali

1877

166

6836

648

• ■•

• •t

• ••

• •■

•••

Punt&mba ...

16,166

1669

89,802

1175

• ••

«ft«

• ai

Sonvatsaf ...

8888

889

6407

880

• ••

• •«

• ••

«••

• ••

Kopargaon

Road
Total ...

4849

237

7360

213

• •■

• ••

■ •■

• ••

»!•

182,640

86,894

276,488

42,969

• ••

• •«

*■•

• ■•

• «•

Complete goods returns are available only for the Ahmadnagar
station. These show, nnder exports, a rise in cotton from 5640 tons
in 1881 to 9287 tons in 1883, in grain a rise from 4365 tons in 1881
to 4594 in 1883, and in oil-seeds a rise from 1346 tons in 1881 to
2821 tons in 1883. Under imports salt showed an increase from
3390 tons in 1881 to 3934 in 1883, firewood from 192 tons in 1881
to 2788 in 1883, and grain from 1014 in 1881 to 2227 in 1883. The

details are : Ahmadfuigar Station Oooda Traffic, 1881-1888.

1881.

1882.

1888.

Articul

Out

In.

Out

In.

Oat

In.

Tons.

Cotton

aaa

6640

• ••

12,802

0287

.S8

Fruits

•%•

182

665

186

677

197

693

Pirowood

• •«

192

• •«

677

• •a

2788

Grain

• ■■

4866

1014

6476

1641

4694

2227

Hidosand Horns

• •a

197

206

288

Metal

• •«

278

681

218

1254

208

969

Mcka Flowers ...

• • »

• 8

157

126

■ a a

211

Oil

• •a

836

100

261

114

440

Oil-sceds

• 9%

1846

2344

• •»

2821

Picco-;,'oods, Europe
Ditto Country

• aa

268

• ••

370

*■«

816

■ • •

962

119

286

2D9

Salt .•• •••

• m^

8300

••■

4387

aaa

8984

Sugar Raw and Refined.

146

890

196

726

168

6S8

Sundries

2366

2602

8797

8068

6177

5449

Timber

212

369

809

Twist, Europe ...

■ ••

146

• •V

904

...

388

Ditto, Country ...

266

360

888

Tolxvxx) .^

169

118

Wood ..,

*■•

• ••

• • •

■ aa

aa •

• ••

Total

16,664

10,061

24,186

14.228

23,807

18,532

Beccan.]

AHMADNAGAR 347

SECTION III. — CRAFTS. Chapter. Tt

AJunadnagar crafts and industries are cliieflj of local consequence. Trade and CraftB*
They are confined to the weaving of cotton silk and wool, to tailoring, Csajtb.

saddle-making, lac and glass bangle-making, working in gold silver
copper brass and iron, pottery, carpentry, tanning, grain-parching,
confectionery, leather-working, basket-making, indigo-dyeing, oil-
pressing, and stone-quarrying and dressing. Of these hand-loom
weaving is the chief. Weaving is carried on to a considerable extent
throughout the district except in Akola, Nevfisa, and Shrigonda.
The industry is said to have been introduced into Ahmadnagar city
by a rich Koli of the Bh^ngria clan soon after the city was founded
(1499). In 1820^ there were only 213 looms in Ahmadnagar, In
1850* in Ahmadnagar and in the neighbouring town of Bhingdr the
number had risen to 1322 looms weaving sddis or women's robes and
other cotton cloths. Much of the pi:oduce was fine cloth which went
to Poona, N^ik, and other places. Most of the yam was English-
made. A few silk cloths were also woven. Some other villages of
the Nagar sub-division had looms, but except at Ahmadnagar and
Bhingdr the number was small. In the rest of the district, in the
Korti now the Karjat sub-division, 100 looms were at work in Karjat,
Korti, and other places, chiefiy in weaving coarse strong cloth which
went to Ahmadnagar. The Shevgaon sub-division had many weavers.
In Sindia's village of Pdthardi more than 500 looms were at work,
and in other villages about 250 to which Tisgaon contributed fifty
or sixty. A few silks fitted for women's robes and bodices were
woven, but the chief product was of cotton cloth generally coarse,
some of which was entirely woven from native thread and some from
a mixture of English and native thread. Nevdsa had fifty or sixty
coarse cotton and a few blanket looms. Pdmer had about fifty coarse
cotton and a few blanket looms. In 1865 the Revenue Commissioner
reported that the hand-loom weaving was dechning from year to year.
In his opinion the decline was chiefly due to the high price of cotton, '
as more raw cotton was used in local than in imported cloth. It
seems probable that the decline of hand-loom weaving during the
American war was not more due to the extraordinary rise in the local
price of raw cotton than to the existing famine prices of grain. The
increase in the cost of keeping the weaver's family greatly reduced
the former margin of profit, and at the same time the high gains of
husbandmen and labourers tempted the important class of half,
husbandmen half-handloom weavers to forsake the loom for the
plough and for the Bombay labour market. During the ten years
after the American war (1866-1875) hand-loom weaving largely
increased. This revival of hand-loom weaving was chiefly due to
two causes, the fall in the price of yarn from the spread of steam
spinning mills in Bombay and the reduction in the cost of iTdng
from the fall in the local price of grain.' The famine of 1876-77

1 Eut India Papers, IV. 763-765.

» Bom. Gov. SeL CXXIII. 10, 51 -52, 82, 105, 134, and 140.

' Bdjri averaged 36 pounds the rupee during the five years >nding 1865 and 46
potuids daring the five years ending 1875, The correspondiag prices lor jvdri were
47 and 59 poundji.

[Bombay Oaietteer,
848 DISTBIOra

Chapter YL for the time rained hand-loom weaving. Cotton was scarce,
Trade and Crafts. S^^ ^*^ terribly dear, and cloth was nnsaleable. The weavers

suffered severely. Most of them took advantage of the regular

^^^•^^ relief works as they were fitted for heavy outdoor labour becanjse

Weaving. most of them were out-of-door workers, Kunbi-Mardthds and

Mdlis, who had taken to hand-loom weaving because it had lately
been paying better than husbandry or field labour. Since 1877
hand-loom weaving has again made rapid progress. Large quantitiea
of cloth were required to clothe the poorer classes whose garments
were worn to rags during the famine. Yam was cheapened by the
rapid advance of steam spinning in Bombay, and its local cost was
still further reduced by the opening of the Dhond-Manm^ railway
(1878). Most railways by fostering the export of field produce
raise the local price of grain, increase the cost of living, and so stifle
hand -loom weaving. The Dhond-Manmdd railway has proved an
exception to this rule. From the uncertainty of the early rainfall
the chief local grain products are not the bdjri oTJvdri of tlie early
harvest but the wheat and gram of the late harvest. As bdjri and
jvdri, not wheat and gram, are the staple food of the Ahmadnagar
hand-loom weaver the cost of living was formerly higher in Ahmadnagar
than in many other parts of the country. Since the opening of the
Dhond-Manm&d railway large quantities of millet have been regularly
brought from Khdndesh and Jabalpur, and, as has already been
noticed, in seasons of failure or partial failure of the early rains it
has paid to import millet from as far south as Beldri and aa far
north as Cawnpur. The result of the railway has therefore been
the great gain to the hand-loom weaver of lessening and equalizing
his cost of living. Within the last ten years it is estimated that in
Ahmadnagar city alone the number of hand-loom weavers has
increased by 200 to 300 and the increased number of weavers in the
neighbouring town of Bhingdr is said to be 107. At present (1884)
there are 1000 to 1200 looms in Ahmadnagar, 807 in Bhingar,
900 to 1000 in PAthardi, 1000 in Sangamner, 3 in Shevgaon small
turban looms, and 1 25 in Karjat which before the famine had 300
looms. The increase for the whole district is from about 2300 looms
in 1850 to about 3135 looms in 1884 without those of the J&mkhcd
sub-division. Coarse cotton cloth is the chief produce of these looms.
At Bhingdr near Ahmadnagar a small number of weavers make fine
robes of cotton and silk combined. But there is not much demand
for these fine fabrics as they cost 16«. (Rs. 8) a piece; while the
price of an ordinary robe with a narrow border of inferior silk is 8«.
tol2«. (Rs.4.6).

Of the present (1884) hand-loom workers, not more than half are
hereditary weavers. The rest are Brdhmans, Komtis, Eanbis,
M41is, and Musalm&ns who have been drawn from labour, husbandry^
and other pursuits by the superior profits of hand-loom weaving.
In the city of Ahmadnagar weavers are found in almost every ward
and in special numbers in the Topkhina. A large number of the
weavers are mere labourers who work hard and weave ten honra
a day. Their . children are of little use to them, but the women do
quite as mnch work as the men. They take about one month's

Oeceait]

AHMADNAGAB. 849

holiday in the yeftr^ the moonless last of every lunar month and Chapter VI-

one or more days at Sankr^nt in January, Shimga or Holi in March- ^3^0 |^ Craft8»

April, NAgpanchmi in August, Dasara in October, and Divdli in

November. The average yearly earnings of a small family of weavers Crafm.

are about £10 (Rs. 100) and of a large family about £30 (Bs. 300). W^Tuig.

Of late years, especially in Ahmadnagar and Bhingar, the bulk of the

yam used is coarse tens to twenties steam-made Bombay yarn.

This is brought into the district by Gujar&t Y&ni merchants.

Almost the whole of the Bombay yam is imported white and dyed

in the district Fine and dyed English yarns are in little demand.

Silk is used only for edging robes and bodicecloth. It comes in

nndyed hanks from China^ and^ after reaching the district^ is twisted

and dyed in various colours. Fifty or sixty silk-twisting and dyeing

establishments in Ahmadnagar employ 800 to 1000 workmen. The

importers hand the cotton yam and the silk to well-to-do weavers

some of whom work it themselves and others have establishments of

three to fifty looms worked by weavers who are paid by the outturn.

The looms and other weaving appliances used in Ahmadnagar do not

differ from those described in the Poona Statistical Account. Instead

of the framework in the old English hand-looms the Ahmadnagar

looms have the heddle ropes and reed hung from a bar running across

the room from wall to wall. Four posts support the cloth beam and

the yam roll. The posts supporting the cloth beam are about one

foot high, stuck in a platform about a foot and a half above the

level of the floor. On this platform and behind the cloth beam sits

the workman. The posts which support the yam roll are about 2^

feet high to bring the yarn roll to the same level as the cloth beam.

The weaving and the form of shuttle are the same as in the old English

loom. Two sets of heddles made of knotted threads hang from

a bar run across the room^ and are worked by treadles under the

weaver's foot. The reed is hung from the same bar as the heddles and

is made of split reeds set in a plain wooden frame. Two more sets

of heddle threads are hung over eac'u outer edge of the cloth beam.

These hold the silk which is woven in patterns into the edges of

the clothj and are worked by some of the same treadles as the heddle

threads. The shuttle is about eight inches long and is made of buffalo

horn. The bobbin holding the thread is fixed on one long pivot.

In weaving the shuttle is thrown by the hand through the shed of

the warp idternately from one side to the other. After it has passed

one way the reed is brought up against the thread with a jerk^ thus

forming the woof. By a movement of the treadle the heddle threads

work so as to reverse the position of the two layers of the warp^

bringing up the lower and taking down the upper layer after each

passage of the shuttle. A complete loom costs about £3 (Bs. 30).^

It is estimated that of 1200^ the whole number of weaving families

in Ahmadnagar, about 800 are capitalists and the rest wdrkmen.

The capitalists work on their own account and sometimes employ

labourers. The greater portion of their capital is locked in houses

and ornaments^ and only a balance of about one-fifth is employed in

the trade. The workmen also as a rule own a house. Their wages

are ]0<r. (Bs. 5) a months and when employed on piece-work they

* Kajor H, DanieU, fonnerly Police Sapexintendent of Ahmadnagar.

[Bombay Oautteer,

850

DISTRICTS.

Giuirrs.
■Weaving.

Copper and
Brass,

Chapter VZ. Bometimes earn as mnch as 9d. (6 as,) a day. Many weavers are

Trade and Crafts, e^^ploy®^ ^y cloth-dealers, who advance them money and ya^ and

in return take ready-made goods. Others take the cloth every
evening to wholesale traders and are paid in cash. They spend
part of their earnings in necessaries and part in baying materials.
The local merchants gather the goods and sell them to retail dealers
and merchants from J&lna, Aurangabad, Khdndesh, Sholapar, and
Bombay. In this way nearly three-fonrths of the goods &nd their
way out of the district, the remaining foorth being enough to meet
local wants.

Cotton ginners are found in about fifty villages in Shevgaon.
In the largest villages about 300 people are employed in ginning
from February to May.

The city of Ahmadnagar has long been famous for its copper and
brass ware. Brass pots are also made at Amalner and Dongarkinhi
in Jdmkhed where the monthly outturn is about 8^ tons (100
mans) and the average value of the yearly exports is about £1040
(Es. 10,400).

Glass bangles are made at Pemgiri in Sangamner, at Gardani
Pimpaldari and Lahit Khurd in Akola^ and at Dongarkinhi in
J^mkhed. Of eight kilns two are in Pemgiri, three in Dongarkinhi,
and one each atGardani Pimpaldari and Lahit Khurd. The workmen,
of whom there are about fifty, are Kanchars, who speak Telugn and
are said to have come from South India about fifty years ago. The
yearly outturn of bangles at Pemgiri is worth about £150(Rs. 1500), at
Gardani about £90 (Rs.900), at Lahit Khurd about £100 (Rs. 1000),
and at Dongarkinhi about £150 (Bs. 1500). The bangles are
either bought by wandering traders or sent to Ahmadnagar, Akola,
Kopargaon, Nevdsa and Rdhuri, and to Poena, Nd,sik and Bombay.
The better class of bangles are sold at 2|d. to 8df. the pound and the
poorer at l^d. to 2j\fd. the pound (Rs. 9 to Bs. 10 the man of eighty
pounds or forty shers for the better and Ra. 6 to Rs. 7 for the poorer).
Forest rules stopping the supply of fuel have lately nearly destroyed
this industry. At J^vla in P^rner, imitation coral beads were
formerly made, but the workmen moved to Bombay during the
1876-77 famine.

Glass Bangles.

Saltpetre.

Saltpetre is made in forty-six villages of Karjat, Kopargaon,
Nevdsa, Sangamner, Shevgaon, and Shrigonda. Saltpetre is chiefly
found in deserted village sites, the older the place the greater the
quantity. It is generally made by a class of people called Lon&ris,
who are either Pardeshis or Marathds. Kolis, M^ngs, and Mh£rs also
engage in this industry. Each pit yields 4 to 12 hundredweights
(250-700 shers) of saltpetre during the season, which begins in
February and lasts till the end of May. The makers sell their
saltpet^ to licensed firework and gunpowder makers. The price
varies from l^d. to 8^(2. the pound (Rs. 5-12 the man of eighty
pounds or forty shers).

Numbers of strong and lasting carpets were formerly made in
the city of Ahmadnagar, but carpet-weaving is almost dead. The
making of paper at Sangamner has also perished underthecompetition
of cheap Chinese and European paper.

Deccaa.]

CHAPTER VIL

HISTORY.

The early Idstory of Ahmadnagar centres in Paithan, or Chapter Til.
Pratishthan, on the left bank of the Godd^vari, in the Nizdm'a Hiatorv

territory, about two miles east of the Ahmadnagar frontier and
about fifty miles north-east of Ahmadnagar. The earliest reference *'^ 240- a.d. 1294.
to Paithan appears to be in the fourteenth rock edict of tbe great
Mauryan emperor Aghok (b.c. 240) where mention is made of the
Petenikas probably the people of Paithan.^ Two inscriptions in the
Pitalkhora caves in Kh&ndesh^ almost as old (b.o. 240) as Ashok's
edicts^ record gifts of two pillars built in the caves by two men from
Paithan one of whom was a king's physician.^ Paithan is the scene
of the miracles worked by 8hd.liv4han the mythic founder of the
Shak era which begius in a.d. 78.^ About a.d. 150 the Egyptian
geographer Ptolemy notices Bathana the capital of Siri Polemics
probably Shri Pnlum6yi the Sh^takami or Andhrabhritya king whose
inscriptions have been fouud at Ndsik and K&rle in Poona.^ About
A.D. 247 the Greek author of the Periplus notes Plithana as one of the
two chief trade marts in Dakhinabades or theDeccan, the other mart
being the unidentified city of Tagar probably somewhere in the
north-east of the Nizdm's territories.^ The chief trade of Paithan
was in onyx stones and fine muslins. To this day in the Bombay
Presidency Paithan has preserved its name for silks^ Paithani that is
of Paithan being a common name for a rich silk robe and for the
finest kind of turbans. The Andhrabhrityas. whose power is believed
to have lasted from about b.g. 90 to about a.d 300, at one time ruled
over the whole breadth of the Deccan from the mouth of the Krishna
to Sopdra in North Konkan.^ With their capital at Paithan they
always appear to have held the Ahmadnagar district. Probably
also during the four hundred years ending with 670 the district
was held by an early Bashtrakuta dynasty (a.d. 400), whose coins
have been found in i3dgldn in Nasik and by the early Chalukya
and western Chalukya kings (550-670) who were in great power
in the Eamatak.^ The Brahmanical Dhokeshvar caves in P6mer,
which Dr. Burgess places in the middle of the' si£tE~c^tury,

> Indtao Antiqnary, X, 272 ; BbdndArkar's Deccan Early History, 9.

^ Archieological Survey of Western India, Separate Pamphlet, X. 39, 40 ; Deccan
£arly History, 9. * Archseological Survey of Western India, III. 55-56.

* Bertins' Ptolemy, 2-5 ; Arch. Sur. Sep. Pamph. X. 36 ; Bombay Gazetteer, XVI.
620- 62^1. B McCrindle's Periplus, 126.

» Bomboy Gawtteer, XUL 412. ? Fleet's K^narese Dynasties, 17-31.

852

DISTRICTS.

[Bombay Oautleeri

Chapter TU.
Hifltory.

B.a240-A.D,1294.

MubalmAks.

fall in this period.^ The R^htrakoto kinga (670-973) whose
inscriptions have been found chiefly in the Bombay Elam&tak and
in smaller numbers in the Konkan, Gujar^^ Kh&ndesh^ and N&sik
appear also to have held Ahmadnagar. G;fixifili.m. (785-810),
perhaps the mightiest lUshtrakuta king whose rule stretched from
Mdrw&r and Bajputdna in the north to^ at least, the Tungbhadia
river in the south, in a.d. 808 from Morkhanda fort in NAsik
granted the village of R&tdjuna in Ahmadnagar. The village is
mentioned as lying in the R&siyana sub-division and is apparently
the present village of R&tajan about twenty miles north of BAsin in
Karjat.« Of the Western ChAlukvas (973-1190) who followed the
R&shtrakutas no trace appears in Ahmadnagar. To this period
belong the caves and temple at Hariahchandragad in Akola which
from their style and from fragments of inscriptions, Dr. Burgess places
in the tenth or eleventh century.' After the Western Chdlakyas,
Ahmadnagar probably passed to the Devgiri Y&^y^ys (1170-1310)
who reigned lor about a hundred years from Devgiri or Daulatabad
about seventy-four miles north-east of Ahmadnagar. The twenty-
six Hemddpanti temples and wells with their three undedpherod
inscriptions which are scattered throughout the length and breadth
of the district, belong chiefly to the JDevgiri Tddavs whose ninth
king Rfimchandra's (1271-1310) minister was Hem^ri the reputed
builder of these temples. An interesting record of Rdmchandra is
preserved in the Dny^eshvari a Mardthi work on theogony and
metaphysics written in 1290 by the great Alandi Br&hman aaint
Dnyd^neshvar 'at Nivds^ in which there is a ruler of the earth
Rdmchandra, who is an ornament to the Y^Ldavrace^ the abode of
all arts and the supporter of justice/^

The first Musalm^n invasion of the Deccan took place in 1294,
but the power of the Devgiri Y^avs was not crushed till 1318,^

^ Fergnsson and BurgeBs' Ca^e Temples of India, 403.

'Ind. Ant. VI. 71. The boundaries of the village as given in the grant leave xko
doubt that the villaffe is RitAjan. To the east is the river Sinlia the present Sina,
to the south Vavuljua the present BAbhulfi;aon, to the west Miriyath^ the preaeat
Mirajgaon, and to the north Vadaha probably a village in the rf is^lm*s tenitoriea
beyond the Sina. ^ Cave Temples of India, 478.

^ Ind. Ant. IV. 354 ; Deccan Early History, 90. NivAs is Kevisa thirl^-five inil«s
north of Ahmadnagar.

• Briges' Ferishta, I. 304. In 1294 RAmdev the ruling king of Devgad was
surprised in his capital by AU-ud-din Ehilji the nephew of the Delhi empetxir
JalaL-ud-din Khilji, and forced to pay tribute. In 1297, lUmdev gave shelter to
R&i Earan the refugee king of GujarAt, and neglected to pay tribute for three years
(Ditto, I, 366). In 1306 Malik K&rur, Ald-ud-din*B general, reduced the greater part
of MahAr^htra, distributed it among his odicers, and confirmed Bi^aev m hi^
allegiance (Ditto, I. 369). In 1309 Malik K^fur on his way to TeHngan wss reeoiviKl
with great hospitality at Devgad by R^mdev (Ditto, I. 371). In 1310 Rimdev wma
■uooeeded by his son 8hankardev. As Shankardev was not well affected to the
Musali^j&ns Malik K4fur on bis way to the Kam&tak left some officers with nart of
the army at the town of Paithan on the left bank of the Godivari. (Ditto, I. 373).
In 1312 Malik KAfur proceeded for the fourth time into the Deccan, seized and pot
Shankardev to death, laid waste Mahdr&shtra, and fixed his residence at Devgad (Ditto
L 379), where he remained till AU-ud-din in his last illness ordered him to Delhi.'
Daring Malik K&fur*s absence at Delhi, Harp4ldev the son-in-law of Bibsidev stirr^
the Deccan to arms, drove out many Musalm^n garrisons, and, with the aid of the
other Deccan chiefs, recovered Mahii^htra. In 1318 Mubirik Khilu, AU-nd^din^a
son and successor, marched tow<wds the Deccan to chastise Harp&ldev who flod at
the appioAch of the Mnaalmtoii, but was porBued, 8Gind» and flayea aU?«. Mnb^rik

Oeccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

85a

From 1318 Mahir&shtra began to be ruled by goy-emors appointed
from Delhi and stationed at Devgiri. In 1338 alahammad Tnghlik
emperor of Delhi (1325-1351) made Devgiri hfgf capital and changed
its name to Danlatabad or the Abode of Wealth. In 1341
Musalm&n exactions caused a general revolt in the Deccan, which,
according to Ferishta, was so successful that in 1344 Muhammad
had no part of his Deccan territories left him except Daulatabad.^
In 1346 there was widespread disorder, and the Delhi officers
plundered and wasted the land.^ These cruelties led to the revolt
of the Deccan nobles under the able leadership of an Afghan
soldier named Hasan Oangu. The nobles were successful and
freed the Deccan from dependence on Northern India.^ Hasan
founded a dynasty, which in honour of his patron, a Brdhman, he
called Bahmani that is Brahmani, and which held the command of
the Deccan for nearly 150 years. The Bahmani capital was first
fixed at Kulbarga about 185 miles south-east of Ahmadnagar, and
in 1426 was moved to Bedar or Ahmadabad-Bedar about 100 miles
further east. By 1351, AU-ud-din Hasan Gangu Bahmani, by
treating the local chiefs and authorities in a liberal jp^nd friendly
spirit, had brought under his power every part of the Deccan which
had previously been subject to the throne of Delhi.^

In the troubles which ended in the establishment of the Bahmani
dynasty the Kolis of the western Ahmadnagar hills gained a great
measure of independence. One of them Papera Koli in 1346 was
made chief of Jawhdr in the North Eonkan by the Bahmani king.

Chapter TIL
History.

MubalmIns.

Delhi €k)vemor8.
1318- 1S47.

Bahmmiigy
1347-1490.

JToZm.

ftppointed Malik Beg Laki, one of his father's slaves, to govern the Deccan, and
returned to Delhi, Ditto, I. 389.

' Briggs* Ferisbta, I. 426-427. This statement seems exaggerated, as in 1346 there
were Mnsalmin governors at R^chur, Mudgal, Kulbarga, Bedar, Bij&pur, Ganjanti,
fiiybig, Gilhari, Hukeri, and Ber&r. Ditto, 437. > Brings' Ferishta, I. 432-433.

* Briggs' Ferishta, II. 285-291. Hasan Gangu, the first %khmani king, was an Afghan
of the lowest rank and a native of Delhi. He farmed a small plot of land beloncnng to
a Brahman astrologer named Gangu, 'who was in favour with the king. Having
accidentally found a treasure in his field, he had the honesty to give notice of it to his
landlord. The astrologer was so struck with his integrity that he exerted his influence
at court to advance his fortunes. Hasan rose to a great station in the Deccan, where
his merit marked him out among his eouals to be their leader in their revolt. He
assumed the name of Gangu in gratituae to his benefactor, and from a similar motive
added that of Bahmani or Br^hmani by which his dynasty was afterwards
distingoished. Briegs' Ferishta, II. 284-5 ; Elphinstone's History of India, 666. The
dynasty consisted of the following eighteen kings, who were supreme for nearly 150
years (1347-1490) and continued to hold power for about thirty yean more :

BahmarUi,lS/^-16Se.

Mavs.

Date.

Namb.

Date.

AU-uddin Hassn

Hnm&yun

1457-1461

Oanfl^u

1847-1858

Niz&m ... ...

1461-1468

tfohammMlI, ...

1868-1876

Muhammad II.

1468-1482

Httjfthid

1375 -1878

li&hmud II.

1482 -1618

n&Qd

1878

M&hnrad I.
eh«lifl.ud-din ...

1878-1897
1897

jrombial Einga.

8hanu-ad-dln ...

1897

1618-1520

Flros

1897-1422

AUrad-din III

1620-1521

Ahmad I,

1422-1485

• an ••. «.. •••

1522-1526

Ali-od-dlu n. ...

1486-1467

1526

* Briggs' FeriahUy IL 291*292 ; Grant Duffs Man&this, 25L
B 772-45

I
I

■

[Bombay OaiefetBerf

354

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YII.
History.

MusalmInb.

BahmaniB,
1347 -149a

KoUs.

Bairdm Zhdn's

BevoUf

1S66.

The Jawh&r territories at first included a considenMe pi^ lif tKe
Ahmadnagar district.^ They had twenty-two forts and a yearly
revenue of £90^000 (Ri. 9 lakhs) .^ So long as they remained quiet the
Bahmani kings seem to have left the Kolis practically independent
nnder their own chiefs. Western Ahmadnagar and Poena were
divided into Fiftv-twQ Vallflya f}^ ]}^y?\^\ M^^^^"- ^^^ nnder an
hereditarv Koli chief or ndik with the rank of a sarddr or noble in
the Bahmani kingdom. The head of the Fifty-two Valleys, with
the title of Sar N6ik or Chief Captain, was a Musalm&n whose
head-quarters were at Jnnnar in Poona.^

In 1357, Ald-ud-din divided his kingdom into four Drovinces or

tarafsf over each of which he set a provincial governor or tarafddr,

Ahmadnagar^ formed part of the pri)vince of Ifah^rfehtra. of which

Daulatabad was the centre and which included the country between

Junnar^ Daulatabad^ Bid, and Paithan on the north, andPoona and

C^eul on the south, 'this was the chief province of the kingdom,

and was entrusted to the charge of the king's nephew.* In 1366, in

the reign (1358-1375) of AM-ud-din's son and snccessor Muh^B^dd

Sh^h Bahmani a false report of the king's death got abroad, and led

several adventurers to cause disturbances. Among them was Bairdm

Kh^n M^indardni whom the king's father had honotired with the

title of Son. Finding the country empty of troops, he appropriated

to his own use the Daulatabad treasures, gathered followers, and

combined with Govindadev a Mardtha chief to raise the standard of

revolt Some of the Berdr chiefs and also the Rdja of Bdgl^ in

North Ndsik secretly sent troops to aid him. Most of the towns and

districts of Mah^di.shtra fell into his hands, which he divided among

his adherents, and in a short time gathered nearly ten thousand horse

and foot. Muhammad Shdh wrote to Bair&m Eh^n, promising, if he

returned to his allegiance, to pardon him and his adherents. Bairdm

Eh^n paid no attention to this offer of pardon and increased hia

preparations for war. Muhammad Sh^ sent Masnad Ali and

Eh^n Muhammad, with the bulk of his army, in advance, intending

to follow shortly after. Bairdm Khdn and his colleagues moved

to Paithan where a great host of needy adventurers gathered

round him. Masnad Ali, a veteran of much experience, halted at

Shevgaon about forty miles north-east of Ahmadnagar. Bairdm

Khdn attempted to surprise his camp, but was forced to retreat

without effecting his object. Taking advantage of this success

Masnad Ali was in the act of engaging the rebels, when the king,

who was on a hunting expedition with only three hundred men,

joined him. At this crisis the Bdgldn chief deserted the insurgents,

and they hurriedly sought shelter in the fort of Daulatabad which

next day was besieged by the king^s troops. Bairdm Khdn and

Govindadev made their escape, and the rebellion was at an end.

Under the excellent rule of Muhammad Shdh Bahmani the banditti

1 The Jawhdr chief held Ratangad fort in Akola in 1760. Trans. Bom. Qeog"
8oc. I. 244. > Mackintosh in Trans. Bom. Geog. 8oc. I. 24a

' Mackintosh in Trans. Bom. Geog. Soc. I. 238. This arrangement was continaed
by the Ahmadnagar kings and by the Moghals. The last head captain at Joautf
was Mohammad Latif ab^tit 1070. Ditto. ^ Briggs' Ferishta, II. 296i.

Oeeeaa-)

AHMADNAGAB.

355

which for ages had harassed the trade of the Deccan were broken,
and the people enjoyed peace and good government.^ This period
of prosperity was followed by the awfal calamity of the Dorga
Devi &mine, when twelve rainless veys (1396-1407) are said to
have redaoed the country to a desert. In the first years of the
famine M^hmud Sh^ Bahmani (1378-1397) is said to have kept
ten thoosand bnllocks to bring grain from Gajardt to the Deccan,
and to have founded seven orphan schools in the leading towns in his
dominions.^ No efforts of any rulers could preserve order or life
through 80 long a series of fatal years. Whole districts were left
without people, and the strong places fell from the Musalmdns into
the handis of local chiefa^ Before the country could recover it waa
again wasted by two rainless years in 1421 aud 1422. Multitudes
of cattle died and the people broke into revolt.^ In 1429 Malik-ul-
Tuj&r the governor of Daulatabad, with the hereditary officers or
deshmukha, went through the country restoring order. So entirely
had the country fallen waste that the old villages had disappeared
and fresh villages had to be formed which generally included the
lands of two or three of the old ones. Lands were given to all who
would till them, free of rent for the first year and for a horse-bag of
grain for the second year. This settlement was entrusted to Dddu
Narsu E&le, an experienced Brahman, and to a Turkish eunuch of
of the court.^ In 1460 over the whole of Southern India a failure
of rain was followed by the famine known as D^m^jipant's famine.'
Twelve years later a two years' (1472 and 1473) failure of rain so
wasted the country, that, in 1474, when rain fell scarcely any one
was left to till the land.^ The power and turbulence of their
provincial governors was a source of weakness and danger to
Bahmani rule. To remove this evil MAhmud G&wAn. the very
learned and able minister of Muhammad SShi&h Bahmani II.
(1463-1483), framed a scheme under which the territories were
divided into eight instead of into four provinces ; in each
province only one fort was left in the governor's hands ; all others
were entrusted to captains and garrisons appointed and paid from
head-quarters ; the pay of the captains was greatly increased and
they were strictly compelled to keep their garrisons at their full
strength.^ This scheme for reducing their power brought on
M^hmud Qiw&n the hatred of the leading nobles. They made false
charges of disloyalty against him. The king was weak enough
to believe the charges and foolish enough to order the minister's
execution, a loss which Bahmani power never recovered (1481).

Mdhmud Gdwdn was succeeded in the office of Bahmani
minister by Kiz4m-ul-mn1k Bham.» and about the year 1485 Bid

Chapter Til.

> Briggi* Ferishta, II. 319-326.

' Bri(K»' Periahta, II. 349, 360. These towna were Cheul, DAbliol, EUchpur,

DaakuEad, Bedar, Knlbarga, and KtodhAr. * Graat Duff's Martthis, 26.

< Briggs' Ferishta, II. 405 - 406. < Grant Duffs Hartlthds, 26.

* Ueufe. -Colonel Etheridge'a Report on Famines in the Bombay Presidency (1868),

' Briggs' Feriahta, U. 483, 493, 494. « Briggs' Ferishta, II. 503, 504.

ftN«*4m-ni_>M*.ii> nu^i-i^ ..^. 4.1.^ .^~ ^t 4.1.. 'D.^^^.i. L..ii0^mm** Qf Village accountsnt

MUSALBIAKS*

Bahmanisp
1347 - 1490.

DurgaDeoi
Famine,

9 Ntz&m-al-molk Bhairi was the so

of Pithri to the north of the GodAvan.

cSSguaaTname was TimApa the son o{

[Bombay Gtastteer,

Chapter Til.
History.

MuSALMijfS.

Bahmanis,
1347 - 1490.

Jhmcid Nkdm,
I486.

356

DISTRICTS,

and other districts inclading Ahmadnagar were added to his estates.
The management of part of these lands was made orer to the
minister's son Malik Ahmad^ the future founder of the NizL&m
8hd,hi dynasty ot AhmadnagarTTIiio-ldot)), wko made Jannar in
Poena his head-quarters. By the capture of Shiyner the hili fort of
Junnar, which contained five years' revenue of Mah^ur&shtra Malik
Ahmad was able to secure all the places of the greatest strength in
west and south-west Poena. Nizdm-ul-mulk, to strengthen his
party, also raised to high rank Malik Waji and Malik Ashraf, two
brothers formerly dependents of Mdhmud Gdwdn, appointing Malik
Waji governor of Daulatabad and Malik Ashraf his deputy, at the
game time exacting from them promises of attachment and fidelity
to his son Malik Ahmad.^ In 1486^ NizAm-ul-mulk was assassinated

imad assumed his father's titles

2ki the Bedar court and Malik
under the name of Ahmad JNizdm-nl-mulk Bhairi. When the
time of mourning was over AiimacTT^iSamTevoted himself to
improve the management of his country. Malik Ahmad's character
as a general stood so high that no officer of the Bahmani government
was willing to march against him though the court was anxioua to
reduce his power. The king sent repeated orders to Yusuf Adil Kb^n
the governor of Bijdpur to unite with Khwdja Jahdn Dakhani j and
Zain-ud-din Ali Tdlish the governor of Chakan in Poena to march
against Ahmad Nizdm at Junnar. Yusuf Adil Kh&n, who like Ahmad
Nizdm had determined to assume indepenHence, evaded the duty, and
told Ahmad Niz to of hiai danger. Ahmad Nizkm appointed 25arif-ul-
mulk Aigh&n his Chief of the Nobles or Amir-ul-Omra and to
Nasir-ul-mulk Gujardti he assigned the office of Mir Jumla or
finance minister, phaikb Mnval^^ Am.h nnA ot the Ba&mani
generals volunteered to reduce Ahmad Niz&m and reached ggy^^da
on his way to Junnar.^ Ahmad Niz^m left his family in thetort
of Junnar and marched to meet the royal army, but feeling unecjua]
to face so numerous a force in open battle, he hovered round the
king's camp with his cavalry and cut off their supplies. While the
main body of the Bahmani troops continued their advance, Ahmad,
by a sudden countermarch, took Q)^]QUi eighteen miles north of
Poena. Meanwhile Nasir-ul-mulk, who was left with the main army
to watch the Bahmani troops, ventured to attack and was twice
defeated. Hearing of these reverses Ahmad NizAm rejoined hia
army and made a night attack on the enemy. The Bahmani troops
were routed, and Ahmad Niz^m taking all the heavy baggage.

Bhaira. He aocompanied his father to the Kam&tak during a famine in the KortJh
Deccan. While living in the Eamdtak the Brdhman boy was taken prisoner l>y the
Muhammadan troops in one of Ahmad Shdh Bahmani's expeditions (1422-1435) and
brought as a slave to that monarch by whom be was named Malik Hsaan. The
kine was so struck with his abilities that he made him over to his eldest son prinoo
Jilunammad as a companion, with whom he was educated and became an exceUent
Arabic and Persian scholar. From his father's name, Hasan was called Bbaini, and
this the prince changed to Bhairi, the Falcon, or according to some aooountt, tho
Falconer, an office which he is said to have held, When^Muhammad succeeded to
the throne he made Hasan a commander of a thousand hone* Briggs' Ferishta, IIT.
189-190. 1 Briggs' Ferishta, II. 529.

' Pardnda is in the Kiz&m's countiy about seventy-fire miles acuth-east of Ahswd*
nagar.

Vflooaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

857

elephants^ and tents retorned to Jannar and ^^voted himself to the
civil management of his territories. Another Bahmani army of
18^000 men was despatched^ but Ahmad Nizdm as before avoided
a battle and moved to the hills close to the present town of
Ahmadnagar. When the Bahmani troops reached the Mi
forty miles south-west of Ahmadnagar, Ahmad Niz&m wit]
horse pressed towards Bedar. and^ seizing the women of all the
o£5cer8 who had marched to attack him, moved with them towards
Fardnda taking care to treat them with proper respect. The officers
of the Bahmani army sent him word that as he had treated their
families so well they would not fight against him. On this assurance
Ahmad sent the families back to Bedar and marched to Pay^nda.
As his officers complained against the Bahmani general, a
distinguished officer JahAngir Khdn the governor of Telinpin
was sent to take his place. Meanwhile Ehw&ja Jah^n the
governor of Par&nda, unwilling to oppose Ahmad Niz^m, sent his
son Azim Eh&n to join him and himself retired into his fort.
Ahmad Niz4m applied for aid to Im&d-ul-mulk Givalli the ruler
of Berdr and fell back on Junnar. As Jah&ngir Khdn the new
Bahmani general occupied j^aithaii, Ahmad Nizdm approached the
Jenr pass where he was reinforced by Nasir-ul-mulk Gujar&ti with
a body of troops from J&lna and a convoy of provisions. He
secured the Jeur pass and remained among the hills. Jahdngir
KhAn, crossing the hills by the Deyalgaon pass near Tisgaon,
encamped at ^JUJBg^ about two miles nortKeasTofTEe' future site
of Ahmadnagar, and both armies remained within twelve miles of
each other inactive for nearly a month. This movement of Jahdngir
£hlLn effectually turned Ahmad Nizdm's position and cut him off
from any aid from Pardnda. During the rains, fancying himself
secorej Jahdngir EMn gave himself to comforts and pleasures, an
example which soon spread through his army. Ahmad Niz&m, who
had ffood intelligence of the state of the enemy, made anight attack
on the 28th of May 1490, accompanied by Azim Khdn of
Paranda. They entered the enemy's camp as day broke and
falling suddenly upon them completely routed the Bahmani troops.
All officers of distinction were slain ; others were taken prisoners
and, mounted on buffaloes, were led about the camp and afterwards
sent to Bedar. This victory was called the Victory of the Garden
because onthat spot AhmadNizdmbuiltapalaceandlaid out a garden.^
Ahmad gave public thanks to God for his victory, granted a village
near the spot as a residence for holy men, and returned victorious
to Junnar. After this battle, by the advice of Yusuf Adil Shah of
Bij&pur, who had already assumed independeiice (1459),* Ahmad

Cihapter VII«
Iftistory.

MuaALMiNS.

Bahmanis,
1347-1490.

Ahmad Nkdm^
1485.

i This saiden waa improved by Ahmad's snccesaor BnrhAa Niz^lm who willed it
and calldd it Btoh Kiz&m.

s Yufuf Adil ^h of Bij4par was a Tark, a son of Amnr&th (1421-1451) Snltdn of
CoDJiaiitinople. He foanded the family of the Adil ShiUii rulers of Bijdpur consistdnff
of nioe sovereigns whose mle lasted nearly 200 years. See Bij&por Statisticu
Accoantw At the same time the Kutb 3h^i dynasty (1^12-) 609) was established
nAder Soltto Kutb-ul-Mulk at Oolkonda and the Berid ShW (1492-1609) under
Kiatm Berid at Bedar. Thoash kings, nominaUy supreme, continued to rule as
Iste as lSi26» the supremacy of the Bahmanis may be said to have ceased from the
time when the Ahmadnagar (1490) and Bij&por (1489) governors threw off their

[BomlMj Outtteer.

358

DISTRICTB.

(AapterVn.
History.

MuSALKiNS.

Bahmanis,
1347-1490.

Ahmad Nizdm

cLssumes
Independence^

inserted his name in tiie public prayers and assumed Ihe white
canopy of independent role. Khwdja Jab^n and other officers
remonstrated^ and Ahmad left his name oat of the prayers and said
the canopy was only to screen him from the son. On this some
of his officers began to ose canopies and Ahmad allowed them, only
insisting that no canopy bat his should be lined with scarlet.
Soon after his officers insisted that he shoald adopt the signs of a
king and have his name read in the public prayers. Ahmad agreed
declaring it was only because they wished him. In the same year
(1490) after a long siege Ahmad Niz4m Shdh reduced 1^^^^ B^^P"^
the land fort of ^|^Ul(ft in the central Konkan. He' thus secured
unbroken commumcation between his Deccan territories and the
coast which the Ahmadabad kings held as far south as Chenl
and the Bijdpur kings held as far north as Bankot^ and possession
of a large portion of that province. The two brothers Malik Waji
and Malik Ashraf whom Ahmad Niz&m's father had appointed to
Daulatabad had kept on terms of friendship with Ahmad Nizdm
Shdh. To make their alliance closer, after the victory of the Garden,
Ahmad Nizdm Shdh gave his sister Bibi Zinat in marriage to Malik
Waji. In due course a son was born. Malik Ashraf^ who was
anxious to found a kingdom for himself, assassinated both father and

allegiance and established themselves as independent ralers. Acooiding to
Colonel Meadows Taylor, except Hum^ynn Sh&h (1457-1461), the Bahmani kings
OTotected their people and ^vemed them justly and weU. Among the Deccan
Hindus aU elements of social union and local ffovemment were preserved aod
strengthened by the MnsalmAns, who, without mterfering with or remodelline
local institutions and hereditary offices, turned them to their own use, Peniaa i^
Arabic education was extended by village schools attached to mosques and endowed
witii lands. This tended to the spread of the literature and faith of the rulers, and
the effects of this education can tml be traced through the Bahmani dominions. A
lar^e foreign conmierce centred in Bedar, the capital of the Deccan, which was
visited by merchants and travellers from aU coimtries. The Bahmani kings made
few public works. There were no water works, no roads or bridges, and no pnolic inns
or posts. Their chief works were huse castles which after 600 years are as perfect
as when they were built. These forts have glacis and counterscarps, covered ways,
traverses, flanking bastions with curtains and intermediate towers, broad wet and
dry ditches, and in all plain fortresses a faussebraye or xmmpart-mound with bastions
and towers in addition to the main rampart. No foztdble conversion of masses of
Hindus seems to have taken place. A constant stream of foreigners poured in from
Persia,** Arabia, Tartary, Afgnanist&n, and Abyssinia. These foreigners, who served
chiefly as soldiers, married Hindus and created the new Muhammadan population
of the Deccan. Architecture of Bii&pur, 12-13. The names and dates of the
Ahmadnagar, Bij&pur, and Qolkonda kings are :

Akmadnagar, Bijdfiur, and Chikonda King$^ U89 - X6S7.

AmUDKAOAB.

BuAfuk.

OOLKOKPl.

Name.

Date.

Name.

Date.

Name.

Date.

Ahmad L

1490-1506

Tnsof

■ ••

1489-1610

Solt&nKoli ...

1618-1643

Bhrh&n

1606-1658

Ism&el

•■■

1610-1534

Jamtbid

1643.1690

HUSftlD

1663-1665

MaUa

••■

16M

Ibrfthim

1560-1581

MurtacaL

1666.1588

Ibrahim I.

•••

U84.1557

1561.1611

Mlx&nHttaafai.

1688

AU I.

■ ••

l«fr-1680

AbduIUh

1611-1678

Ism&U

1688.1690

Ibrahim II.

• ••

1680-1926

Abu Hasan ...

1678.16tr7

Btirhto II. .

1690.1694

IMhmud

• ■•

1626-1656

Ibrfthim

1694

AUU.

• ••

1656-1678

Ahmad n

1696

Shikandar

•••

1672-1880

Bahidur

1605

Murtaall. .

1605.1681

leeoaib]

AHMADNA'GAR.

859

son, and aflstimed independence at Daulatabad. Bibi Zinat sought her
brother's protection and he in 1493 marched against Danlatabad.
On his way ho received letters from K^im Berid, the minister of the
Bahmani king M&hmud II. praying for aid against Yusof Adil Kh^
who had besieged Bedar. AJimad marched to Bedar, reUeyed it^ and
returned to Daulatabad which for two months ^e blockaded without
success and then withdrew towards Junnar. On reaching Bhingdr the
site of his great victory over Jah^ngir Khdn^ midway between J unnar
and Daulatabad, Ahnubd resolved to found his capital there and from
it determined to send an army every year to lay waste the country
round Daulatabad till he reduced it. In 1494 he laid the foundation
of a dty close to the B^h Nizdm upon tbe left bank of the Sina
river and called it after himself Ahmgoba^r. In two years the city
is said to have rivalled Bagda(f^7uairo in splendour After this
the Ahmadnagar army took the field twice a year at the time of the
early and the late harvests, to plunder the country near Daulatabad
in order if possible to reduce the fort by famine. In 1495, Ahmad
induced Khwd.ja Jah&n of Parfoda to march to the aid of Dastur
Din4r who held the country between the Bhima and Telingan and
was anxious to establish his independence. He afterwards himself
marched to join him, but hearing that peace was made between Dastur
Dinar and the Bahmani king he returned to Ahmadnagar.^ In 1498
as Yusuf Adil Sh&h of Bij^pur had marched against Dastar Din&r,
Ahmad Niz^m again went to his aid and caused Yusuf to retire. In
the same year Ahmad Nizdm Shdh, Yusuf Adil Sh^h, and
Im&d-ul-Mulk of Ber^ resolved that they should divide the Deccan
among them and that AJimad Niz^m should have Daulatabad, Antora,
G^a, and the country beyond those forts as far as the borders of
Gnjarkt* In 1499 Malik Ashraf the governor of Daulatabad prayed
Mdhmnd Begada, the greatest of the Ahinadabad kings (1489 -1511),
who was on his way to Khdndesh, to come to his aid. At the same
time as AdU Khdn Fdrukhi, the Khfcdesh king (1457 - 1503),*
requested Ahmad Nizam to meet the Oujar&t king, AJmiad Nizdm
raised the siege of Daulatabad and repaired with 15,000 cavalry
to Bnrdh^npur. Ahmad Nizim Shdh's general Nasir-ul-Mulk
Gujarati was sent to the Gujar&t camp as ambassador. While he
was there, at his master's instance, he bribed the Gujarat elephant-
keepers at a fixed time to let loose a mad elephant. Ahmad Nizdm
BhiQi at the head of 5000 infantry and 5000 cavalry made a night

Chapter VIL
History.

MusalmAns.

Nu^Un Sh&hiSa
1490-1636.

Ahmadnagar

Founded,

1494.

» Briggi* Feriahta. XXL 15 - 17. « Brigps' Feriahta, XXL 19.

'The Kli&ndeah family was founded by Mauk Riija F^nikhi a distingtuBhed
Arab officer m tiiie BelHi army in 1399. Eleven sncceBsionB lasted over neany 200

years. The details are :

KkdndtOiKiingt, 1399 -1596, ^

NAH&

Date.

Namb.

Date.

Valik S41m (Nvir KULn)..

1889

Hiiftn Mnhwninad Bb&h..

1620

HlT&n a£i Khin ...

• •t

1437

Hirto Mabfeik

1636

Mir&B Xttbftrik ...

• • t

1441

Hlrftn MnhammAd Ehin..

1606

AdU Kbto 1.

1467

Rftia All Kb&n

Bahfidur Shib

1676

D^Dd Khftn

• •*

150S

1606

AdSl Kbto a ...

• •■

1510

360

DIStelCTa

[Bombay OawttNTf

Chapter Vn.

MxtsalmIns.

Kiz^lm Shihig,
1490-1636.

attack on tHe Gajar&t camp^ and as tlie mad elephant was set
free at the same moment^ a panic seized the Gujardt troops, and
M4hmad Begada with a few attendants fled for six milea Soon
after Ahmad Niz4m made peace with Mdhmnd Begada and
retamed and laid siege to Daulatabad, Ashraf KhAa once more
applied for aid to Mihmnd Begada, promising, if he would relieve
him, to read the public prayers in his name and pay him tribute.
On MAmud Begada's approach with a large army, Ahmad Nizam
8h&h raised the siege and retired to his capital. Ashraf KUq
read prayers at Daulatabad in M^hmud Begada's name, went to
his camp, and made him valuable presents, which he agreed to
renew every year as his vassal Mahmud Begada levied
tribute from Eh&ndesh and returned to G>ujar^t. No sooner had
Mdhmud left Kh4ndesh than Ahmad Nizam Sh£h again marched
to Daulatabad, where the Mardtha garrison, indignant at becoming
tributary to Gujar&t, sent offers of submission to Ahmad who
surrounded Daulatabad with 30,000 men. When Malik 'Ashraf
heard that his troops had lost respect for him, he fell ill and died
in five days, and the garrison handed the fort to Ahmad Niz&m.
Ahmad gave orders for the repair of the forfc, established a garrison
of his own, returned to Ahmadnagar, raised a wall round the Bigh
Nizdm and in it built a palace of red stone. In the same year (1499>
he reduced the forts of Antur and other places in Kh^ndesh and
forced the chiefs of B&gldn and Gdlna to pay him tribute. Aboat
1502 Yusuf Adil Khdn, having proclaimed the public profession of
of the Shia creed in Bij^pur, Aiimad Niz4m entered into a religions
league with Amir Berid and the king of Gk)lkonda. Amir Bend
took Ganjauti, and Ahmad Nizdm sent ambassadors to !Kj&par
demanding the surrender of Naldurg. Yusuf sent back an angry
answer and recovered Ganjauti. Amir Berid now sent his son
Jah&ngir E[h^ to Ahmadnagar with such urgent remonstranoES
that Ahmad was induced to march with 10,000 horse and a train
of artillery which, with the troops of the other allies, formed a large
force. Yusuf to turn the war from his own territory marched north
and wasted Ahmad Nizam's territory near Bid. Being pursued by the
allies he passed intoBer&r, and by the advice of theBer^ king, recall^
his edict in favour of the Shia &ith and Ahmad Nizdm was persuaded
to detach himself from the league.^ In 1507 Ahmad Niz^mShih went
with a large force to aid Alam Kh^n whose claim to the throne of
Kh&ndesh was disputed by his nephew Mir^n Adil Eh&n. AtThiLlner,
twenty-eight miles north-east of Dhulia, hearing of the approach
of M&hmud Begada with a large force to help Mir4n Adil Khan, with
Alam Kh&n's consent he left 4000 cavalry with him and himself fell
back on Gd^valghar. The Ahmadnagar troops deserted Alam Khan
and be shortly after joined Ahmad Nizd.m and craved his protection.
Ahmad Niz&m advanced to the Gujar&t frontier and urged M&hmad
Begada to grant Alam E[h&n a share of E[h&ndesh. His ambassadors
were treated with indignity, but Ahmad was not strong enough to

1 Briggs' Ferishta, IIL 22-29. After the close of the war Ttum! rD-Mtabliahed the
public profeBsion of the Shia faith and from that date till hia death in 1510 do
attempt was made to disturb his religioxi. See Bijilpur Histoiy.

Beocaa*!

AHMADNAQAB,

361

contend with tlie great Onjaar&t king, and returned quietly with
Alanx Khdn to Ahmadnagar. He died in 1508 after naming as his
saccessor his son Borh&n, a child of seven years.

Among Ahmad's great qualities were continence and modesiy.
When any of his officers were backward on the day of battle it was
his custom to reward instead of reproaching them. One of his
courtiers asked the cause of this unusual conduct and Ahmad replied
that princes like masters of the hunt alone know how to train
for the chase. He was famous for his skill as a swordsman, and
established schools for single stick and wrestling px all quarters of
the city of Ahmadnagar. In all quarrels he who gave the £rst
wound was considered the victor. In consequence of this
encouragement, a crowd of young men assembled every day at the
palace to show their skill as swordsmen, till at last a day seldom
passed in which one or two combatants were not killed. This
custom, so congenial to the Deccan Mar&th&s, spread far and wide,
and, according to Ferishta, in his time (1588) learned divines and
philosophers, as well as nobles and princes, practised duelling.
Those who showed any backwardness were considered wanting m
sgirit.* _-^^

•As Burh£n NizAm Sh&h was a child of seven Mukamil Kh&iyr)
Dakhani, an able statesman and general, was appointed Vakil oiS-^
Protector, and his son, under the title of Aziz-ul-Mulk, received the
office of Sar Nobat or Commander of the Hoasehold Troops. So
much attention was paid to the education of the young prince, that,
in his tenth year, he read poetry with ease and with proper emphasis
and wrote exceedingly well.' During the next three years the pride
of Aziz-uUMulk, who, with his father had gained complete control
over all the affairs of government, grew so unbearable that the
other nobles strove to overthrow his influence, depose Burhdn the
young king, and raise B4ja-]u his younger brother to the throne.
Bibi Aisha, who had been nurse to the young king's mother, dressed
Baja-ju in girl's clothes, and took him in her litter towards the
city. Before she reached the city she was overtaken by the palace
servants and brought back. Her object was discovered and the
princes were closely watched. Soon after this the protector's
enemies were persuaded to quit Ahmadnagar with eight thoBsand
followers. They entered the service of A!M-ud-din Im^d-uUMulk,
ruler of Berdr, and excited him to attack Burh&n Nizam's dominions.
Im^d-nl-Mulk marched with a large army. At Rdnari near the
frontier he was met by the protector, aided by E[hw^ja Jahdn Dakhani
of Par^nda, and totally defeated (1510). He fled without halting till

CShapter Til*
History.

MusalmAns.

Niz&m ShiUiiB,
1490-1636.

Burhdn Nizdm

Shdh,

1608'1S5S.

1 BriggB* FedBhta, III. 208. Syeda Mnrtaza and Hasan, two old and re|pect6d
coartierBy had a trifling dispute with three Dakhani brothers also men of ase and
position. The parties met in a street at Bij&pur in Ferishta's presence and f oaght with
lorv. First the son of Syed Mnrtaza, a youth of twenty was killed bv one of the
Iwfaanis. The father and uncle engaged the other two Dakhanis but they also were
killed. Before their bodies were removed the three Dakhanis had died of the wounds
they had received. Ditto. > Briggs* Ferishta, IH. 210-236.

' Ferishta mentions seeing in the royal library at Ahmadnagar a treatise on the
datioi of Idngs copi«d by Burhdn Kiz4m at the age of ten,

B 772-46

[Bombay Oaiettaer,

362

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YIL
History.

MusaucInb.
U90-1636.

BarboM,
1610.

he reaohed Elichpar leaving his baggage, horses, and depbants.

Throngli the intercession of the king of Kh&ndesh he oonclnded a

peace with Mukamil Kh^. Bnrh^n, who accompanied the forces,

on account of his tender age, was seated on the same saddle with

his tutor Ajdar Kh^n. Some time after this Burhdn Niz4m Shiih's

Hindu relations, the accountants of Pdthri in Ber4r expressed a wish

to recover their ancient rights in the village* Mukan^il TSJi&n wrote

to Im4d-ul-Mulk, requesting him as a favour to Burh& Nizto

Sh&h to give up Pdthri and receive another district in its stead. Iro^*

ul-Mulk refused the exchange and built aJortat£^|({y[i. Some time

after Mukamil Eli&n, going on a pleasure party to Elura, made a

sudden march against P&thri, carried it by assault, and left the fort

in charge of Midn Muhammad Ghuri who distinguished himself on the

occasion, and was honoured with the title of Kamil Khin. When the

young king reached manhood he married a dancing girl called

Amina and placed her at the head of the palace. He also learnt to

drink wine. Mukamil Kh&n the protector, aware that his influence

was failing, approached the throne, laid the seals of office at the

king's feet, and called upon the king as he was able to conduct

state affairs to excuse lum from interfering in public business.

Burh^n agreed to Mukamil's request, raised his sons to high i&nk,

and from this time Mukamil led a retired life till his death.

Of the kingdom of Ahmadnagar in the early years of the sixteenth
century Barbosa the Portuguese traveller writes^ : On coming ont
of Gujarat toward9 the south and in the inner parts of India is the
kingdom of the Dakhani king. The king is a Moor and a large
part of his people are Gentiles. He is a great lord and has many
subjects and a large territory which stretches far inland. It has
very good sea ports of great trade in the goods used on the main-
land, the chief being Cheol in Koldba about thirty miles south of
Bombay.

In 1523, Bibi Mariam, the sister of Ism&el Adil Sh&h of Bij^pnr,
was given in marriage to BurhAn and the nuptials were celebrated
with great splendour. Asad Khdn of Belgaum, the Bij^pur envoy
in his master's name had promised to give Sholapur as the princess'
dowry. Ism^el Adil Sh&h afterwards denied that he had authorised
the oession of ShoMpur, and Bnrhdn was induced to drop the
demand and to return to Ahmadnagar. As Amina the favourite
queen, assumed superiority over her, the BijApur princess complained
to her brother of the affront offered to her. The Bijdpur monarch
remonstrated with the Ahmadnagar ambassador and the quarrel led
to lasting ill feeling. In 1524 Burh&n Nizd,m Shdh, aided by Bend
Shdh of Bedar and Im4d Shah of Berdr, marched against Sholapor.
Ismdel Adil Shdh moved with 9000 bowmen to defend the place. In
the elfgagement that followed the Ahmadnagar troops were defeated
by Asad Khan, Imdd Sh&h fled to GAvalghar, and Burhi,n, overcome
with the heat, was conveyed by his troops to Ahmadnagar^ In 1527,

> Stanley^B Barbo6a» <>9.

Oeocaa-J

AHMADNAQAB. ^68

Im£d SbSh of Ber&r led an army agamst and took PAthri . bat it was Chapter Til.

soon after recovered by BorMn Niz&m after a close siege of two Historr

months. On taking P^thri Barh4n razed the works to the ground and -nMiwry.

ga,ve the district in charity to his Br&hman relations in whose hands MuHALBiAHg.

it continued till the reign of the Emperor Akbar (1556-1605). After ^ijS? f^g^

destroying Pathri^ Barhdn marched to M4hur^ and from M^hur to

Elichpur. Imdd Shdh fled to Burhdnpur and with the Khandesh

king marched back against Burhdn. The allies were totally defeated^

losing 300 elephants and all their baggage. In 1529, at the request

of the allies, Bahadur Sh^of Gujarat (1525-1535) marched to their

aid. Alarmed at this addition to their strength Burhdn sent letters

of congratulation to Babar on his elevation to the throne of Delhi,

and also addressed Ismdel Adil Sh^h of Bijdpnr, Amir Berid Shi^h

of Bedar, and Snltdn Euli Kutb Sh&h of Golkonda Of these

only Amir Berid Sh^ marched to join him with 6000 foreign

horse. Bahadur Shdh marched to wards Burh^n Niz&m Shdh^s army

and encamped near Bid, where he was completely cut off between

Paithan and Bid by Ainir Berid Sh&L About 3000 men were

killed and upwards of seventy camels laden with treasure fell into

the assailants^ hands. To avenge this disgrace Bahadur Sh&h sent

20,000 horse under Ehudi,vand Khdn, but this division was also

defeated. As a third detachment under Im&d Shah followed Burh^n

Nizdm fell back first on Pardnda and then on Junnar. Bahddur Sh&h

marched on Ahmadnagar and lived for forty days in Burh^n Niz&m's

palace. He then left Im4d Sh^h to conduct the siege of the fort

and marched to Daalatabad. Burh^n Nizim Shdh, who meanwhile

hovered about the Oujar&tis cutting off their supplies, wrote to Ismael

Adil Shdh praying him to march in person to his relief. Ism&el,

who was engaged with Yijaynagar, was unable to come, but sent

500 chosen horse under his general Haidar-ul-Mulk Kazvini Burhan

NiziLm Sh&h, disappointed in his hopes, deprived Shaikh J&far, who

had become very unpopular among all classes of people, of the

oflSce of minister or Peshwa, and bestowed it on one K^var Sain a

Brahman, a man endowed with wisdom, penetration, and integrity.

By K&var Sain's advice Barhan marched with all the troops he could

gather from Junnar to Ahmadnagar and shortly after succeeded in

gaining a position in the hills near Daulatabad and within eight

miles of the Gujardt army. * For three months he harassed the

enemy by skirmishes and night attacks, but, being afterwards

defeated in a general action, he sued for peace through the Khdndesh

and Ber^ kings, to whom he promised to return the forts and

elephants he had taken in war. These two princes accordingly

represented to Khuddvand Khdn that they had called in the Gujarat

king only to recover Md.hur and Pdthri, but that he now seemed to

have extended his views to the possession of their cojintry.

Kbudivand remarked that this was their own fault, and they resolved

to break the league. When the league was broken and representations

made to the Gujarat king, Imad tSh&h agreed to pass provisions to

Daulatabad and retired to Elichpur. Burhdn acknowledged the

Gujardt king's superiority by causing the public prayers to be read

in his name and Bahddxur Sh4h returned to Gujarat. The Kh&ndesh

king's elephants were restored to him, but when the forts of M4hur

IBonibfty GhwttflSTt

364

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VII.

History.

MusALiciKS.

I^iz&m ShAhifl,
1490-1636.

and P^tliri were demanded, BarMn sent an evasive answer and refused
to give them np.

In the same year (1529) Burhdn 'Niz&m Sh&h sent Sh&h T&hir, a
distinguished saint and scholar of the Shia faith, with presents of cloth
elephants and horses to Bah^dor ShdL Bah&dur delayed giving him
an audience, as Burh^n had discontinued reading thu public prayers in
his name. At length through the mediation of the Khdndesh king
Bah&dur received Sh4h Tfihir . For some time he treated him with little
consideration, but at length his great talents and learning won for
him Bahadur's esteem, who at the end of three months dismissed him
with honour. In 1530 BurhiLn again sent Sh&h T&hir with Narso
Pandit to congratulate Bah&dur Sh^h on his conquests in Malwa.
They were introduced at Burh&npur to the Gujardt king by Miran
Muhammad Khdn of Ehandesh. As about this time Humayan of
Delhi was beginning to spread his conquests south towards Mdlwa and
Gujardt, according to the Khdndesh king, it was politic for Bahadur
Shdh to make a friend of Burhdn Nizdnt Bahadur was a prince of
great ambition and claiming eqaality with the sovereigns of Delhi
conferred many favours on Shdh Tdhir, who was sent hurriedly
to Ahmadnagar to induce his master to have an interview with
Bahadur Shdh at Burhdnpur. Burhdn Shdh, though he at first
declined, was induced, by Shdh Td.hir and Kd.var Sain to agree to the
proposed meeting. He left prince Husain Nizdm in charge of the
government with 7000 horse and started for Burhdnpur. Hearing
on the way that all except holy men were required to stand before
the throne of Bahddur, Burhdn declined to move further, bat at the
intercession of Shdh Tdhir, who undertook that his honour should in
no way suffer, agreed to accompany him to the Gujarat king's court.
"When the Ahmadnagar king arrived at the royal tents, Sh^h Tahir
accompanied him carrying on his head a Kuran in the hand-
writing of the prophet Ali. The Gujardt king on learning this
instantly descended from the throne, kissed the Kur^n, and with
it touched his eyes and his forehead. He then received tho
compliments of Burhdn and reascended the throne. He desired
Shdfa Tdhir, who was a holy man of the first rank, to be seated.
Shdh Tdhir excused himself saying that he could not sit while
his master was standing. Bahadar accordingly asked Burhdn
Nizdm also to be seated. After compliments, Bahddur taking
from his waist a sword and jewelled dagger girded them on Burhdn,
and gave him the title of Shdh. He also presented him with tho
canopy or chhMra, which Bahddur had taken from the Mdlwa king,
and ordered his minister and the E^hdndesh king to conduct him to
the tent which was pitched for his reception. In an entertainment
on the following day Bahddur seated the Ahmadnagar and
Elhdndesh kings on chairs of gold in front of the throne, and
presented Burhdn with five horses, two elephants, and twelve
fighting deer. The two kings then played together at cliaugdn
or polo. Burhdn Shdh also niade offerings to the Gujardt king, but
he accepted only a Kurdn, a sword, and four elephants and two
horses. Bahddur then conferred all the Deccan country on Burhdn,
On his return Bnrhan visited Daulatabad^ and, paying his

BeocMi*]

AHMADNAaAR.

865

devotionB at ihe shrines of the holy men who were buried there,
encamped at the Hauzi Kutla where he was met by his son and
minister as well as by ambassadors from Bij&pnr and Golkonda,
who had come to congratulate him. Khwdja Ibr&him and
Sambhaji Chitnavis who had preceded the king to Burhdnpur to
arrange for his reception were honoured with the titles of Latif
Khan and Prat&p Kay and were henceforward admitted as
confidential officers.

Burhdn having now leisure to attend to the management of his
dominions^ by the wise policy of K&var Sain, reduced thirty
forts belonging to Mar&tha chiefs who had not paid allegiance
since Ahmad Nizdm Sh4h's deatL In 1531, Amir Bend Shdh
having prayed for aid against Ismael Adil Shdh who was planning
the conquest of the forts of Kallidni and Kindh&r, Barh&n Nizdm
Shih wrote an imperious letter to Ismd>el Adil Sh&h requiring him
at once to desist. Ism^l reminded Burh&n of his late condition
at Ahmadnagar, and warned him not to pride himself on honours
and titles conferred by a Gujar&t king, since he himself derived his
lineage from a race of sovereigns and had been styled a sovereign
by the kings of Persia the descendants of the Prophet. Barh&n
Niz^m Sh^, though ashamed of his conduct, at once marched to
Umrazpur, from which, after remaining some days to gather his
forces, he crossed into Ismdel Adil Sh&h's territory. In the battle
which followed Burhan Nizdm was totally defeated and retreated to
Ahmadnagar with the loss of all his baggage and nearly 4000 men.
In 1532 at a meeting of Burhan Nizdm Shdh and Ismdel Adil Shdh
it was decided that Burhdn should invade Berdr and Ismdel should
invade Telingan and that they should divide the Deccan between
them. This project came to nothing as Ismdel Adil Sh^h died
in 1534. In 1537, at the instigation of Sh^h T&hir who was
a Shia, Burh&n substituted the names of the Im^ms for those
of the S&hibas^ or Kaliph^s in the public prayers, and changed
the colour of his canopy and standards to green. He also settled
pensions on persons to revile and curse the three first KaliphSs
and their followers in mosques and in the streets. This caused much
discontent and a number of the disaffected under one MuUa Pir
Muhammad, a farious Sunni, besieged the palace. The leader was
imprisoned, and the tumult subsided. The kings of Gujardt, Bij&pur,
and Kh4ndesh enraged at the insult offered to the Sunnis, combined
and agreed to divide the Ahmadnagar dominions betveeen them.
Borhin offered his services to the Emperor Hum^yun to aid in an
invasion of Gujardt but the rebellion of Shir Sh^h prevented
his offer being accepted. Burh^ found means to satisfy the
Gujar&t and Xhandesh kings, and, engaging all the Shia foreigners
disbanded bj Ibrdhim Adil Sh&h, marched against Bijdpur,
and captured one hundred elephants and some pieces of cannon. In
1542, Burhan Niz&n Shdh, taking advantage of the dissensions at

Chapter Yn«
History.

MnsALMijrs.

Ifiztoi Sh&hia,
1490-1836.

1 The three KAUphiU are Abu Bakar, Umar, and OthmiUi the immediate sacoeaBon
of the prophet Muhammad,

[Bombay Oaiolter.
366 DISTRICTS.

OiEpter Tn. Bijipar between Ibr&bim and bis minister ABad Kb&n of Belganm
jS^^m- invited Amir Berid Sh4h of Bedar to join him. At the same time he

caosed a false report to be spread that Asad Kh&a, who was a staonch
^^'^"J™* Shia, had invited the two monarchs to Bij4par and promised to give
UW -16^!'' ^P Belganm. Having thus poisoned the Bij^pnr king's mind against

his minister^ Burh&i Nizim Shih marched on Sholipar, seized its
five and a half districts, and made them over io AJ^w^ja Jahin
Dakhani. He then mardhed to Belganm. took possession of the fort,
and plundered the towns that did not submit In spite of Asad
Eh^n's prayers Ibrdhim Adil Sh&h, who feared treacherj, refused
to march against Burhdn. Asad Ehdn, seeing no security but by
going over to the enemy joined the allies with 6000 troops and
Burh&n Niz&m marched on Bijtour. Ibr^im Adil Sh&h deserted
his capital and took shelter at Kuibarga. Though he had joined the
enemy Asad Kh&n's sympathies were entirely with his master
Ibrahim. He wrote te ImAd Sh&h of Berdr explaining his position^
and, on the arrival ot a remtorcemerilfrom Ber Ar, he quitted Burhan's
camp and joined the Ber^ troops. Burh^, who was no mateh for
this combination, retreated towards Ahmadnagar pursued by the
Berdr and Bijdpur army. Being forced te leave his capital a prey to
the invaders, Burh^n took post in the strong fortress of Dgigjatabad,
where, as his ally Amir Berid Sh&h of Bedar died, he concluded a
peace, and restored to Ibrahim Adil'Sh&h the Hve and a half districts
of ShoUpur. Next year (1543) BurhAn Niaim ShAh sent Sh4h T^r
to the court of the king of Golkonda to congratulate him on his
coming to the throne, and te make private overtures to join in a
league with lUm Raja of Vijaynagar against Bij&pur. In 1546. at
the instigation of Bitm R&ja, Burh&n Nizdm Shdh again moved to
reduce Kulbarga, and Ibrdhim Adil Sh^h marched from Bij^por
to oppose him. Burhdn took a strong position on the left bank of
the Bhima. and Ibrahim, finding it impossible to cross the river
>^ during tlie rains, encamped on the right bank. Both armies lay '
N '• inactive for three months in sight of each other, till, at last,
tired of delay, Ibrahim Adil Sh&h crossed the river, attacked the
Ahmadnagar troops, and totally defeated them with the loss of 250
elephants and 170 cannons and tumbrils. Burhdji Nizam Shih now
sent his trusty minister Shah Td^hir te beg the aid of Ali Berid
Shah of Bedar, "but tis imssion failed. In consequence of this refusal
of aid,* Burh&n next year marched with an army against "Bedar.
He began operations by laying siege te ^j^g^. The Bijdpur troops
joined the Bedar forces at Kalli&ni which was promised as a reward
to Ibr&him Adil Sh^. The allies Raised the siege, but in an action
which took place within four miles of Kalli^ni they were defeated
witli considerable loss and Ansa shortly afterwards fell to Burhi.n.
Burh&n then marched against TJdyir which also he reduced, and
from U dgir went against K^dndhdr. Here the allies made another
effort te raise the siege and were a second time defeated with the
loss of their heavy baggage. K&ndh&r shortly after fell, and
Burhdn Ni^&m Shih returned tewards his capital (1548). On his
way home he was met by deputies from a party in iiijapur, who,
oppressed by the cruelty and bad government of Ibr&uim, wero
anxious te set his younger brother on the throne* Burhiui and the

Deeoaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

367

of Golkonda, who hai also agreed to join the league, moved
towards Bijapnr. Barh&n made an nnsaccessfnl attempt to take
Belgaam from Asad Eh&n and was compelled to retreat. Shortly
after ShSh Tihir died and Bnrhdn fell back on his capital and made
over the~8eaTs to K&sim Beg Hakim and Gk>p&lr&v a Br&hman. As
Asad Kh&nof Belgaam diedabontthe sametime (1549) Borh&n Nizdm
resolved with the aid of H^m R&ja of Y^aynagar, to make another
attack on Bijdpar. At K6m K4]a's desire Bnrh^ moved at once from
Ahmadnagar and snrronnding K^llifaii effectoally blocked all
communication. Ibr&him Adil SCSETmarched to relieve it. Barh&n
fortified his lines, and was shortly after fortunate in surprising the
Bij^pur army so completely that Ibr£him had scarcelv time to make
his escape and fly towards Bid and Par&nda, while his troops fled
leaving their tents, baggage^ and artillery in Burhin's hand&
Kalliilni surrendered without further opposition. As he fled
through the enemy's country, Ibrdhim came suddenly before
Paranda. and taking possession of it, gave it in charge to one of his
Dakhani officers. He laid waste the surrounding country and levied
heavy contributions, but hearing of Burh&n's approach retreated
towards Bijdpur. Before the Ahmadnagar troops had arrived
within forty miles, Ibr&him's governor at Par&nda, who mistook
the buzzing of a gnat for the soand of Burh&n's trumpets, fled,
and, on the third day after his flight, the fortress was occupied by
A hmadnagar troops. Burhdn restored Pardnda fort to Khw&ja Jah&i
Dakhani and marched back to Ahmadnagar. In the same year (1549)
Burh&n without opposition marched his army through great part of
the Bij^pur territory, and, as arranged with Rdm R&ja of Vijaynagar,
he besiefifed ShoMour, and, after a blockade of three months, carried
it by assault. He was about to advance to Kulbarga, when,
hearing that R&m Bdja after reducing B&ichur and Mudgal had
returned to Vijaynagar^ he also returned to Ahmadnagar. In 1653
Barh&n again formed an alliance with H&m Bdja and marched
towards Bijdpur, and Ibr&him^ unable to cope witn him, retired to
Panh^Ia near Kolh&pur. Bij^pur was besieged. But Burh&n fell
saddenly sick, returned to his capital, and soon after died, at the age
of fifty-four, after a reign of forty-seven years. His body was
embalmed and entombed at Karbela in Persia, near the burial place
of Hasan the son of Ali the Prophet. He left two sons Husain and
Abdul Kddar by his favourite wife Amina, and two others Sh&h Ali
and Mir4u Muhammad Bakar by Bibi Mariam the daughter of
Yasuf Adil Sh&h. He had also another son Sh&h Haidar married to
the daughter of Ehwdja Jah^ Dakhani.^

Chapt^TII.
History.

MusalhAns.
1490-1636.

1 Acoordisg to the Portugaese chronicles of the time, Bnrh&n Nizdm was eddowed
iHth great oational and political sMacity. and his court was a hospitable resort of
the best men of the time. Among ms courtiers he had a Portuguese Simao Peres,
who Hag em|>raced atuhammadinism and was held in such high esteem that the Eing
appointed him minister and general of his army. Notwitlutanding his change (3
fiaiih, Peres was always friendly to his countrymen and entertained no respect for
those who imitated him in forsaking their own religion. The king on his death-bed
recommended his 'successor to the good offices of this faitiifnl servant, and Peres
executed with fidelity all the duties with which he was charged. Soon after the destii
of the king, the young prince had an nnpleasant affiray with Adil Khin in

[Bomlay Oasetteer*
368 DISTRICTS.

CShapter YIL ^ Hnsain Niz&n Shdh succeeded his father in the thirteenth year

Hiitory. /^-\ ^^ ^^ *^®- Two parties were formed, the AbyssiniMia embracing

( S) Husain Niz&m Sh&h^s caase^ and the Dakhanis DOth Mnsalm^Lns and

NxmAiMAjxB.\^ Hindus that of his brother Abdul KMar, who at length being

]^- lea^!"' deserted by his party took, refuge with ImAd-ul- Mulk of Berir. The

Huaain Nizdm ^^^^ brothers Shdh Ali and Mird.n Muhammad Bakar fled to their

Shdh, uncle at Bij4pur. Shdh Haidar went to his father-in-law at fp^rAnf^a

1663'1666. and laid claim to the throne. Husain marching against him, he with

his father-in-law the governor, fled to the Bijd.pur court, and Par^nda
fell to the Nizdm Sh&hi forces, Ibr^m Adil Sh4h openly espoused
the cause of the refugees, and marched against ShoUpur which had
been taken during the last reign. Husain received from Im&d Shah
of Ber&r a reinforcement of 7000 cavalry and moved to mise the siege.
Saif Ain-ul-Mulk, who had left the Nizdm 8h^ service and had gone
over to Bij^pur, and who was known throughout the Deocan for his
courage and for the e£G[ciency of his horsemen, being driven from the
Bijdpur kingdom, was allowed to return to Ahmadnagar, and was
subsequently treacherously put to death. His family was conducted
in safety by one of his chief dependents Kabul Khdn to Oolkonda
where Kabul EMn was received into the service of Ibrdhim Kutb
Sh&h. At this time Husain Nizdm Sh&h, in cpncert with Ibrahim
Kutb Sh&h, marched to invade the Bij&pur country. But as Kutb
Sh4h returned to his capital Husain Niz&m Sh^ was compelled to

S[l back on Ahmadnagar. In the same year Hasain detached
uhammad Wastdd Nish&puri and Chulbi Bumi E[hdn^ against
Bevdanda, and the Portuguese who had built the fort promised not
to molest Ahmadnagar subjects. Husain also carried his arms into
Eh&ndesh and took the fort of^Q^^Qa. In 1^59 Ali Adil Shfih the
new king of Bij&pur formed an alliance with B4m Bdja and Ibrdhim
Kutb Shd^h, while Husain Nizdm Sh&h made fresh overtures to Imdd*
nl-Mulk of Ber&r who received Husain's daughter in marriage.
The allied sovereigns reached Ahmadnagar with an army of 900,000
infantry. Husain Sh&h fled to Paithan and asked the Ber&r,
Kh&ndesh, and Bedar kings to march to his aid. Kh&n Jahin the
brother of the Bedar king, now in the Ber&r service instead of
rendering assistance, marched with 6000 horse to the Ahmadnagar
frontier to attack Husain Niz&m Sh&h, but being defeated joined the
Bij&pur troops. The allies laid siege to Ahmadnagar. But
Ibr&him Kutb Sh&h, jealous of the Bij&pur king's power, connived
at supplies passing to the garrison, and one of his generals kept
communication both with Husain Niz&m Sh&h at Paithan and with

which the old miniBteT lost his life and the new Nizto-nl-Mnlk was left to his
whims nngnided alike by the advice of his sober minister and the example of his
wise f^er. Accordins to Diogo do Conto, the deceased king being affected by
leprosy or St. Lazamr malady as he calls it, and all medical efforts to cure him
having failed, was recommended by one of his court physicians to try as a last
resource the effect of bathing in children's blood. Large cisterns were filled vith
blood but the blood prescription was not successfuL Da Cunha's Chaul^ 44-45.

1 Briggs' Ferishta, lU. 237-249.

2 This officer cast the Malik-i-Maid&n or Lord of the Plain the famous brass gun
now at Bijdpnr, Sis tomb at Ahmadnagar has been lately converted into an
JSnglisii omen's residence. The mould in which the gun was oast may still be seen
in tiie garden*

Deccanl

AHMADNAGAR.

^69

the besieged. When Rdm Hija demanded an explanation Kntb Sh&h
marched daring the night for Oolkonda, while his general finding
his way into the fort joined Husain Nizdm Shdh at Paithan. Imdd-
ul-Mulk by way of reparation for Khan Jah^n's conduct sent a large
force to join Hnsain. This division being employed to cut off the
bosiegers' supplies compelled the allies to raise the siege which they
meant to renew after baying provisions from Par^nda and Ansa.
Meanwhile Husain Nizam Sh^h concluded a peace with Bdm Rdja.
Under the terms of this treaty he ceded the fortress of Ealli^ni to
Bi japur^ put to death Jahdngir Khdn the Ber^ general who had been
extremely, active against the enemy, and paid Bdm K&ja a visit and
acknowledged his superiority.

On his arrival at Ahmadnagar he caused the fort, which was

originally built of mud, to be rebuilt with stone and to be surrounded

by a deep ditch. In 1562, after the celebration in the neighbourhood

of Kallidni of the marriage of Husain^s daughter Bibi Jam^lli with

Ibrahim Kutb Shdh, both princes laid siege to that fortress. They

were attacked by Bdm R^ja and Ali Adil Sh&h aided by the Berdr

and Bedar kings. Sending his family into the fort of Ansa, Husain

Nizam Shdh accompanied by Eutb Sh&h marched with 700 guns

and 500 elephants to within twelve miles of the enemy. A violent

storm blew down his tents, and, in the heavy black clay in which he

was encamped, the rain made his cattle and guns almost useless.

Kutb Shah's army fled without resistance and Husain began his

retreat taking with him only forty out of 700 guns.* On the third

day Husain was forced to quit even these forty guns and to flv

to Ahmadnagar. Attended only by a thousand horse he made his

way through 6000 of the enemy, still keeping the umbrella of stato

over his head.^ The enemy, deeming it unnecessary to follow him

farther, gave over pursuit. Husain threw supplies into Ahmadnagar

and retired to Junnar. The allies again laid siege to Ahmadnagar,

I{^m Bdja's followers committing every species of cruelty. By

Ali Adil Shah's advice Rdm Bdja raised the siege and pursued

Husain Niz&m to Junnar, who retired among the hills in the

neighbourhood. Husain Bustam Khdn Dakhani, Adham Khan Habshi,

and Sdbdji Koli so effectually laid waste the country as to prevent

the enemy's advance. At K&nhur, Husain Bustam Khfin, during the

absence of Ali Adil Sh&h on a hunting party, fell suddenly on the

Bijapar army. The uncle of Adil Sh&h was killed, but the Bijdpur

troops rallied and in the end slew Bustam Khdn and two thousand

of his followers. At the approach of the rainy season the allies

returned to the siege of Ahmadnagar. Bim Bd.ja's army encamped

to the south of the fort on the bank of the Sina. Heavy rain fell in

1 The great gun at Bijdpnr weighing forty tons is supposed to have been captured
on this occasion. It was made in the reign of Burh&n Nizam Shih and is the largest
piece ol cast brass ordnance inJh^Kfidd. Details are given in the Bij&pnr Statistical
Account*

2 Husain, who strictly kept the rules about prayers, one afternoon, when closely
pnraaed, is said to have dismounted to pray. The enemy struck with his dauntless
coarago stopped at some distance. After finishing his prayers, observing that he
lukd on a girdle of ((pld, he remembered it was unlawiul to pray in gold, cast it off, and
repeatttd his devotions.

li 772-47

Chapter VII.
History.

MusalmAns.

Nizdm Shdhis,
1490- 1636.

[Bombay Gaietteer,

370

DISTRICTS.

Chapter TIL
History:

MusalmIkh.

Kizim ShdhiB,
1490-1636,

■

the hills and the river rose bo suddenly daring the night that 300
of Bam R&ja's horses and a vast number of can^iage cattle were
drowned ; and twenty officers of rank and upwards of 25,000 men
were swept away in the torrent. Bdm Kdja raised the siege and moved
towards the Kamdtak, and Ali Adil Shdh followed his example. The
Bij^par officers made frequent incursions into the ShoUlpur district
belongiag to Husain Nizdm Shdh who sent 1000 bullock-loads of
grain under a strong escort to Shol4pur to provision the fort for a
siege. Murtaza Khdna Bij^pur officer learning of this convoy marched
and defeated the Niz&m Shdhi detachment between Pardnda and
Shol&pur, and began to plunder and spread over the country. About
150 elephants were captured and sent to Bijdpur. Meanwhile the
Nizdm Shahis collected about 2000 horse and pursuing the Bijipur
troops came suddenly upon Murtaza Kh4n who had retired to Naldurg,
took him prisoner, and sent him to Ahmadnagar. Husain marched
in person at the head of his army and carried with him to Sholapur
30,000 loads of grain. In 1564 Husain entered into a league with

)(.

the three Muhammadan kings oi BijApur, B^dar, and Golkonda against
Bdm Rdja of Vijaynagar. The united armi6V- marching south crossed
the Krishna and encamped on the Hukeri river, near which wa?
Rdm Rdja at the head of 70,000 cavalry and 96,000 infantry chiefly
matchlockmen, besides archers and artillerymen. The allied kings
conceiving themselves unequal to cope with this formidable army
«iade overtures for peace. But as Rdm Rdja refused to listen to their
proposals, the Muhammadan kings resolved, to fight till death.
The Bijapur king was on the right, Husain Nizdm Sh&h in the
centre, and the Golkonda and Bedar kings on the lefii. Husoiu
Nizdm ShAh's front was covered by 600 guns placed in three lines,
"T^ qI I \) ^K(^ heavy, middle-sized, and small, the whole commanded by the famous
^'^ artillery officer Chulbi Rumi Khan. Two thousand foreign archers

in front of the guns kept a heavy discharge on the enemy as he
approached. The archers fell back as the Vijaynagar troops advanced
till they were close to the heavy battery which opened on them
with such effect that they retreated in confusion with dreadful loss.
Chulbi Rumi Khdn had provided bags of copper money to load
with should the enemy close and these proved so destructive that
upwards of 5000 Hindus were left dead close to the muzzles of the
guns. Kishwar Khdn, an officer of the Bijdpur army, pursued the
enemy with 5U00'cavalry into the centre of Kam Baja s line, where,
in attempting to make his escape on foot, R&m Bdja was overtaken
by one of the Nizam Shdhi elephants which seized him in his trunk.
On being brought to Husain, Rdm Rdja was beheaded and his army
fled to Vijaynagar.^ Husain returned to Ahmadnagar where he
died shortly after of a disorder brought on by excess. He left
four #ons and four daughters.

f/} 2^^r^hdh ^Murtaza Nizim Shdh, Husain^s son, commonly called the Divina

iseT-USs! or madman, ascended the throne when he was a minor. His mother

* Further and somewhat different details are given in the BijApur Statistical
Account. The records seem to agree that the honour of winning this great hattle rosts
with Husain NizAm and the Ahmadnagar troops. * Briggs' Ferishta, IlL S50>'/7U,

JteccanJ

AHMADNAGAR

fi71

Hu^^SuJJi^a for siscyeaTs acted as regent. She raised her three
•ociBffiELm-ul-Mulk, luj Khdn, anTEtiE^r Khdn to the first rank

Khunza

broHHHTan^l-Mulk, lUj

of nobility, and appointed MuUa Inayat' Khin to the oflSce of
minister or Peshwa. She sat daily in court, transacting business
behind a curtain. Bdm B4ja's brother Yenkat^dri, pressed by the
Bijdpor troops, applied for relief to Ehunza Sultana, who, marching
against Bijapar at the head of an army accompanied by her
young son Murtaza, forced Ali Adil Shdh to retire from
7ijaynagar to defend his own country. Peace was soon after
concluded between the two powers and a league was subsequently
formed against Tafd.1 Kh&a who, as prime minister, had usurped
authority in BerSr. Both the Bij^pur and Ahmadnagar troops
entered that country, plundered it, and marched back before
the rains. On their return Ali Adil Sh^h tried to seize the
young king of Ahmadnagar, but his mother, the regent, being
warned fled through the night and escaped to Ahmadnagar. . In
1567. Ali Adil 8hAh invaded the Nizdm Shahi dominions and took
several places. Khunza SultAna, by the extreme honour she
showed to her relation^,* gave offence to some of the nobles, who
complained to the king. With the king's permission they gained
over some of the chief nobles and attempted to overthrow the queen's
authority. They some time after repaired to the palace, but the
childish fears of the king made him conclude the secret was be-
trayed. To save himself he revealed the plot to his mother wl|o
instantly caused the principal conspirators to be secured. In 1669,
the queen marched with her son to oppose the encroachments of
Kishwar Khan the Bijdpur general. At Dhamangaon. Murtaza
gained over the principal nobles and sent Habash Khto to tell the
queen^ that she should no longer take part in public affaira
Bnraged at this message she summoned her supporters and made a
show of res^tance, but was soon seized and her attendants fled.
The king, assuming charge of the government, marched at the
head of the army. On nearing the enemy's camp he received an
insulting letter from the Bijdpur general, and swore that he would
not rest till he had entered the DhArur fort. He put on his
armour and succeeded in reaching the gate, where amidst showers
of shot, arrows, and rockets poured from the fort walls he
escaped unhurt, though many of his men horses and elephants
were killed. As the enemy's fire suddenly ceased the Ahmadnagar
troops entered unopposed and found the fort empty. An arrow had
pierced the heart of Kishwar Khan and the garrison had fied.
iinrtaza cut off Kishwar Bldn's head and hung it over the
battlements, and marched on to invade Bijdpur. Ibrahim Kutb
Shdh of Golkonda, who at firsT acted in concert with him, was
treated in an unfriendly way by Murtaza and was forced to majj^e his
escape, leaving his camp to be plundered by the NizAm Shdhis.
Mnrtaza concluding a treaty with the Bijdpur king, returned to
Ahmadnagar, and appomtmg Talfl-ud!-din Hnsain his prime
minister marched against the Portuguese tort otKgmjUdi'' ^ ^^^
Konkan. Owing to the bravery of the Portuguese, aided according
to Musalm&n accounts by the treachery of Murtaza's officers wha

Chapter VII.
History*

MusalmAns.

Kiz&m Sh&his,
1490-1636.

[Bomliay Ga&eUeei

372

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VII.
History.

MdsalmAns.

Niziim Shilhis,
1490-1636.

were bribed by presents of Portngueso wine, he was obliged to raise
the siege" and return to Alimaclnagar. He displaced several of his
ministers, and coisJerreJl' the office of agent or vakil on Changiz
Khdn a nobleman of great abilities who restored public attairii
Mis address effected an alliance with the Bijdpor king who agreed
to allow Murtaza to take Berdr and Bedar. In 1572, Mnrtaza
marched to Ber&r, and by the gallantry and good conduct of his
general Changiz ^hdn drove TufalKhdn and his son fromElichpnr to
the hills and took their heavy baggag^find 200 elephants. Tnf dl Kh&D
after wandering for six months in the hills fled to Borh^iipur, whero
the Khdndesh king for fear of Martaza'a anger refused to give
him protection. Tufdl returned to his fort of Namdla and applied
for aid to the emperor Akbar who, pleased with the opportnnity of
inixmg in Doccan affairs, required Murtaza at once to retire frouj
Tufdl^s territory. Murtaza took no notice of Akbar's message. He
captured Jjj[m}41^ ^^^ ^^1 ^^^ chief BerAr forts, seized and placed
in confinement Tuf^ KMn, his master Burhdn Im&d-nl*Malk and
his family, who shortly after died, it was said, by poison.^/ Murtaza
on Changiz Kh&n's advice marched to Bedar. But hearing that a
force of 3000 borse and seven or eight tliousand iolantry, despatched
by the Khdndesh king Mir&n Muhammad to suport a pretender to
t.he throne, had driven out several of his posts and held a great portion
of the country, he returned with the greatest expedition and sent
in advance Syed Murtaza one of his generals, before whom Uio
pretender was forced to fly and his followers scattered. Murtaza
Nizdm 8h4h entered Khandesh by the Rohankheda pass and ravaged
the country to Burhannur, Mirdn Munammad ihe JiQidndesh king
retiring to the tort of Asir. Murtaza Nizam marched in person to
Asir and tromlt sent parties who wasted the country round, so that
Miran was obliged to purchase the retreat of the Ahmadnagar
troops. Shortly after this Ibrahim Kutb Shah, through his ambad*
sador, offered Changiz Kh^n a large sum to prevent the intended
attack on Bedar. Changiz Khan refused the money with indignation^
saying that the Nizam Shahi treasures were at his disposal. The
ambSissador now endeavoured to effect his purpose by bringing over
to his design SAhib Khan^ a favourite ot the king, who liad been
ill-treated by (Jhangiz kkan ^ahib Khan entered into the plot and
informed the king that he heard that Changiz Kh&n intended U*
assume royal titles in Berar. The king did not believe the story, but
ji8 Sahib Khan persisted that it was true, ho resolved to wait for proof.
It happened soon after that Changiz Khdn suggested that he ought tu
stay with an army in the conquered country in order to gain the good-
will of the people. The king thought this suggestion a striking
confirmation of Sdhib Khan's story and showed marked displeasure.
Changiz Kh£n alarmed for his safety staid away from tne court
feigning sickness. This conduct satisfied the king that his suspicious

1 The Moghal histoiiAn writes : Mir Murtaisa and Khud^vand KhiUi, ruler ot ib<
country of Borslr iutbe Dcccan, marched to attack Ahmad na^r. They were dcfcAte*!
iu battle by SalAbat Khdn.thc iHikil of NizAm-ul Mulk and thou came complainiiig tu
th« Imperial court. TablUti-Akbaii in £lliot aud I>ow6od, ▼. Hi.

lleecanl

AHMADNAGAR,

373

were well fonnded. IledirectedChangizKlidn's physieian to administer
a poisoned draught as medicine to Changiz Khdn. Changiz Kh&n
discoTored what had happened^ and quidljy submitted to his fate^
rctjuesting the king to send his body to Karbela^ to show favour to
some officers whom he named, and to entertain his foreign servants
among his guards. Murtaza too late convinced of the uprightness
and the attachment of his minister, regretted his death with unfeigned
sorrow. On his return to Ahmadnagar^ disgusted with his folly^ he
appointed Mir K&zi Beg his representative in the government, and
retired to an aparlment in the palace of Ahmadnagar called Bagdad,
where no one was admitted to his presence but Sdhib Kh^n. In 1576,
as the emperor Akbar advanced to the Deccan frontier to hunt, the
king moved to the north with a few troops in a covered litter. He
wished to march to attack the emperor, but at the request of his
noblos, remained on the border till, after Akbar's return to his domi-
nions, he again retired to his privacy in Ahmadnagar. In the rainy
season while visiting the tombs of saints in Daulatabad, he was seized
with religious enthusiasm. One day he was seen withdrawing from
his apartment and going, alone on foot towards the tomb of Im^ni
Raza and viras mdth difficulty prevailed on to retcum. After his
return from Daulatahad he made his residence in the garden of
Hasbt-i-Behisht.^ At this time the favourite Sahib Kh^n and his
ussociates, about 3000 scoundrel Dakhanis, committed the worst of
crimes. Children were forced from their parents for evil purposes
aud among others Mir Mehdi was killed in defending the honour
of his family. The regent was afraid of the favourite's influence,
till at last he became so insolent as to order a nobleman to change
his name, because it happened to be the same as his own. The
nobleman refused and the favourite resolved to destroy him, but
was prevented by SaUbat Khdn who informed the king. S^b Kh^n
was forced to quit the court, but the king> who missed his society.
Followed him to Bedar, and, agreeing to displace Saldbat Khan
from his office and taking for him the city of Bedar which he
besieged, persuaded him to return. Burhdn Nizdm the king's
brother, escaping at this time from the fort of Junnar and ralfting
an insurrection, Murtaza was obliged to return- suddenly to
Ahmadnagar and to recall Saldbat Khdn. Burhdn was defeated and
ilod to Bijdpur. Sahib Khan leaving the king a second time was
put to death by the nobles who were sent to effect a reconciliation.
Sg|ab^Kh^ became minister without a rival and continued in power
forsoveSTyears to the satisfaction of the people. Since the reign of
Muhammad ShdhBahmani (1358-1375) the country Tiafl never been so
well governed. In 1580,SaldbatKhdntakingad vantage of the minority
of the Bijdpur king, sent an army under Behzdd-ul-Mulk to invade his
dominions, but it was defeated with the loss of all its elephants.
In 1584, the marriage of the king's son Mird.n Husain with the
Bijapur king's sister was arranged and the princess was brought to
Ahmadnagar with groat pomp. About this time several nobles
combined to attempt to displace SaUbat Khdn but (heir attempt came

Chapter YII.
History.

MusalmAns.

Kizto Shdhia,
1490.1636.

1 This garden romoins under this name. Sec Places, Ahmadnagar.

[BonAay Guettoer*

874

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIL
History.

MusalhAks.

Nizdm 8h^i8,
1490- 1636.

to nothing. Shortly after a discontented faction bronght Barhin the
king's brother to Ahmadnagar in the gnise of a holy man with the
object of placing him on the throne. On the day the attempt was
to be made^ Saldbat Khdn discovered the plot and Burhdn fled to
the Eonkan^ and thence to the conrt of the emperor Akbar from
whom he some time af tidr procured a force ander Mirza Aziz Koka to
attack his brother. An army of 20,000 men under Mirza Mohammad
Taki marching on the frontier and acting in concert with lUja All
Eh^ of Khandesh forced Mirza Aziz Koka to tarn towards Ber^
where he was attacked and pursaed and forced to return to M^wa.^

At this time one Fatteh Sh4h, a dancer who succeeded Sdhib Kh&n
in the king^s favour began to abuse his power by obtaining largo
grants of land and gifts of royal jewels. At last aa the king order-
ed the two most valuable necklaces taken from Bdm B&ja's plunder
to be given to the favourite. SaUbat Kb&n, unwilling that such
priceless gems should be lost to the royal family^ substituted two
strings of mock jewels in their place. When the king heard of
this he ordered all his jewels to be laid out for inspection, and seeing
the two jewels were still missing threw them all into a large fire.
From this time the king was considered mad. Taking into his head
that his son had a design to dethrone him^ he attempted to put him
to deaths but Salabat Khdn watched over the safety of the young
prince. Saldbat Khdn at this time having refused, unless the
ShoUpur fort was delivered, either to celebrate the BijApur princess*
marriage or to return her to her brother, Ibfi&him Adil Shdh de-
clared war and laid siege to the fort of Ansa. Murtaza Niz&m Shih,
offended at the conduct of his minister, upbraided him with treachery
and declared himself weary of his control. Salabat Khdn begged
the king to appoint any place for his confinement, and on his
naming Danda Rd,j&pur, in spite of the remonstrances of his friends,
immediately submitted himself to the king's guards and was carried

1 Barh&n-ul-Mulk was the younger brother of Mnrtaza Kiztoi-nl-MoIk. When
Husaiii NizAxn-ul-Mulk died, the Nii^m-ul-Mulki kingdom descended to hie eldesi
son, but in reality the government feU into the hands of the young prince's mother,
Mnrtaza like his father preferred Burhkn to all his friends. In course of time designing
persons stirred up strife between him and his relations, so that he seized and sent
to a fortress both his mother and his brother. His ignorance and vicious propensities
kept him aloof from the loyal and sood and threw him into the company of evil
persons whose bad advice perverted his mind. He raised a low fellow, a oockfighter
named Husain to be his companion and foolishly gave him the title of Asaf Kh4n«
^This low-bom fellow stirred a war against Bedar and a fierce struggle went on in
Kdndh&r sixty miles north of Bedar. The news of these foolish proceedings soon
spread abroad and Burhto having escaped from prison by the aid of his keeper, began
to raise disturbances ; but his mmd was in fetters and his fortune asleep. He ^gt
his eyes upon the wealth of others and began to oppress them. When Murtasa wsa
informed of this outbreak, he hastened back and reached Ahmadnagar on the day
he desiibd. Numbers of men deserted Burh^ and he was obliged to fly without
fighting. He then went to Adil Khdn at Bij&pur, Not being able to effect anything
there he went in the disguise of a jogi or mendicant to ^madnagar. There ha
lived itt secret and endeavoured to raise a party among the evil-disposed. Being
discovered he hastened to the governor of B%ldn in Nibnk and not being able to effect
anything there he went to KutD-ud-din Kh4n at Bedar. fVom thence he proceeded to
the Imperial court where he met with a gracious reception. Alm-1-Fad*8 Akbam^ma
in Elliot and Bowson, VI, 70 - 71.

Beecan.]

AHMADNAGAR

875

to his prison. He was sncceeded by Kfeim Beg Hafeim as regent
and by Mirza Mubammad Taki as minister. Peace with
Ibr&him Adil Sh&h being concluded afc the icing's command^
the marriage of prince Mirdn Husain with the Bijdpur
princess was celebrated with great splendour. Not long after this
the king again becoming suspicious of his son resolved to destroy
him, and while the youth was sleeping in his chamber set fire to
his bed clothes and fastened the door npon him. The prince's cries
for help brought to his aid his father's favourite Fatteh Sh^
who secretly cairied him off to Daulatabad. When the king heard
of this he confined all his ministers and appointed others^ and, as
they also refused to kill the prince, they were displaced and the regency
was given to Mirz^Kh^n. Mirza Kh&n, seeing the disordered
state of the kinJTmteUect, pretended acquiescence with the king's
commands, and wrote privately to BijApur that if a detachment were
sent to the borders he would make it a pretext for raising troops and
would then openly espouse the prince's cause. The Bijdpur regent
complying with the request, Mirza Kh^, by the king's order, collected
troops and marched from Ahmadnagar and encamped near the
town of B^nuri. Mirza Khdn did not move onwards. Ferishta
the historian was selit to enquire the cause.^ Mirza Khdn, knowing
Ferishta's attachment to the king, bribed Fatteh Shah the king's
favourite to obtain the king's order for his recall and for the
immediate advance of the army. Ferishta getting timely notice of
Mirza Kh&n's orders to prevent his return from the camp, made his
escape in the night. Mirza Khdn meanwhile marched to Daulatabad
to bring the prince and seat him on the throne. The king being
too ill to mount a horse, by Ferishta's advice sent orders to
release Saldbat Kh&n and prepared to go himself in a litter to meet
hioL But learning from Fatteh Shdh that the guards would
seize and imprison him, he resolved to wait in the palace for
Sal&bat Khdn s arrival. The troops perceiving the king's imbeciliiy
deserted in crowds to Daulatabad, whence Mirza Kh&n hastened to

Chapter VII.
History.

MusalmAns.

Nizdm Sh&his, •
1490 - 1636.

1 Mnhammad Kisim Feri|hta was born at Astrabad on the border of the Caspian
Sea. He was the son ofunuISn All Hindu Shdh a learned man, who, quitting his
native country trayellod into India and eventually reached Ahmadnagar during the
reign of Murtaza Niz^m Sh4h. Ferishta had only attained his twelfth year when he
reached Ahmadnagar and was a fellow-student with the young prince Mir^n Husain
whom Ferishta's father, on account of bis learning, was chosen to instruct in Persian.
His father dying soon after his arrival Ferishta was left an orphan in his youth.
But the introduction which his father's acquirements had procured him at court
secured to the son the patronage and favour of the king, so that on the day his
royal master was dethroned he held the office of captain of the guard. The new
king was himself deposed and murdered in less than a year. Ferishta, then aged
8<nrenteen, appears to have taken no part in the revolutions which succeeded the
death of his patron. His affection for the Shia faith prevented his having many
friends among the stronger party at court and this made him anxious to avoid the
scenes Which were likely to follow, so that not long after (1589) he left AhnJ^nacar
and settled at the neighbouring court of Bij&pur where he was kindly received oy
the minister and resent DiUwar Klidn who introduced him to the king Ibrdhim Adil
Shikh n. Prom the station Ferishta filled in Ahmadnagar it seems likely that he
entered the Bijipur service in a military capacity. Afterwards in an engagement
with Jam4l Kh&n he was wounded and taken prisoner, but made his escape. At BijA-
pur he began and finished his famous history m furtherance of which he observes, that
iiis patron Ibrihim Adil ShAh spared no expense to procure the most ample materials.
Briggs' Ferishta, I. xxxix.-xlviii.

(Bombay Oasettcer.

376

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YII.
History.

MusalmAns.

Nizdm Shdhis,
1490-1636.

Ccesar Frederick^
1586.

)

Mirdn Husain

Nizdm Shdh,

1688.

the capital accompanied by the prince so that ho might arrive before
Sahibat Khdn. At the time he came Feriahta was head of the palace
guards but being deserted by his people^ and as no one was left with
the king but Fatteh Shdh and a few domestics, opposition was vain.
The prince and Mirza Ehdn rushed into the fort with 40,000 armed
men and put to death a.11 they found except Ferishta who as he had
been the prince's school-fellow was spared. The prince both in word
and action treated his father the king with every possible infiolt
Murtaza looked on him with silent contempt, and when his son drew
his sword and passed the bare blade across his breast, threatening
to kill him, the king only sighed. The prince caused the king !<»
be put into a warm bathing room and closing the doors and windows
lighted a gt^at fire underneath, and the king was speedily suffocated
(1588). The deceased king was buried with due ceremony in the
Itoza garden, and his bones were afterwards taken to Karbela and
buried near those of his father and grandfather.

In 1586, according to the Venetian traveller Cfiosar Frederick, the
Moor king Zamalluco, that is Nizdm-ul-Mulk, was of great power
with 200,000 men of war and a great store of artillery some of
them made in pieces because the whole gun was too great to carry.
Though they were made in pieces the guns worked marvellously well.
Their shot was of stone and some of the stone shots had been sent
to the king of Portugal for the rareness of the thing. The city
where king Zamalluco had his being was Abueqer, that is Ahmad-
nagar seven or eight days inland of Cheul.^

^ Mir^n Husain Niz4m Shdh, who was headstrong and cruel,
beganTlbis reign by tyranny and oppression. He appointed Mirza
Ehdn prime minister but paid little regard to his advice. Ho
promoted several youths to high rank and made them the
companions of his pleasures and excesses. He one day confined
his minister on a suspicion of his having privately brought from
Jnnnar and concealed in his house Sh&h K^im the king's nncle.
Next day finding he was mistaken he restored the minister and
gave him his full confidence. To prevent future suspicions Mirza
Eh&n advised the king to put to death the surviving males of the
royal family, and fifteen princes were murdered in one day. As
Mirza Khdn's power became irksome to the king's companions they
accused him of treachery, and the king in his drunken hours
declared that he would behead Mirza Eh^n or have him trod to
death by elephants. Mirza Khdn resolved to ensure his safety by
deposing the king who was trying every means in his i>ower to ruin
him. On the 15th of March 1588 in order to assassinate Mirza
KhAn the king sent for him to partake of a banquet in the house of
his favourite Bangash Khan. Mirza Khdn excused himself, on the
plea of^udden illness, and sent his friend Agha Mir to make his
excuse. When Agha Mir had eaten some of the dinner he
pretended to be seized with violent pains, and declaring that he was
poisoned left the house. Mirza Khdn sent a message to the king
that the Agha was dying and entreated to see him. The king went

1 Hakluyt's Vuyagos, II. 345.

2 Brigga' Feiialita. Ill, 270 • 27fi.

DeeeaiLl

AHMADNAQAR.

377

witli a few attendants and was seized by the minister and made

Prisoner. Mirza Khdn sent for the king's cousins Ibrihim and
smdei who were confined at Lohogad in Poona^ and meanwhile kept
the king's imprisonment a secret. When the princes came from
Lohogad Mirza Kh^n summoned several of the leading nobles into
the f ort^ and declared to them that the king was deposed^ and that
Ismael Niz&m^ the yeanger of the two brothers then only in
his twelfth year was appointed his successor. While the assembly
was saluting the new king, Jam^LKMn, a military leader^ with
several other officers and ^Somiers^Bluefly Abyssinians and
Dakhanis^ assembled at the gates of the iort demanding to
see Mirdn Hnsain their lawful sovereign. Jam&l JPi^n sent
persons to proclaim through the city what had been done
by Mirza Kh&n and to warn the people that if Mirza Kh&n were
allowed to act thus uncontrolled^ the native nobles and people
of the country would soon be slaves to foreign adventurers. The
Dakhani troops and the inhabitants flew to arms and in a short
time about 5000 horse and foot with a numeroas mob joined Jam^
KhAn who was also sapported by all the Abyssinians. Mirza Khdn
commanded the king's head to be cut off^ and, placing it on a pole,
planted it on one of the bastions of the citadel. At Jam41 Khdn's
instance the mob heaped piles of wood and straw against the gates
of the fort and set them on fire. The gates were burnt and Mirza
Kh&n and his friends rushed from the fort. Numbers were slain
but Mirza Khdn made good his escape. The troops and the mob put
to death every foreigner they found in the fort and in the city.
Mirza Kh&a was seized near Junnar and brought back to Ahmad-
nagar. He was first carried through the city on an ass and his
body mangled. The massacre continued for seven days^ and nearly
a thousand foreigners were murdered, a few only escaping under the
protection of I^khani and Abyssinian officers^ Mir&n Husain's
reign lasted ten months and three days.

^ Jam&l E^dn now acknowledged I^mdQl Niz&m Shdh as king^1[\
Being of the Mehdvi* sect he persuaded the king to embrace the^
same tenets anT'^ycommit the power of government into the
hands of his followers. He seized the property of the few
foreigners who had escaped the massacre and forced them to quit
Ahmadnagar. Most of these, including the historian Ferishta,
obtained service with the king of BijApur. Among the
discontented nobles was the chief of Berdr, who, being at some
distance from the capital, released Salabat Kh&n who had
long been confined in the fort of Kehrla on the Berdr frontier.
Several discontented nobles joined his standard to oppose the
MehdviS; and^ resolving to expel th^m from Ahmadnagar^ Sal&bat

^ Brigea' Ferifihta, HI. 276-281.

^ TheMebdvis or MahadJB are a sect of Muhammadons. They assert that in the year
1550 (H. 960) a person'oTthe Hanefi school who styled himself Sved Muhammad waa
the promised Jmim Mehdvi. The sect is fairly numerous in the' Deccan, and is chiefly
confineato thea^cenaants of certain Afghto tribes. Further details are given in the
ropulation Chapter*

B 772-48 ' '

Chapter VII.

HiBtory*

MusalmAns.

Niz&m Shdhis,
1490.1636.

c
r

tor

IgmddNkdM

Shdh,
2588 '1590.

[Bonibar GflMttetft

878

DISTRICTS.

Caiapter YU^
History.

MusALicAirs,
1490.1636b

Burhdn Nkdm
Shdh If.,
1690 '1694,

Kh&R marched towards the capital, while DOAwar Elh&n the
Bij&pur regent also approached from the soath, Jamfl Kh&n first
moved against Sal^bat Kh&a whom he totally defeated at the town
of Paithan and forced to retreat to Bnrhdnpar. He then marched
against the Bij^por army. For fifteen days the two armies halted at
Ashta in Sholdpar, without making any hostile movement. At lengtii
a peace was concluded. Chind Bibi the widow of the lato Adil ShiUi
of Bijdpnr and the aant of the present Ahmadnagar king was to be
sent to the Bij&pur camp and the Nizdm Sh&hi government were
to pay £850,000 (270,000 huna) to defray the war expenses,* In
1589, Sal&bat KhiLn, who was now in his seventieth year, was
allowed to retire to Talegaon, twenty miles north-west of Poona» a
town which he had founded. He died before the close of the year
and was buried in a tomb which he had built during his ministiy
on a hill six miles east of Ahmadnagar.^

Learning of the commotions at Ahmadnagar the emperor
Akbar recalled Burhdn Nizdm from the estates which had been
granted him in the north of India, allowed him to start for the
Deccan, and allotted the frontier district of Hindia for his support
till he should regain his authority from his son. He also wrote to
Bi.ja Ali Kh&n of Kh&ndesh to support him. Having received
overtures from many of the nobility, Burh&n Niz&m mardied
against his son, but was defeated. On renewing his attempt he was
joined by a vast namber of the Nizdm Sh4hi troops as well as by an
army from Bijdpur. Jamdl Kh4n, having ordered Syed Amjad-nl-
Mulk of Berdr to oppose Bdja Ali and Burh&n Nisdm on
the northern frontier, himself marched with his troops, among
whom were 10,000 Mehdvis, against the Bijdpnr army. At D&rilsaJ!
where the two armies met, the Bijdpur troops were defeated with
the loss of 300 elephants. Soon after, learning that theBer^ troops
had gone over to Burh&n Nizdm, Jamdl Kh^ marched his
victorious army towards Berdr, while the Bijipur king despatehed
the whole of his Mar&tha cavalry to follow Jam^ Khdn and cat off
his supplies. Deserted by his other troops, Jamdl Kh&n relied on
the Mehdvis whose existence was identified with his welfare. An
action near the frontier, though his troops suffered from want of
water, was nearly ending in his favour when Jamdl "Kh&n was killed
by a chance shot. His death was the signal of the king's defeat.
His army fled, accompanied by Ismdel Nizim Shdh, who was taken in
^ village and confined by his father after a reign of two years.

* Burhdn Nizdm Shdh II., who was advanced in years, on ascending
the throne gave himself to pleasure. His first act was to annul the
orders in favour of the Mehdvi doctrines, and, by threatening
with death those who persisted in the heresy, drove the sect out of
his dominions. The Shia religion was restored, and many of the
foreigners who had been driven out in consequence of Mirza Khdn's

. ^ This is (udled ndlbdha or the price of horse-shoes. Since then the tax has been
frequently levied by the Mar4this,

* SaUbat Khdn's tomb which is the most notable object near Ahmadnagar Is now
used as a health resort for Europeans Bt»tioned at Ahmadnagar. Details are given
under Places, Ahmadnagar. * Briggs' Feriflbta> lU* 282 •287*

SeeoML]

AHMADNAQAB.

379

rebellion, retarned* The Bij&pur regent DiUwar Khfin^ who had
been compelled to fly from Bij&pur to Bedar, came to the Ahmadnagar
conrt and was honourably received. Ibr&him Adil Sh4h remonstrated
and Borhin sent an insulting letter which brought on war.

^ In 1592^ at Dilawar's instigation Burh&n marched towards the
Bijipar frontier. On arriving at Mangalvedha^ about thirteen miles
south of Pandharpur, seeing that no army was sent to oppose
hitn^ he became suspicious of some stratagem to draw him
into the heart of the enemy's territory^ and would have
retreated, had not Dil^war Kh&n prevailed on him to continue
his advance as far as the Bhima. Here he halted, and, finding a
ruined fortress, ordered it to be repaired. For some time the
BijapuT king acted as if he was ignorant that an endmy was in
his country. At length finding matters ripe for the execution of
his design, he sent a messenger to Dil&war Eh&n, requesting him
to return and again take the charge of his affairs. DiUwar,
ovei^oyed at obtaining once more absolute power over the king,
obtained his dismissal from Burhin Nizim Shah who in vain
represented to him that he was hastening to his destruction. On
reaching Bijdpur DilAwar Khdu was blinded and sent as a prisoner
to the fortress of Satdra. Then Ibrdhim sent 10,000 horse under
Rumi Khin Dakhani and 3000 of the household troops under Elias
Elhin. As the Bijdpur Mardtha cavalry defeated several of his detach-
ments, Burh&n Niz&m Sh^h went against them in person and drove
them across the Bhima, which shortly after became so flooded that
the Ahmadnagar troops could not cross in pursuit. Famine
and pestilence caused such loss in Burhan's camp, that he was forced
to retire some marches towards Ahmadnagar, where, as he received
supplies of provisions and as the pest had somewhat abated, he
moved again towards ShoMpur, but was defeated with the loss of
100 elephants and 400 horses. His troops wearied by the long and
fatiguing campaign deserted him, and as he found out a conspiracy
among his officers to place his son on the throne, he began his
retreat towards Ahmadnagar. Being harassed on his march he was
obliged to sue for peace. Ibr&him Adil Sh&h for nearly a month
refused to listen to any proposals. But at last agreed to peace on
condition that Burbdn destroyed the fort which he had built in
Bij&pur territory. Burhdn agreed and retired to Ahmadnagar mortified
with the result of his campaign. In the same year Burh&n marched
against Reydanda. and, despatching a large force to Gheul, built the
Korla fori to command the harbour. The Portuguese in Bevdanda
obtained reinforcements f rommany ports, and made two night attacks
on the Muhammadans, killing on each occasion between three and
four thousand Dakhanis.' Burhdn sent a reinforcement of 4000

Chapter VII.
History.

MttsalmAns.

Kiz^m ShAhiir,
U90-1636.

^ Brign' Ferishta, IH. 170-172.

* Tberortagnese historian states that 300 men oame from Bassein and 200 from
SilMtte, makinff in aU, with the garrison, 1500 Europeans and as many native soldiesa
who attacked the Mnhammadans and slew 10,000 men. FurhlLd KhAn the ffovemor
and his family were taken prisoners. He and his danghters hecame Christians and
went tu Portogal. Seventy-five gnns were captored on vob ocoaaion. Faria-e-Sonza»
IlL Part L Chapter S in Briggs* Ferishta, m. 2S5 foot.

[Bombij OanMeer.

S80

DISTRICTS.

Chapter TIL
History.

MuaALMiUfl.

1480-1636.

Ibrdhim Nizdm
Shdh, / ^
1594. 'y5

men under Farlifid KhixL to Korla. And as other Portnguese troops
expected from Daman and Bassein^ he appointed Bahadur

were

Gil&ni^ at the head of all the foreign troops^ governor of Korla> to
blockade Bevdanda. The Muhammadans being now on their guard,
the Portbgaese lost in an attack on Bevdanda 100 Europeans and
200 native Portuguese. After this Bevdanda was so closely besieged
that no aid could reach it by scab The Portuguese were on the point
of capitulating^ when the tyranny of the king at Ahmadnagar
induced many of the officers to quit the camp and proceed to conrt.
At this time a fleet of sixty vessels full of men and stores, passing
close to Korla, under cover of the night, anchored in the harbour of
Bevdanda where they landed 4000 men, and on the following morning
proceeded to attack Korla. Many of the Muhammadans fled in
confusion to the fort, where being pursued they were massacred by
the enemy. Upwards of 12,000 Muhammadans fell and the fort was
reduced to ashes. The destruction of the Dakhanis enabled Burhdn
Niz&m Sh&h to raise foreigners to the chief stations in the kingdom.
In 1594, to assist'Tsmael m deposing hlslBrother Ibrahim Adil Sh4h
of Bijdpur, Burhdn marched from Ahmadnagar to Relgaum. But
at Par&nda, hearing that IsmiLel had been taken and put to death,
he returned to his capital where he shortly after fell dangerously
ill. Ibrdhim Adil Sh&h to punish Burhfin for supporting Ism&el
ordered his army to lay waste the Ahmadnagar frontier. On this
Burh&n entered into an alliance with Venkatadri of Penkonda who
agreed to invade Bijdpur on"lEe"8duth, while 56m lEe north Borhda
sent an army to 'reduce ShoTfipur. This expedition ended in
disaster. XTzbak Bah&dur the Ahmadnagar general was killed and
his force defeated under the walls of Sholdpur. This news increased
Burhdn Bhdh^s disorder. Passing over Ismiel, who was known to
be an enemy of the Shi4s and a strict Mehdvi, he appointed
Ibr&him his successor. In spite of this appointment a report spread
that IsmAelwas to "succeed his father, and all the foreigners fled to
Bijdpur. YekhldsJ^dnliluvallid a partisan of Ismdel raised a force
and marched^ to Ahmadnagar. Burhdn ShAh though sick nearly to death
was carried in a palanquin at the head of his troops to Humdynnpur,
and there defeated the prince who fled to Pardnda. The march greatly
weakened the king who died on the day after his return to Ahmad-
nagar (15th March 1594), after a reign of four years and sixteen
days.

^ By his father's advice Ibrahim Nizim Sh4h appointed^J^n
Mmju Dakhani his tutor to be his prime minister. YekhldsKhkn
was pardoned, but he no sooner arrived a^Ahmadnagar than he
began to collect Abyssinians . and_ Muvallids, and in a short
time there were two parties^ one headed by the minister and
the other by Yekhl^s Kh^n. Affairs fell into confusion and civil
war seemed inevitable. As both parties behaved insolently towards
Mir Safvi the Bijdpur ambassador who bad come to condole and
congratulate, Ibrdhim Adil Shfih declared war and marched to
Sh&hdnrg to help the Ahmadnagar king who had now entirely lost his

1 Briggs' Ferishta, IH, 288-291.

AHMADNAGAB. 381

authority. YekUds Kh&n was for war wliile Midn Manja proposed to Chapter Til.

conclade a peace with Bij&pnr that the whole forces of the Doccan History.

might join to meet Akbar s intended invasion. Yekhlds KUn, not to be

turned from his purpose of attacking Bijapar gained theking's consent MusALMAys.

and sent an army to the frontier. Ibrdhim Adil Shdh had yet made jSo-^lS^

no attack on Ahmadnagar and Mi&n Manja again proposed to make

overtures of peace. But the king would not hear of retreating,

passed the frontier, and levied contributions on the Bij^pur

villages. Hamid Kh&n the Bijapur general opposed him^ bnt^ at

Mian Manju^s intercession, who represented the king's conduct as

the result of his vicious habits and the evil practices of designing

and wicked men, he avoided the Niz&m Sh^his and encamped at a

distance of two miles. The king who was given to drinking, persisted

in an attack on the Bijapur army, and was shot in the head in the

action which followed. His troops fled to Ahmadnagar with his body.

His reign lasted only four months.

^ On reaching the capital Mi&n Manju took possession of the/xj) -^AmoJ//.,
treasury and the fortress and sent for Yekhlds KMn and otherfy ^^^4-1^95.
officers into the fort to consider the best means for conducting the
government. Most of the Abyssinians proposed that the king's only
son Bahddur an infant in arms should be proclaimed under the regency
of Ch&nd Bibi his f ather^s aunt. As Mian Manju was opposed to this
and instead under his advice it was agreed to bring ^^Jimji^, the son of
a certain Shdh Tdhir^ who had claimed to be the nephew of Husain
Nizdm Sh£h, a bov twelve years of age who was imprisoned at
Daulatabad, Ahmad was crowneci on the 6th of August 1594 and the
prayers were read in the name of the twelve Im&ms. The chiefe divided
the kingdom among themselves, and removing Bahadur the late king
Ibrahim's son from the charge of his aunt, sent him by force to the
fortress of Ghdvand. Shortly after, as it was discovered that Ahmad
Shdh was not of the royal f amily^ Yekhl&s Kh6,n, with the MuvalRds
and Abyssinians, deserted his cause. Mi&n Manju with the Dakhanis
encamped in a large body on the plain of the Kdla Chabutra near the
fort. He despatched his son Mii.n Hasan with 700 horse to disperse
the mob under Yekhllls Kh&n and himself accompanied by Ahmad
went upon a raised ground from whence they could see the result.
The two parties engaged and the struggle was long doubtful till a
shot from the insurgents struck the king's canopy and caused great
confusion in the fort. A report was spread that the king was dead, and

1 Briggs' Ferishta, in. 292-304.

* When Husain KuiLm Sh4h came to the throne (1653) his five brothers Muham-
mad Khnd&banda, Sh^ Ali, MiOimud B&kar, Abdul Eidar, and Bhih Haidar
thinking they should faU victims to the jealousy of the kins, fled from the kingdom.
In the latter end of Murtaza Niz&m Sh&h s reign a person oiuling himself Sh^ Tdhir
arrived at Daulatabad giving out that he was the son of Mu£unmad Khud&banda
who had died in Bengal, and, that being reduced to distress, he had come into the
Decean. The facts were not then satis&ctorily cleared owins to the distance of
Bengal and the time which had passed. But as Sh^ T^hir cCumed royal descent
and might one day set up pretensions to the throne he was confined in a fortress,
Bnrh&n Ni^im Sbih IL, who was for some time at Agra before he came to the
throne, wrote refuting ShiUi Tihir's story bv stating that Khuddbanda his uncle
died in his house and that his family were still living with him. Shdh Tihir, not to

S've cause for future trouble, was imprisoned for life. He died some yean afterwafds
viing • ion wboae name was Ahmad.

[BomlMty Cttiittoen

882

DISTRICTS.

Chapter TEE.
Bifltory^

MttsalmIks.

Nizdm SlUhis,
1490-1636.

Moghals near

AhmadnagaTp

1696^

Chdnd BibPa

Regency^
1595 '1599.

Midn Hasan took to fliglit and threw himself into the fort. YekhUs

Ehdn's party advanced and laid siege to the place both by a dose

blockade and regular approaches. Nehang Eh&n the Abyssinian

and Habash Kh&n Muvallidy who had been in close confinement at

Daolatabad ever since the reign of Baryb. Nizam Sh4h II. were at

once released by Yekhl^ Khan's order, bat the governor of Gb^vand

refused to comply with his order for the delivery of Bah^dsr into his

hands without the express command of Mi&n Manju. Yekhliis Khto

in the meantime, procuring a child of the same age, proclaimed him

as the descendant and lawful heir of the late Ibr&him Niz4m Sh4h and

by this means collected between ten and twelve thousand cavalry.

Mi&n Manju, in a fit of desperation, wrote a letter to Prince MorAd

Mirza, Akbar's son, who was then in Guiar&t. to marcnoms assisU

ance, promising to give him the Ahmadnagar revenues. Murid, who

had been sent to Qujar&t with the object of taking advantage of the first

opportunity to in vade the Deccan, promptly accepted this invitation.

B^ore the letter reached Murdrd, the Abyssinian chiefs fell out about

the distribution of places, and a mutiny took place in Yekhlds Kh&i's

camp. A large body of the Dakhanis deserted him and joined Miibi

Manju in the fort, who, on the Following dav (18th September 1595),

marched to the neighbourhood of the Idgdh where he attacked and

completely routed the Abyssiniaus. Among the prisoners was the

boy whom Yekhl^ Kh&n had created king. About a month alter

(14th December) prince Mur6d. at the head of 30,000 Moghal and

Bajput horse, accompaniea by Kdja Ali Kh&n of Kh&ndeshand Khan

Kh&n4n one of Akbar's generals appeared to the north of Ahmad-

nagar. On reaching the Idgdh a few shots passed between his line

and the fort, and the Moghal army encamped in the Hasht-i-Behisht

gardens about four miles to the north-west of the fort. Mi&n Manju,

who was in a &ir way of settling matters according to his own wishes,

repenting of his overtures to Murdd, prepared to resislj any attempt

on the capital. Having supplied it with provisions for a long siege

and leaving Ansar Kh&n one of his adherents to defend the place

and Ch&nd Bibi as regent of the kingdom, he, with the young king

Ahmad tSh&h, took tne route to Ansa to implore the assistance of

the Bijdpurand Golkonda sovereigns. Chdnd Bibi directed all the

operations of the siege, and in a few days procured the assassination

01 Ansar Ehan and proclaimed Bah^c^nr Rh^h king of Ahmadnagar.

Aided by MuhammadKhan, she took the whole management of affairs

into her hands, and induced Shamshir Khdn Habshi and Af zul Khan

Borishi with many of their adherents to join her in the fort. Besides

the government in the fort, the Nizdm Shdhis were divided intojjiree

other parties ; Mian Mam'u and his nominee Ahmad Sh&h who were

encamped on the Bij^pur borders praying for aid to Ibrdhim Adii

Sh^ ; YekhlfaKh&n near Daulatabad, who had declared another child

called Sioti io be the rightful heir to the crown ; and Ne^^ny Khdn

the Abyssinian who went to the Bijfipur territories induced Shdh

Ali the son of Burhdn Nizdm Shdh I. then upwards of seventy years

of age, to leave his retirement and assume the royal canopy. Prince

Murdd immediately sent off a strong guard to protect the inhabitants

of Burhdnabad, which had been founded by Burh&n Niz&m Sh&h II.

in the neighbourhood of Ahmadnagar, with directions to treat them

SOGCSJI*]

AHMADNAQAB.

383

-with lenity. The troops were also ordered to proclaim protection to

all nativefi^ so that they relied entirely on the good disposition of the

Moghals towards them. On the second day the prince in person went

oat^ and with the advice of his engineers marked out ihe ground for

ibe trenches against the fort and allotted to each division of the army

its separate post round the garrison. On the 27th Shahb&z Kh^n

one of theMoghal generals^ who was notorious for tyranny and cruelty,

under pretence of hunting sallied forth towards Burh&nabad, and^ in

spite of the prince's orders^ encouraged his men to plunder, himself

setting the example. In the course of an hour the towns of Ahmad-

nagarand Burhdnabad were completely sacked. As soon as the

prince heard of these disorders he hanged in front of the lines

several men taken with plunder. But the people no longer trusted his

promises and during the night both towns were deserted. Yekhl&s

KhAn with a force of 12,000 men, was on his march to the capital,

when Daulat KM,n Lodivrith a body of 6000 Moghal cavalry attacked

find totally defeated him on the banks of the Ooddvari; and

thence following up his success, arrived at the flourishing town of

Paithan, and sacked it scarcely leaving the people enough to cover

themselves.

Though she had proclaimed Bahadur Nizfan Sh^, yet as he was

still in confinement at ChAvand, and as Mi^ Manju with the

present king was also in force on the Bijdpur frontier, Ch&nd Bibi

thought it advisable to make overtures to Nehang Kh&n and 8h^

Ali to join her in the fort. Nehang Kh^n put his force of 7000

men in motion and arrived within twelve miles of Ahmadnagar.

He was told that the east face of the fort was not invested and that

it was the only road by which he coald make his entry. He marched

during the night, but when he came within about three miles of the

place he found part of the Moghal camp on the direct road

pointed out for his entry. This division consisted of a picket

of 3000 men under Ehdn Eh^n^n who had been set there only

the morning before as the prince had noticed that this part of the

fort was not invested. Nehang Kh^ resolved to force his way, and

coming on the party unexpectedly cut off a number of the Moghals.

The post was reinforced but with a few followers he dashed on

into the fort. Shdh Ali was less successful and in attempting to

retreat 700 of his men were cut off by the Moghals under Daulat Kh&n

Lodi. The Bij^pur king hearing of this defeat despatched the

eunuch Sohail Ehdn with 25,000 horse to Shdhdurg on his frontier

to await orders. Sohail Eh&n was here joined by Mi^n Manju and

Ahmad Shdh as well as by Yekhl^ Kh&n, who for the present had

laid aside every private consideration, in the hope of saving the

government by forming a union. This army was soon after joined

by Mehdi Euli Sultdn Turkoman with 6000 Qolkonda hor^e sent

express from Haidarabad. Prince Murdd, hearing of the assemblage

of this force at Sh^hdurg, called a council of war and resolved that

the fort should be attacked before the allies could relieve it. In a

few days five mines were carried under the bastions on one face of

the fort. Ali were charged with powder and built with mortar

and stones, excepting where the train was to be laid, and it was

Chapter TIL
History*

MusALMijra.

1490-1636.

[Bonibaj OaMttsoTr

884

DISTRICTS.

Cl^ipler VIL
Sistotj.

MuSALMiNS.

KizHm Sh&hia^
1490-1636.

Okdnd Bibes

Defence qf

AhmadiMbgary

1596.

resolved to fire them on the following morning (20th Febmary
1596). During the nighty Khwaja Muhammad Kh&n Shirdzi, admiring
the resolution of the besieged and nnwilling that they sbonld be
sacrificed^madeliis way to the walls and informed them of their danger.
At the instanoe of Chdnd Bibi^ who herself set the example,
the garrison immediately began to oonntermine. By daylight they
had destroyed two of the mines and were searching fd^ the others
when the prince, without communicatiog with Kh^n KhAoAn,
ordered out the line and resolved to storm without him. The
besieged were in the act of removing the powder from the third
and largest mine when the prince ordered them to be sprung. Many
of the counterminers were killed and several yards of the wall felL
When the breach was made several of the leading officers of the
garrison prepared for flight. But Ghand Bibi, clad in armour and
with a veU tlu*own over her face and a drawn sword in her hand^dashed
forward to defend the breach. The fugitives to a man returned
and joined her, and,as the storming party held back for the springing
of the other mines, the besieged had time to throw rockets, powder,
and other combustibles into the ditch, and to bring guns to bear
on the breach. The Moghals at length advanced to stomL The
defence of the foot of the breach was obstinate and the assailanta
suffered severely from the fire of the besieged. The ditch was
nearly filled with dead bodies. From four in the evening till night-
fall party after party forced their way into the breach but all were
repulsed. Both camps were filled with admiration of the heroic leader
of the defence whose title by common consent was raised from Lady
Ch^nd to Queen Oh^nd. After midnight when the attack slackened,
the queen in person superintended the repairs of the breach, and
by dawn the wall was built seven or eight feet higL Next day
she despatched letters to the allied armies at Bid to hasten their
approach, representing the distress of the garrison for supplies.
These despatches fell into the enemy's hand who forwarded them
to their destination with a letter from prince Mur^d inviting them
to hasten as he waa anxious to meet them, the sooner the better.^
The allies marched bvthe MAnikdaund hills to Ahmadnagar. The
Moghal camp which was much distressed for provisions became still
more straitened by the approach of the allies. The prince thought
it advisable to make overtures to the fort, and agreed to quit the

1 ChAnd Bibi is the favoorite heroine of the Deccan and is the subiect of mAoy
legends. Even Kh&fi KhAn mentions her having fired silver balls into tho
Moghal camp. The common tradition at Ahmadnagar is that when her shot was
expended, she loaded her guns with copper, with nlver, and with gold coin, and that H
was not till she had be^n to fire jewels that she agreed to make peacei Elphinstone'a
History, 456. Accordmg to the late Colonel M^ows Taylor, O.S.L, the character
and deed6 of no Mnhammadan princess of the Deccan live so brightly at Ahmadnagar
and Bij&pur as those of ChAnd BibL Of all their tales the people love none more than
the story of the qneen*s defence of Ahmadnagar. .. She is one of several instances ia
Indian history of a lady of rank, at a crisis of extreme danger, showing great politicAl
wisdom, and the highest fortitude and self-reliance. A portrait of her at Bijipar,
apparently painted oy a Persian artist, a work of art and probably a true likenetfi
shows her in profile very fair, vrith blue or gray eyes, a thin aquiUne nose and other
refined features, a resolute womanly air, and a light gracdol fi^;ure. Arohiteotuie of
Bij&pur, S6.

Deceaa.]

AHMADNAQAB.

385

countiy on condition of receiving ^ grant for the cession of Ber&r,
the sovereignty of which he required Ahmadnagar formally to
renounce. Gh&nd Sultdna at first refused these terms^ but reflecting
that if the allies were defeated she might not obtain even these
conditions she signedthe^reg^ in the name of Bah^ur Shah.^
The Moghals retreateoT^Tn^oute of Daulatabad^ Three days
after the i:aising ol the siege the allies arnved, Midn Manju
expected aHegiance to be paid to Ahmad Sh4h. To this the nobles
in the fort would not agree ; Nehang Khdn shut the gate of the fort
against him and sent a force to bring Bahidur Sh4h from his
confinement in Chavand. Ch4nd Sult&ua now asked the aid of her
nephew, the Bij&pur king^ to quell the internal commotions of the
Ahmadnagar kingdom. Ibrdhim Adil Sh4h sent Musteia Kh^n with
a body of 4000 men to her aid^^nd wrote to Mit^n Manju requiring
him to desist from pressing the claims of Ahmad Shdh and to repair
to Bijdpur. On his arrival at Bij^pur, Ibrahim Adil Shdh having
clearly ascertained that Ahmad Shkh was not a lineal descendant
of the Nissdm Sh4hi family^ gave him a handsome estate for life
and enrolled Midn Manju among the nobles of his own kingdom.
On his arrival at Ahmadnagar Bah&dur SMh was proclaimed king^
and Muhammad Khto. Ch&nd blulU^Lna's &ien(i and adviser^ ^

was

appointeg ir^eskwa orminister. Shortly after establishing hisauthority
Muhammad Khin promoted his own adherents and relatives to the
chief offices of the state. Thinking that those who had distinguished
themselves in the war would not tamely submit to be passed over^
Mahammad seised and confined Nehang Kh^n and Shamshir Kh£n the
two Abyssinian generals, and the rest of the chiefs fearing a similar
&te> fled the kingdom. Muhammad Kh&n's influence at the capital
was unrestrained, and Queen Chdnd foresaw her approaching loss
of power. She wrote to her nephew, Ibrdhim Adil Sh4h, begging
his interference, and asking that a considerable force might be
sent to reorganise the government, now usurped by Muhammad
lOian. Sohail Kh&n was again despatched for this purpose with an
Army to Ahmadnagar with instructions to regulate his conduct
according to the wishes of Queen Chind. In the beginning of 1596,
Sohail Kh^n arrived, and, as Muhammad Kh&n opposed his entry, he
invested the fort, and blockaded it for four months. Muhammad Khdn,
finding a strong party against him, wrote to Khto Khanan the
Moghal commander-in-chief in Berar, promising if he came to his
help that he would hold the country as a vassal of the Delhi emperor.
Hearing of this treachery the garrison seized Muhammad Kh&n
and delivered him to the queen. This change at once restored her
AQthority . She released Nehang KhAn the Abyssinian and appointed
iicn minister. On his way to Ijijdpur Sohail Khdn sent word to
fiijapar that the Moghals had laid hands on the town of Pathri

^ BriggB'Ferialita, III. 303, 304. Aft#r the annexation of Rh^ndeah, theKhiin Kh^inAn
J«t out on his expedition to the Deccan. flia first step was to lay siege to Ahmadnagar.
v/h&nd Bibi who wan at that time ruler of that province made peace under which the
territory of Ber&r was surrendered to Akbar. Madsir-i-Rahimi in Elliot and Dowson,
u lu^^' The fortress had long been defended by Ch&nd Bibi the sister of Niz&m-ul-
^alk and when besieged dissensions among the bxiperial armies averted its capture.
'Ma Sirhindi'a Akbarn&ma in EUiot and Dowson, VI. 144.

B 772^49

Chapter mi*

MlTSALMijIS.

NizAmSh&his,
1490-1636.

Trtatyvnth

the Moghala^

1696.

Bethddur Nixdm

Shdh,

1596 1599.

<■

fc:;

£:
c::

[BomlMj Oaiattocr,

386

DISTRICTS.

duipter Tn.
History.

MusalmIkb.

NizAm Sb&hifl,
1490-1696.

Chdnd B%bV$
Murder^
1599.

which had not been inoladed in the Ber&r cessions. In reply he
was ordered to march against the invaders. Mnhammad Kali Saltin,
with a force from Golkonda^ was directed to co-operate with Sohail
Khdn^ who was also joined by 20,000 Nisam Shdhi troops from
Ahmadnagar. He marched towards Ber^r with an army of nearly
60,000 horse and camped at the town of §Qgj;[ai^ KHa^ K^y^An^n^
the Moghal general, joined by R&ja Ali Kh^ of Khandesh, Raja
Jaganndth and several other officers of distinction, halted on the
banks of the Godavari, and, taking a position close to the
enemy, intrencEeS^ Itis camp. For fourteen days beyond partial
skirmishes no action took place. In a general action on the 2<)th
of Japuary 1597, though Raja Ali and Jagann&th were both killed,
Sohail Khdn was compelled to retreat to Shdhdurg. and the Nizam
Shdhis retired to Ahmadnagar. Nehacg Xh^n, the minister, gaining
unlimited power devised a scheme for seizing Queen Ch^d and taking
on himself the management of the orphan king and the government.
Learning his intentions the queen shut the gates against him, and,
securing the person of the king, refused Nehaug Khdn admittance,
saying that he might transact business in the town but not in the
fort. Nehang Kh&n submitted quietly for some days. He then openly
attacked the fort and several skirmishes took place. Ibrdhim Adil
Sh&h made overtures to effect a reconciliation, bat both parties
rejected his offers, as nothing less than complete submission of their
rivals would satisfy either. Nehang Eh^n taking advantage of Khin
Ehdn&n's absence and of the rainy season, sent a detachment, and re*
took the town of Bid from the Moghals. The governor of Bid marched
out twelve inHes to meet the Ahmadnagar force, but being wounded
and defeated, he with great difficulty reached Bid, which was soon
invested. Akbar despatched prince Dany&l Mirza and Khan IChilT^i^n
(1599) to the governor's relief, when Nehang Khan immediately raised
the siege and marched with 15,000 horse and foot to seize the Jaipur
Kotli pass and there meet the Moghals. The prince learning of
this movement marched round by the village of Manuri and
avoided the pass. Nehang Kh4n finding himself outmanceuyrod
and unable to withstand the Moghal force set fire to his heavy
baggage and retreated to Ahmadnagar. He wished to compromise
matters with the queen but she refused to' listen to liim and he fled to
Junnar. The Moghal forces reached the fort without opposition and
having laid siege to it began mining. The unfortunate Queen Ch^d
placing no trust on those around her, applied for advice to Hamid
Kh4n, an eunuch, and an officer of rank in the fort. Hamid Kh^n
recommended that they should fight and defend the place against
the Moghals. The queen declared that after what she had seen
of the conduct of officers she could place no trust in them.
She thought it advisable to agree to give up the fort^ if the
safety of the garrison and of their property were secured and then
to retire to Junnar with the youngs king. Hearing this Hamid
Khdn ran into the streets, declaring that Chdnd Sultana was in treaty
with the Moghals for the delivery of the fort. The shortsighted
and ungrateful Dakhanis,, headed by Hamid Kh&n, rushed into her
private rooms and pat her to death. In the course of a few days
the mines were sprung and several breaches made. The Moghals

.« *

Oeecaa.]

I >

AHMADNAGAE.

887

stormed and oarried the place, giving little or no quarter. Bah&dur
Shab and all the children of the royal family were taken prisoners^
and the unfortunate king, with the regalia and jewels, was sent
to the emperor Akbar at Burh4npur and afterwards confined
in the fort of Gwalior.^ His reign lasted for three years.
As the great fort of Asirgad fell at the same time, Akbar made
over Khdndesh and the Ahmadnarar Deccan to prince Ddny^l.

> Bngga* Feriehta, III. 312. The following are Mjnzhal aoconnts of the fall of
Alunadnagar. On the second occasion when KMn ^toin attacked Ahmadnagar
Sohail the Abyssinian was appointed by Adil Shih to the command of the army and the
armies of Kixdm-nLMulk, Adil Shdh, Kutbul-Mu]k, and the Berid Bhihi chief being
placed under his oomuiand. He came oat in considerable strength and confidence.
The Khibidn with the small force at his command obtained a complete victory over
SohaiI« He then proceeded to the siege of Ahmadnagar which he reduced, and
broagbt the whole province of the Beccan under the rule of the Delhi emperor«
Ma^ir-i'Rahimi in Elliot and Dowson, VI. 241-2. The operations against Ahmadnagar
weie protracted, and the royal army was in difficulty about supplies. Evil-disposed
persona in all parts began to move. So Mirza Rustam was sent to Prince Dtoy^with
m Idkk of mohar». N^ik fell into the hands of the Imperial officers about this time.
After ^ the rains Akbar set his heart upon the reduction of Ahmadnagar. He sent
directions for using every e£fort» and he himself proceeded to Burhilnpur. Chiind Bibi
was for keeping the treaty which she had made with Abu-1-Fazl the writer of this
work ; but Abhang, that is Nehang Khdn, at the head of a large force of Abyssiniana
and Dakhanis was fighting against her. On the 26th of Famoardin^^ the royal army
arrived and suspicion seized upon the Dakhani forces. One man whispered to another
that their leaders had made terms with the Imperial army ; so this force of Abhang'a
lost heart and dispersed without making any resistance. On the 2nd UrdUnhidU the
various intrenchments were assigned to the various amirs, Ch&nA. Bibi was for abiding
by the treaty. Several of the l^iding men on the fortress then took matters into their
own hands, and made several tlnsuccessful sorties. Under the direction of the Prince^
great efforts were made to form a khdk-rez that is to fill the ditch which was thirty to
forty gaz. broad and seven gaz deep {zarpha). The wall was of bluish stone and
twenty-seven gaz hiffh. Mines were formed from the trenches of the prince and
Mirza Yusuf KhAn ; out the besieged broke into them and filled them. Thev even
formed a countermine from the inside and exploded it ; but it was smothered by the
khdh-reti and did no damage. The shock spht a bastion of the fortress. When this:
was discovered, efforts were made to clear out the chasm and this being effected, 180
mans of gunpowder were placed therein. On the sixth Shdhryur it was exploded.
The bsstion and thirty gaz of the widl was blown into the air. The garrison suffered
from the falling stones ; but not a particle of stone fell on the besiegers. Throuffk
the breach rushed the assailants and another party made their way in from tna
intrenchments of Mirza Yusuf KhAn. Fifteen hundred of the garrison were put to the
aword ; the rest were saved by the solicitations of their friends, nah&dur sen of Ibr&him
and grandson of Burhiin who had been setup as Niz&m-ul-Mulk was taken prisoner*
Verv valuable jewels, embossed arms, a splendid library, fine silks, and twenty-five
elephants were among the booty. The guns and ammunition exceeded all compute.
The siege was carriea on during the rainy season, but by great good fortune there
wss no flooding to interrupt the construction of the kMh-rez. The day after the
victory heavy rain set in. The siege lasted four months and four days. Abu-1-
Fazl's Akbam&ma in Elliot and Dowson, YI. 99-101. Another description of the
siege runs as follows : Prince D^nydl aided by some of the great amira took the fort of
Ahmadnagar by assault. The sieee had been carried on for nearly six months and
coDstant See had been kept up without effect. Kh&n KhtoAn thought that mining
most be resorted to and as the other nobles agreed with him a mine was formed. It
was charged with 180 nuing of gunpowder and was exploded on the 20th Shdhjeyur in
the 45tb year oi Akbar's reign. A bastion was blown up with seventy or eighty gaz.
of the wall. Khin Khiniln, lUja Jagannith, and the other amirs exerted themselves
to incite their troops and gave order that the troops were to rush in and finish the
work directly after the explosion. This order was duly executed ; and in another
pUoe a force under Yusuf Eh&n sc^ed the wall by means of a mound or khdk-rez.
The assailants pressed on and after a severe fight in which 1000 of the besiegers fell
the foitresa was captared. The grandson of l7izdm-ul-Mulk was taken prisoner and.
carried to the emgerw, Ftm Sirhindi's AkbarmUna in Elliot and Dowson^ YL 144-5..

Chapter VIL
History.

MusalmjLns.

NizAm Sh&his,
1490-1636.

FaUof

Ahmadnagar^

1699,

[Bombay Gu0tle«r,

k^«*^^ x'

Chapter TH.

MusalmAks.

Niztoi Sh^s,
1490.1636.

.A^tzdm Shdhi
ImUtiUiona,

888

DISTRICTS.

Jfard<Aa Ohitfa,

The Alimadnagar dominions extended over the greater part of
Ber&r and the whole of what was afterwards included in the svAka
of Aurangabad. Gdlna, and some other districts in Nasik and
Kh&naesn and Uie district of Kaly^n in the Konkan from BAnkot
to Bassein. Under the Ahmadnagar kings^ though'" perhaps less
reg^ariy than afterwards under the Moghals^ the country was
divided into districts or sarkdra. The district was distributed among'
subdivisions which were generally known by Persian nhmes^jyarqana,
karydt, sammat^ malidU and (dluka^ and sometimes by the Hindu
names of prdnt and desh^ The hilly west, which was generally
managed by Hindu officers, continued to be arranged by xftU^ys
with their Hindu names of khora, mura, and mdvaL The collection
of the revenue was generally entrusted to farmers, the &rms some*
times including only one village. Where the revenue was not
farmed, its collection was generally entrusted to Hindu officers.
Over the revenue farmers was a government agent or amU, who,
besides collecting the revenue, managed the police and settled cdvil
suits. Civil suits relating to land were genemlly referred to jaries
or panchdyats. Though the chief power in the country was
Muhammadan, large numbers of Hindas were employed in the service
of the state. The garrisons of hill forts seem generally to have been
Hindus, Mar4th4s, Kolis, and Dhangars, a few places of spc^cial
strength being reserved for Musalmdn commandants or killeddr$.
Besides the hill forts some parts of the open country were left
under loyal Mar&tha and Brdhman officers with the title of estate-
holder or jdgirddr, and of district head or deehmukh. Estates
were generally granted on military tenure, the value of the grant
being in proportion to the number of troops which the grant-holder
maintained. Family feuds or personal hate, and, in the case of
those whose lands lay near the borders of two kingdoms, an
intelligent regard for the chances of war, often divided Mardtha
families and led members of one family to take service under rival
Musalm^n states. Hindas of distinguished service were rewarded
with the Hindu titles of rdja, ndiJc, and rdv. Numbers of Hindus
were employed in the Ahmadnagar armies.^

The Mardtha chiefs under Ahmadnagar wArA Uij ^^htw Rdj^L
B^onsle- and many others of less note. JddhavrAv, Dpahmnkh of
Ri^^l^hed is supposed, with much probability, to have been a
descendant of the R&jds of Devgad. Lnkhji J4dhavr^v in the end
of the sixteenth century held an estate or jdgir under the Niz^m
Shdhi government for the support of 10,000 horse. The respectable
family of the Bhonslds, which produced the great Shiv4ji, first
rose to notice under the Ahmadnagar government. They are said
to have held several pdtilships, but their principal residence was at
the viUage of Yerul or Elura near Daulatabad. Bhosdji who is said
to have been the first of the family to settle in the Deccan, and
from whom the name Bhonsla is sometimes derived, claimed descent
from a younger or from an illegitimate son of the royal family of
Udepur in B&jputdna. M&loji Bhonsla married Dip&bdi the sister of

1 Grant Duff*8 Marithds, 36, 38.

Jtoccaa*]

AHMADNAGAR

889

Jagpilr&y Ndik Nimb&lkar the deshmvJeh of Phaltan. At the age
of twenty-five, in the year 1577, by the interest of Lukhji J^dhavrdv
he was entertained in the service of Murtaza Niz&m Shdh with a
small party of horse of which he was the proprietor. M&loji was an
active ahiled&r or cavalier, and acquitted himself so well in various
duties entrusted to him that he began to rise to distinction. He
liad by some means made an addition to his small body of horse
and was always much noticed by his first patron J&dhavr&y. The
story told of his rise to power in the Ahmadnagar court is, that
in 1599 at the time of the Holi festival in March- April, Mdloji took
his son Shj^&ji^ a remarkably fine boy of five, to pay his respects
to LnkhjiTacmavr&v, M^oji's patron. Lukhji J^Ldhavrdv, pleased
with the boy, seated Shdhdji near Jiji his daughter a child of three
or four. The children began to play, and Lukhji joking said to the
girl, 'How would you like him for a husband.' The guests
laughed bat M&loji rose and solemnly accepted Lukhji's offer of
marriage. Lukhji and his wife were furious, but Mdloji was
unshaken.

He retired to his village, where, it is said, the goddess Bhavdni
appeared to him and discovered a large treasure. At all events he
and his brother Vithoji became possessed of money in some secret
manner, which Grant Duff suspects was by robbery. Their agent or
their receiver was a banker of Ch^mbhdrgonde or Shrigonde about
thirty miles south of Ahmadnagar, named Shesho Nfiik Punde, in
whose hands the cash was placed.^ According to Mar&tha legends,
the discovery of this treasnre was the means provided by the goddess
for carrying out her promise, that one of the clan would become a
king and found a family which would reign for twenty-seven gene-
rations. M&loji spent his money in buying horses, and in the popular
works of digging ponds and wells and endowing temples. He still
clung to his favourite scheme of being connected with the family
of Jadhavriv. Jagpdlr^v Naik Nimbilkarof Phaltan, the brother
of Dip&b4i Mdloji's wife, warmly interested himself to promote
the proposed marriage of his nephew. Wealth and power at a
falling court like that of Ahmadnagar could procure anything.
As Jddhavdiv's chief objection was M^loji's want of rank, this
difficulty was removed by raising him to the command of 5000
horse with the title of MSloji lUlja Bhonsle. The forts of Shivneri
and Ch&kan in Poena with their dependent districts were likewise
placed in his charge ; and the sub-divisions of Poena and Supa were
made over to him as estates. JddhavrAv had no longer any excuse
for not performing what he was urged to by his sovereign (1604).
The marriage of Sh&hdji to Jijib&i was celebrated with great pomp,
and was honoured by the presence of the Sultan.^ ^mm^m

On the f aU of Ahmadnagar (1600) the emperor Akbar coifferred
the government of the country on Kh^dja Beg Mirza Safawi a
relation of Shah Tamasp of Persia and Mirza Muhammad S&lih,

Chapter 711.
History.

KusaluAns.

Niz&m ShihiSy
1490-1636.

^ It is remarkAble, as it bespeakB a coxmectioD maintained, that Shiv&ji'a treasurer
in 1669 WM the grandson of Shesho Kdik Funde. Grant Duff's Madkthis, 106.
' Grant DuTs Mardthto, 40, 42.

Cliapter Vn.
History.

MusalmAns.

Niz^Un Shihis,
1490-1636.

Murtcaa Nizdm
8hdh 11^
1699' 16S1.

((

[Bombay OaietlMr,

890

DISTRICTS.

who lived in the conntry^ and^ according to tha Moghal historian,
conferred many kindnesses^ obligations, and comfits on the people.^
The officers of the Ahmadnagar kingdom refused to admit that the
fall of the capital carried with it all hope of independence. They
declared Murtaza the son of Shdh Ali king and made Pg^da about
seventy-five^iles soath-east of Ahmadnagar their capiBB^^^ these
officers Mgj]i]{|Ajg]2^ an Abyssinian and_jJJi^|Jj^^i2^DaIc in spite

of the Moghal forces, for more than twenty years held almost the
whole of the Nizdm ShAhi dominions. IV^alik Ambar^fl rule extended
from the Kutb Shdhi and Adil Shd»hi bon

im two miles of Bid
and eight of Ahmadnagar, and from sixteen miles west of Danlatabad
to within the same distance of the PQ^JP^ CEeul. Mian H&ia held
Danlatabad and the country north and south from the Unjarat
frontier to within twelve miles of Ahmadnagar. Both officers
professed allegiance to Murtaza Kiz^m Shdh II. whom they kept in
th^orto^Ausaabout 130 miles south-east of Ahmadnagar and gave
{nerevSnueTofsTf ew surrounding villages for his subsistence. Malik
Ambar and Mi&n BAju were bitter rivals and their rivalry often
broke into open hostility. EHaj^JQl^B^n, the Moghal governor of
Ahmadnagar, learning of their rivalry, sent a party from Benir to
take a small district belonging to M^ik Ambar on the Telingan
boundary. Malik Ambar started to relieve his district with a
detachment of six to seven thousand horse and succeeded in
defeating the Moghals and recovering the land. Mirza Airich, the son
of Khdn Kh&n^, was at once sent to attack him with a picked force
of 5000 horse. In a severe bgiyj}g,2tij£|||^^ about 200 miles oast of
Ahmadnagar many were slain on bot^sides aud in the end the
Dakhanis were beaten and Malik Ambar who lay wounded on the
field was saved from falling into the enemy's hands only by the
devoted gallantry of his attendants.^ Malik Ambar recovered from
his wounds, and gathered fresh troops. Kh&n Khandn, fearing his
popularity and enterprise, made overtures for ppace. Malik Ambar,
who suspected the late attack was due to Mi^n kSju's enmity, gladly
accepted the offer, and a treaty was concluded under which Malik
Ambar was confirmed in the possession of his territory. Ever
after this Khdn Khdndn and Malik Ambar continued on the most
friendly terms.

Not long after this Venkatriv Koli, Farhdd Kh&n MovaUid, Malik
Sandal, and other officers deserted Malik Ambar and ioined Murtaza
Niz&m Shah II. at Ansa. Mdlik Ambar marched against the mal-
contents and defeated them under the walls of the fort. Venkatrdv
was taken prisoner, but the other chiefs fled with the king into the
fort and came to terms. As MalikAmbar was anxious to gain Pggfeda
he took the king with him to that fortress. The governor r^osei

1 Anfa*a-1-Akhb&r in Elliot and Dowson, VI. 247.

' Of Malik Ambar's origin the stories Ytay, The most consistent of them is that
in his youth he was a personal adherent of Changiz RhAn, the too loyal minister of
Murtaza Nizdm Shdh I. and from this able patron acquired the knowledge for which
he was afterwards famous, Elphinstone's History of India. Accorduig to Omit
I)uff Mito lUju was a Hindu ; according to Briggs he was a Mnsalmdn.

s Briggs' Ferishta, UI. 315.

DeocaaO

AHMADNAGAR.

391

to surrender to Malik Ambar, who, he said^ belonged to the Moghal
party. Malik protested that he was a tnie and loyal servant of the
Kiz4n> Shahi family and was ready to support his king with his last
breath. Still the commandant refused to admit him into the fort, the
garrison were strengthened by Farhid Kh&n and Malik Sandal, and,
to prevent the king from joining the Par^da governor, Malik Ambar
was forced to keep him a state prisoner. After a month's siege the
people of the town rose and slew the governor's son who had been
guilty of some cruelty and forced the father, Farhdd Kh&n, and
Malik Sandal to fly to Bij&pur. The garrison still held out, but
Malik Ambar, freeing Mnrtaza from restraint, was allowed to
introdnce the king into the fort while he himself remained encamped
outside.! In 1604 Pr^i^^Q p^i^vAl. the Moghal governor of the
Deccan, whose head-quarters were at Burh&npur on the eastern
borders of Elh^ndesh, came to Ahmadnagar to receive his bride the
Bijapur king's daughter. The prince expected that, as Malik
Ambar had done, Mian Bdju would meet him and acknowledge his
authority in the Deccan. Mian B&ju was asked to the Moghal
camp, but, instead of attending, so harassed Ddny^l's army with 8000
light cavalry, that Kh&n Khdn^n had to march against him with
5000 cavalry from Jdlna! 3Iter the marriage which was celebrated
at Paithan, the prince returned to Burh^npur and Khdn iLh&a&a to
Jdlna'.

The French traveller Francois Pyrard, who was in India between
1601 and 1608 writes: The reigning prince of Cheul is called
Meliqne that is Malik and is a vassal of the great MoghaL The
MaUK, he adds, has a large number of elephants. When he dines
he sends for many handsome women who sing and dance during the
meal. Then some of them cut a piece of cloth called taffety into
bits so minute that they have no other use than that of being
carried away by the spectators, who stick them on to their breasts, as
if they were so many medals. When the spectacle is over, the king
remains alone in his palace, his mind absorbed in the contempla-
tion of the vanity and uncertainty of life until he goes to sleep.*

Meanwhile Murtaza complained to Midn Bdju of the treatment
he received from Malik Ambar. Mito K^iu marched to Pardnda
without opposition, conferred with ~tKe~kingJ and promised to
reduce Malik Ambar. When Malik Ambar heard of Mian B&ju's
approach, he marched to meet him. For about a month the two
forces were camped near Pardnda. Several skirmishes ended so
favourably for Midn Bdju that Malik Ambar asked Khdn Kahndn
for help. Mirza Husain Ali Beg, the Moghal governor of Bid,
was at once sent to Malik's aid, with 3000 cavalry. Midn Efiju was
defeated, and fled to Daulatabad. After this the death of Prince
DAnyal and the absence of Khdn Khdnan from J&Ina gave^alik
Ambar an opportunity of spreading his power. Gathermg an army
he marched to Daulatabad, and defeated Midn Bdju, who applied to
Kh4n KhSnan for aid.* Xhdn Khandn came and for six months

Chaptw^VIL
History.

MusalmAns.

Kizdm Sh&his,
1490-1636.

1 Briggs* Ferishta, HI. 316.
s 0a Ciuiha*8 Chaal, 63.

s Brign' Ferishta, IH. 317.
4 Briggs* Ferishta, UI. 318.

EBdmbay OanUte.

392

DISTRICTS.

Chapter TIL
History.

MtJSALMiNS,

KizAm Sh&hiSy
1490-1686.

prevented the rival chiefs from attacking each other; in th0 cod
Malik Ambar^ perceiving that Kh&n Eh&n&n was rather well
disposed to Mi&n Rijn, deemed it politic to yield to his wishes and
™jkS4£afifii^ On his return to Pardnda^ finding Mortassa oonstaQtiy
intriguing and raising factions against him, Malik thought o{
deposing him and choosing a less independent successor. Be{ar<>
taking action Malik consulted Ibrdhim Adil Sh&h of Bijdpur, aod
as he was strongly opposed to the scheme, Malik Ambar gave it
up. In 1607 Malik made Murtaza's position easier and aofti
dignified, and mutual confidence was established. In the same
year at the head of 10,000 cavalry they marched together
against Junnar and made it the seat of Murtaza's government.
From JunSaT Malik despatched an army to Daulatabad. Mi^c
Rdjn was defeated and taken prisoner and his territory became
part of Murtaza's dominions. In the following years Malik Ambar'3
power increased. He founded a nftw r^apibil «?. KI^^- whose name
Aurangzeb afterwards (I658-17(?7T changeJ^Ty^^Mg|jyd. and,
profiting by dissensions between Khfin Kh6nSn"aBcnne other
generals, repeatedly defeated the Moghal troops, and invested the
town of Ahmadnagar. Every effort was made to defend the
place and Kh&n Kh&n&a and the other Moghal nobles who were
with Prince Parvez at Burhdnpur marched to relieve it. Through
the jealousies and dissensions of the leaders, and from want of
supplies, the army was conducted by roads through mountains and
difficult passes, and shortly became so disorganized and so badly
supplied with food that it was forced to retreat^ In spite of the
efforts of the commandant Khwdja Beg the Ahmadnagar garrisoa
was so disheartened by the retreat of the relieving force that Khraja
Beg capitulated and retired to Burh&npur. As Khwija Beg had
acted with skill and bravery, he was promoted to the command of 5000.
At the same time he was removed and Kh&n Jah&n Lodi was sent in
his place.^ In 1612 to restore success to their arms in the Deccaoi
Jahangir organised a combined attack on Malik Ambar. At the
same moment Abdulla E[h4n, the viceroy of GujarAt. was to advance
from Gujar&t and Prince Parvez and Khdn Jah&n Lodi, reinforced
by Rdja MAnsing, were to advance "from Kh&nAesh and Berar,
Before the time agreed on, Abdulla Kh^n arnved from Gujarft
and Malik Ambar hurried to aTtack him belore the Kh&adesh and
Ber^r armies could take the field. The neighbourhood of the
European ports enable3"Tlalifc to have better artillerv than the
Moghals, and his artillery afforded a rallying point on which he
could always collect his army. But under ordinary circumstances,
like the Mardth^s after him, Malik trusted more to his light cavalry
than to his artillery. His light horsemen cut off the Moghal
supplies and harassed their march, hovered round their army when
they halted, alarmed them with false attacks, and often made
incursions into the camp, carrying off booty and causing constant
disorder and alarm. These tactics were applied with unusual vigour

1 Grant DafiTs Mardthto, 4S3. > £iphmstone*8 lDdia« 480.

3 Waki»t-i-Jahtogiri in Elliot and Dowson, VI. 324.

Iteoean^]

AHMADNAGAR.

393

and success to prevent the advance of the Gujarat army. Abdulla
Kh^n, the viceroy of Gujarat, who had advanced well into Khdndesh
was so worn by this warfare that he determined to retire. His
rear*guard was cnt to pieces, and his retreat had nearly become a
flight before he found refuge in the hills and forests of BAjgUn.
whence he passed in quiet to Gujar&t. By this time the Kh&ndesh
and Ber^r armies had taken the field, but disheartened with the
failure of the plan of the campaign they feared to risk a battle and
centred their forces at Burhanpur. Li spite of the success with
which he guarded the Deccan from the advance of Moghal power
Malik Ambar had the greatest difficulty in keeping his confederates
and even his own officers loyal to him. In 1620^ chiefly owing to
the rivalry of other Musalmdn officers, Malik AmBar was defeated
in a great battle with the Moghals near the northern boundary
of Ahmadnagar. Though apparently no share of the shame for
this defeat attached to the Mar&th^ in Malik Ambar's service, for
Shah^ji Bhonsla who had succeeded his father Maloji, Lakhji
J&dhavr&v, and one of the N&iks of Phaltan all fought witji
distinguished bravery, the result of the battle so disheartened
them, that in 1621 several MaiAthfe went over to the Moghals,
The most important of the chiefs who deserted Malik Ambaj: was
Lukhji J&dhavr&v Deshmukh of Sindkhed the chief Mar&tha estate-
holder under the Niz&m ShAhi government. The very high
importance which the Moghals attached to the Mardtha leaders is
shown by the fact that Lukhji J4dhavrdv was given a command of
24,000 with 15,000 horse and that his relations were raised to high
lunk.^ After the desertion of the Mardtha chiefs Malik Ambar
eoSered a second defeat which so discouraged the allies, that Prince
Sjiy^^&n who was sent to the Deccan found little difficulty in
le king of Bijdpur from the confederacy. Malik Ambar,
entirely deserted, was forced to tender Murtaza^s submission and to
restore the fortjcjf Ahmadnagar and all the territory he had won

baclTtrom tne Mogliais, boon after Sh&h Jah&n retired to Delhi,
In his absence Malik Ambar renewed hostilities, overran the open
country, and forced the Moghal commander into Burhinpur. S^h
Jah^ was ordered to march against him and was supplied with a
powerful army and great treasures. Sh&h Jahfa, who conducted
this and his other Deccan campaigna with great ability, taking
his brother Prince Khusru with him, started for the Deccan.
Before he reached Mdlwa a detachment of Malik_Ambar's had
crossed the Narbada and burned the suburbs of Manda, but they
wereHnven back as the prince advanced. Malik Ambsur as usual
cut oS supplies and detachments, hung on the line of march, and
attempted by long and rapid marches to surprise the camp. He
found Shih Jah^ always on his guard and at last was forced to
nsk the &te of the campaign in a general action, in which he was
defeated with considerable loss. King Murtaza moved to Da];^Utabad
wd the imperial forces destroved Khadki. and advanGe3 to Paithan
on their way to relieve Ahmadnagar which was besieged by a force

^rroi

ChaptOT VII.
History.

MusalmInb.

KizAm Shihis,
1490- 1636.

f.]

,.•4 i

St:
E:

»• '

» 772-60

1 Grant Duff's Martthto, 43.

[Bombay Guetteer.
894 DISTRICTS.

Cihapter VII. of Malik Ambar's. Feeling farther resistance hopeless Malik Ambar

TTiiitAry. ^^^ envoys to oxproBS repentance and ask forgiveness. He

' promised ever afterwards to remain loyal and to pay tribute,

MusALMANB. ^^^ ^^ addition to furnish a war indemnity. A great scarcity of

^l^-^6^^'' provisions in the imperial camp made Shih Jahto anxious to accept

Malik Ambar's submission.^ Ehanjar Kh&n, the commandant of
Ahmadnagar^ was strengthened by fresh troops and treasure^
and it was agreed that about thirty miles of territory near
Ahmadnaff ar should be ceded to the Moghals and £500,000 (Bs. 50
lakhs) paid into the Imperial treasury.^

In 1624 in the hope of gaining the management of the Deccan,
Malik Ambar who was then at war with IbriLhim Adil ShSb. of Bij^por,
sent an envoy to Moh^bat Khto tlie Moghal commander-in-chief in
the Deccanto express obedience and devotion. Ibr&him Adil Shdh
about the same time made similar offers and his offers were accepted.
Malik Ambar, vexed and disappointed, sent his children with his
wives and attendants to the fortress of Daulatabad' and marched
with the king from Khadki to K&ndh4r on the borders of Grolkonda
to receive his fixed payments or zar-i'tnukrari which were two years
in arrear. After receiving the tribute and securing himself on that
side by a treaty and oath Malik marched io Bedar. surprised and
defeated IbriUiim Adil Shah's forces^ and plundered Bedar. From
Bedar he marched against Bij^pur. As his best troops and officers
were at Burhtopur, Ibrahim Adil Sh^ avoided a battle and took
shelter in Bijdpur. When they heard of Malik Ambar's success,
Lashkar Kh^ and all the Deccan nobles, together with Muhammad
Lari the commander of the Moghal troops^ marched from Burhdnpur
towards Bi jdpur. MaUk Ambar wrote to the Imperial officers stating
that he was not less loyal to the Imperial throne than Ibrdhim Adil
^ ^ Sh£h and asking thatNizam-ul-Mulk and Adil Sh^h might be allowed
to settle their old standing differences without interference. To this
remonstrance the Moghal officers paid no attention. As they
continued to advance Malik Ambar was forced to raise the siege
of Bijdpur and retire into his own territories. Even here he was
followed by the Moghal army^ and, in spite of most humble
offers, Muhammad laii the Moghal commander persisted in
hunting him down. At last, driven to desperation, and taking
advantage of the carelessness which their belief in his powerlessness
had brought on the Moghals, Malik suddenly fell on their camp
ten miles from Ahmadnagar. At the first onset Muhammad Lari
the Moghal commander was killed. His fall threw the Bijiipur
forces into confusion. J^dhavr^v and Ud&rdm fled without striking
a blow, and the defeat ended in a rout. Ikhlds Khin and twenty-
five of Adil Sh^h^s leading officers were taken prisoners. Of these
Farimd Khdn who had sought Malik Ambar's death was executed and
the others imprisoned. Lashkar Khdn and other Imperial chiefs were
also made prisoners. Khanjar Khdn by great exertions escaped to
Ahmadnagar and prepared the fortress for a siege, and Jdn Sipfir Khan

1 EIphmBtone*8 History of India, 562, 663.

s Wdkiat-iJahtogiri in Elliot «nd Powson, VI. 380.

s IkUl NAmai-JahiUigiri in ElHot and Dowson, VI. 411-412.

DaeoAii.]

AHMADNAOAB.

395

reached Bid and set the fort in order. Of the rest who escaped
some fled to Ahmadnagar and some to Bnrhi.npiir. Malik Ambar,
Bucceasfol beyond his hopes, sent his prisoners to Daulatabad and
marched to lay siege to Ahmadnagar. As, in spite of every effort, he

Chapter VII.
History.

MusalmIns.

Niz&m Sh^iB,
14901636.

Malik Ambai'^
Death,

lege.

made no im|)re8sion on Ahmadnagar, Malik left part of his army to
maintain theinveetmentand himself marchedagainst Biidpar. Ibr&him
Adil ShiLh took ref age in the fortress and Malik Ambar occupied
his territories as far as the frontiers of the Imperial dominions in the
B61&gh&L He collected an excellent army and laid siege to and
took ShoUpur. So complete was his success that the Moghal officers
received strict orders from Delhi to keep within the forts they held
and attempt no operations until reinforcements arrived.^

Malik Ambar died in 1626 in the eightieth year of his age. Great
as was his success as a general, Malik Ambar is best known by his
excellent land system. He stopped revenue-farming, and, under
MuSnJnSrBupernsion, entrusted the collection of the revenues to
Br&hman agents. He renewed the broken village system, and, when
several years of experiments had enabled him to ascertain the averagp
yield of a field, took about two-fifths of the outturn in kind, and
afterwards (1614) commuted the grain payment to a cash payment
representing about one-third of the yield. Unlike Todar Mai, Akbar's
(1556-1605) famous minister by whom the lands of North India
were settled, Malik Ambar did not make his settlement
permanent, but allowed the demand to vary in accordance with the
harvest This system was so successful tli^t, in spite of his heavy
war charges, his finances prospered and his country throve and grew
rich.* - . - -

Malik Ambar left two sons VatfRb Kjj^f n and Changiz Eh&n^ ^ Hqm KhMa
of whom Fatteh Khin the eldest succeeded him as regent^ mi^t.
of the Niz&m *Shdhi kingdom. As, after Malik Ambar's death/ ^
Nizdm-uUMulk in concert with Fatteh Khto continued the war
against the Moghals, Eh&n Jah4n placed Lashkar Eh^ in
charge of Burh^npnr and marched to Khadki. Nizdm-ul-Mulk,
who was in the fortress of Daulatabad, made Hamid Khdn
an able Abyssinian slave his commander-in-chief, and delivered
over to him the management of his state. According to the
Moghal historians Niz^m-ul-Mulk was kept under control out of
doors by the Abyssinian and indoors by the Abyssinian's wife.* When
Kh&n JahAn drew near to Daulatabad, Hamid Ehdn took £75,000
(3 lakhs of huns) and went to meet him. ' The Abyssinian's wiles and
a love of money led THi^n Jah&n mIT"^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ £75,000

1 IkbAl N^bnA-i-JahAngiri in Elliot and Dowson, VI. 414, 417.

' Grant DaflTa Mar&th&B, 43 ; Elphinstone'B History of India» 553. In war£ue, in
eoimnandy in sound judgment, and in administration Malik Ambar had no equal. He
well understood thenredatory or kazaoAH yrwdaxe which in the language of the Deccan
ia called bdrgigirt He ke^t down the unruly, maintained his high position to the
end of his lite, and doeed his career in honour. History records no other instance of
an Abyssinian slave rising to such greatness. Ikb^ Ntoia-i-Jahtogiri in Elliot and
DowBon, VI. 428-429.

* Hamid Kh4n the Abyssinian married a poor woman who served in Kiztoi-ul-Mulk's
palace. 8he made herself so useful in supplying the king with wine and women that
ahe was bm much miatraas inside the palace as her husbftnd was muter outside. Ikb&l
Nilma-i-JahAagiri in BUiot and Dowson, VI. 433,

[Bombay Oasettonr^

396

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VII.
HiBtorj.

MusalmAks.

Kizilm Sh4hiB,
1490-1636.

Famine,

and agreed to restore to Niz&m-nl-Mulk all the B&I&gb&t as far as
Ahmadnagar. He wrote to the commandants of the different posts
ordering them to give ap the places to the officers of Nizdm-nl-Mnlk
and to return to court. Sipahddr Khin the commandant of
Ahmadnagar received one of these letters^ but when Niz&m-ul-Malk's
officers reached Ahmadnagar the £h&n said : Take the country ; it is
yours ; but without the Emperor's order I will not surrender the
fort. The representatives of Nizdm-ul-Mulk did their utmost to
persuade him^ but in vain. Sipahd^r Khdn never swerved, and busied
himself in laying in provisions, and putting the fortress in a state of
defence. The other officers weakly surrendered at the command of
Khdn Jahdn and repaired to Bnrh4npur.^ Kh&n Jah&n was recalled
and soon after made his escape to Gondvan.

In 1629 Murtaza Nizdm Shdh II. came of age. He was wanting
in ability, vindictive, flighty, and unfit to meet the difficulties by
which he was surrounded. His first care was to reduce the regent's
power a task which Fatteh Khan's violent and inconsistent conduct
^ade easy. With the help of an officer named Takkarib Khib
Murtaza seized Fatteh Khdn and threw him into confinement. He
managed his state with so little ability that it became a scene of
faction offering every advantage to his foreign enemies. Sh^Mii
Bhonsla broke his connection with Murtaza and went to the fl^oals
who connmeTmm in his estates, gave him the command of 5000
horse and a dress of honour, and £20,000 (Rs. 2,00,000) in cash.'
Judging the time suitable for a further advance of his power S
Jabdn, now Emperor of Delhi, marched into the Deccan at tbe
head of a great army and took the field in person. By the time
Shdh Jah^n reached the Ahmadnagar country, the Moghal force
was aided by a movement from Gujardt. Khdn Jah4n, after
some unavailing attempts .to make head against *this great force,
retired to the south, and, by rapid movements, eluded the
Moghal detachments. Failing to persuade the Bijdpur king to
take up his cause, he was once more obliged to enter the Ahmad-
nagar dominions. Murtaza Nizdm Shdh, in spite of the desertion of
Jddhavrdv and Shdh^ji Bhonsla, had sufficient confidence to try a
decisive battle. He assembled his army at Daulatabad and took post
in strong ground among the neighbouring passes. But the strength
of the Imperial troops was too great for him, and he was forced to
seek safety in his forts and in desultory warfare. Kh^ Jahdn, over-
whelmed by the defeat of his allies, the destruction of their territory^
and the additional calamities of famine and pestilence, retired from
the country. The flight of Kh&n Jahdn did not end the war with
Nizdm Shdh. At this time the Deccan was wasted by &mine. The
rains of 1629 failed and the sufferings were raised to a terrible pitch
by ^second failure of rain in 1630. Vast numbers remained in
their homes and died, and, of the thousands who left their homes,
many perished before they passed beyond the limits of the famine-

> Ikb&l NAma-i-Jah&nglri in Elliot and DowBon, VI. 433, 434, 437.

> BlUlshlUi JSkmk in EUiot and Dowson, VII, 15. The details of Sbihiji^s oomnuuid
or mamab vaiy from 5000 to 15,000 hoiM« Ditto and footnote.

Deoeaa.)

AHMADNAGAR.

397

stridcen country. Large tracts fell waste and some did not recover
at the end of forty years. Besides of grain there was a total failure
of forage and all the cattle died. To complete the miseries the
famine was followed by a pestDence.^

In the midst of these horrors Azam Kh&n, the most active of
Sh&h Jah&n's officers^ continued to press Murtaza Niz&m Shah^ who,
ascribing his disasters to the misconduct of his minister^ removed
him from his oflSce, released Fatteh Kh&n from prison, and restored
him to power. Foreseeing the ruin of the Niz^m Sh^i government
and the consequent danger to himself the Bij^pur king brought a
reasonable relief to the weaker party by declaring war against the
Mo^ials. This aid came too late to save Murtaza Nizdm Shdh from
his own imprudence. Fatteh Khdn, more mindful of former injuries
than of recent favours and ambitious of recovering his father's
antbority, turned all his power to Murtaza's destruction. Aided by
Mnrtaza's weakness and unpopularity he was soon strong enough
to put him and his chief adherents to death and to take the govern-
ment into his own hands (1631). At the same time he sent an offer
of submission and a large contribution to the Moghals, and sgt am
infant on the tlnyne openly professing that he held his dignity from
the Emperor. His terms were at once accepted and Shdh Jahin
turned nis whole iorca afraJTist Bij^pur. Fatteh Kh^n evaded the
fulfilment of his promises, was again attacked by the Moghals, and
once more joined his cause with that of the Bij^pur king. He was
afterwards reconciled to the Moghals, and during the progress of
the war made several more faithless and shifty changes.

In 1632, Shdh Jahdn returned to Delhi, leaving MohAbat KMn
in command of the Deccan. After some time Moh^bat E^b^n
succeeded in shutting Fatteh Ehdn in Daulatabad where he defended
himself with occasional aid from the king of Bijdpur. The fate of the
NizAm Shdhi monarchy was at last decided by a general action in
which the combined attempt of the Dakhanis to raise the siege was
defeated. Fatteh Kh^n soon after surrendered and entered the
Moghal service, wtHe the king whom he had set up was sent prisoner
to (jwaJiorT Tn 1634, MohAbat KhAn was recalled and the Deccan was
divided into two commands under EJi&ni Daur^n and Khdni Zamdn.
This change weakened the Moghals. The Nizdm Sh^hi monarchy,
which, on the surrender of Fatteh Kh&ii seemed to have come to an
end, was revived bv SMhjjj^Bhpn^^ who, disgusted by the Moghals'
treatment of him, ha^gon^^Bijapur and had fought against them.
After the fall of Daulatabad Shdh^ji aspired to the regency and
accordingly pyf^^J^fipd another prince as the lawful heir of Nizdm i
Sh&h. With the aid of some JDrfhmans he began to manage the^
country, seized the forts, occupied the districts in the name of the
new king, and gathered troops from all quarters. Except a few
forts he succeeded for a time in overmnn^ffg the whole of the

Chapter VII.
History.

MusalmIms,

Niz^Un Shdhifly
1490-1636.

Murtaaa Nizdm

Shdh Murdered,

leSL

FoMof
DmUatabadt

8hdh4iiSifm^

proclaima himself
Regefdj

m9.

Ahmadnamr Konkan and the country as fi
from the Nira river on the south to the Chdn

far east as A]

«■■

dyryani^ on the north.*

1 Elphinstone'a History of Indin, 507. See also BadshAh Nibna in Elliot and
Dowaon, VII. 2I«25, t exant DoITb Mar4th^ 50.

[Bombay OasitlMr,

398

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIL
HiBtory*

MusalmInb.

End of the
Nizdm Shdhi

16S6.

Moghals,
16361759.

ShAh JahjLn marched £rom Agra and reached the Deccan in Noyember
1635. A force was atonce sentto recoverthe kingdom of Ahmadnagar.
When he had driven Sh^h&ji from the open country and reduced many
of his leading f orts^ Shdh Jah^ turned against the Bijfour ^^^^j who,
in 1 636._after a long struggle agreed to pay Sh^ JsOito £700,000
(Fagodas 20 lakhs) a year, and in retam received the south and
south-east portions of the Nizdm Shdhi dominions. Sh&hdji held
out for some time. At length he submitted, gave up his pretended
king^ and with Shdh Jah&n's consent entered the Bijdpur service.
Shdh Jah&n returned to Agra and the kingdom of Ahmadnagar was
at an end.

After the peace of 1636 SMh Jahdn endeavoured to improve the
conquered territory. The two governments of Ahmadnagar and
Khdndesh were united, and prince Aurangzeb, who remained for only
a short time, was appointed viceroy. The cnief change which followed
Shdh Jahdn^s conqaest of Ahmadnagar was the introduction of the
revenue system of Akbar's great financier Todar MaL Under Todar
Mai's settlement the lands were first assessed with reference to their
fertility, in a proportion varying from one-half to one-seventh of the
gross produce, according to the cost of tillage and the kind of
crop grown. The government share was then commuted for a money
payment, and in time when the land was measured, classed, and
registered the assessment was fixed at a fourth of the yearly produce
of each field. This system was introduced in the districts north of
the Bhima under the superintendence of Murshed Kuli Khdn an
able officer who for nearly twenty years was engaged on the
settlement. Murshed's system differed from Malik Ambar's chiefly
in being a permanent settlement, while Malik Ambar's varied from
year to year.^ The Moghal system is known as the Tavkha
settlement a name taken from the silver coin which took the place
of the old copper Takka. Another Moghal change was the
introduction of the Fasli or harvest year into the Deccan. The
Fadi or harvest year, which was started by Akbar (1556-1605),
was a solar year and began from the m/rig or opening of the
south-west monsoon early in June. As no attempt was made
to reconcile the Fculi or solar Musalmdn year with their lunar year,
tlie Fasli differed from the regular lunar Musalmdn year more than
three years every century. The measuring of their lands and the
fixing of their rents proved very distasteful to the Kolis of West
Ahmadnagar. Their head chief or sammh^ Kheni, persuaded the
chiefs to promise on the first chance to rise and free themselves from
Moghal rule. The successes of the young Shivdii (1627«1680), son
of Sh^h^ji Bhonslaand the founder of the Mardtha empire, seemed to
the Kolis the chance they were waiting for. The whole country rose
and the rising was not put down without extreme severities, among
which tne destruction of the whole of the Koli 8arnddk*8 family and
the pyramid of Koli heads at the Black Platform or kdla chabuiTii
in Junnar were still remembered by the Ahmadnagar Kolis in
1830.*

1 Grant Dii£Ps Marithte, 66-57.

> Captain Maokintoth in Tkans* Bom. Geog. Soo. I. 241-242.

OeceaiLl

AHMADNAGAR.

399

In 1650^ Shiy&ji preferred a claim on the part of his father or of
himself to the deshmukVa daes in the Ahmadnagar districts to
which he alleged they had an hereditary right. As was probably
foreseen Shiv^i's agent at Agra did not succeed in obtaining a pro-
mise of the aeshmuJcA'a share, but he brought back a letter rrom
8h4h Jahdn, promising that the claim should be taken into consi-
deration if Shiv&ji came to court. In the same year (1650) prince
Aurangzeb was appointed viceroy of the Deccan for the second time.
For several years he devoted his talents to perfecting the revenue
settlement and protecting and encouraging travellers and merchants.
He established his seat of government at Malik Ambar's town of
Khadki, which, after his own name, he called Anrangabad.^

In 1657 Shiv&ji, who since 1650 had greatly increased his power,
marched by unfrequented roads to Ahmadnagar in the hope of
surprising the town. His attempt was partially successful. But
while his men were plundering, he was attacked and several of his
party were killed by a detachment from the fort.'

During the rains of 1662, under Moropant his minister or Pesh^a
Shivdji's infantry gained several strongholds north of Junnar, and as
soon as the country was dry enough, his horse headed by Netdji
Pdlkar ravaged the Moghal districts without mercy. Net^ji was
ordered to plunder the villages and levy contributions from the towns.
Exceeding these orders he swept the country close to Aurangabad,
moved rapidly from place to place, and spread terror in all directions.
Shdiste ElMn, who, with the title of Amir-ul-Umr^h, had been appoint-
ed to succeed prince Muazzam as viceroy, was ordered to punish this
daring raid. He marched from Aurangabad with a great force and
took the route by Ahmadnagar and Pedgaon to Poona.^ In 1663
while Sb&iste Khdn was in Poena, Netdji P^lkar again appeared burn-
ing and plundering near Ahmadnagar. A party sent to cut him ofi
sncceeded in surprising and killing several of his men. The pursuit
was hot and Net&ji who was wounded would apparently have been
taken had not Bustum Zamdn the Bijd.pur general favoured his
escape. At the beginning of the rains of 1664 and again of 1665
Netdji was most successful in plundering the country. In August
1665, Shivdji surprised and plundered the town of Ahmadnagar and
raided near Aurangabad.^

In 1671 at the head of Shivdji's infantry the Peshwa Moropant
took several forts, among them Aundha and Patta in Akola. Shortly
after this the strength of the Moghals, which, for some time had been
short, was increased by an army of 40,000 men under Mohdbat Ehin
who began operations against Shiviji by endeavouring to reduce his
forts. He took Aundha and Patta at the setting in of the rains and
withdrew to cantonments.^ The same year Kh&n Jah&n, t|Le new
viceroy, occupied the Sahyddri passes and several parties of

Chapter Til.
History.

MusalblLks,

Moghals,
1S36-1759.

SkivdjVa
IncursionSf
1650-1680.

> Grant Dnffs Mardth^, 68. Fatteh Khto, son of Malik Ambar, had before changed
the name to Fattehnagar.

* Qrant Dura Mardthis, 74. > Grant Dura Mar&thAs, 86 - 87.

* GrantDaffa MarAth&a, 87, ■ Grant DofTa Mar&thte, 92.

[Bombay Ouettair*

400

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VII.
History.

MnsAiitfimL

MoghalB,
1636 - 1759.

Mardtla horse appeared near Aarangabad and Ahmadnag&r.
The viceroy went in parsoit of them but without euooess, and
at last cantoned for the rains at Pedgaon on the Bhima where
he built a fort and gave it the name of B^h&dargad.^ In 1675 some
Moghal aggressions under DiMwar Khdn gave Shiv^ji an excuse for
breaking the terms of the Purandhar convention (1665). Moropant,
who was ordered to act against the Moghals^ attacked and retook
Aundha and ;Patta, and Hambirr&v the Mar&tha commander-
in-chief plundered the country to Burhdnpur.^ On his return after
crossing the God&vari Hambirr&v was hotly pursued by DiUwar
Eh^n and with difficulty brought off the valuable booty he had
taken. At the opening of the season of 1675^ Hambirriv again passed
into the Moghal territory and did great mischief. In the same year
Shivdji entered into an agreement with Khdn Jahdn the Moghal
general and for some time Ahmadnagar was free from Maratha
inroads.' In 1679 Shivdji agreed to aid Shikandar Adil Shih,
(1672-1686) against Dildwar Khfin who was then besieging Bijipor.
He attempted to make the Moghals raise the siege but failed. As
be found he could do nothing at Bijapur he turned to the north,
rapidly crossed the Bhima^ and attacked the Moghal possessions
with fire and sword leaving the people houseless and the villages
in ashes. He continued his depredations from the Bhima to the
Goddvari. As it was almost certain that Shivdji would attempt to
carry his plunder to Bdygad, a force of 10^000 men was collected under
Ranmast Khdn, who pursued^ overtook^ and attacked Shivfiji near
Sangamner on his way to Patta. Part of his troops were thrown
intoconfusion^andSiddojiNimb&lkaroneof his best officers was killed.
Shiv&ji^ seeing that it was a time for wreckless darings led a desperate
charge.andby greatpersonalexortionsretrieved the day.^ The Moghal
troops were broken^ and Shivfiji continued his march. He had not gone
far when he was again attacked by the Moghals who had been joined
by a large force under Eishensing which cut him off from the pa&s
to which he was marching. Shivdji^s army was saved by his guide
who led them by a short cut unknown to the Moghals^ thus gaining
several hours and enabling them to reach Patta to which Shiv&ji in
thankfulness gave the name of Yishrdmgad or the Castle of Best.
The Moghal troops returned to Aurangabad and Shivd.ji judged
the opportunity favourable for possessing himself of the twentj-
seven forts near Patta. He ordered a body of infantry to join
Moropant from the Konkan to reduce as many of them as possible
and also placed a large detachment of cavalry at the Peshwa's
disposal. Shivdji remained at Patta until he received an express
from Masdud Khdn of Bijdpur to return south and make an effort to
retrieve Bijdpur.^

^ Grant Duff's Mardth^ 114. Pedgaon continued for apwards of forty yean one
of the principal stations of the McM^hau anny, Fiyer when at Jnnnar (June 1673)
notices that the head-quarteis of the Moghal army were not at Jnnnar bat at
Pedgaon.

> Grant Duff's Manith^, 119. > Grant Duff's MarAthis* 123.

« Grant Duff's Mar&thto, 129, » Grant Duff's MarAtUis, 129.

Deccan.)

AHMADNAGAR.

401

In 1684^ Aorangzeb issued orders tliat tlieyt^ta or tax of £1 6«.
(Rs. 13) on every £200 (Rs. 2000) of property held by all except
Musalmans should be exacted as strictly in the Deccan as in North
India. At the opening of the fair season (1684) Aurangzeb moved
from Aorangabad with more than ordinaiy magnificence towards
Ahmadnaffar. His cavalry^ collected chiefly from K^bul, Mult&n^
Ldhor, and Rajpnt&na^ presented an array of mighty men and horses
completely armed and accoutred. His numerous infantry included
well equipped musketeers, matchlockmen, and archers, besides
bodies of hardy Bundel&s and MevAtis, accustomed to hill-fighting
and robbeiy, and well able to cope with the Mar^tha M^vlis. To
these were afterwards added many thousand infantry raised in the
Kamatak. Besides a number of field-pieces which accompanied the
royal tents, several hundred pieces of cannon were manned by
natives of Northern India and directed by European gunners, and
a great number of miners were attached to the artillery, with
craftsmen of eveiy description. A long train of war elephants was
followed by a number of the emperor's private elephants carrying
the ladies of his palace or such of his tents as were too large for
camels. Numerous magnificently harnessed horses were set apart
for the emperor's riding. A menagerie accompanied the camp, from
which the rarest animals in the world were frequently shown by
their keepers before the emperor and his court. Hawks, hounds,
hnnting leopards, trained elephants, and every requirement for field
sport swelled the pomp of his prodigious retinue. The canvas
walls which encompassed the royal tents formed a circumference
of 1200 yards and contained every description of apartment to be
fonnd in the most spacious palace. Halls of audience for public
assemblies and privy councils, with all the courts and cabinets
attached to them, each hall magnificently adorned and having within
it a raised seat or throne for the emperor, surrounded by gilded
pillars with canopies of velvet, richly fringed and superbly
embroidered, separate tents as mosques and oratories, baths, and
galleries for archery and gymnastic exercises; a seraglio as
remarkable for luxury and privacy as that of Delhi ; Persian carpets
damasks and tapestries, European velvets satins and broadcloths,
Chinese silks of every description, and Indian muslins and cloth of
gold were employed in all the tents with the utmost profusion and
the most brilliant effect. Gilded balls and cupolas surmounted the
tops of the royal tents ; the outside of which, and the canvas walls,
were of a variety of lively colours, disposed in a manner which
heightened the general splendour. The entrance into the royal
onclosure was through a spacious portal, flanked by two elegant
pavilions, from which extended on each side rows of cannon forming
an avenue at the extremity of which was an immense tent containing
the great state drums and imperial band. A little further in front
was the post of the grand guard on duty commanded by a nobleman,
who mounted with it daily. On the other sides, surrounding the
great enclosures, were separate tents for the emperor's armoury and
harness ; a tent for water kept cool with saltpetre, another for fruit,
a third for sweetmeats, a fourth for betel and so on, with numerous
kitchens and stables. Besides every tent had its exact duplicate
B 772-^1

Chapter VII.
History.

MusalmIns.

Moghals,
1636- 1769.

March^
1684.

[Bombay Oaitttwr.

402

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Vn.
Hiatory.

MnSALMiNS.

Moghab,
1636- 1769.

sent on in advance to be prepared against tlie emperor^s arrival
His march was a procession and liis entrance into his pavilion waa
announced by a salvo from fifty or sixty pieces of ordnance. The
emperor assumed and maintained every form and ceremony observed
at the established residences of the imperial court The magnificesce
of these surroundings was in remarkable contrast to the austere
plainness of the emperor's habits. The magnificence was intended to
strengthen his power by the awe with which it impressed his subjects.
As the emperor's state was imitated by his nobles, the grandeur
proved a serious encumbrance to the movements of his army, while
the devouring expense of such establishments pressed hard on his
finances and soon crippled even the most necessacy of his military
and political arrangements.^

During the last fifteen years of the seventeenth oentniy the
Mardthfis continued at intervals to plunder Ahmadnagar territories.
In 1699 under Rdjdrdm the combined Marsha troops entered
Gangthadi claiming the chauth or one-fourth and the aardeshmukhi
or extra tenth as their established right. All who submitted to these
demands were protected, such of the Moghal garrisons who remained
passive were not molested, and those who opposed were put to the
sword. On this occasion the Mardtha exactions were unusually
systematic. Where they could not secure ready money they took
promissory notes from the heads of villages according to the praciioe
introduced by Shivaji. When he had nearly completed his tour
lUjdrdm left Haibatrdv Nimbdlkar in Gbngthadi to collect what they
termed the outstanding balances. ELaibatr&v when iqppointed to this
duty was styled Sar I^hkar, and received the Jari ratka or golden
streamer. After the death of EUj&rd.m (1699) Dhan&ji J^idhav spread
his horse in every quarter and performed many signal exploits. In
1700 large bodies of Mar^th^ levied tribute under the various heads
of chauth, sardeshmukhi, and ghda-ddna. Besides the organiaed
bands of Mar^th^, and still more destructive to the country, were the
irregular assemblies of several thousand horsemen who having agreed
to meet in some lonely part of the country, set ofE with little
provision, no baggage except the blanket on their saddles, and no
animals but led horses with empty bags for plunder. If they halted
during the night they slept with their bridles in their hands ; if by
day while the horses were fed and refreshed the men slept with little
or no shelter from the scorching heat except a bush or a tree. As
they lay their swords were by their sides and their spears were
generally at their horses' heads stuck in the ground. When halted
on a plain groups of four or five might be seen stretched on the bare
earth sound asleep, their bodies exposed to the sun, and their heads
in a cluster, under the doubtful shade of a blanket or tattered
horse»cloth stretched on spear points. The great object of this class
of horsemen was plunder. They generally rendered a partial aoooont
to the head of the state but dissipated or embezzled the greater
part of their gains. The Ghorpades at this time committed great
devastations along the eastern borders south of the God^vari.^

1 Qnmt Doffs MartthiUi, 146. ^ Gnnt Daffs Martthis, 176.

Bbooaii*]

AHMADNAGAR.

403

In 1706, tile grand Moghal army under Znlfik&r Khin, on its way
from Sinhgad ten miles south of Poena towards Ahmadnagar^ was
attacked by the Mar&th^ In spite of a gallant cliarge led by Khdn
Alam a great part of the Moghal army was defeated, and had the
Marithds made the most of their advantage, Aurangzeb would have
been a prisoner in their hands. On pitching his camp in Ahmadnagar,
on the same spot which it had occupied in such splendour twenty-
one years before, Aurangzeb said : I have ended my campaigning,
my last earthly journey is over. He died at Ahmadnagar on the
21st of February 170? in the eighty-ninth year of his age.
Since his father Sambhd.]i's execution in 1690, when he was a boy
of six years, Shdhu had been brought up by Aurangzeb with care
and kindness. In the hope that his influence might make the
Mardtb^ less hostile Aurangzeb before his death intending to set
Sh^u free, had presented him with Shivdji's sword Bhav&ni and also
the sword of the Bi jdpur general Af zul Kh4n and given him the district
of Nev&sa as amarriage gift. Accordingly ShAhu,on being released by
Anrangzeb's son Prince Azam, marched south from the Narbada. At
the God&vari he halted to dispel any suspicion that he was an impostor.
Hisarmyincreasedto 15,000men,and,by theadviceof Parsoji Bhonsla,
the head of the Mardtha army in Eh&ndesh and Berdr, he moved
south without further delay. Dhandji Jidhav and the Pratinidhi,
in the interests of Tdrdbdi, the widow of B&j&r&m Shdhu's uncle
advanced to oppose him. The people seemed inclined to the cause
of T&rib&i and one village fired on Shihu^s troops. As several of
his men were killed Sh^u assaulted the place and made a severe
example of the offenders. During the attack a woman, bearing a
boy in her arms, rushed towards Sh&hu, and threw down the child,
caUing out that she devoted him to the Bdja's service. Sh^u took
charge of the child, and, in commemoration of his first success,
called him Fattehsing. He afterwards added his own surname of
Bhonsla and always treated the child like his own son. This
Fattehsing was the founder of the Akalkot family. In 1711, Shdha
thought of moving his capital from S^tdra to Ahmadnagar but as it
gave ofFenoeto Zdfik&r Eh&n, Shdhu gave up^the intention.^

On Anrangzeb's death the dissensions among his sons soon
reduced the Moghal power in the Deccan. In 1716 Ddud
Khdn, the governor of the Deccan, revolted against the Syeds who
then ruled at Delhi in the name of the Emperor Ferokshir, but was
defeated and slain in a battle in Kh^ndesh by Husain Ali Syed.
Husain Ali then sent Troops to open communications between
Burhdnpur and Surat which were stopped by Khander^v Ddbh^e
a Mar&tha leader, and the Moghal force was surrounded and cut to
piecee. A larger force was sent and a battle was fought near
Ahmflidfiagsu^ ; the result was not decisive but the advantage
remained with the Mardthius. At last in 1720 after tedious
negotiations, through the able management of B&ldji Yishvan&th
the Peshwa, tbe Mardthis obtained the grants of the chauth and
mrdeshmukJU of the six provinces of the Deccan including

Chapter VII.
History.

MusalmIns.

Moghala»
1636-1759.

1 Grant Duff's MarAthis, 196.

[Bomboj Ouetten

404

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Til.
History.

MUSALMJLKS.

Mogh&U,
1636-1759.

l^ 0

MA&ATHiS,

1759-1817.

Ahmadnagar. Shortly after tliis the fall of the Moghal power in
the Deccan was completed by the revolt of Chia Kilioh Khin^
Niz&m-nl-Mulk^ the governor of Mdlwa. Ahmadnagar was one of the
parts of the Deccan which became subject to the Ni^m and remained
in his hands till his death in 1748. The Peshwa took advantage
of the disturbances which followed the Nizdm's death to attack his
successor SaJAbat Jang. The Peshwa had miscalculated his power
as Saldbat had the valuable help of his French general Bnasy. In
1751 the Nizdm advanced from BurhAnpur to Ahmadnagar. Bossy
repelled the Mardtha attacks^ and surprised their camp at
BAjdpur on the Ghod riyer in Shrigonda. As it advanced the
Nizdm's army plundered B>An]angaon in P&rner and destroyed
Talegaon Dhamdhere in Poena. Here a severe action was fooght
and the Nizdm's troops were nearly routed. Still they pressed on to
Koregaon on the Bhima in Poena. News arrived that the fort of
Trimbak near Ndsik, had been surprised by the Mardthds and
• SaUbat Jang returned to Ahmadnagar. In 1752, he marched by
Junnar to retake Trimbak. but being hard pressed by the
Mardthds he agreed to an armistice. Saldbat Jang was specially
anxious for peace because he was threatened bv an attack from his
elder brother Ghdzi-ud-din who advanced with a large army to
Anrangabad and promised to cede to the Mardthds the country
between the Tdpti and the Goddvari west of Berdr. While at
Aurangabad Ghdzi-ud-din was poisoned^ but his brother Saldbat
confirmed the cession and thus the Mardthds obtained possession of
the Gangthadi in Ahmadnagar, besides Ndsik a.na Khdndesh.

In 1759^ the Nizdm's commandant Kdvi Jang for a sum of money
betrayed the fort of Ahmadnagar to the Peshwa.^ War followed
between the Peshwa and the Nizdm. The Mdrdthds began by
taking the fort of Pedgaon on the Bhima ; they then attacked the
Nizdm at Udgir about 160 miles south-east of Ahmadnagar and forced
him to come to terms (1760). Besides other concessions the Ni^dm
confirmed the grant of Ahmadnagar and Daulatabad and also garo
up the greater part of the province of Ahmadnagar. By this treaty
the whole of the present district of Ahmadnagar was gained by the
Mardthds. Next year (1761). after the great Maratha disaster at
Pdnipat^ the Nizam advanced and burnt the temple of Toka at tho
meeting of the Pravara and the Goddvari in Nevdsa, and marching
on Poona forced the Peshwa to restore some of the districts
which had been ceded after the battle of Udgir.*

*In 1760 the peace of Ahmadnagar was broken by a Koli
rising. One of the Koli chiefs Hirdji Bomle whose family had held
estates and rank from the time of the Bahmani kings died« Though
Hirdji's son Jdvji held a post in the Peshwa's service the Peshwa's
manager at Junnar refused to give Jdvji his father's estates and rank.
Jdvji^ who is described as of slight figure, middle-sized aad fair, bold

^ The descendants of KM Jang still hold tndm villaffes in the Kaij»t nb-dm^oa.
Mr. Loch, C. S. -~o -

* Grant DufiTs Mar&thAs, 325.

>TranB. Bonu Geog. Soc. I. 245.

Decoan*]

AHMADNAGAB.

405

restless andof irregular habits, gave up the Peshwa's servicej withdrew
to the hills,and organized a series of gang robberies. Jdvji was order-
ed to leave the hills and join an expedition which was starting for
service in the Konkan. He feared treachery and fled to Kh&ndesh.
His family were seized and troops were sent against him. J&vji had
a bitter enemy in Bdmji S&vant an officer at Junnar who persuaded
the manager of Junnar that J&vji was a man of hopelessly bad
character. R^mji seized a party of seven Kolis^ among them a brother
and a cousin, whom J^vji had sent to get some tidings about his
family. B&mji obtained from the Junnar manager an order for the
execution of the seven Kolis and they were hurled down the
Shivner rock. In revenge J&vji killed B&mji Sdvant's brother who
was living on a louely part of the hills with a Gos&vi who was
performing incantations which were to make S&vant wound-proof.
K^mji asked for a body of troops that he might hunt Jdvji.
The troops were supplied and Javji broke his band in small
parties and spread them all over the country. To have any hope *
of success against an enemy who were heard of from all
quarters at once, Rdmji had to follow their tactics and spread his
men far and wide in small detachments. The party which he
commanded was surprised by J&vji, and Rdmji and a young son of
his were slain. B&mji's eldest son was put in command of the force
but him too Jdvji surprised and killed in Junnar. The Poena
government now formally declared Jdvji an outlaw. He joined
Raghundthrdv and did him good service, capturing Sidgad, Bhairugad,
Kotta^ and other Thdna forts, Alang in Ndsik, and Batangad
and Madangad in Ahmadnagar. Ndna Fadnavis sent orders to
D4ji Kokdta, who was then one of the leading Koli officers at
Junnar to act against Jdvji, and warned him that if he failed to
seize Jdvji he would be dismissed the Peshwa's service. So!6n
after Ddji and Jdvji happened to meet in the forests in the Qhod
valley. Ddji represented himself as Jdvji's friend. They sat talking
together and went to a river near to bathe. While they were
bathing one of Jdvji's men opened Ddji's bag and found in it an
order signed by Ndna Fadnavis for Jdvji's execution. On his
retarn to camp this man told Jdvji what he had seen and Ddji
and his three sons had their throats cut during the night. After
this the pursuit of Jdvji became hotter than ever. He asked
help from Baghundthrdv, but Raghundthrdv's cause was now
hopeless and he could do nething. On the advice of his friend
Dhondo Gopdl, the Peshwa's governor at Ndsik, Jdvji surrendered
all his forts to Tukoji Holkar^ and through Holkar s influence was
pardoned and placed in military and police charge of a district or
subha of sixty villages in Bdjur with powers of life and death over
Koli robbers and outlaws. Jdvji continued in a position of J^onour
till in 1789 he died from a wound given by one of his own followers.^
He was succeeded by his son Hirdji Ndik. During the latter years
of his life Jdvji had taken part in quelling a serious rising among

Chapter Tn.
History.

1769 ■ 1817.
Kolia.

' XMkinfcoAh notices that of J^vji*» twelve wives one was a Shimpia and the
olhcr a Telin, Trans. Bom. Geog, Soc. I. 254.

CBombAy OaMttoeri

406

DISTRICTS.

Chapter vn.
History.

MABiTHAs,

1769 - 1817.
Kolis.

BaUk ofKhardat

r».

'^'^\

the Kolis which was headed by two Koli leaders KokAta and Shil*
kunda. One measare taken by the government to prevent the Kolis
joininginthis rising was to make the headmen of the different villages
enter into a chain secnrity or jd/min sdnkhli each beooming sorctj
for the other's good behaviour and the deshmukh or district head
being secnrity for all. After Jdvji was pat in charge of the district these
leaders remamed quiet for more than foar years. They again went
ont^ were betrayed^ and execnted. In 1798 a fresh distorbanoe took
place among the Kolis. The leaders of this outbreak were three
JS.oli brothers Govindji^ Man^ji, and Y&loji Bhdngria, popular men
round whom a large body of followers quicklv gathered. Govindji
was soon taken and Man^ji fled and died. Y&loji was more successf cd.
He led a gang of over a thousand men and with drums and flags
raided into the Deccan and Konkan and caused widespread terror
and misery. He was at last taken by Hirdji Ndik, J&vji Bomle'a son
and was blown from the mouth of a cannon at BiLjur. After
y&loji's death his nephew B&mji, who was an abler and more daring
leader even than Ydloji succeeded in baffling all the efforts of the
Government officers to seize him. As force seemed hopeless the
Government offered B&mji a pardon and gave him an important
police post in which he did excellent service.^

In 1762^ to gain the Nizam's help in his quarrels with his nephew
M&dhavrfiv Peshwa> Baghundthrdv agreed to restore the rest of the
districts which had been ceded under the Udgir treaty in 1 760.
A treaty to this effect was passed at Pedgaon^ but as the quarrels in
the Peshwa's family were settled Baghunfithr&v's promise was not
carried out. In revenge, in 1763, the Niz&m marched on Poena
and burnt it. As he retired he was overtaken by the Mar&th^,
part of his army was attacked at Bakisbon on the God&vari and
cut to pieces, and the Nizdm was forced to come to terms and
confirm the former cessions. In 1767 fresh quarrels broke oat
between M&dhavrfiv and his uncle Baghunfithrfiv who levied troops
in the Gangthadi. The war ended in 1782 by the treaty of Salbai,
and Baghundthr&v retired to Kopargaon on the Godfivari where be
soon after died. His family remained at Kopargaon till 1792 when
they were moved to Anandveli close to the west of N&sik town.

In 1795, in consequence of the Peshwa's exorbitant demands, war
broke out between the Peshwaand the Niz&m. Ndna Fadnavis
the minister at Poena collected a ^eat army. Since Mah^dji
Sindia^s death in 1794 Ntoa^ff power had greatly increased, and
the prospect of sharing in the gains from a victory over the Niz£m
brought to his standard all the leading Mar&tha chiefs. Danlatr&v
Sindia and Tukoji Holkar were already in Poena ; and the Bfi ja of
Ber&r had set out to join the army. Govindrdv Gdikw&r sent a
detacfiment, the Patvardhans andBdstias from the Bombay Elamdtak,
the Br&hman holders of M&legaon and Yinchtir in Nto'k, the
Pratinidhi and the Pant Sachiv from Sdt&ra, the Mar^tba
mdnkaria, Nimb&lkar, Gh&tge, Chavhdn, Dafle, Pov&r, Thor&tj and
Pdtankar, with many others of less note obeyed the tummons.

iTraoB, Bom. Geog, Soc. I. 256-258.

MABixHiSy

1769-1817.

Oeeeaa.]

AHMADNAGAE. 407

For ihe last time the Mardtha chiefs met ander the authority of the Chapter VIL

Pesbwa. Niz&m Ali was first in the field and slowly advanced Historv.

from Bedar, along the banks of the M&njra. towards the Mar&tha

irontier. 'ine reshwa qnitted Foona in January, and his army

marched at the same time, but by different routes for the

convenience of foraga The Mar&tha army contained over 130.000

horse and foot besides XO.OOO Pendhdris, Of this force more

than one-half were either paid from the Peshwa's treasury, or

were troops of jdgirddrs or estate-holders under his direct

controL Though the greater part of his army was in North India

and Mflwa, Daulatrdv Sindia's force was the largest and most

efficient, including 25,000 men, of whom 10,000 were 'regular

infantry under Perron. De Boigne's second-in-command ; Baghuji

Bhonsia mustered 15,000 horse and foot; Tukoji Holkar had

only 10,000, but of these 2000 were regulars under Dudrenec,

and most of the Pendh^ris were followers of Holkar. Parashurdm

Bhdu had 7000 men. N^a Fadnavis consulted the chief officers

separately and appointed Parashur^m Bhdu commander-in-chief.

The Pendh^s and some other horse were ordered ahead to

plunder round the Moghal camp, and spoil their forage. The

heavy baggage, properly protected, remained one march in the rear,

and the best of the horse with the regular infantry, supported

by upwards of 150 pieces of cannon, were sent forward to attack

Nizfim Ali, who, with an army 110,000 strong, advanced towards

Kharda in J&mkhed about fifty-five n^es south-east of Ahmadnagar r>

and descended the Mohori pass. A body of the Peshwa's household ^

troops under B&bd.r&v, son of the deceased Haripant Phadke, attacked

the Moghals when descending the pass. The Mard>th&s were driven

oS with loss. And on the same evening Nizdm Ali sat in

state and received presents and congratulations on his victory.

Next day, when the Moghals were on their march froffi_Khfl£daJjo ^^^ s'^

Par&nda, the Mar&thda appeared in great force on their right,

Nizdm Ali halted his elephant, sent his baggage to the left, and

directed Asad Ali Khdu with the cavalry, supported by 17,000

regular infantry under Raymond, to attack the Mardthds. Para-

shurdm Bhdu rode forward to reconnoitre, supported by Bdb^Lrdv

Phadke and Kdshirdv, the son of Tukoji Holkar. He had

advanced only a short distance when he was suddenly

charged by a body of Pathans, under a Beluchi named Ldl Kh^n, who

cut down several men, and, with his own hand, unhorsed and

wounded Parashur&m Bh^u. Haripant Patvardhan, the Bhdu's eldest

son, seeing his father fall, attacked the Beluchi and killed him

on the spot. In spite of the loss of their leader the Pathdns,

supported by Alif Khdn the son of the Nawdb of Kamaul. and

Sakbat Khdu the son of IsmAel Khdn, Nawdb of Elichpur. pressed

on till the advanced party of the Mardthds gave way, and were

driven back in such confusion that a large section of the army were

panic-stricken and thousands fled. Even Bdbdrdv Phadke in charge

of the Golden Streamer or Jari Patka, was turning to fly when he was

stonpedby Jivba DddaBakhshi, who, upbraiding him for cowardice^

told him if he wanted to be safe he might get behind Sindia's troops.

By this time the regular battalions onbothsideBhadapproached vrithin

[Bombay Oatettver.

408

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VII.
EiBtory.

1769-1817.

masketrshot, and the Moghal cavalry were advancing to the support
of their infantry with apparent steadiness, when Raghnji Bhonsla
met them with a shower of rockets, and at the same moment they
received the fire of thirty-five pieces of cannon which Perron had
judiciously placed on a rising ground. In a few minutes the Mogh&l
cavalry were routed. Still Raymond's infantry stood their ground and
had even gained some advantage over Perron's battaUons, when
Raymond, by repeated and peremptory orders, was forced to
follow Nizdm Ali^ who had already retreated towards Kharda. By
the time the detached portions of the Moghal army learned their
leader'a intention, the sun had set, and darkness increased their
confusion. After nightfall shots continued to be exchanged in
different directions and few men, except those of Raymond's half-
disciplined battalions, could find their own division. At last the
multitude, worn by &>tigue and clamour sunk to rest, or lay down
to await the return of day. In the stillness of night, a small
patrol of Mar&thds in search of water came by chance to a
rivulet where lay a party of Moghals, who, discovering that they
were Mardthds fired on them. Raymond's sentries who were near
also fired. Then the whole line, who lay with their muskets loaded
started from their sleep, and fired an irregular volley. In their
perplexed state this volley drove the Moghal army into complete
panic. Many of Raymond's sepoys, struck with the general fear
quitted their ranks and mingled in the confusion. At last the moon
rose and Nias^m Ali, in utter consternation, sought refuge within the
small badly placed fort of Kharda. Most of his troops fled,
plundering the baggage of their own army as they went. Tliey
were not allowed to carry off this ill gotten spoil as Manittha
Pendhdris overtook them, and, without opposition, stripped the panic-
struck fugitives of all their booty. Next morning the Mardthds
found the ground strewn with guns, stores, baggage, and the usnal
wreck of an army. Their surprise was still greater on perceiving
Nizdm Aii shut in Kharda and his army wasted to one-tenth
of its former strength. No people are keener or prompter in
seizing such an advantage than the Mardth^. The joyful news
flashed through the whole force ; the furthest parties came swaroiing
in to plunder the Moghals. In a few hours the Nizdm's army was
hemmed in, and next day batteries were opened from hills wbich
commanded the fort as well as the army, liizam Ali endured this
hopeless exposure for two days. On the morning of the 15th March
he asked for and obtained a cessation of arms. The preliminary
demand made by the Mardthds was the surrender of the minister
Mushir-ul-Mulk, that amends might be made for the insult offered to
thePeshwain threatening to seize NdnaFadnavis.^ They next exacted

> When disoossions about the payment of arrears were gomg on between the Pediwa'x
envoy Govindi^y Kile and Mushir-nl-Mulk, the envoy was told in pablic darbAr that
Niina Fadnavis must himself attend at the court of Haidarabad, in order to affiud

menace was considered a sufficient declaration and although negotiatioaa continQi>d
to the last both parties prepared to decide their differencee by the sword. While «t «

DeecaaO

AHMADNAGAH.

409

territorial cessions^ stretohing along the frontier fromPaf&ndaon the
Bontti to the TApti on the north, inclndingthe fort of Daulatabad and
the part of those districts conquered by Saddshivrdv Bhd.a in 1760,
which had been restored to NizdmAIiin 1761 and three millions
sterling (Bs. 3 krors) were promised on accoant of arrears of revenue
and war expenses. Besides this, by a separate agreement, in lieu of
Raghnji Bhonsla's claims for ghas-ddma in the Gangthadi, Nizdm All
ceded territory yielding £31,800 (Rs. 3,18,000) a year. Nizdm Ali
likewise promised to pay arrears due to Baghnji Bhonsla amounting
to £290,000 (Rs. 29 tdkhs) and to collect their respective shares of
revenue in Berir, according to ancient usage, for all which the
Peshwa afterwards became Raghuji's guarantee. Nizdm Ali was
e&tremely unwilling to surrender his minister. Mushir.ul-Mulk
nrged him to the measure, as he thought the other conditions more
moderate than might have been expected. The minister was
delivered to a party of 200 MardthSs, by whom he was escorted to
their camp. The Peshwa met him at the outskirts, and received
him with distinction, but his person was carefully guarded. The
Mai^tha delight at their triumph knew no bounds. A grievous
sign of decay, said the young Peshwa, that Mar^thds should boast
of a victory won without danger and without honour. In the battle
both sides together scarcely lost 200 men, though a considerable
number of Moghals were killed during the night of panic and the
two days^ exposure to the Mar^tha fire. For long, to have been
present at the glorious field of Kharda, was one of the proudest
boasts of old Mar&tha horsemen.^

With the death of M^havrdv II. in October 1 795, a time of
confusion and trouble began which lasted till the country was
conquered by the English in 1803. In 1797, as the price of his
support of the claims of Bdjirdv to be Peshwa, Sindia, who had
already obtained large grants of land in Ahmadnagar, had the fort
of Ahmadnagar and some other lands ceded to him. At the end of
the year Sindia seized and imprisoned N^na Fadnavis in the
Ahmadnagar fort. In 1798 disputes broke out between Daulatr&v
Sindia and the two elder widows of his adoptive father Mah^ji
Sindia, which resulted in the war known as the war of the Ladies
or Bais. The ladies' troops ravaged Sindia's parts of the Deccan and
the country round Ahmadnagar suffered severely. From Ahmadnagar
the ladies retreated nortk to Khfindesh, and in 1800 were defeated
by Yashvantr&v Holkar and retired to Mew^. Ndna Fadnavis
was released in 1798 and died in 1800.

In the latter part of 1802 Yashvantr&v Holkar, who was enraged

ditUQcd, the war was extremely popuUr among the Moghals. The grand army
under Niz4m Ali's personal command was assembled at Bedar and the camp -wka full
of bastle and life. Vaunting threats were in the mouths of the ill-appointed disorderly
•oldienr. Poooa was to be pillaged and burnt ; tiie dancing sirls already sung the
triumphs of theiv army ; and even the prime minister declarecT in a pubho assembly
that tiie Mo^alB should now be freed from Maritha enoroachments ; that they should
f<ecover BiUpur a&d Khindesh, or they would never ^prant peace until they had
|lca(xitefaed tbtB Peshwa to Benares with a cloth about his loins and a pot of water
in Kit hand) to mutter incantations on the banks of the Ganges. Grant Duff's Mar&this,
dl4.

1 Grant Duff's Mardth^, 514 - 517.
■ 772-52

Chapter VII.
History.

MarathAs,
1769- 1817,

IBomlNiy Gflsetteer.

410

DISTRICTS,

Ohapter YIL
History:.

MARiTHAcit

1769-1817.

Treaty of Bas8e$n^

Slst December

1802.

with Bijirdv for the murder of his half-brother Vithoji, passed
south to Poena laying the country waste. After Holkar's victory
at Poena (25th Octbber 1802) Bd.jir4v fled to Mah^ in KoUba
and from Mahdd to Bassein, where^ on the Slst of December

1802, in return for cessions of territory, the British government
bound itself to defend the Peshwa from all attacks. B^jirdv was
escorted to Poena and restored to the throne on the ISth of Hay

1803. Soon after accounts reached the British goyernment that
Daulatr&y Sindia had combined with Baghuji Bhonsla the Ri.ja
of Berdr to make war on the British.^ The treaty of Bassein
was communicated to Daulatrdv Sindia on the 27th of May and he
was called on to state his objections if he had any. He was also
desired to make known the object of his negotiations with the Raja
of Berdr and other chiefs, and if his designs were not hostile
to the British government or its allies he was called on to retire
with his troops to their usual stations. Daulatrdv Sindia, in answer,
declared to the British Resident that until he had a meeting with the
R^ja of Berdr he could not decide whether there should be peace or
war, but that the British Resident should be made acquainted
with the determination of the united chiefs as soon as they met.
On the 3rd of June Sindia and the Ber&r chief met near Malk^par
in Shevgaon, and from that day, though they were shown tiat
the treaty of Bassein was purely defensive, they evaded giving
any answer till the 8th of July 1803. Both Sindia and the H4ja of
Berar then declared that they had no intentions to attack the
British or their allies or to obstruct the execution of the treaty of
Bassein, provided the British would not prevent the execution
of the treaties subsisting between the Peshwa and themselves.
At the same time they continued to advance towards the Nizim's
frontier. On the 14th of July General Wellesley, who was in
command of the British forces and in charge of the negotiations,
told Sindia by letter that unless he separated his troops from those
of the Raja of Berdr, and both retired from the Nizdm's borders,
he could not consider their actions consistent with their declaration ;
when the united chiefs retired he promised that the British troops
should also retire to their usual stations. If Sindia and the Bdja
of BerAr kept their troops close to the Nizdm's frontier, the British
troops would attack Ahmadnagar. Sindia admitted the justice oE
General Wellesley's demand that their troops should retire. But
instead of retiring they kept to their position on the Niz&m's frontier
and wrote to General Wellesley advising him to withdraw to
Madras, Seringapatam, or Bombay.*

^ The contracting parties to the treaty of Bassein had a full right to enter into lbs
treaty which was pnrely defensive. It contained an express stipulation that t^c
British troops should not be employed to attack the great MarAUia Jagirddrs uo*
less they should first commit hostilities against the allies. Daulatr4v Sindia hiui
called upon the British government to give assistance to the Peshwa to recover his
throne ; subsequently when informed that the relations between the British and the
Peshwa had been improved he had expressed his satisfaction at that event, and in
his camp on the 2nd March had formally declared to the British Resident thftt K'
had no intention of obstructing the treaty of Bassein or of committing hostiUtit^
against the British government or its allies. Wellington's OespatcheSi 1. *291.

2 WeUington's Despatches, I. 291.

Ddccaa.I

AHMADNAGAfi. 411

General Wellesley had offered an equal and honourable peace^ Chapter VII'
the chiefs preferred war.^ General Wellesley was stationed at History.

Vdiki six miles south of Ahmadnagar.^ It was his intention to seize
Ahmadnagar so soon as he heard that Sindia and the Berdr lYsg.isn!'
chief refused to withdraw from the Nizdm's border. A very
heavy fall of rain defeated his. plans. News that the chiefs
refused to retire reached him on the 3rd of August. But from the
third to the sixth such constant rain fell that the six miles between
Valki and Ahmadnagar wore impassable. On the 7th of August
General Wellesley issued a proclamation declaring that he would
make no war on the people and that all officers and others were
required to remain in their stations and obey the orders they
should receive ; that if they did no harm to the British armies,
no harm would be done to them ; and that any one who either left
his dwelling or did any harm to the British army or to their fol-
lowers, woald be treated as an enemy. On the seventh the country
was still impassable, but the weather cleared and General Wellesley
reached Ahmadnagar on the eighth. On the morning of the eighth
General Wellesley sent a messenger to the commandant or killeddr of
Ahmadnagar requiring him to surrender the fort. On arriving near
the town or petta he offered terms or haul to the people. As the town
was held by Arabs, supported by a battalion of Sindia's regular
infantry and a body of horse encamped in an open space between
the town and the fort, the terms were refused. General Wellesley
immediately attacked the town in three places, in one place with
tbe piquets of the infantry reinforced by the flank companies of tho
78th Regiment under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Harness,
in a second with the 74th Regiment and the 1st battalion of the 8th
under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, and in a third
with the flank companies of the 74th and the 1st battalion of the 3rd
Regiment under the command of Captain Vesey. The town wall was
very lofty and was defended by towers. It had also no rampart, so
that when the troops had climbed to the top they had no ground
to stand on, and the Arabs who held the towers defended their posts
with the utmost obstinacy. At length they were forced to quit the
wall and fled to the houses, from which they continued to pour
a destructive fire on the troops. Sindia^s regular infantry also
attacked the British troops after they entered the town. Still in a
short time, after a brisk and gallant contest, the British were com-
pletely masters of the town with the loss of four officers. From the

i WeUiDgton'fl Despatches, I. 291-92.

' The forces under the immediate command of Major-General V\reUe8ley consisted
of : Cavalry, H. M. 19th Light Dragoons, 384 ; 4th, 5th, and 7th Regiments native
cavalry 1347, total 1731 ; artiUery 173 ; infantry, H. M. 74th and 78th Regiments,
1368; Ist battalion 2nd Regiment native infantry, 1st and 2nd battalions 3rd
regiment natiTe infantry, 1st battalion 8th regiment native infantry, 2nd battalion
I2th regiment native infantry, and 2nd battalion 18th regiment native infantry, 5631 ;
total 6999 ; grand total 8903. Besids these there were European artillerymen and 653
Pioneers of the establishment of Fort St. George, 2400 cavalry belonging to the
K&jaof Maisur and about 3000 Mardtha horse. Two battalions of sepoys were
d^Uched in July with a large convoy of treasure, bullocks, and ^^rain from the army
under the command of Lieutenant-General Stuart to the division under Major-
^j«neral Wellesley. Wellington's Despatches, L 293-

[Bombay Oasettoer,

412

DISTBICTS.

Chapter VIL

MarAthIs,
1750-1817.

Ahmadnagar

taken bff

Oeneral WdUOey.

180S.

nature of the contest tlie enemy's loss was mach greater. On tlie 8tli all
the enemy's force which was not required for the defence of the fort,
including all the Arabs who survivea the contest in the town went
north except « small number who attended one of their wounded
chiefs who could not be moved from the fort. On the 9th General
Wellesley reconnoitered the ground near the fort^ and on that
evening Colonel Wallace with five companies of the 74th Regiment
and the 2nd battalion of the 12th Regiment^ seized a position within
400 yards of the wall. On this spot in the course of the night, a
four-gun battery was built to take off the defences from the side on
which G-eneral Wellesley proposed to attack. The battery opened
at daylight on the 10th. It was so well placed and fired with sach
effect that the commandant desired General Wellesley to cease firing
that he might send a person to treat for his surrender. In reply
General Wellesley told the commandant that he would not cease
firing till either he had taken the fort or the commandant had sur-
rendered it ; still that he would listen to whatever the commandant
wished to say. On the morning of the 11th the commander sent
two agents to propose to surrender the fort on condition that he
should be allowed to depart with his garrison and his private pro-
perty. General Wellesley agreed to this proposal, but it was five
m the evening before the hostages arrived in the camp without whose
presence^ General Wellesley refused to stop the fire from the British
batteries. According to his engagement, the commandant marched
out of the fort on the morning of the 12th with a garrison of 400
men, and the troops under General Wellesley^s command took pos-
session. The British loss since the 8th was trifling which General
Wellesley attributed much to the spirit with which the British
attacks on that day were made.^ Among the officers mentioned in
General Wellesley's despatches were Lieuteoant-Colonels Harness,
Wallace, and Maxwell who commanded in the trenches. Captain
Beauman commanding the artillery, Captain Johnson the engineer,
and Captain Heitland of the Pioneers in the short subsequent siege*
The fort of Ahmadnagar held an important position on the Nis^m's
frontier, covering Poena, and was a valuable point of support to all
future operations of the British to the north. It was considered
one of the strongest forts in the country and except Y ellor in the
Madras Eamdtak was the strongest country fort General Wellesley
had seen. It was in excellent repair, exc^t in the part exposed to
the British artillery. Inside it was in a sad dirty stete and in Jhe
utmost confusion. The quantities of stores were astonishing and
the powder was so good that General Wellesley replaced from the
magazines that which he had consumed in the siege. General
Wellesley thought the fort oughtto be cleared of the old buildings with

1 The loBsee were : Of EaropeanB, the 19thLiffht DragooiiB, Artillenr, and ELM. 74th
id 78th Regiments, kiUed 2 Captains, 2 sabidterns, 1 serjeant, 1 wiinsier, and 1*

and

rank and file ; wonnded 2 subalterns, 1 sergeant, and 58 rank and file. Of Katives
6th Regiment Cavalry, 1st battalion 2nd Regiment, Ist battalion 3ird Regim^t
1st battalion 8th Reffiment, 2nd battalion 12th Regiment, 2nd battalion 18th Re-
giment, and 1st battalion Pioneers, killed, 1 havUddr, 1 ndik, and ten sepoys ; wounded
1 Ma>heddr, 9 havOddn^ 3 ndiks, and 39 sepoys. Wellington's Despatcbea, l« 302.

DeoeaaJ

AHMADNAQAB.

413

whidi it waa crowded.^ General Wellesley proposed at once to cross
the Godavari and intended to seoore for the use of the British troops
the resources of Sindia's possessions south of the Ood&yari depending
OD Ahmadnagar.^

General Wellesley appointed Captain Graham to take charge,
for the use of the British government and the Peshwa, of all the
territories belonging to Daulatr&y Sindia depending upon the
Ahmadnagar fort, and he called on all officials and others to attend
to and obey Captain Graham^s orders and those of no other person.^

Greneral Wellesley then crossed the Godavari and the war was
brought to a close by the great victory of Assaye on the 23rd of
September. By the treaty concluded with Sindia by General
Wellesley, on the 30th of December 1803, the territories near
Ahmadnagar, the ancient family lands of Sindia were restored to
him, under a particular stipulation that no armed men were ever to be
kept in them.* The fort of Ahmadnagar together with the district
taken possession of at the time of the capture of the fort remained
with the British by whom they were soon after given to the Peshwa.*
At this time two freebooters, Malva D&dsk and Syed Sultdn Ali, are
mentioned as committing great depredations. Malva D&da took
Shrigonda and defeated Captain Graham's peons sent against him®
and it was a condition in Sindia's treaty that he should cause
Malva Ddda to withdraw with the banditti that were breaking daily
from the district across the Ood&vari into Kh^ndesh, Syed Ali was
tried] and found guilty and was sentenced accordingly.^ The war
against Holkar still continued and his districts in the Deccan were
taken by the English. In 1805 he came to terms when his Deccan
possessions were restored to him except Shevgaon which also was
given up within two years.

In 1804 to add to the miseries of the country which had been
ravaged by Holkar's troops in 1802 the late rains of 1803 failed
and a fearful famine followed. Whole districts were depopulated
and the survivors sought refuge in the forts built in the larger
villages. At Ahmadnagar more than 5000 persons were employed
by General Wellesley in making a glacis or bank round the fort.®
In his march from Ahmadnagar to the God&vari (24th August 1803)
General Wellesley trembled for the want of the common country
grains for the followers and cattle. The country was completely
esdianstedand the villages empty and large tracts of rich land waste.^
l^e Bhils and other wild tribes taking advantage of the confusion
gathered in large bands and completed the ruin of the land. They

Chapter Til.
History.

MabItkAb,
1750-1817.

Famine,
1803-4.

Bhils.

^ WeUinffton's Despatches, I. 310. > WeUington's Despatches, I. 299-301.

' General Wellesley's instmctionB to Captain Graham were : To keep th# country
quiet, to secure its resources and a free communication through it to Poona and
Bombay- These were objects of far greater importance than to coUect large revenue*
G^ptain Graham was to refrain from pressing the country with a view to raising the
ooUections. Wellington's Despatches, I. 303, 307.

« WeUington's Despatches, I. 669. • Wellington's Despatches, I. 412.

< WeUington's Despatches, IH. 356, 423, 466 and I. 464.

' Welliogton's Despatches, III. 566. ^ For details see Agriculture chapter.

' Wellington's Despatches, J. 335.

[Bombay Choetteer.

414

DISTRICTS,

Chapter VII.
History*

MARiTHiSy

1759.1817.

BaUle o/Kirkee,
1817.

pillaged and murdered withoat mercy and no mercy was shown ihem
in return. To put down the Bhil rising Bajirtlr invested B&I4ji
Lakshman the Sarsubhed^r or governor of Khdndesh with full
powers. At the instigation of Manohargir Gosavi one of his
captains BdUji Lakshman invited a large body of Bhils to a meeting
at Kopargaon on the Goddvari, treacherously seized them, and
threw them down wells. This restored order for a time. But in
1806 disorder was as general as ever and Trimbakji Denglia who
was then in charge of the district caused another massacre of Bhils
at Ghevri-Ohdndgaon in Shevgaon. He commissioned Naroba Takit
Pdtil of Earambha to clear the Gang^hadi ; and 5000 to 6000
horse and a large body of infantry were given him. Ndroba
butchered the Bhils and all who had any connection with them
wherever he found them. During fifteen months 15,000 human
beings are said to have been massacred.

After the transfer of Ahmadnagarto the Peshwa the land revenae
was farmed to the highest bidder. The farmer had not only the right
to collect the revenue, but to administer civil and criminal jastice,
and so long as he paid the required sum and bribed the court
favourites no complaints were listened to. Justice was openly sold
and the mdmlatddr of a district was often a worse enemy to the
husbandmen than the Bhils. In 1816, Trimbakji who had been
imprisoned at Thd*na for the murder of Gangddhar Shdstri the
G.i&ikwdr's ambassador, escaped and wandered about the hilly country
of Sangamner, rousing the wild tribes, and, in concert with his
master Bdjirdv, making preparations for war. The Pendh4ris also
began to make raids into the district. In June 1817 under thd
treaty of Poena the Peshwa ceded the fort of Ahmadnagar to the
English.^

After his defeat at the battle of Eirkee (5th November 1817)
the Peshwa fled (17th November) past Junnar to Utur and then to
Brdhmanvdda about ten miles north in the Akola subdivision up the
L&l pass, and thence to Lingdev about nine miles. Between these
three places he spent the time from the 1 7th to the 27th of December.
As the eastern passes were difficult for guns General Smith who had
arrived at Sirur on the 17th of December moved to the Nimbedehera
pass. He left ii^irur on the 22nd and on the 25th reached Hanvantgaon
nearly on the direct road from Ahmadnagar to Kopargaon.
From Hanvantgaon he made a long march to Sangamner and on
the 27th he marched further west to Thugaon. The Peshwa
sent his tents to the Vdsir pass on the 27th as if he intended to ctosa
the valley of the Pravara near Akola and proceed by the great
road to Nd,sik, but on hearing of General Smith's approach to
Sangamner he changed his route and moved to Kotul on the more
westent side through Rdjur. When General Smith reached
Thugaon the Peshwa, thinking that he could not pass to the north
without the risk of being entangled in the hills and overtaken hy
the British troops, retraced his steps on the 28th and arrived on the

1 Grant DafiTs Mar^thia, 635.

Secesn.]

AHMAONAGIR 416

same day at TTtur a distance of nearly twenty miles througli hills Chapter "VII.
from whence he proceeded southwards.^ Hiatorv

After his defeat at Ashti in ShoUpur on the 20th of March 1818 ^^ British
B^jirdv marched by Nev^sa to Kopargaon^ and proceeded north 1817-1884.'
towards Chdndor in NAsik. Bat the approach of Sir Thomas Hi'slop
drove him back to Kopargaon whence he fled north-east towards
Dholkot near Asirgad where he finally surrendered on the 3rd of June
1818. Meantime Holkar and the Fendh&ris had been defeated^ and
by the treaty of Mandeshvar in January 1818^ Holkar surrendered
to the English all his possessions south of the S&tpudds including
Sheygaon, The forts of Harishchandragad and Hunjilgad were
taken possession of between the 4th and the 8th of May 1818 by a
detachment under Captain Sykes despatched by Major Eldridge
from Ch&vand in Poena.*

On the 27th of April 1818 a body of horse entered Nev&sa and
excited considerable alarm. Within three days they were dispersed
and returned to their villages. Dharmdji Prati.prdv committed great
depredations and cruelties in Shevgaon.^ Before General Smith's
arrival a detachment^ commanded by Major Macleod of the Auxiliary
Horse, had marched from Ahmadnagar at the requisition of
Captain Pottinger against Dharmdji Prat&prdv, the only individual
who remained in arms on the south side of the GoddLvari. The
insurgent dispersed his banditti, and disappeared; but General
Smith sent out a sufficient reinforcement to Major Macleod, to
enable him to redace Dharmdji^s forts and to cut off the means of
renewing the rebellion.* The whole of the dominions of the Peshwa
and those of the Holkar in the Deccan were taken possession of by
the British government. Sindia had held half of Shevgaon and the
Shrigonda pargfana. The greater part of the Korti pargana, includ-
ing the present sub-divisions of Karjat and part of Shrigonda was
ander Rdv Rambha Nimbdlkar till 1821 when it was given to the
English. Ahmadnagar with the country between the Chdndor hills
and the Bhima was placed under Captain Pottinger. Little difficulty
was found in restoring order. The country was exhausted, and the
people willingly obeyed any power that could protect them. The
Peshwa's disbanded soldiers settled in their villages, the hill forts
were dismantled, and their garrison gradually reduced. Near the
Sahy&dris the country was in the hands of the KoU Ndiks. They
sj^ the Bhil Ndiks were sent for, and allowances and villages which
they already held were confirmed to them on the understanding
that they should keep the neighbouring country quiet. Ahmad-
nagar very soon enjoyed more complete rest than it had known for
years.

When the British government took possession of Ahmadnagar
much of it was almost ruined. According to Mr. Elphinstone
the east of Gangthadi, though open and fertile, was almost entirely
uninhabited since the famine of 1803 and 1804 in which years out

1 PendhAri and Mar^tha Wars, 177-180. ' PeDdMri and Mardtha Wars, S74>

* Pendh&ri and MarAtha Wars, 273.

^ Mr. ElphlBStone, 24th May 1818 ; Pendh&ri And Mar&tha Wars, 343.

[Bombay 0M6tteer»

416

DISTiaCTS.

Chapter VII.
History.

Trs British,
1817-1884.

18X1,

1828.

of 180 villages in Nerfaa only 'twenty-one were inhabited. The
country between that and Ahmadnagar was better and the plains
south of Ahmadnagar were for many marches one sheet of the
richest cultiyation. Still in 1819 more than half of the arable
land was waste^ and in P&rner the sub-division next to tiirur in
Poena the country was a wilderness.

On the 19th of August 1821 a desperate fight took place in the
Ahmadnagar jail. The convicts overpowered the guard and seized
their weapons. Some of the convicts escaped and the rest shut
themselves in the jail and held it until troops arrived with a goiL
The door was blown open and the military charged the convicts who
were not dispersed till twenty-nine were killed and sixty-two
wounded.^

On the 19th of October 1822, on the confession of Narsingr^va
servant of Chint&manr&v Purandhare of S&ngli, a plot was dis-
covered for collecting troops in Sindia^s villages of BeUpur, Sonai
Bomni, and J&mgaon, and at Nandurbar in Kb&ndesh. They were
to meet at Lasur and were to be joined by others from Hindustan
when a general attack was to be made on the British posts.'

Nearly twenty years of British rule passed before the warlike Kolis
of the western hills were brought to order. The beginning of troubles
arose out of an unfortunate mistake. B&mji Bh^ngria, who in his
youth had been a famous outlaw and during the latter years of Bdii-
r&v's reign had become a most useful police officer, on the estabUsn-
ment of British rule, waited on the Collector and was appointed chief
constable or jamdddr of one of the hill police posts. According to
custom in addition to his pay, Rd.mji received as a yearly meeting
or bj^6^ present from every village a rupee, a fowl, and some rice, and
a sheep from every flock that passed through his charge. Rdmji
did good service until an order came that no Government servant
was to take any present in addition to his pay. This order was
applied to Bdmji and his chickens ; he wrote to ask that an exception
might be made in his favour, and as he got no answer to his letters
he asked for his discharge. His discharge was refused and he was
given six months' leave. At the end of the six months' leave as
nothing was done to raise his salary or to make up for his loss of
perquisites he went into outlawry. K&nji Bhangria's chief supporter
was a Koli named Govindrdv Khari. Govindrdv had been comm andant
of the hill fort of Batangad about twenty-two miles west of Akb!a
under the Peshwa. On the Peshwa's fall he remained staunch to his
master, and under the plea of age, refused employment under the
British government. In the reductions of hill fort garrisons which
followed the establishment of order, twelve of GovindrAv's kins*
men, who had formed part of the Batangad garrison, were thrown out
of employment and were also deprived of the revenues of a village
to which as commandants of the fort they had hereditary claiios.
Govindrdv and his kinsmen and several other discontented people
went to the lulls and in the latter part of 1828 were joined

1 Mr. T. C. HMnilton, C. S.

SMr. T.C. HamUt<ni,0.%

Oeccaa.]

AHMADNA6AB.

*17

by Bdmji Bhingria from the Konkan. In January 1829, in
conseqaence of news that there were several hundred KoKs in
the Akola hills and that the people we^e in great alarm^ Captain
Mackintosh went with a detachment of police to the Sahyddris.
At first> though almost no village had not its two or three
representatives in the gang^ no information could be got. The
Brahman kulkamis, some of whom were abetting the rising,
advised that troops should not be sent after the Kolis but that some
arrangement should be made to redress their grievances. Captain
Mackintosh for a time took little notice of the gang beyond send-
ing them word that no letters or petitions could be attended to till
they had laid down their arms* He busied himself in accustoming
his men to the roughest tracts which the Kolis used, and
gathered information regarding the strength of the outlaws, the
names of their leaders, the people who were likely to help them,
and the places where they were in the habit of meeting. He also
took pains to gain the goodwill and co-operation of a number of
the people. When his information was completed a detachment
from Bhiwndi was stationed at the bottom of the passes leading
into the Konkan, and other detachments from Malegaon, Ahmad-
nagar, and Poena were posted in the most suitable places, and lightly
equipped parties kept constantly searching the Kolis' haunts and
lurking places. A few days before the troops came the insurgents
had plundered three villages. The insurgents had soon to break
into small parties. Many of the insurgents finding how all the ways
were blocked and guarded, fled, and the rest were greatly perplexed
by finding guards posted over their favourite ponds and drinking
places. The people gave great help and officers and men worked
with unceasing zeaL In two months the two chiefs and over
eighty of their followers were marched into Ahmadnagar. Though
the chiefs were secured the rising was not at an end. Kama Kirva,
one of the leaders in the rising, a stout and powerful man with an
extremely fine figure and good features noted for excelling all the
Kolis in agility, had escaped south before the final success against
the gang. In July 1830 he was joined by Bhils and he and his
gang gave great trouble plvmdering both above and below the
Sahy&dris. The troops under Captain Luykin of the 17th Regi-
ment N. I., Lieutenant Lloyd of the 11th Regiment, and Lieutenant
Forbes of, the 13th worked with the greatest energy. The people
the troops important help and the thorough knowledge of
le hills which two years' experience supplied enabled the troops to
^ive the insurgents no rest. A number of prisoners were taken to
Poona and Thana, and Rdma Kirva and several other notorious
leaders were taken to Ahmadnagar where Kirva was executei^

In 1845 the Kolis were again troublesome. One Koli outlaw
whose name is still fresh in the district was Rirghoji Bhdngria of
Nasik. He made a raid on some Mdrwari Ydnis who applied to the
police. During the investigation the police asked Rdghoji's mother
where her son was hiding ; and when she refused to tell she was put

the 1

Chapter VIL
History.

The British,
1817-1884.

Rdghofi ShdngriOf
1843-1847.

1 Capt. J. Mackintosh in Trans. Bom. Geog. Soc. I. 257-263
B 772-53

(Bombay OaieCtaer.
418 DISTRICTS.

Chapter YII. to torture. Enraged at this ontraige lUghoji gathered a band of
ly^j^yy Kolis and wandering throagh the N^ik and Ahmadnagar districts

cnt the nose off of e^ery M&rw^ri he could lay hands on. Almost ^1

'l8l7^^L^ village MArwAris fled in terror-to the district towns and the pnrsait

of the police was so hot that R^hoji had to break his band and
disappear. He avoided capture for many years. At last in 1847
he was caught at Pandharpur by Lieutenant afterwards General Gell.
As some of his raids had been accompanied with murder^ he was
hanged and many of the leading men punished.^

Bhdgcji Kdik^ 'During the 1857 mutim'es Ahmadnagar was the scene of consider*

1867 '1869. atle disturbance. The rebels were about 7000 Bhils of South

Mdsik and North Ahmadnagar. Detachments of troops were sta-
tioned to guard the frontier against raids from the Niz&m's domi*
nions^ and to save the large towns from the chance of Bhil attacks.
The work of scattering the Bhil gatherings and hunting the rebels
was left almost entirely to the police who were strengthened by the
raising of a special Koli corps and by detachments of infantry and
cavalry. The first gathering of Bhils was under the leadership of
one Bh^goji Ndik. This chief, who had been an officer in the
Ahmadnagar police^ in 1855 was convicted of rioting and obstruct'
ing the police and was sentenced to imprisonment. On his release
he was required to find security for his good behaviour for a year.
Shortly after the year was over, in consequence of the order for a
genersd disarming, Bhd.goji left his village of N&ndur-Shingote in
the Sinnar subdivision of Ndsik, about five miles to the north of the
Ahmadnagar boundary. Being a man of influence he was soon
joined by -some fifty of his tribe and took a position about a mile
from his village, commanding the Pooua-Nasik road. After a few
days (4th October 1857) Lieutenant J. W. Henry, the Superintendent
of Police, arrived at NAndur-Shingote and was joined by his*
assistant Lieutenant now Colonel T. Thatcher, and Mr. A. L. Taylor
inspecting postmaster. The police force under Lieutenant Heuxy
consisted of thirty constables and twenty revenue messengers armed
with swords. Lieutenant Henry told the mdmlatddrs of Sangamner
and Sinnar to send for Bhdgoji and induce him to submit. Bhigoji
refused unless he received two years' back pay and unless some
arrangement was made for his maintenance. On receiving this
message, the police were ordered to advance against his position.
The first shot killed a man immediately behind Lieutenant Henry.
The officers dismounted, but before they had advanced many jibdi
were met by a volley, and Lieutenant Henry fell wounded. He
regained his feet, and, pressing on, received a mortal wound in the
chest. The attack was continued under Lieutenant Thatcher and
the Bhils retreated. This unfortunate engagement excited the
wholes Bhil population. A fresh gang of about 100 Bhils was
raised by Patharji Ndik in the R^huri sub-division, but it was soon
dispersed by Major now Lieutenant General Montgomery, the
new superintendent of police. On the 18th of October an engagement

' Details of Rdghoji Bh&ngria's capture are given in the ThAna Statistical Accointi
' Major H. Daniell, formerly Superintendent of Police, Ahmadnagar.

Seccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR

.419

took place in the hills of ShamsUerpur in Akola, between Bhdgoji's
men and a detachment of troops and police under Colonel Macan of
the 26th Native Infantry^ in which Lieutenant Graham who was on
special police duty and Mr. F. S, Chapman of the Civil Service who
accompanied the force were wounded. As disorder was widespread,
Captain now General Nuttall^ who succeeded Lieutenant Graham^
was ordered to raise a corps of Kolisj the hereditary rivals of the
Bhilsy who, in Maratha times, had been among the bravest of the
Mivlis or West Deccan footmen. The corps was recruited chiefly
in the hilly parts of Akola, of Junnar in Poena, and of N^ik. In
December 1857 a hundred men armed with their own swords and
muskets were fit for the field, and so useful did they prove, that in
January and February 1858 a second levy of 110 was ordered, and
shortly after the strength of the corps was increased to 600 men
with a commandant and adjutant.^

In raising the corps Captain Nuttall dealt with the heads of the
difiTerent clans, promising them rank and position corresponding to
the number of recruits they brought to the corps. Jdvji N&ik
Bomla, the chief of the Bomla clan, was made the head of the corps
and a brother of the famous outlaw Bdghoji Bh^ngria and other
leading men were chosen as officers. Drill masters were lent by
the Afamadnagar police, and, in spite of the want of leisure, the
Kolis mastered their drill with the ease of bom soldiers, and proved
skilful skirmishers among hills and in rou]gh ground. In 1 858 the
rebels were chiefly engaged in Nasik, Khandesh, and the Nizim's
dominions and gave no trouble in Ahmadnagar. In the hot weather
(April-May) of 1859, the Bhils under Bhilgoji and Harji Ndiks
again appeared in the district. On the 5th of July after a forced
march. Captain Nuttall came upon the Bhils near Ambhora Dara
eight miles south-east of Sangamner. The Bhils took a strong posi-
tion from which they were driven by twenty-five men of the Koli
Corps with a loss of ten killed, including Yashvant Bhdgoji's son,
several wounded, and three prisoners among whom was Harji Ndik
one of the leaders. In October 1859 parties of Bhils were reported
to be gathering in the Nizdm's territory with the intention of join-
ing^ Bh&goiL In the British districts also they were again becoming
uneasy and excited. Under these circumstances a detachment of
Native Infantry was kept posted along the frontier which was
constantly patrolled by strong parties of the Poena Irregular Horse.
Qa^he 26th of October, BhAgoji plundered the village of Korh&Ia in
Kopargaon and carried oflE property worth about £1800 (Rs. 18,000).
He was closely pursued by Captain Nuttall for nearly a fortnight
along the rough Sahyddri country, down to the Eonkan, and up
again into Ahmadnagar, but by very rapid and secret marches
always succeeded in baulking his pursuers. At last on then 11th
of November the rebels were pursued by Mr. now Sir Frank Souter,
the newly appointed police superintendent of the district, and at
Mithsdgar, in the Sinnar sub-division of N&sik, in a hand to hand
fight Bh&goji and most of his followers were killed and the rebellion

Chapter Til.
History.

The BRmsH,
^ 1S17-1884.

KoK Corp9f
1SS8.

1 Details are given in the Population Chapter.

[Bombay Oazetteer,

420

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YII.
Historj.

The Bbitish,
1817-1884.

Honya Bhdgqji^
187S.

1874-

brought to an end.^ The Nizdm Bliils who were awaiting Bh^goji's
arrival dispersed^ and on the 20th^ in falling back from the British
frontier with a loss of forty killed were attacked and routed by a
detachment of the Haidarabad contingent under Lieutenant Pedler.
On the 12th of November a large party of Bhils, under an influen-
tial chiefj a relative of Bhdgoji's, left Sonai in Nev4sa to join
Bhd.goji. On hearing of his death they turned towards Khdndesh
where they were caught. As they had committed no crimes they
were pardoned and allowed to return to their homes. Though dis-
turbances were at an end posts of regular troops were maintained
till 1860. When the regular troops were withdrawn their places
were taken by detachments of the Koli corps. The Koli Corps
continued to perform this outpost duty till March 1861, when they
were disbanded^ and all^ except a few who entered the police,
returned to their former life of tillage and field labour. The
wisdom of raising the corps had been proved. Instead of heading
disturbances, as had often happened before and has happened
since, the disciplined Kolis were a powerful element in repressing
disorder. Under Captain Nuttall's patient and kindly care, and
by the example of his dashing bravery and untiring energy, they
proved a most orderly^ well disciplined^ active, and courageous
force. They showed themselves superior to the Bhils in strength
and spirit, and, in their two and a half years of active service five
times earned the special thanks of Government.

In 1873, one Honya Bhagoji Kenglia, an influential Koli of
Jamburi in Poona, at the head of a well trained gang began a
series of attacks on the moneylenders who habitually cheat and
oppress the hill tribes and at intervals drive them into crime
Honya's robberies extended over the western parts of Poona
Ahmadnagar and Nasik and the eastern sub-divisions of Th&na.
They became so numerous and daring that in 1874 a special police
party of 175 armed men under Colonel Scott and Mr. W. F.
Sinclair C. S. was detached for his arrest and proclamations were
ig&ded offering rewards of £100 (Rs. 1000) for Honya and £20 to
£60 (Rs. 200-600) for any of his followers. In spite of these
measures Honya managed to evade pursuit till July 1S76 when he
was caught by Major H. Daniell then superintendent of police. In
1875 the spirit of disorder spread from the Kolis to the peace-loving
Kunbis of the plain country and between May and July chiefly in
Pdrner, Shrigonda, Nagar, and Karjat twenty-two cases of asstalts
on moneylenders by bands of villagers were committed. Troops
were called to the aid of the police and the disturbance was put
down.

1 Details are given in the N&sik Statistical Account, 203-4.

Deccut]

CHAPTEE VIIL

THE LAND.^

SECTION L— ACQUISITION AND STAFF.

Thb lands of the district of Ahmadnagar have been gained by con-
quest, cession^ and exchange. Most of the coantry fell to the British
on the overthrow of the Peshwa in 1818. In 1822, His Highness the
Niz^m, by a treaty dated the 12th of December 1822, ceded 107 vil-
lages, sixteen in Nagar, five in Jdmkhed, twenty in Shrigonda, sixty-
five in Karjat, and one in Shevgaon. In 1861, His Highness Sindia,
by a treaty dated the 12th of December I860, in exchange for other
lands, ceded 120 villages, ten in Nagar, thirteen in P&mer, fourteen
in Shrigonda, one in Karjat, two in Nevdsa, seventy-seven in Shev-
gaon, and three in Kopargaon. In 1868, His Highness Holkar, under
Government Resolution 4157 dated the 30th of December 1867, in
exchange for other lands, ceded three villages in Shrigonda, and under
Government Revenue Order 4470 dated the 28th of November 1868,
in exchange for other lands, ceded one village in Kopargaon. In
1870, His Highness the Nizdm, under Government Resolution 3519
dated the 22nd of July 1870, in exchange for other lands^ ceded two
villages in the Nagar sub-division.

The revenue administration of the district is entrusted to an officer
styled Collector on a yearly pay of £2160 (Rs. 21,600). This officer,
who is also the chief magistrate and executive head of the district,
is aided in his work of general supervision by a stafE of four assist-
ants, of whom three are covenanted and one is an uncovenanted
servant of Government. The sanctioned yearly salaries of the
covenanted assistants range from £600 to £1080 (Rs. 6000 - Rs. 10,8M».;

Chapter^VIIL
The Land.

AcQUismoN,
1818-1870,

Statp,
1884.

Dintrict
Officers*

^ Materials for the Land History of Ahmadnagar include, besides elaborate
gnrvey tables prepared in 1879 by Mr. Fforde of the Revenue Surrey, Mr. £lphinstone*8
Report dated the 25th of October 1819 (Ed. 1872) ; Mr. Ghaplin^s Report dated the
20th of August 1822 (Ed. 1877);East India Papers, III. and IV. (Ed. 1626); the CoUector
Mr. Boyd*8 Report 203 dated the 26th of November 1828 (Lithographed Papers) ;
Mftscript Selections 157 of 1821-29 ; Mr. Williamson's Report 2610 dated the 23rd
of November 1838 ; Mr. Vibart's Report 31 1 dated the 24th of February 1842 ; Survey
Reports in Bom. Gov. Sel. CXVH. CXXIIL and CXXX. and in Bom. Gov. Rev.
Rec 207 of 1848, 212 of 1848, 204 of 1849, and 207 of 1849 ; Annual Jamdbandi and
other Reports and Statements in Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 47 of 1822, 50 of 1822, 68
of 1823, 72 of 1823, 74 of 1823, 117 of 1825, 123 of 1825, 156 of 1827, 207 of 1828,
351 of 1831, 352 of 1831, 406 of 1832, 482 of 1833, 548 of 1834, 625 of 1835, 69l^f 1836,
692 of 1836, 769 of 1837, 968 of 1839, 1092 of 1840, 1235 of 1841, 1339 of 1842, 1448
of 1843, 1564 of 1844^ 9 of 1845, 11 of 1847, 10 of 1848, 13 of 1849, 13 of 1850, 11 of
1851, 12 of 1851, 11 of 1852, 13 of 1856, 17 (Part 1) of 1856, 10 of 1857, 11 (Part 2) of
1857, 18 (Part 2) of 1858, 18 (Part 5) of 1859, 9 of 1860, 11 of 1861, 236 of 1862-1864,
Gov. Res. on Revenue Settlement Reports for 1873-74, Rev. Dept. 6092 dated the
27th of October 1875, and Bom. Pres. Genl. Adm. Reports since 1872-73 ; Season
Reports in Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 90 of 1861, 235 of 1862-1864, 75 of 1866, 57 oC 1867,
59 of 1868, 65 of 1869, 95 of 1871, 81 of 1872, 89 of 1873 ; and the printed Acquisi-
tion Statement of the Bombay Presidency.

[Bombay Oaietteer,

422

DISTRICTS.

ChaptarVIIL
The Land.

Staff,
1884.

Distrid
Officera.

'Stib'Dwisional
Offlc&rs.

ViUage Officers.

Village ServaiUs.

tHe salary of the nncovenanted aesistant is £720 (Bs. 7200) a year.
For fiscal and other administrative purposes the lands under the
Collector's charge are distributed among eleven sub-divisions, all of
which are generally entrusted to the three covenanted assistant
collectors. The fourth assistant, styled the head-quarter or huzur
deputy collector, is entrusted with the charge of the treasury. These
officers are also assistant magistrates, and those of them who hold
revenue charges have, under the presidency of the Collector, the
chief management of the different administrative bodies, local fund
and municipal committees, within the limits of their revenue charges.

Under the supervision of the Collector and his assistants the revenae
charge of each fiscal division is placed in the hands of an ofBcer styled
mamUUddr. These functionaries, who are also entrusted with
magisterial powers, have yearly salaries varying from £180 to £300
(Bs. 1800 . 3000).

In revenue and police matters the charge of the Government
villages is entrusted to 1352 headmen, all of whom are hereditaiy.
The headmen are nearly all Mar4th4s or Kunbis. A few Afili,
Brdhman, and Musalmdn headmen are scattered over the district,
and in the west of Akola many villages are under Kolis and one or
two are under Thdkurs. Of the 1352 headmen 125 attend to matters
of police only, while 1227 perform both revenue and police duties.
Their yearly endowments depend on the village revenue, varying
from 68. 3d. to £18 98. Hd. (Bs. 3i - 184tV) and averaging £3 6.^
4^d. (Bs. 33^). In many villages, besides the headman, members
of his family are in receipt of state grants representing a yearly sum
of £496 (Bs. 4960), of which £493 (Bs. 4930) are met by grants of
land and £3 (Bs. 30) are paid in cash. Of £4983 (Bs. 49,830), the
total yearly charge on account of the headmen of villages and their
&milies, £493 (Bs. 4930) are met by grants of land and £4490
(Bs. 44,900) are paid in cash. To keep the village accounts, prepare
statistics, and help the village headmen, a body of 991 village
accountants or kulkamis are employed. Of these fi[fteen are stipen-
diary and the rest hereditary. AH of them are Br^hmans. Every
village accountant has an average charge of 1^ villages containing
on an average 780 people and yielding a yearly revenue of about
£133 (Bs. 1330). The kulharni'a yearly pay varies from 138. 8d. to
£25 98. 1^(2. (Bs.6f-254i%) and averages £6 108. 7\d. (Ba 65^).
The total yearly charge on account of village accountants amounts
to £6473 (Bs. 64,730), of which £6429 (Bs. 64,290) are paid in •«i3j^
and £44 (Bs. 440) in land.

Under the headmen and accountants are 8694 village servants
who are liable both for revenue and for police duties. They are
either Musalmdns or they are Hindus of the Mdng, Koli, B^moshi,
Bhil, Mhdr, Eunbi, and ELaik&di castes. The total yearly cost of this
establishment amounts to £3035 (Bs. 30,350), being 68 llfi>
(Bs. 3 as, 1^) to each man, or a cost to each village of £2 98. %\d,
(Bs. 24 08. 13f). Of the whole amount, £1830 (Bs. 18,300) are paid
in cash and £1205 (Bs. 12,050) are met by grants of land.

The average yearly cost of village establishments may be thus
summarised :

Deccan-]

AH-MADNAGAB.

Ahmadnagar Village BttablUhmentt.

423

Headmen

Aooountanti

Seirants

Total ...

£
4888
6478

Jim

Bb.

49.880
64.780
80.8£0

14.491

1,44,910

This is equal to a charge of £11 17/r. 4t\d, (Rs.llSH) a village or
about eleven per cent of the district land revenue.

SECTION II,-HISTOEY,

The earliest revenue settlements of which traces remained at the
beginning of British rule^ seem to be the division of the land into
plots or estates known as munds, has, and tikda or thikda. These
names seem to be of Dravidian that is of southern or eastern origin.^
They need not date from times further back than the northern
element in Mar&thi^ as, among the great Hindb dynasties who ruled
the Deccan before the Musalm^ invasion in 1294, perhaps the
Hishtrakut&s (760-973) and the Chdluky&B (978-1184) and probably
theDevgfiri Y^davs (1160-1310) were of southern or eastern origin.
The mund or large estate was the aggregate of many fields or tikds
together or separate, or part together part separate. The assessment
on the mund was a fixed lump sum for all the lands in the estate or
mund, good, fair, and bad. In the settlement of kds or small estates
the division of the village lands was into smaller parcels than munds,
and, unlike the assessment on tikds or alieta, the assessment on each
1^8 in a village was the same.

The next system of revenue management of which traces remained
was Malik Ambar's. Tbis was introduced at the beginning of the
seventeenth century by the Ahmadnagar minister Malik Ambar
(1600-1626). It was a new system based on the system introduced
in the Moghal territories in Upper India and partially in QujarAt
and Khdndesh by Akbar's (1556-1605) minister Todar Mai.
According to Major Jervis,' Malik Ambar's chief change was to make
the settlement direct with the village instead of with the district
hereditary revenue superintendents and accountants, the deshmukha
or deadia and the deahpdndea. His next step was, by careful mea-
soring and classing, which however seem to have been confined to
a portion only of the arable area,^ to find the yield of the land, and
jfjitr one-tbird of the yield as the government share. When some
years of experience had shown the average amount of grain due to
government and the average price of grain, the grain share was
changed into a money payment. The village headmen were made
hereditary and responsible for the village rental. An average or
normal payment called the tankha was fixed for each plot o& land
surveyed and for each village. Unlike Todar MaPs settlement this
average money payment was not fixed permanently. It represented
the sum due in a normal year. The actual collections varied from

I See Thdna Statutical Accoant, Bombay Gazetteer, XIII. 5^.
* Jenria* Konkan, 66. See Thina Stat. Acct. Bombay Gazetteer, XIIT. 653-554.
' East India Papers, lY. 732-733 ; Poona Statistical Account (Bombay Gazetteer)
Chti/ter VIII. 317-319.

Chapter TIIL
The Land.

Stapt-
1884.

HiarroBT.
Early HhtdUm

Malik Ambar,

[Bombay Qaaetteert

424

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^VXn.
The Land.

History.
Malih AwJbar.

The Mardthda.

year to year with the crops.i* Malik Ambar's system combined
the two great merits of a moderate and certain tax and the posstes-
sion by the caltivators of an interest in the soil. Instead of keeping
the' state sole landowner Malik Ambar sought to strengthen the
government by giving the people a definite interest in the soil they
tilled. He made a considerable portion of the land private property.
The lands of the village were considered the joint property of the
township ; the fallow land was the common for the pasture of the
cattle ; and the ploughed land was either the property of individual
villagers or it was tilled by the headman's tenants who received a
portion of the crop. It appears to* have been a principle of his
wise administration to encourage the possession of private landed ,
property as a means of attaching the cultivators to the soil^ and
piaking over in perpetuity to them what is useful to government only
so long as cultivators continue to till it. At the same time his
settlement was with the village head for a lump sum not with
individual holders for an acre rate. The assessment is described as
being fixed by tankha and rakba, that is apparently by a lump
payment from a lump area^ or the share to be levied from individuals
being left in each village to be settled between the landholders
and their headman or pdtiL^

Malik Ambar' s tankha or ideal average rental was continued
without change by various persons whose names were handed down
by oral tradition and were still known in 1822. The tanklta acconntB
which were produced by the district officers in 1 822 were declared
to be framed from information handed down from generation to
generation ; and this assertion was corroborated by the scraps of
the oldest available papers^ and occasional measurements showed
that the areas given in the tankha were correct. In 1822 Captain
Pottinger noticed that the tankha of many villages considerably
exceeded the kamdl or total fixed under Mardtha surveys made in
1769-70 {Fasli 1179^

The revenue system which the English found in force when they
conquered Ahmadnagar in 1818 took its rise in the latter part of
the seventeenth century. About 1670 the Mardthas appear as free-
booters without any fixed dominion. Their first demand was one-
fourth of the land revenue due to the existing government. Ib

^ Grant DnfP (Mardthis, 43) gives the foUowing summary of the changes intro-
duced by Malik Ambar : ' He abolished revenue farming, and oommitteii^^
management to Brdhman agents under Muhammadan superintendence ; he restoi^
such parts of the village establishment as had fallen into decay and he revived a
mode of assessing the nelds by collecting a moderate proportion of the actual produce
in kind, which after the experience of several seasons was commuted for a payment
in money settled annually according to the cultivation/ It is stat^ that his ass«ai*
ment was equal to two-fifths of the produce, but tradition says his money couuna>
tationVas only one-third.

> Kh&ndesh Statistical Account, Bombay Gazetteer, XII. 267-268.

^ According to Capt. Pottinger, 31st July 1822, the ancient custom of the BeccJJi
was that, after deducting all hakddrs' or claimants* rights government received
one-half of the net produce of dry crop or jirdyai land and one-third of the produce «i
garden or bdgdyat land. This method was called bcUdi or division. The tankha if
supposed to nave been framed with reference to the produce of the aoil. The t^inkhn
was established on the average prices of grain for a series <tf vears. In most pltoei
money-rent was first substituted for payment in kind when the fanil:Aa rental ws» ot-
tablisned, and in a few places at a more recent period. East India Papers, IV. 73S- 7^7*

Deccan*]

AHMADNAGAR.

425

1717 ihe Mar&tha claim to the one-fourth or chauth and the one-
tenth or sardeahmukhi of the revenue was acknowledged by the
Moghal general Hnsain Ali Khdn.^ About 1720 the Mar&thds
made many assignments of revenue to individual chiefs and others
for whom it was politic to make provision. Besides these grants of
portions of the revenue^ many proprietors held and collected the
rents of various estates. The whole system was complicated and
confused. Uncertainty as to the amount of revenue due and as to
the persons to whom it should be paid caused the people constant
suffering.

About 1769 {Fasli 1179)^ during the administration of Peshwa
M&dhavr&y BalUl (1761-1772)^^ a rate of assessment was indroducedi

^ KJiifikhiln (Muntakhabu-l-Lubdb in Elliot's History of India, VII. 467-468) giveA
the foUowing details for the year 1718. The Moghal government agreed that
there was to be paid to the officers of Rdja Sh&hn a fourth part of what the amfn«,
kraris, and sliekhtldrs collected as land revenue atid as sdyar from the government
lands and from the jdffirddrs. It was also settled that in addition to the fourth share
which they were to get from the receipts of thejdgirddrst they were to receive from
the rayala ten per cent m aardeshmukhi. Altogether they were to receive thirty-five
percent upon the total collections, (andalso) upon the abvdba caXied/aujddri, shekhddri,
tiyd/at, and other charges, as shown in the eross account of the ooliections. According
to this account they were to receive near^ half the total revenue recorded in the
government rent-roll, and the collections were thus shared by the domineering
collectors of Riija Sh^u. This arrangement, by which they were to coUect all taxes,
fell very hard on the rayats, and on the government officers andjdgirddrSf for in every
district there were two collectors, one called the kavndvisddr the other the gumdsta
of mrdfshmukhi. On the roll of the coUections the signature of the fshirasteddr of the
sardeshmMU was first placed, and what was required by the rules on that account was
to be taken separately. The position and life of the officers of government and of the
j&girddm became irksome. Besides these there were two separate collectors of the
rahddrl or road duties in each district. In consequence of the negligence of the/ai0ddr9
sad the power of the enemy, these had for some time taken their positions in
different places, and exacted half a rupee or one rupee for each bullock and cart
from merchiuits, and whatever they pleased from other persons. They exaoted twice
or three times more than the most tyrannical faujddrs. Now also, since the days
of the peace, the former grievance remained but it was aggravated by more taking
part in it. In the present state of things there were in each district three regular
collectors of B^ja Shilhn, with parties of horsemen and footmen stationed at the office,
the guard-house where the land revenue, the sdyar, and the tolls were collected.
Besides this, there were in many places villages which had been laid waste by the
MarftthAs, and which had been agam brought into cultivation, under special agreements,
such as the districts about Nandurbir in Khtodesh, in Berdr, and in other places.
They paid no heed to the special contracts made by Husain Ali Kh^ ; but conceding
the third share belonging to the jdgirddr, they made the following arrangement.
They recognized ^ree shares ; one was for the jdgirddr, one they took themselves, and
the third they left to the raycUs, In revenue and civil matters the orders and
the action of the enemy prevailed over the authority of the faujddrs and jdgirddrs.
At the time of the peace Husain Ali Khdn determined and issued strict injunctions
^t^he rahddri should not be exacted, as in the days before the peace, from
merchants and travellers at the rate of three rupees or four upon each buUock and
cart, as lifaujddr and harsh officials were acting. But it was no good. In severed
districts there was no longer any plunderins of villages and caravans ; but, as in
former days, travellers and wanderers paid the rahddri, and went on in peace wi^out
iaterrnptiou. Villages which had been ravaged by plunderers or made completely
desolate by the tyranny of rapacious managers were now restored to cultivation.
Hosain Au delivered a sancLd containing the conditions of peace under his seM to the
agents of K^ja Shihu, and made no delay in writine for a royal grant confirming
this liocument. He introduced the agents of Rija Sh4hu everywhere and he settled
that Bdliji Vishvaft&tb and Jamn&ji, two of the highest officers of R&ja Sh&hu, should
stay with a suitable escort in Aurangabad as deputy and agent or vakil of the Rdja,
ao that all civil and revenue matters might be settled through them.

* The Golleckir gives the date 1769 and the name Mddhavr&v N&rdyan, but hie
administration was between 1774 and 1796. The name of MlUlhavr4v BalUl is therefore
given in the text and the date left unchanged.

B 772-54

Qiapter Vin.
The LandU

History.
The Mardthds*

[Bombay Oaiettwr.
426 DISTRICTS.

Chapter Vm. known as the kamdl or total. The period when it was imposed was
The~I^d. ^^® ^^ much greater agricultaral prosperity than prevailed for many

years either before or after the British accession.^ The kamal
HisTOBT. settlement is generally supposed to have been undertaken to ascertain

The Mardthda. ^y^^ exact viJne of the soil, and the highest rent it would bear

consistent with the prosperity of the country.^ Great pains are said
to have been taken to employ intelligent and upright officers.
After a short trial, in the Sinnar sub*diyision now (1884) in Nisik,
the kamdl assessment was found not to bear equally on the soil, and
in its place, with the sanction of N&na Fadnavis, an older settle-
ment known as the kdsbandi bigha was introduced. In some
sub-divisions, probably because they were already sufficiently highly
assessed, the kamdl rental was never introduced.'

During the time of Nfina Fadnavis (1774-1800) the village rental
was divided into three parts. First the village expenses were paid
and the claims of village servants met ; second the state revenne
was set apart ; third the remainder was divided among officers and
chiefs to whom it was advisable to give a local interest and local
authority. Provision for the state share of the revenue seems to ha?e
been made in three ways.. By allotting to the state the rents of
certain whole villages or groups of villages ; by deducting from the
full village rent a share for the state and distributing the balance of
the rent among chiefs and officers ; by nominally dividing the whole
Tillage rents among chiefs and by crediting certain of these allotments
for the use of the head of the state. When as much of the revenne
of a tract of country as was required, or as seemed advisable, had been
taken for the state, the remainder, in some villages the whole net
rental, in other villages part of the net rental, was distributed in
claims or amals to state officers and chiefs. The system by which
these shares were allotted and collected was elaborate and uncertain.
It differed greatly even in neighbouring villages of the same district.
The usual plan was to divide the available rental into a certain number
of shares of £11 bs. (Rs. 112|) each. From each share of £11 5<.
(Rs. 112^) £15^. (Rs. 12|) were deducted lor sardeshmukhi that
is for the overlord's share which was sometimes set apart for the
head of the state and sometimes allotted to the Praiinidhi or
Premier. Of the remaining hundred a half to two-thirds was
set apart for the proprietor of the estate or jdgir to which the

1 Mr. Harrison, Collector, 28th September 1836, Rev. Bee. 692 of 1836, 33-34.

' It is a question whether kamdl meant the highest rent the whole arable Und
of the yilllage could bear or the highest rent that could safely be levied from the area
under tillage when the settlement was made. The latter seems the more pioUbk
meaning. In 1820, Captain Bobertson, the Collector of Poona, wrote (East India Paper*
IV. 426-427) : In 1757-68 an attempt was made to introduce a ^neral reveoQ«
settlemtat by measuring the land and by classing and arranging its quality swl
6zing an average rate for each village. This settlement was introduced in greit
part of the Junnar district between 1758 and 1768 and in the country round Vw^
at a later date. The result was termed the kamdl. The kamdl aait existed in Po<ns
in 1820 seemed to be the assessment on the land actually occupied and paying rent
at the time of the settlement, together with the ahivdffa or extra revenne. In
Capt, Bobertson's opinion the kamM varied with the increase or decTMse of oultira*
tion and of the extra revenne.

^ aapt. Pottinger, Slst July 1822, East India Papers IV. 731.

History.
The ManUhds.

1 1

l>eceaii.l

AHMADNAGAR. 427

village belonged. The distribation of the remaining half or one- Chapter VIII.
third varied greatly. Pour to thirty per cent were set apart as cess The'Lattd.
or bdUi for some officer or chief ; one to two per cent to another
oflScer as sahotra literally six per cent ; eleven to thirty-two per
cent to some one else as mokaaa or military service grant; one
to three per cent as nim-chauthdi literally half a fourth that is an
eighth or twelve and a half per cent ; and twenty-five per cent as
svar^ that is originally the part due to government. As an example of
the distribution of shares Captain Pottinger quotes the case of Mekhri
village. In Mekhri, of eveiy £11 5«. (Rs. 112J), £1 5«.(Rs. 12i) were
set apart as sardeshmukhi orthe overlord's share,£7 10«. (Bs.75) B&jdgir
or the proprietor's share, and £2 10^. (Rs.25) as svardj or the govern-
ment share. Of the twenty-five per cent govemihent share or avardj
18| were allotted under the head of moTcdsa or reward for mihtary
semce and CJ under the head of bdhti or cesses. In the 18 J
mokdsa were included sixteen of ori&^nal and l\i of extra mokasasxid . i|

lid of sahotra at six per cent. In the 6^ bdbti were included 4x2 : 1

of original or ain bdbti and lAof nim-chauthdi that is half a fourth : p

or twelve and a half per cent. The proprietor or jdgirddr who in
most cases had mach the largest share, generally made the revenue
settlement for the year, representatives t)f the other claimants being
present and each collecting his employer's share. The village officers
generally settled the share to which each claimant had a right. If
the amount was doubtful the local records were consulted, and if the
correctness of the local records was questioned, ai^appeal lay to the
central records at Poona.^

The management of a district was entrusted to an officer styled
suhhedd/r whose charge was divided into sub-divisions each under the
management of a kamdvisddr or mdmlatddr.^ The authority of the
ifubheddr closely corresponded to the authority of a Collector under
the English Government. He was vested with general control over
the heads of sub-divisions or kamdvisddrs. He had power to
punish theft, peculation, and other offences not amounting to capital
crimes. He superintended the conduct of all grades of governtnent
officer8,and,ifhediscoveredmalpractices,hesuspended the delinquents
and reported the matter to government. His authority was of
great use in adjusting boundary disputes between villages or
qoarrels concerning the right of hill pasture and waste lands, the
division of the water of streams, and similar matters. The mdmlatddr
JfJ^aimvisdar decided suits that were submitted to him by the con-
sent of both parties, or he ordered village councils or panchdyats to sit
and settle them. He could not inflict any severe punishment without
^e svhheddr^g sanction. Subhsddrs and hamdviaddrs were paid by
assignments on the revenue of their charge. The assignments

' 0»pUiii Pottinger, 3lBt Jnly 1822, East India Papers IV. 741 - 743.

* CaptAin Pott&ger, Slst Jnly 1822, East India Papers IV. 755. The Ahmad-
'^^ur pftpen styld the officer in charge of a district sartiubheddr. The word
^Mdir iuM beon used in preference, as, according to the usnal practice, mraubheddr
^applied to a higher officer, the head of a province snch as Khdndesh or Gnjarit.
^orthe reUtlye anthority of gubheddr and kamdvkddr, see Captain Pottinger's
A^KMrt of 15th JaDuary 1819 quoted in East India Papers IV. 755.

[Bombay Gazetteer.

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

HiSTOBT.

TheMardthds.

428

DISTRICTS.

were fixed on an estimate made at Poona^ and if any difference wa-^
discovered in the payment of the inferior officers^ in the namber «.•£
revenue messengers employed, or in any other items, the hamdvisdar
was fined and punished, besides being obliged to refund the amount.-
Besides these stipendiary officers, there was a staff of district
hereditary officers, of whom the chief were the district superintendent
of revenue or deshmukh and the district accountant or deshpantL^
These hereditary officers were generally styled zaminddrs.^ Their
duties were to look after the revenues of their village groups in
the same way as the pdtil and kulkami looked after the revenue ot
their village. They were bound to inform the stipendiary officers n^
government on all questions relating to the revenue, to help in fixiogr
the yearly rent settlement ovjamahandi^ to endeavonr to keep the
landholders or rayats in good humour, and to explain any cause of
dissatisfaction. They were expected to be present at the settlement
of all boundary disputes, to attest all transfers and sales of land
within the limits of their charges, and to prepare a statement of
the gross revenue. Their perquisites varied from three to ten per cent
of the revenue which their village group yielded. These perquisites
were known by the nan^s of rusum or customary allowances
and bhikna or charitable demands. The charitable demands were
payable from the revenues of villages without reference to their
value ; it was not determined in accordance with any fixed scale.

Though the system remained the same, the character of Maratlm
revenue management depended greatly on the views and energy!
of the head of the executive. During the ministry of Nana
Fadnavis (1774-1800) great attention was paid to the representational
of the heads of villages and other landholders. If a village headmaaj
went ko Poena with a complaint he had no difficulty in interviewing!
the minister. The knowledge that petitioners had a full and ready
hearing was a great check on the kamdvisdars and other distant
officers. Besides this freedom of appeal, local officers were under
the surveillance of people stationed in each sub-division to watch
and report on their actions. In other respects their doings were
not so closely checked as under the British system.^

1 Captain Pottinger, Slst July 1822, East India Papera IV. 755.

^ In the early Ahmadnagar records the hereditary revenue officers are generally
styled zaminddrs. The chief of these hereditary revenue officers were the aeahmiUh
and the deshpdnde. The deshmukh, who was the revenue superintendent of a group
of villages, stood to his group in the same relation as the village headman orjlw
stood to his village. The deshpdnde, who was the group accountant, stood to the groop
in the same relation the village accountant stood to the village. Captain Pottingerj
1822, East India Papers IV. 743. Unless they forfeited their position owing to tr^ASon
or other state crimes, these offices were hereaitary. Captain Hettinger (Slst July 1^2,
East India Papers IV. 756) notices that the deshmukhs of V&di in Poona had forfeitctl
their office by joining in an attempt to overthrow the government.

^ It ft said that out of every Rs. 1,00,000 which he coUected, a kanulvisddr had
tacit permission to spend Ks. 5000 in contingent expenses. If he paid Rs. 95,000 into!
the treasury and satisfactorily showed how the bahmce was spent, little inquiry was
made. In spite of this slackness, Captain Pottinger believed (Slst July 1822) that
under efficient ministers, the Mardth&s had a more thorough knowledge and cODtrol
over their subordinate officers than was possible under an English Govemmeiii.
Like the English the Mariitha minister could work only through the medium of
natives. But the minister was skilled in detecting abutfte and knew at a glance
where abuses existed. With the close of N^Uia Fadnavis' ministry, these diecb

lOeccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR

429

The Maritih&i occasionally measured the land which happened to be
trndercaltiyation, batas thesemeasnrements were madeonly to answer
the purpose of the hoar there was no specification of the names or
of the position of the surveyed fields ; consequently, even where
they were preserved, the rough records gave no useful informa-
tion. Under the Mar&th&s the subheddrs attended merely to the
aggregate revenue which the different sub-divisions could yield.
They left the interior fiscal management to the hamdvisddra who
every year settled with the heads of each village what rental the
village was to pay.^ If tillage had spread or if the village showed
any other sign of prosperity the government demand was raised.
On the other hand if the people were so poor that the levy of the
whole of the former demand would be followed by the throwing
op of land a temporary abatement was sanctioned. In very
favourable seasons extra cesses were introduced professedly for
that year only ; once exacted these cesses were generally includ-
ed in subsequent settlements as part of the regular rental. When
the total rental for the year was settled the village community
apportioned the sum to the different holdings according to establish-
ed practice^ generally by fractional shares.^

The revenue settlement or jamdbandi was by villages. There was
no instance on record of the settlement being by mahdls or districts,
or by amah that is by the shares of the different revenue claimants.
Whole villages lying within foreign territory were sometimes
&rmed to save the expense of establishments. The rest of the
country was under direct or amdni management. When the
kamdvisddr of a sub-division moved from his head-quarters to begin
the yearly rent-settlement or jamabandif he summoned the
headmen and the accountants of a certain number of villages.
With the help of the local hereditary revenue officers, the accounts
of these villages were carefully examined by the hamdvisdd/r and his
clerks. The receipts of former years were referred to and the
cause of the absence of old landholders, whether from death or
emigration, was closely scrutinised. The cause of any change in
the revenue, whether increase or decrease, was also closely examined.
When these points were settled, the village statement or patta was
drawn out and given to the headman ; and a written agreement
was taken from the headman to pay the sum mentioned in the
village statement. After this agreement was recorded, neither the
jf^ttAviaddr nor his assistants interfered with the village except to
realise the rental of which a large share was sometimes taken in
advance. Though he did not make an individual or kulvdr settlement,
a kamdvisddr, who did his duty, was always ready to attend to the
complaints of landholders whom the heads of villages might havo
forced to pay more than their share. On the other hand ^here

Chapter Yin.

The Land.

History.
The MardthdB.

1 1*

on extortion and abuse ceased. When the system of farming the revenue was
introdaced by B4jirdT, the friendship of some court favourite secured the revenue
farmer against any Io«U eompUunts of extortion. East India Papers, IV. 745, 746.

> Captain Pottinger, di«^ July 1822, East India Papers IV. 745 ; Mr. Goldsmid
1st November 1840, Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXK. 13-14.

* Mr. Goldsmid, Ist November 1840, Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXX. 13-14.

[Bombay OftwtlMr.

480

DISTRICTS.

CSiapt^TIII.
The Land.

HiBTOBT.

TheManUhda,

landholders failed to discharge their dues and absconded^ the tos3
was very often divided among the rest of the villagers ; and this
gave the headman the opportunity of befriending his relations and
indirectly oppressing those with whom he might be on bad terms.^

Under Ndna Fadnavis no government officer dared to harden s
village with an unosoally heavy rent without first obtaining the assent
of the village. After the death of Ndna Fadnavis in 1800 the
system changed. Daring the eighteen years before the introdactioD
of British management the only limit on the demands made from
the landholders was their power to pay. So long as it was known
or even imagined that a village conld pay a fresh cess^ there was no
want of pretences for levying it. The cesses varied in almost
every village. There were the batter or tup cess, the hemp or
ambddi cess, the grass-cutting or gavat-katdi cess, the grain-purchaso
or galla-kharedi cess, and many others. In individual cases tho
nature and the amount of these cesses were fixed according to the
quantity of ground cultivated.' Except that the head of the village
was held responsible for the payment of the village revenue, nntil
the accession of Peshwa B^jirav (December 1796), there was no
revenue farming. Under B^jiriv's system, the revenue farmer or
makteddr was obliged, even if he ruined himself, to pay the fall
amount which he had offered. The farmer in turn took care not to
lose by his agreement. Whether failure arose from death or from anj
other cause, he levied the utmost penny from the villages included in
his farm. Occasionally ignorant court dependants or hujre that is men
of the presence, agreed to farm a group of villages at more than thej
could possibly pay. Even in these cases the formers were treated
without the slightest consideration. They were obliged to sell
their houses and chattels, and, if their property did not make good
the deficiency, they were thrown into prison. In Pamer in 1816
Bdgho Cbimndji tne revenue farmer failed to pay the amount ho
had promised. He was ordered not to appear at court tiil he made
good the difference. R^gho Chimn&ji represented thst he had raised
the assessment as high as he could possibly raise it. He reoeiTed
no answer except that he need not appear at court till he had paid
the full amount of his farm. He returned to his villages and sending
out his men seized people of all classes and forced them to pay till
the sum he wanted was realized. Several of the injured people
went to Poena, but no notice was taken of their complaint.'
Whether a farm should last for one year or for a term of y«ie
depended on the pleasure of the government. In B&jir&v's time it
was usual to grant farms for several years and the head contractor
for a district underf armed it by villages or even by shares of villages.
This minute division of &.rms more than anything else impoverished
the i^ople.^ The farmer, desirous only of secnring a profit, left
internal arrangements to the village officers. So long as a good

1 Capt. Pottinger, Slst Jan. and Slrt Jnly 1S22, East India Papers, IV, 720, 7i^*
746. ' Captain Pottinger, Slst July 1822, East India Papers IV. 746, 747.
* Captain Pottinger, Slst July 1822, East India Papers IV* 745-751.
^ Captain Pottinger Slst July 1822, East India Papen IV. 746.

Deeeaa-I

AHMADNAOAR

431

ronnd snin was forthcoming from a yillage no inaniries were made as
to the amount of land under tillage or the share wnich each landholder
bad to pay. The village harvest, when stored in the village thrashing
fioor^ was considered the test of a villagers paying power. Old rates
were sometimes continued in the hereditary or other long cultivated
holdings near the village. The rest of the lands were given out
without reference to established boundaries, rates, or land measures.
When the revenue of a village was not farmed but was collected by
the government officials, the village rental was usually settled in
the lamp with the head of the village who furnished security for
the amount and was left to collect it without detailed settlements.
The payments of land revenue were usually made by drafts on the
moneylender who did the chief banking business of the village ;
little was collected in cask The banker usually stood security and
was allowed to collect the revenue and his own debts at the same
time. Besides the land revenue the people of Ahmadnagar had to
pay twenty-six cesses.

Little attention was paid to the fixing of instalments or kists. The
rents from the early crop or tiAsar, and the middle crop OT-kharif^
were taken at a guess and paid as quickly as they could be collected
by the headman who sent the amount to the ka/mdvisddr, and he to
government. If the revenue was formed the contractor usually
paid about one-third in advance. In any case he was obliged to
deposit a sum as security for the fulfilment of his agreement or to
persuade some rich man to become responsible for him. The rents
doe on the early or tusdr crop were received in July August and
September; those on the middle or kharif crop in September
October November and December ; and those on the late ox raibi
crops, which formed the bulk of the revenue, in January February
and March.^ When the landholder had the means he paid his rent
in cash. But the way in which the revenue was collected forced
most of them to give a reference to some moneylender who
charged them exorbitant interest. When the headman realized
the required sum he sent it to the kamdvisddr^a station by the
Mhars accompanied by the village goldsmith. The kamdvisddr
remitted it to the treasury at Poona, either in money or by
exchange bills. If the instalment was sent by bills and any loss
^as sustained by exchange^ the loss was met by the people of
the village. If the cash proved short from the presence of base
Sfii^^the Icamiviadar had himself to make good the loss. If the
'^(imwmdir remitted more money than he was bound to send^ the
government paid him interest at twelve per cent a year besides a
premium or manuti of two per cent Thus if a kamavisddr whose
pillages were to pay £8500 (Rs. 85,000) in a year, remitted
^'1 0,000 (Rs. 1,00,000) to Poena, he got interest at twelve per»cent
^11 the balance till the instalments of the next year were transmitted,

^^® early Ahmadnagar reports divide the dry-land crops into three sets or har-
lown ' ^ ^^^ called iusdr sown in June and reaped in Angnst ; a middle called kharif

4n 1^1^ "June and reaped la October ; and a late odled rabi sown in October and reaped

to February. " *^

• Uptain Pottinger, 3l8t July 1822, East India Papers IV. 747-748.

ChaptoryilL
XheLandi

History.
Th€MwnWyi9.

[BomlMiy Oaiatter-

432

DISTRICTS.

Chapter TUX.
The Land.

History,
TheManUhds.

He then deducted the amoant dae to him as interest and premium
from his first or second remittance. In a few parts of the district
there was a shirasta batta, that is a fixed or special local exchange,
of two per cent^ This special rate was seldom necessary ; for at
that period the great number of base rupees, which afterwards
came into circulation (1822) were unknown. When the tu$Ar or
early crop was ready^ a rough estimate was framed of the area under
pulse and a portion of the revenue equal to that estimate was
collected. The same was done with the middle or kharif crop,
when the rent settlement or jamdbandi of the season was finally
made. When the late or raM crops were ripe or nearly ripe, it was
usual to store the grain in the village thrashing floor or khiJ^j
and to set on them a seal or thdpti made of cowdung and clay.
The grain was not allowed to be moved till securifcs: was gim.
In some cases the security of a neighbouring village ^ras required,
and in all cases the headman and the landholders of the village
became responsible for each other. The delay that took place
before the people were able to take their grain from the village
thrashing floor, often made them lose opportunities of disposing of
their crop.*

In most cases village expenses were included in the revenae
settlement. But in some villages expenses formed a separate head.
There was little check on village charges. The kamdvisddr seldom
interfered and the headmen and accountants fixed the amoant on
no regular system or scale.^ When the people of a village required
advances they applied through the headman to the hereditary
revenue officers who made arrangements for the requisite security
and got the kamdvisddr to advance the amount. As a rule, the
herevtary revenue officers became responsible for the villago
headman, the headman for the village, and each landholder for his
neighbour. Except in special cases these advances were repaid
within the season.^ In parts of the district where bodies of horse
were stationed, waste land was often reserved as meadow or Jcuran.
These meadows were set apart in the most convenient villages and
a corresponding deduction was made in the village rent. The
practice proved the unqualified power of government over the land.*

In spite of the exactions of the revenue formers, under the
peace which the supremacy of the British preserved in the Deccan,
the cultivating classes recovered considerably from their desolate
state in the beginning of the century. Population was scantvaud
land abundant and much of the people's wealth consisted of uo!te»
and herds, the produce of which was less exposed to the greed of the
taxgatherer than the produce of cultivated land.^

^ This special local exchange was also known as the patti chdl baUa or curoDt
exchange cess. Captain Pottinger, .Slst July 1822, East Inata Papers IV, 748.
« East India Papers, IV. 744, 748.

* Captain Pottinger, dlst July 1822, East India Papers IV. 751.
« Captain Pottinger, 31st July 1822, East India Papers IV. 757.

^ At the same time when mirds land was included in the grass land set apart tor
state horses, the owners of it got an equivalent. Captain Pottinger, 31it July 1^^
East India Papers IV. 744.

* Deccan Kiot Commisnonera' Report, 1875, para 32 pp. 17 • 18.

Secean.]

AHMADNAOAB. . 433

SECTION HI. —THE BRITISH. Chapter VIII.

As regards land administration^ the sixty-six years (1818-1884) The Land.
of British management fall under two nearly equal divisions, before the British,
and since the introduction of the revenue survey settlement in 1848. 1818 -1884.

The first division includes two periods, before and after the 1838-39
famine, the first on the whole a time of stagnation and the second
of progress. The establishment of order, the removal of abuses, and
the high price of field produce during the first four years (1818-1822)
of British rule caused a rapid increase both in tillage and in revenue.
This was followed by about fifteen years of very litfie progress. The
district suffered from a series of bad harvests or from ruinously
cheap grain due to the spread of tillage, the small local demand
and the want of means of export. The result was a fall in
tillage from 1,033,620 bighds in 1821-22 to 830,194 bighds in
1836-^7, and a decline in the net collections from £67,544 to
£39,651 (Rs. 6,75,440 to Rs. 3,96,510). The remaining eleven years
of this division were on the whole years of steady progress ; the
tillage area rose from 916,050 bighds iu 1837-38 to 1,065,987 bighds
in 1817-48 and the net collections from £45,515 to £69,701
(Rs. 4,55,150 to Rs. 6,97,010).i

The ruin caused by Yashvantrdv Holkar's army in the latter part I818'18il.
of 1802, the failure of the late rains of 1803, and various local
rebellions and disorders, so completely wasted the district, that
hardly a village was left which was not deserted plundered or
burnt during the twenty years before the introduction of British
rule.' In 1819 many of the sub-divisions were greatly reduced and
the villages thinly inhabited.^ The cultivated land measured
1>929,968 bighds and the arable waste 1,753,206 bighds or a
proportion of ninety-one of arable waste to 1 00 of cultivated land.*
In 1820-21, of 2647 villages which occupied about 28,000 square miles
and contauied about 650,000^ people or about twenty-three to the

^ The tiUage and revenne figures are for the Bub-divisions of Nev^a, Karda,
Nagar, Korl^ Shevgaon, and Jtoikhed, Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIII, 212-218, 222-223,
234-235, 244-245» 252-253, and 260-261.

^ Captain Pottinger adds (31st July 1822) : 'As a proof of this I may add that
vithin these twenty years Sonai and Hivra were the only inhabited places between
AhuiidAagar and Auraogabad.' East India Papers, IV. 731-732. Mr. Harrison, 28th
^•ptmber 1836 in Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 692 of 1836, 31-32. In 1849-50, when the
tevenue survey settlement was introduced, Rdhuri had fewer mirdsddrs and other
herailitary villagers than any other sub-division hitherto surveyed. This was believed
^w dae to the complete desertion of the villages in the early years of the century.
Bom. Gov. SeL CXVII. 9.

' Captain Pottinger, 29tli May 1821, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 50 of 1822, 165.

/ Captam Pottinger, Slst July 1822, East India Papers IV. 728. The total area
of land in the collectorate was about 5,997,000 bighds of which about 3,748,000 were
stated to be lost in rivers, rocks, and hills, and mcluded in grants or indmsy leaving
aboat 2,249,000 btghdtt of arable land in the hands of Government. Extract Hevenue
^'^ from Bombay 27th November 1822, East India Papers III. 795. The
difference between the figures in the text and the figures in this footnote is due to
^^torial changes between 1818 and 1820.

Hetarns prepared by the Collector in 1818 showed for the district as then

^fonneven a fairly correct guess of the population. This difiiculty has been
B 772— 66

{Bombay QftMHaer.

434

DISTRICTS.

OiaiyterYIIL

The Land.

THxBBmsH.
i8t8-18fiU

square milej only 1963^ villages were under the direct management
of the British Government.^ Of the rest 1 81 } were alienated or indm}
198^ had been granted on military service oTmranjamt 179^ belonged
to Sindia and his dependants, eighty to Holkar and his dependants,
and forty-four to the Niz&m.^ In the same year (1820-21) the rentAl
or tankha of the Government villages was £296,646 (Rs, 29,66, i60)
and of the 683 i alienated villages £133,246 (Rs. 13,32,460)/ Owing
to the oppression of the revenue farmers, the husbandmen, though on
the whole frugal and provident, were much indebted to traders and
merchants. Many of the debts were of long standing, and were often
made of compound interest and fresh occasional aids, which went on
growing until the accounts became exceedingly complicated. The
embarrassed husbandman could seldom clear on his debts. Hereditary
that is mirds or vatan lands were sometimes mortgaged, the mortgager
in some cases and the mortgagee in others paying the Government
dues. The moneylenders were greedy and their rates of interest
were high. The usurious nature of many of the transactions was
such as to secure the creditors from loss even if they realized one-
half of their demands. The crops of whole villages were sometimos
mortgaged to a moneylender before they were ripe, and the
greatest distress often ensued from this mode of forestalling the
market. In deciding money disputes the Collector made it a rule to
reject suspicious debts and debts of more than twenty yeais'
standing. Reasonable and fair debts were settled by instalments,
an arrangement which, while favourable to the husbandmen, showed
them that their whole debts would not be wiped out, and forced
them as far as they could to compromise their creditors' claims.^

As soon as military operations came to an end and order wa3
established, Ahmadnagar was formed into a district extending (1S22)
from Vani in the Dindori sub-division of Ndsik in the north-west to
Karmala in ShoUpur in the south-east. This gave a length of 360
miles, a breadth varying from ninety to 130 miles, and an area of
about 28,000 square miles.® In 1818-19 (Fasli 1228) some sub-
divisions were given to Poena and in 1819-20 (Fasli 1229) some were
taken from Khdndesh.^ In 1819-20 the district was divided into

increased by the constant transfers of lands to and from my aathority. A censits
taken in 1821 showed the population of the immediate possessions of the BritiAh
Oovemment at 453,260. The population in the villages of Smdia, Holkar, the NiziLm»
and others in this collectorate was computed at 172,000, making a total of 625,260.
This did not include the wandering people, Bhils, KoUs, shepherds, and clWit%
Som e people were also afraid of a capitation tax ; 650,000 might therefore be tikeii
as an approximately correct total.' Captain Pottinger, Collector, Slat July 1822, Eftst
India Papers IV. 727-728.

^ In 1442} of these villages other states and various individuals held shares. Sono
of these shares were trifling. Still they tended to complicate the partition aiu)
adjustment of rents ; and as the British Grovemment had similar claims or amals in 4CS
of the ^S^i alienated villages the accounts were most intricate and unsatisfactory.
Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822 (Ed. 1877, 17) and Extract Revenue Letter from Bom-
bay, 27th November 1822, East India Papers III. 795.

a Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822 (Ed. 1877,17).

» Captain Pottinger, 1st October 1821, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 47 of 1822, 251.

« Captain Pottinger, 31st July 1822, East India Papers IV. 728.

B Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822 (Ed. 1877, 105-108).

< Captain Pottinger, 31st July 1822, East India Papers IV. 727*

' Bom. Gov, Rev. Rec. 50 of 1822, 164, 107.

J)ecca]i4]

AHMADNAGAR.

435

twenty-one sab-divisiona with a total of 2155 villages and 554
lamlets.^ In the following year (1820-21) the number of sab-
divisions was nineteen composed of forty-five pargands and tarafs}
iEach sab-division was placed under a mamlatddr or kamdvisddry and
exclusive of alienations yielded an averaffe yearly revenue of £8100
(Rs. 81,000).»

The salaries^ of the mdmlatdars were regulated as nearly as
possible so as to give them £120 (Rs. 1200) a year for every £10,000
(Rs. 1,00,000) they collected. Their clerks and assistants were paid
according to the situation and importance of their charges. Some
kamdrnHdwrn had charge of one pargana, others of two, and some of
even three. In these large divisions respectable clerks had to be

Karda; P&rner
B&r^lgaon-NlUidory

, Y „ s. -,— „ KotulandlUjar;

prdnt Junnar ; Nev^isa incladinff the phutgaons or outlying villages of Bij&pur and
Gond4pur ; Shevgaon including the town OTk€uba of Minikdaundi; J&mkhed inclnding
Kada and AmalDer ; B4rai inclnding Agalgaon, Rdtanjan, P&ngri, P&ngaon, and
oatlying villages of Dhoka ; Bhosa including outlying villages of Vilngi, Mandrup,
Mhola, and Karkamb ; Ind^pur including lUsin; Ambar; Emr including outlying
villages of Sirur and Dhondal^on; N&sik including Trimbkk and V^ghera ; Sinuar
inclnding Daipnr ; Kumbb&ri including Korhila and the towns or kaStds of RihAta.
and Vikvi ; Chindor ; PAtoda ; and Vani including Dindori. Captain Pottinger, 29th
May 1821, Bom. Gov. Rev. Bee. 50 of 1822, 161-162; Extract Revenue Letter from
Bombay 27th November 1822 in East India Papers III. 795.

^ Captain Pottinger, 3lst July 1822, East India Papers IV. 728-729. In the first,
thirteen years of British rule territorial changes were very frequent. The prdni of
Junnarandthe pargana of Inddpur were transferred to Poena in the beginning of 1820-21
ifh^U 1230) and the districts of Ambar, Elura, Seur, Dhondalgaon, and some detached
villages were made over to the Nia&m in Apnl 1821 (Caption Pottinger, 1st October
^821. Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 47 of 1822, 2S0). Bdrsi, Ptogaon, P4njri, RiLtanjan, and
Aealgaon were attached to the sub-collectorate of ShoUpur. In return for Ambar^
Ktaiu, and others ceded to the Nizdm, Ahmadnagar received the pargands of
Karm41a and Korti and a number of detached villages, with probably as many people.
(Captain PeftUnger, 31st Julv 1822, East India Papers IV. 727 • 728). In 1822-23 that
part of the ShoUpur sub-coUectorate which lay to the north of the river Bhima was.
transferred to Anmadnagar (Bom. Gov, Rev. Rec. 50 of 1822, 501). In 1824-25 the
Ahmadnagar collectorate included the ten sub-divisions of Ahmadnagar, Karda,
Akola, Sangamoer, Kevisa, Pdtoda, Ndsik, Sinnar, Vani-Dindori, and Chindor. It
also includeid the ShoUpur sub-collectorate consisting of ShoUpur, Mohol, Biirsi,
Karm41a, and Korti (Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 123 of 1825, 8, 15, 17). During the next
three ^ears (1825-1828) the Sholipur sub-collectorate was abolished and three of its.
eab-divisions, B^rsi Karm&la and Korti, were added to Ahmadnagar (Bom. Gov.
Rev. Rec. 207 of 1828, 501, 503, 505). At the close of 1828 Ahmadnagar included
thirteen sub-divisions stretching from Vani-Dindori to B&rsi, a distance of 225 miles,

~th»a breadth of sixty to 125 miles. It had the Chilndor range on the north, the

hy^rison the west, and the Niz&m*s territory on the south and east (Mr. Boyd«.
Collector, 203 of 26th November 1828, lithographed Papers, 3). In October 1829
Sholdpnr was added to Ahmadnagar, and in March 1830 Ahmadnagar was made a.
principal collectorate with a sub-collector at ShoUpur (Mr. Robertson, 12th July 1830,
Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 352 of 1831, 2). The sub-divisions were Ahmadnagar, Akola,.
B&rsi^ ChiLndor, Karda, Karmdla, Korti, Ndsik, NevAaa, PAtoda, Sangamner, Sinnar,
Vani-Dindori, and ShoUpur. In Januarj^ 1831 the sub-divisions of ShoU^ur and
B&rsi were transferred to Poona. Principal Collector, 5th August 1831, m Bom.
Gov. Rev. Rec. 406 of 1832, 235.

' Captain Pottinger, 31st July 1822, East IndU Papers, IV. 728-729 ; Mr. CJhaplin,.
20th August 1822 (Edition 1877^58) ; Extract Revenue Letter from Bombay, 5th
November 1823, East India Papers III. 811.

* The sahuries of the mAmlatdiLrs amount to less than two per cent of the.
revenue they collect Extract Revenue Letter from Bombay, 5th November 182S,, in
East India Papers III. 81L

witl

ChapterYIII.
The Land.

Thx Bbitlsu,
1818 -1821,

[Bombay Gaietfeier,

436

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII*
TheLa&d.

Thb British.

Hereditary^

Officers^

1818,

placed in charge of each petty division.^ Between May 1820 and
December 1821 the expenditare on this branch of the service was
reduced bv more than one-half.^

Under the Peshwds^ daring times of good administration^ the
hereditary revenue officers 'were carefully watched and attempts
were often made to curtail their authority. But under the lax
government of the last Peshwa hereditary officers were left in
the free enjoyment of their grants, the only service that was
expected of them being information of the state of their districts;
the registration of grants, and attendance on the mdmlatd^rs of
their districts. When the farming system was introduced they
became ready instruments of exaction under the revenue farmers.
When this &.rming system was in vogue the revenue farmers
used sometimes to withhold part of the share due to the district
officers, and in some instances they levied contributions from
those district officers or zamindara who were men of little weight or
position and were afraid to complain of the exaction. On the other
hand in some parts of the district by usurping authority the
district officers were enabled to make large sums of money.^ On the
British accession the hereditary district officers lost much of the
influence and power which had belonged to them as the revenae
farmers' chief engines for carrying their exactions into effect. As
regards their regular emoluments they were fuUy as well paid as
formerly, and their claims, which, exclusive of some immunities,
varied &om three to ten per cent, increased with the prosperity of
the country.* Still they probably did not actually receive so much
as they had made during the last twenty years of Mardtha rule. In
that period, exclusive of their acknowledged rights, they had variooB
means of obtaining money and grain from the land[holders who
were led to submit to their demands either from fear of their power
or by a wish to secure their interest with the mdmlatd^rs. With
these exceptions, the hereditary district officers were perhaps better
off under the British than they were under Bajirdv. tinder B^jir^r
they were liable te be called on to pay cesses and fines for a
continuance of their office or on some other pretence, whereas under

1 The Collector, 20th December 1821, Ahmadnagar Collector's Oatwaid File 10
(1821-22). The size of all the sub- divisions and the salaries of m^Unlatdiini in charge
of those sab-divisions had been lately increased, the increase in the salaries fa^ng
made up by the consolidation of the petty districts. Mr. Chaplin, 2eth Ansnist 11*2^
(Ed. 1877, 68).

a The Collector, 20th December 1821, in Ahmadnagar Collector's Outward File 10
(1821-22).

' The exactions of the d^shmukhay deahpdndes, and other revenue officers who were
continued by the British proved so great that most of them had to be cUsmissod.
They lost no opportunity of plundering both government and the landholder.
They coidd not at once be dismissed, for m certain places they possessed considerable
influence and the mtoilatdirs on first taking charge required their help. Where this
was the case the authority of Government "was enfeebled and ibujies were multiplied'
Mr. Chaolin, 20th Au^st 1822 (Ed. 1877, 58-59).

^ On tne introduction of British rule the claims of the zafninddra or hereditsiy
revenue officers were preserved according to the ancient custom as far as the custom
could be ascertained. Where that was not possible an average of receipts for a series
of years was taken, and the percentage Uid down in proportion to the r&venne of
those seasons. Captain Pottinger, 31st July 1822, East India Papers IV. 756.

2>ecca]|.J

AHMADNAGAR.

437

the British they knew that whatever their rightful claims amounted
to they were sure to get without trouble and to enjoy in security.^
In certain parts of the district a secretary or chitnis whose duty it
was to take down complaints and other depositions^ enjoyed a fixed
salary. In other parts there was no such officer.'

The number of Tillage officers was not in all places the same*
The most common were the headman or pdtil, the accountant or
kutkami, and the twelve village servants or bdra halutds.^ The
headman's duty was to superintend the cultivation and the
improvement of the village^ to collect the revenue^ to adjust
trifling disputes among the landholders, to see that every one of the
village servants performed the service belonging to his station, to
arrest suspicions characters^ and to keep the village police efficient.
The accountant or kulkami was the headman's secretary and chief
helper. The direction of tillage rested with the headman^ the
accountant^ and to a less extent the grain-watchman or havdlddr^
and the headman's assistant or chaughula. The headman and
accoantant could grant leases or hauls. Captain Pottinger put a
stop to their power of granting leases and vested the power in
the kamavisddr to whom the husbandman had to apply through the
headman of his village. Captain' Pottinger considered this
restriction necessary and also beneficial to the people by preventing
disputes. Under the new arrangement no head of a village could
assign ground to a landholder till the rights of other claimants
had been well discussed. In other respects the position of the
headman and the accountant was carefully maintained and their
fees and perquisites were collected. Their emoluments varied.
In a few villages the headman had no private land^ and
in others the accountants had no pay, and no special
claim to perquisites. The TcuikamVs claims were usually fixed
at a certain amount of grain from each bigha. The amount of
the perquisites and the rent-free or quit-rent lands held by the
headmen, after deducting all Government dues, was estimated at
abont £10,473 (Rs. 1,04,730) or about six per cent of the district
rental. The accountants' allowances amounted to £3217 (Rs. 32,170)
or about two per cent. It had been the custom for each sharer in a
headship to be responsible for keeping up the cultivation of a share
of the village lands proportionate to his share of the headship ; and
the lands consigned to his care were regularly defined by land-
^hf or sdnchans. Under the British this practice fell into
^suse. In 1831 not more than seventy-five or eighty villages in
the district had traces of separate shares.* The twelve village
Bervants or bdra balutds were, the carpenter, the blacksmith, the
carrier or Mhdr, the tanner or Chdmbhdr, the potter, the barber, the
washerman, the rope maker or M4ng, the astrologer or loahi, the temple-
attendant or gwrav, the mosque-attendant or mujava/r and butcher

Chapter VIIL

The Land.
Thb Bbitisb,

Village Suiff,
1818.

' ^Ptain Pottinger, Slst Jannary and July 1822, East India Papers IV. 724-725,
'H 756 ; Mr. Cha^in, 20Ui Auguat 1822 (Ed. 1877, 68-59).
(;aptain Pottinger, 3l8t Joly 1822, East India Papers IV. 743.
jABt India Papers IV. 762.
Mr. Kobertson, 5th Angnst 1831, Bom. Gov. Rev, Rec. 406 of 1832, 259-26a

[Bomtey Oasetlaer.
438 DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII. tliat is MuUa^ and the gatekeeper or yeskar* These were hereditary
The^iand- servants who had claims on the husbandmen. To these maj be

added the chaughula or headman's assistaDt^ the ndrgun or head of

HK RiTisH. |.jj^ shepherds a position held by the Holkar family, and the havHAar

^2/ ^^ grain- watchman who was an officer of Government rather than

of the village. Their nances explain the chief duties of the village

servants or bdra balutda. Each of them performed for all the

? arsons in the village the services of his particular calling or craft,
he carpenter built and repaired houses^ made and mended ploughs
and yokes ; the blacksmith helped the carpenter in all iron work ;
the tanner or Ch&mbh&r mended shoes and sandals, repaired the
mouths of water-bags, and cured hides. The MhAr was the most
useful of the village servants. He went on messages, carried money
to the treasury, knew the lands of the different landbolders and all
boundaries, and in boundary disputes, whether between individoaU
or villages, his voice carried the greatest weight. He was
considered the most trustworthy man in the village, and though his
caste was low, he held a highly respected position among the
village servants. The potter made earthenware for the villagers ;
the barber shaved them ; the washerman washed their clothes ; the
M&Rg made traces for ploughs and ropes for wells ; the josM or
astrologer performed ceremonies of all kinds; the gurav cleaned and
washed the village temples and helped the joshi on particalar
occasions ; the MuUa did the same service for the mosques that the
gurav did for the temples, and was also the village butcher when any
of the villagers wished to sacrifice^^oats ; the yeskar or village
gatekeeper knew everyone that went in or out, ascertained whore
travellers had come from, showed them where to put up, and reported
all arrivals and departures to the head of the village. The righU
perquisites and privileges of all of these village servants were ill-
defined and differed in almost every village. They also varied
according to the need which landholders had for the services of a
particular village servant. All payments to village servants were in ^
kind and were charged on the land. It was not possible to define with
any precision the rights and emoluments of any of the village servants
except of the headmen and the accountants. They were paid in
kind, the quantity they received greatly depending on whether the
harvest was good or bad. The owner of a field that had a good
crop readily paid double the quantity of service grain that was
demanded or expected from an equal area of land bearing a mi^^Iing
or a bad crop. Where grain was bought either in granaries^
standing in the field, the seller paid ten per cent to the village
servants and two and a half per cent to the accountant He also
paid the district hereditary officers' and headman's claims and hi&
proper share of village expenses. Besides the regular village
servants there were hill-chiefs, watchmen of the Bhil and R&mosni
tribes, and shetsanadis that is a militia who were originally paid
in land not in cash or grain. The duties of hill-chiefs or watchmen
were to guard hill-forts and villages. The hill-chiefs Held grants
of villages and besides were in the receipt of pay from the treasnry«
The Bhil and lULmoshi watchmen received allowances from the
villages which they guarded. In some villages they were given a

Deecaa^l

AHMADNAGAB.

439

fixed quantity or a varying sliare of each landholder's crop; in
other places the watchmen were paid in money^ and the charge was
iocladed under village expenses ; and in a third class o£ villages
plots of land were allotted to them. The chief daty of the Bhil
and B^moshi watchmen in the pay of the British Government was
to apprehend criminals and to maintain order. The land-
holding militia or aheisanadie were men who performed the duties
of field police or mahdl shibandia under the British Government
and received an allowance on this account. These field police or
messengers were found only in Pdrner where there were fifty-eight
who received a grain allowance equal to £174 (Bs. 1740) or an
average yearly pay of £3 (Bs. 30).^

Besides the owners of alienated estates landholders belonged
to two leading classes, hereditary holders or mirdsddrs and non-
hereditary holders or 'wpris.^ HereditaiyTioIderswere also called
people of the place thalkaris and vatandara. The term mirdaddr
was used to mark that the landholder belonged to the village rather
thaH to show that he held his land under any special tenure. The
mirdadar could dispose of or mortgage his land when he liked.' He
could not be ousted from his lands if he refused assent to the terms
proposed.^ He was not allowed to throw up his land without
the Collector's leave.** In 1823 the hereditary rights and
privileges of mvrdaddra seemed occasionally to be the result of
long possession and regular uninterrupted payment of the
same assessment. Under the name of vatan or mirda the existence
of hereditary rights was admitted from the Krishna to the hills
which divide the Gangthadi from Khdndesh. This practice was of
considerable antiquity. Traces were discovered (1818- 1823) in
accounts of one nuudred and fifty years standings but nothing
certain was known of its institution. Immediately before the British
accession the heads of villages had commonly exercised the privilege
of granting lands on mirda tenure. The mirda deed or patra was
delivered on payment of a higha fee varying from 2«. to 5«.
(Ra. 1-2^). These deeds invariably conferred possession from
generation to generation, so long as the grantee or his heirs
continued to pay the government assessment according to the
established usage of the village. Though not drawn up with much
precision or uniformity the mirda deeds were attested by the village

ChapterTm.

The Land.

The Bbitish.

Village Staff,
1818.

Landholders^
1818-18X3.

> Captein Pottinger, 3l8t July 1822, East India Papers IV. 740, 741, 743, 752, 753,
754, 757.

* E&at India Papers IV. 735. Only one village was held on the izdfat or special
•ervice tenure. It was granted to the deshmukhs of that place by the Emperor of
Delhi, and Captain Pottinger believed all other izdfcU villages in the Deccan were
enjoyed under the same authority. They were rent-free villages graated to
hereditary revenue servants of the crown in addition to their other emoluments.
£aftt India Papers IV. 743 - 744. > -East India Papers IV. 735.

* If ground was cultivated by a yearly tenant or upri, and another man offered to
pay more, the yearly tenant might be turned out provided he did not hold the land
under a lease or kaul particularly specifying that ne should hold it as long as he
pleased. Captain Pottinger, 31st July 1822, East India Papers IV. 747.

^ Captain Pottinger, Slst July 1822, East India Papers IV. 740.

IBombay QaaettMr-

440

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^Vni.
The Land.

The British.

LandholderSf
1818-1823.

managers and servants as witnesses and the new mirdsddr used to
make them a present on the occasion. Hinda law aathorities and the
practice which had obtained showed (1828) that the heads of villagtes
had not an exclusive right to dispose of lands in perpetuity^ but the
government had often been obliged to connive at the practice.
The fees^ or part of the fees^ were sometimes paid to the government
or to propitiate the government officers or to make up the loss in
the village rental. Most frequently they were laid out in improviug
the village or in repairing the temple or public rest^hoase.
Hereditary or mirds land was often sold, given^ or mortgaged,
without the leave of government^ though government sometimes
interfered. The purchaser was bound to discharge the public
dues according to the village rates, whether the land was cultivated
or waste ; remission was granted only in case of a general failure of
crops or of some other serious calamity. A mirdsddr would
sometimes let his land for half, a third, or a fourth of the produce.
This did not invalidate his right ; but while present^ and retaining
his right on the land, he was responsible for the assessment. Wheu
the mirdsddr was absent the cultivator to whom he let the land paid
the government dues. The assessment on hereditary land waifi
seldom lower than that paid by a yearly or upri tenant. When
hreditary land was thrown up it was often tilled by a yearly cr
upri tenant at a reduced rent, or on a lease for a term of years.
The interest felt by an hereditary holder in his land often enabled
him to get twenty-five per cent more from his land than it would
have yielded to a yearly tenant. The rent supposed to have been
originally fixed at one-half fell to a smaller portion of the produce as
the land grew richer from careful tillage. The rent paid by the
yearly tenant was less than half of the produce. Having only a
precarious interest in the soil, he had to be compensated by a
higher immediate profit. An hereditary holder seldom abandoned or
disposed of his land except from extreme necessity. If want of
money forced him to part with his land, he met with great
forbearance, and could regain possession at the close of any
temporary lease. If from long absence the land had been granted
to another in mirda the grantee would not be ejected. But
hereditary land was never granted in hereditary possession unless
the original holder had for many years ceased to have any connection
with it. After the original holder's connection had been broken
for many years, government could dispose of the land, or. if
the owner refused to sow his land or to pay his rent, he might ^
compelled to pass a deed of renunciation. Mirds was also forfeited
by treason or rebellion, provision being usually niade for the family.
Under the Hindu law of inheritance mirds land was liable to be
split into very minute shares. But though divided it sometimes
remained in the name of the original holder. This seemed (1823) a
trace of ihejatJui or federal system which carried a mutual responsibility
for the payment of the public revenue and for the maintenance of
the widows and families of deceased members of the clan. This
system was beneficial and was encouraged by Government. Unless
it had been greatly improved hereditary land did not fetch more

^ Bxtr&ot Bevenue Letter from Bombay, 5tli Nov. 1823, paras 403-425, East India
*^Wf,'«m. 808-810.

Mr. Chaplin, 20th Aug. 1822, Ed. 1877, 43 - 44, notices the case of a mirds village
^^g recommended for remission without any special hardship or general failure of

1818 '1823.

Deeean]

AHMADNAGAR 441

than t^ro or three years' purchase, apparently showing that the Chapter VIII.

assessment left but little to the proprietor. In 1828 the value of ■TheLand

mira» was said to have decreased under the British as the yearly

tenure was almost as valuable. The privileges of an hereditary "^^^ British.

holder were, in the western districts, freedom from certain cesses, ^illl*®™!*'

a voice in the village councils, the right of pasture on the village

common, and the right of building and of selling a house. In the

eastern parts of the district, in addition to these privileges and some

further exemptions, the hereditary holder and his wife were entitled

to precedence in village ceremonies and meetings, and his social

position, especially in the matter of marriages, was higher than the

position of a yearly tenant. These immunities and privileges made

his condition better than that of a yearly tenant. He had some

personal consequence, and, not being liable to ejectment, was animated

to exertion and enterprise in the sure prospect of enjoying the fruits

of his labour. In some places it was usual for Govemmeut to

share in improvements. A tax of four or five rupees was laid on

each well, or garden rates were levied on dryland when it was turned

into garden. This practice, except where it was the established

custom, was forbidden as tending to discourage improvements. In

Bome parts on the sanction o£flong prescription, a special hereditary

hoIdePs cess was levied once in tluree years. In 1823, Government

remarked that though this may originally have been an encroachment,

the hereditary holder's deed seldom mentioned anything regarding the

terms of assessment except that they should be the customary rates.^

In 1823 the number of hereditary and of yearly tenants in
^^unadnagar was computed to be nearly equal. To the north
beyond the God&vari and to the north-east of the hills which
divided the highland of Nagar from the lowland of Shevgaon, the
existence elt hereditary right was less general and the difPerence
between hereditary and yearly tenure was fainter. In the Patoda
districts of the Gangthadi, the special hereditary rights were so far
impaired that the practice of buying and selling hereditary land
had become obsolete. If poverty prevented an hereditary holder
tilling land, he was allowed a partisd or a total remission of rent.
Indeed throughout Ahmadnagar the grant of remissions to
hereditary holders was common though the practice was opposed
to the theory of the tenure.* In Akola and probably in other places
it was usual to reserve the option of purchase to the relations of the
•hereditary holder. If the relations of the seller declined the land
it was ofFered to the headman of the village, and after the headman
to the chief hereditary holders. This limitation of the right of
alienating hereditary property had the effect of maintaining a
unity of interest among the members of the village community..
In Mr, Chaplin's opinion the custom ought not to be interfered

crop.

iBombayOucttaer,

442

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YUL
The Land.

ThjeBritisk,

Landholdef%
1818'18$S.

IkmdJ^akm,

witL As regards the right of the villagers to sell waste hereditaiy

land or gatkuL mirds, Mr. Chaplin was satisfied that thougli the

practice migJit liave been allowed once or twice it was contraiy to

the fundamental law that the land belonged to Gk)vemment. Mr.

Chaplin recommended that the practice shonld cease and this

opinion received the approval of Government.^ Long possession

oi land was sometimes allowed to constitute an hereditary title.

But this title was not acquired unless by upwards of half a oentnry

of unbroken occupancy. The difficulty of gaining this tide was

partly due to the jealousy of the heads of villages who had usurped

the power of levying a fine on all cases in which yearly holders

were raised to the position of hereditary holders.' Mr. Chaplin

considered that a definite payment should be substituted for the

existing indefinite yearly payment for hereditary or mirds holding.

At the same time he considered a revenue survey the only efEeetoal

security to the mimBddrs,^

Except in the dang or hilly tracts bordering the Sahyddris the lands
ei the district were divided into larger and smaller shares. This
distribution of village lands was carried out according to two
systems^ one found in all the central lands of the district, the other
in a few outlying villages in the east and north. According to the
common practice the village lands were divided into ihaU or
settlements and the settlements were divided into fields tikds or
shets each of which had a name. According to Mr. Robertson
(1830-31) the thals or settlements generally bore the name of the
fsonilies who originally colonised them. The settlement or thai
was a considerable tract of land all in one spot and was divided
into tikds or sheis whose assessment was fixed on a rough estimate
of the average character of the soil included in the shet or tika.
The assessment on the field or sub-division,* though this seems to
have been doubtful, was apparently not Uable to change. In about
250 villages, chiefly in Pdtoda now Yeola in N^k and
Eopargaon in Ahmadnagar, in Jimkhed, and in Shevgaon,^ there wss
a different settlement under the names of mund or large estates and
Jcds or 43mall estates. The mund was the aggregate of many fields
or tikda together or separate or part together part separate. The
assessment of the mund was a fixed lump sum for all the lands
in the estate or mund, good, fair, and bad. In the kda settlement
which was found in only five villages, four of them now in N&ik
and one in Akola, the division of the village lands was into*/»i«^
which were smaller parcels than munds, and unlike tikda or ^keU

^ In AhmadBaflar a right is supposed to exist in the villagers to all wwtfl
liereditanror aatkul mirds land that has IfliDfifid from the death or absence of the
holder. This mht is incompatible with the undoubted right of Government to
dispose of waste land and under the existing rules of assessment it would be unwiw
to allow that right to be compromised. Though the extension of the mirds tenure
is desirable, the admission of the pretended risht of these villagers might frustnte
that object. Extract Revenue Letter from Bombay, 5th Nov. 1823, East India Pa{)eri
III. 809 -810. > Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822, Ed. 1877, 43-i8.

* Extract Kev. Letter from Bombay, 6th Nov 1823, East Lidia Papers IIL 809.

* Also in twelve or fourteen villages of Nilsik, in a few vUlaflee of Kannila tttii
Akolay and in two villagQs in Sinnar. Bom. Gov. Rev. Reo, 406 011832^260 -SSL

Decou-l

AHMADNAGAR

443

the asseBsment of eveiy Ms in a village was the same. In Pitoda,
now ihe Yeola sab-division o£ N^ik and the Kopargaon sub-division
of Ahmadnagar, where the estate or mund system was aniversal,
to increase the number of landholders by reducing the size of
estates. Colonel Briggs gave up the practice of assessing whole
estate and instead charged only the land under actual tillage. As
the lump or mund rate had been fixed on a rough estimate of the
average character of the soil over the whole estate, the change was
a great gain to those who tilled only the best lands. This the
people very quickly saw and the tillage of the poorer soils ceased.
Mr. Robertson held that the division of village lands into settlements
and fields was part of the jatha or village community system. He
held that this community system was the oldest form of land
settlement and that the rougher estate or lump divisions into mund
and kds were the result of the decline in the land system during the
later years of Mar&tha rule. Mr. Robertson probably argued from
his experience that other branches of the administration showed
that the careless management in force at the introduction of British
role was the remains of an earlier more effective system. It seems
probable that Mr. Robertson's application of the law of decay to
this part of the land system was incorrect. The Sanskrit origin
of the words thai and ahet and the non-Sansknt origin of the
words mund and kds suggest that the division of lands into the
rough estates or lumps of land known as munds and Jcds was older
than the more systematic division into thals and shets which was
part of the village community system. This view is supported by
the character of the country in which the lump estate system was
in force* A few of the villages were in the east of Ahmadnagar and
more were in the wilder north now in Ndsik. In Thd.na, where the
early element in the population is much greater than in the Deccan,,
the rough estate or mund and kde system was almost universal
until the introduction of the revenue survey.^ The difference is
apparently a difference of names^ not of system. But it seems
probable that the v^und and kds villages are a relic of what was
the nniversal system before the introduction of the Rajput or other
northern element' into the population of the JJeccan.^

Chapter Till
The Land*

THEBRmsff.

LandSydem^
1818^

1 Details are gireii in the Thina Statiatical Account, Bombay Gasetteer, Xin.

9 C#ptain H. D. Robertson, Principal Collector, 12th July 1830, Bom. Gov. Rer.
Reo. 952 of 1S31, 2-3 ; and 5th August 1831, Bom. Gov. Rev. Bee. 406 of 1832, 260-266.
The following are Mr. Robertson's views of the lump or mund and kds system. They
were written on the 12th of July 1830 and are taken from Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 352
oflS31t3-4. In Ahmadnagar there were two varieties in the manner of ascertaining
the dues of the landholders. The first and most general was an assessment for the
supposed quantities by rates declared to be fair rates for the supposed qualities. This
was called the ra^atvdr settlement. The other, which was called the mundj^ndi or
kd^jg/ndi method, was the assessment by an average rate of good bad and incmierent

land tor snpposed quantities or actual patches. ' The kds or mund system, ' he says, ' ia
no doubt the ancient system of the country, and is in fact a fixed system of rentfd,.
although it had been often infringed in the shape of jdsti paUis or extra cesses by
oppreaaive taxgatherers. Mr. Lumsden had abrogated this system ; Mr. Boyd had
judiciously reverted to it ; and as Government sanctioned Mr. Boyd's measures, I
earned them out wherever I could. By the raycUvdr system the resources of Government
are alwayaatthemercy of the seasons and depend onscanty meana of poor and unsettled

CBombay Qasetteer.

AJJL

DISTRICTS,

Chapter TIIL
The Land.

The British.

Revenue
SettlemerU,
1818 '18U.

In confieqnenoe of the troubles through which the district had
passed in the beginning of the centurj the Collector, Captain
Pottinger, found the utmost difficulty in procuring authentic
accounts. None could be obtained showing the collections during
a series of years before the introduction of the British Goyemment^
The hereditary revenue officers^ who should have been able to supply
the information/ were so ignorant and so jealous of inquiry that
it was most tedious and irksome to extort answers from them.*
In many cases when the answers were readily given, they were so
obviously imperfect that they were of no use for the Collector's
purposes,^

The modes of fixing the assessment varied greatly.* In many
villages the hereditary holders, like those of Poena, paid one
nominally uniform rate of rent, holding more or less land in
proportion as it was bad or good. In other villages rates were
established for each particular class of land, varying with its
quality and situation. A makta or fixed rent in some places was
also established for parcels of land without reference to any given
higha rate. In Ahmadnagar, hereditary holders occupying garden
land usually paid garden rates, though only the dry-land rate may
have originally been imposed. In Poena, the dry- land rate more
commonly obtained, even though the land may have subsequently
been turned into garden.^ About 100 Dindori villages, formerly
paid a plough-cess, a pair of bullocks paying ten, fifteen, or twenty

cnltivators. By the mundbandi or kdsbandi system men are induced to fix to pacticalar
spots, and scope is allowed for the improvement of the farms or estates, whUe the
amelioration of the condition of the holders of snch lands goes hand in hand with the
more certain realization by Government of ita revenues.'

^ Captain Pottinger, 31st January aud 3l8t July 1822, East India Papen IV. 723,
724, 731, 732 ; and Mr. Harrison, 28th September 1836, Bom. Gov. &ev. Eec. 692 d
1836, 31-32.

' The hereditary district officers and village headmen, even where they hsd
preserved some old accounts, were at first very backward in producing them.
Latterly as they saw our actions agreed with our declarations, they did not hesitata
to show them. Captain Pot/tinger, 3l8t January 1822, East India Papers IV. 723-724.

s Captain Pottinger, Collector, 29th May 1821, Rev. Rec. 50 of 1822, 10(K

^ They were much the same as in Poena. * The rates of asseaunent vaiy in
different parts of Poena. In villages where hereditary ndrds land is found there is
commonly one uniform dor or rate for all lands. This rate is adapted to the di^ifeni
quidities of soil by assigning a larger or smaller quantity of land to the bigha, aooordisg
as the ground is bad or good. In some villages separate rates, supposed to be thoee
established by Malik Ambar, are fixed for each class of land. Little dependen<^ts to
be placed on the hdkamVs records or the traditions of the old rates, and those levied •
by the Maritha mdmUUddra have been variable. In the villages where hereditary or
mirds land is found, the holders usually apportion the land among themselves vriUi
reference to its known produce ; in other villages each holder pays according to »a
established classification. In some villages, under the mundbandi plan, thehuu] ii
divided into parcels, paying a mctkta or nxed rent, the data for whic^ are not now
known. When relinquished the parcels are rented out at or below the makta as miy
be offerid, or at an wtdva rising bv degrees to the full rent. In snch villages extia
assessments are levied on the holders in proportion to their respective rents* The
mund rent is considered permanent, and should not be exceeded ; to tenanta^t-sill
or uprU the rate is sometimes reduced. In a few villages each field pays a fiscd
rent and this method, which is the mundbandi plan more in detail, ia called tHa^*
Extract Revenue Letter from Bombay, 5th November 1823, East India Papers IIL
805 ; Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822 (Ed. 1877, 27) and in Bom. Gov. R«v. Ke<x 68
of 1823, 196.

■ Ext. Rer. Letter from Bombay, 5th Nov, 1823, East India Papers IIL 806,

DeccaA.]

AHMADNAGAE.

445

rapeea according to the quality of tlie Boil.^ For some time after
the British accession ia 1818^ no change was made in the higha
rates of assessment. There were no fewer than twenty-one btgha
rates for dry crops alone^ varying from 6d. to 4«. (Bs. i - 2) in
ordinary soils, and risiog as high as Qs. (Rs. 3) in the best soil.'
lu some cases the entire lands of a village were assessed at a
single all round bigha rate, inequalities being prevented by varying
the size of the bigha. Grarden crop rates varied from 28, 3(2. to 18^.
(Rs, 1 J - 9) the higfta? In the year following the introduction of
British rule, the total or kamdl assessment, which had long been
given up, was taken as the basis of the future revenue settlement^
and the village officers were required to give statements of the bigtia
rates leviable on each holding. As no authentic records of
revenue payments were available the Mardtha full or hamdl rental
was generally assumed as the maximum of assessment. Where
accounts of the Mar^tha fall rent were not forthcoming, the Collector
adopted the Muhammadan maximum or tankha as his standard.^

Regarding the adoption of these kamdl and tankha rentals,
Mr, Chaplin wrote on the 20th of August 1822 : 'In many parts of
Ahmadnagar, as in other districts, the rates of rent were undefined,
and attempts were made to adjust them with reference to the
supposed kamdl and tankha settlements. The principles on which
this adjustment was made have not been fully explained. They
were meant to produce a gradual rise of the revenue or jama and
were called istdva arrangements.' Mr. Chaplin doubted if these
rates would ever become fixed. They appeared to him to depend
more upon general assumed views olE former realizations than upon
any knowledge of the actual resources of cultivation.* A progressive
rise or istdva was granted to villages where the increase was
considerable and where it was evident that the people were unable
to pay the whole amount at once.* Great difficulties were
experienced in adjusting the rents with reference to any known
standard, as the great demand for labour had induced the Maritha
authorities to hold out unusual exemptions to the cultivators, and
the oldest rates of rent were reduced even to the mvrdsddra and
Btill more to others. When even these reduced rates were found

Chapter^VIIL

Thailand*

Thb BainsB.

Beoenue
SMementt
1818 '18B$.

j After the British accession the land was taxed by Captain Brigfls at a rate fixed
with reference to former payments. Mr. Chaplin, 20th Aug. 18227Ed. 1877, 27-28 ;
Bom.fiov. Rev. Rec. 68 of 1823, 196-197.
* * The bigha was an uncertain measure. It may roughly be taken at three-fourths
of an acre.

* Mr. Stack's British India Land Reyenue Settlement Memorandum (1880), 469 ;
Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822 (Ed. 1877, 81) ; Extract Revenue Letter from Bombay,
5th November 1823, East India Papers ni. 807.

* Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec 692 of 1836, 31-34. Few authentic records were procurable
and the rates finally adopted were in many cases arbitrary and probably of* larger
amonnt than had ever been actually in force. Bom. Gov. SeL CXXIII. 19.

' Mr. Chaplin's Report of 20th August 1822 para 24 (Ed. 1877, 10).

* Mr. Harrison, 28th September 1836, Bom, Gov. Rev. Rec. 692 of 1836, 32.
In cases in which the villages had become depopulated iatdpds were granted. The
Collector seems duly impressed with the conviction that any rapid attempt to raise
rente would have the effect of injuring rather than of improving the revenue. His
nioderate rate of assessment met with the approbation of the Commissioner. Extract
Reveaue Letter from Bombay, 27th November 1822, East India Papers III. 795.

[Bomtaj ChttvUeer.

446

DISTRICTS.

Chapter TUX.
The Land.

Ths Baitish.

Rtncnut
SetOement^
1818-1829.

to have prevailed for any coDsiderable period^ only a small increa^
was laid on, to be raised yearly till the rents shoold reach the old
kamdl standard.^

The chief changes introduced by Captain Pottinger in the Maritlui
revenae system were that revenae farming was abolished and «
settlement with individual landholders was made either by himself
or by his hamamaddrs in conjunction with the pdtils. The
legitimate authority of the pdtUs of villages was substituted for moch
arbitrary power. Captain Pottinger never allowed the rents of
deceased or deserted husbandmen to be levied on the village except
with his own sanction. He found that the only object of thede$hmukk$
and other hereditary officers was to mislead ana to plunder both tlie
Government and the landholders^ and he therefore acted as mnck
as possible without their help. He forbade^ under the severest
penalties, the levy of any kind of assessment beyond the amount
shown in the Government accounts. When the rent settlement or
jamdbandi was going forward^ he admitted all landholders into liia
office and made all arrangements public. When a landholder
represented to him that he was paying for more ground than he
tilled, his land was measured and either the rent was lowered or
the landholder was shown that he was not charged too much.'
Regular collections of rents were made directly from the landholders
instead of through the village moneylender. The landholder enjoyed
greater security of property, and he was not burthened with extra
or irregular cesses.^ The landholder received a paper or patta
defining his rent and obtained a receipt for all payments. If iQ
distress, he got an advance which had seldom been done by the
former government. He paid his instalments at regular periods in
any good coin he liked, without being compelled to discharge them
in a particular currency.^

Captain Pottinger's mode of settlement was as follows : About a
week before he expected to arrive at a sub-division, he sent orders
to the hamaviaddr to summon the village headmen and acoountautd,
and to obtain from them statements of the cultivation of their
villages. These cultivation statements were made out according to
a given form, and showed the increase and decrease of tillage with
the causes. On his arrival at a village, these statements were
submitted to the Collector through his head clerk or »^ira^^ec2af;
and inquiries were set on foot by sending clerks to the different
groups of villages to test the correctness of the returns. If the
returns were found to be correct, the paUa or lease was prepared/
and, where any difference was discovered, the required alterations
were made, and the headmen were occasionally fined or suspended

1 ISj^. Bev. Letter from Bombay, 27th No7. 1822, East India Papers IIL 795u

s Captain Pottinger, Slat January 1822, East India Papers IV. 720 - 721. Somo
of these rules were in force in particular places under the Mar&thiLs. But tiiey wrra
certainly not carried to the extent thev were in Captain Pottinger*s time, and tho
satisfaction and confidence of the smaller landholders was increased in proportion.

* One species of exaction was the seizing of provisions and forage i>y the public
officers for the use of themselves or of government, payment being postponed or vax^
usually neglected. Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822, El 1877, 63.

4 Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822, Ed. 1877, 63-64 ; and Extract Reveooe LotU^r
in»ir Bombay, 5th November 1823| East India Papers HI. 612.

Deocia^l

AHMADNAGAR.

447

for a tima These iiivestigations nsnally took eiglit or ten days,
whicK was the longest time a Collector conld spare to this portion
of his duties in any sub-division. The landholders of a certain
number of the nearest villages were then brought and an individual
or kuhd/r settlement was made. After this the papers or pattds were
publicly made over to the headmen and to the in^vidual landholders
and all were allowed to return to their homes. Each headman
famished an agreement binding himself to see the rent discharged
and each lan&older in like manner gave a ticket on which his
name was written and the amount he was to pay. In cases where
the kamdvisddra made the individual settlement,^ they first prepared
the leases and sent them to be sealed by the Collector. After this
they were sent back and distributed to the landholders whose
receipts were taken and recorded.^

Captain Pottinger abolished all sorts of restrictions as to the
period of removing and disposing of the crops. He was satisfied
that had he not done so there would have been heavy balances
outstanding against every sub-division in the coUectorate.' Under
the British the rent was paid in six instalments or kists. The
proportion the different instalments bore was out of a hundred, ten
parts in November, ten in December, and twenty in each of the four
months from January to April. About one-fifth of the revenue
^ usually unpaid on the 30th ApriL This indulgence, while
it made little difference to Government, was of the greatest
consequence to the landholders as it gave them time to pay the
last instalment without borrowing from moneylenders or sdvkd/rs.
Farther, the concession tended to the realization of the total revenue.
In no part of the country were the balances of the Qovemment dues
80 small as in Ahmadnagar. As regards the coin in which the
revenue was paid it was collected at certain fixed rates with
reference to the ankushi rupees.*

Like the Jcamcmsddrs of the late government, the British
m&mlatd&rs had the general superintendence of village expenses.

^ The Collector and his assistant conld not in person give a lease to every land-
holder. The duty, therefore, chiefly devolved on the kamdviaddr assisted by the
V^iL The number of individual agreements issued by the CoUoctor and his assistant
in 1820-21, and of those sent for their seal and signature from the sub-divisions, was
•cjit 25.000. East India Papers IV. 738.

J CapUin Pottinger, 31st Jan. and July 1822, East India Papers IV. 722, 738-739.
^^ Ufider the Mar&this, when the early crop or tuadr was ready, a rough estimate
^^u framed of the area under pulse, and a portion of the revenue was coUected
^'^'i^ponding to the estimated area. The same was done with the middle or khar\f
^ps and the revenue settlement or jamdbandi of the season was completed. When
•ae late or rdU crops were ripe or nearly ripe it was usual to place a thdpU or cow-
^Q&ff and day seal on the stiMsks of gram after they were placed in the farmyard
k'm^' produce was not allowed to be removed till the headman and land-

boldera had become responsible for the village rent. In some cases the secufity of

.^. P^plo of a neighbouring Tillage was required. This procedure was attended
^th the most serious loss to the landholders, who sometimes missed the best
opportunity for jeUing their crops. Captain Pottinger, 31st July 1822, East India

Captain Pottinger fixed these rates after careful inquiry. He never had a complaint
u k *^^^^> '^^ ^ * proof that Government did not suffer, several Ahmadnagar
^^en offered to take tne revenue a§ it came in, and to pay an equal amount of
«n«uiAi npeea into the treaeoiy. East India Papers IV. 748 - 749.

dutptorVni.
The Land*

Thk BarnsH.

Revenue
'SeUlementt

[BomlMy Qanttetf.

448

DISTRICTS.

»_

CSiapter Vm.
The Land.

The British.

Fevenve
Settlement,
1818 -ISgS.

At the close of the year the village headman and acconntant trere
expected to show how the snm assigned for village expenses had
been spent. Captain Pottinger held that^ so long as the total
amount was fixed^ headmen should be allowed considerable freedom
in the matter of village expenses. Village expenses were allotted
at the rate of six per cent of the village rental, and wherever
Captain Pottinger discovered that the sum had been exceeded,
either under the name of village expenses or under any other
name, he forced the headman and accountant to refnnd the
amount. When he had spent more than the proper amotint the
headman had always some excuse ready. A well had been dug or a
cistern had beeu built for the general good, or the gate or wall of
the village had been repaired. Captain Pottinger never met with any
instance of a cess being levied by the pdtila unknown to him in
which they had not made away with the amount for their private
use. He had therefore less compunction in forcing them to paj
back what they had levied, and they all understood tiie penally thej
incurred if detected. The amount fixed for village expenses he
considered ample for every purpose and he thought that it would
not long be necessary to continue it at so high a rate. Still as it was
reduced to at least one-half what it had been under the Mardthis, it
aeemed to him politic not to lower it further for a time.^

Non-hereditary holders or upris had full liberty to throw up their
land. But if a landholder was angry and they thought it likely
that he might throw up his land the mdmlatddr and village headman
did what they could to induce him to stay.' Captain PottiDger
established the rule that all who chose to settle under the British
were to be allowed to come and were to be treated in every respect
as the old residents. He refused to sanction any force being used
to oblige them to return to their former habitations ; if they could
be persuaded to go back he made no objection. So also he forbade
all attempt to keep back any British subjects who wished to move
into the territories of other powers. This rule remained a dead-
letter as no cases occurred of English cultivators wishing to settle
in other districts.'

Lands that had long lain waste were given for tillage on leaaes
varying from four to eight years, according to the time the land
had been out of tillage. For the first few years thev were charged
a nominal rent rising towards the close of the period to the fall
assessment At the end of the lease or haul the full assessment,
together with extra cesses, W8^ generally levied^ but in some cases
the extra cesses were withheld till long after. Fallow lands over-
grown with brushwood were exempted from rent for one or hro

1 Captain Pottinger, Slat July 1822, Eaat India Papers IV. 761-752.

* Captain Pottinger laid down this principle the first year alter he came. He
constantly found l£at when a landholder was inclined to be troublesome, or vb^
his crops did not fulfil his hopes, he used to say he had been forced to till his lso<L
As soon as it was left optional such complaints ceased. During the best periods of
the Mardtha rule Captam Pottinger found that the plan was exactly the sanie, Iml,
he adds, ' in those days the Umd was too valuable and scarce to be thrown u^ fruin
any petty pique or annoyance.' Captain Pottinger, 1822, Bast India Papcn FV . 7^

* Captain Pottinger, 3l8t January 1822, East India Papers lY. 724.

Oeoeuul

AHMADNAGAR.

440

years* When waste land was tamed into garden land^ five years of
gpradually rising rents were generally allowed.^

No non-hereditary or upri holder, whether he held for a year or
on a lease for a term of years, was forced to keep his land when he
^as anxious to give it up. At the same time he was never allowed
to give up land that was covered with brushwood. At the close of
a lease the non-hereditary holder was seldom able to keep his
holding. This was due to the jealousy of the head of the village
who feared that by makincf improvements the non-hereditary holder
might gain hereditary ri|hts The headman was also anxioas to
got new holders for the lands held by upris on the expiry of the
lease, in the hope that he might indirectly gain the mirds rights for
himself. The village authorities put every difficulty in the way of
non-hereditary holders and discouraged improvements.^ For this
reason Captain Pottinger took the power of granting leases from the
village authorities and gave it to the m4mlatdiLrs.'

In' the arrangements for granting leases on rising or istdva rents
Mr. Chaplin found several defects. He thought that the conditions
of the lease did not ensure the headman's granting waste lands
according to fixed rules. The people were not secure from
exactions ; nor was there any provision to enable the Collector to
ascertain what leases were granted and how far their provisions
wore carried out In some places the settlement was made on a
lease not conformable to the regular rules. The term of reduced
rental varied from three to seven years. The lease laid down a loose
classification and assessment of the land, in conformity to which the
heads of villages agreed to pay the increase. But the system accorded
neither with a village lease nor with an individual or personal
settlement; and the rules were indefinite and vagua The system failed
either to secure the husbandman against exactions or the Government
against misappropriation. In the villages subsequently transferred
from Ahmadnagar to Poena leases had been granted to the heads
of villages and could not be superseded without breach of faith.
Besides there were several conditions in the leases which were often
abused, sometimes to the injury of the husbandman and sometimes to
the injury of Government Though the rent of hereditary or mirds
land should strictly be unvarying, hereditary land was occasionally
granted on leases with rising rentals. Considering these defects,
Mr. Chaplin proposed the following changes in the provisions for the
graftt of leases on rising rentals : That in all istdvds or leases on rising
rent there ought to be a clause binding the renter to keep separate
registers of the fields for which the holders paid the full rent and of
those which were to be held on leases or kauls. That the distinction
between these two classes of fields should be marked in the land-
holders* deeds or rayatvdr pattds. That in enumerating the
fields held on lease or kaul, their area in bighds and the amount of
rent to- be paid till the expiry of the lease should be specified.

Chapter VIII.
• The Land.

The Bbftish.

Rtventie
SeUlemetUf
1818 'ISBH,

> Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822, para 96, Ed. 1877, 29. Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIII.
22. « Mr. Chaplin, 2Dth August 1822, Ed. 1877, 30.

* CSaptaiii Pottinger, 1822, East India Papers IV. 740, 744.

B 772- 67

[Bombay Oasettcer-

450

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YIII.
- The Land.

The British.

Survey,
1825^1828.

AUena;^o/n»^

1818- 18196.

And that registers of all individaal leases sbonld be kept and
famislied to the head-quarters or h'izur Jeach^ and all changes
should be noted at the time of settlement.^

Among the earliest measures suggested to acquire a better
knowledge of the country was a survey.* The survey known as the
old Deccan survey was introduced into part of Ahmadnagar
between 1825 and 1828, but the measurements and classifications
then made were never put to any use.^

The amount of alienated or indm land in Ahmadnagar was small.
Up to 1822 there was no special inquiry. The Collector during
his tour examined recent alleged grants. Many were found to h)
invalid, but he believed that few false alienations had escaped notice.*

Under the Peshwds many cesses had been added to the original
assessment. These cesses, of which a list is given in a footnote,
were levied both on hereditary and on non-hereditary landholders.
All of these cesses were not levied from any one village, bat there
was no village that had not to pay several of them. Under the
British the most oppressive were abolished and the rest continued.^
In 1822, thirty-six cesses were levied from the holders of lanJ,
some of which were collected from the land, some from the village,
and some from the landholder. Under the British most of these
cesses were paid in cash instead of in kind.*

^ Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822, Ed. 1877, 10-11.

* In 1821 (October 1), Captain Pottinger obserred, 'Some of the arraDgemesitj
proposed b^ Mr. Crawford can be brought about only very progressively and pcrfa»t«
cannot be introduced till the whole country is surveyed, measured, an<l the groand
classed according to the plan adopted in the ceded districts.' Bom. Qov. Rev. fi«c.
47 of 1822. 257.

> Mr. Stack's British India Land Revenue Settlement Memorandum (1880), 4C9.
East India Papers III. 813.
« Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822, Ed. 1877, 66.

* Mr. Chajplin, 20th August 1822, Ed. 1877, 24.

* These thirty-six cesses were : (1) gdUapaUi or hharedi galla, that is grain Ukni
from the husbandmen at less than the market price for the supply of forts or of the
government horse ; (2) kadba, originally straw levied as forage : this cess or bdl'
was (1826) found only in the sub-divisions of Nagar Karda and Sangamncr, an<i
amounted to Rs. 1997 ; (3) ambddi^ originally horse-ropes, amounted in 1826 b^ Ha. I^
in Nagar, Hs. 43 in Karda, and Rs. 41 in Sinnar, or Bs. 100 in all ; (4) gaval hUtih
originally cut grass for the ffovemment cattle and horse, amounted in 1820 to Bs. 13fi9
in Nagar, Rs. 1699 in Ch^dor, Rs. 356 in Karda. Rs. 60 in Sangamner, Bs. 670 io
Akola, Rs. 4 in Nev&sa, Rs. 100 in Sinnar, and Rs. 308 in P4toda, or Rs. 4466 in &U ;
(5) kharch poUti, a money cess to meet village expenses, amounted in 1626 to Ba. 2)^7
in NAsik, Rs. 7749 in Ch&ndor, Rs. 47 in Dindori, Rs. 230 in Nagar, Rs. m in
Karda, Rs. 99 in A^ola, and Rs. 428 in Nevdsa^ or Rs. 30,476 in all ; (6) lU sankrdntr
an offering at the sankrdnt (January 12th) originally in sesame seed, amounted to
Rs. 29 in Kumbh&ri and Rs. 10 in Nagar ; (7) charnu joda, originally a pair of sboen
taken from the Ch^mbhiir, afterwards a money claim on landholders ; (8) basdr batta
and (9) ahirasta batta, exchange on coins ; the shirasta baUa was in Nagar at two so<i
threeper cent Rs. 2139, in Pdrner at three per cent Rs. 2166, in Karda at three per
cent Rs» 202, in Kotul at two per cent Rs. 291, and in Nteik at one per cent Rs. 13^7.
total Rs. 61&4 ; (10) tup patH, originally a levy of clarified butter, amounted in 1826 to
Rs.876; {\l)gurhdl paUi, originally a levy of unrefined sugar, chiefly in Pdmer amountal
to Rs. 70 ; (12) kulkami muendhira, originally a claim of the kufkamis ; (13) ptin tattoo,
a particular leaf used in thatching; (14) sut, originally horse ropps; (16) ghugritsid
Jiavdlddri, the threshing floor watcher's cess, amounted to Rs. 22,908, Ba. 17,797 bein^
on account of ghugri and Rs. 6111 of havdJddri or charge; (16) dasara bhei or davini
bakra, originally a goat sacrificed on Dasara Day (September- October), amounted iu
1826 to Bs. 146 m Akola, Rs. 144 in Sinnar, and Rs. 69 in Kumbhiri, or Ra. ^9 in aU :
(17) rnirde paUi, an irregular cess levied once in three years on mh^Mdr^ in t&e Jnuo^

Deooaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

451

Besides ceases levied from landholders, some nou-agricoltaral or
professional taxes were broaght under sdyar or miscellaneous revenue.
Of these the chief was the nwhtarfa, which included house and shop
tazes^ loom taxes, taxes on traders, taxes on professions, and a house*
tax collected from a few landholders. The Ahmadnagar traders
had little to complain of in the matter of taxation. The taxes were
lighter than either in Poona or in Eh^ndesh, and the traders were
much better off than in Dh&rwdr.^ The traders were divided
into several classes and the different persons in each class were
assessed at a very arbitrary estimate of their wealth. The highest

Eayment made by moneylenders or sdvkdrs was £4 (Rs. 40) a year>
y moneychangers or shroffs about £3 ISa. (Bs. 39) ', by first class
grocers £5 (lU. 50); by grain-dealers 68. to £3 (Rs. 3-30); by
petty moneychangers and the sellers of vegetables fruit and tobacco,
^ a. or a half-penny a day. This last was the heaviest compared
with the profits. All of the others, though irregular, were light. A
great objection to the system was that many wealthy traders paid
nothing. The cesses on craftsmen varied from 2^. to £3 (Bs. 1 - 30)
a year. They were very unequal and were lighter in the country
than in large towns. Some craftsmen were exempted on the ground
that they worked for government.'

CSiapter VIII.
The Land*

The. BamsH.
Cesaes,

villager transferred to Ahmadnagar; (18) 6^^ originally a present at the time ol
fixing the rental; (19) bdr paUi ; (^) ghugrit originally a trifling cess in grain belonging'
to the pdtU; (21) mdl hdtni, orixrinaUy a fine of "Re.! for leave to cut the crops,
amounted in 1826 to Rs. 60 in .^ola, Bs. 49 in Sinnar, and Bs. 29 in Knmbh^, or
Ba.138 in all ; {22) j^.ndval, originally a cess in green jvdrt for horses in theNagar sub*
division, amounted in 1826 to &. 5 ; (23) halad patti, a tax on the growth of tannerio:
(24) katta pdyli, an undefined impost in ^rain; (25) kurda, originally a present of toasted
earsof corn; (26) iabarrak paUi, a cess paid by an endowed Munammadan; (27) rut khor, a
CtiS9 collected from the village ofDevi Bhoyra on account of charcoal, formerly supplied
by it for the manufacture ofgunpowder, when the village was assigned to tne arsenal
or tofkhdna : in 1826 it amounted to Bs. 16 ; the Collector remarks (1826), ' this appears
to be an extra assessment on this village and on that ground might be remitted '^
(28) kharedi iota, this cess was on account of supplies of fine rice in kind, which
villages were obliged to make at lower than the bazdr rates and in oases where the
rice was not supplied this difference of price was exacted, from Nagar B8.15 and
Akola mahdl B«, 111, total 126 ; the CoUector remarks (1826) ' the amount of this ces»
should be transferred to the revenue, and not kept as a separate item in the accounts^
the rice assessed is particularly fine'; (29) mil sevta, cotton thread supplied by Devi
Bboyra gratis for the purpose of making matches while the village was under the-
arsenal or tofkMna ; the amount was only Bs 7 and the Collector thought it might
be remitted ; (30) Lakahimi Ndrdyon pcUti, this was a cess collected for this temple,
and as the allowance was (1826) paid from the treasury, the cess was (1826) credited
t^) G^emment ; (31) guru vanckardif this was a collection from strangers who grazed
cattle in Karda, which paid Bs. 27, and in Akola which paid fts. 4, total Bs. 31 ;
(32) moidhi vanchardi, this was a similar collection from sheep and goats, it was
generally farmed and amounted to Bs. 8500 ; (33) indm ehUndval, this was a cess
from indmddrs according to an established rate, Ahmadnagar Bs. 917, Karda Bs. lO^.
Akola Bs. 16, Nevdsa Bs. 110, NAsik Bs. 40, total Bs. 1093 ; (34) Mhdr hadoia, this
was an old established cess on indma held by Mhdrs at different rates on the chdhur
of 120 biyhds ; it amounted to the following sums : Ahmadnagar Bs. 1395f Karda
Rs 1757, Sangamner Bs. 2125, Akola Bs. 1477, Nevisa Bs. 1,439, NAsik Bs. 4495,
Sianar Bs. 1668, Chindor Bs. 1767, Pitoda Bs. 1522, Dindori Bs. 1989, total
Rs. 19,634; (35) HfUavctUi, this was a cess on land held on condition of drawing;
water for the village cattle in Nev^sa ; it amounted to Ba 4 ; (36) mohoruna, which
was similar to indm diUndval in Saogamner, amounted to Bs. 241. Mr. Chaplin^
20th August 1822 (Ed. 1877, 141-142), and CoUector, 28th September 1826.

I Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822, Ed. 1877, 54-55.

3 Ext. Bev. Letter frcKD Bombay, 5th November 1823, East India Papers III. 8ia

The British.
1818' 18$2.

[Bomlttj OaMtteer.
452 DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII. The establieliment of order^ the freeing of kndholders from

The Land, dependence on village headmen and on fiureties, the aettlement of

what they had to pay to the State, the limiting of the rent cfaaiye
to the lands actually under tillage, the gradual increaee of the area
of land which paid leas than the full rental, and the very liberal
terms on which waste lands were granted for tillage, caused a
sudden change in the state of the district. The effect of these
changes was increased by good harvests and by the continuance of
high grain prices. The discharged soldiery and fort guards all
turned husbandmen, and numbers flocked into Ahmadnagar from
the NizAm's territory. The people were suddenly raised from the
abject poverty and degradation to which they had been reduced by
the mismanagement of Bajir^v and his officers.^ Transfers of vill^w
from and to Poena and the Nizdm's territories prevent an ei^sxX
comparison. Still the startling rapidity of the change is shown by the
fact that therent settlement or ya7it46anr2i showed a rise from £200,761
(Rs. 20,07,640) in 1818-19 to £254,784 (Rs. 25,47.840) in 1819-20,
an increase of £54,020 (Rs. 5,40,200) or twenty-seven per cent. In the
CoUector'a opinion this increase did not fall heavily on the people,
because they had been assessed at specially low rates in the precedin&r
season on the understanding that there was to be a gradual yearly
increase till what was consideredthef uU rental was reached.^ Thenext
year (1820-21) was not so prosperous. The land revenue fell from
£182,443 to £163,570 (Rs.l8,24,480-Rs.l6,35,700), a fall of £18,873
(Rs. 1,88,730) or ten per cent. This was partly due to the transfer
of Shivner or Junnar and Inddpur to Poona. But there was another
cause, a terrible outbreak of cholera, which seriously reduced the
number of the people.' In spite of this severe outbreak of diseaj??,
within three years (1818-21) of the establishment of British power
about 390,000 btghds of waste were brought under tillage. Many places
which had been covered by almost impassable brushwood bad rich cropa
of wheat and grain.^ In the beginning of 1822, Captain Pottingrr

1 On the 3l8t of January 1822 Captain Pottinger wrote: ' The state of this distrid
exceeds in every desirable circumstance all that my most sanguine expectations hsA
formed a hope of seeing effected in the time that has elapsed since I had the honour
to be placed in charge of it. This'I chiefly attribute to the system which has been
actcil on and the libKeral and conciliatory policy tliat has been authorised, as aJ«>
partly to the naturally quiet disposition of the great body of our new subjecte, U*
the high opinion they had formed, even before they came under our antfaoritv, of
our foresight and enlarged views, and to the abject state of poverty and d<^raAtiun ^
to which, as a nation, they bad been reduced by the mismanagement of the Peshw»
B&jirdv and his officers.* East India Papers IV. 727.

' Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 50 of 1822, 163, 167, 170. Regarduig this increase of nvenne
Goyernmiant observed : * We should have felt some uneasiness regarding the meaitf hj
which the extensive and sudden increase of about Rs. 6,00,000 hkd be^ obtained but
for the conviction expressed by the Collector of the inexpediency of hastily raising the
revenue. We suggested however to the Commissioner to direct his attention ou his
intended tour to the discovering of any excess of assessment which might have «scaw<l
the notice of the Collector.* Extract Revenue Letter from Bombay, 27th Nowinoer
1822, East India Papers in. 795.

' Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 47 of 1822, 29. ' I am grieved to observe that the chnlei*
has thrown back the number of the people.' Collector, 3rd January 1822, in AhnuiJ-
nagar Collector's Outward File 10 (1821-22).

^Tho Collector, Captain Pottinger, writes (3rd January 1822): 'The tacitDmcflt
which this fact must give to tlie agricultural exertions of tiie people may easily be
conceived when it is recollected that they hold this land for the proseat year.

Thb Britibh.

AHMADNAGAR. 468

wrote, ' If it bad not been for the cholera the change would have Chagt^r VIII

been quite snpprising/ During the first year the whole of the great Theltiaad^

area of freshly tilled land was held free of rent, and the full rental

would not be levied for five or six years. Along with the spread of

tillage and the increase in the rental, the state of the husbandmen

was improving. The Kunbis were gradually freeing themselves from

their embarrassments with moneylenders and the number of suits for

debt had greatly fallen.^ Want of rain at the close of 1821 (1820 7)

(November-December) caused a failure in the late or rahi crop, and

considerable remissions were granted.^ The rainy season of 1821

(June to October) was favourable, and except in Kumbhdri, Rorh^la^

Rahnri, and BeMpur, where the fall was short and largo remissions

(£1900) were granted^ the crops were fine. On the whole, 1821-22

was a prosperous year. Grain prices were still fairly high. The

labour and capital of the country were strained to the utmost.' The

area of waste land brought under tillage had risen to 500,000 bighds ;

nineteen villages had been repeopled j all the disbanded soldiery

had become husbandmen and numbers had come from the

neighbouring NizAm and Sindia villages.* During the four years

ending 1821-22 the Collector met with no important difficulty in

realizing the revenue. In no case where the cultivator was present

was distraint necessary.^ This was partly due to Captain Pottinger's

leniency in not pressing for payment as soon as the instalment fell

due. To force payment of the instalments as soon as they fell due

would have driven the people to the moneylender and they would

have been impoverished by the extortion of a rapacious and usurious

>>eiiig the first year, free of rent and that in aome diatricts they will not be oalled on
to pay the full amount of rent for five or even for aix Beaaons more. It ia a highly
pleasing reflection that by this great encouragement, while we are bettering the
circumstanoea of thouaancfa of our distreaaed and impoverished aubjecta, the reaonroea
of the country and the juat duea of Government are improving and increaaing as
rapidly as the moat aanguine expectations could have lookea for.* Collector'a Outward
Pile 10 (1821-22).

^ Captain Pottinger thought (East India Papera IV. 724) that the cauae of the fall
in the number of auita for debt waa that the partiea had begun to aee the wiadom of
coming to terms without ^oing to court. Mr. Chaplin (2Cth Auguat 1822, Ed. 1877,
105) thought Captain Pottmger'a view a little highly coloured, m hia opinion money-
lenders had oeaaed to preaa their claims becauae many of them had been declared
inadmissible.

2 fix. Rev. Letter from Bombay 27th Nov. 1822, Eaat India Papera III. 796.

s Mr. Lnmsden, Collector, 14th March 1828, Rev. Rec. 207 of 1828, 506.

«C&ptatn Pottinger, Slat January and Slat July 1822, East India Papers IV.
724, 726, 744; Mr. Chaplin, 2ath August 1822 (Ed. 1877, 107). The Niztei waa
forced to grant his people easier renta and win them back by the offer of leases (Mr.
Chaplin). On the 31st of January 1822, Captain Pottinger wrote : ' The tillage of waste
is augmenting every month. In the two districts received (1820-21) from uie NizAm,
the cjuantity of ground alreadjr ploughed exceeds 30,()00 Mghds, I am at present
making arrangements for classing and fixing the rent of all that Was formerhr under
cultivation, aa well as that which has been recently tilled or remains to be tilled.*
East India Papers IV. 724.

* * It is frequently requisite to write to the mAmlatdirs strong injunctions and eron
to stop their pay and threaten them with dismissal if they do not send in the reve-
nue in proper time. Beyond this I have not had occasion to go. In 1821-22, a land-
holder absconded with rent unpcud. As he had a large stock of cattle which he left
with his son, I ordered the mdmlatddr to have as many of the bullocks sold as would
disohaigis the Government dues. The pdUls and others of the village bought in the
cattle for the bov, and the absentee afterwards returned to his house.' Capt,
Pottinger, 3Ut July 1822, East India Papers IV. 730-731.

f Bomlay Ottuttoart

454

DISTRICTS.

Chaptw^VUI.
The Land.

TheBrxtish.

18Si8'18£5,

M^w&ri.^ About one-fifth of the settlement remained to be annu*
allj collected at the close ' of the official year of aocounte. The
balances doe up to the 80th of April 1822 for 1820-21 {Fadi 1230]
were £80 (Us. 800) on account of land reyenue and £6G(Ki
(Bs. 66,660) on account of customs revenue, and for 1821-22
{Fasli 1231) £40,785 (Rs. 4,07,850) on account of land reyenae and
£13,286 (Rs. 1,32,360) on account of customs reyenua^

With 1821 -22 the period of rapid progress came to a dosa
Over a great part of the country similar causes had produced the
same effects as in Ahmadnagar. ' Settled government and the
disbandment of troops had thrown on the land large bodies of
people who had formerly been otherwise employed. None of them
were men of capital. They grew only the commonest crops. There
was no demand for the produce and the grain could not be stored as
it had to be sold to pay the money rental. The effect was disastrons.
If the harvest was good grain had little or no value, and the people
had to dispose of the whole crop to the moneylender or grain-
dealer to meet the Grovemment rent. If a failure of crops followed
the landholders benefited nothing by the rise in prices as all the
stores were in the moneylenders' and grain-dealers* hands. The
effect of the fine harvest of 1821 was not noticed till the close of the
year. Then, on the 31st of July 1822, Capt. Pottinger warned Govern-
ment that grain was becoming so cheap that he feared there would
be great difficulty in realising the revenue. So plentiful was grain
that landholders found it difficult, almost impossible, to sell their pro-
duce.^ The fall in prices was unprecedented. Indian millet oTJvdri,
the staple grain' of the district, fell from thirty to ninety shers the
rupee. A fine cold- weather harvest affected pulse as well as grain.*
This fall in the price of field produce was followed by a shrinking
in the tillage area from highds 2,154,396 inl821-22to bighdsl, 98\,IhI
in 1822-23; by a fall in gross revenue from £235,053 (Rs. 23,60,530)
in 1821-22 to £220,359 (Rs. 22,03,690) in 1822-23; and by a rise in
remissions from £9742 to £29,640 (Rs. 97,420 - Rs. 2,96,400).« The
plenty of 1821 and 1822 was followed by two years of scarcity,* In
1823-24 the rainfall was short and the harvest was poor; 1824-25
was worse. The failure of rain was so complete that in Sep-
tember Captain Pottinger spent £20 (Rs. 200) in performing

1 Captain PottiiMr, Slat July 1S22, East India Papers IV. 731. *

' These outstanriungs were chiefly due to the ravages of cholera. The rest wtt ^
partly owing to the return to their homes of people who had come from other
parts of the country. Captain Pottinger, 31st July 1822, East India Papen IV.
729.

3 Captain Pottinger, 31st July 1822, East India Papers IV. 730.

« Mr. Chaplin, 20th August 1822 (Kd. 1877,61); the CoUector, 5th December
1822 ; Mr. Harrison, 28th September 1836 in Bom. Gov. Rev. Bee. 692 of 1836, 85-37.
Jvdri fell from thirty-four ehersihe rupee in 1818 to about ninety in November 1822;
bdjrl from twenty-five to about seventy ; wheat from twenty -five to about thirtTothret
and gram from twenty-four to about thirty. Collector, 5th December 1822 ana Bonu
Gov. Rev. Rec. 17 part 1 of 1856, 200. In December 1822 the prospeota of a ltfg«
cold- weather crop brought gram down from thirty-two to forty sKera, Collector, 5u
December 1822.

s Mr. Lumsden, 14th March 1828, Bom. Gov. Bev. Bee. 207 of 1828, 603-505.

« Mr. Harrison, 28th September 1836, Bom. Gov. Bev.Bec. 692 of 1836, 37 -38.

Deccan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

455

oeremonies to soothe the people who were in great alarm. The
tillage area fell from about Hghda2,000fi00 in 1822-23 to about bighds
1,600,000 in 1823-24; the gross revenue fell from about £220,000 to
£197,500 ; and remissions rose from £30,000 to£38,000. In 1824-25
the tillage area rose slightly, but remissions reached the large
amount of £102,000, and the rerenue fell to about £196,000.^ The
failure of the 1824 rains caused great distress. Nunibers of cattle
died and many people went with their cattle to the Nizam's country
where the 6iilure of rain had been less complete. The rains of
1825 did not set in till the 25th of August. Many landholders did
not return before that time. But the failure of rain the preceding
year had been so complete that the fields remained as they were
after the 1824 ploughing. When the people came the fields were
ready to be sown. In spite of the serious loss of cattle the tillage
area spread from about bighds 1,586,000 to 1,855,000, the gross
revenue rose from about £196,000 to £210,000, and remissions fell
from £102,000 to £20,000.* The good harvest of 1825 was followed
by a fall in prices from an average of twenty-eight and a half shers
the rupee in 1821-1825 to forty-eight shers in 1826,^ and this fall
in prices caused in 1826 a shrinkage of tillage to 1,804,000 bighds
and a rise in remissions to about £25,000 (Bs. 2,50,000).^

In December 1826, Mr. Dunlop, who came to the district in
March 1825, wrote that as far as he was able to judge the people
were better oGE than in the Konkan but not nearly so well off as in
Qnjar&t. The soil seemed poor and the climate uncertain; the

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

Thb British.

28IS5'18S7.

1 Mr. Lamsden, 14th March 1828, Bom. Gov. Bev. Rec. 207 of 1828, 603-605. The
details were : 1822-23, tillage bighda 1,981,182, remiBsions Rs. 2,96,403, gross revenve
Rs. 22,03,591 ; 1823-24, tiUage bighds 1,580,801, remissions Rs. 3,82,490, revenue
Rs. 19,76,512 ; 1824-25, tillage bighda 1,586,762, remissions Rs. 10,23,253, revenue
Rs, 19,63,270. I

* Mr. Dunlop, Collector, 8th December 1826, Bom. Gov. Rev. Reo. 156 of 1827,
1 .2. The details were : 1825-26, tillage bighda 1,855,393, gross revenue Rs. 21,00,310,
remissions Rs. 2,13,308. Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 207 of 1828, 503-505.

'The Binajvdri prices were, 1806 -1810, twenty-eight and a half ahera the rupee ;
1811-1815, twenty-seven and a half «Aera; 1816-1820, sixteen «A«r« ; 1821-1825, twenty-
eight and a half ahera ; and part of 1826, forty-eight a?iera. The two common com-
plaints of the cultivators were ' bad crops or low prices.' Mr. Lumsden, Collector,
14th March 1828, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 207 of 1828, 572-573.

«The details were : 1826-27, tillage bighda 1,803.927, g^roes revenue Rs. 22,00,676,
remissions Rs. 2,40^017. For the thirteen sub-divisions, Ahmadnagar, Karda,
Sangamner, Akola, KeviLsa, NMk, Sinnar, Chdndor, Pdtoda, Vani-Dindori, B&ni,
Kanildla, and Korti, the total gross revenue including all hea^ of revenue and
excluding extra revenue during the six years ending 1826-27 {FaaU 1236) was :

Ahmcuinagar Bewenuet 1891 - 1897.

Tub.

TlUsge.

Groes
Beveoue.

Bemisrions.

1821-22 ...
1822-28 ...
1823-24 ...
1824.26
1825-20 ...

isaft-ar ...

Bighda,
2,1M,896
1,981,182
1,580,801
1,586,762
1.865,898
1,803,027

Rf.

28,60.681
22,08,691
1»,7«>,612
19,68,270
21,00.810
22,00,676

Rs.

97.428
2,06,403
8.82,490
10,28,258
2,18,308
2,49,017

Mr. Lumsden, CoUeotor, 14th March 1828, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 207 of 1828,
U03-505.

[Bombay Oasetteer.

456

DISTRICTS.

Chapter V III.
The Land-

The Bbttish.

1826 -lats.

Village AceomUt,
18»6'1828,

Revenue System,
1828.

namber of bad seasons remembered by the people was mncb
greater than eifcher in Oujardt or in the Konkan. The peoplo
struck him as curiously averse from mercantile pursuits. Almost
the only moneylenders and shopkeepers were foreigners, M&rwarU
or Gujar&tis. These men came as needy adyentnrers, usually
beginning as servants to one of their countrymen. They soon set op
for themselves and in a few years went back to their country to got
married in very different circumstances from those in which thej
left their homes. Some were satisfied with little and stayed but a
short time. But many returned and settled in the Deccan where,
Mr. Dunlop expected^ they would soon form a numerous bodyJ
Mr. Dunlop saw no reason to expect any improvement in the
state of the people. Almost all were husbandmen. There was
no local demand sufficient to dispose of the produce of a good or
even of a fair harvest and the distance from water-carriage and
from markets rendered the surplus grain of little value. Some
good, he thought, might be done by encouraging horse-breeding.^
Poverty was the gi*eat evil. The people were too poor to grow
anything but the cheapest grains. These in reasons of pleutj
were almost valueless, and the landholders had to go to tbo
moneylender or the grain-merchant in order that the rent might bo
paid in money. When a failure of rain came they had no stores
and gained nothing by the rise in prices. Either way there w^
trouble, the crops were bad or the prices were bad.' The poverty
of the people was not without some advantages. Unlike tho
Gujar&t cultivators, the Deccan Kunbis were nearly free from tho
folly of contracting debts on the occasions of marriages and deaths.
Their feast expenses were moderate and to a gresft extent were met
by the presents made by the guests. The Nagar peasants wero
also strictly sober and free from the consequences of debauchery
which were so injurious to the lower castes of Hindus on the coast.
The climate was healthy and there was little danger to life or
property either from wild beasts or from gang robbers.*

A system of village accounts was introduced by Mr. Dunlop ia
1S25. It was sanctioned in 1825, and in 1828 had proved a useful
reform.*^

In November 1828 the Collector, Mr. Boyd, furnished Government
with a detailed statistical account of the district and of the revenuo
system. The Ahmadnagar Collectorate stretched from Vani-
Dindori to Btrsi, a distance of 225 miles, with a breadth va^yin^.
from sixty to 125 miles. The district was bounded on tho north by
the Ch&ndor range, on the east by the Niz&m's territories, on tho
south by the Niz&m's territories and the Poena collectorate, and od
the west by the Poena collectorate and the Sahy^ri hills. It was
divid&d into thirteen revenue divisions each under an officer styled

1 Mr. Dunlop, CoUeotor, Sth Dec. 1826, Bom. Got. Rev. Bee. 156 of 1S27, 23 2M.
■Mr. Dnnlop, Sth December 1826, Bom. Gov. Rev. Bee. 156 of 1827, 16.
' Mr. Lumsden, 14th March 1828, Bom. Gov. Rev. Bee. 207 of 1828, 673.
«Mr. Lumsden, 14ih March 1828, Bom. Gov. Bev. Bee. 207 of 1828; ;>65-666.
^Mr. Dunlop, Sth December 1826, Bom. Gov. Bev. Bee. 150 of 1827,3; Mr.
Lumsden, 14th March 1828, Bev. Bee. 207 of 1828, 563. Bom. Gov. SeL VI. 53.

AHMADNAQAR. 457

Jcamdviadd/r or mdmlatddr. Of these the divisions of Nisik, Vani- Chapter VIII.

Dindori, Chandor, Sinnar, PStoda, NevAsa, Sangamner, B^rsi, and TheLand.

KorM were on tie whole level ; while Ahmadnagar^ KarmSla,

Karda^ and Akola were hilly. There were three leading varieties ^' Beitish.

of soil, bladk kali, whitish maul{t), and stony barad. Watered lands, Revenw^sUm^

both black and white, yielded sngarcane, groundnuts, red pepper,

wheat, gram, turmeric, and vegetables. Dry black land was sown

with wheat, gram, Indian millet, and oil-plants. Dry white land

produced hajri, jvdri, pulse, and a variety of small grains. The

stony land was similar to the white land but very rocky and hilly ;

it gave the same crops of a poorer quality. In Sinnar, Akola,

and Ndaik, a good deal of rice was grown especially in the villages

near the Sahy&dri hills. The harvest began in September and

ended about March. It contained three divisions, an early crop

known as tusdr, a middle crop known as kharif, and a late crop

known as rabi. The early or tusdr crop was sown in June and

reaped in September; it chiefly consisted of pulse, mug and udid,

and millet. The middle crop or kharif was sown in July and

August and reaped in October and November ; like the early crop

it chiefly consisted of millet and pulse. The late crop or rabi was

Bown in September and October and reaped in February and March.

This crop included wheat, gram, jvdri, and oil-plants.

The cultivating classes were Mar^tha Kunbis, Yanj&ris, and a
division of Kolistertned Hindu Kolis. In B&rsi, about one-fourth were
Ling&yats and Musalm&ns. The chief land tenures were mirds or
hereditary tenure in which Government had not the right to deprive
the holder of his field unless he failed to pay the rent. The
hereditary holder was not supposed to pay less for his land than the
non-hereditary holder or upri. The chief advantages he gained
were higher social position, under the former government freedom
from forced service, and the satisfaction of knowing that so long
as he paid the rent due to Government he could not be driven
from his paternal fields. Even if he left his hereditary land
unclaimed or gatkul for sixty or a hundred years, he might claim it
though it had meanwhile been granted to some one else as an
hereditary property. The non-hereditary landholder or upri had
formerly differed little from a yearly tenant. Under the British
system he had all the substantial* benefits of the hereditary holder.
So long as he paid his rent he was as secui^e in his lands as his
mirdsi neighbour; this change had so far lowered tSir value of the
rnirds tenure that a sale of the hereditary right, which had been
common under the former government, was scarcely heard of. To
encourage the redeeming of waste bush lands to tillage, leases
or hauls had been granted on rentals gradually rising till ^ey
reached the full rent which was known as soati or bharkas. These
leases of waste arable land varied in length from one to seven years.
Mr. Boyd noticed with approval the estate or plot tenure called kda-
handi. This tenure, he thought, was profitable both to Government
and to the holder. The interests of Government were guarded as the
risk of giving up bad land and tilling only the best was prevented and
the rent of the poorer lands secured, whether they were tilled or waste.

[Bombay OBsMm*

458

DISTRICTS,

Cliapter TUX.
The Land.

Ths Bbttish.

Revenue System,
18fS8.

The holder found the estate system beneficial asGoyemment accepted
a moderate assessment and as the estate or has contained a share of
different kinds of lands as well as rights to waterconrses, firewood,
and grazing grounds.^ The estate or has tenure was found in only
four villages. In a few parts of the district the rent was collected
by a plough or aut cess. This cess varied from 88. to £1 12«. (Rs« 4-
Bs. 16)' on what was supposed to be the area which one pair of
bullocks could till. In the wild hilly or dang villages in the west,
where the soil was poor^ the land was cropped for three years and
then given up. This was known as the throwing up or ulia systein.
In the first year the land was assessed at 6(2. (4 as.) a higha ; in the
second year the higha rate rose to U. (8 aa.)^ and in the third year
it again fell to Qd, (4 as,). After the third year fresh lands ooold
be taken on the same terms. Of indm that is alienated or freehold
tenures there were seven varieties : inam or alienated land free
from all demand from Government and in general subject to the
rights and perquisites of hahddrs that is hereditary district officen
and village claimants ; pdsodi, land held rent-free by the heads of
villages; devasthdn, land set apart for the support of religious
establishments; aaranjdm, land held for service; jd^ saranjdfn,
land held in personal grant for which service was not expected;
shetsanadi, land granted for special local service as divisional police;
and ndikvadi, lands granted to village watchmen.

The revenue was collected under three chief heads, jamin bob or
land revenue^ sdyar bdb or miscellaneous taxes, and jakai or customs.
Under the general head of land revenue came na>gdi bdb or a cash
payment not included in the regular rent; van chardi or grsjonghrmsj
ghvgri a payment in grain commuted to money, and an infinite variety
of similar taxes originally in grain but changed to cash. SdynT
revenue included, besides minor items, the mohtarfa or town tax on
professions, baluta or a tax levied on hereditary craftsmen, rdhta or
a commuted payment into cash for service levied upon the Mhto,
and dbkdri or a tax on the distillation and sale of liquors. Under
customs came rahddri or transit duties ; thai bharit, a tax levied on
leaving the place where merchandise was first packed or carted;
thai mod J a tax on the sale of merchandise; and nakds or a tax on
animals. These sources of customs revenue were farmed yearly to
the highest bidder.

There were four hereditary revenue officers, the deaJimukh,
deahpdnde, pdtil, and Jculkarni, The pdtil performed revenue doti^:
of high importance. He attended to the general management of the
village lands, prevented the throwing up of land, and the desertion or
idleness of landholders. He collected the revenue and carried into
eff^t the orders of Government. The kulkami was the village

^ Mr. Boyd ffives the example of an estate or hds 14} highds in area. In this pl^t
there were : &flt class garden land i higha at Rs. 5, Bs. 2} ; second class gaMeo
hmd one higha at Es. 3, Bs. .3 ; good dry land 4 highds at 12 a«., Rs. 3 : sd»\
poor dry land 9 highds at 2 a«., Ka. IJ ; toUl 14i Inghds assessed at Bs. 9$. Tbid
gives an average of cts, lOf ^ the higha.

BeccaitJ

AHMADNAGAR.

459

accotmtant and general helper of the pdtiL His records contained
registers of all the village lands^ their divisions and qualities^ the
names of the holders of land^ and a record of sales of land and of
rents. He entered all revenue payments in a simple and useful
day-book and ledger. What the headman and the accountant were
to a village, the deshmukh or superintendent and the deshpdnde or
aocountant were to a sub-division or group of villages. Under
the elaborate system of village records introduced by the British,
the importance of the deshmukh and deshpdnde had greatly declined.
All the duties which the deshmukhs had still to perform were occa-
sionally to produce their records and attend at the settlement of a
boundary dispute. The deshpdnde was more useful. He kept up
a set of books on the new principle, and examined the kulkamia*
records and countersigned their balances.

The yearly rent settlement or jamdbandi was begun as soon as
possible after the close of the rainy season. The kamdvisddr or
bead sub-divisional officer was instructed to travel through his
districts as soon as the state of the crops enabled him to form an
estimate of the produce. In each village he called for tillage lists
or Idvni patraks. These lists were made out by fields or tikevdr^
It was the kamdvisdir^s duty to ascertain the correctness of the
statements and to examine any fields in which the holders complained
that crops had failed. When the pdtils reported that the crops
were good, no examination took place unless the kamdvisddr had
reason to suppose that increased tillage had not been brought to
account. Frauds of this sort had formerly been committed but
were rapidly decreasing. When the Collector came on tour to
any part of the district, the headmen and accountants of the neigh-
bouring villages attended at the Collector's camp, and clerks from
the Collector's establishment were sent to examine villages whose
loss of crops or decline in cultivation pointed them out as requiring
special investigation. This examination afforded a check both on
the kamdvisddrs and on the village statements. It guarded the
landholders from the mistaken zeal of public servants anxious
to increase the revenue, and it protected Grovernment from loss
by district and village officers joining to keep back a share of the
revenue. In addition to this inquiry by the clerks on his staff,
the Collector himself examined several villages in each group and
visited every field attended by its owner. This practice was parti-
culatly agreeable to the people and this sample or nimtdna system
threw much light on the way in which the sub-divisional officers
had prepared the settlement. When the testing was completed
and the amount of remissions fixed, the village statement or ijdra
patta was prepared showing the revenue due to Government, the
remissions, and other particulars. This statement was delivered
to the headman who presented an acknowledgment or miuihalka
agreeing to the settlement and binding himself to make good the
amount. The kamdvisddr then drew up individual agreements or
rayatvdr patios. The individual agreements were as a rule not
delivered for one or two months after the revenue settlement.
They could not be made out before the settlement, and the kamdms^

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

The Bbitish.

Revenue. System^
18$8.

[Bomlttj Otiettosr,

466

DISTRICTS,

(aiapter^TIII.
The Laud.

The British,

Hevenue Syatem,
1828.

ISiOSO.

dara establishments with their other daties could not complete
them sooner.^

The payment of the assessment was spread oyer six months.
Of the whole amount ten per cent were due in November, twenty
per cent in December January February and March, and the
remaining ten per cent in April. The instalments were collected
from the landholders by the village officers, who, if necessary, were
reminded of what was due by a messenger or niahal ahibandi^ whose
duty it was, in a group of three or four villages, to see that the
village was making exertions to discharge the instalment.^ To
prevent the people making away with the grain, guards or havdlddrs
were generally set over the crops as soon as they were stacked.
As soon as the kamdviaddr was satisfied that the rental would be

Edd the people were allowed to take the whole or part of the crop,
uring the six months in which instalments of rent were due
(November to April) the guards were paid 40. (Bs. 2) a month from
the village funds, and a small daily allowance of flour. In several
parts of the district this system of guarding the crops was not
practised. The cash was collected by the headman, and each land-
holder as he paid received a receipt from the accountant When all
the villages had paid their instalments, the cash was sent to the
kamdviaddr in charge of the village assayer or potddr and some
Mh4rs. At the kamdvisddr'a office a receipt was at once gives.
As regards takdvi or tagdi that is cash advances, an estimate of the
sum required was made out by each kamdviaddr. This was examined
by the Collector, and, if approved, was submitted for the sanction
of Grovemment. The sums required were forwarded to the dif-
ferent kamdvisddrs who distributed them to the most needy and
respectable applicants. Security was always taken and the advances
were paid back as soon as the next crop was cut. The amount of
these advances varied according to the season. In 1827-28 thej
amounted to £4400 (Bs. 44,000) or about 2*25 per cent of the whole
revenue.'

Except along the western boundary among the mountains where
the supply of rain was sufficient, the rains of 1829 were in most
parts of the district unfavourable, and there was a general failure
of grass and forage. Both the early or kharif and the late or raJbi
crops were fair in B&rsi and Shol&pur, which were better ofF than the
tract between them and the mountain valleys. The &ilure of rain
threw out of tillage land paying a rental of no less than £4^079
(Rs. 4,70,790), and the remissions on land which was sown amounted *
to a further loss of rental of £41,324 (Bs.4,13,240). The husband-

^ In BO large a coUeotorate the yearly settlement took ao long to complete that tba
oollecti^ of the revenue be|;an before the sum to be levied was fixed. Any chaaos
of error to which this practice was likely to give rise was to a great extent removed
hj the sagacity and experience of the himdviMdn who, h-om what they knew of their
▼lUages, were able to teU the probable amount which the OoUectar would &^
Mr. Boyd, CoUector, 26th November 182S.

^ The Ahmadnagar shibandis had no right to demand anything from the viUigerii
neither had they any power beyond continually urging the discharge of the rssti
Mr. Boyd, Collector, 26th November 182a

^ Mr. Boyd» Collector, 26th November 1828» lithjpgraphed Papen«

Daoeaii*!

AHMADNAGAR.

461

men who occnpied nnsown lands or who reaped no crops were in
most instances too poor to f alfil their obligationa Compared with the
year before, the ooUections showed a fall of £40,785 (Rs. 4,07,350)!^

The season of 1830-31 promised well buttnmed out unfayourable.
In Sinnar the early grain or kharif crops of about twenty villages
were very poor, and there were serious failures of the late or rabi
harvest in Pdtoda, Chandor, Sinnar, Sangamner, and Karmdla.
Hemissions were sanctioned amounting to £26,735 (Rs. 2,67,350).
In spite of the necessity of these large remissions, in Mr. Robert-
son's opinion the state of the people was no worse, perhaps it was
slightly better than in the previous year.* The price of grain con-
tinued very low. The total outstandings on account of former years
were as high as £58,512 (Rs. 5,85,120), and there was no increase of
tillage.^

In 1831-32 the early and late crops suffered a little from scarcity
of rain, and the revenue showed a fall of about £8022 (Rs. 80,220).^

This was followed in 1 832 in some places by a partial and in other
places by a total failure of rain which caused severe distress. There
was so little grass that the shepherds quitted the country. Want
of water and scarcity of forage interfered with the carrymg trade
and considerably diminished the collections on the transit of goods.
The net revenue for collection fell from £102,493 (Rs. 10,24,930)
in 1831-32 to £64,811 (Rs. 6,48,110) in 1832-33, and remissions
increased from £35,069 to £73,396 (Rs. 3,50,690 - Rs. 7,33,960).*

The next season 1833-34 was very favourable. In spite of the
long continued cheapness of grain^ remissions were reduced to
£28,104 (Rs. 2,81,040) and the net revenue for collection rose from
£64,811 to £139,960 (Rs. 6,48,110 - Rs. 13,99,600), a higher sum
than had been collected during the ten preceding years. The follow-
ing statement gives the leading revenue details for the eleven years
ending 1833-84 z^

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

Thb Bbitibh.
1830-Sl.

ISStSS.

183S'S4.

^ Bom. Got. Bev. Bee. 352 of 1S31, 1-2, 4-6.

> Mr. Robertson, Principal Collector, 5th Angnst 1831, Bom. Gov. Bev. Bee. 406
of 1832, 234-235.
' Mr, Reid, Bev. Oomr. 8th Febmuy 1832, Bom. Cknr. Bey, Bee. 406 ol 1832, 226.

* Bom. Got. Bev. Bee. 482 of 1833, 185 • 186. 193,

« Gov. Bev. Bee. 548 of 1834^ 23, and Beo. 625 of 1835, 197, 199, 204, 205, 228» 229.

* The details are :

_ Ahmadnoffttr €HraSn t 8htr» tkt Iti^Me, IBtO-iSSk.

Caop.

1810-1822.

1881^834.

K»r.

J&m-
khed.

KorU.

Kar-
m&la.

Jta».
kbed.

Koitl.

JUH ...

Wheat ...
Oiam

17
18

90
18
14
10

SI
17
98

88
98
90

98
28
19
28

Bom. Got. Bev. Bee. 968 of 1839, 31.

' In 1833-34 the Ahmadnamr distriot induded twelve oalt-divisioxui^ Nagari,Ako]»i
Chtodofy Karda. Karm^ JELorti, N4aik, Nev^^, PAtoda^ SangMimcar, Sixmar. and
Dindori. BomTOoy. Bfiv.BeQ.626 of 1835^ 16% 2Q0, %».

462

DISTRICTS.

iBombay OasettMr*

Chapter Till.
The Land.

Th£ British*

A hmadnagar BevenuBf 182S • 18SJ^

t8S4'S5.

1835-36.

Tbab.

Settle-
ment.

Charges.

Keinle-
sions.

Beveuue

for

GoUeotion.

Rfl.

fis.

Ri.

Re.

1828-24

17,55.144

2,68,948

8,81,606

11,69.593

1>>2*.26

17.10,428

1,27,208

9,81,884

e»0l,841

1825-26

18,18,686

2,90,822

1,88,778

18,89,086

18W-27

18,40,217

2,84,577

9,45,883

18.10,157

1827-28

17,29,071

2,48,258

8,86,848

10,99.465

1828-29

17,40,142

2,60,644

8,54,404

11.21,094

1829-30

15,84,948

1,58,067

7,67,821

6,69,035

1880-31

15,91,018

2,42,588

2,67,517

10,80.908

1831-82

16,05,818

2,28,698

8,50,690

]0,24,9:tf)

1882-3S

15,39,248

1,57,170

7,38,966

6,48,107

1883-84

19,84,611

8,08,967

2,81,089

18,99,606

Unlike the previous year the season of 1834 was nnfayonrahle.
In some parts the early crops suffered from too much rain and the
late crops from too little rain. Extreme cold set in about the middle
of January, and a quite incalculable number of rats infested many
of the sub-divisions for a considerable time. The effect of the frosty
which was more intense than had ever been remembered by the
oldest inhabitants, was wholly to destroy the crops on many lands
which a few days would have brought to maturity, while the swann8
of rats seldom failed to destroy almost entirely the crops of snch
£elds as they attacked. The remissions, which were chiefly doe to
the severe frost and the rats, amounted to £19,685 (Bs. 1,96,850),
and the total remissions amounted to £26,942 (Rs. 2,69,420).
Compared with 1838-34 the net revenue of 1834-35 showed a fall
of £20,188 (Rs. 2,01,880). At the same time, in spite of the bad
season, the revenue of 1834-35 compared favourably with the
average of the ten years ending 1833-34, the increase amounting
to £19,245 (Rs. 1,92,450) .1

In the next year 1835-36 the rains set in favourably in the
beginning of June, but for a period of six weeks from the latter pari
of June to the first week of August scarcelv a shower fell and
great alarm prevailed. In addition to the deficiency of rain early ia
the season and to an excessive fall towards its close, on the 26th of
December the district was again visited by a severe frost which
did incredible damage. In spite of these drawbacks the results of
the revenue settlement of 1835-36 showed a gross land revenue of
£143,692 (Rs. 14,36,920) being an increase on the preceding year of
£3659 (Rs. 35,590). Of this the net land revenue was £116,920
(Rs. 11,69,200) showing an increase of £2742 (Rs. 27,420). •Re-
missions amounted to £24,516 (Rs. 2,45,160) of which £14,926 •
(Rs. 1,49,260) were granted on account of failure of crops ; £5588
(Rs. 55,880) on account of land agreed for by cultivators but left
unsown ; £3121 (Rs. 31,210) on account of injury to crops by frost;
and 4499 (Rs. 4990) on account of garden and rice lands cultivated
with dry crops, or a total of £24,134 (Rs. 2,41,340) in connection
with crops and £382 (Rs. 3820) on account of fires and other causes.
Of the net land revenue £106,432 (Rs. 10,64,320) were collected hy

1 Bom. Gov. Bev. Bee. 691 of 1836^ 181, 195-196, 198-202.

Seccan.!

AHMADNAGAR.

463

the end o! May 1836, showing an increase of £22,490 (Rs. 2,24,900)
over the snm collected abont the same time the preceding year ; and
of the total net revenue from all sources £144,093 (Rs. 14,40,930)
only £4594 (Rs. 45,940) remained uncollected by the end of August
1836. The revenue would have been larger had it not been for
the remission of the water-rate or pdnbfiarit which was sanctioned
by Grovemment in September 1835 and the reduction of garden and
dry-crop rates of assessment on the cultivation of 1835-36.^

The rains of 1836-37 were very late, scarcely any falling before
the middle of July. From the middle of July till the end of August
the rain was favourable. But from the end of August till the middle
of October scarcely any rain fell. Infinite damage was done to the
early crops and much of the late crop or rahi ground was never
Bown. During the latter part of October and early in November a
general and timely rain prevented the late crops proving a total
failure. But towards the close of the year in parts of the Korti
sub-division much of the crop was destroyed by frost.* Remissions
amonntiug to £41,107 (Rs. 4,11,070) were granted and the net land
revenue was reduced from £116,920 to £104,707 (Rs. 11, 69,200-
Rs. 10,47,070) or a loss of £12,213 (Rs. 1,22,130). The Collector
Mr. Harrison observed : While the circumstances of the past (1836)
season rendered large remissionsnecessary,itwaB gratifying to remark
that the defalcation would have been much greater but for the spirit of
industry which prevailed among the labouring population and which
had led to 177,37b bighda of land being brought into cultivation
above the cultivation returns of the previous year. The stimulus
which had been given to the industry of the people by the reduction
of rates had no doubt chiefly contributed to this result, and it was
satisfactory to observe that the increase of tillage had taken place in
both garden and dry lands, in lands payingf uU or sosii as well as in
lands paying reduced or kauli rates.^ The permanent reductions
effected in the land revenue during 1836-37, amounted on the
cultivation of the season to £4179 (Rs. 41,790). These reductions
were made chiefly in the Sangamner, Nevdsa, Ahmadnagar, and
Earda Bub-di7iBions, and extended to 260 villages.^

As regards the condition of the landholders the Collector
Mr. Harrison wrote in September 1837 : ' It may be expected that
I should speak of the circumstances of the cultivating population
whp in this district form so large a proportion of the inhabitants.
The circumstances of this class are certainly extremely depressed.
They appear to be far worse off than the people of the Southern
Mardtha Country, though perhaps their condition may be better in
some respects than the cultivators of the Southern Konkan.' The
large mass of the population lived from hand to mouth and were
overwhelmed with debt. Nothing but the most fostering cafe could
enable them to improve their condition. It was veiy possible that

Chapter TIIL

The Land.

The Bkitish.

isse-sr.

1 Bom. Gov. Hev. Rec. 692 of 1836, 17-22, 25, 69.

» Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 769 of 1837, 143.

* The CoUector, Mr. Harrison, 9th Sept. 1837, Rev. Bee. 769 of 1837, 134'- 135.

« Bom. Gov. Rev. Reo. 769 of 1837, 133.

[Bombay GftnttMr,

464

DISTRICTS.

CSiapter Vm.

The BfiinsH.
1837-38^

for the next two or rather three years the financial resalts of tlw
administration of Ahmadnagar woold be less favourable than in
better placed districts.^

In the next year 1837-88 the land easterns which in the previcms
year had yielded £16,400 (Rs. 1,64,000) were abolished.* During
the fourteen years ending 1836-87 more than £40,000 (Es. 4,00,000)
were written off the district books on account of remissions in the
rent settlement orjamdhandu With these deductions the land and
edyar revenue of 1837-88, £126,506 (Rs. 12,65,060), compared
favourably with that of the best of the fourteen previous years,
and of a rent settlement fixed at £125,866 (Rs. 12^58,660) no more
than £1832 (Rs. 18,320) remained outstanding on the Ist of August
1838.' The season of 1837 was good. The very large increase,
£18,581 (Rs. 1,85,810), in the land revenue over the previous year

1 Mr. Harriaon, GoUeotor, 9th Sept. 1837, Re7. Bee. 769 of 1837, 144-145.

s Bom. Gov. Rev. Reo. 968 of 1839» 16, 124.

* Mr. Harrison, 26th Sept. 1838, Bom. Gov. Rev. Reo. 968 of 1839, 20-22. The most

remarkable circamstance attending the settlement of 1837-38 was the onpreoedented

emallneas of the balance (Rs. 18,318) outstanding on account of that year. Tba

abolition of numerous vexatious taze8,the remission of transit duties, and the redaction

of the land tax where excessive, had all contributed to this result. Mr. Hanison,

26th September 1838, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 968 of 1839, 40-41. The following

statements show the reduction in outstandings and the proceeds of taxes lately

abolished:

Ahmadnoffar Land Revenue and Outetandinget 18S9'18Wu

Tsar.

Net Land
B«Tenue.

Oaittuid-
ings.

Tbak

Net Land
Beveaae.

Otttstand-
ing».

1889-30

1830-81
1881-88
1882-83
1883-84
1884-36

7,68,086
13,15,098
11,88,489

7,46,878
16,59,867
13,19,280

Ra.
1,36,495
1.76.191
1.76,627
1,32,884
1,71,644

67,468

1836-86
1886-37
1887-38
1888-39
1889-40

Ra.

13,66.848
12,08,987
14,61,684
10,72,225
14,46,142

87,624

28,691

18,831

6616

6020

Bom. Gov. Rev. Reo. 1235 of 1841, 47.

Ahmadnagar Cenes, 1818 - 2888.

Tsar.

Nevtea.

Karda.

Nagar.

Korti.

Shevgaon.

J&mkhed.

Rs.

Bs.

Rs.

1818-19 ...

3681

8381

9180

488

2286

1128

1819-20 ...

4e»i

6766

9619

464

2608

498

1820-21 ...

4684

8156

9404

1020

2548

892

1821-28 ...

6112

9521

6796

804

2468

466

1832-88 ...

4810

8256

7608

949

2198

8!9

1823-24 ...

8i39

7790

5684

948

1864

460

1824-26 ...

8868

6695

7281

898

1748

1208

1825-26 ...

8977

7482

6434

572

2870

506

1826-27 ...

4984

5807

4837

488

2658

630

1827-28 ...

4337

4480

4792

654

2647

611

1828-29 ...

4208

6998

4268

633

1980

S55

1829-30 ...

8629

4808

5822

826

1816

604

1830-31 ...

8866

7248

5234

880

1867

898

U881-32 ..

8617

5710

2467

812

8114

296

1882-88 ...

2787

4886

6628

467

1704

449

1838-84 ...

4899

8690

6194

612

2511

807

1884-86 ...

4078

8887

5429

8186

748

1886-86 ...

8684

6067

6586

• ■«

8028

862

1836-87 ...

8578

6180

• •■

• »•

8248

858

1887-38 ..

• ••

••i

207

...

Bom. Gov. Sel C^CXIIL 213, 223, 235, 345, 253, 261.

AHMABNAGAR

465

was, in the opinion of the Collector and of the Bevenne CommiB- Chapter fIII>
Bioner, due chiefly to the reduction of oppressive rates and to the The^rfind-
abolition of vexations taxes and transit duties.^

The following statement shows the land and sdyar revenue of the
district for the fifteen years ending 1837-38:'

Almadtiao«r 'And and Sdyar X,Heiait, IBtS-JSSS.

Tiu.

IUtmh*

ruK.

Bexnoe.

IS»W

Kn-a

i8!6-se

I8I6-J7 .„ ..

iS!S-ia '.'.'.

18«^

lajMi

mi-ts '.:: '.'.

1«M-U '.'.'. '.'.

n -" -M

», M

11 M

183S-M

1830-17

Total

buls«n: ^

isas-ss '.'.

IS9T-38

Bt.

ia,(»3ttt

10.W,»«1

l,48JiT.SM

In 1837 the land revenue was reduced by £2116 (Rs.21,160) in
certain villages where it was proved to be oppressive. This raised
the permanent rednctions in the Government demand to not less
than £13,154 (Rs. 1,31,540).^

In 1837-38 the price of grain fell, and chiefly in the Eorti
Karm&la and Jflmkbed sub-divisions much land passed out of
tillage. In these three sub-divisions of a total rental of £26,876
(Rs. 2,68,760), £6462 (Ra. 64,620) were remitted.*

Tbe six years between 1832 and 1838 show no rise in produce
prices. Still so mnch had been done to lighten the Government

TaBBBTTIEK.

1837-S8.

' Bom. Ooy. Bev. Reo. 96S of 1839, 3. In the opinion of the Rerenne Cormaiasionar
SJr. WiUiamMn, 181b Oct. 1B37, the injustice and over-exaction from which the people
■uSered a few ^ean ago were nearly put down, under the improved lyatem of vjUilm

accounts and European auperinteudence introduced during Uie last few yean. Ttta
■pirit of rapine which wu so universally diffused had met with a Revere check, and
the people were no longer exposed to the pillage and opprewion which waa gradnallT
deteriorating the coun^. Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 769 of 1837, 120- 121.

' Bom. Gov. Kev. Rec. 968 of 1839, 19 - 20,

■ The necessity for these reductions had been hrought to the notice of Government
and fully admitted. Bom. Gov. Kev. Rec. 968 of 1839, 19-20 ; see also Bev. Bee 769of
1837, 133-134.

31 grain pncee ai

Ahutadnatar Grain

PriB», mo-isas.

ym«.

S*«, mi Bu™». ]

k™„.

Jimkbed

..*

Jsiri.

fttK

WbMt

Onm.

Jviri

Wbast

,«

«.

—H

mo-is£t ...

isn.iui...

18M.1W...

IS
SB

J!,

i«

Bom. Gov. B«v. B«c. S
S772-C9

[Bomliay Gaaeftteer,

466

DISTRICTS.

ChapterYIII'

The Land*

The Bbitish.
18S2'18S8.

detnand that the landholders were able to wipe off a large amount
of outstandings.^ Though no general change was introduced either
in the revenue system or in the rates of assessment, experience
enabled the district officers and Government to suggest and to
carry out changes which did much to relieve the distress caused by
the continued cheapness of field produce. The chief subjects to
which the attention of district revenue officers was drawn during
this period may be grouped under five heads : Introducing petty
division officers or mah^lkaris subordinate to md.mlatd&r8. loweriner
the rates of dry-crop assessment, increasing the area under irrigation,
stopping the practice of employing a moneylender or banker as a
surety or havdla between the landholder and Government, and
improving the system of village records and accounts. As regards
the strengthening of the staff of superior revenue officers in 1836
Mr. Williamson, the Revenue Commissioner, brought to the notice
of Government the necessity of appointing a Sub-Collector at
N&sik, and in 1837-38 K^ik was made a sub-coUectorate subordi-
nate to Aimadnagar. About 1835 petty division officers styled
mah^lkaris were introduced. For a year or two the mahalkaris
from want of proper establishments were of little valua When this
defect was remedied, the change did much to improve the revenue
management of the Deccan. As regards the reduction of dry-crop
rates, in 1834 Mr. Mills the Collector drew the attention of Govern-
ment to what seemed to him the excessive rates levied on dry-crop
OTJirdyat land. He suggested that part of the Government demand
should be held over or left tahkub till it was seen whether the
landholder was able to pay the full assessment.* Mr. Williamson
the Revenue Commissioner disapproved of Mr. Mills' proposal of
keeping part of the assessment suspended till it was seen whether
or not the landholder could pay the whole demand. He agreed
with the Collector that in many villages the rates were too high.
He was satisfied that there would be no real improvement in the
district till rents were so greatly reduced that yearly remissions
ceased to be necessary.* These opinions satisfied Government that
the dry-land rates in Ahmadnagar required to be lowered. They
vested the Collector with power to reduce the rates, wherever, after
inquiry by himself and his assistants, he was satisfied that reduction
was urgently needed. An immediate reduction to a proper standard
was the only cure for the evils of over-assessment.*^ In accordance
with these orders, in certain parts of the district the Coltector ^

^ In Jane 1835 the outstandings amounted to Ba. 7,54,173 of which Rs. 3,69,357
were realized by the end of May 1836. Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 692 of 1836, 44.

a Mr. WiUiamson, Rev. Comr. 2610 of 23rd November 1838 ; 18th Oct. 1837. Bom.
Gov. Hov, Rec. 769 of 1837, 122-123. » Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 625 of 1835, 182.

< Mr. Williamson, 30th April 1836, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 626 of 1835, 182 : *1 va
now examining the condition of some villages myself and find over-assessment to
be the chief cause of the neglected state in which I find their lands. In some guk»
that have lately come to my knowledge, our high rates have forced landholder! t-t
the expense of our revenue to carry their industry to the MoghalAi, thoush in g«n»>g
to those villages our subjects are exposed to the inconvenience of taking th«ir
ploughs far from home, and to the unjust treatment of the Niz^m^s native oificcia.*
Mr. Williamson, 12th February 1836, Bom. Gov. Rev, Rec, 691 of 1836, 188- 1»9.

> Gov. Letter of 7th September 1835, Bom Gov. Rev. Rec. 625 of 1835, 441. 44S.

Beccaitl

AHMADNAGAB.

467

mada a close inqairy into the productive powers of the land, the
rates prevailing on similar soik in neighbouring villages, the ease
with which the existing rates were paid, and the changes which
bad taken place in the prices of field produce. The result of this
inqairy was a permanent reduction of £822 (Rs. 8220).^

In the following year (28th September 1836) the Collector Mr.
Harrison expressed his opinion that such partial reductions did not
meet the wants of the case. The Collector had not time to
devote to an elaborate revision. Existing rates, whether or not
originally too high, had since 1822 been doubled by the fall in
produce prices. The rates were causing serious and widespread
satFering. SuflScient and prompt relief could be given only by
lowering the rates of whole sub-divisions. If Government sanctioned
a large and general lowering of assessment the loss of revenue
would be temporary. With increased means the holders of land
would bring a larger area under tillage and would devote a larger
proportion of the tilled area to the growth of the better class of
produce.* These views were carried into efEect ; and a systematic
redaction of twenty to twenty-five per cent was made in the
assessment of several sub-divisions between 1834 and 1837.'
Another object which the district oCBcers strove to gain was the
increase of the area of watered land. In October 1834 Mr. Mills the
Collector drew attention to the fact that in a large number of
villages the whole of the garden land was not cultivated, partly
owing to the poverty of the holders and partly to the high rate of
assessment. Of bighds 102,889 of garden land assessed at £32,829
(Bs. 3,28,290), bigtuis 23,203 or nearly one-fourth assessed at £7848
(Ra. 78,480) were waste. The only measure to ensure the steady
cultivation of these garden lands was to reduce the assessment one-
half.^ Government referred the Collector to orders issued in Nov-
ember 1832 for the reduction of garden rates in villages where
they were too heavy, which they directed him to carry out without
farther delay.^ With the same object of increasing the area
under irrigation, Mr. Mills pleaded for the remission of the water
cess or pdnbharit. This water cess was an extra levy on dry-crop
or jirdyat land made into garden land and watered from wells.
It was assessed in an arbitrary way according to the crop produced
and the ability of the landholder to pay. In the Collector's opinion
it was a direct tax on industry. The cess prevented much dry land
froA being watered, and in 1833 it yielded only £916 (Rs. 9160).
The Collector recommended its abolition by proclamation.^ This
suggestion was supported by the Revenue Commissioner, and the

Chapter YIIL

The Land.

Thb Bannsst.
18SM - 18S9,

^ Other rednctioiiB in the garden and dry-land rates of assessment made by the
Collector and the lievenae Commissioner amounted to £1824 (Rs. 18,240) ; these were
tr) come into operation in the next year (1836-37). Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 692 of 1836,
2T" 29

» Mr. Harrison, 28th Sept. 1836, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 692 of 1 836. 29, 35 - 37. 42 - 44.

'Mr. Stack's British India Land Kevenae Settlement Memorandum (1880), 469.

*Mr. Mills, Collector, 30th Oct. 1834, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 626 of 1835, 284-286.

'Qovomment Letter of 7th September 1835, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 626 of 1836, 440;
Mr. Vibart, Rev. Comr. 9th Nov. 1839, Rev. Rec. 1092 of 1840, 10-11.

«ilr. MillBy Collector, 30th Oct. 1834, Bom. Gor. Rev. Reo. 625 of 1835. 287- 288.

[BombBj Gss0lteer,

468

DISTRICTS,

Chapter TIIL
The Land.

.Ths BBiTzsar.
189$ '1838.

water-cess or j^nhharit was abolished.^ The result of this conoessian
was in one year to doable the area of watered land.^ In April 1634
Government agreed with the Revenue Commissioner that land
watered from new wells should be free from extra garden assessment
and that one-fourth of the special assessment should be remitted on
land watered by wells repaired by the people at their own expense.'
In 18S3 it was brought to the notice of Government that the revenue
was to a great extent recovered not from the landholders but from
sureties or havdlds, usurious moneylenders who swarmed and throve
at the people^s expense on the resources on which the Government
revenue depended. In May 1833 Government ordered that the
practice of recovering the assessment from moneylenders as sureties
for the landholder should cease. But there was difficulty in carrying
out this order^ and in 1835 the practice was still continued.^

To preserve the landholders from demands made by the village
authorities in excess of the Government assessment, a more complete
system of village records was introduced. The village forms which
had been introduced by Mr. Dunlop in 1825 provided for the record
of the amount of revenue due by each landholder and of the amonnt
and date of the payments made.^ In 1833 Mr. Williamson intro-
duced a more elaborate form of village record. Each field was
numbered and its name^ number^ area^ holder^s name^ tenure, and
rent were recorded. The information was obtained by scrutinies
and by occasional measurements. The record could not at once
be correct, but it gradually improved, and in 1835 formed a valu*
able basis on which Government could rely with mncb greater
safety than on the vague statements formerly furnished.^ Another
subject connected with village accounts to which care was given
was the distribution and preservation of landholders' receipt books.
Though village accounts were no t^ yet correctly kept a great advance
was made between 1833 and 1835.^ A change from which much

^ Mr. Williamson, Rey. Oomr. SOth April 1835 ; GoTemment Letter of 7ih Septem-
ber 1835 ; Bom. Qot. Rev. Rec. 625 of 1835, 181, 441.

' Mr. Harrifion, Collector, 28th September 1836, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 692 o£ 1S36,
26. Mr. Harrison adds, * I have no doubt myself that when the liberal views of
Grovemment respecting the wells termed budkia become more generally known, there
will scarcely remain a stream in the country that wiU not be rendered available for
purposes of irrigation.*

>The Rev. Comr. 706 of 14th April 1834 and Gov. Letter 1109 of 29th April 1834.
The effect of this concession was that of 29,398 bighds of waste garden land in 18fl>3S,
9737 bighds or about one- third had been brought under irrigation bv the end of 1838-39.
Mr. Harrison, Collector, 8th Oct. 1839. Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1092 of 1840, 10-11,40.

* Mr. WilUamson, Rev. Comr. 30th April 1835 ; Gov. Letter of 7th September 1S35 ;
Rev. Rec. 625 of 1835. 172, 438.

* In 1825-26 Mr. Dunlop, the CoUector, sent the person in charge of the m&mlat-
d^'s o£5ce two forms, after which returns were to be prepared, showing the name
of each $Utha, its contents in bighds, the portions which were mirdu and gatttU^
cultivated and waste, the bigha rate, the agsregate assessment, and whether the
holders of the cultivated porfciond were nUrds&ra or upris. By order of Mr* Dunlop
a bound day-book and ledger were introduced in place of the loose bits of paper on
which the Government accounts were kept. ' Oflate years,' Mr. Cioldsmid wrote in
March 1841, ' the method of keeping these books has from time to time been con*
siderablyimproved by the Revenue Commissioner.* Bom^ Gov. Sd. VI. 52.

• • Mr. Williamson, Rev. Comr. 30th April 1835, Rev. Reo. 625 of 1835, 173.

7 Mr. MUls, Collector, 16th June 1834, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 548 of IBSi 4ft.
Got. Letter of 7th September 1835, Bom. Gov. Rev. Beo. 625 of 1835^ 496-437.

Deooaa*]

AHMADNAGAR. 469

was expected in 1834-35 was the leasing of waste and declining Chapter VII£

Tillages. Mr. Williamson, the Revenue Commissioner, held that a TheTand.

combination of village leasing and direct management would be

a gain. If introduced gradually and cautiously he did not doubt ^^* Bvmsa.

that village leases would benefit both Government and the people.^ ^S-lSSS.

In February 1834 Government sanctioned the grant of leases in the

case of deserted and decaying villages.^ Between July and October

1834 several villages were granted in lease. But the Collector was

forced to refer every case to Government He thought that if it

was the intention of Government to introduce village leasing to any

large extent, greater freedom should be granted to the Collector.'

Among miscellaneous changes introduced to improve the state of

the district, were the abolition of transit dues in 1837j and the

special reduction in 1834 of the assessment of lands set apart for the

growth of cotton.*

As regards the effect of these changes, the statement of the tillage
area and revenue for six sub-divisions, given below, shows during
the seven years ending 1837-38 an increase of 197,486 acres in the
area under tillage, and in spite of large reductions^ in the
demands of Government an increase in the collections from £41,484
to £4&,515 (Rs. 4,14,840 to Rs. 4,55,150).<> This improved state
was to some extent due to the good seasons of 1833 and 1837.
This improvement in the financial state of the district was accom-
panied oy the return of a great number of landholders who had
left the district, and by the addition of about 64,500 bighda to the
tillage area.^ This result was satisfactory. But the Collector, Mr.
Harrison, feared a repetition of the old experience that the spread
of tUlage could be followed by a ruinous fall in the price of graiu.^

1 Mr. Wmiamson, »OUi April 1835, Rev. Bee. 625 of 1835, 176 - 177. * As a large
portion of tiie land has been uncultivated the people cannot afford to break it
up except it is leased to them on easy terms. In granting leases or katils care is
reqnirea to prevent the people deserting lands previously under cultivation. When
the rates on those lands are heavy, such desertions are liable to take place, to the
serious detriment of the revenue ; but when those rates are light that liability is very
inconsiderable. When the throwing up of the cultivated land and the taking up of
other lands proceeds at the rate described bv Mr. Reeves, a minute scrutiny mto
the facts of tne case will, I apprehend, usually show that exorbitant demands and
local mismanagement are the primary agents of the mischief.' Mr. Williamson
Rev. Comr. 12th February 1836, Rev. Rec. 691 of 1836, 189.

'Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 625 of 1835, 274.

>Mf. MiUs, Collector, 30th October 1834, Rev. Rec. 625 of 1835, 274-277.
• *Gov. Letter to Rev. Comr. 7th Sept. 1835, Rev. Rec. 625 of 1835, 441.

' The permanent reductions made m the annual revenue of the district amounted
at the close of 1837-38 to Rs. 1,31,540. Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 968 of 1839, 19.

<Theee figures, taken from statements in Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIIL, are for six
sub>divisions, Nevlto, Karda, Ahmadnagar, Korti, Shevgaon, and JAmkhed. In
the entire district the outstandings fell from Rs. 1,75,627 in 1831-32 to Rs. 13,831
in lS37-38t and the revenue after deducting remissions showed an increil^ from
Rs. 11,33,489 in 1831-32 to Rs. 14,51,694 in 1837-38. Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1235 of

1841 47.

' In 1837 -38, in PAtoda, lUhuri, and Sangamner the increase was 30,176 bighds and
in KarmAla JAmkhed and Korti 62,710 bighda. Against this there was a dedine in
Korti of bighd$ 28,327, that is a balance of increase of 64,559 bighda. Bom. Gov. Rev.
Rec. 968 of 1839, 32, 59.

« Mr. Harrison, Collector, 26th September 183a Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 968 of 1839»
23, 24, 30.

[Bombay OftxekUer,

470

DISTRICTS.

{fhaptorVIIL

The Land.

ThsBbitish.

18S8-S9.

The cause of the increase of tillage was also not entirely satisfactory.
It was due to the general grant of leases or kauU^ and large areas
of land were paying much less than their proper rents. The need
of the grant of leases showed that the regular assessment was too
high. It was the great fall in produce prices that made the regular
assessment so heavy. He recommended that in the three southern
sub-divisionS; Karmdla J4mkhed and Korti, a redaction of twenty
per cent in the Government assessment should be sanctioned.
Grovemment did not approve of so general a measure^ but ordered
that in villages where it seemed necessary^ the rates should be
reduced to a fair and reasonable standard so as to make yearly
remissions and the grant of leases unnecessary.^

The rains of 1838 began with a fair promise, bat the crops were
destroyed by an almost total drought in July and Aagust which
made remissions necessary to the amount of £36,980 (Rs. 5,69,800].^
There was a rise in the price of grain due not only to the local
demand bat because large quantities were bought for export.* If
the landholders had grain in store this rise in price would, to
some extent, have made up for the shortness of their crops. But
over most of the districts the landholders lived from hand to
mouth, so that the grain dealers were the only people who benefited
by the rise in prices.*

In PAtoda, Rfihuri, Nev^sa, Shevgaon, and Nagar, the effect of
the drought was very severely felt. On the 27th of August 1S3D
Mr. Inverarity reported that during the previous year immense
tracts of rich black soil on both banks of the Godavari had been
unsown, and that where the land had been sown the returns were
very scanty. To add to the landholders' difficulties there was no
forage. As early as October 1838 cattle had been driven in herds
to the NizAm's territory. The distress that followed this failare of
crops gave fresh force to the representations in favour of encouraging
irrigation and lowering the assessment. Mr. Inverarity (27th August
1839) pointed out that the tract induced in Pdtoda, R&huri, Nev^a,
Shevgaon, and Nagar was entirely a grain country. No more sugar-
cane, cotton, or oil-seed was grown than was wanted for local use.
Orain might have paid when there were large bodies of Maritha
horse to feed ; it dia not pay now. The people were too poor and
the rainfall was too uncertiain to encourage the growth of the richer
crops. Government had taken the place of the larger Iand]prd$,
For their own interest as well as for the sake of the people they
should undertake some scheme to turn the water of the streams to
use for irrigation.* These views of Mr. Inverarity's were supported
by the Collector Mr. Harrison. He noticed, on the one hand, that
in 1833 in spite of the failure of the rains £100,000 (Rs. 10,00,000)
had Uben realized in Kaira from irrigated lands, while on the other

1 Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 96S of 1839, 28 - 29, 131 - 133.

« Mr. HarriBon, 8th October 1839, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1092 of 1840, 34, 37.

•Mr. Jones, 26th August 1839, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1092 of 1840, 120.

* Mr. Vibart, 9th November 1839 ; Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1092 of 1840, S-4« 35.

« Mr. Inverarity, 27th August 1839, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1092 of 1S40, 106 • Hi.

Deceaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

471

liand in a single gronp of ten villages in P&ioda £4096 (Bs. 40^960)
iu 1838-39 and £3438 (Rs. 34,380) in 1836-37 had to be remitted.
If they could be sunk at a reasonable cost he was strongly in
favour of sinking wells in those villages.^ The Revenue Oommis-
aioner^ Mr. Vibart, agreed with Mr. Harrison that in a district where
the landholders were so entirely destitute of capital it was not
enough for Government to reduce garden rates. Government must
make advances and he asked to be allowed to place £2000 (Rs.
20^000) at the Collector's disposal to be advanced to landholders
willing to make or to repair wells.^ Government, conoidering the
importance of spreading irrigation and the poorness of the people,
approved of Mr. Yibart's proposals and sanotioned a grant of
£2000 (Rs. 20^000) in the Ahmadnagar principal division and
£1000 (Rs. 10,000) in the Ndsik sub-collectorate.»

At the close of 1838 (November 23) Mr. Williamson drew the
attention of Government to the land assessment in Ahmadnagar.
It had for many years been complained of as excessive, and heavy
reductions had been made with the best effect. Still from the
vagueness of the measurements and other points connected with
the assessment some kind of survey was necessary before the land
tax could be placed on a satisfactory basis. A survey would alone
furnish materials for framing accurate land registers.^ In spite of
large yearly remissions, the exemption of the uncultivated portions
of holdings, triennial or quadrennial leases at reduced rates, and
a systematic reduction of rates by twenty to twenty-five per cent,
the unequal incidence of the revenue demand continued to be
severely felt. The people were generally depressed and im-
poverished.^ A plan of survey and settlement prepared by Mr.
Goldsmid was laid before Government and received their approval.
Ahmadnagar was one of the first districts taken in hand by the
Deccan Survey. Operations were begun in 1839 in the north in
I^iphad now in Ndsik, but so large was the district that no survey
settlement was introduced in the present (1884) district of
Ahmadnagar till 1848. This survey was carried on by two distinct
departments. The Assistant Collector Mr. Tytler of the land
revenue depavtment was placed in charge of the dang or hill survey,
and the regular revenue survey department under Mr. Goldsmid and
Lieutenant Davidson was in charge of the survey of the desk or plain
parts of the district. By 1847-4S the settlement was brought to a
^ clos6 in the part of the old coUectorate which is now included in
Niisik. As the dang or hill portion mostly lies in Ndsik, its details
have been given in the Statistical Account of that district.^ The
survey details of the remaining portion of the old Ahmadnagar
collectorate are given in order of time, after the yearly season and
revenue details for the nine years ending 1848. "*

Chapter TIII<
The Land.

The British,
18S8'S9.

Surtfept
1838-1848,

1 Mr. Harrison, 8th October 1839, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1092 of 1840, 64 - 55.
< Mr. Vibart, 9th November 1839, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1092 of 1840, 10, 16.

* Gov, Letter of 30th May 1840, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec, 1092 of 1840, 204 - 208.

* Mr. Williamson, Revenue Commissioner, 2610 of 23rd November 1838.

* Mr. Stack's British India lAnd Revenue Settlement Memorandum (1880), 469.

' The only portion of ddng or hiU-land in Ahmadnagar is in Akola. The detdJa of
its settlement aro given below.

[Bombay Qautteep

4!r2

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Till.
The Land.

Thk British.
1841 ' 1848.

2839 '1848.

1839'4(K

Daring the seven years ending 1848 the Ahmadnagar land revenne
was fluctnating. Exclusive of remissions the highest amoont for
collection was £165,256 (Rs. 16,52,560) in 1847-48 and the lowest
£100,943 {Rs. 10,09,430) in 1844-45; remissions were smallest
£6616 (Rs. 66,160) in 1847-48 and largest £49,963 (Rs. 4,99,630) in
1845-46. The details^ are :

Ahmadnagar Land Bevenuej 1841 - 1848.

YlAR.

Bental.

RemiaaiooB.

For
Collection.

Rs.

B8.

Rs.

1841-42

18,88,818

8.52,983

1435,830

1842-48

17,73,083

1,26,664

16,46.460

1843-44

16,11,877

8,49,181

12,62,696

1844-46

15,06,251

4,90,817

10,09,434

1845-46

15,60,297

4,99,632

10,60.665

1846-47

16,71,638

2,15.482

14,66.204

1847-48

17,18,726

66,161

16.62,564

Daring' the nine years ending 1847-48, the land revenoe col-
lections rose from £89,609 (Rs. 8,96,090) in 1839-40 to £114,779
(Rs. 11,47,790) in 1847-48 and remissions fell from £24^913
(Rs. 2,49,180) to £6219 (Rs. 62,190). Of these nine years the
three seasons 1843, 1844, and 1845, were most nnfavourable. Scanty
and uncertain rainfall, want of fodder, and cattle disease^ and two
severe outbreaks of cholera reduced parts of the district to great
distress. Compared with an average of £27,210 (Rs- 2,72,100) of
remissions during the nine years ending 1848 remissions rose to
£31,897 (Rs. 3,18,970) iu 1843-44, £47,944 (Rs. 4,79,440) in
1844-45, and £49,088 (Rs. 4,90,880) in 1845-46 ; and collections from
an average of £89,037 (Rs. 8,90,370) fell to £77,914 (Rs. 7,79,140)
in 1843-44, £62,823 (Rs. 6,28,230) in 1845-46, and £59,564
(Rs. 5,95,640) in 1844-45. The details* are :

Ahmadnagar Land Revenue^ 1837-1860.

Ybab.

RentftL

RemiB-
■ions.

Oot-
staod-
ingv.

Col-
lections.

Tbab.

RontaL

Remis-
sions.

Ooi-

stond-

IngB.

Ool-

iMtSoU.

1837-88 ...
1888-80 ...
1839-40 ...
1840-41 ..
1841-42 ...
1842-43 ...
1843-44 ...

Rs.

10.46,986
10.83,619
11,50,408
12,05,866
12.40,003
12,09,715
11.02,220

1,49,935
8,68,906
2.49,177
2,27,170
2,98,048
1,10,790
8,18,976

Rs.

8812
1741
6148
4306
15,082
2009
4106

Rs.

838,180
7,17,972
8,96,088
9,74,891
9.26,878
10,95.926
7,79,140

1844-45 ...
1845-46 ...
184&47 ...
1847-48 ...
1848-49 ...
1849-50 ...

Rs.

10,82,698
ll.S7,2t«
12,14,714
12,42,298
10,69.282
9,38,215

Rs.

4.79.444
4,9n.8TO
2,12.2;»
62,192
3,13.174
2,88,768

Ro.

7504

18,100

83.220

82319

0987

1021

6,96,«6
•6.28,227

9,69,272
11,47,787

7,66.12>

7.13.481

•

The following yearly details are taken from reports that relate to
the entire district including the sab-coUectorate that is the sub-
divisions of Ndsik, Ch^ndor, Sinnar, Dindorl, and Kdvndi :

Th^ scarcity of 1838-39 was followed by an excellent season.
Remissions feU from £54,656 to £31,254 (Rs. 5,46,560-Rs. 3,12,640) ;

^ These figures are for the fifteen sub-divisiont, AkoU, Sangamner, PAtoda,
R&huri, Nevtea, Ahmadnagar, Karda, Korti, Shevgaon, J&mkhed, NAaik, QiAndor,
Sinnar, Dindori, and K&vnai. Bom. Gov. Key. Reo. 13 of 1850, 90-91.

3 These fignres, taken from yearly administration reports, are for the ten sab^
divisions of Akohi, Sangamner, P4toda^ Bihoii, Nevta, Ahmadnagar, &Mda»
Korti, Shevgaon, and J&mkhed.

BeccaaJ

AHMADNAGAR

473

the revenae for ooUection rose to £144,614 (Bs. 14,46jl40), an in-
crease of £41,691 (Ra. 4^6,910) or forty per cent; and of this large
amoant all bnt £602 (Rs. 6020) were collected.^

1840 was an unfavourable season. The rains began well bnt the
first fall was followed by a drought which lasted from the end of
Jnly to the middle of September^ damaged the crops especially in
the eastern districts of Karda, Korti^ and J&mkhed, and made
necessary the grant of remissions amounting altogether to £26,326
(Bs. 2,63,260}/ Still these were less than former remissions and
this together with an increase in the tillage area raised the revenue
to £156,826 (Rs. 15,68,260) or £12,212 (Rs. 1,22,120) more than in
the previous year. In 1840 Mr. Harrison again drew attention to
the importance of increasing the area under irrigation. There were
no fewer than 4652 wells out of repair,^ and of the whole gross
revenue (£183,153) only £22,749 (Rs. 2,27.490) or about twelve per
cent was drawn from garden land.^ In the following year efforts to
increase the amount of irrigation were so far successful, that 173
wells were repaired and fifteen were built.^

Between 1835 and 1839 a great increase took place in the number
of civil suits. The totals rose from 6672 in 1835 to 12,426 in 1839
and the number brought against landholders from 2922 in 1835
to 5991 in 1839.^ This great increase in the pressure of the money-
lending classes is not explained in the reports of the time. Two
causes may be suggested as helping to bring about this result. The
stoppage of the surety or havdla system in 1833 and 1835, must
have taken out of the moneylender's hands one of their weapons
for forcing their debtors to make over to them all the produce of
their fields. Another cause was the very large reductions made in
the Grovemment demand in several parts of the district. This gave
a sale value to land which had formerly been unsaleable, and, as
happened to a marked extent in Th&na after the great reductions
between 1835 and 1842, moneylenders pressed their debtors in order
to get the land entered in their own names.^ There seems little
reason to doubt that the doubling of the number of civil suits marks

Chapter VIIL

The Land-

The BBITLS&

>Go7ernmeiit (7th of May 1841, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1235 of 1841, 191-194)
ooiuidered the result gratifying : a proof that the district was weU managed and that
the r«8onrceS of the peoi^e had improved.

> Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1339 of 1842, 1, 30, 45.

' Bon. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1235 of 1841, 60.

* Mr. Harrison, 10th October 1841, Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1339 of 1842, 32,

*Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1339 of 1842, 48-49.

^ Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1235 of 1841, 65. The details are :

AAmadnagar CMl Suiit, 18S5 • 18S9,

TSAB.

Total

Aninst

Luid-

holden.

Per
Cont

TSAS.

TotaL

Anlnut

Luid*

holders.

Cent.

1886

1830 ••• «••

vnfr

6072
6884

10,81«

2922
S116
4382
6646

48*70
46-68
43*83

61-29

1839

Total ...
Average ...

12,426

6001

48*21

46,608

21,806

46-98

0820

4370

46-96

7 Thin* Statistical Aoooant, Bombay Gazetteer, XIII. Part II. 689.
B 772— CO

[Bombay Oaiftttoer^

474

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YIII.
The Land.

The British.
1840-41.

1841-4^.

the attempt of the moneylenders to divert from the landholdere to
themselves the benefits of the liberal redactions in the Government
demand. An inquiry to which this great increase in the pressore
of the moneylenders gave rise, showed that of 53^376 persons holding
land direct from Government^ 36^545 or 68 per cent were deeply
involved^ owing soms amounting in the aggregate to £500,000
(Bs. 50,00,000). Of the whole number of landholders only 16,831
or 32 per cent were free from embarrassment. In Mr. Harrison's
opinion this disastrous state of things was due partly to the high
rates formerly levied, but more to the improvident thoughtless
character of the people and to the law which admitted a perfect
freedom in the traffic of money, and allowed the creditor to recover
any amount lent at the most usurious rate of interest.^

1841 was on the whole an unfavourable season. The early rain
was scanty, and heavy unseasonable showers greatly damaged the
harvest. Up to the middle of October little of the late or rati ca^p
had been sown and so bad was the outlook that many families left
their villages with their cattle. Heavy rain at the end of October
saved the late crops and brought back large numbers of families
who had left their homes in search of fodder for their cattle. Later
on between the 13th and 15th of January the wheat and gram were
in many parts almost destroyed by heavy rain. Compared with the
previous year the gross land revenue of 1841-42 showed an increase
of £728 (Rs. 7280) arising chiefly from advances in the rates on
lands which were held under rising leases or istdva kauls, and from
Beveral* villages having reverted to Government In the net land
revenue there was a fall of £8243 (Rs. 82,430) occasioned by the
necessity of granting heavy remissions.^ Still though less than in
184K)-41 the net land and sdyar revenue of 1841-42 was in excess
of the average net revenue of the eighteen preceding years.' The

^Mr. Harrison, 10th Oct. 1S41, Bom. Gov. Hev. Bee. 1339 of 1842, 64-66. It
Beems doubtful whether Mr. Harrison was correct in holding that the land rates
originally fixed were excessive. The striking progress of the district during the ftret
four years of British rule shows that the original ^tes were not excessive. The
poverty and distress were chiefly caused by the crushing fall, about 50 percent (fier*
Itec. 692 of 1836, 37), in the value of grain.

> The details are i Gross revenue of 1841-42, £183,881 (Rs, 18,38,810) against
£183,153 (Rs. 18,31,530) in 1840-41 ; remissions £35,298 (Rs. 3,52,980) against
£26,326 (Rs. 2,68,260) ; net revenue £148,583 (Rs. 14,85,890) against £166,826
(Rs. 15,68,260). Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 1448 of 1843, 1 « 2, 20-21. •

'The details are;

AhmadfMgar Land and Sdyar Revenue, 189$ - 18i»,

YSAR.

Be?«nae.

flAB.

Bevenue.

TSAS.

Bevenae.

182S.fl ...

lU.

11.68,W8

1829-80...

Ba.
6,69.085

1836-36...

Bs.
12,06,801

1824-25 ...

6,89,591

1880-81 ...

10,80.907

1886^7 ...

10,79,860

1836-26 ..

13,89 086

1881-82 ...

10,24,931

1837-38...

12,65,066

1828-27 ...

13,16,267

1882-88...

6,48,007

1838-39...

8,86,871

1827-28...

10,9a,4M

1888-84 ...

13,80,605

183940...

11,92,578

1828-28...

11,21.093

1834-85...

11,79,660

184041 ...

18,01,308

TSAJL

ATsrege of eighteen
yean 18:18 • IMl ...

Average of fouitaen
yean ezcludlog
1824, 1889, Un
and 1838 ...

Avenge of llftMn
yean exdodiny
1824, 1829, and 1888.

184142

Beveove.

Rs.

10,8S,MI

11,97,8>8

n.n.ioe

Bom. Gov. Rev. R«o. 1448 of 1843, 2, 38| 34, 166.

BeecaaO

AHMADNAGAR. 476

realizable revenue was also promptly and easily collected^ £148^583 Chapter YIII.
(Ite. 14,85,830) or all but £1292 (Rs. 12,920) being received before The Land,
the close of September 1842.^

Since 1835 the system of taking aanldi jdmin or chain security 18AU4£*

had superseded the objectionable practice of crop-security or mil
jdmin. The chain security was merely personal and was given by
the landholders among themselves. It entailed no expense, few but
men of bad character failed to obtain it. When this security was
not given, the village havdlddr or crop watchman was employed to
prevent secret tampering with the crop. The average yearly sum
levied during the three years ending 1841 under the head of duns
or mohsah to recover overdue revenue was only £49 (Rs. 490).^

During 1841-42, at the suggestion of Mr. Simson, Government
placed £2000 (Rs. 20,000) at the disposal of the Principal Collector
of Ahmadnagar and £1000 (Rs. 1 0,000) at the disposal of the Sub-
Collector of Ndsik to be spent in spreading irrigation, and consider-
able progress was made in repairing old and sinking new wells.^

Though the rains of 1842 set in late and were broken by several 184g-4S,

long stretches of dry weather, the season, especially the late harvest,
on the whole was favourable. Though the harvest was good, the
season was unhealthy both for men and for cattle, as many as 13,61 3
people dying of cholera and 84,338 cattle dying of cattle disease.
So much did the people suffer from this outbreak of sickness, that
the Collector assigns sickness as the cause why the area under dry-
crop tillage had shrunk by over 50,000 bighds in the principal
division of the district.^ Garden cultivation yielded only £20^598
(Rs. 2,03,980). Compared with the previous year, remissions
showed a fall of £22,642 (Rs. 2,26,420). The total remissions
amounted to £12,656 ((Rs. 1,26,560) or 7*14 per cent of the
revenue. The largest remissions were in Rdhuri 15*94 per cent,
Jdmkhed 15'34 per cent, Korti 12*12 percent, and Karda 11*57 per
cent. The smallest were in Ghdndor, Kdvnai, and N^ik. In the
sub-coUectorate they amounted to 2*81 per cent and in the principal
division to 9'16 per cent.^ The net revenue amounted to £164,647
(Rs. 16,46,470) or an increase of £16,064 (Rs. 1,60,640) over the
previous year. Of the total amount all but £300 (Rs. 3000) were
realized before the close of July 1843. The following statement®
shows that in spite of the reductions in the Government demand
duriag the eight years ending 1842-43, the revenue realized in
* 1842-43 was liurger than iu any of the twenty years ending 1842-43 :

1 Bom. Got. Key. Bee. 1448 of 1843, 6-6.

'JBom. Qoy. Bev. Bee. 1448 of 1843, 6, 15, 23, 25.

'Mr. Simson, Beyenne Commiflsioner, 5th Deeember 1842, and Ooyemmenl. Letter
2440 of 25th July 1843. Bom. Goy. Bey. Bee. 144Sof 1843, 13, 14, 180.

«Bom. Gov. Bev. Bee. 1564 of 1844, 22-25.

>Bom. Goy. Bev. Bee. 1564 of 1844, 21, 33-36.

' Bom, Goy. Bev. Bee. 1564 of 1844, 43. In e3q[>lanation of these figures the
CoUeetor Mr. Harrison says (2nd October 1843), ' During the nineteen ^^ears ending
1841-42, yillages and shares or amala haye lapsed to Grovemment yielding a yearly
revenue of £15,000 (Bs. 1,50,000), while during the last eight years permanent
reiluctiona in the Government demuid have been made to the extent of £50,000
(Rs. 5,00,000) of which £13,332 (Bs. 1,33,820) were on account of land customs.'

(Boiii1mi7 OuettMT.

CkaptarTni-
The Laid.
Thb Bbitisk.

ha,.

a*ti«.

Tnu

Tu>.

lor

Im-

Oolkctkn

Im-

1»11«.

•tiU.

"""■

lU.

B>.

un44 .„ ..

«.<n

«,«.

s.a.«:j

I, Oi

£3

... i«,u,tit

IJM.ttS

...

As regards the DDmber, extent,andcIiar&cterof theboldiugs 51,666
coltivatorB held direct from Government. Of 54,240 of these, 34,557
held dry land paying an assessment of under to (Re. 50] ; 4031
held dry land paying an assessment of £5 to £10 (Rs. 50 - Rs. 100) ;
624 held dry land paying an assessment of £10 to £20 (Rs. lOO-
Rs. 200) ; and 38 held dry land assessed at abore £20 (Rs. 2O0) ;
and 15,000 held both garden and dry lands; of the reTenoa realized
£59,944 (Rs. 5,99,440) was derived from land cultivated wiUi millet
or hdjri; £42,711 (Rs. 4,27,110) from land producing Indian millet
or jvaH ; £20,763 (Rs. 2,07,630) from wheat cultivation ; £8569
(Rs. 85,590) from land cultivated with gram; £7512 (Rs. 75,120}
from sugarcane tillage and vegetables; £4215 (Ra. 42,150) from
rice ; and £957!) (Rs. 95,790) from pulses and oil plants.'

In the north of the district that is in the present collectonito of
N&sik in 1842-43 the Collector complained that the introductioo of
the survey, probably from the spread of tillage causing increased
production, had reduced the price of grain, which, during the fivs
years ending 1842-43, had fallen abont twenty per cent.*

>Bom.Oov. Rev.It«& 16«4of 1844, 27-2S.

Akmadnatar Pniuei AujiM Priet, ttlO ■ ISU.

TM».

Pd^ii or Foot SMttt.

Sten

BdjH.

Tmr.

Jfttf.

TO.

ivifi.

w.™t

Onm.

An.

Jigfi.

ffi:S::: ;

1S3H0
1640-41

1843^4 ::: :

"HI

101

«Il

•i
1

(i
It
n

B
8
8

Bom. Gov. Bov. Roc. 1504 <A 1S44, 30.

I)eoeiuii»l

AHMADNAQAR

477

These seasons of favourable or at worst of fair Harvests were
followed by three years of scanty rainfall and distress amonnting
almost to famine.

In 1843 the rains were so unfavourable that arable land yielding
ck revenue of £11965 (Rs. 1,19,650) was not brought under the plough.
In addition to this, chiefly in the principal division of the coUec-
1>orate, so large a proportion both of the early and of the late crops
mras destroyed that remissions amounting in the whole district to
£^4,918 (Rs. 8,49,180) or 21 per cent of the revenue had to be
granted. In the Nasik sub-coUectorate the season was better, but
remissions had to be granted on account of the ravages of locusts.^

The season of 1844 was most unfortunate ; it was more unfavour-
able even than 1843. In the beginning of the rains the fall was so
scanty that much of the early or kharif crop area remained unsown,
and of what was sown little came to maturity. In many places the
late or rahi crop was also a complete failure. This and a terrible
epidemic, apparently of cholera though the disease is not stated,
drove many of the people from their villages. In six sub-divisions
remissions amounting to £40,684 (Rs. 4,06,840) were granted ; in
Karda £11,301 (Rs. 1,13,010), in Korti £8561 (Rs. 85,610), in
Patoda £6897 (Rs. 68,970), in Nev&sa £6624 (Rs. 66,240), in Rdhuri
£5278 (Rs. 52,780), and in Sangamner £2023 (Rs. 20,230). The
total remissions amounted to £49,682 (Rs. 4,96,820).* The grant of
abundant remissions was the only chance of keeping the people
from leaving their homes, even from starvation. The distress was
sharpest in Karda, Korti, and Jdmkhed where pasturage was so
scarce that to save their cattle the people had to leave their homes.
In 152 of the 305 villages of these three sub-divisions the people
paid only one-fourth of their rental.^ Mr. Young the assistant in
charge of Karda, Korti, and Jamkhed, describes the failure of
crops as almost unprecedented. In Jdmkhed there was rain
enough to allow the early crops to be sown in proper time but in
Karda and Korti the early crops were not sown till the end of July.
As no rain fell in August, the young crops were almost everywhere
totally destroyed and pasture became so scarce that most of the
cattle were driven out of the district. In the middle of Sep-
tember a pretty general fall enabled the late or rabi crops to be
sown. But as no more rain fell much of the seed never sprouted
and 9 what did spring up was burnt. The failure of the late
• harvest was complete. So widespread and so complete was
the failure that half of the villages, 152 in 305, did not pay one

Chapter 7III.

The Land.

The BarriSH.
1843-44^

1844-45.

^TheCoUeotor, 12tli December 1S44, Bom. Gov. Rev. Bee. 9 of 1845, 51-52. 54-56.

'The remuBions in the aub-coUectorate of N^ik, compared with thosv of the
principal district, were smaU, amounting to only £1737 (Rs. 17,370). These remis-
sions were chiefly given in the Ndsik and Sinnar sub-divisions ic consequence of
considerable losses from the destruction of the late crops by insects. In Sinnar large
remissions were granted as ^dth few exceptions the late crops completely failed and
the early harvest was at best only middling. The revenues of the sub-collectorate
Were realised without difficulty, in the three surveyed sub-divisions, Nisik Chdndor
and Dindori, there were no outstandings and the increase of cultivation amounted to
no less than 55,290 acres. Bom. Gov. Hev. Rec. 11 of 1847, 68-71} 74, 76.

»Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. U of 1847, 69-70, 77- 78,

[Bomtay Oaaettaen

478

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII.

The Land.

Thb Brttish.

1846-46.

quarter of their rental.^ Many villages were reduced to a deplor*
able state. The people teft the country taking with them what*
ever they could remove. The absence of any nourishment for man
or beast^ their closed gates and tenantless huts, their unfrequented
and failing wells^ and the parched and waste fields gave large tracts
the appearance of worthless and unproductive deserts. The absence
of so large a proportion of the people had the advantage of relieving
those who were able to remain from any excessive rise in the price
of gprain. This was helped by the recent improved communications
and better commercial and social intercourse with surrounding
districts.^ In the whole district the net land revenue after deduccing
remissions amounted to £100,943 (Rs. 10,09,480) showing a foil of
£25,326 (Rs. 2,53,260) compared with 1843-44. Of the whole amount
all but £804 (Rs. 8040) were collected before the close of July
1845.

Bad as 1844 was, 1845 seems to have been worse. Over the whole
of the principal division of the district there was a complete failure
of the late or rabi crops. Had it not been for the very high price of
grain, and that the early or hharif harvest in many places was lair,
almost no revenue could have been collected. As it was remissions
varied from 66*45 per cent in Rihuri to 13*35 per cent in Akola and
averaged 43' 16 per cent.' The state of the people of the eastern sub*

1 Bom. Gov. Bev. Bee. 11 of 1847» 143-145. The detaila are :

Rarda-KcTtirJimkhed Bevmue, 18U-U.

Proportional

Karda.

KORTI.

Ja'mkbsd. I

Patmbmtb.

VUli^eB.

CoUec-
tione.

Remif-

■iODB.

VOkgea.

CoUeo-

tiOOB.

ReiniB-
ilonfl.

VUlBges.

OoUec-

tlOOB.

Bemis-
bIobb.

Rs.

Bb.

Ba.

Bs.

Nothing

• ■•

1697

«••

905

#••

• ■«

•*•

Less than ith

2696

24,810

S681

81617

• ••

• •

From 4th - Iths

19,182

55.162

5849

22.061

• ••

«••

•••

„ fthe-ithe ...
,, Itha-tthB ...
„ fths • itht ...
„ ithB-fths ...

:: iS::b :::

Totftl ...

10,962

17.164

9884

19.078

• ••

• •■

,»

10,039

9174

8497

8905

2128

1994

2490

1806

• • ■

•>•

4648

2947

4265

1816

8982

2716

16,990

6669

3795

607

• • •

28.261

8892

884

• ••

■ «•

1686

144

54,276

1,11,278

106

80,648

86,171

47,562

14,667

3 Mr. Young, First Asaiatant CoUeotor, 6th Noyember 1845, Bom. Gov^er*
Eec. 11 of 18^, 146-147.
* Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 10 of 1848, 20, 67. The details are :

Ahmadnoffar Remiitiont, 18U-i6.

Principal Division.

BUB-COLLBCTORATK.

^ Sub-DlyiBion.

Bemia-

BioOB.

Bub-Division.

BemiB-
slons.

Sub-Division.

Bemis-

■tOBBw

Nagar

Akol*

JAmkhed

Karda

Korti

Nevtea

Per
Cent.
41-*9
18-85
81*42
8612
61-16
6218

Pttoda

Sangamner

B&buri

Shevgaon

Avenge ...
Gracing

Per
Cent
46-23
82-28

66-45
81-18

NAsik

Chindor...

Sinnar

Dindori

Kivnai

Avenge ...

Per
Cenl
1-26
0-67
S-6S
092
1-97

4316
87-43

1*69

AHMADNAGAR. 479

divisionsj Korti^ Jdmkhed^ Shevgaon^ B&hnri^ and Pdtoda was lamen- Chapter Till.

table. Their late Harvest was a complete failure^ their wells were dry ; The^iand.

there was no fodder ; and an epidemic apparently of cholera started

from Paithan and spread death over the district. In February many ^™ British.

of the people finding their late harvest a complete failure left their 1845^46.

villages to seek a living elsewhere. Some went into the Nizam's

territory with their carts and cattle^ and others settled at the villages

on the banks of the Nira and Pravara, tilling small patches in the beds

of the rivers. To their other miseries was added an outbreak of cattle

disease which was supposed to have been caused by the cattle feeding

on the blighted remains of crops which had been vnthered before

reaching maturity. The cattle plague was particularly deadly in

Kortij Nev^saj and R&huri. According to Mr. Young^ the First

Assistanti the villages in the valleys of the Bhima and Sina were

as bad as they possibly could be, the late crop was a total failure,

and except in a few vUlages the early harvest was nearly as bad.

In Nevdsa and Bdhuri the distress was little less severe. Since the

famine of 1824 Mr. Langford, the Collector, remembered no season

of such widespread suffering. In many places where the early crops

did not completely fail, the straw was fiUed with insects which

poisoned the cattle which fed on them. In the twenty miles

between Singva and NevAsa as early as January there was not a

single field of grain which was not withered. Even the

moneylenders and shopkeepers were driven from the villages, as

many villages had no water and almost no people. The attempt

was made by offering advances to induce the people to stay, and

repair and deepen their wells. These offers were mostly rejected

as the people's chief care was to save their cattle by taking them to

places where they would find forage. In Rihuri both the early

and the late crops failed ; only ten out of eighty villages gave a

tolerable return. In Karda^ which was hilly and Imd a less uncertain

rainfall, the loss was less than in R&huri ; in many places the early

crops were fair and the late harvest was not a complete failure.

In Nagar the late crops to which the people chiefly trusted were, except

in a few places, a nearly complete failure, and the little water in the

welis made garden cultivation impossible. In Shevgaon, which

contained 176 villages 77^ Government and 98i alienated,^ perhaps

from the neighbourhood of hills, the early crops were generally

better than elsewhere, and in some few places even the late harvest

yielded a scanty return. Shevgaon vras less distressed than most

parts of the district. No sub-division in Ahmadnagar had more

improved under British rule ; the land was good and the assessment

was moderate. In 1846 the tillage area had increased by 4784

highds? In Pdtoda where Captain Davidson was carrying on his

survey, compared with the previous year the revenue showed a fall

of about £5700 (Rs. 57,000). Pew parts of the district had suffered

more from the drought than P&toda. In Sangamner the losses

^ Karda waa a very large sub-divifiion containing 213 villages. Bom, Gov.
Bev. Beo. 10 of 1848, 74-75.
s Of these 80i were held by Sindia. Bom. Qov. Bev. Bee, 10 of 1848, 78.
> Mr« Lani^ord, 13th Oct. 1846, Bom. Qov. Bev. Bee, 10 of 1848, 81.

[&>mbay Ctasettoer.

480

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^Vni.
The Land.

Thk Bbitibh.
1845-46,

were comparatively small owing to the neighbourhood of the hills
and because the early crops were its chief harvest. In AkoIa»
because of its hills^ good rainfall^ and early crops, the lossee
were less than in any other sub-division, the remissions being
little over one-eighth of the rental. Akola with its warlike
Kolis, who were just beginning to settle and give up their
bad coursesi was very unlike the rest of the, district. Of its 175
villages only fifty were in the plains and 125 were d6/ng or dongar
that is hill villages. The assessment of the plain or (£6«A« villages
had been revised in 1845 by Lieutenant Day of the revenue survey.
The new rates were throughout moderate, and the crops were better
than elsewhere. The rental was easily levied and the outstandings
were small. In the 125 hill or ddnig villages three modes
of assessment were all light and gave rise to no complaint.
The chief of them was the plough rate or auibandi, which much
resembled the plough tax of the neighbouring Konkan sub-division
of Kolvan in Th&na. It was a fixed sum varying from 8s, to £1 lOif.
(Rs. 4-15) on the pair of bullocks according to the capability of the
land which varied in area from thirty to fifty highda. This was
chiefly sown with the smaller grains, and here and there where the
means of watering allowed, small patches of rice ground were tilled.
When from their steepness hill or drnig lands could not be

Eloughed, they were brought under tillage by the pickaxe and the
olders paid a poll tax of about 1^. (8 ck8.) a head or 28. (Be. 1} on
each family. In addition to these a third system went by the
name of nakta chdl or cash rate. Under it holdings were
assessed at a fixed yearly sum varying from 10«. to £2 (Bs. 5 •20).
For this amount the holders were allowed to till certain fixed tracts
of outlying land. The mass of the hill cultivators were Eolis.
During 1845, owing to the great activity and success of
Captain Simpson the Bhil Agent and Commandant of the police
corps, the Kolis were particularly quiet, and since B&ghoji
Bh^ngria's rising or band had been crushed and many of the leading
men punished, few sub-divisions were freer from crime than Akola.
In four of the five sub-divisions included in the Ndsiksub-coUectorate
a better rainfall and moderate assessment made much smaller
remissions necessary than in Ahmadnagar. The only N^ik
sub-division in which large remissions were given was Sinnar. In
the distressed parts of Ahmadnagar the people made much less use
than was expected of the offer of advances to sink or repair wells^
Most of them left the district in search of fodder for their cattle.
Many were employed by the Collector of Poena in making roads
and some useful local relief was given by opening a pass near
Sinnar. Towards the close of the season some two hundred
destitute persons were employed in the town of Nagar in clearing
milk-bush (Euphorbia tirucalli) which had overgrown parts of the
town and harboured disease.^

During 1845-46 Captain Davidson had completed the survey of

1 Mr. Langford, 13th Oct. 1846» Bom, Gov, Rev. Ree. 10 of 1848, 99-100.

Deccan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

481

P&toda and nearly completed the survey of the plain part of Akola.
The measuring of Sangamner and of Bdhuri except the deserted
villages was finished^ and the boundaries of aboat half the villages in
Karda and Nagar had been laid down.^ The Collector complained
bitterly of the want of European assistance. Unless four assistants
were sanctioned three for the districts and one for the town he
despaired of improving the management of the district.'

1846 on the whole was a favourable season. Still a considerable
area suffered from drought and between Sangamner and Eolhdr the
early crops in many villages were destroyed. Remissions fell from
£49,968 to £21,543 (Rs. 4,99,630 - Rs. 2,15,430) and the revenue for
collectionrosefrom£106,966to£145,620(Rs.lO,69,660-Rs.l4,56,200).»
In this year the survey settlement was introduced in Patoda, the
new rates showing a decline of 28 per cent on the old rates.^

1847 was a better season than had been known for several years.
The rainfall was irregular being at times excessive and at other
times insufficient but on the whole the season was exceedingly
propitious and the harvest abondant. Compared with the previous
year, remissions showed a fall from £21,543 (Rs. 2,15,430) or 12*89
per cent to £6616 (Rs. 66,160) or 3*85 per cent and the revenue
for collection, a rise from £145,620 to £165,256 (Rs. 14,56,200 -

(Siapter Till.

The Laud.
ThsBsitish,

1846-47.

1847'4S.

1 Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 10 of 1848, 89.

> Mr. Langford, 13th Oct. 1846, Bom. Qov. Bev. Reo. 10 of 1848, 93-95,

* Bom« Gov. Hey. Eec 13 of 1849, 48, 58, 66. The detaUa are :

Akmadnoifar RgnUttioMt t8k6-k7.

Frimoipal Divnioir.

SUB-COLLICTO&A R.

Sub-DiTiflioiL

Remis-
nons.

Sttb-DiTiflion.

Remia>
■iona

Sub-Division.

Bemfs-
aiong.

Nagar

Akola

J&mkhfid

Kat^

Kortt

Percent
1418
11-84
14-84
9-89
25-04

NevCn

P&toda

SADgamner

Bihuri

ShergaoD

Percent
16*42
612
82-00
42*86
6-04

Ntelk

Ch&ndor

Sinnar

Dindofi

K&vnai

Percent
0-04
0-10
0-81
0-85
l-Sl

^ The following statement shows the Pdtoda revenue daring the ten years ending
1846-4>: Pdtoda Beneniu, ISST-m?.

YlAB.

Bevenne.

Remis-
lions.

CoUec-
tions.

Teas.

Revenue.

Remis-
sions.

CoUeo-
tiona.

Ra.

Ba.

Bs.

Rs.

1837-88...

1.71,180

16,790

1,64,890

1842-48 ..

1.76,801

8901

1,66,400

1888-89...

1,70,760

1,00,687

70,182

1843-44...

1,71,569

65,887

1,18,222 *

1889-40...

1,79,608

86,400

1,48,198

1844-46...

1.42.222

68.974

78,248

1840-41...

1,84,166

86,486

1,48,670

184546,..

1,29,067 1

60,091

09,876

1841-42...

1,86,185

68,431

1.27,764

184647...

1,18,860

6916

1,06,984

Bom. Gov. Rev. Rec. 13 of 1849, 75-76. Details of survey settlements introduced
between 1840 and 1847 in KAvnai, Chdndor, Dindori, Sinnar, Niksik, and P&toda have
been given in the NAsik Statistical Account. Details of the remaining nine sub-
divisions which were settled between 1848 and 1853 are given below.

B 772^1

[Bombay Gaittteer,

482

DISTRICTS.

Cbaptor^vni.

The Land.

ThbBritise.

Bs. 16,52,560).^ Tillage showed an increase of 62,565 acres, 82,118
of them in the principal division and 30,447 in the sab-coUectorate.
During this season the highest proportion of remissions (9*76
per cent) was granted in Akola. The reduced survey rates were not
yet in force and in those outlying parts the abundant harvest had
been followed by so serious a fall in the value of grain that in some
places it was almost unsaleable at any price.' Though to a less
extent than in Akola, in other parts of the principal division
of the district the abundant harvest by making gram ruinoasly
cheap caused much loss to the husbandmen. All the people were
husbandmen, and all the husbandmen grew coarse bulky grain.
The local markets were glutted and there was no outside demand.
Collectors had tried to lessen the production of grain by persuading
the people to grow cotton, sugarcane, or mulberry trees i or to
turn their attention to stock and improve the breed of sheiTp
cattle and horses. These attempts had met with no success. The
district was far from markets; the only hope was in improved
communications, roads, and railways.^ Great reductions had of
late been granted in the Government share of the produce of the
land ; and further sacrifices were being made in almost all places
where the new survey rates were being introduced. It was
doubtful under the existing law and court practice in the matter of
debtor and creditor, whether the landholders would benefit by the
remissions. It was a matter of dispute whether the village Y&oi or
professional moneylender was a blessing or a curse to the people*
Mr. Spooner the Collector was satisfied that the present system
and the practice of the civil courts left the moneylender too many
opportunities for enveloping the needy landholder in a web of
fictitious indebtedness and too much power in enforcing his nominal
claims even to the extent of ruining his debtor. The Ydni lends
the landholder a small sum of money at a high rate of interest and
the borrower passes a bond for the amount. The borrower cannot
pay the interest, and interest and capital joined form the subject of
a £reah bond. By this process the original small sum rapidly swells
until the borrower is in the lender's hands. A suit is filed, a decree
passed, and the debtor's property is sold. Care is taken that part
of the claim remains outstanding, and that like the original sum
the balance should rapidly grow to a large amount If tJ^e season

1 Bom. Gov. Bev. Bee 13 of 1850» 64, 70, 79. The details are :

Ahmadwtgar /ZemitfiotM, lSU7'i8^

PRIBCIPAb DivinoH.

Sab<3oiuorQiULn.

Sub-Biviaion.

Remis.
•tons.

Sub-Division.

RemJa*

BiODS.

Sub-DivitioiL

PnOmi

0-7T
S-tt

Nagar

Akolft

Jftmkhed

KanU

Korti ... .M

PeiCent
4-71
976
8-41
5*82
8HH

NeTftMi

PitodA

Sangamner

Rtouri

Bheygaon

PeiOent
e-4S
0-77
4-97
9*81
2-40

JTMk

ChAndor ...

Sinnar

Uindori

K&vnai

> Bom. QoY. Bev. Beo. 13 of 1860, 120, 206.

* Mr, Eichard Spooner, 11th Nov. 1848, Bom. Got. Bev. Beo. 13 of 1850, 91.93«

AHBIADNAGAB.

483

is good and the landholder has pnt Bomethmg by and increased hia
ferm stock, a freah action ia filed and a fresh decree granted. The
landhotder'a property ia sold, his ballocks are gone, and he has to
throw np his land. To remedy these abuses Mr. Spooner proposed
thatoo ooart sbonld be allowed to issue a decree in a lenders fairoor
without inqoring into the debt and into the borrower's means of
paying the debt. All decrees should provide for the payment of
anch amoant aa the court thought fit by easy instalments. In no
case should a debtor's bullocks or other means of earning a liviog
bo liable to sale for debt.^

The following statement shows the tillage, land revenue
collections, and remissions daring the thirty years ending 1850-51
for the sub-divisions of Kevasa, Eharda, Ahmadnagar, Korti,
Shevgaon, and Jiimkhed':

AhniadTiaottr LoMd SevoMt, ISfl'lSSl.

Lud

Tbul

Tn-

lan-tt ...

tst

' s

»M

ig£s-ie ...

ISSB-OT _.

tat

IMT-M ...

ims-tt ...

aos

isa>« ...

•00

1«3M1 ..

oos

«06

isai-w '."

ISKW !"

«as

18M«7 ...

««

i»8.»ii :::

«<

lgSB.40 ...

iMi-tt z

1M3.M ...

ists-u ...

l8<4-«3 ...

IHS-M ..

818

ls^7^a :::

81«

i! 1

IMMB ...

..».»a

iso-u ...

8»1,0M

lgM>.«l .-.

SIS

M187B

' In 1848 Mr. Tytler's Nfisik hill or dang mrvey was extended to
the Akola ddngs or hiU lands in Ahmadnagar.' The Akola hill
survey group formed the most western portion of the district. It
had little level land and was composed of mountains, hills, ravines,
and stream beds. Within ite limits weretbe two highest mountains
in the Decc&n, Kalsnbdi and Harishchandragad. The soil was poor,

Chapter TUZ.
IheLaucL
Tbi BRmsH.

BiLLSDKvnr.
Akela,

> Mr. Spooner, Collector, IXUi Nov. 1648, Bom. Got. Bev. Beo, IS of 1660, 121-124

» Bom. Qov. Sel. CXXIU.

' Mr. Tytlor, 7 of lOth Jiansry 1846 Md 108 of 22nd Aogiut 16*8 ; Gov. letters
a»S of 6U] April 1848 ftod HHSof 6th October 1848 ; Bom. Ooy. Bev. Sec. 313 ol
lUa and 307 of 1849 ; Gov. Letter 419 of 23rd Jbhout 1849.

IBombaj OaMttaer.

484

DISTRICTS.

GhapterTIIL
TheLaacL

Hill Subtkt.

Ahola,
1848.

the rain plentifal, and the torrents nnmerona and fierce so ihal^
to prevent the soil being washed away dry-crop land was often
banked like rice land. The chief products were rice» khurdsnij
ndgli, and bdjri. Only rice and khurdsni were exported, ric^ to
the inner Deccan and khurdsni to the coast for oil. The people,
except the hulkarnis or village accountants, were poor. The average

Eressure was fifty-five people to the square mile and the proportion of
usbandmen five to one. There were only two weekly markets. The
exports were rice, khurdsni, clarified butter, and a few cattle. The
imports were common cotton stuffs, sugar, salt, and the most ordinary
necessaries of life. Four weavers made turbans and a few shepherda
made blankets. Interest was high, because the borrowers were poor
and the risks of the lender great. Owing to the absence of roads, the
stagnation of trade and manufactures, there was nothing to relieve the
pressure of the people on the single and insufficient resource the soiL
The advantages enjoyed by the hill people were never-failing rain,
abundance of grass, and wood. The disadvantages were bad climate,
the specially hard labour entailed by rice cultivation, and the
necessity of clearing new dry-crop or jirdyat land every three or
four years. Fires were frequent, and the people had no village
walls or other means of protection against robbers other than
the payment of blackmail. Of a total of 25,636 people, Kolis
numbered about 12,250, Eunbis 5545, Vanjdris 621, ThiLkurs 1160,
K^nad&s 442, and other castes 5518. The Eolis were careless
thoughtless and improvident. They were generally in debt and
of plundering habits. Whenever the hill passes were disturbed by
gang robbers, the Akola hills supplied a full share of the men and
gave the gangs strong and choice retreats against the police.
Bdghoji Bhingria (1845), and his equally notorious father Kdmji
Bh^gria, both belonged to the Akola hills. The Kunbis were
quieter and harder working. The Thdkurs and Ktoadas were
remarkably well behaved and were rarely seen in courts either as
witnesses, prisoners, or defaulters. The Thakurs though poor were
rarely in debt ; the E&nad&s, a shepherd tribe, were as seldom in
debt and were generally in easy circumstances.

In no part of Ahmadnagar did the land rates stand in more need
of revision than in the Akola hills. In 1829-30 Captain Robertson
had tried to bring matters into form, but stopped till a regular
survey should be introduced. Since his time the question had
passed unnoticed. Including four alienated villages the AkolA hills
contained 116 villages yielding a yearly gross revenue of about
£3490 (Rs. 34,900). In the 112 Government villages four different
systems of assessment obtained (1848), the bigha rate or bighdvni in
forty villages, the plough rate or auibandi in thirty-five, the cash rate
or fiskta chal in thirty-seven, and the wood-ash or dali rate found in
different forms in all the villages. The bighdvni system professed
to divide the land into fields of so many bighds each. There was
a field register or number kharda ; but no field measurement of any
kind, and no classification according to the capabilities of the soU.
The bigha was of every size from half an acre to two, three, or four
acres. In the forty bighdvni villages twenty-five rates were in force.

Deeeui.]

AHMADNAGAB. 485

Each Tillage had asnally three to six rates. The hulkamis also Chapter TIIL
realized direct from the landholders of these bigkdvni villages six Thel[iaiLd«
pdylis of grain and Is, (8 as.) each on every thirty bighds. The
plough or autba7idi system was a tax on ploughs, of which there ^^ Subvw.
were four kinds : two-bullock, f our-buUock, six-bullock, and eight- ^j^Js*

bullock. The rates were forty-three in number. Each village
commonly had three or four different rates, which were also liable
to be halved and quartered. These numerous rates were often
changed ; the loss or the purchase of a bullock or two, the increase
or the decrease of the area held for tillage, any addition to a man's
family or establishment, and other causes, would add or take away
one-fourth, one-half, or a whole plough, as the case might be or as
the kulhami pleased. A yearly assessment took place in these
plough villages. The kulkarni was sole assessor and the pdtil
nominally supplied the iuformation. The influences which combined
to form the result seemed endless, but there was little uniformity
of procedure. The kulkamis gave different accounts of their modes
of assessment. Some kulkamis said they took the area of land
into consideration, others said a consideration of the area formed
no part of the system. In the majority of cases the kulkamis
were also deshpwndes. This plough tax admitted of no test ; neither
the mdmlatddr nor any other head officer ever attempted to
test it. One deshpdnde who was also a kulkarni told Mr. Tytler
that a test was sometimes taken. When asked to describe it he
said, ' When I think there is fraud in the matter of any plough, I
sleep over-night at a neighbouring village, and surprise the house
at aawn, and count the family and bullocks.' Besides the rates
on ploughs already specified, each kulkarni realized directly
three pdylis of grain and four annas cash on every two-bullock
plough ; six pdylis and eight annas on every four-bullock plough ;
and twelve pdylis and one rupee on every eight-bullock plough.
Twenty, fifteen, twelve, and ten bighds were said to go to a
plough ; but the land was never measured, and from first to last
nothing was certain in this system, except the supremacy of the
kulkamis. The third system was called the cash or naJcta chdl, A
round sum was fixed on the head of each landholder by the
kulkarni and pdtil ; but the pdtil took a very secondary place in
all these arrangements. The landholder's powers of paying, the
number of his bullocks, partners, and family, were said to be the
inflaences which combined to fix the sum charged. But in this as
in the plough system the assessors gave most various accounts of
their modes of assessment. Some said the land was taken into
consideration, others that it was not. The round sum was
changed from year to year. On the loss of a son, of a partner, or
of a bullock, it fell; when a man's cultivation increased^ or his
condition improved, it rose. The boundaries of the holdings were
unfixed, and neither rates nor records existed, except the land-
holder's name and the round sum he yearly paid. The system
admitted of no test, and no test had ever been attempted. In
these cashorna^ja chdl villages the kulkamis levied direct from the
landholder half un anixa in cash and one sher of grain on every rupee

[Bombay OaxeCteer >

486

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Till.
The Land*

Hill Subyxy,

Akola,
1848.

of assessment. The fourth system was the wood-ash or dali
assessment. Twelve rates were in force for wood-ash, and there were
often two, three, or four rates in one village. The kulkarni fixed the
rates chiefij on a consideration of the landholder's means and powers.
A single man paid 8 annas, a married man a rupee, and so on ; bat
there was no uniform rule of procedure. The kulkamis levied 1|
pdylis of grain and two anna^ in cash on each wood-ash holding.
Irregularity and uncertainty pervaded all four systems, and the
whole tendency of the second, third, and fourth was to tax and check
instead of fostering industry and labour. The rates were perhaps
not heavy, yet, except the hiUcamis, none of the people seemed m
easy circumstances.

Mr. Tytler's settlement (1848) of the Akola hills consisted in a
minute survey, classification, and assessment field by field of all the
better soils whether rice, garden, or dry-crop. Poor and hilly lands
which did not admit of measurement were leased in a lump to the
people of each village, each individual having his own holding and
dues defined by the settling officer and recorded in a separate lease
which was signed and given when the rates were fixed. This leasing
was confined to lands where field measurements were impracticable
or uncalled-for. The field by field survey was conducted on the
same principles as the plain survey under Captain Davidson. The
size of the rice fields averaged twelve gunthda and the dry-crop
fields eight acres. Mr. Tytler divided the 1 10 villages into throe
groups. The first group contained f orty-f our viUages having, m far
as possible, the whole of the arable land measured and classified.
The second group contained thirty-three villages in which the rice
lands alone were measured and classified. The third group contained
thirty-three villages in which the rice lands were, as far as possible,
measured into fields but not classified. The rates proposed were of
four kinds ; uJcti or round sums imposed on each village on lands
incapable of measurement ; rice land rates ; dry-crop or jirdyat rates
suited for lands capable of being measured; and garden ratea The
ukti or lump sums were imposed on dry-crop lands incapable of
being measured. The term of the le€kse was limited to five years.
The rice lands were divided into eight classes. The highest acre
rate was fixed at 5«. (Ss. 2^) and the lowest at \8,&d, (12 a«.).
The dry-crop or jirdyat rates were divided into nine classes. They
varied from 2«. Sd. to 6(2, (Bs. 1| - i) the acre. They were applical)le
only to lands capable of being measured, and occurred only in the
first group of villages. The area of garden land was small, only 216
acres. Channel-watered garden laud was divided into twelve
classes and well-watered garden land was divided into five classes.
For the channel-watered land the highest acre rate was fixed at
158. (R^ 7i) and the lowest at 5«. (Bs. 2^). For the well- watered
land the highest acre rate was fixed at Ts. (Bs. 3i) and the lowest
at 3^. (Bs. Ij^). The average acre rate on channel- watered land
amounted to bs, 4|(2. (Bs. 2 a«. ll-jV) ^^^ on well- watered land to
is. md. (Bs. 2a«. 7f). The average collections of the preceding
twenty-nine years were £2230 (Bs. 22,300), and the new total
rental amounted to £2748 (Bs. 27,480). The probable collections

Deccttt]

AHMADNAGAR.

487

for 1848-49 at tlie new rates were estimated at £2386 (Rs. 23,860).
The proposed rates were sanctioned by Goyemment in January 1849.

At the time of the first survey settlement (1840) the
Ahmadnagar district consisted of fifteen sub-divisions. Almost the
entire lands of six of these belong to the present Ndsik district.^
Their settlement details have therefore been given in the Ndsik
Statistical Account. The remaining nine sub-divisions were surveyed
and settled between 1848 and 1853.^ The details are :

Ahmadnagar Survey SetUement, 184B'186S^

8u»-I>ivuioir.

FOBMXB.

SORvnr.

Tear.

Colleo-
tiona

Tear.

Oollec-
tioiiB.

Tear.

Collec-
tions.

Tear.

CoUeo.
tiona.

AkolA

Sftngvmner ...
lUhori

Kuda

Kortl ^
Shevgfton

Totel ...

1818-1848
1818-1848
1818-1849
1818-1851
1818-1851
1818-1851
1818-1862
1818-1852
1818-1852

Bs.

50,000
64,000
50,052
1,01,528
1,21,648
80,260
69,257
42,854
65,504

184647.
184647.
184849.
1850-51.
1850-51.
1850-51.
1851-62.
1861-52.
1851-62.

Re.

67,993
56,181
62,888
1,15,111
1,02,014
81,397
78,990
46,018
54,017

184849.
184849.
1849-50.
1861-52.
1851-52.
1851-52.
1852-58.
1853-68.
1862-68.

Be.

40,000
85,000
41,465
60,067
78,888
52,829
65,161
82,896
36,082

1840^60.
1849-60.
1850-51.
1852-68.
1862 63.
1862-63.
1868-54.
1863-64.
1863-54.

Be.

42,000
44,000
66,000
06,501
1,08.704
67,898
70,000
40,000
46,000

• ■•

6,84,608

■ ••

6,42,968

• ••

4,85,838

• ••

6,66,696

The survey settlement was introduced in the plain or desh
portion of Akola and in Sangamner in 1848. These tracts lay in the
valley of the Pravara and formed the most western portion of the
principal division of the Ahmadnagar district. Akola was the more
western of the two and its plain or desk part, with a large portion
of Sangamner, lay between two of the east-stretching spurs of the
great Sahyidri range. These two sub-divisions were bounded on
the north by Sinnar, on the east by Rd.huri, on the south by Junnar
in Poena, and on the west by ShAMpurin Th&na and by Kdvnai or
Igatpuri in N4sik. Although the plain or desk of Akola bordered
on ^ngamner, there was a marked difEerence in climate. The
neighbourhood of the Sahy^dri hills ensured Akola against drought,
while Sangamner suffered severely from the want of rain.* In dryness
as well as in the general character of its soil Sangamner closely
resembled that part of Sinnar which formed its northern boundary.
The^shief products of both Akola and Sangamner were millets
wheat and gram, and the proportion of the early to the late crop
was about two to one in Akola and three to two in Sangamner.

The fluctuation in the cultivation and collections of Akola was
considerable, but the average collections approached nearer to the
old total or liamdl than in Chd,ndor, Dindori, Sinnar, N&sik, or
PAtoda. The average demand had been more than 2«. (Rejl) the
acre. In both Akola and Sangamner there was a gradual reduction
of the acre rate till about 1836-37 after which there was a slight

1 KAvnaif Chiador, Dindori, Sinnar, K&Bik, and Pdtoda.

* Of these Karda and Korti represent the present P&mer Shrigonda and Earjat,
while P&toda indnded* besides Veolaand part of N&ndgaon, the present Koporgaonof
the Ahmadoagar district, ' Captain Davidson, 33 of 26th Nov. 1847.

Chapter VIII.

The Land.

Survey,
1S48-1853,

AhotorSangamner^
1848.

(Bombay Gtasetteer,

488

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

SUBYKT.

Ahoki'Sanganmer,
1848.

increase. The past system was so irregular that it was difficult to
trace the cause of the changes. The rates of villages in both the
sub-divisions were from time to time lowered aa the excess of the
original assessment was forced on the attention of tbe local
authorities. In Sangamner in 1836-37 the rates of forty-four
villages were at once lowered, a measure which seems to have been
immediately followed by increased cultivation.^ In Akola the
tillage area rose from 52,770 bighds in the ten years ending
1827-28 to 55,921 in the nine years ending 1846-47 and the
collections from £5167 to £5364 (Rs. 51,670 -Rs. 53,640) ; in
Sangamner the rise in tillage was from bighds 69,506 to 96,286
and in collections from £5596 to £6103 (Rs. 55,960 - Rs. 61^030).
The details are^:

AholO' Sangamner Land Revenue, 1818-1847.^

Ybak.

Akola.

•

SAXoAmrBft.

VUlages.

Tillage.

CoUec-
tiona.

ViUAgu.

TiUaffe.

CoOoo-
tiou.

1818 -ISSK ...

1898*1888

1838-1847

1818-1647

66
66
66
66

Bighdi.
52.770
60,869
56,921
58,092

Rs.

51,666
43,286
58,646
49,390

104
104
104
104

Bighdt.
69.606
61.741
90,286
76,136

lb.

55,967
40,904
61,027
62,887

Survey operations were begun in 1845 and finished in 1847. As
the surface was much cut by ravines, and as the soil varied in depth
and quality in almost every field, Akola and Sangamner presented
considerable difficulties to the measurer and classer. Of the fift^f •
six Akola villages twenty-eight were assessed at 4$. (Rs. 2) for the
first d^AS and 9d. (6 as.) for the lowest class ; twenty-five at 3«» 6d.
(Rs. 1}) for the first class and 7|c{. (5^ as.) for the lowest
class ; and three at Ss. (Rs. 1^) for the first class and 6f (2. (4^ as,)
for the lowest class. For garden land the Chdndor rates were
introduced ; channel-watered, twelve classes with 16s. (R& 8) for
the first class and 6s. (Rs. 3) for the lowest class ; and well-watered,
five classes with 8^. (Rs. 4) for the first class and 48. (Rs. 2) for the
lowest class. Compared with the former total or kamdl assessment
on the entire arable land £8393 (Rs. 83,930) the total surrey
rental £5547 (Rs. 55,470) of the fifty-six Akola villages showed a
reduction of 34 per cent. Compared with the collections £5799
(Rs. 57,990) of 1846-47, the survey rental on the tillage of the
same year showed a reduction of £1135 (Rs. 11,350) or 19^»per
cent. The relief afforded by the survey rates was considerable;
since the landholders of Akola had until the survey settlement
paid an average acre rate of 28. \d. (Re. 1 a. ^) independent of grain
levies to hakddrs, whereas the average survey rate induding hah
was onlv l^. 7{d. (12f (».). Compared with the average of past
collections £4939 (Rs. 49,390) and the average value of viUage officers'
haks paid in grain £266 (Rs. 2660) or a total of £5205 (Rs. 52,050),
the total survey rental on the entire arable land showed a prospective

1 Gaptain Davidson, 33 of 26th November 1847 para. 17,
9 The Rev, Comr. 483 of 8th February 1848 pMtt* 18.

Deecaii.l

AHMADNAGAR.

489

increase^ supposing all the arable land was cnltivated^ of 6^ per cent.
The land of Sangamner was classed according to the Fdtoda
scale. The dry-crop acre rates proposed were nine, suited to the
nine classes of soil, 3^., 28. 6id,, 2$. ^d., Is, S^d., Is, Sid., Is. ^d.,
9d., 6|d, and 4^d. (Bs. 1^, He. 1 as. 4^, Re. 1 a. ^ 13^ as., 10^ as.,
Si as,, 6 as., 4^ oa., and 3 as.). The garden land which was entirely
well-watered was assessed at the Ghdndor or Akola rates^ Ss. (Rs. 4)
for the first class and 4s. (Rs. 2) for the lowest class, there being in
all five classes. Compared with £17,169 (Rs. 1,71,690), the former
kamdl or highest assessment on the entire arable area, the total
survey rental £7178 (Rs. 71,780) of the 104 Sangamner villages
showed a reduction of 58 per cent. Compared with the collections
£5613 (Rs. 56,130) of 1846-47, the survey rental £5016 (Rs. 50,160)
on the tillage of the same year showed a reduction of 10^ per
cent.^ If the recorded cultivation was correct the survey rates
effected a liberal reduction in the assessment. Before survey the
landholders paid an average acre rate of 2s. l^d. (Re. 1 a«. 1^)
exclusive of haks in kind due to village officers, while the average
survey rate including those haks amounted to only Is. ^d.
(8^ as.). Compared with the average of past collections £5284
(Rs. 52,340) and the average value of haks as recorded in the
Government accounts £436 (Rs. 4360) or a total of £5670
(Rs. 56,700), the total survey rental on the entire arable land
showed a prospective increase, supposing all the arable land was
cultivated, of 26 per cent. The following statement gives the
details of the new settlement :

Akola-Sangamner Survey SeUlement, IS48.

LAHOl

Akola.

Samoamnsr.

Vniagee.

Aree.

Assess-
ment.

Average
Acre Rate.

Villages.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

Average
Acre Bate.

Diy^rop ...
Chanoei-watend. ..
Well-watered

Total ...

■ ■f

• ••

Acres.

67.789
636
724

Bs.
61,648
1849
1976

Rs. a. p.
0 12 2
3 7 2
3 11 8

•••

«••
• ••

Acres.
186,604

8460

Rs.
66,274

6608

Bs. a. p.
0 7 8

• ••

2 10 4

68,999

66,478

0 12 10

104

188,064

71,782

0 8 8

The survey settlement was introduced into Rd,huri in 1849-60.
RAhuri was bounded on the north by PAtoda, on the east by Nev^a^
on the south by Karda and Nagar separated by an eastern spur
from the Sahy&dri range, and on the west by Sangamner and
Sinntir. R&huri had an estimated area of 831,632 acres or 518
SQuare miles, and 125 villages, 101 of them Government and ten
wholly and fourteen partly iSienated.^

^ 1846-47 was a year of failnre and heavy remiasioiiB, nearly 36 per cent. •
> In the Peahwis' tune the tarafs of Rdbnri and BeUpor belonged to the pargana
of Saaganmer. The tarafol B&rjigaon N&ndur was formerly held in service grant or
$ar(xnQdm but about 1800 it came under the direct management of government. On
the acqoiaition of the country by the British in 1818, a separate sub-division was
formed and a mAmlatdAr was stationed at the market town of BAhuri. This
arrangemant was upset in 1824-25, the BelApur and Rihuri tarafa reverting; to
Sanganmer and B&i^igaon N&ndur being attached to Nagar ; but the sub-divisioa
according to its existing (1849) form was again established in 1838-39. Lieut. G. S.
A. Anderson, 110 of 29th Sept 1849 in Bom. Gov. Sel. CXVII. 3.

B 772—62

Cbapter Till.
The Land.

SURVIT.

Akola-Sangamner,
1848.

Rdhuri,

1849-50.

[Bombay Oftiettoer.

490

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Till.
The Land.

SUBYET.

Bdhuri^
1849^0.

From their unprotected position in the plain^ and their neameBs
to the high road leading from Poona towards M^lwa and Hindustdo,
the Rdhuri villages had been specially subject to plunder by the
numerous marauding armies and bands of thieyes by which the
country was overrun during the later years of the Peshw^^
government. The Bahuri sub-division suffered much about 1798-99
in the wars between Daulatrdv Sindia and the two Biis.^ It was
plundered by Holkar's army in 1802-3^ and subsequently Bhils
and Pendh^ris made frequent raids on many of the villages. In
1804 several thousand Bhils were thrown into wells in Kopargaoo,
but the Pendh^s continued their depredations till 1818. Daring
these unsettled times many villages were deserted, and in 1818 at
the time of the British accession the state of the H^uri villages was
probably worse than the state of villages nearer the Sahy&dri bilk

The nominal land measures and rates of assessment were those of
the Muhammadan area or rakla and assessment or tankha, but thej
had probably been frequently altered by different governments to
meet the demands of the day. The last general settlement of anj
importance is said to have been made in 1759-60 during the
Subheddrship of Ndro B^puji Nagarkar. This officer caused the
land to be measured and the size of the bigha to be adjusted to the
different descriptions of soil. For instance the area of an inferior
field may have been ascertained by measurement to be forty bighd^,
but it was entered in the accounts as containing only twenty highda,
to admit of its being assessed at the same rate as the first class soil
in the same village. Throughout the Ahmadnagar coUectorate the
bigha was almost always a measure of quality not of quantity.

Whatever may have been the mode of assessment before the
introduction of revenue farming in 1802-3^ it virtually ceased from
that y^ar until the overthrow of the Feshwa's government in 1818.
During the seventeen years ending 1818 no rules were observed
regarding the giving out of land for cultivation. The annual
collections from a village were limited, not by established rules or
rates, but by the degree of extortion exercised by the farmer and
his agents and the means of payment possessed by the villagem
When the country passed into British hands in 1818, the land
measures and rates of assessment were not only of the most
undefined nature, but those which had nominally been preserved in
the village accounts or in the minds of the village officers were not
applicable to the existing state of affairs. It was theiefore
impossible to introduce order and fairness in the revenue *
management on the basis of former settlements. During the first
years of British rule, no satisfactory measures were adopted to
regulate the land assessment So &r as the imperfect state of
villa^ records allowed, the number of highds of the different
holdings was ascertained These village records were not in all
cases trustworthy. Even where they were trustworthy, they did
not afford, by any means, a correct representation of the actual
holdings. The absence of boundary marks, the variable size of the
bigha, and the great license that had been allowed in taking up bnd

^ Details of the Ladiee' War are giveoin the Fooua Statistical Aooonnt;

Deccaa.)

AHMADNAGAR.

491

for cnltivation, made it impossible to trace and restore the original
divisions of the village lands. Before 1825 in doabtfal cases it
was customary to measure a holding and if its extent in bighds
was found to exceed that recorded in the village papers, the
excess was assessed at the usual rates. This mode of procedure
must have done harm instead of good as the new bigha was a fixed
area while the old bigha varied in extent according to the quality of
the soil. In 1825 when Mr. Pringle's survey was about to be
extended to the villages of this sub-division^ the aggregate area of
the different holdings was compared with the rcMa or maximum
area of each village ; and where they did not tally, the extent of
land not accounted for or the deficiency of bighds was entered in
the village papers. No extra assessment was levied on this account
and the measure was productive of no useful results. No change
in the former system was effected by this old survey, as it was
suspended at an early period and a few villages only were measured
and classified. In 1833 the practice of numbering the holdings was
introduced and annual field registers were prepared, but no general
measurement of land was at any time made. Until 1849 the
revenue officers had no materials on which to frame a true estimate
of the area of land held by each cultivator. The loose system
which was a necessary consequence of so confused a state of things,
far from favourable to the development of agricultural

was

prosperity. The rates of assessment which had nominally existed
under the Peshwa's government were not changed by the
British. These rates were based on two different systems which
may conveniently be named the Muhammadan and the Hindu
system. According to the Muhammadan system the arable land
was divided into a certain number of bighds which were supposed
to have been measured and all to be the same in size. The soil
and other considerations that affected the value of the land were
supposed to have been examined and appraised and as many as
twenty-one classes were introduced with bigha rates varying from
Qd. to 4^. (Bs. ^ - 2). The other system, the Hindu system, was to
divide the land into bighds or plots of varying sizes, the size being
fixed according to the quality of the land in such a way that each
plot or bigha should be able to pay the same assessment. Under
British management both of these systems, partly perhaps from
stricter rules but chiefly from the great fall in produce prices, were
foan^ to take from the holders of land more than they could pay.
• Large remissions were granted. Besides remissions up to 1838-39
a system prevailed of letting lands on leases or kauls of two,
three, or four years on reduced rates. The people were also allowed
to till parts of their holdings, the whole rent on the part left waste
being remitted. ^

During 1886-37 and following years, many of the rates were
lowered, in some instances as much as twenty or twenty-five per cent.
So low were the prioes of grain and so uncertain the iaXl of rain that
even these liberal remissions failed to materially improve the
condition of the sub-division. The average assessment throughout
the thirty years ending 1848 was Is, lO^d. (15^ as,) the acre ; and
for the twenty-two years ending 1847 the average rate was Is. 9ld,

Chapter TIU.
The Land.

SURVBT.

Rdhuri,

[Bombay Qaieiteer«

492

DISTRICTS.

CaiapterTIIL
The Land.

Suuvxi.

Bdhuri,

1849-60.

(14^ as.). This rate refers to the land in cnltivation after dedocting
the internal waste portions of fields; and it is probable that in
manj instances the people held more land than was entered in their
names in the accounts. The assessment also includes the rental of
garden land ; so that eyen making allowances for the claims of
hereditary officers which were chiefly collected on cnltiTated land,
the ayerage assessment actually paid by dry-crop soils did not
exceed la, 7^d. to Is. 9d. (13 - 14 as.) the acre.

During the first four or fiye years of British rule, prices were
high, few remissions were granted, and the collections were high.
But the people were too poor to stand a year of famine and the
failure of crops in I824>-25 reduced the collections to £1500
(Rs. 15,000). In 1825-26 the sub-diyision in some degree recovered
from the effects of the famine of the preceding year ; bat it was
still in an exhausted state, and the serious fall of prices that followed
a return of good harvests was followed by six years (1827-1833)
of very low collections and decreased cultivation. In 1833-34 a
favourable change occurred from the rise in the price of grain that
followed the &ulure of rain in 1832. When prices again fell distress
was avoided by the liberal reductions made in 1836 and 1837. A
rise of collections in 1842-43 was again followed by a decline.
But the decline did not last, and during the four years before the
introduction of the survey tillage had somewhat increased. In
1847-48 the harvest was unusually abundant, the collections were
very high, and very few remissions on account of failure of crops
were granted.

The revenue tillage and remission statistics show that the snb-
division was much reduced and impoverished throughout the whole
period of British rule (1818-1849). Of about 200.000 acres of good
arable land the average area under the plough during the thirty
years ending 1848 was about 61,000 acres; even including the
internal waste portions of fields, the area of land under tallage
in any year never amounted to one-half of the arable land of the
sub-division. The great fluctuations in revenue also show that
agriculture was never in a healthy state and that there was no
available capital to invest in the improvement of the soil.^

At the time of settlement (1849) Bahuri was in a more
impoverished state than any of the eight previously settled sab-
divisions. The people had little capital of any kind. Ther^ were
only 8475 working bullocks a number, considering the fertility of <
the arable land, the portion of it under cultivation, and the number
of cultivators, proportionately less than that of any other surveyed
sub-division. There was also a less extent of garden and other
superior cnltivation than in any other sub-division except Patoda.
The manufactures were of an inferior description and of very
limited amount, and the trade of the subdivision was confined to the
export of grain and sheep and the import of the few articles required
to supply the moderate wants of the villagers. The cultivators of

I Lt G. S. A. Anderson, 1 10 of 29tb Sept. 1849 pan 21 Bom. Gov, SoL CXVU. IQ^

Deocftn.]

AHMADNAGAR.

493

tbe villages along the banks of tlie Pravara were perhaps in rather
better circumstances than those of other villages^ bat there was no
material difference in the condition of the cultiyators in the several
parts of the sab-division. The general poverty of the people made
them &I1 an easy prey to the M^Lrwdxis and other moneylenders
who were to be foand in every large village. Few landholders
had means enoagh to meet the losses caased by a bad season, the
death of a baUock, or other anf oreseen calamity. In an anf avoora-
ble year many landholders were nnable to earn a livelihood and
were forced to leave the sab-division and seek work in Bombay or
elsewhere.

The main road from Nagar towards N^ik and Milegaon entered
the sab-division on the soath crossing the Nimbdhera pass. A
considerable traffic passed along this line, as there was no other
opening in the hills fit for carts for about forty miles to the west
or about twelve miles to the east. This traffic would probably
have been much increased had not the bad state of the road chiefly
near the Sahy&dris caused much obstruction to the passage of carts
and bullocks. The sub-division had no other leading cart road
and no important markets. The surplus field produce was chiefly
bought by corn merchants living in Bel&pur, B^huri, and VSmbori
for export to Ndgpur, Poena, and Bombay. Bat Bel^pur, Bdhuri,
and VAmbori were not much resorted to and were inferior in wealth
and trading enterprise to Sangamner, Sinnar, Yeola, and other
market towns of neighbouring sab-divisions.

Of the 1 01 Government villages, seventeen were placed in the first
class with a highest dry-crop acre rate of S^. (Rs. 1^), thirty-three
in the second class with a rate of 28, 9d. (Bs. If), and fifty-one
in the third class with a rate of 2«. 6d, (Bs. 1^). The average
dry-crop acre rate paid by lands under cultivation from 1825-26 to
1846-47 was Is. 7Jd. to 1«. 9d. (13-14 as.). The survey rates
gave an average acre assessment for the entire arable dry-crop land
of Is. 2d. (9i as.) and on the tillage of 1847-48, Is. 4Jd. (11 as.).
These rates showed a reduction of about S^d. (2^ a«,). There were
2170 acres of garden land. The whole of this land was watered
from 949 wells, most of them near the Pravara and Mula rivers.
Except in seasons of failure of rain and consequent rise of prices,
the profits of garden tillage were small. Of the two principal
garden products wheat and gram, wheat, though in favourable
seaspns more productive than the same crop in dry soils, was more
sabject to disease when watered. Sagarcane, chillies, and other
saperior garden products were in little local demand and the land-
holders had too little capital to admit of such an outlay as would be
required to make the exports of importance. The garden cultivation
was not so profitable, the people not so well off, as in the previously
settled sub-divisions where the garden rate was fixed at Ss. (Bs. 4)
the acre. In B&huri the survey acre rate for garden lands was fixed
at 6«. (Bs.3). The average acre rate amounted to 4«. 4c2. (Bs.2 as. 2§).
This gave a maximum rental of £472 (Bs. 4720) being an increase of
£39 (R8.390) on the collection from gardenland in 1847-48. Compared
with the average of past collections (£5995), the collections (£4146) at
survey rates in 1849-60 showed a reduction of over thirty per cent.

Chapter Yin-
The Land.

SUBYBY.

Bdhuri,
1849-60.

[Bombay aaseUeer»

494

DISTRICTS.

Chapter TIIL
The Land.

Survey,

Bdhuri,
1849-50.

RdhuH Survey SettUment, 1849-60.

NevdiKLt
1861-62,

SlTTLB-
MBMT.

InMS.

Past Collbctiohs.

1647-48.

1825-1847.

1818-184&

Former...^
Survey ...

I>ry.Crop

Qoit-Bent

Pasture ... ... ...

Water Bate

x/eeeee ... ... ...

lV>tal ...

Aeseesmeiit

Quit-Bent

Total ...

Exoeesof Survey Rental

Bs.
97,210
690
1302

• ••

• • •

Ba.

68,890

797

138

212

812

Ba.

67,923

802

167

889

1070

90,162

66,853

60,291

1,20,000
1465

1,20,000
1406

1,20,000
1466

1,21,465

1,11,466

1,21,465

22,803

66,612

61,174

After B^phuri the survey settlement was introduced into Nev^Si
Karda^ and Nagar in 1851-52, and into Kortij Shevgaon^ and
Jdmkhed in 1852-53. The country included in these six sub-
divisions had an estimated area of 4912 square miles or 3^143^847
acres. Its western boundary was thirty-five or forty miles from the
main line of the Sahy^dri hills. Its greatest length from north to
south was upwards of 100 miles and its greatest breadth from east
to west about ninety -five miles.

In Nev&sa the work of measurement was begun in October 1846
and was finished in most of the Government villages before July
1848^ and in the rest by August 1849; classing was begun abont
November 1847 and finished in February 1849. The settlement
was introduced in 1851-52.^

Nevdsa was in the plain of the Goddvari to the north of the
Nagar chain of hills. On the north it was separated from the Nizdm's
territory by the Goddvari; it was bounded on the east by Shevgaon,
on the south by Nagar^ and on the west by Bdhuri. » Its estimated
area was 4,77,138 acres* occupied by 180 villages, 149 of them
Government, fourteen partly alienated, and seventeen wholly
alienated. The charge of the entire sub-division was divided
between a m^mlatd&r and a mah&lkari. Nevdsa came into British
possession in 1818. It then contained 111 Government and sixty-
nine alienated villages. In 1822-23 seven of the Government

> Col, G. S. A. Anderson, Surv. Supt. Slst Jan. 1854, Bom. Gov. Sel, CXXDI.^, 27.

^ A detailed field survey of the lands of 166 villages was made by the Survey
Department, and actual measurement gave 426,825 acres. The lands of fourteen
alienated villaffes were not surveyed in detail, but their areas were eompated fron
the map, the ooundaries of each village having been surveyed by the theodoUte.
Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIII. 3.

Jfevdta Areat 1851-59.

Government

Partly Alienated
WboUy Alienated

Total ...

SURVSTBD.

OOIIPUTKD.

Total.

Villagee.

Acres.

VlUaget.

Acres.

VIlh«n.

Acres.

149

888,018
24,908
14,800

• ■ ■

18,094
37,219

149
14
17

888,013
87,607

166

426,826

50,818

180

47T4S8

Deooan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

495

villages were given in a service grant or saranjdm jagir. Of these
fonr reverted to Government in the same year and three in 1838-39
on the deaths of the alienees. Of the alienated villages thirty-
seven lapsed to Government at various periods before the survey
settlement year (1851-52)^ and one daring that year. In 1824-25
Nevdsa was incorporated with Shevgaon^ bat in 1834-35 it was again
made a separate snb-division. In 1835-36 on the formation of a
petty division^ the mahdlkari was stationed at Dhergaon but in
1838-S9 he was removed to Sonai. The m&mlatddr was from the first
stationed at Nevdsa In 1852 several of the alienated villages were
held by dependents of Sindia. No large proprietors resided in the
sub-division.^

According to tradition Nevdsa and other neighbouring parts
of the valley of the Goddvari, while under the old Hindu govern-
ment, were thickly peopled and highly civilised and prosperous.
The natural richness of the soil and the neighbourhood of the great
Hindu capitals of Paithan and Devgiri or Daulatabad support
the tradition. Prom about 1490 to 1636 Nev^a formed part of the
territory of the Niz^m Shahi kings of Nagar. About 1636 it
passed under the sway of the Moghal emperor Shdh Jah&n. In the
beginning of the eighteenth century it is stated to have been
given as a marriage present to Sh&hu the grandson of Shiv^ji.
In the eighteenth century^ being a frontier district it suffered
much in the wars between the M&irath&s and the Nizdm. It came
under regular Mar&tha management about 1759. Numerous stories
remained of acts of rapine and pillage committed by the armies
of the several contending parties who infested the Deccan in the
end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries.
It is an open district with no forts or strongly walled towns,
and lies on the main line of road from Poena and Nagar to
Aurangabad and North India. It is also close to Shevgaon
formerly a joint possession of Sindia and Holkar, so that it was
probably plundered and oppressed even more than most districts.
Prom 1798 to 1800 it suffered in the petty warfare between Sindia
and the two B&is. Prom 1801 to 1803 Holkar and his chiefs on their
passage to and from Poena, moved through Nev&sa robbing
villages and doing their utmost to ruin the country. After Holkar
had ceased to molest the country, it was visited by many bands of
plundering Bhils, till in 1806 many of them were killed by the
Peshl^a's troops ; and they were soon afterwards entirely put down.
' In consequence of these disasters and of the famine of 1804, the
population and resources of the district were so reduced, that only
twenty-one villages remained inhabited and the country became
covered with brushwood. After this the Pendh&*is now and then
troubled the district, but the country continued to revive ai^ the
population to increase until it was taken by the British. Since 1818
it had enjoyed unbroken quiet.*

Before the establishment of the British rule, the revenue manage-
ment of Nev&sa was as unsatisfactory as in the other territories

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

SUKVBY.

1861-62,

> Bom. Gov. SeL CXXm. 6. * Bom. Gov. SeL CXXHI. 5.7.

[Bombay Oauit^er,

496

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

Sniiyx7«

Nevdaa^
1861-62.

taken from the Peshwa. Ney&sa is one of the districts which are
supposed to have been settled by Malik Ambar about 1605.
Beyond tradition^ nothing conld be gleaned on the spot regarding
Malik Am bar's reforms. It was even doubtful whether the highdmi
system, which continued till the 1852 settlement, was introduced by
him or by the Moghal officers of Shiik Jahdn to whom the manage-
ment of the country was entrusted on the break of the Ni£^
Sh^hi kingdom in 1636. Still Malik Ambar was universallf
believed by the people to have been the wisest and most benevolent
ruler of former times. The highest praise for any popular change
was that it was like Malik Ambar's reforms. Under the highdmi
system, whether or not introduced by Malik Ambar^ each village had
a fixed total or highest rental. This total rental was known
as tankha and also as kamdl. The rakba, which was the total
area in bighda in each village^ is supposed to have been determined
partly by measurement and partly by estimate^ the size of the
bigha varying in different villages and in different parts of the
same village. The tankha was said to represent Malik Ambar's
highest assessment. The hereditary district officers stated that it
was equal to a fourth of the gross produce in kind turned into
a money value on data furnished by the cultivation of past years^ and
the market prices of the different kinds of produce. Subsequently
this assessment seemed to have been of ten changed and the highest
assessment of the Mardthds was generally in excess of the tankha and
was called kamdl. Taufer was said to mean the difference between the
Musalm&n and the Hindu maximum assessments. Mardtha role
began about 1759 and Ndro Bdb^ji, who was soon afterwards appoint-
ed governor or subheddr of Nagar^ and who is said to have remained
in office from thirty-five to forty years, introduced many revenue
reforms, probably similar to those carried out in other parts of the
Peshwa's territories. The number of bighds in each holding seems
to have been fixed by him in some cases by measurement and in others
by estimate. A uniform bigha was not adopted. In good soils a
small bigha of a half to three quarters of an acre (20-30 guntha$)
was introduced and in poor soils the bigha was doubled, trebled, or
otherwise enlarged, as was considered expedient. Varying bigha
rates were also levied on the different kinds of soil. The district
was managed directly by government on the individual or rayatvdr
system. The local officers were not often changed. Moro Hari
Sangamnerkar had charge of Nev&sa for many years. Undar the
early Mardth&s the country on the whole seems to have prospered. *
In 1803 B&jir^v's farming system began and the former rates and
land measures became nominal. The ravages of Holkar in 1802 and the
failure of the late rains in 1803 almost emptied the country. Even whea
the people returned, no attempt was made to restore the old system.
The revenue was farmed to contractors who were anxious only to
secure a profit. They left all interior arrangements to the village
officers and so long as a good sum was forthcoming from each
village, no inouiries were made as to the area under tillage or as
to the rent paid by each landholder. The crops when stacked and
stored were considered the best criterion of the paying powers of
the village. Yearly accounts were continued by the village officers

Deccait]

AHMADNAGAR.

497

bat merely as a matter of form. There was no system. In the
case of hereditary or mirds and other long-tilled holdings near
villages the old rates were sometimes kept. The rest of the land was
given for cnltivation at reduced rates on leases called kauh or uktia.
At the settling day^ if the terms originally agreed on were considered
too low, a larger amount of revenue was demanded from the village,
and) after a series of squabbles between the parties concerned, some
agreement was arrived at by which the landholders were generally
pretty well plundered. Occasional cesses or pattis were also imposed
in addition to the revenue demands, one of which an ahir patti or
tax leviable from the inhabitants on the occasion of the marriage of
the great man of the district, was collected in some of the adjoining
Nimbdlkar^s villages within the Nizdm's frontier.^

Notwithstanding the bad effects of the farming .system the
supremacy of the British saved the country from war. In the
opinion of the Survey Superintendent the country perhaps made a
greater advance in population and farming capital between 1808 and
1818 than it did between 1818 and 1852. In his opinion this
might in part be attributed to the full rates having been exacted
in the early part of British rule and to the assessment under the
British being generally much too heavy. In the year following
the introduction of British rule the Mardtha total or kamdl
assessment which had long been virtually abolished, was assumed
to be that by which the future revenue collections might
properly be adjusted and the village officers were required to give
statements of the rates leviable from the bighds of each holding.
Few authentic records were procurable and the rates finally
adopted were in many cases arbitrary, and were probably of
larger amounts than had ever actually been in force. There were
about twenty-four different rates for dry-crop lands varying from
3rf. to 4s. (Bs. i - 2) a bigha. In six villages there was only one
rate ; in fifty-nine villages, two rates ; in fifty-five, three rates ; in
twenty, four rates; in five, five rates; in one, six rates; and
in one, seven rates. In eleven villages the estate or mundbandi
system of assessment was found in force. On what evidence higha
rates for these villages were determined is not known. Indeed from
the absence of trustworthy information the whole distribution of the
rates must have been little better than guess work. There were
eleven garden rates varying from 7*. to 2«. (Bs. 3^-1) a higha.
Most^Uages had only one rate and in some cases the garden lands
* were assessed at dry-crop rates. These rates remained in force until
1886-37, when the dry-crop rates of about fifty- eight villages and
of a few holdings in other villages were lowered by the Collector Mr.
Harrison, on an average about 6|d. (4^^ as.) in the rupee or about
28 per cent. The garden rates seem not to have been changed,
but in forty-six villages a readjustment was made of the highds
watered from each well and in this manner a reduction was effected
in the number of bighds and consequently in the aggregate
assessment. No systematic attempt to lower the rates seems to

Chapter VIIL
The Land.

SUBVEY.

Nevdsa,

1 Bom. GoY. Sel CXXni. 16 • 19.

« 772-63

[Bombay Gtawltoa'.

498

DISTRICTS.

Cliapter VIII.
The Land.

Sub VST.

NevdJK^
ISSlSg.

baye been made. It was generally acknowledged tbat from tbe
fall in tbe value of grain the rates at first imposed had become too
high, and when any particular outcry was made by the landholders
or when much difficulty was found in collecting the reyenne a
reduction of assessment was allowed. Pending a detailed survey it
was not considered expedient to undertake a general revision of
the assessment, and Mr. Harrison's reductions were only applicable
to real or supposed cases of excessive over-taxation. They were
doubtless beneficial, but from their partial and irregular nature
they had no material effect on the general prosperity. Other
remedial measures tending to lighten the assessment were also
carried out about the same time. The water tax or pdnbharit was
abolished in 1835. This tax was nominally leviable from dry-crop
lands temporarily watered ; in reality many of the lands from which
it was collected were garden lands assessed at dry-crop rates and
the entire remission of the tax placed them in a much better position
than similar lands assessed at garden rates. But the tax was
obnoxious and changeable and its abolition probably did good.
The abolition of transit and town duties haid also indirectly a
beneficial effect on the sub-division, and at the same time several
claims or haks collected on account of Government were abolished.
In one village the estate or mundbandi assessment was found in
force at the time of settlement.^

In the fall of produce prices the rates adopted in 1819-20 proved
much too high. Their burden was considerably lightened by the
introduction of a rule allowing the partial cultivation of holdings.
And when the new rates were higher than the rates formerly paid,
the excess was spread over three or four years. It was abo
formerly the custom to give out waste lands for cultivation on iauh
or agi'eements not to impose the full assessment at once, but by
gradual additions ranging over periods of six to eight years.
According to the Survey Superintendent this system was not mncb
practised during the first four years of British rule. It afterwarda
became pretty extensive and continued till 1838 when it was
abolished.' Throughout the whole of British management large
remissions were made. The assessment of portions of fields left
uncultivated by the holders was generally remitted and large
reductions were also made for bad crops, poverty, and other causes.'

In 1827-28 the lands of 130 villages were measured in connection
with Mr. Pringle's first Deccan survey. But the measnredieDis ^
were not used and the operations caused no change in the revenae
management. Up to 1833-34 no complete returns of the fields or tUci^t
of each village were prepared. Village registers were then introduced
containing the areas in bighds, rates of assessment, boundaries, and
ijenures of the several holdings. But as the boundaries of the
holdings were not ascertained by actual inspection in the field, and
as no measurements were made for the purpose of fixing the area of

^ Bom. GoY. Sel. CXXIII. 19 -20.

> Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIII. 22. The opinion of thfl Superintendent that li

little ffranted in the first yean of firitiah management eeema at variance witb
Capt Pottinger'fl account. * Bom. Gov. Sel C

CXXJIL 22-23.

Oeceas.]

AHMADNAGAR

499

each holdingy these registers in many cases proved incorrect. When
the land was measured between 1846 and 1 849 many of the fields
recorded in the accounts could not be identified. At the time of
Mr. Pringle's survey (1828) the areas of the several holdings of each
village had, as far as possible, been arranged in correspondence with
the total area or riikba. The papers then prepared by the village
officers were used in filling the registers, and probably most of the
koldings under cultivation in 1828 and in 1833 were entered with
tolerable accuracy. Even had all the holdings been correctly recorded
and if there were no doubts regarding the former rates of assess*
ment, it would still be impossible to obtain a clear view of the actual
state of matters in former years, owing to the methods of giving out
the lands for cultivation then in vogue. On several occasions endea-
vours were made to enforce the cultivation of entire fields or tikds.
These efforts in every case failed. Throughout the whole period of
British rule, it was customary to allow the partial cultivation of
holdings, and this method however advantageous to the landholders
caused much confusion in the accounts and made it impossible to
ascertain, with any accuracy, the actual extent of land yearly tilled.
This concession also gave rise to many fraudulent practices on the
part of the village and district officers and to bad husbandry on
the part of the peopla The portions of each field under tillage
were not measured or ascertained according to any fixed
standard* They were entered in the accounts according to the
proportion they were found to bear to the entire recorded area of
the field by a rough eye estimate made by the village officers or by
guess. In 1833-34 waste patches in fields held for tillage were
brought to account in the yearly statements, but the assessment was
remitted. In general only the portions of holdings actually taken
for cultivation were entered in the accounts. During the first years
of British rule no attempts seem to have been made to test the tillage
returns. Subsequently, especially since 1833-34, a test was taken
by the m&mlatd&r's establishment aided by the hereditary district
officers, and occasionally in cases of doubt or suspicion of fraud, by
the assistant collector or Collector.^

Nevdsa suffered much from over-taxation. The rates adopted at
the begiDuing of British rule soon began to press most severely
on the resources of the sub-division. In 1822-23 prices fell un-
precedentedly low. According to the Survey Superintendent this
was partly due to an unasusJly large crop and to other causes.
But in his opinion the chief caase of the scarcity of money was that
too much revenue was taken from the country in proportion to the
farming capital and resources of the cultivators. In his opinion
the want of remedial measures and the continuance of high rates
combined to bring Nevdsa to ruin till 1832-33, when the cultivation
and collections fell much lower than in any other years of British
rule. In the two or three succeeding years, he continues, the
cultivation and collections somewhat rose, but it was not until the
attention of Government had been fully drawn to the depressed
condition of the coUectorate and the local officers were urged to carry

Chapter VIIL
TheLancL

Sttbvxt.
NevdBOf

3 Bom. Gov. Sel. GXXIII. 20-22.

ffiombay GflMtteor,

500

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^VlII.
The Land.

SUBVBT.

1861-6S.

out improvements, that there was a decided tendency upwards.
Between 1836-37 and 1846-47 the rates of many of the villages were
lowered, liberal remissions were granted, and, though 1844-45 and
1845-46 were unfavourable years, the cultivation and assessment rose
in 1846-47 higher than they ever were before. In 1847-48 the
cultivation still further increased. But the year was one of mach
over-production and few remissions were granted. Prices, partly
in consequence of the excess of produce, and partly on account of
tl^e great drain of money to meet the large revenue demands, fell
very low and many landholders unable to pay their rent from the
profits of the season had to resort to moneylenders, and in many
cases to dispose of their farm stock. The cultivation and revenue
immediately decreased, and as the following seasons were unfavour-
able the collections fell from £16,072 (Rs. 1,60,720) in 1847-48 to
£8215 (Rs. 82,150) in 1849-50, a decrease of nearly one-half. In
1850-51 according to the Survey Superintendent the anticipated earlj
introduction of the revised rates caused an increase of cultivation
and revenue.^ At the time of settlement the sub-division was still
sufEering from the over-collections of 1847-48,*

Although Nevdsa did not suffer from over-assessment in the same
degree as Rahari, the old rates were in the Superintendent's opinion
ruinously and oppressively high. Throughout the whole period of
British rule (1818 - 1852) it had never been possible to collect the
full assessment. In addition to the freedom from the assessment of
untilled patches in fields taken for cultivation, remissions had averaged
£2100 (Rs. 21,000) or about eighteen per cent of the revenue
demands. Cultivation had also been most unsteady, and although the
land was generally fertile not one-half of it had been under tillage
for a long term of years. That the country would have progressed
more rapidly under a light assessment was in the Superintendent's
opinion shown by the improvement that had resulted from the
reforms and modifications of the assessment already carried out.
These remedial measures, he adds, merely afforded relief in isolated
cases. They were undertaken not so much with the view of
placing the revenue system on a permanently sound basis, as of
saving the people from ruin and Government from loss of revenue.'

A road from Ahmadnagar to Aurangabad crossed (1848) the sab-
division. Just below the Jeur pass a branch of this road turned
to the right and went through Shevgaon and Paithan, one of the
oldest capitals in the Deccan, and from Paithan passed to the g^t
cotton m%rt of Umravati. By this route large quantities of cotton
were brought to the coast. Another line of road crossed the sub-
division east and west, and, passing a little to the south of the town
of Nevdsa, cut directly through Sanganmer. Between the towns
of Sangamner and Sinnar it skirted the southern boundary of the
Kdsik sub-division and came upon the N^sik and Malegaon road just
above the Jeur pass. Bullocks laden with grain generally travelled
on this road.^ Though the local trade was inconsiderable there was

M--^-- - -- — II -_■ ^ II ^MM l|-| __^^M^^»»*^^—

^ The rise in produce prices had probably more to do with the increase of arsa taken
for tillage than the progress of survey operations. ' Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXQL 21 -^^
»Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXUL 26-27. ^Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXm. 175.176.

Deccan.]

AHMADNAGAR,

501

a large throagli traffic. The Im&xnpar or Jeor pass on the soath was
the only ronte open to carts^ and a large quantity of cotton from
Berdr by Paithan was carried to Bombay. The post line from
Bombay to Calcutta by Nagar and Aurangabad also passed by the
same route. There were also a few cross roads chiefly used by
Yanjdris, but the bullock traffic was fast giving place to cart traffic.^

The market towns were Nevd^a, Sonai, Chdnda^ Kukd.na, Q-hotan,
Tondola, Sundgaon, Bh^nas^ Hivra, Degaon, Vdkri, and Bhokar.
About half the produce of the sub-division was exported. Grain
was the only export. The people themselves did not take their graiii
beyond Ahmadnagar. Potters and washermen were great grain
carriers. The grain dealers bought the grain and employed VanjAris
to carry it to the coast. Thfe imports were iron, salt, groceries, and
cloth of all kinds from Berar and Bombay. There were only one
hundred hand-looms in the subdivision weaving cloth of the commonest
texture. A few weavers were found at NevSsa, Sonai, Ghotan, and
Kukdna. Women's robes or lugdds fifteen cubits long by two broad
were woven at Nevdsa. Generally the thread was spun by Mhdrs.
A few blankets were made by Dhangars, but most articles of
wearing apparel were imported. Most landholders had a few sheep
and goats which they disposed of to butchers in neighbouring towns.
There was a local breed of bullocks, but the better sort came irom
Malwa and BerAr. Their prices varied from £1 10«.to£3 (Rs. 15-30).
The largest town was Nevd.sa with 3268 people. Of the 149
Government towns and villages only nine had a population of more
than 1000. Every year in March about 50,000 pilgrims and wander-
ing traders came to Toka from all quarters.' The fair lasted about
a month and had much traffic in cloth and other articles.

The survey census gave for 149 Government villages 51,674 people,
36,878 homed cattle, 2639 horses, 48,046 sheep and goats, 3381
ploughs, and 1768 caiijs. The people of Nevasa were in somewhat
better circumstances than those of Rdhuri or Sangamner. Under
the former government the condition of these three sub-divisions was
similar andNev^a possessed no superior advantages either as regards
climate or markets. That it was not taxed so heavily accounted for
its not being in so extremely depressed a state as the other sub-divi-
sions. A few landholders held farms of over 200 acres and had twenty

1 T\^ details are : yagar-Imdimpur Soad Tnffic, March -June, 1857,

MORTH.

CartB.

Pack
bullocks

Hones.

Asses.

i
1

Ele-
phants.

Cows.

Buffa-
loes.

Sheep.

Uareh ...

April

Mkjr ...
Juna

4fm
0667
7830
8370

16.807
10,587
19,986
88,004

1029
2289
2406
2922

4819
5372
6726
6031

• ••

• ••
■ ••

• ••

665
411
512

288

• ••

low

2890
8640
4971

Chapter VIIL
The Land.

Survey.
Nevdsa^

* A heavy trade in graingoea on all the year. The cotton from Ber&r awella the traffic
in these four months/ Dom, Gov. 8d. CXXni. 10-11.

^ Toka and Pravara were two Hindu sacred places. Some of the Toka temples were
deetxpyod by Nizdm AH in 1761. Bom. Gov. Sel, CXXDI. 12.

[Bombay GaaeMaoL

502

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^TIII.
TlieLaiidi

SUBVST.

NewUOf

or thirty bullocks. A good many were free from debt and had g^rain*
pits where they could store their surplus produce and to which they
could resort in times of necessity instead of to the M&rw&ris. Most
landholders were deeply involved in debt. Two-thirds were in the
hands of the Mdrwdns^ and the average debt of each was not less
than £10 (Rs. 100). The landholders had few means of adding to
what their fields yielded. A few people of some villages cultivated
lands on reduced rates in the neighbouringNiz&m's territory and some
of the villagers went for a time to Bombay as labourers or porters.
Many landholders^ when their field work for the season was over,
were hired with their bullocks by grain dealers to carry grain and
other exports to the coast.^ Well-irrigation might be very much
increased in the Nevdsa sub-division as, except near the Grod^vari,
in the low grounds of most villages water was plentiful and at
moderate depths. Few people were able to afford the £15 or £20
(Rs. 150 or Bs. 200) required for digging a new well. In the existing
scarcity of capital a subsistence could be more easily and safely
derived from the cultivation of dry-crop lands.'

The bulk of the land was held on the hereditary or miraa tenure.
Of 17,163 survey numbers into which the Government lands were
divided, 10,520 belonged to hereditary holders or miraadarsi the
remaining 6643 being either alienated or deserted that is gaikuli
fields. Of the 10,520 mirda fields 2630 were cultivated by the
hereditary holders, 1765 by holders of other hereditary lands, 1817
by non-hereditary holders, and 4308 were waste. For the survey
assessment the Government villages were divided into three classes
with highest dry crop acre rates of 2«. 6d., 2«. 3(2., and 29. (Rs. 1^,
Rs. 1|, and Re. 1). An acre rate of 6«. (Rs. 8) was fixed for garden
land of which 2947 acres were watered entirely from weUs. The
total garden assessment amounted to £636 12«. (Rs.6366) and
showea an average survey acre rate of 4«. 3|(2. (Rs. 2 as, 2-^) or 3ff. id.
(Ra 1 as. 10^) less than the old average acre rate. The total survey
rental exceeded the average past collections by forty-five per cent.*
The reduction effected by the survey rates on the demand from the
cultivated area was estimated at 5^d. (3) as,) the acre or about
twenty-nine per cent. The survey officer was incHned to think that
more land was cultivated under the former system than was entered
in the accounts. The bighds of the former cultivation could not be
converted into acres according to any fixed standard. Even making
allowances for these and other circumstances which might teftd to ^

» Bom. Gov. SeL CXXin, 12-13, 16. > Bom. Gov. SeL CXXIIL 30.

' In judging of the financial results of the settlement, the first year of the new
system, l&l -52, should not be taken into consideration. In the Ahmadnagar oollec*
torate, m consequence of the former system oC remitting the assessment of waste sod
unsown luids, and also of the generally impoverished condition of the caltivatora, it
was found necessary, in effecting the change from the old to the new sprstem, in the
several districts to allow remissions which were calculated upon the former assets*
ment and were given in cases where the amount leviable under the old was found to
be less than that leviable under the new rates, the difference only being remitted.
The ^ear 1S51-52 wsa one of partial failure of crops and the remisaioos required were
considerable. The revised rates therefore did not come into full operation nntil the
following year 1852-53. Boou Gov. Sel. CXXIII. 34 - 36.

Deeeait]

AHMADNAGAR

603

modify the apparent results, the survey officer was of opinion that
the actual relief to the cultivators was not less than SJd. to 4d.
(2^ - 2§ as,) the acre or twenty to twenty-four per cent. This was
deemed sufficient to place Nevisa on an equality with B&huri and
other previously assessed sub-divisions :^

Nevdaa Survey SettlemerU, 185$,

17
98
8tl

148

Foun.

SUftVIT.

CLiaa.

Aaaeaa-

ment

Acre
Bate.

Land under TQlage.

Waate.

TotaL

Area.

Aaaeaa-
meni.

Acre
Bate.

Area.

Aaaeae-
ment.

Area.

Aaaeaa-
ment.

u. ...

m. ...

Total...

Ba.

19,100

1,15,836

27,452

Ba.a.i».

0 11 4
117

1 ] 0

Aorea.

26,965

105,060

25,811

Ba.

12,888
62,270
13,018

Ba. a.p.

0 7 4
0 9 6
0 8 1

Acrea.

22,no

108,473

84,766

Ba.

0135
42,197
11,942

Aorea.

40,736

206,528

60,677

Ba.

21,528

1,04,467

24,055

1,61,787

10 5

157,826

87,671

0 8 10

161,009

68,274

818,885

1,50,945

The general results of the settlement^ as regards all descriptions
of tenures, are shown in the following statement :

Nevdta Survey Settlement^ 18S£.

TiAB.

CUIAITATSD LAXM.

WAan

LAKDa.

Albm-

Ann

LAHoa.

ToifAL.

Area.

ment.

aiona.

CoUec
tiona.

CoUeo-
tiona.

GoUeo-
tiona.

CoUec-
tiona.

Sorrqr ...

1818-1851
1850-61

1851-52
1852-58

Benial of 148
Villagea

Acrea.
129,602
186.348

157,826
188,641

818,836

Ba.

1.23,144
1,88,466

87,671
98,899

1,60,M5

Ba.
21,616
18,867

18,604
398

Ba.

1,01,528
1,15,111

60,067
96,501

•••

Ba.

2778
755

1468
1826

• ••

Ba.

1140
2068

1021
1517

1668

Ba.

1.05,446
1,17,054

71,556
1,01,844

1,52,618

The following statement shows the entire area of the 149 Govern-
ment villages (148 original and one lapsed in 1852) comprised
(1852) in the Nev^iea sub-division^ and the survey assessment
imposed on the several descriptions of land :

Nevdta Survey Settlement, 186S,

LAvn.

•

Drt-chop.

Oabsbt.

Total.

Aum-

ATKD.

ABLB

Area.

Amount

Area.

Acrea.

2976

204

Amt

Ba.

6488

418

6856

Area.

Amount

QoTemment ...

Alienated

QoSt-Bent

Total ...

Aorea.

820.716

18,160

7606

Ba.

1,46,774
66S1
8171

Aorea.

42,060
704
406

Aorea.

365,751

14,157

8105

Ba.

1,58,212
7044
8176

Ba.

• ••

7044
1490

Ba.
1,68,212

• •a

1680

841,669

1,56,576

8184

48,380

888,018

1,63,488

8540

1»5*|B02

Chapt^VnL
The Land.

SvRvxr.
NevdBct^

Abolished claims or liahs, for which a money compensation waa
to be given to the former recipients, were included in the survey
total. The hereditaiy district officers of Nev&sa, as well as of

1 Bom, Gov. SeL CXXIU. 36.

[Bombay OaietUcr,

501

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Till.

The Land.

SuRvxr.

Karda,
1861-6$,

most other sab-divisions of the Ahmadnagar ooUectorate^ did (1852)
not collect levies in kind from the people. The highest valae of
those claims collected by the village officers, entered by the recipienU
in the accounts for the year before the introduction of the revised
rates, was loTf&tiU £39 (Rs. 390) and for kulkarnis £311 (Re. 5110).
In 1852 the hadola lands of the village Mhdrs and a few other
grants were subject to a qait-rent orjudi assessment. As this was
generally less than the survey assessment it was very slightly affected
by the introduction of the revised rates. In cases where tbe qnit-
rent exceeded the survey assessment, the difference was remitted,
b«t in the Nevdsa sub-division it only amounted to an aggre^te snm
of about £5 (Rs. 50). The Ahmadnagar Mh&rs were generally poorly
paid for their services to Government.^

From Nevisa the survey passed to Karda where measurements
were begun in March 1847 and finished in April 1851, and classing
' was begun in February 1849 and finished in June 1851. Survey
rates were introduced in 1851-52. Karda was the largest
sub-division in the Ahmadnagar district. It stretched north for
about seventy miles from the Bhima to a range of hills that separat-
ed it from Sangamner and Rdhuri. It was bounded on the north
by Sangamner and Rdhuri^ on the east by Nagar and Korti, and on
the west and south by the Junnar Pdbal and Bhimthadi sub-
divisions of the Poena district. With an estimated area of 934^125
acres, Karda contained 145 Government and twenty-seven partly
and forty wholly alienated villages. The charge of the entire snb-
division was divided between a mdmlatdar and two mah^karis.
At the time of settlement, Karda was made of villages which
belonged to old divisions which were partly under Poona and
partly under Ahmadnagar. Since the beginning of British rnle
Karda had underfi^one many chan&fes. The transfers of villages
between this and tdjoining sab-di^ions, both of the Poona and
Ahmadnagar coUectorates, before 1842-43 were very numerous and
complicated. In 1852 the Karda sub-division was too large for
proper management. Several of the villages belonged to non-resident
proprietors and chiefs, among them Sindia, B&ste, Holkar, the Pant
Saohiv, and others.^

Karda, like Nev&sa, formed part of the old Muhammadan
kingdom of Nagar that is Ahmadnagar. The Mardthas got possession
of the Karda vfllages before they extended their power to NevAsa.
About the beginning of the present century, Karda was plundered
by Holkar and others,but it did not suffer so much asNev&sa. Shortly
after the beginning of B&jirdv's rule, its revenue was farmed in the
same manner as in other sub-divisions, and, when the British gained
possession in 1818, all matters relating to the revenue management
were fh disorder. In many of the villages the terms Tnan and
khandi, ruka and tuka, partan and c2on, were found in the old
accounts. But these land measures were all resolvable into bighds.
The bigha seems to have been the unit of calculation under the

1 Bom. Go7. Sel. CXXm. 33, 156.

a Bom. Gov. S«l. CXXni. 42-4$.

Seecaa.!

AHMADNAGAE.

S05

Mar&tliSs. Little trustworthy information about the former'
revenue management was available. It was certainly more compli-
cated than in Nev&sa. Partial measurements and settlements had
been made in the time of the Marith&s^ but many of the villages
being poor and yielding little revenue probably received little atten-*
tion^ and the management altogether appears to have been very rude
and irregular. The size of the E^arda bigha varied more than the
size of the Nev^ bigha and it was generally found to be larger in
Karda than in the other sub-divisions. The former rates of assess*
ment were also very irregular. In many villages the old garden
rates were high. In others there was no old garden rate, but in suob
cases a higher dry-crop rate was generally imposed on all the lands
of the village in consequence of some of them being watered. The
lands of some of the villages were managed partly on the bigha and
partly on the plot or mundbandi system. But in most cases the pre-
vailing unit of calculation was the bigha} At the beginning of British
rule, as was done in Nev^a, bigha rates were adopted for most Karda
villages. In some villages the old estate or mundbandi system was
kept and in a few cases^ where all traces of the former bigha rates had
been lost, a new estate or mundbandi assessment was imposed. The
bigha rates where adopted varied from 58. 6|<2. (Rs. 2 as. 12^) to 3d
{2 as.) for dry-croplands, and from 12s. (Rs.6) to 2s. 6d. (Rs.lJ)for
garden lands. Most villages had only one dry-crop and one garden
rate. Many of the rates were lowered by the Collector Mr.
Harrison between 1834 and 1837. His reductions of dry-crop
rates extended to about fifty-one villages at the average rate of
about 6^d. (4^ as.) in the rupee, and of garden rates to twenty-
two villages at the rate of about lOd. (6§ as.) in the rupee. Owing
to the irregularity of the former system and to other causes Mr.
Harrison's measures seem to have been less beneficial in Karda
than in Nevasa. About 1826 the lands of most of the villages were
measured in connection with Mr. Pringle's survey but they were
not assessed. The changes through which Karda passed under
British management were much the same as the changes through
which Nev^ passed^ In both sub-divisions there were the same
high collections in the first five years of British rule, the same fall
of revenue between 1823-24 and 1832-33, the same improvement
between 1833-34 and 1847-48, and the same decline in succeeding
years. Over-assessment had perhaps caused more harm in Karda
than }fx Nevasa In the early years of British rule, in proportion
• to its resources, the revenue collections were so much higher in
Kikrda than in Nev&sa, that, in spite of the later remissions, the
revenue never recovered to the same extent in Karda as in Nev^a,
and cultivation never in any succeeding period of five years rose
to the same height as in the five years immediately after the
introduction of British rule. In the years immediately before the
introduction of the new rates there was a great fall in cultivation.
Generally also in bad years there had been a larger falling off of
revenue in Karda than in Nev&sa. The remissions irrespective of

Chapter Tin.
The Laud.

Survey.

Karda,
1861-6$.

Bom. Gov. Sd. CXXIII. 53-54.
8 772-64

« Bom. Gov. SeL CXXUI. 64-55,

IBombaj QaMttatr.

soft

DISTRICTSw

Chapter VIII-
TlieLaiid.

SuBVxr,

KardOf

1961-6$,

freedoxn from asBessment in unsown or nafer patolies of ntunberB
averaged £3454 (Bs. 34,540) or about four per cent more than in
NevdLsa. The oollections of 1852-58 were somewhat in excess of
those of the last year of the old system (1850*51)^ and the heavy
eoUections of 1847-48 and preceding years had borne very severely
on the resources of the sub-division. In the opinicxi of the snrvey
o£Bcer^ even under a fairer assessment the subdivision would not very
quickly recover from its depressed state^ and the extreme flactoatioss
in cultivation and revenue that had prevailed before the survey
settlement would not admit of the new system having complete
Jair play in the first years of its action.^

The high road from Bombay to Calcutta passed through the
centre of the sub-division from south-west to north-east. On thia
main line of road there was a large traffic^ but little of it was local
Of the several cross roads one from Poona to Barsi and Sholapor
and one from Junnar in the same direction were fair dry-weather
roads. The two lines of road from Nagar to Junnar and to the
Sahy&dris to the west of Junnar^ thoagh scarcely passable by carte,
were much used by Yanj&ris. From the badness of the roads
some parts of the sub-division were very unfavourably placed as
regards markets and Mr. Gooddine advocated the repair of several
small passes which presented serious barriers to internal tmffic.
Grain was the chief export being sent to Poona^ Junnar, and the
coast. Sheep were sold by Dhangars and husbandmen to wandering
butchers, and there was always a ready sale for a few horses reared
in the Bhima villages. The imports were cotton goods, salt, n'cei
sugar, and other articles required for local use. As regards markets,
in consequence of their nearness to Poena and to Ahmadnagar, the
southern Karda villages were better off than most Nevisa villages.
Sirur also was a better market than any in Nevfisa. The Vteanda
villages in the north mahdlkari's charge were unfavourably placed,
having no large markets near and being cramped as regarded
communication with other quarters. As in Nev^a the manufactures
in Karda were of little importance. A few coarse cotton stuffs were
made in seven or eight villages but the demand did not f arnish woHc
for more than fifty looms. The Dhangars in V&sunda made blankets
from the wool of sheep belonging to the sub-division. There were
nine market towns, the chief of them being Sirur, J^mgaon, and
K^nhur. Sirur situated on the Poona high road, the head-quarters
of the Poona Horse, was the most important market. It had*aboat
7000 people of whom about 285 were resident moneylenders, traders, *
and shopkeepers, some of them in good circumstances. Besides
their nsaal retail traffic in cloth and other articles, some of the
dealers exported large quantities of grain. A good many cattle
and a few horses were also sold in the Sirur market. There were
several large traders in J^mgaon, Kanhur, Pdmer, Alkati, and
other places, but except in Sirur and Jdmgaon the market dealings
seemed to be nearly confined to the supply of local wants. J&mgaou
was a well built town with a handsome mansion belongiug to

1 Bom. Gov. SaL CXXIIL 06, 66-68.

DeeeaiLl

AHMADNAGAB.

607

Sindis^ and there were a good maay sabstantial houses and temples
in other towns.

According to the survey returns there were in the Karda sab-
division 68^11 people^ 70^703 homed cattle^ 45,565 sheep and goats,
3841 horses, 4477 ploaghs, and 1747 carts. Of the 25,152 survey
numbers 14,603 were hereditary or mirds holdings and 10,549 were
alienated or gtUkuli that is deserted. Of the hereditary numbers
5856 were tilled by the holders themselves, 3210 by other hereditary
holders, 1981 by non-hereditary holders, and 3606 were waste.

In assessing this large sub-division the 145 Government villages
were arranged in six classes with highest dry-crop acre rates ranging,
from 8s. to 1«. 9c2. (Rs.li - 1). Twelve villages with a highest acre
rate of 3«. (Rs.l|) formed the first class. Their lands were the best
in Karda. They mostly lay on the K&nhar paihdr, an elevated table-
land on the hills running through the centre of the sub-division.
The climate of these villages was superior, their position with respect
to Poena Sirur and Nagar was good, and they yielded specially
valuable wheat. They had good drinking water but there was no
large area of garden land. Thirty-one villages with a highest acre
rate of 2s. 9d, (Rs. 1 1) formed the second class. The lands of seventeen
of these villages lay close to the north of the range of hills of which
the Kdnhnr table land formed a part. Their climate was as good
as that of the first class villages but their position with respect to
Poona and Sirur was not so good. They had a large area of garden
land. The north mah^lkari's station Ydsunda was included in this
group. The lands of the remaining fourteen villages lay immediately
to the south or south-west of K^nhur and included the m&mlatddr's
station of P4mer. The position of these villages with respect to
markets was good. Their climate was not quite so good as the
climate of the villages more to the north. On the other hand the
supply of water for irrigation was more plentiful in this group than
in the others. Forty-three villages with a highest acre rate of 2«. 6d,
(Bs. 1^) formed the third class. The lands of five of them lay on the
high grounds to the north of the Mula. They had an equally good
climate with the first class villages of Rd.huri, but their position with
reference to markets was inferior. They were out of the way of
traffic, and the villagers had to descend into B&huri and Sangamner
to dispose of their produce. The lands of the remaining thirty-eight
villages were partly hilly. They lay to the south and south-east of
the second class villages. Their position with respect to markets
was good, but their climate was inferior to that of the villages more
to the north. There was a moderate proportion of garden land.
Forty villages with a highest dry-crop acre rate of 25. 3d. (Rs. H)
formed the fourth class. Ten of these villages were in the valley of
the Mula. The climate was good but the villages were out .of the
way of markets. Water was scanty in several villages and in others
cultivation was difBcult as the arable lands were mostly on plateaus,
while the villages lay in hollows. Except that the climate was bad^
the remaining thirty villages were similarly situated to the third
class villages lying immediately to the north. Sirteen villages with
a highest acre rate of 2s. (Re. 1) formed the fifth class. Ten of these
were in the valley of the Bhima and their climate was inferior to that

Chapter VIHL
The Land.

SURVST.

Karda,

[Bombay aai0tter»
608 DISTRICTS.

Chapter YIIL of the groups to the north. The remaining six viUs^es lay in the
TheLand* south-east of Karda near the hills. Their climate was inferior and

they were not so well placed with respect to markets as the other

Survey. villages of this class. . Three villages with a highest acre rate of 1*.

^S^g 9d. (14 as.) formed the sixth class. They were in the extreme south

in the valley of the Bhima. The climate was most uncertain and
the soil was generally stiff requiring an extra quantity of moisture.
The classes of eleven of the 145 villages were changed from
additional experience acquired during the time of settlement In
other respects the dry-crop rates originally proposed were found
suitable and were introduced.

Unlike Rdhuri and Nevdsa where it was entirely from wells, the
garden cultivation of Earda ^as partly channel- watered. In some
of the Karda villages the garden husbandry was superior, and
on account of the nearness of Poena and oUier large towns the
people had a better chance of exporting and selling their produce.
For thirty-six villages in the north of the sub-division which were
far from good markets, and for nineteen in the south where the
garden husbandry was poor, a maximum well-rate of 6^. (Ra 8) was
fixed. For ninety villages in the centre of the sub-division, which
from being near the Poena road or from being close to good local
markets were more favourably situated, a highest well-water acre
rate of Ss, (Rs. 4) was fixed. This last rate was 2*. (Re. 1 ) the acre
higher than the Rdhuri and Nev&sa rate. In most of the Ndsik
villages Captain Davidson had adopted 16^. (Rs. 8) as the highest
channel-water acre rate. But for Karda this was deemed too high
and a highest rate of 12^. (Rs. 6) was fixed. In many cases the water
used was partly from wells and partly from channels. For lands so
watered intermediate rates, with reference to the supply of water
derived from both sources, were adopted. In no case did the
assessment exceed the highest channel-water rate. In 1852 the
sub-division had in all 5133 acres of garden land and the whole
assessment imposed by the above rates was £1840 (Rs. 13^400) or an
average rate of bs. 2f d. (Rs. 2 'cw. 9|) the acre. The former highest
assessment amounted to £1669 (Rs. 1 6,690), but as many of the
gardens had been assessed as dry-crop lands, and because of the great
irregularities in the former rates, it is not possible to give a clear idea
of the actual reduction caused by the new rates.

The alluvial or dheli lands on the banks of the Bhima •were
assessed at acre rates varying from 4^. to 2«. (Rs.2-1). These
lands either were enriched by deposits of mud or drew an extra
degree of moisture from the river and yielded better crops. On
seventy «eight acres of this river side land the average survey rate of
assessment was 2a. 1 If d (Re. 1 as. 7^) the acre. In other parte of the
9ub-division dry lands yielded superior crops in consequence of
being watered from dams during a portion of the year. On that
account a small extra acre rate varying from 2s. to 4^(2. (Re,l - as. o)
was imposed on them. The effect of the settlement was to lower
the assessment on the area under tillage from £16,958 to £96Ht
(Rs. 1,69,580 - Ba. 98,240) or 42 per cent. The details are :

Oocon>]

AHMADNAQAB.

509

Karda Survey Settlement, 1869,

CXiABS.

VIL-
LAOBB.

Fourau

BuEyiT.

AflMSS-

ment

Aero
Bate.

TiLLAOK.

Wasti.

TotaIi.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

Acre
Rate.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

Rs.

Ab. p.

Acres.

Rs.

AS. p.

Acres.

Rs.

Acres.

Rs.

I ...

12,808

16 6

12,887

6408

6 10

8818

1004

16,089

6608

U ...

4d,270

14 0

66,174

28,808

8 8

26,487

8660

81,661

87,468

Ill ...

46,088

18 0

68,428

87,041

6 11

88,269

11,070

94,607

88.111

48,903

0 0

71,986

36,678

6 9

66,870

16,434

187,806

41,107

V ...

14,046

11 0

80,868

8886

6 11

89,127

9466

49,496

18,863

VI
Td»l ...

8039

18 7

8688

8826

10 6

2000

478

6688

2798

146

160,688

11 11

287,816

06,286

6 11

147,866

46,096

874,681

144,882

The general reaults of the settlement are shown in the following
statement :

Karda Survey Settlement, 185S,

Trab.

CuiiTnTAnD.

WAsn.

AUBN-
ATBD.

TOTAU

Area.

Assess-
ment.

Bemis-
siona.

Collec-
tions.

Formsir:

Rs.

1818-1861

818,191

1,66*187

84,689

1,31,648

6870

8046

1,39,668

1860-61

198,008

1,46,090

44,076

1,02,014

6688

1778

1,10,419

Survey:

1861-58

287,816

98,836

24,403

78,888

6868

1894

81,090

1868-68

861,788

1,04,646

942

1,08,704

6882

8009

1,11,086

Rental of 146 villages

374,681

1,44,882

...

• ••

• *

8468

1,46,786

Owing to the want of former correct data of the actaal acre rate^
the relief which the new rates afEorded can be only roughly shown.
The average acre rate before the introduction of the survey was
estimated at 1«. \\d. (9^ as,) for the whole period of British rule.
The survey acre rate on the lands cultivated in 1851-52 was 10|(2.
(6-f^ as.) which shows a reduction on the past collections of Sftd.
(2\ as.) the acre or about 24^ per cent. In Karda^ as has been
noticed^ the irregularities of the former system were very great,
and, though the rates were generally heavy, in some villages the
assessment was moderate. In some cases also Mr. Harrison's
reductions between 1834 and 1837 amounted to forty per qpnt or
upwards, which left no need of reduction by the survey. Under these
circumstances the efEect of the survey settlement varied greatly in
different parts of the sub-division.

The area and assessment of the entire lands comprised in the
Government portion of the sub-division are shewn in the following
statement ;

ChapterVIIL
The Land.

Sttrvet.

Karda^
1861^t.

[Bombay

619

DISTBIOTS.

Obapt^Vin.
The Land*

SURYXT.

Karda,
1861-62.

Karda Area and Aaaeianienif 186$.

Ahmadnagarf
1861-6$.

liAXD.

DBT-CBor.

Gardiv.

Babbik.

Total.

AUDT*
ATID.

▲BU
AMGB.

Area.

Amoant

Area.

Amount

Area.

Amoant

Government ...
DviMtheA Shtri.

Indtn

Detached /n<fm.
Quit Bent ...

ToUl ...

Acres.

867,469

2089

10,639

986

9997

Rs.

1,80,068

895

4011

416

8620

Acres.
5188

•••

Bs.
18,404

•••

406
16
77

Acres.

187,480

1830

2860

170

1881

Acres.
660,072

8919
18.688

U09
11,912

Bs.

4419

481

8097

• •a
•••

4419

481

1244

Ba.

1,48,«7
896

•••
•••

2468

891,019

1,88,976

6828

18,904

194,847

690,694

1,62,879

6084

1.46,785

The highest value of abolished village claims entered by the recipients
in the accounts of 1850-51, was for headmen £37 (Rs. 370), for
accountants £462 (Ks. 4620), and for watchmen £124 (Rs. 1240), or
a total of £623 (Rs. 6230).

After Karda the survey settlement was introducedinto Alimadnagar
also called Nagar. A few villages near Nagar were measured daring
the rainy season of 1847 but measuring was not regularly begun
till the following year. Except a few details the work was
completed in June 1851. The work of classing except in three
villages was in progess from April 1849 to June 1851. Revised
rates were introduced in eighty-two Government villages in 185.1-52.
Three alienated villages which lapsed to Government in that year
were settled in the following year 1852-53.

At the time of settlement (1852) Nagar was bounded on the
north by Rdhuri, on the north-east by Nevisa, on the east by the
Nizam's territory, on the south-east by Korti, and on the south-west
and west by Karda. Its estimated area was 412,126 acres
occupied by 1 09 villages of which ejghty-five were Government and
ten partly and fourteen wholly alienated.^ The entire sub-division
formed the charge of a m&mlatd^r. Like most other sub-divisions
in the district, Nagar passed through many territorial changes
between 1818 and 1852. In 1818-19 it contained fifty-six Govern-
ment and fifteen alienated villages. In 1821-22 twelve of the
Government villages were made over to Karda and there were many
other receipts and transfers. Since 1837-38 when the sub-diyision

1 The details are:

Nagar ViUaget, 1869.

DnoBimoH.

Area Subyktbd.

AUA COMFIinD.

TotiXi.

VU-
lagea.

Area.

VU-
lages.

Area.

VU-
Isffea.

Area.

OoTemment

Detached portions of
Qovemment land ...
City and Cantonment ...
ParUy AUenated
WhoUy Alienated ...

Total ...

1
8

Acres.
174,124

778

8903

2128

20,789

• ■•

•••

• ■•

Acres.

• ••

aeC'iui

74,664

10
14

Acres.
274.184

778
290S

88,770
06.468

800,811

111,816

418088

Bom. Gov. 8eL CXXIII. 72L

JDeeeaiti

AHMADNAGAB.

511

contained eighty Qovemment and twenty-nine alienated villages
there had been no territorial changes. The only alterations were
that two alienated villages lapsed to Government before the
settlement and three after the settlement in 1852-53. The leading
landlords or jd^rddra were Sindia and Holkar. According to l^e
hereditary district officers, bnt their statement was nn supported by
proof, the rental or tankha of the sub-division was fixed by Malik
Ambar. Between 1762 and 1785 the Mardtha governor or subhedd/r
IS&ro B&b^ji carried out many revenue reforms. Before his time
there seems to have been as much disorder in the revenue management
as during the period before the acquisition of the country by the
British. His attempts at fixing rates and adjusting land measures
may have been as general and as successful as the early efforts of
the BritisL But they were far from being satisfactory or complete.
So far as Colonel G. Anderson could ascertain, Ndro Bibdji's
measures were at first confined to the restoration on paper of the old
rates and land measures of the prosperous periods of Muhammadan
government. When this proved unsatisfactory, a rough estimate
or in some cases a partial measurement of the lands of each village
was made. The higha instead of meaning a plot of fixed size was
made to vary according to the character of the soil. He perhaps
at first intended to levy from each of these bigha plots an uniform
assessment. But as this plan did not answer in all cases different
rates were adopted^ the highest rates being generally those of the
lands nearest the village. In some of the villages the estate or plot
system called mundbandi was probably found and was continued^
the assessment being placed on each holding or mund instead of on
each bigha.^ The total or kamdl rates adopted by the British on
gaining possession of the country were apparently an attempt to
restore N4ro B&b^ji's assessment . which was higher than the
Musalm&n total or tankha and also higher than the rates imposed
during the period of misrule before the British conquest.
According to Uolonel G. Anderson^ the assessment proved very
high and the districts were rapidly ruined in consequence of
over-taxation. This, he continues^ at last became so apparent that
all parties were convinced of the necessity of lowering the rates.
Pending the extension of survey operations to this part of the
country, no satisfactory arrangements could be made, but remedial
measures were carried out as far as circumstances permitted The
old <dry-crop bigha rates varied from bs. (Bs. 2J) to 3f d (2i as.)
and the garden rates from 148. to 9d. (Rs. 7 - f )• In 1834-85 the
rates of Chichundi and other places were lowered, probably by
the Revenue Commissioner himself ; and subsequently the Collector
Mr. Harrison modified the dry-crop assessment of fifty-five and the
garden assessment of thirty-seven villages. The dry-crop rat^ were
lowered on the average about 5d. (3| as,) in the rupee and the garden
rates about 8^(2. (5^ as.). In some villages also a plot or muridba/ndi

Chapter Tin.
The Land.

SUBYET.

AhnMdnagar,
1851'6X.

1 The Survey Superintendent CoL G. Anderson notices that the materials on which
he based hk aooonnt-of Niro BAb&ji's land administration were of donbtful accuracy.
Som. Gov. 8eL CXXni. 87-88.

[Bombay Gftietlaer.

512

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YIII*
TheLandr

SUBVXT.

Ahmadnagair^

assessment appears to have been partially introclaced. Formerly in
only one village was there a plot or mundhandi assessment. The
revenue management in other respects was mnch the same as in the
sub-divisions which have been already described.^

The results of British revenue management in the l!7agar
Bub'division were not unlike those in Karda. The heavy rates
adopted at the beginning pressed with even greater severity in Nagar ;
the revenue having gradually declined from £13^100 (Rs. 1^31,000) in
1821-22 to £2300 (Rs. 23,000) in 1832-33. Between 1833-34 and
1850-51 the fluctuations in revenue were not so great as in Karda.
This, Colonel G. Anderson thought, was due to a somewhat better
revenue management and possibly to the abolition of the transit
duties and other oppressive taxes. Still there was not any material
rise in prosperity. On the contrary there was a rapid fall in the
two or three years before the introduction of the survey. That the
neighbourhood of Nagar city, with its large and increasing population
and comparatively great trading and manufacturing capital, should
not have progressed more rapidly, was, in Colonel Anderson's
opinion, chiefly due to over-assessment^

At the time of settlement (1852), the surveyed Government portion
of the Nagar subdivision, excluding the Ahmadnagar town, contained
40,450 inhabitants, and had 30,591 horned cattle, 1722 horses,
23,648 sheep and goats, 1633 ploughs, and 881 carts. The high
road from Bombay to Calcutta passed through the sub-division.
There was another chief line of traffic namely that leading over the
Nimbdhera pass through R^huri towards N4sik and Malegaon on
the north, and from Nagar towards Karm41a, Pandharpur, and
other places on the south. There was also a considerable traffic on
the line between Kolhi.r and Malegaon. Little had been done to
help the traffic. The country was very much in want of roads.
With regard to markets the sub-division was favourably placed.
As Nagar was the head-quarters of the Artillery and of a Native
Infantry Regiment, large supplies were required for the militaiy
markets. Besides this, the city of Nagar was still important with a
population of about 28,600 and considerable manufactures and trade.
A large traffic also passed through the sub-division especially along
the Bombay and Calcutta road. In Ahmadnagar and in the
neighbouring town of Bhingdr about 1322 handlooms were at work,
weaving women's robes and other cotton cloths. Much of the
produce was of a superior description and was sent to Poona Nisik •
and other places. Some other villages had a few cotton looms and
Ahmadnagar had some silk looms. There was also in Ahmadnagar a
large manufacture of brass cooking vessels and of carpets. Most of
the trade of the subdivision was in the hands of Ahmadnagar money-
lendeA. The chief exports were grain, cotton goods, and articles of
hardware. The chief imports were grain and other supplies from the
surrounding districts ; sugar, salt, iron, and English cotton goods

Bom. Got, Sel. CXXIH, 87-88.

s Bom. Got. SeL CXXIII« 89.

OeeoaaJ

AHMADNAGAR

513

and yam from Bombay ; rice from Poona and Jnnnar ; oU, tarmericj
batter, and betelnut from Bdxsi and other towns to the south;
molasses from the east^ batter from J&mkhed and other places ;
cotton goods from N^lgpnr and other places; and silk and em-
broidered stuffs from Paithan and Yeola. The Ahmadnagar market
was on the whole well supplied and the place appeared to be thriving.
Besides Ahmadnagar, there were six other market towns, bat none of
them were of much importance except Vdlki which was the largest
cattle market in this part of the coUectorate and was frequented by
landholders and cattle dealers from all the neighbouring districts.

Many landholders, though so near a good market as Nagar, were
extremelypoor, owing,it was thonght, to their expensivehabitsof living.
The profits of their land, though greater than elsewhere, were not
large enough both to enable them to meet the demands of Govern-
ment and also to admit of their indulging in luxuries. Many of them
had forsaken agriculture for employment as labourers and servants
abont the cantonment. Hardworking landholders who managed to
keep clear of debt were generally thriving. Their produce always
found a ready market in the city, and they could make a good deal
by hiring their bullocks and the members of their households who
were not required for field-work to M&rw&r merchants and others
who had carte and exported grain to Poona and the coast. Again
in some of the hilly villages the people kept cattle and made money
by selling butter. Some of the poorer classes especially the
I^m^nis brought firewood for the supply of the city and camp.
The owners of gardens near the town of Nagar were generally
beter off than other cultivators. Most of them were of the M&li
caste and many of them were very experienced and industrious.
Several of them who lived in the town had considerable capital and
were able to keep more labourers and to till their lands more
highly than any in other parts of the Nagar coUectorate.
These cases were exceptional. Many husbandmen even near the
town were just as depressed as in the neighbouring sub-divisions
and the more remote villages had no advantages as regards markets
or in other respects. Of the 14,487 survey numbers 9134 belonged to
hereditary holders or mirdsddrs, and 5353 were deserted, alienated,
or barren fields. Of the mirds numbers 3200 were cultivated by the
hereditary holders themselves, 1879 by other hereditary holders, 1215
by non-hereditary holders, and 2840 were waste.

The Nagar villages were generally better placed with respect to
markets and climate than those of Nevdsa. Some of the Karda
villages enjoyed a better climate, and being nearer to Poona where
prices were higher than at Nagar, they were equally well placed for
the sale of their dry-crop produce. Nagar could pay a higher dry-
crop assessment than Nevdsa and an equally high assessment with
part of E[arda. It could also pay a higher garden assessment than
those snb-divisions, as fruits and vegetables suffered less inbeingtaken
to Ahmadnagar than in going to Poona. The highest dry-crop acre
rates were fixed at 2«.9d., 28.6c2,,and2«.3(2. (Bs.l},Bs.liandBs.l^).
Forty-six villages with a highest dry-crop acre rate of 2«. 9d. (Bs. If)
formed the first class. These villages were in the centre of the sub-

B 772-65

Chapter^VIII.
The Land.

SURVST.

AhmaeUiagarf
1861-62.

[Bomtey Oasetteer*

514

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YIII.
The Land.

SlTRVEY.

Ahmadnagar,

division ; someof them were close to the large market of Ahmadnagarj
and others^ farther from Ahmadnagar, had a better climate or
were close to made lines of road. The greatest extent of garden
land was in these villages. Twenty -five villages with a highest rate
of 2s. 6d. (Bs. I^) formed the second class. Three of these near the
Mula were not so well placed for markets as most of those of the
first class. They were also not particularly well supplied with
water. The remaining twenty-two villages lay to the south
and south-east of the first class villages. They had an inferior
cUmate and an inferior position as to markets. Eleven villages
with a highest rate of 2s. Sd. (Bs. 1|) formed the third class. Four
of them were in the valley of the Mula with a good climate^ but
with a very inferior position with reference to markets. The
remaining seven villages were in the extreme south of the sub-division
adjoining Korti with a poor climate and further removed from
Ahmadnagar. Someof thegarden produce was raised by water brought
from dams but most of the gardens were watered from wells.
The garden lands close to Ahmadnagar were the best as the people
could sell their vegetables and other produce without trouble or loss
of time. A highest acre rate of 12s. (Bs. 6) was therefore imposed
on them. Garden lands further off but still within an easy dist€uice
of Ahmadnagar had a highest acre rate of 10s. (Bs. 5). For the
remaining first and second class villages a highest rate of 8s. (Bs. 4)
and for those of the third class a rate of 6s. (Bs. 3) were adopted.
Except the state or 8heri lands of the Fara garden, where it was £1
(Bs. 10), the highest channel-water acre rate was fixed at 12s. (Bs. 6).
As in Karda the dams in Nagar were of earth and had to be built
afresh each year. The water drawn from the streams which took their
rise in the northern hUls was generally only enough to water small
plots of land. There were many skilled raisers of garden produce
near Ahmadnagar. With a better supply of water the garden area
would be greatly increased. There were in all 4802 acres of garden
land and the total assessment was £1509 (Bs. 15,090) or an average
acre rate of 6s. 3|(2. (Bs. 3 osl 2^). The old kamdl or highest garden
assessment in Nagar was £2340 (Bs. 23,400) which applied to the
acres of survey measurement would give an average rate of about
9s. 9d. (Bs. 4|). But the former rates were so irregular that no safe
deductions could be made from them.

The general results of the rates in the several classes of villages
are shown in the following statement : *

Nagar Survey Settlement, 1862^

Class.

►

46
26
11

FORMBR.

SURWT.

Assess-
ment.

Acre-
Eate.

Land im Cultivatiom.

WAsn.

TOTAk

Area.

Assess-
ment

Rs.
40,806
17,686

3384

Aore-
Rate.

Ai.p.

11 9
9 0
6 10

Area.

ment.

Area.

mont.

I ...

U ...

ni ...

Tbtftl...

Bs.
66,710
28307

4643

Rs. a. p.
18 6
0 14 8
0 9 4

Acres.

64,962

31,362

7830

Acres.
33,716
36,^82
11,389

Rs.

16,80i

14,178

3681

Acres.
88,a7>»
66,684
19,369

Rs.
06,107
81^

1,00,160

110

94,244

61,374

10 6

80,837

83,661

174^81

94^

Deocan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

515

The general results of the settlement^ as regards all tenures^ are
shown in the following statement :

Nagar Survey Settlement, 18S2,

TlAB.

CULTITATXO.

WABTtK.

AUBR-
ATKD.

Total.

AreSb

Anass-
ment.

Remia-

SlODS.

Oolleo-
tions.

Collec-
tions.

Oolleo-
tions.

Former :

1819-1861

1860-61

Survey:

1851-52

1862.66

BeiiUlof82rUla«e8
Md two portions
of tkeri land ...

Acres.
02,907
77,9ti8

04,2U
109,461

174,667

Rs.

07,797
84,728

61.274
67,912

04,788

17,687
8331

8045
610

• ••

Rs.

80,260
81,307

62,329
67,898,

• ••

Rs.

5465
7010

6772
6410

•••

Rs.
1164
1288

098
1884

1438

Rs.

86,880
89,600

50,000
74kl46

06,226

The average acre rate paid before the survey settlement was
Is. Sid. (13f as,). The survey acre rate on the entire arable lands was
Is. Id. (8} CLS.), and the rate of the lands cultivated in 1851-52^ Is.
Sid. (10^^ as.) or a reduction on the past payments of about twenty-
five per cent. The area and assessment of the entire Government
portion of the sub-division are shown below :

Nagar Area and AMeutneiU, 1852-63.

Detk»op.

Oaedin.

Bauuh.

TOTAL.

Lahd.

Alivi-

Rralib-

ABLS

Area.

Amt

Area.

Amount

Area.

Amount

ATBD.

Balahos.

Acres.

Rs.

Acres.

RSL

Acres.

AoresL

fi^

Ba.

R8.

Oovemment

172,177

79,970

4706

14,005

77,000

258,888

04,675

• ••

04,576

Detached Skeri ...

60S

406

106

496

771

004

AUenated

11,166

5272

366

1206

1810

12,861

6477

64n

• ••

Detached iindm...

«••

• ••

Quit Rant

City and Csmp of

6821

2728

122

476

047

7800

8204

1762

1442

Total of 85 Gov-

•■•

>*•

...

•••

2902

••«

• ••

•••

emment -vU-

lages and two

detached por-

tions of land...

100,272

88,380

6209

16,784

82,828

277,804

1,06,104

8248

96,021

The highest value of claims or haks paid to village officers
entered in the accounts of 1850-51, was for headmen £28 (Rs. 280),
for accountants £374 (Rs. 3740), and for watchmen £25 (Rs. 250),
or a total of £427 (Rs. 4270).

Tne sub-division that was settled next after Ahmadnagar was
Korti. In the Korti villages measurements were in progress from
November 1848 to January 1852, and classification from November
1849 to June 1852. The settlement was made in February and
March 1853. At the time of settlement the Korti sub-division was
bounded on the north-west and north by Karda and Nagar, ^n the
north-east and east by the Niz^m^s territories separated by the
Sina, on the south-east by the Karmdla sub-division of Shol^pur,
and on the south-west and west by the Bhimthadi and Ind&pur
sub-divisions of the Poona collectorato, the Bbima being the
dividing line. Korti had a total estimated area of 615,116 acres
occupied by 137 villages^ 106 of which were Government and

CautpterYin.
The Land.

SUBVSY.

Ahmadnagarp
1861-6$.

Korti,
1869-63.

[Bombay GaieHMr,

516

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Yin.
The Land.

Survey.

Aortif

185£'6S.

fourteen partly and seventeen wholly alienated villages.^ The charge
was divided between a m^mlatddr and a mah&lkari. In 1821^22
Korti contained ninety-eight villages and the nnmber was afterwards
increased by sixty. From this total number twenty-one villages were
transferred to other sub-divisions^ which left a balance of 137 villages
in 1837-38. Between 1837 and 1852 no changes were made. The
chief landlords or jdgirddra were Sindia, the Bhonsle of NAgpur,
and the descendants of K&vi Jang.

Before it came into the possession of the British in 1821-22 the
greater portion of Korti was under the management of Rav
Bambha Nimb^lkar the head of a powerful branch of the Nimbilkar
family settled under the protection of the Nizdm's government. A
few villages which were included (1852) in the sub-division, formerly
belonged to the Peshwa and were obtained by the British in 1818-19.
Some of the villages of Korti are said to have suffered severely
from plundering parties of the Mar&tha army about the time of the
battle of Kharda in 1795. The depredations of Holkar and others
also extended over Korti in 1808 and were carried to such lengths
that large towns alone remained inhabited.

It is not known when or by whom the total assessment
called tankha was fixed. Local traditions attributed the
original arrangements to Malik Ambar. The Maritha total rental
or kaindl in most, if not in all villages, exceeded the MnsalmAn
total. Trustworthy information regarding the way in which the
Mar&tha total was settled was also not procurable, though it was
said that the nominal total assessment of the villages that were
received from the Peshwa was fixed in N^ro Bdb&ji's time.
Before the beginning of British rule, the revenues of all the
villages, whether under the Nimb&lkar, Daulatr^v Sindia, or the
Peshwa Bdjir^v, seem to have been farmed in the usual manner.
Under the British the revenue management did not materially
differ from that pursued in other sub-divisions. The lands were
measured about 1826-27 by Mr. Pringle's establishment, and some
of them were also classified, but no further measures with regard
to the settlement of the revenue were adopted. Shortly after
the British acquired possession, forty-seven dry-crop rates were
introduced varying from 2«. 9d. to o^cL (Rs.lf to 3} as.) the
bigha ; and thirty-six for garden lands varying from 10#. to Is.
Sid, (Rs.5 to 10| €is.) the bigha. In 100 villages, though different
rates prevailed in the several villages, there was only one dry-
crop rate for the entire lands of each village, from which the

1 The details are :

EorH ViUaget, 1868.

Dbbcriptioh.

SuBVvnD.

CoMrVTSDh

ToTAb.

VUlages.

Acra.

Villages.

Acres.

VOliges.

Acres.

Govennnent
Partly AUen»t«d ...
Wholly Alienated...

106

464.119
78,006
11.809

• ••

78,601

106
14
17

137

464,119
76,006
84,908

Total ...

12S

641,408

78,688

616416

Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIU. 101.

DeocaaO

AHMADNAGAR.

517

Survey Superintendent inferred that the hind measures had
been adapted to the rates and not the rates to the land measures.
Similarly in forty-nine yills^es there was only one garden rate for
each village and in forty-one villages there was no garden rate.
Between 1834 and 1837 the Collector Mr. Harrison reduced the dry
crop rates of about eighty-eight villages on an average about 6f (2.
(4j^^ aa,) in the rupee ; and he also reduced the garden rates of four
villages on an average about 6id. (4^ as,) in the rupee. The other
changes were similar to those noticed in the sub-divisions which
have been already described.

The fluctuations in cultivation and in collections were much greater
in Korti than in Nevdsa Karda or Nagar. This was due not so much
to a heavier assessment as to its uncertain rainfall^ its poor husban-
dry, and its small area of garden land. Though the rates in many wore
high^ some villages were lightly assessed. There was a marked
resemblance in the fluctuations of Karda and Korti^ the ups and
downs being greatest in the past history of Korti. For instance
between 1821 and 1833 in Karda there was a fall of 39j^ per cent
in cultivation and of 72f per cent in collections compared with
a fall in Korti of 51 per cent in cultivation and 88 per cent in
collections. Again between 1842 and 1845 there was a fall in the
Karda collections of 66 per cent and in the Korti collections of 75
per cent^ and between 1847 and 1849 the fall in Karda was 35^
per cent and in Korti 55 per cent. The average yearly remissions
in Karda were £3454 (Els. 34^540) or 22 per cent of the revenue
demands and in Korti £3156 (Rs. 31,560) or 31^ per cent. A
reduction of assessment was necessary ; but even under low rates
the Survey Superintendent doubted whether Korti with so uncertain
a rainfall and such scanty capital would become prosperous.

There was no made road in the sub-division^ several of the
country tracks were passable by carts, and with a little smoothing
and repairing might be made into good roads. The cart traffic was
considerable and the roads were also frequented by Yanj&ris.
There were three principal lines of traffic. The first led from east
to west through the centre of the subdivision from Bdrsi and Karm&la
by the Korti towns of Alsunda and Pedgaon towards Poena and
Bombay. The second, also from east to west, led from the B&l&gh&t
and Kharda in J4mkhed by the Korti towns of Nimbodi and
Ch&9ibh&rgonda towards Poena. The third route led from north-
• west to south-east from Nagar to Karmfila and Shol&pur in a
direction parallel to the river Sina. Of five market towns
Gh&mbh^rgonda or Shrigonda was the chief. It belonged to Sindia
and was a large and wealthy place. Karjat with about 4600
people was the chief market among the Grovemment villages and
was fairly thriving. Mirajgaon and Bdsin^ both alienated villages^
were also large markets. B4sin though decayed had a considerable
population and several well-built temples and houses. Pedgaon
on the Bhima was formerly a place of importance^ being a chief
military station of the Moghals and Mardth^n. At the settlement
time it was much reduced and had only 1900 inhabitants.
About 100 handlooms were worked at Karjat^ Korti, and other

Chapter VIII*
The Land^

Survey.
Korti,

[Bombay GaMtUer.

518

DISTRICTS.

ChapteiMnil.
Xhe Laad^

SmtTBY.

KcrU,

Gbyemment villages, chiefly in weaving a good coarse cloth which
was exported to Nagar and other places. The chief exports from
Korti were grain and vegetable oils which went to Poona and in
smaller quantities to Nagar, A good many sheep and a few horsdis
were also reared in the sub-division and sold for export to other
places chiefly to wandering buyers. Some horses went to Malegaoa
in the Niz4m^8 country or elsewhere. The imports were chiefly
necessaries such as wheats gi^am^ rice^ molasses^ salt^ cloths, and
petty market supplies, but the general poverty of the inhabitante
did not admit of a very brisk trade.

The population was 50,888, homed cattle 52,083, horses 2646,
sheep and goats 52,244, ploughs 2305, and carts 546. There were few
occupations unconnected with agriculture. A good many land-
holders especially in bad years left the sub^division and sought
temporary employment elsewhere. They were generally poor,
though in a few villages some of the headmen and influential land-
holders who kept sheep or cattle were in good circumstances. They
were probably in proportion to their means equally inyolved in debt
with the people of other sub-divisions. About fifty landholders in
nine villages on the frontier cultivated land in the Nizdm's territory.
Of the 23,058 survey numbers into which the lands of the sub*
division were divided, 7854 numbers belonged to hereditary holders
or mirdsddrs. Of these 2636 were tilled by the holders themselves,
1069 by other hereditary holders, 1513 by non-hereditaiy holders,
and 2636 numbers were waste.

The 106 Government villages were divided into three classes with
highest dry-crop acre rates of 28,, la. 9d, and 1«. 6d» (Be. 1, 14 at.,
and 12 as.). Fourteen villages with a highest rate of 2a. (Re. 1)
formed the first class. They were in the valley of the Sina close to the
28. 3d. (Bs. 1 i) Nagar villages. Their climate though not good w^
superior to that of the villages in the valley of the Bhima and this
group was nearer the Nagar market than the other groups. A large
share of the cultivation was of the middle crop or kharif. Nineteen
villages with a highest rate of 1^. 9d. (14 aa.) formed the second class.
Six of them were in the north-west in the valley of the Bhima and
near the 28. (Be. 1) villages of Karda. Their climate was slightly
better than that of the villages further south, and they were
somewhat better placed for markets being near to Ch^bh^rgonda
and also being better placed for outside markets. The remaning
thirteen villages were in the valley of the Sina near the villages •
of the first class. They had a similar climate, but they were not
quite so well placed with reference to outside markets. Seventy-
three villages with a rate of Is. 6d. (12 aa.) formed the third
class. Nineteen of them adjoined the thirteen villages of the
secontl group of the second class and their climate was probably
similar but they were not so near the Nagar market as the remaining
villages of the valley of the Sina and they were also further from
the Poena market than the villages of the valley of the Bhima
The remaining fifty-four villages were in the valley of the Bhima.
Their climate was very inferior, and several of the villages suffered
from a want of water. They were however fairly well placed with

Oeecan-l

AHMADNAGAR.

519

respect to the Poona market. Lower dry-crop rates were fixed for
Korti than for Karda or Nagar^ b9caase> its climate was worse^ its
situation with respect to markets was also worse, and its husbandry
was in some respects inferior. A good season was generally followed *
by so great a fall in the price of grain that the indebted people
could not sufficiently recover from the losses of preceding years and
many of them were in miserable poverty. Korti was one of the
worst Bub-divisions in the Deccan. It could not bear a heavy
assessment. Even with low rates, though it might improve, it could
never be so prosperous as some parts of Nagar and Karda.^

. Lower garden rates were also required. The garden lands were
almost entirely well-watered or motasthal and except in a very few
villages the crops were generally inferior. The highest well-rates
in Karda were 88. (Rs. 4) and 6«. (Rs. 3) the acre, according to
the situation of the villages with reference to markets or modes of
husbandry. The rates in Nagar varied from 12^. (Rs. 6) in th^
lands close to Nagar to Gs, (Rs. 8) in badly placed villages. In
Korti a highest acre rate of 6«. (Rs. 3) was imposed on several
villages which had the advantage of being near markets where
landholders drew an extra profit from the ready sale of vegetables
and other garden produce. For other villages a highest acre rate of
5«. (Rs. 2^) was adopted. These rates were the highest that could
safely be imposed in so barren and poor a country. For lands
watered from dams or bandhdrds a highest acre rate of 10«. (Rs. 5)
was levied. The entire area of garden land was 2870 acres of which
the total assessment was £531 (Rs. 5310), that is an average acre
rate of 3«. 8|(2. (Re. 1 as. 13/|j). The old total or kamdl garden assess*
ment was £830 (Rs. 8300) which applied to the survey acres gives an
average of os. 9|c2. (Rs. 2 as. 14^), but there were many inequalities.
It was originally proposed as had been done in Karda to assess
the alluvial or dheli lands on the banks of the Bhima at a highest
acre rate of 4«. (Rs. 2). Owing to the greater distance from large
markets of most Korti villages and the consequent lower profits
a highest rate of 3«. (Rs. 1^) was adopted. There were 446 acres
of alluvial land with a total assessment of £48 10^. (Rs. 485) or an
average acre assessment of 2s. 2^d. (Re. 1 ax. 1 1%). The general
results of the rates as regards the three classes of villages are
shown in the following statement :

Korti Survey Settlement, 185S,

Class.

FORMSB.

SUKVBT.

Assess-
ment.

Acre
Bate.

TiUed.

Waste.

TotsL

Areai

Assess
ment.

Acre
Rate.

Area.

Assets

ment.

Area.

Assess
ment.

H. ...

n. ...
in. ...

Tbtal...

14
10
73

106

Rs.

9404
80,924
79,199

As. p.

7 9

8 0

9 0

Acres.

19,636

41,866

140,879

802,380

Rs.

12,967
41,926

As. p.

6 10
5 0
4 9

Acres.

18,217
28,186
97,380

Rs.

8936

7000

22,064

Acres.

83,863

70,061

238,269

Rs.

11,091
19,967
64,010

109,567

8 8

62,048

4 11

188,783

33,020

341,168

96,068

Ckapter VIII.
The Land.

SVBVBT.

KorU^
1862-63.

1 Surv. Snpt. in Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIII. 112.

[Bombay Oasttttar.

520

I5ISTBICTS.

Cihapter Tin.
The Land.

KorH,
ISSISSS.

Skevgaon^
1862-63.

The general results of the settlement, as regards all descriptkms
of tenares, are shown in the following statement :

Korti Survey SettUmaily 186S.

Thar.

TiLLID.

Wash.

Aluw-

ATBD.

TatAU

AnML

AOMBB-

ment

Ramis-
sions.

Oollec-
tlons.

OoUec.
tioos.

Oollec-
tlons.

Oonec
tioos.

Former :

1821-1868

1851-52

Survey:

1852-68

Bentalofl06yillfle^

Acres.

185,861
179,455

202,880
841,163

Bs.

1,00,819
96,117

62,048
05,068

Bs.

81,662
17,718

6887

Bs.

00,257
78,890

55,161

•••

Bs.

1700
4885

5725

• ••

Bfl.

868

429

808
681

Bs.

83,718

614^
06,50»

The excess of revenue which would be realized provided all
the arable lands were brought under tillage was about £2400
(Rs, 24,000) or 84 per cent on the average collections of former
years. The average acre assessment paid before the survey
settlement was 9d. (6 as,), and the survey rate on all the arable
lands was 6fi (4J as.) and on the lands tilled in the year of
settlement 7|d. (4|4 ««•) the acre, or a decrease of Ifd. (1-^ «•) or
about 1 8 per cent on past payments. The following statement shows
the area of the 106 Government villages and the survey assessment
imposed on the different descriptions of land :

KorU Area and Aanesament, 1863.

LMlXtK

Dry-Crop,

Garden.

Barren.

Total.

Allen-

Bealizahle
Bakaioe.

Ooveminent ...
AUenated
Quit Bent

Acres.

838,203

18,005

-2971

Bfl.
89,755
4067
898

Acres.
2S70
150
8

Bs.

5813

204

Acres.

88,206

3120

312

Acres.

429,459

21,974

8288

Bfl«
05,068
5251
908

Bfl.

5251
871

Bs.
05,06S

«* »

681

Total ...

859,859

05,610

8062

5611

01,728

454,110

liPl.ffll

6622

O5.fi0»

The highest value of the village claims or haks, which were abol-
ished at the settlement, as entered in the accounts for 1850-51, was
£241 (Rs.2410) for headmen, £18 (Rs. 180) for assistant headmen,
and £344 (R8.3440) for accountants, or a total of £603 (Rs, 6030).

The sub-division that was settled next after Korti was Shevgaon.
Measuring was begun in April 1850 and finished in July 1852 ;
classing was begun in November 1851 and finished in December
1852, and the survey rates were introduced in April and May 1853.
The Shevgaon villages lay in the Godivari valley and were much
mixed with Nev^a villages. On the north, east, and^south
Shevgaon was bounded by the Nizdm's territory, and on the west bv
Nevdsa and Nagar. Its area was 417,459 acres occupied by 1764
villages of which 78i were Government and 53 were partly and 45
wholly alienated.^

1 The details are :

Shevgaon ViOagea^ IBSS.

DncRipnoM.

SURVBTSD.

milages.

QoTemment
Fartlv Alienated
WhoUy AUenated

Total

7
1

86|

Acres.

174,580

26,586

8357

204,428

COMPDTID.

vmsgea.

Acres*

84,658
128,878

213,086

Total.

ViUagea.

781

176i

AcresL

174,680
m,lft4
181,785

417,459

Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIII. 120.

Oeecaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

521

About the middle of the eighteenth centary the Mardth&s took
Shevgaon from the Nizdm, and by mutual agreement Sindia and
Holkar shared it in 1752. Holkar'a share fell to the British in 1818^
but Sindia continued to hold his share at the time of the introduction
of the survey. In the early years of the nineteenth century
Shevgaon^ equally with Ney&sa^ sufEered from the ravages of Mardtha
armies^ Bhils^ and Pendh^ris. Sindia, Holkar, and the Peshwa had
posts or thdnda in the sub-division but instead of joining to protect
the people the three powers appear to have seized every opportunity
of plundering them. Frequently also, as in the case of the
quarrels between Sindia and the two B&is, the villages suffered
from the quarrels of members of the same family. Sarjer&v Gh&tge
and Holkiur are said to have been the chief oppressors. On t£e
British accession to Holkar's share the old Musalm&n total rental
or tanktia is said to have been that noniinally in force, no Mar&tha
total or hamdl having been fixed. The same rude revenue
management as in the Peshwa's districts seems to have prevailed.
In 1818-19 80 far as they could be ascertained the largest realizations
of former years were assumed to be the proper total for each village
and proportionate rates were distributed over the several holdings.
These rates varied from 4«. (Rs. 2) to 2«. (Ete.l) the higha for dry*
crop lands and from 6«. to Sa. (Rs.S-l^) the higha for garden lands.
Between 1834 and 1837 Mr. Harrison reduced the dry-crop rates of
fifteen villages about bd. (3^ aa.) in the rupee or twenty per cent and
the garden rates of thirty-three villages about \s, \d, (8^ as.) in the
rupee or fifty-three per cexit. In a few villages the plot or viundbandi
system was kept and was still in use at the time of the settlement.
There was a good deal of confusion in the old accounts of this sub-
division and they were probably less accurate even than those of
NevAsa. In Shevgaon itself at the time of measurement several
of the holdings represented in the village papers could not be
traced in the field. The revenue management under British rule
differed in no material respect from the system already described
in other sub-divisions. Shevgaon was the only sub-division of
Ahmadnagar which showed a decided improvement under British
management According to the Survey Superintendent this improve-
ment was chiefly due to its comparatively light assessment.
Though there was a considerable similarity in the dry-crop soils of
Nevdsa and Shevgaon and the garden lands of Shevgaon were
extenfiive and probably richer, the Nev^Lsa assessment ranged
* about ten per cent higher than that of Shevgaon. The revenue
was therefore more easily collected in Shevgaon than in Nevilsa.
The average remissions in Shevgaon amounted to ten per cent
of the revenue demands, while in Nev^i^sa they amounted to
eighteen per cent. The fluctuations in collections were* also
less in Shevgaon than in Nev^lsa. Thus from 1821-22 to 1824-25
the fall of revenue was 36^ per cent in Nevasa and 21 per cent in
Shevgaon. Between 1826 and 1833 the decline was 53^ per cent in
Nev^ and 41} per cent in Shevgaon. Between 1842 and 1846
the decline was 49} per cent in Nev&sa and 29^ per cent in Shevw
gton, and between 1847 and 1850 the decline was 49 per cent in
Nev&Ba and 37 per cent in Shevgaon. According to the Snperin-

a772— ^

CSiapter Till.
TheLancL

SURVST,

Shevgaom^
ISSiSS.

[Bomlmj IhMttMr.

622

DISTHIGT6.

ChaptorVin.
The Land.

SURVKY.

SfunHfoon^

tendont the assessment though moderate was nneven* In his
opinion with a fair amount of trading and manufacturing capital and
with an increasing population the Sheygaon subdivision would have

E regressed much more rapidly in agricultural wealth and would
ave been in a much more prosperous state had the former assess-
ment not pressed too heavily on the cultivating classes. Under
the former loose system landholders were able to choose not only
the least heavily assessed lands but also the best parts of the fields
that were chosen. With this help though they made no great ad-
vance, they raised no great outcry regarding over-assessment. Still
there was room for ftnprovement. In some of the villages the assess-
ment was higher than in others ; consequently the area under tillage
varied greatly in different villages. Of an arable area of 133^341
6€res, only 55,468 acres had on an average been cultivated. The
garden cultivation might also be much increased. At the same
time most of the Shevgaon villages were able to pay as high au
assessment as the Nev&sa villages, and the state of the sub-division
allowed the imposition of an assessment sufficiently high to lead to
an increase of revenue in future years.

Shevgaon was not so well placed as NevAsa with respect to
outside markets. The old town of Paithan on the Grodivari was not
&r from the north of the subdivision. It had a large manufacturing
population and under ordinary circumstances woi:Qd have been the
centre af a thriving traffic. But the transit and town duties of the
Nizdm's government prevented much trade between it and the
neighbouring British villages. Instead of to Paithan grain was sent
to Nagar. There were two or three much used bullock tracks but
no cart road« over the hills to the east of the Im^mpur pass. Cart
traffic was confined to the Im^mpur route which could only be
reached by a long round. Considerable outside traffic from Berar
and the Nizam's country passed along several other routes.
Shevgaon had a considerable number of cotton weav^r8. Sindia's
town of Pdthardi had upwards of 5u0 looms, and other alienated
and Qovemment villages had about 250 more. Tisgaon with fifty
to sixty looms had the largest manufacturing population of any
British village, A few silk fabrics fitted for robes and bodices
were made at P&thardi and Tisgaon. The cotton cloth was almost
entirely coarse, some of it being woven from native thread and some
from a mixture of English and native thread. Of ten market towns
the chief were Pdthardi and Bodegaon^ both belonging to Sindft^and
reported to contain several wealthy traders. Of the Government *
towns Shevgaon and Tisgaon had fair markets. Shevgaon had a
population of about 3900 of whom 100 or 120 were shopkeepers
traders and moneylenders. At Miinikdaundi and Khurvandi a
good* many moneylenders carried on a considerable business in the
neighbouring Nizam's villages, but preferred to live under British
protection. At the village of Mari a yearly fair was held in MarrJi
attended by about 15,000 visitors. The chief exports from Shevgaon
were cloth which generally found a sale in neighbouring village-^i
Hfkd grain, vegetables, oil, butter, and safflower, which were sent
to Nagar and Poena. Tlie survey census showed 28,983 people, 26,429
homed cattle, 1579 horses, 17,799 sheep and goats, 1311 ploughs.

Oeccas.]

AHMADNAGAR

523

and 474 carts. At the time of settlement about 1148 of the 1764
landholders who had separate accounts with Government were
represented by the village officers to be in debt. The average debt
of each individual was estimated at something less than £10 (Rs. 100).
Of the 9764 survey numbers 6844 were hereditary holdings. Of these
2027 were tilled by the original holders, 757 by other hereditary
holders j 1848 by non-hereditary holders or upris, and 2212 were
waste.

The 78 4 Government villages were arranged in four classes with
highest dry -crop acre rates varying from 2s. 6d. to Is, 9d. (Bs. 1^ -
14 as,). In assessing Shevgaon the same highest dry-crop rates as
those of the Nev^a villages were adopted except in eight outlying
villages in the extreme north-east. Eight villages with a highest
rate of is. 6d. (Bs. 1^) formed the first class. They were in the
south-east near the hills with a good climate and close to the large
market of P&thardi. They were also nearer Ahmadnagar than the
other villages of the sub-division. This group was a continuation
of the Nev&sa is. 6d, (Ks. 1^) group. Thirty-nine and a half villages
with an acre i*ate of 2s. 3d. (Rs. 1^) formed the second class. This
group lay to the north-east of the villages of the first class^ being
a continuation of the 2s. Sd. (Rs. 1^) Nevdsa group of villages.
Some of the villages near the hills had a somewhat less uncertain
rainfall, while those in the plain were better placed with respect
to markets. The position of the entire group was not so good as
that of the first class villages. Twenty-three villages with an acre
rate of 2s. (Re. 1 ) formed the third class. They held much the
same position with reference to the second class as the second
class did to the first class. Eight villages with a rate of Is. 9d.
(14 as.) formed the fourth class. These villages did not enjoy so
good a climate as the villages near the hills. They were also
further from good markets and two or three of them which had been
somewhat over-assessed were empty. As regards garden tillage in
lands watered from wells, a highest acre rate of 6^. (Rs. 3), the same
as in Nevasa, was imposed on most of the Shevgaon villages. In
nine villages which were not well placed for markets the highest
rate was reduced to 5«. (Rs. 2^). For channel-watered lands which
were few and poor, a highest acre rate of lOs. (Rs. 5) was adopted..
The whole survey assessment on garden lands was £427 (Ks.4270)
on 2054 acres that is an average rate of 4«. l|d. (Rs. 2 as, li). The
former total assessment was £569 (Rs. 5690). The results of the
revised rates in the four classes of villages are shown in the f ollowing-

Btatement : shevgaon Survey SeUlementy 1853.

Qum.

VlL-

LAess.

FORMBR. 1

SURVBT. 1

A*-

8688-

ment.

Acre
Bate.

TiLkBD. 1

Wabtb.

TOTAL. 1

Area.

As-

ment

Acre
Bate.

As. p.

8 5

9 7
8 8
8 8

Area.

As-
sess-
ment.

Area.

As-
sess-
ment

I ...

II ...

III ...

IV ...

Total..

23
8

78i

Bs.

7414
S8v422
16,586

2038

Rs. a.p^
0 I'i 7

0 13 8
ol5 5

1 1 0

Acres.

9487
33,169
17,242

1018

Rs.

4955

19,836

9385

998

Acres.
10,&48
29,626
26.642
4759

Rs.

4186

11,931

8317

1596

Acres.
19,985
62,795
48,884
6677

Rs.

9141
31,766
17,662

2687

64,460

0 14 161.766

35,117

9 1

71,675

26,029

133,341

61,146

Chapter^VIlI.

The Land.

Survey.

Sj^ffgttotHy
1852'53.

[BniibaT flaiflMeer.

01iaplerTin«
The Laad^

SUBVBY.

Shevgaon,
286g-6S.

524

DisTBiora

The general refiulte of the Bettlement are shown in the following
etatement :

Sffievgacn Sttrvey SeUlemerU, 186$,

Tbab.

TlUdD.

Wawi.

Aiiinr-

ATBD.

Total.

Area.

meat.

Remis-
sions.

Collec-
tions.

CoUeo-

tiODSL

Collec-
tions.

Fonner :

1818-1862.

1861-62 ...
Survey :

186S-68 ...

Rental ...

Acres.
66,468
6S,1U

61,766
188,841

Bs.

47,297
46,947

86,117
61,146

Rs.

4948

1984

2221

•••

Rs.
42,864

46,018

82,896

• ••

Bs.

1667

1677

1120

• ••

Bs.

205

224

210
247

Bs.
44,226
46,814

84,226
61,898

The escess of the Burvey total over former average collections
was £1717 or 88f per cent The relief afforded to the landholders
was not so great as in Nev&sa, but owing to the comparatively
better condition of the Shevgaon villages, such a large reduction was
not necessary. The details of the total area and assessment are :

Sheffgaan Area and Aaaesmientf 1853,

Lahd.

Di7<CTop.

Garden.

Barren.

TbtaL

Alien-
ated.

lUalis.

able

Oeveffnment.
Alienated ...
Quit Rent ...

Aerss.

181,287
6602
1748

Bs.

66,878

2483

78S

Acns.
2064
127
46

Rs.

4268

268

Acres.

83,012

602

Acres.

166,968
6881
1846

Bs.

882

• ••

2690
685

Bs.
61,140

•••

847

Totsl ...

188.687

60,096

8826

4028

88,667

174,680

64,718

8826

01,883

The highest value of the claims of village officers entered in the
1851-52 accounts was £204 (Bs. 20410) of which £27 (Rs. 270) went
to headmen and £177 (Bs. 1770) to accountants.

The sub-division that was settled next after Shevgaon was Jam-
khed. Measuring was begun in March 1850 and finished in July 1852^
classing was begun in November 1851 and finished in Febraaiy
1853^ and the survey rates were introduced in May and June 1853.
At the time of settlement J^mkhed lay south of Shevgaon and east
of Eorti. It was formed of several OToups of villages or of detached
single villages generally surrounded by the Niz&m's territories. The
largest of these groups lay in the valley of the Sina^ at some distance
to the east of the north part of Eorti. Jdmkhed had an estimated area
of 287,883 acres occupied by seventy-five villages^^ of which fifty-nine
— >

1 Original nnmber of viUages 82 ; received from the Niz^ 6 ; alieii»ted villages

brought to acooimt 29 ; total 117. Of these four were traiiBf erred to KaimAla, two to

Nagar, thirty-one to Korti, and five to Karda; making a total td 42 viUagei which

left for JAmkhed 76 villages :

JdmXked VtUagti, 185S.

DacBinioK.

BURYBTBD.

OoMPunD.

Total.

Vil-
lages.

Acres.

Vil-
lagee

AoresL

Vil-

lagw.

Acres.

Govonimdot ... •■•
Partly AUenated
Wholly Alienated

Total ...

69
6

• ••

S84,708
14,S74

...

6
6

19/604
19,408

£34,708
88,778
19,408

148,977

88,906

887,888

Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXm. 134 • 137.

Deccon.]

AHMADNAGAB.

525

were Government and ten were partly and six wholly alienated.
Most of the Jamkhed villages were acquired from the Peshwa in
1818-19. Six villages including J&mkhed and Kharda were
subsequently receiv^ from the Nizam^ five of them in 1821-22
and one in 1845-46, owing to the death of the proprietor who^ though
a Muhammadan, appears to have held the post of priest or guru to
Sindia* Jdmkhed formed a separate sub-division from 1818-19 to
1821-22 when it was included in Karm&la. In 1824-25 it was
transferred from Karm^la to Nagar and again in 1826-27 retrans-
f erred to Karmala to which it remained attached until 1835-36 when
it was formed into a separate sub-division. Besides these territorial
changes some villages were transferred to other sub-divisions.
Twenty-nine alienated villages were at various times included in the
accounts of the sub-division^ and fifteen alienated villages lapsed to
Government.

Before the beginning of British rule most of the villages of the
petty division of Mdnur are stated to have been in the possession of
the Peshwa from 1760 and some of the Kharda and Jamkhed villages
from a much earlier period. The villages are also stated to have
been managed by government agents and not to have been farmed.
Shortly after the beginning of British rule, rates were fixed in the
same way as in other sub-divisions. There were twenty-four bigha
rates for the dry-crop soils, varying from 4^. to 6d. (Bs. 2-4 as,) and
twenty-one for garden lands varying from 12«. to2«. 9d, (Rs. 6 -If).
In two villages the estate or mundbandi assessment survived.
About 1836-87 theBevenue Commissioner and Collector lowered the
dry-crop rates of eighteen villages on an average about 5|(2.
(3^j- as.) in the rupee or twenty-four per cent and the garden rates
of six villages about ll^d. {7\ as.) in the rupee or forty-six per
centb The remaining details of the revenue management before
the survey settlement do not differ from those described in
other sub-divisions. The assessment was somewhat heavier in
Jamkhed than in Shevgaon, and the progress of Jdmkhed was in
consequence not quite so satis&ctory. The average past yearly
remissions in J&mkhed were £900 (Bs. 9000) or fourteen per cent of
the revenue demands, while in Shevgaon they averaged only £494
(Rs. 4940) or ten per cent. On the other hand the results in Jamkhed
were better than in Nagar. In J drmkhed the revenue collections in any
subsequent series of years never rose so high as their average amount
in tifb first years of British rule. Between 1847 and 1852 there
was a great decline both in the collections and in the area under
tillage. The comparatively large amount of capital in J&mkhed
and the profits of many landholders from other sources than
agriculture, enabled them to keep up their cultivation better than
in other sub-divisions. But according to the survey officer maflay of
the poorer landholders who had to look solely to their labour as
hosbandmen were very badly off. There was no want of
population, capital, or farming stock, and, in the opinion of the survey
officer, had the former assessment been fair nearly all the arable
land would have been under tillage, whereas on an average
upwards of 70,000 acres of arable land had remained waste and of
late years tbo tendency had been downward instead of upward.

Chapter Tin.
The Land*

SUBVXT.

Jdmkhedf

IBombay Gazetteer.

526

DISTRICTS.

CliaptorTin.
XheLaad.

Survey,

Jdmkhed^
1862^3.

' The coantry tracks from Kharda and J£mklied towards Poou
and Nagar though not good were passable by carts. Those towards
Poena led through Korti Carts generally went to Nagar by the
Korti town of Mirajgaon^ the direct road being difficult Bat
there was not much cart traffic between Nagar and the Jdmkhed
villages in the Sina valley. The Mohori pass on the Sina side near
Kharda was nsed though in bad repair. The Niz&tn's army passed
through it before the battle of Kharda^ (1795) and it is said to have
been then cleared for the passage of guns. There was (1853) a large
traffic between Kharda and Poona^ and an increase was anticipated
owing to the Bdldghdt districts having been placed under British
superintendence. The greater portion of the route was hard and
firm and the cost of a road if made to join Kharda with Poena and
ShoUpur would not be very great. The Jamkhed villages were not
in general well placed with respect to the Nagar and Poena markets,
and all exports and imports conveyed through the Nizam's territories
were subject to transit duties. The villages in the Sina valley had
within their limits the large market town of Kharda^ and the country
towards Poena being open, carts could be used. Kharda had a
population of about 6834 and was a very thriving place. There
were 195 merchants shopkeepers and moneylenders, many of
whom carried on a large trade in grain and other articles which
were procured from the neighbouring villages or from the B&lAghat
and sent to Poena and other places to the west. Kharda was also
the largest grain, cattle, and money market within the limits
of this survey group. It was frequented not only by the people
of the villages round but by traders and others &om distant
parts of the country. Jamkhed and Kada were also tolerably large
market towns. Jdmkhed had a population of about 3600 and Kada
of about 2500, and there were a good many traders in both towns.
The northern or hilly villages were not so well placed for
markets as those in the valley of the Sina. On accouut of the
rugged nature of the ground carts could not be used and, with the
exception of the very difficult line from Manur to Ashti and Kada^
there was no road in the direction of Nagar or Poena. The routes
to the south in the direction of J&mkhed and Kharda were also
almost impracticable for carts. But though the villages were badly
placed with reference to outside markets they were generally
thriving and contained a pretty large trading and manufacturing
population. The former disturbed state of the neighbouring Nis&m's
territories had caused a considerable influx of moneyed and industrious
settlers. The survey census showed 53,374 people, 53,985 homed
cattle, 2166 horses, 27,656 sheep and goats, 1868 ploughs, and
573 carts. There were 125 families of weavers in the town of
Kharda and about 200 looms were worked in other towns and
villages. The outturn was chiefly coarse cotton stuffs such as
lugdds and turbans. English threaQ was not much used* Several
villages had also a few brassworkers, coppersmiths, and bangle*
makers. The circumstances of the J&mkhed landholders varied
greatly. The majority were as poor as the people of other
sub-divisions, but many of the headmen and leading landholders
especially in the villages of M&nur were well off. The M&nor hjila

Deceaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

«27

afforded good pasture and besides grain a good deal of butter was
exported to Nagar. About 350 of the landholders tilled lands in
the neighbouring Nizdm's villages. Many of the Jdmkhed villages
also drew much advantage from the residence of traders and
moneylenders who would under other circumstances have settled
in the Nizam's territories. Of the 12,049 survey numbers 4311
numbers belonged to hereditary holders. Of these 2500 were tilled
by the holders themselves, 593 by other hereditary holders, 473 by
non-hereditary holders, and 745 were waste.

The fifty-nine Government villages were arranged in four classes
with highest dry-crop acre rates varying from 2«. 6d. to 1«. 9d.
(Rs. li-a«.14). The Jdmkhed dry-crop rates were similar to those
in the Shevgaon villages. They also corresponded with those of two
of the Nagar and two of the Korti classes but owing to the different
circumstances of the several subdivisions few just comparisons could
be drawn between them. The northern villages of Jdmkhed had the
best climate but were worse off for markets. The southern Jdmkhed
villages differed little from the neighbouring Nagar and Korti villages
as regards either climate or markets. Twenty-six villages with a
highest dry-crop acre rate of 2«. 6d. (Rs. 1\) formed the first class.
Of these tluree villages were on the Bdldghdtand twenty-three villages
were scattered in the hilly country between the Bdldghdt and
Shevgaon. The climate of these villages was superior ; the husbandry
good, though carried on under difficulties; and although their position
with respect to large markets was not good, owing to the number of
resident traders and manufacturers, they were not so straitened as they
otherwise would have been in so inaccessible a part of the country.
Twelve villages with a highest rate of 2«. 3c{.(Rs. 1^) formed the
second class. These villages were situated immediately below the
Bdldghdt in the valley oE the Sina. Their climate was inferior to that
of the villages of the first class but was fair. Their position with
respect to markets was good but they suffered from transit duties on
goods passing through the Nizdm's territories. Eighteen villages with
ahighest rate of 28. (Re. 1) formed the third class. They were scattered
in the valley of the Sina, their climate and situation with reference
to markets being inferior. Three villages with an uncertain rainfall
and with no peculiar advantages formed the fourth class and were
charged a highest rate of 1*. 9d. (14 cls,). Highest well-watered
garden rates similar to those of Shevgaon namely Ga. and 5^. (Rs. 3
and Rs. 2^) an acre were imposed on the Jdmkhed villages. The
channel-watered lands were not extensive and were assessed at a
highest acre rate of lOs. (Rs. 5), the same as that applied to the
Shevgaon villages. The aggregate garden assessment was £453
(Rs. 4530) on the entire arable area of 2460 acres or an average acre
rate of 3& S\d. (Re. I m, 13^). The former total garden assessment
was £595 (R& 6950).

The results of the revised rates in the four classes of villages are
shovm below :

Chapter Till*
The Land.

SUBVET,

IBombay

ObapterTIII.
ZheLandp

SUBVXT*

628

DISTRICTS.

Jdtnihed Survey Settlement^ 186S.

FoRiniB.

SURVBT. *

GfaMB.

I. •••

II. ...
III....
IV....

ToteL

VlL-
LAOIB

Assess*
ment

Aero
Bste.

TiUed.

Waste.

Total

Area.

Acres.
46,971
28.688
17,668
6990

Assess-
ment.

Acre
Rate.

Area.

ment.

Area.

meni.

Rs.
86,615
18,527
12,460

8841

As. p.

12 6

12 7

11 4

8 11

Rs.

22,487
9615
76W)
2100

6 6

7 0
6 7

Acres.
27,416
17,480
19.166
6660

Re.
10,847
6711
6206
1876

Acres,

74,387
40,968
86,719
11,550

Rs.
82,834
15.22Q
18.886

8475

70,948

12 1

94,062

41,792

7 1

69,662

28,641

168,624

66,438

The general resnlts of the settlement are shown below :

Jdmkhed Survey SeUlemerU, 1853,

Ynkn,

TiLLn».

Wabtb.

AUBI-
ATBD.

TOVAL.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

Remis-
sions.

Collec-
tions.

CoUeo-
tions.

Collec-
tions.

OoUec-
tlons.

Former. [ }|^;^| ;;;

g_____ f 1862-53 ...
'^'^^y- I Rental ...

Acres.
90,044
64.978
94.062
168,684

Rs.

64,600
61,098
41,792
66,488

Rs.

8996
7081
6710

Rs.

56,504
54,017
86,082

• ••

Rs.

1217
2962
2878

Rs.
619
446

352
860

Rs.

67.240
67,425
89,812
66,802

The excess of revenue realizable from the whole sab-division^
sapposing all the arable lands were brought under tillage^ was £856
(IU.8560) or an increase of about fifteen per cent on the former
collections. As most of the poor soils in Jdmkhed were capable of
being profitably cultivated and as there was no lack either oi capital
or of industry, the Survey Superintendent was of opinion that the
introduction of the new rates would not cause any permanent loss of
revenue. At the same time he thought that the increase of revenue
would not be great. The former collections averaged Is. 2f d. (9^rM.)
the acre and the survey rate on the lands cultivated in the settlement
year was lOfd. {7^ ds.), that is a reduction of about twenty-eight
per cent. In this as well as in the sub-divisions previously settled
some allowances must be made for the uncertainties of the former
system and the varying size of the bigha. The following statement
shows the total area and assessment of the lands in the fifty-nine
Oovemment villages in Jdmkhed :

Jdmkhed Area and Asaesement, 185S, •

Land.

Drt-orop.

Qaedkk.

BASRSS.

Total.

ALtSll-
aTBD^

RSALIS-

Area.

Amoant

Area.

Amount

Area.

kr&k.

Amount

Balamcb.

Government.
AUtnated ...
Quit Rent ...

Total ...

Acres.

161.164

12,152

978

Rs.

60,898

4n8

871

Acres.
2460
807
29

Rs.

4586

678

Acres.

56,009

1551

Acres.

219.633

14010

1060

Rs.
65,488
5866
429

Rs.

• ••

6866

Rs.
65,438

•••

869

174,294

66,047

2796

6171

117,618

284,708

71.218

6416

66,d0S

The village grain claims entered in the 1851-52 accounts
amounted to £273 (Rs. 2730) of which £88 (Bs. 880) belonged to
the headmen and £185 (Bs. 1850) to the accountants. Aa in other
sub-divisions^ these claims were abolished at the time of settlemeat.

Deccaa.]

AHMADNAOAB.

529

In 1 854 in submitting his settlement reports for the six sub-
divisions of Nevasa^ Earda^ Nagar^ Korti^ Shevgaon^ and Jamkhed^
Colonel G.Anderson the Survey Superintendent expressed his opinion
that the people were so impoverished that they could not be expected
to feel the full benefits of the revised assessment during the first few
years of the settlement.^ Should the seasons prove unfavourable,
there seemed no mode of remedy but the granting of remissions.
Colonel Anderson believed that under the new rates the state of
the people would improve. He thought that the spending of a little
money in making roads and useful public works would greatly quicken
the improvement. With more and better roads^ the fluctuations in
collections would probably be much less than in the past and fewer
remissions of revenue would be required. Owing to the depressed
state of many sub-divisions when the settlements were made, until
they became somewhat less impoverished, it would probably not
be expedient to attempt to collect the full assessment in very
unfavourable years especially in the few years immediately following
the settlements. InChindor, Dindori, Sinnar, N^ik, P^toda,Akola,
Sangamner, and Bilhuri, where the new rates had been introduced
before 1851, fluctuations in the revenue and grant of remissions
were not bo great as they had been under the old system. In the first
five of these subdivisions where new rates had been introduced before
1848, the progress was very satis&ctory up to the year 1847-48. In
that year prices fell very low, but in these settled sub-divisions the
consequent falling off of cultivation and revenue was slight, compared
with the falling off in the unsettled sub-divisions ; and prices in the
settled sub-divisions were affected by those of the unsettled sub-
divisions, especially in Sinnar which adjoined Akola, Sangamner, and
Bdhuri, into which revised rates had not been then introduced and
where owing to the heavy collections and the abundant harvest, a
very large supply of grain was suddenly forced on the market. In
the settled sub-divisions in which the new rates were in operation in
both years, there was only a decline from 1847-48 to 1848-49 of 1 1
per cent in the cultivation and of 54 per cent in the revenue, while
in the unsettled sub-divisions the immediate fall in tillage amounted
to 18| per cent and in revenue to thirty-six per cent. In subsequent
years the seasons were unfavourable both in the settled and unsettled
sab-divisions. In 1851-52 the rains failed to a greater extent in the
N^sik sub-collectorate and in P^toda than in most of the Ahmadnagar
sub-divisions. The year 1851-52 is described in the Ndsik reports
as most unseasonable. Colonel Anderson's experience bore out
this estimate of the year. In Shevgaon the crops were pretty good,
in Nev&sa they were poor, and further to the west in B^huri
Sangamner and Akola the crops were nowhere good and large
tracts of land were unsown. Another disadvantage to which/ since
the introduction of thesettlement,thesub-divisionssettledbefore 1851
had been subjected to^ was that although the claims of the village

Chapter^YIIL
The Land.

SUBVXT
RSSULTS^

1854.

1 Bom. Got. Sel. CXXIII. 159-160. Including the Nteik Bub-coUectorate the
Ahmadnagar district consisted of fifteen sub-divisions. Of these survey rates were
introdnced into K&vnai, ChAndor, Dindori, i^innar, Ndsik, and Pdtoda between 1840
and 1847 ; into Akola^ Sangamner, and Rdhuri between 1848 and 1850 ; and into
NflvAsa, Karda, Kagar, Korti, Shevgaon, and J4mkhed between 1851 and 1853.

B 772— 67

[Bombay Ctoxatfeer

530

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^ Vni.
The Land.

SUBVKY

Besultb,
1864.

officers had been absorbed' in the new assessment their collection
was still allowed. This afforded the village officers opportanities
of petty extortion and oppression. Consequently the action of the
Survey Joint Bules was not so beneficial as it would have been had
the collection of these claims been at once stopped. Notwithstand-
ing these adverse circumstances in the Superintendent's opinion the
result of the survey settlement on the whole was satisfactory.

The fluctuations in cultivation and revenue in Ohdndor, Dindori,
Ndsik^ Akola^ Sangamner^ and B&fauri were not great, and especially
in Ch&ndor, Dindori, Sangamner, and lUhuri showed much in fayoor
of the new system. In Sinnar and P&toda the upa and downs were
more marked though still less than under the old system when
flnctuations were enormous. The former fluctuations of revenue in
Sinnar were almost equal to those of Pjitoda. In Pdtoda in no
corresponding series of years had the rises and falls of revenue
been less under the old system than under the new. Formerly
cultivation assessment and collections used to rise as high as 56},
54^, and 82^ per cent, while in Sinnar under the new system the
oorresponding limits were only 25}, 19 (, and SO^, and in P4toda
12^, 11^ a^d 234. Compared with those given under the old
^stem, under the new system remissions were small. The following
comparative statement shows in the sub-divisions settled before
1851 the average yearly percentage of remissions on the revenue
demands-: ^» ^ ^ . . «.

Anmaanagar Bemvinon PerceMtages.

SDB-DlVIHOlf.

'Chftndor
liindori
Sinnar
Ntoik

• » ■

STirm.

Kew. Old.

SuB-DmaioK.

PCtoda
AkoU

Sangamner...
fi4hwi

Stbtim.

New.

OkL

THie following statement shows the average yearly percentage of
remissions caJculated on the revenue demands, given in the settled
subdivisions, contrasted with those given in corresponding periods
of years in the unsettled sub-divisions'^ :

Ahmadnagaar Bemiwon Percenta{/e9,

SuB-DrnBiON.

Chindor

ntndoii

Shinar

NteQc

nXodtk

AkoU

Sanffamner ..

BAkuri

ATenge ..

SnTLB)

ScB-Din-
mom.

UmBTTLU) SUB-DlTUIOin.

Neviaa.

Karda.

Nagsr.

Sorti.

fiherr-
gaon.

J4m>
kbad.

Afengv.

**}

W
IT

I 60m. Gov. Sel CXXm. 159 • 1^.

Deccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR

531

Daring the sixteen years ending 1854-55 houses showed an .
increase from 152,496 in 1839-40 to 154,955 in 1854-55 or a rise of
1"6 per cent, ploughs from 49,566 to 64,564 or 30*2 per cent, carts
from 20,187 to 23,587 or 16*8 per cent, bullocks from 229,978 to
309,582 or 34-6 per cent, and wells from 23,178 to 27,089 or 16-8
per cent. Daring the same period Indian millet rupee prices rose
about 100 per cent.^

The Nasik sub-coUectorate, which had been formed in 1837-^8,
was abolished under Oovernment Order 2540 of lOth July 1856^ and
its sab-divisions of N&sik^ Ch&ndor, Dindori, Sinnar, and K^vnai,
including the political charge of the Point state, were made over to
the Ahmadnagar Collector to be managed by an assistant like the
other subdivisions. This and all subsequent reductions caused a total
yearly saving of £10,963 (Rs. 1,09,630) and tho aggregate saving
up to 1862 amounted to £23,742 (Rs, 2,37,420). With a view to
combine increased efficiency with reduced expenditure ten mah^lkaris
were abolished and the sub-divisions were reorganized under
mdmlatd^s alone. Three new m^mlatddrs^ charges were formed and
the twenty-six thdnaa or stations were reduced to nineteen. The
large sob-divisions were reduced, the smaller ones were enlarged, and
all were made more compact andf the thcmd^ more central.'

About half of the Ahmadnagar collectorate, the part to the south
and east, was settled between 1851 and 1853.^ In this part in
1859-60 and in 1860-61 a slight downward tendency was observable

Chapter Till.
The Land.

SUBVBY

Bbsults,
1839-1855.

Territorial

Changes,

1856-18G2.

I Bonu Gov. Rev. Bee. IT part 1 of 1856, 199-200. The details are :

JJtmadnaffor Development^ 18S9 - 1S5$,

Ybae.

Housis.

LA5D-
HOLDBU

BOIiLOOKS.

Plocohs.

Ter-
raced.

TUed.

That-
ched.

Plough.

Pack.

Two
BaUock.

Pom-
Bullock.

Eight
Bollock.

1889-40 ...
1864-55...

iBoraMeK
Decrease.

90,790
88,368

12,886
16,156

48,870
60,681

50,070
80,140

204,457
280,861

26,521
29,281

18,105
17,840

20,974
87.121

6,487
10,108

262$.

8820

1661

• ••

21,070

• ••

75,004

• ••

8700

42S5

• • t

7147

3616

• ••

YSMU

Cartb.

Wnuk

Watkb
Lifts.

Tour
BuUoek.

Two

BaUook.

Drinking.

Watering.

Chabhsu.

1880-40

1864-55

iDcrease ... ...

X/ecreaee ••• ...

0475
10,782

10,712
12,805

6034
7871

17,144
UB,218

808
U07

786
884

1807

2008

1887

2074

• ••

804

• ••

106

• ••

Ahmadnaifar Price* : Shen the Rupee, 1817 • 1856,

Crop.

1817-18

1887-88.

1865-56.

Crop.

1817-18.

1887-88.

1855-56.

JM ...

84
25

18
15*

Wheat ...
Gram

25
84

3 Mr. Tytbr, 143 of 29th Jannaiy 1862 in Rev. Rec. 236 of 1862 - 1864, 263-264.,
' NjBviafti Karda, Nagar, Korti, ohevgaoQ, and Jtokhed.

[Bomluty OaMttecfi

^32

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

Survey

RESULTS)

1853-1869.

in cultivation and revenue. The principal cause was sapposed to
be a too rapid spread of tillage in the then impoverished condition
of the sub-divisions and the great deficiency of farming stock. I(
was also partly due to a series of bad seasons and partly to the &ct
that in 1859 prices had fallen one*fifth to one -fourth lower thiui the
average prices of the five preceding years. With the exception of
this temporary cheeky the advance in all the sub-divisions was most
marked and rapid, both before and after the great rise in prices
which began in 1862.

The following statement shows for the sixteen years ending 1 869
the increase of cultivation and collections in the six Bouth^-east
sub-divisions :

Ahmadnagar Survey Settlement Results, 1863 - 1869,

BUB-
DlVUION.

AVIEA6> OF
FORMKR STSTSM.

AVIRAOB OP
1853 -1869.

AVBRAOB OF
1864.1869.

186R.69.

Tillage.

CoUec-
tioxu.

. . .

Tillage.

CoUeo-

tlODS.

Tillage.

Collec-
tions.

Arable.

Sarwy
RentaL

Tlllagv.

meot

Nev&sa ..
Karda ...
Nagar ...
Korti ...
Shevgaon...
Jimkhed..

Total ...

Acres.

189,002

212,191
92.907

185.361
66,468
90,044

Rs.
1,01,528
1.21.648
80,260
69,257
42,354
65,604

Acres.

276,735

3.^.560

156362

809377

113,133

146,908

Rs.

1,86.109
1,29,803
86.768
88,2£6
54,645
59,432

Acres.

308,321

355,677

171,771

336,107

119,473

161,089

Rs.

1,44,497
1,88,774
92.989
983-^7
67.637
64,401

Acres.

818,885

374.681

174307

841,163

138,841

163,624

Rs.

1,50,945
1,44.382
94,788
96,068
61,146
65.488

Acm.

305,5^1

366.859

1783»
S3^305

isi.roi

162325

Ra.

M:,i55
1,36.ST7

99393
M.18I
fiA3tlO
64.79d

766,678

4,70,661

1338.074

6,64,518

1,447338

5,91376

1306^211

6.11,712

1,458^0

5,ed.ios

The aggregate remissions since 1853 amounted in 1869 to £6740
(Rs. 67,400) . At the percentage rate on the demand of the old system
they would have amounted to an aggregate sum of £187,772
(Rs. 18,77,720) . This is a total decrease of £181,032 (Rs. 18,10,820)
or about 96 per cent. Moreover of the remissions given £4092
(Rs. 40,920) or nearly two-thirds were granted in 1853-54 which is
described in the Collector's revenue report as a disastrous season.
As this year immediately followed the introduction of the survey
assessment into Korti Shevgaon and J&mkhed and as the rates had
only then been in operation for one year in Nevasa Karda and
Nagar, the people had no time to recover from their depressed
condition under the old system. The season of 1855*56 was
again unfavourable. The Collector stated that considering the
circumstances of the year the remissions £3951 (Rs. 39,510) granted
on account of the failure of crops under the new rates were mo<^rate.
Under the old rates the year's remissions would probably have been .
about four lakhs of rupees. The year 1856-57 was also a bad year.
Again towards the end of the period there appears to have been
another' series of bad years. In his revenue report for 1868-69,
the Collector stated that in Rdhuri and Nevdsa remissions were
absolutely necessary owing to the entire failure of the crops asd to
the impoverished state of the people from a succession of bad seasons.
Mr. Waddington wrote : ' Many villages were entirely deserted and
hardly ai^y cattle were left in the country as there was no graKing
and great want of water.' Colonel 6. Anderson passed through the
worst part of these two sub**di visions (Rdhuri and Nevdsa) in
January lS69j^ and for miles on the land which had been reserved

Dewm.]

AHMADNAGAR.

533

for late crops^ he saw not a blade of grass or a stem of grain. The
remissions were given after the fullest inquiry where the crops had
altogether failed and where the inability of the cultivators to pay
the assessment had been ascertained. The same was done in
certain villages of the Ahmadnagar sub-division.

In 1868-69 the.Collector wrote that considering the severity of the
season he thought it a matter of congratulation and a mark of the
snccess of the survey system that such a large revenue should have
been collected with an average remission of only If per cent It
may be added that notwithstanding this exceptionally bad year some
of the sub-divisions got on without any remissions and that the
aggregate of those granted in the six south and east sab-divisions
did not amount to a ninth of the average of those given under the
old system taking good and bad years together.

The most marked improvement, as regards the discontinuance of
the practice of gpranting remissions, took place in Eorti. Under the
old system the average yearly remissions granted in that sub-division
were £3156 (Bs. 81,560) while under the new system their aggregate
amount in the sixteen years ending 1868-69 was only £260 (Rs.2600X
Of this amount £258 (As. 2580) were remitted in 1853-54 the year
following the introduction of the revised assessment During the
fifteen years ending 1868-69 no remissions at all were granted in
thirteen of the years, and sums of only £2 2«. (Bs. 21) andl2«»
(Rs. 6) were granted in the remaining two years. In Jdmkhed also
no remissions were granted during the six years ending 1868-69
and an aggregate sum of only £6 is, (Bs. 62) or 188. (Bs. 9) a year
in the preceding seven years. In Shevgaon in the fourteen years
ending 1868-69 they amounted to £25 14^. (Bs. 257) or an average
of £f 168, (Rs. 18) a year. In the other sub-divisions Nevdsa^
Karda^ Nagar, the results were not so strikingly favourable, but in
them also, except in such very bad years as those alluded to above
1853-54, 1855-56, 1856-57, 1868-69, either no remissions were given
or they were very small. Of the six sub-divisions in the south and
east, Korti, which had the worst climate and which was in the
worst condition at the time of settlement, seems to have been one
of the quickest to improve. One chief cause of this improvement
was the opening of the Poena and Sholdpur section of the Bombay
and Madras line of railway. Jdmkhed too made a great advance
owyig chiefly to its good climate and the greater amount of capital
it possessed at the time of settlement. Though not in the same
degree as Korti and Jdmkhed, the four other sub-divisions, Shevgaon,
Nagar, Karda, and Nevfisa also prospered beyond the expectation
of the survey settlement officer. The great rise in prices which
began in 1862, though accompanied by a series of years of scanty
rainfall, helped to bring about these satisfactory results.^ *

Chapter VHI.
The Land.

SUBVBY

Results*
1853-1869.

iBom.Gov. Set. CXXTII. 279-287. Though considerable flnctn^tions occured
betveen 1850 and 1860, there was no decided or long continaed rise in prices nntil
1862. The period of enhanced values and profits from which landholders had benefited
largely and which tended materiaUy to improve the condition of the cultivators, began

[Bombay (texetteer.

534

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

SUKVBY

Results,
1840.1862.

Between 1852 and 1870 in these six south and east sab-
divisions 1630 new wells were built. Taking the average cost of
a well at £40 (Rs. 400) the total sum invested by the people in new
wells would be £65,200 (Ra. 6,62,000). This represents an avera^
yearly expenditare in the six sub-divisions of about £3700
^Rs. 37,000), and assuming 2^ acres as the average .area watered from
a well, 1630 new wells show an increase in the garden cultivation
of about 4000 acres. This, in Colonel Anderson's opinion^ was
satisfactory.^ A corresponding statement for the whole district of
Ahmadnagar including the portion transferred to N&sik in 1869»
showed that, between 1840 and 1862, 1017 new wells had been built
and 940 restored to use. All dams were kept in good repair and
there was a marked spread in irrigation. In 1862 made roads had
greatly increased and several important lines were in progress.
Two railways passed through the district and attempts were being
made to introduce tramways on two of the railway feeders.^

Under the reduced rates cultivation had doubled. The drynsrop
lands of the district paid only a yearly average of one shilling an
acre, garden lands six shillings, rice land five shillings, and cotton
land only eight* pence. Ninety-six per cent of the entire garden
land of the district was under tillage and eighty-three per cent of
dry-crop land. The revenue was paid with ease and speed. Since
1840 the rates of interest had greatly fallen, an unmistakable sign of
increase in capital and wealth. In 1862 the people freely allowed
that to a large extent they had shaken o£E the trammels of debt^

about the re?enae year 1862-63. Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIII. 279-280. The detuk.
ATO : Ahmadntigar Produce Rupee Prieet^ 1860 • 1870,

Tbar.

Jvdru

BdjH.

Wheftt

Year.

Jvdri,

BdJH

Wheat.

Lbs.

Lte.

3860

1861

1851

1862

1852

112

1863

1858

118

1864

1854

1865

1855

1866

1856

1867

1857

1868 ...

1858

1869

1859

1870

1860

1 Bom. Gov. SeL CXXIII. 286 - 287. The detaUa are :

Ahmadnagar New WeU»t 18BS • 1870,

ScB-Diviaiox.

Wells.

Estlnuited
Cost

SlTB-DlVIBION.

WeUa.

Estimated
Cost.

Nev4sa

Karda

Nsgar

Korti

251
277
882
322

Rs.
1,00,400
1,10,800
1,52,800
1,28,800

Shet-gaon
J&mkhed

Total ...

71
827

Rs.

28,400
1.80300

1680

6,52.000

> Mr. Tytler, CoUector, 143 of 29th January 1862, Bom. Gov, Bev. Bee 236 ol
1862- 1864, 259-260.

» Mr. Tytler, Collector, 143 of 29th January 1862, Bom. Gov. Eev. Bee. 236 of
1862-1864,255-257.

Deccan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

535

In 1840 land had no saleable valae and large tracts were waste.
In 1862 all land save the poorest was in demand and the mere
right of occnpancy fetched five to forty times the year's assessment
In 1862 the Collector Mr, Tytler gave the following out* of
many available instances. In the village of Jeur in Teola, the
occupancy of a field bearing a yearly assessment of £1 9«. (Es. 14|)
was sold for £12 2«. (Bs. 121) or 8| times the assessment In
Jdnuri in Dindori the occupancy of four fields bearing a yearly
assessment of £8 2«. 3 j i. (Ks. 81 as. 2-^) was sold for £146 15s.
(Rs. 1467^) or eighteen times the assessment. In the village of
Chaur&na in Ahmadnagar the occupancy of two fields bearing a
yearly assessment of £1 9s. (Rs. 14 J) was sold for £47 10s. (Rs. 475)
or thirty-three times the assessment. In Nimlak in Ahmadnagar
the occupancy of portions of three fields bearing a yearly assessment
of 13s. \^dL (Rs. 6^) was sold for £10 14s. (Rs.l07) or sixteen times
the assessm^it. In Shevgaon the occupancy of a field bearing a
yearly assessment of 3s. (Rs. 14) was sold for £1 16s. (Rs. 18) or
twelve times the assessment :^

Ahmadnagar Survey ResuUa,^ 1860-61,

Ykas.

Gross

Und

Rerenne.

R«inifl-
skms.

CoUeo-
tions.

Sdyar
Revenue.

Btjon Survey.

1820. 1«S9

18S2.1889

lOOv^l •,. ..a ..1

Rs.

16,64,489
16,64,8S5

17,11,668

fia.
3^696
8,46,688

Rs.
12,30.843
12,17,986

17,11,161

Rs.
70,313
90,648

5,74,806

According to the Deccan Riots Commission, between the introduction
of the survey in 1848 and the year 1860, the condition of the district
in many respects entirely changed. Instead of large tracts of
'land lying waste^ all the arable land was brought under the plough.
Population and agricultural capital of all kinds increased. The
country was supplied with carts and good roads abounded. The
railway traversed the richest part of the region. Prices of produce
and wages increased. With a much larger revenue to pay on the
larger area of cultivation^ remissions became unknown^ aud more
^capital was yearly invested in wells and in bringing waste lands
nndejr tillage. In 1862 began the period of abnormal prosperity
. caused by the rise in the price of cotton which followed the
outbreak df the American war. Landholders would under ordinary
circumstances have suffered severely from the deficiency of rain.
But the abnormal value of produce made the scanty crop of a year
of drought equal to the full crop of a good season. The competition

ChaptOTVIII.
The Land*

Survey
Results,
1840-1862.

1 Bom. Gk>v. Rev. Rec. 236 of 1862- 1864, 296-297.

' Th« increase of Es. 4,90,318 in cK^ections is not all due to survey, but Rs. 3,85,79Q
seem fairly attributable thereto. The details are : On account of lapsed villages
Rs. 88,868 ; on account of lapsed grants or indms Rs. 8329 ; on account of lapsed
shares or amals Rs. 1571 ; on account of attached shares Rs. 3026 ; and on account
of attached grants Rs. 2734, making a total of Rs. 1,04,528 which when added to
Rs. 3,85,790, gives a total of Rs. 4,90,318. Bom. Gov. Rev, Rec. 236 of 1862- 1864,
274-275.

[Bombay GftietUe,
636 DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII* for labour made it possible for the husbandman and hia family to
Th ^iand ®*"^ *^® assessment of an ordinary holding by a fortnight*B work,

and the enhancement of his credit enabled him to borrow aoms far
SuBVBY beyond the ordinary value of his capital.^

1841-1883. During the term of the sarvey settlement^ the Ahmadnagar

district which in 1840 included a part of Ndsik^ underwent a
considerable change in consequence of transfers of villages and
sub-divisions. To show the results of the survey settlement in
the present (1883) Ahmadnagar district^ it has been neceasary to
prepare special statements giving tillage and revenue figures for
each vUlage in the present district for the settlement period and
for ten years before it. The final district statement prepared from
these village returns by the survey department* gives the following
results.^ Before the introduction of the survey settlement the total
area of the Government villages under the higha rate system, for
which details were available, was estimated at 4918 square miles or
8,147,777 acres rating the higha at three-quarters of an acre* The
area as measured at the time of the survey settlement was widely
different from the former estimate, 5588 square miles or 3,575,940
acres including arable and waste lands.^ The cause of this great
difference lies in the fact that the size of the old ibt^/ia varied with the
character of the soil. So great is the difference in result that a
comparison of areas in the two periods is impossible. In the 1216^
settled Government villages for which information is available tbe
figures for 1882-83 show, compared ^vith the average of the ten years
before the survey, a fall in remissions from £33,589 to £16,330
(Ra. 3,35,890 - Rs. 1,63,360) and an increase in coUectiocs from
£95,908 to £112,149 (Rs. 9,59,080 -Rs. 11,21.490) or 16*9 per cent.
Taking the figures for the seventy-eight and a half alienated villages
for which information is available the figures for 1882-83 show,
compared with the average of the ten years before the survey, a fall in
remissions from £4809 (Rs. 48,090) to nothing, and an increase in

^ Decoan Riots Commission Report, 1875, paras 34-35 paces 20-21.

* Mr. A. B, Fforde, 1879, and the Survey Commissioner Mr. Stewart, 1680 of 9di
August 1884.

'The eleyen sub-divisions into which the present district is divided contained
when these statements wereprepared (1883), 1378 villages, 1223) Government and
154) alienated. Of these 1221 } Government and 82) alienated villages were bgwght
under survey settlement. Of the settled villages details for years before the
settlement were not available for five Government and four alienated villages. The
rate of survey progress was as follows : Of Government villages 1 was settled iQ
1841-42, 40 in 1844-45, 53 in 1846-47, 263 in 1848-49, 137 in 1849-50, 5 in 1850-51,
354 in 1851-52, 235 in 1852-53, 17 in 1853-54, 4) in 1654-55, 1 in 1855-56, 15 in
1856-57, 2 in 1859-60, 7 in 1863-64, 67 in 1868-69, 25 in 1869-70, 3 in 1874-75, and
2 in 1875-76; total Government villages 1221). Of these 272 were resettled, 41 in
1875-76,*55 in 1876-77, and 176 in 1880-81. Of alienated villages 4 were settled in
1849-50, 2 in 1851-52, 11 in 1852-53, 30 in 1853-54, 2) in 1854-55, 1 In 1855-56,

1 in 1856-67, 1 in 1857-58, 5 in 1858-59, 1 in 1859-60, 3 in 1864-65, 4 in 1868^69,
10 in 1869-70, 5 in 1875-76, and 2 in 1878-79 ; total 82) alienated viUagea, Of these

2 were resettled in 1880-81.

^ The area of grant or indm villages is estimated at 364 square aulas or 232^
acres before the survev settlement and at 507 square miles or 324,701 acros since tbe
survey settlement. The total area of Government and alienated villages is therefore
5282 square miles or 3,380,610 acres before survey and 6095 square milea or 34900^641
acres after survey.

Dee^.]

AHMADNAGAR

537

collections from £9846 to £12,096 (Rs. 98,460 - Rs. 1,20,960) or 22-9
per cent. The following statement shows for the Government
villages of each sub-division the chief changes in tillage, remissions,
and collections, since the introduction of the revenue survey :

Ahmculnagar Survey ResuUsy 1841-1883.

YlAR.

Arka.

RSMISSIONS.

BtTB-

Diviaioir.

Occupied.

Unoccupied

Govern-
ment.

Alien,
ated.

Total.

Govern-
ment.

Alien-
ated.

Total.

Arable.

Unara-
ble.

AkoU ...

J&mkhed...

Karjat ...

Kopaigaon.

Nagar

NevSoa ...

Firner ...

Btfiuri ...

Sangamner.

Bhevgaon...

Shrigonda.

Ten yean before

survey

1882^

Ten yean before

survey

1882-83

Ten yean before

surv^

1882-63

Ten years before

survey

1882^

Ten yean before

survey

1882-83

Ten yean before

survey

1888-83 ... ...

Ten yean before

survey ...

1882-88

Ten yean before

survey

1882-88 ...

TSn yean beforo

survey

1882-63

Ten yean before

survey

1883^

Ten yean before

survey

1882-63

Ten yean before

survey

1883-83

Acres.

62,054
174.150

72,610
158,661

07.685
167,278

120.761
254.271

114.457
202,286

128,608
210,830

186,238
226.045

86,611
181,810

114,106
177,627

158,454
240,140

157,015
238,005

Acres.

11,170
12,363

14,051
16,074

10,770
14,125

80.368
21,648

21,458
22.006

21,606
16,806

16,144

17.008

20,174
15,788

21.641
16,001

21,857
16,550

28,806
23,476

Acres.

74.188
186,512

86,661
173,735

108,855
181,403

160,120
276,010

136,016
225,204

150,213
236,685

151,382
243,053

106,786
107,508

135,830
104,528

180,311
285,600

186,721
251,671

Acres.

41.568
16.820

46.202
5IU

50,718
40,815

166,370
14,065

65.648
11,078

141,162
10,640

54,460
0640

110,266
10,011

100,010
21,437

118,245
28,720

77.382
35347

Acres.

25,802
161,750

66,472
72,620

81,618
84,766

62.020
30,060

82,866
60,660

88,713
46,444

63,901
116,670

76,743
71,006

68,436
108,005

137,145
60,306

26,884
84,118

Rs.

11.343
6666

16,688
3

.26,202

67,742
71,108

20,427

86,111
4689

86,284

13,762
64,867

28,520
13,822

11,205
53,478

• • •

Bs.

467
122

64
84

• ••

803
1140

425

610

862

848
770

773
680

120

• ••

330

Rs.

11.810
6780

16,752
8

86,876

68,635
72,257

30.852

36.730
4680

86,596

• •a

14,610
65,166

29,203
14,461

11,415
63,817

Total ..

1,258,301
2,230,212

218.053
103,586

1,476.444
2,432,748

000,136
213,700

681,107
910,961

3,30,802
1,60,667

4004
2689

3,35,886
1,68,356

CoLLBcnoirs

•

BUB-

TXAB.

OCT8TA5D-

Divisioir.

Occupied.

Unoccu-
pied.

Alienated.

Unanble.

TotaL

INGS.

Akola

Ten yean before

Rs.

survey

00.903

647

702

251

62,603

1342

1882-83

67,180

804

2472

1054

70.060

7467

Jfimkbed...

Ten yean before

survey

50,126

1382

488

61,060

1760

1882-63

64,357

283

2810

277

67,176

• ••

Carjat ...

Ten yean before

■un-ey

47,170

1517

211

48,037

8240

1682-88

47,508

• •«

1288

2766

51,497

Kopargaon.

Ten- yean before

survey

1,05,023

515

1003

425

1,07,055

2816

loo2-oB ... .••

1.84.^

606

7752

1682

1,44,865

, 22,598

Nagar ...

Ten yeare before

survey

1,05.784

1788

1075

2498

1,11,145

18,220

1882-88

1,16,646

754

4633

1,22,243

600

Nevisa ...

Ten yean before

survey

88,591

886

633

290

00,390

8638

1832-83

1,08,011

443

3730

802

1,13,085

202

Pikrnor ...

Ten yeare before

survey

00.502

1383

1391

170

1,02,446

9793

1862-8S

06,819

231

3142

760

1,02,961

«••

Chapter YIII.
The Land.

SXJRVKY

Kesults,
1841-1883.

B 772-68

538

[Bomliay Oaiette^

DISTRICTS.

ChapterVin,
The Land.

SUBVltY
KSSULTS,

1841-1883.

Revision

SUBVST,

1880-1884.

Scmgamnert
1880.

Ahmadnagar Survey BesuUs, 18^1-1888

— oontixmed.

TlAE.

OOLLBOnOHS.

OtT9TAS»>

isoa.

Sub-

DlYIBION.

Occupied.

Unoccu-
pied.

AUenated.

Unarabls.

Tbtal.

B&buri ...
Sangamner.
Shevgaon...
Shrigonda.

Ten years before
survey

Ten years before
snrvey

1882-88

Ten years before
ianrey

XoImC*Ov « • • • • ■

Ten years before

survey

1882-83

Ten years before

survey

1882^

Bs.

68,602
08,835

08,842
08,673

1,12,688
1,36,051

82,716
07,415

Bs.

682
348

1288
201

1681
1078

2318
1204

572
4420

1242
3001

881
8800

1167
8701

Bs.

246

•••

400

844

1270
627

706
2840

Bs.

70,002
06,098

1,01.866
1,08,700

1,16,870
1,41,646

86,806
1,05,250

Rs.

701S
96»37j

674d
4S,»S4

6904
715

T6tsl ...

0,20,806
10,62,663

18,082
5578

0884
41,448

6466
11,801

0,50.078
lUMOO

64.704 I
1,00.773 I

As the original survey rates were introduced for a tenn of thirty
years beginning in some parts of the district in 1 848^ the period of
the original survey began to draw to a close in 1878. Between 1880
and 1884i revised assessments were introduced into Sangamner
lUhuri and Nagar.

During the thirty years of its first survey settlement (1849-1879)

many changes occurred in the constitution of Sangamner. In 1849

it consisted of 118 villages^ 106 Government and twelve alienated; in

1880 the number of villages was 156^ 148 of them Government and

eight alienated. During the thirty years great improvement was

made in road communications. In 1849 there was not a metalled road

in the sub-division, while in 1880 there were two with culverts and

bridges throughout. Besides these several famine roads were made in

1876-77, but they were merely fair weather tracks, nothing in the way

of repairs being done to them. In 1880 the chief grain traffic mostlj

millet or bdjri passed along the metalled road from Sangamner to the

DevWli station, a distance of nearly forty miles. Weekly markets

were held at six different places within the limits of the subdivision.

One of them was Sangamner whore the estimated value of weekly

sales amounted to upwards of £100 (Rs. 1000). At three markets

the value of weekly sales ranged from £10 to £50 (Rs. 100-500),

and at the remaining two from £2 10^. to £10 (Rs. 25 - 100).

The manufactures consisted of robes, turbans, blankets, bangles* and

saltpetre. There were 861 looms in seventy-nine villages. The surplus

field produce chiefly millet, wheat, gram, and oil-seeds was for the

most part sent to Bombay. The minor exports were hides, horns,

cotton cloth, and bangles. The imports were chiefly rice from the

Akola^ sub-division, yt?(ir» from B^huri, brass and copper articles

from ^dsik, and salt, iron, cocoanuts, grocery, kerosine oil, and

European cloths from Bombay.

During the settlement period population advanced from 26,846 to
34,640 or 29 per cent, flat roofed and tiled houses from 4041 to 6142
or 52 per cent, field cattle from 7957 to 9372 or 17'8 per cent, cows,
and buffaloes from 7019 to 8416 or 19*9 per cent, sheep and goats

Oeccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

5S9

from 21,320 to 23,266 or 9-1 per cent, ploughs from 16884 to 2166
or 28-3 per cent, and carts from 1017 to 1266 or 24*5 per cent.
There was a decrease in thatched houses from 391 to 315 or 19 4 per
cent, and in horses from 708 to 627 or 11-4 per cent.^

The following statement shows the fluctuations in tillage and
collections since 1838-39 :

Sangamner Land Hevmuet 1838-1879.

Ybak.

Ooca-
pied.

Waste.

Remis-
sions.

Collec-
tions.

Out-
stand-
ings.

Acres.

Rs.

1838-1848 ...

76.197

68,860

10,090

68,214

3180

1848.1868 ...

84,067

40,725

8424

48,844

623

1858-1868 ...

116,686

10,278

70,062

• ••

1888-1878 ...

122,860

8644

700

72,284

6276

1878-T9

120,048

6682

72,009

10,206

The reyision survey operations were begun in 1874 and finished
in 1880. The eighty-two Government villages into which revised
rates were introduced in 1880 were divided into three groups.
In the first group were placed fifteen villages with a highest
dry-crop acre rate of 4^. (Rs. 2). The greater part of them lay to the
west of the high road from Poena to N&ik and were most favour-
ably situated in point of climate. A good number of them near
the high road had easy access to the town of Sangamner. In the
second group were placed eight villages with a highest rate of
Zs. 9d, (Bs. 1|) and forty-t&ee villages with a rate of 3«. 6d.
{Ra. 1}). The villages of this group were chiefly in the centre of
the sub-division ; they were not so well placed as regards rainfall^
but possessed in the main the best soils. Eight villages for which
a higher rate was fixed were dose to and had the advantage of
the market town of Sangamner. The third group, the least favoured
in point of climate^ included sixteen villages with a highest acre
rate of 3«. 3d, (Rs. If). They lay still further to the east than the
second group and were not situated near hills. According to the
first survey settlement there were 2295 acres of garden land^ 2142
of them Government. According to the revision survey there was
a total garden area of 7566 acres, 7208 of them Government. For
169 acres under channel water, a highest acre rate of 16^. (Rs. 8),
land and water combined, was fixed. It gave an average acre rate
of 6». 4|(2. (Rs. 3 as. 2-^^). Land under old wells was assessed
within the highest rate on dry-crop land. On lands under new wells
the ordinary dry-crop rates were imposed. The following statement
shows the general result of the revised rates of assessment in each

group of villages :^

1 The marked increase in the better class or flat roofed and tiled houses with a
decrease in thatched houses or huts goes to prove that the people had more
money to lay out in material comforts than formerly. The smaU mcrease in the
item of field cattle is owing to the late years of scarcity. Fluctuations in the number
of sheep and coats depend on the demands of the Nagar, Poona, and Bombay markets*.
Colonel Laughton, Surrey Superintendent, 9th Feb. 1880 paras 22-24.

* Survey Superintendent, 119 of 9th February 1880 paras 42 - 49.

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

Revision

SUKVET,

Sanfamner,
1880.

540

[Bombay Gazetteer.

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

Revision
Survey.

Sangamner^
1880,

Sanganmer Revirion SeUlemefU, 1880,

JRdhurif
1880.

CbAM

Vn.-

Ii4QIB.

FORMEI SnftVST.

Rbvision Surwt.

Occupied.

Oocujiied.

Waste.

Total.

Bighcat ;

Area.

ment

Area.

AflBCflS-

ment.

Area.

Assess-

ment

Area.

meat.

Dry -crop
AcreBAk.

III ...
IV

Total ..

Acres.
20,812
6527
51,726
30,840

Be.
16,444

4878
80,154
16,840

Acres.
28,680
7600
69.758
82.872

Be.
22,328

6689
39,582
22,701

Acres.

672

2487

1626

Rs.

278

740

506

Acres.
84.868
7666
62,195
84,498

Rs.
22,601

6500
80,272
28,200

Rs. a.
2 0
1 14
1 12

1 10

100,414

68,826

128310

90,000

4801

1562

138,617

01,642

•••

The increase in the new rental for these eighty-two villages was
estimated at 31*9 per cent. The revised assessment on the whole
of the Government occupied land gave an average of 1«. h\d.
(11 § as.) the acre, while the existing assessment gave an average
rate of Is, Zd, (10 as,), the increase being 2^d. (1§ a«.) the acre.

The next sub-division into which the revised settlement was
introduced was Bahuri which was originally settled in 1850. In
anticipation of the close of the thirty years guarantee a re-survey was
begun in 1878. The re-classing was partly finished in the beginning
of 1880. During the thirty years of the original settlement the
total number of 125 villages^ 101 Government and twenty-four
alienated, had been reduced to 118, of which 110 were Government
and eight were alienated villages.^ In ninety-six Government villages,
two settled in 1848-49 and ninety-four settled in 1849-50, during the
thirty years of the survey settlement population had advanced from
28,244 to 39,202 or 38*8 per cent, flat-roofed and tiled houses from
3547 to 4974 or 40*2 per cent, field cattle from 8614 to 11,506 or
33*6 per cent, cows and buffaloes from 7299 to 11,398 or 56*2 per
cent, horses from 826 to 1197 or 44*9 per cent, ploughs from 1684 to
2505 or 48*8 per cent, carts from 1074 to 1632 or 62 per cent,
and wells from 857 to 1514 or 766 per cent. On the other
hand there was a fall from 28,695 to 19,904 or 30*6 per cent in
sheep and goats and from 927 to 854 or 7*9 per cent in thatched
houses.

In the ten years ending 1860, the average rupee prices of grain
were jvdri 51 shers, bdjri 44, wheat 33, and gram 34. In the ten
years ending 1870 the corresponding figures were jvdri 29 Aers,
bdjri 23, wheat 16, and gram 16. In the ten years ending 1880
the corresponding figures were jvdri 24, bdjri 21, wheat 14, and

1 In 1849-50 there were 101 Government and 24 alienated villages. Of the latter
17 Bubsoquently lapsed to Govemment. In 1861-62 twenty-three, 21 Goveminent
and two alienated villages, were transferred to Nagar Nevdsa and Kopargaon, and
sixteen, 13 Government and 3 alienated, were received from P&mer, Nevi^ Nagar,
and Sangamner. Thus the total number at the revision settlement (1880) wu US,
110 Government and eight alienated villages. Ck>lonel Langhton, Sorv. Snpt 145 ol
16th February 1880.

Deeeaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

541

gram 16.^ The following statement allows in the thirty years of
survey settlement a rise in the occupied area from 95,949 acres to
181,608 acres, a fall in arable waste from 97,985 acres to 2747
acres, a fall in remissions from £4005 to £71 (Rs. 40,050 - Rs. 710), and
a rise in collections from £6376 to £11,554 (Rs. 63,760 - R8.1,15,640).

The details are : BdhuH Land Revenue, 1839-1879.

TSAE.

Occupied.

Waste.

Remis-
sions.

Collec-
tions.

Out-
stand-
ings.

1889-1849 ...
1S49-1859 ...
1859-1869 ...
1869-1679 ...

Acres.
95,949
125,003
175,467
181,608

Acres.

97,985

58,760

9056

2747

Rs.

40,040

139

153

709

Rs.

63,758

78,031

1,11,091

1.15,637

Rs.

6196

i(m

8
14.606

For the revised settlement the ninety-six Government villages were
arranged in foar groups with highest dry-crop acre rates varying
from 3«. 6(2. to 2$. 9(2. (Rs.l|-l|). The first group consisted of
five villages and was charged a rate of 3^. 6c!. (Rs. 1 J) ; the second
of thirty-eight villages with a rate of Ss.Sd, (Rs. If); the third
of thirty-two villages with a rate of Ss. (Rs.li) ; and the fourth of
twenty-one villages with arate of 2«.9(2. (Rs.lf). Garden land increased
from 2463 acres in 1849-50 to 7363 acres in 1879-80. Of this only
ten acres were channel-watered and the rest were under wells. For
the channel- water a highest acre rate of IGs. (Rs. 8) was fixed, the
average acre rate amounting to Qs. 1^(2. (Rs. 3^^). Lands under old
wells were assessed within the highest dry-crop rate, and to those
under new wells the ordinary dry-crop rates were applied. The
following statement shows the general result of the imposition of
the revised rates of assessment in each group of villages :

Hdhuri Hevkion SetOemetU, 1880.

Class.

VlL-
L40BS.

FoembeSoevsy.

Rbvibiom Suetbt. 1

Occupied.

Oc^pied.

Waste.

Total.

Highest
Dry-crop
Acre Rate.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

II
m

To^ ...

6
88
82
21

Acres.
15,618
n,893
86,107
89,426

Rs.

9422
61,096
29,603
25,720

Acres*
16,710
83,801
86,883
41,248

Rs.

14,498
71,869
86,570
84,266

Acres.

• • ■

1149

202

1035

Rs.

• •a

400

410

Acres.
16,710
84,960
87,085
42,278

Rs.

14,498
71,778
86,664
84,676

Rs. a.
1 12
1 10

1 8
1 6

168,944

1,11,850

178,687

1,66,708

2886

018

180,973

1.67.616

The former survey assessment showed an average acre rate of
1«. 4(2. (lOf as.) while the revision survey average rate was Is. 9^d.
(14j^ as.), the increase being 5^(2. (3^ as.) the acre.

1 Survey Report 145 of 15th February 1880 para 28. The 1876-1879 priAs were:

Jidhuri Produce Supee Pricetf 1876-1879.

Ybae.

Jbdfi.

Btfjn.

Wheat

Oram.

Shen.

Skeri.

Shen.

1876-77

1877-78

10}

1878-79

7| 8

Chapter Vni.
The Land.

Beyision
Survey.

Rdhuri,
1880.

[Bombay Oaietteer*

Chapter VIIl.
The Land.

Revisiok
Survey,

Nagar^
1884.

542

DISTRICTS.

The revision assessment of the Nagar sub-division was completed
in 1884.^ When the survey settlement was introdaoed into the
sub-division in 1851-52, there were eighty-two Government and ten
partly and seventeen wholly alienated villages. After various transfers
lapses and alienations, in 1884 at the time of revision the sub-division
contained 118 villages of which ninety-nine were G-ovemment and
nineteen were alienated. The total area of 95 of the Govt, villages was
296^514 acres against 29&,731 under the former survey and the
number of arable acres was 235^822 against 227,385 under the
former survey. The means of communication had vastly improved
since the survey settlement was introduced. Formerly the only
made road was between Nagar and the foot of the Nimbdhera pass.
At the time of revision the chief made roads within the Nagar
sub-division were the road to Poena to the south-west, a road over
the Nimbdhera pass to Kolhdr and beyond, and a third over the
Im&mpur pass to Aurangabad. At the bottom of the Im&mpnr
pass a branch struck off at Khospuri in the direction of Shevgaon,
while in the opposite direction another branch had been lined out
to y&mbori, and thence to the railroad where was a station of the
oame name as the town. The last two roads led from Nagar to the
north. Another road, leaving Nagar on the east, went to Tisgaon
a large town in Shevgaon and then to Shevgaon itself. Two other
roads, leaving Nagar to the south-east and south, passed the one to
Sholdpur by Jdmkhed and the other to Dhond. Most of these roads
could be used at all times. A fair weather road leaving Nagar
went west by Jdmbgaon in the Pdmer sub-division to P&rner and a
continuation from near Jdmbgaon went by T&kli Dholkeshvar over
the Ana pass into the Junnar subdivision. Lastly the Dhond-Manmad
railway went right through the sub-division from south tonorth having
two stations within the sub-division, one at Yilad in the north and the
other at Nagar. A third station at Sarola was just over the south
border of the sub-division. During the thirty years ending 1881, the
rupee price of Indian millet rose at Nagar from 79 pounds during
the ten years ending 1861 to 44 pounds during the ten years ending
1881, that is a rise of 79'5 per cent; of hajri from 66 J pounds to
84i pounds or 92*8 per cent ; of wheat from 55 pounds to 25i
pounds or 115*7 per cent; and of gram from 53i pounds to
thirty-two pounds or 67*2 per cent. The details are :

Nagar Orain Bupee Prices, 1851 - 1883.

Tbas.

JvAfi,

BdjH.

Wheat

Gram.

Kardai.

Poonds.

Ponnda.

PonndB.

Poundi.

Poonds.

1861-1861 ...

664

ftH

66}

1861-1871 ...

ink

85*

26^

SO*

1871-1881 ...

84}

25i

8l{

1881-8i

«•■

1882-88

62^

27i

88i

• ••

1888 ... ...

•«•

From the statement it would seem that in spite of the &mine
years (1876-1878) the average prices in the ten years ending 1881

Colonel Laughton, Surv. Supt. 130 of 26t)i January 1884.

DeccanJ

AHMADNAGAR.

543

were almost lower than in the ten years ending 1871^ while in
1881 '82 more jvdri coald be obtained for the rupee in the Nagar
market than for twenty years before, although the total rainfall for
that year was less than in any year since 1876-77. The prices for
1883 were considerably higher and were not likely to fall.

During the twenty-two years ending 1883 the rainfall at Nagar
varied from 46*74 inches in 1869-70 to 8*99 inches in 1876 and
averaged 23*55 inches.^

In seventy-one villages people had multiplied from 40^149 in
1851 to 46,149 in 1883 or 14*9 per cent ; flat roofed and tiled
houses from 4441 to 5552 or 25 per cent ; thatched houses from
823 to 849 or 3-2 per cent ; farm cattle from 13,730 to 17,831 or 29*9
per cent ; cows and buffaloes from 16,307 to 17,006 or 4-3 per cent;
sheep and goats from 21,019 to 33,123 or 57*6 per cent; ploughs
from 1765 to 2576 or 45'9 per cent ; and carts from 908 to 1463 or
61*1 per cent. Horses and ponies showed a &U from 1081 to 909
or 15'9 per cent. In ninety-five villages wells rose during the same
period from 1534 to 1916 or 25 per cent. There had thus been
an increase under every head except horses. The greatest increase,
as might be expected from the improved state of road communication,
was in the item of carts. Even in villages settled in 1869-70 the
same increase obtained. The cultivated area being 224,703 acres,
it gave 20*4 acres to each pair of bullocks, not a large area
considering that the dry-crop soils were light and easily ploughed.
During the thirty years of the survey lease, in eighty-two villages a
comparison of the ten years ending 1861 and 1881, showed a rise in
the tillage area from about 150,000 acres to 177,000 acres and in
collections from £8250 to £9540 (Rs. 82,500 - Rs. 95,400). The

details are : Nagar TUiage and Revenue^ 1841- 1S8S.

Tbar.

1841-1861
1851*1861
1861-1871
1871-1881
1881-1883
1882-88

• ■ ■

• ••

Oocu- Unoooa-

OoUeo-

Bemie-

Out-

lUnd-

ings.

pled.

pied.

tiona.

sions.

Acres.

Re.

Rs.

92,827

68.668

86,089

26,144

17,812

149.768

88,667

82.611

20i6

176,048

8646

04,684

867

177,086

8116

96,874

219

4204

173,070 9414

93,662

• •■

641

172,973 9036 93,768

• •1

• «•

The wisdom of the low rates adopted at the survey settlement
wass fully shown by the great and steady increase in tillage and
revenue. The average revenue for the ten years ending 1880-81

1 The details are :

Nagwr BainfaU, 1868-1883,

TlAR.

1862-63
1863-64
1864-66
1866-66
1866-67
1867-68
1868-69
1860-70

Inches.

17-46
17-74
19-80
21-44
28-22
17-06
28*49
46-74

YbaB.

1870-71

1871-72

1872-73

1878

1874

1876

isn

Inches.

10-01
11-00
28-96
83-07
31-64
19-96
8-99
23-00

TiAB.

1878 ..

1870 ..

1880 ..

1881 ..

1882 ..

1883 ..

Average

• ••

Inches.

24-81
28*67
20-71
18-00
21-60
40-66

28-66

Chapter VIIL
The Land.

RXYLSION
SUSVKY,

Na^far,
1884.

(Bombay OaxeUeer,

544

DISTRICTS.

Cliapter_VIII.
The Land.

Reyision
' Survey.

1884.

was nearly eleven per cent more than that of the ten years before
the introduction of the survey. Average remissions fell from £2ol4
(Rs. 25,140) in the ten years ending 1851 to £203 (Rs. 2030) in
the ten years ending 1861, while in the ten years ending 1881 tbey
amounted to only £22 (Rs. 220). Outstanding balances almost
disappeared from the record until the famine caused large remissions
in the three years ending 1879. The sub-division had made great
progress during the survey settlement, and a moderate increase in the
existing rates was justifiable.

In 1883 ninety -five villages had 22,809 survey numbers. After
deducting waste numbers, about 76*9 per cent of the remainder
was tilled by the owners and about fifteen per cent in partnerBhip
with others ; about 5*7 per cent were sub-let on money rents and
0*9 per cent on grain rents.^ Of 486 cases of mortgage in the Nagar
sub-division, in eighty-seven cases was land mortgaged for twenty,
five to fifty times the survey assessment, in thirty-three cases for fifty
to one hundred times the assessment, in four cases for one hundred to
oue hundred and fifty times the assessment, and in five cases for one
hundred and fifty to two hundred times the survey assessment and
upwards. Of 342 cases of sales, in seventy cases land was sold for
twenty-five to fifty times the assessment, in forty-four cases for
fifty to one hundred times the assessment, in eleven cases for one
hundred to one hundred and fifty times ^he assessment, and in six
cases for one hundred and fifty to two hundred times the assessment
and upwards. In Nagar tillage was often somewhat slovenly,
aild frequently pieces of land were left untilled even in rich soil
for no apparent reason except possibly for grass. Manure was
used when available. But in the villages within easy reach of
Ahmadnagar, the landholders were more inclined to sell manure
for fuel than to put it on their land. Except in villages that lay
immediately round the city, much land was only manured at very
long intervals. The rotation of crops was much the same as
elsewhere. In black soil wheat or gram was usually followed the
next year by Jvdri, kardai being sown among both crops. In the
poorer soils bdjri was often sown year after year, but jvdri was also
alternated with it. In some of the poorest soils, where there was

1 The percentage of fields cultivated by those whose names were entered in the
village books was lar^e. This state of things would at first sight seem satisfactory ta
indicating that the landholders had largely retained their occupancy rights but
Mr. Stewart, the Survey Commissioner, thought that such an Inference would he
misleading. Notliing was more common than for the names of ruined landholders,
the mortgages on whose lands had been foreclosed, to be continued in the Govemment
books and themselves to be continued as rack-rented tenants of the land, until the real
owner chose to have the transfer of the occupancy recorded. There was no reason to
believe that in Nagar the transfer of the land to the capitalist was proceeding with
less mar](ed strides. One of the results of the Deccan Agriculturists Relief Act hud
been to induce the moneylending class to decline to aavanoe to cultivators on the
security of their land and to encourage its out-and-out transfer by deed of sale.
Statistics showed that while cases of mortgage of land had decreased from SSI in
1880-81 to 82 in 1882-83, in the same period the yearly number of sales had risen from
105 to 119. The area sold during the three years ending 1883 amounted to 4151!
acres and land was changing hands at a steady rate. Mr. Stewart had no doabt that
the land was transferred for the most part to capitalists, and that the sellers w«re
needy landholders who could not work the land at a profit. Mr. T. H. Stewart, C & »
Survey and Settlement Commissioner, 396 of 23rd February 1884 para 13.

Decoam]

AHMADNAGAR.

645

plenty of land, fellows of a year or two were sometimes given. In*
g^arden land a good deal oijvdri was grown as a moderate amount
of water and labour sufEced to turn out a good crop. Black soils
were ploughed in alternate years, but the poorer soils every season.
In the villages below the Imdmpur and Karanja passes^ cotton
cnltivation was increasing rapidly. The number of acres under
cotton in fourteen villages was forty-one in 1878-79, 1135
in 1881-82, and 2307 in 1882-83. The chief crops were jvdri and
hdjri, about eighty per cent of the whole ; the next were wheat,
kardai, tobacco, and cotton. Of superior garden produce, sugarcane
was grown throughout the sub-division. Very little rice was grown
and that poor rice.

The principal towns were Ahmadnagar, Bhing&r, Jeur,and VAlki. In
Vdlki the largest cattle market in the coUectorate was held. Ahmad-
nagar and Bhing^r had municipalities and had together more than
33,000 people. Ahmadnagar from its position was the principal seat
of trade in the district; most of the grain and other merchants
lived in it. Besides the ordinary town market, a market known as
the Stewart cotton market had been opened about 1879-80 and was
largely used for buying and selling cotton. Near the market three
or four steam presses belonging to various owners, Bombay firms
and others, had been set up for pressing the cotton bales before
despatching them by rail Of the weekly markets held at eight
villages, the estimated value of goods sold at Vdlki wsm £400 to
£500 (Rs. 4000-5000), at Ahmadnagar £35 to £40 (Rs. 350-400),
at Jeur Chichondi-Shiral and BhAtodi £20 (Rs. 200), at Bhing^r £10
to £20 (Rs. 100-200), atKaranji£10 (Rs.lOO), and at Chichondi-
PAtUchi £7 (Rs. 70). Besides these markets several outside the sub-
division were within easy reach of its villagers. Except Ahmadnagar
and Bhing&r no towns had manufactures of any consequence. In
Ahmadnagar city there were 1607 looms for robes, six for turbans,
and eight for blankets. In Bhing&r there were about 950 looms
for robes, eight for turbans, and twelve for blankets. Scattered
over the sub-division in various villages were aboat 160 looms.
In Ahmadnagar about thirty workshops turned out £4000 to £6000
(Rs. 40,000 - 60,000) worth of brass and copper ware in the year. Of
the 1 18 oil-presses worked in the sub-division, seventy-four were in
the city and forty-four in the villages. About 150 sugar mills were
workq^. The city had four presses or factories for cleaning and
« pressing cotton, two of stone and two of iron. Most of the cotton
came from the Nizdm's country but the local outturn was yearly
growing.^ The chief imports were cotton, ytxiri, wheat, gram, and

1 Dnring 1883, 35,560 bales were pressed in these factories and forwarded to the
Bombay market by rail, but none by road. A few native merchants still (1884} send
their cotton in dokrds cr nnpressed Dales. The average price of a pressed bale of
cotton was £8 (Rs. 80), which gives the value of cotton pressed during 1883 at nearly
£285,000 (Rs. 28} Idkhs), Each pressed bale weighed half a Bombay khandi or 14
mans of 28 pounds each. Cotton was sold in the Nagar market by the palla of 120
eherti or 132 8ker» wholesale measure, equal to about 265 pounds. An nnpressed
bundle or dokra weighed about half a palla. From November to the end of May was
the cotton season^ when almost all the cotton was brought into the market and
Dressed before despatch to Bombay. Colonel Laughton, Surv. Supt. 130 of 26th
Januaiy 1884 para 17.

B 772-69

Chapter VIII
The Land.

Rbvision

SURVIT.

NagaVt
1884.

546 DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIIL «oil-Beed8j most of which were brought to Ahmadnagar from the
The'Land Goddvari plain and the Nizam's country by the Imampar pasx.

The J&mkhed^ Shol^pur^ and M^legaon roads all helped in a smaller
S^wE^^ degree to swell the number of carts which during the season came

^ into the city daily. During February and March 1883, 14,559 carts

^^' and 6710 loaded pack animals passed into the city, lliis large

influx of animals created a brisk trade in grass and fodder all along
the high road and large quantities were also taken into the city
itself to meet the demand. All the cotton and much of the grain
brought into the city went by rail chiefly to Bombay. Other
exports were local brassware and cotton cloth. English cotton
goods and ironware were imported from Bombay and ssJt rice and
groceries from the Konkan and elsewhere ; some was used in the
city and the rest was sent into the surrounding districts, the outgoing
carts being glad to obtain return fare& Bhd.todi had a consider-
able trade in betel leaves, tobacco, earthnuts, and coarse sugar.
Cotton and sheep were bought for the Bombay and Poena markets,
and from the V &lki market cattle found their way all over thd
sub*diyision and even beyond it

Of the ninety-nine Government villages, the revision settlement
had been sanctioned for four villages by Government Besolntion
3545 of 21st June 1881. The remaining ninety-five villages wera
divided into three classes with highest diy-crop acre rates of 3«. 3d.,
3^., and 29. 9d (Bs. If, Bs. 1^, and Bs. If). The first class consisted
of sixteen villages, all within three miles of the dtv. Their near-
ness to the city and the facilities they enjoyed for disposing of
produce, both grain and fodder, made these villages capable of
standing the increase of assessment which amounted to 24*1 per
cent. The second group of fifty-one villages was assessed at s
highest dry-crop acre rate of 3«. (Bs.l^). The average pen^cntage
increase on this class was 12*5. In four villages in this class the
increase was over fifty per cent caused by land being found under
tillage which was formerly entered as unarable and not assessed.
The remaining twenty-eight villages were included in the third
class. On this group the increase amounted to 35*6 per ceut.
Five villages, in which the area under channel-water had increased
considerably, showed an increase over fifty per cent. The increase
on all the ninety-five villages according to the revised rates
amounted to 20*5 per cent. Land under old wells was assessed
within the highest dry-crop rate of the class within whicSi the^
villages were situated, while land under new wells bore the'
ordinary dry-crop classification rate, and thus improvements were
not taxed. A good deal of channel tillage occurred in forty*
nine villages under 230 fair weather dams.* Except in Pimpalgaon-
Malvi where the channel flowed till the first of April, on an average
the water lasted to the middle of January. The area watered
(1SS4) under fair weather works amounted to 3892 acres; land
under welis and water-lifts without the aid of channels ainonnccJ
to 8582 acres; the total area watered from all sources was 1S,474
acres. The villages where channel- water was most used lay round
the sources of the Sina river between the city and the hUla to the
north and north-east, and also near the hills to the east At the

Deccan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

547

village of PArgaon, a large reservoir known as the Bhatodi reservoir
commanded abont 13^000 acres in the villages of Sandva^
Bashmigavh^n^ Chichondi, Bh^todi^ Ukadgaon^ and M^ndva. For
channel-watered land, a highest acre rate of 16a. (Rs. 8) was
proposed. Irrespective of the rates levied by the Survey
Department, the scale fixed by the Irrigation Department for water
taken from the Bhdtodi reservoir was £1 4». (Rs.l2) for a twelve-
month water-supply, Ss. (Rs. 4) for two months from April to May,
68. (Rs. 3) for eight months from June to the end of January, 28. 6d.
(Rs.li) for four months from November to the end of February,
and 6 A (4 aa,) for four months from 15th June to 15th October.
By Government Resolution 2238 of 8th April 1876, an extra sum
of 3d, (2 as.) was added to the highest dry-crop acre rate of
Bhatodi on account of indirect advantages derived from the Pargaon
(fihdtodi) reservoir. This rate was retained. Rice cultivation
obtained only in three villages and its extent was thirteen acres.
The highest acre rate proposed for rice was Ss. (Rs. 4). The
average acre rate on the occupied land according to the proposed
rates was Is. 8^(2. (10^ as.) against Is. If (2. (9^ as.) according to
the existing rates. The following statement gives the results of
the revised assessment :

Nagar Revmon SeUlement, 1884.

CLAflflL

VlL-
LAOB.

FORMBl SiTBVBT-

Bbvuion Svrvry.

HroHSBT

Drt-

CROP
ACRK

Ratb.

Occupied.

Oocapied.

Unoooupied.

Total.

Area.

BeotoL

Ana.

Rental.

Area.

Rental.

Area.

Rental.

4 ••• 9m»

Totol ...

16
Kl

Aone.

80.185

109,77a

64,921

Rs.

13,799
86.093
82.022

Acres.

30,787

114,968

68,355

Rs.
17,127
74,871
48,418

Acres.

3843
7777

Bs.

1432
8030

Acres.

20.767
117,810

76.182

Rs.
17,137
76,808
46,448

Rs.

194.829

1,11.918

304,080

1.84.911

10.619

4463

214,699

1,39.378

• ••

The following statement ^ves the total area and assessment of
these villages under every head :

Niigar Area and Aasestmenty 1884*

Lakd.

FORMSB SURVST.

RivuioH SuRVir.

Qurr-
Rbmt.

Area.

Assess-

ment.

Area.

Assess-
ment.

OoTemment Occupied Land . . .
Government Arable Waste ...

Alienated

Government Unarable

Total ...

Acres.

194.829
10.403
22.164
69,846

Ra.
1.11,918
4,488
11,373

Acres.

304,080
10,619
20,638
61,192

Rs.
1,34.911
4462
12,853

• ••

Rs.

• ••

• ■ ■

4740

296.781

1,37.678

296,614

1.51.726

4740

SECTION IV.— SEASON EEPORTS.

The following is a summary of the chief available season details
for the thirty-three years ending 1882-63 :

The season of 1850-51 was on the whole favourable but bad
in Korti and Karda. In Sangamner^ Akola^ Bahuri^ and Pdtoda
the early harvest was fair^ but the cold weather crops suffered
much from the failure of the later rains. In P&toda and Bahiifi

Chapter TIIL
The Land.

Revision
Survey.

Nagar^
1884^

SieasokBeporxs.
186051.

[Bombay Oaatter.

548

DISTRICTS.

Chapter YIII.
The Land.

Skasok Reports.
1851-52.

1852-63.

1863-54,

1864-56.

the loss was considerable. Notwithstanding these failares the
state of the district was on the whole good. During the year
the collections amounted to £82,865 (Rs. 8,28,650) ; £13^212
(Rs. 1,82,120) were remitted and £2 (Rs. 20) left outstanding.

The rainfall of 1851-52 was very capricious. It was exceeaire in
the beginning of the season and scanty towards the close. The early
or tiisdr and the middle or kharif crops suffered from excess of rain
while the cold weather and other late crops withered from want of
moisture. Much land prepared for tillage was left unsown and in a
few parts where it was sown the seed did not sprout. In Karda
J&mkhed and Eorti the rainfall was very irregular. It began early
in June and at first fell moderately, but at the close of the month it
became incessant. In Eorti and in part of Earda there was s
partial failure in July and a total faolure in all the three sub-
divisions during the first fifteen days of August. This break was
followed by excessive rain which injured the early crop in J^mkhed
and Vasundra and put a stop to late sowing. This was followed by
another term of complete drought. In Earda and J&mkhed there
were some showers, but they were of no use though in Eorti the
November rains proved of some benefit. The general resalts of
the seasoh were far from satisfactory. The crops had suffered
considerably and much land was thrown up. Watered lands yielded
well. Public health was generally bad. Cholera, but not of a
specially &tal type, prevailed during the^ first three months in
Jamkhed, Earda, and Eotri. Cattle disease was also prevalent
The collections fell from £82,865 to £70,984 (Rs. 8,28,650 -
Rs. 7,09,840), £15,291 (Rs. 1,52,910) were remitted, and £15
(Rs. 150) were left outstanding. Indian nuUct or jvdH prices fell
from 62 to 78 pounds the rupee.

The season of 1852-53 was very favourable and public health
was generally good. The collections rose from £70,984 to £79,495
(Rs. 7,09,840- Rs. 7,94,950), £2091 (Rs. 20,910) were remitted and
£3 (Rs. 30) left outstanding. Indian millet prices fell from 78 to 79
pounds the rupee.

The rains of 1853-54 were very scanty. There was a
considerable fall in the land revenue especially in Pdtoda. Both
for the early and the late crops remissions had to be granted.
Rdihuri and Nev^sa also suffered but the failure was small compared
with Patoda. The collections fell from £79,495 to £?9,3o5
(Rs. 7,94,950 - Rs. 7,93,550), £10,470 (Rs. 1,04,700) were remitted,
and £6 (Rs. 60) left outstanding. Indian millet prices rose from 79
to 48 pounds the rupee.

The rains of .1854-55 did not set in till late in July and even then
the fKll was not sufficient. Bdjri failed or at best was below the
average. The latter rains were abundant. Towards the close of
August heavy showers began to &11 and continued with short
intermissions till the end of October. In November also the rain
was excessive. The millet suffered greatly and in places was
destroyed. On the other hand the October and November rain was
excellent for the late crops which yielded a full harvests The
collections rose fi-om £79,365 to £93,628 (Rs, 7,93,550- Rs. 9,36,280),

Deeoan.l

AHMADNAGAR.

549

£668 (Es. 6680) were remitted and £2 (Bb. 20) left outstanding.
Indian millet prices fell from 48 to 55 pounds the rupee.

The season of 1855-56 varied in different sub-divisions. In
mbst the crops were fair, but in the central tract enclosed by P&toda,
Nev&3a> Sinnar, Sangamuer^ and B&huri, the late rains entirely
failed and the crops came to nothing. Eight villages in P&toda
and Nev&sa and thirty in Sangamner and Bahnri were inspected
and remissions granted. The outturn of many other fields was
also much below the average; but the damage was not such
as to call for remission. For want of rain in the beginning of June
very little of the early or iusdr crop was sown, and the middle
or kharif sowing was only about a quarter of its full extent.
Late crops were sown in most of the land that was left fallow
but the crop was only partial. Grain was rather scarce as large
exports had been made to ShoUpor. Public health was generally
good. The collection rose from £93,628 to £100,057 (Rs. 9,36,280-
Rs. 10,00,570), £3765 (Rs. 37,650) were remitted and £45 (Rs. 450)
left outstanding. Indian millet prices rose from 55 to 51 pounds
the rupee.

1856-57 was an average season. In Shevgaon and J^mkhed the
rainfall was abundant and the crops excellent ; in Nagar, Akola,
Korti, P&toda, and Nevdsa the crops were on the whole good with
some partial failures, and in Karda, Sangamner, and R&huri the season
was bad. Both the early and the late crops failed almost entirely.
In Karda especially the loss was extensive and large remissions
were necessary. Public health was generally good. There was no
epidemic of any sort and no cattle disease. The collections rose
from £100,057 to £106,369 (Rs. 10,00,570 - Rs. 10,68,690), £1774
(Rs. 17,740) were remitted and nothing was left outstanding.
Indian millet prices fell from 51 to 59 pounds the rupee.

1857-58 was an average season. A long and threatening
drought in the middle of the rains was followed by an abundajit
and seasonable fall in the latter part of the season. Akola
Rahuri and Karda had the best harvests. In Nagar Korti and
Jdmkhed the season was on the whole fair though the middle or
kharif crops suffered for want of rain. In Nev&sa and Shevga on
the season was tolerably favourable. The rains set in late and
injured the early crops. The late rains were plentiful and
seasonable, and the late crops y^ere good. In Sangamner and
Rdhuri the middle or kharif sowing was late, but the rains were
abundant and the crops excellent. The late crops were also good.
In PStoda the season was fair. The crops suffered no injury and
the Government revenue remained unaffected. Throughout the
district public health was good. The collections ros^ from
£106,369 to £112,345 (Rs. 10,63,690- Rs. 11,23,450), £440 (Rs. 4400)
were remitted and nothing was left outstanding Indian millet
prices rose from 59 to 53 pounds the rupee.

1858-59 had an abundant and well timed rain&ll. In Nagar
and Karda the season was an ordinary one. Both the early and
the late crops suffered slightly from want of rain, but there was no
distress. The season was above the average in Nev^^> Shevgaon^

Chapter^VIIL

The Land-

SxAsoK Rkpokts.
1866-66.

1866-67.

1867-68.

1868-69^

[Bombay Ouettor

S50

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^VIII.

The Land.

Seasok Reports.
1868-69.

1869'€0,

1860-61.

1861-62.

1862-63.

1863-64.

1864-66,

and Pdtoda. In the first two sub-divisions the early rains were
somewhat scanty and the middle or kharif crops sofFered to some
extent. Bat the latter rains were abundant and the outturn of the
late crops was excellent. In P4toda the middle crop was good and
{he late crop a failure. In Korti and Jdmkhed the late raina failed
and the harvest was poor. Public health was generally good. The
collections rose from £112,345 to £113,622 (Rb.11^,4S0-
Bs. 11,36,220), £53 (Rs.530) were remitted and nothing was left
outstanding. Indian millet prices fell fi-om 53 to 66 pounds the rupee.

1859-60 was a favourable season. The tillage area rose from
2,191,106 to 22,45,909 acres and the collections rose from £113.622
to £114,465 (Rs. 11,36,220- Bs. 11,44,650), £38 (Rs. 880) were
remitted and nothing was left outstanding. Indian millet rupee
prices rose from 66 to 58 pounds.

1860-61 was a favourable season. The tillage area fell from
2,245,909 to 2,199,611 acres, the collections rose from £114,465 to
£115,143 (Rs. 11,44,650 -Rs. 11,51,430), £51 (Rs.510) were remitted
and nothing was left outstanding. Indian millet prices rose irotn
58 to 50 pounds the rupee.

1861-62 had a favourable rainfall and the crop3.were good. Public
health was generally good ; cattle disease prevailed to some extent
in a few places. The tillage area rose from 2,199,611 to 2,300,288
acres and the collections from £115,143 to £125,111 (Rs. 11,51,430-
Rs. 12,51,110), £399 (Rs. 3990) were remitted and £349 (Rs. 3490)
left outstanding. Indian millet prices rose from 50 to 29 pounds
the rupee.

1862-63 was an unfavourable season. The early rains failed,
and there was a great scarcity of water. The middle or kharif
crops suffered greatly from want of rain and yielded a scanty oat-
turn. Late in the season, in September and October, copious
showers fell. Every field that had been fallow was sown with
cold weather crops. Public health was generally good, but the
failure of the early rains was so complete that large numbers of
cattle died. The tillage area rose from 2,300,288 to 2,328,244 acre«
and the collections from £125,111 to £127,094 (Rs. 12,51,110-
Rs. 12,70,940), £294 (Rs. 2940) were remitted and £2 (Rs. 20) left
outstanding. Indian millet prices rose from 29 to 21 pounds the
rupee.

The rain&U of 1863-64 was scanty in the beginning and plesti-
ful and seasonable towards the close. In Karjat and Sirur both
the early and the late rains were short. Yet on the whole the
season was an average one with a moderate outturn of crops.
Public health was not good, cholera being prevalent. Cattle
disease^also prevailed, but the mortality was trifling. The tillage
area rose from 2,328,244 to 2,394,659 acres and the collectioiis
from £127,094 to £133,025 (Rs. 12,70,940 - Rs. 13,30,250), £781
(Rs. 7810) were remitted and £9 (Rs. 90) left outstanding. Indian
millet prices fell from 21 to 22 pounds the rupee.

In 1864-65 the early rainfall was excellent but the late bdl was
scanty and the late crops suffered, Still the yield of the seaaon both

Decoan.]

AHMADNAOAR.

551

early and late was ap to the average. Pablic health was good. The
tillage area rose from 2,394^659 to 2^443,624 acres and the col-
lections from £133,025 to £136,473 (Rs. 13,30,250- R8.13,64,730),
£558 (Rs. 5580) were remitted and £2 (Rs. 20) left outstanding.
Indian millet prices fell from 22 to 41 pounds the rupee.

In 1865-66 the rainfall though not seasonable was generally suffi-
cient. Both early and late harvests were fair. Except alight cholera
and cattle disease health was good. The tillage area rose from
2,443,624 to 2,494,443 acres and the collections from £136,473
to £146,311 (Rs. 13,64,730 -Rs. 14,63,110), £64 (Rs. 640) were
remitted, and £61 (Rs. 610) left outstanding. Indian millet prices
rose from 41 to 36 pounds the rupee.

In 1866-67 the rainfall was barely sufficient. The middle or
kharif crops were average in eight of the sub-divisions and in
the rest they were much below the average. Only in three sub-
divisions did the late crops prosper. In moat other sub-divisions
want of rain reduced the outturn to about one-half the usual produce.
Still enough of grain for home use was secured. The diief bad
effect of the want of rain was a great scarcity of drinking water.
Public health was generally good. The tillage area fell from
2,494,443 to 2,422,797 acres and the collections from £146,311
to £136,980 <Rs. 14,63,110- Rs. 13,69,800), £145 (Rs. 1450) were
remitted, and nothing was left outstandmg. Indian millet prices
rose from 36 to 25 pounds the rupee.

The season of 1867-68 was favourable everywhere except in S&var-
gaon where want of rain caused considerable loss. The tillage area
rose from 2,422,797 to 2,430,146 acres and the collections from
£136,980 to£138,429 (Rs. 13,69,800.Rs. 13,84,290), £111 (Rs. 1110)
were remitted and nothing was left outstanding. Indian millet
prices fell from 25 to 45 pounds the rupee.

In 1868-69 the rainfall was very irregular. In Jimkhed, Karjat,
Kopargaon, and Sangamner the kharif crops yielded an average
harvest. In other sub-divisions the early crops suffered much
from want of rain and in some they failed entirely. The almost
total failure of the October and November rains was fatal to the
late harvest. The failure of the late rain caused a widespread
scarcity of water. Cholera prevailed to some extent, but on the
whole the public health was good. He tillage area rose from
2,430,146 to 2,437,630 acres, the collections fell from £138,429 to
£134,131 (Rs. 1,384,290 - Rs. 13,41,310), £3980 (Rs. 39,800) were
remitted, and £152 (Rs. 1520) left outstanding. Indian millet
prices rose from 45 to 25 pounds the rupee.

The season of 1869-70 was favourable, both the early and the
late harvests being excellent. Public health was good and* cattle
were fairly free from disease. The tillage area rose from 2,437,630
to 2,448,585 acres and the collections from £134,131 to £136,331
(Rs. 13,41,310 - Rs. 13,63,310), £494 (Rs. 4940) were remitted and
£44 (Rs. 440) left outstanding. Indian millet prices fell from 25
to 30 pounds the rupee.

In 1870-71 the rainfall was rather excessive in the early part

Chapter Tin.

TheLaoid.
Sbaion Rbfobts.

1865-66,

2866-67.

1867-68,

1868-69.

186970.

1870-71.

[Bombay Oazatteer.

552

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII.
The Land.

8BA60N BkPORTB.

1870-71.

1871-7fi.

i87i67S.

1873-74*

1874-76.

of the season and injured the Jcharif crops. Later on it ^ras
more seasonable and gave hopes of an excellent late harve^
Public health was generally good. The tillage area rose from
2,448,585 to 2,467,638 acres and the collections from £136,331
to £137,599 (Rs. 13,63,810 -Rs. 13,75,990), £46 (Rs. 460) were
remitted and £16 (Rs. 160) left outstanding. Indian millet prices
fell from 30 to 45 pounds the rupee.

The season of 1871-72 was very unfavourable. The early rains
were scanty and uuseasonable, except in Pdmer and Akola khnrif
sowing was limited to a few fields. Some showers in September
tempted the sowing of late crops. But the rain was partial and in
tracts along the banks of the Qodivari it never fell. Even in the
most fortunate parts of the district the crop was not more than a
half crop. In parts where the rains failed watering did much to
save the harvest. The last year's plentiful rains had left the wells
and ponds full. The Ldkh canal and the Bh&todi lake were ot
special service. Still so great was the scarcity that many cattle
died from want of fodder or left the district in search of pasture.
Considerable numbers of husbandmen and labourers also left the
district in search of work and food. This was particularly the case in
Sangamner, Kopargaon, Nevdsa, and Shevgaon. Cholera prevailed
to some extent, but public health was on the whole good. The
tillage area fell from 2,467,638 to 2,467,545 acres and the coK
lections from £137,599 to £125,860 (Rs. 13,75,990- R8.12,58,600),
£4690 (Rs. 46,900) were remitted and £4983 (Rs. 49,830) left
outstanding. Indi€kn millet prices rose from 45 to 32 pounds the
rupee.

The early rains of 1872-73 were seasonable and favourable. More
land than usual was given to kharif and though heavy rain in
August and September caused some damage the harvest was on the
whole good. The late or rabi harvest was also above the average*
The supply of water during the season was abundant, and grass and
other fodder was plentiful. Public health was good though cholera
prevailed to a slight extent. There was no cattle disease. The tillage
area fell from 2,467,545 to 2,455,544 acres and the collections
rose from £125,860 to £135,356 (Rs. 12,58,600-Rs. 13,53,560), £209
(Rs.2090) were remitted and £296 (Rs.2960) left outstanding.
Indian millet prices fell from 32 to 41 pounds the rupee.

The season of 1873-74 was most favourable. The rains set in ,
well and the kharif crops were sown in good time, and though they
Buffered from a long stretch of dry weather in August, the harvest
was above the average. The late crops were also on the whole

food. Fodder was abundant and the water-supply sufficient
ublio» health was generally good. The tillage lEirea fell from
2,455,544 to 2,448,749 acres, and the collections from £135,350
to £134,039 (Rs. 13,53,560 - Rs. 13,40,390), £83 (Rs. 830) wert
remitted, and £302 (Rs. 3020) left outstanding. Indian millet prices
fell from 41 to 67 pounds the rupee.

In 1874-75 the rain&U was on the whole rather too hesTj.
The outturn of the early or tusdr harvest was on the wbola

Deceaa-l

AHMADNAGAR. 558

good, and the middle or kharif harvest though in places it suffered Chapter YIII*

from rain was at least average. The yield of the late or rabi crops The^iand.

was also fair. Daring the whole season the supply of water was

abundant. Public health was good, but cattle disease prevailed in Season Rkports.

some parts of Pdrner, Rahuri, and Kopargaon. The tillage area fell 1874-76.

from 2,448,749 to 2,432,354 acres and the collections from £134,039

to £132,738 (Rs. 13,40,390- Rs. 1,327,380), £117 (Rs. 1170) were

remitted and £7 (Rs. 70) left outstanding. Indian millet prices

fell from 67 to 81 pounds the rupee.

In 1875-76 the rainfall was at first scanty and then unseasonable. 1876-76,

In Nagar, Jdmkhed, Shevgaon, and Akola the early or tusdr harvest
ivas middling, and in Pd,rner, Shrigonda, Nevdsa, Karjat, and Kopar^
gaon it was an almost complete failure. The kharif sowings were
delayed from want of rain and the crops suffered seriously from
excessive rain at the close of the season. The late or rahi crop was
on the whole satisfactory. The water-supply was abundant. Public
health was not good. Cholera was prevalent and a form of cattle
disease called dendalia caused considerable loss in Parner^ Rdhuri,
and Akola, The tillage area fell from 2,432,354 to 2,418,593 acres
and the collections from £132,738 to £132,110 (Rs. 13,27,380 -
Es. 13,21,100), £1621 (Rs.16,210) were remitted and £244 (Rs.2440)
left outstanding. Indian millet prices rose from 81 to 66 pounds the
rupee.

In 1876-77 the rainfall was very scanty. The kharif crops failed 1876-77.

almost entirely in Karjat and Shrigonda, In Nagar, Pamer,
Jamkhed, Akola, Rahuri, Kopargaon, and Sangamner, the crops
were saved from destruction by occasional slight showers. In
Jdmkhed and Akola the outturn amounted to seven annas in the
rupee, in Kopargaon to six annas, in Nagar to five annas, in
Parner and Sangamner to three, and in Rahuri to two. Nevdsa and
Shevgaon alone enjoyed a fair harvest. The later rains failed
generally. Rabi crops were sown over a limited area^ but except in
Nevdsa and Shevgaon, their return was much below the average.
The scarcity of fodder was so great that cattle had to be sent
out of the district. The season was one of famine. Relief works
were opened in the worst sub-divisions and employment found for
large numbers of the destitute. Public health was good though
scattered cases of cholera occurred. The tillage area fell from
2,418,593 to 2,407,660 acres and the collections from £132,110
to £87,248 (Rs. 13,21,100-Rs. 8,72,480), £13,174 (Rs. 1,31,740) were
remitted and £35,126 (Rs. 3,51,260) left outstanding. Indian
millet prices rose from 66 to 34 pounds the rupee.

The rains of 1877-78 opened well. But the first fall was followed 1877-78.

by a break which lasted nearly to the close of August. Th^ early
crops suffered severely, and further damage was done by excessive
rain late in the season. The cold weather harvest was good. There
was much sickness and distress. Cholera, small-pox, and fever
prevailed, and were fatal in a large number of cases. Many of the
cattle that left the district in search of fodder never returned. The
tillage area fell from 2,407,660 to 2,401,589 acres, while the
collections rose from £87,248 to £98.841 (Rs. 8,72,480 - Rs. 9,88,410).

B 772-70

554

[Bombay

DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIII.
The Land

SsAsoN Rkfobts.
1878-79.

1879^0,

1880-81.

1881-82.

No remissions were granted, bnt £86,619 (Rs. 3,66,190) were left
outstanding. Indian millet prices rose from 34 to 19 poanda the
rupee.

The season of 1878-79 was moderate. Heavy and nnceamng rain
harmed the early crops and locusts added to the loss. The late cropi
suffered from want of late rain and from rats. Cholera and fev^r
were prevalent. The tillage area rose from 2,401,389 to 2,415,167
acres and the collections from £98,841 to £118,699 (Ba. 9,88,410-
Rs. 11,85,990); no remissions were granted, but £17,660 (Ra.
1,76,600) were left outstanding. Indian millet prices fell from 19
to 21 pounds the rupee.

The season of 1879-80 was on the whole favourable though botb
the early and late harvests were below the average. Fodder was
good and plentiful and except for stray cases of cholera and cattle
disease the year was healthy. The tillage area fell from 2,415,167
to 2,277,538 acres and the collections rose from £118,599 to £1 23,241
(Rs 11,85,990-Rs. 12,32,410), £9 (R8.90) were remitted and £7709
(Rs. 77,090) were left outstanding. Indian millet prices fell from
21 to 23 pounds the rupee.

In 1880*81 the season was not favourable. The rainfall was little
below and in some places it was above the average, but it was not
seasonable. The early crops were in places very poor ; the late crops
were better, but were not up to the average. Fodder was scarce, but
imports by the Dhond-Manmdd railway kept grain abundant. Prices
were very low, hajri and jvdri selling at less than half the price of
the previous year. Public health was good during almost the
whole year. Some cases of cholera occurred in September and
December, and a severe outbreak of that disease began in June.
The tillage area fell from 2,277,538 to 2,267,346 acres and the collec-
tions rose from £123,241 to £123,964 (Rs. 12,32,410 - Ra. 12,39,640) ;
no remissions were granted, but £12,651 (Rs. 1,26,510) left outstand-
ing. Indian millet prices fell from 23 to 41 pounds the rupee.

In 1881-82 the rainfall was unusually variable. In some sub-divi-
sions it was above the average and in some it was little below the
average, in others the deficiency was so serious as to cause distress.
The early harvest in Earjat, J&mkhed, and Shevgaon was from jlths
to ^ths, and the lute harvest in Karjat, Jdmkhed, Shevgaon, and
Shrigonda was from -^^^ths to ^^ths. In Ri.huri, Sangamner^ and
Kopargaon the early harvest was -^^ths to -^ths and the late i^tbs
to y^ths. In R^huri and Eopargaon few early crops were sown ;
in the greater part of Kopargaon there was no late harvest and in
the rest it was miserably poor. During the greater part of the year
grain was cheaper even than in the year before. A grant of £5000
(Rs. 5^,000) was made from Provincial Funds to provide employment
for all in need. A threatened water famine was avertea by the
sinking and repairing of wells, for which an allotment of £1500
(Rs. 15,000) was made. Cholera prevailed from time to time in all
the sub-divisions, and in some it was particularly deadly. In other
respects the year was healthy. The tillage area rose from 2,267,346
to 2^278,125 acres and the collections fell from £123,964 to £97|734

AHMADKAGAR.

555

(Ba. 12,39,640 -Ru. 9,77,340), £22.088 CR8.2,20,880) were remitted
and £18,110 (Ra. 1,81,100) left oatstanding. Indian millet prices fell
from 41 to 72 poncds the rapee.

la 1882-83 the rainfall was in some sub-dimions above and in
others below the average, bnt it was generally safficient and
seasonable. The early crops were neriously injnred by locusts in
four Bub-divisiona and to a less extent in two others. The late crops
were generally good, bat owing to fear of injury from locusts a
Binsller area than usnal was sown. Cholera prevailed thronghoat
tbe greater part of the year and in July was very deadly. There
was also an epidemic of small-pox in the town of Abmadnagar.
The tillage area rose from 2,278,125 to 2,300,556 acres and the
collections from £97,734. to £111,055 (R3.9,77,340- Rs.Il,10,B50),
£16,484 (Rs. 1,64,840) were remitted and £12,010 (Rs. 1,20,100) left
oatstanding. Indian millet prices rose from 72 to 56 pounds the
rnpee.

The following statement shows the tillage, revenue, and prices
daring ths thirty-three years ending 1882-83 :

Akmadnagar Tillage and Land Revenae, 18S0-188S.

LAitD KiTunnL

Turn.

TlUASB.

Bsmlt-

For

Ont-

«™Udb.

C0ll«t<-1.

Pb^uv.

Acni.

tta.

R*.

Ponndi.

SNi-n

i.M,no

8.38,688

ISAl-liS..

1,5J.(II»

jpOftwa

lit

w.sit

«•

1,01.701

Tlsa^Mo

fiB

8M-S6

».s(i;»»

S7,MS

10,01 ,os»

17.738

10.SS,«B8

987-M

iSM

u.et.uo

W5M9...

SpiBiiim

ii;9«:aa

e.iift,sM

11,41,MI

eM-«i

S.18I>,B11

ii.&i;«s

8M-M

tOM.iM

MSB

U,M.6M

Wi-U

iW9,Ml

1S,7UM1

IWM*

a.3M.SN

IslsftMT

i,Mfiu

UUi

13,a«,74R

t.MMt

ii,at.7tt

3ft

S«M7..,

E,«t9.797

is,^en6

i«a>-«

i^455i4a

1106

1934,288

1,«7,SW

N^aos

>9.49,B30

t,«49,.^S6

lifixna

441

«o

1970-71..,

»,*a7,s3S

•»

18.79. MB

*.«7,M*

W.8H

13.08.4M

«,SSS

i.itKbu

3087

IB.H.r^EJ

Eoei

I87S-W

J,4*a.7*fl

S83

u;«:4ii

j,<ai,BJi4

IIM

»,llS,iM

IBJIO

iiti.w

»,MT.8«

l,»l,7tl

i3,«.7sr

a,si,SBi

1877-7S

2,«0I,68»

3,«6,1B9

«,*1S,1«T

i3.'ta',N7

i,7B,«ia

isTww::: :::

i,ST7,BS8

■■'m

itoB.'Ss

'77;<»8

vua-tn

!.«7,a4e

ll,B0.1M

1,1S.514

2.J78.HB

i^fiM

11,M.4*»

i,8i.ioa

M»»«

»,»W),6»

1,M,S«

\%w,tx

1,TO,104

H»

OhaptwTIII.

The Land.
SiASON Repobts..

[Bombay OtBaMm*
556 DISTRICTS.

Chapter VIH. SECTION V.— ALIENATED VILLAGES.

The Land. The holders of alienated villages are Hindas and Masalmfins.^

Alienated ^^ ^^® Hindus some are Brdhmans and some are Mardth^ A few
Villages, proprietors live in and manage their villages ; others who are employed
1884, elsewhere or who are men of rank or of large estates manage their

villages through agents. The estates as a rule are kept in the hands
of ODO family. The land is never divided into shares ; where there are
sharers and under-sharers the revenue not the land is divided. If the
estate is a grant in indm for the maintenance of the family. Govern-
ment occasionally distribute the revenue among the recognised
sharers. Except villages which belong to persons of high rank as
Sindia and Holkar, estates are often mortgaged to creditors. Estates
to which the summary settlement has been applied have become
private property and are liable for sale under civil court decrees.
Villages to which the summary settlement has not been appb'ed may
also be sold under civil court decrees. What rights the purchaser
acquires under such sales depend on the tenure of the village. If as
is commonly the case the village is continued in ifidm only so long
as any male descendant of a particular person remains, if the
family dies out, the purchaser at the civil court sale will have to
give up the village to Grovernment. In few cases are estate or
jdgir lands privately sold. The people and the tillage in neighbour-
ing alienated and Government villages show no notable difference.
Holders in alienated villages never have the help of advances or
tagdi ; on the other hand they are allowed much more freedom and
much greater delay in paying their rents than in Government
villages. Most landholders in unsurveyed alienated villages are
mirdaddrs and pay a fixed rent, the rest are yearly tenants or upm^
The mirdsddra' payments are generally made subject to a yearly
pdhani or inspection, when remissions are allowed if the crops are
poor. Kadim or old indmddrs, that is alienees of land revenue whose
grants or indms are of older date than the grant of the proprietor
or indmddr of the village, pay the Government their original jtidi
or quit-rent. The tenants pay their rents in cash and never in
grain. In alienated villages not under the survey settlement the
rates vary, but one rupee or two shillings the higha or about three-
quarters of an acre, is an ordinary rate for dry crop and 8s. or 10^.
(Rs. 4 or 6) for garden land. Where the survey has not been
introduced, other modes of assessment in use in alienated village are
tahhub or standing over, that is withholding the levy of the full '
assessment so long as the land continues in the occupancy of ft
certain tenant ; istdva that is a growing assessment after a specified
period ; and thoka or lump, a reutal levied on a field irrespective of
its are^ Istdva and thoka are uncommon. The usual dry crop acre
rate of about 2«. 8d. (Be. 1 a bigha) is apparently higher than the
Government rate, but concessions probably reduce it to about the
same. No arrangements are made to meet the case of a tenant
improving his field, digging a well in it, or turning it from dry crop
to rice land. In most cases if a tenant permanently improves the

1 Mr. ElphinstoD, Collector, 332 of 16th January 1884.

Deccan.]

AHMADNAQAR. 557

land by sinking a well custom prevents the alienee from taking Chapter VHX

advantage of the improvement to raise the tenant^s rent. The alienee The"Land-

generallj sets aside rent-free land for the grazing of the village

cattle. The tenants at least the hereditary tenants or mirdsddra vSl4ot!&

are the permanent occapants of the land^ and so long as they pay the i884.

rent they are its virtual owners. They may cut timber on their land

without asking the landlord's leave. If an alienee^ not invested with

special powers for recovering rent under the Revenue Code, applies to

the Collector for help to recover his dues^ a notice is served and the

amounts due are recovered by the distress and sale of the defaulter's

movable property. Assistance is given in accordance with the survey

rates where these rates have been introduced^ or where the survey

settlement is not in force^ in accordance with the rates prevailing

in neighbouring Government villages. The number of applications

for aid against defaulting tenants is not larg&

[Bombay

Chapter IZ.
Justice.

1818-1869.

Civil Con&TS.
1870-1884.

CHAPTEE IX,

JUSTICE.

^ Fob ten years (1818-1827) after the British conquest, to prevent
sudden and extensive chaoges, Ahmadnagar with the rest o£ the
Deccan was administered under the orders of the Governor in
Council.* A Collector and Political Agent under the orders of the
Commissioner at Poena was appointed to Ahmadnagar, which then
includedthesouthernhalf of Ndsik. The authority of the Collector and
Political Agent closely resembled that of the Peshwa's sarsubhe-
dd/rs. His instructions were scrupulously to keep to old usages and
customs, and to attempt no changes except such as were clearly
beneficial to the people and Goyernment. In 1823 2kmuii8if8 court was
opened at each of the towns of Ahmadnagar^ ChiLndor, Jamkhed*
Aarda^ Ndsik, Neydsa^ Pdtoda, Rdhuri, Sangamner, and Sinnar. In
1827 when most of the ceded Deccan districts were brought under
the Revised Regulations^ Ahmadnagar became the seat of a District
Judge's court with jurisdiction extending over Ahmadnagar which
then included the southern half, and over Khdndesh which included
the northern half, of Ndsik. In 1 827, in addition to the ten existing
munaif conrts, one more mun^ court was opened at Eorti. In 1849
when Kh&ndesh was separated from the Ahmadnagar Judge^s
jurisdiction, there were, besides the principal sadar amin'i court at
Ahmadnagar and the aadar amins' courts at Karda and N^ik, ten
munsif courts ; one of these was placed in each of the towns of
Ahmadnagar, Ch^ndor, J&mkhed, N&sik, Nev&sa, Pdtoda, Rahita,
R&huri, Sangamner, and Sinnar. In July 1869 K4sik was made
a separate district and separated from the Ahmadnagar Judge's
jurisdiction.

In 1870 the number of courts in Ahmadnagar was six, aofil the
number of suits disposed of was 10,185. In 1875 the number of conrts *
remained unchanged and the number of suits disposed of was 9640.
In 1880 the number of courts was twelve, and the number of suits
disposed of was 4248. At present (1884) the district is provided with
a District Judge and nine sub-judges. Of the nine sub- judges, the
first class sub- judge of Ahmadnagar, besides special jurisdiction above
£500 (R8.5000) over the whole district has ordinary jurisdiction

^ Details of the administration of jostioe nnder the ICnaahnins and the Mfi*f*^^ *<«
given in the Kteik and Poona Statistical Aocoimts.
9 R^goiation XXIX. of 1827, Preamble.

Deeeaa^l

AHMADNAQAR

559

over theNagar snb-diyision ; the second class sub-judge of Sangamuer
has charge over the Sangamuer sub-division ; the second class sub-
judge of Nev&sa has charge over the Nev^a sub-division ; the second
class sub-judge of Kdhuri and P^mer has charge over the Rdhuri
and P&mer sub-dinsions having a court at Rdhuri and another at
Paruer ; the second class sub-judge of Shrigonda has charge over the
Shrigonda sub-division; the second class sub- judge of Kada and
Karjat has charge over the Jdmkhed and Karjat sub-divisions having
a court at Kada and another at Karjat ; the second class sub-judge
of Shevgaon has charge over the Shevgaon sub-division ; the second
class sub-judge of Kopargaon has charge over the Kopargaon
sub-division ; and the second class sub*judge of Akola has charge over
the Akola sub-division.

The average distance of the Ahmadnagar court from its furthest
six villages is nineteen miles ; of the Sangamuer court twenty miles ;
of the Nev^sa court sixteen miles ; of the Rdhuri court fourteen
miles ; of the Pdrner court eighteen miles ; of the Shrigonda court
seventeen miles ; of the Kada court thirty-six miles ; of the Karjat
court seventeen miles ; of the Shevgaon court eighteen miles ; of the
Kopargaon court sixteen miles ; and of the Akola court eighteen
miles.

During the thirteen years ending 1882 the average number of
«uits decided was 7826. In 1870 the total was 10,185. During
the three years ending 1873, the total rose from 8739 in 1871 to
10,903 in 1873. For the next four years the returns show a
oontinuous fall from 10,903. in 1873 to 6710 in 1877. During the
next two years the total rose to 7041 in 1878 and 8420 in 1879. In
1880 the total suddenly fell from 8420 to 4248 or a decrease of
nearly fifty per cent ; in 1881 there was a further fall to 4144. In
1882 the total was 4997. Of the total number of cases decided, fifty-
three per cent have on an avarage been given against the defendant
in his absence, the lowest being 7*68 in 1882 and the highest 7301
in 1872. Except in 1878, when there was a slight fall to 57*25,
the percentage of cases decided in this way was above the average
percentage in the ten years ending 1 879 and below in the remaining

three years : Ahmadnagar Exparte Decrees, 1870 - 188£.

Teas.

Suite.

Deci-
sions.

Percen-
tage.

Ybar.

Suits.

Deci-
sions.

Percen-
tage.

1870
1871
1872
1878
1874
1875
1876
1877

■ ■ ■

•
• •

10,185
8789
9006
10,908
10,056
9640
8647
5710

7188
6298
6677
7494
6784
6094
6633
8565

7008
720;
7801
63 -78
87-46
63-21
68-96
62*48

1878 ...
1670 ...
1880 ...
1861 ...
1882 ...

Total ...

7041
8420
4246
4144
4997

4031

5006

865

447

888

57-25
59-47
20-86
10*54
7-68

101,788

60,312

58-65

Of contested cases daring this period of thirteen years an average
of 17*25 percent have been decided for the defendant, the percentage
varying from 22*16 in 1877 to 13-94 in 1873. In 233 or 4-66 per
cent of the snits decided in 1882 the decree was executed by putting
the plaintiff in possession of the immovable property daimea

Chapter IX^
Justiee.

Civil Courts*
1870-1884^

Civil SuirSr
1870-1889.

[Bomliay Oaiettecr.

660

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IZ.
Justice.

Civil Suns,
1870 'ISSS.

Except in 1873 when it was 561 the number of this class of cases
varied from 132 out of 4248 in 1880 to 233 out of 4997 in 1882.
In 923 or 18*47 per cent of the 1882 decisionsi decrees for money
due were executed by the attachment or sale of property. Of
these 652 or 13'05 per cent were executed by the sale of immovable
property and 271 or 5*42 per cent by the sale of movable property.
The number of attachments or sales of immovable property varied
from 4858 in 1873 to 467 in 1881 and of movable property from
1978 in 1874 to 233 in 1881. During the thirteen years ending 1882
the number of decrees executed by the arrest of debtors varied
from 325 in 1871 to thirty-five in 1877. Except in 1871 and 1876
when there was a slight increase, during the eight years ending
1877 the numbers gradually fell from 325 in 1871 to thirty-five in
1877. During the remaining five years, the number rose from
thirty-five in 1877 to 216 in 1878, fell to thirty-six in 1880, and
again rose to 153 in 1882. The following table shows that daring
the same thirteen years (1870-1882) the number of civil prisoners
varied from 102 in 1870 to fifteen in 1880 and 1881 :

Ahmadnagar CivU Priaoner8, 1870-1882,

TiAE.

•

PRtflOH-
SBB.

Datb.

RiLIASB.

latisfy-
in^the
Decree.

At Cre-
ditor's
Reqaeet

No Sab-

sistenoe

AUow-

anca.

Disclo-
sareof
Pro-
perty.

Time
fixpiry.

1870

102

1871

••«

1872

*«•

1878

• ••

1874

1876

«*•

• ••

1876

1877

■ ••

1878

1879

1880

• ••

1881

• ••

1882

The following statement shows in tabular form the working of the
district civil courts during the thirteen years ending 1882 :

Ahmadnagar Civil Courts, 1870-1882.

YlAR.

SUITB.

Atraob

Valub.

Uhooktbbtkd.

Decreed
Bxparte.

Dinnissed
Exparte.

Decreed

on Con-

fesaion.

Otherwit

disposed

of.

•
Total.

1870

1871

Itt2

1878

1874

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880

1881

1882 ... ».

10,186
8739
9008
10,908
10,086
9640
8647
6710
7041
8420
4248
4144
4997

£. f.
7 18

7 16

8 11
8 0

6 7

7 2

7 4
17 11
13 15

8 16

9 16
11 17

9 9

7183

6298

6677

7494

6784

6094

5533

8665

4031

6008

866

447

888

11
6

IS
251
861
207
162
117
110
189
188

810
268
406
607
653
678
708
419
738
922
872
1010
1028

1466
1079

941
1167

9»0
1363
1084

688

980
1043
1235
1196
163S

8009

7646
7987
9619
8618
8232
74S7
4784
6889

8106
979B
8107

DeccaiL ]

AHMADNAGAR

Ahmadmgar Civil Courts, l^O-i^^i?— oontinned.

561

TlAB.

GOffTBRKO.

Boounoii.

Plain-
tiff.

Defen-
dant.

Mixed.

TotaL

1870

*••

■ •«

1084

188

1871

••»

«••

864

816

1878

••»

■«•

818

188

1878

• ••

•••

1180

198

18T4

»«•

1070

209

1876

• ■•

• •»

678

909

1876

• ••

786

888

1877

■ •«

■••

668

906

1878

*•■

• ■•

746

880

187B

f««

• ■>

747

916

1680

• •«

•••

666

906

1881

• ■■

• ••

681

894

1888

«••

■••

966

806

80
84
66
61
189
961
181
168
816
996
878
440
680

1876
1094
1071
1884
1418
1406
1810
926
1189
1868
1148
1846
1890

Armt.

996

896

817

998

116

916
66
86

108

168

Putin

Poaeee-

don.

I Attaehment
or Sale.

able.

Mova-
ble.

168

176

196

661

170

188

906

166

198

186

199

168

988

9997

9601

4658

4894

4279

4006

1181

886

1499

849

467

669

918
941

1888

1978

1681

1471

688

961

1619

1814

888

871

In Alimadnagar, besides the ordinary registration, there is a
special branch of registration called Village Registration, which
works under the Deccan Agricoltnrists' Relief A.ct. The work of
ordioary registration employs eleven sub-registrars all of them
special or full-time officers. One of these sub-registrars is stationed
at each of the sub-divisional head-qnarters. In addition to super-
vision by the Collector as District Registrar, a special scrutiny
under the control of the Inspector General of Registration and
Stamps is carried on by the Divisional Inspector. According to the
registration report for 1882-83 the gross registration receipts for
that year amounted to £354 (Rs. 8540) and the charges to £472
(Rs. 4720), thus showing a deficit of £118 (Rs. 1180). Of 1464, the
total number of registrations, 1841 related to immovable property,
nineiy-niim to movable property, and twenty-four were wills. Of
1341 docoments relating to immovable property, 393 were mortgage
deeds, 754 deeds of sale, 135 leases, and fifty-nine miscellaneous
deeds. Including £37,343 (Rs. 3,73,430) the value of immovable
property transferred, the total value of property afiEected by
registration amounted to £40,052 (Rs. 4,00,520). Village
Registration under the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act employs
forty-nine village registrars, all of whom are special or full-time
officers. Besides the forty-nine village registrars, every sub-registrar
is also a village registrar within the limits of his charge,
and is responsible for the issue of registration books to village
registrars and for the monthly accounts of the village offices.
Onder the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act a special officer for
the district called Inspector of Village Registry Offices is appointed
to examine the village registry offices. In addition to supervision
by the Collector as District Registrar, a special scrutiny under
the control of the Inspector General of Registration and Stamps
is carried on by the Divisional Inspector. According to the
registration report for 1882-83 the gross registration receipts jinder
the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act for that year amounted to
£594 (Rs.5940)and the charges to £1074 (Rs. 10,740),thus showing a
deficit of £480 (Rs. 4800) . Of 20,324, the total number of registra-

B 772 - 71

Chapter IX.

Justice.
Ctvil Suits. '

RSOISCBAXION.

IBombftj Gmtettev

562

DISTRICTS.

Chapler IX.

Jvfltioe.
Rkocstkation.

Arbitration

COUKT.

MAoisTBAcnr.

tions 8294 related to immoyable property and 12,030 to moTabU
property. Of 8294 documents relating to immovable property 2219
were mortgage deeds, 1165 deeds of sale, twenty-five dee<h
of gift, 4555 leases, and 330 miscellaneoas deeds. Incloding
£63,400 (Rs. 6,34,000) the value of immovable property
transferred, the total value of property affected by registration
amounted to £130,090 (Els. 13,00,900). The introduction of
village registration into the district has prejudiciallv affected the
operations of ordinary registration. Compared with the registration
figures of 1878-79 those of 1882-83 show a reduction of 2265 or
nearly sixty-one pw cent in the number of registrations, of £471
(Rs.4710) or fifty-seven per cent in fees, and of £62,073 (Rs. 6,20,730)
or nearly sixtj-eight per cent in the value of property affected.

During the calendar year 1883, sixty village registrars appointed
under the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act oi 1879 registered
12,120 documents ; seventy-six conciliators disposed of 11,232 appli-
cations and under sections 44 and 45 of the Act forwarded 1630
agreements to courts; twenty-nine village munsifs decided 563
cases ; and under chapter II of the Act nine sub-judges decided
3440 cases.

The Ahmadnagar Arbitration Court was established on the 1 3th
of Jone 1876 at the suggestion of a Poona pleader and was called
the Ahmadnagar Panchayat or Ahmadnagar Court of Juries. The
institution was managed by a body of five members and had
an establishment of six men on a monthly pay of £3 14^. (R& 37).
The arbitrators received no pay, but to meet the expenses one
per cent fee was levied on all claims and a service fee of 1 ^c2. to 4*.
(Rs. iV " 2) ^M charged. The fee was subject to increase in propor-
tion to the number of plaintiffs and defendants. An additional
fee of lid. (la.) for every two miles was charged when the
processes were to be served outside the town. Subsistence
allowance to witnesses was charged at rates fixed by Government.
Arbitrators served in turns each for two days ; at the end of their
term if any case was unfinished the arbitrators were obliged to
remain in office until it had been decided. The court worked about
eighteen months ending November 1877, during which time 176 suits
were disposed of by thirty arbitrators. In. certain cases the late
judge of the Small Cause Court took objections to the filing of awards,
and examined arbitrators as witnesses ; arbitrators and townssien
soon ceased to take interest; the 1876-77 famine prevented people
from filing suits ; and thus the court was closed. In 1879 Sir William
Wedderbum, the then District Judge, tried to revive the court,
but the attempt failed, probably owing to the death of its organiser
and to ^e want of interest shown by the people.

At present (1884) twenty-seven officers share the adxninistra-
tion of criminal justice. Of these, eight, including the District
Magistrate, are magistrates of the first class and nineteen are
magistrates of the second and third classes. Of the magistnatas
of the first class three are covenanted European civilians, two
are European uncovenanted civil officers namely the huzur deputy
collector and the cantonment magistrate, and three are Natives.

Deocaa.]

AHMADNAQAR.

563

of whom one is a district deputy collector and two are m&mlat-
ddra exercising first class powers. The District Magistrate has a
ffeneral supervision over the whole district. In 1883 the District
Magistrate decided fifteen original and twenty-seven appeal cases
and the seven first class magistrates decided 909 original casds.
'three of the first class magistrates invested with appellate powers
decided eleven appeals against the decisions of the second and third
class magistrates in their revenue charges. The huzur deputy
collector has magisterial charge of the town of Ahmadnagar and the
cantonment magistrate of the cantonment. Except the two mdmlat-
d^rs exercising first class powers the remaining first class magis-
trates exercise magisterial powers over their revenue charges. This
gives them each an average area of 1962 square miles containing about
22S,di2 people. Of magistrates of the second and third classes
there are nineteen, all of them natives of India. Of these one is a
member of the native civil service exercising second classpowers over
an area of 779 square miles and about 73^701 people. The average
charge of the remaining eighteen second and third class magistrates
was 327 square miles with a population of 34,195. In 1883 these
magistrates decided 1333 original cases. Besides their magisterial
duties these officers exercise revenue powers as m^mlatddrs, mahdl-
karis» or head clerks of m&mlatddrs. Besides these magistrates^
1377 village headmen were entrusted with petty magisterial powers
under section 14 of the Bombay Village Police Act VIII of 1867.
Of the whole number eight hold commissions under section 1& of
ibe Act.

The revenue headman or pdtil as a rule performs the duties of a
police headman and is assisted by one to twenty-four jdglyda: or
watchmen. The pdtil or headman^ as a rule, is a Kunhi and his
office is hereditary. -Patila are under the direct orders of the
District Magistrate, and their nomination and dismissal rest with
the Commissioner of the division. The jdglyda or watchmen are
generally Bhils^ Mdngs, and B&moshis, and a few are Mh^rs and
Musalmans. They are paid either in cash or land^ and their
number varies with the population and traffic of the place. At
Kharda, through which a large quantity of goods passes from
British territories into the Nizdm's country, the number of jdglyda
or watchmen is twenty-four. The system of patrol by the district
police is carried on in the regular way^ each post having its
appointed area which is patrolled by the officers and men in charge
' of the post

The chief local obstacles to the discovery of crime and the con-
viction of offenders are the neighbourhood of the Niz&m^s country
to the whole of the east side of the district, the wild hilly and thinly
populated parts of the Pdmer and R&huri ^ub-divisions,, and the
Akola and Sangamner forest and hilly tracts. Up to 1875 the few
agrarian offences consisted merely of attempts by entry on, and
cnltivation of, lands in dispute to assert ownership. But the cultiva-
tors then began to be hardpreesed for the payment of debts by the
moneylenders and in desperation they rose against them and
committed many outrages. The first outbreak was at E.olgaon in

Chapter IX.
Justice.

Magistracy.

ViLLAOB
POUOK

Crims.

[Bombaj OaMtietc.

564

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IZ.
Justice.

Obiminal
Classib.

POUCB.

288g.

Shrigonda, where the villagers assembled before the village M&roii^
and swore before the god that they would force the Mirw^ sod
G-ujardti xnoneyleuders to give up their bonds and leave their village
and to cease from doiug any work for them. Barbers were inter-
dicted from shaving them^ washermen from washing their clothes,
and Brdhmans from writing petitions for them* The villagers then
went to the moneylenders' houses, forced them by threats to give their
bonds, tore the bonds, and dispersed. Similar riots took place in ten
other villages of Shrigonda, six of P^mer, four of Nagar, and one of
Karjat, and besides actual rioting there were numerous gatherings
at which actual violence was prevented only by the timely arrival of
the police or military. Gang robberies are rara

Many Bhils and Vanjdris, including Lam&ns who are more or
less given to thieving, live in wild and thinly peopled parts of the
district In Akola, Eolis are found in great numbers, and in the
western sub-divisions the number of lUlmoshis is so great that
there is hardly a village which does not contain some of them.
Besides the resident criminal tribes of the district, there are several
wild wandering tribes who halt in the district for short periods.

In 1882 the total strength of the district or regular police
force was 622. Of these, under the District Superintendent,
two were superior subordinate officers, 106 inferior subordinate
officers, and twenty-siz mounted and 487 foot oonstablea The
cost of maintaining this force was for the Superintendent a total
yearly salary of £858 (Bs. 8580) ; for the subordinate officers on
yearly salaries of not less than £120 (Bs. 1200), and the inferior
subordinate officers on yearly salaries of less than £120 (Rs. 1200), a
total yearly cost of £3316 (Bs. 83,160) ; and for the foot and mounted
constables a cost of £5608 (Rs. 56,080). Besides their pay a total
sum of £240 (Rs. 2400) was yearly allowed for the horse and
travelling allowances of the Superintendent ; £462 (R8.4620) for the
pay and travelling allowances of his establishment; £192 (Ral920)
for the hoi*se and travelling allowances of subordinate officers ; and
£989 (Rs. 9890) a year for contingencies and petty charges. Thus
the total yearly cost of maintaining the police force amounted to
£11,666 (Rs. 1,16,660). Of these £11,464 (Rs.1,14,640) were paid
from provincial funds and £202 (Rs. 2020) from other sources. On
an area of 6666 square miles and a population of 761,228 these
figures give one constable for every 1072 square miles and
1207*76 people and a cost of £1 14a. (Ks. 17) to the square mi)e, or
nearly 4a. (2f as.) to eachhead of the population. Of the total strength .
of 622, exclusive of the Superintendent, three officers and seventeen
men were, in 1882, employed as guards at district, central, or subsi-
diary jails ; thirteen officers and seventy-eight men were engaged
as guards over treasuries and lock-ups, or as escorts to prisoners
and treasure ; and seventy -nine officers and 337 men were employed
in the district on other duties and ninety-four men were stationed
in towns, municipalities, and cantonments. Of the whole nuuiber
exclusive of the Soperintendent, 235 were provided with fire«anns,
sixty-two with swords or with swords and batons, and 324 were
provided with batons only ; 268, of whom sixty ^three were officers
and 205 men, could read and write.

Seoeaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

565

Except the Saperintendent who was a Earopeon and two officers
one a European and the other a Eurasian, the members of the police
force were all natives of India. Of these thirty officers and 186 men
were Muhammadans^ nine officers and fourteen men Brahmans^
eeven officers and fifty-one men Rajputs, three officers and eight men
R&moshisy and fifty-six officers and 253 men Hindus of other castes.
One was a P&rsi, and one a Christian.

The returns of ofFences for the nine years ending 1 882 show a total
of 118 murders^ twenty-eight culpable homicides^ 1 15 cases of grievous
hurt, 306 gang and other robberies, and 33^494 other offences. During
these nine years the total number of offences gave a yearly average
of 3785 or one offence for every 198 of the population. The num-.
ber of murders varied from five in 1874 to nineteen in 1879 and
averaged thirteen ; culpable homicides varied from one in 1874|
1875^ 1876, and 1881 to eight in 1879 and averaged three; cases of
grievous hurt varied from five in 1877 and 1878 to twenty-six in
1882 and averaged thirteen; gang and other robberies varied from
thirteen in 1875 to sixty in 1877 and averaged thirty-four; and
other offences varied from 2647 in 1876 to 4756 in 1879 and
averaged 3722 or 98*33 per cent of the whole. Of the whole num-
ber of persons arrested the convictions varied from thirty-four per
cent in 1874 to sixty-nine per cent in 1878 and averaged fifty per cent.
The percentage of stolen property recovered varied from twenty-
seven in 1879 and 1881 to sixty-seven in 1876. The details are :

Ahmadnoffor Crime and PoUee^ 1874-1889.

Chapter IZ.
Justice.

TlAl.

OFFBRon hJKD CoHVionom.

Murder and Attempts to Mmder.

•

Culpable Homidde.

Orierons Hurt.

Ouei.

Arreiia.

Convio-
tiona.

Percent^
age.

OMea.

Amata^

OodyIo-
tiona.

Peneni-
age.

OiiaciD.

Arreata.

1874

«••

• ••

1875

•••

• •■

• ••

)67tf

•••

• ••

1877

••»

7 *

• ••

■••

1878

«■•

1870

••t

1880

•»•

•••

1881

••t

• ••

•••

1882
TOtel

••>

100

118

144

116

164

Tbar.

OvniRna axd OoKYicnoRS—oontlnued. 1

Gitovoua Hurt.

Daooltlas and Bobberiea.

Other Offencea.

Oonvic-
tlona.

Percent-
age.

Oaaea.

AiiQota.

Oonrio-
tlona.

Peroent-
age.

Oaaea.

Arreata.

OOUTlO-

tiona.

Percent"
age.

1874

107

8711

7021

2880

1876

8161

6164

2006

1876

189

2647

4206

2020'

1877

100

890

188

8880

6666

4268

1878

104

4649

6899

4466

1879

148

4766

6861

8878

1880

8966

6823

2836

1881

8080

8611

1488

1882
Total ...

8684

4634

1778

806

Ufi6

414

88,494

49.678

25,200

Offbnobs.

1874-1889.

[Bombaj GhMllsti.

566

DISTRICTS.

Chapter IZ.
Justice.

OVFBNCBS.

1874-1882.

Ahmadnagar Crime and PoUee, /^4-l£ft8_ooiitiiiaed.

Jails.

Tub.

Opfmom AMD OoHvionom— «(mtinaed.

TMaL

Property.

Oaaea.

AmstB.

Ck>DTio>
tiODS

Peraent-
age.

Stolen.

Beoov-
ered.

Feioeot>
age.

1874

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880... ...

IvBl... ...

l888... «..

Total ...

8748
8186
2608
8862
4706
4837
4066
8164
8717

7167
6278
4867
7068
6648
6860
6446
8684
4726

8408
2641
8094

4468
4618
8841
2866

1616
1797

84
60
48
68
09
67
46
42
88

8080
8038
2480
5460
6873
6249
4840
8861
1829

86,610

1449
I960
1629
1862
2144
1685
1886
866
618

18,681

64
67
84
40
27
28
27
82

84,061

61,067

26,728 60

Besides the lock-ap at each mdmlatddr's office there is a district
jail at Ahmadnagar and five subordinate jails situated at J^mkhed,
Kopargaon, NevAsa, Sangamner, and Shrigonda. The number of
convicts in the Ahmadnagar and the subsidiary jails on the 31st
of December 1882 was ninety of whom seventy-six were males and
fourteen females. During the year 1888, 860 convicts of whom
820 were males and forty females were admitted, and 347 of whom
809 were males and thirty-eight females were discharged. During
the year the daily average of prisoners was 102 and at the close
of the year the number of convicts was 103 of whom eighty-seven
were males and sixteen females. Of these forty males and eleven
females were sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year ;
sixteen males and one female for over one year and not more
than two years ; eighteen males for more than two yean and not
more than five years ; and two nmles and two females for more Uiao
five years and not more than ten years. Ten males and two females
were under sentence of transportation. The daily average number
of sick was 4-6. During the year four prisoners died in hospital.
The total yearly cost was £903 (Bs. 9030) or an average of £8 1 7*.
(Bs. 88^) for each prisoner.

Deeoaii.J

CHAPTER X.

FINANCE.

Tbb earliest balance-sheet of tbe district as at present constituted
is for 1870-71 . Exclusive of £29,666 (Rs. 2,96,660) , the adjustment
on account of alienated lands, the total transactions entered in the
district balance-sheet for 1882-83 amounted under receipts to
£245,718(B8. 24,57,180) against £238,070 (Rs. 23,80,700) in 1870-71,
and under charges to £216,871 (Bs. 21,68,710) against £268,934
(Rs. 26,89,340). Leaving aside departmental miscellaneous receipts
and payments in return for services rendered, such as post and
telegraph receipts, the revenue for 1882-83 under all heads
imperial, provincial, local, and municipal, came to £155,987
(Rs. 15,59,870),^ or, on a population of 751,228, an individual share
of 4^. 2d. (Rs. 2^). During the last thirteen years the following
changes have taken place under the chief heads of receipts and
charges.

Land revenue receipts, which form forty-one per cent of the entire
revenue of the district, have fallen from £136,568 to £100,931
(Rb. 13,65,680 -Rs- 10,09,310). Exceptin thel 876-77famine when they
amounted to £89,147 (Rs. 8,91,470), they varied between £157,176
(Ra. 15,71,760) in 1878-79 and £100,931 (Rs. 10,09,310) in 1882-83
and averted £127,255 (Rs. 12,72,550). 'Land revenue charges have
fallen from £25,435 to £24,346 (Rs. 2,54,350- Rs. 2,43,460), The
following statement shows the land revenue collected in each of the
thirteen years ending the 31st of March 1883 :

Ahmadnagar Land Bevenue, 1870-1883,

Tbab.

Amount.

TiAB.

Amount

Ybab.

Amount

1870.n ...
1871-72 ..;
1872-78 ...
1878-74 ...
1874-76 ...

£
186,668
120,264
148,404
186,768
137,427

1876-76 ...
1876-77 ...
1877-78 ...
1878-79 ...

182,268

88,147

120,640

167,176

1879-80 ...
ISaCKSl ...
1881-82 ...
1882-88 ...

£
188,788
124,082
121,986
100.981

Stamp receipts have fallen from £27,180 to £9370 (Rs. 2,71,800-
Rs. 93,700), and charges from £1032 to £317 (Rs. 10,320 -R& 3170).

Chapter X.
KnaiiGe.

Laku,

Stamps.

' ThiB total incladefl the following items : £116,101 land revenue, excise, assessed
taxes, and forests; £10,600 stamps, justice, and registration; £1249 education and
police ; £27t977 local and municipal funds ; total £155,987*

[Bombay OiMtteec

568

DISTRICTS.

Chapter X.
Finance.

Stamps.

EXGI8B.

Justice.

This is due to a considerable decrease in moneylending transactionft,
the introduction of the Deccan Agricultarists' Belief Actj and a
consequent decrease in litigation. The following statement shows
the stamp revenue collected in each of the thirteen years ending the
Slst of March 1883 :

Ahmadnagar Stamp Betfenue^ 1870 -ISSS.

TiAE.

Amount

Ybab.

Amount.

TiAft.

Amount.

1870-71 ...
1871-78 ...
1878-78 ...
1878-74 ...
1874-76 ...

A
87,180
88.060
86,889
88,899
80,618

1876-78 ...
1876-77 ...
1877-78 ...
187879 ...

£
19,618
17,686
16,888
17,483

1879-80 ...
1880-81 ...
1881-88 ...
1888-88 ...

14,407

10,078

10,187

9870

During the five years ending 1876-77 the average yearly excise
revenue of Ahmadnagar amounted to £2980 (Rs.29>300). In
1877-78 it rose to £3376 (Bs. 83,760), but in 1878-79 feU to £2832
(Bs. 28,320). In 1878-79 and 1879-80 it amounted to £3249
(Rs. 32,490) and £3022 (Rs. 30,220) respectively. Since 1880-81 the
revenue has been steadily increasing, amounting at present (1884) to
more than £6500 (Rs. 65,000). The chief source of revenue is the
manufacture and sale of country spirit and toddy. Before 1878-79
the &irms were sold yearly for lump sums, but since 1878-79 the
exclusive privilege of manufacturing and selling country spirit bss
been farmed to a single individual, on his guaranteeing a minimum
revenue of £2100 (Rs. 21,000) to be paid in the shape of still-head
duty at the rate of 5«. (Rs. 2^) the gallon of spirit 25^ under proof
and Ss, 4d. (Rs. 1§) the gallon 50° under proof, mannfactured
and issued from a central distillery at Ahmadnagar under the
supervision of an inspector appointed by Government. This system
was to continue in force till the 1st of AagAst 1884 when the
Ahmadnagar distillery was to be closed, and liquor was to be
supplied to the district from the central distillery at Poena. There
are fifteen shops in the district for the sale of country spirit^ which
produce a revenue of £5800 (Rs. 58,000). There are nine toddy
shops which yielded in 1882-83 a revenue of £710 (Rs. 7100). A
tax of 6a. (Rs.3) on every brab palm and of 2^. (Re.l) on every date
palm tapped also yielded a revenue of £148 (Rs. 1480). There
are eighteen shops for the sale of European liquor which p&j
yearly for licenses £95 (Rs. 950). The cultivation of the hemp plant
which produces the intoxicating drugs called hhdng and ganja id.
largely carried on. More than seventy tons (2000 mans) of gdnja
is yearly exported from the district, a fee of 10a. (Rs.5) being
charged for everv seven hundredweight (10 mans) exported-
Fee^ for licenses for' retail sale amount to about £160 (Bs. 1600) &
year.

Law and Justice receipts have &llen from £1253 (Be. 12^530} in
1870-71 to £672 (Rs. 6720), and charges have risen from £14^475
(Rs. 1,44,750) in 1870-71 to £28,612 (Rs. 2,86,1 20) in 1882-«a
The rise in expenditure is due to an increase in the number and
pay of the officers and establishments.

Deceaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

569

Forest receipts have risen from £2616 (Rs. 26,160) in 1870-71 to
£5771 (Rs. 57,710) in 1882-83 and charges from £363 (Rs. 3630) to
£3397 (Rs. 33,970).

The following table shows the amounts realized from the different
assessed taxes levied between 1870-71 and 1882-83. The variety
of rates and incidence prevents any satisfactory comparison of the
results :

Ahmadnagar Assessed Taxes, 1870-1882.

Thar.

Ainoimt

TSAK.

Amount

Ykab.

Amount

Income Tax.

1870-71
1871-72
1872-73

7974
2027
1550

Non^mcul-
turalTax.

1871-72

£
8450

LiBenUTca.

1878-79

1879-80

1880-81

1881-82

1882-83

7612
7496
4870
8864
8547

Military charges have fallen from £95,273 (Rs. 9,52,730) in
1870-71 to £40,653 (Rs. 4,06,530) in 1882-83.

Registration receipts have fallen from £1641 (Rs. 16,410) in
1870-71 to £618 (Rs.6180) in 1882-83, and charges have risen from
JE1089 (Rs. 10,890) to £1230 (Rs. 12,300).

Education receipts have fallen from £4743 (Rs. 47,430) in
1870-71 to £509 (Rs. 5090) in 1882-83, and charges have risen from
£2065 (Rs. 20,650) to £2232 (Rs. 22,320).

Police receipts have risen from £302 (Rs. 3020) in 1870-71 to
£740 (Rs. 7400) in 1882-83 and charges from £12,516 (Rs. 1,25,160)
to £15,545 (Rs. 1,55,450).

Transfer receipts have risen from £38,383 (Rs. 3,83,830) in
1870-71 to £99,572 (Rs. 9,95,720) in 1882-83 and transfer expenditure
has fallen from £57,175 (Rs. 5, 71,750) to £44,668 (Rs. 4,46,680).

In the following balance sheet the figures shown in black on both
sides of the 1870-71 and 1882-83 accounts are both adjustments.
On the receipt side the item of £29,666 (Rs. 2,96,660) against
£31,125 (Rs. 3,11,250) in 1870-71 represents the additional revenue
the district would yield had none of its lands been alienated. On
the debit side the items of £5246 (Rs. 52,460) in 1882-83 against
£6759 (Rs. 67,590) in 1870-71 under Land Revenue and £809
(R8.8090) in 1882-83 against £347 (Rs. 3470) in 1870-71 under
police»are rentals of the lands granted for service to village headmen
• and watchmen. The item of £23,611 (Rs. 2,36,110) in 1882-83
against £24,019 (Rs. 2,40,190) in 1870-71 shown under allowances
and assignments represents the rental of lands granted to hereditary
officers whose services have been dispensed with and of religious
and charitable land grants -} •

Chapter Z.
Finance.

AssEsssB Taxes.

MlUTABT.

Rbgistration,

Education.

POLICB.

Transfer.

Balance Sheets,

1870-71 AND

1882-83.

t Cash allowances to village and district officers who render service are treated as
actual charges and debited to land revenue.

E 772—72

[Bombaj OanttMr.

670

DISTEIOTS-

Chapter X.

Finance.

Balance Shkxts,

1870-71 AND

1882.83.

Ahmadnagar Balance Sheet, 1870-71 and ISSB-SS.

Local Funds.

BlOBPVB.

Cbababb.

Head.

1870-71.

1882*88.

Head.

1870-71.

1SS34&I

Land

•••

• •m

...

1^,668
81.136

100,981
89«666

Land

—

•••

26,486

a4j8«|

5Mf

Stamps ...

• ••

27,180

9870

Stamps

•««

• ••

108S

817

Excite

• •«

7172

5861

Exdae

•••

• ••

S50i

Justice

• ••

1268

672

Jostioe crinilnai"

• ••

•••

8396

a.<B9l

Foreeti

• ••

2616

■ •■

•««

6079

6053

AMeasedTkxefl

• ••

7974

8548

Forests

•••

• >•

863

3197

Mieoellaneoua

•••

241

117

Allowances and Aadgmnents

• ••

9786

8U34

Interest ...

• ••

276

11,019

S8JU

Public Works

«•■

4660

4200

Pensions ..«

•••

•■•

8574

4172

MiUtary ...

■ ••

3662

2069

Ecclesiastical

•••

• ••

1184

1025

Post ...

• ••

2263

10,840

Miscellaneous

••■

•••

1841

2861

Telemph ...
Registntion

•••

128

840

Public Works ...

• ■•

• •«

88,410

S8,&SS

• •

1641

618

Military

■ ••

• ••

96,273

40.«5S

Edncatioii ...

• ••

4748

609

Post ... ...

«••

«•■

2928

8484

Police

...

802

740

Telemph

Refftatiation

•••

B««

234

&S3

Medical ...

• ••

•••

• •«

1089

I2»

Jail

• ••

208

167

Education ...
Police

Medical

Jau ... ... ...

• ••

• t 1

• •■

• ••

2065

12,616

686

uao

2S5i
1&,5«5

889

1147

0K«

Total
Tramfer Itemt,

• ••

Printing ...

'I\>tal

• •1

• ••

141

100,687

146,146

211.769

172W

Deposits ...
Gash Remittance

•««

•••

421S

10,802

Deports ... ...

• ••

• at

8027

U,MS

• ••

• •■

18,968

68,826

Cash Remittances

•«•

• ••

86.001

15,800 <

Pension Funds

■ ■•

• ••

162

Interest ... ...

•■«

«••

1057

647 '

Local Funds

Total
OftARD Total

• •»
•••
•••

20,050

80,847

Local Funds

Total
Obahd Total

•*•

16,490

14,]6i^

88,883

00,672

67,176

44J06B '

288,070

246,718

968^184

n6,871

81,186

89»u66

^^^1

81.186

89J86

Bevekite other than Imperial.

Since 1863 district local funds have been collected to promote mral
education^ and to supply roads, wells^ rest-houses, dispensaries, and
otter useful works. In 1882-83 the receipts amounted to £20,3-47
(Rs. 2,03,470) and the expenditure to £14,158 (Rs. 1,41,580), The
local fund revenue is drawn from three sources, a special cess of
one-sixteenth in addition to the land tax, the proceeds of certain
subordinate local funds, and certain miscellaneous items. In 1882-83
the special land cess, oE which two-thirds are set apart as a road
fund and the rest as a school fund yielded a revenue of £8685
(Rs. 86,850). The subordinate funds, including a toll fund, a ferry
fund, a cattle-pound fund, and a school-fee fund, yielded £2868
(Rs. 28,680). Government and private contributions amounted to
£8752 (Rs. 87,520) ; and miscellaneous receipts, including certain
items of land revenue amounted to £40 (Rs. 400), This revenue is
administered by district aud sub-divisional committees partly of
officisA and partly of private members. The district committeee
consist of the Collector, the assistant and deputy collectors, the
executive engineer, and education inspector as oiBcial, and the
proprietor of an alienated village and six landholders as non-
official members. The sub -divisional committees consist of an
assistant collector, the mdmlatdd.r, a public works officer, and the
deputy education inspector as official, and the proprietor of an

Beeean.]

AHMADNAGAR.

571

alienated village and three landholders as non-official members.
The sub-divisional committees bring their requirements to the
notice of the district committee who prepare the budget. For
administrative purposes the district local funds are divided into
^o sections, one set apart for public works the other for instruction.
The receipts and disbursements during the year 1882-83 were:

Ahmadnagar Local Funds, 188S-8S,

PUBUC WORKa

aacnPiB.

Two-thlrdB of Land Cobs

Tolla

Ferrloi

Cattle Pouod

CoDtributioiis

KiaceUaneous

Total

6706

885

234

886

6006

GBABOn.

14,782

Establiahment

New Works

Repalre

Medical Charges

Miscellaneous

Balance 81st Manh 1888

Tbtal

1627
7178
8006

680
1710

641

14,782

INSTBUCTION.

Bbcbipts.

B4lanoe Ist AprU 1882 ...
One-third of Land Cess ...

School Fee Fund

Contributions Government

Da Private ...
Miscellaneous

Total

1116
2889

864
1728

118
15

Charobb.

6730

School Charges

Scholarship*

School Houses, New...
Do. do. Repairs
Miscellaneous
Balance Slst March 1888

Total

£
5688
178
867
811
114
187

6730

There are three municipalities at Ahmadnagar, Bhingdr, and
Sangamner. Of these the Ahmadnagar municipality is a city
municipality, and. those at Bhingar and Sangamner are town
municipalities. The Ahmadnagar city municipality is administered
by a body of commissioners with the Collector as president. The
town municipalities at Bhingar and Sangamner are administered by
a body of commissioners with the Collector as president and the
assistant or deputy collector in charge of the sub-division as vice-
president. In 1882-83 the district municipal revenues amounted to
£^630 (Bs. 76,300), of which £2838 (Rs. 28,380) were from octroi
dues, £1026 (Rs. 10,260) from house tax, and £3766 (Rs. 37,660)
from miscellaneous sources.

The following statement gives for each municipality the receipts,
charges, and incidence of taxation during the year ending the 31st
of March 1883 :

Ahmadnagar Municipal Detaiht 1882-83,

Nam&

Dati.

PlOPLB,
1881.

RBOUTTB.

Iwci-

DWCK.

Octroi

House
Tax.

Mtsoella-
neons.

Total

Ahmadnagar ...
Bhingto
Sangamner ...

1854
1867
1860

Total ...

32,903
6106
8796

£
2450

• ••

888

748
161
122

£
8410
272
78

6609
488
688

«. d.

4 0
1 6
1 4

46,805

8888

1026

8766

7680

8 2

Chapter Z-
Finance.

Local Fuin>s.

tfUNIOIPALITIES.

[Bombay Qawtteer.

572

DISTRICTS.

Chapter X.
Finance.

MuincIPALITXBB.

Ahmadnaga/t Munu^pal DetcUU, ISSB-SS^efmUnuod^

27AM1.

CHAAGB8.

Ifn-

CKLLA-
RB0U8.

TotAL.

Staff.

Safety.

health.

Schoola.

Public
Worka

Almiadiuig»r...
Bhingftr
Sangunner ...

Total ...

£
706

76
120

£
244
24
14

S087
244
26S

£
181
7
24

£
1566
11
120

£
164
S
SO

KfiSA

OBOB

S65
600

002

282

8544

212

1697

216

6858

Peccanl '

CHAPTER XI.

INSTRUCTION,

In 1882-83 there were 253 Government schools or an average of
one school for every 5'45 inhabited villages with 13,674 names and
an average attendance of 9714 or 4*82 per cent of 201,285, the
whole population between six and fourteen years of age.

Under the Director of Public Instruction and the Educational
Inspector North- East Division, the schooling of the district was
conducted by a local staff 419 strong. Of these one was a deputy
educational inspector drawing a yearly pay of £180 (Rs. 1800)
with general charge over all the schools of the district except the
high school and the four anglo-vernacular schools, one an assist-
ant deputy educational inspector drawing a yearly pay of £90
(Rs. 900), and the rest were masters and assistant masters with
yearly salaries ranging from £6 to £240 (Rs. 60 - 2400).

Excluding superintendence charges, the total expenditure on
account of these schools amounted to £7405 (Rs. 74,050), of which
£2484 (Rs. 24,840) were paid by Government and £4921 (Rs. 49,210)
from local and other funds.

In 243 of 253 the total number of schools, Mardthi only was
taught and in three Hindustani. In six of the rest instruction was
given both in English and Mardthi ; and one was a high school
teaching English and two classical languages, Sanskrit and Persian,
up to the standard required to pass the University entrance test
examination. Of the 243 Mar&thi schools 225 were for boys and
eighteen for girls.

* Before the Board of Education commenced operations in 1 840,
there were a few indigenous elementary schools scattered over
the district, which were mostly conducted by Br^hmans. But more
than ninety per cent of the villages were without schools. The
Board of Education opened elementary schools in most of the large
villages and in 1850 there were thirty of these institutions attended
by 1727 pupils. In 1855, when the Department of Public Instruc-
tion was constituted, the organization of these schools was .greatly
improved. From 1863, when the voluntary education cess was
first levied, the extension of primary education was vigorously
taken in hand; and in 1872-73 the department was maintaining
196 schools of this class attended by 8682 scholars. In 1882-83
there were 249 local-cess schools under the supervision of the

Chapter ZI-
InatmctioiL

Stavf.

Cost.

iNSTBUCnOK.

PaOGRBSS.

' Contributed by Mr. H. P. Jacob, Educational Inspector North-East Division.

[Bombay Oaiatteer,

674

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XI.

Instniotloxi.

Pboqiuesb,

AUiSD SOHOOU.

Local Fund committees and of the Educational Department which
were attended by 13^402 pupils. Of these 284 were daj-schoola,
five night-schools, three Hindustani schools, and seven free or
low-caste schools. All these sc||ools are well organized, and are
highly valued both by the town and village people. Sixty-four
of the teachers have gone through a special course of instruction
at the Poena Training College and almost all the masters of the
village schools have qualified at some public examination. Definite
standards of instruction and examination have been in force since
1866, and the highest vernacular standard qualifies for admission
to the lower grades of the public service. Classes for instruction in
drawing and practical agriculture have been recently established at
Ahmadnagar in connection with the primary schools in that city.
All the larger schools in the district are well housed and they are
also fully equipped with the requisite apparatus of instruction,
such as form and colour boxes, terrestrial globes, wall-maps, and
pictures. The schools are alno provided with small libraries
which are from time to time supplied with new books presented
to them by the Director of Public Instruction or by the District
Committees.

There were also at the end of 18S2-83 fifty-eight schools aided by
the Department of Public Instruction or by the Local Fund Com-
mittee, fifty-four being for boys and four for girls. They were
attended by 1257 pupils. Of these fifty-eight schools, fifty-four
were maintained by Christian missionary societies and four by
indigenous schoolmasters. The majority of these schools were
located in the Ahmadnagar, Nev^sa, Kdhuri, P&rner, and Sangam*
ner sub-divisions. The aggregate number of pupils on the rolls at
the end of 1882-83 was 1257 with an average attendance of 1016
pupils. One of these fifty-eight schools was a high school main-
tained by the American Mission and attended by fifty-six pupils
of whom on an average thirty-two attended regularly. Another
was an anglo-vernacular school maintained by the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel with fifty-nine pupils on the rolls and an
average attendance of fifty-one. The tuition fees in the high school
range from 28. to 8^. 6d (Bs. 1 - If ) a month. In the anglo-
vernacular school which is also a boarding-school no fees are charged.
The average total cost of instructing each pupil was £12 12$.
(Rs. 126) in the high school and £4 4^. (Bs. 42) in the an^lo-
v^ernacular school. The cost of instructing each pupil in the boys
vernacular schools maintained by the missionary societies was IGs^
(Rs. 8) and in the girls schools £1 18^. (Rs. 19). The mission
schools are chiefly maintained for Hindus of the lowest castes and
the children of native converts. The mission high school at Ahmad>
nagar \eaches up to the matriculation standard, and the anglo-
Ternacular school up to the third anglo-vernacular standard. The
teaching in the vernacular schools aims at nothing beyond the
rudiments of reading, writing, and cyphering. Most of the mission
schools have been but recently established, but the boarding school
for native girls maintained at Ahmadnagar by the American Mission
Was founded as far back as 1840.

Dteoaitl

AHMADNAGAR.

675

Besides the GoTemment and aided schools there were ninety-six
private elementary schools which received no aid from public
lands/ but were under the inspection of the department or of the
District Committee. They were attended by 2012 pupils. Almost
all of these are secular schools mamtained by and for Hindus. Few^
if any of them, can trace back their existence beyond the third
^neration, while many are known to have been very recently
opesned. The schools are usually held in the houses of rich
men. Occasionally a private house is lent by the villagers rent-free
or the school is accommodated in the village chdvdi or in a temple
or mosque. They are open to all except the lowest classes^ and are
-chielfly attended by the sons of tradesmen and artisans. Br^hmans
mostly prefer the cess schools managed by the Educational Depart-
ment. There are no such schools for girls, and Hindu parents very
rarely send their daughters to the boys schools. The Muhammadan
primary schools^ on the other hand, are freely attended by children
of both sexes, though the boys are the more numerous. The
medium of instruction is Mardthi in the Hindu schools. Many
schools teach only writing, others writing and multiplication tables ;
but many town-schools conform to the departmental standards
of instruction. Each morning at about six the schoolmaster,
who is in some cases a Brahman and the priest of many of the
families whose children attend the school, goes round the village
and collects his pupils. For the first half hour a bhupdli or invoca-
tion to the Sun, Sarasvati, Ganpati, or some other deity, is chanted
by the whole school. After this the boys, who can write, trace the
letters of their kittda or copy-slips with a dry pen, the object of this
exercise being to give free play to the fingers and wrist and to
accustom them to the sweep of the letters. When the tracing
lesson is over, the boys begin to write copies ; and the youngest
children who have been hitherto merely looking on are taken in
hand either by the master's son or by one of the elder pupils.
The master himself generally confines his attention to one or two
of the oldest pupils and to those whose instruction he has stipulated
to finish within a given time. All the pupils are seated in one
small room or veranda. The school breaks up about niue or ten,
and reassembles at two in the afternoon. The concluding lesson
is given at 4 p.m. For this the boys are ranged in two rows
facing each other, while two of the elder pupils stand at one
end* between the two rows and dictate the multiplication-tables;
step by step, for the rest of the boys to shout after them in
chorus. When this is over the school is dismissed, and the master
personally conducts the younger children to their homes. The
boys get a holiday on each of the Hindu feasts and fasts, and
twice a month on Amdvdsya or no-moon day and Paurnima or
full-moon day. In harvest time many of the rural indigenous
schools are entirely closed. It is still the practice in some indigenous
schools, though the custom is rapidly dying out, for the pupils on
the eve of Amdvdsya and Paurnima to perform the ceremony of
pdiipu/a or slate-worship. A quarter of an anna, a betelnut, one
pound (^ sher) of grain, a little saffron and turmeric, and a few
flowers, are laid upon the slate of each pupil as offerings to Saras-

Chapter XI.
Instmctionfl

IirspscrrBD
Schools.

[Bombay OaiettMr.

576

DISTRICTS.

CSiapter XI*
Instructioxi*

Inspectbd
Schools.

Gntis Schools.

Beadebs Ain>
Wbitebs.

vati the goddess of learning. Before these each boy reverently
bows dowD, and then places the slate for a few minutes on his head.
The master afterwards appropriates the offerings. The indigenoas
primary schools have slowly but steadily increased in numbers.
There is also a general improvement observable in their management
and method of teaching, which is both directly and indirectly due to
the operations of the Educational Department. The tuition fees charsr-
ed in indigenous schools vary from f d. (J a.) to 4«. (Rs. 2) a month.
In some villages in lieu of fees the schoolmaster receives a fixed
annual income from the villagers, or, if a Muhammadan, from the
mosque funds. It is also a common practice for the master to agree
to instruct a pupil in certain subjects within a given time for a lump
payment, which is sometimes as much as £10 (Rs. 100). It is not
uncommon for the master to receive a present in money, clothes, or
grain, when a pupil begins to learn his multiplication tables, and
again when he begins the alphabet ; and similar presents are made
on the occasion of the boy^s marriage and thread ceremonies. In
most mosque schools it is a standing rule that each pupil should
pay the master |d. (J a.) and a cake or bread every Thursday, though
this rule is often modified so as to enable the master to receive the
bread by daily instalments. On the whole it is estimated that the
master of a village school gets about from lOts, to 16«. (Rs. 5-8) a
month and in town schools twice as much or even £5 (Rs. 50).

The first girls school was opened at Ahmadnagar in 1840. In
1868 there were fifty-nine names on the rolls with an average attend-
ance of 25'2. In 1872-73, an additional school was opened in the
same place and the number of pupils in both the schools amounted
to 148, of whom seven were Pdrsis and the rest Hindus. In
1882-83 there were nineteen schools with 1123 names and an
average attendance of 598'5.

The 1881 census returns give for the chief races of the district
the following proportion of persons able to read and write. Of
706,557 the total Hindu population, 7973 (males 7717, females 256)
or 1'13 per cent below fifteen and 1231 (males 1213, females 18) or
01 7 per cent above fifteen years of age were under instruction ;
793 (males 770, females 23) or 0*1 1 per cent below fifteen and 19,109
(males 19,077, females 122) or 2*72 per cent above fifteen were
instructed ; 270,943 (males 133,711, females 187,232) or 38-35 per
cent below fifteen and 406,418 (males 196,026, females 210,398) ^^
57*52 per cent above fifteen were illiterate. Of 39,502 the total
Musalm&n population, 577 (males 558, females 19) or 1'46 per cent
below fifteen and 96 (males 92, females 4) or 0*24 per cent above
fitteen were under instruction ; 71 (males 70, female 1) or 0*18 per
cent below fifteen and 855 (males 841, females 14) or 2'16 per cent
above fifteen were instructed ; 14,850 (males 7301, females 75+9) or
87*50 per cent below fifteen and 23,143 (males 11,241, females
11,902) or 58*46 per cent above fifteen were illiterate. Of 4821
Christians, 461 (males 323, females 138) or 9*56 per cent below
fifteen and 79 (males 71, females 8) or 1*64 per cent above fifteen
were under instruction ; 94 (males 50, females 44) or 1*95 per ceot
below fifteen and 1212 (males 998, females 214) or 25*14 per cent
above fifteen were instructed ; and 1245 (males 558^ females 687) or

Jpeccan.l

AHMADNAaAR.

677

•25*82 pep cent below fifteen and 1 730 (males 856, females 874) or
'35*89 per cent above fifteen were illiterate. The details are :

. Ahmadnagar Instruction^ 1881.

Oitder
InttnuHon.

HnrnuB.

^HUSAUCA'Kt.

Ghubtiaxb.

Ifalei.

Females

TotaL

Per-

oen-

tage

Total.

Males.

Fe-
males.

TotaL

Per-

een-

tage

TotaL

UalM.

Fe-
males.

TotaL

Per-
cen-
tage
on
TotaL

Below Fifteen.
Above Fifteen.

Inttmcted,

7717
1218

256
18

7978
1231

118
0-17

558
02

677
96

1*46
0 24

888

188

461
79

0-56
1-64

Below Rfteen.
Above Fifteen.

lUiteraU.

770
19,077

122

798
19,199

Oil
2-72

70
841

1
14

855

018
2*16

60
908

314

94
1312

1-96
»»*14

Below Fifteen.
Above Fifteen.

Total ...

183,ni
196,090

187,232
210,392

i70,948
406,418

88-86
57*52

7801
11,341

7549
11,902

14.850
28,148

87*50
68 46

568
856

687
874

1246
1780

25-82
85*80

858,614

848,048

706,657

20,108

19,489

--Y- -

80,599

2856

1965

*"'r

4821

Before 1865-66 no returns were prepared arranging the pnpils
according to race and religion. The following statement sbows that
of the two chief races of the district the Mnsalmdns have the larger
proportion of their boys and girls nnder instraction :

PupUs by Baee, 1866-66 and 188i'8S.

Raob.

1866-66.

1882-88.

Pupils.

Percent-
age of
Pupils.

PapOs.

Percent-
age of
Pupils.

School-
going
population

Percentage
on seho^-
going popu-
lation.

Hlndiu

ICusalmAns

8611
268

92*66
6*74

11,998
1611

87*77
11-06

189,849
10.683

6*8
14-2

Of 13,674 the total number of pupils in Government schools at
the end of 1882-83, 3454 or 25*23 per cent were Br&hmans, 152 or
1*11 per cent were Kshatriyas, 58 or 0*42 per cent were Kilyasth
Prabhas, 246 or 1*80 per cent were Lingdyats, 386 or 2*82 per cent
were Jains, 1284 or 9*40 per cent were trading classes, 3615 or
26*45 per cent were Eunbis or cultivators, 1207 or 8*83 per cent
were artisans, 396 or 2*90 per cent were shopkeepers, 327 or 2*40
per cent were labourers, 371 or 2*71 per cent were low-castes Mochis
^ and otners, 507 or 3*70 per cent were of miscellaneous castes, 13 or
^0*10 per cent were Shaikhs, 113 or 0*82 per cent were Ehojds and
Memans, 5 or 0*03 per cent were Syeds, 7 or 0*06 per cent were
Pathdns, 672 or 4*91 per cent were Moghals, 26 or 0*20 per cent were
Bohor^, 675 or 4*93 per cent were Miydn&s, 41 or 0*30 per cent
were PiLrsis, 9 or 0*07 per cent were Jews, and 89 or 0*66 percent
were aboriginal or hill tribes.

In 1882-83 there were 682 low-caste pnpils attending the Govern-
ment and non-government schools in Ahmadnagar. Of these 140
attended the low-caste schools specially opened for them in the city
of Ahmadnagar, and the remaining 542 were scattered in different
schools. In all the cess-schools they are made to sit separately either

B 772-73

Chapter XI.
Instmctioii*

Rkadsrs and
Wbitsbs.

Race and
Bbuoion.

tBmbaj

678

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ZI.
Iiifltnictio&*

School Rbturns.

in the school-room or in the veranda according to cironmstonces*
The shoemakers are not allowed to sifc with high-caste Hindus such
as Br^hmans, Prabhus, Rajpats^ and Knnbis^ who however raise no
objection to sitting with the Bhcns or fishermen.

The following tables prepared from special returns furnished by
the Educational Department^ show in detail the number of schools
and pupils with their cost to Government :

Ahmadnagar School BetumSf 1866*66, 1866-66, and 188i-8S,

Clam.

BOHOOU.

Pirpuj.

Hindoo.

rnnlmfinii

1855-56.

1865-66.

1882-88.

1855-56.

1865-66.

1882-83.

1855-56.

1865^.

1882-88.

BOgh School

Anglo-VerDMulv

Sohoolt

VeniaculAr ( Boys .
Schools t Gills.

ToW ...

•*•

1
20

•••

7
57

228
10

••*

1886

• ••

700
2821

• ••

105

10,787

071

• ••

8
122

•••

1854

12S

258

1448

8611

11.006

ISl

268

36U

CX.AM.

PvniM— continued.

ATBAei Dailt

Finis.

Total.

ATnKDAHCI.

1855-66.

1865-66.

1882-88.

1855-56.

1865-66.

1682-83.

1855-56.

:1865-6&

1882«L

€fovemment
High School ...
Anglo- VemMnliLr

Schools

VeniAcalur ( B<nrB .

Schools. (Oirls.

Totsl ...

•>•

20
48

16
8

• ••

117

• ••

74
1568

• ••

847
8061

100

284

19,308
1128

• ••

64
1186

• ••

78S
2406

• -•

101

8831

508

165

164S

888B

18,674

1200

8231

0714

OovtmmmL

High School

Anglo-Vemacalar Schools ...

V«nuMmhur Schools ..{QigJ;

1855-66.

1865-66.

1«.
lid.

2f.
8d. toOd.

1882-88.

8f. to4t.
fd.toOi.

Con rn Pupil.

1855-56.

£ s. (L

4 2 5|

0 0 2

1835-66.

e «. d.

2 18 7
Oil 8|

189MS.

£ t. il

8 3 8

1 18 7

0 11 4

0 15 2

0 14 4

BlOBlTB. 1

Cum.

Oovemmant.

LocalCoss. 1

1855-56.

1S66-06.

1882-88.

1855-56.

1865-66. 1882-83.

TT. .. « OovemmenL
Highfitehool

Anglo-Vernacular Schools ...
V«nacDlarSohoo1s ...{ogj*

• ••

268
448

711

625
1074

625

1.^2

1728

• ••

• ■ •

...
...
•••

...

2865

454

2885

Total ...

1688

2485

• ■•

...

AHHADNAGAB.

679

Ahmadmvar Sekool Betmmt, t866-S6, 1866-66, and /««-«J-ooiitlin«ed.

Cuai.

••• • ••

QnnemmmlL
High School
AnglO'VerziACQlar Bohools

VeroAoalar' Schools^ ... | qi£|

Munio^ltii

1866-66.

TofcAl

• ••
■ ••

• •«

• ••

fS66-06.

• ••

1882-88.

£
68
80
67

180

Private.

1866-66.

1866^.

0
106

116

1888-88.

• ••

RicBpra— MMtitttMct.

OltAM.

FCM.

TotaL

186&-66.

1866-66.

1882-88.

1866-60.

1866-66.

1882-88.

QnvtmmeriL

High School

Anglo-YejrDEcuIar Schoob ...

VernicuUtf Schools ..{oirtl'.'.

86
64

• ••

372
489

••ft

227
197
880

•••

• ••

299
688

• •«

• ■•

956
1610

■ ••

049

890

6041

464

Totel ...

100

Til

1864

882

2676

6884

EZFBIDITDKB.

Clabb.

Iiwtruotion and
InspecUoQ.

BttUdlngs.

1866-56.

1865-66.

1882-88.

1866-66.

1882.88.

QcnemmenL

High School ... ...

Anirlo-Vemocular School* ...

. « ._ • i Boya..

Venwenlar Schools ..-"{oirls..

• ••

864
621

■ ••

■ • •

748
1667

• « •

866

860

4867

466

• ••

••■

• ••

00
60

•••

£
18
8
668

• •a

Total ...

786

8816

6637

• ••

169

688

ExpBfDiTUEB— continued.

CLASS.

Scholarships.

Ltbraries.

1866-66.

1882-88.

1866-66.

18664».

1882-88.

High'School ... ... . —

Anglo- Venuumlar Schools ...

.- « \ Boya..
Vernacular Schools ..(Qiria..

• ••

• ■•

• ••

#••

£
72
17
88

• ■•

• ••

•••
•••

• ••

• fte

• ••

£
2
5

••f
•••

Tbtal ...

• •r

172

• ••

Clam.

Gkivemment

High School
Aoglo-Vemacali^ Schools .

Vernacdlar Schools -{©iris!.*.

Total .

BxPiNDiTUBB— eenld.

Cost TO

ToUL

1866-66.

• • •

864

621

786

1866-66.

1882-88.

866

1627

952

890

6608

466

7406

Ooremmeot.

1856-66.

• ••

268
448

1865-6&

626
1074

1700

1882-88.

600

168

1606

2484

Lutniction.

SOHOOL RSTUBKS.

[Bombay

680

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XI

Xnstniction.

School BxruKsa,

Ahfnadnagar School BHums, 1855-66, 1865-66, and 188t»8S — continiied.

Town Schools.

ViLLAOB Schools.

CLABg.

CkMT to--eofiUifaud.

Local Cess.

Other Funds.

Total.

1856-66.

1866-66.

1882-88.

^866-66.

•

1865-66.

1882-88.

U856-66.

lM8m6L

l€83-g3.,

Qitvemuient.
High School
Anglo-Vemacnlar

Schools .
YemacolAr f Boys.

Schools. (.Oirl«.

Total ...

• ••

• •

il
44

8038

416

3621

• ••

1
78

221
668

• ••

£
808

206

874

• ••

264
621

• ••

855

1627

• • •

«68

880

sen

455

• ••

774

1400

7S6

2482

1¥&

A comparison of the present (1882-83) provision for teaching the
town and the country population gives the following results :

In Ahmadnagar twelve Government schools had 1735 names on the
rolls and au average attendance of 1233. 01 the twelve Government
schools^ one was a high school including one drawing and one agricol*
tural class ; one was a first grade anglo-vernacular school ; eight
were Mardthi schools^ six for boys and two for girls; aod two
were Urdu schools, one for boys and one for girls. The average
yearly cost to each pupil in the high school was £8 3«« (Rs. 81^)
and in other schools it varied from £2 65. to 12^. 9(2. (Bs. 23 - 6}).

Besides these^ eight private schools, including one high school, one
anglo-vernacular school^ and six vernacular schools two for boys
and four for girls had 395 names on the rolls and an average attend-
ance of 378. The average yearly cost of instructing each pupil in
the American Mission high school was £12 \2$, (Rs. 126) and in
other schools it varied from £1 10^. 9d. to £4 4«. (Rs.l5|- 42). In
Sangamner three schools had 453 names on the rolls, an average
attendance of 333, and an average yearly cost for each pupil of
12^. 9(2. (Rs. 6|). In P^thardi two schools had 247 names on the
rolls, an average attendance of 163, and an average yearly (x>fit for
each pupil of 138. 3(2. (Rs. 6|). In Kharda three schools had 267
names on the rolls, an average attendance of 190, and an average
yearly cost for each pupil of 11a 9(2. (Rs. 5^). In Shrigonda three
schools had 329 names on the rolls, an average attendance of 218,
and an average yearly cost for each pupil of lOs. 11(2. (Rs. 5^^^).
In Bhingir three schools had 231 names on the rolls, an average
attendance of 156, and an average yearly cost for each pupil q^ 10j(.
10(2. (Rs. 5-]^). In Karjat three schools had 164 names on the rolls,
an average attendance of 94, and an average yearly cost for each
pupil of £1 la 1(2. (Rs. 10^1). In Sonai one school had 126 names
on the rolls, an average attendance of 67, and an average yearly cost
for each pupil of 138. (Rs. 6^).

Exclusive of the eight towns of Ahmadnagar, Sangfamner,
P^thardi, Kharda, Shrigonda, Bhingdr, Karjat, and Sonai, the
district of Ahmadnagar was provided with 223 schools or an average
of one school for every six inhabited villages. The following
statement shows the distribution of these schools by sub^divisions:

AeecMt-l

AHMADNAGAR

581

Akmadnagar VUlage8ekool»,l8SS-83.

SuB-DiYuxoir-

VUlageB.

FO|nila-
tion.

Number of
Sohools.

SUB'DlVIIXOH.

Yilliigea.

Popula-
tion.

Nomberof
Schools.

Boyi.

11
20
8
31
19
39
21

Qlrls.

Boya.

Olrla.

AkoU

Jftmkhed ...

KarjAt

Kopargaon ...

Vntat

NevftM

PArner

167
7T
82
126
117
148
128

60,800
66,898
81,212
63,789
66,862
72,676
78,701

• ••

'Bfthorl
Sangamner ...
SheTgaon ...
Shrfgonda ...

Total ...

118

169

188

68,389
69,661
80,879
46,018

86
30
26
14

• ••

1880

678,769

318

There are four libraries in Ahmadnagar. The Ahmadnagar City
Library is an old public institution^ having been first established
in 1838. For want of support it remained closed from that year
till 1847 when it was reopened; since 1847 it has remained open.
No donation has been given to it since its foundation except a sum
of £2 10a» (Rs. 25) but 435 books have been presented by different
gentlemen. The library is located in a buUding which was once
a mosque. Of a total number of 1533 books^ 1070 are English and
the rest are either Mard,thi, Sanskrit^ or Persian. In 1882-83 there
were fifty members connected with it^ each of whom paid as yearly
subscriptions from 6«. to £2 8«. (Rs. 3-24). The yearly revenae of the
library is about £42 (Rs. 420) of which £30 (Rs. 300) are collected
from subscriptions and £12 (Rs. 120) are granted out of the
municipal funds. The library subscribes to one daily and three weekly
English newspapers^ six weekly and one biweekly vernacular papers,
and five monthly magazines.

The Native Library at Sangamner, though a small institution, has
a building of its own. There are only seventy books, of which three
are Sanskrit, one Gujardti, and the rest MardthL In 1882-83 there were
thirty-four subscribers, whose yearly subscriptions varied from la. 6d.
to £1 2s. (Rs. f - 11). The yearly income is about £11 168. (Rs. 1 18),
of which £4 16«.(Rs.48) are paid by the Sangamner town municipality
and the rest by the subscribers.

There are three local Mar^thi newspapers printed at Ahmadnagar :
the Nyayasindhu or Ocean of Justice, a lithographed paper, which
has been in circulation for eighteen years ; the Nagar Samdchdr or
Nagar News, which has existed for about ten years ; and the Jaga^
dddarsh or Mirror of the World which has been in circulation for two
yeai^. All these papers are issued once a week and have a very
limited number of subscribers ; their style is very poor and subscribers
to them are few in number. The yearly subscription for the
Nyayasindhu is 9«. (Rs. 4^) in advance and 13^. (Rs. 6^) in arrears,
of the NagarSamdehdr is. (Re. l)in advance, and of the Jagadddarsh
4s. (Rs. 2) in advance. 9

The Ahmadnagar Sdrvajanik Sabha, or Peoples' Association, was
started in 1871 at the instance of the Poena society of the same
name. The existence of the society has been little more than nominal.

Chapter XI.
Instmction.

Vdxagb Schools.

LraBARIKS.

NKVrSFAFXBS.

Public
Association.

IBombajr

Chapter XII.
Health.

CUMATX.

Hospital.

DiSFEKSABIBS.

I^^IRH PlEOPIiB.

CHAPTER XIL

HEALTH.

The climate of Ahmadnagar is on the whole extremely healthy. In
the cold season (November- February) the air isdry and invigorating.
A hot dry wind from the north-west then gradually sets in blowing
with varying force till the middle of May. This is usually succeeded
by sultry oppressive weather, lasting^ unless tempered by the showers
which frequently precede the regular burst of the south-west
monsoon^ till the middle of June when the south-west rains set m
and the climate at once becomes temperate and pleasant. The
chief diseases are fever^ rheumatism, and bowel complaints.

Besides the Ahmadnagar civil hospital^ in 18S2 the district had
three grant-in-aid dispensaries situated at Sangamner, Nevdsa, and
Shevgaon, in which 27,765 out-patients and 393 in-patients were
treat^ at a cost of £1214 (Bs. 12,140). The Ahmadnagar civil
hospital has a building of its own. In 1882 the most prevalent
diseases were conjunctivitis, skin diseases, and ague. Cholera
prevailed slightly in some of the surrounding parts, but no case
occurred in the city. Forty-six major surgical operations were
performed, including six amputations and three lithotomies.
14,757 out-door and 303 in-door patients were treated at a cost of
£873 (Rs. 8730).

The Sangamner dispensary was opened in 1873. In 18S2
ophthalmia, skin diseases, malarious fevers, and rheumatic affections
were the prevailing diseases. There was no epidemic. Two major
operations were performed successfully. 8044 out-patients and
sixty-one in-patients were treated kt a cost of £137 (Rs. 1870).
The Nevdsa dispensary was opened in 1877. In 1882 the prevailing
diseases were malarious fevers, ophthalmia^ chest affections^ and
bowel complaints. Small-pox was prevalent at the end of the^ear«
105 children were successfully vaccinated. 8023 out-patients and
fourteen in-patients were treated at a cost of £109 (Rs. 1090).
The Shevgaon dispensary was opened in 1876. In 1882 the
prevaiHng diseases were malarious fevers, ophthalmia, respiratory
affections, and skin diseases. There was no epidemic. 105 children
were ^successfully vaccinated. The total treated was 1941 out«
patients and fifteen in-patients. The cost was £95 (R8.950).

According to the 1881 census 3893 persons (males 2089> fiemales
1804) or 0*51 per cent of the population were infirm. Of the total
number 3709 (males 1981, females 1728) were flindns ; 171 (males
103, females 68) Musalm&ns;12 (males 5, females 7) Ghriattans;
and one Firsi female. Of 3893 the total number of infirm personB,

SeooMi-l

AHMADNAGAB.

583

147 (males 101, females 46) or 3*77 per cent were of unsound mind;
2504 (males 1115, females 1389) or 64-32 per cent were blind; 477
(males 288, females 189) or 12*25 per cent were deaf and dumb;
4ind 766 (males 585, females 180) ct 19*65 per cent were lepers.
The details are: ^

Ahmadnagar It^rm People, 1881,

InMiM... ...

Blind

Dcuf-Mutet ...
Lcrpert

ToUI ...

BvKvat.

MOBALMA'VS.

Chribtiahs-

Pa'isis.

Total.

IfolM.

Fe.
ihaIm.

Males.

malw.

Hales.

4
1

Fo-
males.

Males.

Fe-

Dales.

Msles.

FS-

msles.

1060
270
658

184S

17B

169

8
61
IT
27

8
40
14
11

1
6

••«
• ••

• ••

■ ••

• ••

•••
• ••
■ ••

101

1116

288

686

1889

180

IMl

1728

108

• •«

2089

1804

Eleven kinds of disease affect the cattle of the district : Pivla or
yellow disease is reported from Shevgaon. The ears become cold
and droop, and the animal lies prostrate and refuses to eaj) or
drink. The attack lasts for eight days and after death the body
turns black. A boil as large as a woodapple is found growing
on the liver. Dhenddlya or diarrhoea is a disease of common
occurrence in Shevgaon, Nagar, and Jdmkhed, but in each of these
sub-divisions the affection assumes a different form. In Shevgaon
the belly swells, and the animal suffers much from thirst and
shivers. In the last stage purging begins and the animal becomes
emaciated, and falls down and emits a bad smelL The attack
continues for ten days. After death the body becomes black and the
liver black and yellow. In Nagar where the disease lasts only for
four days the ears droop and the animal is said to lose appetite. On
the liver a boil forms as large as a pea. In J^mkhed the disease
lasts for only two days, and the animal suffers from discharges
of saliva from the mouth and a burning sensation over the whole
body. After death the body turns blackish. Bolkdndya is reported
from Bdhuri and Kopargaon.. In Rdhuri the attack is said to last
for fifteen days, and the animal after death presents a dry appearance.
In Eopargaon the attack lasts for four days. In the first stage the
animal appears sluggish and the abdomen swells. The second stage
is marked by excessive thirst and loss of appetite, and in the last
Btage diarrhoea sets in. After death cold water of a bluish
colour flows from the mouth. Khurkut is repc^rted from Bdhuri,
Nagar, Akola, Shrigonda, and Pdmer. In Bahari where the attack
lasts for a month, the animal's hoofs swell, saliva passes from the
mouth, and there is loss of appetite. Im Nagar the attack lasts for
fifteen days. In Akola the attack lasts from four to ten months ;
maggots are formed in the sore parts both in the hoofs and igi the
mouth. If the disease takes a fatal turn, the mouth and the hoofs
rot and emit a bad smell. In Pfiruer the attack lasts for two
months. Kukad is reported from Shevgaon. The animal rejects
food lund water, and perspires from tbe mouth, and gangrene ensues.
The attack lasts for eight days. After death the body turns
bhok and the liver turns black and yellow. Ldlechdrog or the
aaliva disease is reported from Earjat. It lasts for eight days.

Chapter ZII.
Health.

iNraLM People.

Cattle Disease.

IBomtey

584

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XII.

Health.
Cattije DiaKASx,

Gat Plagux.

TAOCINATIOir.

The symptoms are purging, flow of saLiya from the moathj and
swelling of the hoofs from which also blood flows. HaidyArog is
reported from Akola, Sangamner, and Nevdsa. It lasts for four to
fifteen days* In Akola the symj^ms observed are diarrhoea, gmdoal
enlargement of the lungs, consn^ation, evacuation of fleshy matter,
and excessive thirst ; in Sangamner swelling of the body, dullness*
loss of appetite, sinking of the eyes, water running from the month
and nose, and mucous discharge from the nose. In Nevasa the
liver and lungs are affected ; water collects in the stomacht and the
animal appears to be unable to satisfy its thirst. Maggots are al3i>
formed in|the eyes and mouth, and the animal shivers. Durunglya
is a disease which affects cattle in Shrigonda and Pdmer. The
attack lasts from four to eight days. The symptoms are shiveriDg
of the body, discharge of saliva from the mouth, diarrhoea^ heavy
breathing, want of appetite, thirst, and bloody urine. Phop»ya is
reported &om Nevdsa. The symptoms are swelling of the body, loss
of appetite, burning sensation, and excessive thirst. The attack
lasts for five days. Mukhrog is a disease of the mouth which attacks
cattle in J^mkhed. It lasts for four days. The symptoms are
inflammation of the tongue, loss of appetite, and bloody discharges.

^ In 1881| when cholera prevailed in the city of Ahmadnagar from
about the beginning of July till the middle of August, there was a
great and unprecedented mortality during the first part of thd
period among the cats of the city.^ About 750 cats died between
the 1st and 25th of July 1881. A day or two before the cM
died, it appeared sluggish, took no food, and sought for some cool
place where it could rest. The throat of the animcd became swollen
and choked, and before death it foamed at the mouth.^ Mr. Lamb,
the Veterinary Surgeon, was of opinion that the cats were probably
suffering from the destructive malignant disease called anthrax
which frequently attacks cattle and for which there is no remedy.
If the disease was anthrax, as Mr. Lamb suspected it to be, the
causes which originated it were in his opinion such as would
undoubtedly affect human and animal health generally.

In 1883-84 under the supervision of the Deputy Sanitary Com-
missioner the work of vaccination was carried on by thirteen
vaccinators with yearly salaries varying from £16 16^. to £28 16«.
(Bs. 168-288). Of the operators twelve were distributed over tha
rural parts of the district, whilst the [thirteenth attended t^ the
work in Ahmadnagar town. Besides these vaccinators the medical
officers of the two dispensaries at Shevgaon and Nevdsa performed
vaecine operations. The total number of operations was 27,895
exclusive of 244 revaccinations, compared with 10,581 primary
vaccinations in 1869-70.

^ Memorandum on the Cat Plague in Ahmadnagar, 1S81, and in Sinuv 168SL

* A similar plague occurred at Simr in Poona in June 1883, when from the 1st to

the 2l8t of the month about 1 25 cats died. The chief symptom noticed was tomitini^

A very similar disease attacked at the same time some oi the cattle at Simr, ohie^

yonnff healthy buffaloes.
^ ' The dead animals were removed by the local mnnicipalitv to a distance from the

city, and buried deep in the ground in the neighbourhood of tl^ municipal tughtaoS

depdt.

Doeean.]

AHMADNAQAR.

585

The following statement shows the sex, religion^ and age of the
persons primarily vaccinated:

Ahmadnagar Vaccination DOaUs, 1869-70 aiwL 1883-84*

Tkai.

PUMONB rtUMARILT YAOGIKATKD.

Sex.

Religion.

Age.

Total.

Malee.

•
FenuUea

HindTis.

Musal-

PAnria.

Chris-
tiaiM.

Others.

Under

One

Year.

Above

One

Tear.

18«-70 ...
1888-84 ...

6681
18,963

4960
18,942

8690
22,677

867
1810

1
6

64
96

1129
8907

4666
20,166

6906
7729

10,681
27,896

In 1883-84 the total cost of these operations, exclusive of those
performed in dispensaries was £626 4«. (Bs. 6262) or about 5|cf.
(3^g as,) for each successful case. The entire charge was made up
of the following items: Supervision and inspection £243 12«.
(Rs. 2436), establishment £368 14^. (Rs. 3687), and contingencies
£13 188. (Rs. 139). Of these the supervising and inspecting charges
were met from provincial funds, while £354 6«. (Rs. 3543) were
borne by the local funds of the different sub-divisions and £28 6«.
(Ks. 283) by the Ahmadnagar municipality.

The total number of deaths shown in the Sanitary Commissioner's
yearly reports, for the thirteen years ending 1883, is 255,212 or an
average mortality of 19,631, or, according to the 1881 census, of
twenty-six in every thousand people. Of the average number of
deaths 12,592 or 64*14 per cent were returned as due to fevers, 2178
or 11'09 per cent to cholera, 513 or 2*61 per cent to small-pox,
1989 or 10*13 per cent to bowel complaints, 180 or 0*91 per cent to
injuries, and 2593 or 1320 per cent to miscellaneous diseases.

An examination of the returns shows that on an average 12,592
deaths or 64*14 per cent of the total number from all causes were
due to fever. As shown below in seven years mortality from this
cause was below the average and in six years above it. Of the
seven years below the average, two years 1871 and 1873 had
between 7000 and 8000 deaths; four years 1872, 1874, 1880,
and 1882 had between 9000 and 11,000 deaths the lowest total
being 9669; and one year 1879 had 12,425 deaths. Of the six
years above the average, three years 1875 1876 and 1881 had
between 12,600 and 13,600 deaths; one year 1883 had 15,606
deaths; and two years 1877 and 1878 had between 19,400 and
20,300 deatha Of the deaths from cholera, which amounted to
23,962 and averaged 2178, 7368 or 30*74 per cent happened in 1883
and 4933 or 20*58 per cent in 1875. The other years above the
average were, 1877 with 2760, 1881 with 2645, and 1878 with 3267
deaths. Of the five years below the average and above 100, 1872
had 1837 deaths, 1876 had 1115, 1871 had 668, 1879 had 186, and
1882 had 182. One year 1880 had eleven deaths ; and two years
1873 and 1874 were free from cholera. Of the deaths from small-
pox, which amounted to 6642 and averaged 513, 2254 or 39*95 per
cent happened in 1872 and 1978 or 35*05 percent happened in 18y7.
Of the four years below the average and above 100, 1873 had 410

s 772-74

Chapter ZII>
Healtii.

Yaccikation.

DSATRS.

[BomlMy OaMUfr

586

DISTRICTS.

GbaptorZII.

Dkatbs.

BiBTHSi

deaths, 1883 liad 362, 1876 had 350, and 1871 had 204 In nm
of the other years were there more than fifty deaths, the loves*.
number being five in 1879, and two years 1880 and 1881 hem
completely free from small-po^ Deaths from bowel complaiota
amounted to 25,858 and averaged 1989. The smallest number of
deaths from bowel complaints in any one of the thirteen years ms
1286 in 1880 and the largest was 2884 in 1877. To injuries were
attributable 2341 deaths in all or an average of 180 ; the number d
deaths varied &om 146 in 1876 to 247 in 1878. Deaths from other
causes varied £rom 1666 in 1878 ta 3649 in 1877 aaad aveieged
2593.

During the thirteen years endiug 1883 the number of births
averaged 20,561, or according to the 1881 census twenty-seven to
the thousand people. The yearly totals vary from 12,113 in 1878 to
29,386 in 1882. The detaUs are ^ :

Ahmadnagar Births and Deaths, 1871 '1883,

YlAB.

DiAnit.

BlftUB.

Obotoim.

Skmll-
pox.

904

2964

410

860

1978

.••

...

862

Fevera.

Bowel

Com-

pl«inti.

Injuries.

Oth^
Caiuei.

AU
GauMi.

i8n ...

1878 ...
1878 ...

1874 ...

1875 ...

1876 ...

1877 ...

1878 ...

1879 ...

1880 ...

1881 ...
1888 ...
1888 ...

Toua ...
Average ...

668

1887

••t

• ••

4088
1116
2760
2867

186

9646

188
7868

7267
10,468
7862
9669
12,068.
18,681
19,484
20,848
12,426
10,642
18,667
10,718
16,606

1776
2072
1636
2029
2641
2498
8884
3167
1481
1886
1709
1868
2477

171
176
188
176
166
146
196
847
201
189
165
166
164

2160
8441
1666
1918
8047
8016
8649
8016
2866
2194
8184
S224
8011

12.286
19,268
11,062
18,800
88,790
80,640
80,891
27.966
16,664
14,102
21,270
14,668
28,968

14,168
12,468
18,868
S8,S90
M,S94
94,487
10,606
18.118
18.968
90,086
24,318
89,886
28,671

28,962

6642

168,694

26,858

2341

8S,7U

866,218

267.296

2178

618

12,692

1988

180

8606

19,681

99^661

1 The death ntnnui are believed to be fairly oorreqt and the birth ntnai ^^
inoomplete.

CHAPTER XIII.

SUB-DIVISIONS.'

.^i|(22@^9 ^^^ most westerly sub-division^ is bounded on the north
by the igatpuri and Sinnar sub-divisions of N4sik^ on the east by
Sangamner, on the south by the Junnar sub-division of Poona^ and
on the west by the Murb^ and Shdh&pur sub-divisions of Th&na
lying in the Konkan below. Its length from north to south is twenty-
seven and breadth from west to east thirty-three miles, its area is
588 square miles^ and it comprises 157 villages. In 18S1 the popu-
lation was 60^800 or 103 to the square mile and in 1882-83 the land
revenue amounted to £7995 (Rs. 79,950).

Of an area of 588 square miles^ 569 have been surveyed in detail.
Of these 8226 acres are the lands of alienated villages. The rest
includes 202,909 acres or 56'93 per cent of arable land; 49^959 acres
or 14*01 per cent of unarable ; 101,312 or 28*42 per cent of forest
reserves ; and 2197 or 0*61 per cent of village sites, roads, and river
beds. From the 202,909 acres of arable land, 12,415 or 6'11 per
cent have to be taken on account of alienated lands in Government
Tillages. Of 190,494 acres, the actual area of arable Government
land, 175,170 acres or 91*95 per cent were in 1882-83 held for tillage.
Of these 170,636 acres were dry crop, 616 acres watered garden,
and 3918 acres rice land.

Akola consists mainly of the two valleys of the Pravara and Mula
rivers which rise on the western edge of the Deccan and flow east-
ward through the Ahmadnagar district. The Pravara valley is at
first of the wildest and most rugged description anSfTor twelve miles
the river flows in a shallow rocky bed, but near the village of Bauda
there is a fall of some 200 feet and for six or eight miles the river
banks are high and precipitous. East of the town of B&jur there is
a general descent of the whole country to the lower level of the river
bed which emerges into an alluvial plain lying between two hill
ranges known as thejiesh of_AkQla. This plain widens out as the
river pursues its easterly course in the direction of Sangamner. The
Mula valley on the contrary preserves its wild character through
BBHT Akola and Sangamner. Besides these two main valleys there
is a snfaller one in the extreme north formed by the river Adala, a
•tributary of the Pravara. This valley is also uneven andHBroKen
by ravines. Near tho village of S4vargaon, fifteen miles from its
source, the Adula, after a fall of 200 feet emerges through a narrow
channel with precipitous rocky sides into the Akola desh and thence
flows ioto the Sangamner sub-division.* *

The dang country or the western half of the sub -division, which
stretches up to and includes the crest of the Sahy&dri mountains,
enjoys a certain and heavy rainfall ranging from 250 inches in the
extreme west to fifty inches near the town of Bdjur. The ddnga

Chapter ZIII.
Sub-Divisions-

Akola.

Area,

Aipeet.

Climafe^

^ Contributed by Mr. T. S. Hamilton, C. S,

' The different ranges of hillB enclosing the valleys ol these three rivers have beea
described with some detail in Chapter I.

Chapter XIII.
8ub-I>iYiBioii8.

A KOLA.

Climate,

Soiin.

CultivaUann

Irrigation^

[Bomliay ChMtm.

588

DISTRICTS.

are considered very feverish np to the end of December. The M
or lov^er country of the east^ however, has a mach more nncertim
and lighter rain. The following statement gives the monthly rab-
fall at Akola during the eleven vears ending 1884 :^

AloUi BaitifiixU, 1874-1884.

MOXTH.

1874.

1876.

1870.

1877.

1878.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1888.

1884.
In.,

•a.

JanoMiy

In.

FebruAiy

lUrcb

April

Hay

June

Jnly

Augfufl

September

October

November
December

Total ...

• ■ •

0-05

• ••

0*07
0*20

• ••

• *•

• ••

* • •

••

• ••

• > •

O'fiO

• ■•

• •«

• « >

«»•

#••

••«

1*01

•«

0*10

• • •

0-90

• • •

• ••

8*82

■ ••

114

0*14

0-84

12*14

s-os

2*48

4-00

0*84

10-80

8*60

1*40

7-61

7*04

6-e8

6*26

6'07

1*08

1216

8-94

4-96

7*01

7*09

2-81

1178

8-86

8-78

1*42

0*11

6-44

8*77

0-47

1*69

1*78

6*6i

J-58

6*66

6*44

0-01

4*80

8*11

1-66

4*82

2*16

10*60

6*76

2*20
012

*••

• • •

• ••
*• •

2*04
0-08

810

• ••

4*84

•••

2*24
0*64

4-96

• ••

« • «

0*66
0H)2

7'W

6U'

• ••

SO-06

20-81

8-98

11*92

30*66

31-88

16*11

18-27

28«

80-6&

The deep alluvial soils on the banks of the Pravara especially those
to the west of the town of Akola are of great fertility. ITie soils
in the Mula valley are for the most part of a light description sod
far less fertile. In the Adnla valley there is a good deal of fertile
land bordering on the river banks. In the ddngs, except the rvy
lands consisting chiefly of artificial terraces formed by throwing
dams of earth and stones across the numerous streams and water-
courses which intersect the country^ the soils are suited only to the
cultivation of the coarser cereals as ndgli Eleusine oorocana, vari or
adva Panicum miliaceum, and khurdsni Verbesina sativa.

These are grown on the hill sides which are prepared by cutting down
and firing brushwood on the spots selected^ the seed being sown in tk
ashes after the first fall of rain. This method of cultiration known
as dalhi has been the ruin of the forests of the Sahyddris and io
Akola alone the area so cultivated falls little if at all short of
30>000 acres annually. When all the brushwood on the hill sides is
exhausted the trees are lopped till at last they assume the appev-
ance when in leaf of green May-poles. In course of time, unahle to
stand this constant lopping they die and are cut down and iftbe
existing state of things continues it can only be a matter of time
when the whole of the ddng country, with the exception of tke
tracts under forest conservancy, will be reduced to a barren Jfas^^
of rock and boulders.^

Surface irrigation from the waters of the Adula and some of tie
minor tributaries of the Pravara is practised to a considerable extent.
Dams of masonry or of stones and clay are thrown across the stream*'
and the water is conveyed thence to the fields by channels some of
whicfi are of great length and constructed with no mean skill. In
the village of Sd.vargaon one such aqueduct very substantially huilt
is said to date from the days of the Musalmdn rule (1318*17^^
Old masonry dams may be seen at Gardani, DhAmangaon, and other
places. Between Shamsherpur and Sdvargaon is a small modern
dam built from local funds. It is contemplated by the Irrigation

1 The rain figures for 1884 throughont are up to October.

^ This state of things has now (1884) been changed. See Agriculture Cbipter*

Peccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR

S89

Department to form a storage tank on the Pravara river with a
view to sopplemeot the existing supply in the Ojhar and L£kh
canals which are fed by masonry dams thrown across the river
further east in the Sangamner and B&huri sub-divisions. The work
lias been sanctioned by the Gove'^nment of India, and will soon be
commenced. The site selected for the proposed tank is a deep
valleyi through which the river flows opening out into the plain at
the village of M&14devi five miles west of the town of Akola. The
dam which is to be of earth and 107 feet high will extend across
the mouth of the valley and thus enclose an immense body of water .^

Ninety per cent of the total cultivated area is under kharif or
early crops of which the chief are bdjri, nagli, and rice. The area
tinder rice in Akola is sixty-five per cent of that in the whole
district.

Of 139,916 acres the actual area under cultivation, grain crops

occupied 102,048 acres or 72*93 per cent, of which 54,265 were under

spiked millet bdjri Penicillaria spicata ; 4101 under Indian millet

jvdri Sorghum vulgare ; 4469 under wheat gahu Triticum BDstivum ;

22,499 under rdgft or ?iac Ani Eleusiue corocana; 5136 under rice

6/ic£^0ryza sativa; 1188 under chenna adva Panicum miliaceum; 49

under maize makka Zea mays ; 12 under kodra or harik Faspalum

Bcrobiculatum ; and 10,324 under other grains of which details are

not given. Pulses occupied 14,477 acres or 10*34 per cent of which

3349 were under gram harb/iara Cicer arietinum ; 3219 under kulith

OT kulthi DolichoQ biflorus; 801 under tur Cajanus indicus ; 1545

under mug Phaseolus mungo; 1259 under udid Phaseolus radiatus;

1434 under peas vdfdna Pisum sativum; 155 under lentils maaur

Ervum lens, and 2715 under other pulses. Oil-seeds occupied 21,838

acres or 15*60 per cent, of which 116 were under gingelly seed til

Sesamum indicum; one under mustard rai Sinapis racemosa; and

21,721 under other oil-seeds. Fibres occupied 240 acres or 0*17

per cent of which 66 were under Bombay hemp san or tag

Crotalaria jnncea; and 174 under brown hemp ambddi Hibiscus

cannabinus. Miscellaneous crops occupied 1318 acres or 0*94 per

cent, of which 636 were under tobacco tambdku Nicotiana tabacum;

175 under chillies mirchi Capsicum frutescens; 297 under sugarcane

ua Saccharum officinarum ; and the remaining 210 under various

vegetables and fruits.

Hhe 1881 population returns show that of 60,800 people
59,579 or 97*99 per cent were Hindus and 1221 or 200 per cent
Musalmdns. The details of the Hindu castes are : 1545 Br^hmans ;
293 Osval M^rwdris, 51 Sans&ri Jangams, 46 Meshri Mdrwdris^
35 Gujardt Jains, 25 Gujardt V^nis, 8 Kunam Vdnis, and 2
Komtis, traders and merchants; 21,821 Kunbis, 562 9Mdlisj
86 Rajputs, and 17 Bangars, husbandmen; 619 Telis, oil-
pressers; 548 Vad&rs, diggers ; 512 Sut^rs, carpenters ; 495 Son&rs,
goldsmiths; 351 Shimpis, tailors; 338 Kumbh&rfl,. potters; 235
Lobars, blacksmiths ; 204 Kdsd>rs, brassmakers ; 144 Beld^rs,
quarrymen ; 28 Sd^lis, weavers ; 21 Kaikadis, basketmakers; 17
Gavandis masons; 10 Tdmbats, coppersmiths; 355 Guravs, priests;

Chapter ZIII.

Sab-Divisions*

Akola.
IrrigcUion,

OropB.

People,

I The sub-divisional stock and holding figures are given under Agriculture.

[Bomliij

590

DISTRICTS.

Chaptar^Xin.

Snb-Diviflioiuu

Akola.

Foada,

454 NM^is, barbers; 195 Parits, washermen; 226 Dltasgan.
cowmen; 46 Ebdtiks, butchers; 1143 YanjariByCararBtt-xnen; IT
Lam&ns, carriers ; 5885 Mh&rs, labourers ; 580 ChimbliArs^ shoe-
makers ; 486 Mdngs^ messengers ; 829 GosAvis, 82 Oondhlis, 1!
Mdnbbdvs, beggars ; 22,110 Kol$, 161 B&mosbis, S3 Bhar&dis, sn^
2 Bdvals, unsettled tribes.

Up to 1870 there were no roads in the sub-dirision nor «nt
practicable cart-tracks except one from Sangamner fourteen mile^
west to the town of Akola. This was extended virest to the town of
Bd.jur in 1874 by the opening np of the Vita pass which leads ipym
the desh up to the dang country. During the 1876-77 famine
labourers were employed on the whole length of the road from Lc^iii
a village eighteen miles east of Sangamner, to lULjur a distance of
forty-three miles. A complete scheme for the improvement of tkii
road including its extension to Bdri, a village about twenty mile^
north-west of fiajur on the Ndsik frontier was prepared, but famine
works being brought to a close before it could be taken in hand, the
necessary funds were subsequently obtained from the district local
funds. The road is now completed and the whole of the rice-producing
district of Akola is thus brought into direct communication with the
markets of Sangamner on the east, and Ghoti, a station on the Great
India Peninsula railway in Nasik,on the north-west. The road enten
the Akola sub-division on the eastern boundary near the village of
Kalas on the Pravara river, nine miles west of Sangamner and aixty-
eight miles north-west of Ahmadnagar; it passes through Akob
seventy-three miles. Vita 79^ miles, Jamgaon eighty-two miles, and
Bdjur eighty-four miles. Thence through a pass in the hills it enters
a tract of country of the most rugged description. Descending to the
village of Rauda, ninety miles, by easy gradients the road crosses the
river Pravara a mile above the falls and a ferry has recently been
established at this point. It then rises gradually to the crest of the
northern range of hills which divides Akola from the adjacent NiUik
sub-division of Igatpuri, passing near the village of Vdki, ninetj-
four miles, and reaching Bdri on the district boundary 100 miles
from Ahmadnagar. The pass or ghat road three miles long leading
down to the plain of Igatpuri, though lying in N^ik, was construct-
ed and is maintained at the expense of the Ahmadnagar local
funds. From its foot a newly made road, ten miles, leads throiij?h
Umbhl^i to the station of Ghoti on the Peninsula railway. The
cart track from Akola towards the market town of Kotul w6ich
lies to the south in the Mula valley, has been from time to time
improved and some parts of it are now in fair order, but the Vdsira
pass leading over the lofty range of hills which divides the Pravara
from the Mula valley is at present (1883) too steep for ladon carts.
By thi» route Kotul is eleven miles from Akola but by the foot
road through Dh^mangaon it is not more than eight miles.
Proposals have been made at difPerent times to extend this road
from Kotul to Brdhmanvdda seven miles further south, and thence
seven miles to the market town of Utur in the Junnar sub-divi-
sion of Poena. During the famine labourers were employed on the
two miles of the pass leading down from Br^manvdda to the lower
level of Junnar, but the woras were stopped before the road

AHMADNAOAR.

591

completed In the north of the snb-diyision there i^ a cart-track from
Akola seren miles north to Devthan, tind thence on to the town of
Sinnar in l^^k. At Devthdn another track leads west up to the
Adula valley and lightly laden carts can be taken with some difficulty
9a far as S^ngvi, eleyen miles. I^ is said that formerly there was a
cart road ap a pass in the northern range, locally known as the
MhaisTaly&cha pass, leading from the village of Asare in Igatpuri to
the foot of the fort of Patta and there are traces of a road from the
top of the pass in that direction bnt it is hardly credible that the
pass itself was ever practicable for wheeled carriages.

The following statement gives a list of the places where weekly
markets are held : ^^^ 3^^^^^

Towir.

Market Day.

Rijnr

Akolft

KotuI ...

(Mondaj.l
iTaeadagr.
Saturday.
Wedaeiday.

The only mannfactnre of any note is that of glass bangles at the
villages of Gardani and Lahit-khard which are made by Telegu-
speaking immigrants from Madras who settled in these villages as
well as in the Sangamner village of Pemgiri many years ago.
The number of workers is at Gardani generally eight and at Lahit
twelve, and the annual outturn is estimated at £90 (Rs. 900) and
£100 (Rs. 1000) respectively. It is said however that the profits
are very small now that there is so general a demand for bilori or
China bangles, which they do not maka Their chief income is
BOW derived from agriculture.

The deeh or plain portion of the Akola sub-division was
surveyed in 1845-47. A maximum dry-crop rate of 4«. (Rs. 2) an
acre was imposed in all the villages of the Pravara valley except
Sheruokhel and Vita where a maximum rate of Ss. 6c!. (Rs. 1 1)
was fixed as also in the villages of the northern valley of the Adula
river. These rates were sanctioned in May 1848. The average
rate on all arable land amounted under this assessment to la. 7id.
(12|^ aa.) an acre against 28, {d. (Rs. 1-^) levied under the old
system. Garden rates varied from 49. to 12«. (Rs.2-6) an acre.
The^onrteen villages transferred to Akola from Junnar in 1866-68
were surveyed in 1849-50. The arable hill land of the ddrigfi of
Akola wa» roughly^ surveyed and classified by the officers of the
revenue department in 1859-60. The mtes imposed varied from
3d. to 9d. (2-6 as.) an acra

Tip to 1860 AkoI& comprised 176 villages, of which 111 were
nnder the charge of a m&mlatd£r stationed at Akola and 65 were
nnder a-mah&lkari stationed at Eotul. On. the general re-disiaibn-
tjon of villages throughout the district in 1860-61 the mahdlkari's
appointment was ah^ishad. At the sama time thirteen villages

Chapter ZIH.
SttlhDivisiooi.'

Akola.
Boadt.

Markets,

OrafU,

Survey.

Changee,

I Ttm iiitrkBt.oiMia«iifiBt:]ioon.oiL MiQBdiqr'aiid.lMfti^tiU.«faoiit-. tb» Mtmt' hoar on

[Bombay

592

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIII.
Sab-Diviflionst

Akola.
Changes.

were transferred to Sangamner and fifteen to Sinnar in NiLsikr
which sab-division was then part of the Ahmadnagar district. In
1866-67 seven villages^ were transferred from the Poona sob-
division of Jannar^ then called Shivner, and in the f olio win gp jeu"
(1867-68) seven other Junnar villages,* previously transferred ty
Sangamner^ were given to Akola m exchange for five Akola village*
transferred to Sangamner. The sub-division^ thus comprising' loT
villages, was transferred to the newly-formed Nasik district in 18^^!^
but retransf erred to Ahmadnagar in the following year (1870).
Of these 157 villages 152 belong to Government and 5 are alienated.
The following is a nominal list showing their distribution in the old
divisions or tarafs :

A kola nUages, 1883.

VlLLAOB.* a

Vara/.

VlLLAeB. 2

Vamf.

VzUiAGB.

Tor^f.

Akola.

Shenit.

NAchanthas,

\^i,\t

Manoharpur.

K&ta].4.par.

Kotnl-Mukundji.

Gardani.

Pimparkane.
Vikr

Sotul-Niine.

^^«sf

Dh&mangaon AWLri.
T&mbhoi.

Cfaftnd Suraj.

j-«l^

Terungan.

V&ghfcpur.l

Tbngaon-Khurd.
Th iigaon-Budrok.
MuthUne.

Ekdara.
P&njra.

Balthan.

De^ gann.

MaveahL

Kombhalne.

Riitanvidl.

Panichv&dL

Kh&n&pur.

Munhet

Phorflandi.

Induii.

Kohodi.

Khadki.

Parkhatpur.

Sbendi.

Pimprt.

Mftl&devi.

Titvl.

VAijgdari.

Kalaa-Khurd

Koltembhe.

Somalvidl.

Pimpalgaon-

Kodnni.

Kohone.

Nikvinda.

Guhira.

Tale,

Nilvande.

Chicbondi.

Kothale.

Unchkhadak-Budk.

9t
>

Kelnnuan.

Ghoti.

ChiUlvedha.

Raoad-Budruk.

SirponJ-Kburd.

Amb6d.

Ranad-Khurd.

P&ohn4i.

Aurangpur.

Varangua.

Ambit.

T&kli.

Mhelvibir.

•^^

Lavhftla.

KAlaa-Budruk.

L&dgaoo.

Sinde.

' \

Bherankhel.

M&legaon.

Sirpui^-Budrak.

Khirvire.

Pendshet

Db&manTan.

Nab&bpar.

P&balvandi.

Gondoahi.

V&gira.

Mutkbel.

Cbinchavane.

SutUnpur.

Ambevangao.

Manikojhar.

Bit&ka.

K&Jtir.

Siavad.

Tirdha.

Bhandirdara.

Savarkote.

Mehonduri.

P&d. Bill.

Vanjulibefc.

Affar.
jMsgaon.

Uddavani.

Vihir.

;

Ghatghar.
Digambar.
Babhulv4dL
S4mrad.

Fklrande.

Donffargaoo.
Dhokart.

Knatev&di.
8&kftxT&dLl
Teaarth&T.

Devlh&n.

Manhera.

Kumahvt.

Nimbr&le.
Somthin.

B&ri.l
Shlnganvftdi.

ShingaovidL

Vita.
Uncbkhadak-Rh.

Wograa.

•N

Oh&s.
Man^'Ale.

KumbephaL

Pimpalgaon Kh&nd.

S&tevftdl.

Shanuirpur.

Paiihan.

Ambbole.

•

Keti.

P&dalne.

Lavb&le.

►^

TtthftkarL

Dh (mangaon-

Shdvaodi.

e»

Hivargaon.

Pitaohi.

"►

Jftmbhle.

Reda.
Rumbbodil

P&ngri.
Abitichind.

KeU.
BelApur.

Vlrgaon.l

)

Lahit-Budnik.

PiS^xpolgaon.
Oanora.

par.

Lahit-Khurd.

Hori.

Keli.

KarandL

BadgL

Kalunb.

[BeUuL

S&vargaon.

Bbolev&di.

■8

Br&hmanrftda.

)

Mb&lungi.
S&Qgvi.

PiaevAdL

Shelad.
Plmpaldari.

Lingdev

■^ In this list villagea with 1 after their names are alienated.

1 The seven Tillages are Lavb^e, Br^many&da» Saterildi, Shelvandi, Esnndi,
Keli, and Ambhole.
* The names are lingdev, Badgi, Kalamb, ManyiUe, JAmbhle, BelApnr, and CSiis.

AHMADNAGAB.

593

Ja>*lIik|lQd in the south-east corner of the distriot consists of
groups of villages and isolated villages surrounded by the Niziim^s
territory. Its total area is 482 square miles and it comprises seventy-
seven villages. In 1881 the population was 60,960 or 126 to the
square mile, and in 1882-83 the land revenue amounted to £7496
(Us. 74,960).

Of an area of 482 square miles, 423 have been surveyed in detail.
Of these 1 6,950 acres are the lands of alienated villages. The rest
includes 181,772 acres or 71*52 per cent of arable land; 29,343
acres or 11*54 per cent of unarable ; 544 or 0*21 per cent of grass
or kuran; 38,436 or 15*12 per cent of forest reserves; and 4045
or 1*59 per cent of village sites, roads, and river beds. From the
181,772 acres of arable land, 15,540 or 8*54 per cent have to be
taken on account of alienated lands in Government villages. Of
166,282 acres, the actual area of arable Government land, 161,206
ascres or 96*97 per cent were in 1882-83 under tillage. Of these
158,641 acres were dry-crop and 2565 acres were watered garden
land.

Of thirty-seven villages forming the largest group of villages, the
J&mkhed tarnf^ thirty-three are situated in tne valley of the Sina and
ft ur on th^B^Ia|^t, an elevated table-land almost Hare ot trees
formed b^m^^ominy oat of the Nagar range of hills. This table-
land which stretches far east towards Haidarabad gradually subsiding
to the general level of the Deccan is watered by the^MAnjra river
a tributary of the Ood&vari. These villages diflferTSuPliwie in
appearance from those of the Karjat sub-division on the other side
of the Sina river. There are some level tracts otmunjal or reddish
soil bat the greater part of the soil is of a poor description and there
are many low hilly ridges of mdl or npland. The B^l^ghat range
throws out several smaller spars on the slopes of which rise streams
which parsae a north-westerly course till they fall into the Sina.
In a ravine five miles north-east of the town of J&mkhed are the
beaatiful faUs of the Inchama, 219 feet in height. Borle the
remaining village in the Jdmkhed taraf lies detached from the main
group and a little to the south of itA Higher up the valley of the
Sina are threesmaller groups containmg four, one, and five villages
respectively .^^e rest of the villages in the sub-division lie between
the Bdldghdt and the Shevgaon boundary in the valley of the V
Sinphana also a tributary of the God^vari. These, being for the most ^
« part situated in fertile well watered valleys formed by the numerous
spurs which jut out northward, are decidedly the best in the sub-
division. Mango and other trees being abundantly dotted over the
fields, the villages present a varied and pleasing aspect

The soils of J^mkhed are generally of a light texture an^ easily
worked. In the Sina valley, however, stiff deep soil is met with, but
on the BiUghdt the soil is of a tolerably good description. In the
Mdnur villages, those in the valley of the Sinphana clustering about
the Nis&m's town of M^nur to which they were formerly attached,
the soil varies exceedingly, being in some parts poor and in others
deep and rich.

As regards climate the J^mkhed villages are favourably situated,
being for the most part in the neighbourhood of highhiUs which ensure
B 772-75

Chapter^XlII.
Sub-Uviflioni.

Ji-MKHID.

Area*

Atpect^

I C

Soil.

Climate,

[Bombay Chuettair.

594

DISTRICTS.

Gliapter_ZIII.
Sab-DiviiionB.

Ji.MKHBD.

ClimaU,

CnUivatioH.

Crop;

a plentiful supply of rain. In this respect the sub-dirision generallj
possesses superior advantages to the open parts of bhevgaon, Nag&r.
Karjat^ or Shrigonda. Those villages, however, which lie towards
the tSioa river where the rainfall in somewhat uncertain are leaa
favoured than those on the B4Kghdt and in the valley of tlie
SinphaDa beyond. J^mkhed sutfered but slightly in the fHCdine of
1876-77. The following table gives the raiiiall during the eleren
years ending 1884 :

Jdmkhed Bain/aU, 1874-1884.

IfOKTB.

1874.

1876.

1877.

1876.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

1888.

1884.

la.

In.

JftnuMy

• ■

• * «

0-61

. • •

• ••

0-lT

Vthrvmry

0-28

■ • •

0-06

...

019

«••

• ••

«•-

March

■ • •

0-80

0*09

• •■

« * •

•••

••■

■ —

April

1*68

0-52

0*22

0-80

• «•

• ••

it I

• ••

094

May

090

0-78

0*08

0*80

1-68

1-48

119

»«•

0-ltf

June

5-41

2-96

3*04

7M.8

6-96

4-93

2-52

T-bT

13-sO

1005

li»

July

7-99

2-78

1-87

1«6

7-96

8M)

6-61

2-oe

2-60

fr:7

4-a

August

0-67

6-27

8-2^

6-V4

B-81

7-84

1-98

399

1-V7

14 -8:1

5«&

September ..

14-04

^•ao

0*84

6-81

9-17

0-48

8-89

627

13-86

7-«T

6-Sl

October

l-:>6

0-61

0*04

6-47

612

i'2&-

2-24

0*^

• • >

8*71

2-30

November ...

0-88

0*04

• ■•

OMO

0-26

U22

6-79

3'3l

0*64

0'43

• •«

December

Total ...

82-50

* • ■

• ••

0-61

• ••

• •«

• ••

27-88

•««

o-m

•••

• »•

24-28

8-81

28-67

39 86

20*66

24<(M

81 '98

44-60

80-83

In the hiil villages early crops are principally grown and in tlie
open country late crops. On the B&ldghdt both descriptions of
crops are grown about equally.

In the Mdnur villages arboriculture is extensively practised sod
as the climate and soil are both fav.^urable to the growth of mango
trees the results are most satisfactory. Manure is used for both dij
and irrigated crops^ bat the ground being hilly, carts cannot be
much used^ and the expense of conveying it by bullocks or labonrere
tends naturally to restrict its use to the vicinity of villages. In the
Sina valley manure is very little used.

Of 181^144 acres the actual area under cultivation, grain crops
occupied 96,805 acres or 7«S*8i per cent, of which 54,560 were uvder
fipiked millet 6a;W Penioillaria spicata ; 84,5 i4 under Indian miUeS
jvdri Sorghum vulgare; 5095 under wheat gahu Triticum wstivnn);
935 under rice bhdt Oryza sativa ; 73 under chenna mva Panicoin
miliaceum ; 40 under maize fnakka,ZeB, mays; 416 under Italian
millet rdln or kdng Panicum italicum ; 200 under kodra or harih
Paspalum scrobiculatum ; and 942 under other grains of ^ich
details are not given. Pulses occupied 15,542 acres or 11 '85 p«r
cent, of which 8449 were under gram AtirifcaraCicerarietinum; 8^68
under kulith or huithi Dolichos bifloruB ; 4493 under tur Cajso^*
indicus; 1192 under mvg Phaseolus radiatus; 223 under W^
Phase^lus mungo; 11 under peas "vdiana Pisum sativum; 107 uoder
lentils wasur Krvum lens, and 2199 under other pulses, Oil-8^^^
occupied 11,124 acres or 8*48 percent, of which 1496 were nnder
gingelly seed til Sesamum indioum ; 858 under linseed ahhi Linum
usitatissimum ; and 8770 under other oil-seeds. Fibres occupied
6643 acres or 506 per cent, of which 4972 were under cotton kay^
Gossypium herbaceum; 1666 under Bombay hemp nan or i<^9
Crotalaria juncea, and 5 under brown hemp amhddi Rihiscus
cannabinus. Miscellaneous crops nrrnpied 1080 acres or 0*78 P^^

AHMADNAGAR.

595

centp of wtii^^Ii 242 were under tobacco tambdku Nicotiana tabacnm ;
464 under chillies m/rc/ti Capsicuin fratescens; 196 under sugarcane
^is Saccharnm officinarum^ and the remaining 128 under various
vegetables and fruits.

The 1881 papulation returns show that of 60,960 people 57,764 or
94-'75 per cent were Hindus and 3196 or 5'24 per cent Musalm^ns.
The details of the Hindu castes are : 2573 Brahmans; 12 E&jasth
Prabhus, writers; 1559 Osval M&rw&ris, 880 Sansari Jangams, 304
Ktinam Vanis, 77 Gujarat V^nis, 47 Meshri M^rw^ris, and 88
Gujarat Jains, traders and merchants ; 28,770 Eunbis, 1711 Mdlis,
156 Rnjputs, and 10 Bangars, husbandmen ; 995 Koshtis, weavers ;
754 Son&rs, goldsmiths; 691 Sutdrs, carpenters; 636 Kas4rs,
brass-makers ; 633 Shrmpis, tailors ; 608 Telis, oil-pressers ; 459
Kombhdrs, potters ; 358 Lobars, blacksmiths ; 214 Salis, weavers;
165 T^mbats, coppersmiths; 120 Yaddrs, diggers; 110 Nirdlis,
iadigo-dyers ; 108 Saltangars, tanners ; 76 Kaikddis, basket-makers ;
68 Ghis&dis, wandering blacksmiths ; 64 Lingdyat Buruds, basket-
makers; 56 Beld^rs, quarrymen; 34 Jingars, saddle-makers; 17
Otaris, casters; and 8 Londris, lime-burners; 237 Guravs, priests;
6 Ghadshis, musicians ; 714 Nh^vis, barbers ; 334 Parits, washermen;
3 '{76 Dhangars, cowmen ; 46 Gavlis, cow-keopers ; 6 Khdtiks,
batchers; 6815 Vanjaris, caravan-men; 157 Bhois, fishers; 4180
Mh&rs, labourers ; 2302 M&ngs, messengers ; 942 Chdmbhars, shoe-r
makers; 160 Dhors, tanners; 280 Gos&vis, 113 Gondhlis, 85
Kolh&tis, 66 Takiris, 64 Joshis, 41 M^nbh&vs, 32 Uopals, 20
Bhorpis, and 8 Mairals, beggars; 287 Kolis, 91 Tbakurs, 45
Bliarddis, 30 Tirm&lis, 26 B&vals, and 5 R&moshis> unsettled tribes.

The Jdrakhed-Ahmadnagar road forty-six miles leaving JiLmkhed
enters the Nizam's territory at a distance of two miles, and passing
up through the town of Ashti eleven miles from J4mkhed again
enters British territory near the town of Kade> distant twenty milea
After leaving the village lands of Kade the road agooii enters the
Niz&m's territory and finally passes into the Nagar sub-division
near the village of Athvad thirty mites aorth^west of Jdmkhed. The
large town of Kharda twelve miles south-east of J^mkhed is connected
with it by a road which f>asses through B^pri five miles south-east of
J&mkhed. Of a somewhat rough road connecting J^mkhed wiUi the
Shol&pur town of Karmala on the south, seven milps lie in. the sub-
dividion. Anotherroadgenerally known aa the Kharda-Kashti road
« rt^^s from Jam^khed w:est through, the village of. Pdtoda 5^ miles, and
Arangaon ton miles, thence through IJ, miles of the Nizam's terri-
tory to the Sina river and across into the Karjat sub-division. None
of these roads are in veny good order.

The following is a staiiement of towns and villages where«weekl]^.
markets are. held : Jdmhhed Marbeu.

Pl>AI&

Jhj.

PL^IHL

D»y.

Shanlft

Akolner
noDgwklahi ...

JAmkhed

Taekd«y.

SfttUQUJ.

Sunday.
Saiuraay.

Slrur

TftkU

ArangmoB
Sirmmmrg ...
Bhaqgaon -.

Tnaadaj.

ThuradAj.

SuniUy.

Monday.

Thundaj.

Chapter ZIII.

Subriviflions.

Jamxbkd.

People,

Road4»

MMrhsU.

[Bombay OasettHr.

596

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIII.
Sub-Divisioiis.

JImkuxd,
Markets,

Trade.

Orcifts.

Survey.

The principal market town of Kbarda is attended not only hj tb
villagers in the neighbourhood bat by traders from distant parts ofik
country, and the live stock offered for sale is said to be of a tsore
extensive and varied character than can be found elsewhere intbe
district. The hilly villages in th^^Sinphana valley are not so well
situated with respect to external markets as those in the more open
valley of the Sina. On acconnt of the rugged natnre of the groond
carts cannot be used, and, with the exception of the very diflScuIt line
from M&nnr by the N4gthali pass to the Niz&m's town of Ashti,
there has nntil lately been no exit from this valley. The ascent to
the B41dgbdt at Pimpalvandi and descent to Moho in the direction of
Jdmkhed and Kharda have however now been made practicable for
carts, though much still remains to be done to render communication
uninterrupted at all times of the year. Still, though these Sinphans
villages are thus somewhat badly situated with regard to exterior
markets^ they are generally thriving and contain a fairly large trad-
ing and manufacturing population.

The villages in the main group have tolerably good roads botli
north in the direction of Ahmad nagar and west and south towards
the Peninsula Railway. But all the Jdmkhed villages generally suffer
under the disadvantage of being surrounded by the Niedm's terri-
tory as all imports and exports conveyed through it are subject to
the payment of transit duties.

In the town of Kharda 269 looms are worked. In other towoa
and villages of the sub-division the looms aggregate 180 in number.
The manufacture is principally of coarse cotton stuffs^ as turbans and
women's robes. English thread is not much used. In several of the
larger villages are brass and copper smiths. At Dongarkinhi is a
small colony of Telugu-speaking immigrants from Southern India
who make glass bangles ; the kilns are three and the workmen abctut
twenty in number and they turn out when in full work aboot
200 pounds (2^ mans) of bangles daily valued at |^.apouiMl (Ba.U
a man). Before th^ days of forest conservancy these bangle-makers
carried on a very brisk trade. Owing however to restrictions recent-
ly imposed they are now obliged to purchase wood for their kilns
which they formerly cut from the forests free of charge and the
industry is in consequence somewhat depressed.

Survey rates were introduced in 1852-53 into the fifty-nine
Government villages then comprised in the sub-division. These
were divided for assessment purposes into three gronps. The
first consisting of three villages on the Bti&gh^t and tweotj-
three villages in the Sinphana valley between the Bdlaghat and
the Sbevgaon boundary, on which the maximum dry-crop rate
of 28. %d. (Rs. l^) an acre was fixed. The second group consisted of
twelve villages below the BaUghdt in the valley of the Sina oa
which the maximum rate was 2^. Sd. (Rs. 1|) an acre. The third
group consisted of three villages also in the valley of the Sina^ but
nearer than those in the second group to the Karjat boundary on
the west, and on these the maximum rate was fixed at Is. 9dL (U ^')
an acre. The average incidence of these rates on all cultivated
lands was lOirf. (7 as.) an acre or a reduction of twenty-eight per

Daooaii.]

AHMADNA6AB.

697

csent from the average of the rates paid prior to the settlement. On
lands irrigated from wells maximum rates of 68, (Rs. 8) and 6«. Sd.
(Rs. 2f) were imposed, and on lands irrigated from watercourses the
maximum was 10«. (Rs. 5) an acre, the a7erage incidence on both
kinds beiug 3^. 8^(i. (Bs. 1}|) an abre.

Most of the Jimkhed villages were acquired from the Peshwa in
1818-19. Six of them, however, including the towns of J4mkhed
and Eharda were subsequently received from the Nizdm, five in
1821-22 and one in 1845-46. The sub-division was more than once
attached to and again separated from Karmala, an adjacent sub-
division now in the Shol^pur district, the final separation taking
place in 1835-36, In 1851-52 Jdmkbed consisted of fifty-nine Gov-
ernment and sixteen alienated villager In 1861-62, the Nagar
village of Khilad, which was surrounded by J&mkhed villages, was
added, together with Devi-Nimgaon an alienated village in Korfci
also geographically belonging to J^mkhed. In 1879 the alienated
village of R&jnri lapsed to Government leaving the sub-division as
at present constituted with sixty-one Government and sixteen alien-
ated villages a nominal list of which is given below :

Jdmkhed VUlages, 188S.

VlIiLAOB.*

Jimkhed.

KhMtUk

LonI

Plmpftlgaon Uoda.

Sonegaon.

Sirur.

OhodcffaoD.

Pimp»Ig»on Alvl.

fUola.

Nahuli.

B4odkh«d«k.

B41g»vh&ii.

V&kl.

Jbikari

P&dll.

B&vl.

S&'igirl.

Moho.

84kftt

KhurdnltiuL

D«vdaitna.

J&tegfton.

TelangsL

Apli.

Bhimuigaon.

Ku«lftinb.

KoaftdgMn.

lUJuri.

RaiTi&par. 1

Tairt^.

ViUi4ei.

■mm

KhtodTl.l

Dhondpargfton.!

Borlel

Sateih&l.l

Mohori.l

Dighol.1

Naygaon.l

Tamdg»oii.l

Amalner.

P mpalvandi.

aomAlvade.

Bikih«abhaTmn,

Simr.

Bh&lgnon,

T&nklL

Chi'>chparIJde.

VadgAon.

Midnngvl.

MangMWkde.

Domri.

Nirgundu

DongarkiohL

Pfcnjrt.

N&1< aodi.

Pimpalgion dhML

JongaOD.

Tantf,

^^t

VOLAtfl.

Arri.

Munhatpar.

Khokarmobo.

Chinohpar Ptogal.

Plmpal(non tapa.

Tlnkhadl.l

Siiasmaiy.l

Kad«.

Doiigaigaon.

Diingaon.

ArangaoD.

Pftto&.

Sheii-khuid.!

Devi Nimgaon.!

Khilad.

Tartff.

BidatogrLl

Bramhgaon.
Hajipiir.
Mirj&piir.
Bhalavni.

AlhanvadLl

B&U-
gb&t.

RidiL

* In thi« list vDlagM with 1 after their Qames are alienated.

Chapter XIIL
Sub-DivisionS'

JiMKflXD«

ChangtM.

B^arjat, the southernmost sub-division is bounded on the
nortn-east by the Nizam's dominions, on the south-east by ESrm^
a sub-division of Sholdpur, on the south-west by Bhimthadi a
sub-division of Poena, and on the north-west by Shrigonda. Its
length and breadth are about thirty -four miles each. Jt com-
prises eighty-two villages and has an area of 580 square miles. In
1881 the population was 34,820 or sixty to the square mile, and
in 1882-83 the land revenue was £5,582 (Rs. 55,820).

Kabjat,

IBomlHij OftHttK

598

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIII*
Bab-DiviBioiiB.

Kabjat.
Area,

•afpceC

MWCTBm

Water.

Of an area of &80 sqaare miles^ 558 have been Enrveyed it
detail. Of these 50,375 acres are the lands of alienated villages. Tbd
rest includes 222,219 acres or 72*34 per cent of arable land, 37,(HH
acres or 12*24 per cent of nnarable ; 24 or 0*007 per cent of grass
or kuran; 41,383 or 13*47 per Qeut of forest reserves; and 595d
or r93 per cent of village sites, roads, and river beds. From the
222,219 acres of arable land, 14,124 or 6'35 per cent have to
be taken on account of alienated lands in Goverument villages. Of
208,095 acres, the actual area of arable Government land, 167;278
acres or 80*38 per cent were in 1882-83 under tillage. Of these
165,142 acres were dry-crop and 213G acres were watered garden hv.i

A chain of low hills with broad flat summits, a prolongatiou of
one branch of the range which strikes ofE from the Sahv^Hi
at Harishchandragad, traverses the sub-division from north-
west to south-east, forming a ridge dividing it into two toleiablv
eoual parts. The highest point on this chain near the village of
Kaund^na in the north-west known as Mhasoba's plateau or pnihar
has an elevation of 2398 feet, or 500 feet above the surrounding
country ; that in the south-east near the village of Alsunda is 2172 feet
Gradually decreasing in height, the chain of hills passes iuto the
Sholdpur district where it subsides into the general level of the
country. The streams which have their source on the eastern slopes
of these hills flow into the Sina river, those rising on the western
slopes flow into the Bhima! There are but few trees in the sob-
division, and owing to the large proportion of rocky and nnprofitabk
ground almost destitute of vegetation, the country generally presents
a most dismal appearance. Large tracts of sterile and rugged
ground are covered with boulders or large loose pieces of stone.
Here and there however are level tracts, some of considerable extent
where the soil is deep and rich and there are also a few patches of
well cultivated garden land which contrast pleasantly with the drj
and stony wastes around.

The Sina river forms for twenty-eight miles almost oontinuoosl/
the boundary of the sub-division on the north-east, separatiDg it
from the Nizam's territory, and the Bhima forms for nineteen mi'es
on the south-west the boundary with the adjacent district of Poena.
The Lpkhdra with its tributary the Khos^ra and the Nandi ^th
its tributary the Belora are the principal streams which draio the
western half of the sub-division. The LokhAra rises on tb« l''»
slopes north of the village of Sinde and falls into the Bhima neftr •
the village of Bhambora, north of the town of Khed, after a ioutb-
westerly course of twenty miles. The Nandi rises north of the
town of Karjat and falls into the Bhima near the village of Bibhul-
gaon after a course of about the same length. The Dukri and j^^
Khanauri drain the eastern half of the sub-division. The Dukri rises
near the village of Bhose and flows east and north-east into t^e Si^
passing by the town of Mirajgaon. The Khanauri rises north ot
the town of Karjat which it passes and then turning to the soath-esst
enters the SboUlpur district falling into the Sina a short distaiK^
below the town of Karmala, after a course of twenty-five milea.

The water-supply of the sub-division is indifferent on the vWe

Deoean.]

AHMADNAGAR.

599

thoagli in some favoared spots as near Alsunda water is found near
the surface. Towards the Bhima the wells are very deep.

In the neighbourhood of the central range of hills the soil is of the
poorest description. Towards theJBhima river it is chiefly a deep
stiff clay munjal abundant in stones ; in the Sina valley though not
differing materially in texture it contains fewer stones. In the
south-east near the towns of Karjat and Koregaon there are lighter
soils of a better description but taking it as a whole the sub-division
is a very poor one.

The rainfall is extremely uncertain and good harvests are rare.
The following statement gives the rainfall during the eleven years
ending 1884:

Karjat Rain/aU, 1874- 188 2 .

MOSTB.

1874.

187d.

1876.

1877.
In.

1878.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

1888.

1884.

In.

Jumaxy

• • •

• •■

• ■■

0*80

• ■•

• •*

• ■ •

■ ••

• • •

■ ••

• ••

FebruAiy
Marofa

0-05

• ••

0-60

• ••

...

• ••

• •«

• ■•

»••

««•

• ••

• • •

• ••

••

• ■ •

• ■•

• «•

AprU

■ ••

0-80

• ••

0-A8

• ■•

*••

• ••

• • •

«••

• ••

M«y

1-20

«•«

• « «

• • •

• • ■

1*00

1*16

• • •

0*60

2*40

• ••

June

4-90

8-46

e-15

10-79

1*18

8*44

1*96

6*41

4*20

13*^0

2*18

July

460

1*10

•••

0*43

11*81

8*16

2*?7

1*74

1-87

1*26

2*83

August

• • •

ft-Sd

•••

4*96

8*44

5*48

0*60

8*62

7*i8

7*07

3*87

flepUmber ...

ireo

8-80

O-M

9-87

4*68

006

10*48

6*69

17-36

10*10

2*A0

October

a*20

• ••

»••

3*26

8*01

8*06

4*121

1*14

0*10

896

1-71

November ...

0*36

• •■

•*•

0*40

1-14

0-(S6

8*60

2*76

0*80

QTM

• ••

December ...
Total ...

•«•

• ••

0*69

• ••

««»

•••

• ••

0*41

>■•

• ••

S4-80

li'do

6-70

aooo

80-74

22*47

2419

31*36

8rll

88*28

18-2

Of 1 1 5,749 acres the actual area under cultivation, grain crops
occupied 87^310 acres or 75*43 per cent^ of which 23^654 were under
spiked millet bdjri Penicillaria spicata ; 60^408 under Indian millet
jvdri Sorghum vulgare; 2194 under wheat ^a^u Triticum SBstivum;
six under rdgi or ndchni Eleusine corocana; 244 under rice bhdi
Oryza sativa ; 154 under cbenna sdva Panicnm miliaceum ; 61 under
maize makka Zea mays; 18 under barley jav Hordeum hexastichon;
and 571 under other grains of which details are not given*
Pulses occupied 14,992 acres or 12*95 per cent, of which 2969 were
under gram harbhara Cicer arietinum ; 7339 under kulith or kulthi
Dolichos biflorus ; 2240 under tur Cajanus indicus ; 454 under mug
Phaseolus radiatus ; one under vdld Pbaseolus mungo, one under
peas vdidna Pisum sativum ; and 1988 under other pulses. Oil-seeds
occupied 10,384 acres or 8*97 per cent, of which 611 were under
gingelly seed til Sesamum indicum; 413 under linseed aUhi Linum
nsitatipsimum j and 9360 under other oil-seeds. Fibres occupied
2149 acres or 1'85 per cent, of which 277 were under cotton kdpua
Oossypium herbaceum, and 1872 under Bombay hemp san qf tag
Crotalaria juncea. Miscellaneous crops occupied 914 acres or 0*78
per cent, of which 199 were under tobacco tambdku Nicotiana
tabacum ; 401 under chillies mirchi Capsicum frutescens ; 184 under
sugarcane us Saccharnm officinarum ; 11 under hemp gdnja
Cannabis sativa, and the remaining 119 under various vegetables
and fruits.

The 1881 population returns show that of 34,820 people 33,488 or
96'] 7 per cent were Hindus and 1332 or 3*82 per cent Masalm&ns.

Chapter XIII.
Snb-Divisions.

Kabjat.
Soil.

Rai^faXL

Crops.

People.

[Bomliay QaultaK

Chapter 3Cin-
Sub-DiviBioiif.

Kasjat.
People,

Roads,

MarkeU,

600

DISTRICTS.

The details of the Hindu castes are : U65 Brilimana ; 4 Kiy^l
Prabhus, writers ; 1002 Osval MarwAris and 210 Sansari Jangami,
traders and merchants ; 14,375 Kunbis, 2076 Malis, 218 Bajpuu,
and 11 Bangars, husbandmen; 478 Telis, oil-pressers ; 397 Sonin,
goldsmiths; 343 SutArs, carpenters; 304 8hiinpis, tailors; t>i
Kumbhfirs, potters ; 232 Koshtis, weavers ; 185 LohArs, blacksmithj;
172 Vadars, diggers; 113 SAlis, weavers; 106 Kitears, brass-
makers; 86 Qavandis, masons; 71 Kaikddis, basket-makera ; 36
LingAyat Buruds, basket-makers ; 24 TAmbats, coppersmiths ; 22
Ghis^is, wandering blacksmiths; 17 NirAIis, indigo-dyers; IC
LonAris, lime-burners ; 1 1 Jingars, saddle-makers ; and 3 Otiris,
casters; 176 Guravs, priests; 35 Ghadshis, musicians; 4i3 NWvi?,
barbers; 214 Parits, washermen; 4084 D hangars, cow-men ; l73
Gavlis, cow-keepers ; 130 Vanjaris, caravan-men ; 40 Bhois, fishers;
2402 Mhirs, labourers ; 1661 Mangs, messengers ; 66 i Chimbhars,
shoemakers; and 232 Dhors, tanners; 91 Gosivis; 67 TakAris, 71
Joshis, 87 Chitrakathis, 18 Gondhlis, and 6 Gopils, beggars;
304 Kolis, 262 lUmoshis, 111 Bhar^dis, 41 TirmAlis, and 11 Bivak,
unsettled tribes.

Twenty-six miles of the local fund road from iLhmadnagar to
Karmdla lie in the Karjat sub-division. This road has a direction
generally parallel to the river Sina. The only place of importance
on it is the town of Mirajgaon thirty-two miles south of Abmadnagar,
At the twenty-third mile is a branch road running south to the town
of Karjat and thence through EAsin to the DiksAl station on the
Peninsula Railway distant twenty-five miles from Karjat and five
miles south of the Bhima river. The road from Karjat to Shn-
gonda, the adjacent sub-divisional town on the west, is twenty-
two miles. It passes through the villages of Vadgaon- tampora roor
miles and Kuldharan ten miles, and enters the Shrigonda
sub-division at the fourteenth mile. About twenty miles of the
Kharda-KAshti road lie in the Karjat subdivision, entering from tw
JAmkhed sub-division at a point on the banks of the Sina nver
about twelve miles north-east of B[arjat. This road crossea the
KarmAla road at the village of Jalgaon and passing west throagb
the villages of Ghincholi-Kdld&nt andValvad, enters the Shrigond*
sub-division near the village of Bui-gavhan.

The following statement gives a list of the places wbere weeklv
markets are held : i^arjat Markets. •

Placb.

DV.

Mirajgaon

Karjat

R&aiQ

Wednesday.

Sarurday.

Tuesday.

Of these the principal one is at Mirajgaon a town belonging ^
the NimbAlkar family and is largely attended by dealers in g«»'°j
cloth, and livestock. R^in is a somewhat decayed town once oj
considerable importance belonging to the family of KAvi Jang; »"°
neither at lULsin nor at Karjat are the transactions extensive oroi
more than local interest. In good seasons grain and vegetable oik
are exported to Ahmadangar, Poena, and elsewhere. The import

AHMADNAQAB.

601

&re the nstial necessaries of lif e^ salt, raw-sngar or gul, and rice, but
tlie general poverty of the inhabitants does not admit of a very
brisk trade being carried on even in such articles.

There are about 135 looms worked in the sab-division, principally

in the market towns of Karjat, B^n, and Mirajgaon for the mano-

f actare of a coarse strong cloth ancf woollen blankets which are sold

locally. With this exception there are no manufactures worthy of note.

Sarvey rates were first introduced in 1852-53. For assessment

purposes the sixty-eight Oovernment villages of Korti which are

now in Karjat were divided into three classes. The first class

comprised eight villages in the Sina valley in the extreme north of

the sub-division where the maximum dry-crop rate imposed was 2s.

(Be. 1) an acre. The second comprised thirteen villages also in the

8ina valley, but south-east of those in the first class^ and on these a

maximum rate of 1 5. 9d, (14 aa,) an acre was imposed. With these was

also included one village on the opposite side of the hills and in the

valley of the Bhima. The third class embraced two groups one of

nineteen villages still further down the Sina valley and the

other of twenty-seven villages in the Bhima valley on which a

maximum dry-crop rate of l^. 6(2. (12 as,) an acre was fixed.

The average incidence of these rates, 6|(2. (4^ as.) an acre on all

cultivated lands is about eighteen per cent lower than that of the

average rates paid prior to the introduction of the survey.

Karjat suffered very severely in the 1876-77 famine when many
villages were entirely deserted. The cultivators, owing to a long
succession of bad harvests, are wretchedly poor and nearly all
heavily in debt. The soil is for the most part very unproductive
and the rainfall is extremely uncertain. Under such circumstances
prosperity can hardly be expected. The Karjat sub-division is, in
fact> one of the poorest tracts in the Deccan.

The villages now forming Karjat were for the most part originally
in the old sub-division of Korti which, in 1851-52, consisted of 137
villages, 106 Government and thirty-one alienated, under the
management of a m&mlatd^r stationed at Karjat and a mabdlkari
stationed at Korti. In 1859 nine outlying villages were transferred
to Karm&Ia now in Sholdpur, one to Jdmkhed, and one to Shevgaon.
In 1861*62 the mahdlkari's appointment was abolished and all the
villages, except those which were transferred to Sirur in place of
others received, were placed under the mdmlatd&r, the name of the
sub-division being changed to Karjat. In 1866-67, when the Sirur
' sub-division was abolished, forty-four of its villages were added to
Karjat which parted with sixteen of its southernmost villages to
Karm&la ; the total number of 159 villages were then formed into
the Shrigonda sub-division, Karjat becoming the station of a
mah41kari subordinate to Shrigonda. This arrangement lasted till
1868-69 when eighty-two of the villages were made into a separate
sub-division with its head-quarters at Karjat. Of these eighty-two
villages seventy-two now belong to Government and ten are
partially or wholly alienated.

The principal jdgirddra are the Nimb&lkar family and the
descendants of K&vi Jang, the commandant of the fort of
Ahmadnagar, through whose treachery it fell into the hands of the
Peshwainl7S9.

• 772— 7t

ChapterXm.
Sub-Divisions.

Kabjat.
Cra/ti.

Survey,

Cc/ndUion.

Changes*

[Bondrngc

602

DISTRICTS.

ChapterZm.
Sub-Divisioni.

Karjat,
Chamgea,

ROPABOAOir.

Area.

Aiped,

Soil

The foUowiog is a nominal list of the villages wUdi
which of the ancient tarafa each belonged :

Karyat YiOagea, 1883.

ViuaaB.*

Tar^f.

KaiJAt.

Chande-Khurd.

Dlka&l.

Hingaonon.

Ambi-Jugaon.

Banidffaoa.

AUunde.

KhiitgMiD-vighk

Mftlthan.

Bibhulgaon.

Supe.

Dvmon.

Knlqharmn.

DudlMdL

BelvandL

Berdl.

Ntmga*n-dttni.

Chaade-Budnik:.

Slddhtek.!

MiJangLl

Obomil

Ravalnoo.

Chiiieboli-rftTnjftn.

Niogaon-gaagMda.

Nagamthan.

YlLLAa\

Mahl.

Belgami.

KbandTL

KokangaoB.

M&ndii

Theiiraon.

Guro-pimprl.

Jalgaon.

Oodardl.

KauDdana.

TUchUl

Minijgaoii.1

NimbodL

Patev&dl.

Koregaon.

Kbod.

Bb&mbore.

Slnde.

Ch&padgaon.

Loni-niMadpiir.

Dighi.

Fanchoplmpale.

TUcli-kbaodadivail.

Bibbulgaon.!

Kbandie.1

Pategaon.l

Jalilpar. I

BingarhiiLl

Tarqf,

YlLLAQS.

TtialaA

KarpadL

Sipore.

Akbooi.

TeaaTdL

BhAradcaoo-dagdL

TalavaoL

RakflhABTadtBvdrak

R&kahasradl-Khoid

DbalavadL

Plmpaindi.

Kopardi.

NAndgaoo,

VadgaoQ-taupDiiL

TherriaiL

Kolv&di.

Kuinb«phal.

Nimbe.

CbUTidi.

BenvadL

Kombball.
Bboae.

aebekarl.
TaiadRaon.
fiftlan^.
NagalTidL

•

}

Kavda

foQr

* In this Urt ▼UlagcB with 1 after tbeJr nam— are alienated.

SftPflflPilift" ' ^^^ niost northerly sub-division^ is bounded on
the north by the Ndsik sub-division of Yeola, on the oast by the
Nizam's territory^ on the south-east by Nev^a^ on the south by
B£huri and Saugamner^ and on the west by Sangamner and
the Sinnar sub-division of Kdsik. Its length and breadth are about
twenty-seven miles each and it comprises 125 villages in an area of
511 square miles. In 1881 its population was 63^789 or 124 to the
square mile^ and in 1882-83 the land revenue amounted to £21^786
(Rs. 2,17,860).

Of an area of 511 square miles, 509 have been surveyed in detail.
Of these 4283 acres are the lands of alienated villages. The rest
includes 290,874 or 90-37 per cent of arable land; 17,588 acres or
5'46 per cent of unarable ; 269 or 0'08 per cent of grass or kuran ;
2988 or (f-92 per cent of forest reserves ; and 10,116 or 8'14 per
cent of village sites, roads, and river beds. From the 290,874^1*3
of arable land 21,636 or 7*43 per cent have to be taken on account
of alienated lands in Government villages. Of 269,238 acres the
actual area of arable Government land, 254,274 acres or 94*44 per
cent were in 1882-83 held for tillage. Of these 244,979 acres were
dry*crop and 9295 acres were watered garden land.

Kd{!>argaon consists of a black soil plain having a gentle slope
from both sides towards the river Qodavari which flows through the
centre of it. There are no hills, and, except on the banks of the
river and in the neighbourhood of the more favoured villages it is
bare of trees.

The black soil is of various depths, the most fertile being in the
central and south-western villages. In the north-east there is a
good deal of poor land intersected by small streams. On the whole

AHMADNAQAB.

603

Ixowetyer the fertility of the sab-divigioii is above the average of the
district.

The God&vari entering at the extreme north-west corner traverses
the sab-division completely^ flowing thence into the adjacent sab*
division of Nev&sa. The bed of x)ie river is for the most part
considerably below the general level of the country and the high
black SOU and clay banks are deeply fissured by the numerous minor
streams which drain the sub-division. In the hot weather the
God&vari dwindles to a mere thread of running water which in

Elaoes even disappears beneath the sandy bed. Here and there
owever deep pools of water formed by natural dams of rock across
the river bed are met with and in these fish usually abound. In
places, notably near Minjur and Kokamthto> the banks of the river
are thickly fringed with fine bdbkul trees. The chief tributaries of
theGod^variarethe Gui^the Agasti, the Narandi, and the Kol on
the left bank, and on the right bank the Jh&m and the S[^t. The Jhim
rises in the Sangamner hills south-west of the town of Nimon, and
after flowing through the Sinnar sub-division enters Kopargaou
near the village of Madhi and falls into the Ood^vari three miles
above the town of Kopargaon, after a north-easterly course of about
twenty-five miles. The K&t rises on the northern slopes of
Dudheshvar, flows north-east and east entering Kopargaon by
the village of Yake and passing up by the town of Il&h4te it falls
into the God&vari a mile above the town of Pant&mba after a course
of twenty-five miles. A short distance from its confluence with the
Godivari it receives on the south the waters of the Kumbh&r.

In most of the villages the people are dependent on wells for
their water-supply as ail but the largest tributaries of the Goddvari
run dry shortly after the monsoon rains have ceased. In the
neighbourhood of this river the wells are of great depth, but near
lUh&ta and generally in the south of the sub-division water lies
tolerably near the surface.

The rainfall is extremely uncertain : only in about one year out of
every four it is satisfactory. Out of the eleven years ending 1884
six 1876, 1877, 1880, 1881» 1882 and 1884 have been seasons of
partial or absolute famine. In 1874 the seed of the early crops was
washed away, in 1875 excessive late rains produced a blight. In
some parts, especially near KorhiUe, Khadke, and Yake there was
little or no rain during the six years from 1876 to 1881. The follow-
ing Aatement gives the monthly rainfall at Kopargaon during the
* eleven years ending 1884 :

Kopargaon RainfaU, 1874- ISSj^

Month.

18f74

1876.

1877.

1878.

1870.

1880.

188L

1888.

1388.

1884.

In.

Id.

In.

Jumwy...

• ••

0S4

• ••

« • •

• •t

• ■•

• ••

■ «•

FelmBMT

•a*

• ••

•••

0*28

• ••

0-80

• •■

••■

• ••

•••

• ■t

Mftrah ...

• «■

• f«

•••

0-61

• ••

• •■

• ••

>••

•••

• «i

• ••

r :::

0-BO

ta«

•■•

• ••

0*28

«••

•••

• ••

•••

• ••

1*50

0-67

• ••

8-00

010

8-76

• •t

■ ••

• •■

■ •#

• ••

June ...

I4*M

8-00

4-80

8*0S

1-41

6*80

4-60

8-65

0*44

7*«8

1*70

July ...

4*68

8*46

4*18

0*46

6*86

8-64

0*64

1-20

3-58

8-44

4-56

AUffQlt ...
Baptembev

0-88

7-11

1*26

7-66

8-56

• •

0-80

0-10

716

8-01

«1»

10*66

0*87

2*60

8-10

8-05

8-48

8*94

5-65

7*89

4-46

Oeiobar ...

0*85

016

■ ••

8*98

1*04

4-80

8-93

0-15

• • ■

7-01

2-70

NoTMiber

•••

■ ••

010

• •«

0-06

• ••

2*40

• ••

0-86

0*18

• ••

Oeoembor
TMaI

•■•

ft«a

■ •■

• ••

•••

• ■«

• ••

t««

••■

■ ••

S8-85

8014

10-24

16-60

84*40

82-39

12-14

7*64

16-97

>88-51

15-01

Chapter Zllt.
Sub-Bivisioiis.

KOPABOAOF.

Btvera.

Water.

BautfaiL

[Bombaj QjocttNt

604

DISTRICTS.

ChapterXni.
Sub-Uvifums.

KOPABOAON.

CuUwtUion,

Cropt,

PeopU,

The method of cnltiyation differs little from that obtainiDg ia
other parts of the district. The soil is usoally ploughed eTen
second or third year after a hardest of bdjri. The lighter aoils ait
not nnfrequently plonghed every year, but the plough does not pextt>
trate far beneath the surface. Jl^onsiderable attention is given to
manure which is sometimes even applied to dry crops. It is also *
common practice to get a Dhangar to fold his flock on a field,
the owner feeding him and his family while the flock remains there
by way of payment. Irrigation is carried on almost entirely from
wells, there being only four temporary dams on perennial streftins
which water an area of some sixty acres.

Of 198^982 acres the actual area under cultivation in 1881-82 grtin
crops occupied 186^399 acres or 93*67 per cent, of which 70,027 were
under spiked millet bdjri Penicillaria spicata ; 58,690 under Indian
millet jt'dri Sorghum vulgare; 57,547 under wheat gahu Trilicimi
SBstivum ; 11 8 under maize makka Zea mays ; and 17 under other grains
of which details are not given. Pulses occupied 9528 acres or 4*78
per cent, of which 8771 were under gram liarbhara Cicer arietinnm ;
86 under kulith or kulihi Dolichos biflorus ; 568 under iur Cajanos
indicus ; 21 under mug Phaseolus radiatus, and 82 under other pulses.
Oil-seeds occnpied 506 acres or 0*25 per cent, of which 61 were
under gingelly seed h7 Sesamum indicnm; 313 under linseed alAi
Linumusitatissimum,and 132 under other oil-seeds. Fibres occupied
80 acres or 0*04 per cent, of which 50 were under cotton kayvs
Oossypium herbaceum ; 12 under Bombay hemp san or ^ Crotalaria

Cncea; and 18 under brown hemp ambddi Hibiscus cannabinus.
iscellaneous crops occupied 2469 acres or 1*24 per cent, of which
1202 were under tobacco tambdku Nicotiana tabacum ; 7S6 onder
chillies mirchi Capsicum frutescensj 178 under sugarcane u$
ISaccharum officinarum ; 54 under hemp gdnja Cannabis sativa. and
the remaining 299 under various vegetables and fruits.

The 1881 population returns show that of 63,789 people 61,044 or
95*69 per cent were Hindus ; 2695 or 4*22 per cent Musalmina ; 46
Christians, and 4 Jews. The details of the Hindu castes are : 3000
Brdhmans ; 1213 Osv&l MUrwdris, 105 Meshri Mdrwiris, 78 Komtis,
71 Sanson Jangams, and 39 Gujarat Jains, traders and merchaota ;
31,538 Kunbis, 2587 Mdlis, 237 Rajputs, 42 Baugars, and 10
Pahddis, husbandmen; 1076 Sonars, goldsmiths; 847 Sutir?.
carpenters; 687 Kumbh^s, potters; 630 Telis, oil-pressers ; 462
Loh&rs, blacksmiths; 250 Shimpis, tailors; 240 Edlfirs, Brass-
makers; 139 Gavandis, masons ; 132 S&lis, weavers; 54 Looaria, '
lime-burners ; 37 Nadirs, earth diggers ; 35 Koshtis^ weavers ; 27
T&mbats, coppersmiths ; 14 Kaik&dis, basket-makers ; 10 Lingkyat
Buruds, basket-makers; 6 Ehatris, weavers; 6 Jinrars, saddle-
makA*8; 4 Otdris, casters; 166 Guravs, priests; 727 Nhavis»
barbers; 434 Parits, washermen; 3201 Dhangars, cowmen; 11
EJi&tiks, butchers ; 2 Gavlis, cowkeepors ; 1337 Yanjdris, caravan*
men; 320 Edhdrs, fishers; 17 Lamdns, carriers; 5668 Mhirs^
labourers; 1415 Mdngs, messengers; 1210 Ch^mbhdrs, shoemakers;
120 Dhors, tanners; 3 Bhangis, sweepers; 464 Gosivis, 92
Mdnbh^vs, 25 Eolb^tis, 22 Gondhlis, and 4 Josbis, beggars ; 1609
Bhils, 457 Kolis, 73 B^oshis, 52 Bhar&dis, 27 Tirmilis, and 15
B^vals, unsettled tribes.

DMean.]

AHMADNAGAR.

605

Kopargaon until qaite recently possessed only one made*road, the
old military route from Ahmadnagar to M^legaon now maintained
from provincial lands. This road enters the Kopargaon sab-division
in the forty-fifth mile from Ahmadnagar near the village of Asht&gaon
and passing through the villages of JKdhdta 49 miles, Shirdi 52^ miles,
Nighoj-Nimgaon 54 miles, Kopargaon 60^ miles, and Yesgaon 65
miles, enters the Yeola sub-division of Ndsik in the sixty-seventh mile.
The QodAvari river at Kopargaon is crossed by a wire rope ferry. The
country being very flat enjoys the advantage of numerous good fair
weather tracks connecting the villages with each other and bringing
them within easy reach of the chief markets of the district.

After the construction of the railway, however, the question of
making good roads between the various stations and the larger
trade centres arose and a scheme of feeder roads was accordingly
drawn up and sanctioned by G-overnment. Of these roads the
following are now in course of construction or completed.
From BelApur station to the town of BeUpur in the neighbouring
aub-division of B4huri; from the same station to the provincial
high road, passing through the villages of Mamddpur, Bkjuri, and
B&bleshvar, and thence on to the Sangamner village of Loni, thus
forming a complete line of communication between the railway and
the important town of Sangamner ; from Chitali station to lUh&ta,
a centre of the grain trade, through the village Ekrukh; and from
Kopargaon station to the sub-divisional town.

The Dhond and Manm&d State Bailway traverses the sub-division
from south to north. Entering near the village of Sirasgaon, it
winds along a ridge of mdl or upland passing between the villages
of Chitali and Jalgaon and reaches the Qod&vari at Pantdmba.
The river is crossed on a fine masonry arch below the town.
Passing up by the town of Yin the line suddenly bends to the
west and then sharply turning again northwards by the village of
Singn&puri, it crosses the provincial high-road and enters the Yeola
sub-division. The stations are Beldpur, near the village of Gondavni ;
Chitali, between the villages Chitali and Jalgaon ; Punt^mba*;
Saovatsar ; and Kopargaon, at the village of Singn^puri about two
miles from the sub-divisional town. The exports of grain from
the Punt&mba station during the year 1880 amounted to 1175 tons.
The following is a statement of the villages where weekly

markets are held : Kopargaon Markets.

Flacb.

Day.

Place.

Day.

ICuwUpnr ...
Konargtton ...
B&h&to

Saturd*y.

Monday.

Thunday.

Pnnttmba ...
KorfaUa
Undifgpaon ...

Monday.
Sunday.
Friday.

Mamdipur is the chief cattle market within a radius ol some
thirty miles and the weekly transactions are estimated at about £70
(Ks. 700). The price of a pair of bullocks for agricultural purposes
ranges from £2 IO9. to £6 (Bs. 25-60), of a buffalo from £2 to
£4 10#. (Bs. 20-45), of a cow from £1 to £2 (Rs. 10-20), and of a
pony or galloway from £1 fo £7 lOs. (Bs. 10-75). Sheep and
goats fetch from 2s. to lOs. (Bs. 1-5) each. The markets of Bel&pur
in the BAhuri sub^division and of Yihirgaon in the ITiz&m'a
territory are visited by neighbouring Kopargaon cultivator&

Chapter Zin.
Snb'Bivisionfl*

KOFABOAOK,

Boada,

JRaUway,

Marhiti.

[Bombaj

606

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIII.
Sub-DlTiiioiis.

KOPABOAOV.

Survey*

Changes,

The xnannfactiires of the sab-diyision are few and mumporteoi
Cotton cloth and woollen blankets are woven in the towna and
larger villages, and a small quantity of saltpetre is extrac^ted bom
white earth dug out chiefly from the basement of old mad waOs
and rained honses. /

Sarvey rates were first introdnced into the village of Singribkoaftr
in 1841-42 when it belonged to the Niph&d sub-division. In 1 844-45
the sarvey was introdnced into thirty-eight villages, in 1846«47 into
fifty-three others, in 1849-50 into the seventeen villages sabseqnently
transferred from B4huri, in 1851-52 in six others, and at Tarious
other times into seven others. The chief of Yinchur objects to the
introduction of the survey into his three villages. The maximum
dry-crop rate was fixed at 2^. 6d» (Bs. H) an acre and the average
rate amounted to Is. 5j^d. (11^ as.) an acre being a redaction of
about forty-four per cent on the rates ruling previons to the
survey. Revised rates have now been introduced into 11 5 of the
villages. With the exception of Sangvibhusar where on revision the
maximum rate was raised to Ss. Sd, (Bs. If) an acre, the maximum
dry-crop rate in the sub-division is S«. (Bs. 1^) an acre which roles
in twenty villages situated for the most part on either side of the
Mdlegaon road from the southern boundary of the sub-division np
to and including the town of Kopargaon. Two villages in the
extreme south-west of the sub-division also come under this class.
The next maximum rate is 2«. 9(2. (Bs. 1|) which rules in thirty-nine
villages, of which twenty-three are adjacent on both sidesto those in the
first class and sixteen are in the soutn-east abutting on the H^uri
sub-division. The next maximum rate is 2«. 6(2. (Bs. 1 ^) which was
adopted in forty-three villages, of which seven are in the south-east
abutting on the Nev^a sub-division and the Niz&m's territory and
thirty-six are in the north-west and north, on the banks of the Grod^vari
and adjacent to the Teola sub-division. Another group of seven
villages north-east of the town of Kopargaon has a maximum rate of
28. Sd, (Bs. 1^) an acre and finally three villages in the extreme
north-east have a maximum of 2$. (Be. 1). The original settlement
rates are still current (1882) in seven villages. The general result
of this revision is an average enhancement of thirty-two per cent
on the original survey rates.

The cultivators of Kopargaon are in a very impoverished
condition attributable doubtless in a great measure to the frequent
occurrence of bad seasons. Year by year the rainfall seemt to
become more uncertain ; sudden and violent showers which delage
the country are often succeeded by a long and continued drought ;
at one time the seed when sown is wasned out of the ground, at
another it withers after germination. The late rains especially are
no lodger to be depended on, a circumstance which seems to
account for the large area now sown with bdjri as compared with
that of former years.

About half the villages now forming Kopargaon belonged to the
old sub-division of P&toda which was broken up in 1861-&» P&toda
was composed of two pargands, P&toda and Kumbh&ri. Patoda was
the charge of a m&mlatddr who had his head-quarters at YeoIa»
and Kumbh&i that of a mahdlkari stationed at Kopargaon.
Kumbh4ri consisted of a narrow strip of country on each aide of the

SecoinJ

AHMADNAGAB.

607

river Qod&yari and comprised, in 1850, tbirtj-two Oovemment and
two ali^mted villages. P^toda lay to the north of £ximbh&ri
extending as far as the Khijxdesh bonndary and comprised 157
Oovemment and sixty-four alienated villages. The total area of
both parga/nds was aboat 912 sqaSgre miles. On the splitting up, in
1860-61, of this large sub-division, which was found too unwieldy
for administrative purposes, thirty Kumbh&ri villages, twenty-nine
of them Government and one alienated, and thirty-two F&toda
villages, twenty-nine of them Government and three iJienated were
taken to form the new Kopargaon sub-division. To these sixty-two
villages were added ; seventeen, those in the Belldpur taraf in the
following list, from R&huri ; thirty-seven, those in the Korh&le and
Devpur tarafa, from Sinnar ; six, those in the Vaijilpur tarqf, from
Nev^a; one, Ranjiiigaon'-Khurd from Sangamner; and two, those
in the Ch&ndvad pargana from Ch&ndvad ; making a total of 125
villages of which 1 19 belong to Government and six are wholly
alienated. The following statement gives the names of the villages :

Koparffo&n ViUagea, 188S.

Vtubkm^

Eanuiji-Badrak.

SuiTtttMr.

VArL

8luf

Kokftinthte.

Jear.

DttAoh-Shurd.

Qh&ri.

Dvneh-Badntk.

HlBgni.

Hunhfttimr.

DbiruigftoB.

Kambtaarl.

BonirL

HahegsoiL

KolflkOB.

Bh&nftpar.
SuregAon.
VeUkpur.

MOITM.

Ibnjv.

HiiBdev4dl.

Bftktapur.

Vadffton.

CMa.

PimMlrMLl

Panwnba.

BtMta.

VOLAAB,

Jear.

M&fOgMB.

MAlQfCftOBtliBdL

BBirnde.

Br&hmaQnoB.

TIkH.

TflflnoB.

Khirdl*gBaedL

Adba]gBoil>

OgBdl.

BolkL

ShiDgraftpoii.

Pulheg«on>Budnik.

P«iihM|Boii>SbaffiL

SAvmlgMO.

SlrMgBOB.

TflftvnL

UkadgaoB.

ApegaoB.

TalogBoa-male.

OhovegAOB.

GodnegMB.

Laoki.

Dhotra.

Khopadi.

Bboiade.

KftnjiegaoB.

DahigaoB-bodka.

DhamorLl

N&tegaoB.l

ChaBdgaThAn.l

UBdligaoB.

BriUuxumgaoB-ret&l

Gondame.

B&oJaBkhol.

Khaadtle.

Dighl.

KudigaoB.

Nimgaon.

OoBdegaoB.

ChiUlf

JalgaoB.

VAkadL

NAndur-Bodnik.

Mamdipor.

R&lnri.

ShuraflgaoB.

Ntodar-KhunLl

ViUiAeB.

Pafyaaa
or

Dorh&le.

NlmgaoB.

NighoJ.

Bavalvihir-Bndmk.

Savalvibir-Khttrd.

Eaaare.

CtaiBde.

HiBgaBvedhe»

Derde'koMr.

Madhi-Budrok.

MadhiKhurd.

\&lki.

PohegaoB-Budmk.

RiBJangaoB.

ABJan&pur.

UauegaoB.

PohagaoB Khiud.1

Kftkadi.

SoyesaoB.

Vis.

Bahidarabad.

Shihipur-Badrak.

Jaulke.

BahAdarpur.

AsUgaoB.

V4kl.

Khadke.

Pimplaa.

Btturi.

DahlgaOB.

Korhile.

N&ndurkhi-Budnik.

NiBdarkhi-Khiud.

BiregaoB.

Rui.

Shlrdlil.

Kaakurl.

M&talthaa.

N&ygaoB.

Jaflzabad.

N4(lr.

Bftmpur.

lAalevadi.

SiBgribhuaar.
Derdo-oh&BdTad.

BAajangaoBpKhaxd.

\^ft,fip

Chapter Xin.
Sub-KvisiouB*

EOPABOAON.

* In this lilt TiUages with 1 alter their names are alienated.

[Bomtaj

608 DISTRICTS

Chapter XIIL ^UEftTi ^^^ o^ ^he central sub-diyisionsy is bounded on the ess
Sub-DiTiiio&i* by Rfliuri and Nev&sa^ on the east by Shevgaon and the Kizk

territory^ on the soath by Shrigonda, and on the west by P4mer. b
UMiAE, greatest length is thirty-five and breadth thirty miles. It oomrtv

117 villages in an area of 619 square miles. In 1881 the popiiktk
was 108^950 inclnaive of the town of Ahmadnagar, which, with ti;
military cantonment, contained 37,492 souls or 176 to the sqiuR
mile, and in 1882-83 the land revenue amounted to £13,561
(Bs. 1,35,610).
Arta. Of an area of 619 square miles, 548^ have been surveyed in dets.'

Of these 83,794 acres are the lands of alienated villagea The ref
includes 236,378 acres or 74*53 per cent of arable land ; 29,576 8cr&
or 9'32 per cent of unarable ; 75 or 0*02 per cent of grass or kumn .
34,336 or 10*82 per cent of forest reserves ; and 16,786 or 5-29 pe:
cent of village sites, roads, and river beds. From the 236,3?^
acres of arable land, 22,903 or 9'68 per cent have to be taken oi
account of alienated lands in Government villages. Of 21d,4TS
acres, the actual area of arable Government land, 202,401 acres
or 94*81 per cent were in 1882-83 held for tillaga Of these 196,844
acres were dry-crop and 5557 acres were watered garden land
Aipeci. The general appearance of Nagar is that of high table-land Ijxiu?

between the Goddvari and the Bhima. On tne norths north-au:.
and east the sides of this table-land where it faces the Mnla and
Goddvari rivers are precipitous and wall-like rising several hundr^l
feet above the elevated country they enclose. On the west aod
south-west in the direction of the Bhima the hills are of leas height
and the country is more broken. From the head of the tahle-liind
in a south-easterly direction flows the Sina gradually convergini:
towards the Bhima which it ultimately joms. On the banks of
the Sina in the centre of this table-land stands the city of
Ahmadnagar at a height of 2180 feet above the sea and some 40()
feet above the country lying to the north-east in the valley of the
God&vari below.

Three Nagar villages however, those in Shir&l iaraf, Sonai| Mir,
and Tisgaon, are situated below the table-land and geographicalij
seem to belong to the Nev^sa and Shevgaon sub-divisioos,
from which in fact they were transferred m 1861-62. TV
sub-division is very scantily wooded. Near Ahmadnagar, however,
especially in the neighbourhood of the ruined Muhammadan palaces
there are groves of fine old tamarind, mango, and other trei^ said
to have been planted by the orders of SaUbat Kh&n, minister of *
Murtaza Niz^m Sh4h I. (1565-1588) ; also round the fort are maoj
bdbhul Acacia arabica trees, though these are of comparativelj
recent date. Near Vilad, a village in the extreme north, there 13
a fin'e grove of mango trees and other instances might be given,
but as a whole the country is extremely bare, a state of things
doubtless partly due to the large demand for firewood in the citj
and cantonment of Ahmadnagar. The most striking hills in the
range on the north and east are the peak of Gorakhn^th 2982 feet ;
the Minjarsumbha hill which rises above the Happy Valley or
Dongargaon glen ; the crescent-shaped plateau surrounding the
village of Agadgaon, which has an elevation of 3192 feet ; and the
hill on which Sal&bat Ehto's tomb stands 3080 feet.

Oeccas.]

AHMADNAQAR

609

There is a considerable proportion of poor soil in the Nagar
sab^diyision, but in the neighbourhood of the city and in many of
the minor valleys deep munj'al or reddish soils are met with. Some
of these however^ especially in tlj^e neighbourhood of the Sina, are
stiff and they not only reqaire much labour in their cultivation but
yield good returns only in seasons of abundant and favourable rain.

The Sina river has three chief sources, two in the hills of the
north-eas^Tn the village lands of Jeur and Pimpalgaon-Ujani,
and the third in the Pdrner hills of the west in the village land
of Jamgaon. The first two streams unite some three miles above
tbe city of Ahmadnagar and the third joins them IJ miles further
down. Their united waters are farther reinforced by the Khokar
river on the right and the Bhingdr stream or ndla on the left
bank below the city. Other minor tributaries on the right bank
are the Mendka, the Vdlumbta, the Bagri, and the Sodala. The
Mehkri river rises in the hilly country on the east and flowing
southward chiefly through the Nizdm's territory, past the Jdmkhed
town of Kade, falls into the Sina. Those of the Nagar villages
which lie on the northern and eastern slopes of the chief range of
hills» as well as those in the country below, are watered by streams
flowing into the Mula, the Pravara, and the Goddvari rivers.

The climate of Nagar varies . considerably . The rainfall at
Ahmadnagar itself and within a radius of six to eight miles is
less than in the villages on the extreme north, north-east, and east
of the sub-division where the country is hilly. On the whole
Nagar is more favoured than Nev^sa and Bi»hari on the north
and Shrigonda on the south, but its climate is decidedly inferior to
Shevgaon on the east. The following statement gives the monthly
rainfall during the eleven years ending 1884 :

Nagar BainfaU, 1874-1884.

Mom.

1874.

1876.

1877.

1878.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

1888.

1884.

In.

J*nnu7

• ••

• •*

•••

017

• ••

• •a

• ••

0-80

February ...

• «•

• ••

009

•••

0-U

■ ••

• a a

• ••

■ •■

• •*

Mareh

018

• •«

0-16

• •«

aa«

• ••

008

• ••

••■

■ •■

April

0-24

0*28

• ••

015

0-86

a*a

• •m

018

• ma

1-9

May

8-63

0*14

• aa

0-94

0*05

1-69

0-56

0-21

1-40

0-67

m • •

Jane

8-50

1-78

8-24

9-98

1-H4

5-68

0-84

2-76

4-82

10-70

0-79

July

6-82

2-00

2-80

0-49

4-06

8'S8

2-89

1-88

1-82

1-84

August

8-08

4*18

1-28

8-03

8-54

6*86

1-40

2*28

1-77

8-88

711

September ...
Tkltober

18-85

8*94

1-82

4 51

6-78

1-16

10-90

8-75

10-26

10-90

4-98

2-48

100

0-00

2-78

8-66

5-20

2-88

1-15

• a

8-14

611

November ...

O'Oe

0-eo

0*26

0-42

0-22

0-20

111

0*85

1-87

1-81

• ••

Deoamber ...
Total .

• •»

1-41

• ••

0-11

■ • «

a • •

aa t

• ••

18-09

008

• ••

■••

80-99 19*82

8-99

2S-S8

24-81

28-67

20-16

21-20

41-87

21-22

Chapter ZIXI*
SnlhDiviflioiis.

Naoab.
SoO.

Riven,

ClimaU,

Like many other Muhammadan cities Ahmadnagar is supplied Water.

with water by means of nndergroand masonrv aquedncts which
convey it froto reservoirs situated in the surrounding higher country.
These were for the most part constructed in the time of the Nizdm
Sh^hi kings (1 390 « 1636) and though some of them are ruined
and out of use^ the majority are in good order and afford an ample
supply of pure water to the city^ the cantonment^ and the town of
Bhingir. The Sh&hilpnr aqueduct conveys wator from two tanks
at the foot of Sa16bat Khan's hill formed by dams thrown over

B 772—77

(Bombay OtHtlMri

810

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIII.
Sab-DiYudona

Naoax.
WaUr^

CuUivatkm.

irrigtUioM,

Oropt,

streams rising on the hiU slopes. The Bhingir, Nfig&bti» ani
K4parv&di aqaeducts drain the water from masonry reserroin
sank in the groand in the neighbourhood of E^purriLdi a baml^t
three miles north-east of Bhin^r. Each of these baa sereral
branches and the Kdpurv^di aqueduct is farther reinforced
from a masonry reservoir at Vdrulvadi which was opened up and
repaired daring the famine of 1876-77. The Vadgaon aquednct bii
its rise near a village of that name, five miles north of the city^ asd
the Anandi aqaeduct drains the nearer conntry between the city
and the Behisht-bdg. As the aquedacts follow the contoars of tbe
groand their actual length is considerably more than the direct
distance from their sources. The water is conveyed over sti^eam or
ndla beds by inverted syphons and where solid rock is encountered
the aqaeducts take the form of deep cuttings roofed with masoxki;
slabs. The coarse of all those aqueducts is marked by the nameroos
vents or air-shafts which may be observed dotted over the country.
The lands of the Ferrah and Behisht-b4gs or gardens are irrigated
by sarplus water fom the siqueducts.

Garden lands are generally mannred as also shallow dry-crop
soils are occasionally, but not those of greater depth. The fields
in the neighbourhood of the city are, as a rale, well cultivated bat in
Nagar, as throughout the district, it often happens that the land is not
prepared when the first rains fall and a delay of two or three days
at the sowing season often proves fatal.

The area under rahi or late crop is to that under yharif op early
crops as four to three. The garden cultivation of Nagar is principally
well-irrigated. In some cases however the lands are irrigated either
wholly or partly from the streams which rise on the slopes of the
principal range of hills in the north-east. These streams are in
places dammed up by temporary weirs of clay and branches, but the
number of such dams does not exceed six nor does the area
irrigated from them exceed 350 acres.

The Bhdtodi reservoir and canal were constracted by the
Irrigation Department in 1877. The dam, which is of masonrr,
was built over the Mehkri river immediately below an earthen
embankment, said to have been construpted by Sal4bat Khan the
minister of Murtaza I. (1565-1588) which was either never completed
or after completion was breached by a flood and not repaired.
What was the original object of this dam will probably never be
known. According to local tradition it was intended hf its
constructor to supply water to the Shevgaon town of Tisgaon, about
sixteen miles north-east of Ahmadnagar, which was a favourite
residence of Salabat Khdn and where he planted the groves of
mangoes and tamarinds which still give the town a beaoty even in
its debay. The main canal 4^ miles long and the branch canals 8}
miles long, in 1882-83 watered an area of 1023 acres. The revenue
derived from all sonrces amounted to £400 (Rs. 4000).

Of 182^004 acres theactaal area under cultivation, in 1881-82 grain
crops occapied 1 62^736 or 89*41 per cent, of which 65^694 were under
spiked millet hdjri Penicillaria spicata ; 86,902 under Indian millet
jvari Sorghom vulgare; 9882 under wheat gahu Triticum lestiTam
129 under rice hKdt Oryza sativa; 41 under barley jav Hardeum

I>«cca]i.]

AHMADNAGAR.

611

hexastichoiiy and 88 under other grains of which details are not
given. Poises occupied 10,662 acres or 5*85 per cent, of which 6577
were under gram harbhara Cicer arietinutn; 1149 under kulith or
kalthi Dolichos biflorus ; 2248 ui^der tur Cajanus indicus; 122 under
mug Phased us radiatus; 41 underwue2i(2 Phaseolus mungo; 31 under
chickling-vetch lang Lathyrus sativus, and 494 under other pulsea
Oil-seeds occupied 5296 acres or 2'90 per cent, of which 655 were
tinder giuprelly seed til Sesamum indicum ; 638 under linseed aUhi
I/inum usitatissimum; 17 under mustard r£iSinapis racemosa, and
3986 under other oil-seeds. Fibres occupied 505 acres or 0*27 per
cent, of which 465 were under cotton kdpus Gossypium herbaceum
and 40 under Bombay hemp san or tag Crotalaria juncea.
Miscellaneous crops occupied 2805 acres or 1*54. per cent of which
875 were under tobacco tambdiu Nicotiana tabacum; 630 under
chillies mirchi Capsicum frutescecs; 444 under sugarcane U8
Saccharum officinarum ; 388 nnder hemp gdnja Cannabis sativa ;
and the remaining 468 under various vegetables and fruits.

The 1881 population returns show that of 108,950 people 97,029
or 89*05 per cent were Hindus ; 9416 or 8*64 per cent Musalmdns ;
2258 or 2-07 percent Christians; 177 or 0*16 per cent Pdrsis ; 61
Jews ; 5 Buddhists ; and 4 Sikhs. The details of the Hindu castes
are : 6676 Br^hmans ; 74 Kd^yasth Prabhus and 10 P^t^ne Prabhus,
writers; 2459 OsvAl MArw^ris, 649 Kunam Vanis, 328 Gujardt
y&nis, 305 Sansdri Jangams, 59 Ldd Vanis, 54 Komtis, and 32
Meshri Marwdris, traders and merchants; 37,878 Kunbis, 6672
Mdlis, 882 Rajputs, and 18 Bangars, husbandmen; 3985 Sdlis
and 2827 Koshtis, weavers; 1389 Sonars, goldsmiths; 1097
Telis, oil-pressers ; 920 Sutdrs, carpenters; 602 Shimpis, tailors;
584 Kumbhars, potters; 577 Yadars, diggers; 523 K^drs, brass-
makers; 4341 Lohdrs, blacksmiths ; 428 Niralis, indigo- dyers ; 190
Londris, lime-burners; 185 Tdmbats, coppersmiths ; 132 Kaikddis,
basket-makers; 103 Jingars, saddle-makers ; 100 Lingdyat Buruds,
basket-makers; 82 Ghisddis, wandering blacksmiths; 61 Khatris^
weavers ; 58 Gavandis^ masons ; 39 Beldd*rs, quarrymen ; 29 Ldkheris
lac-bracelet makers; 15 Pardeshi Halvais^ confectioners; 10
Bhadbhunjds, grain-parchers ; and 8 Obdris, casters ; 263 Guravs,
priests; 1105 Nhd^vis, barbers; 844 Parits, washermen; 2847
Dhangars, cowmen ; 579 Gavlis, cow-keepers ; 22 Khdtiks, butchers;
312^ VanjdrisyCaravau-men; 169 Kd.m&this, labourers ; 103 Lam&ns,
, carriers; 97 Bhois, fishers; 9727 Mhdrs, labourers; 2856 Mdngs,.
messengers; 1900 Chdmbhdrs, shoemakers; 412 Dhors, tanners;.
145 Bhangis, sweepers ; 291 Gosdvis, 163 Mdnbhdvs, 127 Mardtha
GopiUs, 114 Kolhdtis, 107 Ghitrakathis, 73 Gondhlis, 66 Panguls,.
41 ^ahadev Joshis, and 10 Takdris, beggars ; 466 Bdmoshijf, 428
Bhils, 272 Kolis, 114 Tirmdlis, 78 Bharddis, 56 Rivals, and a
Vaidus, unsettled tribes.

As most of the roads in the district converge to the city of
Ahmadnagar, a large proportion of the total road mileage lies in thi»
sub-division. DC provincial roads the Poena road, the only one bridged
throughout, starts from the fort skirting the city on the south.
Banning in a south-westerly direction past the villages of Eedgaon*

Chapter XIII.

Sub-Divisioiit-

Kaoab.
Crops,

People,

JCoad$L

[Bonibfty CtenllMi

612

DISTBICTS.

Chapter xnz.
SablHyifioBi.

jRoad$*

3\ miles and Ch^ eiglit miles, it passes a low range of hills to Ua
village of E&margaon 12^ miles, and thence on to a plateao bejood
which is the valley of the Hanga. The road enters the Pirner
subdivision in the fifteenth mile. The Dhond road branches off f roa
the Poena road at the second gfile from the fort Pasaing in x
southerly direction through the villages of Arangaon six mile» a&d
Khadki I04 miles, it enters the Pdrner village of Hivra in the
twelfth mile and thence into the Shrigonda sub-division. Before
the railway was constructed this was the postal route to Poona attd
Bombay. The road was metalled daring the 1876-77 famine, box
has been little used since as the railway runs in the same direction.
The Aurangabad or Toka road starts from the north»east gate of
the city and passing up north by east near the villages of Shendi-
Pokhardi five miles, Jeur 9^ miles, and Imampur a hamlet of Jeor
where there is a travellers' bungalow twelve miles, descends by the
Imdmpur pass to the valley of the GodavarL The road enters the
Nevdsa sub-division in the seventeenth mile. The Paitban road
branches from the Toka road at the fifteenth mile and rnnning' east
through the villages of Khospari sixteen miles and Pao^rmal
eighteen miles, enters Nevdsa in the twentieth mile. These four
roads are all metalled. The Kopargaon-Manmdd or M^legaon road
leaves the city at the north gate and passes up north by west through
the villages of Savedi two miles and N&gapur four miles. Thence in
the seventh mile it descends to the valley of the Mula passing near
Vilad nine miles, Dehera, where it crosses the railway twelve miles,
Ism&lpur and Singva where there is a travellers' bungalow fourteen
miles, and thence through the village of Ndndgaon fifteen imles,
into the B&huri sub-division. This is only a murum road. Of
local fund roads the Shevgaon road leaves the cantonment of
Ahmadnagar on the south side of the town of Bhingdr. It then
runs due east past the hamlet of Sh^hapur five miles, winds up the
western slope of thehill range on which the tomb of Salabat Ehin
stands, crosses the Mehekri river which dammed up two miles below
forms the Bhdtodi tank, passes the village of Eandgaon II i miles,
and then crossing a portion of the Nizam's territory, reaches at the
fifteenth mile the eastern crest of the range below which is the
Shevgaon sub-division 'in the valley of the Godavari. The descent
is by an easy gradient for two miles. Passing on thi^ough the village
of Karanji eighteen miles, the road enters the Shevgaon sub-division
in the twenty-first mile. The Jdmkhed road leaves the city alf the
south-east gate and passes out of the cantonment between the artillery
and cavalry barracks. The villages on the route are Nimbodi four
miles, Tdkli seven miles, Dasmigavh&n nine miles, Chichondi
thirteen miles, and Atvdd fifteen miles. The Nizim's territory is
reached at the sixteenth mile. The ShoUpur or Karm41a road leaves
the cantonment by the Motibdg, passing thence between the artillery
barracks and the Ferrahbdg. The villages on the route are
Shivadhon eight miles, where the Sina river is crossed, Dahigaou
9^ miles, V&tephal twelve miles, and Ruichhattishx fourteen miles.
The road passes into the Shrigonda sub-division in the seventeenth
mile. The An^-ghiLt road starts from the right bonk of the Sina
river opposite the west or Nepti gate of the city. Paasmg dne west

Dttceaiu]

AHMADNAGAR

618

throQg^li the Tillages of Jakhangaon seven miles^ and Ehidgaon-
T&kli 8i miles^ where a road branches oS soath-west to the P4mor
town of Jamgaon, it enters the Pdrner sub-division in the tenth
mile. The Dongargaon or Happy Valley road branches off from the
Aurangabad road in a northerly cB^ection in the seventh mile and
reaches Dongargaon a village on the crest of the hill range at the
eleventh mile. It then winds down the northern face of the
range and enters the Rahnri sub-division below at the twelfth mile.
Tbere are thus about forty miles of metalled^ and eighty miles of
murum^ road in the sub-division which are regularly repaired and
kept in order.

The Dhond and Manmdd railway enters the sub-division on the
south- west near the village of Akolner. It passes up by the village
of Arangaon skirting the city of Ahmadnagar on the west. The
station^ mileage fifty -one from Dhond^ is at the intersection of the
line with the Poena road and distant 2| miles from the fort.
Leaving Ahmadnagar the line pursues a northerly winding course
to the village of Nimblak at the head of the valley of the Dev
river. Thence it descends into the Rdhnri sub-division passing the
village of Yilad near which is a station^ mileage sixty from Dhond.
At the village of Nimbadehera it crosses the Kopargaon or Manm^d
road.

Exclusive of the city of Ahmadnagar and the adjacent town of
Bhing&r there are three markets in the sub-division detailed below
in the order of their importance :

Nagar Markets.

Chapter XUI.

YiujMn.

Day.

VUkl

Jeur

Ghinchondi (Shlitt),

Monday.

Saturday.

Monday.

The cattle mart of Vdlki is the largest in the centre of the
district vying in importance with those of Kharda in the south and
Mamd4pur in the nortk The other two markets are of minor and
merely local importanca Tuesday is the principal market day at
Ahmadnagar and Friday at Bhingdr.

The trade of the sub-division is principally in the hands of
bankers and moneylenders residing in Ahmadnagar. There are
not however in the city many reputed wealthy firms, the principal
trading houses being branch agencies of larger firms in other parts
of the 6ountry.

In Ahmadnagar about 2000 looms and in the neighbouring<»town
of Bhing&r about 895 looms are worked in the manufacture of
women's robes or addis and other cotton cloths. The yam now
used is principally English. A few silk cloths are also made* There
are about seventy looms in some of the outlying villages but their
onttum is not extensive. There is also a large manufacture of
brass cooking pots.

Naoax.

XaUwayt

Markeii,

Trade.

Or^fU.

[Bombay O^vtUt

DISTRICTS.

CSiapter Zni.

BulhBiviBions.

Naoak,

Changtit

Surrey rates were introdoced in Nagar in 1 851-52. For assessmcs:
purposes the villages were divided into three classes with maximi:::
dry-crop rates of 28. 9d. (Rs. If), 28. 6d. (Rs. l^), and 2«. ^i
(Rs. 1^) respectively. The first class comprised a gronp of fiitr
villages extending across the sub-division from the P^rner boandary
on the south-west to the Nevdsa and Shevgaon boundaries is
the north-easty and also the four villages in the north snbsequentk
transferred from lULhuri; the second class comprised twentj-onc
villages lying south of those in the central group, three villages to
the north-west of it, and ten villages in the extreme north-ea^t
subsequently transferred from Nevdsa and Shevgaon ; the third class
comprised three villages south of the principal group in the second
class, bordering on Shrigonda, three villages in the extreme north-
west beyond those of the second class in that direction, and twt»
villages in the north-east which had belonged to the Sonai iatafani
were transferred from Nevasa. Survey rates were also introduced
into nine of the alienated villages. The average rate on lands
cultivated in the year of settlement was, under this system, 1 s. Zid.
(IOtV ^'0 ^^ ^^^' ^ reduction of forty per cent on the rates formerly
demanded. The term of thirty years having expired revised rates
have been (1884) introduced.^

Like most of the other sub-divisions of the district Nagar has
undergone numerous territorial changes since the commencemeot
of the British rule. In 1818-19 it comprised seventy-one villages
only; in 1837-38 it comprised 109. In 1851-52, eighty-five of these
belonged to Government and twenty-four were alienated. In the
following year two detached portions of garden land surrounding
old Muhammadan places known as the Behisti-b£g and the Ferrah-
big were entered in the records as separate villages thus bringing
the total number up to 111. In 1861-62 on the general re-
distribution of villages throughout the district two villages were
transferred to P^mer, one to Jdmkhed, three to Sangamner, aod
three to lUhuri. • In place of these, five villages three in taraf
Baragaon-N&ndur and two in taraf Rdhuri, were received from
Rdhuri ; three, two in taraf Miri and one in taraf Tisgaon from
Shevgaon ; and eleven, nine in taraf Shirdl and two in taraf Sonii
from Nev^a. The number of villages thus stood at 121 until 186S-69
when on the sub-division of Shrigonda being formed six villages
were transferred to it from Nagar. Finally in 1870 two villages,
Bhdtodi and Atvad, were received in exchange from the Nis^m's
government, thus bringing the number up to 117 of which oinety >
eight belong to Government and nineteen are wholly or partially
alienated. Three of the alienated villages Dhdmori, Ndtegaon, an^
ChAn^gavhAn belong to the chief of Vinchur. The following table
gives a nominal list of the villages and shows to which of the ancient
divisions each belonged :

1 Details are given above under Land pp. 542-547.

Deccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

615

Nagar ViOagM, 1883.

ViLLAes.*

Taraf

Bhiogir.

K&pdrv&di.

Bh&h&pur.

QftlimkhAnft.

Nimbodi.

Vakodi.

Mall\adft.

Chahur^ n»-Budruk.

Chah iii«n vKhurd.

Vftlegiioa.

Bl^OM.

March udaiuigar.

Savedi.

Darevidl.

Nigardevla.!

Behlfht-b&fir.

F«rrab-Ug.

YlLLAOB.

Khftdke.

RlnJani.

Uithani.

RatadgBOiu

Mehekiri.

Sarole Badl.

Daunigavh&n.

Sindve.

Ukadtraon.

N&rAyandoh.

Sbiradhou.

Khadkl.

KhaDd&le.

Kamargaon.

Boradgaon.

Padampiu:

NtfOti.

Bofhegaon.

Cbichoodi.

KandgaoD.

Madadsraon.

Balevidi.

Mlndva.

P&rgaoQ Maola.

Pargaon* BhatodL

Jeur.

Shendl.

a
I

Pokhardi. *

N&g&pur. *

Vadgaoii Chxpt.

Pimpaleaon Liadga

Sonev&di.l

Isdpur.

ValunJ.

Arangaon.

Bolhev&di.

Plmpalgaon MAItI.

AffadgaoiLl

Phnpalgaon Ujaiil.l

Akolaer.l

Jtoib. 1

TakU KAJLl

y&lkil.

Deogaon.1

Cb&8.1

Btaatodi.

A'tvad.

Tare^

S
S

YiLLiai.

Dahigaon.

Ibr&nipur.

RUegaon.

Oanodl.

Bai-^^bhattlahi.

Sftkat.

H&tvalan.

VadgaoD.

Ttedli.

YAtephal.

Oanaegaon.

Mat Pimprl.

Deulgaon SiddhL

Ainbilv&di.l

•o

Hivra-basir.

Don^urgaon.

MAniarsumbba^

Nimgaon-vigha.

Babardi-beud.

Jakhangon.

lalak.

Ohanegaon.l

8ujal|iur.l

Babiirdi Oamat.1

Nimblak.1

KedgaoD.1

Tcanf.

Chapter ZIII*
Sab-Uvudoiuu

Naoab.
Cluaiget.

Bhir&l.

Khosparl.

P&njfannal.

Chlcbondl.

Vaiju-b4bhulga<»i.

Kolbftr.

ChincholL

Karanjl.l

Bagho-hivFa.1

VanJoU.
OaoJ41«.

J 9

Khitgaon,
T&kli.

HIngangaon.
Hamidpur.
Karjune Kh&r.
Pimprigumat.
Nlmgaon-gfa&n.
Pim^«]gaon Y&gha.

KfaAndgBon.
Iiohosar.

Bhoae.

Yilad.
NAndgaon.!

]Sonai.

JMliL

Tiagaon.

RihurL

Nimbadehera,

Bingva.

lam^pur.

* YilUges with 1 after their names are alienated.

ISLg^^^ga, in the north-east of the district is bounded on the north
by the Nizam's dominions, on the east and south-east by Sheygaon,
on the south by Nagar, on the west by Rdhari, and on the north-
west by Eopargaon. Its length from north to south is twenty-eight
and its breadth from east to west twenty-foar miles. Its area is
607 Square miles and it comprises 148 villages.^ In 1881 the
* population was 78,158 or 128 to the square mile, and in 1882-83 the
laud revenue amounted to £13,071 (Rs. 1,80,710),

Of an area of 607 square miles, 586 have been surveyed in detail.
Of these 49,481 acres are the lands of alienated villages. The rest
includes 268,930 acres or 91*49 per cent of arable land; f 0,862
acres or 3*69 per cent of unarable j 2506 or 0*85 per cent of forest

NiyJLaa.

Area,

1 One village, Malanja Budruk, lies detached in the Niz&m's territory twelve miles
beyond the God&vari river. Negotiations are now (1882) pending with His Highness
the Niz4m for an exchange of this village with one of his lying south of the river
and geographically belonging to the NevAsa sub-division.

IBomtey Otfiltei

616

DISTRICTS.

Chapter lIII.
Sab-Diviiioni.

AapeeL

Rivera,

CUnuUe.

reserves; and 11,640 or 8 '96 per cent of village sites, roads, &:ti
river beds. From the 268,930 acres of arable land, 16,808 or 6tr
per cent have to be taken on account of alienated lands in Go vernmcLi
villages. Of 252,122 acres, the actual area of arable Governmeiit
land, 219,826 acres or 87*19 per oent were in 1882-83 held for tilla^.
Of these 217,458 acres were dry-crop and 2868 acres wore watered
garden land.

The general character of Nev&ia is a flat plain gently slopinc
northward towards th^GoMygiri. In the soath and sonth-ea^
the country has a mor^ecme^lope up towards the Nagar range
of hills and is deeply fissured by ravines down which during heavy
rains the water rushes with great violence. Between the various
streams which drain the country are slightly elevated tracts of
mdl or upland but which hardly change the generally level
appearance of the sub-division. Nev^Lsa is on the whole very
scantily wooded.

The drainage of Nev&sa is wholly towards the God^vari which
forms an almost continuous boundary of the sub-division on the north.
One village belonging to His Highness the Niz&m lies south of the
river thus breaking the continuous boundary for three milea. The
bed of theriver lies on an average from twenty to forty feet below
the surrounding country, but in places as much even as &om sixty to
eighty feet. The chief tributary of the God&vari is the Prarara
which enters the sub-division about seven miles west of the town o!
Nev^sa at its meeting with the Mula river. After flowing paet
the sub-divisional town the united streams fall into the Grodavari
by the villages of Toka and Pravara-Sangam. The Mala river
forms for about ten miles the western boundary between Nev&saand
the neighbouring sub-division of lUhuri. The Lendga, which with
its minor tributaries drains a greater part of the western half of the
sub-division, is formed by streams which have their rise in the
Nagar range of hills on the south and after a northerly course of
about twenty-five miles it joins the Pravaraby the village of Rhnpti
The Dhor river, which also rises in the Nagar hills and falls into
the Ood&vari near the town of Paithan, flows on the south-east
boundary of Nev&sa and Shevgaon for about twelve miles. With
its minor tributaries the Vishrdmganga, the Sev, and the Kalpati it
drains the eastern half of Nev&sa.

There is a little difference as regards climate and rainfall beAreen
Nev&saandtheadjoiningsub-divisionofBdhurionthewest. The lands
in the extreme south bordering on the Nagar range of hills obtain as a
rule a steady and sufficient fall of rain but out in the plain the fall is
much more irregular, some lands being well soaked from passing
showcirs whilst others close by do not obtainasprinkling. The vill^^es
in the extreme north-east appear to be the most unfavourably
situated of all. Of the past fifteen years six 1870, 1871, 1876,
1877, 1881, and 1884 have been seasons of great scarcity if not oC
absolute famine. In none of these years did the rainfall amount to
seventeen inches and in two^ 1870 and 1871, it waa below ten inchen

Deocaa-]

AHMADNAGAR.

617

The following statement gives the montUy rainfall daring the
eleven .years ending 1884 :

Nevdsa Rain/all, 1874-1884^

MOKTGU

February

Mftroh

April

Mfty

June

July

Augoflt

September

October

November

December

Total

• ■■

• ■•
«»•

• •4

1874.

1875.

1876.

1877.

487a

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

1888.

1884.

In.

f ••

■ *■

• ••

117

• •»

• « •

• ••

■ ••

*••

• ■•

0-40

• ••

• •«

• •a

• ••

• * ■

• « •

> »■

• « a

• «•

<••

«4«

• ••

0-30

■ • •

• •1

• ■•

0*06

• k*

• •

• « •

• •«

■ ••

«••

• ••

018

■ ••

• ••

018

• •«

■ ••

0-25

2*06

0-79

• * •

0-29

• ««

6*47

• ■«

0-47

• ••

8-48

■ •»

6-41

6 '54

858

6-o4

0-94

7*80

1-40

2*28

1004

9*20

2-88

6*98

2'75

674

0-26

7-78

7*78

1*02

3*13

866

2-80

1*72

0-85

8-60

1-80

1-09

8-83

9*90

0-66

3-69

1-85

7-87

4-86

9-76

8*28

1'87

4 12

1319

2*00

1304

4-86

7-88

18-88

4-62

0*65

017

■ • ■

169

1-62

2*78

4*87

012

0-38

5*60

2-74

• ■*

• ••

0-23

0*20

007

1*00

«••

0*88

0-89

0-32

• ■•

«■•

«••

■ ••

• • •

• ••

• • ■

• ••

■ ••

• »•

• ••

« • ft

26-64

2618

18'7i

14*56

82*55

36-86

20-48

15-50

23-64

41^16

16-92

The system of husbandry does not differ from that in the neigh-
bouring sab-di\risions of Bahuri and Kopargaon. It is the role to
plough heavy lands every year though much depends on the means
of the occupant. The garden lands are generally manured, but not the
dry-crop lands of the plain though sheep are occasionally folded on
them. The lands do not generally appear to be allowed a fallow.
A system of crop rotation is observed as far as possible but there is
not a sufficient variety of crop to admit of a good rotation. On the
whole the husbandry is not good though here and there well
cultivated lands are to be seen. The area under rabi or late crops
is double that under kharif or early crops.

The area of irrigated land is very small not exceeding 0*5 per
cent and is almost entirely under wells, there being only ^ few acres
irrigated from pdta or water channels supplied by temporary dams
thrown across perennial streams. The canal from the L^kh reservoir
on the Pravara river passes through two villages, Nevasa Budruk
and Punatgaon, situated between the Pravara and Goddvari rivers.
The supply of water is however at present insufficient for perennial
crops. During the seven years ending 1881 an average area of
] 57 acres had been irrigated, the largest area being 842 acres in
1877-78, the second year of famine.

Of 193,254 acres the actual area under cultivation in 1 881-82, grain
crops occupied 165,203 acres or 85*48 per cent, of which 70,891 were
under spiked millet bdjri Penicillaria spicata ; 76,353 under Indian
millet jvari Sorghum vulgare; 17,814 under wheat yaAu Triticum
cestivum; 86 under rice bhdt Oryza sativa; one under chenna sdva
Panicum miliaceum ; 8 under barley jav Hordeum hexastichon ; and
50 under other grains of which details are not given. Pulses occupied
15,883 acres or 8*21 per cent, of which 11,320 were unde^ gram
harbhara Cicerarietinum; 2088 under iwK^Ar or iMZ^fciDolichosbiflorus;
2357 nnder tur Gajanus indicus ; 62 under mug Phaseolus radiatus ;
two nnder peas vdtdna Pisum sativum; and 54 under other pulses. Oil
seeds occupied 3245 acres or 1*67 per cent, of which 1971 were under
gingelly seed Ul Sesamum indicum ; 790 under linseed aUhi Linum
usitatissimum ; 51 under mustard rdi Sinapis racemosa; and 483

B 772-78

Chapter XIII.
Sub-Divisions.

NEViSA.

ClinuUe,

Cultivation,

Irrigation^

Crops^

[BomBay OftietteB.

618

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIII.
Sab-Biyigions.

Cropi.

People.

BocuUn

under other oilseeds. Fibres occupied 7380 acres or 3*81 per ceci«
of whicli 7279 were under cotton kdpus Gossypium kerbacenm ; ¥.
under Bombay hemp san or tag Crotalaria juncea ; and 55 nnurr
brown hemp ambddi Hibiscus cannabinus. MiBcellaneous c^p*
occupied 1543 acres or 079 pef cent, of which 669 were nxulc
tobacco tambdku Nicotiana tabacum ; 408 under chillies mirrh
Capsicum frutescens; 203 under sugarcane us Saccharam officino-
rum ; 160 under hemp gdnja Cannabis sativa ; and the remainiug 2ot;
under various vegetables and fruits.

The 1881 population returns show that of 78,158 people 73,412
or 93'92 per cent were Hindus, 3807 or 4*87 per cent Mnsalmin?,
and 939 or 1*20 per cent Christians. The details of the Hindu ckstt^
are: 3354 Br^mans; 3 Kdyasth Prabhusj writers; 2120 0»v^
M&rwdris, 422 Sansari Jangams, 60 Meshri Marw^is, 60 Gujara:
y^nis, 46 Kunam Vdnis, and 33 Komtis, traders and merchants;
35,233 Kunbis, 3902 Malis, 800 Rajputs, and 19 Bangars, husbasd-
men; 795 Kumbhdrs, potters ; 787 But^rs, carpenters; 746 Sonirs,
goldsmiths; 520 Koshtis, weavers; 483 Telis, oil-presaers ; 411*
Loh&rs, blacksmiths; 336 Yaddrs, diggers; 319 K^siLrs, brass-
makers; 260 Shimpis, tailors ; 1 93 Ghis^dis, wanderiBg blacksmiths ;
143 Saltangars, tanners; 129 Londris, lira e- burners ; 76 Sali?,
weavers ; 58 Gavandis, masons ; 48 Lingdyat Buruds, basket*makers ;
46 Kaikddis, basket-makers; 22 Niralis, indigo-dyers ; 10 Kattais,
leather- workers ; 9 Beld^rs, qaarrymen ; 8 Tdmbats, coppersmiths ;
and 6 Ot^ris^ casters ; 223 Guravs, priests ; 5 Ghadshis, musicinDS;
925 Nhd^vis, barbers ; 573 Parits, washermen ; 4554 Dhangars, cc«w-
men; 9 Gavlis, cow-keepers; 2095 Vanjdris, caravan -men ; 226
Kdh^rs, fishers; 52 Lamans, carriers; 50 Bhois, fishers; 9
Kdmdthis, labourers; 6772 Mhdrs, labourers; 2844 Mangs,
messengers; 1337 Ch&mbbars^ shoemakers; 141 Dhors, tanners;
443 Gosavis, ^15 Gopals, 12C Chitrakathis, 98 Joshis, 92 Goi^dhlis,
86 Eolh&tis, 78 M^nbhavs, 22 Ydsudevs, and 1 5 Kaujdris, beggars ;
559 Eolis, 550 Bhils, 158 Kdmoshis, 56 Tirmdiis, and 41 Bharadis.
unsettled tribes.

The provincial road from Ahmadnagar towards Aurangabad enten
the Nev^a sab-division on the south two miles from the foot of the
Imimpur pass and in the seventeenth mile from the town of
Ahmadnagar. PasRing up north through the villages of Ghodegaon
204 miles, Vaddla 26^ miles where there is a travellers' bung»tow,
Bdbhulvedhe thirty miles, and Khadke thirty-six miles, it reaches
the Goddvarlat Pravara-Sangam in the forty-second mile. On the
bankof the river, which is crossed by a wire-rope feiry, is a travellerft'
bungalow. A second provincial road, the road to Paithan, branched
off eastward from the Aurangabad road at the foot of the LnlLmpor
pass id the Nagar sub'-division and enters Nevdsa near the village of
bingvakesho at the twentieth mile from Ahmadnagar. Passing east
through the villages of Miri twenty-four miles^ Mike twenty-eight
miles, and Ni^ndur 30^ miles, the road enters the Shevgaon snb-
division at the village of Dhorjalgaon in the thirty-third mile.
Paithan, on the God^ari, lies twenty-two miles beyond. A
«bont Toad of three miles in length from the town of Verisk

Deccan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

619

to the Aurangabad road throagh the village of HdKde-Nitngaon
is usually kept in repair at the expense of the local funds. The
country ia, however, very flat and the ordinary cross-country cart
tracks from village to village are j^^^ssable daring the fair season and
after a long cessation of rain in athe monsoon there is but little
difiiculty of communication from one end of the sab-division to the
other in every direction.

The Dhond and Manmdd Railway which runs on the west of the
sub-division passes through the village lands of Nipani-Vadgaon
in the extreme north-west corner. The Beldpur station which lies
in the adjoining village lands of Gondavni is seventeen miles west
of the town of Nevdsa; the Ldkh station south of BelApur is fifteen
miles south-west of Nevasa ; the Rdhuri station is nine miles west
of the market town of Sonai^ and the Ydmburi station is ten miles
from Sonai and twelve from Ghodegaon^ a market town on the
Aurangabad high road. Feeder roads from some or all of these
places to the railway stations in their neighbourhood are being or
have been made or are in contemplation.

The following statement gives a list of the villages where weekly
markets are held :

JfevtUa Markets.

ViLLAOK.

Day.

VlLLAQB.

Day.

Kukftne

Ghodegaon

Suregaoa

Nevftsa

Sonai

Sal&batpur

Thursday.

Friday.

Monday.

Sunday.

Friday.

Bhtoashivra

Bbokar

K&lenon

Varkbede

Dahigaon

Mlri

Saturday.

Tuesday.

Saturday.

Tuesday.

Sunday.

Saturday.

Of these Kukdne and Ghodegaon only are of more than local
importance. Kukdne is the largest cattle market in the east of the
district. Live stock is also purchased at Ghodegaon.

There are ^fty-six looms for weaving cotton cloths and 158 for
weaving woollen blankets. The price of cotton cloths ranges up to
18^. (Rs. 9) and of woollens to 7«. (Rs. 34). There are no other
manufactures in the sub-division, save that of saltpetre a little of
which is made in some half-dozen villages.

Survey rates were first introduced into Nevasa in 1851-52. The
148 Government villages then in the sub-division were divided into
three classes of seventeen, ninety-three, and thirty-eight villages
with maximum dry-crop rates of 2«. 6d. (Rs. li), 2«. Sd. {Rs. IJ),
and 28. (Re. 1) an acre respectively. Those in the first class were
the southern villages near the Nagar and Shevgaon hills, those in
the second class comprised the bulk of the central villages, whilst
the villages of the north-east formed the third class. Under this
system the average rate on cultivated lands amounted to Is. IJd.
(8J aa.) or thirty per cent less than the average rate under the
old system. Allowing for changes in the constitution of the sub-
division since 1851-52, by which a few of the southern villages were
transferred to Nagar and a larger number of the eastern villages
to Shevgaon, the same threefold division of the villages far

Chapter XIII.
Sub-Divisions.

NsvisA.

RaUway.

MiMrkdi,

CrafiB,

Survey,

[Botnb»y

DISTRICTS.

Chapter HII. classification pcrposeswas adopted at the revision scirTey of 1881-8*
Sab-Diviflioiii. generally, however, an increase of 3d. (2 (u.) on the m&zinm
rates has been imposed and of the 118 Government villages nov
forming the enb-division fire }]^ve a maximnm rate of 2a. 9d.
(Rs. If) an acre, sixty-nine of -Sb. 6d. (Hs. 1^), and fortj-fonr d
2«. Sd. (Rs. 1^). The increase of aesessment resolting from tht>«
changes amonnts to twenty-eight per cent. Survey rates have alia
been introdncted in twenty-seven of the thirty alieDated villages.
Changa. In 1818-19 OD the downfall of the Peahwa NevisJi comprised 111

Goveroment and sizty-nlDe alienated villages. In 1824-25 it wu
incorporated with the adjacent snb-divi&ion of Shevgaonbat ^ain
separated in 1834-35. In the following year (1 835-36) some of the
villages were placed under the management of a mahdlkari atationed
at first at Dedgaon bat aftewards at Sonai. Thirty-eight of the
alienated villages lapsed to Government before 1851-52, when id
the 148 Government villages 101 were ander the m^mUtdlU: and
forty-seven under the mah&tkari, and of the thirty-two alienated
villages twenty-one were similarly under the m^mlatd&r and eleven
nnder the mah&lkari. On the general abolition of the mab&Iksri's
appointment in 1861-62 and siiniiltaneDns re-distribiition of charges
eleven villages were transferred to Nagar, six to Eopargaon, thre«
to IU.hari, and twenty-five to Shevgaon. In place of these one
village, Siregaon, was received from Rdhuri and twelve from
Shevgaon, thus leaving the snb-division as at present oonstitnted
with 148 villages of which 118 belong to Government and thirty are
partially or wholly alienated. Some of the alienated villa^s are
held by the dependants of Sindia, but no inflnential jagirddr^ or
inatHtfdrs live in the sub-division. The following table gives a
nominal list of all the villages and shows to which of the ancient
divisions each belonged :

Ntvdia FUlaga, 1883.

Piuutgun.
OodhegiwD.

UBlnnJu-Biidnik.
H«»ti»-r - ■ -
ToVM

V,.,...

Tanf.

Vnuai. Tmr^f.

ifp

ill

SbaliHttkU.

AdtuYtdf-Budnik.

vldul*

Rakill-KhuM.

Butiili-Budnik.

N&dd ur-Shlk(ri.

Baktupur,

IX.tUiTl.1

Ouplu.!

Bhoku.

JiJnpui.
Khijitpur.

SonU.

■SB

Khimnrii.
VtUpur.

^piDi-nlmgion.

Uilichinchora.
OoiomlvtdL

s£s;x.

DUd.I

Ku»Jg»o.l

Sln^uD.

DMoan*]

AHMIDNAGAR.

621

Nevd9a ViUageSt i^^— oontinned.

VoibAev.

Vftkadl.

Patharv&la.

Sult&npnr.

D«higM}n.l

RAnjMiLl

Kalegaon.l

Kfa&mgnon.l

Popalpur.l

MilvMll.l

Tnljipur.l

Sal&batxmr.

B&l^alkhed«.

MhMle.

Oalnlmb.

OoffalKaon.

Dlffhi.

Pichadgaon.

Mangl&par. 1
NAjik<rhincboU.l
Jand-Kburd.!
Pravan-Sanirain .1

Tariff.

rli

VlLLAOB.

CMkade.
Fatepur.
Kavte.
Mftnd«gaTh&n.

Kigoni. .

Bingoni. •

Bbih&pur. •

R&it&par.

Mab41akahmi>hlvre.

Sinrva-tukai.

Mbflas-pimpalgaon.

Morgavnftn.

Barb&npur.

Loharv&di.

Gbod^;aon.l

Dedgaon.

Jeur.

Nandurvibir.

Akhatvidi.

BhAtkudgaon.

Pacbunde.

Nimb«.

I>ey8ade.

Dhorjalgaon.

Devgaon.l

M4ke.l

Telkiidgaon,

Tarc^.

ViLLAQI.

Nagpur.

Bh&yeaoo.

Dandpur.

RaJefraoD.

K&reffaon.

CbilakanvftdL

Miri.l

R&njangaon.l

Singva*ke8bo.l

Oiaegnon.1

Uitbal.!

Bhede-Kbutd.l

Mutevadgaon.
KamAlpar.
MihAdevftche-
Vad&le.
TVikUbbixi.

Tantf.

Kadgaon

(

Siregaon

-■{

Sbirfil

ona

Tillage.

RAburi
one
village.

Iga/rngr, the largest sub-division of the district^ is bounded on
the nortBoy Sangamner and Rdhuri, on the east by Nagar^ on the
Douth by Shrigonda, and on the west by the Sirur and Junnar
Bub-diyisions of Poena. Its greatest length and breadth are about
thirty-five miles each; it comprises 123 villages^ and has an area of
779 square miles. In 1881 it had a population of 73^701 or 94 to
the square mile and in 1882-83 the land revenue amounted to
£10,980 (Rs. 1,09,800).

Oi an area of 779 square miles, 752 have been surveyed in detail.
Of these 90,383 acres are the lauds of alienated villages. The rest
includes 255,606 acres or 65*38 per cent of arable land ; 49,719
acres or 12*71 per cent of nnarable ; 115 or 0*02 per cent of grass
or kuran ; 72,952 or 18*66 per cent of forest reserves ; and 12,517
or 3*20 per cent of village sites, roads, and river beds. From the
255,606 acres of arable land, 18,013 or 7*04 per cent have to be
taken on account of alienated lands in Government villages. Of
237,593 acres, the actual area of arable Government land, 227,952
acres or 95*94 per cent were in 1882-83 held for tillage. Of these
223,425 acres were dry-crop and 4527 acres were watered garden
land:

The surface of Pamer is very irregular and hillv consisting of a
series of plateaus or table-lands oi various heights. The highest
is the KAnhur_orcgntraI plateau formed ty the widening out of the
8ummit"Tr''oneoi the spurs of the Sahyddris which traverses the
sub-division from north-west to south-east. Its average height is
2800 feet above the sea level, though there are points on it three
and four hundred feet higher as the Bhandar and P^mer hills 3129
and 3250 feet respectively. To the soutlT of this plateau and about
200 feet lower lie the extensive village lands of Pamer itself. On
the north is the ^s]idiiliB&jyL£tett^^ which stretches as far as the
Mula river the basi^o^vhich lies about 4Q.Q_f eet below. Y^unda
the neighbouring; villages have a height of 2400 feet. On thd

Ohapt^Zin.
Sub-BivisionB.

NvvisA.
Changes,

PiRVXB.

Areti,

Asped.

IBomliaj GflMtiK

622

DISTRICTS.

ChapterZIIL

Sub-Biviflions.

PAbkkk.

Sou,

Bain/aU,

Water.

west of the main range is the low-lying level of the Kiikdi 9sL
Gho^ rivers averaging 2100 feet above the sea^ and on the east is t
part of the valley of the Sina river. Sonth of PAmer is a tract oi
hilly gronnd formed by spurs jntting oat_from the main range.

As might be expected from the diversified nature of the sur&o?
the soil of Pamer is of various kinds. On the higher plateaus tk
soils though not very deep are of a good description prodndfig
wheat, grvLxn, and other crops without requiring much rain. In the
descent from the plateaus there are terraces or steps on which 8x«
detached flat patches of inferior soil of various widths^ bat the sidei
and the slopes of the hills are stony and barren. Generally speakbg
the black soils of the low ground are fertile and easily worked bul
there are no extensive plains of rich soil^ the river valleys being
skirted by waving and broken ground. Some of the valleys ire
well irrigated and have a plf'asing aspect, and there are many
isolated mango and tamarind groves notably in the alienated village?
of Rdnjangaon, Javle^ Alkuti, Kdnhur, Nighoj, and Palshi, and also
in the Government villages of Fdrner^ Chincholi, and Jamgaon ; but
as a whole the sub-division cannot be called well wooded. In the
extreme north there is a barren stretch of waving rocky country
many miles in extent where deer and wolves abound.

The rainfall of the sub-division is very changeable, but on the whole
decidedly more favourable than in the neighbouring subniivision of
Shrigonda on the south. The following statement gives the monthly
rainfall during the twelve years ending 1884 :

Pdmer Bain/all, 1875- 1884-

MOXTB.

1878.

1874.

1876.

1877.

1878.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

1888.

18M.

In.

IlL

January

• . ,

• >«

• ••

• • •

0-06

• ••

• «•

» • •

• •t

• *%

« »«

OiS

February ...

0-63

0-18

• ■ •

• • ■

• •

• • •

• ■•

• •

■ ••

• »•

• •*

• ••

March

■ •«

• ■ •

0-10

«^t

• ■ •

* • •

• «•

0*78

• • •

• ••

April

• • I

0-10

1-10

• ••

0-06

0*76

• « «

• ••

0-30

«••

• * «

ora !

May

8*38

0-62

081

«• •

1-86

* ■ ■

2-e2

0*10

2-18

0-43

116

« •• '

JllIlQ

4-11

4-70

3-07

6->8

4-S6

2*16

6*«8

1-53

2*24

8-29

10-96

July

1-92

4-03

8-77

1-88

0-69

9*93

4*59

2-10

4-08

8-67

8*98

6-SSJ

August

2-29

2-38

4 "26

1H)&

5 08

6-01

4*71

1*44

8*05

4*44

4*81

ns:\

September ...

4*10

18-81

816

017

2-66

10-79

0*20

7*02

5*90

10-27

10*66

J-U J

October

2*42

1-eo

• ••

2-68

5*04

7-54

l*tt2

1*93

0-82

5-99

2-92!

November ...

1*42

0*28

• ••

018

0-28

• •■

0*56

0-66

1-19

0*94

••» •

December ...
Total ...

• ■ ■

• • •

• •■

...

■ •«

• ••

• * «

• ■V

• • •

0-46

*•«

... ,

1775

2927

22-86

8*46

17*44

34-79

25-29

15-15

20-68

28-96

37-19

18-«)

On the whole the water-supply of Pdmer is fairly good. Many
of the smaller streams have a perennial flow. Except in seasons of
drought water is found near the surface in most parts of the sulv
division. In the north the Mandhol, Jambhul, and K^u rivers
risin^on the slopes of the Kdnhnr plateau flow across the table-land
of Ydsunda into the Mula river ; the lands in the east are drained
by a branch of the Sina river which rises near J&mgaon and flovs
in a direct line towards Nagar ; the whole of the south is drained
by the Hanga river which rises near Parner and flows across tbc
Shrigonda sub-division into the Ghod river ; and the west is drained
by the Kukdi and its minor tributaries the P^al, Siddheshvar,
and Dudh rivers which rise on the western slopes of tHe K&nhnr
and P&rner plateaus.

Doceaa*]

AHMADKAGAB.

628

The caltivation in P&rner differs but lifctle from that in other parts

of the district. Formerly late crops predominated bat during the

past few years^ especially since the famine^ there has been a general

o^nxiety to secure as early a harvest as possible and the area under

bdjri cultivation now exceeds thA), under jvdri in the proportion of

three to two. Garden crops occupy about two per cent of the whole

<2altivated area. Irrigation is carried on partly from wells and partly

from watercourses supplied by dammed-up streams. There are no

permanent or masonry dams in the sub^-division^ but a great many

temporary ones the supply of water from which frequently lasts

through the cold weather. The garden cultivation is chiefly

confined to vegetables and sugarcane. In Chincholi, Javle, and the

neighbourint^ villages there are many valuable vineyards which yield

grapes of a very superior quality.

Of 217,629 acres the actual area under cultivation in 1881*82, grain

crops occupied 180,472or 82*92 percent, of which 109,447 were under

spiked millet bijri Penicillaria spicata; 58,b84 under Indian millet

Jvdri Sorghum vulgare ; 11,609 under wheat gahu Triticum aestivum ;

two under ro^i or ndchni Eleusine corocana; 113 under rice bhdt

Oryza sativa; 37 under chenn& sdva Panicum miliaceum ; 139 under

maize makka Zea mays; 18 under kodra or harik Paspalum

scrobiculatum ; 17 under barley jav Hordeum hexastichon ; and 206

ander other grains of which details are not given. Pulses occupied

26,704 acres or 12*27 per cent, of which 2637 were under gram

harbhara Cicer arietinum; 8284 under kulith or kulthi Dolichos

biflorus; 11,594 under tur Gajanusindicus; 247 under mugr Phaseolus

Tadiatus ; 223 under tidid Phaseolus mungo ; five under peas vdidna

Fisum sativum ; and 3714 under other pulses. Oilseeds occupied

8972 acres or 4*12 per cent, of which 195 were under gingelly seed

til Sesamum indicum ; 27 under linseed aUhi Linum usitatissimum ;

and 8750 under other oilseeds. Fibres occupied 191 acres or 0*08

per cent, of which the whole were under Bombay hemp aan or tag

Crotalaria juncea. Miscellaneous crops occupied 1290 acres or 0*59

per cent, of which 123 were under tobacco tambdku Nicotiana

tabacum ; 623 under chillies mirchi Capsicum frutescens ; 264 under

sugarcane us Saccharumofficinarum; 33 under hemp gdnja Cannabis

sativa ; and the remaining 247 under various vegetables and fruits.

The 1881 population returns show that of 73,701 people 70,866
or 96*15 per cent were Hindus ; 2734 or 3*70 per cent Musalmans ;
f 99 Christians; one Buddhist; and one Parsi. The details of the
' Hindu castes are: 2627 Br^mans; 28 Kdyasth Prabhus, writers;
1871 Osv&l Mdrwdris, 374 Sansdri Jangams, 35 Eunam Yanis, 19
Keahri Mdrwdris, and 8 Komtis, traders and merchants ; 38,774
Kuabis, 3962 Mdlis, 110 Rajputs, and 18 Bangars, husbandftien;
I 1086 Vad4rs, diggers ; 762 butdrs, carpenters ; 724 Sondrs, gold-
^ smiths; 586 Kumbhars, potters; 402 Loh&rs, blacksmiths; 396
j Telis, oiUpressers ; 306 Koshtis, weavers; 250 Shimpis, tailors ; 125
i Lakheris, lac-bracelet makers; 58 S^lis, weavers; 56 Kaik^dis,
basket-makers ; 34 Beld^rs, quarrymen ; 25 Kdsdrs, bras3«makers ;
24 LoniLris, lime-burners ; 23 Jingars, saddle-makers ; 14 Gkivandis,
masons ; 14 Ohisddis, wandering blacksmiths ; 9 Nirdlis, indigo-
dyers ; 8 Ot^ris, casters ; 6 Tdmbats, coppersmiths ; 5 Ling&yat

Chapter XIII.

Sub-DivisionB.

PIbksb.

Cropi,

People,

[Bombay Ouetes

624

DISTRICTS;

Chapter ZIII.
Sub-DiviBions-

PilRKEB.

People.

Hoods.

Mcuiwaym

Markets.

Buruds^ basket-makers; one Bhddbhunja, grain •parcher; y>
Guravs, priests; 720 Nhdvis, barbers; 291 Parits^ washence
3898 Dhangars^ cow-men; 45 Khitiks^ batchers ; 19 GaTlis, (vri^-
keepers; 210 Yanjdris^ caravan-men; 84 LamdnSj carriers; -^
Bhois^ fishers; 3 Kdmathis^ labbnrers; 6500 MhArs^ labourer^;
1298M&ng8^ messengers; 1713 Ch&mbh&rs, shoemakers ; 63 Dhor.
tanners ; 2 Bhangis, sweepers ; 354 Gos&vis, 68 Joshis, 64 Gop^l-
53 'MAnhh&VB, 49 6ondhlis> and 6 Kolhdtis^ beggars; 10^4
Rdmoshis, 460 Bhils, 895 Kolis^ 209 Thdkors, 142 Bhar4dis, anc
41 Tirmdlis, unsettled tribes.

Sixteen miles of the Ahmadnagar-Poona high road lie in the Panir
snb-division. The villages on or near this road are Sope^ Vaghonda,
Ndrdyangavhdn^ and Yddegavhdn^ where there is a toll •gate twentj
miles south-west of Ahmadnagar. At Supe^ seventeen miles sonth-
west of Ahmadnagar^ branches oS the loccd road to P&rner distant
seven miles. There is also another route from Ahmadnagar througb
J^mgaon^ which being a trifle shorter is much used in fair weath«i,
although for half its length it is little else than a rough track intt-r-
sected by streams with rugged banks crossing the spar of the hilU
between P^rner and Jamgaon by steep gradients. From Pamer oiw
road runs up north through the towns of K^nhur^ T&kli-Dhokeshvar,
and V^unda to the Mula river and thence into the Sangamner sub-
division. Another road runs west to Chincholi in the Kakdi valteT
whence country tracks lead to Alkuti, Javle^ and Nighoj. South-
west of P^uer is a hilly road two miles long leading down to the
village of Panoli. Across the north of the sub-division mns wh^t
is known as the Andghdt road made in 1869-70 to connect Ahmad-
nagar with a road which it was proposed to construct down tht>
Mdlsej pass, one of the main passes in the Sahyddris leading from the
extreme north-west comer of the Poena district to the sub-division
of Murbdd in Th^na below. Thirty-three miles of the road lie in
the Ahmadnagar district. The P&mer villages on the route are
Bhdlavni twelve miles, Dhotra nineteen miles, Tdkli-Dhokeshvar
twenty-four miles, and Karjuna twenty-eight miles. At the thirty-
third mile it enters the Poena district and the village of Ana which
gives its name to the road is at the thirty-fifth mile from Ahmad-
nagar. The M&lsej pass scheme for some years abandoned is now
(1882) again under consideration and the road from the foot of the
pass to Ealy&n is approaching completion.

The Dhond and Manmdd State Bailway skirts the soatfi-east
comer of the subdivision, traversing the village lands of Rdn jangaou
Ghospuri and S^rola. Near Sarola is a station fifteen miles ircm
Pdrner by road.

The following statement gives a list of the villages where weekly
markets are held : ^^^ ^^^^^^

VlIiLAGB.

D^y.

VlLLAOS.

Day.

R&njangaon .
Alkuti
NighoJ
KAuhur

TharBdAy.
Sunday.
Tuesday.
Wednesday.

Pirner
J&mgaon ...
JavIe

Sunday.

Saturday.

3«ce«]i.l

AHMADKAQAR.

826

The traffic in these places is chiefly confined to the supply of the
v^aots of Tillages in their neighboarhood. Sirur in the Poona district
3 the market chiefly resorted to by the villagers of the south and
vest of P^rner and the destinatioB of most of the grain exported
^r^om the sub-division. Except grahi and a small quantity of fruit
.l\ere are few exports. The imports are the usual cotton goods and
y^i-oceries. Salt is brought up from the Konkan on pack bullocks
i.zid sold at the villages on their route.

The manufactures of the sub-division are very few consisting of
coarsely woven turbans^ cotton cloth^ and woollen blankets, which
i,re sold locally. At Javle there was formerly a maiiufacture of
mitation coral beads but the artificers migrated to Bombay during
tihe 1876-77 famine.

Survey rates were first introduced in April and May 1852. Fop

3issessment purposes the villages were divided into four groups with

maximum dry-crop rates oE 3«. (Bs. 1^), 2^. 9d, (Rs. IJ), 2^^ 6d.

(Ra. \i), and 28. 3d. (Rs. 1^) respectively. The first group included

blue villages on the Kduhur or central plateau. The second group

indaded (1) villages on the V^sunda plateau immediately below and

to the north of E^nhur ; (2) P^rner itself and the villages on the

-vvest lying in the valley of the Kukdi river; and (3) villages on the

east lying in the valley of the Sina river. The third group included

all the villages in the hilly country of the south of the sub-division.

The fourth group included (1) the villages in the extreme north

bordering on the Mula river and (2) a few villages in the extreme

south-west on the Ghod river. Previous to the introduction of these

rates the average rate realized was Us. (9 as.) an acre^ whilst the

average survey rate amounted to 10^^. (7 as,) or twenty-three per

cent less.

Pdraer does not as a whole reprosent any old division but is made
np of villages formerly comprised in old divisions now partly
under Foona and partly under Ahmadnagar. The sub-division has
undergone numerous changes since the beginning of the British
rule, and in 1850 at the time of the first survey it formed part
of Karda^ a sub-division which had an area of 1640 square miles
and comprised 216 villages placed under the management of a
mdrtnlatd&r stationed at Parner and two mahdlkaris stationed each
at V^asnnda and Kolgaon. Karda being found too unwieldy a sub-
division for administration purposes was in 1859 divided into two
new sub-divisions of 107 and 109 villages called PArner and Sirur
^and the petda of V^sunda and Kolgaon were abolished. In 1861-62'
two Parner villages were transferred to Sangamner and seven to
, K^huri ; at the same time two villages Palshi and Mandva-Khurd
were received from Nagar. In 1866 the Sirur sub-division jwas
I broken up^ another one bearing the same name being formed and
1 added to the Poena district. Twenty villages were then re-transferred
to PAmer, two villages Chombat and Shirapur being added from
Pdbal and seven^ from Shivner now called Junnar, two sub^-divisions
of Poona adjacent to Parner.

< The Beven villages toe
Hid KftUIvediia.

b772 -79

n, AkUpor, 84vargaoD, RasAra, PalMpor, Kalas.

Chapter XIII.
Sab'Divisioiiff-

FJlnNER.

Orc^

Survey.

Changtu

[Bombay GaattMi

626

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIII.
Snb-DivisionB.

PiBKER.

Changtsi.

In 1867 one village^ Hivargaon, was transferred to Sangamvr
and in 1868 four villages, Chikhali, Ukalgaon^ Saregaon, ai:
Kore^aon ^ere transferred to the newly formed Shrigonda s^^
division, and finally in 1872-73 one village, AkUpar, was transfernr^:
to Sangamner leaving Pdmer v^i^ 123 villages, of which 1 07 bel'^c
to Government and sixteen are wholly or partially alienated. TU
following is a nominal list of the Pdmer villages showing to whid
of the formerly existing tarafs each belonged :

Pdmtr ViUageJi, 1883,

ViLLAOB.

Taraf,

Pftrner.

Palva Badruk.

Palva Khurd.

LoDi.

Apdhup.

Vaghundm Bndruk.

Vaghunda Khaid.

Oateradi.

Ghanegtou.

Jategaon.

K SultAnpur.

(Mhaaiuul

Bupa.

MungahL

Vadner.

AshUgaon.
Sarula-Kaaar.
DartnafftioJaL
Sarola Adbal.
Pimpalgaon Kanda.
Shah&japur.
( Bhoira &hurd.2
f Bhoira Patbar.

Vadjhink

Shiraol.

Bhoira Qangwda.

Valavna.

Renasdi.

Kurand.

Dongaigaon.

Kohokadl.

Mhasa Budruk.

Hivra Jhara.1

AlkutLl

VlLLAGB.

Mhaaa Xhard.
Oadilgaon.
Vadner Khurd.
Vadner Badruk.
Oftiiora.
Pimpri patharl

Gang! Dbaira.
Sanevi Snrya.
B&bhulvada.
Pimpri Julaen.
Padii Darya.
ChinchoU.
Akalvftdi.
Vadola.

Nighoj.l

Devibhoira.

Panoli.

Ralegan SindhL

Darwli.

OarkhundL

Randha.

tMfiJampar.2
Ralegan-therpaL
Hakikatpur.
Takli Ha^.
Pimpalner.
N&riy anga vhan. 1
Loni-Mavla.1
Javle.l

Taraf.

BhAlavnL
Vadgaon AmblL
Bhandgaon.
J&ragaon.
DhaTalpuri.l

4
ll

Vasunda.
TUdi Dhokeahvar.
Dhoki

Karjuna Haiya.
Pimpalgaoo Rota.
Nandur Patbar.
Gargundi.
Dhotra Budruk.
Dhotra Khuzd.
Oajdipur.
Bbondra.
Vadgaon SantaL
Karegaenr

rKAnhur.2
\ Kanhur.
I>ie«a1.
Kinhi.
VirolL

VoLaei.

HatulkhindL

Gon^gaoD.

Hivra Karda.

Tikhol.

Pimpaigaon Tirnk.

Veadara.

Padali.

Kalkup.

Malkitp.

Vadgaondaiya.

Karandi.!

Tar^f.

Vankuta.
Desavidai
Pokhri
Mandva Khutd.
PalshLl

W4 a

Baburdi.

Padli.

Kadus.

Vadcgavh&n.

Ohoapuri.

Rajrtala.

¥«nga.

R4nJangaon.l

Rui.1

Pimpri gavli.I

Vadgaon Ound.
Katalvedba.

Pahwpur.

2 •

Chombat

Shirapur,

Savargaon.

Kaaara.

Kalas.

PftbaL

I^M

Patbar.

Sheri Koldara.!

1 Alienated villagee.

8 Thoee Tillages which have one site in common are bracketed together.

8 Formed out of disputed land claimed by the villagers of Pamer, Chlaoholi, and Vadjhin.

RIhubi. Baliuri, the most central snb-division, is bounded on the nortii

by Kopargaon and Nevdsa, on the east by Nevdsa, on the south
by Nagar and Pernor, and on the west by Sangamner. Its length
from north to south and breadth from east to west are atxiat
twenty-four miles each, it comprises 118 villages, and has an area of
497 square miles. In 1881 its population was 63,289 or 127 to the
square mile, and in 1882*83 the land revenue amounted to
£17,794 (Bs. 1,77,940).

BeccaaJ

AHMADNAGAR

627

Of an area of 497 square miles^ 457 have been surveyed in detail.
Of these 7127 acres are the lands of alienated villages. The re^t
includes 230,650 acres or 80*78 per cent of arable land ; 22,047 acres
or 7*72 per cent of unarable ; 2^,124 or 8*44 per cent of forest
reserves ; and 8703 or 3*04 per cenUof village sites, roads, and river
beds. From the 230,650 acres of arable land, 16,570 acres or 718
per cent have to be taken on account of alienated lands in Govern-
ment villages. Of 214,080 acres, the actual area of arable Govern-
ment land, 192,557 acres or 89*94 per cent were in 1882-83 held for
tillage. Of these 184,936 acres were dry-crop and 7621 acres
were watered garden land.

There is nothing very striking in the natural features of the
sub -division which forms part of an extensive plain country
drained by the rivers Mul^n^Pravajra, tributaries ot the Goddvari.
The south-eastern boun3S^T?a"'weninarked range of hills which
divides Rdhuri from the more elevated sub-division of Nagpar.
This range, which forms the water-shed line between the Goddvari
and Bhima rivers, presents a wall-like face towards the plain of
Rahnri and being almost destitute of vegetation, has a bare and
ragged aspect, the strongly marked horizontal lines of stratification
contrasting in a striking manner with the vertical fissures worn
into their steep sides by the action of water. The highest point,
the hill of Gorakhndth, has an elevation of 2982 feet above the sea
level or about 1200 feet above the level of Rdhuri. The Bdleshvar
range of hills, which traverses the neighbouring sub-division of
Sangamner on the west, ends in the south-west of B^huri and the
country in that direction is rugged and wild in the extreme. The
sub-division is very scantily wooded ; indeed with the exception of a
few mango and tamarind groves chiefly on the banks of rivers near
villages the country is entirely bare of trees, and except when the
crops are on the ground the whole plain presents a wretchedly
naked and barren appearance.

The prevailing soil is of a deep black colour, rich and clayey,
requiring much rain to enable it to yield good crops. Light showers
Bach as too frequently fall when heavy rain is required have no
effect, bnt when once thoroughly soaked this soil retains its
moisture for a long time and is highly valued for every description
of late crop. Towards the hills and on the ridges between the
rivers* the soils being lighter and more friable are better adapted
,for the early crops. In some parts the fields are much cut up by
the numerous and tortuous branches of the minor streams which
work deep beds in the black soil of the plain.

The Mula river enters R^huri through these hills in a deep bed
with steep rocky sides. The Pravara enters at the north-^est
comer of the sub-division and the two rivers traverse the plain iii
converging lines, their junction being at the north-east angle of
the sub-division abutting on Nevd^a. The Mula has one considerable
tributary, the Dev which rises among the hills in fche south and
flowing northward for some eighteen miles joins the Mula one mile
east of the town of R&huri. In the hot weather it generally ceases
to flow.

Chapter XIII.

Sub-Divisions.

Bahubi.
Area,

4»pect,

Soil

Water.

(Bombay OaMlte

e2S

DISTRICTS,

C3iapter Xin.
Sub-Diyiflioiis.

BiHTJRI.

Water.

CUmaU.

CuUivaiioti

The Ojh&r canal, which is supplied with water from the PnTan
hj a masonry weir across the river at the village of Ojhar intbc
Sangamner sub-division^ enters the north-west corner of B«kin
near the village of Lohogaon at its nineteenth mile and terminates
at the twenty-third mile. The Ldkhpcanal springs from a masonry wti:
across the Pravara near the villlbge of Ldkh. It has with its thres
main branches a total length of forty-five miles of which scventeeB
lie in R4huri. The area irrigated from this section has hitherti}
been very small, not exceeding 816 acres in any year, owing to th<?
uncertain supply of water during the hot season. The canal is
fringed for a considerable part of its length with fine avenues c!
bdbliul Acacia arabica trees.

The Rdhuri sub-division has on the whole a better rainfall thao
Sangamner which lies on the west and nearer to the Sahy^ris.
The rain clouds which come up from the south-west seem to dinde
when near the town of Sangamner and keeping along the two
ranges of hills on the north and south of the rravara river do not,
as a rule, discharge their contents till near the borders of Riimri
In the hill villages of the south-west the early rains rarely fail
Towards the Nevdsa boundary in the north-east however the
rainfall is uncertain, whereas the villages in the extreme soath
which lie under the Gorakhndth or Happy Valley range of hiJls
«njoy probably a more certain and satisfactory fall than any other
|)art of the district. The following statement gives the monthly
rainfall for the eleven years ending 1884 :

Rdhuri Bain/aU, 1874-1884.

MomH.

1874.

1876.

1877.

1878.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

1883.

ISSl

In.

la.

In.

JantXMy

• ••

• ■■

• •«

0-00

• •«

• •■

• ■•

• • •

• ••

•«•

0'»

February

• ••

« t •

■ ••

0-8S

• ••

••«

• >■

•««

*••

**k

March

• • *

• •■

•••

0-20

■ ■ «

• ••

0-80

•••

*••

AprU

010

■ •

« • •

• ••

0-61

• «•

■ ••

■ •«

• •*

-•

May

0-02

0-00

• ••

tat

2-30

• ••

4 -OS

0-87

1-13

• »«

June

6-08

8-U

617

6-?0

1-62

6-61

1-48

3-14

6-81

6-87

l-TS

July

fi-78

1-97

2't<S

l)-i0

6-M

8-.^6

0-89

Vl'A

1-16

ft-21

272

August

0-09

6-81

n-82

0-70

10-60

6-01

0-53

1-27

A as

T-"!

5-92

September ...

8^6

10-82

165

2-90

9-6

0-46

10-6H

4-26

11*46

9-12

8-94

October

0-99

1-87

• ■•

8-57

8*86

2-67

O-hS

2-65

0-12

3-11

6«

November ...

• ••

o-n

• ••

•••

0-60

0-50

1-62

0-06

■ •-

December

Total ...

• •*

• « »

• • •

0-10

• ••

1606

«••

016

... ,

• •• J

22-40

28-71

10-67

15-41

81-46

20-82

16-96

24^

38-10

do-ai

Irrigation,

Early and late crops are grown in about equal proportions in
Rdhuri, the early crops chiefly in the hill villages and the late crops .
in the plain. The principal garden productions are wheat and gram.
In' a few villages a small quantity of sugarcane is grown and near
the larger towns fruits and vegetables are produced in sufficient
quantities for the consumption of the wealthier classes. Manure is
little used except in the ^rdeu lands of the larger villages. It is
hardly ever applied to dry-crops, the rainfall being too uncertain
in the plain villages to allow of it as in the event of the quantity
of rain being insufficient to counteract its heating properties the
crops would be liable to be burnt up.

Except through the Government canal there is no irrigation from
the rivers the beds of which lie too far below (he level of the

AHMADNAGAB.

629

suxTonndiDg conntiy. Garden land is therefore ordinarily irrigated
±Tom wells only.

Of 172^1 71 acres the actual area under cultivation in 1881 -82 grain
crops occupied 154,619 acres or 89'80 per cent^ of which 48^065
vrere under spiked millet ba;ri *Penicillaria spicata; 84^240 under
Indian millet jvdri Sorghum vufgare ; 20^244 under wheat gahu
Triticam 89stiyum j 10 under rice bhdt Oryza sativa ; 24 under maize
makha Zea mays ; and 2036 under other grains of which details are
not given. Pulses occupied 12,591 acres or 731 per cent, of which
11,437 were under gram harbhara Cicer arietinum ; 98 under kulith
or kulthi Dolichos biflorus ; 339 under tur Cajanus indicus ; 847
tinder mu^Phaseolusradiatus; and 370 under other pulses. Oilseeds
occupied 2401 acres or 1*39 per cent, of which 210 were under
iringelly-seed til Sesamum indicum ; 319 under linseed alaht
liinum usitatissimum ; and 1875 under other oilseeds. Fibres occu-
pied 300 acres or 0*17 per cent, of which 217 were under cotton.
kdpu9 Gossypinm herbaceum ; 26 under Bombay hemp san or
tdg Crotalaria juncea; and 57 under brown hemp amdbdi Hibiscus
cannabinus. Miscellaneous crops occupied 2257 acres or 1*31 per
cent, of which 1194 were under tobacco tambdku Nicotiana
tabacum ; 469 under chillies mirchi Capsicum frutescens ; 185 under
sugarcane ua Saccharum officinarum; 133 under hemp gdnja
Cannabis sativa; and the remaining 276 under various vegetables
and fruita

The 1881 population returns show that of 63,289 people 58,390
or 92*25 per cent were Hindus; 3601 or 5*68 per cent Musalm^ns;
and 1298 or 2*05 per cent Christians. The details of the Hindu
castes are: 2596 Br^hmans; 1127 Osvdl Mdrwdris, 143 Meshri
Marwaris, 122 Sansdri Jangams, 82 Gujardt V^nis^ and 55
Kunam Vanisi traders and merchants; 29,852 Eunbis, 2424
Mdlis, 106 Rajputs, and 20 Bangars, husbandmen ; 969 Telis, oil-
pressors, 625 Sondrs, goldsmiths; 617 Sutdrs, carpenters; 589
Kumbh^rs, potters ; 295 Lohdra, blacksmiths ; 264 Koshtis, weav-
ers; 250 Edsirs, brassmakers; 226 Shimpis, tailors; 206 Yaddrs,
diggers; 124 Jingars, saddle-makers; 122 Sdlis, weavers; 56
Lingayat Bnruds, basket-makers ; 18 Otdris, casters ; 25 Beldars^
qoarrymen; 17 Eaik&dis, basket-makers; 17 Gavandis, masons;
17 Nirdlis, indigo-dyers; 13 Td,mbats, coppersmiths; and 10
Enttais, leather-workers ; 04 Guravs, priests; 6 Ghadshis, musicians ;
576 Nhdvis^ barbers ; 305 Parits, washermen ; 6026 Dhangars,
cow-men; 5 Ehdtiks, butchers; 396 Vanjdris, caravan -men; 102
Bhois, fishers ; 35 Lamd^ns, landholders ; 15 Edh&rs, fishers ; 5395
Mhirs, labourers; 1112 Chdmbhdrs, shoemakers; 1092 Mdngs,
messengers; 158 Dhors, tanners; 6 Bhangis, sweepers; 285
Gosdvis, 109 Mdnbhdvs, 63 Gondhlis, 46 Joshis, 34 Eoll&tis, 21
Gopdls, and 3 Uhitrakathis, beggars; 771 Bhils, 646 Eolis, 78
Tinn&lis^ 66 Bdmoshis, and 18 Bbaradis^ unsettled tribes.

The provincial road from Ahmadnagar to Manmdd enters
Bihuri on the south at the sixteenth mile from Ahmadnagar and
passing up north through the village lands of Dharaori, Ehad^mba,
and Digras it reaches in the twenty-third mile the Mula river where

Chapter ZIII.
Sub-Divisions.

Crops*

Pwf^

JSoads.

[Bombay Gaiette.

6S6

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ZIIL
inb-DivisioxiB.

•Rahttri.

Hculway,

MarkeU.

Orc^fU.

Survey,

there is a wire-rope ferry. On the north bank of the river stATidi
the town of Rdhuri, after leaving which the road takes a bend to
the north-west and passing through the village lands of DeFhUi
and Guvha reaches the Pravara river in the thirty- sixth mile. Here
too is a wire-rope ferry. Passing, She town of Kolhar on the north
bank of the river, the road rans throngh the village of , Bdbleshf ar
and enters the extreme north-east corner of the Sangamner sab*
division in the forty-second mile from Ahmadnagar. Branching
off from the provincial road at Kolhdr in a north-westerly dipectiou
is the local fund road to Nasik but only 2} miles of this rood
lie within the limits of RdhurL In the south is the road from the
town of Vdmburi to Ahmadnagar through the Dongargaon pass of
which three miles, up to the crest of the Nagar range of hillSj lie in
the Bdhnri sub-division.

The Dhond and ManmSd State railway traverses Rdhari from
south to north. Three stations V4mburi, RAhuri, and Ldkh are
in the neighbourhood of the villages of Khadamba, TdndulvAdi, and
Padhegaon respectively. The Mula river is crossed by an iron
girder bridge resting on masonry piers, and the Pravara by ft
masonry bridge. The towns of Rdhuri, Vdmburi, and BeUpur are
connected with their railway stations by roads 2\, three, and four
miles respectively.

The following statement gives a list of the villages where weekly
markets are held :

Rdhwri Markets.

VlUilOS.

Day.

VniLAOB.

Day.

Vim^uri

Bel&pur

R&buri

Monday.

Sunday.

Thursday.

Kolhftr

PAchegaon ...

Ttiesd^.
WedoMd^.

The richest merchants live at Y^mburi and carry on a large
trade in grain.

The manufactures are quite insignificant, there being only about
125 looms in the whole sub-division, of which 100 are for weaving
coarse woollen blankets and twenty-five for weaving cotton cloth.
The blankets fetch up to 68. (Ks. 3) each and the cotton lugadds or
women's robes up to 12^. (Rs. 6). In one or two villages silk gddis
or women's robes were formerly woven^ but this small industry
has now quite died out.

Survey rates were introduced into Rdhuri in 1849-60. The 101
Government villages then in the sub-division were divided iato
three groups. The first group consisted of seventeen villages iu
the hilly country of the west where a maximum dry-crop rate of
3«. (Rs.*li) an acre was imposed; the second group of thirty-three
villages in the centre of the sub-division with a rate of 2a, 9d.
(Rs. If) an acre; and the third group of fifty -one villages in the
north and north-east where the maximum rate was fixed at 2a. 6d.
(Rs. 1^) an acre. The average incidence of these rates amounted
to l8. 2d. (9^ as.) an acre, the average rate prior to the settlement
being 1«. 4^d. (11 as.). On garden land the average assessment waa

DeccanO

AHMADNAGAB.

681

48. 4d. (Bs. 2^) an acre. In 1879-80 the sub-division whicli had
meanwhile andergone some slight territorial changes was reassessed.
Ninety-six of the 101 Government villages were aivided into three
groups running in a generally north and south direction. The first
group of twenty-eight villages farthest to the west had a maximum
dry-crop rate of 3«. 3d. (Bs. If) afl acre^ the second or central group
of forty-seven villages had a maximum rate of 3a. (Rs. 1^)^ and the
third or most easterly of the groups with twenty-one villages had a
rate of 28. 9d. (Rs. If) an acre. But in consequence of nearuess to
the railroad the rates on all villages within five miles of the line
were raised Sd (2 a8.) an acre in each group by which change five
villages received a maximum rate of Ss. 6d. (Rs. 1|), thirty ^eight
villages a rate of 3«. 3rf, (Rs. If), thirty-two villages of 3«. (Rs. IJ),
and twenty-one villages of 28. 9d. (If) an acre. The average
incidence of these rates was forty per cent above that of the previous
eettlement. The seven villages received from Pdrner and those
received from Nagar and Nevasa haviug not been originally settled
till 1851-53 were not included in the 1879-80 revision. Survey
rates have been introduced iuto six of the eight indm or alienated
villages in the sub-division.

Rahuri consists of villages, the greater number of which were in
former times comprised in the tarafs of R^huri^ Bel^pur^ and
Bdrdgaon-N^ndar. Under the Feshwds the Rdhuri and Beldpur
tarafs were attached to the pargana of Sangamner and until the
beginning of the present century the Bardgaon-Nd.ndur tarafw&s held
in 8aranjdm. On the acquisition of the country by the British in
1818^ a separate sub-division was formed^ the mdmlatddr being
stationed at the market town of Rahuri. In 1824-25 the Bel4pur
and Bdhuri tarafs were again attached to Saugamner, but in 1838-39
the Bdhuri sub-division was re-established and comprised in 1849-50
125 villages. In 1861-62 five villages were transferred to Nagar,
one to Nevdsa^ and seventeen to Eopargaon ; and in place of these
seven villages^ were received from Pdrner ; three Vdnjnlpoi, Kdtrad^
and Sangaon from Nevdsa ; three Ydvrad, Jambhli, and Jdmbulban
from Nagar ; and three Kadit-Budruk, Kadit-Khurd^ and M^dva
from Sangamner, leaving the sub-division with 118 villages of
which 110 now belong to Government, eight being wholly or par-
tially alienated. There are no resident jdgirddrs of any wealth or
influence. The following is a nominikl list of all the villages in
th^ sub-division showing to which of the former tarafs each belonged:

Chapter^XIIL
Sub-Divisions.

RIhubi.
Survey,

CJumgea.

^ The Beyen villages are Ehdmba, Yarsinde, Mahisgaon, Chikhalt&n, Sirak4iihe-
gaon, Daradgaon, and THhiffabad.

Chapter Xni.
Sub-Divisioni*

BiHURI.

SANQAMinBR*

Areeu

QBombftj Oute.

083

DISTRICTS.

JidhuH VUlages, 1883.

ViLLAOB.*

Tar€^.

Rihori.

lUhun-Kburd.

KendAl-Dudruk.

Kendal-Khurd.

Nimbhem.

Oavha.

Desvandi.

BAhmanL

I>eol41i.

Tul&pur.

V4Un.

Dhamori-Khurd.

Pimpri-anghad.

Sada.

TAkli-mia.

Chaiidkapur.

T&ndulv&dL

Kangar-Budnik.

Kangar-Rhurd.

Oanegaon.

Tandiilner.

Manjrja.

bilegaon.

T&mtihera.

Manori-Renipor*

Aradgaon.

R&mpur.

Kh&Uinde.

Kondvad.

Yndner

Chinch vililr.

Pimprl-Valan..

O&gargaon.

Chedgaon.

Kfcnadgaon.

Dbamori-Budrak.

ViLLaoL

Belftpur.

K&regaon.

Ainatpur.

TiUpur.

Umbargaon.

Ambi.

Ainalner.

Si«)ikr&pur. *

MAhegaon.

Trim&kkpor.

Likh.

Daradgaon.

J&tap.

Karanjgaon.

Belipur-Khurd.

Kopre.

Kudsargaon.

P&ch'gaoD.

Chinchuli-Badruk.

Qalu imb.

Padhegaon.

Shenvadgaon.

Ukalgaon.

P&thra-Budruk.

Hnninantgaon.

P&thra Khiird.

Br&hmangaon.

V&ngi-Budruk.

V&iigi-khurd.

MAh41gaon.

Bodhegaon.

Khirdi.

M&lunja-Bndnik.

M&lunJaKhurd.

Clii'icholi-Khurd.

B&bleshvar-Bk.

B&blesh var- K hurd.

Kolb&r-Bndruk

F^thiabad.

Kolh&r-Khurd.

Valad Kaon.

K&nhegaon.

Davangaon.

Ortngipur.

LohogHon.

Tiagaon.

Daunabad.

Lldgaon.

Bhagvatipar.

Kesipur.

T<uitf,

TlU.A6>.

Tmr^,

Bherdipar.

Koran iMir.l

Eklahari.1

Piinpalgaoo.1

Cbandegaon.1

Matapur.l

Kindnr.

V&mburi.

Kbadninba-Biidruk.

Khadam ba-Khuxd.

B&bhulgaoo.

Vanrandi.

Chinchti.

Khaninde.

Digraa.

Umbre.

BirakAnhegaon.

Khimba.

MahisgaoD.

Chikhaltio.

Daradgaon.

Varsinde.

T4h&r&bad.l

Kadit-Budruk.

Kadit-Khnrd.

Mandva.1

Vavrad.

J4mbhe.

Jambulban.l

VanjtilpoL
lUtrad.

Sangaia

VaiJ4-

pur.

* Villages with 1 after their names are alienated.

^4IUi9iISfiP^ one of the northern sub-divisions is bounded on the
north-east by Kopargaon, on the east by Rdhnri, on the south by
Pdrner and the Junnar sub-division of Poona, on the west by Akola,
and on the north-west by the Sinnar sub-division of Nisik. It*
greatest length is forty miles and breadth thirty. It comprises
159 villages in an area of 708 square miles. In 1881 its population
was 68,357 or 96 to the square mile and in 1882-83 the land revenue
amounted to £14,832 (Rs. 1,48,320).

Of an area of 708 square miles, 702 have been surveyed in detail.
Of these 26,133 acres are the lands of alienated villages. The rest
includes 269,068 acres or 63*54 per cent of arable land; 50,983
acres or 12*04 per cent of unarable; 94,596 or 22*33 per cent of forest
reserve! ; and 8795 or 2*07 per cent of village sites, roads,. and river
beds. From the 269,068 acres of arable land, 21,348 or 7-93 per
cent have to be taken on account of alienated lands in Government
villages. Of 247,720 acres, the actual area of arable Government
land, 223,175 acres or 9009 per cent were in 1882-83 held for tillage.
Of these 214,321 acres were dry-crop, 8833 acres were watered
garden^ and 21 acres were rice land.

Seoeait]

AHMADNAOAB.

633

The snb-diviaion ia divided into three distinctjortioTiB by the
two moniitain ranges which traverse it in a paralie^iirection. The
northernmost range enters on the north-west comer near the
village of Saikhindi and ends with the peak of Dadheshvar
2748 feet high near the village of ^mbgaon- Jali. TheTiighest point
of this range is Yatni&i seven miles north of the town of Sangamner
in the village lands of Sonoshi, which has an elevation of 2892 feet.
The soothemmost and loftier range completely traverses the sub-
division from west to east, entenng near the village of Sdyarchol and
?a8sing into the Rahari sub-division near the village of Varvandi.
n this range are the peaks of Bdleshvar 3889 feet, and Hivargaon
3035 feet. The central portion of the sub-division lying in the valley
of the Prajara between these two ranges of hills is fairly well wooded
being dotted with mango and hdbhul trees more especially towards
the west. Its soil along both banks of the river is of the richest
description, deteriorating however on either side towards the hills.
The northern division in comparison lies higher but is not so well
wooded and the soil is of an inferior character. The various streams
which water it flow in the direction of the Goddvari but all are dry
in the hot season and the water-supply is not good. The southern
and highest lying division is inferior in every respect to the two
others. The prevailing soil being friable and intermixed with
gravel the country is sJmost bare of trees except in the west where
considerable quantities of teak^ mostly however of small size, are
found in the sheltered valleys abutting on the A kola boundary. The
water-supply too is poor as the tributaries of the Mula river which
traverse the country can only be styled torrent streams. In all
three divisions the country in the neighbourhood of the hill ranges is
more or less cut up by ravines formed by the many spurs which jut
out into the plains.

The chief rivers are the Pravara and the Mula. The Pravara

rises in the west of the Akola sub-division which it completely

traverses entering Sangamner on the western boundary two miles

from the town of Dhandarphal. Its principal tributaries on the

left bank are the Dbamori, the Ardala, the Edsdra, the Mahdluugi^

the E&t, the Israa, and the Tamora, and on the right bank the

Baita, the Dher, the Digras, and the Chandikavra. Of these the

Ardala and the Raitaonly have a small perennialflow. In the monsoon

the ^ah&Iungi, which joins the Pravara at the town of Sangamner,

is sabject to violent floods which, however, are generally of short

duration. The Mpla river also rises on the Sahy^dris in the south*'

west of Akola and enters Sangamner about six miles south of the

Bdleshvar hill. Its tributaries the chief of which are the Eds or Eos

and the M&ndhal both on the right bank, are numerous but of little

importance, being merely mountain torrents which cease to flow

almof^t immediately on the cessation of raiu. The bed of the Mula

is deep and rooky. For the last eight or ten miles of its course

through Sangamner it forms the boundary between Sangamner and

Pimer and finally passes ont of the Sangamner limits at the

extreme soath-eaii corner near the hill of G-orikhar in the village

lands of Sindodi.

1772-80

Chapter ZIII.
Sub'DivisionB.

Sanoauner.
Aspect,

Water.

[Bombay Oftttttair.

684

DISTRICTS.

ChapterXIII.
Sab-Diyisions.

SAKOAlINSIt.

Climate.

CuUivctUon,

IrrigatUm,

It wonld be sataral to expect that Sanganmer being fluB
trayersed by main spurs from the Sahy^dris would bavd
a better rainfall than tbe neighboaring and less advantageonslr
situated sub-divisions of Sinnar^ Kopargaon, and RAhari. Statistsei
however show that the reverqp* is the case and this is more
remarkable as both R4huri and Kopargaon are not only furtW
from the Sahyddris but are flat in comparison with Sangamner.
The following statement gives the monthly rainfall during the elevoi
years ending 18S4 :

Sangamner RainfaU^ 1874-1S84.

UOHTH.

1874.

1876.
In.

1876.

1877.

1878.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

188S.

iaB4.

In.

Is.

January ...

■ «•

• ■■

• ••

■ ■«

• ••

• •«

■ ■•

• ••

• «•

««

February ...

• «•

■ ■ *

• ••

0-26

• •■

019

• ••

• ■•

«■ «

■•••

Mareh

• ••

010

• ••

016

■ •■

• ••

• ■•

■ ■ •

• t «

• •■

• ••

ApHl

• ■•

0-92

■ •«

• ■•

010

• ■•

«••

0 34

016

a* «

0*08

Hay

2-90

1-10

• *■

9-76

• •«

2-72

0-19

1-01

0-69

1-19

• •«

June

7'li

6-S8

S-80

6*41

S-28

7-88

2*98

2-08

6-<W

6-»4

1-M

July

4-45

8*05

2-20

0-20

6-77

4*22

2-a6

2 36

8-61

4-64

7-01

August

1S8

8-79

0-84

0-01

«'88

2-61

1-U

1-89

6*14

liao

September...
Oakohet ...

6S4

9-71

Oil

6-26

8.80

OiW

8-24

2-87

11-78

574

4-08

1-70

• >•

006

8-24

1-92

8-70

1-26

4-93

010

8-8S

4*JS

November...

• •■

■ ••

0-09

• ■■

■ ••

• ■•

0-60

»••

114

008

• • •

December ...
Total ...

■ •■

• ••

»•■

• ■•

«••

• ••

• * •

• •■

0-08

...

24-50

i4'05

6-69

16-29

26-76

22-17

16-41

1460

26-03

31-86

19-20;

The mode of husbandry does not difiEer materially from that obtain-
itig in the Deccan generally except as regards ploughing. In many
of the Poena sub-divisions the heavy soils are ploughed once in two
and three years, whereas in Sangamner both heavy and light soils
are ploughed every year. From the presence of weed and coarse
high grass in some of the fields tillage operations seem to be
frequently performed carelessly and cannot bear comparison with
the careful cultivation seen elsewhere. Possibly the long succession
©f bad seasons may have something to do with this seeming neglect.
Manure is generally employed in irrigated lands only and
these even get but an insufficient quantity, while dry-crop lands are
manured at rare intervals, sheep and goat droppings being used as a
top dressing. Very rarely are two crops raised, the soil from its light
friable nature not retaining sufficient moisture after the monsoon.
The area under kharif or early crops is to that under rabi or late as
three to one. In Sangamner as well as in the other sub-divisions of
the district, the area under kharif hvLS largely increased of late y^ars
and in the hill villages of the south and south-west early crops are
almost exclusively grown.

Owing to the confined nature of the yalley of the Pravara the
courses of its minor tributaries are short and deep, and irrigation
from dams or handhdrds is not carried on to any great extent, and
even where' practised the water-supply is limited, being on the
average available only up to the 1st of January or thereabouts.
There is a masonry weir of considerable dimensions at Javle bai]^
across the Raita some twenty-five years ago, but owing to faulty
construction it does not retain the water and has never been of
any use. With the exception therefore of irrigation from the Ojhar
canal garden cultivation is carried on chiefly by means of weUs.

JtoccMi-J

AHMADNAOAR.

6i35

A large dam of solid masonry 830 feet long and with a

xnaximum heiglit of twenty-nine feet was in 1S73 built across the

Tocky bed of the Pravara by the Irrigation Department close to the

Ullage of Ojhar-Khard. ITae total cost of the dam together with

the headworks was about £6000*(Bs. 60,000). The canal or channel

-wliich leads the water from the work is on the north side of the

river, and the total area irrigated from the seventeen miles which

lie in the Sangamner siib-division was 517 acres in 1878-79, 885

acres in 1879-80, and 2227 acres in 1880-81. Irrigation rates vary

from 28, to 16^. (Bs. 1 -8) an acre according to the number of months

for which the water is supplied. A large area of valuable alluvial

Icmd has been formed by the silting up of the river above the

weir. As the flow of the Pravara river is uncertain during the hot

months, a scheme for the formation of a large storage reservoir at

Mh^adevi in the Akola sub-division about twenty-five miles above

the dam has received the sanction of (Government and will soon be

commenced.

Of 204,020 acres the actual area under cultivation in 1881-82,
grain crops ocSupied 197,190 acres or 96'65 percent, of which 167,823
were under spiked millet bdjri Penicillaria spicata ; 80,043 under
Indian millet jt;an Sorghum vulgare; 8461 under wheat ^aAuTriticum
sestivum ; 309 under rdgi or nachni Eleusine corocana ; 232 under rice
bhdt Oryza sativa ; 70 under maize makka Zea mays ; 15 under kodra or
harik Paspalum scrobiculatum ; and 287 under other grains of which
details are not given. Pulses occupied 4764 acres or 2*33 per
cent, of which 2206 were under gram harbhara Cicer arietinum ;
329 under kulith or kuUhi Dolichos biflorus ; 102 under tur Cajanus
indicus ; 980 under mug Phaseolus radiatus ; 1 75 under udid Phas-
eolus mnngo ; two under peas vdtdna Pisum sativum ; and 970
under other pulses. Oil-seeds occupied 662 acres or 0*32 per oent,^
of which 190 were under gingelly seed til Sesamum indicum, and
472 under other oil-seeds. Fibres occupied 11 acres of which six
were under Bombay hemp san or tag Crotalaria juneea, and five under
brown hemp amhddiKihisciis canabinus. Miscellaneous crops occupied
1893 acres or 0*68 per cent, of which 428 were under tobacco tamhdku
Kicotiana tabacum ; 414 under chillies mirchi Capsicum frutescens ;
205 under sugarcane its Saccharum officinarum ; 36 under hemp
gdnja Cannabis sativa; and the remaining 310 under various
vegetables and fruits.

The 1881 population returns show that of 68,357 people 64,598 or
94'50 per cent were Hindus ; 3728 or 5*45 per cent Musalmdns ; 28.
Christians ; and three Sikhs. The details of the Hindu castes are ::
3096 BrAhmans ; 13 Kdyasth Prabhus, writers ; 417 OsvAl Mdrwiris,.
146 Sansdri Jangams, 63 Qujar^t Jains, 51 Meshri Mdrw^ris, 45
Kunam VAnis, 17 Gujar&t V^nis, and 10 Komtis, traders and
merchants; 82,093 Kunbis, 2312 Mdlis, 274 Bajputs, 38 Bangars,
and 2 Pah&dis, husbandmen; 923 Sutdrs, carpenters; 759 Sdlis,
weavers; 758 Sonars, goldsmiths; 684 Koshtis,. weavers; 638
Shimpis, tailors; 598. Kumbhdrs, potters; 585 Telis, oil-pressers ;
866 Lohi&rs^ blacksmiths; 292 Khatris, weavers ;^ 27& Nir&lis^iadigo-

Chapter XIIL
Sab-DivisioBB.

Sanoamnkr.
Ojhar Canal.

Crop*,

PeopU,

CBombAj

636

DISTRICTS.

ChupterZIIL

Snb-Divisioiui.

Sanoamnir.
People.

Hoods,

'^i

•T

dyers; 187 K&s&re, brass-isftkers ; 50 Kaildulis^ baaket-makera ; 41
Londris^ litne-bnrners ; :^3 Vaddrs, diggers ; SOBeld^ra^ quanriioen;
20 Ling^yat Baruds, basket-makers; 10 TAiDbats^ coppersmitlb;
8 Bhadbhanj^, grain-parchers ; 8 Kattais^ leather-workers ; one
Ot6.n, caster ; 522 Quravs^ priests f 758 Nhdvis, barbers ; 299 Paiiu.
wasbermen; 3941 Dhangars^ cowmen; 2 Gavlis^ cow-keeper>;
3740 Vanj^risj caravan-men; 83 Edhirs^ fishers; 81 Kamathis,
labourers ; 26 Bhois, fishers ; 9 Lamdns, carriers ; 5058 Mhan,
labourers; 1251 ChAmbhirs, shoemakers; 435 Mings, mesaengers.
118 Dhors, tanners; 14 Bhangis, sweepers; 4%i Goos^ria, 71
JMdnbhdvs^ 40 BhorpiSi 34 Joshis^ 34 Qondhlis, 19 Gop^s^ and 18
Kolbdtis, beggars; 1549 Kolis, 976 XUmoshis, 1S9 Bluls, 109
Bharidis^ and 47 lULvals, unsettled tribes.

Sangamner has on the whole better linesof communication than most
of the other sub-divisions^ being traversed from north to south sad
from east to west by two good roads which intersect at the town uf
Sangamner. The first of these the Poona-N&sik provincial high road
enters the sub-division on the south at the fifty-eighth mile from Poona
It then passes over a depression in the Harishchandrft range of hill*
by easy gradients through the village of Bota 61^ miles and desoends
to theMula river which at Ambeghadgaon sixty-seven miles^is crossed
by a fiying bridge. Thence it ascends the B&leshvar range passing
the villages of Dolasna seventy-three miles and Karjnle seventy-five
miles and descends into the Pravara valley by the Chandnfoari pass^
locally known as Hanmant N&ik's pass. The town of Sangamner
which stands on the north side of the river Pravara crossed by a
fiying bridge is reached at the eighty-seventh mile from Poena. The
road theo passes over the northern range of hills near the village of
Karhe and enters the N^ik district in the ninety •sixth mile. All the
smaller streams on this roote are bridged but at some of the larger
ones traffic is not unfrequently impeded for short periods during
heavy rain. There is a toll-gate at the foot of the Chandn4puri pass.
The second is a local fund rood from Loni, a village in the east of the
snb-^division, to Sangamner and forms the main line of commonication
with Ahmadnagar, Loni being connected with Kolhdr on the
MSIegaon road by a short section of five miles recently bridged and
thoroughly repaired. From Loni, forty-one miles north-west of
Ahmadnagar, the road passes due west through the Tillages of
Nimgaon-Jdli 46^ miles; Konchi forty-nine xiiiles; Kokangaon

1 Near the top, upon the ridge of a natural trap-dyke, a atone piUar oommemoTatea
the death of Hanmant Niik, a local Bhil chief who made war on the Moghals, or
according to another story on the Feshwa. Their enemy came fighting about lereDty
miles from Poena, and the Bhils waited for them to pass. Aa Hanmant N^k vu
bending ifts bow, a trooper shot him in the breast with a matchlock balL The wotud
was fatal, but as he fell he loosed his shaft and killed the horseman. After the battle
the Bhils brooeht Uanmant*s body, and buried it where the horseman had stood.
Here all Bhils love to be buried, and «>nce a year they come and sla\ oocka and diisk
deeply* The tomb is covered with little wooden legs aiid arms offered by worahtppen,
who hope by Hanmant's favour to cure an ailing limb. Close by are two or three
other tombe of the same sort, square platforms surmounted by littia obelisks, ind
others more modest, Mr. Sinclair, C.S. in Ind. Ant. V. 8.

AHMADNAGAB.

687

Ouipter Xni.
Sub-Diviflions.

SANGAMHOt.

fifty-one miles ; Yadgaon fifty-four miles ; and Samndpar fifty-six

milesj reaching Sangamner in the fifty-ninth mile. Leaving

Sangamner it passes still dae west through the village of ChikhU

sixty •three miles, and enters the Akola sub-division in the sixty-eighth

xnile^^rhe Kolhdr-Nfodur road, also a local fund road which^ C 1 -^^w**-

nvith the exception of the first nve miles forming part of the*

route from Ahmadnagar to Sangamner, is now very little used

traverses the sub-division on the north-east Formerly large

quantities of timber were brought from the N&sik forests to

Ahmadnagar by this route, but of late years the supply has greatly

fallen off and as there is now railway communication through

ManmAd it seems unlikely that the road will ever be much used

again. From Lent it pursues « north-westerly direction passing

through the villages of Gogalgaon forty-four miles from Ahmaanagar ;

liohira-Mirpur 47^ miles; Kfodra 49 J miles; Vadjhiri fifty-three

miles ; Talegaon fifty-five miles ; Ndnaj fifty-eight miles ; Pimple

sixty miles, and Nimon sixty-two miles, and enters the Sinnar

Bub-division of N&ik in the sixty-fifth mile and joins the Poona-N^sik

high road two miles beyond the boundary of Sangamner. The

greater portion of this road has &llen into disrepair. In addition

to these three main routes there are many cart-tracks which have

from time to time been repaired and improved. Two of these are

the road from Panodi over the Baleshvar range to Mindva a village

on the river Mnla and the road from Pimpalgaon-depa through

S&kur to the same village of M^ndva and thence, across the river,

up to the northern plateau of the Pdmer sub-division by the Palshi-

MAndva pass. All these roads have been made during the last thirty

years ana with the exception of a few villages in the difficult country

south of Javle-B&leshvar nearly every part of the sub-division is

now accessible to carts.

The nearest stations to Sangamner are N&ik Road on the north- RtSfway.

east section of the Peninsula Railway distant thirty-seven miles,
and fieUpur on the Dhond-Manm^ railway distant thirty-one miles.

The following statement gives a list of the villages where weekly Markets,

markets are held,:

Sotngamntr Markets,

ViLLAOB.

Day.

VlLLAOB.

Day.

SADgaiDiier ...

Nincii ... ...

Bikur

Wodnetday and

S«tarday.
Friday.
Wadneaday.

S&trai ... •••

Aahyl

Famgiri

Taaaday.
Monday.
Friday.

On Wednesdays the principal article brought and sold at Sangamner
is rice, and on Saturdays there are transactions in live stock. At
the other markets only the ordinary commodities of cloth, grain,
groceries, and vegetable are offered for sale. The cultivators also
visit the weekly markets at Rlih^ta, Korh&le, and Mamddpur in the
Kopargaon sub-division. Mamdipur is the largest cattle market
in the north of the district.

Utombflj

6S8

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Xni.
Sub-BivisioiiB.

Sanoamkbr.

Survey,

The mana&ctares are cotton and silk cloths, turbans, wooik
blankets^ bangles^ and saltpetre. There are abont 2100 kca
worked in the snb-diyision of which 2000 are in tbe town ;•
Sangamner itself where the weaying trade is very brisk. The 7K1
now nsed is principally English. Wangles are made at Pem^in hj h
small colony of K&chdris, Telegn-speakiDg inhabitants of Seam's
India who established kilns in that village some fifty years «ri
The yearly value of the outturn from their three kilns is said to \%
£150 (Rs. 1500) and the bangles are chiefly purchased by itinera^
merchants who export them to different parts of the district and ak*
to Bombay. Saltpetre is manufactured^ though to a very liioiDec
extent, from nitrated earth in the villages of Loni, Adgaon, Ijohan,
Gogalgaon^ Jorve^ and Mirjhdpur.

Survey rates were first introduced in 1849 into 102 villages whicl
were, with the exception of twelve villages adjacent to the Akoh
boundary, divided into two classes each with a maximam dry-crcp
Tate of Ss. (Bs. 14) an acre though with slightly different dassificft-
tion values. In the twelve villages above alluded to a maxiinQm
rate of 3«. 6d. (R& If) was fixed; subsequently however four of theio
were transferred to the lower classes. In all these villages the
average incidence of these rates amounted to 1^. 2f d. (9| ouf.) an ac:«
On the expiry of the first term of thirty years these 102 village
now reckoned as 105, together with twenty-nine others received from
the Akola, Junnar, and P^mer sub-divisions but less two which h&d
been transferred to Bdhuri, were re-measured and re-classed and the
revised rates received the sanction of (Government in 1880 and 18»SL
These 1 32 villages were divided into six groups. The first gronp, witi
a maximum dry-crop rate of 4^. (Bs. 2) an acre comprised twenty -tvo
villages in the west of the subdivision lying in the valley of the Pravan
and in the neighbourhood of the town of Sangamner; the second groTiv
with a maximum rate of Sa. 9(2. (Rs. 1|) comprised eight villages in the
Pravara valley to the east of Sangamner ; the third with a maximtun
rate of 8«. 6d. (Bs. If ) an acre comprised fifty-nine villages of wfairh
forty-three are situated east of those in the second group and aixteis?
are in the north of the sub-division ; the fourth group with a maximina
rate of Ss, Sd (Rs. If) comprised sixteen villages ifi the extreme east
of the sub-division ; the fifth group with a maximum rate of 3«.(Rs.lii
comprised twenty villages lying south of the Baleshvar range in tk
Mula valley ; and the sixth group with a maximum rate of 2^ 9i
(Bs. 1|) an acre comprised seven villages in the hilly country sontl*
west of Sangamner, where, though the rainfall is good there is a great
scarcity of water and where the soil is shallow and poor. Tht'
average incidence of these rates shows an increase of thirfy percent
over those leviable in the same villages under the old rates. Of
the rftnaining nineteen Government villages revision rates wen
introduced in 1875-76 into the five villages which were received iron
Ndsik. In the four south-eastern villages which were received bom
P^mer and Nagar the first term of settlement is still current as it is
also in nine alienated villages which lapsed to Gk)vernment between
1858 and 1855. The one remaining village Sheri-kuran is a foreii

leocaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

639

reserve and therefore not now assessed. Survey rates have also at
d^iflerent times been introduced into five of the eight alienated villages
of the aub-diyision.

Saogamner in the time of the ?eshwds consisted of two pargands

Sangamner and Dhandarphal^ Samgamner being again subdivided

into tlxe tarafs of Sheike and Mhaske. In 1848 the number of

Government villages was 106 and of alienated villages twelve.

In 1853-54 a hamlet^ of Javle-Bdleshvar was reckoned as a

separate village. In 1861-62 three villages were transferred to

Xldhuri and one village to Kopargaon. At the same time six

villages in the Devpur iaraf were received from Ndsik ; thirteen*

from Akola; three Sakur, Sindodi, and Mindva-Budruk from Nagar ;

a.nd two Kantd-Malkdpur and Varvandi from Pdrner. On the

abolition of the Sirur sub-division in 1866-67 seventeen villages were

received from Shivner, now the Junnar sub-division of Poena, but

of these seven were retransferred' in the following year to Akola,

the Pdrner village of Hivargaonpath^r, and five Akola villages of

tora/PathAr being received in exchange. In 1872-73 another village

Akl^pur, was added from Pdmer, thus making the total number

of villages in the sub-division 156. Subsequently in 1881 four

villages,* originally distinct but which had for many years been

reckoned as one in the Government records, were again separated

At the suggestion of the survey authorities. So that the sub-division

»t present contains 159 villages, of which 151 belong to Government

and eight are wholly or partially alienated. The following table

gives a nominal list and shows to which of the tarafa each village

formerly belonged :

Sangamner V%Ragt$j 188S,

VniLAOK

Kanoli.

Kank&por.

Jhole.

S&tr&L

CbAndflipur.

RhalL

Rahimpur.

Jharek&thi.

•?

S&Tar|;aoiL.

VAgh&par.

Devgaon.

hi»

Kliarftdi.

Baita.

Chanef^aon.

Chinchpu r- Budrok.

Chinch pur-Kbnrd.

HiTargaon.

Malunja.

Chandrapnr.

Dhanora.

Songaoxu

VlLLAOB.

Ambhora.

Sangamner-Khord.

CHhar-Badruk.

Kimgaon.

Durgapar.

Prat&ppar.

Plmparne.

Shlrapur.

J&mgaon.

Kolv4de.

Ashvi-Budruk.

Digras.

M4nchl.

Ronchl.

Ashvi-Khurd.

Nimgaon-J&li.

Jorve.

Hangev&di.

ManoU.

Pokhrt

Aurangpor.

TaraJ

ViLLAGB.

Kh4ndffaon.

J&khori.

Dadh-Budruk.

Dadh-Khurd.

Shedgaon.

PimprL

Lavki.

Ajampur.

Takrarpur.

P&nodi.l

Slblapur.l

Ojhar KhiiTd.1

Kaa&nr&di.!

Pimpri-ninnal.

KMara*

MaldAd.

Hasnfcbad.

Vadgaon-Khurd.

NimMle.

!W«i/]

Chapter ZIII.

Sub-Divisions.

Sanqamkjer,
Cha$iges,

^ Slittn-kiiraiL

> Of the thirteen villages two were in tarqf Rnmanvddi, foar in tar<tf Boj4par,

and seven in tora/ Path^.
* Leaving ten viUagea five of torq/'Belhe, three of taraf Karda, and two of tar<tf

A&e.
^ The four villages are Pimpri, Lavki, Ajampur, and Takhbrpnr.

640

[Bomliay OauttK

DISTRICTS,

Chapter XIII.

Sub-BividonB.

Sanoamnxb.
Ckanges,

Sangamner ViUaffe$, /^^5— oonttnued.

Shxvgaon.

Area,

A^eet,

TiLLAOI.

Tara/

Kuran.

Nilvaud*.

INttoiraon.

Juneaaon.

AjMmpur.

Arunpor.

TitcMon.

OoKalfffton.

KokRiuMon.

liOluini.

Loni-Budnik.

Loni-Khard.

Baanapur.

•S

PMab4ki

KhAJUpar.

Umri.

Bilipur.
Menahvan.

Karul*.

Vajhiri-Bndnik.

Vajhiri-Khoid.
Shliupur.

Chorkante.

M&legaoa.

fiftdatpur.

•

Vadgaou •Badnk.

Sangamner.

Chlneboli-guro.

Samn&pur.

Yelhale.

Rij&par.

Adgaon-Budrnk.

Adgaon-Khurd.
Pimpri-lokal.

Mirpur.

KalTad-Bndrak.

KelTad-Khurd.

B&Ura.

ViLLAOB.

DhandarphaL
Pemgirl.

Niingooa-Biidnilc.
Kante.
Mirjhftpar.
Soposhl.
Sixtt^aon.
Dbupa.
Bavarchol.
Nimffaon-Kburd.
NImaJ.
Dhandarphal Kbuxd
Pimpalgaon - KonJ-
hira.

Ptmpalgaon-Mitha.
MaogUptur.
Bangui.
Naoduri.1

Nimgaon.
Chikhli.
SafkblndL
Gbikhnl.

Nlmon.

Karke.

Pimple.

PftragaoB-Bodmk.

PAregaon-Klrard.

Manaj.l

Varvandi.

Saknr.

MandYa-Budruk.1

Tara/,

ViLLAen.

Jarle-Kadlak.
Vadgaon-Ltndga.

Tor^f,

Hhasraodl.

Kurkundl.

Jambhut-Budrok.

JambhaVKbttrd.

Sindodt.

Pokhri-BAleahvar.

Sarolo.

Dolasna.

VanidL

Karjole.

Malegaon.

PimualgafOD-Dcpft.

Bota.

SavargaoD.

Javle-BClMhTar.

Vankuta.

Bojdari.

Kaota-Bndrnk.

Kanta-CbTxrd.

Hirargaon.

Sheri-Rttian.

Kanta-Malkipiir.

Akl&pur.

Windiff'Kbandar-
mAL

Obav^aon.
Ambu

« •

* Villagos with 1 after their names are alienated.

Shevgaoilj the most easterly sub-division, is bounded on the
nortt-east and east by theNiz&m's territory, on the south by J^mkked
and the Nizdm*s territory, on the south-west by Nagar, and on the
west and uorth-west by NevAsa. It has an area of 670 square miles
and comprises 188 villages. In 1881 its population was 87,113 or
130 to the square mile and in 1882-83 the land revenue amounted to
£15,692 (Rs. 1,56,920).

Of an area of 670 square miles 597 have been surveyed in detaO.
Of these 27,520 acres are the lands of alienated villages. The rest
includes 294,407 acres or 82*99 per cent of arable land ; 30.256
acres or 8*52 per cent of unarable ; 19,165 or 5*40 per cent of
forest reserves; and 10,912 or 3*07 per cent of village sites, roads,
and river beds. From the 294,407 acres of arable land, 16,516 or
5*60 per cent have to be taken on account of alienated lauds in
Qovemment villc^s. Of 277,891 acres, the actual area of arable
Government land, 248,615 acres or 89*46 per cent were in 1882-83
held for tillage. Of these 244,439 acres were dry-crop and 4176
acres were watered garden land.

With the exception of two of its villages Jdt-devla and Minik-
daundi Shevgaon lies in the valley of the river GodAvari which
forms a natural boundary on the north-east. On the soath-west ii
the high wall of hills dividing Shevgaon from the more elevated

Seccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR

641

sub-division of Nagar. Except in the south and soath-east where
spars from the Nafs^r range of hills jut out into the valley the ground
is level. The hilly portion has a varied and picturesque aspect^
several of the minor valleys being; well wooded, and in the neighbour-
liood of the villages there are more extensive patches of garden
cultivation than are found in the plain portion of the sub-^division.

With one or two exceptions the streams which drain the sub-
division all rise in the hills on the south and south-east and flow
northward into the God^varL The Dhora which rises in the Nevdsa
Bub-division skirts Shevgaon on the"* north-west, and is joined by
the Erdha^ the Nani, and other minor streams which rise in the hills
south oTTisgaon and P^thardi. The two villages of Mdnikdaundi
and J^t-devla lying on the southern slopes of the Nagar range are
watered by streams which flow into the river Mehekri a branch of
the Sina. The village of Kharvandi in the south-east stands on a
minor Trahch of the Sinphana river which, though a tributary of
the Godavari does not in any part of its course enter the Shevgaon
sub-division^ flowing through the Nizdm's territory much further to
the east.

The Shevgaon villages are for the most part very well supplied
with water which throughout the low grounds is always to be found
at a moderate depth. Many of the small streams also have a
perennial flow affording a plentiful supply of drinking water to the
Tillages on their banks.

Near the God&vari the soil is deep and stiff but near the hills
it is of a lighter texture and more easily worked. On the gently
elevated tracts of mdl land between the minor streams the soil is
poor and hard, but on the whole this sub-division is the most fertile
in the district.

The rainfall too is more certain and plentiful than in any of the
adjacent sub-divisions. Even in the famine years of 1876, 1877,
and 1878 Shevgaon hardly suffered at all. The following statement
gives the monthly rainfall during the eleven years ending 1884 :

Shevgaon Iiair\fall, 1874-1884.

MOMTH.

1874.

1876.

1877.

1878.
In.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1888.

18R4.

In.

lu.

lo.

In.

January

• ••

1-70

• ••

■ ••

• ••

• •ff

0-81

February ...

• •«

■ ••

• ••

0-81

•••

0-14

■ ••

• a*

• ••

March

«f •

• •t

0-14

• • ■

■ •■

0-60

■ ••

• •«

■ ••

• •■

April
May

• •»

• ■•

• » •

■ ••

0 86

• • »

ftki

• •«

0-04

• ••

0-10

S-M

0-90

• ••

0-18

616

0-16

0-40

0-21

0-88

• ••

June

7-92

1-80

8-22

7-12

2-66

7-76

2-96

4-62

9-22

7-07

1-94

July

8-89

2-08

7-76

0-58

11-78

6-98

6-79

674

8-96

2-16

2-06

Aufirust

0*01

6-12

8 09

1-43

12-62

7-41

1-96

8-64

2-60

9-87

2-40

9«pte]nb«r ...

12-46

18-20

6-94

6-22

6-26

1-46

7-46

4-80

6-91

12-68

8-27

October

210

2-08

8-60

2-68

1-80

2-26

1-68

■ ••

2-69

<tr64

Noyember ...

O-fiS

*■ »

0-60

1-24

•05

0-06

1-02

1-29

0-67

0-81

• ••

December ...
Total ...

■ ■•

113

• •■

0-20

■••

• ••

«•■

■••

• ••

86-24

26.61

20-60

21-54

86-22

29-19

28-19

22-00

22-41

86-00

14-61

Early and late crops are grown in about equal proportions. Of
222,759 acres the actual area under cultivation in 188 1-82, grain crops
occnpied 177,102 acres or 79*50 per cent of which 82,750 were under

B 772-81

Chapter nil.

Snb-IHvisionB.

Shxvoaon.

Biven,

Waier.

Sou.

Rair^aU.

Oropi,

[Bombay ChuMw.

642

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ZIIL
Bnb-BivisiOBS.

Shxtoaon.
Cropi.

People.

Hoade,

spiked millet bdfri Penicillaria spicata ; 84^1 60 under Indian BuBe-:
jvdri Sorghum yulgare ; 954] under wheat gahu Triticum aeBtivum;
four under rdgi or ndchni Eleusine corocana; three under liod
bhdt Oryza sativa; 18 under chenna sdva Panicom miliaceum;
457 under maize makka Zea majs ; 8 under barley ja/u Hordeam
hezastichon; and 161 under other grains of which details are u<^
given. Pulses occupied 17,612 acres or 7*90 per cent of which
7983 were under gram harbhara Cicer arietinum ; 4891 under kuliik
or kulthi DolichoB biflorus; 4043 under tur Cajanus indioos; 131
under mug Phaseolus radiatus ; and 564 under other pulae& Oil-
seeds occupied 7001 acres or 314 per cent, of which 8901 were
under gingelly seed til Sesamum indicum; 1239 under lin&eed
aUhi Linum usitatissimum ; 127 under mustard roi Sinapis racemos&i
and 1734 under other oilseeds. Fibres occupied 19,531 acres
or 8*76 per cent of which 18,824 were under cotton Mpus Gossy-
pium herbaceum ; 677 under Bombay hemp aan or tag Crotalaria

Sncea, and 30 under brown hemp ambddi Hibiscus cannabinoa.
iscellaneous crops occupied 1513 acres or 0*67 per cent, of which
593 were under tobacco tambdku Nicotiana tabacum ; 329 under
chillies mirchi Capsicum frutescens; 401 under sugarcane tu Sae«
charum officinarum ; 12 under hemp gdnja Cannabis sativa, and the
remainining 178 under various yegetables and fruits.

The 1881 population returns show that of 87,113 people 81/61
or 9328 per cent were Hindus, 5776 or 6*63 per cent Musalmkns,
74 Christians, one P^rsi, and one Sikh. The details of the
Hindu castas are : 3338 Brdhmans ; 5 Kdyasth Prabhus^ writers ;
1628 Osvil M^wdris, 469 Sans^ri Jangams, 302 Ldd ViUiis, 227
Kunam V^s, 65 Gujardt Jains, 44 Meshri M^rwi&ris, and 8
Gujardt Ydnis, traders and merchants ; 31,368 Eunbis, 2127 Miiis,
379 Rajputs, and 1 7 Hangars, husbandmen ; 2062 Koshtis, weavers ;
913 Sutdrs, carpenters; 846 Telis, oil-pressers ; 782 Son^r
goldsmiths; 701 Kumbhdrs, potters; 548 Kds^, brass-makers;
454 Lohdrs, blacksmiths; 330 Shimpis, tailors; 301 Nirdlk,
indigo-dyers; 274 Yaddrs, diggers; 222 S^is, weavers; 139
Kaikd.dis, basket-makers ; 46 Belddrs, quarrymen ; 45 Tdmbats,
coppersmiths ; 39 Lingdydt Buruds, basket-makers ; 25 Gavandis,
masons; 19 Fardeshi Halvais, confectioners; 16 Londris lime-
burners; 16 Ghisddis, wandering blacksmiths; 15 Mochis and
11 Katti.is, leather-workers; 8 Jingars, saddle-makers; 156
Guravs, priests ; 934 Nhdvis, barbers ; 325 Parits, washermen; ^92
Dhangars, cow-men; 6 Gavlis, cow-keepers; 11,775 VanjiLris,
caravan-men; 279 Lam^ns, carriers; 162 Bhois and 83 Kdhirs,
fishers; 7355 Mhto, labourers; 3289 Miugs, messengers; 1426
Chdmbhdrs, shoemakers ; 322 Dhors, tanners ; 620 Gosivis, 158
Kolh^&s, 135 Mdnbh^vs, 130 Gondhlis, 95 Gopdls, 50 Bhorpis, and
7 Joshis, beggars ; 317 EoUs, 300 Bhils, 133 lULmoshiB, 70 £»iaiidie,
36 Tirm^lis, and 17 Rivals, unsettled tribes.

The provincial road from Ahmadnagar to Paithan enters the
Shevgaon sub^division on the west at the village of Dhorjalgfton
thirty-three miles north-east of Ahmadnagar. Passing by the viUagee

AHMADNAOAR.

of Simaagaon and Vadnle it reaches Shevgaon in the forty-first mile.
Thence through the villages of Talni and Ohotan it enters on the
Nizam's territory at the fifty-second mile by the village of Karhe-
T&kli. The town of Paithan on the north bank of the 6od4vari
lies three miles beyond the Bntj^h boundary. Shevgaon is also
cx)nnected with Ahmadnagar by another road^ a local fund road^
>irhich enters the sub-division on the south-west at the top of the
Saranja pass fifteen miles east of Ahmadnagar. After winding
down the pass for two miles it passes up through the villages of
Karanja eighteen miles, Devrai twenty-one miles, Tisgaon twenty-
four miles^ Amrtlpnr thirty-four miles, and Bhagur thirty-seven miles,
reaching Shevgaon in the fortieth mile.

The following statement gives a list of the places where weekly
markets are held :

Sheogaon Mdrhets.

VlLLAGH.

D*y.

VniLACii.

r Day.

FAtlUURtt

Bodhegaon ...
Teradmon

K&mbI

Kondgaon ...

Wednesday.

Thunday.

Friday.

Wednesday.

Sataiday.

Mungi ... ...

Tiagaon

Shevgaon
Kharvandi
Vadule Khnrd...

Monday.

Thunday.

Sunday^

Sunday.

Monday.

Pathardi is the chief cattle market whilst at Bodhegaon the largest
transactions in grain are efifected. Both places are the residences of
wealthy merchants. At Yeradgaon also live stock can be purchased.

About 3000 looms are worked in the Shevgaon sub-division of
which about 2000 are in the town of PAthardi, which formerly
belonged to Siudia, and 200 in Tisgaon. Although a few silk cloths
are woven, the principal manufacture is of various kinds of cotton
cloths, mostly coarse. Of late years English yam has been largely
used.

Shevgaon was surveyed between 1850 and 1852, the new rates
being introduced in the following year. The 77i Government
villages which were then and are still comprised in the sub-division
were divided into four groups. The first group consisting of eight
villages in the sonth-west of the sub-division near the market-town
of Pathardi had a maximum dry-crop rate of 28. 6d. (Rs. li) an
sere; the second group consisted of 38^ villages situated to the
nort^ and north-east of those in the first group, but not possessing-
BO good a climate or being further from markets, the maximum
rate was fixed at 2s. Sd. (Bs. 1^) an acre ; the third group of twenty^
three villages still less favourably situated had a mazimnm rate
of 28. (Be. 1) an acre ; and in the fourth group of eight villages in the-
extreme north-east the maximum rate was la. 9d (14 a«.) an acre.
The average rate on lands which had been cultivated in th^year
of thd settlement was reduced from Is. 9d. to Is, l^d. (14-9 o^^) an
acre, a relief to the extent of nearly thirty six per cent. On garden
land irrigated from wells the maximum rate was fixed at 6s. (Bs. 3)t
except in nine villages, where it was reduced to 5^. (Bs. 2^) an acre.
The 614 villages obtained from Sindia in 1860 were sabaeqnenily
surveyed and classed on similar principles.

Cliaptor^ZIII.
Sub-DivisioBB.

ShBVOA0K«

Soadi,

Markeii,

CnrfU.

Survey,,

[BonbajGaiMte

644

DISTRICTS.

Chapter Zni.
Sub-DivlHoiiB*

Shevoaon.
Change.

About tlie middle of the last centnry Shevgaon was acqnM
from the Niz&m by the Mardth^ and in 1752 by mutaal agreemec:
was divided between Sindia and Holkar. In 1818-19 Holkir'f
share came into possession of the British. The sub-division^ theo
embracing some 176 villages vffB incorporated with Nevisa in
1825-26 bat again separated in 1834-35. In 1850 GrovemmeM
owned 78 i of the villages^ 97 ^ being wholly or partially alienated.
By the treaty with Sindia in 1860, 61^ of the alienated villages were
acqnired. In 1861-62 twelve villages were transferred to Nevasa
and three to Nagar in place of twenty-six villages received frvm
Nevdsa^ and one, Jatdevla, from Korti. Seven alienated villages hare
lapsed to Government at different times since 1850 and now of the
188 villages composing the sab-division 160 belong to Govemnieiit
and twenty-eight are wholly or partially alienated.

The following table contains a nominal list of the villages and
shows to which of the ancient tarafs each belonged :

Skevgaon Villages, 188S.

ViLLAGB.*

Valnnj.

Shekte KhTxxd.

Dhorjftlgaon.

Farevidi.

Agaskh&n.

Sanphe.

Prabliu-pimprL

K&ijat-Kburd.

Madke.

Suleplmpalgaon.

Badhivangaon.

Pixnpalnvh&n.

DnlechandgaoxL

Khambgaon.

N««alv£li.

Murmt

TlBgaon.

Bhorde.

Tb&kar-nlmgaon.

Rakshi.

Xangml-Khurd.

KhanrandL

Vadule-Budrnk.

BilamUkU.

TelL

Vadgaon.

Mungi.

AdhodL

Kelvandi.

KolflAngyl.

KaragaoD-KliUTd.
Konosi.l

Ktairpimpalgaon.l
G&ikv&d-jalgaoiLl
Karhet&ldiVl
Kta&nApur.l
Varkhede.!
Avhine-Budruk .1
Chitale-n imo-juni.
ChApadgaon.
JaTkhede-kh&Iaa.
ThAkiir-pimpalgaol]
* Dhor-ohandgaoD.
Dhor-bingni.
DahigaoD.

Taraf.

VOiLAQB.

Dh&mangaon.

Nivadunge.

Piagevftdl.

Pathardi.

Barblnpor.

BelgaOD.

Bodhegaon.l

Bhute-tdkll.

Bh&bi-nlmgaon.

Uarshadpar.

LAdJalgaoo.l

Lakninipari.l

Vtffholl.

Vadula-Khiuxl.

Vaau.l

Baid4pur.

Sonvihir.

Sakali.

Somth&ne-Badrnk.

Somthtae-nalyade.

S&ngri.Bodruk.

StogTi-Khurd.1

Shiripur.

S&tvad.

Sakegaoo.l

Isnipur.

Hanmant-tfkli.

Hatrftl.

Hfctgaon.l

Dongarftkhegaon.

Bbekte Budrnk.

Pangoiipimpalgaon

Variir-Khaid.

Lakhephal.

MorgaTh&n.

Chede-cbandgaon.

Vanir*BadniLl

Nlmbiri.

Agamindur.

Nlp&ni-jalgaon.

Sbahajapar.1

UUegaoD.

Bfttgavhin.

DivtB.l

Kharadgaon.1

Tanf.

ViLLAOfe.

AThine-Kh«d.l

Shevgaon.

Kbiidi.

Kbadko.

Karjat-Badnik.

Kanpor.

Sone-a&ngri.

Samangaon.

SaltiDpur-Kbnrd.

Kherde.

Madbi.

Vobote.

Karodl.

KalMuiinpri.

JohBTvidi.

QbitBina.

Bodke.

Chttale-Dime.

Kolgaon.

Hingangaon.

M&legaon.

Etftnegaon.

Antre.

Kandgaon.

Shingoii.

Jobarapnr.

Sbabapur.

Tbate.

NAndur.

Antarrall-Bodnik.

Apffacm.

Malkapar.

Prabhu-Vadgaoo.

Hlngni,

VAkaarL

Dabipbal.

GolegaoD.

Jftmbll.

MohaJ'Badnik.

Jlreridl.

OaradyfUli.

Suflare.l

Oangftpur.!

lUinbi.1

VUlagoB vtth 1 after their names an alienated.

1 Of the twenty-Biz thirteen were of taraf Ghottn* eight of tam/ShixAl, two o
earv/ ShAhartAkb, and DevUia, Yt^o^ and M&l^gaon.

AHMADNAGAR.

Skevgam ViBagtt, JfSSJ—contdiined.

VlLLlOl-

T,rV.

V.U-6^

ranV.

TiLU

sasU

AkolB. '•~*^

iter

Muunil-Bodrak.

BnlOnpuT-BndlDk.
0.devUl.l

Kopn.

IUI<V»o . ..

HUl-bibh

HlngMJ^OB.

TondolL

T»j.Bipni
Khuntepb

K»n»Un|

DnliM

Minlkdiniidl.
Jlt-darle.l

Chapter xm.

Sub-Sivinoiu.

Shitoaok.

Changa.

8hrigonda. one of the two southem snb-divisionB of the diBtriot,
IB boDnaeil on the north by PAmer and Nagar ; on the eaat by
Karjat ; on the aonth by Bhimthadi ; and on the west by Sirar, both
enb-diriBions of the Poona dietrict. Ita length from north to Bonth
and its breadth from east to west are each abont twenty -eight miles.
It compriees eighty-Beren villageB' in an area of 625 square miles.
In 1881 the population was 51,291 or 82 to the square mile and in
1862-83 the land revenue was £10,641 (Bs- 1,06,410).

Of an area of 625 square miles, 607 have been surveyed in detail.
Of these 17,518 acres are the lands of alienated villages. The rest
includes 287,418 acres or 77-S6 per oent of arable land ; 32,289 acres
or 8'69 per cent of nnarable; 30,729 or 8-27 per cent of forest
reserves; and 21,095 or 5*67 per cent of village sites, roads, and
riverbeds. From the 287,418 acres of arable land 23,475 or 8-16
per cent have to be taken on account of alienated lands in Govern-
ment villages. Of 263,943 acres, the actual area of arable
Government laud 228,096 acres or 86-41 per cent were in 1882-83
held for tillage. Of these 224,566 acres were dry-crop and 3530
acres watered garden land.

Tha greater part of the Shrigonda snb-division lies in the valley
of the Bhjma and has a gentle alope from the north-east towardfs
that nver on the south and its tributary ^thgOJiod on the sonth-
vest. For the most part it is a level plain, with an average elevation
of 1900 feet above the sea level, skirted on the north-east by a chain
of low hills with Sat summits. Fonrteen of the villages lie^on the
north aide of thiB range in the valley of the Sina. The chain of
hills on the north-east is remarkable for its succession of flat summits
or pathdrs which have a uniform elevation of some 2500 feet. A

IBcmlmj

84&

DISTRICTS.

Ohapter XIII.

8ub-0ivisio&8.

Shugonda.

Water.

8oa.

ClimaU.

few peaks however stand out prominently from fliis Bingalar lookmf
range the principal of which are a hill four miles east of Kolg&cs
in the village lands of Kothul 2826 feet high^ and another one
1^ miles farther east 2788 feet hi^L Adjacent to this hill is the
large elevated tract known as the Dongar-path^r.

The Bhima river forms the southern boundary of the sub-division.
Its chief tributary is the Ghod which forms the western boundaij
and falls into the Bhima at the extreme south-western oomer.
The eastern half of Shrigonda is drained by the Dev and its
tributaries which flow south into tho Bhima> whilst the western half
is drained by Hanga and its tributaries which flow into the Qbod
The Dev has its sources in 'the hills of the north-east near the
villages of Kosegavh^ and Pisordkh&nd. It flows south past the
villages of Adalgaon and Ghodegaon receiving on its right the
combined waters of the Ambil and the Sarasvati and falls into the
Bhima on the east side of ancient fortifications of Pedgaon. Thd
H^|[g^ rises near Pimer and flowing souths enters Shrigonda by the
vifls^ of Chamburdi. Flowing^ on southward past Pimpalgaon-
Pisa it receives oYi the left the JPalsi on the banks of which stands
the market town of Kolgaon. Passing by Belvandi the river tarns
towards the south-west and falls into the Ghod six miles below the
villages of Yelpana and Pisora. Both Hanga and Dev have a smsJl
perennial flow which is utilized in places for surface irrigation.

Towards the hills the soil is generally of a very poor description
That of the centre of the sub-division is tolerably fertile, but in tb»
neighbourhood of the Bhima deep clayey munjal soils prevail which
require much labour in their cultivation and yield large crops only in
years of plentiful rain. On the banks of this river small tracts of rich
alluvial deposit arer occasionally met with. Between most of the
various streams which drain the sub-division are undulating tracts of
mdl land which are either unproductive or yield only scanty crops.

The climate of Shrigonda is changeable. Near the hills on the north
and north-east sufficient rain falls as a rule to ensure good crops on
the light soils in that direction. In the central portion it is not so
much to be depended on and further south where the nature of Ihe
^oil requires abundant rain, years of failure seem to form the role
and a good year now and then the exception. The following
statement gives the monthly rainfall during the eleven years ending

1 884 ; Shrigonda BainfaU, 1874 • IS84. '

( t

r (

IffOHtU.

1874.

1876.

1878.

isn.

1878.

1879.
In.

i8sa

1881.

188^

1^3. 1884.

In.

lOt

Jantuurjr

• ••

0-02

■ ••

0-09

• ••

• ■•

• •»

•«*

•• •

• »•

£!SEr. :::

• ••

0-88

• ••

0-80

•••

• ••

0-14

i-«5

...

• ••

April

■ ••

0S6

• ••

ta«

0*60

• ••

o-'&

• ••

• •1

• ••

May

836

1-79

• ••

1**

0-80

2*06

1-21

t ••

0-78

• t»

June

6-86

1-58

11-84

8*74

1-61

6*09

211

8*21

61>1

July

6-60

2-26

2-98

1-27

6-66

1*69

0-93

1-62

11^

1*86

2*70

August

■ ■•

6-80

0-10

4-88

7*27

4-88

0-76

2-86

6*60

September ..,
0€$ob«f

16*27

6-74

0-87

4-26

8-98

0-07

6-87

6-20

n'26

10*26

1«

200

1-19

0^>4

4-62

4*10

1*86

1*68

2-61

1*61

liTovember
Dttiembet

Total ...

• ••

• ■•

0-16

1*90

0*24

1*80

1-76

1*S»

Otl

0-88

••»

• tt

• ••

•••

0-84

>•*

•••

• ••

6^6

...

'*«4

88-48

20-06

16*48

81-80

28*60

16*8ft

14-48

18-23

28*12

29*9S

10-67

AHMiDNAGAR

647

There is little difference between the husbandry of Shrigonda
a:nd that of the neighbonring sub-divisions of Pd>mer and Nagar. As
A rale only irrigated lands are manured. The system of rotation is
simple^ consisting of alternate crops of wheats gram, and jvdri. The
advantages of good and early ployghing are well known^ but few
cultivators have the requisite number of cattle. A fallow is never
permitted except from necessity. Irrigation is carried on by wells
chiefly, bnt there are some eighteen temporary earthen dams thrown
over the perennial streams which irrigate from 500 to 600 acres.

The area under rabi or late crops is about double that under
hharif or early crops. The staple of the late crops is jvdri, of the
early crops bdjri and hulga or kulthi. More hulga is grown in
Shrigonda than in any other sub-division of the district. There are
a few vineyards in the neighbourhood of the town of Shrigonda.

Of 192,08]. acres the actual area under cultivation in 1881-82 grain
crops occupied 162^371 acres or 79*32 per cent, of which 45,974 were
under spiked millet bdjri Penicillaria spicata ; 101,554 under Indian
millet jvdri Sorghum vulgare ; 4170 under wheat gahu Triticum
asstivum ; 190 under rice bhdt Oryza sativa ; 26 under chenna adva
Panicum miliaceum ; 128 under maize makka Zea mays ; 12 under
barley yav Hordeum hexastichon; and 317 under other grains of
which details are not given. Pulses occupied 19,420 acres or lO'll
per cent of which 3772 were under gram harbhara Cicer arietinum ;
^802 under kulith or kulthi or hulga Dolichos biflorus ; 4337 under tur
Oajantts indicus ; 354 under mug Phaseolus radiatus ; five under lentils
fnasur Ervnm lens, and 4150 under other pulses. Oil-seeds occupied
16,794 acres or 8*74 per cent of which 1388 were under gingelly-
eeed til Sesamum indicum, 333 under linseed alshi Linum
usitatissimum, 91 under mustard rdi Sinapis racemosa, and 14,982
under other oil-seeds. Fibres occupied 1653 acres or 0*86 per cent, of
which 147 were under cotton kd/pus Gbssypium herbaceum, and 1506
under Bombay hemp san or tag Grotalaria juncea. Miscellaneous
crops occupied 1843 acres or 0*95 per cent of which 367 were under
tobacco tambaku Niootiana tabacum, 678 under chillies mirehi
Capsicum frutescens, 245 under sugarcane ua Saccharum
officinarum, 319 under hemp gdnja Cannabis sativa, and the
remaining 234 under various vegetables and fruits.

The 1881 population returns show that of 51,291 people 49,126
or 9877 per cent were Hindus, 2086 or 4*06 per cent Musalmdns,
and 79 Christians. The details of the Hindu castes are : 2304
Br^hmans; 8 F&t&ae Prabhus and 7 Kdyasth Prabhus, writers;
£93 Osv&l M&rw^s, 171 Sansdri Jangams; 91 Eunam Y^nis, 55
Gujardt Jains, and 13 Meshri M&rw4ris, traders and merchants;
24,279 Eunbis, 4417 M^is, 96 Rajputs, and 14 Ba^gars,
husbandmen ; 543 Sut&rs, carpenters ; 506 Telis, oil-pressers ; 501
Eumbhdrs, potters ; 445 Sonars, goldsmiths ; 439 Shimpis, tailors ;
292 Yad^rs, diggers ; 247 Sflia, weavers; 237 Lohilrs, blacksmiths;
125 L&kheris, Tao»bracelet makers ; 99 Eaik^s, basket-makers
32 Niriils, indigo-dyers ; 31 B^gdis, blanket- weavers ; 29 Ling&yat
Baruda, l»sket-makm; 27 Lon&ris^ lime-burners; 26 Gavandisj

Chapter XIIL
Sub-Oivisions.

SHBICM)2n)A.

Crops*

Peapk.

[Bomliaj

648

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIII.
Sub Divisions-

SHiaaoKDA.
People,-

Boadi,

BaUway,

masons; 22 Jingars, saddle-makers; 15 Mocbis^ skoemakers; 1^
Belddrs, quarrymen; 8 Koshtis, weavers; 8 T&mbatS| coppersmith
6 Otdris, casters; 2 K&s^rs, brass-makers; 137 Goravsj priests
23 Ghadshis^ musicians ; 578 Nh^vi^ barbers ; 227 Parits^ washermeti;
2395 Dhangars^ cowmen; 31 /jravlis^ cow-keepers; 164 Bhoi^,
fishers ; 36 Yanjdris, caravan-men ; 28 K^mAthis, labourers ; 42^^
Mh4rs^ labourers; 1760 M&ngB, messengers; 1401 Chambhi^,
shoemakers; 191 Dhors» tanners; 1 Bhangij sweeper; 2^/)
Joshis, 191 Gosdvis, 120 Chitrakathis, 81 Kolh^tis, 74 Goptis, 4:
M^nbh^vs, 25 Gondhlis^ and l7Kanjdris, beggars; 615 Bacaoilik
283 Eolis, 154 Bhar^is, 22 Yaidus, 17 Tirm^is, and 11 lUmli.
unsettled tribes.

The old mail road from Ahmadnagar to Dhond enters the saK-
division on the north in the fifteenth mile from Ahmadnagar near the
village of Chikhli. Passing over a depression in the hill range ir
runs down souths leaving the once important town of Kolg^on on it^
eastern side^ through the villages of Ghargaon twenty-six miles ;
Loni-Yenkn&th thirty-two miles ; Madhe-Yadgaon thirty-six xuile^ ;
and K^hti forty-one miles, reaching the Bhima river in the forty-
sixth mile at the village of Nimbgaonkhalu. Over the river is a
wire rope ferry. This road was metalled during the 1876*78
&mine but is now comparatively little used as the railway
runs almost parallel with it. The larger streams on the
route are unbridged. Near Kolgaon at the twenty-second sule is a
travellers' bungalow and near Ghargaon at the twenty-sixth oatle is
a large tiled rest-house or dharmahdla. What is known general ly
as the Kharda-Kdshti road leaves the village of K^hti in the
extreme south-west corner of the sub-division and passes up north-east
through the village of Limpangaon four miles, to the town of Shri-
gonda nine miles. Thence on to Adalgaon thirteen miles^ where
it takes a more easterly line entering the Karjat subndivisioi)
18| miles from K^hti. The terminus Karda is a town in the
Jdmkhed sub-division distant some seventy miles. Besides these
two roads which are regularly maintained, the country tracks from
Shrigonda in the direction of Karjat on the east, of M&ndogan in
the north-east, of Ghargaon on the north, and of Loni-Venkn^th on
the north-west, have at difierent times been much improved, so that
most parts of the sub-division are well opened up for cart tmffic.
Beads connecting the town of Shrigonda with the Pimpii statiou
S^ miles, and from Belvandi to its station two miles, have oeen
constructed recently.

Crossing the Bhima river on a fine masonry bridge the Dhond
and Manm&d State Railway enters the district by the Shrigonda
village of Nimgaon-Khalu. The line completely traverses the sub-
division entering Nagar on the north near the village of Ukhalgaon.
The stations are Pimpri, a mile from the village of Mhatar Pimpn
and 3^ from Shrigonda at mileage tweve ; Belvandi, two miles from
the village of that name, at mileage twenty-one ; and Yis&pur, close by
the village, at mileage twenty-nine.

ASMADNAGAB.

649

The following statement gives a list of the towns where weekly
Mxiarkets are held : shrigonda Ma^k^.

Toww.

Shv!gond» ...
fiolgftoa

Day. I

TOWH,

Henday.

Friday.

Wedntndaj.

ft&ndogan ..
fielTandi

Di^.

Tuesday.
Sunday.

./Lt none of these however are the transactions of other than local

intereet At Shrigonda livestock can sometimes be purchased. A

znarket formerly held at Pimpalgaon-Pisa was discontinued some

years ngo. There are no manufactures in the sub-division worthy

of note.

Survey rates were first introduced into fifty- three of the

sovesty-nine Qovemment villages now forming the sub-division

in the years 1851-1858. These were divided into five groups.

The first group consisted of five villages near the hills in the

north in which the maximum dry-crop rate was 2& 6d. (Bs. 1^)

an acre; the second group consisted of fourteen villages to the

soath and west of the first group and four villages lying in the

Sina valley^ in which the maximum rate was 2^. Se^. (Bs. H) j the

third group consisted of seven villages in the hills of the east and

six Tillages in the Sina valley^ in which the maximum rate

was 88. (Be. 1) ; the fourth group consisted of four villages in the

south-east bordering on Karjat and one village on the Ghod river

with a maximum rate of \8, 9ci. (14ajr.); and the fifth group

consisted of twelve villages in the extreme south on the Bhima river

with a maximum rate of \8, &d, (12 a«.) an acre. The aUenated

villages which were acquired under the treaty of 1860 were assessed

according as their position and soil brought them under one or

other of these groups. The I'esult of these rates was a relief of

forty-two per cent on the assessment levied under the old system.

Shrigonda^ as at present constituted, dates from 1868-69
only. 8ome of its villages belonged to Sirur, a sub-division of the
Ahmadnagar district which was formed in 1859 on the breaking
up of Karda and abolished in 1866-67, and some belonged to
Korti which was broken up in 1861-H2 on the formation of the
Karjat sub-division. For a short time between 1866 and 1868 the
greaiter part of Karjat was subordinated to Shrigonda which had thus
a total of 159 villages; but this arrangement was abolished in 1868
when Karjat again became a separate sub-division with eighty-two
villages : the remaining seventy-seven, to which were added six*
from Nag-ar and four* from Parner, being formed into the present
sub-division of Shrigonda. Of these eighty-seven villages seventy-
nine, belong to G-overnment and eight are alienated. The following
table gives a nominal list of all the villages and shows to which
of the ancient tarafa each belonged :

Chapter XIIL
Sub-Divisions.

Shrigonda.
MarkeU^

Survey,

Changes.

> The ftix villages are Vadghal, Kimti, M^ndogftDi KAtrabad, Banpimpri, and
Taradgavh&Q.

S The foar villages are Chikhli, Ukalgaon, Snregaon, and Koregaon.

B 772-82

65U

DISTRICTS.

(Bombay QaxttlaR'

Ch&pter^Ztlli
Sub-Divi8ion8«

SHRIGOKbAt

Changes* .

ehHgwdd VtHagtB^ ISSS.

VlLLLAAI*'

Chindgfion.

Hirad^ofl.

Ajnuj.

Pedisaon.

Kaate.

€hir.

Arvi.

6hedg«on.

T4klL

Babburdi.

VtagdarL

B4QKVL1

Shrlgonda.

Qhugal-vftdgAon.

fcokaagaon.

Belvandt'koibAr.

Deulgaon.

Telu.

Madhe-v«ulg»M.

P&rga(m*sadriki

K&mti.

Loni-Venlmitlh

BhiDg»ii.

Bhlngaon.l

Mftndomo.

Ghaur^ngvl.

Ghoganraon.

BAOtsarae.

Thite-saogri

Ruikhel.

Ism&lpur.

T»af.

VlLULOB.

Vadsrhtkl.
Taradgavhta.
Banpimpri. *

AdalgBon.

Bhfcnffaoa.

KMndgaon.

Ittkli-lonftr.

Piaor&kband.

KoMgAvhto.

Mhatarpimpri.

Vadgaon.

Vadall.

Kolgaon.

Sarole-SomoihL

Kothul.

R4Jdplll'.

BorL

NimbVl

Chimbhle*

Surudl.

Chambbafdi

Limpangaon.

Tenndoli.

OhafKaon.

BelTandi-Budmk.

Pimprl-kolandar.

Pisore-Bttdruk.

Mungaegaon.

Obotvi.

Dongarpathir.

Hingnl.1

Yevtl.l

Nimgaon-khalu*

Bbirasgaon.l

Tanf.

Vuuom.

Bhaadi.

Angar.
KasbU.

MhEM.

Dhorje.

RaygftvCiiB.

Hatb.

Tdpane.

KondegiVbAiv

Korq^airliAn.

Cbikbit

Korqpaon.

Bimgaoil.

T&Ddli.l

Dev-daitaa.!

Arangaon.!

Ukadgaoib

Dhavalgaon.

Vls&piir.

*►

)

II
I

Ptmpalgaonptsa.
Ukhalgaon.

Ohodegaon

YUlagta with 1 after tboir nataket are alienated.

Ti^kutm fiaif ^^

Mfuflab

. \ii/n^on tmMA

^fH^frr-^

• s

" [3. ji

. -f

•1

IB A o

■D[X

^hwg:.Kfiiyi' I

MfdiGuS

^•-1

Ji,jtmmmt

Xii/m^nrfrhfifr ^^gUi^Mm^^r 'I

^J^n^

• ovi P*iot«iioe». Of^ic*. Poon«. lB34

/iltfW.

' '^^

Li"

/jftf^v'.-j:^-

Mu/iHtdafntfr

6ml»

6nnf Bnauh

®im©AM €af¥

Scalt. 88 Ykids clinch

lit I f- T r— 1— r- I 1 I I T- I I -T — \ — r— r

Ooccu.)

CHAPT.ee XIV.

PLACES.*

Ahmadnagar,^ in north latitude 19"* 40' and east longitude 70^ 40'
on the bank of the Sina about seventy-five miles north-east of
Poona and about 130 miles east of Bombay^ is the head-quarters of
the Ahmadnagar district and sub-division with a military canton-
ment^ a fort, a railway station^ a large cotton mart^ and three cotton
presses. The 1881 census returns show that Ahmadnagar is the
eleventh city in the Bombay Presidency with a town site of 817
acres and a population of 32,903 or 104 persons to the square acre.

Ahmadnagar, locally known as Nagar, with its surroundiugSy
including the railway station, the fort, the cantonment, and the old
town of Bhingd.r, cover an area of about six miles. They ar&
scattered over a fairly wooded slightly waving plain, bounded on
the west by the Sina and the lands of Kedgaon village, and seven
or eight miles to the north and east by a line of hills two to si:|:
hundred feet high, the eastern end of whose flat top is crowned by
the tomb of Salabat Kh&n (46).' From the railway station in the
south a weU kept road, crossing the Sina by an iron bridge among
rich fields and through rows of old bdbhul trees, leads about a mile
to the south-west corner of the city. On this side the outskirts of
the town are almost bare of houses, and except the Collector's resi*
deuce, a high flat roofed Musalm&n palace with a group of lofty
tamarind trees, the city buildings are hid by a plain stone and mud
wall twelve feet high and about three miles round. The city is
bounded on the west by the broad and at times deeply- flooded bed
of the Sina. The fort, the cantonment, and all the outlying parts
of the town lie to the east and north. To the east^ close to the city
walls, are two small suburbs known as the Mandai market aud the
Tent Pitchers' lines. About half a mile further east, across the
barren but carefully tree-planted plain,, and nearly hidden by its
glacis or covering bank now thick with bdbhul trees, is the fort
with strong bastioned stone walls, nearly circular, and a little more
than a mile round. About two hundred yards further to the south*
east is the shallow gravelly bed of the Bhing^r stream, and across
a bare slightly swelling plain are, about a mile to the right, the
high trees of the Far&h garden (41). Closer, but still at some
distance to the north, are the three large blocks .of new Artillery
Barracks with out-houses apd patcheries or married men*s quarters

Chapter ZIT

naces.

Ahmadnagab.

^ This chapter owes ina«b to additions and corrections byMessrs, J. Elphinston,
C, S. ; T. 8. Hamilton, C. S. ; R. E, Candy, C. S. ; and A. F. Woodbum, C. S.

' A great part of the city account has been compiled horn materials supplied by
Mr. C. N. Setna, former Municipal Secretary.

'Salibat Kh^n the famous Ahmadnu^ar minister (1519-1589). Th» number in
brackets is the serial number in the list of Objects described below.

(Bombay OaMttaer.

652

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIV.
Places.

AhmadnXoab.
Description.

WaUs and Oate$.

and to the north-west are the old artillery lines, wliich are now nsed
as stables. About seven hundred yards to the left or north of the
Fardh garden lie the cavalry stables, and further on, stretching to
the north, are the swimming bath^and the Protestant and Roman
Catholic churches. To the left a row of bungalows runs along
both sides of the road known as the Pensioners' Lines. Abont two
hundred yards to the east of the cavalry stables are the cavalry
barracks, to the north of which are the married men's quarters, and
about seven hundred yards further to the north is the Sadar Basar.
Close to the north of this is the Government garden, and after cross-
ing the shallow gravelly bed of the Bhing4r river, which passes hy
the northern boundary of the Government garden, are the com-
missariat lines, beyond which the cantonment limits end. Facing
the cavalry barracks fifty to two hundred yards to the east, a doable
row of officers' houses in large well wooded enclosures, stretch
about a thousand yards to the north. To the north of the officers'
quarters a road to the west passes between the Roman Catholic
chapel on the right and the Protestant church on the left, across a
narrow masonry bridge over the Bhingdr river to the fort. Close
to the east of the Government garden is the old cantonment hos«
pital building now used as the Cantonment Magistrate's office, at
the eastern boundary of whose enclosure the cantonment limits
end. Further east on both banks of the Bhingar river are the
early Hindu settlements of Bhingd,r and Ndgardevla. North of
the city, about two hundred yards from the Mangal gate, on the
left or west is the Kotla enclosure (31 ). To the north-east are the
Native Infantry lines, and about a hundred yards further north-
west are the officers' quarters, two rows of large handsome houses
in shady and well kept gardens. About five hundred yards to the
north of the Native Infantry lines is the St. James Garden or Recre-
ation Ground, a small flower garden, supported chiefly by the station
officers. Close to the left and beyond the public road are the civil
lines, consisting of three large bungalows with gardens. To the
north-ea&t about twenty-five yards beyond the Kotla enclosure is
Rumikhan's tomb or the Pil^Ghumat (32), in the garden of which
the large Bijdpur gun, Malik-i-Maid&n or the Ruler of the Plain, is
said to have been cast during the reign of BurhAn Nizim Shah
(1508-1553) by Romikhdn one of his nobles.

As the city is chiefly composed of low flat-roofed houses, from
the outside it is almost hid by the city walls. Inside, from some
high building, except for tiled two-storeyed houses in the east and
centre and a few spires, domes, and clusters of trees, the rows of
mud roofs stretch bare and white almost like a freshly ploughed
field. Especially in the centre and north-west the whole area of
817 acrfes is thickly covered with houses.

The city walls built of stone and mud masonry below and white
mud masonry above are twelve to thirteen feet high, six feet broad,
and about three miles round. The walls were built about 1631
(H. 1042) by SarjekhAn one of Shdh Jahdn's (1627-1658) nobles.
The city is entered by eleven gates, the Jhenda and the BAva
Bangdli gates in the east, the Malivdda or Railway and Fergusson
gates in the south, the Nepti and NAlegaon gates in the west, and the

Decosii.1

AHMADNAGAR.

658

Delhi, Tophkhdna, Sarjd,pur, Mangal^ and King gates in the north.
The Jhenda or flag gate is eleven feet wide by seventeen high. The
wallj which stretches on both sides, forms the wings of the doorway
and is built with stones four feet from the ground, and for the
remaining eight feet with bumf bricks and mud masonry, pointed
inrith mortar. Inside a stone stair leads up the wall to the flat top
of the gateway to command a view of the ground in front when
the gate was shut in times of danger. The Bava Bang&li gate 335
yards south of the Jhenda gate, is eleven feet wide by fourteen
feet high. Except for two side bastions of stone below and brick
and mud above, it is built like the Jhenda gate.

About 1033 yards south-west of the Bdva Bangali gate, an
ornamented structure about 12' 6" wide by 19' 6" high, is the
Fergusson gate built for easy access to the municipal market by
the Municipality in 1881 and called after Sir James Fergusson, •
Bart. K.C.M.G., Governor of Bombay. About 300 yards w«st of
the Fergusson gate is the Maliv^da gate, eleven and a quarter feet
wide by thirteen feet nine inches high, with an open archway some*
what iu the Gothic style, built of ashlar masonry. The gate has
two strong stone side bastions, each about seventeen feet high.
The parapets of the bastions which are about three feet high and
are furnished with gun- holes are of burnt bricks and lime. The
parapet over the flat part of the archway has openings for guns and
is ascended by a stone stair. The doors are of teakwood, about
four inches thick, and like all the other gates have a small window
to pa&s through at night, when the doors are closed from nine to
five in the morning. Mdlivdda is the strongest of the eleven
Ahmadnagar gates. Close to the west of the doorway let into the
wall in the centre of an arched recess specially built for it, an
oblong inscribed black marble tablet, surmounted by an antlered
stags head and the Gaelic motto of the regiment, contains an
inscription in memory of the officers and men of the 78th High-
landers who fell at the storming of the city on the 8th of August
1803.^ The inscription is :

OUIBEAOHD an BIGH OAPFEB FIABDfi.
On this spot feU at the storming of Ahmadnagar on
the 8th of August 1803 Thomas Humberstone Macken-
sie Captain in H. IC's 78th Begiment of Hoss-shire
Highlanders son of Oolonel Mackenaie Humberstone
who was killed at the close of the MAHBATTAH
• WAB in 1783.

THIS TOMB
Is also oonseorated to the memory of CAPTAIN
QBANT IiIEUTSSNANT ANDEBSON and the Non-

Chapter XIV.

Places.

Ahmadnaoab.
WcUla and Gates,

1 The tablet was raised by Lady Hood when nhe was in Ahmad oagar. Fifteen
Tears in India, 433. The Gaelic motto Guideachd an Righ means Save the King.
The stag's beadcrest and the motto were bestowed on Mackenzie of Seaforth m
TCtum for saving the Scotch king Alexander from a woanded stag. As he rushed
forward Mackenzie called Guideachd an Righ, Save the Kins. Besides by the crest
and motto Mackenzie was rewarded with the hand of the king's daughter. When
Mackenzie of Seaforth raised the Seaforth Highlanders, the regiment adopted his
crest and motto. A print of a picture sho\^ ing Mackenzie saving the king from the
wounded stag is in the mess of the 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders at Lucknow.
Captain Alexander.

[Bomltay OuBttaorr

«M

DISTRICTS.

Cautpter ZIT.
Flacee.

Ahmadkaoab.

HouMi.

Oommiaaionad Offloera and Priyatoa of tlia Mma
Begiment who fell on that oooaaion.

To the right or east of the gateway cIobb to the city wall is a
plastered tomb (8' x 4' X 4') built in memory of an officer of the First
Kegiment of Madras Native Infantry who fell on the same occasion.
On the side of the tomb facing the road is a tablet with this
inscription :

Thia tomb waa erected by the OAceara of the lat
Battalion». 11th Begiiment, Madras Native Infantry, aa
a tribnfte of their reapeot for the memory of Ideate^
nant William Penderleath of that ooxpa* who £bU at
the aasault of the Pettah of Ahmadnasar on the 8th of
▲uffuat 1803.

The tomb which is kept in repair by the PnWic Works Depart^
meDt is enclosed by a wooden railing (14' 6''x8' G^'x?' 8"), with
square wooden bars fixed at six-inch intervals. The Nepti gate 8M
yards north-west of the Md.Iiv^a gate is nine feet wide by seyenteen
feet high and is much like the Bang&li gate. TheNdlegaon gate 363
yards north of the Nepti gate is nine feet wid&by ten feet high^ and
is much like the Jhenda gate except that it has no bastiona. The
Delhi gatCj 406 yards north-east of the- Ndlegaon gate^ is twelve
feet wide by fourteen feet high and has an open archway over the
door, as in the M41iTada gate. Like the Bangdli gate it has two
bastions of stone below and mud above. The Top^khana gate 359
yards north-east of the Delhi gate is 10' 6" wide by 12' 6' high ;
it is like the Bangdli and Nepti gates with bastions. The Sarjiipar
gate 572 yards east of the Tophkhdna gate is eleven feet wide by
fifteen feet high and is much like the Tophkh^na gate. The
Mangal gate, 410 yards north-west of the Sarj^pur gate and 440
yards east of the Jhenda gate, is 10' 6" wide by 14' 6" high
and is much like the Sarjapnr gate, fietween the Sarjdpur and
Maugal gates a small gate three feet wide and six feet high has
been opened by the municipality for easy access to the municipal
beef market. About 132 yards east of the Mangal g^te near the
Br&hman cistern is the King gate about twelve feet wide opened bj
the Municipality in 1881. This is an old gate said to have been
closed after the British occupation of Ahmadnagar (1803) to stop
disputes between the people of the city and the privates of the
Native Infantry Regiment which was stationed outside and close
to this gateway. Besides these eleven two new gateways ten ieei
square have been opened in the city wall near the mission chaipel
for the convenience of the American Mission and one for the CoUec*
tor* 8 bungcJow.

The whole area of 817 acres within the city walls is well
peopled and much of it is thickly packed with houses. The only
open spaces are the weekly market place or Mangal Bazdr^ the
municipal garden, the Khoje or Khw&ja Sheriffs Haveli (2) and the
K4vi-Jang Mah&l (17), the Gavri Ghumat, the JTew Anandi Bazdr,
and the Soneri Mosque (15) and Collector's compounds. Of late years
the number of houses has been steadily increasing, the total number
in 1883 being 5860. During the five years ending 1883-84 eighty-
aeven houses have been built, including seven of the first, thirteen
of the second, tweuty-two of the third, thirty of the fonrth| and
fifteen of the fifth class. According to the 1881 retoms the total

fivGoaiu]

AHMA.DNAGAR.

655

liamber of houses was 5832 or 18'40 to the acre against ^792 or
lo*74 to the acre in 1875. Of the 5832 houses 507 are of the
first class, 898 of the second, 1279 of the third, 2065 of the fourth,
and 1083 of the fifth class. The first class houses are assessed
by the municipality at 88. (Rs.*4j, the second at 4«. {Bs. 2), the
third at 2«. (Be. 1), the fourth at l8. (8 as.), and the fifth class
including very poor houses temples and rest-houses, are not assessed^
In 1883 the number increased to 5860. To guard against fire no
thatched houses are allowed within the city walls. Except a few
large M«isalmiLii and Mardtha mansions and about fifteen hundred
til«d houses, some of them large two-storeyed buildings, most of
the houses are one-storeyed with mud walls and flat mud-roofs.
The houses are generally in good repair, but are often unsightly,
built round an open court with a dead wall towards the street
broken only by one door. According to the municipal classification
507 houses yield a yearly rent of more than £10 (Bs. 100), 898
between £5 and £10 (Bs.50-100), 1279 between £2 10«.and£5
(Rs. 25 - 50), and 3148 less than £2 lOa. (Bs. 25).

The shops, which are generally owned by Bohor&s and Mdrwi&r
6r Mardtha V&nis, are either fiat mud platforms five to twenty feet
broad covered with fiat roofs built in front of houses, t)r, as in the
municipal markets, they are broad open plinths covered with a baked
tile or corrugated iron roof and unconnected with dwielling houses.
Most of the shops are near the centre of the town. According to
a statement prepared in 1879, of 2792 the total number of shops
9T2 have houses behind them. Of the shops one each is a gdndhi
or oilman's and medicine seller's store, a photographer's, a sdrangi
or fiddie maker's, and a watchmaker's ; two each of bookbinders,
bookselliers and stationers, English tinware sellers, and opium
and^oft/n sellers; five each of hide sellers and stamp vendors;
seven of turners ; eight each of beef sellers, cooks, firework makers,
and snuff makers ; nine of hemp sellers ; eleven each of liquor sellers
and tobacco sellers ; twelve each of cloth painters and pulse sellers ;
fourteen of fish-sellers; fifteen of tinkers horse and bullock shoersand
nati makers; eighteen of silk sellers ; nineteen each of flour sellers and
yam sellers ; twenty each of Buruds and perfumers ; twenty-one of
tinners ; twenty-two of blacksmiths ; twenty-four each of money--
lenders and mutton sellers ; twenty-six of flower sellers ; twenty-
seven each of cotton cleaners, pearl sellers, and sheep^skin dealers ;
twAtynine each of brokers in grain and groceries and metal
polishers ; thirty-one of needle and glass bead sellers ; thirty-five
of necklace tiers and other ornaments in silk ; thirty -eight potters ;
forty-one lac-bangle makers ; forty-four metal pot sellers ; forty-five
Bohor&s chiefly piecegoods sellers ; fifty -two fruit se/llers ; fifty-seven
roasted grain and rice sellers ; sixty-seven hardware deal^bs and
bangle-makers; seventy-two country shoismakers; seventy-five
moneychangers ; seventy-seven country cigarette makers; eighty-
five grain sellers; eighty-eight turban dyers; ninety^ three bangle
makers; 104 goldsmiths ; 110 cloth sellws; 118 tailors; 120 sweet*
meat makers ; 124 English and Mirwdr shoemakers^ 125 metal pot
makers ; 145 vegetable sellers; 162 beteUleaf sellers; 176 grocers^
and 181 oil seUers«

Chapter^ ZITi
Places.

Ahmadkaoar.

iS%opc.

[BomlMiy Oaietteer.

656

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^ XI7.
Places.

Ahmabnaoab.
Shops,

StreeU.

The shops are let at monthly rents varying from 8*. to £1 (Ra. 4
to Rs. 10). Shopkeekers generally live in separate houses. They
close their shops at night from the outside with wooden shutters^ the
middle board being last put on and fastened with a padlock so that
until it is unlocked none of the otfa^r planks can be moved. The
shops are opened daily about Six in the morning and are do(
closed till eight or nine at night The shopping time is frooi six
to ten in the morning and^ to a less extent^ from four to seven at
night. Two opium shops are kept by a Pardeshi^ one outside the
Jhenda gate and the other in the Granj market. The right of selling
opium and hemp is sold every year by public auction and is given
by the Collector to the highest bidder^ who is bound to buy
Government opium at a certain rate. The yearly consumption
varies from 425 to 450 pounds. Almost all the poorer classes of
Musalm&ns and Hindus buy opium to give it with milk to iufutts of
three months to about one year. Of adults the chief consumers are
Mdrwdr Vanis and Musalm4ns. Of twelve liquor shops^ one is for
the sale of native and eleven for the sale of European liquor. Of the
Europe liquor shops^ two, Messrs. Cursetji and Sons' and DeSousa's
sell good wines and spirits, and nine others kept by P4rsis
Christians and Kdmdthis, sell cheap English brandy at 28. Qd. to 3«.
(Rs. 1^-1^) the bottle. This cheap brandy is drunk chiefly
by Pdrsis, Kdmathis, Gavandis, Native Infantry privates, and well-
to-do Koshtis and Kunbis. The single country liquor shop near
the Sarjapur gate is kept by a Parsi who sells Bassia latifolxa or
moha spirit and sometimes toddy for about six months in the year.
The chief consumers are Mhdrs and Mdngs the poorer S&lis and
Kunbis. Shops selling European liquor pay Government a fixed
yearly fee of £10 to £20 (Rs. 100- 200), and the right to sell country
liquor is sold by yearly or two-yearly auctions. The same contractor
holds two country liquor shops within cantonment limits. Since the
1876-77 famine the demand for liquor both European and native
has fallen oif and about four Europe shops have been closed.
During the last five years the total number of all kinds of shops
has remained pretty steady. Every year fifteen or twenty people,
often old Musalmdn and Vdni women, growing too feeble for gi*ain
grinding or spinning, borrow money or sell their ornaments^, and
with the proceeds open petty grocery shops. Some of these
women succeed but others fail, and within a year or two shut their
shops and fall back on their relations. •

As the house enclosures are not built on any plan the city streets
are very irregular, and, as they are broken only by one door, the
walls lining the streets are often ugly and dead. The city has about
twenty-two miles of thoroughfare, of which about sixteen miles of
main atid cross roads are metalled. The chief streets are fairly
broad very smooth and clean swept, and provided with side guttt*rs.
The lanes are often narrow and winding, broken by outstanding
doorways and house-walls and unmetalled, but kept clean, well
drained, and in repair. From east to west the city is crossed by
three main streets. In the north the Jhenda-N&legaon road starts
from the Jhenda gate, and passing west is known for the first 440
yards as Dil-Mandai or the Grain Market road. Aiter a short tora

Docean.]

AHMADNAGAR,

657

to the norths nnder the name of Chaapiti K^ranja road^ it again
passes west about 1056 yards to the Chaupdti cistern^ and from the
cistern itis continnedby cross roads about 808 yards south-west to the
N&legaon gate. The second main road called the Kapad Ali road,
also enters from the east through ijne Jhenda gate^ passes south-west
by the Collector's office^ and stretches west about 1584 yards in
a straight line to the Chaup&ti cistern cross road^ and from the
cross road goes south-west by cross lanes about 308 yards to the
Nepti gate. The third and best marked of the three east and
west lines is the Bang&li road. This road entering through the
Bangdli gate^ passes to the south of the Collector's office, and
running by the city post office along the Burud lane and through
the Jnna Saz&r^ about 1364 yards west to the Civil Jail, passes
from the jail about 484 yards north-west to the Nepti gate. The
north and south cross roads are broken and irregular, none of them
forming one complete line from the north to the south wall.. The
chief cross road runs from the Mangal gate in the north-east, south
by Mr. Cnrsetji^s shop, the city post office, and the mission
enclosure, about a mile and a half to the Mdlivdda gate.

The city has twenty divisions, which may roughly be brought
nnder three heads, eight original central wards, nine suburbs or

?}trdi, and three villages included within the circuit of the walls,
he three villages are Mdliv&da in the south settled by K&zi
Jnm&lsh&a when the city was founded (1494) and now chiefly
inhabited by well-to-do Mdlis ; Marchuddruagar in the south-west
originally called Murtaz&nagar, established by Murtasa Behri in the
reign of the sixth Niz^m Shdhi king Ism^l (1588-1590), and now
occupied by a mixed middle class population ; and Ndlegaon in the
west and north-west. Each of these divisions is a separate village
with its own headman, accountant, servants, and husbandmen
whose lands lie outside of the city walls.

To the west inside of the three villages and to the east and
north-east are the nine suburbs or purda. Beginning in the
west to the south-east of Marchudanagar is Khadakpura, said to
have been founded by Ny&matkh6n Dakhni during the reign of
Murtaza Niz&m Shdh I. (1565-1588), and now mostly inhabited by
Br&hman Government servants and middling Musalmdns, North
of Khadakpura to the east of Ndlegaon, is Sh&h^jd,pura said to
have been founded by Aurangzeb and now inhabited by well-to-do
Brihmans Xumbhdrs S&lis and Koshtis. North-east of Sh&haj^pura,
and once part of it, is Tophkhdna the old arsenal, now
occupied chiefly by poor weavers. In the north of the city near
the Sarjepur gate, with a mixed and poor population, is Sarjepura
established during the seyenteenth century by Sarjekh&n, ine of
Shih Jah&n's nobles. To the east of Sarjepura, near the Mangal,
gate, is Kamilpura, founded by SLam&lkhdn Dakhni, one of the noblea
of Borhdn Niz&m Shdh (1508-1553) now occupied by a mixed

Chapter XIT*^

___

Places. I

AmiADNAOAS.

Streets,

I The Jnna BazAr was founded about 1565 (H. 972) at the time of the
establiahment of the city by Daulatkhto Dakhni. It ia now occapied by SonAn»
I, and Maealmina.

B 772—83

[Bombay Oantteer.

658

DISTBIQTS.

Chapter XI7.
Places.

Ahuadnagab,
DivisUma,

poor and middling population chiefly Mnsalm&na and Mar&th4s.
Farther east^ built by Sarjekhdn, is Kapurpura with a well*to-do
middling and low caste population chiefly Hindu* To the sooth*
east of Kapurpura with a well-to-dp and middling population, is
H4timpnra, built by a noble name^ H^timkh&n at the end of the
fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century. West of
H^timpura are Moghalpura with a well-to-do and poor population
and Beherdmpura with poor and middlo class people.

The central group of eight wards are Gul4m-Ali 'B&g in the
north and to the east of Shdh^j&pura^ originally a garden
belonging to a certain J^n KhAn, after whose son Gulam Ali it has
been called. The people are chiefly Musalmdns and fairly ott Suli
weavers. To the east of Oulam-Ali B^g is Sh&hdji Mohollah
established during the Peshwa's rule and occupied by well-to-do
Mdrwdris^ and Brdhman Government servants; to the east of
Shahdji Mohollah, with a well-to-do population, is Shahdganj
founded by Ahmad Nizdm Shah (1490-1508) ; to the south-west of
Shdhdganj is Khist Ali with a well-to-do population; to the west
of Khist A'li is Tagdi otherwise called Takti Darw^ja occupied by
poor and middle class people and built in 1531 (H. 939) by
Murtaz4kh&n Takti^ one of Burh^ Niz&m Shdh's nobles. Further to
the west and south-west are Beherdmkh^ni and Nydmatkh4ni^ built
in 1579 (H. 987) by Nydmatkhdn, one of Murtasa Nizdm SMb I.'s
(1565-1588) nobles and now occupied by labourers and landholders.
lot the centre is the Ghdndbibi Mohollah said to have been
established during the regency of Ch^ndbibi (1595-1599) the grand*
daughter of Burh&n Niz^m Sh4h and occupied by a mixed poor,
middlings and well-to-do population.

The latest settled part of the city^ to the north of Ch&ndbibi
Mohollah is Nav&peth or Pottingerpura, called after Captain
Pottinger the first Collector of Ahmadnagar who founded it in 1821
on waste land formerly belonging to the Gulam- Ali garden. Navd-

Eeth is now one of the wealthiest quarters of the city^ and is occupied
y influential people of all castes chiefly Mdrw^s. To the south
of NavApeth is Bagadpati^ called after a S41i weaver. It was settled
after 1803 and is still occupied by the descendants of the Bdgdya
family and by well-to-do, middling, and poor Sili and Kofibti
weavers.

These divisions are not now used either for police or mfini-
cipal purposes. For administrative purposes the city is divided
into four main divisions, the north-east, south-east, south-west,
and north-west. The north-east division is bounded on the north
and east by the city wall, on the south by the Kdpad Ali road
the sebond of the three main streets, and on the west by the
Sarjepur gate road. The south-east division is bounded on the
north by the Kdpad Ali road, on the east and south by the city
wall, and on the west by an irregular line of lanes running to the
west of the Mission Lecture Hall from the B&wdji-bdwa cistern
to the Mdliv^a cistern and thence by the criminal jail to the new
cistern in the north. The south-west division is bounded on the
east by the south-east division, on the south and west by the citjF

Deceait]

AHMADNAGAR.

659

wall, and on the north as far as the Ndlegaon gate by the Anandi
market road. The north-west division is bonnded on the east by
the Sarjepara road, on the soath by the Anandi market road, and on
the west and north by the city wall. In these main and minor
divisions, the poor classes live in the north-west and north, in
Ndlegon, Sh&h&jdpara, Tophkh&na, ^arjepara, and Eamalpnra.
There the bulk of the people are hand-loom weavers, Salis, Koshtis,
Mochis, Lon4ris, Momins, and other Masalmans and Mar^thas.
They live in small mud-walled and flat-roofed houses owned chiefly
by Br&hmans and M^rwdr V^nis, who charge monthly rents of 4^(1,
to 28* (Re. ^if - 1). Middle class people, Kunbis, Mdlis, Lobars,
Jingars, and Musalman cultivators live in the south-west and
Kdm^this in Kapurpura in the north-east of the city. Most of these
middle class people live in houses of their own^ worth a monthly
rent of Is, to 2*. 6d. (Rs. J-li). The well-to-do classes, Br^hmans
Marwd.ris and Pdrsis, chiefly traders and Government servants, live
in the south-east and north-east of the city in Shdh^lganj, Khist
Ali, Moghalpura, Beherdmpura, and Hatimpura, chiefly in their
own houses, worth a monthly rent of 2«. to 12». (Rs. 1-6V Many
well-to-do families, mostly M&rwar Yanis and T^mbats live in the
central part of the city in the Navdpeth or Pottingerpura, in houses-
worth a monthly rent of 48. to 16«. (Rs. 2 - 8). In the north of
the city on either side of the Delhi gate road/ are the settlements
of Brahman Deshmukhs in large ancestral mansions worth a
monthly rent of 4*. to 12s. (Rs.2 - 6).

The 1 872 census returns showed for Ahmadnagar city and
cantonment a total population of 87,240 of whom 29,^89 were
Hindus, 6422 Musalmdns, 1391 Christians^ and la^ Others.' The
1S81 census returns showed a total town and cantonment population
of 37,492, of whom 30,154 were Hindus, 5934 Musalmllns, 1128
Christians, 176 Pdrsis, and 100 Others.

The city has eleven markets, ten daily and one weekly. Of the
daily markets three are private and seven are municipal. The
three private markets for general produce, for cloth, and for
grain, and three of the municipal markets for grain and flour, for
fruits and vegetables, and for miscellaneous goods are held in or
near the centre of the city. Of the remaining four municipal
markets, two, one for miuttoQ and one for fish, are in the
nor^-east of the city near the Mangal gate. The remaining two
municipal markets are outside of the walls^ a beef market in the
north close to the west wall of the Makka mosque (1) between the
Mangal and the Scurjepur gates, and a cotton market in the south
about 275 yards outside of the Fergusson gate.

The three private markets are Shih&ganj or the General Market^
tlie Cloth Market, and the Grain Market. The Shah^ganj or General

^ The Delhi gate road now caUed Deshmukh Ali, was founded in the time of the
Peahwto (1760- 1818) and ii now inhabited by Deshmukh families.

> The city details for 1872 were 26,209 Hindus, 6135 MusalmAns, 359 Christians, and
138 Others, total 32,841 ; the cantonment details were Hindus 3080, Musalm^ns 287,
Christiana 1032, total 4399. The 1881 ceneoB returns do not ^ow separate details.
lor the town and cantonment.

ChaptOT XIV.
Places*

AUXADNAOAR.

JHviaioM,

PopulatUm,

MmrleU,

Private Marktia^

[Bombay OaMltMr,

660

DISTRICTS,

Chapter ZIY.
Places*

Ahuadkaoab.
PrivcUe MarheU,

Cloth,

Oram.

Market^ in tlie centre of tlie city, is except in a few places a row of
one-storeyed flat-roofed shops, tlie property of Mdrwdr and Mar&tha
Y^nis, and of a few Bohor^s and Br&hmans. The shops are
arranged in blocks, each block called after the shopkeepers. Oa
either side of the main street are Wo rows of coppersmiths' shops
and in front of them, on small stone platforms bnilt out on the road,
are the municipal fruit and vegetable shops. On a cross street to
the east are on the north a row of Bohora shops and beyond them
Vdni grocers' shops. In a lane south of these Bohora and Vaoi
shops are shops of perfumers or Attar3, and to the south of the
Att^rsy in three other cross laues are betel leaf sellers, earthen pot
sellers, goldsmiths, and flower sellers. The monthly rents of these
shops vary from 8«. to £1 4«. (Us. 4-12).

The Cloth Market stretches between Sh&h&ganj and Moghalpura
along both sides of the second of the main east and west streets,
aud gives it its name of Kdpad Ali or Cloth Road. Most cloth
shops have upper storeys, as many of the dealers have their
houses behind their shops. The houses mostly belong to the
traders. Such as are hired fetch a yearly rent of £20 to £35
(Rs. 200-350). The dealers are mostly M^rw&r and Gajarit
V^nis and a few Brdhmans. Their shops are open from daybreak
to nine at night, and their busiest time is between two and six
in the afternoon. Their busy season is during the marriage months
chiefly from February to May. The cloth most sold is white T-cloth
from the Bombay mills, and, to a less extent, English goods. The
stiff brilliant English goods are liked by the rich, and the cheap
strong Bombay goods by the poor. Cloth dealers also sell local
hand-made robes, waistcloths, bodices, turbans, and black blankets.
Except a few hand-made waistcloths brought from Sholdpur and
Faithau, the hand-made cloth is all the produce of the Ahmadnagar
and Bhingar hand looms. Except Gujar&t Y&nis who deal in
Bombay and coloured English yam, and sometimes advance it to
handloom weavers, receiving its cost after the sale of the cloih,
all tho cloth dealers are paid in cash. The cloth trade suffered
severely during the 1876-77 famine, but has since recovered and
increased.

The Grain Market is on the north on both sides of the Jhenda-
Nd.legaon main road between Kam41puraand Shahd^ganj. It consists
of a row of dwellings with large wide front platforms on three ieet
high plinths on which the grain is laid for sale. The houses
generally belong to the grain dealers and are worth a monthly
rent of 4«. to 89. (Rs. 2-4). The grain dealers are generally
Lingdyat Ydnis, Kunbis, MusaJm&ns, and Pardeshi Rajputs, and one
or twogK^mathis who are known as D&lv&lds or pulse sellers. The
Dalvdlas buy grain wholesale from Mirwir and Mar&tha Y^oi
agents or brokers who get grain consignments from village grain
dealers and sell it retail. The chief grains sold are millet^ Indian
millet, pulses, and wheat mostly from the Gangthadi or right
Goddvari valley and rice from Poena and the Eonkan. 1%6
buyers are the townspeople and neighbouring villagers who briog
head-loads of wood, cowdung cakes, vegetables, and fodder^ and

Deeeaa.]

AHMADNAGAIL

661

spend the proceeds in buying 8(2. to Is. (2-8 da.) worth of grain.
Town labonrers generally buy grain in the evening after being paid
their day^s wages. To the north of the Dfilmandai is a wholesale
grain market called D^edabra where, according to the season^ from
thirty to 200 carts of millet In^an millet wheat grain and oilseed
come from the district. Mdrwdrist'bnd other wholesale dealers buy at
this market whose busy hours are from six to eleven in the morning.

South of the Sh^Qi&ganj or General Market in the centre of
the city, are the municipal grain^ fruit, vegetable, and miscellaneous
markets, three blocks of tiled and one block of iron roofed buildings
with 189 stalls about thirty-five of which are empty. Each block of
buildings is divided into nineteen to 108 stalls. A small tiled block
(62* X 6'6'') with twenty stalls is kept for Bohora tinners and fancy
g^ds sellers, and a second block (93' x 6') with nineteen stalls is
kept for pulse and flour sellers. An iron shed (108^ xS^ with
forty-two stalls is set apajrt for vegetable sellers, and the largest
tiled shed sixty-four feet square with 108 stalls is given to miscel-
laneous sellers. These stalls fetch yearly rents of 58. to £1 4s8.
(Rb. 2^-12) and yield a yearly municipal revenue of £150
(Bs^ 1500). The municipal sweepers clean the markets daily and
a messenger is posted to keep order and see that no one but a
passholder uses a stall. The markets open at daybreckk and close
about nine at night Some of the stallholders keep their goods
locked in their own boxes ; others take their goods home. The
business at this market is fairly constant throughout the year.

About 200 feet west of the central municipal markets is another
daily monicipal market called the Bichhdyat or Outsiders' Market.
The people of the neighbouring villages here enjoy free of
charge the privilege of bringing in their field produce and
disposing of their goods wholesale or retail. This market is
generally open from daybreak to noon and a monthly fee of 6(2. (4 as.)
is levied from such local retail sellers as hold no stalls in the
central market.

The municipal mutton market in Eam^lpura to the right of the
Mangal gate, is a brick enclosure (76' x 73') surrounded by tiled
sheds on a three feet high stone plinth and divided into twenty-seven
stalls (7' X 5') of which twenty-four are rented at a monthly fee of 2s.
(Be. 1). Behind the stalls facing the entrance is the slaughter
lio^se, a paved platform (41'x 13') with cross bars and iron hooks
for hanging and dressing carcasses, and semicircular gutters for
gathering the blood. The hours of slaughtering are five to eight
in the morning and four to six in the evening. The municipal
register shows for 1883 a total of 21,783 slaughtered animals and a
daily average consumption of sixty sheep and goats. The animals are
generally bought by Musalm&nbut chers from Dhangars and Yydpdris
or MusalmAn sheep-dealers at 3^. to 48. (Rs. 1^-2) a head and
are generally killed at once. The butchers are all Musalmdns. One
of them for a fee of |i. a head, serves as priest or midla and repeats
Alldh'hO'ukbdr or All&h is Great, when each animal's throat is cut.
After the throat is cut the carcass is handed to the owner, who skins
it| takes out the inside, cuts o£E the head and legs, and hangs the

Chapter XIT^

Places*
Abmxdjsaqasu

Markets.

Mutton.

[Bomliay GaseUeet,

662

DISTRICTS. '

Chapter XIT*
Places.

Ahmadnaoab»

Munieipai
JUarketa.

MtUUm*

Fish.

Beef.

body in his stall.' Some of the skins are sold to Saltangar tannere^
who tan and dress them and make them into children's shoes and
drums for the Holi holidays in February-March. Others are
sold to agents of Madras hide merchants. The entrails are sold
to the poor, and the blood is gathered by the butcher and kept
either for his own use or sold'to MhArs and Mdngs, who let ifc
harden into a jelly and eat it uncooked. The heads legs and entrails
are sold to poor buyers chiefly Sdlis and are sometimes bought
by well-to-do people for jelly or soup. The offal is removed Dy
municipal sweepers. The large and heavy pieces are sold by the
men and the legs and heads by the women. Purchasers begin to
come about six m the morning and generally pay 1 Jd. to 3d. a pound
(1-2 as. for half a sher). Since the opening of the mutton market
competition has reduced butchers' prices from 2^d. and 3|d. (IJ
and 2i as.) to i^d. and Sd, (1 and 2ew.) the pound. The consumers
of mutton are Europeans, Parsis, an^ Musalm&ns, and among
Hindus Mard.thds, Sonars, Lohdrs, Jingars, Mh&rs, M4ng8, and
Bhangis. In the evening S^lis, poor Musalm&ns, Mdngs, Mh&rs and
Bhangis come to pick up cheap bits.

A shed attached to the went row of mutton stalls is used as
Hie municipal fish market. Fresh fish, chiefly pddi maral vamb
ahingada and khavli, are brought daily by Bhois and sold at Sd to 6d.
(2-4 as.) a pound or half local aher. Dry fish, chiefly bamelo or
Bombay Duck, is also brought by Bhois irom Bombay and mostly
sold in their own houses near the central market at 6(1. to 9d^
(4-6 a«.) a pound. Fish is eaten by all mutton-eating classes.

The beef market is outside the city wall in the north between
the Mangal and Sarjepur gates. In a stone walled enclosure
(115'x27') a shed attached to the city wall contains eight stalls
(1 1' 6^^ X 6') all occupied and each paying a monthly fee of 69. (Bs. 3).
The slaughter house is about a mile from the market to the north
of the Delhi gate. It is a paved platform, enclosed by a stone
and cement wall, with a gateway to the east. Six to eight animals,
mostly cows past bearing and more rarely bullocks and buffaloes,
are killed daily. The owners are Musalm&n butchers who buy
from Musalm^n dealers. Ahmadnagar Knnbis never sell their
bullocks or cows direct to the butcher, but when a oow grows
barren or a bullock grows too old for work they do not object to sell
them in open market to some Kunbi or other broker who profanes
to have no connection with butchers. As among sheep butchers, a
cow butcher is chosen and paid }ci. (^ a.) for slaughtering each animal
The butcher skins the animal and puts it in the slaughter house,
disposing of the hide generally to Dhors who buy them for local use
or to Bohor&s and Memans who buy to send to Bombay. The
blood 01 the cow is never used. The carcass is divided into eight
or ten pieces and carried to the beef market. The chief buyers aro
Europeans, Native Christians, poor Musalmd^ns, and Mh&rs and
Mdngs. Beef, both cow and buffalo, is cheaper than mutton, the
price varying from fd. to IJd. (J- 1 a.) a pound.

Besides these regular markets in different parts of the town there
are about thirty-five roadside masonry platforms with one to dghty

Deoeaa.]

AHMADNAQAR.

663

in each and a total of 155 seats. Eacli seat is let at a yearly fee of
28. to 6*. (Rs. 1 - 3) to fodder vegetable and fruit sellers, grocers,
and iBoneycliangers,

Thoagli before the north-east and sonth*east branches of the
Peninsula Railway were opened cotton was seldom stored in the city,
Ahmadnagar was considered a large cotton centre as all the cotton
from ShoUtpur and Ber&r as far as J41na and Khilmgaon nsed to
come to Ahmadnagar and be sold chiefly to Bh&tia agents of Bombay
firms. Since the opening of the Peninsula Rail way nearly half of the<
cotton has passed from the Nagar market. It was believed that on the
opening of the Dhond-^Manmdd State Railway the cotton trade would
flourish and that with increased facilities Ahmadnagar might again
become a leading cotton centre. With this object in September 1878,
the Collector, Mr« T. H. Stewart, C.S. set apart for a cotton market
and store about IS^J- acres of cultivated land assessed at £1 lis*
(Rs. Ibii)} The site chosen is close to four cotton presses to the right
of the station road and about 275 yards south-east of the M&livlda
gate and about seventy-five yards from the Fergusson gate. The
front of the market is enclosed with a strong stone wall and iron
tailing ; a small central building is set apart as a meeting room or
exch^ge for. the cotton dealers and merchants ; a small flat roofed
bailding (60' x 28') with two tiled verandas to the north and south'
is built as a resting place for labourers during the heat of the day y
and two large store-houses (100' x 75' and 100' x 58') are built to store
unsold cotton during the rains. A branch pipe from the N^gdbdi
water channel is laid down with four-inch Englishware glazed pipes
right in the centre of the yard. Into this main pipe fire plugs
have been fixed about 200 feet apart to provide a supply for the
market fire engine. A cattle trough (30' X 5' x 2' 6"^) of coarse stone
and lime is built to the east of the yard which is reserved as an'
iutda or resting place for cotton carts and bullocks. A row of
shops each with a monthly rent of be, (Rs.2^) is built close*
to the left of the station road in front of the cotton yard for tho
cartmen's supplies. Three cast-iron drinking pillars with cocks
have also been provided. A circular fountain of solid basalt, fifteen
feet in diameter and two and a half feet high, is built facing the
road in front of the central building, near a small public garden.
The four cotton presses, three of which are to the south-west and one
to tfie east of the cotton yard, are supplied with surplus water from
the branch pipe which supplies water to the cotton market. Young
trees are being (1882) raised in a nursery with the object of planting
the enclosure. The whole cost, about £2453 I69. (Rs. 24,538), was
met from municipal funds and a further sum of about £1500
(B& 15,000) has been spent in finishing another store and the
enclosure wall. So far the market has been most successful.
During the five years endiivg 1883-84, 306,401 bojda or bundles of
ootton each weighing from 240 to 260 lbs. or a yearly average of.

Chapter XIV.
Places.

AHMADKAOARi

Stewart Cotton
Market.

I The market oompoond was enlarged by ten acres in 1883.

(Bombaj OttiettMr.

664

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ZIT.

Elaces.
Abmadnaoab*

Weekly McarheL

61,280 hojas^ were bfonglit into tlie market. Dnringthe busy season
from October to June, generally from ten to six in tbe eyening, the
agents of Bombay firms cbieny Bhdtids and a few Pdrsis and
Europeans meet tbe local cotton ipercbants almost all of whom are
M^rwdris. Of tbe cotton which is bought a partis sent to be pressed
at the Nagar presses but the bulk goes unpressed to Bombay.

The weekly market called Mangal Baz&r or Tuesday Market
from the day on which it meets, is held to the south-west of the
eity between Ny&matkh&ni and Khadakpura, in an open space
of about two acres shaded with rows of nim and banian trees.
At this weekly market regular lines or built platforms for sellers
were proyided by the municipality in 1881 at a cost of about £1)2
lOa. (Rs. 1126). The platforms are raised about eight inches oyer
the ground and the walks between them are from ten to fifteen feet
wide. There are in all eighteen platforms from twelye to fourteen
feet wide with a total length of 1577 feet. Except a few better
class trayelling cloth dealers who bring small tents, and others
who raise temporary stalls, the sellers sit on small carpets^ mats,
or country blankets on the platforms or at the sides of the paths
that cross the market place. No fixed quarters are laid dowo^
but different classes of traders keep to their usual sites. Thus rope
and country blanket sellers always sit to the south, cloth traders to
the west, eggs and fowlmen to the north, cattle sellers and shoe-
makers to the east, and the grocers yegetable sellers and other
dealers in the centre. Dealers begin to collect at the market ia
the afternoon. Little business is done till three and from abovi
four to six the place is thronged with 2500 to 3000 buyers and
sellers chiefly belonging to Ahmadnagar and the yiUages ronnd.
There is no barter. All payments are made in cash and large
quantities of cowrie shells or havdia, brought from Bombay by
Mar^tha and Mdirw&r Vdni grocers, are hawked about the market by
small boys who dispose of them to buyers and sellers at the rate of
eighty for |d« {\ a.). Cowrie shells are mostly used by the poor in
buying groceries under a ^ a. in yalue. The use of shells shows
no sign of falling off as the people do not use fies (\d^* About a
thousand dealers gather at this weekly market, twenty to twenty*
fiye of them moneychangers by caste Shr&yaks and M^rw^
Brdhmans, local Br&hmans, Musalm&ns, and Mar&tha Y^nis.
They giye and take silyer in exchange for copper and CGffxsr
for cowries. When taking copper for silyer and cowries for copper
the moneychangers charge a discount of %d. (^ a.) on eyery 2^.
(Re. 1). The market rate of the Peshwa's copper coin is 2«. \\d.
(17 a«.} and of English copper coin 2«. fd (16| €».) the rupee.
.'tVlien copper coin is in good demand the rate rises to 2^. \d, (16^ (U.)
for Pesliwa's copper coin and 2«. (16 aa.) for English. Ten to fifteen
Komtis take a leaiding part in the market. Eomtis generally barter

1 The detulB were, 1879-80 hcjda 38,501 ; 1880-81 hoods 37,668 ; 1881-82 Unds 83,972:
1882-83 bojda 84,641 ; and 1883-84 bcidB 61,619. A bcja is equal to two iiiipreH«d
bales.

JtafiOftaJ

AHMADNAGAR.

665

brass pots for secondhand clothes^ mend the clothes^ and sell them to
Kunbi women and cloth sellers from whom the poor generally bnj.

The chief traffic is in articles of food. Grain is sold in more
than a dozen shops chiefly mill^t^ Indian millet^ wheat, and three
or four pulses. The sellers are Ahmadnagar Mnsalm&ns and
Maratha Vanis, who generally bay cheap old grain and sell it to
the poor of Ahmadnagar and the Tillages round.

Vegetables make a large show. They vary according to the season
but are chiefly chillies or green and red pepper, potatoes and sweet
potatoes, Trigonella foBnugrsBCum or methi, Pimpinella anisum or
efiepu, safflower seed or kardai, Dolichos catjang or chavli, Amaran-
tfaas tristis or mdth, and one or two other pot-herbs which grow
well from September to February and are bought by all classes.
Carrots, white and red pumpkins, brinjals or vdngis, niger
seed or kdrle, a pumpkin called turdi, snake gourds or padvaU,
radishes, onions, garlic, bhendis, and a few other kinds generally
grow from August to December and are bought by all classes.
Pdpdi or ghevda that is French beans, double beans, govd/ri beans, and
a few other kinds grow during the rainy and cold seasons and are
generally bought by middle class and well-to-do buyers and not
by the poor. Cabbages, beetroot, celery, salad, red radishes, and
other English vegetables are grown in two or three places and
are mostly bought by Europeans, Native Christians, and P&rsis.
The vegetable sellers are fifty to seventy M&li and Kunbi women
of the city with a few from the surrounding villages. The buyers
belong to almost all classes, but are chiefly the poor of Ahmadnagar
and neighbouring villages who can buy vegetables a little cheaper
in the weekly than in the daily markets.

The chief varieties of fruit are in the hot season (February-June)
mangoes, gT9ipeB,jdmbhuls, figs, popais, and musk and watermelons ;
in the cold season (November -Febrnary) oranges, pomelos, citrons,
jujubes, guavas, and pomegranates ; and almost all the year round
plantains and sour lemons. Pistachio nuts, walnuts, figs, dates, and
other dry fruit are brought from Bombay by Vdni grocers all the year
round and by Afgb&n Ag^ once or twice a year chiefly during
the cold and hot seasons. Most of the other fruit is grown in local
orchards and gardens especially within two to four miles of Ahmad-
nagar. The sellers, fifteen to twenty in all, generally bring cheap
f rutit to this market from the central daily market and sell them to
poor and middle class buyers, as the well-to-do always buy good
fruit from the daily central market Butter and clarified butter are
occasionally brought in small earthen pots and leathern jars or
dahkia and sold by Marathds Brdhmans and V^nis. They are
chiefly bought by the well-to-do and middle classes. «

Two varieties of sweet oil khurdsni oil and kardai oil, but chiefly
kardai, are occasionally offered by Ahmadnagar Mar&tha Y&nis and
Telis, and are bought in small quantities by the poor of the city and
atitl more by the poor of the surrounding villages. Kerosine oil
from Bombay is offered by two or three Bohords and Musalmins
and bought very largely of late by the middle and poor classes for
burning.

B 772— 84

Chapter ZIT.
Places.

Ahmadnaoab.
Weekly Markd,

Vegetable,

Ifrvit,

00.

[Bombiy GftuttMT.

666

DISTRICTS.

Cbapter XIT.
Places.

Ahmadkagar.
WeeUy Market.

OrocerkB,

Sheepm

FUh.

Bennand

Cloth.

Jaggery made of molasses^ chiefly from the Kizdm's country and
the surroanding Nagar villages is sold by almost all Kanbis ^i
Mar&tha Y&Qis, and bought in small quantities mostly by the middle
and poor classes. Sugar offered for sale by Y&nis or grocers ij
mostly used by the well-to-do.

Groceries^ always a varied though not a valuable display, are
offered for sale by twenty to thirty dealers^ chiefly Maratbi
Ling^yat and Gujardt Vdnis. Some of them hold shops in the city
while others wander with pack bullocks from one market town
to another. Even the poorest grocer keeps small bags of salt,
betelnuts, turmeric^ cocoa-kernel, dry dates, coriander, black pepper,
ndgkeshar for washing the hair, almonds, ova, shikekai for washing
the hair, shopa, vdvding, dry ginger, dagadphul, rdmpatri, cinnamon,
poppyseed, mustard, methi, raisins, catechu, cloves, country alkali,
mace, and nutmeg.

Ten to fifteen sweetmeat and roasted gram sellers of Ahmadnagar
bring their articles for sale and hawk them about the market.
The buyers are the poor classes of the city and the snrrounding
villages. Eighteen to twenty-four tobacco and betel-leaf and nui
sellers generally bring and sell raw leaves and tobacco to the poor
of the city and the villages round.

A few sheep and goats, some of them milch goats, bat most of
them for the butcher, are brought chiefly by the Kunbis, Salis, and
Koshtis of the city, and by fifty to seventy -five Dhangars from
different villages in the district. The buyers are the city batchers
and Musalmdn Kas^is.

Fresh and dry fish are offered for sale by Bhoi women at ten to
fifteen stalls. Fresh fish are caught by Bhois in streams from six
to twelve miles from the city chiefly from the Bhdtodi tank about
ten miles east, and salt fish are brought by them from the Konkan
in cart loads. The buyers are all classes but Brdhmana and
Mdrwdr Vdnis. During the 1876-77 famine the consumption of fish
greatly fell off but it has again revived.

Hens and eggs are offered by forty to sixty Musalmans and
Kunbis and by a few Mhdrs and Mdngs. Except a few Kanjars and
MusalmAns of the city the sellers are mostly from the surronndrag
villages. The chief buyers are cooks of European oflScers. Native
Christians, Musalmans, and P^rsis, and sometimes Marathds and
Kunbis. At the beginning of the 1876-77 famine hens and ^gs
were sold cheap. They were very dear when the famine was sorest
and eggs are still not so cheap as they were before the famine.

Cloth is one of the chief articles of traffic. The sellers who
number from one hundred to one hundred and fifty are Shimpis
M&rw^ Vdnis and Musalmtos. With a bullock or two or a cart-
load th^ move from one weekly market to another selling Bombay
and European piece goods and some local hand-loom women's
robes, bodices, wadstcloth, and tarbans. The Shimpis generally
sell ready mad« caps and coats for boys of two to ten. Another
class of sellers are M4rwar and Gujardt V^nis and Maritha
Brdhmaas of the city who offer some English and Bombay piece
goods, but chiefly sell hand-loom robes woven in Bhingar and

Deeeasi.]

AHMADNAGAE.

6«7

Aliinadnagar. Some Koshtis and SSLis offer robes woven by tbem-
selvea. The cbief bayers are Kunbi and M^li women of the city
loid the villages round.

Yam is sold by twenty to twei^fcy-five dealers half of them Gujar&t
V&nis and half Musalmdn womei^ The Vdnis sell machine-made
yam to Momin turban weavers and the Musalm^ women sell home-
spun yarn to Masalm&n carpet and tape weavers. Three to six
Patvekars sell hand-made silk strings or kargotds to Mardth&s and
Kanbis at |d. to l^df. (4- la.) a piece.

Blankets^ chiefly the ordinary dark coarse variety, are sold in
about thirty or forty stalls by Dhangars who travel from market to
market and sell them at 1^8. to 4s. (Rs. | - 2) apiece. The buyers
are chiefly the cultivating and labouring classes.

Shoes both Native and European are sold by Ch^mbhdrsandMochis

in seventy to ninety stalls. About forty Chdmbhdrs make native

shoes known as Mardtha and Brdhman shoes. The Maratha shoes

are strongly made and are chiefly bought by middling Mardthas at

1^. toS^. (Rs. i-2i) a pair. The Brahman shoes are delicate and

unfit for rough work and vary in price from IJ5. to 3^. (Rs. i-H)

a pair, and are mostly bought by Brahmans. A third variety

known as Pardeshi shoes are made by Upper Indian and Mdrwdr

shoemakers. They vary in price from 2*. to 3«. (Rs. 1-1^) a

pair and are generally bought by middling and well-to-do

MusalmanSj Mdrwdris, and Pardeshis. A cheap variety of shoe

known as vdhdns or chappals are occasionally bought and worn

by the poor classes when their feet cannot bear the heat of the

sun while carrying head-loads of vegetables, cowdung-cakes, and

firewood. As long as they can bear the heat, they carry their

sandals tied with their head-loads that they 'taay last long. These

rahdns or chappals vary in price from Qd, to Is, (4-8 a*.) a paix.

The Modus both Kam^this and Pardeshis make shoes in imitation

of English shoes, which vary in price from 3d, to. 4s. (Rs. J - 2) a pair.

Small English shoes are mostly bought by the middle classes for

their children, and large ones by Musalmdns and all other middle

and well-to-do classes.

Personal ornaments are sold at five to ten booths by Sonars, who
sell brass and pewter or tin bracelets and by Musalm^n Manyars
or trinket sellers, who bring from Bombay cheap jewelry and a
mftcellaneous store of small articles of hardware. ' The brass
bracelets are chiefly bought by the poor who cannot afford to buy
silver ornaments. The trinkets and false jewels are bought mostly
by the poor, especially by Musalmdns.

Utensils and appliances are sold in ten or twelve booths by
potters, who sell small and large earthen jars of different s»rts and
flower pots. They are chiefly made in Ahmadnagar and bought
mostly by the poorest classes, who cannot afford to buy brass or a
better description of vessel. Matlis or wide-mouthed earthen jars
which are used by the middle and well-to-do classes to cool drinking
water vary in price according to size ivova-^^d, to 3d. (^ - 2 as,). During
the 1876-77 famine they were in great demand and very dear.

Brass pots, pans, and cups are sold at fifteen to twenty booths by
Hindu Efisdrs and Mu8almd.n T^mbats. Some of the sellers are

Cbapter ZIV.
Places.

Ahmadkagab.

WeeHy Market,

Yam,

Blankets.

Shoes.

Personal
Ornaments,

Utensils,

Brass PotBi.

[Bomlmj Ouelteer,

668

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ZIV.
Places.

Ahkadnagab.
WfMy Market.

DateMcUs.

MisceUaneoua
SeUerB.

travelling peddlers, who go from mart to mart with a bollock and cart,
and others are Ahmadnagar dealers who buy pots made in the city
and sell them here. The buyers are all the well-to-do and middle
classes. Brass and copper pots are mostly sold by weight at prices
varying from Is. 6d. to 1*. 9d. (12-*I4 at.) for about two ponnds era
sher of brass, and is. to 2«. Sd. (As. 1- 1|) for aboat two pounds or &
sher of copper pots. Brass and copper pots fell considerably iu price
during the 1876-77 famine, when brass pots were sold at 1^. 3(i» (1 0 a«.)
and copper at Is. 9d. (14 as.) for two pounds or a sher. The fall in
price was chiefly due to the large number of household brass vessels
which were sold to supply money for buying grain.

Date matting is sold at fifteen to twenty booths by Miugs mostly
of the surrounding villages. The buyers are chiefly the poorer
classes who use the mats for sleeping on. The mats vary in price
from 2^c2. to Sd. (1^-2 asJ) each. Date brooms at id. (^ a.) eachare
sold by twenty to thirty M^ng women to people of almost all classes.
M&ngs also sell jute ropes varying in price according to thicknessi
from 6(2. to 2s. 6d. (Rs. i - H) the forty feet. The jute generally
grows on the edges of fields on the banks of streams.

Of miscellaneous sellers about a dozen match-box sellers hawk
about the market matches which are generally bought by the poor.
Fifteen to twenty Burud and Eaikddi basket-makers sell
bamboo and winnowing baskets^ the Burads to all classes and the
Kaikadis, as their baskets are rough and large, chiefly to Knnbis
and Mdlis for bringing vegetables to market and for cturying
house sweepings into their fields as manure. Eight or ten animal
brokers chiefly Kunbis and Yanj^ris generally bargain for ponies and
donkeys brought for sale by Kunbis and Dhangars of the sur-
rounding villages. The ponies are generally bought by Mnsalman
gardeners or Bdgvdns who use them to bring loads of betel le^ives
from the surrounding villages. The donkeys are bought by Kumbh^rs
to carry street sweepings to their kilns and bring burnt bricks
and tiles from the kilas to the city. Ballocks are seldom brought
to this market as a large bullock market is held every Monday at
Ydlki village about eight miles south of Ahmadnagar. The 1876-77
famine raised the price of bullocks from £5 to £l0 (Rs. 50-100) the
pair. Ponies are scarcer and dearer than before the famine and mrf
in price from £8 to £12 (Rs. 80-120) for an ordinary sized pair.
During the 1878-79 Afghdn war the Ahmadnagar district suppKed
a very large number of ponies for baggage animals. Donkeys vary
in price from 12^. to £1 (Rs. 6-10) each. The traffic in animals ia
very small. Fodder, cut grass, and millet straw are brought by twenty
to a hundred dealers mostly Knnbi women, Mhdrs, and M&ngs. Tho
buyers^are people of the well-to-do and middle classes, who can afford
to keep a milch cow, and Gavlis or milkmen. According to size a bead
load varies in price from 3d. to 6d. (2 -4 as.). Little fodder is brought
for sale in the cold season when most cows and buffaloes are sent to
graze within cantonment limits on payment of 4«. to Ss. (Rs. 2-4) an
animal for three months. Five or six Lamdns bring wood and cow-
dung cakes in head and bullock loads and sell them to all classes. Tho
price of fuel varies from 12«. to 16s. (Rs. 6-8) a khandi of about 1600
pounds, and of cowdung cakes from 4s. to 6s. (Rs. 2-8) a thousand

DeocfUBul

AHMADNAGAR.

669

As tlie city has its regular fuel markets the demand for f ael at
this market is small. Scattered here and there among the booths
are two or three scrap sellers^ decayed Musalm&ns^ who ofEer Bcraps
of iron and old blacking and beer bottles. The buyers are generally
very poor. Some of the poor*of the city gather the scraps in
different parts of the town and self them to these scrap sellers.

Ahmadnagar stands 1900 feet above sea level and about 110
miles from the coast. Though very hot from March to the beginning
of June, and with rather a light uncertain rainfall^ the climate of
Ahmadnagar is on the whole pleasant and healthy. The average
temperature varies from 78° to 81° and the average yearly rainfall
from 9*79 to 26*98 inches. Rain generally begins in June and ends in
November, August and September being the months of heaviest fall.

Deaths are registered by the police, and since 1880 by two
municipal clerks^ and as no dead body can leave the city without
passing through a gate where police are stationed, the returns are
probably fciirly accurate. During the twelve years ending 1883-84
the ratio of deaths to 1000 people was 27*25 in 1872-73, 25*85
in 1873-74, 28*74 in 1874-75, 3909 in 1875-76, 4528 in 1876-77,
62*64 in 1877-78, 56*76 in 1878-79, 3191 in 1879-80, 31*88 in
1880-81, 54*37 in 1881-82, 35*62 in 1882^83, and 32*55 in 1883-84.
The returns show a heavy mortality among children due in part at
least to bad drainage and want of air. Compared with other towns
the death rate in Ahmadnagar is high. As special measures have
since 1880 been taken for recording them, the birth returns are
probably fairly complete for at least the last four years. They show
a birth rate to the thousand of 21-37 in 1872-73, 1242 in 1873-74,
14*43 in 1874-75, 17*36 in 1875-76, 24*14 in 1876-77, 10*29 in
1877-78, 10*47 in 1878-79, 17*05 in 1879-80, 27*55 in 1880-81, 3789
in 1881.82, 29-78 in 1882-83, and 30*69 in 1883-84.

The natural drainage of the city is to a watercourse on the south-
west and towards the Sina on the west and south. To carry off
storm water and the town suUage the city has open road-side drains
and four main drains. Of the four main drains one lies to the north
of the Tophkhdna or near the Delhi gate ; a second in the centre of
the Ganj, passing west between the N41egaon and Nepti gates; a
third is the jail drain, passing west near the Nepti gate ; and the
fourth or Md.liv^da drain is to the south. The Sanitary Commissioner
recommends that these drains should be used only to carry off rain
water, and that for the suUage of the town glazed stoneware
pipes should be laid down and, if possible, the whole carried to the
south of the town and used for watering land. A scheme to
provide a main drain for the city has been prepared by Mr. J.
Pottinger, C.E. Excluding the cost of privy connections it is
estimated to cost about £22,500 (Rs. 2,25,000) . It is proposed to
discharge the drain in a field about 100 acres in area for irrigation.

The natural water-supply of Ahmadnagar from the Sina and the
Bhing^r stream is precarious. The Sina running north to south
from fifty to five hundred yards wf st of the city and the small Bhingdr
stream that divides the cantonment into two nearly equal parts, both
flow only after heavy rain. At other times the Bhmgir stream is

Chapter XIY.

Places.
Ahmadnagar^

CUnuUe,

HeaUK

Drainage,

Water Supply,

[Bombaj Gftsetteeri

670

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ZIT.
Places.

Ahmadnaoab.
Water Supply,

Chmnelt,

Vadgoum
Ckann/eL

dry. The bed of the Sina always yields water from aboat a foot to
three feet below the surface^ but it is very brackish as about a mile
to the north of the city a saltish stream known as the Khdra B^a
meets the Sina. The Sina water ^s of little use except for washing
clothes. The wells of which there are about fifty with water at
thirty-five to forty feet below \he surface ate too brackish for
drinking.

A water project proposed by Mr. E. P. Robertson, C.S.
Commissioner 0. D., was prepared by Mr. C. T. Burke, C.E.,
Executive Engineer for Irrigation Sholdpur and Ahmadnagar at a
cost of about £120 (Rs. 1200) and is now before the municipality.
On account of the great estimated cost of this scheme the
municipality is trying to see if it can restore any of the old channels
to the west of the city. Two of these ducts are being traced out and
cleared and when the quantity available is known the municipality
will decide whether to carry out tho scheme or not.

Under the Nizdm Shdhi kings (1490-1636), fifteen channels or
water leads supplied the city with pure and abundant water
brought from deep wells at the foot of the neighbouring bills.
The water from the wells was carried to the city partly by channeis
dug from the bottom of the wells till it reached the surface of the
ground and partly by sets of country earthen pipes.

Of the fifteen water-leads eight are in repair and seven are mined.
The eight working water-leads are Vadgaon, Ki^purvddi, Bhingar,
ShAh^pur, Anandi, Ndgdbdi, Shendi, and Vdrulvddi. The seven
ruined channels are Nepti, Nimbgaon, Imdmpur, Pimpalgaon,
Bhanddra, Ndgd,pur, and Bhavdnipant. The Vadgaon channel Is
brought from a covered well close to the left of the Shendi water-
course and near the village of Vadgaon, about four miles north of
Ahmadnagar. It supplies water to about 12,000 people in the
north and west of the city at the rate of eight gallons a day. The
channel was made by a noble named Said bat Ehdn during the reijm
of Ahmad Nizdm Shdh (1490-1508). It watered Changia KhAn's
palace (12), the Jd.ma Mosque (IS), the king's palace, and several
other dipping wells in the city. In the disorders at the beginning
of the seventeenth century, about 1630, Babuna son of Malik Ambor
destroyed the channel and burnt the Sultan's palace. Some years
later during tho governorship of Nawdb Faklaz Khan a certain 'biiin
Muntaki, at a cost of £10,000 (Rs. 1,00,000), repaired the channel
and dug a lake called the Nia Kdr. The Vadgaon channel ^'as
breached in several places before the British took possession of the
city in 1803. After repairs by the British Government it supplied
seventeen cisterns. Besides sixteen water-cocks, forty-seven dipping
wells *or cisterns built since 1803 are fed with water from the
channel. Of the cisterns, one at the Police Lines and eleven at the
criminal jail, originally the Husain mosque and college (20), haiv^
been built by Government. One was built in Bagadpati, at the cost
of the people in memory of Lieutenant J. W. Henry, the DLstrict
Superintendent of Police, who fell in attacking a band of Bhils in
1857. A tablet with the following inscription is fixed on the inner
face of the west parapet of the cistern :

Omcu.]

AHMADNAGAR.

671

This Tank WM built by the inbabitants of Ahmadnagar and dedioated
by them to the memory of Iiieutenant James W.Henry, 3rd Baropeaa
Begiment, who aa Superintendent of Police in this Zilla won their
esteem and regard by his amiable disposition and energetic performance
of his duty.

He was killed in action with the* rebel Bhils at Nandur Sinkota in
the Sinnar Ta'luka 4th October 18i7.

Four cisterns at the rest-house near the Police Lines and one near
the Maiden's ivd were bailt by public subscription and one in D^nge
All and one in Qujar Ali by private subscription. The others
have been built from municipal funds since the establishment of the
municipality in 1854. In 1883 the municipality made a short
feeder of about 650 feet in a water-course in the Behisht garden at
a cost of £70 (Rs. 700).

The Kdpurvadi channel is brought from about 1500 feet to the
east of Kdpuryd.di village at the foot of the range of hills about a
mile and a half north-west of the great Sald,batkhdn's tomb (46) and
about five miles north-east of Ahmadnagar. It supplies water to
the north-west of the city and the Native Infantry Lines at a daily
rate of six gallons a head. The aqueduct was built by three nobles
Ikhtiyarkh&n, Kasimkhdn^ and Sidi Shamsherkhan of the court
of Ahmad Nizim Shdh (1490-1508). On the overthrow of the
Kizdm Shdhi dynasty the channel was broken. It was repaired
under Aurangzeb (1658-1707) by Sarjekhdn who enlarged it
to water the grounds of a palace he built near Ikhtiydrkh^n's
palace. A few years later the conduit was continued to Ganj, the
residence of the governor Furkt^khan and to the mansion of
Abdul Ghafur, the commandant of the fort, who used its water to
fill a pond. The conduit supplies a deep well at Burhd»n-nagar, and
after filling two cisterns, one in Colonel Jacob's and the other in
Colonel Pottioger's bungalows in the Civil Lines, feeds the four
cisterns in the Native Infantry lines, and giving a branch to Kofcla
(31), passes into the town and supplies ten cisterns. When the city
was taken by the British in 1803 the Kdpurvd,di channel was in
many places choked with roots. It was afterwards repaired and
three cisterns of the four in the Native Infantry lines and three of
the ten in the city were built. With the average yearly rainfall of
twenty to twenty-seven inches the supply of water in all these
cisterns has been regular. During years of scanty rain the original
wells fail and, to make up the deficiency, the channel is fed from
dedj) wells along the line of passage by means of water-bags or mots.
On the establishment of the municipality iti 1854 this and the
Vadgaon and Anandi channels were made over by Government to the
municipality, a third of the cost of repairs and maintenance being
borne by Government and two-thirds by the municipality. During
the slight drought of 1867, the water in the original reservoir fell
off and at the suggestion of Captain A. U. H. Finch, B.E. Executive
Engineer, the municipality dug a pit about twenty feet in diameter
and fifteen deep and about 1350 feet north of the original well.
A good supply of water was found within six feet of the surface.
It was carried to the original well by an open channel seven to ten
feet deep. Soon after a heavy rainfall removed the necessity of
continuing the work. During the 1876-77 famine, the water in the

Chapter XIV.
Places^

Ahmadnagar.
Water Supply,

Kdpurvddi
Cnann^

[Bombay GAUfetm

672

DISTRICTS.

Cliapter XIV.
Flacea.

Ahmadkagak

Wetter Supply,

Kdpurvddi
Channel.

Bhingdr
Chemnel.

Shdhdpur
ChanneL

original well again failed. The mnnicipality took up tlie old work
as a famine relief work. They proposed to sink small wella at an
interval of fifty to sixty feet along the line of the channel, and after
taking them to the depth of the original well, to communicate the
water by cutting a tunnel. Ei^nteen shafts or small wells six to
eight feet in diameter with a large well about twenty feet in diameter
at the head were dug, thirty-five to forty feet deep. The first eight)
shafts near the original source were joined by a channel three ieet
wide and seven feet deep and the remaining ten were left incom pi ete«
Except about 200 feet the whqle has been tunnelled out. Thirty-
eight wells remain to be joined. This extension has cost the
municipality (August 1884) about £1742 (Rs. 17,420) and will be
finished by the end of 1885. The result of the famine works has
been a satisfactory increase in the water-supply.

The Bhingdr channel originally called the Fardh garden conduit
is one of the chief sources of water-supply to the European barrack^)
and supplies the Sadar Bazdr with a population of about 9000
by open wells or cisterns. The channel was made in the reign o!
Burhdn Nizdm Shah (1508-1553) by two of his nobles SaUbatkhan
Gnrji and Nydmatkh^n Dakhni. The story goes that finding the
king weary of the Hasht-i-Behisht garden, the two nobles thought of
a new garden, the Bdgh-i-Fardh Bakhsh, completed the conduit and
built part of a new octagonal palace. But the king did not like the
design and the palace remained unfinished. The conduit is brocght
from a covered well not far from the source of the Bhingir stream
below the source of the Kdpurv&di and the Ndg&b&i channels.
It passes through the town of Bhingdr and skirting the east of the
cantonment waters the Fardh garden (41).

The Shdhdpur channel furnishes an independent supply of water
to the European Cavalry Barracks. It has its source at the foot of
the hill on which stands the tomb of Saldbatkhdn. The ravine is
small and of little depth and when the conduit was built, it was
closed by two masonry dams. Near its head the conduit passes
under the high road and opens into a large dipping well. On the
side opposite where it enters, the conduit takes a fresh departure
and joins the Bhingdr channel to the north of the Cavalry Barracks.
In 1865 the upper dam was breached and became useless. The
lower dam was broken and the pond once formed by it had silted
and in the gathered silt crops were grown. The masonry of
the original reservoir was also damaged by the roots of a lar^e
tamarind tree. In 1869 both the well and the conduit from the
base of the lower dam were repaired for the use of the cantonment
by Captain E. P. Gambier, R.E., Executive Engineer, To prevent
dirt Of other impurities being blown or thrown into it, the part
passing under the high road and the air shafts were covered with
solid masonry. As the supply used to run short in the hot
weather, the old pond was restored during the 1876-77 famioe
at a cost of £1002 (Rs. 10,020). The silt and tlie broken
parts of the old dam were removed and a wall about 500 feet
long and seven feet high was built over the old dam by Mr. W.
S. Howard, G.E.^ Executive Engineer. The pond was connected hj

Decean*)

AHMADNAGAR.

678

an eight-ineli iron pipe with the well and a sluice valve was fixed
to it to let the water of the pond into the well when necessary.
A waste^weir was also made. The pond contains 1^660,000 cubic
feet of water and hits a gathering ground of about 560 acres. It
supplies water to the cavalry barracks^ feeds the soldiers' plunge
bath, and waters the soldiers' gard!en.

The Anandi channel has its source about two miles north of the
citv, and provides water to 4000 people at a daily rate of about five
gallons a head. The channel was built during the governorship of
Sarjekh&n by one Anandrdv who built two cisterns, one near the
Delhi gate and another inside the city, both called Anandi after
his name. During the 1876-77 famine, about 1900 feet of this
channel with two silted wells were cleared by the municipality at a
cost of about £190 (Bs. 1900), and one of the wells was arched with
burnt bricks and lime masonry to prevent dirt and other impurities
getting in. A branch line of this channel about 7000 feet from its
source has been traced out.

The N&gAbdi channel has its source about a mile below the
K^purv&di channel and its original open square well is about 700
feet to the south of the line of the Kdpurvddi channel. Besides to
the Stewart Cotton Market outside of the M41ivdda gate, it supplies
water to twenty dipping wells or cisterns, and sixteen water cocks in
the south of the city to about 8000 people at a daily rate of about
seven gallons a head. It was built in the reign of Ahmad Niz^m
Shdh (1490-1508) soon after Ahmadnagar fort was built. The water
of this channel was brought from its source by a cutting as far as the
village of Nagardevla. From Ndgardevla it was taken to fill the
fort ditch by sets of double country earthen pipes, laid side by side
and covered with stone masonry. About 1870, as the municipality
found that the water supplied by the Vadgaon, KApurvddi, and
Anandi channels was insufficient, steps were taken to survey the
part of the N&g&bdi channel which had silted. Finding that its
water could be brought into the city Captain E. P. Gambier, R.B.
the Executive Engineer, arranged and, in 1874, completed the
restoration of the channel at a cost of about £7000 (Rs. 70,000) of
which Government contributed a quarter, Mr. Dinshaw M&nekji
Petit the well known Bombay mill-owner gave £1500 (Rs. 15,000),
and £4040 (Rs. 40,400) were paid by the municipality.

TBe Shendi channel has its source at the foot of the Shendi hills
more than a mile east of Shendi village. The channel was built
by Salabatkh&n Gurji during the reign of Ahmad Nizdm Shdh
(1490-1508). Its water was brought by a cut channel to feed the
Lokad Mahal pond and to water the Behisht garden (43). During
the troubles in the early part of the seventeentii century the ccfuduit
was ruined. In 1876 it was repaired, restored, and extended at
a heavy cost by Messrs, Cursetji and Sons, general merchants,
Ahmadnagar, who leased the channel from the British Government
for a term of 999 years to water their Behisht garden. They pay
Government a yearly rent of Is. (8 as,) the acre for the land
watered from the conduit.

The Ydrulv&di channel was built by two nobles Murtazakhdn
Fikiti and Farhddkh&n Dakhni in the reign of Husain Niz&m Shih

Chapter XIV.
Places*

Ahmadnagar.
,Woter Supply^

Anandi Ohannxk

Ndgdhdi Channd.

Shendi ChanneL

Vdrulvddi
Channeh

[Bombay Gaietteer,

674

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIV.
Places.

AHlfADNAOAR.

WcUer Supply,

Vdndvddi
Channel,

(1553-1565)* Tte channel tvas lying rnmons till the 1876-77
famine set the municipality in search of new soarces of water-supply.
The line of the channel was found about 500 feet from where tho
earthen pipes of the K^purv&di channel begin. At its source waa
an octagonal well with three of i^ masonry sides broken. Its water
was used by the villagers and their cattle. About 300 feet north of
this well was found an old pond dammed between the two spurs of
a hill with uncoursed stone and lime masonry. The pond was
breached in three places and was silted within about seven feet of
the brim of the dam walL The municipality cleared out the silt of
the channel and of the original well. The work was begun as a
famine water work, and, on removing the silt from the origis&I
well and from the channel to a length of about 4500 feet^ the
original channel was found never to have been finished, as it was
joined neither with the pond nor with the well. As small stream:!
were found running into the octagonal well, the channel which
was about fifty feet from the well was connected with it by an
underground channel and a six-inch sluice valve was fixed at the
mouth of the channel to regulate the water-supply. The channel
was also connected with the Kdpurvddi channel by about 500 feet
of six-inch country earthen piping after a three to twelve feet deep
cutting in hard rock. Besides repairing the channel, at a cost of
about £800 (Rs. 8000), the municipality determined to close with earth
the breach in the centre of the pond dam, to build a waste-weir at
each side of the dam, to clear part of the silt from the pond and
to join the pond with the octagonal well. Within a fortnight
of the first fall of rain water began to flow into the old channel, and
increased the supply in the Kd,purvadi channel, till its own streams
began to flow which generally happened after about fifteen inches
of rain fell. In 1878 five feet of water gathered in the pond and
lasted to about the end of December. In 1879 about 6^ feet
gathered and lasted till the middle of February 1880. IncludinjE^
£200 (Bs. 2000} paid for land compensation the work cost the
municipality about £1116 (Rs. 11,160).

Plans and estimates of the Kdpurv&di.lake project have been
prepared by Mr. C. T. Burke, C.E., Irfigation Engineer ShoWpuT
and Ahmadnagar, after surveying the ravine between Burhdu-nagar
village and a small hill near ATamgir^s tomb. The site for tb«^
proposed lake has been chosen on the Bhing^r watercourse aboct
three miles north-west of Ahmadnagar. The proposed dam wi'l
pass through the Ndgdb^i and Bhingdr aqueducts and cut off ther
present supply. They wiU be connected with the outlet works of
the lake by a pipe provided with regulating valves and will britj;
the lake's supply to the various cisterns in the town and cantonment.
The \otal capacity of the lake is 140,837,645 cubic feet and th^
available capacity required for twenty months at the daily rate of ten
gallons a head or 64,000 cubic feet is 124,667,266 less transit asi
evaporation losses. The total estimated cost is £21,085 (Bs.2,10,SoO; '
The Bcheme is under the consideration of the municipality.^

1 Mr. Burke's Report dated 25th March 1S79. The detailn of the ooet «i*
Be. 1,68,766 for works, Rs. 26,315 for establishment, Rs. 13,400 capiUlizatioD, ic-^
Rs. 3375 tools and plant. < See above p. 670.

SaooaftpJ

AHMADNAGAB.

675

Of the seven rained condaits two the Nepti and Nimbgaon
channels have their sources near the villages of Nepti and Nimbgaon
at the foot of the hills^ four and six miles to the west of the
city. They were built by Ny4matkh4n Dakhni daring the reign
of Barhdn Nizim Sh^h (1508-1553) to fill a reservoir before his
audience hall and a Hamdmkh&n& or bath near it. The channels
were destroyed about 1630 by Babuna the son of Malik Ambar and
are still in ruins. The broken ends of the two conduits which run
side by side in the same block of masonry^ are still seen on the
right bank of the Sina.

The sources of the Im^mpur aud Pimpalgaon conduits were
traced by the municipality during the 1876-77 famine. The source
of the Im&mpur conduit is at the foot of the hill near Imdmpur
Tillage on the Aurangabad road about twelve miles north of
Ahmadnagar. Marks of the ruined shafts aud the line of the
conduit were found in many places. The channel was brought to
Jeur village on the left bank of the Sina^ which rises from the
surroundinj? hills. It ran as far as Pimpalgaon village along the
left bank of the Sina about four miles west of Jeur but no trace of
it was found as it came near the village. The source of the
Pimpalgaon channel is about 1000 feet south of Pimpalgaon
village and about 500 feet to the left bank of the Sina. About a mile
and a half of this channel was found connected underground by a cut
channel and a part about two miles long was found to have marks of
shafts excavated from five to thirty feet deep. The direction of the
line of this channel showed that^ during the reign of Burhin Niz^m
Shah (1508-1553) Sal^batkhan intended to join it to the Shendi
channeL The work remained unfinished.

The Bhand&ra channel has its source about a mile to the west of
the Sh^h^pur channel. During the 1876-77 famine the municipality
intended to join the water of this channel with the Sh^h&pur
conduit^ but on taking levels, the Bhand&ra water was found much
lower than the level of the Shdhapur water^ and the project had to
be given up. From its direction the water of this channel seemed
to have been taken to water the reservoir and grounds of the Far^
g'arden(41). Thechannel was not traced throughout its length.

The source of the N&gdpur conduik is on the right bank of the
Sina about 800 feet ^outh-east of N^gdpur village five miles north of
Abfhadnagar. The channel was made by Changizkh^n during the
reign of Burhfo Niz&m Shdh (1508-1553). On the fall of the
Niz&m 8h4hi dynasty the conduit fell into ruin. The end of the
channel is not known : it is said to have been formerly used to
supply the city with water.

Bhav&nipant's channel has its source about two miles nSrth of
Ahmadnagar and about a quarter of a milie east of the Behisht
garden. The water of this channel fed two cisterns at the mansion
of Bhav&nipant and two other cisterns in Nagarkar's mansion. The
cisterns are now fed by the Vadgaon channel.

The Ahmadnagar town municipality was estabKshed on the 1st
of November 1854 under Act XXVI. of 1850^ and made a city

Chapter XIV.
Places.

Ahmadnaoab.
Water Supply »

Imdmpur and

Pimpalgaon

OhanneU,

Bhanddra
ChanneL

Ndgdpur
ChanneL

Bhavdnipant
ChanneL

Management.

[Bombay OaMtlMi,

676

DISTRICTS.

<;hapter XIV.
Places.

Ahbkabnaoak.

Scavenging^

municipality on the 7th of November 1874 under Act VI. of 187S.
Thirty-one Commissioners were appointed^ nine ex«officio and
twenty-two appointed by Government. Of the whole number, eleven
were yearly ohosen as a managing committee with a ohairmaD.
In 1883 the number of Commissioners was reduced to twenty-four,
half of them to be elected by the ratepayers. Up to the end of
1864-65 the revenue was obtained by octroi dues levied on grain
cloth and groceries^ and by the sale of street sweepings and
litter. In 1865-66 the levy of octroi dues was stopped, and in
its stead a house-tax of 1«. to 16«. (Rs. f-8) was introduced.
.The house-tax was estimated to yield between £1000 and £1100
(Bs. 10,000 -Bs. 11,000), and £1062 16«. 6d. (Bs. 10,627}) wew
realized from the tax in that year. In 1868-69 the munioipaliiy
again imposed the octroi duty, which has realized from £867 8».
(Bs. 8674) in 1868-69 to £2463 16», (Bs. 24,638) in 1879-80. In
1869 a privy or haldlkhor cess was imposed and was expected to
yield £1000 to £1100 (Bs. 10,000 - Bs. 11,000) being sufficient to
cover the expenses. The total municipal income in 1855-56 was
£802 is. (Bs. 8022). It rose to £1112 16^. (Bs. 11,128) in 1865-66;
to £3688 4«. (Bs. 36,882) in 1875-76 ; to £5106 12*. (Bs. 51,056)
in 1879-80; and to £5555 (Bs. 55,550) in 1883-84. The munici-
pality keeps a permanent establishment of fifty-nine men at a
monthly cost of £76 (Bs. 760).

One of the chief improvements introduced by the municipality is a
complete system of scavenging. In 1865 there were no municipal
sweepers. In the richer parts of the city a little drain led from the
private privies to a pit with an earthen jar at the foot. Public
privies were unknown. The poor parts of the town, Tophkhina in
the north and Nalegaon in the west, were very unclean deserted
enclosures. Even roads were freely used by the people and the
narrow ravine close to the north-west of the city wall was a centre
of filth. Carts were kept for removing litter and garbage and
several stores were made for street sweepings. Most of the stores
were within city walls and the most filthy was the Tophkh^a store.
Prom 1872 an inspector, two gangers, six street sweepers^ and
eighteen nightsoil men well provided with carts have been
appointed to each of the four municipal divisions. The city has
about 2000 private privies and about twenty enclosures known as
vddgds^ The enclosures though unpaved and not free from faults
are kept clean. Besides the private privies the municipality has
provided in different places inside and outside of the city, eleven
public latrines built of rabble stone and lime with, in all, 294 seats.*
Careful arrangements were made till 1876-77 to gather the nightsoil

^ The details of the latrines are ; Inside of the oity, Anandi market privy with fiftj
seats, Sital^evi privy with thirty seats. One near the city wall eaat of the 8aTJe{K;r
gate, a set of Crawford's iron privies with ten seats for women, and one aet ci f oozteG
seats improved pattern which is being built neat the Nepti gate. Ontaide of the wJk
one for men west of the M^ivdda gate with fifly seats, and another for women ea^i «f
the M&liviUla gate with forty seats. Two for women north of the N&legaoa g»te havv
twenty-eight seats; one for women outside of the Delhi gate has fortv avals:
one for men on the M&legaon road has fourteen seats ; one for men near Khdkidte
monastery has fourteen seats ; and one in the Stewart OottoQ Market imd anaUat
near the Sarjepur rest-house have ten ge«ta eaoh.

Deoeniul

AHMADNAGAB.

677

and bary it in pits near the priyies ontaide of the iown.^ Since
1876-77, the nightsoil from all the private and pablic latrines is
removed to the nightsoil store. The streets are carefully swept
and garbage carried o£E by twenty street sweepers and seven
bnllock carts. Since 1876 the municipality has been nsing refuse
and cylindrical nightsoil carts, lifte the carts used by the Bombay
municipality. The refuse is now removed by six carts instead of
seven which make fifteen to twenty trips, and nightsoil is removed
by fifteen cylindrical carts instead of twelve flat carts. About
eighteen loads of nightsoil are daily t^ken to the depot. The
introduction of these carts has not only saved money to the
municipality, but the work is done quicker than before, and, as the
new carts have air-tight shutters, no nuisance is caused while
removing the nightsoil. Before the levy of the privy cess in 1869,
private privies in the town were cleaned privately by Bhangis at
intervals of three or four days and sometimes of a fortnight. The
Bhangis removed the nightsoil in gunny bags on bullock backs,
received for their services 8d. to Is, (2-8 as.) a month from each
family, and such as could afford it served them with cooked food.

From 1869 to 1875 nightsoil was removed in flat and covered
eheet-iron carts by municipal Bhangis to two different field stores
one about half a mile outside of the Mdliv^da gate to the south of the
city and the other about a quarter of a mile outside the Delhi gate
to the north. It was there thrown into pits each about twenty feet
long by four feet broad and three and a half to four feet deep.
When filled to about six inches below the sur&ce the pits were
carefully covered with layers of town sweepings and dry earth.
The pits were then allowed to remain from fifteen to eighteen months
or till their contents were thoroughly decomposed and fit to be
offered for sale as manure. In 1876 the northern store was closed
as being too near the city, and not used except when necessary
during the rains. As the southern depot was found very near the
Stewart Cotton Market the municipality opened another depot in
1878 to the west of the V^lki road about half a mile south of the
old store and about a mile from the city. In 1877 the municipality
undertook to prepare poudretto manure on open ground during
the fair season by mixing the nightsoil with ashes made from
Btreet refuse and by allowing the mixture to dry. The work
wa^ at first found difficult and tedious, but the people soon got
accustomed to it j a great advantage was gained in point of time as

Soudrette can now be prepared for sale within a fortnight in the
ry weather, whereas th6 old process of pit burial required eighteen
months or more. Want of funds prevented the municipality from
building a shed at the poudrette store, so thab during the rains the old
system of pit burial has to be resumed. At the poudrette storeCfche pits

Chapter ZIT«
Places.

Ahmaditaoab,
. Scavenging,

I llie Istrines outaide of the town had pits dag near each of them. From the
latrinee inside of the town, seventy niffhtBoii men carried the niahtaoil in iron carte,
of which abont thirty loads were daily taken half a mile south of the town to pits
twenty feet long by four feet broad and three and a half to four feet deep. The
pits were left nndistnrbed for one and a half to two years and were then sold to
cultivators. The nightsoil store is now sifted half a mile farther south of the atf
or abont a mile from the city walls.

[Bombay

678

DISTRICTS.

Cbaptor^ZIV.
Placei.

AHHADNAOABh

. Scavenging.

are all dag in a line of double rows, and it is approached by a mA
road to afford easy draught to bullocks carrying full loads of nigr-
Boil and town sweepings especially during the raina At prefect
250 pits are dug each measuring twenty-four feet long by fi^f
feet broad and four and a hall feet deep. The manicipalitT
generally sell manure at the tftore by a yearly public aactics
in the beginning of December. Poudrette manure is genenJh
bought for melons and watermelons in the beds of rivers ssA
streams. As the open ground poudrette manure was not found 6o
powerful as poudrette prepared under the old system, the ratio oi
ashes to nightsoil was reduced from half to a quarter of ashes and
a quarter of manure of street sweepings. The daily average oi
nightsoil removed to the store by eighteen loads of cylindrical carU
and bullocks comes after shrinkage when thrown on the ope&
ground to about 135 cubic feet a day or about 49^275 a year.
About 20,250 cubic feet of this nightsoil are used during the fire
rainy months in making pit burial manure and 29,025 cubic feet are
used in making open ground poudrette manure. Thus about 2d,02o
cubic feet of open ground poudrette are made every year daring the
seven fair weather months and about 20,250 cubic feet of pit burial
poudrette are made during the monsoon. These quantities of
nightsoil when mixed with ashes and sweeping manure give a total
of about 70,000 cubic feet. Manure is sold to cultivators at the
rate of three cartloads or 150 cubic feet for 2s, (Be. 1} and to others
at two cartloads or 100 cubic feet for 2«. (Be. 1).

Till 1876 street and house sweepings gathered in 145 dust-bins
in different parts of the city were daily removed by the municipal
contractors in carts to two or three places outside of the city wall and
from there it was removed by potters to their kilns. Since 1877
the sweepings have been removed direct to the nightsoil store by
five municipal carts each carrying about fifty cubic feet and making
on an average three to four trips a day. During a few of the fair
weather months when the sweepings are sold to brickmakers they
are removed direct to the kilns. During the rains part of the
sweepings is used to cover nightsoil pits and the rest is burnt
to ashes to mix with nightsoil during the dry season. The
following figures show that during the nine years ending 18S3-S4
the receipts from nightsoil and town sweepings have varied from
£107 in 1881-82 to £248 in 1878-79 and averaged £189 :

Ahmadnagar Manure BeceipU, 1876-1884.

Receipts from

Total.

Tbab.

Beodpts Ihsn

Total.

Ybar.

Manure.

Sweep,
ings.

Manure.

Sweep-
ings.

i8u-7e

1870-77

1877-78

1878-79

118
U
16S
172
186
129

101
101
64
76
67
90

214
112
217
248
192
219

1881-82

1882-88

Total ...

£
28
116
120

£
79
79
70

£
107
194
100

1870-80

1880-81

976

796

1709

During the nine years ending 1883-84 the returns show that the
cost of removing nightsoil and town sweepings has varied from
£830 in 1878-79 to £474 in 1877-78 and averaged £408 or an average
of £219 more than the manure receipts. The details are :

ABMADNAOAB.

IfighttoUSteeepingt Brpen^urt, lg7S-'i8S4.

679

YlAB.

Amount.

YlAR.

Amount

1876-76

1876-77

1877-78

1^^78-70

1870-80

1880-81

426*
862
474 •
880
460
808

1881-82

1882-88

1888-84

Total ...

400
880
430

8677

The receipts and expenditure for 1883-84 show a net loss of about
£230 (Rs. 2300) a small sam considering it represents the cost of
keeping municipal limits free from filth.

Till 1865 lime kilns were worked inside of the city close to
dwelling houses. Since 1868 all lime and brick kilns and tanneries
liaye been moved to fized places outside of the walls.^ The sheep
slaughter house is at the back of the mutton market in Kdpurpura
in the north-east of the town. It is paved and drained and
thirty-five to forty-five head of sheep are daily slaughtered. The
cattle slaughter house^ at the head of a water-course in Yait^gv^di
is built of stone^ enclosed by a wall and paved. About eight oxen
are slaughtered daily. Till 1876 the offal, bloody and bones were
taken in carts to the neighbouring public latrines and buried in the
nightsoil pits. Since 1876 the offal has been carried direct to the
nightsoil store to the south of the city.

Indigo dyeing was carried on in sixty factories chiefly near
Tophkhdna and the Delhi gate. Each factory had about twenty bad
smelling vats. The municipality thought of removing the factories
outside of the town^ but want of funds prevented them from providing
sheds and the subject was dropped. The dyers were told not to sprin-
kle the dirty water of their vats on the ground nor to pass it into any
main drain, but to remove it to any place fixed by the municipality.

There are two burning grounds, eighteext burial places, and three
towers of silence. The two Hindu burning grounds are one in the
Sina river to the west and the other in the Bhingar riverbed to the
south of the city. Hindus are buried in four places, two of which are
near the N&legaon road to the north-west of the town, the third is near
the Christian graveyard, and the fourth is to the south-east of the
city. The nine Musalm&n graveyards are to the west, north-west,
north-east, and south-east of the city, from a quarter to one and a
quarter miles. Lalb&g north of the Delhi gate has a Bohora burial
ground. In 1883-84 the Sanitary Commissioner having pointed out
the necessity of removing the present burial grounds from due west
of the town to further south the municipality has arranged to take
up two large fields on the west bank of the Sina about a quarter of
a mile to the south-east of the town. The Parsis have thre^ towers
of silence about two and a quarter miles to the north of the city.
The first with room for nineteen dead bodies is ruined. It was
built in 1827 at a cost of about £200 (Rs. 2000) subscribed by

1 The details are : Twenty-five lime kilos about half a mile north-west and one
and a qoarter miles north-east ; sixty brick kilns north-west, south-west, and
north-east from half to one and a quarter miles from the town. Sanitary Comis-
sioner's Iteport, 1875-76.

Chapter XTV.
Places*

Ahmadnaoab.

Ofenaive Trades,

Burning and
Burial Orounds.

[Bombay Ctaaettisr

680

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ZIT*

Places.

Ahmadnaoab.

JRoade,

Medical ReUtf.

EdncaiUm,

PMic Garden,

Ahmadnagar B&rsia The second witli room for twenty-one adalt^
and fear children is also rained. It was built in 1842, at a
cost of £300 (Bs. 3000) by subscriptions from the P&rsis of
Ahmadnagar, Poena, and Bombay. The third now in use was built
in 1864, at a cost of about £500 (]Ss. 5000) jointly contributed by
Kh^ Bahddur Padamji Pestani4 of Poena and EMn Bahadur
Nasarv6nji Cursetji of Nagar. The Pirsis have one fire-temple,
built in 1847 at a cost of about £700 (Bs. 7000) by Mr. Jamaetji
Pestanji Plantin of Bombay. The fire-temple is maintained from
the interest of £800 (Bs. 8000) given by the same gentleman in
trust to the Bombay Pdrsi Panchdyat and £100 (Bs. 1000)
subscribed by Mr. Dinshaw Mdnekji Petit. In 1883 the ParsLs of
Ahmadnagar started a fund to provide for their caste funerals and
£1200 (Bs 12^000) collected from Bombay^ Poena, and Ahmadnagar.
are also given in trust to the Bombay Pdrsi PanchAyat.

In 1865 eight miles of road were metalled^ but neither watered
nor lighted. In 1875, of about twenty-three miles of road^ ten were
metalled. The rest were of earth, hard enough in the fair season^
but nearly impassable during rainy weather. Now (1884) about
sixteen miles of main and cross roads are metalled and the rest are
kept in good repair. The main streets are kept clean, and watered
from February to May of each year. The main and by-streete were
first lighted with seventy-five kerosine lamps in 1872-73. The
number of lamps has now increased to one hundred and eighty.

Since 1865-66 the municipality has been paying a vaccinator and
a messenger and contributing £40 (Bs. 400) a year towards the
civil hospital, where from 200 to 800 out-door and about ten in-door
patients are daily treated, and 100 to 125 children are vaccinated
every month. The civil hospital is located in an old Mnsalm&n
mosque. In 1883 it treated 315 in-patients and 13,677 out-patients
at a cost of £1256 (Bs. 12,560).

Since 1864-65 the municipality has been paying £30 (Bs. 300)
towards the cost of the anglo-vernacular school In 1874-75 £24
(Bs. 240) were granted for a Persian teacher at the high school,
which was built in 1871 at a cost of about £2000 (Be. 20,000) of
which the municipality paid about' £1000 (Bs. 10,000). Since
1877-78 the municipality has paid a further sum of £50 (Bs. 500) to
the vernacular schools, and since 1878-79 £28 10«. (Bs. 285) towards
the agricultural class attached to the high school. The total yearly
municipal contribution towards the city edacation, inclading £l5
(Bs. 160) to the City General Library is £147 10*. (Bs. 1476).
Ahmadnagar has twelve Oovernment schools, one high school, one
anglo-vernacular school, six Mardthi schools for boys and two
schools for girls, and two Urdu schools one for boys and one for girls.
There tire eight private schools including one high school, one
anglo-vernacular school, and six vernacular schools two for boys and
four for girls.

A few years after the establishment of the municipality,
Mr. H.M. Birdwood, C.S., Judge of Ahmadnagar, handed over to the
municipality an octagonal building with the ground on which the
present municipal garden stands and the rest-house outside the
Sarjepur gate with a sum of money left as balance oat of
subscriptions from the townspeople for the erection of buildings at

Beccaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

681

tlie above places. The municipality laid out a garden on tlie site
and called it Vishr^mbag or the Rest Garden, Till 1872-73 the
garden was watered from two wells within the garden limits, and
since 1873-74 the waste and surplus water of the Nagd.bai channel
which was then finished has been largely used. The garden
prospered till the 1876 famine, when water failed and almost all the
fruit and flower trees died. It has since (1881) recovered what it lost,
and there are now a number of flower and orange, plantain, popai,
and lemon trees yielding an average yearly revenue, of about £17
10.9. (Rs. 175) from fruit alone.

On the failure of the late crops in 1876, the municipality
forwarded out of the famine balance of 1872 £5 (Rs. 50) each to
the mdmlatdars of Karjat, Kopargaon, Sangamner, and Shrigonda,
and £2 10s. (Rs. 25) to the mamlatddr of Pdrner to aid the
deserving poor. Early in October 1876 a sum of £800 (Rs. 8000)
was sanctioned to carry out municipal relief works for the poor of
the city and of the neighbouring villages.- A working sub-
committee composed of five members was appointed to buy grain
from outstations and retail it to the poor.

The municipal relief works were filling up hollows and
reclaiming ground outside the city ; clearing silt out of the
VdrulvAdi and Anandi channels ; digging a reservoir and a tunnel
at the source of the Kd.purvAdi channel ; clearing silt out of the
old wells near the line of the K^purv^di and N^g^b^i channels
and sinking and building a well for the Vadgaon channeU
Excepting the tunnelling work of the K^purv^di channel all these
were finished at a cost of about £2217 (Rs. 22,170) by from
140,000 to 150,000 famine-stricken people. Some of the labourers
were paid in cash by weekly payments, others were paid in grain.
After spending its whole balance the municipality borrowed £1200
(Rs. 12,000) from Government to carry out the relief water works.
The sum was repaid in four instalments by the 1st of January 1881.

In buying grain and retailing it to the poor the municipality
snstained a loss of nearly £32 (Rs. 320). A sub-committee of
three members was appointed to look after the retail grain shop.
A relief house for travellers managed by the municipal chairman
was twice opened by Government to relieve destitute travellers.
!Each traveller was provided with a day's ration. During the early
partpf the famine each adult received t^wenty-four ounces of flour,
two ounces of gram flour, salt, chillies, and a few cowdung-cakes,
and a child half the quantity, and during the second period of the
famine, each adult received fifteen ounces of bread and two ounces
of vegetable and a child half the quantity. Government relieved
22,269 travellers at a cost of about £132 (Rs. 1320). .

The municipality collected a total sura of £3645 (Rs. 36,450)
£1711 (Rs. 17,110) donations and monthly subscriptions, £900
(Rs. 9000) contribution from the Deccan and Khandesh Famine
Relief Fond Committee at Bombay, £734 (Rs. 7340) Government
grant, £200 (Rs. 2000) Gaikwdr's contribution, and £100 (Rs. 1000)
1 872 famine balance. Out of this sum £3619 (Rs. 36,1 90) were spent
in relieving 470,944 people, 354,261 adults and 116,683 children.
Of the total 470,944 relieved 427,203, adults 316,055 and chil-
dren 111,148, obtained charitable relief and 43,741, adults 38,206

Chapter ZI7.
Places*

Ahbcadnaoar.

Famine,
1876-77.

m^ ffa Or»

[Bombay QnMiltm^

682

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XI7.
Places.

AUHADNAOAB.

Famine,
1876-77.

and cUldren 5585, were employed on the innnicipal relief wcrlv
A working committee of five Europeans and foarteen Nauv*-:
with secretaries and treasurers was appointed at the first pubi*
meeting held on the 26th of October 1876 to manage the foml
The municipal garden of Vishrfimbdg was chosen for collecting th*
relief recipients and for distributing charitable relief. Finding &
large number of immigrants flocking into the city from the distriu
the working committee sent money and grain to the European and
Native officers in the district to distribute charitable relief amour
the deserving poor. At the request of the Deccan and Kh^ndesh
Relief Fund Committee, a sub-committee of three members w
appointed to administer what was called the Night Belief that i£ t >
afford relief in grain to those who were not accustomed either tv
beg or to work. Some light work was exacted from each recipiecs
and grain was given them at night.

As small-pox prevailed among the destitute during the fint
period of the famine, the committee hired a bungalow at Sidhiba^
outside the Delhi gate and established a small-pox hospital. Children
sufferiug from small-pox were removed to the hospital with their
mothers and both were kept in the hospital until recovery. The
mothers were then allowed to remain for a few days in the relief
house and were afterwards sent either to the relief works or to their
villages. A nursing hospital for the treatment of weak adults and
children was opened at the Farh^dkhani mosque (14) at the beginning
of the second period of the famine. Every morning adults and chil-
dren were examined and such as appeared weakly and wasted were
sent to the nursing hospital and kept there in charge of a hospital
assistant till they looked better. On recovery they were removed
to the relief house, and when they gained a little strength were sect
to light relief works. When the funds of the committee collected
by private donations, subscriptions, and contributions were nearly
exhausted, the Collector agreed on behalf of Government to aid the
committee first by giving grain bought by him at Ndrgpur and other
places from a discretionary grant placed at his disposal by Govern-
ment. Up to April 1877 almost all the relief recipients were
provided daily with raw grain, and a small quantity of salt and dry
chillies every week. Each adult was given one pound or half a
sher of grain in measure and each child a half pound or quarter shrr.
After the 25th of April 1877 some of the recipients were relieved
out of the Government grant and these received cooked tread
of twelve ounces flour and six ounces of vegetable. Such as were
relieved out of the charitable relief fund obtained one pound in
weight of uncooked grain only. In August in consequence of the
increased difficulty of supervising the giving of relief in the city a

> The details of the charitably relieved are 24S,039, adalta 181,324 and childirB

66,715, at the Ahmadnagar relief house; 22,821 idl adults at the city night r^lirx;

127,053, adults 85,019 and children 42,034, at the Government relief house ; 10,341.

adults 8256 and children 2085, at the Pdrner relief house ; 9297 all adults at the Jaid

khed relief house ; 4374 all adults at the Shrigonda relief house ; 4251, adults 4099 ind

children 152, at the Karjat relief house ; and 1027, adults 865 and children 162, at U)«

BhAtodi relief house. Of 43,74 1 the total number employed on municipal relief m or ka.

29,253, adults 26,166 and children 3087, were employed on the VirulvAdi pond rtli«f

work ; 8495, adults 7662 and children 833, on the Sh^llpur pond relief work ; and

5993, adults 4378 and children 1615, on the Kipnrv^di channel and veil ralief vorl.

AHMADNAGAR.

683

relief camp was establislied at the village of N&gapnr aboat five miles
to the north of the city. Of the total amount collected by the
Famine Fand Committee £3619 10«. Sd. (Rs. 36,195 as, 2) were spent
in relief and the balance of £26 10^. (Rs.265) put in the Savings Bank
in addition to a small balance of the original famine fund of 1872.

From very early times traflBc*must have passed close to the
site of Ahmadnagar from Paithan and the East Deccan, through the
Ndna^ Mdlseji and Bor passes to Septra, Bhiwndi, £aly^n, and Cheul
in the Konkan. Ndgardevla about two miles to the north-east and
Shing:^ about two miles to the east of Ahmadnagar are probably
sites of early traffic. During the sixteenth century Ahmadnagar was
one of the chief places of trade in the Deccan. At the beginning
of the present century this trade had almost disappeared. After
the opening of the cart road through the Bor pass in 1830 it revived
and in the time of prosperity during the American war (1862-1865)
the cart traffic especially in cotton and the Vanj^ri traffic in salt
were of considerable importance Since the opening of the Dhond-
Manmad railway in 1878 the course of trade has greatly changed
and almost the whole trade now passes by rail.

The following statement shows the amount and value of the
chief articles of import in Ahmadnagar city from 1875-76 to
1883-84 The chief article of import is salt and cotton varying
from 8136 CArts worth £187,339 (Rs, 18,73,390) in 1875-76 to
21,710 carts worth £50s,140 (Rs. 50,81,400} in 1881-82 and
averaging 12,488 carts worth £290,884. Grain comes next averaging
32,871 carts worth £162,873 {Rs. 16,28,730) :

Ahmadnagar City Imports, 1875 -ISSJ^

A&nciin.

1876-7e.

1878-77.

1877-78.

Carta,*

Value.

Carts.

Value.

Carts.

Value.

GnlB

Clotb and Yarn

Grocery

Glass and China

Dveing Material

Buildhig Material

Hides and Skin

Sweetmeats

Wine ..• ••• •••

Salt and Cotton

Fodder and Fuel

Tnfaacco and Snull

88,192

825

620

1318

»7

148

648

871

11&5

8136

86,127

165

R8.

16,59,889

97,766

8,77,845

2,29,357

6329

lO.'Wo

71,387

16,949

18,686

25,646

18,73397

73,846

19.347

47,947

253

667

1264

106

529

4^0

1081

9960

80,880

286

Rs.

27,80,926

63,267

4,09,997

2,15,399

5947

9429

58,296

19,S26

11,317

18,937

22,96,576

81,563

26,969

49,398

496

706

1696

197

887

536

1496

11,187

47,196

247

Rs.

20,68,766

1.24,547

4,96,229

i,89,837

5169

14,996

43,B77

28,547

IS .079

81,780

25,67,529

99,696

29,876

Articlm.

1878-79.

1870-80.

1880-81.

Carts.

Value.

Carts.

Value.

Carts.

Valne. i

Grain ... m* ...

Metals

Cloth and Tarn

Grocery

Glass end China

Dyeing Material

Building Material

Hides and Skin

Sweetmeats

Wine

Sail and Cotton

Fodder and Fuel

Tohacoo and Snuff

26,280
553
726
1006
68
167
267

leo

1876

0751

81,465

247

Rs.

14,70,623

1,63,640

6,07,376

8,47,820

8350

12,076

20,875

8060

2a.l71

23,500

22,48,098

66.244

27,434

27,176

621

660

1778

111

109

156

15iO

10,150

87,551

239

Rs.

11,61,812

1,11,348

3,64,010

8,12,579

9245

8615

18,445

4,907

18,005

83,400

28,44,057

73,127

24,717

29,426

560

723

1797

117

286

265

160

1037

10,547

50,127

241

Rs.

12,89,222 , ,

1.50,243

4,62,008

8,29,518

0443

21,548

29,030

0778

21,798

81,000

24,17.686

97,756

24,043

Chapter XI7.
Places.

Ahmadnagar.
Trade.

Imports.

* Carts with two hallodci are estimated to carry four poXlds of 120 thtn of grain weighing on sn
avenge 1400 pounds.

[Bombay GtaMttoer.

Chapter XIT.
Places-

Ahmadnaoab.
Trade.

Exports,

Cfrain,

684

DISTRICTS.

'Akmadnagar City Import*, 1875-1884— f'^^oei.

Abticlbb.

1881-82.

1882-83.

1883-84.

Carts.

Value.

Carts.

Value.

Carte.

ValtM.

Qrain •>• ••• •••

saVUmiS ••■ ••• •••

Cloth and Yam

Grocery

Glass and China

Dyeing Material

Buildhig Material

Hides and Skin

Sweetmeats

tVine ••• ••• •••

Palt and Cotton

Fodder and Fuel

Tobacco and Snuff

18,840

884

997

3995

457

326

337

2327

106

21,710

73,956

236

73»$01

1,39,138

7,60,584

5,38,397

8529

43,736

31,398

9305

26,937

37,600

60,81,408

1,2.S,367

27,112

84,607

962

1782

285

800

200

032

1200

ISOO

18.000

8100

240

Be.

18,87.880

2,88.600

4,46,000

70.600

3000

9000

46,600

8750

24,000

60.000

42,60,000

16,200

80,000

28.881

606

1890

167

250

671

1500

1000

13,000

10,000

ISO

lU.

ll.K,240

2,06,800

5,25.000

60.100

2500

9500

8S,5M

56?5

80,000

SO.OOO

80.90,000

20,000

S2.5O0

The following statement shows the amount of the chief exports for
the five years ending 1883-84. The total exports varied from 17,350
tons in ] 883-84 to 29,006 in 1882-83 and averaged 22,719 tons:

Akmadnagar City ExporU, 1879 - 1883.

Abticlu.

Exports.

1879-80.

1880-81.

1881-82.

1882-83.

1883-84.

Tons.

Qntln ••• ••« ... ...

17,893

5257

4575

5502

5476

Sugar... ...

332

Clarified Butter

515

Food or Drink

3399

717

4908

66i9

6909

Fuel ... ... ... ...

731

518

243

185

166

Building Material

• • •

• «•

Drugs

400

294

106

Tobiicoo

Cloth

2710

12,889

8136

11.848

6S5

Materials

1487

1776

525

4370

4510

MiscellaneouB

Total ...

186

• •■

• ••

27,448

21,221

18,574

29,006

17,350

The chief articles of trade in Ahmadnagar are articles of food.
Ahmadnagar is the centre of a large grain trade. The character and
amount of the trade varies greatly from year to year according to the
season, and the opening of the Dhond-Manm4d railway has so
changed the course of trade that it is difficult to say what the normal
state of the grain trade is. In a year of fair local harvests, millet and
rice are imported and wheat and pulse exported. Before the open-
ing of the Dhond-Manmdd railway the grain trade was in^the
hands of a few rich M^rwar Vdnis, who bought up the local crops
in good seasons and stored them" in large under-ground granaries.
After being kept for a year the grain got a reddish tint and a musty
smell, and in ordinary seasons did not sell. But in years of scarcity
the grain was in great demand and fetched a high price. Before the
opening of the railway the local millet supplies have had to be
supplemented by imports from the Nizdm^s territory and in years of
bad local rainfall from Khdndesh. Since 1878 the grain supply is
much larger, coming from Jabalpur, Ndgpur, Mdlwa, Indor, and
Cawnpur. Instead of requiring a large capital the trade can now
be carried on with a small outlay. Profits have greatly fallen and
prices remain steadier. In 1879 a rise in the local price of millet
was met by a large importfition from as far as BelUri in Madras. Ia

O60Cftll*J

AHMADNAGAR.

685

ordinary jeara the import of millet and Indian millet is chiefly from
Eliandesh^ Jabalpur, and Sholdpur. The trade is in the hands of
rich Bhatia and Marwdr Vd,ni merchants of Ahmadnagar. Rice
is imported partly by rail fron^ the Konkan to Poena and Sirur,
and partly by road on bullock-back and in carts from the rice lands
of Junnar in North Poena and other parts of West Poena. The
rice trade is in the hands of small Maratha Vdni dealers. The ex-
ports of grain, chiefly wheat/ pulse, and oil- seeds, are in the hands
of richMarwdr and Mardtha V^nis, who bring the grain by cart chiefly
from the villages of the Godavari valley and sell it to Bombay dealers,
generally Bh^tids, by whom it is sent by rail to Bombay. The
pulse trade, both as regards its course and the people by whom
it is carried on, difEers little from the wheat trade. Gram, kulthi,
and other pulses are occasionally sent to Poena. Linseed, chiefly
from the Nieam's country, is bought by Bhatia merchants and sent
to Bombay chiefly for export to Europe.

The trafiic in butter and oil is both export and import. The
export is in clarified butter and sweet khurdsni oil, and the
import is in kerosine. Clarified butter is made in tl\e villages round
Ahmadnagar and is also brought from Khdndesh and from the
Nizam's territory. It is collected by M4rwdr dealers from the villages
and resold to wholesale traders, by whom it is sent by rail and by
road chiefly to Poena and Bombay. The sweet oil brought to the
city from the villages round is bought by the merchants who
export clarified butter and is sent by rail and by road especially
to Poena and Bombay. The import of kerosine, or as it is locally
called sarkdri or Government oil, has only lately risen to importance.
It is all brought by rail by Bohords and Bhdtias from Bombay and
sold partly to city dealers, chiefly Boboras and partly to village
shopkeepers most of whom are Mdrwdr V^nis.

Before the days of the railway (1860) Ahmadnagar was a great
salt mart. The salt was brought back by the carts that took cotton
to Bombay and from Ahmadnagar was sent to the Nizam's country.
Since the opening of the Dhond-Manmd.d railway the salt trade has
somewhat revived. MArwar V^nis both local and from the Nizdm's
country send agents to Panveland Pen, and all through the cold and
hot weather small quantities a wagonload or two at a time are brought
to Nagar. Here local dealers 'and agents from the Nizdm's country
bity the salt and send it to Shevgaon, Parner, Vdmbhori, Sangamner,
and. other leading country towns in quantities enough to last for two
or three months. From the market-town dealers the salt is
bought by the village shopkeepers most of whom are M^rwdr
Vtois. In Ahmadnagar city retail sellers, chiefly Maratha V^nis and
Dalv^las, who claim Rajput descent, buy from wholesale «M4rwar
Vdni merchants and ofier salt for sale on the same counter as grain
and pulse. All consumers buy from the retail D^lvaUs and grocers,
the richer classes once a week and the poorer every day.

Cotton has long been one of the chief exports from Nagar. Since
the opening of the Dhotid-Manmdd railway its importance has

Chapter ZFT*
Places.

Ahmadnaoak.
Trade.
Orain^

Butter and OU,

Salt.

Cotton,

^ Only the bakahi or banshi variety of wheat is sent to Bombay.

[Bombay GaMttoer.

686

DISTBICTS.

Chapter XIT.
Places.

AHMADNAOAB.

Trade.
CoUan,

CoUon Preeses.

mncli increased and the total quantity of cotton receired at tbe
Stewart Cotton Market amounted in 1882-83 to 9446 tons and in
1883-84 to 6877 tons. Most of the cotton comes from that part of
the Nizdm's country which lies between J&lna, Khdmgaon^ and
Xulburga. Of seventy-four local cotton dealers^ twenty belong to the
Ahmadnagar district and the resf to the Nizam's country chiefly
Aurangabad^ Bid, Jalna^ and Paithan. Most are Mdrwir V&nis ; the
rest are Brdhmans and Kunbis. They advance money to the gprowers
and buy the standing crop often before it is ripe. When it is picked
and cleaned, the cotton is packed in bundles or dokrds of about 14^4
pounds (70 shers) and sent to the dealers' agents in Ahmadnagar city.
Of these agents or adtyds there are about twenty-four, a few Brah-
mans and Kunbis, but most of them Mdrw&r Yania. On receiving the
cotton these agents make advances to the dealers up to seventy or
eighty per cent of its value. The cotton is stored in the iStewart
Cotton Market and offered for sale to Bombay buyers, who, in the
past year, represented seven firms, two of them Europeans and five
Natives the agents of Bombay Bhdtia houses. When the railway
was opened it was thought that much cotton would want pressing
at Nagar and three full steam presses were built with engines of
twenty to forty horse power, to which a fourth was added in 1883.
The railway returns for 1883 show a total export of 9287 tons of cotton
from Nagar station and the market returns show a further amount of
about 4000 bojds in store at the end of March 1884. The 1880-81
season was unfavourable to Nagar as a short damaged crop had to
compete with a large high class Gujarat crop. The 1882-83 season
was exceptionally favourable and the quality also was superior.^

The four cotton presses are near the cotton market and
belong to the Mofussil Company, the Akbar Company, Messrs.
Harvey and Sabapathy, and Messrs. Gaddumand Co. The Mofussil
Company have built a half and a finishing press of Hodgart's patent
which are worked by an engine of about 20 horse power. There
were 8400 bales of cotton pressed during the cotton season of
1883-84. The Akbar Company have erected two half-presses of
Nasmyth's patent, and a finishing press of Wilson and Nasmyth's
patent worked by an engine of 25 horse power. About 4900 bales
were pressed at this press during the cotton season of 1883-84. This
press was built of burnt bricks and lime with an upper story of tiled
roof at a cost of about £1500 (Rs. 15,000). The upper story and ropf
were burnt down in March 1884. Messrs. Harvey and Sabapathy
have ahalf -press of Nasmyth's patent and a finishing press of Preston's
patent worked by a forty horse power engine of Nasmyth'a patent.
In 1883-84, 5519 bales were pressed against 12,770 in 1882-88.
Messrs. Gaddum's press pressed 10,027 bales in 1883-84 against
10,772 in 1882-83. The rate of pressing was uniform at aJ^ the
presses at a rate of Bs. 3-6-0 a bale, which included the charges
of pressing, gunny-bags for covering, and iron hoops» Besides
this the buyers paid £1 Gs. (Bs. 13) for 100 bojds of cotton for
carting them to the press houses and thence the pressed bales to
the railway station. The Harvey and Sabapathy press is able

1 See above pp. 270-272, 343-344.

Seccan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

687

to tarn oat aboafc 100 bales of 300 .pounds each a day. Each bale
measures about fifteen cubic feet or twenty pounds of cotton for
each cubic feet.

The cloth trade is both export) and import. The exports, partly
by road and partly by rail, consist of women^s robes, waist-
cloths, and turbans woven in Nagar and Bhingdr hand-looms. The
trade is chiefly in the hands of Mardtha Vdnis, Brdhmaus, and
Shimpis, by whom it is taken by road to the neighbouring local
markets and by rail chiefly to Nasik, Khdndesh, and the Nizdm^a
territory. The export of cloth suffered most severely during and
after the 1876-77 famine. It now shows signs of revival. The
import of cloth is partly from Bombay either of Bombay or Euro-
pean make and partly from Yeola Paithan and other places famous
for their hand-loom weavers. All the Bombay imports are by rail
and of the rest some come by rail and some by carts or on buUock-
back. The cloth importers are chiefly Bh^tias, Mardtha Gujar^ti and
Marw&r V^nis, Brdhmans, and Shimpis, some of them men of large
capital and most of them well-to-do. They sell partly to Nagar
retail dealers and partly to village cloth dealers and Shimpis and
other packmen, who, with a cart or bullock, move from one fair or
market town to another. Imports were almost stopped during the
famine tima But during the past year large quantities have been
imported. Apart from the famine there has of late years been a
notable change in the amount of European cloth imported. It is
now almost entirely of the finer qualities bought by the well-to-do
classes, the poorer classes showing a strong preference for Bombay
and local-made cloth.

There is a considerable trade in dye stuffs both export and import.
The imports are mostly in indigo, crimson, and safflower. Indigo is
brought from Bombay and Madras by V^ni and Sdli dealers.
Crimson is generally brought from Bombay by Bohoras and Gujarat
Vanis, andsafflower a local product is sent to the city by village Vdnis.
Indigo is chiefly used by Niralis in dyeing yarn, crimson by Sdlis
in dyeing silk, and safflower by Raogaris in dyeing turbans. It
costs about 6d. (4 as.) to dye a pound of yarn indigo, about Ss.
(Rs. 1^) to dye a sher of silk crimson, and 2«. to 10*. (Rs. 1-5) to
dye a turban according to the strength of the safflower used.

The chief local export is the bark of the Cassia auriculata or tarvad
bush. It is gathered by the villagers and brought into the city in
headloads. Some is used by* the local tanners Dhors and Saltangars.
The bulk of it is exported by Bohoras and other Musalm&ns to
Bombay to be used in tanning.

A little cotton yam is spun by hand chiefly by Musalm&n and
Sali women. They buy the raw cotton and are paid 2^3. to Sd,
()i-2 as,) a, sher equal to a daily wage of about liof. (1 a.). The
yam is used in weaving the cheapest robes, in making tape for cots,
and the long thread woof in carpets. This industry formerly helped
to support many families, but it has been greatly destroyed, first by
the competition of English and lately by the competition of
Bombay factory yam.

Chapter XIY.

Places.

Ahmadnaoas.
Trade.
Cloth.

Dyes.

Industries.

[Bombay Qauttn,

DISTRICTS.

Ckaptw HV.

AXMADMAOAB,

Tndnrtrie^.

Haad-loom weaving' is carried on by Silis, PadamB&Iis, and MobsI-
miiia about 3100 hand-looms in all, some in separate honses, some
itt factories with five to ten looms;

The following statements give thorfihief articles raannfactured ud

prepared in Ahmadnagar city and Bhing&r from 1 876-76 to 1883-84 ;

A hmadnagar and Bkiagdr Hanu/aaum, 1875-76 - 18SS-84.

IS..™.

is-e-77.

,™

IB7B-7*.

ie7»«.

?C ^i-"

Bon-

Vllue

Vmlue

«^- V.l«.

Sl^- Viloe,

Ra.

"rT

Ba.

tu.

^"Irfl*

eooo

*2.0il.

60ft

36.00

«ooa 42,o(>o

SiWut

18,110039:00.

Turb«i,|

6000IU,000

«0i

Bl«k Bl-nVetat

33M »»»

«;o

ClHTlrtll

aoi

100 2S00

B~>V(wt>|.

6M6S.0TO

BOO

ft.s',DOI

400

4O0S!.00n

Copperl

lOOM.OOtt

BOO

ei>,oiio

301

48,001

lOOOSS^OM

BellmeUlf

100 3«,l-»

18,00"

7200

Sardai Oilf ..

ism ift.om

ISOI

42,eoi

OU-akMl ...

SOOC 7500

SnuOl

3«01

JTvnhtt ..

7i 3000

240(

8«n.nlOUi ,„

E5 1.^00

2.';

Burnl Briclill ...

£0 J 2,000

^lisiC

„ TIlMl ,„

10 BO0(

In 8000

Djed SilkU ...

mI ItOO

Cement 1

400 9300

400

.!!|.q

MO MOO

•lJ»«»r4BhiiiB4r- t N»j»r. ) «»g»r» Bhlnfrir. lH*g»r. T Nsgir * Bhlnglr. ] >!•(»•.

The hand loom weavers use a little hand-spun yarn, but the bnJk
of the yarn comes from Bombay. Someof it is English-coloured yarn
but most of it is made in Bombay. The chief articles made by the
Ahmadnagar hand-loom weavers are robes, bodices, and turbftoa.
The weaving trade was brought to a stand during the famine.
Since then it has been gradually recovering, but is not yet what il
was before the famine.

Raw silt, almost all from China bnt some of it from Bengal, U
brought by rail from Bombay by Gujardt Vinis who have factoriw
or kdrkhnnda in Nagar. Others of the buyers are Silia who have
private looms. The owners of factories who are chiefly Gujarfit Vatiis
employfrom600to700S^lisbothmen and women. The women separata

AmMA]i])HA®M& cim;

'COIRT (& CJAIfTOI^MIEHT

^—llndi.

Deccaal

AHMADNAGAR.

689

the threads. After the threads are separated Bangdri labourers
dye chiefly red, being paid by the quantity dyed. The dyed silk
is then handed to the men who weave narrow strips for the borders
of robes. The weavers are pai^ by the piece and generally earn
4^(1, to 6d, (3-4 as,) a day. The produce of the looms is generally
sold wholesale by the owners of the factories and by the weavers
themselves to Gujardt V^nis, from whom it is taken chiefly by local
cotton weavers. A little goes to the Nizam's territories. Silk cloth
is seldom made except by special order.

The Cantonment, stretching from the north-east and east of the
city walls with the fort as its centre, covers an area of four and one-
third miles. It is a fairly wooded plain, rising slightly eastwards
and smooth except among the water-courses near the broad shallow
bed of the Bhingdr stream. The soil is stiff black and the
underlying rock which rises to the surface in the north-east and
south-east is trap. The natural drainage is good. In the west
the ground elopes to a water-course that runs south into the Sina
and towards the south-east it falls partly into the Bhingdr river and
partly into another water-course that further south runs nearly
parallel with it. Circling round the fort, at a distance of a half to
three quarters of a mile, the chief parts of the cantonment are in
the east of the Sadar market and north-east of it, beyond cantonment
limit«» the old town of Bhingar. To the south-east are the Infantry
Barracks with the Officers* Lines behind them, and further south
the new Artillery Barracks. To the west, close to the city walls,
are the Tent Pitchers' Lines, and to the north-west, across the
Parade Ground, the Native Infantry Lines, and further to the north
the Officers' Quarters and the St. James* Garden. West of the
Native Infantry lines, part of it out of cantonment limits, is a suburb
known as the Simpson market, and still further to the west are the
Police Lines.

The population of the cantonment varies with the number of
troops. 'iTcLO usual strength in times of peace is a battery of Field
Artillery, four companies of European Infantry, and a regiment of
Native Infantry. When the 1881 census was taken the cantonment
had a population of 4589, males 2487 and females 2102.

Of the old Musalm^n water channels four, the Sh^hapur and Bhingar
in the east and the K^purvddi and Ndg^b^i in the west, cross the
cafttonment from north to sotlth. The Shiih^pur channel, one of
the two sources of water supply to the European barracks, has its
source near the village of Shkhdpur at the foot of the hill on which
stands Salabatkh&n's tomb (46). To the north of the infantry
barracks, not far from the Protestant chapel the 8h£hapnr joins
the Bhing&r channel. The Bhingdr channel, which is the chiel source
of supply to the east enfd of the cantonment, rises in the hills
about three miles north of the cantonment, and after supplying the
town of Bhingdr, the Sadar Bazd.r, and the east end of the canton-
ment discharges itself into the Fardh garden (41). The Bhingdr
channel almost never fails during the driest seasons. The west end of
the cantonment is supplied with water from the Kdpurvadi channel.
B 772—87

Chapter^XIV.

Places.

Armadnaoab,

Cantonment.

Papulation^

Water.

[Boinbar

690

DISTRICTS.

tbapter XIT-
Places.

Ahmaonaoav.
Cantonment.
AianagemaU,

ScuUtT BQsoAr%

Officert^ Quarters,

The cantouQient is in charge of a Cantonment Committee
constituted under the Cantonment Act. The officer commanding
the cantonment is president of the committee with the Civil Surgeon,
the Executive Engineer^ the pistrict Magistrate^ and the
Cantonment Magistrate as ex-officio members. The cantonment
income is about £950 (Rs. 9500) f^om taxes^ fees, and fines, and the
produce of the Station Grarden. It is spent chiefly on conservaacy
and police, on a lock hospital, and on the Station Garden.

To remove nightsoil fourteen scavengers are employed, three (or
the private privies in the Sadar market and eleven in other parts
of the cantonment. The nightsoil, of which about eight carts are
daily removed, is taken to the extreme east of the cantonment and
laid in trenches about fifty feet by four and six deep. For street
sweeping, besides about fifteen men two women and one cart to
each regiment, a native conservancy Serjeant, two gangers, eleven
sweepers, and seven women are engaged and daily gather about
thirty cartloads of garbage.

The Sadar Baz^r used to be a place of considerable importance
when a large number of troops were at Nagar. It has now declined
and many houses are empty. It stands above the left bank of
the BhingAr river, about 1000 yards east of the fort and about 500
yards north-west of the Infantry Officers' Lines. It has an area of
eleven acres with a population of 2635 lodged in 614 houses, 170
of a better and 162 of a poorer kind, and 282 mud hovels. Most
of the houses have in their front and rear roads and bye-lanes
running chiefly south and north. In 1876 the Sanitary Commissioner
found the bazdr very clean, and the arrangements for scavenging
and carrying away nightsoil effective. To the west of the Sadar
BazdLr is the government garden. Of the town of Bhing^r which
lies outside of cantonment limits a separate account is given.

About 500 yards south-east of the Sadar bazdr in the extreme
east of cantonmentlimits are the Infantry Officers' Ldnes. The houses
are arranged in two rows oE large one-storeyed dwellings running
north and south, each house in a large fenced enclosure generally
shaded by lofty trees, and some with bright well-kept gardens.
East of the main rows are one or two separate houses, and about
1000 yards further east is the race course. About 250 yards to tbe
west of the Officers' Lines, and like them, ranged on the whole north
and south are the Infantry Barracks, with, to the north, the marrfed
men's quarters, in the centre the single men s barracks, and in the
south the hospital. The married men's quarters consist of foor
blocks each of twenty quarters, two in front and two in rear,
separated by a road that leads from the Officers' Lines to the fort.
The un^narried men's barracks, to the south of the married men's
quarters, are twelve one-storeyed buildings in two rows with an
interval of sixty-four feet between them. The buildings fiacing
north-west on plinths of I ^ to three feet high are of brick and lime
mortar with tiled roofs. Each barrack room, measuring 96 feet by
24 and 22 feet high, has a total superficial area of 2304 feet and
accommodation for twenty-six inmates. In front and rear are open

Seeoaa]

AHMADNAGAR.

691

verandas twelve feet wide. The room lias four ridge ventilators of
eighteen inches diameter^ and, on each side, two doors and nine
windows, and above these, eleven clerestory windows each 4' x 3' with
revolving glazed and venetiane j shutters. At the right end of each
barrack, enclosed from the veranda, are two sergeants^ rooms
twenty-four feet by twelve. Elist of the barracks is a building
nearly equal to tliem in size, the north-east half used as a sergeant's
mess-room and the other end as a mess library, and close to it a
gymnasium and theatre and a double fives court, one side enclosed
as an officers' racket court. Further to the south the hospital
enclosure, fenced with a dwarf wall and. railing, includes the guard
room, the hospital sergeants' quarters, and the quarters and store
room of the hospital steward. The main building has two wards,
and from the right end a third ward runs at right angles to the other
two. The wards of the main building, each 65' x 24', are separated
by a passage six feet wide with walls that do not reach the roof.
In front are seven windows, and on the rear of the ward are only two
windows and a door. At the end of the left hand ward are two
additional windows. Each ward has on a side seven clerestory windows
about three or three and a half feet square, furnished with revolving
shutters both glazed and venetianed. The rooms have cloth ceilings.
The female hospital is a ground floor building at the left rear of the
male hospital. The plinth is about two feet high, the walls of
brick and mortar, and the roof tiled. It has two wards placed end
to end each 13' 3" x 14' and 18' high. Connected with the men's
hospital are a dead house, an isolation ward, and single rooms
for the delirious sick. West of the Infantry Barracks, between them
and the bed of the Bhing&r river, are in the north on either side
of the fort road the Catholic and Protestant churches, and west of
them a soldiers' garden and a plunge-bath fifty feet long and four
to seven feet deep. South of the bath to the west of the single
men's barracks are the cavalry stables, which, except the sick
horse stable which is used by the Government stud horses, have
stood empty since the cavalry left the station. In the south-east
comer of the cantonment, about 600 yards south of the Infantry
Hospital and, in a line with it, is the Artillery Hospital. About
400 yards further south are the three New Artillery Barracks.
The old temporary Artillery Barracks which run east and west
have been dismantled and converted into temporary stables for the
Af tillery. To the east is the Artillery Hospital a one-storeyed
building facing west, 120 feet by twenty-four and twenty high
covering a total superficial area of 2880 feet. The floors, on a
slightly raised plinth, are paved, the walls are of brick and mortar,
and the roof is tiled. The wards each sixty feet by twenty-four
have rooms for twenty-one sick. The walls are 21 J feet high and have
clerestoiy windows provided with proper revolving glazed case-
men t&^ About 150 yards further south on slightly rising ground are
the new Artillery Barracks, the most conspicuous buildings in the

Chapter XIT.
Places.

AmCADKAOAB.

Caatonmeat.

^ Sanitary Commissioner's Report, 1865.

[Bombay Gatetteer

692

DISTRICTS-

Chapter ZIT.
Places.

Ahmadnagab.
CaQtonment.

NtUive Infantrjf
Lints.

OarcUn.

whole city and cantonment. The barracks and their snbsidiary bnild-
ings which were finished in 1873 afc a cost of £62,500 (Rs. 6^25,000)
are in three blocks of fine upper storeyed buildings facing west. Each
block accommodates forty-foQr men giudtwo sergeants. The men's
sleeping rooms of which there are two in each block are eighty-seven
feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and twenty high. One sergeant lives
on the ground floor and one on the first floor. The sergeants' quarters
consist of two rooms together eighteen feet by twenty-four with a
bathroom attached. The lower floors of the barracks are used as
day and recreation rooms, offices, and store-rooms. Each block has
a wash-room, cook-room, and latrine. A veranda twelve feet wide
encloses each building on all sides. In front of the barracks is the
quarter guard, gun sheds, harness rooms, and two blocks of &mily
quarters each holding eight families. Behind the barracks is a
block of quarters for three stafE sergeants, a canteen, skittle alley,
and a fives court. To the west of the fort close to the town walls
are the fent Pitchers' lines a small group of huts built for the
use of tent pitchers and store servants. Most of the lines are
empty as the number of servants has been greatly reduced. Further
north, between the Bdva Bangdli and the Jhenda gates, is the Mandai
bazdr a hamlet with the tomb of the Bdva,^ and a considerable
number of mud huts on uneven ground. In 1847 the Mandai baz^
was described as occupied by hundreds of unregistered followers,
thieves, and bad characters, over whom from the distance of the
Sadar bazdr the police had little or no control. A number of pen-
sioners had also obtained leave to build at this place, but as it was
thought better to concentrate the inhabitants at the Sadar basar
where they could be under control, Government removed all the
huts and houses when their owners died or left Nagar. The owners
have lately been compensated and the whole plot has been cleared.

At the north-east corner of the city, separated from the fort by
the general parade ground, are the Native Infantry Lines. They
were built between 1865 and 1870. Two blocks of thirty-two single
tiled buildings divide a central street 100 feet broad, each block
consisting of eight rows of two buildings divided by streets sixty
feet broad. The corner rooms set apart for the Havdld^rs are
larger and have verandas.* On the right flank is a regimental
hospital and a regimental baz^r with fifteen shops. The officers^ lines
about 100 yards to the north, consist of a single row of houses wi|h
a monthly rental of £3 to £4 (Bs. 30 - 40), large one-storeyed tiled
buildings in large well kept and well shaded enclosures.

About 300 yards north of the Native Infantry Lines is a public
garden called St. James' Garden occupying about five acres of
ground.!. The garden is the property of the residents and is

> Bdva Bengali was a Muaalmdn ascetic from Bengal, who lived under a tree near
the spot where his tomb now stands. He is said to have come before the foandation
of Ahmadnagar (1494) and to have been held in great local repute for holinestf. A
fair in bis memory is held in Jane when about 100 beggars are fed. The tomb enjoys
a piece of rent<free land and a yearly cash grant of £2 14«. (BrS. 27).

< Sanitary Commissioner's Report, 1875.

fioceaa.]

AHMADNAGAR.

693

mahxtained by volantary sabscripidons. Beside the. Officers, and
Native Infentry Lines in the north-west of the cantonment, close to
the regimental hospital is a Lock Hospital with room for thirty
to forty patients. To the west of the Native Infantry Lines across
the Anrangabad road lies the Kx>tla (31) a sqnare enclosure kept in
good order^ and behind the Kotla*part of it out of cantonment limits
is the Simpson Bazdr.

About the centre of the cantonment half a mile east of the city^
in level ground with well grown bdbhul and banian trees, stands the
fort, oval in form, one mile and eighty yards in circumference.
From the outside a steep wooded bank or glacis, with a broad top
or covered way, hides the walls nearly to the top. Inside of the
bank rans a great dry ditch,^ eighty-five to 180 feet wide and fourteen
to twenty feet deep, whose outer side is an unbroken perpendicular
wall four feet thick. The cut stone masonry walls of the fort,
said to have been built from the rock hewn out of the ditch, are
massive throughout, the parapets being five feet thick and the lower
masonry of gradually increasing strength. Of two entrances,
one as old as the fort, for wheeled traffic and guns, is on the west
side at the main gate bastion, the other a modern entrance for foot
passengers is on the east side by a sallyport and suspension
bridge.* At the chief entrance the moat is crossed by a wooden
suspension bridge swung on thick iron chains, and the road, skirting
the principal bastion, enters the fort through two gateways placed
at right angles with doors studded with large nails to guard against
elephants. The court between is occupied by guard rooms. At
the postern gate on the east, the moat is crossed by a chain
snspension bridge, built some fifty years ago by Colonel Jacob of
the Engineers. The walls, rising about thirty feet from the bottom
of the ditch, consist of a number of semicircular bastions eighty-
five yards apart, connected by curtains with parapets varying
from five to ten feet in height, pierced in most places with
loopholes. Behind the parapet a six feet wide path runs round
the top of the wall. The bastions are all full, and, except the flag
staff or chief gate bastion, have embrasures. In bastions 1, 2, 14,
15, 20, 21 and 22 the embrasures are cut down from the top of the
parapets; for the rest there is a walk or berme above the
embrasures, and the parapets are loopholed for musketry fire.
Between each pair of embrasures is a massive stone traverse. The
flag staff or chief gate bastion has, from a covered passage in its
middle storey, several projections over the ditch from which stones

Chapter ZIT.

Flaoes.

Ahhadnaoab,

Fort.

* The ditcli seems originally to have been filled with water from the Ndgib^
channel. It ia described in 1750 as always fiUod from two water schannela
(Tieffenthaler, Researches Historique et Geographiqne, L 490). It seems to have
been dry in 1803 when the fort was taken by General Wellesley. Under the British,
the malaria from its damp bed caused fever, and efforts have from time to time been
made to drain it. The drainage is now fairly complete, and, except after heavy rain,
water seldom lies. It is still damp enough to keep patches of grass fresh throughout
the year, and a herd of antelopes and nilgdis, turned loose in the ditch about fifty
years ago, have since continued to prosper.

^ This gate was built for the convenience of the work pec^le when Ahmadnagar
was the head-quarters of the Bombay Artillery and the laboratory was in the fort.
Major S, Babington.

[Bombay GaNttoet

Chapt^XIT.
Plaoes.

Ahmadnaoab.
Fort

694

DISTRICTS,

and other heavy missiles could be dropped. One hundred and
two guns can be mounted on the embrasures and several more on
the flag staff bastion. The inside of the fort is sixteen to twenty*
two feet below the terreplein of the bastions and curtains with
which it is connected by frequent stone staircases. Except for
some buildings and bdbhul and bamian trees it is smooth and open*
Of the buildings some are of old native construction, others are
offices and store-rooms of the commissariat public works barrack
and ordnance departments^ and the rest are workshops and gunsheda
formerly used by the head-quarters of the Bombay foot artillery.
The whole area within the fort is vaulted for stores. There is one
large powder magazine able to hold two thousand fifty-pound
barrels of powder^ and one ball cartridge room with space for
1^050,000 rounds of ball ammunition. In the thickness of the inner
walls of bastions and curtains many arched recesses might serve
as temporary expense magazines. The walls are kept in careful
repair, and four wells yield an abundant supply of fair drinking
water. Probably from its ditch^ which was most difficult to drain,
the fort was formerly very unhealthy. Even as late as 1873 all
who lived in it both Europeans and Natives suffered severely and
constantly from fever.^ Of the old native building in the fort the
one of most interest, in the centre and still in good order, ia Malik
Ahmad^s palace (1490 - 1508), afterwards repaired by Husain
Nizdm Sh^h (1553-1565). Of the palace the most notable part
is the public room about ninety-one feet long, twenty-two broad
and eighteen high. The roof is a series of domes, the inside of
them adorned by richly embossed stucco work. The present (1882)
badminton court and the state prisoners^ room are parts of the old
palace buildings and the executive engineer's ofiBce and barrack
stores appear to be the old palace stables.^ A few buildings
were levelled to the ground after the British had taken possession.
Close inside of the outer gate, on the right hand side, is the tomb of
a holy man Syed Baghi Nizam who was buried about 1490 (h. 895).
Lights are kept burning at the tomb which is covered by a
green cloth. In the open space to the east of the public works
stores are a row of eight English tombs with dates ranging from
June 1821 to September 1822.^

1 Mftjor E. P. Gambler, R.E., Fort of Ahmadnagar 1873.

* Major S. B^bington.

> Of the eiffht tombs one has no inacrip^tion, from one the inscription atone has
been removea, and the inscription on one ia not readable. The epitaphs on the fire
remaining tombs are (1) Sacred to the memory of William Todd, Late Sergeant of the
2nd Extra Battallion who departed this life on the 4th Angost 1821, aged 27 yearn
(2) Sacreib to the memory of Laeutenant R, K. Wliite, 1st Battallion, 1 1th ReginLent,
K.L, who departed this life August 26th, 18 . . , axred 30. (3) Sacred to the memory
of Frances Julia, infant daughter of Captain and Mrs. Laurie who departed this life
14th September 1822, a^ed 13 days. (4) Sacred to the memory of Catherine the beloved

wife of Captain Frederick Hood, Commanding the 2nd Extra Battallion of Bombay
N. I. . She departed this Ufe to the inexpressible anguish and unending regret of her

months and one day. Major S. Babington.

Beocan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

695

The present fort is said to have been bnilt by Hasain Niz^m Shdh
(1558-1565) on the side of an earth work called B£gh Nizdm^
thrown np in 1490 (H. 895) by Malik Ahmad after his defeat of the
Bahmani general Jahdngirkhan. It is a peculiarly well planned
and well built fort as, though lying on comparatively low ground, it
is not commanded by any spot within a large distance. The earth
bank or glacis was originally so high as altogether to cover the fort
walls.^ It has always been praised for the skill shown in its
construction, in which, both in the original planning, and afterwards
in carrying out repairs, Portuguese engineers are said to have
helped.^ Its great strength was shown in its brilliant and successful
defence by Queen Chfad when a great Moghal army under Prince
Mnrild and Mirzakh^n besieged it in vain from yovembey 1595
until peace was concluded in February 1596. In July 1600 the
fort was again besieged bv Prince Ddnv^l and K"H^fl ^hAn^n and
this time successfully owing to a mutiny among the defenders in the
course of which Queen Chdnd was murdered.^ The fort remained
in the hands of the Musalmdns nnffl 1759 when the commandant
K&vi Jang treacherously sold it to Saddshivrdv Bhau the cousin of
the third Peshwa. The cession was subsequently confirmed by the
treaty which followed the battle of Udgir between Niz4m Ali and
Saddshivr&v.^ In 1797 the fort again changed hands and was
gfiven up by treaty to Sindia.^ The other leading event in the fort's
history was, on the 12th August 1808, its surrender to General
Wellesley afterwards Duke of Wellington. The fort was then in
excellent repair. Except Vellor in the Madras Karn^tak, it was the
strongest fort General Wellesley had seen.® When after capturing
the town General Wellesley reconnoitred the fort on the 9th August
the complete protection which the glacis afforded to the wall made
it difficult to fix on a spot for bombardment. Baghur&v B^ba the
Deshmukh of Bhingdr received a bribe of £400 (Bs. 4000) and advised
an attack on the east &ce. Batteries were thrown np somewhere
near the present cavalry barracks and during the night a working
party under Lieut.-Colonel Wallace with five companies of the 74th
Regiment and the second battalion of the 12th Regiment was sent
to cut away through the steep glacis. The battery opened at day-
light on the tenth, and played with such effect, that the
commandant desired that firing should cease that he might send a
person to treat for a surrender. He was told that what he wished

Chapter XIT.

Flaees.

Ahmadnaqak.
Fori.

^ Major S. Babington. • Meadows Taylor's Noble Qaeen, m. 171, 173.

' Meadows Taylor's acconnt of the siege and defence of Ahmadnagar fort brings
out two points of much interest connected with the siege, the part taken by the
Portognese and the skill shown by the miners in following a soft seam in the rock.
Noble Queen, HI. 168, 208. *

* Grant DufiTs Mar&th^, 306. ' Grant DufTs Mar&thds, 530.

« The following details are from Welsh's Military EeminisceDces : The fort is one
of the strongest in India. Surrounded by a deep ditch, it is bnilt of solid stone and
cement with large circular bastions at short intervals and armed with three or four
guns in casematod embrasures, with a terrace above and loopholes for musketry.
On the bastionjs are some sixty guns from twelve to fifl^-two pounders, but the
casemates were not confined to allow their being effectively employed. The glacis
was so abrupt as to cover nearly thirty feet of the wall affording shelter for an enemy
if they could only get dose to the plaoe. Quoted in Maxwell's Wellington, I. 125,

[Bombay Oasettio

696

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIV-
FlaoeB.

Ahmadnaoab.
Fort

Objects,

JRumikhdfCs or
MakkaMokqut*

to say would be heard, bat that the firing would not cease till
either the fort was taken or surrendered. Next morning the
commaQdant sent two agents offering to surrender if he was allowed
to leave with his garrison and take his private property. The
proposal was accepted, and on the arrival of hostages, the firing
ceased. Next morning the commandant left the fort with a
garrison of 1400 men, and the British troops took possession of
it.^ The fort, with a palace of Sindia and some other large
baildings, seemed to have been a place of great splendour. la
two rooms of the palace were found several dozen large handsome
pier glasses^ two electrifying machines, an organ, a pianoforte,
lastres, chandeliers, globes, and many other luxuries. In other
rooms were the richest stuffs of India, cloth of gold and silver,
splendid armour, silks, satins, velvets, furs, shawls, plate, and
cash.^ Part of the wall suffered severely from the British
cannonade and in spite of complete repairs traces were till lately
visible on the east front.^ By the treaty of Sirji Anjangaon
(30th December 1803) Sindia waived all claim to Ahmadnagar and
it was given to the Peshwa as part of his share of the fruits of the
campaign.^ In 1817, under the terms of the treaty of Poona (13th
June 1817) the fort was handed over to the British by Bdjirir
Peshwa.^ It has since remained in their hands and has been kept
in repair.

Outside of the fort close to the main gate are the petty staff
lines consisting of seven or eight small bungalows one of which is
(1882) used as a post office. On the north are the Neutral Lines
consisting of three bungalows and the Pensioners' Lines are on the
east of the Bhingdr stream close to the Sadar Bazar. To the
east is the cricket ground and lawn tennis court with a gymkhana
pavilion built in 1879 at a cost of £170 (Rs. 1700) subscribed by
the European residents.^

The chief objects of interest twenty-four in and twenty-seven
around Ahmadnagar are ruined Musalmd^n mosques, tombs, and
mansions built during the sixteenth century when the power of the
Niz^m Shdhi dynasty was at its height.

Bumikhdn's or the Makka Mosque close to the city wall between
the Mangal and Sarjepur gates, about eighty yards east of the
Sarjepur gate, was built in the reign of the second king Burh^n
Niz^m Sh4h (1508- 1553) by RumikhAn Dakhni the caster of the
great Bijdpur gun Malik-i-MaiddnJ The mosque is bailt of trap
and lime masonry. It is about forty feet long north and south by
about thirty feet broad east and west and on its east front has an
enclosure or yard (39'x27') surrounded by mud walls about seven

^ Duke of Wellinffton's Deflpatches (1S34), I. 300, 301. After the oaptare of the
fort Qenend Welleeley breakfasted under the large tamarind which stands cloee to
the ditch opposite the flagstand. In memory of the occasion four old gnns have been
set month down on the four sides of the tree. Murray's Bombay BLanabook, 292.

> Maxwell's Wellington, I. 130. > Major S. Babington.

« Grant Duff's Mardthte, 583. » Grant Duff's Mar«th&B, 635.

' Major S. Babington.

' Rumikhto presented the mosque and his palace to one Mir Abdul Gafar.

Daocta.]

AHMADNAGAR.

6d7

feet Ugh. The mosque has two floors, the first or ground floor
intended for a rest-house or musdfarkhdna and the top floor for a
place of worship. The flat roof of the mosque rests on four round
polished one-stone pillars two in each row much like the "pillars
used in Kasimkhdn's palace (5).* Bach pillar is about three feet
round and eight feet high and looks like black marble. The pillars
are said to have been brought from Makka and to have given the
building its name of the Makka mosque. Over the pillars two
rows of three arches run north and south and on the arches rests
the roof. The roof over the west part of the mosque is said to have
been in ruins since about 1680. The front is in good repair and is
mostly used by beef butchers.

Khwdja Sheriffs Haveli about 130 yards south-east of Rumi
Khan's mosque is an old Musalmto mansion with mud walls, about
seven feet high enclosing a space of about 1 07 yards square. It
is said to get its name from Khwdja Sherif the brother of Kdvi
Jang, to whom the third Peshwa Bdldji presented it in reward for his
brother's cession of the fort in 1759. The entrance is on the north
by a strong doorway built of dressed stone and lime. In the
enclosure, to the south, is a mosque (about 50' x 20' x 16') of dressed
stone and lime masonry and still in good repair. Besides the
mansion and the mosque the enclosure has a few flat roofed houses
some of them occupied by the descendants of the Khwdja Sherif, and
two cisterns fed by the Kdpurvadi channel. A bier or tdjia in
honour of Khwdja Sherif is made every year during the Muharram
holidays. The bier is held second in rauk to the BAra Imdm's bier
or tdjia, and hundreds of people offer sweetmeats and oil to it in
fulfilment of vows.

Illahad^d's or the K&li that is black mosque, about 220 yards south-
east of Khwdja SheriPs mansion, was built by Syed Illahadad Khto
Dakhni who was administrator general during the reign of Barhdn
NizAin Sh&h (1508- 1553). In 1818 Captain Pottinger turned it into
the Collector's office, and buildings for the treasury and assistant
collector's and mdmlatddr's offices have since been built round it.

Nilband's Mosque, about 125 yards west of the KAli mosque is
one of the chief mosques now in use though neither old nor of
architectural note. It was originally the dwelling house of one Nur
Mahmud Ndlband, was made a mosque after his death in 1836,
and fs maintained from the rents of three shops.

Kdsimkhdn's Palace, about 150 yards south-east of N^lband's
mosque, is a handsome two-storeyed building added to and fitted
up in 1818-19 as the Collector's residence. It was built in the
beginning of the sixteenth century during the reign of the first
king Ahmad Nizdm Shih (1490-1508). The centre hall entered
by a long-flight of steps is a stately room, the ceiling supported on
large one-stone pillars of black stone similar to the pillars in Rumi
Khiin's mosque (I). The ceiling of the side rooms is domed and
handsomely carved.

Khan Zam&n's palace and mosque, about 225 yards south-west
of Kdsimkh&n's palace, were built in h. 967 (a.d. 1559) by Kh4n

B 772—88

Xlhapter XIT.

Places.

Ahmadnaoab.

Objects.

Bumikhan*8 or
Makka Movjua

Kkwdja Sherif 'a
HaveU

niahaddd'sor
Kdli Mo8que

lioique

Kdsimhhdn*s

Palace

{6).

Khdn Xamdn*8
Palaee and Motqvu

tBomVar Oasotleer.

698

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIT.

Places.

Ahmadnaoar.
Objects,

Nydm<Ukhdn^9

Patau and Mosque

(7).

Shdh Tdhir*8 PaJace

and Mosque

(8).

Chobin Mosque
(5).

Mengni or Berma

Mahal

{10).

SarjeJthdn*8 Palace
and Mosque
{11).

Zemin Kh^n Dakhni in the reign of the third king HoBain (1553-
1565). The palace is in ruins bat the mosque, a 6mall rery plain
stone building, is still in use. Oyer the doorway an inscription gives
the name of the founder and the date. Except the name the wording
of the inscription is the same as th^t on Farhddkhdn's mosque (14).

Nydmatkbd^n's palace and md^que, about eighty yards north-
west of Khan Zamdnkhdn's mosque, is a magfnificent pile of
buildings now mostly in ruins. It was designed by Sard^r Ferrah
Bakhsh and was finished by Nyamatkh^n Dakhni in h. 987 (a.d.
1579)inthe reign of the fourth king Murtaza I. (1565-1588). The
buildings contained a very large bath and attached to them was a
famous Badgir or ventilator which was pulled down by Mr. Woodcock
aformer Judgeof Ahmadnagar. A part of the building with an upper
storey still stands fronting the roadway and is (1882) occupied by a
Musalmdn firework maker. The buildings were supplied with
water from the Nepti channel which was specially built for them.
The foundations of the ruined parts of the palace and bath may
still be traced. The mosque (50' x30'x 15') is on a four feet high
plinth and is built of dressed stone and lime masonry. Its flat top
rests on eight stone pillars about two feet square and about fiv^e
feet high over which rise the arches. It is still in good repair and
is used for records and stores by the municipality whose office is
close by. The left or south side contains two rows of three arch ways
and was formerly used as a mosque, l^he right side with two rows
of two archways contains the tombs of Nyamat Khdn and his wife.
From the foundations the palace and the bath seem to have filled
a space of about 500 square yards. The main entrance was in the
line of the north wall close to the mosque which is still standing.
The gate bears a Hindustani and Arabic inscription in eleven lines
on the top of the doorway engraved in two stone tablets which gives
the date of the mosque as h. 987 that is a.d. 1579.

Shdrh Tahir's palace and mosque, called after Burhan Nizam's
(1508 - 1558) Shia minister one of the most talented and interesting
characters in Ahmadnagar history, lies close to the north of
Nyamatkh^n's mosque where the Mangalv^r market is now held.
Except one wall no trace of the building is left.

The Chobin or Wooden Mosque, about sixty yards south-west of
the Mangal Market, was built by Syed Jaldl Dakhni in the reign of
Burh&n Nizam Shdh (1508 - 1553).

The Mengni or Benna Mahdl, now used as the civil jail, about
seventy yards south-west of the Chobin mosque, was bnilt in 1570
in honour of the marriage of Ny&matkhan Dakhni.

Sariekhdn^s palace and mosque, about 100 yarda north of the
civil jail, is a ruined stone mansion (28' x 18') now used as a small
cause court. Close to the mosque is Sarjekhdn's tomb which is
covered with an elegant cut-stcne rectangular canopy surmounted
by a dome supported on open arches. In the east wall is a small
hollow which is called the Doboika chira or two-finger hole as it
is said that any two fingers can fill* it It apparently is a partly
filled flaw in the stone. The mosque is locally known aa tbo

Seooan.]

AHMADNAGAB.

699

Dobotka cJUra masjid or the Two-Finger Hole Mosque. The palace
and mosque were built in h. 969 that is a.d. 1561.

Changizkh&n's Palace^ built by the distinguished and ill nsed
noble of that name in the reigB of the third Ahmadnagar king
Husain Niz^m Sh4h (1553- 1565),^about sixty-eight yards north-
east of Sarjekhan's palace and mosque^ is a fine upper storeyed
building now used as the District Judge's court. On its plinth is an
inscribed stone but so covered with whitewash as to be almost
unreadable.

The Jama Mosque^ abont sixty-five yards west of Changiz Khdn's
palace, is a large plain stone building (75' x 44') on a low plinth. It
was built in h. 1117 that is a.d. 1705 by K^zi Abdul Basul Sdhib
Usmdni under orders from Aurangzeb. The property, worth about
£4000 (Rs. 40,000) of a Khatri named Gopdl who died intestate, fell
to the crown and was spent by Aurangzeb in making this mosque.

Farh^dkhdn's mosque, shrine, and rest-house, about 130 yards
north-east of the J4ma Mosque, were built by one Farhddkhdn in
H. 907 that is a.d. 1559. Over the doorway an inscription gives
the date and name of the founder in words the same as those
on Khan Zamdnkh&n's mosque. The mosque is still used, a
part of the buildings as a rest-house and the rest as a Govern-
ment store. The mosque is raised on a stone pliuth but has no
special architectural beauty. The front is of pointed arches and the
roof has six domes resting on four central eight-sided pillars.
The whole is enclosed in a paved courtyard at the east end of which
is Farhddkhdn's tomb. The rest-house is a separate courtyard
surrounded by a veranda supported on pointed arches.

The Soneri or GK>lden Mosque, about 240 yards north-east of
Farhddkhan's mosque built by Nizdra-ul-Mulk (1720-1748), is
now used as a residence by a Pd^rsi family, and has been added
to and altered. It appears to have been a very handsome building
approached on either side by a low flight of steps. The centre
arches of the mosque rest on handsomely carved stone pillars which
appear to be the upper parts and capitals of pillars taken from a
Hindu temple. The shafts are eight-sided and the capitals are
vases with flower ornaments. The interior is whitewashed, and
nnder the wash on the walls are said to be inscriptions in gilt letters.
In tl\p basement are a number of cellars and other rooms.

The B^dshahi Mosque, about 100 yards south-east of Soneri
mosque, built by Aurangzeb (1658-1707) is a stone building
(39'x27') ornamented with stucco and whitewash. It is built on
the ground without a plinth and has a flat roof. The mosque is
repaired from the rents of shops. •

Kdvi Jang's Mehel, about si^tj yards west of the Bddsh^hi mosque,
ia said to have been built about 1750 by Kavi Jang the Nizilm's com-
mandant, who was bribed by Peshwa B^l^ji fidjirav to surrender
Ahmadnagar fort in 1759. The palace (8 1^ x 33') is of dressed stone
and lime masonry. It has three floors, the first partly under and
partly above ground. The top of the first floor which is about five
feet above the ground^ forms the plinth of the second floor which has a

Chapter XIV.
Places.

Ahmadnagar.

Objects.

Changizkhdn*9
Palace

Jdma Moique

F\irhid<Uehdn*9

Mosquf^ Shrine,

and Best'houM

(i4).

Soneri Moeque

Bddehdhi Motque
{16).

Kdvi Jang^Si

Mehel

{17).

[Bonibaj

700

DISTRICTS.

Caiapter nV-

Places.

Ahmadnaqaa.

Objects.

Kdvi Jang*8 Mehd
U7).

Tara Bibi*9 Jfoaque
(IS).

Kamani Mosque
{19).

Htuain Mosque
and College

Sadr-ud'Din^e
Mosque and Tomb

Muntdlhib'Ud*
Din's Mosque

Nahardil Palace
(SS).

Hmdu and Jain
Temples

stone stair in the middle of its west walls leading to tlie third floor
The first floor under ground is commonly known as the bixlcid or cellar
Id front, to the north and attached to the main building, is a Inrcr?
stone platform about sixty-four feet long and about nine feet wide
with steps on the east and west built to the top level of the first f]<x)r.
The mansion with its enclosure was mortgaged by Kdvi Jang's descen-
dants about the end of the eighteenth century to a Bohora merch&n;
who, for more than fifty years, has rented it to the American Mission
by whom it is still occupied. In the centre of the enclosure a largd
dry cistern was formerly fed by the Kdpurv4di channel A small
cistern about seven feet square has been built about twentj-five
yards north-east of the old cistern.

Tora Bibi's Mosque (24'x 18') about 110 yards south-west of K^Jvi
Jang's Mehel was built in the reign of MurtazaNizam Shdh (ld<i5-
1588) by Tora Bibi one of Chdnd Sultana's maids. It is a plain
building on a low plinth and is still in use.

The Kamani Mosque, about sixty yards south-east of Tora Bibi's
mosque, still in use was built by Asad Kh&n Rumi in the latter hnlf
of the sixteenth century. A part of the mosque buildings on the east
including the gateway have been made into a civil hospital. The
mosque (36'x 21') is of stone slightly carved and now whitewashed.
In front is the tomb of Kdvi Jang the Haidarabad officer who gave
np Ahmadnagar fort in 1759, The tomb bears date H. 1168 that
is A.D. 1 774.

Husain Mosque and College about sixty yards west of the Kamani
mosque, was built by Syed Husain Mashadi in the reign of Burhan
Nizdm Shdh (1508- 1653) for the spread of the Shia faith. The
mosque is a stone building with a large centre dome and is said to be
designed on the model of a mosque at Mashad in Persia It is
surrounded by a number of irregular buildings and in 1818 was
turned into a criminal jail. The place has been so altered at vari-
ous times that it is difficult to trace the original buildings. The
jail holds about 260 prisoners.

Sadr-ud-Din's Mosque and Tomb were built by one Sadr-ud-
Din in h. 9>'4 that is A.D. 1576, in the reign of the fourth king
Murtaza I. (1565-1588). Themosqne is a stone building not now
in use. Two eastern arches have been filled with brick. The tomb,
which is close by, is a square stone building with an octagonal cut
comer roof surmounted by a circular dome. *

Muntdkhib-ud-Din's Mosque was built by one Munt4khib-nd-Din
in H. 993 that is a.d. 1585. Close to the mosque a handsomely
carved square stone building with traceried stone windows is
surmounted by a ruined cupola which contains the tombs of two
Syeds SubhandandBurhdn.

Nahardil Palace and Mosque of unknown date were bnilt by one
Samsher Kh&n. The palace is said to have been a fine building
and to have been burnt before the time of Aurangzeb. The
mosque is still standing.

There are three chief temples for Hindu and Jain worship. The
chief Hindu temple is of Vithoba built in 1725 by one Yiahvan^

BecoaaJ

AHMADNAQAB.

701

SakWrfim TimboH at a cost of £300 (Rs. 3000). Of the two Jain
temples one of Paraandth was built in 1776 by MArwar and Guja-
rat Vdnis at a cost of £300 (Rs.3000). It has since been enlarged
and improved. It has two entrances one for worshippers and the
other for priests and religious men or sddhua. The other Jain
temple was built in 1850 by Jaiii Shimpis at a cost of £50 (Rs. 500).

Outside the city near the Jhenda gate in Beluchpur is Agha
Bahizad Dakhni's mosque still in use.

Bdva Bangali's tomb is close outside the Bangdli gate. The
tomb is said to be older than the fort (a.d. 1495). The name
of the saint is lost. He came from Bengal, and by the aid of a
Beng&li charm is said to have raised to life the body of a snake-
bitten Hindu Pdtel of Bhingdr.i

Close outside of the Mdlivdda gate is Syed BurhAn Dakhni's
mosque, a small stone building surmounted by a dome.

On the Sina close to the Nepti gate is Syed Hatti's mosqne, a
plain building not now in use.

On the west bank of the Sina opposite the Nepti gate is
Sh&h Sawar Ghdzi's tomb who was killed in H. 987 that is a.d.
1679 fighting under Chdnd Bibi.

To the north of the town near the Police lines is Chdr Sdnak'a
tomb, a square"]stone building surmounted by a cupola. It takes
its name from the four ornaments at the foot of the cupola.

Near the Mangal gate about 200 yards outside the city is the
Kotla Mosque, a walled enclosure with out-houses. It was
built by Burhin Nizdm Shdh (1508-1553) inn. 944 that is
A.D. 1536 under the advice of his minister Shah Tdhir when
Burhan embraced the Shia faith.* Burhdn presented the mosque
to ShihTAhir and intended it as a charitable institution and college.
It was largely endowed and still enjoys a yearly grant of £1500
(Rs. 15,000) chiefly from the revenues of a village in Nev^sa. The
mosque haa since been used as a Bdrd-Imams' or the Twelve
Saints* holy place and during the Muharram holidays thousands of
people offer presents of sweet oil and sweetmeats to the Mnjavar in
charge, the oil for burning lamps in front of the Bd.ra Imdm[s bier
or tdjia and the nweetmeat for distribution among the worshippers
f#r the fulfilment of prayers. Except the outer wall, little of the
old buildings is left. The enclosure, which is about 300 feet square
is surrounded by a wall about fifteen feet high built of dressed trap
and lime It has two entrances on the east and south. The east and
main entrance is about seven feet high and four feet wide. In front
on either side of the entrance are travellers resting places, with two
feet square stone pillars and covered with stone archways set in
Hme The central part of the west enclosure wall, which is about 1 00
feet iong forms the back of the mosque, which is similar in plan to

Chapter^ XI7.
Places.

Ahmadnasab.
Objects.

A' gha Bahizad
DakhnVs Mosque

Bdva BangdlVa
Tomb

Sped Burhdn
Dakkni^a Mosque

m).

Syed HaUVa

Mosque

{£8).

Shdh ^avodr
Qhdzi'a Tomb

Chdr Sdnak*a
Tomb
{SO).

Kotla Moague
(W).

I See above p. 692 and note 1.

9 See below p. 7(^7.

[Bomtey Gaxatteer.

702

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ZIT.
Places.

Ahmadnaoas,

Objectii.

Kotla Moaqut
{SI).

Jiumikhdtt's Tomb
or Fila QHumat

{S£).

Bahri Khdn*»

Motque

(55).

Bdgh Rama
W).

the Jdmamosqae(13). On either side of the mosaue along the enclosure
line are sheds inhabited by the descendants of the Maj^vars. The
second or south entrance, which is about twenty feet wide by fifteen
high, was opened aboat 1865 unde^^ Government orders for better
ventilation. In the centre of the enclosure is a large cistern said
to have been fed by the K4pnrvftdi duct. About 1870 a small
cistern about ten feet square fed by the Kdpurv^di dact was buiU
in the middle of the old cistern at the joint expense of the mosque
people and the cantonment committee. The mosque out-houses and
enclosure are in good repair.

About 100 yards north of the Kotla isKumikh^n's Tomb^also called
Fila Ghumat or the fellow Dome. It is a square tomb surmoanted
by a dome. The tomb is eighteen feet square inside, and, including the
dome^ is forty feet high. The walls are four feet thick. It has been
made into a dwelling by introducing a floor which divides the tomb
into an upper and lower room. The tomb stone, which is a single
large block, lies outside where it was probably removed when the
tomb was made into a dwelling. In the enclosure close alongside of
the tomb a large hollow, about 100 feet by sixty feet and six feet
deep, is said to be the mould in which the great Bij^pur gun
Malik-i-Maiddn was cast in h. 956 that is a.d. 1549.^

Outside the town about 500 yards south of the Miliv&da gate is-
Bahri Khan's Mosque, a stone building surmounted by a small
dome.

About half a mile north-west of the city a few hundred yards of
the Ndlegaon gate, is the B^gh Rauza or the Garden of the Shrine,
where the first Nissdm Shdhi king Ahmad I. (1490-1508) is buried.
This is one of the finest buildings in Ahmadnagar. It is of black
stone about forty feet square and roofed by a dome and inscribed
inside with texts from the Eurdn in letters of gold. Except the
one to the south the doors are closed. In the centre of the building,
with other tombs on both sides, is the tomb of Ahmad Nizdm
Shdh. All the tombs are usually covered with a green or black
cloth and have no inscriptions. To the south-east of the main boilding
and near a ruinous reservoirisa small square-domed building believed
to be the vault, wherein, previous to its being carried to Karbela, the
body of Shah Tdhir the Shia minister of Husain Niz^m ShAh (lo53-
1565) was laid. Both these buildings are enclosed by a wall about ten
feet high. The gateway to the south is domed and also contaiifs
some graves. Immediately to the left is a stone and masonry
platform about ten feet high and eighteen feet square. It is partly
canopied by a stone-slab supported by anumber of elegantly worked
stone pillars. It is said to be raised on the place where lies buried
the bodj^of the elephant GulAm AH which captured Rdmraja of
Vijayanagar in the great battla of TAlikoti (1565). On the d^
are two or three grave-like mounds on which are inscribed in
beautiful Persian characters the Muhammadan creed. Close by the

^ Mr. A. F. Woodbum, C. S. and Major S. Babington. Compare Btjipor Staiistifial
Account, Bombay GaMtteer, XXIIL 639-641,

AHMADNAGAB.

708

"Canopj on tbe stose chair is a tomb said to be that of the elephant's
driver or mahdL

About half a mile Borth of the city^ close to the Aurangabad
road, is the shrine of Abd-ur-Rahmdn Chishti^ who came to
Ahmadnagar as a beggar daring the reign of Ahmad Nizam Shdh
and died at Ahmadnagar. About 313 bigkds of land were assigned
Sor the repair of this shrine.

On the M^legaon road abont a mile to the north of the city, within
the limits of Savedi village^ are two large domed tombs known as the
Adhai Ghumats. About 1579 a Jamdd^r in Murtaza I/s (1565 - 1 588)
service^ suspecting the chastity of his mistress^ killed her and her lover,
a rich Delhi trader. The merchant left a large property from which
the two tombs were built. About 1770 they were being pulled down
by Bdbjirdv^ the second Mardtha governor of Ahmadnagar^ to build
stone bastions on the fort instead of the old clay bastions. The
labourers employed died next day^ and B^bjirAv was warned that he
also would die if he did any more harm to the tombs. The tombs
were added to and made a residence which for many years was held
by the District Judge^ but is now the property of the American
Mission.

About a mile north of the city, close to the Adhai Ghumats is
Hiji Hamid's Mosque which was built by one Bessatkhdn Dakhni
The saint Hdji Hamid is buried close by. The mosque has an
inscription which has not been read.

Near the fort, about a mile and a half to the north-east of the city^
:a masonry mosque, called the Damdi Mosque, is notable for its
elaborate carving and unusually large stones. It is said to have been
l)uilt in 1567 by a noble named Sahirkh&n at the cost of the
workmen employed on the fort who gave small daily contributions
♦of a damdi {^-^d.) from their wages.^

Close to the Damdi Mosque, about a mile to the east of the city,
is Jamalkhdn^s mosque still in use. It was built by the famous
minister Jamdlkhdn Ghair Mehdi in the reign of Murtaxa Nizdm
Sh&h (1565-1588). Near the mosque a square stone building
surmounted by a cupola contains the tomb of one Shih Sharif.

About a mile and a half west of the city is Shdh Rdju Darvesh's
tomb, an old building which enjoyed a revenue of fifteen acres
{twenty bighda) of land.

About two miles south-east of the city are the ruins of the Far&h
Bag a fine building in the middle of what was formerly a lake but
is now dry except during the rains. The palace was begun for
Burh^n Niz&m Sh4hl. (1508-1553) by Changizkhdn and finished by
Nydmatkh^n. When he came to see it Burhdn disliked t\e design
snd instigated by Shah TAhir, who was an enemy of Ny4matkh4n,
ordered it to be pulled down and re-built. The work was entrusted
to Salabatkhan I. who died while it was in progress. It was

> Compare life in Bombay (1852), 204 which gives a view of the moeqae*

Chapter XIY.

Places.

Ahmadnagar,

Objects.

Hazrat Abd-uV'

Bahmdn ChUhH'i

Shrine
{S6).

Adhai OhumaU
(S6).

H6j% BamMPi

Mosque

IS7).

The Damdi

Ma«que

(S8).

^mdlkhdn'e
Mowfue

iOidhRdiu

JOarvesh'e Tomb

(40).

Fardh Bdg

[BomlNijr Ostettoar.

704

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^XIT.

Flaoes-
Ahmadnjigab.

Objects.

Fardh Bdg
Wh

Totoera ofSUenee

ffcuh$Behitht
BdqK

Sped laAdFs Mosque
and Tomb

Shdfuipur Mosque

finally finished by SaUbatkb&n's nephew the great Salibat II. in
H. 991 that is a.d. 1583.^ The palace is octagonal with aflat roofed
upper storey. The central hail has a dome about thirty feet high.
Including an outer platform all round about twenty- five feet wide the
building is about 250 feet in diamefbr and built of rough atone and
lime masonry, plastered inside aud«outside with stucco. Round the
palace is a dry pond about 150 feet wide and about seventeen feet
deep which was fed by the Bhingar aqueduct. About 500 yards
round the pond the ground was made into a fine garden. The pond
is still surrounded by clumps of mango, tamarind, and woodapple
trees*

About, two miles to the north of the town on a small hill are
the remains of three towers of silence, one of them entirely in rains*
The land was granted by Government to the P^rsi oommnnitj in
1826, and vested in the name of Mr. Barjorji Bhik^ji* The first
tower was built in 1 827 by public subscription. The second was
finished on the 11th of January 1842 at a cost of about £300
(Rs. 3000) subscribed by Bombay Poona and Ahmadnagar Pdrais.
The third tower, the one now in use, was built of stone in 1 8t)4 by
Khdn Bah^ur Padamji Pestanji of Poona and Mr. Nasarv4nji
Cursetji Gopipuria of Ahmadnagar at a cost of £500 (Rs. 5000),

About three miles to the north of the city, in the limits of Hadiri
village, is a ruined palace and garden called Hasht Behisht or the
Eighth Paradise. It was built in 1506 by Ahmad Niz^mshdh on the
advice of Salabat Khan Gurji and was at first called Faiz Baksh or
the Gain Giver. Inside the garden in the middle of a large pond
was built an eight-sided two-storeyed palace representing the eight
gates of Paradise which according to Muhammadan belief has eight
doors. Water was brought by a duct from the villages of Vadgaon
and Shendi, and on the banks of the pond another high palace with
out-houses was built. Burh4n Nizdm Shah, the second king, named
it the Hasht Behisht or Eighth Paradise and made in it eight flower
beds watered by a canal from the Sina, and enlivened with singing
birds.' This and the Fardh Bdgh were the special possessions of the
royal household and Murtaza Nizam Shdh often retired here to play
chess with a Delhi singer. The central eight-sided palace is now in
ruins and except an embankment no signs of the pond remain.
Between this garden and the city are seventy domes and forty
mosques said to have contained the tombs of many of the royal
favourites.

On the Mir&valli hills about three miles north-east of the city is
Syed Ishdk's mosque and tomb. The mosque was built by one
Bjed Ishak who was buried near it in H. 973 that is a.d. 1565.

On the Shevgaon road about four miles east of the city is the
Shdhdpur mosque with an inscription giving the Musalm^ creed, and

1 The original building was called Fardh Bakhsh, the word Farih nving tha
date^H. 902 (a.d. 1497). * ShAhAbi History of Ahmadnagar, IS-ieT

JDeccan.]

AHMADNAGAR.

705

n lar^e well in front bnilt by SaMbatkhdn II. abont h. 990 that is
ii.D. 1582.

Six^ miles east of the city on the Sh^h Dongar hill^ abont 900 feet
aljovo Ahmadnagar and 3080 feet above sea level, stands the
tomb of Salabatkhan II. the fainous minister of Mnrtaza Niz&m
Rh^h I. (1565-1588). The hill ie one of the highest peaks in the
neighbourhood and with the tomb looks from a distance like a short
roQud tower and forms the most marked feature in the landscapa
A made road with an avenue of trees runs from the city past the
foot of the hill to Shevgaon. On the way it passes the old town of
Hhingar and the deserted village of Sh4hdpur, At the Shdh&pur
mosque the road is crossed by the Shdhapur aqueduct and a
reservoir about 100 yards to the left receives the hill water and feeds
a channel which goes to the cantonment. Not far from the reservoir
is the road np the hill eight feet broad with a gradient of one in
fifteen which was made in 1859 by the military department. It is
passable for carts and tongas. The hill side is strewn with black
boulders and is almost bare of trees^ but the lower part is being
wooded. An easy walk of about fifteen minutes leads to the top of
the hill where the tomb is seen to great advantage. By the simple
contrivance of a stone terrace built about twelve feet high and 100
yards broad the tomb seems to rise with considerable dignity from the
centre of an octagon. The building is plain but the eight-sided
platform^ the throe tiers of pointed arches^ and the dome have all
much beauty of form.^

A few steps lead from the terrace into the vault which contains the
tomb. The tomb has angular holes so placed that the rising and
setting sunlight falls on the tomb. At night the keeper of the tomb
lights a lamp before the tomb. Saldbatkhdn's name is forgotten and
the tomb is locally known as Ghdndbibi's Mah^l. The tower is abont
seventy feet high and the base about twelve feet wide» while the
galleries are about twenty feet broad. A narrow stone staircase
runs round the tower hidden inside the wall which separates the
tower from the galleries. The top storey over the dome is unfinished.
It is difficult to say whether an outside dome was intended as a finish
or the building was meant to be carried higher by adding additional
galleries of smaller size. According to one account Sal&batkhdn
meant to carry up the tower, till from the top of it he could see his
beloved Daulatabad. The natnral advantages of the hill and tomb
as a health resort were early recognised by the EnglisL
Captain Pottiuger the first Collector pitched his tents on the
terrace and occupied the tomb. He stopped np one of the inner
arches to protect himself from the strong breeze and cut a road
np the hill beginning &om a point near the present toll-honse and

* Contributed by Mr. W. R. Hamilton, Deputy Collector, Ahmadnagar.

^ The building is unfinished. The legend is that SaUbatkhto possessed the secret
of the philosopher's stone and the art oituminff base metal into gold. Tired of life he
built himself a tomb and prepared three cups of poison which he asked his two wives
to drink that they might die with him. One hesitated but the other drank the poison.
To her who drank the poison he assigned the honour of being buried by his side
within the tomb. The other wife was buried with her child outside the tomb on
the terrace.

B 772^.89

Chapter^ XIY.
Flaoes.

Ahmadnagar.

Objects.

SaldhaJthhdfCti

Tomb

{46).

IBoBkbaj QMxMm^

706

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIT.
Places.

Armadnaoak.

Objects.

ScadhaikhdtCs
Tomb

8ina Bridge
{47).

Bhingdr Bridge

ending where the new road ends. The only difficalty on the hill ':
its scanty water-supply. The legend is that before British rul?
the tomb was occupied by a Musalmdn mendicant or fakir skilful in
medicine. Afterwards the tomb was held by a gang of Bhil robben
who were attacked and captuftd by the people of Mehekr
village. In 1859 about forty soldiers were sent to the tomb and
some of the arches were closed for their convenience. It was then
settled to make the tomb a health resort for about fifty men with
women and children by stopping all the arches on the first and
second storeys with mud and stone leaving windows and openings
for air and providing a wooden staircase inside the tower. The
Superintending Surgeon reported that though from its small
height the hill could hardly be called a health resort, it woald prove
beneficial during the hot season for convalescents from fever and
for the weakly men of the Nagar Brigade. It was afterwards
intended to close all the arches and make a staircase to the top
storey, but the cost of these changes prevented their being carried
out A cistern has been made at the foot of the hill over a fresh
spring of water. It was at one time intended to make four cisterns
on the hill top to store rain water. The masonry walls are still in
repair but the cisterns do not hold water except for a short time
in the rains. The walls of a large pond stand some way below
the main road. It failed as a pond bot a p&tilhas drained it and
its rich deposit of silt bears excellent crops. The hill has a
trigonometrical survey cairn.

The Sina Bridge is a bow girder bridge of eight spans
of sixty feet each with a total length, including masonry
abutments, of 530 feet Its average height above the river is
12^ 6'^ and the width of its roadway eighteen feet. The road-
way girders, each in three lengths of nine feet, rest on cast iron
screw piles TG'' in diameter and are sunk in the river bed to an
average depth of seventeen feet. The bow which forms the top
of the bridge is formed by four bolted pieces the shoe pieces of
each end being secured to a bed plate resting on the top of the
piles. The bow is retained in its place by tension bars on which
the roadway girders rest, the bow being filled in with diagonal
traces to which are attached a light railing forming the sides of
the bridge. The height of the bow at the centre is about seven feet
above the roadway level. On the roadway girders, secured by bolts
and nuts are laid stout iron buckled plates, on which the roadway
is laid. The corrugations in the buckled plates are filled in with
concrete, on which a thin layer of murum and four inches of metal
are spread and consolidated. The end bow of the bridge rests on
masonry abutments, terminated above the roadway by four massive
cut sto^e pilasters, two on each side of the roadway. A tablet fixed
in one of the pilasters bears the inscription :

eina iron bridge erected by Major E. P. Oambier, B.E. Oommenoed
in Augnat 1809, oompleted in January 1878. Ooat Ba. eO^SIL

The Bhingdr bridge roughly built with stone and lime
masonry is about 315 feet long by fifteen wide and oonsisto
of four semicircular archways each about ten feet wide and
eight feet high. The roadway parapets are formed by twenty

Decean^l

AHMADNAGAB.

707

pilasters built on either side with burnt brick and lime masonry^
about thirteen feet apart from centre to centre into which cross
wooden railings are fixed.

There are two Christian buridl grounds, one about half a mile
north-west of the Delhi gate used bj Native Christians^ the other a
w^alled enclosure nicely laid out and planted with trees about half a
mile north of the fort used by Europeans and Portuguese.

The Hindu burning ground is on the right or west bank of the
Sina about 1507 yards to the west of the Nepti and Ndlegaon gates.
Except Mh^s^ Mdngs, Chdmbhdrs, and Bhangis the burning ground
is used by all classes of Hindus. The Mhdrs and Mdngs have two
burying grounds on the left bank of the Sina, one about 250 yards
south-west of the Nepti gate, the other about 500 yards north-west
of the Ndlegaon gate. The Chdmbh&r burial ground is near the
Parsi tower of silence. The Bhangis bury their dead about 400
yards south of the Nepti gate beyond the river, and the Yaddrs, all
of whom live within cantonment limits, bury their dead to the east
of the cantonment.

The chief Musalm^n burying ground is to the north of the city on
the river bank near the Nepti gate close to the wall.

The history of Ahmadnagar dates from the year 1490 when
Ahmad Nizdm Sh&h, the founder of the Nizdm Shdhi dynasty
defeated the Bahmani troops under Jahdngir Khan near its site.
AH officers of distinction were slain ; others were taken prisoners, and
mounted on buffaloes were led about the camp and afterwards sent
to Bedar. This victory was called the Victory of the Garden, because
on that spot Ahmad Nizdm built a palace and laid out a garden.^
Ahmad gave public thanks to God for his victory and granted a
village near the spot as a residence for holy men.^ In 1493 on his
way to Junnar from Daulatabad which was blockaded for two months
without success, Ahmad Niz4m on reaching Bhingdr resolved to
found his capital on the site of his victory which was midway between
Junnar and Daulatabad, and from this place he determined to send
an army every year to lay waste the country round Daulatabad till
he reduced it.^ In 1494 he laid the foundation of a city close to the
Bagh Nizdm upon the left bank of the Sina river and called it after
himself Ahmadnagar or the city of Ahmad. In two years the city
is si^d to have rivalled Bagdad and Cai^o in splendour.^ In 1499
after reducing Daulatabad, Ahmad Nizdm raised a wall round the
Bdgh Niz^m, and in it built a palace of red stone.^ In 1529
BahddurSh^h of Gujarat, before whom BurhdnNizam Shah, Ahmad's
successor (1508-1553), fied to Junnar, marched on Ahmadnagar and
lived for forty days in Burh&n Nizdm's palace. He then lefW Imdd
Sbdh of Berar to conduct the siege of the fort and marched to
Daulatabad. Imad Shdh also soon retired to Elichpur. In 1537
Barh&n Nizim Sh^h showed his preference for the Shia tenets.

Chapter XI7.
Places.

Ahmadnaoab.

Objects.
ChriaHan Cemeteriet

Hindu Burning

Chrcund

{50).

Muaabndn Burying
Orovnd

{61).
JBistory,

'Briggs' Ferishta, III. 197. This garden was imoroved by Ahmad's lUAeeasor
BurhtoNiz^m Shiih who walled it and caUed it B^^b Niz4in.
> Briggi' FerUhta, III. 198. « Briggs* Feriahta, III. 200-2(H.

*Briggs* Ferisbta, 111, 201. ^Briggs' Ferishta, HI, 204.

IBomtej Gisettee

708

DISTRICTS-

Chapter ZIV.
Places.

Ahmadnagar.
HitAory.

This caased mncli discontent and a nnmber of the disaffected iil>:

one MuUa Pir Mnbammad, a forious Snnni, besieged the palace. T •

leader was imprisoned and the tumalt subsided.^ In 1542 Bnrb

Niz^m marching on Bijdpar was d^erted bv Asadkban of Bel^r^n:

who had joined him for policy's sake, retreated towards Abnuidn. .i

pursued by the Berar and Bijapur army and was forced to It-avf* '

capital a prey to the invaders.^ In 1559 Ali Adil Sbab (1557-1>

of Bijapur formed an alliance with Bam B^ja and Ibrahim Ku

Shdh^ and the allied sovereigns reached Ahmadnagar with an ara .

of 900,000 infantry. Husain Xiz^m Sbdh, the third AhmadnagarkL'.

(1553-1565), fled to Paithan and the allies laid siege to Ahmadnajri'

Ibrahim Kutb Shdh, jealous of the Bijdpur king's power, counu'

at supplies passing to the garrison and one of bis generals k* \ '

communication both with Husain Xizam Shah at Paithan and i^<::

the besieged. On R^m Raja's demanding an explanation Kutb SI -A

marched during the night for Golkonda, while his general fin^Ii: :

his way into the fort joined Husain Nizdm Shkh at Paitlji/.

ImAd-ul-Mulk sent a large force to join Husain. This division, Um:

employed to cut off the besiegers' supplies, compelled the allits : •

raise the siege. Husain returned to Ahmadnagar and caused tli-

fort which was originally built of mud to be rebuilt with stone at. i

to be surrounded by a deep ditch.* In 1562, flying before the alliV-

Husain threw supplies into Ahmadnagar and retnrned to Jon'^^^r.

The allies again laid siege to A.hnia(lnagar, Ram Riija's follow t'r>

committing every species of cruelty. At Ali Adil Shah's a<lviV ^

B.dm RAja raised the siege and pursued Husain to Jannar. At thu

approach of the rainy season the allies returned to the siege. Unin

Bdja's army encamped on the bank of the Sina. Heavy rain fell \v

the hills and the river rose so suddenly during the night that 'iO*'- 1

B&m Raja's horses and a vast nnmber of carriage cattle were drownr i

and twenty oflScers of rank and upwards of 25,000 men were swey-t

away in the torrent. Rdm Rija raised the siege and moved towara-

the Karn^tak and Ali Adil Shilh followed his example.* In 1 '^'^^

Mirzakhdn the Regent and prince Mirdn Muhammad dissatisiitni

with the conduct of king Murtaza Niz^m Shdh (1505-1588) ruNh. i

into Ahmadnagar fort with 40,000 armed men and put to death fil

they found including the king. In the same year when MirzakLiii

wanted to depose Mirdn Husain and put in his place another prince,

the Dakhni troops and the inhabitants flew to arms and in a sjjor

time about 5000 horse and foot with a numerous mob joined Jam:!'

Ehdn a military leader. Mirzakhdn commanded the king's head w

be cut off and placing it on a pole planted it on one of the bastions uf

the citadel. At Jamdlkhan's instance the mob heaped piles of wood

and straw against the gates and set them on fire. The gates were

burnt *and Mirzakhd.n and his friends rushed into the fort. NnlnLe^

were slain. Mirzakhan who had made his escape was brought ba< x

to Ahmadnagar. He was first carried through the city on an ass and

his body mangled. The massacre continued for seven days auJ

riggs' Feriahta, III. 228.
riggs' Ferishta, III. 242.

= Briggs' Feriahta, ITT. 229- 230.
* Briggs* Feriahta, III. 245.

)>eoQaau]

AHMADNAQAE,

709

nearly a thousand foreigners were murdered, a few only escaping
under the protection of Dakbni and Abyssinian officers.^ In 1594
Alimad II. the ninth king of Ahmadnagar, being deserted by
Yekhldskbdu the chief Abyssinian general in the kingdom, Midn
Manju the prime minister witlf his Dakhnis encamped in a large
body on the plain of the K^la Chabutra near Ahmadnagar fort. He
despatched his son Midn Hasan with 700 horse to disperse the mob
under YekhlAskhdn and himself accompanied** by Ahmad went
upon a raised ground from whence they could see the result. The two
parties engaged and the struggle was long doubtful till a shot from
the insurgents struck the king's canopy and caused great confusion
in the fort. A report was spread that the king was dead. Midn
Hasan took to flight and threw himself into the fort. Yekhl^skhdn's
party advanced and laid siege to the place both by a close blockade
and regular approaches. Yekhl^skhdn proclaimed another king and
collected between ten and twelve thousand cavalry. Mian Manju
asked Prince Murdd, son of the Emperor Akbar, to march to his
assistance who gladly accepted the invitation. In the meantime
many of Yekhldskhan^s followers joined Mian Manja who, on the
1 8th of September 1595 attacked and completely routed the Abys-
sinians in the neighbourhood of the Idga. About a month later (14th
December) Prince Murlld at the head of 30,000 Moghal and Eajput
horse accompanied by Baja Alikhdn of Kh^ndesh appeared to the
north of Ahmadnagar. Midn Manju repented of the step he had
taken and made preparations to oppose the Moghals. Chdnd Bibi
who was appointed regent for the king Bahadur Shah bravely
defended the fort against the Moghals and as a last resource
entered into a treaty with the Moghals.^ In 1596, Ch4nd Sultana,
seeing Muhamraadkhan her adviser was intent on usurping
all power, asked her nephew Ibrahim Adil Sh^h of Bijdpur to
send a large force to enable her to reorganize the government.
Sohailkh^n the Bijdpur general accordingly invested the fort and
blockaded it for four months. Muhammadkhdn wrote to the Moghal
commander-in-chief in Berdr, promising if he came to his help that he
would hold the country as a vassal of the Delhi emperor. Muhammad
khan was seized and Chdnd Sultdna's power was restored. In 1597,
Nehangkh^n the minister attacked the fort and several skirmishes
followed. In 1599 he raised the siege in order to oppose the Moghals
who were marching on Ahmadnagar at Muhammadkhdn's invitation.
•Phey soon laid siege to the fort, Chand Sultdna was treacherously put
to death by her own officers, and the Moghals stormed and carried the

filace.* Khdn Khandn was appointed governor of Ahmadnagar.
n 1604 Prince Danydl, the Moghal governor of the Deccan whose
head*quarters were at Burhd.npur came to Ahmadnagar to receive
his bride the Bijdpur king's daughter. MiAn Rd,ju, one ol> the two
Nizdm Shdhi generals who had divided most of the Ahmadnagar
kingdom between themselves, was asked to come to the prince's camp
and make his submission as the other general Malik Ambar had

Chapter XIT.

Slaces.

Ahmadnagar,
History^

^ Briggs' Fexishta, III. 274-75. > po^. details see above History, dS3.

' Details are given above under History, 3S6-3S7.

[BomlMjaaMlfcHr,

710

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIV.
PlaceB.

Ahmadkaoab.
Hittory.

done, but he did not obey tlie order. In 1607 AhmadnagBr was
invested by Malik Aiyibar^ and assistance not coming in time Khw^ja
Beg the Moghal commandant capitulated.^ About 1621 lialik
Ambar being deserted by the Mardtha chiefs in his senrioa was
forced to tender king Murtaza II. 's Submission and restore the fort
of Ahmadnagar together with all th« territory he had won back from
the Moghals.^ Soon after Ahmadnagar was besieged by a force of
Malik Ambar's. The Moghal forces advanced towards the place
from Paithan and Malik Ambar deeming further resistance hopeless
sent envoys to express repentance and ask forgiveness and entered
into a treaty with the Moghals.' In 1624 Malik Ambar again march-
ed to lay siege to Ahmadnagar, but in spite of every effort he made
no impression on Ahmadnagar and leaving part of his army to main-
tain the investment he marched against Bijilpur. In 1627 Khkn
Jah&n the Moghal general bribed by the Nizdm Sbahi general
Hamidkh^n agreed to restore to Murtaza II. all the Baligbat as
far as Ahmadnagar. He wrote among others to Sipahdirkhto
the commandant of Ahmadnagar to give up the place to Nizilm^al-
Mulk^ but when Niz^m-ul-Mulk's officers reached Ahmadnagar the
Khdn refused to restore the place and put it in a state of defence.
In 1636 the Niz&m Shdhi dynasty came to an end and Ahmadnagar
remained with the Moghals till it was betrayed to the Mar&th&s in
1759.

In 1657 ShivAji, who since 1650 had greatly increased his power,
marched by unfrequented roads to Ahmadnagar in the hope of
surprising the town. His attempt was partially successful. But
while his men were plundering he was attacked and several of his
party were killed by a detachment from the fort.^ In 1665 he
again plundered the town. In 1684 Aurangzeb went to Ahmadnagar
and stayed there some time and on the 21st of February 1707 he died
there in the eighty- ninth year of his age. In 1712 Shdhu (1708-
1749) the grandson of Shi v^ji thought of moving his capital from
Sdtdra to Ahmadnagar but as it gave offence to the Moghal general
Zulfikar Kh^n^ Shdhu gave up the intention.^ In 1716 a battle was
fought near Ahmadnagar between the Mar^th&s under Khander4v
Ddbh4de and the Moghals. The result was not decisive but the
advantage remained with the Mardthds.^ In 1720 Nit4m-ul«Mulk
made himself independent in the Deccan and Ahmadnagar remained
in his possession till 1748» In 1759^ the Nizdm's commandant Kdvi
Jang for a sum of money betrayed the fort of Ahmadnagar to the thii^
Peshwa BAUji BdjirtLv. War following between the two powers the
grant was confirmed in 1 760. In 1797 as the price of his support of
the claims of Bajirav to the Peshwa's throne^ the fort of Ahmadnagar
was ceded to Sindia^ who in the same year imprisoned in it N^na
Fadnaviif^ but released him in the following year. On theSlst
of December 1802 the treaty of Bassein was entered into between
Bijirdv and the English^ and Sindia and the Raja of Ber^r

> Elliot and Dowson, VI. 324,

* Elphiii8tone*B History of India, 562, 663.

• Grant Daff*8 Mar&thAa, 196.

* See above p. 393.

< Grant Daffs Mardthia, 74.

' Grant DnfiTs Mar&thAs, 196«

Deoetn.]

AHMADNAGAR,

711

uniting against the British^ General Welleslev marohed from the
Karaitak and reached Ahmadnagar on the 8th of Aggaat 1803.
He attacked the town in three places and in a short time after a
brisk and gallant contest the British were completely masters of
the town. On the 11th after batteries had been built and firing had
commenced the commandant of the fort sued for terms, and on the
12th the fort was taken possession of by the British.- The fort held
an important position on the Nizdm's frontier covering Poena and
was a valuable point of snpport to all future operations of the
British to the north. It was considered one of the strongest in the
coantry and except Yellor in the Madras Kamatak was the
strongest country fort General Wellesley had seen. Except in the
part exposed to the British artillery it was in excellent repair.
Jnaide it was in a sad dirty state and in the utmost confusion. The
quantities of stores were astonishing and the powder was so good that
General Wellesley replaced from the magazines what he had consumed
in the siege. General Wellesley thought the fort ought to be cleared
of the old buildings with which it was crowded.' Ahmadnagar,
together with the surrounding country for some time remained with
the British who appointed Captain Graham as their Collector of the
placOj which was soon restored to the Peshwa. About IS 16
Ahmadnagar is described as lying in a grand plain covered with
plantations of fruit trees and watered by the Sina which is
distributed over it by aqueducts of hard cement many of them
choked up. The fort was a mile round built of stone with a ditch
forty yards broad and sixteen f(3et deep.' In June 1817 under the
treaty of Poena the fort was ceded by the Peshwa to the British.
After the Peshwa's fall Ahmadnagar became the head-quarters of
the district and a military station and, except a scuffle in the jail in
1821^ the city has enjoyed unbroken peace. About 1S78 old stores of
useless raw sugar for the use of the garrison were discovered in the
fort.

Akola, about sixty miles north- west of Ahmadnagar, is a subdi visional
head-quarters, with in 1881 a population of 3778. The town is built
on the south bank of the Pravara which is much raised above the level
of the river bed. Some flights of steps on the river bank are fairly
preserved and from the north give the town a most picturesque air.
Sloping to the water's edge are a number of old Maratha and
Br&hman mansions or vddds most of whose owners have now fallen
inSo poverty. Like many other Deccan towns Akola has the ruins of
what must have been large buildings.^ The chief objects of interest
are two temples, a Hemidpanti^ temple of Siddheshvar and a

Chapter^XIV.

Places.

Ahuadnagab,
HUtory,

Akola.

* Details are given above, 411 -412. ' Wellington's Despatches, I. 310.
> Fifteen Years in India, 432-433. * Mr. T. S. Hamilton. C. S.

* HemAdpant is believed to have been a celebrated physician of the dvdparyug or the
Third Age who cured Bibhishan the brother of RAvan king of Ceylon. In return
Hemidpant begged the services of some giant architects with whose help he built
xiumeroas temples and step-wells io the Deccan which are most commonly known
as Hemidpanti remains. The historical Hemddri or Hemidpant was a minister of
the ninth Dev^iri Y&dav kinf? Kdmchandra (1271-1308) who was a writer and temple-
boilder. In KhAndesh and the North Deccan his name is now applied to almost all
early Hinda buildings made of cut-stone without mortar.

[Bom1»7 Gatcstteer,

712

DISTRICTS.

Chapter ZIV.
Places.
Akola.

Arakoaok.

BbuIfub.

modern temple of Grangadhar. The Siddheshvar temple was
buried in the silt of the Pravara, till, about 1780, a Kanbi's ploopli
struck against the kalaah or pot-shaped peak of its spire. The plinth
and half the walls are still buried while the upper part of the
central dome is gone and has been^-eplaced by a pile built of stono
and mortar. What remains is exceedingly rich and shows that the
temple must have been a work of much beauty. The design, of tbe
temple is pecuhar. With the usual hall or mandap and shrine^ set
like two broken squares touching at the corners, it has a porch and
a door behind the ling shrine. The two side porches of the liall
seem not to have been used either as entrances or as shrines. They
are supported on short pillars and must have been partly open to
the light, but they are surrounded by a continuous parapet whioh
seems to have been surmounted by a dwarf wooden or stone railing
about fifteen inches high. The images over the door lintels of the
shrine are much defaced and the front porch has been badly
restored. A pillar belonging to the porch with a long Sanskrit
inscription has been thrown down and the letters are now hardly
readable. The temple has small standing figures of varions Hindu
divinities wilfully defaced. The sacred swan appears both on the
rear porch and on the central pillars. The best parts are the four
architraves forming the first course of the central dome of the hall.
Two of the architraves are adorned with battle pieces ; the third
has a representation of Vishnu reclining on the serpent Sbesh
To the right and left of Vishnu are quaint figures, half-human
half*snake, squatted on their curled tails, and outside of them are
human figures. Facing these figures is a representation of the
churning of the ocean by the gods and demons to obtain ambrosia
or amrit. The architraves of the other domes are ornamented with
a pattern of blade-like leaves set in a double row. The rest of the
nine interior domes and of the side porches or transepts is modern
work, but the porch behind the shrine has its original ceiling. Thir^
temple is now used for ling worship. The sculptures and the
fact that the ling shrine is not on a lower but on the general floor
level seem to show that it originally was a Vishnu temple.^

The Gang^dhar temple, in the centre of the town, is perhaps ihv
finest piece of modern workmanship in the district. It was built
in 1782 by Krishndji Arabddds Sant a Deshpdnde. Besides tbe
sub-divisional revenue and police oflBces Akola has schools for botfa
boys and girls and a Saturday market. •

Arangaon ten miles west of Jamkhed, has an unusually larg«
but plain Hem^dpanti temple of Araneshvar Mah&dey with an
inscription.^

Bela'DUr, fifteen miles north of Rahuri, with in 1881 a popnlatxoL
of 3283, is a large market town and a station on the Dhond
Manmdd railway. The town lies on the north bank of the Pravari
which in fioods rises to the town gates. On the river front ar«

^ Mr. Sinclair in Indian Antiquary, V. 9. Dr. Burgess' liflis of Antiquarxw
Bemains, 106-113. Most of the temple details in this chapter are taken from Dr
Burgess* lists. > Mr. A. F. Woodbum, C. S.

Deceaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

713

tliree large flights of steps of which two have been mined by the
wash of the water, and one, leading to a temple of Keshavgovind,
is nnder repair. On the river side some picturesque buildings
belong to the Ndiks an old It^ardtha family. On the opposite
bank of the river, to which a ferry plies during the south-west rains,
is Beldpur Khurd nestled among^beautif ul trees with a Collector's
bangalow. Both towns have Government schools. The railway
station four miles north of the town is joined to it by a new road.
The chief traders are Mdrwdr Vanis and Telis with average capitals
of about £600 (Es. 6000) and trade chiefly in grain and cloth. A
weekly market is held on Sundays opposite the fort and outside of
the town gate.^ In 1822 an attempt was made to make BeMpur
the centre of a rising.*

Belvandi Kolha'r, four miles north of Shrigonda, has a well
preserved Hemddpanti well or bdro with a Hemddpanti temple
projecting into it on one side. The temple has two plain doors
leading to the hall or mandap which has cobras on the pillar capitals
and one leading to the shrine which is on the same level as the
halL In front of the shrine door is a Nandi under a dome. Over
the dome is a place for raising water^ and a stone waterway, running
the length of the temple on the roof, empties into an old water
trough. The well is supposed to be haunted and is not used.

Bhalgaon, twenty-six miles north-east of J^mkhed^ has a temple
of Bh&leshvar with nine domes on fairly carved pillars with lozenge-
shaped ornaments on the faces. In the village is another ruined
temple of which the shrine and hall or mcmdap remain.^

Blia'todi village^ ten miles north-east of Ahmadnagar^ gives its
name to the Bh^todi lake built by Saldbatkhdn the famous minister
of the fourth Nizdm Shdhi king Murtaza Nizdm Shdh (1565-1588)
and restored by Government in 1877. The lake drains 44 square
miles, and when full has an area of 310 acres and an available
capacity of 149 millions of cubic feet. The lake has several irrigation
canals^ the main canal 4^ miles long and branch 'canals 8f miles
loQg> The restoration of the lake caused the transfer of Bhdtodi
from the Niz^m to the British Government.

Bhinga^r, a municipal town^ with in 1881 a population of 5706^

lies on a large watercourse which flows west through the

Ahmadnagar cantonment. The town lies close to the line that

marks the military limits of the Ahmadnagar cantonment, and is

: nearly continuous with the Sadar Bazdr between it and the European

M ' barracks which lie a mile to the south of the city and the native

infantry lines. Except the chief market where the houses are large

.and regularly built the town is built of square enclosures wi^h mud

,, walla five to six feet high. Among these enclosures are narrow

, crooked lanes and blind alleys and these and the many ruins in the

jjttown offer great facilities for the gathering of filtL Throughout

the town are built receptacles for all sweepings except night-soiL

Chapter XHT.
Places.

BKLiptnEL

Bblvandi
KolhIb.

BHiLQAOK.

BhXtodi.

BaiyoiR.

>' ' Mr. T. 8. Hamilton, 0. S.

• Mr. A. P, Woodbnm, C. S,

B 772— 90

' See above p. 253.

^ DetaUB are given above pp. 252-264.

[BomlNiy 0«Mtt6Cir<

714

DISTRICTS.

Chapter xr7.
Places.

BhinoIiu

BRAHMANViDI.

Chichli.
Chincholi.

DasAbAi.

Dkyaloaon.

DXVDAITHAN.

BHsaaAOK.

Bhing&r is supplied with good drinking water by an underground
masonry aqueduct from the hills. The supply is under the control
of the Executive Engineer. A drinking reservoir, bathing pavement,
and cattle trough have been built i^ Bhingdr at such levels that the
aqueduct supplies the whole town and the surplus water from the
cattle trough runs into the waterc<9urse.

The 1872 census showed a population of 5752 of whom 53Sd
were Hindus, 399 Musalmdns, and fourteen Christians. The 1881
census showed 5106 of whom 4792 were Hindus and 314
Musalm^ns. The municipality was established in 1857. In 1882-83
it had an income of £432 (Bs. 4320} and an expenditure of £364
(Bs. 3640). Cholera was formerly prevalent in Bhingdr, but since
conservancy rules have been enforced, it has been hardly knowTL
In 1878, when Ahmadnagar city was attacked by cholera, Bhin^r
was almost entirely free. A fair is held at Bhingdr on the bright
third of Ashvin or September- October when about 20,000 people
assemble and goods worth £500 (Bs. 5000) are sold.

Bra'hmaiiva'di on the Poona-Nagar frontier about twelve miles
south of Akola, with in 1881 a population of 1195, haa a funeral
monument on the spot where the daughter-in-law oE the Maratha
general B^pu Gokhale burnt herself on hearing of her husband s
death in the battle of Koregaon (1818). Instead of the usual 9aii
stone hand and arm this monument bears foot-prints.^

After his defeat at Kirkee in 1817 (5th November) B&jir&v
stopped in his flight at Br^hmanvddi.'

Chicllli, eighteen miles north of Shrigonda, has an old pond
on the hills about two miles soath of the village.'

Chinclioli village six miles west of Ptoier, with in 1881 a
population of 632, has fragments of ancient sculpture, the most
notable being a seven-headed cobra or nag on a grave-stone with a
tail tied in a true love-knot.i

Dasa'bal hill in Parner town has a small empty tomb or cenotapli
in honour of Chdnd Bibi the Noble Queen, who was killed in the
defence of Ahmadnagar fort in 1599. The tomb is covered by a
jasmine bush where Hindu women offer bangles.^

Devalgaon, eight miles north of Shrigonda, has an old
Hemidpantiwell which has been repaired in later times and its
old stones broken by Vad^ stone-cutters. •

Devdaithan, eight miles east of Jdmkhed with in 1881 a

?opulation of 432, has the remains of a modern temple of Khandoba.
he temple roof rests on eight pillars which with the walls make
fifteeuc domes. The pillars are like those used in Hem&dpanti
temples but are made of pieces instead of being cut from smgle
blocks.^

Dhergaoil village sixteen miles north-west of Earjat^ has a

^ Fifteen Years in India, 499.
• Mr. A. F. Woodburn, C. S.
' Indian Antiquary, V. 14.

* Pendh4ri and Maritha War Papen,
^ Indian Antiquarv, V. 14.

• Mr. A. F. Woodburn, C. S.

JDeccaa.!

AHMADNAGAR. 715

ruined HemSdpanfci temple of MallikArjun with four well carved Chapter XIV-
pillars adorned with cobras on the capitals. Places.

Dhoke village^ twelve miles north of Pdmer, has, on the east Dhoke.

side of one of two rugged hills wsing from a stony plateau, a group q^^^ '

of early Brdhmanic caves of alyut A.D. 550-600. The chief cave
is irrepnlar about forty-five feet wide in front and upwards of fifty
feet deep. In front are two massive pillars between pilasters^ and
14^ feet behind them two other pjllars stand on a raised step. The ^ ^ C ' f\
pillars are square below and change above into eight and thirty- ^^ * ^ ^ I
two sides with square capitals having pendant corners under ^ r i^
ordinary brackets. The front pair of columns have more carving ^

on| the lower halves but are square up to the capitals. The shrine '
is rock-cut with, round it, a wide circling path or jp'adakshina^ and
with a door in front and in the right end. On each side of the
front door is a doorkeeper with an aureole behind the head, holding a
flower in his right hand. He wears a high head-dress with twisted
locks of hair.^ Over their shoulders are heavenly choristers or
ridyddhards. Under the right hand of the left doorkeeper a
figure stands with folded arms and wearing a trident on his head
like a cap. Other figures are carved to the right and left. The
shrine has a small ling, and on an earthen platform in front, among
many fragments of sculpture of all ages, is a modern hollow copper
ling with a human face in front and a snake coiled round and
seven hoods raised over it.

On the deep architrave over the inner pair of pillars in the centre
is a sculpture of Lakshmi and elephants pouring water over her
and other figures to the left. At the north end is a chapel with two
pillars in front, and on the back wall is a large sculpture of Bhairav
and some snake figures. Outside, at each end of the front, is a tall
standing female figure with a lofty head-dress holding in one hand an
opening bud. In a recess to the north of the shrine is a coarsely
hewn bull. In the back are three small recesses, and in the south
end ia a raised platform with a seat at the end of which a hole has
been made into a large cistern, the entrance to which is a dozen yards
to the south of the cave. Between the great cave and the cistern
and some way up the face of the rock, reached by a risky stair, is a
small cave with a low roof and a built front as the original front has
given way. On each side of this cave is a cell with an opening
tw4f or 2^ feet from the floor. In the left front corner is a trap-
door leading to a partly filled apartment.

On the south wall of the cave are badly carved figures of the
Seven Mothers with Ganesh and Bhringi at their heekd. The Mothers
are seated under the foliage of five trees. Each has an aureole and
her distinguishing animal ^ymboL^ Beyond the last Mq^her is
Shiv.«

* These figures ara ajmaar to those on the sides of the shrine at Elephanta an^
the Dnmar I^na atElura. ComiKure Fergusson and Borffess' Cave Temples, 44S,469.

* The seven MotHers are Aindri with an elephant, BrAhmi with a swan, Chdmunda
with a dead body, Ksum&ri with a peacock, Mdheshvari with a bull, Vaishnavi with
the eac^e Gttrad, and V&riLhi vntib a buffalo. Compare Bombay Gasetteer, XIV. 79
note 1. * Cave Temples of India, 429-430.

EBonibayOaMnm

716

DISTRICTS.

Cbapter XIV.

Places-

Dhobja.

DiTAN.

DONGAHOAK.

Ganjibhotra.

Ghotan.

Dhorja, abont eight miles north of Shrigoiiday has, about a mLr

north of the village, two old temples one of old brick work and iL?
other Hemddpanti with nine domes to the hall. The second tempi;
is half sunk in the ground. Of the four pillars in the hall, the two
outer have cobras on their capitals and the two inner hare figures.
The temple roof has projecting eafes.

Ditan village in Shrigonda, with in 1881 a popnlation of ]08<>,
has the remains of a temple of Nimrdj B^va in whose honour a
fair is held on Mahdshivr^tra in January-February.

Dongargan village^ ten miles north-east of Ahmadnagar, with
in 1881 a population of 617^ has a romantic little ravine called
the Happy Valley between two spurs of the Ahmadnagar plateac
A road branching from the Ahmadnagar- Toka road at the sixth
milestone leads past Dongargan on the east through an opening io
the hills to the rich market town of Ydmbhori. Standing on the
outskirts of Dongargan and looking north lies the Happy Valley.
A deep flight of rock-cut steps runs past a temple of Mahddev from
behind which a spring gushes from the rock and flows into a round
cistern about four feet deep. From the first cistern the stream
is carried by a channel into a second cistern^ and^ winding round a
Muhammadan tomb now a travellers' bungalow, tumbles over s
rocky ledge about twenty feet and dashes along a rugged bed for a
quarter of a mile till it leaps over the edge of the plateau to the
plain below.^ During the hot weather, when the country round is
dry, the stream continues to flow, and all down the valley the trees
give a grateful shade.^

A yearly fair is held at Dongargan on the third Monday of
Shrdvan or July- August when about 4000 people assemble.

Ganjibhoyra, five miles south-west of Pdrner, has a HemiEdpanti
temple of Mahd,dev surrounded by numerous ruins. The t-emple
has cobra capitals and near it are the remains of a Hemddpanti
well or bdro with a pillared veranda.^

Ohotan, six miles north of Shevgaon, with in 1881 a popnlation
of 2948, is a market town with an old temple of Mah^ev. The
temple stands in the middle of the village in a square on one side
of which is an old archway with a hanging bell. Passing under the
archway steps lead to a courtyard in the middle of which is the temple
surrounded by several smaller shrines. From outside the temple
does not look old as brick parapet walls have been built round the
flat roof and the dome is whitewashed. Passing a mutilated
Nandi at the door the way leads to a hall with a carved stone ceiling
resting on a row of carved stone pillara A doorway at the other end
of the l^all leads down a flight of steps to the shrine and a pool both
in utter darkness.^

^ Ck>lonel Meadows Taylor notices (Noble Queen, III. 165) an old paUoe and gardeo
built near a pretty cascade in the Happy Valley. Before the valley lies the broad
Goddvari plain and even the grim rock of Daulatabad and the tall white aiinaret oi
the Emperor Muhammad Tughlik were distinctly visible on a clear day.

» Mr. H. E. Candy, C,S. ^ Mr. A, F. Woodbum, CS. * Mr. R. E, Candy. C. S,

DMcaa*]

AHMADNAGAR. 717

Gondbegaon in Ney^a has three Hem&dpanti temples two of Chapter XIT«
M^rgfalndth and R&ineshvar in the village, and the third of pu^a

Sudoleshvar on a neighbouring hill. The M4rgafn4th temple has a
plain outside with well carved^pillars adorned with cobra capitals.
Near the temple is a Hemddpanti well or bdro}

GuraV Fimpri, eight miles north of Karjat, has a plain Guhav Pxmpri.
Hem^dpanti temple of Pimpreshvar Mah&dev and a modern ruined
temple of Kameshvar. The hall of the Pimpreshvar temple has nine
domes and the ling is in a pit-like shrine. The temple has two
inscriptions one under the door of the enclosure and another on an
extra pillar which supports a cracked stone beam. The RAmeshvar
temple has a ruined well or bdro with a drinking trough attached.^

Harischandragad Fort, 4691 feet above sea levels with ruined Habischandragai]
fortifications and Brdhmanical caves, lies on the Sahyadris, eighteen Fort.

miles south-west of A kola. The hill is the apex of the watershed of
the Bhima and Ooddvari drainage systems.

About six paths lead up to the hill two of which from F&chn&i

and Lob^Ii Kotul can be used by loaded cattle. The hill top,

which is about three miles in diameter, is an irregular tableland

with deep gorges, and at the south-east edge rising rather suddenly

to the highest point 4691 feet above the sea. The caves lie north

of and about 600 feet below the summit. On the steep slope

between the hill top and the caves and stretching east and west

is a beautiful belt of evergreen forest almost impenetrable from

its thick undergrowth and huge boulders. Other wooded patches

freshen sheltered nooks, but most of the rest of the plateau is

either bare rock or coarse thatching grass with here and

there patches of bracken. The descent from the plateau is

unusually steep on all sides. To the north the first drop is a clift

of 200 feet which runs for a great distance along the hill side.

The grandest clifF, about 2000 feet, faces west overlooking the

Konkan. Ascent by this cliff was not uncommon. The sockets in

which the standards for working the rope and pulley or some

similar climbing apparatus were fixed are still seen at the top of the

cliff. As they were destroyed by Captain Mackintosh about 1820,

little but ruined traces are left of the fortifications of Harischandragad.

The ruins of the gate appear at the top of the Lobdli Kotul pathway

and a few places where an escalade was possible still show remains of

f of tifi cations. On a peak, half a mile east of the summit, is the citadel

or bdla killa with decaying walls and blown-up cisterns. At the foot

of the citadel, at the gate, and at one or two other places are remains

of houses, but the commandant and part of his establishment are

believed to have lived in the caves.

Especially in May the edge of the Konkan cliff often gives an Soanbow,

excellent view of the curious phenomenon called the Circular
Rainbow. In 1835 Colonel Sykes^ during periods of fogs and mists

* Mt. a. F. Woodbum, C. 8. ' Dr. Burgess' Lists, 106.

' Philosophical TnuLsaotions, 1885 ; Nineteenth Centory, February 1884,

QBoabay Gaiettar.
718 DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIY* Beveral times observed the circular rainbow wbich from its rarene»

— is spoken of only as a possibility. Sometimes tbe Konkan fo^ stratna

Places- j^g^ somewhat above the level of the top of the Harischandrag^l

EiABi8CHAin)BAGAD ^HfF, without coming over the tablelaj[id.. Colonel Sjkes stood at th<^

Fort. edge of the precipice just outside of the limits of the fog, 'with a low

Bainbaw. cloudless sun on his back. The cftrcular rainbow appeared perfect

and most vividly coloured, one-half above Colonel Sykes' level
and the other half below. Distinct outline shadows of Colonel
Sykes his horse and his men appeared in the centre of the circle
as a picture to which the bow served as a resplendent frame.^ From
their nearness to the fog the diameter of the rainbow circle never ei«
ceeded fifty or sixty feet. Accompanying the brilliant rainbow circle
was the usual outer bow in fainter colours. The Fokiang or Glory of
Buddha as seen from mount O in West Ghina^ tallies more exactly
with the phenomenon than Colonel Sykes* description would seem
to show. Bound the head of the shadow always appears a bright
disc or glory^ and concentric with this disc^ but separated by an
interval, is the circular rainbow. The size and brilliancy of the
rainbow varies much with the distance of the mist; when the
mist is close the diameter may not be more than six feet. Whether
the observer sees only his own shadow or the shadow of others with
him depends on the size of the rainbow. Each observer always
sees the head of his own shadow in the centre of the glory.

^^^^ The" caves, which are about 600 feet below the level of the fort,

are chiefly in a low scarp of rock to the north of the summit. The
caves face north-west and consist of eight or nine excavations none of
them large or rich in sculpture. The pillars are mostly plain square
blocks ; the architraves of the doors are carved in plain fronts ; and
a few images of the Shaiv symbol Ganpafci also appear on some of
the door lintels. The style of the low doorways and of the
pillars in Cave II., some detached sculptures lying about, the nse of
Ganpati on the lintels, and some fragments of inscriptions seem to
point to about the tenth or the eleventh century as the date of the
caves. Cav§t.L at the east end of the group is about 17' 6* square
and has a low bench round three sides. The door is four feet nigrh
with a high threshold and a plain moulding round the top. To the
west of the cave is a cistern. Cave^ll. about nine yards west of
cave I. is one of the largest in the^group. The veranda is 23' 6*
long and about 7' 6" wide with an entrance into a large cell frgm
the left end. The whole veranda is not open in front. The space
between the left pillar and pilaster is closed and the central
and right hand spaces are left open. The two square pillars, only
one of which stands free, are 6' 4^'' high with a simple base and
a. numl^r of small mouldings on the neck and capital occupying

^ Colonel Sykes' men could not believe that the figores they eaw were their own
shadows and assured themselves by tossing about their arms and legs and patting
their bodies in various postures.

' Professor Tyndallin Nineteenth Century, February 1884 ; Mr, A. F. Woodbam»
C. 8. ' Cave Temples of India, 474 - 479.

DeccaiLj

AHMADNAGAR.

719

the upper 2' 1!* A door with plain moaldings and a small Ganesli on

the lintel^ with two sqaare windows one on each side leads to the

hally which measures about twenty-five feet by twenty and varies

in height from 8' IJ" to 8' 11''. ^The hall has one cell on the right

and two in the back with platforms six inches to a foot high. Outside

OQ the right another cell leads into a larger cell at the right end of

the veranda. Cave III, is unfinished though somewhat on the

same plan as cave II. Half of the front wall has been cut away

and a large image of Ganesh is carved on the remaining half. In

a cell to the right is an altar for a ling. Cave lY, is an oblong cell

and cave.Y. in the bed of the torrent is apparently unfinished with

a structural front. Bound three sides runs a high stone bench.

The sixth, seventh^ and eighth caves are similar to cave IV. But a

bed of soft clay has destroyed the walls of the sixth and seventh.

The shrine of the sixth has a long altar for three images. Near the

eighth cave is a deep stone cistern ten feet square.

A little below the row of caves is a large Hem^dpanti reservoir or
Uro with steps, along whose southern side is a row of little niches
or shrines^ some of them still occupied by images. Bound the
reservoir are small temples and cenotaphs or thadgis. Below the
reservoir is a small temple in a pit, half rock-cut half builtj
consisting of a cell with a shrine at each side. One of the cells
contains the socket or shdlunkha of a removed ling. Below this
temple a deep hollow or pit, formed by cutting away the rock at the
bead of a ravine^ leaves a small level space from the middle of
which rises a somewhat lofty temple, built on a remarkable
plan. The temple has no hall or mandap, but consists only of a
shrine with a very tall spire in the Northern Hindu style of
architecture as at Buddha Gaya near Benares. The ling within is
worshipped from any one of tour doors with porches. In the south-
east comer of the pit is another shrine half built half hewn
with an image of a goddess. To the west of the pit two or
three irregular caves were probably used as dwellings by yogis
attached to the temple. Fifty yards further down the ravine is a
cave about fifty-five feet square. In front are four columns each
about three feet square with plain bracket capitals nine inches deep
and 6' KT long. In the middle of the hall is a large round socket
or shalunkha containing a ling and surrounded by four slender
colomns of the same type as in the Elephanta caves in the Bombay
harbour. All round the pillars to the walls and front of the cave
the floor is cut down four feet and is always full of water, and the
Ung can be approached only by wading or swimming. On the left
end is a relief carved with a ling and worshippers on each side.
Above the level of the water is a small chamber. The c^ves are
often used as health resorts in the hot season by district officers. Mr.
Harrison a former Collector (1836-1843) built near the caves a
bungalow which was burnt down.

In the last Mardtha war Harischandragad was taken in the
beginning of May 1818 by a detachment under Captain Sykes.^

Chapter XIT.
Places-

HARISCHANDRAOAn

Fort.
Caves,

1 FendhiUri and Mar&tha War Fapen^ 294,

[Bombay

720

DISTRICTS.

Oiapter ZIV.
Places-

JImkhbd.

JlEUB.

Kabjat.

Temples,

Jalgaon, nine miles north-east of Karjat^ has a HemAdpanti

temple of Ankeshvar Mahidey. The hall has twelve domea and
an entrance in front. The sunken shrine has a ling and ai
rained brick dome.* ^

Ja'mkhed, 18* 43^ north latitude and 75'' 22' east lon^itnde,
forty-five miles south-east of Ahmadnagar, is a sub-divisional head-
quarters with in 1881 a population of 3465. J4mkhed has twn
Hemadpanti temples of Maliik&rjun and Jatdshankar Mah^dev.
Of the Mallikarjun temple the shrine only is left and the bal)
pillars are scattered about. The Jatashankar temple was lone
buried under ground and is well preserved. The weekly markec
is held on Saturdays. On the Inchama river six miles north-east
of Jdmkhed and close to the village of Sautara in the Niz^m'h
territories, is a waterfall 209 feet high. During the greater pun
of the fair season the stream is dry, but during the rains the fall is
well worth a visit. Below the fall is a beautiful glen with steep
sides and an old temple at the bottom.'

Jeur, with in 1881 a population of 4206, is a large market town
on the Toka road about thirteenmiles north-east of Ahmadnagar. The
town is enclosed by a ruined wall and has a strong gateway with a
paved entrance. The town has a school and a weekly market oir
Saturday. Close by the town, perched on a high hill, is a group
of three temples one of them with an inscription dated 1781. Two
miles north of Jeur at the top of a beautiful ravine down which winds
the Nevdsa road is the Imdmpur travellers' bungalow. The bungalow
is an old mosque and stands in a large grove with excellent shade.^

Karjat, 18'' 33' north latitude and 75^ 3' east longitude, about
forty miles south-east of Ahmadnagar, is a sub-divisional head-
quarters, with in 1872 a population of 5535 and in 1881 of 3608.
Besides the sub-divisional revenue and police offices Kariat has a
post office, a large school, and a weekly Saturday market. The
town is hot and the water-supply bad.

Karjat has three Hemadpanti temples two of Mah^ev and one of
N&goba. Of the two Mahddev temples one called Nakticha Deval
has nine domes and a shrine, the centre dome being smooth cat.
Opposite the main shrine which is on a lower level than the ball is
the door, and on each side of the door are many carved figores chiedy
obscene. In front of the door is a Nandi under a dome and to the
left of the door is a detached shrine with a ling. Two other shrines,
one on each side of the mandap, contain images. The second
Mahddev temple near the first is plain with nine domes to the hall
and a ling in a pit-like shrine. The temple of N^oba is close to
the twc^Mah^dev temples on the opposite bank of the Kun valla river*
The temple is Hemddpanti within and modem outside. There are
nine domes to the hall and one to the sunken shrine. The pillars are
plain, and a large cobra is carved on a stone outside* The temple
has a modern portico with a ling and near it a NandL^

1 Mr. A. F. Woodbum, C.S.
*Mr.B.£. Candy, C.S.

« Mr. A. F. Woodbum, C. S.
« Dr. Borgm' LiatB, 106.

Oeoeaa.]

AHMADNAGAB.

721

/mti village, abont fifteen miles north-east of Shrigonda, has, in
the hills to the south of the village^ a carious old pond said to have
been built by the Gavli kings. The pond has a broken earthen
dam faced with rows of obloug stones.^

Ka'sa'rei about ten miles south of Kopargaon, with in' 1881 a
population of 203, has near a Small stream an ugly temple of
Bhairavndth. The temple has Hem^dpanti foundations on the
common plan of a rectangular hall with a shrine forming a very
slightly broken square.'

Khadgaon, thirteen miles north-east of Shrigondai has at the
foot of the hills a mile south of the village, an old pond said to have
been built by the Gavli kings. The earthen dam leaks and the bed
of the pond is under tillage.'

Eliarda. twelve miles south-east of Jdmkhed, with in 1881 a
population of 5562^ is an important market town and the scene of a
famous Mar&tha victory over the Niz^m in 1795. The 1872 census
gave a population of 6899 of whom 6043 were Hindus and 856
Mnsalm^ns. The 1881 census showed 5562 or a decrease of 1337
of whom 4979 were Hindus and 583 Musalmdus. The town
contains upwards of 500 merchants^ shopkeepers, and money-
lenders, many of whom carry on a large trade in grain, countiy
cloth, and other articles brought from the neighbouring villages
or the BaUghdt in the east and sent west to Poena and other
towns. The cattle market on Tuesday is the largest in the
district. Kharda belonged to the NimbAlkar one of the Niz&m's
nobles whose handsome mansion in the middle of the town is
now entirely ruined. In 1745 Nimbdlkar built a fort which is still
in good repair. The fort, which stands close to the south-east of
the town, is sauare, and very strongly built with cut stone walls
twenty-five to thirty feet high and a ditch now ruined. The walls
have a very massive gateway and two gates at right angles to each
other. On the inner gateway is an inscription. The interior which
is about 300 feet square, has a small mosque with an inscription on
a stone over the front. Other buildings have been removed and
some of them used in making the Jdmkhed subdivisional office. The
water-supply is from a very deep well now stagnant. About a mile
east of the town is a European tomb with the inscription :

" Here lieth the body of Mi^or John Hamilton Johnston of Hie
^ Highneea the Nigam's Bervioe who departed this life on the 29th day
of Umr 1803 A.D. aged 40 years." •

Close to the north gate of the town is a very handsome tomb near
which one of the Nimb^lkars is buried. The general appearance of
the tomb is Muhammadanbut except the small minarets on the top
the details are Hindu. The plinth is of handsomely Cf^ stone
about fifteen feet square and four feet high. The tomb consists
of a horizontal dome resting on twelve carved one-stone pillars
surmounted with arched openings. The four comer pillars are
plain and the middle pairs are cut to represent groups of four.^

» Mr. A. P. V^oodbnm, C. S. « Mr. W, F. Sinclair, C S.

« Mr. A. F. Woodhum, C. a * Major S. Babington, » Major S, Babingtom

ft 772—91

Chapter XIT.

F1AC6B.

Khadoaov.

Khabda.

Vud

DBombay Gasclter

722

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIV.
• Places.

Kharda.

KokamthjIk.

On the 1 ItTi of March 1 795 Kharda, wrongly called Kurdla.
the scene of a famous battle in which NizAm Ali, who brought hi*
army oyer the Mohori pass from Bedar. was defeated bj tb^
combined Maratha forces of the Peshwa, Sindia, Holkar, Bhun.^U ^
and the Gaikwir, numbering it is said, 130,000 horse and f«'>i«t \
The !Nizam took refuge in the fort but yielded after a two dHW
cannonade and was forced to sign a treaty, cediug extensive
territories including the fortress of Daulatabad.^ Aboat l^P^
Kharda was suddenly surprised by a band of dacoits from the
NizAm's territories. The mdmlatddr of Jdmkhed raised the wholi*
country, and besieged Kharda fort with hundreds of men ^nxiei
with all kinds of rusty weapons. The dacoits fled during the tirsi
night and some of the fugitiyes were captured.^ In the 1857
mutinies Kharda fort was occupied by 100 men of the 22nd Native
infantry.^

Eokamtlia'll on the God&yari four miles south-east of Kopargaou.
with in 1 881 a population of 1326, has an old temple of Mali&dey built
of coarse dry stone, and probably belonging to the twelfth century.
The temple is remarkable for its internal caryed stone work, for the
beauty of a pendant in the central dome represeutiug a large flowtr
hanging from a stalk, and, among its external weather-worn and
defaced decorations, for the beauty of a belt of wreathed snakes which
in places change into a foliage pattern. The temple is of the usual
double diamond ground plan minutely facetted and elaborately
decorated. It is of the form common in ancient Shaiy buildiog^s^ in
the Chdlukyan and deriyed styles, a shrine and hall with a dome
about sixty feet round, and much like the dome of the chief Jain
temple in Belgaum fort.* The spire oyer the shrine is of old
shaped bricks and mortar apparently a restoration skilfully carried
out in keeping with the rest of the dry stone buildiog and a^eeiug
closely with the little ornamental buttresses outside the shrine which
harmonised with the original stone spire. Though the chief dome has
no pillar supports two porches, occupying the corneft of the hall
opposite the shrine to the west, haye domes supported on pillars, but
adorned internally with the same rich carying. The fourth corner is
occupied by a yery curious square transept which does not appear to
be a part of the original building. It is composed of rectangular panels
of stone carved in geometrical and other fanciful patterns unusual in
temples but much like the geometrical patterns in the great sevenih
century S^rndth relic mound near Benares. The goddess of Ihe
shrine is famed for her power of curing the itch. Within the court
walls of smaller temples may be traced which were destroyed by the
}872 flood. Another old temple of Mahadev formerly stood on a
mound to the west of the yillage. A large ling and a Naudi still
lie on tne spot. According to an old custom in the village on the
fright third of Vaishdkh or April -May the village boys fight with

^ See above History, pp. 406-409.

* Mr. J. Elphinstoh, C. S. » Mr, J. Elphinston, C.S,

^ Details are ^ivenin the Bel^aam Statistical Account pp^ 539-541,

Ileec«B.i

AHITADNAGAR.

72S

sling's and stones witt the youngsters of tKe village of Samyatsar
across the Goddvari.^

Kol£a.IlgaoiI, fourteen miles north of Karjat, has a rained Kem^d-
panti temple and well. Of the temple nothing but the shrine is left.
The local story is that the stones were taken to build the forts of
Ahmadnagar, Karmdia in Shol^ar^ and Parinda in the Nizdm's
territories^ and Nimbalkar's mansion or vdda in Mirajgaon village
two miles to the south-east.^

Kolgaon, twelve miles north-west of Shrigonda, with in 1881 a
population of 3009 and a weekly market on Wednesday, has a Hem^d-
panti temple of Valkeshvar. The temple has nine domes and a sunk
shrine with a ling. The pillars are well carved with figures on their
capitals but they are entirely covered with plaster. On each side
of the hall is a recess both of which are unused. In front of the
door are the remains of a veranda built of large blocks of stone
let into each other in receding courses. To the left of the veranda
is a new shrine with a ling and in front is a Nandi under a four-
pillared dome. Over the temple shrine is the usual brick and
plaster dome. In front of the temple is a brick lamp-pillar with a
staircase inside. The original outside of the temple has been
removed and replaced by modern masonry.*

Kopargaon, 19^ 54^ north latitude and 74' 33" east longitude,
sixty miles north of Ahmadnagar, is a sub-divisional head-quarters
with in 1S81 a population of 2020. The town lies on the Malegaon
road on the north bank of the Godavari and has a subordinate
judge^s court and a weekly Monday market. Kopargaon was the
favourite residence of Raghun^thr^v or Rdghoba the father of
BdjirAv the last Peshwa. Raghundthrd*v's palace is now used as
the sub-divisional office. One of the three rooms used as the
sub-judge's court has a pretty carved wooden ceiling. Facing
the sub>divisional office^ in a grove of trees in an island in the
Godavari, were two palaces which have been pulled down and
Bold. Hingani three miles off where one of the pstlaces stood has
a cenotaph of Rdghoba who died and was burnt here. In an elbow
of the Godavari and surrounded on three sides by its bed stands a
fortified cat-stone enclosure (65' x 58' x 60') with massive black walls.
It has one gate but the side towards the river is open» In the
centre is the cenotaph or thadge, a very small work of timber and
brftk upon a coarse stone plinth with no writing or ornament. Near
the site of the old palace in the island stands the temple of
Kacheshvar a set of plain modem buildings held in great honour.*

^ The local belief is that the non-obscrrance of this fighting custom is foU^ed by a
failnre of rain or if rain falls it produces a rat plague. A stone tight duly waged ia
followed by a plentiful raiofaU. Mr. Sinclair in Ind. Ant. V. 5.

* Dr. Burgess' Lists, 107. » Mr. A. F. Woodburn, C.S.

* According to the local story of the Kacheshvar temple demona lived in the
Oangthadi and their teacher or guru Shukrdch^rya lived in this island. The gods
enable to subdue the demons asked the help of their teacher Brihaspati who sent his
•on Kach to convert them. Kach. became a disciple of Shukr&cb&rya and his good
looks won the heart of Shukra's daughter. The jealous demons slew Kach but
the lady induced her father to restore him to life. Three times the demons bLbw

Chapter XIT*
Places.

KOKANOAON.

KOLQAON.

KOPAXGAON.

[Bomtagr €btt«ttMi

724

DISTRICTS.

Chapter XIY .
Places-

KORBOAON.

KORHilA.

KOTHAL.

In 1804 B&ldji Lakshman the Peshwa governor of Kh4nftpflih aad
one Manohargir GosAvi inveigled 7000 Bhils into their power r
Kopargaon and threw most of them into two welle.^ In 181t!
Kopargaon was occupied by Madras troops and a few ^Earopeao
tombs then built remain near the ford.

Koregaon, two miles east of Karjat^ with in 1881 a popalatiot
of 1 149, bas two old temples^ one Hem^dpanti to the west of tht
village with nine domes to the hall^ and the other an old temple cf
Koreshvar said to be Hemadpanti. The Eoresbvar temple iia^
only the shrine left with a ling, Nkndi^ Ganpati^ and Pdrvati in wbite
nmrble. The body of the ling is composed of four faces of Mab^deT
adorned with snakes. A fifth snake is on the narrow mouth of the
h'n^-case or shdlunkha. The marble images are said to have heen
brought about 1730 from Upper India to Karmdla iu Sholapur, and
from Karm&la^ about the beginning of the present centarT, to
Koregaon.*

Eorhala about twelve miles south of Kopargaon, with in 1 881 a
population of 209 is an old town now decayed and deserted but
formerly of importimce. The town walls which were built by Holkar
are well preserved and, as they enclose much open ground, from
outside the town looks much larger than it is. A market is held on
Sunday. In an exchange of territory Eorhdla was received by the
Peshwa with thirty villages from Holkar and was made the head-
quarters of a sub-division. In 1818 a treasury subordiDat^e to
Ahmadnagar was kept in Korh^la in charge of a Th^nddr. About
1830 the Thdnd^ was dismissed on the discovery of frauds, and
Korlid.la was transferred to the Sinnar sub-division in Kasik.
On the appointment of a petty divisional officer at Nimon in
Sinnar the Eorhdla villages were placed under his char^, and
on the abolition of the Nimon petty division^ the Korhdla Tillages
were transferred to the newly formed sub-division of Kopargaon.
The headship of Korhdla which had been kept by Holkar lapsed to
Government about 1865 when two large mansions built by the
headman for his office and residence were sold by auction.'

Eothal, ten miles north of Shrigonda has, on the top of a
neighbouring hill, a temple of Khandoba. The temple roof rests
on six pillars in octagonal and square sections. The temple has
been struck by lightning which has left marks of its course without
materially injuring the building. In front of the temple, within

Kach and thrice he was raised to life. They again slew him and bnrnt him to ashes,
and mixed the ashes with Shukr&ch&rya's water and after he had drank told him he
had swallowed Kach's ashes. Moved by his daughter's entreaties SbuknkchlUrya taught
her a spsil at hearing which, when her father died, Kach conld come forth from the
dead body. Kach overheard the charm and repeating it leapt from the body of
Shukr4ch^*a. The shock kiUed Shukrdchiirya but his daughter bronsht him to
Ufe. The girl offered her hand to Kach who replied that as he owed her hia life sbe
was bis mother ; and as she was the daughter of his teacher she was hia spiritual
sister. A dispute followed in which Kach told her she need never expect to win a
Brihman husband. Shukra was converted and he and his demons oecame good
Hindus. To this day a stone Shukra aud Kaoh sit side by aide on the island azid
receive much worship. Ind. Ant. Y. 4-5.
^ See above p. 414. > Pr. Burgess' listSi 107. > Mr. T. S. Hamilton. OSL

Deccaa.]

AHMADKA6AB.

729

Ghapter^Xrr.

EolhIb.

\ Mr. R. E. Candy, C.S. * Mr. R. E. Candy, C.S. ; Mr. T. S. Hamilton, C.S.

• See above p. 722. * Dr Burgess' LUta, 106-113.

* Betaila of tke canal are given above pp. 256' 257.

KOTUU

KumbkIbi.

living memory, kook swinging was practised on the bright sixth of
Mdrgskirsh and Paush or December -Febraary. Behind the temple
of Khandoba is an older temple with a readable inscription.

Kolba'rj on the Nagar-Mavn&d road, is a large and important
trade centre on the Pravara about fifteen miles north-west of lULhuri.
A fair lasting fifteen days is hel^ every year in January.^

Kotbulmtlkailji, sixteen miles south-west of Akola, has the KormiLMUKUNJi.
ruins of a teniple of N^rdyaneshvar with a fine doorway and the
foundation of a temple of Koteshvar.

Kotul on the Mula eight miles south of Akola, is the second
town in the Akola sub-division with in 1881 a population of 2260.
The population is chiefly Kunbi with a large number of Brihmans
and Ghijarat Y&nis. A large weekly market is held on Wednesdays.
The trade is chiefly carried on by the Br^hmanvada pass with Junnar
and Utur in Poena and owing to improved communications, trade
with Akola and Sangamner is increasing. The town has a Govern-
ment schooL'

Kuxnbha'ri, on the right bank of the God^vari about six miles

north-west of Kopargaon, with in 1881 a population of 534, has an old

Mah^ev temple with a hall of the same style as the Kokamthan

temple,^ as beautiful and a little larger being twenty-one feet in

diameter. The outside of the temple is plain and massive. Except

at the porches, the only ornaments are niches which once held images.

The spire is gone but the cornices remain and show that it was of a

modified Dravidian style. The interior of the temple is as rich as the

Kokamthin temple. A curious ornament is a concave quarter sphere

crossed by two intersecting ribs. The wreathed snake plant also

appears on the west porch. Other ornaments are the sun and a very

long and narrow lozenge or lance head. The general ground plan is

the same as that of the £okamth4n temple, and here also two-pillared

porches have domes in notiniature of the pillarless hall dome. But

here the transept containing a ling fills the west comer of the hall

and is uniform with the rest of the building and part of the original

design. On a throne or dsan in the chief shrine is an ornamental

figure which is worshipped as Lakshmi. A pipe or mori in the east

wall of the shrine is used to admit sunlight, it is at a higher level

than the top of the ling and was probably made to drown the god

^th water in seasons of drought.*

Lalch, a small village with a railway station six miles north of
B&huri, has a magnificent masonry weir which stems the Pravara
and supplies the L4kh Canal.^ Just below the weir the Pravara is
spanned by a fine masonry bridge on the Dhond-Manmid railway.

Limpangaoil, five miles south of Shrigonda, has a Hem^dpanti
temple of Siddheshvar Mah4dev. The hall has nine domes and the
Ung is in a sunk shzine. The pillars are well carved. Two slabs lie

LJLkh.

LniPANOAON.

[Bomba J Ottieltoer.

726

DISTRICTS. •

Chapter ZIT.
Haoes.

LiMPAKGAON.

Ponds.

Hadhi.

near the temple one with a cobra and the other irith an inscriptioa
which appears to be dated 1386 (ShaJc 1308),i

Besides the small pond to the west of the village Limpangaon ha.^
a curious imfinished pond built abcyit the end of the eighteenth
century. The lower dam of the pond, about 500 feet long, is faced
with cut-stone and provision has b^n made in the middle for drawing
off water. The pond has an upper dam, probably intended to prevent
silting, as sluices are made to let the water thfbugh and there is an
unfinished waste weir to carry off the flood water. The pond has
silted and has two splendid fields in its bed. The cost of the lake
must have been out of aU proportion to its value as an irrigatioa
work*

Madhi^ in Shevgaon sixteen miles south-west of Shevgaon and
three miles south-west of Pdthardi is a noted place of pilgrimafire
with a shrine or dargdh of a Musalmdn-Hindu saint Sh& R^mz^n
Mahi Sav^r or Kdnhoba. The shrine is held in great reverence
by both Hindus and Musalm^ns, and the chief baildings which
are on a small hill were built by Hindu kings and chiefs. The
buildings consist of the shrine a lofty building in which the saint is
buried. Near the shrine is a small domed building with a narrow
staircase leading down to a spot about twenty feet down the hill.
The building is lighted by a stone perforated window or grating
where the saint is said to have been in the habit of retiring for
religious meditations. Two domed buildings where the ancestors
of the present indmddr and mujdvar are buried were built in 1 750
(Shak 1652 Sddhdran Samvaisar) by Pilaji GdikwAr whose name
and that of his minister Chimndji Savant are engraved in Devn^ri
letters in front of the shrine. On the south-east comer of the
shrine is a domed building called the Bartidari with open windows
looking down on the village of Madhi below. This was built iir
1731 by Shahu B^ja (1708-1749) the grandson of ahivaji in fulfil-
ment, it is said, of a vow taken by his mother if he returned safe
from the Moghal camp where he was taken as a prisoner with his
mother YesubdL Close to Shdhu's building and almost at the
entrance of the dargdh is a lofty drum-house or nagdrkfidna with a
flat roof reached by a narrow staircase and commanding a very
wide view reaching, it is said, as far as Paithan about thirty miles to
the north-west. This handsome building was raised about 1780 by
K^nhuji Naik a rich landed proprietor of Basim in the Nizaui^s
dominions. There are two rest-houses for pilgrims built by Salabat-
khdn II. the famous minister of the fourth Nizdm Shahi king Murtaza
Nizdmshih (1565-1588). The enclosure has two handsome gates/
one built by Mord a Mardtha chief at the Peshwa's court and the
other ab#ut 1750 by Khwaja Sherif the great Khoja merchant of
Ahmadnagar.^ Close to this gate is a recently repaired mosque.

A prettily adorned room close to the saint's tomb was built by
the Deshmukh of Bdrdmati in Poena in gratitude for recovery from

1 Dr. Burgess' Lists, 106. 113. » Mr. A. F. Woodburn, C.8.

8 Mr. J. Elphmston, C.S.

* There is a third gate built by a Mardtha Sard^r of Hingangh&t^

* See above p. 697.

Oeeem-I

AHMADNAGAR.

727

blindness. The whole space inside the gates of the dargdh, about
26,000 sqaare feet was paved and eighty-five steps built on one side
and ninety on the other all by a Bijdpur king. The shrine is hung
with ostrich eggs and large coloured glass globes and contains many
votive offerings, among others & silver and a brass horse presented
hy Bhda S^heb Angria of KoMha and two white horses one of clay
and one of wood presented by a carpenter.

Shdh Ramz^n Mahi Savdr or Kanhoba as he is generally called
by Hindus is said to have come to Paithan in about 1350 (h. 752)
•where lie was converted to Islam by one S&dat Ali. After travelling
wx years he came to Madhi in 1380 (h. 782) and died there in 1390
(h. 792) at the age of ninety years. The saint is said to have
exercised miraculous powers and his Musalm^n name is said to be
derived from his having crossed the Godavari mounted on a large
•fish mahi savdr?- A yearly fair is held at the shrine on the dark
fifth of Phalgvn (March- April) and is attended by twenty to thirty
thousand pilgrims both Hindus and Musalm^ns. Pilgrims and
-visitors are shown a spot at the shrine where at the time of the fair
persons are said to become possessed and to throw themselves down
from the top of the hill and a woman now in the village is said to
liave done this some years ago.

Land measuring two chdhurs or 200 acres is said to have been
granted to the -dargdh by the Emperor Shdh Alam. Madhi village
itself was given in indm by Shdhu but afterwards at different times
a fourth was given to Sindia and another fourth to Holkar for
maintaining order at the yearly fair. A third quarter is now paid
^judi to the British Qovemment and one-fourth of the village
tevennes goes to the shrine.

Halegaon village with 418 people and Mahdgaon Tillage with
446 people on the Goddvari six miles north-west of Kopargaon have
remains of two temples said to be Hemadpanti.^

Ma'ndogan is a large town about twenty miles north of Shri-
gonda, and joined with Shrigonda by a fair weather road made during
the 1876-77 famine. The town has many large and handsome houses
and a good school. The trade is not large^ as hills surround the
town.^

M^dogan has a temple of Lakshmi NAr^yan now dedicated to
I)fvi. The hall which is twenty-four feet square inside has three
entrances and nine plain domes resting on four pillars and eight
pilasters. The pillars are in square octagonal and round sections ;
the capitals have various figures with cobras on the pilaster brackets.
The shrine with a well carved door is on a lower level than the hall
Mid has an image of Devi and a five feet high mutilated unage of
Lakshmi Ndrdyan. In front of the temple is a four-pillared pavilion.
Mcept string courses of lozenge ornament the outside of the temple
has not much carving.*

« — — ^^— »

.'^ *^l tradition says that the pir drove out a goddess who was living on the
pot where the shrine now stands and that she took refuge in a cave at Shir^pur
^^« two miles west of Madhi. « Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C.S.

«^ R. E. Candy, €.S. * Mr. A, F. Woodburn, C.S.

.Cihapter XIT.
PlaceQ.
Madhi.

MAlbgaoit,

MiNDOOAir.

Temple,

[BombByGnMaft

Oiapter Xnr.
Places.

HAyeoaok.

Mbhxku.

Kl&AJaAOK.

MlBX.

728

DISTRICTS,

Ma'njarstunba, a small village a mile west of Doogargan and

eight miles north of Ahmadnagar lies at the loot of the Dongargan kill
crowned by the fort which overlooks the YAmbhori plain. The lull
side has cisterns of spring water and the fort would make a fin«
health resort.^ The M^niarsumba ptes is said to be a favourite haunt
of Yalmiki, the author of the Rim4yan and the reputed foonder of
the Mahadev Kolis.'

Ma'yegaon is a small village on tiie God&vari twelve miles north*
west of Eopargaon, with in 1881 a population of 647. On the hvor
bank a short distance from the village on rent-free land aaai^ed to
the goddess is an image of Bhavini of M^ur. A temple i& said to
have existed of which, except the image, a shapeless stone set againet
a mud wall, no trace remains. A yearly fair lasting two da ja is held
on the full-moon of Chaiira or March -April, it is attended by
upwards of 20,000 persons when a number of stalls are raised and goods
worth £100<> (Bs. 10,000) are sold. A ^ anna laid by eTery pilgrim
before the goddess goes to the priest.'

Mehekri village of 1124 people, on the left of the Ahmad*
nagar-Shevgaon road six miles east of Ahmadnagar has near it on a
hiU the tomb of the great Nizamsh^hi minister Sal^batkhto 11.^ The
tomb is commonly known as Ghdnd Bibi's Mah^ and is now used as
a military health resort. The tomb is about 100 feet high and 100 fe^t
in diameter. It is an octagonal dome surroimded by a three-storeyed
veranda. A road leads up and round the hill side to the oourti-ard
of the tomb. The summit of the hill commands a most extensive
view. To the west lie the barracks and houses of Ahmadnagar vith
the hills of Pamer in the back ground; to the north-west the
fort-crowned hill of Mdnjarsumba looks down on the Dongargan
Happy Valley and the rich plain of Yambhori ; to the 8ouJth-ea£it
stretches the Bhdtodi lake, and beyond the lake rich fields watered
by the Bhatodi canal. The hill is rocky and bare of trees. At its
foot on the Mehekri side is an old Jain temple.

Mirajgaoilt with in 1881 a population of 3480, is a large and
wealthy market town on the Ahmadnagar-Karmdla road about ten
miles noi^th-east of Karjat. Mirajgaon has a post office and a school, a
large and well built market, and some fine temples. The weekly
market is held on Wednesday.^

Miri| with a population of about 2000, is an alienated village on
the Paithan road twenty miles south of Nevdsa and just within the Umks
of the Nevdsa sub-division. Miri has an old temple of Moteahvar
Mah&dev and a shrine of the Hindu-Musalman saint Eanhoba whotse
chief shrine is at Madhi in Shevgaon.^ The Moteshvar temple is
square at the base and rises in an octagonal diape to a great height.?
It is sai(f to have been built about 1625 and was repaired by one of
the proprietors of Miri about 1690. E^hoba's shrine is both a temple
and a mosque, with a well carved wooden canopy with hanging

1 Mr. R. E. Candy, C. S.
> Mr. T. S. HamiitoD, C.a
* Mr. R. E. Oandy, C.a

s Mackintosh in Trans. Bom. 6«og. Soc L 202
^ See above pp. 705-706.
• See above Madhi ' Mr. R. B. Candy, a&

toocan.)

AHMADNAGAB.

729

)9trich eggs. No image of the saint is worshipped.^ A shrine of
Bahiroba was huilt in Miri by a Dhangar about 1780. The chief
nrorshippers are Dhangars, and one of the most illustrious devotees
is Mahkrdrja Holkar who sends many gifts. Miri with two neighbour-
ing villages appears from Persiaif documents to have been first granted
by Aurangzeb to R<imr&v Ndr^yan Mirikar.^ The third jreshwa
Balaji B^irdv (1740-1761) renewed the gift and gave a written grant
to the JSiKrikars. In 1641 (h. 1055) a grant of land was made to
ministrants of Kdnhoba's shrine for repairs and worship. The shrine
is said to have been built by Alamgir or Aurangzeb at that time. In
1770 the great grandfather of the present proprietor of Miri built an
outer hall or 8cS)hdmandap to the shrine of JB^anhoba and in 1820
bis son built a drum-house or nagarkhdna?

Neva'sa/ \9I^ 34' north latitude and 75^ east longitude, with in
1881 a popuLition of 3804, is a sub-divisional head-quarters thirty-five
miles nordi-east of Ahmadnagar. Besides the sub-divisional revenue
and police offices Nevdsa has a sub-judge's court, a dispensary, and
a Sunday market. The dispensary was established in 1877. In
1883 it treated nineteen in-patients and 3834 out-patients at a cost
of £97 2s. (Rs. 971).

About a quarter of a mile to the west of Nevdsa is a stone pillar
four feet round apparently part of a lost temple. It is called
Dnyanoba's pillar from the local story that the famous Mar&tha poet
Dny^oba (1271-1300) leaned against it while composing his common*
tary on the Bhagvadgita at Nevasa. The pillar is buried in the ground
under a flat roof measilring about thirty-three feet by twenty-six.
The pillar, which stands about four and a half feet out of the ground,
is square in the middle and round above and below. The front side
of the square bears an inscription in seven lines and two Sanskrit
verses.*

In 1290 Dny&neshvar, the great Mar&tha poet, wrote his com-
mentary on the Bhagvadgita at Nevdsa which he calls Nivis and
describes it as a place extending ten miles (five hoa) in the Mardtha
country near the God&vari and as the abode of Mah^laya, in the

Chapter XI7.
Places.

Mna.

NzvAsA,

Dnydnoba^B
Pillar.

^ The Munt Ktohoba is said to have oome from Paithan to Miri about 1320 to
nscae the people from the tyranny of king Bali. From Miri KiUihoba went to Madhi
where is hia chief ehrine.

*The Miri family had other Tillages granted to them in Upper India by the
MoghaU. The family still maintain possession of a Phadniahi grant in the ridva
Bubdivinon of the Tonk State in Rajpat^na and have some houses in that part of tho
country. * From materials supplied by the proprietor of Miri.

* From ninda or residence. A local mdhdtmya derives the name from nidMvds or
the abode of (the nine) treasures of the god of wealth. The story is that tiie gods,
jl^raid of the demon Tirak who afterwards through Shiv*s favour gained a place in
Qeaven, asked for a safe home. Vishnu recommended them the country of the Vara
or the good river near the OodAvari and with the gods came Kuber the god of wealth
vbo left here his nine treasures. Indian Antiquary, IV. 353.

The inscription, which is in some places illegible, runs : ' Om, salutation to
> ireshTan&y . (As my) grandfather has formerly granted a sum of six (rupees) to
'^^^S^^ (Shiv) to be continued monthly for a continual supply of wick and oil (for
a hght in his temple) so that that sum of six (rupees) should be given as long as the
•Qa sad moon exist. He who appropriates to his use is wicked, his ancestora will go
tohelL May the great deHy (MohinirAj) do good.' Ind. Ant. IV. 3^.

• 772-92

[Bombay

Chapter XIY.
Placea

KlOHOJ.

Palshi.

PIbnib.

TempUi.

780

DISTRICTS.

Idngdom of the DergiriY&lay king B&nchandra (1271-1310). Ha .
commentary bears date 1290.

Nighoj, a market town twelve miles west of Pamer, with in 1881
a population of 2552, has a large reservoir with niches which appear
to represent the outside of a temple of Dravidian style with comict'^.
Its surface plan is the same as the gtound plan of a hall or mandap thr
rectangular broken square. Three large staircases take the place ri
the porches, and the pier of the leather water-bucket is in the position of
the shrine. It looks like a hall or mandap turned upside down . Each
course of large blocks of hewn stone is set a little back from the next
below and is firmly imbedded in a hollow cut for it. Mortar is nowhere
Used and a few iron clamps in the steps are probably modem. Ex-
cept niches with red stones instead of images, there are no decorations.
On one stone of the well pier are scratched two quarter foils, as if
marked out to be cut deeper ; on another are two more and what
looks like a short broadsword or dagger. According to the villagerB
the marks represent the shears of a tailor who built the well in ful-
filment of a vow to Malai Devi to whom it is sacred.^ The market
is held on Tuesday.

Palshi, a market town on a feeder of the Mula twenty miles north
of Pdmer, with in 1881 a population of 1110, has, between the
town gate and the river, stones built into and lying in front of a small
rude temple. The temple shows the same scanty omamente as the
temple and reservoir at P&mer. The village has a handsome
temple of Vithoba with a fine domed hall resting entirely on pillars.
The pillars are stiff in outline and the inside of the dome is
disfigured by ugly painted figures. The shrine or vimdn is graceful
and has some fine wood-carving.^

Farmer, 19^ north latitude and 74^ 80' east longitude, twenty
miles sputh-west of Ahmadnagar, with in 1881 a population
of 4058 is a sub-division head-quarters with a Sunday market
Pdrner hasabout fifty moneylenders, chiefly M^rwiris with a bad name
for greed and fraud. In the 1874-75 riots of the husbandmen against
moneylenders,^ the people of Pdrner were among the first to follow
the example of Kinleh, Nemunch, and other villages in Siror in
Poena, the inhabitants of which in the beginning of 1874 placed the
M&rw&ris in a state of social outlawry, refusing to work for them, to
draw water, supply necessaries, or shave them. The watchfulness
of the poUce saved Parner from a riot. PiLrner has two wells aad
the tomb of a Musalm&n saint or Pir which enjoys a grant of land
In the tomb enclosure are fine trees and a small mosque and pond.

Near the usual camping place, at the meeting of two small
streams, is a temple of Sangameshvar or Trimb&keshvar. The
ground ^lan is the usual double-broken diamond or square. The
temple is not much facetted and has only three superior re-entering
angles on the front sides of the hall and lesser re-entering angles
near the front porch. All the three porches are ruined, die best

^ Mr. W. F. Sinclair, & & in Indian Antiquary, V. 14. > Ind. Aal V. It,

* Details of the 1874-75 riots ar6 given above pp. 318-319,

DeccubJ

AHMADNAGAB.

7S1

preserred being the front porch. Its door strongly resembles the

inner door of the second Belgaam temple^ bnt has not the pierced

flanking panels. The pillars are more in the style of the first

Belgaam temple.^ Four large pillars^ with the help of the walls

and remaining pilasters, sapporC the roof which is composed of nine

sutall rongh domes* This appears to have been the original plan^

bat the whole roof has been destroyed and restored from a height

of about nine feet above the ground as appears by the use of mortar

in the restored part and by the inverted position of the decorations.

The lower or ancient part is of dry stone work in receding 'imbedded

courses of very large blocks. The ling is enshrined in a deep pit.

The whole exterior is covered with a carving representing^ in low

relief^ sometimes an arch and sometimes a dome. A few fragments

of the coroice seem to show that the roof was Dravidian in style.

The Nandi in front of the chief entrance now rests at the bottom

of a pit lined with modern masonry^ and partly covered by a rough

dome built out of the ruined porch and perhaps of a destroyed

pavilion. On this rests a stone representing apparently an inverted

banch of grapes which the people call a ling but do not worship.

It was probably a finial of the pavilion or of one of the porches.

Several slender pillars of a broken square section have been built into

a small modem temple with a relief in moulded clay^ coloured and

gilt, of Chandik^evi killing the buffalo demon Mahishdsur.

Under vL.pipal tree before this temple are several carved fragments

of sculpture, among which are a huge gurgoyle in the form of a

monster's head and a large stone rdnjan or vase the upper and lower

parts of which have been hewn separately and afterwards fitted

together. The vase is of the still popular form of an egg truncated

at both ends and is 4^ feet both in height and in external diameter.

It is very rongh and its simple ornamentation does not correspond

with that of any of the other remains. It may be modem, the

work of Yadllr stonecutters.^ A little from the town, to the east

of the Nagar gate, is an old temple of N&gn^th Mah&dev. The

temple enclosure has a large well or hdro containing a stone

inscription dated 1093 {8hak 1015). This well seems to be intended

for public use as well as for watering a little garden which is now

used for growing temple flowers. The well has steps on two sides>

and on the top remains of the plaster work made for the bucket

to draw water from. Outside the Nagar gate are many funeral

monuments one of which is said to record the death of a demon or

rdkshas.

Fa'thardi about fifteen miles south of Shevgaon, is a large market
town with in 1872 a population of 7117 and in 1881 of 5123. The
town lies picturesquely on the side of a steep hill which risea is the
midst of a barren tract skirted on the north and east by tSe range
of hills which pass from Dongargan into the Niz&m^a territory.

Chapter XIV.
Places.

Temples.

PIthardi.

1 Compare BeLg^aum Statistical Aooount p. 540.

* A lower half of a rdnjan similar to the PAmer vase Hes amongtthe miziB of a
deserted old temple which lies on the left of the KAnhnr road four miles north of
P&TMr, Hie vase was found in a Br&hman's stackyard and bcooght to its presents
place by a mAmlatdir.

IBcMilbaj

732

DISTRICTS.

•Chapter ZIT.
Places.

PAthabdi.

Patta Fobt.

PXDOAON.

Tho honsea are mostly mud built and straggling, broken here and
there by the dwellings of well-to-do merchants. The wieeklj
market is on Wednesday. Want of commnnication has checked
the development of Pdthardi trade. Towards the Nizam's territc-
ries there are no roads, but from Pftthardi to Tisgaon, on the main
Toad from Ahmadnagar to Sheygaon an unbridged and yery fair
road is newly made.

The sanitation dS Pdthardi is bad though its position on a hill
side ofPers facilities for drainage. The people bathe^ wash, and dricl:
from a large water-course which flows past the town. Aboat ISoZ
P4thardi is described as having upwards of 500 looms.

Pfl.'ji^g) Fort, about sixteen miles north-west of Akola lies on a bare
hill two miles long, half a mile broad, and 4587 feet above the sea.
Three paths, none of them fit for laden animals, lead up the hill.
The hill top has an old building (90' x SC) covered by throe solid
masonry domes with walls four feet thick. All round this building
are ruined huts with remains of walls. On the hill top are two
large caves and about half-way down the hill two or three amaller
caves, one of which is a temple. The water-supply of the fort is
from about twenty rock-cut cisterns^ some of them thirty feet by
fifteen and six to eight feet deep. One large cistern is close to the
chief building and the rest are in two groups higher up. All the
cisterns hold excellent water throughout the year. The fort has
ruins of small fortifications in places and a solid cut-stone wail
about ten feet high and six feet thick runs across the hill about
two-thirds of the way along the top towards the north

Ekdara fort five miles south of Patta and Aundha four miles to the
north formed with Patta the Peshwa^s outposts in this direction.

These two, with ^Ifli^g SfllftPg^ "-^^ It'^hK ^^^^'^^ ^ twenty-five
miles west of Akola and Kalddgad twenty-two miles south-west of
Akola, were blown up and their approaches buildings and cisterns
destroyed by Captain Mackintosh in 1819-20. The wild rugged
peaks of these forts form one of the grandest pieces of scenery on
the Sahyddris.

Pedgaoy on the north bank of the Bhima eight miles south of
Shrigonaa/is a ruined market town with in 1881 a population of
1747. Pedgaon has four ruined Hemddpanti temples of Baleahvar^
Lakshmi-N4r^yan, Mallik^rjun, and R&moshvar. Of Baleshvar's
temple only the shrine is left with a ling. What is left of the pill&r
capitals is ornamented with well-carved cobras. Of the Lakshmi-
Ndr&yan temple the hall or mandap is covered by good domes, of
which the centre dome and the shrine dome are carved. Three doors
lead to the hall or mandap with fine pillars. The shrine is on a
lower l^el than the hall or mandap and is filled with earth.
Outside and inside many elaborate carvings have been wilfully
broken. The outside carving consists of elephants in the lowest
panel, tigers in the next, and men and women in the succeeding panels.
Of the Mallik^'un temple only the shrine and two pillars of the

^ Alang and Kalang had the stain scarped off and are now inacoeflsifak.

'•CGAO.J

AHMADNAQAR.

788

lall or mandof remain. The only carvlngfl are broken cobras on
;.he pillar capitals The Rdmeshvar temple has shrines on three
udes of the hall or mandap and a door on the fourth side. The
lall or mandap roof is of one dome resting on four pillars, the spire
bet^eeen the pillars and the i^allHbeing covered with plain flat stones.
The shrine opposite the door has^ ling on a slightly lower level than
the hall or maiidap floor.

Aboat 1680 Pedgaon was one of the chief stores and a frontier

T^oat Q^ i^lr^f^ IpflfhflljMT'y A^d ^^6 ruined fortifications which trom

a distance give an imposing appearance to the town were built by

the Deccan Viceroy jQi^ii^l^an who camped here daring the

monsoon of 1672 in pursm^^mvdji. Another of Khdn Jah^'s

works is a fairly preserved channel or conduit for bringing water

from the Bhima. The water was raised from the Bhima by an

elephant mot and a Persian wheel. The mot and a tower for the

Versian ^heel are still fairly preserved. Kh&n Jah^ gave Pedgaon

the name of Bg2)4^jyi8S^ which it has not retained. In 1673 the

English travefle^^eriiotices Pedgaon on the Bhima three days'

journey from Junnar, where the Moghals had a large host of

40,000 horse under Bahddur Khin.' In 1759, during the conflict

which followed the treacherous surrender of Ahmadnagar fort to the

Pesbwa, Pedgaon was captured by his cousin Sadashivr&v and

remained with the Mardth^ till 1818.' About 1851 Pedgaon is

noticed as a much reduced town with 1900 inhabitants.

, Pimpalvaildi, sixteen miles north of J&mkhed, has a temple of
Ashviling Mah&dev said to be Hemddpanti. A new dome was built
about 1730 by a Gos&vi whose temple is on a hill above the village.
The temple is surrounded by a wall and to the west is a pond with
walled sides. A yearly fair is held in honour of the temple. Near
it to the north is a row of small temples of Bali^ Mah&deVj Bahiroba,
Bhav&niy and Khandoba^ all said to be of the same age.^

Pravara'sangam. See Toka.

Punta^mba on the God^vari twelve miles south-east of
Kopargaon^ with in 1881 a population of 578 7, is a large market town
with a station on the Dhond-Manm&d railway. The traders are
Mdrwdris and Br&hmans owning in all about £6000 (Bs. 60,000).
Pauidmba has fourteen modern temples and low flights of steps or
ghats to the Goddvari one built by Ahalydb^ the great temple-building
pincess of Indor (1765-1795) and auother by one Shivrdm Dumal
The chief temple is of about the middle of the seventeenth century
and belongs to Chdngdev a famous saint said to have had 1400
disciples. The other temples are of Annapuma^ Bdl&ji, Bhadrakdli-
fihaukar, Gcp&lkrishna, Jagadamba, K^bhairav, Kdshivishveshvar,
Keshavrd], Mahdrudrashankar, Bdmchandra^ Bdmeshipu*^ and
Trimbakeshvar.*

on the Nagar-Manmid road twelve miles south of

Kopargaon, with in 1872 a population of 2209 and in 1881 of 2389, is
the chief market town in the Kopargaon subdivision with a travellers'

Chapter ZIT.
Places.

Pbdgaon,

History,

PlMFALVAVDl.

PBAVASiSANOAM,

PuntImba.

RislTA*

\ East India and PeniA, 139, 141. ' Grant DaTs MartthAs, 306.

' Mr. A. F. Woodburn, C. & « Dr. Burgess' Lists of AntiqiuriAB Bemains, 113.

DBombaj

784

DISTRICTS.

Chaptor^XIT.
Places.

BSsuBi,

RijUB.

RAin)A Khxtbd.

KAnjanoaoit
Beshmukhi.

RiLsiN,

bnngalow. R&h&ta is the cliief centre of tlie grain trade in Xopsr-
gaon and has several rich merchants. Since the opening of thr
Dhond and Manm&d line the export ronte has been diverted frora
L&salgaon on the Peninsula railway in the Nfaik district to Chitali
ten miles to the south-east and PuiA^mba ten miles to the north-ea&v
of R4h&ta. A weekly market is fa^ld on Thursday. Rih4ta had n
subordinate judge's court till the 1st of January 1851. Th^
GoYemment school is now held in the old court-house.

Ba'huri, 19° 23' north latitude and 74° 42' east longitude, on the
north bank of the Mula twenty-five miles north of Ahi^dnagar. is a
sub-divisional head-quarters with a railway station and a weekly
market. The 1872 census showed a population of 4570 and the
1881 ceusus of 4304. The Nagar-Manmdd road passes west of the-
town and a road made in 1879-80 joins it with the railway 6tati<?n
three miles to the east. Bdhuri has independent MArwai;^ traders
owning about £15,000 (Rs. 1,50,000). The weekly market is held
on Thursday. Of three Government schools two are for boys and
one for girls.

Ra^jur ten miles west of Akola, with in 1872 a population of
2075 and in 1881 of 1693, is the third town in the Akola sub-di vision
with a weekly market on Monday and Tuesday. Bajur stands on
a raised plateau reached by a winding hill road about a mile and
a quarter from the village of Vita in the Fravara valley. B4jar is
the capital and head trading town of the surrounding D^g villages
and the population is chiefly Kolis^ Gujardt Vdnis, and Maratha
Shimpis owning about £4000 (Bs. 40,000) and trading on their own
account. A number of Yanj&ris engaged in the Konkan carrying
trade go and come by the difficult pass at the head of the Pravara
valley. The town has a Government school.

Banda Khurd, thirteen miles west of Akola has, on the Pravara.
a waterfall 200 feet high with a deep pool below full of large fish.^

Ba'njangaon Deshmuklli,^ two villages about ten miles
south-west of Eopargaon on the Sangamner road^ have an ancient
reservoir or bdro much like modern reservoirs. The only ornament
consists in a series of niches which appear to have held images.^

. Ba'sin, ten miles south-west of Karjat, with in 1881 a popula*
tion of 2455, is an old town with a Tuesday market two temples and
a well. Of the two temples one dedicated to K^dev&l Mahddev is
Hem&dpantiandhas nine domes to the hall or Tnandap, one dome to
the shrine, and one dome to the porch. The pillars are well carved
with figures on their capitals. In the centre of each dome is a star-like
carved stone. There are three shrines, the chief shrine opposite the
door and the other two^ one on each side of the hall. A atone
platfornf runs round the temple, about the level of the floor. The
temple dedicated to Devi, with two or three others, is said to have
been built by a V&ni about 1 780, on the site of an old temple. The

» Mr. A. F. Woodbum, C. S.

* BAnjangaon has a po]paIation of 576 and Desluniikhi of 1478.

* Indiaii Antiqiiary« V . 6*

^oaa.J

AHMADNAQAR.

785*

>rick lamp-pillars and a well attached to the old brick temple still
^emain. One of the lamp-pillars forty-three feet high and twenty-
.wo feet round at the top has a shaky stair inside. On the hill
(lopes west of Basin are pretty large ponds with broken dams.
The local story is that the ponas were favonrite Pendh&ri camping
^unds and the villagers broke the dams to get rid of the:
Pendhiris.^

In a copper-plate of the Western Ch&lnkya king VijayAditya
dated 700 and of the B&shtrakuta king Govind III. dated 807
lUsiyan or lUsin appears as the head-qnarters of a subdivision or
Ihukti.^ Abont 1851 Bilsin is noticed a^ a market town decayed
bat with a considerable population and several well built temples
and houses.

Batanffad Fort^ crowns the summit of a hill at the end of the
Pravara TOlley to the south-west of Ratanv^di village eighteen miles
westof Akola. The ascent to the fort passes by the left bank of the
Pravara for about a mile and then winds up through rich brushwood
on the eastern slopes of the hill. It then reaches a neck or
khind between the main hill and a detached pinnacle to the north
which rises almost as high as the hill and stands conspicuous from
many points of view. From the khind a series of very steep ravines
lead down on the west to the Konkan and the ascent to the fort
continues on the south up a very steep but broken brow to the foot
of a narrow and steep spur which projects north from the main
mass of the hill. To avoid the main mass a comparatively level
reach of road skirting the base of the scarp, climbs to the head of
the spur, and a turn in the path suddenly reaches the chief ap-
proach to the fortress. This is up a steep flight of large rock-cut
steps about six feet wide and two to three feet high rising up a
gorge or cleft in the scarp. The scarp appears to be about 150 feet
high, and the steps, which are cut out of the rock, at the bottom
occupy on the northern face the whole width about half-way up
where they have been much worn by a torrent which apparently is
the cause of the gorge. About thirty feet below the crest of the
Bcarp a rock-cut doorway with a guard-room partly cut and partly
built leads within tbe defences. The stairs are continued for soma
distance first in a direct line and afterwards at right angles to the
original direction. After passing through a second rock-cut gate*
^^ the road opens out on the plateau. Fragments of the teak
doors of the gate still lie near the aoorways, which are arched an^
have ogee-shaped vertices and rosette ornaments on the haunches*
Except at the north and south the plateau, from a mile to a
mile and a half round, is encumbered by a worn ridge running
north and south which slopes in many places almost to thc^edge of
the scarp. The remains of a breast wall crowning the scarp appear
in places and about the middle of the west face is agate for the
ascent from the Konkan. This west gate has a very carefully
hidden approach in the solid rock so made as to cover a force leaving

Chapter ZIT.
Places.

FOBT. '

* Mr. A. F. Woodbum, C.8, ' Indian Anti^uaiy, VL 59,

. s Contributed by Mr. J. King, C.S.

[Bomtejr

736

DISTRICTS.

Chapter^XIT-
Flaces.

Ratanoad

FOBT.

Hi&Uifry.

RATANViDI.

Rehekurx.

8AN0AM2Y1B«

the fort. This gate is now choked by stones washed down frm
the ridga At the south end> a little above the edge of the scun^.
is a roand tower about twenty feet high and fourteen feet ai
diameter. It is entered by an arched doorway about six feet froo:
the ground. Not far from the tow^ is a bastion on the scarp whiirl
appears to have mounted two gnss. On the highest point of the
ridge are the ruins of an oblong building (20' x 14') probabiy pert
of the citadel. The hill has numerous cisterns one of thezn aboot
six feet below the highest point. The best water is from a spniiir
on the east face near the edge of the scarp. This is said to he oa«
of the sources of the Pravara^ and has a small image of Mah^ef
marked with vermilion and worshipped by the people. Grood water
is also found in a carefully hidden underground cistern near the
Konkan gate.

About 1 763 Batangad was among the Ahmadnagar forts taken
by the Koli insurgent J&vji who had joined Baghun4thrdv. In 181 S
Batangad was the head-quarters of a district of five makdls^ the
taraf of EAjur with thirty-six villages and the iaraf of Alang with
twenty-two villages above the Sahy&dris and below the Sahjadria
the pargana of Sokugli with sixty villages, the pargana of Vidi
with twenty-two villages, and the taraf of Jurusrosi with sixteen
villages. The forts of Alang and Kulang were subordinate to it. In
1820 Batangad was occupied by irregulars under the command of
Captain Gordon. In the 1824 disturbances of Bamji Bhangria his
chief supporter was Govindrdv formerly commandant of Batangad.

Batanva'di, eighteen miles west of Akola, with in 1881 a popn*
lation of 564, lies at the source of the Pravara. The villa^ has %
small ruined Hem^panti temple of Ananteshvar of about the
twelfth century. The temple has a very high dome over the shrine
like the dome on the old temple near the Harischandragad caves
and strikingly like the door of the famous Buddha Gaya temple oear
Benares. In front of the shrine door is a handsome canopy. The
inside of the shrine looks modem, but the rest of the temple inside
and outside is covered with handsome and ekborate carving.^

Behekuri village, six miles north-west of Karjat, has a HemiicI*
panti temple of K4mndth Mah&dev with twelve domes to the hall
and one to the shrine. Near the door is the bull or Nandi and oo
a detached stone near the Nandi is a cobra. Bound the temple is a
wall capped with large stones. Near the temple is a fine old poad
with an earthen dam. The pond is very large and though mack
silted holds a good deal of water.*

SanffamnOTj 19^34' north latitude and 74^1 6' east longitude, at the
meeting of ike Mahdlungi and the Pravara, is a municipal town and a
subdivisfonal head-quarters about fifty miles north-west of Ahmad-
nagar. The 1872 census showed 9978 people, 8214 Hindus and 1764
Musalmdns. The 1881 census showed 8796 or a decrease of 1182 of
whom 7183 were Hindus, 1603 Musalm^s, seven Christians, and
three Others. Besides the ordinary sub-divisional revenue and police

I Mr. A. F. Woodbnm, C. S.

* Mr. A. F. Woodbnm, C. S.

>eccati.)

AHMADNAGAR.

737

>ffices Sangamner has an assistant collector's bungalow^ a post ofBce,
t dispensary, and markets on Wednesday and Saturday, the
A^ednesday market being only for the sale of rice. Sangamner
J ad formerly a paper industry. ^ The municipality established in
I860 had in 1882-83 an income of £588 (Rs. 5880) and an
expenditure of £615 (Rs. 6150). * The dispensary was established
n 1873. In 1883 it treated fifty-one in-patients and 9644 out-
L>atient8 at a cost of £92 10^. (Rs. 925). To the east of the town is a
little domed tomb of Ehwdj4h Muhammad S4dek who is said to
^ave been the teacher of the emperor Alamgir, The tomb bears
:\vo inscriptions dated 1659 (h. 1070).^ The inscriptions are :

The Bargah of the worker of Eoramat is at the propitious hour, to the
people a place of pilgrimage, where their diffloulties are solvecL Diffloulties
l>eGome easy to these Nekshbendi ESiwajahs ; the royal Ehwajah is a turner
Away of calamities by grace and blessing. When he arrived in his wanderings
and traTollings from. Bokhara the manif ester of the possession of the Vila'yat
enjoyed glory andpomp. Ka'mel A'rif built this mausoleum in the auspicious
year 1070 of the exile.

The second inscription is :

The Dargah of His ExoeUenoy, Ehw^jah Muhammad Sa'dek son of His
Sxoellenoy KutabaUa Ktab, Syed Muhammad Bokha known as Ehwajah
Behah-al-din Nakshbendison of His ExceUency Ima'm Hasan Alsikri Ealhy
in reality a Shaikh of the religion known as Earkhy is a protection from
the misfortunes of times by the nobilty of the Khwajah Muhammad Shah.
Assistance from God and a speedy victory. And do thou bear good tidings
to true believers.

To the east of the town near the assistant collector's bungalow is an

old Muhammadan graveyard^ one of the headstones in which is a

pillar from a Hindu temple. A bath-room or hamdrnkhdna of the

old town fort has been turned into a tomb by a saint in whose

memory a green flag waves and a light burns. Sangamner has a

mosque with the inscription ' Established by Divine favour H. 1119'

that is A.D. 1707-8. A little to the south of Sangamner the Poona-

Natsik road climbs to a lofty plateau by a diflScult pass called

Hanmant NAik's BAri. Near the top, on the ridge ot a natural

trap-dyke, a stone pillar covers the remains of a Bbil chief

named Hanmant NAik. Hanmant NAik made war upon i5al&ji

B4jir&v Peshwa. The Mardthds came from Poona and had a short

skirmish with the Bhils in which Hanmant was shot in his chest.

The Bhils buried him here and set up this stone. Tombs of other

Bhils have been built here at various periods since the Ndik's death.

Th# Bhils hold the spot sacred and honour it by a yearly carouse

aud a slain cock. Mardth^s believe in the Naik's power of healing

broken legs and arms if propitiated by an offering of a model of the

broken limb made of ^gle marmelos or bel wood. Close by the

chief tomb are two or three smaller tombs, square platforms

surmounted by little obelisks about seven feet high, fci 1679

Shivdji was attacked near Sangamner by a Moghal force. Part of

his troops were thrown into confusion and Siddoji NimbAlkar, bne

of his best officers, was killed. Shivdji led a desperate charge and

by great personal exertion retrieved the day.* In a revenue state-

Chapter XIV.

Places.
Sanoamker.

1 Indian Antiquary, V. 7-
s 771it— 93

3 Grant Duff's MaiAthAs, 129.

[Bombaj QmMm

788

DISTRICTS.

Chaptar ZIY.
Places.

SlNOAlfySR.

SHIVQAOy.

SBIniFUS.

ment of aboat 1790 Sangamner appears as the head of a sarhir i/
eleven parganda including the greater part of the Ndsik district wiu
a total revenue of £185,508 (Rs. 18,55,080) .^ About 1874 the feai^
divisional officer of Sangamner ^as a curious person a sainted • -
dev m^mlatddr. He was very modest and unassuming and h^i
early distinguished himself by tb great respect for human at:>i
animal suffering. He was held in great veneration by all cla«is^
of people in the Maharashtra except the hill tribes, and pilgnnf
flocked from great distances and by the most toilsome paths to h}\
at the feet of the dev mdmlatddr.^

Shevgaon north latitude 19^21' and east longitude 75^18', for^v
miles north-east of Ahmadnagar is a sub-divisional head-qaarterf.
with inl881a population of 2948. Shevgaonisa ruined town on a witic*

flain and joined with Paithanand Ahmadnagar by an excellent rodd.
t is surrounded by a wall and a water-course on the north. Besides
the sub-divisional revenue and police offices Shevgaon has a 8ufida7
market^ post office, dispensary, school, and temples. The dispen/^n'
was established in 1876. In 1883 it treated twenty in-patieuts anj
2038 out-patients at a cost of £82 14». (Rs. 827). Facing the subdir^-
sional office is a very large stone mosque a handsome stone baildin?
(54' X 36') raised on a plinth six feet high. The roof which consists
of vaulted compartments rests on cut-stone pillars with pointed
arches. The stones forming the front or east vaults, which look like
very flat domes, are cemented with lead. The back domes are hieiior
and built horizontally apparently of brick. In front of the inot$qae
is a reservoir with regular built conduits and a large number of
tombs all out of repair. The mosque was built by public subscriptiou
about 1610 (h. 1020) and in 1630 (h. 1041) endowed by the emperor
ShAh Jah^n (1627-1658) with 480 highds of land.^ In 1366, the
rebel Bairdm Eh^n was defeated by a Bahmani army near Shevgaon>
In a revenue statement of about 1790 Shevgaon appears as tbt^
head of a pargana in the Ahmadnagar aarkdr with a reveoae of
Bs. 2,34,228.^ In 1818 great depredation and cruelties were com-
mitted in Shevgaon by one Dharm^ji Pratdprav. About this time
on account of the feuds of Sindia Holkar and the Peshwa amonir
whom the neighbouring lands had been divided since 1 752 Shevgauu
was most wretched with not even fifteen inhabited houses.*^ In 1846
Shevgaon is noticed as a prosperous town with 800 housesJ About
1852 Shevgaon had a population of 3900 of whom 120 were shop-
keepers traders and moneylenders.® *

Shira'pur, on the Kukdi about fifteen miles west of P&mer, with
in 1881 a population of 410^ has some pillars and a small Dra vidian
cornice built into and lying about two small temples, llie Kukdi,

^ The eleven parg^nds were Sangamner Hs. 8,16«637, Ahmadftbad tmd P4tvA4
Ba. 2,83,373, Akola R . 63,446, Belava Bs. 35,955, Trimbak Rs. 8482, Japberakad or
Chambar (Chdndor) Rs. 2,52,866, Dadori (Dindori)Hs. 37,684, Bh&darphal Rs. 1S.SI.S.
Smdhar or Sinnar Rs. 28,890, Gnlshanabad or N^ik Rs. 1,67,766, o&d Varia
Kb. 1,17,103. -Waring's MarAthAs, 238-239, - Ind. Ant. V. 89.

> Major S. Babington. * Grant DaflTs Mar&thto, 25. ^ Waring's Marithi», 239.

^ Rev. Rec. 10 of 1848, 81. 7 Hev. Rec, 10 of 1848, 81. « See above p. ia22.

Itecaa.)

AHMADNAGAB.

739

ailing' thirty feet over a wall of trap, has a narrow and deep channel
jrith pot-holes and honeycombs worn by the stream. The water-
fall which is called Knnd Mdlvi, has in it a natural figure of a lion
fcnd is held sacred as are the fish in the pools which are believed
to grow to the size of men^. Cljse to the fall are two small modem
temples where yearly fairs are held in Chaitra or March -April.

Sidlltelc on the Bhima about twenty miles south-west of Karjat
and three miles south of Pedgaon^ with in 1881 a population of 273^
has the remains of a temple of Ganpati.

Sirur, twenty-four miles north of J&mkhed, has a temple of
Siddheshvar Mah&dev. The hall has nine domes and cobra oma-
vaents on the pillar capitals. The shrine is opposite the door and
has a well carved front and entrance. In front of the door is a
single dome with a Nandi. To the left of the hall is another shrine.

Sona'i about twelve miles south-west of Nev&sa is a large market
town, with in 1872 a population of 5254 and in 1881 of 5483. The
1872 censas showed 4981 Hindus 268 Musalm^ns and five Christians;
the 1881 census showed 5044 Hindus, 295 Musabndns^ eighty-four
Christians^ and sixty Others. Sondi is sarrounded by a rich plain, and
is divided by a water-course into the Peth occupied by merchants and
the Kasha occupied by husbandmen. Sondi was formerly the head-
quarters of a petty division and is described in 1827 as a hasba
with 313 houses and forty-five shops.* It has an American
Mission church which was built in 1861.

pnda, 18° 41' north latitude and 74° 44' east longitude,
ed Ch^pi]phargQnda. from Govind a pious Ohtobhilr, is
the head-quarters of a sub-division thirty-two miles south of
Ahmadnagar, with in 1881 a population of 5278. The town lies on
the Sarasvati a feeder of the Bhima. and, besides the sub-divisional
revenue and police offices, has a sub-judge's CQurt, a Monday
market, four Hemd.dpanti temples, and two mansions belonging )to
H. H. Sindia. The Sarasvati runs dry soon after the rains though
water can be found by digging in the sand. The trade of Shrigoada
is small, but may improve when a good road joins it with the Pimpri
railway station about three miles to the west. The 1872 census
showed 6175 people of whom 5636 were Hindus and 639 Musalmfes.
The 1881 census showed 5278 or a decrease of 897, of whom 4849
w^re Hindus 424 Musalmdns and five Christians.

The four Hem6dpanti temples are of Hatkeshvar, Mahalakshmi,
Rakhum^,andYithoba. Vithoba's temple, which is built of largeHocks
of stone without cement in imbedded courses,' has a hall or mandap
(28' X 21') of nine domes supported on six pillars. There is one dome
oyer the shrine and one over a portico in front. The capiMs of the
pilasters have cobra heads and other figures are carved on the pillar
capitals. The door step in front of the temple has an inscriptiot, but
the steps appear to be modern. Round the door of the shrine are-
two rows of figures, the inner row of women and the outer.ppw of
Daonkeys. On each side of the raised block which forms the

■r-r

Chapter Xiy.
Places.

SiDHTHK.

SiauR.

SoKil.

Shbioonda.

TempUi.

^ Indian Antiqumry, V. 14.

' Gunes* Itinerary, 25.

[Bombay Ciatcttar

740

DISTRICTS.

Clispter ZIV.
Places.

Shbiqozida.
Temple*,

Sxrp&

TAaiKAU.

TiKLL

TILAN6SI.

Thugaok.

TOLDZ.

TOKA.

threshold of the shrine is carved a tiger head. Carred blocks Btanc
out from the top of the entrance to the shrine and from the middl''
of the front of the hall. Bakhami.i's temple ia near VithoW.*
temple and is in the same style ^ bat smaller. The temple <^f
Hatkeshvar is in the same style though plainer^ with the saint
number of domes. Cobras are cafVed on the pillar capitals. Tht
front of the hall or mandap is bailt up with bricks. The temple oi
Mahdlakshmi has the same number of domes. The sbrine and
parts of the hall or mandap have been built up. The temple is not
used. About 1600 Shrigonda or Chdmbhargonda ia noticed as the
residence of SHesho N&ik Punde the banker of Shivdji's gra&d*
father Mdloji.^ In 1 635 Shdhdji was driven from the country aboat
Shrigonda.* In 1853 Shrigonda is noticed as a much frequented
market town belonging to Sindia^ a large and wealthy place.^

Supe on the Poona-Nagar road seven miles south-east of P£rneTt
with in 1881 a population of 1007> has some white and black marble
gods which were brought by a former proprietor of the village a*
the spoils of a Central Indian raid.^

Talia'kari, eight miles north-west of Akola, has a rained
HemAdpanti temple of Devi.

TalLlij six miles north of Karjat, has a ruined HemAdpanti temple
of Khandeshvar Mahadev. The temple stones are said to have been
used in building the famous fort of Paranda in the Niz&m^s territories.

Telangsi, eleven miles east of Jamkhed, has a Hem&dpanti temple
of Jatashankar and a well or hdro. The hall has nine domes and
a pit-like shrine with a cobra« The pillar capitals have cobra
ornaments. The well^ not far from the temple, has foar stairs
descending from the middle of the four sides. Between the stairs in
the wall are niches. The well is broken at one corner.

Thugaon on the Pi.rner-Akola road two miles east of Akola
has the remains of a Hem&dpanti temple which has been wilfully
destroyed.

Tirde village, about fifteen miles north-west of Akola, with in 1881
a population of 1042, has in the hills near it a ruined elephant stable.

Toka and Fravara'sangam are two holy towns, Toka on the
left and Pravarasmgam on the right bank of the Pravara at iU
meeting with the Godavari seven miles north-east of Nevasa.
Both the towns are regarded as holy and are chiefly inhabited dv
Brdhmans. Both have several modern temples some of which
were destroyed by Nizam Ali in 1761 shortly after the battle of
Panipat.* The chief temple dedicated to Siddheshvar Mahidev
appears from a worn-out Devndgari inscription at the south
gate to Bave been built in 1767 (Samvat 1823) at a cost of £9300
(Rs. 98,000) by a Brahman Vishnu Mahadev Gajre, The temple
is strongly built of black stone and has near it smaller shrines of

> Grant Duff's MardthAs, 41. > Bom. Gov. Sel. CXXIII. 106,

' Grant Duff's Mar^thiiB, 51 . * Indian Antiquary, V. 15.

^ Grant Duffs Mar^thds, 325.

leccan]

AHMADNAGAR.

741

Chapter XIV.
Places.

VAmbhori.

Vishnu and Devi. Flights of steps lead from the temple to the river.
>D the Mahdahivrdtra in February-March a fair is held which though
low poorly attended used formerly to last one to two months and to
>0 attended by about 50^000 people.^ In 1827 CSaptain Clunes
xientions Pravadlsangam as an inam village with 150 houses and
seventeen shops and Toka as a well built Br&hman village and a
post-runner's station.^

TTa'nibllori with in 1 88 1 a popalation of 4608 is a large and wealthy

mtinicipal town three miles east of Khadamba railway station and

aiae miles south-west of Bdhuri. A good road running over the

Dongargan pass joins Y^mbhori with Ahmadnagar and a country

trctck running round a spur of the Khospuri hill range joins

V&mbhori wiUi the main road to Paithan and Aurangabad. Vdmbhori

is the head-quarters of M^rwd.r V&nis, the seat of a large M^rwdr

commanity, and the centre of their exchange and banking business.'

Some of the houses are large and well built but the streets are narrow

crooked and ill aired. The town has a brisk trade in grain and

salt and a large cart-making industry. The weekly market is held

on Monday. The M^rwd.ri8 have built a handsomely furnished

temple of Bd.ldji. Near Vdmbhori is a beautiful shady garden which

forms a favourite camping ground. In 1827 Captain Clunes

describes Ydmbhori as a kasha and a place of great traffic in grain

with 900 houses and 150 shops.^

Vadgaon Darya nine miles north-west of Pamer, with in 1881 Vadoaon Dabta
a population of 252, has, enclosed in a beautiful wild glen^ some
natural caverns under a cliff near a waterfall. The caverns have
been altered by modem masonry. They have a few coarse sculptures
on the rock and on detached stones of no architectural interest.

ITekdare about fifteen miles north-west of Akola, with in 1881 a Yjekda&k.
popalation of ^49^ has two caves on a hill dedicated to Mah&k&li.

^ Mr. T. S. Hamilton, C. S. ; Bom. Got. SeL CXXIU. (New Series) 12 ; and local
iaf ormation. ' Clunes* Itinerary, 25.

^ Deccan Riota Commission Beport, 83, * Clunes' Itinerary, 25.

[

INDEX.

A^ccount Books t 298.

▲cquiflitioxi (1818 • 1870) : 421.

^dil ShUi Kings (U89 -1686) .Hstof, 357 note 2.

Adula: river, 7.

Agnates : 16.
Ag:e Details : 46-47.

Alixnad I. (1480 - 1508) : first Niz4m ShiUii king ;
early career; makes Jannar his head -quarters ;
wars with Mdhmud Shih Bahmani II. (1482-
1518); his success; assumes independence;
reduces Danda lUjpuri ; founds Ahmadnagar
(14d4); his wars with Mahmud Begada
(1459 - 1511) king of Oujanit ; seizes Daulatabad
and reduces the chiefs of BdgUn and G^tia to
fliubmission; his wars with Yusuf Adil ShAh
(1489- 1510) ; death ; character, 356-361.

Ahmadnagar: town, siege (1562), 369; (1596);
382-384 ; siege and fall (1599), 386, 387 and note
1 ; plundered (1665) by Shiviji, 399 ; Aurangzeb's
death at (1707), 403; under the Haidarabad
Niz4ms (1723-1748). 404; ceded to Sindia
(1797), 409 ; taken (1803) by Oeneral Wellesley,
411- 412 ; city details, description, walls and gates,
houses, sheps, streets, divisions, population,
markets, climate, health, drainage, water-supply,
old water channels, management, scavenging,
offensive trades, burning and burial grounds,
roads, medical relief, education, public garden,
famine (1876-77), trade, imports and exports,
industries, cantonment, fort, objects, history,
651-711.

Ahmad Nizdm Shih II. (1504-1505) : ninth

Ki2&m Shihi king; dissensions; the Moghals
under Prince Mur&d appear near Ahmadnagar;
ChAnd Bibi appointed regent; Ahmadnagar
closel}* besieged ; Chdnd Bibi's gallant and heroic
defence ; distress in the Moghal camp ; the
Moghals raise the siege ; treaty with the Moghals ;
internal disorders quelled by Ibrahim Adil Sh4h ;

Ahmad Sh&h deposed ; Bahadur Shih proclaimed
king, 381-385.
Akoia : sub-divisional survey, 483-489; sub-divi*
sion details, area, aspect, hills, rivers, soil, cli-
mate, cultivation, irrigation, crops, people ;

roads, markets, trade, crafts, survey, changei

587-592; town, temples, 711-712.

Alang-Kulang : forts, 4, 732, 736.

Ald-uddin Khilji: Delhi Emperor (1295-1316)
352 note 5.

Alienated villages : 556 - 557

A'ndhrabhrityas : Beccan kings (b. c. 90 • a. i
200), 351.

Arable Area : 245.

Arangaon: viUage, temple, 712.

Arbitration Courts : 562.
Area: i.

AsadKhin: Bijdpnr minister (1512-1549), 362
364.

Ashok (BC 240) : edicts of, 351.
Aspect : 2, 3.

Assessed Taxes : 569.
Asvalya : hill, 4.

Att&rs : MusalmAn perfumers, 226.
Aadichs : Gujarilt Br&hmans, 55.
Anndha : hill-fort, 4, 732.
Aorangabad : origin of the name, 399 .
Anrangzeb (1658-1707) : Viceroy of the Deccai

(1650) ; his march towards Ahmadnagar (1684)

his death (1707), 399-403.

Babing^n : Major S., 49 note 1.
Bdgbins : MusalmAn fruiterers, 229.
BahiLdargad *• building of the fort of, 400.
Bah&dnr Niz4m Sh^ (1506-1500) : tenth Nizdu

Sh&hi king; Muhammad Khdn Cbdnd Bibi*
friend and adviser appointed minister ; Muhaxp
mad Kh4n becomes the sole master ; a Bijipu
army sent against Muhammad Kh4n blockad«i
Ahmadnagar fort for four months ; Muhamma^
KhAn calls in the aid of the Moghal Commander
in-Chief in Berar ; the Moghals advance ; battlf
of Sonpat (1597) ; Nehang Kh&n the new minii
ter*s scheme of seizing Chdnd Bibi ; the Moghal
again besiege the fort ; murder of Ch&nd Bibi '
fall of Ahmadnagar (1599), 385-387.
Bah&dur Shih : king of Gujahlt (1525-1535), 363^
364.

744

INDEX.

Bahmanig: Mnsalmin kiDgs of Ralbarga(1347-

1490), 353-358.
Saines: Mr. J. A., 16 note 1.
Bairdm Kh&n : Bahmani noble (1366), 354.

B&jir&yPesliwa (1796-1817) : flight of, 4U.

Bakarkas&bs : MnaalmAn mutton butchers, 229.
Bdl&gh&t : flat elevated coantry, 5.

Balance Sheet : 570.
B&leshyar : range, 4 - 5.
Bangan : husbandmen, 85-86.
B&ngdis : blanket-weavers, 92-93.
Baagles : making of, 350.

Bankers : 297.

Barbosa : Portuguese traveller (1510), 362.
Barley ' f<xxl grain, 267.
BimtgarB : MusalmAn firework-makers, 227.
Basay : Reviver (1167) of the Ling&yat faith, 82.
Bassein : treaty of (1802), 410.

Beggars : 177 • 188.
BeULpnr : town, 712-713.
Beld^rs : quarrymen, 93-95.
Belyandi Kolhir : village, temple, 713.
Betel-leaf : growing of, 276.
Bhadbhunj&S ; grain parchers, 95.
Bh&goji Ndik: BhU rebel (1857-1859), 418-419.
Bh41gaon : village, temple, 713.
Bhangis : sweepers, 164 - 165.
Bharddis : dancing beggars, 188-191.
Bh&todi : village, lake, 252-254 ; 713.
Bhatydr&S : Musalm4n cooks, 230.
Bhils: early tribe, 191-193; massacre of (1806),
414, 724.

Bhima : river, 8.

Bhing&r : town, 713-714.

BMstis : Musalmin water-carriers, 227,

Bhoifl : fishers, 153-157.

BhonsUkS : Mar&tha famUy, 388- 389.

Bhorpis : strolling players, 177 - 178.

Bij&pnr : Malik Ambar's invasion of ( 1624), 394.

Births and Deaths : 585 -586.
Birthplace Betails : 46.

Bissell : Reverend L., 235 note 1.
Bohorfa : Musalmiin traders, 230*

Borrowers : 302-320.
Boundaries : i.
Br&hmans: 49-64.
Br&hmanyidi : vUlage, 714.
Brass-wares: 350.

British : l&nd administration under the, 433-557.

Bnffaloes : 34-35.

Building Trap : 16-17.

Burhinahad: city,382.383.

Borh&n Nii&m (1508-1553): second Kis&m

Sh^ king ; minority ; success of the Protector
Mukamil KhAn over Im4d-ul-Mulk ruler of
Berdr^ assumes power; wars with Tsmitol Adil

Shih (1510-1534), with ImAd ShUh of Ba
with BahAdur Sh&h of Gujarat (1»»
acknowledges the superiority of
has an interview at Bnrhinpur with
who confers on him the title of
verses in a war with Bljipnr; m^k^eft '^
state religion ; again at war with Bi jApax ;
character, 361-367.
BnrhdnNizim II. (1590-159^) : «^«^nti.

Sh^hi king ; restores the Shta fmi^b. ; i-
the Bijdpur territory, but is repoiffc^i
heavy loss ; marches against Revdan<i» mud
Korla fort ; the Portuguese are closely
reverses, 378-380.
Bnrke : Mr. C T., 251 note 1, 670, C74.

Cssar Frederick : Venetian traveUer [1^6^, s:%

Canals: 254-25&

Candy : Mr. R. E., 651 note 1.

Capitalists: 294-295.

Carriers : 342- 343.

Cattle Diseases : 583 - 584.

Censns Betails : 46-48.

Cesses: 450-451, 464.

Chimbhdrs : shoemakers, 165-168.

Ch&nd Bibi : daughter of Husain Nic&m 5h4h < 1
1565) ; appointed Regent (1595 - 1599) ;
gallant and heroic defence of Ahmadnaii^ar f*i
forces the Moghals to raise the siege ; q«^-'
internal disorders with the help of Ibn^:-:
' Adil Sh^h ; Nehang Khin*s scheme to tx."
Chdnd Bibi ; Chdnd Bibi besieged in the fort : ' -
Moghals besiege the fort ; her isolated posiu*-
her murder ; her character, 382 • 386.

Changes : territorial, 434, 435 and notes 1 ai»i i
531.

Changiz Khfin : Ahmadnagar general (1572)^ T--
373.

Chapman : Mr. F, S., 419.

Ch&ran Yanjiris : see LamAns.

Chichli: village, pond, 714.

Chincholi : village, 714. •

Chitp&vans : see Konkanasths.

Chitrakathis : picture showmen, 178.

Cholera : 548, 550, 551, 562. 714.

Christians : 235 - 2.39.

Civil Courts : (1870- 1884), 558 - 559.
Civil SnitS : (1835 - 1839). 473 ; (1870- 1882). 559-
560.

Climate: 12-15.
Communities : 48-49.

Condition : of the dUtrict (1818), 415-416.
Cotton : cultivation of, 270-272.
Conssmaker : Major, 33 note 1, 275 note 1, 26a

■d

• * :i

INDEX.

745

• 3^

I J 847*380.

imen: 02-143;3O2,
l: 563-564.

Area: 245-246. ,

mcy: 299,

ims : birth, marriage, and death, 54. 66-67, 61,
W, 69,71, 74. 76-76, 79-82, 84-85, 94, 96-
98, 99, 100-103, 104-106, 109, 111, 112, 116.
120,122.124, 126.127.129. 136, 142-143,
'i^f'.l^*^^^' 168.169, 161. 165, 167-168,
• 171, 176-177, 180, 186, 190, 192, 193, 202-206,
»- 210, 214, 222-224. '

Is I Mruahn&a brokers, 227.
^- i : wood-ash tilUge, 261-262.

g J liill country, aspect of, 2.
I iell: Major H., 22 note 1,27 note 1,420.

s". 387,15?"'' '''''' **^'" Ahmadnagar (1599).

jis J Musalmia tailo», 227.
thii : hill, tomb, 714.

ilatriv Sindla (1803) : 410.
«an Biots (1875) : 318-319.
hi Govemorg (1318-1347) : 363.
dressed dasses : 163-177.

ih : plain country, aspect of, 2, 3.

(hasths : BrAhmans, strength, appearance, divi-

on», langoage, houses, food, dress, calling, reU-

lon, daily life, customs, condition, 50-54,

Val£^n : viUage, well, 714.

rdaithan : village, temple, 714.

rgiri YUavs : Hindu kings (1170.1310), 352.

iVrokhfa : Br^Uunans, 54-55.

lagya : hui, 4.

langars: cowmen. 149-150.
l&mr Fort : aiege of (1569), 371.
lergaon : village, temple, 714-716.
AOLe : viUage, caves, 715.

hond aad Dfanmid Railway : 330-331.

hora : river, 8.

boija : vOlage, temples, 716,

ilOrs : tanners, 168-169.

itunya : hill, 4.

iliwar EUn : Bij&pur minister (1592), 379.

jpensaiies : 582.

tan : village, temple, fair, 716.

lyineshvar: Mamtha Brilhman poet and saint,
;i271 - 1300) 352 ; his pillar at NovAsa, inscription,
729 and note 5.

imestic Animffls : 83 *39.

ngargan: viUage, Happy Valley, fair, 716.
B 772— 94

Dravids iBr&hmans, 55.

DadheAyar : hill, 4.

Dnellixig : 361 and note 1.

DurgMevi Famine (1306-1407) : 356.

Early Hindna : revenue settlementsunder the, 423.

Ekdara : fort, 732.

Elphinston : Mr. J.. 651 note 1, 722 notes 2 and 3.

Exchange Bills : 297-298.
Excise : 568.

Exports : 343-344, 687, *

Fairbank : Reverend S. B., 29 note 1, 41 note 1.
Fairs: 341-342.

Fallows : 259.

Family Gk>ds : 50, 62, 68, 72, 73, 75, 76, 89, 91,
95, 106, 107, 116, 118, 124, 127, 130, 137, 141,
144, 147, 149, 154, 162, 166, 170, 186, 212.

Family Stocks : 50, 55. 56, 58. 64.

Famines: 284-293, 396-. 397.

Fatteh Shin: becomes regent (1626-1632); his
wars with the Moghals ; confined by Murtaza ;
his release ; murders Murtaza ; sets an infant on
the throne and submits to the Moghals ; again
holds his own against the Moghals ; is shut up in
Danlatabad ; is forced to surrender j enters the
Moghal service, 395-397.

Ferishta : Musalmto historian of the Deccan
(1570-1611). 375 and note 1, 376,

Ferries: 334.

Field Plagnes : 280-284.

Field Seasons : 243-244.

Field Tools: 246-248.

Field Works : 268-259.

Fishes: 41-45:

Forbes : Lieutenant (1830), 417.

Forests: description, trees, timber, firewood,

minor produce, guards, stafl^ sowing, revenue,

offences, 17-22.
Fowls: 39.

Francois Fyrard : French traveller (1601-1608)
391. '*

Chune Birds: 32-33.

Gangthadi : the Qodilvari valley, ced
the MardthAs, 404.

Ganjibhoyra : village, temple, 716.

Garden): victory of the (1490), 357.

Garden Crops : 276 - 277.

Ganndis : MuaalmAn bricklayers, 231.

746

INDEX.

OayandiS : masonB, 95-97.

Gavlifl: cowkeepen, 150-158.

Oell : Lieutenant (1847), 418.

Gtoology : trap, columnar basalt, nodular basalt,

basaltic dykes, iron clay, boulders, sheet-rock,

pot-holes, 9 - 12.
Ghadshifl : musicians, 144.

Ghair Makadis : MusalmAns, 231.
Gh&tsari : hill, 4.

Ghisddis : wandering blacksmiths, 97-99.

Ghod: river, 8-9.

Ghotan : town, temple, 716.

Girls' Schoolfl : 576.

Godivari : river, 6-7. *
Golaka : see Govardhans.
Gondhegaon : village, temple, 717.
Gondhlifl : beggars, 178 - 179.
GoniwU&s : Musalmdn grain sellers, 228.

GonJchndth : hill, 5.

Gos&yis : beggars, 179.

GovardhailB : Br&hmans, 55.

Govind III : fiiishtrakuta king (785.810), 352.

Graham : Lieutenant (1857-1859), 419.

Grain Adyances : 301 - 302.
Grain Stores : 259.
Gnjar&ti Br&hmans : 55-57.
Gnjar&t Jains : traders, 65 - 67.

Gujarit Vdnis : traders, 67-69.

Gnnj41a : hiu, 5.

Gnray Fimpri : village, temple, 717.

H.
Hafiz Wasir Ali^ Mr., 214 note l.

Hajdms : MusalmAn barbers, 232.

Hamilton : Mr. T. S., l note 1, 416 notes 1 and

2, 651 note 1, 711 note 4, 713 note 1, 741 note 1 ;

Mr. W. R., 705 note 1.
Hanga : river, 9.

Happy Valley : 716.

Haiishcliandragad : range, 5-6 ; fort, rainbow

phenomenon, caves, 717-719.
Henxy : Lieutenant, 418.

Hereditary officers : 436-437.

Hight : Mr. G. A., 17 note ), 22 note 1.

HiU Passes: 332-333.

Holdings : 244.

Honya Bhigoji : KoU rebel (1873), 420.

Horses: 35-36. *

Hospital f -682.

Honses : 48.

Howard : Mr. W. S^ 16 note 2.

Hnsain Niz&m 81i4h (1653-1565) : third Nist&m

Shdhi king : parties at Ahmadnagar ; Husain be-
comes master of Parftnda fort; carries his arms into
Rh(Uidesh ; Vijayanagar, Bijdpur, and Golkonda
in league against him ; the allies besiege Ahmad-

nagar and force Hnsain to soe for termi ; n>>
Ahmadnagar fort ; Ahmadnagar again be< ( -
the allies ; Husain's flight to the Junn*r hil
allies suffer severely from a flood, and r^-*
siege ; the Musalmin kings of the Deccan in I.
against •Vijayanagar; battle of TAlikoti. .
throw of Vijayanagar ; Huaain's death, %^'<
Hnsbandmen : 85 • 92, 241 • 242 ; condition :
1884) o^ 304-320.

Ibrihim Hiz^ Sbih (ISM) ; eighth 5

Shdhi king; internal disorders; invado
Bijipur country ; is shot in an action, 3&0 >

Imports : 344 . 345, 683.

Indian Millet : cropping of, 262-264.

Indigenons Schools : 575.

Indnstries : see Crafts.

Infirmities : 582 - 583.

Initiation ceremony : MAnbhiiv, 183.

Institutions : Niz^m Shiihi, 388.

Instmction: schools, staff, cost, progress:
vate schools ; mission schools; readers and iv-nt
school details ; town schools ; village «d«
newspapers ; libraries, 573 - 581.

Insurance : 299.

Interest: rates of, 300-301.

Investment: 296-297.

Irrigation: 250-258.

Ism&el Niz&m Shih (1588-1590) : axih ^

Shdhi king; JamAl Khto appointed misv
hb rapacity ; SaUbat Kh4n released from cw
ment; he marches towards the capital, b
defeated ; JamlU Khibi's wars with Bij&p«'
defeat and death ; IsmAers flight and oouHdco
377 -37a

Tacquemont : French traveller (1832), 306-3>
Jah&ngir Kh&a : Bahmani general (1485), 35

Jail outbreak (1821) : 416.

Jails : 566.

Jain Shimpis : tailors, 99^103.

J&is : bastard Br&hmans, 57 -58b

Jalgaon : town, 720.

Jamil Khin : a military officer (15S8), 3h.

Jambus : BriUunans, 58.

Jtoidied : sub-division survey 524 -528 ; (^^
sion details, area, aspect, hills, soil, dir
rainfall, cultivation, crops, people, n)«^<f
kets, trade, crafts, survey, changes* ^^'
town, 720.

J&VJi : Koli chief (1760), 404-406.

Jawh&r : Koli state, 354.

Jeur : town, 720.

JhAris : HuaalmiLn duat-sifteni, 232.

INDEX.

747

igars : saddle-maken, 103. f

nnar : made the seat of the Nizdm Shdhi gov
trntnent (1607), 392,

stice : mode of adminiateiing (1818- 1884), 558-
»66.

cheBhyar - temple, story of, 723 and ifbte 4.
Jl&rs : palanquin-bearen, 157 -159.
ik^idis^ basket-makers, 103-106.
I^dgarB : Masalmib tin-smiths, 228.
Jsub&i : range, 3-4.
mAthifl : labourers, 159-160.
Jnti : village, pond, 721.
•HadiLs : Br^mans, 58.
injdris : beggars, 179-180.
nj&rs : Musalmto poolterers, 232.

nhoba : MosalmiUi-Hinda saint, shrine, history,
26 . 727.

.rda- survey, 504-510.

Th&d&8 : Brihmans, 58-59.

»tjat : sub-division details, area, aspect, hills,

ivers, water-supply, soil, rainfall, crops, people,

oads, railways, markets, crafts, survey, condi-*

ion, changes, 597-602 ; town, temples, 720.

Lsdre: village, 721.

iB&rs : braos-makers, 106.

kttais: leather-workers, 107-109.

fVar Sain : Br&hman minister of Burh&n Nizim

1508-1553), 363,365.

kVi Jang; : Kiz4m's commandant of Ahroadnagar

ort (1759), 404.

yasth PraUma : writers, 65.

ladgaOA : viUage, pond, 721.

ladki : founded by Malik Ambar (1607), 892.

tindesh Kings (1399-1588) : list of, 359 note 3.

l&n Jah&n Lodi : Moghal general (1612), 392.
lin Kh&ndn: Moghal general (1596-1599),
W3 -.^86, 390-392.

larda: battle of (1795), 406^409; town, fort,
r21-722.

l&tiks : butchers, 153.

latrie: weavers, 109-112.

rkee : Uttle of (1817). 414.

shwar Khin : Bijdpur general (1569), 371k

)kamth&n : village, temple, 722^

^^Ugaon : viUage, temple, 7^^

>lgaon : town, temple, 723.

►Ihir : town, fair, 725,

'Ihitis I tumblers, 180-181^

»lis : early tribe, division, houses, f6od,dress,call-

ng, condition, beliefs, customs, 193-206 ; kinga.

1346), 353-354; risings (1760-1798) 404-406*

^828) 416-417 ; corps (1858), 419.

JmtlB: traders, 69-71.

^nkaiUtftlu : BriUunanB. 59. I

Kopargaon: sub-division details, area, aspect,
soil, rivers, water-supply, rsinfall, cultivation,
crops, people, roads, railway, markets, survey,
changes, 602 - 607 ; town, RaghunAthrAv Pesh wa*s
palaces and cenotaph, temple, 723-724.

KoregaOD': village, temples, 724.

Eorhdla : old town, 724.

Korti: survey, 515-520.

Koshtis: weavers, 112-114.

Kothal : village, temple, 724-725.

Eothulmnkanji : village, temples, 725.

Kotnl : town, 725.

Kokdi : river, 9.

Knmbh&ri : village, temple, 725.

Kambh&rs : potters, 106- 107*

Kni^al : hill-fort, 5.

Kanam»: traders, 72-74.

Elinbis: husbandmen, 86-89.

Katb Sh&hi Kings (1512-1687): list of, 357

note 2.
Kyte : Mr. S., 33 note 1, 39 note 1.

L.
Labourers : 153-163, 303.
Labour Mortgage : 303-304.

Lid V&nis : traders, 71-72.
Ldkh : canal, 256-257 ; village, 725,
Ldkberis : lac bracelet makers, 114-116^
Lamins : carriers, 160-162,
Land: acquisition (1818-1870), 421; staff (1884),.
421 - 423 ; history ; early Hindu, 423 ; Malik
Ambar 423-424, theMar&thds 424-432, the British
(1818^18841, 433;. (1818-1821) 433-435; here-
ditary officers (1818), 436; village staff (1818)
437 -439 ; landholdera (1818-1823), 439 - 442 ; land
system (1818), 442-444 ; revenue settlement (1818-
1822)^ 444 - 450 ; suvvey (1825 - 1828) 450 ; aliena.
tions (1818-1822) 450; cesses, 450-451; (1818-1822)
452-454; (1822-1825), 454-455; (1825-1828)
455- 456 i village accounts (1825.-1828), 456;;
revenue system (1828), 456-460; (1829-39), 460-
471 h survey (1838« 1848) 471, (1839-1848)472-
483 ; revenue (182M851), 483 ; hill survey (Akola
1848), 483-487 ; plain survey (Akola, Sangamner,
Bdhuri, Nevdsa, Karda, Ahmadnagar, Korti-
Shevgaon, JiUnkhed, 1848-1853), 487 • 528 ; survey
results, 529 -^SSB ;. territorial changes, 43^ 435 and
notes 1 and 2, 531 : revision survey (Sangamner,
RAhuri, Na,gar (1880, 1884), 538-547.; season
reports. (1850^883), 547-555; revenue (1850^
1883), 555 ; alienated villages, 556 - 557 .
Landholders : 439- 44S ; 473 and note 6, 474.

Land Be^senue (1870-1888) : 567.
Land Sj/Stem : 442 - 444.
Language Details : 46.
Lawless Tribes : 564.

748

INDEX.

Leprosy : suppoeed cure of, 367 note 1,

Libraries: 581.

Lingiyat Borads - basket make™, 116- lia
Lunpangaon : village, tempW, ponds, 725-726.

Limestoiie: 17.

Lloyd: Lieutenant (1830), 417.

Local Funds : 571.

Locusts: 281-284.

Lohirs - blacksmiths, 118-119.
Lokhera : river, 8.
Loniris: Ume-borners, 119-121.
Luykin : Captain (1830), 417.

XackintOSh : Captain (1829), 417.
HAdhi : place of pilgrimage, Kinhoba^s shrine,
buildings, fair, 726-727.

Magistracy: 662-563.

JCahddev Kolis : see Kolis.

Hahdlungi : river, 7-8.

MahHmdBegada (1459-1511): king of Gujarat,
860.

Mdhmud Q&W&n, i Bahmani minister ( 1460 - 1481 ),
355.

JCairdls : beggars, 184.
H&legaon : village, temple, 727.
Halhiris : see Pi&nbharis.

Malik Ambar : Nizdm Sh^hi general (1599-1626) ;
divides the NizAm Shiihi territory with Midn
Rdju ; the extent of his territory ; keen rivalry
between Malik Ambar and Mi4n lUju ; the
Moghals invade Malik Ambar's territory ; battle
of NAnder ; MaJik Ambar's defeat ; the Moghals
confirm him in the possession of his territory ;
Malik Ambar defeats some of his deserting offi-
cers at Ansa ; gains the fort of Pardnda and keeps
MurtaaalL a state prisoner ; Mito RAju marches
to relieve Murtaza and appears before Partlnda ;
MaJik Ambar is helped by the Moghals and Miin'
RAju is defeated ; the two rivals reconciled; Malik
Ambar's scheme of deposing Murtaza ; his regen-
cy (1607-1626) ; makes Junnar the seat of Mur-
taza's government; founds Khadki afterwards
called Aurangabad; defeats the MoghaU 'and
recovers Ahmadnapr ; the Moghal armies from
GujarAt, KhAndeah, and Berdr march against him ;
defeated and deserted by several Mar^tha chiefs,
among them Shdhiji Bhonsla ; his second defeat
and submission to the Moghals ; renews hostili-
ties, but is again reduced to submission by ShAh
JahAn ; plunders .Bedar and marches against
BijApur; is again embroiled in a war with the
Moghals ; hU success J faiU to regain Ahmadna-
g:ar but occupies the country as far as the fron.
tiers of the Imperial dominions in the BAlAghAt ;
death ; revenue reforms, 390 -395, 423-424.

Xalik-i- JIaidiii : the Umma BijJipiir ?r
note 2, 369 note 1.

Malik K&for : AU-ud-dia'a gaenl (lilf.
352 note 5,

Milis: gardeners, 89-91.

Hiloji : ShivAji's grandfather, 389.

K^bhiv^: hill, 4.

MinblULys : beggars, 181 - 184.

M&ndogSn : town, temple, 727-

Kings : messengers, 169- 172.

Miigarsumba : hiU, vilUge, fort; pau. ' •

Manure : 249.

Many^ : Musalmin bangle-seUen, 233.

Mar&thds : revenue syston under the, 4ii

MarithaChiei^: under the Ni^m Shib
389.

Maritha Exactions : 402.

Maritha Gop&ls : beggars, 164-185.

Markets : 340-341.
Marriage Details : 47.
M&rwiri Br&hmans : 59-61.

Materials : for the huid chapter, 421 Dot« 1
Mdyegaon : village, temple, fair, 729,
Mehdvis : Muhammadan sect, 377 and not. i
Mehekri : river, 9 ; village, 8alAUfckJ2i>s .
. (1519-1589) tomb, view, 728.
Memans : Musalm^Lns, 233.

Meshri Mirw&ris : tradem, 74-76-

Mhdrs: depressed class, 172-177.

Mi&n Maiyn * Ahmadnagar minister (J^' ^
383.

Midn B^n: NizAm Shihi genei^ (I$99 l"*
divides the NizAm Shihi country with ^
Ambar ; extent of his territory ; their keen r'
ry; appears before ParAnda ; is defeat*),
flight to Daulatabad ; is helped by KhiP ^
nAn the Moghal general; he is recooci/©/ "
Malik Ambar; renewed hostilities bet'^s
two; he is defeated, taken prisoner, »cJ
territory becomes part of Murtaza*s doaufli*
390-392.

Millet : cropping of, 264-26$^

Minerals : 16 - 17.

Mirajgaon : town, 728.

Mirin Ensain (1688) • fiM Niztoi Sh^hi kis

his cruelties and tyranoy ; his imprisoniDeflt >
killed by the minister Mirai Khibi ; inttf sal ^
order; the minister's indignity anddeAtk^i
377.
Miri : town, temple, 728-729.

Mirza Ehin : Ahmadnagv minister (1589/ ^
377.

Mixed Sowings : 261.

Mochig: shoemakers, 12I-124w

Moghal Camp : description of a (1684)^401-^^

INDEX.

749

^ - ciuila: MpBiilmdn division, 225-226; Ahmad-
puc nnder the (1636 • 1759) 898 • 4(H.
. iina : Mnaalm^n handloom weavers, 233.

eylenders : 299 • 300.

t^omery : Major (1857-1859), 418.
. ■ Opa&t : Shiv^ji's general (1671), 399.
hera : the Seven, 715 note 2.

intainB: 3-6. *

* rsments: 239-240. •

liaminad Kh&Il : Ahmadnagar minister (1596),
-15. 380.
la : river, 8.
AicipalitieB: 571-572.

trdd : Akbar*8 son, appears before Ahmadnagar
.1695) ; bis pacific measures ; besieges Ahmad-
agar fort ; quits the country, 383 - 385.
irshed Kuli Eh&n : land revenue system of,
- 98.

irtaza Nizim Sh&k I. (1565-1588) : fourth

<izdm Sh&hi king ; his minority ; the regency of

lis mother ; internal disorders ; his wars with

-. iij&pur ; gains DhAmr fort ; kills Rishwar Kh^n

Ihis BijApor general ; fails in an attempt to take

. - the Portuguese fort of Revdanda in EoUba ;

marches to Ber^ and seizes all the chief forts

including NamAla ; enters KhAndesh and ravages

the country as far as Burhtopur ; his conduct

. towards his general Changiz Kh4n ; cruelty of his

. minister S^hibkhdn ; death of S^hibkhdn, and

8aUbatkh4n appointed minister; revolt of the

kiug*s brother Burhdn who flies to the cour of

the Emperor Akbar; Murtaca's madness; his

cruelty to his son ; attempt to depose him ; his

nnlukppy death, 370-376.

Cnrtaza Nizim Sh&h II (15G9- 1631) : eleventh

Nizdm Sh&hi king ; Partoda made the new capital ;
Murtaza kept as a prisoner ; division of the Niz4m
Sh^i territories between Malik AmbarandMidn
Bilju Dakhani ; their keen rivalry ; the Moghals
attaok Malik Ambar^s country but confirm him in
the possession of his territory ; Malik Ambar
gains Par&nda ; d^eat of MiAn BAjvl near Pardnda
and his flight to Daulatabad ; spread of Malik
Ambsj/s power ; Junnai* made the seat of Murtaza's
government ; Miin Rdiju's territory becomes part
of Mnrtaza's dominions; Malik Ambar founds
Khadki afterwards called Aurangabad ; defeats
the Moghals and regains Ahmadnagar ; the Moghal
armies from KhAndesh Bedu* and Gujardt march
against Malik Ambar ; Malik Ambar's defeat and
desertion by the MarAtha chiefs ; Malik Ambar's
second defeat and hia submission to the Moghals ;
Malik Ambar regains the lost ground; Sh&h
Jahdn marches against him ;Malik Ambar defeated
and submits to the Moghals ; Malik Ambar at
war with Bi]4pur and with the Moghals ; Malik

1
Ambar*s death (1626) ; his son Pattehkh&n be-
comes regent and continues wars against the
Moghab ; Murtaza throws Fattehkh&n into con-
finement and himself manages the state ; Shihdji
Bhonsla breaks his connection with Murtaza and
goes over to the Moghals ; the Emperor Shdh
Jahdn marches against Ahmadnagar ; famine
(1629-1630) ; Fattehkhto released and restored td^
power ; murders Murtaza, sets an infant on the
throne and submits to the Moghals, 390 -397.
Mnsahndns : strength, appearance, language,
houses, food, dress, calling, character, religion,
customs, divisions, 214-235.

Musicians: 144-145.

N&clini : food grain, 267.

Nagar : sub-divisional survey, 510-515, 442-547 ;
sub-division details, area, aspect, soil, rivers,
climate, rainfall, water-supply, cultivation,
irrigation, crops, people, roads, railways, markets,
trade, crafts, survey, changes, 608-615. Se^j
Ahmadnagar. S,

Nd.gars : Gujarat BhUunans, 65. S,

K^ikvdris : Musalm^n messengers, 228.

Ndlbands : Musalmdn farriers, 228. k

Ntodev SMmpis : tailors, 124- 127.

N&na Fhadnayis: Poena minister (1774 -1800), I
407. I

Ninder : battle of (1599), 390. i

Ndni : river, 8.

N&r&yan Ganesh DeshpAnde : lUo Bah^ur, 49

note 1.

Nehang Ehdn : Abyssinian minister of Ahmadna-
gar, 382-386.

NeUji : Shivdji's generiJ (1662), 399.

Nev^a*- survey details 494-504; sub-division
details, area, aspect, rivers, climate, rainfall, I
cultivation, irrigation, crops, people, loads, rail-
way, maf-kets, crafts, survey, changes/ 615 -621 ;
town, Dny^oba's pillar, 729-730.

Newspapers : 581.

Nh&yis : barbers, 146-147.
Nighoj • vilhige, reserToirs, 730.
Nir&lilS : indigo-dyers, 127 - 128.
Kiz&mAli: Haidarabad ruler (1761-1803), 407-
409.

Nizim Shihis : Ahmadnagar kings (1490- 1636),
358-398.

Nizim-Ul-Knlk B)iairi : BahmaniminiBter (1481-
1486)^ 355 and note 9, 356. . '

Nuttall : Captain (1857 - 1859), 419.

Occnpatioa Details :. 48.

OffiBnces : 565 - 566.

Oil-seeds : cropping of, 269*270.

INDEX.

ihir Canal : 254 • 256.

JVdl MArwiriB : traders, 76-82.

b&riB : casters, 128-129.

Len: 33 -S4.

ianne : Mr. E. C, 241 note 1, 260 note 1, 264

note 1, 265 note 1, 266 note 1, 269 note 1.

abar ^ hill, 4.

skhddifi " Imsbandmen, 91.
lithan : old town, 351.
iJbM 1 village, temple, 730.
Lubharis : Koli tribe, 193.
Inch&ls : craftsmen, 133.

Lnd&ra : bill, 4.

Lugols : beggars, 185-186.

9tr&nda : fort, Nizilm Sh&hi capital (1599), 390 ;

siegeof (1599), 391.

irdesM Br&bmans : 61 -63.

Skrdesbi Halvais : confectioners, 129-180.

^rits: washermen, 147-149.

Lmer: subdivision details, area, aspect, soil,

rainfall, water-supply, cultivation, crops, people,

roads, railway, markets, crafts, survey, changes,

621 - 626 ; town, 1874 riots, temples, wells, 730-731.

LrsiB : 239.

itdne PrabbtlB: writers, 65.

I,tb&ns : MusalmAn division, 226.

Lthardi: town, 731-732.

ttharji Niik : Bhil rebel (1857-1859), 418.

LtbarvatS •• B«e Gavandis.

utta : fort, 4 ; Shiv&ji*s operations against, 399^

40^ ; fort details, 732.

t'CVegars : Musalmto tassel-twisters, 228.

rddlers : 342.

bote 1 ; town, temples, history, 732-783.

..Hlgad : hill-fort, 4.

Iriplus*. Greek author of the (a.d. 247), 351*

jjnpalvandi : village, fair, 733.

aidris : MusalmAn cotton cleaners, 234.

'ougbofLand: 245.
i^lice Details : 564 - 565w

la : bull-day, 89.
jxiies: 3637.
Bt Offices: 334-335.

ttinger : Mr. J. C, 27 note 1, 31 note 1, 332
lotel; Captain (1821), 415.
'atisbtbia : old name of Paith^p, 351.
^a^vara : river, 7.
iavar&saiLgam: seeToka.
I Ices : 322 . 324, 461 note 6, 465 note 4, 476 note 2.
\iiemji Egyptian geographer (a. D. 150), 351.
Ises : cropping of, 268-269.
jxt&mba : town, temples, 733.

B.
Bigboji Bb&ngria: KoU oatUw (IMS- 1947

417-418.
B&b&ta: town, 733-734.
B&bnri: survey 489-494, 540-541; Bub-diri*!

details, area, aspect, soil, water-mipply, cliiswr

rainfall, cultivation, irrigation, crops, peopk

roads, nrtlways, markets, crafts, survey, duus^

626- 632; town, 734.
Railway: details of, 330-331 ; trade. 345-Mft^
Eainfall: 12-14, 588, 594, 599, 603» 6091 617

622, 628, 634, 641, 646.
Rdj&pnr : action at (1751), 404.
Bajputs *• husbandmen, 91-92.
Bdjnr : hills, 4 ; town, 734.
Bakisbon: action at (1763), 406.
B&ma Eirra : Koli outlaw (1830), 417.
Bimcbandra : Devgiri Y4d*v king (1271 - 1310}

352 and note 5.

BimjiBbtagria: KoHoutkw, 416-417.

Bimosbis : early tribe, 209.

BdmBija: Vijayauagar king (1542 -IMS) 366

367. 368, 369, 370.
Band&kbnrd : village, wai»rfall, 734.
BangreZB : MusalmAn dyers, 229.
Bdnjangaon Desbmnkbi : villages, old reservoir

734.
Bdsbtrakutas : Hiadu kings (760 -978), 351.
B&Bin: old town, temples, 734-735.
Bit^nna : old name of Rdt4jaa, 352.
Batangad : hill fort, 3, 735-736.
Batauv&di : village, temple, 736.
Bats : 29 - 31 ; plague, 280 - 281.
Baula : hiU, 4.
Royals : early tribe, 209-211.

Beaders and Writers : 576 - 577.
Begistration : 569.

Bebeknri • village, temple, pond, 736.
Belief Act : Deccan Ryots*, 319 -3!».

Beptiles: 39-41.
Best-bouses: 334.

BesultS : of Bahmani rule, 357 note 2,
Bevdanda: sieges of, (1570)371-272, (1592)379-

380.
Bevenne : Malik Ambar*s reforms, 395 ; settlij-

ment, 444 - 450 ; system, 456 - 460 ; 462, 464, 465^

472, 474 note 3, 476, 483, 555,
Bice : cropping of, 267.

Bivers: 6-9.

Roads : 326- 330.

Botatdon of Crops : 259- 261.

SabadeV Josbis : astrologers, 186-187.

S4bib Khin : Abmadnagar minister (1576), 372-

373.

DEX.

751

ahyiUtri : hill range, 3-6.

ailcal^ars : Mnsalm&n armonrera, 234.

alibatkhill : Ahmadnagar minister (1519 - II
373-376, 377-378, 705-706.

idlis : weavers, 130-131.'

^altangars : tannera, 132-133.

laltpetro : making of, 350.

lff.if\g<LniTiAr : snrvey, 487 - 489, 538- 640 j sub-divi-
sion details, area, aspect, water-supply, climate,
rainfall, cultivation, irrigation, crops, people,
•roads, railway, markets, crafts, survey, changes,
632-640 ; town, 736-738.

Sanfi&ri Jangams : traders, 82 •85.

Sarasvati : river, 8.

S&TVajanik Sabha : public association, 581.

Saving dasses : 295-297.

Savings Banks : deposits in the, 296 - 297.
Schools *- 574-681.

Season Beports : 547 -555«
Sericnltnre : 277 - 280.
Servants : 145-149.

SbUl^i Bhonsla : deserts Malik Ambar (1621),
39.3 ; becomes regent (1632) ; manages the Ahmad-
nagar country ; submits to Sh4h Jahdn and enters
the Bijdpur service (1636), 397-398.

Sh&h Jah&n: Emperor (1627-1658), marches
against Malik Ambar, 383-394, 396, 398.

Shdh l^TfiT^n Hahi Sav&r : see Kinhoba.

8h&h T^hir : a distinguished Shia minister of
Ahmadnagar (1529-1549), .364-365, 367.

Sb&hu : Shiv^jrs grandson (1708-1749), 403.

Shaikhs : Musalmdn division, 226.

Sh&livihan : founder of the Shak era (A.D. 78),
351.

Sheep and Goats : 37-39.

Shenvis *• Briihmans, 63-64.

Shepherds: 149-153.

Shevgaon j survey, 520-524 ; sub-division details,
area, aspect, water-supply, climate, rainfall,
cultivation, irrigation, crops, people, roads, rail-
way, markets, crafts, survey, changes, 640-646 ;
town, 738.

Shia : state reUgion (1537), 865.

Shirdpur : village, waterfall, 739.

Shiyd^i : incursions of (1650-1680), 399-400.

ShoULptU: : city, 8i«ge of (1524), 362 ; (1549), 367 ;
(1594), 380.

Shopkeepers : 342.

Shrim&lis ^ Gujarat BriUiimans, 55.

Shrigonda: sub-division details, area, aspooft,

water, soil, climate, rainfall, cultivation, crops,

people, roads, railway, markets, survey, changes,

645-650; town, temple, 739-740.
Sidhtek : village, Ganpati's temple, 739«
Simao Peres : a Portuguese convert to Muham-

madanism, 367 note 1. *

Sina : river, 9.

Sinclair : Mr. W. P., 420.

Simr : village, temple, 739.

Slavery : 320-321.

Smith : English general (1817), 414-415^

Snakes : see Reptiles.

SohailKhdn: Bijdpur generid (1595- 1599),. 383

385-386.
Soils : 242 - 243.
Son&i : town, 739,
Sonars: goldsmiths, 133-137.
Sonpat : battle of (1597), 386V
Soothsaying : 66, 61, 64, 66, 90, 96, 140r
Souter : Sir Frank, 419.
Staflf: (1884), 421-423.
Stock : 246.

Snb-DivisioES : l, 687 -650.
Sngarcane : cultivation of, 273-274.
Snpe : village, 740.

Snmames : 64, 58, 59, 62, 6*, 69; 71, 73, 74, 76,
86,87, 89,93, 95,97,103, 106, 107,110, 112,
114, 116, 118, 119, 121, 124. 127, 128, 130, 132,
134, 137, 139, 140, 141, 144, 146, 147, 149, 151,
154, 158, 159, 160, 162, 166, 168, 170, 172, 184,
189, 191,209,211.

Survey : (1825 - 1828), 450 ; (1838 - 1848), 471 ; hiL
survey (Akola 1848), 483-466 >plain survey (1848-
1853), 487 - 528 ; survey results, 529 • 638 ; revisioc
surtey, 538-547. •

Sntirs : carpenters, 137-140, 234.

Sjeds : Musalmin division, 226.

Tagar : old city,' 361.

T&h4kari : village, temple, 740,

Tak&r&S : Musalm^n stonemasons, 234,

Tak&ris: hand-mill makers, 187.

Tdkli : village, temple, 740.

Tdlikoti : battle of (1666), 370.

T&mhatS: coppersmiths, 139-140.

T&mbolis : MusalmiUi betel-leaf seUeis, 236v

T4va : hill, 4.

Taylot : Reverend J., 235 note 1.

Telangsi : village, temple, 740.

TiBlegraph Office : 335.

Telis: oil-pressers, 140-141.

Temperature: 14-16.

Territories : extient of Malik Ambar*B (1599), 390

ThlUbirS : early tribe, 212.

Thatcher : lieutenant (1867), 418.

Thugaon : village, temple, 740.

Tillage: 248-249.

Tirde : village, 740.

Tijrgars : Musalmiln arrow-makersy 229. .

Tirguls : BiihmaDBi 64. |

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