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433  • 

Indian  Institute,  Bxfcxrd. 

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THE  IMPERIAL  GAZETTEER  OF  INDIA. 


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.MORRISON  AND  GIBB,  EDINBURGH, 
PRINTERS  TO  HER  MAJESTY'S  STATIONERY  OFFICE, 


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The  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India. 


W.      W.      HUNTER,      CLE.,      LL.D., 

DIKRCTOX-GKNBRAL  OP  STATISTICS  TO  THE  GOVERNMENT  OP  INDIA. 


VOLUME    III. 
DABHA    TO    HARDUAGANJ. 


TRUBNER  &   CO.,   LONDON,   1881. 


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IMPERIAL  GAZETTEER 

OF 

INDIA. 


VOLUME    III. 


D&bha. — One  of  the  petty  States  of  M£hi  Kanta,  Bombay ;  esti- 
mated pop.  (1875),  x^12  >  estimated  area  under  cultivation,  5045  acres; 
revenue,  ^402.  The  Chief  or  Mfah  pays  an  annual  tribute  of  ^15  to 
the  Gaekwir  of  Baroda,  and  j£$  to  the  Thikur  of  Amalydra.  The 
present  ruler  is  a  Mukwana  Koli,  converted  to  Islamism.  The  religion 
of  the  Miahs  of  Dibha  is  a  mixture  of  Muhammadanism  and  Hinduism ; 
they  give  their  daughters  in  marriage  to  Muhammadans  of  rank,  and 
marry  the  daughters  of  Koli  chiefs.     They  burn  their  dead. 

D&bha. — Town  in  Chanda*  District,  Central  Provinces.  Lat  19* 
38'  n.,  long.  790  42'  e.  Manufactures — tasar  silk,  handkerchiefs,  coloured 
cloths,  and  silver  snuff-boxes.  Until  recently,  Dabha  was  subject  to  the 
raids  of  the  wild  tribes  across  the  Wardha,  and  even  now  the  shop- 
keepers are  afraid  to  expose  their  goods.  Government  school  for  boys, 
girls'  school,  police  station-house,  and  District  post  office;  assistant 
patrol  of  customs.     The  population  is  almost  wholly  Telinga. 

Dabhoi. — Town  in  the  territory  of  the  Gdekwar  of  Baroda,  Guzerat, 
Bombay;  15  miles  s.E.  of  Baroda.  Lat  22°  10'  n.,  long.  730  28'  e.  ; 
pop.  (1872),  14,898.  In  the  town  is  a  place  called  m&mddokri,  where 
stands  a  khirni  or  musk-melon  tree,  through  whose  hollow  trunk  no 
guilty  person  can  pass.  Dabhoi  is  the  old  Sanskrit  Dharbhavati  of  the 
nth  century,  famous  for  its  ancient  fortress. 

D&bhoL — Town  and  port,  Ratnagiri  District,  Bombay.  Of  con- 
siderable historical  importance,  and  the  principal  port  of  the  South 
Konkan  in  the  14th,  15th,  and  16th  centuries,  carrying  on  an  exten- 
sive trade  with  Persia  and  the  Red  Sea  ports.     Also  noted  for  its 

VOL.  III.  A 


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2  DAB  LING— DACCA  DISTRICT. 

beautiful  mosque,  which  is  the  only  specimen  of  pure  Saracenic  archi- 
tecture in  the  Southern  Konkan.  Dibhol  formed  a  province  of  the 
Bijdpur  kingdom  under  Yusaf  Adfl  Shih,  and  extended  from  the 
Sivitri  river  to  Deogarh,  including  nearly  the  whole  of  the  present 
District  of  Ratnagiri. 

D&bling. — Village  in  Bashahr  State,  Punjab;  situated  in  lat  310 
45'  n.,  and  long.  78*  39'  e.,  on  a  belt  of  arable  land  near  the  left 
bank  of  the  Sutlej  (Satlej).  The  cliffs  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river 
rise  to  a  sheer  elevation  of  6000  or  7000  feet  The  population  have 
the  Chinese  Tartar  type  of  physiognomy,  and  profess  the  Buddhist 
faith.  A  mile  east  stands  another  village,  known  as  Diibling;  the  path 
between  the  two  places  being  rendered  practicable  by  means  of  hanging 
balconies  or  wooden  scaffolds  fastened  against  the  face  of  the  precipice. 
The  two  villages  generally  bear  the  joint  appellation  of  D£bling-Dtibling. 
Elevation  above  sea  level,  9400  feet 

Dacca. — A  Division  of  Bengal,  lying  between  lat  21*  48'  and  25° 
26'  n.,  and  between  long.  890  20'  and  91  °  18'  e.  Bounded  on  the  north 
by  the  Garo  Hills ;  on  the  east  by  Sylhet  District  and  Hill  Tipperah ;  on 
the  south  by  Noakhalf  District  and  the  Bay  of  Bengal ;  and  on  the  west 
by  Jessor,  Pdbnd,  Bogra,  and  Rangpur  Districts.  Dacca  Division  com- 
prises the  five  Districts  of  Dacca,  Faridpur,  Bakarganj,  Maimansinh,  and 
Tipperah.  Area  (according  to  Parliamentary  Return  1877,  and  allowing 
for  recent  transfers),  18,126  square  miles;  pop.  (1872),  9,012,161. 

Dacca  (Dhdkd,  derived  either  from  the  dhdk  tree  (Butea  frondosa)  or 
from  Dhdkesuiariy  i  the  concealed  goddess '). — The  District  of  Dacca, 
situated  in  Eastern  Bengal,  at  the  junction  of  the  river  systems  of  the 
Ganges  and  the  Brahmaputra,  lies  between  230  6'  30"  and  24°  20'  12" 
n.  lat,  and  between  89°  47'  50"  and  910 1'  10"  e.  long.  Bounded  north 
by  the  District  of  Maimansinh;  east  by  Tipperah;  south  and  south- 
west by  Bakarganj  and  Faridpur;  and  west,  for  a  short  distance,  by 
Pabna.  To  a  great  extent,  rivers  form  the  natural  boundaries :  on  the 
east,  the  Meghna ;  south  and  south-west,  the  Padma,  or  main  stream  of 
the  Ganges ;  and  west,  the  Jamund,  or  present  channel  of  the  Brahma- 
putra. The  District  contains  (1878)  an  area  of  2796  square  miles,  and 
a  population,  according  to  the  Census  of  1872,  of  1,852,993  persons. 
The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  Dacca  City 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  is  divided  into  two  natural  divisions 
by  the  course  of  the  Dhaleswari.  The  tract  north  of  that  river  is  an 
extension  of  the  high  lands  of  Maimansinh.  The  country  is  above 
flood  level,  and  is  broken  by  small  hilly  ridges  running  down  from  the 
Madhupur  jungle.  The  soil  is  red,  with  strata  of  clay  and  kankar  or 
nodular  limestone,  and  iron  ore  exists  in  considerable  quantities.  There 
are  few  rivers;  and  the  surface  is  overgrown  by  picturesque  jungle, 
amid  which  cultivation  is  only  now  beginning  to  spread     These  features 


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DACCA  DISTRICT.  3 

are  intensified  in  the  north-west  of  the  District  beyond  Dacca  city.  In 
the  north-east,  towards  the  Meghni,  the  land  becomes  less  broken 
and  jungly,  and  the  soil  more  fertile.  South  of  the  Dhaleswari,  the 
country  presents  the  familiar  aspect  common  to  the  greater  part  of 
Lower  Bengal.  The  whole  is  one  uniform  level  of  rich  alluvial  soil, 
annually  inundated  by  the  overflow  of  the  great  rivers.  The  villages  are 
built  upon  mounds  of  earth,  artificially  raised  above  the  flood.  During 
the  rainy  season,  this  tract  presents  the  appearance  of  a  continuous 
sheet  of  green  paddy  cultivation,  through  which  boats  sail  to  and  fro. 
The  chief  means  of  communication  at  all  times  of  the  year  is  by  water. 
Besides  the  bordering  rivers  of  the  Ganges  or  Padma,  the  Jamuni.  or 
Brahmaputra,  and  the  Meghnd,  the  following  seven  streams  are  navi- 
gable by  boats  of  large  tonnage : — (1)  Aridl  KMn,  (2)  Kirtinisd,  (3) 
Dhaleswari,  (4)  Burigangi,  (5)  Lakhmia,  (6)  Mendikhdli,  and  (7) 
Ghizikhili  Many  of  these  represent  old  channels  or  offshoots  of  the 
great  rivers ;  and  the  southern  half  of  the  District  is  everywhere  liable 
to  annual  changes  of  configuration,  due  to  the  activity  of  fluvial  action. 
The  fisheries  of  the  District  are  estimated  to  yield  ^10,000  a  year. 

History. — The  historical  interest  of  the  District  centres  round  Dacca 
city,  an  olden  capital  of  the  Muhammadan  Mughals  in  Bengal,  and  until 
recent  times  the  industrial  centre  of  the  Province.  Here,  as  elsewhere 
throughout  Bengal,  authentic  history  begins  with  the  Musalmln 
chronicles ;  but  many  local  legends  and  crumbling  ruins  bear  witness  to 
the  power  of  prehistoric  Hindu  rulers.  This  tract  of  country  formed 
the  easternmost  District  of  Bengal,  according  to  the  natural  limitations 
of  the  Province.  On  the  north,  rise  the  broken  hills  and  thick  jungles  of 
Maimansinh,  into  which  Hindu  civilisation  has  but  recently  penetrated. 
Eastwards,  the  broad  stream  of  the  Meghnd  always  served  as  a  barrier 
against  the  wild  aboriginal  races,  whose  names  are  preserved  in  the 
dynasties  of  Tipperah  and  Cichir.  Before  the  invasion  of  the  Muhanv 
madans,  only  part  of  Dacca  appears  to  have  been  included  within  the 
Hindu  kingdom  of  Bengal.  The  course  of  the  river  Dhaleswari,  which 
marks  off  the  alluvial  delta  of  the  Ganges  from  the  highlands  of  Maiman- 
sinh, then  served  also  as  a  political  boundary.  To  the  south  of  this  river, 
the  mythical  monarch  Vikramdditya  is  said  to  have  held  sway,  and  his 
name  is  traced  in  the  present  pargand  of  Bikrdmpur.  The  dynasty  of 
Vikraraiditya  was  succeeded  by  that  of  Adisur,  and  the  last  occupant 
of  the  throne  w^s  Ballil  Sen.  All  these  names  are  the  common  property 
of  Bengali  legend.  The  tract  north  of  the  Dhaleswari  supplies 
traditions  with  a  more  distinct  local  colouring,  Here  was  the  home 
of  the  Bhuiyd  Rijds,  as  they  are  called,  the  founders  of  a  dynasty 
which  bore  the  family  name  of  Pdl,  and  are  supposed  to  have  professed 
the  Buddhist  faith.  The  ruins  of  the  capitals  and  palaces  of  these 
Bhuiyd  Rijds  lie  scattered  throughout  Eastern  Bengal,  along  the  line  of 


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4  DACCA  DISTRICT. 

the  Brahmaputra  valley;  and  their  memory  is  still  cherished  in  the 
household  tales  of  the  Hindu  peasantry.  In  the  portion  of  Dacca 
District  lying  north  of  the  Dhaleswari,  extensive  earthworks  and  mounds 
of  brick  associated  with  their  name  are  to  be  seen  to  this  day  at 
Madhabpur,  Sabhar,  and  Durdurii. 

The  Muhammadans  first  entered  Bengal  in  1203  a.d.,  but  the  eastern 
Districts  were  not  conquered  until  a  century  later.  The  present 
District  of  Dacca  was  annexed  to  the  Afghan  kingdom  of  Gaur  by 
Muhammad  Tughlak  about  1325,  under  the  name  of  Sonargaon,  which 
town  long  remained  the  frontier  fortress  of  the  Muhammadans  and  the 
terminus  of  their  grand  trunk  road.  The  rise  of  Dacca  city  dates  from 
the  beginning  of  the  17th  century,  when  Islam  Khan,  the  Mughal  Vice- 
roy, transferred  the  seat  of  Government  from  Rajmahal  to  Dacca.  This 
change  was  dictated  by  military  considerations.  The  valley  of  the 
Ganges  then  enjoyed  peace,  but  the  eastern  frontier  of  the  Province  was 
exposed  to  the  ravages  of  numerous  warlike  invaders.  From  the  north, 
the  dreaded  Ahams  or  Assamese ;  from  the  south,  the  Maghs  or  Araka- 
nese,  in  alliance  with  the  merciless  Portuguese  pirates,  harried  the  country, 
and  rendered  all  the  waterways  unsafe.  The  Mughal  viceroys  protected 
their  frontier  by  maintaining  a  powerful  fleet,  and  distributing  colonies 
of  veterans  on  feudal  holdings  throughout  the  country.  Both  these 
features  of  their  political  system  have  left  traces  in  the  land  tenures 
that  exist  at  the  present  day.  Except  during  an  interval  of  twenty 
years,  when  Muhammad  Shuja  moved  the  administration  back  again  to 
Rajmahal,  Dacca  was  the  capital  of  Bengal  during  the  whole  of  the 
17th  century.  In  the  long  list  of  Nawabs,  the  two  most  celebrated  are 
Mir  Jumli,  the  general  of  Aurangzeb,  who  failed  disastrously  in  his 
expedition  into  Assam ;  and  Shalstd  Khan,  the  nephew  of  the  Empress 
Ndr  Jah£n,  who  broke  the  power  of  the  Portuguese,  and  annexed 
Chittagong  to  the  Mughal  Empire.  Both  these  Nawabs  are  also  known 
for  their  encouragement  of  architecture,  and  for  the  construction  of 
public  works.  This  was  the  most  flourishing  era  in  the  history  of 
Dacca,  for,  like  all  eastern  cities,  its  glory  depended  upon  the 
presence  of  a  luxurious  court  It  is  said  that  the  suburbs  extended 
northwards  for  a  distance  of  15  miles,  now  buried  in  dense  jungle. 
Portuguese  mercenaries,  and  Armenian  and  Greek  merchants,  settled 
at  Dacca  from  an  early  date.  The  English,  the  French,  and  the  Dutch 
established  factories  about  the  middle  of  the  16th  century,  when 
the  city  was  visited  by  the  French  traveller  Tavernier.  He  describes 
all  the  wealth  of  Bengal,  the  richest  Province  of  the  Delhi  Emperor,  as 
concentrated  in  this  spot  The  muslins  of  Dacca  became  famous  in 
Europe,  and  the  hereditary  skill  of  the  weaving  castes  has  not  yet 
become  extinct     Vide  Dacca  City. 

The  downfall  of  Dacca  dates    from  the  beginning    of  the    18th 


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DACCA  DISTRICT.  5 

century.  In  1704,  Murshid  Kuli  Khin  transferred  the  seat  of  Govern, 
ment  to  Murshidibid  on  the  Bhdgirathi,  and  the  short-lived  prosperity 
followed  the  movement  of  the  court  Dacca  continued  to  be  governed 
by  a  ndib  or  nawdb,  a  deputy  of  the  Viceroy  at  Murshidibid,  whose 
appointment  was  regarded  as  the  most  valuable  in  Bengal,  having  a 
jurisdiction  considerably  more  extensive  than  the  area  of  the  present 
Dacca  Division.  On  the  establishment  of  the  British  power  in  1757, 
the  office  of  ndib  became  an  empty  title,  but  it  was  continued  in  the 
family  of  the  last  representative  until  1845  >  aQd  even  to  the  present 
day  small  pensions  are  paid  by  Government  on  this  account  The 
decline  of  the  weaving  industry  of  Dacca  began  with  the  present  century. 
Prior  to  1801,  the  East  India  Company  and  private  traders  are  said 
to  have  made  advances  for  Dacca  muslins  to  the  annual  amount  of 
25  Idkhs  of  rupees  (,£250,000).  In  18 13,  the  investments  of  private 
traders  did  not  exceed  ,£21,000,  and  the  Commercial  Residency  of  the 
Company  was  discontinued  altogether  in  181 7.  The  only  event  of 
importance  in  the  recent  history  of  Dacca  District  is  connected  with  the 
Mutiny  of  1857.  Two  companies  of  sepoys  were  then  stationed  in  the 
fort  On  the  first  alarm  of  the  outbreak  at  Meerut,  a  force  of  100  men 
of  the  Indian  Navy  was  despatched  from  Calcutta  for  the  protection  of 
the  city.  With  these  sailors,  and  about  60  civilian  volunteers,  it  was 
resolved  to  disarm  the  sepoys,  who  offered  a  violent  resistance,  and 
were  only  dispersed  after  a  sharp  struggle.  Some  of  the  mutineers 
are  supposed  to  have  escaped  into  the  jungles  of  Bhutdn. 

People. — No  trustworthy  estimates  of  the  population  in  early  times 
exist  In  185 1,  the  total  number  was  returned  at  600,000,  and  in  1868, 
the  official  estimate  was  1,000,000.  The  first  regular  Census  was  taken 
in  January  1872.  The  agency  employed  consisted  mainly  of  the  land- 
lords' servants,  as  no  village  officials  are  to  be  found  in  the  District 
The  Magistrate  expressed  his  opinion  that  the  returns  were  '  almost,  if 
not  entirely,  correct'  The  result  disclosed  a  total  population  of 
1,852,993  persons,  dwelling  in  5016  rnauzds  or  villages,  and  in  290,593 
houses.  The  total  area  of  the  District  was  taken  at  2897  square  miles. 
These  figures  yield  the  following  averages : — Persons  per  square  mile, 
640;  persons  per  village,  369;  persons  per  house,  674;  villages  per 
square  mile,  173;  houses  per  square  mile,  100.  Classified  according 
to  sex,  there  are  905,775  males  and  947,218  females;  proportion  of 
males,  48*9  per  cent  Classified  according  to  age,  there  are,  under 
12  years  of  age,  354,33*  b°ys  a*1*1  $°W&  girls;  total»  657>479> 
or  30*1  per  cent  of  the  total  population.  The  occupation  returns 
are  not  trustworthy;  but  it  may  be  mentioned  that  296,819  persons, 
<>r  55  I^1"  ceD^  °f  tne  adult  males,  are  returned  as  connected  with 
agriculture,  and  17,876  as  cotton-weavers.  The  ethnical  classification 
of  the  people  shows  193  Europeans  (including  14  Greeks),  2  Americans, 


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6  DACCA  DISTRICT. 

5627  Eurasians,  and  121  Armenians,  964  aborigines,  250,620  semi- 
Hinduized  aborigines,  531,437  Hindus  (classified  according  to  caste), 
13,891  Hindus  not  recognising  caste,  1,050,131  Muhammadans,  and  7 
Maghs  or  Arakanese.  As  throughout  the  rest  of  Eastern  Bengal,  the 
majority  of  the  population  are  of  semi-aboriginal  descent,  including  the 
great  mass  of  the  Muhammadans,  who  form  considerably  more  than 
half  the  total  The  aborigines  proper  of  the  Census  Report  are  very 
poorly  represented,  being  chiefly  composed  of  the  gipsy  tribe  of  Nats. 
Among  the  semi-Hinduized  aborigines,  the  great  tribe  of  Chandals 
numbers  191,162.  Of  Hindus  proper,  the  following  are  the  most 
numerous  castes: — Brahmans,  51,632,  including  many  Kulin  families; 
Kdyasths,  or  clerks  by  hereditary  occupation,  102,084.  The  several 
artisan  castes  number  collectively  121,952;  the  boating  and  fishing 
castes,  53,029;  the  weaving  castes,  42,528. 

Divided  according  to  religion,  the  population  is  thus  composed : — 
Hindus,  as  loosely  grouped  together  for  religious  purposes,  793,789,  or 
42*9  per  cent;  Musalmans,  1,050,131,  or  567  per  cent;  Christians, 
7844,  or  *4  per  cent;  4  Buddhists;  and  1255  *  others.'  Among  the 
Hindus,  the  Vaishnav  sect  numbers  11,886  members.  The  Brahma 
SamaJ  was  first  established  in  Dacca  city  in  1846.  The  society  now 
possesses  a  large  hall,  erected  by  public  contributions,  in  which  meetings 
are  held  every  week.  There  are  about  100  regular  subscribers,  and  at 
least  1000  sympathizers,  throughout  the  District  The  Muhammadans 
constitute  a  very  important  element  of  the  community.  The  great 
majority  belong  to  the  Sunni  sect  The  few  Shiis  to  be  found  are 
descendants  of  the  Mughal  conquerors.  The  festival  of  the  Muharram  is 
celebrated  in  Dacca  city  with  great  pomp  and  enthusiasm,  and  police 
measures  have  to  be  adopted  to  prevent  an  outbreak  between  these  two 
rival  sects.  In  recent  years,  the  reforming  faith  of  the  Faraizfs  has 
spread  rapidly  through  the  District  Its  members  are  intolerant,  but 
not  actively  fanatical.  Many  of  them  are  engaged  in  trade,  dealing  in 
rice,  jute,  hides,  and  tobacco.  •  The  acknowledged  chief  of  the  Muham- 
madan  community  in  Dacca  is  Nawab  Abdul  Ganf  (1878),  famous  for  his 
wealth  and  his  liberality.  The  Christians  of  Dacca  are  a  motley  race. 
They  include  Portuguese  half-castes,  Armenians,  Greeks,  and  native 
converts,  as  well  as  the  Europeans.  The  Portuguese  mixed  breeds,  or 
Firinghfs,  are  scattered  in  little  communities  throughout  the  Dis- 
trict. Most  of  them  are  cultivators,  but  many  engage  in  domestic 
service.  In  religious  matters,  they  are  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Goa.  The  native  converts,  numbering  1901  persons,  are 
principally  Roman  Catholics,  under  the  charge  of  a  mission  sent  direct 
from  the  Propaganda  at  Rome.  There  is  also  a  Baptist  mission,  with 
about  100  converts.  Both  the  Armenians  and  the  Greeks  are  said  to 
be  now  declining  in  numbers  and  social  position. 


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DACCA  DISTRICT.  7 

According  to  the  Census  of  1872,  the  following  6  towns  each  contain 
more  than  5000  inhabitants  : — Dacca  City,  Manikganj,  Narainganj, 
Sholaghar,  Hasara,  and  Narisha;  total  urban  population,  109,542,  or 
1  -5  per  cent  of  the  total  population  of  the  District  The  first  3  of  these 
towns  have  alone  been  formed  into  municipalities.  The  total  municipal 
income  in  187 1  was  ^5833,  or  an  average  of  is.  3}d  per  head,  Dacca 
City  will  be  fully  described  in  the  following  article.  The  chief  trading 
mart  in  the  District  is  Ndrainganj,  in  conjunction  with  its  suburb  of 
Madanganj  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Lakhmia  river.  Apart  from  the 
increasing  importance  of  river  traffic,  the  people  show  no  tendency  to 
gather  into  towns,  but  rather  the  reverse.  Manufacturing  industry  can 
hardly  be  said  to  exist  The  following  places  deserve  mention  as  sites 
of  interest : — Sonargaon,  the  first  Muhammadan  capital  of  Eastern 
Bengal ;  Firinghi  Bazar,  the  earliest  settlement  of  the  Portuguese ; 
Bikrampur,  the  capital  of  the  mythical  monarch  Vikramaditya,  and  his 
successors  on  the  throne  of  Bengal ;  Sabhar  and  Durduria,  both  con- 
taining ruins  of  palaces  ascribed  to  the  Bhuiya  or  Pal  Rajas.  Many 
earthworks  and  ruins  of  Hindu  or  Musalmdn  construction  are 
scattered  through  the  District 

Agriculture. — As  elsewhere  throughout  Bengal,  the  staple  food  crop  is 
rice,  which  is  divided  into  four  varieties — (1)  the  dmany  or  cold  weather 
crop,  which  yields  by  far  the  largest  portion  of  the  food  supply,  sown  on 
low-lying  lands  about  April,  and  reaped  in  December ;  (2)  the  dus,  or 
autumn  crop,  sown  on  comparatively  high  lands,  about  the  same  time  as 
dman,  and  reaped  in  July ;  (3)  the  baro  or  ropd,  sown  in  marshy  ground 
about  January,  subsequently  transplanted,  and  reaped  in  May ;  (4)  the  uri 
oxjard  dhdn,  an  indigenous  variety  found  growing  wild  in  the  marshes, 
which  is  used  as  food  by  the  poor.  No  improvement  has  recently 
taken  place  in  the  cultivation  of  rice,  and  sufficient  is  not  grown  to 
satisfy  the  local  demand  Other  crops  include  millets,  pulses,  oil-seeds, 
jute,  cotton,  indigo,  safflower,  pdn  leaf,  supdri-nut,  cocoa-nut,  and  sugar- 
cane. The  cultivation  of  cotton  has  fallen  off,  but  the  fibre  produced 
is  said  to  be  of  excellent  quality.  The  chief  staples  of  export  are  jute, 
oil-seeds,  and  safflower,  all  of  which  are  being  more  extensively  grown 
year  by  year.  Manure  is  not  generally  used,  and  never  for  rice  land. 
Irrigation  is  sometimes  practised  in  the  north  of  the  District,  and,  in  the 
same  tract,  fields  are  occasionally  suffered  to  lie  fallow.  In  the  south 
the  land  is  under  continuous  cultivation  with  the  same  crops,  and  the 
cultivators  trust  to  the  deposit  left  by  the  annual  inundation  to  maintain 
the  fertility  of  their  fields.  About  two-thirds  of  the  total  area  of 
the  District  is  estimated  to  be  under  cultivation.  The  out-turn  of 
rice  varies  from  13  cwts.  to  26  cwts.  per  acre.  The  best  rice  lands  yield 
a  second  crop  of  oil-seeds  or  pulses.  The  out-turn  of  jute  is  about  17 
cwts,  per  acre.    The  cultivators,  as  a  class,  are  described  as  fairly  pros- 


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8  DACCA  DISTRICT. 

perous.  Comparatively  few  of  them  have  obtained  rights  of  occupancy; 
but  the  recent  rise  in  the  value  of  all  agricultural  products,  caused  by 
the  development  of  trade,  has  distinctly  raised  the  standard  of  comfort 
among  them.  Rates  of  rent  for  rice  land  vary  from  is.  iod.  per  acre 
for  boro  to  9s.  per  acre  for  dman  land.  Land  that  produces  two 
crops  sometimes  rents  at  as  much  as  12s.  an  acre.  As  compared  with 
the  neighbouring  Districts,  Dacca  has  few  great  landlords,  and  sub- 
infeudation has  not  been  carried  to  an  excessive  extent  There  are 
seldom  more  than  two  classes  of  intermediate  tenure-holders  between 
the  zaminddr  and  the  actual  cultivator.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  the 
landowner  collects  his  rents  by  the  agency  of  his  own  servants,  and  not 
through  the  intervention  of  a  farmer.  Spare  land  at  the  present  day  is 
only  to  be  found  in  the  hilly,  broken  tract  in  the  north  of  the  District, 
where  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  Tipperahs  and  Kochs  are  gradually 
extending  the  limit  of  cultivation. 

Dacca  District  is  not  specially  subject  to  natural  calamities,  such  as 
flood,  blight,  or  drought  Each  of  these  does  occasionally  happen,  but 
rarely  on  such  a  scale  as  to  affect  the  general  harvest.  In  the  year 
1777-78,  a  terrible  inundation  occurred,  succeeded  by  a  calamitous 
famine.  But,  in  more  recent  times,  the  drought  of  1865  and  the  flood 
of  1870  merely  raised  the  prices  of  grain,  and  did  not  produce  acute 
distress.  If  the  price  of  rice  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  were  to  rise  to 
1 6s.  per  cwt,  that  should  be  regarded  as  a  sign  of  approaching  scarcity. 
At  the  present  time  the  means  of  communication  with  other  Districts 
by  water  are  so  good,  and  the  ordinary  course  of  trade  is  so  active,  that 
importation  could  at  any  time  prevent  scarcity  from  growing  into 
famine.    There  is  no  demand  for  either  embankments  or  canals. 

Industrial. — The  chief  means  of  communication  are  by  water.  The 
rivers  are  crowded  by  native  craft  and  by  steamers  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  and  no  corner  of  the  District  is  remote  from  some  navigable 
channel.  The  principal  road,  the  only  one  under  the  Public  Works 
Department,  leads  from  Dacca  city  through  Tipperah  to  Chittagong.  A 
second  important  road  runs  northward  through  the  high  country  to 
Maimansinh.  The  only  road  that  carries  much  traffic  is  the  branch 
from  Dacca  city  to  the  port  of  Ndrdinganj,  which  is  metalled.  There 
are  two  short  navigable  canals,  only  open  during  the  rainy  season ;  but 
no  railway  in  the  District  The  principal  manufactures  are  cotton- 
weaving,  embroidery,  silver-work,  shell-carving,  and  pottery.  The 
muslins  of  Dacca,  once  so  celebrated,  have  now  almost  entirely  ceased 
to  be  made.  A  few  pieces  are  occasionally  woven  to  order,  to  satisfy 
the  taste  of  the  curious.  Coarse  cotton  cloth  is  still  woven  all  over  the 
District.  The  gold  and  silver  smiths  and  the  shell-carvers  work  in 
their  own  houses,  and  on  their  own  account ;  and  their  condition  is 
decidedly  prosperous.    The  weavers  and  embroiderers,  on  the  other 


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DACCA  DISTRICT.  9 

hand,  manufacture  their  goods  on  behalf  of  merchants,  working  on  a 
system  of  advances.  The  merchants  take  care  that  the  artisan  shall 
always  continue  in  their  debt 

Dacca  conducts  a  very  large  trade  by  water,  and  many  of  the  mer- 
chants push  their  enterprise  into  remote  countries.  Europeans, 
Armenians,  Muhammadans,  and  Marwarfs  maintain  a  brisk  competition 
with  each  other.  In  former  times,  the  export  of  manufactured  cotton 
goods  was  by  far  the  most  important  branch  of  trade.  The  two  largest 
marts  of  commerce  are  Dacca  city  and  Niriinganj,  with  its  suburb  of 
Madanganj.  A  commercial  fair  is  annually  held  at  Munshiganj,  lasting 
for  three  weeks,  which  is  attended  by  merchants  from  such  distant 
quarters  as  Delhi,  Amritsar,  and  Arakan.  According  to  the  registered 
statistics  of  river  traffic  for  the  year  1876-77,  the  total  value  of  the 
exports  from  Dacca  District  was  £1,944,000 — including  jute,  £742,000 ; 
rice,  ,£232,000;  hides,  £131,000;  oil-seeds,  £51,000;  spices, 
,£46,000;  betel-nuts,  £39,000;  safflower,  £19,000.  The.  total  value 
of  the  imports  was  £3,245,000 — the  chief  items  being  piece-goods, 
,£795,000;  salt,  £304,000;  food  grains,  £366,000;  tobacco, 
£169,000;  sugar,  £255,000;  timber,  £135,000.  On  the  balance 
of  trade  food  grains  were  imported  to  the  weight  of  1,256,400 
maunds  of  82  lbs. 

There  are  four  printing-presses  in  the  District,  and  six  or  eight  news- 
papers are  published  regularly.  There  are  six  native  societies  organized 
for  the  spread  of  education  and  other  charitable  objects,  besides  *  The 
Dacca  Institute,'  common  to  natives  and  Europeans. 

Administration. — In  1870-71,  the  total  revenue  of  Dacca  District  was 
£111,620,  of  which  £53,671  was  derived  from  the  land;  the  total 
expenditure  was  £50,631,  or  less  than  half  the  revenue.  In  the  same 
year,  the  regular  police  force  numbered  430  officers  and  men,  maintained 
at  a  total  cost  of  £8552.  In  addition,  the  village  watch  numbered 
3068  men,  who  received  from  the  villagers  sums  estimated  at  £6903  ; 
and  the  municipal  police  consisted  of  a  force  of  263  officers  and  men, 
maintained  at  a  cost  of  £2023.  The  total  force,  therefore,  for  the 
protection  of  person  and  property  amounted  to  3761  men,  or  1  man 
to  every  o'8  square  mile,  or  to  every  493  of  the  population ;  the  total 
cost  was  £17,478,  being  an  average  of  £6,  os.  5&  per  square  mile,  and 
2^d.  per  head  of  population.  The  number  of '  cognisable  *  cases  con- 
ducted by  the  police  was  2084,  in  which  the  proportion  of  convictions 
was  5 3 #9  per  cent  The  number  of '  non-cognisable '  cases  instituted  was 
4101.  In  1868,  the  average  daily  number  of  prisoners  in  the  District 
jail  was  436,  of  whom  8  were  females;  being  1  prisoner  to  every 
4250  of  the  population.  The  average  cost  was  £4,  19s.  4&  per  head. 
Jail  manufactures  yielded  a  net  profit  of  £166,  7s.  3d. 

Education  has  made  rapid  progress  in  recent  years.     In  1 860-6 1, 


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io  DACCA  DISTRICT. 

there  were  altogether  21  schools  in  the  District,  attended  by  2003 
pupils.  By  1870-71,  the  number  of  schools  had  risen  to  149,  and  the 
number  of  pupils  to  7155.  In  that  year,  the  total  amount  spent  on 
education  was  ;£*  1,343,  towards  which  Government  contributed 
^6945.  Sir  G.  Campbell's  reforms,  by  which  the  benefit  of  the  grant- 
in-aid  rules  was  extended  to  the  village  schools  or  p&thsdlds,  has  greatly 
promoted  primary  instruction.  In  1874-75,  the  number  of  schools  had 
further  increased  to  416,  and  the  number  of  pupils  to  17,937,  showing 
1  school  to  every  6*9  square  miles,  and  9*1  pupils  to  every  1000  of  the 
population.  The  chief  educational  institution  is  the  Dacca  College, 
originally  started  in  1835.  The  present  buildings  were  completed  in 
1846.  There  is  a  staff  of  professors  teaching  up  to  the  standard  of  the 
University  entrance  examination,  and  also  an  English  school  depart- 
ment. 

For  administrative  purposes,  Dacca  District  is  divided  into  3  Sub- 
divisions, and  into  12  ihdnds  or  police  circles.  The  number  of 
pargands  or  fiscal  divisions  is  182.  In  the  year  1868,  there  were  8 
magisterial  and  25  civil  and  revenue  courts  open ;  the  number  of 
European  covenanted  officers  stationed  in  the  District  was  4. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  of  Dacca  during  the  hot  months  is 
sensibly  cooled  by  the  circumstance  that  the  wind  has  passed  over  the 
wide  surface  of  large  rivers.  The  rainy  season  lasts  from  April  to 
October.  The  most  disagreeable  weather  in  the  year  is  experienced  at 
the  close  of  this  season.  The  average  rainfall  for  the  ten  years  ending 
1870  was  75*23  inches.  Earthquakes  are  of  common  occurrence. 
Specially  severe  shocks  were  experienced  in  April  1762,  April  1775,  and 
May  181 2. 

The  principal  endemic  diseases  are  intermittent  and  remittent  fevers, 
elephantiasis  and  bronchocele,  dysentery  and  diarrhoea,  rheumatism, 
ophthalmia,  and  intestinal  worms.  Cholera  and  small-pox  both 
occasionally  visit  the  District  in  an  epidemic  form.  No  attention  what- 
ever is  paid  to  sanitation  in  the  rural  tracts *  but  the  munificence  of 
Nawdb  Abdul  Ganf  has  recently  presented  Dacca  city  with  a  fund  for 
undertaking  sanitary  improvements,  and  also  with  a  pure  water  supply. 
The  following  are  the  results  of  the  system  of  collecting  vital  statistics 
in  certain  selected  areas  for  the  year  1874.  In  the  urban  area,  which 
is  co-extensive  with  Dacca  city,  the  death-rate  was  25*20,  and  the  birth- 
rate, 26-53  per  1000.  The  death-rate  in  the  rural  area  was  26*23  pe* 
1000.  The  institutions  for  medical  relief  comprise  the  lunatic  asylum, 
the  Mitford  Hospital,  an  almshouse  founded  in  1866  by  Nawib  Abdul 
Ganf,  and  5  charitable  dispensaries.  In  187 1,  the  dispensaries  and  the 
hospital  were  attended  by  1092  in-door  and  20,732  out-door  patients; 
the  total  expenditure  was  ^1761,  towards  which  Government  contri- 
buted ^742. 


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DACCA  CITY.  ii 

Dacca. — Headquarters  Subdivision  of  Dacca  District,  lying  between 
230  34'  and  240  20'  12'  n.  lat.,  and  between  900  2'  45"  and  910 1'  10"  e. 
long. ;  including  Dacca  City.  Area,  1926  square  miles ;  townships, 
3302;  houses,  165,537;  total  population  (1872),  1,007,073,  of  whom 
413,293  were  Hindus,  585,805  Muhammadans,  4  Buddhists,  7308 
Christians,  and  663  of  other  denominations.  Average  number  of  per- 
sons per  square  mile,  523;  townships  per  square  mile,  171 ;  persons 
per  township,  305  ;  houses  per  square  mile,  86  ;  inmates  per  house,  6*i. 
Dacca  Subdivision  includes  the  7  police  circles  of  Lai  Bagh,  Sabhar, 
Kapasia,  Raipur,  Riipganj,  Ndrainganj,  and  Nawdbganj.  Magisterial 
and  revenue  courts  (1869),  10;  police  force,  550  men;  village  watch, 
1 1 92  strong.  Separate  cost  of  administration  (1869)  returned  at 
^3067,  7s.  from  District  funds,  besides  ^1714,  8s.  expended  by  the 
municipality. 

Dacca. — The  city  of  Dacca,  the  chief  town  of  the  District  and 
Commissionership  of  the  same  name,  and  the  fifth  largest  city  under  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  Bengal,  is  situated  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
Burfganga  river,  in  23°  43'  n.  lat,  and  900  26'  25"  e.  long.,  8  miles 
above  the  confluence  of  the  Burfganga  with  the  Dhaleswarf.  The 
municipal  limits  include  an  area  of  about  8  square  miles,  and  the  popu- 
lation, according  to  the  Census  of  1872,  numbers  69,212  persons.  In 
1876-77,  the  gross  municipal  income  was  ^8827 ;  rate  of  taxation, 
2S.  2f&  per  head. 

The  town  extends  along  the  bank  of  the  river  for  a  distance  of  nearly 
4  miles,  and  inland,  towards  the  north,  for  about  one  mile  and  a  quarter. 
It  is  intersected  by  a  branch  of  the  Dolai  creek.  The  two  principal 
streets  cross  each  other  at  right  angles.  One  runs  parallel  to  the  river 
for  upwards  of  two  miles,  from  the  Lai  Bagh  Palace  to  the  Dolai  creek. 
The  other  leads  north  from  the  river  to  the  military  cantonments  ;  it  is 
about  one  mile  and  a  quarter  in  length,  of  considerable  width,  and 
bordered  by  regularly  built  houses.  The  chauk  or  market-place,  a 
square  of  fine  dimensions,  lies  at  the  extreme  west.  The  remainder 
of  the  town  is  composed  of  narrow,  crooked  lanes,  few  of  which 
admit  wheeled  conveyances.  The  native  houses  vary  in  height  from 
one  to  four  storeys.  In  some  of  the  crowded  quarters,  such  as  those 
occupied  by  the  weavers  and  shell-carvers,  each  house  has  a  front- 
age of  only  8  or  10  feet ;  but  the  side-walls  run  back  for  a  distance  of 
60  feet  The  two  ends  only  of  such  houses  are  roofed  in,  the  middle 
forming  an  open  court.  The  houses  of  the  European  residents  extend 
along  the  river  for  a  space  of  about  half  a  mile,  in  the  centre  of  the 
town.  In  the  Armenian  and  Greek  quarters,  there  are  several  large 
brick  houses,  now  falling  into  decay.  Dacca  preserves  few  traces  of  its 
former  magnificence  as  the  Muhammadan  capital  of  Bengal  during  the 
17th  century.      The  old  fort,  erected  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 


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12  DACCA  CITY. 

Jahangir,  has  entirely  disappeared.  The  only  public  buildings  of  this 
period  still  remaining  are  the  Katra,  built  by  Sultan  Muhammad  Shuja 
in  1645  >  an(^  ^e  palace  of  the  Lai  Bagh,  which  several  successive 
Nawabs  intended  to  associate  with  their  name,  but  which  was  never 
completed  Both  these  buildings  are  now  mere  ruins,  and  their  decora- 
tions have  been  wantonly  destroyed  The  factories  built  by  the  English, 
the  French,  and  the  Dutch  during  the  1 7th  century  have  also  been 
swept  away.  An  outline  of  the  history  of  the  city  has  been  given  in  the 
preceding  article  on  Dacca  District.  The  city  was  first  selected  as 
the  seat  of  Government  about  16 10,  owing  to  its  convenient  position  for 
controlling  the  waterways  of  the  delta,  which  were  then  ravaged  by 
Portuguese  pirates  in  alliance  with  the  Arakanese.  In  1704,  the  Nawab 
Murshfd  Kuii  Khan  moved  his  residence  to  Murshid£b£d ;  and  though 
Dacca  long  retained  a  titular  Nawab,  its  glory  departed  with  the  removal 
of  the  court  When  in  the  height  of  its  prosperity,  Dacca  must  have 
been  very  populous.  Its  suburbs  are  said  to  have  extended  15  miles 
northwards,  as  far  as  the  village  of  Tungf,  where  mosques  and  brick 
houses  are  still  to  be  discovered  buried  beneath  thick  jungle.  During 
the  1 8th  century,  Dacca  won  a  new  reputation  for  its  manufacture  of 
fine  muslins,  which  became  famous  in  the  markets  of  the  West.  The 
cotton  grown  in  the  neighbourhood  is  said  to  be  of  peculiarly  fine 
quality.  The  weavers,  who  were  mostly  Hindus,  attained  a  wonderful 
delicacy  of  taste  and  dexterity  of  manipulation,  by  means  of  hereditary 
devotion  to  their  industry.  At  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the  annual 
investment  made  by  the  East  India  Company  and  by  private  traders  for 
Dacca  muslins  was  estimated  at  ,£250,000.  But  in  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  this  industry  began  rapidly  to  decline,  under  the 
competition  of  cheaper  piece-goods  from  Manchester.  By  18 13,  the 
value  of  the  private  trade  had  fallen  to  £20,000,  and  four  years  later, 
the  Commercial  Residency  of  the  Company  was  closed.  The  prosperity 
of  the  city  has  never  recovered  from  this  second  blow.  The  reduced 
and  impoverished  population,  the  ruinous  and  abandoned  houses,  still 
show  the  disastrous  results  of  the  loss  Dacca  has  sustained  in  her  cotton 
manufactures.  In  1800,  the  number  of  inhabitants  was  estimated,  and 
apparently  not  over-estimated,  at  200,000;  in  1830,  a  Census  of  the 
town  showed  that  the  total  had  fallen  to  67,000.  A  small  colony  of 
weavers  of  muslin  still  exists,  who  produce  fabrics  of  exceptional  excel- 
lence, working  under  a  system  of  advances  from  native  capitalists.  In 
recent  years,  the  general  development  of  trade  throughout  Bengal  has 
brought  back  to  Dacca  a  little  of  its  former  wealth.  The  city  is  favour- 
ably situated  to  command  the  three  river  systems  of  the  Ganges,  the 
Brahamputra,  and  the  Meghna.  If  we  include  the  commerce  of 
Ndrainganj  and  Madanganj,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  river  ports 
of  Dacca,  its  total  trade  exceeds  that  of  any  inland  mart  of  Bengal 


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DACCA  CITY.  13 

except  Patnl  The  collection  of  jute,  oil-seeds,  rice,and  hides,  and  the 
distribution  of  piece-goods  and  salt,  constitute  the  most  important  func- 
tions of  the  Dacca  merchants ;  and  Dacca  boatmen  are  well  known 
throughout  Bengal  as  the  most  adventurous  of  their  class.  In  the  year 
1876-77,  the  total  trade  of  Dacca  city,  excluding  Nirainganj  and 
Madanganj,  was  valued  at  ,£1,183,000.  The  chief  articles  of  export 
were — hides,  ,£130,000  ;  jute,  ,£79,000 ;  food  grains,  ^41,000 ;  the 
imports  included — piece-goods,  ,£436,000;  cotton  twist,  ^£79,000; 
timber,  ,£35,000 ;  and  salt,  ,£25,000. 

The  population  of  the  city  is  thus  classified  in  the  Census  Report  of 
1872:  —  Hindus,  males  20,102,  females  14,331 — total,  34,433; 
Muhammadans,  males  17,022,  females  17,253  —  total,  34,275;  Chris- 
tians, males  258,  females  221 — total,  479;  'others,'  males  18, 
females  12 — total,  3a  Grand  total,  males  37,395,  females  31,817  — 
total,  69,212.  The  large  proportion  of  females  among  the  Muham- 
madan  population  is  worthy  of  notice.  The  total  of  Christians  includes 
a  few  Armenians  and  Greeks,  who  formerly  conducted  a  considerable 
share  of  the  trade  of  the  city.  Foremost  among  the  citizens  of  Dacca 
(1878)  maybe  mentioned  Nawib  Abdul  Ganf,  C.S.I.,  who  in  1866 
founded  the  Langar  Khina,  or  almshouse,  for  the  accommodation  of 
poor  persons  permanently  disabled  from  work.  He  has  since  made  a 
donation  of  ^5000  to  the  municipality  for  the  carrying  out  of  sanitary 
improvements;  and  in  the  present  year  (1878),  the  system  of  water- 
works has  been  opened,  which  he  constructed  for  the  city  at  his  own 
expense. 

Dacca  is  well  provided  with  educational  institutions.  The  Dacca 
College,  with  a  staff  of  European  professors,  is  one  of  the  best  of  its 
class  in  India.  In  1874-75,  the  average  daily  attendance  of  students 
was  105.  Each  student  pays  10s.  a  month.  The  total  cost  was  ,£2765, 
towards  which  Government  contributed  jC20i7  >  the  average  cost  per 
student  was  ,£26,  6s.  The  number  of  candidates  sent  up  for  the  first 
arts  examination  was  40,  of  whom  1 1  passed.  In  connection  with  the 
college  there  is  an  English  school  department,  and  English  is  also  taught 
at  the  four  following  schools  : — The  Pogose  School,  established  by  a 
wealthy  Armenian  gentleman ;  the  Brahma  Samlj  School,  the  Boys' 
School,  and  the  Bdngdld  Bazdr  School. 

Until  the  conservancy  reforms  effected  by  the  aid  of  the  liberality 
of  Nawdb  Abdul  Gani,  the  sanitary  condition  of  Dacca  city  had 
been  very  unsatisfactory.  During  the  rainy  season,  the  whole  city 
is  surrounded  by  a  labyrinth  of  brimming  creeks,  and  the  low-lying 
suburbs  are  liable  to  be  flooded  every  year.  In  former  times,  the 
simplest  rules  of  conservancy  were  disregarded,  and  much  difficulty  has 
been  experienced  in  overcoming  the  traditional  prejudices  of  all  classes 
of  the  community.     It  is  hoped,  however,  that  the  health  of  the  city  will 


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14  DADAR—DADU. 

now  be  sensibly  improved  by  the  reforms  that  have  been  recently  carried 
out,  and  by  the  introduction  of  a  pure  water  supply.  In  the  year  1874, 
the  reported  death-rate  was  25*20  per  1000,  and  the  birth-rate  26*53. 
The  principal  charitable  institution  is  the  Mitford  Hospital,  established 
in  1858,  by  a  bequest  of  a  member  of  the  Civil  Service.  The  wards 
are  well  planned  and  lofty,  and  the  building  stands  in  grounds  of  its 
own,  by  the  river-side.  In  187 1,  the  daily  average  of  in-door  patients 
was  57*42,  and  of  out-door  patients,  58*29.  The  total  expenditure  was 
^1421,  towards  which  Government  contributed  ^542.  A  permanent 
endowment  of  ;£  16,000  was  left  by  the  founder. 

D&dar. — Town  in  Kachhi  Province,  Baluchistin;  situated  in  lat  29° 
28'  n.,  and  long.  67*  34'  e.,  on  the  Bolan  river,  about  5  miles  east  of 
the  Bolan  Pass,  and  37  north-west  from  Bagh ;  elevation  above  sea 
level,  about  700  feet;  pop.  not  exceeding  2000.  Surrounded  by  bare 
and  rocky  hills,  which  render  the  heat  in  summer  perhaps  greater  than 
that  of  any  other  place  in  the  world  in  the  same  parallel  of  latitude. 
Dadar  is  supplied  with  excellent  water  from  the  river  Bolan  during  a 
great  part  of  the  year.  Wheat,  cotton,  cucumbers,  and  melons  are 
grown  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  town. 

Dadh&ya. — One  of  the  petty  States  in  Mahi  Kanta,  Bombay.  The 
area  of  the  land  under  cultivation  in  1875  was  estimated  at  5000  acres, 
the  population  at  3448,  and  the  revenue  at  about  ^300.  The  Thalcur  is  a 
tributary  chief,  paying  annually  ^70  as  ghds-ddnay  or  forage  for  cattle, 
to  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda,  and  ^61  as  kichri^  or  supplies  for  troops,  to 
the  Raja*  of  Edar.  He  has  enjoyed  semi-independent  power  since  the 
establishment  of  his  family  in  M£hi  Kanta.  The  family  are  Sesodia 
Rajputs,  who  originally  came  from  Udaipur  (Oodeypore)  in  Rajputana. 
The  first  Thakur  entered  the  service  of  the  chief  of  Edar  with  a  body 
of  horse,  and  obtained  the  gift  of  48  villages,  in  1674.  At  a  later  date, 
the  Dadhdlya  chief,  refusing  to  serve  under  the  Marwar  princes  who 
assumed  the  Government  of  Edar,  had  his  grant  reduced  to  its  present 
limits. 

D&dri — Village  in  Bulandshahr  District,  North-Western  Provinces, 
lying  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Road,  20  miles  north-east  of  Buland- 
shahr, and  23  miles  south-east  of  Delhi  Pop.  (1872),  2223 ;  police 
station,  post  office,  village  school,  encamping  ground  for  troops.  The 
railway  station  (East  Indian  Railway)  is  a  mile  and  a  half  s.-w.  of  the 
village.  Fort  built  at  the  end  of  the  18th  century  by  Dargahi  Sinh,  whose 
descendants  held  estates  in  the  neighbourhood  till  1857,  when  they 
joined  the  rebels.  Two  members  of  the  family  were  hanged,  and  their 
possessions  were  confiscated.  Colonel  Greathed's  column  occupied  Dddri 
on  the  26th  of  September  1857,  and,  finding  much  property  taken  from 
Europeans,  burned  the  neighbouring  villages. 

D&cUL —  A  t&luk  in  the  Sehwan   Deputy   Collectorate,    Karachi 

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DADU—DAGSHAL  15 

(Kurrachee)  District,  Sind  Lat  26°  29'  30"  to  260  56'  30"  n.,  long.  67° 
22'  30*  to  67°  57'  45*  e.  ;  area,  746  square  miles;  pop.  (1872),  66,350  ; 
revenue  (1873-74),  ^£14,616,  of  which  ^13,467  was  derived  from 
imperial,  and  ^1148  from  local  funds. 

D4dtL — Municipality  and  chief  town  in  above  t&luk,  Karichi  Dis- 
trict, Sind  Lat  260  43'  30*  n.,  long.  67°  49'  e.  Pop.  (1872),  3357, 
principally  agriculturists ;  Muhammadans,  2434,  of  the  Sayyid,  Memon, 
Chaki,  and  Lashiri  tribes;  Hindus,  923,  chiefly  Lohanos.  Mukhti- 
drkdr's  station,  post  office. 

Daflapur  (or  Jath). — One  of  the  Satara  jdgirs  in  Bombay,  whose 
chief,  '  The  Duflay  of  Jath,'  takes  his  name  from  the  town  of  Daflapur. 
Lat  17°  o'  n.,  long.  750  7'  e.  In  1820,  the  British  Government  made 
an  engagement  with  the  ancestors  of  the  present  chief,  confirming  them 
in  the  estates  then  held  In  1827,  the  estate  was  attached  by  the  Raja* 
of  Satara  to  pay  off  the  chiefs  debts,  but,  after  their  liquidation,  it  was 
restored  in  1841.  The  British  Government  have  more  than  once  inter- 
fered to  adjust  the  pecuniary  affairs  of  the  jdgir  ;  and,  in  consequence  of 
numerous  oppressions,  were  compelled  in  1872  to  assume  the  direct 
management  on  behalf  of  the  holder.  The  jdgirddr  pays  to  the 
British  Government  ^640  per  annum  in  lieu  of  the  service  of  50  horse- 
men, and  a  tribute  of  ^473.  He  also  pays  ^95  to  the  Panth  Pra- 
tinidhi  of  Aundh  from  the  revenues  of  certain  villages.  The  area  of  the 
jdgir  is  about  885  square  miles;  population  ( 1 871),  70,665  ;  revenue, 
^8364.  The  town  of  Daflapur  lies  about  80  miles  south-east  of 
Sat&a,  and  85  north-east  of  Belgium. 

Daga. — A  creek  in  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma,  which  leaves  the 
Bassein  River  3  or  4  miles  from  its  northern  mouth,  in  Henzada  District, 
in  lat.  17°  42'  o*  n.,  and  long.  950  25'  o"  e.,  and  after  a  tortuous  south- 
west course,  rejoins  it  near  Bassein  town,  lat  160  55'  o"  n.,  and  long.  94° 
48'  o*  e.  The  northern  entrance  has  silted  up,  and  is  now  completely 
closed  by  the  embankment  of  the  Bassein ;  the  bed  for  about  8  miles 
down,  as  far  as  Rwathit,  is  dry  during  the  hot  season.  In  the  rains 
the  downward  current  is  strong,  but  in  the  dry  season  the  tide  is  felt  as 
far  as  Thabye-hla  at  neaps,  and  15  miles  farther  at  springs.  The  Daga 
is  navigable  by  river  steamers  during  the  rains  for  36  miles,  from  its 
southern  outlet  to  the  Meng-ma-hnaing  creek ;  it  is  practicable  all  the 
year  round  for  native  craft  as  far  as  Kydn-pyaw,  where  the  creek  is 
from  200  to  300  feet  wide,  and  to  to  15  feet  deep.  A  few  miles 
below  Kyiin-pyaw  is  the  Eng-rai-gyf  Lake,  communicating  with  the 
Daga  by  a  small  channel. 

Daga. — Revenue  circle  in  Bassein  District,  Pegu  Division,  British 
Burma,  to  which  is  now  joined  Shwe-gnyoung-beng.    Pop.  (1876),  2227  ; 
gross  revenue,  ^641. 
Dagflh&i. — Hill  cantonment  in  Simla  District,   Punjab;   situated 

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16  DA-GYAING—DAJAL. 

on  a  bare  and  treeless  height,  16  miles  south  of  Simla,  on  the  cart- 
road  to  Kalka,  in  lat  300  53'  5"  n.,  long.  77°  5'  38"  e.  Established 
in  1842 ;  now  regularly  occupied  by  a  European  regiment  The 
station,  though  usually  healthy,  suffered  from  an  epidemic  of  cholera  in 
1872.    Supplies  are  drawn  from  Kasauli. 

Da-gyaing. — River  in  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim,  British  Burma, 
Rises  in  the  Dawna  spur,  and,  flowing  westward,  joins  the  Hlaingbhwai 
about  half-way  between  the  villages  of  Khazaing  and  Hlaingbhwai  In 
the  rains  it  brings  down  a  considerable  body  of  water,  but  a  swift 
current  and  numerous  rocks  render  it  unnavigable. 

D&h&ntL — Seaport  and  municipal  town  in  the  Dahanu  Subdivision 
of  Tanna  District,  Bombay.  Lat  190  58'  n.,  long.  72°  45'  e.  ;  pop. 
(1872),  3186;  municipal  revenue  (1874-75),  ^90;  rate  of  taxation,  6jd. 
per  head.  Average  annual  value  of  trade  for  the  five  years  ending 
1873-74— exports,  ,£10,339;  imports,  ^2150. 

DahL— Petty  State  in  Chakalda,  tributary  to  HoMr,  to  whom  it 
pays  ^30.  It  is  under  the  Bhil  Agency,  a  department  of  the  Central 
India  Agency. 

Dahira. — Petty  State  in  South  Kathiawar,  Bombay,  consisting  of 
3  villages,  with  6  independent  tribute-payers.  The  revenue  in  1876  was 
estimated  at  ^1000. 

Dai-da-raL — Revenue  circle  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma;  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  To  river,  about  15 
miles  from  its  mouth.     Pop.  (1876),  5319;  gross  revenue,  ^3106. 

Daing-btLn. — Revenue  circle  in  Kyouk-hpyu*  District,  Arakan,  British 
Burma.  Area,  117  square  miles;  pop.  (1876),  4111.  The  southern 
portion  is  divided  into  numerous  islands  by  inter-communicating  tidal 
creeks.     Gross  revenue  (1876),  ^3108. 

D&in-hAt. — Trading  town  and  municipality  in  Bardwan  District, 
Bengal.  Lat  230  36'  24"  n.,  long.  88°  13'  50"  e.;  pop.  (1872),  7562. 
Situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Bhigirathi ;  fair  held  here.  Manufactures, 
weaving  and  brass-work;  trade  in  grain,  tobacco,  jute,  salt,  English 
cloth,  cotton,  etc  Gross  municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^367 ;  average 
rate  of  taxation,  1  if  d.  per  head  of  the  population. 

Dai-pai.  —  Lake  in  Karoung  township,  Henzada  District,  Pegu 
Division,  British  Burma ;  situated  near  the  foot  of  the  eastern  slopes 
of  the  Pegu  Yomas,  covering  an  area  of  nearly  one  square  mile. 
Supplied  principally  by  the  drainage  from  the  neighbouring  hills ;  during 
the  rains  it  has  a  depth  of  9,  and  in  the  dry  season  of  4  or  5,  feet 

DdjaL— Town  in  Dera  Ghazi  Kh£n  District,  Punjab.  Lat.  29°  33' 
22"  n.,  long.  70°  25'  21"  e.;  pop.  (1868),  5695,  comprising  1044 
Hindus,  4554  Muhammadans,  8  Sfkhs,  and  89  ( others.'  First  rose 
to  importance  under  the  rule  of  the  Nahirs  {vide  Dera  Ghazi 
Khan  District),  from  whom  it  was  wrested  by  Ghazi  Khan ;  subse- 


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DAK  A  TIA— DAKSHIN  SHAHBAZPUR.  1 7 

quently  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Khans  of  Khelat  Formerly  a 
thriving  town,  trading  with  the  country  beyond  the  British  frontier,  but 
now  in  a  decayed  state,  the  traffic  having  taken  different  channels. 
Forms  with  the  adjoining  village  of  Naushahra  a  third-class  munici- 
pality; revenue  (1875-76),  ^284,  or  io|d.  per  head  of  population 
(6335)  within  municipal  limits. 

D&kAtiA. —  River  of  Bengal;  rises  in  Hill  Tipperah,  and  flows 
through  the  southern  portion  of  Tipperah  District,  where  it  is  joined 
by  numerous  mountain  torrents.  After  taking  a  westerly  course  past 
Lakshdm,  Chitosi,  and  Hdjfganj,  the  Dakatia  sweeps  suddenly  round 
to  the  southward  6$  miles  east  of  Chandpur,  and  empties  itself  into  the 
Meghna  a  little  above  the  village  of  Raipur,  in  Noakhali  District. 

Dakhineswar. — Village  on  the  Hdgli,  in  the  District  of  the  Twenty- 
four  Parganas,  Bengal ;  situated  a  little  north  of  Calcutta.  Contains  a 
powder  magazine,  and  a  few  country-houses  of  Europeans.  Also  noted 
for  its  twelve  beautiful  temples  in  honour  of  Siva,  built  on  the  river  bank. 
Aided  vernacular  school  here. 

D&kor. — Municipal  town  in  the  Thisra*  Subdivision  of  Kaira  District, 
Bombay;  16  miles  north-east  of  the  Anand  railway  station.  Lat 
220  45'  n.,  long.  730  11' e.;  pop.  (1872),  7740;  municipal  revenue 
(1874-75),  ^807;  rate  of  taxation,  2s.  id.  per  head.  Dakor  is  one  of 
the  chief  places  of  pilgrimage  in  Western  India.  There  are  monthly 
meetings,  but  the  largest  gatherings  take  place  about  the  full  moon  in 
October  -  November,  when  as  many  as  100,000  pilgrims  assemble. 
Dispensary  and  post  office. 

Dakshin  (Dakhin  or  Dcecan). — Tract  of  country  in  Southern  India. 
— See  Deccan. 

Dakshin  &h&hb4zpnr. — A  large  low-lying  island  in  the  Meghnd 
estuary,  and  now  a  Subdivision  of  Bakarganj  District,  Bengal ;  situated 
between  220 16'  45"  and  220  51'  30"  n.  lat,  and  between  900  39'  30"  and 
900  57'  15"  e.  long.  Created  a  separate  administrative  Subdivision  in 
1845,  Anally  transferred  from  Nodkhali  to  Bikarganj  in  1869 ;  comprises 
the  two  ihdnds  or  police  circles  of  Daulat  Khan  and  Dhania  Mania. 
Area,  818  square  miles,  with,  in  1872, 345  villages,  23,715  houses,  and  a 
population  of  2  2 1 ,03 7.  The  cyclone  of  3 1  st  October  1 8 76  is  said  to  have 
swept  away  almost  the  entire  population  of  Daulat  Khan.  The  island 
is  a  typical  deltaic  tract,  formed  out  of  the  silt  brought  down  by  the 
Ganges  and  Brahmaputra.  Its  level  is  said  to  be  higher  than  that  of  the 
adjacent  delta  or  the  Bakarganj  mainland.  The  strong  '  bore '  of  the 
Meghna  at  spring  tides  rushes  up  on  the  east  of  Dakshin  Shdhbazpur, 
flooding  all  the  water-courses  and  creeks.  The  north  and  eastern 
sides  are  being  cut  away  by  the  river,  many  homesteads  with  their  palm 
groves  annually  disappearing  in  the  river ;  while  large  alluvial  accretions 
are  constantly  forming  farther  down  the  estuary,  at  the  southern  point. 

VOL.  III.  b 

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i8  DALA— DALHOUSIE. 

of  Dakshin  Shahbazpur.  Seat  of  a  court,  with  75  regular  police  and 
482  village  watchmen ;  total  cost  of  Subdivisional  administration 
returned  at  ^1525. 

Dala. — A  suburb  of  Rangoon  town,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma ; 
situated  on  the  right  or  western  bank  of  the  Rangoon  river.  Formerly 
the  Dala  district  included  Angyf,  now  a  township  of  Rangoon  District, 
and  Pyaptfn,  a  portion  of  Thonkhwa;  but  these  were  transferred  at  the 
end  of  the  last  century.  In  1650  A.D.,  Dala  is  said  to  have  been 
subject  to  the  King  of  Burma ;  at  one  time  it  belonged  to  Pegu,  at 
another  it  was  under  an  independent  governor. 

Dala. — A  creek  in  Rangoon  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma, 
which  empties  itself  into  the  Rangoon  river  opposite  Rangoon  town. 
On  the  west  side  of  its  mouth  are  dockyards,  and  to  the  east,  timber 
yards  and  steam  sawmills.  In  the  dry  season  it  is  navigable  for  a  few 
miles  only. 

Dala-nwon. — River  in  Shwe-gyeng  District,  Tenasserim  Division, 
British  Burma.  Rises  in  the  eastern  spurs  of  the  Pegu  Yomas,  and, 
flowing  south-east,  falls  into  the  Tsittoung  a  few  miles  below  Thayet- 
thamien.     Navigable  by  large  boats  as  far  as  Thonkhwa. 

DalgomA. — Village  in  Goilpara  District,  Assam,  at  which  a  large 
fair  is  held  annually  in  January,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  death  of  a 
former  high  priest  of  the  temple.     Lat.  2  6°  6'  n.,  long.  900  49'  e. 

Dalhousie. — Municipal  town,  cantonment,  and  hill  sanitarium  in 
Gurdaspur  District,  Punjab.  Lat  320  31'  45"  n.,  long.  760  o'  15"  e. 
Occupies  the  summits  and  upper  slopes  of  three  mountain  peaks  in  the 
main  Himilayan  range  east  of  the  Ravi  river ;  distant  from  Pathankot 
52  miles  north-west,  from  Gurdaspur  75  miles;  elevation  above  sea, 
7687  feet.  To  the  east  the  granite  peak  of  Dam  Kiind,  clothed  with 
dark  pine  forests,  and  capped  with  snow  even  during  part  of  summer, 
towers  up  to  a  height  of  9000  feet ;  while  beyond,  again,  the  peaks  of 
the  Dhaola  Dhar,  covered  with  perpetual  winter,  shut  in  the  Kingra 
valley  and  close  the  view  in  that  direction.  The  scenery  may  compare 
favourably  with  that  of  any  mountain  station  in  the  Himalayan  range. 
The  hills  consist  of  rugged  granite,  and  the  houses  are  perched  in  a 
few  gentler  slopes  among  the  declivities;  but  building  sites  are  rare 
and  difficult  to  obtain,  so  that  most  of  the  houses  are  double-storied. 
The  first  project  for  the  formation  of  a  sanitarium  at  this  spot  originated 
with  Colonel  Napier,  now  Lord  Napier  of  Magdala,  in  185 1.  In  the  fol 
lowing  year,  the  British  Government  purchased  the  site  from  the  Raja  of 
Chamba,  and  the  new  station  was  marked  off  in  1854.  No  systematic 
occupation,  however,  took  place  until  i860.  In  that  year,  Dalhousie 
was  attached  to  the  District  of  Gurdaspur ;  the  road  from  the  plains  was 
widened,  and  building  operations  commenced  on  a  large  scale.  Troops 
were  stationed  in  the  Baliin  barracks  in  1868,  and  the  sanitarium 


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DALINGKOT—DALMAU.  19 

rapidly  acquired  reputation  as  a  fashionable  resort  The  town  now 
contains  a  court-house,  branch  treasury,  post  office,  dispensary,  church, 
and  several  hotels.  The  sanitary  arrangements  are  still  somewhat 
imperfect.  Municipal  revenue  (1875-76),  ^649;  pop.  within  municipal 
limits  (1868),  2019. 

D&lingkot  (or  Damsdng). — A  hilly  tract  situated  east  of  the  Tfsta, 
west  of  the  Ne-chu  and  De-chu  rivers,  and  south  of  Independent 
Sikkim.  It  was  acquired  as  the  result  of  the  Bhutan  campaign  of 
1864,  and  now  forms  a  part  of  Darjiling  District,  Bengal 

Dalli. — Ancient  chiefship  in  Bhandara  District,  Central  Provinces. 
Pop.  (1870),  2331,  chiefly  Gonds,  residing  in  17  small  villages,  covering 
an  area  of  about  53  square  miles,  of  which  6  are  rudely  cultivated 
The  Great  Eastern  Road  runs  across  Dalli,  through  the  Mundipar  Pass, 
the  hills  round  which  furnish  an  abundant  supply  of  bamboos.  The 
chief  is  a  Gond.  Principal  town,  Dalli,  situated  in  lat.  210  5'  30"  n., 
long.  8o°  1 6'  e. 

DalmlL — The  principal  hill  in  the  mountain  range  of  the  same 
name  in  Manbhiim  District,  Bengal ;  height,  3407  feet.  It  has  been 
described  as  the  '  rival  of  Parasndth,'  but  it  lacks  the  bold  precipices 
and  commanding  peaks  of  that  hill,  and  is  merely  a  long  rolling  ridge 
rising  gradually  to  its  highest  point.  Its  slopes  are  covered  with 
dense  forest,  but  are  accessible  to  men  and  beasts  of  burden.  The  chief 
aboriginal  tribes  living  on  Dalma*  Hill  are  the  Kharrias  and  Pahanas. 

D&lmatL — Pargand  of  Lalganj  tahsil,  Rai  Bareli  District,  Oudh. 
Bounded  on  the  north  by  Ral  Bareli  pargand;  on  the  east  by 
Salon  :  on  the  south  by  Fatehpur  District,  the  Ganges  marking  the 
border  line ;  and  on  the  west  by  Khiron  and  Sareni  pargands. 
Originally  held  by  the  Bhars  till  their  extirpation  by  Ibrahim  Sharki  of 
Jaunpur,  but  first  created  a  pargand  by  Akbar.  The  Bais  were  almost 
the  sole  proprietors  till  the  forfeiture  of  the  great  estate  of  Raja  Beni 
Madhu,  and  its  distribution  among  other  proprietors.  A  large  and 
fertile  tract,  with  an  area  of  253  square  miles,  of  which  121  are 
cultivated.  Government  land  revenue,  ^41,114,  being  at  the  high 
rate  of  5s.  id.  per  acre.  Of  the  292  villages  comprising  the  pargand^ 
213  are  held  under  talukddri  tenure,  33  are  zamfnddri,  and  14  pattiddrf, 
while  32  are  Government  grants.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  138,757; 
Muhammadans,  6331;  total,  145,088,  viz.  72,135  males  and  72,953 
females;  average  density  of  population,  573  per  square  mile.  Ten 
market  villages,  of  which  Lalganj  is  the  most  important  Main  imports 
— rice  and  sugar  from  Faizdba'd  (Fyzabad),  and  cotton  from  Fatehpur; 
extensive  trade  in  cattle.  Saltpetre  was  formerly  manufactured  in  con^ 
siderable  quantities,  but  the  industry  now  exists  on  a  small  scale  in  only 
two  villages.  Two  large  annual  fairs,  each  attended  by  about  50,000 
persons,  are  held  in  the  pargand. 


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20  DALMAU— DAMAN. 

D&lmau. — Town  in  R£i  Bareli  District,  Oudh ;  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Ganges,  16  miles  south  of  Rii  Bareli  town,  and  14  miles  north  of 
Fatehpur.  Lat.  260  3'  45"  n.,  long.  8i°  4'  20"  e.  The  town  is  said  to 
have  been  founded  about  1500  years  ago  by  a  brother  of  the  R^jd  of 
Kanauj.  It  was  for  long  in  the  possession  of  the  Bhars,  and  the  sur- 
rounding country  was  the  scene  of  a  protracted  struggle  maintained  by 
that  tribe  against  the  encroachments  of  the  Muhammadans.  About 
1400  A.D.,  the  Bhars  were  almost  annihilated  by  Sultdn  Ibrdhim  Sharki. 
Several  Muhammadan  mosques  and  tombs,  in  various  stages  of  decay, 
and  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Bhar  fortress,  attest  the  bygone  importance 
of  the  town.  During  the  last  century  it  has  steadily  declined.  Its 
population  in  1869  consisted  of  4940  Hindus  and  914  Muhammadans; 
total,  5854,  residing  in  656  houses,  of  which  245  are  of  brick.  The 
principal  buildings  are  several  mosques,  an  old  Hindu  temple,  and  a 
sardi  or  rest-house.  Three  bi-weekly  markets,  police  station,  post  office, 
Government  Anglo-vernacular  schooL  Large  annual  fair,  attended  by 
from  50,000  to  60,000  persons,  is  held  on  the  last  day  of  Kirtik,  at 
which  a  considerable  trade  is  carried  on. 

D&lml. — Site  of  remarkable  Hindu  ruins  on  the  Subarndrekhd  river, 
M£nbhtim  District,  Bengal.  Lat  230  4'  n.,  long.  86°  4'  e.  They 
comprise  an  old  fort,  with  the  remains  of  curious  temples,  dedicated 
both  to  the  Sivaite  and  Vishnuvite  objects  of  worship. 

Daltonganj. — Administrative  headquarters  of  Palimau  Subdivision, 
Lohardaga  District,  Bengal.  Prettily  situated  on  the  North  Koel  river, 
opposite  the  old  town  of  Shdhpur.  Lat  240  2'  15"  n.,  long.  840  6'  40"  e. 
A  brisk  local  trade  is  springing  up.  A  court-house,  and  the  usual  Sub- 
divisional  offices.  Named  after  Colonel  Dalton,  late  Commissioner  of 
Chutii  Nagpur. 

Daltongaqj  Goal-field. — The  name  given  to  an  area  of  200  square 
miles  in  the  valleys  of  the  Koel  and  the  Armanat  rivers.  The  civil 
station  of  Daltonganj  lies  just  beyond  its  southern  border.  Of  the  whole 
field,  only  about  30  square  miles  are  important  as  coal-bearing  tracts. 

Damalcherri — Pass  in  North  Arcot  District,  Madras ;  by  which  the 
Marhatta*  chief  Sivaji  made  his  first  descent  (1676)  upon  the  Karnatic ; 
and  here,  in  1740,  Dost  Alf  the  Nawdb  was  killed  in  battle  with  the 
Marhattds.  Lat.  130  25'  40"  n.,  long.  790  5'  e.  During  the  campaigns 
of  1780-82,  it  formed  the  main  route  for  the  supplies  of  Haidar  All's 
troops  when  invading  the  Karnatic 

D&man  (or  *  The  Border;'  so  called  from  its  position  between  the 
Suleman  Mountains  and  the  Indus). — A  tract  in  the  Punjab  lying  between 
28°  40'  and  330  20'  n.  lat,  and  between  690  30'  and  71°  20'  e.  long. 
Comprises  the  portions  of  Deri  Ghazf  Kh£n,  Dera"  Ismiil  Khin,  and 
Kohit  Districts  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Indus ;  length,  from  the 
Salt  Range  on  the  north  to  the  confines  of  Sind  on  the  south,  300 


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DAMAN  SETTLEMENT.  21 

miles ;  average  breadth,  about  60  miles.  Naturally  bare  and  devoid  of 
vegetation,  it  derives  fertility  in  the  part  bordering  the  Indus  from 
irrigation  in  connection  with  that  river.  The  southern  portion  of  the 
Diman  is  known  as  the  Derijdt  For  further  particulars  see  the  separate 
Districts. 

Dam&lL — A  Portuguese  town  and  Settlement  in  Guzerat,  situated 
about  100  miles  north  of  Bombay.  Including  the  fargand  of  Nagar 
Haveli,  it  contains  an  area  of  82  square  miles,  with  an  estimated  popu- 
lation of  40,980  persons.  It  is  bounded  north  by  the  river  Bhdgwin, 
east  by  British  territory,  south  by  the  Kalem,  and  west  by  the  Gulf 
of  Cambay.     Damdn  town  is  situated  in  lat  220  25'  n.,  long.  720  53'  e. 

The  Settlement  is  composed  of  two  distinct  portions,  Damdn  proper 
and  the  fargand  of  Nagar  Haveli,  separated  from  it  by  a  narrow  strip 
of  British  territory,  5  to  7  miles  in  width,  and  intersected  by  the 
Bombay,  Baroda,  and  Central  India  Railway.  Damin  proper,  or  the 
town  of  Damin,  was  sacked  by  the  Portuguese  in  1531,  rebuilt  by  the 
natives,  and  retaken  in  1558  by  the  Portuguese,  who  made  it  one  of 
their  permanent  establishments  in  India.  They  converted  the  mosque 
into  a  church,  and  have  since  built  eight  other  places  of  worship.  It 
contains  an  area  of  22  square  miles,  and  lies  at  the  entrance  of  the  Gulf 
of  Cambay.  It  is  subdivided  by  the  river  Damdn-Gangi  into  two  separate 
tracts,  known  as  Damao  Grande  (Great  Damin)  and  Damao  Piqueno 
(Little  Damin).  The  first,  on  the  south,  contiguous  to  the  British  District 
of  Tanna,  comprises  23  villages ;  while  the  other,  consisting  of  14  villages, 
lies  towards  the  north  and  borders  on  Surat  District  This  portion  of 
the  Settlement  was  conquered  from  Bofata  on  the  2d  of  February  1559, 
by  the  Portuguese  under  Dom  Constantino  de  Braganza.  The  fargand 
of  Nagar  Haveli,  situated  towards  the  east,  has  an  area  of  60  square 
miles,  and  is  likewise  subdivided  into  two  parts,  called  Eteli  Pati  and 
Upeli  Pati,  containing  respectively  22  and  50  villages.  It  was  ceded  to 
the  Portuguese  by  the  Marhattds,  in  indemnification  for  certain  piratical 
acts  committed  against  a  ship  carrying  a  flag  of  the  former  nation,  in 
accordance  with  the  treaty  signed  at  Poona  on  the  6th  of  January  178a 

Physical  Aspects. — The  principal  rivers  are — (1)  the  Bhagwdn,  forming 
the  northern  boundary  of  the  Settlement;  (2)  the  Kalem,  running 
along  the  southern  boundary ;  and  (3)  the  Sandalkhil  or  Damin-Gangi 
(Border  Ganges),  a  deep  navigable  stream,  rising  in  the  Ghdts  about 
40  miles  east  of  Damin  proper.  All  these  fall  into  the  Gulf  of  Cambay. 
The  Damin-Gangd  has  a  bar  at  its  mouth — dry  at  the  lowest  ebb  tides, 
but  with  18  to  20  feet  of  water  at  high  tides.  Outside  this  bar  is  a 
roadstead,  where  vessels  of  300  to  400  tons  may  ride  at  anchor,  and 
discharge  cargo.  Damin  has  long  enjoyed  a  high  celebrity  for  its 
docks  and  shipbuilding  yards,  due  chiefly  to  the  excellent  teak  with 
which  the  country  is  stocked    The  climate  of  the  place  is  gene- 


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22  DAMAN  SETTLEMENT. 

rally  healthy  throughout  the  year.  The  Settlement  has  no  minerals, 
but  possesses  stately  forests  in  the  pargand  of  Nagar  Haveli,  whose 
total  value  is  estimated  at  about  ^444,000.  About  two-thirds  of  these 
forests  consist  of  teak  (Tectona  grandis) ;  the  other  timber-trees  include 
— sadra  (Pentaptera  glabra),  khayer  (Acacia  catechu),  sissu  (Dalbergia 
latifolia),  cabeariti  (?)  (Acacia  sundra),  tanas  (Dalbergia  ujjainensis), 
siwana  (Gmelina  arborea),  dambora  (Conocarpus  latifolius),  hedu  (Nau- 
clea  cordifolia),  asan  (Briedelia  spinosa),  iimburni  (Diospyros  montana), 
and  bdbul  (Acacia  arabica).  The  forests  are  not  conserved,  and  the 
extent  of  land  covered  by  each  kind  of  timber  has  not  yet  been  precisely 
determined. 

Agriculture. — The  soil  is  moist  and  fertile,  especially  in  the  pargand 
of  Nagar  Haveli.  Principal  crops — rice,  wheat,  the  inferior  cereals 
common  to  Guzerat,  and  tobacco.  Despite  the  facility  of  cultivation, 
only  one  -  twentieth  part  of  the  territory  is  under  tillage.  In  the 
pargand  of  Nagar  Haveli,  the  greater  part  of  the  soil  is  the  property  of 
Government,  from  whom  the  culivators  hold  their  tenures  direct  A 
tax  is  levied  on  all  lands,  whether  alienated  or  the  property  of  the  State. 
There  is,  however,  no  fixed  rate  of  assessment,  as  the  tax  is  regulated  by 
a  general  estimate  of  the  productiveness  of  each  village.  The  total 
revenue  thus  obtained  amounts  to  about  ^800. 

Trade,  etc. — Before  the  decline  of  the  Portuguese  power  in  the  East, 
Dam£n  carried  on  an  extensive  commerce,  especially  with  the  eastern 
coast  of  Africa,  to  which  the  cotton  fabrics  made  at  Damin  were  largely 
exported  in  vessels  carrying  the  Portuguese  flag.  From  181 7  to  1837, 
there  was  a  flourishing  trade  with  China  in  opium  imported  from  Karachi 
(Kurrachee).  But  since  the  conquest  of  Sind  by  the  British,  the  trans- 
port of  opium  has  been  prohibited,  and  thus  Dam&i  has  been  deprived 
of  its  chief  source  of  wealth.  The  customs  revenue  in  1874-75  was 
;£no6.  In  old  days,  Damin  was  noted  for  its  weaving  and  dyeing. 
The  former  industry  is  still  carried  on  to  a  limited  extent,  chiefly  by 
the  wives  of  Musalmdn  khaldsis,  while  the  latter  is  almost  extinct  The 
piece-goods,  made  from  a  mixture  of  English  and  country  twist,  are  of 
a  quality  and  pattern  worn  only  by  the  natives  of  Goa,  Mozambique, 
and  Diu,  to  which  places  they  are  exported.  Mats  and  baskets  of 
khajuri  and  bamboo  are  manufactured  on  a  large  scale.  A  noteworthy 
feature  in  connection  with  the  industrial  occupations  of  the  place  is  its 
deep  sea  fishing,  giving  employment  to  150  vessels,  each  with  a  crew 
of  about  30  khandis.  They  make  for  the  coast  of  Kdthidwdr,  near 
Diu,  where  they  remain  for  some  months,  and  return  laden  with  salted 
fish  cured  on  board. 

Administration. — The  total  revenue  of  Damin  in  1873-74  amounted 
t0  ^79^0|  ios.,  of  which  the  larger  portion  was  derived  from  the 
pargand  of  Nagar  Haveli.     The  chief  sources  of  revenue  are  land  tax, 

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DAMAN-I-KOH.  23 

forests,  abkdri  or  excise,  and  customs  duties.    The  expenditure  in  the 
same  year  was  ^7880,  4s. 

Population. — The  total  population  of  the  Settlement  is  estimated  at 
40,980,  of  whom  12,980  (almost  entirely  Hindus)  inhabit  thepargand  of 
Nagar  Haveli.  According  to  the  Census  of  1850,  the  population  of 
Damdn  proper  was  returned  at  33,559 — it  is  now  said  to  be  reduced 
to  28,080 — being  Europeans,  14  ;  descendants  of  Europeans,  23  ; 
native  Christians,  2220;  Hindus,  21,743;  Muhammadans,  3714; 
Pdrsis,  188 ;  and  Africans,  178.  The  total  number  of  houses  amounts  to 
815 1 ;  but  only  a  very  few  are  of  any  size  or  pretensions.  The  native 
Christians  adopt  the  European  costume.  Some  of  the  women  dress  them- 
selves after  the  present  European  fashion,  while  others  follow  the  old 
style  once  prevalent  in  Portugal  and  Spain,  viz.  a  petticoat  and  mantle. 

The  territory  of  Damdn  forms,  for  administrative  purposes,  a  single 
District,  and  has  a  municipal  chamber  or  corporation.  It  is  ruled  by 
a  Governor  invested  with  both  civil  and  military  functions,  subordinate 
to  the  Governor-General  of  Goa.  The  judicial  department  is  super- 
intended by  a  judge,  with  an  establishment  composed  of  a  delegate 
of  the  attorney-general,  and  two  or  three  clerks.  The  public  force 
consisted,  in  1874,  of  194  officers  and  men.  Damin  has  two  forts, 
situated  on  each  side  of  the  river  Damin-Gangd.  The  larger,  on  the 
south,  is  in  Damao  Grande,  and  the  smaller,  on  the  north,  in  Damao 
Piqueno*  The  former  is  almost  a  square  in  shape,  and  built  of  stone. 
It  contains,  besides  the  ruins  of  the  old  monastic  establishments,  the 
Governor's  palace,  together  with  the  buildings  appertaining  to  it,  military 
barracks,  hospital,  municipal  office,  court-house,  jail,  two  modern  churches, 
and  numerous  private  residences.  On  the  land  side,  this  fort  is  pro- 
tected by  a  ditch  crossed  by  a  drawbridge,  while  at  its  north-west  angle 
extends  the  principal  bastion,  which  commands  the  entrance  to  the 
harbour.  It  is  occupied  by  the  Governor  and  his  staff,  the  military 
establishments,  officers  connected  with  the  Government,  and  a  few 
private  individuals;  all  are  Christians.  The  smaller  fort,  which  is  a 
more  recent  structure,  is  placed  by  the  Portuguese  under  the  patronage 
of  St  Jerome.  Its  form  is  that  of  an  irregular  quadrilateral,  enclosed 
by  a  wall  somewhat  higher  than  that  of  the  other  fort  The  principal 
buildings  within  it  are  a  church,  a  parochial  house,  and  a  mortuary 
chapel  surrounded  by  a  cemetery.  Both  the  forts  have  brass  and  iron 
cannon  on  the  walls,  some  of  which  are  mounted,  and  others  either 
attached  to  old  carriages  or  lying  on  the  ground.  Damin,  with  its 
population  of  40,980,  has  only  4  schools,  with  94  pupils. 

D&man-i-Koh. — A  tract  of  hilly  country  in  the  District  of  the 
Santdl  Pargands,  Bengal  Area,  1366  square  miles,  which  was  marked 
off  by  a  ring  fence  in  1832  ;  pop.  (1872),  264,313  ;  number  of  houses, 
51,726  ;  average  number  of  persons  per  house,  5*1.     The  population  of 


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24  DAM-DAMA— DAMODAR  RIVER. 

the  Ddman,  or  '  skirts  of  the  hills/  has  rapidly  increased  since  permission 
was  given  to  the  Santals  to  settle  in  the  lower  slopes  and  valleys  of 
these  mountains  (see  Santal  Parganas).  The  Census  of  1872  was 
taken  in  this  tract  by  the  head-man  of  each  village,  by  means  of 
knotted  strings  of  three  colours,  representing  the  males,  females,  and 
children  separately.  Each  individual  was  '  knotted  off,'  while  in  some 
villages  an  independent  committee  kept  a  reckoning  by  seeds  or  small 
pieces  of  gravel,  arranged  in  three  sets  upon  the  ground.  The  women 
and  children  apprehended  some  terrible  natural  visitation  in  consequence 
of  this  numbering  of  the  people. 

Dam-Dama. — Subdivision  and  cantonment,  Twenty-four  Parganas 
District,  Bengal. — See  Dum-Dum. 

D&modar. — A  river  of  Bengal ;  rises  in  the  Chutii  Nagpur  water- 
shed, and,  after  a  south-easterly  course  of  about  350  miles,  falls  into  the 
Hiiglf  just  above  the  ill-famed  'James  and  Mary  Sands,'  a  shoal 
which  it  has  helped  to  deposit  at  its  mouth.  The  junction  is  in  lat. 
220  17'  n.,  long.  88°  7'  30"  e.  Together  with  its  tributaries,  it  forms 
the  great  line  of  drainage  of  the  country  stretching  north-west  from 
Calcutta  to  the  fringe  of  the  plateau  of  Central  India.  That  plateau 
throws  off  to  the  eastward  a  confused  mass  of  spurs  and  outliers,  which, 
in  the  Districts  of  Hazaribagh  and  Lohardaga,  form  a  watershed,  in  the 
84th  degree  of  east  longitude  and  23rd  of  north  latitude,  of  much, 
although  inadequately  recognised,  significance  in  the  hydrography  of 
Bengal.  The  ridges  culminate  near  Lohardaga  town  in  a  well-defined 
barrier,  with  peaks  up  to  3476  feet  Two  important  river  systems 
here  take  their  rise  in  close  proximity,  and  then  diverge  on  widely 
separated  routes.  The  drainage  from  the  north-western  slopes  flows 
northwards  into  the  S6n,  the  great  river  of  Behar,  which  joins  the 
Ganges  between  Patna  and  Baxar,  500  miles  above  the  spot  where  the 
waters  from  the  eastern  slopes,  as  represented  by  the  southerly  flowing 
Damodar,  enter  the  HiiglL  The  Hazaribagh  or  Lohardaga*  watershed, 
therefore,  forms  the  western  apex  of  a  vast  triangle,  with  the  S<5n  as  its 
north-eastern,  and  the  Damodar  as  its  south-eastern  sides,  resting  upon 
the  Ganges  as  its  eastern  base.  The  sources  of  the  Damodar  are  a  two- 
pronged  fork,  approximately  in  230  35'  to  240  n.  lat.,  and  840  40'  to 
840  55'  E.  long., — the  southern  one,  the  true  source,  being  in  the  Tori 
pargand  of  Lohardaga'  District;  the  northern  one,  the  Garhi,  in  the 
north-west  corner  of  Hazaribagh  District.  After  a  course  of  about  26 
miles  as  wild  mountain  streams,  the  two  prongs  unite  just  within  the 
western  boundary  of  Hazaribagh ;  and  the  combined  river  flows  through 
that  District  almost  due  east  for  93  miles,  receiving  the  Kunar, 
Jamunid,  and  other  affluents  from  the  watershed  on  the  north-west  It 
continues  its  course  still  eastward  through  Mdnbhtim,  and  receives  its 
chief  tributary,  the  Barakhar,  also  from  the  north,  at  the  point  where  it 

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DAMODAR  RIVER.  25 

leaves  that  District  and  touches  Bardwdn.  The  united  stream  now 
becomes  navigable,  and  assumes  the  dignity  of  an  important  river.  At 
the  point  of  junction  it  turns  to  the  south-east,  separating  the  Raniganj 
Subdivision  of  Bardwdn  from  Bankurd ;  next  entering  Bardwan  District, 
it  continues  south-east  to  a  little  beyond  Bardwan  town ;  then  turns 
sharp  to  the  right  and  flows  almost  due  south  for  the  remainder 
of  its  course  through  Bardwan  and  Hiigli  Districts.  Shortly  before 
entering  the  latter,  it  assumes  the  deltaic  type,  and  instead  of  receiv- 
ing affluents,  throws  off  distributaries,  the.  best  known  being  the 
Kind  nadt\  which  branches  from  the  parent  stream  at  Sdlimdbdd  in 
Bardwan  District,  and  finds  its  way  as  the  Kunti  nodi  into  the  Hiigli 
near  the  village  of  Nawa*  Sarai  The  main  stream  formerly  debouched 
into  the  Huglf  more  directly  and  higher  up  than  at  present ;  its  old 
mouth  now  being  marked  by  the  insignificant  water-course  known  as 
the  Kinsond  khal.  The  Damodar  thus  exhibits  in  its  comparatively 
short  course  the  two  great  features  of  an  Indian  river.  In  the  earlier 
part  of  its  career,  it  has  a  rapid  flow,  and  brings  down  large  quantities 
of  silt.  At  the  point  of  junction  of  the  two  prongs  on  the  western  border 
of  Hazaribagh  District,  the  united  stream  starts  with  an  elevation  of 
1326  feet  above  sea  level  In  its  course  of  93  miles  through  Hazari- 
bagh, its  fall  averages  8  feet  per  mile  (total,  744  feet),  and  it  leaves  the 
District  with  an  elevation  of  only  582  feet  to  be  distributed  over  its 
remaining  course  of  about  250  miles.  The  fall  continues  rapidly 
through  Manbhiim  and  north-western  Bardwan,  in  the  latter  of  which 
Districts  the  Ddmodar  deposits  large  and  shifting  sandbanks.  In  south 
Bardwan  and  Hiigli  Districts  it  declines  into  a  sluggish  deltaic  channel, 
and  deposits  the  remainder  of  its  silt  at  its  point  of  junction  with  the 
Hiigli  river,  opposite  Falta\  The  Riipnarayan,  a  southern  congener  of 
the  Damodar,  from  nearly  the  same  watershed,  also  falls  into  the  Hiigli, 
a  few  miles  lower  down.  Both  streams  enter  the  great  river  at  a  sharp 
angle  from  the  west,  and  the  'James  and  Mary  Sands'  have  been 
thrown  up  between  their  mouths.  These  sands  are  formed  from  the 
silt  brought  down  by  the  Hiigli  and  Damodar;  the  deposit  of  the 
suspended  matter  at  this  spot  being  caused  by  the  freshets  of  the 
Riipnarayan,  which  dam  up  the  Hiigli  by  backwaters,  thus  checking 
its  current  and  forcing  it  to  drop  its  burden.  During  the  dry  season, 
the  Damodar  is  only  navigable  as  far  as  Ampta  in  Howrah  District — 
about  25  miles  from  its  mouth — by  native  boats  of  10  tons  burden  at 
neap,  and  of  20  tons  at  spring  tides.  In  the  rainy  season,  it  is  navigable 
to  near  its  point  of  junction  with  the  Banikhar,  in  the  north-western 
extremity  of  Bardwan  District  A  flotilla  of  200  to  300  boats  {p&ut&s\ 
from  20  to  30  tons,  built  broad  with  strong  transverse  timbers  to  resist 
the  strain  caused  by  frequent  grounding  on  sandbanks,  brings  down 
yearly  about  40,000  tons  of  coal  from  the  Rinfganj  mines,  to  depots  at 


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26  DAMOH  DISTRICT. 

Maheshrekhd  in  Howrah  District,  whence  they  reach  Calcutta  vid  the 
Uliibana  Canal  and  the  Hiigli.  In  seasons  of  abundant  and  evenly- 
distributed  rainfall,  each  boat  can  make  two  or  three  trips  between 
June  and  October.  The  D&nodar  is  subject  to  sudden  freshets,  which 
used  to  desolate  the  surrounding  country  in  Mdnbhiim  and  Bardwan 
Districts.  In  1770,  a  flood  almost  totally  destroyed  Bardwan  town, 
ruined  the  whole  line  of  embankments,  and  caused  a  severe  local 
famine.  In  1823,  and  again  in  1855,  inundations  swept  away  the 
river-side  villages,  and  the  terror  of  a  similar  calamity  has  deterred  the 
people  from  building  on  many  of  the  deserted  sites.  '  Picture  to  your- 
self,' writes  the  Calcutta  Monthly  Journal  in  1823,  *a  flat  country  com- 
pletely under  water,  running  with  a  force  apparently  irresistible,  and 
carrying  with  it  dead  bodies,  roofs  of  houses,  palanquins,  and  wreck  of 
every  description  1 '  The  floods  lasted  for  three  days,  during  which  the 
fortunate  owners  of  brick  tenements  camped  on  their  roofs.  The  old 
landmarks  of  the  peasants'  holdings  were  swept  away,  and  many  years 
of  bankruptcy  and  litigation  ensued.  Since  the  construction  of  the 
railway,  which  for  a  space  follows  the  course  of  the  Damodar,  and  the 
improvement  of  the  river  embankments,  which  Government  took  into 
its  own  hands  after  the  flood  of  1855,  calamities  on  this  scale  have 
been  unknown.  The  Damodar  embankment  now  protects  the  country 
northwards  of  the  river ;  and  the  damage  caused  by  inundations  on  the 
southern  or  right  bank  are  comparatively  insignificant. 

Damoh. — A  British  District  in  the  Chief  Commissionership  of  the 
Central  Provinces,  lying  between  220  10'  and  230  30'  n.  lat,  and  790  5' 
and  8o°  e.  long.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  Bundelkhand,  on  the 
east  by  Jabalpur  (Jubbulpore),  on  the  south  by  Narsinhpur,  and  on 
the  west  by  Sagar  (Saugor).  Population  in  1872,  269,642  ;  area,  2799 
square  miles.  The  administrative  headquarters  of  the  District  are  at 
Damoh,  which  is  also  the  principal  town. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  contour  of  the  District  is  irregular,  and  in 
parts  ill-defined.  To  the  south,  a  lofty  range  of  sandstone  hills  separates 
Damoh  from  Narsinhpur  and  Jabalpur  (Jubbulpore),  and  at  places  sends 
forth  spurs  and  ridges  into  the  plain  below.  But  these  elevations  are  as 
a  rule  insignificant  in  size,  and  add  but  little  beauty  to  the  landscape. 
On  the  east  rise  the  Bhondla  Hills,  which  run  eastwards  till  they 
are  lost  in  the  loftier  range  of  the  Bhanrer  Mountains.  The  Vind- 
hydchal  Hills,  which  stretch  for  a  considerable  distance  along  the 
western  boundary,  though  of  no  great  height,  form  the  most  picturesque 
feature  of  the  District — from  time  to  time  opening  out  into  broad  up- 
lands, thickly  wooded  with  low  jungle.  In  this  part  of  Damoh  the 
overlying  trap  of  the  Sdgar  plateau  is  met  with.  From  these  ranges, 
which  more  or  less  distinctly  mark  it  off  on  three  sides,  Damoh  extends 
in  a  vast  tableland,  sloping  gradually  towards  the  north,  till  an  abrupt 


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DAMOH  DISTRICT.  27 

dip  in  the  surface  occurs,  beyond  which  the  plains  of  Bundelkhand  may 
be  seen  stretching  far  away  into  the  distant  horizon.  Except  on  the 
south  and  east,  where  the  offshoots  from  the  surrounding  hills  and 
patches  of  jungle  break  up  the  country,  the  District  consists,  therefore, 
of  open  plains  of  varying  degrees  of  fertility,  interspersed  with  low 
ranges  and  isolated  heights.  The  richest  tracts  lie  in  the  centre.  The 
gentle  declivity  of  the  surface,  and  the  porous  character  of  the  pre- 
vailing sandstone  formation,  render  the  drainage  excellent  All  the 
streams  flow  from  south  to  north.  The  Sonar  and  the  Bairma,  the 
two  principal  rivers,  traverse  the  entire  length  of  the  District,  receiving 
in  their  progress  the  waters  of  the  Beas  (Bias),  Kopra,  Guvayya,  and 
smaller  tributaries,  rolling  with  a  rapid  stream  towards  the  northern 
boundary  of  Damoh.  As  it  approaches  the  frontier,  the  Sonar  takes  a 
bend  eastwards,  and  joins  the  Bairma ;  the  united  stream  then  leaves 
Damoh  behind  it,  and,  after  receiving  the  Ken,  falls  into  the  Jumna. 
Little  use  has  yet  been  made  of  any  of  the  rivers  for  irrigation,  though  in 
many  places  they  offer  great  facilities  for  the  purpose. 

History, — In  early  times  the  Chandel  Rajputs  of  Mahoba,  in  Bundel- 
khand, administered  the  present  Districts  of  Sagar  and  Damoh  by 
means  of  a  deputy  placed  at  Balihri,  in  Jabalpur  (Jubbulpore).  Except- 
ing a  few  temples  known  as  marts,  of  rude  architecture,  and  entirely 
destitute  of  inscriptions,  the  Chandels  have  left  no  monuments  of 
their  rule.  On  the  decay  of  the  Chandelf  Raj,  about  the  end  of  the 
1  ith  century,  the  greater  part  of  Damoh  became  dependent  upon  the 
Gond  power,  which  had  its  seat  at  Khatola,  in  Bundelkhand,  until  its 
subversion  about  1500  by  the  notorious  Bundela  chief,  Rija  Barsinh 
Deva.  The  Muhammadan  power  made  itself  felt  in  Damoh  from  a 
very  early  period  A  Persian  inscription,  formerly  affixed  to  the 
principal  gateway  of  the  town  of  Damoh,  purports  to  have  been  placed 
there  during  the  reign  of  Ghfyas-ud-din  (a.d.  1367-1373).  Two  hundred 
years,  however,  elapsed  from  this  time  before  the  Muhammadans 
actually  occupied  the  District.  Their  invasion  met  with  little  opposi- 
tion, except  at  Narsinhgarh,  where  the  Gonds  made  a  show  of  resist- 
ance to  Shih  Taiyab,  the  commander  of  the  Imperial  forces.  During 
the  supremacy  of  the  Muhammadans,  Damoh,  Narsinhgarh  (or  as 
they  called  it,  Nasratgarh),  and  Lakhronf  were  the  principal  towns; 
and  their  presence  may  still  be  traced  in  the  ruins  of  forts,  tombs,  and 
mosques.  The  Muhammadan  element  in  the  population  is  now  very 
insignificant  both  in  numbers  and  in  position  ;  and  though  the  Kazis  of 
Narsinhgarh  claim  descent  from  Shih  Taiyab,  they  have  fallen  so  low 
that  they  are  glad  to  take  service  as  messengers  and  process-servers. 
When  the  Mughal  Empire  began  to  give  way  before  the  rising  Marhatti 
power,  the  Muhammadans  fast  lost  their  hold  over  such  outlying 
dependencies ;  and  Chhatra  Sal,  the  powerful  Riji  of  Panna,  took  the 


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28  DAMOH  DISTRICT. 

opportunity  to  annex  Sigar  and  Damoh.  The  Gonds  and  other 
wild  tribes,  however,  who  held  the  more  mountainous  regions  in  the 
south  and  east  of  Damoh,  never  acknowledged  his  authority.  In  his 
time  was  built  the  fort  of  Hatta.  In  the  year  1733,  Rijd  Chhatra 
S£l  was  forced  to  solicit  the  assistance  of  Bdjf  Rio  Peshwd  to 
repel  an  invasion  of  the  Nawdb  of  Farrukhdbdd  from  the  north. 
To  repay  the  service  then  rendered,  Rdjd  Chhatra  Sil  consented  to 
the  cession  called  the  tethrd,  by  which  all  his  territory  was  divided 
into  three  equal  parts — one  for  each  of  his  two  sons,  and  the  remaining 
third  for  the  Peshwd,  whom  he  formally  adopted.  In  this  distribution, 
a  part  of  Damoh  was  allotted  to  each  of  the  three ;  but  no  long  time 
elapsed  before  the  Marhattds  wrested  the  whole  of  the  District  from  the 
Bundelis.  From  this  period,  Damoh  continued  subordinate  to  the 
Marhattd  governors  at  Sigar  (Saugor),  until  by  the  treaty  of  18 18  it  was 
made  over  to  the  British.  Under  the  plundering  revenue  system  of  the 
Marhattds,  wide  tracts  relapsed  into  jungle,  and  the  cultivating  classes 
sank  into  a  state  of  hopeless  poverty.  Half  a  century  of  British 
administration  has  now  brought  about  a  new  era  of  prosperity  for 
Damoh.  Our  earlier  land  settlements,  based  on  the  Marhatti  records, 
pressed  heavily  on  the  agricultural  population  ;  but  this  error  has  been 
rectified,  and  the  District  now  enjoys  a  light  assessment  and  fixed 
tenures.  The  result  has  already  manifested  itself  in  the  spread  of  culti- 
vation, and  in  the  high  market  value  of  land,  in. some  cases  exceeding 
thirty  years'  purchase.  The  official  records  of  Damoh  were  destroyed 
in  the  disturbances  of  1857. 

Population, — A  rough  enumeration  in  1866  returned  the  population 
of  Damoh  at  262,641 ;  the  more  careful  Census  of  1872  at  269,642. 
The  latest  estimate,  in  1877,  indicates  a  total  of  283,394  inhabitants. 
The  Census  of  1872  still  remains,  however,  the  only  basis  for  a  detailed 
examination  of  the  people.  It  disclosed  a  population  of  269,642  per- 
sons, living  on  an  area  of  2799  square  miles,  residing  in  11 28  villages  or 
townships  and  57,688  houses;  persons  per  square  mile,  96*34;  villages 
per  square  mile,  '4;  houses  per  square  mile,  20*6 1 ;  persons  per  village, 
239'04;  persons  per  house,  4*67.  Classified  according  to  sex — males, 
139,962 ;  females,  129,680.  According  to  age,  the  male  children  in 
1877  numbered  50,470;  the  female,  45,650.  Ethnical  division  in  1877 
— Europeans,  5;  Eurasians,  18;  aboriginal  tribes,  32,528;  Hindus, 
237,204;  Muhammadans,  8064 ;  Buddhists  and  Jains,  5418.  The  most 
numerous  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  are  the  Gonds,  of  whom  there  were 
30,209  in  1872,  the  remainder  consisting  chiefly  of  Kiirkiis.  Among 
the  Hindus,  in  1872,  the  Brdhmans  numbered  21,378,  the  mass  of  the 
Hindu  population  consisting  of  Lodhfs  (33,342),  Kurmfs  (20,664),  and 
other  inferior  castes.     Native  Christians  in  1877,  6. 

Division  into  Town  and  Country. — There  are  only  two  towns  in  Damoh 


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DAMOH  DISTRICT.  29 

District  with  a  population  exceeding  5000 — viz.  Damoh,  the  District 
capital  (pop.  (1876),  8189);  and  Hatta  (pop.  6251).  Townships  of 
1000  to  5000  inhabitants,  33;  from  200  to  1000,  394;  villages  of 
less  than  200  inhabitants,  699.  Damoh  and  Hatta  form  the  only 
municipalities,  containing  a  population  (1876)  within  municipal  limits 
of  8690  and  6633  respectively. 

Agriculture. — Of  the  total  area  of  2799  square  miles,  only  678  square 

miles  are  cultivated,  and  of  the  portion  lying  waste,  815  are  returned  as 

cultivable.     Only  1 2  7 1  acres  are  irrigated— entirely  by  private  enterprise. 

The  Government  assessment  is  at  the  rate  of  is.  4jd.  per  acre  of 

cultivated  land,  or  iod.  on  the  cultivable  land.     Wheat  constitutes  the 

principal  crop,  being  grown  in  1876,  on  204,650  acres,  while  133,152 

acres  were  devoted  to  other  food  grains.     Rice  and  oil-seeds  form  the 

only  other  important  produce.     The  cultivation  of  cotton  is  small  and 

decreasing.    The  average  rent  per  acre  of  land  suited  for  wheat  is  2s.  9d. ; 

for  inferior  grain,  is.  7<L;  for  rice,  2s.  6d. ;  and  for  oil-seeds,  2s.     The 

produce  per  acre  averages — wheat,  460  lbs.;  inferior  grain,  320;  rice, 

720;  and  oil-seeds,  360.     The  average  prices  in  1876  per  cwt  were — 

wheat,  4s.  6&  ;  rice,  5s.  8d. ;  and  linseed,  6s.  iod     The  usual  wages 

for  skilled  labour  amounted  to  is.  per  diem  ;  for  unskilled  labour,  3d. 

The  Census  of  1872  showed  a  total  of  about  4400  proprietors,  of  whom 

1207  were  classed  as  '  inferior.'    The  tenants  numbered  nearly  34,000, 

of  whom  20,643  were  tenants-at-will,  while  the  remainder  had  either 

absolute  or  occupancy  rights.     The  best  agriculturists  are  the  Kurmfs, 

who  are  said  to  have  immigrated  from  the  Doib  about  250  years  ago. 

The  circumstance  that  their  women  engage  in  field-work  equally  with 

the  men,  contributes  in  no  slight  degree  to  their  success.     A  most 

peaceable  race,  and  remarkable  for  their  loyalty  to  the  ruling  power,  the 

Kurmfs  are  exceedingly  tenacious  of  their  ancestral  holdings,  and  will 

hardly  alienate  their  rights  in  land  under  the  greatest  pressure.     The 

Lodhfs,  who  rank  next  as  agriculturists,  made  their  way  into  the  District 

about  three  centuries  ago.     Often  turbulent  and  revengeful,  they  form 

good  soldiers,  and  are  generally  excellent  sportsmen.     Both  Kurmfs 

and  Lodhfs    make  no  distinction  between  a  mistress  and  a  wife, 

provided  the  former  is  of  the  same  caste  as  her  partner,  or,  what  is  more 

respectable  still,  the  widow  of  an  elder  brother  or  cousin.     The  children 

born  from  such  connections  inherit  property,  of  whatever  kind,  equally 

with  those  born  of  regularly  married  wives.     In  the  wooded  and  hilly 

portions  of  Damoh,  many  Gonds  pursue  agriculture  after  a  humble 

fashion ;  in  the  plains  they  are  principally  employed  as  farm  servants. 

Of  the  7 1  villages  held  by  Muhammadans,  63  are  in  possession  of  one 

family,  who  obtained  a  whole  tdluk  in  proprietary  right  as  a  reward  for 

loyal  services  rendered  during  the  Mutiny. 

Commerce  and  Trade. — The  chief  trade  of  the  District  is  conducted  at 

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30  DAMOH  DISTRICT. 

the  annual  fairs  held  at  Kundalpur  and  Bindakpur.     The  Kundalpur 
fair  takes  place  in  March,  beginning  with  the  yearly  gathering  of  Jains, 
immediately  after  the  Holi  festival,  and  lasts  a  fortnight.     It  owes  its 
origin  to  the  Jain  temple  erected  at  Kundalpur  by  the  Punwdr  Banias, 
to  which  the  neighbouring  Jains  resorted  to  worship  Nemindth,  and  to 
settle  caste  disputes.      In  these  adjudications,  the  delinquents  often 
incurred  fines,  which  supplied  a  fund  for  the  repairs  of  the  temple,  and 
for  embellishing  the  place  with  tanks  and  groves.     The  fairs  at  Bin- 
dakpur  are  held  in  January  and  February,  at  the  Basantpanchmi  and 
Siva-rdtri  festivals  respectively,  when  crowds  of  devotees  visit  the  place 
for  the  purpose  of  pouring  water  from  the  Ganges  or  Narbada*  (Nerbudda) 
on  the  image  of  Jageswar  Mahadeva,  in  fulfilment  of  vows  made,  for 
prayers  granted,  or  favours  solicited.     Of  the  offerings  made  to  the 
god  on  these  occasions,  to  the  value  of  nearly  ^1200  in  the  year, 
one-fourth  becomes  the  property  of  the  priests.     The  proprietor  of  the 
temple  claims  the  remaining  three-fourths,  and  is  said  to  expend  his 
share  on  religious  objects.     This  temple  was  erected  in  1781  by  the 
father  of  Nagojf  Ballal,  a  respectable  Marhatta  pandit  of  Damoh,  in 
obedience  to  a  dream,  which  revealed  to  him  that  at  a  certain  spot  in 
the  village  of  Bdndakpur  an  image  of  Jageswar  Mahadeva  lay  buried. 
There  he  built  a  temple ;  and  in  due  time,  as  the  vision  foretold,  the 
image  arose  without  the  help  of  man.     The  fame  of  this  occurrence 
has  attracted  throngs  of  pilgrims,  and  consequently  of  traders,  and,  in 
January  1869,  the  attendance  amounted  to  20,000  persons.      Piece- 
goods  manufactured  at   Maria-Doh,  hardware,  with  trinkets  made  at 
Hindoria*  and  Pateri,  form  the  articles  chiefly  dealt  in.      The  import 
traffic  on  the  north-east  frontier  is  considerable,  consisting  of  European 
and  country-made  piece-goods,  betel,  cocoa-nuts,  hardware,   tobacco, 
spices,  rum,  and  sugar  from  Mfrzapur  and  the  north-west.     But  a  great 
proportion  of  these  goods  merely  passes  through  the  District  on  the  way 
to  Sagar  and  Bhopal     On  the  other  hand,  the  Banja>£s  bring  large 
quantities  of  salt  from  the  Rljputana  salt  lakes,  by  way  of  Sdgar  and 
Damoh,  to  supply  the  markets  of  Bundelkhand.     The  exports  consist  of 
wheat,  gram,  rice,  hides,  ghi%  cotton,  and  coarse  cloth.     The  total  length 
of  made  roads  in  the  District  is  returned  at  1 13  miles  of  the  second,  and 
139  of  the  third  class.     The  principal  road  is  that  connecting  the  military 
station  of  Sagar  (Saugor)  with  the  town  of  Jabalpur  (Jubbulpore).     For 
the  40  miles  of  its  course  which  lie  within  this  District  it  is  partially 
bridged,  and  all  the  streams  it  crosses  are  fordable.     The  shorter  line 
which  joins  Sagar  with  Jokai  on  the  Mirzapur  road,  traversing  Damoh 
for  30  miles,  should  become  an  important  railway  feeder.    The  only  other 
important  line  runs  from  Damoh  towards  Nagode  via  Hatta,  and  sup- 
plies the  route  for  commerce  with  Mirzapur  and  the  Upper  Provinces. 
Besides  these  roads,  two  tracks  start  from  the  north-east  and  north-west 

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DA  MO  If.  31 

of  the  District,  along  which  the  Banjiris  drive  their  long  trains  of  pack- 
bullocks,  laden  with  grain  for  the  markets  of  Bundelkhand. 

Administration. — Damoh  was  first  formed  into  a  separate  District 
under  the  British  Government  of  the  Central  Provinces  in  186 1.  It  is 
administered  by  a  European  Deputy  Commissioner  with  Assistants  and 
tahsilddrs.  Total  revenue  in  1876-77,  .£32,993,  of  which  the  land 
revenue  yielded  ^26,680.  Total  cost  of  District  officials  and  police  of 
all  kinds,  ^11,817.  Number  of  civil  and  revenue  judges  of  all  sorts 
within  the  District,  4 — magistrates,  8;  maximum  distance  from  any 
village  to  the  nearest  court,  50  miles;  average  distance,  25  miles. 
Number  of  police,  388  (costing  ^5535),  being  1  policeman  to  about 
every  7*3  square  miles  and  to  704  inhabitants.  The  daily  average 
number  of  convicts  in  jail  in  1876  was  48  97,  of  whom  541  were  females ; 
the  total  cost  of  the  jail  was  ^366.  In  the  same  year  the  number 
of  Government  or  aided  schools  in  the  District  under  inspection  was 
51,  attended  by  2019  pupils.  Of  the  two  municipalities,  Damoh,  with 
a  municipal  population  of  8690,  had  in  1876-77  an  income  of  ^543 
(of  which  ^423  were  derived  from  taxation,  being  11&  per  head),  and 
expended  ^£523  ;  and  Hatta,  with  a  municipal  population  of  6633,  had 
an  income  of  jQ$$o  (of  which  .£279  were  derived  from  taxation,  being 
iod.  per  head),  and  expended  ^273. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  may  be  pronounced  fairly  healthy. 
The  temperature  is  lower  than  is  usual  in  the  Districts  of  the  Narbada' 
(Nerbudda)  valley,  and  the  hot  winds  prove  milder  and  of  shorter  duration 
than  in  Upper  India.  All  the  year  round,  the  nights  are  cool.  In  the 
winter  it  generally  rains,  and  then  the  weather  becomes  really  cold,  and 
sharp  frosts  sometimes  occur.  Rainfall  in  1876-77,  68*07  inches ; 
annual  average,  56*30  inches.  Average  temperature  in  the  shade  at  the 
civil  station  : — May,  highest  reading  1070  F.,  lowest  870 ;  July,  highest 
reading  940,  lowest  68°;  December,  highest  reading  8o°,  lowest  520. 
Cholera  sometimes  sweeps  over  the  District  Small-pox  carries  off  large 
numbers  of  children,  but  the  spread  of  vaccination  will  doubtless 
diminish  its  ravages.  Fevers  prevail  at  the  conclusion  of  the  monsoon, 
but  not  to  so  great  an  extent  as  in  the  adjoining  District  of  Jabalpur. 
The  most  common  disease  is  the  guinea-worm,  which  generally  breaks 
out  at  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season.  The  first  attack  is  severe,  but 
with  careful  treatment  the  patient  usually  recovers  in  two  months.  It 
seldom,  if  ever,  attacks  Europeans.  In  1876,  9390  deaths  from  all 
causes  were  registered,  and  the  ratio  per  1000  reached  the  high  figure 
of  3678,  the  mean  for  the  previous  five  years  being  only  23*91.  There 
were  34  cases  of  suicide,  of  which  21  were  committed  by  women;  53 
persons  died  from  snake-bite,  or  were  killed  by  wild  beasts.  In  the  same 
year,  5  charitable  dispensaries  afforded  medical  relief  to  11,662  patients. 

Damoh. — Tahsil  or  Revenue  Subdivision  in  Damoh  District,  Central 


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32  DAMOH— DANGS,  THE. 

Provinces.  Lat.  230  9'  to  240  27' n.,  long.  77°  57'  to  790  24'  e.  ;  pop. 
(1872),  163,184,  residing  in  695  villages  or  townships  and  33,437 
houses,  on  an  area  of  1 792  square  miles.    Persons  per  square  mile,  9 1  '06. 

Damoh.  —  Chief  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of  Damoh 
District.  Lat  230  50'  N.,  long.  790  29'  30"  e.,  on  the  high  road  between 
Sdgar  (Saugor)  and  Jabalpur  (Jubbulpore),  and  between  Sigar  and 
Allahibid  viA  Jokdi.  Pop.  (1876),  8189,  chiefly  Lodhfs,  Kurmis,  and 
Brdhmans,  with  a  few  Muhammadans.  Municipal  revenue  (1876-77), 
^543 ;  incidence  of  taxation,  1  id  per  head  The  porous  sandstone  on 
which  the  town  is  built  does  not  easily  retain  water,  and  there  are  but 
few  wells ;  thus,  in  spite  of  the  fine  tank  called  the  Phutera  Tdl,  good 
water  is  scarce.  The  temperature  is  considerably  increased  by  radiation 
from  the  bluffs  near  Damoh. 

D&msang.  —  Tract  of  country,  Ddrjfling  District,  Bengal  —  See 
Dalingkot. 

DangS,  The. — Tract  of  country,  situated  within  the  limits  of  the  Poli- 
tical Agency  of  Khandesh,  Bombay.  Bounded  north-west  by  the  petty 
State  of  Warsdvi  in  the  Rewd  Kinta  Agency,  north-east  by  the  British 
Districts  of  Khandesh  and  Ndsik,  south  by  the  Peint  State  in  Nisik  Dis- 
trict, and  west  by  the  Binsda  State  in  Surat  District.  The  Dangs  consist 
of  16  petty  States,  ruled  by  Bhfl  chieftains,  and  extending  from  200  22'  to 
210  5'  n.  lat.,  and  from  730  28'  to  730  52'  e.  long.  The  extreme  length 
from  north  to  south  is  52  miles,  and  the  breadth  28  miles.  Estimated 
area,  about  1000  square  miles;  pop.  (1872),  22,326;  estimated  gross 
revenue  of  all  the  chiefs,  ^1930  (chiefly  derived  from  dues  on  timber). 

The  country  is  covered  with  dense  forest,  intersected  in  all  direc- 
tions by  precipitous  ravines  and  rugged  mountains,  the  general  slope 
being  towards  the  west.  The  rainfall  is  heavy;  and  the  air  of  the 
valleys,  walled  in  on  all  sides  by  steep  hill  ranges,  is  close  and  hot 
The  water  obtained  from  pools  and  wells  is  always  full  of  decaying 
vegetable  matter.  From  these  causes  the  climate  is  singularly  unhealthy. 
Except  for  a  few  months  during  the  driest  season  of  the  year,  no 
European,  and  only  the  hardiest  races  of  natives,  can  remain  in  the 
Dangs.  The  valleys  contain  tracts  of  rich  black  loam,  but  the  soil 
on  the  uplands  is  the  poorer  variety  of  red.  None  of  the  mineral 
resources  have  as  yet  been  ascertained.  Of  vegetable  products,  teak  and 
other  timber  trees  are  by  far  the  most  important  With  the  exception 
of  a  little  rice  and  pulse,  the  crops  are  confined  to  the  inferior  varieties 
of  mountain  grains.  There  are  no  roads  properly  so  called,  but  there 
are  4  principal  cart  tracks.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Dangs  belong 
almost  entirely  to  the  wild  forest  tribes.  Most  of  them  are  Bhils,  who, 
accompanied  by  herds  of  sheep  and  goats,  move  about  from  place  to 
place,  supporting  themselves  in  great  measure  on  game  and  the  natural 
products  of  the  forest     Under  the  former  Native  Governments,  the 


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DANGS,  THE. 


33 


Bhils  were  the  terror  of  the  neighbouring  Districts,  and  on  occasions 
the  most  indiscriminate  vengeance  was  taken  on  them  in  return  for  their 
habitual  depredations.  After  the  occupation  of  Khandesh  by  the 
British,  in  1818,  anarchy  was  at  its  height.  The  roads  were  impassable, 
villages  were  plundered,  and  murders  committed  daily,  the  only  protec- 
tion the  inhabitants  of  the  plain  could  obtain  being  through  regular 
payment  of  black-maiL  An  expedition  was  sent  into  the  Dang 
country ;  but  at  the  end  of  three  months,  less  than  half  the  force 
marched  back  to  Maligdon,  the  others  having  succumbed  to  the 
malaria  of  the  jungle.  At  that  time,  Captain  (afterwards  Sir  James) 
Outram  came  among  the  Bhils.  First  conciliating  them  with  feasts  and 
his  prowess  in  tiger-shooting,  he  eventually  succeeded  in  forming  a  Bhil 
corps,  originally  based  on  9  men  who  had  accompanied  him  on 
shooting  expeditions.  In  1827,  this  Bhil  corps  had  reached  600  rank 
and  file,  who  fought  boldly  for  the  Government  and  suppressed  plunder- 
ing. The  District  treasuries  are  now  under  their  charge,  and  the  chief 
police  rests  in  their  hands.  The  tribe  next  in  importance  to  the  Bhfls 
is  called  KonkanL  They  are  somewhat  more  settled  in  their  habits 
and  more  inclined  to  agriculture,  though  little  superior  to  the  Bhils  in 
appearance.  The  language  of  both  these  tribes  is  a  mixture  of  Hindu- 
stani, Mardthi,  and  Guzerdthf,  in  which  the  last  predominates.  Education 
is  in  a  very  backward  state.  In  the  whole  Dangs,  not  more  than  half  a 
dozen  persons  can  read  and  write. 

There  are  sixteen  petty  chiefs  in  the  Dang  country,  whose  States 
are  returned  (1876)  as  follows : — 


Name  of  State. 


Dang 


VOT.  IIL 


Pimpri, 
Wadhwan,    . 
Than  Garkhardi,    . 

Ketak 

Amala, 

Chinchli, 

Pimpladevi,  . 

Palasbihar,    . 

Auchar, 

Derbhauti,    . 

Garvi,  .... 

Siobara, 

Kirti,    .... 

Wasurna,      . 

Dhude, 

Surgana, 

Total, 


Estimated 

Supposed 

Population. 

Revenue. 

Rs. 

4.025 

3,106 

150 

147 

3A5 

59 

o75 

JS 

675 

601 

125 

120 

215 

2*0 

375 

20I 

2,005 
4,668 

3,649 
5,"5 

225 

422 

903 

512 

4,197 

2,275 

90 

85 

8, 201 

11,469 

31,059 

31,041 

(»y  *3">4) 

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34  DANG  URLI—DANKA  UR. 

Of  these,  fourteen  are  held  by  Bhils,  and  one  by  a  Kunbf.  Four  of 
the  petty  chieftains  claim  the  title  of  Rijd ;  the  others  are  called  Naiks. 
They  are  all  practically  independent,  though  a  nominal  superiority  is 
awarded  to  the  Girvi  chief,  under  whose  banner  the  rest  are  bound  to 
serve  in  time  of  war.  In  former  times  the  G£rvi  chief  was,  again,  in 
common  with  the  other  Dang  chiefs,  tributary  to  the  Desmukh  of  Mulber, 
a  strong  fort  in  the  Bdgten  Subdivision  of  N£sik  District  But  the 
oppression  exercised  by  the  Desmukh  in  collecting  his  annual  tribute 
of  ^70,  gave  rise  to  such  frequent  disturbances,  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment was  induced  to  deduct  the  amount  from  the  sums  now  paid  to  the 
Dang  chiefs  for  the  leases  of  their  forests,  and  hand  it  over  direct  to  the 
representative  of  the  Desmukh. 

The  administration  of  justice,  civil  and  criminal,  in  the  Dangs  is 
vested  in  the  Collector  of  Khandesh  as  ex  officio  Political  Agent ;  capital 
sentences,  or  those  involving  more  than  fourteen  years'  imprisonment, 
being  referred  for  the  confirmation  of  Government.  Petty  cases  are 
settled  by  the  Rijds  and  Ndiks  themselves,  each  in  his  own  jurisdiction, 
the  punishments  inflicted  being  chiefly  fines  in  money  and  cattle. 
None  of  the  Dang  chiefs  possesses  a  sanad  authorizing  adoption,  but 
the  succession  in  all  cases  follows  the  rule  of  primogeniture.  The 
whole  area  of  the  Dangs  is  leased  to  Government  in  perpetuity,  but  the 
lease  may  be  relinquished  at  any  time  on  giving  six  months'  notice  of 
an  intention  to  that  effect 

D&ngurlL — Small  chiefship  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Wdinganga 
river,  in  Bhandira  District,  Central  Provinces,  containing  only  one 
village.  Situated  in  lat  210  36'  n.,  and  long.  8o°  11'  e.  ;  area,  1905 
acres,  of  which  two-thirds  are  cultivated,  producing  a  large  quantity  of 
the  castor-oil  plant     The  chief  claims  to  be  a  Rijput 

Dankar. —  Picturesque  village  in  Kdngra  District,  Punjab,  and 
capital  of  the  Spiti  tract.  Lat.  320  5'  30"  n.,  long.  780  15'  15"  e. 
Stands  at  an  elevation  of  12,774  feet  above  sea  level,  on  a  spur  or  bluff 
which  juts  into  the  main  valley,  ending  in  a  precipitous  cliff.  The 
softer  parts  of  the  hill  have  been  denuded  by  the  action  of  the  weather, 
leaving  blocks  and  columns  of  a  hard  conglomerate,  among  which  the 
houses  are  curiously  perched  in  quaint  and  inconvenient  positions. 
Overtopping  the  whole  rises  a  rude  fort,  belonging  to  Government; 
while  a  Buddhist  monastery  stands  on  a  side  of  the  hilL  The  inhabit- 
ants are  pure  Thibetans.  Dankar  has  formed  the  seat  of  Government 
for  the  Spiti  valley  from  time  immemorial. 

Dankaur. — Ancient  town  in  Bulandshahr  District,  North-Western 
Provinces.  Situated  in  lat  280  21'  25"  n.,  long.  77°  35'  35"  e.,  on  the 
bank  which  separates  the  uplands  from  the  Jumna  (Jamuni)  valley; 
distant  from  Bulandshahr  20  miles  south-west  Pop.  (1872),  5423, 
comprising  4210  Hindus  and  1213  Musalmins.     Founded  according 

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DANKIA—DA-NWON.  35 

to  tradition  by  Drona  or  Dona,  a  hero  of  the  Mahibhirata,  from  whom 
the  town  derives  its  name.  Ruins  of  a  large  fort,  built  by  Kayam-ud- 
din  Khin  in  the  reign  of  Akbar,  amid  which  stands  a  mosque  of  com- 
paratively modern  construction.  Masonry  tank  and  ancient  temple. 
Police  station,  post  office,  village  school.  Traffic  by  Makanpur  ghdt 
passes  through  Dankaur,  which  has  no  trade  of  its  own. 

DankUL — Mountain  in  the  Chholi  range,  Sikkim,  Bengal ;  height, 
23,176  feet;  situated  50  miles  east  -  north  -  east  of  Kinchanjangi. 
Lat  27°  57'  3°"  N->  long.  88°  52'  15"  e.  Although  the  Dankii  moun- 
tain is  5000  feet  lower  than  Kinchanjanga,  it  is  the  culminating-point 
of  a  much  more  extensive  and  elevated  mass.  An  immense  spur,  with 
an  average  elevation  of  18,500  feet,  runs  south-west  from  Dankii  to 
Kinchanjangi,  forming  a  great  watershed. 

D&nta. — Tributary  State  within  the  Political  Agency  of  Mihi  Kinta, 
in  the  Province  of  Guzerat  (Gujarit),  Bombay.  A  wild  and  hilly  country, 
with  a  pop.  (1872)  of  11,762 ;  gross  revenue,  ^4500,  inclusive  of  transit 
dues.  Tribute — ^237  to  the  Giekwir  of  Baroda;  £$2  to  the  Riji  of 
Edar  >  j£s°  to  the  Riji  of  Pilanpur.  Chief  crops — millet,  Indian  corn, 
wheat,  and  sugar-cane.  Marble  is  found  and  quarried  in  Dinta. 
There  is  1  school,  with  45  pupils.  The  Chief  is  a  Hindu,  and  a 
Rijput  by  caste ;  his  title  is  Rind.  In  matters  of  succession,  the  family, 
which  has  held  semi-independent  power  since  1069  a. a,  follows  the 
rule  of  primogeniture,  but  does  not  hold  a  sanad  authorizing  adoption. 
Harisinjhi,  the  present  Rind,  was  sixty  years  of  age  in  1877.  The  Amba 
Bhawini  shrine,  famous  throughout  India,  is  situated  in  this  territory.  It 
is  visited  by  pilgrims  of  all  ranks  during  August,  September,  October, 
and  November,  and  costly  offerings  are  presented  to  the  goddess. 

D&nta. — Chief  town  of  the  State  of  the  same  name,  in  Guzerat, 
Bombay;  38  miles  east  of  Disi  (Deesa),  and  136  miles  north  of 
Baroda.     Lat.  240  12'  15"  n.,  long.  720  49'  30*  e. 

Dantiw&ra. — Village  in  Bastir  Feudatory  State,  Central  Provinces ; 
situated  in  lat  180  54'  n.,  long.  8i°  23'  30"  e.,  at  the  confluence  of 
the  Dankini  and  Sankini  rivers,  and  to  the  west  of  the  Beli  Dilis,  a 
lofty  range  of  hills.  About  60  miles  from  Jagdalpur,  and  120  from 
Sironcha,  on  the  direct  route  between  these  places.  Population,  about 
300.  Famed  for  its  temple  to  Danteswari  or  Kali,  the  patron  goddess 
of  the  Rijis  of  Bastir,  where  human  sacrifices  were  practised  of  old. 

D&ntlUL — Chief  village  in  the  pargand  of  the  same  name  in  Midnapur 
District,  Bengal.  Seat  of  a  subordinate  judge's  court ;  considerable  trade 
in  cloth,  made  of  silk  and  cotton,  manufactured  in  Morbhanj  State. 

Da-nwon. — A  tidal  creek  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu,  British  Burma, 
Navigable  by  river  steamers.  With  the  Irawadi  (Irrawaddy),  it  forms 
an  island  on  which  stands  the  village  of  Kywonpyathal.  Lat.  160  25'  n., 
long.  950  12'  30"  e. 

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36  DAPHLA  HILLS— DARAPUR. 

Daphla  (or  Duffla)  Hills. — A  tract  of  country  on  the  north-east 
frontier  of  India,  occupied  by  an  independent  tribe  called  Daphla,  akin 
to  the  Abars  and  the  Akas.  It  lies  north  of  Darrang  and  Lakhimpur 
Districts,  in  the  Province  of  Assam ;  bounded  west  by  the  Aka  Hills, 
and  east  by  the  Abar  range.  The  westward  boundary  is  formed  by  the 
Bhoroli  river,  the  eastward  boundary  by  the  Sundri.  The  Daphlas  are 
divided  into  two  clans — the  Tagin  Daphlas,  whose  villages  border  on 
Lakhimpur ;  and  the  Paschim  Daphlas,  living  on  the  Darrang  frontier. 
According  to  the  Assam  Census  Report  of  1872,  the  total  number  of 
Daphlas  in  British  territory  was  418.  The  term  Daphla,  which  is  of 
uncertain  derivation,  is  that  applied  to  them  by  the  Assamese ;  they  call 
themselves  Bangni,  a  word  signifying  'man '  in  their  own  language.  Their 
political  constitution  is  based  upon  an  excessive  subdivision  of  authority. 
There  are  as  many  as  2$8gdms,  or  village  chiefs,  in  receipt  of  posd  or 
commuted  black-mail  from  the  British  Government,  to  the  total  annual 
amount  of  ^254.  In  former  times,  the  Daphlas  were  notorious  for 
their  raids  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  plains.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century,  the  northern  valley  of  the  Brahmaputra  was  entirely 
depopulated  by  the  terror  thus  spread ;  and  during  the  early  years  of 
British  administration,  the  passes  leading  from  the  Daphla  Hills  were 
regularly  blockaded  by  military  outposts.  Recently,  however,  the 
Daphlas  have  shown  a  more  peaceable  disposition.  In  return  for  the 
annual  payment  of  posd,  they  have  kept  the  peace  along  their  own 
frontier,  and  a  trade  has  sprung  up  between  them  and  the  Assamese. 
In  1872,  there  was  an  unfortunate  recurrence  of  their  old  practices.  A 
party  of  independent  Daphlas,  of  the  Tagin  clan,  suddenly  attacked  a 
colony  of  their  own  tribesmen,  who  had  settled  at  Amtold,  in  British 
territory,  and  carried  away  44  captives  to  the  hills.  The  motive  of  this 
raid  was  a  belief  that  an  outbreak  of  disease  among  them  was  intro- 
duced from  the  plains.  During  the  next  two  years,  the  hill  passes  were 
blockaded  by  police  and  soldiers,  but  with  no  result.  In  the  cold 
season  of  1874-75,  an  armed  expedition  was  marched  into  the  hills.  No 
serious  opposition  was  encountered ;  all  the  captives  that  survived  were 
released,  and  an  excellent  effect  has  been  produced  upon  the  hill  tribes. 

Da-pyu-khyaing. — Revenue  circle  in  Kyouk-hpyd  District,  Arakan 
Division,  British  Burma.  Area,  220  square  miles,  inclusive  of  Ma-i 
circle;  pop.  (1876),  3617,  chiefly  Arakanese;  gross  revenue  (1876), 

^549- 

D&ragaqj. — Town  in  Allahdbid  District,  North-Western  Provinces ; 
situated  in  lat.  250  41'  n.,  long  8i°  21'  e.,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
.Ganges,  on  the  route  from  Allahdbid  to  Jaunpur.  Communicating  by 
ferry  with  Allahdbid  city,  of  which  it  forms  an  outlying  suburb. 

D&rapur. — Village  in  Jhelum  (Jhflam)  District,  Punjab ;  situated  in 
lat.  320  46'  n.,  long.  730  36'  e.,  about  a  mile  from  the  right  or  west  bank 


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DARAPUR— DARBHANGAH.  37 

of  the  Jhelum  river,  just  below  its  junction  with  the  Bunhar  torrent  The 
neighbouring  ruins  of  Udainagar  were  identified  by  Burnes  with  those 
of  Nicoea,  built  by  Alexander  to  commemorate  his  victory  over  Porus. 
General  Cunningham,  however,  with  greater  probability,  places  the  site 
of  Alexander's  great  battle  at  Jalalpur. 

D&rapur. — T&luk  and  town  in  Coimbatore  District,  Madras. — See 
Dharapuram. 

Darauti. — Village  in  Shihibid  District,  Bengal ;  5  miles  north-east 
of  Ramgarh.  Contains  some  old  remains  attributed  to  the  Suars  or 
Siviras.  Dr.  Buchanan  Hamilton  conjectures,  from  the  style  of  this 
work,  that  the  Chenis  once  had  a  temple  here,  and  that  the  obelisks  now 
left  standing  commemorate  its  destruction  by  the  Suars. 

Daray. — Revenue  circle  in  the  extreme  north-west  of  Bhilii  (Bheeloo) 
island,  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma.  Pop. 
(1876),  544,  chiefly  Talaings ;  land  revenue,  ^402;  and  capitation 
tax,  ^59.  In  Burmese  times,  Daray  was  a  separate  township,  includ- 
ing the  whole  western  Bhihi-gywon,  which  was  cut  off  from  its  eastern 
portion  by  the  Tsaibala  creek,  now  silted  up.  Daray  has  never  been 
either  populous  or  productive. 

Daray-bhytL  —  Creek  in  Bassein  District,  Pegu  Division,  British 
Burma.  Forms  one  of  the  entrances  from  the  sea  to  the  Rwe.  Its 
mouth,  in  lat  150  51'  20*  n.  and  long.  900  41'  20"  e.,  is  obstructed  by 
sandbanks,  but  the  rest  of  the  river  is  easily  navigable  by  river 
steamers. 

Daray-bouk. — The  name  given  to  the  northern  mouth  of  the  Salwfn 
river  from  Martaban  to  the  sea.  Several  centuries  ago,  it  was  the  ordinary 
entrance  for  ships  coming  to  Martaban  in  Tenasserim,  British  Burma ; 
but  for  many  years  it  has  been  so  choked  with  sandbanks  as  to  be 
impassable  by  sea-going  vessels. 

Darbelo. — A  Government  town  in  the  Naushahro  Deputy  Collec- 
torate,  Haidar£b£d  (Hyderabad)  District,  Sind.  Pop.  (1872),  1159, 
mainly  agriculturists,  the  Muhammadans  being  of  the  Kalhoro  and  Pir 
tribes,  the  Hindus  chiefly  Lohanos.  Annual  export  of  grain,  by  the 
Naulakhi  Canal,  valued  at  ^2000. 

Darbhangah. — District  in  Patna  Division,  Bengal ;  formed  out  of 
the  great  District  of  Tirhut  on  the  1st  of  January  1875.  The 
geographical  and  general  aspects  of  Darbhangah  will  be  dealt  with 
under  Tirhut  District,  which  was  not  divided  until  after  the  date 
when  the  materials  for  this  work  were  collected.  Tirhut  continued  until 
1875  *ne  largest  and  most  populous  District  of  Lower  Bengal.  Of  its  six 
Subdivisions,  the  three  western  were  formed  into  the  new  District  of 
Muzaffarpur  at  the  commencement  of  that  year.  The  three  eastern 
— viz.  Darbhangah,  Madhubani,  and  Tajpur — were  constituted  into  the 
District  of  Darbhangah ;  bounded  on  the  east  by  Muzaffarpur  District, 


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38  DARBHANGAH  TOWN. 

on  the  south  by  the  Ganges  and  by  Monghyr  District,  on  the  west  by 
Bhagalpur,  and  on  the  north  by  the  Nepal  frontier.  Lat  2 6°  40'  to  250 
29'  n.,  long.  85 °  34'  to  86°  46'  e.  ;  area  (according  to  Parliamentary 
Return  for  1878),  3004  square  miles ;  pop.  (1872),  2,196,324.  Principal 
town  and  District  headquarters,  Darbhangah,  which  is  also  the 
residence  of  the  Raja  of  Darbhangah.  Cultivated  area,  1,661,280 
^acres;  951,418  under  rice.  Of  the  gross  area  of  Darbhangah  Sub- 
division in  1872,  viz.  2,159,170  acres,  only  223,976  are  left  unproductive, 
including  roads.  Darbhangah  suffered  severely  during  the  famines  of 
1866  and  1874,  and  the  dense  pressure  of  the  population  on  the  soil 
formed  one  of  the  principal  difficulties  in  dealing  with  those  calamities. 
In  1866,  the  suffering  was  greatest  during  July,  August,  and  September, 
the  price  of  rice  ranging  from  7  to  5  \  sers  per  rupee,  or  from  15s.  9d. 
to  j£i9  os.  9&  per  cwt  In  1874,  the  rates  reached  15s.  8d.  per  cwt. 
For  an  account  of  the  Darbhangah  Raj,  see  Darbhangah  Town. 

Darbhangah  ({Town'  and  iRdj}). — The  headquarters  station  and 
principal  town  of  the  new  District  of  the  same  name ;  situated  in  lat. 
260  10'  2"  n.,  long.  850  56'  39"  e.,  on  the  left  or  east  bank  of  the  Little 
Baghmatf  river.  It  is  the  largest  and  most  populous  town  in  Tirhut, 
containing,  according  to  the  Census  of  1872,  47,450  inhabitants.  The 
gross  municipal  income  in  1876-77  was  ,£1788;  gross  expenditure, 
,£1532  ;  average  rate  of  taxation  per  head,  8&  The  bdzdrs  are 
large,  and  markets  are  held  daily.  A  considerable  trade  is  carried  on, 
and  the  communications  by  road  are  good  in  all  directions.  The  State 
Railway  connects  the  town  with  Bazitpur  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  a 
distance  of  45  miles ;  and  Bazitpur  in  its  turn  is  connected  by  a  steam 
ferry  with  Barh,  one  of  the  stations  on  the  main  line  of  the  East  Indian 
Railway.  The  principal  exports  from  the  city  are  oil-seeds,  saltpetre, 
and  timber ;  and  the  imports,  food  grains  and  salt.  During  the  year 
1876-77,  the  registered  traffic  by  river  only  was  as  follows: — Exports, 
^£80,032;  imports,  ,£30,566.  The  value  of  oil-seeds  exported  was 
.£49,332;  of  timber,  .£14,359;  of  saltpetre,  ^£9961.  The  value  of 
salt  imported  was  ^25,560. 

Darbhangah  has  been  the  residence  of  the  Maharajas  of  Darbhangah 
since  1762.  The  family  trace  their  origin  to  one  Mahesh  Thakur,  who 
originally  came  from  the  Central  Provinces  in  the  beginning  of  the  16th 
century,  and  took  service  as  a  priest  under  the  ancient  Rajas  of  Tirhut 
After  Tirhut  was  conquered  by  the  Muhammadans,  and  the  race  of  the 
old  princes  became  extinct,  Mahesh  Thakur  is  said  to  have  proceeded 
to  Delhi,  where  he  obtained  the  grant  of  the  Darbhangah  Raj  from 
the  Emperor  Akbar.  But  the  title  of  Raja  was  not  duly  confirmed  until 
the  time  of  Raghu  Sinh  in  1700.  The  residence  of  the  family  was  then 
at  Bhawara,  near  Madhubani,  where  the  remains  of  an  old  mud  fort 
are  still  pointed  out,  which  is  said  to  have  been  built  by  Raghu  Sinh. 

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DARDI JANBAL  39 

A  temporary  settlement  was  concluded  by  the  British  Government  with 
Madhu  Sinh,  who  succeeded  to  the  Raj  in  1776.     A  long  series  of 
disputes  and  misunderstandings  ensued.    The  Raja  refused  to  engage 
for  the  decennial  settlement  of  1790,  alleging  that  grave  injustice  had 
been  done  him  by  the  authorities.     The  estate  was  therefore  leased  out 
to  two  Muhammadan  farmers.     But  in  November  1 791,  the  one  resigned 
his  share,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  other  was  killed  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse  at  Patna,  and  his  heirs  refused  to  continue  the  lease.     Madhu 
again  refused  the  settlement.      The  lease  was  then  renewed  to  a 
number  of  small  leaseholders,  from  1793  up  to  1800,  when  it  expired. 
Negotiations  were  again  entered  into  with  the  Raja,  but  they  fell  through 
as  before,  and  the  estate  was  once  more  let  in  farm.    At  last  the 
property  was  restored  to  the  Raja  on  his  consenting  to  pay  an  increase 
of  revenue.     Madhu  Sinh  died  in  1808.     His  son  Chhatar  Sinh,  who 
lived  till  1839,  was  the  first  who  received  the  title  of  Maharaja.     On 
his  death,  the  succession  was  disputed,  but  after  costly  litigation,  his 
eldest  son,  Riidar  Sinh,  was  declared  heir  to  the  title.    Riidar  Sinh 
died  in  1850.     His  son  Maheshwar  died  in  i860,  leaving  two  sons, 
Lakshmeswar  and  Rameswar,  the  present  Mahdraja,  and  his  brother. 
As  these  were  minors,  the  Court  of  Wards  took  charge  of  their  posses- 
sions.    Everything  was  in  confusion ;  the  estate  was  ^700,000  in  debt, 
and  the  revenue  was  only  ^160,000.     Under  the  management  of  the 
Court  of  Wards,  the  property  has  greatly  improved ;  the  debt  has  been 
paid  off,   and  the  rental  has  increased  by  ^40,000.     Besides  this, 
^547,600  had  been  saved  prior  to  the  famine  of  1874;  but  nearly 
,£300,000  was  then  expended  in  charitable  relief.    The  estate  supports 
entirely  a  first-class  dispensary  at  Darbhangah ;  another  at  Kharakpur ; 
an  Anglo-vernacular  school  and  22  vernacular  schools  in  its  villages. 
It  further  contributes  largely  to  3  dispensaries  and  27  schools.     It  has 
opened  150  miles  of  new  road,  along  which  about  20,000  trees  have 
been  planted.     Three  iron  bridges  have  been  erected  over  navigable 
rivers,  and  extensive  irrigation  works,  at  a  cost  of  ,£70,000,  have  been 
constructed  on  the  Kharakpur  estate  in  Monghyr  District     The  wards 
have  been  educated  at  Benares.     When  the  Government  took  charge, 
the  family  residence  at  Darbhangah  consisted  of  a  few  low-built  houses, 
hemmed  in  by  hovels  in  the  town.     Many  of  the  latter  have  been 
removed,  and  new  buildings  have  been  erected,  surrounded  by  well  laid 
out  gardens  of  about  55  acres  in  extent.    A  new  palace,  with  a  menagerie 
and  aviary,  is  now  under  construction  (1877).   The  estates  of  the  Raj  are 
situated  in  the  four  Districts  of  Tirhut,  Monghyr,  Purniah,  and  Bhagalpur. 
Their  total  rental  is  £202,419 ;  the  total  Government  revenue,  £42,82 1. 
Dardi  Janb&i  — One  of  the  petty  States  in  North  Kathiawar,  Bombay. 
It  consists  of  1  village  with  2  independent  tribute-payers.    The  revenue 
in  1876  was  estimated  at  £250;  no  tribute  is  payable. 

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4o  DARIEN— DARJILING  DISTRICT. 

Darien. — A  maritime  revenue  circle  in  Martaban  township,  Amherst 
District,  Tenasserim,  British  Burma.  It  consists  of  low-lying,  highly- 
cultivated  plains,  liable  to  inundation  on  the  west  during  high  tides,  the 
sea  penetrating  through  a  drainage-way  cut  by  a  villager  some  years 
ago.  In  1876,  the  population  numbered  3181;  the  capitation  tax 
yielded  .£327,  and  the  land  revenue,  ^2478. 

D&ljfling. — The  District  of  Darjiling  forms  the  most  northerly 
portion  of  the  Rijshalif-Kuch  Behar  Division,  under  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Bengal.  It  lies  between  260  30'  50"  and  270  12'  45"  n. 
lat,  and  between  88°  1'  30"  and  88°  56'  35"  e.  long.,  running 
up  between  Nepal  and  Bhutan  towards  the  State  of  Independent 
Sikkim.  The  area  was  returned  in  1876  at  1234  square  miles;  and  the 
population,  according  to  the  Census  of  1872,  numbers  94,712  persons. 
The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  the  station  and  sanitarium  of 
Darjiling.  The  British  frontier  is  demarcated  on  the  north  from 
Sikkim  by  a  series  of  rivers  and  mountain  torrents,  on  the  west  from 
Nepal  by  a  lofty  range  of  hills ;  along  the  east  and  south  run  the  British 
Districts  of  Jalpalguri  and  Purniah. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  naturally  divides  into  two  distinct 
tracts — the  ridges  and  deep  valleys  of  the  lower  Himalayas,  and  the 
tardi  or  submontane  marshy  strip  from  which  the  hills  abruptly  rise. 
The  scenery  is  of  a  wildly  magnificent  character.  The  background  is 
formed  by  a  jagged  line  of  dazzling  snow,  connecting  the  two  highest 
peaks  in  the  world,  Everest  and  K£nchanjanga\  each  above  28,000  feet 
Imposing  series  of  parallel  mountain  ridges  intervene,  broken  by 
almost  perpendicular  valleys.  Up  to  12,000  feet  these  ridges  are  clad 
with  dark  green  foliage;  on  the  high  slopes  the  rhododendron  pre- 
dominates, lower  down  occur  forests  of  pine  and  deodar,  near  the 
plains  the  valuable  sdl  timber.  To  travellers  fresh  from  the  swamps 
of  Bengal  this  picturesque  region  would  prove  yet  more  alluring, 
were  it  not  for  the  mists  and  showers  which  are  continually  closing 
upon  the  scene.  European  planters  are  now  dotting  the  slopes  of  the 
lower  ranges  with  trim  tea  gardens.  The  tardi  portion  of  the  District  is 
overgrown  with  malarious  jungle,  amid  which  the  aborigines  form  clear- 
ings by  fire,  and  rear  crops  of  rice  and  cotton  on  a  system  of  primitive 
nomadic  husbandry. 

The  loftiest  mountains  are  situated  outside  British  territory;  but 
within  it  on  the  western  range,  marching  with  Nepal,  are  several  peaks 
above  10,000  feet  in  height.  The  station  of  Darjiling  itself  has  an 
elevation  of  7167  feet  above  sea  level,  and  on  the  ridge  of  Sinchal 
Pahar  there  are  barracks  for  a  European  regiment  1500  feet  higher. 
The  chief  rivers  are  the  Tista  and  the  Mahananda,  with  their  numerous 
affluents.  The  Tfsti,  like  many  of  the  other  great  rivers  of  Northern 
India,  rises  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Himalayas,  and  bursts  through 


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DARJILING  DISTRICT.  4* 

the  mountain  barrier  before  it  reaches  British  territory.  At  the  point 
where  it  debouches  on  the  plains,  its  volume  is  very  considerable,  and 
it  becomes  at  once  navigable  for  large  boats.  Its  tributaries  include 
the  Rinchu  and  Roli,  on  the  left  bank ;  and  on  the  right,  the  Great 
Ranjft,  Rangjo,  Rayeng,  and  Sivak.  The  Mahinanda,  while  passing 
through  Dirjfling  District,  is  a  comparatively  small  stream,  and  altogether 
loses  itself  in  the  sand  of  the  tardi  for  a  portion  of  its  course.  Its 
tributaries  join  it  below  the  District  boundary.  Two  small  lakes  or 
tarns  are  situated  amid  the  hills.  The  mineral  products  of  the  District 
comprise  coal,  iron,  copper,  calcareous  tufa,  and  slate. 

The  History  of  Ddrjfling  presents  a  late  chapter  in  the  extension  of 
British  Rule.     The  Gurkha*  war  of  1815-16  first  brought  the  Company 
into  direct  relations  with  this  region.      It  was  then  found  that  the 
aggressive  Gurkhds  had  appropriated  from  the  Rija*  of  Sikkim  the 
morang  or  tardi  portion  of  the  present  District ;  and  it  was  one  of  the 
articles  of  the  peace  of  18 16,  that  this  strip  should  be  ceded  to  the 
British,  who  immediately  gave  it  back  again  to  the  Sikkim  chief.     In 
l835,  under  the  Governor-Generalship  of  Lord  William  Bentinck,  the 
nucleus  of  what  was  originally  known  as  '  British  Sikkim '  was  created  by 
the  purchase,  from  the  R4j£  of  Sikkim,  of  the  sanitarium  of  D&jiling, 
with  a  portion  of  the  surrounding  hills,  in  consideration  of  an  allowance 
of  ^300,  afterwards  increased  to  ^600  per  annum.     This  ceded  tract 
is  described  in  the  Deed  of  Grant  as  '  all  the  land  south  of  the  Great 
Ranjit  river,  east  of  the  Bildsan,  K£hel,  and  Little  Ranjit  rivers,  and 
west  of  the  Rangmi  and   Mahdnanda  rivers,'  containing  about  138 
square  miles.     Darjfling  soon  became  a  favourite  summer  retreat  for  the 
officials  of  Lower  Bengal  and  their  families ;  it  was  also  established  as  a 
sanitarium  for  invalided  European  soldiers.     A  good  deal  of  land  was 
taken  up  from  the  Government  on  building  leases,  but  tea  cultivation  was 
not  introduced  till  a  much  later  date.     In  1849,  Dr.  Hooker  paid  a  visit 
to  Dirjiling,  and  founded  upon  his  experiences  then  gathered  his  well- 
known  and  most  interesting  Himalayan  Journals  (2  vols.,  London  1854). 
His  visit  was  also  productive  of  important  political  consequences.     With 
the  sanction  of  the  British  Government,  and  with  an  express  permission 
from  the  R£j£  of  Independent  Sikkim,  he  had  crossed  the  frontier  into 
that  State,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Campbell,  the  Superintendent  of  Dirjfling 
District.     There  they  were  treacherously  seized  and  imprisoned,  by  the 
authority  of  the  Rija^s  Dfwan  or  Prime  Minister.     A  military  expedition 
was  despatched  to  rescue  the  prisoners,  and  avenge  the  insult     The 
yearly  allowance  granted  to  the  Rijd  was  stopped.     The  Sikkim  morang 
or  tardi,  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  was  annexed;  and  a  considerable 
addition  was  also  made  to  the  British  territory  that  lay  among  the 
mountains.     In  all,  about  640  square  miles  of  land  were  acquired  on 
this  occasion.    Finally,  in  1864,  the  District  received  a  further  augmen- 


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42  DARJILING  DISTRICT. 

tation  by  the  cession  of  a  hilly  tract  east  of  the  Tfstd,  which  had  become 
British  territory  as  the  result  of  the  Bhutin  campaign  of  that  year. 
This  tract  covers  an  area  of  about  485  square  miles,  and  is  known  as 
the  Subdivision  of  Ddlingkdt.  The  relations  between  the  British 
Government  and  the  State  of  Sikkim,  which  are  conducted  through 
the  Deputy  Commissioner  of  Da>j  fling,  are  now  of  a  most  friendly 
character.  The  allowance  to  the  Rdja"  has  not  only  been  restored, 
but  has  been  raised  to  ^1200  a  year;  and  his  Darbir  lends  all  the 
assistance  in  its  power  to  the  development  of  the  through  trade  with 
Thibet  Da>j fling  has  obtained  a  place  in  the  history  of  oriental 
scholarship,  as  the  residence  for  years  of  Brian  Houghton  Hodgson,  of 
the  Bengal  Civil  Service.  Mr.  Hodgson,  after  distinguished  services  as 
Resident  in  Nepal,  retired  from  active  employment,  and  devoted  him- 
self to  the  study  of  the  Sub-Himalayan  races.  He  fixed  his  head- 
quarters at  Dilrjfling ;  and  from  that  District  emanated  his  remarkable 
series  of  essays  and  researches,  which  still  form  the  basis  of  any 
systematic  study  of  the  non- Aryan  peoples  of  India. 

The  popularity  of  D&jfling  as  a  sanitarium  has  not  been  fully  main- 
tained in  recent  years,  owing  to  the  rival  attractions  of  Simla  and  other 
hill  stations  in  Northern  India.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  the  opening 
of  the  Northern  Bengal  State  Railway,  from  the  Ganges  to  the  foot  of 
the  hills,  will  tend  to  counteract  the  disadvantages  arising  from  its 
comparative  inaccessibility.  Its  excessive  humidity  must  always  remain. 
The  enterprise  of  European  capital,  in  the  form  of  tea  cultivation  and 
manufacture,  has  opened  a  new  era  of  prosperity.  The  oldest  tea 
garden  now  existing  only  dates  back  to  1856.  In  1875,  I21  gardens 
were  open,  with  an  annual  production  of  more  than  4  million  pounds. 
More  recently,  the  cinchona  tree  has  been  successfully  introduced,  so 
that  DaVjfling  now  aids  in  saving  from  fevers  even  those  who  are  com- 
pelled to  remain  on  the  plains. 

People. — The  Census  of  1872,  which  is  not  considered  entirely 
accurate  either  for  the  tardi  Subdivision  or  for  the  tract  to  the  east 
of  the  Tfstd,  disclosed  a  total  population  of  94,712  persons,  residing  in 
18,864  houses.  There  are  no  mauzds  or  villages  in  the  Hills  Sub- 
division ;  for  the  tardi  only  19  are  returned.  The  average  number  of 
persons  per  square  mile  is  77,  varying  from  49  in  the  Hills  to  175  in  the 
tardi ;  of  houses  per  square  mile,  15,  similarly  varying  from  8  to  41 ;  of 
persons  per  house,  5,  varying  from  6  to  4*3.  Classified  according  to  sex, 
there  are  53,057  males  and  41,655  females ;  proportion  of  males,  56  per 
cent  Classified  according  to  age,  there  are,  under  twelve  years — 16,472 
males  and  13,782  females;  total,  30,254,  or  32  per  cent,  of  the  total 
population.  The  occupation  returns  are  not  trustworthy ;  but  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  the  total  number  of  male  adults  connected  with 
agriculture  is  returned  at  29,877,  as  against  6708  male  adult  non-agri- 


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DARJILING  DISTRICT.  43 

culturists.  The  ethnical  division  of  the  people  shows : — 419  Europeans ; 
1  American;  32  Eurasians;  39,869  aborigines,  including  Nepalfs; 
25,029  semi-Hinduized  aborigines;  23,114  Hindus,  subdivided  accord- 
ing to  caste ;  6248  Muhammadans.  The  great  bulk  of  the  population 
consists  of  aboriginal  or  semi-aboriginal  tribes,  among  whom  the  Nepalfs 
and  the  Rijbansf  Kochs  are  the  most  numerous.  The  Lepchas,  who 
are  considered  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  Sikkim,  number  only  3952, 
and  the  race  is  said  to  be  declining.  The  Nepalis,  including  the 
Murmfs,  make  up  a  total  of  32,338,  divided  among  no  less  than 
42  sub-tribes.  The  Rijbansf  Kochs  number  23,124;  their  cognates, 
the  Dhimils  and  Mechs,  together  amount  to  1766.  Sharpa  Bhutiis 
are  returned  at  401,  but  to  this  ought  to  be  added  3433  Buddhists,  in 
order  to  give  the  total  Bhutid  population.  There  are  1648  Urdons, 
immigrants  attracted  by  the  tea  gardens.  Of  the  Hindus  proper,  the 
two  superior  castes  of  Braliman  (numbering  1002)  and  Rijput  (8972) 
are  the  most  numerously  represented.  It  is  estimated  that  the  popula- 
tion of  DaYjfling  has  doubled  within  the  past  twenty-five  years.  The 
Nepalfs  are  coming  across  the  frontier  in  large  numbers,  and  are  eagerly 
welcomed  by  the  tea-planters  as  their  most  valuable  labourers ;  while 
Bengalis  from  the  plains  are  gradually  extending  over  the  tardi.  Classi- 
fied according  to  religion,  the  population  is  composed  of —  Hindus 
(as  loosely  grouped  together  for  religious  purposes),  69,831,  or  73*7  per 
cent ;  Muhammadans,  6248,  or  6*6  per  cent ;  Christians,  556,  or  '6  per 
cent,  of  whom  104  are  native  converts;  ascertained  Buddhists,  1368, 
or  i*5  percent;  'others,'  including  many  Buddhists,  16,709,  or  17-6  per 
cent  The  BraTima  SamaJ  is  represented  by  a  few  Bengali  Government 
clerks  at  D&jfling  Station,  who  have  no  regular  place  of  meeting. 

The  population  may  be  divided  into  those  connected  with  the  tea 
industry,  and  the  aboriginal  agriculturists.  There  are  no  towns.  Dar- 
jiling  station  itself  has  a  permanent  population  of  only  3157,  but  to 
this  number  must  be  added  the  temporary  visitors  during  the  summer 
months.  The  only  other  village  of  any  note  is  Karsiang  (Kurseong), 
situated  in  the  lower  hills,  20  miles  to  the  south. 

Agriculture. — Rice  constitutes  the  one  food-crop  grown  in  the  tardi 
portion  of  the  District;  but  among  the  hills,  Indian  corn,  millets, 
(marudj  etc),  wheat,  potatoes,  and  cardamoms  are  also  grown,  wherever 
practicable.  Subordinate  crops  in  the  plains  are  cotton,  jute,  pulses, 
oil-seeds,  and  sugar-cane.  As  usual  throughout  Bengal,  the  rice  crop 
is  divided  into  two  harvests,  the  dman  or  haimantik^  reaped  in  winter, 
and  the  dus  or  bhadai,  reaped  in  the  Hindu  month  of  Bhddra  (August 
or  September).  Rice  cultivation  is  rapidly  extending  through  the  tardi, 
although  somewhat  retarded  by  the  requirements  of  the  Forest  Depart- 
ment. Bengali  and  Nepali  cultivators  use  the  plough ;  but  the  Mechs 
and  other  aboriginal  people  still  adhere  to  that  nomadic  method  of  agri- 


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44  DARJILING  DISTRICT. 

culture  known  as  jum,  which  consists  in  burning  down  a  fresh  patch 
of  jungle  land  each  successive  year.  They  use  the  ddo  or  hill  knife  for 
all  rustic  operations.  Manure  is  not  commonly  applied  anywhere ;  but 
throughout  the  tardi,  and  in  the  hills  wherever  natural  facilities  are 
afforded,  irrigation  is  industriously  practised  by  the  cultivators  of  all 
classes.  In  the  tardi,  land  is  measured  by  the  hdl,  which  is  the  area 
that  can  be  tilled  by  a  plough  and  one  yoke  of  oxen.  Converted  into 
English  measurement,  the  rent  paid  per  acre  varies  from  3s.  to  6s. ; 
and  the  produce  is  about  13  cwts.,  worth  about  jQi,  10s.  In  the 
hills  no  system  of  land  measurement  is  known,  but  it  has  been  estimated 
that  the  amount  and  value  of  the  out-turn  is  approximately  the  same  as 
in  the  tardi.  No  rent  is  there  paid  for  the  land,  but  a  house-tax  is  levied 
by  the  proprietors,  which  averages  about  10s.  per  house. 

The  land  tenures  of  Ddrjfling  are  of  a  very  complicated  character, 
and  vary  in  different  parts  of  the  District  A  considerable  portion  of 
the  area  is  still  held  direct  by  Government,  either  as  forest  reserves, 
which  altogether  cover  about  700  square  miles,  or  as  unallotted  culti- 
vated plots.  In  the  hill  tract  the  tenures  divide  themselves  into  two 
chief  classes — (1)  Freehold  grants ;  and  (2)  Lease-holds  for  terms  of 
years — both  of  which  are  largely  held  by  tea-planters.  In  the  tardi,  the 
greater  portion  of  the  soil  was  settled  with  the  actual  cultivators  oxjbtddrs^ 
for  a  term  of  ten  years  from  1867,  according  to  the  method  adopted  in 
the  neighbouring  District  of  Jalpalguri.  In  the  tract  annexed  from 
Bhutdn,  no  Land  Settlement  has  yet  (1877)  been  introduced,  but  a  poll 
tax  is  collected  by  the  agency  of  the  village  head-men. 

The  ordinary  rates  of  wages  are  said  to  have  somewhat  risen  of  late 
years.  In  1871,  a  coolie  or  agricultural  day-labourer  in  the  tardi 
received  4d.  a  day,  together  with  his  food ;  on  the  tea  plantations  the 
wages  paid  to  men  or  women  varied  from  10s.  to  14s.  a  month. 
Skilled  artisans  received  as  much  as  from  ^1  to  jQi,  16s.  a  month. 
In  the  same  year,  the  price  of  common  rice  in  the  tardi  was  3s.  5d.  per 
cwt ;  and  in  the  hills,  6s.  id.  per  cwt  During  the  year  of  dearth 
(1866),  in  both  tracts,  the  price  rose  to  13s.  8d.  per  cwt. 

D£rjiling  is  not  liable  to  either  of  the  calamities  of  flood  or  drought 
In  the  event  of  local  scarcity  from  any  cause,  the  hill  people  could 
always  save  themselves  from  starvation  by  migrating  to  other  localities ; 
but  in  the  tardi,  previous  to  the  construction  of  the  railway,  the  inhabit- 
ants were  in  some  danger  of  isolation.  If  the  price  of  rice  were  to 
rise  rapidly  in  January,  after  the  gathering  of  the  dman  or  low-land  rice 
crop,  that  should  be  regarded  as  a  sign  of  approaching  scarcity. 

Manufactures,  etc. — Coarse  cotton  cloth  is  woven  by  all  the  aboriginal 
tribes,  usually  by  the  women.  The  staple  industry  of  Darjfling  is  the 
cultivation  and  manufacture  of  tea,  conducted  under  European  super- 
vision and  by  European  capital.      The  first  regular  tea  garden  was 

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DARJILING  DISTRICT.  45 

opened  in  1856 ;  and  after  the  natural  mistakes  of  the  few  early  years, 
the  business  has  continued  to  prosper  with  accelerating  rapidity.  In 
1875,  there  were  altogether  121  gardens  open,  with  an  area  under  culti- 
vation of  22,162  acres,  and  an  out-turn  of  4,600,758  lbs.  This  last 
figure  shows  an  augmentation  of  nearly  20  per  cent,  on  the  previous 
year,  but  it  is  asserted  that  the  quality  has  not  kept  pace  with  the 
increase  in  quantity.  The  number  of  Europeans  employed  was  139 ; 
of  natives,  23,938,  or  rather  more  than  one  to  every  acre.  Of  the  total 
number  of  labourers,  20,161  were  Nepdlfs,  and  only  245  had  come 
under  contract  from  the  plains  of  Bengal.  In  1874,  the  average  yield 
from  an  acre  of  mature  plant  was  about  325  lbs.,  as  against  256  lbs.  two 
years  previous.  Within  the  past  ten  years  the  total  acreage  under  tea 
has  more  than  doubled,  and  the  out-turn  has  multiplied  itself  tenfold. 
The  cultivation  of  cinchona  was  commenced  by  Government  in  1862, 
and  the  experiment  has  now  established  its  success.  In  1875, tne  su™ 
of  ^5217  was  expended  on  the  plantations ;  the  yield  of  dry  bark  was 
211,931  lbs.,  which  produced  1989  lbs.  of  quinine,  valued  at  ^"3182. 
This  was  the  first  year  when  the  young  trees  fairly  came  into  bearing. 
The  experimental  cultivation  of  ipecacuanha  has  also  been  attempted, 
and  promises  well.  In  1876,  a  public  botanical  garden  was  established 
at  Rangirun. 

The  local  trade  of  Ddrjfling  is  entirely  confined  to  the  wants  of 
the  European  residents,  and  of  the  tea  plantations.  Great  attention 
has  recently  been  directed  to  the  development  of  through  trade  with 
Thibet  vid  Sikkim.  Registration  stations  have  been  established  at 
Pheydung  and  Ranjft,  within  the  British  frontier.  In  the  year  1876-77, 
the  total  imports  from  Sikkim  were  valued  at  ^80,265,  almost  exclu- 
sively consisting  of  timber ;  the  exports  from  Ddrjfling  were  valued  at 
only  ,£14,164,  including  indigo  (^6600),  cattle  (^2322),  brass  and 
copper  (^1452).  A  brisk  trade  is  also  carried  on  with  Nepdl.  In 
1876-77,  the  chief  imports  from  Nepdl  were  6471  head  of  cattle,  23,494 
sheep  and  goats,  and  97,095  animals  not  particularized;  the  exports 
included  European  piece-goods  (£3255),  native  piece-goods  (£753), 
and  salt  (572  maunds).  The  traffic  with  Bhutdn  does  not  exceed 
^600  each  way. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  Ddrjfling  was  carefully  investigated  in  1873  by 
Mr.  Mallet  of  the  Geological  Survey.  He  was  of  opinion  that  the  coal 
measures,  which  are  easily  exposed,  but  are  of  a  peculiar  friable  cha- 
racter, might  possibly  be  used  remuneratively  on  the  Northern  Bengal 
Railway.  Their  chemical  analysis  is  good,  especially  for  the  formation 
of  artificial  fuel,  but  there  would  be  not  a  little  difficulty  in  delivering 
the  coal  on  the  plains.  Both  iron  and  copper  are  worked  in  several 
places  by  the  Nepilis,  but  the  character  and  accessibility  of  the  mines 
is  not  such  as  to  attract  European  capital.     Lime  can  be  procured  in 


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46  DARJILING  DISTRICT. 

abundance  from  dolomite,  tertiary  limestone,  and  calcareous  tufa.  The 
last  mentioned  is  now  largely  burned  in  kilns. 

The  Northern  Bengal  State  Railway  at  present  (1877)  stops  about 
54  miles  short  of  the  hills.  Its  continuation  to  Adalpur  would  be  of 
great  benefit  to  the  tea  industry.  In  1871,  the  total  length  of  roads 
within  the  District  was  returned  at  427  miles.  An  excellent  suspension 
bridge  has  recently  been  constructed  on  the  highway  to  Thibet 

Administration. — In  1870-71,  the  total  revenue  of  Darj fling  District 
amounted  to  ,£18,797,  towards  which  the  land  tax  contributed  £6001, 
or  just  one-third ;  the  expenditure  was  ^23,869,  or  £5072  more  than 
the  revenue.  Under  the  head  of  land  revenue  is  included  the  house 
and  bullock  tax  paid  in  a  certain  portion  of  the  hills,  and  also  the  poll 
tax  levied  in  the  tract  east  of  the  Tfsta\  In  1870,  there  was  one  cove- 
nanted officer  stationed  in  the  District,  and  3  magisterial  and  3  civil 
and  revenue  courts  open.  Dirjfling  is  divided  into  three  tMnds,  or 
police  circles.  In  1872,  the  regular  police  force  consisted  of  213  men 
of  all  ranks,  maintained  at  a  total  cost  of  ^4994.  These  figures 
give  1  policeman  to  579  square  miles  of  area,  or  to  every  445  persons 
in  the  population;  the  cost  averaged  £4,  is.  per  square  mile,  and 
is.  id.  per  head  of  population.  In  addition,  there  were  5  village 
watchmen,  maintained  at  an  estimated  cost  of  £24.  In  the  same 
year,  the  number  of  persons  in  Darjfling  District  convicted  of  any 
offence,  great  or  small,  was  327,  being  1  person  to  every  289  of  the 
population.  By  far  the  greater  proportion  of  the  convictions  were  for 
petty  offences.  The  District  contains  one  jail,  which  is  necessarily  a 
very  expensive  one  on  account  of  the  small  number  of  prisoners  con- 
fined. In  1872,  the  daily  average  number  of  prisoners  was  52,  of 
whom  one  was  a  female ;  the  labouring  convicts  averaged  47.  These 
figures  show  1  prisoner  to  every  1837  of  the  District  population. 
The  total  cost  amounted  to £695,  or  £13,  7s.  4$d.  per  prisoner;  the 
jail  manufactures  yielded  a  net  loss  of  ^77,  18s.  The  death-rate  was 
38  per  thousand. 

Education  has  considerably  advanced  in  recent  years,  despite  the 
difficulties  caused  by  an  aboriginal  population  speaking  various  strange 
tongues,  and  dwelling  in  widely-scattered  huts  among  the  mountains. 
Up  to  i860  there  was  only  1  school  in  the  District — the  Government 
English  School,  attended  by  33  pupils.  By  1872,  the  number  of 
schools  had  risen  to  29,  with  723  pupils;  the  total  expenditure  was 
^1735,  towards  which  Government  contributed  £667.  In  1875, tne 
schools  further  increased  to  46  and  the  pupils  to  994,  showing  1 
school  to  every  27*6  square  miles,  and  11  pupils  to  every  thousand  of 
the  population.  The  principal  educational  institution  is  the  St  Paul's 
School,  established  at  Calcutta  in  1845  for  the  sons  of  Europeans 
and  East  Indians,  and  removed  to  Ddrjfling  in  1864.    In  1872,  it  was 


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DARJILING  SUBDIVISION.  47 

attended  by  47  pupils,  and  received  a  Government  grant  of  ^261, 
as  against  £fizi  derived  from  fees. 

The  District  is  divided  into  two  Administrative  Subdivisions,  but 
not  into  pargands  or  fiscal  divisions.  In  1876,  there  were  3  civil  judges 
and  5  stipendiary  magistrates.  What  is  known  as  the  DaVjfling  Munici- 
pality, consists  of  the  tract  originally  acquired  in  1835  fr°m  tne  R^j*  °* 
Sikkim.  The  area  is  138  square  miles;  and  the  population,  accord- 
ing to  a  special  Census  taken  in  1869,  amounts  to  22,607.  The 
municipality  has  to  provide  funds  for  conservancy  and  police,  and  to 
maintain  120  miles  of  roadway.  In  1870,  the  income  was  returned  at 
^6640,  which,  however,  includes  a  separate  fund  distinguished  as 
'Improvement  Fund;'  the  municipal  receipts  proper  were  only  about 
^2000.  The  expenditure  is  about  ^4000  a  year.  Municipal  income 
(1876-77),  ^3377. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  of  DaVjfling  is  marked  by  excessive 
humidity.  According  to  Dr.  Hooker,  'Sikkim  is  the  dampest  region  in 
the  whole  Himalayas.  .  .  .  Throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  year, 
the  prevailing  wind  is  from  the  south-east,  and  comes  laden  with 
moisture  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal.'  The  few  hours  between  sunrise  and 
9  a.m.  form  the  only  period  of  the  day  entirely  free  from  clouds,  mist, 
or  rain.  The  average  annual  rainfall  is  returned  at  129  inches.  The 
average  mean  atmospheric  pressure  over  a  period  of  five  years  is  23*320. 
During  1872,  the  highest  maximum  temperature  recorded  by  day  was 
760,  in  the  month  of  September ;  the  lowest  minimum  by  night  was 
240,  in  both  January  and  February. 

The  District  is  not  unhealthy,  the  hills  being  almost  free  from  endemic 
disease  except  goitre.  In  the  tardi  and  the  lower  valleys  malarious 
fevers  occur.  Cholera  occasionally  visits  the  station,  but  small-pox  has 
disappeared  before  the  introduction  of  vaccination.  The  vital  statistics 
for  selected  areas  show  a  death-rate  during  1875  of  14*13  per  thousand 
in  the  rural  area,  and  43*07  in  the  urban  area.  During  1872,  the 
charitable  dispensary  at  Dirj  fling  station  was  attended  by  88  in-door, 
and  2433  out-door  patients;  the  total  income  was  ^"398,  towards 
which  Government  contributed  ^247.  Before  the  close  of  that  year  a 
second  dispensary  was  opened  at  Kars&ng. 

DliljUing'.— Sadr  or  Headquarters  Subdivision  of  Darjfling  District, 
Bengal  Situated  between  260  46'  30"  and  270  12'  45"  n.  lat.,  and 
between  88°  1'  30"  and  88°  33'  30*  e.  long.  Area,  960  square  miles ; 
houses,  7753.  Pop.  (1872),  46,727,  of  whom  29,129,  or  62-3  per  cent, 
were  Hindus;  1027,  or  2*2  per  cent,  Muhammadans;  1368,  or  2*9 
per  cent,  Buddhists;  544,  or  1*2  per  cent,  Christians;  'others,' 
14,659,  or  31*4  per  cent  of  total  population.  Proportion  of  males  in 
Subdivision^  population,  58*6  per  cent ;  average  density  of  population, 
49  per  square  mile ;  average  number  of  houses  per  square  mile,  8 — 


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48  DARJILING  TOWN— DARMAPATAM. 

of  persons  per  house,  6.  Darj  fling  Subdivision  consists  of  the  police 
circles  {thdnds)  of  Darjiling  and  Karsiang.  Police  force  (1870-71),  187. 
The  separate  cost  of  Subdivisional  administration  was  returned  at 
^5791,  2s.  in  1870-71. 

D&ljiling.  —  Town  and  administrative  headquarters  of  District  of 
the  same  name,  situated  in  the  lower  Himalayas.  Lat  270  2'  48"  n., 
long.  88°  18'  36"  e.  The  station  occupies  a  narrow  ridge,  which  divides 
into  two  spurs,  descending  steeply  to  the  bed  of  the  Great  Ranji't,  up 
whose  course  the  eye  is  carried  to  the  base  of  the  great  snowy  moun- 
tains. The  ridge  is  very  narrow  at  the  top.  The  valleys  on  either  side 
are  at  least  6000  feet  deep,  forest  clad  to  the  bottom,  with  very  few 
level  spots,  but  no  absolute  precipice  From  the  flanks  of  these 
valleys  innumerable  little  spurs  project,  occupied  by  native  clearings. 
The  ridge  varies  in  height  from  6500  to  7500  feet  above  sea  level. 
Ddrjiling  was  acquired  by  the  English  Government  in  1835  ^  a  san^' 
tarium,  a  tract  of  country  138  square  miles  in  extent  being  ceded  by 
the  Raja*  of  Sikkim,  in  return  for  an  allowance  of  ^300  per  annum, 
afterwards  raised  to  ^600.  The  station  rapidly  increased,  and  soon 
became  a  favourite  summer  retreat  for  the  officials  of  Lower  Bengal  and 
their  families.  The  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Bengal  ordinarily  spends 
some  months  of  every  year  in  Da>j  fling,  which  is  now  brought  within 
easy  journey  of  Calcutta,  by  the  Northern  Bengal  State  Railway.  A 
military  ddpot,  consisting  of  barracks  for  about  150  men,  stands  on  a 
hill  some  500  feet  above  the  station,  and  is  occupied  by  European 
invalids  during  the  hot  months.  Some  private  dwelling-houses  in  the 
same  locality  have  been  adapted  for  the  accommodation  of  a  battery  of 
artillery.  The  situation,  although  very  bleak,  is  a  healthy  one.  The 
population  of  the  town  fluctuates  according  to  the  season,  but  the 
population  was  returned  by  the  Census  of  1872  at  3157.  The  area  of 
the  municipality  coincides  with  that  of  the  tract  originally  ceded  by  the 
Sikkim  Raja\  and  comprises  about  138  square  miles,  with  a  population 
in  1869  of  22,607,  residing  in  2223  houses.  Municipal  income  (1876-77), 
^3377  f  rate  of  taxation,  2s.  3$d.  per  head  of  population. 

DarkutL — One  of  the  petty  Punjab  Hill  States  under  the  Government 
of  the  Punjab.  The  Rana  of  Darkuti,  Rim  Sinh,  is  a  Rajput  When 
the  Gurkhas  were  driven  out  of  the  hills,  the  British  Government  con- 
firmed the  chief  in  possession  of  this  State,  owing  to  the  smallness  of 
which  no  tribute  is  taken.  The  area  is  5  square  miles ;  lat  (centre), 
310  7'  o"  n.,  long.  77"  38'  30"  e.  ;  the  population  in  1875  was  estimated 
at  700,  and  the  revenue  at  ;£6o. 

Darmapatam.— River  in  Malabar  District,  Madras,  falling  into  the 
sea  3  miles  north  of  Tellicherrl  Darmapatam  town  is  situated  on 
an  island  in  this  river. 

Darmapatam  (Darmafattan ;  the  Dehfattan  of  Ibn  Batuta,  and 

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DARO—DARRANG  DISTRICT.  49 

the  Dartnaftan  of  the  Tohfat-al-Majahidin).  —  An  island  town  in 
fhe  Kotayam  tdluk,  Malabar  District,  Madras,  lying  in  the  river  of  the 
same  name,  in  lat  n°  46'  n.,  long.  750  30'  e.  Area,  6  square  miles; 
houses,  751;  pQp.  (1871),  4736.  Darmapatam  formerly  belonged  to 
the  kingdom  of  Kalastri,  but  was  ceded  in  1734  to  the  Company.  In 
1788,  it  was  taken  by  the  Cherakal  Rija,  but  recovered  in  1789. 

Daro. — A  Government  town  in  the  Shahbandar  Deputy  Collectorate, 
Karachi  (Kurrachee)  District,  Sind.  Pop.  (1872),  1012,  mainly  agricul- 
tural :  being  Muhammadans,  762 ;  Hindus,  250.  The  Pinyan  river  is 
here  crossed  by  a  masonry  bridge  of  six  spans,  each  25  feet  wide. 

Darrang. — A  District  forming  a  portion  of  the  upper  valley  of  the 
Brahmaputra,  in  the  Province  of  Assam.  It  lies  between  260  12'  30" 
and  270  2  30"  n.  lat,  and  between  910  45'  and  930  50'  e.  long. 
Bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Bhutia,  Daphla,  and  Aka  Hills ;  on  the 
east  by  the  Maramarnai  river,  separating  it  from  Lakhimpur  District ; 
on  the  south  by  the  Brahmaputra;  and  on  the  west  by  Kamrup 
District  According  to  the  recent  revenue  survey,  which  closed  opera- 
tions in  1876,  the  area  is  3413*26  square  miles;  and  the  Census  of 
1872  returned  the  population  at  236,009  persons.  The  administrative 
headquarters  are  at  the  town  of  Tezpur,  situated  near  the  confluence 
of  the  Bhairabf  with  the  Brahmaputra. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  consists  of  a  narrow  strip  of  land, 
shut  in  between  the  lower  ranges  of  the  Himalayas  and  the  Brahmaputra. 
Its  total  length  is  126  miles  from  east  to  west,  with  an  average  width 
of  about  25  miles.  Numerous  rivers  and  streams  cross  it,  flowing 
southwards  from  the  hills ;  and  the  general  level  is  broken  by  a  range 
of  low  hills,  from  200  to  500  feet  high,  which  sweep  outwards  in  a 
crescent  shape  from  the  Bhairabi  to  the  Brahmaputra.  The  population 
is  sparse,  and  the  area  under  cultivation  is  still  very  limited  Extensive 
tracts  are  overgrown  with  dense  reed  and  cane  jungle,  characteristic  of 
the  Brahmaputra  valley,  amid  which  occur  rare  patches  of  rice  culti- 
vation. Virgin  forests  cover  a  large  portion  of  the  region  which  lies 
under  the  northern  hills.  Forest  reserves,  from  which  timber-cutting 
and  j&tn  cultivation  are  carefully  excluded,  have  recently  been  declared 
by  the  Government  over  an  aggregate  area  of  about  240  square  miles. 
In  1874-75,  the  total  amount  of  revenue  realized  from  the  direct  sale  of 
timber,  and  from  royalties  on  the  sale  of  timber,  amounted  to  ^152. 
Wild  animals  of  all  kinds  abound,  including  elephants,  rhinoceros, 
buffaloes,  bison,  and  tigers.  In  1873,  **  was  found  necessary  to  raise 
the  reward  for  tiger-killing  from  10s.  to  jQz,  10s.  per  head;  and  in  the 
following  year  ^£172  was  paid  on  this  account  Wild  elephants 
occasionally  do  considerable  damage  to  the  crops.  The  right  of 
capturing  these  animals  has  recently  been  placed  under  restrictions,  and 
is  now  leased  out  for  about  ^150  a  year.     Gold-washing  is  carried  on 

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5o  DARRANG  DISTRICT. 

in  several  of  the  hill  streams,  especially  in  the  Bhairabi.  Limestone  of 
an  inferior  quality  is  found  in  the  west  of  the  District ;  and  travertine, 
containing  as  much  as  90  per  cent,  of  lime,  has  been  discovered  just 
beyond  the  British  frontier.  Coal,  also,  is  known  to  exist  outside  the 
boundary  of  the  District 

The  great  river  of  the  District  is  the  Brahmaputra,  which  forms  the 
continuous  southern  boundary,  and  is  navigable  for  steamers  all  the 
year  through.  Among  its  tributaries,  the  five  following  are  navigable 
for  large  native  boats : — The  Bhairabi,  Ghilidan,  Jia  Dhansiri  (Dhanes- 
wari),  Nona!,  and  Bar  NadL  These  all  rise  in  the  mountains  beyond 
the  frontier,  and  flow  nearly  due  south  into  the  Brahmaputra.  There 
are  about  26  minor  streams,  which  only  become  practicable  for  small 
boats  during  the  rains.  Some  of  the  rivers,  immediately  after  leaving 
the  hills,  sink  beneath  the  sandy  soil,  and  reappear  several  miles  lower 
down.  There  are  no  lakes  or  artificial  water-courses  in  the  District 
Two  embankments  have  been  made  for  purposes  of  cultivation,  to 
restrain  the  flood-waters  of  the  Brahmaputra  and  Bar  Nadi ;  and  the 
old  roads  of  the  Aham  Rajas,  known  as  Raj  Alfs,  usually  run  along 
raised  earthen  banks. 

History. — Darrang  District  possesses  no  history  apart  from  Assam 
generally.  Besides  sharing  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Province,  it  has 
experienced  special  troubles  of  its  own,  owing  to  the  proximity  of  the 
wild  Bhutia'  and  Daphla  tribes.  Archaeological  evidence  and  local 
tradition  attest  the  existence  of  Hindu  civilisation  high  up  the  Brahma- 
putra valley  in  very  early  times.  The  hills  encircling  the  town  of 
Tezpur  are  still  covered  with  ruins,  hidden  among  the  jungle,  which 
reveal  the  traces  of  temples  and  palaces  such  as  could  only  have  been 
erected  by  a  powerful  dynasty.  The  building  materials  used  were 
gigantic  blocks  of  granite,  which  appear  to  have  been  supplied  by  the 
immediate  neighbourhood.  These  blocks  were  carefully  hewn  to  form 
altars,  columns,  and  porticoes,  and  many  of  them  are  profusely  orna- 
mented with  carvings  in  basso-relievo,  among  which  the  emblems  of 
Siva  are  conspicuous.  It  is  conjectured,  from  the  appearance  of  the 
ruins,  that  these  buildings  must  have  been  overthrown  by  the  hand 
of  some  invader;  and  local  tradition  points  to  Kite.  Pahir,  the 
General  of  Sulaunin,  King  of  Bengal,  as  the  author  of  the  sacrilege. 
Another  legend  is  preserved  in  the  Hindu  poem  of  the  Prem  Sigar, 
which  relates  the  battles  between  Bin  Raja"  and  the  god  Krishna.  Bin 
Rdji's  name  is  associated  with  many  of  the  ruins  near  Tezpur.  He 
was  a  demi-god,  sixth  in  descent  from  Brahma,  and  was  the  first  to 
introduce  the  worship  of  Siva  into  Assam.  But  at  Tezpur  he  was  over- 
taken by  Krishna  and  his  invading  legions,  and  finally  slain  after  a 
battle  in  which  the  elements  fought  in  vain  on  his  side.  After  the 
downfall  of  the  early  Hindu  kingdom,  however  that  may  have  been 


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DARRANG  DISTRICT.  51 

brought  about,  Darrang,  like  the  rest  of  Assam,  relapsed  into  primitive 
barbarism.  The  next  dynasty  which  appears  in  history  is  that  of  the 
Ahams,  a  wild  tribe,  of  Shan  origin,  from  the  Burmese  Hills,  who  first 
entered  the  valley  of  the  Brahmaputra  about  the  13th  century,  and  very 
gradually  advanced  downwards.  The  Ahams  organized  their  conquered 
territory  with  minute  precision,  and  held  their  own  until  the  advent  of 
the  British.  Though  they  have  given  their  name  to  the  Province,  it  is 
surprising  to  find  how  small  are  their  present  numbers,  according  to  the 
Census  Report  of  1872.  In  Darrang  they  number  only  3490  in  all. 
The  Kolitas,  however,  who  served  as  their  priests  until  the  reintroduction 
of  Brahmanism,  are  returned  at  16,998. 

But  the  Ahams,  though  undisputed  masters  of  the  valley,  never 
extended  their  sway  far  from  the  river  banks.  In  the  present  admini- 
stration of  Darrang  District  is  still  to  be  traced  a  curious  relic  of 
fluctuating  jurisdiction.  A  tract  of  country  extending  along  the  foot  of 
the  northern  hill  ranges  is  said  to  have  been  ceded  by  the  Aham  Rija* 
to  the  Bhutias  for  a  period  of  eight  months  in  each  year,  in  order  to 
afford  them  the  means  of  cultivating  rice  and  other  necessaries,  which 
they  could  not  raise  on  their  own  bleak  mountains.  In  consideration 
of  this  grant,  the  Bhutias  were  to  pay  an  annual  tribute  to  the  Aham 
Rija*  of  articles  produced  and  manufactured  in  the  mountains ;  while 
the  latter  was  to  retain  his  jurisdiction  over  the  tract  for  the  remaining 
four  months  of  the  year,  from  about  the  middle  of  June  to  the  middle 
of  October.  This  arrangement  was  continued  during  the  few  first  years 
after  the  British  conquest  of  Assam.  But  in  1840,  the  claims  of  the 
Bhutii  chiefs  were  commuted  for  a  money  payment  of  ^500  a 
year,  which  was  calculated  as  the  equivalent  of  the  average  emolu- 
ments they  derived  from  the  land.  The  revenue  at  present  derived  by 
the  British  Government  from  the  'debateable'  tract  amounts  to  ^5183. 

The  Bhutias  here  referred  to  are  commonly  known  as  the  Towang 
Bhutias,  and  are  entirely  independent  of  the  State  of  Bhutin.  They 
carry  on  a  considerable  trade  direct  with  Thibet,  and  have  uniformly 
manifested  a  quiet  and  friendly  attitude.  Next  to  the  Bhutids  on  the  east, 
come  the  Akis  or  Hrusso,  a  small  tribe,  who  used  formerly  to  commit 
frequent  raids  on  British  territory.  They  now  receive  posd  or  black-mail 
to  the  amount  of  ^67  a  year.  Farther  east,  again,  are  the  Daphlas,  whose 
native  mountains  extend  along  the  neighbouring  District  of  Lakhimpur. 
The  Daphlas  are  a  tribe  of  whom  little  was  known  prior  to  the  recent 
frontier  expedition,  which  was  caused  by  their  wanton  outrages  on 
British  subjects.  In  the  year  1872,  the  village  of  Amtoli,  occupied  by 
Daphla  settlers,  was  attacked  by  a  strong  party  of  hill  Daphlas,  and  44 
persons  were  carried  off  to  the  mountains.  It  was  ascertained  that  this 
raid  had  no  political  significance.  The  object  was  merely  to  seize  a 
number  of  slaves  as  an  equivalent  for  certain  of  their  own  people  who 

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52  DARRANG  DISTRICT. 

had  died  of  disease,  said  to  have  been  introduced  from  the  plains. 
The  Daphla  Hills  were  forthwith  blockaded  by  a  strong  force  of  police, 
stationed  in  blockhouses  at  all  the  passes.  The  police  were  subse- 
quently replaced  by  military ;  but  this  method  of  pressure  was  found 
ineffectual.  Accordingly,  in  the  cold  season  of  1874-75,  an  armed 
force  entered  the  hills,  and,  without  encountering  any  opposition, 
achieved  the  release  of  all  the  surviving  captives. 

People. — In  1840,  the  population  of  Darrang  was  estimated  at  about 
80,000.  The  only  trustworthy  figures  are  those  of  the  Census  of 
1871-72.  The  enumeration  was  prolonged  through  an  entire  month, 
and  doubtless  there  are  some  small  inaccuracies.  The  results  disclosed 
a  total  of  236,009  persons,  dwelling  in  53,558  houses  and  in  137 
mauzds  or  clusters  of  villages.  The  area  of  the  District  was  taken  at 
3413  square  miles,  which  gives  the  following  averages: — Persons  per 
square  mile,  69 ;  mauzds  per  square  mile,  '04 ;  houses  per  square  mile, 
13.  The  average  number  of  persons  per  tnauzd  is  1723;  of  persons 
per  house,  5*4.  Classified  according  to  sex,  there  are  122,837  males 
and  113,172  females;  proportion  of  males,  52^03  per  cent.  Classified 
according  to  age,  there  are,  under  twelve  years — 40,067  males  and 
37,912  females;  total,  77,979,  or  33-1  per  cent  of  the  total  popula- 
tion. The  ethnical  division  of  the  people  shows — 47  Europeans,  6 
Americans,  1  Australasian,  4  Eurasians,  44  Bhutiis,  87  Nepilfs,  76,094 
aborigines,  68,701  semi-Hinduized  aborigines,  76,492  Hindus  sub- 
divided according  to  caste,  673  Hindus  not  recognising  caste,  13,859 
Muhammadans,  1  Burmese.  In  Darrang,  as  in  the  rest  of  the  upper 
valley  of  the  Brahmaputra,  the  great  majority  of  the  population  are  of 
aboriginal  descent.  The  aborigines  of  the  Census  Report  are  mainly 
composed  of  Cdchdris,  who  number  62,214  out  of  the  total  of  76,094 ; 
next  come  the  cognate  Rdbhds,  with  10,302.  The  Daphlas  within  the 
District  boundaries  are  134  in  number.  There  are  58  Urdons  and  51 
Santils,  immigrants  from  Chutid  Ndgpur,  employed  on  the  tea  gardens. 
Among  the  semi-Hinduized  aborigines  are  included  the  Kochs  (46,788), 
the  Doms  (8023),  and  the  Ahams  (3490).  Of  Hindus  proper,  the  Br£h- 
mans  number  5783,  the  Rijputs  only  75,  the  Kiyasths  1056.  The  trading 
castes  of  Ag£rwdl£,  Kshattriya,  M£rw£rf,  Oswdl,  and  Sriwak,  who  are 
all  immigrants  from  the  north-west,  and  of  whom  many  are  Jains  by 
religion,  number  collectively  190.  By  far  the  most  numerous  caste 
is  the  Koliti  (16,998),  the  ancient  priesthood  of  Assam,  who  are  now 
admitted  to  Hinduism  as  pure  Siidras;  the  weaving  castes  are  also 
strongly  represented,  with  an  aggregate  of  18,550  members.  Classified 
according  to  religion,  the  population  is  composed  of — Hindus  (as 
loosely  grouped  together  for  religious  purposes),  221,389,  or  93*8  per 
cent. ;  Musalmdns,  13,859,  or  5*9  per  cent.  The  remainder  is  made 
up  of  397  Buddhists;  256  Christians,  including  198  native  converts ; 


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DARRANG  DISTRICT.  53 

and  108  'others.1  The  Br&ima  Samij  has  a  meeting-house  at  Tezpur 
town,  established  in  1872 ;  but  the  members  entirely  consist  of  immi- 
grant Bengalis,  mostly  engaged  in  Government  service.  Jain  traders  are 
settled  at  Tezpur  town  and  at  Nalbiri.  The  native  Christians  for  the 
most  part  belong  to  the  Cichari  tribe,  among  whom  is  established  a 
mission  of  the  Church  of  England.  A  masonry  church  has  been  built, 
and  ;£i8o  is  annually  allowed  by  the  Government  for  mission  schools. 
The  Musalmins  are  described  as  a  quiet  class,  without  either  fanaticism 
or  the  proselytizing  spirit 

As  throughout  the  rest  of  Assam,  the  entire  population  is  absolutely 
rural.  The  largest  place  in  the  District  is  Tezpur  town,  with  only  2139 
inhabitants ;  next  comes  the  Subdivisional  station  of  Mangaldai,  with 
585.  Other  places  of  some  importance  as  trading  centres,  or  as  con- 
taining the  residences  of  wealthy  men,  are  Biswanith,  Hawala  Mohan- 
pur,  Nalbari,  and  Kuruagion.  The  numerous  ruins  scattered  over  the 
hills  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Tezpur,  have  already  been  referred  to  in 
the  historical  section  of  this  article. 

Agriculture. — The  one  staple  harvest  of  the  District  is  rice,  grown  in 
two  crops.  The  sdli  crop,  corresponding  to  the  dman  of  Bengal,  sown 
on  low  lands  and  reaped  in  the  winter,  furnishes  much  the  largest  pro- 
portion of  the  food  supply.  The  dus  crop  is  sown  broadcast  on  high 
lands,  and  reaped  in  the  early  summer,  when  the  field  is  again  available 
for  a  second  or  cold  weather  crop  of  oil-seeds  or  pulses.  Agricultural 
statistics,  which  are  more  trustworthy  in  Assam  than  in  Bengal,  show 
that  the  area  under  rice  greatly  increased  between  185,0  and  1866,  but 
has  since  steadily  diminished.  For  1874-75,  the  total  cultivated  area  is 
returned  at  198,254  acres,  thus  divided: — Rice,  182,172  acres;  mustard, 
3644;  sugar-cane,  n 26;  cotton,  850;  mUg,  955;  tobacco,  252;  kaldi, 
1828;  til,  116;  jute,  184;  tea,  7127.  The  aggregate  out-turn  of  rice, 
oil-seeds  and  pulses,  is  estimated  at  nearly  3  million  cwts.,  with  a  value 
of  ,£400,000.  The  land  is  divided  into  three  classes,  paying  rent  to 
Government  at  the  following  rates,  which  have  remained  fixed  since 
1868  : — Bastt,  or  homestead  land,  on  which  vegetables,  etc.  are  grown, 
6s.  an  acre ;  rupit,  or  moist  lands,  suited  for  sdli  rice,  3s.  gd.  an  acre ; 
pharinghati,  for  dus  rice  and  second  crops,  3s.  an  acre.  The  out-turn 
from  an  acre,  whether  of  rupit  or  pharinghati  land,  is  estimated  at 
i6£  cwts.,  valued  at  about  £2,  5s.  Manure  is  nowhere  commonly  used. 
Irrigation  is  only  practised  in  the  tract  under  the  hills  inhabited  by 
the  Cichans,  who  are  very  industrious  in  leading  the  streams  through 
artificial  channels  over  their  rice-fields,  and  frequently  combine  with  one 
another  to  effect  this  operation  on  a  large  scale.  Rupit  lands  are 
cultivated  continuously  with  the  sdli  rice  crop ;  but  pharinghati,  which 
bear  two  crops  in  the  year,  are  occasionally  allowed  to  lie  fallow. 
There  is  abundance  of  cultivable  waste  in  all  parts  of  the  District ;  but 

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54  DARRANG  DISTRICT. 

the  heavy  grass  jungle  and  forest  with  which  it  is  now  overgrown  would 
be  very  expensive  to  clear. 

The  rate  of  wages  and  the  price  of  food  grains  have  both  risen  about 
threefold  within  the  last  twenty  years.  In  1870,  an  ordinary  labourer 
received  from  4^d.  to  6d.  a  day.  Agricultural  labourers  are  paid  in 
kind,  and  frequently  live  in  the  houses  of  their  employers.  But  labour 
of  all  kinds  is  extremely  scarce.  The  inhabitants  have  a  passion  for 
cultivating  their  own  plots  of  land,  and  a  short  spell  of  work  on  a  tea 
garden  furnishes  them  with  the  capital  necessary  to  purchase  a  pair  of 
bullocks  and  the  few  implements  required.  In  1870,  common  rice  was 
selling  at  3s.  5d.  a  cwt. ;  fine  rice,  which  is  usually  imported  from 
Bengal,  at  6s.  iod.  a  cwt.  The  highest  prices  known  to  have  been 
reached  were  in  the  season  of  1857-58,  when  common  rice  fetched  more 
than  ^ia  cwt. 

Darrang  is  not  exposed  to  either  of  the  natural  calamities  of  Mood  or 
drought,  and  blight  has  never  been  known  to  have  seriously  injured  the 
crops.  In  the  event  of  excessive  inundations,  compensation  would  be 
found  in  the  increased  fertility  of  the  uplands ;  and  similarly,  if  the 
rainfall  were  ever  to  prove  deficient,  the  drying  up  of  the  swamps  would 
offer  new  fields  to  cultivation.  The  single  famine  recorded  in  Darrang 
was  caused,  not  by  the  failure  of  the  crops,  but  by  the  invasion  of  the 
Burmese  in  the  early  years  of  the  present  century. 

Manufacturts,etc. — The  only  indigenous  manufacture  in  Darrang  is  that 
of  silk-weaving.  The  silk  is  of  two  kinds,  known  as  erid  and  mugd.  The 
former  is  the  produce  of  the  worm  Phakena  cynthia,  which  is  reared 
almost  entirely  in-doors,  and  fed  on  the  leaves  of  the  Ricinus  communis 
or  castor-oil  plant.  The  mugd  worm,  or  Phalaena  saturnia,  is  fed  on  certain 
forest  trees  in  the  open  air,  but  also  requires  careful  tending.  The 
entire  manufacture  is  carried  on  without  capital  or  division  of  labour. 
Each  individual  spins,  weaves,  and  dyes  his  own  web ;  yet  some  of  the 
fabrics  attain  a  high  standard  of  excellence,  and  are  bought  up  for 
export  by  the  Mdrwdri  traders.  There  are  minor  industries  in  certain 
villages  of  brass-work  and  pottery.  The  braziers,  called  Mar&s,  form  a 
community  by  themselves. 

The  cultivation  and  manufacture  of  tea  is  chiefly  carried  on  by  means 
of  European  capital  and  under  European  supervision.  In  1874-75, 
there  were  altogether  94  tea  gardens  in  Darrang  District,  managed  by 
14  European  assistants  and  138  native  officials.  The  total  area  under 
cultivation  was  3856  acres,  the  out-turn  amounting  to  1,008,077  lbs. 
The  average  number  of  labourers  employed  was  4990,  of  whom  2571 
were  imported  under  contract  from  Bengal. 

The  external  commerce  of  the  District  is  conducted  by  means  of  the 
Brahmaputra,  which  is  navigable  by  steamers  all  the  year  through.  The 
local  trade  is  in  the  hands  of  Mdrwdri  immigrants  from  the  north-west. 


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DARRANG  DISTRICT.  55 

The  principal  exports  are  tea,  oil-seeds,  silk  cloth,  and  miscellaneous 
forest  produce,  brought  in  by  the  hill  tribes.  The  imports  consist  of 
cotton  and  woollen  cloth,  salt,  fine  rice,  dried  fruits,  spices,  etc  The 
permanent  centres  of  trade  are  Tezpur,  Mangaldai,  and  Biswanath. 
Weekly  markets  are  held  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  tea  gardens.  In 
recent  years,  annual  trading  fairs  have  been  instituted  in  certain  villages 
at  the  foot  of  the  northern  hills,  in  order  to  encourage  intercourse  with 
the  Bhutias.  The  most  important  of  these  is  at  Udalguri,  on  the  north- 
west frontier.  The  principal  articles  brought  for  sale  by  the  Bhutias 
are — ponies,  blankets,  salt,  wax,  gold,  lac,  and  musk;  in  return  for 
which  they  carry  away  rice,  cotton  and  silk  cloth  of  native  manufacture, 
and  brass-ware.  This  gathering  lasts  for  three  or  four  weeks.  In  1875, 
the  total  value  of  the  articles  interchanged  was  valued  at  £76,114,  the 
balance  of  trade  being  greatly  in  favour  of  the  Bhutias. 

Apart  from  the  main  highway  of  the  Brahmaputra,  means  of  com- 
munication are  somewhat  defective.  Second  in  importance  is  the 
Assam  Trunk  Road,  which  runs  through  the  entire  length  of  the 
District  for  a  distance  of  158  miles.  There  are  several  minor  roads 
crossing  north  and  south,  and  an  elephant  path,  or  hdthi  poti,  skirts  con- 
tinuously the  base  of  the  Bhutan  Hills.  The  rivers  are  generally  crossed 
by  ferries.  The  total  length  of  roads  in  the  District  is  returned  at  542 
miles. 

Administration. — In  1870-71,  the  net  revenue  of  Darrang  District 
amounted  to  ,£66,654,  towards  which  the  land  contributed  £36,503, 
and  opium  £19,158;  the  expenditure  was  £26,461,  of  which  ^£9983 
was  for  the  commission  of  the  mauzdddrs  or  fiscal  officials.  The  land 
revenue  has  more  than  doubled  within  the  past  twenty  years,  having 
amounted  in  1850  to  only  ,£15,668.  In  1870-71,  there  were  2 
European  covenanted  officers  stationed  in  the  District,  and  6  magis- 
terial and  10  civil  and  revenue  courts  open.  For  police  purposes  the 
District  is  divided  into  6  thdnds  or  police  circles.  In  1872,  the  regular 
police  force  numbered  249  officers  and  men,  maintained  at  a  total  cost 
of  ,£4419.  These  figures  show  1  policeman  to  every  1370  square 
miles  of  the  area,  or  to  every  948  of  the  population,  and  an  average 
cost  of  ,£1,  6s.  per  square  mile,  or  4jd.  per  head  of  population.  There 
is  no  municipal  police  in  Darrang,  and  the  chauHddrs  or  village  watch 
of  Bengal  are  not  found  anywhere  in  Assam  proper.  In  the  same  year, 
the  total  number  of  persons  in  Darrang  District  convicted  of  any 
offence,  great  or  small,  was  697,  being  1  person  to  every  338  of  the 
population.  By  far  the  greater  proportion  of  the  convictions  were  for 
petty  offences.  The  District  contains  1  jail  and  1  Subdivisional 
lock-up.  In  1872,  the  daily  average  number  of  prisoners  was  165,  of 
whom  two  were  females ;  the  labouring  convicts  numbered  161.  These 
figures  show  1  person  in  jail  to  every  1430  of  the  population.    The 


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56  DARRANG  DISTRICT. 

total  cost  amounted  to  ^1049,  or  £fi*  6s.  2d.  per  prisoner ;  the  jail 
manufactures  yielded  a  net  profit  of  ^104,  or  ^2,  6s.  $<L  per  manu- 
facturing prisoner.     The  death-rate  was  30*3  per  thousand. 

Education  does  not  make  such  progress  in  Darrang  as  in  the  wealthy 
Districts  of  Bengal,  but  yet  some  improvement  has  been  exhibited  in 
recent  years.  In  1856,  the  total  number  of  schools  was  20,  attended 
by  613  pupils.  The  figures  of  1870  show  a  positive  decrease;  but  by 
1872,  when  Sir  G.  Campbell's  reforms  had  come  into  operation,  the 
schools  had  increased  to  66,  and  the  pupils  to  2788.  These  figures 
show  1  school  to  every  52  square  miles,  and  12  pupils  to  every  thousand 
of  the  population.  In  the  same  year,  the  total  expenditure  was  ^897, 
towards  which  Government  contributed  ^693.  Since  187 1,  there  has 
been  no  Government  higher  school,  but  there  are  1  aided  and  2  unaided 
schools  of  this  class,  with  an  aggregate  of  176  pupils.  The  normal 
school  at  Tezpur  is  under  the  management  of  the  English  Church 
Mission. 

The  District  is  divided  into  2  administrative  Subdivisions,  and  into 
6  thdnds  or  police  circles.  There  are  9  mahdls  or  fiscal  divisions,  cor- 
responding to  tYizpargands  of  Bengal,  containing  an  aggregate  of  in 
fnauzds  or  revenue  estates.     There  is  no  municipality  in  the  District 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  of  Darrang  does  not  differ  from  that 
common  to  the  whole  of  the  Assam  valley.  The  north-east  monsoon, 
which  marks  the  opening  of  the  cold  season,  sets  in  about  the  begin- 
ning of  November,  and  lasts  till  the  end  of  April  It  is  frequently 
interrupted  in  March  by  heavy  winds  from  the  south-west,  but  the 
south-west  monsoon  proper  lasts  from  May  to  October.  The  annual 
rainfall  over  a  period  of  twelve  years  averages  76*82  inches. 

The  prevalent  diseases  are  intermittent  fevers — generally  quotidian  or 
irregular — dysentery  and  diarrhoea,  goitre,  epilepsy.  Dyspepsia  is  said 
to  be  common  among  the  numerous  class  of  opium-eaters.  Small-pox 
breaks  out  almost  every  year,  in  consequence  of  the  practice  of  inocula- 
tion. In  recent  years,  cholera  has  repeatedly  manifested  itself  with 
extreme  epidemic  violence,  and  with  most  fatal  results.  In  1874,  out 
of  a  total  of  8061  deaths  reported  throughout  the  District,  as  many  as 
2997  were  assigned  to  cholera,  showing  a  mortality  from  this  cause 
alone  of  12  "6  per  thousand.  The  total  mortality  for  that  year  was  at 
the  rate  of  34*1  per  thousand,  being  the  highest  death-rate  recorded  in 
any  of  the  Assam  Districts,  and  more  than  double  the  rate  in  Darrang 
for  the  previous  year.  The  vital  statistics  for  selected  areas  show  a 
death-rate  in  1874  of  58*1  per  thousand  in  the  rural  area,  and  46  per 
thousand  in  the  urban  area,  which  is  conterminous  with  the  town  of 
Tezpur.  Since  1870,  a  contagious  disorder  has  been  raging  among  the 
cattle  of  Darrang,  which  is  thought  to  have  been  introduced  by  imported 
buffaloes  from  Bengal.     The  chief  symptoms  are  loss  of  appetite,  exces- 


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DARRANGIRI—DARYABAD.  57 

sive  thirst,  high  temperature  of  the  body,  and  watery  evacuation.    The 
proportion  of  deaths  among  the  animals  attacked  is  very  high. 

Darrangirl — Village  in  the  Garo  Hills  District,  Assam ;  situated 
in  lat  25*  46'  n.,  long.  900  56'  e.,  on  the  Someswari  river,  near  which  a 
fine  out-crop  of  coal  strata  is  to  be  seen. 

DarsL — Tdluk  in  Nellore  (Nelluru)  District,  Madras,  forming  one  of 
the  four  divisions  of  the  Venkatagiri  estate.  Area,  588  square  miles ; 
houses,  12,554;  pop.  (1871),  73,139,  viz.  69,910  Hindus,  3018  Muham- 
madans, and  211  Christians  (all  native  Roman  Catholics).  Of  the 
Hindus,  43,641  are  Vaishnavs,  23,964  Sivaites,  and  2305  Lingayats ; 
of  the  Muhammadans,  2960  are  Sunnis  and  28  Shias.  Chief  place, 
Darst. 

Darsi  (Ddrische). — Town  in  the  Darsi  tdluk,  Nellore  District, 
Madras ;  situated  in  lat  150  48'  n.,  long.  790  44'  e.,  30  miles  north- 
west of  Ongole.  Pop.  (1871),  1831.  As  the  headquarters  of  the  tdluk, 
Darsi  possesses  the  usual  native  subordinate  establishments,  a  police 
station,  and  a  post  office. 

Darwa. — Town  and  headquarters  of  a  tahsil,  Wtin  District,  Berar. 
I^at  20°  1 8'  30"  n.,  long.  770  49'  o"  e.  Contains  613  houses,  a  police 
station,  post  office,  and  school  An  ancient  town,  once  the  seat  of  one 
of  the  Bhonsla  chiefs, 

Darw&ni. — Village  in  Rangpur  District,  Bengal.  Lat  25"  53'  15*  n., 
long.  88°  55'  15"  e.  Seat  of  an  annual  fair  of  considerable  importance, 
at  which  cattle  and  horses  form  the  principal  articles  of  sale. 

Dary&b&d. — Pargand  in  Bara  Banki  District,  Oudh  ;  bounded  on  the 
north  by  Bado  SaraJ,  on  the  east  by  the  Gogra  (Ghagra)  river,  and  on 
the  south  by  Basorhi  pargand.  Darydbid  is  said  to  be  gradually  in- 
creasing its  area,  owing  to  the  recession  of  the  Gogra  towards  the  east 
The  present  course  of  that  river  is  now  about  8  miles  east  of  its  ancient 
bank,  the  intervening  ground  being  comparatively  low.  Area,  214 
square  miles,  of  which  137  are  cultivated.  Of  the  241  villages  which 
comprise  the  pargand,  no  are  held  under  tdlukddri  and  131  under 
zaminddri  tenure,  the  principal  landholders  being  Surajbans  Kshattriyas. 
Cultivated  area  in  acres — rice,  26,023  ;  wheat,  23,801  ;  jodr,  1097  ; 
jadr  and  bdjrd,  500 ;  sugar-cane,  2063  ;  barley,  5479 ;  gram,  5000 ; 
poppy,  802;  vegetables,  215;  oil-seeds,  400;  miscellaneous,  18,434. 
Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  118,458;  Muhammadans,  14,288 ;  total,  132,746, 
viz.  68,347  males  and  64,399  females ;  average  density  of  population, 
620  per  square  mile.  This  pargand  is  the  headquarters  of  the  Satnimi 
sect  of  Hindus.  The  founder  of  the  creed,  Baba  Jagjuvan  Das,  was 
born  here,  and  the  present  religious  head  of  the  sect,  Baba  Jaskaran 
Das,  is  his  descendant  in  the  twelfth  generation. 

Dary&b&L — Town  in  Bira  Banki  District,  Oudh ;  situated  on  the 
high  road  from  Lucknow  to  Faizibad  (Fyzabad),  about  24  miles  east  of 


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58  DARYA  KHERI—DASPALLA. 

Nawibganj.  Lat.  260  53'  N.,  long.  8i°  36'  e.  Founded  about  450  years 
ago  by  a  deputy  (subahd&r)  of  Sultan  Ibrahim  Sharki.  Formerly  the 
headquarters  of  the  District,  but  some  years  ago  the  Government  offices 
and  courts  were  transferred  to  Nawibganj,  owing  to  the  unhealthiness 
of  the  place,  induced  by  its  low  swampy  situation.  Daryabid  has  since 
declined  in  importance ;  but  it  contains  a  few  fine  houses,  the  principal 
being  the  residence  of  the  tdlukddroi  Rampur.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus, 
2890,  and  Muhammadans,  2509 ;  total,  5399.  Two  markets ;  flourish- 
ing Government  English  school. 

Darya  Eheri.  —  Petty  State  held  by  Thdkur  Ranjft  Sinh  as  a 
guaranteed  Girasia\  or  mediatized  chief,  in  the  Bhopal  Agency,  under 
the  Central  India  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India.  The 
Thalcur  receives  a  pecuniary  allowance  (tankhd)  of  ^448  from  Sindhia, 
Dewas,  and  Bhopil  in  lieu  of  former  rights  over  land.  He  also  holds  a 
grant  of  two  villages  in  Shujdwalpur  under  the  guarantee  of  the  British 
Government,  and  pays  to  the  Gwalior  Darbdr  a  quit-rent  of  ^107. 

Dary&pnr. — Municipal  town  and  headquarters  of  tdluk  of  same 
name  in  Ellichpur  District,  Berar.  Lat.  200  56'  n.,  long.  770  22'  30"  e. 
Situated  about  25  miles  south-west  of  Ellichpur  town,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Chandra  Bhdga.  Pop.  (1867),  3328,  chiefly  Kumbfs.  The  town 
contains  the  usual  offices  of  administration,  a  police  station,  and  2 
schools ;  several  temples  and  mosques  stand  outside  it. 

Daska.— Town  in  Sialkot  District,  Punjab.  Pop.  (1868),  3026, 
chiefly  engaged  in  agriculture.  Situated  in  lat  320  20'  n.,  and  long. 
740  24'  6"  e.,  on  the  Gujranwala  road,  16  miles  south-west  of  Sialkot. 
Police  station,  post  office,  dispensary,  Government  school  Forms 
with  the  neighbouring  village  of  Kot  Daska  a  third-class  municipal 
union.  Revenue  (1875-76),  ^"ioo,  or  4$  d.  per  head  of  population  (5401) 
within  municipal  limits. 

Dtena.— Town  in  Meerut  (Mfrath)  District,  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces. Lat  280  40'  30"  n.,  and  long.  770  33'  55"  e.  ;  pop.  (1872), 
5605,  being  2564  Hindus  and  3041  Muhammadans.  Situated  in  the 
open  plain,  23  miles  south-west  of  Meerut,  and  1  mile  west  of  the 
Ganges  Canal,  a  distributary  from  which  irrigates  the  surrounding  lands. 
Founded  by  Rijd  Saldrsi,  a  Rijput,  in  the  time  of  Mahmiid  of  Ghazni. 
Formerly  contained  a  large  fort,  destroyed  by  Ahmad  Shall  in  1760. 
Religious  fair  during  the  muharram  in  honour  of  a  Musalman  saint 
Mr.  Michel's  indigo  factory  at  Masuri  (Mussooree)  employs  a  large 
number  of  workmen.  Police  station  and  post  office.  Hindu  fair  twice 
a  year. 

DaspaM.— Tributary  State  of  Orissa,  Bengal.  Lat  200  10'  50"  to 
200  35'  n.,  long.  84°  31'  45"  to  850  8'  e.  ;  area,  568  square  miles ;  pop. 
(1872),  34,805.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  Angul,  Narsinhpur,  and 
the  Mahdnadi  river,  which  flows  through  the  picturesque  Barmiil  gorge 


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DASUYA—DATIA.  59 

and  forms  an  excellent  waterway ;  on  the  south  by  the  Madras  State 
of  Gumsar  (Ghumsara) ;  on  the  east  by  Khandpara  and  Nayagarh ; 
and  on  the  west  by  Bod.  The  principal  mountain  in  the  State  is 
Goildes,  in  the  north,  2506  feet  high.  The  chief  village  is  Daspalla,  in 
laL  200  18'  40"  n.,  long.  84°  56'  21"  e.  The  population  in  1872  con- 
sisted of  23,478  Hindus,  or  67*5  per  cent  of  the  total;  5  Muham- 
madans ;  other  denominations  (aboriginal  tribes,  etc),  11,322.  Of 
the  aboriginal  races,  the  Kandhs  (8382)  are  most  numerous.  Pro- 
portion of  males  in  total  population,  49  9  per  cent ;  average  density  of 
population,  61  per  square  mile ;  villages  per  square  mile,  76 ;  persons 
per  village,  81 ;  persons  per  house,  4*6.  Estimated  annual  revenue, 
,£1349 ;  tribute  payable  by  the  Rajd  to  the  British  Government,  ,£66. 
Daspalla*  State  is  said  to  have  been  founded  about  500  years  ago  by  a 
son  of  the  Raja  of  Bod,  the  present  chief,  who  claims  to  be  a  Kshattriya 
of  the  Solar  race,  being  the  sixteenth  in  descent  It  is  divided  into 
two  parts ;  Daspalla"  proper,  lying  south  of  the  Mahanadi,  the  original 
principality ;  and  Judum,  a  small  tract  north  of  the  Mahanadi  annexed 
to  Daspalla'  by  conquest  The  Raja's  military  force  is  returned  at  521 
men,  and  his  police  force  at  269.  There  are  6  schools  in  the  State,  one 
of  which  is  supported  by  the  Rdja\ 

Dastiya.  —  Northern  iahsil  of  Hoshiarpur  District,  Punjab.  Lat 
31*  44'  to  320  5'  n.,  long.  750  34'  15''  to  75°  57'  e.  Lies  between  the 
Kingra  Hills  and  the  Beas  (Bias)  river,  which  sweeps  round  three  sides 
of  its  boundary  line.  Area,  476  square  miles ;  pop.  (1868),  253,807, 
or  533  persons  per  square  mile. 

Dastiya. — Town  in  Hoshiarpur  District,  Punjab,  and  headquarters 
of  the  tahsil.  Lat  310  49'  n.,  long.  750  41'  45"  e.  Pop.  (1868),  4860. 
Ancient  town  of  little  modern  importance.  Brisk  trade  in  local  pro- 
duce    TahsiL,  police  station,  post  office. 

D&t&ganj. — Tahsil  of  Budaun  District,  North-Western  Provinces. 
Area,  437  square  miles,  of  which  273  are  cultivated ;  pop.  (1872), 
i94»°3°-  Land  revenue,  ,£22,773;  total  revenue,  ,£25,062;  rental 
paid  by  cultivators,  ,£45,369 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per 
acre,  is.  7jd. 

D&fha. — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Undsarviya,  in  Kithiawar, 
Bombay.  It  consists  of  26  villages,  with  2  independent  tribute-payers. 
The  revenue  in  1876  was  estimated  at  ,£2300,  of  which  ,£509  is  paid 
as  tribute  to  the  Gaekwar,  and  ,£29  to  Junagarh. 

Datia. — One  of  the  Native  States  in  Bundelkhand,  under  the 
Central  India  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India.  Lat  250  34'  to 
26°  17'  n.,  and  long.  780  17'  to  780  56'  e.  ;  area,  820  square  miles ; 
popi  (1875),  1  Bo, 000.  Bounded  on  the  east  by  Jhansi  District,  and 
surrounded  on  all  other  sides  by  the  State  of  Gwalior  (Gawaliar).  It  came 
under  the  supremacy  of  the  British  Government  with  other  territories 


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60  DATIA  TOWN—DATIVRE. 

in  Bundelkhand,  ceded  by  the  PeshwA  under  the  treaty  of  Bassein  in 
1 802.  The  ruler  at  that  time  was  Rija  Parfchhat,  with  whom  a  treaty  of 
defensive  alliance  was  concluded  in  1804.  After  the  deposition  of  the 
Peshwd  in  181 7,  R4j£  Parfchhat  was  rewarded  for  his  attachment  to 
the  British  Government  by  the  addition  of  a  tract  of  land  on  the  east 
of  the  river  Sind,  and  a  new  treaty  was  made  with  him.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  adopted  son,  Bijii  Bahadur,  a  foundling,  who  died  in 
1857,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  adopted  son,  Bhawdnf  Sinh,  who  is  the 
present  ruler.  At  his  succession,  however,  an  illegitimate  son,  Arjun 
Sinh,  disputed  the  succession,  and  it  was  necessary  to  send  a  British 
force  for  the  settlement  of  the  country.  Rdj£  Bhawdni  Sinh  is  a 
Bundeli  Rajput,  and  was  born  about  1845.  The  revenues  are  estimated 
at  ,£100,000.  The  State  pays  to  Sindhia,  through  the  British  Govern- 
ment, ^1500  of  Ndnashahi  currency  annually  on  account  of  thtpargand 
of  Nadig&on.  The  Chief  has  the  right  of  adoption,  and  is  entitled  to  a 
salute  of  15  guns.  The  military  force  consists  of  97  guns,  160  gunners, 
700  cavalry,  and  3040  infantry. 

Datia. — Chief  town  of  Datia  State,  Bundelkhand,  lying  on  the  road 
from  Agra  to  Sdgar  (Saugor),  125  miles  south-east  of  the  former,  and 
148  miles  north-west  of  the  latter.  L&t  250  40'  n.,  long.  780  30'  e.  ; 
estimated  population  40,000,  almost  exclusively  Hindus.  Situated  on 
a  rocky  eminence,  surrounded  by  a  stone  wall,  about  30  feet  in  height, 
but  incapable  of  defence  against  modern  artillery.  Though  com- 
posed of  narrow  and  intricate  streets,  the  town  presents  a  flourishing 
aspect,  and  contains  a  large  number  of  handsome  houses,  the  resi- 
dences of  the  local  aristocracy.  The  RijaVs  palace  also  stands  in  the 
town,  within  the  walls  of  a  pretty  pleasure  garden,  planted  with 
avenues  of  oranges,  pomegranates,  and  other  fruit  trees.  The  wall  is 
pierced  by  a  fine  gateway,  and  surmounted  at  each  comer  .by  embattled 
towers.  Besides  the  Raja?s  pavilion,  the  gardens  enclose  an  octagonal 
building  surrounded  by  a  reservoir,  containing  a  fountain  composed  of 
four  elephants,  from  whose  trunks  arises  a  jet  of  water.  Another 
palace,  now  untenanted,  stands  within  the  city  precincts ;  while  a  third, 
also  deserted,  but  remarkable  for  its  great  size  and  strength,  as  well  as 
for  the  beauty  of  its  architecture,  lies  to  the  west  of  the  town,  beyond  the 
walls.  A  curious  cluster  of  Jain  temples,  at  a  distance  of  some  4  miles, 
deserves  the  attention  of  archaeologists.  The  rocky  ground  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Datia  is  overgrown  with  stunted  copse,  abounding 
in  game ;  and  a  small  artificial  lake  OTjhil  lies  close  to  the  hill  on  which 
the  town  stands. 

Dativre. — Seaport  in  the  Mahim  Subdivision  of  Tanna  District, 
Bombay.  Lat  190  17'  n.,  and  long.  720  50'  e.  Average  annual  value 
of  trade  for  five  years  ending  1873-74,  £9057 — viz.  exports,  ^8279, 
and  imports,  £778. 


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DATTA  W—DAULATABAD.  61 

Dattaw. — A  small  stream  in  British  Burma,  which  rises  in  the 
Khyf-ba  spur  west  of  the  Irawadi  (Irrawaddy),  and  falls  into  that 
river  near  Pienthalien.  Its  bed  is  sandy  and  muddy;  on  its  steep 
banks  are  found  teak,  cutch,  enggyeng  (Pentacme  siamensis),  much  used 
in  house-building,  thenggan  and  pyengma.  The  Dattaw  is  only  navigable 
for  a  short  distance  during  the  rains. 

Datt's  B&X&r  (or  Biru). — Village  on  the  Brahmaputra,  in  Maiman- 
sinh  District,  Bengal.  Estimated  pop.  940.  One  of  the  principal  marts 
of  the  District,  carrying  on  a  large  trade  in  jute,  eta  with  Narainganj. 

D&tidnagar. — Chief  town  in  Aurangdbdd  Subdivision,  Gaya  District, 
BengaL  Lat  250  2'  39"  n.,  long.  840  26'  35"  e.;  pop.  (1872),  10,058. 
Situated  on  the  banks  of  the  S6n,  and  consisting  mainly  of  miserable 
crooked  lanes  and  irregular  streets,  containing  numerous  hovels.  The 
chief  public  buildings  are  the  sardi  or  rest-house  built  by  D£iid  KMn 
in  the  part  of  the  town  named  after  him,  and  intended  probably  for 
a  stronghold ;  and  a  small  imdmbdrd  and  a  ehautdrd,  formerly  used  for 
the  transaction  of  business.  Manufactures  of  cloth,  coarse  carpets,  and 
blankets  carried  on  here ;  river  trade  with  Patna,  which  is  likely  to 
increase  after  the  opening  of  the  canal  close  to  the  town.  Gross 
municipal  revenue  (187 1),  ^206,  14s.;  rate  of  taxation,  5d.  per  head 
of  population.  Local  police  consists  of  13  men.  Four  miles  out  of 
Ddtidnagar,  on  the  road  to  Gaya,  there  is  a  beautiful  temple,  the 
carving  of  which  was  recently  performed  at  Mirzapur. 

D&tidpur. — Depot  in  Rangpur  District,  BengaL  Trade  in  rice, 
paddy,  and  mustard. 

Ddtidzai — Tahsil  of  Peshdwar  District,  Punjab,  comprising  the 
dodby  or  tract  included  between  the  Sw£t  and  Kabul  rivers,  and  also 
the  strip  of  land  lying  to  the  south  of  the  latter  stream.  The  greater 
part  is  fertile  and  well  watered,  supporting  a  thickly  distributed  popula- 
tion.    Area,  156  square  miles;  pop.  (1868),  72,676. 

Daulat&b&d. — Town  in  the  Nizam's  Dominions,  in  lat  190  57'  n.,  and 
long.  75°  18'  e.  ;  10  miles  north-west  from  Aurangibad,  170  north-east 
of  Bombay,  and  280  north-west  of  Haidar£b£d  (Hyderabad).  Celebrated 
for  its  fortress,  also  known  by  the  name  of  Deogiri,  which  has  from  remote 
antiquity  been  the  stronghold  of  the  rulers  of  the  Deccan.  It  consists 
of  a  conical  rock  scarped  for  a  height  of  150  feet  from  the  base.  The 
fort  has  been  provided  with  a  counterscarp  gallery,  and  a  complete 
system  of  countermines.  On  the  summit  of  the  rock  is  a  small 
platform,  on  which  are  mounted  a  cannon  and  flagstaff.  A  short 
distance  outside  the  ditch  is  a  minaret  100  feet  high,  said  to  have  been 
erected  in  commemoration  of  the  first  conquest  of  the  place  by  the 
Muhammadans.  The  hill  on  which  the  fort  stands  rises  almost  per- 
pendicularly from  the  plain  to  a  height  of  about  500  feet,  and  is  entirely 
isolated.     The  original  name  of  the  place  under  the  Hindus  was 


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62  DA  ULA  T  KHAN— DA  VAN  GERE. 

Deogarh  (Deogiri?).  It  received  the  name  of  Daulatabid  from  the 
Emperor  Muhammad,  son  of  Tughlak  Shah,  who  proposed  to  make  it 
the  capital  of  the  Empire  in  place  of  Delhi,  and  endeavoured  in  vain  to 
induce  the  citizens  of  Delhi  to  remove  their  residences  accordingly. 

Daulat  Kh&n.— Chief  village  and  headquarters  of  Dakshin  Shih- 
bazpur  Subdivision,  Bikarganj  District,  Bengal  Lat.  22°  38'  n.,  and 
long.  900  50'  30"  e.  Principal  article  of  export,  betel-nuts.  Municipal 
income  (1869-70),  ^240,  17s.;  pop.  under  5000. 

Daillatpur.— Government  town  in  Naushahro  Deputy  Collectorate, 
Haidardbad  (Hyderabad)  District,  Sind ;  situated  in  lat.  260  30'  30"  n., 
and  long.  68°  o'  15"  e.,  on  the  trunk  road.  Pop.  (1871),  115 9,  mainly 
agricultural.  The  Muhammadans  belong  to  the  Hotpotra  tribe ;  the 
Hindus  are  chiefly  Lohanos. 

Dauleswar. — Town,  Godivari  District,  Madras.— See  Dowlaish- 
varam. 

Daunat  (Dawna).  —  A  range  of  mountains  forming  the  eastern 
boundary  of  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma. 
This  chain  starts  from  the  MiSlai-yit  Hill  (5500  feet  high)  in  the  main 
range,  in  lat.  160  5'  45"  n.,  long.  980  42'  3"  e.,  and  extends  north- 
west for  200  miles,  dividing  the  waters  of  the  Houng-tharaw  and 
Hlaing-bhwai  rivers  from  those  of  the  Thoung-yeng.  The  general 
appearance  of  the  range  is  that  of  a  wooded  plateau  of  laterite  cut  up 
by  drainage  into  hills.  At  places  the  underlying  rocks  project  into  the 
bed  of  the  Thoung-yeng,  indicating  volcanic  agency.  Large  areas 
on  the  Dauna  Hills  are  covered  with  evergreen  forests,  containing  many 
varieties  of  valuable  timber. 

Daundia  Ehera. — Pargand  in  Purwa  tahsil,  Unao  District,  Oudh. 
Bounded  on  the  north  by  Ghitampur  and  Bhagwantnagar  pargands, 
on  the  east  by  Sareni,  on  the  south  by  the  Ganges,  and  on  the  west 
by  Ghdtampur  pargand.  Conquered  from  the  Bhars  by  the  Bais  clan 
of  Kshattriyas,  who  here  first  laid  the  foundation  of  their  future 
greatness.  They  rapidly  extended  their  dominions,  and  their  descen- 
dants now  hold  considerable  possessions  in  Rii  Bareli  and  Bira 
Banki.  Area,  64  square  miles,  of  which  35  are  cultivated.  Govern- 
ment land  revenue,  ^10,210,  or  an  average  of  5s.  per  acre.  Principal 
autumn  crops  —  cotton,  rice,  millet,  urd9  mug,  vetches,  eta;  spring 
crops — wheat,  barley,  gram,  arhar,  oil-seeds,  sugar-cane.  Pop.  (1869), 
Hindus,  chiefly  of  the  Bais  and  BraTiman  castes,  35,238;  Musal- 
mans,  1028 ;  total,  36,266,  viz.  17,785  males  and  18,481  females ;  average 
density  of  population,  567  per  square  mile.  Of  the  104  villages  com- 
prising the  pargand,  26  are  held  under  tdlukddri,  34  under  zaminddri, 
and  44  under  pattiddri  tenures.  Six  bi-weekly  markets  are  held  for  the 
sale  of  the  ordinary  descriptions  of  country  produce. 

Davangere. —  Tdluk  in  Chitaldrtig  District,  Mysore,  augmented  in 


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DA  VANGERE—DA  WA.  63 

1875  by  the  addition  of  Harihar  tdluk.  Area,  357  square  miles;  pop. 
(187 1 ),  105,987,  of  whom  more  than  half  are  Lingtyats;  land  revenue 
(1874-75),  exclusive  of  water-rates,  ,£15,851,  or  is.  40I.  per  cultivated 
acre.  Noted  for  the  manufacture  of  kamblis  or  woollen  blankets,  which 
have  been  known  to  sell  for  ^30  or  ^20  a  piece. 

Davangere. — Municipal  town  in  Chitaldrdg  District,  Mysore,  and 
headquarters  of  above  tdluk.  Lat  140  28'  n.,  and  long.  750  59'  e.,  40 
miles  north-west  of  Chitaldrdg;  pop.  (187 1),  6596,  composed  of  5866 
Hindus,  715  Muhammadans,  and  15  'others;1  municipal  revenue 
( 1874-75),  ;£249 >  mte  °f  taxation,  1  id.  per  head  Originally  an  obscure 
village,  Davangere  became  a  centre  of  trade  under  the  patronage  of 
Haidar  Ali,  who  gave  it  as  SLjdgir  to  a  Marhatta  chief.  The  merchants 
are  mostly  Sivaite  Bhaktas  or  Lingdyats.  Their  most  valuable  business 
is  the  carrying  trade  between  Wallajd-pet  in  North  Arcot  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Sagar  (Saugor)  and  Nagar.  Exports — areca-nut,  pepper, 
and  kamblis  or  country  blankets. 

David,  Fort  St,  (Native  name,  Thevanapatnam,  or  Tegnapat). — A 
ruined  fort  in  South  Arcot  District,  Madras;  situated  in  lat  n° 
44'  20"  n.,  and  long.  790  49'  30*  e.,  100  miles  south  of  Madras,  and  i£ 
miles  north  of  Cuddalore,  of  which  it  may  be  called  a  suburb.  It  was 
included  in  the  '  Kaul '  of  1691,  by  which  that  station  was  granted  to 
the  Company.  (See  Cuddalore.)  Upon  the  capitulation  of  Madras 
to  the  French  in  1746,  the  Company's  agent  here  assumed  the  general 
administration  of  British  affairs  in  the  south  of  India,  and  successfully 
resisted  an  attack  by  Dupleix.  Clive  was  appointed  Governor  in  1756. 
In  1758,  the  French  dismantled  the  fort,  but  sufficiently  restored  it 
in  1783  to  withstand  an  attack  by  General  Stuart  The  ruined  houses 
on  the  ramparts  are  still  interesting,  and  some  parts  of  the  fort  are  yet 
in  good  preservation.  Subterranean  passages  appear  to  have  run 
completely  round  under  the  glacis,  thus  forming  a  safe  means  of  com- 
munication for  the  garrison;  while,  at  short  intervals,  other  galleries 
striking  off  at  right  angles,  and  terminating  in  powder  chambers,  served 
as  mines.  At  the  south-east  corner,  the  gallery  ran  down  to  the  edge  of 
the  sea,  while  on  the  other  three  sides  the  fort  was  protected  by  the 
river  Pennir  and  two  canals.  The  ruins  form  a  recognised  landmark 
for  mariners. 

D&W&. — Chiefship  in  Bhandara  District,  Central  Provinces,  lying  to 
the  north  of  the  Great  Eastern  Road,  and  about  30  miles  north-east  of 
Bhandira.  Pop.  (1870),  4085,  chiefly  Gonds  and  Halbas,  dwelling  in 
12  villages,  on  an  area  of  26  square  miles,  of  which  4709  acres  are 
cultivated.  Dawa  and  Kor  Seoni,  the  only  large  villages,  both  possess 
indigenous  schools,  and  the  latter  contains  a  strong  colony  of  Korfs. 
The  chief  is  a  Halba.  Dawa"  village  is  situated  in  lat  210  n'  n.,  and 
long.  8o°  13'  e. 


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64  DA  WLAN—DEBI  PA  TAN. 

Dawlan. — Revenue  circle  lying  between  the  Daunat  Hills  and  the 
Hlaingbhwai  river  in  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British 
Burma.     Pop.  (1876),  2836,  chiefly  Karengs;  gross  revenue,  ^483. 

Day&  ('  The  River  of  Mercy '). — The  western  distributary  of  the  waters 
of  the  Koyakhai  river,  in  Orissa,  through  Purf  District  into  the  Chilkd 
Lake.  Subject  to  disastrous  floods,  which  in  the  rainy  season  burst  the 
banks,  and  sometimes  desolate  hundreds  of  square  miles.  In  the  dry 
weather,  a  series  of  long  shallow  pools,  amid  expanses  of  sand.  Fall  per 
mile  at  section  half-way  between  Cuttack  city  and  the  sea,  1 7  feet ; 
mean  depth  of  section,  1678  feet;  estimated  discharge,  33,100  cubic 
feet  per  second.  Thirty-six  breaches  were  made  in  its  embankment  in 
1866. 

D&yang. — River  in  Assam,  forming  the  western  boundary  between 
the  Naga  Hills  District  and  the  unexplored  country  occupied  by  the 
independent  Nagas.  It  rises  in  the  Deotigarh  Mountain,  and  flows 
southwards  into  the  Dhaneswari  (Dhansiri) ;  lat.  2 6°  26'  n.,  and  long. 
930  58'  e.  Navigable  by  small  boats  during  the  rainy  season  as  high  as 
its  junction  with  the  Dihingijdn. 

Debar. — Lake  in  Udaipur  (Oodeypore)  State,  Rijputina ;  situated 
20  miles  south-east  of  Udaipur  town,  the  centre  lying  in  lat  240  18'  n., 
and  long.  740  4'  e.  It  is  formed  by  a  dam  entirely  made  of  massive 
stone,  built  across  a  perennial  stream,  where  it  issues  through  a  gap 
in  the  hills  surrounding  the  lake.  This  dike  is  called  Jdi  Satnand,  after 
Rina  Jai  Sinh,  by  whom  it  was  constructed  a.d.  1681.  The  length  of 
Lake  Debar  from  east  to  west  is  about  8  or  10  miles,  and  its  average 
breadth  about  a  mile ;  elevation  above  sea  level,  960  feet  Its  northern 
shore  is  dotted  with  picturesque  fishing  hamlets,  and  its  surface  with 
small  wooded  islands,  adding  greatly  to  the  beauty  of  perhaps  one  of 
the  largest  artificial  sheets  of  water  in  the  world. 

DebhAtA.— Municipality  and  chief  village  of  Maihitf  pargand,  in  the 
District  of  the  Twenty-four  Parganas,  Bengal ;  situated  on  the  river 
Jamunl  Lat  22°  33'  30"  n.,  long.  890  o'  15"  e.  The  Collector  states 
that  it  contains  633  houses,  and  a  population  of  1965.  Municipal  in- 
come in  1876-77,  ^139.   Large  trade  in  lime  produced  from  burnt  shells. 

Debi  P&tan. — Village  with  temples  and  large  religious  fair,  in  Gonda 
District,  Oudh.  Lat.  270  32'  8"  n.,  long.  820  26'  30"  e.  Stated  to  be 
probably  one  of  the  oldest  seats  of  the  Sivaite  cultus  in  Northern  India. 
The  earliest  legend  connects  it  with  Raja*  Kama,  son  of  Kunti,  the 
mother  of  the  three  elder  Pandavas  by  the  Sun-god,  and  hero  of  the 
impenetrable  cuirass,  who,  abandoned  in  his  cradle  on  the  Ganges,  was 
adopted  by  Adirath,  the  childless  King  of  Anga.  Brought  up  at  the 
court  of  Hastinapur,  Kama  was  refused  by  Drona*  the  arms  of  Brahma, 
which,  however,  he  eventually  obtained  from  Parasurama  by  faithful 
service  at  his  retreat  on  the  Mahendra  Mountain.     In  after  life,  he 


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DECCAN.  65 

attended  Duryodhana  to  the  Swayamvara,  described  in  the  Mahi- 
bharata,  and,  having  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  great  war,  was  finally 
granted  the  city  of  Malini  by  Jarasindhu,  the  Sivaite  King  of  Magadha, 
over  which  he  reigned  as  a  tributary  to  Duryodhana.  The  ruins  of  an 
ancient  fort,  once  occupying  the  site  of  the  present  temple,  and  an 
adjoining  tank,  are  popularly  ascribed  to  this  legendary  monarch.  In 
the  middle  of  the  2d  century  A.D.,  Vikramaditya,  the  Brahmanist  king, 
who  restored  the  sacred  places  of  Ajodhya  on  the  decline  of  Buddhism, 
erected  a  temple  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  fort.  This  in  its  turn  fell 
into  ruins;  and  another  was  built  on  the  same  spot  at  the  end  of  the  14th  or 
beginning  of  the  15th  century  A.D.,.by  Ratan  Na*th,  the  third  in  spiritual 
descent  from  "Gorakh  Nath,  the  deified  saint  whose  worship  is  spread 
all  over  the  Nepal  valley.  As  far  as  can  be  judged  from  the  remains, 
this  temple  must  have  been  of  considerable  size,  adorned  by  profuse 
sculptures,  and  full  of  stone  images  of  Siva  and  Devi  in  their  various 
forms.  For  some  centuries,  the  temple  was  a  great  resort  for  pilgrims, 
chiefly  from  Gorakhpur  and  Nepal,  until  its  importance  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  iconoclastic  Aurangzeb,  one  of  whose  officers  slew  the 
priests,  destroyed  the  temple  and  images,  and  defiled  the  holy  places. 
The  temple  was  soon  afterwards  restored,  but  on  a  smaller  scale,  and  still 
exists.  A  large  religious-trading  fair,  lasting  for  about  ten  days,  and 
attended  by  about  100,000  persons,  is  held  here  each  year.  The 
principal  articles  of  commerce  are — hill  ponies,  cloth,  timber,  mats, 
gMy  iron,  cinnamon,  etc.  During  the  fair,  large  numbers  of  buffaloes, 
goats,  and  pigs  are  daily  sacrificed  at  the  temple. 

Deccail  (Dakshin^  'The  South'). — The  Deccan,  in  its  local  accepta- 
tion, signifies  only  the  elevated  tract  situated  between  the  Narbada 
(Nerbudda)  and  Kistna  rivers,  but  it  is  generally  properly  understood  to 
include  the  whole  country  south  of  the  Vindhyd  Mountains,  which 
separate  it  from  Hindustan  proper.  In  the  strict  sense,  therefore,  it 
comprehends  the  valley  of  the  Narbadd  (Nerbudda),  and  all  southward — 
the  belt  of  lowland  that  fringes  the  coast,  as  well  as  the  triangular  table- 
land, the  sides  of  which  are  formed  by  the  Eastern  and  Western  Ghats, 
and  the  base  by  the  S&pura  range  of  the  sub-Vindhyas.  On  the  western 
side,  this  table-land  descends  seaward  by  a  succession  of  terraces,  the 
Gh&s  throughout  averaging  4000  feet  in  height  above  the  sea,  and  ter- 
minating abruptly  near  Cape  Comorin,  the  extreme  southern  point  of  the 
peninsula,  at  an  elevation  of  2000  feet.  From  here,  following  the  coast 
line,  the  Eastern  Ghats  commence  in  a  series  of  detached  groups,  which, 
uniting  in  about  lat.110  40'  n.,  run  northward  along  the  Coromandel  coast, 
with  an  average  elevation  of  1500  feet ;  and  join  the  main  ridge,  which 
crosses  the  peninsula  in  lat.  13°  20'  n.  They  terminate  in  nearly  the 
same  latitude  as  their  western  counterpart.  The  Vindhydn  range,  running 
across  the  north  of  the  Deccan,  joins  the  northern  extremities  of  the  two 

VOL.  III.  B 

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66  DECCAN. 

Ghits,  and  thus  completes  the  peninsular  triangle.  The  eastern  side  of 
the  enclosed  tableland  being  much  lower  than  the  western,  all  the  prin- 
cipal rivers  of  the  Deccan — the  Godivari,  Kistna,  Penndr,  and  Kiveri 
(Cauvery) — rising  in  the  Western  Ghdts  flow  eastward,  and  escape  by 
openings  in  the  Eastern  Ghdts  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  Between  the 
Ghits  and  the  sea  on  either  side,  the  land  differs  in  being,  on  the  east, 
composed  in  part  of  alluvial  deposits  brought  down  from  the  mountains, 
and  sloping  gently ;  while  on  the  west,  the  incline  is  abrupt,  and  the 
coast  strip  is  broken  by  irregular  spurs  from  the  Ghits,  which  at  places 
descend  into  the  sea  in  steep  cliffs. 

Geologically,  the  Deccan  tableland  presents  a  vast  surface  of  hypo- 
gene  schists,  penetrated  and  broken  up  by  extraordinary  outbursts  of 
plutonic  and  trappean  rock ;  varied  on  the  Western  Ghits  by  laterite ; 
on  the  eastern  by  laterite,  sandstones  and  limestones ;  and  in  the  valley 
of  the  Kiveri  by  granite.  To  the  north-west,  this  schistoid  formation 
disappears,  emerging  occasionally  from  under  one  of  the  largest  sheets 
of  trap  in  the  world.  Underlying  this  surface  throughout,  is  a  granite 
floor ;  while  in  places  overlying  it  are,  in  the  following  order,  gneiss, 
mica  and  hornblende  schists,  clay-slate,  marble — all  destitute  of  organic 
remains — together  with  fossiliferous  limestones,  varieties  of  clay  and 
sand  rocks.  Through  all  these  aqueous  deposits,  the  volcanic  trap 
thrusts  itself.  Two  rocks,  characteristic  of  the  Deccan,  are  found 
capping  the  trap — viz,  laterite,  an  iron-clay,  and  regar  known  in  its 
disintegrated  state  as  'black  cotton-soil'  The  latter  is  remarkable 
for  its  retentive  power  of  moisture,  and  for  its  fertility. 

Little  is  known  of  the  history  of  the  Deccan  before  the  close  of  the 
13th  century.  Hindu  legends  tell  of  its  invasion  by  Rima,  and 
archaeological  remains  bear  witness  to  a  series  of  early  dynasties,  of 
which  the  Dravida,  Chola,  and  Andhra  are  the  best  known.  Continuous 
history  commences  with  the  Muhammadan  invasion  of  1 294-1300  a.d., 
when  Ali-ud-din,  the  Emperor  of  Delhi,  conquered  '  Mahirashtrd,' 
1  Telingajia,'  and  '  Karndta.'  In  1338,  the  reduction  of  the  Deccan  was 
completed  by  Muhammad  Tughlak ;  but  a  few  years  later,  a  general 
revolt  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  (Muhammadan)  Bdhmani 
dynasty  and  the  retrogression  of  Delhi  supremacy  beyond  the  Narbadi. 
The  Bdhmani  dynasty  subverted  the  (Hindu)  kingdom  of  Teling&ia 
(1565),  and  (at  the  battle  of  T&ikot  in  the  same  year)  the  kingdom  of 
Vijdyanagar  or  •  Karnata.'  A  few  years  later,  it  itself  began  to  disintegrate, 
and  was  broken  up  into  the  (Muhammadan)  States  of  Bijdpur,  Ahmed- 
nagar,  Golconda,  Bfdar,  and  Berar.  The  two  last  became  extinct  before 
1630 ;  the  other  three  were  successively  restored  to  the  Delhi  Empire  by 
the  victories  of  Shdh  Jeh&i  and  his  son  Aurangzeb.  The  Deccan  was 
thus  for  a  second  time  brought  under  the  Delhi  rule,  but  not  for  long. 
The  Marhattds  in   1706  obtained  the  right  of  levying  tribute  over 


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DEDAN—DEGH.  67 

Southern  India.  Their  leader,  concentrating  his  strength  in  what  is  now 
the  Bombay  Presidency,  founded  the  Satara  dynasty,  which  afterwards 
resigned  all  real  power  to  the  Peshwa"  of  Poona.  Another  usurper, 
rallying  the  southern  Muhammadans  round  him,  established  the 
Nizamati  of  Haidardbad  (Hyderabad).  The  rest  of  the  imperial  posses- 
sions in  the  Deccan  was  divided  among  minor  chiefs,  who  acknowledged 
the  supremacy  of  the  Peshwa  and  of  the  Nizam,  according  as  they  were 
north  or  south  of  the  Tungabhadra  respectively.  Mysore  (Maisur) 
generally  tributary  to  both,  became  eventually  the  prize  of  Haidar  Ali ; 
while  in  the  extreme  south,  the  Travancore  State  enjoyed,  by  its  isolated 
position,  uninterrupted  independence.  Such  was  the  position  of  affairs 
early  in  the  18th  century.  Meanwhile,  Portugal,  Holland,  France,  and 
Great  Britain  had  effected  settlements  on  the  coast ;  but  the  two  former 
on  so  small  a  scale  that  in  the  wars  of  the  Deccan  they  took  no  important 
part.  The  French  and  English,  however,  espoused  opposite  aides ;  and 
the  struggle  eventually  resulted  in  establishing  the  supremacy  of  the 
latter.  The  Deccan  is  to-day  represented  by  the  British  Presidency 
of  Madras  and  part  of  Bombay,  together  with  Haidarabad  (Hyderabad), 
Mysore,  Travancore,  and  other  Native  States. 

Dedan. — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Babriawar  in  Kathiawar,  Bom- 
bay. It  consists  of  1 1  villages,  with  2  independent  tribute-payers.  The 
revenue  in  1875  was  estimated  at  ^3000,  of  which  ^295  is  payable 
as  tribute  to  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda. 

Dednrda. — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Undsarviya  in  Kathiawar, 
Bombay.  It  consists  of  1  village,  with  2  independent  tribute-payers. 
The  revenue  in  1875  was  estimated  at  ^410,  of  which  ^10  is  payable 
as  tribute  to  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda. 

Deeg  (Dig). — Town  and  fortress  in  Bhartpur  State,  Central  India. — 
See  Dig. 

Deesa  (Disa). — British  cantonment  in  Palanpur  State,  Bombay. — 

&*DlSA. 

Deg&m. — Seaport  in  the  Jambusar  Subdivision  of  Broach  District, 
Bombay;  situated  in  lat.  220  n'  n.,  and  long.  720  39'  e.,  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Mahi  river,  about  a  mile  from  the  Gulf  of  Cambay,  and 
18  miles  north-west  of  Jambusar  town.  Pop.  (1872),  2331 ;  average 
annual  value  of  trade  for  the  five  years  ending  1871-72,  ^£14,108,  viz. 
exports,  ^5135^  and  imports,  ^8973.  Mention  is  made  of  Degam  as 
a  seaport  of  Broach  in  the  Ain-i~Akbari. 

Degh. — River  in  Jammu  (Jummoo)  State,  and  in  Sialkot,  Lahore, 
and  Montgomery  Districts,  Punjab.  Formed  by  the  union  of  two 
streams  at  Harmandal,  in  Jammu,  both  of  which  take  their  rise  in 
the  outer  Himalayan  ranges.  Enters  British  territory  near  the  village 
of  Takrari  in  Sialkot,  passes  into  Lahore  District,  and  finally  joins 
the  Ravi  in  Montgomery  District  in  lat.  310  2'  n.,  long.  730  24'  e. 


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68  DEHEJ—DEHRA. 

The  Degh  is  a  river  of  the  lower  slopes,  and  consequently  depends 
entirely' for  water  supply  upon  the  local  rainfall;  but  its  channel  in 
the  upper  portion  never  runs  dry.  In  Sidlkot  District,  a  fringe  of 
alluvial  land  lines  the  bank,  and  the  current  shifts  constantly 
from  side  to  side  of  the  wide  valley ;  but  artificial  irrigation  is  only 
practised  by  means  of  Persian  wheels  in  a  few  isolated  spots,  where  the 
banks  rise  somewhat  higher  than  usual  above  the  river  bed.  Large 
areas,  however,  benefit  by  the  silt  deposited  from  the  summer  floods. 
At  Tappidla,  in  Lahore  District,  the  Degh  divides  into  two  branches, 
which  join  again  near  the  village  of  Dhenga.  Below  Uderi,  irrigation 
can  be  effected  by  the  natural  flow  of  the  water,  the  banks  having  sub- 
sided almost  to  the  river's  edge.  Excellent  rice  grows  upon  the  lands 
submerged  by  the  inundations.  In  Montgomery  District,  the  Degh 
again  flows  between  high  banks,  but  still  contains  sufficient  water  for 
irrigation.  Its  course  in  this  portion  of  its  route  is  remarkably  straight, 
and  it  presents  all  the  appearance  of  an  artificial  canal  So  much  water 
is  withdrawn  for  agricultural  purposes  during  its  upper  course,  that  the 
bed  not  unfrequently  runs  dry  by  the  time  it  reaches  Montgomery 
District  Several  bridges  span  the  Degh,  notably  an  ancient  one  of 
very  curious  construction,  at  the  point  where  it  passes  from  Sidlkot  into 
Lahore,  besides  two  at  Pindi  Dds  and  Hodidl,  erected  by  the  Emperor 
Jahdngir.    The  right  of  fishing  produces  an  annual  rental  of  ^300. 

Dehej. — Seaport  in  the  Wdgra  Subdivision  of  Broach  District,  Bom- 
bay ;  situated  in  lat.  21°  42'  45"  n.,  and  long.  720  38'  30"  e.,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Narbadi  (Nerbudda),  about  3  miles  from  the  sea, 
and  26  miles  west  of  Broach.  Houses,  618 ;  pop.  (1872),  2092  ;  average 
annual  value  of  trade  for  five  years  ending  1871-72 — exports,  ^6774,  and 
imports,  ^53 — total,  ^6827.  Dehej  was  formerly  the  chief  town  of  a 
fiscal  division  of  12  villages,  which  first  came  under  British  rule  in  1780. 
This  tract  was  ceded  to  the  Marhattds  in  1783,  and  recovered  in  1818 
on  the  final  overthrow  of  the  Peshwd's  power. 

Dehli. — Division,  District,  and  City,  Punjab. — See  Delhi. 

Dehra. — Tahsil  in  Dehra  Ddn  District,  North-Western  Provinces, 
comprising  the  whole  of  the  eastern  and  western  Diins.  Area  (1872), 
677  square  miles,  of  which  99  are  cultivated;  pop.  75,665;  land 
revenue,  ^3670 ;  total  Government  revenue,  ^4140 ;  rental  paid  by 
cultivators,  ^9017  ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre,  2d. 

Dehra. — Municipal  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of  Dehra 
Ddn  District,  North-Western  Provinces.  Lat.  300  19'  59"  n.,  and  long. 
780  5'  57*  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  7316.  Prettily  situated  in  the  midst  of  a 
mountain  valley,  at  an  elevation  of  more  than  2300  feet  above  sea  level. 
Founded  by  Guru  Rim  Rdi,  who  settled  in  the  Ddn  at  the  end  of  the 
17th  century.  His  temple,  a  handsome  building  in  the  style  of 
Jahdngir's  tomb,  forms  the  chief  architectural  ornament  of  the  town. 


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DEHRA  DUN  DISTRICT.  69 

The  native  city  also  contains  a  tahsili,  police  station,  jail,  and  schools. 
The  European  quarter  lies  to  the  north,  and  has  a  fixed  English  popu- 
lation of  some  400  persons,  being  one  of  the  largest  in  the  North- 
western Provinces  To  the  west,  stand  the  cantonments  of  the  2nd 
Gurkhd  Rifles,  or  Sirmiir  Battalion,  English  church,  Roman  Catholic 
and  Presbyterian  chapels;  dispensary,  which  in  1872  relieved  a  total 
number  of  8948  patients ;  post  office ;  headquarters  of  Trigonometrical 
Survey.  Large  and  successful  mission  of  the  American  Presbyterian 
Church  takes  a  prominent  part  in  local  educational  matters.  Municipal 
revenue  (1875-76),  ^1102;  from  taxes,  ^507. 

Dehra  Dtin. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of 
the  North- Western  Provinces,  lying  between  290  57'  and  300  59'  n.  lat, 
and  between  770  37'  15"  and  780  22'  45*  e.  long.,  with  an  area  of  1021 
square  miles,  and  a  population  (1872)  of  116,945  persons.  Dehra  Dim 
forms  the  northern  District  of  the  Mirath  (Meerut)  Division.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Independent  Garhwdl,  on  the  west  by  Sirmiir 
and  Umballa  (Ambdla)  District,  on  the  south  by  Sahiranpur,  and  on 
the  east  by  British  and  Independent  GarhwdL  The  administrative 
headquarters  are  at  the  town  of  Dehra. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Dehra  Dtin  consists  of  two  distinct 
portions — the  double  valley  of  Dehra  proper,  and  the  outlying  mountain 
tract  of  Jaunsdr  Biwar.  It  projects  northward  from  the  alluvial  uplands 
of  the  Dodb,  like  an  irregular  triangle,  toward  the  sources  of  the  Jumna 
(Jamuni)  and  the  main  range  of  the  Himalayas.  To  the  south,  the 
Siwilik  Hills,  a  mass  of  Himalayan  dkbris^  shut  off  the  District  from  the 
level  and  fertile  plain  below.  Between  these  hills  and  the  great  mountain 
chain,  whose  farthest  outliers  they  form,  lie  the  two  valleys  known  as 
the  Eastern  and  Western  Diins ;  the  former  sloping  down  toward  the 
stream  of  the  Ganges,  while  the  latter  descends  by  wooded  undulations  to 
the  bed  of  its  principal  confluent,  the  Jumna  (Jamuni).  The  scenery 
of  these  mountain  dales  can  hardly  be  surpassed  for  picturesque  beauty 
even  among  the  lovely  slopes  of  the  massive  chain  to  which  they  belong. 
The  perennial  streams  nourish  a  fresh  and  luxuriant  vegetation,  whilst 
the  romantic  hills  to  the  south  and  the  sterner  mountains  on  the  north 
give  an  exquisite  variety  to  the  landscape.  A  connecting  ridge,  which 
runs  from  north  to  south  between  the  two  systems,  forms  the  watershed 
of  the  great  rivers,  and  divides  the  Eastern  from  the  Western  Dtin. 
The  Ganges,  passing  between  this  District  and  GarhwaU,  pours  rapidly 
over  beds  of  boulder,  through  several  channels,  encircling  jungle-clad 
islets,  and  debouches  at  length  upon  the  plains  at  Hardwir.  The 
Jumna  sweeps  round  the  whole  south-western  boundary,  and  reaches 
the  level  uplands  near  BddshaMi  MahaM,  in  Sahdranpur  District,  an 
ancient  hunting-seat  of  the  Delhi  Emperors.  Their  tributaries  have 
little  importance,  except  for  artificial  irrigation.     When  the  District 

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7o  DEHRA  DUN  DISTRICT. 

first  passed  under  British  rule,  remains  of  ancient  dams,  tanks,  and 
canals  studded  its  surface ;  but  these  works  had  fallen  completely  out 
of  use  during  the  anarchic  period  of  Sikh  and  Gurkha  incursions.  Our 
officers  at  once  turned  their  attention  to  the  restoration  of  the  ancient 
channels,  or  the  construction  of  others ;  and  a  number  of  diminutive 
but  valuable  irrigation  canals  now  traverse  both  valleys  in  every  direc- 
tion, spreading  cultivation  over  all  available  portions  of  their  rugged 
surface.  North  of  the  Diin  proper,  the  massive  block  of  mountains 
known  as  Jaunsar  Bawar  fills  in  the  space  between  the  valleys  of  the 
Tons  on  the  west  and  the  Jumna  on  the  east  and  south.  The  latter 
river,  bending  sharply  westward  from  the  Garhwal  boundary,  divides 
this  northern  tract  from  the  Diin,  and  unites  with  its  tributary  the  Tons 
near  the  Sirmdr  frontier.  Jaunsrfr  Bawar  consists  of  a  confused  mass  of 
rocks,  evidently  upheaved  by  volcanic  action.  Forests  of  deodara,  oak, 
and  fir  still  clothe  large  spaces  on  the  hillsides ;  but  cultivation  can  only 
be  carried  on  by  means  of  terraces  cut  along  the  mountain  slopes,  and 
artificially  irrigated  by  dams  upon  the  numerous  minor  streams.  The 
wild  elephant  ranges  over  the  Siwalik  chain;  while  tigers,  leopards, 
sloth  bears,  spotted  or  other  deer,  and  monkeys  abound  in  the  remoter 
jungles. 

History. — In  the  earliest  ages  of  Hindu  legend,  Dehra  Dun  formed 
part  of  the  mythical  region  known  as  Kedarkiind,  the  abode  of  the 
great  god  Siva,  whose  sovereignty  is  still  commemorated  in  the  name 
of  the  Siwalik  Hills.  Many  generations  later,  according  to  the  most 
ancient  myths  of  the  Aryan  settlers,  the  valley  became  bound  up  with 
the  two  great  epics  of  the  Rdmdyand  and  Mahdbhdrata.  Hither  came 
Rama  and  his  brother,  to  do  penance  for  the  death  of  the  Brahman 
demon-king  Ravana ;  and  here  sojourned  the  five  Pandava  brethren,  on 
their  way  to  the  inner  recesses  of  the  snowy  range,  where  they  finally 
immolated  themselves  upon  the  sacred  peak  of  Mahd  Panth.  Another 
memorable  legend  connects  the  origin  of  the  little  river  Suswi  with  the 
prayers  of  60,000  pigmy  Brahmans,  whom  Indra,  the  rain-god,  had 
laughed  to  scorn  when  he  saw  them  vainly  endeavouring  to  cross  the 
vast  lake  formed  by  a  cow's  footprint  filled  with  water.  The  indignant 
pigmies  set  to  work,  by  means  of  penance  and  mortifications,  to  create  a 
second  Indra,  who  should  supersede  the  reigning  god ;  and  when  then- 
sweat  had  collected  into  the  existing  river,  the  irreverent  deity,  alarmed 
at  the  surprising  effect  of  their  devotions,  appeased  their  wrath 
through  the  good  offices  of  Brahma.  Traditions  of  a  snake,  Bamun, 
who  became  lord  of  the  Diin  on  the  summit  of  the  Nagsidh  Hill,  seem 
to  point  towards  a  period  of  Naga  supremacy.  The  famous  Kalsi 
stone,  near  Haripur,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Jumna,  inscribed  with  an 
edict  of  the  Buddhist  Emperor  Asoka,  may  mark  the  ancient  boundary 
between  India  and  the  Chinese  Empire.    It  consists  of  a  large  quartz 


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DEHRA  D  UN  DISTRICT.  7 1 

boulder,   standing   on  a  ledge  which   overhangs   the    river,   and   is 
covered  with  the  figure  of  an  elephant,  besides  an  inscription  in  the 
ordinary  character  of  the  period     Hiouen  Thsang  does  not  mention 
any  cities  which  can  be  identified  as  lying  within  the  present  District ; 
and  tradition  asserts  that  it  remained  without  inhabitants  until  the  1  ith 
century,  when  a  passing  caravan  of  Banjaras,  struck  with  the  beauty  of 
the  country,  permanently  settled  on  the  spot.    Authentic  history,  how- 
ever, knows  nothing  of  Dehra  Ddn  till  the  17th  century,  when  it  formed 
a  portion  of  the  Garhwal  kingdom.    The  town  of  Dehra  owes  its  origin 
to  the  heretical  Sfkh  Guru,  Kim  Rai,  a  Hindu  anti-pope,  who  was 
driven  from  the  Punjab  and  the  Sfkh  apostolate  by  doubts  as  to  the 
legitimacy  of   his  birth,   and    obtained    recommendations  from  the 
Emperor  Aurangzeb  to  the  Raja  of  Garhwal.     His  presence  in  the  Ddn 
shortly  attracted  numerous  devotees,  and  the  village  of  Gurudwara,  or 
Dehra,  grew  up  around  the  saint's  abode.     Raja  Fateh  Sah  endowed 
his  temple,  a  curious  building  of  Muhammadan  architecture,  with  the 
revenue  of  three  estates.      The    Guru  possessed  the  singular   and 
miraculous  power  of  dying  at  will,  and  returning  to  life  after  a  concerted 
interval ;  but  on  one  occasion,  having  mistaken  his  reckoning,  he  never 
revived,  and  the  bed  on  which  he  died  still  forms  a  particular  object  of 
reverence  to  the  devout  worshippers  at  his  cenotaph.     Monuments  of 
earlier  date,  erected  by  one  Rdni  Karnavati,  still  exist  at  Nuwada. 
Fateh  Sah  died  soon  after  the  arrival  of  Rim  Rdi,  and  was  succeeded 
(1699)  by  his  infant  grandson,  Partap  Sail,  whose  reign  extended  over 
the  greater  part  of  a  century.    But  the  flourishing  condition  of  his  domain 
soon  attracted  the  attention  of  Najfb  Daula\  governor  of  Sahdranpur, 
who  crossed  the  Siwaliks  with  a  Rohilla  army  in  1757,  and  "occupied 
the  Dun  without  serious  opposition.     Under  Najib  Khan's  benevolent 
and  enlightened  administration,  the  District   rose  to  an  unexampled 
degree  of  wealth  and  prosperity.      Canals  and  wells  irrigated  the 
mountain  -  sides,  Muhammadan  colonists  brought  capital  to  develop 
the  latent  resources  of  the  soil,  and  mango  topes,  still  standing  amid 
apparently  primeval  forest,  bear  witness  even  now  to  the  flourishing 
agriculture  of  this  happy  period.     But  Najfb's  death  in  1770  put  an  end 
to  the  sudden  prosperity  of  the  Ddn.     Henceforth  a  perpetual  inunda- 
tion of  Rijputs,  Giijars,  Sikhs,  and  Gurktes  swept  over  the  valley, 
till  the  once  fertile  garden  degenerated  again  into  a  barren  waste.    Four 
Rajas  followed  one  another  on  the  throne ;  but  the  real  masters  were 
the  turbulent  tribes  on  every  side,  who  levied  constant  black-mail  from 
the  unfortunate  cultivators.     Meanwhile,  the  Gurkhas,  a  race  of  mixed 
Nepali   origin,   were  advancing  westward,  and    reached  at  last  the 
territories  of  Garhwal.     In  1803,  Raja  Parduman  Sah  fled  before  them 
from  Srinagar  into  the  Ddn,  and  thence  to  Saharanpur,  while  the  savage 
Gurkhi  host  overran  the  whole  valley  unopposed.    Their  occupation 


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72  DEHRA  DUN  DISTRICT. 

of  Dehra  Diin  coincided  in  time  with  the  British  entry  into  Saharanpur, 
and  the  great  earthquake  of  1803  proved  the  miraculous  harbinger  of 
either  event.  The  Gurkhas  ruled  their  new  acquisition  with  a  rod  of 
iron,  so  that  the  District  threatened  to  become  an  absolute  desert  The 
few  remaining  inhabitants  emigrated  elsewhere,  and  cultivation  began 
rapidly  to  disappear.  Under  the  severe  fiscal  arrangements  of  the 
Gurkha  governors,  slavery  increased  with  frightful  rapidity,  every 
defaulter  being  condemned  to  life-long  bondage,  and  slaves  being  far 
cheaper  in  the  market  than  horses  or  camels.  From  this  unhappy  con- 
dition, the  advent  of  British  rule  rescued  the  feeble  and  degraded  people. 
The  constant  aggressions  of  the  Gurkhas  against  our  frontier  compelled 
the  Government  to  declare  war  in  November  1814.  Dehra  was  imme- 
diately occupied,  while  our  forces  laid  siege  to  the  strong  hill  fortress 
of  Kalanga,  which  fell  after  a  gallant  defence,  with  great  loss  to  the 
besieging  party.  The  remnant  of  its  brave  garrison  entered  the  service 
of  Ranjft  Sinh,  and  afterwards  died  to  a  man  in  battle  with  the 
Afghans.  A  resolution  of  Government,  dated  17th  November  18 15, 
ordered  the  annexation  of  our  new  possession  to  Saharanpur ;  while  the 
Gurkhas,  by  a  treaty  drawn  up  in  the  succeeding  month,  formally  ceded 
the  country  to  our  authorities.  The  organization  on  a  British  model 
proceeded  rapidly ;  and  in  spite  of  an  ineffectual  rising  of  the  dis- 
affected Gdjars  and  other  predatory  classes,  led  by  a  bandit  named 
Kalwd,  in  1824,  peace  was  never  again  seriously  disturbed.  Under  the 
energy  and  perseverance  of  its  first  English  officials,  the  Drin  rapidly 
recovered  its  prosperity.  Roads  and  canals  were  constructed,  cultiva- 
tion spread  over  the  waste  lands,  and  the  people  themselves,  awaking 
from  their  previous  apathy,  began  to  acquire  habits  of  industry  and  self- 
reliance.  Jaunsar  Bdwar,  historically  an  integral  portion  of  Sirmiir,  had 
been  conquered  in  the  same  campaign  as  the  Dtin ;  but  was  at  first 
erected  into  a  separate  charge,  under  a  Commissioner  subordinate  to 
the  Resident  at  Delhi.  In  1829,  however,  it  was  incorporated  with  the 
present  District,  of  which  it  has  ever  since  formed  a  part  The  events 
of  1857  produced  little  effect  in  this  remote  dependency,  cut  off  by  the 
Siwdliks  from  direct  contact  with  the  centres  of  disaffection  in  the  Doib 
or  the  Delhi  Division ;  and  though  a  party  of  Jalandhar  insurgents,  600 
strong,  crossed  the  Jumna  into  Dehra  Dtin,  they  traversed  the  District 
without  stopping,  and  never  came  into  collision  with  the  pursuing 
troops. 

Population. — It  is  probable  that  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  has 
more  than  trebled  since  the  introduction  of  British  rule.  The  first 
regular  Census,  however,  took  place  as  lately  as  1865,  and  it  returned 
a  total  population  of  102,831.  In  1872,  the  numbers  had  risen  to 
1  '6,945,  showing  an  increase  of  14,114  persons,  or  137  per  cent 
The  latter  enumeration  extended  over  an  area  of  102 1  square  miles,  of 


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DEHRA  DUN  DISTRICT.  73 

which  only  128  were  cultivated.  The  population  of  116,945  persons 
was  distributed  among  965  villages  or  townships,  inhabiting  an  aggregate 
of  24,744  houses.  These  figures  yield  the  following  averages : — Per- 
sons per  square  mile,  114 ;  villages  or  townships  per  square  mile,  09 ; 
houses  per  square  mile,  24;  persons  per  village,  121;  persons  per 
house,  4a6.  Classified  according  to  sex,  there  were,  exclusive  of  non- 
Asiatics — males,  68,044;  females,  47,667;  proportion  of  males,  58*8 
per  cent  The  disparity  between  the  sexes  may  be  probably  attributed 
to  the  number  of  recent  immigrants,  amongst  whom  men  naturally 
predominate.  Classified  according  to  age,  there  were,  with  the  like 
omission,  under  12  years — males,  20,264;  females,  17,306;  total, 
37,570,  or  34*23  per  cent  As  regards  the  religious  distinctions  of  the 
people,  the  Hindus  numbered  102,814,  or  89*3  per  cent ;  while  the 
Muhammadans  were  returned  at  12,420,  or  107  per  cent  The  Dis- 
trict also  contained  a  resident  European  population  of  1061,  besides  190 
of  mixed  race  and  460  native  Christians.  The  leading  castes  comprise 
the  Brdhmans  (10,279)  and  Rajputs  (33,125),  each  of  which  has  two 
broad  subdivisions  into  the  mountain  and  the  lowland  clans.  The 
latter  regard  themselves  as  vastly  superior  to  their  hill  brethren,  and 
lose  caste  by  intermarriage  with  them.  The  highland  Brahmans  will 
eat  any  kind  of  meat  except  beef.  The  Giijars,  immigrant  plunderers  of 
the  last  century,  still  retain  several  villages.  Among  the  lower  castes, 
the  Mehras  and  Dhiims  possess  the  greatest  interest,  as  being  the  pro- 
bable representatives  of  the  aborigines  before  the  tide  of  Aryan  immi- 
gration had  set  in.  The  Mehras  inhabit  the  remoter  portions  of  the 
Eastern  Dun,  inferior  both  in  physique  and  intelligence,  and  timidly 
averse  to  intercourse  with  strangers.  The  Dhiims  have  dingy  black  skins 
and  woolly  hair;  they  form  the  servile  class,  only  just  emancipated  from 
actual  slavery  under  British  rule,  and  still  retaining  many  traces  of  their 
ancient  status.  Most  of  the  Muhammadans  are  mere  chance  visitors 
from  the  plains.  They  have  secured  few  proselytes,  except  among  the 
wretched  Dhiims,  and  even  these  prefer  Christianity  to  Islam.  The 
District  contained  only  one  town  in  1872  whose  population  exceeded 
5000,  namely,  Dehra,  with  7316  inhabitants.  The  sanitariums  of 
Masuri  (Mussooree)  and  Landaur,  now  united  into  a  single  town, 
contain  a  large  number  of  permanent  residents,  and  attract  many  visitors 
from  the  plains  during  the  hot  season.  Kalsi,  the  ancient  mart  of 
Jaunsar  Bawar,  has  now  sunk  to  the  position  of  a  country  village; 
while  the  cantonment  of  Chakrata,  high  among  the  mountains,  has 
succeeded  to  local  importance  as  the  modern  capital  of  the  tract  The 
language  in  ordinary  use  consists  of  a  very  corrupt  dialect  of  Hindi. 

Agriculture. — Out  of  a  total  area  of  102 1  square  miles,  only  128  were 
cultivated  in  1872.  Tillage  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  valleys,  or  to 
terraces  on  the  mountain  slopes,  artificially  irrigated  by  dams  and  canals. 


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74  DEHRA  DUN  DISTRICT. 

The  agricultural  year  follows  the  same  seasons  as  those  which  prevail  in 
the  Do£b.  The  kharif,  or  autumn  harvest,  consists  chiefly  of  rice,  the 
inferior  kinds  of  which  can  be  grown  in  land  entirely  dependent  on  the 
rainfall  for  its  water  supply.  Jodry  til,  and  sugar-cane  form  supple- 
mentary autumn  corps.  The  raM,  or  spring  harvest,  falls  far  short  of 
the  kharif  in  quantity.  Its  staples  comprise  wheat  and  barley,  with 
very  few  inferior  grains.  The  District  produces  no  surplus  for  ex- 
portation; and  since  the  hill  stations  of  Masuri  and  Chakra*ta  have 
risen  into  importance,  a  considerable  amount  of  food-stuffs  is  annually 
imported  for  their  supply.  On  the  other  hand,  Dehra  Ddn  now  raises 
tea  and  rhea  for  exportation  to  the  plains,  while  timber  and  other  forest 
produce  turn  the  balance  of  trade  in  its  favour.  Government  has 
endeavoured  to  promote  the  reclamation  of  the  waste  lands  which 
abound  in  all  parts  of  the  District,  by  means  of  grants  to  European 
capitalists ;  but  hitherto  little  success  has  attended  in  these  enterprises. 
The  various  agricultural  staples  cover  the  following  estimated  areas : — 
Wheat,  12,890  acres;  barley,  5228  acres;  rice,  13,743  acres;  mandufd, 
6412  acres.  The  average  out-turn  of  wheat  per  acre  may  be  set  down 
at  11  cwts.,  valued  at  j£i,  5s. ;  and  that  of  barley  at  15  cwts.,  valued  at 
j£i9  is.  Nearly  three-fifths  of  the  land  is  held  by  tenants  with  rights  of 
occupancy.  In  the  Ddn  proper,  the  peasantry  have  not  yet  extricated 
themselves  from  a  condition  of  indebtedness  to  the  village  banker ;  but 
in  Jaunsdr  BaVar,  they  occupy  a  comparatively  enviable  position,  free 
from  debt,  and  usually  cultivating  their  own  little  farms  themselves. 
On  the  tea  plantations,  labour  obtains  excellent  wages,  which  prove  quite 
sufficient  to  attract  Afghans  and  other  foreigners  into  competition  with 
natives  of  the  Ddn.  In  1872,  ordinary  field  labourers  received  3d.  per 
diem.  Famine  has  never  occurred  within  the  historical  period ;  and  it  is 
believed  that,  among  a  people  so  favourably  situated  as  regards  the 
demand  for  labour,  its  future  occurrence  may  be  considered  a  very 
remote  contingency.  The  average  prices  of  food  -  stuffs  for  the  ten 
years  ending  1870,  ruled  as  follows:  —  Common  rice,  12  sers  per 
rupee,  or  os.  4d.  per  cwt. ;  best  rice,  9  sers  per  rupee,  or  12s.  56!.  per 
cwt. ;  wheat,  17  sers  per  rupee,  or  6s.  7d.  per  cwt. ;  barley,  25  sers  per 
rupee,  or  4s.  6d.  per  cwt. 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc. — The  traffic  of  Dehra  Ddn  has  two  main 
channels,  leading  from  the  valley  to  the  plains  and  to  the  hills  respec- 
tively. The  exports  toward  the  lowlands  include  timber,  bamboo,  lime, 
charcoal,  rice,  and  above  all,  tea.  The  total  annual  value  of  the  latter 
article  raised  within  the  District  is  estimated  at  ^20,000.  Some  of  it 
has  even  found  its  way,  through  Afghanistan,  to  the  Russian  army  in 
Central  Asia.  In  return,  the  Ddn  imports  from  the  plains  hardware, 
cotton  cloth,  blankets,  salt,  sugar,  grain,  tobacco,  fruits,  and  spices.  All 
these  articles  pass  on  also  to  the  hills ;  while  the  return  trade  consists 


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DEHRA  DUN  DISTRICT.  75 

of  rice,  ginger,  turmeric,  red  pepper,  honey,  wax,  lac,  gum,  resin,  and 
other  forest  produce.  No  manufactures  of  more  than  local  importance 
exist  The  mode  of  carriage  is  confined  to  bullock  carts,  and  the 
carrying  trade  remains  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  Banjaras.  The  District 
has  only  one  bridged  and  metalled  road,  from  Asamri  to  Rijpur,  along 
which  goes  the  traffic  from  the  plains  through  the  Mohan  Pass,  pierced 
by  a  causeway  7  miles  long.  Fair  second-class  roads  connect  the  other 
centres  of  population  with  the  principal  passes  of  the  Himalayas  or  the 
Siw&iks.  The  hill  stations,  however,  can  only  be  reached  by  means  of 
horse  paths.  Two  printing-presses  exist  in  the  District,  and  an  English 
newspaper  is  published  at  MasurL 

Administration. — In  1870-71,  Dehra  DiSn  District  contained  3  cove- 
nanted officers,  the  chief  of  whom  bore  the  title  of  Superintendent, 
with  the  powers  of  a  Magistrate  and  Collector.  The  number  of 
courts  held  within  the  District  during  the  same  year  was  5.  The 
total  revenue  raised  in  Dehra  Diin  during  the  financial  year  1874-75 
was  returned  at  .£6308,  of  which  sum  ^5797  was  due  to  the  land  tax. 
The  number  of  policemen  of  all  kinds  in  the  same  year  amounted  to 
279,  being  at  the  rate  of  1  constable  to  every  3*6  square  miles  of 
area  and  every  419  persons.  The  District  jail  at  Dehra  Diin  contained 
a  daily  average  of  304  inmates  in  1875,  of  whom  297  were  male  and  7 
female.  In  education,  the  District  still  remains  very  backward.  In 
x875-76,  the  number  of  schools  was  returned  at  32,  with  an  aggregate 
roll  of  1 1 96  pupils ;  giving  an  average  of  1  school  to  every  31*87  square 
miles,  and  T02  scholars  per  thousand  of  the  population.  The  American 
Mission  at  Dehra,  established  in  1853,  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in 
educational  matters,  and  maintains  a  female  school  and  girls'  orphanage. 
For  fiscal  and  administrative  purposes,  the  District  is  subdivided  into  2 
tahsiis  and  3  pargands.  Municipalities  have  been  established  at  Dehra 
and  Masurf.  In  1875-76,  their  joint  revenue  amounted  to  £$$42 ; 
from  taxes,  ^2062,  or  2s.  id.  per  head  of  the  population  (19,445) 
within  municipal  limits.  During  the  season,  however,  the  visitors  who 
flock  to  Masurf  greatly  disturb  the  apparent  incidence  of  taxation. 

Medical  Aspects. — Extremes  of  heat  and  cold  are  unknown  in  the 
Dehra  Diin.  The  proximity  of  the  Himalayas  cools  the  atmosphere ; 
not  like  Bengal,  the  warm  blasts  from  the  plain  do  not  reach  so  far 
among  the  mountain  valleys,  while  the  heavy  summer  monsoons  bring 
abundant  showers,  and  even  in  Mayor  June  occasional  rainfall  refreshes 
the  country.  The  temperature  generally  fluctuates  between  370  and 
ioi°;  but  at  the  sanitarium  of  Masurf  (Mussooree),  6000  feet  above 
sea  level,  the  thermometer  has  a  range  from  270  to  8o°.  Earthquakes 
occasionally  occur,  but  seldom  cause  serious  damage.  The  total  number 
of  deaths  recorded  in  the  District  in  1875  amounted  to  2786,  being  at 
the  rate  of  23-82  per  1000  of  the  population.     During  the  same  year, 


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76  DEHR1— DELHI  DISTRICT. 

the  Government  charitable  dispensary  at  Dehra  gave  relief  to  19,676 
out-door,  and  649  in-door  patients. 

Dehri — Town  in  Sh£ti£b&&  District,  Bengal ;  situated  in  lat  240  54' 
30"  n.,  and  long.  840  12'  30"  e.,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Stfn,  at  the 
338th  mile  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Road.  Now  noted  as  the  site  of  the 
head-works  of  the  S6n  Canals,  and  of  the  workshops  designed  by  Mr. 
Fouracres,  in  1869-70,  to  construct  and  maintain  the  various  stone, 
wood,  and  iron  works  scattered  over  the  canal  system.  A  cement 
factory  is  attached.  In  the  Dehri  training  school,  opened  in  1872  with 
the  object  of  recruiting  the  upper  subordinate  establishments  of  the 
Public  Works  Department,  European,  Eurasian,  and  native  lads  from 
14  to  17  years  of  age  are  taken  as  indentured  apprentices.  They  are 
supplied  with  free  lodging,  and  receive  a  small  Government  allowance. 
To  the  north  of  Dehri  town  is  a  large  indigo  factory,  the  property  of 
Messrs.  Gisborne  &  Co.  In  1871,  a  convict  camp  was  established  at 
Dehrf,  as  an  experiment  on  a  large  scale,  for  the  out-door  employment  of 
prisoners  on  remunerative  public  works.  The  prisoners  were  mainly 
employed  on  canal  works  connected  with  the  Irrigation  Department, 
till  1875,  when  they  were  moved  up  to  Baxar,  where  it  has  been  decided 
to  build  a  new  central  jaiL 

Delhi  (De/iii). — A  Division  under  a  Commissioner  in  the  Punjab, 
lying  between  270  39'  and  300  n'  n.  lat,  and  between  760  13'  and  77° 
35'  e.  long. ;  and  comprising  the  three  Districts  of  Delhi,  Gurgaon, 
and  Karnal,  each  of  which  see  separately.  Area,  5609  square  miles, 
of  which  about  half  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1868),  1,916,423. 

Ddhi  (Dehli). — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of 
the  Punjab  (Panjab),  lying  between  280  12'  and  290  13'  n.  lat,  and 
between  760  51'  15"  and  770  34'  45"  e.  long. ;  with  an  area  of  1277 
square  miles,  and  a  population  in  1868  of  608,850.  Delhi  forms  the 
central  District  in  the  Division  of  the  same  name.  It  is  bounded  on 
the  north  by  Kamil,  on  the  west  by  Rohtak,  on  the  south  by  Gurgaon, 
and  on  the  east  by  the  river  Jumna  Qamuna*),  which  divides  it  from  the 
Districts  of  Meerut  (Mfrath)  and  Bulandshahr  in  the  North-Western 
Provinces.  The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  the  city  of  Delhi, 
the  ancient  capital  of  the  Mughal  Empire. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Delhi  forms  the  meeting-place  for 
the  alluvial  plain  of  the  Jumna  valley  and  the  last  outlying  ridges  of 
the  Rijputdna  Hills.  Its  northern  portion  presents  the  usual  mono- 
tonous features  which  characterise  the  dry  lowlands  of  the  Cis-Sutlej 
(Satlaj)  tract  Only  as  we  near  the  Jumna  does  the  nature  of  the  soil 
exhibit  any  variety  or  increased  natural  fruitfulness ;  but  along  the 
actual  verge  of  the  river,  an  alluvial  margin,  some  10  miles  in  width, 
fringing  the  bank,  marks  the  ancient  bed  of  the  main  channel,  which 
has  gradually  receded  eastward  during  the  course  of  ages,  leaving  a 


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DELHI  DISTRICT.  77 

considerable  cliff  far  to  the  west,  the  only  vestige  of  its  original  path. 
As  the  river  approaches  the  city  of  Delhi,  however,  this  lowland  region 
rapidly  contracts  in  width,  terminating  about  a  mile  above  the  town, 
where  an  offshoot  of  the  Mewat  Hills  abuts  upon  the  water's  edge 
in  a  wide  stony  plateau.  The  range  to  which  this  northernmost 
outlier  belongs  may  be  considered  as  a  prolongation  of  the  Aravalli 
system.  It  enters  the  District  from  Gurgdon  on  the  southern  border, 
and  immediately  expands  into  a  rocky  tableland,  some  3  miles  in 
breadth,  running  in  a  north-easterly  direction  nearly  across  the  District 
Ten  miles  south  of  the  city,  the  range  divides  into  two  branches,  one 
of  which,  turning  sharply  to  the  south-west,  re-enters  the  borders  of 
Gurgion ;  while  the  other  continues  its  northerly  course  as  a  narrow 
ridge  of  sandstone,  and,  passing  to  the  west  of  Delhi,  finally  loses  itself 
in  the  valley  of  the  Jumna.  The  whole  tableland  nowhere  attains  an 
elevation  of  more  than  500  feet  above  the  lowlands  at  its  base ;  while  its 
surface  consists  of  barren  rock,  too  destitute  of  water  for  the  possibility 
of  cultivation,  even  in  the  few  rare  patches  of  level  soil  Nevertheless, 
the  neighbouring  villages  of  the  lowland  tract  have  allotted  this  stony 
plateau  among  their  various  communities,  and  watch  over  their  respec- 
tive boundaries  with  the  utmost  jealousy.  The  land  is  only  valuable  as 
inferior  grazing  ground.  At  the  very  foot  of  the  hills,  however,  a  few 
villages  derive  fertility  from  the  torrents  which  course  through  the 
ravines  during  the  rainy  season,  and  spread  their  waters  over  the  flat 
plain  below,  thus  preparing  the  soil  for  the  reception  of  the  autumn 
sowing.  The  Najafgarh  jhil  or  lake,  a  shallow  scattered  sheet  of  water, 
covers  a  considerable  surface  in  the  south-east  of  the  District,  the  area 
submerged  amounting  in  October  to  about  27,000  acres.  The  Jumna, 
before  reaching  the  borders  of  Delhi,  has  been  so  greatly  drained  of  its 
waters  for  the  two  older  canals  which  it  feeds,  that  it  forms  only  a  narrow 
stream,  fordable  at  almost  any  point  except  during  the  rains;  while 
at  Okhla,  a  short  distance  below  the  city,  the  whole  remaining  cold 
weather  supply  is  drafted  off  into  the  new  Agra  CanaL 

History. — The  tract  immediately  surrounding  the  Mughal  capital  can 
hardly  be  said  to  possess  any  history  of  its  own,  apart  from  that  of  the 
city,  which  will  be  found  in  full  under  the  proper  heading.  From  the 
earliest  period  of  Aryan  colonization  in  India,  the  point  where  the 
central  hills  first  abut  upon  the  Jumna  seems  to  have  formed  the  site  for 
one  great  metropolis  after  another;  so  that  the  whole  country,  for  some  10 
or  1 2  miles  around  the  modern  Delhi,  is  covered  with  the  dkbris  of  ruined 
cities,  whose  remains  extend  over  an  estimated  area  of  45  square  miles. 
First  upon  the  list  of  successive  capitals  stands  the  name  of  Indraprdstha, 
a  city  founded  (as  General  Cunningham  believes)  not  later  than  the 
15th  century  B.C.,  by  the  earliest  Aryan  immigrants  into  India,  when 
they  first  began  to  feel  their  way  along  the  tangled  jungles  of  the  Jumna 


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78  DELHI  DISTRICT. 

valley.  The  Mahibharata  vaguely  enshrines  the  memory  of  this 
primitive  settlement,  and  tells  how  the  five  Pandavas,  leading  an 
Aryan  host  from  Hastinapur  upon  the  Ganges,  expelled  or  subdued 
the  savage  Nagas,  the  aboriginal  inhabitants;  how,  having  cleared 
their  land  of  forest,  they  founded  the  stronghold  of  Indraprastha,  which 
grew  into  a  great  kingdom ;  and  how  at  last,  as  the  Aryan  race  became 
strong  enough  for  discord,  they  turned  their  arms  against  their  own 
kinsmen,  the  Pauravas,  whom  they  overthrew  in  a  great  war,  the 
central  theme  of  the  Hindu  Iliad.  Yudisthira,  the  founder  of 
Indraprastha,  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  thirty  generations  of 
collateral  descendants,  until  at  length  his  line  was  extinguished  by  the 
usurpation  of  Visarwa,  minister  of  the  last  Pdndavite  sovereign,  Vis- 
arwa's  family  retained  the  sceptre  for  500  years,  and  was  then  followed, 
with  the  usual  symmetry  of  early  Indian  mythical  lore,  by  a  dynasty  of 
fifteen  Gautamas.  In  the  middle  of  the  1st  century  b.c,  the  name  of 
Delhi  makes  its  earliest  appearance  in  tradition  or  history ;  and  thence- 
forth the  annals  of  the  District  become  identical  with  those  of  the  whole 
Upper  Indian  Empire.  Passing  in  succession  under  the  rule  of  Hindus, 
Pathans,  Mughals,  and  Marhattas,  Delhi  came  at  length  into  the  hands 
of  the  British,  after  Lord  Lake's  victories  in  1803.  The  tract  then  ceded 
to  the  Company  included  a  considerable  strip  to  the  west  of  the  Jumna, 
both  north  and  south  of  the  Mughal  capital  The  Governor-General 
assigned  a  large  portion  of  the  territory  thus  acquired  for  the  mainte- 
nance and  dignity  of  the  royal  family  of  Delhi.  Shih  Alam,  released 
from  his  Marhatta  jailors,  received  as  private  domain  for  this  pur- 
pose the  greater  part  of  the  present  Districts  of  Delhi  and  Hissar.  A 
Resident  and  Chief  Commissioner  undertook  the  entire  control  of  the 
fiscal  arrangements,  and  exercised  a  general  supervision  over  the  criminal 
jurisdiction ;  but  the  king  retained  exclusive  power  within  the  palace 
walls,  while  British  officials  administered  Muhammadan  law  in  his  name 
throughout  the  assigned  region.  A  few  native  princes,  however,  still 
held  their  independent  estates  within  the  Delhi  territory,  the  principal 
instance  in  the  present  District  being  the  Raja  of  Ballabhgarh. 
The  anomalous  mode  of  government  thus  instituted  was  obviously 
inconsistent  with  the  full  authority  of  the  central  power ;  and,  in  1832,  it 
became  desirable  to  introduce  a  more  practicable  system  of  administration. 
A  Regulation  of  that  year  abolished  the  office  of  Resident  and  Chief 
Commissioner,  transferred  the  executive  power  to  a  Commissioner  in 
correspondence  with  the  Government  of  the  North-Western  Provinces, 
and  vested  the  judicial  functions  in  the  High  Court  of  Agra.  This  enact* 
ment  placed  the  administration  of  the  Delhi  territory,  nominally  as  well 
as  actually,  in  the  hands  of  the  East  India  Company.  The  territory 
continued  to  form  part  of  the  North-Western  Provinces  up  till  the 
Mutiny  of  1857.     As  early  as    1819,  a  District  of  Delhi  had  been 


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DELHI  DISTRICT.  79 

regularly  constituted,  including  a  part  of  the  present  Rohtak  District, 
but  since  enlarged  by  additions  from  Panipat  and  from  the  confiscated 
principality  of  Ballabhgarh.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Mutiny,  the  whole 
District  passed  for  a  time  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels ;  and  though 
communications  with  the  Punjab  were  soon  restored,  enabling  us  to 
recover  the  northern  pargands,  it  was  not  till  after  the  fall  of  Delhi 
City  that  British  authority  could  reassert  itself  in  the  southern  portion. 
When  the  final  suppression  of  the  Mutiny  in  1858  enabled  the  work  of 
reconstruction  to  proceed,  Delhi  District  was  transferred  to  the  newly- 
formed  Lieutenant-Governorship  of  the  Punjab.  At  the  same  time,  the 
territories  of  the  insurgent  Eija  of  Ballabhgarh,  who  had  been  executed 
for  rebellion,  were  confiscated  and  added  as  a  new  tahsil  to  the 
District ;  while  the  outlying  Doib  villages,  hitherto  belonging  to  Delhi, 
and  known  as  the  Eastern  Pargand,  were  handed  over  to  the  North- 
western Provinces.  Since  the  banishment  of  the  king  to  Rangoon, 
where  he  died  in  1862,  the  Government  of  the  District  has  been  marked 
by  no  diversion  from  the  ordinary  routine  of  peaceful  administration. 

Population. — The  frequent  changes  of  boundary,  both  in  the  District 
as  a  whole  and  in  its  component  pargands,  render  it  impossible  to 
institute  a  comparison  between  the  results  shown  by  the  Census  of  1853, 
under  the  Government  of  the  North  -  Western  Provinces,  and  those 
of  the  Census  of  1868,  under  the  Punjab  administration.  The 
latter  enumeration,  taken  over  an  area  of  1277  square  miles,  disclosed 
a  total  population  of  608,850  persons,  distributed  among  772  villages 
or  townships,  and  inhabiting  an  aggregate  of  168,390  houses.  These 
figures  yield  the  following  averages : — Persons  per  square  mile,  496 ; 
villages  per  square  mile,  '63 ;  houses  per  square  mile,  137  ;  persons  per 
village,  788;  persons  per  house,  3*61.  Classified  according  to  sex, 
there  were — males,  326,306 ;  females,  282,544 ;  proportion  of  males, 
53-60  per  cent  Classified  according  to  age,  there  were,  under  12 
years — males,  109,734;  females,  92,898;  total,  202,632,  or  33*28  per 
cent,  of  the  total  As  regards  religious  distinctions,  the  Hindus  number 
438,886;  Muhammadans,  130,645;  Sikhs,  580;  and  *  others/  38,739. 
These  figures  yield  the  following  percentages  : — Hindus,  72  08 ;  Muham- 
madans, 21*46;  Sfkhs,  '09;  and  'others,'  6-36.  The  classification  with 
reference  to  occupations  shows  135,121  adult  male  agriculturists. 
Among  the  various  castes  and  tribes,  the  Jats  come  first  with  107,856 
souls,  remarkable  here  as  elsewhere  for  industrious  habits,  agricultural 
skill,  and  promptitude  in  the  payment  of  revenue.  North  of  Delhi  the 
greater  part  of  the  land  is  in  their  possession,  though  they  often  share 
their  villages  with  Brdhman  coparceners.  They  are  found  more  fre- 
quently in  the  uplands  of  the  interior  than  in  the  alluvial  fringe  of  the 
Jumna  valley.  By  far  the  greater  number  retain  the  Hindu  faith  of 
their  ancestors,  only  2152  being  returned  as  Musalmins.    The  Brahmans 


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80  DELHI  DISTRICT. 

stand  second  in  numerical  strength  with  56,465,  most  of  whom  are 
honest  and  industrious  cultivators,  sharing  villages  with  the  Jats,  possibly 
as  a  remnant  of  some  conquest-tenure,  resembling  the  Sikh  chah&rami 
of  the  Cis-Sutlej  tract  (vide  Umballa  District).  The  Banias  or  trading 
classes  number  37,560,  scattered  as  shopkeepers  through  the  country 
villages,  and  forming  a  large  proportion  of  the  mercantile  body  in  Delhi 
itself.  The  idle  and  dishonest  Gdjars  (22,164)  carry  on  their  usual 
pastoral  and  semi-nomad  avocations  in  the  hilly  plateau  of  the  south, 
with  no  better  reputation  for  cattle  -  lifting  and  thieving  propensities 
than  their  clansmen  elsewhere.  The  other  tribes  comprise  14,109  Ahfrs, 
10,677  Rajputs,  15,776  Pathans,  and  8392  Sayyids.  The  District 
contains  4  towns  with  a  population  exceeding  5000,  in  1872 — Delhi 
City,  154,417;  Sonpat,  12,176;  Faridabad,  7990;  and  Ballabh- 
garh,  6281.  The  aggregate  urban  population  at  the  date  of  the  Census 
thus  amounted  to  180,864  persons,  or  29 \  per  cent,  of  the  District  total. 
Urdu  or  Hindustani  forms  the  prevailing  dialect  of  all  classes. 

Agriculture. — The  District  of  Delhi  has  a  total  cultivated  area  of 
525,255  acres,  of  which  122,173  are  irrigated  from  Government  works, 
and  84,680  by  private  enterprise.  The  uncultivated  area  includes 
168,197  acres  of  grazing  land,  12,044  acres  of  cultivable  waste,  and 
109,176  acres  of  barren  rock  or  soil  rendered  useless  by  saline  efflor- 
escence. The  north-western  uplands  are  watered  by  the  Western 
Jumna  Canal,  except  in  a  few  spots  where  the  surface  of  the  country 
rises  above  the  level  of  the  main  channel.  Cotton  and  sugar-cane  here 
form  the  commercial  staples  of  the  autumn  harvest,  while  jodr,  bdjra, 
and  Indian  corn  are  the  chief  food-grains.  In  the  spring  sowings,  wheat, 
barley,  and  gram  make  up  the  principal  crops ;  but  tobacco  covers  a 
considerable  area,  and  rice  of  excellent  quality  is  produced  wherever 
water  is  abundant  The  cultivation  of  cotton  is  on  the  increase,  a  ready 
market  being  obtained  at  Delhi.  The  khddar,  or  alluvial  fringe  of  the 
Jumna,  cannot  compete  with  the  artificially  irrigated  uplands.  The  crops 
in  this  tract  include  the  same  general  staples,  but  the  produce  is  inferior 
in  kind.  Well-irrigation  is  almost  everywhere  possible  throughout  the 
kkddar,  sweet  water  being  found  a  few  feet  below  the  surface.  South  of 
Delhi,  the  nature  of  the  soil  deteriorates.  Most  of  the  land  belongs  to 
the  stony  ridge  which  projects  into  the  District  from  the  Aravalli  range; 
and  though  the  new  Agra  Canal  traverses  this  unfruitful  region,  its  level 
is  too  low  to  permit  of  irrigation.  The  Najafgarh/^/,  after  being  filled 
in  the  rains,  is  drained  into  the  Jumna  by  an  escape  channel,  and  crops 
are  then  sown  upon  the  submerged  land  ;  but  only  a  partial  success  has 
hitherto  attended  the  operations  of  the  Canal  Department  in  this  respect, 
owing  to  the  want  of  a  sufficient  falL  The  following  list  shows  the 
number  of  acres  under  each  of  the  principal  staples  in  1872-73: — 
Wheat,  102,329;  barley,  73,023  ;  gram,  21,600;  tobacco,  8488;  rice, 


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DELHI  DISTRICT.  8 1 

95°5;  jo*'*  33>029>  bdjra,  38,120;  cotton,  40,581 ;  sugar-cane, 
93i33°«  The  Government  returns  of  1871-72  state  the  average 
out-tum  per  acre  as  follows : — Rice,  480  lbs.  ;  cotton,  144  lbs. ;  sugar, 
2240  lbs. ;  wheat  and  other  grains,  640  lbs.  The  tenures  consist 
of  the  types  common  in  the  North-Western  Provinces,  to  which  Delhi 
belongs  in  natural  position  and  historical  antecedents.  The  holding 
known  as  bhaydchdrd,  or  brotherhood,  is  the  most  frequent  The 
village  communities  are  strong  and  united  From  50  to  100  acres 
would  be  considered  a  large  holding  for  a  cultivating  proprietor;  20 
would  be  regarded  as  above  the  average  for  a  tenant ;  while  5  repre- 
sent the  whole  farm  in  many  cases.  By  far  the  greater  number  of 
tenants  possess  no  permanent  rights  of  occupancy.  Rents  vary  much 
with  the  nature  of  the  crop  which  the  land  is  suited  to  produce.  Rice 
lands  fetch  from  10s.  6d.  to  17s.  per  acre;  cotton  lands,  from  14s.  to 
18s.  4J0L ;  sugar  lands,  from  £i9  10s.  to  j£i9  14s.;  wheat  lands,  from 
6s.  to  1  os. ;  and  dry  lands  suitable  for  inferior  grains,  from  2s.  to  4s. 
Wages  are  almost  universally  paid  in  money.  Agricultural  labourers 
received  3d.,  or  10  lbs.  of  wheat,  per  diem  in  1874.  Prices  ruled  as 
follows  on  the  1st  of  January  1873  : — Wheat,  21  sers  per  rupee,  or  5s. 
4&  per  cwt ;  barley,  32  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  6cL  per  cwt. ;  gram,  22  sers 
per  rupee,  or  5s.  id.  per  cwt,  jodr,  28  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  per  cwt  ; 
bdjray  24  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  8d.  per  cwt. 

Commerce  and  Trade. — The  trade  of  the  District  centres  almost  entirely 
in  the  city  of  Delhi.     Sonpat,  Farfddbid,  and  Ballabhgarh  are  local 
marts  of  some  importance,  but  have  no  external  transactions  of  any 
value.     The  manufactures  are  also  confined  to  the  capital,  which  has 
a  high  reputation  for  jewellery  and  other  ornamental  goods  of  fine 
workmanship.    The  District  now  lies  a  little  apart  from  the  main 
channel  of  trade,  owing  to  the  diversion  caused  by  the  great  northern 
line  of  railway,  which  runs  through  the  Do£b  Districts  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Jumna.     Nevertheless,  the  means  of  communication  are  amply 
sufficient,  both  by  land  and  water.    The  East  Indian  Railway  has  a 
branch  from  Ghiz&bid  Junction,  which  crosses  the  Jumna  by  an  iron 
bridge,  and  has  a  station  within  the  city ;  and  this  branch  is  also  used 
by  the  Punjab  line.     The  Rijputdna  State  Railway  traverses  the 
District  for  a  distance  of  12  miles  in  the  direction  of  Gurgdon.     The 
Jumna  is  navigable  during  the  rainy  season  for  country  boats  of  400 
mounds  burden.     Good  metalled  roads  connect  the  city  with  Lahore, 
Agra,  Jdipur  (Jeypore),  and  Hissdr ;  while  a  network  of  local  trade-lines 
runs  in  every  direction  to  the  various  minor  towns  and  ghdts.     Bridges 
of  boats  lead  across  the  river  at  Bhdgpat  and  Chdnsa ;  and  the  railway 
bridge  at  Delhi  has  an  underway  for  ordinary  wheel  traffic.     The  total 
length  of  roads  within  the  District  amounts  to  360  miles. 
Administration. — The  District  staff  usually  comprises  a  Deputy  Com* 
VOL.  iil  F 

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82  DELHI  CITY. 

missioner,  2  Assistant  and  2  extra  Assistant  Commissioners,  a  judge  of 
the  Small  Cause  Court,  and  3  tahsilddrs^  besides  the  usual  medical, 
fiscal,  and  constabulary  officials.  The  total  revenue  raised  in  the 
District  in  1872-73  amounted  to  ^£383,082,  of  which  sum  ^£89,036  was 
due  to  the  land  tax.  Among  the  other  items,  the  chief  were — salt  and 
customs,  ^264,909 ;  and  stamps,  ,£14,086.  For  police  purposes,  the 
District  is  distributed  into  7  police  circles  (thdnds).  In  1873,  tne 
regular  police  numbered  543  officers  and  men  of  all  ranks,  besides  a 
municipal  force  of  488  men  and  a  cantonment  police  of  n  men, 
together  with  n  others  supplied  to  private  companies.  The  total 
machinery,  therefore,  for  the  protection  of  persons  and  property  con- 
sisted of  1053  constables,  being  at  the  rate  of  1  policeman  to  every  1*16 
square  miles  of  area  and  to  every  576  of  the  population.  But  as  the 
city  of  Delhi  alone  has  457  policemen,  the  real  proportion  for  the 
rural  pargands  may  be  more  fairly  estimated  at  1  to  every  2*04  square 
miles.  The  total  number  of  persons  brought  to  trial  upon  all  charges, 
great  or  small,  in  1872  amounted  to  4472.  The  District  jail,  adapted 
from  an  old  sardi,  received  an  aggregate  of  1130  prisoners  in  1872,  with 
a  daily  average  of  301  inmates.  Education  was  carried  on  in  1872-73 
by  98  schools  and  colleges,  having  a  total  roll  of  4174  pupils,  com- 
prising 2950  Hindus,  1000  Muhammadans,  and  224 ( others.'  The  total 
amount  expended  by  Government  upon  the  educational  budget  during 
the  same  year  reached  a  sum  of  ^7759.  The  principal  establishments 
include  the  Delhi  College  {see  Delhi  City),  the  Upper  Zild  School,  the 
Anglo- Arabic  School,  and  the  classes  in  connection  with  the  mission  of 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  For  fiscal  and  admini- 
strative purposes,  the  District  is  subdivided  into  3  tahstls,  with  an 
aggregate  of  775  villages,  owned  by  53,909  proprietors.  Five  towns 
within  the  District  possess  municipalities,  namely  Delhi,  Sonpat, 
Ballabhgarh,  Farfd£b£d,  and  Najafgarh.  In  1875-76,  the  aggregate 
municipal  revenue  amounted  to  £28,245,  or  2s.  nd.  per  head  of  the 
population  (192,762)  within  municipal  limits. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  of  Delhi  does  not  materially  differ  from 
that  of  other  Districts  in  the  Jumna  basin.  The  total  annual  rainfall 
amounted  to  21*8  inches  in  1869-70,  237  inches  in  1870-71,  and  33*1 
inches  in  1871-72.  The  principal  endemic  diseases  are  fever  and 
bowel-complaints;  but  small-pox  often  commits  severe  ravages  in  an 
epidemic  form.  The  total  number  of  deaths  recorded  in  1872  was 
i9>736,  being  at  the  rate  of  32  per  thousand;  and  of  these  11,303,  or 
18-56  per  thousand,  were  due  to  fevers  alone.  The  average  death-rate 
for  the  four  preceding  years  was  27*50  per  thousand.  The  District 
contains  3  charitable  dispensaries,  which  afforded  relief  in  1872  to 
18,303  patients. 

Delhi  (Dehli). — City  in  Delhi  District,  Punjab,  the  administrative 


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DELHI  CITY.  83 

headquarters  of  the  District  and  Division,  and  former  capital  of  the 
Mughal  Empire.  Lat,  280  38'  58"  n.,  long.  77°  16'  30"  e.  ;  population 
in  1868,  154,417,  being  85,087  Hindus,  61,720  Muhammadans,  357 
Sikhs,  and  7253  '  others.'  Distant  from  Calcutta  954  miles,  from  Agra 
113,  from  Allah4b£d  390  miles.     Estimated  pop.  in  1876,  160,553. 

Situation  and  General  Appearance. — The  modern  city  of  Delhi  or 
Shihjahinibdd  abuts  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  Jumna,  and  is 
enclosed  on  three  sides  by  a  lofty  wall  of  solid  stone,  constructed  by  the 
Emperor  Shdh  Jahin,  and  subsequently  strengthened  by  the  English 
at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  with  a  ditch  and  glacis.  The 
eastern  side,  where  the  city  extends  to  the  river  bank,  has  no  wall ;  but 
the  high  bank  is  faced  with  masonry.  The  circuit  of  the  wall  is  5  J 
miles.  It  has  ten  gates,  of  which  the  principal  are  the  Kashmir  and 
Mori  gates  on  the  north ;  the  Kabul  and  Lahore  gates  on  the  east  \  and 
the  Ajmere  and  Delhi  gates  on  the  south.  The  Imperial  palace,  now 
known  as  'the  fort,'  is  situated  in  the  east  of  the  city,  and  abuts  directly 
on  the  river.  It  is  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  an  imposing  wall  of 
red  sandstone,  with  small  round  towers,  and  a  gateway  on  the  west  and 
south.  Since  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  a  great  portion  has  been  demolished 
in  order  to  make  room  for  English  barracks.  South  of  the  fort,  in 
the  Dariiganj  quarter  of  the  city,  is  the  cantonment  for  a  regiment 
of  native  infantry,  which,  with  one  wing  of  a  European  regiment 
stationed  within  the  fort,  makes  up  the  ordinary  garrison  of  Delhi.  On 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river  is  the  fortress  of  Salimgarh,  erected  in  the 
1 6th  century  by  Salim  Shdh,  and  now  in  ruins.  At  this  point  the 
East  India  Railway  enters  the  city  by  a  magnificent  bridge  across 
the  Jumna,  passing  over  Salimgarh,  and  through  a  corner  of  the  fort, 
to  the  railway  station  within  the  city  walls.  Thence  the  line  proceeds 
as  the  Rijputina  State  Railway,  and,  after  traversing  the  city, 
emerges  through  the  wall  on  the  north-west.  In  the  north-eastern 
corner  of  the  city,  within  the  walls  and  close  to  the  Kashmir  gate,  are 
situated  the  treasury  and  other  public  offices.  Daridganj,  the  fort,  the 
public  offices,  and  the  railway  form  an  almost  continuous  line  along  the 
eastern  and  northern  faces  of  the  city, — the  angle  between  them  being 
devoted  to  public  gardens.  The  area  thus  occupied  amounts  to  nearly 
one-half  of  the  entire  city ;  it  presents  a  comparatively  open  appear- 
ance, and  forms  a  marked  contrast  to  the  south-west  quarter  of  the  town, 
which  is  densely  occupied  by  the  shops  and  dwellings  of  the  native 
population. 

The  architectural  glories  of  Delhi  are  famous  alike  in  Indian  and 
European  literature.  It  is  impossible  in  a  brief  notice  like  the  present 
to  attempt  any  adequate  description  of  them.  They  have  been  treated 
with  admirable  knowledge  and  artistic  appreciation  in  Mr.  Fergusson's 
History  of  Indian  and  Eastern  Architecture  (1876).    The  palace  of  Shdh 

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84  DELHI  CITY. 

Jahan — now  the  fort — perhaps  less  picturesque  and  sober  in  tone  than 
that  of  Agra,  has  the  advantage  of  being  built  on  a  more  uniform  plan, 
and  by  the  most  magnificent  of  the  Royal  builders  of  India.  It  forms 
a  parallelogram,  measuring  1600  feet  east  and  west  by  3200  north  and 
south,  exclusive  of  the  gateways.  Passing  the  deeply-recessed  portal, 
a  vaulted  hall  is  entered,  rising  two  storeys,  375  feet  long,  like  the 
nave  of  a  gigantic  Gothic  cathedral — *  the  noblest  entrance/  says  Mr. 
Fergusson,  'to  any  existing  palace.'  Omitting  all  mention  of  the 
music  hall  and  smaller  buildings,  or  fountains,  however  beautiful,  the 
celebrated  diwdn-i-khds  or  Private  Audience  Hall  forms,  'if  not  the 
most  beautiful,  certainly  the  most  ornamented  of  all  Jahan's  buildings.* 
It  overhangs  the  river,  and  nothing  can  exceed  the  delicacy  of  its  inlaid 
work  or  the  poetry  of  its  design.  It  is  round  the  roof  of  this  hall 
that  the  famous  inscription  ran :  '  If  there  is  a  heaven  on  earth,  it  is 
this — it  is  this !'  which  may  safely  be  rendered  into  the  sober  English 
assertion,  that  no  palace  now  existing  in  the  world  possesses  an 
apartment  of  such  unique  elegance.  The  whole  of  the  area  between 
the  central  range  of  buildings  to  the  south,  measuring  about  1000 
feet  each  way,  was  occupied,  says  Mr.  Fergusson,  by  the  harem  and 
private  apartments  of  the  palace,  covering,  consequently,  more  than 
twice  the  area  of  the  Escurial,  or,  in  fact,  of  any  palace  in  Europe. 
*  According  to  the  native  plan  I  possess  (which  I  see  no  reason  for 
distrusting),  it  contained  three  garden  courts,  and  about  thirteen  or 
fourteen  other  courts,  arranged  some  for  state,  some  for  convenience  ; 
but  what  they  were  like  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  Not  a 
vestige  of  them  now  remains.  Of  the  public  parts  of  the  palace,  all 
that  now  exists  is  the  entrance  hall,  the  naubdt  khdnd,  the  diwdn-i-dm 
diwdn-i-khds^  and  the  rangmahdl — now  used  as  a  mess-room — and  oneor 
two  small  pavilions.  These  are  the  gems  of  the  palace,  it  is  true ;  but 
without  the  courts  and  corridors  connecting  them  they  lose  all  their 
meaning,  and  more  than  half  their  beauty.  Being  now  situated  in  the 
middle  of  a  British  barrack-yard,  they  look  like  precious  stones  torn 
from  their  setting  in  some  exquisite  piece  of  oriental  jeweller's  work  and 
set  at  random  in  a  bed  of  the  commonest  plaster.' 

The  buildings  in  the  native  town  are  chiefly  of  brick,  well-built  and 
substantial.  The  smaller  streets  are  narrow  and  tortuous,  and  in  many- 
cases  end  in  euls-de-sac.  On  the  other  hand,  no  city  in  India  has  finer 
streets  than  the  main  thoroughfares  of  Delhi,  ten  in  number,  thoroughly 
drained,  metalled,  and  lighted.  The  principal  thoroughfare,  the  Chandni 
Chauk,  or  Street  of  Silver,  leads  eastwards  from  the  fort  to  the 
Lahore  gate,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  long  by  74  feet  broad.  Through- 
out the  greater  part  of  its  length,  a  double  row  of  nim  and  f&pdl  trees 
runs  down  its  centre  on  both  sides  of  a  raised  path,  which  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  masonry  aqueduct  that  in  former  days  conducted  water 

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DELHI  CITY.  85 

from  the  canal  into  the  palace.  A  little  to  the  south  of  the  Chandni 
Chauk  is  the  J  ami  Masjid,  or  great  mosque,  standing  out  boldly  from  a 
small  rocky  rising  ground.  Begun  by  Shih  Jahan  in  the  fourth  year  of 
his  reign,  and  completed  in  the  tenth,  it  still  remains  one  of  the  finest 
buildings  of  its  kind  in  India.  The  front  courtyard,  450  feet  square, 
surrounded  by  a  cloister  open  on  both  sides,  is  paved  with  granite 
inlaid  with  marble,  and  commands  a  view  of  the  whole  city.  The 
mosque  itself,  a  splendid  structure  forming  an  oblong  261  feet  in  length, 
is  approached  by  a  magnificent  flight  of  stone  steps.  Three  domes  of 
white  marble  rise  from  its  roof,  with  two  tall  and  graceful  minarets  at 
the  corners  in  front  The  interior  of  the  mosque  is  paved  throughout 
with  white  marble,  and  the  walls  and  roof  are  lined  with  the  same 
materiaL  Two  other  mosques  in  Delhi  deserve  a  passing  notice, — the 
Kala  Masjid,  or  black  mosque,  so  called  from  the  dark  colour  given  to 
it  by  time,  and  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  one  of  the  early  Afghin 
sovereigns;  and  the  mosque  of  Roshan-ud-daula.  Among  the  more 
modern  buildings  of  Delhi  may  be  mentioned  the  Government  College, 
founded  in  1792 ;  the  Residency;  and  the  Protestant  church,  built  at 
a  cost  of  ,£10,000,  by  Colonel  Skinner,  an  officer  well  known  in  the 
history  of  the  East  India  Company.  About  half-way  down  the  Chandni 
Chauk  is  a  high  clock-tower,  with  the  Institute  and  Museum  opposite. 
Behind  the  Chandni  Chauk,  to  the  north,  lie  the  Queen's  Gardens ; 
beyond  them  the  'city  lines'  stretch  away  as  far  as  the  historic 
4  ridge,'  about  a  mile  outside  the  town.  From  the  summit  of 
this  ridge  the  view  of  the  station  and  city  is  very  picturesque.  To 
the  west  and  north-west,  considerable  suburbs  cluster  beyond  the 
walls,  containing  the  tombs  of  the  imperial  family.  That  of  Humayun, 
the  second  of  the  Mughal  dynasty,  is  a  noble  building  of  granite 
inlaid  with  marble.  It  lies  about  2  miles  from  the  city,  amid  a 
large  garden  of  terraces  and  fountains,  the  whole  surrounded  by  an 
embattled  wall,  with  towers  and  four  gateways.  In  the  centre  stands  a 
platform  about  20  feet  high  by  200  feet  square,  supported  by  cloisters, 
and  ascended  by  four  great  flights  of  granite  steps.  Above  rises  the 
Mausoleum,  also  a  square,  with  a  great  dome  of  white  marble  in  the 
centre.  About  a  mile  to  the  westward  is  another  burying-ground,  or 
collection  of  tombs  and  small  mosques,  some  of  them  very  beautiful 
The  most  remarkable  is  perhaps  the  little  chapel  in  honour  of  a  cele- 
brated Musulman  saint,  Nizam-ud-dfn,  near  whose  shrine  the  members 
of  the  late  imperial  family,  up  to  the  time  of  the  Mutiny,  lie  buried, 
each  in  his  own  little  enclosure,  surrounded  by  very  elegant  lattice-work 
of  white  marble.  Other  buildings,  ruins,  and  pillars  will  be  described 
under  the  next  section,  History.  The  Kutab  Minar  is  situated  about 
10  miles  to  the  south  of  the  city.  (See  p.  88.) 
The  palaces  of  the  nobles,  which  formerly  gave  an  air  of  grandeur 


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86  DELHI  CITY. 

to  the  city,  have  for  the  most  part  disappeared.  Their  sites  are 
occupied  by  structures  of  less  pretension,  but  still  with  some  elegance 
of  architectural  design.  The  city  is  now  amply  supplied  with  water ; 
and  much  attention  has  of  late  been  paid  to  cleanliness  and  sanitary 
requirements  generally.  The  principal  local  institution  was,  until  1877, 
the  Delhi  College,  founded  in  1792.  It  was  at  first  exclusively  an 
oriental  school,  supported  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  Muhammadan 
gentlemen,  and  managed  by  a  committee  of  the  subscribers.  In  1829, 
an  English  department  was  added  to  it;  and  in  1855,  the  institution 
was  placed  under  the  control  of  the  Educational  Department  The 
old  college  attained  to  great  celebrity  as  an  educational  institution,  and 
produced  many  excellent  scholars.  In  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  it  was 
plundered  of  a  very  valuable  oriental  library,  and  the  building  com- 
pletely destroyed.  A  new  college  was  founded  in  1858,  and  affiliated 
to  the  University  of  Calcutta  in  1864.  Under  orders  of  the  Government 
of  the  Punjab  (February  1877),  the  collegiate  staff  of  teachers  will  be 
withdrawn,  in  order  to  concentrate  the  grant  available  for  higher-class 
education  upon  the  central  institution  at  Lahore,  the  capital  of  the 
Punjab  Province. 

History. — Delhi  stands  upon  a  site  which  has  been  occupied  by 
many  successive  capitals,  since  the  first  Aryan  immigration  into  the 
valley  of  the  Jumna.  The  village  and  fort  of  Indrapat*  or  Purdna 
Kili,  2  miles  south  of  the  existing  walls,  mark  the  spot  where  the 
earliest  colonists  placed  their  city  of  Indraprastha  (see  Delhi  District)  ; 
but  the  name  of  Dilli  or  Diliipur  only  makes  its  appearance  in  the 
middle  of  the  first  century  b.c.  General  Cunningham,  following  the 
authority  of  Ferishta,  attributes  the  foundation  of  this  original  Delhi, 
5  miles  lower  down  the  river  than  its  modern  representative,  to  Raja 
Dilu,  apparently  the  last  ruler  of  the  Mayura  dynasty,  whom  tradition 
names  as  successors  to  the  Gautama  line  of  Indraprastha.  But  the 
earliest  authentic  information  which  we  obtain  with  regard  to  the  city  is 
derived  from  the  famous  iron  pillar  of  Rajd  Dhava,  set  up  in  the  3rd 
or  4th  century  a.d.  This  remarkable  relic  consists  of  a  solid  shaft  of 
metal,  16  inches  in  diameter  and  about  50  feet  in  length,  so  firmly 
planted  in  the  earth  that  less  than  half  its  height  appears  above  the 
ground.  A  Sanskrit  inscription,  deeply  cut  on  its  western  face,  records 
the  story  of  its  origin.  Mr.  James  Prinsep,  the  first  decipherer  of  the 
legend,  found  that  it  commemorated  the  prowess  of  Rajd  Dhava,  who 
1  obtained  with  his  own  arm  an  undivided  sovereignty  on  the  earth  for 
a  long  period ; '  while  the  letters  appear  to  be  *  the  typical  cuts  inflicted 
on  his  enemies  by  his  sword,  writing  his  immortal  fame.'  General 
Cunningham  suggests  the  year  319  a.d.  as  an  approximation  to  the 
date,  on  the  ground  that  the  Raja  may  probably  have  contributed 
to  the  downfall  of  the  great  Gupta  dynasty  (see  Kanauj),  which  is 


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DELHI  CITY.  87 

supposed  to  have  occurred  in  that  year.    Tradition,  however,  running 
counter  to  the  unimpeachable  authority  of  the  inscription,  refers  the 
erection  of  the  pillar  to  Anang  Pdl,  founder  of  the  Tuar  dynasty  in  the 
8th  century  a.d.      A  holy  Brahman  assured  the  Raja  that  the  pillar 
had  been  driven  so  deeply  into  the  earth,  that  it  reached  the  head  of 
Vasuki,  the  serpent  king,  who  supports  the  world ;  and,  consequently, 
had  become  immoveable,  whereby  the  dominion  was  ensured  for  ever  to 
the  dynasty  of  its  founder,  so  long  as  the  pillar  stood.     The  incredulous 
Raja  ordered  the  monument  to  be  dug  up,  when  its  base  was  found 
reddened  with  the  blood  of  the  serpent  king.      Thus    convinced, 
Anang  Pal  at  once  commanded  that  the  shaft  should  be  sunk  again  in 
the  earth ;  but,  as  a  punishment  for  his  want  of  faith,  it  appeared  that 
no  force  could  restore  it  in  its  place  as  before.     Hence  the  city  derived 
its  name  of  Dhili,  from  the  fact  that  the  column  remained  loose  (dhila) 
in  the  ground !     Unfortunately  for  the  legend,  not  only  does  the 
inscription  prove  its  falsity,  but  the  name  of  Dilli  is  undoubtedly  earlier 
than  the  rise  of  the  Tuar  dynasty.     Anang  Pal,  whose  accession  is 
placed  by  General  Cunningham  in  the  year  736  A.D.,  restored  Delhi, 
which  had  fallen  into  ruins  for  some  generations,  and  made  it  the 
capital  of  his  race.     The  later  Rajas,  however,  appear  to  have  taken 
up  their  residence  at  Kanauj,  whence  they  were  expelled  about  the 
middle  of  the  nth  century  by  Chandra  Deva,  the  first  of  the  Rahtor 
kings.    Anang  Pal  11.  then  retired  to  Delhi,  which  became  once  more 
the  Tuar  metropolis.     He  rebuilt  and  adorned  the  city,  surrounding  it 
with  a  massive  line  of  fortifications,  whose  ruins  are  still  believed  to 
exist  in  the  great  circle  of  masonry  lying  around  the  Kutab  Minar. 
The  date  of  this  restoration  has  been  preserved  for  us  by  a  second 
inscription,  cut  into  the  more  ancient  pillar  of  Raja  Dhava:   'In 
Sambat  1109'  [1052  jld.],  'Anang  Pal  peopled  Dilli.'    Just  a  century 
later,  under  the  reign  of  a  third  Anang  Pal,  last  of  the  Tuar  line, 
Delhi  fell  before  Visaldeva  or  Bisaldeo,  Chauhin  ruler  of  Ajmere. 
The  conqueror  permitted  the  vanquished  Raja  to  retain  possession  as  a 
vassal ;  and  from  a  marriage  between  the  two  houses  sprang  the  cele- 
brated Prithvi  Raja,  the  last  champion  of  Hindu  independence  in 
Upper  India,  who  thus  succeeded  to  the  joint  realms  of  the  Tuars  and 
the  Chauhdns.     Prithvi  Rajd  further  strengthened  the  defences  of  the 
city  by  an  exterior  wall,  which  ran  round  the  fortifications  of  Anang 
E41,  and  of  which  remains  may  still  be  traced  for  a  considerable  distance. 
In   1 191,  Shahab-ud-dfn  made  his  first  invasion   of   Upper    India, 
bringing  the  religion  of  the  prophet  and  authentic  history  in  his  train. 
Prithvi  Rajd  successfully  defended  his  kingdom  for  the  time ;  but  two 
years  later,  the  Muhammadan  marauder  returned,  utterly  overthrew  the 
Hindus  in  a  great  battle,  and  put  their  prince  to  death  in  cold  blood. 
Kutab -ud- din,   the   Sultan's  Viceroy,  attacked  and  took   Delhi, 


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88  DELHI  CITY. 

which  became  thenceforth  the  Musalman  capital  On  the  death 
of  Shahab-ud-din,  in  1206,  the  Viceroy  became  an  independent 
sovereign,  and  founder  of  the  Slave  dynasty,  to  whom  Old  Delhi  owes 
most  of  its  grandest  ruins.  Kutab-ud-dnVs  mosque  was  commenced, 
according  to  the  inscription  on  its  entrance  archway,  immediately 
after  the  capture  of  the  city  in  1193.  It  was  completed  in  three  years, 
and  enlarged  during  the  reign  of  Altamsh,  son-in-law  of  the  founder. 
This  mosque  consists  of  an  outer  and  inner  courtyard,  the  latter 
surrounded  by  an  exquisite  colonnade,  whose  richly  decorated  shafts 
have  been  torn  from  the  precincts  of  earlier  Hindu  temples.  Originally 
a  thick  coat  of  plaster  concealed  from  the  believers'  eyes  the  profuse 
idolatrous  ornamentations ;  but  the  stucco  has  now  fallen  away,  reveal- 
ing the  delicate  workmanship  of  the  Hindu  artists  in  all  its  pristine 
wealth.  Eleven  magnificent  arches  close  its  western  facade,  Muham- 
madan  in  outline  and  design,  but  carried  out  in  detail  by  Hindu 
workmen,  as  the  intricate  lacework  which  covers  every  portion  of  the 
arcade  sufficiently  bears  witness.  Ibn  Batuta,  who  saw  the  mosque 
about  150  years  after  its  erection,  describes  it  as  unequalled  either  for 
beauty  or  extent 

The  Kutab  Minir,  another  celebrated  monument  of  the  great 
Slave  king,  stands  in  the  south-east  corner  of  the  outer  courtyard.  It 
rises  to  a  height  of  238  feet,  tapering  gracefully  from  a  diameter  of  47 
feet  at  the  base  to  nearly  9  feet  at  the  summit  The  shaft  consists  of 
5  storeys,  enclosing  a  spiral  staircase,  and  is  crowned  by  a  now  broken 
cupola,  which  fell  during  an  earthquake  in  1803.  The  original  purpose 
of  the  minaret  was  doubtless  as  a  Muazzam's  tower,  whence  the  call 
to  morning  and  evening  prayer  might  be  heard  throughout  the  whole 
city.  The  site  chosen  for  the  mosque  was  that  already  occupied  by 
Rdjd  Dhava's  pillar,  *  which  forms  the  centre  ornament  of  the  inner 
courtyard  Around,  in  every  direction,  spreads  a  heap  of  splendid  ruins, 
the  most  striking  of  which  is  the  unfinished  minaret  of  A14-ud-dfn, 
commenced  in  131 1.  The  Slave  dynasty  retained  the  sovereignty  till 
1288,  when  Jalal-ud-dfn  founded  a  new  line.  During  the  reign  of  Ald- 
ud-din,  Delhi  was  twice  unsuccessfully  attacked  by  the  Mughal  hordes. 

In  1 32 1,  the  house  of  Tughlak  succeeded  to  the  Musalmin 
Empire ;  and  Ghiyds-ud-dfn,  its  founder,  erected  a  new  capital,  Tugh- 
lakibdd,  on  a  rocky  eminence  4  miles  further  to  the  east.  Remains  of 
a  massive  citadel,  and  deserted  streets  or  lanes,  still  mark  the  spot  on 
which  this  third  metropolis  arose;  but  no  human  inhabitants  now 
frequent  the  vast  and  desolate  ruins.  Ghiyds-ud-din  died  in  1325, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Muhammad  Tughlak,  who  thrice 
attempted  to  remove  the  seat  of  Government  and  the  whole  population 
from  Delhi  to  Deogiri  in  the  Deccan.  Ibn  Batuta,  a  native  of  Tangiers, 
who  visited  his  court  in  1341,  gives  a  graphic  picture  of  the  desolate 

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DELHI  CITY.  *  89 

city,  with  its  magnificent  architectural  works,  and  its  bare,  unpeopled 
houses.  Firoz  Shah  Tughlak  once  more  removed  the  site  of  Delhi  to 
a  new  town,  Firozabad,  which  appears  to  have  occupied  the  ground 
between  the  tomb  of  Humayun  and  the  Ridge.  Amid  the  ruins  of 
this  prince's  palace,  just  outside  the  modern  south  gate,  stands  one  of 
the  famous  pillars  originally  erected  by  Asoka,  the  great  Buddhist 
Emperor,  in  the  3rd  century  b.c.  This  monolith,  42  feet  in  height, 
known  as  Firoz  Shah's  Idthi  or  club,  is  composed  of  pale  pink  sandstone, 
and  contains  a  Pali  inscription,  deciphered  by  the  painstaking  scholar- 
ship and  ingenuity  of  Mr.  James  Prinsep.  Its  connection  with  Delhi, 
however,  does  not  date  further  back  than  the  reign  of  Firoz  Shah,  who 
brought  it  from  near  Khizrabad  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Jumna,  and 
fixed  it  on  the  summit  of  his  comparatively  modern  building. 

In  December  1398,  during  the  reign  of  Muhammad  Tughlak,  the 
hordes  of  Tfmur  reached  Delhi  The  king  fled  to  Guzerat,  the  army 
suffered  a  defeat  beneath  the  walls,  and  Tfmur,  entering  the  city,  gave  it 
over  for  five  days  to  plunder  and  massacre.  Dead  bodies  choked  the 
streets;  and  when  at  last  even  the  Mughal  appetite  for  carnage  was 
satiated,  the  host  retired  dragging  with  them  into  slavery  large  numbers 
both  of  men  and  women.  For  two  months  Delhi  remained  absolutely 
without  a  show  of  government ;  until  Muhammad  Tughlak  recovered  a 
miserable  fragment  of  his  former  empire.  In  141 2,  he  died;  and  his 
successors,  the  Sayyid  dynasty,  held  Delhi  with  a  petty  principality  in 
the  neighbourhood  until  1444.  The  Lodi  family,  who  succeeded  to  the 
Musalman  Empire  in  that  year,  appear  to  have  deserted  Delhi,  fixing  their 
residence  and  the  seat  of  Government  at  Agra.  In  1 5  26,  Babar,  the  sixth 
in  descent  from  Tfmur,  and  founder  of  the  so-called  Mughal  dynasty, 
marched  into  India  with  a  small  but  disciplined  force ;  and  having  over- 
thrown Ibrahim  Lodf,  the  last  Afghan  prince,  on  the  decisive  field  of  Pan- 
ipat,  advanced  upon  Delhi,  which  he  entered  in  May  of  the  same  year. 
The  new  sovereign,  however,  resided  mainly  at  Agra,  where  he  died  in 
153a  His  son  Humayun  removed  to  Delhi,  and  built  or  restored  the 
fort  of  Purina  Kila  on  the  site  of  Indraprastha.  The  Afghan  Sher  Shah, 
who  drove  out  Humayun  in  1540,  enclosed  and  fortified  the  city  with  a 
new  walL  One  of  his  approaches,  known  as  the  Lai  Darwaza  or  Red 
Gate,  still  stands  isolated  on  the  roadside,  facing  the  modern  jail. 
The  fortress  of  Salimgarh,  already  mentioned,  preserves  the  name  of  a 
son  of  Sher  Shah.  In  1555,  Humayun  regained  his  throne,  but  died 
within  six  months  of  his  restoration.  His  tomb  forms  one  of  the  most 
striking  architectural  monuments  in  the  neighbourhood.  Akbar  and 
Jahangir  usually  resided  at  Agra,  Lahore,  or  Ajmere  (Ajmfr) ;  and 
Delhi  again  languished  in  disfavour  till  the  reign  of  Shah  Jahan. 
This  magnificent  Emperor  rebuilt  the  city  in  its  present  form,  sur- 
rounding it  with  the  existing  fortifications,  and  adding  the  title  of 


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9o  DELHI  CITY. 

Shahjahandbdd  from  his  own  name.  He  also  built  the  Jami  Masjfd, 
and  reopened  the  Western  Jumna  Canal  Under  the  reign  of 
Aurangzeb,  Delhi  was  the  seat  of  that  profuse  and  splendid  court  whose 
glories  were  narrated  to  Europe  in  extravagant  fables  by  travellers  and 
missionaries. 

After  the  death  of  Aurangzeb,  the  Empire  fell  rapidly  to  pieces ;  but 
the  numerous  palace  intrigues  and  revolutions  amid  which  it  broke 
up,  belong  to  the  general  domain  of  Indian  history.  In  1726, 
during  the  reign  of  Muhammad  Shah,  the  Marhattas  first  appeared 
beneath  the  walls  of  Delhi.  Three  years  later,  Nadir  Shah  entered 
the  city  in  triumph,  and  re-enacted  the  massacre  of  Timur.  For  fifty- 
eight  days  the  victorious  Persian  plundered  rich  and  poor  alike ;  when 
the  last  farthing  had  been  exacted,  he  left  the  city  with  a  booty 
estimated  at  ^9,000,000.  Before  the  final  disruption  of  the  decaying 
empire  in  1760,  the  unhappy  capital  was  devastated  by  a  civil  war 
carried  on  for  six  months  in  its  streets ;  twice  sacked  by  Ahmad  Shah 
Durani ;  and  finally  spoiled  by  the  rapacious  Marhattas.  Alamgfr  11., 
the  last  real  Emperor,  was  murdered  in  1 760.  Shah  Alam,  who  assumed 
the  empty  title,  could  not  establish  his  authority  in  Delhi,  which 
became  the  alternate  prey  of  Afghan  and  Marhatta  until  1771,  when 
the  latter  party  restored  the  phantom  Emperor  to  the  city  of  his 
ancestors.  In  1788,  a  Marhatta  garrison  permanently  occupied  the 
palace,  and  the  king  remained  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  Sindhia  until 
the  British  conquest 

On  March  14th,  1803,  Lord  Lake,  having  defeated  the  Marhattas, 
entered  Delhi,  and  took  the  king  under  his  protection.  Next  year, 
Holkdr  attacked  the  city ;  but  CoL  Ochterlony,  the  British  Resident, 
successfully  held  out  against  overwhelming  numbers  for  eight  days,  until 
relieved  by  Lord  Lake.  The  conquered  territory  was  administered  by 
the  British  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor  {see  Delhi  District),  while 
the  palace  remained  under  His  Majesty's  jurisdiction.  For  more  than 
half  a  century  Delhi  was  happy  in  an  entire  freedom  from  the  incidents 
of  history.  But  the  Mutiny  of  1857  once  more  gave  it  prominence  as 
the  revived  capital  of  the  fallen  Empire.  The  outbreak  at  Meerut  took 
place  on  the  evening  of  May  10th;  and  early  next  morning  the 
mutinous  troopers  had  crossed  the  Jumna,  and  clamoured  for  admis- 
sion beneath  the  Delhi  wall  The  Commandant  of  the  Guards,  the 
Commissioner,  and  the  Collector  retired  to  the  Lahore  gate  of  the  palace, 
and  were  there  cut  to  pieces.  Most  of  the  European  residents  had  then 
their  houses  within  the  city.  The  mutineers  and  the  mob  fell  upon 
them  at  once,  carrying  murder  and  plunder  into  every  house.  The 
mutinous  infantry  from  Meerut  arrived ;  and  by  eight  o'clock  the  rebels 
held  the  whole  city,  except  the  magazine  and  the  main-guard.  News  of 
these  events  soon  reached  the  cantonment  beyond  the  Ridge,  where 


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DELHI  CITY.  91 

three  battalions  of  Native  infantry  and  a  battery  of  Native  artillery  were 
stationed  The  54th  N.I.  was  marched  promptly  down  to  the  main-guard, 
but  proved  rebels  on  their  arrival,  and  cut  down  several  of  their 
officers.  Portions  of  two  regiments,  however,  together  with  the  artillery, 
remained  all  day  under  arms  in  the  main-guard,  and  were  reinforced 
from  time  to  time  by  the  few  fugitives  who  succeeded  in  escaping  from 
the  city.  The  magazine  stood  half-way  between  the  palace  and  the  main- 
guard  ;  and  here  Lieutenant  Willoughby,  with  eight  other  Europeans, 
held  out  bravely  for  some  time,  determined  to  defend  the  immense 
store  of  munitions  collected  within;  but  about  mid-day,  defence 
became  hopeless,  and  the  nine  brave  men  blew  up  the  magazine  behind 
them.  Five  perished  in  the  explosion ;  two  reached  the  main-guard ; 
while  the  remaining  two  escaped  by  a  different  road  to  Meerut  All  day 
long  the  Sepoys  in  the  cantonment  and  the  main-guard  were  restrained 
by  the  expected  arrival  of  white  regiments  from  Meerut ;  but  as  evening 
drew  on,  and  no  European  troops  appeared,  they  openly  threw  off 
their  allegiance,  and  began  an  indiscriminate  massacre  of  the  officers, 
women,  and  children.  A  few  escaped  along  the  roads  to  Meerut 
or  Karnil,  but  most  even  of  these  were  murdered  or  perished  of 
hunger  on  the  way.  By  nightfall,  every  vestige  of  British  authority 
had  disappeared  alike  in  the  cantonments  and  in  the  city.  Meanwhile, 
in  Delhi,  some  fifty  Christians,  European  or  Eurasian,  mostly  women 
and  children,  had  been  thrust  indiscriminately  into  a  room  of  the  palace, 
and,  after  sixteen  days'  confinement,  were  massacred  in  the  courtyard. 

The  restoration  of  Mughal  sovereignty,  and  the  acts  by  which  it 
was  accompanied,  belong  rather  to  Imperial  than  local  history.  The 
Court  of  the  rebel  Emperor  did  not  long  enjoy  its  independence.  On 
June  8th,  1857,  the  British  forces  fought  the  battle  of  Badli-ka-Sarii, 
and  the  same  evening  swept  the  mutineers  from  the  cantonments,  and 
encamped  upon  the  rocky  ridge  outside  the  city.  For  three  months 
the  siege  proceeded  under  the  most  disadvantageous  conditions,  and 
at  length,  on  September  8th,  the  heavy  batteries  were  got  into  action, 
and  an  assault  was  prepared.  On  the  14th,  our  troops  advanced  to 
storm  the  gates,  in  the  face  of  an  overwhelming  rebel  garrison,  and, 
in  spite  of  serious  losses  and  heavy  fighting,  succeeded  by  a  mar- 
vellous display  of  gallantry  in  carrying  the  bastions  and  occupying  the 
whole  eastern  quarter  of  the  city.  For  five  days  fighting  continued 
in  the  streets,  the  rebels  retreating  from  point  to  point,  and  every 
defensible  position  being  occupied  by  our  troops  only  after  a  severe 
struggle.  On  the  night  of  the  20th,  the  palace  and  the  remaining 
portions  of  the  city  were  evacuated  by  the  mutineers,  and  Delhi  came 
once  more  into  the  possession  of  the  British  forces.  The  king,  with 
several  members  of  his  family,  took  refuge  in  the  tomb  of  Humdyun, 
and  surrendered  on  the  21st.    Tried  by  a  military  commission,  he 


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92  DELHI  CITY. 

was  found  guilty  of  encouraging  acts  of  rebellion  and  murder,  but, 
owing  to  the  terms  of  his  surrender,  received  no  heavier  penalty  than 
that  of  perpetual  banishment  He  died  at  Rangoon  on  October  7th, 
1862.  Delhi,  thus  recovered,  remained  for  a  while  under  military 
government ;  and  it  became  necessary,  owing  to  the  frequent  murders 
of  European  soldiers,  to  temporarily  expel  the  population  from  the  city. 
Shortly  after,  the  Hindu  inhabitants  were  freely  readmitted;  but 
the  Muhammadans  were  still  rigorously  excluded,  till  the  restoration 
of  the  city  to  the  civil  authorities,  on  January  the  nth,  1858.  The 
work  of  reorganization  then  continued  rapidly  during  the  remainder 
of  that  year;  and  after  a  few  months,  the  shattered  bastions  and  the 
ruined  walls  alone  recalled  the  memory  of  the  Mutiny.  Since  that  date 
Delhi  has  settled  down  into  a  prosperous  commercial  town,  and  a  great 
railway  centre.  The  romance  of  antiquity  still  lingers  around  it,  and 
Delhi  was  chosen  as  the  scene  of  the  Imperial  Proclamation  on  the  1st 
of  January  1877. 

Population. — In  1853,  the  number  of  inhabitants  of  Delhi  City  was 
returned  at  152,426.  In  1868,  the  population  numbered  154,417, 
showing  an  increase  of  1991  persons  in  the  fifteen  years.  Taking 
into  consideration  the  actual  losses  during  the  Mutiny,  the  expulsion 
of  the  Musalmans  after  its  suppression,  and  the  large  number 
of  persons  thrown  out  of  employment  by  the  removal  court,  the 
fact  that  such  an  increase  should  have  taken  place  bears  witness  to 
the  renewed  prosperity  of  the  city.  According  to  the  Census  of 
1868,  the  population  was  composed  of  83,346  males  and  71,071 
females.  The  Hindus  numbered  85,087,  being  46,541  males  and 
38,546  females;  the  Muhammadans,  61,720,  being  32,361  males  and 
29,359  females.  There  were  also  357  Sfkhs,  and  7253  'others.'  In 
1876,  the  population  of  Delhi  and  its  suburbs  was  returned  at  160,553. 

Institutions,  Public  Buildings,  etc — The  Delhi  Institute,  a  handsome 
building  in  the  Chandni  Chauk,  erected  by  public  subscription,  with 
the  assistance  of  a  Government  grant,  contains  a  Darbar  Hall,  a 
museum,  a  library  and  reading  room,  and  the  lecture  theatre  and  ball- 
room of  the  station.  The  municipal  committee  and  the  honorary 
magistrates  hold  their  sittings  in  the  Darbar  Hall  The  official 
buildings  include  the  District  court  offices  and  treasury,  just  within  the 
Kashmir  gate,  the  tahsili  and  police  offices,  the  District  jail,  the  lunatic 
asylum,  the  sick  hospital,  and  a  dispensary,  with  two  branches.  The 
poorhouse  is  supported  by  private  subscription,  supplemented  by  a  grant 
from  the  municipal  funds.  Four  churches  exist  in  Delhi,  the  Station 
Church,  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Presbyterian  chapels,  and  a  chapel 
belonging  to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  The 
Delhi  College,  founded  in  1792,  and  supported  by  the  voluntary  con- 
tributions of  Muhammadan  gentlemen,  acquired  a  large  accession  of 


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DEMAGIRI—DENKANKOTAI.  93 

income  in  1829,  from  the  gift  of  ,£17,000  by  Naw&b  Fazl  AM  KMn  of 
Lucknow.  In  1855,  the  Educational  Department  undertook  the 
management  During  the  Mutiny,  the  valuable  oriental  library  was 
plundered,  and  the  building  destroyed.  A  new  institution,  founded  in 
1858,  was  affiliated  to  the  Calcutta  University  in  1864,  and  educates 
up  to  the  level  of  its  degrees. 

Communications,  Irude,  etc. — The  East  Indian  Railway  enters  Delhi 
by  an  iron  bridge  over  the  Jumna,  from  Ghdziibdd  Junction  in  Meerut 
District.  The  Punjab  Railway  also  runs  its  trains  over  the  same 
branch  line.  The  terminus  stands  in  the  city,  near  the  fort.  The 
Rdjputina  State  Railway,  running  to  Ajmere,  has  its  station  adjoining 
that  of  the  other  lines.  The  Grand  Trunk  Road  and  other  metalled 
highways  lead  to  all  important  centres,  and  the  Jumna  carries  a  large 
portion  of  the  heavy  traffic.  Delhi  possesses  a  very  considerable 
trade,  though  the  continuation  of  the  great  north-western  trunk  railway 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river  has  thrown  it  somewhat  off  the 
modern  line  of  traffic.  It  still  forms,  however,  the  main  entrepot 
for  commerce  between  Calcutta  or  Bombay  on  the  one  side,  and 
Rijputdna  on  the  other.  The  chief  imports  include  indigo,  chemicals, 
cotton,  silk,  fibres,  grain,  oil-seeds,  ghl,  metals,  salt,  horns,  hides,  and 
European  piece-goods.  The  exports  consist  of  the  same  articles  in 
transit,  together  with  tobacco,  sugar,  oil,  jewellery,  and  gold  or  silver 
lacework.  Beyond  the  borders  of  the  Province,  Delhi  merchants  corre- 
spond with  those  of  Jind,  Kibul,  Alwar,  Bikaner  (Bickaneer),  Jaipur 
(Jeypore),  and  the  Dodb ;  while  with  all  the  Punjab  towns  they  have 
extensive  dealings.  The  Bengal  and  Delhi  banks  represent  European 
finance,  and  several  cotton  merchants  have  agents  in  the  city.  The 
only  manufacture  of  importance  consists  of  gold,  silver,  or  tinsel  filigree 
work,  for  which  Delhi  has  long  been  famous ;  but  the  imitation  of  European 
models  is  unfortunately  destroying  its  originality  and  beauty.  The 
abolition  of  the  Mughal  court  has  also  acted  prejudicially  to  this  branch 
of  industry.  The  internal  affairs  of  the  city  are  managed  by  a  first- 
class  municipality.  The  municipal  income  in  1875-76  amounted  to 
^26,577,  and  the  expenditure  to  ,£24,512. 

Dem&girL — Falls  in  the  river  Karnaphuli  in  the  Chittagong  Hill 
Tracts,  Bengal  About  three  days'  journey  from  Barkal,  where  the 
Karnaphuli  narrows  considerably  as  it  enters  the  higher  ranges  of  hills 
in  the  District.  Above  the  Demagiri  Falls  it  becomes  an  insignificant 
stream.  A  bdzdr  for  trade  in  india-rubber,  opened  at  the  village  of 
Demdgiri  in  1872,  has  now  become  a  flourishing  mart. 

DenkankotaL — Town  in  Ostfr  t&luk,  Salem  District,  Madras. 
Lat  120  31'  45"  n.,  long.  770  49'  50"  e.  ;  elevation  above  sea  level  about 
2000  feet ;  houses,  902 ;  pop.  (1872),  4797.  Situated  68  miles  north  of 
Salem.     As  the  headquarters  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name,  it 


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94  DENWA— DEOBAND. 

contains  the  usual  subordinate  administrative  establishments.  Up  to 
1859,  Denkankotai,  the  upland  Division  of  Osiir,  formed  a  separate 
tdluk,  now  incorporated  with  Osiir.  It  was  ceded  with  the  Bara  Mahal 
to  the  British  in  1792. 

Denwa. — River  in  Hoshangabad  District;  Central  Provinces,  running 
in  a  rough  semicircle  round  the  scarped  cliffs  on  the  eastern  and 
northern  faces  of  the  Mahideo  chain.  Rising  in  lat  22°  20'  n.,  and 
long.  78°  27'  30"  e.,  it  winds  through  a  deep  glen  into  a  small  valley 
shut  off  from  the  main  Narbada  (Nerbudda)  valley  by  an  irregular  line 
of  low  hills,  and  entering  the  hills  again  towards  the  west,  it  meets 
the  Tawa  (lat.  220  34  n.,  long.  780  o'  30"  e.)  a  few  miles  above  Bagri. 
Denwa.  —  Forest  in  Hoshang£bdd  District,  Central  Provinces, 
covering  a  level  tract  of  about  100  square  miles  along  the  valley  of  the 
Denwa  river.    Abounds  in  fine  sdl  wood. 

Deo. — Town  in  Aurang£bdd  Subdivision,  Gaya  District,  Bengal 
Lat.  240  39'  30"  n.,  long.  840  28'  38"  e.  Seat  of  the  Deo  Rajas,  one 
of  the  most  ancient  families  of  Behar,  who  trace  their  descent  from  the 
Rinds  of  Udaipur  (Oodeypore).  In  the  struggle  between  Warren 
Hastings  and  the  Raja  of  Benares,  the  Deo  Raji,  although  too  old  to 
take  the  field  in  person,  joined  his  forces  to  those  of  the  British.  His 
next  successor  mustered  a  loyal  contingent  against  the  mutineers  at 
Sargujl  His  son,  in  turn,  rendered  good  service  to  us  in  quelling  the 
Kol  insurrectioa  The  present  Raja  stood  boldly  forward  for  the  British 
during  the  Mutiny  of  1857.  Four  generations  of  unswerving  loyalty 
have  been  rewarded  by  liberal  grants  of  land  and  villages,  and  the 
present  chief  (1877),  Sir  Jii  Prakash  Sinh,  K.C.S.I.,  received  the  title 
of  Maharaja  Bahadur,  with  a  Knight  Commandership  of  the  Star  of 
India,  for  his  services  in  1857.  Seat  of  an  old  ruined  fort  and  famous 
temple,  at  which  thousands  of  people  congregate  twice  a  year  to  hold 
the  Chhat  festival  in  honour  of  the  Sun-god. 

Deoband. — Southern  tahsU  of  Saharanpur  District,  North-Western 
Provinces,  consisting  of  a  level  agricultural  plain,  traversed  by  the 
Eastern  Jumna  (Jamuna)  Canal,  and  by  the  Sind,  Punjab,  and  Delhi 
Railway.  Area,  387  square  miles,  of  which  314  are  cultivated;  pop. 
(1872),  198,693;  land  revenue,  ^30,205;  total  Government  revenue, 
^33,356 ;  rental  paid  by  cultivators,  ^48,682 ;  incidence  of  Govern- 
ment revenue  per  acre,  2s.  5  Jd. 

Deoband. — Municipal  town  in  Sahdranpur  District,  North-Western 
Provinces,  and  headquarters  of  the  tahsil  of  the  same  name.  Area, 
193  acres;  pop.  (1872),  19,168,  being  8614  Hindus  and  10,554 
Muhammadans.  Lies  in  lat.  290  41'  50"  n.,  and  long.  770  43'  10*  s., 
about  2  \  miles  to  the  west  of  the  East  Kili  Nadi,  with  which  it  was 
formerly  connected  by  a  waterway  known  as  the  Jor.  Half  a  mile  from 
the  town,  the  Jor  expands  into  a  small  lake,  the  Devi-kiind,  whose  banks 


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DEOCHA— DEODAR  STATE.  95 

are  covered  with  temples,  ghdts,  and  sati  monuments,  much  frequented 
by  devout  pilgrims.  The  town  has  4  ddzdrs,  3  of  which  are  prosperous 
and  cleanly.  The  dominant  Musalman  population  maintain  no  less 
than  42  mosques.  Yet  Deoband  is  essentially  a  town  of  Hindu  origin, 
with  a  legendary  history  of  3000  years.  The  Pdndavas  passed  their 
first  exile  within  its  precincts,  and  the  fortress  was  one  of  the  earliest 
to  fall  before  the  famous  Musalmin  saint,  Silir  Masaiid  Ghazi, 
Originally  the  town  bore  the  name  of  Deviban  or  the  Sacred  Grove, 
and  a  religious  assembly  still  takes  place  yearly  in  a  neighbouring 
wood,  which  contains  a  temple  of  Devi.  During  the  Mutiny  several 
disturbances  occurred,  but  they  were  repressed  without  serious  difficulty. 
Export  trade  in  grain,  refined  sugar,  and  oil ;  manufacture  of  fine  cloth. 
Dispensary,  Anglo-vernacular  school,  police  station,  post  office,  tahsili. 
Distant  from  Muzaffarnagar  15  J  miles  north.  Municipal  revenue 
(1875-76),  ^2011 ;  from  taxes,  ^1010,  or  is.  ofd.  per  head  of  popula- 
tion (18,976)  within  municipal  limits. 

Deocha. — Village  in  Birbhiim  District,  Bengal.  One  of  the  three 
or  four  places  in  the  District  where  the  smelting  of  iron  is  carried 
on.  There  are  here  thirty  furnaces  for  the  reduction  of  the  ore  into 
pig-iron,  and  as  many  more  for  refining  it  A  curious  feature  of  this 
industry  is,  that  these  two  operations  are  conducted  by  people  of  totally 
different  sects  and  religion — the  reducers  of  the  ore  being  invariably 
Muhammadans,  and  the  refiners  as  invariably  Hindus.  The  furnaces 
work  throughout  the  year,  with  occasional  stoppages  for  festivals. 
From  each  furnace  a  produce  of  about  34  tons  of  pig-iron  is  annually 
obtained  ;  the  characteristics  of  the  Birbhiim  metal  are  toughness  and 
malleability. 

Deodangar  (or  Deodonga). — Mountain  peak  in  Pdrla  Kirriedi  estate, 
Ganjim  District,  Madras;  situated  in  lat.  180  54'  35"  N.,  and  long.  840 
6'  2"  £.,  20  miles  south-west  from  Mahendragiri,  and  9  from  Naman- 
agaram.  Height,  4534  feet  above  the  sea;  a  station  of  the  Trigono- 
metrical Survey. 

Deodar  (Diodar). — Native  State  under  the  Political  Agency  of 
Palanpur,  in  Guzerat,  Bombay ;  bounded  on  the  north  by  Tharad, 
on  the  east  by  Kinkrej,  on  the  south  by  Bhdbhar  and  Terwara,  and 
on  the  west  by  Suig£m  and  Tharad.  Estimated  area,  440  square  miles ; 
pop.  (1872),  19,701,  principally  Rdjputsand  Kolfs;  estimated  revenue, 
^2500.  The  country  consists  of  a  flat,  open  plain,  covered  with 
low  brushwood.  The  soil  is  generally  sandy,  producing  but  one  crop 
yearly,  and  that  only  of  the  common  sorts  of  grain.  There  are  no  rivers, 
but  numerous  ponds  and  reservoirs,  which,  as  a  rule,  dry  up  before  the 
end  of  March.  There  are  no  means  of  irrigation,  and  the  water,  found  at 
a  depth  of  from  40  to  60  feet,  is  brackish.  April,  May,  June,  and  July 
are  excessively  hot ;  rain  falls  in  August  and  September ;  October  and 


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96  DEOGAON— DEOGARH. 

November  are  again  warm ;  while  the  period  from  December  to  March 
is  cold  and  agreeable.  Fever  is  the  prevailing  disease.  Coarse  cloth, 
worn  by  the  poorest  classes,  is  manufactured  by  men  of  the  Dher  caste. 
There  are  numerous  country  tracks  fit  for  carts,  but  no  regular  road 
has  yet  been  made.  Clarified  butter  is  the  only  export,  which  finds  a 
ready  market  in  the  neighbouring  Districts.  The  present  (1875)  Chief 
is  fifty  years  of  age.  His  name  is  Malajf  Akhesinh  Waghela,  and  his 
title  Thikur.  He  has  no  issue,  but  his  co-sharer,  Bhupat  Sinh,  who  is 
forty-eight  years  of  age,  has  two  sons.  The  chief  does  not  possess  a 
sanad  authorizing  adoption,  nor  does  the  succession  follow  the  rule  of 
primogeniture.  No  military  force  is  maintained.  The  first  relations 
between  Deodar  and  the  British  date  from  18 19.  This  State  depends 
on  the  British  Government  for  external  defence,  but  is  allowed  complete 
freedom  in  the  internal  management  of  its  affairs.  The  chief  town  of 
the  State,  Deodar,  is  situated  in  lat  240  8'  30"  n.,  and  long.  710  49'  e., 
45  miles  west  of  Pdlanpur. 

Deog&OIL — South-eastern  tahsilot  Azamgarh  District,  North-Western 
Provinces.  Area,  261  square  miles,  of  which  139  are  cultivated;  pop. 
(1872),  135,458;  land  revenue,  ^17,104;  total  Government  revenue, 
^18,773  ;  rental  paid  by  cultivators,  ^37,012  ;  incidence  of  Govern- 
ment revenue  per  acre,  2s.  ofd. 

Deogarh. — Subdivision  of  the  District  of  the  Sintal  Pargands,  Bengal. 
Lat.  24°  2'  30"  to  240  36'  n.,  and  long.  86°  30'  to  87°  6'  30*  e.  ;  area, 
1734  miles;  townships,  3334;  houses,  57,854;  pop.  (1872),  342,390. 
Of  the  total  population,  254,149,  or  74*3  per  cent,  are  Hindus ;  22,684, 
or  6*6  per  cent.,  are  Muhammadans;  73  Christians;  and  65,484,  or 
19*1  per  cent.,  belong  to  other  denominations  not  specified.  Proportion 
of  males  in  total  population,  507  per  cent ;  average  density  of  popula- 
tion, 197  per  square  mile ;  average  number  of  townships  per  square 
mile,  1 '92  ;  inhabitants  per  township,  103  ;  houses  per  square  mile,  33  ; 
inmates  per  house,  5*9.  This  Subdivision  comprises  the  3  thdnds  or 
police  circles  of  Deogarh,  Koron,  and  Jimtira.  It  contained,  in 
1870-71,  4  magisterial  and  revenue  courts,  a  general  police  force  of 
172  men,  and  a  village  watch  of  1326  men;  the  cost  of  Subdivisional 
administration  was  returned  at  ^2073,  8s. 

Deogarh. — Administrative  headquarters  of  Deogarh  Subdivision, 
Santdl  Pargands  District,  Bengal  Lat  24°  29'  34"  n.,  long.  86°  44' 
35"  e.,  about  4  miles  east  of  the  Chord  line  of  railway;  pop.  (1872), 
4861.  Deogarh  is  the  only  municipality  in  the  Santdl  Parganis ; 
revenue  (1876-77),  ^317;  average  rate  of  taxation,  io£d.  per  head  of 
population.  The  principal  object  of  interest  is  the  group  of  22  temples 
dedicated  to  Siva,  which  form  a  centre  of  pilgrimage  for  Hindus  from 
all  parts  of  India. 

Deogarh. — Seaport  in  the  Deogarh  Subdivision  of  Ratnigiri  District, 


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DEOGARH— DEONTHAL.  97 

Bombay.  Lat  160  22'  n.,  long.  73°  24'  e.  ;  average  annual  value 
of  trade  for  five  years  ending  1873-74 — exports,  ^7428;  imports, 
^6052. 

Deogarh. — Village  in  Chhindwdra  District,  Central  Provinces; 
picturesquely  situated  among  the  hills,  about  24  miles  south-west  of 
Chhindw&a  town.  Ancient  seat  of  the  midland  Gond  kingdom. 
Though  now  containing  only  50  or  60  houses,  the  traces  of  foundations 
in  the  surrounding  jungle,  and  the  numerous  remains  of  wells  and  tanks, 
show  that  the  former  city  must  have  covered  a  large  area.  Deogarh 
contains  several  old  temples,  and  on  a  high  peak  outside  the  village 
stands  a  ruined  stone  fort.  All  the  buildings  are  constructed  of  the 
finest  limestone. 

Deogarh. — State  forest  in  Chhindwdra  District,  Central  Provinces ; 
occupying  an  area  of  about  90  square  miles,  and  containing  fine  teak 
and  other  timber  trees. 

DeohtfL — Village  in  Bashahr  State,  Punjab;  situated  in  lat.  310  6r 
n.,  long.  770  44'  e.,  upon  a  tributary  of  the  river  Pdlar,  in  a  fertile 
valley  enclosed  by  mountains,  on  whose  terraces  rice  and  other  crops 
are  carefully  cultivated.  Thornton  describes  the  residence  of  the  Rind, 
as  built  in  partially  Chinese  style,  the  lower  portion  consisting  of 
masonry,  while  the  upper  half  is  ringed  round  with  wooden  galleries, 
and  capped  by  overhanging  eaves.  Elevation  above  sea  level,  6550 
feet 

Deol&li — Cantonment  in  the  Ndsik  Subdivision  of  Ndsik  District, 
Bombay.  Lat.  190  56'  20*  n.,  and  long.  730  51'  30"  e.  ;  pop.  (1872), 
1906.  Weil  known  to  European  soldiers  as  the  railway  station  at  which 
all  reliefs  are  halted  for  the  first  time  after  disembarkation  at  Bombay. 

Deoli — Town  in  Wardha  District,  Central  Provinces,  and  the  second 
largest  cotton  mart  in  the  District;  11  miles  south-west  of  Wardha. 
Lat  200  39'  n.,  long.  78°  31'  30"  e.  ;  pop.  (1876),  5558.  At  the 
market,  held  every  Saturday  and  Sunday,  a  brisk  traffic  is  carried  on  in 
cattle  and  agricultural  produce.  Deoli  has  two  market-places,  one 
specially  set  apart  for  the  cotton  merchants,  in  which  the  ground  is 
covered  with  loose  stones,  to  preserve  the  cotton  from  dirt  and  white 
ants ;  in  the  centre  are  two  raised  platforms,  on  which  the  cotton  is 
weighed.  Anglo-vemacular  town  school,  Government  garden,  sardi 
with  furnished  rooms  for  Europeans,  dispensary,  and  police  station,  etc. 
In  1870,  Rijd  Tdnoji  Bhonsli,  the  representative  of  the  former  rulers  of 
Nigpur,  held  Deoli  at  a  quit-rent 

Deanth&L — Village  in  Simla  District,  Punjab,  lying  in  lat.  310  1'  n., 
and  long.  770  2'  e.,  on  the  route  from  Subdthu  to  Simla,  3^  miles  north 
of  the  former  station ;  situated  in  a  romantic  glen,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Gambhar,  with  cultivated  terraces,  artificially  made  upon  the  mountain 
sides.    Elevation  above  sea  level,  2200  feet. 

vol.  in.  (^ 

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98  DEONTHAL  HILL—DEORI. 

Deonth&L— Hill  in  Hindiir  State,  Punjab.  Lat.  31°  11'  n.,  long. 
760  53'  e.  A  peak  of  the  Malaun  range,  celebrated  as  the  site  of  a 
decisive  engagement  during  the  Gurkha*  war  of  1815.  Lies  \\  mile 
south  of  Malaun,  between  that  fort  and  Sarajgarh,  both  of  which  were 
held  by  the  Gurkhas  in  April  18 15,  when  General  Ochterlony  advanced 
to  reduce  them.  A  detachment  under  Colonel  Thompson  occupied 
Deonthal,  and  repulsed,  with  great  loss,  a  body  of  2000  Gurkhas,  who 
attacked  their  position.  This  engagement  terminated  the  war,  and 
the  Gurkhas  soon  after  ceded  the  Hill  States. 

Deogray&g. — Village  in  Garhwil  District,  North-Western  Provinces ; 
situated  in  lat  30°  8'  n.,  and  long.  780  39'  e.,  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Alaknanda  and  the  Bhagirathi  rivers;  elevation  above  sea  level, 
2266  feet  Below  the  village  the  united  stream  takes  the  name  of  the 
Ganges,  and  the  point  of  junction  forms  one  of  the  five  sacred  halting- 
places  in  the  pilgrimage  which  devout  Hindus  pay  to  HimachaL  The 
village  is  perched  100  feet  above  the  water's  edge,  on  the  scarped  side 
of  a  mountain,  which  rises  behind  it  to  a  height  of  800  feet  The  great 
temple  of  Rami  Chandra,  built  of  massive  uncemented  masonry,  stands 
upon  a  terrace  in  the  upper  part  of  the  town,  and  consists  of  an  irregular 
pyramid,  capped  by  a  white  cupola  with  a  golden  ball  and  spire.  The 
Brihmans  compute  its  age  at  10,000  years.  Religious  ablutions  take 
place  at  three  basins,  excavated  in  the  rock  at  the  point  of  junction  of 
the  holy  streams.  An  earthquake  in  1803  shattered  the  temple  and 
other  buildings ;  but  the  damage  was  subsequently  repaired  through  the 
munificence  of  Daulat  Rio  Sindhia.  The  inhabitants  consist  chiefly  of 
Brihmans  from  the  Deccan. 

Deora  Kot — Town  in  Faizibid  (Fyzabad)  District,  Oudh;  16  miles 
from  the  town  of  Faizibid,  on  the  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand  line  of  rail- 
way. Pop.  (1869),  2271  Hindus  and  191  Muhammadans — total,  2462. 
Temple  to  Mahideo. 

Deori  (Devart). — Ancient  chiefship  attached  to  Raipur  District, 
Central  Provinces ;  on  the  west  of  the  Jonk  river.  Consists  of  50  villages, 
the  principal  of  which  is  situated  in  lat  210  16'  30*  n.,  and  long.  82° 
46'  30*  e.    The  chief  is  a  Binjwan 

Deori — Chief  town  of  a  tract  of  the  same  name  in  Sagar  (Saugor) 
District,  Central  Provinces ;  situated  in  lat  230  23'  n.,  and  long.  790  4' 
e.,  about  37  miles  south  of  Sagar,  on  the  Narsinhpur  road,  at  an 
elevation  of  1700  feet  above  sea  leveL  Pop.  (1876),  3994,  mainly 
agricultural.  Deori  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  Bara  Deori,  and  was 
formerly  called  Rimgarh  Ujargarh.  The  present  name  was  derived 
from  a  temple  still  largely  resorted  to.  Weekly  market ;  coarse  white 
cloth  is  manufactured  for  export  The  fort,  situated  to  the  west  of  the 
town,  and  still  in  tolerable  preservation,  must  once  have  been  a  place  of 
great  strength.    The  walls  enclose  a  space  of  3  acres,  formerly  covered 


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DEORIA—DERA  GHAZI  KHAN  DISTRICT.  99 

with  buildings,  but  now  a  complete  waste.  It  was  built,  as  it  now 
stands,  about  17 13,  by  Durga*  Sinh,  the  son  of  Himmat  Sinh,  the  Gond 
ruler  of  Gaurjhamar,  at  the  cost  of  a  Idkh  of  rupees  (say  £10,000),  and 
taken  from  him  in  1741  by  the  troops  of  the  Peshwl  Under  the 
Marhattas,  the  town  flourished.  In  1767,  the  Peshwi  bestowed  Deori 
and  the  Panch  Mahal,  or  five  tracts  attached  to  it,  rent  free  on  Dhonda 
Dattitraya,  a  Marhatta*  pandit,  whose  descendant,  Rimchandra  Rao, 
still  held  it  in  181 7.  In  1813,  ZaTfm  Sinh,  Raj£  of  Garhikola,  plun- 
dered the  town,  and  set  it  on  fire ;  on  which  occasion  30,000  persons 
perished.  In  181 7,  the  Peshwi  ceded  Sagar  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment, but  during  the  next  year  the  Pinch  Mahil,  with  Deori,  were 
made  over  to  Sindhia,  Rimchandra  R4o  receiving  another  estate  in 
compensation.  In  1825,  they  were  again  transferred  by  Sindhia  to  the 
British  Government  for  management,  and  were  finally  made  part  of 
British  territory  by  the  treaty  of  i860.  In  1857,  soon  after  the  begin-. 
ning  of  the  Mutiny,  a  Gond  named  Durjan  Sinh,  who  owned  Sinhpur 
and  other  villages  near  Deori,  seized  the  fort  with  a  band  of  rebels ;  but 
about  a  month  later  he  was  expelled  by  Safdar  Husain,  the  officer  in 
charge  of  the  Deori  police.  Deori  has  a  dispensary,  police  station, 
District  post  office,  customs  station,  and  3  schools — 2  for  boys  and  1  for 
girls. 

Deoria. — Southern  tahsil  of  Gorakhpur  District,  North-Western 
Provinces ;  consisting  of  an  almost  unbroken  plain,  Area,  869  square 
miles,  of  which  603  were  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  454i495>  land 
revenue,  ,£40,998;  total  Government  revenue,  ,£45,008;  rental  paid 
by  cultivators,  ,£98,495 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre, 

3S.  5fd- 

DeosAr. — Town  in  Jiipur  (Jeypore)  State,  Rajputana,  situated  on 
the  road  from  Agra  to  Ajmere;  lat  260  51'  n.,  long.  760  23'  e. 
Described  by  Thornton  as  a  town  of  considerable  size,  built  on  one  side 
of  a  rocky  hill,  nearly  4  miles  in  circumference,  and  containing  the 
State  prison.  The  town  is  in  a  decaying  state,  and  is  surrounded  by  a 
half-ruined  walL  Contains  many  handsome  temples  and  tombs,  but  all 
crumbling  away  from  neglect 

Deotfgarh. — Mountain  range  in  the  Province  of  Assam,  forming  the 
south-eastern  boundary  of  the  Nagi  Hills  District  It  contains  the 
sources  of  the  Barik,  Dayang,  and  Makru  rivers.  The  lower  slopes 
project  in  table-shaped  masses  with  grassy  slopes. 

Deri. — Southern  tahsil  of  Kangra  District,  Punjab.  Area,  494 
square  miles;  pop.  (1868),  126,294;  persons  per  square  mile,  255. 

Deri  Ohizf  KMn.— A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governor- 
ship of  the  Punjab  (Panjab),  lying  between  28°  27'  and  31°  14  3°" 
N.  lat,  and  between  690  35'  and  700  59'  e.  long. ;  with  an  area,  accord- 
ing to  the  Parliamentary  returns  for  1876-77,  of  4740  square  miles, 


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ioo  DERA  GHAZI  KHAN  DISTRICT. 

and  a  population  (1868)  of  308,840  persons.  Deri  Ghdzi  KMn  is 
the  southernmost  District  of  the  Derdjdt  Division.  It  is  bounded 
on  the  north  by  Derd  Ismail  Khdn,  on  the  west  by  the  Suldimdn  Hills, 
on  the  south  by  Jacobdbdd  in  Sind,  and  on  the  east  by  the  Indus. 
The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  the  town  of  Dera  Ghazi 
Khan. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Derd  Ghdzf  Khdn  consists  of  a 
narrow  strip  of  sandy  lowland,  between  the  Suliimdn  Hills  and  the 
bank  of  the  river  Indus.    On  the  west,  the  mountains  rise  in  a  succes- 
sion of  knife-like  ridges  towards  the  hilly  plateau  beyond  the 'frontier, 
and  give  shelter  to  independent  tribes  of  Baluchi  origin.     From  their 
feet,  the  plain  slopes  gradually  eastward,  in  a  dreary  and  monotonous 
level  only  broken  from  time  to  time  by  sandy  undulations,  and  com- 
posed of  a  rigid  clay  which  requires  profuse  irrigation  before  it  can 
yield  to  the  arts  of  the  cultivator.     Numerous  torrents  pour  down  from 
the  hilly  barrier  on  the  west,  but  soon  sink  into  the  thirsty  soil,  or 
are  checked  by  artificial  embankments  for  the  water  supply  of  the 
surrounding  fields.     The  Kaha  and  the  Sanghar  alone  possess  perennial 
streams,   all  the  minor  water-courses  drying  up  entirely  during  the 
summer  months.      The  whole  western   half  of  the  District,   known 
as  the  Pachdd,  is  then  totally  deserted,  and  its  Baluchi  inhabitants 
seek  pasturage  for  their  flocks  either  among  the  hills  beyond  the 
border,  or  in  the  moister  lands  which  fringe  the  bank  of  the  Indus. 
Water  can  only  be  procured  from  wells  in  this  arid  region  at  a  depth  of 
250  or  300  feet.     Between  the  Pachdd  and  the  river,  a  barren  belt  of 
desert  sand  intervenes — without  water,  without  inhabitants,  and  without 
vegetation.     But  as  the  plain  still  slopes  eastward,  it  reaches  at  last  a 
level  at  which  the  waters  from  the  Indus  begin  to  fertilize  the  sandy 
soiL     The  country  rapidly  assumes  a  fresher  and  greener  aspect,  a  few 
trees  again  appear  upon  the  scene,  and  human  habitations  grow  more 
and  more  numerous  as  the  cultivated  plain  approaches  the  Indus  itself. 
Much  of  the  land  in  the  lower  slopes  lies  open  to  direct  inundation 
from  its  floods,  while  the  higher  tracts  are  irrigated  by  canals  and  wells. 
This  portion  of  the  District,  known  as  the  Sind,  comprises  the  greater 
part  of  the  whole  cultivated  area,  and  has  also  considerable  tracts  of 
jungle  under  the  management  of  the  Forest  Department     Date  palms 
grow  luxuriantly  in  picturesque  groves,  and  shelter  the  town  and  can- 
tonment of  Derd  Ghdzf  Khdn  with  their  pleasant  shade.     With  these 
exceptions,  however,  the  District  is  almost  destitute  of  trees,  and  even 
in  the  most  favoured  parts  the  jungle  seldom  attains  a  height  of  more 
than  12  or  15  feet.    The  wood  serves  chiefly  as  fuel  for  the  steamers 
on  the  Indus.     The  principal  peak  of  the  Suliimdn  mountains  reaches 
an  elevation  of  7462  feet     The  most  important  passes  are  those  of 
Sanghar,  Sakhi-Sarwdr,  Kalid,  Chdchdr,  and  Sori :  they  are  all  held  by 


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DERA  GHAZI  KHAN  DISTRICT.  101 

independent  Baluchfs,  responsible  to  the  British  Government  for  the 
proper  police  duties  of  their  respective  highways. 

History. — The  tract  between  the  Suldiman  mountains  and  the  Indus 
appears  to  have  been  the  seat  of  a  Hindu  population  from  a  very  early 
date.     Many  towns  in  the  District  have  close  associations  with  ancient 
Hindu  legend,  and  especially  with  the  mythical  Punjab  hero,  Rasalu. 
Ruins    still  exist  at   Sanghar,  and  elsewhere,   which  probably  date 
back  to  a  period  earlier  than  the  Muhammadan  invasion  of  India; 
while  tradition  connects  the  surrounding  country  with  the  ancient 
native  kingdom  of  Miiltan  (Mooltan).     like  the  rest  of  that  territory, 
it  fell  in  the  year  71 1  a.d.  before  the  young  Arab  conqueror  Muhammad 
Kasim,  the  first  Musalman  invader  of  India.    Throughout  the  period 
of  Muhammadan  supremacy,  the  District  continued  to  rank  as  an  out- 
lying appanage  of  the  Mdltin  Province.     About  the  year  1450  A.D., 
a  branch  of  the  Lodi  family,  connected  with  the  dynasty  which  sat  upon 
the  throne  of  Delhi,  succeeded  in  establishing  an  independent  govern- 
ment at  Kin  and  Sftpur ;  the  former  town  lying  in  the  southern  portion 
of  the  present  District,  while  the  latter,  by  a  change  in  the  shifting 
channel  of  the  Indus,  has  since  been  transferred  to  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  river.    The  Nahir  dynasty  thus  established,  originally  extended  their 
dominions  for  a  considerable  distance  in  the  Derdjat ;  but  as  time  went 
on,  their  power  became  circumscribed  by  the  encroachments  of  Baluchf 
mountaineers  upon  the  western  frontier.    Malik  Sohrab,  the  first  of  these 
hardy  invaders,  was  soon  followed  by  the  Mahrani  chieftain  Haji  Khan, 
whose  son,  Ghazf  Khan,  gave  his  name  to  the  city  which  he  founded, 
and  to  the  modern  District  which  lies  around  it     This  event  must  have 
taken  place  before  the  end  of  the  15th  century.     The  new  rulers  at 
first  held  their  dominions  as  vassals  of  the  Miilt£n  Government,  but 
in  the  third  generation  they  found  themselves  strong  enough  to  throw 
off  the  yoke  and  proclaim  their  independence  of   the  Lodi  court. 
Eighteen  princes    of  the    same  family  held    successively  the  lower 
Derajat,  and  bore  alternately  the  names  of  their  ancestors  Haji  and 
Ghazf  Khin.     In  the  extreme  north,  however,  the  N£hir  rulers  con- 
tinued to  maintain  their  position  until  the  early  part  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury.    Under  the  house  of  Akbar,  the  dynasty  of  Ghazf  Khan  made  a 
nominal  submission  to  the  Mughal  Empire ;  but  though  they  paid  a 
quit-rent,  and  accepted  their  lands  mjdgir^  their  practical  independence 
remained  undisturbed.     During  the  decline  of  the  Delhi  court,  and  the 
rise  of  the  rival  Durani  Empire,  the  country  west  of  the  Indus  came 
into  the  hands  of  Nadir  Sh£h  in  1739.     The  twentieth  successor  of 
Ghazf  Khin  then  sat  upon  the  throne  of  his  barren  principality ;  but 
having  made  submission  to  the  new  suzerain,  he  was  duly  confirmed 
in  the  possession  of  his  family  estates.     He  died  shortly  after,  however, 
leaving  no  heirs ;  and  Dera"  Ghazf  Khan  became  once  more,  in  name  at 

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102  DERA  CHAZI  KHAN  DISTRICT 

least,  an  integral  portion  of  the  Miiltin  Province.  The  date  of  this 
event,  though  by  no  means  free  from  doubt,  may  be  placed  in  or  near 
the  year  1758.  About  the  same  time,  the  District  appears  to  have  been 
overrun  and  conquered  by  the  Kalhora  kings  of  Sind,  whose  relations 
with  the  feudatories  of  Ahmad  Shah  in  this  portion  of  their  dominions 
are  far  from  clear.  In  any  case,  Ahmad  Shah's  authority  would  seem 
to  have  been  restored  about  1770  by  one  Mahmrid  Gujar,  an  active 
and  enterprising  governor,  who  did  good  service  in  excavating  canals 
and  bringing  the  waste  land  into  cultivation.  A  series  of  Afghan 
rulers  succeeded,  under  the  Durdni  Emperors;  but  this  period  was 
much  disturbed  by  internecine  warfare  amongst  the  Biluch  clans,  who 
now  held  the  whole  District.  Before  long,  all  semblance  of  order 
disappeared,  and  a  reign  of  anarchy  set  in,  which  only  terminated  with 
British  annexation  and  the  introduction  of  our  firm  and  peaceable 
Government.  Canals  fell  into  disrepair;  cultivation  declined;  the 
steady  and  industrious  amongst  the  peasantry  emigrated  to  more 
prosperous  tracts ;  and  the  whole  District  sank  into  a  condition  more 
wretched  and  desolate  than  that  which  had  prevailed  up  to  the  accession 
of  Ghizi  Khin,  three  centuries  before.  Meanwhile,  the  Sfkh  power 
had  been  rising  in  the  Punjab  proper,  and  culminated  under  Ranjit 
Sinh  in  a  great  and  consolidated  empire.  In  181 9,  the  aggres- 
sive Mahdrdja  extended  his  conquests  in  this  direction  beyond  the 
Indus,  and  annexed  the  southern  portion  of  the  present  District. 
Sadik  Muhammad  Khdn,  Nawab  of  Bahdwalpur,  received  the  newly- 
acquired  territory  as  a  fief,  on  payment  of  an  annual  tribute  to  Lahore. 
In  1827,  the  Nawdb  overran  the  northern  portion  of  the  District,  all  of 
which  passed  under  the  suzerainty  of  the  Sfkh  darbdr.  Three  years 
later,  however,  in  1830,  he  was  compelled  to  give  up  his  charge  in 
favour  of  General  Ventura,  the  partisan  leader  of  the  Lahore  forces. 
In  1832,  the  famous  Sdwan  Mai  of  Miiltdn  (see  Multan  District) 
took  over  the  District  in  farm ;  and  his  son  Mulraj  continued  in  posses- 
sion until  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  with  the  British  in  1848.  At  the  close 
of  the  second  Sfkh  war  in  the  succeeding  year,  Deri  Ghizf  KMn  passed, 
with  the  remainder  of  the  Punjab  Province,  into  the  hands  of  our  Govern- 
ment Since  that  period,  an  active  and  vigilant  administration  has  pre- 
served the  District  from  any  more  serious  incident  than  the  occasional 
occurrence  of  a  frontier  raid.  The  wild  hill-tribes  have  been  brought 
into  comparative  submission,  while  the  restoration  of  the  canals  has  once 
more  made  tillage  profitable,  and  largely  increased  the  number  of  in- 
habitants. The  Mutiny  of  1857  found  Dera  Ghazi  Khan  so  peacefully 
disposed  that  the  protection  of  the  frontier  and  the  civil  station  could 
be  safely  entrusted  to  a  home  levy  of  600  men ;  while  the  greater  part 
of  the  regular  troops  were  withdrawn  for  service  in  the  field  elsewhere. 
On  the  whole,  the  District  may  be  cited  as  a  striking  instance  of  the 


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DERA  GHAZI  KHAN  DISTRICT.  103 

prosperity  and  security  afforded  by  a  strong  but  benevolent  Govern- 
ment in  a  naturally  barren  tract,  formerly  desolated  by  border  strife  and 
internal  anarchy. 

Population. — In  1854,  the  number  of  inhabitants  was  returned  at 
238,964.  In  1868,  it  had  reached  a  total  of  308,840,  showing  an 
increase  for  the  fourteen  years  of  69,876  persons,  or  29*24  per  cent 
The  Census  in  the  last-named  year,  taken  over  an  area  of  4950  square 
miles,  disclosed  380  villages  or  townships,  and  an  aggregate  number 
of  62,139  houses.  These  figures  yield  the  following  averages : — Persons 
per  square  mile,  62-39 ;  villages  per  square  mile,  '07  ;  houses  per  square 
mile,  12-55 ;  persons  per  village,  812;  persons  per  house,  4*97.  Classified 
according  to  sex,  there  were — males,  170,252 ;  females,  138,588 ;  propor- 
tion of  males,  55'i3  per  cent.  Classified  according  to  religion,  there 
were  38,467  Hindus,  264,527  Muhammadans,  11 24  Sikhs,  and  4722 
1  others.'  The  Musalmdn  element  thus  amounted  to  85*65  per  cent  of 
the  whole  population,  while  the  percentage  of  Hindus  and  Sikhs  was 
only  12-45  ^d  0*36  respectively.  Among  the  Muhammadans,  162,519 
are  classed  as  Jats,  a  term  which  appears  to  include  all  the  aboriginal 
tribes,  once  Hindu,  but  long  since  converted  to  the  faith  of  the  domi- 
nant races  from  the  west,  who  have  more  recently  settled  in  the 
District  Foremost  among  the  latter  in  social  and  political  importance 
stand  the  Baluchfs,  who  in  1868  numbered  92,590,  or  29  per  cent  of  the 
whole  population.  A  few  PatMns  (301 1)  and  Sayyids  (5324)  represent 
the  later  colonists  in  the  District  The  geographical  boundary  between 
the  Pathin  and  Baluchi  races  in  the  hills  nearly  corresponds  with  the 
northern  limit  of  the  District ;  and  it  naturally  follows  that  the  Baluchfs 
are  more  numerous  in  Deni  Gtazi  Khin  than  in  any  other  portion  of 
the  Punjab.  The  settlers,  in  the  western  half  of  the  District  especially, 
retain  in  a  very  marked  manner  the  tribal  organization  of  their  native 
hills.  Each  clan  owes  allegiance  to  a  hereditary  chieftain  (tumanddr), 
assisted  by  a  council  of  head-men  who  represent  the  subdivisions  of 
the  clan.  Though  shorn  of  certain  monarchical  prerogatives  by  the 
necessity  of  submission  to  an  alien  rule,  the  influence  of  the  tumanddrs 
still  ranks  paramount  for  good  or  for  evil ;  and  our  Government  has 
found  it  desirable  to  rule  the  clans  through  their  powerful  instru- 
mentality. They  receive  a  regular  official  recognition,  and  enjoy  certain 
assignments  of  land  revenue,  fixed  in  1873  at  tne  sum  *&  £>?fioo.  The 
Baluchi,  inured  to  toil,  and  endowed  with  great  powers  of  endurance, 
has  a  special  hatred  of  control,  and  can  scarcely  be  induced  to  enlist 
in  our  army,  or  to  take  any  regular  service.  The  mass  of  the  popu- 
lation live  in  small  hamlets,  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  country ; 
and  a  vast  majority  subsist  by  agricultural  or  pastoral  pursuits.  The 
District  contains  five  municipal  towns,  only  two  of  which  have  a  popu- 
lation exceeding  5000 — Dera  Ghazi  Khan,  20,123;  Dajal,  6335; 

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104  DERA  GHAZI  KHAN  DISTRICT. 

Jampur,  4209;  Rajanpur,  3556 ;  and  Mithankot,  3347.  DeraGhazi 
Khan,  the  civil  and  military  headquarters,  ranks  as  a  trading  mart  of 
considerable  activity.  Rajanpur,  in  the  south  of  the  District,  73  miles 
from  headquarters,  is  the  station  of  an  Assistant  Commissioner  and  of  a 
regiment  of  cavalry.  Mithankot,  once  a  busy  commercial  centre,  has 
now  sunk  into  the  position  of  a  quiet  country  town. 

Agriculture. — The  cultivated  area  of  Dera"  Ghazf  Kha*n  has  increased 
enormously  since  the  introduction  of  British  rule.  Early  returns  show  the 
total  area  under  tillage  at  261,065  acres  in  1849, an<^  at  276,981  acres  in 
x859  \  while  the  Settlement  Report  for  1871-72  gives  a  total  of  1,063,680 
acres,  of  which  427,599  received  artificial  irrigation.  The  staple  crops 
of  the  District  consist  of  wheat  and  jodr.  The  former  ranks  as  the 
principal  produce  of  the  rabl  or  spring  harvest  in  the  Sind ;  the  latter 
is  grown  as  a  kharifoi  autumn  crop  in  the  Pachad.  Barley,  poppy, 
gram,  peas,  turnips,  and  mustard  also  cover  a  considerable  area  in  the 
raU;  while  rice,  pulses,  cotton,  indigo,  tobacco,  and  oil-seeds  form 
the  chief  supplementary  items  of  the  kharif.  Throughout  the  whole 
District,  regular  cultivation  depends  entirely  upon  artificial  irrigation, 
derived  from  three  sources, — the  hill  streams,  the  wells,  and  the  inun- 
dation canals  from  the  Indus.  The  last  begin  to  fill,  in  prosperous 
years,  towards  the  end  of  June,  when  the  sowings  at  once  commence. 
The  Pachad  can  only  produce  a  good  autumn  crop  if  the  hill  torrents 
fill  some  time  between  May  and  August ;  but  when  rain  does  not  fall 
until  September,  the  cultivator  abandons  all  hope  of  the  kharif  and 
sows  his  land  with  wheat  or  some  other  spring  staple.  The  number  of 
main  channels  drawing  their  supplies  directly  from  the  Indus  is  15, 
two  of  which  belong  to  private  proprietors,  while  the  remainder  are 
controlled  and  kept  in  order  by  the  State.  A  well,  unaided  by  canal 
supplies,  suffices  to  irrigate  an  average  of  10  acres;  with  the  assistance 
of  a  canal,  it  can  water  an  area  of  30  acres.  In  the  latter  case, 
however,  only  half  the  land  is  cultivated  at  a  time,  and  each  field 
lies  fallow  after  every  second  crop.  The  average  out-turn  of  wheat  or 
jodr  per  acre  amounts  to  7 \  cwts. ;  that  of  cotton  to  1  cwt  14  lbs.  of 
cleaned  fibre  The  District  has  no  village  communities  in  the  sense 
which  the  term  usually  implies  in  India.  The  villages  consist  of  hold- 
ings classified  into  mere  artificial  groups  for  purposes  of  revenue 
collection.  The  only  bond  of  union  between  the  proprietors  con- 
sists in  their  joint  responsibility  for  the  payment  of  taxes.  The- 
proportion  of  land  belonging  to  each  proprietor  is  stated  by  wells  or 
fractions  of  a  well  in  the  Sind,  and  by  bandhs  or  irrigation  embank- 
ments in  the  Pachad.  Eight  wells  form  a  large  holding,  while  one- 
fourth  of  a  well  would  be  the  smallest  amount  capable  of  supporting  a 
cultivating  proprietor.  Rents  usually  take  the  shape  of  a  charge  in 
kind  upon  the  produce.    Tenants-at-will  pay  from  one-seventh  to  one- 


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DERA  GHAZI  KHAN  DISTRICT.  105 

half  the  gross  out-turn;  a  quarter  may  be  regarded  as  the  fair  average. 
Agricultural  labourers  receive  their  wages  in  kind,  to  the  value  of  from 
4  Jd.  to  6d.  per  diem.  Skilled  workmen  in  the  towns  earn  as  much  as  2s. 
per  diem.  Prices  ruled  as  follows  on  the  1st  of  January  1876  : — Wheat, 
20  sers  per  rupee,  or  5s.  7<L  per  cwt ;  barley  and  jodr%  28  sers  per 
rupee,  or  4s.  per  cwt ;  gram,  27  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  2d.  per  cwt. ; 
bdjra,  25  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  6d.  per  cwt. 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc. — Petty  Hindu  merchants,  settled  in  almost 
every  village,  entirely  control  the  trade  of  the  District  Their  dealings 
centre  chiefly  in  the  commercial  town  of  Derd  Ghazi  KMn.  The 
Indus  forms  the  high  road  of  traffic.  Mithankot,  just  below  its 
junction  with  the  united  stream  of  the  Punjab  rivers,  was  long  the 
mercantile  capital  of  the  District ;  but  a  diversion  of  the  navigable 
channel  5  miles  to  the  east  has  turned  the  course  of  traffic  to  the 
headquarters  town.  Thence  indigo,  opium,  dates,  wheat,  cotton, 
barley,  millet,  ghi,  and  hides  are  despatched  down  the  river  to  Sukkur 
(Sakkar)  and  Karachi  (Kurrachee).  The  annual  value  of  the  opium 
exported  amounts  to  ^2500 ;  that  of  indigo  probably  exceeds  ^10,000. 
The  grain  of  all  kinds  may  be  estimated  at  ^60,000.  Sugar,  gram, 
woollen  goods,  English  piece-goods  and  broadcloth,  metals,  salt,  and 
spices  form  the  principal  items  of  the  import  trade.  Little  traffic  at 
present  exists  with  the  country  beyond  the  hills,  owing  to  the  turbu- 
lence of  the  independent  Baluchi  tribes.  Commercial  importance  has 
lately  attached  to  the  annual  religious  gathering  at  the  shrine  of  a 
Muhammadan  saint,  Sakhi  Sarwar.  The  chief  means  of  communica- 
tion consist  of— the  Frontier  military  road,  which  passes  through  the 
District  from  north  to  south  and  strikes  the  Indus  at  Mithinkot ;  the 
river  road  from  Deri  Ghazf  Khan  to  Sukkur ;  and  the  road  from  the 
headquarters  station  to  Mtfltan,  crossing  the  Indus  at  the  Kureshi 
ferry.  None  of  these  are  metalled,  but  they  cross  the  canals  and  hill- 
streams  for  the  most  part  by  means  of  bridges.  The  total  length  of 
unmetalled  road  within  the  District  amounted  in  1872-73  to  1223  miles. 

Administration. — The  District  staff  ordinarily  comprises  a  Deputy 
Commissioner,  with  two  Assistant  and  one  extra  Assistant  Commissioners, 
besides  the  usual  fiscal,  constabulary,  and  medical  officers.  The  total 
amount  of  revenue  (excluding  income  tax)  raised  in  the  District  in 
1861-62  was  returned  at  ^37,182.  In  1875-76,  it  had  reached  the  sum 
of  ^46,681.  The  land  tax  forms  the  principal  item  of  receipt,  producing 
m  J  875-76  a  total  of  ,£38,800,  or  more  than  four-fifths  of  the  whole. 
The  remaining  items  consist  of  stamps  and  excise.  During  the  same 
year,  the  District  contained  16  civil  and  revenue  judges  of  all  grades. 
The  regular  police  force  numbers  500  men,  or  1  to  every  616  of 
the  population.  The  District  jail  at  Deni  Ghazi  Khan,  a  large  and 
substantial  building,  had  a  daily  average  number  of  352  prisoners  in 


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106       DERA  GHAZI  KHAN  TAHSIL  AND  TOWN 

the  three  years  ending  1872.  The  military  force  maintained  in  the 
District  for  the  protection  of  the  frontier  comprises  2  regiments  of 
infantry  and  2  of  cavalry.  One  regiment  of  cavalry  and  one  com- 
pany of  infantry  are  stationed  at  Rajanpur ;  and  the  remainder  at  Deri 
Ghazf  Khan.  A  force  of  mounted  militia,  levied  among  the  Baluchi 
tribes  of  the  Pachad,  assists  the  regular  troops  in  the  maintenance  of 
order.  In  1875-76,  the  District  had  only  39  schools,  with  a  total  roll  of 
1767  scholars.  These  figures  show  one  school  to  every  121  square 
miles  of  the  area,  with  a  proportion  of  57  pupils  to  every  thousand 
of  the  population.  In  1872-73,  the  sum  spent  on  education,  including 
grants-in-aid,  amounted  to  ^1206.  The  five  municipalities  of  Deri 
Ghazf  Khin,  Jampur,  Rajanpur,  Mithinkot,  and  Dajal  had  an  aggregate 
revenue  in  1875-76  of  ^3396,  or  is.  iofd.  per  head  of  the  population 
(36,539)  within  municipal  limits. 

Medical  Aspects.  —  Deri  Ghazf  Khin  cannot  be  considered  an 
unhealthy  District,  although  the  heat  in  summer  often  reaches  an 
intense  degree.  The  annual  rainfall  for  the  eight  years  ending  1874, 
averaged  only  6*6  inches,  the  maximum  during  that  period  being  io#8 
inches  in  1869-70.  Fever  of  the  ordinary  type  prevails  in  August  and 
September,  when  cold  nights  alternate  with  hot  days.  In  June  and 
July,  a  scorching  and  unhealthy  wind  sweeps  down  from  the  hills  into 
the  Pachad.  Four  charitable  dispensaries  gave  relief  in  1875  t0  42>8i5 
persons,  of  whom  969  were  in-patients. 

Deri  Gtazf  KMn.— Tahsil  of  Deri  Ghizf  Khin  District,  Punjab, 
consisting  of  a  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  Indus  and  the  Suliimin 
Mountains.  Lat.  290  36'  to  300  30'  30"  n.,  and  long.  70°  1 1'  to  700  59'  e.  ; 
area,  1923  square  miles;  pop.  (1868),  136,376;  persons  per  square 
mile,  70*91 ;  number  of  villages,  164. 

Deri  GhAzi  KMn.  —  Municipal  town  and  administrative  head- 
quarters of  Deri  Ghazf  Khin  District,  Punjab.  Lat  300  3'  57* 
n.,  and  long.  700  49'  8"  e.  Pop.  (1868),  20,123,  comprising  8850 
Hindus,  10,699  Muhammadans,  328  Sfkhs,  52  Christians,  and  194 
'others.'  Pleasantly  situated  in  lat  300  3'  57"  n.,  and  long.  70° 
49'  e.,  about  2  miles  west  of  the  present  bed  of  the  Indus,  which 
once  flowed  past  its  site.  The  Kasturi  Canal  skirts  its  eastern  border, 
fringed  with  thickly  planted  gardens  of  mango  trees ;  while  ghdts  line 
the  banks,  thronged  in  summer  by  numerous  bathers.  Above  the  town 
stands  a  massive  dam,  erected  in  1858  as  a  protection  against  inunda- 
tions. A  mile  to  the  west  lie  the  Civil  Lines,  and  the  cantonments 
adjoin  the  houses  of  the  District  officials.  The  original  station 
stood  to  the  east  of  the  town,  but  disappeared  during  the  flood  of  1857. 
The  city  owes  its  foundation  to  Ghazf  Khin  Mahrani,  a  Baluch  settler 
in  the  District,  who  made  himself  independent  in  this  remote  tract 
about  the  year  1475.    I*  has  continued  ever  since  to  be  the  seat  of 


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DERA  ISMAIL  KHAN  DISTRICT.  107 

local  administration  under  the  successive  Governments  which  have 
ruled  the  surrounding  country.  {See  Dera  Ghazi  Khan  Dis- 
trict.) The  court-house  occupies  the  site  of  Ghazf  Khan's  garden ; 
while  the  tahsili  and  police  office  replace  an  ancient  fort,  levelled  at 
the  time  of  the  English  annexation.  The  other  public  buildings  include 
a  town  hall,  school-house,  dispensary,  staging  bungalow,  and  post  office. 
A  handsome  bdzdr  has  several  good  shops,  built  on  a  uniform  plan. 
Many  large  and  striking  mosques  adorn  the  town,  the  chief  being  those 
of  Ghazi  Khan,  Abdul  Jawar,  and  Chtfta  Khan.  The  Sikhs  converted 
three  of  them  into  temples  of  their  own  faith  during  their  period  of 
supremacy.  Two  Muhammadan  saints  are  also  honoured  with  shrines, 
and  the  earlier  religion  has  four  temples  dedicated  to  Hindu  gods.  The 
trade  of  Dera"  Ghazi  Khin  is  not  extensive :  exports — indigo,  opium, 
dates,  wheat,  cotton,  barley,  millet,  gAf,  and  hides;  imports — sugar, 
Kabul  fruits,  English  piece-goods,  metal,  salt,  and  spices.  Silk  and 
cotton  manufacture,  formerly  thriving,  has  now  declined.  Weekly  fair 
on  the  banks  of  the  canal  during  the  summer  months.  Ordinary 
garrison,  1  cavalry  and  2  infantry  regiments  of  the  Punjab  Frontier 
force.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^2294,  or  2s.  4|<L  per  head  of 
population  (19,092)  within  municipal  limits. 

Deri  Ism&il  Kh&DL — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governor- 
ship of  the  Punjab  (Panja*b),  lying  between  300  35'  45"  and  320  33'  n. 
lat,  and  between  700 14'  and  720  2  e.  long. ;  with  an  area  of  7096  square 
miles,  and  a  population  (1868)  of  394,864  persons.  Deri  Ismiil  Khdn 
forms  the  central  District  of  the  Denijat  Division.  It  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  Bannu,  on  the  east  by  Jhang  and  Shihpur,  on  the  south  by 
Dera'  Ghazi  Khan  and  Muzaffargarh,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Suliiman 
Mountains.  The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  the  town  of  Dera 
Ismail  Khan. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Deni  Ismail  Khin,  a  purely  arti- 
ficial creation  for  administrative  purposes,  comprises  two  distinct  tracts 
of  country,  stretching  from  the  Suktiman  Mountains  across  the  valley  of 
the  Indus  far  into  the  heart  of  the  Sind  Sagar  Doab.  The  channel  of 
the  great  river  thus  divides  it  into  nearly  equal  sections,  each  of  which 
possesses  a  history  and  physical  characteristics  of  its  own.  To  the  west, 
the  Suliiman  Mountains  rise  barren  and  precipitous  above  the  hard 
alluvial  plain,  ascending  in  a  series  of  parallel  ridges,  which  culminate 
nearly  opposite  Deni  Ismiil  Khan  in  the  two  peaks  of  Takht-i-SuUimin, 
11,295  and  11,070  feet  respectively  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The 
range  is  the  home  of  various  independent  tribes,  responsible  to  our  Govern- 
ment for  the  maintenance  of  peace  upon  the  frontier,  and  the  preven- 
tion of  robbery  among  the  passes.  Numerous  mountain  torrents  score 
the  hillsides,  and  cut  for  themselves  deep  and  intricate  ravines  in  the 
plain  below ;  but  little  of  their  water  reaches  the  Indus  even  in  times 


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108  DERA  ISMAIL  KHAN  DISTRICT. 

of  heavy  flood  Only  one  among  them,  the  Gomal  or  Lrini,  is  a  perennial 
stream.  On  the  north,  some  low  and  stony  spurs  project  into  the 
valley,  till  finally  the  Shaikh-budin  range  closes  the  view  upward  and 
separates  this  District  from  that  of  Bannu.  Near  the  Indus,  a  third 
rugged  group,  the  Khisor  Hills,  intervenes  between  the  Shaikh-budin 
system  and  the  river,  which  is  overhung  by  its  eastern  face  in  a  precipi- 
tous mass,  some  3000  feet  above  the  sea,  From  this  point  the  plain 
stretches  southward  along  the  river-side,  till  it  merges  in  the  similar 
tract  of  Dera  Ghazi  Khan  District.  Sloping  downwards  from  the 
feet  of  the  Suleiman  range  through  an  intermediate  barren  belt,  it 
gradually  attains  a  lower  level,  at  which  percolation  from  the  Indus 
makes  its  influence  felt  Cultivation  soon  becomes  general,  and  the 
soil  of  this  lowland  tract  supports  a  population  of  considerable  density. 
In  the  summer  months,  the  river,  rising  6  feet  above  its  cold-weather 
level,  submerges  the  country  for  11  miles  inland;  while  canals  and 
natural  channels  convey  its  fertilizing  waters  to  a  still  greater  distance 
from  the  main  stream  on  either  side.  The  principal  channel  shifts  from 
year  to  year,  causing  great  alteration  in  the  conditions  of  agriculture. 
The  eastern  or  Sind  Sagar  portion  of  the  District  consists  in  part  of  a 
similar  irrigated  lowland,  lying  along  the  edge  of  the  Indus.  The  limit 
of  this  favoured  tract  is  marked  by  an  abrupt  bank,  the  outer  margin  of 
a  high  plateau,  the  Thai,  which  stretches  across  the  Doab  to  the  valley 
of  the  Jhelum  (Jhflam).  Below  this  bank,  wide  patches  of  closely 
cultivated  soil,  interspersed  with  stretches  of  rank  grass,  or  broken  by 
occasional  clumps  of  trees,  meet  the  eye ;  but  above  appears  the 
ordinary  monotony  of  a  Punjab  desert,  extending  in  a  level  surface  of 
sand,  or  rolling  into  rounded  hillocks  and  long  undulating  dunes.  Yet 
the  soil  beneath  is  naturally  rich;  and  unless  the  rainfall  entirely  fails,  a 
yearly  crop  of  grass  pushes  its  way  through  the  sandy  covering,  and 
suffices  to  support  vast  flocks  of  sheep  and  cattle.  Patches  of  scrubby 
jungle  here  and  there  diversify  the  scene ;  while  the  coarse  vegetation 
of  the  general  surface  affords  excellent  fodder  for  camels.  Cultivation, 
however,  can  only  be  carried  on  by  means  of  laborious  artificial  irriga- 
tion from  deep  wells,  and  nothing  but  the  brave  and  steady  industry  of 
the  inhabitants  renders  life  possible  in  this  sterile  region. 

History. — The  massive  ruins  of  two  ancient  forts,  one  in  this  Dis- 
trict, the  other  just  within  the  borders  of  Bannu,  overlooking  the  Indus 
from  projecting  spurs  of  the  northern  hills,  alone  bear  witness  to  an 
early  civilisation  in  the  upper  Derdjit  Both  bear  the  name  of  Kafir 
Kot,  probably  connecting  their  origin  with  the  Graeco-Bactrian  period 
of  Punjab  history.  The  plain  portion  of  the  District  contains  none  of 
those  ancient  mounds  which  elsewhere  mark  the  sites  of  ruined  cities. 
But  the  earliest  traditions  current  in  this  remote  quarter  refer  to  its 
later  colonization  by  immigrants  from  the  south,  who  found  the  country 

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DERA  ISMAIL  KHAN  DISTRICT.  109 

entirely  unoccupied  The  Baluchf  settlers,  under  Malik  Sohrdb,  arrived 
in  the  District  towards  the  end  of  the  15th  century.  His  two  sons, 
Ismiil  Khan  and  Fateh  Khan,  founded  the  towns  which  still  bear  their 
names.  The  Hot  family,  as  this  Baluchi  dynasty  was  termed,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  Mahrani  house  of  Deri  Ghazi  Khan,  held  sway  over  the 
upper  Der£j£t  for  300  years,  with  practical  independence,  until  reduced 
to  vassalage  by  Ahmad  Shdh  Durani  about  1750  A.D..  Beyond  the 
Indus,  too,  the  first  important  colony  settled  under  the  auspices  of 
another  Baluchi  chieftain,  whose  descendants,  surnamed  Jaskini,  placed 
their  capital  for  nearly  three  centuries  at  Bhakkar  in  the  eastern  low- 
lands of  the  great  river.  Farther  south,  the  family  of  Ghazi  Khan 
established  several  settlements,  the  chief  of  which  gathered  round  the 
town  of  Leiah.  About  the  year  1 7  5  9,  the  Khans  of  Leiah  were  involved  in 
the  conquest  of  the  parent  family  by  the  Kalhora  kings  of  Sind.  Shortly 
afterwards,  Ahmad  Shih  Durani  became  supreme  over  the  whole  of  the 
present  District.  In  1792,  Shah  Zaman,  then  occupying  the  Durani 
throne,  conferred  the  government  of  this  dependency,  together  with 
the  title  of  Nawab,  upon  Muhammad  Khan,  an  Afghan  of  the  Saduzii 
tribe,  related  to  the  famous  governors  of  Mtiltan  (Mooltan).  Armed 
with  the  royal  grant,  Muhammad  Khan  made  himself  master  of  almost 
all  the  District,  and  built  himself  a  new  capital  at  Mankera.  He  died 
in  1815,  after  a  prosperous  reign  of  23  years.  His  grandson,  Sher 
Muhammad  Khan,  succeeded  to  the  principality,  under  the  guardian- 
ship of  his  father,  the  late  Nawab's  son-in-law.  Ran  jit  Sinh,  however, 
was  then  engaged  in  consolidating  his  power  by  the  subjection  of  the 
lower  Punjab.  Nothing  daunted  by  the  difficulties  of  a  march  across 
the  desert,  the  great  Sfkh  leader  advanced  upon  Mankera*  sinking  wells 
as  he  approached  for  the  supply  of  his  army.  After  a  siege  of  25  days, 
the  fortress  surrendered,  and  the  whole  Sind  Sagar  Dodb  lay  at  the 
mercy  of  the  conqueror.  The  young  Nawdb  retired  beyond  the  Indus 
to  Deri  Ismiil  Khan,  retaining  his  dominions  in  the  Derdjdt  for  fifteen 
years,  subject  to  a  quit-rent  to  the  Sikhs,  but  otherwise  holding  the 
position  of  a  semi-independent  prince.  His  tribute,  however,  fell  into 
arrears ;  and  in  1836,  Nao  Nihal  Sinh  crossed  the  Indus  at  the  head  of 
a  Sikh  army,  and  annexed  the  remaining  portion  of  the  District  to  the 
territories  of  Lahore.  The  Nawab  received  an  assignment  of  revenue 
for  his  maintenance,  still  retained  by  his  descendants,  together  with 
their  ancestral  title.  Under  Sfkh  rule,  the  Cis-Indus  tract  formed 
part  of  the  Mooltan  Province,  administered  by  Sawan  Mai  and  his  son 
Mdlraj  (see  Multan  District).  The  upper  Derajit,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  farmed  out  to  the  Diwan  Laki  Nil,  from  whom  it  passed  to 
his  son,  Daulat  Rii.  British  influence  first  made  itself  felt  in  1847,  when 
Lieutenant  (afterwards  Sir  Herbert)  Edwardes,  being  despatched  to  the 
frontier  as  Political  Officer  under  the  Council  of  Regency  at  Lahore, 


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no  DERA  ISMAIL  KHAN  DISTRICT. 

effected  a  summary  assessment  of  the  land  tax.  In  the  succeeding  year, 
levies  from  Deri  Ismiil  KMn  followed  Edwardes  to  Mdltin,  and  served 
loyally  throughout  the  war  that  ended  in  the  annexation  of  the  Punjab. 
The  District  then  passed  quietly  under  British  rule.  On  the  first  sub- 
division of  the  Province,  Derd  Ismail  KMn  became  the  headquarters 
of  a  District,  which  also  originally  included  the  trans-Indus  portion  of 
Bannu ;  Leiah  was  erected  into  the  centre  of  a  second  District  east  of 
the  river.  The  present  arrangement  took  effect  in  1861,  Bannu  being 
entrusted  to  a  separate  officer,  and  the  southern  half  of  the  Leiah  Dis- 
trict being  incorporated  with  Deri  Ismdil  KMn.  In  1857,  some  traces 
of  a  mutinous  spirit  appeared  amongst  the  troops  in  garrison  at  the 
headquarters  station ;  but  the  promptitude  and  vigour  of  the  Deputy 
Commissioner,  Colonel  Coxe,  loyally  aided  by  a  hasty  levy  of  Muham- 
madan  cavalry,  averted  the  danger  without  serious  difficulty.  In  1870, 
the  District  attracted  for  a  time  a  melancholy  attention  through  the 
death  of  Sir  H.  Durand,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Punjab,  who  was 
struck  by  an  arch  and  precipitated  from  his  elephant  as  he  entered  a 
gateway  in  the  town  of  Tink.  His  remains  were  interred  at  Deri 
Ismiil  Kh£n. 

Population. — The  changes  of  territory  in  the  cis-Indus  portion  of 
the  District  since  the  Census  of  1855,  render  it  impossible  to  institute 
a  comparison  between  that  enumeration  and  the  returns  of  1868.  In 
the  trans-Indus  subdivisions,  however,  which  remain  substantially  un- 
altered in  extent,  a  considerable  increase  took  place  between  those 
dates.  The  Census  of  1868  was  taken  over  a  total  area  of  7096  square 
miles,  and  it  disclosed  a  total  population  of  394,864  persons,  distributed 
among  716  villages  or  townships,  and  inhabiting  an  aggregate  of  85,100 
houses.  These  figures  yield  the  following  averages : — Persons  per  square 
mile,  56-64;  villages  per  square  mile,  o*io;  houses  per  square  mile, 
11-97;  persons  per  village,  551;  persons  per  house,  4*64.  Classified 
according  to  sex,  there  were — males,  212,734;  females,  182,130; 
proportion  of  males,  53*88  per  cent.  As  regards  the  religious  dis- 
tinctions of  the  people,  Derd  Ismiil  KMn  contains  an  essentially 
Muhammadan  population,  as  might  be  expected  from  the  late  date  and 
quarter  of  its  colonization.  The  Census  showed  338,387  Musalmdns, 
48,756  Hindus,  1587  Sikhs,  and  6134  ( others.'  Amongst  the  Hindus, 
the  Aroras  form  by  far  the  largest  element,  numbering  as  many  as  42,087 
persons ;  they  comprise  the  principal  trading  classes  of  the  District,  a 
few  wealthy  families  being  found  in  the  larger  towns,  while  the  majority 
carry  on  business  as  petty  dealers  in  corn  or  money  throughout  the 
country  villages.  The  mass  of  the  agricultural  population  are  Jats, 
who  profess  the  Muhammadan  religion,  but  are  of  Hindu  origin.  Their 
ancestors,  according  to  tradition,  accompanied  the  Baluchi  chieftains  on 
the  first  colonization  of  the  District.    The  Path&is  occupy  a  strip  of 


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DERA  ISMAIL  KHAN  DISTRICT.  1 1 1 

country  extending  immediately  below  the  Sulaiman  Hills,  throughout 
their  whole  length  from  north  to  south.  Most  of  them  belong  to 
inconspicuous  tribes,  the  highest  in  social  position  being  connected 
with  the  Saduzii  Nawibs  of  Deni  Ismiil  Khan.  Seven  towns 
contained  a  population  exceeding  5000  in  1868 — namely,  Dera  Ismail 
Khan,  Kulachi,  Leiah,  Kharor,  Bhakkar,  Paniala,  and  Takwara. 
The  two  latter,  however,  are  purely  agricultural  villages,  and  in  the 
remainder,  also,  a  large  proportion  of  the  population  inhabits  outlying 
hamlets.  The  municipalities,  with  their  populations,  as  ascertained  by 
a  special  Census  taken  in  1875,  ran^  ^  follows: — (1)  Dera  Ismail 
Khan,  20,002 ;  (2)  Kulachi,  7865 ;  (3)  Leiah,  5686 ;  (4)  Bhakkar, 
4803;  (5)  Tank,  3186;  (6)  Kharor,  2766;  (7)  Kot  Sultan,  1386; 
(8)  Mankera,  1259.  Tank  is  the  capital  of  an  Afghan  Principality  till 
lately  ruled  by  its  semi-independent  Nawib,  but  now  brought  directly 
under  British  administration.  The  sanitarium  of  Shaikh-budin,  at  an 
elevation  of  4516  feet  above  sea  level,  occupies  the  highest  point  in  the 
hills  which  separate  this  District  from  Bannu. 

Agriculture. — Throughout  all  portions  of  Deri  Ismiil  Khan  District, 
tillage  depends  entirely  upon  artificial  irrigation.  The  hill  streams  render 
but  scanty  service  in  this  respect,  their  volume  being  speedily  lost  in  the 
intricate  ravines  which  they  have  cut  for  themselves  through  the  hard 
day  of  the  submontane  tract  Nevertheless,  they  afford  to  the  Afghans 
of  the  border  a  chance  of  raising  some  few  crops,  sufficient  for  their  own 
frugal  subsistence.  In  the  low-lying  lands  within  the  influence  of  the 
Indus,  canals  and  wells  offer  an  easy  and  abundant  supply  of  water ; 
but  in  the  Thai  or  Sind  Sagar  uplands,  wells  can  only  be  worked  at  an 
enormous  depth.  Even  here,  however,  the  indomitable  energy  of  the 
Jit  cultivators  succeeds  in  producing  harvests  not  inferior  to  those  of 
the  richest  alluvial  tracts.  The  State  does  not  maintain  any  irrigation 
works  in  this  District;  but  returns  compiled  in  1873-74  show  a  total 
of  422,526  acres  artificially  watered  by  private  enterprise.  The  area 
cultivated  without  irrigation  amounted  to  95,337  acres,  giving  a  grand 
total  of  517,863  acres  under  cultivation.  The  remainder  of  the  Dis- 
trict falls  under  the  following  heads : — Grazing  lands,  364,864  acres ; 
cultivable  waste,  1,353,846  acres;  uncultivable  waste,  2,305,227  acres. 
It  would  thus  appear  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  available  soil  has 
not  yet  been  brought  under  tillage.  Wheat  and  barley  form  the  staple 
products  of  the  rabi  or  spring  harvest,  while  the  common  millets,  jodr 
and  ddjra,  constitute  the  principal  kharif  or  autumn  crops.  Sugar  and 
tobacco  are  grown  in  the  lowlands  of  the  Indus,  but  not  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  meet  the  local  demand.  In  1872-73,  the  areas  sown  with 
each  staple  were  returned  as  follows: — Wheat,  137,410  acres;  barley, 
18,812  acres;  oil-seeds,  14,264  acres;  millets,  55,812  acres;  cotton, 
15,291   acres.     Throughout  the  District,   village  communities  of  the 


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i 1 2  DERA  ISMAIL  KHAN  DISTRICT. 

ordinary  types  prevail,  though  many  of  them,  especially  among  the 
Pathins  of  the  frontier,  appear  to  have  adopted  the  communal  system 
only  as  a  consequence  of  British  fiscal  arrangements.  Elsewhere,  in 
the  Jit  villages,  the  existence  of  immemorial  common  lands  attests  the 
indigenous  nature  of  the  institution.  Rents  are  universally  paid  in  kind, 
at  rates  which  range  as  high  as  one-half  the  gross  produce.  Unskilled 
labourers  in  towns  received  from  6d.  to  9d.  per  diem  in  1875-76 ;  while 
skilled  workmen  obtained  from  9&  to  is.  Prices  on  the  whole  have 
rather  fallen  than  risen  of  late  years.  The  chief  food -stuffs  were 
quoted  at  the  following  rates  on  1st  January  1876  : — Wheat,  32  sers  per 
rupee,  or  3s.  6d.  per  cwt. ;  barley,  46  sers  per  rupee,  or  2s.  5$d.  per 
cwt. ;  gram,  41  sers  per  rupee,  or  2s.  8f  d.  per  cwt ;  jodr,  45  sers  per 
rupee,  or  2  s.  5}d.  per  cwt ;  bdjray  41  sers  per  rupee,  or  2s.  8fd.  per 
cwt 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc. — One  of  the  main  streams  of  caravan  traffic 
between  India  and  Khorasan  traverses  the  District  twice  a  year.  The 
Povindah  merchants  cross  the  Gomal  Pass  between  Tink  and  Kulachi 
during  the  month  of  October,  and,  after  passing  on  into  India  proper, 
return  again  in  April  or  May.  They  seldom,  however,  unpack  any 
portion  of  their  wares  in  the  local  markets.  The  traffic  of  the  District 
centres  in  the  towns  of  Deri  Ismiil  Khin,  Leiah,  and  Bhakkar.  Wheat, 
millet,  and  wool  are  thence  despatched  down  the  Indus  to  Milltin 
(Mooltan),  Sukkur,  or  Karachi  (Kurrachee),  while  Indian  and 
English  piece-goods  form  the  staples  of  import  trade.  Hides  from 
Shihpur  and  Jhang,  salt  from  Kohat  and  Pind  Dadan  Khan, 
and  fancy  ware  of  various  kinds  from  Milltin  (Mooltan)  and  Sukkur 
(Sakkar)  also  figure  upon  the  list  of  entries.  Deri  Ismiil  Khan 
and  many  villages  have  considerable  manufactures  of  coarse  cloth 
for  domestic  use.  The  main  channels  of  communication  consist  of— 
the  Frontier  military  road,  which  skirts  the  base  of  the  hills  from  north 
to  south ;  the  Miiltin  and  Riwal  Pindi  road,  which  follows  the  high 
right  bank  of  the  Indus,  vid  Kot  Sultan,  Leiah,  Kharor,  and  Bhakkar ; 
and  the  line  from  Deri  Ismiil  Khin  to  Jhang,  and  thence  to  Chichawatni 
on  the  Lahore  and  Milltin  (Mooltan)  Railway.  Though  unbridged 
and  unmetalled,  they  are  all  practicable  in  ordinary  seasons  by  wheeled 
conveyances  or  artillery.  The  total  length  of  roads  within  the  District 
in  1875-76  amounted  to  1538  miles. 

Administration. — The  District  staff  ordinarily  comprises  a  Deputy 
Commissioner,  with  one  Assistant  and  one  extra  Assistant  Commissioner, 
besides  the  usual  fiscal,  constabulary,  and  medical  officers.  The  total 
amount  of  revenue  raised  in  the  District  during  the  year  1875-76,  was 
returned  at  ^47,299;  of  which  sum,  ,£38,580,  or  more  than  four- 
fifths  of  the  whole,  was  contributed  by  the  land  tax.  A  local  revenue  of 
about  £5000  provides  for  objects  of  public  utility  within  the  District 


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DERA  ISMAIL  KHAN  TAHSIL  AND  TO  WN.        113 

itself.  In  1875-76,  Dera*  Ismail  Khan  possessed  17  civil  and  revenue 
judges  of  all  grades,  2  of  whom  were  covenanted  civilians.  The  regular 
police  force  in  1875  numbered  603  men,  giving  an  average  of  1  police- 
man to  every  n  76  square  miles  of  area  and  every  654  of  the  popu- 
lation. This  force  was  supplemented  by  a  body  of  487  village  watch- 
men {chauMddrs).  The  District  jail  at  Deri  Ismail  Khan  received  a 
total  number  of  1080  inmates  in  1872 ;  while  the  daily  average  of 
prisoners  for  that  and  the  two  preceding  years  was  342*55.  Education 
is  rather  more  forward  than  in  the  country  immediately  to  the  south, 
but  still  remains  at  a  low  standard.  The  District  contained  26  schools 
supported  or  aided  by  the  Government  in  1876,  with  an  aggregate  roll 
of  2 105  scholars.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  has  an  educational 
station  at  Deri  Ismail  Khan,  in  receipt  of  a  grant-in-aid  from  Govern- 
ment ;  the  number  of  pupils  in  1873  amounted  to  308.  The  total  sum 
spent  on  education  during  the  same  year  was  returned  at  ^896.  The 
troops  quartered  in  the  District  for  the  defence  of  the  Frontier,  comprise 
2  regiments  of  infantry,  1  regiment  of  cavalry,  and  a  battery  of  field 
artillery,  amounting  in  all  to  2200  rank  and  file  of  all  arms,  with  4  guns. 
The  headquarters  are  at  Deri  Ismiil  Khan.  A  small  force  of  local 
militia  supplements  the  regular  troops  in  the  outpost  stations  upon  the 
Frontier.  The  8  municipal  towns  had  an  aggregate  revenue  in  1875-76 
of  ^4504,  being  at  the  rate  of  is.  nd.  per  head  of  the  population 
within  municipal  limits. 

Medical  Aspects. — According  to  a  private  record  kept  at  Deri  Ismail 
Khin  for  the  three  years  ending  187 1,  the  maximum  temperature  in 
the  shade  during  that  period  was  110*30°  in  June  1869,  and  the 
minimum  37*25°  in  December  of  the  same  year.  Up  to  the  middle  of 
May,  the  climate  is  tolerable  for  Europeans ;  but  after  that  date,  the 
season  of  fierce  summer-heat  sets  in.  The  average  annual  rainfall  for 
the  eight  years  ending  1874  amounted  to  only  7-5  inches.  The 
rainy  season,  or  rather  the  period  of  occasional  showers,  occurs 
during  the  months  of  June,  July,  August,  and  September.  Malarious 
fever,  dysentery,  and  small-pox  form  the  prevalent  diseases  of  the 
District.  The  headquarters  station,  however,  bears  a  good  reputation 
from  a  sanitary  point  of  view.  Seven  charitable  dispensaries  afforded 
relief  in  1875  to  53,511  persons,  of  whom  1753  were  in-patients. 

Deri  Luntil  Khin.— Tahsil  of  Deri  Ismiil  Khan  District,  Punjab, 
consisting  of  a  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  Suliiman  Mountains 
and  the  Indus.  Lat.  31°  20'  to  32°  33'  n.,  and  long.  70°  33'  30"  to 
71°  25'  e,  ;  area,  1827  square  miles ;  pop.  (1868),  101,922  ;  persons  per 
square  mile,  55*78 ;  number  of  villages,  226. 

Der&  Ismail  Kh&XL — Municipal  town,  cantonment,  and  administrative 
headquarters  of  Derd  Ismail  Khin  District,  Punjab.  Lat.  31°  50'  n., 
long.  70°  55'  44*  e.  ;  pop.  (1868),  24,906,  comprising  8381  Hindus,  15,659 

VOL.  IB.  H 

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H4  DERAJAT—DERA  NANAK. 

Muhammadans,  206  Sikhs,  224  Christians,  and  436  *  others,'  Distant 
from  the  right  bank  of  the  Indus  4J  miles  west,  from  Lahore  200  miles 
west,  and  from  Miiltdn  (Mooltan)  120  miles  north-west  Founded  in  the 
end  of  the  15th  century  by  the  Baluch  adventurer  Malik  Sohrdb,  who 
called  the  town  after  one  of  his  sons.  The  original  city  was  swept 
away  by  the  Indus  in  1823,  and  all  the  existing  buildings  are  of 
quite  modern  construction.  Stands  on  a  level  plain,  so  badlydrained 
that  pools  of  water  collect  for  weeks  after  heavy  rain,  and  many 
of  the  streets  become  impassable.  Surrounded  by  a  thin  mud  wall, 
with  five  gates,  enclosing  an  area  of  about  500  acres.  Tortuous  and 
ill-ventilated  alleys,  especially  in  the  Hindu  quarter.  The  cantonment 
lies  to  the  south-east  of  the  city,  and  contains  a  total  area  of  4§  square 
miles.  Lines  exist  for  a  regiment  of  Native  cavalry,  two  regiments  of 
Native  infantry,  and  a  battery  of  artillery.  The  cantonment  also  con- 
tains a  church,  staging  bungalow,  and  swimming-bath.  European 
detachments  garrison  the  small  fort  of  Akalgarh,  half  a  mile  from  the 
north-west  angle  of  the  city.  The  civil  station  lies  to  the  south  of  the 
native  town,  and  contains  the  court-house,  treasury,  Commissioner's 
office,  jail,  police  lines,  post  office,  and  dispensary.  The  English  Church 
Mission  has  an  important  station,  and  supports  a  considerable  school. 
In  time  of  Mood,  the  whole  strip  of  land  between  the  city  or  cantonments 
and  the  river  is  covered  by  the  inundations.  The  trade  of  Deri  Ismlil 
Kh£n  ranks  as  of  second-rate  importance  only,  but  some  foreign  traffic 
with  Khordsin  passes  through  in  the  course  of  transit.  Povindah 
caravans  traverse  the  town  twice  a  year,  on  their  road  to  and  from 
India.  Chief  imports — English  and  native  piece-goods,  hides,  salt,  and 
fancy  wares ;  principal  exports — grain,  wool,  and  ghi.  Manufacture  of 
scarves  and  inlaid  wood-work.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  .£3017, 
or  3s.  per  head  of  population  (20,002)  within  municipal  limits. 

Derdj&t. — A  Division  under  a  Commissioner  in  the  Punjab,  situated 
between  280  27'  and  330  15'  n.  lat,  and  between  69°  35'  and  72°  2'  e., 
comprising  the  three  Districts  of  Dera  Ismail  Khan,  Dera  Ghazi 
Khan,  and  Bannu,  each  of  which  see  separately.  Area,  15,007  square 
miles;  pop.  (1868),  991,251. 

Deri  N&nak.  —  Municipal  town  in  Gurddspur  District,  Punjab. 
Pop.  (1868),  8082,  being  2747  Hindus,  3541  Muhammadans,  1387 
Sfkhs,  and  407  'others.'  Lies  in  lat.  320  2'  15"  n.,  long.  750  4'  e., 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  Rivi,  13  miles  north-west  of  Batdla. 
Bdba  Ndnak,  the  first  Sikh  Guru,  settled  and  died  at  the  village  of 
Pakhoki,  opposite  the  modern  town ;  and  his  descendants,  the  Bedis, 
continued  to  reside  upon  the  same  spot  until  the  encroaching  river 
swept  away  their  village.  They  then  crossed  the  stream,  and  built  a 
new  town,  which  they  called  after  the  name  of  their  holy  ancestor. 
The  majority  of  the  inhabitants  still  consist  of  Bedis.      Handsome 


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DERAPVR—DERI SHAHAN.  115 

Sikh  temple,  dedicated  to  Bdba  Nanak.  A  second  temple,  known  as 
the  Tili  Sdhib,  was  carried  away  by  an  inundation  in  1 870.  Considerable 
export  of  cotton  and  sugar.  Police  station,  Anglo-vernacular  school, 
post  office.  Municipal  revenue  (1875-76),  ^328,  or  nd  per  head  of 
population  (7199)  within  municipal  limits. 

Der&pnr.— South-western  tahsil  of  Cawnpore  District,  North-Western 
Provinces ;  stretching  inland  from  the  banks  of  the  Jumna,  and  traversed 
by  the  Bhognipur  and  Etawah  branches  of  the  Ganges  Canal.  Area, 
318  square  miles,  of  which  186  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  123,558 ; 
land  revenue,  .£25,442 ;  total  Government  revenue,  ^27,987 ;  rental 
paid  by  cultivators,  ,£42,486 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per 
acre,  2s.  6d. 

Derbend. — Military  station  in  Hazara  District,  Punjab;  lies  in 
lat  34°  18'  n.,  long.  72°  55'  e.,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Indus,  at  the 
point  where  its  stream  expands  on  entering  the  plains.  Near  this  point, 
in  1827,  Sher  Sinh,  the  Sfkh  commander,  defeated  Sayyid  Ahmad,  an 
Afghin  fanatic  who  had  excited  a  religious  war  against  the  Sflchs. 

Deri  Kot— Town,  Shikarpur  District,  Sind.—  See  Ghaibi  Dero. 

Deri  Shah&n  (or  Shdh  DAeri).— Village  in  Rawal  Pindi  District, 
Punjab.  Lat  33°  17'  n.,  and  long.  720  49'  15"  e.  Identified  by 
General  Cunningham  with  the  ancient  city  of  Taxila.  The  existing 
remains  extend  over  an  area  of  6  square  miles,  and  rank  as  the  most 
interesting  and  extensive,  and  the  best  preserved  memorials  of  antiquity 
in  the  whole  Punjab  Province.  The  number  and  size  of  the  stupas 
and  monasteries  render  them  worthy  of  the  greatest  attention.  The 
earliest  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  region  appear  to  have  been  the 
Takkas,  who  originally  held  all  the  Sind  Sigar  Do£b ;  and  from  their 
name  General  Cunningham  derives  that  of  Taxila  or  Takshasila,  which 
Arrian  describes  as  'a  large  and  wealthy  city,  the  most  populous 
between  the  Indus  and  the  Hydaspes '  (or  Jhelum).  The  city  stood  a 
few  miles  to  the  north  of  the  Margala  Pass,  where  several  mounds  still 
mark  the  sites  of  its  principal  buildings.  Alexander  rested  his  army 
at  this  point  for  three  days,  and  was  royally  entertained  by  the  reigning 
sovereign.  The  Chinese  Buddhist  pilgrim  Fa  Hian  visited  Taxila, 
as  a  place  of  peculiar  sanctity,  about  the  year  400  a.d.  Again,  in 
630  and  643,  his  countryman  and  co-religionist,  Hiouen  Thsang, 
also  made  it  a  halting-place  of  his  pilgrimage,  but  found  the  seat  of 
Government  removed  to  Kashmir.  The  ruins  of  Taxila  consist  of  six 
separate  portions.  The  mound  of  Bfr,  close  to  the  modern  rock-seated 
village  of  Deri  Shahdn,  abounds  in  fragments  of  brick  and  pottery,  and 
offers  a  rich  mine  of  coins  and  gems  for  the  antiquary.  Hatidl,  a 
fortified  spur  of  the  Margala  range,  probably  formed  the  ancient 
citadel ;  it  is  enclosed  by  a  ruined  wall,  and  crowned  by  a  large  bastion 
or  tower.    Sir-Kap  presents  the  appearance  of  a  supplementary  fortress! 


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n6  DERO  MOHBAT—DEULGHAT. 

united  with  the  citadel  by  a  wall  of  circumvallation.  Kacha-Kot 
possibly  gave  shelter  to  the  elephants  and  cattle  during  a  siege. 
Bdbar-Khdna  contains  the  remains  of  a  stupa,  which  General  Cunning- 
ham identifies  with  that  of  Asoka,  mentioned  by  Hiouen  Thsang. 
Besides  all  these  massive  works,  a  wide  expanse,  covered  by  monasteries 
or  other  religious  buildings,  stretches  on  every  side  from  the  central 
city  to  a  considerable  distance. 

Dero  Mohbat — T&luk  of  the  Tdndo  Deputy  Coilectorate,  Haidar- 
dbdd  (Hyderabad)  District,  Sind.  Lat  240  58'  15"  to  250  19'  n.,  and 
long.  68°  32'  30"  to  69°  20'  45"  e.;  area,  670  square  miles  ;  pop.  (1872), 
30,445  ;  revenue  (1873-74),  ^5014,  of  which  ^4610  were  derived  from 
imperial,  and  ^404  from  local  funds. 

Detanaw. — A  small  but  once  flourishing  village  in  Angyi  township, 
Rangoon  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  At  the  close  of  the 
first  Anglo-Burmese  war,  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  sided 
with  the  British  escaped  to  Tenasserim,  but  the  rest  were  massacred 
by  the  Burmese  for  their  adherence  to  our  cause.  In  the  neighbour- 
hood, there  are  the  ruins  of  a  large  and  very  ancient  pagoda. 

Deulg&on  R4J&. — Town  in  Buldana  District,  Berar.    Lat.  20*  n., 
long.  760  e.  ;  population,  according  to  the  Census  of  1867,  9296 — by 
the  Administration  Report  of  1876-77,    10,265.      Bordered  on   the 
north  by  a  small  range  of  hills,  and  on  the  south  by  the  small  river 
Amni.     The  town  was  once  fortified  by  a  wall,  now  in  ruins.     The 
principal  articles  of  trade  are  cotton  and  silk.     There  are  about  250 
families  of  weavers,  and  15  of  silk  traders.     The  Srdwaks  or  Jain  traders, 
who  deal  in  cloth,  are  said  to  have  come  from  the  north  about  300  years 
ago.     The  origin  of  the  great  Jadon  family,  a  member  of  which  founded 
Deulgdon,  is  uncertain.     Lakhji  Jddon  Rao  gave  his  daughter  Jijia  to 
Shihjf  the  son  of  Maloji;  and  in  1627  she  became  the  mother  of  Sivaji, 
the  founder  of  the  Marhatta  Empire.    Rdsojf,  a  natural  son  of  one  of 
the  Jddon  family,  gained  for  himself  the  title  of  founder  of  Deulgdon, 
by  enlarging  the  town,  which  before  was  known  as  Deulwarl      The 
hereditary  dues  enjoyed  by  the  family  were  confiscated  in  1851,  when 
a  body  of  Arabs  under  the  command  of  Bdjf  Rdo,  then  head  of  the 
family,  engaged  in  a  severe  fight  against  the  Haidardbdd  contingent 
Bdjf  Rio  died  a  State  prisoner  in  1856.     Of  all  the  davasthdns  in  Berar, 
that  of  Bdldjf  at  Deulgdon,  founded  by  the  Jddon  Rdjds,  is  the  most 
celebrated.     At  the  annual  fair  held  generally  in  October  in  honour  of 
this  deity,  the  offerings  exceed  a  Idkh  of  rupees,  or  ^10,000,  in  value. 
At  this  time,  food  is  supplied  gratuitously  to  pilgrims  and  religious 
mendicants  attending  the  festival. 

Denlgh&t. — Town  in  Bulddna  District,  Berar;  situated  in  lat  20° 
31'  n.,  and  long.  760  10'  30*  e.,  on  the  Penganga  river.  Pop.  (1867) 
3954.     An  ancient  town, — formerly  known  as  Deoli,  a  name  probably 


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DE  VALA—DE  VI.  117 

derived  from  the  numerous  Hemar  Panti  temples,  of  which  ruins  still 
exist.  Considerably  augmented  about  1700  a.d.  by  Aurangzeb;  now 
of  little  importance. 

DevilA  (or  Nambalakod). — Village  in  the  Wyndd,  Malabar  District, 
Madras;  situated  in  lat  n°  28'  n.,  long.  7 6°  26'  E.,  about  8  miles 
from  Gudaliir,  at  the  head  of  a  pass.  It  was  here  that  the  Wyndd  Gold 
Company  first  started  operations,  and  recently  the  place  has  grown  into 
importance  as  a  coffee  centre.  When  the  transfer  of  this  tract  to  the 
District  of  the  Nflgiris  has  been  completed,  it  is  in  contemplation  to 
station  a  European  magistrate  at  Devala. 

Devanhalli. —  T&luk  in  Bangalore  District,  Mysore.  Area,  238 
square  miles;  pop.  (1871),  70,459;  land  revenue  (1874-75),  exclusive 
of  water  rates,  ^9748,  or  3s.  3d.  per  cultivated  acre.  Among  special 
crops  are  poppy,  sugar,  potatoes,  and  pumelos. 

Devanhalli — Municipal  town  in  Bangalore  District,  Mysore;  23 
miles  by  north  road  of  Bangalore.  Lat  130  15'  n.,  long.  77°  45' 
30"  e.  ;  pop.  (1871),  5771,  composed  of  5487  Hindus  and  284  Muham- 
madans;  municipal  revenue  (1874-75),  ^39;  rate  of  taxation,  2d.  per 
head.  The  former  seat  of  a  family  of  poligdrs%  who  traced  their  descent 
from  one  of  the  refugees  of  the  Morasu  Wokkal  tribe,  who  founded 
petty  dynasties  throughout  Mysore  in  the  14th  century.  The  last  of 
the  Gaudas,  as  the  chiefs  were  called,  was  overthrown  in  1 748  by  the 
Hindu  Raja*  of  Mysore.  It  was  in  the  siege  of  Devanhalli,  on  this 
occasion,  that  Haidar  All  first  gained  distinction  as  a  volunteer  horseman, 
and  it  was  here  that  his  son  Tipd  was  born.  Haidar  erected  a  fort 
of  stone,  which  was  captured  by  Lord  Comwallis  in  1791.  A  weekly 
fair  held  on  Wednesdays  is  attended  by  500  persons.  Headquarters  of 
a  t&luk  of  the  same  name. 

DetTaraydurga  ('  Hill  of  Deva  Xdjd').— Fortified  hill  in  Tiimkiir 
District,  Mysore.  Lat  130  22'  30"  n.,  long,  770  14'  50"  e.  ;  9  miles 
east  of  Tiimkdr ;  3940  feet  above  sea  level  It  consists  of  3  terraces, 
well  supplied  with  water,  and  is  now  used  as  a  summer  retreat  for 
the  European  officials  of  the  District  It  was  captured  from  a  local 
chieftain  in  1608  by  Deva  Raja,  who  built  the  present  fortification.  A 
small  temple  on  the  summit,  dedicated  to  Durga  Narasinha,  was 
erected  by  a  subsequent  Raja  of  Mysore.  It  contains  jewellery,  etc. 
worth  ;£iooo,  and  is  endowed  with  ^85  a  year.  An  annual  festival  is 
attended  by  3000  persons. 

Devi  (literally  *  The  Goddess?  a  title  specially  applied  to  the  wife  of 
Siva,  the  All-Destroyer). — River  in  Orissa,  Bengal ;  formed  by  the  junc- 
tion in  Cuttack  District  of  the  Great  and  Little  Devi,  two  distributaries 
thrown  off  from  the  right  bank  of  the  Katjuri,  an  important  offshoot  of 
the  MahanadL  The  united  stream  passes  into  Purl  District,  and  falls 
into  the  Bay  of  Bengal  a  few  miles  below  the  southern  boundary  of 


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i  iS  DE  V1K0TTA—DE  WA. 

Cuttack.  The  Devf  forms  the  last  part  of  the  great  network  01 
channels  into  which  the  Katjuri  branch  of  the  Mahanadi  bifurcates ; 
most  of  these  streams  reunite  as  they  approach  the  sea,  forming  a 
broad  and  noble  estuary,  which,  under  the  name  of  the  Devi,  enters 
the  ocean  in  lat.  190  58' n.,  and  long.  86*  25'  e.  Some  years  ago,  a 
permanent  beacon  was  erected  at  the  mouth ;  an  excellent  channel  of 
from  16  to  24  feet  is  obtained  for  7  miles  inland  from  the  entrance  to 
the  Devf.  Above  this  distance  the  river  shoals  rapidly,  and  is  only 
navigable  by  country  craft.  This  harbour  is  unfortunately  rendered 
almost  useless  by  bars  of  sand  across  its  mouth,  which  vary  in  depth 
from  year  to  year.  As  soon  as  the  south-west  monsoon  sets  in,  the 
surf  rages  outside  in  such  a  way  as  to  render  the  approach  of  vessels 
perilous  in  the  extreme.  The  ordinary  tidal  rise  is  from  4  to  6  feet, 
and  runs  for  28  miles  up  the  river,  the  limit  of  navigation  in  the  dry 
season.  After  the  rains,  a  much  greater  depth  of  water  is  obtained, 
and  an  extensive  rice  trade  has  developed  itself  at  Machhgaon,  9  miles 
up  the  Devf.  The  mouth  of  the  river  is  surrounded  by  dense  jungle, 
destitute  of  inhabitants  and  of  tillage. 

Devikotta. — A  small  ruined  fort  in  Tanjore  District,  Madras;  situated 
24  miles  north  of  Tranquebar,  in  lat.  n°  22'  28"  n.,  and  long.  790  52'  e., 
on  the  Coromandel  coast,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Coleroon  (Kolladam) 
river.  This  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlements  of  the  Company  on  this 
coast,  the  fort  with  a  small  tract  of  adjoining  country  having  been  ceded 
in  1749  by  the  Raja  of  Tanjore. 

Devjag&OtL — Place  of  Hindu  pilgrimage  in  the  Jambusir  Sub- 
division of  Broach  District,  Bombay ;  situated  about  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  from  the  village  of  Nara,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Dhadhar  river.  The 
lighthouse  at  Devjagaon  is  built  on  the  mainland  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Dhadhar  river ;  the  height  of  the  lantern  above  high  water  is  49  feet 

Dewa. —  Pargand  in  Nawdbganj  tahsil,  Bdra  Banki  District,  Oudh. 
At  the  time  of  the  first  Muhammadan  invasion  of  Oudh,  under  Sayyid 
Sala>  Masiild,  in  1030  a.d.,  this  pargand  appears  to  have  been  held  by 
the  Janwdr  Rajputs ;  and  the  present  Shaikh  residents  of  Dewa  assert 
that  they  are  descended  from  Shih  Wesh,  the  first  Musalmin  conqueror 
of  the  village,  and  lieutenant  of  Sayyid  Silir.  But  for  a  long  time  it 
formed  only  their  entrenched  camp ;  they  did  not  acquire  any  proprie- 
tary rights  in  the  pargand  till  about  the  commencement  of  the  16th 
century,  when  aimd  grants  were  made  to  several  Shaikh  families. 
Another  Musalmin  settlement  is  that  of  the  Sayyids  of  Kheoli,  who 
colonized  a  tract  of  32  villages  west  of  Dewa  about  the  commencement 
of  the  13th  century.  A  third  colony  to  the  south  is  that  of  the 
Shaikhs  of  Kidwdra,  who  probably  came  about  the  same  time.  Other 
smaller  Musalman  communities  have  also  spread  over  the  pargand. 
The  Bais  Kshattriyas  also  obtained  a  footing  in  the  pargand,  and  during 


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DE  WA—DE  WAL  WAR  A.  1 1 9 

the  latter  years  of  the  native  Government,  they  seized  almost  the 
whole  of  the  north  of  the  pargandy  by  annexing  the  villages  of  their 
weaker  neighbours.  They  became  the  terror  of  the  whole  neighbour- 
hood, and  for  a  long  time  they  set  the  King's  Government  at  open 
defiance.  Ultimately  a  strong  force  captured  the  fort  of  one  of  the 
chiefs,  who  with  his  son  were  taken  prisoners,  and  beheaded  at 
Lucknow.  The  other  Janwdr  chief  was  afterwards  killed  in  battle. 
Both  estates  were  confiscated  and  partitioned  out,  principally  among 
Muhammadan  Shaikhs.  The  percentage  of  cultivated  land  is  higher  in 
this  than  in  any  other  pargand  of  the  District,  and  south  of  Dewa  the 
soil  is  very  fertile  and  highly  cultivated.  Many  of  the  husbandmen 
belong  to  the  industrious  class  of  Ahirs,  who  pay  high  rents  to  the 
Musalmin  proprietors.  Area,  141  square  miles,  of  which  82  are 
cultivated;  Government  land  revenue,  ,£15,203,  the  average  inci- 
dence being  5s.  7^d.  per  acre  on  cultivated  area,  3s.  iojd.  per  acre 
on  assessed  area,  and  3s.  3d.  per  acre  of  total  area.  Of  the  163  villages 
which  comprise  the  pargand,  only  57  are  held  by  Hindus,  the  rest 
belong  to  Musalmins.  Half  the  villages  are  held  under  tdlukddri,  and 
half  under  zaminddri  tenure.  Population,  according  to  the  Census  of 
1869,  but  allowing  for  changes  of  area,  Hindus  62,235,  Muhammadans 
9687 — total,  71,922,  viz.  37,723  males  and  34,199  females;  average 
density  of  population,  510  per  square  mile.  Five  towns  only  contain  a 
population  exceeding  1000;  4  unmetalled  roads  intersect  the  pargand. 

Dewa. — Town  in  Bira  Binki  District,  Oudh ;  8  miles  from  the  town 
of  Bara  Banki.  A  Muhammadan  colony  of  old  standing,  and  the  resi- 
dence of  two  well-known  families  of  Shaikhs.  Pop.  (1869),  3600, 
residing  in  521  houses.  Noted  for  its  manufactures  of  glassware  and 
del£     Government  schooL 

Dew&la. — Village  in  Chinda  District,  Central  Provinces.  Lat  20* 
6'  N.,  and  long.  790  6'  30"  e.  ;  6  miles  west  of  Bhandak.  Interesting  on 
account  of  its  architectural  remains,  for  which  see  Bhandak. 

Dew&lg&OIL — Village  in  Chinda  District,  Central  Provinces.  Lat. 
2o"  23'  n.,  and  long.  8o°  2'  e.  ;  10  miles  south-west  of  Wairagarh. 
Near  it  stands  a  remarkable  hill,  from  which  excellent  iron-ore  is 
quarried. 

Dew&lia. — One  of  the  petty  States  of  JhalawaV  in  KithiiwaV, 
Bombay.  It  consists  of  2  villages,  with  2  independent  tribute-payers. 
The  revenue  in  1876  was  estimated  at  ^523,  of  which  ^46  is  payable 
as  British  tribute  and  jQs  to  the  GaekwaV  of  Baroda. 

Dew&lw&ra. — Small  village  in  Wardha  District,  Central  Provinces  ; 
on  the  river  Wardha,  6  miles  west  of  ArvL  Noted  for  the  large  fair  held 
every  November  for  over  a  century  past,  in  the  bed  of  the  river  close  by. 
The  fair  lasts  from  20  to  25  days,  during  which  time  pilgrims  and 
merchants  from  Nagpur,  Poona,  Ndsik,  Jabalpur  (Jubbulpore),  etc  flock 


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120  DEWALWARA— DEWAS  STATE. 

to  the  fine  temple  of  the  goddess  Rukmf,  besides  transacting  business  to 
the  value  of  ;£i  0,000  or  ;£i  2,500.  Immediately  opposite  Dewilwara 
stood  Kundinapur,  described  in  the  10th  chapter  of  the  sacred  book 
Bhdgvat  as  extending  from  the  river  Vidarbha  (Wardha)  to  Amraoti, 
where  King  Bhimik  reigned  over  the  Vidarbha  country,  and  gave  his 
daughter  in  marriage  to  the  god  Krishna. 

Dew&lw&ra. — Village  in  Ellichpur  District,  Berar ;  situated  in  lat 
210  18'  n.,  and  long.  77*45'  E.,"on  the  Prima  river,  about  14  miles  from 
Ellichpur.  Formerly  a  town  of  some  importance,  containing  5000 
houses,  but  now  only  noteworthy  for  its  ancient  buildings,  the  chief  of 
which  are  a  mosque,  built  about  300  years  ago,  and  2  Hindu  temples. 
One  of  these  is  dedicated  to  the  Nar  Sinh  of  Hindu  mythology, 
who,  having  killed  Hfrania  Kisipd,  was  able,  after  failing  everywhere 
else,  to  wash  away  the  blood-stains  at  Dewilwara.  Near  the  temple 
is  a  place  now  called  '  Kar  Shudhf  Tilth,'  or  *  holy  place  of  cleaning 
hands.' 

Dew&8.  —  Native  State  under  the  Central  India  Agency  and  the 
Government  of  India.  Lat.  220  42'  to  23°  5'  n.,  long.  75°  57'  to  76°  21'  e. 
The  chief  products  are  grain,  opium,  sugar-cane,  and  cotton.  The  State 
has  two  chiefs.  The  elder  chief,  Kishnajf  Rio  Puar,  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Baba  Sihib ;  the  younger  chief,  Nirayan  Rio  Puar,  is 
styled  Dada  Sihib.  They  are  of  the  Puir  Rajput  race,  and  of  the  same 
stock  as  the  Raja*  of  Dhar.  The  area  of  the  Senior  Branch  is  estimated 
at  1378  square  miles,  with  a  population  (1875)  0I"  62,884,  and  a  revenue 
of  ,£27,783.  This  Branch  keeps  up  a  force  of  87  horse  and  about  500 
foot,  including  police,  with  10  guns  for  saluting  purposes.  The  area 
of  the  Junior  Branch  is  estimated  at  6197  square  miles,  with  a  popu- 
lation (1875)  of  58,925,  and  a  revenue  of  ^£32,506.  This  Branch 
maintains  a  force  of  123  horse  and  about  500  foot,  including  police. 
The  territories  of  Dewis  were  allotted  by  Biji  Rio  Peshwa*  to 
the  common  ancestor  Kalujf.  His  two  sons  quarrelled,  and  the  State 
was  divided  between  them.  By  a  treaty  in  181 8,  with  the  two  chiefs 
conjointly,  the  State  was  taken  under  British  protection ;  the  chiefs  under- 
taking to  forego  communication  with  other  States,  and  to  supply  a  body 
of  contingent  troops,  which  was  ultimately  commuted  for  an  annual  cash 
payment  of  about  ^3500.  In  1828,  the  chiefs  of  Dewas  made  over  to 
the  administrative  charge  of  the  British  Government  the  pargand  of 
Bagode,  an  outlying  District  in  Nimar.  The  annual  surplus  revenue  of 
this  pargand,  which  in  1875-76  amounted  to  about  ^180,  after  payment 
of  all  administrative  charges,  is  paid  to  the  chiefs  of  Dewas.  Both 
the  chiefs  of  Dewis  did  good  service  during  the  Mutiny  of  1857-58. 
Both  have  received  a  sanad  guaranteeing  the  right  of  adoption,  and  are 
entitled  to  a  salute  of  15  guns.  The  chief  town  of  the  State,  Dewas,  is 
situated  in  lat.  22°  58'  n.,  and  long.  760  6'  e. 


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DHABIEN,  NORTH— DHALANDHAR.  121 

Dhabien,  North. — Revenue  circle  in  the  Hpoung-leng  township  of 
Rangoon  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  Pop.  (1876),  3076; 
gross  revenue,  ^2751. 

Dhabien,  South. — Revenue  circle  in  the  Hpoung-leng  township  of 
Rangoon  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  Pop.  (1876),  2604; 
gross  revenue^  ^2876. 

Dhabien. — Tidal  creek  in  Rangoon  District,  Pegu  Division,  British 
Burma,  It  runs  between  the  Pdzwondoung  and  Pegu  rivers,  and  at 
Dhabien  village  is  15  feet  deep  at  high  tide.  In  the  rains  its  water  is 
sweet,  and  it  is  navigable  throughout  its  whole  course. 

Dhabla  Dhir. — One  of  the  guaranteed  Girasia*  or  mediatised  States 
under  the  Bhopdl  Agency,  the  Central  India  Agency,  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  India.  The  ThaTtur,  Chind  Sinh,  receives  tankha,  or  pecuniary 
allowances  in  lieu  of  rights  over  land,  from  Holkdr,  Sindhia,  Dewas, 
and  Bhopal  to  the  total  amount  of  ^425.  In  addition,  he  holds  a 
grant  of  3  villages  in  Shujawalpur  under  the  guarantee  of  the  British 
Government,  for  which  he  pays  a  quit-rent  of  ^140  annually.  Chand 
Sinh  is  also  Thakur  of  Kankerkherah,  in  which  right  he  holds  another 
village  in  Shujdwalpur,  paying  an  additional  quit-rent  of  ^17,  subject 
to  a  deduction  of  2  per  cent  on  the  transfer  of  the  pargand  to  Sindhia. 
He  also  in  this  right  receives  a  tankha  of  ^80. 

Dh&bla  Ohosi — One  of  the  guaranteed  Girasia*  or  mediatised 
States  under  the  Bhopdl  Agency,  the  Central  India  Agency,  and  the 
Government  of  India.  The  Thakur,  Gopdl  Sinh,  receives  tankha,  or  a 
pecuniary  allowance  in  lieu  of  rights  over  land,  from  Sindhia,  Dewas, 
and  Bhopal  to  the  total  amount  of  ^500.  He  also  holds  a  village  in 
Shujawalpur  on  a  quit-rent  of  ^105. 

Dhadhar. — River  in  Western  India,  which  rises  behind  Chimpaner, 
in  the  western  spurs  of  the  Vindhyd.  range,  in  lat  220  20'  n.,  and  long. 
73*  40'  e.,  and  after  receiving  on  the  right  the  Viswamitri  river,  on  the 
banks  of  which  stands  the  city  of  Baroda,  ultimately  falls  into  the  Gulf 
of  Cambay,  in  lat  210  54'  n.,  and  long.  720  38'  e.  Total  length,  70 
miles;  drainage  area  estimated  at  1850  square  miles. 

Dha-gnya-wadt  —  A  revenue  circle  in  Toung-gnii  District,  Ten- 
asserim  Division,  British  Burma  It  extends  eastwards  from  the  Pegu 
Yoma  Hills  along  both  banks  of  the  Khaboung,  and  occupies  the  whole 
basin  of  that  river  and  its  tributaries.  With  the  exception  of  a  small 
tract  of  rice  land,  this  circle  consists  of  wooded  hills  and  undulating 
ground.  Eng  (Dipterocarpus  tuberculatus),  sha  (Acacia  catechu),  theng- 
gany  pymgma,  pyenggado,  and  teak  abound  The  last  is  excellent, 
but  limited  in  quantity.  In  1876,  the  inhabitants  numbered  3787  ;  the 
gross  revenue  was  ^£247. 

Dhalaadhar.— Village  in  the  District  of  the  Twenty-four  Parganas, 
BengaL     Contains  a  native  asylum  for  lunatics.     Daily  average  number 

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1 22  DHALDIGHI—DHAMASIA. 

of  inmates  in  1870  was  309,  28*8  per  cent  of  whom  were  discharged  as 
cured,  and  97  per  cent  as  improved.  The  deaths  amounted  to  12*6 
per  cent 

Dhaldighi.  —  Village  in  Dinajpur  District,  Bengal  Fair  held 
annually,  which  lasts  for  eight  days,  commencing  on  the  first  day  of 
Phalgun  (latter  half  of  February) ;  attendance,  about  20,000.  Consider- 
able trade  carried  on  at  this  time. 

Dhaleswari — The  name  of  several  rivers  in  Eastern  Bengal  and 
Assam  :  (1)  an  offshoot  of  the  Jamuna,  or  main  stream  of  the  Brahma- 
putra, which  runs  across  Dacca  District  and  forms  a  valuable  com- 
munication with  the  Meghna ;  (2)  the  stream  formed  by  the  junction  of 
the  Surma  and  Kusiara  rivers  before  its  confluence  with  the  Meghna, 
forming  the  boundary  between  the  Districts  of  Maimansinh  and  Sylhet ; 
(3)  a  river  in  Cachar  District,  rising  in  the  Lushai  country,  and  flowing 
northwards  into  the  Barak  through  the  fertile  valley  of  HailakandL  At 
the  point  where  it  crosses  the  frontier,  a  permanent  bdzdr  has  been 
established  for  trade  with  the  Lushais.  In  the  lower  part  of  its  course, 
the  stream  has  been  diverted  by  an  embankment,  said  to  have  been 
constructed  by  a  Raja  of  Cachar.  The  old  channel  reaches  the  Barak 
at  Sialtekh  Bazar ;  the  new  channel,  called  the  Katalchil,  is  navigable 
by  large  boats.  This  river  has  given  its  name  to  a  forest  reserve 
covering  an  area  of  33  square  miles. 

Dhalet. — A  revenue  circle  in  Kyouk-hpyd  District,  Arakan  Division, 
British  Burma.  Its  area  is  420  square  miles,  extending  along  the  upper 
course  of  the  Dhalet  river.  The  inhabitants  in  1876  numbered  4629, 
chiefly  Khyeng ;  the  gross  revenue  was  ^542. 

Dhalet. — A  river  in  Kyouk-hpyd  District,  Arakan  Division,  British 
Burma.  Rises  in  the  main  range  and  falls  into  Combermere  Bay ;  it  is 
navigable  as  far  as  Dhalet  (sometimes  called  Talak),  a  village  25  miles 
from  its  mouth.  In  its  upper  reaches  the  stream  is  a  mountain  torrent, 
only  passable  by  small  canoes. 

Dhalkisor  (or  Dwarkeswar). — River  of  Bardwan  and  Hiigli  Districts, 
Bengal.  It  rises  in  the  Tilibani  Hill  in  Manbhiim  District,  whence  it 
flows  through  Binkura*  District,  following  a  tortuous  south-easterly 
course,  with  several  bifurcations.  It  then  enters  Bardwan  District  a 
few  miles  east  of  Bishnupur ;  flows  south-east  and  south  past  the  town 
of  Jah£n£b£d,  and  leaves  the  District  at  Berdri  village,  after  which  it  is 
known  as  the  Rupnarayan,  eventually  joining  the  Hiigli  opposite  Hiiglf 
Point  It  is  subject  to  sudden  floods,  but  portions  of  the  bordering 
country  are  now  protected  from  inundation  by  embankments.  In  its 
upper  reaches,  within  Bankuri  District,  it  is  only  navigable  in  the  rainy 
months  by  craft  of  2  tons  burden. 

DhamasUL— One  of  the  petty  States  in  Rewd  Kinta,  Bombay. 
The  name  of  the  chief  is  Chauhan  Kalubawa.    Area  of  State,  5  square 


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DHAMBI—DHAMONL  123 

miles;  estimated  revenue,  ^400,  of  which  ^13  is  paid  as  tribute  to 
the  Gkekwir  of  Baroda. 

Dhambl — Revenue  circle  on  the  Bassein  river,  in  Henzada  Dis- 
trict, Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  The  country  is  now  protected  by 
an  embankment  from  inundation  by  the  Irawadi  (Irrawaddy).  Pop. 
(1876),  including  Myo-gweng,  7471,  chiefly  engaged  in  rice  cultivation ; 
gross  revenue,  ^1699. 

DhamdA. — Town  in  Riipur  District,  Central  Provinces.  Lat.  21° 
27'  n.,  long.  8i°  23'  e.  ;  about  24  miles  north-west  of  Riipur.  The 
population  includes  a  colony  of  brass-workers,  who  manufacture  the 
heavy  brass  anklets  worn  by  the  women  of  the  country.  Near  the 
town  are  fine  groves,  and  the  remains  of  some  large  tanks,  and  of  an 
old  fort,  with  two  handsome  gateways.  Dhamdd  was  formerly  the 
headquarters  of  a  Gond  chief,  subordinate  to  the  kings  of  Ratanpur. 
On  the  conquest  of  Chhatisgarh  by  the  Marhattis,  their  officers 
arrested  the  chief  of  Dhamdd  on  a  charge  of  treachery,  and  blew  him 
from  a  gun.  Dhamdi  has  a  town  school,  a  District  post  office,  and  a 
police  station-house. 

Dh&mi — One  of  the  Punjab  Hill  States  under  the  Government  of  the 
Punjab.  When  Shahdb-ud-din  Ghori  invaded  India  in  the  14th  century, 
the  founder  of  this  family  fled  from  Riipur,  in  Umballa  (Ambila)  Dis- 
trict, and  conquered  the  territory  which  now  forms  the  State  of  DMmi. 
It  was  at  one  time  a  feudatory  of  Bilispur,  but  was  made  independent 
of  that  State  by  the  British  Government  when  the  Gurkhis,  having 
overrun  the  country  from  1803  to  18 15,  were  finally  expelled  in  the 
latter  year.  Fateh  Sinh,  the  Kind  of  Dhimi,  is  a  Rdjput  by  caste. 
The  area  of  the  State  is  26$  square  miles.  The  population  in  1875 
was  estimated  at  5500 ;  the  supposed  gross  revenue  at  ^800.  The 
State  pays  an  annual  tribute  of  ^36.  The  principal  articles  of 
production  are  grains  and  opium. 

Dham-ma-tha. — A  small  town  on  the  Gyaing  river,  in  Amherst 
District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma.  To  the  south  is  an 
extensive  outcrop  of  limestone  rocks  covered  with  dense  forest,  and 
pierced  by  a  large  cave,  containing  images  of  Gautama  Buddha.  These 
rocks  terminate  immediately  below  the  village  in  an  overhanging  cliff, 
crowned  by  a  pagoda ;  and  between  this  and  the  village  is  the  Govern- 
ment rest-house,  with  a  flight  of  steps  down  to  the  Gyaing  river.  The 
massive  and  rugged  Zwai-ka-beng  limestone  ridge,  known  as  the  *  Duke 
of  York's  Nose,'  is  situated  to  the  north  of  Dham-ma-tha. 

Dh&moni — Village  in  Sdgar  (Saugor)  District,  Central  Provinces. 
Lat.  24*  12'  n.,  long.  780  49'  e.  ;  29  miles  north  of  Sdgar.  Siirat  Sdh, 
a  scion  of  the  great  Gond  dynasty  of  Mandla,  the  original  founder  of 
Dhdmoni,  was  defeated  about  1600  by  Kiji  Barsinh  Deva,  the  Bundeli 
chief  of  the  neighbouring  State  of  Orchhd,  who  took  possession  of 


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124  DHAMPUR—DHAMRA  RIVER. 

the  country,  and  rebuilt  the  fort  and  town  on  so  large  a  scale  that  it 
became  the  capital  of  a  large  tract  with  2558  villages,  including  the 
greater  part  of  the  present  Districts  of  Sigar  and  Damoh.  His  son 
and  successor,  Pahdr  Sinh,  continued  to  reign  till  1619,  when  the 
country  became  an  integral  portion  of  the  Delhi  Empire.  During  the 
next  80  years  it  was  ruled  by  5  successive  governors  from  Delhi,  the 
last  of  whom  was,  about  1700,  defeated  by  Rlj£  Chhatra  S£l  of  Panni. 
His  descendants  retained  Dhdmonf  till  1802,  when  Umrdo  Sinh,  R4j£ 
of  Pitan,  a  small  neighbouring  place,  seized  the  fort  and  country  by 
treachery,  but  was  himself  in  a  few  months  compelled  to  yield  to  the 
army  of  the  Riji  of  Ndgpur.  In  181 8,  soon  after  the  flight  of  Apd 
S£hib,  the  fort  was  invested  by  a  British  force  under  General  Marshall ; 
who,  having  ineffectually  offered  the  garrison  ^1000  'in  discharge  of 
arrears  of  pay,  on  condition  of  immediate  evacuation,'  opened  batteries 
against  the  place,  with  such  effect  that  in  six  hours  it  was  surrendered 
unconditionally.  Dhdmoni  thus  came  under  British  rule,  but  by  that 
time  the  tract  had  been  reduced  to  only  33  villages.  Its  present  con- 
dition is  desolate  in  the  extreme,  the  population  scarcely  exceeding  roo ; 
but  the  ruins  of  mosques,  tombs,  and  buildings  for  nearly  a  mile  round 
the  fort  and  lake  attest  the  importance  of  the  place  under  Muhammadan 
rule.  The  fort,  which  covers  an  area  of  52  acres,  stands  on  an  eminence 
near  the  summit  of  the  ghdts  leading  to  Bundelkhand,  commanding  the 
valley  of  the  river  Dh£s£n.  The  ramparts  are  in  most  parts  50  feet 
high  and  15  feet  thick,  with  enormous  round  towers.  Interior  works 
further  strengthen  the  defences  of  the  eastern  quarter,  where  the 
magazine  was  probably  situated.  Inside  and  around  it  are  large  groves 
of  custard-apple  trees.  The  town  lies  to  the  west  of  the  fort,  and  the 
lake,  which  is  of  considerable  size,  to  the  south-west  of  the  town.  The 
supply  of  water  is  excellent,  and  the  soil  near  the  village  remarkably 
fertile,  as  the  luxuriant  and  varied  vegetation  shows. 

Dh&mpur. — Tahsil  of  Bijnaur  (Bijnor)  District,  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces. Area,  323  square  miles,  of  which  223  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872), 
169,134;  land  revenue,  ^26,668 ;  total  Government  revenue,  ^29,417; 
rental  paid  by  cultivators,  ,£56,819  ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue 
per  acre,  2s.  6|d. 

Dh&mpur. — Municipal  town  in  Bijnaur  (Bijnor)  District,  North- 
Western  Provinces,  and  headquarters  of  the  tahsil  of  the  same  name,  in 
lat.  290  18'  43*  n.,  and  long.  780  32'  46"  e.  Area,  79  acres ;  pop. 
(1872),  6555.  Lies  on  the  road  from  Moraddbid  to  Hardwdr,  22  miles 
east  of  Bijnaur.  Small  but  wealthy  and  well-built  town,  with  a  good 
bdzdr.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^622;  from  taxes,  £551,  or 
is.  8d.  per  head  of  population  (6555)  within  municipal  limits. 

Dh&mri. — River  and  estuary  in  Bengal,  formed  by  the  combined 
waters  of  the  Brahmani  and  Baitarani  and  their  tributaries,  which 

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DHAMRA  PORT—DHAMTARL  125 

enter  the  Bay  of  Bengal  in  lat  200  47'  n.,  and  long.  87°  e.  The 
Dhimra*  is  a  fine  navigable  river,  but  rendered  dangerous  by  a  bar 
across  its  mouth.  It  forms  the  boundary  line  between  the  Districts  of 
Cuttack  and  Balasor,  but  lies  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  latter ;  the 
entrance  is  marked  by  the  Kaniki  buoy  in  2 1  feet  reduced,  and  by 
Shortt's  tripod  beacon,  on  the  extreme  north-east  dry  portion  of  Point 
Palmyras  Reef.  Since  1866  a  second  outer  channel,  with  10  feet  at 
lowest  tide,  has  opened  about  a  mile  to  the  south.  The  inner  bar  is 
constantly  shifting.  In  1859,  12  feet  of  water  were  found  here ;  in  1866, 
only  3 ;  and  in  1870,  8.  The  water  in  the  Dhamra*  estuary  rapidly 
shoals  from  a  minimum  depth  of  2 1  feet  at  the  Kanikd  buoy  to  6  feet 
on  the  Central  Sand.  Within  the  southern  outer  channel  (minimum 
depth,  10  feet  at  low  tide)  vessels  are  absolutely  sheltered  from  the 
monsoon.  The  latest  Survey  Report  (dated  May  13,  1870)  returns  the 
tidal  range  of  the  Dhamra*  at  10  feet,  with  variations  from  a  minimum 
of  6  feet  10  inches  to  a  maximum  of  io£  feet  Brigs  and  Madras 
traders  drawing  from  10  to  even  18  feet  frequent  the  harbour  of  the 
Dhimrd,  which  was  declared  a  port  in  1858,  with  perfect  safety. 

Dh&mr&. — Port  in  the  estuary  of  the  same  name,  Cuttack  District, 
Bengal  Lat  200  47'  40*  n.,  long.  86°  55'  55*  k.  The  name  is  applied 
to  the  navigable  channels  of  the  rivers  forming  the  Dhamra,  as  far  as 
they  are  affected  by  tidal  waters.  These  limits  embrace  Chdndbalf,  on 
the  Baitaranf,  a  seat  of  coasting-steamer  traffic,  and  a  rapidly  rising 
town ;  Hansui,  on  the  Br£hmani,  formerly  a  great  salt  emporium  ; 
Patimundii,  on  the  same  river ;  and  Aul,  on  the  Kharsui, — the  three 
last  within  Cuttack  District  The  trade  of  Chindbalf  and  Mahurfgdon 
(a  town  2  miles  above  Chandbali,  on  the  Cuttack  side  of  the  river)  is 
mainly  steamer  traffic,  monopolizing  almost  entirely  the  import  and 
export  trade  of  Balasor  District.  The  rest  of  the  trade  of  Dhimra" 
port  is  carried  on  exclusively  in  sailing  ships,  and  consists  chiefly  in  the 
export  of  rice.  In  1874-75,  the  value  of  the  Chandbali  and  Mahurigdon 
imports  was  ,£200,858,  and  of  Dhamrd  proper  only  £"89 ;  the  value  of  the 
Chandbdlf  and  Mahurigdon  exports  was  ,£139,554,  and  that  of  Dhdmra" 
;£i  1,407.  The  eastern  boundary  of  the  port  is  the  Dhamra"  customs 
station. 

Dhaillt&rL — Tahsil  or  Revenue  Subdivision  in  Rdipur  District, 
Central  Provinces.  Lat  200  22'  30"  to  210  1'  n.,  long.  8o°  41'  30" 
to  8i°  46'  30"  e.;  pop.  (1872),  275,461,  residing  in  1020  villages  or 
townships  and  53,283  houses,  on  an  area  of  2495  square  miles. 

DhamtArL — The  largest  town  in  the  southern  portion  of  Riipur 
District,  Central  Provinces,  lying  in  lat  200  42'  n.,  and  long.  8i°  35' 
30"  e^  on  the  main  road  from  the  north  to  Bastir  and  Ranker,  36 
miles  south  of  Raipur.  Pop.  (1876),  6023.  The  fertile  plain  around 
produces  crops  of  wheat,  rice,  cotton,  oil-seeds,  and  sugar-cane  unsur- 


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126  DHANA  URA—DHANV. 

passed  in  any  part  of  Chhatfsgarh.  Dhamtiri  does  a  considerable 
trade  in  lac,  exporting  from  2000  to  2400  bullock-loads  yearly.  It  has 
a  town  school,  girls'  school,  dispensary,  post  office,  and  police  station. 

Dhanaora.  —  Agricultural  town  in  Moraddbdd  District,  North- 
western Provinces.  Lat  28°  58'  n.,  long.  780  18'  30"  e.  ;  area,  68 
acres;  pop.  (1872),  5287,  comprising 4651  Hindus  and  656  Muham- 
madans.  Lies  on  the  plain,  9  miles  east  of  the  Ganges,  and  33  miles 
west  from  Moradib&L     Of  merely  local  importance. 

Dhanauti.  —  River  in  Champdran  District,  Bengal  Formerly  a 
branch  of  the  Ldl  Begf,  a  bifurcation  of  the  Lower  Harha,  a  tributary 
of  the  Gandak.  It  is  113  miles  long,  but  has  now  quite  silted  up  in  its 
upper  parts,  and  for  many  years  has  received  no  flood  discharge.  It 
ultimately  falls  into  the  Sikhreni,  near  Sftakiind. 

Dhandhuka. — Chief  town  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name  in 
Ahmedibid  District,  Bombay.  Lat  220  21'  15"  n.,  long.  720  2  20" 
e.  ;  62  miles  south-west  of  Ahmedibdd  and  100  miles  north-west  of 
Surat;  pop.  (1872),  9782;  municipal  revenue  (1874-75),  ^504;  rate 
of  taxation,  is.  per  head  Dhandhuka,  which  is  a  place  of  considerable 
antiquity,  has  a  sub-judge's  court,  post  office,  and  dispensary. 

Dhaneswari  —  River  of  Assam,  rising  in  the  Barel  Mountains, 
which  form  the  watershed  between  the  Ndgd  Hills  and  Cicha>;  in 
lat  250  20'  n.,  and  long.  93°  24'  e.  Its  course  through  the  Naga  Hills 
District  is  on  •  the  whole  northerly,  through  a  vast  plain  of  heavy 
jungle,  amid  which  are  to  be  seen  the  ruins  of  Dimipur,  until  it  is 
joined  by  the  Ddyang.  The  combined  stream  then  turns  towards  the 
north-east,  and  finds  its  way  after  many  windings  into  the  Brahma- 
putra, near  the  village  of  Bagdwar  Chdpari,  in  lat  26°  44'  n.,  and  long. 
930  42'  e.  In  this  portion  of  its  course  it  forms  for  several  miles  the 
boundary  between  the  Districts  of  Nowgong  and  Sibsagar.  The  only 
important  place  on  its  banks  is  Golaghdt,  in  Sibsagar  District,  which  is 
a  centre  of  trade  for  the  Ndgd  tribes.  Up  to  this  point  it  is  navigable 
by  steamers  during  the  rainy  season^ut  small  boats  can  proceed  as 
high  as  Dimapur. 

Dhang&in. — Pass  in  Haz&ibagh  District,  Bengal;  by  which  the 
Old  Trunk  Road  to  Sherghatf  left  the  upper  plateau  for  the  lower 
leveL  Lat  240  23'  30"  n.,  and  long.  840  59'  45*  e.  It  is  now  imprac- 
ticable for  wheeled  traffic,  and  has  fallen  into  disuse. 

DhinikhoUL — Town  in  Maimansinh  District,  Bengal  Lat  24°  39' 
10"  n.,  long.  900  24'  11"  e.;  pop.  (1872),  6730.  Situated  on  the 
Satua  river,  an  insignificant  stream. 

DhantL — An  extensive  revenue  circle  in  Tha-htdn  township,  Amherst 
District,  Tenasserim,  British  Burma,  lying  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Kyouk-tsarit  and  Bheng-laing  rivers.  Consists  of  hilly  tracts  liable  to 
inundation,  partly  from  the  spill  of  the  Bheng-laing,  and  partly  from 

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DHANU  RIVER— DHAR  STATE.  127 

that  of  the  Bhfleng,  which  is  excluded  from  the  Thah-trin  plains  and 
forced  round  the  northern  end  of  the  Martaban  Hills  by  the  Diinwon 
embankment  Pop.  (1876),  7661,  chiefly  Toungthris;  land  revenue, 
^145;  and  capitation  tax,  ^589.  The  name  is  derived  from  the 
Dhanii,  one  of  the  hundred  and  one  races  into  which  the  world  (accord- 
ing to  the  Burmese  traditions)  is  divided. 

Dh&ntL — River  in  the  south-east  of  Maimainsinh  District,  Bengal, 
which  falls  into  the  Meghni.  Navigable  by  small  boats  during  the 
rainy  season. 

Dhantil  Bhtira-gyi — A  vast  pagoda,  now  in  ruins,  in  the  Angyf 
township,  Rangoon  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma  It  was 
formerly  the  site  of  a  flourishing  village;  but  there  are  no  records 
extant  bearing  upon  the  history  of  either  village  or  pagoda 

DhAnur. — Lake  in  Sfrsa  District,  Punjab ;  formed  by  an  expansion 
of  the  river  Ghaggar,  3  miles  long  by  1  broad.  Though  shallow  and 
swampy,  it  contains  water  throughout  the  year.  A  few  Persian  wheels 
are  worked  upon  the  banks,  but  the  water  is  little  used,  except  for 
purposes  of  drinking  and  bathing. 

Dh&ola  Dhar.  —  Mountain  chain  in  Ka\ngra  District,  Punjab ; 
formed  by  a  projecting  fork  of  the  outer  Himilayan  range,  marking  the 
boundary  between  the  Kdngra  valley  and  Chamba.  The  main  system 
here  rises  steeply  from  the  lowlands  at  its  base,  unbroken  by  any  minor 
hills,  to  an  elevation  of  13,000  feet  above  the  valley  beneath.  The  chain 
is  formed  by  a  mass  of  granite,  which  has  forced  its  way  through  the 
superincumbent  sedimentary  rocks,  and  crowns  the  summit  with  its 
intrusive  pyramidal  crests,  too  precipitous  for  the  snow  to  find  a 
lodging.  Below,  the  waste  of  snow-fields  is  succeeded  by  a  belt  of 
pines,  giving  way  to  oaks  as  the  flanks  are  descended,  and  finally  merging 
into  a  cultivated  vale  watered  by  perennial  streams.  The  highest  peak 
attains  an  elevation  of  15,956  feet  above  sea  level;  while  the  valley 
has  a  general  height  of  about  2000  feet 

Dh&pew&ra.  —  A  clean  and  healthy  town  in  Nigpur  District, 
Central  Provinces,  on  either  side  of  the  river  Chandrabhdgd,  in  a 
fertile  plain.  Situated  in  lat  21°  18'  n.,  and  long.  780  57'  £.,  20  miles 
north-west  of  Nagpur;  pop.  (1870),  4566,  chiefly  Koshtfs,  employed  in 
the  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth,  of  which  industry  Dhdpewdra  was 
one  of  the  earliest  seats  in  the  District  The  fort  was  built  for  protec- 
tion against  the  Pindaris  about  seventy  years  ago. 

Dhar.— One  of  the  States  within  the  Bhfl  (Bheel)  Agency,  under  the 
Central  India  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India ;  situated  between 
220  1'  and  230  8'  n.  lat,  and  between  740  43'  and  750  35'  e.  long.  The 
present  R£jd  of  Dhar,  Anand  Rdo  Puir,  who  was  born  about  1843,  is  a 
Puir  Rajput,  and  the  family  claim  descent  from  the  famous  Vikramdditya 
of  Hindu  legend.    Their  ancestors  belonged  to  a  Rdjput  tribe,  settled 


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j 28  DHARAKOTA— DHARAMPUR  STATE. 

in  Milwi,  whence  they  emigrated  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Poona,  and 
eventually  became  distinguished  commanders  under  Sivaji  and  his 
successors.  The  present  dynasty  was  founded  by  Anand  Rio,  who,  in 
1749,  received  the  grant  of  Dhar  from  Bajf  Rio  Peshwa.  For  twenty 
years  before  the  British  conquest  of  Milwi,  Dhar  was  subjected  to  a 
series  of  spoliations  by  Sindhia  and  Holkar,  and  was  preserved  from 
destruction  only  by  the  talents  and  courage  of  Mfna  Bii,  widow  of 
Anand  Rio  il  and  adoptive  mother  of  Rimchandra  Puir,  the  fifth  in 
descent  from  the  founder  of  the  family.  Rimchandra  Puir  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  adopted  son,  Jeswant  Rio,  who  died  in  1857,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  half-brother,  Anand  Rio,  the  present  Riji  The  State 
was  confiscated  for  rebellion  in  1857,  but  subsequently  restored  to 
Anand  Rio  (then  a  minor),  with  the  exception  of  the  District  of  Bairsia, 
which  was  granted  to  the  Sekandra  Begam.  The  area  of  the  State  is 
2500  square  miles.  The  population  in  1875  was  estimated  at  150,000, 
and  the  revenue  at  ^67,000.  By  the  treaty  of  January  181 9,  Dhar 
was  taken  under  British  protection.  The  State  pays  a  contribution  of 
^1965  to  the  Milwi  Bhfl  corps.  The  military  force  consists  of  276 
cavalry  and  about  800  infantry,  including  police,  2  guns,  and  21 
artillerymen.  The  chief  has  received  a  sanadoi  adoption,  and  is  entitled 
to  a  salute  of  15  guns.  There  is  1  English  school  and  18  vernacular 
schools,  2  dispensaries  and  a  new  hospital  recently  built  by  the  Raja. 
The  chief  products  are  wheat,  opium,  gram,  sugar-cane,  Indian  corn, 
and  cotton.     The  town  of  Dhar  is  in  lat  220  36*  N.,  long.  75*  20'  e. 

Dh&r&kota.  —  Estate  in  Ganjam  District,  Madras.  Number  of 
houses,  6753;  pop.  (1871),  31,923 — viz.  Hindus,  31,868  (all  Vaishnavs 
except  2200  Sivaites),  and  Muhammadans  (all  Sunnis),  55. 

Dharamkotta. — Shrine,  Kistna  District,  Madras. — See  Amravati. 

Dharampur. — Native  State  within  the  Political  Agency  of  Surat,  in 
the  Province  of  Gujarit  (Guzerat),  Bombay.  Bounded  north  by  the  State 
of  Binsda,  east  by  the  State  of  Sulgani  and  the  Dangs,  south  by  the 
State  of  Peint,  and  west  by  the  Bulsir  Subdivision  of  Surat  District 
The  territory  is  48  miles  long  from  north  to  south,  and  30  in  breadth 
from  east  to  west  Area,  225  square  miles;  pop.  (1872),  74,592.  A 
small  portion  only  is  cultivable;  the  rest  is  hilly,  rocky,  and  covered 
with  forest  and  brushwood  Except  in  Dharampur  town  and  a  few  other 
villages,  where  there  are  reservoirs,  wells  are  the  only  source  of  the  water 
supply.  The  climate  is  very  unhealthy.  The  prevailing  diseases  are 
fever,  dropsy,  diarrhoea,  and  asthma.  The  principal  products  are  the 
flower  of  the  makud  (Bassia  latifolia),  teak,  blackwood,  and  other  timber. 
The  crops — rice,  pulse,  and  sugar-cane.  The  manufactures — mats, 
baskets,  and  other  articles  of  bamboo.  A  cart-road,  passing  southwards 
through  Peint,  connects  the  State  of  Dharampur  with  Nasik  station  on 
the  Great  Indian  Peninsula  Railway,  while  another  rougher  track  running 


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DHARAMPUR  TOWN—DHARAPURAM.  129 

westwards  joins  it  with  Bulsir  station  on  the  Bombay,  Baroda,  and  Central 
India  Railway  line.  The  gross  revenue  is  estimated  at  ,£25,000.  In 
1873,  there  were  3  schools,  with  50  pupils.  The  present  (1875)  Chief,  a 
Hindu  of  the  Sesodii  clan  of  Rdjputs,  is  thirty-four  years  of  age.  His 
name  is  Ndriyandevjf  Ramdevji,  and  his  title  R£ja  Mahdrdnd  Sri.  He 
is  entitled  to  a  salute  of  9  guns,  and  has  power  to  try  his  own  subjects 
for  capital  offences  without  the  express  permission  of  the  Political 
Agent  He  administers  the  State  himself,  and  maintains  a  military 
force  of  184  men.  The  house  follows  the  rule  of  primogeniture  in  point 
of  succession,  and  holds  a  sanad  authorizing  adoption.  It  would  seem 
probable  that  the  territory  of  Dharampur,  or  Rdmnagar,  as  it  was 
originally  called,  was  once  much  more  extensive  than  now,  stretching 
westward  as  far  as  the  sea-coast  The  claims  of  Ihe  Peshwd  on  the 
revenues  of  this  State  were  ceded  to  the  British  under  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  of  Bassein  (1802),  and  are  still  levied  by  officers  of  the  British 
Government;  they  yield  a  yearly  sum  of  from  ^600  to  jQloo. 

Dharampur.  — The  chief  town  of  the  State  of  the  same  name; 
situated  in  lat  200  34'  n.,  and  long.  730  14'  e.     Pop.  (1872),  3233. 

Dharangion.  —  Municipal  town  in  the  Erandol  Subdivision  of 
Khandesh  District,  Bombay.  Lat  210  n.,  long.  75*20'  20"  e.  ;  35 
miles  east  by  north  of  Dhuli£  Pop.  (1872),  11,649;  municipal 
income  (1874-75),  ^80 ;  rate  of  taxation,  i\±  per  head.  Dharangdon 
has  a  post  office,  and  is  the  headquarters  of  the  District  superintendent 
of  police  and  of  the  Bhfl  corps.  A  considerable  trade  in  cotton  and 
oil-seeds  is  carried  on  with  Galgion,  a  town  and  railway  station  about  16 
miles  to  the  east,  where  many  of  the  Dharang£on  merchants  have  agents. 
The  paper  and  cloth  of  Dharangdon  were  formerly  held  in  esteem.  At 
present  the  manufacture  of  paper  has  entirely  ceased  ;  but  the  weaving 
of  coarse  cloth  still  gives  employment  to  more  than  100  looms.  In  the 
year  1855,  Government  established  a  cotton  ginning  factory  at  Dharan- 
g£on,  with  93  saw-gins,  under  the  management  of  a  European  overseer ; 
merchants  and  cultivators  were  charged  jQi  a  month  for  the  use  of 
a  gin.  But  the  experiment  proved  costly,  and  was  subsequently 
abandoned.  Under  Marhattd  rule*  Dharangdon  was  the  scene  of  a 
terrible  massacre  of  Bhils,  who  had  on  several  occasions  plundered  the 
town.  In  1 81 8,  the  place  came  into  the  possession  of  the  British 
Government ;  and  it  was  here  that  Lieutenant,  afterwards  Sir  James, 
Outram  was  engaged  from  1825  to  1830  in  improving  the  position  of 
the  Bhils,  by  training  them  in  an  irregular  corps. 

DMrapurailL — T&luk  in  Coimbatore  District,  Madras.  Houses, 
39,950.  Pop.  (187 1),  217,493  — being  Hindus,  213,242  (chiefly 
Sivaites) ;  Muhammadans,  3915  (all  Sunnis  except  28) ;  Christians,  336 
(all  native  Roman  Catholics).    Chief  town,  Dirapur  or  Dharapuram. 

Dh&rapuram  {Ddrapur). — Chief  town  in  above  tdluk,  Coimbatore 

VOL.  IIL  X 

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i3o  DHARI— DHARMA. 

District,  Madras.  Houses,  1282 ;  pop.  (1871),  7009,  of  whom  81  per 
cent  are  agricultural ;  proportion  of  Hindus,  82  per  cent  Situated  in 
lat  io*  44'  35"  n.,  and  long.  770  34'  28"  e.,  46  miles  east-south-east  of 
Coimbatore  and  250  from  Madras,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Amravati, 
m  a  fine  plateau  of  open  country  909  feet  above  the  sea,  which  stretches 
nearly  to  the  Palani  Mountains,  some  15  miles  south.  A  channel  from 
the  river  bisects  the  town.  Dharapuram  is  said  to  have  been  the  capital 
of  the  Kshattriya  King  Bhaja,  and  is  otherwise  interesting  as  having,  in 
1667,  and  again  in  1746,  been  taken  from  Madura  by  Mysore.  In  the 
campaigns  with  Haidar  AH  and  Tipd  Sahib,  it  was  also  a  point  of 
some  strategical  importance,  being  captured  by  Colonel  Wood  in  1768, 
retaken  by  Haidar  in  the  same  year ;  again  occupied  by  the  British  in 
x7^3 >  given  up  by  the  treaty  of  Mangalore,  and  finally  resumed  in  1790 
by  General  Meadows.  In  1792,  the  fort  was  dismantled.  For  a  time 
Dharapuram  was  the  headquarters  of  the  District,  and  the  seat  of  the 
zild  court,  but  is  now  only  the  headquarters  of  the  tdluk,  and  as  such 
possesses  the  usual  subordinate  administrative  establishments,  a  police 
station,  post  office,  school,  and  dispensary.  At  the  weekly  market  held 
here,  the  ghi,  paddy,  and  pepper,  which,  with  tobacco  and  oil-seed,  form 
the  staple  products  of  the  tdluk,  are  collected  for  export  in  exchange 
for  metal-ware  and  cloth.  The  town  is  connected  by  road  with  three 
railway  stations — Tirupur,  Perundurai,  and  Kanir. 

Dhari — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Rewa  Kanta,  Bombay.  Area,  2  J 
square  miles ;  there  are  6  chiefs.  The  estimated  revenue  is  ^250,  and 
a  tribute  of  ^95  is  paid  to  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda, 

DharlA  (or  TorshS). — River  of  Bengal,  which  rises  in  the  Bhutan 
Hills,  flows  south  through  the  Western  Dwars  of  Jalpaigurf  District, 
passing  through  the  centre  of  Madarf  pargand^  till  it  enters  Kuch 
Behar  territory  at  Nekobarpara  village.  Chief  tributaries  in  Jalpaiguri, 
the  Bhela  Kuba  and  the  Hansmara.  Its  course  through  Kuch  Behar 
is  tortuous,  its  old  beds  and  affluents  forming  a  perfect  network  of 
channels.  Gives  off  the  Torsha  river  in  Kuch  Behar ;  joined  by  the 
Singfmari  or  Jaldhaka  near  Durgapur ;  turns  south  through  Rangpur 
District,  and  falls  into  the  Brahmaputra  at  Bagwa,  in  lat  250  40'  n., 
and  long.  89°  47'  30"  e.     Navigable  by  cargo-boats  during  the  rains. 

Dharma. —  Tract  of  country  in  Kumaun  District,  North- Western 
Provinces,  lying  on  the  northern  or  Thibetan  side  of  the  main 
Himalayan  range ;  situated  between  300  5'  and  300  30'  n.,  and  between 
8o°  25'  and  8o°  45'  e.  Of  considerable  elevation — its  chief  peak,  Lebong, 
rising  18,942  feet  above  sea  level ;  while  the  Dharma  Pass,  on  the 
northern  frontier,  leading  into  Hundes,  reaches  a  height  of  about  15,000 
feet  The  habitable  portion  consists  of  narrow  and  very  rugged  valleys, 
traversed  by  the  river  Dhauli  and  its  tributaries.  The  inhabitants  are 
Bhotiyas,  a  Thibetan  race,  who  carry  on  a  trade  between  Hundes  and 


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DHARMANPVR—DHARMA  VARAM.  131 

Kumiun,  by  means  of  pack-sheep,  over  the  Dharma  Pass.  Estimated 
area,  about  400  square  miles. 

Dharminpnr. — Pargand  in  Ndnpara  tahsil,  Bahriich  District,  Oudh ; 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Nep&l,  on  the  east  and  south  by  Ndnpira 
pargand,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Kauridla  river,  separating  it  from  Kherf 
District  Formerly  included  in  Dhaurahra,  and  only  constituted  a 
separate  pargand  since  the  British  annexation  of  Oudh.  Largely 
occupied  by  forest  tracts,  which  comprise  172  square  miles  out  of  a 
total  area  of  304.  The  remainder,  132  square  miles,  is  occupied  by  64 
villages,  the  cultivated  area  being  only  47  square  miles.  The  Govern- 
ment land  revenue,  which,  on  account  of  the  large  area  of  cultivable 
waste  land  available,  has  been  fixed  at  a  rate  progressively  increasing 
every  ten  years,  is  as  follows: — 1871,  ^3303  ;  1881,  ^4177;  1891, 
^5052.  Average  incidence  of  final  assessment,  2s.  i|d.  per  acre  of 
cultivated  area ;  io^d.  per  acre  of  assessable  area,  and  8fd.  per  acre  of 
total  area.  Graziers  from  ail  parts  of  Northern  Oudh  drive  their  herds 
into  the  forests  of  this  pargand.  Game  of  every  description  abounds. 
Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  22,627;  Muhammadans,  1694;  total,  24,321, 
viz.  13,552  males  and  10,769  females ;  average  density  of  population, 
81  per  square  mile 

Dharmapuri — Tdluk  in  Salem  District,  Madras.  Houses,  32,336; 
popu  (1871),  190,626,  viz.  95,080  males  and  95,546  females.  Classified 
according  to  religion — Hindus,  183,894,  including  115,783  Sivaites  and 
68,088  Vishnuvites ;  Muhammadans,  4366,  including  4142  Sunnis  and 
166  Shiis;  Christians,  almost  exclusively  Roman  Catholics,  2366, 
being  7  Europeans  and  2359  natives.     Chief  town,  Dharmapuri. 

Dharmapnri — Town  in  Dharmapuri  tdluk,  Salem  District,  Madras ; 
situated  in  lat  120  9'  n.,  and  long.  780  13'  &,  35  miles  north  of  Salem. 
Houses,  1 62 1 ;  pop.  (187 1),  7434.  As  the  headquarters  of  the  tdluk,  it 
contains  the  subordinate  judicial  and  magisterial  courts,  a  post  office, 
police  station,  school,  and  dispensary.  Until  1688,  Dharmapuri  belonged 
to  the  kingdom  of  Aura,  but  in  that  year  was  annexed  by  Mysore.  In 
1768,  it  was  captured  by  Colonel  Wood,  but  reoccupied  by  Haidar  All 
until  the  signature  of  peace. 

Dharmavaram. — Tdluk  of  Bellary  District,  Madras.  Area,  1226 
square  miles,  with  a  population  in  1871  of  119,877,  or  97  persons  to 
the  square  mile;  revenue  (1869-70),  ,£18,485,  the  land  contributing 
^12,176.  Of  the  total  area,  266,489  acres  are  cultivated,  only  22,078, 
however,  being  under '  wet '  crops,  owing  to  the  insufficiency  of  irrigation 
works,  from  which  this  large  tdluk  suffers.  About  100  miles  of  made 
road  connect  the  large  towns — Dharmavaram,  KalyandriSg,  Konderpi- 
dnSg,  and  Kambadiir — with  each  other.     Chief  town,  Dharmavaram. 

Dharmavaram. — Town  in  Dharmavaram  tdluk,  Bellary  District, 
Madras.    Lat  140  24'  n.,  long.  770  e.;  houses,  1408 ;  pop.  (187 1),  7029, 


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i32  DHARMKOT—DHARMSALA. 

Situated  on  the  Chitravati  river,  50  miles  south  of  Gooty  (Guti)  and  196 
north-west  of  Madras.  It  is  the  headquarters  of  the  taluk,  and  the 
market  held  here  is  of  considerable  local  importance.  Said  to  have 
been  founded  by  Kriyasakti  Wodeyar,  and  formerly  fortified. 

Dharmkot. —  Municipal  town  in  Firozpur  (Ferozepore)  District, 
Punjab.  Lat.  30°  56'  45"  n.,  and  long.  750  16'  30"  e.;  pop.  (1868), 
5379>  being  1349  Hindus,  2465  Muhammadans,  1305  Sfkhs,  and  260 
4  others. '  Lies  on  the  road  from  Firozpur  to  Ludhiana,  56  miles 
east  of  the  former  city.  Originally  known  as  Kutalpur,  but  renamed 
after  its  occupation  in  1760  by  the  Sikh  chieftain,  Tara  Sinh,  of  the 
Dallewala  confederacy,  who  built  a  fort,  now  destroyed.  Well  paved 
and  drained.  Middle-class  school,  sardi%  police  station.  Many  wealthy 
merchants ;  large  trade  in  grain.  Municipal  revenue  (1875-76),  ^136, 
or  5  Jd.  per  head  of  population  (5478)  within  municipal  limits. 

Dharmpur. — Village  in  Hardoi  District,  Oudh;  11  miles  east  of 
Fatehgarh,  and  the  first  encamping-ground  on  the  route  from  Fateh- 
garh  to  Lucknow  and  Hardoi.  Noteworthy  as  the  residence  of  Raji. 
Sir  Hardeo  Baksh,  K.C.S.I.,  in  whose  fort  were  loyally  sheltered  several 
English  officers  during  the  Mutiny. 

Dharms&la. — Hill  station,  municipality,  and  administrative  head- 
quarters of  Kangra  District,  Punjab.  Lat.  320  15'  42"  n.,  long.  76° 
22' 46"  e.  ;  pop.,  in  July  1869,  2862,  comprising  137  Europeans  and 
2725  natives;  but  as  the  number  of  residents  fluctuates  greatly,  these 
figures  can  only  be  accepted  as  approximate.  Probably  the  actual 
population  is  now  much  larger.  Dharmsala  lies  on  a  spur  of  the 
Dhaola  Dhar,  16  miles  north-east  of  Kangra,  in  the  midst  of  wild  and 
picturesque  scenery.  It  occupies  the  site  of  an  old  Hindu  sanctuary 
or  dharmsdla  (whence  the  name),  and  originally  formed  a  subsidiary 
cantonment  for  the  troops  stationed  at  Kangra.  In  1855,  the  District 
headquarters  were  removed  to  the  spot;  and  a  small  town  rapidly 
collected  around  the  civil  station.  It  now  contains  several  private 
European  residences,  a  church,  two  large  barracks  for  soldiers  invalided 
from  English  regiments,  three  fidzdrs,  public  gardens  and  assembly, 
rooms,  court-house,  jail,  treasury,  hospital,  and  other  public  buildings. 
.The  town  and  cantonments  stretch  along  the  hillside,  with  an  elevation 
varying  from  4500  to  6500  feet  The  churchyard  contains  a  monument 
in  memory  of  Lord  Elgin,  who  died  at  Dharmsdla  in  1863.  Picturesque 
waterfalls  and  other  objects  of  interest  lie  within  reach  of  an  easy 
excursion.  A  cart-road  connects  the  town  with  Jalandhar  (Jullundur) 
and  the  plains ;  supplies  can  be  obtained  at  moderate  prices ;  and  the 
station  bids  fair  to  become  a  favourite  retreat  for  civilians  and  invalids. 
The  rainfall,  however,  is  very  heavy,  its  annual  average  being  returned 
at  148*3  inches.  Trade  is  confined  to  the  supply  of  necessaries  for 
European  residents  and  their  servants.    Municipal  revenue  (1875-76), 


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DHARNAODA—DHARWAR  DISTRICT.  133 

^£295,  or  2s.  iofcL  per  head  of  population  (2024)  within  municipal 
limits. 

Dharnaoda. — A  petty  State  in  the  Giina  (Goona)  Agency,  under  the 
Central  India  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India.  There  are  seven 
Thakurs,  of  whom  Thakur  Burrdl  Sinh  is  the  chief.  Thieving  and 
cattle-lifting  are  incessant  in  this  State.  A  sardi  for  protection  of 
travellers  on  the  Bombay  and  Agra  road  is  built  at  Notgage. 

Dharnpur. — Village  in  Partdbgarh  District,  Oudh;  24  miles  from 
Bela,  and  16  from  Minikpur.  Founded  by  Dhiru  S£h,  the  ancestor  of 
the  present  t&lukddr,  whose  fort  and  residence  are  still  in  existence. 
During  the  Mutiny,  British  refugees  were  hospitably  received  here.  At 
the  bdzdr  adjoining  the  fort,  a  considerable  trade  is  carried  on,  the 
annual  sales  reaching  ^10,000  in  value.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  1287; 
and  Muhammadans,  316 ;  total,  1603.  Three  Sivaite  temples;  Govern- 
ment schooL 

Dh&TW&r. — A  British  District  in  the  Southern  Marhatti  country, 
Bombay,  lying  between  140  17'  and  150  50'  n.  lat,  and  between  74*  51' 
and  75°  57'  e.  long.  Area,  according  to  Parliamentary  Blue  Book  of 
1878,  4565  square  miles;  population  in  1872,  988,037.  Its  greatest 
length  from  north  to  south  is  1 16  miles,  and  its  greatest  breadth  77  miles. 

Physical  Aspects. — Dhirwir  District  is  roughly  divided  into  two  belts, 
characterised  by  differences  of  configuration  and  of  soil  and  products. 
The  Poona  and  Harihar  road  may  be  considered  the  dividing  line. 
To  the  north  and  north-east  of  that  road,  in  the  Subdivisions  of 
Nawalgund,  Ron,  and  the  greater  part  of  Gadag,  spread  vast  unbroken 
plains  of  black  soil,  which  produce  abundant  crops  of  cotton.  In  the 
south-eastern  portion  of  this  plain  are  the  Kapad  Hills ;  and  again,  after 
passing  over  a  stretch  of  black  soil  in  the  Karajgi  Subdivision,  there  is 
an  undulating  country  of  red  soil,  extending  to  the  boundary  of  Mysore. 
The  western  belt  of  the  District  is  traversed  by  low  hills,  extending 
from  the  southern  bank  of  the  river  Malprabha  to  near  the  Mysore 
frontier.  This  tract  consists  of  a  succession  of  low  ranges  covered  with 
herbage  and  brushwood.  They  are  separated  by  flat  valleys ;  and  it  is 
to  these  valleys  and  the  lower  slopes  of  the  hills  that  cultivation  is 
chiefly  confined.  Farther  west,  the  country  becomes  still  more  hilly, 
and  the  trees  increase  in  size  towards  the  frontier  of  North  Kanara. 
In  this  tract  all  the  Government  forest  reserves  are  to  be  found  The 
Subdivisions  of  Hangal  and  Kod,  to  the  south  of  Dharwar,  present 
almost  the  same  appearance,  small  hills  rising  out  of  the  plain  in  all 
directions  with  fertile  valleys  between.  The  number  of  tanks  in  these 
Subdivisions  is  a  special  feature  in  the  landscape ;  but,  with  some  marked 
exceptions,  they  are  small  and  shallow,  retaining  water  for  not  more  than 
three  or  four  months  after  the  rains. 

From  its  position  on  the  summit  of  the  watershed  of  the  Peninsula, 


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134  DHAR  WAR  DISTRICT. 

Dh£rw£r  is  devoid  of  large  rivers.  Of  its  7  principal  streams,  6  run 
eastwards  to  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and  one  flows  through  the  Western 
Ghats  to  the  Arabian  Sea.  (1)  The  Milprabha,  for  about  20  miles, 
forms  the  northern  boundary  of  the  District,  dividing  it  from  Kalidgi 
(2)  The  Bennihalla  has  its  source  about  20  miles  south  of  the  town  of 
Hubli,  and,  flowing  northwards  through  the  central  plain  of  the  District, 
falls  into  the  Malprabha.  (3)  The  Tungabhadra,  on  the  south-eastern 
frontier,  divides  Dhirwdr  from  Mysore,  Bellary,  and  the  Dominions  of 
the  Nizim.  (4)  The  Wardha,  a  tributary  of  the  Tungabhadra,  passes  from 
east  to  west  through  two  of  the  southern  Subdivisions  of  the  District 
(5)  The  Dharma  crosses  Dh£rw£r  in  a  south-westerly  direction,  and 
eventually  joins  the  Wardha;  and  (6)  the  Kumadwati  flows  east  and 
then  north-east  through  Kod  Subdivision,  falling  into  the  Tunga- 
bhadra near  Holianaweri.  (7)  The  one  westward  flowing  stream  is  the 
Birti  Nala,  which  passes  through  the  Kalghatgi  Subdivision.  None  of 
these  rivers  are  navigable ;  but  with  the  exception  of  the  Bennihalla, 
whose  brackish  stream  soon  dries  up,  they  afford  plentiful  supplies  both 
for  drinking  purposes  and  for  irrigation.  The  Malprabha  and  Wardha 
are  considered  the  best  for  drinking,  while  the  water  of  the  Tungabhadra 
is  said  by  the  natives  to  be  heavy  and  exceptionally  sweet  In  the 
west,  near  the  hills,  the  rainfall  is  abundant ;  and  as  the  natural  uneven- 
ness  of  the  ground  offers  suitable  sites,  many  tanks  have  been  con- 
structed, and  a  sufficient  supply  of  water  is  thus  kept  in  store.  But  in 
the  central  and  eastern  portion  of  Dhirwir,  the  water  supply  is  very 
scanty,  and  the  flat  surface  of  the  country  presents  few  natural 
advantages  for  the  storage  of  water  on  a  large  scale.  Though  almost 
every  village  has  its  own  tank,  the  want  of  drinking  water  is  at  times 
keenly  felt,  for  the  shallow  tanks  rapidly  become  choked  with  the  drain- 
age from  the  black  cotton-soil.  Even  in  a  season  of  ample  rainfall,  they 
dry  up  by  the  beginning  of  March.  In  1869,  the  inhabitants  of  some 
of  the  villages  in  the  plain  were  forced  to  fetch  their  water  from  distances 
of  10  or  12  miles,  while  many  migrated  with  their  cattle  to  the  banks 
of  the  Tungabhadra  and  Malprabha.  Nor  can  a  sufficient  supply  be 
easily  obtained  from  wells.  In  most  parts  the  water-bearing  strata  lie 
far  below  the  surface,  occasionally  as  deep  as  80  or  90  feet,  while  the 
water  obtained  is  often  found  to  be  brackish.  Large  sums  are  spent 
annually  on  the  reservoirs  and  tanks  of  the  District  The  '  black  soil/ 
or  regar,  occurs  in  beds  from  a  few  inches  to  30  or  40  feet  in  depth, 
but  it  is  interrupted  by  chains  of  hills,  and  at  places  covered  by  alluvial 
soil  and  pebbles  washed  down  from  their  sides.  In  the  north-east  of 
the  District  some  singular  hills  are  met  with,  rising  abruptly  out  of 
the  plain  as  isolated  landmarks.  They  are  not  more  than  300  feet 
high ;  and  the  stone  varies  much  in  structure,  being  a  loose  variegated 
gritty  substance,  which  sometimes  approaches  a  compact  quartz  rock, 


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DHARWAR  DISTRICT.  135 

showing  grey  and  whitish  yellow  to  red  bands  of  all  shades  of  colour. 
The  Kapad  Hills  are  principally  composed  of  hornblende  and 
chloride  schists,  gneiss,  and  mica  slate.  Manganese  is  found  in  con- 
siderable  quantities.  Some  of  the  hills  are  capped  with  laterite.  The 
bed  of  the  Doni  rivulet,  which  has  its  rise  in  these  hills,  contains 
gravel  and  sand,  in  which  gold  dust  is  found  associated  with  magnetic 
iron-sand,  grains  of  platinum,  grey  carbonate  of  silver,  and  copper.  It 
is,  however,  chiefly  among  the  chlorite  slate  hills  on  the  western  side 
that  gold  is  found  The  zone  of  hills  on  the  west  of  the  District,  from 
15  to  25  miles  broad,  consists  entirely  of  various  hypogene  schists.  In 
its  northern  part,  jaspideous  schists  predominate ;  in  the  centre,  these 
pass  into  chloride  and  argillaceous  slates  and  shales  of  all  shades  of 
white,  yellow,  red,  brown,  and  green,  interstratified  with  beds  of  white 
or  iron  coloured  quartz,  and  of  jaspideous  rock.  These  layers 
generally  form  crests  and  mural  ridges  on  the  summits  of  the  hills, 
which  run  in  parallel  ranges  north-west  by  north,  and  south-east  by 
south. 

In  former  times,  gold  is  said  to  have  been  obtained  in  abundance, 
and  even  now  the  Kapad  range  of  hills  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Dambal  in  the  east  of  the  District,  and  the  beds  of  streams  issuing 
from  them,  yield  some  gold  Washing  is  praedsed  by  a  class  of 
people  called  Jalgfrs,  but  their  employment  is  not  constant,  being 
carried  on  only  for  a  short  time  in  every  year  after  the  flood  At  this 
season  their  gains  are  said  not  to  average  more  than  from  9d  to  is. 
a  day.  In  the  hills  in  the  west  of  the  District,  iron  was  formerly 
smelted  in  considerable  quantities.  Owing,  however,  to  the  great 
destruction  of  timber  during  the  past  forty  years,  fuel  has  become 
scarce,  and  this  industry  is  now  only  carried  on  to  a  limited  extent 
The  iron  made  is  of  superior  quality,  but  cannot  as  a  general  rule 
compete  in  cheapness  with  imported  iron.  The  western  or  hilly  portion 
of  the  District  contains  much  forest  land,  of  which  66,499  acres  have 
been  set  apart  by  Government  for  reserves.  The  black  soil  plains,  on 
the  other  hand,  suffer  from  a  scarcity  of  trees;  Umber  for  building 
purposes  has  to  be  brought  from  great  distances,  and  sun-dried  cakes 
of  cow-dung  are  the  chief  fuel  To  supply  these  wants,  strict  conser- 
vation, with  replanting,  is  being  carried  on  in  the  Government  forest 
reserves. 

Fcra  Natures. — Of  wild  animals,  the  District  contains  the  tiger, 
panther,  bear,  wolf,  hyaena,  fox,  jackal,  wild  boar ;  and  of  game,  the 
spotted  deer  and  the  common  antelope.  Most  of  the  rivers  and  tanks 
contain  fish,  and  in  the  larger  reservoirs  some  of  great  size  are  caught 

History. — The  territory  comprised  within  the  present  District  of 
Dharwdr  appears  to  have  formed  part  of  the  ancient  Hindu  kingdom  of 
Vijayanagar.    On  the  overthrow  of  the  Vijayanagar  power  at  the  battle 


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136  DHARWAR  DISTRICT. 

of  Tilikot,  in  1565,  by  a  confederacy  of  Musalmin  princes,  Dh&wir 
was  annexed  to  the  Muhammadan  kingdom  of  Bijapur.  In  1675, 
the  country  was  overrun,  and  partially  conquered,  by  the  Marhattis 
under  Sivajf ;  and  from  that  time,  for  about  a  century,  remained  subject 
first  to  the  Marhatti  ruler  of  Satara,  and  afterwards  to  the  Peshwd  of 
Poona.  In  1776,  under  Haidar  All,  the  usurper  of  Mysore,  the  Musal- 
mdns  again  occupied  Dhaxwar ;  but  before  five  years  were  over,  by  the 
help  of  a  British  force,  the  Marhattas,  in  1791,  captured  a  second  time 
the  fort  and  town  of  Dharwar.  The  country  remained  under  Marhattd 
management  till  181 8,  when,  on  the  overthrow  of  the  Peshwi,  it  was 
incorporated  with  the  Bombay  Presidency.  There  are  many  old  forts 
scattered  through  the  District,  and  a  few  religious  buildings,  elaborately 
sculptured  and  of  beautiful  though  somewhat  heavy  design.  The  chief 
modern  buildings  are  the  religious  houses  or  maths  of  the  Lingayat  sect 
These  are  ugly  but  commodious  structures,  used  as  a  residence  for  the 
priests  or  ayahas>  and  also  to  a  large  extent  as  resting-places  for  travellers. 

Population. — The  Census  of  1872  returned  a  total  population  of 
988,037  persons,  or  217*82  to  the  square  mile.  Of  these,  872,390,  or 
88*29  per  cent,  including  11,285  Srawaks  or  Jains,  are  Hindus; 
114,106,  or  ii'54  per  cent,  Musalmdns;  1521,  or  0*15,  Christians, 
including  1245  native  converts;  13  Parsfs;  6  Jews;  and  1  4 other.' 
The  percentage  of  males  in  the  total  population  is  51*21. 

In  the  Subdivisions  of  Dharwar,  Hubli,  Gadag,  and  Bankapur,  and 
in  the  State  of  Sawantir,  the  population  contains  a  considerable 
Musalmdn  element.  Among  the  nomadic  tribes,  the  chief  are  the 
Waddars,  Lambanis,  Gollars,  and  Advichinchis.  The  Waddars  move, 
with  their  wives  and  families,  from  place  to  place  in  search  of  work. 
They  are  generally  employed  on  earthwork,  quarrying,  sinking  wells, 
or  making  roads  and  reservoirs.  The  Lambanis  also  wander  about  in 
gangs.  They  correspond  to  the  Banjaras  of  Guzerat  and  Central 
India,  and  do  a  large  carrying  trade  on  pack  -  bullocks  and  ponies. 
The  Gollars  and  Advichinchars  are  a  class  of  wandering  jugglers,  who 
live  in  the  forest  and  pick  up  a  precarious  and  often  dishonest  liveli- 
hood ;  but  they  are  not  thieves  by  profession. 

Of  the  total  number  of  Hindus,  380,919,  or  43*66  per  cent,  belong 
to  the  sect  of  Lingdyats. 

The  population  of  Dharwar  is,  on  the  whole,  prosperous.  The  soil 
is  fertile,  the  climate  favourable,  and  the  people  not  wanting  in 
energy.  The  cultivators  have  a  good  stock  of  cattle,  especially  in  the 
eastern  parts  of  the  District  Towards  the  Western  Ghdts,  cultivation 
is  scantier,  and  the  people  less  thriving. 

There  are  three  Christian  Missions  in  the  District  The  chief  one  is 
subordinate  to  the  Basle  German  Mission,  with  resident  missionaries  at 
Dharwar,  Hubli,  and  Gadag-Betigeri,  and  congregations  at  the  villages 


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DHAR  WAR  DISTRICT.  1 37 

of  Unkal,  Hebsur,  and  Thagoti  The  second  mission  is  subordinate  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  Bombay ;  its  chief  station  is  Dh£rw&, 
and  it  has  congregations  at  Hubli  and  Tumrikop.  The  third  mission 
is  subordinate  to  the  Archbishop  of  Goa;  excepting  the  town  of 
Dharwar,  its  congregational  stations  are  situated  beyond  the  District 
boundary. 

Kanarese  is  the  vernacular  language  of  the  District,  though  the 
Dhirwir  dialect  is  not  so  pure  as  that  spoken  in  Kanara  itself.  By 
many  of  the  better  classes  Marhatti  is  understood ;  but  Hindustani  is 
known  only  to  a  few  Musalmans. 

The  chief  towns  of  the  District  are — (1)  Hubli,  pop.  (1872),  37,961 ; 
(2)  Dharwar,  pop.  27,136 ;  (3)  Ranibennur,  pop.  11,623 ;  (4)  Gadag, 
pop.  10,319;  (5)  Nargund,  pop.  9931;  (6)  Nawalgund,  pop.  9578; 
(7)  Betigeri,  pop.  8716;  (8)  Annigeri,  pop.  7098;  (9)  Mulgund, 
pop.  6844;  (10)  Hebli,  pop.  6483;  (11)  Shahabajar  or  Bankapur, 
pop.  6268;  (12)  Kurlkoti,  pop.  5901 ;  (13)  Haveri,  pop.  5465;  (14) 
Ron,  pop.  5251 ;  (15)  Shalwari,  pop.  5220 ;  and  (16)  Naregal,  pop. 

518*- 

Of  the  total  population,  168,976  persons,  or  17*20  per  cent,  live  in 
towns  containing  a  population  of  more  than  5000.  Formerly  all  the 
principal  towns,  and  even  villages,  were  defended  by  a  fort  within  which 
the  richest  inhabitants  lived  in  well-built  houses ;  without  the  walls  were 
the  huts  of  the  poorer  and  less  influential  classes.  Though  the  fortifi- 
cations have  now  been  allowed  to  fall  into  decay,  a  marked  distinction 
still  exists  between  the  town  proper  or  pkt  and  the  houses  within  the  fort. 
Villages  in  the  western  and  southern  parts  of  the  District  have  in  general 
a  thriving  appearance,  arising  from  the  common  use  of  tiled  roofs. 
In  the  northern  and  eastern  parts,  houses  are,  as  a  rule,  flat-roofed,  and 
there  are  few  trees  near  the  villages.  They  are  chiefly  constructed  on 
massive  woodwork  frames,  built  in  with  mud  bricks,  the  ends  of  which 
are  triangular  in  shape.  Formerly  many  of  the  villages  were  sur- 
rounded by  low  walls  of  mud  and  sun-dried  bricks,  as  a  protection 
against  the  attacks  of  thieves,  but  most  of  these  walls  are  now  falling 
into  decay. 

Exclusive  of  48  hamlets,  there  were,  in  1872,  1309  inhabited  State 
and  alienated  villages,  giving  an  average  of  0*29  villages  to  each  square 
mile,  and  754*23  inhabitants  to  each  village.  The  total  number  of 
houses  was  returned  at  205,072,  showing  an  average  of  47  houses  per 
square  mile,  and  of  4*8  persons  per  house. 

Three  annual  fairs  or  religious  meetings  are  held  in  the  District — (1) 
at  Hulgur  in  Bankipur  Subdivision,  in  February,  in  honour  of  a  famous 
Musalman  devotee;  attendance  of  pilgrims  in  1875,  3300;  (2)  at 
Yamnur  in  Nawalgund  Subdivision,  in  March,  also  in  commemoration 
of  a  Muhammadan  saint ;  attendance  of  pilgrims,  26,000 ;   (3)  at  Gud- 

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1 38  DHAR  WAR  DISTRICT. 

guddipur  in  Rdnibennur  Subdivision,  in  September,  in  honour  of  a 
Hindu  deity,  Maydar  Martand ;  attendance  of  pilgrims,  8700.  Trade 
is  carried  on  only  to  a  very  limited  extent  at  these  festivals.  There  are 
21  other  religious  gatherings  of  less  importance. 

The  staff  of  the  village  community  consists  of  two  classes,  one  con- 
nected with  the  Government,  and  the  other  useful  to  the  community 
alone.  The  first  class  comprises  the/i/fc^  or  head-man ;  the  kulkarna, 
or  accountant;  shttsumlis,  or  policeman;  and  talwars,  barkis,  and 
maharsy  the  menial  servants.  In  the  second  class  are  the  jashi9  or 
astrologer;  the  kdzi  and  mulld,  the  Musalmdn  priests;  the  jangam,  or 
ay  a;  the  sutdr>  or  carpenter;  the  lohdr,  or  blacksmith ;  the  kumbhdr, 
or  potter ;  the  sondr,  or  goldsmith ;  the  hajjdm,  or  barber ;  the  baidya,  or 
doctor ;  the  dAor,  or  manufacturer  of  leathern  articles  for  farmers ;  the 
dhobi,  or  washerman;  the  p&jdriy  or  worshipper;  the  mathapati,  or 
procurer  of  milk  and  butter  for  strangers ;  and  the  mahdrsy  or  sweepers. 
In  large  villages,  the  organization  may  be  found  complete;  but  in 
small  villages,  the  josht,  sondr,  vaufya,  dhobi,  and  hajjdm,  do  not 
generally  exist.  Besides  the  above,  in  some  few  villages  in  the  Hangal, 
Karajgi,  and  Kod  Subdivisions  there  is  a  class  of  village  servants  called 
nir  mantgdrs,  whose  special  duties  are  to  keep  the  tank  water-courses 
in  repair,  and  let  water  on  to  the  fields. 

Agriculture. — Exclusive  of  land  belonging  to  other  jurisdictions  situated 
within  its  limits,  Dharwir  District  contains  a  total  area  of  2,902,258 
acres,  of  which  864,204  acres,  or  29*8  per  cent.,  have  been  alienated. 
Of  the  remainder,  1,662,040  acres  are  assessed  arable  land,  and  376,013 
acres  are  unassessed  waste.  The  soil  of  the  District  may  be  divided 
into  three  classes,  viz.  red  soil,  black  soil,  and  a  rich  brown  loam.  The 
red  soil  is  a  shallow  gravelly  deposit  formed  by  the  disintegration  of 
hills  and  rocks.  The  black  soil  is  the  well-known  regar,  or  cotton-soil, 
on  which  the  value  of  Dharwar  as  a  cotton-producing  District  depends. 
It  ordinarily  varies  in  depth  from  2  to  20  feet  The  brown  loam  is  found 
chiefly  on  the  west  of  the  District,  once  the  site  of  large  forests ;  it  is 
supposed  to  be  chiefly  of  vegetable  origin,  and  is  of  little  depth.  The 
Government  land  is  held  under  the  Survey  tenure,  at  a  revenue  fixed  for 
a  term  of  thirty  years.  The  land  alienated  by  the  State  is,  as  a  rule,  held 
at  a  fixed  quit-rent.  There  are  two  chief  crops  in  the  year — the  early 
or  kharify  and  the  late  or  rabi  harvest.  The  early  crops  are  sown  in 
June,  and  harvested  in  October  and  November.  The  late  crops,  except 
cotton,  are  sown  in  October  and  reaped  in  February.  Cotton  is  sown 
in  August,  and  picked  in  March.  A  field  of  black  soil  requires  only 
one  ploughing  in  the  year,  and  is  seldom  manured.  A  field  of  red  soil, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  ploughed  three  or  four  times,  and  is  generally 
manured.  The  entire  stock  of  agricultural  implements  required  by  a 
single  husbandman  may  be  valued  at  from  10s.  to  £2. 


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DHARWAR  DISTRICT.  139 

The  oxen  are  of  three  varieties — two  of  inferior  breed,  indigenous 
to  the  District,  and  the  large  and  well-made  animals  imported  from 
Mysore.  These  Mysore  bullocks  are  much  valued;  an  ordinary  pair 
fetches  about  ^15,  and  for  a  superior  pair  as  much  as  ^45,  or  even 
£*ooy  is  sometimes  paid.  The  ponies  of  Dharwir  were  once  famous. 
Of  late  years  the  breed  is  said  to  have  fallen  off,  and  efforts  are  now 
being  made  to  improve  it  by  the  introduction  of  Pegu  sires. 

The  agricultural  stock  in  possession  of  the  cultivators  of  State  or 
khdlsd  villages  during  1874-75  numbered  94,010  ploughs,  38,608  carts, 
235>2I4  bullocks,  137,646  buffaloes,  124,080  cows,  6687  horses, 
1 74^334  sheep  and  goats,  and  6863  asses.  Of  the  total  cultivated  area  in 
the  same  year — grain  crops  occupied  706,504  acres,  or  52*43  per  cent ; 
pulses,  136,426  acres,  or  10*12  per  cent.;  oil-seeds,  37,614  acres,  or 
279  per  cent;  fibres,  including  cotton,  285,582  acres,  or  21*19  Per 
cent ;  and  miscellaneous  crops,  183,406  acres,  or  13*61  per  cent.  In 
addition,  182,869  acres  were  fallow  or  under  grass. 

Of  the  total  just  enumerated,  283,810  acres,  or  21*06  per  cent.,  were 
under  cotton,  the  indigenous  variety  occupying  141,641,  and  Orleans 
cotton  142,169  acres.  Several  attempts  have  been  made  by  Govern- 
ment to  introduce  the  culture  of  New  Orleans  cotton,  but  up  to  1842 
without  success.  In  that  year,  however,  the  results  were  most  satis- 
factory. Both  in  quantity  and  quality  the  out-turn  was  better  than  the 
indigenous  variety,  and  the  cultivation  of  New  Orleans  cotton  has  since 
spread  rapidly.  Its  superiority  is  now  generally  recognised,  not  only 
in  Dhirwir,  but  in  the  neighbouring  Districts.  As  American  cotton 
cannot  be  properly  ginned  by  the  native  process,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  introduce  new  machinery.  To  ensure  a  sufficient  supply  of  the  best 
gins,  they  are  imported  from  England  and  offered  for  sale  at  the 
Government  factory  at  Dhdrwdr,  while  for  their  repair  branch  factories 
have  been  established  at  local  centres  of  trade. 

From  the  earliest  date  of  which  historical  record  is  available,  the 
District  appears  to  have  suffered  from  droughts  of  more  or  less  severity. 
Between  1787  and  1796  a  succession  of  droughts,  accompanied  by 
swarms  of  locusts,  occurred.  This  period  of  famine  is  said  to  have  been 
at  its  height  about  1791-92.  The  people  were  forced  to  feed  on  leaves 
and  berries,  and  women  and  children  were  sold  or  deserted.  No 
measures  were  taken  by  the  Government  of  the  day  to  relieve  the 
sufferers.  The  next  famine  was  in  1 802-1 803,  occasioned  by  the 
immigration  of  people  from  the  valley  of  the  Godivari  and  the  march  of 
the  Peshwi's  army  through  the  country.  In  1832,  from  want  of  rain, 
prices  ruled  very  high,  but  the  distress  cannot  be  said  to  have  amounted 
to  famine.  Owing  to  successive  bad  seasons,  famines  occurred  in  the 
years  1866  and  1877,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  employ  large  bodies 
of  people  on  works  of  public  utility. 


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i4o  DHARWAR  DISTRICT. 

Trade,  etc. — In  no  part  of  the  Bombay  Presidency  has  more  been 
done  of  late  years  to  improve  communications  than  in  Dh£rw£r.  Thirty 
years  ago,  there  were  neither  roads  nor  carts.  In  1874-75,  the  number 
of  carts  was  returned  at  38,608,  and  about  1000  miles  of  road  were  kept 
in  sufficient  repair  to  allow  a  spring  carriage  to  be  driven  over  them. 
The  District  lies  inland,  and  no  railway  passes  through  it  It  is  con- 
nected with  the  ports  of  Coompta,  Kirwir,  and  Vingorla  by  excellent 
roads,  the  distance  from  the  western  frontier  to  the  sea  being  about  100 
miles.  On  the  east,  a  road  runs  to  the  railway  station  of  Bellary,  in  the 
Madras  Presidency.  The  distance  of  Bellary  from  the  Dh£rw£r  frontier 
is  also  about  100  miles. 

No  returns  of  the  internal  trade  of  the  District  are  available.  Cotton 
is  the  chief  article  of  export,  and  European  goods,  chillies,  cocoa-nuts, 
molasses,  and  betel-nuts  are  imported  from  Kanara  and  Mysore.  The 
local  trade  mjodri  is  also  considerable. 

The  manufactures  consist  of  cotton  and  silk  cloth,  and  the  usual 
household  utensils  and  ornaments.  Common  silk  and  cotton  cloth 
are  woven  to  a  considerable  extent  in  ail  the  large  towns.  Fabrics 
of  delicate  texture  and  tasteful  design  are  occasionally  produced. 
Fine  cotton  carpets  are  manufactured  at  Nawalgund,  both  for  home 
consumption  and  for  export  to  the  neighbouring  Districts.  The  wild 
aloe  grows  well,  and  the  manufacture  of  matting  from  its  fibre  has  been 
carried  on  at  the  jail  with  success.  In  the  city  of  Dhirwii  there  is 
also  a  considerable  manufacture  of  glass  bangles.  Blocks  of  blue  and 
green  glass  in  a  rough  state  are  imported  from  Bellary  and  remelted 
in  crucibles,  made  of  a  species  of  clay  brought  from  Khdnipur,  in 
Belgium.  During  eight  months  of  the  year  (October  to  June)  iron 
smelting  is  carried  on  in  small  furnaces  in  parts  of  the  District,  but 
want  of  fuel  prevents  any  extension  of  this  industry. 

At  present  (1876)  the  majority  of  the  traders  are  local  capitalists,  a 
few  representing  firms  in  Bombay  and  other  important  places.  Except 
a  few  Pirsfs  in  the  town  of  Dhirwir,  they  are  by  caste  generally 
Brahmans  or  Lingiyats,  a  few  being  Muhammadans,  Giijars,  etc 
Porters  and  other  unskilled  labourers  earn  from  4$<L  to  6&  a  day ; 
agricultural  labourers  from  3d.  to  4$d.,  bricklayers  and  carpenters  from 
is.  to  is.  6d.  Female  labourers  earn  about  one-third  less  than  males. 
Lads  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  get  about  two-thirds  less  than  full-grown 
men.  The  current  prices  of  the  chief  articles  of  food  in  Dhdrw£r  during 
1875  were — *°r  a  rupee  (2s.),  wheat,  41  lbs. ;  rice,  36  lbs. ;  jodri (Holcus 
sorghum),  45  lbs. ;  bdjra  (Holcus  spicatus),  47  lbs. ;  and  ddl  or  pulse, 
37  lbs. 

Administration. — The  District  is  divided  into  1 1  taluks  or  Subdivi- 
sions, and  into  3  petas  or  larger  fiscal  units.  The  administration  in 
revenue  matters  is  entrusted  to  a  Collector  and  5  Assistants,  of  whom  3 


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DHARWAR  DISTRICT.  141 

are  covenanted  civil  servants.  For  the  settlement  of  civil  disputes  there 
were,  in  1874,  4  courts,  including  the  court  of  the  District  Judge.  The 
number  of  cases  decided  was  2575,  the  average  value  of  the  property 
under  litigation  being^i  8, 4s.  Thirty-one  officers,  including  6  Europeans, 
shared  the  administration  of  criminal  justice ;  of  these  6  were  magis- 
trates of  the  first-class.  In  the  year  J874,  the  total  strength  of  the 
District  or  regular  police  force  was  793  officers  and  men,  of  whom  43 
were  paid  from  local  funds  and  750  from  imperial  revenue.  The  total 
cost  of  maintaining  this  force  was  ,£12,373,  14s.,  of  which  £453,  12s. 
was  debited  to  local  funds.  These  figures  show  one  policeman  to  every 
5 '75  square  miles  as  compared  with  the  area,  and  1  to  every  1246 
persons  as  compared  with  the  population ;  the  cost  of  maintenance  was 
jQz,  14s.  2d.  per  square  mile,  or  3d.  per  head  of  the  population. 
There  is  1  jail  at  Dharwar  town,  in  which  523  male  and  43  female 
prisoners  were  confined  in  1874.  The  District  contains  29  post  offices 
and  3  telegraph  offices,  viz.  at  Dharwar,  Hubli,  and  Gadag-BetigerL 

In  1874-75,  the  land  tax  of  the  District  was  ^195,951.  The  local 
funds,  created  since  1863  for  works  of  public  utility  and  rural  educa- 
tion, yielded  a  sum  of  ,£2 1,495.  There  are  6  municipalities  in  the 
District ;  their  total  receipts  in  1874-75  amounted  to  £7703,  and  their 
expenditure  to  ^8548.  The  incidence  of  municipal  taxation  varied 
from  7£d  to  is.  4d.  per  head. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  is,  for  both  natives  and  Europeans, 
about  the  healthiest  in  the  Bombay  Presidency.  In  December  and 
January,  dews  are  heavy  and  general.  From  February  to  the  middle 
of  April  is  the  hot  season;  and  from  the  latter  date  to  the  beginning 
of  June,  when  the  regular  rainy  season  sets  in,  showers  are  frequent. 
Except  in  November  and  December,  when  strong  winds  blow  from  the 
east,  the  prevailing  winds  are  from  the  west,  south-west,  and  south-east 
The  average  maximum  temperature  for  the  hot  months  (March  to  May) 
is  93*  F. ;  the  maximum  for  the  rainy  season  (June  to  October),  830 ; 
the  maximum  for  the  cold  season  (November  to  February),  840  F.  For 
a  series  of  years  from  1852  to  1861,  the  average  annual  rainfall  was  31*39 
inches;  between  1862  to  1871,  the  average  fell  to  20*68  inches;  and  in 
1875,  2178  inches  were  registered 

There  are  2  dispensaries  and  a  hospital  at  Dharwar  town.  During 
1874-75, 16,654  persons  in  all  were  treated,  of  whom  16,361  were  out-door 
and  293  in-door  patients.    There  is  also  a  lunatic  asylum  at  Dharwdr. 

In  the  year  1873-74,  there  were  136  Government  schools,  or  an 
average  of  5  schools  for  every  48  villages,  with  an  attendance  of  5978 
pupils.  There  were,  besides,  8  grant-in-aid  schools,  with  an  average 
daily  attendance  of  364  pupils.  Of  the  total  expenditure  on  education, 
^2463  was  debited  to  imperial,  and  £4098  to  local  and  other  funds.  In 
Dharwar  town  there  is  1  library,  and  3  local  newspapers  are  published. 


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142  DHARWAR  TOWN. 

Dh&rw&T. — The  chief  town  of  the  District  of  the  same  name ; 
situated  in  lat.  15°  27'  n.,  and  long.  750  3'  20"  e.  Area,  including  the 
suburbs,  3  square  miles;  pop.  (1872),  27,136.  The  fort  stands  on 
undulating  ground.  Towards  the  west  low  hills  run  down  to  the  plains, 
forming  the  last  spurs  of  the  Western  Ghits.  The  fort  and  the  town  are 
almost  hidden  from  view  on  the  east  by  trees  and  rising  ground  The 
approach  from  the  south  is  striking.  The  highest  point  is  occupied  by 
the  Collector's  office,  from  which  a  commanding  view  of  the  town, 
suburbs,  and  surrounding  country  is  obtained.  Below  the  office  and 
adjacent  to  it  is  the  temple  of  Ulvi-Basapa,  and  beyond,  the  hill  of 
Mdilargud,  formerly  considered  the  key  to  the  fort  of  Dhirwfr.  Be- 
yond the  town  extensive  plains  of  black  soil  stretch  across  to  the 
hills  of  Nawalgund  and  Nargund  on  the  east,  and  on  the  north-east  to 
the  famous  hills  of  Yellama  (a  Hindu  deity)  and  Parsagad.  Towards 
the  south-east,  the  hill  of  Mulgund  appears  at  the  distance  of  about 
36  miles.  There  is  no  authentic  evidence  of  the  date  when  the 
fort  was  founded.  A  purdna  or  legendary  chronicle  concerning  the 
origin  of  the  neighbouring  temple  of  Sameshwar  makes  no  mention  of 
Dharwar.  According  to  local  tradition,  the  fort  was  founded  in  1403 
by  one  Dhdr  Rio,  an  officer  in  the  Forest  Department,  under  Ram  Rija, 
the  Hindu  King  of  Anigundi.  The  Anigundi  kingdom  was  overthrown 
by  Mahammad  Adfl  Shih  of  Bijapur  in  1568  a.d.  In  1685  A.D.,  the 
fort  was  captured  by  the  Mughal  Emperor  of  Delhi ;  and  in  1753  A.D.,  it 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Marhattds.  In  1778,  Dharwar  was  taken 
by  Haidar  All,  the  Muhammadan  usurper  of  Mysore;  and  in  1791, 
it  was  retaken  by  a  British  force  auxiliary  to  the  Marhattas.  On  the 
final  overthrow  of  the  Peshwa,  Dharwar,  with  the  other  possessions  of 
that  potentate,  fell  to  the  disposal  of  the  British  Government.  The 
fort  is  described  as  being  well  planned  and  naturally  strong.  Previous 
to  1857  it  was  kept  in  repair.  Since  then  it  has  been  breached;  and, 
like  all  other  forts  in  the  District,  it  is  now  fast  falling  into  ruins. 

The  town,  which  is  very  straggling,  is  made  up  of  7  quarters,  or 
mahdls.  There  are  few  good  houses  with  upper  storeys.  A  market  is 
held  every  Tuesday.  The  only  monument  of  historical  interest  is 
that  erected  in  memory  of  Mr.  St  John  Thackeray  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Munro, 
who  were  killed  at  Kittur  in  1824.  About  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of 
Dhirwar  is  a  hill  called  the  M&largud ;  on  its  summit  stands  a  small 
square  stone  temple,  built  after  the  Jain  fashion,  and  facing  the  east. 
The  columns  and  beams  are  of  massive  stone,  and  the  roof  of  the  same 
material  is  handsomely  carved.  On  one  of  the  columns  is  an  inscription 
in  Persian,  recording  that  the  temple  was  converted  into  a  mosque  in 
1680  by  the  deputy  of  the  King  of  Bijapur.  In  185 1,  the  town  con- 
tained a  total  population  of  21,774,  which  in  1872  rose  to  27,136. 
The  only  prosperous  classes  of  the  population  are  the  Bnihmans  and 


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DHASAN—DHA  ULESHVARAM.  143 

Lingayats.  The  influential  Brdhmans  are  generally  public  officers,  vakils^ 
zaminddrs,  and  saukdrs.  The  Lingayats  are,  as  a  rule,  traders,  who 
almost  monopolize  the  export  of  cotton,  timber,  and  grain.  Some 
of  the  Musalmans  are  also  wealthy  merchants.  A  few  Pirsis  and 
Mlrwans,  who  have  recently  settled  in  the  town,  deal  chiefly  in 
European  goods.  The  chief  articles  of  export  are  cotton  and  rice ;  the 
imports  comprise  English  piece-goods,  chillies,  cocoa-nuts,  molasses, 
dates,  betel-nut,  groceries,  indigo,  lead,  zinc,  and  wrought  and  unwrought 
copper  and  brass.  There  are  no  manufacturing  industries  of  any 
importance ;  but  in  the  jail,  carpets,  table-linen,  cloths,  and  cane  articles, 
— all  of  superior  quality, — are  made  by  the  prisoners.  In  1875,  tne 
municipal  income  amounted  to  ;£i68o,  and  the  expenditure  to  ^1728  ; 
the  incidence  of  municipal  taxation  being  9|d.  per  head.  The  water 
supply  is  drawn  from  two  hands  or  reservoirs.  There  are  also  several 
wells  in  the  town,  but  with  one  or  two  exceptions  they  are  not  used  for 
drinking  purposes,  the  water  being  brackish.  The  native  quarter  was 
formerly  unhealthy ;  but  since  the  introduction  of  the  Municipal  Act, 
some  attention  has  been  paid  to  drainage  and  sanitary  requirements. 

Dhas&n. — River  of  Central  India,  rising  in  BhopaU,'  in  lat  230  30'  n., 
and  long.  780  32'  e.,  a  few  miles  north  of  Sfrmau,  at  an  elevation  of  2000 
feet  After  a  course  of  10  or  12  miles,  it  enters  Sigar  (Saugor)  District, 
Central  Provinces ;  through  which  it  flows  for  60  miles,  and  then  runs 
along  the  southern  boundary  of  Lalitpur  District,  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces; finally,  after  a  course  of  220  miles,  falling  into  the  Betwa.  On 
the  road  between  Sagar  (Saugor)  and  Rahatgarh,  the  Dhasdn  is  crossed 
by  a  stone  bridge. 

Dbathwai-Kyouk. — An  unnavigable  river  in  Prome  District,  Pegu 
Division,  British  Burma.  It  rises  in  the  southern  slopes  of  the  Tshenglan 
spur,  and  flows  south  and  west  into  the  Zay,  which  it  joins  just  before 
that  river  enters  the  Engma  Lake.  The  lower  portion  of  its  course  is 
through  rice-fields ;  but  higher  up  ft  flows  through  forests,  producing 
valuable  timber,  such  as  fyenggado,  eng-gyeng^  bhanbhwai  (Careya 
arborea),  and  eng. 

Dbathwai-Kyonk.  —  Village  in  Prome  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma.  Lat.  180  41'  n.,  long.  950  34'  35"  e.  Situated  on  the 
river  of  the  same  name,  20  miles  south-east  of  Prome,  and  near  the 
great  rice  tract,  which  occupies  the  centre  of  the  valley  between  the 
Pegu  Mountains  and  the  Prome  Hills.  The  inhabitants  are  mainly 
agriculturists. 

Dbanl&girl — Mountain  in  Nepal  Lat.  290  n'  n.,  long.  820  59'  e. 
One  of  the  loftiest  peaks  of  the  Himalayas;  height,  27,600  feet  above 
sea  level 

DbatQeshvaram. —  Town,  Godavari  District,  Madras. — See  Dow- 

LAISHVARAM. 


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144  DHAURAHRA  PARGANA  AND  TOWN. 

Dhaurahra. — Pargand  of  Nighasan  tahsil,  Kheri  District,  Oudh; 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Kauri&a,  on  the  east  by  the  DahAwar, 
and  on  the  south  by  the  Ghauka  rivers ;  the  western  boundary  is  Nighisan 
pargand.  In  early  times,  prior  to  the  Muhammadan  conquest  of 
Kanauj,  Dhaurahra  was  the  freehold  property  of  Alha  and  Udal,  the 
famous  generals  of  Mahoba.  It  then  formed  a  part  of  Garh  Kila 
Nawa*,  which  was  settled  and  visited  by  Firoz  Sh£h,  and  was  probably 
owned  by  Pasis,  whose  Rdjd  lived  at  Dhaurahra.  The  Bisens  held  this 
tract  during  the  decline  of  the  Mughal  power ;  but  they  were  displaced 
by  the  ChauhAn  J&igres,  who  now  own  it  First  constituted  a  pargand 
by  Nawib  Safddr  Jang.  It  consists  of  alluvial  deposits  from  the  Kauriila 
and  Chauka  rivers,  and  is  annually  inundated.  The  inhabitants  suffer 
much  from  fever,  and  cultivation  is  very  backward.  Soil  principally 
loam  and  clay,  rather  sandy  towards  the  Chauka.  Area,  261  square 
miles,  of  which  145  are  cultivated  and  72  cultivable.  The  117  villages 
which  the  pargand  comprises  are  held  in  tdlukddri  tenure  by  18 
proprietors.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  64,877;  Muhammadans,  5920; 
total,  70,797,  viz.  38,093  males  and  32,704  females.  The  roads  consist 
merely  of  rough  bridle-paths,  crossing  the  rivers  by  ferries.  Communi- 
cation principally  by  the  Kauriila,  Dana* war,  and  Chauka  rivers;  by 
means  of  which,  during  ten  months  of  the  year,  a  brisk  trade  is  carried 
on  in  grain  and  oil-seeds. 

Dhaurahra. — Town  in  Kheri  District,  Oudh ;  3  miles  west  of  the 
Chauka  river,  80  miles  north  of  Lucknow,  and  73  miles  east  of  Shih- 
jatanpur.  Lat.  280  n.,  long.  8i°  9'E.;  pop.  (1869),  2722  Hindus  and 
1534  Muhammadans — total,  4256,  residing  in  845  mud  houses.  During 
the  Mutiny  of  1857,  the  fugitives  from  Shdhjahanpur  and  Muhamdi, 
escaping  towards  Lucknow,  sought  the  protection  of  the  Dhaurahra 
Eijd;  but  he,  on  pressure  from  the  rebel  leaders,  gave  them  up  to 
their  enemies.  For  this  he  was  afterwards  tried  and  hanged,  and  his 
estates  confiscated. 

Dhaurahra.— Town  in  Faizib&l  (Fyzabad)  District,  Oudh ;  4  miles 
from  the  Gogra  river,  and  20  miles  from  Faizibid  town  on  the  road  to 
Lucknow.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  3197,  of  whom  765  are  Kshattriyas; 
and  Musalmdns,  82  ;  total,  3279.  It  contains  neither  temple,  mosque, 
nor  school ;  but  a  handsome  gateway,  said  to  have  been  built  by  a  king 
of  Oudh,  Asaf-ud-dauli,  stands  just  outside  the  town.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  Dhaurahra  is  an  ancient  Hindu  shrine,  shaded  by  a  magnificent 
grove  of  tamarind  trees.  A  Hindu  legend  relates  that  Mahddeoonce 
lived  here,  his  body  being  buried  in  the  earth.  A  party  of  religious 
mendicants  on  their  way  to  Ajodhya  conceived  the  idea  of  digging  out 
the  holy  man  and  exhibiting  him  for  gain.  As  they  dug,  however,  his 
head  sank  into  the  earth,  and  the  party  fled  in  horror.  To  com- 
memorate the  miracle,  a  dome,  surrounded  by  a  masonry  platform  and 


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DHENKANAL—DHODAR  ALL  145 

a  wall,  was  constructed  over  the  spot  by  two  devout  merchants.  The 
place  is  now  almost  in  ruins. 

DhenkAnaL— Tributary  State  of  Orissa,  Bengal.  Lat.  20°  31'  to  ai* 
1 1'  30"  n.,  long.  85*  3'  to  86*  5'  e.  ;  area,  1463  square  miles ;  pop.  (1872), 
178,072.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  P£l  Lahara  and  Keunjhar,  on 
the  east  by  Cuttack  District  and  Athgarh,  on  the  south  by  Tigaria  and 
Hindol,  and  on  the  west  by  Talcher  and  Pal  Lahara,  the  Brdhmanf 
forming  the  boundary  for  a  considerable  distance.  This  river  runs 
from  west  to  east,  through  a  richly  cultivated  valley,  affording  a  water* 
way  for  trade.  Cultivable  waste  land  abounds.  Iron  is  plentifully 
found,  but  is  only  worked  on  a  small  scale.  A  petty  trade  in  cochineal 
is  also  carried  on.  Chief  village,  also  the  residence  of  the  Raja,  Dhen- 
kanal,  situated  in  lat.  20°  39'  45"  n.,  long.  850  38'  16"  e.  Weekly 
markets,  for  the  sale  of  country  produce,  are  held  at  Hodipur  and 
Sadaipur  villages.  Of  the  total  population,  141,421,  or  79*4  per  cent, 
are  Hindus;  416,  or  '2  per  cent,  Muhammadans;  other  races,  36,235, 
or  20-4  per  cent.  Of  the  aboriginal  tribes  (31,195,  or  177  per  cent,  of 
population),  the  Savars  (15,934)  are  the  most  numerous;  of  the  semi- 
Hinduized  aborigines  (32,827,  or  18*3  per  cent),  the  Pans  (24,099) 
form  the  great  majority.  Average  density  of  population,  122  pef  square 
mile ;  average  number  of  villages,  '52 ;  of  persons  per  village,  233  ;  of 
houses  per  square  mile,  24;  of  persons  per  house,  5*1.  Estimated 
annual  revenue,  ^7010 ;  tribute  payable  to  Government,  ^509 ; 
military  force,  286  men ;  rural  police,  742.  Eight  schools  were  main- 
tained by  the  late  chiefj  attended  in  1872  by  235  pupils;  in  addition, 
17  pdthsdlds,  or  indigenous  village  schools,  were  also  open  in  that  year. 
Dhenkanal  is  the  best  organized  and  most  prosperous  of  the  Orissa 
Tributary  States.  The  late  chief  received  the  title  of  Maharaja"  in 
1869,  in  recognition  of  his  moderation  and  justice  towards  his  people, 
and  of  his  liberality  in  the  Orissa  famine  of  1866. 

Dhobd. — Mountain  peak  in  the  Pratipgiri  estate,  Ganjam  District, 
Madras.  Lat.  20°  n.,  long.  840  23'  e.  It  forms  part  of  the  Eastern 
Ghit  range,  8  miles  distant  from  Dimrigiri.  Height,  4166  feet  above 
the  sea.    A  station  of  the  Great  Trigonometrical  Survey. 

Dhob&kh&L — Village  in  the  Giro  Hills  District,  Assam;  on  the 
Someswarf  river,  near  which  a  fine  outcrop  of  the  coal  strata  was 
discovered  in  1873  by  the  officers  of  the  Survey.  Lat.  250  28'  n., 
long.  90°  46'  e. 

DhocULr  All — One  of  the  most  important  of  the  raised  roads  or 
embankments  constructed  in  Assam  by  forced  labour  during  the  rule  of 
the  Aham  dynasty.  It  runs  parallel  to  the  Brahmaputra  through  the 
entire  length  of  Sibsagai  District,  for  a  distance  of  about  115  miles, 
of  which  35  miles  are  under  the  supervision  of  the  Public  Works 
Department 

VOL.  III.  K 

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146  DHOLA—DHOLPUR  STATE. 

Dhola.  — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Gohelwar,  in  Kithiawar, 
Bombay;  consisting  of  i  village,  with  i  independent  tribute-payer. 
Estimated  revenue,  ^150,  of  which  ^32  is  payable  as  tribute  to  the 
Gaekwar  of  Baroda  and  £$  to  Junagarh. 

Dholb4j&. — Large  village  in  Purniah  District,  BengaL  Lat  26°  16' 
n.,  long.  870  19'  21"  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  1784-  Situated  on  the  Matiyari 
road,  40  miles  distant  from  Purniah  town  and  16  miles  from  Basantpur. 
Primary  school 

Dholera. —  Seaport  in  the  Dhanduka  Subdivision,  Ahmedaljaci 
District,  Bombay;  62  miles  south-west  of  Ahmedibdd.  Lat.  22*  14' 
45"  n.,  and  long.  720  15'  25"  e.;  pop.  (1872),  12,468.  Situated  in 
the  swampy  tract  extending  along  the  west  of  the  Gulf  of  Cambay, 
within  the  limits  of  the  Peninsula  of  K&hiawar.  The  space  between 
the  town  and  the  port,  a  distance  of  about  4  miles,  is  traversed  by  a 
tramway  constructed  by  a  company  of  native  speculators.  Post  office 
and  dispensary.  Dholera  has  given  the  trade  name  to  a  quality  of 
cotton  well  known  in  the  European  market 

Dholka. — Chief  town  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name  in 
Ahmedibdd  District,  Bombay;  25  miles  south-west  of  Ahmedibad. 
Lat.  220  43'  30"  n.,  long.  720  28'  30"  e.;  pop.  (1872),  20,854; 
municipal  revenue  (1874-75),  ^1688;  rate  Of  taxation,  is.  7<L  per 
head.  Dholka  is  situated  amidst  ruined  palaces,  mosques,  mausoleums, 
and  spacious  tanks,  embanked  and  lined  with  masonry.  Though  not 
regularly  fortified,  it  is  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  mud  4  miles  in 
circumference.     Sub-judge's  court,  post  office,  and  dispensary. 

Dholpur. — Native  State  in  Rajputana,  under  the  political  super- 
intendence of  that  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India,  lying  between 
260  22'  and  260  57'  n.  lat,  and  between  77°  26'  and  780  19'  e.  long. ; 
area,  11 74  square  miles.  It  extends  from  north-east  to  south-west  for 
a  length  of  72  miles,  with  an  average  breadth  of  16  miles.  Dholpur  is 
bounded  on  the  east  and  north  by  the  British  District  of  Agra,  from 
which  it  is  for  the  most  part  divided  by  the  Binganga  river ;  on  the 
south  by  the  river  Chambal,  which  separates  it  from  the  State  of 
Gwalior;  on  the  west  by  the  States  of  Kar&ili  (Kerowlee)  and 
Bhartpur  (Bhurtpore). 

Physical  Aspects. — The  Chambal  flows  from  south-west  to  north-east 
for  over  100  miles  through  Dholpur  territory.  During  the  dry  weather, 
it  is  here  a  sluggish  stream  300  yards  wide,  and  lies  170  feet  below  the 
level  of  the  surrounding  country.  In  the  rains,  it  rises  generally  about 
70  feet  above  its  summer  level;  its  breadth  is  then  increased  by  more 
than  1000  yards,  and  it  runs  at  the  rate  of  5  \  miles  an  hour.  It  is 
bordered  everywhere  by  a  labyrinth  of  ravines,  some  of  which  are  90 
feet  deep,  and  extend  to  a  distance  of  from  2  to  4  miles  from  the  river 
bank.    The  Chambal  is  unnavigable  on  account  of  its  rapid  changes  of 


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DHOLPUR  STATE.  147 

leveL  The  most  important  crossing  is  that  at  Rijghit,  3  miles  south 
of  the  town  of  Dholpur,  on  the  high  road  between  Agra  and  Bombay. 
A  bridge  of  boats  is  kept  up  between  1st  November  and  the  15th  June, 
and  a  large  ferry-boat  plies  during  the  rest  of  the  year.  A  permanent 
bridge  is  now  in  course  of  construction,  at  about  5  miles  from  the 
town  of  Dholpur,  for  the  Sindhia  State  Railway  between  Agra  and 
Gwalior.  The  Banganga  or  Utangan  river  runs  for  about  40  miles 
between  the  northern  boundary  of  Dholpur  and  the  British  District  of 
Agra ;  its  bed  is  about  40  feet  below  the  surrounding  country.  The 
other  rivers  are  the  Parbati,  which  rises  in  Karauli  (Kerowlee),  and, 
traversing  the  State  in  a  north-easterly  direction,  falls  into  the  Bin- 
ganga;  and  its  two  tributaries,  the  Mirka  and  Mirki.  These  three 
streams  dry  up  in  the  hot  season,  leaving  only  occasional  pools  where 
the  channels  are  deep.  The  general  nature  of  the  soil  being  a  friable 
alluvium  overlying  a  stratum  of  stiff  yellow  clay,  the  beds  of  all  the 
rivers  in  Dholpur  are  considerably  below  the  general  level  of  the 
country. 

A  ridge  of  red  sandstone,  with  an  elevation  of  from  560  to  1074  feet 
above  sea  level,  runs  over  60  miles  through  the  State  in  the  direction 
of  its  greatest  length.  It  affords  a  very  valuable  stone  for  build- 
ing purposes,  fine  grained  and  easily  worked  in  the  quarries;  it 
hardens  by  exposure  to  the  weather,  and  does  not  deteriorate  by  lami- 
nation. The  railway  bridge  over  the  Chambal,  above  alluded  to,  is 
being  built  entirely  of  this  stone.  Kankar  or  nodular  limestone  is  found 
in  many  places  in  the  ravines  leading  to  the  rivers,  and  a  bed  of  excel- 
lent limestone  occurs  on  the  banks  of  the  Chambal,  near  the  Agra  and 
Bombay  road.  The  soil  is  everywhere  poor  on  the  sandstone,  and 
in  its  immediate  vicinity ;  but  it  becomes  richer  and  more  fertile  in 
proportion  to  the  increase  of  distance  from  the  ridge.  In  the  north  and 
north-west,  the  soil  is  for  the  most  part  a  mixture  of  sand  and  clay, 
known  as  domat,  which  is  as  productive  as  the  best  land  in  Agra 
District  To  the  north-east,  an  area  of  about  90  square  miles  is  covered 
with  black  soil,  similar  to  that  of  Bundelkhand,  yielding  excellent  cold 
weather  crops.  Dholpur  is  a  grain-producing  country,  and  is  not 
remarkable  for  any  special  manufactures.  The  chief  crops  raised  are 
bdjra  (Holcus  spicatus),  moth,  and  jodr  (Holcus  sorghum);  and  in 
the  cold  season  a  considerable  quantity  of  wheat  and  barley  is  grown. 
Cotton  and  rice  are  also  produced.  Irrigation  is  carried  on  by  means 
of  tanks  and  wells,  the  average  depth  at  which  water  is  found  being  25 
feet  Of  the  total  area  of  the  State  (751,216  acres),  about  36*4  per 
cent  was  under  cultivation  in  1876;  about  17*3  per  cent  was  cultivable 
but  uncultivated.  This  is  not  first-rate  land,  and  it  has  been  lying 
fallow  since  the  famine  of  1868-69  >  t>ut  ^  tne  people,  year  by  year, 
gradually  regain  their  normal  condition,  it  is  being  once  more  broken 


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U8  DHOLPUR  STATE. 

up.  About  43*3  per  cent,  of  the  country  is  barren,  and  about  3  per 
cent,  is  occupied  by  villages,  rivers,  tanks,  etc 

The  land  tenures  are  in  most  respects  similar  to  those  of  the 
North-Western  Provinces,  with  this  important  exception,  that  in  Dholpur, 
as  under  other  Native  Governments,  the  chief  is  the  absolute  owner  of 
the  land.  The  zaminddrs,  or  lambarddrs  as  they  are  more  usually 
termed,  are  persons  (generally  descendants  of  the  original  founders  of 
the  village)  who  contract  with  the  State  for  the  payment  of  the  revenue 
demand,  which  they  collect  from  the  cultivators.  So  long  as  they 
observe  their  contract,  they  are  considered  as  owners  of  the  land 
actually  cultivated  by  them  and  by  their  tenants,  and  also  of  uncultivated 
land  sufficient  for  the  grazing  of  the  village  cattle.  The  remainder  of 
the  untilled  land,  with  its  produce,  groves,  tanks,  etc,  belongs  to  the 
State. 

Population, — A  rough  Census  of  the  population  was  taken  during  the 
survey  of  the  State  in  1876.  The  returns  show  a  total  of  227,976 
inhabitants.  It  may  be  surmised,  however,  that  these  numbers  do  not 
give  the  whole  population,  and  that  the  Census  was  not  accurately  taken, 
especially  as  regards  the  number  of  women.  Perhaps  the  population 
of  the  State  maybe  reckoned  at  250,000,  or  about  213  inhabitants 
to  the  square  mile.  The  most  numerous  classes  are  at  two  extremes 
of  the  social  scale  —  Brahmans,  36,884,  and  Chamars,  32,092. 
Thikurs  number  23,703;  Giijars,  17,229;  Kachhis,  15,090;  Minis, 
10,620 ;  and  Lodhas,  8050.  The  remainder  of  the  population  is 
divided  among  75  other  castes.  There  are  9964  Muhammadans,  who 
reside  for  the  most  part  in  the  towns  of  Bari  and  Dholpur.  The  people 
generally  are  engaged  in  tilling  the  land,  and  the  whole  country  is  agri- 
cultural. The  dominant  religion  is  Hinduism  of  the  Vishnuvite  sect 
In  1876, 8  schools,  with  509  pupils,  were  maintained  in  the  larger  towns 
of  the  State.  In  one  of  these,  English,  Persian,1  and  Hindf  were 
taught ;  in  four,  Persian  and  Hindi ;  and  in  three,  Hindi  only.  The 
Dholpur  jail  is  managed  on  a  system  in  great  measure  similar  to  that 
obtaining  in  British  jails  throughout  India. 

The  Trunk  Road  from  Agra  to  Bombay  runs  through  the  State  from 
north  to  south,  passing  by  Dholpur  town.  There  were  in  1877  no  other 
metalled  roads  but  a  few  fair-weather  tracks — one  leading  from  Dholpur 
by  Raja  Khera  to  Agra;  a  second  with  a  main  direction  west  from  Dholpur 
to  Bari,  and  thence  to  Bhartpur  on  one  side  and  Karauli  on  the 
other ;  a  third  having  a  main  direction  to  the  north-east  from  Dholpur 
to  Kolari  and  Baseri,  and  thence  to  KaraulL 

The  Sindhia  State  Railway,  in  course  of  construction  between  Agra  and 
Gwalior,  runs  through  the  State  in  a  direction  generally  parallel  to  the 
Grand  Trunk  Road.  It  will  cross  the  Chambal  by  a  bridge  of  12  spans 
of  200  feet  each,  about  112  feet  above  the  river  bed. 


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DHOLPUR  STATE.  149 

Administration. — The  land  revenue  of  Dholpur  in  1876  amounted 
to  ^76,339.  Customs  and  other  sources  of  revenue  brought  up  the 
gross  total  to  ;£i  06,869.  The  land,  which  had  not  been  surveyed  since 
1570,  in  the  reign  of  Akbar,  was  resurveyed  in  1875-76,  preparatory  to 
a  re-settlement  which  is  to  be  conducted  on  a  basis  similar  to  that  of 
the  North-Western  Provinces,  but  simpler  in  its  details. 

The  climate  is  generally  healthy.  The  hot  winds  blow  steadily  and 
strongly  during  the  months  of  April,  May,  and  June.  The  annual 
rainfall  averages  from  27  to  30  inches. 

History. — According  to  local  tradition,  Dholpur  derives  its  name  from 
Raja  Dholan  Deo  Tonwir  (of  the  ancient  Tomar  or  Tonwdr  dynasty  of 
Delhi),  who  about  1004  a. d.  held  the  country  between  the  Chambal  and 
Binganga  rivers.  Very  little  is  authoritatively  known  of  the  country 
until  the  Musalman  conquests,  with  which  it  became  early  incorporated. 
After  the  death  of  Aurangzeb,  Raja  Kalian  Sinh  Bhadauriya,  taking 
advantage  of  the  troubles  which  beset  the  Emperor  on  every  side, 
obtained  possession  of  the  Dholpur  territory.  The  Bhadauriyas  remained 
undisturbed  till  1761,  when  the  Jat  Raja  Suraj  Mall  of  Bhartpur  (Bhurt- 
pore),  after  the  battle  of  Panipat,  seized  upon  Agra  and  overran  the 
country.  During  the  succeeding  forty-five  years,  Dholpur  changed 
masters  no  less  than  five  times.  In  1775,  it  shared  the  fate  of  the  rest 
of  the  Bhurtpore  possessions,  which  were  seized  by  Mirzd  Najaf  Khan. 
On  the  death  of  Mtrzi  in  1 782,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Sindhia.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  Marhatta  war  in  1803,  it  was  occupied  by  the  British, 
by  whom,  in  accordance  with  the  treaty  of  Sarji  Anjengion,  it  was,  at 
the  end  of  the  year,  ceded  to  the  Gwalior  chief.  In  1805,  under  fresh 
arrangements  with  Daulat  Rio  Sindhia,  it  was  resumed  by  the  English, 
who  in  1806,  finally  uniting  the  territories  of  Dholpur,  Bari,  and  Raja 
Khera  with  Sir  Muttra  into  one  State,  made  it  over  to  Maharini  Kirat 
Sinh  (the  ancestor  of  the  present  chief  of  Dholpur)  in  exchange  for  his 
territory  of  Gonad,  which  was  given  up  to  Sindhia.  The  reigning 
family  of  Dholpur  are  Jits  of  the  Bamraolia  family,  belonging  to  the 
Deswali  tribe,  which  claims  a  very  ancient  lineage.  The  ancestor  of  the 
family  is  said  to  have  been  in  possession  of  lands  at  Bamraoli  near 
Agra  in  n  95,  from  which  circumstance  they  have  taken  their  name. 
They  joined  the  side  of  the  Rajputs  against  the  Musalmins,  and 
received  a  grant  of  the  territory  of  Gohad,  whence  the  title  of  Rand  was 
assumed  This  is  said  to  have  occurred  in  1505  a.d.  They  appear  to 
have  become  connected  with  Bajf  Rio  Peshwa;  and  in  1761,  when  the 
Marhattas  had  been  completely  defeated  at  Panipat,  Rind  Bhim  Sinh 
seized  the  fort  of  Gwalior.  In  1777,  Sindhia  besieged  and  took  the 
fortress.  In  order  to  form  a  barrier  against  the  Marhattas,  Warren 
Hastings  in  1779  made  a  treaty  with  the  Rdni,  and  the  joint  forces  of 
the  English  and  the  Rand  retook  Gwalior.     In  1781,  a  treaty  with 


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i5o  DHOLPUR  TOWN—DHOLURWA. 

Sindhia  stipulated  for  the  integrity  of  the  Gohad  territories  ;  but  after 
the  treaty  of  Salbye,  the  Maharana  was  abandoned,  on  the  ground  that 
he  had  been  guilty  of  treachery,  and  Sindhia  repossessed  himself  of 
Gohad  and  Gwalior.  The  Rand  went  into  exile,  until  Lord  Wellesley's 
policy  against  the  Marhattas  again  brought  him  forward,  when  the  terri- 
tories of  Dholpur  were  made  over  to  Kirat  Sinh  in  1804.  But  in  1805, 
Lord  Cornwallis  retransferred  Gohad  and  Gwalior  to  Sindhia,  leaving 
to  the  Rana  the  lands  which  he  still  possesses.  Kirat  Sinh's  successor, 
Bhagwant  Sinh,  showed  a  loyal  attachment  to  the  British  Government, 
especially  during  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  for  which  he  received  the  insignia 
of  K.C.S.I.  He  died  in  1873,  an<*  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson, 
the  present  chief,  Maharaja  Rand  Nihdl  Sinh,  born  in  1863,  whose 
mother  is  a  sister  of  the  Raja  of  Patiala.  The  Rand  of  Dholpur  is 
entitled  to  a  salute  of  15  guns.  The  military  force  of  the  State  consists 
of  600  cavalry,  3650  infantry,  32  field  guns,  and  100  gunners. 

Dholpur. — The  capital  of  the  State  of  the  same  name,  situated  in  lat. 
26°  42'  n.,  and  long.  77°  56'  r,  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Road  between 
Agra  and  Bombay,  about  34  miles  south  of  Agra  and  37  miles  north- 
west of  Gwalior.  In  1875,  it  contained  3337  houses,  with  a  population 
estimated  at  15,000.  Three  miles  south  of  Dholpur,  the  Chambal  river 
is  crossed  at  Rdjghdt  by  a  bridge  of  boats  between  the  1st  November  and 
the  15th  June,  and  by  ferry  during  the  rest  of  the  year.  The  Sindhia 
State  Railway  between  Agra  and  Delhi  will  pass  through  Dholpur,  and 
the  railway  bridge  across  the  Chambal  is  within  a  distance  of  5  miles. 
The  original  town  is  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  Rdjd  Dholan  Deo 
in  the  beginning  of  the  1  ith  century.  The  Emperor  Bdbar  mentions 
Dholpur,  and  states  that  it  surrendered  to  him  in  1526.  His  son, 
Prince  Humdyun,  is  said  to  have  moved  the  site  farther  to  the  north, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  encroachments  of  the  Chambal  river.  An  enclosed, 
and  to  some  extent  fortified,  sardi  was  built  in  the  reign  of  Akbar. 
The  new  portion  of  the  town  and  the  palace  of  the  Rand  were  built  by 
Rand  Kirat  Sinh,  the  great-grandfather  of  the  present  chief.  A  fair  is 
held  here  for  fifteen  days  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  when  a  large 
traffic  in  merchandise,  cattle,  and  horses  is  carried  on.  Goods  are 
brought  from  Delhi,  Agra,  Cawnpore,  and  Lucknow. 

Dhol  Samndra. — Marsh  in  Faridpur  District,  Bengal ;  situated  to 
the  south-east  of  the  Civil  Station.  During  the  rains  it  expands  into 
a  lake  about  8  miles  in  circumference,  the  water  extending  close  to  the 
houses  of  Faridpur  town.  In  the  cold  weather  it  gradually  dwindles, 
and  in  the  hot  season  is  only  a  mile  or  two  in  circumference. 

Dholurwa.— One  of  the  petty  States  in  South  Kdthidwar,  Bom- 
bay; consisting  of  1  village,  with  1  independent  tribute-payer. 
Estimated  revenue,  ^200  per  annum,  of  which  ;£io  is  payable  as 
tribute  to  the  Gdekwdr  of  Baroda  and  £2  to  Jundgarh. 

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DHORAJI—DHROL  STATE.  151 

Dhor^ji. — Fortified  town  in  the  peninsula  of  Kithiiwar,  Bombay. 
Lat  210  45'  n.,  long.  70°  37'  e.  ;  43  miles  south-west  of  Rdjkot,  and 
52  miles  east  of  Porbandar;  pop.  (1872),  15,562. 

Dhrtngadri. — Native  State  within  the  Political  Agency  of  Kithidwir, 
in  the  Province  of  Guzerat  (Gujarifc),  Bombay.  It  lies  inland  between 
22*  30'  and  23°  n.  lat,  and  between  710  and  71°  49'  e.  long.,  and  con- 
tains 125  villages;  pop.  (1872),  87,949;  gross  revenue,  ^30,000.  An 
uneven  tract  intersected  by  small  streams,  and  consisting  of  hilly  and 
rocky  ground,  where  stone  is  quarried.  With  the  exception  of  a  small 
extent  of  rich  black  loam,  the  soil  is  of  inferior  quality.  The  climate 
is  hot,  but  healthy.  The  principal  crops  are  cotton  and  the  common 
varieties  of  grain.  The  manufactures  are  salt,  copper  and  brass 
vessels,  stone  handmills,  cloth,  and  pottery.  There  are  no  made  roads, 
but  the  country  tracks  admit  of  the  passage  of  bullock-carts.  Dholera, 
about  70  miles  to  the  south-east  of  Dhrdngadrd  town,  in  Ahmedrfbid 
District,  is  the  nearest  port  There  are  15  schools,  with  550  pupils. 
The  chief  of  Dhrdngadrd  entered  into  engagements  with  the  British 
Government  in  1807.  Among  the  small  chieftains  of  Kithiiwfr,  he 
holds  the  position  of  a  ruler  of  a  first-class  State,  and  is  entitled  to  a 
salute  of  11  guns.  The  present  chief  (1875)  is  thirty-eight  years  of  age. 
He  is  a  Hindu,  a  Kijput  by  caste  of  the  Jh£l£  stock.  His  name  is 
Min  Sinhji,  and  his  title  Rijd  Sdhib.  He  pays  to  the  British  Government 
and  the  Nawib  of  Jundgarh  an  annual  tribute  of  ^4467,  and  maintains 
a  military  force  of  470  men.  He  holds  no  sanad  authorizing  adoption, 
bat  the  succession  follows  the  rule  of  primogeniture.  He  has  power 
of  life  and  death  over  his  own  subjects.  The  JhaMi  family  is  of  great 
antiquity,  and  is  said  to  have  entered  Kithiiwax  from  the  north,  and 
to  have  established  itself  first  at  Pitri,  in  the  Viramg&m  Subdivision  of 
Ahmedibdd  District,  whence  it  moved  to  Halwad,  and  finally  to  its 
present  seat  The  greater  part  of  this  territory  would  seem  at  one 
time  to  have  been  annexed  by  the  Muhammadan  rulers  of  Guzerat. 
Subsequently,  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Aurangzeb  (1658-1707), 
the  Subdivision  of  Halwad,  then  called  Muhammadnagar,  was  restored 
to  the  Jhili  family.  The  petty  States  of  Limri,  Wadhwan,  Chura, 
Sayla,  and  Thin-Lakhtdr  in  Kithiiwar  are  oflfehoots  from  Dhrdngadr* ; 
and  the  house  of  Wdnkiner  claims  to  be  descended  from  an  elder 
branch  of  the  same  race. 

Dhr&ngadrA.  —  Chief  town  of  the  State  of  the  same  name  in 
KAthidwar,  in  political  connection  with  Bombay.  Lat  220  59'  10"  n., 
^fr  7i°  31'  e.  ;  75  miles  west  of  Ahmedibid;  pop.  (1872),  10,954. 
The  town  is  fortified. 

DhroL— Native  State  within  the  Political  Agency  of  Kith&war,  in  the 
Province  of  Guzerat,  Bombay;  situated  between  22*  14'  and  22*  42'  n. 
lat,  and  between  70°  24'  and  70*  45'  e.  long.    It  lies  inland,  and  contains 

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152  DHROL  TOWN—DHULIA  TOWN. 

6 1  villages ;  estimated  area,  400  square  miles ;  pop.  (1872),  18,321.  The 
country  is  for  the  most  part  undulating  and  rocky.  The  soil  is  generally 
light,  and  irrigated  by  water  drawn  from  wells  and  rivers  by  means  of 
leather  bags.  The  climate,  though  hot  in  the  months  of  April,  May, 
and  October,  is  generally  healthy.  The  crops  are  sugar-cane  and  the 
ordinary  varieties  of  grain.  Coarse  cotton  cloth  is  manufactured  to  a 
small  extent.  There  are  no  made  roads,  but  the  country  tracks  permit 
the  passage  of  carts.  The  produce  is  chiefly  exported  from  Juria,  a  town 
on  the  coast.  The  gross  revenue  is  estimated  at  ;£  15,000.  There  are 
3  schools,  with  145  pupils.  Dhrol  ranks  as  a  second-class  State  among 
the  States  in  Kathiawar.  The  ruler  entered  into  engagements  with  the 
British  Government  in  1807.  The  present  (1875)  chief*  named  Jesinhji, 
is  fifty-one  years  of  age ;  he  is  a  Rajput  by  caste  of  the  Jireja  branch, 
with  the  title  of  Thikur.  He  holds  no  sanad  authorizing  adoption,  but 
the  succession  follows  the  rule  of  primogeniture.  He  pays  a  tribute  of 
^1023,  2s.  to  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda  and  the  Nawab  of  Junagarh,  and 
maintains  a  military  force  of  148  men.  He  has  power  of  life  and  death 
over  his  own  subjects. 

DhroL  —  Chief  town  of  the  State  of  the  same  name,  Bombay; 
situated  in  lat  220  34'  n.,  and  long.  70°  30'  e. 

Dhnbri — Subdivision  in  Goalpara  District,  Assam.  Pop.  (1872), 
187,589. 

Dhnbri — Headquarters  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name  in 
Goalpara  District,  Assam ;  situated  in  lat  2 6°  2  n.,  and  long.  90°  2'  e., 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Brahmaputra,  at  the  point  where  that  river 
leaves  the  valley  of  Assam,  and  turns  south  to  enter  the  plains  of 
Bengal  Pop.  (1872),  477.  Dhubrf  is  also  the  headquarters  of  the 
executive  engineer  of  the  Lower  Assam  Division ;  and  as  the  terminus 
of  the  emigration  road  running  through  Northern  Bengal,  and  a  stopping 
place  for  Assam  steamers,  the  town  is  rapidly  rising  in  importance.  It 
is  also  proposed  to  make  Dhubri  the  terminus  of  a  branch  of  the 
Northern  Bengal  State  Railway.  A  steam  ferry  crosses  the  Brahma- 
putra to  Goilpara  town.  A  trading  fair  held  here  in  January  is  annually 
attended  by  about  10,000  people,  many  of  whom  come  from  con- 
siderable distances. 

Dhnde.— Petty  State,  Bombay.—^  Dang  States. 

Dhul&pra.— -/MI,  or  natural  reservoir  in  SahaVanpur  District,  North- 
western Provinces.  In  connection  with  the  drainage  arrangements  of 
the  Eastern  Jumna  Canal,  a  cut  has  been  made  from  this  jhil  for  pur- 
poses of  reclamation  ;  but  up  to  the  end  of  1873,  only  272  bighds  had 
been  reclaimed. 

Dhulii. — Chief  town  of  Khandesh  District,  Bombay,  and  head- 
quarters of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name ;  situated  in  lat  200  54'  n., 
and  long.  740  46'  30"  &,  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Panjhra  river,  and  on 


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DHULIA  TOWN.  153 

the  line  of  the  Bombay  and  Agra  road.  Area,  including,  suburbs,  1 
square  mile;  houses,  2620;  pop.  (1872),  12,489;  municipal  revenue 
(1874-75),  ^1768 ;  rate  of  taxation,  2s.  o|d.  per  head  The  town  is 
divided  into  New  and  Old  Dhulii.  In  the  latter,  the  houses  are  irregularly 
built,  the  majority  being  of  a  very  humble  description.  In  1872, 
Dhulia  was  visited  by  a  severe  flood,  which  did  much  damage  to  houses 
and  property. 

Until  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  Dhulii  was  an  insignificant 
village,  subordinate  to  Liling,  the  capital  of  the  Liling  or  Fatehibid 
Subdivision.  Under  the  rule  of  the  Nizam,  Liling  was  incorporated 
with  the  District  of  Daulatibid.  The  fort  of  Laling  occupies  the 
summit  of  a  high  hill,  about  6  miles  from  Dhulii,  overhanging  the 
Agra  road  and  the  Avir  Pass  leading  to  Milegion.  This  stronghold, 
like  all  ancient  buildings  in  Khandesh,  is  locally  ascribed  to  the  Gauli 
Rijd,  but  it  was  more  probably  built  by  the  Farrukhi  kings,  whose 
frontier  fortress  it  subsequently  became.  To  the  same  Arab  princes 
may  be  attributed  the  numerous  stone  embankments  for  irrigation  found 
throughout  the  country,  of  which  those  on  the  Pinjhra  river  above  and 
below  Dhulii  may  be  taken  as  the  types.  The  old  fort  at  Dhulii  is  also 
assigned  to  this  dynasty,  but  it  was  probably,  like  the  village  walls, 
restored  and  improved  by  the  Mughal  governors.  The  town  appears  to 
have  passed  successively  through  the  hands  of  the  Arab  kings,  the 
Mughals,  and  the  Nizim,  and  to  have  fallen  into  the  power  of  the 
Peshwi  about  1795.  In  1803,  it  was  completely  deserted  by  its 
inhabitants  on  account  of  the  ravages  of  Holkir  and  the  terrible  famine 
of  that  year.  In  the  following  year,  Balijl  Balwant,  a  dependant  of  the 
Vinchurkar,  to  whom  the  pargands  of  Laling  and  Songir  had  been  granted 
by  the  Peshwi,  repeopled  the  town,  and  received  from  the  Vinchurkar, 
in  return  for  his  services,  a  grant  of  indm  land  and  other  privileges. 
He  was  subsequently  entrusted  with  the  entire  management  of  the 
territory  of  Songir  and  Laling,  and  fixed  his  headquarters  at  Dhulii, 
where  he  continued  to  exercise  authority  till  the  occupation  of  the 
country  by  the  British  in  181 8.  Dhulii  was  immediately  chosen  as  the 
headquarters  of  the  newly  formed  District  of  Khandesh  by  Captain 
Briggs.  In  January  18 19,  he  obtained  sanction  for  building  public 
offices  for  the  transaction  of  revenue  and  judicial  business.  Artificers 
were  brought  from  distant  places,  and  the  buildings  were  erected  at  a 
total  cost  of  ^2700.  Every  encouragement  was  offered  to  traders  and 
others  to  settle  in  the  new  town.  Building  sites  were  granted  rent  free 
in  perpetuity,  and  advances  were  made  both  to  the  old  inhabitants  and 
strangers  to  enable  them  to  erect  substantial  houses.  At  this  time, 
Captain  Briggs  described  Dhulii  as  a  small  town,  surrounded  by  garden 
cultivation,  and  shut  in  between  an  irrigation  channel  and  the  river. 
In  1819,  the  population  numbered  only  2509  persons,  living  in  401 


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i54  DHULIAN— DIAMOND  HARBOUR. 

houses.  In  1863,  there  were  10,000  inhabitants;  while  by  1872  the 
number  had  further  increased  to  12,489.  From  the  date  of  its  occupa- 
tion by  the  British,  the  progress  of  Dhulii  appears  to  have  been  steady ; 
but  it  is  only  since  the  recent  development  of  the  trade  in  cotton  and 
linseed  that  the  town  has  become  of  any  great  importance  as  a  trading 
centre.  Coarse  cotton  and  woollen  cloth  and  turbans  are  manufactured 
for  local  use.  Since  1872  a  little  colony  of  Musalmins  from  Allahabid, 
Benares,  and  Lucknow  have  settled  at  Dhulii,  who  say  that  they  have 
left  their  own  homes  on  account  of  poverty.  They  are  Momins  by 
caste,  and  declare  themselves  orthodox  Muhammadans,  but  their 
co-religionists  in  Dhulia  take  them  to  be  Wahibis.  They  support  them- 
selves by  weaving  sdris  of  fine  texture,  which  they  sell  at  a  lower  rate 
than  the  local  merchants.  Dhulii  is  a  cantonment  town,  and  possesses 
2  hospitals,  telegraph  and  post  offices.  There  were  in  1873-74,  4 
Government  schools,  with  551  pupils. 

Dhuli&L — Village  in  Murshidibid  District,  Bengal ;  situated  on  the 
Ganges.  Site  of  an  annual  fair,  and  one  of  the  most  important  river 
marts  in  the  District.  Large  trade  in  rice,  pulses,  gram,  wheat,  and 
other  food  grains. 

Dhuttpnagar. — Town  and  cantonment  in  Bannu  District,  Punjab. 
— See  Edwardesabad. 

Dhurw&L — One  of  the  petty  States  in  Bundelkhand,  under  the 
Central  India  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India.  The  founder  of 
the  family  was  R4i  Sinh,  a  descendant  of  Bfr  Sinh  Deo,  Raja*  of 
Orchhi,  who  held  the  territory  of  Baragaon.  He  divided  it  amongst 
his  eight  sons,  whence  their  jagirs  were  called  the  Hasht-bhaya  (or 
eight  brothers).  There  now  remain  four,  of  which  this  is  one.  The 
present  holder,  Dfwan  Ranjtir  Sinh,  is  a  Hindu  Bundela.  Area  of  State, 
18  square  miles  ;  estimated  pop.  (1875),  8000;  revenue,  ;£i2oa 

DhnsaiL — River  of  Bengal.— See  Parwan. 

Diamond  Harbour. — Subdivision  of  the  District  of  the  Twenty-four 
Parganas,  Bengal;  situated  between  210  31'  and  220  21'  30"  n.  lat, 
and  between  88°  4'  and  88°  33'  30"  e.  long.  Area,  417  square  miles; 
villages,  1282  ;  houses,  57,688.  Total  population  (1872),  309,168,  of 
whom  227,483,  or  73*6  per  cent.,  are  Hindus ;  79,404,  or  257  per  cent., 
Muhammadans;  2267,  or  7  per  cent.,  Christians;  and  14  of  other 
religious  denominations.  Proportion  of  males  in  total  population, 
50  per  cent;  number  of  persons  per  square  mile,  741;  villages  per 
square  mile,  3*07 ;  persons  per  village,  241 ;  houses  per  square  mile, 
138;  inmates  per  house,  5*4.  The  Subdivision  comprises  the  five 
police  circles  (thdnds)  of  Diamond  Harbour,  Debfpur,  Binkipur, 
Sultinpur,  and  Mathurapur ;  1  magisterial  court  in  1871 ;  police  force, 
112  men  ;  village  watch,  897  men ;  cost  of  Subdivisional  administration, 
^7422.     The  cyclone  of  October  1864,  with  its  accompanying  storm 

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DIAMOND  HARBOUR— DIBAL  155 

wave,  caused  a  fearful  destruction  of  life  and  property  here.  The 
greatest  number  of  deaths  occurred  on  Sagar  Island,  within  Diamond 
Harbour  Subdivision,  and  in  the  Sundarbans.  Out  of  a  population  of 
5625,  only  1488  persons  survived.  It  was  estimated  that  in  all  the 
villages  within  one  mile  of  the  river  the  loss  of  life  was  80  per  cent, 
with  a  loss  of  cattle  in  the  same  proportion.  The  famine  of  1866 
also  caused  great  distress  in  this  Subdivision. 

Diamond  Harbour. — Port  and  headquarters  of  Diamond  Harbour 
Subdivision,  Twenty-four  Parganis  District,  Bengal;  situated  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Huglf  river,  in  lat  220  11'  10"  n.,  long.  88°  13'  37"  e. 
Well  known  as  the  anchorage  of  the  Company's  ships  in  olden  times ; 
now  a  telegraph  station.  A  harbourmaster  and  customs  establishment 
are  maintained  here  to  board  vessels  proceeding  up  the  river,  and  the 
movements  of  all  shipping  up  or  down  are  telegraphed  from  Diamond 
Harbour,  and  published  several  times  a  day  in  the  Calcutta  Telegraph 
Gazette.  But  no  town  or  even  village  has  sprung  up ;  and  since  the 
introduction  of  steam,  few  vessels  have  to  wait  here  for  the  tide.  The 
chief  relic  of  its  historical  importance  is  its  graveyard.  Distant  from 
Calcutta  30  miles  by  a  good  road,  41  by  river. 

Diamond  Harbour  OanaL — In  Diamond  Harbour  Subdivision, 
Twenty-four  Parganas,  Bengal ;  extending  from  Thakurpukur  to  Khola- 
khali,  a  distance  of  23  miles. 

Diamond  Ialand. — A  low  wooded  island,  about  1  square  mile  in 
area,  and  visible  at  5  leagues,  lying  off  the  mouth  of  the  Bassein  river, 
in  Pegu,  British  Burma.  Lat.  158  51'  30"  n.,  and  long.  94°  18'  45*  e. 
It  is  50  miles  distant  from  Pagoda  Point,  and  about  8  miles  from 
Negrais  Island  or  Haing-gyi.  In  shape  it  is  quadrilateral,  its  angles 
facing  the  points  of  the  compass.  During  strong  southerly  gales,  land- 
ing is  difficult  This  island  appears  to  have  been  never  inhabited  by 
the  Burmese,  to  whom  it  is  known  as  Miemma-hla-kywon ;  but  it  is 
visited  by  those  engaged  in  collecting  the  eggs  of  turtles,  which  are 
very  abundant  Important  as  the  home  station  of  the  Alguada  Reef 
lighthouse-keeper,  and  connected  with  Bassein  by  telegraph. 

Dib&L  —  Ancient  town  in  Bukndshahr  District,  North-Western 
Provinces;  lat.  28*  12'  30"  n.,  long.  78°  18'  35"  e.  Pop.  (1872),  7782, 
being  4515  Hindus,  and  3267  Muhammadans.  Distant  from  Buland- 
shahr  26  miles  south-east,  and  from  Alfgarh  26  miles  north.  Lies 
between  the  two  head  branches  of  the  Chhoiya  Nala,  whose  ravines 
form  an  efficient  natural  drainage-channel.  Said  to  have  been  built 
about  the  time  of  Sayyid  Salar  Masdrid  Ghazf,  1029  A.D.,  upon  the 
ruins  of  Dhundgarh,  a  captured  Rajput  city.  The  old  fort  now  does 
duty  as  an  indigo  factory.  Trade  has  greatly  declined,  and  the  streets 
show  evidences  of  former  prosperity.  A  metalled  road  connects  the 
town  with  Kaser  Dibai  station,  on  the  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand  Railway, 


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156  DIBRU—DIG. 

3  miles  to  the  east.     Market  on  Mondays,  4  sardis,  Anglo-vernacular 
school-house,  odzdr,  post  office,  police  station. 

Dibra  (or  Sondpur). — The  name  of  two  rivers  in  the  Province  of 
Assam,  one  of  which,  in  the  southern  half  of  Klmrtip  District,  flows 
northwards  into  the  Brahmaputra ;  the  other,  in  the  southern  half  of 
Lakhimpur,  flows  nearly  parallel  to  the  Brahmaputra  for  about  100 
miles,  and  finally  empties  itself  into  that  river  just  below  the  town  of 
Dibrugarh,  to  which  it  has  given  its  name. 

Dibrugarh. — Subdivision  in  Lakhimpur  District,  Assam,  comprising 
the  two  divisions  formerly  known  as  Matak  and  Sadiyi.  Area,  2038 
square  miles;  pop.  (1872),  82,109. 

Dibrugarh  ('  Fort  on  the  Dibru  river'). — Chief  town  in  Lakhimpur 
District,  and  headquarters  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name,  Assam ; 
situated  in  lat  270  28'  300  n.,  and  long.  940  57'  30*  e.,  on  the  Dibru 
river,  about  4  miles  above  its  confluence  with  the  Brahmaputra.  Pop. 
(1872),  3870,  including  1096  in  the  military  cantonment  Dibrugarh  is 
the  centre  of  an  important  river  trade,  as  steamers  can  reach  the  town 
during  the  rainy  season ;  at  other  times  of  the  year  they  stop  at  Dibru- 
mukh,  on  the  Brahmaputra.  The  exports  are  almost  entirely  confined  to 
tea  and  caoutchouc ;  the  imports  comprise  cotton  goods,  rice,  salt,  and 
oil  The  headquarters  of  the  44th  Light  Infantry,  numbering  about 
500  fighting  men,  are  stationed  in  the  cantonments. 

Diddaur. — Town  in  Rii  Bareli  District,  Oudh ;  on  the  banks  of  the 
Sai,  2  miles  from  the  road  from  Bareli  to  Behar.  A  flourishing  town, 
pleasantly  situated  among  numerous  groves,  with  a  population  in  1869 
of  2123  Hindus  (including  838  Kshattriyas),  and  4  Muhammadans; 
total,  2127. 

Dfg  (Deeg).  —  Town  and  fortress  in  Bhartpur  (Bhurtpore)  State, 
Central  India.  Lat  270  28'  n.,  and  long.  770  22'  e.  Lies  in  a 
lonely  marshy  tract,  amid  numerous  jhils  or  shallow  lakes,  fed  by 
the  stream  of  the  Mdnas  Nai  Almost  inaccessible  to  an  enemy 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  being  nearly  surrounded  with 
water.  Before  being  dismantled  by  the  British,  it  possessed  great 
strength,  and  its  fort,  24  miles  west  of  Muttra,  still  commands  the 
whole  town.  The  Rajahs  palace,  a  remarkably  beautiful  building 
of  massive  sandstone  blocks,  decorated  with  oriental  profusion, 
adjoins  the  citadel  Dfg  lays  claim  to  great  antiquity,  being  men- 
tioned by  name  in  the  Purdnas.  Wrested  from  the  J£ts  in  1776  by 
Najaf  KMn,  it  reverted  after  his  death  to  the  Rija*  of  Bhartpur. 
On  November  13,  1804,  a  British  force,  under  General  Fraser, 
defeated  the  army  of  Holkar;  and  the  ]its  having  fired  upon  the 
conquerors,  siege  was  laid  to  the  town  in  the  succeeding  month,  and 
it  was  carried  by  storm  on  the  23d.  Dismantled  after  the  capture 
of  Bhartpur  by  Lord  Combermere. 

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D1GBIJAIGANJ—DIHANG.  1 5  7 

Digbijaiganj. — Tahsil  or  Subdivision  of  Rii  Bareli  District,  Oudh  ; 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Haidargarh  tahsil  of  Bara  Banki  District, 
on  the  east  by  Musdfirkhana  tahsil  of  Sultanpur,  on  the  south  by  Salon 
and  Rai  Bareli  tahsils,  and  on  the  west  by  Piirwa  tahsil  of  Unao 
District  Lat.  260  17'  30"  to  26°  36'  n.,  long.  8i°  1'  30"  to  8i°  37'  e. 
Area,  465  square  miles,  of  which  219  are  under  cultivation;  pop., 
according  to  the  Census  of  1869,  but  allowing  for  recent  changes, 
250,159  Hindus,  19,318  Muhammadans — total,  269,477,  viz.  134,576 
males  and  134,901  females ;  number  of  villages  or  towns,  364 ;  average 
density  of  population,  579  per  square  mile.  The  tahsil  comprises  the  6 
pargands  of  Inhauni,  Bachhrawin,  Kumhrawan,  Hardoi,  Simrauta,  and 
Mohanganj. 

Dignagar. — Village  in  Bardwan  District,  Bengal.  Lat.  230  22'  n., 
long.  870  45'  e.  Described  by  Jacquemont  as  a  place  of  some  im- 
portance ;  now  a  local  market  for  grain  and  sugar. 

Digras.  —  Town  in  Wtfn  District,  Berar.  Lat  200  6'  n.,  long. 
77°  45'  e.  ;  18  miles  south  of  Darwa.  A  small  entrep6t  for  the  cotton 
of  the  western  half  of  the  District  A  few  Bombay  dealers  come  here 
during  the  cotton  season  to  make  purchases.  Houses  (small  thatched 
huts),  639. 

DigS&r. — Pargand  in  Gonda  District,  Oudh  ;  bounded  on  the  north 
by  Gonda  and  Mahidewa,  on  the  east  by  Nawabganj,  on  the  south  by 
the  Gogra  river,  and  on  the  west  by  Guwarich.  A  well-wooded  plain, 
almost  throughout  covered  with  careful  cultivation.  The  northern 
and  western  tracts  are  watered  by  the  Tlrhi ;  the  centre,  which 
has  the  richest  soil,  is  drained  by  a  number  of  small  channels,  and 
supports  a  denser  population  than  is  found  in  the  north  or  south.  The 
southern  division,  along  the  Gogra  border,  is  generally  marked  by  a 
light  soil,  and  the  cultivated  spots  are  interspersed  with  large  barren 
plains,  overgrown  with  grass  and  scrub  jungle.  The  whole  pargand  lies 
low,  and  is  liable,  after  heavy  rains,  to  destructive  floods.  Area,  15  7  J 
square  miles,  or  100,696  acres,  of  which  67,880  acres  are  under  cultivation, 
nearly  one-half  yielding  two  crops  in  the  year.  Area  under  principal 
crops — rice,  14,773  acres;  Indian  corn,  19,590;  wheat,  11,945  ;  gram, 
8665 ;  arhar,  9075  ;  and  barley,  7060  acres.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus, 
87,694,  and  Muhammadans,  2888 — total,  90,582,  viz.  46,306  males  and 
44,276  females ;  average  density  of  population,  577  per  square  mile. 
No  manufactures. 

Bfll— Town  in  Rsli  Bareli  District,  Oudh ;  12  miles  from  Bareli  town, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Sal  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  2766  ;  Muhammadans, 
171 ;  total,  2937.     Good  bdzdr. 

Dihang  (or  Dihong). — River  in  Lakhimpur  District,  Assam,  one  of 
the  three  which  contribute  to  make  up  the  Brahmaputra.  It  brings 
down  the  largest  volume  of  water,  and  is  generally  regarded  as  the  con- 


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158  DIHING—DIMAPUR. 

tinuation  of  the  Tsanpu  or  great  river  of  Thibet,  and  thus  the  real  parent 
of  the  Brahmaputra.  It  is  supposed  to  pierce  the  barrier  range  of  the 
Himalayas  through  a  narrow  gorge  in  the  Abar  Hills. 

Dihing. — The  name  of  two  rivers  in  Lakhimpur  District,  Assam, 
which  contribute  to  make  up  the  waters  of  the  Brahmaputra — (i)  the 
Noa  Dihing,  rising  in  the  Singpho  Hills  in  the  extreme  eastern  frontier 
of  British  territory,  flows  in  a  westerly  direction  into  the  main  stream  of 
the  Brahmaputra  just  above  Sadiya ;  (2)  the  Burf  Dihing,  rises  in  the 
Patkai  Hills  in  the  south-east  corner  of  Lakhimpur  District,  and  also 
flows  in  a  westerly  direction,  past  Jaipur  town,  and  finally  forms  the 
boundary  between  Lakhimpur  and  Sfbsagar  Districts  before  reaching 
the  Brahmaputra.  It  is  navigable  up  to  Jaipur  by  steamers  during  the 
rainy  season.  The  two  rivers  are  connected  by  an  artificial  channel, 
passing  near  the  village  of  Bishgion.  The  valley  of  the  Burf  Dihing 
contains  an  extensive  coal-field,  with  outcrops  at  Jaipur  and  Makum. 
The  total  marketable  out-turn  is  estimated  at  about  20  million  tons,  of 
excellent  quality,  and  there  are  tolerable  facilities  for  water-carriage. 
Petroleum  also  exists  in  abundance  in  the  same  tract  In  1866,  both 
the  coal  and  the  petroleum  were  worked  under  a  Government  grant  by 
a  European  capitalist,  but  on  his  death  the  enterprise  was  discontinued. 
In  the  years  1 874-1 876,  the  mineral  resources  of  this  tract  were  examined 
by  an  officer  of  the  Geological  Survey,  and  favourably  reported  on. 

Dqi  (Kot  Diji,  also  called  Ahmaddb&d).— Fort  in  the  Khairpur  State, 
Sind.  Lat  270  20'  45"  n.,  long.  68°  45'  e.  Of  no  importance  as  a 
place  of  strength. 

Dil&W&r. — Fort  in  Bahawalpur  State,  Punjab.  Lat  28°  44'  N., 
long.  71°  14'  e.  Situated  in  a  desert,  40  miles  from  the  left  bank  of  the 
river  Panjnad.     Very  difficult  of  access. 

Dilli  (Delly).— The  correct  name  is  d'Ely  (Monte  d'Ely  of  the 
Portuguese),  representing  the  name  of  the  ancient  Malabar  State  of 
Hely  or  Hili.  Hill  in  the  Cherakal  tdluk,  Malabar  District,  Madras. 
Lat  12°  2'  n.,  long.  750  14'  e.  ;  height,  800  feet  above  the  sea. 
Situated  on  the  coast,  with  creeks  on  either  side,  which,  joining,  make 
it  an  island  The  fortifications,  now  in  ruins,  have  been  occupied  at 
different  periods  by  Dutch,  French,  and  British  troops.  A  station  of  the 
Great  Trigonometrical  Survey,  and  a  prominent  landmark  for  mariners, 
being  visible  in  fine  weather  at  27  miles'  distance.  The  jungle  covering 
the  hill  and  surrounding  the  base  affords  cover  to  large  game,  sambhary 
panthers,  etc,  and  is  a  favourite  resort  of  sportsmen.  A  project  set  on 
foot  for  the  construction  of  a  harbour  off  this  headland  was  abandoned 
on  account  of  the  enormous  expense  attending  it  Dilli  was  the  first 
Indian  land  seen  by  Vasco  da  Gama. 

Dim&pur. — Village  in  the  Naga  Hills  District,  Assam;  on  the 
Dhaneswari  river,  15  miles  north  of  Samaguting.     Here  was  one  of  the 


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D1NAJPUR  DISTRICT.  159 

early  capitals  of  the  Cichari  Rajas,  the  brick  ruins  of  which  are  still  to 
be  found  amid  the  jungle.  It  is  now  a  police  outpost,  and  the  centre 
of  some  little  trade  with  the  Nigas,  as  the  river  is  navigable  up  to  this 
point  by  country  boats.     All  around  is  wild  jungle. 

Dindtfpur. — The  District  of  Dinajpur  occupies  the  west  of  the 
Rijshihi  Kuch  Behar  Division,  under  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
Bengal.  It  lies  between  240  43'  40"  and  260  22'  50"  n.  lat,  and 
between  88°  41  o"  and  890  21'  5"  e.  long.,  being  bounded  roughly 
on  the  east  by  the  Karitoyd,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Mahanandi 
river.  Area  (according  to  Parliamentary  Return,  1878),  4126  square 
miles;  population  (according  to  the  Census  of  1872),  1,501,924.  The 
administrative  headquarters  are  at  Dinajpur  Town,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Purnabhaba. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  exhibits  a  less  uniformly  level  appear- 
ance than  the  rest  of  Northern  Bengal.  The  plain  that  stretches  from 
the  Himalayas  to  the  Ganges  is  here  represented  by  a  peculiar  clay 
formation,  locally  known  as  khidr%  which  is  sufficiently  stiff  to  resist  the 
diluviating  action  of  the  rivers.  In  the  southern  part  of  the  District, 
and  again  in  the  north-west  along  the  Kulik  river,  this  clay  soil  rises 
into  undulating  ridges,  some  of  which  attain  the  height  of  100  feet 
The  entire  country  is  intersected  by  numerous  rivers,  which  run  in  well- 
defined  channels  and  have  deposited  in  their  floods  a  later  alluvium  of 
sandy  loam,  called  palL  The  agriculture  of  the  District  is  determined 
by  the  difference  between  these  two  kinds  of  soil  The  river  valleys 
are  everywhere  much  wider  than  the  narrow  limits  within  which  the 
streams  are  confined  during  the  dry  season.  In  the  rains,  the  flood 
water  spreads  out  into  large  lakes,  about  2  miles  across ;  but  there  are 
few  permanent  marshes  of  any  size  throughout  the  District  The  clay 
ridges  in  the  south  are  still  much  overgrown  with  scrub-jungle,  which 
affords  cover  to  numerous  wild  beasts,  and  yields  but  little  forest  produce 
of  any  value. 

The  rivers  in  Dinajpur  arrange  themselves  into  two  systems,  one  of 
which  carries  off  the  drainage  southwards  by  the  Mahanandi  into  Maldah 
District,  while  the  other  is  connected  with  the  old  Tisti  river,  and  flows 
in  a  south-easterly  direction  towards  Bogr£  and  Rijshalii.  The  Maha- 
nanda  itself  only  skirts  the  western  frontier  of  the  District  for  about  30 
miles ;  its  chief  tributaries  are  the  Nagar,  Tangan,  and  Purnabhaba. 
All  these  rivers  are  only  navigable  for  large  boats  during  the  rains. 
They  run  through  the  khidr  country,  along  shallow  valleys,  bordered  by 
elevated  clay  ridges.  The  Tista  river  system  has  been  much  broken 
up  by  the  violent  changes  which  took  place  in  the  course  of  the  main 
channel  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century.  The  various  channels 
of  the  old  Tfsta*  still  flowing  through  Dinajpur,  are  now  known  as  the 
Atrai,  Jamuna,  and  Karatoya.      Their  value  for  boat  traffic  has 

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160  DINAJPUR  DISTRICT. 

been  greatly  lessened  by  the  circumstance  that  the  great  volume  of 
the  water  now  finds  its  way  eastwards  into  the  Brahmaputra.  There 
are  several  short  artificial  canals  in  the  District;  but  some  of  them 
appear  to  have  been  dug  with  a  view  to  facilitate  religious  processions, 
rather  than  as  a  means  of  assisting  trade. 

History. — Dinajpur  District,  with  the  rest  of  Bengal,  passed  under 
British  rule  in  1765,  and  has  no  independent  history  of  its  own. 

Population. — In  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  Dr.  Buchanan- 
Hamilton,  in  the  course  of  his  statistical  inquiries,  arrived  at  a  most 
elaborate  estimate  of  the  population  of  Dinajpur.  His  calculations 
yielded  a  total  of  about  3  millions,  or  558  persons  to  the  square  mile. 
The  District  was  then  about  one-third  larger  than  at  present.  During 
the  Revenue  Survey  (1857-61),  when  the  area  of  the  District  was 
also  somewhat  larger  than  now,  the  number  of  houses  was  counted, 
and  the  inhabitants  living  therein  were  estimated  to  number  1,042,832, 
or  only  227  per  square  mile.  It  seems  probable  that  this  latter  estimate 
was  as  much  too  low,  as  Dr.  B.  Hamilton's  estimate  must  have  been 
too  high.  The  Census  of  1872,  which  was  not  taken  simultaneously 
in  a  single  night,  as  in  other  Bengal  Districts,  disclosed  a  total  popu- 
lation of  1,501,924  persons,  residing  in  7108  mauzds  or  villages,  and  in 
264,526  houses.  The  area  was  taken  at  4126  square  miles,  which 
gives  the  following  averages : — Persons  per  square  mile,  364 ;  villages 
per  square  mile,  172;  houses  per  square  mile,  64.  The  average 
number  of  persons  per  village  is  211 ;  of  persons  per  house,  5-7. 
Classified  according  to  sex,  there  are  776,431  males,  and  725,493 
females;  proportion  of  males,  517  per  cent  Classified  according  to 
age,  there  are,  under  12  years — 293,695  males,  and  233,126  females; 
total,  526,821,  or  35*1  per  cent,  of  the  total  population.  The  occupation 
returns  are  not  trustworthy;  but  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  total 
number  of  male  adults  connected  with  agriculture  is  given  at  368,913, 
as  against  113,823  male  adult  non-agriculturists.  The  ethnical  division 
of  the  people  shows  21  Europeans;  4431  aborigines;  505,527  semi- 
Hinduized  aborigines;  181,550  Hindus,  subdivided  according  to  caste ; 
17,180  persons  of  Hindu  origin  not  recognising  caste;  793,215  Muham- 
madans.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  Dinajpur,  even  to  a  greater 
extent  than  in  the  rest  of  Bengal,  the  great  bulk  of  the  people  are  of 
aboriginal  descent ;  and  that  the  majority  became  willing  converts  to 
the  conquering  faith  of  Islam,  in  preference  to  remaining  out-castes 
beyond  the  pale  of  exclusive  Hinduism.  The  tribes  now  ranked  as 
aboriginal  are  very  poorly  represented.  The  most  numerous  is  the 
Dhangar,  a  generic  term  for  the  hillmen  who  come  from  Chuti£  Nagpur, 
to  work  on  the  roads  or  to  clear  jungle;  they  number  2907,  and 
the  cognate  Santils  1039.  The  semi-Hinduized  aborigines,  who  are 
nearly  three  times  as  numerous  as  the  Hindus  proper,  mostly  consist  of 


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DINAJPUR  DISTRICT.  161 

the  kindred  races  of  Pdli,  Rijbansf,  and  Koch,  who  are  known  to  be 
still  more  largely  represented  among  the  general  Muhammadan  popula- 
tion. These  three  tribes  number  collectively  4439927.  The  few  who 
retain  the  name  of  Koch  are  palanquin-bearers ;  Rijbansi  is  the  high- 
sounding  title  which  they  have  adopted  for  themselves ;  whereas  Pali  is 
the  appellation  applied  to  them  by  their  neighbours.  This  last  term  is 
almost  confined  to  Dinijpur  and  the  adjoining  District  of  Maldah ;  it 
would  not  be  recognised  in  Kuch  Behar  State.  Among  Hindus  proper, 
the  Brihmans  number  6269 ;  they  are  traditionally  reported  to  have 
settled  in  the  District  within  recent  times.  The  Rajputs  number  only 
1813;  the  Kiyasths,  4523.  By  far  the  most  numerous  caste  is  the 
Kaibartta,  with  38,051 ;  the  fishing  castes  are  also  strongly  represented, 
especially  the  Tior,  with  17,364,  and  the  Jaliyd,  with  10,296  members. 
A  little  immigration  into  Dinijpur  of  a  temporary  character  takes  place 
every  harvest  season;  emigration  from  the  District  there  is  none. 
Classified  according  to  religion,  the  population  is  composed  of — 
Hindus  (as  loosely  grouped  together  for  religious  purposes),  702,235, 
or 46*8  percent;  Musaimans,  793,215,  or 5 2*8 percent.  Theremainder 
is  made  up  of  271  Christians,  including  250  native  converts  settled 
in  three  separate  communities;  295  Buddhists,  all  in  the  Porshd 
police  circle ;  and  5908  ( others.'  The  Brihma  Samaj  has  a  small  body 
of  followers  at  Dinijpur  town,  who  are  mostly  engaged  in  Government 
service;  and  at  the  same  place  there  are  a  few  families  of  Jain  merchants, 
immigrants  from  the  north-west,  with  their  servants  and  retainers. 
The  Vaishnavs  are  returned  at  16,710,  which  number  only  includes 
the  professed  religious  mendicants ;  many  of  the  Pilf  tribe  are  said  to 
belong  to  this  sect  The  Gosams,  who  are  the  religious  teachers  of 
the  Vaishnavs,  number  30;  the  Sanyasfs,  187;  the  Aghorfs,  3.  The 
Muhammadans  belong  almost  entirely  to  the  agricultural  class ;  few  of 
them  are  landholders,  and  still  fewer  engage  in  trade.  The  reforming 
sect  of  Wahibfs  or  Fariizfs  is  known  to  have  exercised  some  influence 
among  them,  but  no  active  fanaticism  exists. 

The  entire  population  is  absolutely  rural.  The  only  place  returned 
in  the  Census  Report  as  containing  more  than  5000  inhabitants  is 
Dinajpur  Town,  pop.  139042.  The  people  display  no  tendency  towards 
urban  life,  but  rather  the  reverse.  The  trading  marts  consist  merely 
of  a  line  of  golds  or  warehouses  along  the  river  banks,  where  agri- 
cultural produce  can  be  conveniently  stored  until  the  rainy  season 
opens  the  rivers  for  navigation.  Out  of  a  total  of  7108  villages,  as 
many  as  6512  contain  less  than  500  inhabitants  each. 

Agriculture.— Rice  constitutes  the  staple  crop  throughout  the  District 
Of  the  total  food  supply,  the  dman  or  winter  crop,  grown  on  low  lands 
and  usually  transplanted,  furnishes  from  80  to  96  per  cent ;  the  dus  or 
autumn  crop,  grown  on  high  lands,  about  17  per  cent;  the  boro  or 

VOL.  HL  L 

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i6i  DINAJPUR  DISTRICT. 

spring  crop,  grown  on  the  borders  of  marshes  and  rivers,  in  certain 
tracts  supplies  from  4  to  8  per  cent  This  last  is  the  only  crop  in  the 
District  which  demands  irrigation,  and  the  water  required  is  easily 
obtained  from  the  immediate  neighbourhood.  Though  the  area  of  rice 
cultivation  has  widely  extended  in  recent  years,  it  is  said  that  the 
productive  powers  of  the  soil  have  decreased,  owing  to  over-cropping. 
Among  miscellaneous  crops  may  be  mentioned  maize  and  millet,  pulses, 
oil-seeds,  tobacco,  jute,  sugar-cane,  pdn  or  betel  leaf.  The  staples 
grown  for  export  are  rice,  jute,  and  tobacco.  The  cultivation  of  sugar- 
cane is  on  the  decline.  Manure,  in  the  form  of  cow-dung,  is  applied 
to  khidr  rice  lands,  and  to  the  more  valuable  crops  grown  on  pali  soiL 
Khidr  land  is  never  allowed  to  lie  fallow,  but  paH  requires  an 
occasional  rest  of  about  one  year  in  every  five.  The  principle  of  the 
rotation  of  crops  is  not  known.  There  is  still  a  good  deal  of  spare  land 
capable  of  cultivation,  to  be  found  in  the  south  of  the  District  Horned 
cattle  are  very  abundant;  but  owing  to  the  indifference  shown  in 
breeding,  and  to  the  insufficiency  of  nourishing  pasturage,  their  condition 
has  miserably  deteriorated.  The  average  produce  of  an  acre  of  good 
rice  land  renting  at  9s.,  is  about  20  cwts.  of  rice,  valued  at  £1,  18s.; 
exceptionally  good  land  will  sometimes  yield  as  much  as  37  cwts.  per 
acre.  Khidr  land  produces  only  one  rice  crop  in  the  year ;  but  from 
pali  land  a  second  crop  of  oil-seeds  or  pulses  is  obtained  in  the  cold 
season,  in  addition  to  the  dus  rice.  This  cold-weather  crop  may  be 
valued  at  from  £1,  10s.  to  £2,  2s.  per  acre.  The  rate  of  rent  paid  for 
khidr  land  varies  from  9s.  to  1 2s.  an  acre ;  pali  land  rents  at  from  6s. 
to  £2,  2s.  There  is  little  peculiarity  in  the  land  tenures  of  Dinajpnr. 
It  is  estimated  that  over  about  five-eighths  of  the  total  area  of  the  Dis- 
trict, the  superior  landlords  have  parted  with  their  rights  in  favour  of 
intermediate  tenure  holders.  Only  a  small  fraction  of  the  cultivators 
have  won  for  themselves  rights  of  occupancy  by  a  continuous  holding 
of  more  than  twelve  years ;  the  great  majority  are  mere  tenants-at-will. 

The  following  were  the  current  rates  of  wages  in  1870 : — Coolies  and 
agricultural  day-labourers  received  4s.  a  month  with  food,  or  9s.  a  month 
without  food;  bricklayers  and  carpenters,  from  12s.  to  16s.  a  month; 
smiths,  from  £i,  to  £1,  10s.  In  the  same  year,  the  prices  of  food 
grains  were  as  follow : — Common  rice,  2s.  9d.  per  cwt ;  common  paddy 
or  unhusked  rice,  is.  6d.  per  cwt. ;  barley,  7s.  8d.  per  cwt. ;  barley 
flour,  13s.  8d.  per  cwt.  The  highest  price  reached  by  rice  in  1866, 
the  year  of  the  Orissa  famine,  was  us.  2d.  per  cwt 

Dinajpur  is  exceptionally  free  from  either  of  the  calamities  of  flood 
or  drought  Owing  to  the  rising  of  the  rivers  and  the  heavy  local  rain- 
fall, a  considerable  portion  of  the  District  is  annually  laid  under  water ; 
but  this  inundation  is  productive  of  good  rather  than  harm.  The 
single  occasion  on  which  the  general  harvest  has  been  known  to  be 

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DINAJPUR  DISTRICT.  163 

injuriously  affected,  was  in  the  autumn  of  1873,  when  the  protracted 
drought  caused  a  failure  of  the  dman  rice  crop,  upon  which  the  popu- 
lation almost  entirely  depends  for  its  food  supply.  It  was  only  the 
prompt  interference  of  Government  that  prevented  scarcity  from 
intensifying  into  famine,  and  ,£162,188  was  expended  on  relief 
operations. 

For  the  future,  Dinijpur  District  will  be  saved  from  all  danger  of 
isolation  by  the  recently  opened  Northern  Bengal  State  Railway,  which 
runs  northwards  for  about  30  miles  through  its  eastern  half.  The 
roads  are  comparatively  few  and  unimportant  In  1874,  in  connection 
with  the  famine  relief  operations,  a  sum  of  ^14,466  was  devoted  to 
repairs  and  the  construction  of  new  roads,  particular  attention  being 
paid  to  such  tracks  as  will  serve  for  feeders  to  the  railway.  The  most 
important  means  of  communication  are  the  rivers,  which  unfortunately 
are  only  navigable  by  large  boats  during  three  or  four  months  in  the 
year. 

Manufactures,  etc. — The  whole  population  is  so  entirely  agricultural, 
that  scarcely  any  manufactures  exist  Neither  indigo  nor  silk  is 
prepared,  and  the  production  of  sugar  has  decreased  since  the  beginning 
of  this  century.  A  little  coarse  cotton  cloth  is  made  for  home  use ; 
and  in  some  parts  a  durable  fabric  called  mekli  is  woven  from  the  wild 
rhea  grass.  Gunny  cloth  is  manufactured  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
the  north  of  the  District,  this  industry  being  chiefly  confined  to  the 
women  of  the  Koch  tribe. 

Until  the  opening  of  the  railway,  Dindjpur  was  entirely  dependent 
upon  its  rivers  for  all  its  trade.  The  chief  exports  are  rice,  jute, 
tobacco,  sugar,  and  gunny  cloth ;  the  imports  are  piece-goods,  salt  and 
hardware.  The  western  half  of  the  District,  so  far  as  the  valley  of  the 
Pumibhibi,  exports  its  surplus  rice  towards  Behar  and  the  North- 
western Provinces  by  means  of  the  Mahinandd. ;  the  eastern  half  uses 
the  old  channels  of  the  Tfstd,  and  sends  its  produce  direct  to  Calcutta. 
During  the  dry  season,  pack-bullocks  and  carts  traverse  the  whole 
country,  carrying  the  surplus  rice  to  the  river  marts,  to  be  there  stored 
until  the  streams  swell.  The  principal  of  these  depots  are  Riiganj,  Nit- 
pur,  Goraghit,  Kum£rganj,  and  Churdman.  The  most  important  centre 
of  local  buying  and  selling  is  the  Nekmard  fair,  which  is  held  annually 
in  honour  of  a  Musalman  saint,  and  attended  by  about  100,000  persons. 
Properly,  it  is  a  cattle  fair,  but  traders  frequent  it  with  miscellaneous 
articles  collected  from  the  farthest  corners  of  India.  Lesser  gatherings 
take  place  at  Alawdrkhiwi,  Dhaldighf,  and  Sontapur.  The  registration 
returns  of  river  traffic  are  only  useful  for  Dinijpur  in  so  far  as  they  refer 
to  the  exports.  The  imports  into  the  District  are  chiefly  received  over- 
land, passing  by  routes  that  escape  registration.  For  the  year  1876-77, 
the  exports  were  valued  at  ,£480,371,  against  imports  worth  only 


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i64  DINAJPUR  DISTRICT. 

£81,518.  The  chief  exports  are — Rice,  1,186,500  mounds,  and  paddy, 
77,600  maunds,  valued  together  at  £245,160  (placing  Dmijpur  seventh 
in  the  list  of  rice-exporting  Districts  in  Bengal) ;  jute,  240,500  mounds, 
valued  at  £72,150 ;  gunny  bags,  3,650,100  in  number,  and  gunny  cloth, 
51,520  pieces,  valued  together  at  £93,110;  tobacco,  49,000  mounds, 
valued  at  ,£24,500.  Almost  half  the  value  of  the  registered  imports 
was  contributed  by  salt,  77,200  maunds,  valued  at  £38,600 ;  the 
European  piece-goods  only  amounted  to  £6190.  Of  the  local  marts, 
Rdiganj  stands  first,  with  exports  valued  at  £108,820  (almost  entirely 
jute  and  gunny  bags),  and  imports  valued  at  £13,503  ;  Nftpur  exported 
£27,430  (almost  solely  rice),  and  imported  £7640.  Of  the  total 
quantity  of  rice,  877,700  maunds  were  consigned  direct  to  Calcutta, 
128,000  to  Behar,  and  180,000  to  the  North-Western  Provinces. 

Administration. — In  1870-71,  the  net  revenue  of  Dinijpur  District 
was  £212,340,  towards  which  the  land  tax  contributed  £173,454,  or 
81  per  cent. ;  the  net  expenditure  amounted  to  £36,839,  or  little  more 
than  one-sixth  of  the  revenue.  The  large  proportion  derived  from  the 
land  revenue  is  to  be  explained  by  the  circumstance,  that  the  District 
was  in  an  exceptionally  prosperous  condition  at  the  date  of  the  Per- 
manent Settlement.  The  total  land  revenue  was  then  fixed  at  £160,669 ; 
and  the  increase  which  has  since  taken  place  seems  the  more  remarkable, 
when  it  is  considered  that  Dinijpur  has  since  lost  nearly  one-third 
of  its  area.  In  1870-71,  there  were  4  covenanted  civil  servants  stationed 
in  the  District,  and  7  magisterial  and  15  civil  and  revenue  courts  open. 
For  police  purposes,  Dindjpur  is  divided  into  1 7  thdnds  or  police  circles. 
In  1872,  the  regular  police  force  numbered  388  men  of  all  ranks,  main- 
tained at  a  total  cost  of  £7273.  In  addition,  there  was  a  municipal 
police  of  42  men,  and  a  rural  police  or  village  watch  of  5297  men.  The 
total  machinery,  therefore,  for  the  protection  of  person  and  property 
amounted  to  5727  officers  and  men,  giving  1  man  to  every  72  of  a 
square  mile  of  area,  or  to  every  262  persons  in  the  population.  The 
estimated  total  cost  was  £15,716,  averaging  £3,  16s.  2d.  per  square 
mile  and  2^d.  per  head  of  population.  In  1872,  the  total  number  of 
persons  convicted  of  any  offence,  great  or  small,  amounted  to  2490,  or 
1  person  to  every  603  of  the  population.  By  far  the  greater  number  of 
the  convictions  were  for  petty  offences.  The  District  contains  1  jail  at 
Dinijpur  town.  In  1 8  7  2,  the  average  daily  number  of  prisoners  was  387, 
of  whom  6  were  women ;  the  labouring  convicts  averaged  337.  These 
figures  show  1  person  in  jail  to  every  3880  of  the  population.  The 
total  cost  amounted  to  £1948,  or  £4,  16s.  3d.  per  prisoner;  the  jail 
manufactures  resulted  in  a  cash  loss  of  £90.  The  death-rate  was  36-2 
per  thousand,  against  53*4  for  Bengal  generally. 

Education  has  widely  spread  of  recent  years,  owing  to  the  changes 
by  which  the  benefit  of  the  grant-in-aid  rules  has  been  extended,  first  to 


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DINAJPUR  TOWN.  165 

the  vernacular  middle-class  schools,  and  ultimately  to  the  village  schools 
or  pdthsdlds.  In  1856,  there  were  only  10  schools  in  the  District, 
attended  by  532  pupils.  In  i860,  both  these  numbers  had  actually 
decreased ;  but  by  1870,  the  number  of  schools  had  risen  to  247  and  the 
pupils  to  5723.  In  1872,  there  was  a  further  increase  to  456  schools 
and  8174  pupils,  showing  1  school  to  every  9  square  miles  and  5 
pupils  to  every  1000  of  the  population.  In  the  last-mentioned  year, 
the  total  expenditure  on  education  was  ^3618,  towards  which  Govern- 
ment contributed  ^2568,  or  more  than  two-thirds.  The  higher  class 
English  school  at  Dinajpur  town  was  attended  by  182  pupils;  the 
normal  school  by  49. 

Up  to  the  close  of  1876,  the  Subdivisional  system  of  administration 
had  not  been  extended  to  Dinajpur,  but  two  new  Subdivisions  were 
sanctioned  at  that  date.  The  District  is  divided  into  17  police  circles, 
and  into  81  pargands  or  Fiscal  Divisions,  with  an  aggregate  of  778 
revenue-paying  estates.  In  1876,  there  were  10  civil  judges,  and  8 
stipendiary  magistrates ;  the  maximum  distance  of  any  village  was  60 
miles  from  a  criminal,  and  30  miles  from  a  civil  court  •  the  average 
distance  was  15  miles.  Dinajpur  town,  with  a  population  of  13,042 
souls,  is  the  only  municipality  in  the  District  According  to  the  latest 
returns  for  1876-77,  the  gross  municipal  income  was  ^983,  the  average 
rate  of  taxation  being  is.  4$d.  per  head. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  of  Dinajpur  is  considerably  cooler 
than  that  of  the  Gangetic  delta.  The  hot  weather  does  not  set  in  so 
early,  and  the  temperature  at  night  continues  low  until  the  end  of  April. 
During  the  winter  months  a  heavy  dew  falls  at  night,  and  a  thick  mist 
hangs  over  the  ground  until  dispelled  by  the  morning  sun.  It  has  been 
observed  that  the  hot  season  proves  the  least  healthy  to  strangers, 
while  the  natives  suffer  most  at  the  close  of  the  rains.  The  average 
annual  rainfall  is  85-54  inches.  The  mean  annual  temperature  in  1869 
was  returned  at  83*5°;  the  maximum  being  104 '02°  in  the  month  of 
May,  the  minimum  630  in  December. 

The  principal  diseases  of  the  District  are  remittent  and  continued 
fevers,  ague,  enlargement  of  the  spleen,  bowel  complaints,  cholera,  and 
small-pox.  The  outbreaks  of  small-pox  are  to  be  referred  to  the  popular 
practice  of  inoculation.  The  vital  statistics  for  selected  areas  show  a 
death-rate  during  1875  of  4602  per  thousand  in  the  rural  area,  and 
23*68  in  the  urban  area,  which  is  conterminous  with  the  town  of 
Dinajpur.  There  was  in  1872  only  one  charitable  dispensary  in  the 
District,  at  Dinajpur  town,  at  which  244  in-door  and  2396  out-door 
patients  were  treated  during  the  year;  the  expenditure  was  ^237, 
towards  which  Government  contributed  ^146.  A  second  dispensary 
has  since  been  opened  at  Riiganj. 

Dinajpur. — Chief  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of  Dinajpur 

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1 66  DINANAGAR—DINAPUR. 

District,  Bengal ;  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Purndbhabd,  just 
below  its  point  of  confluence  with  the  Dhdpd  river,  in  lat  250  38'  n.,  and 
long.  88°  40'  46"  e.  Pop.  (1872),  13,042,  being  7016  Muhammadans, 
5847  Hindus,  99  Christians,  and  80  'others.'  Dindjpur  is  the  only 
municipality  in  the  District.  Revenue  (1876-77),  ^983  ;  rate  of  taxa- 
tion, is.  4^d.  per  head  of  population.  Municipal  police  force  (1872), 
42  men. 

Din&nagar. — Municipal  town  in  Gurddspur  District,  Punjab.  Pop. 
(1868),  7652,  being  3253  Hindus,  401 1  Muhammadans,  201  Sikhs,  and 
187  'others.'  Situated  in  lat  320  8'  15"  n.,  and  long.  750  31'  e.,  on  a 
low  and  swampy  plain,  the  source  of  the  river  Kirran,  whose  malarious 
exhalations  render  the  town  unhealthy,  and  produce  endemic  fever. 
Derives  its  name  from  Adfna  Beg,  the  opponent  of  the  Sfkhs  in  1752. 
A  dilapidated  mud  wall  surrounds  the  town ;  the  neighbourhood  is 
profusely  irrigated  from  the  Bdri  Dodb  Canal,  and  dense  vegetation 
comes  up  to  the  very  gates.  Centre  of  trade  in  country  produce; 
annual  cattle  fair  during  the  Dasahdra  festival.  Headquarters  of  a 
police  subdivision  (thdn&).  Lies  on  the  main  road  from  Amritsar  to 
Pathdnkot,  6  miles  north-east  of  Gurddspur.  Municipal  revenue 
(1875-76),  ^587,  or  is.  9&  per  head  of  population  (6626)  within 
municipal  limits. 

Din4pur(/>^i/wr). — Subdivision  of  Patnd  District,  Bengal ;  situated 
between  25°  32'  and  250  44'  n.  lat.,  and  between  840  50'  15'  and  850 
7' e.  long.  Area,  132  square  miles;  villages,  295;  houses,  25,452. 
Total  pop.  (1872),  141,337,  of  whom  117,716,  or  83*3  per  cent,  are 
Hindus;  21,631,  or  15*3  per  cent,  Muhammadans;  1963,  or  1*4  per 
cent,  Christians ;  and  27  of  other  religions.  Proportion  of  males  to  total 
population,  47*9  per  cent  Average  number  of  persons  per  square  mile, 
1 07 1 ;  villages  per  square  mile,  2*23  ;  persons  per  village,  479 ;  houses 
per  square  mile,  193;  inmates  per  house,  5*6.  The  Subdivision  com- 
prises the  police  circles  (t/idnds)  of  Dindpur  and  Miner.  One  magis- 
terial court  in  1870-71;  general  police  force,  216,  and  village  watch, 
144  men ;  cost  of  Subdivisional  administration,  ^1850,  6s. 

Din&pur  (Ddndpur). — Civil  and  military  headquarters  of  Patni.  Dis- 
trict, Bengal ;  situated  on  the  right  or  south  bank  of  the  Ganges,  in  lat 
25°  38'  19"  n.,  long.  850  5'  8"  e.  Divided  into  two  parts,  the  Cantonments 
and  the  Nizdmat  Population  (1872),  14, 1 70 ;  inclusive  of  the  Nizdmat, 
42,084.  Gross  municipal  income  (1876-77),  ^2124;  rate  of  taxation, 
is.  id.  per  head  of  population ;  municipal  police  force,  7  men.  The 
military  force  quartered  at  Dindpur  in  1876  consisted  of  1  European  and 
1  Native  infantry  regiment,  and  a  battery  of  artillery.  The  Cantonment 
magistrate  administers  the  whole  Subdivision.  The  road  from  Dindpur  to 
Bdnkipur,  6  miles  in  length,  is  lined  throughout  with  houses  and  cottages; 
in  fact,  Dindpur,  Bdnkipur,  and  Patnd  may  be  regarded  as  forming 


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DINDIGAL  TALUK.  167 

one  continuous  narrow  city  hemmed  in  between  the  Ganges  and  the 
railway. 

History. — The  Mutiny  of  1857,  in  Patnd  District,  originated  at  Dina*- 
pur.  The  three  Sepoy  regiments  stationed  here  openly  revolted  in  July, 
and  went  off  en  masst,  taking  only  their  arms  and  accoutrements  with 
them.  Thus  lightly  equipped,  the  majority  effected  their  escape  into 
Shihibid,  a  friendly  country,  with  nothing  to  oppose  them  but  the 
courage  of  a  handful  of  English  civilians,  indigo  planters  and  railway 
engineers.  A  reinforcement  was  sent  from  the  European  garrison  of 
Dinipur  to  aid  in  the  defence  of  Arrah,  which  was  shortly  after 
besieged  by  the  rebel  Sepoys;  but  the  expedition  failed  disastrously, 
though  individual  acts  of  heroism  saved  the  honour  of  the  British 
name.  Two  volunteers,  Mr.  M'Donell  and  Mr.  Ross  Mangles,  of  the 
Civil  Service,  conspicuously  distinguished  themselves  by  acts  of  intrepid 
valour.  The  former,  though  wounded,  was  one  of  the  last  men  to 
enter  the  boats.  The  insurgents  had  taken  the  oars  of  his  boat  and  had 
lashed  the  rudder,  so  that  although  the  wind  was  favourable  for  retreat, 
the  current  carried  it  back  to  the  river  bank.  Thirty-five  soldiers 
were  in  the  boat,  sheltered  from  fire  by  the  usual  thatch  covering ;  but 
while  the  rudder  was  being  fixed,  the  inmates  remained  at  the  mercy  of 
the  enemy.  At  this  crisis,  Mr.  M'Donell  stepped  out  from  the  shelter, 
climbed  on  to  the  roof  of  the  boat,  perched  himself  on  the  rudder,  and 
cut  the  lashings  amidst  a  storm  of  bullets  from  the  contiguous  bank. 
Strangely  enough,  not  a  ball  struck  him ;  the  rudder  was  loosened,  the 
boat  answered  to  the  helm,  and  by  Mr.  M'Donell's  brilliant  act  the 
crew  were  saved  from  certain  destruction.  Mr.  Ross  Mangles'  conduct 
was  equally  heroic  During  the  retreat,  a  soldier  was  struck  down 
near  him.  He  stopped,  lifted  the  man  on  to  his  back,  and  though  he 
had  frequently  to  rest  on  the  way,  he  managed  to  carry  the  wounded 
man  for  6  miles,  till  he  reached  the  stream.  He  then  swam  with  his 
helpless  burden  to  a  boat,  in  which  he  deposited  him  in  safety.  Both 
these  civilians  afterwards  received  the  Victoria  Cross  as  a  reward  for 
their  valour. 

Dilldigal  (Dindu-kat).—TdIuk  of  Madura  District,  Madras ;  number 
of  houses,  61,902;  pop.  (187 1),  324,366.  Classified  according  to 
religion — Hindus,  294,612,  being  212,287  Sivaites  and  82,325  Vaish- 
navs ;  Muhammadans,  1 1,778,  being  1 1,720  Sunnis,  49  Shias,  9  Wahabfs ; 
Christians,  17,950,  of  whom  17,887  are  native  Roman  Catholics.  For- 
merly a  separate  Province,  though  subject  to  Madura,  it  was  ceded  by 
the  treaty  of  1792  to  the  Company.  It  is  watered  by  the  Kodavar, 
Mageri,  and  other  streams,  and  contains  also  3517  tanks,  with  abundance 
of  fish.  A  pearl-bearing  mussel  is  said  to  have  been  once  found  here. 
Among  the  vegetable  products  are  enumerated  'croton,  sarsaparilla, 
and  senna,  the  last  equal  to  that  brought  from  Egypt.'    The  ironworks 


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168  DINDIGAL  TOWN. 

at  Gtftum  and  Kalampetti  were  once  of  considerable  importance.    Chief 
town,  Dindigal. 

Dindigal  {Dindu-kaly  'The  Rock  of  Dindu,'  an  Asura  or  demon). 
— Municipal  town  in  the  Dindigal  tdluk,  Madura  District,  Madras,  Lat 
io°  21'  39" n.,  long.  780  o'  17"  e.  Numberof  houses,  2029 ;  pop.  (i8ji), 
12,818,  viz.  Hindus,  11,503;  Muhammadans,  1279;  and  Christians, 
36;  about  20  per  cent  of  the  whole  being  weavers,  15  per  cent  traders, 
and  the  rest  principally  agriculturists.  Formerly  the  number  of  Christuns 
was  larger,  and  they  lived  in  a  separate  quarter,  their  houses  being  dis- 
tinguished by  a  cross  on  the  roof.  Their  priest  was  a  native  of  Malabur, 
subject  ecclesiastically  to  the  Bishop  of  Cannanore.  Situated  880  feet 
above  the  sea,  on  the  trunk  road  from  Coimbatore  to  Pondicherri,  about 
20  miles  from  Kodiikanal,  the  sanitarium  on  the  Palini  Hills,  and  ^o 
from  Madura.  It  is  connected  by  railway  with  the  chief  towns  of  the 
Presidency ;  the  returns  for  the  first  three  months  after  the  line  was 
opened,  in  1875,  snow  a  passenger  traffic  of  44,710,  and  in  goods  2317 
tons,  realizing  ^2982.  The  staples  of  local  trade  are  hides,  tobacco, 
coffee,  and  cardamoms,  for  the  export  of  which  the  system  of  roads 
radiating  from  the  town  afford  exceptional  facilities.  The  silks  and 
muslins  manufactured  here  had  once  a  high  repute,  as  also  the  blankets 
made  from  *  Carumba '  wool.  As  the  headquarters  of  the  Subdivision, 
Dindigal  contains  the  courts  of  European  as  well  as  native  officials, 
police  and  telegraph  stations,  travellers'  bungalow,  school,  dispensary, 
and  post  office.  There  are  two  churches,  a  Protestant  and  a  Roman 
Catholic.  The  municipal  revenue  for  1875-76  was  ^750,  and  the  ex- 
penditure ^1240,  the  incidence  of  taxation  being  is.  id.  per  head  of 
the  population.  Formerly  the  capital  of  an  independent  Province^ 
nominally  part  of  the  Madura  kingdom.  The  fort,  built  on  a  remark- 
able wedge-shaped  rock  1223  feet  above  the  sea,  to  the  west  of  the 
town,  remains  in  good  preservation,  having  been  occupied  by  a  British 
garrison  until  i860.  As  a  strategical  point  of  great  natural  strength, 
commanding  the  passes  between  Madura  and  Coimbatore,  its  possession 
has  always  been  keenly  contested.  Between  1623  and  1659,  it  was 
the  scene  of  many  encounters  between  the  Marhattas  and  the  Mysore 
and  Madura  troops,  the  Poliga>  of  Dindigal  holding  at  that  time  feudatory 
authority  over  eighteen  neighbouring  chieftains.  Chanda  Sahib,  the 
Marhattls,  and  the  Mysore  troops  occupied  the  fort  in  turn,  and  during 
the  intervals  in  which  no  greater  power  was  in  possession,  the  strongest 
local  chief  made  it  his  headquarters.  In  1755,  however,  Haidar  Ali 
garrisoned  Dindigal,  and,  while  still  ostensibly  the  faithful  soldier  of 
Mysore,  used  it  as  the  basis  of  his  schemes  for  distant  conquest  and 
self-aggrandisement,  subduing  in  succession  the  powerful  Poligars  of 
Madura,  and  annexing  the  greater  part  of  that  District,  as  well  as  Coim- 
batore, to  his  fief.    As  the  gate  to  Coimbatore  from  the  south,  the  fort 


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DINDIVARAM—DIPALPUR.  169 

proved,  in  the  wars  with  Haidar,  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  operations 
of  the  British  troops  at  Trichinopoli  and  Madura.  It  was  taken 
by  the  British  in  1767,  lost  again  in  1768,  retaken  in  1783,  given  up 
to  Mysore  by  the  treaty  of  Mangalore  in  1784,  recaptured  on  the 
next  outbreak  of  war  in  1790,  and  finally  ceded  to  the  Company  by 
the  treaty  of  1792. 

Dindivaram  (Tindwanam).  —  Tdluk  in  South  Arcot  District, 
Madras.  Area,  810  square  miles,  of  which  about  four-fifths  are  culti- 
vated or  cultivable,  yielding  a  revenue  of  ,£55,155.  Number  of  houses, 
29>253-  Pop-  (1871),  239,784,  viz.  Hindus,  228,451;  Muhammadans, 
5145;  Christians  (native  Roman  Catholics),  2699;  Buddhists  and 
Jains,  3489.    Chief  places,  Dindivaram  and  Gingee  (Gingi). 

Dingarh  Kiner.— Village  in  Sirmiir  State,  Punjab.  Lat.  300  44'  n., 
long.  770  21'  e.  Stands  on  a  picturesque  site,  in  the  gorge  traversed  by 
the  route  from  Ndhan  to  Rljgarh.  Northwards,  it  looks  towards  the 
Chaur  Mountain;  southwards,  along  the  valley  of  the  Jalil  river. 
Well-built  flat-roofed  houses,  arranged  in  rows  on  the  solid  limestone 
ledges  of  the  mountain  in  its  rear.  The  surrounding  country,  though 
rocky,  contains  some  fertile  spots,  which  produce  luxuriant  crops  of 
wheat 

Dingi — A  fort  (with  walls  15  feet  high)  in  the  Khairpur  State, 
Sind.  Lat  260  52'  n.,  long.  68°  40'  e.  The  rendezvous  in  1843  of 
the  forces  of  the  Mirs.    Water  supply  abundant 

Dingier. — Range  of  mountains  in  the  KMsia  and  Jaintia  Hills 
District,  Assam.  The  highest  peak  is  6400  feet  above  sea  level. 
Diodar. — State,  Pdlanpur  Agency,  Bombay. — See  Deodar. 
Dipilpur. — Tahsil  of  Montgomery  District,  Punjab ;  consisting  for 
the  most  part  of  desert  waste,  portions  of  which  are  being  slowly 
reclaimed  under  the  influence  of  settled  Government  Pop.  (1868), 
129,838. 

DipAlpur. — Ancient  and  decayed  town  in  Montgomery  District, 
Punjab;  headquarters  of  the  tahsil  of  the  same  name.  Pop.  (1868), 
3628.  Situated  upon  the  old  bank  of  the  Beas  (Bids),  1 7  miles  from 
the  railway  station  of  Okhira  and  28  miles  north-east  of  Pikpattan. 
Dipdlpur,  now  an  insignificant  village,  once  formed  the  capital  of  the 
Northern  Punjab  under  the  Pathdn  emperors  of  Delhi ;  and  even  as 
late  as  the  16th  century,  Bdbar  mentions  it  as  the  sister  city  of  Lahore. 
General  Cunningham  attributes  its  foundation  to  Kija  Deva  Pdla, 
whose  date  is  lost  in  immemorial  antiquity.  Tradition,  however, 
ascribes  the  origin  of  Dipilpur  to  one  Bfja  Chind,  a  Kshattriya,  from 
whose  son  it  derived  its  earliest  name  of  Sripur.  Old  coins  of  the 
Indo-Scythian  kings  have  been  frequently  discovered  upon  the  site ; 
and  General  Cunningham  believes  that  the  mound,  on  which  the 
village    stands,    may   be   identified  with   the    Daidala  of  Ptolemy. 

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170  DIPALPUR—DISAL 

Firoz  Tughlak  visited  the  city  in  the  14th  century,  and  built  a  large 
mosque  outside  the  walls,  besides  drawing  a  canal  from  the  Sutlej  to 
irrigate  the  surrounding  lands.  At  the  time  of  Timur's  invasion, 
Dipdlpur  ranked  second  to  Mriltdn  (Mooltan)  alone,  and  contained, 
according  to  popular  calculation,  the  symmetrical  number  of  84  towers, 
84  mosques,  and  84  wells.  At  the  present  day,  only  a  single  inhabited 
street  runs  between  the  two  gates.  A  high  ruined  mound  on  the 
south-west,  connected  with  the  town  by  a  bridge  of  three  arches,  pro- 
bably marks  the  site  of  the  ancient  citadel  The  walls  apparently 
completed  a  circuit  of  2  \  miles,  but  suburbs  stretched  around  in  every 
direction,  and  may  still  be  traced  by  straggling  mounds  and  fields 
strewn  with  bricks.  The  decay  of  the  town  must  be  attributed  to  the 
drying  up  of  the  old  Beas  (Bids),  after  which  event  many  of  the  inhabit- 
ants migrated  to  Haidardbdd  (Hyderabad)  in  the  Deccan.  The  restora- 
tion of  the  Khanwa  Canal,  since  the  British  annexation,  has  partially 
revived  the  prosperity  of  Dipdlpur  as  a  local  trade  centre.  Tahali^ 
police  station,  sardu 

Dip&lpur. — Town  in  Sindhia's  territory,  Central  India ;  situated  in 
lat.  22°  51'  n.,  and  long.  750  35'  e.,  on  the  route  from  Mhow  (Mau)  to 
Neemuch  (Nimach),  27  miles  north-west  of  the  former,  and  128  south- 
east of  the  latter.  Pop.  in  1820  (Thornton)^  about  4000;  number  of 
houses  in  the  same  year,  1035. 

Dipla. — Tdluk  under  the  Thar  and  Parkar  Political  Superintendent, 
Sind.  Lat.  240  16'  to  24°  57'  15"  n.,  and  long.  690  5'  30*  to  69*  45'  e.  ; 
pop.  (1872),  14,524.  Revenue  (1873-74),  ^2316,  of  which  ^2148  were 
derived  from  imperial,  and  £i6Z  from  local  sources. 

Dipla. — Municipal  town  in  the  tdluk  of  the  same  name  in  Sind.  Lat 
24°  28'  n.,  long.  6g°  37'  30"  e.  ;  pop.  893.  Municipal  revenue  (1873-74)1 
^78 ;  incidence  of  taxation  per  head,  is.  9&  Headquarters  of  a 
Mukhtydrkar.     Ruined  fort,  built  about  1790. 

Dir&pur. — Tahsil  of  Cawnpore  District,  North-Western  Provinces. 
— See  Derapur. 

Disa  (Decsa). — Cantonment  in  Palanpur  State,  Bombay ;  situated  on 
the  river  Bands,  in  lat.  240  14'  30*  n.,  and  long.  720  12'  30*  e.,  about 
301  miles  north-west  of  Mhow  (Mau),  251  west  by  south  of  Nfmach 
(Neemuch),  and  370  north  by  west  of  Bombay.  Pop.  (1872),  5940- 
The  British  cantonment  is  stationed  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Bands,  3 
miles  north-east  of  the  native  town.  Post  and  telegraph  offices.  Disa 
is  surrounded  with  a  wall  and  towers,  now  in  very  bad  repair.  In 
former  times  it  successfully  resisted  the  attacks  of  the  Gaekwar  and  of 
the  Radhanpur  forces. 

Dis&i. — River  in  Sfbsdgar  District,  Assam ;  rising  in  the  Ndgd  Hills, 
and  flowing  northwards  into  the  Brahmaputra.  On  its  left  bank  is 
Jorhat,  the  most  important  mart  of  river  traffic  in  the  District 

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DISA  UN—DIU  ISLAND.  1 7 1 

Diflaun. — River  of  Central  India. — See  Dhasan. 

DilL — An  island  forming  portion  of  the  Portuguese  possessions  in 
Western  India;  situated  in  lat  20°  43'  20"  n.,  and  long.  710  2'  30"  e., 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Gulf  of  Cambay,  near  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  peninsula  of  Guzerat  (Gujarat).  Its  extreme  length  from  east  to 
west  is  6£  miles,  and  its  greatest  breadth  from  north  to  south,  1  mile. 
On  the  north  it  is  separated  from  the  mainland  by  a  narrow  channel, 
practicable  only  for  fishing  boats  and  small  craft  It  has  a  small 
but  excellent  harbour,  where  vessels  can  safely  ride  at  anchor  in  2 
fathoms  of  water.  The  climate  is  generally  dry  and  sultry,  the  soil 
barren,  and  water  scarce.  Agriculture  is  much  neglected.  The 
principal  products  are — wheat,  millet,  ndehni,  bdjra,  cocoa-nuts,  and 
some  kinds  of  fruits.  The  entire  population  of  Diu  is  computed  at 
10,765  persons,  of  whom  419  are  Christians,  9575  Hindus,  and  771 
Muhammadans.  In  the  days  of  its  commercial  prosperity,  the  town 
alone  is  said  to  have  contained  above  50,000  inhabitants.  There  are 
3017  houses,  which,  with  very  few  exceptions,  are  poorly  constructed. 
Some  of  the  dwellings  are  provided  with  cisterns,  of  which  there  are 
altogether  300,  for  the  accumulation  of  rain-water.  Diu,  once  so  opulent 
and  famous  for  its  commerce,  has  now  dwindled  into  utter  insignificance. 
Not  long  ago,  it  maintained  mercantile  relations  with  several  parts  of 
India  and  Mozambique,  but  at  present  its  trade  is  almost  stagnant. 
The  customs  revenue  in  1874-75  amounted  to  ^1394,  6s.  The  principal 
occupations  of  the  inhabitants  were  formerly  weaving  and  dyeing,  and 
articles  manufactured  here  were  highly  prized  in  foreign  markets.  At 
present,  fishing  affords  the  chief  employment  to  the  impoverished 
inhabitants.  A  few  more  enterprising  persons,  however,  emigrate 
temporarily  to  Mozambique,  where  they  occupy  themselves  in  com- 
mercial pursuits,  and,  after  making  a  sufficient  fortune,  return  to  their 
native  place  to  spend  the  evening  of  their  lives  in  comfort  and  repose. 
The  total  revenue  of  Diu  in  1873-74  was  ^3802,  and  the  expenditure, 
j£374fc  14s. 

The  Governor  is  the  chief  authority  in  both  the  civil  and  military 
departments,  subordinate  to  the  Governor-General  of  Goa.  The  judicial 
department  is  under  zjuiz  de  Direito,  with  a  small  establishment  to  carry 
out  his  orders.  For  ecclesiastical  purposes,  the  island  is  divided  into 
two  parishes,  called  Se  Matriz  and  Branccrwara,  the  patron  saints  being 
St  Paul  and  St  Andrew.  They  are  both  under  the  spiritual  jurisdic- 
tion of  a  dignitary  styled  the  Prior,  appointed  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Goa.  The  office  of  Governor  is  invariably  filled  by  a  European,  the 
others  being  bestowed  on  natives  of  Goa.  The  public  force  consisted 
in  1874  of  97  soldiers,  including  officers.  The  present  fortress  of  Diu 
was  reconstructed,  with  several  later  improvements,  after  the  siege  of 
I545»    by  Dom    Joao    de    Castro.      It    is    an    imposing  structure, 


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172  DIU  ISLAND. 

situated  on  the  extreme  east  of  the  island,  and  defended  by  several 
pieces  of  cannon,  some  of  which  are  made  of  bronze,  and  appear 
to  be  in  good  preservation.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  permanent  bridge 
and  entered  by  a  gateway,  which  bears  a  Portuguese  inscription,  and 
is  defended  by  a  bastion  called  St.  George.  Towards  the  west  of 
the  fortress  lies  the  town  of  Diu,  divided  into  two  quarters,  the  pagan 
and  the  Christian.  The  former  comprehends  two-thirds  of  the  total 
area,  and  is  intersected  by  narrow  and  crooked  roads,  lined  with  houses. 
The  remaining  portion  of  the  island  consists  of  two  principal  villages 
— Musiwara,  in  the  centre,  and  Brancawara,  in  the  west  Besides 
these,  the  Portuguese  possess  the  village  of  Gogola,  towards  the  north, 
in  the  Kdthiiwar  peninsula,  and  the  fort  of  Simbor,  conquered  in  1722, 
and  situated  in  an  islet  about  12  miles  distant  from  the  town. 

Diu  was  formerly  embellished  with  several  magnificent  edifices,  some 
of  which  are  still  in  existence.  Of  these  the  most  noteworthy  is  the 
college  of  the  Jesuits,  erected  in  1601,  and  now  converted  into  a 
cathedral,  called  &  Matriz.  Of  the  former  convents,  that  of  St 
Francis  is  used  as  a  military  hospital ;  that  of  St  John  of  God,  as  a 
place  of  burial ;  that  of  St.  Dominic  is  in  ruins.  The  parochial  hall 
of  the  once  beautiful  church  of  St.  Thomas  serves  as  a  place  of  meeting 
for  the  municipal  chamber.  The  mint,  where,  in  the  days  of  the  greatest 
prosperity  of  the  Portuguese,  money  of  every  species  used  to  be  coined, 
is  now  gradually  falling  into  decay.  The  arsenal,  once  so  renowned, 
contains  a  few  insignificant  military  stores.  Besides  these  buildings, 
there  are  the  Governor's  palace,  a  prison,  and  a  school,  attended  in  1870 
by  20  pupils.  The  Hindus  possess  10  small  temples,  and  the  Muham- 
madans  2  mosques,  one  of  which  is  in  good  condition. 

Owing  to  the  great  advantages  which  the  position  of  Diu  afforded  for 
trade  with  Arabia  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  the  Portuguese  were  fired 
from  an  early  period  with  the  desire  of  becoming  masters  of  this  island ; 
but  it  was  not  until  the  time  of  Nuno  da  Cunha  that  they  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  footing  in  it  When  Bahadur  Shall,  King  of  Guzerat,  was 
attacked  by  the  Mughal  Emperor  Humayun,  he  concluded  a  defensive 
alliance  with  the  Portuguese,  allowing  them  to  construct,  in  1535,  a 
fortress  in  the  island,  and  garrison  it  with  their  own  troops.  This 
alliance  continued  till  1536,  when  both  parties  began  to  suspect  each 
other  of  treachery.  In  a  scuffle  which  took  place  on  his  return  from  a 
Portuguese  ship,  whither  he  had  proceeded  on  a  visit  to  Nuno  da 
Cunha,  the  Guzerat  monarch  met  his  death  in  1537.  In  the  following 
year,  the  fortress  was  besieged  by  Muhammad  hi.,  nephew  of  Bahidur ; 
but  the  garrison,  commanded  by  Antonio  de  Silveira,  foiled  the  attempts 
of  the  enemy,  and  compelled  him  to  raise  the  siege.  Subsequently, 
in  1545,  Diu  was  again  closely  invested  by  the  same  ruler;  but 
was  obstinately  defended  by  the  gallant  band  within,  under  the  corn- 


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DIVI  POINT— DOAB.  1 73 

mand  cf  Dom  Joao  Mascarewas.  While  the  Muhammadans  were  still 
under  the  walls,  Dom  Joao  de  Castro  landed  in  the  island  with  large 
reinforcements,  and  immediately  marching  to  the  relief  of  the  place, 
totally  routed  the  army  of  the  King  of  Guzerat  in  a  pitched  battle. 
This  heroic  defence,  and  the  signal  victory  gained  by  Castro,  which 
form  a  brilliant  page  in  the  annals  of  the  Portuguese  empire  in  the 
East,  were  followed  by  the  acquisition  of  the  entire  island.  In  1670,  a 
small  armed  band  of  the  Arabs  of  Muscat  surprised  and  plundered  the 
fortress,  retiring  to  their  country  with  the  booty  they  had  acquired. 
Since  this  event,  nothing  worthy  of  note  has  occurred  in  connection 
with  the  Portuguese  settlement. 

Divi  Point. — A  low  headland  in  the  Bander  tdluk,  Kistna  District, 
Madras;  situated  in  lat  150  57'  30"  n.,  and  long.  8i°  14'  e.,  at  the 
mouth  of  one  of  the  branch  outlets  of  the  Kistna  river,  and  surrounded 
by  shoal  flats  for  6  miles  south  and  east,  the  edge  of  the  shoal  some- 
times extending  5  or  6  leagues  out  to  sea.  A  dioptric  light  on  a 
column  43  feet  high  marks  the  danger.  •  Divf  False  Point '  stands  16  \ 
miles  north-west  by  west  of '  Divi  Point.' 

DlW&la.  —  Village  in  Chanda  District,  Central  Provinces.  —  See 
Dewala. 

Diw&lg&OlL — Village  in  Chanda  District,  Central  Provinces. — See 
Dewalgaon. 

Diw&lg&on  Rdj&. — Town  in  Buldana  District,  Berar. — See  Deul- 
gaon  Raja. 

Diwftlgh&t. — See  Deulghat. 

Diw&liA. — Petty  State  in  Kathiawar,  Bombay.— &*  Dewalia. 

Diwilw&ra. — Village  in  Wardha,  Central  Provinces. — See  Dewal- 
wara. 

Diw&W&ra. — Ruined  town  in  Ellichpur  District,  Berar.  —  See 
Dewalwara. 

DlW&Dgiri — Village  in  the  north  of  Kamrup  District,  Assam; 
situated  in  lat  260  51'  n.,  and  long.  910  27'  e.,  close  beneath  the 
Bhutan  Hills.  It  is  the  site  of  a  large  annual  fair,  to  which  the 
Bhutiis  come  down  in  large  numbers,  bringing  gold-dust,  silver,  lead, 
knives,  blankets,  ponies,  yalcs'  tails,  etc,  to  exchange  for  rice,  dried  fish, 
silk,  madder,  etc. 

Diw&8. — Native  State  in  Central  India. — See  Dewas. 

Dodb  {Dudb,  or  two  rivers). — A  tract  of  country  in  the  North 
Western  Provinces,  comprising  the  long  and  narrow  strip  of  land 
between  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna,  from  the  Siwilik  range  south-east- 
ward. The  name  properly  applies  to  any  wedge-shaped  tract  enclosed 
by  confluent  rivers,  but  it  is  especially  employed  to  designate  this  great 
alluvial  plain,  the  granary  of  Upper  India,  The  Dodb  includes  the 
British  Districts  of  Saharanpur,  Muzaffarnagar,  Meerut,  Buland- 


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i74  DO  ABA  DAUDZAI— DOD-BALLAPUR. 

shahr,  Aligarh,  parts  of  Muttra,  and  Agra,  Etah,  Maikpuri,  the 
greater  portion  of  Etawah,  and  Farrukhabad,  Cawnpore,  Fatehpur, 
and  part  of  Allahabad, — all  of  which  see  separately.     Naturally  a  rich 
tract,  composed  of  the  detritus  brought  down  from  the  Himalayan  system 
by  its  great  boundary  rivers,  the  Do4b  has  been  fertilized  and  irrigated 
by  three  magnificent  engineering  works,  the  Ganges,  the  lower  Ganges, 
and  the  Eastern  Jumna  Canals.    Throughout  its  entire  length  it  pre- 
sents an  almost  unbroken  sheet  of  cultivation,  varied  only  by  a  few 
ravines  along  the  banks  of  the  principal  streams  and  their  tributaries, 
or  by  occasional  patches  of  barren  usar  plain,  covered  with  the  white 
saline  efflorescence  known  as  reh.      It  supports  a  dense  population, 
most  of  whom  derive  their  subsistence  from  agriculture.    Allahabad, 
Cawnpore,  Meerut,  and  Aligarh  form  the  chief  commercial  centres, 
and  the  principal  stations  of  the  civil  and  military  authorities.     The 
East  Indian  Railway  enters  the  Dodb  at  Allahibid,  and  passes  through 
the  heart  of  the  tract,  by  Cawnpore,  Etawah,  and  Alfgarh,  to  Delhi  on 
the  opposite  shore  of  the  Jumna.    A  branch  line  also  runs  across  the 
river  to  Agra.     The  Sind,  Punjab,  and  Delhi  Railway  continues  the 
East  Indian  line  from  Ghizfibid  Junction,  nearly  opposite  Delhi,  by 
Meerut,  Muzaffarnagar,  and  Saharanpur,  to  Umballa  (Ambala)  and  the 
other  Punjab  towns.    The  Dodb  thus  possesses  unrivalled  means  of  com- 
munication, both  by  land  and  water,  with  all  the  neighbouring  tracts ; 
and  its  surplus  grain  can  be  transported  in  almost  every  direction,  upon 
any  pressure  of  scarcity  or  famine.      Three  principal  divisions  are 
commonly  recognised ;  the  Upper  Dodb,  from  Sahiranpur  to  Aligarh ; 
the  Middle  Dodb,  from  Muttra  and  Etah  to  Etawah  and  FarrukhiMd  ; 
and  the  Lower  Dodb,  from  Cawnpore  to  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers 
at  Allahibdd.     For  history,  inhabitants,  and  other  particulars,  see  the 
various  Districts  separately. 

Do&ba  D&tidz&L— Tahsil  of  Peshawar  District,  Punjab,  including 
the  tongue  of  land  between  the  rivers  Swdt  and  Kibul,  above  their 
junction,  together  with  the  strip  of  territory  to  the  south  of  the  Kibul. 
Area,  156  square  miles;  pop.  (1868),  72,676;  number  of  villages,  174. 
Consists  for  the  most  part  of  a  fertile  and  well-watered  plain,  inter- 
sected by  ravines  and  artificial  channels. 

Dobbili. — Zamlnddri,  Vizagapatam  District,  Madras. — See  Bobbili. 

Dod&betta  {'The  Big  Mountain;'  Toda-Nanc—  Petmartz).—  The 
highest  peak  of  the  Nflgiri  Mountains,  Madras.  Lat  n°  25'  n.,  long. 
76°  40'  e.  ;  height,  8760  feet  above  the  sea. 

Dod-ballapur. — Tdluk  in  Bangalore  District,  Mysore.  Area,  292 
square  miles;  pop.  (187 1),  63,707 ;  land  revenue  (1874-75),  exclusive 
of  water  rates,  ^9655,  or  2s.  rod.  per  cultivated  acre. 

Dod-ballapur  (Great  Ballapur,  to  distinguish  it  from  Chik-balla- 
pur). — Municipal  town  in  Bangalore  District,  Mysore,  on  the  right  bank 


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DODDERI—DOHARIGHA  T.  175 

of  the  Arkavatf  river ;  lat.  130 13'  40*  n.,  long.  770  22'  50*  e.  ;  27  miles  by 
road  north-west  of  Bangalore ;  pop.  (187 1),  7449,  being  6610  Hindus  and 
839  Muhammadans  ;  municipal  revenue  (1874-75),  ^62 ;  rate  of  taxa- 
tion, 2d.  per  head.  The  fort  was  built  in  the  14th  century  by  one  of 
the  refugees  of  the  Morasu  Wokkal  tribe,  who  also  founded  Devanhalli. 
In  1638,  it  was  captured  by  a  Bijapur  army  under  Ran-dulla*  Khan ; 
and  after  forty  years'  possession  by  that  power,  was  surrendered  to  the 
Marhattas.  About  1700,  it  was  again  taken  by  the  Mughals,  by  whom 
it  was  entrusted  to  a  succession  of  rulers  as  part  of  the  Province  of 
Sira,  until  annexed  tp  Mysore  by  Haidar  Ali  in  1761.  In  the  fort  are 
the  remains  of  several  fine  buildings  and  tanks.  Cotton  cloth  of  good 
quality  and  great  variety  is  woven.  A  weekly  fair,  held  on  Thursdays, 
is  attended  by  3000  people.  Headquarters  of  a  tdluk  of  the  same 
name. 

Dodderi — Village  in  ChitaldnSg  District,  Mysore.  Lat.  14"  17'  50* 
n.,  long.  76°  45'  5*  e.  ;  pop.  (187 1),  1003.  Gives  its  name  to  a  tdluk 
with  headquarters  at  Chalakere ;  area,  851  square  miles;  pop.  (187 1), 
77,231 ;  land  revenue  (1874-75),  exclusive  of  water  rates,  ,-£10,369,  or 
as.  1  id.  per  cultivated  acre.  Among  the  local  manufactures  are  cotton 
doth,  sUk  scarves,  kamblis  or  country  blankets,  carts,  agricultural 
implements,  brass  utensils,  and  various  articles  of  bamboo  and  leather. 
The  industry  of  papermaking  has  died  out 

Dodka.— One  of  the  petty  States  in  Rewi  Kdnta,  Bombay,  ruled  by 
three  chiefs  called  Pdtels.  Area,  2}  square  miles ;  estimated  revenue, 
^220,  of  which  £1 10  is  payable  as  tribute  to  the  Giekwa^r  of  Baroda. 

Dohad. — Chief  town  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name  in  the 
District  of  the  Paxich  Mahdls,  Bombay.  Lat.  220  53'  n.,  and  long.  740 
19' e.;  77  miles  north-east  of  Baroda;  pop.  (1872),  11,472.  As  the 
name  Dohad  (or  'two  boundaries')  implies,  the  town  is  situated  on  the 
Hne  separating  Malwa*  on  the  east  from  Guzerat  (Gujarit)  on  the  west. 
It  is  a  place  of  considerable  traffic,  commanding  one  of  the  main  lines 
of  communication  between  Central  India  and  the  seaboard.  The 
strongly-built  fort  dates  from  the  reign  of  the  Guzerat  King  Ahmad  1. 
(141 2-1443).  I*  was  repaired  by  MuzarTar  11.  (15 13-1526),  also  a 
Guzerat  monarch,  and  is  said  to  have  been  again  restored  under  the 
orders  of  the  Emperor  Aurangzeb  (1658-1707).  The  town  contains  a 
sub-judge's  court,  post  office,  and  the  District  jail.  In  addition  to  the 
unarmed  police,  the  Guzerat  Bhfl  corps,  530  strong,  is  quartered  at 
Dohad.  This  regiment  is  not  on  the  rolls  of  the  army,  but  is  com- 
manded by  the  superintendent  and  assistant  superintendent  of  police. 
About  half  the  strength  of  the  corps  is  employed  on  outpost  duty. 

Doharighat. — Town  in  Azamgarh  District,  North-Western  Provinces; 
lies  in  lat  260  16'  n.,  and  long.  830  33'  30"  e.,  on  the  bank  of  the 
Gogra,  at  the  point  where  the  roads  from  Ghizfpur  and  Azamgarh  to 


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1 76  DOLPHIN'S  NOSE—DONAB  YU  MYOMA. 

Gorakhpur  cross  the  river.  Extensive  through  traffic  to  the  Oudh  and 
Rohilkhand  Railway.  Great  bathing  festival  on  the  full  moon  of  the 
month  of  Kirtik. 

Dolphin's  Nose. — Promontory  and  lighthouse  in  Vizagapatam  District, 
Madras.  Lat.  170  41'  n.,  long.  83*  17'  e.  The  southern  point  of 
Vizagapatam  harbour,  640  feet  above  the  sea,  and  forming,  with  the 
ruined  castle  on  it,  a  conspicuous  landmark  to  mariners.  The  light 
(fixed)  is  visible  5  miles  to  seaward. 

Dom&riaganj.  —  North-western  tahsil  of  Basti  District,  North- 
western Provinces.  Traversed  by  the  river  Rapti,  and  consisting  chiefly 
of  a  marshy  and  water-logged  submontane  plain,  suitable  only  for  the 
cultivation  of  rice  Area,  582  square  miles,  of  which  410  are  culti- 
vated; pop.  (1872),  259,047;  land  revenue,  ,£26,650;  total  Govern- 
ment revenue,  ^29,373;  rental  paid  by  cultivators,  £65,960;  incidence 
of  Government  revenue,  is.  s|d.  per  acre. 

DomeL — An  island  in  the  Mergui  Archipelago,  between  lat  n°  26' 
and  n°  28'  n.,  and  long.  980  2'  and  980  ii'e.,  forming  a  portion  of 
Mergui  District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma.  It  lies  3  or  4  miles 
west  of  Kissering,  the  navigable  channel  between  them,  however,  being 
very  narrow.  Extreme  length  from  north  to  south,  about  28  miles; 
breadth  from  east  to  west,  about  4  miles. 

Domeli. — Agricultural  town  in  Jhelum  (Jhflam)  District,  Punjab. 
Lat.  330  1'  n.,  long.  730  24'  e.  ;  pop.  (1868),  4135.  Headquarters  of 
a  police  circle  (thdnd). 

Donabyii. — A  township  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu  Division,  British 
Burma.  It  lies  principally  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Irawadi  (Irrawaddy), 
and  was  formerly  a  part  of  Henzada  District ;  it  is  now  protected  from 
inundation  by  extensive  embankments  along  the  west  bank  of  the  river. 
Pop.  (1876),  36,122 ;  gross  revenue,  £10,856. 

DonabytL. — A  town  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Irawadi,  35  miles 
south  of  Henzada,  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma. 
Lat  1 70  15'  n.,  long.  950  40'  e.  The  inhabitants  in  1876  numbered 
5800 ;  revenue  (1875-76),  £425-  In  the  first  Anglo-Burmese  war,  after 
the  capture  of  Rangoon,  the  Burmese  commander-in-chief,  Bandtfla, 
entrenched  himself  in  Donabyii  with  a  force  of  15,000  men ;  but  he  was 
killed  by  the  bursting  of  a  shell  when  the  British  batteries  opened  fire 
on  the  town,  and  the  Burmese  retreated.  During  the  second  war,  the 
Burmese  general  evacuated  the  place  before  the  arrival  of  the  English ; 
but  shortly  after  this,  Moung  Myat  Htiin  made  it  his  headquarters.  He 
was  finally  routed  in  1853,  by  a  detachment  under  Captain  Loch,  R.N., 
and  later  on  was  overtaken  by  Sir  John  Cheape  and  killed.  From  this 
time  Donabyii  remained  in  undisputed  possession  of  the  British. 

DonabytL  Myoma. — A  revenue  circle  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Irawadi 
(Irrawaddy),  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.    The 


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DONGARGARH—DO  UNG-G  YL  i 77 

southern  part  was  formerly  subject  to  inundation,  but  is  now  protected 
by  embankments.     Pop.  (1876),  7328;  gross  revenue,  ^1513. 

Dongargarh. — A  small  village  in  the  south-east  of  the  KMiragarh 
Chiefship,  attached  to  Eiipur  District,  Central  Provinces.  Lat  210  11' 
30"  n.,  long.  8o°  50'  e.  Formerly  an  important  town,  and  still  the 
seat  of  a  large  weekly  market.  The  remains  of  the  fort,  which  must 
have  been  a  place  of  great  strength,  stretch  along  the  north-east  base  of 
a  detached  rocky  hill,  about  4  miles  in  circuit,  near  the  village.  The 
spurs  of  the  hill,  which  is  very  steep  and  covered  with  large  boulders, 
were  connected  by  walls  of  rude  and  massive  masonry,  inside  which 
tanks  were  dug,  while  a  deep  fosse  ran  beyond  the  walls.  On  its  other 
feces  the  hill  is  almost  inaccessible,  and  no  works  can  be  traced.  Nor 
have  any  remains  of  buildings  been  found,  although  the  fort  could  only 
be  held  by  a  large  garrison. 

Dongarpnr. — Native  State  in  Rdjput&ia.  —  See  Dungarpur. 

DongartiL — Village  in  Seoni  District,  Central  Provinces.  Lat.  210 
36'  n.,  long.  79°  24'  e.  Situated  on  the  old  road  between  Seoni  and 
Nigpur.  Celebrated  for  its  breed  of  cattle.  Fine  tank  and  ruins  of  an 
old  fort. 

DorancUL  —  Military  cantonment  in  Lohirdagd  District,  Bengal ; 
situated  to  the  south  of  Rinchf,  the  civil  station  of  the  District  Lat 
230  21'  31*  n.,  long;  850  22'  5'e.  It  has  a  parade  ground  and  a  rifle- 
range,  with  a  small  bdtdr.  Military  force  quartered  here  (1874),  the 
33d  Regiment  of  Madras  Native  Infantry.  A  rural  municipality  under 
Act  xx.  of  1856.  Municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^30.  Population  not 
separately  returned  by  the  Census  of  1872. 

Dornal  Oh&t. — A  pass  over  the  Eastern  Ghits,  Nellore  District, 
Madras.  Lat  14°  41'  n.,  long.  79°  14'  e.  The  main  road  to 
Cuddapah  from  Nellore  (41  miles  distant  east  by  north)  and  the  coast 
passes  through  it 

Double  bland. — A  small  island  about  12  miles  south  of  Amherst 
Point,  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma.  It  is  raised  high  above  the 
sea,  and  lies  in  lat  15°  52'  30"  n.,  and  long.  97°  36*  30'* e.  On  it  stands 
a  lighthouse  containing  a  dioptric  fixed  light  of  the  first  order,  with  a 
catadioptric  mirror  visible  19  miles,  and  first  exhibited  in  December 
1865.  Its  object  is  to  guide  ships  making  for  Maulmain,  and  to  pre- 
vent their  running  up  the  Tsittoung  river  to  certain  destruction. 

DoulAt&b&L — Town,  Salem  District,  Madras. — See  Krishnagiri. 

DonngMn.  —  Revenue  circle  in  Prome  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma ;  situated  tp  the  north-east  of  Lake  Eng-ma  in  a  highly 
cultivated  rice  country.     Pop.  (1876),  9296 ;  gross  revenue,  ^2078. 

Doung-gyf.  —  Town  in  Bassein  District,  Pegu  Division,  British 
Burma;  situated  on  the  Bassein  river,  in  lat.  17°  22'  30*  n.,  and  long.  95° 
8'  e.,  surrounded  by  an  open  waste  country,  which  is  covered  with  grass 

VOI*    HI.  M 

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178  DOUNG-MANA—DRA  VIDA. 

and  tree  forest,  and  liable  to  inundation.  The  inhabitants  are  chiefly 
employed  in  fishing  and  in  the  manufacture  of  clay  pots  for  salt-boiling. 

Donng-mana.  —  Revenue  circle  in  Martaban  township*  Prome 
District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  Pop.  (1876),  544;  gross 
revenue,  ^157. 

DowlAUdroaram  (Dowlaiskwar;  DavaUshwaram,  or  'White  Siva'). 
— Town  in  the  Rajahmundry  tdluk,  Godivari  District,  Madras.  Lat 
l&  56'  35*  n.,  long.  8i°  48'  55*  e.  ;  houses,  1376;  pop.  (1872X  7*5*- 
Situated  5  miles  south  of  Rajamahendri  (Rajahmundry),  at  the  bifurcation 
of  the  Godivari  river,  where  the  great  anicut  has  been  constructed. 
During  its  construction,  Dowlaishvaram,  as  the  headquarters  of  the  sappers 
and  miners  and  a  large  engineering  staff,  was  a  place  of  much  importance. 
At  present  it  is  the  permanent  station  of  the  District  engineering  staff; 
the  Government  workshop  established  here  turns  out  work  for  the 
Public  Works  Department  valued  officially  at  j£i  7,000  per  annum 
The  houses  of  the  former  European  residents,  built  on  the  hills  in  the 
neighbourhood,  are  now  in  ruins.  Quarries  of  good  building  stone  are 
here  worked  to  the  extent  of  10,000  cubic  yards  annually,  and  the 
demand  appears  to  be  increasing  year  by  year.  During  the  wars 
between  the  Sithapatis  of  Rajamahendri  (Rajahmundry)  and  the 
Muhammad  an  rulers  of  Ellore,  in  the  15th  and  16th  centuries,  Dow- 
laishvaram was  the  usual  crossing  point  of  the  contending  armies,  and 
the  scene,  therefore,  of  frequent  struggles.  At  present  the  town  is  con- 
nected  with  the  coast  at  several  points  by  numerous  navigable  canals  of 
the  Godivari  irrigation  system. — See  Godavari  River. 

Dowlat&bAd. — Town  in  the  Nizam's  Dominions.  —  See  Daulat- 
abad. 

Drab.— One  of  the  petty  States  of  Hallar  in  Kathiawar,  Bombay. 
It  consists  of  24  villages,  with  9  independent  tribute-payers.  The 
revenue  is  estimated  at  ^6000  ;  tribute  is  paid  of  ^370  to  the  British 
Government,  and  ;£n6  to  the  State  of  Junagarh. 

Dravida. — A  Division  of  the  Peninsula,  ethnological  and  philological 
rather  than  geographical,  comprising  all  India  south  of  the  Vindhya 
range  and  the  Narbada  (Nerbudda)  river,  except  Orissa  and  those  parts  of 
Western  India  and  the  Deccan  where  Guzerathi  and  Marathf  are  spoken. 
As  early  as  404,  Dravida  is  spoken  of  (in  the  Brihai  Samhiia  of  Varaha 
Mihira)  as  being  divided  into  Chola,  Pandya,  Kerala,  Karaaraka, 
Kalinga,  and  Andhra.  Manu  mentions  the  inhabitants,  'the  Dravidas/ 
as  outcasts  and  barbarians,  Le.  not  in  communion  with  Brahmans. 
Modern  authorities  assign  1 2  dialects  to  the  Division,  the  four  chief  being 
Tdmili  spoken  in  Pandya,  Chola,  and  Eastern  Kerala,  Le.  throughout 
the  central  and  southern  Districts  of  Madras ;  Telugu,  the  language 
of  the  Kalinga  and  Andhra  countries,  or  4Telingana,'  corresponding 
to  the  'Northern  Circars,'  spoken  by  a  population  of  14 J  millions; 


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DRUG—DVBLANA.  179 

Malayalamy  spoken  in  Western  Kerala,  ue.  Malabar,  Travancore, 
and  Cochin,  the  language  of  about  4  millions ;  and  Kanarese^  in  '  Kar- 
narika,'  or  Kanara,  Mysore,  and  a  few  tracts  of  the  Wynid  and 
Coimbatore,  comprising  about  9  million  inhabitants.  Tulu  is  spoken 
round  Mangalore  by  some  300,000  persons,  and  in  Coorg,  in  the  Province 
of  that  name,  by  some  150,00a  The  other  six  'uncultivated'  dialects 
belong  to  some  2J  millions  of  people,  so  that  the  entire  Division  of 
'Dravida'  may  be  taken  to  include  nearly  46  millions  of  inhabitants. 
The  identification  of  the  words  Dravida  and  7tf#M7(orTamul)  has  been 
ingeniously  proposed  by  a  modern  scholar,  as  also  the  identity  of  both  with 
the  Dimyrice  of  the  Peutingerian  tables  and  the  Limyrice  of  Ptolemy. 
The  great  authority  on  the  languages  of  Southern  India  is  Bishop  Cald- 
well's Comparative  Grammar.  As  Dravida  is  a  linguistic  and  not  an 
administrative  division,  the  above  inadequate  notice  must  suffice  here. 

Drtig. — TahsU  or  Revenue  Subdivision  in  Riipur  District,  Central 
Provinces.  Lat  200  45'  30*  to  21°  33'  n.,  and  long.  8o°  54'  to  8o°  41' 
*;  popi  (1872),  295,153,  residing  in  980  villages  or  townships,  and 
64,625  houses;  area,  2198  square  miles. 

Drag.  —  Town  in  Riipur  District,  Central  Provinces,  lying  in  lat. 
21°  n'  n.,  and  long.  81"  21'  e.,  on  the  Great  Eastern  Road,  24  miles 
west  of  Riipur.  Pop.  (1870),  about  2200.  Headquarters  of  tahsil  of 
same  name.  The  Marhattas  made  Drdg  their  base  of  operations  in 
1740-41,  when  they  overran  Chhatisgarh.  Besides  occupying  the 
ancient  fort,  which  is  now  dismantled,  they  formed  an  entrenched  camp 
on  the  high  ground  on  which  the  town  stands,  commanding  a  clear  view 
of  the  surrounding  country.  Dnig  manufactures  excellent  cotton  cloth, 
and  has  a  laAsUi,  police  station,  girls'  school,  town  school,  post  office, 
travellers'  rest-house,  and  dispensary. 

Do&b. — A  long  narrow  wedge-shaped  tract  of  country  enclosed  by 
two  confluent  rivers.  The  name  is  specially  applied  to  designate  the 
great  alluvial  plain  between  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna. — See  Doab. 

Dtib. — Pass  in  Kashmir  State,  Punjab,  on  the  route  from  Attock  to 
Kashmir  by  the  Baramula  road.  Lat  34°  17'  n.,  long.  73°  21'  e. 
Held  by  freebooters  during  the  Sikh  period,  whom  Hari  Sinh  attacked  and 
exterminated.  Lies  on  the  watershed  dividing  the  feeders  of  the  Kishan- 
gangaand  the  Jhelum  on  the  east,  from  those  of  the  Indus  on  the  west. 

DabAri.  —  Agricultural  town  in  Azamgarh  District,  North-Western 
Provinces.  Lat  26°  n'  26"  n.,  long.  83°  49'  5'  e.  ;  area,  138  acres; 
pop.  (1872),  5014. 

DubUtnA. — Town  in  Bundi  (Boondee)  State,  Rajputana.  Lat  25* 
35'  n.,  long.  750  41'  e.  \  272  miles  south-west  of  Mhow  (Mau),  and  235 
north  of  Delhi  Scene  of  a  battle  fought  in  1744  between  the  forces  of 
the  exiled  Raja  of  Bundi  and  of  Jaipur  (Jeypore),  in  which  the  former 
were  defeated. 


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180  DUBRAJPUR—DUJANA. 

Dubrrijpur. — Town  in  Bfrbhiim  District,  BengaL  Lat  23"  47'  35" 
n.,  long.  8 70  25'  e.  A  fine  town,  containing  an  akbdri  or  excise  officer's 
bungalow,  a  tnunslfs  kachdri  or  subordinate  judge's  court,  and  a  police 
station ;  also  a  good  market  for  English  piece-goods,  cloth,  brass  pots, 
sugar,  lac,  rice,  and  sweetmeats.  Dubrajpur  is  surrounded  by  tanks, 
the  banks  of  which  are  generally  planted  with  fan-leaved  palms,  yielding 
a  powerful  spirit  from  their  juice,  which  brings  in  a  considerable  revenue 
to  Government  The  supply  of  fish  in  the  tanks  is  inexhaustible.  In 
the  south  of  the  town,  huge  picturesque  rocks  of  granite  and  gneiss 
(composed  of  glassy  quartz,  pink  and  grey  felspar,  and  black  mica) 
crop  up  through  the  soil,  covering  an  area  of  about  one  square  mile.  In 
the  centre  is  a  vast  block  of  granite  united  to  a  mass  of  gneiss,  which 
adheres  to  it  at  an  angle  of  45°.  A  good  view  of  the  surrounding 
country,  with  the  Parasnath  Mountain,  Rajmahal  and  Panchet  Hills,  in 
the  distance,  can  be  obtained  from  the  summit  of  this  rock,  which  is 
about  60  feet  high.  A  flat-roofed  temple  has  been  built  on  one  of  these 
granite  rocks,  and  the  whole  block  is  worshipped  by  the  Brahmans  as 
Mahadeo. 

Dtidhpur. — One  of  the  petty  States  in  Rewa  Kanta,  Bombay.  The 
State  contains  an  area  of  gths  of  a  square  mile.  The  chief  is  Rahtor 
Umedbawa,  The  revenue  is  estimated  at  ^30,  and  tribute  of  £$  is 
paid  to  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda. 

Dudhrrfj.  —  One  of  the  petty  States  of  JhalaVir  in  Kithiawar, 
Bombay.  It  consists  of  2  villages,  with  3  independent  tribute -payers. 
The  revenue  is  estimated  at  ^1834 ;  a  tribute  of  ;£no  is  paid  to  the 
British  Government  and  £9  to  the  Nawab  of  Junagarh. 

DuduyA. — One  of  the  chief  rivers  of  Jalpaigurl  District,  Bengal ; 
formed  mainly  by  the  junction  of  the  Gayerkata*  and  Nanii,  which 
streams,  after  uniting,  flow  in  a  south-easterly  direction  through  the 
Western  Dwirs  of  Jalpdiguri,  passing  into  Kuch  Behar  territory  at  a 
village  called  Dakalikoba  Hit  Its  principal  tributaries  are  the 
Gulandi,  the  Kalua*  or  Rehti,  Barabank,  Demdema,  and  Tasdti,  all  of 
which  rise  in  the  Bhutan  Hills. 

Dngrtt. — One  of  the  petty  States  in  the  Bhopdl  Agency,  under  the 
Central  India  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India.  On  the  settle- 
ment of  Malwa,  Raja  Khan,  brother  of  the  notorious  Pindari  chief 
Chftu,  was  allowed  an  assignment  of  land  in  Shujawalpur  for  his  lifetime. 
But  in  1825  he  was  assured  that,  in  consideration  of  his  past  good 
conduct,  the  circumstances  of  his  family  would  receive  favourable 
consideration  after  his  death.  In  accordance  with  this  promise,  at  his 
death  the  estate  was  divided  among  his  five  sons.  The  third  son 
received  Dugria,  and  his  descendant  Karim  Baksh  is  now  chief 

Dujdna. — One  of  the  Native  States,  under  the  Government  of  the 
Punjab;   situated  between  280  39'  15*  and  280  42'  15*  n.  lat,  and 

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DULHI— DUMDUM.  181 

between  760  37'  and  760  43'  e.  long.  Muhammad  Sddat  Ali  Khan,  the 
Nawab  of  Dujana,  comes  of  an  Afghan  stock.  The  estates  of  the  family 
were  originally  granted  to  Abdul  Samand  Khin  and  his  sons  for  life  by 
Lord  Lake,  as  a  reward  for  service  rendered.  In  1806,  the  tenure  was 
made  perpetual  by  a  sanad  of  the  Governor-General,  and  several  estates  in 
Hariana  District  were  added,  which  were  afterwards  exchanged  for  the 
villages  of  Dujana  and  Mehana  in  Rohtak.  Dujana  is  about  3  7  miles  west 
of  Delhi.  The  chief  holds  his  tenure  on  conditions  which  may  be  briefly 
described  as  fidelity  to  the  British  Government  and  military  service  when 
required.  The  force  to  be  furnished  on  application  is  200  horse.  The 
territories  of  the  Nawab  are  not  more  than  100  square  miles  in  extent 
The  principal  products  are  opium  and  grain.  There  is  a  force  of  cavalry 
and  infantry,  including  police,  amounting  to  130  men.  The  population 
in  1875  was  estimated  at  27,000,  and  the  supposed  gross  revenue  at 
^6500  per  annum. 

Dnlhl — Town  in  Kheri  District,  Oudh ;  2  miles  north-east  of  the 
Chauka  river.  Pop.  (1869),  2400  Hindus  and  205  Muhammadans — total, 
2605.  Formerly  the  residence  of  a  large  landholder,  who  was  trans- 
ported, and  his  estates  confiscated,  for  disloyal  conduct  during  the 
Mutiny. 

Dnmagudiem  (Dooma).— Town  in  the  Badrachalam  tdluk,  Goda- 
vari  District,  Madras.  Lat  17°  48'  n.,  long.  8o°  55'  e.  ;  pop.  (1871), 
1400,  chiefly  Kois.  Situated  on  the  Godavari  river,  15  miles  above 
Badrachalam  and  101  north  of  Rij&nahendri  (Rajahmundry).  Until 
recently  the  headquarters  of  the  Upper  Godavari  engineering  works,  and 
still  the  station  of  an  executive  engineer,  with  police  establishment  and 
post  office.  With  the  rest  of  the  tdluk,  the  town  formed  part  of  the 
Nizam's  territory  until  i860,  when  it  was  incorporated  with  the  Central 
Provinces.  In  1874,  it  was  transferred  to  Madras.  The  'first  barrier' 
on  the  Godavari  is  at  Dumagudiem. — See  Godavari  River. 

Dnm-Dom. — Subdivision  of  the  District  of  the  Twenty-four  Parganas, 
Bengal ;  situated  between  22°  34'  and  22*  41'  n.  lat,  and  between  88°  26' 
and  88°  31'  e.  long.  It  consists  of  the  single  police  circle  (thdnd)  of  Dum- 
Dum.  Area,  24  square  miles;  villages,  41 ;  houses,  6855.  Pop.  (1872), 
34, 291 — of  whom  1 9, 1 2  7,  or  5  5  *8  per  cent. ,  were  Hindus ;  1 3, 7  2 6,  or  40 
per  cent,  Muhammadans ;  1421,  or  4*1  per  cent,  Christians ;  and  17  of 
other  religions.  Proportion  of  males  to  total  population,  53*8  per  cent ; 
average  number  of  persons  per  square  mile,  1444;  villages  per  square 
mile,  172;  persons  per  village,  836;  houses  per  square  mile,  289; 
inmates  per  house,  5*6.  One  magisterial  court  in  1870-71;  general 
police  force,  104  men;  village  police,  47  men;  cost  of  Subdivisional 
administration  returned  at  ^1577,  12s. 

Dun-Dam  (Dam-Damd).  —  Municipal  town  and  cantonment  in 
Dum-Dum  Subdivision,  Twenty-four  Parganas  District,  Bengal     Lat* 


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18a  DUMDUM— DUMRAON. 

22°  37'  S2"  N->  !ong.  88°  27'  51*  e.  ;  4}  miles  north-cast  of  Calcutta. 
Pop.  (1872),  5179;  municipal  revenue  (1876-77), ^127,  or  s|d  per  head, 
including  the  troops.  The  strength  of  the  force  stationed  here  in  1873 
was  as  follows: — Headquarters  of  62d  Foot,  consisting  of  12  officers  and 
626  non-commissioned  officers  and  men ;  and  a  detachment  of  the  27th 
Native  Infantry,  consisting  of  2  native  officers  and  108  non-commis- 
sioned officers  and  men;  total  of  all  ranks,  no;  grand  total,  784. 
The  barracks  are  built  of  brick  and  very  commodious,  with  a  bdxdr 
some  distance  from  the  lines.  Dum-Dum  is  a  station  on  the  Eastern 
Bengal  Railway;  contains  an  English  school  In  Major  Smyth's 
Report,  referring  to  a  period  anterior  to  1857,  it  is  stated  that 
Dum-Dum  was  the  headquarters  of  the  artillery  from  1783  until 
their  removal  to  Meerut,  a  more  central  station,  in  1853.  At  that 
date  the  town  possessed  a  magazine  and  percussion  cap  manufactory ; 
barracks ;  European  and  native  hospital ;  a  large  bdtdr;  several  clear- 
water  tanks ;  and  a  Protestant  church,  containing  monuments  erected  to 
the  memory  of  Colonel  Pearse,  the  first  commandant  of  the  artillery 
regiment,  and  of  Captain  Nicholl  and  the  officers  and  men  of  the  1st 
troop,  1st  brigade,  Horse  Artillery,  who  perished  during  the  retreat 
from  Kibul  in  1841.  The  treaty  by  which  the  Nawab  of  Bengal  rati- 
fied the  privileges  of  the  British,  and  restored  the  settlements  at 
Calcutta,  Kasimba^ar,  and  Dacca,  was  signed  at  Dum-Dum,  February 

6,  I7S7. 

Dum-Dum. — Valley  and  pass  in  Kashmir  State,  Punjab;  situated  in 
lat  33°  45'  n.,  and  long.  75*  e.,  between  the  Fateh  Panjal  and  Pfr  Panjal 
Mountains,  at  an  elevation  of  11,800  feet  above  sea  level  Through  it 
lies  the  route  from  the  Punjab  to  Kashmir  by  Rajiwar.  The  Rem- 
beara  river  rises  on  its  summit,  and,  flowing  north-east,  falls  into  the 
Jhelum  (Jhflam). 

Dumki— Subdivision  and  town  in  the  District  of  the  Santal  Par- 
ganas,  Bengal. — See  Naya  Dumka. 

Dumri  Falls. — A  succession  of  rapids  in  Hill  Tipperah,  Bengal; 
situated  just  below  the  point  where  the  Chaimi  and  Raima  unite  to 
form  the  GumtL  These  rapids  continue  for  a  distance  which  is 
reckoned  a  day's  journey  by  water,  and  end  in  a  grand  picturesque 
cascade,  which  leaps  into  a  pool  whence  the  stream  issues  through  a 
narrow  gorge. 

Dnmr&on. — Municipal  town  in  ShahiMd  District,  Bengal.  Pop. 
(1872),  17,356.  Lat.  25°  32'  59'  n.,  long.  84°  n'  42"  e.  Station  on 
the  East  Indian  Railway.  Municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^557 ;  rate 
of  taxation  per  head,  4|<L 

Dumr&on. — Branch  of  the  Arrah  Canal  in  ShaMMd  District,  Bengal ; 
with  its  12  distributaries  forming  a  portion  of  the  S6n  system.  It  is 
40 J  miles  long,  and  leaves  the  main  canal  at  the  17th  mile. 


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DUMURDAH—DUNGARPUR  STATE.  183 

DamttrdaL— Town  in  Hdgli  District,  Bengal ;  situated  on  the  HtfgU 
river  just  above  Nayd  Sarii,  in  lat  23°  2'  15"  n.,  and  long.  88°  28' 
50"  e.  Notorious  for  its  gangs  of  river  ddkdits,  and  as  the  home  of 
the  ill-famed  robber  chief  Biswandth  Bdbu,  who  was  at  last  betrayed 
by  one  of  his  comrades  and  hanged  on  the  scene  of  his  capture.  Even 
as  recently  as  1845,  **  was  •■id  that  *  people  fear  to  pass  by  this  place 
after  sunset,  and  no  boats  are  ever  moored  at  its  ghdt  even  in  broad 
daylight'  The  population  of  Dumurdah  is  not  separately  returned  in 
the  Census  of  1872. 

Drin. — A  range  of  hills  in  the  north-west  of  Champiran  District, 
Bengal ;  extending  in  a  slightly  south-easterly  direction  from  the  Rohui 
nodi  to  the  Achul  nodi,  a  distance  of  about  20  miles,  the  average 
breadth  being  4  miles.  It  has  been  suggested  by  some  that  this  range  is 
adapted  for  tea  cultivation ;  others  consider  the  climate  too  dry.  The 
Dtin  valley  is  inhabited  by  the  aboriginal  tribe  of  ThArus. 

Dnnal  Ghdt  —  Pass  over  the  Eastern  Ghdts,  Nellore  District, 
Madras. — See  Dornal  Ghat. 

DundwAragaiy .  —  Small  trading  town  in  Etah  District,  North- 
western Provinces.  Lat  270  43'  50*  n.,  long.  78°  59'  34"  e.; 
area,  65  acres;  pop.  (1872),  5414,  being  2778  Hindus  and  2636 
Muhammadans.  Situated  on  the  Sahdwar  and  Patidli  road,  22  miles 
north-east  of  Etah.  Consists  of  two  separate  villages,  Dundwardganj 
and  Dundwira  Khds,  sufficiently  close  to  one  another  for  inclusion 
under  a  common  title.  Derives  its  name  from  a  colony  of  Dundiya 
Kiyasths,  established  on  the  spot  by  Shatab-ud-din  Ghori  in  11 94  a.d. 
Bdtdr,  market-place,  sardt\  school.  The  central  roadway  generally 
presents  a  busy  scene,  and  the  town,  though  small,  contains  many  com- 
paratively wealthy  residents 

DnDgagali  (Dungd  GdB).— Small  sanitarium  in  Hazdra  District, 
Punjab ;  composed  of  a  few  houses,  or  rather  huts,  scattered  over  the 
southern  slopes  of  the  Mochpura  Hill,  belonging  to  Europeans,  who 
visit  it  from  Abbottdbdd  and  Murree.  Staging  bungalow  and  branch 
post  office. 

Ddngarpur. — Native  State  in  Rdjputdna,  under  the  political  superin- 
tendence of  that  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India.  It  extends  from 
lat  23°  31'  to  24°  3'  n.,  and  from  long.  730  37'  to  74°  16'  e.  Its  length 
from  east  to  west  is  40  miles,  and  breadth  from  north  to  south  35  miles ; 
total  area,  952  square  miles.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  Udiipur 
(Oodeypore);  on  the  east  by  Udiipur  and  the  river  Mihi,  which 
separates  it  from  the  State  of  Bdnswkra ;  on  the  south  by  the  Mdhi ; 
and  on  the  west  by  the  Mihi  Kinta  Agency  in  Guzerat  (Gujarat).  The 
country  consists  for  the  most  part  of  stony  hills  covered  with  low  jungle 
of  cactus,  jujube  trees,  and  a  gum-producing  tree  called  solar  by  the 
natives,  together  with  several  other  varieties  of  shrubs  and  trees  requir- 

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184  DUNGARPUR  STATE. 

ing  neither  a  deep  soil  nor  moisture.  In  the  north  and  east  of  the 
State  the  landscape  is  wild  and  rugged,  but  towards  the  south-west 
border  the  harsher  features  are  much  softened,  and  for  several  miles 
the  country  resembles  Guzerat  in  character  and  appearance.  There 
are  two  or  three  large  forest  tracts,  producing  blackwood,  ebony,  and 
other  valuable  timber-trees.  Of  pasture  land,  properly  so  called,  there 
is  scarcely  any;  and  during  the  hot  season  the  numerous  cattle 
kept  by  the  Brills  are  reduced  to  a  miserable  state  of  leanness.  The 
cultivated  area  is  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  valleys  and  low  ground 
between  the  hills,  where  the  soil  is  of  a  rich  alluvial  nature,  and  can 
be  irrigated  from  numerous  wells  and  tanks.  On  the  hillsides,  the  only 
cultivation  attempted  is  by  burning  down  occasional  patches  of  forest, 
and  scattering  seed  in  the  ashes.  Though  the  country  is  broken  and 
hilly,  none  of  the  hills  attain  a  great  height  The  geological  structure 
of  Diingarpur  is  of  trap ;  the  rocks  belong  to  the  granitic,  primitive,  or 
metamorphic  order  of  formation,  their  chief  constituents  being  gneiss, 
hornblende,  argillaceous  schist  or  clay  slate,  mica,  calcareous  sandstone, 
quartz,  etc.  A  good  durable  stone  of  the  granitic  class,  fit  for  building 
purposes,  is  quarried  from  a  hill  about.  6  miles  south  of  the  capital.  A 
soft  greenish  greystone  (serpentine)  is  found  near  the  village  of  Matu- 
gamra,  about  6  miles  east  of  the  capital.  This  is  carved  extensively 
at  Diingarpur  town  and  elsewhere,  into  idols,  drinking  cups,  and 
effigies  of  men  and  animals.  Another  species  of  hard  stone  (basaltic), 
of  which  grindstones  and  similar  articles  are  manufactured,  is  mined 
near  the  town  of  Sagwdra.  Lime  is  found  in  tolerable  abundance,  but 
not  of  very  pure  quality.  No  attempt  ever  appears  to  have  been  made 
to  work  an  iron  mine  in  this  Province,  although  the  presence  of  this  ore 
in  the  form  of  iron  pyrites  is  manifest 

The  only  rivers  are  the  M£hi  and  Som,  which  meet  near  the  sacred 
temple  of  Baneshwar,  where  a  large  fair  is  held  every  year.  The  Mihi 
divides  the  State  from  Bdnswira,  and  the  Som  from  the  estate  of  Salumbar 
in  Udiipur  (Oodeypore).  Both  these  streams  are  perennial,  although 
in  several  places  the  water  of  the  Som  runs  in  a  subterranean  channel, 
suddenly  disappearing  and  emerging  again,  apparently  but  little  affected 
by  its  temporary  subsidence.  The  bed  of  the  Mdhi  is  on  an  average 
about  300  or  400  feet  in  breadth,  and  is,  on  the  whole,  very  stony.  Its 
banks  are  in  many  parts  steep,  but  never  very  high,  and  are  thickly 
lined  in  many  places  with  Vitex  trifolia  (chaste  tree),  called  by  the 
natives  bena,  which  affords  cover  in  the  hot  weather  to  tigers  and  other 
wild  beasts. 

The  natural  productions  of  the  State  are — wheat,  barley,  gram, 
millet,  Indian  corn,  rice,  and  a  few  inferior  sorts  of  grain ;  also  cotton, 
opium,  oil-seeds,  ginger,  chillies,  turmeric,  and  sugar-cane.  Vegetables 
(onions,  yams,  sweet  potatoes,  egg  plants,  and  radishes)  are  grown  in 


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DUNGARPUR  STATE.  185 

considerable  quantities.  Fruit  is  not  abundant,  little  else  being  seen 
but  melons,  limes,  mangoes,  and  plantains.  Mahud  trees  are  very 
numerous,  and  from  their  fruit  a  strong  fermented  liquor  is  distilled. 
The  total  population  is  estimated  in  the  Gazetteer  of  D&ngarpur 
(1878)  at  175,000  souls.  Three-fourths  of  the  inhabitants  are  Hindus, 
one-eighth  Jains,  and  one-eighth  Musalmans.  The  Bhils  aggregate 
about  10,000  souls.  There  are  said  to  be  sixteen  first-class  nobles  and 
thirty-two  of  inferior  rank,  who  compose  the  aristocracy  of  the  State. 
All  these  Thakurs  are  Rajputs,  who  hold  their  land  nominally  by  grant 
from  the  ruling  chief,  but  really  by  right  of  kinship  or  alliance  with  his 
family;  their  united  estates  comprise  lands  in  which  are  situated 
170  villages.  The  principal  traders  are  the  Hindu  Mahajans  and  the 
Bohras.  A  number  of  Pathans  and  Mekranis  reside  in  Diingarpur 
territory,  most  of  whom  are  employed  as  soldiers  or  armed  attendants. 
The  language  spoken  is  a  mixture  of  Guzerathi  and  Hindustani,  locally 
called  Bagar. 

Some  years  ago,  carefully  prepared  statistics  showed  that  the  total 
land  revenue  of  Diingarpur  amounted  to  about  ^18,335,  °f  which 
,£7968  went  to  the  State,  ^9196  to  the  Thakurs,  and  the  balance  to 
the  religious  orders.  The  State  pays  tribute  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment of  Salim  Shahi  Rs.  3500.  No  schools  have  been  established 
in  Diingarpur,  nor  is  there  any  system  of  education.  All  civil  and 
criminal  cases  of  any  importance  are  settled  by  a  court  presided 
over  by  the  diwdn  or  minister,  from  which,  however,  an  appeal  lies 
to  the  MaharawaL  There  are  six  police  centres,  at  each  of  which 
is  stationed  an  official  called  a  thdndddr.  The  thdndddrs  are  of  two 
classes;  the  first  can  sentence  offenders  to  one  month's  imprisonment, 
or  impose  a  fine  of  50s.  The  second  can  impose  a  fine  of  j£it  or 
eight  days'  imprisonment     There  is  a  jail  at  the  capital. 

There  are  no  made  roads  in  the  State.  The  principal  towns  are  the 
capital  Dungarpur,  Galliikot,  and  Sagwara.  Two  fairs  are  held  during 
the  year,  one  at  Baneshwar  in  February  or  March,  the  other  at  Galliikot 
about  the  end  of  the  latter  month,  each  lasting  about  fifteen  days. 
Baneshwar  is  also  a  place  of  Hindu  pilgrimage. 

Maharawal  Udai  Sinh  is  the  present  chief  of  Diingarpur.  He 
belongs  to  the  Sesodia*  clan  of  Rijputs,  and  claims  descent  from  an  elder 
branch  of  the  family  which  now  rules  at  Ud£ipur  (Oodeypore).  The 
early  history  of  the  family  is  not  known  with  certainty ;  but  when  the 
Mughal  Empire  had  been  fairly  consolidated,  the  Diingarpur  chief  appears 
to  have  opened  communication  with  the  court  His  successors  paid 
tribute  and  did  military  service.  Upon  the  fall  of  the  Empire,  Diingarpur 
became  tributary  to  the  Marhattas,  from  whose  yoke  the  prince  and  his 
People  were  rescued  by  the  British,  and  a  treaty  was  concluded  in 
1818.     As  in  other  States  inhabited  by  wild  hill  tribes,  it  became 

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186  DUNGARPVR  TOWN—DUNRENG. 

necessary  at  an  early  period  of  the  British  supremacy  to  employ  a 
military  force  to  coerce  the  Bhils,  who  had  been  excited  to  rebellion 
by  some  of  the  disaffected  nobles.  The  Bhil  chiefs,  however,  sub- 
mitted to  terms  before  actual  hostilities  commenced.  The  Mahaiiwal 
Jaswant  Sinn  was  found  incompetent  as  a  ruler,  and  deposed  by  the 
British  Government  in  1825.  His  adopted  son,  Dalpat  Sinn,  second 
son  of  the  chief  of  Partabgarh,  was  made  regent,  and  succeeded  him. 
But  on  his  accession  to  the  State  of  Partibgarh,  he  was  permitted  to 
adopt  the  present  ruler,  Udii  Sinn,  then  a  minor,  as  his  successor  in 
DiSngarpur.  The  military  force  consists  of  4  guns,  about  400  cavalry, 
and  1000  infantry.    The  chief  is  entitled  to  a  salute  of  15  guns. 

Ddngurpur. — Town  and  residence  of  the  Maharawal  of  the  State 
of  the  same  name  in  Rajputana;  lies  in  lat  23°  52'  n.,  long.  73*  49' 
£.,  on  the  route  from  Nimach  (Neemuch)  to  Disa  (Deesa),  139  miles 
south-west  of  the  former  and  121  miles  south-east  of  the  latter.  The 
town  is  overlooked  by  a  hill  about  700  feet  high,  and  5  miles  in  cir- 
cumference at  base,  which,  with  the  MaharawaTs  palace  on  its  summit, 
and  a  lake  at  its  foot,  forms  a  striking  picture. 

Duni — Town  in  Jaipur  (Jeypore)  State,  Rajputana.  Lat  25°  52'  n., 
long*  75*  3&'  £»  l  7°  miles  south  of  Jaipur. 

DtinraiL  —  A  tidal  creek  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma.  Its  total  length  is  13  miles,  and  it  runs  from  the  To  or 
China  Bakir  in  a  southerly  direction  to  the  sea.  The  depth  of  water 
varies  from  £  fathom  to  8  or  9  fathoms,  the  northern  end  being  shallow, 
and  the  southern  deep ;  the  water  is  sweet,  except  at  spring  tides  when  a 
high  bore  is  formed  The  Diinran,  on  account  of  numerous  shoals,  is  only 
navigable  by  small  boats.  On  its  right  bank,  in  the  interior,  stretch  exten- 
sive plains  abounding  in  game ;  and  on  the  left,  wild  elephants  are  found. 

Dtinreng. — A  peak  in  the  Zwai-ka-beng  Hills,  north  of  Maulmain, 
Amherst  District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma.  It  is  difficult 
of  ascent,  owing  to  the  precipitous  nature  of  the  limestone  rocks.  At 
the  summit  is  a  large  basin,  which  appears  to  be  the  crater  of  an 
extinct  volcano ;  this  is  surrounded  for  miles  by  dark  precipitous  crags 
of  every  form.  Down  a  steep  descent  of  one  or  two  hundred  feet, 
an  uneven  plain  covered  with  a  luxuriant  forest  is  seen.  This  impreg- 
nable natural  fortress  has  been  the  refuge  of  the  Karengs  for  many 
generations.  Its  great  drawback  is  the  deficient  water  supply.  It  is 
said  that  a  large  number  of  Karengs  besieged  here  by  the  Siamese, 
perished  for  want  of  food  and  water.  Ehinreng  means  '  City  of  weeping,1 
and  derives  its  name  from  this  tradition. 

Dtinreng.  —  Revenue  circle  in  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim 
Division,  British  Burma;  situated  on  the  western  slopes  of  the 
Zwai-ka-beng  Hills.  Pop.  (1876),  1881,  chiefly  Karengs ;  land  revenue, 
^236,  and  capitation  tax,  ^256. 


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DUNTHAMIE—DURGARA  YAPATNAM.  187 

Dtinthainie. — River  in  the  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma, 
which  has  never  been  thoroughly  explored.  It  rises  somewhat  below  the 
latitude  of  Shwe-gyeng,  between  the  Bhfleng  and  Salwin  rivers,  and, 
after  a  very  tortuous  course  southwards,  unites  with  the  Kyouk-tsarit  in 
about  lat  16"  59'  30*  n.,  to  form  the  Bhenglaing,  a  tributary  of  the 
Salwin.  Navigable  by  native  boats.  In  the  upper  part  of  its  course 
it  flows  through  a  hilly  teak-covered  country,  and  its  tributary  streams 
facilitate  the  transport  of  the  timber  in  the  rains. 

DtinWGn. — A  village  in  Tha-htiin  township,  Amherst  District, 
Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma ;  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Bhfleng  river  now  embanked.  Pop.  (1876),  281.  In  former  times 
Drinwon  was  an  important  walled  city,  and  the  chief  town  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  In  1306  and  1351,  when  it  formed  a  portion  of 
Martaban,  it  was  captured  by  the  King  of  Zeng-mai,  east  of  the  Salwin ; 
later  on,  it  was  taken  by  Radzadierit. 

Dfira. — Revenue  circle  in  Henzada  District,  Pegu  Division,  British 
Burma.  The  country  is  low  and  well  cultivated,  and  protected  from 
inundation  by  the  Irawadi  (Irrawaddy)  embankments.  Pop.  (1876), 
7216;  gross  revenue,  ^3153. 

Dfira. — An  extensive  group  of  intercommunicating  lakes  in  Henzada 
township,  Henzada  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  The  Drira 
proper  is  about  2  square  miles  in  extent,  and  is  connected  with  the 
Irawadi  (Irrawaddy)  by  the  Atha-rwot  stream ;  it  is  divided  into  two 
portions  by  an  island.  The  Moshiin  portion  is  2  \  miles  in  length,  and 
from  300  to  400  yards  in  breadth,  with  a  depth  of  from  6  to  9  feet  of 
water  in  the  dry  season.  The  other  chief  lakes  are  the  Engtha-nwot, 
length  1400  feet,  maximum  breadth  700  feet,  and  depth  of  water  4  to 
6  feet;  and  the  Mobalai,  with  about  5  feet  of  water  in  the  dry  weather. 
These  lakes  are  fed  by  the  drainage  of  the  surrounding  country,  but 
the  Irawadi  embankments  have  now  closed  the  mouths  of  the  streams 
by  which  they  communicated  with  that  river  during  the  rains. 

DordurUL — Site  of  a  ruined  fort  in  Dacca  District,  Bengal,  said 
to  have  been  built  by  the  Bhuiyd  Rdjis;  its  popular  name  is 
Rinibirf.  Dr.  Taylor  states  that  the  fort  is  laid  out  in  the  shape  of 
*  crescent,  bounded  by  the  river  Banar.  In  1839,  the  outer  wall, 
upwards  of  2  miles  in  circuit,  was  12  or  14  feet  high.  The  citadel, 
which  appears  to  have  had  three  openings,  contains  the  remains 
of  two  buildings,  one  of  which  seems  to  have  been  a  tower.  Opposite 
to  Durdurid  are  the  foundations  of  a  town,  of  which  the  only  vestiges 
existing  in  1839  were  mounds  and  loose  bricks  scattered  over  the 
surface  of  the  plain. 

Durgirayapatnam  (Zuvarayapaiam,  'City  of  the  Minister,'  Telugu). 
—Town  in  the  Gridrir  tdluk,  Nellore  District,  Madras.  I^tt  13°  59'  n., 
long.  8o*  12'  e.;  houses,  372 ;  pop.  (1871),  1970.     Formerly  the  chief  of 

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188  DUROD—DWARKA. 

the  groupof  small  ports — Pddi,  Pamanji,  Ttfpili — lying  near  the  Armeghon 
lighthouse,  but  now  of  as  little  commercial  importance  as  the  others, 
the  East  Coast  Canal  having  diverted  the  coasting  traffic  upon  which 
they  depended.  Still  possesses  a  customs1  station  and  a  fine  travellers' 
bungalow.  The  salt  manufacture  at  this  place  is  of  some  repute. 
Historically,  Durgarayapatnam,  or  Armeghon  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
is  of  interest  as  being  the  first  British  settlement  on  the  Coromandel 
coast  In  1625,  after  unsuccessful  attempts  to  settle  at  Pulicat  and 
Masulipatam,  a  colony  was  established  here;  and  in  1628  a  factory 
was  built  at  Chenna  Kupam  (renamed  '  Arumugam,'  in  recognition  of 
the  friendly  aid  given  by  Arumugam  Modelliar,  the  chief  man  of 
the  native  town),  and  fortified  with  12  guns.  The  remnants  of  the 
Masulipatam  settlement  was  then  transferred  here  But  owing  to  the 
interference  of  the  Dutch  at  Pulicat,  and  the  hostility  of  the  Raja  of 
Venkatagiri,  the  trade  languished ;  and  on  the  chief  factors  recommenda- 
tion to  move  the  settlement  to  some  spot  south  of  Pulicat,  the  site  of 
Madras  city  was  purchased. 

Dnrod. — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Jhaliwar  in  Kathiawar,  Bombay. 
It  consists  of  1  village,  with  2  independent  tribute-payers.  The 
revenue  is  estimated  at  ;£n8;  tribute  of  j£$6  is  paid  to  the  British 
Government,  and  £$  to  the  Nawab  of  Junagarh. 

Doming. — District  of  Assam. — See  Darrang. 

Dussara. — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Jhaliwir  in  Kathiawar, 
Bombay.  It  consists  of  22  villages,  with  6  independent  tribute-payers. 
The  revenue  is  estimated  at  ^6000 ;  a  tribute  of  ^£1296  is  payable  to 
the  British  Government. 

Dtitieya  Khareng. — Revenue  circle  in  the  Gyaing  Attaran  township, 
Amherst  District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma.  It  occupies  a  tract 
of  country  stretching  southward  from  the  junction  of  the  Hlaingbhwai 
and  Houngtharaw  rivers.  Pop.  (1876),  477,  mainly  Karengs;  land 
revenue,  ^46,  and  capitation  tax,  j£6o. 

Dwirband. — Pass  in  the  Tilain  range  of  hills,  in  Cachar  District, 
Assam,  through  which  the  road  has  been  led  joining  Hailakandi  with 
the  station  of  Silchar. 

Dwarikeswar. — River  of  Bengal. — See  Dhalkisor. 

DwarkA. — A  place  of  Hindu  pilgrimage,  situated  in  the  peninsula 
of  K£thiawa>,  Bombay,  within  the  dominions  of  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda. 
Lat  220  14'  20"  n.,  and  long.  69*  5'  e.  ;  235  miles  south-west  of 
Ahmedabad,  and  270  west  of  Baroda ;  pop.  (1872),  4712. 

DwarkA  (or  Babld). — An  unnavigable  river  of  Bengal,  rising  in  the 
Santdl  Parganas  District ;  in  lat  23°  57'  n.,  and  long.  870  21'  e.  Thence 
it  enters  Bfrbhiim  from  the  north,  and  from  Bfrbhtim  passes  into 
MurshidibacL  near  Margram  town.  At  first  the  course  of  the  Dwarki 
is  easterly,  until  joined  by  the  Brahmini  stream  at  Rimchandrapur. 


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DWARKESWAR—DWARS,  EASTERN.  189 

It  then  turns  towards  the  south-east,  and  receives  the  Mor  and  Kuiya\ 
two  rivers  also  flowing  down  from  Birbmim  towards  the  Bhagirathf. 
At  this  point  the  numerous  back-waters  commence  which  connect  the 
Dwarki  with  the  Bhagirathi,  a  branch  of  the  Ganges  or  Padml 

Dwarkeswar. — River  of  BengaL — See  Dhalkisor. 

Dwir-khalillg. — Forest  reserve  in  Darrang  District,  Assam,  skirt- 
ing  the  southern  base  of  the  Bhutan  Hills.  Area,  6242  acres.  The 
mahdlox  fiscal  division  of  the  same  name  has  an  area  of  194  square 
miles;  pop.  (1872),  7224;  revenue  (1875),  ;£i4*7- 

Dw&TS,  Eastern. — The  Subdivision  of  the  Eastern  Dware  forms  an 
integral  portion  of  Go&pira  District,  under  the  Chief  Commissioner  of 
Assam.  It  lies  between  26*  19'  and  26°  54'  n.  lat,  and  between 
89*  55'  and  910  e.  long.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  hills 
of  Independent  Bhutin ;  on  the  east  by  the  Manis  and  Dhirsuti 
rivers,  separating  it  from  the  District  of  Kimnip ;  on  the  south  by  the 
main  portion  of  Goalpara  District ;  and  on  the  west  by  the  Gadidhar  or 
Sankosh  river,  which  separates  it  from  the  Western  Dwirs,  attached  to 
Jalpaigurf  District,  in  Bengal,  and  the  State  of  Kuch  Behar.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Revenue  Survey  conducted  in  1869-70,  the  area  amounts  to 
1568-10  square  miles,  and  the  population  to  37,047  persons.  The 
Census  of  1872  was  not  extended  to  this  tract.  The  principal  town, 
or  rather  village,  is  Bijni  ;  but  the  Subdivision  is  administered  from 
Goalpara  town,  the  headquarters  of  the  entire  District. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  Eastern  Dwdrs  form  a  flat  strip  of  country, 
lying  beneath  the  Bhutan  Mountains.  The  only  elevated  tract  is 
Bhumeswar  Hill,  which  rises  abruptly  out  of  the  plains  to  the  height  of 
nearly  400  feet,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  detached  spur  of  the  Garo 
Hills  on  the  south  of  the  Brahmaputra.  The  remainder  is  an  absolute 
level,  intersected  by  numerous  streams,  and  overgrown  with  wild  vege- 
tation. In  some  parts  there  are  extensive  tracts  of  sdl  forest ;  but  the 
greater  portion  is  covered  with  heavy  grass  and  reed  jungle,  amid  which 
the  beautiful  cotton-tree  (Bombax  pentandrum)  is  the  only  timber-tree 
to  be  seen.  This  grass  jungle  is  especially  thick  along  the  banks  of  the 
rivers,  where  it  is  almost  impenetrable  to  man.  The  few  villages  are 
marked  by  clearings  of  rice  and  mustard  cultivation.  The  houses 
themselves  are  embowered  in  clumps  of  bamboos  and  plantains,  above 
which  tower  the  graceful  betel-nut,  palm,  and  various  fruit  trees.  At 
the  foot  of  the  mountains,  where  the  rivers  debouch  upon  the  plain,  the 
scenery  assumes  a  grander  aspect 

The  following  eleven  rivers  are  navigable  by  native  boats  throughout 
the  year :— Manas,  Dalanf,  Pdka*janf,  Ai,  Kinimikr*,  Champamati, 
Gaurang,  Saralbhanga,  Gangii,  GurupdU,  and  Gadidhar.  In  addition, 
there  are  numerous  small  streams  which  become  navigable  during  the 
rainy  season.     By  far  the  most  important  channel  of  communication  is 


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190  DWARS,  EASTERN. 

afforded  by  the  Manas,  which  might  be  navigated  by  steamers  of  light 
draught  All  the  rivers  take  their  rise  in  the  Bhutan  Hills,  and  flow  in 
a  southerly  direction  into  the  Brahmaputra.  Their  beds  are  rilled  with 
boulders  in  the  hills,  but  they  become  sandy  as  they  advance  into  the 
plain.  There  is  a  peculiar  tract  of  pebbles,  gravel,  and  sand  fringing 
the  hills,  into  which  the  water  of  all  the  minor  streams  sinks  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  year,  not  again  appearing  above  ground  until  it 
reaches  the  alluvial  clay. 

The  valuable  forests  of  the  Eastern  Dwars  have  recently  been  placed 
under  Government  supervision.  The  area  which  has  been  declared 
'open  forest1  amounts  to  422  square  miles,  or  just  one  quarter  of  the 
aggregate  area  of  the  Subdivision.  About  80  square  miles  are  sdl 
timber,  which  is  described  as  the  most  valuable  property  in  the  whole 
Province  of  Assam,  and  should  yield  an  annual  produce  of  25,000 
trees.  At  present,  however,  owing  to  the  ^discriminate  havoc  wrought 
in  former  years  by  the  Bengali  woodcutters,  there  are  no  mature  trees 
left  standing.  Besides  sdl  (Shorea  robusta)  the  following  timber-trees 
are  carefully  preserved  in  an  'open  forest': — Sissu  (Dalbergia  sisii), 
khair  (Acacia  catechu),  and  chdauni  (Schima  vel  Gordonia  mollis); 
all  other  timber  is  free.  The  great  danger  to  which  the  forests  are 
exposed  is  the  spread  of  jum  cultivation,  by  which  fresh  tracts  of  jungle 
are  fired  every  year.  Stringent  regulations  are  enforced  against  this 
practice  within  Government  reserves.  The  jungle  products  include 
lac,  bees-wax,  pipdli  or  long  pepper  (Chavica  roxburghii),  and  a  creeper 
from  which  a  red  dye  called  dsu  is  obtained  No  metals  or  mineral 
products  are  known  to  exist  Wild  animals  of  all  kinds  abound, 
including  elephant,  rhinoceros,  buffalo,  tiger,  bear,  hog,  and  deer. 

History. — This  tract  first  became  British  territory  as  the  result  of  the 
Bhutan  war  of  1864,  and  does  not  possess  any  independent  history  of 
its  own.  It  is  known,  however,  that  the  despotic  rule  of  the  Bhutiis 
was  only  of  recent  date.  The  earliest  dynasty  that  can  be  localized  in 
this  tract  is  that  of  Visu  Sinh,  the  ancestor  of  the  Kuch  Behar  Rijas, 
who  founded  an  empire  in  the  z6th  century  on  the  ruins  of  an  earlier 
kingdom,  extending  from  Darrang  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Brahma- 
putra  to  the  frontier  of  Purniah  in  BengaL  But  this  wide  empire 
rapidly  fell  to  pieces,  owing  partly  to  the  anarchical  system,  by  which 
large  tracts  were  granted  out  as  appanages  to  younger  sons  of  the  royal 
family.  In  this  way  the  Rijas  of  Bijni  and  Sidli  Dw&s,  as  well  as 
the  Raja"  of  Darrang,  acquired  their  present  estates.  While  the  State 
thus  became  enfeebled,  invaders  were  pressing  forward  from  every 
quarter.  On  the  west,  the  Mughals  rapidly  advanced,  and  annexed  the 
permanently-settled  portion  of  Goalpara  to  their  Province  of  BengaL 
The  wild  tribe  of  Ahams  spread  down  the  Brahmaputra  valley,  and 
maintained  themselves  at  the  ancient  capital  of  Gauh&i  against  the 


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JDWARS,  EASTERN.  j9i 

Musalmin  armies.  At  about  the  same  time,  the  Dwirs  or  lowland  passes 
along  the  foot  of  the  mountains  fell  to  the  Bhutiis,  who  here  found  the 
cultivable  ground  that  their  own  hare  mountains  did  not  afford.  They 
exercised  predominant  influence  over  the  whole  tract  from  the  frontier 
of  Sikkim  as  far  east  as  Darrang,  and  frequently  enforced  claims  of 
suzerainty  over  the  enfeebled  State  of  Kuch  Behar.  They  do  not 
appear  to  have  occupied  this  tract  permanently,  but  merely  to  have 
exacted  a  heavy  tribute,  and  subjected  the  miserable  inhabitants 
to  the  cruellest  treatment  In  contradistinction  to  the  results  of 
Muhammadan  rule,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Buddhism  of  the 
Bhutiis  has  left  no  traces  in  the  religion  of  the  native  population. 
Koch  Behar  was  delivered  from  the  Bhutii  tyranny  by  the  treaty  of 
1772,  in  accordance  with  which  the  Riji  placed  himself  under  British 
protection,  and  paid  tribute  to  the  East  India  Company.  The  Bhutin 
Dwirs,  as  they  were  called,  remained  for  nearly  a  century  longer  in  a 
state  of  anarchy.  In  1863,  a  British  ambassador  was  subjected  to  gross 
insults  by  the  Bhutin  Government;  and,  as  a  punishment,  it  was 
resolved  to  annex  the  Dwirs  to  British  territory.  Accordingly,  in 
December  1864,  four  strong  military  columns  made  a  simultaneous 
advance,  and  occupied  the  low  country  and  the  hill  passes  above,  after 
slight  opposition.  In  the  tract  known  as  the  Western  Dwirs,  which 
is  now  a  portion  of  the  Bengal  District  of  Jalpiigurf,  a  temporary 
reverse  to  the  British  arms  was  experienced  in  the  following  spring ;  but 
before  the  close  of  1865,  the  Bhutiis  consented  to  accept  the  terms  of 
peace  which  had  been  offered  to  them  before  the  outbreak  of  hostilities. 
By  this  treaty  the  Dwirs  were  ceded  in  perpetuity  to  the  British 
Government,  and  an  annual  allowance  of  ^2500  was  granted  to  the 
Bhutan  Riji,  which  sum  may  be  increased  to  ^5000,  or  withdrawn 
altogether,  at  the  option  of  the  British.  Since  that  date  our  relations 
with  Bhutin  have  been  entirely  peaceful  The  frontier  raids,  which 
were  formerly  of  frequent  occurrence,  have  altogether  ceased  A  brisk 
traffic  has  sprung  up  on  the  frontier,  and  cultivation  is  rapidly  extending 
in  the  annexed  territory. 

The  Bhutin  Dwirs  were  forthwith  divided  into  the  two  administra- 
tive Districts  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Dwirs,  of  which  the  latter 
has  since  been  apportioned  between  the  Bengal  Districts  of  Jalpiigurf 
and  Dixjfling.  The  Eastern  Dwirs  were  at  first  placed  in  charge  of  a 
Deputy  Commissioner,  with  his  headquarters  at  the  village  of  Datmi,  in 
the  Godlpira  pargand  of  Khuntaghit  In  December  1866,  they  were 
completely  incorporated  with  the  District  of  GoaUpira,  and  have  since 
shared  in  all  the  changes  of  jurisdiction  by  which  that  District  has  been 
transferred  between  Bengal  and  Assam.  Since  1872,  when  Assam  was 
erected  into  an  independent  Province  under  a  Chief  Commissioner,  the 
Eastern  Dwirs  have  been  permanently  detached  from  Bengal     But 


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i92  DWARS,  EASTERN. 

though  the  settled  portion  of  Goalpara  and  the  Eastern  Dwars  are  under 
the  control  of  a  single  officer,  the  system  of  administration  is  quite 
distinct.  By  Act  xvi.  of  1869,  all  matters  relating  to  immoveable 
property,  revenue,  and  rent,  are  exempted  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
civil  courts.  The  property  in  the  soil  is  vested  in  the  State.  By  the 
settlement  which  expired  in  March  1877,  leases  were  granted  for  seven 
years.  In  some  of  the  Dwirs  these  leases  were  granted  direct  to  the 
cultivators,  without  the  interposition  of  any  middle-men ;  but  in  other 
cases  the  Rajas  received  farming  leases  of  the  whole  area  over  which 
they  claimed  to  exercise  authority.  The  latter  system  has  not  been  found 
advantageous;  and  for  the  future  it  has  been  proposed  to  effect  the 
land  assessment  with  the  cultivators  year  by  year,  according  to  the  method 
universally  adopted  in  Assam  proper.  During  the  settlement  of  1869*70 
a  careful  record  was  made  of  all  rights  and  interests  in  the  land,  and  the 
extension  of  cultivation  was  greatly  encouraged  It  is  believed  that  the 
population  has  approximately  doubled  during  the  ten  years  that  have 
elapsed  since  British  annexation. 

Population. — At  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  1869-70,  the  Deputy 
Commissioner  personally  conducted  an  enumeration  of  the  people ;  and 
consequently  it  was  not  thought  desirable  to  repeat  the  operation  at  the 
regular  Census  in  1872.     The  enumeration  of  the  Deputy  Commissioner 
showed    a   total    population    of   37,047    persons,  dwelling  in   2863 
enclosures  or  villages  and  in  6888  houses.    The  area  of  the  Eastern 
Dwars  is  1568  square  miles,  which  gives  the  following  averages : — Persons 
per  square  mile,  53,  varying  from  50  in  Bijni  Dwar  to  only  1  in  Chirang 
Dwar ;  houses  per  square  mile,  4*39.     The  average  number  of  persons 
per  enclosure  is  12*94;   of  persons  per  house,  5*38.     The  detailed 
Census  forms  of  race  and  religion  were  not  applied  to  the  Eastern 
Dwars.     The  Deputy  Commissioner,  however,  obtained  returns  of  the 
male  and  female  population  according  to  age,  and  of  the  tribe  or  caste 
of  the  adult   males.     The  males  number  19,240,  and  the  females, 
17,807;  proportion  of  males,  52  per  cent.     Divided  according  to  age, 
there  are,  under  twelve  years,  6763  boys  and  5613  girls — total,  12,376, 
or  33  per  cent  of  the  population.     The  great  bulk  of  the  inhabitants 
belong  to  the  two  aboriginal  tribes  of  Mech  or  Cacharf  and   Koch 
or  Rajbansi.     The  number  of  Hindus  proper  is  very  small,  and  the 
Muhammadans  only  number  no,  who  are  supposed  to  represent  pro- 
selytes made  at  the  time  of  the  Mughal  conquest  of  Goalpara.     The 
Mechs  are  returned  by  the  Deputy  Commissioner  as  numbering  8752 
adult  males,  or  70  per  cent   of  the  total.     This  tribe  is  generally 
regarded  as  cognate  to  the  Koch,  CichaX,  Garo,  and  Rabha,  all  of 
whom  inhabit  this  part  of  the  country.     According  to  local  authority, 
the  names  of  Mech  and  Cachiri  are  indifferently  applied  to  the  same 
people,  the  latter  name  being  especially  used  in  the  extreme  east  of  the 

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DWARS,  EASTERN.  193 

District  The  tribe  is  widely  scattered  over  all  North-Eastern  Bengal, 
being  able  to  support  life  in  the  malarious  tardi  that  continuously 
fringes  the  first  slopes  of  the  Himalayas.  In  the  Eastern  Dw&s,  and 
especially  in  Sidli  Dwdr,  where,  under  the  Bhutdn  Government,  they 
remained  comparatively  free  from  Hindu  influences,  they  have  pre- 
served their  own  language  and  customs  in  greater  purity  than  elsewhere. 
They  describe  themselves  as  having  originally  come  from  a  place  they 
call  Rangsar,  on  the  south  side  of  the  upper  valley  of  the  Brahmaputra, 
whence  they  were  gradually  pushed  westwards  into  Assam.  Their 
occupation  of  the  Eastern  Dwdrs  is  said  not  to  date  back  for  more  than 
a  hundred  years.  Owing  to  the  anarchy  that  prevailed  in  Assam  towards 
the  close  of  the  last  century,  the  majority  of  the  population  crowded 
into  the  frontier  District  of  Go&parsu.  The  upper  classes  returned 
to  Assam  upon  our  annexation  of  the  Province  in  1894^5  >  Dut 
the  poorer  wanderers  settled  permanently  in  the  pargan&s  of  Khuntighlt 
and  Hibraghit,  whence  they  have  recently  spread  into  the  Eastern 
Dware.  At  the  present  time,  they  aie  rapidly  falling  under  the  influence 
of  Hinduism,  and  converts  find  no  difficulty  in  being  received  among 
the  Rijbansf  and  other  mongrel  castes.  Their  indigenous  religion 
consists  in  the  propitiation  of  evil  spirits  by  the  sacrifice  of  fowls.  Con- 
verts to  Hinduism  are  known  as  Soronids,  but  the  change  does  not 
seem  to  be  very  extensive ;  they  are  only  required  to  bathe,  to  call  on 
the  name  of  some  guru  or  spiritual  instructor,  and  to  abstain  from  pork 
and  liquor.  Their  social  condition  is  very  low.  They  do  not  appear  to 
have  ever  achieved  any  Ibrm  of  polity  of  their  own.  They  have  but  few 
traditions,  no  ancient  songs,  no  monuments,  no  written  character,  and 
no  literature  of  any  kind.  Their  marriage  ceremony  preserves  the 
primitive  form  of  abduction.  They  still  retain  migratory  habits,  which 
are  illustrated  by  the  nomadic  fbrm  of  agriculture  known  as  jum^  On 
the  other  hand,  they  are  not  destitute  of  the  virtues  of  savages.  They 
are  more  uniformly  honest  and  trustworthy  than  the  lowland  peasantry ; 
chastity  is  esteemed  a  virtue,  and  crime  of  any  sort  is  rare,  Above  ail, 
the  Mechs  are  possessed  of  a  physical  constitution  that  enables  them  to 
live  and  flourish  all  the  year  through  in  a  malarious  tract  which  is 
absolutely  fatal  to  strangers ;  and  their  rude  methods  of  agriculture  are 
gradually  rendering  the  country  habitable  for  successors  of  a  superior 
race.  The  lUjbansfe  number  2400  adult  males,  or  zo  per  cent,  of  the 
total.  This  tribe  is  identical  with  the  Koch  of  Assam  and  of  Kuch 
Behar.  They  are  said  to  have  originally  inhabited  the  lower  ranges  of 
hills  to  the  north,  and  to  have  first  descended  into  the  plains  in  about 
the  16th  century.  The  high-sounding  name  of  Kljbansf,  meaning  'of 
the  royal  kindred,'  is  adopted  by  those  Kochs  who  have  embraced 
Hinduism,  as  well  as  by  converts  from  other  aboriginal  tribes. 
Among  Hindus  proper,  the  Br&hmans  number  16  adult  males;  the 

VOL.  Ill,  N 

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194  DWARS,  EASTERN. 

Rajputs,  2;  the  Kayasths,  13;  the  Banias  or  shopkeepers,  1.  The 
most  numerous  of  the  pure  Siidra  castes  is  the  Kolita  (23),  who  acted 
as  priests  to  the  native  kings  of  Assam,  and  are  now  engaged  as  peons, 
clerks,  and  cultivators.  The  Bairagis,  or  religious  mendicants  of  the 
Vishnuvite  sect,  are  returned  at  20  adult  males;  the  Goswimfs  or 
Gosiins,  who  are  their  spiritual  preceptors,  at  5.  The  Brahma  Samij  has 
no  followers  in  the  Eastern  Dwars.  Two  native  Christian  preachers 
have  recently  been  stationed  at  Bijai  by  the  Church  Missionary 
Society. 

The  population  is  absolutely  Tural,  every  person  being  directly 
engaged  in  agriculture.  The  only  village  that  possesses  a  permanent 
bdzdr  is  Bijni,  and  even  small  shops  are  rarely  to  be  seen.  There  is 
abundance  of  spare  land  that  can  easily  be  brought  under  cultivation, 
and  the  sparsely  scattered  inhabitants  are  described  as  being  all 
prosperous  and  contented.  Immigration  is  steadily  going  on  from  the 
neighbouring  pargands  of  Kimrup  and  Goilpara,  and  the  new-comers 
at  once  amalgamate  with  the  rest  of  the  people,  as  they  are  usually  of 
the  same  race. 

Agriculture,  etc. — The  staple  crop  throughout  the  Eastern  Dwirs  is 
rice,  which  is  cultivated  in  three  principal  varieties.  The  dus  or  dsu 
crop  is  sown  on  comparatively  high  lands  in  March ;  it  is  not  trans- 
planted, and  reaped  in  July.  The  bdo  or  bdvd,  which  is  a  long-stemmed 
variety,  is  not  much  grown.  The  dman,  haimantiky  or  sdli  furnishes  the 
greater  portion  of  the  food  supply ;  it  is  sown  broadcast  in  nurseries  in 
June,  transplanted  in  the  following  month,  and  reaped  in  December. 
Mustard  seed  is  extensively  grown  :as  a  second  crop  after  dus  rice. 
Minor  crops  include  vegetables,  barley,  pulse,  tobacco,  pdn  or  betel-leaf; 
and  betel-nut  (Areca  catechu).  According  to  the  Survey  of  1869-70, 
out  of  a  total  area  of  more  than  one  million  acres,  only  51,224,  or 
about  one-twentieth,  are  under  cultivation, — thus  subdivided  :  sd&  rice, 
32,296;  dus  net  and  mustard,  15,498;  homestead  lands,  2493.  The 
Mechs  follow  the  jdm  method  of  cultivation,  and  raise  a  good  deal  of 
cotton  on  their  forest  clearings  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  crops. 
Manure  is  only  used  for  the  pdn  plant,  and  then  in  the  form  of  refuse 
from  the  cow-sheds.  Irrigation  is  universally  practised  in  the  case  of 
the  sdli  rice  crop.  The  cultivators  combine  to  cut  channels  from  the 
hill  streams,  by  which  they  distribute  the  water  over  their  fields.  Waste 
land  is  abundant  on  all  sides,  and  consequently  the  same  fields  are 
never  cultivated  after  they  begin  to  lose  their  natural  productiveness. 
Aus  land  is  generally  abandoned  after  two  years ;  but  sdli  land  continues 
to  yield  annual  crops  for  a  longer  period  The  entire  soil  is  the 
property  of  Government,  and,  by  the  settlement  of  1869-70,  was  leased 
out  for  a  term  of  seven  years,  on  conditions  favourable  to  the  spread  of 
cultivation.    The  rates  of  rent  then  fixed  were  the  following  5— For 

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DWARS,  EASTERN.  195 

homestead  and  sdli  lands,  3s.  per  acre ;  for  dus  lands,  is.  6&  per  acre. 
The  average  out-turn  from  an  acre  of  sdli  land  is  estimated  at  about 
23  cwts.  of  paddy  or  unhusked  rice,  valued  at  ^2,  15s. ;  an  acre  of  dus 
land  yields  about  15  cwts.  of  paddy,  and  an  additional  5  cwts.  of 
mustard  seed,  the  whole  being  valued  at  £2,  5s.  Women  and  children 
are  largely  employed  in  the  fields. 

No  professional  class  of  day-labourers  exists  in  the  Eastern  Dwirs  ; 
but  coolies  may  sometimes  be  obtained  for  4d.  a  day.  Agricultural 
labourers  are  generally  remunerated  by  being  allowed  to  retain  a  fixed 
share  of  the  produce,  without  having  any  interest  in  the  soiL  Artisans 
also,  such  as  smiths  or  carpenters,  are  paid  in  kind  for  any  odd  job  they 
may  do.  The  price  of  rice  varies  regularly  with  the  season  of  the  year. 
Best  rice  shortly  after  harvest  sells  at  about  5s.  5&  per  cwt,  which 
gradually  rises  through  the  year  till  it  reaches  8s.  2d.,  just  before  the 
dman  crop  is  gathered.  Similarly  the  price  of  common  rice  varies  from 
2S.  M.  to  5s.  sd  per  cwt  Unhusked  paddy  fetches  from  one-third  to 
one-half  the  price  of  cleaned  rice.  The  prices  of  food  grains  were  not 
affected  by  the  famines  of  1866  and  1874. 

Since  the  Eastern  Dwaxs  came  under  British  rule  in  1864,  such  a 
calamity  as  the  general  destruction  of  the  harvest  by  either  flood, 
drought,  or  blight  has  been  unknown  and  unthought  of.  The  rice 
crops  have  been  occasionally  injured  by  river  floods  and  excessive  local 
rainfalL  The  irrigation  universally  practised  by  the  cultivators  furnishes 
an  efficient  guarantee  against  the  effects  of  drought  If  an  unpre- 
cedented misfortune  were  to  happen,  and  the  price  of  rice  were  to  rise 
to  ios.  per  cwt.  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  that  should  be  regarded  as 
a  sign  of  approaching  famine.  The  wild  tribes,  however,  know  how  to 
support  life  on  various  jungle  products,  and  the  numerous  rivers  afford 
ample  means  of  communication.  The  only  road  in  the  Eastern  Dwaxs 
is  one  that  crosses  the  whole  Subdivision  from  east  to  west,  running  a 
length  of  73  miles.  It  is  interrupted  by  unbridged  rivers  and  swampy 
tracts,  and  becomes  altogether  impassable  during  the  rainy  season. 
Wheeled  carts  are  nowhere  used. 

Manufactures,  etc. — There  is  no  manufacturing  class  in  the  Eastern 
Dwdrs.  In  addition  to  their  livelihood  of  agriculture,  the  people  make 
for  themselves  their  own  houses,  their  own  clothes,  baskets,  and  mats. 
Brass  utensils  and  pottery  require  to  be  purchased  from  Goilpara. 
The  only  article  manufactured  for  sale  is  a  coarse  silk  fabric  called  end, 
which  is  woven  from  the  cocoons  of  a  worm  fed  on  the  castor-oil  plant 
(Ricinus  communis).  A  piece,  14  feet  long  by  4  feet  broad,  sells  for  from 
12s.  to  jQi,  according  to  the  fineness  of  its  texture.  The  Mechs  also 
hollow  out  the  trunks  of  trees  into  boats,  called  dungds,  which  are  floated 
down  the  streams  in  the  rainy  season  for  sale  on  the  Brahmaputra.  This 
industry  is  mainly  supported  by  advances  from  the  Godlpaxa  merchants. 

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196  DWARS,  WESTERN. 

The  trade  of  the  Eastern  Dwars  is  mainly  conducted  by  barter,  and  is 
in  the  hands  of  Marwdrf  merchants  from  Goalpara  and  Kimnip.  Boats 
come  up  the  rivers  during  the  rainy  season,  and  transact  their  business 
at  the  villages  on  the  river  banks.  There  are  no  large  permanent 
markets.  The  principal  articles  of  export  are  rice,  mustard  seed,  erid 
cloth,  cotton,  india-rubber,  a  dye  called  dsu,  timber,  and  boats;  in 
exchange  for  which  are  received  brass-ware,  pottery,  salt,  cotton  cloth, 
oil,  spices,  cocoa-nuts,  and  miscellaneous  hardware.  In  ordinary 
seasons,  the  crops  provide  a  considerable  surplus  for  exportation. 

Administration. — The  Subdivision  consists  of  the  following  5  Dwars : 
— Bijni — area  374  square  miles,  pop.  (1870)  18,837  ;  Sidli — area  361 
square  miles,  pop.  12,696  ;  Chirang — area  495  square  miles,  pop.  756; 
Ripu — area  242  square  miles,  pop.  2645  >  Guma — area  96  square  miles, 
pop.  2 1 13.  The  administrative  statistics  cannot  be  separated  from  those 
of  the  District  of  Goalpara,  and  are  given  in  the  aggregate  in  the  special 
article  on  that  District.  It  is  there  stated  that  the  total  land  revenue 
from  temporarily  settled  estates,  which  may  be  assumed  to  be  co-exten- 
sive with  the  Eastern  Dwars,  amounted  in  1874-75  to  ^5158,  collected 
from  27  estates.  The  tract  is  entirely  administered  from  Goalpara 
town,  and  no  European  officer  is  permanently  stationed  in  it 

A  settlement  of  the  land  revenue  was  made  for  seven  years  in  1870. 
Chirang  Dwar  was  held  khds,  or,  in  other  words,  engagements  were 
taken  from  the  occupants  actually  in  possession  ;  for  the  four  other  Dwars 
collective  leases  were  granted  to  neighbouring  landlords  or  chiefs. 
Provision  was  made  for  the  protection  of  occupancy  rights,  and  permis- 
sion to  extend  cultivation  was  conceded  to  the  leaseholders,  who  receive 
the  profits  arising  from  such  extension  during  the  currency  of  their 
term.  The  following  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  recent  history  of  Sidli 
Dwar : — It  was  settled  with  Gaurf  Narayan,  the  hereditary  Rajd  of 
Sidli,  at  a  revenue  of  ^1939  a  year,  which  sum  had  been  arrived  at 
after  a  regular  measurement  of  the  cultivated  land,  and  a  deduction  of 
30  per  cent,  for  landlord's  profits  and  cost  of  collection.  In  the  first 
year  of  his  lease,  the  Raja  failed  to  discharge  the  Government  demand, 
and  the  estate  was  forthwith  placed  under  the  Court  of  Wards,  who 
have  equally  failed  to  collect  the  assessed  revenue.  In  1874-75,  after 
the  payment  of  certain  allowances  to  the  dispossessed  R£j£  and  his 
infant  son,  only  ^1620  remained  to  be  paid  into  the  treasury. 

Dwars,  Western. — Subdivision  of  Jalpaiguri  District,  Bengal.  This 
tract,  together  with  the  Eastern  Dwars,  was  taken  from  the  Bhutiis, 
and  annexed  to  British  India  in  1864,  in  order  to  put  a  stop  to 
incessant  raids  by  the  Bhutias  upon  the  people  in  British  territory  lying 
along  the  foot  of  the  hills  (vide  supra,  p.  191).  These  Dwars  are  9  in 
number,  viz. : — (1)  Bhalka,  area  (1870),  119  square  miles ;  856  houses ; 
pop.  6544 ;  (2)  Bhatibari,  area,  149  square  miles;  824  houses;  pop. 


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EASTERN  DWARS—EDAR  STATE.  197 

5874;  (3)  Baxa,  area,  300  square  miles ;  714  houses;  pop.  5142  ;  (4) 
Chakoa-Kshattriya,  area,  138  square  miles  ;  277  houses;  pop.  2335  5 
(5)  Madari,  area,  194  square  miles;  663  houses;  pop.  4961;  (6) 
Lakshmipur,  area,  165  square  miles;  577  houses;  pop.  3780;  (7) 
Maraghat,  area,  342  square  miles;  1846  houses;  pop.  11,873;  (&) 
Mainaguri,  area,  309  square  miles;  8134  houses;  pop.  44,416;  (9) 
Chengmari,  area,  146  square  miles;  903  houses;  pop.  5138.  Total 
area  (1870),  1862  square  miles ;  14,794  houses ;  pop.  90,063.  Later 
returns  give  the  area  at  1880  square  miles. 


Eastern  DwAn. — Tract  of  country  in  Goilpira  District,  Assam. — 
See  Dwars,  Eastern. 

Eastern  Gh&t& — Mountain  range  extending  along  the  Eastern 
coast  of  India. — See  Ghats. 

Edar. — The  principal  Rijput  State  of  the  Mihi  Kinta  Agency  in 
Guzerat  (Gujarit),  under  the  political  superintendence  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Bombay ;  bounded  on  the  north  by  Sirohi  (Sirohee)  and  Udii- 
pur  (Oodeypore),  on  the  east  by  Diingarpur,  and  on  the  south  and  west 
by  the  territories  of  the  Bombay  Presidency  and  the  Giekwir  of  Baroda. 
Estimated  pop.  (1875),  217,382;  estimated  gross  revenue,  including  transit 
does,  ,£60,000.  The  exact  area  of  the  State  has  not  been  ascertained, 
but  the  area  of  land  under  cultivation  is  estimated  at  200,000  acres.  Soil 
generally  fertile ;  in  some  places  it  is  of  a  light  sandy  nature,  in  others 
rich  and  black ;  towards  the  north  and  north-eastern  parts  near  the  hills, 
poor  and  stony.  A  peculiar  feature  of  the  country  is  the  abundance  of 
mkud,  mango,  khirmy  and  other  fruit  trees.  The  jungle  in  some  parts, 
particularly  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  is  very  thick  and  intersected  with 
ravines.  Principal  products — grains,  oil-seeds,  sugar-cane;  manu- 
factures—-opium,  and  a  small  quantity  of  country  soap.  There  are 
quarries  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ahmednagar,  and  the  stone  is  used 
for  building  purposes. 

The  greater  part  of  the  population  are  Kolis,  the  remainder  consists 
of  Rijputs,  Brdhmans,  Banias,  Kiimbis,  etc  The  present  ruling  family, 
though  Rijputs  of  the  most  ancient  lineage,  only  arrived  in  Edar  at  a 
comparatively  recent  date.  Tradition  relates  that  the  original  sovereigns 
of  Edar,  as  in  most  of  the  rest  of  Guzerat,  were  Bhalsdr  Kolis.  The 
last  chief  of  this  tribe  was  named  Sambla.  Being  a  debauched  and 
vicious  man,  his  ministers  conspired  against  him,  and  invited  Rio 
Sonag  of  Simatra,  the  ancestor  of  the  Rios  of  Pol,  to  their  aid.  This 
chief  killed  Sambla,  and  took  possession  of  his  territory.  About  twelve 
generations  of  this  family  are  reckoned  to  the  expulsion  of  Jagannith, 


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198  EDAR  STATE. 

the  last  Rdo  of  Edar,  in  1656,  by  Murad  Baksh,  at  that  time  the 
Subahddr  of  Guzerat  A  Desai  or  Deputy  was  afterwards  placed  in 
charge  of  Edar  for  some  years.  In  1729,  Anand  Sinh  and  Rii  Sinh, 
two  brothers  of  the  Rajd  of  Jodhpur,  accompanied  by  a  few  horsemen 
from  Vamo  and  Pdlanpur  and  the  Kolis  of  Godwdra,  established 
themselves  in  Edar  without  much  difficulty.  This  family  is  the  last 
that  effected  a  settlement  in  Guzerat  by  conquest.  They  are  said  to 
have  acted  under  an  order  from  Delhi ;  but  the  truth  seems  to  be,  that 
they  were  tempted  by  the  state  of  the  country,  and  most  likely  assisted 
by  the  Mdrwdr  princes,  who  at  that  period  held  the  SubahdaH  of 
Ahmeddbdd.  The  Edar  principality  consisted  of  the  districts  of  Edar, 
Ahmednagar,  Morasa,  Bdad,  Harsol,  Pardntij,  and  Vizapur,  to  which 
five  other  districts  were  rendered  tributary.  Some  years  after  the  con- 
quest, at  the  instigation  of  the  Desai  above  mentioned,  who  appears 
to  have  been  displaced  by  the  Mirwaris,  an  officer  in  the  service  of 
Damdjf  Gaekwar,  named  Bachajf  Duvajf,  was  despatched  on  the  part 
of  the  Peshwd  to  take  possession  of  Edar.  This  he  accomplished 
with  the  aid  of  the  Rahwdr  Rajputs,  the  servants  of  the  late  Rio. 
Anand  Sinh  was  killed  about  1753 ;  and  Bachdji,  after  leaving  a  detach- 
ment behind,  returned  to  Ahmeddbdd.  Rai  Sinh,  however,  collected  a 
force,  and  again  obtained  possession  of  Edar.  Seo  Sinh,  son  of  Anand 
Sinh,  now  became  ruler  under  the  guardianship  of  his  uncle  Rdi  Sinh, 
who  died  in  1766.  During  the  rule  of  Seo  Sinh,  the  State  was 
stripped,  by  the  Peshwd,  of  Pardntij,  Vizdpur,  and  half  of  the  three 
districts  of  Morasa,  Baad,  and  Harsol,  which  districts  were  afterwards 
ceded  by  the  Peshwd  to  the  British  Government  The  other  half  of  the 
Edar  territories  fell  to  the  Gdekwar,  who  contented  himself  with  the 
exaction  of  a  share  of  the  annual  revenues,  which  at  the  settlement  of 
181 2  was  fixed  in  perpetuity  at  Rs.  24,001  (say  ^2400)  for  Edar,  and 
Rs.  8952  (say  ^895)  for  Ahmednagar.  Seo  Sinh  died  in  1791, 
leaving  five  sons,  the  eldest  of  whom,  Bhawan  Sinh,  succeeded  him,  but 
died  in  a  few  days,  leaving  the  State  to  his  son  Gambhir  Sinh,  a  boy  of 
ten  years.  Dissensions  in  the  family  now  arose,  which  resulted  in  the 
temporary  dismemberment  of  Edar.  Sugram  Sinh,  second  son  of  Seo 
Sinh,  who  had  received  Ahmednagar  from  his  father  in  feudal  grant, 
assumed  independence ;  and  with  his  assistance  Zalim  Sinh  and  Amir 
Sinh,  two  other  sons  of  Seo  Sinh,  after  a  long  struggle  possessed  them- 
selves respectively  of  Morasa  and  Baad  during  Gambhir  Sinh's  minority. 
Indra  Sinh,  the  fifth  son  of  Seo  Sinh,  who  was  blind,  received  Sur 
and  three  other  villages  for  his  support  Sugram  Sinh,  chief  of  Ahmed- 
nagar, died  in  1798,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Kuran  Sinh*  Zalim 
Sinh  of  Morasa  died  childless  in  1806,  and  his  appanage  ought  to  have 
lapsed  to  Edar.  His  widow,  however,  was  allowed  by  the  Gdekwar  to 
adopt  Pratdp  Sinh,  Kurun  Sinh's  brother,  on  whose  death,  in    1821, 

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EDAR  TOWN—EDWARDESABAD.  199 

Morasa  was  united  with  Ahmednagar.  On  the  death  of  Amir  Sinh  of 
Baad  without  children,  the  reversion  was  claimed  both  by  Edar  and 
Ahmednagar.  The  chief  of  Ahmednagar,  Kuran  Sinh,  died  in  1835, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Takht  Sinh,  who  was  elected  ruler  of  the 
State  of  Jodhpur  in  1843.  On  his  removal  to  Jodhpur,  he  still  claimed 
the  right  to  retain  Ahmednagar  in  his  family;  but  in  1848,  the  British 
Government  decided  that  Ahmednagar  should  revert  to  Edar,  and  with 
h  Morasa  and  Bdad. 

Mahdrdjd  Juwin  Sinh,  a  Knight  Commander  of  the  Star  of  India,  and 
a  member  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  Bombay,  died  in  1868,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Keshri  Sinhjf,  the  present  Mahdrdj£,  who  was 
bom  in  1 86 1.  He  is  a  Kijput  of  the  Rahtor  clan  and  the  Joda  family. 
He  exercises  first-class  jurisdiction,  having  power  to  inflict  capital 
punishment  He  holds  a  sanad  giving  him  the  right  of  adoption, 
and  is  entitled  to  a  salute  of  15  guns.  There  are  many  relatives  of 
the  Mahlrdjd  and  feudal  chiefs  whose  ancestors  helped  to  secure  the 
country  for  the  present  dynasty,  and  who  now  enjoy  large  estates  on 
service  tenures.  The  revenues  of  the  State  are  shared  by  the  Rdjd  with 
these  feudal  chiefs.  In  1875,  out  of  a  total  gross  revenue  of  ^60,000, 
it  was  estimated  that  only  ^25,000  was  received  by  the  central  authority. 
The  Mahdrijd  receives  ^1914  annually  from  several  chiefs  in  the  M£hi 
Kanta,  and  pays  ^3034  as  tribute  to  the  Gdekwdr  of  Baroda.  The 
chiefs  subordinate  to  Edar  hold  their  estates  on  condition  of  military 
service,  the  quota  being  3  horsemen  for  every  ;£ioo  of  revenue.  The 
actual  force  maintained  by  them  amounts  to  about  568  cavalry,  and 
the  same  number  of  infantry,  all  undisciplined. 

Edar.— -Chief  town  of  the  State  of  the  same  name  in  Guzerat,  Bombay, 
kt-  23°  50'  n.,  long.  730  4'  e.  ;  64  miles  north-east  of  Ahmeddbdd. 
The  town  is  traditionally  known  as  Ildiirg. 

Eddaw&na. — Village  in  Malabar  District,  Madras;  situated  in  lat, 
n°  59'  45"  n.,  and  long.  750  45'  50"  e.,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Beypore 
(Bepur)  river,  at  the  head  of  its  navigable  course,  and  8  miles  above 
Aria*kod    Houses,  820;  pop.  (1871),  4471. 

EdwardeB&b&d  (or  Dhulipnagar), — Municipal  town,  cantonment, 
and  administrative  headquarters  of  Bannu  District,  Punjab.  Pop.  ( 1 868), 
3176.  Situated  in  lat.  320  59'  45"  n.,  and  long.  700  38'  51"  e.,  near 
the  north-west  corner  of  the  District,  1  mile  south  of  the  river  Kuram, 
and  89  miles  north  of  Deri  Ismiil  KMn.  Founded  in  1848  by  Major 
(afterwards  Sir  Herbert)  Edwardes,  who  selected  the  site  for  political 
reasons.  The  fort,  erected  at  the  same  time,  bore  the  name  of 
Dhulipgarh,  in  honour  of  the  young  Mahirdjd  of  Lahore ;  and  the 
te&ir  was  also  known  as  Dhulfpnagar.  A  town  gradually  grew  up 
around  the  cantonment,  and  many  Hindu  traders  removed  hither  from 
the  village  of  B£zax  Ahmad  Khdn,  which  formed  the  commercial  centre 


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200  EGATPURA—ELEPHANTA  ISLAND. 

of  the  Bannu  valley  prior  to  the  annexation.  The  main  bdzdr  consists 
of  a  wide  and  handsome  roadway,  and  contains  a  fine  market-place.  A 
mud  wall  runs  round  the  town,  within  which  lie  the  tahsili  and  police 
office.  The  civil  station,  to  the  west  of  the  fort,  includes  the  court- 
house, treasury,  jail,  sardi,  staging  bungalow,  dispensary,  mounted  police 
lines,  and  post  office.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  supports  a 
small  church  and  a  school-house.  The  cantonment  centres  round  the 
fort  of  Dhulipnagar,  which  possesses  quarters  for  two  infantry  regi- 
ments ;  outside  the  fortifications  are  lines  for  a  cavalry  regiment  and  a 
field  battery  of  artillery.  The  profuse  irrigation  and  insufficient  drainage 
of  the  surrounding  fields  render  Edwardes£b£d  a  swampy  and  unhealthy 
station ;  and  the  troops  in  cantonments  suffer  greatly  from  malarious 
fevers  and  prostration.  The  town  has  a  considerable  trade,  embracing 
the  whole  traffic  in  local  produce  of  the  Bannu  valley.  A  weekly  fair 
collects  an  average  number  of  2000  buyers  and  sellers.  Chief  articles  of 
trade — cloth,  live  stock,  wool,  cotton,  tobacco,  and  grain.  Municipal 
revenue  in  1875-76,  ^1x15,  or  5s.  8£d.  per  head  of  population  (3900) 
within  municipal  limits. 

Egatpora  (or  Egutpoora), — Town  in  Nasik  District,  Bombay. — See 
Igatpuri. 

Egmore. — Quarter  of  Madras  Town. 

EkamM. — Village  in  Purniah  District,  Bengal.  Lat.  25°  58'  n.9 
long.  870  36'  30"  e.  One  of  the  chief  seats  of  commerce  in  the  District, 
with  trade  in  agricultural  products,  spices,  piece-goods,  hides,  etc 
carried  on  at  permanent  markets.     Large  annual  fair  held  in  February. 

Eklaspnr. — Town  in  Shihdbid  District,  Bengal.    Pop.  (1872),  2441* 

Ekw&ri— Town  in  ShiMWd  District,  BengaL     Pop.  (1872),  2661. 

ElattLr. — River  of  Madras;  rises  in  the  mountains  west  of  the 
Tambur  Cherri  Pass,  in  lat  n*  30'  o"  n.,  and  long.  75*  56'  o"  e.,  and, 
after  a  devious  course  of  30  miles  through  Malabar  District,  flows  into 
the  extensive  backwater  which  communicates  with  the  sea  at  Elatiir, 
in  lat  n°  20'  30"  n.,  and  long.  75°  45'  45"  e.  Near  this  place  are 
several  islets  whence  fine  views  of  the  Wainid  Mountains  are  obtained ; 
it  is  a  favourite  resort  of  the  residents  of  Calicut 

Elavtoisanandal  (Iliyarasainendat). — Group  of  agricultural  hamlets 
in  Tinnevelli  District,  Madras.  Lat  9°  12'  n.,  long.  77°  50'  e. 
Pop.  (187 1),  14,803  ;  number  of  houses,  3452. 

Elephanta  (called  by  the  natives  Ghdrdpurt). — An  island  on  the 
Bombay  coast,  situated  in  lat  18°  57'  n.,  and  long.  73°  e.,  about  6  miles 
from  Bombay  City  and  4  from  the  shore  of  the  mainland.  The  island 
measures  from  4  to  4  J  miles  in  circumference,  and  consists  of  two 
long  hills  separated  by  a  narrow  valley.  It  was  named  Elephanta  by 
the  Portuguese,  from  a  large  stone  elephant  which  stood  near  the 
old  landing-place  on  the  south  side  of  the  island.    This  elephant  was 


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ELEPHANTA  ISLAND.  201 

13  feet  2  inches  in  length,  and  about  7  feet  4  inches  high ;  but  its  head 
and  neck  dropped  off  in  1814,  and  subsequently  the  body  sank  down 
into  a  shapeless  mass  of  stones,  which  were,  in  1864,  removed  to  the 
Victoria  Gardens  in  Bombay.  Near  the  point  where  the  two  hills 
approach  each  other,  and  not  far  to  the  south-east  of  the  Great  Cave, 
once  stood  the  stone  statue  of  a  horse,  described  by  an  early  writer  as 
being  '  so  lively,  with  such  a  colour  and  carriage,  and  the  shape  finisht 
with  that  Exactness,  that  many  have  rather  fancyed  it,  at  a  distance,  a 
living  Animal,  than  only  a  bare  Representation.'  This  statue  has 
disappeared.  The  landing-place  is  now  on  the  north-west  of  the  island. 
Steam  launches  or  sailing  boats,  which  can  be  hired  at  the  Apollo 
Bunder,  Bombay,  run  to  Elephanta  in  about  an  hour;  and  a  small  steamer 
can  lie  alongside  the  pier  which  has  been  built  at  the  landing-place. 

The  island  is  greatly  resorted  to  by  visitors  to  the  far-famed  rock 
caves.  Of  these  wonderful  excavations,  four  are  complete  or  nearly  so ; 
a  fifth  is  a  large  cave  now  much  filled  up,  with  only  rough  masses  of 
stone  left  to  support  the  roof;  and  a  sixth  is  merely  the  beginning  of 
the  front  of  what  seems  to  have  been  intended  for  a  very  small  excava- 
tion—possibly two  or  three  cells  for  recluses.  The  most  important  and 
most  frequently  visited  of  these  rock-temples  is  the  Great  Cave,  which 
is  situated  in  the  western  or  larger  of  the  two  hills  of  the  island,  at  an 
elevation  of  about  250  feet  above  high-water  leveL  The  entrance  is 
reached  by  a  winding  path  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  length  from 
the  landing-place.  The  cave  faces  the  north,  and  is  entirely  hewn 
out  of  a  hard  compact  variety  of  trap  rock.  From  the  front  entrance 
to  the  back  it  measures  about  130  feet,  and  its  length  from  the  east 
to  the  west  entrance  is  the  same.  It  does  not,  however,  occupy  the 
entire  square  of  this  area.  What  may  be  called  the  porticoes  or  the 
three  open  sides,  are  only  about  54  feet  long  and  i6£  feet  deep. 
Omitting  these  and  the  back  aisle,  immediately  in  front  of  three  of  the 
principal  sculptured  compartments,  which  is  of  about  the  same  dimen- 
sions as  each  portico,  we  may  consider  the  body  of  the  cave  as  a  square 
of  about  91  feet  each  way,  supported  by  6  rows  of  columns  with  6 
columns  in  each  row,  except  at  the  corners,  where  the  uniformity  is 
broken  on  the  west  side  to  make  room  for  the  shrine  or  sacellum,  which 
occupies  a  space  equal  to  that  enclosed  by  four  of  the  columns. 
There  were  originally  26  columns,  with  16  half-columns ;  but  8  of  the 
separate  pillars  have  been  destroyed,  and  others  are  much  injured. 
As  neither  the  floor  nor  the  roof  are  perfectly  horizontal,  they  vary  in 
height  from  15  to  17  feet  The  most  striking  of  the  sculptures  is  the 
famous  colossal  three-faced  bust,  or  trlmurtt\  at  the  back  of  the  cave, 
facing  the  entrance.  This  is  a  representation  of  Siva  in  his  threefold 
character  of  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Destroyer;  and  all  the  other 
sculptures  relate  to  the  same  god,  the  cave  being,  like  all  the  other 


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202  ELEPHANTA  ISLAND, 

Hindu  rock  temples  of  Western  India,  a  Sivaite  one.  The  trimurti 
is  17  feet  10  inches  in  height;  and  a  line  drawn  round  the  three 
heads  at  the  level  of  the  eyes  measures  22  feet  9  inches  in  length. 
The  length  of  the  middle  face  is  4  feet  4  inches ;  those  of  the  others, 
4  feet  1  inch  and  about  5  feet.  In  1865,  this  unique  bust  was 
mutilated  by  some  *  barbarian  clothed  in  the  garb'  of  civilisation,'  who 
broke  off  a  portion  of  the  noses  of  two  of  the  faces ;  and  since  then 
some  of  the  other  sculptures  in  the  temple  have  been  similarly  treated, 
so  that  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  place  a  sergeant  and  two  native 
policemen  to  protect  the  cave.  The  trimurti  is  guarded  by  two  gigantic 
dwdrapdlas  or  doorkeepers  of  rock,  respectively  12  feet  9  inches, 
and  13  feet  6  inches  high ;  both  figures  are  much  defaced.  The  Linga 
chapel,  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the  temple  on  entering,  contains 
several  dwdrapdlas  and  other  figures ;  and  two  compartments  on  either 
side  of  the  trlmurti>  are  also  ornamented  with  numerous  sculptured 
groups.  There  are  several  other  compartments  in  the  Great  Cave,  all 
containing  interesting  sculptures,  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  give 
even  a  bare  list  in  the  limits  here  available.  The  reader  who  desires 
to  pursue  the  subject  cannot  do  better  than  consult  the  lucid  and 
exhaustive  account  of  Mr.  Burgess  (The  Rock  Temples  of  EUphania  or 
Ghdrdpuri,  Bombay,  187 1),  from  which  this  article  is  chiefly  condensed. 
1  The  impression  on  the  mind,'  writes  Mr.  Burgess,  *  may  be  imagined 
rather  than  described,  when  one  enters  the  portico  [of  the  Great  Cave], 
passing  from  the  glare  and  heat  of  tropical  sunshine  to  the  dim  light 
and  cool  air  of  the  temple,  and  realizes  that  he  is  under  a  vast  roof  of 
solid  rock,  that  seems  to  be  supported  only  by  the  ranges  of  massive 
columns  that  recede  in  the  vistas  on  every  side,  some  of  which 
appear  to  have  split  or  fallen  under  the  tremendous  superincumbent 
weight.  And  the  feeling  of  strange  uncertain  awe  that  creeps  over  the 
mind  is  only  prolonged  when  in  the  obscure  light  we  begin  to  con- 
template the  gigantic  stony  figures  ranged  along  the  walls  from  which 
they  seem  to  start,  and  from  the  living  rock  of  which  they  are  hewn.' 

The  Second  Cave,  which  is  situated  a  short  distance  to  the  south-east 
of  the  Great  Temple,  faces  east-north-east,  and  is  109 \  feet  in  length, 
including  the  chapel  at  the  north  end.  The  facade,  which  was  nearly 
80  feet  in  length,  is  completely  destroyed,  and  the  cave  is  so  full  of 
d'ebris  and  so  ruined  by  water  that  no  proper  estimate  can  now  be 
formed  of  the  appearance  it  originally  represented.  It  contains  at 
present  only  one  sculptured  group.  At  the  south  end  of  the  portico  of 
this  cave  is  a  large  block  of  rock  not  hewn  away,  above  which  is  a  hole 
through  a  thin  partition  of  rock  into  one  of  the  cells  of  the  Third  Rock 
Temple  The  entrance  to  it,  however,  is  a  little  to  the  south.  This 
cave  is  in  an  even  more  dilapidated  condition  than  the  second.  The 
Fourth  Temple,  now  known  to  the  natives  as  'Sfti  BaTs  Dewila,'  is 


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ELLENABAD—ELLICHPUR  DISTRICT.  203 

situated  on  the  other  hill  of  the  island,  and  about  100  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  Great  Cave  It  is  in  better  preservation  than  those  last 
mentioned,  and  had  formerly  a  beautiful  gate  with  a  marble  porch  of 
exquisite  workmanship ;  but  these  have  now  disappeared. 

Sufficient  data  do  not  exist  to  enable  us  to  fix,  with  anything  like 
precision,  the  date  of  the  Elephanta  Caves.  An  absurd  tradition 
attributes  them  to  Alexander  the  Great,  and  many  not  less  unreasonable 
conjectures  have  been  hazarded  regarding  them.  Mr.  Fergusson  con- 
cludes (for  reasons  for  which  the  reader  is  referred  to  his  Rock-cut 
Temples  of  India)  that  the  Great  Temple  was  excavated  in  the  10th 
century  of  our  era;  but  Mr.  Burgess,  while  admitting  that  there  are 
grounds  for  this  conclusion,  is  inclined  to  attribute  them  to  the  latter 
part  of  the  8th  or  to  the  9th  century. 

The  Great  Temple  is  still  used  on  Sivaite  festivals,  and  specially  by 
Hindus  of  the  Banian  caste;  and  at  the  Stvar&tri,  the  greatest  of 
the  Sivaite  festivals,  just  before  the  first  new  moon  falling  after  the 
middle  of  February,  a  religious  fair  is  held  here.  The  view  from  the 
front  of  the  great  cave  is  very  beautiful ;  and  from  the  site  of  an  old 
bungalow,  not  far  from  the  porch,  a  fine  prospect  is  commanded  of 
Bombay  harbour,  with  Butcher  Island  in  the  foreground. 

Hleniib&d. — Municipal  town  in  Sfrsa  District,  Punjab ;  situated  in 
lat  290  26'  n.,  and  long.  75°  54'  e.,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ghaggar,  23 
miles  west  of  Sfrsa.  Pop.  (1868),  3414.  Founded  in  1865  by  Mr. 
Oliver,  Deputy  Commissioner.  Has  great  facilities,  as  a  frontier  town, 
for  trade  with  M£rw£r,  and  merchants  have  settled  on  the  spot  in  con- 
siderable numbers.  Export  and  import  traffic  in  country  produce  and 
salt  with  the  towns  of  Bfkaner  (Bickaneer)  State.  Manufacture  of 
coarse  woollen  cloth.  Police  outpost;  dispensary.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Ghaggar  lie  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  town  of  Kharidl. 
Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^304,  or  is.  iod.  per  head  of  population 
(3293)  within  municipal  limits. 

EDichpnr  (Ilichpur). — A  British  District  in  the  Commissionership 
of  East  Berar,  within  the  Haidaribid  Assigned  Districts,  lying  between 
2o°  50'  30"  and  210  46'  30"  n.  lat,  and  between  760  40'  and  770  54'  e. 
long.  Area  (Parliamentary  return  for  1878),  2623  square  miles;  pop. 
(Parliamentary  return  revised  from  Census  of  1867),  278,576;  nine- 
tenths  Hindus.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Tdpti  river,  and  Betul 
and  Chindwdra  Districts  of  the  Central  Provinces ;  on  the  east  by  the 
Wardha  river ;  on  the  south  by  Amrdoti  District ;  and  on  the  west  by 
Nimar  and  Akola. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  entire  northern  half  of  Ellichpur  consists  of 
a  succession  of  hills  and  valleys  known  as  the  Melghdt  or  Gdwilgarh 
Hills,  a  section  of  the  Sitpura  Mountains.  The  main  ridge  or  water- 
shed of  the  Sdtpuras  runs  through  the  District  from  east  to  west, 


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204  ELLICHPUR  DISTRICT. 

attaining  its  greatest  elevation  at  Bairat,  3987  feet  above  sea  leveL 
The  southern  portion  of  the  District  is  flat,  and  drained  by  numerous 
small  streams  flowing  into  the  Wardha  and  Puma  rivers.  The  only 
metalled  road  is  that  from  Amraoti  to  Ellichpur ;  but  there  are  several 
other  country  roads  and  fair-weather  tracks  from  village  to  village 
passable  for  eight  months  in  the  year.  In  the  hill  country,  the  chief 
passes  are  Mallara  on  the  east,  and  Diilghat  and  Bingara  on  the  west, 
none  of  which,  however,  are  practicable  for  wheeled  vehicles. 

Agriculture  and  Commerce. — The  principal  agricultural  products  are 
rice  and  wheat  (of  excellent  quality),  gram,  pulses,  and  oil-seeds ;  and 
these,  together  with  ghi  and  forest  timber,  comprise  the  chief  exports 
of  the  District  The  imports  are  mainly  English  and  country  cloth, 
iron  and  copper  utensils,  tobacco,  salt,  sugar,  etc 

As  regards  physical  aspects  and  economic  conditions,  the  Melghat, 
or  Upper  Tract,  forms  the  most  interesting  part  of  Ellichpur  District, 
and  will  be  dealt  with  separately. 

History. — The  History  of  the  District  centres  in  Ellichpur  town, 
which  formed  an  important  nucleus  of  Muhammadan  influence  in  the 
Deccan.  Tradition  asserts  that  the  city  was  founded  by  Raja  H,  a 
Jain,  who  came  from  Khanjima  Nagar,  near  Wadgdon,  about  1058  A.a 
Whatever  may  be  the  date  of  its  foundation,  the  town  certainly  holds 
no  mean  rank  among  the  ancient  historical  cities  of  India,  and  during 
a  short  period  it  was  a  well-known  capital.  It  lost  most  of  its  local 
importance  from  the  time  when  the  first  Nizam-ul-Mulk  became  supreme 
ruler  in  the  Deccan,  and  the  city  was  placed  under  a  viceroy  or  governor. 
The  first  governor  appointed  was  Ewaz  Khan,  who  ruled  five  years — 
from  1724  to  1728 — and  was  succeeded  by  Siijayat  Khan  (1729  to 
1740),  who  quarrelled  with  Raghojf  Bhonsli,  fought  with  him  near 
Bhiigaon,  and  was  killed  in  the  battle.  The  Ellichpur  treasury  on  that 
occasion  was  plundered  by  the  victor.  Sharif  Khan  next  succeeded, 
and  held  office  from  1741  to  1752.  He  claimed  equality  with  the 
Nizam,  who  consequently  deposed  him.  The  Nizam's  son,  All  Jah 
Bahadur,  was  then  appointed  governor,  but  he  administered  by  deputy, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Salabat  Khan,  who,  though  he  only  remained 
two  years  at  Ellichpur,  did  much  to  improve  the  city.  He  enlarged 
the  palace,  made  a  great  public  Bagh,  and  extended  the  ancient  water- 
channeL  He  was  a  brave  soldier,  and  on  the  war  breaking  out  between 
the  Nizam  and  Tipii  Sultin,  he  was  ordered  to  join  the  army,  and 
distinguished  himself  there,  and  afterwards  at  the  battle  of  Kardla,  also 
with  General  Wellesley's  army  in  1803.  Namdar  Khan,  son  of  Salabat 
Khan,  received,  besides  hkjdgir  of  2  Idkhs  of  rupees  (^20,000),  another 
of  like  value  at  Ellichpur,  and  managed  his  estate  under  the  title  of 
Nawab  until  his  death  in  1843.  He  is  said  to  have  been  placed  specially 
under  the  protection  of  General  Wellesley  by  his  father,  and  he  received 

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ELLICHPUR  TOWN.  205 

a  jdgir  for  the  payment  of  the  Ellichpur  brigade.  After  some  years, 
getting  into  arrears,  he  gave  up  the  greater  part  of  his  jdgir,  merely 
retaining  a  rental  of  3^  Idkhs  (^3500).  Nimdir  Khan  was  succeeded 
by  his  nephew,  Ibrahim  Khan,  who  lived  till  1846,  when  his  widow's 
father,  Gholam  Hassan,  was  allowed  to  inherit  the  estate  and  the  title  of 
Nawab,  on  payment  of  a  nazardna  of  7  lakhs.  This  sum  he  borrowed 
of  a  local  banker,  at  whose  suit  the  palace,  with  other  property  of  the 
Nawab  at  Ellichpur,  is  now  under  attachment  In  1853,  the  District 
was  assigned  to  the  British  with  the  rest  of  Berar. 

From  the  time  that  the  Nizim-ul-Mulk  declared  his  independence, 
the  history  of  Ellichpur  was  intimately  connected  with  that  of  the 
family  of  Shidi  Khan  and  Nasfb  Khin,  two  Pathin  zaminddrs,  who 
originally  came  from  Jaipur  (Jeypore)  to  Haidaribid  (Hyderabad)  as 
horse  dealers ;  and  there  attracting  the  notice  of  the  Nizim,  Nisir  Jang, 
rose  to  high  importance.  From  their  descendants  the  governors  of 
Ellichpur  were  generally  chosen;  of  these,  Ismail  Khin,  Salibat  Khin, 
Ballal  Khin,  Nimdir  Khin,  and  Ibrahim  Khin  were  governors  of 
Ellichpur,  Nimdir  Khin  receiving  the  title  of  Nawib. 

Hlichpur.  —  Chief  town  and  municipality  of  Ellichpur  District, 
Berar.  Lat  21°  15'  30"  n.,  long.  770  29'  30"  e.  ;  pop.,  according 
to  Census  of  1867,  27,782 ;  within  municipal  limits  (1876-77),  27,047. 
Ellichpur  was  once  a  great  and  prosperous  city,  and  is  said  to  have 
contained  40,000  houses.  It  is  not  on  any  line  of  traffic,  nor  is  it  the 
centre  of  any  particular  trade,  but  it  was  the  capital  of  a  local  Govern- 
ment until  the  first  Nizim,  throwing  off  his  dependence  on  Delhi, 
became  supreme  ruler  of  the  Deccan.  Ellichpur  was  then  placed  under 
a  viceroy  or  governor,  and  from  this  time  it  declined  rapidly.  The  town 
contains  several  interesting  buildings.  The  dargdh  or  burial  shrine, 
in  memory  of  Dalla  Rihman,  built  400  years  ago  by  one  of  the 
Bahmani  kings,  on  the  bank  of  the  Bichan  river,  has  a  spacious 
chabutra  or  masonry  platform,  1 1  bastions,  and  4  gates,  and  is  endowed 
by  the  State.  The  extensive  palace,  built  by  Salibat  Khin  and  Ismail 
Khan,  and  afterwards  added  to  by  Nimdir  Khin,  has  some  good  carving 
and  stonework,  but  is  rapidly  falling  to  ruin.  Some  of  the  tombs  of 
the  Nawibs,  commenced  by  Salibat  Khin  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago, 
are  very  handsome.  A  detached  fort,  'Sultan  Garni,'  built  more  than 
a  hundred  years  ago  by  Sultan  Khin,  and  a  very  fine  well  (said  to  be 
500  years  old)  called  Mamdel  Shih,  built  of  stone  finely  cut,  are  also 
worthy  of  notice.  An  English-Marathf  school  is  maintained,  and  also 
a  school  for  females.  Police  stations,  dispensary,  etc.  Municipal 
revenue  in  1876-77,  ^1007 ;  incidence  of  taxation,  7^d.  per  head  of 
population  within  municipal  limits. 

About  2  miles  from  the  city,  on  the  Sipan  and  Bichan  streams,  lies 
Paratwara,  the  military  cantonment  and  civil  station.     A  force  of  all 


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206  ELLORA  TOWN. 

arms  is  generally  stationed  here.  The  cantonment  is  well  laid  out; 
the  hills  in  the  background  give  it  an  attractive  appearance,  but  the 
site  is  low,  and  it  lies  too  near  the  hills  to  be  healthy.  A  police  station 
and  reserve  guard  are  located  in  the  bdx&r.  English  school  and  two 
others  in  the  bdxdr — one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls.  A  Government 
garden  has  also  been  formed  Small  cause  court,  cantonment  and  other 
courts.  The  population  varies  with  the  strength  of  the  troops;  in 
1876-77,  the  total  was  12,319,  of  whom  about  1000  were  military, 
exclusive  of  camp  followers. 

EUora  (Eluru  or  Vend). — Town  in  the  Nizam's  Dominions,  Deccan. 
Lat  200  2'  n.,  long.  75 °  13'  e.  Distant  from  Aurangabad  13  miles, 
from  Daulatabdd  7  miles.  Famous  for  its  rock  caves  and  temples. 
These  contain,  besides  the  symbols  of  Sanskrit  mythology  and  statues 
of  the  Hindu  deities,  several  Jain  and  Buddhist  objects  of  worship. 

4  The  caves,'  writes  Mr.  Burgess,  the  Archaeological  Surveyor  to  the 
Government  of  Bombay, '  are  excavated  in  the  face  of  a  hill,  or  rather  the 
scarp  of  a  large  plateau,  and  run  nearly  north  and  south  for  about  a 
mile  and  a  quarter,  the  scarp  at  each  end  of  this  interval  throwing  out 
a  horn  towards  the  west.  It  is  where  the  scarp  at  the  south  end  begins 
to  turn  to  the  west  that  the  earliest  caves — a  group  of  Buddhistic  ones 
— are  situated ;  and  in  the  north  horn  is  the  Indra  Sabha  or  Jain  group, 
the  other  extremity  of  the  series.  The  ascent  of  the  g/idt  passes  up 
the  south  side  of  Kailas,  the  third  of  the  Brahmanical  group,  and  over 
the  roof  of  the  Das  Avatira,  the  second  of  them.  Sixteen  caves  lie 
to  the  south  of  Kailas,  and  nearly  as  many  to  the  north,  but  the  latter 
are  scattered  over  a  greater  distance. 

*  Most  of  the  caves  have  got  distinguishing  names  from  the  local 
Brdhmans,  but  it  may  be  quite  as  convenient,  for  the  sake  of  reference, 
to  number  them  from  south  to  north,  beginning  with  the  Buddhist 
caves,  of  which  there  are  twelve,  and  passing  through  the  Brihmanical 
series,  of  which  seventeen  are  below  the  brow  of  the  scarp,  and  a  large 
number  of  smaller  ones  above,  and  ending  with  the  Jain  ones,  of  which 
there  are  five  at  the  extreme  north.  There  are  also  some  cells  and  a 
colossal  Jain  image  on  the  north  side  of  the  same  spur  in  which  is  the 
Indra  SabhaV 

The  chief  building,  called  the  Kailas — a  perfect  Dravidian  temple, 
complete  in  all  its  parts  —  is  characterised  by  Fergusson  {History 
of  Indian  and  Eastern  Architecture^  p.  334)  as  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  and  interesting  monuments  of  architectural  art  in  India.  *  Its 
beauty  and  singularity,'  continues  Mr.  Fergusson,  *  always  excited  the 
astonishment  of  travellers,  and  in  consequence  it  is  better  known  than 
almost  any  other  structure  in  that  country  from  the  numerous  views 
and  sketches  of  it  that  have  been  published.  ...  It  is  not  a  mere 
interior  chamber  cut  in  the  rock,  but  is  a  model  of  a  complete  temple 

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ELLORA  TOWN.  207 

such  as  might  have  been  erected  on  the  plain.  In  other  words,  the 
rock  has  been  cut  away  externally  as  well  as  internally. '  This  wonderful 
structure,  of  which  a  detailed  account  is  given  by  Fergusson  (loc.  cit.\ 
measures  138  feet  in  front;  the  interior  is  247  feet  in  length  by  150 
feet  in  breadth,  the  height  in  some  places  being  100  feet  This 
temple,  as  well  as  the  others  (which  are  also  described  by  Fergusson), 
is  said  to  have  been  built  (about  the  8th  century)  by  Raja  Edu  of 
EUichpur — by  whom  the  town  of  Ellora  was  founded — as  a  thank- 
offering  for  a  cure  effected  by  the  waters  of  a  spring  near  the  place. 

1  All  the  sculptures  and  the  whole  architectural  style  of  the  central 
temple,'  says  Mr.  Burgess,  the  Archaeological  Surveyor  of  Bombay, 
1  impress  me  with  the  conviction  that  it  is  later  than  the  Papanath  temple 
at  Pattadkal,  but  probably  earlier  than  the  great  Sivaite  temple  of 
Vinipakshideva  there.  It  has  at  one  time  all  been  painted  in  a  style 
befitting  its  elaborateness  of  sculpture.  This  painting  has  been  renewed 
again  and  again,  perhaps  in  a  continuous  succession  of  debased  styles, 
the  latest  certainly  poor  enough.  But  there  are  still  some  bits  in  the 
roof  of  the  porch,  of  two  or  three  successive  coatings,  that  would  com- 
pare favourably  even  among  many  of  the  Ajanta  paintings.  The  lofty 
basement  of  the  temple  is  of  itself  a  remarkable  conception,  with  its 
row  of  huge  elephants  and  s&rdulas  or  lions,  griffins,  etc.,  in  every 
possible  attitude,  tearing  one  another  or  feeding.  And  then  the  great 
hall  above,  with  its  sixteen  pillars  and  more  pilasters,  all  carved  with 
different  details  of  sculpture ;  its  balcony  porches  at  the  sides,  and 
double  pavilions  before  the  front  porch ;  its  vestibule  to  the  sanctuary, 
with  large  sculptures  on  each  side ;  and  its  five  shrines  round  the  out- 
side of  the  principal  one  and  on  the  same  platform,  all  testify  to  the 
attempt  made  to  rival  and  outdo  all  previous  temples  of  the  kind. 

'Dedicated  to  Siva,  it  is  surrounded  with  figures  also  of  Vishnu  and 
the  whole  Puranic  pantheon.  Its  sculptures  bear  testimony  to  the  pre- 
valence of  the  eclectic  Smartta  school.  The  interior,  and  parts  at  least, 
if  not  the  whole,  of  the  exterior,  have  been  plastered  over  and  painted, 
and,  where  this  has  not  very  long  ago  peeled  off,  has  had  the  effect  of 
preserving  the  stone  inside  from  the  smoke  of  wandering  jqgif  and 
travellers'  fires,  with  which  it  must  for  ages  have  been  saturated. 

'  Unlike  any  of  the  preceding  cave  temples,  Kailas  is  a  great  mono- 
lithic temple,  isolated  from  surrounding  rock,  and  carved  outside  as  well 
as  in.  It  stands  in  a  great  court  averaging  154  feet  wide  by  276  long 
at  the  level  of  the  base,  entirely  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  and  with  a 
scarp  107  feet  high  at  the  back.  In  front  of  this  court  a  curtain  has 
been  left,  carved  on  the  outside  with  the  monstrous  forms  of  Siva  and 
Vishnu  and  their  congeners,  and  with  rooms  inside  it.  It  is  pierced 
in  the  centre  by  an  entrance  passage  with  rooms  on  each  side.  Passing 
this,  the  visitor  is  met  by  a  large  sculpture  of  Lakshmi  over  the 


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208  ELLORE  TALUK  AND  TOWN. 

lotuses,  with  her  attendant  elephants.  There  are  some  letters  and  a 
date  on  the  leaves  of  the  lotus,  on  which  she  sits,  but  illegible,  and 
probably  belonging  to  the  15  th  century.  On  the  bases  of  the  pilasters 
on  each  side  have  been  inscriptions  in  characters  of  the  8th  century. 
As  we  enter,  to  right  and  left  is  the  front  portion  of  the  court,  which  is 
a  few  feet  lower  than  the  rest,  and  at  the  north  and  south  ends  of  which 
stand  two  gigantic  elephants, — that  on  the  south  much  mutilated. 
Turning  again  to  the  east  and  ascending  a  few  steps,  we  enter  the  great 
court  occupied  by  the  temple,  whose  base  measures  164  feet  from  east 
to  west,  by  109  feet  where  widest  from  north  to  south.  In  front  of  hy 
and  connected  by  a  bridge,  is  a  mandapa  for  the  Nandi,  and  on  each 
side  of  this  mandap  stands  a  pillar  or  dvajadand — "  ensign  staff" — 45  feet 
high,  or  with  what  remains  of  the  trisula  of  Siva  on  the  top,  a  total 
height  of  about  49  feet' 

Ellora  was  ceded  in  181 8  by  Holkir  to  the  British,  who  transferred  it 
to  the  Nizim,  in  1822,  by  the  treaty  of  Haidaritad  (Hyderabad). 

EUore  (Eluru). — Tdluk  of  GocUvari  District,  Madras.  Area,  729 
square  miles,  containing  250  villages  and  36,518  houses;  pop.  (1871), 
136,875,  including  128,606  Hindus  and  7996  Muhammadans.  No 
other  tdluk  of  the  District  contains  so  many  Musalmans,  The 
arable  land  amounts  to  91,877  acres,  paying  a  revenue  of  ^8213,  while 
other  sources  (water  cess,  quit-rent  on  estates,  eta)  raise  the  total 
revenue  to  ,£20,054.  The  canals  that  pass  through  the  tdluk  connect 
its  chief  town,  Ellore,  with  Rajimahendri  (Rajahmundry),  etc,  and 
besides  irrigating  the  tdluk,  afford  a  highway  for  the  export  of  various 
kinds  of  grain.     Much  of  the  tdluk  is  covered  with  jungle. 

EUore  (Eluru;  elu,  ruling — uru,  town). — Municipal  town  in  Godi- 
vari  District,  Madras.     Lat.  160  42'  35*  n.,  long,  8i°  9'  5*  e.  ;  houses, 
4253;    pop.   (1871),   25,487,   of  whom    20,253    are    Hindus,    5046 
Muhammadans,  and  188  Christians.    Situated  255  miles  north  of  Madras, 
on  the  Tammaler  river.    The  high-level  canal  from  Vij&hwaram  passes 
through  the  tdluk,  and  joins  the  Bezwara  canal  at  Ellore,  where  the 
waters  of  the  GocUvari  and  Kistna  unite.    As  the  headquarters  of  the 
tdluk,  it  possesses  the  usual  subordinate  magisterial  and  judicial  estab- 
lishments, police  station,  post  office,  school,  etc ;  also  the  station  of  the 
Assistant  Collector  and  an  executive  engineer.     Both  Church  Missionary 
and  Lutheran  missions  are  established  here.    The  municipal  income 
for  1875-76  was  ^769;  the  expenditure,  ^957;  and  the  incidence  of 
taxation,  about  2d.  per  head  of  the  population.    The  manufactures  of 
woollen  carpets  and  saltpetre  form  the  chief  industries.     Historically, 
Ellore  is  of  importance,  as  having  been  the  capital  of  the  Northern 
Circars.    Originally  portion  of  the  Vengi  kingdom,  it  probably  formed 
part  of  the  Orissa  conquests  till  1480,  when  it  was  occupied  by  the 
Muhammadans.     Under  the  supremacy  of  the  Yijayanagar  kingdom, 


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EMINABAD— ENGLISH  BAZAR.  209 

Ellore  became  once  more  Hindu;  but  early  in  the  16th  century  it  was 
captured  by  Kutab  Shah  of  Golconda,  by  whom  and  his  successors  it  was 
held  against  the  Rajputs  of  Rajamahendri  (Rajahmundry)  and  the  Reddis 
and  Kois  of  the  surrounding  country,  who  perpetually  harassed  the 
garrison,  until  the  Golconda  power  was  merged  in  the  Subah  of  the 
Deecan.  In  later  history,  Ellore  shared  in  the  vicissitudes  common  to  the 
other  Circars,  being  in  turn  possessed  by  native  princes,  the  French,  and 
finally  the  British.  (See  Northern  Circars.)  The  ruins  of  the  old 
fort,  built  from  the  Buddhist  remains  of  Vengi,  are  still  visible  on  the 
north  side  of  the  town ;  the  modern  barracks  now  form  the  offices  of 
the  Subdivisional  officer.  The  heat  here  is  remarkable,  even  for  so 
hot  a  District,  the  thermometer  rising  to  no°  in  the  shade. 

EmJU&b&d. — Municipal  town  in  Gujranwala  District,  Punjab.  Lies 
in  lat.  320  2  15"  n.,  and  long.  740  18'  e.,  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Road, 
9  miles  south  of  Gujranwala  town.  Pop.  (1868),  671 1,  being  1899 
Hindus,  4440  Muhammadans,  88  Sfkhs,  and  284  'others.'  Now  a  town 
of  small  importance,  but  perhaps  the  most  ancient  in  the  District;  con- 
tains some  fine  specimens  of  Muhammadan  architecture.  Residence 
of  a  leading  Kshattriya  family,  whose  members  include  Jawala  Lahai, 
minister  to  the  Maharaja  of  Jammu  (Jummoo)  (Kashmir),  and  the  late 
Diwan  Harf  Chind.  Trade  insignificant.  Considerable  annual  fair  in 
April,  17th  to  19th.  Municipal  revenue  (1875-76),  ^101,  or  3fd.  per 
head  of  population  (671 1)  within  municipal  limits. 

Eng-ga-btL — Revenue  circle  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma.  Towards  the  east,  the  country  is  low  and  liable  to 
inundation;  in  the  west  it  is  higher,  and  cultivated  with  rice.  Pop. 
(1876),  4736,  chiefly  engaged  in  fishing;  gross  revenue,  ^2600. 

Eng-gyengf.  —  Revenue  circle  in  Kyouk-hpyii  District,  Arakan 
Division,  British  Burma.  Area,  6  square  miles;  pop.  (1876-77),  791 ; 
gross  revenue,  £112. 

^"gliffh  B&2&T  (or  Angrazdbdd). — Chief  town,  civil  station,  and 
administrative  headquarters  of  Maldah  District,  Bengal.  Lat  25 °  o' 
14*  n.,  long.  88°  11'  20"  e.;  pop.  (1872),  12,859.  The  town  consists 
in  reality  of  a  series  of  trading  villages  lining  the  right  bank  of  the 
Mahananda  for  a  considerable  distance.  Being  situated  in  a  mulberry- 
growing  country,  it  was  chosen  at  an  early  date  as  the  site  of  one  of 
the  Company's  factories.  The  factory  was  of  considerable  importance 
during  the  last  quarter  of  the  17th  century,  and  its  *  Diaries  and  Con- 
sultations,' from  '1685  to  1693  (with  breaks),  are  still  preserved  in  the 
India  Office  under  the  title  of  'Maulda  and  Englesavad.'  In  1770, 
English  Bazar  was  fixed  upon  for  a  commercial  residency,  and  retained 
its  importance  until  the  •discontinuance  of  the  Company's  private 
trade.  An  extensive  trade  in  food-grain  is  carried  on  here.  Gross 
municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^533;  rate  of  taxation  per  head,  9JA 

vol.  III.  o 

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2  io  ENGMA-MYOMA— ENG-RAI-G  YL 

The  largest  building  is  the  Collector's  house,  originally  a  factory  of 
the  East  India  Company.  It  is  regularly  fortified,  and  within  its  walls 
are  all  the  public  offices  of  the  District,  as  well  as  the  private  residence 
of  the  Collector.  A  small  embankment  protects  the  town  from  inun- 
dations, which  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in  Maldah  District 

Engma-myoma. — Revenue  circle  in  Prome  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma ;  situated  just  below  the  Engma  Lake.  The  west  and 
central  portions  consist  of  hilly  undulating  ground ;  the  eastern  tracts 
are  fairly  leveL  A  narrow  belt  of  rice  cultivation  runs  nearly  through- 
out the  whole  length  of  the  revenue  circle.  The  main  road  from 
Rangoon  to  the  frontier  traverses  Engma-myoma  in  a  westerly 
direction. 

Eng-rai — Revenue  circle  in  Bassein  District,  Pegu  Division,  British 
Burma.  Pop.  (1876-77),  6248;  gross  revenue  (derived  chiefly  from 
fisheries),  ^3642.  The  northern  part  consists  of  rice-fields,  and  the 
southern  portion  of  open  undulating  plains,  affording  excellent  pasturage 
for  cattle.     There  are  good  fair-weather  cart  roads  in  the  north. 

Eng-rai — Town  in  Eng-rai  circle,  Bassein  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma;  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Daga  river,  in  lat 
17°  10'  30"  n.,  and  long.  950  18'  30*  e.  Formerly  the  headquarters  of 
the  extra-Assistant  Commissioner.  Pop.  (1876-77),  1500,  engaged  in 
rice  cultivation  and  fishing. 

Eng-rai-gyl  —  Lake  in  Bassein  District,  Pegu  Division,  British 
Burma ;  about  3  miles  in  circumference,  with  a  fairly  uniform  breadth 
of  280  to  300  yards,  and  a  depth  of  from  20  to  45  feet  in  the  centre. 
It  is  connected  with  the  Daga  branch  of  the  Bassein  by  a  small  outlet, 
which  serves  to  replenish  the  lake  from  the  Irawadi  (Irrawaddy)  and  to 
carry  off  the  surplus  water.  This  lake  is  by  some  supposed  to  have 
been  a  former  portion  of  the  bed  of  the  Daga,  by  others  it  is  thought  to 
have  been  caused  by  a  slip  of  the  lower-lying  beds,  totally  independent 
of  fluvial  action.  It  is  very  valuable  as  a  preserve  for  fish,  and  proved 
an  important  source  of  revenue  to  the  Burmese  Government,  who 
exacted  an  annual  tax  of  ^780  from  the  Paitung  or  hereditary  chief  of 
the  lake,  who  had  sole  authority  over  the  villagers  employed  in  the 
fishery.  Each  villager  had  the  right  of  investing  his  capital  in  the 
general  working  of  the  fishery,  and  received  a  share  in  the  out-turn  at 
the  end  of  the  season  proportionate  to  the  sum  subscribed  The 
process  of  dragging  the  lake  is  performed  by  floating  capstans  worked 
by  hawsers  of  jungle  rope  attached  to  a  frame,  and  occupies  three  months' 
working,  at  the  rate  of  about  45  fathoms  each  day.  The  fishing  begins 
with  the  full  moon  in  June,  when  the  temperature  of  the  water  has  been 
reduced  by  the  first  showers  of  the  monsoon.  The  number  of  fish 
caught  is  never  below  70,000  to  80,000  of  all  kinds;  the  principal 
belonging  for  the  most  part  to  the  genera  of  Cerca,  Cyprinus,  Gobio, 

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ENG-  WON—ERAN.  2 1  r 

Labeo,  Cimelodus,  Cirrhinus,  Cyprinodon,  and  Silurus.  The  largest 
specimens  weigh  about  56  lbs.  each.  Crocodiles  of  all  sizes  are  fouiyl 
in  the  drag-net,  but  no  casualty  has  been  known  to  have  been  caused 
by  them.  Some  8000  to  10,000  persons  are  engaged  in  the  taking  and 
disposal  of  the  fish,  of  which  about  40  tons  are  annually  sold  on  the 
spot 

Eng-won. — Revenue  circle  in  Tavoy  District,  Tenasserim  Division, 
British  Burma.  Area,  9  square  miles,  of  which  3  are  under  rice ;  pop. 
(1876-77),  2730;  gross  revenue,  ^628. 

Eng-zaya. — Revenue  circle  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma.  Pop.  (1876-77),  3739;  gross  revenue,  ^2290.  The 
eastern  part  consists  of  extensive  plains  and  swamps.  Some  of  the 
latter  contain  fish,  and  yield  a  large  revenue  to  the  State.  The  principal 
products  are  tobacco,  betel  leaves,  and  vegetables. 

Ennore  (Enn£r). — Town  in  Chengalpat  District,  Madras.  Lat  13° 
13'  40*  n.,  long.  8o°  21'  55*  e.;  houses,  238;  pop.  (1871),  1286.  It 
is  in  reality  only  a  fishing  village;  but  being  a  favourite  resort  of 
Europeans  from  Madras,  it  contains  several  bungalows,  built  on  the  strip 
of  land  between  the  sea  and  the  backwater;  and,  until  lately,  the  oldest 
club-house  in  India.  Situated  12  miles  north  of  Madras,  to  which 
there  is  some  export  of  the  salt  manufactured  here.  In  1769,  Haidar 
All  encamped  near  Ennore. 

Entalli — Suburb  of  Calcutta,  Twenty-four  Pargands,  Bengal.  Lat 
22'  33'  lS*  N«>  long-  88°  24'  30*  e.  Contains  an  English  school,  a 
large  native  school  belonging  to  the  Baptists,  and  a  Roman  Catholic 
convent 

EraiL — Chief  village  of  a  tract  of  the  same  name  in  Sdgar  (Saugor) 
District,  Central  Provinces,  48  miles  west  of  S£gar  town.  Lat.  240  5' 
30*  n.,  long.  780 15'  e.  j  pop.  (1870),  446 ;  number  of  houses,  107.  Eran 
is  remarkable  for  its  monumental  remains,  attributed  to  Rdjd  Bahrat. 
The  chief  of  these  is  a  rudely-shaped  image  of  Vishnu  in  his  manifesta- 
tion as  the  boar.  The  animal  stands  about  10  feet  high,  with  his  snout 
in  the  air.  Successive  rows  of  small  figures  in  short  tunics  and  high 
caps  cover  the  body ;  while  a  band,  ornamented  with  seated  figures, 
encircles  the  neck.  The  tip  of  the  projecting  tongue  supports  a  human 
figure  erect.  The  breast  bears  an  inscription,  and,  as  at  Oodehghir 
(Udaigarh?),  a  young  female  hangs  by  the  arm  from  the  right  tusk. 
On  one  side  of  Vishnu  stands  a  four-armed  deity,  more  than  12  feet 
high,  with  girt  loins,  a  high  cap,  and  round  his  neck  and  reaching  to 
his  feet  a  thick  ornamental  cord.  On  the  columns  before  this  statue 
are  seen  figures  weaving  the  sacred  thread,  with  twisted  snakes, 
elephants,  nude  female  figures,  seated  Buddhas,  faces  of  satyrs,  and 
other  devices.  Besides  these  and  other  remains,  there  are  three  figures 
of  crouching  lions;  and  in  front  of  them,  a  pillar,  and  a  small  temple 


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212  ERANDOL— ERODE  TALUK. 

half  buried  in  the  soiL  The  pillar  has  a  broad  base,  for  about  15  feet 
the  shaft  is  square,  and  for  about  10  feet  more  round  The  bell  capital 
occupies  2  feet,  and  sustains  a  pedestal  about  3  feet  high,  on  which 
stands  a  small  double-fronted  four-armed  statue.  From  the  inscription 
on  this  column  the  date  of  Buddha  Gupta,  of  the  great  Gupta  line  of 
Magadha,  has  been  established. 

ErandoL — Chief  town  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name  in 
Khandesh  District,  Bombay ;  situated  on  the  Anjani  river,  40  miles  east 
of  Dhulil  Lat.  200  56'  n.,  long.  75*  20'  30"  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  11,071 ; 
municipal  revenue  (1874-75),  ^24;  rate  of  taxation,  £d.  per  head 
of  population  (10,846)  within  municipal  limits.  Sub-judge's  court,  post 
office,  and  dispensary.  Erandol  is  connected  by  made  roads  with  the 
towns  of  Dhulia,  Dharangaon  (8  miles  north-west),  and  the  railway 
station  of  Mahasawar  (8  miles  south-east).  It  is  a  place  of  some 
antiquity,  and  was  formerly  celebrated  for  its  manufacture  of  coarse 
native  paper,  an  industry  which  still  survives  to  a  limited  extent  There 
is  a  considerable  local  trade  in  cotton,  indigo,  and  grain;  the  chief 
market  being  Jalgaon,  a  station  8  miles  north-east. 

Ern&d  (Erdnddu). — Tdluk  in  Malabar  District,  Madras.  Houses, 
59,139.  Pop.  (1871),  287,936  —  being  146,468  Hindus,  all  Sivaites 
except  264;  141,016  Muhammadans,  being  119,944  Sunnis  and  21,072 
Shias;  452  Christians. 

Ernakolam  ( Yernacoulam).  —  Town  in  Cochin  State,  Madras ; 
situated  on  the  backwater  2  miles  east  of,  and  opposite  to,  Cochin. 
La*«  9°  5**'  55"  n.,  long.  760  19'  21"  e.  ;  houses,  2571;  pop.  (1871), 
14,038.  The  chief  members  of  the  local  Government  reside  here;  and 
the  town  also  contains  the  judicial  courts,  several  public  offices,  and  a 
grand  Darbar  palace,  where  the  British  Resident  pays  his  state  visits  to 
the  Raja  of  Cochin.  Some  of  the  roads  are  metalled,  and  there  are 
two  churches.  The  suburb  of  Anjikamal  (so  called  in  memory  of  five 
■chiefs  who  at  a  distant  period  of  history  shared  the  surrounding  country) 
contains  a  large  and  regularly  built  market,  and  has  a  considerable  trade, 
chiefly  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews  and  Konkanis. 

Erni&L — Town  in  the  district  of  the  same  name,  Travancore  State, 
Madras.  Lat  8°  12'  12"  n.,  long.  770  21'  31"  e.  ;  pop.  (1871),  4878; 
houses,  1085.  As  the  headquarters  of  the  Subdivision,  it  possesses  the 
usual  subordinate  native  establishments.  The  London  Missionary 
Society  have  a  school  here. 

Erode  (Jrddu). — Tdluk  of  Coimbatore  District,  Madras.  Watered 
by  the  Kaveri  (Cauvery)  and  Bhavani  rivers,  with  their  tributaries,  the 
Amravati  and  Moriar.  From  Vangal  on  the  Amravati,  a  few  miles 
below  Kanir,  the  teak  timber  cut  on  the  Anamal£i  Hills  is  floated  down 
the  Kaveri,  which  the  Amravati  joins  near  the  same  spot  The 
timber  is  carried  thence  to  Trichinopoli,  or  to  one  of  the  mouths  of  the 


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ERODE  TOWN— ETAH  DISTRICT.  213 

same  river  at  Porto  Novo.  The  high  road  from  Coimbatore  to 
Trichinopoli  crosses  the  Amravati  at  Kanir.  The  Moriar  rises  in  the 
Nilgiris,  and  falls  into  the  Bhavani  near  Danaikenkotta. 

Erode  (Jrbdu). — Town  in  Coimbatore  District,  Madras.  Houses, 
2I59J  P°P-  (x87i),  10,201,  of  whom  9581  are  Hindus,  chiefly  Vallalas, 
and  only  6  per  cent  Muhammadans.  Situated  in  lat  nQ  20'  29"  n., 
and  long.  770  46'  3*  e.,  on  the  Kaveri  (Cauvery)  river,  at  the  extreme 
east  of  the  District,  243  miles  by  rail  from  Madras,  85  from  Trichinopoli, 
70  from  Coimbatore,  and  37  from  Salem.  Being  the  headquarters  of 
the  tdluk  of  the  same  name,  it  possesses  the  usual  subordinate  judicial 
establishments,  police  station,  school,  telegraph  and  post  office,  and 
rest-house  for  European  soldiers.  It  is  now  also  the  headquarters  of 
the  District  Sub-Collector,  who,  until  1874,  was  stationed  at  Kangayam. 
In  the  time  of  Haidar  Ali,  Erode  contained  3000  houses ;  but  in  conse- 
quence of  successive  Marhatta,  Mysore,  and  British  invasions,  the  town 
became  almost  utterly  deserted  and  ruined.  As  soon,  however,  as  peace 
was  signed,  the  people  returned  to  a  place  with  so  many  advantages  in 
position  and  fertility ;  and  within  a  year  it  had  400  houses,  and  a  popu- 
lation of  over  2000.  The  garrison  was  withdrawn  in  1807,  and  the 
ruined  fort  levelled,  as  a  relief  work  during  the  famine  of  1 8  7  7.  The  space 
enclosed  within  the  ramparts  had  been  long  before  occupied  by  cotton- 
presses  and  saltpetre  warehouses.  The  trade  of  Erode  consists  chiefly 
in  the  export  of  cotton,  saltpetre,  and  rice ;  it  is  an  important  railway 
entrepot.  Besides  the  Great  Trunk  Road  from  Madras,  which  passes 
through  Erode,  the  main  lines  to  Kanir,  Perindorai,  and  Mysore — 
one  via  the  Hassandr  Ghat,  the  other  vid  the  Burghur  Ghat — radiate 
from  it,  serving  as  feeders  to  the  railway,  which  has  here  a  station  at 
the  junction  of  the  Madras,  South-Western,  and  Southern  India  lines. 
Exclusive  of  the  junction  traffic,  the  returns  for  1875  show  a  traffic 
°f  352»<>33  passengers,  and  26,035  tons  of  goods  despatched  and 
16,103  tons  unloaded.  About  i£  miles  east  of  the  town  a  bridge  of  22 
arches  crosses  the  Kaveri  (Cauvery),  1536  feet  in  length,  constructed 
at  a  cost  of  ,£40,875.  The  town  is  well  built,  and  amongst  other 
public  edifices  has  a  fine  court-house,  erected  at  a  cost  of  £3000. 
Historically,  Erode  is  a  place  of  considerable  interest  Until  1667  it 
formed  part  of  the  Madura  kingdom,  but  in  that  year  fell  to  Dad  Deo, 
Raja  of  Mysore.  In  1768,  it  was  taken  and  lost  by  the  British ;  and  in 
1790,  it  was  finally  recaptured. 

Etah. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of  the 
North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  270  19'  42"  and  280  1'  39"  n. 
lat,  and  780  27'  26"  and  790  19'  23"  e.  long.  Area,  15 12  square  miles ; 
population  in  1872,  703,527.  Etah  is  the  northernmost  District  of  the 
Agra  Division.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  river  Ganges,  on 
the  west  by  Agra  and  Aligarh,  on  the  south  by  Mainpuri,  and  on  the 


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214  ETAH  DISTRICT. 

east  by  Farrukhibdd.  The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  the 
town  of  Etah,  but  Kasganj  is  the  chief  centre  of  population  and 
commerce. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Etah  lies  on  the  eastern  edge  of 
the  middle  Dodb,  where  the  elevated  plateau  composing  that  fertile 
tract  dips  into  the  valley  of  the  Ganges.  From  the  banks  of  the  great 
river  to  the  terraces  which  form  the  escarpment  of  the  upland  plain 
stretches  a  belt  of  level  land  known  as  the  tardt\  bounded  on  the 
west  by  the  Brirh  Ganga,  or  ancient  bed  of  the  river.  The  abandoned 
channel  is  still  marked  by  a  line  of  swamps  and  hollows,  which  receive 
the  surface  drainage  of  the  neighbouring  fields.  The  whole  tardi, 
lying  as  it  does  between  the  former  and  the  present  stream  of  the 
river,  is  covered  with  a  rich  alluvial  deposit,  and  abundantly  supplied 
with  water,  so  that  artificial  irrigation  is  unnecessary.  But  in  its  widest 
portion,  the  crust  of  alluvial  matter  becomes  thinner,  and  sandy  undu- 
lating downs  begin  to  crop  up.  Above  the  marshy  bed  of  the  Burn 
Ganga*  rises  the  old  high  bank  of  the  ancient  channel,  which  leads  at 
once  to  the  central  Doib  plateau.  This  upland  tract  exhibits  the  same 
natural  characteristics  in  Etah  as  elsewhere,  being  for  the  most  part  a 
level  plain,  interspersed  with  hillocks  of  yellow  sand  and  patches  of  rich 
loam,  which  latter  are  generally  chosen  as  village  sites ;  but  it  is  neither 
so  fertile  nor  so  highly  cultivated  as  in  the  Meerut  (Mfrath)  Division  to 
the  north,  owing  to  the  want  of  irrigation.  The  Lower  Ganges  Canal, 
however,  now  in  course  of  construction,  will  shortly  supply  all  the  needs  of 
Etah ;  and  the  District  may  be  expected  before  long  to  rival  the  fertility 
of  Alfgarh  and  Bulandshahr.  The  central  plateau  is  bounded  to  the 
west  by  the  deep  gorge  of  the  Kali  Nadi,  a  tributary  of  the  Ganges, 
which  provides  Etah  with  a  main  drainage  channel,  and,  occasionally 
overflowing  its  banks  after  heavy  rain,  fertilises  the  fallow  land  with  a 
rich  layer  of  fine  silt  and  decaying  vegetable  matter.  The  angle  to 
the  south-west  of  the  Kali  is  by  far  the  most  fruitful  portion  of  the 
District.  Naturally  composed  of  a  strong  and  rich  clay,  it  is  inter- 
sected by  the  Cawnpore  and  Etawah  branches  of  the  Ganges  Canal, 
which  supply  water  to  the  fields  by  138  miles  oC  distributary  streams 
It  is  much  cut  up,  however,  by  wide  stretches  of  usar  plain,  which  are 
absolutely  barren  of  all  vegetation.  Indeed,  the  whole  District  is 
distinguished  for  its  bare  and  treeless  appearance.  The  larger  villages 
and  towns  are  surrounded  with  pleasant  groves,  but  there  are  few  woods 
of  any  extent,  and  very  little  jungle  land  Though  about  one-fifth  of 
the  area  is  returned  as  waste,  only  a  small  fraction  of  this  is  cultivable, 
and  that  will  doubtless  be  reclaimed  as  soon  as  the  irrigation  schemes 
now  on  foot  are  completed.  The  remainder  consists  either  of  dry  saline 
usdr  plain  or  barren  flats  of  bhUr  waste  As  a  whole,  while  Etah  cannot 
boast  of  such  advantages  as  the  Districts  which  lie  above  it  in  the  Doib, 


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ETAH  DISTRICT.  2 1 5 

it  is  more  flourishing  than  the  majority  of  its  neighbours  to  the  south 
and  west 

History, — Tradition  points  to  the  valley  of  the  Kdli  as  the  seat  of 
populous  cities  in  mythical  times ;  and  the  accounts  of  the  Buddhist 
pilgrims  from  China,  in  the  5  th  and  7  th  centuries,  bear  out  to  some 
extent  the  legendary  statements.  The  District  was  at  that  time  rich  in 
temples  and  monasteries,  as  befitted  a  place  which  had  been  honoured 
by  the  personal  presence  of  Buddha,  many  incidents  in  whose  life 
are  connected  with  the  ruined  mounds  of  Atranji.  From  the  6th 
to  the  10th  century,  Etah  appears  to  have  been  held  by  Ahirs  and 
Bhars,  and  then  to  have  been  occupied  by  the  Rijputs,  during  the 
course  of  their  great  immigration  eastwards.  When  Mahmiid  of 
Ghazni  marched  against  the  kingdom  of  Kanauj  in  1017,  he  must  have 
taken  Etah  on  his  route ;  and  the  District  must  again  have  been  traversed 
nearly  two  centuries  later  by  the  army  of  the  second  great  Musalmin 
conqueror,  Muhammad  Ghori,  on  its  way  to  the  final  battle  with  the 
Rahtor  R£j£,  Jdi  Chind,  in  the  Jumna  ravines  of  Agra.  From  that 
time  forward,  Etah  remained  a  dependency  of  the  M usalmin  rulers  at 
Kanauj  or  Koil,  and  never  again  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  Hindu  prince. 
But  the  District  was  then  a  wild  expanse  of  dhdk  forest,  studded  with 
the  mud  forts  of  robber  chieftains  and  the  villages  of  a  lawless  peasantry, 
and  such  it  remained  until  the  introduction  of  British  rule.  Patiili,  the 
principal  town,  lying  on  the  old  channel  of  the  Ganges,  was  infested  by 
robber  hordes  whose  misdeeds  roused  the  indignation  of  Sultan  Balban, 
about  the  year  1270.  The  Sultin  proceeded  in  person  to  Patiili,  and 
opened  the  roads  to  Hindustan  for  merchants  and  caravans  by  placing 
strong  garrisons  in  the  fortresses  of  the  banditti,  so  that  '  Musalmdns 
and  guardians  of  the  way  took  the  place  of  highway  robbers.'  The 
principal  Muhammadan  inhabitants  still  trace  the  origin  of  their  families 
to  this  period.  During  the  frequent  M usalmin  invasions  of  the  15th 
century,  Etah  was  constantly  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  both  parties,  as 
it  lay  on  the  direct  route  to  the  great  cities  on  the  Ganges.  Akbar 
included  it  in  his  sarkdrs  of  Kanauj,  Koil,  and  Budiun,  and  used  it  as 
an  outpost  against  the  refractory  Hindus  of  Mdinpuri.  At  the  end  of 
the  last  century,  Etah  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Nawdb  Wazfr  of 
Oudh,  and  formed  a  portion  of  the  territory  ceded  to  the  British  in 
1801-2.  It  was  then  distributed  among  the  adjoining  Districts  of  Etawah, 
Farrukhabad,  Aligarh,  and  Moradabad.  The  outlying  pargands 
which  compose  the  present  District  were  from  the  first  so  remote  from 
the  central  authority,  that  it  was  found  necessary  in  181 1  to  place  a 
subordinate  European  officer  at  Patiili,  with  criminal  jurisdiction  over 
the  surrounding  country.  After  many  changes  of  an  intricate  sort,  the 
condition  of  the  pargands  around  Etah  attracted  serious  consideration 
m  I^45.      The  Ahirs  and  Aheriyas  had  commenced  a  system  of 


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2 1 6  ETAH  DISTRICT. 

organized  plunder,  and  dakditis  (gang-robberies),  planned  by  an  outlaw 
from  the  Jumna  ravines  of  M&npuri,  became  so  frequent  as  to  call  for 
more  efficient  police  arrangements.  Much  of  the  country  was  still 
covered  with  dhdk  jungle,  and  studded  with  mud  forts,  moated  and 
fenced  on  every  side.  The  landowners  even  considered  it  a  mark  of 
disrespect  to  call  for  the  revenue  without  some  show  of  force  to  back  up 
their  demand  Accordingly,  a  Deputy  Collector  and  Joint  Magistrate 
was  stationed  at  Patiali  in  1845 ;  and  in  1856  the  headquarters  were 
transferred  to  a  more  accessible  position  at  Etah,  a  village  on  the 
Grand  Trunk  Road,  from  which  the  District  takes  its  name.  The 
succeeding  year  saw  the  outbreak  at  Meerut  (Mfrath),  which  quickly 
developed  into  the  Mutiny  of  1857.  As  soon  as  the  troops  garrisoned 
at  Etah  received  intelligence  of  the  revolt  at  Alfgarh,  the  whole  body 
left  the  station  without  any  disturbance.  As  there  was  no  place  of 
strength  in  the  town,  and  no  force  with  which  to  defend  it,  the  Magis- 
trate found  it  necessary  to  withdraw  until  the  mutineers  from  Mainpuri 
and  Etiwah  had  passed  through.  After  a  gallant  but  unsuccessful 
attempt  to  hold  Kisganj,  the  whole  District  was  abandoned  on  the 
7th  of  June,  and  the  officers  reached  Agra  in  safety.  Damar  Sinh,  Raja 
of  Etah,  then  set  himself  up  as  an  independent  ruler  in  the  south  of 
the  District.  As  usual,  however,  rival  claimants  appeared  in  various 
quarters ;  and  towards  the  end  of  July,  the  rebel  Nawab  of  Farrukhlbid 
took  practical  possession  for  some  months.  On  the  approach  of 
General  Greathed's  column,  the  rebels  retired  for  a  while,  and  Mr. 
Cocks  was  appointed  special  commissioner  for  Etah  and  Aligarh. 
The  force  at  his  disposal,  however,  was  quite  insufficient  to  restore 
order,  and  the  rebels  still  continued  to  hold  Kasganj.  It  was  not  till 
the  15  th  of  December  that  Colonel  Seaton's  column  attacked  the  rebels 
at  Gangfri,  and,  after  totally  routing  them,  occupied  Kasganj.  By  the 
middle  of  1858  order  was  completely  restored,  and  the  peace  of  the 
District  has  not  since  been  disturbed. 

Population. — The  Census  of  1865  was  the  first  in  which  Etah  was 
recorded  as  a  separate  District ;  but  by  selecting  from  the  adjoining 
Districts  the  statistics  for  those  pargands  which  at  present  compose  it, 
we  find  the  population  to  have  been  446,275  in  1848,  and  616,856  in 
1853.  At  the  enumeration  of  1865,  Etah  was  accredited  with  a  total 
of  614,351  inhabitants.  The  last  Census,  that  of  1872,  showed  a  popu- 
lation of  703,527  persons,  or  89,176  more  than  in  1865;  number  of 
villages,  2620;  number  of  houses,  136,864.  These  figures  yield  the 
following  averages : — Persons  per  square  mile,  465  ;  villages  per  square 
mile,  17;  houses  per  square  mile,  90;  persons  per  village,  269;  persons 
.  per  house,  5*1.  Classified  according  to  sex,  there  were  (exclusive  of 
non-Asiatics) — males,  382,746;  females,  320,739 :  percentage  of  males 
in  total  population,  54*4.     The  small  proportion  of  females  suggests  a 


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ETAH  DISTRICT.  2 1 7 

suspicion  of  infanticide,  which  has  long  been  a  common  practice  amongst 
the  Rajputs,  and  which  recent  investigations  have  proved  to  be  even 
more  rife  amongst  the  Ahfrs.  A  large  number  of  villages  belonging  to 
both  these  castes  were  placed  on  the  'proclaimed  list'  under  the  In- 
fanticide  Act  in  1874.  Classified  according  to  age,  there  were,  children 
—males,  157,122;  females,  127,428;  total,  284,550:  percentage  of 
children,  40*44.  As  regards  the  religious  distinctions  of  the  people, 
Etah  is  one  of  the  most  thoroughly  Hindu  Districts  in  the  Doab, 
showing  a  total  Musalmdn  population  of  only  67,278  by  the  side  of 
636,149  Hindus.  The  percentage  of  Hindus  amounts  to  90*4,  and  that 
of  Muhammadans  to  9  -6.  The  number  of  Christians  is  58.  Of  the  four 
great  classes  into  which  the  Hindus  are  conventionally  divided,  the 
Brihmans  number  60,691  persons.  They  own  a  large  portion  of  the 
District  as  2 amlnddrs,  and  most  of  them  belong  to  the  ancient  Kanaujiya 
subdivision.  The  Rajputs  are  exceptionally  numerous  in  Etah,  being 
returned  at  57,025.  They  are  by  far  the  most  important  landown- 
ing class  in  the  District,  and  include  many  of  the  great  territorial 
families.  The  Banias  or  trading  castes  are  represented  by  only  13,056 
persons ;  but  they  are  a  wealthy  mercantile  body,  and  own  a  consider- 
able proportion  of  the  land.  The  great  mass  of  the  population 
(5°5>383)  is  here,  as  elsewhere,  included  in  the  'other  castes'  of  the 
Census  returns.  The  Chamars  are  their  most  numerous  tribe,  forming 
the  landless  labouring  class  throughout  the  whole  Doab,  where  they 
have  only  just  emerged  under  British  rule  from  a  state  of  rural  serfdom. 
Next  come  the  Ahirs,  once  the  dominant  race,  and  still  the  possessors 
of  82  villages.  The  Kayasths  are  few  in  number,  but  rich  in  land ; 
while  the  Lodhis  and  KAchhis  are  large  tribes,  but  of  small  social 
importance.  The  Musalmins  still  retain  much  of  their  landed  posses- 
sions. About  two-thirds  of  the  adult  male  population  are  dependent 
upon  the  soil  for  their  support,  the  District  being  strictly  agricultural. 
In  1872,  there  were  8  towns  with  a  population  exceeding  5000  persons, 
viz.  Etah,  8044;  Marehra,  9214;  Soron,  11,182;  Sahawar,  5156; 
Sakit,  5415;  Dundwaraganj,  5414 ;  Aliganj,  7912 ;  and  Kasganj, 
15,764.     The  language  in  ordinary  use  is  Hindf. 

Agriculture. — The  principal  crops  grown  in  the  District  are  wheat  and 
other  cereals,  pulses  and  millets,  cotton,  sugar-cane,  indigo,  and  poppy ; 
the  harvests  are  the  usual  khari/and.  rati,  the  former  being  the  more 
important  of  the  two.  In  1872,  the  area  occupied  by  the  principal 
crops  was  distributed  as  follows: — Wheat,  134,306  acres;  barley,  92,154 
acres;  indigo,  90,055  acres;  cotton,  56,519  acres;  sugar-cane,  16,992 
acres.  Total  cultivated  area,  619,329  acres.  The  average  out-turn  of 
an  acre  of  wheat  js  21  maunds,  or  nearly  16  cwts.,  valued  at  ^3,  6s. 
The  employment  of  manure  is  almost  universal,  though  a  single  applica- 
tion is  expected  to  suffice  for  two  successive  harvests.     As  a  rule,  only 

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2 1 8  ETAH  DISTRICT. 

one  crop  a  year  is  raised  on  each  plot,  but  cotton  is  often  succeeded  by 
tobacco  or  vegetables,  and  indigo  by  wheat  or  barley.  Rotation  of  crops 
is  rapidly  supplanting  the  old  wasteful  habit  of  leaving  the  lands  to  lie 
fallow  after  exhausting  products  have  been  grown.  Irrigation  is  exten- 
sively practised  from  wells  and  canals,  though  it  has  not  kept  pace  with 
the  other  agricultural  improvements.  The  completion  of  the  Lower 
Ganges  Canal,  however,  will  doubtless  effect  an  immense  change  in  this 
respect  The  area  under  sugar-cane  has  decreased  in  recent  years,  except 
where  an  abundant  water  supply  can  be  obtained  from  the  canals  which 
intersect  the  south-western  corner  of  the  District;  but  all  the  other 
export  staples  have  been  grown  in  larger  quantities,  while  no  corre- 
sponding diminution  has  taken  place  in  the  area  devoted  to  food- 
stuffs. The  cultivators  are  in  comfortable  circumstances,  less  wealthy 
than  their  neighbours  in  the  Meerut  Division,  but  removed  far  above 
the  squalid  poverty  of  Bundelkhand.  Temples  and  mosques  are  rare 
in  Etah,  a  mound  of  earth  being  often  the  only  place  of  worship  in  a 
village;  while  in  Alfgarh,  beyond  the  northern  boundary,  handsome 
buildings  for  religious  purposes  are  to  be  seen  on  every  side.  Cultivators 
with  rights  of  occupancy  hold  64  per  cent,  of  the  cultivated  area,  and 
tenants-at-will  21  per  cent.,  while  the  remaining  15  per  cent  is  occupied 
by  small  proprietors,  who  farm  their  own  land.  Rents  are  unusually  low, 
chiefly  owing  to  the  jealous  care  with  which  Government  has  guarded  the 
rights  of  hereditary  tenants,  and  resisted  all  attempts  at  illegal  enhance- 
ment The  average  rates  vary  from  2s.  9&  to  7s.  id.  per  acre. 
Wages  ruled  as  follows  in  1872  : — Carpenters,  masons,  and  blacksmiths, 
6d.  per  diem ;  tailors,  4jd.  per  diem ;  coolies,  water-carriers,  etc.,  3d. 
per  diem.  Agricultural  labourers  are  generally  paid  in  kind ;  when 
paid  in  cash,  men  get  3d.,  women  ijd,  and  children  fd.  per  diem. 
Prices  have  risen  steadily  during  the  last  thirty  years.  The  average  of 
ten  years,  ending  in  1870,  shows  the  following  rates  at  Kasganj : — 
Wheat  or  grain,  22  sers  per  rupee,  or  5s.  id.  per  cwt ;  barley  otjodr, 
28  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  per  cwt. ;  fidfra,  27  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  ifd 
per  cwt.  Prices  at  Etah  town  ruled  about  1  ser  per  rupee  dearer  than 
these  quotations. 

Natural  Calamities. — Etah  suffers  from  the  ravages  of  locusts,  white 
ants,  and  other  destructive  insects ;  and  the  cereal  crops  are  liable  to 
several  kinds  of  blight.  Floods  also  occasionally  occur  in  the  low-lying 
valley  of  the  Ganges,  and  overwhelm  the  fertile  soil  with  ridges  of 
barren  shingle.  But  the  great  enemy  of  Etah,  as  of  all  the  Doab,  is 
drought,  which  has  frequently  produced  severe  famines.  The  last  was 
that  of  1860-61,  known  among  the  peasantry  by  the  graphic  title  of  the 
*  Seven-ser  famine,'  in  which  rice  sold  at  the  rate  o£  7  sers  per  rupee, 
or  7  lbs.  for  a  shilling.  The  people  were  forced  to  live  upon  wild  fruits 
and  vegetables,  and  even  to  extract  food  from  grass  seeds.    The  drought 


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ETAH  DISTRICT.  2 1 9 

of  1868-69,  however,  was  felt  in  Etah  much  less  severely  than  in  neigh- 
bouring Districts.  Though  both  harvests  were  partial  failures,  the 
scarcity  which  ensued  did  not  rise  to  the  intensity  of  famine,  and  the 
highest  quotation  for  wheat  was  only  13  sers  per  rupee,  or  8s.  7jd. 
per  cwt  Famine  rates  are  reached  in  this  District  when  wheat  sells  at 
less  than  12  sers  per  rupee,  or  more  than  9s.  4&  per  cwt  But  it  is 
hoped  that  the  completion  of  the  Lower  Ganges  Canal  will  secure  the 
District  in  future  from  the  extremity  of  famine. 

Commerce,  Trade>  etc.  —  Etah  has  a  considerable  export  trade  in 
agricultural  produce.  In  an  average  season  the  surplus  for  exporta- 
tion is  estimated  to  amount  to  the  following  quantities : — Rice,  100,000 
maunds,  or  73,469  cwts.;  cleaned  cotton,  46,909  tnaunds,  or  34,463 
cwts.;  uncleaned  cotton,  140,727  mounds,  or  103,391  cwts. ;  wheat  and 
barley,  1,831,725  tnaunds,  or  1,345,757  cwts.,  besides  a  large  quantity 
of  pulses  and  millets.  The  only  important  manufacture  is  that  of 
indigo,  which  is  carried  on  in  about  200  factories,  some  of  them  under 
European  management  Sugar  is  refined  to  a  large  extent  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  District ;  and  the  pargands  lying  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ganges  and  the  Brirh  Ganga  prepare  salt  from  the  saline  earth 
which  is  common  throughout  the  District  Ropes  and  coarse  sack- 
ing are  also  made  from  the  hemp  of  the  country,  and  exported  as  far 
as  Calcutta.  Before  the  Mutiny,  fire-arms  of  finished  workmanship 
and  elaborately  inlaid  with  silver  were  manufactured  in  the  District ; 
but  since  the  Disarming  Act,  this  trade  has  greatly  declined.  A  religious 
fair  is  held  once  a  year  at  Soron,  when  the  Hindus  bathe  in  the  purifying 
waters  of  the  Biirh  Ganga*,  and  lay  in  their  annual  stock  of  clothing  and 
household  utensils.  Another  fair  is  held  at  Kakora  in  Budaun  District, 
just  opposite  the  village  of  Kadirganj  in  Etah ;  and  although  the  traders 
congregate  chiefly  on  the  Budaun  bank,  many  pilgrims,  whose  object 
is  purely  religious,  bathe  and  remain  at  Kidirganj.  No  railway  passes 
through  the  District,  but  a  good  metalled  road  connects  the  head- 
quarters at  Etah  with  the  Shikohabid  station  on  the  East  Indian 
line,  35  miles  distant.  There  are  10 1  miles  of  first-class,  113  miles  of 
second-class,  and  327  miles  of  third-class  roads.  The  last  class  are 
being  raised  and  bridged  in  portions  from  year  to  year.  The  Ganges  is 
navigable  throughout  the  District,  and  the  exports  of  Kisganj  and 
Dundwaraganj  are  shipped  at  the  ghdts  of  the  same  name.  Some  small 
traffic  also  passes  by  the  Cawnpore  branch  of  the  canaL  In  1876,  there 
was  but  one  printing-press  in  the  District,  owned  by  a  native  at  Etah, 
provided  both  with  Nagari  and  Persian  type. 

Administration. — In  1860-61,  the  total  revenue  of  the  District  from 
all  sources  amounted  to  ,£88,867,  of  which  ,£73,743  was  derived  from 
the  land  tax ;  while  the  total  expenditure  amounted  to  £23,680,  or 
hardly  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  revenue.      In  1870-71,  the  total 


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220  ETAH  DISTRICT. 

receipts  had  increased  to  ;£  119,399,  while  the  land  tax  had  remained 
almost  stationary  at  ,£78,852.  The  increase  was  mainly  due  to  canal 
collections,  and  to  a  large  rise  in  the  proceeds  of  local  cesses,  the  income 
tax,  and  the  items  of  stamps  and  octroi  At  the  same  time,  the 
expenditure  had  risen  to  £37,272,  or  nearly  one-third  of  the  revenue. 
This  increase  was  due  to  the  need  for  more  active  administration,  and 
was  chiefly  set  down  to  such  items  as  salaries  of  officials,  education, 
post  office,  canals,  medical  staff,  and  local  cesses.  In  1875, trie  District 
was  administered  by  3  covenanted  civilians,  and  contained  8  magisterial, 
2  civil,  and  7  revenue  courts.  The  regular  police  amounted,  in  1874, 
to  528  men  of  all  ranks,  maintained  at  a  cost  of  ^6863,  chiefly  from 
provincial  funds.  This  force  was  supplemented  by  1321  village  watch- 
men (chauMd&rs)  and  70  road  patrols,  for  whose  maintenance  a  sum  of 
^4797  was  expended  from  the  local  treasury.  The  whole  machinery, 
therefore,  for  the  protection  of  person  and  property  consisted  of  19 19 
officers  and  men,  or  1  policeman  to  every  078  square  mile  and  every 
366  inhabitants;  and  the  total  cost  of  their  maintenance  was  ;£  11,660, 
or  about  3J&  per  head  of  the  population.  In  the  same  year,  1045 
persons  were  convicted  of  all  offences,  great  or  small,  in  Etah ;  the 
proportion  of  convictions  to  the  whole  population  being  1  to  every  673 
persons.  The  District  has  but  one  jail,  the  average  daily  number  of 
prisoners  in  which  was  117  in  i860,  and  210  in  1870;  the  proportion 
to  the  total  population  was  0*019  and  °'°34  pe*  cent  respectively. 
The  cost  per  inmate  in  the  latter  year  was  ^4,  19s.  7§&,  and  the 
average  earnings  of  each  prisoner  were  9s.  8d.  Education  is  making 
steady  advances  in  Etah ;  it  is  gaining  rapidly  in  the  popular  estima- 
tion, and  some  of  the  village  schools  are  models  of  excellence.  In 
1870-71,  the  District  contained  166  schools,  with  a  total  of  3953 
pupils ;  while  the  sum  expended  upon  education  amounted  to  ^2052. 
By  1874-75,  the  number  of  schools  had  risen  to  184,  the  roll  of  pupils 
to  4979>  an<*  the  sum  expended  on  their  instruction  to  ^2298.  The 
District  is  divided  into  3  tahsils  and  14  pargands,  with  an  aggregate,  in 
1870,  of  1407  estates,  held  by  13,724  registered  proprietors  or  copar- 
ceners ;  the  average  revenue  paid  by  each  estate  was  ,£55,  16s.  2|d, 
and  by  each  proprietor,  ^5,  14s.  $±6.  The  District  contains  5 
municipalities  —  Kisganj,  Etah,  Soron,  Marehra,  and  Aliganj.  In 
1 875-76,  their  joint  income  amounted  to  ^4878,  and  their  expendi- 
ture to  ^4043  5  average  incidence  of  municipal  taxation,  is.  3fd  per 
head  of  population. 

Sanitary  Aspects. — The  climate  of  Etah  is  dry  and  healthy,  but  sand 
and  dust  storms  are  of  almost  daily  occurrence  in  the  hot  season. 
During  the  cooler  months  the  air  is  cold  and  bracing,  and  fires  are 
often  found  necessary,  especially  in  the  winter  rains.  The  total  rainfell 
was  447  inches  in  1867-68,  12-9  inches  in  1868-69  (a  year  of  scarcity), 


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ETAH  TAHSIL—ETA  WAH  DISTRICT.  221 

273  inches  in  1869-70,  and  34*1  inches  in  1870-71.  The  principal 
diseases  are  fever  and  small-pox,  but  cholera  sometimes  visits  Etah 
with  severity.  The  reported  death-rate  was  22  per  1000  in  1872,  24*2 
per  1000  in  1873,  and  22*1  per  1000  in  1874,  In  the  latter  year, 
the  total  number  of  deaths  recorded  was  15,593,  of  which  as  many  as 
12,706  were  due  to  fever  alone.  There  are  5  charitable  dispensaries 
in  the  District,  which  afforded  assistance  in  1873-74  to  17,636  out-door 
and  695  in-door  patients. 

Etah. — South-western  tahsil  of  Etah  District,  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces, lying  to  the  west  of  the  Kali  Nadi,  and  watered  by  three 
branches  of  the  Lower  Ganges  Canal.  Area,  491  square  miles,  of 
which  276  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  246,552;  land  revenue, 
£l2AlS\  total  Government  revenue,  ,£35,679;  rental  paid  by 
cultivators,  ,£57,231 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre, 
2%.  of  d. 

Etah. — Municipal  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of  Etah 
District,  North-Western  Provinces.  Pop.  (1872),  8044,  being  5884 
Hindus,  2150  Muhammadans,  and  10  Christians.  Situated  in  lat.  270 
33'  5°*  n.,  and  long.  780  42'  25"  e.,  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Road,  9  miles 
west  of  the  Kili  Nadi.  Rather  an  overgrown  village  than  a  town, 
deriving  its  whole  importance  from  the  presence  of  the  civil  station, 
removed  hither  from  Patiali  in  1856,  on  account  of  the  superior 
accessibility  of  the  site.  The  principal  market-place,  Mayneganj,  per- 
petuates the  name  of  Mr.  F.  O.  Mayne,  C.B.,  late  Collector  of  the 
District  Westward  lies  the  new  town  of  Etah,  containing  the  tahsili 
school,  while  to  the  east  Ra*ja"  Dflsukh  RaTs  temple  towers  over  the 
other  buildings  to  an  extraordinary  height.  Large  tank  with  handsome 
flight  of  steps,  municipal  hall,  court-house,  tahsili  office,  dispensary. 
The  site  is  low,  and  was  formerly  subject  to  floods ;  but  a  cutting  to  the 
Isan  Nadi,  effected  by  Mr.  Mayne,  has  remedied  this  evil  Founded 
about  500  years  since  by  Sangram  Sinh,  a  Chauhdn  Thdkur,  whose 
mud  fort  still  exists  to  the  north  of  the  town.  His  descendants 
occupied  the  surrounding  territory,  with  the  title  of  Raja,  till  the 
Mutiny,  when  Rija  Damar  Sinh  rebelled,  and  lost  his  property,  together 
*ith  the  family  honours.  (See  Etah  District.)  Chief  trade — the 
scarlet  dl  dye,  indigo-seed,  cotton,  and  sugar.  Municipal  revenue  in 
^75-76,  ^1345  (from  taxes,  ^844),  or  2s.  i£&  per  head  of  population 
(8044)  within  municipal  limits. 

Et&waL — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of  the 
North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  260  21'  8*  and  270  o'  25"  n.  lat, 
and  between  78*  47'  20"  and  790  47'  20" e.  long.  Area(i878),  1691  square 
miles;  population  (1872),  668,641  persons.  Etawah  is  a  District  of  the 
Agra  Division.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Mampuri  and  Farrukh- 
*bdd;  on  the  west  by  the  Jumna  (Jamun£)  river,  and  Agra  District,  the 

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222  ETA  WAH  DISTRICT. 

Chambal  Kuan  Nadi,  and  the  Native  State  of  Gwalior;  on  the  south 
by  the  Jumna;  and  on  the  east  by  Cawnpore.  The  administrative 
headquarters  are  at  the  town  of  Etawah,  which  is  the  only  place  of 
importance  in  the  District 

Physical  Aspects.  —  The   District  of  Etiwah  is  a  purely  artificial 
division  for  administrative  purposes,  stretching  from  the  level  plain  of 
the  Doib,  across  the  valley  of  the  Jumna  (Jamuni),  to  the  gorges  and 
ravines  of  the  Chambal,  which  form  the  last  outliers  of  the  Vindhyan 
range.     It  exhibits  an  unusual  variety  of  scenery.     The  north-eastern 
portion  of  the   District,  known  as  the  Pachdr,  which   is  separated 
from  the  remainder  by  the  deep  and  fissured  bed  of  the  river  Sengar, 
belongs  in  its  physical  features  to  the  great  upland  plateau  of  the 
Doab.     This  tract  consists  of  a  fertile  loam,  occasionally  interrupted 
by  barren  usdr  plains,  and  interspersed  with  saucer-like  depressions 
of  clay,  whose  centre  is  occupied  by  marshes  or  shallow  lakes.     It 
is  well  watered,  both  by  the  streams  which  take  their  rise  from  these 
swampy  hollows,  and  by  the  great  artificial  canals  which  intersect  and 
fertilize  the  Upper  and  Central  Doab.     The  Cawnpore  branch  canal, 
though  it  does  not  enter  the  District,  runs  close  to  its  borders,  and  sends 
off  distributaries  which  supply  the  extreme  eastern  angle ;  the  Etiwah 
branch  traverses  the  centre  of  the  plateau ;  while  the  Lower  Ganges 
Canal,  now  in  course  of  construction,  will  pass  between  the  two  older 
works,  and  irrigate  the  intervening  country.      The  whole  Pachdr  is 
rich  and  fertile,  and  it  is  clothed  in  the  season  with  a  green  expanse 
of  wheat  and  sugar-cane.     On  the  opposite  bank  of  the  SengaV  ties 
another  stretch  of  uplands,  which  reaches  almost  to  the  bed  of  the 
Jumna.     This  tract  is  not  unlike  the  Pachdr  in  its  natural  characteristics ; 
but  as  it  has  no  canal  system  to  develop  its  resources,  while  water  is 
only  found  at  a  great  depth  in  wells,  cotton  and  inferior  food  grains 
here  replace  the  crops  for  which  abundant  irrigation  is  necessary.    The 
Bhognipur  branch  of  the  canal,  however,  will  pass  through  the  very 
heart  of  this  region,  whose  native  fertility  is  even  now  considerable. 
The  uplands  descend  into  the  Jumna  valley  through  a  wild  terraced 
slope,  broken  by  ravines,  and  covered  with  thorny  brushwood.     Upon 
its  sides  the  villages  are  scanty,  and  lie  concealed  in  the  remotest 
nooks,  while  cultivation  is  difficult  and  unprofitable.    Below,  the  river 
bank  is  sometimes  fringed  by  a  strip  of  rich  alluvial  deposit ;  but  in 
other  places,  the  Jumna  sweeps  close  round  the  bold  bluffs  which 
terminate  the  upland  terraces.      Its  bank  should  form  the  natural 
boundary  of  the  District,  but  a  narrow  strip  of  British  territory  lies  along 
its  opposite  side,  cut  off  from  the  Native  State  of  Gwalior  by  the  rapid 
torrents  of  the  Chambal  and  the  Kuiri  Nadi     This  outlying  region  has 
been  attached  to  Etiwah  for  administrative  purposes.     A  little  alluvial 
soil  is  found  here  and  there  on  small  plots  of  tableland  in  the  trans* 


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ETA  WAH  DISTRICT.  223 

Jumna  tract ;  but  the  greater  part  consists  of  a  perfect  labyrinth  of 
gorges,  amongst  whose  recesses  may  be  found  some  of  the  wildest  and 
most  romantic  scenery  in  Upper  India.  From  the  fortress-crowned 
cliff  of  Bhareh  the  eye  wanders  over  a  tangled  mass  of  rock  and  valley, 
threaded  by  eddying  rivers,  overgrown  with  leafy  jungle  of  acacia  or 
oleander,  and  studded  on  every  prominent  bluff  with  the  ruined  strong- 
hold of  some  ancient  robber  chief.  The  rugged  and  picturesque  nature 
of  this  intricate  range,  known  as  the  Pdnchnada,  or  Country  of  Five 
Rivers,  contrasts  strangely  with  the  cultivated  and  monotonous  level  of 
the  Dodb  to  the  east 

History. — The  physical  features  of  Etawah,  which  rendered  it  practi- 
cally inaccessible  to  invaders  in  early  times,  marked  it  out  for  many  ages 
as  a  secure  retreat  for  the  lawless  and  turbulent.  Numerous  mounds 
still  show  the  ancient  sites  of  prehistoric  cities  throughout  the  District, 
which  long  formed  a  main  stronghold  of  the  Meos,  the  Ishmaelites  of 
the  Upper  Dodb.  In  their  hands  it  doubtless  remained  until  after  the 
earliest  Muhammadan  invasions,  as  none  of  the  tribes  now  inhabiting  its 
borders  has  any  traditions  which  stretch  back  beyond  the  12th  century 
of  our  era.  Etiwah  was  probably  traversed  both  by  Mahmiid  of 
Ghaznf  and  by  Kutab-ud-dm,  on  their  successful  expeditions  against  the 
native  dynasties ;  but  the  memorials  of  these  events  are  indistinct  and 
uncertain  on  all  local  details.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  the  Hindus  of 
Etawah  succeeded  on  the  whole  in  maintaining  their  independence 
against  the  Musalmin  aggressors ;  for  while  the  neighbouring  Districts 
have  a  number  of  wealthy  and  influential  Muhammadan  colonies,  only 
a  thin  sprinkling  of  Shaikhs  or  Sayyids  can  be  found  amongst  the 
territorial  families  of  Etiwah.  The  Rijputs  seem  to  have  occupied  the 
District  in  the  course  of  their  great  eastward  migration  during  the  12th 
century,  and  they  were  shortly  followed  by  the  Kanaujiya  Brdhmans, 
whose  descendants  still  form  the  most  important  element  of  the  land- 
owning community.  Musalman  histories  teem  with  notices  of  raids 
conducted  with  varying  success  by  the  Sayyid  generals  against  the 
'accursed  infidels'  of  Etawah.  The  Hindu  chiefs  were  generally  able 
to  defend  their  country  from  the  invaders,  though  they  made  peace 
after  each  raid  by  the  payment  of  a  precarious  tribute.  Early  in  the 
1 6th  century,  B£bar  conquered  the  District,  together  with  the  rest  of 
the  Do£b ;  and  it  remained  in  the  power  of  the  Mughals  until  the 
expulsion  of  Humayun.  His  Afghan  rival,  Sher  Shah,  saw  that  no 
order  could  be  established  without  a  thorough  system  of  internal 
communications ;  and  he  opened  up  the  country  with  roads  and  watch- 
houses,  besides  stationing  12,000  horsemen  in  Hathkaut,  who  dealt  out 
such  rude  but  prompt  measures  of  justice  as  suited  the  circumstances 
of  the  place  and  the  people.  His  reforms  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
imperial  organization  of  the  Mughal  dynasty.     Akbar  included  Etiwah 


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2  24  ETA  WAH  DISTRICT, 

in  his  sarkdrs  of  Agra,  Kanauj,  Kalpi,  and  Irich.  But  even  that 
great  administrator  failed  thoroughly  to  incorporate  Etawah  with  the 
dominions  of  the  Delhi  court.  Neither  as  proselytizers  nor  as  settlers 
have  the  Musalmans  impressed  their  mark  so  deeply  here  as  in  other 
Districts  of  the  Doab.  During  the  decline  of  the  Mughal  power, 
Etawah  fell  at  first  into  the  grasping  hands  of  the  Marhattas.  The 
battle  of  Pinipat  dispossessed  them  for  a  while,  and  the  District  became 
an  appanage  of  the  Jit  garrison  at  Agra.  In  1770,  the  Marhattfc 
returned,  and  for  three  years  they  occupied  the  Do£b  afresh.  But  when, 
in  1 773,  Najaf  KMn  drove  the  intruders  southward,  the  Nawib  Wazfr  of 
Oudh  crossed  the  Ganges,  and  laid  claim  to  his  share  of  the  spoiL 
During  the  anarchic  struggle  which  closed  the  century,  Etawah  fell 
sometimes  into  the  hands  of  the  Marhattas  and  sometimes  into  those 
of  the  Wazir ;  but  at  last  the  power  of  Oudh  became  firmly  established, 
and  was  not  questioned  until  the  cession  to  the  East  India  Company 
in  1 80 1.  Even  after  the  British  took  possession,  many  of  the  District 
Chiefs  maintained  a  position  of  independence,  or  at  least  of  insubordi- 
nation ;  and  it  was  some  time  before  the  revenue  officers  ventured  to 
approach  them  with  a  demand  for  the  Government  dues.  Gradually, 
however,  the  turbulent  landowners  were  reduced  to  obedience,  and 
industrial  organization  took  the  place  of  the  old  predatory  regime 
The  murderous  practice  of  thaggi  {thuggee)  had  been  common  before 
the  cession,  but  was  firmly  repressed  by  the  new  power.  In  spite  of  a 
devastating  famine  in  1837,  which  revolutionized  the  proprietary  system 
by  dismembering  the  great  tdlukas  or  fiscal  farms,  the  District  steadily 
improved  for  many  years,  under  the  influence  of  settled  government 
The  opening  of  the  Ganges  Canal,  with  its  daily  increasing  branches, 
diffused  fertility  through  a  wide  portion  of  the  area ;  and  every  class 
of  the  community  was  advancing  in  material  prosperity,  while  the 
opening  of  schools  and  public  libraries  gave  an  earnest  of  future 
advancement.  The  Mutiny  of  1857  interrupted  for  some  months  this 
progress.  News  of  the  outbreak  at  Meerut  (Mirath)  reached  Etdwah 
two  days  after  its  occurrence.  Within  the  week,  a  small  body  of 
mutineers  passed  through  the  District,  and  fired  upon  the  authorities, 
upon  which  they  were  surrounded  and  cut  down.  Shortly  after, 
another  body  occupied  Jaswantnagar,  and,  although  a  gallant  attack 
was  made  upon  them  by  the  local  officials,  they  succeeded  in  holding 
the  town.  On  the  2  2d  of  May,  it  was  thought  desirable  to  withdraw 
from  Etiwah  station,  but  the  troops  mutinied  on  their  march,  and  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  the  officers  and  ladies  reached  Barhpura.  There 
they  were  joined  by  the  1st  Gwalior  Regiment,  which,  however,  itself 
proved  insubordinate  upon  the  1 7th  of  June.  It  then  became  necessary 
entirely  to  abandon  the  District  and  retire  to  Agra.  The  Jhansi 
mutineers  immediately  occupied  Etawah,  and  soon  passed  on  to  Mam- 


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ETA  WAH  DISTRICT.  225 

pun.  Meanwhile,  many  of  the  native  officials  proved  themselves  steady 
friends  of  order,  and  communicated  whenever  it  was  possible  with 
the  Magistrate  in  Agra.  Bands  of  rebels  from  different  quarters 
passed  through  between  July  and  December,  until  on  Christmas-day 
Brigadier  Walpole's  column  re-entered  the  District.  Etawah  station 
was  recovered  on  the  6th  January  1858;  but  the  rebels  still  held  the 
Shergarh  ghdt,  on  the  main  road  to  Bundelkhand,  and  the  whole  south- 
west of  the  District  remained  in  their  hands.  During  the  early  months 
of  1858,  several  endeavours  were  made  to  dislodge  them  step  by  step, 
bat  the  local  force  was  not  sufficient  to  allow  of  any  extensive  opera- 
tions. Indeed,  it  was  only  by  very  slow  degrees  that  order  was  restored ; 
and  as  late  as  the  7th  of  December  a  body  of  plunderers  from  Oudh, 
under  Firoz  Shall,  entered  the  District,  burning  and  killing  indiscrimi- 
nately wherever  they  went.  They  were  attacked  and  defeated  at 
Harchandpur,  and  by  the  end  of  1858  tranquillity,  was  completely 
restored  Throughout  the  whole  of  this  trying  period,  the  loyalty 
exhibited  by  the  people  of  Etiwah  themselves  was  very  noticeable. 
Though  mutineers  were  constantly  marching  through  the  District, 
almost  all  the  native  officials  remained  faithful  to  the  cause  of  order ; 
and  many  continued  to  guard  the  treasure,  and  even  to  collect  revenue, 
in  the  midst  of  anarchy  and  rebellion.  The  principal  zaminddrs  also 
were  loyal  almost  to  a  man. 

Population. — The  Census  of  1865  was  the  first  enumeration  of  the 
people  in  which  the  area  corresponded  with  that  of  the  present  time 
sufficiently  for  purposes  of  comparison.  It  revealed  a  total  population 
of  627,378,  or  384  to  the  square  mile.  The  Census  of  1872  showed 
an  increase  to  the  number  of  668,641  persons,  or  395  to  the  square 
mile.  The  District  then  contained  3529  villages,  giving  an  average  of 
2  villages  to  each  square  mile,  and  189  inhabitants  to  each  village. 
Classified  according  to  sex,  there  were  (exclusive  of  non-Asiatics) — 
males,  369,928;  females,  298,653:  proportion  of  males,  55-3  per  cent 
of  the  total  population.  These  figures  show  the  usual  preponderance 
of  males,  which  must  doubtless  be  to  a  great  extent  accounted  for  by 
the  former  prevalence  of  infanticide.  There  is  reason  to  fear  that  this 
practice  still  lingers  amongst  the  people.  Classified  according  to  age, 
there  were  (with  the  like  exception),  under  15  years  of  age — males, 
139,606;  females,  112,459;  total,  252,065,  or  377°  pe*  cent-  °f  l^e 
whole  population.  As  regards  religious  distinctions,  Etawah  is  one 
of  the  Districts  where  the  faith  of  Islam  has  never  succeeded  in 
obtaining  any  large  body  of  followers.  The  Census  of  1872  showed 
63if9*3  Hindus,  and  only  36,571  Musalmans,  the  percentages  being 
94"5  and  5*5  respectively,  or  as  many  as  19  Hindus  to  every  Muhanv 
madan.  There  were  also  61  Europeans  and  Eurasians,  and  86  Native 
Christians.    The  proportions  which  the  various  castes  and  tribes  bear 

vol.  III.  P 

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226  ETA  WAH  DISTRICT. 

to  one  another  are  the  same  as  those  prevalent  throughout  most  of 
the  Do£b.  Of  the  4  great  Hindu  divisions,  the  Brdhmans  numbered 
93,082  persons,  minutely  subdivided  into  the  usual  stocks  and  dans. 
They  hold  685  villages  in  the  richest  portions  of  the  District,  and  are 
the  most  important  element  of  the  population,  both  from  their  social 
position  and  their  newly-acquired  landed  estates.  The  Rdjputs  are 
given  at  58,358,  inhabiting  507  villages.  They  form  the  old  terri- 
torial aristocracy  of  Etdwah,  who  are  being  gradually  ousted  from 
their  possessions  by  Brdhman  usurers  and  Bania  traders.  The  last- 
named  class  is  returned  at  32,693  persons,  holding  77  villages.  The 
•  other  castes '  of  the  Census  include  the  great  body  of  the  population, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  452,790  persons.  The  Chamdrs  (96,923) 
head  the  list ;  they  are  almost  without  exception  agricultural  labourers, 
whom  the  benevolent  efforts  of  British  rule  have  only  now  succeeded 
in  raising  from  a  condition  of  abject  serfdom.  Ahfrs  come  next  in 
numerical  order,  with  75,035,  and  this  tribe  has  some  landed  property 
of  small  value.  The  Kiyasths  number  only  8492  persons,  but  they 
possess  150  villages,  and  are  the  wealthiest  landholding  community, 
in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  in  Etdwah.  The  Kshattriyas  or 
Khatris  amount  to  no  more  than  278  persons,  but  they  are  zaminddrs 
in  24  villages,  and  are  of  great  commercial  importance.  The  other 
leading  tribes  are  the  Kdchhis  (48,160),  Lodhds  (34,795),  Gadariis 
(21,926),  and  Kolis  (20,391).  The  Musalmdns  are  for  the  most  part 
Shaikhs  or  Pathdns,  and  are  to  be  found  chiefly  in  the  larger  towns ; 
they  hold  48  villages  in  the  District  The  population  is  still  essentially 
agricultural,  and  there  is  little  movement  towards  urban  life.  In  1872, 
only  4  towns  had  a  population  exceeding  5000  —  namely,  Etawah 
(3°>549)>  Phaphund  (6536),  Auraiya  (6459),  and  Jaswahtnagar 

(53io). 

Agriculture. — A  large  portion  of  the  area  of  Etdwah,  especially  in  the 
trans-Jumna  region,  is  covered  with  jungle  or  rendered  barren  by  usdr 
plains.  But  the  District  contains  547,619  acres  of  cultivated  land,  most 
of  which  has  reached  a  high  degree  of  tillage.  At  the  date  of  the  last 
fiscal  settlement  (1869-7*),  the  area  under  each  crop  for  the  two  harvests 
was  found  to  be  as  follows : — Rabi,  or  spring  crops — wheat,  54,776 
acres;  be/ar,  or  wheat  mixed  with  gram  or  barley,  137,458  acres; 
barley,  13,373  acres;  gram,  21,830  acres;  together  with  poppies, 
vegetables,  and  other  crops  making  up  a  grand  total  of  247,245  acres: 
Kharify  or  rain  crops — sugar-cane,  22,484  acres;  cotton,  77,007  acres; 
£4/r<*>  78*347  acres;/ttfr,  102,845  acres;  indigo,  7344  acres;  together  with 
rice,  Indian  corn,  and  other  crops,  making  up  a  grand  total  of  300,371 
acres.  The  average  out-turn  of  wheat  on  good  soil  is  21  maunds  ox 
about  15  cwts.  per  acre,  valued  at  £4,  18s.,  inclusive  of  the  straw  and 
the  crops  grown  amongst  it ;  the  out-turn  of  cotton  is  7  maunds  or  5 


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ETA  WAH  DISTRICT.  227 

cwts.  per  acre,  valued  at  £$.    The  system  of  cultivation  is  the  same  as 
that  prevalent  in  the  Dodb  generally.     Manure  is  applied  every  second 
year,  and  rotation  of  crops  is  practised  to  a  slight  extent.     Irrigation  is 
widely  employed,  and  its  advantages  are  thoroughly  appreciated     Over 
48  per  cent  of  the  cultivated  area  has  been  already  watered  by  artificial 
means;  and  when  the  proposed  extensions  of  the  canal  system  ar* 
completed,  there  will  be  an  immense  improvement  in  this  respect     As 
many  as  104,773  acres  were  irrigated  from  canals  alone  in  1874,  and 
the  amount  supplied  from  wells  and  ponds  brings  up  the  total  to 
265,208  acres.    As  elsewhere,  the  canals  have  been  instrumental,  not 
merely  in  extending  the  area  of  cultivation,  but  also  in  improving 
the  character  of  the  crops,  by  substituting  indigo,  sugar-cane,  opium, 
and  superior  cereals  for  the  commoner  sorts  of  grain.      The  con- 
dition of  the  peasantry  is  comfortable;   the   Brahman  and  Rijput 
proprietors  are  in  easy  circumstances.    The  people  are  better  clothed 
and  better  fed  than  formerly,  and  their  standard  of  living  has  been 
steadily  rising  of  late  years.     The  proprietors  till  1 1  per  cent  of  the  total 
area  as  homestead ;  tenants  with  rights  of  occupancy  hold  57  per  cent ; 
tenants-at-will  cultivate  only  23  per  cent ;  and  the  remainder  is  revenue- 
free.    Rents  have  risen  of  late  years,  with  the  rise  of  prices  and  increase 
of  population,  but  the  enhancements  have  been  slow  and  slight,  owing 
to  the  strong  local  feeling  in  favour  of  the  customary  rates.     It  is  diffi- 
cult to  give  any  statistics,  as  the  amount  varies  somewhat  capriciously, 
not  only  with  the  nature  of  the  soil,  but  also  with  the  caste  of  the 
cultivator  and  the  mode  of  tenure.     Good  irrigated  land  brings  in  as 
much  as  £1,  is.  an  acre,  common  dry  lands  may  fetch  as  little  as  3s.  6d. 
an  acre.    The  average  of  all  soils  may  be  taken  at  from  8s.  to  10s. 
Wages  have   also  been  on  the  increase  for  some  years.     In  1875, 
cabinetmakers,  masons,  and  smiths  received  7jd.  per  diem;   water- 
carriers,  4§d.  per  diem ;   labourers,  3d. ;  women  and  boys,  2f  d.  per 
diem.    Prices  in  the  cis-Jumna  tract  have  risen  more  than  50  per  cent 
within  the  last  thirty  years.     The  average  prices  of  food  grains  for  the 
decade  ending  in  1870  were  as  follows  : — Wheat,  4s.  8&  per  cwt. ; 
gram,  5s.  4d.  per  cwt. ;  j'odr,  3s.  n  jd.  per  cwt. 

Natural  Calamities. — Etdwah  has  suffered  much  in  previous  years  from 
drought,  which  produced  famines  in  1803,  1813,  181 9,  and  1837.  In 
1860-61,  the  District  escaped  with  comparatively  little  distress,  though 
even  here  measures  of  relief  were  necessary,  and  the  number  of  persons 
relieved  amounted  in  all  to  54,101.  In  1868-69,  again,  Etdwah  was  not 
visited  with  nearly  so  much  severity  as  many  other  portions  of  the  Doib. 
Though  one-half  of  the  kharif  harvest  was  destroyed,  rain  fell  in  time  to 
bring  the  rabi  to  fully  two-thirds  of  its  average  amount.  The  highest 
price  reached  by  wheat  during  the  period  of  scarcity  was  about  9  sers 
per  rupee,  or  12s.  $d.  per  cwt    The  spread  of  irrigation  has  done  much 

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228  ETA  WAH  DISTRICT. 

to  remove  the  extreme  danger  of  famine ;  and  the  construction  of  the 
new  Lower  Ganges  Canal  will  probably  render  the  District  safe  in 
future  years  from  actual  want  of  food,  so  far  as  human  calculation  can 
foresee. 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc. — The  exports  of  Etawah  consist  almost 
entirely  of  agricultural  produce,  amongst  which  the  chief  items  are 
cotton,  gram,  and  oil-seeds.  Some  of  the  cotton  goes  as  far  as  Bombay, 
and  a  little  is  even  sent  beyond  the  bounds  of  India  itself.  Cloth  goods, 
metals,  drugs,  and  spices  form  the  staple  imports.  They  are  distributed 
to  consumers  by  the  medium  of  religious  fairs,  one  of  which,  at 
Doba,  sometimes  attracts  as  many  as  30,000  visitors.  There  is  also  a 
good  deal  of  through  traffic  to  and  from  Gwalior,  grain  passing  outward 
and  ghi  inward.  The  communications  have  improved  greatly  of  late 
years.  The  East  Indian  Railway  runs  through  the  centre  of  the  District, 
with  stations  at  Jaswantnagar,  Etawah,  Bharthna,  Achalda,  and  Pha- 
phiind.  The  Jumna  is  also  largely  used  as  a  water-way,  and  carries  a  great 
part  of  the  heavy  traffic.  The  District  contains  62  miles  of '  first-class ' 
roads,  bridged  and  metalled  throughout;  the  'second*  and  *  third ' 
class  roads  have  a  total  length  of  124  and  313  miles  respectively. 

Administration. — In  i860,  the  total  revenue  amounted  to  ,£136,582, 
of  which  ,£121,375,  or  eight-ninths  of  the  whole,  was  due  to  the  land 
tax.  At  the  same  date,  the  total  expenditure  amounted  to  ,£90,103,  or 
two-thirds  of  the  revenue.  In  1873,  the  receipts  had  risen  to  ,£191,097, 
while  the  land-tax  remained  almost  stationary  at  ,£128,540.  The 
increase  was  mainly  owing  to  irrigation  dues  and  other  rates.  In  the 
same  year,  the  expenditure  was  £"110,174,  or  less  than  three-fifths  of 
the  revenue.  In  1875, tne  administrative  staff  consisted  of  3  covenanted 
civilians,  with  6  subordinate  officers;  and  the  District  contained  13 
magisterial  courts.  The  regular  police  in  1875  numbered  531  men 
of  all  ranks,  maintained  at  a  cost  of  ,£7306,  chiefly  from  provincial 
funds.  This  force  was  supplemented  by  1388  village  watchmen  (chau- 
kiddrs)  and  82  road  patrols,  upon  whose  maintenance  a  further  sum 
0I"  .£534*  was  expended.  The  whole  machinery,  therefore,  for  the  pro- 
tection of  person  and  property  consisted  of  2001  men  of  all  ranks, 
being  1  man  to  every  0*84  square  mile  and  every  334  inhabitants ;  and 
the  total  expense  of  the  establishment  was  ^12,647,  or  about  4^d.  per 
head  of  the  population.  The  number  of  persons  convicted  for  any 
offence  in  1874  was  1556,  or  1  to  every  429  inhabitants.  A  single 
jail  suffices  for  the  criminal  population ;  the  average  daily  number  of 
prisoners  in  1870  was  226,  or  0*036  per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants.  The 
cost  per  head  in  that  year  was  ,£4,  17s.  i^<L,  and  the  average  earnings 
of  each  prisoner  was  16s.  7^d.  In  1874-75,  there  were  237  schools, 
with  4608  pupils,  and  the  sum  expended  on  education  amounted  to 
,£3458.    The  District  possesses  a  superior  educational  establishment  in 


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ETAWAH  TAHSIL  AND  TOWN.  229 

Hume's  High  School,  founded  by  the  Collector  of  that  name  in  1861, 
and  now  under  European  management  In  1873,  **  contained  187 
pupils;  and  between  1865  and  1873,  42  boys  matriculated  successfully 
for  the  Calcutta  University.  The  annual  cost  to  Government  is  jQi  1 60. 
The  District  is  subdivided  into  5  tahsils  and  pargands%  with  an  aggregate 
of  1813  estates,  owned  by  15,523  registered  proprietors  or  coparceners ; 
average  land  revenue  paid  by  each  estate,  ,£73,  4s.  7d.,  and  by  each 
proprietor,  ,£8,  ns.  ofd.  There  were  2  municipalities  in  1875-76, 
Etawah  and  Jaswantnagar,  the  latter  of  which  has  now  been  abolished. 
Their  joint  revenue  amounted  to  ^3530,  and  their  expenditure  to 
-£3345  \  incidence  of  municipal  taxation,  is.  6fd.  per  head  of  popu- 
lation. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  of  Etiwah  was  formerly  reported  as 
hot  and  sultry  to  an  oppressive  degree,  but  the  planting  of  trees  and 
the  spread  of  canal  irrigation  have  modified  its  character  of  late 
years.  It  is  now  comparatively  moist  and  equable,  and  the  District 
is  among  the  healthiest  in  the  plains  of  India.  The  rainfall  was 
49 '6  inches  in  1867-68,  14*8  inches  in  1868-69  (trie  vear  °f  scarcity), 
342  inches  in  1869-70,  and  46*6  inches  in  1870-71.  The  chief 
endemic  disease  is  fever  of  a  malarious  type,  which  seems  occasionally 
to  assume  an  epidemic  typhoidal  form.  The  District  is  also  visited 
from  time  to  time  by  small-pox  and  cholera.  In  1874,  the  total 
number  of  deaths  recorded  was  19,276  (2883  per  1000  of  the  popula- 
tion) ;  and  of  these  no  fewer  than  12,684  were  due  to  fever  alone,  while 
4841  were  set  down  to  small-pox.  The  cattle  of  Etawah  are  subject  to 
frequent  attacks  both  of  rinderpest  and  of  foot-and-mouth  disease. 

Ettwak — North-western  tahsil  of  Etiwah  District,  North-Western 
Provinces,  including  a  considerable  tract  in  the  Dodb,  watered  by  a 
branch  of  the  Ganges  Canal,  and  extending  into  the  ravine-covered 
country  on  the  banks  of  the  Jumna  (Jamuni),  together  with  an  isolated 
wedge  of  land  between  that  river  and  the  Chambal,  consisting  for  the 
most  part  of  wild  jungle-clad  gorges.  Area,  425  square  miles,  of  which 
222  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  186,299;  land  revenue,  ,£27,813; 
total  Government  revenue,  ,£29,473 ;  rental  paid  by  cultivators, 
£49*032  ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre,  2  s.  o£& 

Et&wah.  —  Municipal  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of 
Etawah  District,  North-Western  Provinces.  Area,  461  acres;  pop. 
(1872),  30,549,  being  21,241  Hindus,  9256  Muhammadans,  and  52 
Christians.  Situated  in  lat.  26°  45'  31*  n.,  and  long.  790  3'  18"  e., 
among  the  ravines  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Jumna,  at  a  point  where  the 
river  bends  sharply  backwards  upon  its  own  course.  The  suburbs 
stretch  down  nearly  to  the  water's  edge,  but  the  main  quarter  is 
separated  from  the  stream  by  a  mass  of  gorges,  about  half  a  mile  in 
breadth.    The  East  Indian  Railway  has  a  station  outside  the  town. 


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230  EVEREST,  MOUNT. 

Hume-ganj,  a  handsome  square,  called  after  a  late  Collector,  A-  O.  Hume, 
GB.,  contains  the  public  buildings,  and  forms  the  centre  of  the  city. 
It  includes  a  market-place,  tahsili  and  Magistrates'  courts,  mission-house, 
police  station,  and  dispensary.  Hume's  High  School  is  a  handsome 
building,  erected  chiefly  by  private  subscription.  The  north  and  south 
sides  of  the  square  form  the  principal  grain  and  cotton  markets.  A 
sardi,  with  a  fine  well  and  arched  gateway,  adjoins  the  square.  The 
Jamd  Masjid,  or  *  great  mosque,'  originally  a  Hindu  or  Buddhist  temple, 
stands  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  Gwalior  road,  and  is  interesting 
from  its  numerous  fragments  of  early  workmanship.  The  Asthala, 
situated  in  a  grove  to  the  west  of  the  city,  ranks  first  among  the  Hindu 
places  of  worship ;  it  was  built  about  ninety  years  ago  by  one  Gopdl 
Dds,  a  Brihman,  in  honour  of  Nara  Sinha,  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu. 
Another  Hindu  temple,  dedicated  to  Mahddeo  Tiksf,  stands  among  the 
ravines  between  the  city  and  the  Jumna.  The  bathing  ghdts  along 
the  river's  edge  are  lined  by  many  handsome  shrines ;  and  a  modern 
Jain  building,  with  a  lofty  white  spire,  forms  a  striking  object  The 
fort,  the  stronghold  of  a  Thdkur  in  olden  times,  appears  to  have  been 
founded  on  a  still  earlier  mound,  and  makes  a  handsome  ruin,  with 
massive  bastions  and  an  underground  passage,  used  to  the  present  day 
as  a  pathway  to  the  summit  The  picturesque  position  of  Etdwah  in 
the  midst  of  ravines,  and  the  trees  dotted  about  amongst  its  straggling 
mahattas  (wards),  give  it  a  pleasant  and  shady  appearance,  very  rare 
in  Indian  towns.  The  city  dates  back  to  a  period  before  the  Musal- 
min  •  conquest,  both  Mahmrid  of  Ghaznf  and  Shahdb-ud-din  Ghori 
having  plundered  it  during  their  respective  expeditions.  The  fort  was 
built  by  the  Chauhdns  on  their  immigration  into  this  wild  tract,  and 
occupied  by  a  Musalmdn  governor  after  their  expulsion.  Bibar  and 
the  Muhammadan  historians  frequently  mention  it  as  a  place  of  great 
strength.  In  the  17th  century,  Et&wah  became  a  famous  banking  and 
commercial  town,  but  suffered  greatly,  on  the  decline  of  the  Mughal 
empire,  from  Rohilla  and  Marhatti  raids.  For  its  later  history  and 
the  events  of  the  Mutiny,  see  Etawah  District.  The  modern  civil 
station  lies  about  half  a  mile  to  the  north  of  the  town,  and  contains  the 
railway  station,  jail,  District  offices,  English  church,  and  public  gardens, 
besides  telegraph  and  post  offices.  Trade  in  gM9  gram,  cotton,  and  oil- 
seeds. Imports  of  grain  from  the  Punjab,  on  its  way  to  Gwalior ;  exports 
of  cotton  to  Cawnpore  and  Mfrzdpur.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76, 
^3064;  from  taxes,  .£2435,  or  IS-  ll&  P^  head  of  population 
(30,386)  within  municipal  limits. 

Everest,  Mount. — The  loftiest  known  peak  in  the  world,  situated  in 
the  Nepdl  ranges  of  the  Himalayas,  beyond  Bengal.  Lat  27°  59'  12* 
n.,  long.  86°  58'  6"  e.  Altitude  above  the  sea,  29,002  feet  Named  in 
honour  of  Sir  G.  Everest,  Surveyor-General  of  India,  by  his  successor, 


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FAIZABAD  DIVISION  AND  DISTRICT.  231 

Sir  Andrew  Waugh,  at  the  time  when  the  height  was  first  accurately 
calculated 


Fau&bAd  {Fyzdbdd). — A  Division  or  Commissionership  of  Oudh, 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  North-Western 
Provinces,  lying  between  260  9'  and  280  24'  n.  lat,  and  between  8i°  5' 
and  83"  9'  e.  long.  Area  (Parliamentary  return,  1877),  7 118  square 
miles;  population,  according  to  the  Census  of  1869,  2,965,084.  The 
Division  comprises  the  three  Districts  of  Faizabad,  Gonda,  and 
Bahraich,  all  of  which  see  separately.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  Nepal  tardi;  on  the  east  by  Gorakhpur ;  on  the  south  by  Azamgarh 
and  Sultanpur ;  and  on  the  west  by  Bara  Bdnki,  Sftapur,  and  Kheii 
Number  of  towns  or  villages,  7366 ;  number  of  houses,  565,576.  The 
population  (1869)  consists  of — 2,648,070  Hindus  (89*35  P^  cent'  °* 
the  total);  Muhammadans,  315,604  (10*65  I**  cent);  Christians, 
1410.  Average  density  of  population,  416  per  square  mile;  villages 
per  square  mile,  1*03;  houses  per  square  mile,  79;  persons  per 
village,  402 — per  house,  5*2.  Number  of  males,  1,534,118,  or  517  per 
cent  of  total  population. 

Eau&bid  (Fyzdbdd).— &  District  of  Oudh,  in  the  Division  of  the 
same  name,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the 
North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  260  9'  and  260  50'  n.  lat,  and 
between  8i°  43'  and  830  9'  e.  long.  Area  (Parliamentary  return,  1877), 
1649  square  miles;  population,  according  to  Census  of  1869,  after 
allowing  for  recent  changes  of  area,  1,024,092.  Prior  to  recent 
administrative  transfers,  the  District  contained  an  area  of  2332  square 
miles,  and  a  population  of  1,440,957.  In  shape,  the  District  is  an 
irregular  parallelogram  running  from  west  to  east,  with  a  slight  tendency 
southwards ;  length,  varying  from  85  miles  in  the  north  to  64  in  the 
south;  average  width,  from  20  to  25  miles.  Bounded  on  the  north  by 
Gonda  and  Basti  Districts,  the  Gogra  river  forming  the  boundary  line ; 
on  the  east  by  Gorakhpur ;  on  the  south  by  Azamgarh  and  Sultanpur ; 
and  on  the  west  by  Bdra  Bdnki. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  physical  features  of  the  country  are  similar 
to  those  of  the  neighbouring  Districts  of  Oudh,  and  require  but  brief 
notice.  Faizabacl  consists  of  a  densely  populous,  well  cultivated  plain 
of  great  fertility,  having  an  average  elevation  of  350  feet  above  sea 
level,  without  hills  or  valleys,  and  devoid  of  forests,  but  well  wooded 
with  numerous  mango  and  bamboo  groves,  and  scattered  fipal  and 
stmul  trees.  The  drainage  is  towards  the  south-east  The  principal 
river,  and  that  which  affords  the  chief  means  of  communication 
between  FaizdWd  and  the  Gangetic  valley,  is  the  Gogra,  which  flows 


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232  FA1ZABAD  DISTRICT. 

along  its'  whole  northern  frontier  for  a  distance  of  95  miles,  being 
navigable    throughout    by  the  largest  -  sized    cargo -boats  and  river 
steamers.     The  banks  of  the  river  are  about  25  feet  above  cold-weather 
water  level     They  are  never  flooded,   but  a  breadth  of  low -lying 
land  between  the  banks  and  the  stream  is  submerged  every  rainy 
season.     The  other  rivers  are — the  Tons,  formed  by  the  confluence  of 
the  Bisoi  and  the  Madha  rivers;  and  the  Majhoi,  which  marks  the 
boundary  between  Faizdbdd  and  Sultanpur.    The  Tons  is  navigable 
during  the  rains  as  far  as  Akbarpur  by  boats  of  about  5  tons  burden. 
Its  banks  are  steep;  in  many  places  covered  with  usdry  in  others 
fringed  with  jungle.      Many  other  small  streams  flow   through  the 
District     Water  is  everywhere  abundant,  and  lies  close  to  the  surface. 
Although  there  are  no  large  jhils  or  lakes,   there  are  innumerable 
artificially  constructed  tanks  and  natural  water  holes  and  small  swamps, 
which  afford  ample  means  for  easy  irrigation.     Owing  perhaps  to  the 
greater  extent  of  cultivation,  Faizdbdd  is  worse  stocked  with  game  than 
any  other  District  of  Oudh.     Wild  pigs  are  tolerably  numerous  near 
the  Gogra,  and  black  buck  are  occasionally  met  with  in  the  west  of  the 
District ;  bears  and  spotted  deer  are  unknown ;  ducks  and  geese  com- 
paratively scarce.     Fisheries  unimportant 

History. — The  early  history  of  Faizibdd  is  that  of  Ajodhya,  of 
which  kingdom  it  formed  a  part.  Passing  from  the  time  of  Rimchandra— 
the  hero  of  the  Sanskrit  epic,  the  Rdmdyana — through  the  subsequent 
period  of  Buddhist  supremacy ;  its  decline ;  the  revival  of  Brahmanism 
under  King  Vikramdditya  of  Ujjain ;  the  struggles  between  Buddhism 
and  Brahmanism;  and  the  subsequent  re-establishment  of  the  Brih- 
manical  faith  about  the  8th  century  a.d. — we  come  to  the  first  event 
in  what  may  be  called  the  modern  history  of  the  country,  namely  the 
Muhammadan  invasion.  In  1030  a.d.,  Sayyid  SaMax  Masirid,  the  son 
of  SaMar  Sahu,  one  of  the  generals  of  Sultan  Mahmiid,  invaded  Oudh, 
and  passed  through  Faizdbid.  It  is  not  certain  whether  any  great  battle 
was  fought  here,  but  a  portion  of  the  high  road  is  still  pointed  out, 
along  which  the  country  people  will  not  pass  after  dark.  They  say  that 
at  night  the  road  is  thronged  with  headless  horsemen  of  Sayyid  Silar's 
army.  Sayyid  Salar,  after  a  series  of  victories,  was  slain,  and  his  troops 
completely  defeated,  at  Bahraich  by  the  confederate  Rajput  princes. 
These  afterwards  turned  against  each  other,  and  the  Province  seems  to 
have  been  split  up  into  a  number  of  petty  fiefs.  After  the  conquest  of 
Kanauj,  the  Musalmins  again  overran  Oudh,  and  succeeded  in  con- 
solidating their  rule.  Ajodhya  long  remained  the  capital  of  the 
Province ;  but  by  the  early  part  of  the  18th  century,  it  had  given  way 
to  Faizabid,  a  few  miles  to  the  west  Shujd-ud-dfn,  however,  was  the 
first  of  the  Oudh  Viceroys,  who  made  Faizdbdd  his  permanent  residence 
in  1756.    After  his  death  in  1780,  the  capital  was  removed  to  Lucknow. 


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FAIZABAD  DISTRICT.  233 

The  only  important  event  in  the  history  of  the  District  since  the 
annexation  of  the  Province  was  the  Mutiny  of  1857.  In  the  early 
part  of  that  year,  the  troops  in  cantonments  consisted  of  the  2  2d 
Bengal  Native  Infantry,  the  6th  Irregular  Oudh  Cavalry,  a  company  of 
the  7th  Bengal  Artillery,  and  a  horse  battery  of  light  field  guns.  The 
troops  revolted  on  the  night  of  the  8th  June,  but  the  outbreak  was 
not  accompanied  with  the  scenes  of  massacre  which  occurred  at 
other  military  stations.  The  European  officers,  with  their  wives  and 
families,  were  allowed  to  leave  unmolested ;  and  although  some  of  them 
were  attacked  in  their  flight  by  mutineers  of  other  regiments,  they  nearly 
all  succeeded,  after  more  or  less  hardship,  in  reaching  places  of  safety. 
A  Muhammadan  landholder,  Mfr  Muhammad  Husdin  Khdn,  sheltered 
one  party  in  his  small  fort  for  several  days,  until  the  road  was  open  and 
they  could  reach  Gorakhpur  in  safety. 

Population. — The  population  of  FaizdWd,  according  to  the  Census 
of  1869,  but  allowing  for  recent  transfers,  is  524,431  males  and  499,661 
females ;  total,  1,024,092,  dwelling  in  2567  villages  and  townships,  and 
193,479  houses;  average  pressure  of  the  population  on  the  soil,  621 
per  square  mile.  The  Hindus  number  922,360,  or  90  per  cent  of 
the  total;  Muhammadans,  100,410,  or  9-8  per  cent;  Christians, 
1322,  of  whom  1267  are  returned  as  Europeans.  The  castes  of 
Faiz£b£d  are  the  same  as  those  which  are  found  in  the  rest  of  Oudh. 
The  Brahmans  are  the  most  numerous,  forming  about  15  per  cent  of  the 
total  population  of  the  District ;  Chamdrs,  the  lowest  in  social  rank, 
come  next,  numbering  about  12  per  cent ;  then  Ahfrs,  and  then 
i  Kshattriyds,  who  hold  two-thirds  of  the  soil,  but  form  only  7  per  cent, 
of  the  people ;  Kurmfs  constitute  6  per  cent. ;  and  Korfs,  Kahdrs, 
Vaisyas,  Mallas,  and  Murios,  each  about  3  per  cent  The  Census 
returned  89  different  castes  of  Hindus.  The  Muhammadans  are 
divided  as  to  sect  into  Sunnis  and  Shiis,  the  former  constituting  the 
great  majority.  The  Shids,  however,  are  influential,  and  are  principally 
met  with  in  Faizdbid  city,  which  was  for  long  the  residence  of  a  Shid 
court  Five  towns  in  the  District  contain  a  population  (1869)  exceeding 
5000— viz.  Faizabad  (population,  37,804) ;  Tanda,  13,543 ;  Ajodhya, 
75i8;  Jalalpur,  6275;  and  Sinjhauli,  5069  to  5614.  Faizdbdd 
and  Ajodhya,  which  are  adjacent  towns,  have  been  constituted  into  a 
single  municipality.  The  only  other  municipality  is  Tdnda.  Of  the 
3479  villages  which  the  District  contained  in  1869,  prior  to  the  recent 
changes  of  area,  131 1  contained  fewer  than  200  inhabitants;  1323 
from  200  to  500 ;  594  from  500  to  1000 ;  197  from  1000  to  2000 ; 
49  from  2000  to  5000 ;  and  5  upwards  of  5000  inhabitants. 

Agriculture. — The  principal  agricultural  staples  are  wheat  and  rice, 
which  together  make  up  46  per  cent  of  the  total  area  under  cultiva- 
tion, which  is  estimated   at   947    square    miles,  or  606,080    acres, 


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234  FAIZABAD  DISTRICT. 

including  land  yielding  two  crops  in  the  year.  The  acreage  under 
each  crop  is  approximately  as  follows :  —  Wheat,  200,000 ;  rice, 
150,000 ;  jodr^  urd,  gram,  peas,  barley,  and  arhary  each  50,000 ; 
sugar-cane,  40,000 ;  and  miscellaneous  crops,  80,000  acres.  Irrigation 
is  largely  practised  The  water  is  principally  derived  from  jkUs  and 
tanks,  but  masonry  wells  are  more  commonly  used  for  this  purpose  in 
Faizdbdd  than  in  any  other  District  in  Oudh.  Water  is  met  with  at 
various  depths,  varying  from  12  feet  along  the  banks  of  the  Gogra  to 
37  feet  in  parts  beyond  the  old  bed  of  the  river.  A  masonry  well,  25 
feet  deep,  and  sufficiently  large  for  two  pulleys  to  be  worked  at  once^ 
costs  about  £2$  if  mortared,  or  ^17,  10s.  if  unmortared  Such  a  well 
is  worked  by  five  men,  who  can  irrigate  one  local  bighd  (about  n  50 
square  yards)  in  a  day.  One  watering  costs  from  3s.  9<L  to  5s.  an  acre, 
according  to  the  current  rate  of  wages.  In  the  tardi,  where  water  is 
found  within  12  feet  of  the  surface,  the  well  is  a  mere  hole,  and  3  men 
are  able  to  irrigate  a  bighd  at  a  cost  of  from  2s.  4J&  to  3s.  ijd.  for 
each  watering.  As  a  rule,  sugar-cane  is  watered  10  times,  opium  and 
tobacco  each  7,  barley,  peas,  and  masuri>  once.  Wheat  requires  a  double 
well  for  every  12  acres,  opium  and  tobacco  for  every  5,  and  barley,  peas, 
etc,  for  every  15.  Rents  are  high,  and  are  still  rising.  The  rate  per 
acre  for  land  growing  the  different  crops  is  thus  returned : — Opium  and 
tobacco,  18s.  6&  ;  sugar-cane,  16s.  6d  ;  wheat,  13s.  6d  ;  rice,  10s. ; 
oil-seeds,  8s.  6d  ;  maize,  etc,  7s.  6d  Classified  according  to  the 
different  qualities  of  land,  rents  may  be  set  down  as  follows : — Manured 
crops  near  the  village,  25s.  per  acre ;  irrigated  loam,  16s. ;  unirrigated 
loam,  12s. ;  sandy  unirrigated  loam,  7s.  The  cultivator's  profits  are 
probably  the  same  in  Faiz£b£d  as  in  other  parts  of  Oudh — just  enough 
to  pay  for  his  labour  and  for  the  keeping  up  of  his  stock.  Of  late 
years,  however,  owing  to  the  rise  of  rent,  bad  harvests,  and  cattle 
murrain,  they  have  not  reached  this  standard  The  difficulties  of  the 
cultivating  class  are  not  due  to  the  Government  revenue  being  too 
heavy,  but  to  pressure  put  upon  them  by  the  petty  proprietors  and 
middle-men,  who  have  to  raise  the  rents  in  order  to  enable  them  to 
live  according  to  their  old  standard  of  comfort  The  land  is  divided 
among  a  few  large  and  an  immense  number  of  small  proprietors.  The 
large  tdlukddri  estates  are  28  in  number,  containing  an  area  of  998,000 
acres,  or  an  average  of  55  square  miles  each.  Included  within  these 
fiefs  are  many  sub-tenures,  which  have  been  granted  by  the  tdlukddn 
or  decreed  by  the  courts.  These  consist  of  703  villages,  and  cover 
an  area  of  250,000  acres,  or  a  little  over  one-fourth  of  the  parent 
estates.  The  number  of  these  sub-proprietors  is  22,846,  the  average 
area  of  each  estate  being  14  acres.  The  small  independent  estates 
number  about  17,000 ;  average  area,  29  acres.  The  cultivating  tenants 
are  returned  at  183,447  in  number,  the  average  area  of  each  tenant's 


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FAIZABAD  DISTRICT.  235 

holding  being  3J  acres.  Tenants  possessing  occupancy  rights  are  said 
to  number  2288,  or  about  2  J  per  cent  of  the  whole.  Wages  are  paid 
both  in  money  and  in  grain.  Throughout  the  District  the  ordinary  rate 
of  money  wages  for  unskilled  labour  is  1  }&  a  day,  but  is  higher  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Faizibdd  town.  Prices  of  food  grains  have  consider- 
ably advanced  of  late  years.  Between  the  ten  years  1 861-1870,  prices 
for  common  unhusked  rice  rose  from  3s.  to  4s.  2d  a  cwt,  common 
husked  rice  from  7s.  to  8s.  2d,  wheat  from  4s.  6d  to  5s.  1  id, ./of r  from 
3s.  6d  to  4s.  7d,  bdjra  from  4s.  2d  to  7s.  iod,  gram  from  4s.  8d.  to 
6s.  3d.,  arhar  from  4s.  7d  to  5s.  9d.,  wr^from  5s.  6d  to  7s.  3d,  rnUg 
from  7s.  2d  to  8s.  4d,  masuri  from  4s.  2d  to  5s.  7d  a  cwt 

Natural  Calamities. — The  two  last  famines  which  afflicted  the  Dis- 
trict occurred  in  1869  and  1874,  being  caused  by  the  failure  of  the  rains 
in  the  preceding  years.  The  entire  rainfall  of  neither  year  was 
deficient ;  but  the  distribution  was  capricious,  and  no  rain  fell  in  those 
months  when  it  was  most  needed  for  agricultural  purposes.  Famines  in 
Faizihdd  are  of  two  kinds— one  of  food  itself,  and  the  other  of  the 
means  to  purchase  food,  which  may  be  termed  a  labour  famine.  The 
hist  outward  sign  of  distress  is  shown  when  the  small  farmers,  who  pay 
their  labourers  grain  wages,  turn  them  off  to  shift  for  themselves.  The 
result  is  that  these  men  emigrate  from  the  District  as  scarcity 
approaches,  long  before  there  is  absolute  famine  ;  the  demand  for  food 
is  diminished,  and  the  crisis  perhaps  tided  over  till  the  next  harvest. 
Another  cause  which  mitigates  the  effect  of  a  bad  crop  in  Faizibid, 
is  the  great  variety  of  the  staples  sown.  'Rice1Jodr,  barley,  gram,  urd, 
and  peas  are  all  grown  in  fair  proportion ;  while  in  the  neighbouring 
Districts  of  Gonda  and  Bahrdich,  if  the  rice  fails,  there  is  nothing  to  fall 
back  upon.  In  Faiz£b£d,  the  harvests  follow  within  every  two  months 
of  each  other,  except  from  June  to  September. 

Communications,  Trade,  Commerce,  etc. — Besides  the  water  highway 
along  the  Gogra,  means  of  communication  are  afforded  by  two  good 
metalled  roads  to  Sultanpur,  Partibgarh,  and  Allah£ba*d  on  the  north, 
and  to  Daryibdd,  Nawdbganj,  and  Lucknow  on  the  west,  aggregating  60 
miles  in  Faizibad  District.  Good  unmetalled  roads  cross  the  country 
in  every  direction,  aggregating  428  miles.  There  are  numerous  ferries 
°n  the  Gogra,  and  a  bridge  of  boats  is  maintained  at  Faizdbid  town 
daring  the  dry  season.  A  branch  of  the  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand  Railway 
also  intersects  the  District  for  a  length  of  66  miles,  with  stations  at 
Akbarpur,  Gosdinganj,  Nara,  Ajodhya,  FaizdWd,  and  Sohwal  The 
trade  of  Faiz£b£d  District  cannot  be  estimated  with  any  approach  to 
accuracy.  The  registered  river-borne  imports  and  exports  for  1872 
and  1873  are  returned  as  follows : — The  value  of  the  imports,  con- 
sisting principally  of  sugar,  tobacco,  spices,  salt,  cattle,  and  English 
piece-goods,  was  returned  at  .£159,350  in  1872,  and  ,£158,272  in 


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236  FA1ZABAD  DISTRICT. 

1873  \  while  that  of  the  exports  (principally  wheat  and  other  food 
grains,  hides,  timber,  country  cloth,  etc)  was  returned  at  £333,336 
and  ,£306,325  in  1872  and  1873  respectively.  The  figures,  however, 
do  not  show  the  actual  exports  and  imports  of  the  District,  but  merely 
indicate  the  course  of  river  trade  at  marts  within  the  river  boundary. 
The  internal  trade  by  road  or  river  with  other  parts  of  Oudh  is  not 
given.  For  instance,  Faizibid  exports  a  vast  quantity  of  opium  by  rail 
to  Lucknow ;  but  although  much  of  it  is  produced  in  Faizibid  itself, 
none  of  it,  or  of  any  other  railway  traffic,  is  credited  to  the  District  in 
the  trade  returns.  '  These,  again,  exhibit  Faizibid  as  a  large  importer  of 
sugar ;  it  really  produces  more  than  is  required  for  its  own  consumption 
The  fact  is  that  the  sugar  of  Basti  and  Azamgarh  passes  through  Faiz- 
ibid to  Lucknow,  whence  it  is  distributed  to  Cawnpore  and  Bareli. 
Country  cloth  is  largely  exported  from  Tinda ;  timber  is  exported  really 
from  Kheri  and  Bahriich,  but  is  credited  to  Faizibid,  as  the  logs  are 
counted  in  this  District  The  grain  exported  is  mainly  rice,  wheat,  and 
maize,  but  much  of  it  comes  from  neighbouring  Districts,  and  is 
embarked  in  Faizibid,  which  acts  as  an  emporium  for  Eastern  Oudh. 

Administration. — The  judicial  staff  consists  of  the  Divisional  Com- 
missioner, sessions  judge,  deputy  commissioner,  with  2  European  and  3 
native  assistants,  a  cantonment  magistrate,  and  4  revenue  collectors 
(taM/ddrs).  There  are  also  1 1  magistrates,  all  of  whom  have  civil  and 
revenue  powers;  besides  3  honorary  magistrates.  The  total  imperial 
revenue  of  the  District  in  1875-76  amounted  to  ,£151,856,  of  which 
£133,242  was  derived  directly  from  the  land  The  total  expense  of 
civil  administration,  as  represented  by  the  cost  of  the  District  officials 
and  police,  amounted  in  the  same  year  to  ,£18,097.  The  regular 
police  force  in  1873  consisted  of  576  officers  and  men,  maintained  at  a 
cost  to  the  State  of  .£8058 ;  the  village  watch  or  rural  police  consisted 
of  2203  men,  maintained  by  the  landholders  at  a  cost  of  ,£5347 ;  and 
there  was  also  a  municipal  force  of  197  men,  costing  ^£1524  from 
municipal  funds.  During  1873,  4°5°  cases  were  brought  by  the  police 
before  the  magistrates,  and  3239  convictions  obtained  Faizibid  has 
the  worst  criminal  reputation  in  Oudh,  particularly  for  cattle-stealing 
and  poisoning ;  19  persons  of  the  Chimir  or  leather-dealing  caste  were 
convicted  of  cattle  poisoning  in  1872,  the  motive  being  simply  to  obtain 
the  hide.  Pargand  Birhir  is  notorious  for  cattle-lifting.  Crime  reaches 
its  maximum  in  July,  the  month  when  grain  is  scarcest  The  Govern- 
ment or  aided  educational  institutions  consisted  in  1872-73,  of  162 
schools,  attended  by  4633  pupils;  and  in  the  following  year,  of  167 
schools,  with  4801  pupils. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  rainfall  of  Faizibid  is  more  regular  than  in 
Western  Oudh,  and  during  the  fourteen  years  ending  1875  rias  averaged 
43-2  inches.     Mean  temperature  (1875),  May  87-9°  F.,  July  85*6', 

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FAIZABAD  TAHSIL—FAIZPUR  TOWN.  237 

December  65*6°  F.  The  principal  diseases  of  the  District  are  fevers. 
Small-pox  is  also  prevalent,  and  cholera  occasionally  makes  its  appear- 
ance in  an  epidemic  form. 

Fau&b&d  (Fyzdbdd).— Tahsil  or  Subdivision  of  Faizibdd  District, 
Oudh,  lying  between  260  32'  30"  and  260  50'  n.  lat.,  and  between  8i° 
51'  and  820  31'  15"  e.  long. ;  bounded  on  the  north  by  Begamganj  tahsil 
of  Gonda,  on  the  east  by  Basti  District  in  the  North-Western  Provinces, 
on  the  south  by  Bikapur  tahsil,  and  on  the  west  by  Ram  Sanehi  tahsil 
of  Bara  BinkL  Area,  342  square  miles,  of  which  208  are  cultivated. 
Pop.,  according  to  the  Census  of  1869,  but  allowing  for  recent  changes 
of  area — Hindus,  244,212;  Musalmans,  34,535:  total,  278,747,  viz. 
1431640  males  and  135,107  females.  Number  of  villages  or  townships, 
479;  average  density  of  population,  815  per  square  mile.  The  tahsil 
consists  of  the  3  pargands  of  Haweli  Oudh,  Mangalsi,  and  Amsfr. 

Faiz&b&d  {Fyzdbdd). — Chief  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of 
Faizdb&i  District,  Oudh ;  situated  in  lat  26°  46'  45* n.,  and  long.  820  n' 
40'  e.,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Gogra,  78  miles  east  of  Lucknow  ; 
adjoining  it  to  the  west  is  the  modern  town  of  Ajodhya,  both  towns 
being  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  city  of  Ajodhya.  The  town  is  a  com- 
paratively modern  one,  although  there  are  several  ancient  Muhammadan 
buildings  in  its  vicinity.  Mansiir  Alf  Khan,  Viceroy  of  Oudh,  in  1732 
passed  a  portion  of  his  time  here ;  but  his  successor,  Shuj4-ud-daula, 
took  up  his  permanent  residence  at  Faizibdd,  and  made  it  the  Provincial 
capital  in  1760.  Twenty  years  later,  Asff-ud-daula*  moved  the  court 
back  again  to  Lucknow.  Pop.  (1869)  (exclusive  of  Europeans  and 
troops),  21,930  Hindus  and  14,620  Muhammadans — total,  36,550,  in 
8077  houses,  1776  being  of  masonry.  The  city  has  fallen  into  decay  since 
the  death  of  the  celebrated  Bahu  Begam  in  1 816,  who  had  held  it  rent-free 
since  1798,  and  who  lived  and  died  here.  Her  mausoleum  is  described 
as  'the  finest  building  of  the  kind  in  Oudh.'  The  Dflkusha  palace 
adjoining  the  tomb  was  the  residence  of  this  lady ;  it  is  now  the  opium 
storehouse.  Several  other  Muhammadan  buildings,  mosques,  gardens, 
etc,  all  more  or  less  out  of  repair,  are  situated  in  the  town.  Faizib£d 
together  with  Ajodhya  constitutes  one  municipality.  The  municipal 
income  (1876-77)  amounted  to  ^4764,  and  the  expenditure  to  ^4410  ; 
average  rate  of  taxation,  2s.  3|d.  per  head  of  the  population  within 
municipal  limits.  There  are  numerous  markets  in  the  town,  and  trade 
is  very  active,  the  estimated  annual  sales  within  municipal  limits 
amounting  to  ^148,780,  of  which  upwards  of  one-half  consists  of  wheat, 
rice,  and  food  grains.  Large  station  on  the  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand 
Railway,  and  also  a  military  cantonment.     Total  pop.  (1869),  37,804. 

Faixpur. — Town  in  Khandesh  District,  Bombay;  situated  in  lat. 
2i°  11'  n.,  and  long.  750  56'  e.,  72  miles  north-east  of  Dhulia\  Pop. 
(l872)>  8365.    Faizpur  is  famous  for  its  cotton  prints,  and  its  dark 

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238  FAKHRPUR  PARGANA  AND  TOWN. 

blue  and  red  dyes.  There  are  about  250  families  who  dye  thread, 
turbans,  and  other  pieces  of  cloth,  and  print  cloth  of  all  sorts.  Weekly 
timber  market 

Fakhrpur. — Pargand  in  Bahriich  District,  Oudh ;  bounded  on  the 
north  by  Nanpara  pargand,  on  the  east  and  south  by  Bahrdich  and 
Hisampur,  and  on  the  west  by  Sitapur  District  A  large  pargand, 
which  has  undergone  many  changes  of  area.  As  at  present  defined, 
it  comprises  a  great  portion  of  what  was  once  Firozabad,  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  a  number  of  its  former  villages  have  been  transferred 
to  Hisampur.  The  Sarju  and  a  small  sluggish  stream,  the  Bhakosa, 
flow  through  the  pargand,  and  several  well-defined  deserted  channels 
mark  old  beds  of  the  Gogra  (Ghagra),  which  now  flows  to  the  south. 
Water  is  commonly  met  with  so  close  to  the  surface,  that  irrigation 
is  scarcely  required.  Area,  383  square  miles,  of  which  217  are  under 
cultivation  and  114  are  cultivable  waste.  Government  land  revenue, 
^9248;  average  incidence,  is.  sfd  per  acre  of  cultivated  area, 
nfd.  per  acre  of  assessed  area,  and  9§&  per  acre  of  total  area. 
The  principal  landlord  is  the  Raja  of  Kapurthila,  on  whom  the  estate 
of  the  rebel  Raja  of  Baundi  has  been  conferred  at  a  quit-rent  for  ever. 
Sardars  Fateh  Sinh  and  Jugjot  Sinh,  reputed  grandsons  of  Maharaja 
Ranjft  Sinh  of  Lahore,  are  the  grantees  of  the  Chahlari  Raja's  estate. 
The  Raja  of  Rahwa's  estates  also  lie  almost  entirely  in  this  pargand 
Of  the  288  villages  which  compose  the  pargand,  227  are  held  under 
tdlukddri  tenure,  and  161  are  permanently  settled.  Pop.  (1869), 
Hindus,  125,899;  Muhammadans,  14,200;  total,  140,099,  viz.  74,045 
males  and  66,054  females ;  average  density  of  population,  366  per  square 
mile.  Most  numerous  castes  —  Brahmans,  19,262;  Ahirs,  17,812; 
Chamars,  15,316.  Three  lines  of  road  intersect  the  pargand.  Eight 
market  villages,  the  most  important  of  which  is  at  Jaitapur,  which  has  a 
large  well-frequented  bdzdr.  Government  schools  maintained  in  nine 
villages,  besides  an  English  town  school  at  Baundi;  police  station  at 
Sfsia ;  post  offices  at  Baundi  and  Sfsia. 

Fakhrpur. — Town  in  Bahr&ch  District,  Oudh ;  on  the  high  road 
from  Bahramghit  to  Bahraich,  \o\  miles  from  the  latter  town.  Lat 
27°  2S'  55"  N->  l°ng'  8i°  31'  41"  e.  The  town  is  pleasantly  situated 
among  park-like  groves  of  mango  trees,  but  is  unhealthy,  owing  to  bad 
water ;  goitre  is  very  prevalent.  In  former  times  the  place  is  said  to 
have  been  held  by  Ahirs.  In  Akbafs  reign  it  was  made  the  head- 
quarters of  a  pargand  named  after  it,  a  fort  was  built,  and  a  iahsUcx 
revenue  collectorate  established.  Up  to  181 8,  the  tahsilddr  had  his 
fort  and  treasury  here,  but  in  the  latter  year  the  larger  portion  of  the 
pargand  was  incorporated  in  the  Baundi  estate  (iidk£),  and  from  that 
time  the  fort  has  ceased  to  be  used.  The  village  has  been  held  now 
for  many  years  by  the  revenue  officers  of  the  pargand*    Pop.  (1869), 


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FAKIRGANJ— FALSE  POINT.  239 

Hindus,  1236,  and  Muhammadans,  904;  total,  2140,  residing  in  409 
mud  houses  Saltpetre  is  prepared,  but  not  to  any  great  extent.  No 
market    Government  school. 

Falrirganj.  —  Commercial  village  in  Dindjpur  District,  Bengal. 
Trade  in  rice,  tobacco,  gunny  cloth,  sugar,  and  jute. 

Fakirh&tb — Village  in  the  District  of  the  Twenty-four  Pargands, 
Bengal  Lat  220  23'  30*  n.,  long.  89°  7'  15*  e.  Bi-weekly  market. 
Traffic  carried  on  entirely  by  means  of  water  communication. 

False  Point. — Cape,  harbour,  and  lighthouse  in  Cuttack  District, 
Bengal;  situated  in  lat  200  20'  10*  n.,  and  long.  86°  46'  25"  e.,  on 
the  north  of  the  Mahdnadi  estuary,  and  consisting  of  an  anchorage, 
land-locked  by  islands  and  sandbanks,  with  two  navigable  channels. 
False  Point  takes  its  name  from  the  circumstance  that  it  was  often 
mistaken  by  ships  for  Point  Palmyras,  one  degree  farther  north.  It  is 
the  best  harbour  on  the  Indian  coast  between  the  Hiigli  and  Bombay. 
The  lighthouse  stands  on  the  point  which  screens  it  from  the  southern 
monsoon,  in  lat.  20°  19'  52"  n.,  long.  86°  46'  57"  E.  The  anchorage  is 
protected  by  two  sandy  reefs,  named  Long  Island  and  Dowdeswell 
Island,  and  is  completely  land-locked  by  the  latter.  Point  Reddie,  on 
Dowdeswell  Island,  shelters  the  entrance.  Farther  in  lies  Plowden 
Island,  for  the  most  part  a  low  jungly  swamp,  but  with  a  limited  area 
of  high  ground  suitable  for  building  purposes,  and  with  good  drinking 
water.  The  harbour  is  safe  and  roomy,  the  channel  properly  buoyed, 
and  a  soft  mud  bottom  prevents  injury  to  vessels  running  aground. 
The  port  is  now  open  throughout  the  year,  and  ships  of  large  tonnage 
can  lie  in  security  in  all  weathers.  Two  separate  channels  lead  inland 
from  the  anchorage — the  Jambu  river  on  the  north,  and  on  the  south 
the  Bakud  creek,  a  short  deep  branch  of  the  MaMnadi.  Bars  of  sand 
intervene  between  the  anchorage  and  these  channels,  but  at  full  tide 
cargo-boats  and  steamers  enter  with  ease.  Several  tidal  creeks,  narrow 
and  winding,  but  navigable  by  country  boats  throughout  the  year, 
connect  False  Point  with  the  Dhimra  and  Bnihmani  rivers  on  the 
north,  and  with  the  D^vi  on  the  south. 

History  of  False  Point  Harbour. — It  is  only  within  the  last  twenty 
years  that  the  capabilities  of  False  Point  Harbour  have  been  appreciated. 
Prior  to  this  period — although  the  place  is  but  two  days  by  steamer  from 
Calcutta — no  regular  communication  existed,  and  the  exports,  consisting 
chiefly  of  rice,  were  entirely  in  the  hands  of  native  shipmasters  from 
Madraa  The  port  was  opened  in  i860,  about  which  date  an  enter- 
prising French  firm  in  Calcutta  established  an  agency  for  the  export  of 
rice,  and  the  East  Indian  Irrigation  Company  perceived  its  natural 
advantages  as  an  import  depot  But  it  was  during  the  year  of  the  great 
Orissa  famine  (1866),  when  Government  was  anxiously  exploring  every 
means  of  throwing  supplies  into  the  Province,  that  the  capabilities  of 

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240  FALTA—FARIDABAD. 

False  Point  were  first  publicly  appreciated.  The  formation  of  new 
canals  has  been  the  making  of  the  port.  The  Kendrapara  Canal, 
which  reaches  from  Cuttack  for  a  distance  of  42^  miles,  connects  False 
Point  with  the  capital  of  Orissa ;  and  False  Point  has  now  become  the 
entrepot  for  the  trade  of  the  Province.  A  small  Government  steamer 
plies  between  the  harbour  and  the  entrance  to  the  canal  at  Mirsaghai 
a  distance  of  23  miles;  the  extension  of  the  canal  from  Mirsaghdi  for 

15  miles  nearer  False  Point  is  now  in  course  of  construction.  The 
British  Indian  General  Steam  Navigation  Company  make  the  place  a 
regular  port  of  call  ;  it  is  also  visited  by  French  ships  from  Mauritius* 
which  take  rice  and  oil-seeds  for  that  island,  and  for  Havre,  Bordeaux, 
and  other  French  ports.  False  Point  was  formerly  considered  very 
unhealthy ;  but  the  malaria  to  which  it  owed  this  evil  reputation  has,  to 
a  great  extent,  disappeared.  A  harbourmaster  and  superintendent  of 
customs  have  been  appointed. 

Trade. — In  i860,  4  vessels,  with  a  total  tonnage  of  2830  tons,  entered 
the  port ;  the  value  of  exports  was  returned  at  ^6759.  During  the  years 
between  1863-64  and  1874-75,  the  trade  has  increased  from  .£51,921 
to  ^261,212,  or  upwards  of  five-fold,  and  the  number  of  vessels  from 

16  (tonnage,  8681)  to  no  (tonnage,  118,375).  The  chief  trade  is  with 
other  Indian  ports. 

Falta. — Village  in  the  Twenty-four  Parganas,  Bengal;  situated  on  the 
Hiigli,  nearly  opposite  its  point  of  junction  with  the  Damodar.  Lat 
220  18'  n.,  long.  88**  io'  e.  The  site  of  an  old  Dutch  factory,  and 
also  noted  as  the  place  of  retreat  of  the  English  fleet  on  the  capture  of 
Calcutta  by  Sur£j-ud-daula\ 

Faradnagar.  —  Town  in  No&Mli  District,  Bengal,  and  head- 
quarters of  the  Pheni  Subdivision;  situated  in  lat  220  57'  n.,  and  long. 
91°  30'  15"  e.,  near  the  Grand  Trunk  Road,  2  miles  north  of  the  Big 
Pheni  ghdt  at  BhurbhurLL 

Farah. — North-western  tahsil  of  Agra  District,  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces, lying  wholly  on  the  right  or  western  bank  of  the  Jumna 
(Jamuni),  and  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  an  alluvial  plain.  Area, 
202  square  miles,  of  which  159  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  100,498; 
land  revenue,  ^16,728;  total  Government  revenue,  ;£i  9,001;  rental 
paid  by  cultivators,  ^29,156;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per 
acre,  2s.  7& 

Farah.-^-Chief  town  of  the  tahsil  of  the  same  name,  Agra  District, 
North-Western  Provinces ;  situated  in  lat  270  19'  n.,  and  long.  77° 
49'  e.,  on  the  route  from  Agra  to  Muttra  (22  miles  north-west  of  the 
former,  and  13  miles  south-east  of  the  latter),  a  mile  from  the  right 
bank  of  the  Jumna  (Jamuna).  Well  supplied  with  water.  Small 
bdzdr. 

Farid&b&d. — Municipal  town  in  Delhi  District,  Punjab;  16  miles 


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FARIDKOT  STA  TE.  241 

south  of  Delhi.  Lat  280  25'  n.,  long.  77°  21'  45'  e.  ;  pop.  (1868), 
7990,  being  5741  Hindus,  1952  Muhammadans,  8  Sikhs,  and  289 
*  others.'  Formed  part  of  the  estate  held  by  the  Raja*  of  Ballabhgarh, 
but  was  confiscated  with  the  rest  of  his  possessions  after  the  Mutiny 
of  1857.  Founded  in  1605  A.D.,  during  the  reign  of  Jahangir,  by  one 
Shaikh  Farfd,  from  whom  it  takes  its  name.  Police  station,  school- 
f  house,  sardi.  Little  trade,  no  manufactures.  Municipal  revenue  in 
!  ^75-76,  ^309,  or  9fd  per  head  of  population  (7583)  within  municipal 
\      limits. 

j  Faridkot. — One  of  the  Sikh  States,  under  the  political  superintend- 
t  ence  of  the  Punjab  Government ;  lying  between  jo°  13'  30"  and  30°  50' 
!  n.  lat,  and  between  740  31'  and  750  5'  e.  long.,  south-east  of  Firozpur 
!  (Ferozepur)  District,  and  north-west  of  Patiala.  It  consists  of  two 
I  portions,  Faridkot  proper  and  Kot-Kapiira.  Faiidkot,  the  chief 
i  town,  is  60  miles  south-west  of  Ludhiana  (lat  30°  40'  n.,  long. 
I  74*  59'  E-).  The  chief  of  the  State  is  head  of  the  Burar  Jdt  tribe. 
:  One  of  his  ancestors,  named  Bhallan,  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor 
i     Akbar,  acquired  great  influence,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  great- 

•  ness  of  his  house.  His  nephew  built  the  fort  of  Kot-Kaptira,  and 
!     made  himself  an' independent  ruler.     Early  in  the  present  century,  the 

Kot-Kapiira  District  was  seized  by  Ranjft  Sinn*  and  in  the  following 
year  Farfdkot  was  also  taken;  but  when  the  British  Government 
demanded  from  the  Mahdraji  the  restitution  of  all  his  conquests  made 
1  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Sutlej  (Satlaj)  during  1808  and  1809,  Faridkot 
1  ffas  unwillingly  resigned  to  its  former  possessors.  The  revenue  of  the  State 
was  at  that  time  both  small  and  fluctuating.    The  country  was  entirely 

•  dependent  on  rain  for  cultivation,  and  this  falls  in  small  quantities,  and 
■  in  some  years  not  at  alL  Wells  were  difficult  to  sink,  and  hardly  repaid 
j     the  labour  of  making  them,  the  water  being  from  90  to  120  feet  below 

the  surface.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Sikh  war  in  1845,  the  chief,  Pahdr 
1  Sinh,  exerted  himself  in  the  English  cause,  and  was  raised  to  the  rank 
of  Rija\  and  further  rewarded  by  a  grant  of  half  the  territory  confiscated 
from  the  Raja"  of  Ndbha,  his  ancestral  estate  of  Kot-Kapiira  being  then 
restored  to  him.  Wazir  Sinh,  the  son  and  successor  of  Pahar  Sinh, 
served  on  the  side  of  the  British  during  the  second  Sikh  war  in  1849. 
In  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  he  distinguished  himself  by  seizing  mutineers, 
guarding  the  Sutlej  ferries,  and  attacking  a  notorious  rebel,  Sham  Das, 
whose  village  he  destroyed.  For  these  services  Wazir  Sinh  was  duly 
rewarded.  He  died  in  April  1874,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Bikram  Sinh,  the  present  Raj£,  who  wa*  born  in  1842.  He  holds  his 
State  under  a  sanad  of  1863,  by  which  the  domain  belongs  for  ever  to 
the  Rajd  and  his  male  heirs  lawfully  begotten.  The  right  of  adoption 
has  also  been  accorded  The  Raja*  has  abandoned  excise  and  transit 
duties  in  exchange  for  compensation.     He  is  entitled  to  a  salute  of  11 

VOL.  III.  q 

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242  FARIDPUR  DISTRICT. 

guns.  The  area  of  the  State  is  600  square  miles,  its  population  in  1876 
was  estimated  at  68,000  persons,  and  its  revenue  at  ,£30,000.  The 
military  force  consists  of  200  cavalry,  600  infantry  and  police,  and  3 
field  guns. 

Faridpur. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of 
Bengal,  lying  between  22*  47'  53"  and  230  54'  55*  n.  lat,  and  between 
890  21'  50*  and  900  16'  e.  long.  Area  in  1877,  after  recent  transfers, 
2365  square  miles;  population  in  1879  (according  to  the  Census  of 
1872,  but  allowing  for  the  transfers  just  referred  to),  1,502,436.  Bounded 
on  the  north  and  east  by  the  Padml  or  main  stream  of  the  Ganges ;  on 
the  west  by  the  Chandni,  Bardsii,  and  Madhumati  rivers ;  and  on  the 
south  by  the  Kumar  and  a  line  of  swamps.  The  civil  station  and  chief 
town  of  the  District  is  Faridpur  town  (QV.\  on  the  bank  of  the 
Mara"  Padml 

Physical  Aspects. — Faridpur  District  is  essentially  a  fluvial  creation, 
and  exhibits  the  later  stages  in  the  formation  of  the  Gangetic  delta. 
In    the    north,    the    level    is    now  comparatively   well    raised,   and 
lies  above  water  during  the  summer  and  cold  weather  months.    But 
from  the  town  of  Faridpur  the  level  gradually  declines  down  the 
delta  to  the  southward,  until  on  the  confines  of  Bararganj  District 
the  country  sinks  into  one  vast  swamp,  never  entirely  dry.     The  soil 
changes  from  a  light  sandy  loam  in  the  north,  to  a  comparatively  recent 
alluvial  deposit  farther  south.     The  highest  levels,  as  in  other  deltaic 
Districts,  are  found  on  the  river  banks,  being  formed  by  the  annual 
deposits  from  overflow*     The  lowest  levels  lie  midway  between  the 
rivers,  as  such  situations  obtain  less  silt  from  overflows,  and  remain 
perennial  swamps.     The  population  clings  to  the  higher  levels;  and  the 
villages  are  chiefly  built  along  the  river  banks,  or  on  the  margin  of  the 
swamps,  surrounded  with  a  picturesque  jungle  of  bamboos,  betel  palms, 
and  plantains.     These  villages  or  hamlets  consist  of  mud  huts,  and 
often  stand  on  artificially  raised  sites,  which,  during  the  rainy  season, 
rise  from  the  universal  expanse  of  water-like  wooded  islets.     Communi- 
cation is  almost  entirely  conducted  by  water.     The  District  forms  a 
tongue  of  land  between  the  two  great  rivers,  the  Ganges  or  Padma  and 
the  Madhumati,  and  is  cut  through  by  their  innumerable  distributaries 
and  lines  of  swamps.     The  chief  of  these  intersecting  water-ways  is  the 
Ariil  KMn      Fisheries  are  extensively  carried  on  in  Faridpur,  and 
supply  an  important  source  of  revenue. 

History. — The  present  District  of  Faridpur  has  been  a  gradual 
growth,  arising  out  of  the  desire  to  bring  the  courts  nearer  to  the 
people.  Under  Akbar's  redistribution  of  Bengal  (1582),  Faridpur  was 
included  within  the  sarkdr  of  Muhammad  Abiid ;  and  for  the  next  two 
centuries  remained  exposed  to  the  piratical  incursions  of  the  Maghs  or 
Burmese  from  the  seaboard,  and  of  the  Assamese,  who  sailed  down  the 

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FAR1DPUR  DISTRICT.  243 

Brahmaputra  from  the  north,  ravaging  the  country  on  either  side.  During 
the  first  46  years  of  British  rule  (1765-1811),  it  formed  an  outlying 
corner  of  the  great  Dacca  District,  under  the  name  of  Dacca  Jalilpur. 
As  the  headquarters  then  lay  at  Dacca  town,  on  the  farther  side  of 
the  Ganges,  distinct  courts  were  erected  at  Faridpur  in  181 1;  and  from 
this  year  the  separate  existence  of  the  District  dates.  After  various 
transfers  and  readjustments,  Faridpur  now  forms  a  compact  administra- 
tive entity,  shut  in  between  the  Ganges  on  the  east  and  the  Madhumati 
on  the  west 

Population,  etc. — No  accurate  returns  of  the  population  exist  before 
the  Census  of  1872.     Since  that  year,  the  Subdivision  of  Midiripur, 
excepting  Gaternadi  th&nd,  has  been  transferred  from  Bakarganj  District 
to  Faridpur,  raising  the  present  area  of  Faridpur  to  2365  square  miles, 
and  the  population  to  (1879)  1,502,436.     But  the  Census  of  1872  is 
the  only  enumeration  for  which  the  details  in  a  collected  form  are  avail- 
able.   It  disclosed  a  total  population  of  1,012,589  persons,  inhabiting 
1 57f5i8  houses ;  average  pressure  of  population,  677  persons  per  square 
mile.    The  two  most  densely  populated  thdnds  in  the  District  are  Deora\ 
reported  to  have  947,  and  Bhiishnd,  846  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile. 
Classified  according  to  sex,  there  were  in  Faridpur  District  in  1872, 
497^54  males  and  514,735  females;  proportion  of  males  to  total  popula- 
tion 492  percent     Classified  according  to  age,  there  were,  under  12 
years  old — males,  179,536;  females,  142,951;  total  children,  322,487, 
or  31*8  per  cent,  of  the  population.     The  total  number  of  Hindus  in 
the  District  was  420,988;  Muhammadans,  588,299;  Christians,  463; 
1  others '  of  unspecified  denominations,  2839.      Towards  the  south,  the 
country  is  almost  entirely  peopled  by  Chandils,  a  caste  of  race  of 
Hinduized  aborigines,  who  numbered  156,223  in  1872.     The  Chandils 
are  semi-amphibious  in  their  habits,  and  capable  of  enduring  almost  any 
exposure  or  fatigue.     They  are  a  despised  class,  and  a  Brdhman  thinks 
himself  defiled  by  even  crossing  the  shadow  cast  by  a  Chandil;  but  in 
!^73»  they  organized  a  general  strike  in  the  District,  resolving  not  to 
serve  the  upper  classes  until  their  own  position  was  ameliorated.     The 
Bunds,  another  aboriginal  race,  number  2412.      The  majority  of  the 
Muhammadans  in  the  District  are  engaged  in  husbandry;  they  are 
divided  into  the  two  classes  of  Shids  and  Sunnis.     Daulatpur  village, 
in  Faridpur  District,  was  the  birthplace  of  Haji  Sharit-ulld,  the  founder 
of  the  Faralzi  or  reformed  sect  of  Muhammadans,  which  has  rapidly 
spread  throughout  the  whole  of  Eastern  Bengal  during  the  past  fifty 
years.    The  Fardizfs  are  properly  a  branch  of  the  great  Sunni  division, 
and  in  matters  of  law  and  speculative  theology  they  profess  to  belong 
to  the  school  of  Abu  Hanifa,  one  of  the  four  authoritative  commenta- 
tors on  the  Kuran.     Their  essential  point  of  difference  from  the  general 
tody  of  Sunnis  consists  in  their  rejection  of  traditional  custom.     They 


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244  FARIDPUR  DISTRICT. 

declare  that  the  Kurin  is  the  complete  guide  to  spiritual  life  ;  and  they, 
therefore,  call  themselves  Faniizfs  or  followers  of  the  fardiz  (plural  of 
the  Arabic  word  farz\  the  divine  ordinances  of  God  alone.     Historically 
they  represent  a  Puritan  reaction  against  the  corrupt  condition  into 
which  Islam  had  fallen  in  Bengal  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and 
in  this  as  in  other  respects  bear  an  analogy  to  the  WaMbis  of  Arabia. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  vast  majority  of  Musalmins  in  the 
delta  of  the  Ganges  and  Brahmaputra  are  descendants  of  the  aborigines, 
who  willingly  embraced  Islam  at  the  time  of  the  Muhammadan  con- 
quest, in  preference  to  remaining  outcasts  beyond  the  pale  of  exclusive 
Hinduism.     But  though  they  became  converts  in  outward  profession, 
they  still  retained  many  of  the  superstitious  ceremonies  of  their  former 
life,  and  joined  in  social  merry-makings  with  their  fellow-villagers.  The 
reform  inaugurated  by  Haji  Sharit-ulte  was  a  protest  against  such  pagan 
practices,  and  a  return  to  the  simple  habits  and  pure  monotheism  of 
the  Kuran.     In  especial,  he  objected  to  the  squandering  of  large  sums 
of  money  on  marriage  festivities,  and  to  the  exclusive  employment  of 
certain  persons  to  perform  the  rite  of  circumcision.     The  articles  of 
faith  on  which  he  chiefly  insisted  were  the  duty  of  the  holy  war  (Jihdd), 
the  sinfulness  of  infidelity,  (kufr)  of  introducing  rites  and  ceremonies 
into  worship  (pidctat),  and  of  giving  partners  to  the  one  god  {shirk). 
Externally,  a  Fardizi  may  be  known  by  the  fashion  of  wrapping  his  d/tvti 
or  waistcloth  round  his  loins  without  crossing  it  between  his  legs,  so  as 
to  avoid  any  resemblance  to  a  Christian's  trousers,  and  by  his  ostenta- 
tious mode  of  offering  prayers  with  peculiar  genuflexions  in  public. 
The  rapid  spread  of  the  Fardizi  movement  in  the  lifetime  of  its  founder 
affords  sufficient  justification  for  .his  enthusiasm.     On  his  death,  his 
followers  met  together  and  elected  his  son,  Dudu  Miyin,  as  their 
spiritual  chief.     This  man  appears  to  have  abused  the  implicit  confi- 
dence imposed  m  him.     He  was  charged  with  having  applied  the 
subscriptions  to  his  own  use,  and  with  many  tyrannical  acts.     On  more 
than  one  occasion  he  was  sentenced  to  terms  of  imprisonment  by  the 
British  courts,  and  he  finally  died  in  obscurity  at  Dacca  in  1862.    He 
left  no  direct  successor,  but  three  of  his  sons,  together  with  a  nephew, 
set  themselves  up  as  leaders,  and  still  maintain  themselves  in  that  pro- 
fession.    At  the  present  day  the  Fardizis  do  not  exhibit  any  acnve 
fanaticism,  nor  would  it  be  just  to  accuse  them  as  a  class  of  disloyalty 
to  the  British  Government.    The  majority  of  them  are  cultivators  of 
the  soil,  but  not  a  few  occupy  the  rank  of  traders,  being  especially 
active  in  the  export  of  hides.     All  alike  are  characterised  by  strictness  1 
of  morals,  religious  fervour,  and  faithful  promotion  of  the  common 
interests  of  the  sect. 

In  1872,  2300  villages  were  returned  as  having  a  population  under 
3000,  and  5  towns  had  from  3000  to  5000  inhabitants;  only  2  towns 


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FARIDPUR  DISTRICT.  245 

contained  more  than  5000,  viz.  the  municipalities  of  Faridpur  (8593) 
and  Sayyidpur  (6324).  The  other  chief  towns  of  the  District  are 
Bhangi  (pop.  iooo),  Gopdlganj  (2000),  Godlanda  (1000),  and  Sdtair 
(500). 

Agriculture,  etc.  —  Staple  products  of  the  District : — Rice,  of  four 
principal  varieties,  viz.  dman  (or  winter  rice),  aus  (the  autumn  crop), 
boro  (or  rice  grown  in  deep  water),  and  rdidd ;  wheat,  barley,  oats, 
maize,  pulses,  tubers,  oil-seeds,  fibres,  sugar-cane,  date-palm,  indigo, 
pdn,  fruits,  and  tobacco.  In  1871,  1143  square  miles  were  returned  as 
actually  under  cultivation.  Good  land  in  Faridpur  yields  7}  cwts.  of 
dman  paddy  per  acre,  and  rents  at  3s.  9&  ;  the  highest  rent  paid 
is  under  9s.  an  acre.  From  10  to  12  acres  are  considered  a  fair- 
sized  holding  for  a  peasant  family.  Much  land  is  held  on  the  mirasi 
tenure — a  tenure  in  perpetuity,  conveying  rights  of  inheritance  and 
transfer  upon  the  cultivator,  and  not  liable  to  enhancement  of  rent 
Hawdld  (Mold)  and  nunhaivdld  tenures,  of  a  similar  character,  are  also 
common  in  this  District  The  cultivators  as  a  rule  are  well  off,  as 
about  75  per  cent  of  them  have  *  occupancy '  rights  in  their  holdings. 
It  is  estimated  that  only  about  16  per  cent  are  in  debt  The  cattle 
and  implements  required  for  'a  plough  of  land,'  or  a  holding  of  5 
acres,  represent  a  capital  of  about  ^4,  10s. ;  a  peasant  family  can 
live  respectably  on  jQi  a  month.  Wages  and  prices  have  greatly  risen 
of  late  years.  In  1855,  day-labourers  received  2^d.  to  3d.  per  diem — in 
1870,  from  4^d.  to  6d. ;  carpenters  in  1855,  12s.  to  16s.  a  month — in 
l87°»  £*  to  j£if  4s.  The  cultivators  do  much  of  their  ploughing  and 
reaping  by  a  system  of '  mutual  assistance '  or  gati.  Common  rice  rose 
from  2s.  8d  per  cwt  in  i860  to  3s.  6d.  in  1870 ;  and  other  staples  in 
proportion. 

Natural  Calamities. — Partial  blights  occur  nearly  every  year,  being 
chiefly  caused  by  insects  and  worms.  Floods  occur  annually  on  a 
more  or  less  destructive  scale,  and  are  due  to  the  rising  of  the  rivers 
Padma"  and  Chindnd  before  they  enter  Faridpur.  The  waters  spread 
over  the  whole  District,  but  seldom  cause  a  general  failure  of  the 
crops;  they  did  so,  however,  in  1824,  1838,  and  1871.  The 
country  is  not  protected  by  embankments  or  other  defensive  works. 
Partial  droughts  occur  at  intervals,  but  no  precautions  are  taken  against 
them.  The  large  landholders  have  not  yet  undertaken  reclamation 
works  with  a  view  to  draining  the  numerous  swamps  and  marshes. 

Manufactures^  etc.  —  The  most  important  manufacture  of  Faridpur, 
and  the  staple  article  of  District  trade,  is  sugar,  prepared  both  from  the 
juice  of  the  date-tree  and  from  the  cane.  Indigo  was  formerly  manu- 
factured to  a  considerable  extent,  but  all  the  European  factories  are 
now,  with  one  exception,  closed.  A  fine  matting  called  sital  pdti — 
very  cool  to  sleep  on  during  the  hot  season — is  skilfully  woven  out  of  a 

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246  FARIDPUR  DISTRICT. 

peculiar  wild  grass.  All  the  local  manufactures  are  conducted  by  the 
workers  on  their  own  account,  and  in  their  own  houses,  excepting 
sugar,  which  is  made  by  hired  labourers  on  monthly  wages.  Chief 
articles  of  trade — rice,  pulses,  oil-seeds,  oil-cake,  jute,  sugar,  molasses, 
onions,  cocoa-nuts,  betel-nuts,  ghi,  salt,  piece-goods,  iron,  spices,  timber, 
mustard,  oil,  fish,  mangoes,  fruit,  oranges,  potatoes,  honey,  brass,  bell- 
metal,  and  copper  utensils.  Goalanda,  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Ganges  and  Brahmaputra,  is  one  of  the  principal  river  marts  in  Eastern 
Bengal,  being  the  terminus  of  the  railway  and  the  point  of  departure  of 
the  Assam  steamers!  The  chief  seats  of  local  trade  are — Bhanga, 
Gopalganj,  Boalmari,  Sayyidpur,  Madhukhalf,  and  Kamarkhalf.  The 
water-ways  carry  the  entire  traffic  of  the  District.  There  are  only  three 
important  lines  of  road  in  Farfdpur — viz.  the  Calcutta  and  Jessor  Imperial 
road,  from  Farfdpur  town  to  Dhuliaghata*  on  the  Barasia,  19  miles  in 
length;  the  Belgachhf  road,  from  Farfdpur  to  Kalinagar,  16  miles  in 
length ;  and  the  Talma  road,  from  Farfdpur  to  Talma,  10  miles  in  length. 
These  roads  are  often  damaged  by  floods,  and  at  times  lie  under  water  for 
many  days.  The  Eastern  Bengal  Railway  runs  for  22  miles  from  west 
to  east  through  the  north  of  the  District,  having  its  terminus  at 
Goalanda.  The  chief  native  association  in  Farfdpur  is  a  'Society 
for  the  Reform  of  Kulinism,  and  the  Abolition  of  Pan,  or  the  sale  of 
daughters  in  marriage,'  started  in  the  civil  station  about  1870,  and  still 
endeavouring  to  do  good  work. 

Administration,  etc. — Owing  to  changes  in  jurisdiction,  it  is  impossible 
to  show  accurately  the  increase  in  the  revenue  of  Farfdpur.  In  1850-51, 
the  total  revenue  of  the  District  was  only  ,£10,229,  of  which  £ai11 
was  derived  from  the  land;  in  that  year  the  total  expenditure  was 
^8374.  By  1870-71,  or  within  twenty  years,  the  revenue  had  risen  to 
£58,868,  of  which  £27,321  came  from  land,  and  £11,980  from 
stamps;  while  the  expenditure  in  the  same  period  had  grown  to 
£25>0*3'  The  extent  to  which  the  subdivision  of  landed  property  has 
progressed  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  187 1  there  were  only 
165  estates  on  the  rent-roll,  with  an  average  payment  of  ,£23,  is.  ojd.; 
whereas  in  1870  the  number  of  estates  was  2307,  and  the  average 
payment  of  £11,  16s.  4d.  In  1869,  there  were  in  the  District  4 
magisterial,  and  1 1  civil  and  revenue  courts.  The  regular  police  force 
in  1871  numbered  314  men  of  all  ranks  (including  a  river  patrol  oi 
43  men,  with  4  boats),  or  1  man  to  every  4*85  square  miles.  The  village 
watch  was  2026  strong,  and  the  municipal  police  numbered  20  men. 
The  total  police  force,  therefore,  amounted  to  2360  men.  In  1870,  the 
daily  average  number  of  prisoners  in  Farfdpur  jail  was  315  ;  total 
number  admitted  during  the  year,  683.  The  hard-labour  prisoners  are 
employed  in  manufacturing  cloth  or  gunny,  gardening,  husking  rice,  and 
making  bamboo  or  rattan  articles.    Since  the  introduction  of  Sir  George 


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FARIDPUR  SUBDIVISION— FARIDPUR  TAHSIL.     247 

Campbell's  reforms  (1872),  by  which  primary  education  was  greatly  ex- 
tended, the  number  of  schools  rose  to  176,  and  the  number  of  pupils 
from  2653  to  6497.  Active  measures  are  being  taken  to  establish  schools 
among  the  Chandals ;  among  whom,  out  of  a  total  of  156,223  persons, 
fewer  than  200  boys  were  returned  as  attending  school  in  1872.  In 
1872,  the  number  of  villages  in  Faridpur  District  was  returned  at  2307  ; 
average  population,  439,  There  are  two  administrative  Subdivisions 
(Faridpur  and  Goalanda),  and  only  3  municipalities  (Faridpur, 
Madaripur,  and  Sayyidpur);  total  income  (1876-77),  ^966. 

Medical  Aspects,  etc. — The  climate  of  Faridpur  is  very  damp;  the 
rains  often  set  in  at  the  end  of  April,  and  by  the  end  of  June  the 
greater  part  of  the  District  is  under  water.  Average  annual  rainfall  for 
the  ten  years  ending  1868,  85*42  inches.  Malarial  fevers  are  prevalent 
There  is  a  dispensary  at  Padamdi ;  number  of  out-door  patients  in 
1871,  1078. 

Faridpur.  —  The  Sadr  or  Headquarters  Subdivision  of  Faridpur 
District,  Bengal,  comprising  the  seven  thdnds  or  police  circles  of  Faridpur, 
Bhiishnd,  Awinpur,  Sadrpur,  Deora,  Makstidpur,  and  Gopdlganj,  lying 
between  220  52'  30"  and  230  38'  n.  lat,  and  between  89°  34'  and  900 
14' e.  long.  Area,  1067  square  miles;  townships,  1381 ;  houses, 
I07t793-  Pop.  (1872),  709,451 — of  whom  the  Muhammadans  number 
408,436,  or  57*6  per  cent ;  and  the  Hindus,  298,728,  or  42*1  per  cent. 
The  number  of  Christians  is  400 ;  and  of  persons  belonging  to  c  other ' 
denominations,  1887.  Proportion  of  males,  46*1  per  cent  Average 
pressure  of  Subdivision^  population,  665  per  square  mile ;  number  of 
villages  per  square  mile,  1*29;  persons  per  village,  514;  houses  per 
square  mile,  101 ;  persons  per  house,  6'6. 

Farfdpur. — Chief  town  and  civil  station  of  Faridpur  District, 
Bengal ;  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  small  river  Mard  Padma\  in 
lat  23°  36'  25"  n.,  and  long.  890  53'  11"  e.  Pop.  (1872),  8593.  To 
the  south  lies  the  Dhol  Samudra,  a  fresh-water  lake,  which  affords 
ample  drainage  except  in  the  height  of  the  rains ;  water  is  abundant 
and  tolerably  wholesome.  Municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^543  ;  rate  of 
municipal  taxation,  is.  i£&  per  head  of  population  within  municipal 
limits.  In  January,  an  annual  agricultural  exhibition  is  held ;  this 
show,  first  instituted  in  1864,  has  of  late  much  increased  in  importance, 
and  has  given  a  considerable  impetus  to  the  manufactures  and  agri- 
culture of  the  District.  The  South  Australian  Baptist  Mission  has  a 
branch  in  the  town ;  and  the  Brahma  Samdj  was  represented  in  Decem- 
ber 1857  by  10  followers.  An  anniversary  Samaj  is  held  every  year, 
which  is  largely  attended  both  by  Brdhmas  and  orthodox  Hindus. 

faridpur.— Southern  tahsil  of  Bareli  (Bareilly)  District,  North- 
Western  Provinces.  Area,  249  square  miles,  of  which  177  are 
cultivated;    pop.    (1872),   119,811;    land    revenue,  ^16,160;   total 


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248    FAR1DPUR  VILLAGE— FARRUKHABAD  DISTRICT, 

Government  revenue,  ,£17,781 ;  rental  paid  by  cultivators,  ,£30,846; 
incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre,  2s.  o \L 

Farfdpor. — Chief  village  of  the  tahsil  of  the  same  name,  Bareli 
(Bareilly)  District,  North-Western  Provinces ;  situated  in  lat  28°  12'  17" 
n.,  and  long.  790  4'  45"  e.,  on  the  route  from  Bareli  town  to  Shdhjahin- 
pur,  12  miles  south-east  of  the  former.  Pop.  (1872),  494°-  Water  and 
supplies  abundant  Nfear  the  village  is  a  fine  mango  grove.  Surround- 
ing country  well  cultivated. 

FarrukhAb&d. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship 
of  the  North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  260  46'  $i"  and  27*  42' 
51"  n.  lat,  and  between  79*  9'  59*  and  8o°  3'  59"  e.  long.  Area,  1744 
square  miles;  population  (1872),  918,850  persons.  Farnikhibid  forms 
the  south-eastern  District  of  the  Agra  Division.  It  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  Budaun  and  Shahjahanpur,  on  the  east  by  the  Oudh  District 
of  Hardoi,  on  the  south  by  Cawnpore  and  Etawah,  and  on  the  west  by 
Mampuri  and  Etah.  The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  Fatehgarh, 
but  Farrukhibdd,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Ganges,  is  the  most  populous 
town  in  the  District 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Farrukhabdd  consists  of  an 
irregular  strip  of  country  in  the  middle  Doab,  together  with  a  small 
outlying  tract  on  the  left  or  eastern  bank  of  the  Ganges.  The  former 
portion  presents  the  usual  monotonous  features  of  the  great  alluvial  plain 
to  which  it  belongs.  Starting  from  the  banks  of  the  sacred  river,  a 
broad  belt  of  well-watered  lowland  is  first  encountered,  bounded  to  the 
west  by  the  high  cliff  which  marks  the  ancient  limit  of  the  narrower 
Ganges  valley.  Above  this  cliff  rises  the  general  upland  plain,  divided 
into  two  main  sections  by  the  little  stream  of  the  Kali  Nadi,  and  further 
intersected  by  the  lesser  water-courses  of  the  Rind  and  the  Isan.  Each 
of  these  minor  divisions  displays  the  same  general  characteristics,  con- 
sisting of  a  narrow  lowland  belt  along  the  banks  of  the  boundary  rivers, 
together  with  a  central  level  of  sandy  soil  (bhur\  rising  by  a  series 
of  ravines  from  the  valley  below,  and  culminating  in  a  watershed  of 
loamy  earth,  often  accompanied  by  marshy  lakes  and  wide  expanses  of 
the  white  saline  efflorescence  known  as  usdr.  The  dorsal  ridge  of 
loam  comprises,  roughly  speaking,  the  irrigated  portion  of  the  District, 
where  wells  can  be  sunk  with  little  difficulty  or  expense,  and  cultivation 
lies  in  scattered  patches,  like  green  islands  amongst  the  barren  stretches 
of  usdr.  The  trans-Gangetic  tract,  on  the  other  hand,  consists  entirely 
of  lowland,  scarcely  ever  rising  above  the  level  of  the  yearly  inundations, 
and  liable  to  a  sterile  deposit  of  sand  after  heavy  rains.  Much  of 
the  land  is  subject  to  erosion  by  the  river ;  and  the  areas  of  the  villages 
vary  greatly  from  year  to  year,  as  the  floods  devour  or  cast  up  again 
the  cultivable  soil.  The  Ramganga  passes  through  the  extreme 
eastern  angle,  which  it  often  overflows,  forming  large  but  temporary 


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FARRUKHABAD  DISTRICT.  249 

swamps.  The  whole  District  is  uniformly  though  not  thickly  wooded, 
and  the  strip  lying  along  the  high  bank  of  the  Ganges,  a  poor  and 
barren  tract,  has  a  comparatively  large  proportion  of  trees. 

History. — The  District  of  Farrukhabid  possesses  great  antiquarian 
interest,  owing  to  the  presence  within  its  boundaries  of  Kanauj,  the 
capital  of  a  powerful  Hindu  kingdom  in  the  earliest  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era.  This  city  lies  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Kali  Nadi,  4  miles 
from  the  modern  bed  of  the  Ganges,  which  once  flowed  close  below 
its  walls.  Ruins  of  ancient  buildings  extend  over  the  lands  of  five 
villages,  and  occupy  a  semicircle  fully  4  miles  in  diameter;  but  as 
their  walls  consisted  entirely  of  brick,  the  foundations  alone  now 
remain.  The  relics  are  constantly  used  as  a  storehouse  of  building 
material,  so  that  the  traces  of  the  ancient  metropolis  grow  fainter  day 
by  day.  The  principal  monument  is  the  shrine  of  Raja  Ajdi  Pal, 
supposed  to  be  the  prince  conquered  by  Mahmtfd  of  Ghaznf,  and 
lulled  in  1021  a.d.  by  the  Chandel  Raja  of  Kilinjar.  The  famous 
Gupta  dynasty  of  Kanauj  ruled  over  the  whole  upper  basin  of  the 
Ganges  for  about  six  centuries,  from  315  B.C.  to  275  a.d.  Their  coins 
and  other  monuments  are  still  found  in  considerable  numbers  over  the 
whole  of  their  wide  domain,  and  have  yielded  a  comparatively  con- 
sistent chronology  to  the  patient  labours  of  Lassen,  Rajendralala  Mitra, 
and  English  scholars.  Tradition  points  to  Thakur  colonists  as  the 
earliest  Aryan  settlers  in  the  District,  after  the  extermination  of  the 
Bhars,  as  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  are  here  universally  called.  The 
tract  south  of  the  Kali  Nadi  was  peopled  by  the  celebrated  J£i  Chihd, 
Rija  of  Kanauj ;  but  the  northern  angle  passed  into  the  hands  of  its 
present  occupants  some  seven  generations  later,  after  the  Musalman 
invaders  had  completed  the  overthrow  of  its  early  Tuar  possessors.  We 
know  nothing  of  the  District,  however,  from  authentic  historical  records, 
up  to  a  comparatively  modern  period  of  Muhammadan  rule.  During 
the  18th  century,  the  northern  portion  of  Farrukhibdd,  together  with 
many  pargands  now  lying  in  Etah  and  Mampuri,  constituted  the  jdgtr 
of  the  Nawab  of  Farrukhabad ;  while  the  southern  region  was  admini- 
stered by  deputies  sent  from  Lucknow.  In  175 1,  on  the  death  of  Ali 
Muhammad,  the  Rohilla  chief  {see  Bareilly  District),  the  emperor 
refused  to  acknowledge  Haflz  Rahmat  Khan  as  his  successor,  and 
despatched  the  Farrukhibid  Nawab  to  reduce  that  turbulent  leader 
to  order.  Rahmat  Khan,  however,  defeated  and  slew  the  imperial 
lieutenant,  four  of  whose  pargands  in  Budaun  he  proceeded  to  annex. 
Safdar  Jang,  Wazfr  of  Oudh,  thereupon  plundered  the  defenceless 
territories  of  the  Farrukhabdd  Nawab ;  but  his  interposition  led  to  a  union 
between  the  Farrukhibdd  Rohillas  and  their  Bareli  clansmen,  under 
the  leadership  of  Hafiz  Rahmat  Khan.  The  allied  forces  defeated 
Safdar  Jang,  retook  Farrukhabacl,  and  laid  siege  to  Allahibdd;  while 

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250  FARRUKHABAD  DISTRICT. 

another  body  invaded  Oudh  itself.  But  Safdar  Jang  called  in  the 
aid  of  the  Marhattds,  defeated  the  Rohillas  at  Bisauli,  near  Aonli,  and 
once  more  recovered  Farrukhdbid.  His  successor,  Shujd-ud-daula, 
conquered  all  Rohilkhand  in  1774,  with  the  aid  of  an  English  force, 
granted  by  Warren  Hastings ;  and  the  whole  country  remained  in  his 
hands  until  its  cession  to  the  British  in  1801.  From  the  period  of  its 
passage  under  a  firm  and  regular  Government,  the  District  remained 
free  from  historical  events  up  to  the  date  of  the  Mutiny.  News  of 
the  outbreak  at  Meerut  (Mirath)  reached  Fatehgarh  on  the  14th  of  May 
1857  ;  and  another  week  brought  tidings  of  its  spread  to  Aligarh.  The 
10th  Native  Infantry  showed  symptoms  of  a  mutinous  spirit  on  the  29th 
of  May ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  3rd  of  June  that  a  body  of  Oudh  insur- 
gents crossed  the  Ganges,  and  arranged  for  a  rising  on  the  following 
day.  The  European  officials  and  residents  abandoned  Fatehgarh  the 
same  evening ;  but  several  of  them  returned  to  Fatehgarh  a  few  days 
later,  and  remained  till  the  18th,  when  another  outbreak  occurred,  and 
the  rebels  placed  the  Nawdb  of  Farrukh£b£d  on  the  throne.  The 
41st  Native  Infantry,  from  Sftipur,  marched  into  Fatehgarh,  and  the 
Europeans  began  to  strengthen  the  fort.  On  the  25th,  the  rebels 
attacked  their  position,  which  became  untenable  by  the  4th  July.  The 
fort  was  then  mined,  and  its  defenders  escaped  in  boats.  The  first  Fateh- 
garh boat  reached  Cawnpore,  where  all  its  fugitives  were  murdered  by 
the  Nana  on  10th  July;  the  second  boat  was  stopped  10  miles  down 
the  Ganges,  and  all  in  h  were  captured  or  killed  except  three.  The 
Nawdb  governed  the  District  unopposed  till  the  23rd  of  October,  when 
he  was  defeated  by  the  British  at  Kanauj.  Our  troops  passed  on, 
however,  and  the  Nawdb,  with  Bakht  Khan  of  Bareli,  continued  in 
the  enjoyment  of  power  until  Christmas.  On  the  2nd  of  January  1858, 
our  forces  crossed  the  Kili  Nadi,  and  took  Fatehgarh  next  day.  The 
Nawab  and  Firoz  Shdh  fled  to  Bareli.  Brigadier  Hope  defeated  the 
Buddun  rebels  at  Shamsdbdd  on  the.  18th  of  January,  and  Brigadier 
Seaton  routed  another  body  on  the  7th  of  April.  In  May,  a  force  of 
3000  Bundelkhand  insurgents  crossed  the  District  and  besieged  Kaim- 
ganj ;  but  they  were  soon  driven  off  into  the  last  rebel  refuge,  in  Oudh, 
and  order  was  not  again  disturbed. 

Population. — The  Census  of  1853  returned  the  population  of  Farrukh- 
£bdd  District  at  924,594  persons.  In  1865, tne  number  was  given  at 
917,496;  while  in  1872,  it  rose  again  to  918,850.  These  figures  show 
a  decrease  for  the  19  years  of  5744  persons,  or  0*63  per  cent ;  but  as 
the  area  had  undergone  meanwhile  a  loss  of  378  square  miles,  or  an 
per  cent.,  the  decrease  may  be  regarded  as  merely  nominal.  The 
statistics  of  density  more  truthfully  represent  the  real  state  of  the  case, 
and  they  show  an  actual  and  considerable  increase  for  every  square 
mile  of  area;  the  proportion  being  501  persons  per  square  mile  in 


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FARRUKHABAD  DISTRICT.  251 

I853»  and  527  in  1872.  The  enumeration  in  the  last-named  year  took 
place  over  an  area  of  1 744  square  miles,  and  disclosed  a  total  popula- 
tion of  918,850  persons,  distributed  among  3934  villages  or  townships, 
and  inhabiting  an  aggregate  of  192,080  houses.  From  these  data  the 
following  averages  maybe  deduced: — Persons  per  square  mile,  527; 
villages  per  square  mile,  2*3;  houses  per  square  mile,  no;  persons 
per  village,  234 ;  persons  per  house,  47.  Classified  according  to  sex, 
there  were  (exclusive  of  non- Asiatics) — males,  499,722 ;  females, 
419,026 ;  proportion  of  males,  54*3  per  cent.  Classified  according  to 
age,  there  were  (with  the  like  exception),  under  twelve  years — males, 
162,005;  females,  134,804;  total,  296,809,  or  32*31  percent,  of  the 
population.  As  regards  religious  distinctions,  the  District  still  remains 
essentially  Hindu,  in  spite  of  its  long  subjection  to  Muhammadan  rule. 
The  Hindus  were  returned  in  1872  at  816,733,  or  88*9  per  cent., 
while  the  Musalmdns  numbered  101,538,  or  in  per  cent  There  were 
477  Christians.  Among  the  Hindus,  the  Brdhmans  numbered  85,987 
persons.  The  Rajputs,  descendants  of  the  original  colonists,  and  still 
the  leading  landowners  in  the  northern  half  of  the  District,  were 
returned  at  63,769  persons.  South  of  the  Kili  Nadi,  in  the  tract 
formerly  subject  to  the  Oudh  Wazirs,  the  Thdkurs  were  for  the  most 
part  dispossessed  by  the  severe  fiscal  exactions  of  the  Lucknow  court. 
The  other  principal  tribes  include  the  Banids  (15,717),  Ahfrs  (86,372), 
Chamdrs  (94,274),  Kayasths  (15,378),  and  Kurmis  (30,884).  The 
District  contains  6  towns  with  a  population  exceeding  5000 — namely, 
Farrukhabad,  79,204;  Fatehgarh,  13,439;  Chhibramau,  5444; 
Kaimganj,  10,323 ;  Kanauj,  17,093 ;  and  Shamsabad,  8710.  Farrukh- 
dbdd  is  thus  by  far  the  largest  and  most  important  town  in  the  District, 
being  the  main  centre  of  commerce  and  communications. 

Agriculture. — Out  of  a  total  area  of  1 744  square  miles,  all  but  S6 
square  miles  pay  Government  revenue.  Of  the  assessed  area,  thus 
amounting  to  1658  square  miles,  372  are  uncultivable,  264  cultivable 
waste,  and  1021  actually  under  tillage.  The  usual  agricultural  seasons 
of  the  Dodb  prevail  throughout — the  kharif^  or  autumn  crops,  being 
sown  in  June  and  harvested  in  October  or  November;  while  the 
rabiy  or  spring  crops,  are  sown  in  November  and  reaped  in  March 
or  April.  Cotton,  rice,  6d/ra,jodr,  and  moth  form  the  staples  of  the 
autumn  harvest;  while  wheat,  barley,  oats,  vetch,  and  peas  are 
the  spring  products.  The  cultivation  of  potatoes  has  been  intro- 
duced, especially  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Farrukhibdd  itself,  and  the 
smaller  towns  of  Kdimganj,  Shamsdbdd,  and  Chhibramau.  In  the 
villages  near  the  city,  the  system  of  a  triple  crop  (one  of  them,  potatoes) 
is  in  full  working.  The  cultivation  of  sugar-cane  gives  rise  to  an 
exceptional  rotation  of  crops.  When  the  autumn  harvest  has  been 
gathered  in  November,  the  land  remains  fallow,  and  undergoes  frequent 

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252  FARRUKHABAD  DISTRICT. 

ploughings  for  the  next  sixteen  months,  and  the  cane  is  planted  in  the 
second  following  March.  It  is  not  cut  till  January  or  February  of  the 
second  year.  Cultivators  with  rights  of  occupancy  have  a  fairly  com- 
fortable livelihood;  tenants-at-will  pay  heavier  rents  and  clear  a 
much  smaller  margin  of  profits.  Occupancy  tenants  hold  64  per  cent 
of  the  whole  cultivated  area ;  and  where  the  proprietors  do  not  them- 
selves till  their  lands,  they  obtain  the  best  plots,  which  the  landlords 
would  otherwise  have  kept  as  homestead.  The  average  rent  rates  per 
acre  ruled  as  follows  in  1877  : — Resident  tenants,  7s.  nd. ;  non-resident, 
6s.  7d.  The  principal  landowning  tribes  are  the  Thakurs,  Brahmans,  and 
Musalmans,  who  held  36,  20,  and  21  per  cent,  of  the  District  respec- 
tively in  1873.  Coolies  and  unskilled  town  labourers  received  2$d. 
to  3|&  per  diem  in  1877;  agricultural  labourers,  2^d.  to  3d;  brick- 
layers and  carpenters,  6d.  to  2s.  The  prices-current  of  food  grains 
ruled  as  follows  in  1876  : — Wheat,  4s.  46.  per  cwt ;  rice,  16s.  per  cwt ; 
fodr,  3s.  per  cwt ;  b&jra,  3s.  id.  per  cwt  These  prices  are  nearly 
double  of  those  which  prevailed  in  1803. 

Natural  Calamities. — The  famines  of  1770  and  1783  doubtless 
affected  Farrukhabad,  as  they  did  the  whole  of  the  North-Western 
Provinces,  but  the  existing  accounts  are  too  scanty  to  admit  of 
separate  estimates  for  each  District  In  subsequent  famines,  Farnikb- 
dbdd  suffered  severely  in  the  four  worst  years,  1803-04,  1815-16, 
1825-26,  and  1837-38.  The  area  affected  by  minor  scarcities  did 
not  extend  so  far  northward  as  to  embrace  the  pargands  then 
included  under  the  present  District ;  and  the  southern  portion  of  the 
existing  territory,  originally  incorporated  with  Cawnpore  and  Etawah, 
has  always  been  much  more  liable  to  dearth  than  the  northern 
region.  In  the  disastrous  season  of  1837-38,  Farrukhibid  suffered 
with  great  severity,  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  cultivated  area  being 
abandoned.  In  August  1837,  relief  measures  were  adopted,  reaching 
their  maximum  in  March  1838.  The  famine  of  i860  was  confined  to 
the  Upper  Doab  and  Rohilkhand,  and  scarcely  affected  this  District, 
except  by  raising  the  price  of  grain.  The  last  scarcity,  in  1868-69, 
occasioned  considerable  distress  in  Farrukhabid  for  a  short  period, 
but  the  dearth  rapidly  passed  away.  Relief  operations  continued  from 
February  to  October  1869. 

Commerce  and  Trade. — The  crops  produced  in  the  District  barely 
suffice  for  local  needs,  and  no  surplus  for  export  exists ;  on  the  con- 
trary, grain  is  largely  imported  from  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand  The 
receipts  at  the  ferries,  gndts,  and  bridges  have  increased  fivefold  since 
1844,  a  fact  which  shows  how  enormously  the  traffic  of  the  District 
has  widened  during  that  interval.  The  city  of  Farrukh£bdd  contains  a 
few  native  banking  establishments ;  but  their  operations  do  not  extend 
to  the  villages  of  the  District,  where  the  Bank  money-lender  and  the 

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FARRUKHABAD  DISTRICT,  253 

zaminddr  still  retain  the  exclusive  power  of  making  cash  advances,  and 
keep  a  firm  hold  over  the  indebted  peasantry.  The  prevalent  rates  of 
interest  in  1877  were  18  to  37  per  cent,  on  personal  security,  6  to  15 
per  cent  on  jewels  or  other  pledges,  and  10  to  24  per  cent,  on  mort- 
gages of  landed  property.  Fatehgarh  is  noted  for  its  manufacture  of 
tents.  The  Grand  Trunk  Road  forms  the  chief  connecting  link  between 
Famikhibid  and  the  surrounding  country,  keeping  up  the  communi- 
cation with  the  east  and  north-west.  The  line  of  road  passing  into 
Rohilkhand  crosses  the  Ganges  at  Fatehgarh,  where  a  bridge  of  boats 
suffices  for  the  requirements  of  traffic  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
year ;  but  interruption  is  often  caused  in  the  rains  by  the  substitution 
of  ferry-boats  for  a  standing  bridge.  The  District  has  been  injuriously 
affected  by  its  distance  from  the  railway  system.  When  the  Grand 
Trunk  Road  and  the  river  Ganges  formed  the  main  channels  of  com- 
merce, the  situation  of  Farrukhabdd  admirably  adapted  it  for  the  trade 
in  which  its  merchants  were  chiefly  engaged;  but  when  the  railway 
offered  a  new  and  better  outlet  for  the  produce  of  the  North-West,  the 
course  of  traffic  deserted  the  city  for  towns  more  favourably  situated  on 
the  modern  route.  Internal  communication  is  well  maintained  by  an 
excellent  system  of  unmetalled  roads*  while  abundant  feeders  in  every 
direction  connect  the  various  villages  with  each  other  and  with  the  main 
thoroughfares. 

Administration. — The  District  staff  usually  comprises  a  Collector- 
Magistrate,  two  Joint  Magistrates,  an  Assistant  and  two  Deputy  Magis- 
trates, besides  the  ordinary  fiscal,  medical,  and  constabulary  officials. 
Farrukhdbad  is  the  headquarters  of  a  civil  and  sessions  judge,  whose 
jurisdiction  is  entirely  confined  to  the  District  The  whole  amount  of 
revenue,  imperial,  municipal,  and  local,  raised  within  the  District  in 
1876,  was  ,£197,229,  or  4s.  1  Jd  per  head  on  an  estimated  population 
(corrected  to  date)  of  955,497  persons.  Of  this  sum,  ^124,673,  or 
more  than  five-eighths*  were  derived  from  the  land  tax.  The  last  land 
settlement  was  commenced  in  1863,  and  completed  in  1874;  it  resulted 
in  an  increase  of  revenue  by  ^12,127.  Farrukha*bad  contains  two 
places  of  confinement  for  criminals — the  central  prison  and  the  District 
jail,  both  of  which  are  situated  at  Fatehgarh.  The  central  jail  had  a 
daily  average  of  1265  prisoners  in  1875,  a^  0I*  whom  were  males  ;  the 
average  cost  per  inmate  amounted  to  ^4,  5s.  3d.,  and  the  average 
earnings  of  each  prisoner  to  6s.  The  District  jail  contained  in  the 
same  year  a  daily  average  of  371  prisoners,  of  whom  21  were  females ; 
the  average  cost  per  head  amounted  to  ^3,  ns.  6&,  and  the  average 
earnings  of  each  prisoner  to  10s.  The  total  strength  of  the  District 
regular  police  force  was  943 ;  and  the  cost  of  their  maintenance  was 
,£10,279.  These  figures  give  an  average  of  1  policeman  to  every  179 
square  mile  of  area  and  every  974  of  the  population;  while  the  cost 


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254        FARRUKHABAD  CITY—FARRUKHNAGAR. 

of  maintenance  amounted  to  ^5,  16s.  per  square  mile  and  2fd.  per 
head.  There  are  15  imperial  and  12  local  post  offices;  and  the 
Government  maintains  a  telegraph  station  at  Fatehgarh.  There  were, 
in  1875,  320  schools,  with  a  joint  roll  of  7507  pupils;  showing  1  school 
to  every  5*45  square  miles,  and  8*i  scholars  for  every  thousand  of 
the  population.  The  city  of  Farrukhdbdd  has  a  zild  school,  and 
Anglo  -  vernacular  schools  are  established  at  Fatehgarh,  Kaimganj, 
Shams£b£d,  and  Chhibramau.  The  total  cost  of  Government  educa- 
tion in  1876  was  £3416.  The  District  contains  only  one  municipality, 
Fatehgarh-cum-Farrukhibdd.  Its  revenue  amounted  in  1875-76  to 
^8177;  from  taxes,  ^6957,  or  is.  io§&  per  head  of  population 
(74,225)  within  municipal  limits. 

Medical  Aspects, — Farrukhdbid  bears  the  reputation  of  being  one  of 
the  healthiest  Districts  in  the  Doab.  The  general  elevation  is  con- 
siderable, the  climate  is  dry,  and  the  country  possesses  remarkable 
freedom  from  epidemics.  The  trans-Gangetic/^r^a/iJj,  however,  must 
be  excepted  as  low-lying  and  damp.  The  annual  mean  temperature 
was  770  F.  in  1870,  and  840  F.  in  1871;  the  lowest  monthly  mean 
being  5 8°  in  January,  and  the  highest  930  in  June.  The  average 
annual  rainfall  for  the  eleven  years  ending  187 1  amounted  to  294 
inches;  the  maximum  being  47*2  inches  in  1867,  and  the  minimum 
1 2*i  inches  in  1868  (the  year  of  scarcity).  Fevers  prevail  in  August 
and  September.  The  total  number  of  deaths  recorded  in  1875  was 
20,609,  or  22'43  V^x  thousand  of  the  population ;  the  average  death-rale 
for  the  previous  six  years  was  returned  at  16*09  per  thousand.  Four 
charitable  dispensaries,  at  Farrukhibid,  Fatehgarh,  Kaimganj,  and 
Mfran-ki-Sar£i,  afforded  relief  in  1875  to  20,521  persons,  including  789 
in-door  patients. 

FarrokMb&d. — Municipal  city  in  Farrukhdbdd  District,  North- 
Western  Provinces.  Area,  141 1  acres;  pop.  (1872),  79,204.  Situated 
in  lat.  270  23'  55"  n.,  and  long.  79°  36'  50"  e.,  two  or  three  miles 
from  the  right  or  west  bank  of  the  Ganges ;  distant  from  Cawnpore  S3 
miles  north-west,  and  from  Etawah  62  miles  north-east.  It  is  a  hand- 
some and  well-built  town,  with  many  of  its  streets  shaded  by  avenues 
of  trees.  A  mud  fort,  once  the  residence  of  the  Nawab,  commands 
an  extensive  view  of  the  Ganges  valley.  The  trade  was  formerly  con- 
siderable, but  has  fallen  off  of  late  years,  owing  to  the  diversion  of 
commerce  by  the  opening  of  the  railway  system.  Zild  school ;  dispen- 
sary; headquarters  at  the  adjacent  British  fort  of  Fatehgarh.  For 
early  history  and  Mutiny  narrative,  see  Farrukhabad  District. 
Forms  with  Fatehgarh  a  municipality;  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^8177 — 
from  taxes,  ^6957,  or  is.  iofd.  per  head  of  population  (74,225)  within 
municipal  limits. 

Famikhnagar.  —  Municipal   town  in  Gurgion  District,  Punjab 


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FATEHABAD— FATEHGANJ.  255 

Lat.  280  25'  n.,  long.  76*  51'  30*  e.;  area,  99  acres;  pop.  (1868), 
10,631,  being  3409  Hindus,  2523  Muhammadans,  and  4699  'others.' 
Founded  by  Nawdb  Faujddr  KMn,  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Farrukh  Siyyar  (a.d.  i  7 13) ;  conquered  by  the  Jdts  of  Bhartpur;  bestowed 
by  Lord  Lake  in  1803  upon  Nawab  Muzaffar  Khdn,  whose  grandson 
was  hanged  for  rebellion  in  1857.  Regranted  to  Sarddr  Tafuzzul 
Hussain  Khin  as  a  reward  for  services  during  the  Mutiny,  and  now 
held  by  his  son  on  istimrdri  tenure.  Extensive  export  of  salt,  produced 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Najafgarh  jhil ;  surrounding  country  being 
extremely  sterile,  the  return  trade  embraces  all  the  necessaries  of 
life.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^727,  or  is.  4§d.  per  head  of 
population  within  municipal  limits. 

Fateh&b&d.  —  Municipal  town  in  Hissar  District,  Punjab,  and 
headquarters  of  a  tahsil  of  the  same  name.  I^at.  290  31'  n.,  long. 
75°  30'  e.;  pop.  (1868),  3175;  distant  from  Hissar  30  miles  north- 
west Founded  by  the  Emperor  Firoz  Shah,  and  named  after  his  son 
Fateh  KMn.  Held  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  by  the 
Bhatti  chieftain,  Khdn  Bahddur  KMn.  North  of  the  town  runs  a  cut 
from  the  river  Ghaggar,  constructed  by  Firoz  Shdh,  and  still  used  for 
purposes  of  irrigation.  Considerable  manufacture  of  country  cloth ; 
export  of  grain  and  ghi  to  Bfkaner  (Bickaneer)  and  the  Bdgar  territory ; 
brisk  trade  in  leather.  Tahsilt]  police  station,  sardi,  staging  bungalow. 
Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^82,  or  6Jd.  per  head  of  population 
(3079)  within  municipal  limits. 

Fateh&bAcL — Tahsil  of  Agra  District,  North-Western  Provinces, 
lying  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river  Jumna  (Jamund).  Area,  204 
square  miles,  of  which  142  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  89,159;  land 
revenue,  ^18,150;  total  Government  revenue,  ,£20,188;  rental  paid 
by  cultivators,  ,£30,832  ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre, 
2S.  9|&    Lat  29°  15'  to  290  34'  n.  ;  long.  750  16'  to  750  51'  e. 

Fatehganj. — Village  and  battle-field  in  Bareli  (Bareilly)  District, 
North-Western  Provinces,  lying  in  lat.  280  4'  n.,  and  long.  790  42'  e., 
on  the  route  from  Bareilly  to  ShAhjahdnpur,  23  miles  south-east  of  the 
former  town.  Founded  by  ShujA-ud-dauli,  Nawdb  Wazfr  of  Oudh,  in 
commemoration  of  the  British  victory  over  the  Rohillas  in  1774,  which 
gave  him  possession  of  the  greater  portion  of  Rohilkhand.  Hdfiz 
Rahmat  KMn,  the  Rohilli  chieftain,  fell  in  this  engagement.  Thornton 
describes  the  village  as  an  insignificant  hamlet,  surrounded  by  a  mud 
walL 

Fatehganj.— Village  in  Bareli  (Bareilly)  District,  North-Western 
Provinces ;  famous  as  the  scene  of  a  British  victory  over  the  RohilMs 
in  1796.  Lat  280  28'  n.,  long.  790  24'  e.  A  monument  marks 
the  burial-place  of  the  Company's  troops,  and  a  carved  tomb  with 
minarets  covers  the  remains  of  two  Rohilld  chiefs. 


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256  FATEHGARH—FATEHPUR  DISTRICT. 

Fatehgarh. — Administrative  headquarters  of  Famikhdbad  District, 
North-Western  Provinces.  Adjoins  the  native  city  of  Farrukhabad 
3  miles  to  the  eastward  Lat  27*  22'  55"  n.,  long.  79°  40'  20* 
e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  13,439.  Military  station  for  the  District;  Govern- 
ment maintains  an  important  gun-carriage  factory  within  the  old  fort. 
The  cantonment  was  first  established  in  1777,  and  formed  an  extreme 
outpost  against  the  Marhattd  power  under  Perron,  and  the  doubtful 
fidelity  of  the  Oudh  Nawdbs.  HoMr  attacked  the  town  in  1804,  but 
was  defeated  and  driven  into  precipitate  flight  Central  and  District 
jails,  Government  telegraph  office,  Anglo-vernacular  school,  charitable 
dispensary.  Forms  with  Farrukh£b£d  a  joint  municipality ;  revenue  in 
^75-76,  ^8177 — from  taxes,  ^6957,  or  is.  iofd  per  head  of  popu- 
lation (74,225)  within  municipal  limits. 

Fatehjang. — TaMl  of  Rawal  Pindi  District,  Punjab,  lying  along 
the  banks  of  the  river  Indus,  between  330  9'  30"  and  330  44'  30*  k. 
lat.,  and  between  720  25'  30*  and  730  3'  30*  e.  long. 

Fatehkhelda. — Town  in  Buldana  District,  Berar;  situated  in  lat 
200  n'  30"  n.,  and  long.  76*  27'  e.,  on  the  small  river  Bhogiwati,  an 
affluent  of  the  Penganga.  Pop.  (1867),  3IQ8.  The  original  name  of 
the  town  was  Shakarkhelda,  but  it  was  changed  to  Fatehkhelda  ('  Field 
of  victory')  in  commemoration  of  a  decisive  success  gained  here  by 
the  Nizdm  in  1724  over  Mubiriz  KMn,  who  was  slain  on  the  field 
of  battle.  Since  the  sack  of  the  town  by  Sindhia's  troops  in  1803, 
before  Assaye,  and  the  great  famine  of  that  year,  Fatehkhelda  has 
fallen  into  decay ;  and  a  large  extent  of  ground  is  covered  with  ruined 
habitations. 

Fatehpur. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship 
of  the  North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  250  26'  17"  and  26* 
12'  50"  n.  lat,  and  between  8o°  \&  39"  and  8i°  23'  e.  long.  Area, 
1585  square  miles;  population  (1&72),  663,877.  Fatehpur  forms 
a  District  of  the  Allahiba'd  Division,  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  Ganges,  on  the  west  by  Cawnpore,  on  the  south  by  the  Jumna, 
and  on  the  east  by  Allah£b£d.  The  administrative  headquarters  are  at 
Fatehpur  Town. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Fatehpur  forms  a  portion  of  the 
Doab,  or  great  alluvial  plain  between  the  Ganges  and  the  Jumna 
(Jamund),  being  only  separated  from  their  point  of  junction  by  a 
triangular  tongue  of  land,  which  belongs  to  the  adjoining  District  of 
Allahabad.  Its  main  features  do  not  differ  from  those  common  to 
the  whole  monotonous  level  enclosed  by  the  two  great  rivers  of  Upper 
India.  It  consists  for  the  most  part  of  a  highly  cultivated  plain,  whose 
soil  is  composed  of  the  loam,  silt,  and  clay  deposited  in  earlier  periods 
by  the  drainage  of  the  Himalayan  slopes.  The  central  portion  presents 
the  appearance  of  an  unbroken  level,  only  relieved  in  places  by  barren 


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FATEHPUR  DISTRICT.  257 

and  sharply  defined  usdr  plains,  the  saline  efflorescence  of  which 
glistens  like  hoar-frost  in  the  morning  sun,  or  thickly  studded  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  villages  with  large  and  leafy  groves  of  mango  and 
mahud  trees.  A  ridge  of  higher  land,  forming  the  watershed  of  the 
District,  runs  through  it  from  east  to  west,  at  an  average  distance  of 
5  miles  from  the  Ganges.  The  country  is  thus  divided  into  two 
declivities  —  the  one,  only  a  few  miles  in  breadth,  sloping  rapidly 
down  toward  the  Ganges  on  the  northern  border ;  the  other,  with  a 
stretch  of  some  15  or  20  miles,  falling  gradually  southward  till  it  ends 
in  the  wilder  valley  of  the  Jumna.  The  portions  of  these  plains  which 
abut  on  the  two  great  rivers  are  seamed  in  every  direction  by  deep 
ravines,  especially  on  the  banks  of  the  Jumna  and  its  tributary  streams. 
In  the  extreme  west  of  the  District,  three  large  water-courses  may  be 
considered  to  attain  the  dignity  of  rivers.  The  Pdndu  flows  northward 
into  the  Ganges ;  the  Rind  and  the  Ndn  swell  the  waters  of  its 
great  confluent  The  tract  enclosed  between  the  Jumna  and  the  two 
last-named  streams  is  one  tangled  mass  of  ravines,  whose  scenery  is 
often  picturesque  and  varied.  The  main  channels  are  fed  by  innumer- 
able rivulets,  each  of  which  cuts  its  way  through  beds  of  nodular 
limestone  into  the  central  gorge;  while  the  sides  are  clothed  with 
matted  jungle,  in  whose  recesses  lurk  wild  boars,  wolvesr  and 
leopards.  Shallow  lakes  (JMls)  abound  in  the  midland  portion  of  the 
District,  which  is  not  drained  by  any  considerable  stream.  They  are 
generally  temporary,  being  filled  during  the  rains,  and  drying  up  in  January 
or  February.  As  long  as  the  water  stands  in  them,  wild-fowl  of  every 
kind  may  be  found  in  abundance ;  and  during  the  hot  weather  nilgdi 
and  antelope  take  refuge  in  the  dry  beds,  when  driven  by  the  harvest 
from  their  ordinary  shelter  among  the  standing  crops.  As  a  whole,  the 
western  region  is  the  most  cut  up  by  ravines  and  covered  with  bdbul 
jungle;  the  central  tract  is  more  generally  cultivated,  though  inter- 
spersed with  frequent  patches  of  useless  usdr;  and  the  eastern  slope, 
near  the  AUah£b£d  border,  is  one  unbroken  reach  of  smiling  and 
prosperous  tillage. 

History, — In  the  earliest  times,  Fatehpur  was  inhabited  by  the  Bhils, 
a  tribe  of  non-Aryan  aborigines,  one  of  whose  kings  is  mentioned 
in  the  Rdmdyana  as  the  host  of  Rima.  At  a  later  date,  it  appears 
to  have  formed  part  of  the  wide  dominions  ruled  over  by  the  Rijds  of 
Argal,  whose  territories  stretched  from  the  borders  of  Kanauj  to  the 
gates  of  AllahibaU  After  their  fall,  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Thikur  Rdjas  of  Asothii,  in  whose  possession  it  remained  until  its 
conquest  by  the  Pathans.  Like  the  rest  of  the  Dodb,  it  was  overrun  in 
"94  a.d.  by  Shahdb-ud-din  Ghori,  and  became  thenceforth  a  portion 
of  the  Delhi  kingdom.  In  1376,  the  fief  of  Fatehpur  was  made  over, 
vith  Kora  in  Allahdbid  and  Mahoba  in  Hamirpur,  to  the  care  of  a 

vol.  in.  R 

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258  FATEHPUR  DISTRICT, 

Viceroy  known  as  the  M£lik-ul-Shark.  Order  was  successfully  main- 
tained by  this  officer  during  the  terrible  raids  of  Timur,  and  the 
country  enjoyed  comparative  security  throughout  the  troublous  period 
which  preceded  the  final  establishment  of  Mughal  rule.  Babar  con- 
quered the  District  about  1529;  but  it  still  remained  a  stronghold  of 
the  Pathdn  resistance,  and  was  the  centre  of  the  reactionary  movement 
under  Sher  Sh£h,  by  which  Humlyun  was  driven  for  a  while  from  the 
newly-founded  throne  of  his  father.  During  the  slow  decline  of  the 
Delhi  dynasty,  Fatehpur  was  entrusted  to  the  Governor  of  Oudh ;  but 
in  1736,  it  was  overrun  by  the  Marhattis,  on  the  invitation  of  Ajaju,  a 
disaffected  landholder  of  Kora.  The  Marhattis  retained  possession 
of  the  District  until  1750,  when  it  was  wrested  from  them  by  the 
Pathins  of  Fatehgarh.  Three  years  later,  Safdar  Jang,  the  practically 
independent  Wazfr  of  Oudh,  reconquered  the  country  for  his  own 
benefit.  In  1759,  the  Wazir  threw  off  his  nominal  allegiance  to  Delhi, 
and  was  acknowledged  by  the  British  as  a  sovereign  prince  in  1765.  By 
the  treaty  of  that  year,  Fatehpur  was  handed  over  to  the  titular  Emperor, 
Shih  Alam;  but  when,  in  1774,  the  Emperor  threw  himself  into  the 
hands  of  the  Marhattds,  his  eastern  territories  were  considered  to  have 
escheated,  and  the  British  sold  them  for  50  Idkhs  of  rupees  to  the 
Nawib  Wazfr.  As  the  Oudh  Government  was  in  a  chronic  state  of 
arrears  with  regard  to  the  payment  of  its  stipulated  tribute,  a  new 
arrangement  was  effected  in  1801,  by  which  the  Nawdb  ceded  Allahdbdd 
and  Kora  to  the  English,  in  lieu  of  all  outstanding  claims.  Fatehpur 
at  first  was  divided  between  the  Districts  of  Allahdbid  and  Cawnpore; 
but  in  1 814,  a  separate  charge  was  erected  at  Bithdr  on  the  Ganges, 
which  was  transferred  eleven  years  later  to  Fatehpur.  The  benefits 
of  settled  government  were  nowhere  more  conspicuous  than  here. 
In  1798,  the  District  was  described  as  a  waste,  whose  ruined 
towns  bore  lamentable  marks  of  former  prosperity.  But  some  half 
century  later,  it  is  spoken  of  as  a  boundless  garden,  in  which  fields 
of  sugar-cane,  cotton,  poppy,  and  cereals  alternated  with  beautiful 
groves  of  mango  or  tamarind,  overshading  the  village  mosques  and 
tanks.  No  event  of  interest  occurred  after  the  introduction  of 
British  rule,  until  the  Mutiny  of  1857.  On  the  6th  of  June,  news  of 
the  Cawnpore  outbreak  arrived  at  the  station.  On  the  8th,  a  treasure 
guard  returning  from  Allahibdd  proved  mutinous ;  and  next  day  the 
mob  rose,  burnt  the  houses,  and  plundered  all  the  property  of  the 
European  residents.  The  civil  officers  escaped  to  Binda,  except  the  judge, 
who  was  murdered.  On  the  28th  of  June,  the  fourteen  fugitives  from 
Cawnpore  landed  at  Shiurdjpur  in  this  District,  and  were  all  killed  but 
four,  who  escaped  by  swimming  to  the  Oudh  shore.  The  District 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels  throughout  the  month ;  but  on 
the  30th,  General  Neill  sent  off  Major  Renaud's  column  from  Allahibid 


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FATEHPUR  DISTRICT  259 

to  Cawnpore.  On  the  nth  of  July,  General  Havelock's  force  joined 
Renaud's  at  Khaga,  and  next  day  they  defeated  the  rebels  at  Bilanda. 
They  then  attacked  and  shelled  Fatehpur,  drove  out  the  rebels,  and 
took  possession  of  the  place.  On  the  15th,  Havelock  advanced  to 
Aung  and  drove  the  enemy  back  on  the  Pandu  Nadi.  There  a  second 
battle  was  fought  the  same  day,  and  the  insurgents  were  driven  out  of 
the  District  in  full  flight  on  Cawnpore.  We  could  not,  however,  retain 
possession  of  the  District  except  just  along  the  Grand  Trunk  Road ; 
and  order  was  not  finally  re-established  till  after  the  fall  of  Lucknow 
and  the  return  of  Lord  Clyde's  army  to  Cawnpore,  when  the  Gwalior 
mutineers  were  finally  driven  off. 

Population, — Fatehpur  is  one  of  the  Districts  where  agriculture  and 
population  appear  to  have  reached  their  utmost  limits.  In  1865,  the 
Census  showed  a  population  of  681,053,  being  a  steady  increase  upon 
the  returns  of  1848  and  1853.  In  1872,  the  Census  gave  a  total  popula- 
tion of  663,877,  or  a  decrease  of  17,176  persons  in  seven  years.  But 
there  is  no  reason  for  suspecting  any  actual  depopulation,  and  it  is  believed 
that  one  of  the  two  last  returns  is  in  error.  The  area  on  which  the 
enumeration  in  the  last-named  year  was  taken,  was  1585  square  miles  ; 
number  of  villages,  2741 ;  houses,  152,777.  From  these  data  the 
following  averages  may  be  calculated  : — Persons  per  square  mile,  419  ; 
villages  per  square  mile,  17;  houses  per  square  mile,  96;  persons  per 
village,  242 ;  persons  per  house,  4*3.  Classified  according  to  sex,  there  were 
(exclusive  of  non- Asiatics) — males,  345,533;  females,  318,282;  propor- 
tion of  males,  52  per  cent.  Classified  according  to  age,  there  were  (with 
the  like  omission),  under  12  years — males,  105,230;  females,  92,712; 
total,  197,942,  or  29*81  per  cent,  of  the  whole  population.  As  regards 
religious  distinctions,  Fatehpur,  like  the  rest  of  the  Doib,  remains 
essentially  Hindu,  in  spite  of  its  long  subjection  to  a  Muhammadan 
power.  The  Census  of  1872  showed  a  total  of  593,256  Hindus,  as 
against  7°>554  Musalmans,  the  relative  proportions  being  89-4  and  io*6 
per  cent  respectively.  The  number  of  Brdhmans  is  74,388,  most  of 
whom  are  landholders  or  domestic  servants.  A  few,  however,  are  to  b  3 
found  at  Shiurdjpur  and  other  places  of  pilgrimage  along  the  Ganges, 
as  superintendents  of  the  religious  bathing,  priests  in  the  temples,  or 
guides  and  caterers  for  the  pilgrims.  The  Rijputs  number  44,566 
persons.  They  are  generally  well-to-do  landlords ;  but  as  cultivators, 
they  are  reputed  quarrelsome  and  lazy,  and  they  do  not  make  good 
tenants.  There  are  a  few  villages  owned  by  Kdyasth  auction-purchasers, 
and  tilled  by  Thdkur  peasants,  the  former  proprietors;  in  which  it 
is  said  that  the  landlord  dare  not  show  his  face  from  year  to  year, 
and  that  the  agent  can  only  collect  the  rents  at  great  personal  risk. 
Banias  number  21,842,  engaged,  as  usual,  in  commercial  pursuits. 
These  three  tribes  form  the  upper  and  more  prosperous  classes.    The 

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26o  FATEHPUR  DISTRICT. 

remainder  of  the  Hindus,  numbering  in  all  452,460  persons,  are  lumped 
together  under  the  general  head  of '  other  castes.'  As  a  rule  they  are 
darker,  shorter,  and  more  sparely  built  than  the  higher  castes,  besides 
often  betraying  in  their  features  other  traces  of  aboriginal  descent 
The  Kiirmfs  and  Kachhis,  who  together  amount  to  89,044,  are 
industrious  and  diligent  tenants,  the  agricultural  backbone  of  the 
District.  They  pay  higher  rents  than  any  other  tribes,  and  pay  them 
easily.  The  Ahfrs,  Lodhs,  Arakhs,  and  Pasis,  who  number  in  all 
162,907  persons,  are  a  turbulent  and  quarrelsome  set,  but  sometimes 
make  fair  cultivators  under  Thikur  masters.  It  is  from  them  that  the 
criminal  class  is  most  frequently  recruited ;  -and  they  also  furnish  a 
large  proportion  of  the  village  watchmen  and  protective  servants.  The 
Kewats  (boatmen  and  fishers)  and  the  Garariyas  (shepherds  and  herds- 
men) number  together  42,490.  The  Musalmins  are  found  chiefly  in 
the  north-eastern  portion  of  the  District.  As  a  rule,  they  are  more 
prosperous  and  energetic  than  the  Hindus,  a  large  number  being  small 
zamlnddrs,  but  in  the  towns  many  have  been  reduced  to  great  poverty. 
In  Tappa  Jar  pargand  there  is  a  considerable  body  of  half-converted 
Rajputs,  who  still  describe  themselves  by  their  caste  title.  There  was 
only  one  town  in  1872  with  a  population  exceeding  5000— namely, 
Fatehpur,  which  had  19,879  inhabitants.  The  total  agricultural 
population  included  344,748  persons,  or  51*9  per  cent  of  the  whole. 

Agriculture. — The  District  contains  869  square  miles  of  cultivated 
land,  and  a  very  small  margin  of  the  available  area  now  remains 
untilled.  The  ravine-clad  country  of  the  western  pargands  is  of  course 
incapable  of  cultivation,  while  a  few  usdr  plains  break  in  upon  the 
ploughed  fields  of  the  central  portion  ;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  soil 
is  cultivated  up  to  a  very  high  point  The  fertile  black  alluvial  mould, 
known  as  mdr%  occurs  in  several  places  along  the  Jumna,  and  there  is 
a  strip  of  similar  deposit  between  the  high  and  low  water  mark  of 
the  Ganges,  on  which  the  best  crops  of  the  District  are  raised.  The 
harvests  are  those  common  to  the  whole  Doab.  The  kharifox  autumn 
crops  are  sown  after  the  first  rains  in  June,  and  ripen  in  October  or 
November.  They  consist  of  rice,  cereals,  and  millets ;  jodr  and  bdjra 
being  the  principal  staples.  As  soon  as  the  rains  are  over  and  the 
water  has  drained  off  the  land,  the  wheat,  barley,  gram,  oats,  peas,  and 
other  rabi  crops  are  sown,  about  the  end  of  October,  and  these  ripen 
from  March  to  May.  Autumn  and  spring  harvests  are  not  generally 
taken  off  the  same  lands  within  the  twelve  months ;  but  if  the  autumn 
rice  crop  has  been  harvested  early,  the  land  may  be  made  to  produce  a 
rabi  crop  as  welL  Manure  and  irrigation  are  both  employed  for  the 
spring  harvest,  but  are  seldom  applied  to  the  kharif.  The  jWs  or 
shallow  lakes  of  the  central  pargands  are  of  great  value  for  purposes  of 
irrigation.     The  rabi  and  the  rice  crops  entirely  depend  upon  them. 

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FATEHPUR  DISTRICT.  261 

If  the  rainfall  is  scanty,  the  jhils  are  drained  dry  by  the  end  of 
November,  the  cultivators  working  night  and  day  in  relays  to  raise  the 
water  by  means  of  leathern  baskets.  The  condition  of  the  peasantry 
is  for  from  comfortable,  and  indebtedness  is  still  their  almost  universal 
state.  The  modes  of  tenure  are  those  of  the  adjoining  country.  The 
caste  panchdyats  have  very  much  the  character  of  guilds  or  trades- 
unions.  The  Kiirmf  and  Kachhi  cultivators  in  pargands  Ekdala  and 
Dhata  have  been  known  to  unite  together  to  resist  enhancements  of 
their  rents.  They  then  pay  a  fixed  rate  per  plough  or  per  field  towards 
a  general  defence  fund,  from  which  are  defrayed  the  expenses  of  defend- 
ing actions  brought  by  zaminddrs.  Blacksmiths,  masons,  and  carpenters 
often  enforce  very  strict  labour  rules  among  their  communities;  an 
artisan  is  not  allowed  to  work  for  lower  wages  or  longer  hours  than  his 
fellows,  and  piece-work  is  discouraged  as  much  as  possible.  Wages 
ruled  as  follows  in  1877  : — Coolies  and  unskilled  labourers,  2^d.  to 
3fi  per  diem ;  agricultural  labourers,  2 Jd.  to  3d. ;  bricklayers  and 
carpenters,  6&  to  2s. ;  boys  and  girls  get  about  one-half  the  wages  of 
adults.  The  following  were  the  average  prices-current  of  food  grams  in 
1876  : — Wheat,  25  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  6d.  per  cwt.  \  rice,  14  sers  per 
rupee,  or  8s.  per  cwt. ;  jodr,  44  sers  per  rupee,  or  2s.  6d.  per  cwt. ; 
b&jru,  35  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  2d.  per  cwt. 

Natural  Calamities. — Fatehpur  has  not  suffered  so  severely  from 
drought  of  late  years  as  many  neighbouring  Districts.  Famines  from 
this  cause  occurred  in  1770,  in  1783,  and  in  1837.  In  i860,  scarcely 
any  rain  fell  in  the  Doab,  but  the  worst  distress  never  reached  its  lower 
extremity,  and  Fatehpur  escaped  with  comparative  immunity.  In  1864, 
although  only  16  inches  of  rain  fell,  and  the  rice  crops  suffered  greatly, 
there  was  no  actual  famine.  In  1868  the  rain,  though  more  copious, 
was  badly  distributed,  and  with  the  exception  of  a  single  heavy  downpour 
in  September,  none  fell  after  the  middle  of  July.  The  solitary  shower, 
however,  prevented  the  crops  from  utterly  perishing ;  but  the  autumn 
harvest  was  very  poor,  and  as  the  winter  passed  away  without  rain,  it 
became  evident  that  the  spring  crops  would  fail  in  all  high  or  dry  places 
where  the  land  could  not  be  irrigated.  In  January  1869,  relief  works 
were  started  on  a  large  scale  in  the  southern  pargands,  and  about 
200  miles  of  raised  roads  were  constructed.  This  gave  employment  to 
the  starving  poor  till  the  spring  crops  were  cut  in  April ;  and  the  worst 
pressure  was  thus  relieved.  There  has  been  no  severe  distress  in  the 
District  since  that  date,  although  in  1870  heavy  floods  did  a  great  deal 
of  damage  to  the  autumn  crops. 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc. — The  trade  of  the  District  is  mainly  in 
agricultural  produce,  and  is  concentrated  in  the  towns  of  Fatehpur  and 
Narami.  Bindki,  however,  is  the  great  grain  and  cattle  mart  of  the 
District,  where  dealers  from  Bundelkhand  and  the   Doab  meet  to 


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262  FATEHPUR  DISTRICT. 

exchange  their  respective  produce.  Most  of  the  Bundelkhand  grain  is 
sent  off  from  the  Mauhar  railway  station,  5  miles  north  of  Bindki.  Brass 
and  copper  work  is  turned  out  in  considerable  quantities  at  Khajuha  and 
Kora ;  and  the  latter  town  has  likewise  some  trade  in  whips  and  skins. 
Saltpetre  is  manufactured  to  a  large  extent  in  the  northern  portion  of 
the  District,  from  the  saline  deposits  of  the  usdr  plains  ;  a  good  deal  of 
refined  salt  is  also  made,  but  only  surreptitiously,  as  the  manufacture  is 
prohibited.  The  means  of  communication  are  ample.  The  East 
Indian  Railway  main  line  runs  through  the  heart  of  the  District,  with 
five  stations,  and  a  total  length  within  its  boundaries  of  55  miles.  The 
Grand  Trunk  Road  also  traverses  the  District  from  side  to  side,  with  a 
length  of  about  60  miles.  Other  excellent  roads  connect  Fatehpur 
with  Oudh,  Bundelkhand,  and  the  Doab  generally.  The  Ganges  and 
Jumna  afford  water  communication  along  the  whole  northern  and 
southern  frontiers.  They  still  carry  a  large  part  of  the  heavy  traffic  in 
cotton,  grain,  and  stone,  though  of  course  the  railway  and  the  Grand 
Trunk  Road  have  seriously  diminished  its  dimensions.  The  only  fair 
of  any  importance  is  that  held  at  Shiurajpur,  on  the  Ganges,  in  the  first 
week  of  November.  Its  object  is  primarily  religious,  but  a  good  deal 
of  business  is  transacted  side  by  side  with  the  bathing  in  the  sacred 
river.  From  20,000  to  50,000  people  often  attend  it.  Horses,  cattle, 
whips,  shoes,  and  toys  are  the  chief  articles  sold. 

Administration. — The  District  staff  usually  consists  of  a  Collector- 
Magistrate,  a  Joint  Magistrate,  an  Assistant,  and  an  uncovenanted 
Deputy  Collector.  The  whole  amount  of  revenue — imperial,  municipal, 
and  local — raised  in  the  District  in  1876,  was  ^165,409,  or  4s.  ojd  per 
head  of  the  population.  In  1875,  *ne  regular  police  amounted  to  522 
men,  and  the  cost  of  their  maintenance  was  ^6732.  These  figures 
give  an  average  of  1  policeman  to  every  3  square  miles  and  every 
1272  of  the  population.  The  expenditure  upon  the  force  is  equal  to 
an  average  of  ^4,  4s.  per  square  mile  and  2$d.  per  inhabitant  The 
regular  police  were  supplemented  by  1898  village  watchmen  (chauHddr%\ 
maintained  at  a  cost  of  ^6898.  The  total  machinery,  therefore,  for  the 
protection  of  persons  and  property  consisted  of  2420  officers  and  men, 
being  1  man  to  every  o*6  square  mile  of  the  area  and  to  every  274  of  the 
population.  This  force  was  maintained  at  a  gross  cost  of  ;£i3»63°> 
being  at  the  rate  of  j£$,  ns.  n£d.  per  square  mile  and  of  4$d.  per 
inhabitant.  During  the  same  year,  the  Fatehpur  jail  contained  a  daily 
average  of  402  prisoners,  of  whom  382  were  males  and  20  females. 
The  average  cost  per  prisoner  was  j£$,  6s.  7J&,  and  the  average 
earnings  of  each  inmate  were  10s.  The  District  contains  22  post 
offices,  of  which  14  are  imperial  and  8  locaL  The  Government  has  no 
telegraph  station  in  Fatehpur,  but  there  is  a  railway  telegraph  office  at 
each  station  on  the  East  Indian  line.     Education  was  carried  on  in  this 


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FATEHPVR  TAHSIL  AND  TOWN.  263 

District  in  1875  by  260  schools,  with  6416  scholars ;  being  an  average 
tf  1  school  to  every  6*09  square  miles,  and  of  9*6  scholars  to  every 
thousand  of  the  population.  Six  of  the  schools  are  for  girls.  The 
total  cost  of  the  educational  establishment  was  ^2662,  of  which  ;£6io 
was  paid  from  provincial  revenue  and  ^2052  from  local  funds.  For 
fiscal  and  administrative  purposes,  Fatehpur  is  subdivided  into  6  tahsils 
and  \$  pargan&s.  In  1876,  the  land  revenue  amounted  to  ^134,943. 
The  District  contains  only  one  municipality — Fatehpur  town.  In 
^75-76,  its  total  revenue  was  ^1314,  while  its  gross  expenditure 
was  ^1196.  The  incidence  of  municipal  taxation  was  at  the  rate  of 
is.  i|&  per  head  of  the  municipal  population. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  of  Fatehpur  is  that  of  an  ordinary 
Dodb  District ;  but  from  its  easterly  position,  the  west  winds  do  not 
reach  it  with  such  force  in  the  hot  weather  as  they  display  at  Agra 
and  the  adjoining  towns.  The  surface  is  somewhat  marshy,  and  the 
numerous  shallow  lakes  (Jhils)  render  the  atmosphere  damper  than  that 
of  the  Upper  Dodb.  The  humidity  of  the  climate  makes  it  rather 
feverish,  but  the  natives  do  not  consider  it  unhealthy,  especially  when 
compared  with  the  malarious  flats  and  valleys  of  Bundelkhand  to  the 
south.  Europeans  enjoy  moderate  health;  and  the  once  notorious 
headquarters  at  Fatehpur  have  now  been  rendered  safe  by  the  drainage 
of  a  large  swamp,  which  formerly  stretched  to  the  west  of  the  station. 
During  the  winter  months  the  climate  is  most  enjoyable,  but  towards 
the  end  of  March  the  weather  gets  rapidly  hotter,  and  in  June  the 
thermometer  often  remains  at  960  or  980  F.  day  and  night  The  average 
annual  rainfall  of  the  17  years  from  1859  to  1875  was  357  inches.  The 
maximum  for  the  17  years  was  53*5  inches  in  1870,  and  the  minimum 
was  i6'3  inches  in  1864.  The  slight  rainfall  of  the  latter  year  was, 
however,  so  evenly  distributed,  that  drought  was  not  felt  so  severely  as 
in  1868,  when  i8*6  inches  fell,  but  so  irregularly  as  to  cause  a  partial 
famine  during  the  following  winter.  The  total  number  of  deaths 
recorded  in  1875  was  II>^7°>  <>r  17 "88  per  thousand  of  the  population. 
The  mean  ratio  of  recorded  deaths  per  thousand  during  the  previous 
six  years  was  20*48.  There  is  one  charitable  dispensary  in  the  District, 
at  Fatehpur  town ;  in  1875,  it  afforded  relief  to  a  total  number  of  5273 
patients. 

Fatehpur. — Tahsil  of  Fatehpur  District,  North-Western  Provinces. 
Area,  346  square  miles,  of  which  167  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872), 
!^933;  land  revenue,  ^29,614;  total  Government  revenue,  ^32,581; 
rental  paid  by  cultivators,  ^45,370 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue 
per  acre,  2s.  8d. 

Fatehpur.  —  Municipal  town  and  administrative  headquarters  ot 
Fatehpur  District,  North-Western  Provinces ;  lies  in  lat  250  55'  20" 
N-i  long.  8o°  53'  10"  e.,  on  the  road  from  Allahibdd  to  Cawnpore, 

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264     FATEHPUR  TAHSIL,  PARGANA,  AND  TOWN. 

70  miles  north-west  of  the  former  and  50  miles  south-east  of  the 
latter.  Pop.  (1872),  19,879.  The  town  lays  claim  to  considerable 
antiquity,  and  Bibar  mentions  it  in  his  memoirs.  The  tomb  of 
Almas  Ali  Khan,  a  eunuch,  and  minister  of  the  Oudh  Nawibs  at  the 
end  of  the  last  century,  forms  the  chief  architectural  ornament  of  the 
principal  street  The  Jama  Masjid,  or  great  mosque,  and  the  mosque 
of  Hakfm  Abdul  Hasan  of  Kora,  also  possess  considerable  interest 
For  the  Mutiny  narrative,  see  Fatehpur  District.  Station  on  the 
East  Indian  Railway  main  line.  Telegraph  office,  District  jail,  admini- 
strative offices,  charitable  dispensary.  Trade  in  hides,  soap,  and  grain. 
Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^1314;  from  taxes,  ^1100,  or  is.  i^d. 
per  head  of  population  (19,431)  within  municipal  limits. 

Fatefapnr. — Tahsil  or  Subdivision  of  Bira  Binki  District,  Oudh ; 
lying  between  260  58'  and  270  21'  n.  lat,  and  between  80s  58' 
and  81  °  36'  e.  long. ;  bounded  on  the  north  by  Mahmudibid  tahsil 
of  Sftipur,  on  the  east  by  Hisampur  tahsil  of  Bahraich,  on  the 
south  by  Bira  Binki  tahsil,  and  on  the  west  by  Malihibid  tahsil  of 
Lucknow.  Population,  according  to  the  Census  of  1869,  but  allowing 
for  recent  transfers — Hindus,  258,791 ;  Muhammadans,  41,633;  total, 
300,424,  viz.  157,924  males  and  142,500  females.  Number  of 
villages  or  towns,  690 ;  average  density  of  population,  570  per  square 
mile.  The  tahsil  comprises  the  dpargands  of  Fatehpur,  Kursi,  Muham- 
madpur,  Bhitauli,  Ramnagar,  and  Bido  Sarii. 

Fatehpur. — Pargand  in  tahsil  of  same  name,  Bira  Binki  District, 
Oudh.  The  original  seat  of  the  Khanzada  family,  to  which  the  great 
tdlukddrs  of  Mahmudibid,  Bhatwamau,  and  Bilahra  belong ;  the  Shaikh- 
zadas  of  Fatehpur  are  connections  of  the  family  of  the  same  name,  once 
so  powerful  in  Lucknow.  The  pargand  is  picturesquely  situated  on  the 
high  lands  above  the  Gogra  (Ghagri),  between  Dewa  on  the  north  and 
Mahmudibid  on  the  south.  Area,  154  square  miles,  or  98,352  acres, 
of  which  65,358  acres  are  cultivated  and  13,186  are  cultivable  waste. 
Government  land  revenue,  ^£13,2 19;  average  incidence,  4s.  ojd.  per 
acre  of  cultivated,  or  3s.  4§d.  per  acre  of  cultivable  area.  Pop.  (1869), 
Hindus,  76,905;  Muhammadans,  16,888;  total,  93,793,  viz,  48,980 
males  and  44,813  females.  Number  of  villages  or  towns,  251 ;  average 
density  of  population,  609  per  square  mile. 

Fatehpur. — Town  in  Bira  Binki  District,  Oudh;  15  miles  north- 
north-east  of  the  headquarters  town,  at  the  junction  of  the  Daryibid, 
Ramnagar,  Bara  Binki,  and  Sitipur  roads.  Lat  270 10'  15"  n.,  long.  81* 
15'  5"  e.  A  town  of  considerable  importance  during  the  days  of  Mughal 
supremacy.  Many  large  Muhammadan  buildings  exist,  but  all  in  a  state 
of  decay.  The  principal  of  these  is  an  imdmb&rd,  said  to  have  been  built 
by  Maulvi  Karimat  AH,  an  officer  of  high  rank  at  the  court  of  Nasir-ud- 
dfn  Haidar,  but  now  only  used  during  the  muharram  festival.    There 

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FATEHPUR  VILLAGE— FATEHPUR  CHAURASI.  265 

is  also  an  old  mas/id,  said  to  have  been  built  in  the  time  of  Akbar ;  the 
present  owner  of  the  ground  attached  to  it  holds  under  a  sanad  or 
deed  of  gift,  purporting  to  have  been  granted  by  Akbar  himself.  There 
are  also  many  Hindu  temples.  Pop.  (1869),  Muhammadans,  3927 ; 
Hindus,  3267 ;  total,  7194,  Besides  a  well-attended  daily  bdzdr,  a 
special  bi-weekly  market  is  also  held,  the  principal  trade  being  in  grain 
brought  from  the  trans-Gogra  District,  and  in  English  cloth.  Coarse 
country  cloth  is  manufactured  by  a  numerous  colony  of  weavers. 
Police  station,  revenue  court,  and  well-attended  Anglo-vernacular  school. 

Fatehpnr. — Village  in  Hoshangibid  District,  Central  Provinces; 
situated  in  lat.  220  38'  n.,  and  long,  780  34'  e.,  on  the  outer 
slope  of  the  low  limestone  hills  which  shut  in  the  Denwa  valley, 
and  upon  the  road  from  Bdnkherf  to  Pachmarhi.  A  line  of  semi- 
independent  Gond  Rdjis  held  the  surrounding  country  from  the  days 
of  the  Mandla  dynasty;  and  its  present  representatives  still  live  at 
Fatehpur,  and  hold  large  estates  in  the  neighbourhood.  T&ntia  Topf 
passed  this  way  to  the  Sdtpura  Hills  in  1858. 

Fatehpnr  Ohanr&ri. — Pargand  in  Unao  District,  Oudh,  lying  along 
the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  south  of  Bdngarmau,  and  north  of  Safipur 
ptrgand;  colonised  about  250  years  ago  by  Janwir  Rijputs,  who  ousted 
the  aboriginal  Thatheras.  The  last  chief,  who  held  the  whole  pargand 
as  his  estate,  rebelled  in  the  Mutiny  of  1857.  He  seized  the  English 
fugitives  who  were  escaping  by  boat  from  Fatehgarh,  and  delivered 
them  up  to  the  Ndna,  by  whom  they  were  massacred  on  the  Cawnpore 
parade.  He  died  from  the  effects  of  a  wound  received  in  an  attack  on 
Unao ;  one  of  his  sons  was  hanged,  and  the  other  fled.  The  family 
estates  were  confiscated  and  given  to  strangers.  The  pargand  possesses 
varied  scenery,  being  dotted  with  picturesque  groves,  and  intersected 
by  channels  leading  to  the  Ganges.  Indian  corn  of  the  best  descrip- 
tion, and  barley  of  a  fair  quality,  are  the  principal  crops.  Area,  90 
square  miles,  of  which  49  are  cultivated.  Government  land  revenue, 
^6258,  or  an  average  assessment  of  2s.  2  Jd.  per  acre.  Land  is  held 
under  the  different  tenures  as  follows : — Tdlukddriy  25,966  acres ; 
vuidnddri^  25,806  acres ;  pattiddri,  5442  acres ;  and  Government,  308 
acres.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  40,624 ;  Musalmdns,  1087  ;  total,  4I>7II> 
viz.  22,038  males  and  19,673  females.  Number  of  villages  or  town- 
ships, 90 ;  average  density  of  population,  463  per  square  mile ;  4  market 


Fatehpnr  Chaur&si— Town  in  Unao  District,  Oudh  ;  6  miles  west 
of  Safipur,  and  25  north-west  of  the  headquarters  town.  Said  to  have 
been  held  successively  by  the  Thatheras,  a  colony  of  Sayyid  emigrants, 
and  the  Janwdrs,  each  of  whom  ousted  the  previous  holders  by  force. 
The  estates  of  the  last  holder  were  confiscated  for  rebellion  in  1857. 
Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  2530,  of  whom   564  are  Brdhmans  and  132 

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266         FATEHPUR  SIKRI  TAHSIL  AND  TOWN. 

Kshattriyas  ;  Muhammadans,  273  ;  total,  2803.  Five  Hindu  temples. 
Bi-weekly  bdz&r,  and  small  annual  fair  on  the  occasion  of  the  Dasahara 
festival. 

Fatehpur  Sfkri— Tahsil  of  Agra  District,  North-Westera  Pro- 
vinces, lying  in  the  western  or  trans-Jumna  portion  of  the  District 
Area,  167  square  miles,  of  which  137  are  cultivated ;  pop.  (1872), 
84,085  ;  land  revenue,  ^18,169 ;  total  Government  revenue,  ^20,088 ; 
rental  paid  by  cultivators,  ,£31,437  ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue 
per  acre,  3s.  4f  & 

Fatehpur  Sikri. — Municipal  town  and  a  former  capital  of  the 
Mughal  Empire;  situated  in  Agra  District,  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces ;  administrative  headquarters  of  the  tahsil  of  the  same  name. 
Pop.  (1872),  6878.  Lat  270  5'  35"  n.,  long.  770  42'  18"  e.  Founded 
by  the  Emperor  Akbar  in  1570  A.D.,  with  a  view  to  its  establish- 
ment as  the  permanent  seat  of  the  Mughal  court;  and  enriched  by 
magnificent  architectural  works  in  the  time  of  Akbar  and  Jahdngir; 
it  was  abandoned  within  fifty  years  of  its  foundation,  in  favour  of 
Delhi.  It  chiefly  consists  of  a  vast  expanse  of  ruins,  enclosed  by 
a  high  stone  wall,  some  5  miles  in  circuit.  The  great  mosque  is 
approached  by  a  magnificent  gateway,  known  as  the  Buland  Darwaza, 
which  surmounts  a  splendid  flight  of  steps,  and  gives  access  to  the 
Dargah  or  sacred  quadrangle,  a  courtyard  some  500  feet  square,  sur- 
rounded by  a  lofty  cloister  and  a  range  of  cells  for  Fakirs  or  pilgrims. 
The  quadrangle  contains  a  large  mosque  with  three  handsome  domes 
of  white  marble,  besides  the  tomb  of  Shaikh  Salim  Chishti,  a  Musalman 
ascetic,  through  whose  intercession  Akbar  obtained  an  heir  in  the 
person  of  Prince  Salfm,  afterwards  known  as  the  Emperor  Jahingir. 
The  tomb  consists  of  an  elaborately  carved  shrine  in  white  marble, 
enclosing  a  sarcophagus  within  a  screen  of  lattice-work,  inlaid  with 
mother-of-pearl.  North  of  the  Dargah  stand  the  houses  of  Abu!  Fazl 
and  his  brother  Fdizf,  now  used  as  a  boys'  school.  Eastward  is  the 
principal  palace,  containing  the  apartments  of  Akbar's  chief  wife. 
It  consists  of  a  spacious  courtyard,  surrounded  by  a  continuous 
gallery,  from  which  rise  rows  of  buildings  on  the  north  and  south, 
roofed  with  slabs  of  blue  enamel.  A  lofty  and  richly  carved  gate 
gives  access  to  a  terrace  paved  with  sandstone  flags,  and  formerly 
enclosed  by  a  colonnade.  On  this  terrace  stand,  among  other  noble 
buildings,  the  so-called  houses  of  Bfrbal  and  of  the  '  Christian  lady.' 
BfrbaPs  palace,  which  modern  antiquaries  assign  with  greater  probability 
to  his  daughter,  is  noticeable  for  its  massive  materials  and  the  lavish 
minuteness  of  its  detail.  The  'Christian  lady's  house'  belonged, 
according  to  tradition,  to  Bfbi  Mariam,  a  Portuguese  wife  of  Akbar. 
Some  of  the  paintings  are  supposed  to  represent  Christian  scenes,  but 
the  Musalmins  have  nearly  obliterated  all  traces  of  these  offensive 


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FATEH  PANJAL—FAZILKA.  267 

pictures.  Great  doubts,  however,  have  been  cast  upon  the  traditions 
respecting  the  '  Christian  lady,'  who  was  probably  a  Hindu  princess,  the 
mother  of  Jahingfr.  Among  the  other  architectural  masterpieces,  the 
Diwin-i-Khas  and  the  Diwdn-i-dm,  or  Council  Chamber  and  Hall  of 
Judgment,  especially  attract  the  attention  of  visitors.  The  Elephant 
Gate  contains  two  massive  figures  of  the  animals  from  which  it  derives 
its  name ;  but  their  heads  were  removed  by  the  Muhammadan  bigotry 
of  Aurangzeb.  Close  by  towers  the  Hiran  Minir,  a  pile  some  70  feet 
in  height,  covered  with  enamelled  imitations  of  elephants'  tusks,  which 
are  commonly  believed  by  the  populace  to  consist  of  solid  ivory. 
Numerous  other  splendid  buildings,  dating  back  in  every  case  to  the 
reign  of  Akbar,  or  of  his  son  Jahdngfr,  stand  in  various  parts  of  the 
cky.  Fatehpur  Sikri  has  little  modern  importance,  and  its  architectural 
remains,  which  attract  many  tourists  from  Agra,  are  its  chief  claim 
to  attention.  During  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  it  was  occupied  by  the 
Nimach  (Neemuch)  and  Nasfrabad  (Nusseerabad)  rebels  on  the  2nd 
of  July,  and  the  British  authorities  did  not  permanently  recover  the 
place  until  November.  Police  station,  Anglo-vernacular  school,  charit- 
able dispensary.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^461 ;  from  taxes, 
^392i  or  1  id.  per  head  of  population  (8513)  within  municipal  limits. 

Fateh  Panj&L — Mountain  chain  in  Kashmir  (Cashmere)  State, 
Punjab,  forming  a  segment  of  a  circle,  and  bounding  the  Kashmir 
valley  to  the  south.  Lat.  33°  34'  n.,  long.  740  40'  e.  Estimated  height, 
about  1 2,000  feet ;  total  length,  40  miles. 

FatwiL — Municipal  town  in  Patni  District,  Bengal  Pop.  (1872), 
11,295.  Situated  in  laL  250  30'  25"  n.,  and  long.  85°  21'  e.,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Piinpdn  with  the  Ganges,  and  supported  in  a  great 
measure  by  river  traffic  Municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^516  ;  rate 
of  taxation,  7fd.  per  head  of  population;  police  force,  34  men. 
Fatwi  was  described  by  Dr.  Buchanan  Hamilton,  in  181 2,  as  a 
large  country  town,  which  might  contain  2000  houses  and  12,000 
people,  with  a  considerable  trade  and  manufacture  of  cloth.  Its  position 
on  the  railway  and  on  the  Ganges  naturally  renders  it  a  place  of 
commercial  importance.  It  is  also  a  place  of  considerable  sanctity. 
Five  festivals  are  held  here  annually,  when  large  numbers  of  pilgrims 
bathe  in  the  sacred  river.  At  the  Bdrni  Dawddasi,  or  festival  com- 
memorating an  incarnation  of  Vishnu  in  the  form  of  a  dwarf,  from  10,000 
to  12,000  persons  bathe  at  the  junction  of  the  Ptfnpiin  with  the  Ganges. 

F&dlka. — Tahsil  of  Sfrsa  District,  Punjab,  lying  along  the  bank  of 
the  river  Sutlej  (Satlaj).  Pop.  (1868),  66,970,  or  53*56  persons  per 
square  mile. 

F&olka. — Municipal  town  in  Sfrsa  District,  Punjab,  and  headquarters 
of  the  tahsil  of  the  same  name.  LaL  300  24'  57"  n.,  long.  740  4'  10"  e.  ; 
pop.  (1868),  3406.     Situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Sutlej  (Satlaj). 

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268  FEROKHI— FIROZABAD. 

Founded  in  1844  by  Mr.  Oliver  on  the  ruins  of  a  deserted  village, 
named  after  a  Wattu  chief,  FiziL  Great  entrepot  for  the  produce  of 
the  neighbourhood,  and  of  the  western  portion  of  Patiila,  exported 
towards  Milltin  (Mooltan)  and  Karachi  (Kurrachee).  Considerable 
trade  with  Bhiwalpur  and  the  towns  of  Mirwir.  Station  of  an  extra- 
Assistant  Commissioner,  court-house,  faksi/t,  police  station,  customs 
office,  charitable  dispensary,  staging  bungalow,  sardu  Municipal 
revenue  in  1875-76,  ^1213,  or  5s.  6fd.  per  head  of  population  (4355) 
within  municipal  limits. 

Ferokhi  {Farrukhdbdd,  ■  Fortunate  city ').— The  town  which  Tipii 
Sdhib  in  1789  designed  to  be  the  capital  of  Malabar,  and  whither  in 
that  year  he  removed  the  inhabitants  of  Calicut  In  the  following  year, 
however,  it  was  captured  by  the  British,  and  hardly  a  vestige  now 
remains  of  the  town.  The  site  lies  a  few  miles  from  Beypore  (Bepur) 
in  Malabar  District,  Madras, 

Feroz&bid. —  Tahsil  and  town  in  Agra  District,  North -Western 
Provinces. — See  Firozabad. 

Feroz&bid. — Pargand  in  Kheri  District,  Oudh. — See  Firozabad. 

Ferozepur. — District,  tahsU,  and  town,  Punjab. — See  Firozpur. 

Ferozeflh&h.  —  Battle-field    in    Firozpur    District,    Punjab.— See 

FlROZSHAH. 

FingeBWar. — Chiefship  in  the  Central  Provinces. — See  Phinges- 
war. 

Firinghi  B&zAr. — Village  in  Dacca  District,  Bengal ;  situated  in 
lat.  2 30  33'  n.,  and  long.  900  33'  e.,  upon  a  branch  of  the  river 
Ichdmatf.  Noted  as  the  first  Portuguese  settlement  in  the  District, 
formed,  about  1663,  during  the  Governorship  of  ShaistaTKMn.  These 
Portuguese  were  mainly  persons  who  had  deserted  from  the  service 
of  the  Rdjd  of  Arakan  to  that  of  Husaln  Beg,  the  Mughal  general 
besieging  Chittagong,  which  at  that  time  was  Arakanese  territory. 
Firinghi  Bazar  was  once  of  considerable  size,  but  its  prosperity  has 
declined  since  the  decay  of  the  Dacca  trade,  and  it  is  now  an  insigni- 
ficant village. 

Firingfpet  {Parangipetdt). — Town  in  South  Arcot  District,  Madras 
— See  Porto  Novo. 

Firoz&bid.— Tahsil  of  Agra  District,  North-Western  Provinces, 
lying  along  the  northern  or  Dbab  bank  of  the  river  Jumna  (Jamuni). 
Area,  205  square  miles,  of  which  145  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872), 
11 1,031 ;  land  revenue,  ,£20,382 ;  total  Government  revenue,  ^£22,364; 
rental  paid  by  cultivators,  ^33,256 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue 
per  acre,  3s.  ifd. 

Firoz&b&d.  —  Municipal  town  in  Agra  District,  North -Western 
Provinces.  Pop.  (1872),  14,255,  being  10,088  Hindus,  4166  Muham* 
madans,  and  1  'other.'    Lies  in  lat.  270  8'  34*  n.,  and  long.  78*  25' 


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FIROZABAD  PARGANA—FIROZPUR  DISTRICT.    269 

56*  e.,  on  the  route  from  Muttra  (Mathura)  to  Etiwah ;  distant  from 
Agra  25  miles  east  Contains  numerous  ruins  of  handsome  buildings, 
and  appears  to  have  been  in  former  times  an  important  centre.  Station 
on  the  East  Indian  Railway  main  line.  Telegraph  office,  charitable 
dispensary,  Anglo-vernacular  school,  police  station.  Municipal  revenue 
in  1875-76,  ^893;  from  taxes,  ^777,  or  is.  i£d.  per  head  of  popu- 
lation (i3>788)  within  municipal  limits. 

Firoz&b&cL — Pargand  of  Kheri  District,  Oudh,  lying  between  the 
Chauka,  Kauriila,  and  Dahiwar  rivers.  The  pargand  receives  its 
name  from  the  Emperor  Firoz  Shih,  with  whom  it  was  a  favourite 
hunting-ground.  In  olden  times,  it  belonged  in  great  part  to  the 
Bisens ;  but  they  were  expelled,  after  repeated  conflicts,  by  the  Jangres, 
who  in  their  turn  were  ousted  in  1776  A.D.,  and  their  Rdjd  killed. 
About  sixteen  years  afterwards,  a  relative  of  the  deceased  chief  was 
granted  a  few  patches  of  rent-free  ground,  which  he  gradually  increased 
till  in  forty  years  he  had  obtained  possession  of  the  whole  northern 
portion  of  the  pargand,  which  now  forms  the  estate  of  Isdnagar,  and 
is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  family.  The  entire  south  of  the 
pargand  also  forms  a  single  estate,  which  has  grown  out  of  five  villages 
granted  to  a  Raikwar  Kshattriya  chief,  who  extended  his  possessions 
at  the  expense  of  his  neighbours.  The  pargand  is  of  alluvial  formation, 
but  is  now  well  raised,  and  but  little  of  it  is  exposed  to  flood.  Soil, 
principally  loam,  but  towards  the  centre  is  a  good  deal  of  clay.  Area, 
163  square  miles,  of  which  104  are  under  cultivation.  Pop.  (1869), 
Hindus,  52,938,  and  Muhammadans,  4559;  total,  57,497,  viz.  30,491 
males  and  27,006  females.  The  Lodhs,  who  form  16  per  cent,  of  the 
population,  are  the  most  numerous  caste;  next  come  Ahirs  (11  per 
cent),  and  Brihmans  (10  per  cent).  Average  density  of  population, 
355  J*1"  square  mile.  The  91  villages  constituting  the  pargand  are  held 
entirely  by  the  Jangre  and  Raikwdr  tdlukddrs  above  mentioned,  who 
divide  the  pargand  in  about  equal  proportions. 

Firozpur. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of 
the  Punjab,  lying  between  300  8'  and  310  11'  n.  lat,  and  between  740  3' 
30* and  750  27'  e.  long.  Area (1878),  2739  square  miles;  population  in 
1868,  549,253.  Firozpur  forms  the  southern  District  of  the  Lahore 
Division.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north-east  by  the  river  Sutlej  (Satlaj), 
which  separates  it  from  Jalandhar  (Jullundur) ;  on  the  north-west  by 
the  united  stream  of  the  Sutlej  and  Beas  (Bids),  which  divides  it  from 
Lahore;  on  the  east  and  south-east  by  Ludhidna  District,  and  the 
Native  States  of  Faridkot,  Patidla,  and  Nibha ;  and  on  the  south-west 
by  Sfrsa  District.  The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  the  town  of 
Firozpur,  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Sutlej. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Firozpur  is  one  unbroken  plain, 
comprising  within  its  limits  every  variety  of  soil,  from  the  most  fertile  to 


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270  FIROZPUR  DISTRICT. 

the  most  barren,  to  be  found  in  the  western  half  of  the  Punjab.    The 
action  of  the    Sutlej   has  played  a  chief  part  in   determining    its 
geographical  features.     Striking  the  District  at  its  north-eastern  corner, 
the  great  river  trends  northwards  to  its  junction  with  the  Beas  (Bias), 
after  which  the  united  channel  turns  sharply  toward  the  south-west, 
until  it  passes  beyond  the  borders  of  Firozpur.     The  angular  segment 
thus  circumscribed  has  for  its  base  an  ancient  bed  of  the  river,  known 
as  the  Sukhar  Nai,  which  winds  in  a  tortuous  course  east  and  west 
across  the  District,  and  joins  the  modern  channel  near  the  confines  of 
Sirsa.     The  abrupt  cliff  which  rises  above  its  right  bank  forms  the  most 
marked  element  in  the  physical  aspect  of  the  country.     Within  the 
memory  of  the  present  generation,  water  is  said  to  have  flowed  in  its 
bed,  while  groves  of  shisham  trees  lined  the  banks ;  but  no  traces  of 
timber  now  remain.     Evidence,  however,  still  exists  of  yet  another  and 
more  ancient  change  of  course  in  the  shifting  waters  of  the  Sutlej. 
The  original  bank,  locally  known  as  the  Danda,  crosses  the  south- 
western corner  of  the  District  35  miles  east  of  the  present  stream.     It 
can  be  traced  distinctly  as  far  as  the  battle-field  of  Miidkf  (Moodkee), 
and  thence  at  intervals  to  the  Sutlej,  15  miles  farther  to  the  north. 
The  poorest  portion  of  Firozpur  lies  to  the  west  of  the  Ddnda,  beyond 
the  fertilizing  influence  of  the  modern  river.     The  soil  consists  of  hard 
and  hopelessly  sterile  sand,  while  the  water  obtained  from  wells  is 
largely  impregnated  with  salt,  and  lies  at  a  depth  of  180  feet  below  the 
surface.      East  of  the  Dinda,   however,   excellent  agricultural    land 
stretches  over  the  upland  tract  or  rohi;  and  the  wells  yield  sweet  and 
drinkable  water,  sufficiently  close  to  the  surface  for  purposes  of  irriga- 
tion.    The  bit  or  low-lying  tract  between  the  great  river  and  the  high 
bank  of  the  Sukhar  N£i,  has  a  maximum  width  of  14  miles  opposite  the 
confluence  of  the  Beas  (Bias)  and  the  Sutlej.     Much  of  its  soil  consists 
of  a  poor  and  sandy  loam,  but  great  facilities  exist  for  artificial  water 
supply ;  while  the  annual  inundations  render  the  border  fringe  extremely 
productive,  through  the  deposit  of  a  rich  black  silt     The  northern 
portion  of  the  District  comprises  a  fairly  wooded  region,  though  most 
of  the  trees  have  been  planted  in  recent  years ;  but  the  southern  half 
is  still  extremely  bare  of  shade.      When  Firozpur  first  came  under 
British  rule,  our  authorities  almost  despaired  of  arboriculture  in  so  dry 
a  tract ;  yet  the  constant  efforts  of  the  settlement  officers,  who  set  apart 
a  piece  of  ground  as  a  plantation  in  every  village,  have  at  length  been 
crowned  with  success,  and  the  neighbourhood  of  the  river,  at  least,  now 
presents  a  pleasing  variety  of  siris>  far&sh,  and  pipal  trees.     Plantations 
have  also  been  established  round  every  police  station  throughout  the 
District,  forming  agreeable  breaks  in  the  monotony  of  the  level  and 
cultivated  plain. 

History, — Tradition,  supported  by  remains  of  antiquity,  assigns  a 


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FIROZPUR  DISTRICT.  271 

former  period  of  great  prosperity  to  a  region  which  now  forms  the 
dreariest  waste  in  the  District  of  Firozpur.  The  neighbourhood  of  the 
dry  Danda  channel,  at  present  almost  uninhabited,  bears  witness,  by  its 
deserted  sites  and  choked-up  wells,  to  the  existence  of  a  vigorous 
agricultural  population  along  its  now  desolate  banks.  Though  no  date 
can  be  absolutely  determined  for  this  epoch  of  prosperity,  there  are 
good  grounds  for  the  belief  that  the  Sutlej  still  flowed  east  of  Firoz- 
pur in  the  time  of  Akbar ;  for  the  famous  Mughal  Domesday-Book, 
known  as  the  Ain4-Akbari,  describes  the  town  as  the  capital  of  a  large 
district  attached  to  the  western  Province  of  Mriltin  (Mooltan),  and  not  to 
that  of  Sirhind,  as  would  probably  have  been  the  case  had  the  river 
already  taken  its  modern  course.  The  shifting  of  the  river,  from  which 
the  tract  derived  its  fertility,  and  the  ravages  of  war,  were  doubtless  the 
chief  causes  of  its  decline,  which  probably  commenced  before  the  end  of 
the  1 6th  century.  The  country  certainly  presented  the  appearance  of  a 
desert  when,  about  two  centuries  ago,  the  Dogras,  a  tribe  who  claim  to 
rank  as  Chautan  Rdjputs,  settled  near  Pakpattan,  and  gradually  spread 
up  the  Sutlej  valley.  They  found  none  to  oppose  them,  as  the  scattered 
Bhatti  population  who  occupied  the  soil  retired  before  the  new  colonists. 
At  length,  in  1740,  according  to  tradition,  they  reached  Ferozepore, 
which  became  thenceforth  the  capital  of  the  tribe.  The  imperial 
authority  was  represented  by  an  officer  stationed  at  Kasdr,  to  the  west 
of  the  Sutlej,  bearing  the  title  of  the  '  Faujddr  of  the  Lakka  Jungle/ 
About  the  same  time,  a  tide  of  Jdt  immigration  appears  to  have  set  in 
from  the  direction  of  Umballa  (Ambdla)  and  Sirhind ;  and  Sikh  chief- 
tains began  to  carve  out  petty  principalities  for  themselves  in  the 
western  portion  of  the  District  In  1763,  the  Bhangi  confederacy,  one 
of  the  great  Sikh  sections,  attacked  and  conquered  Firozpur  under 
their  famous  leader,  Gujar  Sinh,  who  made  over  the  newly  acquired 
territory  to  his  nephew,  Gurbakhsh  Sinh.  The  young  Sikh  chieftain 
rebuilt  the  fort  and  consolidated  his  power  on  the  Sutlej,  but  spent 
most  of  his  time  in  other  portions  of  the  Province.  In  1792,  he  seems 
to  have  divided  his  estates  with  his  family,  when  Firozpur  fell  to 
Dhanna  Sinh,  his  second  son.  The  little  State,  encircled  by  enemies, 
proved  almost  too  difficult  a  realm  for  its  new  ruler,  who  lost  his 
territories  piece  by  piece,  but  still  retained  possession  of  Firozpur 
itself,  when  Ranjft  Sinh  crossed  the  Sutlej  in  1808,  and  threatened  to 
absorb  all  the  minor  principalities  which  lay  between  his  domain  and 
the  British  frontier.  But  the  English  Government,  established  at  Delhi 
since  1803,  intervened  with  an  offer  of  protection  to  all  the  cis-Sutlej 
States ;  and  Dhanna  Sinh  gladly  availed  himself  of  the  promised  aid, 
being  one  of  the  first  chieftains  who  accepted  British  protection  and 
control.  Ranjit  Sinh  at  once  ceased  to  interfere  with  the  minor  States 
when  the  assistance   of  the  British  arms  lay  ready  to  support  their 


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272  FIROZPUR  DISTRICT. 

rights;  and  Dhanna  Sinh  retained  the  remnant  of  his  dominions 
unmolested,  until  his  death  in  1818.  He  left  no  sons,  and  his  widow 
succeeded  to  his  principality  during  her  lifetime ;  but  on  her  death  in 
1835,  tne  territory  escheated  to  the  British  Government,  under  the  con- 
ditions of  the  arrangement  effected  in  1809.  The  political  importance 
of  Firozpur  had  been  already  recognised,  and  an  officer  was  at  once 
deputed  to  take  possession  of  the  new  post.  After  the  boundary  had 
been  carefully  determined,  the  District  was  made  over  for  a  while  to  a 
native  official;  but  it  soon  became  desirable  to  make  Firozpur  the 
permanent  seat  of  a  European  Political  Officer.  In  1839,  Sir  Henry 
(then  Captain)  Lawrence  took  charge  of  the  station,  which  formed  at 
that  time  the  advanced  outpost  of  British  India  in  the  direction  of  the 
Sikh  power.  Early  accounts  represent  the  country  as  a  dreary  and  desert 
plain,  where  rain  seldom  fell,  and  dust-storms  never  ceased.  The  energy- 
of  Captain  Lawrence,  however,  combined  with  the  unwonted  security 
under  British  rule,  soon  attracted  new  settlers  to  this  hitherto  desolate 
region.  Cultivation  rapidly  increased,  trees  began  to  fringe  the  water- 
side, trade  collected  round :  the  local  centres,  and  Firozpur,  which  in 
1835  was  a  deserted  village,  had  in  1841  a  population  of  nearly  5000 
persons.  Four  years  later,  the  first  Sikh  war  broke  out  The  enemy 
crossed  the  Sutlej  opposite  Firozpur  on  the  16th  December  1845  ; 
and  the  battles  of  Miidki  (Moodkee),  Firozshdh,  Aliwal,  and  Sobraon 
— all  of  them  within  the  limits  of  the  present  District — followed  one 
another  in  rapid  succession.  Broken  by  their  defeats,  the  Sikhs  once 
more  retired  across  the  boundary  river,  pursued  by  the  British  army, 
which  dictated  the  terms  of  peace  beneath  the  walls  of  Lahore.  The 
whole  cis-Sutlej  possessions  of  the  Punjab  kingdom  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  the  little  principality  of  Firoz- 
pur became  at  once  the  nucleus  for  an  important  British  District  The 
existing  area  was  increased  by  subsequent  additions,  the  last  of  which 
took  place  in  1864.  Since  the  successful  close  of  the  first  Sikh  cam- 
paign, the  peace  of  the  District  has  never  been  broken,  except  during 
the  Mutiny  of  1857.  In  May  of  that  year,  one  of  the  two  Native 
infantry  regiments  stationed  at  Firozpur  broke  out  into  revolt,  and, 
in  spite  of  a  British  regiment  and  some  European  artillery,  plundered 
and  destroyed  the  buildings  of  the  cantonment  The  arsenal  and 
magazine,  however,  which  gave  the  station  its  principal  importance, 
were  saved  without  loss  of  life  to  the  European  garrison.  The  mutineers 
were  subsequently  dispersed. 

Population. — The  earliest  Census  of  Firozpur  District  was  taken 
in  1854,  and  showed  a  total  population  of  475,624  persons.  The 
area  then  differed  but  little  from  that  of  the  present  time.  A  second 
enumeration,  undertaken  in  January  1868,  disclosed  an  increase  of  13 
per  cent,  in  the  fourteen  years.   It  extended  over  an  area  of  2692  square 


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FIROZPUR  DISTRICT*  273 

miles,  and  disclosed  a  total  of  549,253  persons,  distributed  among 
13 1 2  villages  or  townships,  and  inhabiting  119,490  houses.  From 
these  data  the  following  averages  may  be  deduced : — Persons  per  square 
mile,  204;  villages  per  square  mile,  0*49;  houses  per  square  mile, 
44*01;  persons  per  village,  418;  persons  per  house,  46.  Classified 
according  to  sex,  there  were — males,  303,489;  females,  245,764;  pro- 
portion of  males,  55*25  per  cent.  Classified  according  to  age,  there 
were,  under  12  years — males,  108,948;  females,  94,077 ;  total,  203,025, 
or  36*96  per  cent.  As  regards  religious  distinctions,  the  District  is 
mainly  noticeable  for  the  comparatively  large  proportion  of  its  Sikh 
inhabitants,  who  number  160,487,  or  29*22  per  cent,  of  the  total. 
The  Muhammadans  were  returned  at  245,659,  or  4472  per  cent. ;  the 
Hindus  at  68,406,  or  12*45  V*1  c611*-  \  an(*  the  other  sects  at  74,701,  or 
13-60  per  cent.  The  agricultural  population  amounted  to  339,842 
persons,  of  whom  104,558  were  male  agriculturists  above  the  age  of  18 
years.  As  regards  ethnical  divisions  and  caste  distinctions,  the  Hindus 
and  Sikhs  comprised  8632  Brahmans,  8294  Kshattriyas,  10,702  Banias, 
11,678  Aroras,  and  104,391  Jats;  while  the  Musalman  element  included 
17,133  Rajputs,  20,042  Jats,  and  10,124  Giijars.  The  Muhammadans 
chiefly  inhabit  the  low-lying  lands  {bit)  along  the  banks  of  the  Sutlej. 
The  Dogras  and  Bhattis  form  the  leading  Rajput  tribes,  and  bear  the 
reputation  of  being  lazy  and  thriftless.  They  also  contribute  to  swell 
the  returns  of  crime  far  beyond  their  fair  numerical  proportion.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  hold  a  high  social  position  in  the  District  The 
Sikh  and  Hindu  Jats,  fine  specimens  of  their  hardy  and  industrious 
race,  apply  their  energy  to  cultivation  in  the  upland  plateau  of  the 
rohi.  The  Rajas  of  the  neighbouring  States  of  Patiali,  Jhind,  and 
Nabha,  belong  to  the  Barar  Subdivision  of  the  Jdt  tribe.  The  popula- 
tion lies  scattered  very  unevenly  over  the  various  portions  of  the  District 
In  some  parts  of  the  low-lying  Sutlej  belt,  a  message  can  be  passed  from 
village  to  village,  according  to  popular  belief,  by  the  human  voice ;  while 
in  the  extreme  south,  a  horseman  at  full  speed  could  not  pass  from  one 
inhabited  spot  to  another  within  an  hour.  The  District  contains  7  muni- 
cipalities— namely,  Firozpur,  pop.  (1868)  20,592,  exclusive  of  canton- 
ment ;  Muktsar,  4694 ;  Dharmkot,  5379 ;  Zira,  3010 ;  Makhu,  17 15 ; 
Fatehgarh,  1654;  Kot  Isa  Khan,  1520.  Firozpur,  the  headquarters 
station,  is  also  important  as  a  great  military  cantonment,  and  the  chief 
arsenal  of  the  Punjab.     Pop.  of  cantonment  (1877),  15,837. 

Agriculture. — According  to  returns  compiled  in  1873-74,  the  District 
contained  a  total  cultivated  area  of  1,243,508  acres;  of  which  136,450 
were  irrigated  from  private  works,  leaving  1,107,058  acres  unsupplied 
with  water  by  artificial  means.  The  remainder  comprised  377,722  acres  of 
cultivable  waste,  and  132,020  of  barren  land.  It  appears,  therefore,  that 
only  7*5  per  cent,  of  the  whole  District  consists  of  irreclaimably  sterile 

VOL.  III.  s 


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274  FIROZPUR  DISTRICT. 

soil,  while  767  per  cent,  has  already  been  brought  under  the  plough. 
The  staple  crops  include  wheat  for  the  rabi  or  spring  harvest,  and  the 
two  common  millets,  jodr  and  bdjra,  for  the  kharifor  autumn  harvest. 
Other  important  items  are — barley,  gram,  tobacco,  and  oil-seeds  for  the 
rabi;  and  maize,  cotton,  pulses,  and  HI  for  the  kharif.  The  low-lying 
lands  along  the  Sutlej  also  produce  a  small  quantity  of  rice.  The  area 
under  the  various  staples  was  returned  as  follows  in  1875-76 : — Wheat, 
208,763  acres ;  jodr,  178,939  acres;  bdjra,  28,651  acres;  maize,  34,620 
acres;  barley,  193,568  acres;  gram,  187,921  acres;  pulses,  160,628 
acres;  tobacco,  6 131  acres;  and  cotton,  7326  acres.  Irrigation  is 
supplied  from  wells  and  canals.  A  single  well  in  the  bet  tract  will  water 
from  20  to  40  acres ;  in  the  rohi,  from  12  to  20  acres.  The  canals, 
being  cuts  filled  by  the  Sutlej  when  in  flood,  exist  only  in  the  bit  All 
of  them  are  of  very  recent  construction,  and  owe  their  origin  to  the 
native  industry  of  the  people,  aided  by  the  advice  and  encouragement 
of  an  energetic  British  official.  In  1875-76,  as  many  as  43,331  acres  of 
land  received  irrigation  in  this  manner  for  the  first  time.  The  whole 
southern  portion  of  the  District  still  lies  exposed  to  the  ravages  of 
famine,  water  being  found  at  too  great  a  depth  to  permit  the  use  of 
wells  for  agricultural  purposes ;  but  to  this  thirsty  tract  the  projected 
Sirhind  Canal,  now  in  course  of  construction,  will  shortly  afford  an 
abundant  means  of  irrigation.  The  tenures  of  land  conform  to  the 
ordinary  Punjab  types — saminddrs  being  commonest  among  the  Rajputs 
of  the  lowlands,  while  a  partition  of  shares  has  usually  taken  place  in 
the  Jdt  communities  of  the  interior.  Tenant  cultivators  ordinarily  pay 
their  rents  in  kind,  at  rates  which  range  from  one-fourth  to  one-half  of 
the  gross  produce.  Money  rates  are  paid  only  by  occupancy  tenants, 
who  were  permitted  at  the  settlement  of  the  land  tax  to  commute  pay- 
ment in  kind  for  a  cash  percentage  upon  the  revenue  due  from  their 
holdings.  Occasional  agricultural  labour  is  always  paid  in  grain.  Cash 
wages  in  1875-76  ranged  from  3fd.  to.4$d.  per  diem  for  unskilled 
labour,  and  from  7  Jd.  to  9d.  for  skilled  labour.  The  prices-current  of 
food  grains  ruled  as  follows  on  the  1st  of  January  1876 : — Wheat,  22  sers 
per  rupee,  or  5s.  id  per  cwL  ;  barley,  37  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  per  cwt ; 
gram,  36  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  id  per  cwt ;  jodr,  37  sers  per  rupee,  or 
3s.  per  cwt. ;  and  bdjra,  24  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  8d.  per  cwt 

Natural  Calamities. — Although  the  southern  half  of  the  District 
depends  entirely  upon  the  rainfall  for  its  harvests,  yet  Firozpur  has 
suffered  comparatively  little  from  famine.  In  1869-70,  the  District  not 
only  supplied  its  own  internal  needs,  but  continued  to  export  grain 
throughout  the  season  of  scarcity.  Relief  was  required  during  several 
months,  but  principally  for  immigrants  from  Bikaner  (Bickaneer).  On 
January  1st,  1870,  wheat  sold  for  8  sers  per  rupee,  or  14s.  per  cwt ;  and 
barley,  for  11  sers  per  rupee,  or  10s.  2d.  per  cwt. 


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FIROZPUR  DISTRICT.  275 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc. — The  staple  export  of  the  District  consists 
of  grain,  for  which  the  market  of  Firozpur  forms  the  local  centre. 
The  enterprising  Jat  cultivators  of  the  interior  carry  on  trade  upon  their 
own  account,  conveying  their  produce  on  camels  or  in  carts,  not  only 
to  Firozpur  itself,  but  also  to  Amritsar,  and  even  to  Lahore.  In  the 
Sutlej  (Satlaj)  belt,  the  village  bania  acts  as  merchant  and  banker. 
Firozpur  does  a  considerable  trade  with  all  the  towns  between  the 
Jumna  (Jarauna)  and  the  Beas  (Bias),  while  large  consignments  of 
wheat  and  cotton,  collected  from  the  District  and  the  neighbouring 
Native  States,  are  shipped  down  the  Sutlej  for  Sukkur  and  Karachi 
(Kurrachee).  The  exports  to  towns  beyond  the  Punjab*  alone  reached 
a  value  of  ,£54,056  in  1871-72.  An  important  cattle-fair  takes  place 
annually  in  the  month  of  January  at  Muktsar,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
great  Sikh  festival.  The  local  manufactures  are  of  the  humblest 
description,  being  entirely  confined  to  the  supply  of  the  neighbouring 
country.  The  chief  road  is  that  which  connects  Firozpur  with 
Lahore  on  the  one  side,  and  with  the  Punjab  Railway  at  Ludhiina  on 
the  other;  it  is  metalled  throughout,  and  passable  by  wheeled  vehicles 
at  all  seasons.  Good  lines  also  radiate  from  Firozpur  to  Jalandhar 
(Jullundur),  Karnal,  Patiila,  Fazilka,  and  other  neighbouring  towns. 
The  total  length  of  communications  in  1875-76  was  returned  as 
follows: — By  water,  1 28  miles;  by  metalled  road,  80  miles;  by  unmetalled 
road,  475  miles.  A  line  of  telegraph  connects  the  cantonment  and 
arsenal  of  Firozpur  with  Ludhiina,  and  so  with  the  other  military 
centres  of  the  Punjab. 

Administration. — In  1851-52,  the  total  revenue  derived  from  the 
District  amounted  to  £44,587;  in  1861-62,  it  had  risen  to  £50,712; 
and  in  1875-76,  to  £62,386.  This  steady  increase  is  mainly  due  to 
the  growth  of  the  land  revenue,  under  the  influence  of  extended  irriga- 
tion and  the  impetus  given  to  agricultural  industry  by  a  settled  and 
peaceable  Government ;  but  part  of  it  must  also  be  attributed  to  the 
larger  income  derived  from  stamps.  In  1851-52,  the  land-tax  amounted 
to  ,£36,044;  by  1875-76,  it  had  reached  ,£50,053,  or  more  than  four- 
fifths  of  the  total  revenue.  The  Settlement  at  present  in  force  was 
effected  between  the  years  1852-55,  and  will  not  expire  until  1883. 
Besides  the  imperial  revenue,  a  local  income  of  £9500  is  realized  by 
means  of  cesses  for  expenditure  upon  works  of  public  utility  within  the 
District.  In  1875-76,  the  administrative  staff  included  12  civil  and 
revenue  judges,  two  of  whom  were  covenanted  civilians.  During  the 
same  year,  the  regular  police  force  numbered  564  men,  including  the 
municipal  constabulary;  being  an  average  of  1  man  to  every  4*95 
square  miles  and  every  973  of  the  population.  This  force  was  further 
supplemented  by  a  rural  body  of  542  village  watchmen  or  chauklddrs. 
During  six  years  ending  1872,  the  criminal  calendar  contained  30  cases 


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276  F1R0ZPUR  TAHSIL  AND  TOWN. 

of  murder  and  81  cases  of  robbery  with  violence,  while  the  average 
number  of  thefts  or  criminal  trespasses  amounted  to  1224  per  annum. 
The  District  jail  at  Firozpur  contained  n  80  prisoners  in  1872. 
Education  has  made  but  little  way  against  the  universal  apathy  of 
the  inhabitants.  In  1872-73,  Government  supported  or  aided  45 
schools  within  the  District,  with  2569  pupils.  The  total  cost  of  the 
educational  establishment  amounted  to  ^1229,  of  which  the  State 
contributed  ^845.  In  1875-76  the  number  of  schools  had  risen 
to  53,  and  of  pupils  to  2755.  These  figures  show  an  average  of  1 
school  to  31*6  square  miles,  and  of  5*0  scholars  for  every  thousand  of 
the  population.  The  seven  municipal  towns  had  in  1875-76  an 
aggregate  income  of  ^4481,  being  at  the  rate  of  2s.  9fd.  per  head  of 
their  population. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  District  enjoys  a  reputation  for  exceptional 
healthiness,  but  in  September  and  October,  fever  and  pleuro-pneumonia 
largely  prevail.  Small-pox  also  exists  in  an  endemic  form.  The  official 
returns  for  1875  &ye  ^e  tota*  number  of  deaths  during  the  year  at 
9813,  being  at  the  rate  of  18  per  thousand  on  the  corrected  population 
up  to  date.  The  District  contains  only  one  charitable  dispensary,  at 
Firozpur,  which  gave  relief  in  1875-76  to  10,971  persons,  of  whom 
384  were  in-patients.  The  rainfall  is  capricious,  and  scanty  even  in  the 
best  years ;  but  its  quantity  appears  to  have  increased,  while  its  regu- 
larity has  greatly  improved  with  the  spread  of  cultivation  and  the  growth 
of  trees.  The  average  annual  rainfall  for  the  eight  years  ending  1873-74 
was  19*8  inches;  but  that  of  the  southern  tract  falls  far  short  of  the 
quantity  in  the  northern  lowlands. 

Firozpur. — Tahsil  of  Firozpur  District,  Punjab,  lying  between  300 
44'  15"  and  310  i  15"  n.  lat.,  and  between  740  27'  30"  and  740  59'  30* 
e.  long.  Area,  470  square  miles;  pop.  (1868),  131,500;  persons  per 
square  mile,  278 ;  number  of  villages,  365. 

Firozpur. — Municipal  town,  military  cantonment,  and  administra- 
tive headquarters  of  Firozpur  District,  Punjab.  Pop.  (1868),  exclusive 
of  cantonment,  20,592,  being  7181  Hindus,  11,171  Musalmans,  1347 
Sikhs,  and  893  '  others.'  Pop.  of  cantonment,  15,837 ;  total  pop.  36,429. 
Situated  in  lat.  30°  56'  42*  n.,  and  long.  740  38'  24*  e.,  on  the  old 
high  bank  of  the  Sutlej  (Satlaj),  3^  miles  from  the  present  bed  of  the 
river.  It  was  founded,  according  to  tradition,  in  the  time  of  Firoz 
Shdh,  Emperor  of  Delhi,  a.d.  1351-1387,  but  was  in  a  declining  state 
at  the  period  of  the  British  annexation.  Under  a  settled  govern- 
ment, however,  its  growth  has  been  rapid  and  steady,  the  population 
having  increased  fivefold  since  1841.  Now  the  seat  of  a  thriving 
commerce,  due  principally  to  the  exertions  of  Sir  H.  Lawrence,  who 
induced  many  native  traders  to  settle  in  the  city,  and  more  lately  to  the 
enterprise  of  an  English  merchant,  who  has  erected  a  powerful  cotton- 


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FIROZPVR  TAHSIL—FIROZSHAH.  277 

press  in  the  vicinity.  The  main  streets  are  wide  and  well  paved,  while 
a  circular  road  which  girdles  the  wall  is  lined  by  the  gardens  of  wealthy 
residents.  The  cantonments  lie  2  miles  south  of  the  city ;  and  the 
garrison,  now  much  reduced,  ordinarily  consists  of  a  regiment  of  British 
infantry,  one  of  Native  infantry,  and  two  batteries  of  artillery.  The 
arsenal,  to  which  the  town  owes  its  political  importance,  is  by  far  the 
largest  in  the  Punjab,  and  well  stored  with  munitions  of  war.  The 
public  buildings  include  the  District  court-house,  treasury,  post  office, 
police  station,  and  staging  bungalow,  within  the  cantonments;  the 
jail,  town-hall,  dispensary,  school-house,  and  sardi,  upon  the  road  con- 
necting the  city  with  the  military  station ;  and  the  memorial  church, 
in  honour  of  those  who  fell  in  the  Sutlej  campaign  of  1845-46, 
destroyed  during  the  Mutiny,  but  since  restored.  Thriving  trade  in 
grain  and  other  agricultural  produce.  For  early  history  and  events 
of  1857,  see  Firozpur  District.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76, 
,£4050,  or  5s.  4d.  per  head  of  pop.  (15,164)  within  municipal  limits. 

Firozpur. — Southern  tahsil  of  Gurgaon  District,  Punjab;  lying 
between  270  39'  and  270  59'  n.  lat,  and  between  760  56'  and  770  9' 
e.  long. 

Firozpur. — Municipal  town  in  Gurgaon  District,  Punjab,  and  head- 
quarters of  the  tahsil.  Pop.  (1868),  9156,  being  2744  Hindus,  1229 
Muhammadans,  3  Sikhs,  and  5180  'others.'  Situated  in  lat  27°  46' 
30*  n.,  and  long.  760  59'  30"  £.,  on  a  small  perennial  stream,  in  the 
extreme  south  of  the  District  Said  to  have  been  founded  by  the 
Emperor  Firoz  Shah,  who  placed  a  cantonment  here  for  the  subjugation 
of  the  neighbouring  hill  tribes.  Annexed  by  the  British  Government 
in  1803,  but  granted  in  jdgir  to  Ahmad  Baksh  Khan,  whose  son,  Nawab 
Shams-ud-dfn  Khan,  was  executed  in  1836  for  the  murder  of  Mr.  W. 
Fraser,  Commissioner  of  Delhi.  Since  that  period,  it  has  formed  the 
headquarters  of  a  sub-collectorate.  Thriving  trade  in  country  produce ; 
exports  of  grain  and  cotton ;  imports  of  rice,  sugar,  and  English  piece- 
goods.  Tahslli)  police  station,  school-house.  Municipal  revenue  in 
I^75-76,  j£7S7i  or  is.  5d.  per  head  of  population  (10,580)  within 
municipal  limits. 

Firozsh&h. — Battle-field  in  Firozpur  District,  Punjab;  situated  in 
lat  300  53'  n.,  and  long.  740  49'  45*  e.,  about  12  miles  from  the  left 
bank  of  the  Sutlej  (Satlaj).  Rendered  famous  by  the  attack  made 
upon  the  formidably  entrenched  Sikh  camp,  Dec.  21,  1845,  by  the 
British  forces  under  Sir  Hugh  Gough  and  Sir  Henry  Hardinge.  After 
two  days'  severe  fighting,  the  entrenchments  were  carried  and  the 
enemy  completely  routed,  but  not  without  heavy  losses  on  the  part  of 
the  conquerors.  No  trace  of  the  earthworks  now  remains,  but  a 
monument  erected  upon  the  spot  perpetuates  the.  memory  of  the  officers 
and  men  who  fell  in  the  engagement. 

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2  78       FORT  ST.  DA  VID— FRENCH  POSSESSIONS. 

Fort  St  David— South  Arcot  District,  Madras.  —See  David, 
Fort  St. 

Fort  St.  George.  —  Citadel  of  Madras,  and  the  name  offi- 
cially applied  to  the  Government  of  the  Presidency. — See  Madras 
Town. 

Fort-WilliailL — Citadel  of  Calcutta,  and  the  name  officially  applied 
to  the  Government  of  Bengal. — See  Calcutta. 

Foul  Island  (in  Burmese,  Nart-tha-kywon). — An  uninhabited  island 
off  the  coast  of  Sandoway,  in  Arakan  Division,  British  Burma;  lying 
about  lat.  i8°  3'  n.,  6  leagues  from  the  mainland,  and  7  from  Bluff 
Point,  and  visible  from  a  distance  of  8  leagues.  The  island  is  about 
2  miles  long,  and  is  conical  in  form.  To  the  north-east  there  are  islets 
and  rocks  near  the  shore,  and  a  reef  partly  above  water  extending  south- 
wards. The  name  is  derived  from  a  so-called  mud -volcano,  which 
at  times  emits  a  torrent  of  hot  mud  bubbling  with  marsh  gas. 

Fraserpet. — Town  in  the  territory  of  Coorg;  situated  in  lat.  120 
27'  30"  n.,  and  long.  760  o'  20"  k,  on  the  banks  of  the  Kdveri 
(Cauvery)  river,  20  miles  east  of  Merkdra,  and  2720  feet  above  sea  level. 
Pop.  (1872),  1832.  Originally  called  Kushalnigara,  the  name  was 
changed  in  honour  of  Colonel  Fraser,  the  first  British  Political  Agent 
in  Coorg  (1834).  The  fort  was  built  of  hewn  stone  by  Tipd  Sultan, 
and  stormed  and  demolished  in  1789  by  the  Coorgs  under  their  native 
Rijd,  Dodda  Vira  Rdjendra.  The  ruins  supplied  materials  for  the 
construction  of  the  fine  bridge  over  the  Kiveri  (Cauvery),  finished  in 
1848.  Fraserpet  is  the  residence  of  the  Superintendent  of  Coorg 
during  the  monsoon  months,  when  the  climate  is  much  less  damp 
and  unhealthy  than  at  Merkdra. 

French  Possessions. — I  have  condensed  the  following  brief  account 
of  the  French  Settlements  from  materials  courteously  furnished  to  me  at 
Pondicherri  by  His  Excellency  the  Governor-General  of  French  India, 
supplemented  by  later  documents  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal  in  the 
Ministere  de  la  Marine  et  des  Colonies,  Paris,  June  1879.  Pains  have 
been  taken  to  render  it  accurate ;  but  no  responsibility  rests  with  Her 
Majesty's  Government  of  India  for  any  statements  contained  in  it  A 
separate  account  of  each  of  the  Settlements  will  be  given  under  its  own 
name.  I  have  not,  however,  always  found  it  possible  to  bring  the 
local  figures  into  exact  accord  with  those  obtained  in  France  for  this 
general  rksumk. 

The  French  Possessions  in  India  comprise  five  Settlements,  with 
certain  dependent  '  Lodges,'  at  which  the  right  is  reserved  of  hoisting  the 
French  flag.  They  aggregate  178  square  miles,  and  had  a  total  popu- 
lation in  1876  of  285,022,  distributed  as  follows : — 


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FRENCH  POSSESSIONS. 


279 


FRENCH  POSSESSIONS  IN  INDIA. 


Name. 


Area  in 
Square  Miles. 


Pondicherri, 
Chandarnagar, 
Karikal,       . 
Mah<$,  . 
Yanaon,  or  Yanan, 

Total,     . 


»3 
3 

52 
5 

5 


178 


Population 
(1876). 


156,094 

22,496 

92,516 

8,442 

5.474 


285,022 


Revenue 
for  1878. 


£40,7*> 

8,046 

16,037 

1,852 

1,426 


£68,08l 


A  more  detailed  statement,  dated  Pondicherri,  1st  January  1877, 
gives  the  total  population  at  280,381 — viz.,  Europeans,  11 16; 
Eurasians,  151 1;  natives,  277,754:  total,  280,381. 

History. — The  first  French  expedition  into  Indian  waters,  with  a  view 
to  opening  up  commercial  relations,  dates  as  far  back  as  1603.  It  was 
undertaken  by  private  merchants  of  Rouen ;  but  it  failed,  as  also  did 
several  similar  attempts  which  followed  it  In  1642,  Cardinal'Richelieu 
founded  the  first  Compagnie  des  Indes  Orientates,  but  its  efforts  met 
with  no  success.  Colbert  reconstituted  the  Company  on  a  larger  basis 
in  1664,  granting  it  exemption  from  taxes  and  a  monopoly  of  the  Indian 
trade  for  fifty  years.  After  having  twice  attempted,  without  success,  to 
establish  itself  in  Madagascar,  Colbert's  Company  again  took  up  the 
idea  of  direct  trade  with  India,  and  its  president,  Caron,  founded  in  1668 
the  '  comptoir '  or  agency  at  Surat  But  on  finding  that  city  unsuited 
for  a  head  establishment,  he  seized  the  harbour  of  Trincomali  in  Ceylon 
from  the  Dutch.  The  Dutch,  however,  quickly  retook  Trincomali, 
and  Caron,  passing  over  to  the  Coromandel  coast,  in  1672,  seized  Saint 
Thomas,  a  Portuguese  town  which  had  for  twelve  years  been  in  the 
possession  of  Holland.  But  he  had  to  restore  it  to  the  Dutch  in 
1674. 

The  ruin  of  the  Company  seemed  impending,  when  one  of  its  agents, 
the  celebrated  Francois  Martin,  suddenly  restored  it  to  life.  Rallying 
under  him  a  handful  of  sixty  Frenchmen,  saved  out  of  the  wrecks  of 
the  colonies  at  Trincomali  and  Saint  Thomas,  he  took  up  his  abode  at 
Pondicherri,  which  he  purchased  in  1683  from  the  local  Rdja\  He 
built  fortifications,  and  a  trade  began  to  spring  up ;  but  he  was  unable 
to  hold  the  town  against  the  Dutch,  who  accordingly  wrested  it  from 
him  in  1683,  and  held  it  until  it  was  restored  to  the  French  by  the 
Treaty  of  Ryswick  in  1699. 

Pondicherri  became  in  this  year,  and  has  ever  since  remained,  the 
most  important  of  the  French  Settlements  in  India.  Its  foundation  was 
exactly  contemporaneous  with  that  of  Calcutta  ;  like  Calcutta,  its  site 


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280  FRENCH  POSSESSIONS. 

was  purchased  by  a  European  Company  from  a  Native  Prince ;  and 
what  Job  Charnock  was  to  Calcutta,  Francois  Martin  proved  to  Pondi- 
cherri  On  its  restitution  to  the  French  by  the  Peace  of  Ryswick  in 
1699,  Martin  was  appointed  Governor-General,  and  under  his  able 
management  Pondicherri  became  an  entrepot  of  trade.  Chandarnagar, 
in  Lower  Bengal,  had  been  acquired  by  the  French  Company  in  1688, 
by  grant  from  the  Delhi  Emperor ;  Mahe,  on  the  Malabar  coast,  was 
obtained  in  1725-26,  under  the  government  of  M.  Lenoir;  Karikal, 
on  the  Coromandel  coast,  under  that  of  A$.  Dumas  in  1739.  Yanaon 
and  Masulipatam  (the  site  of  a  French  factory  in  the  17th  century), 
on  the  northern  coast  of  Madras,  were  taken  possession  of  in  1750, 
and  were  formally  ceded  to  the  French  two  years  later. 

The  war  of  1741  between  France  and  England,  led  to  the  attack 
alike  of  Madras  and  of  Pondicherri,  the  capitals  of  the  French  and 
English  Companies  in  Southern  India.  Labourdonnais  equipped  at 
his  own  charges  a  fleet,  and  laid  siege  to  Madras,  which  capitulated 
on  the  21st  September  1746.  It  was  ransomed  for  ^400,000.  The 
English  Sri  due  time  made  reprisals.  On  the  26th  April  1748,  they 
appeared  before  Pondicherri,  but  eventually  retired  after  a  most  skilful 
defence  of  the  town  conducted  by  Dupleix  during  forty-two  days. 
The  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  put  a  stop,  in  that  year,  to  further 
hostilities,  and  left  Dupleix  free  to  realize  his  dream  of  an  Indian 
Empire  for  France.  Between  1746  and  1756,  he  obtained  from  the 
Delhi  Emperor  the  Nawibship  of  the  Karnatic ;  established  a  pro- 
tectorate over  the  Subah  of  Arcot  and  other  parts  of  Southern  India ; 
made  large  additions  to  the  French  territory  around  Pondicherri, 
Karikdl,  and  Masulipatam,  and  extended  the  French  authority  over 
the  four  Districts  of  Montfanagar,  Ellore,  Rajihmandri  with  Chikakol 
and  the  island  of  Seringham,  formed  by  two  arms  of  the  Cauvery. 
These  various  annexations  opened  up  to  the  French  commerce  200 
leagues  of  seaboard,  and  yielded  a  revenue  of  ^800,000  ('  20  millions 
de  francs '). 

This  period  of  power  proved  of  short  duration.  Dupleix,  feebly  sur> 
ported  by  the  Court  of  Versailles,  met  with  a  series  of  reverses  from  the 
English  Company,  and  was  recalled  to  Paris  in  1753.  A  certain  extent 
of  territory  still  remained  to  his  successor ;  but  during  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  the  Government  of  France  could  afford  no  reinforcements  for  its 
Indian  possessions.  The  English  Company  overran  them,  defeated  the 
French  at  Wandewash,  and  seized  Arcot  Lally-Tollendal,  after  a 
chivalrous  defence,  surrendered  Pondicherri  on  the  6th  January  1761. 
The  English  demolished  the  town;  the  walls,  the  forts,  the  public 
buildings,  were  all  destroyed.  The  captured  troops  and  all  Europeans 
in  the  French  Company's  service  were  deported  back  to  France. 

Two  years  later,  the  peace  of  1763  restored  Pondicherri  and  the 


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FRENCH  POSSESSIONS.  281 

other  Indian  factories  to  the  French  ;  but  with  their  former  territories 
greatly  curtailed.  The  abolition  of  the  monopoly  of  the  French  -Com- 
pany in  1769  threw  open  the  trade,  and  Pondicherri  began  to  show 
signs  of  a  new  vitality.  But  in  1778,  it  again  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
English  East  India  Company.  In  1782,  the  Bailli  de  Suffren  made  a 
brilliant  effort  on  behalf  of  his  depressed  countrymen,  fighting  four  battles 
with  the  English  in  seven  months,  and  retaking  the  fort  of  TrincomalL 
Next  year,  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  restored  Pondicherri  and  the  other 
factories  to  the  French,  20th  January  1783.  But  the  English  Company 
took  advantage,  as  usual,  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  next  war  in  Europe 
to  seize  the  French  possessions  in  India,  and  again  compelled  their 
rivals  to  evacuate  their  settlements  in  1793.  The  tPeace  of  Amiens 
once  more  restored  them  to  the  French  in  1802  ;  on  its  cessation,  the 
English  Company  again  seized  them,  nth  September  1803.  Pondi- 
cherri passed  for  the  fourth  time  under  British  rule,  and  during  the 
long  Napoleonic  wars,  the  French  power  ceased  to  exist  in  India. 

Pondicherri  and  the  other  factories  were  restored  to  the  French  by 
the  treaties  of  1814,  181 5,  the  territories  being  finally  reduced  to  their 
present  narrow  limits.     The  French  had  to  begin  the  whole  work  of 
their  Indian  settlements  de  novo  ;  and  an  expedition  arrived  at  Pondi- 
cherri on  the  1 6th  September  18 16  to  re-enter  on  possession.     On  the 
4th  December  18 16,  Pondicherri  and  Chandarnagar  were  delivered 
over  to  them;  Karikil,  on  the  14th  January  181 7  ;  Mahd,  on  the  2 2d 
February  181 7  ;  and  Yanion,  on  the  12th  April  181 7.     A  convention 
between  the  Governments  of  France  and  England,  dated  7th  March 
181 5,   regulated  the  conditions   of  their  restoration.      The  French 
renounced  their  former  right,  under  the  convention  of  the  30th  August 
1787,  to  claim  annually  from  the  English  East  India  Company  300 
chests  of  opium  at  cost  price,  and  agreed  to  henceforth  pay  the  average 
rates  realized  at  the  Calcutta  sales.     They  also  bound  themselves  to 
make  over  to  the  English  Company,  at  a  fixed  price,  all  surplus  salt 
manufactured  within  their  restored  territories  over  and  above  the 
requirements  of  the  local  population.     In  compensation  for  these 
lucrative  concessions,  the  English  agreed  to  pay  4  Idkhs  of  sikka  rupees 
(one    million  francs,    or,    say,  ^40,000)    annually  to    the    French 
Government.     As  it  was  found  that  the  right  to  make  salt  at  all  in  the 
French  Settlements  led  to  the  smuggling  of  that  article  into  the  sur- 
rounding British  Districts,  the  French  Government  were  induced  on 
the  13th  May  18 18  to  surrender  it  altogether  for  an  annual  payment  of 
'  4000  pagodas'  (33,600  francs),  or,  say,  ^1344.    This  second  treaty, 
although  at  first  made  for  only  fifteen  years,  has  been  indefinitely  pro- 
longed; the  English  Government  supplying  the  French  authorities 
with  salt  at  cost  price,  and  allowing  the  latter  to  sell  it  to  their  own 
subjects  at  their  own  rates. 


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282  FRENCH  POSSESSIONS. 

Present  Territories. — In  addition  to  the  five  Settlements  already 
mentioned,  and  which  are  treated  of  in  separate  articles,  the  French 
retain  certain  houses  or  patches  of  ground  within  British  territory,  where 
they  have  the  right  to  hoist  their  flag.  These  'Loges*  or  patches  of 
ground  mark  the  sites  of  ancient  French  factories.  The  retention  of 
such  memorials  of  former  times  was  conceded  to  the  French  sentiment ; 
but  most  of  the  *  Lodges'  are  now  unknown  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  towns  in  which  they  are  situated;  and  their  interest  is  purely 
historical  The  following  is  a  list,  from  French  official  sources,  of  the 
five  Settlements,  together  with  their  dependent  loges  or  factoreries  within 
British  territory : — 

i st  On  the  Coromandel  coast — (a)  The  Settlement  of  Pondicherri, 
composed  of  the  Districts  of  Pondicherri  proper,  Villenour,  and  Bahur ; 
total,  113  square  miles,  (b)  The  Settlement  of  Karikal,  52  square 
miles. 

2d.  On  the  northern  Madras  coast — The  Settlement  of  Yanaon, 
5  square  miles,  with  a  loge  at  Masulipatam,  marking  the  site  of  the 
French  factory  of  the  last  century.  The  British  took  possession  of 
Masulipatam  in  1769;  and  the  French  authorities  have  resigned  their 
right  to  make  or  sell  spirituous  liquors  within  their  loge  for  a  sum  of 
^350  a  year  (Convention,  dated  31st  March  1853).  The  loge,  with  the 
village  of  France-pet,  3  kilometres  north-west  of  Masulipatam,  is  said 
to  have  from  100  to  200  native  inhabitants. 

$d.  On  the  Malabar  coast — The  Settlement  of  Mahe,  5  square  miles ; 
with  a  loge  in  the  British  town  of  Calicut,  '  occup^e  par  un  gardien.' 

4th.  On  the  northern  Bombay  coast — No  Settlement,  but  zfactorerie 
in  the  British  town  of  Surat,  '  occup^e  par  un  gardien ;'  and  consisting 
of  a  patch  of  ground  with  some  huts,  let  for  a  rental  of  ^8  a  year. 

$tA.  In  BengaL — The  Settlement  of  Chandarnagar,  3  square  miles  ; 
with  5  loges,  claimed  at  Kdsimbazar,  Jugdia,  Patni,  Dacca,  and 
Balasor,  each  said  to  consist  of  a  small  patch  of  ground  with  a  ruin, 
a  hut,  or  a  tenement  of  some  sort  on  it  The  French  reserve  the  right  to 
hoist  their  flag  at  them  all,  but  they  are  not  in  active  possession  of  any 
of  the  five.  The  loges  at  Dacca  and  Balasor  (like  the  loge  at  Surat  already 
mentioned)  are  let  for  a  trifling  rental ;  the  other  three  Bengal  leges 
claimed  at  Kasimbazdr,  Jugdia,  and  Patna  have  never  been  given  up 
by  the  British  Government 

Revenue  and  Expenditure  for  1878. — Receipts,  as  per  budget,  for  all 
the  French  Settlements  in  India,  ^68,081  (1,702,042  francs);  ex- 
penditure, ;£68,o8i.  The  million  francs  (,£40,000)  annually  paid  by 
the  English  Government  in  compensation  for  the  surrender  by  the 
French  authorities  of  their  rights  in  regard  to  opium  and  salt,  only 
passes  through  the  Colonial  accounts  on  its  way  to  the  National 
Exchequer,  and  does  not  appear  in  the  above  statement     Among 


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FRONTIER  DISTRICT,  SIND. 


283 


items  of  expenditure  may  be  noted — law  and  justice,  £6000 ;  police, 
£4184 ;  roads  and  bridges,  £3048 ;  public  instruction,  £3425;  public 
worship,  £968.  The  following  table  of  the  receipts  and  expenditure  for 
each  of  the  five  Settlements  is  reproduced,  without  conversion,  from  the 
official  budget  for  1878  : — 


Receipts. 

Francs.    Centimes. 

Pondicherri, 1,018,031     58 

Chandarnagar,       ....  201,148    80 

Karikal, 400,942    70 

Mahe, 46,292      5 

Yanaon, 35,6*7    17 


Expenditure. 

Francs. 

Ontinw*. 

1,207,434 

96 

137,388 

52 

277.204 

56 

44,<>57 

2fr 

33,957 

OO 

1,702,042   30 


1,702,042  30 


Total, 


£68,081 


£68,081 


Administration, — The  number  of  children  under  public  instruction 
was  1629  boys  and  1248  girls — total,  2877 — in  1878.  The  army,  and 
establishments  connected  with  the  Governor-General  and  his  staff  at 
Pondicherri ;  those  of  the  local  governors  or  chefs  de  service  at  Chan- 
darnagar, Yanaon,  Mah£,  and  Karikil ;  together  with  other  headquarters' 
charges,  necessarily  engross  a  large  proportion  of  the  revenue.  All  the 
state  and  dignity  of  an  independent  Government,  with  four  dependent 
ones,  have  to  be  maintained  out  of  a  total  income  of  £68,081.  This 
is  effected  by  rigid  economy,  and  the  prestige  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment is  worthily  maintained  in  the  East  Pondicherri  is  also  the 
scene  of  considerable  religious  pomp  and  of  some  missionary  activity. 
It  forms  the  seat  of  a  '  Prefecture  Apostolique,'  founded  in  1828,  con- 
sisting of  a  Prtfet  Apostolique  and  7  priests  for  all  French  India; 
and  of  the  '  Mission  du  Carnatic,'  founded  by  the  Jesuits  in  1776.  But 
the  chief  field  of  this  mission  lies  outside  the  French  Settlements.  Of 
its  115,000  Christians,  160  churches,  and  65  missionaries,  no  fewer  than 
92,000  of  the  Christians  are  British  subjects,  and  159  of  the  churches 
are  in  British  territory.  The  capital,  Pondicherri,  is  a  very  handsome 
town,  and  presents,  especially  from  the  sea,  a  striking  appearance  of 
French  civilisation.  It  forms  the  headquarters  of  the  French  national 
line  of  steam  communication  with  the  East,  the  excellent  Messageries 
Maritimes  ;  but  its  natural  situation  does  not  admit  of  any  great  trade. 
The  total  exports  and  imports  for  French  India  in  1876  is  returned  at 
,£1,111,628  (27,790,717  francs),  of  which  £300,000  was  with  France 
and  about  £800,000  with  other  countries,  chiefly  British.  The  details 
of  each  of  the  four  Settlements  which  have  ports  will  be  found  under 
Pondicherri,  Karikal,  Mahl,  and  Yandoa 

Frontier  District,  Bind— See  Upper  Sind. 


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284  FURREEDABAD—GADHALL 

Furreed&b&<L—  Town  in  Delhi  District,  Punjab- — See  Faridabad. 

Furreedcote. — Native  state  in  the  Punjab. — See  Faridkot. 

Furreedpore. — District  and  town  in  Bengal,  and  tahsil  and  town 
in  the  North-Western  Provinces. — See  Faridpur. 

Fyz&b&L —  Division,  District,  tahsil,  and  town  in  Oudh.  —  See 
Faizabad. 


Gad. — One  of  the  petty  States  in  Rewa  Kanta,  Bombay.  Area,  134 
sq.  miles;  estimated  revenue,  ^1270.  The  chief,  Rana  Bharat  Sinhjf, 
pays  tribute  of  £$o  as  a  feudatory  of  the  Raja  of  Chota  Udiipur. 

Gad&dhar.  —  River  in  North-Eastern  Bengal ;  tributary  to  the 
Brahmaputra.  It  rises  among  the  mountains  of  Bhutan,  and  debouches 
upon  the  plains  of  the  Dwars  through  a  picturesque  gorge.  The  main 
stream  of  this  river  forms  the  boundary  between  the  Western  Dwars,  or 
Jalpaigurf  District,  and  the  Eastern  Dwars,  which  are  included  within 
Goalpara,  Owing  to  many  alterations  in  its  course  and  variations  in 
the  size  of  the  different  channels,  the  Gadadhar  undergoes  several 
changes  of  name.  The  upper  reaches  are  sometimes  identified  with 
the  Sankos,  which  is  properly  the  name  of  a  separate  river.  After 
entering  Goalpara  District,  the  river  bifurcates,  the  larger  volume  of 
water  now  passing  into  the  Brahmaputra  by  a  channel  called  the  Gan- 
gadhar.  The  old  channel,  which  retains  the  original  name,  is  nearly 
dry,  and  only  supported  by  the  water  of  a  small  tributary,  the  Bamnai. 
The  Gadadhar  is  navigable  in  the  plains  by  boats  of  4  tons  burthen. 

Oadag  (Garag).— Petty  State  in  Kithiiwar,  Bombay.— .£&?  Garag. 

G&daw&ra. — The  western  tahsil  or  revenue  Subdivision  of  Narsinh- 
pur  District,  Central  Provinces.  Pop.  (1872),  138,670,  residing  in  342 
villages  or  townships  and  25,898  houses,  on  an  area  of  654  square 
miles ;  land  revenue  (1869-70),  ^17,088. 

G&dawAra.  —  A  flourishing  town  in  Narsinhpur  District,  Central 
Provinces ;  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Shakar,  at  the  junction  of  the 
roads  to  Jabalpur  (Jubbulpore)  and  Sagar  (Saugor),  and  28  miles  by 
the  main  road  from  Narsinhpur  station.  Lat.  220  55'  30"  n.,  long.  780 
50'  e.  ;  pop.  (1876),  6068,  chiefly  tradesmen  and  artisans.  Gadawara 
manufactures  Kharwa  cloth  and  chhdnti,  and  does  a  brisk  trade  in 
cotton,  salt,  and  grain  at  the  markets  held  every  Monday  and  Friday. 
The  public  offices  are  in  the  small  fortress  on  the  river  bank,  built  by  a 
family  of  Gond  Rajputs  in  the  early  days  of  Marhatta  rule.  There  is  a 
boys'  school  with  an  English  class. 

Qaddilam  (or  Garud&nadi). — River  in  South  Arcot  District,  Madras. 
— See  Garudanadi. 

Gadhali— One  of  the  petty  States  of  Gohelwar  in  Kathiawar,  Bom- 


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GADHIA—GAHIJA.  285 

bay;  consisting  of  3  villages,  with  3  independent  tribute  -  payers. 
Estimated  revenue,  ^900;  tribute  of  ^169  is  paid  to  the  Gdekwdr 
of  Baroda,  and  ^30  to  Jundgarh. 

Gadhia. — One  of  the  petty  States  in  South  Kdthiawdr,  Bombay ; 
consisting  of  2  villages,  with  2  independent  tribute-payers.  The  revenue 
is  estimated  at  ^250 ;  tribute  of  ^27  is  paid  to  the  Gdekwdr  of  Baroda, 
and  £2  to  Jundgarh. 

Gadhi  Dtibhar. — Village  in  Muzaffamagar  District,  North-Western 
Provinces.  Pop.  (1872),  2417,  including  many  Muhammadan  Baluchfs, 
relations  and  clansmen  of  the  zaminddr.  The  town  contains  several 
brick-built  houses,  and  the  roads  are  also  paved  with  brick.  Six 
mosques,  daily  bdzdr,  and  large  weekly  market  on  Sundays.  Principal 
articles  of  trade — sugar  and  salt.  Several  fine  groves  of  trees  surround 
the  village. 

Oadhnla. — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Gohelwdr  in  Kathidwar, 
Bombay ;  consisting  of  1  village,  with  2  independent  tribute-payers. 
The  revenue  is  estimated  at  ^300;  tribute  of  £16  is  paid  to  the 
Gdekwdr  of  Baroda,  and  £2  to  Jundgarh. 

Gadkh&li — Town  and  police  station  in  Jessor  District,  Bengal ; 
situated  on  the  river  Kabadak,  on  the  road  from  Calcutta  to  Jessor. 
Lat  230  5'  30"  n.,  long.  890  6'  e.  In  former  days  the  scene  of  numerous 
outrages,  perpetrated  by  the  Bediyds,  then  a  predatory  tribe,  now  a 
wandering  gipsy  caste. 

Oadra. — Municipal  town  in  Umdrkot  tdluk,  Thar  and  Pdrkar  Political 
Superintendency,  Sinh.  Pop.  (1872),  1126, — 48  Muhammadans;  1078 
Hindus,  chiefly  Brdhmans,  Lohdnos,  Sodhos,  Mengwdrs,  and  Bhils. 
Municipal  revenue  (1873-74),  ,£71 ;  disbursements,  ^87  ;  rate  of  taxa- 
tion per  head  within  municipal  limits,  is.  3d. 

Q4gar. — Range  of  mountains  in  Kumaun  District,  North-Western 
Provinces,  forming  a  portion  of  the  outer  Himalayan  range ;  situated 
between  lat.  290 14'  to  290  30'  e.,  and  long.  790  9'  to  790  39'  e.  The  chain 
runs  along  the  whole  southern  border  of  the  District,  parallel  to  the 
plains,  from  the  Rimganga  to  the  Kili,  and  presents  a  line  of  higher 
elevation  than  any  ranges  between  it  and  the  main  ridge  of  the  central 
Himalayas.  The  principal  peak  is  that  of  China,  overlooking  the  lake 
and  station  of  Naini  Tal,  which  nestle  among  the  hollows  of  the  Gagar. 
Forests  of  cypress,  tun,  fir,  and  other  timber  trees  clothe  the  various 
summits  to  their  very  tops.  Average  elevation,  between  7000  and  8000 
feet 

QagUL — Trading  village  and  produce  depot  in  Rangpur  District, 
Bengal,  lying  between  the  Sankos  and  Dharla*  rivers.  Chief  exports — 
jute,  tobacco,  and  ginger.     Lat  25°  59'  n.,  long.  890  40'  30"  e. 

GahqA. — Government  town  in  Shikdrpur  District,  Sind.  Pop.  (1872), 
1 1 23,  the  Muhammadans  belonging  chiefly  to  the  Gahija  tribe,  whence 


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286  GAHMAR—GALIKONDA. 

the    village  derives   its  name;    the    Hindus    are    mainly    Lohinos. 
Travellers1  bungalow. 

Gahmar. — Town  in  Ghaapur  District,  North-Western  Provinces. 
Lat.  250  29'  40"  n.,  long.  830  50'  55"  e.  ;  area,  108  acres ;  pop.  (1872), 
9050.  Stands  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  District,  1  mile  south  of 
the  Ganges  and  15  miles  south-east  of  Ghazipur.  Station  on  East 
Indian  Railway  main  line. 

Gajapatinagar. — Taluk  in  Vizagapatam  District,  Madras.  Houses, 
24,707,  collected  into  228  villages,  all  zaminddri\  pop.  (1871), 
108,351,  being  55,653  males  and  52,698  females.  Classified  according 
to  religion,  there  were — Hindus,  107,781,  including  12,073  Sivaites  and 
95,680  Vishnuvites;  Muhammadans,  570,  of  whom  505  were  Sunnis. 
Chief  town,  Gajapatinagar. 

Gajapatinagar. — Town  in  above  t&luk,  Vizagapatam  District, 
Madras.  Lat.  180  16'  n.,  long.  830  25'  e.  ;  pop.  (1871),  2272,  residing 
in  579  houses.  Headquarters  of  the  t&luk,  with  sub-magistrate's  and 
tnunsifs  courts,  and  a  good  school.    An  important  mart  for  hill  produce. 

GajendragacL  —  Town  in  Kalddgi  District,  Bombay;  41  miles 
south-east  of  Kaladgi  town.  Lat.  150  44'  30"  n.,  long.  7 6°  o'  45"  e.  ; 
pop.  (1872),  7665. 

Oajghantd. — Trading  village  and  produce  depot  in  Rangpur  Dis- 
trict, Bengal.  Chief  exports — jute  and  lime. '  Lat  250  49'  45*  n.,  long. 
890  io'(89°  19'?)  e. 

Gattothi. — Town  in  Bulandshahr  District,  North-Western  Provinces ; 
situated  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Road,  12  miles  north  of  Bulandshahr  town. 
Pop.  (1872),  5608,  2658  Hindus  and  2943  Muhammadans,  and  7  '  others.' 
The  followers  of  the  two  religions  are  said  to  be  on  bad  terms  with  each 
other,  and  are  frequently  engaged  in  affrays.  Akbar  gave  revenue-free 
grants  to  a  number  of  Sayyids,  whose  descendants  held  them  till  1858, 
when  they  were  confiscated  on  account  of  the  rebellion  of  their  holders. 
The  celebrated  rebel,  Walidad  Khan  of  Malagarh,  held  a  half-share  in 
the  village.  Halting-place  and  encamping  ground  for  troops,  travellers* 
rest-house  (sar&i),  police  station,  post  office,  and  weekly  market  A 
small  village  police  force  and  conservancy  staff  are  maintained  out  of 
municipal  funds  derived  from  a  house  tax. 

Galghfott  (or  Bdnstdld).— River  in  the  District  of  the  Twenty-four 
Parganis,  Bengal ;  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Banstala*  Khal  and 
Guntiikhalf.  Falls,  after  a  south-easterly  course,  into  the  Kholpetua, 
opposite  Kalyanpur  village. 

Oalikonda  (or  Galiparvat,  *  Windy  Hill ').— Range  of  hills  in  Vizaga- 
patam District,  Madras.  Lat  180  30'  n.,  long.  180  50'  e.  ;  averaging 
from  2800  to  5000  feet  above  sea  level,  about  45  miles  from  the  sea. 
The  two  highest  peaks  reach  a  height  of  5345  and  5287  feet  respec- 
tively.    The  shape  of  the  range  is  that  of  a  double  crescent  joined  by  a 


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GALLU—GANDAL  287 

narrow  saddle.  The  summits  of  the  range  are  of  gneiss  and  syenite, 
capped  with  laterite  and  black  mould.  They  are  easy  of  access  except 
near  the  top,  but  the  road  throughout  has  been  improved  by  Government 
sappers.  In  i860,  the  Madras  Government  tested  this  range  as  a 
sanitarium  by  sending  up  a  detachment  of  Europeans  to  a  site  selected, 
and  named  *  Harris's  Valley.'  The  place,  however,  proved  unhealthy, 
the  men  suffering  much  from  fever,  and,  after  repeated  attempts,  the 
experiment  was  abandoned.  It  was  thought,  however,  that  a  healthier 
site  for  the  cantonment  might  have  been  found.  The  land  is  the 
property  of  the  R4ja"  of  Vizianigaram,  who  has  a  coffee  estate  here. 

Gallu. — A  branch  of  the  Indus  river,  in  Karachi  (Kurrachee)  Dis- 
trict, Sind  It  diverges  from  the  main  stream  in  lat.  240  28'  n.,  and 
long.  670  54'  e.,  and  debouches  in  lat  240  6'  n.,  and  long.  670  22'  e.,  by 
the  Hajamro  mouth. 

Oambat — Town  in  the  Khairpur  State,  Sind  Pop.  (1872),  4537. 
Formerly  a  centre  of  cotton-weaving;  annual  produce  about  5000  pieces. 

Gambhar. — Mountain  stream  of  the  Punjab,  taking  its  rise  in  the 
lower  ranges  of  the  Himalayas,  in  lat  300  52'  n.,  long.  770  8'  e.,  and 
flowing  in  a  north-westerly  direction  past  the  military  station  of  Subdthu, 
until  it  falls  into  the  Sutlej  (Satlaj),  after  a  course  of  about  40  miles, 
in  lat  310  17'  n.,  long.  760  47'  e.  It  is  nowhere  navigable,  and  in  the 
rainy  season  it  is  liable  to  sudden  floods.  The  river  is  bridged  near 
Subathu,  on  the  road  to  Simla. 

Qambfla  (or  Tocht). — River  in  Bannu  District,  Punjab ;  rises  in  the 
independent  hill  country,  among  the  Safed  Koh  Mountains,  and  enters 
British  territory  a  few  miles  from  the  town  of  Bannu.  Its  banks  afford 
but  little  opportunity  for  cultivation,  being  at  first  composed  of  boulders, 
and  afterwards  of  pure  sand  A  few  irrigation  cuts,  however,  supply 
water  to  some  12,138  acres  of  tilled  land.  It  falls  into  the  Kuram 
a  few  miles  below  Lakki,  lat  320  37'  30"  n.,  long.  710  6'  15"  e.  Sweet 
and  wholesome  drinking  water.  Average  depth,  \\  feet  in  the  cold 
season,  4J  feet  during  the  rains.  Nowhere  bridged,  but  fordable  at  all 
times,  except  after  heavy  rain  in  the  hills. 

Gamtin-aing. — Revenue  circle  in  the  valley  of  the  Kyoukgyf,  a 
tributary  of  the  Tsittoung  in  Shwe-gyeng  District,  Tenasserim  Division, 
British  Burma.  Area,  120  square  miles;  pop.  (1876),  6538,  chiefly 
Karengs  towards  the  east ;  gross  revenue,  derived  mainly  from  fisheries 
and  net  tax,  ^1774. 

Gand&L — Chiefship  attached  to  Riipur  District,  Central  Provinces,  at 
the  foot  of  the  Saletekri  Hills,  56  miles  north-west  of  Rdipur.  The  estate 
was  formerly  much  larger;  but  in  1828,  by  the  sanction  of  the  Raja  of 
Nagpur,  it  was  divided  among  the  three  sons  of  the  former  holder. 
This  part  now  consists  of  85  villages.  The  chief  is  a  Gond  The  prin- 
cipal village,  Ganddi,  is  situated  in  lat.  21*  40'  30"  n.,  and  long.  8i°  9'  e. 

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288  GANDAK,  GREAT—GANDAVA. 

Gandak,  Great  (known  also  as  the  N&r&yani  or  Salgrdmi;  the 
Kondochates  of  the  Greek  geographers).  —  River  in  the  North- 
western Provinces  and  Behar ;  rises  high  among  the  recesses  of  the 
Nepdl  Himalayas,  in  lat.  300  56'  4"  n.,  and  long.  790  6'  40*  e.,  and 
flowing  with  a  general  south-westward  course  till  it  reaches  British 
territory,  passes  into  our  frontier  between  the  North-Western  District  of 
Gorakhpur,  and  the  District  of  Champdran  in  BengaL  For  some  20 
miles  it  forms  the  boundary  between  the  two  Provinces,  after  which  it 
flows  entirely  within  the  limits  of  Bengal  for  40  miles  farther,  and 
then  once  more  separates  the  Provinces  for  12  miles  of  its  course. 
Thence  it  enters  the  limits  of  Bengal,  flowing  between  the  Districts  of 
Champdran  and  Muzaffarpur  (Tirhut)  on  the  north-east,  and  Sdran  on 
the  south-west.  It  finally  joins  the  Ganges  just  opposite  Patnd,  in  lat. 
25°  49'  53"  N-»  an^  long-  850  13'  45"  e.  The  Gandak  is  a  snow-fed 
stream,  issuing  from  the  hills  at  Tribeni  g/tdt,  in  the  north-west  of  Cham- 
pdran, but  it  soon  afterwards  acquires  the  character  of  a  deltaic  river. 
Its  banks  generally  rise  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding  country,  and 
floods  accordingly  often  inundate  large  tracts  of  the  low-lying  land  on 
either  side.  It  has  no  tributaries  in  its  course  through  the  plains,  and 
the  drainage  of  the  neighbouring  region  sets  not  towards  it,  but  away 
from  it.  The  lowest  discharge  of  water  into  the  Ganges,  towards  the 
end  of  March,  amounts  to  10,391  cubic  feet  per  second;  the  highest 
recorded  flood  volume  is  266,000  cubic  feet  per  second  During  a  great 
part  of  its  course,  the  river  is  enclosed  by  protective  embankments. 
Where  it  issues  from  the  hills  it  has  a  clear  and  rapid  current  of  great 
size,  never  fordable,  full  of  rapids  and  whirlpools,  and  navigable  with 
difficulty  on  account  of  its  fierce  outflow.  Rafts  of  timber  come  down 
the  stream  from  Nepdl,  and  these,  with  the  sunken  snags,  render  navi- 
gation perilous.  Grain  and  sugar  are  sent  down  from  Gorakhpur  Dis- 
trict; and  during  the  rains,  boats  of  1000  maunds  burden  can  make 
their  way  up  stream  as  far  as  Ldlganj  in  Tirhut  The  down  traffic  is 
easier  and  more  considerable  than  the  up  trade,  and  a  register  kept  for 
four  months  of  1868  showed  an  export  of  26,300  tons  of  produce  during 
that  period. 

Gandak,  Little. — River  in  the  North-Western  Provinces ;  rises  in 
the  Nepdl  Hills,  and  enters  Gorakhpur  District  about  8  miles  west  of 
the  Great  Gandak;  flows  parallel  with  the  latter  channel  southward 
through  the  District,  and  empties  itself  into  the  Gogra  (Ghagra)  at 
Stfnaria,  just  within  the  limits  of  Sdran  in  Bengal,  in  lat.  25'  41'  n., 
long.  850  14'  30"  e.  Except  in  the  rains,  it  has  a  small  stream  only 
20  yards  in  breadth,  and  fordable  in  most  places. 

Gandava. — Town  in  Baluchistdn,  situated  on  the  Muld  Pass  route. 
Lat.  28°  32'  n.,  long.  670  32'  e.  A  fortified  place,  built  apparently  on 
an  artificial  mound.     The  winter  residence  of  the  Khdn  of  Khelat, 


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GANDEVI— GANDIKOT.  289 

whose  palace  was  described  as  the  only  respectable  edifice  in  the  place. 
This  building  was  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  the  great  floods  of  1874. 

Gandevi — Town  in  Guzerat,  Bombay,  within  the  territory  of  the 
Gaekwar  of  Baroda;  8  miles  north  of  the  Bilimora  station  of  the 
Bombay,  Baroda,  and  Central  India  Railway,  and  28  miles  south-east  of 
Surat     Lat  200  47'  30"  n.,  long.  73°  3'  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  7218. 

GaDdgarh. — Range  of  hills  in  Rawal  Pindi  and  Hazara  Districts, 
Punjab.  Lat.  33°  57'  n.,  long.  720  46'  e.  These  hills  take  their  rise  in 
Hazara,  and,  projecting  into  Rawal  Pindi,  end  in  the  lofty  mountain 
which  specially  bears  the  name  of  Gandgarh.  The  northern  escarp- 
ment toward  the  valley  of  Chach  descends  by  gentle  cultivated  slopes 
into  the  fertile  vale  at  its  feet ;  but  the  remaining  sides  form  rugged  and 
precipitous  cliffs,  intersected  by  ravines,  through  which  the  tributaries  of 
the  little  river  Haroh  have  cut  themselves  deep  channels. 

Gandha  M^ftn — One  of  the  principal  peaks  in  the  Orissa  Tribu- 
tary States,  Bengal;  situated  in  Keunjhar  State.  Lat.  21°  38'  12*  n., 
long.  85°  32'  56"  e.  ;  height,  3479  feet 

GaildhoL — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Undsarvfya  in  Kathiawar, 
Bombay;  consisting  of  1  village,  with  1  independent  tribute-payer. 
Estimated  revenue,  ^200;  tribute  of  ^10  is  paid  to  the  Gaekwar  of 
Baroda,  and  16s.  to  Junagarh. 

Gandikot  {{The  Fort  of  the  Gorge;'  Gunjkottah). — Mountain  for- 
tress in  Cuddapah  District,  Madras;  situated  in  the  Yerramaldi 
Mountains,  1670  feet  above  sea  level  Lat.  140  48'  n.,  long.  78°  20'  e. 
The  fort,  with  its  temple  (endowed  by  the  earliest  of  the  Vijayanagar 
kings),  was  a  famous  stronghold  in  ancient  days.  Built  (according  to 
Ferishta)  in  1589,  it  was  captured  by  Golconda,  and  held  by  Mfr 
Jamba ;  later  it  was  the  capital  of  one  of  the  five  Circars  (Sarkirs)  of 
the  Karnatic  Haidaribdd  Bflighit,  until  absorbed  by  the  Pathan 
Nawab  of  Cuddapah.  It  was  here  that  Fateh  Naik,  the  father  of  the 
great  Haidar,  first  distinguished  himself.  Haidar  improved  and 
garrisoned  the  fort,  which  was  captured  by  Captain  Little  in  the 
first  war  with  TiptS  in  1791.  'The  strong  natural  fortress  of  Gandikot, 
must  in  olden  times  have  been  impregnable.  Perched  on  the  scarped 
rock  that  overhangs  at  a  height  of  some  300  feet  the  winding  Pennar, 
this  picturesque  group  of  buildings,  military  and  religious  together, 
illustrate  the  wild  secluded  life  which  to  a  Hindu  robber  chief  seemed 
to  be  grandeur.  Cut  off  from  all  but  those  who  sought  (and  could 
climb  innumerable  stairs)  to  see  him,  he  surrounded  himself  at  once 
with  temples  and  bastions,  with  a  crowd  of  priests  and  a  rabble  of 
soldiers ;  and  yet  no  sooner  was  the  impregnable  fort  attacked,  than  it 
belied  its  name,  and  yielded  to  treachery  or  fear.  The  fort  of  Gandikot 
was,  however,  one  of  the  most  important  in  the  Cuddapah  country.  It 
was  the  key  to  the  valley  of  the  Pennar,  and  its  name  frequently  occurs 

VOL.  III.  T 

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29o  GANESWARI—GANGAIKANDAPUR. 

in  the  account  of  ancient  struggles ' — (Gribble).  The  population  of 
Gandikot  town  (187 1)  was  11 75. 

Ganesw&ri. — River  in  the  Garo  Hills  District,  Assam,  rising  in  lat 
2  50  18'  n.,  long.  900  49'  e.  Its  course  lies  through  a  limestone  forma- 
tion, in  which  there  are  some  large  stalactite  caverns.  Its  rocky  banks 
form  scenery  of  a  picturesque  beauty. 

Ganga  B&L — Lake  in  Kashmir  State,  Punjab ;  on  the  Hardmak 
Mountain,  near  the  north-eastern  boundary  of  the  valley.  Lat.  340  27' 
n.,  long.  740  58'  e.  Length,  \\  mile ;  breadth,  300  yards.  Remarkable 
only  for  its  sanctity  in  the  eyes  of  Hindus,  who  make  pilgrimages  to  its 
banks,  and  throw  into  the  waters  such  fragments  of  the  bones  of  their 
relatives  as  remain  unconsumed  after  the  funeral  cremation. 

Gang&ikandaptir  {Gangd-kanda  puram  (Tamil),  'The  city  visited 
by  the  Ganges/  from  a  well  in  the  temple  mythically  connected  with 
the  Ganges;  sometimes  also  called  Gangdikondu  Solapur,  or  'The 
city  of  the  Chola  king,  Gangii '). — Town  and  temple  in  Trichinopoli 
District,  Madras.  Lat.  n*  12'  30"  n.,  long.  79°  30'  e.,  about  6  miles  to 
the  east  of  Jdiamkondu  Solapuram ;  connected  with  Udaiyarpolaiyam 
by  the  Chellambaram  road,  and  1  mile  distant  from  the  great  Trunk  Road 
running  from  Tanjore  to  South  Arcot  The  village  is  purely  agricultural, 
66  per  cent  of  the  population  being  cultivators;  total  pop.  (187 1), 
10 14;  houses,  143,  Close  to  the  village  is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able but  least  known  temples  in  Southern  India.  The  building  consists 
of  one  large  enclosure,  measuring  584  feet  by  372.  This  was  evidently 
once  well  fortified  by  a  strong  surrounding  stone  wall,  with  batteries  at 
each  corner.  In  1836,  however,  the  batteries  were  almost  entirely 
destroyed,  and  the  wall  removed,  to  provide  materials  for  the  dam 
across  the  river  Coleroon  known  as  the  Lower  Anicut,  which  was  then 
under  construction.  In  the  place  of  the  old  wall,  a  low  one  of  stone 
has  been  built  on  two  sides  of  the  enclosure,  but  the  other  sides  have 
been  left  open.  The  Vimana  in  the  centre  of  the  courtyard  is  a  very 
conspicuous  building,  and  strikes  the  eye  from  a  great  distance.  The 
pyramid  surmounting  it  reaches  a  height  of  174  feet  The  ruins  of 
six  gopuras,  or  gate  pyramids,  surmount  different  parts  of  the  building. 
That  over  the  eastern  entrance  to  the  main  enclosure  was  evidently 
once  a  very  fine  structure,  being  built  entirely  of  stone  except  at  the  very 
top.  It  is  now  almost  completely  in  ruins.  All  the  lower  part  of  the 
centre  building  is  covered  with  inscriptions,  which  have  not  as  yet 
been  deciphered.  Dr.  Caldwell  is  of  opinion  that  this  temple  is  one 
of  the  great,  if  not  the  greatest,  of  present  Hindu  temples,  and  that 
the  old  and  splendid  temple  of  Tanjore  is  probably  merely  a  model  of 
it.  Tradition  says  that  the  village  was  once  one  of  the  principal  seats 
of  the  Chola  kings ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  formerly  a  much 
more  important  spot  than  it  now  is.     Northward  from  its  site  runs  an 


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GANGA  WALI— GANGES  RIVER.  291 

embankment  16  miles  long,  provided  with  several  substantial  sluices, 
and  of  great  strength,  which  in  former  times  must  have  formed  one  of 
the  largest  reservoirs  in  India  This  huge  tank  or  lake  was  filled  partly 
by  a  channel  from  the  Coleroon  river,  upwards  of  60  miles  in  length, 
which  enters  it  at  its  southern  end ;  and  partly  by  a  smaller  channel  from 
the  Vellar,  which  entered  it  on  the  north.  Traces  of  both  these  channels 
still  remain.  The  tank  has  been  ruined  and  useless  for  very  many 
years,  and  its  bed  is  now  almost  wholly  overgrown  with  high  and  thick 
jungle.  It  is  said,  traditionally,  that  its  ruin  was  wilful,  and  the  act  of  an 
invading  army.  'AH  round  the  Pagoda  and  village,  but  completely 
overgrown  with  jungle,  are  some  remains  of  ancient  buildings,  now  much 
resembling  the  mounds  or  "  heaps "  which  indicate  the  site  of  ancient 
Babylon,  but  in  which  the  village  elders  point  out  the  various  parts  of 
an  extensive  and  magnificent  palace.  When  this  palace  was  in  exist- 
ence, Ganga-kanda-puram  was  the  wealthy  and  flourishing  capital  of  a 
small  monarchy ;  and  the  great  tank  spread  fertility  and  industry  over 
miles  and  miles  of  what  is  now  trackless  forest' — (Pharaoh).  It  has 
more  than  once  been  projected  to  restore  this  magnificent  work,  and  to 
supply  it  by  a  channel  from  the  Upper  AnicuL 

G&ng&wali.  —  Seaport  in  Subdivision  of  North  Kanara  District, 
Bombay.  Lat  140  36'  n.,  long.  74°  21'  e.  Average  annual  value  of 
trade  for  five  years  ending  1873-74  —  exports,  ,£1311;  imports, 
^240. 

Ganges. — The  great  river  of  Northern  India,  formed  by  the  drainage 
of  the  southern  ranges  of  the  Himalayas.  This  magnificent  stream, 
which  in  its  lower  course  supplies  the  river  system  of  Bengal,  rises  in  the 
Garhwal  State,  in  lat  30°  56'  4"  n.,  and  long.  79°  6'  40"  e.,  and  falls 
into  the  Bay  of  Bengal  after  a  course  of  1557  miles.  It  issues  under  the 
name  of  the  Bhagirathi  from  an  ice  cave  at  the  foot  of  a  Himalayan 
snow-bed  above  Gangotri,  13,800  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  During 
its  earlier  passage  through  the  southern  spurs  of  the  Himalayas,  it 
receives  the  Jahnavi  from  the  north-west,  and  subsequently  the  Alak- 
nanda,  after  which  the  united  stream  takes  the  name  of  the  Ganges. 
Deo  Prayag,  their  point  of  junction,  is  a  celebrated  place  of  pilgrimage, 
as  is  also  Gangotri,  the  source  of  the  parent  stream.  At  Sukhi,  it  pierces 
through  the  Himalayas,  and  turns  south-west  to  Hardwar,  also  a  place 
of  great  sanctity.  Thence  it  proceeds  by  a  tortuous  course  through  the 
Districts  of  Dehra  DiSn,  Sahiranpur,  Muzaffarnagar,  Bulandshahr,  and 
Farrukhabad,  in  which  last  District  it  receives  the  Ramganga.  At 
Allahibdd,  the  type  of  the  river  changes.  Heretofore,  the  Ganges  has 
been  little  more  than  a  series  of  shoals,  pools,  and  rapids,  except,  of 
course,  during  the  melting  of  the  snows  and  the  rainy  season.  At 
Allah^Wd,  however,  668  miles  from  its  source,  it  receives  the  Jumna,  a 
mighty  confluent,  which  also  takes  its  rise  in  the  Himalayas  to  the  west 


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292  GANGES  RIVER. 

of  the  sources  of  the  Ganges.  The  combined  river  winds  eastwards  by 
south-east  through  the  North-Western  Provinces,  receiving  the  Gumti 
and  the  Gogra.  The  point  of  junction  of  each  of  these  streams  has 
more  or  less  claim  to  sanctity.  But  the  tongue  of  land  at  Allahdbid, 
where  the  Jumna  and  the  Ganges  join,  is  the  true  Praydg,  0e  place  of 
pilgrimage,  to  which  hundreds  of  thousands  of  devout  Hindus  repair  to 
wash  away  their  sins  in  the  sacred  river. 

Of  all  great  rivers  on  the  surface  of  the  globe,  none  can  compare 
in  sanctity  with  the  Ganges,  or  Mother  Ganga,  as  she  is  affectionately 
called  by  devout  Hindus.  From  her  source  in  the  Himalayas  to  her 
mouth  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  every  foot  of  her  course  is  holy  ground ; 
and  many  of  the  other  sacred  rivers  of  India  borrow  their  sanctity 
from  a  supposed  underground  connection  with  her  waters.  It  is 
interesting  to  observe  that  this  superstition  is  not  to  be  found  in  the 
earliest  books  of  Sanskrit  literature,  composed  at  a  time  when  the 
primitive  Aryan  race  had  not  yet  penetrated  into  the  great  plain  of 
Eastern  Hindustan.  The  legend  of  the  Ganges  first  appears  in  the  two 
epic  poems  of  the  Mahdbhdrata  and  Rdmdyana%  and  affords  abundant 
scope  for  the  mytho-poetic  faculty  subsequently  displayed  in  the 
voluminous  literature  of  the  Purdnas.  In  this  legend,  which  admits  of 
numerous  variations,  the  three  supreme  gods  of  the  Hindu  Pantheon 
— Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva — each  perform  a  conspicuous  part,  so 
that  the  Ganges  has  been  preserved  from  sectarian  associations.  The 
human  dramatis  persona  in  the  story  are  localized  as  princes  of  Ayodhya, 
the  modern  Oudh.  Ganga  herself  is  described  as  the  daughter  of  the 
Himalayas,  who  is  persuaded,  after  infinite  solicitation,  to  shed  her 
purifying  stream  upon  the  sinful  earth.  The  ice-cavern  beneath  the 
glacier  at  Gangotri,  from  which  the  river  springs,  is  represented  as  the 
tangled  hair  of  the  god  Siva.  The  names  of  Bhagirathi  and  Sagar 
have  a  prominent  place  in  the  legend. 

After  the  lapse  of  twenty  centuries,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  rival 
religions,  veneration  for  the  Ganges  still  figures  as  a  chief  article  in 
the  creed  of  modern  Hinduism.  The  pre-eminently  sacred  spots  on 
its  banks — Gangotri,  Hardwar,  Allahabad,  Benares,  and  Sagar 
Island— are  frequented  by  thousands  of  pilgrims  from  every  Province 
of  the  peninsula.  Even  at  the  present  day  the  six  years'  pilgrimage 
from  the  source  to  the  mouth,  and  back  again,  known  as  Pradaksht'na, 
is  performed  by  many ;  and  a  few  fanatical  devotees  may  yet  be  seen 
wearily  accomplishing  this  meritorious  penance  by  'measuring  their 
length.'  To  bathe  in  the  Ganges,  especially  at  the  great  stated 
festivals,  will  wash  away  the  stain  of  sin;  and  those  who  have  thus 
purified  themselves  carry  back  bottles  of  the  sacred  water  to  their 
less  fortunate  relations.  To  die  and  be  burned  on  the  river  bank  is  a 
passport  to  eternal  bliss.     Even  to  exclaim  '  Ganga,  Ganga,'  at  the 


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GANGES  RIVER.  293 

distance  of  a  hundred  leagues,  will  atone  for  the  sins  committed  during 
three  previous  lives. 

The  river  thus  reverenced  by  the  Hindus  deserves  their  homage  by 
reason  of  its  exceptional  utility  for  agriculture  and  navigation.  None 
of  the  other  rivers  of  India  approaches  the  Ganges  in  beneficence. 
The  Brahmaputra  and  the  Indus  may  have  longer  streams,  as  measured 
by  the  geographer,  but  the  upper  courses  of  both  lie  hidden  within  the 
unknown  recesses  of  the  Himalayas.  Not  one  of  the  great  rivers 
of  Central  or  Southern  India  is  navigable  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
term.  The  Ganges  begins  to  distribute  fertility  as  soon  as  it  reaches 
the  plains,  within  200  miles  of  its  sources ;  and  at  the  same  point  it 
becomes  in  some  sort  navigable.  Thenceforwards  it  rolls  majestically 
down  to  the  sea  in  a  bountiful  stream,  which  never  becomes  a  merely 
destructive  torrent  in  the  rains,  and  never  dwindles  away  in  the  hottest 
summer.  If  somewhat  diminished  by  irrigation,  its  volume  is  forthwith 
restored  by  numerous  great  tributaries ;  and  the  wide  area  of  its  river 
basin  receives  annually  a  sufficient  rainfall  to  maintain  the  supply  in 
every  part.  Embankments  are  in  few  places  required  to  restrain 
its  inundations,  for  the  alluvial  silt  which  it  spills  over  its  banks  year 
by  year  affords  to  the  fields  a  top-dressing  of  inexhaustible  fertility.  If 
one  crop  be  drowned  by  the  flood,  the  cultivator  calculates  that  his 
second  crop  will  abundantly  requite  him. 

Shortly  after  passing  the  holy  city  of  Benares,  the  Ganges  enters  Behar, 
and  after  receiving  an  important  tributary,  the  S6n,  from  the  south,  passes 
Patna,  and  obtains  another  accession  to  its  volume  from  the  Gandak, 
which  rises  in  Nepal.  Farther  to  the  east,  it  receives  the  Kusf,  and  then, 
skirting  the  Rajmahal  Hills,  turns  sharply  to  the  southward,  passing  near 
the  site  of  the  ruined  city  of  Gaur.  By  this  time  it  has  approached  to 
within  240  miles,  as  the  crow  flies,  from  the  sea.  About  20  miles  farther 
on,  it  begins  to  branch  out  over  the  level  country,  and  this  spot  marks 
the  commencement  of  the  Delta,  220  miles  in  a  straight  line,  or  nearly 
300  by  the  windings  of  the  river,  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal  The  main 
channel  takes  the  name  of  the  Padma  or  Padda,  and  proceeds  in  a  south- 
easterly direction,  past  Pabni  to  Goalanda,  where  it  is  joined  by  the 
Jamuna  or  main  stream  of  the  Brahmaputra.  The  vast  confluence  of 
waters  rushes  towards  the  sea,  receiving  further  additions  from  the  hill 
country  on  the  east,  and  forming  a  broad  estuary  known  under  the 
name  of  the  Meghna,  which  enters  the  Bay  of  Bengal  near  Noakhali. 
This  estuary,  however,  is  only  the  largest  and  most  easterly  of  a  great 
number  of  mouths  or  channels.  The  most  westerly  is  the  Hugli, 
which  receives  the  waters  of  the  three  westernmost  distributary  channels 
that  start  from  the  parent  Ganges  in  or  near  Murshidabdd  District. 
Between  the  Hiiglf  on  the  west  and  the  Meghna  on  the  east,  lies  the 
Delta.     The  upper  angle  of  it  consists  of  rich  and  fertile  Districts,  such 


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294  GANGES  RIVER. 

as  Murshidabad,  Nadiya,  Jessor,  and  the  Twenty-four  Parganas.  But 
towards  its  southern  base,  resting  on  the  sea,  the  country  sinks  into 
a  series  of  great  swamps,  intercepted  by  a  network  of  innumerable 
channels.  This  wild  waste  is  known  as  the  Sundarbans,  from  the 
sundri  tree,  which  grows  in  abundance  in  the  seaboard  tracts.  The 
most  important  channel  for  navigation  is  the  Hiiglf,  on  which  stands 
Calcutta,  about  80  miles  from  the  mouth.  Above  this  city,  the 
navigation  is  almost  entirely  conducted  by  native  craft;  the  modern 
facilities  for  traffic  by  rail,  and  the  increasing  shoals  in  the  river,  having 
put  an  end  to  the  previous  steamer  communication,  which  plied  until 
about  i860  to  as  high  up  as  Allahabad.  In  the  upper  portion  of  its 
course  in  the  North-Western  Provinces,  timber  and  bamboos  form  the 
bulk  of  the  river  trade ;  and  in  the  lower  part  bordering  on  Bengal,  stone, 
grain,  and  cotton.  Below  Calcutta,  important  boat  routes  through  the 
Delta  connect  the  HiSgli  with  the  eastern  branches  of  the  river,  both  for 
native  craft  and  steamers.  The  Ganges  is  essentially  a  river  of  great 
cities :  Calcutta,  Monghyr,  Patna,  Benares,  lie  on  its  course  below  its 
union  with  the  Jumna  and  Allahabad  at  the  point  of  junction. 

Till  within  a  recent  period,  the  magnificent  stream  of  the  Ganges 
formed  almost  the  sole  channel  of  traffic  between  Upper  India  and  the 
seaboard.  The  products  not  only  of  the  river  valley,  but  even  the 
cotton  of  the  Central  Provinces,  used  formerly  to  be  conveyed  by  this 
route  to  Calcutta,  But  though  the  opening  of  the  railway  has  caused  a 
revolution  in  the  channels  of  trade,  heavy  goods  in  bulk  still  follow  the 
old  means  of  communication ;  and  the  Ganges  may  yet  rank  as  one 
of  the  most  frequented  waterways  in  the  world  In  1877-78,  the  total 
imports  from  the  interior  into  Calcutta  were  valued  at  36  millions  ster- 
ling, of  which  17  millions  came  vid  the  Gangetic  channels ;  country  boats 
carrying  more  than  14  millions,  and  river  steamers  (chiefly  from  the 
eastwards)  3  millions.  The  downward  traffic,  as  might  be  expected,  is 
most  brisk  in  the  rainy  season,  when  the  river  comes  down  in  flood. 
During  the  rest  of  the  year  the  boats  make  their  way  back  up  stream, 
often  without  cargoes,  either  helped  by  a  favourable  wind  or  laboriously 
towed  along  the  bank.  The  dimensions  of  the  river  traffic  of  Bengal 
may  be  inferred  from  the  following  figures,  which  give  the  number  of 
boats  passing  certain  registration  stations  in  1876-77  : — At  Baman- 
ghata,  on  the  Circular  Canal,  178,627  boats,  of  which  59,495  were 
laden;  at  Hiiglf,  124,357,  of  which  73,233  were  laden;  at  Patna, 
61,571,  of  which  44*3^4  were  laden;  at  Goalanda,  54,329,  of  which 
42,249  were  laden ;  at  Sdhibganj,  43,020,  of  which  30,798  were  laden. 
The  river  trade  of  Bengal  with  the  North-Western  Provinces  and 
Oudh  will  be  seen  from  the  following  statistics  for  1877-78: — Im- 
ports into  Bengal  vib  the  Ganges — oil-seeds,  2,619,818  tnaunds ;  food 
grains,   952,521    tnaunds;    sugar,   970,132   tnaunds;    cotton,    40,192 


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GANGES  RIVER.  295 

maunds ;  exports  from  Bengal — food  grains  (chiefly  rice),  2,299,797 
mounds ;  salt,  481,820  maunds.  Articles  of  European  commerce,  such 
as  wheat,  indigo,  cotton,  and  saltpetre,  mostly  prefer  the  railway,  as 
also  do  the  imports  of  Manchester  piece-goods.  But  if  we  take  into 
consideration  the  new  development  of  the  export  trade  in  oil-seeds,  and 
the  growing  increase  in  the  interchange  of  food  grains  between  various 
parts  of  the  country,  it  seems  probable  that  the  actual  amount  of  traffic 
on  the  Ganges  by  native  craft  has  not  at  all  diminished  since  the  open- 
ing of  the  railway ;  and  the  river  is  not  only  a  rival,  but  also  a  feeder 
to  the  railway.  Stations  favourably  situated  on  its  banks  form  centres 
of  collection  and  distribution  for  the  surrounding  country.  Such  cities 
as  Cawnpore,  Allahibad,  Benares,  and  Patna  have  thus  been  able  to 
preserve  their  former  importance,  while  fishing  villages  like  Sdhibganj 
and  Godlanda  have  by  the  same  means  been  raised  into  river  marts  of 
the  first  magnitude. 

The  catchment  basin  of  the  Ganges  and  its  tributaries  is  bounded  on 
the  north  by  a  section  of  about  700  miles  of  the  Himalayan  range, 
on  the  south  by  the  Vindhya  Mountains,  and  on  the  east  by  the 
ranges  which  separate  Bengal  from  Burma.  The  vast  river  basin 
thus  enclosed,  embraces  391,100  square  miles.  The  flood  discharge 
of  the  Ganges  at  Rajmahal,  after  it  has  received  all  its  important 
tributaries,  was  formerly  estimated  at  1,350,000  cubic  feet  of  water 
per  second  Latest  calculation :  length  of  main  stream  of  Ganges, 
1509  miles  by  the  Hiiglf  route,  or  1557  to  the  Meghna  mouth, 
or  with  its  longest  affluent,  1680;  breadth  at  entrance,  20  miles; 
breadth  of  channel  in  dry  season,  \\  to  2 J  miles;  depth  in  dry 
season,  30  feet ;  high-flood  discharge  at  Rajmahal,  1,800,000  cubic  feet 
per  second;  ordinary  discharge,  207,000  cubic  feet;  longest  dura- 
tion of  flood,  about  40  days.  Average  discharge  at  Hardwar,  when 
the  river  is  at  its  lowest,  7000  cubic  feet  per  second;  at  Benares, 
19,000  cubic  feet  per  second  At  the  point  at  which  it  issues  from  its 
snow-bed,  the  Ganges  is  27  feet  broad  and  15  inches  deep,  13,800  feet 
above  sea  leveL  At  Gangotri,  10  miles  lower,  it  is  43  feet  broad  and 
18  inches  deep;  elevation,  10,319  feet  At  Bhairoghati  the  river  is 
85 u  feet  above  sea  level;  at  Deo  Prayag,  at  its  confluence  with  the 
Alaknanda,  133  miles  from  its  source,  1953  feet ;  at  Hardwa>,  1024  feet ; 
and  at  Cawnpore,  379  feet  above  sea  level  Average  fall  from  Allah4b£d 
to  Benares,  6  inches  per  mile ;  from  Benares  to  Calcutta,  between  4  and  5 
inches ;  from  Calcutta  to  the  sea,  1  to  2  inches.  The  total  length  of 
the  stream  in  its  different  stages,  from  the  source  of  the  Jahnavi  to  the 
Hriglf  mouth  is  returned  as  follows  : — From  the  source  of  the  Jahnavi 
to  the  junction  of  the  Alaknanda  and  Bhagirathi  rivers,  133  miles; 
thence  to  Hardwar,  47  miles ;  thence  to  Allahdtad,  at  its  confluence 
with  the  Jumna,  488  miles ;  thence  to  Sibganj,  where  the  Hiigli  channel 


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296  GANGES  RIVER— GANGES  CANAL. 

commences  in  a  branch  thrown  off  from  the  main  stream,  known  as  the 
Bhagirathi,  563  miles ;  thence  to  the  junction  of  the  Bhagirathf  and 
Jalangf,  below  which  the  stream  takes  the  name  of  the  Hiigli,  120 
miles ;  thence  to  Chandernagar,  48  miles ;  thence  to  the  sea  by  way  of 
Calcutta,  no  miles;  total,  1509  miles.  The  length  from  Chanderna- 
gar to  the  sea  may  be  variously  stated  from  100  to  150,  according  to 
the  point  in  the  estuary  at  which  the  sea  is  reckoned  to  commence. 
The  distance  here  taken  (no  miles)  ends  at  the  Sagar  anchoring  buoy. 
The  water  of  the  Ganges  begins  to  rise  towards  the  end  of  May,  and 
is  usually  at  its  maximum  in  September.  The  following  table,  drawn  up 
by  Captain  Thomas  Prinsep  (quoted  from  Thornton),  illustrates  the  rise 
of  water  in  the  river  at  various  places : — 


Greatest  known 

Rise  in  low 

Annual  Rise. 

Seasons. 

FL      In. 

Fu      In. 

45      6 

29       O 

45       ° 

34      0 

29      6 

28      3 

26      0 

25      6 

32      0 

22      6 

22      0 

23      9 

23      0 

7      0 

6      7 

14      0 

At  Allahabad,  .... 
,t  Benares,      .... 
„  Colgong,     .... 
„  Jalangf,       .... 
,,        ,,       (according  to  Rennell), 
,,  Kumarkhali  (not  quite  certain), 
,,  Agradwip  (Nadiya),     . 
„  Calcutta  (independent  of  tide), 
,,  Dacca  (according  to  Rennell), 

Great  changes  take  place  from  time  to  time  in  the  river  bed,  and 
alter  the  face  of  the  country.  Extensive  islands  are  thrown  up,  and 
attach  themselves  to  the  bank ;  while  the  river  deserts  its  old  bed  and 
seeks  a  new  channel,  it  may  be  many  miles  off.  Such  changes  are 
so  rapid  and  on  so  vast  a  scale,  and  the  corroding  power  of  the  current 
on  the  bank  so  irresistible,  that  it  is  considered  perilous  to  build  any 
structure  of  a  large  or  permanent  character  on  the  margin.  Many 
decayed  or  ruined  cities  attest  the  alterations  in  the  river  bed  in  ancient 
times;  and  within  our  own  days,  the  main  channel  which  formerly 
passed  Rajmahal  has  turned  away  from  it,  and  left  the  town  high  and  dry, 
7  miles  from  the  bank.  The  scheme  of  this  Gazetteer  is  to  deal  with 
India  by  its  administrative  divisions ;  and  much  information  regarding 
the  Ganges  will  be  found  in  the  articles  on  the  Districts,  cities,  etc, 
along  its  route.  For  example,  a  very  full  account  will  be  given  of  the 
Hugli  River,  the  great  commercial  mouth  of  the  Ganges.  To  save 
repetition,  therefore,  the  foregoing  notice  only  attempts  a  brief,  general 
description  of  the  course  of  the  river. 

Ganges  OanaL — An  important  irrigation  work  and  navigable 
channel  in  the  North- Western  Provinces,  passing  through  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  Upper  Doab,  and  watering  a  large  tract  of  country,  from 
Hardwar  to  Cawnpore,  extending  from  lat.  260  30'  30"  to  290  57'  n.,  and 
from  long.  780 13'  to  8o°  21'  15"  e.  The  plan  for  this  great  work  origin- 
ated in  the  success  of  the  Eastern  Jumna  Canal,  coupled  with  the 


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GANGES  CANAL.  297 

periodical  recurrence  of  drought  and  famine  in  the  opposite  half  of  the 
Doab,  which  remained  unprotected  by  the  distributaries  from  that  main 
channel  of  irrigation.  Attention  was  thus  directed  to  the  Ganges  as 
affording  a  constant  water  supply  for  a  similar  undertaking,  which  should 
irrigate  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Doab,  from  the  Siwalik  Hills  to 
Cawnpore  District.  As  early  as  1827,  Captain  Debude  had  proposed 
a  plan  for  utilizing  the  waters  of  the  West  KAli  Nadi,  along  an  ancient 
line  through  the  Districts  of  Meerut,  Bulandshahr,  and  Alfgarh  ;  but  as 
practical  difficulties  would  have  prevented  the  realization  of  this  scheme, 
Colonel  Colvin  in  1836  recommended  the  examination  of  the  Ganges 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hardwdr,  where  it  emerges  upon  the  plains 
from  a  gorge  of  the  Siwdliks.  The  terrible  famine  of  1837-38,  which 
shortly  afterwards  devastated  the  Dodb,  and  caused  an  enormous  loss 
of  life  and  revenue,  directed  the  thoughts  of  our  Government  towards 
the  desirability  of  providing  against  similar  calamities  in  future.  In 
1839,  Major  (afterward  Sir)  Proby  Cautley  was  deputed  to  inspect 
.the  Hardwdr  lowlands,  and  on  his  report  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
investigate  the  question.  On  the  16th  of  April  1842,  the  actual  works 
were  commenced  by  opening  the  excavation  between  Kankhal  and 
Hardwdr.  After  many  delays,  caused  by  administrative  changes  or 
alterations  of  engineering  plans,  the  Ganges  Canal  in  its  earliest  form 
was  opened  on  the  8th  of  April  1854.  In  1866,  a  committee  was  again 
appointed  to  consider  the  advisability  of  further  modifications ;  and 
their  deliberations  resulted  in  the  construction  of  several  new  works, 
and  the  continuance  of  the  main  line  towards  Allahabad,  by  means  of 
a  cut  from  Rdjghdt,  known  as  the  Lower  Ganges  Canal.  The  canal, 
as  at  present  constituted,  derives  its  supplies  from  the  Ganges  at 
Hardwdr.  The  main  channel  then  proceeds  through  the  Districts  of 
Sahdranpur  and  Muzaffarnagar,  giving  off  the  Fatehgarh  branch  in  the 
latter  District  Thence  it  sweeps  in  a  bold  curve  westward,  across 
the  headwaters  of  the  Kdli  Nadi,  and  through  the  heart  of  Meerut 
District.  Near  Begamdbdd  it  trends  south-eastward,  through  Buland- 
shahr and  Alfgarh,  and  at  Akrdbdd  gives  off  the  Etdwah  branch.  The 
main  line  next  continues  across  the  western  corner  of  Etah  District, 
and  through  the  centre  of  Mdinpuri ;  and  after  traversing  the  southern 
pargands  of  Farrukhdbad,  rejoins  the  Ganges  at  Cawnpore.  The 
Fatehgarh  branch,  which  leaves  the  main  channel  in  Muzaffarnagar 
District,  proceeds  almost  parallel  with  the  Ganges  through  the  whole 
western  edge  of  the  Upper  Doab,  ending  near  Andpshahr  in  a  number 
of  minor  distributaries.  The  Etdwah  branch,  leaving  the  main  line  at 
Akrabad,  runs  along  the  south-western  side  of  the  Middle  Dodb,  and 
falls  into  the  Jumna  above  Hamfrpur.  Supply-branches  from  the 
Lower  Ganges  Canal  assist  in  feeding  both  the  main  channel  and  the 
Etdwah  branch  in  their  lower  course.     The  length  of  the  main  canal, 

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298  GANGES  CANAL. 

since  1859-60,  amounts  to  519  miles.  The  minor  branches  vary  much 
from  time  to  time,  as  new  portions  are  opened  or  old  channels  disused. 
The  total  capital  outlay  on  the  canal  up  to  the  end  of  the  year  1875-76, 
amounted  to  £2,826,480.  The  total  revenue  during  that  year,  directly 
or  indirectly  due  to  the  canal,  was  returned  at  .£289,925  ;  of  which  sum 
£212,881  consisted  of  direct  payments  for  water  rates,  navigation,  etc; 
while  £77,043  was  produced  by  increased  land  revenue,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  irrigation.  The  aggregate  amount  of  annual  income  realized 
from  the  opening  of  the  canal  to  the  end  of  the  year  1875-76,  amounted 
to  £2,652,009,  a  sum  which  hardly  falls  short  of  the  original  capital  out- 
lay. Out  of  this  amount,  £2,330,190  consisted  of  direct  income  from 
rates,  etc. ;  while  £321,819  was  due  to  increased  land  revenue.  Against 
these  figures  must  be  set  the  working  expenses,  which  amounted  to 
£105,462  during  1875-76;  and  to  £1,400,982  during  the  whole 
period  from  the  opening  of  the  canal  up  to  the  end  of  that  year. 
The  above  data  show  that  the  net  revenue  to  the  end  of  1875-76 
amounted  to  £929,207,  exclusive  of  the  increased  land  revenue ;  and 
to  £1,251,027,  inclusive  of  increased  land  revenue.  Against  the  net 
profit  thus  calculated  must  be  set  a  sum  of  £2,419,912,  as  charge 
for  interest  on  capital  outlay  to  the  end  of  the  year,  being  at  the 
rate  of  5  per  cent,  up  to  1870-71,  and  4^  per  cent  since  that  date. 
The  difference  between  the  net  revenue  and  the  interest  charge, 
up  to  the  end  of  1875-76,  leaves  an  adverse  balance  of  £1,490,704, 
excluding  land  revenue,  and  £1,168,885,  including  the  increased  land 
revenue.  The  following  statement  shows  the  actual  work  accomplished 
during  the  year  1875-76 : — Average  water  supply  at  Riirki  (Roorkee) 
in  cubic  feet,  kharif  5235,  rabi  4868 ;  area  irrigated  in  acres,  kharif 
317,325,  raH  571,842  —  total,  889,167;  area  irrigated  per  cubic  foot 
of  supply,  178  acres;  length  of  distributaries  open,  3386  miles;  area 
irrigated  per  mile  of  distributary,  262  acres;  water  rate,  £202,813.  In 
calculating  the  economical  value  of  the  canal,  it  is  necessary  to  take 
into  consideration,  not  merely  the  direct  relation  of  revenue  and 
capital,  but  also  the  indirect  benefits  of  security  against  famine,  and 
consequent  ultimate  insurance  of  the  revenue  against  losses  from  non- 
realization,  or  actual  disbursements  for  purposes  of  relief.  The  falls 
along  the  canal  have  been  utilized  in  part  as  a  motive  power  for  mills, 
but  much  of  the  available  power  has  never  yet  been  employed. 
Navigation  takes  place  along  the  entire  length  of  the  main  canal,  and 
consists  in  the  rafting  of  timber,  or  the  carrying  of  merchandise  in 
boats.  The  rafting  is  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  upper  portion  of 
the  main  channel,  as  far  as  the  point  opposite  Meerut  The  number 
of  boats  plying  in  1875-76  amounted  to  325.  Further  details  as  to 
the  agricultural  benefits  derived  from  the  canal,  the  principal  distribu- 
taries, the  crops  specially  irrigated,  and  the  effects  of  percolation,  will 


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GANGES  CANAL,  LOWER.  299 

be  found  under  the  District  notices  of  Saharanpur,  Muzaffarnagar, 
Meerut,  Bulandshahr,  Alfgarh,  Muttra,  Ettu\  Malnpuri,  Etawah, 
Famikhibid,  and  Cawnpore,  all  of  which  see  separately. 

Ganges  Canal,  Lower. — An  important  irrigation  work  in  the  North- 
western Provinces,  designed  to  water  the  whole  southern  portion  of 
the  Doab.  The  new  channel  may  be  regarded  as  a  southward  extension 
of  the  Ganges  Canal,  with  which  it  has  direct  communication.  The 
head  works  draw  their  supply  from  the  river  at  Narora  (lat.  270  47'  n., 
long.  7  8°  18'  e.),  on  the  border  of  Alfgarh  District,  about  4  miles 
below  the  Rajghat  station  of  the  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand  Railway. 
The  main  line  crosses  the  Kali  Nadi  at  Nadral,  and,  running  down 
the  watershed  between  that  stream  and  the  Isan,  is  conveyed  over 
the  latter  river  and  the  Cawnpore  branch  of  the  Ganges  Canal ; 
thence  it  turns  the  head  of  the  Pandu  river,  and,  flowing  between 
that  channel  and  the  Rind,  follows  a  course  south  of  the  East 
Indian  Railway  to  Allahdba*d.  The  present  work  owes  its  origin 
to  a  committee  appointed  in  1866  to  examine  the  various  projects 
for  strengthening  the  irrigating  power  of  the  Ganges  Canal ;  but 
the  scheme  actually  adopted  is  due  to  the  joint  efforts  of  General 
Strachey,  C.S.I.,  Mr.  R.  Forrest,  Major  Jeffreys,  and  Colonel  Brownlow. 
Under  their  design,  the  water  for  the  canal  will  be  raised  at  the  point 
above  mentioned,  with  a  discharge  fixed  at  3500  cubic  feet  in  the  cold 
weather  and  6500  cubic  feet  in  the  rains.  The  main  channel  com- 
mences with  a  bottom  width  of  216  feet,  a  slope  of  6  inches  per  mile, 
and  a  full  supply  depth  of  10  feet  A  distributary  branch  will  be 
thrown  off  at  the  26th  mile,  to  water  the  Kali-Ganges  Doab  in 
Farrukhibdd  District ;  and  at  the  39th  mile  a  supply  channel  will 
diverge,  to  feed  the  Cawnpore  and  Etiwah  branches  of  the  Ganges 
Canal,  which  are  intersected  by  the  new  line  at  29  and  37  miles 
respectively  in  their  course  below  Nanu.  Henceforth  the  demands  on 
the  water  drawn  for  the  older  work  at  Hardwar  will  cease  at  these 
jxrints,  and  the  upper  canal  will  be  relieved  of  irrigation  128  miles  above 
Cawnpore  on  the  branch  for  that  District,  and  130  miles  on  the  Etiwah 
branch.  The  Lower  Ganges  main  line  will  then  pass  on  through  Etah 
and  Mainpuri  Districts,  crossing  the  rivers  Isan  and  Kali  by  aqueducts 
in  its  34th  and  112th  miles,  and  the  Cawnpore  branch  of  the  Ganges 
Canal  at  its  94th  mile.  Then,  heading  the  Pandu  Nadi,  the  line  will 
cut  off  a  corner  of  Etawah  District,  intersect  that  of  Cawnpore,  and, 
running  along  a  narrow  watershed  between  the  Pandu  and  the  Rind  to 
Fatehpur  District,  will  continue  in  a  still-water  channel  to  Allahibid. 
Through  the  latter  portion  of  its  course,  it  will  interfere  but  little  with 
the  natural  drainage  of  the  country ;  and  on  approaching  the  Sasur 
Khaderi  Nala,  will  skirt  the  right  bank  of  the  Jumna,  into  which  the 
surplus  waters  will  find  their  way  by  a  dry  ravine.     From  the  Etawah 

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3oo  GANGES  CANAL,  LOWER. 

branch  the  Bhognipur  line  will  water  the  tract  between  the  Sengar 
and  the  Jumna.  The  main  line  will  be  navigable  to  Allahibid ;  the 
Cawnpore  branch  itself  is  already  fit  for  that  purpose ;  and  the  Etawah 
branch  will  undergo  the  necessary  remodelling.  A  still-water  channel 
will  also  connect  the  town  of  Fatehgarh  with  the  main  line.  The 
original  scheme  embraced  in  all  555  miles  of  new  trunk  lines,  estimated 
at  a  total  cost  of  £1,825,845  ;  and  if  we  add  to  this  sum  the  primary 
cost  of  the  Cawnpore  and  Etawah  branches,  now  absorbed  by  the  new 
project,  the  capital  account  would  rise  to  .£2,226,523.  Estimates 
return  the  probable  gross  income  at  .£258,000 ;  and  the  net  income  at 
£195,000,  giving  a  direct  profit  of  8*8  per  cent  From  these  approxi- 
mate figures,  and  the  actual  cost  of  the  Ganges  Canal,  it  would  seem 
that  the  total  ultimate  outlay  on  this  great  united  system  of  protective 
irrigation  will  not  probably  exceed  the  sum  of  5  millions  sterling. 
Three  divisions  of  the  work  were  set  on  foot  during  the  year  1873-74, 
at  Narora,  Kasganj,  and  Bhongdon,  comprising  the  necessary  prepara- 
tions for  107  miles  of  main  canal  and  24  miles  of  supply  channel.  The 
chief  engineering  feat  of  the  upper  portion  consists  in  the  weir  and  head- 
works  at  Narora,  which  include  a  solid  wall  3800  feet  in  length,  with  a 
section  of  10  feet  by  9,  having  42  weir-sluices,  founded  on  rows  of  huge 
square  blocks.  Among  other  important  works  now  (1877)  completed 
may  be  mentioned  the  approach  to  the  canal  head  from  the  river,  the 
embankment  and  aqueduct  across  the  Kali  Nadi,  the  double  regulator 
at  the  Cawnpore  branch  crossing  12  large  bridges,  and  3  syphon  culverts 
for  cross  drainage.  Amongst  the  works  still  (1877)  under  construction 
are  scouring  sluices  near  the  head-works,  2  further  syphons,  the  head  of 
the  Fatehgarh  branch,  a  masonry  fall  into  the  Kali  Nadi  escape,  and  a 
fall  at  the  junction  of  the  Upper  Ganges  Canal.  The  outlay  up  to  April  1, 
1877,  amounted  to  an  estimated  sum  of  £1,148,000;  and  a  further 
expenditure  of  about  £170,000  will  bring  the  works  to  a  point  at  which 
the  water  may  be  admitted  by  the  supply  channel  to  feed  the  Cawnpore 
and  Etawah  branches.  Government  proposes  to  open  these  branches 
by  the  1st  of  June  1878;  and  during  the  cold  weather  of  1878-79 
the  first  small  returns  in  the  shape  of  revenue  may  be  expected  to  accrue. 
The  original  estimate  of  cost  has  been  increased  during  the  progress  of 
the  works,  owing  to  changes  of  plan  and  other  causes,  so  that  it  now 
(1877)  amounts  to  £2,296,482,  exclusive  of  indirect  charges  for 
interest  The  revised  scheme  will  bring  under  irrigation  462,706  acres 
of  land  in  the  kharifox  autumn  harvest,  and  739,620  acres  in  the  rabi 
or  spring  harvest,  as  a  maximum  attainable  in  course  of  time.  In 
estimating  the  probable  financial  results  of  this,  as  of  other  Indian 
canals,  it  must  be  remembered  that,  besides  the  direct  benefits  from 
water  dues,  navigation  fees,  etc,  and  the  indirect  benefits  from  increased 
land  revenue  or  other  taxes,  the  canal  irrigation  acts  as  an  insurance 


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GANG1RU—GANGPUR  STATE.  301 

against  famine,  thus  preventing  great  ultimate  loss  to  the  treasury,  and 
affording  a  means  of  safety  for  thousands  among  the  poorer  population 
in  seasons  of  drought  For  further  particulars,  see  Cawnpore,  Etawah, 
Farrukriibid,  Fatehpur,  and  Miinpuri  Districts. 

Gangiru.  —  Agricultural  town  in  Muzafiarnagar  District,  North- 
western Provinces.  Lat  290  18'  N.f  long.  77°  15'  30"  e.  Pop.  (1872), 
5117,  being  2613  Hindus  and  2504  Muhammadans.  Distant  from 
Muzaffamagar  35  miles  south-west  Straggling  village,  with  many  brick 
ruins;  on  a  raised  site,  but  containing  numerous  undrained  water 
holes.  Canal  channel  to  the  east  of  the  town,  and  another  1  mile 
west 

Gangoh. — Town  in  Saharanpur  District,  North-Western  Provinces. 
Lat.  290  46'  20*  n.,  long.  770  18'  e.;  area,  99  acres;  pop.  (1872), 
10,982,  including  5049  Hindus  and  5930  Musalmans.  Distant  from 
Saharanpur  23  miles  south-west  Consists  of  an  old  and  a  new  quarter, 
the  former  founded  by  the  legendary  hero,  Raja  Gang,  from  whom 
the  town  derives  its  name,  and  the  latter  by  the  Muhammadan  saint, 
Shaikh  Abdul  Kaddris,  who  gives  his  title  to  the  western  suburb,  where 
his  tomb  still  stands  in  the  midst  of  many  other  sacred  shrines.  Sur- 
rounded by  groves  of  mango  and  other  trees ;  narrow,  tortuous  streets, 
now  paved  and  drained  with  brick-work;  good  water;  public  health 
generally  above  the  average.  School-house,  charitable  dispensary,  police 
station,  post  office.  Little  trade ;  prosperity  confined  to  money-lenders. 
During  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  Gangoh  was  frequently  threatened  by  the 
rebel  GiSjars  under  the  self-styled  Raja  Fathna ;  but  Mr.  H.  D.  Robert- 
son and  Lieutenant  Boisragon  attacked  and  utterly  defeated  them 
towards  the  end  of  June.  An  income  of  ^519  was  raised  for  local 
purposes  in  1872-73,  being  at  the  rate  of  9^d.  per  head  of  population. 

Gangotri. — Mountain  temple  in  Garhwal  State,  Punjab.  Lat.  30° 
59'  n.,  long.  780  59'  e.  Stands  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Bhagirathi  or 
Ganges,  8  miles  from  its  source,  in  a  small  bay  or  inlet,  surrounded 
by  a  wall  of  unhewn  stone.  The  temple  is  a  square  building,  about  20 
feet  high,  containing  small  statues  of  Ganga,  Bhagirathi,  and  other 
mythological  personages  connected  with  the  spot.  Pilgrims  visit  the 
shrine  as  the  goal  of  their  journey,  regarding  this  point  as  the  source  of 
the  holy  river;  but  no  houses  exist  for  their  accommodation,  and 
comparatively  few  reach  so  far  up  the  course  of  the  stream.  Flasks 
filled  at  Gangotri  with  the  sacred  water  are  sealed  by  the  officiating 
Brahmans,  and  conveyed  to  the  plains  as  valuable  treasures.  Elevation 
above  sea  level,  about  10,319  feet. 

G&ngpur. — Tributary  State  of  Chutia  Nagpur,  Bengal.  Lat.  210  47' 
5"  to  22°  32'  20"  n.,  long.  850  10'  15"  to  850  34'  35"  e.  ;  area,  2484 
square  miles;  pop.  (1872),  73,637.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  Lohar- 
daga  District  and  the  State  of  Jashpur;  on  the  south  by  the  States  of 


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302  GANGPUR  STATE. 

Bondi,  Sambalpur,  and  Bdmrd ;  on  the  east  by  Singbhiim  District ; 
and  on  the  west  by  Rdigarh,  a  chiefship  of  the  Central  Provinces. 

Physical  Aspects. — Gdngpur  consists  of  a  long  undulating  tableland, 
about  700  feet  above  the  sea,  gradually  sloping  down  in  the  north  from 
the  higher  plateau  of  Chutid  Ndgpur ;  the  southern  portion  is  separated 
from  Bdmrd  State  in  the  Central  Provinces  by  the  Mahdvfra  Hills, 
which  rise  abruptly  from  the  plain.  The  whole  tableland  is  broken 
by  detached  ranges  and  isolated  peaks,  rising  to  a  height  of  2240  feet. 
The  chief  rivers  of  Gdngpur  are  the  lb,  the  Sankh,  and  the  South  Koel ; 
the  two  latter  unite  in  the  east  of  the  State,  and,  after  a  southerly  course, 
fall  into  the  sea  in  Cuttack  District  as  the  Brdhmani.  Diamonds  and 
gold  are  occasionally  found  in  the  lb ;  coal  exists  in  Hingfr,  but  is  not 
yet  worked.  The  principal  jungle  products  are  lac,  tdsdr  silk,  resin, 
and  catechu.     Tigers,  leopards,  wolves,  bison,  etc  abound. 

History. — Gdngpur,  with  Bonii  and  eight  neighbouring  States  now 
attached  to  the  Central  Provinces,  was  ceded  to  the  British  by  the 
treaty  of  Deogdon  in  1803,  but  was  restored  to  the  Rdjd  of  Ndgpur  by 
special  agreement  in  1806.  It  reverted  to  the  British  under  the  pro- 
visional engagement  with  Madhojf  Bhonsld  (Apd  Sdhib)  in  1818,  and 
was  finally  ceded  to  us  in  1826.  Gdngpur  yields  the  Rdjd  an  annual 
income  of  ^2000 ;  annual  tribute  to  the  British  Government,  ^50. 

Population. — Total  population,  73,637  in  1872,  being  37,751  males 
and  35,886  females ;  density  of  population,  30  per  square  mile ; 
number  of  villages,  601,  or  0*24  per  square  mile;  number  of  houses, 
x3»977i  or  6  per  square  mile ;  persons  per  village,  123  ;  average  number 
of  persons  per  house,  5*3.  Classified  according  to  race — Pure 
aborigines  (Dravidian  and  Kolarian),  45,208,  or  61*3  per  cent  of  total 
population;  semi  -  Hinduized  aborigines,  9843,  or  13*4  per  cent; 
Hindus,  18,349,  or  24*9  per  cent ;  Muhammadans,  231,  or  03  per 
cent  Of  the  Dravidian  races  the  Bhuiyds  are  the  most  numerous, 
amounting  in  1872  to  13,828;  the  Urdons  numbered  10,069.  For  a 
full  account  of  these  tribes,  see  Statistical  Account  of  Bengal,  vol  xvii. 
pp.  192-195.  The  residence  of  the  Rdjd  is  at  Suddf,  on  the  lb,  the 
valley  of  which  is  very  fertile.  Chief  crops — rice,  sugar-cane,  oil-seeds, 
and  tobacco.  Villages  in  Gdngpur  are  held  either  on  feudal  tenures  or 
on  farming  leases.  The  feudal  tenures  date  from  early  times,  when  the 
vassals  of  the  chief  received  grants  of  land  in  consideration  of  rendering 
military  service,  and  making  certain  payments  in  kind.  These  pay- 
ments have  been  commuted  for  a  quit-rent  in  money ;  but  the  attend- 
ance of  the  vassals  with  rusty  matchlocks  or  bows  and  arrows  is  still 
enforced  when  the  chief  moves  through  his  domains. 

In  the  hamlets,  the  priests  of  the  aboriginal  deities  rank  next  to  the 
Gdontid ;  their  duties  are  to  decide  boundary  disputes,  to  propitiate  the 
gods  of  the  mountains  and  forest,  and  to  adjudicate  on  charges  of 


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GANGURIA—GANJAM  DISTRICT.  303 

witchcraft  Since  the  State  came  under  British  rule,  human  sacrifices 
have  been  abolished.  The  police  force  is  purely  indigenous.  The 
feudatories,  with  one  exception,  form  a  rural  militia. 

GanguriA. — Village  and  headquarters  of  a  police  circle,  in  Bardwdn 
District,  Bengal  Lat.  230  12'  22"  n.,  long.  88°  8'  48"  e.  ;  population 
under  5000. 

Qanj&m  (Ganj-amad,  'a  granary'  or  cdep6t'). — A  District  in  the 
extreme  north-east  of  the  Madras  Presidency,  lying  between  18°  15' 
and  200  15'  n.  lat,  and  between  830  49'  and  85 °  15'  e.  long.  Area 
(Parliamentary  Return,  1876-77),  8313  square  miles;  population,  accord- 
ing to  the  Census  of  187 1,  1,520,088.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  Purf 
District  in  Orissa ;  on  the  east  by  the  Bay  of  Bengal ;  on  the  south  by 
Vizagapatam  District;  and  on  the  west  by  the  estates  (zaminddris) 
of  Kalihindi,  Patna,  and  Jaipur  (Jeypore). 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  is  mountainous  and  rocky,  but  inter- 
spersed with  valleys  and  fertile  plains.  In  shape  it  resembles  an  hour- 
glass, contracted  in  the  centre,  where  the  Eastern  Ghits  nearly  meet  the 
sea,  and  widening  out  into  undulating  plains  in  the  north  and  south. 
Pleasant  groves  of  trees  give  to  the  scenery  a  greener  appearance  than 
is  usually  met  with  in  the  plains  farther  to  the  south ;  whilst  the  rugged 
mountains,  frequently  covered  with  dense  jungle,  relieve  the  eye.  A 
chain  of  fresh-water  or  brackish  lakes  runs  all  along  the  coast,  being 
separated  from  the  sea  by  narrow  strips  of  sand.  Salt  swamps  and 
backwaters  are  also  not  uncommon.  The  chain  of  the  Eastern  Ghits, 
known  as  the  Mdliyds,  which  occupies  the  western  portion  of  the 
District,  rises  to  an  average  height  of  about  2000  feet.  The  principal 
peaks  are — Mahendragiri  (4923  feet),  Singhardj  (4976),  and  Deodonga 
(4534).  The  form  of  the  Maliyd  Mountains  is  usually  conical,  and 
they  are  more  or  less  wooded  along  the  sides ;  whilst  the  fertile  valleys 
lying  between  are  either  cultivated  by  the  rude  aboriginal  tribes  who 
inhabit  the  tract,  or  afford  pasture  to  large  herds  of  buffaloes,  cows,  or 
goats.  The  passes  wflich  lead  from  the  low  country  of  Ganjam  into 
the  Mdliyds  along  their  entire  length  of  some  140  miles,  are  very 
numerous ;  but  only  one,  the  Kalinga  Ghdt,  possesses  a  road  available 
for  wheeled  traffic  Many  of  the  passes  are,  however,  available  for 
elephants  and  other  beasts  of  burden,  although  the  paths  are  generally 
rocky,  rugged,  and  steep.  The  chief  rivers  are — (1)  the  Rushikulya  in 
the  north,  which  rises  in  the  hills  beyond  the  District  boundary,  and, 
after  a  course  of  about  100  miles,  falls  into  the  sea  near  Ganjam  town ; 
the  river  is  not  ordinarily  navigable,  but  rafts  can  be  floated  down  it 
in  the  flood  season  between  June  and  November :  (2)  the  Vamsadhara 
rises  in  the  Jdipur  (Jeypore)  Hills,  and,  after  a  course  of  about  145  miles, 
falls  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal  near  Kalingapatam  in  the  south  of  the  Dis- 
trict ;  more  or  less  navigable  for  about  65  miles  from  its  mouth,  but  as 


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304  GANJAM  DISTRICT. 

the  banks  are  steep  and  fringed  with  trees,  the  want  of  a  towing-path 
is  a  great  obstruction  to  navigation  :  (3)  the  Ldnguliya*  takes  its  rise  in 
Kaldhandf,  and,  after  flowing  for  about  115  miles,  enters  the  sea  near 
Maphuz  Bandar.  Besides  these  rivers,  there  are  numerous  mountain 
streams  and  torrents,  which  are  utilized  for  the  purposes  of  irrigation. 
The  banks  of  the  rivers  are  usually  steep  and  high,  and  there  is  in  all 
of  them  a  great  tendency  to  accumulate  silt  Their  channels  dry  up  in 
the  hot  season,  but  during  the  rains  between  June  and  November  they 
are  usually  in  full  flood  and  frequently  overflow  the  country.  Owing 
to  the  vicinity  of  the  Eastern  Gh£ts  to  the  sea,  however,  the  floods 
subside  with  rapidity,  and  from  the  same  cause  the  rise  of  the  waters  in 
the  rivers  is  frequently  so  great  as  to  cause  considerable  damage  to 
property,  and  not  unfrequently  loss  of  life.  Sea  and  river  fisheries 
form  an  important  industry,  and  the  fishing  castes  are  returned  at  nearly 
50,000,  or  3 -3  per  cent,  of  the  Hindu  population.  Pearl  oysters,  but 
of  an  inferior  quality,  are  found  in  the  Sonapur  backwater,  and  in  the 
canal  which  runs  from  the  Chilkd  Lake  to  the  Rushikulya  river.  Iron- 
ore,  limestone,  building  stone,  sandstone,  talc,  and  crystal  comprise  the 
mineral  products.  Timber  forests  are  numerous  and  extensive,  con- 
sisting chiefly  of  sdl>  with  satin-wood,  sandal,  and  ebony,  in  smaller 
quantities.  Bees-wax,  honey,  turmeric,  and  myrabolans  are  jungle 
products,  and  important  articles  of  commerce,  being  sold  by  the  hill 
Kandhs  to  the  low-country  merchants.  Wide  grazing  grounds  exist, 
which  afford  pasturage  to  large  herds  of  cattle.  Wild  beasts  are 
numerous  in  the  hills. 

History. — Ganjam  anciently  formed  part  of  the  southern  kingdom  of 
Kalinga.  Its  early  history  is  involved  in  obscurity,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  long  line  of  Gajapati  or  Ganga-vansa  kings  (1 132-1532) 
occupied  Orissa  that  the  adjoining  District  of  Ganjim  was  annexed  to 
that  Province.  Owing  to  the  nature  of  the  country,  Ganjam  was  only 
nominally  reduced  by  the  Musalmans,  who  overran  Orissa  for  the 
first  time  about  1560.  In  1641,  the  king  of  the  Kutabshahi  kingdom 
sent  a  deputy,  Sher  Muhammad  Khin,  to  Chicacole  (Chikakol)  to  rule 
over  the  country  as  its  first  Faujddr.  The  present  Ganjam  District  formed 
under  the  Musalmans  a  part  of  the  Chicacole  Circar,  and  the  country 
south  of  the  Rushikulya  river  at  Ganjam,  as  far  as  Kasibuga,  was  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Ichhapiir  Province.  Different  Faujdars  and  Niibs 
continued  to  rule  over  the  Chicacole  Circar  until  1753,  in  which  year 
the  Northern  Circars  were  granted  to  the  French  by  Salabat  Jang,  to 
cover  the  pay  and  equipment  of  the  French  auxiliaries  in  his  service. 
M.  de  Bussy,  who  managed  the  affairs  of  the  French  at  Hyder- 
abad, proceeded  to  the  Northern  Circars  in  person  in  1757,  in  order 
to  secure  the  revenues  on  behalf  of  his  native  allies.  After  reduc- 
ing the  country  as  far  as  GiSmsoor,   on   the  south-west  border  of 


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GANJAM  DISTRICT.  305 

Ganjim,   M.  de  Bussy  was  obliged  to  return,  being  recalled  by  M. 
Lally,  the  Governor  of  Pondicherri,   who  required  his  services  at 
the  siege  of  Madras  (1758).    In  1759,  an  expeditionary  force  under 
Colonel  Forde,  sent  from  Bengal  by  Lord  Clive,  was  successful  in  taking 
Masulipatam ;   and  upon  the  key  of  their  position  in  the  Northern 
Circars  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  the  French  found  them- 
selves obliged  to  abandon  Ganjam  and  their  other  factories  in  the 
north.     In  1765,  the  Northern  Circars  were  granted  to  the  English  by 
the  Mughal  Emperor's  Jtrmdn,  dated  the  12th  August  1765 ;  but  it  was 
not  until  the  12th  November  1766,  that  Nizam  AH,  the  Subah  of  the 
Deccan,  agreed  to  ratify  this  firman  by  actually  ceding  the  country  to 
the  English.     In  August  1768,  Mr.  Edward  Cotsford  took  possession 
of  Ganjam  as  the  first  English  Resident,  and  founded  an  English 
factory  there,  which  he  secured  by  means  of  a  small  fort     From  1768 
down  to  1802,  the  Ichhapur  Province  was  ruled  by  a  succession  of 
Residents,  Chiefs  in  Council,  and  Collectors;  and  in  the  latter  year,  the 
country  south  of  the  Pilndi  river,  as  far  as  Chicacole,  was  formed  into 
the  present  District  of  Ganjam.     The  earlier  records  (1 768-1802)  of 
the  District  show  that  the  zaminddrs  were  accustomed  only  to  pay 
their    tributes    under    actual    pressure;    and   that    the  country  was 
continually  in  a  state  of  disturbance  and  confusion.     Plunder,  rapine, 
murders,  and  incendiarism  were  common ;  and  one  zaminddr had  to  be 
reduced  by  troops.     In  1815,  a  severe  epidemic  fever  prevailed  in 
the  town  of  Ganjam,  and  carried  off  some  20,000  people  in  the  course 
of  the  three  years  that  it  raged  in  the  District     In  1816,  the  Pindarfs 
came  down  upon  the  Parla  Kimedi  zaminddrf,  and  spread  fire  and 
sword  from  Ichhapur  to  Ganjam.     In  181 9,  the  disturbances  in  the 
Pirla  Kimedi  and  Mohirry  zaminddris  had  risen  to  such  a  height,  that 
Government  sent  Mr.  Thackeray  to  Ganjam  as  Special  Commissioner 
to  devise  means  for  quieting  the  country.     It  needed  the  presence  of  a 
strong  body  of  regular  troops  to  crush  the  spirit  of  insubordination 
which  had  been  fostered  in  the  District  by  many  years  of  a  weak  and 
vacillating  policy.     In  1834-35,  the  Parla  Kimedi  campaign  took  place, 
Brigadier-General  Taylor  in  command.      The  judicious  measures  of 
Mr.  George  Russell,  the  Special  Commissioner  in  this  and  the  two 
succeeding  Giimsdr   campaigns  of  1835-37,  did  much  to  place  the 
District  on  a  more  satisfactory  footing,  by  reducing  the  two  most 
refractory  and  influential  zaminddrs  in  the  District.     The  first  contact 
of  the  English  with  the  aboriginal  Kandhs  occurred  in  1836,  when  it 
was  discovered  that  they  were  addicted  to  the  practice  of  human 
sacrifice  (Meriah).    A  special  Agency,  under  European  officers,  was 
deputed  to  the  tract,  and  succeeded  in  inducing  the  Kandhs  to  abandon 
the  rite.     In  1865,  a  partial  rising  of  the  Kandhs  took  place,  but  it  was 
of  an  unimportant  character,  and  was  suppressed  without  the  aid  of 

VOL.  III.  u 

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3©6  GANJAM  DISTRICT. 

regular  troops.      Since  then   the    District  has  enjoyed  undisturbed 
peace.     (For  further  details,  see  my  Orissa9y6L  i.  18  ;  iL  49-53.) 

Population. — A  Census  of  the  District  was  taken  in  187 1,  which 
returned  a  total  population  of  1,520,088,  inclusive  of  the  hills.  Ex- 
cluding these  sparsely  populated  tracts,  the  population  of  the  plains 
amounted  to  1,388,976 — viz.  695,295  males  and  693,681  females.  The 
population  is  almost  entirely  composed  of  Hindus,  who  are  returned  at 
I>S13>673>  or  99*6  per  cent, divided  as  follows: — Vishnuvites,  1,163,002 ; 
Sivaites,  130,925;  Lingayats,  5743;  other  Hindus,  214,003.  The 
Muhammadan  population  numbers  4826,  comprising  3422  Sunnis,  177 
Shias,  14  Wahabfs,  and  12 13  *  others.'  Christians  number  1413,  of 
whom  149  are  Europeans,  205  Eurasians,  679  native  Christians,  and 
10  'others.'  Buddhists  and  Jains  number  45;  and  all  others,  501. 
The  aboriginal  tribes  inhabiting  the  hill  tracts  are  principally  Kandhs 
(55,735)  and  Sauras  (21,656),  who  have  now  nearly  all  embraced  some 
form  of  Hinduism,  and  are  included  in  the  general  number  of  Hindus 
returned  above.  Ethnically,  the  Uriyas  form  two-thirds  of  the  District 
population,  the  remainder  being  for  the  most  part  Telugus.  Their 
manners  and  customs  differ,  and  they  speak  a  distinct  language.  The 
Uriyas  are  chiefly  found  in  the  north  of  the  District,  extending  as  far 
south  as  P£rla  KimedL  South  of  Kasibuga\  and  throughout  the 
Chicacole  Division,  the  larger  number  of  the  inhabitants  are  Telugus. 
There  is,  however,  no  clearly  defined  line  between  the  country  occupied 
by  the  two  races.  The  principal  towns  in  Ganjam  are — Berhampur 
(1871),  21,670;  Parla  Kimedi,  15,958;  Chicacole,  15,587;  Ichha- 
pur,  12,493;  Baruva,  6739;  Raghunadhapuram,  5206;  Kalinga- 
patam,  4675;  Aska,  4225;  Ganjam,  4163;  Russellkonda,  2625;  and 
Gopalpur,  2416.  Forty-three  other  towns  contain  upwards  of  2000 
inhabitants.    The  only  municipalities  are  Berhampiir  and  Chicacole. 

Agriculture.  —  Principal  crops :  —  ( 1 )  Cereals — rice,  cholam,  ragi, 
wheat,  kambu;  (2)  Pulses  and  oil-seeds  —  gingelly,  castor-oil,  rape, 
methi%  ddl,  and  several  other  varieties  of  gram;  (3)  Fibres — cotton, 
hemp,  flax,  jute ;  (4)  Miscellaneous  —  sugar-cane,  tobacco,  chillies, 
indigo,  onions,  garlic.  Agricultural  operations  commence  in  June, 
during  which  month  the  rains  of  the  south-west  monsoon  usually  begin 
to  falL  In  June  the  early  dry  grains  and  paddy  seed  (rice)  intended 
for  transplanting  are  sown.  Rice  is  sometimes  sown  broadcast,  but  is 
usually  transplanted  from  specially  prepared  seed-beds.  In  July  and 
September  an  ample  and  continued  supply  of  water  is  essential  to  the 
growth  of  the  young  plants.  The  reaping  of  the  rice  or  paddy  crop 
commences  soon  after  the  1st  November,  and  sometimes  lasts  until 
the  15th  January,  according  as  the  season  has  been  early  or  late. 
An  early  season  betokens,  as  a  rule,  a  favourable  harvest  The  dry 
grain  crops  {i.e.,  those  grown  upon  unirrigated  land)  and  early  paddy 


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GANJAM  DISTRICT.  307 

are  reaped  between  the  1st  September  and  the  15th  October.  The 
after  crop  of  dry  grains  continues,  however,  to  be  reaped  from  the 
middle  of  February  to  the  beginning  of  ApriL  A  second  crop  of  rice 
in  Ganjam  is  almost  unknown ;  it  occurs,  however,  in  a  tract  of  land 
not  far  from  Ichhapur,  bordering  upon  the  sea.  Neither  cotton  nor 
fibre  cultivation  is  pursued  in  Ganjam,  to  the  decrease  of  food  grains. 
The  sugar-cane  grown  in  Ganjam  is  of  excellent  quality,  and  is  said  to 
be  the  best  in  India.  It  demands  more  care  and  attention,  however, 
than  any  other  crop,  and  is  never  grown  for  two  years  in  succession 
on  the  same  land.  The  ground  requires  to  be  well  manured  with 
oil-cake  or  other  suitable  manure.  Sugar-cane  is  estimated  to  require 
one-third  more  water  than  rice,  and  takes  ten  months  before  it  reaches 
maturity.  In  spite  of  these  drawbacks,  however,  the  crop  is  one  which 
is  exceedingly  profitable  to  the  peasant  who  can  afford  to  grow  it  Sugar- 
cane is  chiefly  cultivated  about  Aska. 

Condition  of  the  People. — The  total  area  of  the  District  (1876)  now 
ascertained  by  the  Revenue  Survey,  amounts  to  8500  square  miles,  of 
which  3359  are  comprised  in  the  Maliya  Hill  Tracts,  and  5141  form  the 
plains  portion.  Of  this  latter,  about  one-third  is  returned  as  under 
cultivation,  one-third  as  cultivable,  and  the  remainder  as  uncultivable 
waste.  Rice  occupies  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  area  under  cultiva- 
tion. The  peasantry,  as  a  class,  are  poor,  and  generally  in  debt  to  the 
money-lenders,  forestalling  their  crops  by  borrowing,  or  by  selling  the 
produce  at  a  cheap  rate  for  payment  in  advance.  An  average  holding 
consists  of  about  8  acres,  paying  a  rental  of  about  £2.  Wages  have 
increased  of  late  years.  The  average  rates  from  187 1  to  1876  were,  for 
ordinary  labourers,  from  2^d.  to  3d.  pet  day ;  for  women,  from  i^d.  to 
2d.  per  day ;  and  for  blacksmiths  and  carpenters,  6d.  to  od.  Prices  of 
rice  and  food  grains  have  risen  to  more  than  double  the  rates  prevailing 
in  1850,  and  in  the  case  of  rice,  to  treble  the  former  rates.  The  rates 
in  1876,  per  Madras  garce  of  9^74  lbs,,  were  as  follow : — Best  rice,  ^32  ; 
common  rice,  ^26,  14s. ;  wheat,  £2^ ;  ragi,  ^13,  6s.  Tenures  are 
of  three  kinds — (1)  Rayaftu&ri,  or  small  forms  held  by  individuals  direct 
from  Government ;  (2)  kosht-guta,  in  which  whole  villages  unite  in  a 
system  of  holding  lands  in  common,  direct  from  Government,  with  joint 
responsibility  for  rent ;  (3)  mustaxdrt,  or  the  farming-out  system,  which 
is  confined  to  the  zaminddri  tracts.  By  the  last  system  lands  are  put 
up  to  auction,  either  in  lots  or  in  entire  villages,  and  knocked  down  to 
the  highest  bidder,  who  is  left  to  make  what  profit  he  can  out  of  the 
actual  cultivators  of  the  land. 

Natural  Calamities.  —  Famines,  caused  by  flood  and  drought,  are 
the  principal  natural  calamities  to  which  the  District  is  liable.  The  great 
famine  6f  1865-66  was  principally  confined  to  the  northern  portion  of 
the  District,  but  its  ravages  did  not  reach  the  same  intensity  as  in  the 

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3o8  GANJAM  TOWN. 

Orissa  Districts.  The  famine  was  caused  by  the  failure  of  the  rains 
following  upon  two  years  of  partial  scarcity  in  1863  and  1864.  It  is 
estimated  that  60,000  persons  perished,  either  of  starvation  or  of 
diseases  induced  by  privation. 

Communications^  Manufactures,  etc. — The  District  contains  661  miles 
of  made  road  in  the  plains,  costing  an  annual  expenditure  of^7675  ; 
besides  323  miles  of  road  in  the  hill  country,  maintained  at  a  cost  of 
about  ^700  a  year.  A  tidal  canal,  9  miles  long,  connects  the  Chilka 
Lake  with  the  Rushikulya  river.  Salt  manufacture  is  a  Government 
monopoly,  and  is  carried  on  at  Ganjam,  Naupida,  and  Vomaravilli, 
yielding  a  Government  revenue  of  over  ^200,000  per  annum. 

Administration. — The  District  is  administered  by  a  Collector-Magis- 
trate, who  is  the  chief  executive  and  revenue  officer,  aided  by  3 
European  Assistants,  a  judge,  a  superintendent  of  police,  and  a  staff  of 
subordinate  English  and  native  officials.  The  Government  revenue 
exhibits  a  steady  increase.  In  1805-6,  the  total  revenue  amounted  to 
^88,512,  and  the  expenditure  to  ^6143  ;  in  1850-51,  the  revenue  was 
^136,144,  and  the  expenditure  ^22,325  ;  in  1860-61,  the  revenue  was 
^216,196,  and  the  expenditure  ^23,970;  in  1870-71,  the  revenue 
amounted  to  ^285,397,  and  the  expenditure  to  ^20,710;  while  by 
1875-76,  the  revenue  had  increased  to  ^338,705,  and  the  expenditure 
to  ^28,123.  The  principal  items  are  salt  and  land,  the  former  having 
yielded  in  1875-76  a  total  of  ^196,396,  and  the  latter  of  ^117,348. 
For  the  protection  of  person  and  property,  there  are  27  magisterial  and 
13  civil  and  revenue  courts  in  the  District.  The  regular  District  police 
numbered  1087  officers  and  men  of  all  ranks  in  1871,  costing  ^13,270. 
During  the  year  they  made  5127  arrests,  and  obtained  convictions 
against  2389  persons.  The  average  daily  number  of  prisoners  in  jail 
was  798.  Murders  are  unusually  frequent  in  Ganjam  District,  no  less 
than  26  having  occurred  in  1875.  The  other  prevalent  crimes  are 
housebreaking  and  theft.  Education  is  in  a  very  backward  state,  only 
3 -3  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the  plains  being  able  to  read  and 
write.  In  1875,  there  were  in  the  plains  334  schools  maintained  or 
aided  by  the  State,  and  attended  by  6909  pupils,  besides  17  hill  schools, 
attended  by  about  860  boys. 

Ganj&HL — Town  in  Ganjam  District,  Madras,  Lat  190  22'  27"  n., 
long.  85 °  2'  52"  e.  ;  containing  a  population  (187 1)  of  4163,  and  1298 
houses.  A  seaport,  formerly  the  capital  of  the  District  to  which  it  gives 
its  name,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rushikulya  river,  697  miles  north- 
east of  Madras,  315  miles  south-west  of  Calcutta.  The  town  itself  and 
the  remains  of  the  old  pentagon  fort  are  on  a  rising  slope ;  but  to  north 
of  the  town  the  ground  is  low  and  feverish.  It  was  formerly  a  seat  of 
considerable  trade,  and  of  a  Factory  and  Fort  (1768)  presided  over  by 
a  Chief  and  Council ;  but  since  the  removal  of  the  headquarters  of 


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GANJAM—GANTUR.  309 

the  District  in  181 5,  it  has  declined  in  size  and  importance.  The 
removal  was  caused  by  an  epidemic  fever,  which  carried  off  a  large 
proportion  of  its  inhabitants,  both  European  and  native.  The  sanitary 
condition  of  the  town  has  been  much  improved  of  late.  While  it 
remained  the  chief  town,  Ganjdm  was  remarkable  for  the  magnificence 
of  its  European  residences.  Some  of  these  still  exist,  as  also  the 
remains  of  the  old  forts  (see  my  Orissa,  vol.  i.  p.  17).  The  Government 
salt  manufacture  forms  now  the  principal  industry.  The  fort  of  Ganjdm 
is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rushikulya  river,  but  has  no  harbour,  and 
the  heavy  surf  and  constant  shifting  of  the  sandbanks  render  it  difficult  of 
access.  There  is  a  mud  dock  for  the  repair  of  native  vessels.  European 
steamers  occasionally  visit  the  port.  The  chief  trade  consists  of  the 
export  of  rice.  During  the  ten  years  ending  1876,  the  annual  average 
number  of  ships  calling  at  Ganjdm  was  21,  with  a  tonnage  of  7828. 
Value  of  exports,  ^30,570 ;  imports,  ^2065. 

Gaiy&m. — River,  Madras. — See  Rushikulya. 

Ganj&m. — Suburb  of  Seringapatam,  in  Mysore  District,  Mysore 
State.  Lat  120  24'  n.,  long.  760  47'  e.  It  occupies  the  eastern  or 
upper  portion  of  the  large  island  in  the  Kdveri  (Cauvery)  river,  on  which 
Seringapatam  is  built.  It  was  established  by  Tipii  Sultdn,  who  trans- 
ported hither  thousands  of  families  from  Sfra.  Now  the  most  thriving 
part  of  the  island,  the  residence  of  several  well-to-do  merchants,  with 
manufactures  of  cotton  cloth  and  paper.  The  Karighdta  jdtra  or 
festival  held  in  February  or  March  is  annually  attended  by  20,000 
persons. 

Gantang. — Mountain  pass  in  Bashahr  State,  Punjab,  over  the  range 
dividing  Kundwar  from  Chinese  territory.  Lat  310  38'  n.,  long.  780 
47'  E.  The  highest  part  lies  within  the  limit  of  perpetual  snow. 
Scenery  wild  and  ntgged ;  the  Rishi  Gantang  Mountain  rising  over  the 
pass  to  a  height  of  21,229  feet  above  sea  level,  while  the  crest  of  the 
pass  itself  has  an  elevation  of  18,295  feet.  Fuel  can  be  obtained  with 
great  difficulty,  and  the  pass  is  consequently  but  little  frequented. 

Gonttir  (Guntoor). — fdluk  in  Kistna  District,  Madras.  Houses, 
53,503;  pop.  (1871),  126,997,  viz.  64,148  males  and  62,849  females. 
Classified  according  to  religion,  there  were — Hindus,  114,780,  including 
67,484  Sivaites,  44,822  Vishnuvites,  and  3064  Lingdyats.  The  Muham- 
madans  numbered  9580,  including  8013  Sunnis,  342  Shids,  and  6 
Wahdbfs ;  Christians,  637  (chiefly  Roman  Catholics).  No  Buddhists 
nor  Jains.      Chief  town,  Gantur. 

Gantlir  {Guntoor). — Chief  town  of  above  tdluk,  Kistna  District, 
Madras;  situated  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Road,  about  46  miles  from  Masuli- 
patam.  Lat  160 17' 42" n.,  long.  8o°29'e.;  containing 4480 houses  and 
(187 1)  18,033  inhabitants.  The  headquarters  of  the  sub-collector  and 
the  District  judge  of  Kistna ;  municipal  revenue,  ^2385 ;  incidence 


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310  GANUTIA— GARAG. 

of  taxation,  2s.  7  J d  per  head.  Considerable  trade  in  grain  and  cotton. 
Four  cotton  steam-screw  presses.  A  branch  of  the  Bank  of  Madras 
is  located  in  the  town. 

Gantur  (Guntoor)  was  the  capital  of  a  Circar  (Sarkdr)  under  the 
Muhammadans.  It  was  ceded  to  the  French  by  the  Nizdm  in  1753, 
by  Muzaffar  Jang.  At  the  time  of  the  cession  of  the  Northern 
Circars  to  the  English  in  1766,  Gantdr  was  specially  exempted  during 
the  life  of  Basdlat  Jang,  whose  personal  j'dgir  it  was.  In  1778,  the 
English  rented  it  from  him,  but  it  was  given  up  by  order  of  the 
Governor-General  in  1780.  In  1788,  it  came  again  into  British  pos- 
session, and  the  cession  was  finally  confirmed  in  1803. 

GanutUL— Town  in  Birbhdm  District,  Bengal.  Lat.  230  52'  30*  n., 
long.  870  52'  45"  e.  Situated  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  Mor,  and 
famous  as  the  centre  of  the  silk  industry  of  Birbhiim.  The  Ganutia 
factory  was  established  in  1786,  by  Mr.  Frushard,  a  merchant,  who 
engaged  to  supply  the  East  India  Company  with  silk  at  fixed  rates. 
Mr.  Frushard's  story  is  typical  of  the  *  private  adventurers '  of  the  last 
century.  It  is  told  at  length  in  the  Annals  of  Rural  Bengal,  p.  357, 
et  sea.,  5th  edition.  He  met  with  much  opposition  from  the  District 
officials  in  his  endeavours  to  become  a  producer  of  Birbhiim  silk  on  a 
large  scale.  The  natives  charged  him  the  highest  prices  for  everything, 
and  the  Company  allowed  him  the  smallest  At  length,  in  1790,  he  was 
compelled  to  make  a  final  appeal  to  the  Government  for  relief;  and  in 
1 791,  Lord  Cornwallis  commanded  all  his  arrears  of  revenue  to  be 
remitted,  and  his  rent  to  be  reduced  by  about  one-half.  Thus  relieved, 
Mr.  Frushard  began  to  prosper.  He  converted  the  forest  and  waste 
around  Ganutid  into  thriving  and  prosperous  villages,  and  founded 
little  tributary  factories  throughout  the  whole  north-eastern  jungle  of 
Birbhiim.  His  factory,  rebuilt  several  times,  now  forms  the  most 
imposing  edifice  in  that  District,  and  is  the  property  of  an  English  firm 
in  Calcutta.  The  single  process  of  winding  off  the  cocoons  employs 
2400  artisans,  and  it  has  been  calculated  that  the  factory  supports 
15,000  persons ;  its  average  annual  outlay  was  unofficially  returned  in 
1868  at  about  ^72,000. 

Garag  (Gadag). — Chief  town  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name  in 
Dharwax  District,  Bombay;  43  miles  east  of  Dhaxwar  town.  Lat  15* 
24'  50"  n.,  long.  75°  40'  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  10,319.  Together  with  the 
neighbouring  town  of  Betigeri,  Garag  forms  a  municipality,  with  a  muni- 
cipal revenue  (1874-75)  of  ^1182  ;  rate  of  taxation,  is.  3d.  per  head  of 
the  joint  population  (19)035)  within  municipal  limits.  Garag  is  a  flour- 
ishing town,  with  considerable  trade  in  raw  cotton  and  cotton  and  silk 
fabrics,  the  cotton  trade  alone  amounting  to  upwards  of  ^50,000  a  year. 
There  is  a  sub-judge's  court  and  a  post  office,  together  with  the  chief 
revenue  and  police  offices  of  the  Subdivision ;  a  weekly  market  is  held. 

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GARAI—GARHA.  311 

Garii  (Gorai\ — The  name  given  to  the  upper  reaches  of  the 
M  adhumatf,  the  largest  and  most  important  river  in  Jessor  District, 
BengaL  The  Garii  is  one  of  the  principal  channels  by  which  the 
waters  of  the  Ganges  are  carried  to  the  sea ;  its  chief  tributary  is  the 
Kumir,  which  was  formerly  itself  the  main  stream,  the  Garai  being  then 
a  feeder.  Below  Kushtii,  the  Garii  throws  off  several  cross  streams 
towards  the  Kumir,  the  most  considerable  being  the  Kdliganga.  During 
the  rains  so  much  water  flows  through  this  channel  into  the  Kumir  that 
at  Rimnagar,  near  Migura,  the  latter  has  to  get  rid  of  the  surplus,  and 
discharges  part  of  its  waters  back  again  into  the  Garii  channel.  But  in 
the  cold  season,  when  but  little  water  comes  down  the  Kumir,  this 
cross  stream  flows  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  brings  down  the  waters 
of  the  Garii  towards  Migura  with  the  Nabagangi.  The  Garii  flows  in 
a  southerly  direction  from  Ganespur  to  Haripur,  about  35  miles ;  it  is 
420  yards  wide  in  the  rains,  and  navigable  by  steamers  all  the  year 
round. 

Cktramli  MotiL— One  of  the  petty  States  in  South  Kithiiwir,  Bom- 
bay ;  consisting  of  1  village,  with  1  independent  tribute-payer.  Estimated 
revenue,  ^200,  of  which  ^19  is  paid  as  tribute  to  the  Giekwir  of 
Baroda  and  £2  to  Jundgarh. 

Oaxamli  H4ni— One  of  the  petty  States  in  South  Kithiiwir,  Bom- 
bay ;  consisting  of  1  village,  with  2  independent  tribute-payers.  Estimated 
revenue,  ^"150,  of  which  a  tribute  of  £19  is  paid  to  the  Giekwir  of 
Baroda. 

Oaraspnr. — Town  and  fort  in  Gwalior  State,  Central  India.  Lat.  23* 
40'  n.,  long.  780  9'  e.  Noted  for  some  fine  ancient  buildings  elaborately 
sculptured,  in  the  sandstone  of  the  neighbouring  hills. 

Garden  Reach. — A  suburb  of  Calcutta ;  situated  on  the  HiigK,  3 
miles  south  of  the  city.  Lat  220  32'  35"  n.,  long.  88°  21'  40"  e.  The 
Peninsular  and  Oriental  Navigation  Company  and  the  Messageries 
Maritimes  have  large  establishments  here,  where  passengers  for  Europe 
by  their  mail  steamers  embark.  The  small  forts  of  Aligarh,  on  the  left 
or  Garden  Reach  side  of  the  river,  and  Tanni,  on  the  opposite  bank, 
were  taken  by  Lord  Clive  in  the  recapture  of  Calcutta,  December  1756. 
Branch  dispensary.  The  suburb  was  long  a  favourite  place  of  residence 
of  the  European  inhabitants  of  Calcutta,  and  contains  many  fine  houses, 
situated  in  large  *  compounds.'  These  houses  are  said  to  have  been 
built  between  1768  and  1780.  The  residence  of  the  ex-King  of  Oudh 
has  been  fixed  here  by  the  Government,  and  he  occupies  a  series  of 
magnificent  mansions  on  the  river  bank,  with  menagerie  and  pleasure- 
grounds  attached. 

Gargariba. — Town  in  Maldah  District,  BengaL — See  Haiatpur. 

Garha. — Ancient  town  in  Jabalpur  (Jubbulpore)  District,  Central 
Provinces ;  90  miles  south-east  of  Sigar  (Saugor).     Lat  230 10'  n.,  long. 


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3i2  GARHA—GARHAKOTA  TOWN. 

79°  56'  30*  e.  ;  pop.  (1876),  2588.  Formerly  the  capital  of  the  Gond 
dynasty  of  Garha  Mandla,  whose  ruined  keep,  built  about  1 100  A.D.,  by 
Madan  Sinh,  and  known  as  the  Madan  Mahal,  still  crowns  the  low 
granite  range,  along  the  foot  of  which  the  town  stretches  for  about  2 
miles.  Under  the  Mahal,  to  the  west,  is  the  beautiful  Ganga  S4gar 
tank,  and  near  it  the  large  sheet  of  water  called  the  Bai  Sagar.  Garha 
has  an  excellent  Government  school,  with  about  100  scholars.  The 
trade  is  insignificant,  its  decline  dating  from  the  removal  of  the  Gond 
dynasty  to  Singaurgarh.  The  Garha  mint,  which  coined  an  inferior 
rupee  called  the  Bala  Shahf,  formerly  current  throughout  Bundelkhand, 
was  in  full  operation  when  Mr.  Daniel  Leckie  passed  through  the  place 
in  179a 

Oarha. — A  petty  State  in  the  Giina  (Goona)  Agency,  under  the 
Central  India  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India.  Present  Raja, 
Bijai  Sinh. 

Garha  Kal&n. — Village  in  Binda  District,  North-Western  Provinces. 
Pop.  (1872),  1 2 14,  consisting  chiefly  of  Brahmans  and  Chamars. 
Founded  about  500  years  ago,  and  burnt  during  the  Mutiny  by  troops 
of  the  rebel  Narayan  Rao  of  Karwi,  in  revenge  for  the  inability  or 
unwillingness  of  the  inhabitants  to  provide  supplies. 

Garh&kota. — The  chief  town  of  a  tract  of  the  same  name  in  Sagar 
(Saugor)  District,  Central  Provinces.  Lat  230  47'  n.,  long.  790 1 1'  30"  k.  ; 
situated  in  an  angle  formed  by  the  rivers  Sonar  and  Gadhauri,  27  miles 
east  of  Sagar;  about  1435  ^eet  above  sea  level;  pop.  (1876),  9085. 
It  was  probably  founded  by  the  Gonds,  who  held  it  until  about  1629, 
when  a  Rajput  chief  from  Bundelkhand,  named  Chandra  Sah,  expelled 
them,  and  built  the  fort.  In  1703,  Hirde  Sah,  son  of  the  famous 
Chhatra  Sal,  the  Bundela  Raja  of  Panni,  took  the  fort,  giving  the 
Rajput  chief  in  lieu  the  single  village  of  Naiguwan,  in  Rehli,  still  held 
(1872)  at  a  quit-rent  by  a  descendant  of  Chandra  Sah.  Hirde  Sah 
built  another  town  east  of  the  fort,  on  the  other  6ide  of  the  river,  and 
called  it  after  himself,  Hirdenagar.  Five  years  after  his  death,  which 
happened  in  1739,  dissensions  arose  between  Subha  Sinh  and  his 
younger  brother,  Prithvi  Sinh.  The  latter  invited  the  Peshwa  to  his 
assistance,  promising  in  return  a  fourth  of  the  revenues,  and  by  these 
means  succeeded  in  constituting  himself  ruler  of  the  town  and  tract  of 
Garhakota.  In  1810,  the  Raja  of  Nagpur  invested  the  fort  Mardan 
Sinh,  a  descendant  of  Prithvi  Sinh,  was  killed  in  a  skirmish,  and  his 
son,  Arjun  Sinh,  applied  to  Sindhia,  offering  to  cede  one-half  of  the 
territory  in  payment  for  his  protection.  Sindhia  accordingly  despatched 
an  army  under  Colonel  Jean  Baptiste,  who  defeated  the  Nagpur  troops, 
and  retained  Malthon  and  Garhakota  for  Sindhia,  leaving  for  Arjun 
Sinh  the  country  of  Shahgarh,  with  other  territory.  Baptiste  remained 
for  some  time  at  Garhakota,  as  governor  of  the  fort     In  181 9,  how- 


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GARHAKOTA  RAMNA—GARHBETA.  313 

ever,  Arjun  Sinh  seized  the  fort  by  treachery,  and  held  it  for  six 
months,  when  he  was  ejected  by  a  British  force  under  General  Watson. 
From  that  time  the  English  administered  the  country  on  behalf  of 
Sindhia,  till  in  186 1  an  exchange  was  effected,  and  Garhakota  became 
British  territority. 

Garhakota  really  consists  of  two  towns,  divided  by.  the  river  Sonar — 
Garhakota  and  Hirdenagar,  in  the  latter  of  which  all  the  trade  of  the 
place  is  carried  on.  The  chief  manufactures  are  red  cloths  called  ddhi 
and  pathl,  worn  chiefly  by  women.  Gury  or  coarse  sugar,  is  largely 
produced  and  exported  ;  and  grain,  especially  rice  and  wheat,  sent  both 
north  and  south.  Besides  the  market  held  every  Friday  for  the  sale  of 
grain,  cattle,  and  native  and  English  cloth,  there  is  a  large  cattle  fair, 
beginning  on  the  18th  January,  and  lasting  for  six  weeks,  which  is 
attended  by  about  30,000  persons  from  Gwalior,  Bhopal,  Bundelkhand, 
and  most  Districts  of  the  Central  Provinces.  In  the  year  1868-69,  the 
imports  of  Garhakota  amounted  to  ^16,958,  the  exports  to  ;£  20,068. 
There  is  a  District  post  office,  and  schools  for  boys  and  girls.  The  fort 
is  solidly  constructed  on  a  lofty  eminence  east  of  the  town,  between  the 
rivers  Sonar  and  Gadhairi,  with  an  artificial  moat  on  its  unprotected 
side.  The  inner  walls  enclose  a  space  of  n  acres,  mostly  covered 
with  buildings.  These,  however,  are  in  ruins,  as  also  are  the  outer  walls 
and  bastions,  which  were  partly  levelled  by  sappers,  after  Sir  Hugh  Rose 
captured  the  fort  in  1858.  About  2  miles  north  of  the  town,  on  the 
borders  of  the  Garhakota  Ramna,  stand  the  remains  of  a  large 
summer  palace  built  by  Mardan  Sinh.  The  square  tower  is  still  in  fair 
preservation.  At  the  base,  each  side  measures  about  15  feet ;  and  the 
tower  rises  to  the  height  of  100  feet,  in  6  storeys,  each  slightly  tapering 
upwards.  There  is  a  winding  stone  staircase  the  whole  way  up.  Near 
these  ruins  Sir  Herbert  Maddock,  when  Agent  to  the  Governor-General 
at  Sagar  (Saugor),  built  a  large  flat-roofed  house,  which  has  lately  been 
placed  in  charge  of  the  Forest  Department. 

OarhAkotaRamnA. — Teak  forest  in  Sagar  (Saugor)  District,  Central 
Provinces.     Area,  6  square  miles. 

Garhauli — Rural  town  in  Hamfrpur  District,  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces. Pop.  (1872),  4501.  Distant  from  Hamfrpur  35  miles.  Large 
Chandel  tank,  now  nearly  silted  up,  testifies  to  former  importance.  Two 
annual  fairs,  halkdhbandi  school. 

GarhbetA.  —  Subdivision  of  Midnapur  District,  Bengal;  situated 
between  220  34'  30"  and  22°  57'  n.  lat,  and  between  870  6'  and  87° 
50'  45"  e.  long.  Pop.  (1872),  354,486,  of  whom  311,488,  or  87-9 
per  cent,  are  Hindus;  20,514,  or  5*8  per  cent,  Muhammadans;  18 
Christians;  and  22,466,  or  6*3  per  cent,  of  other  denominations. 
Number  of  villages,  1474,  with  63,511  houses.  Density  of  population, 
546  per  square  mile;  villages  per  square  mile,  2*27;  inhabitants  per 

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314  GARHBORI—GARHGAON. 

village,  240;  houses  per  village,  98 ;  inmates  per  house,  5*6.  The  Sub- 
division comprises  the  thdndsoi  police  circles  of  Garhbeti,  Chandrakona, 
and  Ghatal.  In  1870-71,  it  contained  one  magisterial  and  revenue 
court ;  the  regular  police  force  numbered  67  men ;  the  village  watch, 
420;  cost  of  Subdivisional  administration,  ^15 16. 

Garhbori — Pargand  in  Chanda  District,  Central  Provinces,  con- 
taining 129  villages,  with  an  area  of  576  square  miles.  A  hilly  and 
thickly  wooded  tract,  intersected  from  north  to  south  by  four  branches 
of  the  Andharf,  and  rendered  picturesque  by  the  magnificent  tanks  or 
lakes.  The  soil  is  chiefly  red,  and  devoted  to  rice  and  sugar-cane. 
The  population  mostly  consists  of  Koris  and  Manas. 

Garhbori — Town  in  Chanda  District,  Central  Provinces;  on  a 
branch  of  the  Andharf  river,  16  miles  north-north-west  of  MiiL  Lat 
200  18'  n.,  long.  790  38'  30*  e.  Manufactures  a  sdri  (native  female 
garment)  of  a  peculiar  pattern,  and  produces  excellent  p&n.  The 
houses  cluster  round  a  fortified  hill,  with  forests  on  all  sides ;  and  near 
the  town  are  quarries  of  freestone  and  limestone.  Garhborf  has 
Government  schools  for  boys  and  girls,  and  a  police  outpost 

Oarbchiroli— Town  in  Chanda  District,  Central  Provinces ;  on  left 
bank  of  the  Wainganga  river,  23  miles  east-north-east  of  MiiL  Lat 
20°  11'  n.,  long.  8o°  3'  e.  Brisk  trade  in  cotton,  cotton  cloths,  tasar 
cocoons  and  thread,  jungle  produce,  carts,  and  salt  Government  schools 
for  boys  and  girls,  and  police  outpost 

Garhdiw&la. — Town  in  Hoshiarpur  District,  Punjab.  Lat  31°  44' 
30"  n.,  long.  750  47'  30"  e.;  pop.  (1868),  361 1.  Scene  of  an  important 
fair,  in  honour  of  Devi,  held  in  March  in  September.  Average  attend- 
ance, 20,000  persons. 

Garhg&OIL — Ruined  town  and  fort  in  Sfbsagar  District,  Assam. 
The  earliest  seat  of  government  of  the  Aham  princes,  and  the  capital 
of  their  kingdom  till  the  prosperity  of  the  dynasty  began  to  wane, 
when  it  was  transferred  to  Rangpur  in  the  same  District  about  1698. 
The  fort  and  palace  of  Garhgaonare  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Dikhu 
river,  to  the  south-east  of  Sfbsagar  town.  The  fort  had  bastions  at  the 
corners,  but  they  are  now  destroyed.  The  magazine  was  situated  a 
short  distance  east  of  the  fort.  The  royal  palace,  one  of  the  oldest 
buildings  in  the  Province,  is  described  by  Robinson,  in  his  Descrip- 
tive Account  of  Assam,  as  having  been  '  surrounded  by  a  brick  wall 
about  2  miles  in  circumference ;  but  the  whole  town  and  its  suburbs 
appear  to  have  extended  over  many  square  miles  of  country.  The 
ruins  of  gateways,  built  chiefly  of  masonry,  are  still  to  be  seen  within 
the  fortified  circumvallations  which  surrounded  the  town.  It  may  be 
observed  that  one  of  the  gateways  is  composed  principally  of  large 
blocks  of  stone  bearing  marks  of  iron  crampings,  which  show  that  they 
once  belonged  to  far  more  ancient  edifices.    From  this  evidence  alone, 

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GARHI—GARHSHANKAR.  315 

were  there  no  other,  it  might  safely  be  presumed  that,  long  antecedent 
to  the  conquest  of  the  Ahams,  the  country  had  been  inhabited  by  a 
race  far  advanced  in  some  of  the  arts  of  civilised  life.'  This  ancient 
building  is  fast  falling  into  complete  ruin,  though  not  altogether  by  the 
hand  of  time,  for  the  Survey  Report  for  1867-68  states :  *  It  is  a  great 
pity  that  the  Assam  Company  are  allowed  to  carry  away  the  bricks ; 
they  have  already  pulled  down  the  gates,  a  portion  of  the  palace,  and 
the  wall  enclosing  the  palace.' 

Oarhi  (also  known  as  Bhdisa  Khirt).— Petty  State  in  the  Deputy 
Bhfl  (Bheel)  Agency,  under  the  Central  India  Agency  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  India.  It  consists  of  3  villages  in  Dharamporf,  for  which  the 
chief  pays  a  small  tribute,  and  is  responsible  for  all  robberies.  The 
present  holder  is  Nahar  Sinh. 

Oarhi-Adn-Shah. — Government  town  in  Shikirpur  District,  Sind. 
Pop.  (1872),  1327,  mainly  agricultural :  Muhammadans,  of  Siimra, 
Chichar,  and  Katpar  tribes,  790 ;  Hindus,  chiefly  Brdhmans,  Lohdnos, 
and  Soniros,  537.  One  of  the  Grand  Trigonometrical  Survey  pillars  is 
set  up  here. 

Oarhi  Y&rin. — Municipal  town  in  Shikirpur  District,  Sind.  Lat.  27° 
54'  n.,  long.  68°  33'  15"  e.  Pop.  4808 — Muhammadans,  1814,  chiefly 
Pa  thins;  Hindus,  2994,  principally  Banias.  Municipal  revenue  (1873-74), 
^620 ;  disbursements,  ^543 ;  incidence  of  local  taxation,  2s.  7<L  per 
head.    Considerable  trade  in  oiL    Travellers'  bungalow ;  post  office. 

Garhmukhtesar. — Ancient  town  in  Meerut  (Mfrath)  District,  North- 
western Provinces.  Lat  280  47'  10"  n.,  long.  780  8'  30"  e.  ;  pop.  (1872), 
7962,  being  5401  Hindus  and  2561  Muhammadans.  Stands  on  the 
high  cliffs  of  the  right  bank  of  the  Ganges,  4  miles  below  its  junction 
with  the  Bdrh  Ganga;  distant  from  Meerut  26  miles  south-east 
Originally  a  ward  (mahalla)  in  the  mythical  city  of  Hastinapur,  cele- 
brated in  the  Bhdgavat  Purdna  and  in  the  Mahdbhdrata.  Ancient  fort, 
afterwards  occupied  by  a  Marhattd  leader.  Derives  its  name  from 
the  great  temple  of  Mukhteswara  Mahddeo,  dedicated  to  the  goddess 
Gangi,  consisting  of  four  separate  shrines,  two  on  the  cliff  and  two 
below  it  Close  by  stand  80  sati  pillars.  A  great  fair  at  the  full  moon 
of  Kirtik  attracts  200,000  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 
Inhabitants  chiefly  Brdhmans.  Little  trade  except  in  timber  and 
bamboos,  rafted  down  the  Ganges  from  the  Diin  and  Garhwdl.  Police 
station,  four  sardis,  staging  bungalow,  charitable  dispensary.  Ferry  in 
the  rains,  and  bridge  of  boats  during  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

Garhshankar. — Southern  tahsil  of  Hoshiirpur  District,  Punjab ; 
situated  between  300  58'  and  31'  25'  30"  n.  lat,  and  between  76°  1' 
and  760  33'  45*  e.  long.  Area,  502  square  miles ;  pop.  (1868),  223,031 ; 
persons  per  square  mile,  444;  number  of  townships,  497. 

Garhshankar. — Town  in  Hoshiirpur  District,  Punjab,  and  head- 


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316  GARHVI—GARHWAL  DISTRICT. 

quarters  of  the  tahsll.  Lat  310  12'  58*  n.,  long.  76°  11'  2"  e.  ;  pop. 
(1868),  5739,  being  1627  Hindus,  3506  Muhammadans,  109  Sfkhs,  and 
497  'others.'  Situated  on  the  road  from  Hoshidrpur  to  Rtipar.  Con- 
siderable trade  in  sugar  and  tobacco.  Tahstli^  police  station,  post  office. 
Police  force  of  16  men. 

G&rhvi — River  of  the  Central  Provinces ;  rising  near  Chichgarh,  in 
Bhandara  District,  in  lat  20°  52'  n.,  long.  8o°  34'  e.,  and  flowing  south- 
wards for  150  miles,  falls  into  the  Waingangd  below  Seoni,  in  Chinda 
District,  lat  20°  26'  n.,  long.  8op  e.  According  to  a  local  legend,  the 
stream  issued  from  the  earth  at  the  prayer  of  a  holy  man  named  Garga 
RishL 

Garhw&L — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of  the 
North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  29°  26'  and  31°  5'  n.  lat,  and 
between  78°  17'  15"  and  8o°  8'  e.  long. ;  with  an  estimated  area  of  5500 
square  miles,  and  a  population  (1872)  of  310,288  persons.  Garhwal  forms 
the  north-western  District  of  the  Kumiun  Division.  It  is  bounded  on 
the  north  by  Chinese  Thibet,  on  the  east  by  Kumdun  District,  on  the 
south  by  Bijnaur,  and  on  the  west  by  Independent  Garhwdl  or  Tehri, 
and  Dehra  Diin  District  The  administrative  headquarters  are  at 
Pauri,  but  Srinagar  is  the  chief  town  of  the  District 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Garhwdl  consists  for  the  most  part 
of  rugged  mountain  ranges,  the  central  peaks  or  outliers  of  the  main 
Himilayan  chain,  tossed  wildly  about  in  the  most  intricate  confusion, 
and  severed  by  narrow  valleys,  which  may  rather  be  described  as 
gorges  or  ravines.  The  broadest  among  them,  that  of  Srinagar, 
measures  barely  half  a  mile  in  width,  and  has  an  elevation  of  1820  feet 
above  sea  leveL  A  narrow  strip  of  bhdbar^  or  waterless  forest,  some 
2  or  3  miles  in  breadth,  intervening  between  the  southern  bases 
of  the  hills  and  the  alluvial  lowlands  of  Rohilkhand,  forms  the  only 
level  portion  of  the  District  To  the  north,  the  mountains  belong  to 
the  central  upheaval  line  of  the  Himalayas,  the  principal  peaks  within 
the  boundaries  of  Garhwdl  being — Trisiil,  23,382  feet ;  Nandd  Devi, 
25,661  feet;  Dunagiri,  23,181  feet;  Kamet,  25,413  feet;  Badrindth, 
22,901  feet;  and  Keddrnath,  22,853  feet  North-westward  from  this 
massive  chain,  the  mountains  fall  away  to  the  elevated  plateau 
of  Thibet,  scored  by  the  valleys  of  the  Saraswati  and  the  Dhauli, 
through  which  the  Man  a  and  Niti  Passes  respectively  lead  across  the 
frontier  into  Chinese  territory.  Southward  from  the  main  range  again, 
parallel  spurs  run  towards  the  plain  in  a  direction  from  north-east  to 
south-west,  while  cross  systems  of  irregular  hills  connect  their  lines  from 
time  to  time,  interspersed  with  occasional  ridges  of  greater  elevation, 
which  reach  a  height  of  from  10,000  to  12,000  feet  South  of  the 
river  Nyar,  however,  the  ranges  assume  a  direction  more  parallel  to 
the  plains,  and  nowhere  exceed  an  elevation  of  7500  feet     Along 


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GARHWAL  DISTRICT.  317 

the  larger  rivers,  the  hills  present  a  gradual  slope  at  their  bases,  and 
end  in  a  succession  of  dry  terraces,  which  are  generally  cultivated  by 
artificial  irrigation.  Above,  a  belt  of  forest  clothes  their  flanks ;  while 
the  actual  summits  rise  high  into  the  region  of  perpetual  snow.  The 
Alaknanda  River,  one  of  the  main  sources  of  the  Ganges,  marks  the 
central  line  of  greatest  depression,  and  with  its  affluents  receives  the 
whole  drainage  of  the  District  The  Alaknanda  forms  one  of  the 
holiest  amongst  Indian  objects  of  reverence,  and  each  of  the  points 
where  it  meets  a  considerable  confluent  is  regarded  as  a  sacred  station 
in  the  pilgrimage  which  devout  Hindus  perform  to  HimachaL  At 
Deopraydg,  a  place  of  special  sanctity,  it  joins  the  Bhagirathi,  and  the 
united  streams  thenceforward  assume  the  name  of  Ganges.  The  only 
important  river  in  Garhwil  that  does  not  fall  into  the  Ganges  within 
the  borders  of  the  District  is  the  Rdmganga,  which  rises  near  Lobha, 
and,  flowing  through  Kumiun  and  the  plains  of  Rohilkhand,  finally 
debouches  into  the  great  stream  in  Farrukhdbid  District.  Navigation 
is  impracticable  on  all  the  rivers,  owing  to  their  great  velocity,  and  the 
existence  of  shoals  or  rapids ;  but  several  among  them  afford  a  water- 
way for  rafting  timber.  Wherever  cultivable  land  occurs  along  their 
banks,  they  are  employed  for  purposes  of  irrigation ;  while  two  small 
canals  supply  water  to  an  insignificant  area  in  the  bhdbar.  The 
southern  portion  of  the  District  is  still  covered  with  primeval  forest, 
and  tiger-haunted  jungles  abound  in  the  central  tract ;  but  cultivation 
encroaches  year  by  year  on  the  wild  lands,  and  the  people  are  encouraged 
to  settle  and  reclaim  the  soil  by  grants  at  a  nominal  rent. 

History. — In  the  almost  total  absence  of  written  records,  the  annals 
of  GarhwaU  have  to  be  constructed  partly  from  local  tradition  and  partly 
from  inference.  Some  five  hundred  years  since,  the  valley  of  the 
Alaknanda  was  divided  into  52  petty  chieftainships,  each  chief  having 
his  own  independent  fortress  (garh\  from  which  the  country  is  said  to 
have  derived  its  name.  Between  four  and  five  centuries  ago,  Ajai  Pdl, 
ruler  of  Chdndpur,  reduced  all  these  minor  principalities  under  his  own 
sway,  and  became  the  founder  of  the  Garhwal  kingdom.  He  placed 
his  capital  at  Srinagar,  where  he  built  a  palace,  the  ruins  of  which  still 
remain  in  tolerable  preservation.  The  Rdjds  of  his  line,  known  as 
the  Chdnd  Dynasty,  ruled  over  Garhwdl  and  the  adjacent  Tehri 
State  until  their  expulsion  by  the  Giirkhds  in  1803.  The  succession 
appears  to  have  been  strictly  hereditary.  One  of  the  line,  Pritim 
Sdh,  was  chosen  ruler  of  Kumaun ;  but  on  his  father's  death,  he  pre- 
ferred the  certain  tenure  of  his  ancestral  dominions  to  the  precarious 
throne  of  the  neighbouring  State,  which  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the  party 
from  time  to  time  in  power  at  Almora.  The  Chdnd  Rijds  seem 
generally  to  have  ruled  with  justice  and  moderation,  and  their  country 
attained  a  considerable  degree  of  prosperity  for  a  mountain  principality. 


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3i8  GARHWAL  DISTRICT. 

Twice  they  successfully  repelled  an  invasion  of  the  Rohillds — on  one 
occasion  when  the  freebooters  attacked  them  through  Kumiun,  and 
again  when  they  attempted  to  enter  the  hill  country  through  Dehra 
Diin.  But  a  constant  predatory  warfare  existed  between  Garhwdl  and 
the  Kumiun  people,  each  party  making  forays  into  the  territory  of  their 
rivals  whenever  opportunity  offered,  and  plundering  all  that  came  in 
their  way.  To  the  present  day,  a  slumbering  animosity  between  the 
inhabitants  of  the  two  Districts  is  only  kept  in  check  by  the  British 
authority.  In  1803,  the  Gurkhds,  then  the  dominant  race  in  Nepdl, 
made  their  way  westward,  conquering  everything  before  them,  and 
drove  Pridhiman  Sdh,  the  Chind  Rdji,  into  the  plains.  For  twelve 
years  the  Gurkhds  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron  over  the  whole  of  Garhwdl 
and  Dehra  Diin,  and  impoverished  the  country  by  their  tyranny  and 
fiscal  exactions.  They  divided  the  District  into  a  number  of  petty 
military  fiefs,  in  which  each  commandant  exacted  as  much  as  he  was 
able  in  addition  to  the  demand  of  the  central  power.  The  villages 
were  left  waste;  the  inhabitants  fled  into  the  densest  and  most 
impenetrable  jungles ;  and  to  this  day  the  name  of  GurkhA  forms  a 
popular  synonym  for  all  that  is  cruel  and  tyrannical.  Years  of  our  rule 
have  hardly  sufficed  to  obliterate  the  effects  of  this  terrible  invasion, 
which  threw  back  the  progress  of  the  country  for  at  least  a  quarter  of 
a  century.  The  Gurkhds  then  commenced  a  series  of  petty  encroach- 
ments on  the  British  territories  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas,  which  were 
not  resisted  with  any  vigour  until  the  attention  of  our  Government  was 
attracted  in  181 2  by  their  outrageous  aggressions  on  the  Gorakhpur 
and  Tirhut  frontier.  After  an  unsuccessful  attempt  at  conciliation,  war 
broke  out  in  November  1814.  The  events  of  the  campaign,  which 
resulted  in  our  capture  of  Almora,  and  the  reduction  of  the  two  Districts, 
belong  rather  to  the  history  of  Kumaun.  At  the  close  of  the  war, 
the  Tehri  principality,  known  as  Independent  Garhwal,  was  restored 
to  Pridhiman  SAh,  whose  grandson,  Pratip  SAh,  still  retains  it;  but 
the  valley  of  the  Alaknanda  was  erected  into  a  British  District,  and 
organized  on  the  usual  model.  Under  our  strong  and  peaceful  ad- 
ministration, British  Garhwdl  has  risen  from  a  state  of  desolation 
scarcely  paralleled  elsewhere  in  India,  to  a  height  of  material  prosperity 
which  it  never  before  enjoyed.  Cultivation  has  rapidly  increased,  and 
the  growth  of  tea  culture  has  opened  the  District  to  British  capital  and 
enterprise,  which  are  turning  this  once  wretched  tract  into  an  important 
and  wealthy  region. 

Population. — The  Census  of  1872  was  taken  over  an  area  approxi- 
mately estimated  at  5500  square  miles ;  and  it  disclosed  a  total  popular 
tion  of  310,288  persons,  distributed  among  3944  villages  or  town- 
ships, and  inhabiting  57,293  houses.  Persons  per  square  mile,  56; 
villages  or  townships  per  square  mile,  07 ;  houses  per  square  mile,  xo  ^ 


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GARHWAL  DISTRICT.  319 

persons  per  village,  79;  persons  per  house,  5*4.  Classified  according 
to  sex,  there  were — males,  155,750;  females,  154,538;  proportion  of 
males,  50*2  per  cent  As  regards  the  religious  distinctions  of  the 
people,  Garhwal  is  almost  exclusively  a  Hindu  District,  as  many  as 
308,398  persons,  or  99-3  per  cent,  being  returned  as  adherents  of 
the  ancient  creed;  while  the  Muhammadans  number  only  1799,  or 
07  per  cent  The  Musalmans  live  in  such  scattered  localities  that 
they  possess  little  or  no  social  influence.  There  is  a  Christian  mission 
at  Chapra,  near  Pauri,  and  85  persons  were  returned  in  1872  as  belong- 
ing to  that  persuasion.  The  great  Hindu  temples  of  Badrinath  and 
Kedarnath  attract  large  numbers  of  pilgrims,  and  have  produced  a 
deep  influence  on  the  history  and  manners  of  the  people.  They  lie 
among  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  snowy  range.  The  sanctity  of  these 
shrines  has  contributed  to  render  the  inhabitants  superstitious  and 
bigoted ;  but  the  yearly  influx  of  pilgrims  has  added  greatly  to  the 
wealth  of  the  District  Three  principal  races  inhabit  the  southern 
slopes  of  Garhwal.  The  Dhiims  appear  to  be  the  descendants  of  the 
aboriginal  tribes,  and  now  form  the  menial  class  throughout  the  District. 
They  differ  totally  in  features,  habits,  and  religion  from  the  other  castes 
by  whom  they  have  been  brought  into  subjection.  The  Khasiyas 
evidently  came  from  the  plains  of  Hindustan,  but  they  preserve  no 
memories  of  their  immigration.  They  comprise  many  castes  of 
Brahmans,  Rajputs,  etc.,  all  of  which,  however,  are  regarded  by  the 
orthodox  Hindus  as  Stidras.  They  reside  principally  in  the  central 
and  northern  pargands,  and  resemble  the  Gurkhas  in  appearance,  from 
which  fact  it  may  perhaps  be  inferred  that  they  are  not  free  from  a 
Nepalese  admixture.  The  third  class  includes  the  true  Brahmans  and 
Rajputs,  most  of  whom  arrived  in  the  country  after  the  establishment 
of  a  settled  Government  Some  of  the  Brahmans  trace  back  their 
immigration  to  the  times  of  Ajai  Pal.  A  totally  distinct  race  inhabits 
the  region  lying  within  the  snowy  range.  These  are  the  Bhutias,  a  tribe 
of  Indo-Chinese  origin,  much  intermixed  with  Hindu  elements.  They 
talk  the  Hiinia  or  Thibetan  language,  as  well  as  the  Hindi,  and  they 
have  also  a  patois  of  their  own.  They  number  in  all  only  3030  souls ; 
but  they  control  the  whole  carrying  trade  with  Thibet  Both  men  and 
women  are  powerfully  built,  dirty  in  their  habits,  and  greatly  addicted 
to  drink.  Among  the  social  customs  of  Garhwal  generally,  must  be 
noticed  the  universal  prevalence  of  polygamy.  Wives  are  looked 
upon  in  the  light  of  beasts  of  burden,  so  that  every  man  obtains  as 
many  as  his  means  will  afford.  Desertion  and  suicide  are  common, 
in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  British  officials  in  ameliorating  the 
condition  of  women.  The  District  contained  no  place  in  1872  with 
a  population  exceeding  5000  persons.  Pauri,  the  headquarters  station, 
can  hardly  claim  to  any  higher  rank  than  that  of  a  hill  village ;  and 


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320  GARHWAL  DISTRICT. 

Srinagar,  in  the  valley  at  its  foot,  is  the  only  place  which  reaches  the 
dignity  of  a  town. 

Agriculture. — Out  of  an  estimated  area  of  5500  square  miles  in 
1872,  only  209  were  returned  as  under  cultivation.  Nevertheless,  this 
amount  is  nearly  treble  of  the  tilled  land  in  1815.  Agriculture  is 
carried  on  with  considerable  skill  and  great  industry.  Taking  into 
account  the  steep  nature  of  the  country,  it  must  be  allowed  that  the 
people  deserve  great  credit  for  the  manner  in  which  they  have  divided 
it  into  terraces,  some  of  the  fields  having  a  breadth  of  only  3  yards. 
Wheat,  rice,  and  mandud  form  the  staple  crops;  and  the  quantities 
grown  not  only  suffice  for  local  wants,  but  leave  a  surplus  for  exporta- 
tion to  Thibet  The  chief  food  of  the  lower  classes  is  mandud,  which 
yields  a  larger  return  than  any  other  crop.  Cotton  is  little  cultivated, 
as  it  can  be  purchased  elsewhere  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  that  for  which 
it  could  be  produced  in  the  District  The  people  have  grown  richer  of 
late  years,  and  are  enabled  to  keep  more  cattle  than  formerly,  and  con- 
sequently to  employ  more  manure  for  their  fields.  Abundant  pasture 
lands  stretch  along  the  upper  slopes  of  the  snowy  range,  affording 
excellent  grazing  for  large  herds  of  goats  and  sheep  during  the  rains. 
Unlimited  pasturage  also  exists  in  the  valleys  and  in  the  bhdbar  at  the 
foot  of  the  hills,  but  this  has  been  preserved  by  the  Forest  Department, 
which  levies  dues  on  all  animals  permitted  to  enter  its  boundaries. 
Cattle  in  numbers  come  for  grazing  from  the  western  pargands  of 
Kumdun,  where  no  pasturage  is  found.  The  cultivators  chiefly  consist 
of  petty  proprietors,  and  the  peasantry  as  a  whole  are  well-to-do  and 
free  from  debt  Rents  are  generally  paid  in  cash,  except  by  tenants- 
at-will,  who  settle  in  kind  at  the  rate  of  from  one-fourth  to  one-third 
of  the  crop.  Irrigation  is  practised  wherever  water  can  be  obtained ; 
and  two  small  canals  in  the  bhdbar  supply  an  area  of  1300  acres. 
The  regular  rotation  of  crops  consists  of  rice,  followed  by  wheat,  and 
again  by  mandud ;  after  which  the  land  lies  fallow  till  the  next  rice 
season.  Tea-planting  is  carried  on  under  European  supervision  to  a 
considerable  extent.  The  planters  give  occupation  to  about  400 
permanent  and  600  short-service  labourers,  the  latter  being  employed 
during  the  tea-picking  season.  Wages  have  more  than  doubled  during 
the  last  thirty  years.  In  1850,  ordinary  coolies  obtained  |d.  per  diem ; 
they  now  receive  3d.  per  diem.  Smiths,  braziers,  and  carpenters  used 
to  get  from  3d.  to  4£d. ;  they  are  now  paid  from  4^&  to  od.  Agricul- 
tural day-labourers  are  unknown  in  Garhwil.  The  ordinary  price  of 
mandud  varies  from  30  to  40  sers  per  rupee,  or  from  3s.  9d.  to  2s.  iod. 
per  cwt. 

Natural  Calamities, — Floods  occasionally  occur  on  the  Alaknanda, 
one  of  which,  before  the  Gurkhi  conquest,  swept  away  half  the  town  of 
Srinagar.    In  1868,  again,  an  inundation  of  the  same  river  inflicted  con- 


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GARHWAL  DISTRICT.  321 

siderable  damage.  Droughts  also  affect  the  District  from  time  to  time, 
but  owing  to  the  high  ranges  of  hills  on  every  side,  they  are  never  general, 
though  they  may  extend  over  so  wide  a  tract  as  to  make  their  effects 
felt  throughout  the  whole  country.  The  last  great  scarcity  from  this 
cause  took  place  in  1867,  when  thtrabi  crops  in  all  the  lower  and  more 
fertile  portion  of  Garhwal  almost  entirely  failed.  Government  made 
an  advance  of  ;£  1000,  and  grain  purchased  in  the  bMbarwas  carried 
up  by  the  people  themselves  for  sale  at  certain  established  centres. 
Money  was  plentiful  in  the  District  at  the  time,  so  that  most  purchasers 
paid  in  cash,  only  a  few  giving  labour  in  exchange  for  food.  The 
kharif  crops  of  the  same  year  proved  excellent  in  their  yield,  and 
entirely  relieved  the  temporary  distress.  Garhwal  suffered  but  little 
from  the  terrible  famine  of  1868-70,  and  probably  gained  in  the  end, 
as  measures  were  taken  to  prevent  the  export  of  grain  or  the  ingress 
of  pilgrims ;  and  the  crop  of  1869  turning  out  a  good  one,  the  people 
sold  large  quantities  of  food-stuffs,  after  the  removal  of  the  embargo, 
at  very  high  rates,  to  the  inhabitants  of  Bijnaur.  This  famine  also 
acted  as  an  incentive  to  increased  cultivation.  Want  of  carriage  forms 
the  great  difficulty  in  relieving  distress  among  the  Garhwal  Hills,  since 
supplies  can  only  be  drawn  from  the  bhdbar,  or  the  adjacent  plain 
Districts ;  and  to  reach  these  places  a  very  malarious  jungle  must  be 
traversed.  Sir  H.  Ramsay  has  done  much  to  avert  the  recurrence  of 
dearth  by  his  settlements  in  the  bhdbar  of  Kumaun,  but  the  similar 
tract  in  Garhwal  does  not  possess  like  capacities  for  cultivation. 
Famine  rates  are  reached  when  wheat  sells  at  8  sers  per  rupee,  or 
14s.  per  cwt.,  and  mandud  at  10  sers  per  rupee,  or  1  is.  2d.  per  cwt 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc, — The  Bhutias  carry  on  a  considerable 
traffic  with  Thibet,  to  which  country  they  export  grain,  sugar,  cloth,  and 
tobacco ;  while  salt,  borax,  wool,  gold,  and  precious  stones  form  the 
chief  staples  of  the  return  trade.  Sheep  and  goats  imported  from  Chamba 
are  employed  as  beasts  of  burden  on  these  routes,  which  lie  over  the 
lofty  crests  of  the  M£na  and  Niti  Passes.  Bird-skins  and  the  pods  of 
musk-deer  formerly  ranked  as  main  items  in  the  exports  southward ; 
but  owing  to  the  reckless  way  in  which  the  animals  were  destroyed, 
measures  have  been  taken  to  preserve  them,  which  cause  a  temporary 
interference  with  the  trade.  Several  valuable  minerals  are  found  in 
Garhwal,  including  copper,  iron,  lead,  silver,  and  gold  ;  none,  however, 
occur  in  paying  quantities  or  positions.  Coin  accumulates  from  year 
to  year,  mainly  through  the  influx  of  pilgrims  to  the  great  temples. 
Tea-planting  has  not  hitherto  proved  remunerative,  but  its  financial 
prospects  are  improving,  as  the  planters  gradually  learn  to  economize 
labour  and  to  reduce  expenditure.  No  railway  station  exists  nearer 
than  Sahiranpur,  distant  from  Pauri  about  100  miles.  Good  hill  roads, 
from  10  to  12  feet  in  width,  intersect  the  District  in  every  direction. 

VOL.  III.  x 

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322  GARHWAL  STATE. 

Most  of  them  are  bridged  throughout.  The  total  length  of  roads 
amounts  to  about  iooo  miles.  The  chief  routes,  in  a  commercial  point 
of  view,  are  those — (i)  from  Srinagar  to  Nfti,  125  miles,  which  serves 
the  Thibet  trade;  (2)  from  Srinagar  to  Kotdwara,  55  miles,  which 
serves  the  traffic  to  the  plains ;  (3)  from  Kainiir  to  the  great  trading 
mart  at  R&nnagar,  which  carries  the  hill  produce ;  and  (4)  from  Pauri 
to  Almora,  connecting  the  two  headquarters  stations. 

Administration. — The  District  is  administered  by  an  Assistant  Com- 
missioner, who  resides  at  Pauri,  and  possesses  criminal  and  revenue 
jurisdiction.  The  office  is  now  (1877)  held  by  a  military  officer  in 
civil  employ,  assisted  by  a  tahsilddr  who  is  stationed  at  Srinagar. 
The  latter  place  is  ako  the  headquarters  of  the  native  civil  judge. 
In  1822,  the  total  land  revenue  amounted  to  ^5851 ;  by  1875,  ft  ^ 
risen  to  ^9555.  There  is  no  regular  police  except  at  headquarters, 
and  little  crime  of  any  kind  Long-term  prisoners  are  sent  to  the  jail 
at  Almora,  and  the  only  place  of  confinement  in  Garhwdl  is  a  lock-up  at 
Pauri.  Education  has  made  much  greater  progress  among  these  moun- 
tain valleys  than  in  the  plain  country  at  their  feet.  The  total  number 
of  schools  in  the  District  in  the  year  1875-76  amounted  to  73  ;  and  the 
total  number  of  pupils  on  their  rolls  to  3609.  These  figures  show  an 
average  of  1  school  to  every  75*34  square  miles  of  area,  and  11  "6 
scholars  per  thousand  of  the  population.  For  administrative  purposes, 
the  District  is  divided  into  1 1  pargands  and  86  pattis.  The  number 
of  registered  proprietors  at  the  last  settlement  amounted  to  31,118. 
There  are  no  municipalities  in  Garhwil. 

Medical  Aspects. — For  six  months  in  the  year  the  climate  of  Garhwil 
is  damp  and  rainy ;  but  during  the  remaining  half  of  each -twelvemonth 
it  is  dry  and  bracing.  The  natural  features  of  the  country,  however, 
introduce  many  minor  modifications  in  various  portions  of  the  District 
Towards  the  Niti  and  Mina  Passes,  in  the  Bhutia*.  country,  periodical 
rains  do  not  occur,  and  the  climate  is  always  cool.  In  the  valleys, 
intense  heat  prevails  during  the  summer  months,  while  the  nights  and 
mornings  in  the  cold  season  are  bitterly  cold.  The  average  annual 
rainfall  at  Pauri  is  about  48*4  inches,  and  at  Srinagar  about  37*1 
inches.  Fevers  and  bowel  complaints  form  the  chief  endemic 
diseases,  but  cholera  prevails  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  in  the 
plains.  The  total  number  of  deaths  recorded  in  1875  was  8750,  or 
20#2i  per  thousand.  Small-pox  formerly  ravaged  the  District,  but 
owing  to  the  vaccination  arrangements  lately  made,  this  annual  plague 
has  ceased  to  recur  with  its  former  regularity.  There  are  7  charit- 
able dispensaries  —  at  Pauri,  Srinagar,  Mahdl  Chauri,  Karnprayag, 
Ukhimath,  Chimoli,  and  Joshimdth.  During  the  year  1875-76,  they 
gave  relief  to  7710  patients. 

Garhwil  (or  Tehri). — A  Native  State  in  political  relationship  with 


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GARNEMETTA—GARO  HILLS  DISTRICT.         323 

the  Government  of  the  North- Western  Provinces;  lying  between  lat. 
30*  2'  and  310  20'  n.,  and  between  long.  77*  54'  and  79*  19'  e.  It  extends 
over  the  south-western  declivity  of  the  Himalayas,  and  consists  through- 
out of  a  vast  range  of  mountains  of  enormous  height,  intermingled  with 
several  valleys,  the  drainage  of  the  whole  ultimately  finding  its  way  to  the 
Ganges.  The  chief  town  is  Tehri,  by  which  appellation  the  State  is 
sometimes  mentioned.  The  Riji  of  Garhwal,  Pratip  Sah,  is  a  Kshattriya 
of  the  Solar  race.  The  early  history  of  the  dynasty  is  very  obscure ;  but 
it  appears  that  they  exercised  authority  over  the  whole  of  Garhwal  for 
many  generations,  paying,  however,  a  small  tribute  to  the  Emperor  of 
Delhi.  In  1804,  the  Gurkhas  overran  the  country  and  expelled  the 
Rija,  but  he  was  replaced  by  the  British  after  the  Nepal  war  of  181 5, 
and  that  portion  of  his  hereditary  possessions  which  lay  to  the  west  of 
the  Alaknanda  river  was  restored  to  its  old  Raja;  the  lands  to  the 
east,  the  Dehra  Diin  and  the  District  of  Garhwal,  being  retained 
by  the  British  Government  (See  Garhwal  District,  supra.)  During 
the  Mutiny  of  1857,  the  Rajd  rendered  valuable  assistance  to  Govern- 
ment. He  died  in  1859  without  legitimate  issue,  and,  in  accordance 
with  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  the  State  lapsed  to  Government ;  but,  in 
consideration  of  the  services  of  Sudar  Shan  Sah,  his  eldest  illegitimate 
son,  Bhawanf  Sinh,  was  allowed  to  succeed.  Bhawani  Sinh  subse- 
quently received  a  sanad  giving  him  the  right  of  adoption.  He  was 
succeeded  in  187 1  by  his  eldest  son,  Pratap  Sail,  the  present  ruler,  who 
was  born  about  1850.  The  Raja  pays  no  tribute.  The  area  of  Garh- 
wal is  about  4180  miles,  the  population  in  1875  was  estimated  at 
150,000,  and  the  revenue  at  ^8000.  The  hills  are  generally  very 
steep,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  territory  is  covered  with  forests,  which 
include  valuable  deodar  tracts.  These  were  leased  to  the  British 
Government  in  1864. 

Gamemetta  (Gurnimetta). — Town  in  Cuddapah  District,  Madras. 
Lat  130  48'  n.,  long.  780  56'  e.  ;  pop.  (187 1),  5938;  houses,  1179. 

Giro  Hills. — The  District  of  the  Ga>o  Hills  forms  the  south-western 
corner  of  the  Province  of  Assam.  It  lies  between  250  9'  and  260  i'  n. 
lat,  and  between  890  52'  and  910  3'  e.  long.,  forming  a  mountainous 
projection  between  Goalpara  and  the  Bengal  District  of  Maimansinh. 
According  to  the  recent  revenue  survey,  which  closed  operations  in 
1875,  it  contains  an  area  of  3180  square  miles,  with  an  estimated  popu- 
lation of  from  80,000  to  100,000  persons.  The  administrative  head- 
quarters are  at  the  station  of  Tura,  on  the  mountain  range  of  the  same 
name. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  entire  District,  as  implied  by  its  name,  is 
broken  by  hills.  On  the  north,  near  the  Brahmaputra  river,  the  hills 
are  low,  and  covered  only  with  grass  or  scrub  jungle ;  but  they  gradually 
increase  in  height  towards  the  interior  of  the   District.     The  two 


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324  GARO  HILLS  DISTRICT. 

principal  ranges  are  known  as  the  Tura  and  Arbela  Hills,  which  run 
parallel  to  another  east  and  west.  Their  greatest  height  is  about 
4500  feet,  which  is  attained  by  two  peaks  in  the  Turd  range.  As  is  the 
case  with  all  the  mountains  on  the  north-east  frontier  of  India,  these 
ranges  take  the  form  of  a  series  of  long  even  ridges,  with  deep  valleys 
between,  occasionally  diversified  by  peaks  or  towering  masses  of  rock. 
Except  on  the  rare  spots  where  jum  cultivation  has  been  introduced, 
they  are  clothed  with  dense  forest,  containing  timber-trees  of  majestic 
dimensions.  From  the  summit  of  Tura  Hill  a  magnificent  view  can  be 
obtained  over  the  flat  Districts  of  Goalpdra,  Rangpur,  and  Maimansinh, 
and  the  sweeping  course  of  the  Brahmaputra  can  be  traced  for  a 
distance  of  upwards  of  100  miles.  On  a  clear  day  in  the  months  of 
October  and  November,  the  eye  can  discern  the  snowy  peaks  of  the 
Himalayas,  far  beyond  the  distant  station  of  Darjiling.  In  the  valleys, 
also,  the  scenery  is  of  a  very  picturesque  character.  The  hill  streams 
break  through  rocky  gorges,  which  are  overgrown  to  the  water's  edge 
with  forest  trees,  creepers  of  many  varieties,  and  gigantic  ferns. 

The  Brahmaputra,  called  the  Amawari  by  the  Garos,  nowhere 
touches  the  boundary  of  the  District ;  but  several  tributaries  of  that 
river  take  their  rise  among  the  hills,  and  find  their  way  out  into  the 
Districts  of  Goilpara  and  Maimansinh.  Of  these,  the  five  most  import- 
ant are  the  Krishnai,  Kalu,  Bhogai,  Netai,  and  Someswari,  all  of 
which  are  used  for  floating  down  timber  rafts,  and  can  be  navigated  by 
canoes  during  the  cold  season.  The  Turd  range  constitutes  the  water- 
shed of  the  District,  all  the  streams  north  of  that  line  draining  into 
Goalpara,  while  those  to  the  south  flow  into  Maimansinh.  The  streams 
abound  in  fish,  which  the  Garos  are  expert  in  catching  by  several 
ingenious  devices. 

The  extensive  forests  of  the  District  are  too  remote  from  means  of 
communication  to  yield  much  profit.  The  valuable  sdl  tree  is  very 
abundant,  and  the  tun,  kurdi,  and  ajdr  are  also  felled  for  timber.  In 
recent  years,  the  British  authorities  have  adopted  the  policy  of  taking 
into  their  own  hands  the  entire  management  of  the  forests,  after  com- 
pensating the  zamtnddrs  and  the  hillmen  for  the  rights  which  they 
formerly  enjoyed.  It  is  proposed  to  plant  nurseries  of  sdl  in  spots  con- 
venient for  water  carriage,  and  carefully  reserve  them  from  the  fires  of 
jum  cultivation.  At  present  the  woodcutters  take  out  licences  to  fell 
timber  within  certain  limits.  In  the  year  1874-75,  the  revenue  derived 
from  this  source  amounted  to  ^2005,  but  the  collections  are  very 
fluctuating.  The  jungle  products  are  —  lac,  bees-wax,  various  fibres 
used  for  making  string  and  cloth,  and  a  few  dyes.  Wild  animals  and 
large  game  abound,  including  elephants,  rhinoceros,  tigers,  wild  dogs, 
buffaloes,  mithun  or  wild  cows,  and  many  kinds  of  deer.  Government 
has  recently  asserted  its  prerogative  to  the  sole  right  of  capturing  wild 


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GARO  HILLS  DISTRICT.  325 

elephants.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  District  can  annually  supply 
nearly  200  of  these  valuable  animals  for  several  years  to  come,  which 
alone  would  more  than  repay  all  the  local  expenses  of  administration. 
The  mineral  products  known  to  exist  are — coal  of  fair  quality  and 
under  a  large  area,  building  stone,  and  lime.  No  metals  have  hitherto 
been  discovered. 

History. — The  Garo  Hills  were  first  constituted  a  separate  admini- 
stration in  the  year  1866.  Previous  to  that  date  the  independence  of 
the  tribes  living  in  the  remote  hills  had  been  tacitly  recognised.  From 
the  time  when  the  British  obtained  possession  of  the  diwdni  of  Bengal 
in  the  last  century,  numerous  Garo  villages  along  the  foot  of  the  hills 
were  included  within  the  Districts  of  Goalpara  and  Maimansinh.  The 
frontier,  however,  was  always  very  ill-defined,  being  fixed  neither  by 
geographical  nor  ethnical  principles.  The  boundaries  were  finally 
settled  by  the  survey  executed  between  1870  and  1875.  Towards  the 
east  a  line  has  been  drawn  along  rivers  and  other  natural  boundaries,  to 
demarcate  the  Garo  from  the  Khasi  Hills.  On  the  north  and  west,  some 
tracts  previously  included  within  Goalpara  District  have  been  definitely 
attached  to  the  Giro  Hills ;  and  the  dues  and  cesses  formerly  levied  by 
the  lowland  zaminddrs  are  now  collected  on  their  account  by  the  direct 
agency  of  Government  On  the  south  side,  towards  Maimansinh,  a 
similar  principle  has  been  adopted;  and  a  long-standing  dispute  has 
been  terminated,  which  dated  back  to  the  Permanent  Settlement.  The 
Rajd  of  Susang  and  other  Maimansinh  zaminddrs  had  persistently 
asserted  their  claim  to  a  large  portion  of  the  hills,  as  having  been 
originally  included  within  their  permanently  settled  estates ;  and  they 
urged,  accordingly,  that  such  portion  of  the  hills  lay  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Collector  of  Maimansinh.  These  claims,  however,  were 
never  admitted  by  the  Government.  In  1866,  the  boundary  was  roughly 
drawn  at  its  present  line,  and  the  Maimansinh  landholders  were  left  to 
prosecute  in  the  courts  of  law  any  claims  which  they  might  possess. 

But  though  a  British  officer  was  appointed  to  the  Garo  Hills  in  1866, 
the  mountainous  interior  still  remained  a  terra  incognita,  and  its  inhabit- 
ants continued  to  be  known  as  the  Independent  Garos.  In  December 
1867  the  Deputy  Commissioner  took  up  his  quarters  at  Turd,  and  by 
the  end  of  187 1  nearly  100  villages  had  tendered  their  submission.  In 
that  year,  however,  there  occurred  the  unfortunate  incident  which  led 
to  the  armed  expedition  of  1872-73.  After  the  conclusion  of  the 
survey  of  the  adjoining  Khasi  Hills,  the  survey  party  was  deputed  to 
explore  the  country  of  the  Independent  Garos.  At  first,  no  active 
opposition  was  encountered,  though  it  was  found  that  the  hillmen 
gradually  ceased  to  offer  ready  assistance.  Their  suspicions  evidently 
were  aroused.  In  March  187 1,  two  Bengali  coolies  of  the  survey  party, 
who  had  been  detached  to  procure  labour  from  the  secluded  villages  of 


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326  GARO  HILLS  DISTRICT. 

Rangmagiri  and  Pharamgiri,  were  treacherously  attacked,  and  one  of 
them  was  murdered.  This  outrage  was  followed  by  several  raids  on 
the  part  of  the  Independent  Garos  against  their  countrymen  who  lived 
under  British  protection.  The  Deputy  Commissioner  immediately 
occupied  the  rebellious  villages  with  bodies  of  police,  but  he  was  not 
strong  enough  to  pursue  the  inhabitants  into  their  retreat  amid  the 
forests.  Accordingly  it  was  determined  to  take  advantage  of  the  cold 
season  of  1872-73,  in  order  to  enforce  the  authority  of  the  British 
Government  throughout  the  whole  country,  and  to  receive  the  submis- 
sion of  about  60  villages  that  still  held  out  The  expedition  consisted 
of  three  strong  detachments  of  police,  operating  from  separate  points, 
and  three  companies  of  the  43d  Assam  Light  Infantry.  The  military, 
however,  were  never  required  to  advance  farther  than  the  frontier  of 
the  Khasi  Hills.  After  one  engagement,  in  which  the  Garos  suffered 
some  loss,  the  three  police  parties  effected  their  junction,  having 
marched  through  the  country  in  all  directions.  Every  one  of  the 
independent  villages  now  came  in  to  tender  their  submission.  They 
surrendered  the  heads  of  the  persons  killed  by  them  in  their  several 
raids,  and  paid  the  fine  that  was  inflicted  on  them.  At  the  same  time, 
permanent  measures  were  adopted  for  maintaining  order  in  the  future. 
Every  part  of  the  lately  independent  country  was  thoroughly  examined, 
the  number  and  size  of  the  villages  noted,  and  arrangements  made  for 
the  appointment  of  lashkdrs  or  heads  of  circles.  Every  village  was 
compelled  to  contribute  to  the  revenue,  according  to  an  assessment 
levied  on  each  house.  By  the  end  of  May  1873,  a  map  of  the  entire 
Garo  Hills  District  had  been  prepared,  on  the  scale  of  four  miles  to  the 
inch;  and  the  wild  interior  was  thus  robbed  of  its  chief  protection, 
which  our  ignorance  had  conferred*  upon  it  The  results  of  this 
expedition  have  been  most  beneficial,  and  the  civil  administration  has 
since  been  conducted  with  little  or  no  trouble. 

People. — No  attempt  at  a  regular  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  has 
ever  been  attempted  in  the  Garo  Hills.  The  Deputy  Commissioner 
estimates  the  population  at  from  80,000  to  100,000.  The  former 
estimate  is  adopted  in  the  Census  Report  of  1872.  In  the  hills  proper, 
the  only  race  to  be  found  is  the  Garo  itself,  with  the  exception  of  one 
small  isolated  village  called  Thapa,  which  is  inhabited  by  Rabhas.  But 
several  villages  on  the  plains,  which  have  recently  been  included  within 
the  boundaries  of  the  District,  are  peopled  by  Rabhas,  Kochs,  Raj- 
bansis,  Dalus,  Mechs,  and  a  few  Musalmans.  All  these  tribes  possess 
ethnical  affinities  in  common  with  the  Garos,  but  the  latter  retain 
sufficient  national  characteristics  to  be  classed  as  a  people  by  them- 
selves. They  are  thought  to  represent  the  primitive  stock,  of  which  the 
Rdbha,  Mech,  Kacharf,  and  Koch  represent  offshoots,  that  have  been 
modified  by  life  on  the  plains  and  contact  with  Hinduism.     According 


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GARO  HILLS  DISTRICT.  327 

to  local  tradition,  the  Garo  Hills  were  once  occupied  by  Kochs,  who 
were  gradually  driven  northward  by  an  invasion  of  Garos ;  and  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  Kochs  at  the  present  day  claim  land  in  the  hills. 

The  Garos  proper  are  a  robust  and  active  race,  capable  of  enduring 
a  great  amount  of  exertion.  They  are  of  about  the  middle  height,  and 
of  a  dark-brown  swarthy  colour.  Neither  the  men  nor  women  have 
any  pretensions  to  good  looks.  Their  cheekbones  are  prominent,  noses 
broad,  lips  thick,  ears  large,  and  eyes  of  a  hazel  colour.  The  men  are 
remarkable  for  deficiency  of  beard,  whatever  hair  grows  on  the  face 
being  carefully  plucked  out.  The  hair  of  the  head  with  both  sexes  is 
never  cut,  but  either  tied  up  in  a  knot  or  kept  off  the  face  by  means  of 
a  piece  of  cloth.  The  dress  of  the  men  consists  merely  of  a  strip  of 
home-spun  cotton  cloth,  about  a  yard  and  a  half  in  length,  which  is 
passed  round  the  waist  and  between  the  legs,  and  then  tied  at  the  back. 
The  dress  of  the  women  only  differs  in  being  slightly  more  extensive. 
In  addition,  both  sexes  carry  a  small  blanket,  usually  made  from  the 
bark  of  a  tree.  This  is  manufactured  by  steeping  the  bark  in  water, 
beating  it  out,  and  afterwards  drying  it  well  in  the  sun.  In  the 
eastern  hills,  the  Gdros  have  adopted  the  short  fringed  jacket,  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  KMsi£s.  Both  men  and  women  are  inordinately 
fond  of  personal  ornaments.  The  males  wear  three  or  four  brass  ear- 
rings, and  as  many  bead  necklaces  as  they  can  afford  Men  of  heredi- 
tary rank  wear  an  iron  or  brass  armlet  above  the  elbow,  and  a  peculiar 
ornament  round  the  head,  which  consists  of  brass  plates  connected  by  a 
string.  It  is  said  that  this  last  may  only  be  assumed  by  one  who  has 
slain  an  enemy  in  battle.  The  women  wear,  besides  necklaces  of  glass 
and  bell-metal  beads,  ear-rings  of  enormous  size  and  weight  It  is  a 
coveted  mark  of  distinction  to  have  the  lobe  of  the  ear  altogether  torn 
away  by  the  strain  thus  caused,  in  which  case  the  ear-rings  are  suspended 
from  a  string  passed  over  the  top  of  the  head.  The  weapons  of  the 
Garos  consist  of  spear,  sword,  and  shield.  The  sword  which  is 
peculiar  to  these  hills  is  a  two-edged  instrument  with  an  abrupt  point, 
the  blade  and  handle  forming  one  piece.  Besides  being  a  weapon,  it  is 
used  for  every  variety  of  domestic  and  agricultural  purpose.  The 
shield  is  composed  of  thin  strips  of  bamboo  ingeniously  worked 
together,  so  as  to  be  almost  proof  against  a  spear-thrust  In  the  back 
of  the  shield  is  a  receptacle  for  bamboo  spikes,  which  form  an  essential 
item  in  the  equipment  of  a  Garo  warrior.  These  spikes  are  intended 
to  be  planted  in  the  ground,  so  as  to  block  the  way  against  a  shoeless 
enemy;  and  they  have  been  found  to  answer  their  purpose  very 
effectually.  In  food,  the  Garos  may  be  styled  omnivorous ;  they  eat  not 
only  beef  and  pork,  but  also  tigers,  dogs,  snakes,  and  frogs.  Their  staple 
diet  is  rice,  and  their  drink  rice  beer.  Milk  they  altogether  eschew, 
like  many  of  the  hill  tribes  of  India.    They  are  great  smokers  of  tobacco, 


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328  GARO  HILLS  DISTRICT. 

but  touch  no  intoxicating  drug.  Their  villages  are  usually  placed  on  the 
side  of  a  hill,  some  distance  from  the  crest,  and  within  easy  reach  of 
water.  The  houses,  as  is  generally  the  case  among  the  tribes  of  the 
north-east  frontier,  are  built  on  piles,  and  are  frequently  of  considerable 
size.  The  materials  are  bamboo  and  thatch.  The  structure  is  usually 
divided  into  the  following  compartments: — A  large  room  where  the 
family  live,  an  apartment  for  the  women,  a  place  whiere  the  cattle  are 
kept,  and  verandahs  in  front  and  behind  A  rude  fireplace,  consisting 
merely  of  smoothed  clay,  occupies  the  middle  of  the  house ;  and  the 
smoke  is  left  to  escape  as  best  it  can.  During  the  agricultural  season, 
the  entire  body  of  villagers  occupy  temporary  huts  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  the  common  cultivation.  The  most  remarkable 
custom  of  the  Garos  is  one  which  they  share  with  the  Khisias.  The 
wife  is  regarded  as  the  head  of  the  family,  and  through  her  the  descent 
of  property  is  traced.  The  man  who  marries  the  favourite  daughter  of 
the  house  is  required  to  marry  his  own  mother-in-law,  on  the  death  of 
his  father-in-law ;  and  in  this  manner  he  succeeds  to  the  family  property. 
This  custom  is  apparently  a  survival  of  the  system  of  polyandry.  That 
system  still  exists  intact  among  Himalayan  tribes  ;  for  example,  among 
the  tribes  between  Simla  and  Thibet.  It  is  also  practised  among  the 
Nairs  and  the  aboriginal  Todas  of  Southern  India.  According  to  this 
system  when  in  full  force,  a  woman  is  the  lawful  wife  of  a  family 
of  brethren,  and  a  man's  property  descends,  not  to  his  own,  but  to 
his  sister's  children.  Among  tribes  who  have  advanced  so  far  as  to 
give  up  the  practice  of  polyandry,  but  who  still  preserve  its  tradi- 
tions, it  leaves  behind  curious  customs  of  inheritance,  such  as  that 
just  described  among  the  Khdsias.  Property  still  descends  through 
the  females,  and  the  sons  receive  nothing,  but  have  to  look  to  the 
family  into  which  they  marry  for  their  advancement  in  life.  As 
among  the  Khdsias,  in  all  domestic  matters,  the  women  enjoy  a 
position  of  the  highest  consideration,  and  it  is  said  that  their  voice 
has  great  weight  also  in  public  councils.  Marriages  are  arranged 
by  the  parents,  and  concluded  when  the  parties  are  of  fit  age.  No 
dower  is  demanded  on  either  side.  The  husband  immediately  migrates 
to  the  house  of  his  wife's  family,  and  becomes  one  of  her  clan. 
Intermarriages  between  members  of  the  same  clan  are  not  permitted, 
but  otherwise  no  regard  is  paid  to  the  ties  of  consanguinity.  A  second 
wife  cannot  be  taken  without  the  consent  of  the  first.  Adultery  is 
punished  by  a  fine.  The  funeral  ceremonies  imply  the  belief  in  a 
future  state  of  existence.  The  body  is  burned,  and  the  ashes  finally 
buried  near  the  hut-door.  At  the  time  of  cremation,  dogs  are  sacrificed, 
in  order  that  they  may  direct  the  spirit  on  his  way.  Up  to  a  very  recent 
period,  human  victims  were  offered  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  a 
chief.     If  no  slaves  were  available,  a  foray  was  made  into  the  plains  to 


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GARO  HILLS  DISTRICT.  329 

bring  back  heads.  The  Garos  believe  in  a  supreme  being  called 
Saljang,  who  is  impersonated  in  the  sun.  But  the  real  objects  of  their 
religion  are  numerous  malignant  demons,  to  whom  is  attributed  every 
physical  and  moral  evil,  and  whose  wrath  requires  to  be  appeased  by 
bloody  sacrifices.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  priest  or  kamdl  to  determine  by 
certain  omens  which  particular  evil  spirit  is  at  work,  to  arrange  the 
ceremonies,  and  repeat  the  necessary  incantations.  Like  the  aborigines 
of  Central  India,  the  Garos  are  excessively  superstitious,  and  believe  in 
the  existence  of  witches  and  imps  of  all  kinds.  They  have  a  curious 
idea  that  certain  persons  are  capable  of  leaving  their  human  frames, 
and  taking  up  their  abode  in  the  body  of  a  tiger  or  other  animal. 

The  Garo  villages  vary  greatly  in  size.  Some  may  have  as  many  as 
2000,  others  have  no  more  than  30  inhabitants.  Tura  Station,  with 
only  about  300  inhabitants,  is  the  only  place  possessing  any  special 
characteristics.  It  is  situated  on  a  spur  of  the  Tura  range,  about  2000 
feet  above  sea  level,  and  the  same  distance  from  the  summit.  It  con- 
tains a  large  bungalow  for  the  Deputy  Commissioner,  barracks  and  huts 
for  150  constables,  and  the  school-house  of  the  American  Mission. 
The  stockade  by  which  it  was  originally  protected,  and  a  small  outpost 
station,  have  now  been  suffered  to  fall  into  decay.  Water  is  plentiful  in 
the  immediate  neighbourhood,  and  an  aqueduct  has  recently  been  cut, 
running  right  through  the  station. 

Agriculture,  etc. — The  Garos  cultivate  their  land  on  the  system 
known  asjum.  A  spot  of  land  is  selected  on  the  hillside,  and  the 
jungle  cut  down  during  the  cold  season.  Towards  the  end  of  March, 
the  trees  and  brushwood  are  burned  as  they  lie ;  and  the  rice  crop  is 
planted  in  April,  at  the  commencement  of  the  rains.  Shortly  after- 
wards, the  crops  of  vegetables,  cotton,  pepper,  and  pulses  are  sown  in 
the  same  field;  and  each  crop  is  reaped  in  order,  as  it  comes  to 
maturity.  In  the  second  year,  rice  only  is  grown ;  and  after  two  years' 
cultivation,  the  clearing  is  abandoned  and  suffered  to  lie  fallow  for 
about  ten  years.  The  sole  implement  of  agriculture  is  the  large  knife 
or  sword,  called  dte  by  the  Garos.  Neither  plough  nor  spade  is  used, 
except  in  the  few  Hinduized  villages  bordering  on  the  plains.  The 
rice  crop  generally  raised  corresponds  to  the  d us  of  Bengal ;  the  out- 
turn is  estimated  at  about  4^  cwts.  per  acre,  valued  at  15s.  The  cotton 
is  short  in  staple  and  poor  in  quality.  Several  experiments  have  been 
made  with  seed  from  Hinganghat,  but  hitherto  without  any  success. 
The  attempted  introduction  of  the  Khisia  potato  has  also  resulted 
in  failure.  Among  miscellaneous  crops  may  be  mentioned  —  pulses 
(reared  as  food  for  the  lac  insect),  indigo,  ginger,  turmeric,  and/<fo  or 
betel-leaf.  Domestic  animals  are  not  used  for  purposes  of  agriculture. 
Cattle  are  purchased  from  the  plains  for  sacrifice;  pigs,  goats,  and 
fowl  are  reared  for  food.     Every  village  contains  several  watch-dogs, 

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330  GARO  HILLS  DISTRICT. 

and  numbers  of  dogs  are  imported  from  the  plains  to  be  used  for 
food. 

There  are  no  regular  day-labourers  in  the  District  A  fair  remunera- 
tion for  a  Giro  casually  engaged  to  carry  baggage,  would  be  from  4d. 
to  6d.  a  day.  The  work  at  the  station  is  mainly  carried  on  by  coolies 
imported  from  the  plains.  The  Garos  have  no  weights  nor  measures 
of  quantity,  but  they  are  extremely  acute  in  guessing  the  amount  of 
the  commodities  they  barter  with  Bengali  traders.  In  187 1,  the  price 
of  the  best  cleaned  rice  at  Turd  was  13s.  8d.  per  cwt;  of  common  rice, 
6s.  iod.  per  cwt. 

No  such  calamity  as  blight,  flood,  or  drought  has  been  known  to 
occur  in  the  Giro  Hills.  The  country  is  well  watered  both  by  streams 
and  rainfall,  but  the  average  harvest  of  rice  is  barely  sufficient  for  the 
local  consumption.  In  the  improbable  contingency  of  distress  from  a 
failure  of  the  dus  crop,  the  inhabitants  could  be  best  relieved  by  the 
establishment  of  food  depots  at  the  hill  passes,  which  would  prevent  a 
turbulent  population  from  crowding  into  the  plains.  The  deficient 
rainfall  of  1873  did  not  seriously  affect  the  rice  harvest 

Manufactures,  etc. — There  are  no  special  local  manufactures  in  the 
hills.  The  Garo  women  weave  a  coarse  cotton  cloth  for  the  scanty 
garments  of  themselves  and  the  men,  using  a  loom  which  has  evidently 
been  borrowed  from  Bengal.  The  cloth  is  dyed  blue  with  indigo,  and 
generally  ornamented  with  red  stripes.  A  rude  pottery  is  made  in 
certain  villages,  but  all  metal  utensils  are  imported.  The  District 
trade  is  entirely  conducted  at  the  small  markets  situated  at  the  passes 
leading  into  the  plains.  The  principal  articles  of  export  are — cotton, 
timber,  boats,  bamboos,  firewood,  rubber,  and  lac ;  the  imports  received 
in  exchange  consist  of — rice,  dried  fish,  cattle,  goats,  fowls,  pigs,  cloth, 
and  ornaments.  The  raw  cotton  grown  on  the  jUrns  is  bought  up  by 
Marwarf  merchants,  to  be  shipped  to  Sirajganj.  In  1874-75,  a^°ut 
25,000  cwts.  of  cotton  were  exported,  valued  at  ns.  per  cwt  In  the 
same  year,  the  exports  of  lac  were  estimated  at  about  1600  cwts.,  worth 
about  £1  per  cwt 

Administration. — In  the  year  1869-70,  the  total  revenue  derived 
from  the  Garo  Hills  was  ^798,  while  the  expenditure  on  administra- 
tion amounted  to  ^6476.  By  1874-75,  the  revenue  had  risen  to 
^3745,  of  which  ^610  was  collected  on  account  of  certain  zamindirs 
in  Goalpira  District. 

Medical  Aspect. — The  rainy  season  generally  lasts  from  about  the 
middle  of  June  to  the  end  of  October,  but  occasional  showers  set  in  as 
early  as  May.  The  cold  weather  lasts  from  November  to  February ; 
and  the  months  of  March  and  April  are  usually  dry  and  warm.  During 
the  two  years  1874  and  1875,  the  average  annual  rainfall  registered  at 
Turd  station  was  126*97  inches.     The  chief  diseases  affecting  strangers 


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GAR  OZ— GAR  UDANADL  33 1 

to  the  hills  are  fevers  of  a  malarious  type,  sometimes  complicated  with  en- 
largement of  the  spleen  or  liver,  diarrhoea,  dysentery,  rheumatism,  chest 
affections,  and  ulcers.  The  Giros,  in  addition,  suffer  from  bronchocele 
and  elephantiasis.  In  187 1,  a  severe  epidemic  of  cholera  broke  out  at 
the  station  of  Turd.     Out  of  80  persons  attacked,  as  many  as  32  died. 

GaroL — Petty  State  in  Rew£  Kdnta,  Bombay.  It  has  been  lately 
transferred  to  the  Pinch  Mahdls  District ;  but  the  tribute  of  ^3  is 
still  paid  to  the  Giekwir  of  Baroda  through  the  Rewd  Kinta  Agency. 

OaroUL — Rent-free  estate  in  Sigar  (Saugor)  District,  Central 
Provinces;  consisting  of  one  village,  with  an  area  of  5479  acres,  and 
yielding  a  yearly  revenue  of  ^88.  Pop.  (1870),  1043.  The  village 
became  the  headquarters  of  a  tract  bestowed  by  the  Emperor  of  Delhi 
on  Rao  Kdm  Chandra ;  the  greater  part  of  which  was  resumed  by  the 
Peshwd  in  1746.  Garote  contains  a  small  fort,  and  is  surrounded  by  a 
stone  wall.  To  the  east  is  a  fine  lake,  covering  76  acres ;  the  soil  around 
is  fertile.    Government  school  for  boys. 

Garotha. — The  north-eastern  tahsiloi  Jhdnsi  District,  North-Western 
Provinces ;  consisting  of  a  hilly  country,  gradually  sloping  down  to  the 
plains  along  the  Betwa  and  the  Dhasdn  rivers,  and  much  intersected  by 
native  territory.  Area,  501  square  miles,  of  which  232  are  cultivated; 
population  (1872),  85,202  ;  land  revenue,  ^14,061 ;  total  Government 
revenue,  ,£15,350;  rental  paid  by  cultivators,  ,£36,659;  incidence  of 
Government  revenue  per  acre,  io£d. 

Qarranli — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Bundelkhand  in  the  Central 
India  Agency,  under  the  Government  of  India.  It  is  divided  into 
eight  tracts.  Gopdl  Sinh,  the  first  jdgirddr,  and  the  father  of  the 
present  chief,  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  daring  of  the  military 
adventurers  who  opposed  the  occupation  of  Bundelkhand  by  the 
British  Government  in  1803.  He  had  been  in  the  service  of  Darjan 
Sinh  and  Hari  Sinh,  the  grandsons  of  Chhatarsdl  Sinh,  in  Jdso;  and  on 
the  invasion  of  Alf  Bahddur,  he  seized  the  pargand  of  Kotrd  for  him- 
self. For  years  he  resisted  all  efforts  of  persuasion  or  force  to  reduce 
him  to  submission ;  but  being  at  last  convinced  of  the  hopelessness  of 
the  unequal  contest,  he  submitted  on  condition  of  receiving  a  full 
pardon  and  a  provision  in  land.  Accordingly,  in  181 2,  he  received  a 
sanad  and  the  grant  of  the  Garrauli  jdgir.  He  was  succeeded  by 
his  son,  Diwdn  Bahddur  Parichit,  a  Hindu  of  the  Bundela  caste,  who 
is  the  present  chief  or  jdgirddr.  The  chief  has  received  a  sanad  of 
adoption.  The  area  of  the  State  is  estimated  at  25  square  miles;  the 
population  (1875)  at  about  5000 ;  the  revenue  at  £1 500.  The  military 
force  consists  of  75  men. 

Garada-giri  (or  Gardan-giri). — Hill  peak  in  KddiSr  District,  Mysore; 
3680  feet  above  sea  level.    Lat.  130  29'  n.,  long.  760  17'  e. 

Garudanadi  (or  Gaddilam). — River  in  South  Arcot  District,  Madras. 


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332  GAR  VMAR1—GA  UHA TI  TOWN. 

It  rises  in  the  Yegal  Tank,  in  Kallakurchi,  and  is  fed  by  the  Mallatar. 
After  a  course  of  59  miles  between  Fort  St.  David  and  Cuddalore,  it 
falls  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 

Garom&ri — Forest  reserve  in  Darrang  District,  Assam ;  containing 
valuable  sdl  timber  (Shorea  robusta).     Area,  205*18  acres. 

Garvi — Petty  Bhil  (Bheel)  State  in  Khandesh,  Bombay  Presidency. 
— See  Dang  States. 

Garwi. — Municipal  village  on  the  North  Koel  river,  Lohardaga 
District,  Bengal.  Lat.  240  9'  45"  n.,  long.  830  51'  10"  e.  The  chief 
distributing  centre  for  the  surplus  produce  of  Palamau  Subdivision, 
and  of  a  great  part  of  Sarguja  and  the  tributary  States  of  Chutia  Nagpur. 
The  Garwa  market  is  held  in  the  dry  season,  on  the  sands  of  a  river  > 
and  here  stick-lac,  resin,  catechu,  cocoons  of  tasar  silk,  hides,  oil-seeds, 
ghiy  cotton,  and  iron  are  collected  for  exportation ;  the  imports  are  food 
grains,  brass  vessels,  piece-goods,  blankets,  silk,  salt,  tobacco,  spices, 
drugs,  etc.  Municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^204,  or  iod.  per  head  of 
population. 

Gathar. — Town  in  Shikarpur  District,  Sind.  Pop.  (1872),  2531 — 
Muhammadans,  1174;  Hindus,  1357. 

Gatka. — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Hallir  in  Kathiawa>,  Bombay ; 
consisting  of  5  villages,  with  1  independent  tribute-payer.  The  revenue 
in  1876  was  estimated  at  ^1000;  of  which  tribute  of  £64  is  payable 
to  the  British  Government,  and  £*o  to  Junagarh. 

Ganh&ti  (Gowhatty). — Chief  town  of  KamnSp  District,  and  the  largest 
in  Assam ;  situated  on  the  left  or  south  bank  of  the  Brahmaputra,  in  lat. 
260 11'  n.,  and  long.  910  48'  e.  Pop.  (1872),  11,492  ;  municipal  revenue 
(1875-76),  ^2727;  rate  of  taxation,  4s.  ^d.  per  head.  Gauhati  was 
the  ancient  capital  of  the  Hindu  kingdom  of  Assam,  and  the  seat  of  the 
British  administration  until  the  formation  of  the  Province  in  1874,  when 
the  residence  of  the  Chief  Commissioner  was  fixed  at  Shillong  in  the 
Khasi  Hills.  It  is  still  the  most  populous  town  in  the  Brahmaputra 
valley,  and  spreads  over  an  area  of  2  square  miles.  According  to  local 
tradition,  it  is  identified  with  the  city  of  Pragjotishpur,  the  capital  of 
Narak  and  his  son  Bhagadatta,  monarchs  mentioned  in  the  Mahdbhd- 
rata.  In  historical  times,  it  was  the  capital  of  the  Hindu  kingdom  of 
Kamrtip,  which  extended  over  great  part  of  Northern  Bengal;  and 
subsequently  it  was  the  residence  of  the  Bar  Phukan,  or  viceroy  of  the 
Aham  dynasty.  Its  former  glories  only  exist  in  the  ruins  which  lie 
scattered  on  both  banks  of  the  Brahmaputra.  The  remains  of  extensive 
fortifications  can  still  be  traced,  though  the  gateways  existing  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century  have  now  entirely  disappeared.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  soil  in  the  cultivated  fields  in  the  neighbourhood 
is  composed  of  brick,  mortar,  and  pottery ;  and  carved  stones  and 
beautifully  finished  slabs,  the  remains  of  once  noble  temples,  are  fre- 


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GAULI—GAUR  CITY.  333 

quently  found  beneath  the  surface.  The  numerous  tanks,  that  attest 
the  command  of  naked  labour  possessed  by  its  former  rulers,  are  now 
choked  up  with  weeds  and  jungle,  or  are  entirely  effaced  by  a  false 
though  luxuriant  soil  that  floats  on  the  stagnant  waters  concealed 
beneath.  The  site  of  the  town  is  regarded  as  very  unhealthy.  The 
houses  are  situated  along  the  southern  bank  of  the  Brahmaputra,  on 
comparatively  high  ground;  but  behind  there  stretches  a  malarious 
swamp  or  Ulf  several  square  miles  in  area.  In  recent  years,  some 
improvement  has  been  effected,  by  enforcing  sanitary  rules  within  the 
limits  of  the  municipality.  In  1875,  the  military  cantonments  were 
occupied  by  the  42d  Assam  Light  Infantry,  with  a  total  strength  of 
500  men.  Gauhati  is  an  important  centre  of  river  trade,  being  one  of 
the  largest  seats  of  commerce  in  Assam.  In  1876-77,  European  piece- 
goods  were  imported  to  the  value  of  ^16,000,  and  cotton  twist  to  the 
value  of  ^10,500.  An  excellent  cart  road  leads  south  to  Shillong,  a 
distance  of  67  miles.  The  High  School  at  Gauhati  is  the  only  one  in  the 
Province  with  a  College  Department,  teaching  up  to  the  university 
standard.  There  is  also  a  flourishing  Persian  school.  In  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  are  two  frequented  places  of  Hindu  pilgrimage —the 
temple  of  Kamakhya,  on  a  hill  two  miles  west  of  the  town ;  and  the 
rocky  island  of  Umananda,  in  the  mid-channel  of  the  Brahmaputra. 

Qauli  (or  Mewdsi). — One  of  the  Mowar  States  in  Khandesh,  Bom- 
bay. Area  unknown;  estimated  pop.  (1875-76),  500;  supposed  gross 
revenue,  ^1500.  The  country  is  extremely  mountainous,  and  covered 
with  dense  forests.  Principal  produce,  timber.  Climate  exceedingly  un- 
healthy. The  chief  is  named  Khatia  Walad  Nana  W&vi,  a  Bhil  Hindu  of 
the  Giras  family.  He  resides  at  Raisinhpur.  He  is  one  of  the  superior 
chiefs  of  Khandesh,  and  can  read  and  write  Marathi  and  Gujarathi. 

Oaur  (or  Lakhnauti). — Ruined  city  and  ancient  capital  of  Bengal, 
Maldah  District ;  situated  on  a  deserted  channel  of  the  Ganges,  in  lat. 
240  52'  n.,  long.  88°  10'  e.  The  time  of  the  foundation  of  the  city  is 
involved  in  utter  obscurity,  and  the  whole  course  of  its  history,  down  to 
the  day  when  it  was  finally  deserted,  is  only  to  be  vaguely  conjectured. 
With  regard  to  its  origin,  it  is  known  that  it  was  the  metropolis  of 
Bengal  under  its  Hindu  kings.  Local  traditions  connect  some  of  its 
ruins  with  the  oft-recurring  names  of  Adisiir,  Ballal  Sen,  and  Lakshman. 
The  most  ancient  name  for  the  city  itself  seems  to  have  been  Laksh- 
manawati,  corrupted  into  Lakhnauti.  The  name  Gaur  is  also  of 
great  antiquity,  but  it  is  probable  that  this  name  was  more  strictly 
applicable  to  the  kingdom  than  to  the  city.  The  ascertained  history  of 
Gaur  begins  with  its  conquest  in  1204  a.d.  by  the  Muhammadans,  who 
retained  it  as  the  chief  seat  of  their  power  in  Bengal  for  more  than  three 
centuries.  This  was  the  period  during  which  were  erected  the  numerous 
mosques  and  other  Muhammadan  buildings,  which  yet  remain  in  a 


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334  GAUR  CITY. 

tolerable  state  of  preservation.  When  the  Afghan  kings  of  Bengal 
established  their  independence,  they  transferred  the  seat  of  govern 
ment  to  Panduah,  also  in  Maldah  District;  and  to  build  the 
public  structures  of  their  new  capital,  plundered  Gaur  of  every  monu- 
ment that  could  be  removed  Hence  it  is,  that  while  the  ruins  of 
Panduah  are  covered  with  stones  bearing  Hindu  sculptures,  scarcely  a 
single  relic  has  been  found  on  the  site  of  Gaur  that  could  be  definitely 
referred  to  a  Hindu  building.  Panduah  was  soon  afterwards  deserted, 
and  the  royal  residence  retransferred  to  Gaur,  which  continued,  under 
the  name  of  Janatabad,  to  be  the  capital  of  Bengal  so  long  as  its 
Muhammadan  kings  retained  their  independence.  During  the  latter 
years  of  the  Afghan  dynasty,  the  seat  of  government  was  removed 
to  Tandan  or  Tangra,  in  the  same  District;  but  Gaur  preserved 
the  wealth  and  populousness  of  a  great  metropolis  until  it  finally  dis- 
appeared from  history  at  the  time  when  Akbar's  generals  reconquered 
Bengal.  During  these  last  years  of  its  greatness,  it  suffered  many  vicissi- 
tudes. It  was  plundered  by  its  own  kings,  repeatedly  besieged,  and  more 
than  once  taken  by  storm.  Daiid  Khan  was  the  last  of  the  Afghan  dynasty. 
His  refusal  to  pay  homage  to  the  Mughal  Emperor  at  Delhi,  led  to  the 
final  subjugation  of  Bengal.  A  large  army  under  Mana'im  Khan  finally 
defeated  Datid  in  1575,  and  occupied  during  the  rainy  season  the  already 
decaying  city  of  Gaur.  A  pestilence,  however,  broke  out,  by  which 
thousands  of  the  troops  and  inhabitants  are  reported  to  have  died  daily. 
This  completed  the  desolation  of  the  city.  The  imperial  general, 
who  had  resolved  to  maintain  Gaur  as  the  seat  of  government,  and  to 
restore  its  former  magnificence,  fell  a  victim  to  the  general  contagion. 
From  henceforth  the  name  of  Gaur  is  scarcely  to  be  found  in  Muham- 
madan annals,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  city  was  never  reoccupied 
after  this  depopulation.  Such  is  the  generally  received  account  of  the 
desertion  of  Gaur ;  but  Dr.  Buchanan-Hamilton  discredits  the  story  of 
the  pestilence,  and  states  that  the  Mughal  viceroys  of  Bengal  used 
occasionally  to  reside  at  Gaur,  and  that  as  late  as  1639  Shah  Shuja, 
the  brother  of  Aurangzeb,  added  buildings  to  the  city.  This  prince 
made  Rajmahal  the  capital  of  Bengal ;  and  from  that  time,  according  to 
Dr.  Buchanan-Hamilton,  dates  the  desolation  of  Gaur.  He  thinks 
that  *  the  city  then  went  to  instant  ruin,  not  from  any  great  or  uncommon 
calamity,  but  merely  from  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government ' 
The  ruins  have  been  a  quarry,  not  only  for  the  brick  houses  of  the 
neighbouring  towns  and  villages,  but  also  for  the  mosques,  palaces,  and 
public  monuments  of  Murshidabad.  It  is  said  that  the  Commercial 
Residency  at  English  Bazar  was  constructed  with  bricks  from  Gaur. 
Dense  jungle  now  reigns  supreme  over  the  half-obliterated  ruins  of 
walls,  forts,  and  palaces ;  and  tigers,  rock  pythons,  and  pelicans  are 
the  chief  inhabitants  of  Gaur. 


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GAUR  CITY.  335 

The  ruins  were  first  explored  by  Mr.  H.  Creighton  in  1801,  and 
afterwards  by  Dr.  Buchanan-Hamilton  in  1810.  This  latter  gentleman 
has  left  an  elaborate  description  of  the  ruins  as  they  then  appeared,  from 
which  the  following  account  is  mainly  condensed  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  their  dilapidation,  partly  from  natural  causes,  but 
chiefly  by  the  hand  of  man,  has  rapidly  advanced  since  that  time. 

The  city,  with  its  suburbs,  covered  an  area  variously  estimated  at 
from  20  to  30  square  miles.  The  situation  is  somewhat  elevated,  and 
the  soil  is  clay,  well  suited  to  preserve  the  houses  from  inundations. 
The  dimensions  of  the  city  proper,  i.e.  the  part  within  the  great  con- 
tinuous embankment,  were  about  7  \  miles  in  length  from  north  to  south, 
and  from  1  to  2  miles  in  breadth,  giving  a  total  area  of  about  13  square 
miles.  The  west  side  of  the  city  was  throughout  washed  by  the  main 
stream  of  the  Ganges,  the  eastern  side  being  protected  partly  by  the 
Mahananda  and  partly  by  a  line  of  perennial  swamps.  To  the  south 
but  little  protection  was  needed,  for  the  junction  a  little  lower  down  of 
the  Mahananda  and  the  Ganges  would  have  prevented  an  invader  from 
choosing  such  a  circumscribed  base  of  operations.  To  the  north,  which 
was  the  most  accessible  quarter,  an  artificial  bulwark  was  required.  A 
line  of  fortifications,  about  6  miles  in  length,  extends  in  an  irregular 
curve  from  the  old  channel  of  the  Bhagirathi  at  Sonatala  to  near  the 
Mahananda  at  Bholahat  This  rampart,  mainly  composed  of  brick,  is 
about  100  feet  wide  at  its  base.  At  each  end,  where  it  touches  on  the 
rivers,  it  is  cut  off  by  a  ditch  120  feet  wide.  At  the  north-east  part  of 
this  curve  is  a  gate,  protected  by  a  strong  projecting  outwork  in  the 
form  of  a  quadrant,  through  which  a  high  embanked  road  passes  north 
and  south.  This  outwork  contains  many  tanks,  and  the  monument  of 
a  Muhammadan  saint.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  station  of  the  police 
officer  who  had  charge  of  this  part  of  the  city.  Near  the  north-east 
corner  of  the  outwork,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Kalindrf  with  the 
Mahananda,  stands  a  mindr  or  tower,  which,  although  now  fallen  to 
ruin,  still  presents  a  striking  object  as  viewed  from  the  ferry  at  Mina- 
sarai.  North  of  the  rampart,  and  entirely  apart  from  the  city,  are  two 
isolated  ruins,  connected  with  the  names  of  Adisiir  and  Ballal  Sen, 
early  Hindu  kings  of  Bengal.  Close  by  are  the  ruins  of  the  palace 
where  Ballal  Sen  is  said  to  have  resided,  consisting,  like  the  palace  at 
Dacca,  of  a  square  of  about  400  yards,  surrounded  by  a  ditch.  Behind 
the  rampart  is  the  northern  suburb  of  the  city.  It  is  of  vast  extent,  in 
the  shape  of  a  quadrant  of  a  circle,  with  an  area  of  about  .6000  yards. 
It  does  not  appear  to  have  been  at  any  time  thickly  inhabited.  The 
eastern  portion  is  now  occupied  with  marshes ;  but  the  western  portion, 
near  the  Bhagirathi,  is  enclosed  by  earthworks,  and  contains  many  public 
buildings.  Here  is  situated  the  Large  Sagar  Dfghi,  the  most  celebrated 
artificial  piece  of  water  in  Bengal.     Its  dimensions  are  almost  1600 

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336  GAUR  CITY. 

yards  from  north  to  south,  and  more  than  800  from  east  to  west  The 
banks  are  built  of  brick,  and  the  water  remains  pure  and  sweet  to  the 
present  day.  This  was,  no  doubt,  a  Hindu  structure;  and  in  the 
neighbourhood  are  the  two  most  frequented  places  of  Hindu  devotion 
in  the  District.  The  banks,  however,  are  now  occupied  with  Muham- 
madan  buildings,  of  which  the  most  conspicuous  is  the  tomb  of  Mukh- 
dam  Shah  Jalal,  a  saint  who  is  stated  to  have  exercised  great  influence 
in  the  time  of  the  early  Musalman  kings  of  Bengal.  Near  this  tomb  is 
a  small  mosque.  Both  these  buildings  are  supported  by  an  endowment, 
and  tolerably  well  cared  for.  Opposite  this  suburb,  at  a  market-place 
now  called  Sadullapur,  is  the  chief  descent  (ghdt)  to  the  old  bed  of  the 
holy  stream.  To  this  spot  dead  bodies  of  Hindus  are  still  brought 
from  great  distances  to  be  buried. 

Immediately  to  the  south  lies  the  city  itself,  which,  towards  each 
suburb  and  along  the  Ganges,  has  been  defended  by  a  strong  rampart 
and  ditch.  On  the  side  facing  the  Mahananda  the  rampart  has  been 
double,  and  in  most  parts  there  have  been  two  immense  ditches,  and  in 
some  parts  three.  No  doubt  these  works  were  designed  as  much  for 
embankments  and  drains  as  for  fortifications.  The  base  of  the  outer 
embankment  was  in  one  place  measured  by  Mr.  Creighton,  and  found 
to  be  150  feet  thick.  By  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  13  square 
miles  thus  enclosed  appears  to  have  been  thickly  inhabited.  Small 
tanks  are  everywhere  to  be  seen,  as  well  as  many  foundations  of  houses 
and  the  remains  of  small  places  of  worship.  In  the  southern  part, 
there  have  been  numerous  roads,  raised  very  high,  and  so  wide,  that  in 
many  places,  small  buildings  of  brick  were  erected  on  their  sides.  These 
were  probably  chapels,  or  other  places  of  public  resort;  while  the 
dwelling-houses  were  huddled  together  along  the  sides  of  the  tanks. 
Somewhat  to  the  south,  on  the  banks  of  the  Bhagirathi,  was  the  citadel 
or  ki/dj  a  work  evidently  of  the  Muhammadan  period.  It  extends 
about  a  mile  in  length  from  north  to  south,  by  about  from  600  to  800 
yards  broad.  The  rampart  which  encircles  this  area  has  been  very 
strongly  built  of  brick,  with  many  flanking  angles  and  round  bastions  at 
the  corners.  The  palace,  at  the  south-east  corner  of  the  citadel,  was 
surrounded  by  a  wall  of  brick  about  40  feet  high  and  8  feet  thick.  In 
the  interior,  the  remains  of  several  cross-walls  are  visible,  but  the 
arrangement  of  the  apartments  cannot  be  ascertained.  Indeed,  almost 
the  whole  site  is  now  under  cultivation.  A  little  north  of  the  palace  are 
the  royal  tombs,  where  Husain  Shah  and  other  independent  kings  of 
Bengal  lie  buried.  This  building  has  been  almost  entirely  destroyed, 
but  it  had  evidently  considerable  pretensions  to  elegance.  The  floor 
was  paved  with  stone,  and  the  graves  were  covered  with  slabs  of 
polished  hornblende.  Not  one  of  these  stones,  however,  now  remains. 
Within  the  citadel,  also,  are  two  mosques,  the  larger  of  which  has  fallen 


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GAUR  CITY.  337 

into  ruins.  The  smaller,  built  by  Husain  Shah,  or  by  his  successor, 
Nazrat  Shah,  known  as  the  Kadam  Rasill  Mosque,  is  in  good  preserva- 
tion, being  supported  by  an  adequate  endowment  Just  outside  the 
east  wall  of  the  citadel  stands  a  lofty  tower  of  brick,  up  the  centre  of 
which  runs  a  winding  stair  leading  to  a  chamber  at  the  summit  It  is 
known  as  the  Pir  Asa  Manara,  but  no  object  is  assigned  for  its  erection 
by  the  natives.  Mr.  Fergusson,  however,  in  his  History  of  Eastern 
Architecture,  states  that  it  is  evidently  a  pillar  of  victory,  a  Java 
Stambha,  such  as  the  Kutab  Minar  at  Delhi.  About  a  mile  and  half  north 
of  the  citadel  is  a  place  of  600  sq.  yards,  surrounded  by  a  rampart  and 
ditch,  known  as  the  Flower-Garden.  South-east  of  this  is  the  Pijaswari 
or  'Abode  of  Thirst/  a  tank  of  considerable  dimensions,  but  contain- 
ing bad  brackish  water.  A  tradition  states  that  condemned  criminals 
were  allowed  to  drink  nothing  but  water  from  this  tank,  and  thus 
perished  of  thirst  There  are  many  other  large  tanks  within  the  city 
walls,  some  containing  tame  crocodiles,  which  are  fed  by  the  resident 
fdkirs.  Of  these,  the  finest  is  the  Small  Sagar  Dighi,  which  only  in  size 
is  inferior  to  the  tank  of  the  same  name  in  the  north  suburb.  Between 
the  Pijaswari  and  the  citadel  is  the  Great  Golden  Mosque,  reckoned 
the  grandest  building  in  Gaur.  Dr.  Buchanan-Hamilton  thought  its 
proportions  mean.  It  is  180  feet  from  north  to  south,  60  feet  from  east 
to  west,  and  20  feet  high  to  the  top  of  the  cornice.  It  is  a  perfect 
parallelopiped  without  projection  or  recess,  except  that  it  was  formerly 
covered  with  33  domes.  The  only  other  structure  of  interest  is  the 
fine  central  gate  in  the  south  wall  of  the  city.  It  is  called  the  Kotwalf 
Darwaza,  presumably  from  the  circumstance  that  the  superintendent  of 
police  was  stationed  here.  The  gate  is  described  as  being  still  in  good 
preservation. 

Southwards  from  this  gate  stretches  an  immense  suburb  as  far  as 
Pukhariya,  a  distance  of  about  7  miles.  Its  width  is  comparatively 
small,  but  it  bears  abundant  traces  of  having  been  at  one  time  densely 
populated.  It  was  called  Firozipur,  from  Firoz  Shah,  the  second  of 
the  two  kings  of  Bengal  of  that  name.  Towards  the  east  and  south 
lay  an  embankment  and  ditch,  probably  designed  to  ward  off  the 
floods,  which  have  now  created  large  marshes  in  that  direction.  This 
southern  suburb  contains  a  good  number  of  public  buildings.  The 
most  prominent  among  these  are  the  Lesser  Golden  Mosque,  which  Dr. 
Buchanan-Hamilton  describes  as  *  one  of  the  neatest  pieces  of  archi- 
tecture in  the  whole  place ; '  and  the  tomb  of  Niamat-ulla- Wali.  This 
person  was  the  spiritual  guide  of  Shah  Shuja,  and  his  monument,  which 
is  small  and  clumsy,  is  to  this  day  carefully  tended  by  his  descendants. 

Such  are  the  ruins  of  Gaur.  No  doubt,  many  of  the  accounts  of  its 
vast  population  are  oriental  exaggerations.  But,  even  according  to  Dr. 
Buchanan-Hamilton,  who  places  the  inhabited  area  at  20  square  miles, 

VOL.  III.  y 


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338  GA  URA  JAMUN—GA IV. 

it  would  have  contained  over  600,000  or  700,000  souls.  It  is  now 
entirely  deserted,  and  overgrown  with  dense  jungle,  except  where  culti- 
vation is  again  gradually  spreading. 

Gaura  Jvmtin.—Pargand  in  Musafirkhina  tahsll,  Sultinpur  Dis- 
trict, Oudh.  Area,  93  square  miles,  of  which  49  are  under  cultivation. 
Pop.  (1869),  50,016,  or  538  per  square  mile;  91  villages. 

Gaurangdihi—  Hills  in  Binkur*  District,  Bengal.  Three  conical 
hills  at  a  village  of  the  same  name,  24  miles  from  Bdnkurd,  on  the  road 
to  Raghun&hpur ;  about  300  feet  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding 
country,  covered  with  tree  jungle,  and  so  steep  as  to  be  only  accessible 
to  men.     Lat.  230  26'  n.,  long.  S6°  48'  45"  e. 

Gaurid&r. — Petty  State  in  Halldr,  Kdth&wir,  Bombay ;  consisting 
of  6  villages,  with  1  independent  tribute-payer.  Estimated  revenue 
(l876),  ;£i3oo;  tribute  of  ;£ioi  payable  to  the  British  Government, 
and  ;£6i  to  Jundgarh. 

GaurihAr. — One  of  the  petty  States  in  Bundelkhand,  under  the 
Central  India  Agency;  situated  between  25°  14'  and  250  26' n.  Iat,  and 
between  8o°  12'  and  8o°  21'  e.  long.  It  is  bounded  on  the  east  by 
Bdnda  District  and  part  of  Hamfrpur,  on  the  north  and  west  by  Bdnda, 
and  on  the  south  by  the  Chhatarpur  State.  Area,  72  square  miles ; 
estimated  pop.  12,000;  revenue,  ^5000.  The  predecessor  of  the 
present  ruler  was  a  guerilla  leader  of  importance  during  the  period  of 
anarchy  in  Bundelkhand  which  prevailed  at  the  close  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. He  received  a  grant  of  the  Gaurihir  jdgir  in  1807.  The  present 
chief,  R£o  Bahddur  Rudra  Sinh,  did  good  service,  at  great  personal 
loss,  during  the  Mutiny  of  1857  ;  for  which  he  received  the  title  of  Rio 
Bahidur,  a  dress  of  honour  worth  Rs.  10,000,  and  the  privilege  of 
adoption,  which  was  subsequently  confirmed  by  sanad.  The  chief  has 
a  military  force  of  3  guns,  35  cavalry,  and  240  foot  soldiers.  Gaurih&r 
town  is  situated  in  lat  25°  16'  n.,  and  long.  8o°  14'  e. 

Gauripur. — Village  in  Godlpdra  District,  Assam,  on  the  right  or 
north  bank  of  the  Brahmaputra.  Lat  260  1 1'  n.,  long.  900  7'  e.  ;  pop. 
(1872),  1805.  It  is  the  residence  of  the  wealthiest  landowner  in  the 
District,  and  a  busy  centre  of  river  traffic.  A  large  trading  fair  is  held 
here  during  the  Durgd-Pujd  festival  in  October  or  November.  In 
1876-77,  Gauripur  exported  to  Sirdjganj,  in  Pabni  District,  28,900 
maunds  of  jute. 

Gavipttr. — Village  in  Bangalore  District,  Mysore ;  1  mile  south-west 
of  the  fort  of  Bangalore.  Lat.  12°  56'  n.,  long.  77*  36'  e.;  pop.  (1871), 
548.  Celebrated  for  the  cave  temple  of  Gavi  Gangidharesvara,  con- 
structed in  the  time  of  Kempe  Gauda  (1537).  The  emblems  of  Siva — 
the  trident,  the  umbrella,  and  the  double  drum — are  carved  out  of  the 
solid  rock  on  a  colossal  scale,  each  being  15  feet  high. 

Gaw. — Revenue  circle  in  Tha-htiin  Subdivision,  Amherst  District, 


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GA  WILGARH  HILLS.  339 

Tenasserim,  British  Burma.  It  lies  partly  in  the  valley  formed  by  the 
Martaban  Hills  on  the  east,  and  the  Debharien  Spur  on  the  west,  and 
partly  in  the  plain  country  between  the  hills  and  the  sea-coast.  In 
1876,  the  population  was  4688,  chiefly  Toung-thris ;  the  capitation  tax 
yielded  ^432,  and  the  land  revenue,  ^1216.  It  formerly  extended 
eastward  as  far  as  the  Bhenglaing,  but  was  reduced  to  its  present  limits 
a  few  years  ago. 

Gawilgarh. — Hill  range,  a  branch  of  the  Sdtpura  Mountains,  in 
Berar;  situated  between  21°  10'  and  21*  46'  30"  n.  lat,  and  between 
76°  40'  and  770  53'  e.  long.  Immediately  east  of  Betill  District  they 
divide  into  two  distinct  ranges  of  hills — the  one  running  on  to  the 
west  coast  between,  and  nearly  parallel  to,  the  Tdpti  and  Narbadd  (Ner- 
budda)  rivers ;  whilst  the  other,  passing  in  a  south-westerly  direction 
through  Betiil,  the  Melghdt  or  upland  country  of  Ellichpur,  and  the 
southern  portion  of  Nimdr,  terminates  at  the  junction  of  the  Tdpti 
with  its  principal  tributary,  the  Prima.  In  Melghdt,  the  crest  of  the 
range  attains  an  average  elevation  of  3400  feet  above  sea  level,  the 
highest  point,  Bairdt,  being  3987  feet.  The  main  height  of  the 
lower  hills,  bordering  upon  the  Tdpti,  is  about  1650  feet  The  chief 
passes  are — Malldra  on  the  east,  Dulghdt  on  the  west,  and  Bingdra  on 
the  extreme  west*  There  are  several  smaller  intermediate  tracks,  used 
almost  solely  by  Gonds  in  bringing  their  wood  and  forest  produce  for 
sale  in  the  markets  at  the  foot  of  the  hills.  None  of  the  passes  are 
practicable  for  wheeled  vehicles. 

Gawilgarh. — Hill  fortress  in  the  above  range,  in  the  Melghdt  Sub- 
division of  Ellichpur  District,  Berar ;  situated  on  the  watershed  between 
the  Prima  and  Tdpti  rivers.  Lat.  210  21'  30"  n.,  long.  770  24'  30"  e.  ; 
elevation,  3595  feet  above  sea  level.  The  hill  was  first  fortified  by  the 
Gaulis,  a  tribe  from  whom  it  takes  its  name,  and  who  are  still  numerous 
here.  The  fortress,  however,  dates  from  1420,  its  construction  being 
assigned  to  Ahmad  Shdh  of  the  Bdhmani  dynasty.  It  was  held  at 
different  times  by  the  Nizdm  and  the  Marhattds,  being  captured  from 
the  latter  by  the  British  in  December  1803.  At  that  time  it  consisted 
of  one  complete  inner  fort  facing  the  steepest  part  of  the  mountain, 
covered  by  an  outer  fort,  defending  its  approaches  to  the  north  and 
north-west.  The  walls  were  strongly  built,  and  fortified  by  towers  and 
ramparts.  The  march  of  General  Stevenson  up  the  hills  through  the 
Ddmangdon  Pass  eastward  of  Gawilgarh,  and  round  to  Labdda  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  fort,  is  described  by  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  as  one 
of  the  most  difficult,  as  well  as  successful,  operations  he  had  witnessed. 
The  fort  was  breached  by  batteries  from  Labdda,  and  gallantly  carried 
by  storm  on  the  15th  December  1803.  The  fort  was  dismantled  in 
1853,  and  the  only  buildings  now  standing  are  two  mosques,  the  powder 
factory,  and  Shora-khdna, 


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340  GAWTAMAW—GAYA  DISTRICT. 

Gawtamaw. — A  small  revenue  circle  in  Martaban  township,  Prome 
District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  The  greater  portion  is  under 
rice  cultivation.  In  1876-77,  the  population  was  355;  the  gross 
revenue,  ^89. 

Gay&. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of  Bengal, 
lying  between  240  17'  and  25°  19'  n.  lat,  and  between  840  4'  and 
86°  5'  e.  long.  Area,  4716  square  miles ;  population,  according  to  the 
Census  of  1872,  1,949,750.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Patna 
District,  on  the  east  by  Monghyr,  on  the  south  and  south-east  by  Lohar- 
daga  and  Hazaribagh,  and  on  the  west  by  Shahdbdd,  the  boundary  line 
being  formed  by  the  river  Sdn. 

Physical  Aspects, — The  southern  boundary  of  Gaya*  is  formed  by  an 
irregular  ridge  of  hills  of  no  great  height,  but  prettily  wooded,  and 
full  of  game.  These  hills  may  be  regarded  as  part  of  the  Vindhyan 
system  by  which  the  great  Gangetic  plain  is  bounded  on  the  south; 
from  them  the  District  slopes  gently  northward  towards  the  Ganges. 
The  country  is  generally  flat,  but  here  and  there  hills  are  found,  either 
isolated  or  in  groups,  the  higher  ones  covered  with  jungle  and  coarse 
grass,  the  others  rocky  and  bare.  The  loftiest  of  these  peaks  is 
Maher  Hill,  about  12  miles  south-east  of  Gaya  town,  which  rises  to  a 
height  of  1620  feet  above  the  sea.  The  only  other  remarkable  clusters 
of  hills  in  the  District,  besides  the  southern  range  already  referred  to, 
are  the  Barabar,  or,  as  they  are  called  in  old  maps,  Currumshaw  Hills ; 
and  a  range  which  forms  portion  of  the  boundary  between  Gaya  and 
Patna,  and  contains  (on  the  Patna  side)  Rajgriha,  the  famous  sacred 
mount,  a  place  of  great  antiquarian  interest  The  eastern  part  of  Gaya  is 
highly  cultivated ;  the  portions  to  the  north  and  west  are  less  fertile,  and 
the  remainder  of  the  District  consists  of  hills  and  jungles,  which  are  full 
of  wild  animals,  and  in  which,  too,  the  hunters  collect  tasar  silk,  bees- 
wax, resin,  gums  of  all  kinds,  and  the  valuable  fruit  of  the  mahud  tree. 
This  part  of  the  country  was  formerly  thinly  peopled  and  little  culti- 
vated, but  of  late  years  much  of  the  jungle  has  been  cleared  away,  and 
the  cultivated  area  is  rapidly  increasing ;  the  soil  generally  is  alluviaL 
Most  of  the  rivers  of  the  District  take  their  rise  in  the  southern 
mountains,  and  flow  from  south  to  north;  the  principal  of  them, 
however,  the  S6n,  which  forms  the  boundary  between  Gaya  and 
Shaliibad  Districts,  rises  in  the  Central  Provinces.  Next  in  importance 
is  the  Prinpdn,  which  follows  a  north-easterly  course  more  or  less 
parallel  to  that  of  the  S<5n.  Both  of  these  rivers  retain  some  water 
throughout  the  hot  season;  the  stream  of  the  Piinpiin  is  extensively 
used  for  irrigating  purposes.  The  S6n  derives  its  name  from  the  golden 
colour  of  its  sand,  with  which  are  intermixed  a  variety  of  small  pebbles,* 
some  of  them  prettily  coloured,  and  susceptible  of  polish.  The  Phalgd, 
formed  by  the  junction  of  two  hill  torrents,  flows  through  the  District, 


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GAYA  DISTRICT.  341 

and  is  chiefly  noteworthy  for  the  reverence  in  which  it  is  held  by  the 
pilgrims  who  flock  in  large  numbers  to  Gayd ;  during  the  hot  weather 
the  stream  dries  up.  The  other  rivers  of  the  District  worthy  of  notice 
are  the  Dhirhar,  the  Dong*,  the  Tiliya,  the  Dhanarjf,  the  Shob,  the 
Krisf,  and  the  Sakrf,  all  used  for  irrigation. 

History. — Materials  for  the  administrative  history  of  Gayd  are  scanty, 
as  the  records  were  burnt  during  the  Mutiny.  After  the  acquisition  of 
the  Province  of  Behar  by  the  English  in  1765,  the  management  was 
entrusted  to  a  distinguished  native,  Shitab  Rdi.  Gayd,  as  at  present 
constituted,  then  formed  part  of  the  District  of  Behar,  and  its  history 
for  the  first  fifty  years  of  British  rule  does  not  admit  of  separation  from 
the  Province  of  the  same  name.  In  18 14,  the  south  of  the  District  was 
placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  special  Joint  Magistrate,  stationed  at 
Sherghdtf.  In  1825,  Gaya  was  constituted  an  independent  Collectorate, 
with  a  jurisdiction  including  the  present  Subdivision  of  Behar.  For 
revenue  purposes,  the  Collector  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Board 
of  Commissioners  at  Patna  and  Benares,  created  in  1817.  For  judicial 
purposes,  there  were  native  munsifsy  under  a  Judge-Magistrate;  from 
whom,  again,  an  appeal  lay  to  the  Provincial  Civil  Court  at  Patna.  In 
1829,  this  Court,  and  also  the  Board,  were  abolished,  and  their  powers 
were  vested  in  a  Commissioner  at  Patna,  acting  under  the  orders  of  the 
Board  in  Calcutta.  In  1831,  increased  powers  were  given  to  the  Judge- 
Magistrate  of  Gaya  as  a  Sessions  Judge,  and  his  magisterial  powers  were 
made  over  to  the  Collector.  Thus  the  present  unit  of  administration, 
the  Magistrate-Collector,  was  created.  In  1845,  the  offices  of  Magistrate 
and  Collector  were  separated,  to  be  reunited  by  order  of  the  Secretary 
of  State  in  1859. 

Though  Gayi  was  not  the  scene  of  fighting  during  the  Mutiny  of 
1857,  yet  an  incident  took  place  in  the  District  worthy  of  record.  The 
Sepoys  in  the  neighbouring  cantonments  at  Dinapur  mutinied  in  July, 
and  escaped  into  Sh£h£b£d.  After  the  first  attack  upon  them  by  a 
British  force  had  resulted  in  disaster,  orders  were  issued  by  the  Com- 
missioner of  Patn£  to  all  the  civil  officers  within  his  jurisdiction  to 
withdraw  their  establishments  and  retire  on  Dinapur.  A  small  garrison 
of  the  64th  Regiment,  together  with  a  few  Sfkhs,  were  then  stationed  at 
Gayi  town.  In  obedience  to  the  written  orders  of  the  Commissioner, 
the  handful  of  soldiers  and  civilians  at  Gayi  started  on  the  road  to 
Patna*,  leaving  behind  about  7  Idkhs  of  rupees  (,£70,000)  in  the 
treasury.  But  on  the  way  bolder  counsels  prevailed.  Mr.  Money,  the 
Magistrate  of  the  District,  and  Mr.  Hollings,  an  uncovenanted  official 
in  the  opium  agency,  determined  to  return  to  Gayi  and  save  what  they 
could  from  the  general  pillage  that  would  inevitably  follow  upon  the 
abandonment  of  the  town.  The  detachment  of  the  64th  was  also  sent 
back.    The  town  was  found  still  at  peace.    A  few  days  were  spent  in 

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342  GAYA  DISTRICT. 

providing  carriage  for  the  treasure.  But  the  Patna*  road  had  become 
unsafe,  and  the  only  means  of  retreat  now  open  was  by  the  Grand 
Trunk  Road  to  Calcutta.  As  soon  as  the  little  party  had  started  a 
second  time,  they  were  attacked  by  a  mixed  rabble  of  released  prisoners 
and  the  former  jail-guards.  After  repulsing  the  attack,  Mr.  Money 
conveyed  his  treasure  safely  to  Calcutta,  where  his  arrival  was  welcomed 
with  enthusiasm. 

Population. — The  population  of  the  District,  according  to  the  Census 
of  1872,  is  1,949,750  persons,  dwelling  in  6530  villages  or  townships, 
and  327,845  houses,  the  average  pressure  of  the  population  on  the  soil 
being  413  to  the  square  mile.  The  great  majority  of  the  people — 887 
per  cent. — are  Hindus ;  the  proportion  of  Muhammadans  is  1 1  '3  per 
cent. ;  the  Christians  number  203,  of  whom  82  are  native  converts. 
The  aboriginal  tribes  and  semi-Hinduized  aborigines  number  altogether 
409,125,  the  most  numerous  of  the  semi-Hinduized  tribes  being  the 
Dosadhs,  of  whom  there  are  92,929 ;  and  the  Bhuniyas,  who  number 
90,666.  The  aborigines  live  chiefly  in  the  south  of  the  District,  and 
support  themselves  on  the  produce  of  the  jungles,  or  by  thieving,  cattle- 
lifting,  and  hunting.  Of  high-caste  Hindus  in  Gaya,  there  are  171,273, 
the  Brahmans  numbering  65,301,  and  the  Rajputs  102,918 ;  of  agri- 
cultural, pastoral,  and  labouring  castes,  there  are  358,947  (of  whom 
278,665  are  Goalas,  the  most  numerous  caste  in  the  District) ;  of  trading 
and  artisan  castes,  207,031.  Among  the  65,301  Brahmans  of  Gaya*  are 
included  a  number  of  persons  who,  though  not  regular  or  orthodox 
Brihmans,  are  allowed  a  kind  of  brevet  rank  as  such.  Of  these  the 
most  remarkable  are  the  Gayawils,  of  whom  there  are  about  300 
families  in  the  District  Although  they  are  held  in  great  esteem  at 
the  places  of  pilgrimage  in  Gaya*  town,  respectable  Brahmans  look 
down  upon  them;  they  live  an  idle,  self-indulgent  life,  but  are  very 
wealthy,  extorting  large  sums  out  of  the  numerous  pilgrims.  A  detailed 
account  of  the  origin  and  customs  of  this  curious  class  of  men  is  to  be 
found  in  vol.  xii.  of  the  Statistical  Account  of  Bengal  (pp.  35,  49,  77). 
Seven  towns  in  Gaya*  contain  more  than  5000  inhabitants — namely, 
Gaya  (including  Sihibganj),  with  a  population  (1872)  of  66,843; 
Jahanabad,  pop.  21,022;  Daudnagar,  pop.  10,058;  Tikari,  pop. 
8178;  Sherghati,  pop.  7033;  Hasua,  pop.  61 19;  Rajauli,  pop. 
5012. 

The  District  of  Gaya*  is  full  of  places  of  the  greatest  sanctity.  The 
rocky  hills,  which  here  run  out  far  into  the  plain  of  the  Ganges  valley, 
teem  with  associations  of  the  prehistoric  religion  of  Buddhism,  many 
of  which  have  been  diverted  to  new  objects  by  modern  superstition. 
The  Br4hmans  stamped  out  the  Buddhist  faith,  but  they  have  utilized 
its  local  traditions  to  their  own  profit  At  the  present  day,  the  chief 
pilgrims  to  the  sacred  tree  at  Bodh  Gayd  are  devout  Marhattas,  who 


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GAYA  DISTRICT.  343 

come  to  pray  for  the  souls  of  their  ancestors  in  purgatory.  As  a  place 
of  Hindu  pilgrimage,  the  town  of  Gaya*  is  of  comparatively  modern 
interest  The  name  is  derived  from  that  of  a  pagan  monster,  whose 
fate  is  recorded  in  the  Vdyu  Purdna.  His  only  crime  was  his  desire 
to  save  sinners  from  perdition.  Accordingly,  Brahma  himself  under- 
took the  task  of  putting  a  stop  to  his  career.  This  he  effected  by 
treacherously  persuading  him  to  lie  down,  and  then  placing  a  heavy 
stone  upon  his  body.  When  the  monster  struggled  to  get  free,  the 
gods  prevailed  upon  him  to  keep  quiet,  by  the  promise  that  they  would 
come  and  take  up  their  abode  on  the  spot,  and  that  all  pilgrims  who 
worshipped  there  should  be  delivered  from  the  pains  of  hell.  The 
profitable  lesson  of  this  legend  has  been  turned  to  good  account  by  the 
Gaydwals,  or  Brdhman  priests,  who  possess  the  monopoly  of  pointing 
out  the  sacred  spots,  and  reciting  the  appropriate  prayers.  The 
pilgrim  who  would  effectually  secure  admission  for  his  ancestors  into 
heaven,  must  scrupulously  perform  the  whole  routine  of  duties,  each 
one  of  which  involves  presents  to  the  priest.  Before  leaving  his  home, 
he  must  first  walk  five  times  round  his  native  village,  calling  upon  the 
souls  of  his  ancestors  to  accompany  him  on  his  journey.  Arrived  at 
Gayi,  he  is  forthwith  placed  in  charge  of  a  special  Brdhman  guide. 
There  are  45  sacred  localities,  which  he  should  visit  in  proper  order  and 
on  particular  days.  The  full  round  occupies  13  days;  but  for  those 
who  have  not  sufficient  devotion,  or  sufficient  wealth,  38  shrines,  two, 
or  even  only  one,  will  serve  the  desired  purpose.  Each  of  these  sacred 
places,  betfi,  tlrat,  or  tirtha,  is  supposed  to  represent  the  footprint  of 
some  deity.  At  each,  a  pindd  or  ball  of  rice  and  water  has  to  be 
deposited  by  the  pilgrim,  while  a  hymn  is  chanted  by  the  attendant 
Brdhman.  Some  of  the  spots  lie  a  considerable  distance  beyond  the 
city  walls,  on  the  summit  of  steep  hills,  the  ascent  of  which  demands 
not  a  little  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  the  devotees.  Others  are 
crowded  together  within  the  walls  of  old  narrow  temples.  The  popu- 
larity of  Gaya"  appears  to  have  increased  with  the  growth  of  the 
Marhatti  power.  The  records  frequently  allude  to  the  arrival  of 
Marhatti  princes,  as  matters  of  political  importance  during  the  early 
years  of  British  rule.  Towards  the  end  of  last  century,  a  Peshwa  is 
said  to  have  expended  ;£  10,000  upon  a  pilgrimage  to  Gayl  The 
average  number  of  pilgrims  in  the  year  is  now  estimated  at  100,000  ; 
and  it  has  been  calculated  that  a  poor  man  might  accomplish  the  full 
round  at  a  cost  of  £2.  The  pilgrim  tax,  varying  from  about  4s.  to 
28s.  per  head,  levied  under  the  native  government,  was  abolished 
during  the  early  years  of  British  rule. 

Tikari,  on  the  Murhar  river,  contains  the  fort  of  the  Rajas  of  Tika>f ; 
Jahanabad  and  Daudnagar  are  chiefly  interesting  as  having  formerly 
contained  flourishing  cloth  factories  established  by  the  East  India 


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344  GAYA  DISTRICT. 

Company.  Among  the  other  noteworthy  villages  in  the  District  are 
Arwal  on  the  S6n,  once  famous  for  its  paper  and  sugar  manufactories, 
and  now  the  centre  of  the  only  indigo  concern  in  Gayd ;  Deo,  the  seat 
of  the  Rdj£s  of  that  name,  one  of  the  most  ancient  families  in  the 
District ;  Nawddd,  Wazirganj,  Bela,  Hasui,  and  Wirisalfganj,  consider- 
able trading  places.  At  Buddh  (or  Bodh)  Gaya,  about  6  miles  south 
of  Gayd,  and  a  few  hundred  yards  west  of  the  Phdlgu*  or  Nilijan  river, 
there  are  ruins  of  great  sanctity.  Here  dwelt  Sakya  Sinha,  the  founder 
of  the  Buddhist  religion,  and  here  is  the  pipal  tree  under  which  he  sat  in 
mental  abstraction  for  five  years.  Here,  too,  are  extensive  remains  of 
temples  and  monuments,  and  of  the  Rajdsthdn  or  palace,  said  to  be  the 
residence  of  Dharma  Asoka,  and  some  of  his  successors  on  the  throne 
of  Magadha.  Close  at  hand  is  a  convent,  the  mahant  or  abbot  of 
which  shows  the  place  to  visitors.  Another  place  of  interest  in  the 
District  is  a  temple  of  great  antiquity,  which  crowns  the  highest  peak  of 
the  Bardbir  Hills.  This  temple  is  sacred  to  Sidheswdra,  and  contains 
a  lingd  said  to  have  been  placed  there  by  Bdrd  Rdji,  the  Asar  King  of 
Dindjpur.  In  September,  a  large  fair,  attended  only  by  men,  is  held 
here.  The  pilgrims,  who  number  between  10,000  and  20,000,  spend  a 
night  on  the  mountain.  Near  the  foot  of  the  hill  are  some  caves  cut  in 
the  rock  about  200  years  B.C.,  and  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  are 
a  sacred  spring  and  tank,  and  several  sculptures  of  great  interest  to  the 
antiquary. 

Agriculture. — The  most  important  crop  of  the  District  is  rice,  which 
is  sown  in  June  or  early  in  July.  The  bhaddi  crop  is  reaped  in  August 
or  September;  the  kharif  crop  is  transplanted  in  July  or  August,  and 
cut  in  December  or  January.  Wheat  is  sown  broadcast  in  September 
and  October,  and  reaped  in  March.  Among  the  other  cereals  grown  in 
Gayi  are  barley,  Indian  corn,  marud,  and  kodo.  The  chief  leguminous 
crops  of  the  District  are  khesdri,  gram,  peas,  and  beans.  The  other 
crops  include  yams  and  potatoes,  hemp  and  flax,  cotton,  oil-seeds, 
opium,  indigo,  sugar-cane,  and  jfefc.  Rotation  of  crops  is  common  in 
the  District,  and  irrigation  is  much  practised,  the  means  used  being 
natural  and  artificial  water-courses,  reservoirs,  and  wells.  Manure  is 
always  used  for  cotton  and  opium.  The  area  cultivated  with  rice  is 
about  900,000  acres,  producing  over  400,000  tons,  of  which  a  fourth 
part  is  exported  to  other  Districts ;  the  average  wheat-growing  area  has 
been  estimated  at  nearly  1 70,000  acres,  producing  about  60,000  tons, 
of  which  about  a  half  is  exported  ;  and  the  area  devoted  to  oil-seeds  is 
about  35,000  acres.  The  area  under  opium  cultivation  in  Gayd  cannot 
be  given  exactly,  as  the  boundaries  of  the  opium  Subdivisions  are  not 
conterminous  with  those  of  the  District ;  but  the  two  Subdivisions  of 
Tehtd  and  Gayd  are  almost  co-extensive  with  Gayd  District,  and  the 
sum  of  their  areas  is  but  little  in  excess  of  the  opium  area.     In 


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GAYA  DISTRICT.  345 

1872-73,  the  area  under  cultivation  in  these  two  opium  Subdivisions 
was  67,858  acres,  the  amount  of  crude  opium  produced  being  668  tons, 
and  the  average  produce  per  acre  about  22  lbs.  There  is  only  1  indigo 
factory  under  European  management  in  the  District,  and  for  some 
unexplained  reason  the  dye  here  cannot  be  brought  to  such  a  state  of 
perfection  as  it  attains  north  of  the  Ganges.  The  area  under  sugar- 
cane has  been  estimated  at  13,000  acres.  Speaking  roughly,  a  fifth  of 
the  total  area  of  the  District  still  lies  uncultivated.  A  fair  out-turn  of 
paddy  or  unhusked  rice  from  an  acre  of  good. land  would  be  30  cwts., 
value  £2,  14s. ;  from  inferior  lands,  18  cwts.,  value  j£i,  12s.  5d.  The 
out-turn  of  wheat  or  barley,  and  their  value,  is  much  the  same  as  in 
the  case  of  paddy ;  but  the  cultivation  of  these  crops  is  less  expensive, 
and  the  net  profit  to  the  cultivator  is  consequently  higher.  Wages 
for  labour  are  generally  paid  in  kind,  There  seems  to  have  been  little 
or  no  variation  in  money  wages  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
but  at  an  earlier  period  they  were  25  per  cent,  less  than  at  present. 
The  money  wage  of  a  bricklayer  or  day-labourer  is  now  3d.,  that  of  a 
smith  or  carpenter,  4^d.  per  diem.  Prices  seem  to  have  fallen  of  late 
years.  In  1859,  i860,  and  1870,  the  prices  of  the  best  cleaned  rice 
were  respectively  6s.  o£d.,  7s.  6d.,  and  4s.  5d.  per  cwt;  in  the  same 
years  the  prices  of  common  rice  were  5s.  4d.,  6s.  iod.,  and  3s.  9d.  per 
cwt.  respectively. 

Natural  Calamities. — Gay£  does  not  suffer  from  blights  or  floods  to 
any  great  extent,  but  droughts  are  very  common,  and  seriously  affect 
the  prospects  of  the  District.  The  S<Sn  Canals,  recently  completed,  will 
no  doubt  prevent  much  of  the  loss  arising  from  dry  seasons.  The 
District  suffered  considerably  from  the  famine  of  1866,  and  the  mortality 
was  increased  by  an  outbreak  of  cholera  which  took  place  in  the  middle 
of  July  in  the  town  of  Gayd,  and  spread  through  the  greater  part  of  the 
District  The  number  of  recipients  of  gratuitous  relief  never  exceeded 
a  daily  average  of  1200,  and  the  average  daily  number  of  persons 
employed  on  relief  works  was  about  350.  The  maximum  price  of 
common  rice  was  18s.  6d.,  and  of  paddy,  9s.  3d.  per  cwt ;  but  prices  in 
Gay£  are  not  by  any  means  a  trustworthy  index  to  the  pressure  from 
scarcity.  The  famine  of  1873-74  did  not  affect  the  District  seriously  ; 
the  food-supply  was  augmented  by  private  trade,  and  the  Government 
had  only  to  supplement  this  supply  by  a  small  amount  of  grain. 

Commerce  and  Trade. — No  important  manufactures  are  carried  on 
in  Gayd.  Common  brass  utensils  for  home  use,  black  stone  orna- 
ments, pottery,  tasar  silk  cloth,  and  rope  made  of  a  grass  called 
saHk  are  manufactured.  Cloth  and  paper  were  formerly  the 
principal  manufactures  of  the  District,  but  these  industries  have 
now  almost  entirely  died  out  Soda  effloresces  in  parts  of  the  District, 
and  a  considerable  quantity  of  saltpetre  is  manufactured  and  despatched 


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346  GA  YA  DISTRICT. 

to  Calcutta.  The  principal  exports  are — food  grains  of  all  kinds 
(especially  rice),  oil-seeds,  indigo,  crude  opium  (sent  to  Patnd  for 
manufacture),  saltpetre,  sugar,  blankets,  brass  utensils,  etc.  Among  the 
imports  are — salt,  piece-goods,  cloth,  cotton,  timber,  bamboos,  tobacco, 
lac,  iron,  spices,  and  fruits.  The  principal  trade  with  other  Districts  is 
by  the  Patnd  branch  road,  along  which  it  has  been  proposed  to  lay  a 
tramway  or  a  light  railroad. 

Administration. — Owing  to  the  loss  of  all  office  records  at  the  time 
of  the  Mutiny,  it  is  impossible  to  give  the  revenue  and  expenditure 
of  Gayd  District  before  1858-59.  In  that  year  the  net  revenue  was 
£213,125,  and  the  net  expenditure  ,£164,748;  in  1870-71,  the  net 
revenue  was  ,£192,870,  and  the  net  expenditure  ,£224,176.  The  land 
revenue  constitutes  in  Gayd,  as  elsewhere  in  Bengal,  the  most  important 
item  of  the  revenue;  in  1870-71,  it  amounted  to  ,£138,032.  Sub- 
division of  estates  has  progressed  very  rapidly  in  Gayd ;  the  number  of 
estates  in  1871  was  441 1,  and  the  number  of  registered  proprietors, 
20,453.  The  average  payment,  therefore,  from  each  estate  was  ,£31, 
5s.  iod.,  or  from  each  individual  proprietor,  ,£6, 14s.  nd.  Comparing 
these  figures  with  the  corresponding  ones  for  1789,  found  in  an  old 
register  in  the  Patnd  office,  it  appears  that  in  eighty  years  each  estate 
had  on  an  average  split  up  into  six,  and  where  there  had  in  1789 
been  one  proprietor  there  were  in  187 1  eighteen.  The  land  revenue 
in  the  former  year  was  £104,170;  the  subsequent  increase  has  not 
been  great,  as  remissions  have  been  granted  to  the  Deo  Rdjds  and 
others  for  military  services.  The  machinery  for  the  protection  of  person 
and  property  in  the  District  has  been  steadily  increasing  in  strength. 
There  are  now  7  magisterial  and  12  civil  courts.  For  police  purposes, 
Gayd  is  divided  into  13  thdnds,  with  24  outposts.  The  regular 
police  consisted  at  the  end  of  1872  of  2  superior  and  104  subordinate 
officers,  and  509  constables ;  the  municipal  police  at  the  same  time 
consisted  of  303  officers  and  men,  the  village  watch  numbered  6926 ; 
and  in  addition  to  all  these,  there  was  a  body  of  122  digwdrs  or  road 
policemen,  maintained  by  the  landholders  at  a  total  annual  cost  of 
£786,  12s.,  or  £6,  9s.  for  each  digwdr.  These  digwdrs  are  peculiar 
to  Gayd,  and  appear  to  have  been  first  appointed  early  in  the  present 
century,  in  consequence  of  frequent  accidents  to  travellers  on  roads  and 
hill  passes.  Highway  robbery,  once  very  prevalent  in  the  District,  is 
said  to  have  almost  entirely  ceased  since  the  introduction  of  the  digwdri 
system.  The  entire  police  forces  of  the  District  consisted  in  1872  of 
7966  officers  and  men,  or  1  man  to  every  oa6  square  mile.  The  total 
cost  of  maintaining  this  police  in  1872  was  £26,182,  equal  to  a  charge 
of  3 £d.  per  head  of  the  population.  In  the  same  year,  the  number  of 
persons  tried  for  '  cognizable'  and  'non-cognizable'  offences  was  2499, 
of  whom   1457,  or  58*3  per  cent,  were  convicted.      Burglary  and 

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GAYA  SUBDIVISION.  347 

dakditi  are  very  common  in  this  District;  the  criminal  classes  are 
principally  recruited  from  the  Bibhans,  Goulds,  Dosddhs,  and  Doms. 
There  were  5  jails  in  the  District  in  1870 — the  District  jail  at  Gaya, 
and  Subdivisional  lock-ups  at  Jahdndbid,  Aurangdbdd,  Naw&te,  and 
Sherghdtf.  In  that  year  the  daily  average  number  of  prisoners  in  the 
Gayd  jail  was  445,  and  the  average  cost  of  maintenance  per  prisoner 
was  £$,  7s.  9&,  excluding  cost  of  police  guard.  Education  (specially 
primary)  has  made  rapid  progress  of  late  years.  The  number  of  pupils 
subject  to  the  Education  Department  increased  from  574  in  1856-57 
to  8139  in  1873-74;  the  total  number  of  schools  in  the  latter  year 
was  446,  or  1  school  to  every  10-5  square  miles.  For  administrative 
purposes,  the  District  is  parcelled  out  into  4  Subdivisions — the  sadr 
or  headquarters  Subdivision,  occupying  an  area  of  1853  square  miles ; 
Nawddd,  1020  square  miles;  Aurang£b£d,  1246  square  miles;  and 
Jahanibld  Subdivision,  599  square  miles. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  of  Gayd  is  dry,  and  the  District  is 
regarded  as  very  healthy.  The  average  temperature  is  about  79*98°, 
and  the  annual  rainfall  at  the  town  of  Gayi,  35*59  inches.  The  wettest 
month  is  July,  and  in  that  month  the  average  rainfall  is  12*49  inches. 
Among  the  endemic  diseases  of  the  District  are  cholera,  leprosy,  small- 
pox,  neuralgia,  headache,  and  the  '  Gayi  sore.'  Cholera  breaks  out 
every  now  and  then  in  some  part  of  the  District,  and  also  occurs  occa- 
sionally in  an  epidemic  form.  There  was  an  outbreak  of  cholera  in 
1866,  which  caused  from  1200  to  1400  deaths.  Small-pox  is  endemic, 
owing  to  the  strong  objection  of  the  people  to  vaccination.  Neuralgic 
headache  occurs  in  a  very  intense  form ;  it  often  returns  periodically, 
and  in  some  cases  defies  all  treatment  Its  prevalence  is  attributed  to 
the  dryness  and  heat  of  the  atmosphere.  The  *  Gayd  sore*  commences 
as  a  cluster  of  small  vesicles,  which  coalesce  and  form  a  large  one ;  this 
ruptures  and  leaves  an  ulcerated  surface,  irritable  and  tiresome  to 
heal. 

Gayi.— Principal  Subdivision  of  the  District  of  the  same  name,  lying 
between  24°  17'  and  25°  6'  30"  n.  lat,  and  between  84°  20'  30"  and  85* 
26'  45"  e.  long.  Area,  1853  square  miles,  with  2667  villages  or  town- 
ships, and  134,504  houses ;  pop.  (1872),  759,270,  viz.  371,414  males  and 
387,856  females.  Classified  according  to  religion,  there  are  663,481 
Hindus,  95,579  Muhammadans,  146  Christians,  and  64  'others.' 
Average  density  of  population,  40975  per  square  mile;  villages,  1*44 
per  square  mile;  houses,  72-5  per  square  mile;  average  persons  per 
village,  284 ;  per  house,  5-64.  The  Subdivision  comprises  the  6  police 
circles  (thdnds)  of  Gayd  municipality,  Gayi,  Atri,  Tikdri,  Sherghdtf,  and 
BirichatL  In  1869,  it  contained  12  magisterial  and  revenue  courts, 
and  a  police  force  of  330  officers  and  men,  besides  3104  village  watch- 
men ;  total  cost  of  Subdivisional  administration  returned  at  ^9839- 


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348  GAY  A  TOWN— GE WARD A. 

Gay&. — Chief  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of  the  District 
of  the  same  name;  situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Phalgu  river. 
Lat  240  48'  44"  n.,  and  85°  3'  16"  e.  long.  .  The  town  consists  of  two 
distinct  portions  adjoining  each  other — the  old  town  or  Gaya*  proper, 
which  contains  the  residence  of  the  priests ;  and  Sa*hibganj,  the  trading 
quarter,  and  also  the  seat  of  administration,  where  the  civil  offices 
and  the  dwelling-houses  of  the  European  residents  are  situated  The 
streets  are  wide,  but  the  native  houses  are  generally  small  and  insig- 
nificant Besides  the  ordinary  official  courts,  Sahibganj  contains  the 
jail,  police  lines,  hospital,  circuit  bungalow,  and  church.  There  is  also 
a  public  library,  billiard-room,  and  racecourse.  Gayd  with  Sihibganj 
forms  one  municipality.  The  population  of  the  united  towns  in  1872 
amounted  to  66,843,  viz.  33,071  males  and  33,772  females.  Hindus 
numbered  52,265  ;  Muhammadans,  14,444 ;  and  Christians,  134. 
Municipal  income  (1876-77),  ^2758;  expenditure,  ^3303  ;  average 
incidence  of  taxation,  8£d.  per  head  of  population  within  municipal 
limits.  The  town  police  force  consists  of  20  officers  and  men.  For 
the  history  and  shrines  of  Gayd,  see  ante,  Gaya  District. 

Oazzalh&thi  ('  The  Elephant  Track ').— Pass  in  Coimbatore  District, 
Madras.  Lat.  n°  33'  n.,  long.  77°  3'  e.  Formerly  the  principal 
pass  from  Coimbatore  into  Mysore,  one  track  leading  from  Saty- 
amangalam,  and  another  from  Coimbatore  town  vid  Denayakenkota  to 
the  foot  of  the  ghdt  An  old-fashioned  bridge  at  the  foot  still  stands, 
but  the  road  is  no  longer  kept  in  order.  Pack-bullocks  and  donkeys 
still  cross  it  in  considerable  numbers.  The  head  of  the  pass,  2800  feet 
above  sea  level,  is  1 7  miles  from  the  Mysore  frontier. 

Oedl — One  of  the  petty  States  of  Jhalawar  in  KithiawaY,  Bombay ; 
consisting  of  2  villages,  with  2  independent  tribute -payers.  The 
revenue  in  1876  was  estimated  at  ^428,  of  which  tribute  of  ^120  is 
payable  to  the  British  Government  and  £1$  to  Junagarh, 

Geonkh&li  (Cowco/fy). — Lighthouse,  13  miles  east  and  4  miles  north 
of  Contai,  Midnapur  District,  Bengal.  Lat  210  50'  15"  n.,  long.  87* 
59'  15"  e.  The  cyclone  of  October  1864,  with  its  accompanying 
storm-wave,  visited  this  place  and  the  surrounding  country  with  terrific 
force.  For  a  full  and  interesting  account  of  it,  given  by  the  lighthouse 
superintendent,  see  Statistical  Account  of  Bengal,  vol.  iii.  pp.  220-226. 

Georgegarh. — Fort  in  Rohtak  District,  Punjab.  Lat  28°  38'  n., 
long.  760  37'  e.  Built  by  the  adventurer  George  Thomas  during  his 
temporary  dominion  over  this  part  of  India.  He  was  besieged  here  by 
the  Marhattas  in  1801,  but  succeeded  at  the  head  of  a  small  body  of 
cavalry  in  cutting  his  way  through  the  investing  lines  to  Hansi,  where 
he  was  finally  overthrown. 

Gewarda. — Chiefship  in  Chanda  District,  Central  Provinces. — See 

GlWARDA. 


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GHAGAR  AND  GHAGGAR  RIVERS.  349 

GhAgar. — River  rising  in  the  Kotwalipara  Marshes,  Bakarganj  Dis- 
trict, Bengal;  rising  in  lat  230  1'  45"  n.,  long.  900  8'  45*  e.  It  flows 
south  into  the  Madhumati  (lat.  22*  48'  30"  n.,  long.  890  57'  15*  e.),  a 
distributary  of  the  Ganges,  and  is  called  the  Silddha  in  the  lower  part 
of  its  course. 

Ghaggar. — River  in  the  Punjab  and  Rajputana,  Once  an  important 
confluent  of  the  Indus,  but  now  a  comparatively  insignificant  stream, 
which  loses  itself  in  the  deserts  of  Bhatnair.  The  Ghaggar  rises  among 
the  Himalayan  slopes  in  the  Native  State  of  Nahan  or  Sirrmir  (lat.  30° 
41'  n.,  long.  770  14'  e.),  leaves  the  hills  a  few  miles  above  the  town  of 
Mani  Majra,  and  crosses  Umballa  (Ambala)  District  at  its  narrowest 
point;  thence  it  traverses  the  Native  State  of  Patiala,  flowing  close 
to  the  British  frontier,  and  passing  only  3  miles  to  the  west  of  Umballa 
city,  where  it  actually  touches  the  borders  of  our  territory ;  emerging 
into  Hissar  District  near  the  town  of  Akalgarh,  it  divides  into  two 
channels,  and  formerly  passed  on  to  Sfrsa  with  a  very  uncertain  water 
supply,  but  the  whole  amount  is  now  diverted  in  Hissir  itself  for  pur- 
poses of  irrigation.  Another  branch,  however,  reaches  Sfrsa  from 
Patiala  direct,  and  crosses  the  District  into  the  Rajputana  deserts. 
The  water  penetrates  no  farther  than  the  fort  of  Bhatnair,  just  beyond 
the  frontier,  but  the  dry  bed  may  be  traced  as  far  as  Mirgarh  in 
Bahawalpur  State.  In  ancient  times  the  lower  portion  of  the  river 
appears  to  have  borne  the  name  of  its  confluent  the  Saraswati  or 
Sarsuti,  which  joins  the  main  stream  in  Patiala  territory.  It  then 
possessed  the  dimensions  of  an  important  channel,  receiving  the  whole 
drainage  of  the  lower  Himalayas  between  the  Jumna  (Jamna)  and  the 
Sutlej  (Satlaj),  and  debouching  into  the  Indus  below  the  junction  of  the 
five  great  Punjab  rivers.  At  present,  however,  every  village  through 
which  the  stream  passes  has  diverted  a  portion  of  its  waters  for  irrigation, 
no  less  than  10,000  acres  being  supplied  from  this  source  in  Umballa 
District  alone.  The  dams  thus  erected  check  the  course  of  the  stream, 
while  the  consequent  deposit  of  silt,  greatly  facilitated  by  the  dams, 
has  permanently  diminished  the  power  of  the  water,  both  in  the  main 
stream  and  its  tributaries,  to  force  its  way  across  the  dead  level  of  the 
Karnil  and  Patiala  plains.  In  Sfrsa  District  the  river  expands  into 
three  jhth  or  swampy  lakes,  on  which  a  few  Persian  wheels  are  worked 
for  purposes  of  irrigation.  The  Ghaggar  water,  when  employed  for 
drinking,  produces  disastrous  results  upon  the  health  of  those  who 
use  it,  causing  fever,  enlarged  spleen,  and  goitre ;  families  die  out^ 
according  to  report,  in  the  fourth  generation ;  and  the  villages  along 
its  banks  are  greatly  under-populated.  Only  the  prospect  of  obtaining 
immense  out-turns  for  their  labour  can  induce  cultivators  to  settle  in 
such  an  unhealthy  region.  During  the  lower  portion  of  its  course,  in 
Sfrsa  District,  the  bed  of  the  Ghaggar  runs  dry  from  November  to 


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35o         GHAGRA  RIVER— GHATAMPUR  TAHSIL. 

June,  affording  a  cultivable  surface  for  rich  crops  of  rice  and  wheat. 
Even  in  the  rains  the  water  supply  is  very  capricious,  and  from  time 
to  time  it  fails  entirely,  except  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the 
hills. 

Ghagra.— River  of  Oudh.— See  Gogra. 

Ohiibi  Dero  (or  Dero  Kot).—Jdglr  town  in  Shikarpur  District,  Sind. 
Lat.  270  36'  n.,  long.  670  41'  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  857 — Muhammadans, 
487  (mainly  Chdndias),  and  Hindus,  370.  It  is  the  principal  town  in 
the  jdgir  of  Ghaibi  Khan  Chandia,  the  chief  of  the  Ghdibi  Khin  and 
Chdndia  tribes,  long  established  in  Chandko. 

Ohan. — River  of  Berar,  rising  in  the  tableland  north  of  the  Pen- 
ganga"  valley,  Buldana  District,  Berar,  in  lat.  200  26'  30"  n.,  long.  76* 
23'  30"  e.  The  stream,  which  dries  up  in  the  hot  weather,  flows  in  a 
northerly  direction  past  Pimpalgion  and  Nandwa,  and  joins  the  Ptirna 
in  lat  200  55'  N.,  and  long.  760  33'  e. 

Ohansor. — Village  in  Seoni  District,  Central  Provinces ;  64  miles 
north-east  of  Seoni  town.  Lat.  220  21'  n.,  long.  79*  50'  e.  Re- 
markable for  the  remains  of  forty  or  fifty  temples,  very  elaborately 
ornamented  with  sculptures  carved  in  a  beautiful  sandstone.  The 
Nagpur  museum  possesses  specimens  representing  the  incarnations  of 
Vishnu.     The  village  is  also  a  police  outpost  station. 

Ghar&. — A  name  sometimes  applied  to  the  united  stream  of  the 
Beas  and  the  Sutlej,  from  their  confluence  at  Endrfsa  to  their  junction 
with  the  Chenab.  Below  the  latter  point  the  whole  river  bears  the 
title  of  Panjnad.  The  length  of  the  course  between  these  points 
amounts  to  about  300  miles. 

Gh&r&puri  ('  Hill  of  Purification '  ?),  sometimes  also  vulgarly  called 
Gdripuri;  the  Galipourioi  Du  Perron  and  Niebuhr ;  spelt  Gdrdfiuri, 
and  translated  '  Town  of  Excavations '  by  Dr.  Stevenson.  —  See 
Elephanta. 

Oh&ro. — Village  in  Karachi  (Kurrachee)  District,  Sind.  Lat  240 
44'  30"  n.,  long.  670  37'  30"  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  828,  viz.  586  Hindus  and 
242  Muhammadans.  Occupied  chiefly  in  grain  trade  with  Kurrachee, 
Tatta,  and  Mirpur  Sakra.  The  Karichi-Kotri  Railway,  which  runs 
within  8  miles,  has  diverted  much  of  the  former  trade  from  this  place. 
A  bridge  of  four  arches  spans  the  creek  of  Ghiro. 

Gh&t&L — Municipal  town  in  Midnapur' District,  Bengal;  situated 
on  the  Sildi  river,  near  its  junction  with  the  Rilpnarayan,  and  recently 
transferred  to  Midnapur  from  Hiigli  District  Lat  220  40'  10*  n.,  long. 
87°  45'  50"  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  15,492,  of  whom  15,130  are  Hindus. 
Municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^419;  expenditure,  ^669.  Ghatal  is 
an  important  commercial  town,  carrying  on  trade  in  rice,  silk,  sugar, 
cotton  cloth,  etc 

Gh&tampnr. — Southern  tahsil  of  Cawnpore  District,  North- Western 


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GHATAMPUR  PARGANA— GHATS  MOUNTAINS,     351 

Provinces,  lying  along  the  banks  of  the  Jumna,  and  traversed  by  a 
branch  of  the  Lower  Ganges  Canal.  Area,  335  square  miles,  of  which 
224  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  123,800;  land  revenue,  ^29,413; 
total  Government  revenue,  ,£32,386;  rental  paid  by  cultivators, 
^46,026  ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre,  2s.  8fd. 

Gh&tampur. — Pargand  in  Unao  District,  Oudh.  A  small  pargand, 
8  miles  long  by  7  broad.  Area,  26 \  square  miles,  or  16,937  acres,  of 
which  12  square  miles  are  cultivated  Government  land  revenue, 
^2274,  or  an  average  of  2s.  8fd.  per  acre.  Land  is  held  under  the 
following  tenures : — Zaminddri,  15,056  acres ;  td/ukddri,  267  acres ;  and 
pattiddrl,  1414  acres.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  15,979 ;  Muhammadans, 
201 ;  total,  16,180,  viz.  7767  males  and  8413  females.  The  Bdis 
Kshattriyas  form  the  most  numerous  caste.  Number  of  villages,  92 ; 
average  density  of  population,  622  per  square  mile. 

Gh&tampur  Kal&n.—  Town  in  Unao  District,  Oudh;  18  miles 
south-east  of  Unao  town,  and  12  south  of  Pdrwa.  Lat  260  22'  n.,  long. 
8o°  46'  e.  Said  to  have  been  founded  many  centuries  ago  by  an  epony- 
mous Tiwari  Brahman,  whose  heirs  are  still  in  possession.  Noted  for 
excellence  in  goldsmiths'  and  carpenters'  work.  Pop.  (1869),  1750 
Hindus  and  59  Muhammadans;  total,  1809,  dwelling  in  372  houses. 
Four  Hindu  temples ;  Government  school. 

GhAtktiL — Pargand  in  Chinda  District,  Central  Provinces ;  consist- 
ing of  81  villages,  on  an  area  of  368  square  miles.  Hilly  and  densely 
wooded,  except  in  the  east  along  the  Wainganga  river,  where  the 
black  loam  produces  good  crops  of  rice,  sugar-cane,  and  wheat  Popu- 
lation chiefly  Telingas.  At  the  beginning  of  this  century,  plunderers 
from  the  opposite  side  of  the  Wardha  constantly  overran  the  pargand, 
and  many  villages  remain  desolate  to  this  day. 

Gh&tS  (meaning  etymologically  'a  pass  through  a  mountain,'  or 
'landing  stairs  from  a  river;'  in  this  case  the  'passes'  or  'landing 
stairs'  from  the  coast  to  the  inner  plateau). — Two  ranges  of  moun- 
tains, forming  the  eastern  and  the  western  walls  which  support 
the  triangular  tableland  of  Southern  India.  The  Eastern  and  the 
Western  Ghate  pass  through  many  Districts,  and  their  sections  are 
treated  in  detail  in  the  articles  on  the  Administrative  Divisions  in  which 
they  are  situated.  The  present  notice  of  them  must  therefore  be  a  very 
general  one.  The  Eastern  Ghats  run  in  fragmentary  spurs  and  ranges 
down  the  Madras  side  of  India,  receding  inland,  and  leaving  broad 
tracts  between  their  base  and  the  coast.  The  Western  Ghats  form 
the  great  sea-wall  for  the  Bombay  Presidency,  with  only  a  narrow  strip 
between  them  and  the  shore.  At  one  part,  they  rise  in  magnificent 
precipices  and  headlands  out  of  the  ocean,  and  truly  look  like  colossal 
'  landing  stairs '  from  the  sea.  The  Eastern  and  the  Western  Ghdts 
meet  at  an  angle  near  Cape  Comorin,  and  so  complete  the  three  sides 

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35  2  GHA  TS  MO  UNTAINS. 

of  the  interior  tableland.  The  inner  plateau  itself  lies  far  below  the 
snow  line,  and  its  ordinary  elevation  seldom  exceeds  from  2000  to 
3000  feet  Its  best  known  hills  are  the  Nilgiris  (Blue  Mountains), 
which  contain  the  summer  capital  of  Madras,  Utakamand,  7000  feet 
above  the  sea.  The  highest  point  is  Dodabetta  Peak,  8760  feet,  at 
the  southern  extremity  of  Mysore.  This  wide  region  of  highlands 
sends  its  waters  chiefly  to  the  eastern  coast.  The  drainage  from  the 
north  edge  of  the  three-sided  tableland  falls  into  the  Ganges.  The 
Narbadi  (Nerbudda)  runs  along  the  southern  base  of  the  Vindhyas 
which  form  that  edge,  and  carries  their  drainage  due  west  into  the 
Gulf  of  Cambay.  The  Tapti  flows  almost  parallel  to  the  Nerbudda,  a 
little  to  the  southward,  and  bears  to  the  same  gulf  the  waters  from  the 
Sdtpura  Hills.  But  from  this  point,  proceeding  southwards,  the 
Western  Ghits  rise  into  a  high  unbroken  barrier  between  the  Bombay 
coast  and  the  waters  of  the  inner  tableland.  The  drainage  has 
therefore  to  make  its  way  right  across  India  to  the  eastwards,  now 
twisting  round  hill  ranges,  now  rushing  down  the  valleys  between 
them,  until  the  rain  which  the  Bombay  sea-breeze  drops  upon  the 
Western  Ghdts,  finally  falls  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  In  this  way  the 
three  great  rivers  of  the  Madras  Presidency — namely,  the  Godavari, 
Kistna,  and  Kaveri  (Cauvery)— rise  in  the  mountains  overhanging  the 
Bombay  coast,  and  traverse  the  whole  breadth  of  the  central  tableland 
before  they  reach  the  ocean  on  the  eastern  shores  of  India. 

The  entire  geography  of  the  two  coasts  of  the  Indian  Peninsula  is 
determined  by  the  characteristics  of  these  two  mountain  ranges.  On 
the  east,  the  country  is  comparatively  open,  and  everywhere  accessible 
to  the  spread  of  civilisation.  It  is  here  that  all  the  great  kingdoms  of 
Southern  India  have  fixed  their  capitals.  Along  the  west,  only  a  narrow 
strip  of  lowland  intervenes  between  the  barrier  range  and  the  seaboard. 
The  inhabitants  are  cut  off  from  communication  with  the  interior,  and 
have  been  left  to  develop  a  civilisation  of  their  own.  Again,  the  east 
coast  is  a  comparatively  dry  region.  Except  in  the  deltas  of  the  great 
rivers,  the  crops  are  dependent  upon  a  local  rainfall  which  rarely 
exceeds  40  inches  in  the  year.  The  soil  is  poor,  the  general  elevation 
high,  and  the  mountains  are  not  profusely  covered  with  forest  In 
this  region  the  chief  aim  of  the  Forest  Department  is  to  preserve  a 
sufficient  supply  of  trees  for  fuel ;  but  on  the  west,  all  these  conditions 
are  reversed.  The  rivers  are  mere  hill  torrents,  but  the  south-west 
monsoon  brings  an  unfailing  rainfall  in  such  abundance  as  to  clothe 
even  the  hill  slopes  with  a  most  luxuriant  vegetation.  The  average  all 
along  the  coast  from  Khandesh  to  Malabar  reaches  100  inches,  and  in 
many  exceptional  spots  high  up  among  the  mountains  more  than  200 
inches  of  rain  are  registered  in  every  year.  What  the  western  coast 
loses  in  regular  cultivation  it  gains  in  the  natural  wealth  of  its  primeval 


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GHATS  MOUNTAINS.  353 

forests,  which  display  the  most  magnificent  scenery  in  all  India.  The 
mountains  of  Kinara,  Malabar,  Mysore,  and  Coorg  furnish  the  Forest 
Department  with  the  richest  supplies.  Along  the  highest  ridges,  on 
both  slopes,  grow  the  trees  constituting  what  is  technically  known  as 
'  the  evergreen  forest'  Chief  among  these  is  the  pUn  (Calophyllum 
angustifolium),  which  often  attains  the  height  of  100  feet  without  branch 
or  bend.  No  other  tree  in  the  world  is  better  suited  in  every  respect 
for  supplying  ship's  spars  and  masts.  Other  timber-trees  in  this  region 
are  the  jack  (Artocarpus  integrifolia),  iron-wood  (Mesua  ferrea),  Indian 
mahogany  (Cedrela  toona),  ebony  (Diospyros  ebenaster),  and  chatnpak 
(Michelia  champaca).  Interspersed  among  the  tall  trees  grow  an 
infinite  variety  of  shrubs  and  creepers,  among  which  latter  pepper 
and  cardamoms  may  be  noticed  for  their  commercial  value.  Farther 
east,  sloping  towards  the  plateau  of  Mysore,  but  still  within  the  influ- 
ence of  the  south-west  monsoon,  comes  the  region  of  'deciduous 
forests,'  in  which  the  characteristic  trees  are  blackwood  (Dalbergia 
latifolia),  teak  (Tectona  grandis),  sandal-wood  (Santalum  album),  and 
bamboo.  In  both  these  forest  tracts  European  enterprise  has  recently 
introduced  the  successful  cultivation  of  coffee.  In  wild  beauty,  nothing 
can  surpass  the  luxuriance  of  a  Coorg  forest,  as  viewed  from  the  summit 
of  one  of  the  peaks  of  the  Western  Ghats.  A  waving  sea  of  green,  broken 
into  terraces  of  varying  elevation,  extends  beneath  on  every  side. 
North  and  south  run  parallel  ranges  of  peaks,  wooded  almost  to  the 
summit ;  while  to  the  west,  many  thousand  feet  below,  the  view  is 
bounded  by  the  blue  line  of  the  Arabian  Ocean.  Wild  animals  of  all 
kinds  swarm  in  the  jungle,  and  haunt  the  grassy  glades.  Of  these  the 
most  characteristic  are  the  elephant,  the  tiger,  the  still  more  furious 
bison,  the  sdmbhar  deer,  and  the  jungle  sheep  or  ibex. 

The  following  details  must  here  suffice  with  regard  to  the  Ghdts, 
the  reader  being  referred  for  further  information  to  the  separate 
articles  on  the  Districts  in  which  they  are  situated : — 

The  Eastern  Ghats  commence  in  Balasor  District,  Orissa,  and 
form  a  continuation  of  the  hills  which  close  the  south-western  side 
of  the  Gangetic  valley.  They  pass  southwards  through  the  Districts 
of  Cuttack  and  Purf  (in  Orissa),  enter  the  Madras  Presidency  in 
Ganjim  District,  and  sweep  southwards  through  the  Districts  of 
Vizagapatam,  Godavari,  Nellore,  Chengalpat,  South  Arcot,  Trichinopoli, 
and  Tinnevelli.  They  run  at  a  distance  of  from  50  to  150  miles  from 
the  coast,  except  in  Ganjam  and  Vizagapatam,  where  in  places  they 
almost  abut  on  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  Average  elevation,  about  1500  feet 
Geological  formation,  granite,  with  gneiss  and  mica  slate,  with  clay 
slate,  hornblende,  and  primitive  limestone  overlying.  l  The  surface  of 
the  country,'  says  Thornton,  'appears  to  consist  of  the  debris  of 
granitic  rocks  as  far  north  as  the  Pennar,  in  approaching  which,  the 

VOL.  III.  z 

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354  GHAZIABAD  TAHSIJL 

laterite  or  iron  clay  formation  expands  over  a  large  surface.  From 
the  Kistna  northwards,  the  granite  is  often  penetrated  by  injected 
veins  of  trap  and  dikes  of  greenstone.  Passing  on  to  Vizagapatam 
and  Ganjam,  syenite  and  gneiss  predominate,  occasionally  covered  by 
laterite.' 

The  Western  Ghats  start  from  the  north  of  the  valley  of  the 
Tapti,  and  run  southwards  through  Khandesh,  Nasik,  Tanna,  Sitara, 
Ratnagiri,  Kinara,  and  Malabar,  and  the  Native  States  of  Cochin  and 
Travancore.  Length  of  range  from  the  Tapti  to  the  Palghit  gap, 
800  miles ;  south  of  this  pass  they  run  for  about  200  miles  farther,  to 
Cape  Comorin.  The  coast  line  from  the  sea  to  their  base  is  generally 
flat  and  low,  but  the  hills  rise  abrupdy  on  the  western  side  to  an 
average  height  of  3000  feet.  On  the  eastern  side,  the  slope  is  more 
gradual  Highest  peaks  in  the  northern  section — Mahabaleshwar, 
4700  feet;  Purandhar,  4472;  and  Sinhgarh,  4162.  South  of  Mahi- 
baleshwar,  the  elevation  diminishes  to  about  1000  feet  above  sea  level. 
Farther  south  the  elevation  again  increases,  and  attains  its  maxi- 
mum towards  Coorg,  where  the  highest  peaks  vary  from  5500  to 
7000  feet,  and  where  the  main  range  joins  the  Nilgiris.  South  of  the 
Palghat  gap,  many  peaks  rise  to  the  same  elevation.  '  Geologically,1 
says  Thornton,  '  it  may  be  observed  generally,  that  the  great  core  of  the 
Western  Ghats  is  of  primary  formation,  enclosed  by  alternating  strata 
of  more  recent  origin.  These  strata,  however,  have  been  broken  up 
by  prodigious  outbursts  of  volcanic  rocks ;  and  from  Mahabaleshwar  to 
the  Tapti,  the  overlying  rock  of  the  Western  Ghats  is  stated  to  be 
exclusively  of  the  trap  formation.  ...  In  consequence  of  the  boldness 
of  the  declivities  and  the  precipitous  character  of  the  faces  of  the  trap 
rocks,  the  summits  in  many  parts  of  the  range  are  nearly  inaccessible. 
The  natural  strength  of  these  portions  has  in  many  instances  been 
increased  by  art ;  and  the  hill  forts  in  all  ages  of  Indian  history  have 
been  regarded  as  the  bulwarks  of  the  Deccan.  The  trap  formation 
terminates  southward  on  the  sea-coast  in  about  lat.  180  n.,  and  is  suc- 
ceeded by  laterite.  This  last-mentioned  formation  extends  southwards 
as  the  overlying  rock,  almost  without  interruption,  to  Cape  Comorin, 
covering  the  base  of  the  mountains  and  the  narrow  strip  of  land  that 
separates  them  from  the  sea.' 

Gh&zi&b&L — South-western  tahsU  of  Meerut  (Mirath)  District, 
North- Western  Provinces,  lying  along  the  bank  of  the  river  Jumna ; 
traversed  by  the  Sind,  Punjab,  and  Delhi,  and  East  Indian  Railways ; 
intersected  by  the  Hindan  river,  and  irrigated  by  the  Ganges  and 
Eastern  Jumna  Canals.  Area,  494  square  miles,  of  which  353  are 
cultivated ;  pop.  (1872),  253,037 ;  land  revenue,  ,£39,533 ;  total  Govern- 
ment revenue,  ^43,089 ;  rental  paid  by  cultivators,  ^£78,786;  incidence 
of  Government  revenue  per  acre,  2s.  6d. 


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GHAZIABAD  TOWN— GHAZIPUR  DISTRICT.      355 

GhAzf&b&L — Municipal  town  in  Meerut  District,  North-Western 
Provinces,  and  headquarters  of  the  tahsiL  Lat.  280  39'  55"  n.,  long. 
770  28'  10"  e. ;  distant  from  Meerut  28  miles  south-west;  pop.  (1872), 
7365,  thus  classified  —  4762  Hindus,  2598  Musalmans,  and  5 
Christians.  Has  risen  greatly  in  importance  of  late  years,  owing  to  the 
junction  of  the  East  Indian  Railway  with  the  Sind,  Punjab,  and  Delhi 
line  at  this  point.  The  branch  to  Delhi  also  diverges  from  Ghiztetad 
junction.  Founded  in  1740  by  the  Wazir  Ghazf-ud-dfn,  brother  of 
Saldbat  Jang,  ruler  of  the  Deccan  (Dakshin),  from  whom  it  derived  its 
original  name  of  Ghazi-ud-dm-nagar,  shortened  to  the  present  form  on 
the  opening  of  the  railway.  In  May  1857,  a  small  British  force  from 
Meerut  encountered  and  defeated  the  Delhi  rebels,  who  had  marched 
hither  to  attack  them.  Several  sardts,  tahsilt\  school-house,  municipal 
hall,  police  station,  6  mosques,  several  Hindu  temples  (the  handsomest 
known  as  Mandir  Dudheswarnath).  Numerous  barracks,  bungalows, 
and  houses  for  native  employes  have  sprung  up  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  railway  station.  Rapidly  improving  trade.  Municipal  revenue 
in  1875-76,  ^827;  from  taxes,  ^579,  or  is.  i£&  per  head  of  popu- 
lation (10,366)  within  municipal  limits. 

Gh&zfpur. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of 
the  North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  25 °  18'  31"  and  26°  2'  10" 
n.  lat,  and  between  830  6'  20"  and  840  42'  40"  e.  long.,  with  an  area 
of  2167  square  miles,  and  a  population  in  1872  of  1,345,570  persons. 
Ghazfpur  is  a  District  in  the  Benares  Division.  It  is  bounded  on  the 
north  by  Azamgarh  and  Saran ;  on  the  west  by  Benares  and  Jaunpur ; 
on  the  south  by  Sh£h£b£d ;  and  on  the  east  by  Saran.  The  administra- 
tive headqu.artefs  are  at  Ghazipur  town. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Ghazipur  forms  part  of  the  great 
alluvial  plain  of  the  Ganges,  and  stretches  in  equal  portions  on  either 
side  of  the  sacred  river.  The  northern  Subdivision  lies  between 
the  Gumti  and  the  Gogra  (Ghagra),  whose  confluences  with  the  main 
stream  mark  its  western  and  eastern  limits  respectively.  The  southern 
tract  is  a  much  smaller  strip  of  country,  enclosed  between  the 
Karamnasa  and  the  great  river  itself.  No  hill  or  natural  eminence  is 
to  be  found  within  the  District  on  either  side ;  but  both  north  and 
south  of  the  Ganges  the  country  may  be  divided  into  an  upland  and 
a  low-lying  tract  The  higher  land  consists  of  the  ancient  alluvial  bed, 
deposited  at  some  very  early  period  by  the  vast  streams  which  carried 
down  toward  the  sea  the  detritus  of  the  Himalayan  range.  Through 
this  elevated  plateau,  the  modern  rivers  at  a  later  date  have  cut  for 
themselves  broad  channels,  flooded  at  certain  periods  of  the  year,  but 
forming  the  low-lying  tilth  in  the  harvest  season.  The  process  of 
denudation  still  goes  on  with  every  inundation,  and  the  upland  slopes 
are  gradually  diminishing  in  extent  under  the  erosive  action  of  the 


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356  GHAZIPUR  DISTRICT. 

principal  streams.  In  high  floods,  the  Ganges  and  its  great  affluent 
the  Gogra  join  their  waters,  sweeping  across  the  entire  delta  enclosed 
between  their  beds.  On  such  occasions,  the  villages,  raised  on  artificial 
embankments,  stand  out  like  islands  in  the  midst  of  an  inland  sea ; 
but  when  the  floods  have  subsided,  stagnant  pools  collect  in  the  pits 
from  which  the  embankments  were  taken,  thus  rendering  the  popula- 
tion sickly  and  feeble.  The  principal  rivers  are  the  Ganges,  Gogra, 
Sarju,  Gumti,  and  Mangal  The  first  four  are  permanent  streams, 
which  flow  during  the  dry  season  in  narrow  channels,  cut  through 
their  own  alluvial  deposits.  A  few  lakes  are  scattered  about  the 
District,  formed  where  a  river  has  deserted  its  former  channel,  and 
a  bank  of  silt  has  dammed  up  the  abandoned  bed  at  either  end.  The 
largest  is  that  of  Suraha  in  pargand  Khand,  once  a  northern  bend  of 
the  Ganges,  but  now  an  almost  isolated  sheet  of  water,  some  4  miles 
broad  by  5  long.  All  the  river  channels  are  liable  to  frequent  changes, 
and  backwaters  or  side  streams  cut  up  the  District  into  numerous 
alluvial  islands.  The  soil  in  many  portions  of  the  upland  shows  a 
tendency  to  develop  the  noxious  saline  efflorescnce  known  as  reh, 
the  frequency  of  which  is  increased  by  the  obstruction  to  drainage 
arising  from  the  cultivation  of  rice.  With  this  exception,  however,  the 
greater  part  of  GhaVipur  is  fertile  and  fully  cultivated  Game  is  com- 
paratively scarce,  owing  to  the  general  prevalence  of  tillage ;  and  deer, 
which  prove  so  destructive  to  the  standing  crops  in  neighbouring 
Districts,  are  here  almost  unknown. 

History. — Tradition  refers  the  foundation  of  the  city  of  Ghizipur 
to  a  mythical  hero,  Raja  Gadh,  who  is  said  to  have  called  his 
stronghold  Gadhipur.  The  name,  however,  as  will  be  presently 
proved,  is  of  Musalmdn  origin,  and,  in  fact,  the  town  was  not  really 
founded  until  the  14th  century  a.d.  Nevertheless,  the  District  can 
boast  a  long  history  of  its  own,  stretching  far  back  into  the  earliest 
days  of  Aryan  colonization.  Carved  monoliths  bear  witness  to  a  very 
ancient  Hindu  civilisation ;  and  one  in  particular,  at  Bhitri,  contains 
an  inscription  of  Samudra  Gupta,  who  probably  reigned  over  the 
surrounding  country  as  far  as  Kanauj  about  the  end  of  the  4th  century 
a.d.  Indeed,  the  monuments  found  in  Gh&fpur  have  been  of  in- 
estimable value  in  enabling  us  to  unravel  the  intricate  history  of  the 
Ganges  valley  before  the  advent  of  the  Musalmins.  The  result  of 
late  investigations,  as  applied  to  these  remains,  may  thus  be  briefly 
summarized.  At  the  time  of  Sikya  Muni,  B.C.  550,  the  country  from 
Sayyidpur  to  Baxaf  was  already  the  seat  of  a  civilised  Aryan  nationality, 
whose  metropolis  was  situated  near  the  former  town,  where  numerous 
ruins  and  architectural  remains  of  the  earliest  age  are  still  found. 
The  country  embraced  the  religion  of  the  new  teacher,  and  formed  a 
portion  of  the  Buddhist  Empire  under  Asoka,  who  reigned  about  the 

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GHAZIPUR  DISTRICT,  357 

year  250  b.c.  Asoka  erected  here  one  of  his  well-known  pillars,  and 
at  least  two  stupas.  From  the  4th  to  the  7  th  century  of  our  era, 
Ghizfpur  was  included  in  the  territories  of  the  Gupta  dynasty  of 
Magadha,  in  whose  columns  and  coins  the  District  is  unusually  rich. 
Hiouen  Thsang,  the  Chinese  pilgrim,  about  the  year  630  A.D.,  found 
this  tract  inhabited  by  a  mixed  population  of  Buddhists  and  Hindus. 
He  visited  a  monastery  built  by  Asoka,  and  mentions  many  other 
buildings,  whose  sites  have  been  identified  with  a  high  degree  of  pro- 
bability. After  the  extirpation  of  Buddhism  by  Brdhnianism  in  Northern 
India,  the  aborigines  appear  to  have  recovered  these  regions  from  their 
Aryan  lords,  who  were  perhaps  weakened  by  internecine  religious 
strife.  In  the  interval  between  the  Gupta  monarchy  and  the  Muham- 
madan  conquest,  an  age  of  darkness  supervenes,  during  which  Ghazipur 
was  apparently  in  the  hands  of  Bhar  chieftains.  The  ancient  Aryan 
civilisation  would  seem  to  have  been  utterly  trampled  out,  as  no  great 
monuments  or  architectural  remains  mark  this  intermediate  period. 
But  just  before  the  Musalman  inroads,  the  Brahmans  and  Rajputs 
from  the  north  and  west,  driven  from  their  own  homes  by  the  advancing 
wave  of  Isl&n,  moved  eastward  to  occupy  the  neglected  tracts  which 
had  fallen  for  awhile  into  the  hands  of  the  indigenous  races.  The 
descendants  of  this  second  Aryan  colony  form  the  modern  land- 
owning class  of  the  District ;  but  they  have  no  traditions  with  respect 
to  their  predecessors,  and  attribute  the  ancient  monuments  of  their 
fellow-tribesmen  to  the  Bhar  Raja's,  whom  their  fathers  found  in  pos- 
session of  the  soil.  The  Rajput  settlers,  however,  did  not  long  enjoy 
their  independence  in  the  new  home  to  which  they  had  migrated. 
The  aggressive  Muhammadan  power  followed  eastward  close  upon  their 
heels.  In  the  year  1193,  Behar  and  the  middle  Ganges  valley  were 
conquered  by  Kutab-ud-dm,  the  general  of  Muhammad  Ghori,  first 
Musalman  Emperor  of  Delhi  He  had  defeated  and  slain  the  Hindu 
champion,  Jai  Chand,  Rahtor  Raja*  of  Benares  and  Kanauj,  in  the 
Jumna  ravines  of  Etawah;  and  the  whole  country  as  far  as  Bengal 
lay  at  the  feet  of  the  conqueror.  During  the  succeeding  century,  we 
hear  little  of  the  present  District;  but  about  the  year  1330,  the  city 
of  Ghizipur  was  founded  (according  to  a  probable  tradition)  by  a 
Sayyid  chief  named  Masatid,  who  slew  the  local  Hindu  Raja*  in  battle. 
Sultin  Muhammad  Tughlak  thereupon  granted  him  the  estates  of  his 
conquered  enemy,  with  the  title  of  Ghdzi,  or  '  Champion  of  the  Faith,' 
which  gave  the  name  to  the  newly-founded  city.  From  1394  to  1476, 
Ghazfpur  was  incorporated  in  the  dominions  of  the  Sharki  dynasty  at 
Jaunpur,  who  maintained  their  independence  for  nearly  a  century  as 
rival  to  the  Lodi  rulers  of  Delhi  After  their  fall,  it  was  reunited  to 
the  dominions  of  the  Western  Sultans,  and  was  conquered,  like  the 
surrounding  country,  by  the  Mughal  Emperor  Brfbar  in  1 5  29.    Ten  years 


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358  GHAZIPUR  DISTRICT. 

later,  however,  the  southern  border  of  the  District  was  the  scene  of 
a  decisive  engagement  between  the  Afghin  Prince  Sher  Shdh  and 
Humiyun,  the  son  of  B£bar,  at  Baxar,  just  within  the  Shihibdd  border, 
in  which  the  latter  was  utterly  defeated  and  driven  out  of  the  country. 
Sher  Shdh's  victory  settled  the  fate  of  Ghizfpur  for  the  next  twenty 
years.  It  remained  in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  the  Afghans,  not 
only  through  the  reigns  of  the  three  intrusive  emperors  belonging  to 
the  dynasty  of  Sur,  but  throughout  the  restored  supremacy  of  Humiyun. 
It  was  not  till  the  third  year  of  Akbar  that  Ghazfpur  was  recovered 
for  the  Mughal  throne  by  Khan  Zamin,  Governor  of  Jaunpur,  from 
whom  the  town  of  Zam&iia'  derives  its  name.  After  his  rebellion 
and  death  in  1566,  the  District  was  thoroughly  united  to  the  Delhi 
Empire,  and  organized  under  the  subah  of  Allahibid.  During  the 
palmy  days  of  Akbar's  successors,  the  annals  of  Ghazfpur  are  purely 
formal  and  administrative,  until  the  rise  of  the  Naw£b  Wazfrs  of  Oudh 
at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  In  1722,  Saadat  Khan  made 
himself  practically  independent  as  Viceroy  of  Oudh.  "In  1738,  he 
appointed  Shaikh  Abdullah  a  native  of  the  District  who  had  fled  from 
the  service  of  the  Governor  of  Patni,  to  the  command  of  Ghazfpur. 
Abdulla*  has  left  his  mark  in  the  city  by  his  splendid  buildings,  the 
chief  of  which,  now  in  ruins,  is  known  as  the  Palace  of  the  Forty 
Pillars.  He  also  constructed  a  garden,  the  Nawib's  Bagh,  near  which 
he  was  buried  under  a  handsome  mausoleum.  His  son  Fazl  Ali 
succeeded  him,  but,  after  various  vicissitudes,  was  expelled  by  Riji 
Balwant  Sinh  of  Benares.  Balwant  Sinh  died  in  1770,  but  the  Nawab 
Wazfr  permitted  his  illegitimate  son,  Chait  Sinh,  to  inherit  his  title 
and  principality.  In  1775,  the  suzerainty  of  the  Benares  Province  was 
ceded  to  the  British  by  the  Wazfr  Asaf-ul-dauU.  The  new  Government 
continued  Chait  Sinh  in  his  fief  until  the  year  1781,  when  he  was 
deposed  by  Warren  Hastings.  From  this  final  introduction  of  the  British 
rule  till  the  Mutiny,  Ghizfpur  enjoyed  undisturbed  peace. 

In  1805,  Lord  Cornwallis  died  here,  and  a  monument,  with  a  statue 
by  Flaxman,  was  erected  to  his  memory.  In  1857,  order  was  pre- 
served till  the  mutiny  at  Azamgarh  became  known,  on  3d  June.  The 
fugitives  from  Azamgarh  arrived  on  that  day,  and  local  outbreaks  took 
place.  The  65th  Native  Infantry,  however,  remained  staunch,  and  100 
European  troops  on  their  way  to  Benares  were  detained,  so  that  order 
was  tolerably  re-established  by  the  16th  of  June.  No  further  disturb- 
ance occurred  till  the  news  of  the  Dinapur  mutiny  arrived  on  the  27th  of 
July.  The  65th  then  stated  their  intention  of  joining  Kuar  Sinh's 
force ;  but  alter  the  rebel  defeat  at  Arrah,  they  were  quietly  disarmed, 
and  some  European  troops  were  stationed  at  Ghazfpur.  No  difficulties 
arose  till  the  siege  of  Azamgarh  was  raised  in  April,  when  the  rebels 
came  flying  down  the  Gogra  and  across  the  Ganges  to  Arrah.    The 


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GHAZIPUR  DISTRICT.  359 

disorderly  element  again  rose,  and  by  the  end  of  June  the  eastern  half 
of  the  District  was  utterly  disorganized.  In  July  1858,  a  force  was  sent 
to  Ballia  which  drove  the  rebels  out  of  the  Dodb,  while  another 
column  cleared  all  the  pargands  north  of  the  Ganges.  The  pargands 
south  of  the  river  remained  in  rebellion  till  the  end  of  October,  when 
troops  were  sent  across  which  expelled  the  rebels  and  completely 
restored  order. 

Population.  —  Ghdzfpur  is  one  of  the  numerous  Districts  which, 
after  suffering  a  loss  of  population  about  the  middle  of  the  present 
century,  has  partially  recovered  its  lost  ground  of  late  years.  In  1853, 
the  total  number  of  inhabitants  was  returned  at  1,596,324.  In  1865, 
it  had  sunk  to  1,342,455,  showing  a  decrease  of  253,869  persons,  or 
16  per  cent,  in  spite  of  an  intermediate  enlargement  of  its  area  by 
41  square  miles.  By  1872,  however,  although  55  square  miles  of 
territory  had  been  transferred  to  other  Districts,  the  population  had 
risen  again  to  a  total  of  1,345,570,  which  showed  an  increase  of  31 15 
persons,  or  '2  per  cent.  The  statistics  of  density  display  these 
changes  even  more  conspicuously  and  truthfully  than  a  mere  enumera- 
tion upon  a  constantly  shifting  area.  The  Census  of  1853  gave  an 
average  of  732  persons  to  the  square  mile;  that  of  1865  showed  only 
604  to  the  square  mile ;  while  that  of  1872  disclosed  a  density  of  621 
to  the  square  mile.  The  enumeration  of  1872  was  taken  over  an  area 
of  2167  square  miles,  and  it  returned  a  total  population  of  1,345,570 
persons,  distributed  among  3725  villages  or  townships,  and  inhabiting 
285,007  houses.  These  figures  yield  the  following  averages :— Persons 
per  square  mile,  621 ;  villages  per  square  mile,  17 ;  houses  per  square 
mile,  131 ;  persons  per  village,  361 ;  persons  per  house,  4*7.  Classified 
according  to  sex,  there  were  (exclusive  of  non- Asiatics) — males,  696,572 ; 
females,  648,829;  proportion  of  males,  51*7  per  cent  Classified 
according  to  age,  there  were  (with  the  like  exception),  under  twelve 
years — males,  236,069;  females,  178,197;  total,  414,266,  or  3079 
per  cent,  of  the  population.  As  regards  religion,  Ghdzfpur  contains 
about  the  average  proportion  of  Hindus  and  Muhammadans  which  is 
found  throughout  the  North-Western  Provinces.  The  Census  showed 
1,221,8x0  adherents  of  the  Hindu  faith,  or  907  per  cent,  as 
against  123,455  Musalmins,  or  9*3  per  cent  There  were  also  136 
Christians.  The  higher  Hindu  castes  were  returned  as  follows : — 
Brihraans,  123,012;  Eijputs,  295,355;  and  Banias,  49,538.  The 
lower  tribes  are  represented  by  the  Ahfrs,  171,216  ;  Champs,  122,075 ; 
Kiyasths,  22,480;  and  Kurmls,  18,136.  Amongst  the  Musalmins, 
the  Shaikhs  numbered  26,940;  Sayyids,  4525;  Mughals,  570;  and 
Pathins,  18,452.  The  panchdyatsy  or  caste  guilds,  have  here  as  else- 
where very  much  the  practical  effect  of  trades-unions  ;  and  they  also 
regulate  matters  of  social  arrangement,  petty  debt,  occupancy  of  land, 


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360  GHAZIPUR  DISTRICT. 

and  domestic  questions  generally.  The  District  is  permanently 
assessed,  and  both  landowners  and  cultivators  are  richer  and  more 
independent  than  in  the  country  farther  west.  In  the  poorer  parts, 
the  peasantry  are  generally  in  debt;  but  in  the  more  fertile  tracts 
of  the  District,  where  they  have  mostly  rights  of  occupancy,  they  are 
well  to  do,  and  are  (perhaps  in  consequence)  the  most  turbulent 
and  litigious  community  in  the  North-Western  Provinces.  There  are 
sixteen  towns  in  the  District  with  a  population  (1872)  exceeding  5000 
souls — namely,  Ghazipur,  38,853;  Mahatwar  Khas,  8975;  Shiupur 
Diar,  9279;  Gahmar,  9050;  Sherpur,  7958;  Riotipur,  9323; 
Barah,  5424;  CftiT,  5821;  Narhi,  5527;  Bansdih,  7319;  RlOTI, 
7700;  Maniar,5285;  Ballia,852i;  Bairia,  5589;  Sonbarsa,  7162; 
and  Rasra,  7261.  These  give  a  total  urban  population  of  148,047 
souls.  The  agricultural  population  was  returned  at  705,609  souls,  or 
517  per  cent  of  the  whole. 

Agriculture, — The  greater  portion  of  the  cultivable  soil  in  Ghazipur 
is  already  fully  tilled,  there  being  a  total  of  1546  square  miles  under 
cultivation,  with  an  available  margin  of  only  229  square  miles.     The 
black  earth  called  kharril,  resembling  the  mdr  of  Bundelkhand,  is 
common  in  the  lowlands  and  in  the  plateau  south  of  the  Ganges.     It 
produces  a  good  spring  crop  without  irrigation,  but  its  character  is 
much  improved  if  sand  is  spread  over  the  surface ;  otherwise  it  is  liable 
to  dry  up  into  deeply-fissured  masses  of  hardened  clay.     In  all  the 
Gangetic  lowland,  the  upper  layer  of  a  well-raised  tract  always  consists  of 
alluvial  mould ;  but  the  sub-soil  is  sandy.     The  rivers  which  have  had 
the  longest  course  from  the  hills,  deposit  mud ;  the  others  leave  behind 
them  beds  of  sand ;  but  the  Ganges  forms  alternate  layers  of  each. 
Hence  a  flood  from  the  Gogra  or  the  Sarju  is  injurious  to  the  fields, 
while  an  inundation  of  the  Ganges  benefits  the  crops.     The  harvests 
are  those  common  to  the  whole  north-western  plain.     The  kharif 
crops  are  sown  after  the  first  rains  in  June,  and  reaped  in  October  or 
November.     The  early  rice,  however,  is  sometimes  harvested  as  soon 
as  the  end  of  August,  while  cotton  is  not  ready  for  picking  till  Feb- 
ruary.    The  other  autumn  staples  are  the  millets  bdjra  and  jodr>  and 
moth.    The  rabi  or  spring  crops  are  sown  in  October  or  November, 
and  reaped  in  March  or  ApriL     They  consist  of  wheat,  barley,  oats, 
vetch,  and  pulses.     Manure  is  used,  where  it  can  be  obtained,  for  both 
harvests ;  and  land  is  allowed  to  lie  fallow  whenever  the  cultivator  can 
afford  it    As  a  rule,  spring  and  autumn  crops  are  not  taken  off  the 
same  land,  but  sometimes  a  plot  of  early  rice  is  reaped  in  August  or 
September,  and  a  second  crop  of  some  kind  is  sown  in  its  place  for  the 
spring  harvest     If  rain  is  delayed  beyond  the  20th  of  June,  this  keeps 
back  the  sowing  and  endangers  the  yield  of  the  early  autumn  crops. 
At  the  settlement  of  Gha'zfpur  District,  made  in  1789,  and  sub- 


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GHAZ1PUR  DISTRICT.  36 1 

sequently  declared  permanent,  fraternities  or  brotherhoods  belonging 
to  various  Hindu  and  Muhammadan  tribes  were  recognised  by  Govern- 
ment, in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  as  the  owners  of  the  soil.  The 
settlements  were  concluded  with  a  few  head-men  on  each  estate,  who 
were  the  representatives  of  the  whole  community.  In  some  cases,  by 
accident  rather  than  by  design,  the  head-man  of  a  proprietary  community 
was  treated  as  sole  owner.  In  no  instance  did  Government  admit 
the  existence  of  any  divided  ownership,  or  of  superior  and  inferior 
proprietary  rights.  No  talukddrs  were  therefore  recognised,  though 
there  were  immense  talukds  (single  estates)  held  by  brotherhoods  of 
shareholders.  A  detailed  record  of  the  extent  of  ownership  of  the 
various  shareholders  was  not  attempted  till  1840.  Meanwhile,  estates 
were  sold  for  arrears  of  revenue,  and  till  after  the  Land  Act  of 
1859,  the  purchasers  were  constantly  at  law  with  the  old  landowners, 
who  rented  and  cultivated  the  fields  they  formerly  possessed.  In 
1877,  wages  ruled  as  follows: — Coolies  and  unskilled  labourers,  ajd. 
to  3fd  per  diem ;  agricultural  labourers,  2 Jd.  to  3d.  per  diem ; 
bricklayers  and  carpenters,  6d.  to  2s.  per  diem.  Women  are  paid 
about  one-fifth  less  than  men,  while  boys  and  girls  get  from  one-half  to 
one-third  the  wages  of  adults.  Agricultural  hands  are  most  frequently 
paid  in  grain.  In  villages,  payments  for  labour  are  made  daily.  The 
following  were  the  average  prices-current  of  food  grains  in  1876  :— 
Wheat,  22  sers  per  rupee,  or  5s.  id.  per  cwt;  rice,  8  sers  per  rupee,  or 
14s.  per  cwt ;  jodr,  29  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  iod.  per  cwt;  bdjra,  28 
sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  per  cwt  . 

Natural  Calamities. — The  District  is  not  specially  subject  to  flood, 
drought,  or  blight,  and  it  has  suffered  from  no  great  famine  during 
the  present  century.  It  possesses  ample  means  of  external  communi- 
cation in  the  rivers  Ganges,  Gogra,  and  Gumti,  and  the  East  Indian 
Railway.  Much  of  the  Ballia  Subdivision,  which  consists  of  low 
alluvial  islands,  is  annually  submerged;  and  if  autumn  crops  have  been 
sown  on  any  part  of  it,  they  are  of  course  lost  in  the  floods!  In  1783, 
severe  scarcity  occurred  from  the  failure  of  the  rains  in  the  previous  year, 
but  there  were  no  deaths  from  famine  as  far  as  known.  In  1803,  the 
rice  crop  was  destroyed  and  the  spring  harvest  endangered.  In  1837- 
38,  there  was  again  a  scarcity,  but  no  actual  famine  occurred.  There 
were  also  partial  droughts  in  1859-60,  1864-65,  and  1865-66,  besides 
floods  in  1871-72.  The  last  scarcity  was  in  1868-69,  when  only  21 
inches  of  rain  fell  in  twelve  months.  The  greater  part  of  the  autumn 
and  about  half  the  spring  crops  were  lost,  and  severe  distress  resulted. 
Relief  operations  were  set  on  foot,  and  continued  from  June  to 
September  1869,  but  no  actual  deaths  from  famine  occurred. 

Commerce  and  Trade9  etc. — The  chief  imports  into  the  District  are 
English  piece-goods  and  yarn,  cotton,  salt,  spices,  and  grain.     The 


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362  GHAZIPUR  DISTRICT. 

principal  exports  are  country  cloth,  sugar,  fuller's  earth,  oil-seeds,  and 
hides.  The  headquarters  of  the  Government  Opium  Department  for 
the  North-Western  Provinces  are  at  Ghazfpur.  The  poppy  has  been 
cultivated  in  India  since  the  16th  century ;  and  when  the  English  first 
acquired  the  Benares  Province,  they  farmed  the  monopoly  to  contractors. 
In  1797,  an  opium  agent  was  appointed  for  Benares,  but  natives  still 
managed  the  manufacture,  and  were  paid  by  commission.  In  1852, 
Lord  Dalhousie  introduced  the  present  system.  There  are  10  deputies 
under  the  agent,  and  each  of  these  has  one  or  two  European  assistants 
The  10  divisions  are  again  subdivided  into  39  offices,  each  supervised 
by  a  native  overseer.  Licences  are  granted  and  advances  made  to  the 
cultivators,  who  in  return  engage  to  place  a  certain  amount  of  land 
under  opium.  After  the  fields  are  sown,  they  are  measured  carefully, 
and  estimates  made  of  the  quantity  of  opium  which  each  cultivator 
ought  to  produce.  In  March  and  April,  the  opium  is  collected  and 
brought  to  the  factory,  where  it  is  weighed,  and  its  consistence  is  tested, 
before  the  cultivator  is  paid  for  it  The  amount  disbursed  in  working 
expenses  at. the  Ghazfpur  factory  is  ^10,125  per  annum.  The  opium 
is  classified  according  to  its  consistence,  and  is  then  made  up  into 
special  balls,  which  are  packed  in  boxes  and  despatched  to  Calcutta 
for  sale  by  auction.  Carbonate  of  soda  is  manufactured  from  the  reh 
or  saline  efflorescence  of  the  barren  nsar  plains,  and  exported  to 
Calcutta.  Saltpetre  is  also  largely  prepared  from  the  same  source. 
The  pargands  south  of  the  Ganges  are  traversed  by  the  East  Indian 
Railway  for  a  length  of  24  miles ;  there  are  three  stations  within  the 
District — at  Zamania,  Dildarnagar,  and  Gahmar.  Three  stations  in 
Sh£h£bad  District  are  also  situated  within  easy  distances  from  portions 
of  Gh£zipur.  Zaminii,  connected  with  the  ghdt  opposite  Ghazfpur  by 
a  metalled  road,  which  continues  5  miles  farther  south  to  the  Grand 
Trunk  Road,  is  the  principal  station  in  the  District,  and  the  outlet 
for  most  of  the  traffic  from  Ghazfpur,  Azamgarh,  and  Gorakhpur.  At 
present,  however,  the  heavy  commerce  of  the  District  is  conveyed 
by  the  Ganges.  Good  roads,  of  which  112  miles  are  metalled, 
connect  all  the  principal  centres  with  one  another  and  with  the  adjacent 
towns.  A  great  bathing  fair  is  held  at  Ballia  in  the  month  of  October, 
on  the  full  moon  of  Kirtik,  and  attended  by  about  50,000  persons. 
Another,  of  inferior  sanctity,  held  on  the  same  day  at  Chochakpur, 
attracts  some  10,000  visitors. 

Administration. — The  ordinary  District  staff  consists  of  a  Collector- 
Magistrate,  2  Joint  Magistrates,  an  Assistant,  and  2  Deputies.  Ghizh 
pur  is  the  seat  of  a  Civil  and  Sessions  Judge,  who  has  no  other  District 
under  him.  The  whole  amount  of  revenue  raised  in  the  District,  for 
imperial,  municipal,  or  local  purposes,  amounted  in  1876  to  ^£200,000, 
being  at  the  rate  of  2s.  iof  &  per  head  of  the  population.     In  the  same 


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GHAZIPUR  CITY.  3*3 

year,  the  total  strength  of  the  regular  police  force  was  526  officers  and 
men,  and  the  cost  of  their  maintenance  was  returned  at  ^757^. 
These  figures  show  1  policeman  to  every  4-1  square  miles  of  the  area 
and  to  every  2557  of  the  population ;  while  the  expenditure  was  at 
the  rate  of  £$,  10s.  per  square  mile  and  i£d.  per  inhabitant  The 
District  jail  is  at  Ghizfpur  town.  In  1875,  it  contained  a  daily  average  of 
530  prisoners,  of  whom  490  were  male  and  40  female.  The  average  cost 
per  head  amounted  to  ^3,  12s.  io£d.,  and  the  average  earnings  of  each 
inmate  to  £1.  The  District  possesses  21  imperial  and  7  local  post 
offices ;  and  telegraph  offices  are  connected  with  each  of  the  stations 
on  the  East  Indian  Railway.  Education  was  carried  on  in  1875  by  240 
schools,  with  a  total  roll  of  7824  scholars,  being  an  average  of  1 
school  to  every  9*02  square  miles,  and  5*8  scholars  per  thousand 
of  the  population.  The  expenditure  on  the  educational  establishment 
amounted  to  ^3892,  of  which  ^1198  was  paid  from  the  provincial 
treasury  and  ^£2694  from  local  sources.  For  fiscal  purposes,  Ghizipur 
is  subdivided  into  6  tahsils  and  18  pargands.  The  District  contains 
two  municipalities — Ghazfpur  and  Ballia.  In  1875-76,  their  joint 
income  amounted  to  ^4742,  and  their  expenditure  to  ^3846.  The 
incidence  of  municipal  taxation  was  at  the  rate  of  is.  2d.  per  head  of 
the  population  within  municipal  limits. 

Sanitary  Aspects.  —  Ghazfpur  is  one  of  the  hottest  and  dampest 
Districts  in  the  North-Western  Provinces.  In  1869,  the  mean  annual 
temperature  was  8o°  F.;  the  lowest  monthly  mean  was  6i°  F.  in 
January,  and  the  highest  980  F.  in  May.  The  average  annual  rainfall 
for  the  eleven  years  from  i860  to  1871  was  40*1  inches ;  during  this 
period,  the  maximum  was  50*5  inches  in  186 1,  and  the  minimum  was 
2 1 -5  inches  in  1868.  The  total  number  of  deaths  recorded  in  the  year 
1875  was  24>5<>6,  or  18*25  per  thousand  of  the  population.  The 
average  death-rate  for  the  previous  six  years  was  16*56  per  thousand. 
There  are  7  dispensaries  in  the  District,  at  Ghizfpur,  Ballia,  Sayyidpur, 
Rasra,  and  Pfrnagar.  During  the  year  1876,  they  afforded  relief  to 
75*085  persons,  of  whom  947  were  in-door  and  74,138  out-door  patients. 
The  total  receipts  were  ;£8oo,  and  the  cost  of  the  establishments, 

QlhfaifVLr—Tahsil of  Ghazfpur  District,  North-Western  Provinces, 
lying  along  the  north  bank  of  the  Ganges.  Area,  432  square  miles,  of 
which  267  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  286,046 ;  land  revenue,  ^32>°7°; 
total   Government   revenue,   ,£33,952 ;   rental    paid    by   cultivators, 

£63,769. 

Gh&zfpnr. — City,  municipality,  and  administrative  headquarters  of 
Ghazfpur  District,  North-Western  Provinces;  situated  on  the  low 
alluvial  northern  bank  of  the  Ganges,  64  miles  north-east  of  Benares. 
Lat.  250  33'  36"  n.;   long.  830  35'  13"  e.;  area,  4*6    acres;    pop. 

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364  GHAZIPUR— GHAZNI. 

(1872),  38,853.  Founded,  according  to  Hindu  tradition,  by  Riji 
G£dh,  an  eponymous  hero,  from  whom  it  took  the  name  of  G£dhipur : 
according  to  Muhammadan  history,  by  the  Sayyid  chief  Masiiid, 
about  the  year  1330,  from  whose  title  of  M£lik-us-Sa£dat  Ghizi  the 
city  really  derives  its  name.  For  later  history  and  Mutiny  narrative,  see 
Ghazipur  District.  Palace  of  the  Forty  Pillars,  built  by  Shaikh 
Abdulli,  governor  under  the  Oudh  viceroys,  now  lies  in  ruins.  Tombs 
of  Masdild,  Abdulli,  and  Fazl  Ali  also  adorn  the  city.  Monument  to 
Lord  Cornwallis,  who  died  here  in  1805,  consisting  of  a  domed  quasi- 
Grecian  building,  with  a  marble  statue  by  Flaxman.  Metalled  road 
runs  to  Zam£ni£  Station  on  the  East  Indian  Railway,  13 \  miles  south- 
west Trade  in  sugar,  tobacco,  coarse  long-cloth,  and  rose-water. 
Headquarters  of  the  Government  Opium  Department,  where  all  the 
opium  from  the  North-Western  Provinces  is  collected  and  manufactured 
under  a  monopoly.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^3912;  from 
taxes,  ^2709,  or  is.  4^d  per  head  of  population  (40,000)  within 
municipal  limits. 

Oh&rfpur. — Tashll  of  Fatehpur  District,  North-Westem  Provinces, 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Jumna.  Area,  266  square  miles,  of  which 
152  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  89,497;  land  revenue,  ^22,603; 
total   Government  revenue,    ,£24,864;   rental    paid    by  cultivators, 

Gh&rf-ud-din-nagur. — Town  in  Meerut  District,  North  -  Western 
Provinces. — See  Ghaziabad. 

Qhazni — Town  and  fortress  in  Afghanistan;  situated  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  river  of  the  same  name,  85  miles  south-west  of  Kibul,  and 
233  miles  north-east  of  Kandahir.  Lat  33*  34'  n.,  long.  68*  19'  e. 
The  town  may  be  described  as  an  irregular  square,  each  side  averaging 
400  yards,  and  having  a  total  circuit  of  about  1750  yards,  inclusive  of 
the  citadel.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  and  flanked  at  irregular 
intervals  by  towers.  The  city  itself  is  composed  of  dirty  irregular 
streets  of  houses,  several  storeys  high,  and  will  not  bear  comparison 
with  either  K£bul  or  Kandahdr.  The  citadel  is  situated  at  the  north 
angle  of  the  town.  Ghazni  was  captured  by  Sir  John  Keane's  force 
during  the  first  Afghan  war,  being  carried  by  storm  on  the  23d  July 
1839.  At  the  time  of  the  Afghan  rising  in  1841,  the  citadel  was 
garrisoned  by  the  27th  Bengal  Native  Infantry.  The  place  was 
besieged  by  the  Afghans,  and  the  garrison  forced  to  retire  to  the 
citadel.  The  little  force  held  out,  after  suffering  great  privations,  from 
November  1841  till  the  6th  March  1842,  when,  their  supply  of  water 
failing,  they  were  forced  to  evacuate  the  fort,  and  afterwards  to  surrender 
to  the  Afghin  chief.  The  officers  were  brutally  treated,  and  the  Sepoys 
either  sold  into  slavery  or  murdered.  In  September  1842,  General 
Nott  recaptured  Ghazni.    The  citadel  was  destroyed  before  the  with- 


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GHERIA—GHORASAR.  365 

drawal  of  General  Notfs  army  to  India.  During  the  last  Afghdn  cam- 
paign, General  Sir  D.  Stewart  took  Ghaznf,  on  his  march  to  Kibul, 
after  a  severe  action,  19th  April  1880  ;  occupied  the  place  for  a  few  days, 
and  then  moved  on  to  join  General  Roberts  at  Kdbul.  He  placed 
Sardir  Alam  Khin  at  the  head  of  the  administration,  to  hold  the  town 
on  behalf  of  the  new  Amir,  Abdur  Rahman  Khdn.  Ghaznf  formed  the 
centre  of  intrigue  of  Ydkub's  faction  after  the  abdication  of  Yikub 
as  Amir.  The  town  gave  its  name  to  the  founder  of  the  Musalmdn 
Empire  of  India,  and  Mahmtid  of  Ghaznf  (997-1030)  was  only  the  fore- 
runner of  a  long  series  of  invaders  who  streamed  southwards  over  the 
passes  from  Afghanistan. 
QheriA.  —  Town  and  fort  in  Ratnagiri   District,   Bombay.  —  See 

VlZIADRUG. 

QheriA. — Small  town  to  the  South  of  Siitf,  Murshidibid  District, 
BengaL  Lat.  24°  30'  15"  n.,  long.  88°  8'  15"  e.  Famous  as  the  scene 
of  two  important  battles — the  first  in  1740,  when  the  Naw£b  Alf 
Vardf  Khin  defeated  Sarfariz  Khdn,  his  rival  for  the  government  of 
Bengal;  the  second  in  1763,  when  Mir  Kisim,  Nawdb  of  Bengal, 
after  declaring  war  upon  the  East  Indian  Company,  was  finally  defeated 
and  the  throne  bestowed  for  the  second  time  upon  Mfr  Jafar. 

Qhefl. — Chiefship  attached  to  Sambalpiir  District,  Central  Provinces, 
about  50  miles  west  of  Sambalptir.  Pop.  (1870),  5333,  residing  in 
19  villages,  on  an  area  of  10  to  12  square  miles,  of  which  three-fifths 
are  cultivated,  chiefly  growing  rice.  The  principal  village,  Ghes, 
situated  in  lat  210  n'  30"  n.,  long.  830  20'  e.,  contains  a  pop.  (1870) 
of  652,  with  a  fine  school-house,  attended  by  about  130  pupils.  The 
chiefs  family  are  Binjwiras. 

OhoghA. — Town  in  Ahmedibid  District,  Bombay. — See  Gogo. 

Ohogh&TO. — Government  town  in  Shikirpur  District,  Sind.  Lat. 
27*  29'  n.,  long.  68°  4'  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  1415,  viz.  Muhammadans,  n 75 
(chiefly  of  Mangan,  Si£l,  and  Wagan  tribes),  and  Hindus,  240.  It 
possesses  a  considerable  rice  trade. 

Gholgh&t. — Village  in  Hiigli  District,  BengaL  Famous  as  the  site 
of  a  fortress  built  by  the  Portuguese,  which  gradually  grew  into  the 
town  and  port  of  Hugli.    Traces  of  this  fort  are  still  visible. 

OholWftd.  —  Seaport  town  in  Tanna  District,  Bombay.  Lat. 
20*  5'  n.,  long.  72*  46'  e.  Annual  value  of  trade  for  five  years  ending 
1873-74 — exports,  ^2420;  imports,  ;£i8. 

Ohor&sar. — Petty  State  within  the  Mahi  Kdnta  Agency  in  the 
Province  of  Guzerat,  Bombay.  Pop.  (1872),  8273;  gross  revenue, 
^2200.  Products — cotton  and  the  ordinary  cereals.  For  admini- 
strative purposes,  the  State  is  included  in  the  W£trak  Kinta  Sub- 
division of  the  Mahi  Kinta  Territory.  There  are  2  schools,  with  139 
pupils.    The  chief,  who  enjoys  the  title  of  Thdkur,  is  a  Hindu  of  the 


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366  GHORIBARI—GHUG  US. 

Koli  caste.  The  present  (1875)  chief,  Surdj  Mall,  is  twenty-six  years  of 
age.  The  succession  follows  the  rule  of  primogeniture,  but  there  is  no 
sanad  authorizing  adoption.  An  annual  tribute  is  payable  of  ^48,  16s. 
to  the  British  Government,  and  ^350  to  the  Ga*ekwa>  of  Baroda. 
Chief  town,  Ghorisar,  situated  in  lat  230  28'  n.,  long.  73°  20'  e. 

Ghorfb&ri— Tdluk  of  Karachi  (Kurrachee)  District,  Sind ;  situated 
between  240  5'  and  240  34'  n.  lat.,  and  670  21'  15*  and  68°  1'  e.  long.; 
pop. (1872),  32,362 ;  area,  537  square  miles;  revenue (1873-74),  ^8363, 
viz.  ^7505  imperial  and  ^858  local. 

Ghot&na. — Municipal  town  in  Haidarabad  (Hyderabad)  District,  Sind. 
Lat.  250  44'  45"  n.,  long.  68°  27'  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  953,  including  553 
Muhammadans  and  341  Hindus  (chiefly  Muhdnos  and  Lohanos). 
Municipal  revenue  (1873-74),  ^146;  rate  of  taxation,  3s.  per  head. 
Being  situated  only  2  miles  from  the  landing-place  on  the  Indus,  where 
the  products  of  Shikarpur,  Adam-jo-Tando,  etc.  are  received  for  re- 
exportation, Ghotana  possesses  a  large  transit  trade  in  grain,  cotton, 
seeds,  and  potash;  annual  value,  ;£i  2,600.  The  local  trade,  chiefly  in 
cereals,  has  an  annual  value  of  ^1300. 

Ghotki — Tdluk  of  Shikarpur  District,  Sind ;  situated  between  270 
46'  45"  and  280  18'  n.  lat.,  and  between  690  10'  and  690  36'  e.  long. ; 
pop.  (1872),  46,406;  area,  372  square  miles;  revenue  (1873-74), 
^10,212,  viz.  ^£9372  imperial  and  ^839  local. 

Ghotki — Municipal  town  in  Shikarpur  District,  Sind.  Lat  28°o'  15' 
n.,  long.  690  21'  15"  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  3689,  viz.  Muhammadans,  1803 
(chiefly  of  Pathan,  Malak,  Sayyid,  Mochi,  and  Lohar  tribes),  and 
Hindus,  1867  (principally  Banias).  Founded  about  1747.  Municipal 
revenue  (1873-74),  ^294;  disbursements,  ^156;  incidence  of  local 
taxation,  is.  7d.  per  head.  Situated  on  the  railway.  Sessions  court- 
house, headquarters  of  a  m&khti&rk&r,  post  office,  travellers'  bungalow. 
Proposed  headquarters  of  Rohri  Deputy  Collector.  The  mosque  of  Pfr 
Mdsa  Shah,  the  founder  of  the  city,  113  feet  long  by  65  feet  broad,  is 
the  largest  in  Sind,  and  of  very  considerable  sanctity.  Local  trade 
chiefly  in  cereals,  indigo,  wool,  and  sugar-cane.  The  Lohars  of 
Ghotki  are  famed  for  their  metal-work ;  wood  carving  and  staining  are 
also  very  creditably  executed. 

GhugUS. — A  large  village  in  Chanda  District,  Central  Provinces;  13 
miles  west  of  Chanda  town.  Lat.  190  56'  30"  n.,  long.  790  9'  30*  e.  It 
contains  three  temple-caves,  and  near  them  some  carved  stones  appa- 
rently meant  to  represent  animals.  Near  the  village,  about  a.d.  1700, 
was  fought  the  batde  between  the  Gond  king  Rim  Shah  and  the  rebel 
princes  Bagba,  Agbd,  and  Ragba.  Agbi  fell  on  the  field,  where  his 
tomb  may  still  be  seen ;  and  hard  by  is  the  '  Ghora  GhaV  so  called 
from  Bagba's  fabled  leap  across  the  Wardha.  On  the  bank  of  this 
river,  between  Ghugiis  and  Chandur,  a  seam  of  coal,  33  feet  thick, 


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GHUSAL—GJD  U-JO-TANDO.  367 

crops  out  on  the  surface,  and  the  GhugiSs  field  is  estimated  to  cover 
3  square  miles.  An  experimental  shaft  was  sunk,  but  has  now  been 
abandoned. 

GhnsaL — Mountain  pass  in  Bashahr  State,  Punjab,  across  the  range 
of  the  Himalayas  which  forms  the  southern  boundary  of  Kunawar. 
Lat  31  °  21'  n.,  long.  7  8°  13'  e.  Two  other  passes,  the  Guna  and  the 
Nftrang,  lie  within  half  a  mile  to  the  north-west ;  but  Thornton  states 
that  only  one  of  the  three  is  ever  practicable  at  any  particular  season. 
They  lead  from  Sangla  to  Chuara.     Elevation  above  sea  level,  1 5,85 1  feet. 

GttrasrL — Village  in  Huglf  District,  Bengal.  Manufacture  of  dhutis 
and  sdris  carried  on  according  to  European  methods.  Permanent 
market,  with  large  trade  in  agricultural  products. 

GhutasAn  Devi — Hill  pass  in  Sirmdr  State,  Punjab,  lying  over  the 
crest  of  a  low  transverse  ridge,  which  runs  across  the  Khiarda  Dun 
from  the  sub-Himalayan  chain  to  the  Siwaliks.  Lat.  300  31'  n.,  long. 
770  28'  e.  Thornton  says  that  the  ridge  divides  the  waters  of  the  Bhuta, 
a  tributary  of  the  Jumna,  from  those  of  the  Markanda,  flowing  south- 
west toward  the  Sutlej.  The  route  from  Dehri  to  Nahan  runs  through 
this  pass.     Elevation  above  sea  level,  2500  feet 

Gidhaur. — Town  in  Monghyr  District,  Bengal.  Lat.  240  51'  20"  n., 
long.  86°  14'  25"  e.  The  site  of  a  deserted  hill  frontier  town,  and 
interesting  as  the  seat  of  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  noble  families  of  Behar. 
In  the  neighbourhood  are  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  castle,  the  erection  of 
which  is  often  attributed  to  Sher  Shah,  but  it  is  probably  of  much  earlier 
origin.  The  Gidhaur  family,  which  now  after  twenty-two  generations  is 
still  wealthy  and  influential,  was  founded  about  n  68  a.d.  by  Bir  Vikram 
Sinh,  a  Rajput  of  the  Chandrabansf  or  Lunar  sept  Puran  Mall,  the  9th 
Raja,  built  the  great  temple  of  Baidyanath  ;  and  in  the  Sanskrit  verse 
inscribed  above  the  inner  door  of  the  sanctuary  he  is  called  ure  pati,  or 
'  king  of  men/  a  title  that  bears  witness  to  the  position  of  the  family 
centuries  ago.  Sir  Jai  Mangal,  who  has  lately  retired  from  active  life, 
was  created  a  Maharaja  in  1865,  and  a  Knight  Commander  of  the 
Star  of  India  in  1866,  in  consequence  of  his  loyal  exertions  on  our 
behalf  during  the  Santal  Rebellion  of  1853  and  the  Mutiny  of  1857. 

Gidhaur  Galli — Pass  in  Peshawar  District,  Punjab,  lying  on  the 
road  from  Peshawar  to  Attock,  5  miles  north-west  of  the  latter  town. 
Lat  330  56'  n.,  long.  720  12'  e.  Derives  its  name  (the  Jackal's  Neck) 
from  its  extreme  narrowness,  being  not  more  than  10  or  12  feet  wide, 
and  bounded  on  either  side  by  considerable  hills.  Its  military  import- 
ance is  slight,  from  the  facility  with  which  it  may  be  turned. 

Gidu-jO-Tando.  —  Government  town  in  Haidardbad  (Hyderabad) 
District,  Sind  Lat  250  22'  15'  n.,  long.  68°  21'  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  1832, 
viz.  Muhammadans,  1 170,  and  Hindus,  662.  Situated  on  the  Indus,  and 
connected  by  a  fine  road,  3$  miles  in  length,  with  the  city  of  Haidaribad, 


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368  GIGASARAN—GINGI  FOR  T. 

in  which  municipality  it  is  included.  Very  large  transit  trade,  chiefly 
in  cotton  and  grain.  A  steam  ferry  connects  Gidu-jo-Tando  with  the 
railway  station  of  Kotree  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Indus. 

Gigasaran. — Petty  State  in  South  Kathiawdr,  Bombay ;  consisting 
of  i  village,  with  4  independent  tribute-payers.  Estimated  revenue, 
^500.  The  tribute  due  is  paid  by  Amreli  in  lieu  of  certain  villages 
taken  possession  of  by  that  State. 

Oilgaon. — Ancient  chiefship  in  Chanda  District,  Central  Provinces; 
containing  12  villages.  Most  of  the  area,  which  measures  26  miles 
by  16,  is  covered  by  hill  and  forest,  the  latter  containing  some  good 
timber,  mostly  sdl  and  bijesdl.  Gilgdon  village  is  situated  in  lat  20*  o' 
30"  n.,  long.  8o°  5'  30"  k. 

Gilgit. — Valley  in  Kashmir  State,  Punjab,  lying  on  the  southern 
slope  of  the  Hindu  Kiish,  between  Baltistan  and  Chitral.  Lat.  35* 
47'  n.,  long.  740  31'  e.  The  river  Gilgit  traverses  its  centre,  and  finally 
joins  the  Indus  a  little  south-east  of  the  village  bearing  the  same 
name. 

Ginatir. — North-western  tahsil  of  Budaun  District,  North-Westem 
Provinces,  lying  along  the  northern  bank  of  the  Ganges.  Area,  310 
square  miles,  of  which  176  are  cultivated ;  pop.  (1872),  128,788;  land 
revenue,  ,£16,437;  total  Government  revenue,  ,£18,085;  rental  paid 
by  cultivators,  ^31,145;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre, 
is.  7|d. 

Qingi  (Chcnjt). — Fort  in  South  Arcot  District,  Madras.  Lat  12* 
15'  19*  n.,  long.  790  26'  8*  e.  ;  situated  on  the  road  from  Kistnagiri 
to  the  coast,  about  half-way  between  Tindevanam  and  Trinomalai ;  82 
miles  south-west  from  Madras,  and  50  north-east  from  Cuddalore,  the 
chief  town  of  the  District 

There  is  no  village  of  Gingi  beyond  a  few  houses  near  the  foot  of 
the  hills.  The  interest  of  the  place  is  exclusively  historical  The 
fortress  consists  of  three  strongly  fortified  hills,  connected  together 
by  walls  of  circumvallation.  The  highest  and  most  important  hill 
is  called  Rajdgiri;  the  two  others  being  known  as  Kistnagiri  and 
Chendrayan  Drtig.  Rajagiri  is  about  500  or  600  feet  high,  and  con- 
sists of  a  ridge  terminating  in  an  overhanging  bluff,  facing  the  south, 
and  falling  with  a  precipitous  sweep  to  the  plain  on  the  north.  On  the 
summit  of  this  bluff  stands  the  citadel.  The  long  walls  of  circumvalla- 
tion, already  alluded  to,  enclose  an  area  of  over  7  miles  in  circumference. 
Before  the  fortifications  existed,  the  summit  of  the  Rajagiri  bluff  must 
have  been  utterly  inaccessible  on  all  sides  but  the  south-west.  At  this 
point,  where  the  crest  of  the  ridge  meets  the  base  of  the  bluff,  a  narrow 
and  steep  ravine  probably  gave  a  difficult  means  of  access  to  the  top, 
across  which  the  Hindu  engineer  built  three  walls,  each  about  20  or  25 
feet  high,  rising  one  behind  the  other  at  some  little  distance,  and  rcn- 

• 


GINGI  FORT.  369 

dering  an  attack  by  escalade  in  that  direction  almost  impracticable. 
On  the  north  side,  a  narrow  chasm  divides  a  portion  of  the  rock  from 
the  main  mass.  This  chasm,  the  fortifiers  of  the  rock  artificially  pro- 
longed  and  heightened ;  and  where  it  had  a  width  of  about  24  feet  and 
a  depth  of  about  60,  they  threw  a  wooden  bridge  over  it,  and  made  the 
only  means  of  ingress  into  the  citadel  through  a  narrow  stone  gateway 
facing  the  bridge,  and  about  30  yards  from  it,  with  flanking  walls  fitted 
with  embrasures  for  guns  and  loopholed  for  musketry. 

It  is  not  known  with  certainty  who  constructed  the  fort  It  is  probable 
that  the  site  was  originally  built  on  by  the  Chola  kings,  and  quasi- 
authentic  history  attributes  the  commencement  of  the  great  fort  to  a 
son  of  Vijiya  Rangi  Ndik,  the  Governor  of  Tanjore  in  1442.  The 
works  were  completed  during  the  time  of  the  Vijdyanagar  kings.  The 
martello  towers  and  cavaliers  show  traces  of  European  supervision,  and 
some  of  the  more  modern  embrasures  were  the  work  of  the  French. 
The  great  lines  of  fortification  which  cross  the  valley  between  the  three 
hills,  were  evidently  built  at  different  periods.  In  their  original  form, 
they  each  consisted  of  a  wall  about  5  feet  thick,  built  up  of  blocks  of 
granite,  and  filled  in  with  rubble;  but  subsequently  a  huge  earthen 
rampart,  about  25  or  30  feet  thick,  has  been  thrown  up  behind  these 
walls,  and  riveted  roughly  on  the  inside  with  stone,  while  at  intervals 
in  this  rampart  are  barracks  or  guard-rooms. 

Several  ruins  of  fine  buildings  are  situated  inside  the  fort  Of  these 
the  most  remarkable  are  the  two  pagodas,  the  Kaliydna  Mahdl,  the 
Gymkhana,  the  granaries,  and  the  I'dgah.  There  are  various  mandaps 
(porches)  on  each  of  the  hills,  and  a  very  large  granary  on  the 
top  of  KistnagirL  The  most  noticeable  building  of  all,  perhaps,  is 
the  Kaliydna  Mahdl.  This  consists  of  a  square  court  surrounded  by 
rooms  for  the  ladies  of  the  Governor's  household.  In  the  middle  of 
this  court  is  a  square  tower  of  eight  storeys,  and  altogether  about  80 
feet  high,  with  a  pyramidical  roof.  The  first  six  storeys  are  all  of  the 
same  size  and  pattern,  namely,  an  arcaded  verandah  running  round  a 
small  room,  about  8  feet  square,  and  communicating  with  the  storey 
above  by  means  of  small  steps.  The  room  on  the  seventh  storey  has 
now  no  verandah,  but  there  are  indications  of  one  having  existed 
formerly.  The  topmost  room  is  of  smaller  size  than  the  others.  The 
only  other  interesting  feature  in  the  building  is  an  earthenware  pipe 
leading  to  the  sixth  storey,  and  brought  all  the  way  from  a  tank  600 
yards  off,  outside  the  walls  of  the  fort,  and  carried  under  the  wail  to 
the  back  of  the  ladies'  quarters,  and  thence  over  the  roof  to  the  Mahil. 
One  of  the  most  singular  features  about  Gingi  is  the  water  supply. 
There  are  two  perennial  springs  of  excellent  water  on  the  top  of  Rdjd- 
giri — one  outside  the  gateway  of  the  citadel,  and  the  other  on  the  very 
summit  of  the  rock.    At  the  foot  of  the  ridge  at  the  back  of  Rdjdgiri, 

VOL.  III.  2  A 

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3  70  GINGI  RIVER— GIRAR. 

and  between  it  and  Chandra*yan  Dnig,  are  two  tanks,  and  on  the  western 
side  of  the  bluff  is  a  third  reservoir  constructed  to  catch  the  surface 
drainage.  The  principal  objects  of  interest  are — the  great  gun  on  the 
top  of  Rajagiri;  the  Raja's  bathing-stone,  a  large  smooth  slab  of  granite, 
15  feet  square  and  4  or  5  inches  thick,  near  the  spot  where  the  palace 
is  said  to  have  stood ;  and  the  prisoners'  well.  This  latter  is  a  very 
singular  boulder,  about  15  or  20  feet  high,  poised  on  a  rock  near  the 
Chakrakulam  and  surmounted  by  a  low  circular  brick  walL  It  has  a 
natural  hollow  passing  through  it  like  a  well,  and  the  bottom,  having 
been  blocked  up  with  masonry  and  the  upper  edges  smoothed  with  a 
little  masonry  work  plastered  with  chunam,  a  natural  dry  well  was 
formed,  into  which  prisoners  are  said  to  have  been  thrown  and  allowed 
to  die  of  starvation.  The  top  jof  the  boulder  can  only  be  reached  by 
means  of  a  ladder,  but  the  hollow  has  now  been  filled  up  with  rubbish. 
A  little  to  the  south  of  Rajagiri  is  a  fourth  hill  called  Chakli  Dnig. 
The  summit  is  strongly  fortified,  but  these  fortifications  are  not  con- 
nected with  those  of  GingL 

History.  —  As  mentioned  above,  Gingi  was  a  stronghold  of  the 
Vijdyanagar  power,  till  its  overthrow  by  the  allied  Muhammadan  kings 
of  the  Deccan  in  1564,  at  Taiikot  It  was  not  till  1669,  however,  that 
Bandulla  Khan,  the  Bijapur  general,  captured  the  fort  of  GingL  The 
division  of  his  army  that  effected  this  was  commanded  by  Shihji, 
father  of  Sivajf  the  Great.  In  1677,  the  fort  fell  to  Sivaji  by  stratagem, 
and  remained  in  Marhatta*  hands  for  twenty  years.  In  1690,  the  armies 
of  the  Delhi  Emperor,  under  Zulfikar  Khan,  were  despatched  against 
Gingi  with  a  view  to  the  final  extirpation  of  the  Marhatta'  power.  The 
siege  was  prolonged  for  eight  years,  but  the  fort  fell  in  1698,  and  after* 
wards  became  the  headquarters  of  the  standing  army  in  Arcot.  In  1750, 
the  French  captured  it  by  a  skilful  and  daringly  executed  surprise,  and 
held  it  with  an  efficient  garrison  for  eleven  years,  defeating  one  attack  by 
the  English  under  Major  Kineer  in  1 7  5  2.  Stephen  Smith  took  the  place 
after  five  weeks'  siege  in  1761.  In  1780,  it  was  surrendered  to  Haidar, 
but  subsequently  it  played  no  part  of  importance  in  the  wars  of  Southern 
India.  Gingi  has  long  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most 
unhealthy  localities  in  the  Karnatic  The  French  are  said  by  Orme  to 
have  lost  1200  European  soldiers  during  their  eleven  years'  tenancy  of 
it,  and  their  garrison  of  Europeans  rarely  exceeded  100  men.  There  is 
no  trace,  however,  of  any  burial-ground  where  these  men  were  interred 
The  place  is  now  deserted,  but  Government  allows  an  annual  main- 
tenance for  the  preservation  of  the  ruins. 

Gingi — River  of  South  Arcot  District,  Madras. — See  Ariakupum. 

Girar. — Town  in  Wardha  District,  Central  Provinces;  37  miles 
south-east  of  Wardha.  Lat.  200  40'  n.,  long.  790  9'  30"  e.  The  shrine 
of  the  Musalman  saint,  Shaikh  Khwaja  Farfd,  crowns  the  summit  of  a 


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GIRDABADI—GIRNAR.  371 

neighbouring  hill,  and  attracts  a  continual  flow  of  devotees,  both  Hindus 
and  Musalmans.  This  holy  man  was  born  in  Hindustan,  and,  after 
wandering  for  thirty  years  as  &  fakir,  he  settled  on  the  Girar  Hill  about 
1244.  Two  travelling  traders  once  mocked  the  saint,  on  which  he 
turned  their  stock  of  cocoa-nuts  to  stone ;  then  moved  by  their  suppli- 
cations, he  created  a  fresh  stock  from  dry  leaves.  The  traders  were 
so  struck  by  these  wonders,  that  they  attached  themselves  to  the  saint's 
service,  and  their  two  graves  may  yet  be  seen  on  the  hill.  The  shrine 
absorbs  the  revenues  of  five  villages,  Girar  itself,  however,  not  being 
among  the  number.  The  town  has  a  police  outpost,  a  good  village 
school,  and  a  weekly  market.    Pop^(i87o),  1.836. 

Gird&b&di. — One  of  the  peaks  of  the  Eastern  Ghits,  in  Chinna 
Kimedi  Zaminddri,  Ganjam  District,  Madras.  Lat  L90  29'  44"  n.,  long. 
840  25'  18"  e.  ;  3399  feet  above  sea  level.  A  Great  Trigonometrical 
Survey  station. 

Giriy&k. — Village  on  the  Panchana  river,  Patna  District,  Bengal. 
Lat.  25°  i'  45"  n.,  long.  850  34'  e;  situated  in  the  double  range  of  hills 
commencing  near  Gaya,  on  one  of  its  peaks  (about  6  miles  in  length), 
which  General  Cunningham  identifies  with  Fa  Hian's  Solitary  Moun- 
tain, suggesting  at  the  same  time  that  its  name  is  derived  from  ek~giri, 
or  ( one  hill;'  but  this  statement  has  been  doubted.  Dr.  Buchanan- 
Hamilton  has  described  the  ruins  of  Giriyak,  which  are  full  of  archaeo- 
logical interest.  They  were  originally  ascended  from  the  north-east, 
and  remains  of  a  road  about  12  feet  wide,  paved  with  large  stone 
blocks,  and  winding  so  as  to  procure  a  moderate  gradient,  still  exist 
It  could,  however,  never  have  been  practicable  for  wheeled  carriages. 
At  the  west  end  of  the  ridge,  a  steep  brick  slope  leads  up  to  a  platform, 
on  which  there  are  some  granite  pillars,  probably  part  of  an  ancient 
temple.  East  of  the  ridge  is  an  area  45  feet  square,  called  the 
chabutara  of  Jarasindhu,  the  centre  of  which  is  occupied  by  a  low 
square  pedestal  supporting  a  solid  brick  column  68  feet  in  circum- 
ference and  55  feet  in  height.  Dr.  Buchanan-Hamilton  considers  the 
general  impression  that  the  ruins  on  this  hill  are  the  remains  of  Jara- 
sindhu's  country-house  erroneous,  for  the  ascent  to  Giriyak  must  always 
have  been  too  arduous  to  render  it  a  place  of  luxurious  retirement 

Girn&r. — Sacred  hill,  with  ruined  temples,  in  Kathiawar,  Bombay ; 
situated  about  10  miles  east  of  Junagarh  town.  Lat  21°  30'  n.,  long. 
700  42'  e.  The  hill  rises  to  about  3500  feet  above  sea  level,  and  forms 
one  of  the  sacred  seats  of  Jainism,  only  second  in  importance  to 
Palitana.  A  rock  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  outside  the  town  is  covered 
with  a  set  of  Asoka's  inscriptions,  250  b.c.  Another  inscription  (150 
a.d.)  relates  how  the  local  monarch,  Rudra  Dama,  defeated  the  king  of 
the  Deccan  ;  while  a  third  (457  a.d.)  records  the  bursting  of  the  embank- 
ment of  the  Sudarsana  tank,  and  the  rebuilding  of  a  bridge  which  was 


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372  GIRWA—GIRWAN. 

destroyed  by  the  flood.  There  are,  however,  no  remains  of  any  ancient 
city,  temples,  or  ruins  of  a  corresponding  age  to  these  inscriptions,  and 
but  for  their  dates  the  place  would  have  seemed  to  be  unknown  before 
the  ioth  century.  Mr.  James  Fergusson,  in  his  History  of Indian  and 
Eastern  Architecture  (1876,  pp.  230-232),  thus  describes  the  architec- 
tural features  of  Girnar : — '  The  principal  group  of  temples  at  Girnar, 
some  sixteen  in  number,  is  situated  on  a  ledge  about  600  feet  from  the 
summit,  and  nearly  3000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  largest 
and  possibly  the  oldest  of  these  is  that  of  Nemindth.  An  inscription 
upon  it  records  that  it  was  repaired  in  a.d.  1278,  and  unfortunately  a 
subsequent  restorer  has  laid  his  heavy  hand  upon  it,  so  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult now  to  realize  what  its  original  appearance  may  have  been.  The 
temple  stands  in  a  courtyard  measuring  195  feet  by  130  feet  over  alL 
Around  the  courtyard  are  arranged  70  cells,  with  a  covered  and 
enclosed  passage  in  front  of  them,  each  of  which  contains  a  cross-legged 
seated  figure  of  the  Tirthankar,  to  whom  the  temple  is  dedicated 
(Neminath),  and  generally  with  a  bas-relief  or  picture  representing 
some  act  in  his  life.  Immediately  behind  the  temple  of  Neminath  is 
a  triple  one,  erected  by  the  brothers  Tejpala  and  Vastupila,  who  also 
erected  one  of  the  principal  temples  in  Abu.' 

Girwa. — River  of  Nepal  and  Oudh ;  a  branch  of  the  Kauriala, 
leaving  that  stream  on  its  eastern  bank  a  mile  below  the  point  where  it 
emerges  through  a  gorge  in  the  Himalayas  known  as  Shfsha-pani  or 
*  Crystal  waters/  Some  years  ago,  the  Gfrwa  was  a  mere  water-course, 
but  its  volume  has  gradually  increased  till  it  is  now  considerably  larger 
than  the  parent  stream.  Both  are  rapid  rivers ;  their  beds  covered  with 
large  pebbles,  often  a  foot  m  diameter,  particularly  at  the  fords  where 
they  are  broad  and  shallow,  enabling  elephants  to  cross  generally  without 
difficulty.  Both  streams  are  about  400  yards  broad,  and  from  3  to  4 
feet  deep ;  they  are  unfordable  by  men,  except  at  one  or  two  places. 
The  Gfrwa  in  particular  is  a  beautiful  stream,  its  banks  being  covered 
with  dense  sdl,  with  the  mountains  showing  over  the  tree-tops.  In 
many  places  the  river  has  worn  for  itself  large  clearings  amid  the 
jungle,  several  miles  broad,  through  which  the  water  passes  in  several 
clear  channels.  The  islands  thus  formed  are  generally  covered  with 
shishdm  trees  and  thickets  of  willow.  Diagonally  across  the  stream  in 
its  upper  course  extend  ridges  of  kankar  or  limestone,  forming  rapids,  and 
causing  a  complete  obstruction  to  navigation.  In  its  lower  course,  the 
Gfrwa  enters  Bahrdich  District,  and  finally  reunites  with  the  Kauriala 
a  few  miles  below  Bharthapur.  The  stream  is  navigable  by  large  boats 
up  to  Dhanaura,  just  beyond  British  territory.  The  waters  of  the 
Kauriala  and  Gfrwa,  afterwards  swelled  by  the  Sarju  and  Chauka, 
finally  become  the  Gogra,  or  great  river  of  Oudh. 

Girw&n. — South-westerly  tahsil  of  Banda  District,  North-Western 


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GNA-PUTAN—GNYOUNG-DUN.  373 

Provinces ;  consisting  of  hilly  eminences  sloping  down  into  an  elevated 
plain,  with  detached  granite  rocks.  Area,  308  square  miles,  of  which 
170  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  78,848;  land  revenue,  ^15,885; 
total  Government  revenue,  ^16,231 ;  rental  paid  by  cultivators, 
,£26,693 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre,  is.  7fd. 

Ona-pntan. — Township  and  town,  British  Burma. — See  Nga-putan. 

Gna-thaing-khyoung. — See  Nga-thaing-khyoung. 

Gnyonng-Beng. — Revenue  circle,  between  the  Pegu  and  Tsittoung 
rivers,  in  Rangoon  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  The 
country  in  the  west  is  undulating  and  cultivated  with  rice.  In  1876, 
the  population  was  8339 ;  the  gross  revenue,  ^8848. 

Gnyoung-beng-hla. — Revenue  circle,  with  an  area  of  8  square  miles, 
in  Kyouk-hpyd  District,  Arakan  Division,  British  Burma.  The  principal 
manufacture  is  salt  In  1876,  the  population  was  1650;  the  gross 
revenue,  ^442. 

Gnyoung-beng-tha.  —  Revenue  circle  in  Prome  District,  Pegu 
Division,  British  Burma.  The  surface  of  the  country  is  undulating,  and 
the  hillsides  are  covered  with  fruit  and  vegetable  gardens.  The  villages 
are  all  on  the  bank  of  the  Irawadi,  and  are  inhabited  by  cultivators  and 
fishermen.  In  1876-77,  the  land  revenue  was  ^91,  and  the  capitation 
tax,  £114. 

Gnyoung-beng-tha. — Revenue  circle  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Irawadi,  in  Henzada  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  The 
land  is  well  cultivated  with  rice,  and  protected  from  inundation  by  an 
embankment  The  population  in  1876  was  4467 ;  the  gross  revenue, 
^1292. 

Gnyoung-beng-tshiep. — Revenue  circle,  6  square  miles  in  extent, 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Irawadi,  in  Thayet  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma.  The  population  in  1876-77  numbered  4115,  almost  all 
Burmese ;  the  gross  revenue  was  ^1024.  Before  the  annexation  of 
Pegu,  Gnyoung-beng-tshiep  was  an  independent  jurisdiction  under  a 
Myo-thtigyf,  under  whom  were  five  Thugyfships.  The  last  Myo-thiigyf 
took  office  under  the  English  as  an  extra-Assistant  Commissioner. 

Gnyoung-beng-tshiep. — Revenue  circle,  east  of  Maulmain,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Gyaing  and  Attaran  rivers,  and  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  former,  in  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma. 
This  circle  is  noted  for  its  manufacture  of  earthen  pots  for  salt-boiling, 
etc  In  1876-77,  the  population  was  2999;  the  land  revenue,  ^"424; 
and  the  capitation  tax,  ^323. 

Gnyoung-dtin  (or  Yandoon). — Town  60  miles  north-west  of 
Rangoon,  at  the  junction  of  the  Pan-hlaing  or  Gnyoung-dtin  creek 
with  the  Irawadi,  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma. 
It  is  the  seat  of  a  large  transit  trade  between  the  upper  part  of  the 
Irawadi   valley  and  Rangoon.     The   principal  imports  are   wheat, 

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374  GNYOUNG-DUN—GOA  SETTLEMENT. 

gram,  beans,  pickled  tea,  oil,  onions,  silk.  The  principal  exports  are 
rice  (husked  and  unhusked),  piece-goods,  crockery,  earthenware,  tobacco, 
and  betel-nuts.  Small  steamers  occasionally  run  between  this  town 
and  Rangoon,  making  the  trip,  with  a  favourable  tide,  in  one  day. 

Gnyoung-dtin. — Revenue  circle  in  the  township  of  the  same  name, 
Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  In  1876-77,-  the 
population  was  12,354,  inclusive  of  Gnyoung-dtin  town;  the  gross 
revenue,  ^2966. 

Gnyoung-khyonng.— Revenue  circle  in  Thonkhwa  District,  Pegu 
Division,  British  Burma.  It  lies  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Irawadi ;  and 
until  this  river  was  embanked,  the  southern  portions  of  the  circle  were 
uncultivable,  owing  to  periodical  inundations.  In  1876-77,  the  popula- 
tion was  10,212  ;  the  gross  re  venue,  ^2761. 

Gnyoung-le-beng.  —  Revenue  circle  in  Shwe-gyeng  District,  Tenas- 
serim  Division,  British  Burma.  Its  area  is  70  square  miles.  The 
population  in  1876-77  was  5284,  chiefly  Talaing;  the  gross  revenue 
was  ^1448. 

Gnyoung-rwa-gyt  —  Revenue  circle  in  Henzada  District,  Pegu 
Division,  British  Burma.  There  are  extensive  rice  plains  in  the  centre. 
The  population  in  1876-77  was  4981 ;  the  gross  revenue,  ^1184. 

Gnyoung-rwa-ngay. — Revenue  circle  in  Henzada  District,  Pegu 
Division,  British  Burma.  It  extends  eastward  from  the  Arakan  Yomas, 
being  in  that  portion  mountainous  and  covered  with  tree  forest ;  the 
tract  to  the  east  consists  of  extensive  rice-fields.  The  population  in 
1876-77  was  2556;  the  gross  revenue,  ^394. 

Gnyoung-tsa-re. — Revenue  circle  in  Prome  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma.  The  surface  of  the  country  is  level,  except  towards  the 
east ;  in  the  centre  and  south-west  portion,  rice  is  extensively  cultivated. 
During  the  rains,  a  tract  of  country  in  the  south  is  entirely  separated 
from  the  rest  by  the  Dtin-kiila  water-course,  which  joins  the  Irawadi 
just  below  Gnyoung-tsa-re.  In  1876-77,  the  population  was  5961 ;  the 
gross  revenue,  ^1246. 

Goa. — Portuguese  settlement  on  the  Malabar  or  western  coast  of 
India,  lying  between  140  53'  and  15°  48'  n.  lat,  and  between  73° 
43'  and  740  24'  e.  long.,  about  250  miles  south-south-east  from  Bom- 
bay. Bounded  on  the  north  by  the  river  Tirakul  or  Auraundem, 
separating  it  from  Sdwant  Wari  State ;  on  the  east  by  the  range  of  the 
Western  Ghits ;  on  the  south  by  Kanara  District;  and  on  the  west  by 
the  Arabian  Sea.  Extreme  length  from  north  to  south,  62  miles; 
greatest  breadth  from  east  to  west,  40  miles.  Total  area,  1062  square 
miles;  population  (1876),  392,234. 

Goa  forms  a  patch  of  foreign  territory  on  the  coast  of  the  Bombay 
coast,  and  is  surrounded  on  all  sides,  except  to  the  seaward,  by  British 
Districts.     It  was  not  practicable  to  extend  to  this  settlement  the 

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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  375 

minute  statistical  survey  which  was  carried  out  in  British  territory,  and  a 
personal  visit  disclosed  the  impossibility  of  adhering  to  the  same  arrange- 
ment The  following  account  was  kindly  drawn  up  for  the  Imperial 
Gazetteer  by  Dr.  Jose  Nicolau  da  Fonseca,  President  of  the  Sociedade 
dos  Amigos  das  Letras,  from  official  sources  in  Goa ;  it  is  now  printed 
(as  requested)  with  as  few  modifications  as  possible,  although  in  a  much 
condensed  form,  and  with  some  historical  amplifications. 

Physical  Aspects. — Goa  is  a  hilly  country,  especially  that  portion 
which  was  most  recently  acquired,  known  as  the  Novas  Conquistas  (new 
conquests).  Its  distinguishing  feature  is  the  Sahyadri  Mountains, 
which,  after  skirting  a  considerable  portion  of  the  north-eastern  and 
south-eastern  boundaries,  branch  off  westwards  across  the  territory  into 
numerous  spurs  and  ridges.  Of  the  isolated  peaks  with  which  these 
ranges  of  mountains  are  studded,  the  most  conspicuous  are,  on  the 
north — Sonsigar,  3827  feet  above  sea  level;  Catlanchimauli,  3633 
feet;  Vaguerim,  3500  feet;  Morlemchogor,  3400  feet,  all  in  the 
Satiri  mahdl  or  Province ;  on  the  east  and  west — Sidn^to  at  Ponda, 
Chandaraate  at  Chandrawadi,  Consid  at  Astragar,  and  Dudeagar  at 
Embarbdkam. 

The  territory  is  intersected  by  numerous  rivers,  which  are  generally 
navigable.  Beginning  on  the  north,  the  eight  principal  rivers  are — 
(1)  The  Tirakul  or  Araundem,  so  called  from  the  fortress  of  that 
name  guarding  its  estuary;  has  its  source  in  the  Western  Ghdts, 
in  the  Sdwant  Wdri  State,  flows  south-west  for  14 \  miles,  and,  after 
forming  the  northern  boundary  of  the  Province  of  Pernem,  and  also  of 
the  territory  of  Goa,  discharges  its  waters  into  the  Arabian  Sea :  (2) 
the  Ch£por£  or  Colvalle,  18  miles  long,  rises  at  Kim  Gh£t,  and, 
after  separating  the  Provinces  of  Bdrdes,  Bicholim,  and  Sanquelim 
from  Pernem,  takes  a  zigzag  direction  to  the  south-west  through  the 
villages  of  Salem,  Revora,  Colvalle,  and  empties  itself  into  the  sea  close 
to  the  village  of  Chdpord :  (3)  the  Bdga,  only  1  mile  long,  rises  in 
Bdrdes,  and  passes  a -redoubt  of  the  same  name:  (4)  the  Sinquerim, 
3}  miles  long,  also  rises  in  Birdes  close  to  the  village  of  Pileme,  and, 
after  describing  almost  a  right  angle,  westwards  and  southwards,  and 
forming  the  peninsula  of  Aguada,  falls  into  the  bay  of  the  same  name  : 
(5)  the  Mandavi,  38J  miles  in  length,  is  the  most  important  stream  in 
the  territory,  both  the  ancient  and  modern  metropolis  being  situated  on 
its  banks ;  it  rises  at  Parvar  Ghit  in  the  Province  of  Satari,  first  runs 
north-west  of  Ponda,  and  then  south-west  of  Bicholim  and  Bdrdes,  and, 
after  forming  several  islands  and  passing  Panjfm  or  New  Goa,  dis- 
charges its  waters  into  the  Bay  of  Aguada ;  its  principal  offshoots  pass 
the  villages  of  Mapuca,  Tivim,  and  Assonora,  watering  the  Provinces 
of  Bicholim,  Sanquelim,  and  Zambaulim,  and  are  locally  known  by 
those  names :  (6)  the  Juari,  39  miles  in  length,  rises  at  the  foot  of 


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376  GOA  SETTLEMENT. 

Digny  Ghdt  in  the  Province  of  Embarb&am,  runs  northwards, 
separating  Salsette  from  Ponda,  and  falls  into  the  Bay  of  Mormugao ; 
like  the  Mandavi,  it  has  numerous  offshoots,  one  of  which  joins  the 
former  river  between  Marcaim  and  Sao  Louren^o  after  forming  the 
island  of  Tissuadi :  (7)  the  Sal,  15  miles  long,  runs  close  to  the  town 
of  Margao,  and  discharges  itself  into  the  sea  near  the  fort  of  Betul : 
(8)  the  Talpona,  7  miles  long,  rises  at  Ambughit  in  the  Province  of 
Astragar,  and,  running  westwards  through  the  Province  of  Canacona, 
falls  into  the  sea  near  the  small  fort  of  Talpona.  The  boats  by  which 
these  rivers  are  navigated  are  called  lonas,  and  the  ferries  across  them 
are  designated  passa-gens. 

The  territory  of  Goa  possesses  a  fine  harbour,  formed  by  the  pro- 
montories of  Bdrdes  and  Salsette.  Half-way  between  these  extremi- 
ties projects  the  cabo  (cape)  from  the  island  of  Goa,  dividing  the 
harbour  into  two  anchorages,  known  as  Alguada  and  Mormugao. 
Both  are  capable  of  safely  accommodating  the  largest  shipping  from 
September  to  May.  Alguada  is  virtually  closed  to  navigation  during 
the  south-west  monsoon,  owing  to  the  high  winds  and  sea,  and  the 
formation  of  sandbanks  in  the  estuary  of  the  Mandovi  at  that  period ; 
but  Mormugao  is  accessible  at  all  times.  A  consequence  of  the  inter- 
section of  numerous  rivers,  is  the  formation  of  many  islands,  of  which 
the  chief  number  18. 

The  rainfall  for  the  three  years  ending  1875,  as  registered  by  the 
Meteorological  Department,  averaged  100*22  inches.  The  prevailing 
diseases  are  intermittent  and  remittent  fevers,  diarrhoea,  and  dysentery. 

Laterite  is  the  stone  most  abundant  throughout  the  territory.  Iron 
is  found  at  Baga,  Satari,  Pernem,  and  especially  in  the  Provinces  of 
Zambaulim.  The  geological  resources  of  Goa  have  not  yet  been 
scientifically  explored. 

Stately  forests  are  found  in  the  Novas  Conquistas.  The  reserve  and 
other  forests  scattered  over  an  area  of  30,000  hectares,  or  74,133 
acres,  have  an  aggregate  value,  according  to  the  Report  of  the  Forest 
Committee  of  187 1,  of  ^700,000.  The  wasteful  practice  of  kumri 
or  nomadic  cultivation,  till  lately  prevalent,  has  denuded  them  of 
valuable  trees.  More  attention  is  now  paid  to  this  branch  of  public 
administration,  which  is  entrusted  to  a  special  department  In  1874, 
the  forest  revenue  amounted  to  ^1040,  7s.  6d.,  and  the  expenditure  to 
^429,  16s. 

Population. — The  population  of  Goa  Proper,  in  1800,  Le.  the 
Velhas  without  the  Novas  Conquistas,  was  calculated  at  178,478; 
comprising  91,436  males  and  87,042  females.  The  whole  population 
of  the  Velhas  (old),  and  Novas  (new)  Conquistas,  according  to  the 
Census  of  1851,  was  363,788;  showing  a  density  of  342*54  to  the 
square  mile,  being  an  increase  of  1044  over  that  of  1848,  when  the 

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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  zit 

aggregate  was  returned  at  362,744.  By  the  enumeration  of  1851, 
the  population  was  classified  under  the  following  heads : — 1.  Sex. — 
Males,  180,240;  females,  183,548.  2.  Age. — Males  and  females  from 
birth  to  five  years  of  age,  52,387 ;  from  five  to  fifteen,  73,633 ;  from 
fifteen  to  twenty-five,  85,895  ;  from  twenty-five  to  fifty,  104,856  ;  from 
fifty  to  a  hundred,  47,006;  above  a  hundred,  n.  3.  Races. — (a) 
European  males  and  females  and  their  descendants,  1851 ;  (b)  Asiatic 
males  and  females,  361,241 ;  (c)  African  males  and  females  and  their 
descendants,  696.  4.  Social  Condition. — Married  males,  81,522 ; 
married  females,  81,682 ;  widowers,  16,753 ;  widows,  35,202 ;  un- 
married males,  81,965 ;  unmarried  females,  66,664.  5.  Religion. — 
Christians,  232,189;  Hindus,  128,824;  Muhammadans,  2775. 

The  population  of  Goa  in  1876-77,  as  gathered  from  the  statistics 
published  in  the  Boletim  do  Governo,  is  given  on  p.  378. 

The  total  population  of  Goa  in  1876-77,  according  to  the  statement 
on  p.  378,  was  therefore  392,234,  showing  a  density  of  369-335  persons 
to  the  square  mile. 

The  inhabitants  are  divided  into  three  classes — (1)  Europeans,  (2) 
the  descendants  of  Europeans,  and  (3)  Natives.  The  last  class  may  be 
again  subdivided  into  Christians  and  Pagans.  The  native  Christians, 
who  constitute  about  two-thirds  of  the  total  population,  are  the 
descendants  of  Hindus  converted  to  Christianity  on  the  subjugation  of 
the  country  by  the  Portuguese,  and  can  still  trace  the  caste  to  which 
they  originally  belonged.  The  predominating  caste  among  the  Pagans 
is  that  of  Shenvis,  or  Saraswati  Bralimans.  Chitpawans  and  Karddds 
are  also  to  be  found,  as  well  as  the  low  or  depressed  castes,  such  as 
Mahars,  Chambers,  etc.,  who  are  generally  to  be  distinguished  by  their 
darker  colour.  The  few  Musalmins  are  as  a  class  in  a  poor  condition. 
The  males  among  native  Christians  for  the  most  part  adopt  European 
costumes,  while  the  females  still  wear  the  indigenous  sdrf.  The  ordinary 
expenses  of  a  middle-class  family  seldom  exceed  jQ$  a  month.  All 
classes  of  the  people,  except  Europeans,  use  the  Konkani  language, 
with  some  admixture  of  Portuguese  words.  But  the  official  language 
is  Portuguese,  which  is  commonly  spoken  in  the  capital  and  the  principal 
towns,  as  well  as  by  all  educated  persons.  French  is  understood  by 
some,  and  English  chiefly  by  those  who  have  resided  for  a  long  time  in 
British  territories. 

The  majority  of  the  population  profess  the  Roman  Catholic  reli- 
gion, and  are  subject  in  spiritual  matters  to  an  Archbishop,  who  has 
the  title  of  the  Primate  of  the  East,  and  exercises  jurisdiction  over  the 
Catholics  of  all  the  Portuguese  colonies  in  the  East,  and  of  a  great 
portion  of  British  India.  His  nomination  rests  with  the  King  of 
Portugal,  subject  to  confirmation  by  the  Pope.     There  are  altogether 

[Sentence  continued  on  page  379. 


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GOA  SETTLEMENT. 


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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  379 

Sentence  continued  from  page  377.] 

96  Christian  churches  in  Goa,  mostly  built  by  the  Jesuits  and  the 
Franciscans  prior  to  the  extinction  of  the  religious  orders  in  Portuguese 
territory.  The  chief  of  these  churches  is  the  cathedral  or  metropolitan 
church,  called  the  Se  Primacial  de  Goa.  The  religious  orders  have 
been  abolished  in  Portuguese  India,  and  the  churches  are  under  the 
charge  of  secular  priests,  all  of  whom  are  natives  of  Goa.  In  1873-74, 
the  State  contributed  ^4955,  us.  towards  the  maintenance  of  the 
ecclesiastical  establishment  The  Catholics  of  Goa  are  very  regular 
in  the  fulfilment  of  religious  duties,  and  celebrate  the  chief  festivals 
sanctioned  by  the  Catholic  Church  with  much  devotion  and  pomp. 
The  Hindus  and  Muhammadans  enjoy  perfect  liberty  in  religious 
matters,  and  have  their  own  places  of  worship.  The  chief  Hindu 
temples  are  those  of  Mangesh,  Mdlshi,  Sdntidurgd,  Kapleshwar, 
Nigesh,  and  Ramndth,  all  of  which  are  situated  in  the  Novas  Con- 
quistas. 

At  the  conquest  of  Goa  by  Alfonso  de  Albuquerque  in  a.d.  1510,  the 
village  communities,  among  which  the  inhabitants  were  distributed, 
were  found  to  be  in  the  enjoyment  of  certain  immunities  from  taxa- 
tion and  other  privileges.  Albuquerque  carefully  maintained  the  con- 
stitution of  these  village  communities,  and  avoided  all  appearance  of 
fresh  taxation.  The  same  policy  was  followed  by  his  successors ;  and  in 
1526,  a  register  was  compiled,  called  KForal  dos  usas  e  Costumes f  con- 
taining the  peculiar  usage  and  customs  of  the  communities,  and  the 
privileges  enjoyed  by  them  from  time  immemorial.  This  register 
served  as  a  guide-book  to  subsequent  administrators.  But  in  time  the 
communities  were  burdened  with  additional  imposts,  and  placed  under 
certain  restrictions.  At  present  they  are  under  the  supervision  of 
Government,  which  appoints  in  each  District  (conselho)  of  the  Velhas 
Conquistas  an  officer  called  Administrador  das  Communidades,  to 
watch  rigidly  over  their  proceedings.  They  are  precluded  from  spend- 
ing even  the  smallest  sum  without  Government  sanction,  and  have  to 
pay  certain  contributions  to  the  parish  churches  and  for  the  construc- 
tion and  repair  of  roads,  the  establishment  of  schools,  etc.  The 
staff  of  village  servants  is  not  the  same  in  all  parts,  but  it  usually 
comprises  the  following  members : — The  tax-collector  (sacador),  the 
clerk  (escrwao),  the  carpenter  (carpinteiro\  the  barber  (barbciro),  the 
shoemaker  (alparqueiro\  the  washerman  (mainato),  the  crier  (parpoti), 
and  the  mahdr  (faraz).  There  is,  however,  no  village  head-man.  On 
questions  affecting  the  interests  of  a  whole  village,  a  sort  of  ipanchdyat 
or  council  is  held,  composed  of  one  or  more  members  of  each  clan 
(vangor),  and  the  decisions  are  determined  by  the  majority  of  votes.  In 
the  Velhas  Conquistas,  a  great  portion  of  the  land  is  held  by  the  village 
communities,  which,  after  paying  the  rent  and  other  Government  taxes, 

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380  GOA  SETTLEMENT. 

divide  the  annual  produce  amongst  themselves;  while  in  the  Novas 
Conquistas  the  lands  are  distributed  among  the  vangors,  who  cultivate 
them  and  enjoy  their  net  produce.  The  total  number  of  village  com- 
munities is  421.  The  aggregate  revenue  of  the  villages  comprehended 
in  the  Velhas  Conquistas  amounted  in  1872  to  ^77,111,  16s.,  against 
an  expenditure  of  ,£26,436,  6s.  8d. 

Agriculture. — The  entire  territory  of  Goa  contains  915,369  acres,  of 
which  234,754  acres  are  stated  to  be  under  cultivation,  thus  distributed 
among  the  different  crops  : — Rice,  122,566  acres;  other  cereals,  vege- 
tables, etc.,  77,076;  cocoa-nut  trees,  33,194;  areca  palms,  565;  and 
fruit  trees  the  remainder.  The  soil  is  chiefly  argillaceous,  but  also 
contains  light  sand  and  more  or  less  of  decayed  vegetable  matter.  In 
many  parts  it  is  full  of  stone  and  gravel.  Its  fertility  varies  according 
to  quality  and  situation  in  reference  to  the  supply  of  water.  Manure, 
consisting  of  ashes,  fish,  and  dung,  is  largely  employed.  As  a  rule,  the 
Velhas  Conquistas  are  better  cultivated  than  the  Novas  Conquistas.  In 
both  these  divisions  of  the  Goa  territory  a  holding  of  15  or  16  acres 
would  be  considered  a  good-sized  farm,  though  the  majority  of  holdings 
are  of  smaller  extent. 

The  staple  produce  of  the  country  is  rice  (Oryza  sativa),  of  which 
there  are  two  harvests — (1)  the  winter  crop,  called  sorodio,  and  (2)  the 
summer  crop  or  vangana,  raised  by  means  of  artificial  irrigation  from 
the  rain-water  accumulated  in  reservoirs,  ponds,  and  wells.  For  the 
sorodio  crop,  the  field  is  ploughed  before  the  commencement  of  the 
monsoon,  the  seed  scattered  in  May  or  June,  and  the  crop  harvested  in 
September;  while  as  regards  the  vangana,  the  ploughing  operations 
begin  in  October,  the  sowing  in  November,  and  the  harvesting  in 
February.  Rice  is  cultivated  in  low  lands  (cazana  or  cantor)  situated 
near  the  banks  of  rivers,  slopes  of  hills  (molloy),  stiff  grounds  (dulpan  or 
dulip),  and  sandy  soils  {quero).  The  ratio  of  the  produce  to  the  seed 
is  roughly  estimated  as  follows : — Near  the  banks  of  rivers,  fifteenfold ; 
in  dry  and  stiff  soils,  sixfold ;  and  in  other  places,  eightfold  The 
quantity  of  rice  produced  is  barely  sufficient  to  meet  the  local  demand 
for  two-thirds  of  the  year.  Next  to  rice,  the  culture  of  cocoa-nut 
trees  (Cocos  nucifera)  is  deemed  most  important,  from  the  variety 
of  uses  to  which  the  products  are  applied  They  grow  in  luxuriant 
groves  on  all  lands  not  hilly  or  serviceable  for  the  production  of  rice, 
and  along  the  sea-coast  Areca  palm  (Areca  catechu)  is  chiefly  culti- 
vated in  the  Novas  Conquistas  on  lands  irrigated  from  rivulets.  Hilly 
places  and  inferior  soils  are  set  apart  for  the  cultivation  of  such  cereals 
as  nachinim  (Dolichos  biflora),  urid  (Phaseolus  max),  culita  (Dolichos 
uniflorus),  orio  (Panicum  italicum),  mug  (Phaseolus  radiatus),  tori 
(Cytisus  cajan).  Of  fruit-trees  the  most  important  are  mango  (Mangi- 
fera    indica),    jack    (Artocarpus    integrifolia),    cashew    (Anacardium 


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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  381 

occidentale).  Among  the  various  kinds  of  vegetables  are  potato 
(Convolvulus  batata),  radishes  (Raphanus  sativus),  yarns  (Dioscorea 
sativa),  melons  (Cucumis  melo),  cucumber  (Cucumis  sativus),  bendas 
(Abelmoschus  esculentus),  etc  Besides  these  —  chilies  (Capsicum 
frutescens),  ginger  (Zingiber  officinale),  turmeric  (Curcuma  longa), 
onion  (Allium  cepa),  and  certain  vegetables  of  daily  consumption  are 
extensively  cultivated  in  some  villages.  In  the  Province  of  Satan  a 
party  of  enterprising  foreigners  rented  some  years  ago  from  Govern- 
ment certain  plots  of  ground  for  coffee  plantations.  Several  experiments 
were  tried,  but  the  result  did  not  prove  encouraging. 

Goa  is  seldom  subject  to  great  floods,  though  some  of  its  Provinces 
occasionally  suffer  from  partial  inundations  during  heavy  rains.  In 
times  of  drought,  the  agricultural  classes  sustain  heavy  loss,  but  the 
people  at  large  are  supplied,  though  at  great  cost,  with  rice  from  British 
territories.  It  is  only  when  a  general  famine  occurs  beyond  the  frontier 
that  signs  of  extreme  distress  are  visible  amongst  the  inhabitants  of 
Goa.  Formerly  the  country  was  frequently  subject  to  famine.  The 
years  1553,  1570,  and  1682  are  said  to  have  been  seasons  of  great 
scarcity.  In  subsequent  years,  the  constant  incursions  of  the  Marhattis 
occasioned  much  distress. 

The  condition  of  the  agricultural  classes  in  the  Velhas  Conquistas 
has  of  late  improved,  owing  partly  to  the  general  rise  in  prices  of  all 
kinds  of  agricultural  produce,  and  partly  to  the  current  of  emigration 
to  British  territories.  In  the  Novas  Conquistas,  however,  the  culti- 
vators are  said  to  have  been  reduced  to  great  want  and  misery  through 
the  oppression  of  the  landowners. 

Commerce  and  Manufactures. — In  the  days  of  its  glory,  Goa  was  the 
chief  entrepot  of  commerce  between  the  East  and  West.  But  with  the 
downfall  of  the  Portuguese  Empire,  it  lost  its  commercial  importance, 
and  its  trade  has  now  dwindled  into  insignificance.  Few  manufacturing 
industries  of  any  importance  exist,  but  the  country  is  not  devoid  of 
skilful  artisans,  such  as  goldsmiths,  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  shoemakers, 
etc.  Some  of  the  articles  produced  are  disposed  of  privately,  while 
others  are  exposed  for  sale  at  the  annual  and  weekly  fairs  held  in 
various  places.  The  principal  exports  are— cocoa-nuts,  betel-nuts, 
mangoes,  water-melons,  jack,  and  other  fruits ;  cinnamon,  pepper,  salt 
fish,  gum,  coir-work,  firewood,  fowls,  and  salt  Of  these  the  last  forms 
one  of  the  principal  sources  of  profit,  the  numerous  salt-pans  that  exist 
in  the  country  yielding  a  large  quantity  of  salt  over  and  above  the  local 
demand.  The  chief  articles  imported  are — rice,  cloth,  refined  sugar, 
wines,  tobacco,  glass-ware,  hardware,  and  other  miscellaneous  goods. 
The  value  of  the  imports  largely  exceeds  that  of  the  exports,  thus 
causing  a  drain  of  money  which  would  certainly  have  materially  affected 
the  financial  condition  of  Goa,  had  not  a  stream  of  coin  flowed  con- 
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382  GOA  SETTLEMENT. 

stantly  into  the  country  from  the  savings  of  those  of  its  inhabitants  who 
reside  temporarily  in  British  territory.  In  1874,  the  customs  revenue 
amounted  to  ^21,388,  18s.  The  total  number  of  vessels  of  every  kind 
that  entered  the  port  of  Goa  in  the  same  year  was  1075,  ^th  97i9°° 
tons  of  cargo,  while  the  number  of  those  that  left  was  2084,  with 
119,756  tons. 

There  is  at  present  (1877)  no  railway  in  Goa,  but  negotiations  are 
pending  with  the  British  Government  for  the  construction  of  a  line  in 
connection  with  the  main  system  of  the  Great  Indian  Peninsula  Rail- 
way. Several  new  roads  have  recently  been  made,  and  others  are  in 
course  of  construction.  According  to  the  report  of  the  Committee  of 
Engineers,  published  in  1870,  there  were  in  that  year  31  roads,  complete 
and  incomplete;  of  these  the  chief  runs  northwards  from  Verem,  opposite 
Panjim,  through  the  villages  of  Pilerne,  Saligao,  Parramaprica,  and  Asso- 
nora,  meeting  at  Sankarwalle  the  road  constructed  in  British  territory. 

There  are  no  banking  establishments  or  professional  money-lenders 
in  the  country ;  but  in  cases  of  necessity,  money  can  be  borrowed  from 
wealthy  proprietors  or  religious  confraternities  at  5  per  cent  In 
Districts  inhabited  by  Hindus,  however,  the  current  rate  of  interest  is 
about  10  per  cent.  Landowners  not  unfrequently  advance  petty  sums, 
or  their  equivalent  in  kind,  without  interest,  to  such  of  the  cultivators 
or  labourers  as  are  their  dependants,  or  live  in  their  oarts  (palmares), 
deducting  the  debt  by  monthly  instalments  from  the  wages  due.  In 
the  Novas  Conquistas,  the  rate  of  interest  charged  for  an  advance  of 
grain  is  generally  half  as  much  as  the  value  of  the  advance. 

Owing  to  the  want  of  labourers,  and  the  comparative  increase  in  the 
price  of  grain,  wages  have  of  late  risen  considerably.  Formerly  they 
varied  from  2d.  to  3d.  a  day,  but  at  present  a  male  labourer  earns  as 
much  as  6d.,  and  a  female  2^d.  Agricultural  labourers  generally 
receive  their  wages  in  kind,  either  daily  or  weekly.  Good  masons  and 
carpenters  are  paid  at  the  rate  of  is.  per  diem ;  and  male  servants  at 
about  4s.  per  month  besides  food.  Wherever  female  servants  are 
employed,  they,  as  a  rule,  receive  no  fixed  wages,  but  it  is  usual  to  give 
them  periodically  some  suits  of  clothes,  and  jewels  on  the  occasion  of 
marriage.  The  average  price  of  a  cow  is  about  £i ;  of  a  pair  of  oxen, 
£$  ;  of  a  pair  of  buffaloes,  £$  ;  of  a  pig,  £1 ;  of  a  score  of  fowls, 
10s.  ;  and  of  a  score  of  ducks,  jQi.  In  1874-75,  rice  sold  at  26  lbs. 
per  rupee  (2s.) ;  uridfzX  30  lbs. ;  culita,  at  50  lbs. 

Administration. — Previous  to  187 1,  Goa  possessed  a  comparatively 
large  Native  army,  but  owing  to  the  rebellion  which  broke  out  in  that 
year,  it  was  disbanded,  and  a  battalion  composed  wholly  of  Europeans 
was  obtained  from  Portugal.  The  force  now  consists  of  313  men  of  all 
ranks.  The  entire  strength  of  the  police  is  919  men.  The  total  ex- 
penditure on  the  public  force  was  in  1874,  ^49,687,  6s. 


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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  383 

There  is  at  present  no  naval  force  at  Goa;  but  in  the  year  1874-75, 
the  Settlement  contributed  a  sum  of  ^9815,  15s.  towards  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  Portuguese  navy. 

There  is  one  telegraph  office  in  Goa,  at  Panjfm,  maintained  jointly 
by  the  British  and  Portuguese  Governments,  the  latter  contributing 
yearly  the  sum  of  ;£i6o,  besides  paying  £$  monthly  as  house  rent 
During  the  year  1874-75,  the  total  number  of  messages  sent  was  1294, 
and  those  received,  1869.  The  receipts  amounted  to  ^198,  3s.  9d., 
and  the  expenditure  to  ^256,  iis.  6{d.  The  headquarters  of  the  post 
office  are  also  at  Panjfm,  with  branches  at  Margao,  Mapuca,  Ponda, 
Bicholim,  Chinchinim,  and  Pernem.  Letters  sent  from  Goa  to  any 
part  of  British  India,  or  vice  versa,  bear  the  postage  stamps  issued  by 
both  Governments.  The  total  postal  receipts  in  1874-75  were 
^1815,  6s. 

There  are  two  hospitals — one  for  military  men  ;  and  the  other  for  the 
poor  and  destitute,  called  *  Hospital  da  Santa  Caza  de  Misericordia ' 
(Hospital  of  the  Holy  House  of  Mercy).  In  the  year  1875,  the  latter 
contained  520  inmates,  of  whom  226  were  females.  The  most 
important  charitable  institutions  are — the  Santa  Caza  de  Misericordia 
(Holy  House  of  Mercy),  at  Chimbel ;  Sociedade  de  Caridade  (Charit- 
able Society),  at  Panjim ;  Hospicio  de  Sagrodo  Coracao  de  Maria 
(Asylum  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary),  at  Margao;  and  Asylo  de 
Nossa  Senhora  de  Milagres  (Asylum  of  our  Lady  of  Miracles),  at 
Mapuca.  The  first  is  coeval  with  the  conquest  of  Goa  by  the  Portu- 
guese, and  maintains  the  hospital  alluded  to  above  and  two  establish- 
ments for  the  reformation  and  education  of  females.  In  1874,  these 
two  houses  contained  a  total  of  48  inmates. 

Of  late  years,  education  has  made  considerable  progress  in  Goa.  In 
1869-70,  there  were  137  lower  schools,  of  which  52  were  public  and  85 
private,  with  6027  pupils  of  both  sexes;  29  higher  schools,  of  which  21 
were  public  and  8  private,  including  1  national  lyceum  or  college,  with 
2433  pupils ;  1  medical  school,  with  60  pupils  ;  1  school  of  chemistry, 
with  48  pupils ;  1  mathematical  and  military  school,  with  137  pupils ; 
1  seminary  for  priests,  with  92  pupils.  Besides  these,  there  are  3  public 
schools  for  girls.  Since  1870,  the  military  school  has  been  closed,  and 
a  college  for  practical  sciences,  called  Instituto  Professional,  established 
in  its  place.  Besides  the  Government  Gazette,  called  Boletim  do 
Governo,  there  are  five  weekly  periodicals — viz.  (1)  A  Gazefa  de  Bdrdes, 
(2)  A* India  Portuguesa,  (3)  A' Nova  Goa,  (4)  APatria,  and  (5) 
O  Ultramar,  all  edited  in  the  Portuguese  language  by  natives.  In 
addition,  there  is  a  Portuguese  religious  paper  called  A  Cruz,  and  a 
Marathf  newspaper  called  Desha  Sudh&rnechd.  Of  the  four  literary 
associations  established  in  the  country,  the  most  important  is  the 
Instituto  Vasco  da  Gama. 


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384  GOA  SETTLEMENT. 

The  total  revenue  in  1873-74  was  ,£108,148,  10s.,  and  the  ex- 
penditure, £107,145,  18s.  The  sources  of  revenue  are — tithes  at  10 
per  cent,  on  rice,  cocoa-nuts,  and  salt,  customs  and  postal  dues,  seal 
and  stamp  duties,  tobacco  licences,  taxes  on  liquor-shops,  etc. 

Goa  is  regarded  as  an  integral  portion  of  the  Portuguese  Empire, 
and,  with  Damdn  and  Diu,  forms,  for  administrative  purposes,  one 
Province  subject  to  a  Governor-General,  who  is  appointed  directly  by 
the  King  of  Portugual,  and  holds  his  office  for  five  years.  Besides  his 
civil  functions,  he  is  invested  with  the  supreme  military  authority  in 
the  Province.  His  personal  staff  consists  of  two  aides-de-camp,  and 
of  a  secretary  styled  the  Chief  Secretary  of  the  Governor-General  of 
Portuguese  India,  and  likewise  appointed  by  the  king.  Though  the 
chief  executive  functionary,  the  Governor-General  cannot,  except  in 
cases  of  emergency,  impose  new  taxes,  or  abolish  the  existing  ones, 
contract  loans,  create  new  appointments,  or  reduce  the  old  ones, 
retrench  the  salaries  attached  to  them,  or  generally  incur  any  expenses 
not  sanctioned  by  law ;  nor  can  he,  under  any  circumstances  what- 
ever, leave  the  Province  without  the  special  permission  of  the  Home 
Government  In  the  administration  of  the  Province  he  is  aided  by  a 
council  composed  of  the  Chief  Secretary,  the  Archbishop  of  Goa,  or, 
in  his  absence,  the  chief  ecclesiastical  authority  exercising  his  functions, 
the  Judges  of  the  High  Court,  the  two  highest  military  officers  in 
Goa,  the  Attorney-General,  the  Secretary  of  the  Junta  de  Fazenda 
Publica  (council  of  public  revenue),  the  Health  Officer,  and  the 
President  of  the  Municipal  Chamber  or  Corporation  of  the  Capital 
(camara  municipal  de  capital).  As  a  rule,  all  the  members  give  their 
opinions,  and  vote  in  every  matter  on  which  they  are  consulted  by  the 
Governor-General  There  are  also  three  other  Juntas  or  councils, 
called  the  Junta  Geral  da  Provincia  (general  council  of  the  Province), 
the  Junta  da  Fazenda  Publica  (council  of  public  revenue),  and  the 
Conselho  de  Provincia  (the  council  of  the  Province).  The  first  of 
these  is  composed  of  the  Chief  Secretary,  the  Archbishop  or  his 
substitute,  the  Attorney-General,  the  Secretary  of  the  Junta  da  Fazenda 
Publica,  the  Director  of  Public  Works,  the  Health  Officer,  a  Professor 
of  the  Medico-Surgical  College,  a  Professor  of  the  Instituto  Professional, 
a  Professor  of  the  Lyceum,  a  Professor  of  the  Normal  School,  and  a 
representative  from  each  of  the  municipal  corporations  of  the  Pro- 
vince. This  Junta  discusses  and  decides  all  questions  relating  to 
public  works,  and  the  expenses  necessary  for  their  execution,  the  pre- 
servation of  public  health,  the  establishment  of  schools,  the  alteration 
of  custom  duties,  etc.  The  Governor-General  is  empowered  to  suspend 
the  operation  of  any  resolution  passed  by  this  Junta,  pending  a  refer- 
ence to  the  Home  Government.  The  second  council  consists  of  the 
Governor-General  as  President,  the  Attorney-General,  the  Secretary  of 


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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  385 

the  same  council,  and  the  Accountant-General.  This  Junta  exercises 
a  direct  and  active  control  over  the  public  revenues,  making  the 
requisite  provisions  for  their  proper  collection  and  expenditure ;  and 
no  public  expense  can  be  made  without  its  sanction.  The  third 
council  is  altogether  of  inferior  importance. 

In  addition  to  the  above  machinery  of  administration,  there  are  sub* 
ordinate  agencies  for  the  local  government  of  the  different  Districts. 
In  connection  with  these  agencies,  the  entire  territory  of  Goa  is  divided 
into  two  tracts,  known  as  the  Velhas  and  Novas  Conquistas  (old  and 
new  conquests).  The  former  tract  is  subdivided  into  three  Districts 
(conselhos) — viz.  the  Ilhas,  Salsette,  and  B£rdes — and  each  of  these 
again  into  parishes,  of  which  there  are  96  in  all.  Every  District  has  a 
municipal  corporation,  and  is  placed  under  the  charge  of  a  functionary, 
called  Administrador  do  Conselho.  This  officer  is  appointed  by  the 
Governor-General,  and  is  entrusted  with  duties  of  an  administrative 
character,  besides  those  connected  with  the  public  safety  and  health. 
Every  parish  has  likewise  a  minor  council,  called  Junta  da  Parochia, 
presided  over  by  a  magistrate,  called  Regedor,  whose  duties  are  to 
inspect  and  direct  the  police  establishments  of  the  parish,  keep  a  strict 
surveillance  over  liquor-shops,  gaming-houses,  etc.,  open  wills  and 
testaments,  and  report  generally  every  important  occurrence  to  the 
Administrador.  Similarly  in  each  of  the  four  divisions  into  which  the 
Novas  Conquistas  are  subdivided,  there  is  an  officer  called  Administrador 
Fiscal,  whose  duties  are  almost  identical  with  those  of  the  Administrador 
do  Conselho.  The  functions  of  a  Regedor  are  here  exercised  by  a  village 
Kulkarni.  Of  the  above  named  four  divisions,  the  first  consists  of 
Pernem,  the  second  of  Sanquelim  or  Satari  and  Bicholim ;  the  third 
of  Ponda  and  Embarbacem;  and  the  fourth  of  Astragan,  Bally, 
Chandorowadi,  Cacora,  and  Canacona  with  Cabo  de  Rdma.  Each 
of  the  Subdivisions  of  the  Velhas  and  Novas  Conquistas  is  also  known 
by  the  name  of  Province.  The  offices  of  Governor,  Chief  Secretary, 
Attorney-General,  and  some  other  important  ones  are  almost  invariably 
filled  by  Europeans ;  while  those  of  Administrador  do  Conselho  and 
Regedor  are  held  by  natives.  As  stated  above,  there  are  three  muni- 
cipalities in  the  Velhas  Conquistas,  the  chief  being  that  of  the  Ilhas. 
The  municipal  receipts  in  1874-75  amounted  to  ^1232,  15s. 

Goa  with  its  dependencies  in  India,  viz.  Damdn  and  Diu,  and  with 
Mozambique,  Macao,  and  Timor,  constitutes,  for  judicial  purposes,  but 
one  District  This  judicial  District  is  divided  into  Comarcas,  which 
are  subdivided  into  Julgados,  and  these  again  into  Tregulsias  or 
parishes.  Each  parish  is  superintended  by  a  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
whose  appointment  is  honorary.  It  is  the  duty  of  this  functionary  to 
arbitrate  between  litigants,  in  civil  suits,  except  those  affecting  the 
interests  of  minors,  and  those  relating  to  mortmain ;  to  institute  pre- 

VOL.  III.  2  B 


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386  GOA  SETTLEMENT. 

liminary  inquiries  into  criminal  matters  previous  to  their  submission 
for  trial ;  to  try  municipal  offences,  and  decide  petty  suits  not  exceeding 
in  amount  or  value  2500  rets  (12s.).  Against  his  decision  an  appeal 
lies  to  the  court  of  a  judge  of  higher  jurisdiction  called  Juiz  Ordinario. 
In  every  Julgado  there  is  a  Juiz  Ordinario,  with  an  establishment  con- 
sisting of  a  sub-delegate  of  the  Attorney-General,  two  clerks,  two  or 
more  bailiffs,  and  a  translator  or  interpreter.  All  these  officials  are 
paid  by  Government,  and  are  besides  entitled  to  fees,  except  the  clerks, 
who  receive  fees  only.  A  Juiz  Ordinario  holds  his  sittings  twice  a  week, 
for  the  purpose  of  deciding  civil  and  criminal  cases  within  his  juris- 
diction. The  former  are  chiefly  connected  with  disputes  concerning 
landed  property  not  exceeding  the  value  of  £2,  or  moveable  property 
of  not  more  than  £6.  The  latter  relate  to  offences  for  which  no  higher 
punishment  can  be  awarded  than  a  fine  of  15s.,  or  three  days'  rigorous 
imprisonment.  The  Juiz  de  Direito  holds  the  next  grade,  in  charge 
of  a  Comarca,  with  a  staff  composed  of  a  delegate  of  the  Attorney- 
General,  three  clerks,  one  interpreter  and  translator,  an  accountant,  four 
or  five  bailiffs,  all  of  whom,  except  the  clerks  and  accountant  receive,  in 
addition  to  certain  fees,  fixed  salaries.  A  judge  of  this  class  exercises 
ordinary  and  extraordinary  jurisdiction  in  matters  both  civil  and 
criminal.  He  is  required  to  go  on  circuit  annually  to  the  Julgados, 
where  he  hears  complaints  against  subordinate  functionaries,  examines 
their  proceedings  and  registers,  and  sometimes  tries  those  suits  within 
his  jurisdiction  which  may  not  have  been  submitted  to  his  tribunal  by 
the  ordinary  judges.  His  decision  in  suits  relating  to  landed  property 
exceeding  in  value  £ioy  and  moveable  property  above  ^15,  are 
subject  to  appeal  to  the  High  Court  of  Goa.  Within  the  limits  of  the 
Julgado,  where  the  seat  of  his  tribunal  is  fixed,  this  officer  exercises  the 
functions  of  a  judge  of  ordinary  jurisdiction  as  well  as  those  of  a  District 
judge.  The  supervision  of  all  the  above  judges  is  entrusted  to  a  High 
Court  (Tribunal  da  Refcujao),  whose  seat  is  in  Nova  Goa  (new  Goa),  in 
consequence  of  which  it  is  sometimes  called  Relagao  de  Nova  Goa.  This 
court  consists  of  a  Chief  Justice  (Presidente),  and  3  puisne  judges,  with 
a  staff  consisting  of  an  Attorney-General,  an  assistant,  a  registrar,  2 
assistant  registrars,  an  accountant,  and  2  bailiffs,  all  drawing  salaries 
from  the  public  treasury  besides  certain  perquisites.  The  High  Court 
has  jurisdiction,  both  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  in  all  cases,  whether 
civil  or  criminal,  and  is  invested  with  appellate  powers.  Its  decisions 
are  final  in  all  suits  except  those  relating  to  immoveable  property 
exceeding  in  value  ^150,  and  moveable  property  above  jC2S°9  in 
which  an  appeal  lies  to  the  Supreme  Tribunal  of  Portugal  Besides 
the  High  Court,  there  are  in  Goa  3  courts  of  the  Juiz  de  Direito, 
established  in  the  three  Comarcas  of  the  Ilhas,  Bardez,  and  Salsette. 
The  Ilhas  are  divided  into  two  Julgados — (1)  Panjim,  and  (2)  Ponda. 


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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  387 

Bardez  into  four  —  (1)  Mapuca,  the  chief  town  of  the  Comarca, 
(2)  Calangute,  (3)  Pernem,  (4)  Bicholim.  Salsette  into  three — (1) 
Margao,  (2)  Chinchinim,  and  (3)  Quepem.  The  offices  of  the  judges 
of  the  High  Court,  and  of  District  judges,  are  filled  by  Europeans,  and 
those  of  the  judges  of  Julgados  by  natives.  The  total  sum  spent  on 
judicial  administration  in  1873-74  amounted  to  ^5551,  16s.  The 
following  are  the  statistics  of  the  High  Court  in  1874 :— Civil  judgments, 
167 ;  criminal  judgments,  164 ;  total,  331. 

History. — Certain  inscriptions  lately  deciphered  corroborate  the 
evidence  of  the  Purdnds  that  Goa  was  in  ancient  times  known  under 
the  various  names  of  Gomanchala,  Gomant,  Goapuri,  Gopakapur,  and 
Gopa-Kapatanua;  while  recent  investigations  prove  its  identity  with 
the  Sindabur  of  Arab  writers.  The  accounts  handed  down  from 
antiquity  teem  with  legendary  tales,  on  which  little  reliance  can  be 
placed.  In  the  Sahyadri  Khanda  of  the  Skanda  Purdnd,  it  is  recorded 
that  at  an  early  period  of  time  the  Aryans  settled  in  Goa,  having  been 
brought  by  Parasurima  from  Trihotrapur  or  Mithila,  the  modern 
Tirhut  Some  of  the  inscriptions  referred  to  above  show  that  it  after- 
wards passed  under  the  sway  of  the  Kadambas  or  Banawasi,  whose  first 
king,  Trilochana  Kadamba,  is  supposed  to  have  flourished  in  Kaliyug 
3220,  or  about  a.d.  109-110.  This  dynasty  continued  to  rule  until 
13 1 2,  when  Goa  fell  for  the  first  time  into  the  hands  of  the  Muham- 
madans,  under  Malik  Tubliga.  They  were,  however,  compelled  to 
evacuate  it  in  1370,  having  been  defeated  by  Vydyiranya  Madhawa, 
the  Prime  Minister  of  Harihara  of  Vijayanagar,  under  whose  successors 
Goa  remained  for  about  100  years.  In  1449,  **  was  conquered  by 
Muhammad  Gawan,  the  general  of  Muhammad  11.,  the  13th  Bdhmanf 
King  of  the  Deccan  (Dakhin),  and  incorporated  into  the  dominions  of 
that  sovereign.  After  the  downfall  of  this  house,  Goa  became  subject 
to  the  Adil  Shahi  dynasty  reigning  at  Bijapur,  about  the  time  that 
Vasco  da  Gama  landed  at  Calicut  in  1498.  This  family  retained 
possession  until  the  17th  February  15 10,  when  Goa  was  captured  by 
Alfonso  de  Albuquerque.  The  Portuguese  fleet,  consisting  of  20  sail 
of  the  line,  with  a  few  small  vessels  and  1200  fighting  men,  hove  in 
sight  of  the  harbour.  A  holy  mendicant  or  jogi  had  lately  foretold  its 
conquest  by  a  foreign  people  from  a  distant  land,  and  the  disheartened 
citizens  rendered  up  the  town  to  the  strangers. 

Eight  leading  men  presented  the  keys  of  the  gates  to  Albuquerque  on 
their  knees,  together  with  a  large  banner  which  was  usually  unfurled  on 
State  occasions.  Mounted  on  a  richly  caparisoned  steed,  Albuquerque 
entered  the  city  in  a  triumphal  procession,  drums  beating,  trumpets 
sounding,  with  the  Portuguese  banners  carried  by  the  flower  of  the 
Lisbon  nobility  and  clergymen  at  the  head,  amidst  the  acclamations 
of  an  immense  multitude,  who  showered  upon  the  conqueror  filigree 

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388  GOA  SETTLEMENT. 

flowers  of  silver  and  gold.     Albuquerque  behaved  well  to  the  inhabitants, 
but  was  shortly  afterwards  expelled  by  the  Bijapur  King. 

Yusaf  Adil  Shall,  King  of  Bijapur,  marched  against  the  place  with 
a  considerable  force,  and  after  several  sanguinary  contests,  retook 
it  from  the  Portuguese  on  the  15  th  August  of  the  same  year. 
Reinforced,  however,  by  the  large  armament  which  opportunely 
arrived  from  Portugal  about  this  time,  Albuquerque  hastened  back  to 
Goa  with  his  fleet,  and  conquered  it  a  second  time  on  the  25th  of 
November.  With  28  ships,  carrying  1 700  men,  he  forced  his  way  into 
the  town  after  a  bloody  assault,  in  which  2000  Musalmdns  felL  For 
three  days  the  miserable  citizens  were  given  over  as  a  prey  to  every 
atrocity.  The  fifth  part  of  the  plunder,  reserved  for  the  Portuguese 
Crown,  amounted  to  ^£20,000.  Albuquerque  promptly  occupied  him- 
self in  fortifying  the  place,  embellishing  the  city,  and  establishing  the 
Portuguese  rule  on  a  firm  basis. 

From  this  time  Goa  rapidly  rose  in  importance,  and  eventually 
became  the  metropolis  of  the  Portuguese  Empire  in  the  East, 
which  is  said  to  have  comprehended  an  area  of  about  4000  leagues. 
In  1543,  during  the  governorship  of  Martin  Alfonso,  who  came  to 
India  together  with  the  celebrated  St  Francis  Xavier,  the  two  im- 
portant Provinces  or  mahdls  of  Salsette  and  Bdrdes  were  ceded  to  the 
Portuguese  by  Ibrahim  Adil  Shih,  who,  however,  not  long  afterwards, 
attempted  to  regain  them,  but  was  foiled  in  his  endeavours  by  the 
intrepidity  of  Dom  Joao  de  Castro.  To  provide  against  any  future 
invasion  on  the  part  of  the  Muhammadans,  the  eastern  part  of  the 
island  of  Goa  was  protected  by  means  of  a  long  wall.  In  1570,  Ali 
Adil  Sh£h  besieged  the  city  with  an  army  of  100,000  men;  but  it  was  so 
bravely  defended  by  the  little  garrison  under  the  Viceroy  Don  Luis 
de  Athaide  that  the  Muhammadan  army,  greatly  thinned  in  number, 
retreated  precipitately  after  a  tedious  siege  of  ten  months'  duration. 
About  this  period,  the  Portuguese  were  alarmed  by  the  appearance 
on  the  coast  of  India  of  a  new  enemy.  The  Dutch,  having  shaken  off 
the  Spanish  yoke,  assumed  a  warlike  attitude  towards  the  Portuguese, 
owing  to  the  intimate  connection  between  Portugal  and  Spain. 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  town  has  been  one  of  luxury,  ostenta- 
tion, and  decay.  After  bearing  a  siege  by  the  King  of  Bijipur,  and 
suffering  from  a  terrible  epidemic,  Goa  reached  the  summit  of  its 
prosperity  at  the  end  of  the  16th  century,  during  the  very  years  when 
the  English  Company  was  struggling  into  existence  under  Elizabeth. 
'  Goa  Dourada,'  or  Golden  Goa,  seemed  a  place  of  fabulous  wealth  to  the 
plain  merchants  who  were  destined  to  be  the  founders  of  British  India. 
*  Whoever  hath  seen  Goa,  need  not  see  Lisbon,'  said  a  proverb  of  that 
day.  Indeed,  if  the  accounts  of  travellers  are  to  be  trusted,  Goa 
presented  a  scene  of  military,  ecclesiastical,  and  commercial  magnificence 


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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  389 

which  has  had  no  parallel  in  the  European  capitals  of  India.  The  de- 
scriptions that  have  been  left  of  Calcutta  in  the  last  and  during  the  first 
quarter  of  the  present  century,  leave  behind  them  a  feeling  of  insignifi- 
cance compared  with  the  accounts  of  Goa,  written  nearly  three  hundred 
years  ago.  To  find  a  parallel,  we  must  go  to  the  travellers'  tales 
regarding  Agra  and  Delhi  during  the  zenith  of  the  Mughal  prosperity. 
The  brilliant  pomp  and  picturesque  display  of  Goa  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  it  was  not  only  a  flourishing  harbour,  but  also  the  centre  of  a  great 
military  and  ecclesiastical  power.  The  Portuguese  based  their  dominion 
in  India  on  conquest  by  the  sword.  They  laboured  to  consolidate  it  by 
a  proselytizing  organization,  which  throws  the  missionary  efforts  of  every 
other  European  power  in  India  into  the  shade.  The  Portuguese  in 
India  were  destined  to  prove  how  rotten  was  this  basis,  and  how  feebly 
cemented  was  the  superstructure  reared  upon  it  But  during  the  great- 
ness of  Goa,  it  had  all  the  splendours  which  the  church  and  a  powerful 
military  court  could  cast  around  it 

After  the  genius  of  Albuquerque  and  the  energies  of  the  early 
viceroys  had  spent  themselves,  these  armaments  constituted  a  vast  idle 
population  in  the  capital  The  work  of  conquest  was  over,  and  it  left 
behind  it  a  gay  and  wealthy  society  of  conquerors  who  had  nothing  to  do. 
Every  Portuguese  in  India,  says  a  traveller,  set  up  as  a  *  Fidalgo '  (sic). 
These  gentlemen  had  to  be  amused.  There  were  no  hotels  or  inns  in 
the  city,  but  many  boarding-houses  and  gambling  saloons.  The  latter, 
writes  a  voyager  in  the  17th  century,  were  sumptuously  furnished,  and 
paid  a  heavy  tax  to  the  Government.  People  of  all  classes  fre- 
quented them,  and  entertainments  were  provided  for  the  lookers-on  by 
jugglers,  dancing  girls,  musicians,  wrestlers,  and  native  actors  or  buffoons. 
'  Those  who  were  inordinately  fond  of  gambling  stayed  there  sometimes 
for  days  together,  and  were  provided  with  board  and  lodging.' 

Such  gambling  houses  were  not  places  for  respectable  women,  and 
while  the  male  society  thronged  their  saloons,  the  Portuguese  ladies  were 
rigorously  shut  up  at  home.  The  family  income  was  derived  from  the 
labour  of  slaves,  and  as  no  *  Fidalgo '  (sic)  could  follow  a  trade  or  calling 
without  disgrace,  so  neither  could  his  wife  busy  herself  in  domestic 
affairs  without  losing  her  social  importance.  The  society  of  Goa, 
therefore,  divided  itself  into  two  idle  populations — an  idle  population  of 
men  in  the  streets  and  gambling  houses,  and  an  idle  population  of 
women  in  the  seclusion  of  their  own  homes.  This  was  one  of  the 
first  results  of  the  intensely  military  spirit,  with  its  contempt  for  peaceful 
forms  of  industry,  on  which  rested  the  Portuguese  power  in  India.  The 
ladies  of  Goa  soon  obtained  an  unenviable  notoriety  in  books  of  travel. 
Excluded  from  male  society,  they  spent  their  time  in  indolence, 
quarrelling,  and  frivolous  pursuits.  A  European  zandna  life  grew  up, 
and  brought  with  it  some  very  ugly  consequences.     A  lady  valued 

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390  GOA  SETTLEMENT. 

herself  in  her  female  coterie  upon  the  number  and  the  daring  of  her 
intrigues.  Almost  every  traveller  who  visited  Goa  during  its  prime  tells 
the  same  curious  story  regarding  the  rashness  with  which  the  Portuguese 
matrons  pursued  their  amours.  Both  Pyrard  and  Linschoten  relate,  in 
nearly  the  same  words,  how  the  ladies  of  Goa  were  wont  to  stupefy  their 
husbands  with  dhatura,  and  then  admit  their  lovers.  The  perils  of 
such  interviews  became  almost  necessary  to  give  a  zest  to  their  profligacy, 
and  the  Goanese  became  a  byword  as  the  type  of  an  idle,  a  haughty, 
and  a  corrupt  society. 

Strangers  are  inclined  to  laugh  at  Englishmen  for  adhering  in  India 
to  the  British  costumes  devised  for  a  more  temperate  zone.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  Dutch  in  Java  have  adapted  their  clothing  much 
better  to  the  climate  than  we  have  in  Calcutta-  But  the  very  rigidity 
with  which  English  society  in  India  insists  upon  matters  of  dress  is  not 
without  its  value.  It  forms  a  perpetual  check  upon  the  tendency  to 
fall  into  the  slip-shod  habits  of  oriental  domestic  life.  In  Goa,  these 
habits  were  carried  to  an  extreme  length.  At  home,  both  ladies  and 
gentlemen  dressed  very  much  like  the  natives,  except  for  the  large 
rosaries  which  they  wore  round  their  necks.  While  untidy  and  careless 
in  their  dress  at  home,  they  made  an  ostentatious  display  when  they  stirred 
abroad.  When  a  gentleman  rode  out,  he  was  attended  by  a  throng  of 
slaves  in  gay  and  fanciful  liveries,  some  holding  large  umbrellas,  others 
bearing  richly  inlaid  arms ;  while  the  horse  itself  was  loaded  with  gold 
and  silver  trappings,  the  reins  studded  with  precious  stones,  with  jingling 
silver  bells  attached,  and  the  stirrups  wrought  into  artistic  shapes  in  gilt 
silver.  The  poor  followed  the  example  of  the  rich,  and  resorted  to 
amusing  makeshifts  to  maintain  an  air  of  dignity  and  grandeur.  The 
gentlemen  who  lived  together  in  a  boarding-house  had  a  few  suits  of 
silk  clothes  between  them  in  common.  These  they  used  by  turns  when 
they  went  out,  and  hired  a  man  to  hold  an  umbrella  over  diem  as  they 
strutted  through  the  streets. 

Holland,  having  thrown  off  the  Spanish  yoke,  began  to  assert  herself 
in  the  East  While  our  own  East  India  Company  was  struggling  into 
existence  during  the  last  years  of  Elizabeth,  the  Dutch  were  preparing 
to  dispute  with  the  Portuguese  for  the  supremacy  in  the  Indian  Ocean, 
In  1603,  they  blockaded  Goa.  The  attempt  proved  abortive ;  but  it 
left  behind  it  a  struggle  between  the  two  nations  which,  during  the  next 
seventy  years,  shattered  and  dismembered  the  Portuguese  power  in 
India.  One  by  one,  the  Portuguese  possessions  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Dutch ;  their  fleets  were  captured,  or  driven  within  the  shelter  of  their 
forts,  and  their  commerce  was  swept  from  the  seas.  Goa  suffered  not 
only  from  these  disasters,  but  also  from  a  return  of  the  fever  which  had 
afflicted  the  city  in  the  preceding  century.  It  broke  out  again  in  1635, 
and  raged  for  several  years.     Towards  the  end  of  this  visitation,  the 


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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  391 

Dutch  once  more  blockaded  Goa  in  1639,  but  were  again  compelled  to 
withdraw. 

A  period  of  pride  and  poverty  followed,  during  which  the  splendour 
of  the  previous  century  was  replaced  by  shabby  devices  to  conceal  the 
decay  that  had  blighted  the  Portuguese  power.  In  1648,  Tavernier 
admired  the  architectural  grandeur  of  Goa,  but  was  struck  with  the 
indigence  of  several  Portuguese  families  whom  he  had  seen  in  affluence 
and  prosperity  during  his  first  visit.  He  says  that  many  who  had  six 
years  previously  enjoyed  an  ample  income,  were  now  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  secretly  begging  alms.  '  Yet  they  did  not  put  aside  their 
vanity.  The  ladies  were  particularly  observed  going  in  palanquins  to 
seek  charitable  relief,  attended  by  servants  who  conveyed  their  messages 
to  the  persons  whose  assistance  they  implored'  'The  city,'  says 
Thevenot  in  1666,  Ms  great  and  full  of  beautiful  churches  and  convents, 
and  well  adorned  with  palaces.  There  were  few  nations  in  the  world 
so  rich  as  the  Portuguese  in  India ;  but  their  vanity  is  the  cause  of  their 
ruin.'  In  1675,  Dr.  Fryer  described  Goa  as  'Rome  in  India' — 'looks 
well  at  a  distance — stands  upon  seven  hills;  everywhere  colleges, 
churches,  and  glorious  structures ;  but  many  houses  disgracing  it  with 
their  ruins.' 

The  Portuguese,  indeed,  were  becoming  unable  to  hold  their  capital 
even  against  the  native  banditti  In  1 683,  it  narrowly  escaped  falling  into 
the  hands  of  Sambdjf  at  the  head  of  his  roving  Marhattas,  who  plundered 
up  to  the  very  gates  of  the  city.  All  hopes  of  resistance  were  abandoned, 
when  a  powerful  Mughal  force  suddenly  made  its  appearance  from  the 
Ghits,  and  compelled  the  Marhattas  to  come  to  terms.  This  unex- 
pected deliverance  was  ascribed  to  the  miraculous  interposition  of  St 
Francis  Xavier.  Subsequently  the  Bhonstes  from  the  State  of  Sawant 
Wa*ri  invaded  the  Goa  territory ;  but  though  at  the  outset  they  obtained 
partial  successes,  they  were  eventually  defeated  by  the  Portuguese,  who 
conquered  from  them  the  islands  of  Corjuem  and  Panelem,  and 
destroyed  their  fortress  at  Bicholim.  To  defend  the  place  against 
future  inroads,  the  Viceroy  Vasco  Femandes  Caesar  de  Minezes  (1712- 
17 1 7)  built  a  fortress  on  the  frontiers  of  Bardes,  and  another  at  Cha- 
pora.  During  the  administration  of  the  Count  of  Sandomil  (1732-41), 
the  Portuguese  became  once  more  involved  in  a  war  with  the  Marhattds, 
and  lost  some  of  their  most  important  possessions  towards  the  north  of 
Goa.  In  1 741,  the  Marhattas  invaded  the  peninsulas  of  Salsette  and 
Bardes,  and  threatened  the  city  of  Goa  itself.  At  the  same  time  the 
Bhonslis  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  overrun  the  Settle- 
ment At  that  critical  period  a  new  Viceroy  arrived  at  Goa,  the 
Marquis  of  Lourical,  bringing  with  him  from  Europe  a  reinforcement 
of  12,000  men.  With  this  army  he  encountered  and  defeated  the 
Marhattas  at  Bardes  with  great   slaughter,  captured  the  celebrated 


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392  GOA  SETTLEMENT. 

fortress  of  Ponda  and  other  minor  forts,  and  compelled  them  to  retire 
from  Goa.  He  then  marched  against  the  Bhonslas,  and  forced  them 
to  sue  for  peace,  making  their  chief,  Khem  SaVant,  a  tributary  of  the 
Portuguese.  Shortly  afterwards,  however,  the  Bhonslas  renewed 
hostilities,  but  were  defeated  by  the  Marquis  of  Castello-Novo,  who 
conquered  Alorna  (whence  his  later  title),  Tiracol,  Neutim,  Rarim, 
Sanquelim,  or  SatarL  In  1750,  the  Marhattis  and  Bhonslas  jointly 
attacked  the  fortress  of  Neutim,  which  they  closely  invested  both  by 
sea  and  land.  The  Viceroy  Marquis  of  Tavora  hastened  to  the  relief 
of  the  place  with  all  the  available  force,  and  compelled  the  enemy  to 
raise  the  siege,  after  which  he  turned  his  arms  against  the  King  of 
Sunda,  and  captured  the  fortress  of  Piro  (Sad£shivgar).  His  successor, 
Count  of  Alva,  prosecuted  successfully  for  a  time  the  war  against  the 
Marhattis,  but  eventually  lost  Rarim  and  Neutim,  and  was  killed  at  the 
siege  of  one  of  the  fortresses  which  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  About  this  period,  the  Court  of  Lisbon  sent  peremptory  orders 
to  the  Viceroy  Count  of  Ega  to  restore  the  fortresses  of  Piro  and 
Ximpem  to  the  King  of  Sunda,  and  Bicholim,  Sanquelim,  and  Alorna 
to  Khem  Sawant  11.  Subsequently,  however,  the  former  allowed  the 
Portuguese  to  possess  themselves  of  Ponda,  with  the  adjacent  territory 
of  Zambaulim,  Cabo  de  Rama,  and  Canacona,  during  the  time  that 
his  dominions  were  invaded  by  Haidar  AIL  After  some  years  of 
repose,  Khem  Sawant  again  attempted  to  disturb  the  Portuguese ;  but 
being  defeated,  had  to  surrender  to  them  Bicholim,  Sanquelim  or 
Satari,  Alorna,  and  Pernem. 

The  decay  of  the  capital  had  become  so  notorious  that  the  Portuguese 
Government  in  Europe  determined  at  a  great  cost  to  rebuild  it  After 
a  century  of  fruitless  efforts  and  foolish  expenditure,  Old  Goa  still  lay 
in  ruins,  and  the  remnants  of  the  population  drew  themselves  together  at 
Panjim  or  New  Goa,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  The  changes  in  the 
river  itself  had  contributed  to  render  Old  Goa  still  more  unhealthy  than 
of  old,  and  to  make  the  navigation  of  its  channels  dangerous  even  for 
the  comparatively  small  class  of  ships  which  the  Portuguese  employed. 
During  the  18th  century,  the  decayed  settlement,  instead  of  being  a 
centre  of  military  pomp  and  courtly  display,  had  become  a  burden  on 
the  Home  Government,  and  cost  Portugal  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
annually.  It  required  a  force  of  2000  European  soldiers  to  protect  it  from 
the  Marhattis ;  the  privates  receiving  a  miserable  subsistence  of  rice 
and  fish,  and  the  captains  drawing  a  salary  of  6  rupees  a  month.  Such 
commerce  as  survived  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits.  This  fraternity 
still  preserved  the  traditions,  and  something  of  the  energy,  of  the  pro- 
selytizing era.  Captain  Hamilton,  early  in  the  18th  century,  declared 
that  he  counted  from  a  neighbouring  hill  nearly  eighty  churches  and 
convents.     He  states  the  number  of  Roman  Catholic  priests  at  30,000 


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GOA  SETTLEMENT.  393 

for  the  city  and  settlement  The  native  merchants  had  been  driven 
away  by  oppressions  and  insults,  and  during  the  first  half  of  the  last 
century,  the  Jesuits  monopolized  the  remnants  of  the  trade,  which  still 
clung  to  the  capital.  In  1739,  when  the  territory  was  overrun  by  the 
Marhattas,  the  nuns  and  monks  had  streamed  forth  in  panic  to  the 
refuge  of  Mormuga\>.  Nevertheless,  high  offices  and  military  commands 
were  still  lavished  among  the  poverty-stricken  remnants  of  the 
Portuguese  in  India.  All  the  talk  at  Goa  was  about  fine  titles. 
*  A  post  which  would  be  filled  by  a  small  tradesman  everywhere  else, 
needed  a  general. ' 

From  1794  to  18 15,  the  Government  of  Goa  and  other  Portu- 
guese Settlements  in  India  received  little  attention  from  the  Court 
of  Lisbon,  owing  to  various  causes,  the  chief  of  which  was  the 
invasion  of  the  Iberian  Peninsula  by  the  French.  To  protect  Goa 
against  any  contingency,  an  English  auxiliary  force  was  obtained  to 
garrison  the  two  fortresses  commanding  the  port  until  the  general 
peace  in  Europe  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  In  181 7,  the  Viceroy,  the 
Count  of  Rio  Pardo,  repelled  the  inroads  of  the  predatory  forces  from 
the  SaVant  Wan  State,  capturing  the  fortress  of  Uspa  and  Rarim. 
This  governor  was,  however,  deposed  in  consequence  of  a  revolution 
which  took  place  in  Goa  in  182 1.  In  1835,  a  native  of  the  place  named 
Bernardo  Peres  da  Silva  was  appointed  Governor  and  Prefect  of  the 
Portuguese  State  of  India  by  Dona  Maria  11.,  in  reward  for  his  adher- 
ence to  the  House  of  Braganza  during  the  usurpation  of  Dom  Miguel. 
But  his  reforms  in  Goa  during  the  17  days  of  his  government  ended  in 
an  tmeute  and  his  flight  to  Bombay.  For  about  sixteen  years  after  this 
event,  Goa  was  undisturbed  either  by  external  foes  or  internal  dissen- 
sions, except  a  brief  military  revolt,  which  resulted  in  the  deposition 
of  the  Governor,  Lopes  de  Lima.  During  the  administration  of 
Pestana,  in  1845,  ^e  disturbances  at  SaVant  Wari  and  the  shelter 
afforded  at  Goa  to  the  rioters  who  had  fled  thither,  threatened  for  a 
time  to  bring  about  a  rupture  with  the  British  Government  of  Bombay. 
In  1852,  the  Ranis  of  Satari,  headed  by  Dipajf,  revolted.  In  187 1, 
a  rebellion  broke  out  among  the  native  army  at  Goa,  in  consequence 
of  the  Portuguese  authorities  making  a  stand  against  its  exorbitant 
demands.  To  suppress  this  insurrection,  the  Court  of  Lisbon  despatched 
a  reinforcement,  accompanied  by  the  king's  own  brother,  Dom  Augusto. 
On  the  restoration  of  peace,  the  native  regiments  that  had  revolted  were 
disbanded,  and  the  colony  is  now  held  by  313  Portuguese  soldiers. 
The  former  army  has  not  been  reorganized,  as  native  regiments  could 
only  be  dangerous  to  the  handful  of  European  troops ;  and  the  peace 
maintained  throughout  India  by  the  British  supremacy  renders  them 
unnecessary  for  any  practical  purposes. 

The  chief  towns  in  the  territory  of  Goa  are — Goa  or  Panjim,  with 


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394  GOA  CITY. 

3850  houses,  and  an  estimated  population  of  14,134  souls;  Margao 
3898  houses,  pop.  20,000;  Mapuga,  3150  houses,  pop.  .12,097. 

Goa  City. — The  capital  of  the  Portuguese  territory  of  the  same 
name;  situated  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Mandavi,  in  15*  30'  n.  lat, 
and  73*  5/  e.  long.  Goa  is  properly  the  name  of  three  cities,  which 
represent  three  successive  stages  in  the  history  of  Western  India.  The 
earliest  of  the  three  was  an  ancient  Hindu  city,  before  the  invasion 
of  the  Muhammadans ;  the  second,  known  as  Old  Goa,  was  the  first 
capital  of  the  Portuguese,  and  is  still  the  ecclesiastical  metropolis  of 
Roman  Catholic  India;  the  third,  commonly  called  Panjim,  is  the 
present  seat  of  Portuguese  administration.  The  original  city  of  Goa 
(Goa  Velha),  built  by  the  Kadambas,  was  situated  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  Juary.  No  traces  of  buildings  exist  at  this  day.  The  next  town 
of  Goa  (Velha  Cidade  de  Goa),  generally  known  to  foreigners  as  Old 
Goa,  situated  about  5  miles  to  the  north  of  the  Hindu  capital,  was 
built  by  the  Muhammadans  in  1479,  nineteen  years  before  the  arrival  of 
Vasco  da  Gama  in  India.  This  famous  city,  conquered  by  Albuquerque 
in  15 10,  became  the  capital  of  the  Portuguese  Empire  in  Asia;  as  such 
it  was  once  the  chief  emporium  of  commerce  between  the  East  and 
West,  and  enjoyed  the  same  privileges  as  the  city  of  Lisbon.  It 
reached  the  climax  of  its  splendour  during  the  16th  century ;  but  with 
the  decline  of  the  Portuguese  power  in  the  following  century,  it  began 
gradually  to  lose  its  significance  in  every  respect,  save  as  an  ecclesi- 
astical metropolis.  The  frequent  plagues  by  which  the  population  was 
repeatedly  thinned,  together  with  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment to  Panjfm,  and  the  suppression  of  the  religious  orders,  con- 
tributed finally  to  effect  its  complete  downfall  Instead  of  the  200,000 
inhabitants  which  once  formed  its  population,  hardly  100  poverty-stricken 
creatures  remain  to  haunt  the  few  ecclesiastical  edifices  still  standing. 
Foremost  among  the  surviving  edifices  is  the  Cathedral  dedicated  to 
St.  Catherine  by  Albuquerque,  in  commemoration  of  his  entry  into  Goa 
on  the  day  of  her  festival  Built  as  a  parochial  church  in  15 12,  it  was 
reconstructed  in  1623  in  its  present  majestic  proportions,  having  been 
about  a  century  before  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  primatial  see,  which 
it  has  ever  since  retained.  Service  is  regularly  held  every  day  by  the 
Canons  attached  to  the  Cathedral.  The  Convent  of  St  Francis, 
originally  a  Muhammadan  mosque,  converted  .into  a  church  by  the 
Portuguese,  was  the  first  structure  consecrated  to  Catholic  worship  in 
Goa.  Its  chief  portal,  curious  as  being  the  earliest  of  its  kind  in 
Portuguese  India,  has  been  preserved  intact  to  this  day,  though  the 
convent  itself  was  rebuilt  in  1661.  The  Chapel  of  St  Catherine  was 
erected  in  1551,  on  the  site  of  the  gate  of  the  Muhammadan  city 
through  which  Albuquerque  entered.  The  Church  of  Bom  Jesus, 
commenced  in  1594  and  consecrated  in  1603,  is  a  splendid  edifice, 


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GOA  CITY.  395 

enjoying  a  wide  renown  for  the  magnificent  tomb  holding  the  remains 
of  the  apostle  of  the  Indies,  St  Francis  Xavier,  the  events  of  whose 
life  are  represented  around  the  shrine.  The  Convent  of  St.  Monica, 
commenced  in  1606  and  completed  in  1627,  was  constructed  for  a 
community  of  nuns,  now  represented  by  a  single  venerable  member. 
The  Convent  of  St.  Cajetan,  erected  in  the  middle  of  the  17th  century 
by  the  order  of  the  Theatines,  is  noted  for  its  resemblance  to  St.  Peter's 
at  Rome,  and  is  in  excellent  preservation.  Of  the  other  historical 
edifices  with  which  Old  Goa  was  formerly  embellished,  but  few  traces 
remain  to  give  a  conception  of  their  pristine  beauty  and  magnificence. 
The  once  renowned  palace  of  the  Viceroys,  the  spacious  custom-house, 
and  many  other  public  buildings,  have  been  completely  destroyed. 
The  College  of  St  Roque,  belonging  to  the  order  of  Jesus,  the 
Senate-house,  the  once  famous  Palace  of  the  Inquisition,  the  Church  of 
the  Miraculous  Cross,  the  College  of  St  Paul,  the  Hospital  of  St. 
Lazarus,  the  Church  and  Convent  of  St  Augustine,  as  well  as  the 
college  of  the  same  name  close  by,  are  all  in  ruins.  The  arsenal,  the 
chapel  of  the  Cinco  Chagas  (the  Five  Wounds),  and  the  ecclesiastical  jail 
still  remain  standing  in  a  dilapidated  condition,  but  every  year  their 
walls  yield  to  the  crumbling  finger  of  decay.  The  sites  of  the  vanished 
buildings  have  been  converted  into  cocoa-nut  plantations,  the  ruins  are 
covered  with  shrubs  and  moss,  and  the  streets  are  overrun  with  grass. 
But  though  Old  Goa  has  long  since  lost  its  civil  importance,  forming  as 
it  does  at  present  only  a  suburb  of  Panjfm,  its  ecclesiastical  influence 
as  the  See  of  the  Primate  of  the  East  still  remains;  and,  as  long 
as  it  can  boast  of  its  noble  monuments  of  Christian  piety,  and  retains 
the  shrine  of  the  great  eastern  evangelist,  it  will  not  cease  to  attract 
pilgrims  from  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  Catholic  world. 

The  history  of  Goa  has  been  very  fully  given  in  the  preceding  article. 
As  far  back  as  1 759,  the  ruin  of  the  old  city  was  complete.  The  governor 
changed  his  residence  to  Panjim,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  in 
the  same  year  the  Jesuits  were  expelled.  With  them  went  the  last 
sparks  of  commercial  enterprise.  In  1775,  the  population,  which  at 
the  beginning  of  the  century  had  numbered  nearly  30,000,  was  reduced 
to  1600,  of  whom  1 1 98  were  Christians.  Goa  remains  in  ruins  to  this 
day.  Every  effort  to  re-people  it  has  failed,  and  Old  Goa  is  now  a  city 
of  fallen  houses  and  of  streets  overgrown  with  jungle.  Almost  the  only 
buildings  which  survive  are  the  convents  and  churches,  with  miserable 
huts  attached.  In  1827,  the  Superior  of  the  Augustinian  Convent  thus 
wrote :  '  II  ne  reste  plus  de  cette  ville  que  le  sacre :  le  profane  en  est 
entierement  banni.'  *  Nothing  remains  of  the  city  but  the  sacred  ;  the 
profane  has  entirely  disappeared.'  The  stately  mansions  and  magnificent 
public  buildings  of  Old  Goa  are  now  heaps  of  bricks  covered  with  rank 
grass,  and  buried  in  groves  of  cocoa-nut  trees.     'The  river,'  wrote  Dr. 

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396  GOALANDA  SUBDIVISION. 

Russell  in  1877,  i  washes  the  remains  of  a  great  city, — an  arsenal  in 
ruins  ;  palaces  in  ruins ;  quay  walls  in  ruins ;  churches  in  ruins ;  all  in 
ruins.  We  looked  and  saw  the  site  of  the  Inquisition,  the  bishop's 
prison,  a  grand  cathedral,  great  churches,  chapels,  convents,  religious 
houses,  on  knolls  surrounded  by  jungle.  We  saw  the  crumbling 
masonry  which  once  marked  the  lines  of  streets  and  enclosures  of 
palaces,  dockyards  filled  with  weeds  and  obsolete  cranes. ' 

Nova  Goa,  the  present  capital  of  Portuguese  India,  comprehends 
Panjfm,  Ribandar,  as  well  as  the  old  city  of  Goa,  and  is  6  miles  in  extent. 
It  is  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Mandavi,  at  a  distance  of 
about  3  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  suburb  of  Ribandar  is  connected 
with  the  central  quarter  of  Panjim  by  a  causeway  about  300  yards  long, 
through  which  lies  the  main  road  leading  to  Old  Goa.  Panjfm  occupies 
a  narrow  strip,  enclosed  by  the  causeway  on  the  east,  the  village  of  St 
Ignez  on  the  west,  the  river  on  the  north,  and  a  hill  which  walls  it  on 
the  south.  In  the  last  century  it  was  a  miserable  village,  inhabited  by 
a  few  fishermen  dwelling  in  cad j an  huts,  and  remarkable  only  for  the 
fortress  built  by  Yusaf  Adil  Shdh,  which  is  since  transformed  into  a 
viceregal  palace.  As  in  the  case  of  Bombay  city,  the  surface  has  been 
gradually  formed  by  filling  up  hollows  and  reclaiming  large  tracts  of 
marshy  land.  The  present  population  is  returned  at  14,134  persons, 
dwelling  in  3850  houses. 

Panjfm  was  selected  as  the  residence  of  the  Viceroy  in  1759;  and 
in  1843,  it  was  formally  raised  by  royal  decree  to  the  rank  of  the 
capital  of  Portuguese  India.  From  the  river,  the  appearance  of  the 
city,  with  its  row  of  public  buildings  and  elegant  private  residences, 
is  very  picturesque;  and  this  first  impression  is  not  belied  by  a 
closer  inspection  of  its  neat  and  spacious  roads  bordered  by  decent 
houses.  Of  public  structures,  the  most  imposing  are  the  barracks,  an 
immense  quadrangular  edifice,  the  eastern  wing  of  which  accom- 
modates the  College  or  Lyceum,  the  Public  Library,  and  the  Profes- 
sional Institute  for  teaching  chemistry,  agriculture,  and  other  sciences. 
The  square  facing  this  wing  is  adorned  by  a  life-size  statue  of  Albu- 
querque standing  under  a  canopy.  The  other  buildings  include  the 
cathedral,  the  viceregal  palace,  the  high  court,  the  custom  -  house,  the 
municipal  chamber,  the  military  hospital,  the  jail,  the  accountant- 
general's  office,  and  the  post  office.     For  trade,  etc,  see  pp.  381-2. 

Go£14nda. — Subdivision  of  Faridpur  District,  Bengal;  extending  from 
23°  31'  to  230  55'  n.  lat,  and  from  890  22'  to  890  54'  e.  long.  Area, 
429  square  miles ;  number  of  villages  or  townships,  926 ;  number  of 
houses,  49,725;  total  pop.  (1872),  303,138,  viz.  179,863  Muhamma- 
dans,  122,260  Hindus,  63  Christians,  and  952  'others.'  Average 
number  of  persons  per  square  mile,  706;  villages,  2*16;  persons  per 
village,  327;  houses  per  square  mile,  116;  persons  per  house,  6*i. 

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GOALANDA  RIVER.  397 

Goalanda  Subdivision  includes  the  three  thdnds  or  police  circles  of 
Goalanda,  Belgachhf,  and  Pangsa. 

GrO&landa. — River  mart  in  Farfdpur  District,  Bengal ;  situated  in  23° 
50'  10*  n.  lat.,  and  890  46'  10"  e.  long.,  at  the  confluence  of  the  main 
streams  of  the  Ganges  and  Brahmaputra.  Estimated  pop.,  about  1000. 
Ten  years  ago  but  a  small  fishing  village,  with  an  evil  reputation  for  river 
dakditi,  Goalanda  has  now  become  one  of  the  most  important  centres 
of  trade  in  Bengal,  as  the  terminus  of  the  Eastern  Bengal  Railway  and 
the  point  of  departure  of  the  Assam  steamers.  Its  modern  career  has 
not  been  without  vicissitudes ;  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  irresist- 
ible waywardness  of  the  rivers,  which  have  brought  to  it  its  prosperity, 
may  again  in  a  few  years  divert  commerce  to  another  direction.  The 
town,  which  consists  of  little  more  than  a  railway  station,  a  bdzdr,  and 
a  court-house,  stands  upon  an  alluvial  tongue  of  land  lying  at  the 
junction  of  two  great  river  systems.  During  the  cold  weather,  a 
temporary  line  of  rail  is  laid  down  to  the  river  bank,  and  the  process 
of  transhipping  goods  from  steamer  or  boat  to  railway  truck  is  con- 
ducted safely  on  the  water's  edge.  But  when  the  two  -rivers  rise  in 
flood  about  July,  the  operations  of  commerce  are  driven  back  inland. 
The  river  bank  over  which  trains  were  running  a  few  weeks  before, 
becomes  a  boiling  sea  of  waters,  where  even  the  steamers  find  a 
difficulty  in  making  headway.  At  this  season,  the  eye  may  look  north 
or  east  over  3  or  4  miles  of  uninterrupted  water.  When  a  storm 
comes  on,  the  native  craft  flee  for  shelter  to  distant  creeks  on  the 
opposite  banks  of  the  river,  and  the  steamers  themselves  are  sometimes 
compelled  to  make  for  the  less  exposed  mart  of  Kushtia.  The  railway 
extension  from  Kushtia  to  Goilanda  was  first  opened  in  1870;  and 
up  to  1875  the  station  stood  upon  an  artificial  embankment  near  the 
water's  edge,  protected  by  a  masonry  spur  running  out  into  the  river. 
From  first  to  last,  about  ^130,000  was  spent  upon  these  protective 
works,  and  it  was  hoped  that  engineering  skill  had  conquered  the 
violence  of  the  Gangetic  flood.  But  in  August  1875,  the  river  rose  to 
an  unprecedented  height.  The  solid  masonry  spur,  the  railway  station, 
and  Subdivisional  offices  were  all  swept  away ;  and  at  the  present  time 
there  is  deep  water  over  their  site.  A  new  permanent  terminus  has 
been  erected  about  2  miles  from  the  river  bank. 

The  trade  of  Goalanda  consists  almost  entirely  in  the  transhipment 
of  goods  from  river  to  rail.  In  addition  to  a  large  through  traffic  con- 
ducted direct  with  Assam,  the  agricultural  produce  of  the  surrounding 
Districts  is  here  collected  for  despatch  to  Calcutta.  In  the  year  1876- 
1877,  the  value  of  the  total  trade,  including  both  exports  and  imports, 
was  returned  at  more  than  3  millions  sterling.  The  principal  item  is  jute, 
of  which  1,685,200  maunds  were  received  during  the  year,  valued  at 
;£5°5>°oo.     The  aggregate  amount  of  oil-seeds  (chiefly  mustard)  was 


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398  GOALPARA  DISTRICT. 

642,000  maunds,  valued  at  ^250,000;  of  food  grains  (chiefly  rice), 
994,000  maunds,  valued  at  ;£  180,000;  of  tobacco,  270,000  mounds, 
valued  at  ^140,000.  The  most  important  articles  obtained  in  exchange 
from  Calcutta  are  European  piece-goods  and  salt  In  1876-77,  the 
imports  of  cotton  goods  were  valued  at  ^300,000,  entirely  by  rail ;  -the 
importation  of  salt  was  180,000  maunds  (of  which  only  one-third  came 
by  rail),  valued  at  ^88,000.  The  steamers  of  three  companies  touch 
at  Goalanda,  running  to  Assam,  Sirajganj,  Dacca,  and  Cichar ;  but  the 
greater  portion  of  the  trade  is  still  carried  in  country  boats,  of  which 
54,000  were  registered  as  passing  Goalanda  in  1877-78.  This  number 
does  not  include  the  fleets  of  fishing  boats,  which  add  so  much  to  the 
liveliness  of  the  scene.  The  curing  of  hilsa  fish  forms  a  staple  industry 
of  the  place.  Salt  is  issued  to  the  curers  under  close  Government 
supervision,  and  a  drawback  is  allowed  at  the  rate  of  Rs.  2.12  per 
maund  of  salt  used.  The  merchants  of  Goalanda  are  chiefly  Marwaris, 
or  Kayas  as  they  are  locally  called.  The  most  influential  man, 
Mahasinh  Magraj,  Rai  Bahidur,  of  Murshidabad,  has  agents  at  every 
mart  on  the  Brahmaputra  as  far  up  as  Dibrugarh.  There  are  also 
many  BengaK  and  Musalman  traders.  The  bdtdr  is  held  daily,  and  is 
largely  frequented  both  by  wholesale  dealers  and  petty  shopkeepers. 

Go&lp&ra. — The  District  of  Goalpara  is  the  most  westerly  District 
of  the  Province  of  Assam,  forming  the  entrance  to  the  upper  valley  of 
the  Brahmaputra.  It  lies  on  both  sides  of  the  great  river,  extending 
from  250  32'  to  260  54'  n.  lat,  and  from  890  44'  to  910  e.  long.  It  is 
bounded  north  by  the  mountains  of  Bhutan,  and  south  by  the  newly 
formed  District  of  the  Garo  Hills.  Excluding  the  Eastern  Dwars, 
which  are  treated  of  in  a  separate  article,  it  now  contains  an  area  of  2865 
square  miles;  and  the  population,  according  to  the  Census  of  1872, 
numbers  407,714  persons.  The  administrative  headquarters  are  at 
Goalpara  Town,  situated  on  the  left  or  south  bank  of  the  Brahmaputra. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  permanently  settled  portion  of  the  District 
occupies  the  narrow  valley  of  the  Brahmaputra,  at  the  corner  where  the 
great  river  leaves  Assam  Proper  and  turns  due  south  to  enter  the  wide 
plain  of  Bengal.  It  is  very  irregularly  shaped,  extending  for  only  65 
miles  along  the  northern  bank  of  the  Brahmaputra,  and  for  1 20  miles 
along  its  southern  bank.  The  level  land  on  the  south  bank  forms  but 
a  narrow  strip,  in  some  parts  not  more  than  8  miles  across,  being  shut 
in  by  the  ridges  of  the  Garo  Hills.  On  the  north,  the  cultivated  plain 
gradually  merges  in  the  low  jungle  of  the  Eastern  Dwars.  The  scenery 
throughout  is  of  a  striking  character.  Along  the  channel  of  the  river 
grow  dense  clumps  of  cane  and  reed.  Farther  back,  the  wide  expanses 
of  rice  cultivation  are  only  broken  by  the  fruit-trees  surrounding  the 
village  sites.  In  the  background  rise  forest-clad  hills,  overtopped  in 
the  far  distance  by  the  snow-capped  peaks  of  the  Himalayas.     The 


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GOALPARA  DISTRICT.  399 

soil  of  the  hills  and  of  the  higher  ground  consists  of  a  red  ochreous 
earth,  interspersed  with  large  blocks  of  granite  and  sandstone.  The 
latter  are  subject  to  disintegration  from  exposure  to  the  weather.  In 
the  plains,  the  soil  is  of  alluvial  formation,  being  either  tenacious  clay 
or  clay  more  or  less  mixed  with  sand.  Earthquakes  are  common  in 
Godlp&a,  and  very  severe  shocks  have  occasionally  been  experienced. 

Besides  the  Brahmaputra,  the  three  following  tributaries  of  the  great 
river  on  its  northern  bank  are  navigable  for  boats  of  considerable  size 
throughout  the  year: — The  Manis,  Gadidhir,  and  Sankos.  These 
all  rise  in  the  Bhutan  Hills,  and  flow  through  the  Eastern  Dwirs  into 
Go£lp£ra.  Several  other  minor  streams  become  navigable  during 
the  rainy  season.  Alluvion  and  diluvion  are  continually  taking  place 
in  the  course  of  the  Brahmaputra,  as  testified  by  the  numerous  islands 
and  sandbanks  that  dot  its  broad  channel.  This  river,  also,  annually 
inundates  a  large  tract  of  country  on  both  its  banks ;  and  the  flood- 
water  stands  all  the  year  long  in  the  wide  bils  or  marshes,  some  of 
which  cover  an  area  of  from  6  to  12  miles  each.  In  the  Eastern 
Dwirs,  the  Government  forests  form  an  important  department  of  the 
administration,  and  cover  an  area  of  422  square  miles.  There  are  also 
valuable  forests  in  private  hands,  estimated  to  yield  about  ^3000  a 
year  to  their  proprietors.  Wild  animals  of  all  kinds  abound  in  Godl- 
pdra,  including  tigers,  rhinoceros,  and  buffaloes.  It  is  on  record  that, 
about  twenty-five  years  ago,  more  money  was  annually  expended  in 
rewards  for  the  killing  of  wild  animals  than  was  realized  from  the  land 
revenue.  Even  in  the  three  years  ending  1870,  the  average  number  of 
deaths  from  wild  beasts  and  snake-bite  averaged  116  annually.  No 
coal  or  other  minerals  have  been  found  in  Go£lp£ra,  but  the  hills 
abound  with  large  stones  which  might  be  utilized  for  building  purposes. 
History. — Godlpira  has  always  formed  the  frontier  between  Bengal 
and  Assam,  and  has  participated  to  the  full  in  the  vicissitudes  attending 
such  a  position.  In  the  earliest  times,  it  must  have  constituted  part 
of  the  legendary  Hindu  kingdom  of  K&nrtip,  which  is  said  to  have 
extended  from  the  head  of  the  Assam  valley  far  across  the  plains 
of  Bengal  to  what  are  now  the  borders  of  Purniah  District  The  only 
remains  of  this  period  may  perhaps  be  found  in  the  ruined  temple  of 
Thdkeswari.  The  next  dynasty  which  can  be  localized  in  this  region 
is  that  of  the  early  Bijds  of  Kuch  Behar,  whose  empire  was  almost 
as  extensive  as  that  of  the  fabled  Kdmriip.  But  it  fell  to  pieces  by 
subdivision  in  the  generation  after  it  was  founded;  and  the  present 
Rlji  of  Bfjni  Dwir,  who  holds  a  large  zaminddti  in  the  settled  portion 
of  the  District,  claims  to  be  descended  from  a  younger  son  of  a  Kuch 
Behar  king,  and  to  hold  his  lands  as  a  royal  appanage.  About  1600 
A.D.,  two  armies  of  invaders  were  closing  upon  Godlpdra  from  different 
directions,  and  the  divided  kingdom  could  offer  no  resistance.    From 


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4oo  GOALPARA  DISTRICT. 

the  east,  the  wild  Ahams  gradually  spread  down  the  valley  of  the 
Brahmaputra,  to  which  they  subsequently  gave  their  own  name  of 
Assam  ;  while,  from  the  west,  the  Mughals  pushed  forward  the  limits  of 
the  Delhi  empire  and  of  the  faith  of  Islam.  The  Muhammadans  first 
appeared  on  the  scene;  and  thus  Godlpdra  was  definitively  assimilated 
to  Eastern  Bengal  in  administration  and  ethnical  characteristics.  It 
was  in  the  year  1603,  twenty-seven  years  after  Bengal  had  been  wrested 
from  the  Afghans  by  Akbar's  generals,  that  the  Mughals  first  reached 
the  Brahmaputra,  and  annexed  the  Assam  valley  as  far  as  the  present 
District  of  Darrang.  But  here  they  soon  came  into  collision  with  the 
Ahams.  After  a  decisive  defeat  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Gauhati,  in 
1662,  Mfr  Jumla,  the  well-known  general  of  Aurangzeb,  was  obliged  to 
retreat ;  and  the  Muhammadan  frontier  was  permanently  fixed  at  the 
town  of  Godlpara.  At  this  place  and  at  Rangam&f,  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  Brahmaputra,  military  officers  were  stationed,  among 
whose  duties  it  was  to  encourage  the  growth  of  jungle  and  reeds, 
to  serve  as  a  natural  protection  against  the  inroads  of  the  dreaded 
Ahams.  About  this  time,  also,  the  Eastern  Dwars  fell  into  dependence 
upon  Bhutdn. 

This  was  the  position  of  affairs  when  the  British  obtained  possession  of 
the  diwdni  of  Bengal  in  1765.     The  small  extent  to  which  the  Mughals 
here  assimilated  their  conquest  may  be  judged  from  the  fact,  that  the 
Musalmin  element  in  the  population  of  the  District  now  amounts  to 
22  per  cent,  as  against  51  per  cent,  in  the  neighbouring  jurisdiction  of 
Rangpur.     Another  significant  feature  in  the  Mughal  administration  of 
Goalpira  was  the  lightness  of  the  revenue  assessment     The  land  was 
left  in  the  hands  of  border  chieftains,  whose  residence  in  some  cases 
lay  beyond  the  recognised  frontier,  and  who  paid  a  merely  nominal 
tribute.     This  system  was  stereotyped  in  the  Permanent  Settlement  of 
1793,  by  which  the  land  revenue  of  the  District  was  fixed  in  perpetuity 
at  the  trifling  total  of  ^1170.    At  the  present  day,  GoilpaVa  is  the 
paradise  of  great  landlords.     There  are  altogether  only  18  estates; 
and  it  is,  estimated  that  the  average  rentals  exceed  the  amount  paid  to 
Government  by  fifty-fold.     The  average  rate  of  assessment  throughout 
the  settled  portion  of  Goalp&a  is  less  than  id.  per  head  of  population, 
as  compared  with  is.  5d.  in  Assam  generally,  and  is.  2d.  in  Bengal 
During    the    early    years  of    British    administration,    Goalpara  was 
administered  as  an  integral  portion  of  Rangpur  District;  but  in  1822, 
it  was  formed  into  an  independent  jurisdiction  under  a  Commissioner. 
This  step  was  undertaken  with  a  view  to  establishing  a  special  system 
of  government  over  the  Garos  and  other  wild  tribes  on  the  frontier. 
It  was  also  thought  desirable  to  place  a  European  officer  at  Goalpara 
town,   which  was   then   the  outpost    station  towards  the  disturbed 
frontier  of  Assam.    This  town  had  long  occupied  a  peculiar  position  of 


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GOALPARA  DISTRICT.  401 

commercial  and  political  importance.  So  far  back  as  1 788,  a  European 
merchant,  Mr.  Raush,  who  settled  there,  is  stated  to  have  despatched 
at  his  own  charges  an  armed  force  of  700  men  to  assist  the  Assam 
Raja  in  quelling  an  insurrection  of  the  Moamirias;  and  as  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  Brahmaputra  lay  within  Assamese  territory,  Goalpdra  had 
become  a  sort  of  free  port  for  river  traffic.  After  the  conquest  of 
Assam  by  the  British  in  1825,  Goilpara  District  was  immediately 
annexed  to  the  new  Province,  though  for  revenue  purposes  the 
administration  has  always  continued  to  be  conducted  in  accordance 
with  the  Bengal  Regulations.  The  Bhutan  war  of  1864  brought  about 
another  change.  The  Dware  ceded  by  the  Bhutids  were  attached 
partly  to  the  newly  formed  District  of  Jalpiigurf  and  partly  to 
Goalpant ;  and  the  whole  tract,  together  with  the  State  of  Kuch  Behar, 
was  erected  into  the  Kuch  Behar  Comraissionership  under  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  BengaL  But  this  severance  was  not  of  long 
duration.  In  1868,  the  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  of  GodlpaYa 
was  again  transferred  to  the  Judicial  Commissioner  of  Assam ;  and  in 
1872,  when  Assam  was  constituted  a  Province  independent  of  Bengal, 
the  entire  administration  in  all  departments  was  included  in  the  new 
Province.  The  Deputy  Commissioner,  as  the  chief  European  officer  is 
now  styled,  exercises  the  powers  possessed  in  Bengal  by  a  Magistrate 
and  Collector,  and  also  those  of  a  subordinate  judge;  while  the 
functions  of  a  civil  and  sessions  judge  rest  with  the  Judicial  Commis- 
sioner of  the  Province. 

People. — Godlpara,  as  forming  part  of  the  Bengal  District  of 
Rangpur,  was  included  in  the  statistical  survey  conducted  by  Dr. 
Buchanan-Hamilton  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  He 
estimated  the  total  number  of  inhabitants  at  176,000,  within  an  area  of 
2915  square  miles.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  population  has 
largely  increased  since  that  date.  The  regular  Census  of  1 87  2,  which  was 
confined  to  the  permanently  settled  tract,  disclosed  a  total  population 
of  407,714  persons,  dwelling  in  1330  mauz&s  or  villages  and  in  65,767 
houses.  The  area  was  then  taken  at  2571  square  miles,  which  gives 
the  following  averages: — Persons  per  square  mile,  159;  villages  per 
square  mile,  '52  ;  houses  per  square  mile,  26.  The  average  number 
of  persons  per  village  is  307 ;  of  persons  per  house,  6*9.  Classified 
according  to  sex,  there  are  210,134  males  and  197,580  females; 
proportion  of  males,  51*54  per  cent.  Classified  according  to  age,  there 
are,  under  twelve  years  of  age — 76,692  males  and  63,915  females; 
total  children,  140,607,  or  34*4  per  cent,  of  the  total  population.  The 
ethnical  division  of  the  population  shows  27  Europeans,  4  Americans, 
and  12  Eurasians;  74  Asiatics  from  beyond  the  British  frontier; 
97,732  aborigines ;  132,095  semi-Hinduized aborigines ;  86,001  Hindus 
subdivided  according   to  caste ;   1853  persons  of  Hindu  origin  not 

vol.  in.  2  c 

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402  GOALPARA  DISTRICT. 

recognising  caste;  89,916  Muhammadans.     Generally  speaking,  Goil- 
pira  presents  the  ethnical  aspects  of  a  frontier  District,  in  which  the 
hill  tribes  have  been  imperfectly  assimilated  by   the  Hindus.      It 
is  curious   to  observe  that  the  number  of  the  Hindus  proper   is 
actually  exceeded  by  that  of  the  Muhammadans,  who  did  not  hold 
possession  of  the  country  for  much  over  a  hundred  years.      The 
aborigines  of  the  Census  Report  are  chiefly  represented  by  the  three 
kindred  tribes  of  Rabha*  (30,124),  Mech  (29,877),  and  Kacharf  or 
Cachari  (22,775).     Next  come  the  Garos,  numbering  9957,  who  are 
immigrants  from  the  neighbouring  hills  on  the  south,  and  are  fully 
described  in  the  article  on  the  Garo  Hills  District.     The  great 
bulk  of  the  semi-Hinduized  aborigines  consists  of  the  Kochs,  who 
number  118,091.     The  Kochs  are  properly  an  aboriginal  tribe,  akin  to 
the  Kich£rfs  and  Mechs ;  but  since  the  high  position  attained  by  the 
conquering  Rljas  of  Kuch  Behar,  their  tribesmen  have  been  admitted 
within  the  pale  of  Hinduism  under  the  high-sounding  title  of  Rijbansi. 
The  term  'Koch,'  also,  is  vaguely  used  at  the  present  time  as  applicable 
to  all  new  converts  made  by  the  Brdhmans ;  and  members  of  every 
rank  in  society  may  be  found  included  in  this  caste.     Among  Hindus 
.proper,  the  Brihmans  number  2366,  chiefly  belong  to  the  Vaidik  sept, 
who  are  said  to  have  migrated  from  Hindustan  at  a  remote  period ; 
the  Rajputs  number  only  267  ;  the  Kiyasths,  1438.     By  far  the  most 
numerous  caste  is  the  Jaliya"  (19,230),  whose  occupation  is  that  of 
fishermen,  and  who  are  supposed  to  be  connected  with  the  well-known 
Kaibarttas  of  Bengal     Next  in  number  come  the  Kolitas  (11,527), 
a  caste  peculiar  to  Assam,  who  exercised  priestly  functions  under  the 
native  dynasty  before  the  advent  of  the  Brihmans.     They  now  rank  as 
pure  Sddras,  and  are  chiefly  employed  in  agriculture.    They  are  found  in 
greater  numbers  in  the  Districts  of  Upper  Assam.    Classified  according 
to  religion,  the  population  consists  of — Hindus  (as  loosely  grouped 
together  for  religious  purposes),  311,419,  or  76  per  cent ;   Musalmans, 
89,916,  or  22  per  cent ;  the  remainder  is  made  up  of  141  Christians 
(including  98  native  converts),  and  6238  '  others.'    The  majority  of 
the  Hindus  belong  to  the  Vishnuvite  sect,  but  the  Vaishnavs  proper 
are  returned  in  the  Census  Report  as  numbering  only  1602  persons.    A 
branch  of  the  Brdhma  Samaj  was  established  by  Bengali  immigrants  in 
1868,  but  theistic  principles  have  not  made  progress  among  the  natives 
of  the  District.     Mention  is  made  of  a  peculiar  sect  called  Maha- 
punishiya*  Bhakat,  whose  members  meet  at  night  to  eat  flesh  and  drink 
wine.    The  Jains  are  represented  by  a  few  Marwarf  traders  from  the 
north-west,  settled  at  Godlpdra  town.     Of  the  Musalman  population, 
those  residing  in  the  towns  have  adopted  the  Fardizi  or  reforming 
creed,  while  many  in  the  interior  are  described  as  scarcely  differing 
from  their  Hindu  neighbours  in  their  rites  and  image-worship.     The 


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GOALPARA  DISTRICT.  403 

native  Christians  are  mainly  Garos,  dwelling  on  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  District,  under  the  charge  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission. 

The  population  of  Goalpara.  is  entirely  rural.  There  is  no  place  with 
more  than  5000  inhabitants ;  and  out  of  the  1330  villages  of  the 
Census  Report,  1083  each  contains  less  than  500  persons.  Goalpara, 
with  between  3000  and  4000  inhabitants,  is  the  most  populous  place  in 
the  District,  as  well  as  the  chief  centre  of  trade.  Dhubri  is  the  head- 
quarters of  a  Subdivision,  and  the  point  where  the  traffic  of  Northern 
Bengal  is  shipped  on  board  the  Assam  steamers.  Gauripur  and 
Lakhshmipur  possess  a  thriving  trade  in  timber,  and  are  both  the 
residences  of  wealthy  zaminddrs.  All  these  places  are  situated  on  the 
banks  of  the  Brahmaputra. 

Agriculture,  etc. — The  staple  crop  of  the  District  is  rice,  which  is  not, 
however,  cultivated  so  exclusively  as  in  Upper  Assam.  The  principal 
harvest  is  the  haimantik,  sdli,  or  dman  rice,  sown  on  low  lands  about 
June,  transplanted  a  month  later,  and  reaped  in  mid-winter.  Next  in 
importance  is  the  dus  rice,  sown  about  March  on  comparatively  high 
lands,  from  which  a  second  crop  of  pulses  or  oil-seeds  can  be  taken 
later  in  the  year,  and  reaped  about  July.  Bdo  or  long-stemmed  rice 
is  cultivated  in  marshes,  being  sown  in  March  and  reaped  in  October. 
Neither  of  these  two  last  varieties  are  transplanted.  Mustard  is  largely 
grown  as  an  oil-seed  on  the  chars  and  alluvial  accretions  in  the  bed 
of  the  Brahmaputra.  The  acreage  under  jute  has  rapidly  increased  in 
recent  years,  and  this  fibre  now  furnishes  the  staple  export  from  the 
District  The  less  important  crops  include  many  varieties  of  pulses 
and  vegetables,  wheat,  sugar-cane,  and/tfo  or  betel-leaf.  According  to 
the  latest  agricultural  statistics,  out  of  a  total  area  of  1,832,000  acres 
only  about  600,000  are  under  tillage ;  rice  is  grown  on  about  400,000 
acres,  and  mustard  seed  on  74,000.  Manure,  in  the  form  of  cow-dung, 
is  used  on  dus  or  high  lands,  especially  for  the  sugar-cane  crop. 
Irrigation  is  only  practised  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  northern  hills, 
where  the  villagers  combine  to  divert  the  hill  streams  over  their  fields 
by  means  of  artificial  channels.  Land  is  nowhere  suffered  to  lie  fallow 
all  the  year  through;  but,  for  the  most  part,  only  one  crop  in  the 
year  is  taken  off  the  same  field.  A  fair  out-turn  from  an  acre  of  sdli 
land  would  be  18J  cwts.  of  unhusked  paddy,  worth  about  jQ$ ;  from 
an  acre  of  <f inland,  15  cwts.  of  paddy,  worth  about  £2,  8s.  Under 
favourable  circumstances,  a  second  crop  from  either  description  of 
land  might  raise  the  total  value  of  the  annual  out-turn  to  nearly  £4. 
As  Godlpara  is  a  permanently  settled  District  in  accordance  with  the 
Regulations  prevalent  in  Bengal,  the  rates  of  rent  are  not  fixed  by 
Government  as  in  Assam  Proper,  but  vary  on  the  estates  of  the  several 
zaminddrs.  According  to  official  returns  furnished  in  1870,  the  rent 
paid  for  bastu  or  homestead  land  varies  in  the  different  pargands,  from 


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404  GOALPARA  DISTRICT. 

3s.  to  14s.  an  acre;  for  sdli  land,  from  2s.  7<1.  to  6s.  3d. ;  and  for  dus 
land,  from  is.  to  5s.  The  forms  of  land  tenure  resemble  those  in  the 
neighbouring  Districts  of  Bengal  Various  classes  of  under-tenants 
intervene  between  the  zaminddr  and  the  actual  cultivator  of  the  soil ; 
and  in  many  cases  the  cultivator  has  no  recognised  interest  in  the 
land,  but  is  merely  a  labourer  paid  by  a  certain  proportion  of  the 
produce.  The  most  numerous  class  of  under-tenants  with  permanent 
rights  are  those  styled  jotddrs;  while  prdjd,  ddhidr,  and  ckukdniddr 
are  the  common  names  for  labourers,  the  amount  of  whose  service  or 
remuneration  varies  in  each  case.  Rights  of  occupancy  are  almost 
unknown  in  Go£lp£nu 

Rates  of  wages  have  approximately  doubled  within  the  past  twenty- 
five  years.  Ordinary  labourers,  when  paid  in  cash,  now  receive  from 
9s.  to  12s.  a  month ;  skilled  artisans  can  earn  as  much  as  £2.  The 
price  of  food  grains  has  also  risen  gpreatly.  In  187 1,  best  rice  sold  at 
13s.  8d.  per  cwt ;  common  rice,  at  4s.  id  ;  common  unhusked  paddy, 
at  2s. ;  sugar-cane,  at  4s.  id 

The  District  is  not  specially  liable  to  any  form  of  natural  calamity. 
Blights,  caused  by  worms  and  insects,  have  been  known  to  occur ;  and 
in  1863,  the  country  was  visited  by  swarms  of  locusts.  These  visita- 
tions, however,  have  never  been  on  such  a  scale  as  to  affect  the 
general  harvest.  Similarly,  Goilpira  is  exposed  to  river  floods, 
especially  in  the  upper  part  of  the  District,  where  there  is  great  need 
of  protective  embankments ;  but  no  inundation  has  ever  produced 
a  scarcity.  Partial  droughts  are  caused  by  deficiency  of  the  local 
rainfall ;  but  in  such  cases  the  sterility  of  the  higher  levels  would  be 
compensated  by  the  increased  area  of  marshy  land  brought  into 
cultivation.  If  the  price  of  common  rice  were  to  rise  in  January 
to  14s.  a  cwt,  that  should  be  regarded  as  a  sign  of  approaching 
distress  later  in  the  year. 

Manufactures,  etc. — The  manufactures  of  Go£lp£ra  consist  of  the 
making  of  brass  and  iron  utensils,  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  the 
weaving  of  silk  cloth,  basket  work,  and  pottery.  It  is  said  that  in  recent 
years  the  competition  of  the  cheaper  Bengal  articles  has  seriously 
injured  the  local  industries,  which  used  to  be  of  a  highly  artistic 
character  and  of  honest  workmanship.  A  speciality  still  remaining  is 
the  thagt  or  sardi,  a  silver  tray  occasionally  inlaid  with  gold.  Silk  cloth 
is  woven  from  the  cocoons  of  the  erid  and  mugd  worms.  The  former, 
which  is  the  more  domesticated  variety  of  the  two,  is  fed  on  the  leaves 
of  the  castor-oil  plant ;  the  latter  on  the  saola  or  stm  tree.  The  silk 
of  Godlpdra  is  regarded  as  inferior  in  texture,  but  superior  in  dura- 
bility to  that  of  Upper  Assam.  The  cultivation  and  manufacture  of 
tea  has  recently  been  introduced  into  Godlp&a.  In  1874,  there  were 
284  acres  under  cultivation  (including  newly  opened  gardens),  with  an 


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GOALPARA  DISTRICT.  405 

out-turn  of  5248  lbs.,  showing  a  considerable  increase  on  the  previous 
year.  None  of  the  781  labourers  employed  were  imported  under  con- 
tract from  Bengal. 

The  external  commerce  of  the  District  is  entirely  conducted  by 
means  of  the  Brahmaputra,  the  chief  centres  of  traffic  being  Goilpira 
town,  Dhubri,  Jogigophi,  Bijni,  Gauripur,  and  Singimari.  The  local 
trade  is  principally  in  the  hands  of  Marwdrf  merchants  from  the  north- 
west. It  is  carried  on  at  permanent  bdzdrs,  weekly  hdts  or  markets, 
and  periodical  fairs  held  on  the  occasion  of  religious  festivals.  The 
chief  exports  from  the  Districts  are  mustard  seed  and  jute  from  the 
plains,  and  cotton,  timber,  and  lac  from  the  hills ;  there  is  also  some 
export  of  silk  cloth,  india-rubber,  and  tea.  The  commodities  received 
in  exchange  comprise — Bengal  rice,  European  piece-goods,  salt  and 
hardware,  oil  and  tobacco. 

The  chief  means  of  communication  are  the  rivers,  especially  the 
Brahmaputra,  which  is  navigated  by  steamers  and  the  largest  native 
boats  all  the  year  through.  Three  roads  in  the  District,  including  the 
Assam  Trunk  Road  in  the  north,  are  under  the  management  of  the 
Public  Works  Department.  The  other  roads,  maintained  out  of  local 
funds,  are  in  a  poor  condition;  but  an  improvement  in  this  respect  is 
anticipated  from  the  extension  of  the  Road  Cess  Act  to  the  District, 
which  took  place  in  1875.  It  has  been  proposed  to  construct  a  line 
of  railway  in  the  north  of  the  District,  to  connect  it  with  the  recently 
opened  Northern  Bengal  State  Railway  at  JalpiigurL 

Administration. — In  1870-71,  the  net  revenue  of  Goilpira  District 
(including  the  Eastern  Dwirs)  amounted  to  ,£18,309,  towards  which 
the  land  tax  contributed  ,£4235,  and  the  excise,  £622$ ;  the  expen- 
diture was  ^20,266,  or  nearly  ^2000  more  than  the  revenue.  The 
balance  in  the  treasury  is  adjusted  by  the  receipt  of  ^6770  from  Kuch 
Behar,  being  the  tribute  of  that  State,  which  is  still  paid  at  Godlpara. 
The  total  of  the  land  revenue  is  extremely  small,  but  it  has  increased 
somewhat  since  the  annexation  of  the  Eastern  Dwirs.  By  1874-75, 
it  had  risen  to  ^6229,  of  which  only  ^1170  was  obtained  from  the 
permanently  settled  portion  of  the  District.  It  is  curious  to  observe 
that,  in  the  matter  of  excise  or  dbkdri,  Goalpdra  clearly  manifests  its 
character  of  a  border  region.  Under  this  item,  the  incidence  of 
taxation  is  3^d.  per  head  of  population,  against  8£d.  in  Assam 
generally,  and  2d.  for  the  whole  of  Bengal.  In  1870,  there  was  1 
European  officer  stationed  in  the  District,  and  3  magisterial  and  4 
civil  and  revenue  courts  were  open.  For  police  purposes,  Goalpara.  is 
divided  into  8  thdnds  or  police  circles,  excluding  the  Eastern  Dwars. 
The  following  statistics,  however,  apply  to  the  entire  District : — In  1872, 
the  regular  police  force  consisted  of  321  men  of  all  ranks,  maintained 
at  a  total  cost  of  ^5678.     These  figures  show  1  policeman  to  every 

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406  GOALPARA  DISTRICT. 

1 3 '8 1  square  miles,  or  to  every  1385  of  the  population,  the  average 
cost  of  maintenance  being  £1,  5s.  7^d.  per  square  mile  and  3d.  per 
head  of  population.  There  is  no  municipal  police,  nor  any  chauMddrs 
or  village  watch.  In  the  same  year,  the  total  number  of  persons 
in  the  District  convicted  of  any  offence,  great  or  small,  amounted  to 
579,  or  1  person  to  every  568  of  the  population.  By  far  the  greater 
number  of  the  convictions  were  for  petty  offences.  There  is  one  jail 
at  Goilpara  town,  with  a  Subdivisional  lock-up  at  DhubrL  In  1872,  the 
average  daily  number  of  prisoners  was  99,  of  whom  one  was  a  woman ; 
the  labouring  convicts  numbered  85.  These  figures  show  1  prisoner 
to  every  4488  of  the  District  population.  The  total  cost  of  the  jail 
was  ^694,  or  jQiy  is.  8d.  per  prisoner.  The  jail  manufactures  yielded 
a  net  profit  of  ^23,  os.  7(L    The  death-rate  was  40*8  per  thousand. 

Education  had  not  made  much  progress  in  Goalpara  until  within 
the  last  few  years.  In  1856,  there  were  only  15  schools  in  the  District, 
attended  by  194  pupils.  By  1870,  after  a  temporary  decline,  these 
numbers  had  increased  to  31  schools  and  862  pupils.  The  reforms  of 
Sir  G.  Campbell,  by  which  the  benefit  of  the  grant-in-aid  rules  was 
extended  to  the  village  schools  or  paths&lds,  raised  the  total  number  of 
inspected  schools  in  1873  to  92,  and  of  pupils  to  2137,  giving  1  school 
to  every  27  square  miles,  and  5  pupils  to  ever  1000  of  the  population. 
In  that  year  the  total  expenditure  was  ^1419,  towards  which  Govern- 
ment contributed  ^582.  The  chief  educational  establishment  is  the 
Higher-Class  English  School  at  Goalpara  town,  which  is  described  as 
not  being  in  a  prosperous  condition,  the  number  of  pupils  having 
steadily  fallen  from  120  in  1869  to  57  in  1873.  The  American  Baptist 
Mission  is  assisted  by  Government  in  maintaining  a  normal  school  and 
13  pdthsdlds  among  the  Garos,  who  live  on  the  southern  boundary  of 
the  District 

For  administrative  purposes,  Goalpara  is  divided  into  2  Subdivi- 
sions, not  including  the  Eastern  Dwars,  and  into  8  thdnds  or  police 
circles.  In  the  permanently  settled  tract  there  are  17  pargands  or 
fiscal  divisions,  with  an  aggregate  of  18  estates,  of  which  only  6  date 
from  a  period  subsequent  to  the  Permanent  Settlement.  Goalpara 
town  was  constituted  a  municipality  in  1875,  under  Act  vi  of  1868. 
The  estimated  municipal  income  is  ^300,  of  which  the  greater  part  is 
expended  on  sanitation. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  rainy  season  or  monsoon  lasts  for  five  months, 
from  the  middle  of  May  to  the  middle  of  October.  It  is  succeeded 
by  the  cold  weather,  which  is  marked  by  heavy  fogs  during  the  early 
morning.  The  prevailing  winds  are  easterly;  but  during  the  three 
months  from  March  to  May,  hot  winds  occasionally  blow  from  the 
west,"  and  thunderstorms  come  up  from  the  south-west  The  mean 
annual  temperature  is  returned  at  75°.      In   1873,   the    maximum. 


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GOALPAXA  TOWN.  407 

recorded  was  99700  in  the  month  of  July;  and  the  minimum,  41  -3° 
in  January.     The  average  annual  rainfall  is  9875  inches. 

Goilpira  District  is  considered  very  unhealthy  both  for  Europeans 
and  natives,  especially  during  the  rainy  season.  The  whole  country 
round  Goalpara  town  is  charged  with  malarious  exhalations.  The 
prevalent  diseases  are — intermittent  and  remittent  fevers,  complicated 
with  affections  of  the  spleen;  diarrhcea,  dysentery,  rheumatism,  and 
chest  affections.  Epidemic  outbreaks  of  cholera  are  frequent,  and 
small-pox  annually  appears,  owing  to  the  popular  custom  of  inocula- 
tion. The  vital  statistics  for  selected  areas  show  a  death-rate  for  1874 
of  40*4  in  the  rural  area,  and  68*4  in  the  urban  area,  the  latter 
being  practically  Goalpara  town.  Out  of  a  total  of  597  deaths, 
333  were  assigned  to  fevers,  113  to  cholera,  and  85  to  bowel  com- 
plaints. There  are  3  charitable  dispensaries  in  the  District,  which 
were  attended  in  1874  by  324  in-door  and  2718  out-door  patients;  the 
total  expenditure  was  ^443,  towards  which  Government  contributed 

^147. 

Oo&p&ra. — Headquarters  Subdivision  of  above  District,  Assam ; 
containing  a  pop.  (1872)  of  220,125  persons,  residing  in  849  villages 
or  towns  and  38,721  houses.  The  Subdivision  comprises  the  3  police 
circles  {thdnds)  of  GoalpaVa,  Falrirgaon,  and  Sdlmara. 

GrO&lp&ra  Town. — Chief  town  of  the  District  of  the  same  name, 
Assam ;  situated  on  the  south  or  left  bank  of  the  Brahmaputra,  Lat.  2  6° 
n'  n.,  long.  900  41'  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  4678  ;  municipal  revenue  (1876- 
'877),  ^398 ;  rate  of  taxation,  is.  4d.  per  head  of  population  within 
municipal  limits  (6061).  Goalpara  is  said  to  derive  its  name  from  a 
colony  of  Hindu  Goalas  or  cowherds  who  settled  here  in  early  times. 
It  was  the  frontier  outpost  of  the  Muhammadans  in  the  direction  of 
Assam,  and  afterwards  a  flourishing  seat  of  trade  before  the  British 
annexed  that  Province.  In  1788,  the  name  of  a  Mr.  Raush  appears  as 
a  merchant  settled  here,  who  sent  a  force  of  700  armed  guards  to 
assist  the  Rdja*  of  Assam  against  his  revolted  subjects.  The  civil 
station  is  built  on  the  summit  of  a  hill,  rising  260  feet  above  the  plain, 
which  commands  a  magnificent  view  over  the  valley  of  the  Brahmaputra ; 
bounded  north  by  the  snow-capped  Himalayas,  and  south  by  the  Garo 
Hills.  The  native  town  is  situated  on  the  western  slope  of  this  hill, 
and  the  lower  streets  are  subject  to  inundation  from  the  marshy  land 
which  stretches  all  around.  The  town  is  regularly  laid  out,  but  the 
houses  are  almost  all  made  of  wooden  posts,  mats,  and  thatch,  so  that 
destructive  fires  are  of  frequent  occurrence.  Godlpara  is  still  an  im- 
portant centre  of  river  trade,  and  especially  a  depot  for  the  timber 
floated  down  from  the  Eastern  Dwdrs.  In  1876-77,  the  imports  from 
Bengal  included  153,400  maunds  of  rice,  97,400  tnaunds  of  salt,  and 
European  piece-goods  valued  at  ^64,700.  Communication  is  main- 
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408  GOBARDANGA—GODAGARL 

tained  by  a  steam  ferry  with  Dhubri  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
Brahmaputra,  the  terminus  of  the  Bengal  system  of  roads. 

CtobardAngi. — Municipal  town  in  the  north  of  the  District  of  the 
Twenty-four  Parganis,  Bengal.  Lat  220  52'  40"  n.,  long.  SS°  47'  55" 
e.  ;  situated  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Jamuna.  Pop.  (1872),  6952  ; 
municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^331 ;  rate  of  taxation,  iojd.  per  head 
of  population.  Police  force,  18  men.  English  school,  branch  dis- 
pensary. Export  of  jute,  molasses,  and  sugar.  Tradition  points  out 
this  village  as  the  spot  where  Krishna  tended  his  flocks. 

Gobardh&n.  —  Ancient  town  and  place  of  pilgrimage  in  Muttra 
(Mathura)  District,  North-Western  Provinces.  Lat  270  29'  55*  N., 
long.  77°  30'  15*  e.  ;  lies  among  the  low  rocky  hills  on  the  western 
frontier.  Noticeable  only  for  its  antiquarian  remains,  which  include — 
the  sacred  tank  of  Manasi  Gangd,  where  the  pilgrims  bathe  at  the  close 
of  the  rains ;  the  temple  of  Hari  Deva,  erected  during  Akbar's  reign 
by  Raji  Bhagwan  Das  of  Ambar,  governor  of  the  Punjab ;  the  two 
cenotaphs  of  Randhfr  Sinh  and  Baldeva  Sinh,  Rajas  of  Bhartpur,  who 
died  in  1823  and  1825;  and  the  monument  of  Suraj  Mall,  erected 
by  Jawahir  Sinh,  his  son,  soon  after  his  death  at  Delhi  in  1764,  The 
last-named  memorial  comprises  three  cenotaphs,  nine  kiosks,  and  a 
large  garden  with  an  artificial  lake. 

Oobardh&ngiri. — Fortified  hill  on  the  frontier  between  Shimogi 
District,  Mysore  (lat  14*  9'  n.,  long.  74°  43'  e.),  and  the  Madras 
District  of  North  Kanara,  commanding  the  old  pass  that  leads  by  the 
Falls  of  Gersoppa.  Annually  traversed  by  50,000  pack-bullocks.  The 
fort  is  in  fair  repair,  but  abandoned. 

Gobindpur.— Subdivision  of  Manbhiim  District,  Bengal;  situated 
between  230  38'  and  240  3'  30*  n.  lat,  and  between  86°  9'  15*  and  86* 
52'  15"  e.  long.  Pop.  (1872),  154,742,  viz.  119,772  Hindus,  10,842 
Muhammadans,  31  Christians,  and  24,097  'others;'  area,  782  square 
miles;  villages  or  townships,  1220;  houses,  28,593.  Average  number 
of  persons  per  square  mile,  198;  villages  per  square  mile,  1*56; 
persons  per  village,  127;  houses  per  square  mile,  37;  persons  per 
house,  5*4.  This  Subdivision  comprises  the  3  police  circles  of 
Gobindpur,  Nirshi,  and  Topchanchi.  In  1870-71,  it  contained  2 
magisterial  courts,  a  general  police  force  of  87  men,  and  a  village 
watch  680  strong;  the  cost  of  Subdivisional  administration  was 
returned  at  ^1448. 

GobrA. — Solitary  village  in  the  Jessor  portion  of  the  Sundarbans, 
Bengal.  Cited  as  a  proof  that  this  tract  was  once  inhabited  Ruins  of 
masonry  buildings  still  exist ;  but  embankments  alone  prevent  Gobra 
from  being  washed  away  by  the  Kabadak. 

God&gari. — Village  and  headquarters  of  a  police  circle,  Rajshalif 
District,  Bengal.     Lat.  240  28'  n.,  long.  88°  21'  33*  e.;  situated  in  the 

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GOD  A  VARI  DISTRICT.  4°9 

extreme  west  of  the  District,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges.  An  important 
trading  village,  with  a  considerable  river  traffic  with  the  North- Western 
Provinces. 

Ood&varL — A  District  of  British  India  in  the  Madras  Presidency, 
lying  between  160  15'  and  170  35'  n.  lat,  and  between  8o°  55'  and 
820  38'  e.  long.  Area,  after  recent  transfers,  7345  square  miles ;  popula- 
tion, by  Census  of  187 1,  1,592,939.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Central  Provinces  and  Vizagapatam  District,  on  the  east  by  Vizagapatam 
and  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  on  the  south  by  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  Kistna 
District,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Nizdm's  Dominions. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  is  divided  into  two  almost  square 
parts  by  the  Godavari  river.  At  Dowlaishvaram,  30  miles  inland,  the 
river  separates  into  two  main  branches,  enclosing  the  tdluk  of  Amalapur, 
the  central  delta  of  the  river.  The  eastern  delta  comprises  the  tdluk 
of  Ramachandrapiir  with  the  zatninddri  of  Cocanada;  the  western, 
the  tdluks  of  Narsapur,  BhfmaVaram,  and  Tanuku.  These  deltas  are 
flat,  in  some  places  even  marshy.  They  present  a  vast  and  unbroken 
expanse  of  rice  cultivation,  dotted  by  villages,  and  varied  only  by 
clusters  of  palmyra,  cocoa-nut  or  betel-nut  palms.  North  of  the  delta 
the  land  gradually  undulates,  and  the  horizon  is  broken  by  conical  hills 
interspersed  here  and  there.  Farther  north  the  hills  come  closer 
together,  and  are  thickly  covered  with  jungle;  but  there  is  no  real 
range  of  mountains  met  with  till  the  lo»g  broken  tableland  of 
Papikonda  (4200  feet)  is  reached.  Here  the  Godavari  river  is  com- 
pletely shut  in  by  hills,  forming  a  magnificent  gorge,  in  some  places 
only  200  yards  wide ;  whereas  the  river  attains  a  breadth  of  about  3 
miles  at  Rajimahendri  (Rajahmundry),  50  miles  lower  down.  The 
hills  in  all  parts  of  the  District  are  covered  with  jungle  more  or  less 
dense.  They  are  never  quite  inaccessible,  but  the  numerous  blocks 
of  gneissic  rock  with  which  they  are  strewn  render  the  construction 
of  any  road  through  or  over  them  almost  impossible.  Teak  is  found 
here  and  there,  and  some  of  the  higher  hill  ranges  are  covered  with 
clumps  of  the  feathery  bamboo. 

The  only  navigable  rivers  of  the  District  are  the  Godavari  and  the 
Saveri,  which  joins  the  former  at  Vaddigudem  in  Rekapilli  tdluk.  The 
GodaVari  has  seven  mouths,  viz.  the  Tulyabhiga,  the  Atreya,  the 
Gautami,  the  Vruddhagautami,  the  Bharadwajam,  the  Kausika,  and  the 
Vasishta.  The  large  town  of  Narsapur  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  one 
of  the  two  main  branches,  the  French  Settlement  of  Yanan  at  the 
mouth  of  the  other.  Thirty  miles  up  the  river  is  the  famous  Dow- 
laishvaram anicut;  4  miles  farther  on,  the  town  of  Rijdmahendri 
(Rajahmundry).  Northwards  still,  is  the  picturesque  island  of  Pata- 
patteshim,  covered  with  pagodas,  and  a  favourite  resort  of  pilgrims ; 
and  close  to  it,  the  timber  market  of  Polavaram.     The  shipbuilding 


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4io  GODA  VARI  DISTRICT. 

trade  of  the  District  is  carried  on  at  Tallarevu,  on  the  Coringa  branch 
of  the  river.  Owing  to  the  volume  of  the  GodaVari,  and  the  quantity 
of  silt  brought  down  by  it,  not  only  the  islands  of  the  river  (termed 
lankas)  but  the  sea-coast  itself  are  continually  changing  in  form.  Each 
of  the  seven  mouths  of  the  river  is  deemed  holy,  and  the  Godavari 
is  one  of  the  12  rivers  of  India  at  which  the  feast  of  Pushkaram  is 
celebrated.  The  bed  of  the  Godavari,  at  the  point  where  it  enters  the 
District,  is  sandy ;  but  gradually  turns  into  alluvial  mould  in  its  course 
through  the  delta.  The  only  lake  of  importance  is  the  Koleru,  which 
is  studded  with  islands  and  fishing  villages.  Sea-fishing  is  carried  on 
along  the  coast.  Building  and  lime  stone  are  found  in  abundance  in 
the  uplands,  and  iron  is  smelted  in  small  quantities.  The  forest  tracts 
are  those  of  Rampa  and  Bhadrdchalam.  Chief  jungle  products — 
myrabolans,  soap-nuts,  tamarind,  bamboo-rice,  honey,  and  bees-wax. 
The  wild  animals  comprise  the  tiger,  leopard,  hyaena,  wild-boar,  ante- 
lope, deer,  wolf,  and  bear.     Game  birds  are  plentiful. 

History. — The  present  District  of  Godivari  formed  part  of  what 
is  known  as  the  Andhra  Division  of  the  Dravida  country ;  the  tract 
to  the  north-west  of  the  river  having  probably  been  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  Kalinga,  and  more  or  less  subject  to  the  Orissa  kings; 
while  the  south-western  tract  belonged  to  the  Vengi  kingdom,  and  owed 
allegiance  to  the  Ganapatis  of  Warangul.  The  District  formed  for 
centuries  a  battle-field,  on  which  the  Chalukyas,  Narapatis,  the  Reddi- 
war  chiefs,  and  the  aboriginal  hill  tribes,  fought  with  varying  success, 
until  the  arrival  of  the  Muhammadans  in  the  beginning  of  the  14th 
century.  After  a  struggle  lasting  a  century  and  a  half  between  the 
Hindu  chiefs  and  the  Musalman  invaders  from  the  west  and  north, 
the  contest  ended  in  the  subjugation  by  the  latter  of  nearly  the  whole 
of  this  District  (1471-77).  Subsequently,  Krishna  Riya,  the  King  of 
Vijdyanagar,  overran  the  country  in  1516,  and  for  a  time  restored 
the  ancient  Hindu  kingdom ;  lesser  Hindu  chiefs  temporarily  asserted 
and  maintained  their  independence;  but  the  whole  of  the  country 
may  be  regarded  as  having  passed  under  Muhammadan  domination 
from  the  commencement  of  the  16th  century.  In  1687,  the  rule  of 
the  Kutab  Shahi  kings  was  succeeded  by  that  of  the  Delhi  Mughals; 
Aurangzeb,  after  a  long  struggle,  having  succeeded  in  overthrowing  the 
independent  Bijapur  and  Golconda  kings.  Thenceforward  the  District 
became  known  as  the  Nawibship  of  Rajamahendri  (Rajahmundry)  in 
the  Subah  of  Golconda,  under  the  governorship  of  Asaf  Jah,  From 
the  death  of  this  illustrious  Nizam,  in  1748,  commenced  the  struggles 
between  the  English  and  the  French  in  the  Deccan  and  Kamatic, 
which  terminated  in  the  final  overthrow  of  the  French  power  in  the 
East  By  1753,  Godivari  had  become  a  French  Province,  but  in  that 
year  it  was  overrun  by  the  Marhattds,  then  at  the  zenith  of  their  power. 


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GOD  A  VARI  DISTRICT.  41 1 

Long  anterior  to  this,  the  English,  French,  and  Dutch  had  placed 
factories  within  the  District  The  English  settled  at  Masulipatam  in 
161 1,  the  Dutch  in  1660,  and  the  French  in  1679;  *n  1668,  the  Dutch 
seized  the  administration  of  the  town.  The  English  opened  factories 
at  Pettapalam,  Virdvasaram,  and  Madapolliem  in  the  17th  century,  at 
Injeram  and  Bandemarlanka  early  in  the  18th;  the  Dutch  held  Palakollu, 
Narsapur,  and  Cocanada  in  1650;  the  French  occupied  Yanaon  a  cen- 
tury later  (1750).  In  1756,  the  French  captured  without  resistance  the 
English  factories  at  Madapolliem,  Bandemarlanka,  and  Injeram;  but 
Lally's  ill-advised  recall  of  Bussy  in  1758  soon  put  an  end  to  the  French 
domination  in  the  Northern  Circars.  In  the  latter  year,  Colonel  Forde's 
expedition  marched  into  the  District,  and  in  December  completely 
routed  the  French  army  under  Conflans  at  Condore.  This,  followed 
by  the  capture  of  Narsapur  and  Masulipatam,  practically  left  the  Circars 
(including  what  now  forms  Goddvari  District)  in  English  hands, — a 
state  of  things  confirmed  by  Imperial  Sanad  in  1765.  Until  1823,  the 
Company  paid  an  annual  tribute  to  the  Nizim,  for  the  Northern  Circars. 
In  that  year,  it  was  commuted  for  a  single  payment  of  nf  Idkhs. 
Till  1794,  this  new  acquisition  of  the  East  India  Company  was  adminis- 
tered on  the  old  system,  viz.  by  a  Chief  and  Provincial  Council.  As 
that  arrangement  was  not  found  satisfactory  and  proved  unequal  to  the 
suppression  of  risings,  such  as  these  in  PoWvaram  and  Gutate  (1785- 
1 787),  a  system  of  Collectorates  was  adopted;  and  three  of  these,  under 
a  principal  Collector  at  Masulipatam,  nearly  represented  the  present 
Godivari  District.  From  1794  till  1802-3,  when  the  Permanent 
Settlement  was  introduced,  the  history  of  the  District  is  one  continuous 
struggle  with  recusant  zaminddrs.  The  Settlement,  owing  to  insuf- 
ficient knowledge,  was  unequal  in  its  incidence,  and  consequently 
unsuccessful.  Constant  sales,  lawsuits,  and  distraints  were  the  result. 
The  failure  of  the  system  was  pointed  out  by  Sir  Thomas  Munro  in 
1822 ;  but  it  was  not  till  1843,  after  several  seasons  of  famine,  distress, 
and  steady  decline  in  wealth  and  population  (the  latter  decreased  30 
per  cent  in  20  years),  that  Sir  Henry  Montgomery  was  appointed  to 
inquire  and  report  The  reforms  instituted  on  his  representations 
practically  put  an  end  to  the  Permanent  Settlement  in  this  District 
In  thirty  years  the  population  has  doubled,  and,  thanks  to  the 
splendid  system  of  navigable  irrigation  works,  the  agriculture  and 
commerce  of  the  District  are  now  in  a  most  prosperous  condition. 
In  1859,  the  boundaries  were  readjusted,  and  the  three  Districts  of 
Gantiir  (Guntoor),  Rdjimahendri  (Rajahmundry),  and  Masulipatam 
became  the  present  Districts  of  Kistnd  and  God£vari.  In  1874,  the 
tdluks  of  Bhadrdchalam  and  Rekapilli  were  transferred  to  this  District 
from  that  of  Upper  God£vari  in  the  Central  Provinces. 

Population  has  increased  largely  of  late  years.   In  1856,  the  number  of 


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4i  2  GOD  A  VARI  DISTRICT. 

inhabitants  was  returned  at  1,081,703,  and  in  1861  at  1,366,831 ;  while 
by  187 1,  the  number  had  risen  to  1,592,939,  on  an  area  of  6224 
square  miles,  and  dwelling  in  389,712  houses.  Classified  according  to 
age  and  sex,  there  were — male  children,  310,898;  female  children, 
256,223;  male  adults,  492,705;  and  female  adults,  533,113:  total 
males,  803,603— females,  789,336;  grand  total,  1,592,939.  Boys  below 
12  and  girls  below  10  are  reckoned  as  children.  The  population  is 
almost  entirely  composed  of  Hindus,  who  are  returned  at  1,555,981, 
made  up  as  follows : — Vishnuvites,  1,219,676,  or  78*3  per  cent;  Sivaites, 
323,288,  or  2o-8  per  cent;  Lingayats,  10,210,  or  7  per  cent;  other 
Hindus,  2807,  or  *2  per  cent  The  most  numerous  Hindu  castes  are 
the  Vallilars  or  cultivators,  who  number  498,373,  or  32  per  cent ;  the 
Shanans  or  toddy-drawers,  165,833,  or  107  per  cent;  and  the  Brahmans 
or  priestly  caste,  90,882,  or  58  per  cent  Of  the  Muhammadans — who 
number  35,173  in  all — 31,394,  or  89  per  cent,  are  Sunnis;  2303  Shias; 
and  19  Wah£bfs.  The  Christian  population  consists  of  451  Europeans, 
385  Eurasians,  585  native  Christians,  and  62  'others1;  total,  1483. 
Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics  are  about  equally  divided,  there 
being  712  of  the  former  to  772  of  the  latter.  The  remaining  population 
consists  of  39  Buddhists,  and  263  belonging  to  other  denominations 
not  separately  classified.  The  following  19  towns  contain  upwards  of 
5000  inhabitants: — Ellore,  25,487;  Rajamahendri,  19,738;  Coca- 

NADA,    17,839;    PlTHAPURAM,    9246;   PEDDAPURAM,    9202  ;  DoWLAISH- 

varam,  7252;  Amalapuram,  7083 ;  Narsapur,  6819;  Polekurru, 
5427;  Palakollu,  5931;  Atthli,  5878;  Achanta,  5846;  Koringa, 
5649 ;  Samulcottah,  5535 ;  Kapileswarapuram,  5463  ;  Mandapeta, 
5440;  Velpuru,  5377;  Velivelu,  5319;  Nagavaram,  5271.  Besides 
these  there  are  150  towns  and  villages  of  over  2000  inhabitants;  the 
total  number  of  villages  being  2127.  Three  towns  are  constituted 
municipalities,  viz.  Ellore,  Rijamahendri,,and  Cocanada,  with  an  aggre- 
gate population  (187 1)  of  63,064;  total  municipal  income  (1875-76), 
^5152,  or  at  the  rate  of  is.  7jd.  per  head  of  municipal  population. 

Agriculture. — The  total  area  of  the  District,  including  recent  transfers, 
is  7345  square  miles,  of  which  2713  square  miles,  or  1,736,791  acres, 
are  Government  land.  Of  this,  488,615  acres  are  under  cultivation, 
386,440  acres  are  cultivable,  and  861,736  acres  uncultivable  waste. 
The  remaining  area  is  comprised  in  the  zaminddti  estates  (for  which  no 
detailed  information  exists),  or  is  forest  land.  By  far  the  greater 
portion  of  the  cultivated  land  is  under  rice.  The  chief  crops  of  the 
District  are:— (1)  Cereals— (a)  rice  transplanted  (white  paddy),  five 
varieties,  sown  in  May  and  July,  and  reaped  in  November  and  January ; 
two  other  sorts  are  sown  in  June  and  reaped  in  October ;  these  crops 
are  grown  on  marshy  land:  (b)  black  paddy,  sown  in  June,  and 
harvested  in  October;    (c)    cholam%  sown  in   June  and    reaped    in 


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GOD  A  VARI  DISTRICT.  413 

November  and  January ;  (d)  rdgi,  sown  in  May  and  June,  and  reaped 
in  September;   these  last  grow  on  dry  lands:  (2)  Green  crops — 

(a)  gram  (4  varieties),  sown  in  December  and  reaped  in  February; 

(b)  red-gram,  sown  in  June  and  reaped  in  December:  (3)  Fibres — 
(a)  cotton,  sown  in  October  and  gathered  in  March;  (d)  jute,  and 

(c)  hemp,  sown  from  June  to  August,  and  harvested  from  September  to 
January ;  these  are  sown  on  dry  land.  The  District  also  produces  large 
quantities  of  gingelly, .  tobacco,  sugar-cane,  and  indigo.  Tobacco 
requires  moist,  and  sugar-cane  marshy,  land  ;  the  other  crops  are  *  dry.' 
Great  improvement  has  taken  place  of  late  years  in  the  quality  of  the 
rice  and  other  food  grains  raised  in  the  District,  owing  to  the  extension 
of  irrigation  by  canals.  A  farm  100  acres  in  extent  would  be  considered 
a  large  holding  for  an  agriculturist,  one  of  about  30  acres  a  middling- 
sized  one,  and  one  of  5  acres  a  very  small  one.  Government  tenants 
have  a  permanent  right  of  occupancy  in  their  lands  so  long  as  they  pay 
the  Government  demand.  In  zaminddri  estates,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  cultivators  are  mostly  yearly  tenants.  A  few  holders  of  service 
lands  cultivate  their  fields  for  themselves  without  assistance.  A 
number  of  landless  day-labourers  are  employed  in  cultivation,  paid 
sometimes  in  money,  and  sometimes  at  a  fixed  rate  in  grain,  but  never 
by  a  regular  share  in  the  crop.  Wages  have  doubled  since  1850.  A 
carpenter,  smith,  or  bricklayer  now  earns  from  9d.  to  is.  a  day,  and  an 
agricultural  labourer  from  3d.  to  4jd.  Women  employed  in  weeding 
and  transplanting  are  paid  at  from  one-half  to  two-thirds  of  the  rates 
for  men,  while  children  receive  a  lower  rate.  Paddy  or  unhusked  rice, 
which  in  1850  was  returned  at  £2, 8s.  per  garce  (9860  lbs.  avoirdupois), 
is  now  (1876)  worth  ^12  per  garce. 

Natural  Calamities. — Godivari  District  was  formerly  liable  to  severe 
floods  caused  by  a  sudden  rising  of  the  river,  but  these  are  now  con- 
trolled by  the  embankments.  No  great  famine  has  occurred  since  1833. 
In  that  year,  a  famine  caused  by  want  of  rain  lasted  from  March 
to  September,  and  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  fled  the  District. 
Private  charity  was  widely  extended,  but  no  relief  works  were  opened. 
Pressure  from  high  prices  was  also  experienced  in  1876-77 ;  but  the 
mass  of  the  people  being  themselves  cultivators,  and  irrigation  being 
abundant,  the  distress  did  not  require  extraordinary  relief. 

Means  of  Communication,  Manufactures,  Trade,  etc. — The  District  is 
well  supplied  with  means  of  communication  by  491  miles  of  good  road, 
and  43 1  miles  of  canals.  Principal  manufactures — cotton  and  woollen 
carpets,  sheep-wool  blankets,  Uppada  cloths  and  sugar;  chiefly  con- 
ducted by  the  people  on  their  own  account  Indigo  manufacture  is 
carried  on  by  natives.  The  chief  articles  of  trade  are  grain,  cotton, 
jaggery,  turmeric,  cocoa  nut,  flax  cloth,  onions,  garlic,  lace  cloths, 
tobacco,  gingelly  seed,  lamp-oil  seed,  salt,  tamarind,  catde,  teakwood, 

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4H  GOD  A  VARJ  RIVER. 

hides,  opium,  indigo,  etc.  The  trade  is  carried  on  along  the  coast  and 
in  large  towns  and  ports  by  means  of  permanent  markets  and  in  almost 
all  other  places  by  fairs.  The  principal  seats  of  commerce  are 
Cocanada,  Ellore,  Rajamahendri,  Mandapetta,  Jaggampetta,  Hasan- 
bada,  Narsapur,  Palakollu,  Dowlaishvaram,  Ambajipetta,  Jagannathpur. 
The  estimated  value  of  imports  in  1874-75  was  ^204,238,  exclusive  of 
treasure,  which  amounted  to  ^£4 1,464.  Estimated  value  of  exports, 
^9°3»253,  exclusive  of  ^75,550  of  treasure. 

Administration. — The  Government  revenue  has  steadily  increased. 
In  1860-61,  the  first  year  after  the  present  District  was  constituted,  the 
total  revenue  amounted  to  ,£421,246,  and  the  expenditure  on  civil 
administration  to  ^48,017.  In  1870-71,  the  revenue  was  ^£53 1,043, 
and  the  civil  expenditure,  ,£23,368.  By  1875-76,  the  revenue  had 
reached  £558,812,  while  the  expenditure  was  £28,604.  For  the 
protection  of  person  and  property,  there  were  in  1870-71,  28  magis- 
terial and  15  revenue  and  civil  courts  in  the  District.  The  regular 
police  and  municipal  police  force  in  1876  numbered  1247  officers  and 
men.  In  1874-75,  there  were  387  schools  maintained  or  supported  by 
the  State,  attended  by  7759  pupils.  The  administrative  headquarters 
of  the  District  are  at  Cocanada ;  but  the  judges'  court  and  the  District 
jail  are  at  Rijamahendri. 

Medical  Aspects.  —  The  prevailing  endemic  diseases  of  Godavari 
District  are  beri-beri  and  fevers.  Cholera  is  prevalent  during  the  hot 
seasons  of  the  year ;  small -pox  also  occurs  at  the  same  periods ;  fevers 
come  after  the  cessation  of  rain.  Cattle  diseases  are  also  prevalent 
Cholera  is  usually  imported  by  travellers  coming  from  the  north.  The 
average  annual  rainfall  from  187 1  to  1875  was  43*35  inches;  the 
highest  rainfall  being  in  1873,  when  50*68  inches  were  registered,  and 
the  lowest  in  187 1,  when  only  33*64  inches  fell.  The  mean  tempera- 
ture (Fahr.)  for  each  month  during  1876  at  Raj&nahendri  was — January 
850,  February  890,  March  97°,  April  900,  May  8o°,  June  84%  July 
86°,  August  830,  September  74°,  October  75°,  November  74°,  and 
December  74°. 

Storms. — The  last  great  cyclone  was  in  1832.  The  sea  broke  in  at 
Coringa,  and  destroyed  a  great  number  of  men,  cattle,  and  houses ;  a 
small  village  near  Coringa  was  entirely  swept  away,  and  the  country 
was  under  water  for  many  miles  inland.  Again,  on  the  16th 
November  1839,  a  similar  storm  destroyed  great  parts  of  Cocanada, 
Koringa,  Tallarevu,  and  Nilapalli.  Most  of  the  vessels  lying  near 
these  places  were  wrecked,  and  the  value  of  the  property  lost  was 
estimated  at  £100,000. 

OocUbVari  (Godavety). — A  great  river  of  Central  India,  which  runs 
across  the  Deccan  from  the  Western  to  the  Eastern  Ghats ;  for  sanctity, 
picturesque  scenery,  and  utility  to  man,  surpassed  only  by  the  Ganges 

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GOD  A  VARI  RIVER.  41 5 

and  the  Indus ;  total  length,  898  miles;  estimated  area  of  drainage  basin, 
1 1 2, 200  square  miles.  The  traditional  source  is  on  the  side  of  a  hill 
behind  the  village  of  Trimbak,  in  Ndsik  District,  Bombay,  only  about 
50  miles  from  the  shore  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  At  this  spot  is  an  artificial 
reservoir,  reached  by  a  flight  of  690  steps,  into  which  the  water  trickles 
drop  by  drop  from  the  lips  of  a  carven  image,  shrouded  by  a  canopy  of 
stone.  From  first  to  last,  the  general  direction  of  the  river  is  towards 
the  south-east.  After  passing  through  Ndsik  District  it  forms  for  some 
distance  the  boundary  between  Ahmednagar  and  the  dominions  of  the 
Nizdm  of  Haidardbdd.  It  then  crosses  into  the  territory  of  the  Nizdm, 
running  for  more  than  500  miles  of  its  course  through  a  country  that 
has  been  little  explored.  Near  Sironcha,  where  it  again  strikes  British 
territory,  is  the  confluence  of  the  Pranhita,  itself  a  noble  river,  which 
brings  down  the  united  waters  of  the  Wardha,  the  Penganga,  and  the 
Wainganga.  From  Sironcha  to  the  point  where  it  bursts  through  the 
barrier  range  of  the  Eastern  Ghdts,  the  south  bank  of  the  Goddvari 
continues  to  lie  within  the  Nizdm's  Dominions ;  while  on  the  north 
stretches  the  narrow  strip  of  country  known  as  the  Upper  Godavari 
District,  in  the  Central  Provinces.  In  this  portion  of  its  course  it  is 
joined  by  the  Indravati,  the  Tal,  and  the  Saveri.  It  is  now  an 
imposing  stream,  with  a  channel  varying  from  1  mile  to  more  than  2 
miles  in  breadth,  occasionally  broken  by  long  alluvial  islands.  The 
British  bank  is  for  the  most  part  rocky  and  steep,  and  covered  with 
primeval  jungle.  Parallel  to  the  river  run  long  ranges  of  hills,  which 
at  places  advance  their  abrupt  spurs  almost  to  the  water's  edge.  On 
the  opposite  side,  the  country  is  more  open  and  cultivated.  Several 
flourishing  towns  are  to  be  seen,  and  the  plain  stretching  away  south- 
wards, which  included  the  capital  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Telingdna, 
is  thickly  dotted  with  tanks  for  irrigation.  Below  the  junction  of  the 
Sabari,  the  scenery  assumes  the  character  which  has  earned  for  the 
Goddvari  the  name  of  the  Indian  Rhine.  The  channel  begins  to  con- 
tract ;  the  flanking  hills  gradually  close  in  on  either  side,  until  the  pre- 
cipitous gorge  is  reached,  only  200  yards  wide,  through  which  the  entire 
volume  of  water  is  poured  upon  the  alluvial  plain  of  the  delta,  about 
60  miles  from  the  sea.  This  mountain  range,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
course  of  the  river  until  it  reaches  the  Bay  of  Bengal  by  three  principal 
mouths,  is  entirely  included  within  the  Madras  District  of  Godavari. 
The  head  of  the  delta  is  at  the  village  of  Dowlaishvaram,  where  the 
main  stream  is  crossed  by  the  irrigation  anicut  The  largest  of  the 
three  branches,  known  as  the  Gautami  Goddvari,  turns  eastward,  and, 
after  passing  the  quiet  French  settlement  of  Yandn,  enters  the  sea  at 
Point  Koringa,  not  far  from  the  port  of  Cocanada.  The  most  southerly 
branch,  or  the  Vashista  Goddvari,  debouches  at  Point  Narsapur,  after 
throwing  off  the  third  offshoot  called  the  Vainateyam  Godavari. 

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416  GODA  VARI  RIVER. 

The  peculiar  sacredness  of  the  Godavari  is  said  to  have  been 
revealed  by  Rama  himself  to  the  rishi,  or  sage  Gautama.  The  river  is 
sometimes  called  Godi,  and  the  sacred  character  especially  attaches  to 
the  Gautami  mouth.  According  to  popular  legend,  it  proceeds  from 
the  same  source  as  the  Ganges,  by  an  underground  passage;  and 
this  identity  is  preserved  in  the  familiar  name  of  Vriddha-gangd.  But 
every  part  of  its  course  is  holy  ground,  and  to  bathe  in  its  waters  will 
wash  away  the  blackest  sin.  Once  in  every  twelve  years  a  great 
bathing  festival,  called  Push&aram,  is  held  on  the  banks  of  the  Goda- 
vari, alternately  with  the  other  eleven  sacred  rivers  of  India.  The 
spots  most  frequented  by  pilgrims  are — the  source  at  Trimbak  ;  the  town 
of  Bhadrdchalam  on  the  left  bank,  about  ioo  miles  above  R£jd- 
mahendri,  where  stands  an  ancient  temple  of  Rama-chandradu,  sur- 
rounded by  twenty-four  smaller  pagodas;  Rdjdmahendri  itself;  and 
the  village  of  Kotipali,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  eastern  mouth. 

Throughout  the  upper  portion  of  its  course,  the  waters  of  the  GodaVari 
are  scarcely  at  all  utilized  for  irrigation ;  but  within  recent  times,  the 
entire  delta  has  been  turned  into  a  garden  of  perennial  crops  by  means 
of  the  anicut  constructed  at  Dowlaishvaram.  This  great  work  was 
first  projected  in  1844,  when  the  impoverished  condition  of  the  people, 
from  repeated  failures  of  the  harvest,  became  the  subject  of  a  special 
report  from  Sir  H.  Montgomery.  It  was  resolved  by  the  Madras 
Government  to  undertake  irrigation  works  on  a  comprehensive  scale ; 
and  the  management  was  entrusted  to  Captain  (now  Sir  Arthur)  Cotton, 
who  had  experience  of  the  successful  works  on  the  Kdverf  (Cauvery)  in 
Tanjore  District  Operations  were  commenced  in  1847,  and  completed 
according  to  the  original  design  by  1850.  Up  to  1853,  the  total  expen- 
diture had  been  ^"153,000.  The  principal  work  is  the  anicut  or  weir  at 
Dowlaishvaram,  at  the  head  of  the  delta,  from  which  three  main 
canals  are  drawn  off.  The  river  channel  here  is  about  3 }  miles  wide, 
including  the  space  occupied  by  islands.  The  anicut  itself  is  a  sub- 
stantial mass  of  stone,  bedded  in  lime  cement,  about  2  J  miles  long,  130 
feet  broad  at  the  base,  and  12  feet  high.  The  stream  is  thus  pent 
back,  so  as  to  supply  a  volume  of  3000  cubic  feet  of  water  per  second 
during  its  low  season,  and  1 2,000  cubic  feet  at  time  of  flood.  As  is  the 
case  with  all  deltaic  streams,  the  river  runs  along  the  crest  of  a  natural 
embankment  several  feet  above  the  alluvial  plain.  Dowlaishvaram  is 
about  20  feet  above  the  lowest  level,  and  therefore  easily  commands 
the  whole  area  of  the  delta.  The  total  length  of  the  main  channels  of 
distribution  is  estimated  at  528  miles,  capable  of  irrigating  780,000 
acres.  Of  the  528  miles  of  canal,  463  miles  are  also  used  for  navigation ; 
and  in  1872-73  carried  52,000  boats  and  rafts.  In  1864,  an  extension 
of  the  original  scheme  was  sanctioned,  by  which  water  communication 
has  been  opened  between  the  river  systems  of  the  Godavari  and  the 


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GODDA—GODHRA.  417 

Kistna.     For  a  minute  account  of  the  history  of  these  irrigation  works, 
see  The  Godavery  District,  by  Mr.  H.  Morris  (Triibner,  1878). 

The  more  recent  project  for  opening  for  navigation  the  upper  waters 
of  the  GodaVari  has  not  been  crowned  with  equal  success.  In  185 1, 
before  the  railway  had  penetrated  through  the  heart  of  the  peninsula,  it 
was  hoped  that  the  Godavari,  or  rather  its  tributary  the  Wardha,  might 
supply  a  cheap  means  of  carriage  for  the  cotton  and  other  agricultural 
produce  of  the  Central  Provinces.  This  line  of  navigation  would  have 
had  its  upper  terminus  at  the  mart  of  Nachangaon,  not  far  from  Nag- 
pur  and  Amraoti ;  and  it  would  pass  by  the  great  cotton  emporium  of 
Hinghanghat,  and  the  towns  of  Wtin  and  Chanda,  reaching  the  sea  by 
the  flourishing  port  of  Cocanada.  During  nine  months  of  the  year, 
there  is  sufficient  water  for  shallow  river  steamers ;  and  the  force  of  the 
current  does  not  exceed  3  miles  an  hour.  There  are,  however,  three 
great  obstructions  to  navigation,  caused  by  rocky  barriers  and  rapids. 
The  first  of  these  barriers  is  at  Dumagudiem,  about  115  miles  above 
Rajdmahendri ;  the  second  about  68  miles  higher  up,  just  below  the 
confluence  of  the  Pranhita;  the  third  is  on  the  Wardha,  about  75  miles, 
above  the  second  It  was  proposed  to  construct  canals  round  these 
barriers  by  means  of  anicuts  and  locks,  and  to  clear  the  river  bed  in 
other  places  by  blasting.  Between  1861  and  1863,  about  ^700,000 
was  expended  upon  the  navigation  works ;  but  comparatively  little  real 
progress  had  been  made,  and  the  prospects  of  any  remunerative  return 
had  become  more  than  doubtfuL  Finally,  in  October  187 1,  the  entire 
undertaking  was  abandoned,  in  accordance  with  instructions  from  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  India.  The  navigation  on  the  canals  of  the 
delta  has  already  been  alluded  to. 

QodcUL — Subdivision  of  Santal  Parganas  District,  Bengal ;  situated 
between  240  30'  and  25°  14'  n.  lat,  and  between  87°  5'  and  87°  38'  e. 
long.  Pop.  (1872),  293,440,  viz.  147,235  Hindus,  18,829  Muham- 
madans,  9  Christians,  and  127,367  ' others ;'  area,  937  square  miles; 
villages  or  townships,  1634;  houses,  54,439.  Proportion  of  males  in 
total  population,  50  per  cent. ;  average  density  of  population,  313  per 
square  mile;  villages  per  square  mile,  174;  persons  per  village,  180; 
houses  per  square  mile,  58 ;  inmates  per  house,  5*4.  This  Sub-district, 
which  was  constituted  in  1856,  consists  of  the  one  thdnd  or  police  circle 
of  Godda*  In  1870-71  it  contained  1  magisterial  and  revenue  court,  a 
general  police  force  of  32  men,  and  a  village  watch  of  600  men ;  the 
cost  of  Subdivisional  administration  was  returned  at  ^1585. 

Godhri. — Chief  town  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name,  and  of  the 
District  of  the  Panch  Mahals,  Guzerat  Province,  Bombay.  Lat  22°  46' 
30'  n.,  and  long.  73°  40'  e.  ;  situated  on  the  main  road  from  Nfmach 
(Neemuch)  to  Baroda,  40  miles  north-east  of  Baroda  town,  and  43  west 
of  Dohad.    Pop.  (1872),  10,635.    *n  addition  to  the  usual  District  head- 

VOL.  III.  2  D 

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4i8  GODNA  TOWN. 

quarters  offices  and  courts,  there  is  a  sub-judge's  court,  a  post  office,  a 
dispensary,  and  a  subordinate  jail  for  short-term  prisoners  A  consider- 
able area  of  rice  land  is  irrigated  from  a  large  tank  in  the  neighbourhood. 

GodnA  (or  Revelganf). — Municipal  town  in  Saran  District,  BengaL 
Lat  25°  46'  56*  n.,  long.  84°  41'  1"  e.  ;  pop  (1872),  13,415,  of  whom 
11,125  were  Hindus  and  2290  Muhammadans.  Situated  just  above 
the  junction  of  the  Ganges  and  Gogra  (Ghagri),  and  built  along  the 
banks  of  the  latter  river ;  the  largest  mart  in  Saran  District  Its  trade 
may  be  classed  under  two  heads : — (1)  Its  local  trade  as  the  port  of 
Saran,  representing  also  Champaran  and  Nepal ;  exports — maize,  barley, 
peas,  oil-seeds,  saltpetre  and  sugar ;  imports — rice,  salt,  and  piece-goods : 
(2)  Its  through  trade  between  Bengal  and  the  North-West  Revel- 
ganj  is  the  great  changing  station,  where  the  boats  from  Lower  Bengal 
tranship  their  cargoes  of  rice  and  salt  into  the  Faiz£b£d  (Fyzabad)  and 
Gorakhpur  boats,  which  give  in  exchange  wheat,  barley,  pulses  and  oil- 
seeds. Several  Calcutta  firms  are  represented  in  the  town.  Municipal 
revenue  (1876-77),  ^812;  incidence  of  taxation,  is.  2§d.  per  head  ; 
municipal  police,  39  men.  Dispensary,  ddzdr,  and  fair  held  twice  a  year. 
The  native  name  of  this  town  is  Godna.  It  is  celebrated  as  the  resi- 
dence of  Gautama,  the  founder  of  the  school  of  Nyaya  philosophy  or 
Indian  logic  No  traces  of  his  dwelling  exist ;  but  a  wretched  hovel 
and  a  pair  of  shoes  are  still  pointed  out  to  simple  pilgrims. 

The  commercial  importance  of  Godna*  dates  from  the  end  of  the  last 
century.  In  1788,  Mr.  Revell,  collector  of  Government  customs,  was 
deputed  to  open  a  custom-house  and  bdzdr  at  this  place.  After  his 
death  he  became  an  eponymous  hero.  To  the  present  day  his  tomb 
is  visited  as  a  shrine  by  the  market  people,  and  his  name  is  invoked 
on  all  occasions  of  calamity.  The  chief  business  done  is  in  oil-seeds, 
brought  down  by  the  Gogra  from  the  Districts  of  Oudh,  and  here  tran- 
shipped into  larger  boats  for  conveyance  to  Patni  and  Calcutta.  The 
traders  are  mostly  agents  of  firms  at  those  two  cities,  and  they  transact 
business  on  commission.  The  principal  European  firms  represented 
are  those  of  Messrs.  Ralli  and  Messrs.  Valetta,  of  Patna*  and  Calcutta. 
A  distinction  in  their  course  of  business  is  observed  by  European  and 
native  merchants.  The  object  of  the  Europeans  is  to  use  the  railway 
at  Patna*  to  the  utmost  They  therefore  have  their  oil-seeds  cleaned  at 
Patni  by  a  special  class  of  trained  women.  The  rate  of  freight  from 
Godna*  to  Patni  is  1  anna  per  bag,  or  Rs.  3  per  100  mounds;  the 
voyage  takes  two  days  during  the  rainy  season  and  three  days  at  other 
times  of  the  year.  From  Patna  the  cleaned  seed  is  despatched  by  rail 
to  Calcutta.  The  native  merchants  scarcely  use  the  rail  at  alL  They 
buy  up  oil-seeds  when  the  prices  are  low,  and  store  them  along  the 
river  bank  until  they  can  obtain  a  good  market  at  Calcutta.  Then 
they  despatch  them  all  the  way  by  boat,  in  their  uncleaned  state. 


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GOGHAT—GOGO.  419 

There  are  no  facilities  for  cleaning  at  Godnl  The  freight  to  Calcutta 
varies  from  Rs.  20  to  Rs.  25  per  100  maunds.  The  voyage  occupies 
about  fifteen  days  during  the  rains  and  forty  days  in  the  dry  weather. 
The  native  traders  do  not  insure.  They  draw  bills,  accepted  by  their 
bankers  at  Calcutta,  who  thus  become  practically  the  insurers ;  for  if  a 
heavy  loss  is  sustained,  the  traders  fail,  and  the  bankers  have  to  pay. 

In  the  year  1876-77,  the  total  registered  trade  of  Godni,  including 
both  imports  and  exports,  was  valued  at  over  one  million  sterling. 
But  it  is  admitted  that  great  part  of  the  imports,  especially  European 
piece-goods  from  Dinapur,  have  escaped  registration  altogether.  Oil- 
seeds were  imported  to  the  amount  of  559,000  maunds,  valued  at 
^207,000.  Nearly  one -half  came  from  the  District  of  Faizabid 
(Fyzabad),  the  rest  from  Bahraich,  Gorakhpur,  Gonda,  Sftapur,  and  BastL 
The  exports  of  oil-seeds  were  895,000  maunds,  valued  at  ^£333,000,  con- 
signed in  almost  equal  moieties  to  Patni  and  Calcutta.  Considerably 
more  than  half  the  total  was  linseed  Food  grains  of  all  kinds  were 
imported  to  the  amount  of  976,000  maunds,  valued  at  j£i8i,ooo. 
Wheat,  pulses,  and  gram,  and  other  spring  crops,  are  received  from 
Oudh,  to  be  sent  on  to  Calcutta,  Patna,  and  the  Districts  of  Behar. 
Rice  is  imported  for  local  consumption  to  the  amount  of  293,000 
maunds,  chiefly  from  Northern  Bengal.  The  total  export  of  food 
grains  was  530,000  maunds,  valued  at  ^110,000,  chiefly  wheat  to 
Calcutta  and  Patni,  and  inferior  grains  to  Tirhut  Salt  was  imported  to 
the  amount  of  203,000  maunds,  valued  at  ^101,000,  of  which  140,000 
maunds  came  direct  from  Calcutta,  and  the  rest  from  Patnl  The 
exports  of  salt  were  only  24,000  maunds,  valued  at  £1 7,000,  principally 
to  Gorakhpur.  The  other  articles  of  trade  include  timber,  ^35,000 ; 
sugar,  ;£  16,000;  saltpetre,  ^4000. 

Goghat. — Village  and  police  station  in  Bardwan  District,  Bengal. 
Lat  220  53'  15"  n.,  long.  8 70  44'  50"  e.  Also  a  station  on  the  Chord 
line  of  the  East  India  Railway.  Recently  transferred  from  Hiiglf 
District 

QogO  (or  Ghogkd). — Chief  town  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same 
name  in  Ahmedab£d  District,  Bombay ;  situated  in  the  peninsula  of 
Kithiawar,  on  the  Gulf  of  Cambay,  in  lat.  210  39'  30"  n.,  long.  720 
21'  e.,  193  miles  north-west  of  Bombay.  Pop.  (1872),  9571.  About 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  east  of  the  town  is  an  excellent  anchorage, 
in  some  measure  sheltered  by  the  island  of  Perim,  which  lies  still 
farther  east.  The  natives  of  this  town  are  reckoned  the  best  sailors  or 
laskars  in  India;  and  ships  touching  here  may  procure  water  and 
supplies,  or  repair  damages.  The  roadstead  is  a  safe  refuge  during 
the  south-west  monsoon,  or  for  vessels  that  have  parted  from  their 
anchors  in  the  Surat  roads,  the  bottom  being  an  entire  bed  of 
mud,  and  the  water  always  smooth.     Gogo  has  of  late  years  lost 


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420  GOGRA  RIVER. 

its  commercial  importance.  Its  rival,  Bhiunagar,  is  8  miles  nearer 
to  the  cotton  districts.  North  of  the  town  is  a  black  salt  marsh, 
extending  to  the  Bhaunagar  creek.  On  the  other  sides  is  undulating 
cultivated  land,  sloping  to  the  range  of  hills  12  miles  oft  South  of  the 
town  there  is  another  salt  marsh.  The  land  in  the  neighbourhood  is 
inundated  at  high  spring  tides,  which  renders  it  necessary  to  bring  fresh 
water  from  a  distance  of  4  or  5  miles.  Average  annual  value  of  trade 
for  five  years  ending  1871*72— exports,  .£56,227 ;  imports,  £103,083. 

Gogra  (GAdgra). — The  great  river  of  Oudh.  It  rises  in  the  upper 
ranges  of  the  Himalayas,  and,  after  passing  through  Nepal  as  the 
Kauriala,  issues  from  the  hills  at  a  place  called  Shishapani,  or 
the  *  Crystal  Waters,'  where  it  sweeps  down  on  the  plains  in  a  series 
of  rapids  over  immense  boulders  which  it  has  brought  with  it  from 
the  hills  during  the  course  of  ages.  Almost  immediately  after  it 
debouches  on  the  tardi,  the  stream  splits  into  two,  the  western  branch 
retaining  the  name  of  the  Kauriala,  but  the  eastern,  known  as  the 
Girwa,  has  a  volume  of  water  superior  to  that  of  the  main  stream. 
After  a  course  of  about  18  miles  through  the  midst  of  fine  sdl 
forests,  and  over  rough  stony  beds,  the  twin  streams  enter  British 
territory  in  lat.  260  27'  n.,  long.  820  17'  e.,  a  few  miles  distant  from 
each  other,  and  reunite  a  few  miles  below  Bharthapur ;  and  here  the 
bed  loses  its  rocky  character,  and  becomes  sandy.  Almost  immediately 
below  the  confluence  of  the  Kauriala  and  Girwa,  the  stream  is  joined 
by  the  Suheli  from  Kheri  District ;  but  it  receives  no  other  affluents  of 
any  importance  until,  after  a  southerly  course  of  47  miles,  marking  the 
boundary  between  Bahraich  and  Kheri,  it  is  joined  by  the  Sarju  just 
above  Katalghat  Below  the  confluence,  the  united  stream  is  swelled 
by  the  Chauka  and  Dahdwar  at  Bahramghat  From  this  point  the  river 
takes  its  name  of  the  Gogra.  It  flows  in  a  south-easterly  and  afterwards 
an  easterly  course,,  forming  the  boundary  between  Bahraich  and  Gonda 
on  the  north,  and  Bara  Banki  and  Faizibid  (Fyzabid)  on  the  south.  It 
leaves  Oudh  in  the  west,  and,  marking  the  boundary  between  the  North- 
western Provinces  Districts  of  Basti  and  Gorakhpur  on  the  north,  and 
Azamgarh  on  the  south,  receives  the  Muchora  and  Rapti  as  tributaries 
on  its  left  bank.  It  then  touches  on  the  Bengal  District  of  Satan  at 
Darauli,  and  finally  empties  itself  into  the  Ganges  at  Chapra,  in  lat 
25°  43'  n.,  long.  840  43'  30"  e.,  after  an  estimated  course  of  upwards  of 
600  miles.  Many  changes  in  the  course  of  the  river  have  taken  place 
in  olden  times.  Its  waters  have  shown  an  inclination  towards  aban- 
doning lateral  channels,  and  selecting  a  central  one,  as  in  the  well- 
known  case  of  the  Sarda.  On  both  sides  of  the  present  stream  are 
seen  ancient  channels  of  the  river,  and  high  banks  within  which  it 
once  flowed.  There  were  formerly,  probably,  three  main  channels  of 
the  river,  whose  volumes  varied  each  year  as  accidental  circumstances 


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GOHAD— GOHANA.  421 

diverted  the  greater  part  of  the  water  into  one  or  other.  A  great 
inroad  of  the  Gogra  took  place  about  1600  a.d.,  which  swept  away 
the  town  of  Khurdsa  in  Gonda.  For  the  past  century,  there  has  been 
but  little  change  in  the  channel  beyond  slight  encroachments  on  its 
banks,  by  which  villages  are  occasionally  swept  away  during  the  rains. 
The  old  eastern  and  western  channels  have  entirely  silted  up.  The 
depth  of  the  river  in  mid  channel  is  nowhere  less  than  6  feet,  but  boats 
drawing  more  than  4  feet  are  not  desirable,  because  they  may  be  carried 
by  the  current  on  to  shallows.  The  boats  are  generally  clinker  built, 
the  largest  carrying  about  1200  maunds  or  45  tons.  They  are  usually 
without  decks,  the  cargo  being  protected  by  mat  awnings ;  the  cost  of 
carriage  is  very  small.  The  only  large  town  on  the  banks  of  the  river  is 
Faizabad  (Fyzdbdd).  A  bridge  of  boats  during  the  cold  and  hot  seasons 
is  kept  up  at  Faizibdd  and  Bahramghdt ;  during  the  rains  it  is  replaced 
by  a  well-served  ferry;  45  other  ferries  are  maintained  at  different  points 
of  the  river  in  Oudh,  and  several  in  the  North-Western  Provinces. 

Oohad. — Town  in  Gwalior  State,  Central  India ;  on  the  road  from 
Etiwah  to  Gwalior,  55  miles  south-west  of  the  former,  and  28  north- 
east of  the  latter  town.  Lat  260  25'  n.,  long.  780  29'  e.  A  fortified  town, 
formerly  the  capital  of  a  Jat  chieftain,  who  rose  into  power  from  the 
position  of  a  landholder  during  the  troublous  times  at  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century,  and  established  himself  at  the  expense  of  his  neigh- 
bours. In  1779,  the  chief  entered  into  alliance  with  the  British,  who 
assisted  him  in  a  struggle  against  Sindhia.  Sindhia's  capital  was  cap- 
tured by  a  British  force,  and  made  over  to  the  Gonad  chief.  Five 
years  later,  however,  the  position  was  reversed ;  Sindhia  besieged  and 
re-obtained  possession  of  Gwalior  f6rt,  and  also  captured  the  capital  of 
his  enemy.  In  1803,  certain  territorial  arrangements  were  effected  by 
which  the  town  and  territory  of  Gohad  were  transferred  to  Sindhia, 
and  the  Gohad  Rina  received  instead  the  territory  of  Dholpur,  which 
his  descendants  still  hold.  The  fortifications  of  Gohad  consist  of  an 
outer  curtain  of  mud,  faced  with  stone,  enclosing  an  extensive  area, 
between  which  and  the  citadel  are  two  other  walls.  The  citadel  is 
lofty,  with  massive  towers,  and  has  spacious  and  commodious  apart- 
ments. Thieffenthaler,  who  visited  Gohad  in  the  last  century,  describes 
it  as  a  populous  and  rich  place.     It  is  now,  however,  much  decayed. 

Goh&na. — Northern  tahsil  of  Rohtak  District,  Punjab ;  irrigated  by 
the  Western  Jumna  Canal,  which  affords  a  water  supply  to  35,755 
acres.     Pop.  (1868),  119,539;  persons  per  square  mile,  352. 

Goh&na. — Municipal  town  in  Rohtak  District,  Punjab,  and  head- 
quarters of  the  tahsil.  Lat  290  8'  n.,  long.  760  45'  e.  ;  pop.  (1868), 
7124,  being  3361  Hindus,  3757  Muhammadans,  and  6  Sikhs.  Founded 
about  the  middle  of  the  13th  century  by  a  Rijput  and  a  Bania, 
converts  to  the  faith  of  Isl£m,  who  were  permitted  to  settle  on 


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422  GOHEL  WAR— GOLA. 

the  present  site.  Tahsih\  police  station,  post  office,  school.  Yearly 
fair  at  tomb  of  Shih  Zii-ud-din  Muhammad,  a  saint  who  accompanied 
Muhammad  Ghori  in  his  invasion  of  Upper  India.  Two  temples  of 
the  Surdogi  deity,  Parasndth,  where  an  annual  festival  takes  place  in 
the  month  of  Bhadra.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^£318,  or  io|d. 
per  head  of  population  (7302)  within  municipal  limits. 

Gohelw&r  (or  Gohelwad). — Tributary  State,  forming  one  of  the  five 
southern  divisions  of  Kithidwdr,  so  named  from  the  tribe  of  Gohel 
Rijputs  by  whom  it  is  principally  peopled.  The  State,  however,  is 
more  generally  known  as  Bhaunagar,  from  its  chief  town. 

Ook&k.  —  Chief  town  of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name  in 
Belgium  District,  Bombay.  Lat  160  io'  n.,  long.  74°  52'  e.;  30  miles 
north-east  of  Belgium.  Pop.  (1872),  12,612;  municipal  revenue 
(1874-75),  ^362 ;  rate  of  taxation,  7d.  per  head.  Headquarters  of  the 
chief  revenue  and  police  officers  of  the  Subdivision,  post  office,  and 
dispensary.  Gokik  was  formerly  the  seat  of  a  large  dyeing  and  weaving 
industry ;  of  late  years  this  business  has  much  decayed,  but  there  is  still 
a  considerable  trade  in  coarse  paper.  Toys  representing  figures  and 
fruits,  made  of  light  wood,  and  of  a  particular  earth  found  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, command  an  extensive  sale. 

Gokiru.  —  Municipal  town  in  North  Kanara  District,  Bombay. 
Pop.  (1872),  3707;  municipal  revenue  (1874-75),  ^£226;  rate  of 
taxation,  is.  2d  per  head.  Gokaru  is  a  place  of  pilgrimage  frequented 
by  Hindu  devotees  from  all  parts  of  India,  especially  by  wandering 
pilgrims  and  ascetics  who  go  round  the  principal  shrines  of  the  country. 
A  fair  is  annually  held  in  February,  at  which  from  2000  to  8000  people 
assemble. 

OokuL — Town  in  Muttra  (Mathura)  District,  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces; situated  on  the  left  or  eastern  bank  of  the  Jumna  river.  Lat 
27°  26'  N.,long.  770  46'  30*  e.  ;  6  miles  south-east  of  Muttra  town.  Hindu 
tradition  regards  the  village  as  the  spot  where  Vishnu  first  visited  the 
earth  in  the  form  of  Krishna.  Also  noted  as  the  place  where  Vallabhi 
Sw£mi,  a  Hindu  reformer  of  the  16th  century,  first  preached  his  doctrines. 

Gola. — Tahsil,  or  Subdivision  of  Kheri  District,  Oudh.  Pop.  (1869), 
Hindus,  201,479;  Muhammadans and  'others,'  19,442  ;  total,  220,921. 
Area,  105 1  square  miles,  or  672,591  acres;  262,744  acres  culti- 
vated, and  176,186  acres  cultivable  but  not  under  tillage;  remainder 
revenue-free  or  barren.  Land  revenue  (1868-69),  <£I4>93^  Average 
assessment  on  total  area,  5§d  per  acre ;  on  assesssed  area,  8£d.  per 
acre ;  on  cultivated  area,  is.  if  d.  per  acre. 

Gola. — Town  in  Kheri  District,  Oudh,  on  the  road  from  Lakhimpur 
to  Shihjahdnpur.  Lat  280  4'  40"  n.,  long.  8o°  30'  45"  e.  Picturesquely 
situated  at  the  base  of  a  semicircle  of  small  hills,  covered  for  the  most 
part  with  sdl  forests,  with  a  lake  to  the  south     The  Gosain  community 


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GOLAGHAT— GOLCONDA.  423 

has  a  monastic  establishment  here,  and  numerous  tombs  have  been  built 
in  honour  of  its  principal  men.  Pop.  ( 1 869),  2  584.  Seat  of  considerable 
sugar  manufacture  Daily  market,  and  special  bi-weekly  market.  Seat 
of  an  important  Hindu  fair  held  twice  every  year,  in  the  months  of 
Philgun  and  Chaitra,  in  honour  of  Gokarndth  Mahadeo.  These  fairs 
last  for  fifteen  days  each,  and  are  attended  by  from  75,000  to  100,000 
persons,  pilgrims  as  well  as  traders.  Estimated  average  annual  value 
of  trade,  ^10,000. 

Gol&gh&t. — Subdivision  in  Sfbsagar  District,  Assam;  containing 
54  mausds  or  village  unions,  and  14,826  houses.  Pop.  (1872), 
Hindus,  72,616;  Muhammadans,  3528;  Christians,  28;  ( others,'  314; 
total,  76,486,  viz.  39,532  males  and  36,954  females.  Average  number 
of  persons  per  mauzd,  141 6 ;  persons  per  house,  5*2.  The  Subdivision 
was  constituted  in  1846.  In  1870-71,  it  contained  4  magisterial, 
revenue,  and  civil  courts,  together  with  a  regular  police  force  of  35  men ; 
the  separate  cost  of  Subdivisional  administration  amounted  to  ^2055. 

Gol&gh&t. — Village  in  Sibsagar  District,  Assam,  and  headquarters 
of  the  Subdivision  of  the  same  name,  on  the  Dhaneswari  river.  Lat 
260  30'  n.,  long.  940  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  1615.  It  is  built  on  high  ground, 
broken  by  ravines,  and  ranks  as  one  of  the  healthiest  places  in  Assam. 
Steamers  are  able  to  reach  Golaghit  during  the  rainy  season,  and  the  river 
is  navigable  for  small  boats  all  the  year  through.  In  the  cold  weather, 
the  Nagas  from  beyond  the  frontier  come  down  in  large  numbers, 
bringing  cotton  and  vegetables  to  barter  for  salt,  fish,  and  live  stock. 

Golconda. — Fortress  and  ruined  city,  situated  in  the  Nizam's  Domi- 
nions, 7  miles  west  of  Haidaribid  (Hyderabad)  city.  Lat.  170  22'  n., 
long.  7 8°  26'  30*  e.  In  former  times,  Golconda  was  a  large  and  powerful 
kingdom  of  the  Deccan,  which  arose  on  the  downfall  of  the  Bdhmani 
dynasty,  but  was  subdued  by  Aurangzeb  in  1687,  and  annexed 
to  the  dominions  of  the  Delhi  empire.  The  fortress  of  Golconda, 
situated  on  a  rocky  ridge  of  granite,  is  extensive,  and  contains  many 
enclosures.  It  is  strong  and  in  good  repair,  but  is  commanded  by  the 
summits  of  the  enormous  and  massive  mausolea  of  the  ancient  kings, 
about  600  yards  distant  These  buildings,  which  are  now  the  chief 
characteristic  of  the  place,  form  a  vast  group,  situated  in  an  arid,  rocky 
desert  They  have  suffered  considerably  from  the  ravages  of  time,  but 
more  from  the  hand  of  man,  and  nothing  but  the  great  solidity  of  their 
walls  has  preserved  them  from  utter  ruin.  These  tombs  were  erected 
at  a  great  expense,  some  of  them  being  said  to  have  cost  as  much  as 
;£i 50,000.  Golconda  fort  is  now  used  as  the  Nizam's  treasury,  and 
also  as  the  State  prison.  The  diamonds  of  Golconda  have  obtained 
great  celebrity  throughout  the  world;  but  they  were  merely  cut  and 
polished  here,  being  generally  found  at  Partial,  near  the  south-eastern 
frontier  of  the  Nizam's  territory. 


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424  GOLCONDA—GONDA  DISTRIC1. 

Oolconda  (Golugonda  or  Golgondd), — Government  tdluk  in  Viiaga- 
patam  District,  Madras.  Lat  170  28'  to  180  4'  n.,  long.  8i°  30'  to 
820  40'  e.  ;  area,  5009  square  miles,  with  228  villages,  23,666  houses, 
and  (187 1)  94,782  inhabitants— viz.  males,  48,763,  and  females,  46,019. 
Classified  according  to  religion,  there  were  in  1871 — Hindus,  93,7  73, 
including  58,591  Vishnuvites  and  35,164  Sivaites;  Muhammadans, 
987,  including  822  Sunnis,  14  Shtes,  and  96  Wahabfs;  Christians,  22. 
Of  the  villages,  113  are  ruyatwdri,  or  held  direct  from  Government  by 
the  cultivators.  Land  revenue,  ^9334.  This  tdluk,  which  contains  a 
large  tract  of  hill  country,  and  about  2000  square  miles  of  Government 
forest,  was  one  of  the  largest  and  most  ancient  zaminddris  or  landed 
estates  in  the  District,  the  zaminddrs  being  relatives  and  feudatories  of 
the  Jaipur  (Jeypore)  chief.  In  1836,  in  consequence  of  the  murder  of 
the  Rini,  the  British  authorities  had  to  sequestrate  the  estate  and  im- 
prison the  zaminddr%  and  in  the  following  year  the  estate  was  bought  by 
Government  at  auction.  In  1845,  the  sarddrs  or  chiefs  rose  in  rebellion, 
and  held  their  ground  for  three  years;  and  again,  in  1857-58,  it  was 
found  necessary  to  send  troops  against  them.  The  zaminddri  has 
been  converted  into  a  Government  tdluk  with  headquarters  at  Narsa- 
patam,  where  a  strong  police  force  under  an  assistant  superintendent 
is  maintained.  The  forests  are  of  considerable  value,  and  are  now 
conserved.  Also  noted  for  the  excellence  of  its  oranges.  The  chief 
town  of  the  tdluk,  another  Golconda,  is  situated  in  lat  170  40'  40*  n., 
and  long.  820  30'  50"  e. 

Gollagudem. — Small  village  on  the  Godavari  river,  in  Upper  Goda- 
vari  District,  Central  Provinces.  Lat  17°  39'  n.,  long.  8i°  1'  30*  e. 
Vessels  navigating  the  Upper  Godavari  take  in  and  deliver  cargo  here, 
and  travellers  are  permitted  to  occupy  the  small  inspection  bungalow 
belonging  to  the  Public  Works  Department. 

Golugonda. — Tdluk  in  Vizagapatam  District,  Madras. — See  Gol- 
conda. 

GomaL— Pass  across  the  SuUiman  range,  from  the  Punjab  into 
Afghanistan.  It  follows  the  course  of  the  Gomal  river,  and  is  a  pass 
of  great  importance,  being  the  great  highway  of  the  Povindah  trading 
tribes  to  Kibul  and  Kandahan 

Gonda. — A  District  of  Oudh  in  the  Faizabid  (Fyzabad)  Division  or 
Commissionership,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  lat  26°  46'  and  27°  50'  N., 
and  between  long.  8i°  35'  and  82°  48'  e.  Area  (Parliamentary 
Return,  1877),  2824  square  miles;  population,  according  to  Census  of 
1869,  1,166,515.  In  shape,  the  District  is  an  irregular  oblong,  slightly 
pinched  in  the  middle,  with  an  extreme  length  of  68  and  an  extreme 
breadth  of  66  miles.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  the  lower  range  of  the 
Himalayas,  separating  it  from  Nepil;.on  the  east  by  Basti  District; 

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GONDA  DISTRICT.  4*5 

on  the  south  by  Faizibdd  and  Bara  Banki,  the  Gogra  river  forming  the 
boundary  line ;  and  on  the  west  by  Bahriich. 

Physical  Aspects. — Gonda  presents  the  aspect  of  a  vast  plain,  with 
very  slight  undulations,  studded  with  groves  of  mango  trees ;  in  parts, 
the  large  mahud  trees,  left  standing  on  green  pasture  grounds  where 
the  other  jungle  has  been  cut  down,  give  an  English  park-like 
appearance.  During  the  fine  clear  months  at  the  end  of  the  rainy 
season,  the  range  of  the  Himalayas,  with  the  towering  peak  of  Diwala- 
giri  in  the  centre,  forms  a  magnificent  background  to  the  north.  The 
villages,  except  in  the  north,  are  very  small,  being  generally  divided 
into  a  number  of  minute  hamlets,  of  which  over  thirty  will  sometimes  be 
included  in  a  single  village  boundary.  This  may  be  attributed  partly 
to  a  comparative  freedom  from  the  disastrous  clan  wars  which,  in  other 
parts  of  Oudh,  drove  the  villagers  to  congregate  for  the  sake  of  security, 
and  partly  to  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  the  District  has  been  only 
lately  reclaimed  from  jungle.  Throughout  the  District,  the  surface 
consists  of  a  rich  alluvial  deposit,  which  is  divided  naturally  into  three 
great  belts,  known  as  the  tardi  or  swampy  tract,  the  uparhdr  or 
uplands,  and  the  tarh&r  or  wet  lowlands.  (1)  The  first  of  these,  the 
tardi,  extends  from  the  forests  on  the  northern  boundary,  and  reaches 
southwards  to  a  line  about  2  miles  south  of  the  Rapti,  running  through 
the  towns  of  Balrimpur  and  Utraula.  The  soil  is  generally  a  heavy 
clay,  except  in  places  where  the  rain-swollen  mountain  torrents  which 
flow  into  the  Ripti  and  Burf  Rapti  have  flooded  the  neighbouring 
fields  with  a  sandy  deposit  of  debris  from  the  hills.  (2)  The  uparhdr 
begins  where  the  tardi  ends,  and  extends  south  to  a  rough  line 
drawn  east  and  west  about  2  miles  below  Gonda  town.  The  soil 
is  generally  a  good  domdt,  or  mixture  of  clay  and  sand,  with  occa- 
sional patches  of  clay.  (3)  The  tarhdr  or  wet  lowland  reaches  from 
the  uparhdr  to  the  Gogra,  which  forms  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
District.  The  soil  is  a  light  domdt,  with  an  occasional  excess  of  sand* 
These  three  belts  are  marvellously  fertile;  and  there  is  said  to  be  hardly 
an  acre  of  land  in  the  District  which  would  not  eventually  reward  patient 
labour.  The  vast  tracts  of  barren  saline  efflorescence  (reh)  which  are 
so  common  in  the  south  of  Oudh  are  quite  unknown  here.  The  chief 
rivers,  beginning  in  the  north,  are  the  Burl  Ripti,  Ripti,  Suwiwan, 
Kuwdna,  Bistihi,  Chamnai,  Manwar,  Tirhi,  Sarju,  and  Gogra,  all 
flowing  from  north-west  to  south-east  The  Gogra  and  Ripti  are  alone 
of  any  commercial  importance,  the  first  being  navigable  throughout  the 
year,  and  the  latter  during  the  rainy  months.  The  rivers  in  the  centre 
of  the  District  are  mere  shallow  streams  in  the  hot  weather,  fringed  in 
most  places  with  a  jungle  of  young  sdl  trees,  mixed  with  mahud,  and 
ending  at  the  water's  edge  with  a  cane-brake  or  line  of  jdmun  trees. 
Dangerous  quicksands,  covered  with  a  green  coating  of  short  grass,  are 


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426  GONDA  DISTRICT. 

exceedingly  common  along  the  edge  of  the  water.  The  whole  District 
is  studded  with  small  shallow  lakes,  the  water  of  which  is  largely  used 
for  irrigation,  and  on  the  margin  of  which  grows  a  variety  of  wild  rice 
(tinni),  which  furnishes  an  important  article  of  food  to  the  lower  classes. 
A  strip  of  Government  reserved  forest  runs  along  the  foot  of  the  hills, 
the  most  valuable  trees  being  the  sdl  (Shorea  robusta),  dhdm  (Cono- 
carpus  latifolia),  ebony  (Diospyros  meianoxylum),  and  Acacia  catechu. 
The  wild  animals  consist  of  tigers,  leopards,  bears,  wolves,  black 
antelope,  deer  of  various  kinds,  and  wild  pigs,  among  large  game. 
Snipe,  jungle  fowl,  quail,  peacock,  partridges,  ortolans,  and  pigeons, 
are  the  principal  game  birds.  Fish  are  abundant  in  the  rivers  and 
lakes ;  alligators  and  porpoises  are  common. 

History. — The  early  history  of  the  District  is  centred  in  that  of 
Sravasti,  the  modern  Sahet  Mahet,  capital  of  the  kingdom  ruled  over 
by  Lava,  the  son  of  Rdma.  After  a  period  represented  in  the  Vishnu 
Purina  by  fifty  generations  of  kings,  who  ruled  either  at  Sravasti  or  at 
Kapilavastu  (Gorakhpur),  the  historical  age  commences  (6th  cent  b.c) 
with  King  Praseniditya,  the  contemporary  of  Buddha,  and  one  of  his 
early  converts,  who  invited  the  Sage  to  Sravasti.  During  eight  genera- 
tions, Sravasti  remained  a  principal  centre  of  the  Buddhist  religion. 

The  kingdom  reached  its  culminating  power  in  the  reign  of  the 
Oudh  Vikramdditya,  in  the  2d  century  a.d.  This  monarch  was  a 
bigoted  Brahmanist;  and  it  was  perhaps  through  civil  wars  between  the 
followers  of  the  rival  religions  that  his  kingdom  so  quickly  collapsed. 
Within  thirty  years  of  his  death,  the  sceptre  had  passed  to  the  Gupta 
dynasty,  and  this  thickly  populated  seat  of  one  of  the  most  ancient 
kingdoms  in  India  before  long  relapsed  into  jungle.  The  high 
road  between  the  two  capitals,  Sravasti  and  Kapilavastu,  was  in 
the  time  of  the  Chinese  pilgrim  a  dense  forest  infested  with  wild 
elephants.  When  it  next  emerges  into  history,  the  District  was  the 
seat  of  a  Jain  kingdom,  which,  in  the  hands  of  Sohildeo,  was  powerful 
enough  to  exterminate  the  victorious  forces  of  Sayyid  Salir,  the  nephew 
of  Mahmdd  of  Ghaznf.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  this  dynasty 
shared  the  fate  of  its  predecessors;  and  at  the  time  of  the  second 
Muhammadan  conquest,  a  Dom  Rdj£  ruled  Gonda  with  his  capital  at 
Domangarh  on  the  Ripti,  in  Gorakhpur.  The  most  famous  ruler  of 
this  race  was  Rlj£  Ugrasen,  who  had  a  fort  at  Dumriadih  in  Mahidewa 
pargand.  The  establishment  of  many  villages  in  the  south  of  the 
District  is  traced  to  grants  of  land,  generally  in  favour  of  Tharus, 
Doms,  Bhars,  and  Pisfs,  made  by  this  Raj£  As  no  similar  tradi- 
tion exists  to  the  north  of  the  Kuwina,  it  may  be  conjectured  that 
that  tract  was  then  mainly  covered  with  forest.  This  low-caste  Dom 
kingdom  was  subverted  in  the  beginning  of  the  14th  century  by 
the  Kshattriya  clans  of  the  Kalhdnsis,  Janwirs,  and  Bisens.    The 


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GONDA  DISTRICT.  427 

first-named  tribe  occupied  the  country  from  Hisampur  in  Bahraich 
far  into  the  interior  of  Gorakhpur.  It  is  related  of  them  that  their 
leader  Sahaj  Sinh,  at  the  head  of  a  small  force,  came  from  the  Nar- 
bad£  (Nerbudda)  valley,  with  the  army  of  one  of  the  Tughlak 
emperors,  and  was  commissioned  by  him  to  bring  into  obedience 
the  country  between  the  Gogra  and  the  hills.  Their  first  settle- 
ment was  in  the  Koeli  jungle,  about  2  miles  south-west  of  Kurasa, 
which  town  subsequently  gave  its  name  to  the  chieftainship  thus 
established.  The  thinly  populated  country  was  distributed  vajdgirs  of 
about  i\  kos  each  among  the  leading  officers  of  the  cavalry.  The 
ruling  family  came  to  a  tragic  end.  Raja*  Achal  Narayan  Sinh,  having 
carried  off  the  daughter  of  a  Brahman  zaminddr  by  force,  the  latter  sat 
down  before  the  door  of  the  oppressor's  palace,  and  deliberately  starved 
himself  to  death,  after  having  pronounced  the  curse  of  extinction  upon 
the  Rajis,  with  the  exception  of  the  offspring  of  the  youngest  queen. 
The  Brahman's  prediction  was  speedily  fulfilled,  the  Raja's  palace  and 
fortress  being  soon  afterwards  overwhelmed  by  the  river  Sarju,  and 
himself  and  family  drowned,  save  only  the  young  queen,  who  was 
exempted  from  the  Brahman's  avenging  prediction.  She  afterwards 
gave  birth  to  a  son,  whose  descendants  are  the  present  Kalhansi  zamin- 
ddrs  of  Babhnipdir.  The  overthrow  of  the  great  Kalhansi  dynasty 
occurred  in  the  latter  part  of  the  15th  century.  Some  time  before  this, 
however,  the  north  of  the  District  had  been  occupied  by  the  JanwArs, 
whose  forest  kingdom  comprised  the  whole  sub-Himalayan  tardi ;  and 
for  long  they  divided  with  the  Kalhans  the  chieftainship  of  the  whole 
of  the  District  The  overthrow  of  the  Kalhdnsi  dynasty  was  followed  by 
several  years  of  anarchy.  In  the  reign  of  Akbar,  with  the  exception  of 
Ikauni  and  Utraula,  there  were  no  powerful  chieftains  in  this  part  of 
Oudh.  The  Kalhansis  of  Babhnipair  and  Guwarich  were  never  of  any 
considerable  importance ;  and  the  rest  of  the  District  was  covered  with 
small  semi-independent  tribes  of  Bisens  and  Bandalghotis,  and  quasi- 
proprietary  communities  of  Brahmans.  During  the  next  period,  the 
Bisens,  who  had  been  steadily  rising  in  power  for  some  time,  consoli- 
dated the  great  Bisen  rdj  of  Gonda,  comprising  a  territory  of  1000 
square  miles;  the  Janwars  sent  out  an  independent  branch  between 
the  Kuwana  and  the  hills,  and  the  large  chieftainships  of  Balrampur, 
Ttflsipur,  and  Minikpur  were  formed.  For  some  time  before  the 
separation  of  Oudh  from  the  Delhi  Empire,  and  its  erection  into  a 
separate  Muhammadan  kingdom  under  Saidat  Khan,  the  trans-Gogra 
chiefs  had  enjoyed  a  virtual  independence,  waging  wars  among  them- 
selves, and  exempt  from  any  regular  calls  for  the  payment  of  tribute  or 
revenue.  The  new  Muhammadan  power  was  vigorously  resisted  by 
the  Kij£  of  Gonda,  who  defeated  and  slew  the  first  of  the  new  Gover- 
nors, Alawal  Khdn  of  Bahriich.    A  second  force  was  sent  against  him» 

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428  GONDA  DISTRICT. 

and  he  was  for  a  time  reduced  to  extremities ;  but  the  arrival  of  rein- 
forcements compelled  the  Naw£b  to  raise  the  siege,  and  to  be  satisfied 
with  a  partial  submission,  and  a  promise  to  pay  a  fixed  tribute.  For 
the  next  seventy  years,  a  series  of  powerful  Bisen  chiefs  retained  a  semi- 
independence,  and  engaged  separately  for  the  whole  of  their  five  ancestral 
pargands  of  Gonda,  Paharapur,  Digsdr,  Mahddewa,  and  Nawabganj. 
It  was  not  till  the  murder  of  Raja  Hindupat  Sinh  and  his  entire  family 
by  his  hereditary  enemies,  the  Brahman  Pandes,  that  the  Oudh 
Government,  by  obtaining  possession  of  his  successor,  a  youth  named 
Gumin  Sinh,  was  enabled  to  break  up  the  power  of  the  Gonda  princi- 
pality, and  to  collect  the  revenue  direct  from  the  village  head-men. 
Balrampur  and  Tdlsipur  still  held  out  for  independence,  and,  though 
worsted  in  many  fights,  managed  to  retain  their  positions  as  chieftains, 
and  were  let  off  with  a  lump  assessment  on  their  whole  estates,  which 
left  them  considerable  profits.  The  lords  of  Manikpur  and  Babhnipair 
in  the  same  way  were  allowed  to  collect  the  rents  in  their  own  villages, 
and  pay  the  revenue  in  a  lump  sum  to  the  Nazim.  Up  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  present  century,  there  was  nothing  at  all  in  Gonda 
District  resembling  the  tdluka  estates  in  other  parts  of  Oudh.  The 
hereditary  chieftains  were  each  supreme  within  the  territorial  limits  of 
his  rdj.  As  soon  as  Gonda  and  Utraula  became  broken  up,  and  the 
revenue  realized  by  official  collectors,  t&lukas  sprang  into  existence. 
The  Nazims  found  it  convenient,  and  in  some  cases  necessary,  to  let 
large  numbers  of  villages  to  wealthy  individuals  as  tdlukddrs,  or  simple 
farmers  of  Government  revenue.  As  a  rule,  these  tdlukddris  lasted  but 
a  short  time,  and  their  small  collections  of  villages  became  absorbed  by 
the  Pandes,  with  whose  power  and  wealth  no  one  in  the  District  could 
compete.  The  dispossessed  Rijds  of  Utraula  and  Gonda  attempted  to 
acquire  tdlukas^  and  to  combine  the  character  of  revenue  fanner  with 
that  of  feudal  lord.  The  Raja  of  Utraula  succeeded  for  a  few  years, 
but  finally  had  to  content  himself  with  the  few  villages  assigned  for  his 
support.  The  Gonda  Bisens,  however,  got  together  the  magnificent 
estate  of  Bisambharpur.  The  exactions  of  the  Nazims,  or  revenue 
deputies  of  the  Lucknow  Court,  have  been  described  in  the  account  of 
Bahraich.  The  annexation  of  Oudh  brought  relief  to  the  people ;  but 
in  making  the  land  settlement,  the  first  Deputy  Commissioner  of  the 
District,  Colonel  Boileau,  was  killed  by  a  notorious  freebooter  named 
Fazl  Ali. 

On  the  outbreak  of  the  Mutiny,  the  Raja*  of  Gonda,  after  honour- 
ably escorting  the  Government  treasure  to  Faizab£d  (Fyzabad),  threw 
in  his  lot  with  the  rebels,  and  joined  the  standard  of  the  Begara  of 
Oudh  at  Lucknow.  The  Raja*  of  Balrampur  remained  loyal  throughout 
the  struggle.  He  steadily  declined  to  recognise  the  rebel  Government, 
received  and  protected  Sir  C.  Wingfield,  the  Commissioner  of  Gonda 


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GONDA  DISTRICT.  429 

and  Bahrdich,  together  with  other  English  officers,  in  his  fort,  and  after- 
wards forwarded  them  safely,  under  a  strong  escort,  to  Gorakhpur. 
The  Gonda  Rdjd,  after  the  relief  of  Lucknow,  fixed  his  camp  at 
Lampti  on  the  Chamnii  river,  with  a  force  said  to  amount  to  20,000 
men,  who  were,  however,  dispirited  at  the  English  successes  else- 
where. After  only  a  very  feeble  resistance,  the  broken  remnants  of  his 
forces  were  swept  across  the  Rapti  and  over  the  lower  range  of  the 
Himalayas  into  Nepal.  Most  of  the  rebel  tdlukddrs  accepted  the 
amnesty,  but  neither  the  Raja*  of  Gonda  nor  the  Rani  of  Ttflsipur  could 
be  induced  to  come  in  (although  the  conduct  of  the  former  throughout 
the  Mutiny  had  been  free  from  overt  crime) ;  and  their  estates  were 
accordingly  confiscated  and  conferred  as  rewards  upon  Maharaja  Dig 
Bijai  Sinh  of  Bah4mpur  and  Maharaja  Sir  Man  Sinh  of  Shahganj. 

Population. — The  population  of  Gonda  District,  according  to  the 
Census  of  1869,  amounted  to  602,862  males  and  563,653  females; 
total,  1,166,515,  dwelling  in  2834  villages  or  townships,  and  219,090 
houses;  average  pressure  of  the  population  on  the  soil,  413  per  square 
mile.  The  Hindus  number  1,049,397,  or  89  per  cent,  of  the  popula- 
tion; Muhammadans,  117,070,  or  n  per  cent.;  Christians  (European, 
Eurasian,  and  native),  48.  The  Br£hmans  are  the  most  numerous 
caste,  numbering  203,149,  or  18  per  cent,  of  the  total  population. 
They  are  almost  all  of  the  Sarwaria*  sept,  but  with  a  slight  sprinkling  of 
Gaurs,  Kanaujias,  and  Sakaldwipis.  The  Gonda  Brihmans  have  long 
been  noted  for  their  military  spirit ;  and  they  formed  one  of  the  most 
important  elements  in  the  forces  of  the  great  Bisen  Rdjis.  With  the 
exception  of  the  Pathans  of  Utraula,  the  ruling  classes  are  everywhere 
Kshattriyas,  of  which  the  principal  families  are  the  Kalhins  of  Babhni- 
p£ir  and  Chhedwdra,  the  Bisens  of  Gonda  and  Minikpur,  the  Bandal- 
ghotis  of  Manikpur  and  Naw£bganj,  the  Janwars  of  Balrimpur,  and 
Goraha  Bisens  of  Mahidewa.  These  Rajput  castes  number  49,313. 
The  great  cultivating  castes  are  the  Ahirs,  122,106;  Korfs,  110,916; 
and  Kurmfs,  92,321.  The  Kahars,  mostly  servants  and  palanquin- 
bearers,  number  44,978.  The  remnants  of  aboriginal  tribes  comprise  the 
Tharus,  Bhars,  Doms,  Pasis,  Araks,  and  Khatiks  and  Nats.  Of  these, 
the  first  three  are  the  pioneers  of  cultivation.  Settling  along  the  edge 
of  the  jungle,  they  clear  the  trees  and  prepare  the  land  for  tillage,  only 
to  leave  it,  when  the  task  is  accomplished,  to  the  steadier  industry  of 
the  Kurmf  or  the  Ahfr.  The  Barwars  are  a  predatory  tribe  of  Hindus, 
who  spread  over  the  country  in  gangs  of  40  or  50 ;  they  have  no  scruple 
in  robbing  temples,  but  will  not  steal  cattle.  The  Muhammadans  are 
most  influential,  and  most  numerous  in  proportion  to  the  Hindus,  in 
the  old  Pathan  estate  of  Utraula,  where  they  form  the  majority  of  the 
village  proprietors ;  as  common  cultivators  they  are  very  thick  all  over 
the  north  of  the  District.     Their  religion  is  strongly  intermingled  with 


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43©  GONDA  DISTRICT. 

Hinduism,  and  the  services  of  the  Brihman  astrologer  are  held  in  high 
estimation  by  high  and  low.  Five  towns  in  the  District  contain  a 
population  exceeding  5000 — viz.  Gonda,  pop.  11,966;  Balrampur, 
13,878;  Colonelganj,  9788;  Nawabganj,  6141 ;  and  Utraula, 
5988, — all  of  which  see  separately.  The  above,  together  with  Katri 
and  Khargupur,  are  municipalities;  total  municipal  income,  ^2375. 
The  different  villages  and  townships  are  thus  classified : — 1005  contain 
less  than  200  inhabitants;  1079,  from  200  to  500;  542,  from  500  to 
1000;  152,  from  1000  to  2000;  35  from  2000  to  5000;  and  5  up- 
wards of  5000  inhabitants.  The  principal  places  of  pilgrimage  are 
the  temple  of  Pateswari  Debi  at  Debi  Patan,  the  thdkurdwdra  of 
the  new  Vaishnavi  sect  at  Chhipia,  and  the  temples  of  Baleswarnith 
Mahideo  in  Mahidewa,  Karnanath  Mahideo  at  Machhligaon,  Bijleswari 
Debi  at  Balrampur,  and  Pacharanith  and  Pritwinath  at  Khargupur. 

Agriculture.  —  Rice,  wheat,  and  barley  are  the  chief  agricultural 
staples,  comprising  more  than  one-half  the  total  cultivated  area  of  the 
District     There  are  three  harvests — the  kharif,  the  henwdt,  and  the 
rabi — of  which  the  relative  importance  varies  in  different  parts  of 
the  District.     In  the  centre  tableland,  the  rabi,  and  in  the  north,  the 
henwdt,  are  most  depended  upon.     In  the  south,  the  kharif,  when 
the  rains  are  moderate,  yields  a  magnificent  crop  of  Indian  corn ;  and 
excessive  rains,  while  they  are  fatal  to  that  particular  crop,  leave  a  fair 
crop  of  rice,  and  secure  an  abundant  wheat  harvest  for  the  rati. 
Ploughing  for  the  kharif  begins  at  the  end  of  May,  and  continues 
throughout  June  ;  the  seed  is  sown  in  the  beginning  of  July,  and  cutting 
commences  in  September,  or,  in  the  case  of  rice,  even  earlier.     By  the 
middle  of  October,  all  the  autumn  crops  are  off  the  ground.     Land  for 
the  henwdt  or  Christmas  crop  is  ploughed  at  the  commencement  of  the 
rains,  and  the  sowing  continues  during  the  growth  of  the  kharif.     In 
the  case  of  transplanted  rice  (jarhan),  the  planting  out  is  done  at  the 
beginning  of  August,  and  the  cutting  continues  throughout  November. 
In  the  middle  of  December,  the  cutting  of  the  oil-seeds  commences, 
and  lasts  till  the  first  week  of  January.     Preparations  for  the  next 
year's  spring  crop  commence  before  the  rains  set  in ;    and  in  the 
case  of  wheat,  the  first  ploughing  generally  takes  place  in  June.     At 
the  end  of  August,  the  field  receives  two  or  three  more  ploughings,  and 
a  last  ploughing  in  September.     Sowing  takes  place  in  October  and 
November,  and  the  crop  is  cut  early  in  March.    April  is  occupied  in 
threshing  and  winnowing.     The  total  cultivated  area  of  the  District  is 
returned  at  993,858  acres,  but  including  land  bearing  two  crops, 
1,311,469  acres  are  cultivated  yearly.     The  acreage  under  the  seven 
principal  crops  in   1874  was  as  follows:  —  Rice,  408,171;    wheat, 
190,468;  barley,  108,200;  jodr,  95,035;  arhdr,  85,519;  kodo,  59,844; 
alsi,  52,910.     Irrigation  is  largely  practised,  the  area  watered  in  1874 

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GONDA  DISTRICT.  431 

being  returned  at  429,280  acres,  of  which  137,369  acres  were  watered 
from  tanks,  147,852  from  rivers,  and  144,059  from  wells.  Prices  of 
food  grains  do  not  range  quite  so  high  in  Gonda  as  in  other  Districts ; 
but  they  are  higher  than  might  be  expected  from  the  scanty  population, 
owing  mainly  to  the  great  facilities  for  export  afforded  by  the  Gogra. 
Prices  have  considerably  risen  of  late  years.  Between  the  ten  years 
1861-70,  the  rates  for  unhusked  rice  rose  from  2s.  2d.  to  3s.  6£d.  a  cwt. ; 
common  husked  rice  from  4s.  2d  to  6s.  7d. ;  wheat,  from  3s.  3d.  to 
5&  9d. ;  barley,  from  is.  nd.  to  4s.  7d. ;  bdjra,  from  3s.  9d.  to  4s.  7d.; 
jedr,  from  is.  nd.  to  3s.  lod. ;  gram,  from  '2s.  6d.  to  4s.  2d. ;  arhdr, 
from  4s.  2d.  to  5s.  6d. ;  urid,  from  3s.  9d.  to  8s.  6d. ;  m&g,  from  5s.  9A 
to  7s.  6d. ;  musuri,  from  2s.  3d.  to  4s.  7d.  a  cwt.  Prices,  however, 
ranged  unusually  high  in  1870,  as  the  District  had  not  recovered  from 
the  effects  of  the  scarcity  in  the  previous  year.  The  famine  of  1874  was 
severely  felt,  and  Government  relief  works  on  a  large  scale  were  under- 
taken. Gonda  is  pre-eminently  a  District  of  large  landed  proprietors ; 
21  tdlukddrs  are  returned  as  in  the  possession  of  estates  covering 
x>34if448  acres,  and  including  1993  whole  villages  and  199  shares; 
875  villages  or  shares  are  held  on  ordinary  tenure  by  small  proprietors. 
The  principal  estates  are  those  of  the  Maharaja  of  Balrampur,  with 
568,188  acres;  Raja*  Krishna  Datt  Rim  P£nde,  226,871  acres; 
and  Maharaja*  Man  Sinh,  201,734  acres.  The  tdlukd  estates  are 
assessed  at  a  total  Government  revenue  of  ,£127,726,  or  an  average  of 
is.  iojd.  per  acre  over  the  entire  area ;  while  the  small  proprietors  are 
assessed  at  ,£42,212,  on  a  total  area  of  408,030  acres,  or  an  average 
of  2s.  id.  per  acre.  The  apparent  advantage  on  the  side  of  the 
tdlukddrs  is  due  to  the  fact,  that  the  Maharaja*  of  Balrampur  holds  the 
whole  of  the  thinly  populated  and  poorly  cultivated  plains  of  Tdlsipur ; 
and  also  one-tenth  of  the  entire  assessment  of  Balrampur  has  been 
remitted  as  a  reward  for  loyal  services.  As  a  rule,  consideration  has 
been  had  for  coparcenary  bodies  of  village  proprietors,  who  have 
been  assessed  lower  in  proportion  to  the  area  of  cultivated  land  in 
their  possession  than  the  large  individual  landholders.  The  cultivating 
classes  are  well-to-do  and  independent ;  and,  owing  to  the  thinness  of 
its  population  and  the  considerable  area  of  fertile  waste  land,  Gonda 
enjoys  almost  complete  freedom  from  the  worst  forms  of  poverty. 
The  system  of  cultivating  land  by  means  of  SaVaks  or  bondsmen,  as 
described  in  Bahraich  District,  is  also  common  here. 

Communications,  Trade,  Commerce,  etc. — The  three  principal  lines  of 
road  are — from  Faizdbdd  (Fyzabad)  to  Gonda  town,  28  miles;  from 
Nawibganj  to  Utraula,  36  miles ;  and  from  Nawibganj  to  Colonelganj, 
35  miles.  The  minor  roads  are — Gonda  to  Begamganj,  16  miles;  Gonda 
to  Bahniich,  16  miles;  Gonda  to  Utraula;  Gonda  to  Colonelganj,  29 
miles;  Gonda  to  Balrampur,  28  miles;  Colonelganj  to  Mah&ajganj, 

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432  GONDA  TAHSIL. 

1 1  miles ;  Colonelganj  to  Bahrdich,  8  miles ;  Utraula  to  Tulsipur,  16 
miles ;  Khargupur  to  Chaudhdri  Dih,  3 1  miles ;  Balrdmpur  to  Ikauna, 
14  miles.  Rice  and  food  grains  are  the  chief  exports ;  and  cotton, 
European  piece-goods,  and  salt  the  principal  imports. 

Administration. — The  District  is  administered  by  a  Deputy  Commis- 
sioner, aided  by  2  European  Assistants,  and  1  or  more  extra  Assistants. 
The  courts  number  15  magisterial  and  22  revenue  and  civil.     The  total 
imperial  revenue  of  Gonda  in  1871-72  amounted  to  .£138,795,  of 
which  £122,234  was  derived  directly  from  the  land.     The  imperial 
expenditure  in  the  same  year  amounted  to  £32,101,  of  which,  how- 
ever, one-half,  or  .£15,385,  was  on  account  of  the  Settlement  Depart- 
ment, which  has  now  ceased  its  operations.     By  1875-76  the  revenue 
amounted  to  £157,349,  of  which  the  land  contributed  .£135,509; 
the  expenditure  in  that  year  amounted  to  ,£15,810.     The   regular 
police  force  in  1873  consisted  of  484  officers  and  men,  maintained 
at  a  cost  of  £6655;  the  village  watch  numbered  3271  men,  costing 
£11,898  from  local  sources;    and    municipal    police    146,   costing 
£783.      During   1873,  253°  cases  were  sent  by  the  police  to  the 
magistrates,  in  which  convictions  were  obtained  in  1842.      Female 
infanticide  is  common  in  Aija  and  Colotielganj  thdnds.     Efforts  have 
been  made  to  stamp  out  this  crime;  but  in  1874,  in  52  'proclaimed' 
villages,  the  proportion  of  females  to  every  100  males  was  only  72. 
Education  is  still  in  its  infancy,  but  village  schools  are  now  springing 
up  in  all  directions.      In   1875-76,  there  were   116  schools  under 
Government  inspection,  attended  by  5879  pupils. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  average  annual  rainfall  of  the  District  during 
the  eleven  years  1865-75  was  42  inches ;  the  highest  fall  in  any  one  year 
was  687  inches  in  187 1,  the  lowest  is  reported  at  6*io  inches  for  1874. 
The  heavy  rains  commence  early  in  June,  and  continue,  with  slight  inter- 
ruptions, to  the  end  of  September  or  middle  of  October.  Showers  fall 
in  every  month  of  the  year,  and  particularly  in  February  and  March. 
Owing  to  the  proximity  of  the  hills,  the  rains  are  more  assured,  and  less 
subject  to  violent  variations  than  in  more  southerly  Districts.  The 
average  monthly  temperature  for  the  three  years  ending  1875  is  thus 
returned — January  620  F.,  February  640,  March  750,  April  82°,  May  91', 
June  870,  July  870,  August  86°,  September  8i°,  October  8o°,  November 
700,  December  640;  yearly  average,  77*5°  F.  The  highest  recorded 
range  of  the  thermometer  is  1060,  lowest  480  F.  Fever  is  very  prevalent 
in  the  tardi  pargand  of  Tiilsipur  during  the  drying  up  of  the  rains,  and 
is  also  common  throughout  the  District  The  other  principal  diseases 
are  scurvy,  cholera,  diarrhoea,  and  goitre. 

Gonda. — Tahsil or  Subdivision  of  Gonda  District,  Oudh;  bounded  on 
the  north  by  Bahitf  ich  and  Balrdmpur  tahsils,  on  the  east  by  Utraula  tahsil, 
on  the  south  by  Begamganj  tansif,  and  on  the  west  by  Hisimpur  and 


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GONDA  PARGANA.  433 

Bahriich  tahsils.  Area,  632  square  miles,  of  which  392  are  cultivated  ; 
pop.  (according  to  the  Census  of  1869,  but  allowing  for  recent  transfers), 
247,107  Hindus,  23,970  Musalmdns — total,  271,077,  viz.  139,322 
males  and  131,755  females;  number  of  villages  or  towns,  780 ;  average 
density  of  population,  546  per  square  mile.  The  tahsil  consists  of  the 
two  pargands  of  Gonda  and  Pah£rapur. 

Gonda. — Pargand  in  tahsil  and  District  of  the  same  name,  Oudh. 
Bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Kuwdna  river,  which  divides  it  from 
Balr£mpur  and  Utraula  pargands ;  on  the  east  by  Sadul&nagar  and 
Mdnikpur ;  on  the  south  by  Mahddewa,  Digsdr,  Guwdrich,  and  Pahdr- 
pur  pargands;  and  on  the  west  by  Bahrdich  District.  The  history  of 
the  pargand  is  identical  with  that  of  the  District  (vide  supra).  In 
appearance  the  pargand  is  a  large,  fairly  well-wooded  plain,  with  hardly 
perceptible  undulations.  In  the  north  are  some  rather  extensive  sdl 
jungles,  but  the  trees  are  not  of  sufficient  size  to  be  of  much  value.  Ex- 
cepting these  jungle  tracts,  the  whole  pargand  is  under  high  cultivation, 
and  produces  luxuriant  crops  of  wheat,  rice,  sugar,  gram,  Indian  corn, 
and  barley.  Groves  of  mahud  trees  are  dotted  all  over  the  pargand. 
The  soil  is  generally  a  light  and  fertile  loam.  Water  is  obtainable  at  a 
depth  of  from  15  to  20  feet,  and  irrigation  is  much  practised.  Area, 
•509  square  miles,  of  which  314  square  miles,  or  201,300  acres,  are 
under  cultivation;  130,450  acres  yield  spring  and  113,920  autumn 
crops ;  while  56,850  bear  a  double  harvest  At  the  time  of  British 
annexation,  a  summary  investigation  was  made  into  the  assets  of  the 
pargand  ;  and  on  the  principle  of  taking  half  as  the  Government  share, 
the  land  revenue  was  fixed  at  ^25,500.  A  revised  assessment  was 
made  in  1869-70,  when  a  thirty  years'  settlement  was  effected  at  an 
assessment  of  ^42,404,  equal  to  an  average  of  4s.  2^d  per  acre  of 
cultivated  area,  or  2s.  7^d.  per  acre  of  total  area.  This  increase  of 
upwards  of  66  per  cent  probably  represents,  with  some  approach  to 
accuracy,  the  rapid  extension  of  cultivation  during  fifteen  years  of  undis- 
turbed peace.  Of  the  652  villages  comprising  the  pargand,  461,  paying 
a  revenue  of  ^33,531,  are  held  by  tdlukddrs;  and  182,  paying  a 
revenue  of  ^8893,  are  held  by  independent  zaminddrs.  Pop.  (accord- 
ing to  the  Census  of  1869,  but  allowing  for  recent  changes),  247,107 
Hindus,  23,970  Muhammadans  —  total,  271,077,  viz.  139,322  males 
and  131,755  females ;  average  density  of  population,  524  per  square 
mile.  The  Brdhmans  are  by  far  the  most  numerous  caste,  number- 
ing 60,713,  or  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  entire  population.  They 
belong,  almost  without  exception,  to  the  great  Sarwarii  division,  and 
retain  no  tradition  of  their  first  settlement  in  the  District,  of  which 
it  is  probable  that  they  are  among  the  most  ancient  inhabitants. 
Next  to  the  Brihmans  in  point  of  number  come  the  low*caste  Korfs 
(28,458),  Kurmfs  (26,288),  and  Ahfrs  (18,699).    The  semi-monastic 

VOL.  III.  2  E 

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434  GONDA  TOWN. 

order  of  Gosains  numbers  2143  members,  some  of  whom  are  wealthy 
landed  proprietors.  The  most  peculiar  tribe  in  the  pargand  are  the 
Barwdrs,  who  are  said  to  have  migrated  from  Basti  about  200  years  ago. 
Their  distinguishing  profession  is  theft,  which  they  carry  on  with  great 
success,  though  the  rules  of  their  religion  sternly  restrict  their  operations 
to  the  period  between  sunrise  and  sunset  Any  one  stealing  by  night 
is  at  once  turned  out  of  caste.  The  Barwirs  go  on  distant  plundering 
expeditions  in  parties  of  two  or  three,  and  on  their  return  the  proceeds 
are  impartially  divided,  a  share  being  set  apart  to  buy  sacrificial  offerings 
of  goats  and  ardent  spirits  to  Devi,  and  a  percentage  being  paid  to  the 
zaminddr  of  the  village.  A  police  Census  returns  the  number  of  this 
caste  at  2449  of  all  ages  and  sexes  in  this  pargand.  They  have  now 
been  brought  under  the  Criminal  Tribes  Act  The  principal  market 
villages  are  Gonda  town,  Jigna,  Dhangpur,  Dubha,  Rajgarh,  and 
Khargupur.  Principal  exports,  wheat  and  rice ;  imports  insignificant, 
consisting  of  salt,  brass  vessels,  and  English  cotton  cloth.  Metalled 
road  from  Gonda  town  to  Faizib&L  (Fyzabad),  and  several  other 
unmetalled  roads  and  cart  tracks. 

Gonda. — Chief  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of  Gonda  Dis- 
trict, Oudh ;  situated  28  miles  north-north-west  of  Faizibid  (Fyzabad). 
Lai.  270  7'  30"  n.,  long.  820  e.  The  site  on  which  the  town  now  stands 
was  originally  a  jungle  on  the  estate  of  the  Rajas  of  Kurasa,  in 
the  centre  of  which  was  a  cattle-fold  (Gontha  or  Gotham)  where  the 
Ahfrs  enclosed  their  cattle  at  night  as  a  protection  against  wild  beasts, 
from  which  the  town  derived  its  name.  Raja*  Man  Sinh  of  Kiuisa 
built  a  palace  and  fortress  here,  and  it  has  since  been  the  residence  of 
his  successors,  under  whom  the  town  gradually  grew  up.  As  mentioned 
in  the  account  of  Gonda  District,  the  last  Raja*  of  Gonda  at  the  time 
of  the  Mutiny  threw  in  his  cause  with  the  rebels,  and  his  large  estates 
were  confiscated.  The  population  of  the  town  and  civil  station  in 
1869  was  returned  at  13,722.  The  place  is  not  now  noted  for  any 
manufacture,  but  in  the  days  of  native  rule  was  celebrated  for  its 
shields,  which  were  in  great  request  It  is  not  a  commercial  centre, 
nor  is  it  of  any  religious  importance  to  either  Hindus  or  Muhammadans. 
The  principal  buildings  in  the  native  town  are — 2  thdkurdwdrds ;  the 
palace,  which  for  some  hundreds  of  years  formed  the  residence  of 
the  Gonda  Rijis,  but  is  now  falling  into  decay;  a  handsome  sartti 
or  rest-house ;  and  a  large  masonry  tank  known  as  the  Ridhikund. 
North-west  of  the  native  town,  and  between  it  and  the  civil  station,  are 
the  civil  dispensary  and  District  school,  two  fine  buildings.  Beyond 
these  is  a  large  handsome  artificial  lake,  constructed  by  Raja*  Seo  Prasad, 
and  surrounded  by  groves  of  tall  mango  trees  and  ornamental  grounds. 
On  the  bank  of  the  lake  is  a  Literary  Institute,  known  as  the  Anjuman- 
i-rifah,  supported  by  European  and  native  subscribers,  and  containing 


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GONDA  TOWN-GONDAL.  435 

an  extensive  library.  Beyond  the  Sagar  or  lake  are  the  civil  lines,  and 
what  were  formerly  the  cantonments.  The  troops  were  withdrawn  in 
1863 ;  and  the  only  traces  of  the  military  occupation  of  this  quarter  now 
left  are  the  barracks,  which  up  till  recently  were  occupied  as  the  civil 
court  buildings,  a  church  which  has  been  reduced  in  size  to  suit  the 
requirements  of  the  small  civil  station,  a  burial-ground,  racquet  court, 
and  a  Government  garden,  which  is  carefully  kept  up,  and  forms  one  of 
the  finest  pleasure-grounds  in  Oudh.  On  what  was  the  parade  grounds 
the  handsome  new  court-house  now  stands,  and  south  of  it  the 
jail.  Municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^799 ;  expenditure,  ^679 ; 
average  incidence  of  taxation,  9  Jd.  per  head  of  population  within  muni- 
cipal limits. 

Gonda. — Town  in  Partabgarh  District,  Oudh ;  2  miles  from  Beli,  on 
the  road  from  Allahibad  to  Faizabad  (Fyzabad).  Lat.  270  7'  30"  n., 
long.  820  e.  ;  pop.  (1869),  1540  Hindus,  523  Muhammadans — total, 
2063.  Said  to  have  been  founded  by  the  Gonds.  Hindu  temple, 
Government  school.  Large  bdzdr,  with  annual  sales  amounting  to 
about  ^1500.  Two  fairs  are  held  annually  in  honour  of  the  tutelary 
goddess,  Asht  JShujf  Devi,  each  attended  by  about  2500  people. 

Gond&L — Native  State  in  Kathiawar,  Province  of  Guzerat,  Bombay. 
Area,  699  square  miles  ;  180  villages  ;  estimated  pop.  (1876),  137,217  ; 
estimated  gross  revenue,  ^88,000.  With  the  exception  of  the  Atam 
Hills,  the  country  is  generally  flat  The  soil  is  chiefly  black.  Several 
small  streams  intersect  the  State,  the  largest,  the  Bhadar,  being  navigable 
by  small  boats  during  the  rains.  For  purposes  of  irrigation,  water  is  drawn 
in  leather  bags  from  wells  and  rivers  by  means  of  bullocks.  The  climate 
is  good.  Products— cotton  and  grain.  Manufactures — cotton  cloth, 
and  silver  and  gold  cord.  There  are  a  few  miles  of  made  road  between 
Gondii  and  Rajkot,  but  for  the  rest,  internal  communication  is  carried 
on  by  the  ordinary  country  tracks.  The  produce  is  exported  from 
Mangrol,  Verawal,  and  Jurii.  There  are  37  schools,  with  17 16  pupils. 
Gondii  ranks  as  a  second-class  State  among  the  many  States  in  Kathia- 
war. The  ruler  entered  into  engagements  with  the  British  Government 
in  1807.  He  is  a  Hindu,  a  Rajput  by  caste  of  the  Jareja  family. 
The  name  of  the  present  Chief  is  Bhagwatsinhjf  Sagrimji,  and  his  title 
Thakur  Sahib.  He  is  at  present  (1876)  a  minor  of  eleven  years  of  age, 
and  is  being  educated  at  the  Rajkumar  College  at  Rajkot  The  State 
of  Gondal  pays  a  tribute  of  ^11,218  in  all  to  the  British  Government, 
the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda,  and  the  Nawib  of  Junagarh.  The  family  holds  no 
sanad  authorizing  adoption,  but  the  succession  follows  the  rule  of  primo- 
geniture. During  theminority  of  the  present  chief,  the  State  is  administered 
by  a  British  officer,  styled  Assistant  Political  Agent.  The  chief  has  power 
to  try  his  own  subjects  for  capital  offences  only.  His  military  force 
consists  of  198  cavalry,  and  659  infantry  and  police,  with  16  cannoa 


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436  GONDAL—GOOTY. 

OoncWL— Capital  of  Gondii  State,  in  Kithiiwir,  Bombay.  Lat 
2I°  57'  3°"  N«>  ^ong.  70°  53'  e.  ;  estimated  pop.  13,180.  The  town  is 
fortified. 

Gond-umii — Estate  in  Bhandira  District,  Central  Provinces ;  5  to  10 
miles  north-east  of  Sangarh;  containing  10  small  villages,  the  largest  of 
which,  Gond-umri,  possesses  an  indigenous  school,  and  much  valueless 
jungle.  Area,  17,715  acres, of  which  only  2862  are  cultivated;  pop. 
(1870),  2282,  chiefly  Gonds  and  Dhers.    The  chief  is  a  Brihman. 

Gondwina. — Tract  of  country,  Central  Provinces ;  so  called  from 
the  aboriginal  tribe  of  Gonds  who  principally  inhabit  it — See  Central 
Provinces. 

GoomOT. — Tdluk  and  town,  Ganjim  District,  Madras. — See  Gum- 
sar. 

Ooona  (G6na). — Tract  of  country  in  Central  India,  comprising  the 
States  of  Raghugarh  and  Parone  (known  as  the  Goona  Agency). 

Oooriattum. — Tdluk  and  town  in  North  Arcot  District,  Madras. — 
See  Gudiatham. 

Gooty  (Guti). — Town  in  Bellary  District,  Madras;  48  miles  from 
Bellary  town.  Lat.  150  6'  53*  n.,  long.  77°  41'  32"  e.  ;  containing  (187 1) 
1388  houses  and  6730  inhabitants.  Headquarters  of  the  Subdivision  of 
the  same  name ;  municipality ;  courts  of  the  joint  and  sub-magistrate, 
and  District  munsiffox  civil  judge;  post  and  telegraph  offices;  sub-jail ; 
and  important  railway  station,  257  miles  from  Madras,  which  was  opened 
in  1869.  Municipal  revenue  (1875-76),  ^526;  expenditure,  ^608; 
incidence  of  municipal  taxation,  7  Jd.  per  head.  The  fort  of  Gooty, 
built  in  the  early  part  of  the  16th  century,  was  a  place  of  immense 
strength,  and  was  the  stronghold  of  the  great  Marhatti  guerilla  chie£ 
Moriri  Rio,  who  joined  Clive  in  1751  on  the  relief  of  Arcot  Originally 
belonging  to  a  dependant  of  the  Vijiyanagar  family,  it  formed  one  of 
the  conquests  of  Mir  Jumli.  It  was  afterwards  held  by  the  Pathins  of 
Cuddapah  and  Sawandr,  from  whom  it  was  wrested  in  17 14  by  the 
Gauripur  family  of  Marhattas,  the  most  distinguished  of  whom  obtained, 
in  1744,  the  Nizim's  recognition  of  his  territory  as  a  Marhatti  State. 
In  1776,  Haidar  All  beseiged  the  town,  which  was  forced  to  capitulate 
after  a  siege  of  four  months,  the  water-supply  being  exhausted  Haidar 
used  this  fortress  as  his  point  <Tappui  in  several  expeditions  against 
the  neighbouring  poligdrs.  Gooty  was  captured  by  the  British  in  the 
campaign  of  1 799. 

Wilks  describes  the  fort  as  follows  : — l  The  fort  is  composed  of  a 
number  of  strong  works,  occupying  the  summits  of  a  circular  cluster  of 
rocky  hills,  connected  with  each  other,  and  enclosing  a  level  space 
which  forms  the  site  of  the  town.  The  town  is  approached  from  the 
plain  by  a  single  fortified  gateway  on  the  south-west,  and  by  two  small 
footpaths  across  the  lower  hills,  communicating  through  small  sally- 


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GOPALGANJ—GOPALSWAMLBETTA.  437 

ports.  An  immense  smooth  rock,  rising  from  the  northern  limit  of  the 
circle,  and  fortified  by  gradations  surmounted  by  14  gateways,  overlooks 
and  commands  the  whole  of  the  other  works,  and  forms  a  citadel 
which  famine  or  treachery  alone  can  reduce.  The  rock  is  composed  of 
granite,  in  which  red  felspar  prevails.  Its  extreme  height  above  the 
sea  has  been  ascertained  to  be  2 1 7  i  feet,  but  notwithstanding  this,  the 
heat  in  April  and  May  is  intense.  Its  height  above  the  plain  is  989 
feet.  On  the  summit  of  the  hill  are  several  wells  and  reservoirs  for 
water,  and  various  buildings  where  State  prisoners  were  at  one  time 
confined.'  On  one  of  the  bastions  overlooking  a  precipice  of  about 
300  feet,  is  a  small  building,  called  Morari  Rio's  seat  Here  the 
Marhatti  chieftain  was  wont  to  sit  and  play  chess,  watching  at  the  same 
time  all  that  was  going  on  in  the  town  below,  or  as  a  spectator  of 
prisoners  being  hurled  from  the  top  of  an  adjoining  precipice  and 
dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks.  Besides  the  fort,  the  most  interesting 
features  in  Gooty  are  the  tomb  and  memorial  well  of  Sir  T.  Munro,  who 
died  at  Pallikonda  in  1827. 

Gop&lg&qj. — Town  in  Faridpur  District,  Bengal;  situated  on  the 
Madhumati  river  in  lat  230  o'  22"  n.,  long.  89°  52'  e.  ;  pop.  (1870) 
estimated  at  about  2000.  Famous  for  jute,  rice,  salt,  clarified  butter, 
and  the  manufacture  oisitdlpati  mats  of  fine  quality. 

Qop&lnagar. — Town  in  Nadiya*  District,  Bengal.  Lat.  23°  3'  50"  n., 
long.  88°  48'  40"  e.  One  of  the  principal  seats  of  commerce,  trade 
being  chiefly  carried  on  by  means  of  permanent  markets. 

Gop&pur  (Gopaulpore). — Town  in  Ganjam  District,  Madras.  Lat. 
1 90  21'  5"  n.,  long.  850  1'  e.  ;  distant  5  miles  south-east  of  Berhampur, 
the  chief  town  of  the  District,  of  which  it  forms  the  seaport.  A 
place  of  rapidly  increasing  importance.  Pop.  (1871),  2416,  residing 
in  509  houses.  In  1875-76,  Gopdlpur  was  visited  by  158  ships  of 
139,836  tons  burden.  It  has  a  considerable  export  trade  to  Europe 
in  grain,  myrobalans,  hemp,  horns,  hides,  and  seeds.  French  and 
English  vessels  load  here.  It  is  also  a  port  of  call  for  the  coasting 
steamers.  The  number  of  registered  boats  in  1875-76  was  95.  Value 
of  exports  (1875-76),  ,£290,987  ;  imports,  ^161,141.  The  port  light 
(fixed  white)  is  displayed  at  an  elevation  of  80  feet,  and  is  visible  from 

8  to  10  miles  at  sea ;  good  anchorage  (sand  and  mud)  is  found  in  8  to 

9  fathoms  about  1  \  mile  off  shore.     Post  office ;  staging  bungalow. 
Oop&l8W&mi-betta  ('  HUl  of  the  shepherd  god,  Vishnu1). — Isolated 

peak,  forming  a  spur  of  the  Western  Ghdts,  in  Mysore  District,  Mysore 
State ;  about  4500  feet  above  sea  level.  Lat  n°  43'  20"  n.,  long.  76° 
37'  45"  e.  Crowned  with  fortifications,  said  to  have  been  erected  by 
the  Danayak  brothers  in  the  12th  century.  On  the  summit  stands  a 
temple  of  Vishnu,  attended  by  two  Brahmans,  at  which  a  car  festival 
is  held  annually. 


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43»  GOPAMAU  PARGANA  AND  TOWN, 

Qop&m&TL  — Pargand  in  Hardoi  tahsiL  Hardoi  District,  Oudh. 
Bounded  on  the  north  by  Mansurnagar  and  Pihani  pargands ;  on  the 
east  by  the  Gumti  river,  separating  it  from  Chandra,  Misrikh,  and 
Aurangibad  pargands;  on  the  south  by  Sandfla  and  Balamau  pargands ; 
and  on  the  west  by  Bangar,  Bawan,  and  Sara  pargands,  the  S£i  river 
marking  the  boundary  for  a  considerable  distance.  The  earliest 
traditions  show  the  Thatheras  as  possessors  of  this  tract,  which  they 
still  held  in  1033  A-0*  at  *ke  ^me  °f  Sayyid  Silar  Masiiid's  invasion. 
A  great  battle  was  fought  near  Gopamau  between  the  Musalmans  and 
the  Thatheras,  in  which  the  former  were  successful;  but  two  years 
afterwards,  on  the  defeat  of  Sayyid  Silar  at  Bahriich,  his  army  of 
occupation  at  Gopamau  was  overpowered  and  put  to  the  sword.  The 
Thatbeitfs  remained  masters  for  some  time,  when  they  were  ousted  by 
an  Ahban  chief,  named  Gopi  or  Gopil  Sinh,  who  founded  the  present 
town  of  Gopamau.  On  the  overthrow  of  the  Hindu,  Delhi,  and 
Kanauj  kingdoms  by  Shahaty-ud-din  in  1193  and  1194  a.d.,  the  several 
Kshattriya  clans  poured  into  the  trans-Ganges  Districts,  and  effected 
fresh  settlements.  The  Shaikhs  obtained  a  footing  in  the  pargand  in 
Humayun's  reign,  when  two  Musalmins  were  appointed  katis  of 
Gopamau;  and  a  descendant  still  holds  the  Kasmandi  estate.  The 
pargand  forms  the  watershed  of  the  Gumti  and  Sa*i  rivers.  Round 
Tandiion,  in  the  heart  of  the  pargand,  is  all  that  now  remains  of  the 
great  Bangar  jungle,  which  up  to  our  annexation  (1856)  was  a  robber- 
haunted  tract,  which  all  the  efforts  of  the  king's  troops  could  not 
reduce  to  order.  Area,  328  square  miles,  of  which  172  are  cultivated. 
Staple  products — barley,  bdjra,  and  wheat,  which  occupy  three-fifths 
of  the  cultivated  area.  Government  land  revenue,  ,£17,544;  average 
incidence,  3s.  3d.  per  acre  of  cultivated  area;  and  is.  8d  per  acre  of 
total  area.  Of  the  240  villages  constituting  the  pargand,  145  are 
owned  by  Rajputs,  the  Ahbans  slightly  predominating ;  Kayasths  hold 
36J  villages;  Brdhmans,  2 \ ;  and  grantees,  10.  Muhammadans 
possess  46  villages.  Only  28J  villages  are  held  under  tdlukddri 
tenure,  111J  are  zaminddri,  95  patUddri,  and  5  bhaydchdra*  Popu- 
lation (1869),  Hindus,  103,338;  Musalmins,  8668;  total,  112,006, 
viz.  60,476  males  and  51,530  females;  average  density  of  population, 
341  per  square  mile.  The  most  numerous  castes  are  Chamars  and 
Pasfs,  who  form  a  third  of  the  entire  population.  Brihmans  and 
Rajputs  are  each  about  a  tenth.  The  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand  Railway 
runs  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  pargand;  the  Gumti  in  the  east 
provides  water  communication;  and  the  Sftapur  and  Mehndigbat 
road  runs  along  the  south.  In  the  interior,  however,  the  only  road  is 
the  Hardoi  and  Sftapur  road,  with  a  branch  northward  to  Gopimau, 
Majhia,  and  Pihani.     Five  schools,  of  which  two  are  for  girls. 

Gop&mau. — Principal  town   in  the  pargand  of  the  same  name, 

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GOR  A— GORAKHPUR  DISTRICT.  439 

Hardoi  District,  Oudh ;  2  miles  west  of  the  Gumti  river,  14  miles 
north-east  of  Hardoi  town,  and  20  west  of  Sft£pur.  Lat.  270  32'  n., 
long.  8o°  19'  40*  e.  The  town  is  said  to  have  been  founded  in  the 
nth  century  by  an  Ahban  chief  named  Raja*  Gopi,  who  drove  out  the 
Thatheras  from  what  was  then  a  mere  clearing  in  the  forest.  The 
Muhammadan  population  dates  from  the  invasion  of  Oudh  by  Sayyid 
Silar  (a.d.  1033) ;  since  which  date  it  has  always  been  an  important 
seat  of  Musalm£n  influence.  The  chief  development  of  the  town  took 
place  in  the  reign  of  Humdyun,  who  first  appointed  a  thaudhdri  and 
kazi  for  the  pargand,  with  their  headquarters  in  the  town.  Till  1801, 
when  Saadat  Alf  removed  the  headquarters  of  the  pargand  to  Tandia*on, 
Gopamau  seems  to  have  thriven.  Many  of  its  residents  attained 
high  posts  under  the  empire,  and  contributed  to  the  wealth  and 
importance  of  the  town.  Numerous  mosques,  wells,  and  large  build- 
ings attest  its  importance  in  the  days  of  Musalmdn  supremacy.  In 
1869,  the  town  contained  a  population  of  2984  Muhammadans  and 
2965  Hindus;  total,  5949,  dwelling  in  1614  houses,  of  which  1318 
are  of  mud  and  296  of  masonry.  Two  bi-weekly  markets ;  Govern- 
ment school.  The  only  manufacture  is  one  peculiar  to  the  place,  the 
making  of  arsis,  or  thumb-mirrors  of  silver. 

QortL — Town  in  Gorakhpur  District,  North  -  Western  Provinces, 
lying  on  the  river  Ripti,  1  mile  west  of  Barhaj.  Lat  260  33'  n.,  long. 
V  50'  30"  e.    Area,  103  acres;  pop.  (1872),  5482. 

Gor&b&s&r. — The  southern  suburb  of  Barhampur  town,  Murshid- 
*Md  District,  Bengal.  Lat  24°  5'  15"  n.,  long.  88°  17'  15*  e.  ;  pop. 
(1872),  4903,  chiefly  Musalmins  and  Urdu-speaking  immigrants  from 
the  north-west  An  annual  fair  called  Chaltia  meld  is  held  here  in 
honour  of  Raghunath,  attended  by  about  20,000  people. 

Qor&gh&t. — A  ruined  city  in  Dinajpur  District,  Bengal.  Lat  250 
15'  n.,  long.  890  20'  e.  Once  the  capital  of  the  eastern  Mughal 
Government,  with  a  revenue-circle  of  90  Idkhs  of  rupees  (^900,000). 
The  capital  was  afterwards  removed  to  Dacca  by  the  Emperor  Jahingfr. 
The  site  of  Goraghdt  is  now  a  vast  mass  of  ruins  buried  in  dense  jungle, 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  Karatoya*  river. 

Qoral — River  of  Bengal — See  Garai. 

Gorakhpur. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of 
the  North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  260  5'  15"  and  270  28' 
45"  n.  lat,  and  between  830  7'  and  840  29'  e.  long. ;  with  an  area  of 
4578  square  miles,  and  a  population  in  1872  of  2,019,361  persons. 
Gorakhpur  is  a  District  in  the  Benares  Division.  It  is  bounded  on 
the  north  by  the  territory  of  Nepal,  on  the  east  by  Champdran  and 
Siran,  on  the  south  by  the  river  Gogra,  and  on  the  west  by  Basti  and 
Faizibdd  (Fyzabad). 
Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Gorakhpur  lies  immediately  south 


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44o  GORAKHPUR  DISTRICT. 

of  the  lower  Himilayan  slopes,  but  forms  itself  a  portion  of  the  great 
alluvial  plain,  derived  from  the  detritus  of  the  mountain  region,  and 
deposited  by  the  mighty  rivers  which  take  their  rise  amid  the  snow- 
clad  northern  heights.  No  greater  elevation  than  a  few  sandhills 
breaks  the  monotony  of  its  level  surface.  It  is,  however,  closely 
intersected  by  numerous  rivers  and  streams,  and  dotted  over  with 
lakes  and  marshes.  The  water  supply  is  abundant,  and  the  moisture 
of  the  soil  gives  a  verdant  appearance  to  the  country,  which  contrasts 
strongly  with  the  arid  aspect  of  the  Districts  south  of  the  Gogra.  In 
the  north  and  centre,  extensive  tracts  of  sdl  forest  diversify  the  scene ; 
the  trees  in  which  are  not,  as  a  rule,  of  any  great  size,  but  the  density 
and  extent  of  the  woodland  strikes  the  eye  of  a  visitor  from  the 
populous  and  highly  cultivated  Districts  farther  south.  Immediately 
below  the  first  range  of  hills  stretches  the  tardi  or  lowland,  a  tract  of 
sub-montane  character,  with  clear  and  rapid  streams,  flowing  through 
a  thickly  wooded  forest  region.  Here  and  there,  glades  used  for 
pasturage  open  out  among  the  wilder  portions,  and  the  cultivated 
patches  are  generally  devoted  to  the  growth  of  rice.  The  inhabitants 
are  either  hillmen  like  the  Gurkhas  and  Nepdlis,  or  else  aboriginal 
Thirus,  who  alone  can  live  in  the  tardi  during  the  rains,  when  its 
pestilential  climate  drives  away  all  other  tribes.  The  snowy  range  can 
be  distinctly  seen  from  the  frontier.  As  we  move  southward,  the 
forest  disappears,  and  we  enter  a  well-tilled  plain,  only  broken  by 
occasional  woods  or  rare  tracts  of  the  saline  waste  known  as  usdr.  In 
the  south  of  the  District,  the  general  expanse  of  cultivation  is  diversified 
by  shady  mango  groves,  or  intersected  by  frequent  lakes.  The  west 
and  south-west  are  low-lying  plains,  subject  to  extensive  inundations. 
In  seasons  of  heavy  rain,  the  water  collects  in  the  valley  of  the  Ami, 
and,  joining  the  lakes  to  the  east,  forms  an  immense  inland  sea. 
Beyond  the  Rdpti,  the  ground  rises  slightly,  but  again  sinks  towards 
the  south-east,  and  slopes  away  as  it  reaches  the  border  of  the  District. 
The  principal  rivers  are — the  Rapti,  a  tortuous  torrent,  with  a  very 
shifting  channel ;  the  Gogra,  a  large  stream,  with  a  volume  of  water 
here  surpassing  that  of  the  Ganges,  navigable  by  steamers  during  the 
rains,  and  never  fordable  in  the  driest  weather ;  the  Great  Gandak,  a 
clear  and  rapid  river,  full  of  cataracts  and  whirlpools,  and  navigable 
with  difficulty  on  account  of  its  fierce  current  and  sunken  snags ;  the 
Little  Gandak,  the  Kuana,  the  Rohin,  the  Ami,  and  the  Gunghi. 
The  principal  lakes  are  the  Rimgarh,  Nandaur,  Nawar,  Bhenri,  Chillua, 
and  Amiyar  T£ls.  The  tiger  is  found  in  the  north,  and  the  jackal, 
wolf,  fox,  and  wild  boar  throughout  the  District;  deer  are  rare. 
Wild-fowl  of  all  kinds  abound  on  the  larger  lakes,  which  are  also  well 
stocked  with  fish.  The  latter  afford  a  livelihood  to  numerous  boatmen 
(mdlds),  who  rent  a  lake  of  the  landholder  and  then  fish  it  in  concert 


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GORAKHPUR  DISTRICT.  441 

History.  —  The  tract  of  country  north  of  the  river  Gogra  and 
between  Oudh  and  Behar,  which  now  forms  the  Districts  of  Gorakhpur 
and  Basti,  was  originally  included  in  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Kosala, 
of  which  Ajodhya  was  the  capital.  It  was  visited  by  the  mythical 
hero  Rama,  whose  death  may  be  placed  at  about  750  b.c  Gautama 
Buddha,  the  founder  of  the  wide-spread  religion  which  bears  his  name, 
was  born  at  Kapila  just  beyond  the  border,  and  died  at  Kasia  within 
this  District  A  colossal  statue  still  marks  the  place  of  his  decease. 
Gorakhpur  thus  became  the  headquarters  of  the  new  creed,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  tracts  to  receive  it  Tradition  further  recounts,  that  a 
prince  belonging  to  the  solar  dynasty  of  Ajodhya  attempted  to  found 
here  a  great  city  which  should  rival  the  glories  of  Kasi  (or  Benares) ; 
but  that  when  it  was  nearly  completed,  he  was  overwhelmed  by  an 
irruption  of  the  Tharus  and  Bhars.  These  aboriginal  and  mixed  races 
held  all  the  country  north-east  of  Oudh  and  the  Ganges  for  a  long 
period,  and  drove  out  the  Aryans  who  had  at  first  conquered  them. 
Their  reappearance  was  apparently  connected  with  the  rise  of  the 
Buddhist  faith.  The  Bhar  chieftains  seem  to  have  held  the  country 
at  first  independently,  and  afterwards  as  vassals  of  the  Magadha 
Buddhists.  On  the  fall  of  that  dynasty,  the  Bhars  regained  their 
autonomy  till  about  550  a.d.  From  this  time,  the  Aryans  began  to 
recover  their  lost  ground ;  and  in  600  A.D.,  the  Rah  tors  of  Kanauj 
invaded  the  District,  which  they  conquered  up  to  the  modern  town 
of  Gorakhpur.  Hioueng  Thsang,  the  Chinese  Buddhist  pilgrim,  who 
visited  this  part  of  India  about  the  year  630,  notices  the  large  number 
of  monasteries  and  towers,  the  latter  a  monument  of  the  continuous 
struggle  between  the  aboriginal  Bhars  and  their  Aryan  antagonists,  the 
Rahtors.  In  about  900  A.D.,  the  Domhatars  or  military  Brahmans 
made  their  first  appearance  on  the  scene,  and,  with  other  tribes  of 
mixed  Brahman  and  Rajput  descent,  began  to  push  up  from  the  south 
and  to  dispossess  the  Rahtor  chiefs,  whom  they  expelled  from  the 
town  of  Gorakhpur.  In  the  nth  century,  Bisen  Sen  of  Nagar  became 
the  leading  chief  in  this  region ;  but  the  Bhars  continued  to  hold  the 
western  tracts,  until  ousted  by  the  Jaipur  (Jeypore)  Raja's  in  the  time 
of  Akbar.  Early  in  the  14th  century,  the  Rajputs,  expelled  from 
the  country  farther  west  by  the  Muhammadans,  began  to  enter  this 
District  Dhtir  Chind  established  himself  in  Dhiiriapir,  and  Chandra 
Sen  in  SatisL  The  latter  murdered  the  Domhatir  chief  of  Doraan- 
garh  (the  Gorakhpur  fort),  seized  his  stronghold,  and  established 
himself  in  the  city.  During  the  whole  century,  the  Batwal  and  Binsi 
Rajas  carried  on  an  incessant  warfare,  which  desolated  the  whole 
country;  and  from  1350  to  1450,  the  Satasi  and  the  Majholi  Rajas 
waged  war  without  intermission.  The  present  town  of  Gorakhpur 
was  founded  about  1400.     A  century  later,  the  Majholi  family  held 


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442  GORAKHPUR  DISTRICT. 

the  south-east ;  the  descendants  of  Dhiir  Chand  reigned  in  the  south- 
west ;  the  Aonla  and  Satdsi  Dominions  came  next ;  while  the  extreme 
north-west  belonged  to  the  principality  of  Batwal.     All  these  Rajis 
seem  to  have  been  quite  independent  of  one  another,  and  isolated 
from  the  outer  world,  as  no  bridges  or  roads  attest  any  intercourse 
with  the  Districts  to  the  south  or  east     Until  the  Mughal  period,  the 
Musalmins  do  not  appear  to  have  crossed  the  Gogra ;  but  in  1576, 
Akbar  passed  across  it  on  his  return  from  the  successful  expedition 
against  Ddud  KMn  of  Bengal.     The  Emperors  general,  Fidii  Khan, 
defeated  all  the  R£j£s  who  opposed  him,  and  occupied  Gorakhpur. 
Bahadur  Shah  visited  the  District  for  the  sake  of  its  sport  during  the 
lifetime  of  Aurangzeb ;  but  until  the  establishment  of  the   Nawab 
Wazfrs  of  Oudh  at  Lucknow  in  172 1,  the  Musalmans  interfered  very 
little  with  Gorakhpur,  and  allowed  it  to  be  controlled  entirely  by  the 
native  Rajas.     After  Saadat  All's  accession,  however,  a  firmer  grasp 
of  the  District  was  taken ;  and  in  1750,  a  large  army  under  Alf  Kasim 
Khan  reduced  it  completely  to  submission.     Even  then  the  Muham- 
madan  governor  exercised  no  real  power,  and  collected  what  revenue  he 
could  obtain  through  the  Rajas,  who  carried  on  war  amongst  themselves 
as  they  pleased.     At  the  middle  of  the  18th  century,  the  Banjaras 
had  become  a  perfect  scourge  to  the  District.     They  first  appeared 
from  the  west  about  1725;  but  thirty  years  later,  united  under  able 
leaders,  they  were  formidable  enough  to  contend  with  chiefs  like  the 
Rajd  of  Bansi.     They  kept  the  eastern  pargands  in  a  constant  state  of 
terror,  and  weakened  the  power  of  the  Rajas  so  greatly  that  the  latter 
could  no  longer  resist  the  fiscal  exactions  of  the  Oudh  officials,  who 
plundered  and  ravaged  the  country  to  an  extent  which  they  had  never 
ventured  to  attempt  in  its  more  independent  days.     After  the  battle  of 
Baxar  in  1764,  a  British  officer  received  command  of  the  Nawib's 
troops,  and  was  instructed  to  collect  the  taxes  of  Gorakhpur;  but 
all  he  could  do  was  to  sub-let  the  collection   to   native    revenue 
farmers,  who  rack-rented  the  cultivators  in  a  merciless  manner.    The 
District  formed  part  of  the  territory  ceded  by  Oudh  to  the  British 
under  the  treaty  of  1801 ;  and  an  officer  was  immediately  put  in  charge 
of  the  country  now  divided  between  the   Districts  of  Gorakhpur, 
Azamgarh,  and  Basti.      Efforts  were  made  to  bring   this   extensive 
region  under  a  firmly  organized  Government,  and  the  revenue  was 
reduced  from  time  to  time,  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  landholders.    An 
invasion  of  the  Nepalis  in  1813  was  successfully  repulsed;  and  the 
District  was   happily  free  from  the  incidents  of  history  until  the 
Mutiny  of  1857.     It  was  then  lost  for  a  short  time  at  the  beginning 
of  the  disturbances,  but  soon  after  recovered  by  the  aid  of  the  friendly 
Gurkhas.      Later  on,  in    the  month  of  August,  the  rebels   under 
Muhammad  Hassan  occupied  the  whole  District ;  and  it  was  not  till 


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GORAKHPUR  DISTRICT.  443 

the  6th  of  January  1858  that  the  Gurkha  army  under  Jang  Bahadur 
marched  in  and  occupied  Gorakhpur.  Muhammad  Hassan  was  then 
driven  out  of  the  city,  and  shortly  *  after  the  other  rebels  were  ex- 
pelled from  the  outlying  pargands,  which  once  more  passed  under  our 
rule. 

Population. — In  1853,  the  Gorakhpur  Census  returned  the  number 
of  inhabitants  at  1,816,390.  By  1865,  the  figures  had  risen  to 
2,024,150,  showing  an  increase  of  207,760  persons,  or  11*4  per 
cent  In  1872,  there  was  an  apparent  falling  off  to  the  reduced  total 
of  2,019,361,  which  would  show  a  decrease  of  4789  persons,  or  *2 
per  cent.  This  loss,  however,  is  only  nominal,  as  the  area  for  the 
Census  of  1872  was  less  than  that  for  the  Census  of  1865  by  22 
square  miles,  or  '4  per  cent  The  density  of  population  per  square 
mile  was  398  persons  in  1853,  440  persons  in  1865,  and  441  persons 
in  1872,  so  that  a  real  increase  has  steadily  taken  place  during  the 
whole  period  of  nineteen  years.  The  enumeration  of  1872  was 
effected  upon  an  area  of  4578  square  miles,  and  it  disclosed  a  total 
population  of  2,019,361  persons,  distributed  among  7097  villages  or 
townships,  and  inhabiting  an  aggregate  of  381,237  houses.  These 
figures  yield  the  following  averages: — Persons  per  square  mile,  441; 
villages  per  square  mile,  1*5;  houses  per  square  mile,  83;  persons 
per  village,  285  ;  persons  per  house,  5*2.  Classified  according  to 
sex,  there  were  (exclusive  of  non-Asiatics)— males,  1,078,072 ;  females, 
941,278;  proportion  of  males,  53*4  per  cent  Classified  according 
to  age,  there  were  (with  the  like  exception),  under  12  years  — 
males,  384,042 ;  females,  300,402 ;  total,  684,444,  or  33*89  per  cent 
In  religion,  Gorakhpur  still  retains  for  the  most  part  the  original 
creed  of  its  Aryan  conquerors.  The  Census  shows  a  total  of  1,819,445 
Hindus,  or  90*1  per  cent,  as  against  199,372  Musalmans,  or  9*9  per 
cent  The  District  also  contains  533  Christians.  The  higher  caste 
Hindus  include  193,270  Brahmans,  76,018  Rajputs,  and  58,064 
Banias.  Among  the  inferior  castes,  the  Ahfrs  are  the  most  nume- 
rous, numbering  242,383  souls;  but  the  Chamars  nearly  equal  them 
with  a  total  of  210,108.  The  other  principal  Hindu  castes  are  the 
Kayasths  (22,757)  and  Kurmfe  (76,550).  The  Musalmans  consist  of 
Shaikhs  (1 26,835),  Sayyids  (3048),  Mughals  (611),  and  Pathans  (20,228). 
South  of  Gorakhpur,  and  particularly  along  the  Gogra,  the  country  is 
densely  inhabited,  and  the  peasantry  are  civilised,  comfortably  housed, 
and  much  like  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  Districts ;  but  in  the 
extreme  north,  where  forests  still  abound,  the  people  remain  in  a  very 
backward  condition,  living  in  miserable  huts,  and  being  generally 
wilder,  poorer,  and  more  barbarous  than  the  Doab  tribes.  The  only 
trade  in  that  part  of  the  District  is  the  through  traffic  from  Nepal, 
and  the  roads  are  few  and  bad.      The  great  density  of  population 


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444  GORAKHPUR  DISTRICT. 

throughout  renders  the  masses  extremely  poor,  the  standard  of  living 
low,  and  the  margin  of  superfluity  against  evil  times  exceedingly 
narrow.  There  were  7  towns  in  1872  with  a  population  exceed- 
ing 5000  souls — namely,  Gorakhpur,  51,117  ;  Golah,  5147  ;  Gora, 
5482;  Pena,  5331;  Amua,  6150;  Padrauna,  5092;  Rudarpur, 
6538.  The  united  urban  population  accordingly  amounted  to  84,857. 
The  vast  majority  of  the  inhabitants  are  scattered  over  the  country  in 
small  hamlets. 

Village  Communities. — The  villages  in  this  District  exemplify  each 
of  the  three  usual  tenures— pattiddri,  with  imperfect  pattiddri9  zamin- 
ddri,  and  bhayachdra;  but  the  village  has  never  assumed  the  same 
importance  as  a  clearly  separate  unit  here  which  it  possesses  in  the 
revenue  system  of  other  Districts.  The  bond  of  connexion  among 
the  landholding  classes  was  a  feudal  attachment  to  the  Raja  on  whom 
they  were  dependent ;  and  village  communities,  in  the  sense  of  associa- 
tions bound  together  by  common  proprietorship  and  residence  in  the 
same  hamlet,  were  rare  and  of  little  importance.  The  various  de- 
pendants and  relatives  of  the  Rajd  were  at  first  obliged  to  live  with  their 
chief,  in  order  to  be  constantly  at  hand  for  his  defence ;  and  villages 
grew  up  around  the  fort  or  house  of  the  Raja*  as  soon  as  his  following 
became  too  large  to  be  accommodated  within  its  walls.  The  more 
defined  and  customary  unit  in  this  District  is  the  tappa  or  hundred,  a 
subdivision  of  the  pargand,  which  appears  to  have  existed  before  the 
time  of  the  Muhammadans.  In  many  cases  the  tappas  correspond 
with  natural  divisions  formed  by  rivers  or  other  physical  features; 
but  very  often  they  appear  to  be  purely  artificial,  and  probably 
represent  the  tract  made  over  by  a  Raja*  to  some  one  of  his  de- 
pendants on  a  feudal  tenure.  In  consequence  of  this  peculiarity, 
the  earlier  revenue  settlements  were  not  made  by  villages,  but  by 
tdlukas  and  tappas.  The  Muhammadan  Divisions  of  chaklds  and 
sarkdrs  were  never  much  known  in  Gorakhpur,  as  their  revenue 
system  did  not  fully  develop  itself  under  the  imperfect  and  transitory 
administration  which  they  maintained  in  this  outlying  dependency. 
The  uniformity  of  British  rule,  however,  is  making  itself  felt  in  this 
respect 

Agriculture. — Gorakhpur  District  contains  a .  total  cultivated  area  of 
2621  square  miles,  but  there  still  remains  a  margin  of  897  square  miles 
available  for  cultivation,  most  of  which  is  now  under  forest  The 
mode  of  tillage  does  not  differ  from  that  which  prevails  elsewhere 
throughout  the  great  alluvial  basin  of  the  Ganges  and  its  tributaries. 
There  are  two  harvests  a  year,  in  the  autumn  and  in  the  spring.  The 
kharif  or  autumn  crops  are  sown  after  the  first  rain  in  June,  and 
gathered  in  October  or  November.  They  consist  of  cotton,  rice,  Mjra, 
jodry  moth,  and  other  food  grains.    The  rabi  or  spring  crops  are  sown 


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GORAKHPUR  DISTRICT.  445 

immediately  after  the  autumn  harvest,  and  reaped  in  March  or  April. 
They  are  mainly  composed  of  wheat,  barley,  oats,  peas,  and  other 
pulses.  Manure  is  used,  where  it  can  be  obtained,  for  both  harvests. 
Spring  and  autumn  crops  are  seldom  taken  off  the  same  ground,  but 
sometimes  a  plot  of  early  rice  is  gathered  in  August,  and  a  second  crop 
sown  in  its  place  for  the  spring  harvest  Owing  to  the  heavy  and  long- 
continued  rains  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas,  the  country  is  often 
flooded,  and  the  raH  sowing  delayed  much  later  than  in  other  Districts. 
A  great  part  of  the  surface  is  so  long  inundated,  that  it  yields  no  autumn 
crops  at  all,  the  spring  seed  being  sown  as  soon  as  the  water  clears  off. 
This  flooded  land,  however,  is  rendered  exceedingly  fertile  by  the 
deposits  which  are  left  behind  as  the  waters  recede.  The  forests 
possess  little  economical  value.  Wild  honey  is  their  chief  product ; 
the  Bhars  contract  to  collect  it,  and  sell  it  in  the  neighbouring 
towns.  The  trees  used  to  be  tapped  for  their  gum,  but  this  practice 
has  been  stopped  since  the  forests  passed  into  the  hands  of  Govern- 
ment Compared  with  the  misrule  and  oppression  which  took  place 
under  the  native  Raj£s,  and  the  Musalm&i  revenue-farmers,  the  condi- 
tion of  the  people  is  now  vastly  improved.  Wages  and  prices  are  still 
(1877)  on  the  whole  rather  lower  than  in  the  Districts  to  the  south  of 
the  Gogra ;  but  the  construction  of  the  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand  Rail- 
way will  probably  increase  the  demand  for  labour,  besides  equalizing 
the  cost  of  necessaries.  In  1877,  coolies  and  unskilled  hands  received 
from  2  Jd.  to  3 Jd.  a  day ;  agricultural  labourers  from  2^d.  to  3d. ;  brick- 
layers and  carpenters  from  6d.  to  as.  Women  get  about  one-fifth  less 
than  men,  while  children  are  paid  one-half  or  one-third  the  wages  of  an 
adult  Prices  ruled  as  follows  in  1876  : — Wheat,  24  sers  per  rupee,  or 
4s.  8d.  per  cwt. ;  rice,  17  sers  per  rupee,  or  6s.  7d.  per  cwt. ;  jadr%  38 
sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  per  cwt ;  b&jru,  34  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  4d. 
per  cwt 

Natural  Calamities. — Gorakhpur,  being  a  naturally  moist  and  rainy 
District,  suffers  less  from  famine  than  most  other  portions  of  the  great 
north-western  plain.  The  distress  in  1780  and  1783  did  not  seriously 
affect  the  Districts  beyond  the  Gogra.  In  1803,  the  rice  harvest 
failed,  and  the  spring  crops  were  endangered,  but  rain  fell  in  September, 
and  the  scarcity  was  never  very  severe.  The  next  great  famine,  in 
1837-38,  was  most  heavily  felt  in  the  Upper  Do£b  and  Bundelkhand, 
and  did  not  seriously  attack  Gorakhpur.  The  District  suffered  some- 
what, however,  in  the  dearth  of  1860-61,  when,  under  the  pressure  of 
want,  crimes  against  property  became  twice  as  numerous  as  in  ordinary 
years.  In  1873-74,  the  drought  extended  to  the  Districts  of  Gorakhpur 
and  Basti,  and  it  became  necessary  to  establish  relief  works  in  the 
spring  of  1874.  The  rains  shortly  afterwards  put  an  end  to  the 
distress,  and  the  relief  measures  were  at  once  discontinued. 


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446  GORAKHPUR  DISTRICT. 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc. — The  commerce  of  Gorakhpur  is  chiefly 
confined  to  the  export  of  agricultural  produce ;  but  there  is  a  small 
amount  of  through  traffic  with  Nepal.  Barhaj  is  the  principal  mart  of 
the  District  In  the  north,  the  trade  in  rice  and  pepper  is  considerable, 
and  that  in  timber,  iron,  and  copper  is  large  and  increasing.  The 
means  of  communication  are  still  imperfectly  developed.  No  railroad 
passes  through  the  District,  and  the  nearest  railway  stations  are  at 
Faizdbid  (Fyzabad)  (So  miles),  Akbarpur  (68* miles),  orZaraania  (76 
miles).  A  good  metalled  road  runs  due  south  from  Gorakhpur  to  Benares 
via  Barhalganj,  with  a  length  of  36  miles  in  this  District  It  is  carried 
over  the  depression  of  the  Amiyar  and  Bigra  lakes  by  an  embankment 
3  miles  long,  known  as  the  Tucker  bandh,  flanked  with  solid  masonry, 
and  having  four  considerable  bridges  on  its  line.  Another  metalled 
road  leads  from  Gorakhpur  to  Basti  and  Faizibid,  with  a  length  of  15 
miles  in  this  District.  There  are  910  miles  of  unmetalled  road,  of 
which  527  are  raised  and  bridged  throughout  The  Rapti  is  navigable 
for  country  boats,  which  convey  a  large  amount  of  grain  and  timber 
into  the  Gogra,  and  thence  down  to  the  Ganges.  The  Gogra  itself 
receives  a  considerable  quantity  of  grain  from  Barhaj  and  Barhalganj 
for  the  Ganges  ports.  Rafts  of  timber  are  floated  down  the  fierce  and 
dangerous  channel  of  the  Great  Gandak  from  NepaU,  besides  grain  and 
sugar  from  this  District. 

Administration. — The  local  staff  generally  consists  of  a  Collector- 
Magistrate,  2  Joint  Magistrates,  and  1  Deputy,  besides  the  usual 
fiscal,  medical,  and  constabulary  establishments.  The  whole  amount 
of  revenue — imperial,  municipal,  and  local — raised  in  the  District  in 
1876  was  ^227,738,  being  at  the  rate  of  2s.  2^d.  per  head  of  the 
population.  A  new  setdement  of  the  land  revenue  was  commenced  in 
1859  and  completed  in  1871.  The  land-tax  in  1876  produced  a  total 
sum  of  ,£168,071.  In  1875,  the  total  strength  of  the  regular  police 
force  amounted  to  755  officers  and  men;  while  the  cost  of  their 
maintenance  was  returned  at  ^9374.  These  figures  give  an  average 
of  1  policeman  to  every  6  07  square  miles  of  area  and  every  2674 
of  the  population,  maintained  at  a  rate  of  ^2,  os.  8|d.  per  square 
mile,  or  id.  per  head  of  the  inhabitants.  The  regular  force  was 
supplemented  by  a  rural  body  of  2298  village  watchmen  (chaukiddrs). 
The  District  jail  contained  in  1875  a  daily  average  of  672  prisoners,  of 
whom  616  were  male  and  56  female.  The  average  cost  per  head 
amounted  to  £$,  13s.  i£d,  and  the  average  earnings  of  each  prisoner 
to  12s.  There  are  18  imperial  and  19  local  post  offices  in  the  District, 
but  no  telegraph  station.  Education  was  carried  on  in  1875  by 
means  of  435  schools,  with  a  joint  roll  of  13,525  pupils;  which  gives 
an  average  area  of  10-52  square  miles  for  each  school,  and  6"6 
scholars  to  every  thousand  of  the  population.    Fifteen  of  these  were 


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GORAKHPUR  TAHSIL—GORI-BIDNUR  TALUK.    447 

girls'  schools.  The  total  expense  of  the  educational  establishment  was 
£4012,  of  which  £1347  was  Paid  fr°m  tne  Provincial  treasury,  and 
£2665  from  local  funds.  For  fiscal  purposes,  Gorakhpur  is  subdivided 
into  6  tahsils  and  12  pargands.  The  District  contains  1  municipality, 
Gorakhpur.  In  1875-76,  its  total  income  amounted  to  ,£4771,  and 
its  gross  expenditure  to  £3732.  The  incidence  of  municipal  taxation 
was  at  the  rate  of  is.  6£d.  per  head  of  the  population  within  the  limits 
of  the  municipality. 

Sanitary  Aspects. — The  District  is  not  subject  to  very  intense  heat, 
being  secured  from  extremes  by  its  vicinity .  to  the  hills,  and  by  the 
moisture  of  its  soil.  Dust  storms  are  rare,  and  cool  breezes  from  the 
north,  rushing  down  the  gorges  of  the  Himalayas,  succeed  each  interval 
of  very  hot  weather.  The  climate  is,  however,  relaxing,  and  there  is  no 
bracing  cold.  The  southern  and  eastern  portions,  where  the  jungle  has 
been  cleared,  is  as  healthy  as  most  parts  of  the  Province ;  but  the  tardi 
and  the  forest  tracts  are  still  subject  to  malaria.  The  average  rainfall 
from  i860  to  187 1  was  45*8  inches;  the  maximum  was  60  inches  in 
1 861,  and  the  minimum  25  inches  in  1868.  The  mean  monthly 
temperature  in  the  shade  was  770  in  1870,  and  760  in  187 1 ;  the  range 
was  from  6i°  in  January  to  900  in  June.  The  total  number  of  deaths 
reported  in  1875  was  40,092,  or  19*85  per  thousand  of  the  population. 
The  average  death-rate  for  the  previous  six  years  was  18*23  per  thou- 
sand. There  are  4  charitable  dispensaries  in  the  District — at  Gorakhpur, 
Rudarpur,  Kasia,  and  Barhalganj.  In  1875,  they  afforded  relief  to  a 
total  number  of  34,258  patients. 

Gorakhpur. — Central  tahsil  of  Gorakhpur  District,  North- Western 
Provinces ;  traversed  by  the  river  Ripti,  and  consisting  throughout  of 
a  level  plain.  Area,  654  square  miles,  of  which  379  were  cultivated; 
pop.  (1872),  330,875;  land  revenue,  ,£25,923;  total  Government 
revenue.  ,£28,426  ;  rental  paid  by  cultivators,  £62,021 ;  incidence  of 
Government  revenue  per  acre,  is.  i\ d. 

Gorakhpur. — Municipal  city  and  administrative  headquarters  of 
Gorakhpur  District,  North-Western  Provinces.  Lat.  260  44'  8"  n., 
long.  83°  23'  44"  e.;  area,  727  acres;  pop.  (1872),  51,117. 
Lies  on  the  river  Ripti,  about  the  centre  of  the  District  Founded 
in  or  near  the  year  1400  a.d.,  on  the  site  of  a  more  ancient 
city.  For  early  history  and  Mutiny  narrative,  see  Gorakhpur 
District.  Headquarters  of  a  civil  and  sessions  judge ;  District  jail ; 
usual  administrative  offices.  Considerable  trade  in  grain  and  timber, 
sent  down  the  Ripti  to  the  Gogra  and  the  Ganges.  Government 
charitable  dispensary.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ,£4771;  from 
taxes,  £3941,  or  is.  6Jd.  per  head  of  population  (51,633)  within 
municipal  limits. 

Oori-bidnur. — Tdluk  in  Koldr  District,  Mysore.     Area,  150  square 


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448  GORI-BIDNUR  VILLAGE— GO  SAIN  GANJ. 

miles  ;  pop.  (187 1),  36,501 ;  land  revenue  (1874-75),  exclusive  of  water 
rates,  ^5031,  or  2s.  8d.  per  cultivated  area.  Soil  loose  and  fertile, 
with  water  easily  procurable  below  the  surface.  Products— cocoa-nut 
and  areca-nut,  sugar-cane,  rice  and  turmeric. 

Gori-bidnnr. — Municipal  village  in  Kolir  District,  Mysore ;  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  North  Pinikini  river,  56  miles  north-west  of  Kolar. 
Lat.  13*  37'  N.f  long.  77°  32'  50*  e.  ;  pop.  (1871),  1454;  municipal 
revenue  (1874-75),  £26 ;  rate  of  taxation,  4d.  per  head.  Ancient  town 
with  a  legendary  history  connecting  with  the  Mahdbhdrata.  Head- 
quarters of  tdluk  of  the  same  name. 

OorigangA. — River  in  Kumaun  District,  North-Western  Provinces ; 
one  of  the  headwaters  of  the  Gogra ;  rises  from  a  glacier  about  12  miles 
south  of  the  Anta  Dhara  Pass,  at  an  elevation  of  11,543  feet  above  sea 
level;  runs  in  a  perpetual  cascade  for  60  miles  down  the  mountain 
valleys ;  and  joins  the  Kali  in  lat.  29°  45'  n.,  long.  80s  25'  e.,  at  a 
height  of  1972  feet  above  sea  level. 

Oorinda  Parsandan. — Pargand  of  Unao  District,  Oudh.  A  small 
pargand>  formerly  a  waste  and  jungle  tract  used  by  Ahfrs  as  grazing 
ground  for  their  flocks  and  herds.  Said  to  have  been  first  cleared 
about  500  years  ago  by  a  Brdhman  and  a  Kiyasth.  Area,  44  square 
miles,  of  which  25  are  cultivated.  Government  land  revenue,  ^£3541, 
or  an  average  of  2s.  i£d.  per  acre.  Land  is  held  under  the  following 
tenures : — Tdlukddri,  3492  acres ;  pukhtdddri,  504  acres  ;  zaminddri, 
8775  acres ;  pattiddri,  15,281  acres.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  21,103; 
Musalmans,  665 ;  total,  21,768,  viz.  11,326  males  and  10,442  females. 
Number  of  villages,  53 ;  average  density  of  population,  495  per  square 
mile. 

Gos&inganj. — Town  in  Lucknow  District,  Oudh;  14  miles  from 
Lucknow  city,  on  the  road  to  Sultinpur.  Founded  by  Raja  Himmat 
Gir  Gosiin,  in  the  reign  of  the  Naw£b  Shuja-ud-daul£,  in  1754.  The 
Raja*  commanded  a  force  of  1000  Rajput  cavalry,  and  held  the  pargand 
of  Amethi  in  jdgir  for  the  pay  of  the  troops.  On  building  the  town 
and  his  fort,  the  extensive  ruins  of  which  are  still  in  existence,  he 
transferred  the  headquarters  of  the  pargand  hither,  and  altered  the 
name  of  the  pargand  to  that  of  the  town.  His  power  must  have  beea 
considerable,  for  on  one  occasion,  when  the  Naw£b  was  flying  before 
the  English  after  the  battle  of  Baxar,  the  Gosiin  refused  him  admission 
and  shelter  within  the  walls  of  his  fort.  On  the  conclusion  of  peace 
between  the  Naw£b  and  the  English,  however,  the  Raja*  found  it 
expedient  to  leave  the  place,  and  retire  to  his  native  village  near 
Hardwar,  where  a  small  jdgir  was  granted  him  by  the  British.  The 
population  of  Gosaraganj  in  1869  amounted  to  3691,  almost  ex- 
clusively Hindus,  dwelling  in  856  houses.  The  town  is  clean  and  well 
kept,  with  a  conservancy  establishment  maintained  by  levy  of  a  house 


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GOSTANADI—GUASUBA.  449 

tax,  Gosamganj  has  always  been  noted  as  a  flourishing  market  town, 
and  a  brisk  local  trade  is  carried  on.  It  has  the  advantage  of  direct 
communication  with  Lucknow  and  Cawnpore  by  a  road  connecting 
it  with  the  Cawnpore  imperial  road  at  Bani  bridge  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Sai.  This  road  is  the  great  outlet  for  country  produce,  and 
in  turn  conveys  to  Gosamganj  European  piece-goods  and  articles 
of  English  manufacture.  Annual  value  of  sales  in  the  market  are 
estimated  at  ^19, 150.  Two  religious  festivals  in  the  year  are  held  in 
honour  of  the  local  goddess,  each  attended  by  about  5000  people, 
at  which  some  trade  is  carried  on.  Two  mosques,  and  one  or  two 
small  Sivaite  temples ;  police  station  ;  Government  school. 

GoBtanadi  (Go*tdni-nadi>  'River  of  the  Cow's  Udder ').— River 
in  Godavari  District,  Madras.  An  important  stream,  which  has  been 
converted  into  a  useful  navigable  irrigation  channel  by  the  Godavari 
engineers.     Its  waters  are  considered  sacred  by  the  Hindus. 

GostMni  (Champavati  or  Konddd). — River  rising  in  Gajapatinagar 
tdluk,  Vizagapatam  District,  Madras ;  flowing  south-east  for  48  miles  till 
it  enters  the  sea  at  Konada.  Principal  villages,  Gajapatinagar  and  Andhra. 
Gotardi.— One  of  the  petty  States  of  Rewd  Kanta,  Bombay.  Area, 
if  square  mile.  There  are  four  chiefs.  Revenue  in  1875  estimated 
at  jQ6o ;  tribute  of  £42  payable  to  the  Gaekwdr  of  Baroda. 

Govindgarh. — A  fortress  lying  north-west  of  the  city  of  Amritsar, 
Punjab,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  walls.  Lat  31°  40'  n.,  long.  74° 
45'  e.  Built  by  Ranjft  Sinh  in  1809  a.d.,  nominally  for  the  protection 
of  pilgrims  to  the  holy  city  of  the  Sfkhs,  but  really  to  overawe  their 
tumultuous  assemblage.  Now  garrisoned  by  a  battery  of  artillery  and 
a  company  of  British  infantry. 

Gramang\ — Village  in  Bashahr  State,  Punjab.  Lat.  31°  33'  n., 
long.  78°  33'  e.  ;  lies  in  the  valley  of  Tidang,  on  the  banks  of  a  river 
bearing  the  same  name,  which  flows  with  a  violent  course  down  the 
rapid  descent.  Well  built,  neatly  laid  out,  and  intersected  with  water- 
courses. The  neighbourhood  contains  an  immense  number  of  temples, 
shrines,  and  other  sacred  buildings,  devoted  to  the  religious  exercises 
of  the  Buddhist  monks  and  nuns  who  inhabit  the  village.  Elevation 
above  sea  level,  9174  feet. 

Gu&8Ub& — River  in  Twenty-four  Pargands  District,  Bengal;  one  of 
the  principal  arms  of  the  Ganges,  falling  into  the  sea  in  lat.  210  38' 
n.,  long.  88°  54'  e.  Although  of  considerable  size,  it  is  the  most  difficult 
river  to  enter  of  any  on  the  coast,  on  account  of  a  bending  channel  at 
its  mouth.  A  vessel  entering  it  must  bring  the  middle  of  the  land  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river  to  bear  north,  and  steer  directly  in  for  it  till 
near  shore;  she  ought  then  to  steer  to  the  westward  until  close  to 
Bingadunf  island,  whence  the  channel  takes  a  fairly  straight  direction 
to  the  north. 

vol.  in.  2  F 

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45o  GUBBI— GUDALUR. 

GubbL — Municipal  town  in  Tdmkiir  District,  Mysore;  13  miles  by 
road  west  of  Tdmkiir ;  headquarters  of  the  Kadaba  tdluk.     Lat   138 
18'  40"  n.,  long.  760  58'  30*  e.  ;   pop.  (1871),  3714,  including  292 
Muhammadans,   57   Jains,  and    19    Christians;    municipal    revenue 
(1874-75),  ^125;  rate  of  taxation,  8d.  per  head.     Entrepot  for  the 
trade  in  areca-nut  between  the  high  lands  of  Mysore  and  Wallajah-pet 
in  North  Arcot,  and  also  for  local  traffic.     Said  to  have  been  founded 
about  400  years  ago  by  the  gauda  or  chief  of  Hosahalli,  the  head  of  the 
tribe  of  Nonaba  Wokligars.     His  descendant  was  dispossessed   by 
Tipii  Sultan,  and  the  family  are  now  ordinary  cultivators,  though  their 
rank  is  acknowledged  in  their  own  tribe.     Gubbi  has  suffered  much 
from  the  antagonistic  spirit  prevailing  between  the  rival  trading  castes 
of  Komatis  and  Banajigas  or  Lingayats,  and  was  once  in  danger  of 
being  entirely  abandoned  owing  to  their  dissensions.     There  are  fairs, 
both  weekly  and  annual,  frequented  by  merchants  from  great  distances. 
The  neighbourhood  produces  coarse  cotton   cloths  (both  white  and 
coloured),  blankets,  sackcloth,  woldgra  areca-nut,  cocoa-nut,  jaggery- 
sugar,  tamarind,  capsicum,  wheat,  rice,  rdgi  and  other  grains,  lac,  steel, 
and  iron.     Large  imports  are  received  in  exchange  for  these  articles, 
and  Gubbi  forms  an  intermediate  mart  for  goods  passing  through  the 
south  of  the  peninsula  in  almost  all  directions.     The  local  trade  in 
areca-nut  is  estimated  at  335  tons — value,  ^21,840;  kopri  or  dry 
cocoa-nut,  134  tons — value,  ^3328;  cotton  cloth,  ^1500.     In  addi- 
tion, areca-nut,  pepper,   and  cardamoms  are  imported  from   Nagar 
and  transmitted  to  Vellore  and  Wallajah-pet,  whence  nutmeg,  mace, 
and  European  piece-goods  are  received  in  exchange.     Sugar,  sugar- 
candy,  and  silk  from  Bangalore  are  exchanged  for  cotton  and  thread 
from  Dha>w£r. 

Gubut. — One  of  the  petty  States  in  M£hi  Kinta,  Bombay.  Area 
under  cultivation,  3000  bighas;  estimated  pop.  (1875),  1225>  estimated 
revenue,  ,-£250.  The  Thakur  of  Gubut,  Wujdi  Sinh,  is  a  Miikwana 
Kolf,  born  about  1873.  The  State  pays  a  tribute  of  £4  to  the 
Rija*  of  Edar. 

Gtidaltir. — Pass  in  Travancore  State,  Madras ;  crossed  by  the  road 
from  Madura  to  Travancore.  Gddaldr  village  is  situated  in  lat  11*  9' 
N.,  and  long.  770  e. 

Gtidaltir. — Village  in  Malabar  District,  Madras ;  situated  at  the  foot 
of  the  Nediwatham  Ghdt,  on  the  road  to  Utikamand  (Ootacamund), 
and  at  the  junction  of  the  main  roads  from  Mysore  and  Malabar. 
Lat.  n*  30'  n.,  long.  76°  34'  e.  The  whole  township,  formerly  known 
as  Wambalakod,  contains  880  houses  and  13,277  inhabitants.  Since 
1850  Gddaliir  has  become  the  centre  of  the  south-east  Wynacl  coffee 
industry,  and  is  a  place  of  growing  importance.  A  sub-magistrate,  with 
a  munsijps  jurisdiction,  is  stationed  here.      There  are  also  police 


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GUDIATHAM—GUDUR.  451 

and  post  offices,  and  a  travellers'  bungalow.  The  transfer  of  this 
station  and  the  surrounding  country  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Nflgiri 
Commission  has  been  (1877)  decreed. 

Gudi&tham  (Gooriattum).— Tdluk  in  North  Arcot  District,  Madras. 
Houses,  25,863;  pop.  (1871),  162,980,  being  82,466  males  and  80,514 
females.  Classified  according  to  religion,  there  were — Hindus,  147,525, 
including  90,829  Sivaites,  56,400  Vishnuvites,  and  181  Lingdyats ; 
Muhammadans,  14,627,  including  13,719  Sunnis,  194  Shiis,  and  31 
WaMbis;  Christians  (chiefly  Roman  Catholics),  828,  viz.  11  Eurasians 
and  817  natives.     Chief  town,  Gudiatham. 

Gudi&thaill. — Town  in  North  Arcot  District,  Madras ;  situated  on 
the  Madras  Railway,  75  miles  west  from  Madras,  15  miles  west  from 
Vellore  (Veliir).  Lat.  120  57'  20"  n.,  long.  780  54'  40"  e.  ;  containing 
(1871)  1678  houses  and  10,804  inhabitants.  Headquarters  town  of 
the  tdluk,  with  court,  sub-jail,  school,  post  and  telegraph  offices.  Centre 
of  a  considerable  weaving  industry ;  exports  rice  to  Malabar. 

Oudibanda  {'Temple  Rock').— Tdluk  in  Kolir  District,  Mysore. 
Area,  220  square  miles;  pop.  (1871),  44,233;  land  revenue  (1874-75), 
exclusive  of  water  rates,  ^6864,  or  2s.  2d.  per  cultivated  acre. 

Oudibanda  ('Temple  Rock'). — Municipal  village  and  headquarters  of 
above  tdluk,  in  Kolar  District,  Mysore ;  55  miles  north-west  of  Koldr. 
Lat.  130  41'  n.,  long.  770  44'  35"  e.  ;  pop.  (187 1),  2909;  municipal 
revenue  (1874-75),  ^48  ;  rate  of  taxation,  3d.  per  head.  Situated  at 
the  foot  of  a  rock,  crowned  by  fortifications,  and  having  a  temple  on  the 
summit ;  residence  of  a  local  chief  during  the  17th  century. 

Gudiv&da. — Tdluk  in  Kistna  District,  Madras.  Houses,  15,266; 
pop.  (1871),  87,138,  viz.  43,473  males  and  43,665  females.  Classified 
according  to  religion,  there  were — Hindus,  84,463,  including  66,676 
Vishnuvites,  15,641  Sivaites,  and  900  Lingayats;  Muhammadans, 
2468,  including  2218  Sunnis,  92  Shi£s,  and  15  Wahibis;  Christians, 
all  natives,  and  chiefly  Protestants,  207. 

GtLdnr. — Tdluk  in  Nellore  District,  Madras.  Area,  817  square 
miles;  houses,  26,233;  P°P'  (I^7i)>  *47>*4*>  being  76,637  males 
and  70,504  females.  Classified  according  to  religion,  there  were 
— Hindus,  140,923,  viz.  77,921  Sivaites  and  63,002  Vishnuvites; 
Muhammadans,  6129,  including  5863  Sunnis  and  240  Shia>;  Chris- 
tians (chiefly  Roman  Catholics),  76,  viz.  25  Europeans  and  51  natives. 
Revenue  (1870-71),  ,£35,886.     Chief  town,  Guduil 

Ghidtlr. — Town  in  Nellore  District,  Madras ;  situated  on  the  Great 
Northern  Trunk  Road,  about  20  miles  south  of  Nellore  town.  Lat. 
14°  8'  43"  n.,  long.  79°  53'  30"  e.  ;  containing  (1871)  1235  houses 
and  6086  inhabitants.  The  headquarters  station  of  the  above  tdluk, 
with  the  usual  Subdivisional  courts,  sub-jail,  post  office,  police  station, 
travellers'  bungalow,  and  good  camping  ground. 


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452  GUDUR—GUfRANWALA  DISTRICT. 

Gtidtir. — Town  in  Karntil  (Kurnool)  District,  Madras;  situated 
about  1 9  miles  north-west  of  Karniil  town,  with  which  it  is  connected 
by  a  cart  track.  Lat  15°  43'  n.,  long.  78°  34'  40*  e.  ;  containing  (1871) 
1098  houses,  and  a  population  of  5825.  Formerly  the  headquarters 
of  the  t&luk.  The  town  is  of  no  local  note,  except  for  its  cotton 
cloths,  in  the  manufacture  of  which  a  large  section  of  its  population 
is  employed.    There  is  also  a  small  silk-weaving  business. 

Qugera. — Northern  tahsil  of  Montgomery  District,  Punjab ;  stretch- 
ing on  either  side  of  the  Rivi,  and  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  a 
dry  and  barren  waste,  with  a  narrow  strip  of  cultivation  along  the 
river  bank.  Pop.  (1868),  95,404;  total  cultivated  area,  112,529 
acres. 

Gngera. — Town  in  Montgomery  District,  Punjab,  and  headquarters 
of  the  tahsil;  situated  on  the  high  southern  bank  of  the  Rivi,  30  miles 
north-east  of  Montgomery.  Lat  300  58'  n.,  long.  73°  21'  e.  ;  pop, 
(1868),  2 1 14  souls.  Formerly  headquarters  of  the  District,  but  aban- 
doned in  favour  of  Montgomery  on  the  opening  of  the  Lahore  and 
Mriltan  (Mooltan)  Railway  in  1864.  Since  that  time  the  town  has 
declined  in  population  and  importance,  and  has  now  little  claim  to 
notice.     Tahsili,  police  station. 

Ouilldy  {Kindt). — Village  in  Chengalpat  District,  and  suburb  of 
Madras,  4  miles  south-west  of  Madras.  Lat  13°  n.,  long.  8o°  16'  e.  ; 
containing  (1871),  with  Roshambagh,  176  houses  and  828  inhabitants. 
The  country  house  and  park  of  the  Governor  are  at  Guindy.  The 
Government  farm  and  School  of  Agriculture  are  at  Roshambagh. 

Guj&inli. — Village  in  Bashahr  State,  Punjab,  on  the  road  from 
Kotkli  to  the  Burinda  Pass.  Inhabited  by  a  mining  population,  who 
extract  and  smelt  the  iron  ore  of  the  neighbouring  hills.  Lat  310  8'  n., 
long.  770  42'  e. 

Oqjar  Khan. — South-eastern  tahsil  of  Riwal  Pindi  District,  Punjab, 
lying  near  the  foot  of  the  Marrf  (Murree)  Hills ;  situated  between  33*4 
and  33°  26'  n.  lat,  and  between  72°  59'  and  73*  39'  30"  e.  long. 

QnjarAt. — Northern  seaboard  Province  of  Bombay  Presidency.— 
See  Guzerat. 

Gujr&nwAla— A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of 
the  Punjab,  lying  between  310  32'  and  320  33'  n.  lat,  and  between  73* 
n'  30"  and  74°  28'  15*  e.  long.,  with  an  area  (according  to  the  Parlia- 
mentary Return  of  1877)  of  2563  square  miles,  and  a  population  in 
1868  of  550,576.  Gujranwala  is  a  District  in  the  Lahore  Division 
It  is  bounded  on  the  north-west  by  the  river  Chenib,  on  the  south 
and  south-east  by  the  Districts  of  Jhang  and  Lahore,  and  on  the  east 
by  the  District  of  Sialkot  The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  the 
town  of  Gujranwala. 

Physical  Aspects. — The   District  of  Gujranwala  forms  the  central 


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GUJRANWALA  DISTRICT.  453 

portion  of  the  Rechna  Doab,  intermediate  between  the  fertile  submontane 
plains  of  Sialkot  and  the  desert  expanses  of  Jhang.  It  displays, 
accordingly,  all  the  transition  stages  by  which  the  rich  silt  of  the 
lower  Himalayan  slopes  merges  into  the  waterless  level  characteristic 
of  North-Western  India.  On  the  northern  frontier,  a  belt  of  alluvial 
land,  some  2  to  6  miles  in  breadth,  fringes  the  Chenab  throughout  its 
course,  and  marks  the  wider  valley  within  which  the  river  has  now 
and  again  shifted  its  uncertain  channel.  This  low-lying  strip  is 
bounded  on  the  south  by  a  steep  bank,  whence  the  central  uplands 
rise  at  once  to  the  general  level,  which  they  maintain  across  the  whole 
Doib.  For  10  miles  from  the  river  bed,  the  influence  of  the  water  is 
felt  in  all  the  wells ;  but  beyond  that  line,  the  country  becomes  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  rainfall  for  a  precarious  harvest  The  eastern 
portion  of  the  plateau,  bordering  on  Sialkot,  has  a  rich  soil,  with 
accessible  water,  and  is  quite  equal  in  productive  power  to  the  country 
immediately  above  it ;  the  villages  here  lie  close  together,  while  the 
people  are  careful  and  industrious  cultivators.  But  as  we  recede  from 
the  hills,  the  soil  becomes  harder  and  drier,  the  water  is  hidden  at 
greater  depths,  and  the  villages  begin  to  lie  farther  apart  At  last,  in 
the  extreme  south,  we  reach  the  desolate  tableland  known  as  the  bdr9 
a  flat  expanse  of  seemingly  barren  land,  dotted  with  low  jungle,  and 
only  covered  by  grass  after  the  rainy  season  has  brought  out  the 
natural  fertility  of  its  thirsty  soil.  On  its  southern  border,  the  bdr 
assumes  its  worst  characteristics,  and  passes  slowly  into  the  utter  desert 
of  Jhang.  Even  here,  however,  a  few  large  marshes  are  to  be  found, 
whose  stagnant  waters  serve  as  the  last  resource  of  cattle  in  seasons  of 
drought  In  the  south-east  corner  of  the  District,  the  little  river  Degh 
irrigates  and  fertilizes  a  tiny  valley  of  its  own,  which  its  annual  inunda- 
tions supply  with  a  rich  deposit  of  loam.  Two  or  three  minor  water- 
courses carry  off  the  surface  drainage  into  the  Degh  or  the  Chenab, 
and  are  used  for  purposes  of  irrigation  in  the  villages  through  which 
they  pass.  The  District  is  very  bare  of  trees,  having  little  timber 
except  the  scrubby  brushwood  of  the  Wr,  which  is  only  useful  for  fire* 
wood.  Its  scenery  is  everywhere  tame,  and  in  the  central  plateau 
becomes  tediously  monotonous.  Yet  it  would  be  possible,  by  means 
of  an  extensive  irrigation  system,  to  raise  the  productiveness  of  the 
driest  parts  to  as  high  a  level  as  that  now  attained  by  the  most  fertile 
portions  of  the  northern  slope. 

History. — The  District  of  Gujranwala  is  essentially  a  modern  creation, 
alike  in  its  boundaries,  its  population,  and  its  principal  towns ;  yet  it 
can  claim  important  relics  of  the  past,  constructed  during  an  early 
period  of  prosperity,  which  is  completely  separated  from  its  later  annals 
by  a  comparative  blank.  It  seems  likely,  indeed,  that  the  District  once 
contained  the  capital  of  the  Punjab,  at  an  epoch  when  Lahore  had  not 

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454  GVJRANWALA  DISTRICT. 

yet  begun  to  exist.  We  learn  from  the  Chinese  Buddhist  pilgrim, 
Hiouen  Thsang,  that  about  the  year  630  he  visited  a  town  known  as 
Tse-kia  (or  Taki),  the  metropolis  of  the  whole  country  of  the  Five  Rivers. 
The  site  of  this  town  has  been  identified  by  General  Cunningham  with  a 
mound,  near  the  modern  village  of  Asarur  in  this  District,  where  immense 
ruins  of  Buddhist  origin  are  still  to  be  seen.  Their  date  is  marked  by 
the  discovery  of  coins,  as  well  as  by  the  great  size  of  the  bricks,  which 
is  characteristic  of  the  period  in  which  they  were  constructed.  After 
the  time  of  Hiouen  Thsang,  we  know  as  little  of  Gujrdnwila  as  of 
Indian  Districts  generally,  until  the  Muhammadan  invasions  brought 
back  regular  chronological  history.  Meanwhile,  however,  Tiki  had 
fallen  into  oblivion,  and  Lahore  had  become  the  chief  city  of  the 
Punjab.  Under  Muhammadan  rule,  the  District  flourished  greatly. 
From  the  days  of  Akbar  to  those  of  Aurangzeb,  wells  were  scattered 
over  the  whole  country,  and  villages  lay  thickly  dotted  about  the 
southern  plateau,  which  is  now  a  barren  waste  of  grass  land  and  scrub 
jungle.  Their  remains  may  still  be  found  in  the  wildest  and  most 
solitary  reaches  of  the  bdr.  Eminabad  and  Hafizabad  were  the  chief 
towns,  while  the  country  was  divided  into  6  well-tilled  pargands.  But 
before  the  close  of  the  Muhammadan  period,  a  mysterious  depopulation 
fell  upon  this  tract,  the  reasons  of  which  are  even  now  by  no  means 
clear.  The  tribes  at  present  occupying  the  District  are  all  immigrants 
of  recent  date,  and  before  their  advent  the  whole  region  seems  for  a 
time  to  have  been  almost  entirely  abandoned.  Indeed,  there  is  reason 
to  think  that  most  of  the  occupying  clans  have  not  held  villages  in  the 
District  for  more  than  sixty  years,  and  that  previously  their  ancestors 
were  nomad  graziers  in  the  ruined  plain  of  the  bdr.  The  only  plaus- 
ible conjecture  to  account  for  this  sudden  and  disastrous  change  is 
that  of  the  settlement  officers,  who  regard  it  as  a  simple  result  of  the 
constant  wars  by  which  the  Punjab  was  convulsed  during  the  last  years 
of  Muhammadan  supremacy.  At  the  first  beginning  of  the  Sikh 
reaction,  the  waste  plains  of  Gujrdnwdla  were  seized  by  the  various 
military  adventurers  who  then  sprang  up  on  every  side.  Charat  Sinh, 
the  grandfather  of  the  great  Mahdrdjd  Ranjit  Sinh,  took  possession  of 
the  village  of  Gujrdnwdla,  then  an  inconsiderable  hamlet,  and  made  it 
the  headquarters  of  himself  and  his  son  and  grandson.  Minor  Sikh 
chieftains  settled  at  Wazirabad,  Shekhupura,  and  other  towns ;  while 
in  the  western  portion  of  the  District,  the  Bhattis  and  J£ts  maintained 
a  sturdy  independence.  In  the  end,  however,  Ranjft  Sinh  succeeded  in 
bringing  all  the  scattered  portions  of  the  District  under  his  own  power. 
The  great  Mahdrdjd  was  himself  born  at  Gujr£nw£la,  and  the  town  con- 
tinued to  be  his  capital  up  to  his  occupation  of  Lahore.  The  Sikh 
rule,  which  was  elsewhere  so  disastrous,  appears  to  have  been  an 
unmitigated  benefit  to  Gujrdnw£Ia.     Ranjit  Sinh  settled  large  colonies 


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GUJRANWALA  DISTRICT.  455 

in  the  various  villages,  and  was  very  successful  in  encouraging  cultiva- 
tion throughout  the  depopulated  plain  of  the  bdr.  In  the  Degh  valley, 
especially,  he  planted  a  body  of  hard-working  Hindus,  the  Labanas,  to 
whom  he  granted  the  land  at  a  nominal  rent,  on  condition  that  each 
cultivator  should  break  up  and  bring  under  tillage  the  ground  allotted 
to  him.  On  the  other  hand,  the  paternal  rule  of  the  Maharaji  is  said 
to  have  unfitted  the  people  for  self-reliant  exertion  under  a  more  liberal 
regime.  In  1847,  the  District  came  under  British  influence,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  regency  at  Lahore ;  and  two  years  later,  in  1849,  it  was 
included  in  the  territory  annexed  after  the  second  Sikh  war.  It  formed 
a  part  originally  of  the  extensive  District  of  Wazirdbid,  which  comprised 
the  whole  upper  portion  of  the  Rechna  Dodb.  In  1852,  this  unwieldy 
territory  was  subdivided  between  Gujranwala  and  Sidlkot  The  present 
District,  as  then  constituted,  stretched  across  the  entire  plateau,  from 
the  Chenab  to  the  Ravi ;  but  in  1853,  the  south-eastern  fringe,  con- 
sisting of  303  villages,  was  transferred  to  Lahore;  and  three  years 
later,  a  second  batch  of  324  villages  was  similarly  handed  over  to  the 
same  District  Since  that  time  Gujranwala  has  enjoyed  an  immunity 
from  the  catastrophes  of  history,  with  the  exception  of  the  events  of 
1857,  which,  however,  are  in  it  more  properly  connected  with  the  general 
annals  of  India  than  with  the  records  of  a  single  tract  Under  Sfkh 
and  British  rule,  the  relative  importance  of  the  various  towns  has  been 
completely  revolutionized ;  Gujranwala  and  Wazfr£b4d  have  risen  to 
the  first  place  in  wealth  and  populousness,  while  the  older  cities  have 
declined  into  mere  villages. 

Population. — Owing  to  the  large  transfers  of  territory  between 
this  District  and  Lahore,  it  is  impossible  to  employ  the  statistics 
afforded  by  the  Census  of  1855  for  purposes  of  direct  comparison;  but 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  total  increase  in  the  population  of 
the  District,  as  at  present  constituted,  between  1855  and  1868, 
amounted  to  63,420,  or  13*01  per  cent  The  enumeration  under- 
taken in  the  latter  year  was  the  first  for  which  the  area  was  correctly 
ascertained.  It  disclosed  a  population  of  550,576,  scattered  over  a 
territory  of  2653  square  miles,  with  an  aggregate  of  1114  villages 
or  townships,  and  157,928  houses.  These  figures  yield  the  following 
averages : — Persons  per  square  mile,  207 ;  villages  per  square  mile, 
0*42  ;  persons  per  village,  494 ;  houses  per  square  mile,  59*44 ;  persons 
per  house,  3*49.  Classified  according  to  sex,  there  were — males, 
306,296;  females,  244,280;  proportion  of  males,  55*63  per  cent. 
Classified  according  to  age,  we  have  the  following  results : — Under 
12  years — males,  99,742;  females,  84,186;  total,  183,928,  or  33*40 
per  cent.  In  religion,  the  District  is  mainly  Muhammadan,  though 
the  Hindu  element  is  much  stronger  here  than  in  the  border  region 
to  the  north-west.    The  Census  shows  the  following  numbers  and  per- 


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456  GUJRANWALA  DISTRICT. 

centages  : — Musalmans,  357,550,  or  64-94  per  cent. ;  Hindus,  104,156, 
or  18-91  per  cent ;  Sikhs,  38,911,  or  7-07  per  cent;  'others,'  49,959, 
or  9-07  per  cent.  As  regards  the  ethnical  division  and  caste  distinctions 
of  the  people,  the  Brdhmans  number  17,084,  a  few  of  whom  are 
employed  in  agriculture  or  commerce,  while  the  greater  part  maintain 
themselves  by  the  exercise  of  their  priestly  functions.  The  Kshattriyas 
(22,624)  and  Arords  (25,789),  both  Hindus  by  creed,  are  the  chief 
mercantile  tribes.  They  also  hold  respectively  49  and  4  villages  in  the 
District,  their  landed  property  having  been  generally  acquired  by  recent 
purchase.  The  Banias  are  only  represented  by  90  persons,  as  their 
usual  functions  of  bankers  and  money-lenders  are  here  usurped  by  the 
Kshattriyas  and  Arords.  The  Jits  number  in  all  237,600  persons,  or 
43*15  per  cent,  of  the  whole  population.  Farther  north,  their  fellow- 
tribesmen  have  almost  universally  abandoned  the  Hindu  creed — with 
its  caste  exclusiveness  and  narrow  restrictions  which  press  so  heavily  on 
the  inferior  classes — in  favour  of  the  comparative  equality  offered  by 
Islam ;  but  in  Gujrinwdla,  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  tribe  still  retain 
their  ancient  faith,  174,754  being  returned  as  Musalmans,  while  62,846 
are  enumerated  as  Hindus.  Most  of  them  lay  claim  to  Rajput  origin, 
a  pedigree  which  is  not  improbable,  as  large  clans  of  Jats  appear  to 
be  composed  of  broken  Rijput  stocks.  As  elsewhere,  they  are  indus- 
trious and  cheerful  cultivators,  and  they  own  no  less  than  549  villages. 
Some  of  the  clans,  however,  still  lead  a  nomad  life  in  the  wild  pasture- 
lands  of  the  bdr.  The  undoubted  Rajputs  number  9290,  Muham- 
madans  almost  to  a  man;  amongst  whom  the  half-tamed  fihattis  of 
the  south-west  form  the  principal  subdivision.  They  are  a  grazing 
and  cattle-lifting  race,  who  till  only  so  much  land  as  is  absolutely 
requisite  for  their  subsistence,  and  accumulate  great  wealth  from  the 
produce  of  their  herds.  The  other  Muhammadan  tribes  are  the  Sayyids 
(4604),  Pathans  (4421),  Baliichis  (5965),  and  Gtfjars  (1326).  As 
regards  occupation,  224,778  persons  are  returned  as  agriculturists,  and 
325>7°8  as  otherwise  employed.  There  were  5  towns  in  1868  with  a 
population  exceeding  5000  souls — namely,  Gujranwala,  19,381 ; 
Wazirabad,  15,730;  Ramnagar,  7598;  Eminabad,  6711 ;  and  Akal- 
garh,  5038.  These  figures  show  a  total  urban  population  of  54,458 
persons,  or  9*88  per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants.  The  language  in  common 
use  is  Panjibi,  but  the  townspeople  and  more  intelligent  peasants 
understand  Urdu. 

Agriculture. — According  to  the  latest  available  returns,  the  total 
cultivated  area  of  Gujr£nw£la  amounts  to  567,849  acres,  while  the 
cultivable  margin  reaches  the  high  figure  of  701,761  acres.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  only  46*55  per  cent  of  the  land  fit  for  tillage  has  been 
actually  brought  under  cultivation.  However,  as  the  cultivated  area 
in  1850-51  amounted  to  only  424,184  acres,  it  follows  that  an  increase 


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GUJRANWALA  DISTRICT.  457 

of  143,665  acres  has  taken  place  since  that  period,  being  in  the  propor- 
tion of  33*87  per  cent,  upon  the  tillage  at  the  former  date.  The  staple 
crop  of  the  District  is  wheat,  which  occupies  one-third  of  the  cultivated 
area.  The  principal  agricultural  products,  with  the  extent  occupied  by 
each,  were  returned  as  follows  in  1872-73  : — Rati  or  spring  harvest — 
wheat,  162,199  acres }  barley,  42,529  acres ;  gram,  8933  acres ;  tobacco, 
5360  acres;  oil-seeds,  3006  acres;  vegetables,  16,780  acres:  Kharif 
or  autumn  harvest — rice,  20,333  acres ;  jodr,  34,509  acres;  bdjru,  9105 
acres;  Indian  corn,  15,610  acres;  pulses,  39,065  acres;  oil-seeds, 
IO>°55  acres;  cotton,  42,400  acres;  sugar-cane,  33,180  acres;  vege- 
tables, 18,512  acres.  Of  all  these,  the  most  valuable  crop  in  proportion 
to  its  acreage  is  sugar-cane ;  it  is  the  most  remunerative  product  grown 
in  the  District,  and  its  cultivation  is  steadily  increasing.  Within  the 
last  few  years,  the  out-turn  of  sugar  has  doubled,  and  all  the  irrigated 
land  of  the  Wazir£b£d  and  Gujrdnwala  pargands  is  now  covered  by 
waving  fields  of  the  green  cane.  Cotton  was  largely  produced  during 
the  scarcity  which  followed  the  American  war,  but  the  culture  has  now 
shrunk  once  more  to  the  normal  demand  for  home  consumption.  The 
evergreen  shrub  mehndi,  from  whose  leaves  a  valuable  scarlet  dye  is 
procured,  forms  an  occasional  crop  in  the  District ;  it  might  be  grown 
in  much  larger  quantities  to  great  advantage,  but  the  development  of 
this  important  industry  is  retarded  by  the  superstitions  of  the  peasantry, 
who  regard  the  plant  as  unlucky,  and  walk  about  in  the  constant  dread 
of  sudden  death  if  they  possess  a  patch  of  it  in  their  holding.  Irriga- 
tion is  very  general,  as  many  as  327,832  acres  being  artificially  watered 
from  private  works  in  1868.  Part  of  this  area  is  supplied  from  the 
natural  overflow  of  the  Chenab  and  the  Degh ;  the  remainder  is 
irrigated  by  wells,  or  by  Persian  wheels  in  connection  with  natural  and 
artificial  ponds.  The  use  of  manure  is  also  common,  especially  for  the 
richer  crops,  such  as  sugar-cane,  cotton,  tobacco,  maize,  and  garden 
produce,  almost  all  of  which  also  require  copious  watering  and  great 
attention.  Wheat  is  likewise  very  generally  manured.  Rotation  of 
crops,  though  still  in  its  infancy,  is  partially  practised.  The  land  always 
receives  at  least  two  or  three  ploughings  for  each  harvest ;  in  the  case 
of  the  richer  products,  eight  or  ten  are  found  necessary ;  while  soil 
intended  for  sugar-cane  is  sometimes  ploughed  as  many  as  sixteen 
times.  The  average  out-tum  of  wheat  per  acre  is  454  lbs.,  valued  at 
13s.  4$d. ;  that  of  sugar-cane  is  618  lbs.,  valued  at  £1, 16s.  4jd.  Most 
of  the  land  is  held  under  the  tenure  known  as  pattiddri,  in  which  the 
rights  and  liabilities  of  sharers  are  regulated  by  ancestral  or  customary 
usage.  Few  of  the  tenants  have  acquired  hereditary  or  occupancy 
rights.  Rents  ruled  as  follows  in  1872-73,  in  accordance  with  the 
nature  of  the  crop  for  which  the  soil  is  fitted : — Rice  lands,  from  8s.  to 
14s. ;  cotton  lands,  from  6s.  to  14s.;  sugar  lands,  from  18s.  to  jQit  18s.; 

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458  GUJRANWALA  DISTRICT. 

wheat  (irrigated),  from  6s.  to  12s.  and  (unirrigated)  from  4s.  to  8s.;  inferior 
grains  (irrigated),  from  4s.  to  8s.  and  (unirrigated)  from  4s.  to  6s.  Agricul- 
tural labourers  are  universally  paid  in  kind.  In  the  towns,  wages  ruled 
as  follows  in  1872-73  : — Skilled  labour,  from  4^d.  to  9&  per  diem ; 
unskilled  labour,  from  3fd.  to  6d.  per  diem.  In  1873, tne  prices  of 
food  grains  were  returned  at  the  following  rates  : — Wheat,  22  sers  per 
rupee,  or  5s.  id.  per  cwt. ;  gram,  19  sers  per  rupee,  or  5s.  iofd.  per 
cwt ;  Indian  corn,  29  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  iojd.  per  cwt ;  jodr,  30 
sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  8|d.  per  cwt. 

Commerce  and  Tradet  etc. — The  trade  of  the  District  is  unimportant,  and 
purely  local  in  its  character.  The  only  exports  are  agricultural  produce, 
brass  vessels,  leathern  bottles,  and  timber.  The  return  trade  consists 
of  salt,  iron,  cattle,  spices,  and  English  piece-goods.  Sugar,  wheat, 
g/it,  and  wool  are  sent  down  the  Chenib  from  Wazfribad,  Ramnagar, 
and  other  water-side  towns ;  land  transport  is  chiefly  effected  by  means 
of  camels.  The  manufactures  are  almost  confined  to  cotton  and 
woollen  fabrics  for  home  consumption ;  but  the  smiths  of  Wazfrabad 
have  a  good  reputation  for  small  cutlery  and  ornamental  hardware. 
The  principal  religious  fair  is  held  at  Dhonkal,  at  which  it  is  calculated 
that  200,000  persons  assemble.  As  usual,  business  is  largely  mixed  with 
the  sacred  character  of  the  festival.  The  great  channel  of  communi- 
cation is  the  Northern  State  Railway  from  Lahore  to  Peshiwar,  which 
is  opened  as  far. as  Wazfribdd,  and  has  stations  at  that  town  and  at 
Gujrdnwdla.  The  Grand  Trunk  Road,  connecting  the  same  two 
places,  traverses  the  District  for  a  distance  of  42  miles,  metalled  and 
bridged  throughout.  Of  unmetalled  roads,  there  are  1055  miles  in 
Gujr£nwala,  besides  a  number  of  local  by-ways.  The  Chendb  is 
navigable  throughout  for  the  boats  of  the  country,  the  chief  river  marts 
being  those  of  Wazirdbdd,  Rdmnagar,  and  Mahinwala.  A  line  of 
telegraph  runs  along  the  side  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Road. 

Administration. — The  ordinary  civil  staff  of  Gujr£nw£la  consists  of  a 
Deputy  Commissioner,  Assistant  and  Extra-Assistant  Commissioners, 
and  three  tahsild&rs,  besides  the  usual  medical  and  constabulary  officials. 
In  187 1,  the  revenue  was  returned  at  ^53,560;  while  the  amount 
contributed  by  the  land  tax  was  set  down  at  ^44,352.  The  other 
principal  items  are  stamps  and  excise.  In  1872-73,  the  District  con- 
tained 12  civil  or  revenue  and  19  magisterial  courts.  In  the  same 
year,  the  imperial  police  numbered  406  men  of  all  ranks,  besides  117 
municipal  constables.  There  was  thus  a  total  police  force  of  523 
men,  being  1  policeman  to  every  1052  of  the  population  and  to  every 
4*89  square  miles.  The  regular  force  was  supplemented  by  1092 
village  watchmen  or  chaukiddrs.  The  number  of  persons  brought 
to  trial  for  all  offences,  great  or  small,  in  T871,  amounted  to  2773; 
or  1  offender  to  every  198  of  the  population.     There  is  1  jail  in  the 


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GUJRANWALA  TAHSIL  AND  TOWN,  459 

District,  the  total  number  of  prisoners  in  which  was  1081  in  1870, 
1308  in  187 1,  and  1191  in  1872;  while  the  daily  average  strength  for 
the  same  three  years  was  413,  423,  and  512  respectively.  Education 
is  still  unfortunately  backward,  the  agricultural  population  especially 
having  made  no  advance  in  their  appreciation  of  its  advantages.  The 
-total  number  of  pupils  on  the  rolls  of  the  various  schools  amounted  in 
1873  to  5818;  while  the  sum  expended  upon  their  maintenance  was 
^2469,  of  which  ^1241  was  derived  from  the  public  funds.  The 
District  is  subdivided  into  3  tahsils  and  11  pargands^  containing  an 
aggregate  of  11 95  villages,  owned  by  35,110  proprietors  or  coparceners. 
Average  land  revenue  from  each  village,  ^37,  2s.  7|d. ;  from  each 
proprietor,  j£i9  5s.  3§d.  The  only  regularly  constituted  municipalities 
in  the  District  are  those  of  Gujranwila  and  Wazfribid,  but  a  municipal 
income  is  also  realized  at  14  union  towns  or  large  villages.  Their 
aggregate  population  amounts  to  83,788  persons,  and  their  joint  revenue 
gave  a  total  of  ^3048  in  1871-72,  being  at  the  rate  of  8|d.  per  head 
of  their  inhabitants. 

Sanitary  Aspects. — No  statistics  as  to  the  temperature  of  Gujranwala 
are  available  for  any  date  later  than  the  year  1867.  Observations 
made  at  that  time  show  that  the  mean  monthly  temperature  ranged 
from  53°  in  January  to  95 °  in  June;  while  the  minimum  and  maximum 
readings  for  the  same  year  were  200  and  120"  respectively.  The 
average  rainfall  for  the  eleven  years  ending  in  1867  was  24  inches  for 
the  whole  District.  The  prevalent  diseases  are  intermittent  fever  and 
small-pox,  the  latter  of  which  exists  always  in  an  endemic  form.  The 
total  number  of  deaths  recorded  in  1872  amounted  to  12,592,  or  23 
per  thousand  of  the  population ;  but  these  figures  are  probably  below 
the  truth.  The  towns  are  badly  drained,  or  rather  not  drained  at  all ; 
and  the  urban  death-rates  are  extremely  high.  The  returns  for  1872 
show  the  following  results : — Gujrdnwala,  51  per  thousand ;  Emindbdd, 
77  per  thousand;  and  Wazirdbdd,  43  per  thousand.  The  Government 
has  4  charitable  dispensaries — at  Gujranwala,  Akdlgarh,  Wazirdbad,  and 
Hdfizibdd,  which  afforded  relief  in  1872  to  17,168  patients. 

Gqjr&nw&la. —  Tahsil  in  Gujranwala  District,  Punjab;  situated 
between  310  49'  and  320  20'  n.  lat.,  and  740  28'  15"  and  750  50' e. 
long.  Area,  758  square  miles;  pop.  (1868),  222,549;  number  of 
villages,  400. 

Gqjr&nw&la.  —  Chief  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of 
Gujranwala  District,  Punjab.  Lat.  320  9'  30"  n.,  long.  740  14'  e.  ;  pop. 
(1868),  19,381,  comprising  7951  Hindus,  9019  Muhammadans,  1867 
Sfkhs,  85  Christians,  and  459  'others.'  Lies  on  the  Grand  Trunk 
Road  and  Northern  State  Railway,  40  miles  north  of  I-ahore.  The 
town  is  of  modern  creation,  and  owes  its  importance  entirely  to  the 
father   and  grandfather   of  Maharajd  Ranjit  Sinh,  whose  capital  it 

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46o  G  UJRA  T  DISTRICT. 

formed  during  the  early  period  of  the  Sfkh  power.  Ranjft  Sinh  him- 
self was  born  at  Gujranwala,  and  made  it  his  headquarters  until  the 
establishment  of  his  supremacy  at  Lahore.  Large  dwelling-houses  of 
Sfkh  architecture  line  the  main  streets;  the  minor  lanes  consist  of 
tortuous  alleys,  often  ending  in  culs-dc-sac.  The  town  lies  in  a  plain  of 
dead  level,  destitute  of  natural  drainage ;  and  its  sanitary  condition  has 
called  forth  severe  comments.  Mausoleum  to  Mihan  Sinh,  father  of 
Ranjft  Sinh  ;  lofty  cupola  covering  a  portion  of  the  ashes  of  the  great 
Mahirija  himself.  Civil  station  lies  a  mile  south-east  of  the  native 
town.  It  contains  the  court-house,  treasury,  jail,  dispensary,  post  office, 
staging  bungalow,  and  church.  Trade  in  local  produce  only;  small 
manufactures  of  country  wares,  including  brass  vessels,  jewellery,  shawl 
edgings,  and  silk  and  cotton  scarves.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76, 
^1767,  or  is.  8J&  per  head  of  population  (20,215)  within  municipal 
limits. 

Gtajr&t. — A  British  District  in  the  lieutenant-Governorship  of  the 
Punjab,  lying  between  320  10'  30"  and  330  n.  lat,  and  between  730  20' 
and  740  31'  e.  long.,  with  an  area  (according  to  the  Parliamentary  Return 
of  1877)  of  2029  square  miles,  and  a  population  in  1868  of  616,347 
persons.  Gujrat  forms  the  easternmost  District  of  the  Rawal  Pindi 
Division.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north-east  by  the  Native  State  of 
Kashmir,  on  the  north-west  by  the  river  Jhelum  (Jhilam),  on  the  west 
by  Shahpur  District,  and  on  the  south-east  by  the  rivers  TaVi  and 
Chenib,  separating  it  from  the  Districts  of  Siilkot  and  Gujranwala. 
The  administrative  headquarters  are  at  the  town  of  Gujrat,  4  miles 
from  the  present  bed  of  the  Chenib. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Gujr£t  comprises  a  narrow  wedge 
of  sub-Himalayan  plain  country,  enclosed  between  the  boundary  valleys 
of  the  Jhelum  and  the  Chenib.  The  tract  of  land  thus  cut  off 
possesses  fewer  natural  advantages  than  any  other  portion  of  the  sub- 
montane Punjab  region.  From  the  basin  of  the  Chenib  on  the 
south,  the  general  level  of  the  country  rises  rapidly  toward  the 
interior,  which,  owing  to  the  great  depth  of  water  below  the  surface, 
begins  to  assume  a  dreary  and  desert  aspect  almost  from  the  very 
base  of  the  great  mountain  chain  itself.  The  bed  of  the  Jhelum  on 
the  northern  boundary  of  the  District  has  an  elevation  of  1 1 1  feet 
above  that  of  its  south-eastern  affluent,  and  thus  testifies  to  the 
considerable  rise  in  the  general  surface  of  the  upland  plateau.  A 
range  of  low  hills,  known  as  the  Pabbi,  traverses  the  northern  angle  of 
Gujr£t,  commencing  on  the  Jammu  frontier,  5  miles  below  the  town  of 
Bhimbar,  and  passing  south-westward  in  a  direct  line  till  it  abuts 
upon  the  bank  of  the  Jhelum ;  rising  again  beyond  the  valley  of  that 
river,  the  system  trends  northwards  once  more,  and  ultimately  merges 
in  the  Salt  range.     These  hills  consist  of  a  friable  tertiary  sandstone 

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GUJRAT  DISTRICT.  461 

and  conglomerate,  totally  destitute  of  vegetation,  and  presenting  to  the 
view  a  mere  barren  chaos  of  naked  rock,  deeply  scored  with  precipi- 
tous ravines.  The  highest  point  attains  an  elevation  of  1400  feet 
above  sea  level,  or  about  600  feet  above  the  surrounding  plain. 
Immediately  below  the  Pabbi  stretches  a  high  and  undulating  plateau, 
which  runs  eastward  across  the  whole  breadth  of  the  Doib,  and  ter- 
minates abruptly  in  a  precipitous  bluff  some  200  feet  in  height,  over- 
looking the  channel  of  the  T£vi,  an  affluent  of  the  Chenib,  in  the 
north-eastern  corner  of  the  District.  At  the  foot  of  the  plateau,  again, 
succeeds  a  dry  but  not  infertile  champaign  country,  bounded  by  a  low- 
land strip  some  8  miles  in  width,  which  forms  the  actual  wider  valley 
of  the  Chenib  itself,  and  participates  in  the  irrigation  from  the  river 
bed.  Scarcely  one-fifth  of  the  plain  has  been  brought  under  the 
plough  ;  the  remainder  consists  of  brushwood  jungle,  valued  only  as  a 
pasture-ground  for  the  herds  of  cattle  which  make  up  the  principal 
wealth  of  its  inhabitants.  The  dreary  and  sterile  aspect  of  the  country 
increases  in  a  marked  degree  as  we  move  westward.  Even  in  the 
best  portion  of  the  plain,  water  can  only  be  obtained  in  wells  at  a 
depth  of  60  feet  below  the  surface,  which  precludes  the  possibility  of  its 
general  use  for  purposes  of  irrigation.  At  the  foot  of  the  high  bank, 
however,  which  terminates  this  central  plain,  the  Chendb  lowlands 
have  a  fertile  soil  of  consistent  loam,  whose  natural  fruitfulness 
is  enhanced  by  artificial  water  supply  from  the  mountain  streams, 
which  pass  in  deeply-cut  channels  through  the  dry  uplands,  but  expand 
once  more  into  broad  reaches  as  they  flow  through  the  alluvial  flats. 
Close  to  the  actual  channel,  a  fringe  of  land,  some  2 \  miles  in  width, 
is  exposed  to  inundation  from  the  flooded  river,  and  produces  rich 
crops  upon  the  virgin  silt.  A  similar  belt  of  lowland  fringes  the 
Jhelum ;  but  the  deposits  from  this  river  contain  a  large  admixture  of 
sand,  which  renders  the  soil  far  less  fertile  than  in  the  valley  of  the 
Chenib.  The  District  as  a  whole  is  well  wooded,  and  great  attention 
has  been  paid  to  arboriculture.  The  State  preserves  some  60,000 
acres  of  waste  land  for  the  growth  of  timber,  under  the  management 
of  t}ie  Forest  Department. 

History. — Numerous  relics  of  antiquity  stud  the  surface  of  Gujrit 
District.  Mounds  of  ancient  construction  yield  considerable  numbers 
of  early  coins,  and  abound  in  archaic  bricks,  whose  size  and  type 
prove  them  to  belong  to  the  prehistoric  period  of  Hindu  architecture. 
General  Cunningham  has  identified  one  of  these  shapeless  masses, 
now  occupied  by  the  village  of  Moga  or  Mong,  with  the  site  of 
Niksea,  the  city  built  by  Alexander  on  the  field  of  his  victory  over 
Porus.  This  mound,  a  conspicuous  object  for  many  miles  around,  lies 
about  6  miles  west  of  the  Pabbi  range,  and  has  a  height  of  50  feet,  with  a 
superficial  dimension  of  600  by  400  feet  Copper  coins  of  all  the  so- 
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462  G  UJRA T  DISTRICT. 

called  Indo-Scythian  kings  are  found  in  abundance  amongst  the  rubbish 
which  composes  the  heap.  Gujrit  itself  evidently  occupies  an  ancient 
site,  though  the  existing  town  dates  only  from  the  time  of  Akbar.  Jit 
and  Gtijar  tribes  form  the  principal  elements  of  the  population,  and 
their  legends  afford  a  concurrence  of  testimony  in  favour  of  the  view 
that  their  ancestors  entered  the  District  from  the  east  in  comparatively 
modern  times.  The  Delhi  Empire  first  made  a  settlement  in  this 
portion  of  the  Punjab  under  Bahlol  Lodi  (a.d.  1450-88),  by  whom  the 
town  of  Bahlolpur  upon  the  Chendb,  23  miles  north-east  of  Gujrit, 
was  founded  as  the  seat  of  Government.  A  century  later,  Akbar 
visited  the  District,  and  restored  Gujrat  as  the  local  capital  That 
emperor's  administrative  records  are  still  extant,  having  been  preserved 
in  the  families  of  the  hereditary  registrars  (kanungos)'.  They  exhibit 
Gujrdt  as  the  centre  of  an  administrative  division  comprising  2592 
villages,  and  producing  a  revenue  of  ,£163,455.  During  the  long 
decay  of  the  Mughal  power,  the  District  was  overrun  by  the  Ghakars 
of  Rawal  Pindi,  who  probably  established  themselves  at  Gujt4t  in 
1 741.  The  country  also  suffered  at  the  same  time  from  the  ravages 
of  Ahmad  Sh£h  Duranf ,  whose  armies  frequently  crossed  and  recrossed 
the  District  Meanwhile  the  Sikh  power  had  been  asserting  itself 
in  the  eastern  Punjab;  and  in  1765,  Sardir  Gdjar  Sinh,  head  of  the 
Bhangi  Confederacy,  crossed  the  Chenib,  defeated  the  Ghakar  chief, 
Mukarrab  Khan,  and  extended  his  dominions  to  the  banks  of  the 
Jhelum.  On  his  death  in  1788,  his  son,  Sdhib  Sinh,  succeeded  to 
the  domains  of  his  father,  but  became  involved  in  war  with  Mahan 
Sinh,  the  chieftain  of  Gujranwala,  and  with  his  son,  the  celebrated 
Ranjft  Sinh.  After  a  few  months  of  desultory  warfare  in  1798,  the 
Gujrat  leader  found  it  well  to  accept  a  position  of  dependence  under 
the  young  ruler  of  Gujranwala.  At  length  in  18 10,  Ranjit  Sinh,  now 
master  of  the  consolidated  Sikh  empire,  determined  to  depose  his 
tributary  vassal  S£hib  Sinh  withdrew  to  the  hills  without  opposition, 
and  shortly  afterwards  accepted  a  small  portion  of  the  present  Sialkot 
District  as  a  private  landowner.  In  1846,  Gujrit  first  came  under  the 
supervision  of  British  officials,  a  settlement  of  the  land  tax  having  been 
effected  under  orders  from  the  Provisional  Government  at  Lahore. 
Two  years  later,  the  District  became  the  theatre  for  the  series  of  im- 
portant battles  which  decided  the  event  of  the  second  Sikh  war.  While 
the  siege  of  Multan  (Mooltan)  still  dragged  slowly  on,  Sher  Sinh  estab- 
lished himself  at  Ramnagaron,  the  Gujrdnwala  side  of  the  Chenib,  22 
miles  below  Gujrdt,  leaving  the  main  body  of  his  army  on  the  northern 
bank.  Here  he  awaited  the  attack  of  Lord  Gough,  who  attempted 
unsuccessfully  to  drive  him  across  the  river,  22nd  November  1848.  Our 
commander  withdrew  from  the  assault  with  heavy  loss ;  but  sending 
round  a  strong  detachment  under  Sir  Joseph  Thackwell  by  the  Wazfr- 


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G  UJRA  T  DISTRICT.  463 

dbad  ferry,  he  turned  the  flank  of  the  enemy,  and  won  the  battle  of 
Sadullapur.  Sher  Sinh  retired  northward,  and  took  up  a  strong  position 
between  the  Jhelum  and  the  Pabbi  Hills.  The  bloody  battle  of  Chilian- 
wala  followed  (13  th  January  1849),  a  victory  as  costly  as  a  defeat. 
On  6th  February,  Sher  Sinh  again  eluded  Lord  Gough's  vigilance, 
and  marched  southwards  to  make  a  dash  upon  Lahore ;  but  our  army 
pressed  him  close  in  the  rear,  and,  on  the  2  2d  of  February,  he  turned 
to  offer  battle  at  Gujrat.  The  decisive  engagement  which  ensued 
broke  irretrievably  the  power  of  the  Sikhs.  The  Punjab  lay  at  the  feet 
of  the  conquerors,  and  passed  by  annexation  under  British  rule.  At 
the  first  distribution  of  the  Province,  the  whole  wedge  of  land  between 
the  Chenib  and  the  Jhelum,  from  their  junction  to  the  hills,  formed  a 
single  jurisdiction ;  but  a  few  months  later,  the  south-western  portion 
was  erected  into  a  separate  charge,  with  its  headquarters  at  Shahpur- 
Various  interchanges  of  territory  took  place  from  time  to  time  at  later 
dates;  and  in  1857,  the  north-eastern  corner  of  the  original  District, 
comprising  the  tongue  of  land  between  the  T£vi  and  the  Chenib,  was 
transferred  to  S&lkot.     Gujrdt  District  then  assumed  its  present  form. 

Population.  —  The  first  Census  of  Gujrit  took  place  in  1855,  and 
it  returned  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  the  area  now  composing 
the  District  at  500,167  souls.  A  second  enumeration,  effected  in 
1868,  disclosed  a  total  population  of  616,347,  showing  an  increase 
of  116,180  persons,  or  23*22  per  cent,  in  the  thirteen  years.  The 
last-named  Census  was  taken  over  an  area  of  1900  square  miles, 
and  it  resulted  in  the  following  statistics  : — Number  of  villages,  1429  ; 
number  of  houses,  156,195;  persons  per  square  mile,  324;  villages 
per  square  mile,  075 ;  houses  per  square  mile,  82 ;  persons  per 
village,  430 ;  persons  per  house,  3*94.  The  western  portion  of  the 
District  is  very  sparsely  populated.  Classified  according  to  sex,  there 
were — males,  331,919;  females,  284,428;  proportion  of  males,  53*85 
percent.  Classified  according  to  age,  there  were,  under  12  years — 
males,  124,368;  females,  106,456;  total  children,  230,824,  or  37-45 
per  cent  As  regards  religious  distinctions,  Gujrat  is  an  essentially 
Musalmdn  District,  where  the  ancient  religion  has  been  almost 
crushed  out,  and  the  Sfkh  reaction  has  produced  but  little  effect.  In 
1868,  the  Muhammadans  numbered  no  less  than  537,696,  or  87-24 
per  cent;  while  the  Hindus  amounted  to  only  53,174?  or  8*63  per 
cent,  and  the  Sfkhs  to  20,653,  or  3-35  per  cent.  The  District  also 
contained  49  Christians,  and  4775  'others.'  The  agricultural  popula- 
tion was  returned  at  355, 152  persons,  of  whom  109,983  were  males  above 
18  years  of  age.  Among  Hindus  and  Sfkhs,  the  ethnical  divisions 
comprised  9377  Brihmans,  20,697  Kshattriyas,  20,150  Aroras,  and 
1749  Jats.  The  Muhammadans  included  14,808  Sayyids,  25,352 
Rijputs,  160,879  Jdts,  and  84,966  Giijars.      Hence  it  appears  that 

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464  G  UJRA  T  DISTRICT. 

the  mass  of  the  Musalman  population  consists  of  converts  to  Islim, 
drawn  either  from  the  old  Rajput  aristocracy,  who  were  forcibly 
brought  under  the  faith  of  the  Prophet,  or  from  the  lower  castes, 
which  readily  exchanged  the  exclusive  creed  of  their  fathers  for 
the  comparative  freedom  of  the  Muhammadan  belief.  Among  those 
who  profess  the  two  branches  of  the  ancestral  religion,  70  per  cent 
belong  to  tribes  engaged  almost  exclusively  in  commerce.  The  most 
important  Rajput  tribe  is  that  of  the  Chibs,  who  occupy  the  country 
immediately  below  the  Himalayas,  both  in  this  District  and  in  Jammu, 
and  hold  a  high  social  rank.  The  Jits  and  Giijars,  comparatively 
recent  converts  to  Islam,  engage  in  agriculture  or  pastoral  pursuits  over 
the  central  uplands.  In  1875-76,  the  District  contained  4  municipal 
towns  with  a  population  exceeding  5000 — namely,  Gujrat,  17,391; 
Jalalpur,  14,022;  Kunjah,  5354;  and  Dinga,  5077. 

Agriculture. — Wheat  forms  the  staple  product  of  the  rabi  or  spring 
harvest;  while  the  common  millets,  jodr  and  bdjru,  make  up  the  chief 
items  in  the  kharif  or  autumn  crops.  Barley,  gram,  rice,  pulses,  oil- 
seeds, and  cotton  also  cover  considerable  areas;  while  sugar-cane 
is  grown  in  small  quantities  on  the  better  irrigated  soil.  With  the 
exception  of  rice,  which  is  of  inferior  quality,  all  these  staples  reach  an 
average  level  of  goodness.  The  following  statement  shows  the  acreage 
under  each  crop  in  1875-76: — Wheat,  260,621  acres;  barley,  66,430 
acres;  gram,  30,822  acres  ;  oil-seeds,  53,379  acres ;  jodr,  71,570  acres; 
bdjrat  129,076  acres ;  pulses,  35,052  acres;  cotton,  21,466  acres;  sugar- 
cane, 6869  acres ;  and  rice,  7303  acres.  No  canals  exist  in  the  Dis- 
trict, either  public  or  private ;  and  artificial  irrigation  is  entirely  con- 
fined to  wells.  Of  these,  6772  were  returned  as  in  operation  during 
the  year  1866-67.  Each  well  may  be  considered  to  supply  water  on 
an  average  to  an  area  of  some  18  acres.  In  the  central  plateau,  cul- 
tivation depends  entirely  upon  the  comparatively  regular  rainfall.  In 
1875-76,  708,863  acres  were  returned  as  under  cultivation,  of  which 
267,893  acres  were  provided  with  artificial  irrigation.  The  area  under 
tillage  has  largely  increased  of  late  years.  Property  in  the  soil  rests 
for  the  most  part  in  the  hands  of  the  village  communities,  which  differ 
from  one  another  only  in  the  degree  to  which  division  of  holdings  has 
been  carried;  a  very  small  number  of  villages  still  retain  the  prin- 
ciple of  common  proprietorship ;  in  the  remainder,  division  has  been 
either  partially  or  wholly  effected.  In  any  case,  the  State  holds  the 
entire  village  responsible  for  the  amount  of  the  land  tax  assessed 
upon  it.  Less  than  one-fourth  of  the  tenants  possess  rights  of  occu- 
pancy. The  average  holding  of  a  joint  proprietor  amounts  to  18 
acres ;  of  an  occupancy  tenant,  8  acres ;  of  a  tenant-at-will,  5  acres. 
The  latter  class  invariably  pay  their  rents  in  kind.  Occasional 
agricultural  labourers  also  receive  their  wages  in  kind.    In  1875-76, 


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G  UJRA  T  DISTRICT.  465 

cash  wages  ranged  from  6 jd.  to  7JA  per  diem  for  skilled  workmen, 
and  from  3$  d.  to  4^&  per  diem  for  unskilled  workmen.  Prices  of 
food  grains  ruled  as  follows  on  1st  January  1876 : — Wheat,  23  sers  per 
rupee,  or  4s.  rod.  per  cwt. ;  barley,  35  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  2d.  per 
cwt ;  gram,  26  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  4d.  per  cwt. ;  jodr,  40  sers  per 
rupee,  or  2s.  iod.  per  cwt. ;  bdjray  35  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  2d.  per  cwt 
Owing  to  the  regularity  of  the  rainfall,  drought  is  comparatively  in- 
frequent The  famine  of  1869-70  produced  little  effect  on  this  District, 
beyond  raising  the  price  of  provisions  to  rather  less  than  double  the 
above  quotations. 

Commerce  and  Tradey  etc. — The  petty  merchants  of  Gujrit,  Jalalpur, 
Kunjah,  and  Dinga  hold  in  their  hands  the  greater  part  of  the  local  trade. 
The  exports  consist  chiefly  of  grain,  ghi,  wool,  and  other  agricultural 
produce,  most  of  which  goes  down  the  river  to  Mriltan  (Mooltan)  or 
Sakkar ;  but  the  opening  of  the  Northern  State  Railway  now  affords  a 
new  outlet  for  traffic  The  imports  come  chiefly  from  Lahore,  Amritsar, 
Jammu,  and  Pind  Dadan  Khan.  Boats  sent  down  the  stream  seldom 
return,  being  bought  up  upon  their  arrival  at  their  destination,  and 
employed  in  the  lower  navigation  of  the  three  rivers.  The  Northern 
State  Railway  passes  through  the  District  from  south-east  to  north- 
west, with  stations  at  Gujrat,  Lala  Musa,  and  Kharian.  The  bridge 
across  the  Chendb  was  formally  opened  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  in 
January  1876 ;  while  another  leads  across  the  Jhelum  into  the  District 
of  that  name.  Bridges  of  boats  conduct  the  Grand  Trunk  Road  over 
both  rivers.  Good  branch  lines  of  road  connect  Gujrat  with  all 
surrounding  centres;  that  to  Bhimbar  being  much  frequented  as  a 
route  to  Kashmir.  In  1875-76,  the  District  contained  55  miles  of 
metalled  and  650  miles  of  unmetalled  roads. 

Administration, — The  total  revenue  derived  from  the  District  in 
1861-62  amounted  to  ^55,171.  By  1875-76,  it  had  increased  to 
^64,425.  This  gain  is  chiefly  due  to  improvement  in  the  land-tax, 
while  the  remaining  increase  must  be  set  down  to  the  items  of  excise 
and  stamps.  The  land  settlement  now  in  force  took  place  in  1865, 
and  will  have  effect  till  the  year  1886-87.  Besides  the  imperial 
revenue,  the  District  contributes  a  sum  of  about  ^10,000  by  local 
cesses  for  expenditure  on  works  of  public  utility  within  its  limits.  In 
1875-76,  11  civil  and  revenue  judges  of  all  kinds  held  jurisdiction  in 
the  District,  three  of  whom  were  covenanted  civilians.  The  regular 
police  force  in  the  same  year  numbered  514  men,  giving  an  average 
of  1  constable  to  every  3*65  square  miles  of  area  and  every  1199  of 
the  population.  This  force  was  further  supplemented  by  a  body  of 
620  village  watchmen  (chau&iddrs).  For  the  six  years  ending  1872, 
the  District  criminal  calendar  showed  an  aggregate  list  of  28  murders, 
and   33  cases   of  dacoity  and   robbery  with  violence.      Thefts  and 

VQU  UL  2  G 

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466  GUJRAT  TAHSIL  AND  TOWN. 

criminal  trespasses  in  1872  together  numbered  1414.  The  District  jail 
at  Gujrit  received  in  1872  a  total  number  of  797  prisoners.  During 
the  same  year,  the  number  of  State-supported  schools  amounted  to  46, 
having  a  joint  roll  of  3550  scholars.  The  educational  budget  showed 
an  expenditure  of  ^1613,  of  which  the  imperial  revenues  contributed 
;£i22i.  The  District  school  at  Gujrit  ranks  as  one  among  the  eight 
'higher  class'  schools  of  the  Punjab.  In  1875-76,  the  number  of 
schools  was  returned  as  47,  and  that  of  pupils  as  3600.  These  figures 
show  an  average  of  43*1  square  miles  for  each  school,  and  5*8 
scholars  per  thousand  of  the  population.  In  1875-76,  the  District 
contained  4  municipalities — namely,  Gujrat,  '  Jalalpur,  Kunjah, 
and  Dinga.  They  had  a  joint  revenue  of  ^1675,  giving  an  average 
incidence  of  9$d.  per  head  of  their  united  population. 

Medical  Aspects. — Gujrdt  generally  bears  an  excellent  reputation  as 
a  healthy  District,  but  excessive  irrigation  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  headquarters  town  is  said  to  breed  fever  and  ague.  Small-pox 
prevails  largely  along  the  eastern  border,  imported  probably  from 
Jammu  from  time  to  time.  The  official  returns  of  1875-76  state  the 
total  number  of  deaths  recorded  in  the  District  during  that  year  as 
1 1,294,  being  at  the  rate  of  18  per  thousand  of  the  population.  In  the 
towns  of  Gujrdt  and  JakUpur,  547  and  517  deaths  respectively  were 
registered;  being  at  the  rate  of  31  and  36  per  thousand.  The  Dis- 
trict contains  6  charitable  dispensaries,  which  gave  relief  in  1875  t0 
31,788  persons,  of  whom  329  were  in-door  patients.  I  have  obtained 
no  thermometric  returns,  but  the  heat  at  Gujrit  is  considered  mode- 
rate, even  in  the  months  of  May  and  June,  owing  to  the  proximity  of 
the  hills.  The  average  rainfall  varies  from  33  inches  immediately  below 
the  Himalayas  to  26  inches  or  less  in  the  western  uplands.  As  a  rule, 
the  fall  is  regular,  nor  does  the  District  suffer  from  drought  so  much 
as  many  of  its  neighbours.  The  annual  average  for  the  whole  District 
during  the  eight  years  ending  1873-74  was  28*5  inches. 

Gujr&t. — South-eastern  tahsil  of  Gujrdt  District,  Punjab ;  situated 
between  320  24'  and  32°  53'  n.  lat.,  and  between  73°  49'  30"  and 
740  31'  e.  long.,  consisting  chiefly  of  the  lowland  tract  along  the 
Chendb.  Area,  552  square  miles;  pop.  (1868),  272,055  souls;  river 
number  of  villages,  553 ;  persons  per  square  mile,  492. 

Gqjr&t. — Chief  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of  Gujrit 
District,  Punjab,  lying  a  short  distance  to  the  north  of  the  present  bed 
of  the  Chendb.  Lat.  320  34'  30"  n.,  long.  740  7'  15"  e.  ;  pop.  (1868), 
14,905,  consisting  of  5499  Hindus,  8979  Muhammadans,  307  Sikhs, 
and  120  'others.1  Pop.  (1876),  17,391.  Stands  upon  an  ancient 
site,  formerly  occupied  by  two  successive  cities ;  the  second  of  which 
General  Cunningham  supposes  to  have  been  destroyed  in  a-d.  1303, 
the  year  of  an  early  Mughal  invasion  of  Delhi    Nearly  200  years  later, 


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GULARIHA—GUMANL  467 

Sher  Shih  turned  his  attention  to  the  surrounding  country,  and  either 
he  or  Akbar  founded  the  existing  town.  Though  standing  in  the 
midst  of  a  Jit  neighbourhood,  the  fort  was  first  garrisoned  by  Giljars, 
and  took  the  name  of  Gujrdt  Akbaribdd.  Remains  of  the  imperial 
period  still  exist  During  the  reign  of  Shah  Jahan,  Gujrit  became 
the  residence  of  a  famous  saint,  Pfr  Shih  Dauli,  who  adorned  the 
city  with  numerous  buildings  from  the  offerings  of  his  visitors.  The 
Ghakar  chief,  Mukarab  Khin  of  R£wal  Pindi,  held  Gujrdt  for  twenty- 
five  years,  till  his  expulsion  in  1765  by  the  Sfkhs  under  Sirdar  Gdjar 
Sinh  Bhangi.  For  subsequent  history,  see  Gujrat  District.  The 
town  was  rendered  memorable  during  the  second  Sfkh  war  by  the 
battle  which  decided  the  fate  of  the  campaign,  bringing  the  whole 
Punjab  under  British  rule.  Akbar's  fort,  largely  improved  by  Giijar 
Sinh,  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  town.  The  civil  station  lies  to  the 
north  of  the  native  city,  and  contains  the  court-house,  treasury,  jail, 
dispensary,  police  lines,  staging  bungalow,  and  post  office.  The  trade 
of  Gujrit  is  inconsiderable.  Coarse  cotton  cloth,  pottery,  and  other 
articles  of  common  use  form  the  chief  manufactures.  Inlaid  work 
in  gold  and  iron,  however,  known  as  Gujrit  ware,  has  acquired  a 
considerable  reputation,  and  meets  with  a  ready  sale  among  Euro- 
peans as  a  speciality  of  Punjab  art  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76, 
,£780,  or  iofd.  per  head  of  population  (17,391)  within  municipal 
limits. 

Gulariha.  —  Town  in  Unao  District,  Oudh ;  36  miles  from  Unao 
town,  and  16  from  Purwa.  Lat  260  24'  n.,  long.  8i°  1'  e.  Founded 
about  500  years  ago  by  one  Gular  Sinh  Thdkur.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus, 
4029;  Muhammadans,  94 ;  total,  4123.    Government  school. 

Guledgud. — Town  and  municipality  in  Katedgi  District,  Bombay ; 
situated  22  miles  south-east  of  Kaladgi,  and  9  miles  north-east  of 
Badami.  Lat  160  3'  N.,  long.  75°  50'  e.;  pop.  (1872),  10,674; 
municipal  revenue  (1874-75),  ^380;  rate  of  taxation,  8$d.  per  head. 
Local  manufactures  of  cotton  and  silk  cloth,  which  are  exported  to 
Sholapur,  Poona,  the  Konkan,  and  Bombay.     Post  office. 

Oulerl  —  Pass  across  the  Sulaunan  Hills,  Afghanistan;  much 
frequented  by  the  Povindah  traders  on  their  journeys  from  Kibul  and 
Kandahar  into  the  Punjab. — See  Gomal. 

Ouma. — One  of  the  Eastern  Dwars  attached  to  Go£lpa>a  District, 
Assam.  Area,  96*14  square  miles,  of  which  only  6*53  are  returned  as 
under  cultivation;  pop.  (1870),  19,240  males  and  17,807  females — 
total,  37,047,  residing  in  6888  houses. — See  Dwars,  Eastern. 

GumAnL — River  of  the  Santal  Parganas  District,  Bengal ;  rises  in  the 
southern  division  of  the  Rajmahal  Hills,  and  at  first  runs  north-east  into 
the  Barhiit  valley.  It  is  there  joined  by  the  Moral,  coming  from  the 
northern  hills;  and  the  united  stream,  which  has  thus  collected  the 

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468  GUMANI—GUMSAR. 

entire  drainage  of  the  range,  flows  south-east  through  the  Ghitiari  Pass 
to  join  the  Ganges  near  Mahddeo-nagar. 

GumAni — Name  given  to  the  Atrai  River  of  Northern  Bengal, 
when  it  passes  through  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Chalan  btt  in 
Rijshdhf  District,  whence  it  passes  into  Pabna\ 

Gtun&r. — Village  in  Mandi  State,  Punjab,  on  the  southern  slope  of 
the  Himalayas.  Lat  310  57'  n.,  long.  76*  24'  e.  Thornton  states  that 
it  contains  a  mine  of  rock-salt,  rudely  worked  under  the  control  of  the 
Mandi  Rijl 

Gtimg&on. — Town  in  Nagpur  District,  Central  Provinces ;  situated 
on  the  Wand  river,  12  miles  south  of  Nagpur  town.  Lat  21°  i'n., 
long.  79*  2'  30*  e.  ;  pop.  (1870),  3342,  chiefly  agricultural,  though  the 
Koshtis  largely  manufacture  cotton  cloth.  Near  the  police  quarters,  and 
commanding  the  river,  are  the  remains  of  a  considerable  Marhatti 
fort,  and  near  it  a  fine  temple  of  Ganpatf,  with  strongly  built  walls  of 
basalt  facing  the  river.  Both  fort  and  temple  were  built  by  Chfmd 
Bii,  wife  of  Rijd  Raghojf  11.,  since  whose  time  this  estate  has  continued 
in  the  direct  possession*of  the  Bhonsla*  family. 

Gumnayakan-palya.— Tdluk  in  Kolar  District,  Mysore,  with  head- 
quarters at  Bagepalli.  Area,  342  square  miles;  pop.  (187 1),  48,600  ; 
land  revenue  (1874-75),  exclusive  of  water  rates,  ^6485,  or  3s.  4d.  per 
cultivated  acre.    Products,  a  fine  breed  of  sheep  and  iron  ore. 

Gumnayakan-palya.— Village  in  Koldr  District,  Mysore.  Lat  13s 
48'  15"  n.,  long.  77*  58'  10"  e.  ;  pop.  (187 1),  239.  Situated  on  a  small 
rocky  hill,  crowned  with  fortifications,  erected  by  a  local  chief,  Gurona 
Nayak,  about  1364.  The  family  gradually  extended  their  territory, 
and  maintained  their  independence  until  overthrown  by  Haidar  AIL 

Gtunflar  (Gkumsar,  or  Goomsar).  —  Tdluk  in  Ganjim  District, 
Madras.  Houses,  32,164;  pop.  (1871),  158,061,  viz.  males,  79,300, 
and  females,  78,761.  Classified  according  to  religion,  there  were — 
Hindus,  157,054,  including  124,436  Vishnuvites  and  9590  Sivaites; 
Muhammadans,  366,  of  whom  321  were  Sunnis;  Christians  (chiefly 
Roman  Catholics),  Eurasian  6,  native  146— total,  193  ;  no  Buddhists 
or  Jains.  The  Gdmsar  country  till  1835  was  native  territory;  but 
in  that  year  the  chief  rose  in  rebellion  against  the  British  power,  a 
military  expedition  was  despatched  against  him,  and  his  territory  was 
annexed.  One  of  the  principal  benefits  which  resulted  from  this  ex- 
pedition was  the  suppression  of  the  practice  of  human  sacrifice,  which, 
as  was  then  discovered  for  the  first  time,  prevailed  to  a  considerable 
extent  among  the  Kandhs,  a  wild  tribe  inhabiting  the  hilly  country 
in  the  neighbourhood. — See  Orissa  Tributary  States,  Bundare,  etc 
Gtimsar. — Town  in  above  tdluk,  Ganjdm  District,  Madras.  Lat 
19°  50'  n.,  long.  84*42'  e.;  containing  (1871)  408  houses  and  2319 
inhabitants.     Formerly  the  chief  town  of  the  tdluk  to  which  it  gives 


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GUMTI  RIVER.  469 

its  name;  6  miles  south-east  from  Russellkonda,  the  present  head- 
quarters town.  Previous  to  the  disturbances  of  1835-36,  it  was  the 
seat  of  the  Gtimsar  chiefs,  and  members  of  the  family  still  reside 
there.     The  town  is  now  of  no  importance. 

OnmtL — River  of  the  North-Western  Provinces  and  Oudh.  It 
rises  in  Shihjahinpur  District  of  the  North-Western  Provinces,  in  an 
alluvial  tract  between  the  Deoha  or  Gara  and  the  Gogra  rivers.  Its 
source  is  in  a  small  lake  or  morass  called  the  Phaljar  T£l,  in  lat.  280 
37'  n.,  long.  8o°  i  E. ;  19  miles  east  of  Pilfbhit  town,  and  about  605 
feet  above  sea  level.  The  river  takes  a  sinuous,  but  generally  south- 
eastern course  for  42  miles,  when  it  enters  Oudh  in  Kheri  District,  in 
lat  280  ii'n.,  long.  8o°  20' e.  It  continues  its  course  to  the  south, 
east,  till  at  about  94  miles  from  its  source  it  receives  the  Kathna  as  a 
tributary  on  its  left  bank,  in  lat.  270  28'  n.,  long.  8o#  27'  e.  Continuing 
south-eastwards  for  80  miles  farther,  and  receiving  during  its  course  the 
Sariyan  in  lat  270  9'N.,  long.  8o°  55'  e.,  Lucknow  city  is  reached,  where 
the  river  is  spanned  by  five  bridges.  The  river  here  becomes  navigable 
throughout  the  year ;  its  banks  are  from  30  to  70  feet  high,  and  it 
has  a  minimum  cold-weather  discharge  of  500  cubic  feet  per  second. 
Below  Lucknow,  the  valley  of  the  Gumti  becomes  very  narrow,  and 
the  scenery  picturesque.  At  Sultdnpur,  about  170  miles  south-east  of 
the  Oudh  capital,  the  stream  in  the  dry  season  is  100  yards  wide, 
with  a  depth  of  4  feet,  and  a  current  running  at  the  rate  of  2  miles 
an  hour.  About  52  miles  south-east  of  Sultinpur,  the  river  re-enters 
the  North-Western  Provinces  in  Jaunpur  District  At  Jaunpur  town, 
30  miles  from  the  Oudh  frontier,  the  Gumti  has  become  a  fine  stream, 
spanned  by  a  bridge  of  16  arches ;  18  miles  below  Jaunpur,  it  receives 
the  Sdi  river  on  its  left  bank  ;  and  33  miles  lower,  in  Benares  District, 
the  Nind  river  also  on  the  left  bank.  Five  miles  below  this  last 
point,  the  Gumti  falls  into  the  left  bank  of  the  Ganges,  in  lat  250 
31'  n.,  long.  830  13'  e.,  after  a  total  course  of  about  500  miles.  Just 
above  the  confluence,  the  Gumti  is  crossed  by  a  bridge  of  boats  in  the 
cold  and  hot  weather,  which  is  replaced  by  a  ferry  in  the  rainy  season. 
The  Gumti  is  navigable  by  boats  of  500  maunds,  or  about  17  tons  burden, 
throughout  the  year  as  far  as  Diliwarpur  Ghit,  near  Muhamdi  in  Kheri 
District  The  worst  shoals  are  in  Sultinpur  District  Average  fall,  8 
inches  per  mile. 

OnmtL — River  in  Tipperah  District,  Bengal ;  formed  by  the  junc- 
tion of  two  rivers — the  Chiimi  and  Riimd,  which  rise  respectively  in 
the  Atdrmuri  and  Lankthardi  ranges  of  the  Tipperah  Hills.  These 
streams  unite  to  form  the  Gumti  near  the  eastern  boundary  of  the 
Tipperah  State,  just  above  the  succession  of  rapids  known  as  the  Dumri 
Falls.  The  Gumti  enters  Tipperah  District  near  the  village  of  Bibfbizir, 
about  8  miles  east  of  Comillah,  and  divides  the  District  into  two  nearly 


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470  •  G  UNA—G  UNDLAKAM^MA. 

equal  portions.  After  a  westerly  course,  it  joins  the  Meghna  at  Datid- 
kandi,  in  lat  23*31'  45*  n.,  long.  90°  44'  1 5"  e.  Its  entire  length,  inclusive 
of  windings,  is  66  miles ;  but  from  the  point  where  it  enters  British 
territory  to  where  it  empties  itself  into  the  Meghnd,  its  direct  length  is 
36  miles.  During  the  rains,  the  Gumti  is  deep  and  rapid ;  in  the  cold 
and  dry  seasons,  it  becomes  fordable  at  many  places.  The  chief  tribu- 
taries in  Tipperah  Hill  State  are  the  Kasiganj,  the  Pithraganj,  and  the 
Mailikcherral,  all  on  the  right  or  north  bank.  The  principal  towns 
on  the  Gumti  are  Comillah,  JaTarganj,  and  Panchpukurii.  Ferries 
at  Comillah,  Companyganj,  and  Nurpur. 

Gnua  (Goona). — Tract  of  country  in  Central  India,  comprising  the 
States  of  Raghugarh  and  Paron  (known  as  the  Giina  Agency). 

GUH&& —  Pass  in  Bashahr  State,  Punjab,  across  the  southern 
Himalayan  range.  Lat  310  21'  n.,  long.  780  13'  e.  The  path  winds 
up  the  bank  of  the  river  Rupin,  a  tributary  of  the  Tons,  and  crosses 
an  expanse  of  snow,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  over  the  northern 
slope.     Elevation  of  the  crest,  16,026  feet  above  sea  level 

Gund.— Petty  hill  State  in  the  Punjab ;  tributary  to  the  Riji  of 
Keunthal.  Area,  3  square  miles;  estimated  pop.  1000;  estimated 
revenue,  ;£ioo. 

Gnndamorla  Bar. — Nellore  District,  Madras.  Lat.  150  31'  n.,  long. 
8o°  16'  30"  e.  An  opening  into  the  sea  about  2  miles  south  of  the 
Gundlakamma  river  ;  about  325  yards  wide,  and  7  feet  deep. 

Gttnd&r  (Gundu-dr  or  Shaumuganadi). — River  in  Madura  District, 
Madras ;  formed  by  the  junction  of  several  streams  which  rise  in  the 
Andipatti  or  Varshanad  range,  and  meet  about  lat  90  36'  n.,  long.  780 
14'  e.  After  a  south-easterly  course  of  about  100  miles,  it  falls  into 
the  sea  at  Kilkarai,  lat.  90  8'  n.,  long.  780  33'  30*  e. 

GundArdihi. — Chiefship  attached  to  Raipur  District,  Central  Pro- 
vinces; containing  52  villages,  on  an  open  and  well-cultivated  area  of 
80  or  90  square  miles.  Has  belonged  for  300  years  to  the  family  of 
the  present  chief.  Gundardihi  village  is  situated  in  lat.  20*  56'  30*  n., 
long.  8i°  20'  30"  e. 

Glindiali— One  of  the  petty  States  of  Jhalawar  in  Kathiawir, 
Bombay ;  consisting  of  2  villages,  with  1  independent  tribute-payer. 
Estimated  revenue,  ^1200;  tribute  of  ^140  is  payable  to  the  British 
Government. 

Gundlakamma  (literally,  'Stony  Bed1). — River  of  Madras,  which 
rises  in  the  Nalla  Mallii  Hills  in  Karntil  District,  near  Gundla  Brahmes- 
varam,  in  lat  150  40'  n.,  long.  75 °  49'  e.  After  receiving  two  mountain 
streams,  the  Jampileru  and  the  Yenamaleru,  it  passes  into  the  low 
country  through  the  Cumbum  (Kambham)  gorge,  at  which  spot  a  fine 
lake  has  been  formed  by  a  dam  thrown  across  the  course  of  the  river. 
This  sheet  of  water,  known  as  the  Cumbum  Tank,  is  about  13  miles  in 


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GUNDLAMAU—GUNDLVPET.  471 

circumference.  It  then  follows  a  tortuous  course  through  Karntil, 
Kistna,  and  Nellore  Districts,  and  finally  falls  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal, 
12  or  14  miles  north  of  Ongole,  in  lat.  150  33'  n.,  long.  8o°  18'  e.  The 
principal  or  new  mouth  of  the  river  is  always  open,  varying  in  width, 
according  to  the  season,  from  600  to  250  yards,  and  in  depth  from  6  to 
\2\  feet  The  second  mouth,  called  by  the  people  Pata  Gundla- 
kamma,  is  open  only  in  the  rains,  and  has  a  maximum  depth  of  6  feet 
on  the  bar. 

Chmdlamau. — Pargand  of  Sftapur  District,  Oudh.  Bounded  on  the 
north  by  Machhrehta  and  Kurauna  pargands;  on  the  east  by  the 
Sarayan  river,  separating  it  from  Ban  tahsil ;  and  on  the  south  and 
west  by  the  Gumti  river,  separating  it  from  Hardoi  District  The 
early  inhabitants  of  the  pargand  were  Kachheras,  who  were  driven  out 
by  the  three  sons  of  a  Bachhil  Kshattriya,  one  of  whom,  named  Gonde 
Sinh,  founded  and  gave  his  name  to  the  place.  The  descendants  of 
these  Bichhils  still  own  53  out  of  the  67  villages  which  constitute  the 
pargand.  The  Kuchlai  estate  in  the  north-east  of  the  pargand  is 
owned  by  a  community  of  the  tribe  of  the  same  name.  The  pargand 
is,  on  the  whole,  a  poor  one,  with  a  scanty  population.  The  villages 
to  the  east,  bordering  on  the  Sarayan,  are  much  cut  up  by  ravines;  and 
those  to  the  west  are  subject  to  a  deposit  of  sand  blown  from  the 
Gumti  in  the  hot  season ;  a  few  of  them,  however,  especially  in  the 
south,  have  a  fertile  tract  of  tardi  land  fringing  the  river.  Area,  65 
square  miles,  of  which  46  are  cultivated ;  incidence  of  Government 
land  revenue,  2s.  6$&  per  acre  on  cultivated  area,  2s.  ojd.  per 
acre  on  assessed  area,  and  is.  ojd.  per  acre  on  total  area.  Rents 
are  paid  almost  entirely  in  kind.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  19,647 ; 
Muhammadans,  573 ;  total,  20,220,  viz.  10,936  males  and  9284 
females;  average  density  of  population,  316  per  square  mile.  No  made 
roads,  but  the  Gumti  and  Sarayan  afford  good  water  communication. 
Three  small  market  villages,  at  which  only  the  commonest  articles  of 
trade  are  sold.     No  manufactures. 

Gundlnpet. — Tdluk  in  Mysore  District,  Mysore  State.  Area,  539 
square  miles;  pop.  (1871),  58,529;  land  revenue  (1874-75),  exclusive 
of  water  rates,  ^5697,  or  is.  4d.  per  cultivated  acre.  Has  decreased 
in  population  and  prosperity  during  the  present  century. 

Gundlnpet.  —  Principal  village  in  above  tdluk,  Mysore  District, 
Mysore;  situated  on  the  Gundul  river,  36  miles  south  of  Mysore 
town.  Lat  1 1°  50'  n.,  long.  760  44'  e.  ;  pop.  (1871),  1000,  including  109 
Muhammadans,  14  Christians,  and  about  100  MaVka  or  old  Canarese 
Brdhmans.  Municipal  revenue  (1874-75),  ^95,  or  is.  nd.  per  head. 
Old  town,  formerly  called  Vijayapura,  refounded  about  1674  by 
Chikka  Deva  Raji,  Wodeyar  of  Mysore,  as  being  the  scene  of  his 
father's  cremation.    He  built  an  agrandra,  now  destroyed,  and  a  fine 


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472  G  UND  WA—G  URDASPUR  DISTRICT. 

temple  to  Aparamita  Paravasa  Deva,  fast  falling  to  ruin.  The  pros- 
perity of  the  town  suffered  on  the  accession  of  Tipd  Sultan,  and  it 
has  since  been  depopulated  by  fever. 

Oundwa. — Pargand  of  Hardoi  District,  Oudh.  Bounded  on  the 
north  and  east  by  the  Gumti,  separating  it  from  Aurangabid,  Gund- 
laraau,  and  Manwan  pargands,  in  Sftapur ;  on  the  south  by  Malibabad 
in  Lucknow;  and  on  the  west  by  Sandfla  and  KalyanmaL  The 
portion  of  the  pargand  lying  towards  the  Gumti  consists  of  branching 
ravines,  occasional  sandhills,  and  poor  uneven  stretches  of  sandy  bh&r 
land.  Towards  the  south-east  corner,  an  old  channel  of  the  river  seems 
to  have  silted  up,  and  become  converted  into  a  network  of  jkUs. 
At  a  distance  from  the  river,  the  soil  changes  from  bhur  to  dumdt, 
but  the  sand  still  remains  as  a  substratum.  A  number  of  small  creeks 
and  water-courses  fall  into  the  Gumti,  carrying  with  them  the  over- 
flowings of  the  jhils  in  the  interior.  Area,  140  square  miles,  of 
which  88  are  cultivated.  Government  land  revenue,  ^10,514; 
average  incidence,  3s.  9 Jd.  per  acre  of  cultivated  areaj  or  2s.  4jd 
per  acre  of  total  area.  Staple  products — barley  and  wheat,  which 
occupy  f  ths  of  the  cultivated  area ;  other  crops — mdsh,  gram,  bdjra, 
ahar,  moth,  jodr,  linseed,  rice,  kodo,  and  peas.  Of  the  117  villages 
comprising  the  pargand,  48  form  the  tdluka  or  estate  of  Bharawan ; 
36  are  pattiddri,  30  zaminddri,  and  6  bhaydchdri.  Kshattriyas  own 
94  villages;  Br£hmans  and  Kiyasths,  7  each;  Kurmfs,  3;  and 
Muhammadans,  6.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  53,643 ;  Muhammadans, 
3228;  total,  56,871,  viz.  29,989  males  and  26,882  females;  average 
density  of  population,  406  per  square  mile.  An  unmetalled  road 
intersects  the  pargand,  and  rough  cart  tracks  link  the  main  villages 
together.     Three  Government  village  schools. 

Ouni— Tdluk  in  Haidardbdd  (Hyderabad)  District,  Sind  ;  situated 
between  240  30'  and  250  13'  n.  lat,  and  between  68°  19'  and  68* 
50'  e.  long.      Pop.  (1872),  59,971  ;  area,  989  square  miles;  revenue 

(1873-74),  £*  1,545- 

OnntOOr.  —  Tdluk  and  town,  in  Kistna  District,  Madras.—  See 
Gantur. 

Ouptasar. — Sacred  cave  in  Shdhabad  District,  Bengal;  about  7 
miles  from  Shergarh.  It  is  situated  in  a  glen,  and  the  entrance,  about 
18  feet  wide  by  12  high,  lies  a  little  way  up  the  hill ;  the  surface  of 
interior  is  everywhere  broken  and  irregular,  and  masses  of  rock  project 
from  the  sides.  There  are  three  galleries  in  the  cave,  one  of  which 
contains  the  chief  object  of  worship,  viz.  a  stalactite  revered  as 
Mahadeo.  This  cave  has  never  been  thoroughly  explored,  but  its 
various  windings  are  said  to  be  half  a  mile  long. 

Gurd&spur.  —  A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship 
of  the  Punjab,    lying   between    320  30'  and  31*   36'   n.   lat,   and 


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GVRDASPUR  DISTRICT.  473 

between  74°  56'  and  75°  45'  e.  long.,  with  an  area  (according  to  the 
Parliamentary  Return  of  1877)  of  1818  square  miles,  and  a  popula 
tion  in  1868  of  906,126  persons.  Gurdispur  forms]  the  north-eastern 
District  of  the  Amritsar  Division.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  Native  Himalayan  States  of  Kashmir  and  Chamba,  on  the  east  by 
Kingra  District  and  the  river  Beas,  on  the  south-west  by  Amritsar 
District,  and  on  the  west  by  Siilkot  The  administrative  headquarters 
are  at  the  town  of  Gurdaspur  ;  but  Batala  is  the  chief  centre  of  trade 
and  population. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Gurdaspur  occupies  the  submon- 
tane portion  of  the  Ban  Doib,  or  tract  between  the  Biis  (Beas)  and 
the  Rivi,  and  stretches  westward  beyond  the  latter  river  so  as  to 
include  a  triangular  wedge  of  territory  which  naturally  belongs  to  the 
adjoining  District  of  Sialkot.  An  outlying  spur  of  British  territory 
also  runs  northward  into  the  lower  Himalayan  ranges,  to  include  the 
mountain  sanitarium  of  Dalhousie.  The  rapid  torrent  of  the  Chaki 
separates  the  Gurdaspur  Hills  from  those  of  Kingra;  while  beyond 
the  Rivi,  the  Jammu  boundary  encroaches  on  the  submontane  tract  for 
some  10  miles  below  the  southern  escarpment  of  the  Himalayan  system. 
Dalhousie  station  crowns  the  westernmost  shoulder  of  a  magnificent 
snowy  range,  the  Dhiola  Dhir,  between  which  and  the  plain  two 
minor  ranges  intervene.  Below  the  hills  stretches  a  picturesque  and 
undulating  plateau,  covered  with  abundant  timber,  and  made  green  by 
a  copious  rainfall.  In  the  triangular  wedge  west  of  the  Rivi,  water 
from  hill  streams  is  everywhere  available  for  irrigation,  besides  conferring 
additional  fertility  through  the  deposit  of  virgin  loam.  The  streams  of 
the  Bari  Doib,  however,  diverted  by  dams  and  embankments,  now 
empty  their  waters  into  the  Beas  directly,  in  order  that  their  channels 
may  not  interfere  with  the  Bari  Doab  Canal,  which  derives  its 
supply  from  the  Rivi.  The  central  watershed  of  the  Doib  consists  of  an 
elevated  plain,  contracted  to  an  apex  just  below  the  hills,  but  rapidly 
spreading  out  like  an  open  fan  until  it  fills  the  whole  space  between 
the  two  river  beds.  Well-defined  banks  terminate  the  plateau  on 
either  side,  the  country  falling  abruptly  away  to  the  present  level  of  the 
rivers.  The  bank  toward  the  Biis  (Beas)  valley  attains  a  considerable 
height,  and  is  covered  by  a  ridge  of  drifted  sand ;  that  toward  the  Rivi 
is  less  marked.  The  plain,  though  apparently  a  dead  level,  has  a  suffi- 
cient westward  slope  to  cause  a  rapid  flow  of  water  in  definite  drainage 
lines  after  heavy  rain.  Five  principal  water-courses  of  this  description 
collect  a  volume  large  enough  to  be  employed  for  purposes  of  irrigation 
many  miles  beyond  the  borders  of  the  District  The  Bin  Doib  Canal, 
drawing  its  supplies  from  the  Rivi  at  Midhupur,  just  south  of  the 
hills,  runs  for  some  miles  through  a  deep  cutting,  but  emerges  on  the 
level  a  little  east  of  Gurdispur  town,  and  divides   into  three  main 

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474  GURDASPUR  DISTRICT. 

branches,  which  become  immediately  available  for  irrigation.  The 
District  contains  several  large  jhils  or  swampy  lakes,  whose  shallows 
afford  excellent  opportunities  for  the  cultivation  of  rice  and  stnghdra. 

History. — Few  facts  can  now  be  recovered  with  regard  to  the  early 
annals  of  Gurdaspur.  The  principal  cities  during  the  Mughal  period 
were  Batala  and  Pathankot.  The  former  town,  situated  in  the 
centre  of  the  Do£b,  was  the  residence  of  Shamsher  Khan,  the  Emperor's 
foster-brother,  who  enlarged  the  walls,  and  built  a  magnificent  tank, 
which  still  exists.  Pathankot,  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  once  formed  the 
capital  of  a  little  Rajput  State,  said  to  have  been  established  in  the 
1 2th  century  by  one  Jet  Pal,  an  emigrant  from  Delhi.  His  family 
afterwards  transferred  their  residence  to  Niirpur,  a  town  situated  within 
the  hill  tract,  now  included  in  the  neighbouring  District  of  Kingra. 
Kalanaur  also  has  some  claims  to  antiquity,  and  finds  mention  in  the 
Muhammadan  annals  as  the  place  where  the  great  Akbar  learned  the 
news  of  his  father's  death,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Emperor.  Dehnt 
Ndnak,  on  the  Ravi,  preserves  the  name  of  the  founder  of  the 
Sfkh  religion,  who  died  in  a.d.  1539  at  a  village  on  the  opposite 
bank.  In  spite  of  such  local  reminiscences,  however,  we  know  little  of 
the  District  as  a  whole  during  the  days  of  the  wide-spread  Mughal 
empire,  beyond  the  fact  that  its  government  was  administered  from  the 
Provincial  capital  at  Lahore.  Our  first  distinct  historical  knowledge 
begins  with  the  rise  of  the  Sfkh  confederacy.  After  long  struggles  with 
the  imperial  governors  on  the  one  hand,  and  with  Ahmad  Sh£h  Duram 
on  the  other,  the  vigorous  young  sect  found  itself  at  last  triumphant  \ 
and  from  a.d.  1764,  its  chiefs  began  to  parcel  out  the  Punjab  and  the 
cis-Sutlej  country  into  such  portions  as  each  could  conveniently  hold. 
The  western  section  of  the  Ban  Do£b  fell  into  the  hands  of  one  Araar 
Sinh,  surnamed  Bhaga,  a  M£n  J£t  from  Amritsar,  who  joined  the 
community  or  mis/  known  as  the  Kanhia.  Other  chieftains  of  the 
same  misl  occupied  neighbouring  estates  on  either  side  of  the  Ravi 
Batala  fell  to  Jagra  Sinh,  the  famous  leader  of  the  Rdmgharia  com- 
munity, together  with  Dinanagar,  Kalanaur,  Srigovindpur,  and 
other  surrounding  towns.  Jagra  Sinh  was  expelled  by  the  Kanhias, 
but  returned  in  1783,  and  securely  established  himself  in  his  former 
dominions.  He  died  in  1803,  and  his  son  Jodh  Sinh  succeeded  to  his 
estates.  The  latter  formed  a  close  friendship  with  Ranjft  Sinh,  the 
great  Mahirijd  of  Lahore.  On  his  death  in  18 16,  however,  Ranjit 
Sinh  took  advantage  of  a  disputed  succession  to  annex  the  whole  of 
his  territories.  The  dominions  of  the  Bhaga  family  in  the  western 
half  of  the  District  had  been  absorbed  by  the  Sfkh  Lahore  Govern- 
ment in  1809.  Beyond  the  Ra*vi,  the  triangular  wedge,  now  attached 
to  this  District,  had  fallen  piecemeal  into  the  power  of  Ranjft  Sinh  by 
similar  acts  of  spoliation  between  the  years  1789  and  1813.    Much  of 


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GURDASPUR  DISTRICT.  475 

the  territory  thus  acquired  remained  in  the  hands  of  its  masters  on  a 
feudal  tenure  (j&gir\  while  other  estates  were  similarly  granted  to  new 
holders.  Pathankot  and  a  few  neighbouring  villages  in  the  plain, 
together  with  the  whole  hill  portion  of  the  District,  formed  part  of  the 
area  ceded  by  the  Sikhs  to  the  East  India  Company  after  the  first  Sikh 
war  in  1846.  Under  the  original  distribution  of  the  new  territory, 
they  were  attached  to  Kingra;  but  after  the  final  annexation  in  1849, 
the  upper  portion  of  the  Ban  Doab  became  a  separate  District,  having 
its  headquarters  at  Batala.  In  1855,  the  District  received  an  addition 
by  the  transfer  of  Shakargarh  tahsll,  beyond  the  Ravi,  the  headquarters 
at  the  same  time  being  removed  to  Gurd&pur.  In  1861-62,  the  neck 
of  hills  connecting  the  plains  with  the  new  sanitarium  of  Dalhousie  was 
acquired  by  the  British  Government;  and  this  addition  brought  the 
District  into  its  present  shape.  The  chief  landholder  in  Gurdaspur  at 
the  present  time  is  Sarddr  Bhagwan  Sinh  of  Batala,  nephew  of  the  great 
Sfkh  general,  Tej  Sinh,  who  commanded  at  Firozshah  and  Sobraon. 
Tej  Sinh  obtained  Batala  in  1861  from  the  British  Government, 
whom  he  had  so  bravely  opposed,  in  exchange  for  scattered  estates  in 
other  parts  of  the  Province. 

Population. — The  numerous  transfers  of  territory  which  took  place 
in  the  interval  between  the  Census  of  1855  and  that  of  1868  render  it 
impossible  to  give  a  detailed  comparison  of  their  results ;  but  it  appears 
that  in  the  portion  of  the  District  unaffected  by  those  changes,  the 
inhabitants  increased  during  the  thirteen  years  at  the  rate  of  about  12^ 
per  cent  The  enumeration  of  1868  was  taken  over  an  area  of  1822 
square  miles,  and  it  disclosed  a  total  population  of  906,1 26  persons,  distri- 
buted among  2376  villages  or  townships,  and  inhabiting  an  aggregate 
of  208,256  houses.  From  these  data  the  following  averages  may  be 
deduced : — Persons  per  square  mile,  496 ;  villages  per  square  mile,  1*29 ; 
houses  per  square  mile,  114;  persons  per  village,  381;  persons  per 
house,  4*35.  Classified  according  to  sex,  there  were — males,  501,247  ; 
females,  404,879;  proportion  of  males,  55*32  per  cent  Classified 
according  to  age,  there  were,  under  12  years — males,  179,288  ;  females, 
150,693;  total  children,  329,981,  or  3641  per  cent  of  the  whole 
population.  As  regards  religious  distinctions,  the  population  of 
Gurdaspur  is  evenly  distributed  between  the  great  leading  sects.  The 
Hindus  number  303,107,  or  33*45  V*T  cent«  \  the  Muhammadans, 
422,196,  or  46*59  per  cent;  while  the  Sikhs  are  returned  at  79,387, 
and  the  'others'  (including  the  sweeper  class)  at  101,436,  or  876 
and  11*19  per  cent  respectively.  The  agricultural  population 
numbers  420,882  persons,  of  whom  202,382  are  male  agriculturists 
above  the  age  of  18  years.  The  ethnical  division  shows  the  following 
results  : — Jits,  1 26,200,  of  whom  87,922  are  Hindus  or  Sfkhs,  and  38,278 
Muhammadans — they  hold  almost  the  whole  of  the  uplands  in  the 


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476   .  GVRDASPUR  DISTRICT. 

Bari  Do£b,  the  Muhammadans  being  most  frequent  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  hills,  while  round  Batila  the  Jits  are  almost  universally 
Sikhs;  Rajputs,  77,387,  of  whom  50,942  are  Hindus,  and  the 
remainder  Musalmans — the  greater  part  of  the  submontane  tract  is  in 
the  hands  of  Hindu  Rajputs;  Bralimans,  54,222;  Grijars,  47,301,  all 
Muhammadans;  Kshattriyas,  18,720;  Kashmiris,  12,583;  and 
Pathans,  10,236.  In  1875-76,  the  District  contained  16  municipal 
towns,  but  of  these  only  6  had  a  population  exceeding  5000  souls— 
namely,  Batala,  26,897;  Dera  Nanak,  7199;  Dinanagar,  6626; 
Sujanpur,  6556;  Kalanaur,  6030 ;  and  Srigovindpur,  5531. 
Gurdaspur,  the  headquarters  town,  has  4137  inhabitants.  The  total 
population  of  the  16  municipal  towns  amounts  to  89,295  persons.  Deia 
Nanak  and  Srigovindpur  possess  great  sanctity  in  the  eyes  of  the  Sikhs. 
The  sanitarium  of  Dalhousie,  7687  feet  above  sea  level,  though  only 
returned  as  containing  2019  inhabitants,  has  a  large  fluctuating  popula- 
tion during  the  warmer  months. 

Agriculture, — The  District  possesses  throughout  an  excellent  soil, 
except  in  some  small  patches  on  the  Bias  (Beas)  side,  where  sand 
covers  the  surface.  The  chief  agricultural  staples  comprise  wheat,  barley, 
and  gram  for  the  rati  or  spring  harvest,  with  rice,  jodr,  bdjra,  pulses, 
cotton,  and  sugar-cane  for  the  kharif  or  autumn  crop.  Abundant 
means  of  irrigation  exist  where  required,  either  from  canals,  wells, 
or  mountain  streams ;  but  in  no  part  of  the  Punjab  can  better 
crops  be  produced  without  such  artificial  aid.  In  1875-76,  the  total 
cultivated  area  amounted  to  855,675  acres,  of  which  140,639  acres 
were  protected  by  irrigation  against  the  effects  of  drought  The  Bari 
Doib  Canal  supplies  33,314  acres,  and  the  remainder  is  watered  by 
private  enterprise,  chiefly  from  wells.  The  Ravi  and  the  Bias  (Beas) 
inundate  about  44,000  acres  in  time  of  flood.  The  acreage  under  the 
principal  crops  in  1875-76  was  returned  as  follows  : — Wheat,  196,142 
acres;  barley,  124,013  acres;  gram,  21,449  acres;  rice,  75»°57  acres; 
jodr,  27,778  acres;  ddjra,  12,259  acres;  pulses,  37,697  acres;  cotton, 
11,122  acres  ;  and  sugar-cane,  32,899  acres.  The  large  proportion  of 
the  area  devoted  to  the  richer  food-grains — the  cereals  and  rice — and 
to  commercial  crops  like  cotton  and  sugar-cane,  sufficiently  attests  the 
agricultural  prosperity  of  the  District  The  usual  types  of  village  tenure 
prevail  throughout,  differing  from  one  another  only  in  the  varying 
degrees  of  division  between  the  coparceners.  The  returns  of  1873-74 
show  that  out.  of  a  total  of  1942  villages,  a  purely  communal  tenure 
exists  in  only  1 16.  Among  the  remainder,  either  the  whole  or  a  part 
of  the  village  lands  has  been  divided  off  in  definite  portions  to  the 
individual  holders.  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  area  is  cultivated  by 
tenants-at-will.  Rents  are  almost  universally  paid  in  kind.  Occasional 
agricultural  labourers  also  receive  their  wages  in  kind.     Cash  wages  in 


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G  URDASPUR  DISTRICT.  47  7 

1875-76  ranged  from  7^d.  to  9d.  per  diem  for  skilled  workmen,  and 
from  3f  d.  to  4^d.  per  diem  for  unskilled  workmen.  During  the  same 
year,  the  prices  of  food-grains  ruled  as  follows : — Wheat,  2 1  sers  per 
rupee,  or  5s.  4d.  per  cwt ;  barley,  22  sers  per  rupee,  or  5s.  id.  per 
cwt ;  gram,  25  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  6d.  per  cwt. ;  b&jra,  20  sers  per 
rupee,  or  5s.  7d.  per  cwt 

Natural  Calamities, — The  famine  of  1869-70,  which  caused  severe 
distress  in  the  adjoining  District  of  Amritsar,  scarcely  affected  the 
prosperity  of  Gurdaspur.  The  harvests  attained  an  average  excellence, 
and  high  prices  enabled  the  cultivators  to  make  large  profits.  On 
1st  January  1870,  wheat  sold  at  10  sers  per  rupee,  or  1  is.  2d.  per  cwt 

Commerce,  etc. — The  trade  of  the  District  consists  mainly  in  the 
export  of  its  agricultural  produce,  the  chief  items  being  wheat,  rice, 
raw  sugar,  and  cotton.  These  staples  pass  in  small  consignments  by 
road  to  Amritsar,  or  by  boat  to  Lahore  and  Miiltdn  (Mooltan).  The 
imports  are  insignificant,  as  the  wants  of  the  District  are  chiefly  met 
by  home  production.  English  piece-goods,  salt,  and  fancy  articles 
form  the  main  items.  The  local  traffic  centres  on  Batila.  Coarse 
cotton  cloth  is  manufactured  in  the  villages,  and  better  fabrics  at  Batdla, 
in  imitation  of  the  work  of  the  Amritsar  looms.  The  principal  road  of 
the  District  connects  Amritsar  with  Pathankot,  at  the  foot  of  the  hills, 
and  passes  through  Batila,  Gurd&pur,  and  Dindnagar.  Minor  lines 
radiate  from  Batdla  and  Gurdispur  to  Jalandhar,  Hosh&rpur,  Sialkot, 
and  other  surrounding  towns.  The  total  length  of  highways  in  1875-76 
was  54  miles  of  metalled  and  507  miles  of  unmetalled  road. 

Administration. — The  revenue  of  the  District  has  been  nearly 
stationary  for  the  last  decade.  In  1876,  the  total  receipts  amounted  to 
;£  123,608,  of  which  the  land-tax  yielded  ;£i 08,641,  or  more  than 
five-sixths.  The  other  items  of  importance  were  stamps  and  excise. 
The  present  land  settlement,  effected  in  1863-65,  will  continue  in  force 
until  1883.  Besides  the  imperial  revenue,  an  income  of  not  less  than 
^10,000  is  raised  by  local  cesses  for  expenditure  upon  works  of  public 
utility  within  the  District.  The  administrative  staff  usually  includes 
three  covenanted  or  staff-corps  civilians.  An  Assistant  Commissioner 
is  always  stationed  at  Dalhousie.  In  1875-76,  the  District  contained 
12  civil  and  revenue  judges  of  all  ranks;  and  14  officers  exercised 
magisterial  powers.  During  the  same  year,  the  regular  police  force, 
including  the  municipal  constabulary,  numbered  596  men;  being  at 
the  rate  of  1  policeman  to  every  three  square  miles  of  area  and  every 
1520  of  the  population.  These  forces  are  further  supplemented 
by  a  large  body  of  rural  watchmen  {chaukiddrs),  of  whose  numbers, 
however,  no  returns  exist.  The  District  jail  at  Gurdispur  received 
in  1872  a  total  number  of  862  prisoners.  Education  makes  slow  but 
steady  progress.     In  1875-76,  the  State  contributed  to  the  support  of 

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478     GURDASPUR  TAHSIL—GURGAON  DISTRICT. 

112  schools,  having  an  aggregate  roll  of  5708  pupils,  showing  an 
average  area  of  i6*i  square  miles  to  each  school,  and  6 '2  scholars  per 
thousand  of  the  population.  During  the  same  year,  the  16  municipal 
towns  had  a  joint  income  of  ^5584,  or  is.  3d.  per  head  of  their 
aggregate  population. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  at  Gurdispur  station  is  comparatively 
agreeable  to  Europeans  even  during  the  summer  months ;  but  the  heat 
increases  rapidly  on  receding  farther  from  the  hills.  The  mean 
temperature  in  1871  was  86-85°  in  May,  and  53*8°  in  December,  at 
Gurdispur;  and  67 '8°  in  May,  and  46*96°  in  December,  at  Dalhousie. 
The  maximum  in  the  shade  during  the  same  year  was  n  3*3°  at 
Gurdaspur,  and  85°  at  Dalhousie.  The  rainfall  is  regular  and  plentiful, 
but  decreases  with  the  distance  from  the  hills.  The  average  annual 
rainfall  for  the  whole  District  for  the  eight  years  ending  1873-74 
amounted  to  30*96  inches.  The  District  is  not  considered  unhealthy, 
though  large  swamps  in  the  neighbourhood  of  some  of  the  lesser 
towns  expose  them  to  malarious  fevers  and  ague  ;  and  the  same  results 
are  attributed  to  alleged  excessive  irrigation  elsewhere  in  the  plains. 
The  total  number  of  deaths  recorded  in  1875-76  was  38,519,  being  at 
the  rate  of  42  per  thousand  of  the  population.  Seven  charitable 
dispensaries  afforded  relief  in  the  same  year  to  80,614  persons,  of 
whom  776  were  in-patients. 

OnitUueipur. — Central  tahsil  of  Gurdaspur  District,  Punjab ;  situated 
between  lat.  32°  12'  45"  and  31°  47'  30"  n.,  and  long.  75°  8'  and  75' 
38'  30"  e. 

OnrcUkSpnr.  —  Chief  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of 
Gurdaspur  District,  Punjab.  Lat  32°  2'  40*  n.,  long.  75°  27'  e.; 
pop.  (1876),  4137.  Situated  on  the  elevated  plain  midway  be- 
tween the  Ravi  and  the  Beas,  44  miles  north-east  of  Amritsar,  on 
the  Pathankot  road.  Selected  as  headquarters  in  1856,  on  account 
of  its  central  position.  Small  civil  station,  containing  court- 
house and  treasury,  posting  bungalow,  sardi,  tahsUi^  police  station, 
post  office,  dispensary,  and  school-house.  Well  wooded  and  com- 
paratively cool,  even  during  the  summer  months.  Town  unimportant, 
except  as  a  trading  centre  for  the  produce  of  the  neighbouring 
villages ;  irrigated  by  the  Ban  Dodb  CanaL  Exports  of  sugar  and  food 
grains  to  Amritsar.  The  proximity  of  the  hill  sanitarium  of  Dalhousie 
renders  Gurdaspur  a  favourite  station  with  European  officials.  *  Muni- 
cipal revenue  in  1875-76,  ^376,  or  is.  9f<L  per  head  of  population 
(4137)  within  municipal  limits.     (Pop.  in  1868,  3325.) 

Gurgion. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of 
the  Punjab,  lying  between  27°  39'  and  28°  30'  45*  n.  lat,  and 
between  76°  20'  45"  and  77°  35'  e.  long. ;  area,  2015  square  miles  in 
1868  (1980  by  Parliamentary  return  of  1878);  pop.  (1868),  696,646. 

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GURGAON  DISTRICT.  479 

Gurgaon  forms  the  southern  District  of  the  Delhi  Division.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Rohtak ;  on  the  west  and  south-west  by  portions 
of  the  Ulwur  (Alwir),  Ndbha,  and  Jfnd  Native  States ;  on  the  south  by 
Muttra  District  of  the  North-Western  Provinces ;  on  the  east  by  the  river 
Jumna ;  and  on  the  north-east  by  Delhi  District  The  administrative 
headquarters  are  at  the  town  of  Gurgaon,  but  Rewari  is  the  chief 
centre  of  trade  and  population. 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  of  Gurgaon  comprises  the  southern- 
most corner  of  the  Punjab,  and  stretches  away  from  the  level 
plain  which  composes  the  greater  portion  of  that  monotonous  Pro- 
vince, towards  the  hilly  outliers  of  the  great  Rajputana  tableland, 
Accordingly,  its  surface  presents  a  greater  variety  of  contour  than  is 
usual  among  the  alluvial  Districts  to  the  north  and  west.  Two  low 
rocky  ranges  enter  its  borders  from  the  south,  and  run  northward  in  a 
bare  and  unshaded  mass  toward  the  plain  country.  The  western  ridge 
divides  the  District  for  some  distance  from  the  adjacent  Native  State  of 
Ulwar  (Alwar),  and  finally  terminates  in  three  low  and  stony  spurs  a  few 
miles  south  of  the  civil  station ;  while  the  eastern  line  disappears  some 
25  miles  from  the  frontier,  but  again  crops  up  at  the  north-eastern  angle, 
and  runs  on  into  the  District  of  Delhi,  where  it  abuts  at  last  upon  the 
Jumna  close  to  the  Mughal  capital.  The  highest  point  of  either  range 
does  not  exceed  600  feet  above  the  level  of  the  neighbouring  plain ; 
and  a  scanty  growth  of  grass  in  the  rainy  season,  together  with  a  few 
patches  of  scrub  jungle,  alone  redeems  the  coarse  sandstone  summits 
from  utter  sterility.  The  northern  plain  falls  into  two  natural  divisions, 
on  either  side  of  the  western  range.  Eastwards,  the  valley  between 
the  two  ridges  lies  wide  and  open  throughout ;  and  after  the  escarp- 
ment of  the  shorter  ridge,  an  alluvial  level  extends  in  an  unbroken  line 
to  the  bank  of  the  Jumna.  The  soil  for  the  most  part,  though  abruptly 
diversified  in  character,  affords  great  facilities  for  agriculture;  while 
midway  between  the  river  and  the  hills,  water  occurs  at  a  depth  of  70 
feet  below  the  surface.  Immediately  at  the  foot  of  the  uplands, 
undulating  hollows  become  filled  with  water  during  the  rains,  forming 
extensive  swamps.  Westward  from  the  sandstone  range  lies  the  sub- 
division of  Rewari,  almost  entirely  separated  from  the  remainder  of  the 
District,  with  which  it  is  connected  only  by  a  narrow  strip  of  territory. 
It  consists  of  a  sandy  plain,  dotted  with  isolated  hills,  but  having  water 
at  a  depth  which  permits  of  easy  irrigation  from  wells.  Though 
naturally  dry  and  sterile,  it  has  grown  under  the  careful  hands  of  its 
Ahfr  cultivators  into  a  flourishing  garden.  Numerous  torrents  carry  off 
the  drainage  from  the  upland  ranges ;  and  the  most  important  among 
them  empty  themselves  at  last  into  the  Najafgarh  jKU.  This  swampy 
lake  lies  to  the  east  of  the  civil  station  of  Gurgaon,  and  stretches  long 
arms  into  the  neighbouring  Districts  of  Delhi  and  Rohtak.    Embank- 


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480  G  URGA  ON  DISTRICT. 

ments  raised  for  purposes  of  irrigation  check  the  water  of  the  smaller 
torrents  at  their  exit  from  the  hills,  and  distribute  it  among  the  cultivated 
fields  around.  The  Jumna  receives  no  tributaries  in  this  District 
Salt  is  manufactured  from  brine  in  wells  at  twelve  villages  near  Noh, 
and  along  the  banks  of  the  Najafgarh/^/  on  the  border  of  Rohtak. 
Iron  ore  abounds  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  hills,  and  Firozpui 
(Ferozepore)  in  the  extreme  south  once  possessed  considerable  smelting 
works,  now  rendered  unremunerative  by  the  exhaustion  of  the  timber. 
The  other  mineral  products  include  copper  ore,  plumbago,  and  ochre. 
Sonah,  at  the  base  of  the  western  range,  has  a  sulphur  spring  whose 
medicinal  properties  rank  high  in  the  treatment  of  rheumatism,  Delhi 
ulcers,  and  other  cutaneous  disorders.  The  District  contains  no  forest, 
and  few  trees  of  any  sort  Wolves  are  common  in  the  hills,  and 
leopards  are  occasionally  shot.  Deer  abound  throughout ;  nilgdi  may 
be  met  with  more  rarely ;  while  jackals,  hares,  and  foxes  are  found  in 
all  parts  of  the  District. 

History. — Gurgaon  possesses  but  little  historical  interest,  and  con- 
tains no  noteworthy  relics  of  antiquity.  In  the  Muhammadan  annals, 
however,  it  finds  frequent  mention  under  the  name  of  Mewit,  or 
country  of  the  Meos,  who  form  to  this  day  one  of  the  most  important 
of  its  tribes.  These  Ishmaelites  of  Upper  India  gave  constant  trouble 
by  their  turbulence  to  the  authorities  of  Delhi  during  the  Mughal 
period.  Marauding  bands  would  issue  from  the  dense  jungle,  which 
then  clothed  the  whole  western  portion  of  the  District,  and  plunder  the 
cultivated  plain  up  to  the  very  walls  of  the  imperial  city.  So  secure 
were  their  fastnesses  among  the  hills,  that  no  repressive  efforts  ever 
took  permanent  effect  Accordingly,  Gurgaon  remained  without  any 
annals  during  the  whole  period  of  Mughal  and  Marhatta*  supremacy, 
and  passed  into  our  hands  as  a  mere  desert  after  Lord  Lake's  conquests 
in  1803.  Semi  -  independent  chieftains  then  held  the  territory  on 
military  tenures ;  and  only  the  unalienated  portion  passed  under  the 
civil  administration  of  the  Delhi  Political  Agent  Gradually,  however, 
as  estate  after  estate  lapsed  from  failure  of  heirs,  or  from  forfeiture 
through  misconduct,  the  District  assumed  its  present  form.  Many 
years  passed  before  order  could  be  firmly  established  in  these  savage 
wilds.  Bishop  Heber,  who  passed  through  Gurgdon  in  1825,  describes 
the  country  as  still  badly  cultivated,  while  he  speaks  of  its  state  only 
fifteen  years  before  as  resembling  that  of  the  tardi,  abounding  with 
tigers,  and  having  no  human  inhabitants  except  banditti.  But  under 
the  settled  influence  of  British  rule,  improvements  steadily  and  rapidly 
progressed,  so  that  the  officers  engaged  upon  the  land  settlement  in 
1836  found  few  traces  either  of  the  jungle  or  the  tigers.  The  banditti 
were  still  represented,  perhaps,  by  many  turbulent  tribes,  especially 
among  the  Rajputs ;  but  the  general  condition  of  affairs  had  been 


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GURGAON  DISTRICT.  481 

greatly  ameliorated.  No  single  date  can  be  given  for  the  extension  of 
direct  British  administration  over  the  whole  of  this  outlying  tract 
The  Rijd  of  Bhartpur  (Bhurtpore)  at  first  farmed  the  country  ;  but  his 
grant  was  revoked  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Bhartpur  war  in  1804. 
Thenceforth,  the  native  chieftains  held  their  lands  direct  from  our 
Government  during  good  conduct ;  and  the  District  was  formed  from 
the  various  lapsed  estates  which  fell  in  from  time  to  time.  The  last 
important  addition  took  place  in  1858,  when  the  territories  held  by  the 
Naw£b  of  Farrukhnagar  were  confiscated  on  account  of  his  participa- 
tion in  the  Mutiny.  The  administrative  headquarters  were  originally 
fixed  at  the  small  cantonment  of  Bharawds,  near  Rewan,  but  were 
transferred  to  the  unimportant  village  of  Gurgdon  in  182 1.  The 
District,  with  the  rest  of  the  Delhi  territory,  was  annexed  in  1832  to 
the  Government  of  the  North-Western  Provinces,  and  so  remained 
until  1858.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Mutiny  at  Delhi  in  May  18579 
the  Nawdb  of  Farrukhnagar,  the  principal  feudatory  of  the  District, 
rose  in  rebellion.  The  marauding  Meos  and  many  Eijputs  followed  his 
example,  and  flew  to  arms.  A  faithful  native  officer  preserved  the 
public  buildings  and  records  at  Riwari  from  destruction ;  but  with  this 
exception,  British  authority  became  extinguished  for  a  time  throughout 
Gurgaon.  So  long  as\the  siege  of  Delhi  lasted,  no  attempt  was 
made  to  restore  order ;  but  after  the  fall  of  the  rebel  capital,  a  force 
marched  into  the  District,  and  easily  captured  or  dispersed  the  leaders 
of  rebellion.  Civil  administration  was  resumed  under  orders  from  the 
Government  of  the  Punjab,  to  which  Province  the  District  was  formally 
annexed  on  the  final  pacification  of  the  country. 

Population. — A  Census  of  the  District  effected  in  1853,  under  the 
Government  of  the  North  -  Western  Provinces,  returned  the  total 
number  of  inhabitants  at  682,486.  A  second  Census,  taken  on 
the  10th  of  January  1868,  showed  an  increase  of  14,160,  which 
would  probably  have  been  for  greater  had  not  the  disturbances  of 
1857  intervened  between  the  two  dates.  The  latter  enumeration 
extended  over  an  area  of  2015  square  miles,  and  it  disclosed  a  total 
population  of  696,646  persons,  distributed  among  1299  villages  or  town- 
ships, and  inhabiting  an  aggregate  of  156,775  houses.  These  figures 
yield  the  following  averages : — Persons  per  square  mile,  345  ;  villages 
per  square  mile,  0*64;  houses  per  square  mile,  7777;  persons  per 
village,  536;  persons  per  house,  4*59.  A  transfer  of  territory  to  Delhi 
District  a  few  months  later  reduced  the  area  to  1981  square  miles, 
and  the  population  to  690,295 ;  which  are  the  statistics  accepted  for 
the  general  statements  of  this  notice.  Classified  according  to  sex, 
the  Census  of  1868  returned  370,251  males  and  326,395  females; 
proportion  of  males,  53*15  per  cent.  Classified  according  to  age, 
there  were,  under  12  years — males,  133,532;  females,  in, 608;  total 

VOL.  III.  2  H 

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482  GURGAON  DISTRICT. 

children,  245,140,  or  35*19  per  cent.  As  regards  religious  distinctions, 
the  Hindus  numbered  480,307,  or  68 '94  per  cent;  the  Muhammadans, 
216,147,  or  31"02  per  cent;  while  the  Sikhs  were  returned  at  130, 
and  ' others'  at  62.  The  statistics  of  occupation  show  an  agricultural 
population  of  397,492  persons,  of  whom  115,881  were  males  above  18 
years  of  age.  Wiih  reference  to  the  ethnical  divisions  and  caste 
distinctions  of  the  people,  the  Meos  form  the  largest  element,  being 
returned  at  114,693.  The  Jdts  rank  second  in  numerical  order,  with 
a  total  of  75,567.  The  Meos  are  probably  of  pure  Indian  blood, 
descendants  of  Rajputs  by  marriages  with  lower  castes.  They  hold 
large  tracts  of  land  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  District,  and  are  now 
without  exception  Musalmdns,  though  retaining  many  Hindu  customs. 
The  tribe  has  laid  aside  its  former  lawless  turbulence,  and  the  Meo 
villages  rank  among  the  most  careful  and  industrious  communities  in 
the  Punjab.  The  J£ts  live  chiefly  in  Palwal  and  the  northern  fargands. 
Very  few  of  them  have  deserted  their  ancestral  religion  for  the  faith 
of  Islam.  Some  of  their  villages  worthily  sustain  the  general  high 
reputation  of  the  tribe ;  but  others,  especially  on  the  Delhi  frontier, 
are  reported  as  ill  cultivated.  The  Ahirs  number  70,623  souls.  They 
form  the  bulk  of  the  population  in  Rewari,  and  are  justly  esteemed 
for  the  skill  and  perseverance  with  which  they  have  developed  the 
naturally  poor  resources  of  that  sterile  region.  The  BraUimans  are 
returned  at  55,402 ;  Banias,  38,214;  Giijars,  21,818;  Rajputs,  12,867; 
and  Ringhars,  5883.  The  two  last-named  tribes  bear  a  bad  name 
as  indolent  and  thriftless  cultivators,  and  swell  the  returns  of  crime 
far  beyond  their  just  proportion.  The  criminal  class  of  Mfaas,  found 
only  in  Gurgaon  District,  are  notorious  for  their  thieving  propensities. 
Devi,  under  the  name  of  Sftala,  as  goddess  of  small-pox,  forms  the 
chief  object  of  Hindu  worship  throughout  the  District  In  1875-76, 
the  municipal  towns  numbered  four,  with  populations  as  follows:— 
Rewari,  25,237;  Firozpur  (Ferozepore),  10,580;  Palwal,  13,542; 
Farrukhnagar,  10,611;  total  population  within  municipal  limits, 
59,970.  The  other  chief  towns,  with  populations  as  returned  in  1868, 
include — Gurgaon,  3539  ;  Sohna,  7507 ;  Hodal,  7032  ;  and  Noh, 
4575.  The  headquarters  town  is  only  noticeable  from  the  presence 
of  the  civil  station. 

Agriculture. — Out  of  a  total  area  of  1,267,335  acres,  as  many  as 
967,440  were  returned  in  1875-76  as  under  cultivation.  From  the 
remainder,  184,021  acres  must  be  deducted  for  uncultivable  waste, 
leaving  a  narrow  margin  of  only  115,874  acres  of  available  soil  not 
yet  brought  under  the  plough.  Wheat  and  barley  form  the  principal 
staples  of  the  rabi  or  spring  harvest ;  while  jodr  and  bdjra^  the  two 
common  millets,  make  up  the  chief  items  among  the  kharif  or  autumn 
crops.    These  millets  compose  the  ordinary  food  of  the  people  them- 


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GURGAON  DISTRICT.  483 

selves,  the  wheat  and  higher  cereals  being  universally  reserved  for 
exportation.  Gram,  oil -seeds,  pulses,  cotton,  and  tobacco  are  also 
important  crops.  *  Irrigation  is  not  very  generally  practised.  The 
Agra  Canal,  which  draws  its  supplies  from  the  Jumna  some  miles  below 
Delhi,  and  traverses  the  eastern  portion  of  the  District,  supplies  a 
small  angle  with  water ;  and  dams  on  the  hill  torrents  irrigate  about 
an  equal  area  at  the  foot  of  the  tableland.  With  these  exceptions, 
however,  artificial  irrigation  can  only  be  practised  with  great  labour 
from  wells,  often  of  immense  depth.  The  use  of  the  Persian  wheel  is 
unknown,  and  water  is  drawn  in  leather  buckets.  The  returns  of 
x875-76  give  the  area  irrigated  by  State  works  at  2537  acres;  by 
private  enterprise,  135,462  acres;  dependent  upon  the  seasons, 
829,405  acres.  The  acreage  under  the  principal  crops  in  the  same 
year  was  returned  as  follows :— Wheat,  158,890  acres  ;  barley,  169,894 
acres ;jodr,  117,853  acres;  bdjra%  195,225  acres;  gram,  95,602  acres; 
pulses,  151,380  acres;  oil-seeds,  10,468  acres;  cotton,  44,076  acres; 
and  tobacco,  2507  acres.  Village  communities  of  the  usual  type  own 
the  soil  in  varying  degrees  of  communal  or  individual  proprietorship. 
Out  of  a  total  number  of  1139  villages  in  1873-74,  only  237  retained 
the  primitive  form  of  joint  tenure ;  in  the  remainder,  the  whole  or 
some  part  of  the  land  had  been  divided  into  definite  portions  for  the 
separate  sharers.  Under  all  circumstances,  the  State  holds  the  entire 
village  responsible  for  the  payment  of  the  land  revenue  assessed  upon  it 
By  far  the  larger  number  of  under  tenants  possess  no  rights  of  occupancy. 
Rents  are  almost  invariably  paid  in  kind,  by  division  of  the  produce, 
the  landlord  receiving  from  one-fourth  to  one-half  of  the  gross  out-turn. 
Occasional  agricultural  labour  is  also  paid  in  kind.  Cash  wages  in 
1875-76  ranged  from  7$d.  to  9d.  per  diem  for  skilled  workmen,  and 
from  3d.  to  4$d.  per  diem  for  unskilled  workmen.  Prices  of  food-grains 
ruled  as  follows  on  1st  January  1876: — Wheat,  21  sers  per  rupee,  or 
5s.  4d.  per  cwt. ;  barley,  32  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  6d.  per  cwt ;  gram, 
29J  sers  per  rupee,  or  3s.  9±d.  per  cwt ;  jodry  33  sers  per  rupee,  or 
3s.  5d.  per  cwt ;  bdjray  25J  sers  per  rupee,  or  4s.  5d.  per  cwt 

Natural  Calamities, — Owing  to  the  deficiency  of  artificial  irrigation, 
Gurgaon  must  always  be  exposed  to  great  risk  from  drought  Seven 
periods  of  dearth  have  occurred  since  the  disastrous  year  1783,  known 
throughout  Upper  India  as  the  San  chdlisa  famine — namely,  in  1803, 
1812,  1817,  1833,  1837,  i860,  and  1869.  In  1833  and  1837,  many 
villages,  according  to  report,  lost  their  entire  population  through  death 
and  emigration.  In  1869-70,  the  distress  was  chiefly  confined  to  the 
crowd  of  starving  immigrants  from  Rajputana,  many  of  whom  entered 
British  territory  in  too  emaciated  a  condition  to  permit  of  their  being 
employed  upon  relief  works.  The  autumn  harvest  of  1869  proved 
moderate  in  its  yield,  thus  averting  the  extremities  of  famine  endured 


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484  G  URGAON  DISTRICT. 

in  some  of  the  neighbouring  Districts.  Government  organized  effi- 
cient measures  of  relief,  both  gratuitously  and  by  means  of  public 
works;  and  in  September  1869,  the  total  number  of  persons  obtaining 
relief  amounted  to  8336.  On  1st  January  1870,  wheat  sold  at  8  sen 
per  rupee,  or  14s.  per  cwt ;  barley  at  16  sers  per  rupee,  or  7s.  per 
cwt. ;  and  bajrd  at  20J  sers  per  rupee,  or  5s.  5^<L  per  cwt 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc. — The  traffic  of  Gurgaon  District  centres 
entirely  in  the  town  of  Rewari,  which  ranks  as  one  of  the  chief 
trading  emporiums  in  the  Punjab.  Its  merchants  transact  a  large  part 
of  the  commerce  between  the  States  of  Raj  pu tana  and  the  Northern 
Provinces  of  British  India,  Salt  from  the  Sambhar  I^ake,  together 
with  iron,  forms  the  principal  import ;  while  sugar  and  English  piece- 
goods  compose  the  staple  items  of  the  return  trade.  Hardware  of 
mixed  metal  is  the  chief  manufacturing  industry.  In  1871-72,  the 
imports  of  Rewari  were  valued  at  ,£208,892,  and  the  exports  at 
^99,028.  Cereals  and  pulses  are  produced  in  the  District  considerably 
beyond  the  needs  of  home  consumption ;  but  the  traders  hoard  the 
surplus  supply,  and  only  part  with  it  when  high  prices  in  some  neigh- 
bouring market  afford  an  unusually  good  opportunity  for  the  seller. 
In  ordinary  years,  very  little  export  of  grain  takes  place.  Noh, 
Firozpur  (Ferozepore),  Palwal,  Hodal,  and  Hassanpur  are  the 
chief  minor  marts  for  country  produce.  Farrukhnagar  is  the  entrepot 
for  the  Sultanpuri  salt,  obtained  by  evaporation  on  the  banks  of  the 
Najafgarh/41/,  both  in  this  District  and  in  Rohtak.  The  means  of 
communication  are  not  of  the  highest  order.  One  good  metalled  road 
traverses  the  District,  from  Delhi  to  Muttra,  but  the  lines  of  greatest^ 
mercantile  importance  are  unmetalled,  and  become  heavy  and  difficult 
during  the  rainy  season.  The  Rijputana  State  Railway,  however,  now 
passes  through  the  District,  with  stations  at  Gurgion,  Jharsa,  Jataoli, 
Kalipur,  and  Rewan.  A  branch  line  from  Jhirsa  connects  Farrukh- 
nagar with  the  main  system.  In  1875-76,  Gurgaon  contained  45  miles 
of  metalled  and  741  miles  of  unmetalled  road. 

Administration. — The  total  revenue  derived  from  the  District  in 
1875-76  amounted  to  ^111,885,  of  which  ^107,008  was  contri- 
buted by  the  land-tax.  The  present  settlement  was  set  on  foot  in 
the  year  1871-72.  Besides  the  imperial  revenue,  an  income  of  about 
;£8ooo  is  annually  raised  by  local  cesses,  for  expenditure  upon  works 
of  public  utility  within  the  District  The  administrative  staff  usually 
includes  two  covenanted  civilians.  In  1875-76,  13  civil  and  revenue 
judges  had  jurisdiction  in  the  District,  and  1 1  officers  exercised  magis- 
terial powers.  During  the  same  year,  the  regular  police  force,  including 
the  municipal  constabulary,  numbered  605  men,  yielding  an  average 
of  1  policeman  to  every  3*27  square  miles  of  area  and  every  1140 
of  the  population.      This  establishment  is   further  supplemented  by 

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GURGAON  TOWN.  485 

the  usual  rural  body  of  village  watchmen  (chauklddrs),  whose  numbers, 
however,  are  not  on  record.  For  the  five  years  ending  1872,  the 
District  calendar  showed  a  total  of  26  murders,  and  73  cases  of  dacoity 
and  robbery  with  violence.  The  District  jail  at  Gurgaon  received 
610  inmates  in  1872.  Education  makes  satisfactory  progress.  In 
1875-76,  the  State  supported  or  aided  66  schools,  with  a  joint  roll  of 
3560  pupils,  being  an  increase  of  980  upon  the  numbers  returned  in 
1872.  These  figures  show  an  average  area  of  30  square  miles  to  each 
school,  and  5*1  scholars  per  thousand  of  the  population.  For  fiscal  and 
administrative  purposes,  the  District  is  subdivided  into  5  tahsils.  The  4 
municipal  towns  had  a  joint  revenue  of  ^5101  in  1875-76,  being  at  the 
rate  of  is.  8£d.  per  head  of  the  population  within  municipal  limits. 

Medical  Aspects.  —  The  summer  heat  of  Gurgaon  reaches  a  great 
intensity.  No  neighbouring  mountains  or  shady  groves  temper  the 
scorching  rays  of  the  sun  ;  while  burning  winds  from  the  barren  uplands 
of  Rijputana  sweep  over  it  with  full  effect  No  record  of  temperature, 
however,  exists.  The  average  annual  rainfall  for  the  eight  years  ending 
J873-74  amounted  to  23*52  inches.  The  dryness  of  the  air  is  generally 
favourable  to  health,  but  small-pox  is  very  prevalent  The  total  number 
of  deaths  recorded  in  the  District  during  the  year  1875  was  18,938, 
being  at  the  rate  of  2  7  per  thousand  of  the  population.  In  the  towns, 
however,  where  registration  can  be  more  effectually  controlled,  the 
figures  show  much  higher  results,  amounting  to  53  per  thousand  at 
Rewari,  and  48  per  thousand  at  Farrukhnagar.  The  District  contained 
4  charitable  dispensaries  in  the  same  year,  which  afforded  relief  to 
18,034  persons,  of  whom  973  were  in-patients. 

Gurg&On. — Northern  tahsil  of  Gurgdon  District,  Punjab ;  consisting 
for  the  most  part  of  a  level  cultivated  plain. 

Qnrg&on.  —  Administrative  headquarters  of  Gurgion  District, 
Punjab;  situated  on  the  Rijputana  State  Railway,  distant  21  miles 
south  of  Delhi  Lat  280  27'  30"  n.,  long.  77°  4'  e.  ;  pop.  (1868), 
3539.  The  town  scarcely  deserves  to  rank  higher  than  a  country 
village,  with  an  administrative  importance  from  the  presence  of 
the  civil  station,  which  was  removed  hither  from  Bharawds  in  182 1. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  Gurgaon  formed  part  of 
the  estates  held  by  the  well-known  Begam  Samru  of  Sardhana;  which 
lapsed  on  her  death  in  1836,  and  were  incorporated  with  British 
territory.  The  place  then  served  for  some  time  as  a  military  canton- 
ment ;  and  this  circumstance,  combined  with  the  healthiness  of  the 
situation,  led  to  its  adoption  as  District  headquarters.  The  civil 
authorities  now  occupy  the  old  cantonment  buildings.  The  station 
stands  like  an  island  in  the  midst  of  cultivated  fields.  The  public 
buildings  include  a  court-house  and  treasury,  police  court,  taftsi/i,  police 
station,  dispensary,  staging  bungalow,  and  sardi. 

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486  G  URJIPARA—G  UR  U-SIKAR. 

Ouijip&ri. — Trading  village  in  Rangpur  District,  Bengal ;  with  an 
export  of  rice,  paddy,  and  mustard 

QurkhA. — Town  in  Nep£l  State ;  situated  53  miles  west  of  Kat- 
mandu, the  capital.  Lat.  270  52'  n.,  long.  84°  28'  e.  It  was  formerly 
the  capital  of  the  Gurkhas,  or  ruling  race  of  Nepal,  to  whom  it  gave  its 
name. 

Gurpur. — River  in  South  Kanara  District,  Madras ;  enters  the  sea 
2  miles  north  of  Mangalore,  and,  with  the  NitraVati,  forms  the  Mangalore 
Harbour. 

Gurramkonda. — Town  and  ancient  fort  in  Cuddapah  District, 
Madras.  Lat  130  46'  n.,  long.  780  38'  e.  ;  containing  394  houses  and 
(187 1 )  1948  inhabitants.  One  of  the  most  important  fortresses  in  the 
Bildghdt  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  first  built  by  the  Golconda 
kings,  and  is  situated  on  the  summit  of  a  detached  and  almost  inac- 
cessible hill.  It  was  the  capital  of  Haidardbid  (Hyderabad)  Bdlighat, 
one  of  the  five  circars  {sarkdrs)  of  the  Karnatic,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  1 8th  century.  Afterwards,  when  held  by  a  Poligar  under  the 
Kurpa  (Cuddapah)  Nawab,  it  was  of  such  importance  that  the  tenure 
was  purely  military,  and  the  governor  had  the  privilege  of  coining 
money.  When  Mir  Sihib  betrayed  (1766)  Sera,  he  received  Gurram- 
konda (which  had  at  some  former  time  been  held  by  his  ancestors)  as 
a  Mzrhatti  Jdgir.  Two  years  later,  he  made  it  over  to  Haidar,  his 
brother-in-law.  In  1771,  Sayyid  Shin,  Haidar's  general,  surrendered 
it  to  Trimbak  Rao.  Tipti  recaptured  it  in  1773.  In  179 1,  the  Nizam's 
forces,  aided  by  a  British  battery  under  Captain  Read,  besieged  Gurram- 
konda, and  captured  the  lower  fort,  but  the  citadel  held  out  till  the 
peace,  when  the  place  was  ceded  to  the  Nizam.  In  1799,  it  was 
transferred  to  the  Company,  with  the  rest  of  the  District  of  Cuddapah. 

GursarAi. — Town  in  Jhansi  District,  North- Western  Provinces,  and 
capital  of  a  small  jdgir  estate.  Lat  25°  36'  55*  n.,  long.  79°  13'  15*  e.  ; 
pop.  (1872),  6368  souls.  Lies  on  the  Jaliun  and  Sdgar  road,  40  miles 
north-east  of  Jhansi.  The  Rijd  is  a  Deccani  (Dakhini)  Pandit,  whose 
family  settled  in  Bundelkhand  under  the  Marhatta*  Peshwas.  He  ranks 
as  an  honorary  magistrate,  with  large  civil  and  revenue  powers,  and 
exercises  independent  jurisdiction  on  his  own  estates.  The  town  con- 
sists in  large  part  of  brick-built  houses  and  double-storied  shops.  An 
imposing  fort,  with  buildings  raised  to  a  height  of  250  feet,  overlooks  it 
from  the  west  Numerous  retainers  and  followers  of  the  Rlja*  swell 
the  population  of  the  town.  Chief  trade  in  sugar,  imported  from 
Hamfrpur  District.     The  estate  comprises  63  surrounding  villages. 

GurudwiriL— Town,  Dehra  Diin  District,  North-Western  Provinces. 
— See  Dehra. 

Gnru-Sikar. — The  name  given  to  the  highest  peak  of  Mount  Abu, 
Rajputina ;  elevation,  5650  feet  above  sea  leveL — See  Abu. 


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GURUVA  YUR—GUZERAT.  487 

Qnruvaytir.— Village  in  Malabar  District,  Madras.  Lat.  io°  36'  N., 
long.  760  4'  e.  ;  containing  1275  houses  and  (187 1)  6703  inhabitants, 
chiefly  Nambiiri  Brdhmans,  Nairs,  and  high -caste  Hindus.  Notable 
for  its  large  temples,  destroyed  by  Tipri  in  1784,  and  restored  by  the 
Zamorin  1794. 

Guthni — Town  in  Saran  District,  Bengal,  situated  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Little  Gandak  river,  54  miles  north-west  of  Chhapra.  Lat. 
260  9'  45"  n.,  long.  540  5'  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  4379.  Noted  as  being  a 
principal  seat  of  the  sugar  manufacture.  The  town  possesses  4  sugar 
refineries,  and  has  a  large  export  trade.     Fine  bdzdr. 

Guti. — Town,  Bellary  District,  Madras. — See  GootY, 

Guw&rich. — Pargand  of  Gonda  District,  Oudh.  Bounded  north 
by  the  Tfrhi  river  and  Gonda  pargand ;  east  by  Digsa>  pargand; 
south  by  the  Gogra  river,  separating  it  from  B£ra  Bdnki  District; 
and  west  by  Kurisar  pargand  in  Bahrdich.  In  the  time  of  Suhel 
Deo,  the  head  of  the  Rajput  confederate  princes  who  ousted  the 
Muhammadan  invaders  under  Sayyid  Salar  Masiiid  in  1032  A.D., 
Guwarich  was  included  in  the  pargand  of  Rimgarh  Gauriya'  in  the 
kingdom  of  Gaudi,  which  comprised  the  present  Districts  of  Gonda, 
Basti,  and  Gorakhpur.  It  afterwards  became  included  in  the  Kurasa 
rdj ;  and  on  the  downfall  of  Achal  Sinh  (vide  Gonda  District),  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Maharaj  Sinh,  an  illegitimate  son  of  the  late 
Raja,  whose  descendants  are  still  in  possession  of  the  soil.  Several 
rivers  and  streams  intersect  the  pargand^  which  slopes  from  north- 
west to  south-east,  the  lower  levels  being  the  most  fertile.  Area,  267 
square  miles,  or  170,962  acres,  of  which  99,142  acres  are  cultivated,  as 
follows: — Indian  corn,  30,878  acres;  rice,  20,822;  wheat,  14,875; 
barley,  6055  ;  gram,  3380;  other  produce,  23,132  acres.  Government 
land  revenue,  ^16,033.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  144,395;  Muham- 
madans,  10,350;  total,  164,745,  viz.  89,820  males  and  74,925  females. 
Number  of  villages  and  towns,  219;  average  density  of  population,  577 
per  square  mile. 

Chuerat  (Gujardt). — The  name  given  to  the  northern  seaboard  of 
the  Bombay  Presidency,  extending  from  20*  to  24*  45'  n.  lat,  and  from 
690  to  74*  20'  e.  long.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Rijputina, 
on  the  east  by  the  spurs  of  the  Vindhya*  and  Sdtpura*  ranges,  on 
the  south  by  the  Konkan,  and  on  the  west  by  the  sea.  On  the 
mainland,  it  comprises  the  British  Districts  of  Surat,  Broach,  Kaira, 
Panch  Mahals,  and  Ahmedabad,  with  a  total  area  of  10,082  square 
miles,  and  a  population  (1872)  of  2,810,522 ;  together  with  the  great 
but  scattered  territories  of  the  Giekwar  of  Baroda,  and  the  Native 
States  of  the  Mahi  Kanta  and  Rewa  Kanta  Agencies,  Palanpur, 
Radhanpur,  Balasinor,  Cambay,  Dang,  Chaurar,  Bansda,  Peint, 
Dharampur,  Tharad,  Sachin,  Wasravi,  etc.    The  term  Guzerat  is 

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488  GWALIOR  STATE. 

sometimes  also  employed  to  include  the  peninsula  of  Kithiawar,  with  its 
1 80  petty  States.  Total  area,  inclusive  of  the  peninsula  of  Kathiiwar, 
4X>536  square  miles.  For  an  account  of  the  history,  geography,  etc  of 
Guzerat,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  articles  on  the  various  States  and 
Districts  mentioned  above.  Guzerat  gives  its  name  to  the  vernacular 
of  Northern  Bombay,  viz.  Gujarathf,  which  forms  one  of  the  three  great 
languages  of  that  Presidency;  the  other  two  being  Kanarese  on  the 
south  coast,  and  Marathi  in  the  central  and  southern  regions. 

Gwalior. — Native  State  in  political  relationship  with  the  Central 
India  Agency  and  the  Government  of  India,  the  hereditary  dominions 
of  the  great  Marhattd  chief,  Sindhia.  The  State  consists  of  several 
detached  Districts;  the  principal  one  being  bounded  on  the  north- 
east by  the  Chambal,  dividing  it  from  the  British  Districts  of  Agra  and 
Etawah ;  on  the  east  by  Bundelkhand  and  Sagar  (Saugor)  District ;  on 
the  south  by  the  States  of  Bhopdl  and  Dhar ;  on  the  west  by  those  of 
Rajgarh,  Jhalawar,  and  Kotah ;  and  on  the  north-west  by  the  Chambal, 
which  separates  it  from  Karauli  (Kerowlee)  and  DholptSr  in  Rajputana. 
Previous  to  i860,  the  Maharaja"  Sindhia  possessed  territories  south  of 
the  Narbada  (Nerbudda);  but  in  that  year  and  1861,  these  were  ex- 
changed for  lands  of  equal  value  on  the  Sind  and  Betwa  rivers.  The 
extreme  points  of  the  Gwalior  territory  lie  between  22*  8'  and  26*  50' 
N.  lat,  and  between  740  45'  and  790  21'  e.  long.  The  area  of  the  whole 
State  comprises  33,119  square  miles,  comprehending  part  of  the  ancient 
Province  of  Agra,  and  most  of  Milwa. 

The  extreme  north-eastern  part  of  Gwalior,  adjoining  Agra,  is 
generally  level,  of  no  great  fertility,  and  much  cut  up  by  deep  pre- 
cipitous ravines  in  the  vicinity  of  the  streams.  A  litde  farther  south, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  of  Gwalior,  the  surface  rises.  The  country 
is  dotted  over  with  small  isolated  hills,  which  start  abruptly  out  of 
the  level  plaia  One  of  them  is  the  celebrated  fortress  of  Gwalior. 
The  geological  formation  of  these  rocky  eminences  is  a  fine-grained 
sandstone,  disposed  in  horizontal  strata,  and  yielding  an  excellent 
building  stone,  for  which  purpose  it  can  be  hewn  in  slabs  of  great 
length  and  breadth.  The  other  tract  of  Gwalior  State,  comprising  a 
large  portion  of  Malwa,  is  a  plateau,  having  an  average  eleva- 
tion of  about  1500  feet,  though  there  are  some  points  rising  greatly 
above  that  height,  as  in  the  instance  of  Shaizgarh  in  the  Mandu  range, 
which  is  2628  feet  above  the  sea.  The  general  slope  of  the  plateau  is 
very  gentle  from  the  Mandu  range  towards  the  north  or  north-east, 
as  indicated  by  the  course  of  numerous  streams  flowing  in  those 
directions  to  the  Chambal.  The  Mandu  range,  running  east  and  west, 
forms  the  southern  boundary  of  the  plateau,  sloping  gently  northwards 
towards  it,  and  dipping  precipitously  southwards  towards  the  Narbadi 
The  State  is  watered  by  numerous  rivers.      The  Narbada,  flowing 

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GWALIOR  STATE.  489 

west,  forms  the  boundary  of  the  southern  part  of  the  State.  But  by 
far  the  greater  portion  of  the  drainage  of  the  territory  is  discharged 
into  the  Chambal,  which,  receiving  the  waters  of  several  minor  tribu- 
taries, flows  along  the  north-west  frontier,  separating  Gwalior  from 
Jaipur  (Jeypore),  Kerauli  (Kerowlee),  and  Dholpur.  Subsequently 
turning  south-east,  it  forms  the  north-eastern  boundary  towards  Agra 
and  EtaVah,  and  joins  the  Jumna  in  the  latter  District  The  Sind 
flows  parallel  to  the  Chambal,  but  farther  to  the  east,  and  finally  falls 
into  the  Jumna  a  short  distance  below  the  confluence  of  the  Chambal 
with  that  river.  The  Kuwiri,  Asar,  Sankh,  and  other  lesser  streams 
take  their  rise  in  the  north  of  the  State,  and,  after  flowing  in  an  easterly 
or  north-easterly  direction,  fall  into  the  Sind  on  its  left  bank.  The 
south-western  portion  of  Gwalior  is  noted  for  its  abundant  production 
of  the  Malwd  opium  of  commerce.  Other  products  —  wheat,  gram, 
pulses  of  various  kinds,  jodr  (Holcus  sorghum),  bdjra  (Holcus 
spicatus),  miig  (Phaseolus  mungo),  maize,  rice,  linseed  and  other 
oil-seeds,  garlic,  turmeric,  ginger,  sugar-cane,  indigo,  dal  (Morinda 
multiflora)  yielding  a  fine  red  dye.  Tobacco  of  excellent  quality,  but 
in  no  great  quantity,  is  raised  in  the  vicinity  of  Bhilsl  Cotton  is 
largely  grown. 

Burhanpur  is  the  site  of  a  considerable  manufacture  of  fine  cottons 
and  silks,  and  rich  brocades.  Chanderi  was  formerly  noted  for  its 
cotton  fabrics,  but  the  manufacture  has  decayed  since  the  introduction 
of  English  piece-goods.    Iron  ore  is  raised  and  smelted  in  many  places. 

The  imports  consist  principally  of  British  woollens,  cottons,  silks, 
cutlery,  Cashmere  shawls,  pearls  from  the  Persian  Gulf,  Ceylon 
diamonds,  and  agates  from  Bundelkhand,  gold,  silver,  mercury,  copper, 
lead,  and  zinc  Opium  is  the  principal  export,  sent  to  the  coast  by 
way  of  Bombay.  Cotton  is  also  largely  sent  to  Bombay,  and  to 
the  towns  on  the  Jumna  and  Ganges.  The  remaining  exports  of  any 
importance  are  tobacco,  dyes,  and  iron.  The  Indore  and  Ajmere 
narrow-gauge  railway,  now  (1878)  in  course  of  construction,  will  pass 
through  the  west  of  Gwalior  State ;  while  a  railway  on  the  broad  gauge, 
to  connect  Gwalior  town  with  Agra,  is  approaching  completion. 

In  the  dry  and  hot  seasons  the  climate  is  not  unhealthy,  but 
during  the  rainy  season  fevers  prevail,  especially  in  the  north.  The 
range  of  the  thermometer  is  unusually  small,  except  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  year,  when  great  and  sudden  changes  often  take  place.  The 
cool  season  comprises  the  period  between  the  beginning  of  November 
and  the  end  of  February ;  the  hot  season  succeeds,  and  continues  to 
the  middle  of  June,  when  the  periodical  rains  set  in,  and  last  to  the 
close  of  September,  the  average  fall  being  about  50  inches.  In  1875, 
the  rainfall  was  only  19*6  inches.  During  the  sultry  season  the  hot 
winds  are  comparatively  mild,  and  of  short  duration,  though  the  ther- 


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49©  GWALIOR  STATE. 

mometer  sometimes  rises  to  nearly  ioo°  during  the  day;  but  the  nights 
are  invariably  cool  and  refreshing. 

Wild  animals  comprises  the  tiger,  leopard,  bear,  wolf,  hyaena,  wild 
dog,  jackal,  fox,  ounce,  lynx,  badger,  ichneumon,  civet,  otter,  rat,  bat, 
mouse,  wild  hog,  nilgau  or  blue  bull,  and  various  kinds  of  antelope, 
deer  of  several  species,  wild  buffalo,  ape,  monkey,  squirrel,  porcupine, 
and  hare.  Of  birds,  there  are  the  vulture,  eagle,  hawks  of  various 
kinds,  kite,  buzzard,  owl,  hornbill  (Buceros),  raven,  crow,  daws  and 
pies,  parrot,  jay,  cuckoo,  humming-bird,  wild  goose,  wild  duck,  pelican, 
cormorant,  spoon-bill,  stork,  crane,  heron,  adjutant,  curlew,  snipe, 
bustard,  floriken,  peafowl,  pheasant,  partridge,  quail,  pigeon,  dove,  and 
sparrow.  The  rivers  abound  in  fish,  especially  of  the  carp  kind.  Of 
snakes,  there  are  the  boa,  water-snake,  cobra,  black  spotted  snake, 
spectacled  snake,  yellow-clouded  snake,  whip-snake,  and  leaping  snake. 
The  magar  or  round  blunt  snouted  crocodile  infests  some  of  the  rivers. 

Population. — The  population  of  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  territory 
is  of  a  mixed  kind,  comprising,  besides  the  ruling  order  of  Marhattas, 
Bundelas,  Jats,  and  Rijputs,  with  some  less  distinctly  defined  divisions 
of  Hindus  and  Muhammadans.  Until  the  Marhatta  inroads  in  the  last 
century,  the  country  was  from  an  early  period  in  the  possession  of  the 
Muhammadan  rulers  of  Delhi,  and  in  no  part  of  Gwalior  do  the  Mar- 
hattds  form  any  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants.  In  the  greater  part 
of  the  southern  and  south-western  parts,  comprising  a  portion  of  Malwa, 
a  very  considerable  section  of  the  population  is  Hindu.  There  is 
perhaps  no  part  of  India  where  the  tribes  of  Bnihmans  are  so  various 
and  their  numbers  so  great.  Rajputs  exist  in  large  numbers.  The 
Muhammadan  population  is  estimated  at  about  a  twentieth  of  the 
whole.  Including  the  transfers  to  Sindhia  under  the  treaty  of  i860,  the 
territories  of  Gwalior  were,  in  1875,  estimated  to  contain  a  population 
of  about  2,500,000  persons. 

The  total  revenue  of  the  State  in  1875  was  estimated  at  ;£i, 200,000, 
including  ,£783,890  derived  from  the  land,  and  ,£147,020  from 
customs;  the  remainder  consists  of  tributes  from  feudatories ;  and  jdgir 
and  local  taxes.  The  customs  revenue  is  realized  from  transit  duties 
on  iron,  tobacco,  sugar,  and  salt  (all  other  articles  being  free),  and  from 
jdgir  and  local  taxes.  No  transit  duties  are  taken  on  those  portions  of 
the  Agra  and  Bombay  road  or  its  branches  which  pass  through  the 
State,  or  on  the  roads  connecting  Gwalior  with  EtaVah,  Farrukhibid, 
Datia,  Jhdnsi,  and  KalpL  Education  is  afforded  by  92  schools, 
attended  by  3206  pupils.  The  average  attendance  at  the  Lashkir 
College  in  1875  amounted  to  548  persons.  The  present  Prime 
Minister  is  Sir  Ganpat  Rao  Kharkdi,  K.C.S.I.,  who  is  assisted  in  the 
administration  by  5  Ndib  Diwdns,  for  the  several  departments  of 
revenue,  civil,  criminal,  appeal,  and  public  works. 

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GWALIOR  STATE.  491 

History. — The  Gwalior  family,  whose  armies  and  chiefs  have  played 
so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  history  of  India,  and  whose  representative 
now  rules  over  a  State  larger  than  Scotland  and  Wales  united,  and 
richer  than  some  independent  kingdoms,  was  founded  by  the  Maharatta, 
Ranojf  Sindhia,  who  was  the  slipper-bearer  of  Balajf  Peshwa'  at 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  His  father  was  the  hereditary 
pdtel  (head-man)  of  a  Deccan  village.  Once  in  the  household  of  the 
Peshwd,  Ranojf  s  rise  was  rapid,  and  he  soon  found  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  bodyguard.  After  leading  many  Marhatta*  raids  through  MaUwa' 
into  Hindustan,  he  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  acknowledged 
possessor  of  lands  which  still  form  part  of  the  Gwalior  State.  Ranoji 
was  succeeded  by  his  second  son,  Mahddaji  Sindhia,  whose  ability  as 
a  statesman  and  a  soldier  has  rarely  been  surpassed.  Maha*dajf  was 
conspicuous  for  his  gallantry  at  the  battle  of  Pdnipat  in  1761,  being 
amongst  the  last  to  leave  that  field — so  disastrous  to  the  Marhattis. 
Probably  the  events  of  that  fight  led  him  to  see  the  value  of  discipline, 
for  when  the  Marhatta"  tide  of  fortune  again  set  in  there  was  a  change 
of  system.  He  turned  his  Marhatta*  horse  into  disciplined  infantry 
with  sword  and  matchlock,  and  formed  them  into  brigades ;  he  paid 
great  attention  to  his  artillery,  and  placed  his  entire  army  under  the 
command  of  French  and  English  adventurers.  Though  nominally  the 
servant  of  the  Peshwd,  he  was  practically  independent,  and  made  his 
State  one  of  the  strongest  in  India.  The  Delhi  Emperor  sought  his 
protection ;  the  Rdjput  chiefs,  with  hosts  of  the  best  cavalry  India  could 
produce,  fought  in  vain  against  his  battalions.  He  negotiated  and 
guaranteed  the  treaty  at  Salbdi  (Salbye)  (1783)  between  the  Peshwa' 
and  the  British  Government.  Mahddajf  was  succeeded  in  1794  by 
his  grand-nephew,  Daulat  Ra\>  Sindhia.  During  the  distractions  which 
followed  the  death  of  Madhu  R£o  Narayan  Peshwd,  Daulat  Rio  gained 
an  ascendancy,  which  enabled  him  to  place  B£jf  Rdo  in  power,  to 
usurp  most  of  the  possessions  of  Holkar,  and  to  secure  to  himself  the 
fortress  of  Ahmednagar  in  the  Deccan,  which  gave  him  the  entrance 
into  the  territories  both  of  the  Peshwa'  and  the  Nizam.  The  power 
of  Daulat  Rio,  whose  army  was  commanded  by  French  officers,  had 
now  become  dangerous  to  the  British  Government.  When  by  the 
treaty  of  Bassein  the  British  Government  recovered  its  influence  at 
Poona  by  the  establishment  of  a  subsidiary  force,  Daulat  Rio  Sindhia 
entered  into  a  league  with  Ragojf  Bhonsla*  Rija*  of  Berar,  to  defeat  the 
objects  of  the  treaty;  and  the  allied  chiefs  in  1803  invaded  the  territory 
of  the  Nizam,  which  was  at  that  time  under  the  protection  of  the  East 
India  Company.  On  the  23d  of  September  in  that  year,  the  Marhatta' 
army  was  attacked  at  Assaye  by  a  British  force  of  about  an  eighth  of 
its  number,  commanded  by  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  subsequently  Duke 
of  Wellington,  and,  after  a  prolonged  and  fiercely-contested  battle,  was 


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492  GWALIOR  STATE. 

totally  defeated  The  overthrow  of  Sindhia's  military  resources  in  the 
Deccan  was  completed  by  the  defeat  which  the  confederated  Marhattas 
received  from  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  at  Argaum,  in  Berar,  on  the  28th 
of  November  1803. 

The  destruction  of  the  Marhatti  power  to  the  north  of  the  Narbadi 
(Nerbudda)  had  in  the  meantime  been  not  less  signally  effected  by 
General  (afterwards  Lord)  Lake,  the  British  commander-in-chief,  who 
in  the  beginning  of  September  1803  stormed  Aligarh;  and  a  few  days 
afterwards,  nearly  opposite  Delhi,  totally  defeated  Sindhia's  disciplined 
army,  commanded  by  the  Frenchman  Bourquin,  and  effectually  cleared 
the  Doib  of  the  Marhattas.     Delhi  was  immediately  occupied  by  the 
victorious  army.     Before  the  close  of  the. same  year,  Agra  also  yielded 
after  a  brief  attempt  at  defence.     General  Lake,  indefatigably  following 
up  his  advantages,  a  few  weeks  afterwards  destroyed  the  remnant  of 
Sindhia's  disciplined  force  at  Laswiri  (Laswaree).    The  power  of  Daulat 
Rio  being  thus  completely  broken,  he  was  compelled  to  sue  for  peace, 
and  to  sign  the  treaty  of  Sarji  Anjengion,  by  which  he  resigned  his  con- 
quered territories  in  Hindustan  and  south  of  the  Ajanta  Hills,  with  the 
exception  of  some  hereditary  villages.    The  discontent  which  Daulat  Rio 
felt  at  the  determination  to  deprive  him  of  Gonad  and  Gwalior,  under 
this  treaty,  induced  him  to  enter  into  a  correspondence  with  Holkir, 
which  nearly  led  to  a  fresh  rupture  with  the  British.     Among  other 
acts  of  hostility,  he  attacked  and  plundered  the  Resident's  camp,  and 
detained  the  Resident  a  prisoner.     The  change,  however,  in  the  policy 
of  Government  on  the  arrival  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  who,  independently 
of  any  reference  to  the  settlement  of  differences  with  Sindhia,  deemed 
it  inexpedient  to  retain  possession  of  Gohad  and  Gwalior,  led  to  the 
renewal  of  negotiations  on  the  basis  of  the  restoration  of  these  territories. 
A  treaty  was  accordingly  concluded  on  22d  November  1805,  which 
confirmed  the  treaty  of  Sarji  Anjengion  in  part,  but  ceded  Gwalior  and 
Gohad  to  Sindhia,  and  constituted  the  Chambal  the  northern  boundary 
of  his  territory;  the  British  Government  bound  itself  not  to  make 
treaties  with  Udaipur  (Oodeypore),   Jodhpur,  Kotah,  or  any  chiefs 
tributary  to  Sindhia  in  Milwi,  Mewir,  or  Mirwir,  or  to  interfere  in 
any  arrangements  he  might  make  regarding  them.     Daulat  Rio  so 
highly  appreciated  the  advantages  arising  from  the  strength  of  the  fort 
of  Gwalior,  that  he  fixed  his  residence  in  a  permanent  camp  at  the  base 
of  the  rock,  and  since  that  time  it  has  always  been  considered  the 
capital  of  the  State,  to  which  it  has  also  given  its  name. 

On  the  outbreak  of  the  Pindiri  war  in  181 7,  the  plundering  hordes 
who  had  been  generally  hangers-on  to  the  Marhatti  camps  during  their 
campaigns  in  the  latter  half  of  the  18th  century,  looked  for  support  to 
Sindhia,  as  the  most  powerful  of  the  Marhatti  princes.  Daulat  Rio 
was  also  subjected  to  strong  solicitations  from  the  Peshwi,  who  was 


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GWALIOR  STATE.  493 

endeavouring  to  resuscitate  the  old  Marhatta  confederacy.  But  the 
Marquis  of  Hastings,  then  Governor-General,  promptly  advanced  with 
a  formidable  army  to  the  river  Chambal,  and  so  far  overawed  Sindhia 
that  a  treaty  was  executed  abrogating  the  article  of  the  treaty  of  1805, 
which  restrained  the  British  Government  from  forming  engagements 
with  the  Rajput  States,  and  binding  Sindhia  to  co-operate  with  the 
British  against  the  Pindiris,  and  also  to  give  up  the  forts  of  Asfrgarh 
and  Hindia  for  three  years  as  a  security  for  the  lines  of  communication, 
and  as  a  guarantee  for  the  performance  of  his  engagements.  The 
fortress  of  Asfrgarh  was  not,  however,  surrendered,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  occupy  it  by  force.  In  the  captured  fort  a  letter  was 
found,  in  which  Sindhia  directed  the  governor  to  obey  all  orders  of  the 
Peshwi,  who,  by  attacking  the  Residency  at  Poona,  had  declared  war 
with  the  British  Government.  In  consequence  of  this  want  of  good 
faith,  Sindhia  was  required  permanently  to  cede  the  fort  of  Asfrgarh. 

Daulat  Rio  died  at  Gwalior  in  1827  without  an  heir,  and  without 
having  adopted  a  successor.  On  his  deathbed,  he  left  the  State  and 
succession  in  the  hands  of  the  British  Government,  indicating  a  wish 
that  his  younger  widow,  Biiza  Bii,  might  be  treated  with  consideration. 
The  death  of  Daulat  Rio  was  followed  by  internal  discord  throughout 
the  State.  The  succession  of  a  boy  of  Sindhia's  family,  Miigat  Rao, 
to  whom  it  was  thought  the  wishes  of  Daulat  Rao  turned,  was  admitted 
by  the  British  Government,  under  the  regency  of  Biiza  Bii.  The 
young  Mahiraji  was  subsequently  married  to  the  granddaughter  of 
Daulat  Rio  and  Baiza  Bai.  He  took  the  name  of  Janakjf  Sindhia. 
But  Baiza  Bii's  regency  came  to  a  sudden  collapse  in  1833.  Jealous 
of  power  and  headstrong,  her  treatment  of  the  young  chief  at  last 
became  intolerable,  and  he  broke  away  from  her,  supported  by  a  large 
portion  of  the  troops,  who  now  found  themselves  masters  of  the  situa- 
tion. The  wealth  of  Biiza  Bai  was  enormous,  and  it  was  used  for 
intrigue  and  dissension  without  scruple,  until  it  became  necessary  to 
remove  her  from  Gwalior.  During  the  whole  of  the  reign  of  Janakji, 
although  the  State  was  at  complete  peace  with  external  foes,  there  was 
constant  turbulence  within  the  borders.  Janakji  Sindhia  died  in  1843, 
without  issue,  and  without  having  expressed  any  wish  in  regard  to  the 
succession,  though  repeatedly  urged  to  do  so  by  the  Resident.  His 
widow,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  chief  nobles,  adopted  Bajirit  Rio, 
a  lad  eight  years  of  age,  belonging  to  a  distant  branch  of  the  Sindhia 
family.  The  British  Government  recognised  the  adoption,  and  Bajirit 
Rio,  under  the  name  of  Bajf  Rio  Sindhia,  succeeded,  and  is  the 
present  ruler.  Early  in  the  regency,  disturbances  took  place,  and  the 
advance  of  British  troops  on  Gwalior  became  necessary  to  restore  order. 
This,  however,  was  not  effected  without  hard  fighting.  Two  battles, 
Mahirajpur  and  Panniar,  were  fought  on  the  same  day — the  29th 


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494  GWALIOR  TOWN  AND  FORT. 

December  1843 — between  the  British  forces  and  the  mutinous  army. 
They  both  resulted  in  the  total  defeat  of  the  insurgent  troops.  The 
young  chief  was  replaced  in  power  by  the  British  Government.  The 
Gwalior  army  was  disbanded,  and  the  force  was  reduced  to  a  fixed 
number — 5000  cavalry,  3000  infantry,  and  32  guns.  Indemnity  was 
taken  for  the  war  expenses,  and  an  annual  provision  of  ;£i  80,000 
assigned  to  the  British  Government  for  the  maintenance  of  a  force  to 
preserve  order.  Thus  matters  continued  till  the  Mutiny  of  1857,  when 
the  Gwalior  contingent  and  Sindhia's  army  again  revolted.  The  Maha- 
rdjd,  then  but  a  youth,  displayed  courage  and  unswerving  loyalty  to 
the  British  Government  In  June  1858,  he  was  deserted  by  his  troops 
on  the  approach  of  the  rebels  under  Tantia  Topi,  and  he  and  his 
minister,  Dinkar  Rao,  were  compelled  to  flee  to  Agra.  On  the  19th 
June,  Gwalior  was  retaken  by  Sir  Hugh  Rose's  force,  and  the  Mahariji 
was  re-established  in  his  palace.  In  recognition  of  his  services,  the 
Government  conferred  upon  him  the  right  of  adoption,  together  with 
lands  yielding  a  revenue  of  ,£30,000,  and  permitted  an  increase  to  his 
army,  which  now  stands  at  48  guns,  6000  cavalry,  and  5000  infantry. 
The  Maha'raja  is  a  general  in  the  British  army,  a  Knight  Grand  Cross 
of  the  Bath,  and  Knight  Grand  Commander  of  the  Star  of  India.  He 
is  entitled  permanently  to  a  salute  of  19  guns  in  British  territory,  but 
to  a  salute  of  21  guns  in  his  own  territory.  The  present  Maharaja 
enjoys  a  personal  salute  of  21  guns  in  British  territory  also. 

Owalior. — The  capital  of  Gwalior  State,  and  fortress  residence 
of  the  Mahiriji  Sindhia;  situated  in  lat  2 6°  13'  o"  n.,  and  long. 
78°  12'  o"  e.,  65  miles  south  from  Agra,  and  277  north-west  of  Alla- 
habad. No  new  materials  are  available  in  the  Foreign  Office, 
Calcutta,  for  this  article ;  and  I  have  therefore  to  compile  it  partly  from 
Thornton  (1862)  and  Fergusson  (History  of  Indian  Architecture,  1876). 
Gwalior  city  has  a  threefold  interest.  First,  as  a  very  ancient  seat  of 
Jain  worship ;  second,  for  its  example  of  palace  architecture  of  the 
best  Hindu  period  (1486-1516);  third,  as  the  fortress  capital  of  one 
of  the  greatest  native  chiefs  of  India.  A  considerable  British  force  is 
posted  in  its  immediate  neighbourhood ;  but  this  aspect  will  be  treated 
of  in  a  separate  article  on  the  Morar  Cantonments.  The  fort  of 
Gwalior  stands  on  an  isolated  rock  of  ochreous  sandstone  formation, 
capped  at  places  with  basalt.  The  face  of  the  fort  is  perpendicular, 
and  where  the  rock  is  naturally  less  precipitous  it  has  been  scarped, 
and  in  some  portions  the  upper  parts  overhang  the  lower.  Its  greatest 
length  from  north-east  to  south-west  is  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  the 
greatest  breadth,  300  yards.  The  rock  at  the  northern  end  attains  its 
maximum  height  of  342  feet  On  its  eastern  side  are  sculptured  several 
colossal  figures  in  bold  relief.  A  rampart,  accessible  by  a  steep  road, 
and  farther  up  by  huge  steps  cut  out  of  the  rock,  surrounds  the  fort 


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GWALIOR  TOWN  AND  FORT.  495 

This  vast  staircase,  the  principal  entrance  of  which  is  known  as  the 
'  Elephant's '  Gate,  from  the  figure  of  that  animal  being  sculptured  above 
it,  is  protected  on  the  outer  side  by  a  massive  stone  wall,  and  is  swept 
by  guns.  The  citadel  stands  at  the  north-eastern  corner  of  the  enclosure, 
and  presents  a  very  picturesque  appearance.  The  old  town  of  Gwalior, 
which  is  of  considerable  size,  but  irregularly  built,  and  extremely  dirty, 
lies  at  the  eastern  base  of  the  rock.  It  contains  the  tomb  of  Muham- 
mad Ghaus,  which  was  erected  during  the  early  part  of  Akbar's  reign. 
Fergusson  thus  describes  the  building: — *  It  is  a  square  measuring  ioo 
feet  each  way,  exclusive  of  the  hexagonal  towers,  which  are  attached  to 
the  angles.  The  chamber  of  the  tomb  itself  is  a  hall  43  feet  square,  with 
the  angles  cut  off  by  pointed  arches,  so  as  to  form  an  octagon,  on  which 
the  dome  rests.  Around  this  square  building  is  a  gallery,  20  feet  wide 
between  the  piers,  enclosed  on  all  sides  by  a  screen  of  the  most  exquisite 
tracery  in  pierced  stonework,  with  a  projecting  porch  on  each  face.' 

Jain  Remains. — There  are  two  remarkable  Hindu  temples  in  Gwalior. 
1  One,'  says  Mr.  Fergusson,  '  known  as  the  Sas  Baliu,  is  understood  to 
be  a  Jain  erection,  and  seems  to  be  so  designated  and  dedicated  to 
Padmanath,  the  sixth  Tirthankar.  General  Cunningham  doubts  this 
adscription,  in  consequence  of  the  walls  being  adorned  with  bas-reliefs, 
belonging  certainly  to  the  Vaishnav  and  Siva  sects.  This  temple  was 
finished  apparently  in  a.d.  1093,  and,  though  dreadfully  ruined,  is  still 
a  most  picturesque  fragment  What  remains  is  the  cruciform  porch  of 
a  temple  which,  when  complete,  measured  100  feet  from  front  to  rear, 
and  63  feet  across  the  arms  of  the  porch.  Of  the  sanctuary,  with  its 
si&ra,  nothing  is  left  but  the  foundation ;  but  the  porch,  which  is  three 
storeys  in  height,  is  constructively  entire,  though  its  details — and 
principally  those  of  its  roof — are  very  much  shattered.  An  older 
Jain  temple  is  described  by  General  Cunningham ;  but  as  it  was  used 
as  a  mosque  it  is  more  likely  that  it  is  a  Muhammadan  building, 
although  made  up  of  Jain  details.'  Another  temple  in  the  fortress  of 
Gwalior  is  called  the  Teli-ka-Mandir  or  '  Oilman's  Temple.'  It  is  60 
feet  square,  with  a  portico  on  the  east  projecting  about  11  feet,  and 
terminates  in  a  ridge  of  about  30  feet  in  extent  'The  building,'  says 
Mr.  Fergusson,  'was  originally  dedicated  to  Vishnu,  but  afterwards 
converted  to  the  worship  of  Siva.  There  is  no  inscription  or  any 
tradition  from  which  its  date  can  be  gathered,  but  on  the  whole  I  am 
inclined  to  place  it  in  the  10th  or  nth  century.' 
•  The  most  striking  part  of  the  Jain  remains  at  Gwalior  is  a  series  of 
caves  or  rock-cut  sculptures  which  are  excavated  in  the  rock  on  all  sides, 
and  amount,  when  taken  together,  to  hardly  less  than  a  hundred,  great 
and  small.  Most  of  them  are  mere  niches  to  contain  statues,  though 
some  are  cells  that  may  have  been  originally  intended  for  residences. 
One  curious  fact  regarding  them  is,  that,  according  to  inscriptions,  they 


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496  GWALIOR  TOWN  AND  FORT. 

were  all  excavated  within  the  short  period  of  about  thirty-three  years, 
between  A.d.  1441  and  a.d.  1474.  Some  of  the  figures  are  of  colossal 
size ;  one,  for  instance,  is  57  feet  high,  which  is  greater  than  any  other 
in  the  north  of  India. 

Hindu  Palace-Architecture. — The  palace  built  by  Man  Sinh  (a.d. 
1 486-1 5 1 6)  forms  the  most  remarkable  and  interesting  example  of  early 
Hindu  work  in  India.  Its  external  dimensions,  according  to  Mr.  Fer- 
gusson,  are  300  feet  by  160  feet ;  and  on  the  east  side  it  is  100  feet 
high,  having  two  underground  storeys  looking  over  the  country.  On 
all  its  faces  the  flat  surface  is  relieved  by  tall  towers  of  singularly 
pleasing  design,  crowned  by  cupolas  covered  with  domes  of  gilt  copper 
when  Babar  saw  them  in  1527.  Min  Sinh's  successor,  Vikrami- 
ditya,  added  another  palace,  of  even  greater  extent,  to  this  one  in 
1 5 16  ;  and  Jahangfr  and  Shah  Jahan  added  palaces  to  these  two, — the 
whole  making  up  a  group  of  edifices  unequalled  for  picturesqueness 
and  interest  by  anything  of  their  class  that  exists  in  Central  India. 
Among  the  apartments  in  the  palace  was  one  called  the  Bdraddri, 
supported  on  1 2  columns,  and  45  feet  square,  with  a  stone  roof,  which 
was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  apartments  of  its  class  anywhere  to  be 
found.  It  was,  besides,  singularly  interesting  from  the  expedients  to 
which  the  Hindu  architect  was  forced  to  resort  to  imitate  the  vaults  of 
the  Moslems.  They  had  not  then  learned  to  copy  them,  as  they  did 
at  the  end  of  that  century  at  Bindriban  (Brindaban)  and  elsewhere 
under  the  guidance  of  the  tolerant  Akbar.  Of  the  buildings,  however, 
which  so  excited  the  admiration  of  the  Emperor  Babar,  probably  little 
now  remains.  The  Moslems  added  to  the  palaces  of  the  Hindus,  and 
spared  their  temples  and  the  statues  of  the  Jains. 

Rock  Fortress. — According  to  Wilford,  the  fort  of  Gwalior  was  built  in 
773  by  Surya  Sen,  the  Raja  of  the  neighbouring  country.  In  1023,  it 
was  unsuccessfully  besieged  by  Mahmiid  of  Ghaznf ;  in  n  96,  Gwalior 
was  captured  by  Mahmiid  Ghori;  in  1211,  it  was  lost  by  the  Musal- 
mans,  but  recovered  in  1231,  after  a  blockade  of  a  year  by  Shams-ud- 
dfn  Altamsh,  the  Slave  King  of  Delhi  Narsinh  Rai,  a  Hindu  chief, 
taking  advantage  of  the  trouble  produced  by  the  invasion  of  Tamerlane 
in  1398,  seized  Gwalior,  which  was  not  regained  by  the  Musalmins 
until  15 19,  under  Ibrahim  Lodi,  the  Pathan  monarch  of  Delhi  In 
1526,  Bibar  took  the  fortress  by  stratagem ;  and  in  1543,  after  the 
expulsion  of  his  son  Humayun,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  rival,  Sher 
Shih;  but  after  the  re-establishment  of  Humayun,  Gwalior  was,  in 
1556,  recovered  by  his  successor  Akbar,  who  made  it  a  state  prison  for 
captives  of  rank.  In  the  dismemberment  of  the  Delhi  Empire,  Gwalior 
was  seized  by  the  Jit  Rana  of  Gohad.  Subsequendy  it  was  garrisoned 
by  Sindhia,  from  whom  it  was  wrested  in  1780  by  the  forces  of  the  East 
India  Company.    Transferred  by  the  British  Government  to  the  Rani 


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GWE-KHYO— GYAING  ATTARAN.  497 

of  Gohad,  Gwalior  was,  in  1784,  recovered  by  Madhajf  Sindhia,  from 
whose  successor,  Daulat  Rdo  Sindhia  (1794-1827),  it  was  taken  in 
1803,  but  restored  again  in  1805.  After  Daulat  Rio's  death  in  1827, 
his  widow  governed  as  guardian  of  her  adopted  son,  Janakjf,  till  1833, 
when  he  assumed  the  Government  He  died  in  1843  without  an  heir. 
A  contest  took  place  between  his  uncle  and  the  adopted  relative  of  his 
widow.  A  revolution  was  impending,  and  the  Government  decided  to 
interfere.  Our  troops  crossed  the  Chambal,  and  unexpectedly  found 
the  forces  of  Gwalior  drawn  up  at  Mahirdjpur,  a  few  miles  distant  from 
the  fortress.  A  battle  ensued  on  the  29th  December  1843,  resulting 
in  the  complete  overthrow  of  the  Marhattis.  On  the  same  day,  another 
victory  was  gained  by  the  British  troops  at  Panniar.  The  British  con- 
tingent stationed  in  the  town  was  increased,  and  affairs  were  placed  on 
a  peaceful  footing.  The  last  event  of  historical  importance  was  the 
revolt  of  the  Gwalior  contingent  in  October  1857. — See  Gwalior  State. 

Gwe-khyo. — River  in  the  north  of  Prome  District,  Pegu  Division, 
British  Burma.  It  rises  in  the  Padouk  spur,  20  miles  west  of  the 
main  range  of  the  Pegu  Yomas ;  after  a  south-westerly  course,  it  joins 
the  Naweng  near  the  village  by  the  same  mouth  as  the  Eng-giin  and 
Khyoung-tsouk.  Near  its  source  the  bed  is  rocky,  but  lower  down, 
sandy  and  muddy ;  it  is  unnavigable.  The  trees  most  common  on  its 
banks  are  eng  and  htien  (Nauclea  sp.). 

Gyaing. — River  in  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British 
Burma.  It  is  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Hlaing-bhwai  and 
Houngtharaw  near  Gyaing  village,  in  lat  16*  34'  n.,  and  long.  980  3'  e. 
The  united  waters  flow  west  for  45  miles,  and  fall  into  the  Salwin  at 
Maulmain.  The  Gyaing  is  a  broad  but  shallow  river,  containing 
numerous  sandbanks ;  it  is  navigable  by  boats  all  the  year  round.  The 
most  important  places  on  the  banks  are — Kado,  at  the  mouth,  the  Govern- 
ment timber-revenue  station ;  Zatha-byeng ;  Tarana ;  and  Dhammatha. 

Gyaing. — Revenue  circle  at  the  junction  of  the  Gyaing  and  Attaran 
rivers,  in  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim  Division,  British  Burma.  Pop. 
(1876-77),  2983  ;  land  revenue,  ^350 ;  capitation  tax,  ^215. 

Gyaing  Attaran.  —  Township  in  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim 
Division,  British  Burma;  situated  between  15°  59'  and  16°  40'  n.  lat., 
and  between  97°  41'  and  97°  55'  e.  long.  It  occupies  the  valley  of  the 
Attaran  river,  and  extends  from  the  hills  forming  its  southern  boundary 
northwards  to  the  Gyaing.  Above  the  junction  of  the  Zamf  and  Wen- 
graw,  which  unite  to  form  the  Attaran,  are  large  tracts  of  valuable  forest 
land.  The  timber  can  only  be  felled  by  licence.  Teak  was  formerly 
very  plentiful,  but  the  supply  has  diminished  considerably,  owing  %o 
the  indiscriminate  felling  in  the  first  years  after  the  British  occupation. 
(See  Amherst  District.)  The  headquarters  of  the  township  are  at 
Nga-bye-ma  (pop.  in  1876,  233),  on  the  Attaran.    A  few  miles  above  is 

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498  GYAING-THAN-L  WENG—HAB1GANJ. 

Rebor,  famed  for  its  hot  springs.     Gyaing  Attaran  is  divided  into  15 
circles.     Pop.  (1876-77),  20,496;  gross  revenue,  £431%. 

Qyaing-than-lweng. — Division  of  Amherst  District,  Tenasserim 
Division,  British  Burma;  situated  between  16°  33'  and  160  56'  n.  lat, 
and  between  97°  38'  and  98°  o'  e.  long.  The  three  chief  rivers  are  the 
Salwin,  the  Hlaing-bhwai,  and  the  Gyaing,  with  their  tributaries.  In 
the  west  and  south-west,  the  country  consists  of  an  extensive  plain 
traversed  by  parallel  ridges  of  limestone  rocks,  having  a  general  north 
and  south  direction,  with  intervening  narrow  and  cultivated  valleys. 
Portions  of  this  tract  are  occasionally  inundated  by  the  Salwin.  In 
the  east  and  north-east  of  the  township,  there  is  a  series  of  low 
laterite  hills,  open  bamboo  forests,  and  small  low-lying  grassy  plains. 
The  southern  part  is  a  long,  narrow  rice-producing  area.  In  the  more 
hilly  portion,  where  water  and  fodder  are  plentiful  all  the  year  round, 
cattle  are  extensively  bred,  and  are  sold  to  purchasers  who  come 
from  Tha-htiin  and  Pegu,  and  other  places  west  of  the  Tsittoung. 
Cattle  are  imported  by  the  Shans ;  the  chief  export  is  rice.  Gyaing- 
than-lweng  contains  16  revenue  circles;  the  headquarters  station  is 
Za-tha-byeng.    Pop.  (1876-77),  39,524;  revenue,  ,£10,327. 


Hab. — River  on  the  western  frontier  of  Sind,  and  for  some  distance 
the  boundary  between  British  territory  and  Baluchistan.  It  rises  in 
Kheldt  (lat  26°  22'  30*  n.,  long.  67°  16'  e.),  flows  south-east  for  25  miles, 
then  due  south  for  50  miles,  and  then  south-west,  till  it  fells  into  the 
Arabian  Sea,  in  lat  24°  52'  N.,long.  66°  42'  e.,  after  a  total  length  of 
about  100  miles.  Except  the  Indus,  it  is  the  only  permanent  river  in 
Sind  It  abounds  in  fish.  A  proposal  to  supply  Karachi  (Kurrachee) 
with  drinking  water  from  the  Hab  has  been  before  the  Bombay 
Government  since  1867. 

Habiganj.— Village  in  the  south-west  of  Sylhet  District,  Assam,  on 
the  Bardk  river.  An  important  centre  for  the  export  of  rice  to  Calcutta. 
In  1876-77,  43>2°°  mounds  of  rice  and  194,600  mounds  of  paddy  were 
exported,  and  ^10,000  of  European  piece-goods  were  imported 
Habiganj  forms  a  striking  example  of  how  a  trading  town,  without  any 
other  local  advantages,  now  springs  up  in  Bengal,  in  consequence  of 
possessing  facilities  for  transport  It  is  situated  on  the  outskirts  of  a 
vast  dismal  region  of  swamps  and  inundated  rice-fields  The  town  is 
to  a  large  extent  built  on  piles  (or,  at  any  rate,  was  so  when  I  visited 
it  in  1873).  The  houses  for  the  most  part  consisted  of  mats  stretched 
on  bamboos,  and  a  busy  fleet  of  cargo-boats  loaded  or  unloaded  at  each 
of  the  principal  merchants'  doors. 


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HABRA—HAIDARABAD  STATE.  499 

H&brA. — Village  and  headquarters  of  a  police  circle  (thdnd)  in 
Dinajpur  District,  Bengal ;  situated  on  the  Tilii  river,  a  tributary  of  the 
Brahmaputra.  Lat.  250  36'  3"  n.,  long.  88°  57'  50"  e.  Large  river  mart, 
trading  in  rice,  tobacco,  gunny  cloth,  sugar,  jute,  etc. 

HadamaiTL — Village  in  Mysore  District,  Mysore.  Pop.  (1871), 
1523.  It  formed  the  scene  of  a  chivalrous  story  of  the  14th  century, 
and  is  regarded  as  the  cradle  of  the  present  ruling  family. 

H&flz&bid.—  Southern  tahsil  of  Gujranwala  District,  Punjab,  lying 
between  31*  32'  and  320  20'  30"  n.  lat,  and  between  730  11'  30*  and 
74°  7'  15*  e.  long. ;  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  a  dry  and  uncul- 
tivated upland  plain.  Area,  1440  square  miles;  pop.  (1868),  176,986; 
number  of  villages,  561;  area  under  cultivation,  172,630  acres. 

H&flz&b&cL— Ancient  town  in  Gujranwala  District,  Punjab,  and 
headquarters  of  the  tahsil.  Distant  from  Gujranwala  32  miles  west  ; 
formerly  a  place  of  great  importance,  and  mentioned  in  the  Ain~i-Akbari 
as  headquarters  of  a  mahdl. 

Haggri — River  of  Madras. — See  Hugri. 

Hatttpur. — Town  in  Maldah  District,  Bengal;  situated  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Ganges.  Lat  25°  16'  20*  n.,  long.  870  54'  21"  e.  The 
town  occupies  an  important  situation  at  the  spot  where  the  waters  of 
the  Ganges  have  effected  a  junction  with  the  Kilindrf,  and  is  the  largest 
river  mart  in  the  District.  It  lost  a  good  deal  of  its  trade  some  years 
ago,  when  the  main  stream  of  the  Ganges  shifted  its  channel  several 
miles  from  the  town ;  but  the  stream  has  recently  returned  to  its  old  bed, 
and  commerce  has  revived. 

Haidar&b&d  (Hyderabad,  or  the  Nizam's  Dominions). — A  Native 
State  or  feudatory  kingdom,  roughly  co-extensive  with  the  Deccan 
(Dakshin)  or  central  plateau  of  Southern  India,  which  takes  its 
name  from  its  capital,  Haidarabad  City.  'The  form  of  the  terri- 
tory, inclusive  of  the  Haidarabad  Assigned  Districts,  known  as 
Berar,  is  that  of  a  trapezium.  Its  base  is  about  420  miles  in  a 
direction  from  north-east  to  south-west,  from  Hampasagar  in  lat.  15° 
10'  n.,  long.  76°  e.,  to  Malkalghari  in  lat.  170  49'  n.,  long.  8i° 
30'  e.  ;  its  north-eastern  side  extends  from  south-east  to  north-west  a 
distance  of  390  miles,  from  Malkalghari,  above  mentioned,  to  Mel- 
ghit  in  lat  210  41'  n.,  long.  77*  15'  e.;  its  north-western,  in  a  direction 
from  north-east  to  south-west,  a  distance  of  220  miles  from  Melghat, 
as  above,  to  Phdltamba,  lat  190  47'  n.,  long.  740  40'  e.;  and  the  south- 
western, a  distance  of  330  miles  from  Phultamba  to  Hampasagar. 
Though  such  is  the  general  outline  of  the  country,  the  boundaries  are 
marked  by  numerous  sinuosities,  causing  them  to  deviate  greatly  from 
right  lines.  The  territory  lies  between  lat  1 5*  io'  to  2 1°  41'  n.,  and  long. 
740  40'  to  8i°  31'  e.  It  is  475  miles  in  length  from  south-west  to  north- 
east, and  about  the  same  distance  in  breadth.'     The  area  of  Berar  is 

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Soo  HAIDARABAD  STATE. 

17,728  square  miles,  that  of  the  remaining  portion  of  the  Nizim's 
Dominions  is  estimated  at  about  80,000  square  miles ;  the  total  area  of 
the  whole  State  being  thus  about  98,000  square  miles.  *  It  is  bounded 
on  the  north  and  north-east  by  the  Central  Provinces ;  on  the  south 
and  south-east  by  territory  subject  to  the  Presidency  of  Madras ;  on 
the  west  by  territory  subject  to  the  Presidency  of  Bombay.  Within 
the  western  part  are  some  small  isolated  British  possessions.' 

As  Haidar£b£d  is  one  of  the  leading  Native  States,  the  following 
article  has  been  drawn  up  in  the  Foreign  Office,  Calcutta.  The  autho- 
rities there  have  deemed  it  expedient  to  use  as  their  basis  the  article 
prepared  by  Mr.  Edward  Thornton  under  the  directions  of,  and  from 
materials  furnished  by,  the  East  India  Company.  But  such  new  infor- 
mation as  was  available  has  been  added,  with  a  view  to  bringing  it  up 
to  date.     The  inverted  commas  refer  to  Mr.  Thornton's  work. 

Physical  Aspect — '  Haidaribdd  is  a  tract  of  considerable  elevation, 
averaging  1250  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  some  granite  summits 
attain  a  height  of  2500  feet  The  elevation  of  the  fort  of  Golconda,  in 
the  city  of  Haidaribid,  has  been  ascertained  to  be  2024  feet  above  sea 
level.  With  the  exception  of  the  valley  of  the  Tipti  at  the  northern 
extremity  of  the  territory,  which  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Vindhyd  range  and  on  the  south  by  the  high  land  of  the  Goddvari,  the 
whole  drainage  of  the  country  is  either  from  west  to  east  or  from  north- 
west to  south-east,  discharging  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal  by  the  channels 
of  the  God£vari  and  the  Kistna.  The  drainage  of  the  valley  of  the 
Tipti,  flowing  westward,  falls  into  the  Gulf  of  Cambay.'  This  wide 
expanse  of  country  presents  much  variety  of  surface  and  feature.  In 
some  parts  it  is  mountainous,  wooded,  and  picturesque ;  in  others,  flat 
or  undulating.  The  champaign  lands  are  of  all  descriptions,  including 
many  rich  and  fertile  plains,  much  good  land  not  yet  brought  under 
cultivation,  and  numerous  tracts  too  sterile  ever  to  be  cultivated  at  alL 

''The  geological  formations  are  on  a  large  scale;  in  the  north-west 
being  of  the  great  volcanic  formation  extending  through  the  greater 
part  of  the  Deccan,  consisting  principally  of  trap,  but  in  some  parts 
basalt  In  the  middle,  southern,  and  south-western  parts,  the  greater 
part  of  the  country  is  overlaid  with  gneissic  formations.  In  the  north- 
east, along  the  right  bank  of  the  Godivari,  there  is  much  sandstone, 
some  of  it  carboniferous.'  Near  the  junction  of  the  Penganga  with  the 
Wardha,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  latter  river,  there  are  coal-fields.  Those 
which  have  been  examined  over  a  small  area  near  Sasti  and  Pioni  show 
an  average  of  40  feet  in  thickness.  The  quality  of  the  coal  hitherto 
mined  is  inferior  to  that  of  Rdniganj,  but  good  enough  for  railway  pur- 
poses. Iron  ore  is  found  in  the  same  neighbourhood,  also  limestone 
and  kankar,  or  nodular  limestone,  at  Kamaram  in  the  extreme  east;  and 
700  miles  north-east  of  Ellore  there  is  also  a  small  coal-field.    At  Shih- 


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HAIDARABAD  STATE.  501 

dbid,  near  the  junction  of  the  Great  Indian  Peninsula  Railway  with 
the  Nizdm's  State  Railway,  are  quarries  of  excellent  limestone,  which 
are  extensively  worked  for  a  considerable  distance  along  the  line  of 
the  latter  railway.  The  stone  found  is  of  two  colours,  grey  and  black, 
and  takes  a  polish  almost  equal  to  marble.  It  is  now  imported 
to  Haidar£b£d  city,  and  exported  elsewhere  in  large  quantities  for 
building  purposes,  for  which  it  is  well  suited  from  its  regular  cleavage 
and  the  ease  with  which  it  can  be  worked. 

Rivers. — The  Haidaitfbdd  territory  is,  on  the  whole,  well  watered, 
rivers  being  numerous,  and  tanks  or  artificial  pieces  of  water  very  abun- 
dant The  Godavari,  rising  on  the  eastern  declivity  of  the  Western 
Ghdts,  near  Ndsik  in  the  British  District  of  that  name,  takes  a  course 
south-east  for  about  90  miles  to  Phtiltamba,  where  it  first  touches  on 
this  territory,  and  continues  to  flow  along  the  border  south-eastward 
for  70  miles  to  Mungi,  in  lat  19°  27'  n.,  long.  75°  30'  e.  Here  it  enters 
Haidardbdd  territory,  through  which  it  holds  a  course  nearly  easterly 
for  about  160  miles,  to  the  vicinity  of  Lasona,  in  lat  19°  7'  n.,  long. 
770  5'  e.  At  that  place,  it  receives  on  the  left  side  the  Dudna  river, 
which  flows  from  the  north-east  and  has  a  considerable  stream  after 
its  junction  with  the  Piirna  river.  About  85  miles  lower  down,  in 
lat  18'  48'  n.,  long.  770  55'  e.,  it  receives  on  the  right  side  the  Man- 
jira.  It  thence  continues  to  hold  a  course  generally  easterly  for 
about  190  miles,  to  Kuliisar,  in  lat.  18*  52'  n.,  long  79*  53'  r,  where, 
on  the  left,  it  receives  the  Pranhita,  a  large  river  from  the  north. 
After  the  confluence  turning  south-east,  it  flows  for  about  155  miles  in 
that  direction  along  the  south-western  base  of  the  mountains  of  Bastar 
to  Kottiir,  in  lat  17°  29'  n.,  long.  8i°  29'  e.,  where  it  passes  into 
Godivari  District  of  the  Madras  Presidency.  Below  Kul&sar,  it  forms 
the  north-eastern  boundary  of  Haidardbdd  territory.  Thus  the  total 
length  of  this  great  river,  along  the  border  and  through  the  territory, 
is  about  600  miles,  for  above  200  of  which  it  is  navigable  from  June  to 
February.  The  Wardha,  rising  in  the  hills  of  Betiil  and  Chhindwdra, 
Districts  of  the  Central  Provinces,  flows  south-west  for  a  few  miles,  and 
first  touching  on  this  territory  at  Gudra,  in  lat  21*  35'  N.,  long.  780 
25'  e.,  thence  flows  towards  the  south-east  170  miles  towards  Chanda. 
In  lat  190  55'  n.,  long.  790  15'  e.,  it  receives  on  the  right  side  the 
Penganga,  a  large  river  from  the  west,  which  for  the  greater  part  of  its 
course  forms  the  boundary  between  East  Berar  and  the  more  southern 
portions  of  the  Nizam's  Dominions.  After  the  junction  with  the 
Penganga,  the  Wardha  continues  to  flow  in  a  south-easterly  direc- 
tion for  60  miles,  and  in  lat.  19°  37'  n.,  long  790  15'  e.,  on  the  left 
bank  receives  the  Wainganga,  from  the  north.  Below  the  conflu- 
ence, the  united  stream,  now  called  the  Pranhita,  flows  in  a  tortuous 
direction,  but  generally  south,  for  about  80  miles  to  Kuliisar,  in 


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502  HAIDARABAD  STATE. 

lat.  1 8"  52'  n.,  long.  69°  53'  e.  This  stream,  through  nearly  its  whole 
length,  whether  denominated  the  Wardha  or  the  Pranhita,  marks  the 
boundary  between  this  territory  and  the  Central  Provinces.  It  is 
navigable  for  about  170  miles.  The  Kistna  or  Krishna,  rising  near 
Mah£baleshwar,  in  the  Western  Ghits,  holds  a  course  south-east  for 
about  320  miles  to  lat  160  10'  n.,  long.  760  18'  e.,  where  it  touches, 
and  10  miles  farther  passes  into,  this  territory,  through  which  it  flows 
in  a  direction  generally  north-east  for  about  75  miles  to  Kadlur  in  lat 
16°  24'  n.,  long.  77°  20'  e.,  where  on  the  left  bank  it  receives  the  Bhima 
from  the  north-west,  and  is  soon  after  spanned  by  the  Great  Indian 
Peninsula  Railway  bridge.  From  near  this  point  the  river,  turning 
south-east,  flows  80  miles  in  that  direction  to  its  confluence  with  the 
Tungabhadra  in  lat  150  58'  n.,  long.  78*  19'  e.,  where  it  turns  north- 
east and  flows  180  miles  to  lat  16°  50'  n.,  long.  8o°  10'  e.,  at 
which  point  it  passes  into  Kistna  (Krishna)  District  of  the  Madras 
Presidency.  From  the  confluence  to  the  point  last  named,  it  forms 
part  of  the  south-eastern  boundary  of  Haidardb£d  territory.  Thus  its 
total  length  of  course  connected  with  this  territory  is  345  miles ;  but  in 
consequence  of  the  ruggedness  of  its  bed,  it  is  of  little  use  for  navigation. 
The  Tungabhadra,  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  rivers  Tunga  and 
Bhadra  in  Mysore,  flows  north-eastward,  and  at  Miidlapur,  in  lat  15* 
8'  n.,  long.  7  6°  1'  e.,  first  touches  this  territory,  along  the  south-eastern 
boundary  of  which  it  flows,  separating  it  from  the  Madras  Districts  of 
Bellary  and  Karndl  (Kurnool)  for  a  distance  of  200  miles,  to  its  conflu- 
ence with  the  Krishna.  Many  other  streams  (considerable  rivers  during 
the  periodical  rains,  but  much  reduced  in  volume  at  other  times  of 
the  year)  discharge  into  these  main  channels  of  drainage.  Tanks  are, 
as  before  observed,  numerous,  and  some  of  them  are  of  very  great  size, 
as  that  at  Pakhal,  which  is  at  least  30  miles  in  circuit  They  are 
generally  formed  by  throwing  an  embankment  across  the  lower  end 
of  a  valley,  and  thus  causing  the  accumulation  of  the  water  of  such 
streams  as  may  flow  into  it 

1  The  climate  may  be  considered  in  general  good ;  and  as  there  are  no 
arid,  bare  deserts,  similar  to  those  of  Rljput&ia  and  some  other  tracts 
of  Northern  India,  the  hot  winds  are  less  felt  In  the  vicinity  of  the 
city  of  Haidar£b£d,  the  mean  temperature  indoors,  according  to 
observations  made  at  sunrise,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  at 
sunset,  for  one  year,  was — in  January,  74J0  F. ;  February,  76^ ;  March, 
840;  April,  91J0;  May,  93°;  June,  88°;  July,  8i°;  August,  80J0; 
September,  79* ;  October,  8o° ;  November,  76^' ;  and  December,  74^ ; 
giving  as  an  annual  mean  8i£°.  Ophthalmic  diseases  are  prevalent  in 
the  sandstone  district  The  wells  in  general  yield  impure,  unpalatable 
water,  productive  of  disease,  especially  the  dracunculus  or  guinea-worm, 
from  which  those  who  use  the  water  from  tanks  or  streams  are  exempt1 


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HAIDARABAD  STATE. '  503 

The  annual  fall  of  rain  is  estimated  at  from  28  to  32  inches  at 
Haidardbid;  this  occurs  principally  during  the  south-west  monsoon 
between  June  and  October.  In  the  north-west  monsoon,  there  is  a 
fall  of  only  4  to  7  inches.  The  winds  are  generally  westerly  in  June, 
July,  August,  and  September ;  during  October,  November,  December, 
January,  and  February  they  blow  from  the  east ;  and  in  March,  April, 
and  May  the  north-westerly  breezes  are  frequent 

Animals. — Horses  adapted  for  military  or  general  purposes  are  not 
reared  in  the  same  number  as  formerly  in  the  Nizim's  Dominions. 
The  chief  mart  for  Deccan-bred  horses  is  a  fair  at  Malegaon  in  Bfdar 
District,  about  160  miles  from  Haidar£b£d  and  200  from  Poona. 
There  is  also  a  horse  bdzdr  near  the  capital,  which  is  open  throughout 
the  year ;  and  is  resorted  to  by  merchants  from  almost  every  quarter  of 
Asia,  with  strings  of  elephants,  horses,  and  camels. 

Agriculture. — 'The  soil  is  in  general  fertile,  though  in  some  parts  it  con- 
sists oichilka,  a  red  and  gritty  mould,  little  fitted,  from  the  coarseness  of 
its  particles,  for  purposes  of  agriculture.  Resembling  this,  but  composed 
of  particles  more  minute,  is  lal-zaminy  a  soil  also  of  a  reddish  hue,  and 
considered  by  Walker  to  be  formed  of  the  remains  of  broken-down  ant- 
hills, which  are  surprisingly  numerous  in  this  country.  "  Thus,"  observes 
the  writer  just  referred  to,  "  we  see  that  those  insects,  usually  looked 
upon  as  troublesome  and  destructive  pests,  are  not  without  their  use  in 
a  grand  natural  operation.  The  peculiar  acid  (the  formic),  which  is 
their  chief  constituent,  acts  upon  the  alkali  and  lime,  and  most  probably 
on  the  silica  of  the  rock  debris,  pulverizing  it,  and  facilitating,  in  all 
probability,  fresh  combinations.  The  soil,  when  manured,  is  fitted  for 
the  reception  of  all  kinds  of  crops,  without  reference  to  season."  Though 
less  extensive  than  the  kinds  just  enumerated,  the  regar  or  black  cotton- 
soil  occurs  in  many  places,  and  is  esteemed  the  best  of  any,  and,  as 
indicated  by  the  epithet  above  applied  to  it,  peculiarly  suited  for  the 
cultivation  of  cotton.  It  requires  no  manure,  except  that  left  by  sheep 
generally  fed  upon  it  when  under  fallow  previous  to  cultivation.  This 
is,  however,  an  important  resource,  as  flocks  of  sheep  are  everywhere  to 
be  seen.  There  is  also  a  soil  denominated  taldo-ka-zamin,  a  black 
earth,  dug  from  the  bottoms  of  tanks ;  but  not  much  prized,  being  a 
stiff  clay  and  containing  a  profusion  of  small  fresh-water  shells.  Its 
extreme  tenacity  is  found  unfavourable  to  vegetation,  which  is  still 
further  thwarted  by  a  large  impregnation  of  carbonate  of  soda.  This, 
however,  is  collected  in  great  quantities  for  manufacturing  and 
commercial  purposes.  All  those  soils  effervesce  with  acids,  thereby 
indicating  that  they  contain  carbonate  of  lime.  Throughout  this 
territory  the  ground,  wherever  left  uncultivated,  even  but  for  a  year  or 
two,  becomes  covered  with  a  low  jungle,  composed  chiefly  of  the  Cassia 
auriculata  and  Zizyphus  microphylla.     In  process  of  time,  the  appear- 


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5°4 


HAIDARABAD  STATE. 


ance  of  the  jungle  is  enlivened  by  the  growth  of  numerous  trees,  of 
which  the  principal  are  Butea  frondosa,  Bombax  heptaphyllum,  Erythrina 
indica,  Hyperanthera  moringa,  Cassia  fistula,  Anona  reticulata,  Melia 
azadirachta,  Bauhinia  parviflora,  Capparis  trifolia,  Ficus  indica,  Ficus 
religiosa,  Bombax  gossipium,  Feronia  elephantum,  and  several  species 
of  Acacia.  The  toddy  palm,  Borassus  flabelliformis,  and  Phcenix 
sylvestris,  are  extensively  cultivated  on  account  of  their  sap,  which 
is  drawn  off,  and  fermented  into  an  intoxicating  beverage.  The 
cocoa-nut  tree  cannot  be  brought  to  high  perfection,  even  with  the 
greatest  care,  accompanied  by  the  most  favourable  circumstances ;  and 
in  consequence,  its  cultivation  is  very  circumscribed.  Mango  and 
tamarind  trees  occur  in  great  numbers  about  the  villages.  The  betel 
vine  is  also  cultivated,  but  in  no  great  quantities.  The  principal  grain 
crops  are  rice  (of  which  there  are  no  less  than  eight  varieties),  wheat, 
maize  of  various  kinds,  jodr  (Holcus  sorghum),  bdjra  (Holcus  spicatus), 
rdgi  (Cynosurus  corocanus) ;  of  oil  plants — mustard,  Sesamum  orien- 
tale,  and  Ricinus  communis  or  castor-oil  plant;  of  leguminous 
growths,  —  Dolichos  lablab,  Dolichos  gladiatus,  Phaseolus  mungo, 
chenna  (Cicer  arietinum).  Melons,  cucumbers,  gourds,  and  some 
other  cucurbitacea  are  largely  grown,  and  form  important  articles  of 
diet.  The  gardens  produce  onions,  garlic,  carrots,  radishes,  potatoes, 
sweet  potatoes,  coriander,  ginger,  turmeric,  and  various  kinds  of  amaranth 
used  as  pot-herbs.  Tobacco  is  cultivated,  but  not  to  a  great  extent. 
Cotton,  indigo,  and  sugar-cane  are  the  more  important  objects  of  the 
agriculturist's  care.  Al  (Morinda  citrifolia)  and  chayrut  (Oldenlandia 
umbellata),  valuable  dyes,  occur  wild,  and  are  also  cultivated/  The 
cotton-producing  capabilities  of  the  country  are  well  known.  The 
produce  of  Kunar  Idldbdd  District,  which  chiefly  finds  its  way  to  the 
Hinganghdt  market,  is  greatly  valued,  and  fetches  a  high  price.  In 
1875,  there  were  no  mills  or  manufactories  in  the  territory;  but  a 
cottonspinning  factory  is  now  under  construction  in  connection  with 
a  wealthy  European  firm  in  Bombay.  Fruit  of  many  different  kinds 
is  plentiful.  The  mango  and  custard-apple  grow  wild  over  large  tracts. 
The  melons  and  pine-apples  of  Haidardbid  are  as  celebrated  in  their 
way  as  the  oranges  of  Nagpur,  and  the  large  purple  grape  of  DaulatdWd 
is  exported  to  many  distant  markets.  Plants  rich  in  textile  fibre  are 
not  less  abundant,  and  will  one  day,  it  may  be  presumed,  be  utilized 
on  a  large  scale.  *  Tasar  silk,  the  produce  of  a  wild  species  of  worm, 
is  everywhere  gathered  in  the  jungles;  Hides,  raw  and  tanned,  both  oi 
domesticated  and  wild  quadrupeds,  are  articles  of  some  importance  in 
commerce.  Wild  bees  swarm  in  all  the  jungles ;  consequently  wax  and 
honey  are  very  abundant  and  cheap.  Lac,  suitable  for  use  as  a  resin 
or  a  dye,  may  be  obtained  in  quantities  far  beyond  the  present 
demand.      Mucilaginous  gums  are  produced  in  the  woods  in  inex- 


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HA1DARABAD  STATE.  505 

haustible  quantities,  and  there  are  some  considered  not  inferior  in  quality 
to  the  best  African  gums.  Of  gum  resins,  the  most  worth  notice  is  that 
yielded  by  the  Boswellia  thurifera.  Dika-mali,  a  resin  yielded  in  great 
quantities  by  several  species  of  Gardenia,  is  much  used  in  native  phar- 
macy, and  probably  might  serve  important  purposes  in  the  arts,  but  its 
properties  have  not  been  adequately  tested.  Some  sorts  of  nuts  yield 
oils,  which  might  prove  important  articles  of  commerce.  Cordage  is 
supplied  by  the  common  san  (Crotalaria  juncea),  also  by  some  species 
of  Bauhinia,  and  of  admirable  quality  by  Asclepias  tenacissima.  Of 
timber,  the  teak  (Tectona  grandis)  produced  in  this  territory  is  stunted 
and  indifferent ;  but  some  of  fine  quality  is  floated  down  the  river  from 
the  forests  of  Ndgpur.  Other  valuable  woods  are  Diospyros  melanoxylon 
and  Dalbergia  or  sissu* 

People. — No  Census  of  the  population  has  been  attempted  in  the 
Nizdm's  Dominions,  with  the  exception  of  Berar  or  the  Haidarabad 
Assigned  Districts,  which  are  temporarily  under  British  administra- 
tion. The  Statistical  Abstract  relating  to  British  India  for  1876-77 
gives  the  population  of  Berar  at  2,226,496  persons,  and  the  population 
of  the  remainder  of  HaidaribAd  territory  is  estimated  in  the  same 
table  at  9,000,000.  The  above  estimates  would  give  an  average 
density  of  population  for  Berar  of  126  to  the  square  mile,  and  for  the 
rest  of  Haidaribdd  of  about  112  to  the  square  mile.  In  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  territory,  the  Telugu  language  prevails ;  and  in  the 
south-western  Districts,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Kistna  (Krishna)  river, 
Kanarese  is  spoken.  In  the  northern  and  western  parts,  Marathf  is 
generally  spoken ;  and,  as  the  border-land  between  this  language  and 
the  Dravidian  languages  passes  through  the  Nizim's  Dominions,  there 
is  a  considerable  intermixture  of  the  people  speaking  the  different 
languages.  The  Marhattis  are  most  numerous  in  the  west  The 
Musalmdns  are  chiefly  to  be  met  with  in  the  capital,  and  everywhere 
in  the  civil  and  military  service  of  Government.  In  addition  to 
the  Hindu  and  Muhammadan  population,  there  is  a  large  admixture 
of  Parsfs,  Sfkhs,  Arabs,  Rohiltes,  aborigines,  and  '  others.'  Owing  to  the 
general  distribution  of  arms  among  all  classes,  the  people  of  Haidaribid, 
as  of  other  Native  States,  present  to  the  casual  observer  a  more 
formidable  appearance  than  is  borne  out,  perhaps,  by  anything  in  their 
actual  character  or  disposition.  The  Telingas  or  Telugu-speaking 
folk,  though  not  in  a  highly-advanced  state  of  civilisation,  are  by  no 
means  sunk  in  barbarism.  They  generally  inhabit  straggling  villages, 
in  houses  built  of  mud,  with  pyramidal  roofs  of  palmyra  leaves, 
though  a  few  dwellings  are  more  substantially  constructed  of  brick,  and 
tiled.  In  some  of  the  less  civilised  parts,  the  habitations  are  mere 
sheds  of  palmyra  leaves,  or  hovels  made  of  bamboos  and  wattle.  There 
is  usually  to  each  village  a  detached  fort,  constructed  either  of  masonry 

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506  HAIDARABAD  STATE. 

or  mud,  about  50  yards  square,  and  containing  the  dwellings  of  the 
zaminddr  and  his  immediate  dependants.  There  is  a  considerable 
proportion  of  Brdhmans  among  the  Telingas ;  and  the  usual  diet  of  these 
and  the  higher  classes  consists  of  rice  in  some  localities  and  of  wheat 
and  jodr  in  others,  with  vegetable  curries,  and  cakes  flavoured  with 
garlic  or  assafoetida  and  fried  in  butter.  The  Brihmans  profess  to 
abstain  from  animal  food;  but  the  zamind&rs  of  the  Kumbf  caste 
consume  mutton,  poultry,  and  game.  The  lower  orders  subsist  on 
rdgi  and  other  inferior  sorts  of  grain;  all  are  addicted  to  intoxi- 
cation with  the  fermented  sap  of  various  kinds  of  palms  and  spirit 
distilled  from  the  flowers  of  the  mahud  (Bassia  latifoiia).  Tobacco  is 
generally  used,  both  for  smoking  and  chewing,  as  well  as  in  the  form  of 
snuff.  Bhang,  or  the  intoxicating  narcotic  obtained  from  hemp,  and 
opium  are  also  in  use,  but  to  no  great  extent  The  Gonds,  who 
lurk  in  the  hills  and  fastnesses,  are  a  wild  and  savage  race;  yet 
they  may  be  rendered  tractable  and  obedient  by  kind  treatment 
At  present  the  majority  are  nearly  in  a  state  of  nature,  sheltering  in 
caves  or  hollow  trees,  and  feeding  on  game  when  obtainable,  at  other 
times  on  vermin,  reptiles,  and  wild  roots  or  fruits. 

Commerce,  etc. — The  principal  items  of  export  are  cotton,  oil-seeds, 
country  cloth,  hides,  metal  ware,  and  agricultural  produce ;  those  of 
import  are  salt  from  the  eastern  and  western  coasts,  grain,  timber, 
European  piece-goods,  and  hardware.  In  the  absence  of  any  complete 
system  of  registration,  the  only  means  of  approximately  estimating  the 
annual  value  of  the  trade  of  the  Nizam's  Dominions  with  other  Provinces 
is  by  calculating  it  from  the  known  yield  of  the  ad  valorem  duties  levied 
at  customs  houses.  The  amount  thus  deducible  would  be  about 
^10,000,000  sterling  per  annum.  Among  the  manufactures  of  the 
country  may  be  mentioned  the  ornamental  metal  ware  of  Bedar ;  the  gold- 
embroidered  cloths  of  Aurangibad,  Gulbarga,  and  other  towns ;  and  the 
excellent  paper  of  different  kinds  which  is  made  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  hamlet  of  Kighazpur,  near  the  famous  fortress  of  Daulatibdd 

Communications. — The  railway  line  connecting  Bombay  with  Madras 
traverses  the  south-western  part  of  the  State.  The  Great  Indian  Peninsula 
Railway  runs  the  line  as  far  as  Raichur,  where  it  is  joined  by  the  Madras 
Railway.  At  Wadi,  7  miles  from  the  station  of  ShaMbad,  on  the  Great 
Indian  Peninsula  line,  the  Nizam's  State  Railway  branches  off  to  Haidar- 
4bacL  and  to  the  military  cantonment  of  Secunderdbad  (Sikandrdbid). 
From  Haidardbad  two  lines  of  telegraph  separate,  one  going  south- 
west to  Bellary,  the  other  with  an  easterly  direction  towards  Masuli- 
patam,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Krishna.  '  The  principal  roads  are  the 
military  ones — (1)  from  north  to  south,  from  Nagpur  through  the  city 
of  Haidardbad  to  Bangalore;  (2)  from  south-east  to  north-west,  from 
Madras  and  Masulipatam  through  the  city  of  Haidar&bad  to  Poona  and 

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HAIDARABAD  STATE.  507 

thence  to  Bombay ;  (3)  from  south-east  to  north- west,  from  the  city  of 
Haidar£b£d  to  Aurang£b£d.' 

Administration. — The  revenue  of  the  Nizim's  Dominions,  Berar 
included,  may  be  stated  in  round  numbers  at  ,£4,000,000,  inclusive  of 
receipts  from  all  sources.  About  two-thirds  of  the  above  large  sum  is 
collected  by  the  Nizim's  own  Government  from  tracts  under  native 
rule.  The  remaining  one-third  is  realized  by  British  officers  principally 
from  Berar.  All  revenue  collected  by  our  Government  from  Districts 
owning  the  sovereignty  of  the  Nizdm  is  either  spent  by  us  in  admini- 
stering and  opening  up  those  Districts,  or  is  handed  over  to  him  as 
unexpended  balance  or  surplus.  The  only  feudatory  of  the  Nizim  is 
the  Rlj£  of  Gudw£i,  who  is  independent  in  his  internal  administration 
so  long  as  he  pays  an  annual  tribute  of  Rs.  115,000  (say  ^11,500). 

The  land  revenue  is  still  collected  in  kind  in  some  parts  of  the 
country ;  the  rate  for  irrigated  crops  being  half  to  the  Government  and 
half  to  the  cultivator.  In  the  parts  where  it  is  paid  in  money,  the  rate 
is  much  the  same,  about  8  annas  in  the  rupee  on  the  value  of  the  crop. 

The  Haidar£b£d  Government  has  a  mint  and  a  currency  of  its  own. 
In  former  days,  rupees  of  different  kinds  were  manufactured  in  various 
parts  of  the  country.  Now  there  is  only  one  mint,  situated  inside  the 
city  of  Haidar£b£d ;  and  only  one  kind  of  rupee,  namely,  the  hali  sicca, 
or  '  rupee  of  the  period,1  is  turned  out.  Though  smaller  in  disc,  it  is 
also  a  good  deal  thicker  than  our  rupee,  and  the  difference  in  weight 
and  intrinsic  value  between  the  two  coins  is  trifling. 

History. — The  dynasty  of  the  Nizdm  was  founded  by  Asaf  Jah,  a 
distinguished  general  of  the  Mughal  Emperor  Aurangzeb,  of  Turkoman 
descent  After  a  long  life  at  the  Delhi  Court,  distinguished  alike  in 
war  and  political  cunning,  he  was  in  17 13  appointed  Subahddr  or 
Viceroy  of  the  Deccan,  with  the  tide  of  Nizdm-ui-Mulk  (Regulator  of 
Jhe  State),  which  has  since  become  hereditary  in  the  family.  The 
Mughal  Empire  was  at  this  time  torn  by  internal  dissension,  and  at  the 
same  time  threatened  by  the  rising  power  of  the  Marhattis.  Amid  the 
general  confusion,  Asaf  Jah  had  little  difficulty  in  asserting  his  indepen- 
dence against  the  degenerate  descendant  of  Aurangzeb,  though  he  was 
less  successful  in  repelling  the  inroads  of  Marhatt*  cavalry.  On  his  death 
in  1748,  he  was  firmly  established  as  an  independent  sovereign,  with 
Haidardbdd  for  his  capital,  and  a  kingdom  roughly  co-extensive  with  the 
present  State.  The  right  of  succession  was  fiercely  contested  among  his 
descendants.  The  claimants  most  favoured  were  two.  One  of  these,  Nasir 
Jang,  the  second  son  of  the  deceased  ruler,  being  on  the  spot  when  his 
father  died,  had  seized  the  treasure,  and  obtained  the  support  of  the 
army ;  and,  moreover,  fortified  his  claim  by  an  alleged  renunciation  of 
the  right  of  inheritance  on  the  part  of  his  elder  brother.  The  other, 
named  Muzaffar  Jang,  was  a  grandson  of  Nizdm-ul-Mulk  by  a  favourite 


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5o8  HA1DARABAD  STATE. 

daughter;  and  to  him,  it  was  said,  the  succession  was  conveyed  by 
testamentary  bequest  Each  of  the  two  candidates  had  the  good 
fortune  to  secure  the  countenance  and  support  of  one  of  the  great 
European  powers  then  commencing  their  career  of  contention  for 
supremacy  in  the  East,— the  English  espousing  the  cause  of  Nasfr  Jang, 
the  French  that  of  his  rival,  Muzaffar  Jang;  but  after  a  very  brief 
period,  dissensions  between  the  commander  and  his  officers  caused  the 
retirement  of  the  French  force  from  the  field,  and  Muzaffar  Jang, 
deprived  of  support,  became  the  prisoner  of  Nasir  Jang.  Nasfr  Jang 
soon  after  perished  by  the  hands  of  some  of  his  own  followers,  and 
Muzaffar  Jang  was  proclaimed  Subahdir  of  the  Deccan;  but  his 
authority  was  exercised  under  the  control  of  the  French  commander, 
Dupleix,  whose  will  was  supreme.  Muzaffar  Jang  was  not  destined 
long  to  enjoy  even  the  appearance  of  power.  He  fell  in  an  affray  with 
some  Pathdn  chiefs,  who,  having  been  instrumental  in  placing  him  on 
the  throne,  were  disappointed  in  the  amount  of  reward  to  which  they 
thought  their  services  entitled.  A  new  occupant  of  the  seat  of  power 
was  now  to  be  sought ;  and  the  French,  passing  over  an  infant  son  of 
Muzaffar  Jang,  selected  Saldbat  Jang,  a  brother  of  Nasfr  Jang,  to  be 
ruler  of  the  Deccan.  Another  claimant  for  the  dignity,  however, 
shortly  afterwards  appeared  in  the  person  of  Gh£zi-ud-dfn,  the  eldest 
son  of  the  Nizdm  Asaf  Jah.  The  impending  contest  between  the 
brothers  was,  however,  averted  by  the  sudden  death  of  Gh£zf-ud-dfn ; 
and  though  the  Marhattis,  by  whom  he  was  supported,  continued  for 
their  own  purposes  to  maintain  hostilities,  their  unvarying  ill-success 
disposed  them  to  listen  to  proposals  for  procuring  their  absence,  on  the 
usual  terms.  The  English  and  French,  however,  continued  to  struggle 
for  power  and  influence  in  the  Deccan;  but  the  latter  were  compelled 
after  a  while,  by  the  danger  threatening  their  own  possessions  from  the 
victories  gained  by  Clive,  to  withdraw  from  the  support  of  Saldbat  Jang, 
who  thus  weakened,  and  apprehensive,  moreover,  of  the  designs  of  a 
younger  brother,  Nizim  Alf,  entered  into  an  engagement  with  the 
English,  by  which  he  promised  to  dismiss  the  French  from  his  country 
and  service,  and  renounce  all  connection  with  them.  In  1761,  this 
weak  prince  was  dethroned  by  his  own  brother,  Nizim  Alf,  whom, 
contrary  to  the  advice  of  the  most  judicious  of  his  French  counsellors, 
he  had  entrusted  with  power  which  was  used  to  supplant  the  donor. 
Two  years  afterwards,  the  usurper  made  further  acknowledgment  of 
his  brother's  favour  by  putting  him  to  death.  In  1765  he  ravaged  the 
Karnatic,  exercising  in  his  course  a  measure  of  cruelty  far  beyond  what 
was  necessary  to  his  purpose ;  but  he  retired  on  the  approach  of  a 
British  force.  Still  the  British  Government  was  anxious  to  be  on  better 
terms  with  him,  partly  from  a  desire  to  obtain  his  concurrence  to  their 
retention  of  a  maritime  District  known  as  the  Northern  Circars,  for- 

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HAIDARABAD  STATE.  509 

merly  possessed  by  the  French,  but  now  occupied  by  the  English,  who 
had  fortified  their  right  by  Xhtfirmdn  of  the  Emperor. 

Accordingly,  in  1 766,  a  treaty  was  concluded  by  which,  on  condition  of 
a  grant  of  the  Circars,  the  British  Government  agreed  to  furnish  the  Nizam 
with  a  subsidiary  force  when  required,  and  to  pay  9  Idkhs  of  rupees  (say 
^£90,000)  a  year,  when  the  assistance  of  their  troops  was  not  required. 
The  Nizam  on  his  part  engaged  to  assist  the  British  with  his  troops.  There 
were  other  stipulations ;  and  among  them  one  reserving  the  life  right  of 
Basalat  Jang,  a  brother  of  Nizam  Alf's,  in  one  of  the  Circars,  subject  to 
his  good  behaviour.  The  aid  of  British  troops  was  afforded,  as  provided 
by  the  treaty,  to  enable  Nizam  Ali  to  proceed  against  Haidar  Ali  of  Mysore, 
then  rapidly  rising  into  power ;  but  after  a  good  deal  of  vacillation, 
Nizam  Ali  preferred  to  unite  with  that  adventurer.  The  allies,  however, 
were  unprosperous,  and  the  Nizam  was  compelled  to  sue  for  peace,  which 
was  concluded  by  a  new  treaty  in  1768.  By  the  Sixth  Article,  the  East 
India  Company  and  the  Nawab  of  the  Karnatic  (who  was  a  party  to 
the  treaty)  were  to  be  always  ready  to  send  two  battalions  of  Sepoys 
and  six  pieces  of  artillery,  manned  by  Europeans,  wherever  the  Nizam 
should  require  them,  and  the  situation  of  affairs  would  allow  of  such 
assistance  being  rendered,  the  Nizam  paying  the  expense  during  the 
time  such  force  should  be  employed  in  this  service.  In  1782,  Basalat 
Jang  died ;  but  the  Company  did  not  obtain  possession  of  the  Circar 
held  by  him  till  1788.  The  ptshkash>  or  payment  to  be  made  to  the 
Nizam  on  account  of  the  Circars,  had  fallen  into  arrear,  and  was  not 
adjusted  till  even  a  later  period.  These  matters,  however,  having  been 
at  length  arranged,  the  British  Governor-General,  Lord  Cornwallis,  in 
1789,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Nizam  explaining  and  interpreting  the 
treaty  of  1768,  but  declining  to  enter  into  any  new  treaty,  as  had  been 
suggested.  This  letter  was  subsequently  declared,  by  a  resolution  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  to  have  the  full  force  of  a  treaty  executed  in 
due  form.  In  it  the  Governor-General  agreed  that  the  force  stipulated 
for  in  the  Sixth  Article  of  the  treaty  of  1768  should  be  granted  whenever 
applied  for,  provided  it  was  not  to  be  employed  against  any  power  in 
alliance  with  the  Company.  In  the  following  year,  on  the  breaking 
out  of  a  war  with  Tipii,  son  of  Haidar  Ali,  a  treaty  of  offensive  and 
defensive  alliance  was  concluded  between  the  Nizam,  the  Peshwa,  and 
the  British  Government.  Tipii  purchased  peace  at  the  price  of  half 
his  dominions,  and  the  Nizam  had  no  reason  to  be  dissatisfied  with 
his  share  of  the  spoiL  At  a  later  period,  the  Nizam,  being  engaged  in 
war  with  the  Marhattis,  claimed  the  assistance  of  the  British  Government 
under  the  subsisting  relations  between  them ;  but  the  Governor-General, 
Sir  John  Shore,  was  precluded  by  the  treaties  with  the  Marhattas  from 
•interfering  further  than  as  mediator,  and  the  Nizam  was  eventually 
obliged  to  conclude  an  ignominious  peace  with  his  enemy.    The  refusal 


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510  HAIDARABAD  STATE. 

of  assistance  and  its  results  so  incensed  the  Nizim,  that  he  requested 
that  two  battalions  stationed  at  his  capital  as  a  subsidiary  force  should 
be  withdrawn.  The  Nizam  now  sought  safety  in  the  entertainment  of  a 
body  of  troops  commanded  by  French  officers,  who,  however,  were  dis- 
missed in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  a  treaty  concluded  in  1 798, 
under  the  administration  of  the  Earl  of  Mornington,  afterwards  Marquis 
Wellesley.  By  this  treaty,  a  subsidiary  force  augmented  to  6000  Sepoys 
with  a  due  proportion  of  field-pieces,  was  assigned  to  the  service  of  the 
Nizim.  On  the  fall  of  Seringapatam  and  the  death  of  Tipii  Sultan, 
the  Nizdm  participated  largely  in  the  division  of  territory,  under  the 
partition  treaty  of  1799,  and  his  share  was  increased  on  the  Peshwd's 
withdrawal  from  the  treaty.  In  1800,  the  subsidiary  force  with  the 
Nizim  was  further  augmented,  and  the  pecuniary  payment  for  its 
maintenance  was  commuted  for  a  cession  of  territory.  The  country 
ceded  on  this  occasion  consisted  of  the  acquisitions  made  from  Tipd 
allotted  to  the  Nizim  under  the  treaty  of  Seringapatam  in  1792,  and  the 
treaty  of  Mysore,  concluded  in  1799,  a^er  the  destruction  of  Tipti's 
power  and  government  This  territory  is  known  to  the  present  time 
under  the  title  of  the  Ceded  Districts. 

By  the  treaty  of  1800,  the  Nizdm  agreed  to  furnish  in  time  of  war 
6000  infantry  and  9000  cavalry  to  co-operate  with  the  British  army,  and 
to  employ  every  effort  to  bring  into  the  field  as  speedily  as  possible 
the  whole  force  of  his  dominions.  But  his  troops  proved  very 
inefficient  in  the  first  Marhatta"  war,  and,  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
campaign,  various  schemes  were  from  time  to  time  proposed  for  their 
reform  with  little  success.  Eventually  battalions  were  raised,  which 
were  clothed,  armed,  and  equipped  like  the  Company's  troops ;  and  for 
the  regular  payment  of  this  contingent,  advances  were  made  in  1843 
from  the  British  treasury,  on  the  distinct  understanding  that  in  the 
event  of  further  advances  becoming  necessary,  a  territorial  security  for 
the  payment  of  the  debt  would  be  demanded.  No  efforts,  however, 
were  made  to  pay  off  the  debt,  which  .continued  to  increase.  At  last, 
in  1853,  a  new  treaty  was  concluded,  by  which  the  British  Government 
agreed  to  maintain  an  auxiliary  force  of  not  less  than  5000  infantry, 
2000  cavalry,  and  4  field  batteries,  and  to  provide  for  its  payment  and 
for  certain  pensions  and  the  interest  on  the  debt ;  the  Nizam  on  his  part 
agreed  to  cede  in  trust  Districts  yielding  a  gross  revenue  of  50  Idkhs 
of  rupees  (say  ^500,000).  By  this  treaty  the  Nizam,  while  retaining 
the  full  use  of  the  subsidiary  force  and  contingent,  was  released  from 
the  unlimited  obligation  of  service  in  time  of  war ;  and  the  contingent 
ceased  to  be  part  of  the  Nizdm's  army,  and  became  an  auxiliary  force 
kept  up  by  the  British  Government  for  the  Nizam's  use.  In  1857,  when 
the  Mutiny  had  broken  out,  the  condition  of  Haidaribad  and  the  Nizam's 
Dominions  became  critical ;  and  in  July,  an  attack,  which  was  repulsed* 


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HAIDARABAD  CITY.  511 

was  made  upon  the  Residency.  The  Haidardbdd  contingent  displayed 
its  loyalty  in  the  field  against  the  rebels.  In  i860,  a  fresh  treaty  was 
made  by  which  the  territorial  acquisitions  of  the  Nizam  were  increased, 
a  debt  of  50  Idkhs  of  rupees  was  cancelled,  and  the  Assigned  Districts  in 
Berar,  yielding  a  gross  revenue  of  Rs.  3,200,000  (say  ,£320,000),  were 
taken  in  trust  by  the  British  Government  for  the  purposes  specified  in  the 
treaty  of  1 85  3.  Under  British  administration  the  revenues  of  Berar  have 
greatly  increased     The  surplus  is  paid  over  to  the  Haidardbad  State 

The  present  Nizim,  Mir  Mahbub  AH,  was  born  in  1866.  He  is  the 
first  Muhammadan  ruler  in  India,  and  is  entitled  to  a  salute  of  21  guns. 
The  military  force  of  the  Nizam  consists  of  71  field  and  654  other  guns, 
551  artillerymen,  1400  cavalry,  and  12,775  infantry,  besides  a  large 
body  of  irregulars. 

Haidar&b&d  (Hyderabad). — Chief  city  and  capital  of  Haidar£b£d 
State;  situated  in  lat.  170  21'  45"  n.,  and  long.  78°  30'  10"  e.,  on 
the  river  Musf,  which  is  here  between  400  and  500  feet  wide.  It 
stands  at  a  height  of  about  1700  feet  above  sea  level,  and  is  distant 
389  miles  north-west  from  Madras,  449  south-east  from  Bombay,  and 
962  south-west  from  Calcutta.  No  Census  of  the  population  of  the 
town  has  been  taken,  but  it  has  been  estimated  at  200,000.  The 
scenery  around  HaidaraMd  is  wild  and  picturesque,  the  country  being 
hilly  and  dotted  with  numerous  granite  peaks  and  isolated  rocks. 
Approached  from  the  west,  the  appearance  of  the  city  is  very  striking ; 
the  palace  and  mosques  and  magnificent  pile  of  buildings  erected  for 
the  British  Residency  towering  above  the  outer  wall. 

A  large  lake,  a  few  miles  south  of  Haidaiibid,  supplies  the  town. 
When  full,  this  sheet  of  water  is  nearly  20  miles  in  circumference,  and 
covers  an  area  of  10,000  acres. 

The  palace  of  the  Nizim,  the  mosques,  and  the  British  Residency 
are  the  principal  buildings.  The  former  has,  however,  no  pretensions 
to  splendour,  but  is  of  considerable  size.  M.  Langles  describes  it  as 
being  more  than  a  league  in  circumference,  and  guarded  by  a  valiant 
body  of  Amazons.  Haidardba'd  is  a  great  Muhammadan  stronghold,  and 
contains  several  mosques.  The  Jamd  Mas/id  or  '  Cathedral '  Mosque, 
so  called  after  the  one  at  Mecca,  from  which  it  is  designed,  is  large,  and 
crowned  by  minarets  of  an  extraordinary  height.  The  pillars  within  consist 
each  of  a  single  pieee  of  granite,  and  are  very  lofty.  In  the  environs  of 
Haidar£b£d  there  are  many  fine  gardens,  with  gorgeous  pavilions.  That 
of  the  Nizam's  minister  is  said  to  be  wonderfully  beautiful  It  is  enclosed 
by  high  walls,  and  in  the  centre  is  a  marble  tank.  Carved  trellis-work 
forms  an  important  feature  in  the  building.  One  of  the  most  interesting 
places  in  Haidaribad  is  the  College  or  Chdr  Mindr  (so  called  from  its 
4  minarets),  built  upon  four  grand  arches,  at  which  the  four  principal 
streets  of  the  city  meet    Above  are  several  storeys  of  rooms,  and 


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5i2  HA1DARABAD  CITY. 

formerly  each  storey  was  devoted  to  a  science.    These  apartments  are 
now  turned  into  warehouses. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  Must  is  an  extensive  suburb  known  as  the 
Begam  or  *  Princess '  Baz£r,  because  the  imports  levied  there  are  a 
perquisite  of  the  Nizim's  principal  wife.  The  British  Residency  is  in 
this  quarter,  and  communication  between  it  and  the  palace  of  the 
Niz&n  is  maintained  by  a  handsome  bridge,  planned  by  Colonel 
Oliphant,  late  of  the  Madras  Engineers.  It  was  built  in  1831,  of 
squared  granite,  and  has  eight  arches ;  the  roadway  is  24  feet  wide.  The 
British  Residency  was  designed  by  Mr.  Russell,  and  is  remarkable, 
among  other  things,  as  having  been  constructed  entirely  by  native 
workmen.  The  north  front  looks  away  from  the  river  and  the  city.  It 
is  adorned  by  a  splendid  portico,  to  which  leads  up  a  flight  of  twenty- 
two  steps,  having  on  either  side  a  colossal  sphinx.  From  the  summit  of 
the  steps  six  Corinthian  columns,  faced  with  chundm  stone  of  dazzling 
whiteness,  rise  to  the  top  of  the  upper  storey  of  the  main  building.  The 
Company's  arms,  in  alto-relievo,  form  the  central  ornament  The  interior 
of  the  portico  is  elaborately  carved,  and  the  whole  building  stands  in  % 
ornamental  pleasure  grounds,  enclosed  by  a  wall  with  two  gateways. 
The  staircase  is  the  finest  in  India,  each  step  being  a  single  block  of 
the  finest  granite ;  the  walls  are  richly  decorated,  and  the  apartments 
are  furnished  with  the  utmost  luxuriance.  The  pavilions,  galleries,  and 
terraces  are  ornamented  in  the  florid  style  of  Oriental  architecture,  with  a 
profusion  of  delicate  trellis-work,  painting,  and  gilding.  The  finest  private 
residence  in  the  city  is  the  palace  of  the  Bdra  Dart  ox  *  Twelve  Doors,' 
now  occupied  by  the  present  Minister  of  the  Nizam,  Sir  Salar  Jung. 

History.  —  Haidarabdd  was  founded  in  1589,  by  Kutab  Shih 
Muhammad  Kulf ;  in  15 12,  the  fifth  in  descent  from  Sult&i  Kulf  Kutab 
Sh£h,  the  founder  of  the  dynasty  at  Golconda,  Muhammad  Kuli, 
removed  the  seat  of  government  from  Golconda  on  account  of  its  want 
of  water  and  consequent  unhealthiness,  and  built  a  new  city  on  the 
banks  of  the  Musf  river,  7  miles  from  his  former  capital.  He  called  it 
Bhdgnagar^  *  Fortunate  City/  from  his  favourite  mistress,  Bhigmati ; 
but  after  her  death  he  named  it  Haidaribdd,  '  The  City  of  Haidar,' 
though  for  many  years  it  retained  its  former  appellation.  A  fine  mosque 
and  the  Chdr  Mindr  were  among  his  public  works.  The  history  of 
Golconda  and  of  Haidar£b£d  after  1589  are  almost  identical  Soon 
after  establishing  himself  in  his  new  metropolis,  Muhammad  Kuli 
carried  on  with  the  neighbouring  Hindu  Rijis  the  war  which  his 
predecessor,  Ibrahim  Sh£h,  had  begun.  He  extended  his  conquests 
south  of  the  Kistna  river ;  the  strong  fortress  of  Gandikota  was  captured, 
and  one  of  his  detachments  sacked  the  town  of  Cuddapah.  Some  of 
his  troops  penetrated  even  to  the  frontiers  of  Bengal,  and  Muhammad 
Kuli  defeated  the  R£j£  of  Orissa,  and  subjugated  the  greater  part  of 


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HAIDARABAD  CITY.  513 

the  Northern  Circars.  In  1603,  an  ambassador  from  Shdh  Abbas, 
King  of  Persia,  arrived  at  Haidar£bdd  with  a  ruby-studded  crown  and 
other  magnificent  gifts.  The  palace  of  Dfl-kushi  was  allotted  to  the 
envoy,  who  remained  there  six  years,  receiving  from  Muhammad 
Kuli  ^2000  annually  for  his  expenses.  When  the  ambassador  left  for 
Persia,  an  officer  of  the  court  of  Haidarabdd  accompanied  him,  bearing 
return  presents,  and  amongst  them  some  gold  cloth  manufactured  at 
Paitan,  which  it  took  five  years  to  make.  In  161 1,  Muhammad  Kuli 
died,  after  a  most  prosperous  reign  of  thirty-four  years.  The  principal 
memorials  of  this  monarch  are  the  palace  and  gardens  of  Ildhi  Mahal, 
the  Muhammadf  gardens,  the  palace  of  Nabat  Gh£t,  and  the  Jamd 
Masjid  or  'Cathedral*  Mosque.  According  to  the  accounts  of  Mir 
Abu*  Talib,  the  king's  private  treasurer,  ^2,800,000  was  expended  on 
public  works  during  the  reign  of  Muhammad  Kulf,  and  ^24,000 
was  distributed  every  year  among  the  poor.  The  king's  example  of 
liberality  was  followed  by  his  nobility  ;  and  the  number  of  handsome 
buildings  throughout  the  dominions  of  the  Kutab  Shah  monarchs  is 
unsurpassed,  if  not  unequalled,  in  any  other  of  the  Muhammadan 
kingdoms  of  the  Deccan. 

Muhammad  Kuli  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Sult£n  Abdulli  Kutab 
Shih.  The  Mughals  under  Shdh  Jahan,  the  fifth  Emperor  (1627-58), 
now  make  their  appearance  in  Southern  India.  Aurangzeb,  Shah 
Jahin's  son,  was  sent  as  viceroy  into  the  Deccan  by  that  prince,  who 
seemed  bent  on  compensating  for  failures  beyond  the  Indus  by  the 
subjugation  of  Bijipur  and  Golconda.  The  immediate  cause  of  his 
attack  on  the  latter  kingdom  was  an  appeal  from  Mir  Jumli,  the  Prime 
Minister,  whose  son  had  involved  him  in  a  dispute  with  the  court. 
Mfr  Jumla,  finding  himself  unable  to  obtain  such  concessions  as  he 
desired  from  his  own  sovereign,  determined  to  throw  himself  on  the 
protection  of  the  Mughal  emperor.  Such  an  opportunity  for  intrigue 
suited  Aurangzeb's  character,  and  he  strongly  urged  his  father  to 
entertain  Mir  Jumte's  petition.  Sh£h  Jahdn,  influenced  by  this  advice, 
issued  a  mandate  to  Abdulli  to  redress  the  complaints  of  his  minister ; 
but  Abdulla*  was  so  incensed  by  this  questioning  of  his  independence 
that  he  sequestrated  Mfr  JumM's  property,  and  committed  his  son, 
Muhammad  Amm,  to  prison.  Sh£h  Jahan  now  despatched  Aurangzeb 
to  carry  his  demands  into  effect  by  force  of  arms.  Under  pretext  of 
escorting  his  son  Sultin  Muhammad  to  Bengal,  to  wed  the  daughter 
of  his  brother  Prince  Shuj£,  Aurangzeb  made  a  treacherous  attack  on 
Haidara*bad.  The  road  from  Aurangabdd  (the  capital  of  the  Deccan) 
to  Bengal  made  a  circuit  by  Masulipatam  in  order  to  avoid  the  forests 
of  Gondwana,  and  thus  naturally  brought  the  viceroy  within  a  short 
distance  of  HaidanibaU  Abdulla*  Kutab  Sh£h  was  preparing  an 
entertainment  for  Aurangzeb's  reception,  when  he  suddenly  advanced 

vol.  iil  2  K 

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514  HAIDARABAD  CITY. 

as  an  enemy,  and  took  the  king  so  completely  by  surprise  that  he  had 
only  time  to  flee  to  the  hill-fort  of  Golconda,  7  miles  distant,  whilst 
Haidardbdd  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Mughals,  and  was  plundered  and 
half  burned  before  the  troops  could  be  brought  into  order.  Abdulli 
did  all  in  his  power  to  negotiate  reasonable  terms,  but  the  Mughals 
were  inexorable ;  and  after  several  attempts  to  raise  the  siege  by  force, 
he  was  at  last  forced  to  accept  the  severe  conditions  imposed  on  him, 
viz.,  to  give  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  Sultin  Muhammad,  with  a 
dowry  in  land  and  money ;  to  pay  a  crore  of  rupees  0£  1,000,000 
sterling)  as  the  first  instalment  of  a  yearly  tribute ;  and  to  make  up  the 
arrears  of  past  payments  in  two  years.  Mir  Jumli  remained  in  the 
service  of  the  Mughals,  and  became  a  favourite  general  of  Aurangzeb, 
and  one  of  the  most  useful  instruments  of  his  ambition. 

Abdulld  died  in  1672,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son-in-law,  Abii 
Husdin,  who  in  his  youth  had  been  notorious  for  dissipated  habits. 
He  fell  entirely  under  the  influence  of  a  Marhatti  Brtihman,  named 
Madhuna  Panth,  who  became  his  Prime  Minister.  In  1676,  at  the 
invitation  of  this  man,  Sivaji,  the  founder  of  the  Marhattd  supremacy, 
entered  Haidardbid  with  a  force  of  70,000  men,  on  his  way  to  the 
Karnatic  He  also  concluded  a  treaty  with  Abu*  Husdin.  Sivajfs 
reception  at  Golconda  afforded  grounds  for  a  war  with  the  State  of 
Bijipur,  but  the  invasion  was  resisted  and  defeated  by  Madhuna  Panth. 
Sivajf  died  in  1680,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  Sumbajf, 
with  whom  Abti  Husiin  also  entered  into  an  alliance.  Aurangzeb  was 
prevented  from  at  once  turning  his  arms  against  Golconda,  owing  to  a 
convention  made  by  his  son,  Prince  Muazfm.  When,  in  1686,  KMn 
Jahin  was  sent  against  that  State,  and  found  himself  unable  to  oppose 
its  army,  he  begged  urgently  for  reinforcements ;  and  Prince  Muazfm 
was  despatched  to  his  assistance.  The  leader  of  the  Golconda  troops 
proved  unfaithful  to  his  cause,  and  allowed  the  united  forces  to  proceed 
unmolested  to  Haidardbdd,  where  he  joined  the  Mughals  with  the 
greater  part  of  his  troops.  The  king,  Abti  Husiin,  shut  himself  in  the 
fort  of  Golconda;  and  HaidanibAd  was  again  left  open  to  plunder. 
Madhuna  Panth  was  killed  in  a  popular  tumult,  and  the  king  accepted 
such  terms  as  he  could  obtain.  A  payment  of  2  millions  sterling  in 
money  and  jewels  was  demanded.  The  treaty,  however,  was  of  short 
duration,  for  in  1687  Aurangzeb  formally  declared  war  against  Abti 
Husiin.  The  king  bravely  defended  the  fort  of  Golconda  for  seven 
months,  and  lost  it  at  last  by  treachery,  and  was  sent  a  captive  to 
Daulatibid,  where  he  resided  until  his  death.  Abti  Hustiin  was  a  very 
popular  monarch,  and  many  anecdotes  of  his  virtues  are  still  current 
in  the  Deccan.  Ausangzeb  immediately  took  possession  of  all  the 
territories  of  Bijdpur  and  Golconda,  but  his  occupation  was  little  more 
than  military.    The  Districts  were  farmed  out,  and  were  governed  by 


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HAIDARABAD  CITY.  515 

military  leaders,  who  received  25  per  cent,  for  the  expense  of  collecting 
the  revenue. 

No  event  of  any  importance  occurred  at  Haidarabad  until  1707,  the 
year  of  Aurangzeb's  death.  A  dispute  for  the  crown  took  place  between 
his  two  sons,  Prince  Azfm  and  Prince  Muazim.  The  latter  was 
victorious,  and  ascended  the  throne  as  Bahadur  Shall.  Prince  Kim 
Bakhsh  refused  to  acknowledge  his  brother  as  king,  and  Bahadur  Shall, 
after  attempting  in  vain  to  win  him  over  by  concessions,  marched 
against  him  to  the  Deccan,  and  defeated  him  in  a  battle  near  Haidar- 
dbad  (February  1 708),  in  which  Kara  Bakhsh  was  mortally  wounded. 
Baha*dur  Shall  then  made  a  truce  with  the  Marhattds ;  and  affairs  in 
the  Deccan  remained  quiet  until  the  end  of  his  reign,  in  17 12.  The 
viceroyalty  was  given  to  Ziilfikar  Khali,  an  adherent  of  Prince  Azfm ; 
and  the  administration  of  the  government  to  Dalid  KMn,  a  Pathan 
officer,  who  had  distinguished  himself  under  Aurangzeb.  The  death 
of  Bahidur  Shall  was  followed  by  struggles  amongst  his  sons.  The 
incapacity  of  the  eldest,  Jahandal  Shall,  had  given  a  great  ascendancy 
to  the  second,  who  was  supported  by  the  army  and  most  of  the  nobility. 
A  battle  ensued ;  Azfm-us-Shin  was  repulsed  and  slain,  and  Jahandal: 
Shall  remained  undisputed  master  of  the  throne.  One  of  his  first  acts 
was  to  put  all  the  princes  of  the  blood  within  his  reach  to  death. 
Among  those  whom  he  could  not  get  into  his  power  was  Farrukh 
Siyyar,  the  only  son  of  Azfm-us-Shan ;  but  the  cause  of  this  prince  was 
espoused  by  the  governor  of  Behar,  Sayyid  Husaln  AH.  The  rivals 
met  near  Agra  on  the  28th  of  December  1712;  and  on  the  1st  of 
January  1713,  Farrukh  Siyyar  ascended  the  throne,  and  conferred 
dignities  upon  all  his  adherents.  Among  these  was  Chin-Khilich  KMn, 
a  noble  of  high  rank,  and  a  brilliant  statesman,  to  whom  was  given  the 
title  of  Nizim-ul-mulk  Asaf  Jih.  Ziilfikar  Khali  was  put  to  death,  and 
Sayyid  Husaln  Alf  appointed  viceroy  of  the  Deccan  in  his  stead.  But 
the  Emperor  was  jealous  of  his  powerful  subject,  and  wished  to  get 
rid  of  him.  He  therefore  wrote  to  Dalid  Khali,  promising  him 
the  viceroyalty  if  he  would  attack  Husaln  Alf  on  his  arrival  in  the 
Deccan  and  destroy  him.  No  more  acceptable  commission  could  have 
been  offered  to  Dalid  Khan  than  that  of  revenging  the  death  of  his 
friend  and  patron  Zulfikar ;  and  taking  up  a  position  at  Burhanpur,  he 
proclaimed  himself  viceroy,  and  awaited  Husaln  Alfs  appearance.  A 
severe  battle  was  fought,  in  which  Dalid  Khin  was  on  the  point  of 
victory  when  he  was  struck  by  a  bullet,  and  killed  instantly  (17 16). 
Husaln  Alf  immediately  took  the  field  against  the  Marhattas,  but  was 
completely  routed.  He  and  his  brother  Sayyid  Abdulla  Khan,  the 
Wazfr  of  the  Deccan,  now  united  their  forces  against  Farrukh  Siyyar, 
whose  schemes  for  the  destruction  of  Husaln  Alf  had  proved  abortive. 
In  December  17 19,  the  allies  advanced  upon  Delhi,  and  the  Emperor 


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5i6  HAIDARABAD  CITY. 

submitted  to  their  demands,  that  became  more  exorbitant  day  by  day, 
and  ended  in  their  obtaining  possession  of  the  royal  citadel  and  palace, 
which  were  occupied  by  their  troops.  In  February  17 19,  Farnikh 
Siyyar  was  deposed,  and,  two  months  later,  put  to  death  by  order  of 
Husain  AH  and  Abdulla*  Khan.  The  Sayyids  now  selected  Rafi-ud- 
dauli,  who  died  in  a  few  months.  He  was  succeeded  (17 19  to  1748) 
by  Muhammad  Shah,  who  was  the  last  Independent  Emperor  that  sat 
on  the  Delhi  Throne.  The  first  great  event  in  his  reign  was  the  over- 
throw of  Husam  All  and  his  brother,  which  was  effected  in  great  measure 
by  a  league  between  Nizim-ul-mulk,  and  Saadat  Khan,  his  coadjutor 
and  rival,  and  afterwards  the  founder  of  the  Oudh  dynasty.  Chin  Khilich 
Khan  saw  in  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country  an  excuse  for 
raising  troops ;  and  as  he  perceived  the  difficulty  of  establishing  a 
permanent  control  at  Delhi,  he  determined  to  lay  the  foundation  of 
his  power  on  a  firmer  basis,  and  turned  his  attention  first  to  the  Deccan. 
His  plans  against  the  Sayyids  succeeded.  In  October  1720,  Husdin 
Ali  was  assassinated,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  Abdulla  Khan  was 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner  by  Muhammad  Shdh ;  but  the  power  of  this 
monarch  was  rapidly  declining.  In  January  1722,  Chin  Khilich  Khin 
arrived  at  Delhi,  and  assumed  the  office  of  Wazir.  He  found  the  court 
in  a  state  of  the  utmost  weakness ;  the  Emperor  and  his  favourites  were 
given  up  to  pleasure ;  and  after  some  months  of  mutual  dissatisfaction, 
they  devised  plans  to  free  themselves  from  the  troublesome  counsels 
of  Chin  Khilich  Khan,  also  called  Asaf  Jah.  The  Wazir  was  despatched 
against  the  refractory  governor  of  Guzerat,  but  speedily  returned, 
strengthened  by  the  addition  of  a  rich  Province.  In  October  1723, 
shortly  after  this  victory,  Asaf  Jah  resigned  his  post  as  Wazir,  and  set 
off  for  the  Deccan,  a  proceeding  amounting  in  reality  to  a  declaration 
of  independence.  The  Emperor,  although  he  graciously  accepted  Asaf 
Jah's  resignation,  and  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  Lieutenant  of  the 
Empire, — the  highest  that  could  be  conferred  on  such  a  subject, — did 
not  on  that  account  abate  his  hostility.  He  sent  orders  to  the  local 
governor  of  Haidarabad  to  endeavour  to  dispossess  the  viceroy,  and 
assume  the  government  of  the  entire  Deccan  in  his  place.  Mubarlz 
Khan  entered  zealously  on  this  task,  and  succeeded  in  gathering 
together  a  powerful  army.  Asaf  Jah  protracted  his  negotiations  for 
several  months,  and  endeavoured  to  sow  sedition  among  the  adherents 
of  the  governor.  At  last  he  was  forced  to  come  to  open  war,  and  soon 
gained  a  decisive  victory  over  MuBariz,  who  lost  his  life  in  the  battle, 
fought  in  October  1724.  As  the  Emperor  had  not  avowed  the  attack 
which  he  had  instigated,  Asaf  Jah,  not  to  be  outdone  in  dissimulation, 
sent  the  head  of  Mubarfz  to  court  with  his  own  congratulations  on 
the  extinction  of  the  rebellion.  He  then  fixed  his  residence  at 
HaidaraMd,  and  became  the  founder  of  an  independent  kingdom, 


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HA1DARABAD  ASSIGNED  DIS1RIC1S.  517 

now  ruled  over  by  his  descendants,  who  derive  from  him  the  title 
of  the  Nizims  of  Haidarabad  State.  (In  the  compilation  of  this 
section,  considerable  use  has  been  made  of  Elphinstone's  History  of 
India.} 

Haidar&bid  (Hyderabad)  Assigned  Districts.  —  A  Province  in 
Central  India,  better  known  under  the  name  of  Berar,  administered  by  a 
British  officer,  entitled  the  Commissioner  of  Berar,  under  the  Resident 
at  Haidardbid.  Bounded  on  the  north  and  east  by  the  British  Com- 
missionership  of  the  Central  Provinces,  on  the  south  by  the  Nizam's 
Dominions,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Bombay  Presidency.  Lies 
between  190  26'  and  210  46'  n.  lat,  and  between  750  58'  45"  and 
79°  11'  13"  E.  long.  Population,  according  to  the  Parliamentary  Blue 
Book  of  1878,  based. on  the  Census  of  1867,  2,226,496  persons;  area, 
17,728  square  miles;  average  density,  126  persons  per  square  mile. 
The  following  article  is  mainly  compiled  from  the  Reports  by  the 
Resident  at  Haidardbid  from  1872  to  1876,  which,  in  their  turn,  are 
based,  as  regards  their  topographical  and  historical  sections,  on  Mr.  A. 
C.  Lyall's  excellent  official  account  of  the  Province. 

Physical  Aspects. — Berar  is,  in  the  main,  a  broad  valley  running  east 
and  west,  lying  between  the  Sdtpura  range  on  the  north  and  the  Ajanta 
range  on  the  south.  The  old  local  name  of  the  valley  at  the  base  of 
the  Sdtpuras  was  Berar  Payanghit ;  that  of  the  tracts  situated  among 
the  uplands  and  hills  of  the  Ajanta  range,  being  Berar  Bdldghdt  The 
-real  strength  of  the  Province  is  found  in  the  valley  at  the  base  of  the 
Satpuras.  This  valley  is  watered  or  drained,  as  the  case  may  be,  by 
the  Prima  (an  affluent  of  the  Tapti),  and  a  perfect  network  of  streams 
descending  into  the  main  river  both  from  the  hills  in  the  north  and 
from  the  hills  in  the  south.  Its  soil  is  one  vast  superstratum  of  black 
loam  overlying  trap  and  basalt  Its  rainfall  is  regular  and  copious ;  its 
area  is  now  entirely  cultivated,  the  whole  surface  being  covered  over  at 
harvest  time  by  a  sheet  of  crops.  Its  population  is  dense,  and  con- 
sists of  Kumbis  and  other  hardy  and  industrious  agricultural  tribes. 
It  is  traversed  from  west  to  east  of  its  whole  length  by  the  railway 
from  Ndgpur  to  Bombay.  It  possesses  one  of  the  richest  and  most 
extensive  cotton  fields  in  India,  and  several  cotton  marts  of  the  very 
first  rank.  Its  other  products,  especially  millet  and  oil-seeds,  are  also 
excellent.  Altogether,  it  is  one  of  the  most  promising  regions  to  be 
seen  in  India ;  and  in  respect  to  natural  and  material  advantages,  it 
surpasses  any  tract  in  either  the  Central  Provinces  or  the  Deccan. 

The  area  of  Berar  may  be  reckoned  at  a  little  more  than  1 7.000  square 
miles,  being  about  equal  to  that  of  the  kingdom  of  Greece  without  the 
Ionian  Islands.  Its  population  is  double  that  of  Greece.  Its  length 
from  east  to  west  is  about  150  miles,  and  its  breadth  averages  144 
miles.    The  principal  rivers  are  the  Tapti,  the  Pdrna,  the  Wardha,  and 


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518  HAIDARABAD  ASSIGNED  DISTRICTS 

the  Fenganga  or  Pranhita.  The  Province  has  but  one  natural  lake, 
the  salt  lake  of  Londr,  a  great  curiosity.  The  only  forests  worth 
mention  are  those  on  the  Gawilgarh  Hills,  where  about  400  square 
miles  are  conserved  by  the  Government  In  South  Berar  there  is  an 
additional  forest  area  of  246  square  miles  under  conservancy.  The 
chief  timber  tree  is  the  bdbul  (Acacia  arabica).  Iron  ore  is  plentiful 
throughout  large  tracts  on  the  east,  especially  in  the  hills  about  K&anja, 
and  along  the  low  range  close  to  Amrioti  on  the  north-east  It  is  not 
worked  by  the  natives,  and  the  proportion  of  iron  in  the  ore  has  not 
been  scientifically  determined.  The  only  District  within  Berar  which 
yields  coal  is  that  of  Wtin,  where,  stretching  along  the  valley  of  the 
Wardha  river  in  a  direction  rudely  north  and  south,  a  group  of  beds 
of  thick  coal  of  fair  quality  has  lately  been  found.  This  group  may  be 
said  to  extend  from  near  the  Wardha  river  on  the  north  to  the  Penganga 
on  the  south.  The  beds  associated  with  the  coal  can  be  traced 
throughout,  and,  although  there  has  not  yet  been  time  to  prove  the 
existence  of  coal  throughout  the  entire  distance,  there  can  be  little 
reasonable  doubt  that  it  will  be  found  to  occur. 

The  climate  diners  very  little  from  that  of  the  Deccan  generally, 
except  that  in  the  Payanghit  valley  the  hot  weather  is  sometimes 
exceptionally  severe.  It  sets  in  early,  for  the  freshness  of  the  short 
cold  season  disappears  with  the  crops,  when  the  ground  has  been  laid 
bare  by  carrying  the  harvest;  but  the  heat  does  not  much  increase 
until  the  end  of  March.  From  the  1st  of  May  until  the  rains  set  in, 
about  the  middle  of  June,  the  sun  is  very  powerful,  though  its  effect  is 
not  intensified  by  the  scorching  winds  of  Upper  India.  The  nights 
are  comparatively  cool  throughout,  probably  because  the  direct  rays 
of  the  sun  have  their  influence  counteracted  by  the  retentiveness  of 
moisture  peculiar  to  the  black  soil,  and  by  the  evaporation  which  is 
always  going  on.  During  the  rains,  the  air  is  moist  and  cooL  In  the 
Bdlighit  country,  above  the  Ajanta  Hills,  the  thermometer  stands 
much  lower  than  in  the  plains.  On  the  loftiest  Gawilgarh  Hills,  the 
climate  is  always  temperate;  the  sanitarium  of  Chikalda  is  on  this 
range,  a  few  miles  from  Ellichpur.  The  average  rainfall  for  the  whole 
Province  is  not  yet  accurately  known ;  it  is  said  to  be  about  27  inches' 
a  year  in  the  valley,  and  above  30  inches  above  the  Ghits.  On  the 
Gawilgarh  Hills  it  is,  of  course,  much  heavier. 

Administration. — The  Province  of  Berar  is  divided  into  two  Divisions, 
distinguished  as  East  and  West  Berar.  Hence,  probably,  the  origin  of 
the  common  expression  *  the  Berars,'  which  has,  however,  no  warrant 
either  in  the  history  or  the  geography  of  the  country.  Five  Districts 
and  one  Subdivision  of  a  District,  each  with  an  average  area  of  2833 
square  miles,  are  comprised  in  the  above  two  Divisions.  These,  again, 
are  subdivided  into  21  ta/isilis,  or  revenue  and  judicial  Subdivisions, 


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HAIDARABAD  ASSIGNED  DISTRICTS. 


5*9 


with  an  average  area  of  810  square  miles.  There  are  71  magistrates 
of  all  grades,  most  of  them  exercising  civil  and  revenue  powers. 

There  are  7662  villages  in  Berar,  at  an  average  distance  of  23  miles 
from  the  nearest  court  One  Commissioner  has  his  headquarters  at 
Akola,  the  other  at  AmriotL  The  principal  towns  of  the  Province  are 
— Amraoti,  population  23,410;  Khamgaon,  9432  ;  Ellichpur,  27,782 ; 
Akola,  15,920;  Shegaon,  7450;  Akot,  14,006;  Karanja,  11,750. 
There  are  not  more  than  31  towns  in  which  the  population  exceeds 
5000.     Marathf  is  the  local  vernacular  of  the  whole  Province. 

The  land  revenue  demand  in  1872-73  was  Rs.  5,904,058 
(j£59°>4o6),  and  the  gross  revenue,  Rs.  8,097,824  (,£809,782).  Sub- 
joined is  a  table  showing  the  contributions  to  these  totals  from  the 
several  Districts,  with  the  population  of  each  as  ascertained  by  the 
Census  of  1867,  smc^  which  date  signs  of  increase,  especially  in  the 
town  population,  have  been  plainly  observed : — 

Area,  Population,  and  Revenue  of  Berar. 


Name  of  District. 

Area  in 

Sq.  Miles, 
1878. 

Land  Revenue 
in  1872-73. 

Gross  Revenue 
in  1872-73. 

Population  in 
1867. 

Akola, . 
Amraoti, 
Ellichpur,     . 
Buldana, 
W<ui,   . 
Basim, 
Unaccounted  for, 

2,654 

2,767 
2,623 
2,807 
3.919 
2,958 

Rs. 
1,707.013 
1,426,600 

909,371 
930,772 

3»2,363 
487,939 

Rs. 
2,400,032 

2,151,747 

1,260,105 

1,075,888 

645,600 

564,362 

460,615 

501,331 

278,576 

365.779 

323,689 

276,408 

20,008 

Total, 

17,728 

J  5.904,058 
1  £590,406 

8,097,824 
£809,782 

2,226,496 

History. — In  early  times,  the  greater  part  of  the  Deccan,  as  far  north- 
ward as  the  Narbadd  (Nerbudda),  was  subject  to  Rljput  princes  of  the 
Chalukya  race,  whose  capital  was  at  Kalyin  near  Gulbarga,  from  about 
1000  a.d.  to  1200  a.d.  R£m  Deo,  who  was  conquered  and  slain 
by  AU-ud-dm,  was  the  last  of  the  Yadava  line  of  kings,  who  reigned 
not  without  fame  at  Deogarh,  the  modern  Daulatibid,  down  to  the  end 
of  the  13th  century  a.d.  We  may  be  allowed  to  guess  that  Berar 
was  at  one  period  under  the  sway  of  Kalydn,  or  of  Deogarh,  probably 
of  both  successively,  though  the  south-eastern  District  of  the  old  Pro- 
vince may  have  belonged  to  the  kingdom  ruled  by  the  ancient  Hindu 
Rijds  at  WaranguL  Remains  of  ancient  Hindu  architecture  attest 
the  received  hypothesis  that  the  Province  must  long  have  formed  part 
of  that  principal  Rijput  kingdom  which  occupied  the  heart  of  the 
Deccan.     But  local  tradition  tells  of  independent  Rijds  who  governed 


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520  HAIDARABAD  ASSIGNED  DISTRICTS. 

Berar  from  Ellichpur,  which  is  said  to  take  its  name  from  one  of  them, 
called  Rijd  Adil.  The  same  authority  states,  what  may  possibly  be 
corroborated  by  architectural  relics  which  have  yet  to  be  examined 
by  the  competent  antiquary,  that  the  princes  or  governors  of  Berar, 
immediately  before  the  Muhammadan  invasion,  were  Jains.  Id  a.d. 
1294,  A14-ud-dfn,  nephew  and  son-in-law  to  the  Delhi  Emperor 
Firoz  Ghilzii,  made  his  first  expedition  into  the  Deccan.  After  defeat- 
ing the  Yadava  Prince  R£m  Deo  at  Deogarh,  he  is  said  to  have  been 
bought  out  of  the  country  by  a  heavy  ransom,  accompanied  by  the 
cession  of  Ellichpur.  Soon  after  his  return  to  Upper  India,  Ali-ud-din 
murdered  his  uncle  and  usurped  the  Delhi  throne.  Throughout 
his  reign  the  Deccan  was  plundered  by  successive  bands  of  Muham- 
madans  from  the  north ;  but  on  his  death,  the  Hindus  seem  to  have 
recovered  the  Provinces  previously  subject  to  Deogarh.  However, 
this  insurrection  was  crushed  in  13 18-19  by  Miibarak  Ghilzii,  when 
he  flayed  alive  the  last  Hindu  Prince  of  Deogarh ;  and  Berar  has  ever 
since  been  nominally  under  the  dominion  of  Muhammadan  rulers. 
Under  them  it  has  always  kept  its  distinct  name ;  and  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  from  the  first  it  formed  a  separate  Provincial  charge,  of 
course  with  constant  change  of  boundaries.  In  135 1,  on  the  death  of 
the  Emperor  Muhammad  Tughlak,  the  southern  Provinces  fell  away 
from  his  house,  and  for  250  years  maintained  their  independence  of 
Delhi.  For  the  next  130  years,  Berar  remained  under  the  dominion 
of  the  Bihmani  kings,  so  called  because  the  founder  of  their  line  was 
either  a  Brdhman  or  a  Brahman's  servant  This  man  ruled  all  the 
Deccan  under  the  title  of  Ald-ud-dfn  Husiin  Sh£h,  and  divided  his 
kingdom  into  four  Provinces,  of  which  Mahur,  Rlmgarh,  and  part  of 
Berar  formed  one.  On  the  collapse  of  this  dynasty  in  1526,  we  find 
Berar  one  of  the  five  kingdoms  into  which  the  Deccan  had  virtually  split 
up,  fairly  embarked  on  a  period  of  independence  under  the  Imad  Shihi 
Princes,  whose  capital  was  Ellichpur.  The  founder  of  this  dynasty  had 
been,  it  is  said,  a  Kanarese  Hindu  captured  in  war,  whom  Khan  Jahin, 
Governor  of  Berar,  promoted  to  high  office.  He  rose  to  the  tide  of 
Imad  -  ul  -  Mulk,  and  the  command  of  the  Berar  forces.  But  he 
bequeathed  to  his  successors  no  share  either  of  his  good  fortune  or 
ability.  An  attack  by  the  allied  Kings  of  Bijdpur  and  Ahmednagar  gave 
Berar  to  the  latter  in  1572.  The  Ahmednagar  dynasty,  however,  was 
not  destined  long  to  hold  possession  of  the  prize.  The  cession  of 
Berar  to  the  Emperor  Akbar  by  the  Ahmednagar  Government  took 
place  in  1596.  In  1599,  the  great  Emperor  himself  came  down  to 
Burhanpur  and  organized  his  recent  conquests.  Ahmednagar  was 
taken,  and  all  the  country  recently  annexed,  including  Berar,  was 
placed  under  Prince  Danydl  (the  Emperor's  son)  as  viceroy,  Berar 
retaining  its  separate  formation  as  an  imperial  subah,  of  which  the 


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HAIDARABAD  ASSIGNED  DISTRICTS  521 

extent  and  revenue  are  pretty  accurately  known  from  the  Aln-i-Akbari. 
The  death  of  Akbar  in  1605  distracted  for  a  time  the  attention  of  the 
Mughal  Government  from  tfieir  new  Province  in  the  Deccan ;  and 
Mdlik  Ambar,  who  represented  Nizim  Shihi  independence  at  Daulat- 
dbdd,  recovered  the  greater  part  of  Berar.  This  man,  an  Abyssinian  by 
race,  is  well  known  as  the  great  revenue  administrator  of  the  Upper 
Deccan.  He  first  made  a  regular  assessment  by  fixing  the  Government 
share  in  the  estimated  produce,  commuted  to  money  value,  says  Duff's 
Mahrattas;  but  the  hereditary  revenue  officers  of  Berar  assert  that 
the  assessment  was  on  the  quality  of  land,  at  so  much  per  bighd, 
said  to  have  been  made  in  161 2.  Mdlik  Ambar  held  his  own  in  these 
parts  until  he  died  in  1628.  In  1630,  the  Mughals  recovered  Berar, 
and  re-established  the  imperial  authority.  Shdh  Jah£n  divided  his 
Deccan  dominions  into  two  governments,  of  which  one  comprised 
Berar,  Payanghdt,  Jalna,  and  Khandesh ;  but  these  were  soon  reunited 
under  one  head.  The  revenue  assessment  was  reorganized,  and  the 
fasti  era  introduced  from  1637-38.  It  is  very  difficult,  and  would  not 
be  very  profitable,  to  pursue  the  separate  thread  of  Berar  Provincial 
history  through  the  tangled  coil  of  Deccan  warfare,  from  a.d.  1650, 
when  Aurangzeb  became  Viceroy  of  the  Deccan,  until  the  hour  when 
he  died  at  Ahmednagar,  in  a.d.  1707.  Berar  underwent  its  share 
of  fire  and  sword,  Marhatti  plundering  and  Mughal  rack-renting. 
After  Aurangzeb's  death,  the  Marhattds  consolidated  their  predominance, 
and  chauth  and  sardeshmukhi  were  formally  granted  by  the  Sayyid 
Ministers  of  the  Emperor  Farrukhsiyyar  in  17 17  upon  the  six  and  a 
half  subahs  of  the  Deccan.  But,  in  1720,  Chin  Khilich  Khan,  Viceroy 
of  the  Deccan,  under  the  title  of  Nizdm-ul-Mulk,  won  his  independence 
by  three  victories  over  the  imperial  lieutenants,  or  rather  over  the  armies 
commanded  by  the  partisans  of  the  Sayyid  Ministers  who  governed  in  the 
Emperor's  name.  Nizdm-uI-Mulk  had  been  joined  by  the  Subahddr  of 
Berar.  The  first  battle  was  near  Burhdnpur  in  a.d.  172 1 ;  the  second 
at  Bdlapur  soon  after;  and  the  last  decisive  victory  was  gained,  in 
August  a.d.  1724,  at  Shakar-Khelda,  called  Fateh-Khelda  from  that  day, 
in  the  present  Bulddna  District.  From  this  date  Berar  has  always  been 
nominally  subject  to  the  Haidar^bid  dynasty.  The  material  and  even 
moral  injury  caused  to  this  Province  by  the  wars  of  the  18th  century 
must  have  been  wide  and  deep.  Described  in  the  Aln-l-Akbari  as 
highly  cultivated,  and  in  parts  populous,  supposed  by  M.  de  Thevenot 
in  1667  to  be  one  of  the  wealthiest  portions  of  the  Empire,  it  fell  on 
evil  days  before  the  close  of  the  17th  century.  Cultivation  fell  off  just 
when  the  finances  were  strained  by  the  long  wars ;  the  local  revenue 
officers  rebelled ;  the  army  became  mutinous ;  and  the  Marhattds  easily 
plundered  a  weak  Province,  when  they  had  divided  its  sinews  by  cutting 
off  its  trade.    Wherever  the  Emperor  appointed  z/dgirddr  the  Marhattis 


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522  HAIDARABAD  ASSIGNED  DISTRICTS. 

appointed  another,  and  both  claimed  the  revenue,  while  foragers  from 
each  side  exacted  forced  contributions ;  so  that  the  harassed  cultivator 
often  threw  up  his  land  and  joined  in  the  general  business  of  plunder. 
The  Marhattis  succeeded  in  fixing  their  hold  on  this  Province ;  but 
its  resources  were  ruined,  and  its  people  must  have  been  seriously 
demoralized  by  a  regime  of  barefaced  plunder  and  fleecing,  without 
pretension  to  principle  or  stability.  By  the  partition  treaty  of 
Haidaribid  (dated  1804),  the  whole  of  Berar,  including  Districts  east 
of  Wardha, — but  excluding  certain  tracts  left  with  the  Nigpur  chiefs 
and  the  Peshwi, — was  made  over  in  perpetual  sovereignty  to  the  Nizim. 
The  forts  of  Gawilgarh  and  Narnala  remained  subject  to  Nigpur.  A  fresh 
treaty  was  made  in  1822,  which  settled  the  frontier  of  Berar,  and  con- 
ferred upon  the  Nizim  all  the  country  west  of  the  Wardha.  The  tracts 
lying  east  of  that  river  were  at  length  formally  ceded  to  Nigpur;  but  the 
Districts  taken  by  the  Peshwi  in  1 795,  and  those  which  had  been  left 
to  the  Bhonsli  in  1803,  were  all  restored  to  the  Haidaribid  State.  The 
disbanding  of  large  numbers  of  troops  filled  the  country  with  gangs  of 
plunderers ;  and  it  was  sometimes  necessary  for  us  to  interfere  for  the 
preservation  of  peace,  as  in  1849,  when  A  pi  Sihib  was  captured  and 
his  followers  dispersed.  Meanwhile,  the  Nizim's  finances  had  sunk 
into  such  a  desperate  state,  that  in  1843,  and  in  several  succeeding 
years,  the  pay  of  the  force  maintained  under  the  treaty  of  1800  had  to 
be  advanced  from  the  British  Treasury.  The  total  bankruptcy  of  the  . 
Haidaribid  State  at  length  necessitated,  in  1853,  a  new  treaty,  under 
which  the  existing  Haidaribid  contingent  force  is  maintained  by 
the  British  Government,  in  lieu  of  the  troops  which  the  Nizim  had 
been  previously  bound  to  furnish  on  demand  in  time  of  war ;  while,  for 
the  payment  of  this  contingent,  and  other  claims  on  the  Nizim,  Districts 
yielding  a  gross  revenue  of  50  Idkhs  of  rupees  were  assigned  to  our 
Government  The  territory  made  over  to  the  British  under  this  treaty 
eomprised,  besides  the  Assigned  Districts  as  they  now  exist,  the  Dis- 
tricts of  Dharaseo  and  the  Riichur  Doib.  It  was  agreed  that  accounts 
should  be  annually  rendered  to  the  Nizim,  and  that  any  surplus 
revenue  should  be  paid  to  him.  On  his  part,  he  was  released  from  the 
obligation  of  furnishing  a  large  force  in  time  of  war ;  while  the  con- 
tingent ceased  to  be  part  of  the  Nizim's  army,  and  became  an  auxiliary 
force  kept  by  the  British  Government  for  his  use.  The  provisions  of 
the  treaty  of  1853,  however,  which  required  the  submission  of  annual 
accounts  of  the  Assigned  Districts  to  the  Nizim,  were  productive  of 
much  inconvenience  and  embarrassing  discussions.  Difficulties  had 
also  arisen  regarding  the  levy  of  the  5  per  cent,  duty  on  goods  under 
the  commercial  treaty  of  1802.  To  remove  these  difficulties,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  reward  the  Nizim  for  his  services  in  1857,  a  new 
treaty  was  concluded  in  December  i860,  by  which  a  debt  of  50  Idkhs 

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HAIDARABAD  ASSIGNED  DISTRICTS  523 

tlue  by  the  Nizam  was  cancelled ;  the  territory  of  Surapur,  which  had 
been  confiscated  for  the  rebellion  of  its  Hindu  Raj£,  was  ceded  to  the 
Nizim;  and  the  Districts  of  Dharaseo  and  the  Rarchur  Doab  were 
restored  to  him.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Nizim  ceded  certain  Districts 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Godavari,  traffic  on  which  river  was  to  be  free 
from  all  duties ;  and  agreed  that  the  remaining  Assigned  Districts  in 
Berar,  together  with  other  Districts,  yielding  a  gross  revenue  of  Rs. 
3,200,000  C£3  20,000),  should  be  held  in  trust  by  the  British  Government 
for  the  purposes  specified  in  the  treaty  of  1853 ;  but  that  no  demand 
for  accounts  of  the  receipts  and  expenditure  of  the  Assigned  Districts 
should  be  made.  Certain  territorial  exchanges  were  also  effected,  with 
the  object  of  bringing  under  British  administration  those  lands  within 
the  Assigned  Districts  which  were  held  in  jdgir  for  payment  of  troops, 
or  which  were  allotted  for  the  Nizam's  privy  purse.  The  history  of 
Berar  since  1853  is  marked  by  no  important  political  events  beside 
the  change  made  under  the  treaty  of  1861.  Its  smooth  course  was 
scarcely  ruffled  even  by  the  troubles  of  1857 ;  whatever  fires  may  have 
been  smouldering  beneath  the  surface,  the  country  remained  calm, 
measuring  its  behaviour,  not  by  Delhi,  but  by  Haidar^bid.  In  1858, 
Tantia  Topi  got  into  the  Satpura  Hills,  and  tried  to  break  across  south- 
ward that  he  might  stir  up  the  Deccan ;  but  he  was  headed  back  at  all 
outlets,  and  never  got  away  into  the  Berar  valley.  The  Province  has 
rapidly  progressed  under  British  rule.  When  it  was  made  over  to  us, 
writes  Sir  Richard  Temple  in  his  official  report,  'the  neighbouring 
Districts  were  full  of  families  who  had  emigrated  thither  from  Berar, 
and  who,  with  the  usual  attachment  of  the  people  to  their  original 
patrimony,  were  anxious  to  return  on  any  suitable  opportunity. 
Thus  hundreds  of  families  and  thousands  of  individuals  immigrated 
back  into  Berar.  Many  villages  in  the  Nagpur  country  lost  many  of 
their  hands  in  this  way,  and  were  sometimes  put  to  serious  straits.' 
The  American  war,  which  shortly  supervened,  stimulated  the  cotton 
trade  to  an  enormous  extent  in  Berar;  wages  rapidly  rose  with  the 
unprecedented  demand  for  labour  which  followed ;  and  the  opening  up 
of  the  railway  system  has  tended  still  further  to  enhance  the  prosperity 
of  the  Province. 

Population. — The  first — and,  up  to  the  present  time  (1879),  the  only 
— Census  ever  taken  in  the  Province  was  carried  out  in  November 
1867.  It  disclosed  a  total  population  of  2,231,565  persons,  dwelling 
in  5694  towns  and  villages  and  inhabiting  495,760  houses;  area, 
as  then  estimated,  17,334  square  miles.  A  more  accurate  survey 
(Parliamentary  Abstract,  1878)  gives  the  area  at  17,728  square  miles; 
and  the  last  return  from  the  Government  of  India  (quoted  in  the 
same  Blue-Book)  makes  the  total  population  2,226,496.  So  many 
years  have  elapsed  since  the  Census  of  1867,  and  this  enumeration 


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524  HAIDARABAD  ASSIGNED  DISTRICTS. 

was  altogether  of  so  experimental  a  character,  that  it  is  not  con- 
sidered advisable  to  give  in  this  place  the  details  then  elicited  These 
will,  however,  be  found  in  the  articles  on  the  Districts  constituting 
the  Province — viz.  Amraoti,  Akola,  Ellichpur  (including  Melghat), 
Buldana,  Wun,  and  Basim.  The  average  density  of  the  population 
in  Berar  is  126  persons  per  square  mile, — a  number  higher  than  in  any 
Division  of  the  neighbouring  Central  Provinces,  though  far  below  the 
average  of  the  North-Western  Provinces. 

The  largest  towns  of  the  Province  are  Ellichpur  (pop.  27,782), 
Amraoti  (23,410),  Akola  (15,920),  and  Akot  (14,006). 

Agriculture, — The  Berar  cultivator  follows  a  primitive  system  of 
rotation  of  crops.  He  manures  very  little,  though  as  much  as  he  can* 
since  he  is  obliged  to  use  so  much  dung  for  fuel  that  he  has  little  to  spare 
for  his  fields.  Good  cultivable  land  is  never  enclosed  for  hay  and 
pasture,  though  plenty  of  grass  is  cut  and  stacked  from  wide  unculti- 
vated tracts;  and  the  working  bullocks  are  well  fed,  partly  on  this 
hay,  more  generally  on  the  jodr  stalks,  a  little  on  cotton  seed. 
Large  droves  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats  graze  on  commons  and  barren 
wolds.  From  wells  the  cultivators  irrigate  patches  of  wheat,  sugar- 
cane, opium,  and  market-garden  produce.  At  places  they  obtain  water 
from  small  reservoirs  and  surface  streams,  especially  under  the  hills 
and  to  the  southward.  But  in  the  Berar  valley,  which  contains  the 
richest  land,  water  is  scarce  even  for  the  drinking  of  man  and  beast ; 
there  is  a  dearth  of  grass  and  wood ;  hired  labour  is  insufficient  and 
dear.  Capital  in  agricultural  hands  is  scanty.  The  cultivators  are 
slowly  (though  surely)  emerging  out  of  chronic  debt  Agriculture  is 
supported  by  the  good-will  with  which  all  small  money-lenders  invest 
in  it,  because  there  are  no  other  handy  investments  which  pay  so 
well  as  lending  on  bond  to  the  farmers.  Cultivation  is  obliged  to  sup- 
port the  peasant  and  his  family,  to  pay  the  State  revenue,  to  return  the 
capital  invested  with  not  less  than  18  per  cent  interest  to  the  Marwan 
money-lender,  and  to  furnish  the  court  fees  on  litigation  whenever  the 
rustic  sees  a  chance  of  evading  his  bond.  But  the  petty  cultivator  keeps 
his  hold  of  the  land;  no  one  can  make  so  much  out  of  it  as  he 
can ;  and  he  is  much  aided  by  the  customs  of  metayer  tenancy  and 
joint-stock  co-operative  cultivation,  which  enable  him  to  get  cattle, 
labour,  and  even  a  little  cash  on  favourable  terms.  On  the  whole,  the 
Berar  cultivator  is  lazy  and  easy-going,  starts  late  to  his  field  and  returns 
early.  Neither  hope  of  great  profits  nor  fear  of  ruin  will  drive  him 
to  do  the  full  day's  work  which  is  extracted  from  the  English  farm 
labourer.  The  area  under  cultivation  in  1872-73  was  estimated  at 
5,691,921  acres.  Jodr  and  cotton  are  the  staple  crops  of  the  Province, 
occupying  respectively  37  and  29  per  cent  of  the  entire  cultivated  area. 
The  other  principal  crops  are  wheat  and  inferior  grains,  oil-seeds  and 

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HAIDARABAD  ASSIGNED  DISTRICTS. 


525 


fibres.  Sugar-cane,  opium,  and  tobacco  are  also  grown  to  a  small 
extent  The  average  rental  of  cotton  land  is  is.  nd.  per  acre; 
wheat  and  oil-seed  land,  2s.  to  2s.  3d. ;  tobacco  land,  3s.  4d. ;  land 
under  opium,  6s.  8£d. ;  and  that  under  sugar-cane,  8s.  8£d.  per 
acre.  The  yield  per  acre  of  the  different  crops  is  as  follows : — Rice, 
209  lbs.;  wheat,  214  lbs.;  jodr,  313  lbs.;  gram,  163  lbs.;  cotton, 
148  lbs. ;  opium,  4  lbs. ;  oil-seeds,  204  lbs. ;  and  tobacco,  238  lbs. 
There  is  a  Government  farm  at  Akola,  where  numerous  interesting 
agricultural  experiments  have  been  carried  out.  Average  prices  of 
produce  in  1872-73  were  returned  as  follows: — Clean  cotton,  43s.  8& 
per  cwt. ;  wheat,  5s.  ns.  per  cwt. ;  gram,  6s.  id.  per  cwt. ;  rice,  9s.  6d. 
per  cwt. ;  jodr,  4s.  8d.  per  cwt. ;  oil-seeds,  16s.  per  cwt. ;  and  tobacco, 
4 is.  per  cwt.  Wages  in  the  same  year  varied  from  is.  4^&  to  is.  iod. 
a  day  for  skilled  labour,  and  from  3  J d.  to  6|d.  per  diem  for  unskilled 
labour. 

Manufactures  and  Trade. — A  rich  agricultural  Province  like  Berar 
finds  it  more  profitable  to  raise  raw  produce  to  pay  for  imported 
manufactures,  than  to  pursue  manufactures  of  its  own.  Cotton 
cloth,  chiefly  of  the  coarser  kinds,  some  stout  carpets,  and  a  few 
chary  amahs  ^  or  saddles,  are  made  within  the  Province.  A  little  silk- 
weaving  goes  on,  and  the  dyes  are  good  at  certain  places.  At 
Dewalghat,  near  Bulddna,  steel  is  forged  of  fair  quality.  Nagpur 
supplies  fine  cloths ;  nearly  all  articles  of  furniture  or  luxury  come  from 
the  west  The  following  statement  shows  the  value  of  the  imports  and 
exports  in  1872-73  : — 


Trade  of  Berar  in  1872-1873. 


Value  of  Im- 
ports. 

Value  of  Ex- 
ports. 

Total  Value. 

1 

Ea««t  Berar — 

From  Central  Provinces  (northern 
and  eastern  border),    . 

From  Central  Provinces  and  Nizam's 
Dominions  (south-east  &  southern 
border), 

West  Berar — 

From     Khandesh      and     Bombay 

(western  border), 
From      Aurangabad      and     Jain  a 

(south-western  border), 

Total,       j 

Rs. 
8,262,275 

4,472.631 

5,749,060 
I,395»384 

Rs. 
11,524,255 

2,306,737 

9,447,633 
1,381,135 

Rs. 
19,786,530 

6,779,368 

15.196,693 
2,776,519 

I9,879,3S<> 
£1,987,935 

24,659,760 
£2,465,976 

44,539,"0 
£4,453,911 

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526  HA1DARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND. 

Of  the  total  value  of  the  goods  imported  into  the  Province,  25*8  per 
cent,  were  conveyed  by  rail,  and  18 '8  per  cent  by  road.  Similarly  of 
the  exports,  43*2  per  cent  are  credited  to  rail,  and  12*2  per  cent  to 
road. 

The  following  is  the  quantity  of  goods  exported  and  imported : — 
Imports  —  2,084,538  maunds,  viz.  by  rail,  1,295,236 ;  and  by  road, 
798,302:  exports — 1,374,812  mounds,  viz.  by  rail,  1,054,411;  and 
by  road,  320,401. 

Administration. — The  gross  revenue  of  the  different  Districts  of  the 
Province  in  1872-73  has  been  given  above  (p.  519),  the  total  amounting 
to  ,£809,782,  of  which  ^590,406  was  derived  from  land.  The  total 
expenditure  in  the  same  year  was  ^£656,627,  of  which  ,£303,886  were 
spent  on  the  military  establishments  (Haidardbdd  contingent),  and 
,£266,156  on  the  Civil  Department  From  the  very  outset  the  work 
of  education  in  the  Assigned  Districts  seems  to  have  been  fostered  by 
Government  without  any  local  assistance.  No  independent  exertion  on 
the  part  of  the  people  preceded  the  introduction  of  the  State  system ; 
and  great  difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  obtaining  the  support  of  the 
leading  individuals,  whether  in  town  or  village.  The  classification  of 
Government  schools  and  the  average  daily  attendance  in  1872-73  are 
thus  shown : — 2  high  schools,  with  122  pupils ;  50  middle-class  schools, 
3268;  326  lower-class  schools,  7233;  25  female  schools,  457;  and 
1  normal  school,  29.  Brdhmans  are  represented  in  the  Berar  schools 
by  a  proportion  of  nearly  6  per  cent,  and  the  Muhammadan  element 
is  increasing.  Though  the  percentage  of  schoolboys  to  the  total 
population  is  indicated  by  so  low  a  figure  as  7,  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  nearly  half  that  population  consists  of  females,  and  that  the 
Census  returns  of  1867  show  57  boys  under  13  years  of  age  to  every 
100  men.  If  a  calculation  based  on  these  figures  can  be  trusted,  we 
may  infer  that  2  or  3  out  of  every  100  boys  in  the  Province  are 
enrolled  in  Government  schools.  The  police  force  in  1872-73  con- 
sisted of  2632  officers  and  men,  costing  £53,852,  of  which  ,£48,119 
was  debited  to  Provincial  and  ,£5733  to  municipal  funds.  These 
figures  show  one  policeman  to  every  847  of  the  population.  In  the 
same  year,  11,104  persons  were  arrested,  of  whom  8027  were  finally 
convicted. 

Haidar&b&d  {Hyderabad), — A  British  District  in  the  Commissioner- 
ship  of  Sind,  Bombay,  lying  between  240  13'  and  27°  15'  n.  lat,  and 
between  670  51'  and  690  22'  e.  lofig.  Area,  according  to  the  Parlia- 
mentary Blue-Book  of  1878,  9053  square  miles;  population  (1878), 
721,947.  Bounded  on  the  north  by  Khairpur  State;  on  the  east  by 
the  Thar  and  Pirkar  Political  Superintendency ;  on  the  south  by  the 
same  tract  and  the  river  Kori ;  and  on  the  west  by  the  river  Indus 
and  Karachi  (Kurrachee)  District 


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HAIDARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND.  527 

Physical  Aspects. — The  District  is  a  vast  alluvial  plain,  216  miles 
long  by  48  broad  Fertile  along  the  course  of  the  Indus,  which  forms 
its  western  boundary,  it  degenerates  towards  the  east  into  sandy  wastes, 
sparsely  populated,  and  defying  cultivation.  The  monotony  of  its  great 
tots  is  relieved  only  by  the  fringe  of  forest  which  marks  the  course  of 
the  river,  and  by  the  avenues  of  trees  that  line  the  irrigation  channels 
branching  eastward  from  the  beneficent  stream.  The  Tanda  Deputy 
Collectorate,  in  the  south  of  the  District,  has  a  special  feature  in  its 
large  natural  water-courses,  called  dhoras,  and  basin-like  shallows, 
or  chhaus,  which  retain  the  rain  for  a  time  sufficient  to  nourish  the 
hardy  bdbul  trees  on  their  margins.  In  the  Haidardbad  tdluk,  a  limestone 
range,  called  the  Ganja,  and  the  pleasant  frequency  of  garden  lands 
break  the  tiresome  landscape.  Except  in  these  two  divisions,  the 
District  is  an  unrelieved  plain ;  its  western  side,  however,  intersected 
by  canals  ;  its  eastern,  beyond  the  limits  of  artificial  irrigation,  a  sandy 
waste.  The  soil,  wherever  irrigated,  is  very  fertile.  The  following 
five  varieties — Dasar,  light  and  loose;  paki\  firm;  ehipka,  a  mean 
between  the  two;  gisar  and  kaswdriy  rich  clays — produce  all  the 
necessary  crops.  Other  varieties  are  sandy,  and  some  of  them  saline, 
such  as  the  waridsi,  skory  kalrathi,  kalar,  etc.  The  chief  indi- 
genous forest  trees  are  the  pipal  (Ficus  religiosa),  nim  (Azadirachta 
Indica),  tali  or  blackwood  (Dalbergia  latifolia),  sirih  (Albizzia  lebbek), 
ber  (Zizyphus  jujuba),  bahan  (Populus  euphratica),  bhar  (Ficus 
Indica),  kandi  (Prosopis  spicigera),  geduri  (Cordia  latifolia),  bdbul 
(Acacia  arabica),  with  several  varieties  of  tamarisks.  In  a  District  so 
grudgingly  favoured  by  Nature,  an  extensive  fauna  is  not  to  be  looked 
for.  The  hyaena,  wolf,  fox,  jackal,  the  smaller  deer,  and  the  hog  almost 
complete  the  list  of  wild  mammals.  Among  birds,  the  bustard  alone 
is  remarkable.  Venomous  reptiles  abound.  The  Indus  supplies  a 
great  variety  of  fish,  one  of  which,  the  pala,  is  said  to  be  peculiar  to 
this  river. 

History. — The  history  of  Sind,  since  1768,  centres  in  this  District, 
for  all  the  events  of  the  last  century  affected  more  or  less  nearly  Haidar- 
dbdd,  the  modern  capital  of  the  Province.  Under  its  old  name  of 
Nerankot,  this  city  was,  in  the  8th  century,  sufficiently  important  to 
be  the  first  object  of  Muhammad  Kisim's  invasion  of  I^ower  Sind.  A 
hundred  years  later,  Ghulam  Shall,  the  Kalhora  chief,  burst  out  from 
the  desert,  overthrew  his  usurping  brothers,  and  made  Nerarikot,  then 
renamed  Haidardbdd,  his  capital.  Thenceforth  this  District  assumes  a 
foremost  place  in  Provincial  history.  Under  the  Tdlpur  dynasty,  it 
remained  the  leading  State;  and  within  its  limits  were  fought  the  battles 
of  Miini  (Meeanee)  and  Dabo,  which  decided  in  the  British  favour  the 
fate  of  Sind.  Its  local  history  is,  however,  so  muted  up  with  that  of  the 
Province,  that  little  could  be  here  said  of  it  separately  which  will  not 


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528  HAIDARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND. 

more  properly  find  a  place  under  the  history  of  Sind.  The  area 
and  boundaries  of  the  District  have  not  been  changed  since  1861; 
but  prior  to  that  date,  the  Umarkot  District  (now  under  the  Thar 
and  Pa>kar  Political  Superintendent)  and  a  large  portion  of  the  eastern 
delta  (now  part  of  the  Shdhbandar  Deputy  Collectorate)  were  included 
within  Haidardbdd.  The  pargands  of  Kandidro  and  Naushahro  were 
resumed  by  Government  in  1852,  from  the  domains  of  Mir  Ali 
Munid  of  Khairpur,  on  his  public  conviction  for  forgery  and  fraud,  and 
transferred  to  this  Collectorate. 

Population. — According  to  the  general  Census  of  1872,  the  popu- 
lation of  HaidardMd  District  is  divided  as  follows : — Muhammadans, 
560,349;   Hindus,  118,652;  other  creeds  and  tribes,  44,882;   total, 
723,883.     Of  the  Muhammadans,  more  than  three-fifths,  or  373,705, 
are    Sindis,  chiefly   Sunnis  of   the    Halpotro,  Junejo,   Dul,    Powai, 
Thebo,  Sumro,  Sand,  Katiyar,  and  other  clans, — the  descendants  of  the 
original  Hindu  population  converted  to  Isldm  during  the  Ummayide 
dynasty  of  KMlifas.      These   Sindis   have  a  fine  physique^  but  an 
inferior  moral  character,  being  reputed  unclean  and  cowardly,  although 
quiet  and  inoffensive ;  and  are  looked  down  upon  by  the  more  warlike 
tribes  of  the  District  as  natural  serfs.    Their  language  is  Sindi,  of  the 
Sanskrit    family  of   speech,  and  more  closely  connected   with  the 
Prakrit  than  either  Marathf,  Hindi,  Panja*bf,  or  Bengali     It  has  threfc 
dialects,  all  of  which  meet  in  this  District  as  on  common  ground — 
namely,  the  lariy  or  dialect  of  Southern  Sind;   the  siraiki  of  the 
north ;  and  the  t/iareli,  '  the  language  of  the  desert.'     Next  in  point 
of  numbers  among  the  Muhammadans  are  the  Baluchis,  aggregating 
in  this  District  128,785  persons,  and  subdivided  into  a  great  number  of 
tribes,  the  chief  being  the  Rind,  Bhugti,  Chang,  Talpur,  Jatoi,  Laghari, 
Chandio,  Kaloi,  Khoso,  Jakrani,  Lashdri.    They  are  descended  from 
the  mountain  tribes  of  Baluchistdn,  through  whom  they  trace  their 
origin  to  Aleppo  in  Syria.     Their  leading  clan  is  the  Rind,  and  its 
members  are  held  by  the  rest  of  the  community  in  high  respect.    Fairer 
in  complexion  than  the  Sindis,  they  are  also  a  hardier  race ;  honourable 
after  their  own  code,  and  manly  in  field-sports.     They  are  Sunnis  by 
religion.     More  important,  however,  as  regards  social  status  and  per- 
sonal character  are  the  PatMns,  found  chiefly  about  Haidar£b£d  and 
Upper  Sind,  with  the  naturalized  Sayyids,  divided  into  four  families, 
the  Bokhdri,  Matdri,  Shirazi,  and  Lekhiriji.     Together  they  number 
15,815  persons.     They  are  superior  to  the  foregoing  in  personal  ap- 
pearance and  morale.     From  their  being  held  in  great  esteem  by  the 
princes  of  the  Kalhora  dynasty,  they  acquired  considerable  grants  of 
land,  which   they  still  hold.      The  remaining  Muhammadan  classes 
worthy  of  special  mention  are  the  following : — (1)  Memons,  formerly 
Kachhf-Hindus,  who  emigrated  to  Sind  under  the  Kalhora  rule,  and 


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HAIDARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND.  529 

devoted  themselves  to  agriculture  and  cattle-breeding.  They  now 
supply  a  learned  class,  who  have  done  more  than  any  other  to  introduce 
the  sacred  sciences  into  Sind,  and  are  accordingly  held  in  high  respect 
(2)  The  Khwdjas,  fugitives  from  Persia  when  their  creed  (the  Ismiilyeh 
heresy)  was  persecuted  by  Haliku  Khin.  They  have  isolated  them- 
selves from  all  the  other  Muhammadans  of  the  District,  not  only  by 
maintaining  their  own  special  tribunal  in  religious  differences,  and 
separate  officers  (Mukhi,  etc.),  but  by  the  singularity  of  their  dress,  in 
which  they  avoid  dark  blue,  the  colour  of  the  country.  The  Memons 
and  Khwijas  aggregate  13,000.  (3)  Sidhis,  natives  of  Maskat  (Muscat), 
Zanzibar,  and  Abyssinia,  who  until  the  British  Conquest  were  bought 
and  sold  as  slaves.  (4)  The  Shikaris  or  Daphers  of  Tanda  number 
I3S3-  Though  Muhammadans  they  eat  carrion,  and  are  excluded 
from  the  mosques. — Among  Hindus,  the  most  numerous  caste  is  the 
Vaisya  or  Baniya,  aggregating  about  85,000,  and  of  these  nearly  four- 
fifths  belong  to  the  Lohdno  tribe.  The  subordinate  ranks  of  Government 
service  are  almost  exclusively  recruited  from  the  Lohdnos,  and  the  vast 
majority  of  Hindu  shopkeepers  and  traders  also  belong  to  this  caste. 
In  their  complex  subdivisions,  they  are  mixed  up  with  the  Muham- 
madans. Although  wearing  the  thread,  they  become  the  disciples  of 
Musalmdn  teachers,  assume  their  dress,  eat  meat,  drink  spirits,  and  dis- 
regard all  the  customs  of  orthodox  Hindus  with  regard  to  receiving  food 
from  inferiors,  etc.  Their  marriage  ceremonies  are  so  expensive  that 
many  remain  single  till  late  in  life.  The  Stidras,  a  servile  caste,  follow 
next  in  numerical  importance,  aggregating  in  this  District  about  18,000. 
The  most  numerous  guilds  are — the  sondrs  or  goldsmiths,  who,  owing 
to  the  popular  taste  for  ornaments,  are,  as  a  rule,  well-to-do ;  sochis  or 
shoemakers,  who  will  not,  however,  skin  carcases  or  tan  leather,  but 
buy  it  from  the  Muhammadan  muchi ;  khdtis  or  dyeis;  and  hajdms 
or  barbers.  They  have  all  adopted  the  thread,  intermarry  only  in  their 
own  castes,  and  have  no  priests  but  Brdhmans.  Nevertheless  they  are 
held  in  Sind  in  no  higher  estimation  than  elsewhere.  Brihmans  of 
pure  descent  are  not  numerous  in  this  District,  their  aggregate  in  the 
four  Deputy  Collectorates  being  under  4000 ;  but  their  acknowledged 
superiority  to  the  castes  around  them  invests  their  small  community 
with  interest.  They  are  divided  into  two  chief  septs,  which  do  not 
intermarry — the  Pokdrno  and  S£rsudh.  The  former  are  the  more 
orthodox  Hindus,  refusing  flesh,  wearing  the  turban  and  never  the  Sind 
cap,  reading  Sanskrit,  abstemious  in  habit,  and  employing  themselves 
only  in  instructing  the  Hindus  in  their  religious  duties,  or  deciding  for 
them  questions  of  horoscope  and  ceremonial.  The  Sdrsudh,  though 
not  abstaining  altogether  from  meat,  conform  sufficiently  to  the  tradi- 
tional usages  of  high-caste  Hinduism  to  be  held  in  great  respect,  not 
only  by  inferior  castes  of  Hindus,  but  also  by  the  Sfkhs.    The  Sfkhs 

VOL.  III.  2  L 


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530  HAIDARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND. 

so  called  are  in  reality  a  nondescript  class,  recruited  from  both  Hindus 
and  Muhammadans,  containing,  however,  a  percentage  of  veritable 
followers,  of  Ndnak.    They  are  divided  into  two  well-defined  sects,  the 
Lohino  Sikh  and  the  Akali  or  KMlsa,  which  differ  in  certain  details 
of  food  and  shaving  the  hair.     Their  devotions  are  conducted  in  the 
Punjabi  language,  and  their  holy  books,  the  Adi  Granth,  etc,  are 
in  the    guardianship  of  appointed  udhasis,   in   special  dharmsdlds. 
Altogether  they  aggregate  about  23,000  in  Haidaribdd  District,  nine- 
tenths  of  the  whole  inhabiting  the  Naushahro  Deputy  CoUectorate. 
The  religious  mendicant  classes  of  the  District  are  those  of  India 
generally — the  yellow-clothed  Sanyasis,  Jogis,  and  Gosdins,  who  subsist 
by  begging  and  by  the  sale  of  amulets  and  written  charms.     All  the 
Hindus,  except  the  mendicants,  who  are  either  buried  or  thrown  into 
the  river,  according  to  their  testamentary  wish,  burn  their  dead  with 
complex  funeral  rites.    In  attire,  dwellings,  and  food,  the  people  of 
Haidardbid  do  not  differ  from  the  general  population  of  the  Province. 
Both  Muhammadans  and  Hindus  are  addicted  to  ganfa,  an  intoxicating 
preparation  of  hemp;  and  the  lowest  classes  of  the  latter  consume  country 
spirits  largely.     Opium  is  much  used,  and  its  use  is  said  to  be  on  the 
increase.    As  regards  occupation,  the  Hindus  of  the  District  may  be 
called  the  shopkeeping  class;  the  Muhammadans,  the  artisan  and 
agricultural    The  Hindu  is  astute  in  business,  supple  with  his  superiors, 
industrious,  timid;  the  Muhammadan  is  idle,  improvident,  and  often 
licentious,  but  more  independent  and  outspoken,  and  of  a  finer  physique- 
Agriculture. — Of  the  total  area  of  the  District,  about  one-half  is 
uncultivable ;  2,300,000  acres  are  cultivable  though  not  cultivated,  and 
566,800  are  under  cultivation.     Agriculture  in  Haidarabid  is  entirely 
dependent  upon  artificial  irrigation.  There  are  in  the  four  Deputy  Collec- 
torates  composing  the  District  317  canals,  300  of  which  are  Government 
property.    Fifty  of  these  are  main  channels,  which  tap  the  Indus  direct ; 
the  remainder  are  connecting  branches.     The  revenue  derived  from  this 
source  is  very  steady,  never  having  risen  above  ,£104,514  nor  fallen 
below  ,£93,423  between  the  years  1864  and  1874.    The  cost  of  clearance 
has,  however,  been  equally  regular,  and  during  the  same  decade  has 
reduced  the  net  annual  income  by  an  average  of  ^22,000.    The 
irrigation  carried  on  by  means  of  these  canals  can  be  divided  into 
three  classes  —  (1)  where  the  water  has  all  the  year  round  to  be 
raised  by  machinery ;  (2)  where  at  high  flood  the  water  will  without 
artificial  aid  fill  the  canal ;   (3)  where  machinery  is  never  required, 
the  land  lying  so  low  as  to  be  subject  to  inundation  at  every  rise 
in  the  river.    All  three  tend  to  make  cultivation  imperfect.    In  the 
first  case,  the  cost  of  raising  the  water,  estimated  at  8s.  the  acre— 
twice  as  much  as  the  land  assessment — prevents  any  large  recourse 
to  it     In  the  second,  the  cultivator  is  tempted  to  trust  to  luck, 


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HAIDARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND.  531 

and  thereby  save  expenditure  on  lifting  apparatus.  In  the  third,  the 
fields  lie  at  the  mercy  of  the  most  treacherous  of  rivers.  Agriculture, 
it  has  been  said  of  this  District,  is  looked  upon  as  a  lottery,  in  which 
the  cultivator  stakes  a  certain  amount  of  labour  and  seed  on  the 
chance  of  getting  an  exactly  suitable  flood.  If  the  water  rises  too 
high,  or  not  high  enough,  he  loses  his  crop.  The  result  is  bad  cultiva- 
tion, for  the  majority  of  the  cultivators  risk  only  the  careless  preparation 
of  a  small  patch,  which,  if  a  prize  turns  up,  will  suffice  for  their  wants  ; 
and  if  a  blank,  will  not  seriously  embarrass  them.  Irrigation  is  carried 
on  entirely  by  the  wheel  for  the  kharif  crops,  and  by  wheel  or  mok 
flooding  for  the  rabi.  Three  varieties  of  the  Persian  wheel  are  in  use — 
the  charkha,  requiring  for  efficiency  more  than  one  pair  of  bullocks ;  the 
Mr/a,  for  which  one  pair  suffices ;  and  the  pirdti  (not  common),  which 
is  worked  by  men.  The  relative  powers  of  the  three  are  as  20,  11,  4, 
Cultivation  from  wells  is  confined  entirely  to  garden  lands,  the  water 
lying  everywhere  at  so  great  a  depth  that  well-sinking  is  only  remune- 
rative where,  as  in  the  Haidarated  tdluk,  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
railway  admits  of  high  profits  on  exceptional  crops.  The  canals  begin 
to  fill  about  May,  in  proportion  to  the  annual  rise  of  the  Indus,  and 
are  again  dry  by  October.  None  are  perennial  in  the  Tando  Deputy 
Collectorate,  and  in  Hala  only  one  —  the  Mahmiida.  There  are 
three  principal  crops — namely,  the  spring  (raM),  sown  in  June  and 
reaped  in  October ;  the  autumn  (kharif),  sown  in  October  and  reaped, 
in  March ;  and  the  peshrds,  sown  in  March  and  reaped  in  May  and 
June.  The  last  is  not  grown  in  the  Tando  Deputy  Collectorate.  A 
fourth  crop,  called  addwas,  finds  a  nominal  place  in  Naushahro 
between  April  and  August.  The  crops  of  the  rati,  grown  on  land 
previously  saturated  by  canal  flooding  or  rain  (saildbi  and  bardni), 
without  any  further  irrigation  during  growth,  are  wheat,  barley,  castor 
and  other  oil-seeds,  pulses,  and  vegetables.  Those  of  the  kharif,  which 
are  sown  immediately  after  the  annual  rise  of  the  Indus  commences, 
sore  jodr,  bdjra,  til,  rice,  cotton,  sugar-cane,  chana,  hemp,  tobacco,  water- 
melons, indigo.  Those  of  the  peshrds  are  sugar-cane,  Jodr,  bdjra,  some 
pulses,  and  cotton.  The  average  yield  per  acre  of  the  above  may, 
approximately,  be  taken  to  be  as  follows: — Rice,  11  \  cwts. ;  jodr,  9; 
bdjra,  7^;  cotton  (uncleaned),  2 ;  ///,  4 ; 'tobacco,  5^;  hemp,  5;  sugar- 
cane, 23 ;  wheat,  4 ;  barley,  4 ;  pulse,  5.  The  cultivators  of  the  District 
do  not  follow  any  method  of  rotation  in  their  crops.  Their  implements 
are  of  the  usual  primitive  kind,  and  correspond  in  general  character  to 
the  European  plough,  harrow,  spade,  hoe,  drill,  and  sickle. 

The  land  tenures  of  the  District  are  simple.  Broadly  divided,  all 
land  is  either  *  assessed '  or  *  alienated.'  In  the  former  case,  the  land 
is  cultivated  either  by  the  zaminddr  himself,  or  by  occupancy  holders 
and  tenants-at-will.    The  occupancy  holder  (maurasi  hdri)  is  really 


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532  HAIDARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND. 

an  hereditary  cultivator,  for  his  rights  are  heritable  and  transferable; 
and  the  zaminddr,  except  as  regards  the  actual  payment  of  rent,  has  no 
power  over  him.  The  tenant-at-will  {ghair  maurasi)  is  legally  the 
creature  of  the  zaminddr;  but  the  large  landholders  in  the  District  do 
not  exercise  their  powers  oppressively.  The  zaminddr" s  own  tenure  is 
hardly  more  definite  here  than  elsewhere  in  India,  and  whatever  of  cer- 
tainty it  possesses  is  owing  entirely  to  British  legislation.  The  last  native 
dynasty  of  Sind  recognised  no  zaminddri  rights  whatever ;  but  recent 
orders  of  Government  have  extended  to  the  larger  landholders  leases 
on  very  favourable  terms,  and  they  enjoy,  therefore,  a  tenure  carrying 
with  it  nearly  all  the  rights  of  veritable  proprietorship.  In  the 
second  class  of  lands  (the  alienated)  there  are  four  chief  varieties,  each 
having  subdivisions,  viz.  jdgirs,  pattiddris,  khairats  (charitable  grants), 
garden  and  forest  grants.  The  jdgirs  of  the  District  were  at  the  first 
settlement  computed  at  40  per  cent  of  the  total  acreage,  but  now 
only  about  one-sixth  of  the  whole  is  alienated,  as  follows: — These  j4girs 
are  officially  classified  according  as  they  are  permanent  and  heritable, 
for  two  lives  only,  or  merely  life  grants.  All  alike  are  subject  to  a  cess 
of  s  per  cent  for  local  purposes,  and  pay  besides  to  Government  a  per- 
centage of  the  produce  assessed  according  to  their  class,  the  maximum 
being  one-fourth.  Pattiddri  grants,  which  are  of  Afghan  origin,  exist  only 
in  the  Naushahro  division.  They  obtained  recognition  at  the  settlement 
from  the  long  possession  of  the  then  incumbents,  dating,  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  from  the  first  reclamation  from  waste  or  purchase  from  the 
earliest  proprietors.  The  total  area  held  on  charitable  grants  is  not 
great  Garden  grants  are  held  free  of  assessment  or  at  a  nominal  rate, 
so  long  as  the  gardens  are  properly  maintained ;  and,  in  the  same  way, 
huris  or  tree-plantation  (not  orchard)  grants  are  held  rent  free  so  long 
as  the  land  is  exclusively  reserved  for  forest  growth.  Seriddri  grants 
are  those  made  in  consideration  of  official  services. 

For  the  purposes  of  assessment,  villages  are  classified  into  six 
varieties,  the  maximum  rates  in  each  ranging  as  follows: — On  land 
perennially  irrigated,  from  is.  6d  to  9s. ;  on  saildbi  lands,  from  is.  to 
7s.;  on  tnok  lands,  from  is.  6d.  to  5s.  64;  on  land  irrigated  by  wheel 
for  part  of  the  year  only,  from  is.  to  4s.  The  average  rate  per  acre 
on  cultivable  land  is  about  is.  5d.  Formerly  the  Government  assess- 
ment was  levied  in  kind  (khasgi),  but  on  a  petition  from  the  zaminddrs, 
the  payment  has  since  been  received  in  cash.  The  zaminddrs,  however, 
are  paid  by  the  tenants  in  kind  at  the  following  rates : — On  land  under 
charkhi  cultivation,  one-third  of  the  produce ;  on  mok  and  saildbi  lands, 
two-thirds.  In  the  case  of  the  best  lands,  yielding  cotton,  tobacco,  sugar- 
cane, etc,  the  zaminddr  receives  his  rent,  as  a  rule,  in  cash. 

Manufactures  and  Trade. — The  manufactures  of  the  District  maintain 
the  excellence  for  which  they  have  been  famous  from  early  times.    The 


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HAIDARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND.  533 

Haidardbdd  idluk  in  particular  still  enjoys  much  of  its  old  pre-eminence 
for  lacquered  work,  enamelling  (the  secret,  it  is  said,  of  one  family  only), 
and  gold  and  silver  embroidery.  In  the  righting  days  of  the  Mfrs, 
the  arms  of  Haidardbdd  were  also  held  in  the  highest  esteem;  but 
owing  to  the  reduced  demand  for  chain  armour,  shields,  and  sabres 
under  British  rule,  the  trade  is  now  in  abeyance.  In  the  HaUa  Deputy 
Collectorate,  special  features  of  the  local  industry  are  striped  and 
brilliant  cloths  known  as  siisis  and  thesis,  and  also  glazed  pottery. 
This  effective  work  is  turned  to  various  ornamental  purposes,  especially 
tiling,  and  is  remarkable  for  excellence  of  both  glaze  and  colour.  In 
the  Tando  Deputy  Collectorate,  the  manufacture  of  carpets,  silk  thread, 
and  gold  and  silver  ornaments  of  good  workmanship  is  carried  on  to 
a  great  extent  The  Naushahro  Deputy  Collectorate  has  no  special 
manufactures,  except  salt  This  is  produced  in  sufficiently  large 
quantities  to  allow,  after  local  consumption,  of  a  considerable  exporta- 
tion. In  nearly  all  the  villages  of  the  District,  some  manufacture  is 
carried  on ;  blankets,  coarse  cotton  cloths,  camel  saddles,  and  metal 
work  being  perhaps  the  most  prevalent. 

The  total  number  of  fairs  is  33,  and  the  average  attendance  at  each 
about  5000 ;  they  last  from  three  to  eighteen  days. 

The  transit  trade  of  the  District  is  very  considerable.  The  returns 
for  Hila  and  Tando  show  totals  in  the  money  value  of  the  goods  in 
transit  of  ^190,000  and  ,£90,000  respectively;  but  returns  for  the 
other  two  Deputy  Collectorates  of  the  District — namely,  Haidardbad 
and  Naushahro— are  not  available.  The  municipality  of  Haidardbdd 
derives  an  annual  income  of  ;£6ooo  from  tolls  on  transit  trade. 

Salt  of  excellent  quality,  and  in  considerable  quantity,  is  found  in 
Tando;  but  owing  to  cost  of  transport,  and  the  opposition  of  the  Bombay 
salt  merchants,  it  cannot  be  got  into  the  market  Tando  exports  salt 
to  the  value  of  only  ^1000,  and  receives  from  transit  dues  on  that 
article  ^150. 

Means  of  Communication,  etc. — The  roads  of  the  District  aggregate'  1925 
miles  in  length,  of  which  263  are  trunk  roads,  metalled,  bridged,  and 
marked  with  milestones.  The  Sind  Railway  does  not  actually  enter 
the  District,  but  touches  at  Kotri,  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Indus 
to  Gidu-Bandar  (3^  miles  from  Haidardbdd),  where  a  steam  ferry 
connects  Haidardbdd  with  Kotri.  The  telegraph  passes  through  the 
District  in  several  places,  twice  through  Hila  and  once  through  the 
Haidardbid  and  Naushahro  Deputy  Collectorates.  The  only  station 
in  the  District  is  at  Haidardbdd,  whence  also  two  lines  branch  off — one 
going  northwards  to  Rohri,  and  the  other  eastward,  via  Mirpur  Khds, 
to  Umarkot  Postal  communication  is  represented  by  1  disbursing 
station  (at  Haidar£b£d),  12  non-disbursing  stations,  and  6  branch  offices. 
The  ferries  number  in  all  68,  one  (at  Mithdni)  being  also  a  station 

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534  HAIDARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND. 

of  the  Indus  flotilla,  and  another  (at  Gidu)  a  steam-ferry.  A  small 
income  is  derived  from  this  source,  the  returns  for  Tando  showing  ^62 
per  annum.  There  are  in  the  District,  10  travellers'  bungalows  and  16 
dharmsdlds.  Dispensaries  are  4  in  number,  with  an  annual  admission 
of  9000  patients,  and  an  average  daily  attendance  of  139.  Besides 
these  institutions,  there  is  at  Haidarabdd  a  civil  and  police  hospital,  a 
convict  hospital  (in  the  jail),  and  a  charitable  dispensary,  with,  in  1874, 
18,592  admissions  and  an  average  daily  attendance  of  145. 

Administration.  —  The  chief  revenue  and  magisterial  authority  of 
Haidarabdd  District  is  vested  in  a  Collector  and  Magistrate,  who  is 
assisted  by  4  Deputy  Collectors,  for  Hala,  Tando  Muhammad  Khan, 
Naushahro,  and  Haidarabad  tdluks  respectively,  besides  a  Huzdr 
Deputy  Collector  permanently  settled  at  the  city  of  HaidaraMd,  and 
a  Cantonment  Magistrate.  The  District  and  Sessions  Judge  holds 
sessions  at  the  towns  of  Haidarabad,  Sakrand,  Hila,  and  Tando 
Muhammad  Khan  several  times  in  the  year,  and  at  Umarkot  in  the 
Thar  and  Parkar  Political  Superintendent  once  a  year.  In  each 
Deputy  Collectorate  there  is  a  subordinate  judge  with  powers  up  to 
cases  of  ^500,  who  goes  on  circuit  within  his  jurisdiction.  The 
subordinate  revenue  staff  consists  of  13  mukhiidrkdrs,  each  of  whom 
collects  the  revenue  and  exercises  limited  magisterial  powers  within 
the  limits  of  a  tdluk;  and  tapdddrs,  responsible  for  the  correct 
measurement  of  lands,  enumeration  of  irrigation  -  wheels,  etc.,  each 
within  his  tapd.  The  crimes  most  prevalent  throughout  the  District 
are  cattle -stealing,  thefts,  burglaries.  The  total  of  all  offences  during 
1874  was  5749,  of  which  about  1500  fall  under  those  three  heads. 
The  civil  courts  in  the  same  year  had  before  them  47  n  cases, 
aggregating  a  value  of  ^42,810,  distributed  as  follows: — Hala,  1296 
cases,  value  ,£14,578;  Tando  Muhammad  Khan,  642  cases,  value 
£9164;  Naushahro,  1391  cases,  value  ^7825;  Haidarabad,  1382 
cases,  value  (tdluk)  ^3333,  (city)  ^7909.  It  is  noteworthy,  that  in 
the  Tando  courts  the  Hindus  filed  against  Muhammadans  twice  as 
many  suits  as  against  Hindus,  and  that  the  Muhammadans  filled  ten 
times  as  many  against  Hindus  as  against  their  co-religionists. 

The  canal  divisions  are  supervised  by  executive  engineers  of  the 
Public  Works  Department,  with  assistants  and  suitable  establishments. 
The  northern  half  of  the  Collectorate  is  included  in  the  Rohri  Canal 
division,  the  canals  in  the  southern  making  up  the  Fuleli  division, 
while  those  in  the  Nara  valley  of  this  District  are  included  in  the 
Eastern  Nara  division. 

The  police  force  of  Haidarabad  District  is  under  the  charge  of  a 
European  District  Superintendent,  with  headquarters  at  Haidarabid, 
and  consists  of  the  following: — District  police  (including  116  horse 
and  37  camel  police),  336 ;  town  police,  167 ;  armed  foot  police,  279 ; 


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HAIDARABAD  DISTRICT,  SIND.  535 

municipal  police,  94;  total,  876  men  with  4  inspectors  and  19  chief 
constables.  There  is  therefore  1  policeman  to  every  11  square  miles 
and  to  every  824  of  the  population. 

The  revenue  of  the  District  is  derived  chiefly  from  the  land. 
The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  average  net  land  revenue  for  three 
successive  periods  of  six  years  each — 1856-62,  ,£107,506;  1862-68, 
£^06,670;  1868-74,  £111,655.  The  receipts  from  the  farm  of  liquor- 
shops  has  shown  a  steady  advance  from  £3126  in  1856-57  to  £9640 
in  1873-74,  the  number  of  stills  during  that  time  having,  nevertheless, 
declined  from  20  to  8,  and  farmers'  shops  from  158  to  146.  Since  1863, 
in  which  year  the  Government  distilleries  at  Haidar£b£d  and  Kandiiro 
were  abandoned,  all  farms  for  the  sale  of  liquor  are  sold  by  public 
auction  to  the  highest  bidder.  During  the  same  period  (1856  to  1874), 
the  number  of  European  liquor-shops  has  risen  from  1  to  6,  and  the 
receipts  from  £1,  10s.  to  £60.  The  drug  revenue,  which  in  1856 
realized  ;£i6i8,  had  risen  by  1873-74  to  £5304,  the  number  of  shops 
meanwhile  decreasing  from  213  to  180.  Neither  the  imperial  nor  the 
local  revenue  of  the  District  shows  much  variation  during  the  past  ten 
years,  the  former  being  in  1864,  ,£137,1 12,  and  in  1874,  ;£i44>944; 
the  latter  in  1866,  ^£10,326,  and  in  1874,  £12,434.  The  local  fund 
revenue  is  made  up  from  three  taxes,  levied  under  Act  viii.  of  1865 — viz. 
the  1  anna  cess  (about  6  per  cent),  the  3  per  cent,  jdgir  cess  for  roads, 
and  the  2  per  cent,  jdgir  cess  for  schools.  The  forests  in  this  District — 
32  in  number — occupy  an  area  of  183  square  miles,  and  yield  an  annual 
revenue  of  £"12,216.  The  only  jail  in  the  District  is  at  Haidarfbdd; 
average  daily  population,  500 ;  cost  of  prisoners,  about  £5  each  per 
annum;  rate  of  mortality,  7*6  per  cent.  Lock-ups  are  attached  to  the 
headquarters  station  of  each  mukhti&rk&r.  The  total  number  of 
Government  schools  for  boys  has  risen  from  21  in  1868  to  55  in  1874, 
and  the  number  of  pupils  from  1355  to  3227;  the  number  of  girls' 
schools  during  the  same  period  has  increased  from  10  to  12,  and  the 
roll  from  262  to  368.  These  figures  include  the  returns  for  the  high, 
normal,  engineering,  and  Anglo-vernacular  schools  in  Haidardbdd  city, 
where  also  the  Church  Missionary  Society  supports  a  school  with  about , 
100  pupils.  Little  seems  to  be  known  of  the  private  indigenous  schools, 
except  that  they  are  of  a  very  inferior  kind.  The  fisheries  of  the  District 
yielded  in  1873-74  a  revenue  of  £119  in  Hdla,  ^£973  in  Haidardbdd, 
and  ,£545  in  Tando.  They  are  carried  on,  not  only  in  the  Indus,  but 
also  in  the  Fuleli  river  and  some  of  the  dhand/is  and  koldbs  or  natural 
reservoirs  in  which  the  flood  waters  are  retained.  The  pala  fish  is  the 
staple  of  these  fisheries,  and  for  a  part  of  the  year  forms  the  principal  food 
of  great  numbers  of  the  people.  The  municipalities  of  the  District  are 
22  in  number,  deriving  their  revenue  from  fees  on  imports,  licence  fees, 
market  tolls,  cattle  pound  fees,  etc.,  and  expending  their  income  upon 

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536  HAIDARABAD  TALUK,  BIND. 

local  conservancy,  lighting,  police,  public  works,  and  grants-in-aid  to 
local  education.  The  statistics  of  these  institutions  in  each  of  the  four 
Subdivisions  of  the  District  are  as  follows : — Haia,  9  municipalities,  with 
incomes  ranging  from  ^57  to  ^682 ;  Haidardbaxi,  3,  viz.  that  of  the 
city  with  an  income  of  ^10,913,  and  two  others  with  an  aggregate 
income  of  ^64;  Tando,  5,  average  revenue  ^£189;  Naushahro,  5, 
average  receipts  ^190. 

Climate. — Considerable  variations  of  climate  obtain  within  the  District 
In  the  north,  the  hot  season  of  April  and  May  is  followed  by  two  months 
of  flood,  the  rest  of  the  year  being  cold  and  dry.  In  the  central  tract,  in- 
cluding Hala  and  the  Haidardbdd  tdluk,  the  cold  season  succeeds  the  hot 
without  any  intervening  inundations  to  graduate  the  transition ;  and  the 
change  occurs  sometimes  with  such  suddenness  that,  to  quote  a  local 
saying, '  sunstroke  and  frost-bite  are  possible  in  one  and  the  same  day.' 
In  the  south,  the  temperature  is  more  equable  throughout  the  year, 
6o*  F.  and  ioo°  F.  representing  the  extremes.  Following  these  climatic 
variations,  the  medical  aspects  of  the  District  vary,  the  fevers  so 
frequent  in  the  northern  division  being  almost  unknown  in  the  southern 
portion,  where  there  are  no  floods  to  leave  marsh  land  behind  them.  The 
rainfall  averages  only  5  J  inches  per  annum,  the  local  distribution  being — 
Hala  5£  inches,  Haidarabdd  6$,  Tando  Muhammad  Khan  4,  Naushahro 
5 1  inches  annually.  In  1869,  there  was  an  extraordinary  fall  of  20 
inches  all  over  the  District  The  same  year  is  memorable  for  an  out- 
break of  epidemic  cholera,  and  in  Haidarabad  tdiuk  of  severe  fever.  In 
normal  years,  the  District  is  healthy  as  compared  with  other  parts  of 
India.  Fevers,  however,  are  very  prevalent  in  September  and  October, 
when  the  inundations  cease  and  the  canals  are  drying  up,  and  they  last 
till  the  northerly  winds  set  in. 

Haidar&b&d  (Hyderabad).  —  One  of  the  four  Subdivisions  of 
Haidardbdd  District,  Sind,  lying  between  25°  10'  and  250  31'  n.  lat, 
and  between  68*  19'  and  68°  41'  e.  long.;  bounded  on  the  north  and 
east  by  the  Hala  Deputy  Collectorate ;  on  the  west  by  the  river  Indus ; 
and  on  the  south  by  Tando.  Area,  416  square  miles,  or  266,240  acres, 
of  which  34,988  are  cultivated,  43,068  cultivable,  and  188,184  uncultiv- 
able.  Population,  according  to  Census  of  1872,  98,217,  or  236  to  the 
square  mile.  The  tdluk  is  divided  into  the  7  tqpds  of  Ham,  Giindar, 
Husri,  Khathar,  Bhindo,  Kithri,  and  Fazal-jo-Tando ;  and  contains  59 
villages  and  6  chief  towns,  viz.  HaidaraMd,  Jam-jo-Tando,  Kaisar-jo- 
Tando,  Khatian,  Gidu-Bandar,  and  Husri.  The  general  aspect  of  the 
tdluk  is  more  diversified  than  that  of  the  rest  of  the  District,  for  the 
Ganga  range  runs  through  13  miles  of  its  length,  and  besides  the 
extensive  forests  there  is  a  large  proportion  of  garden  land.  It  is  well 
provided  with  canals,  there  being  43  (all  Government  property),  with 
an  aggregate  length  of  177  miles,  and  yielding  an  average  annual 

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HAIDARABAD  TALUK,  SIND.  .537 

revenue  of  £7330.  There  are  no  floods  or  lets  in  this  tdluk  except  in 
the  villages  of  Sen  and  J£m  Shoro,  and  only  one  dhandh  or  natural 
reservoir— fed  by  the  Niirwah  channel.  The  seasons,  according  to  the 
native  division,  are  four — the  kharif,  rabl,  peshrds,  and  dddwas — viz. 
February  to  March,  April  to  July,  August  to  October,  November  to 
January ;  but  in  average  years  the  transition  from  the  hot  weather  to 
the  cold  is  so  sudden  that  intermediate  seasons  can  hardly  be  recog- 
nised. The  mean  yearly  temperature  is  8o°  F.,  varying  from  an  average 
of  640  in  January  to  920  in  June ;  average  annual  rainfall,  676  inches; 
The  prevailing  winds  are  northerly  from  November  to  March,  and 
for  the  rest  of  the  year  from  the  south,  the  hot  wind  from  the 
desert  being  felt  in  May.  The  arable  soils  of  the  tdluk  do  not  differ 
from  those  of  the  rest  of  the  District ;  and  the  only  mineral  peculiarity 
is  the  nut,  a  kind  of  fuller's  earth  dug  from  mines  in  the  Ganja  Hills, 
which  is  largely  used  by  the  natives  as  soap.  T^e  farm  of  these  mines 
realizes  a  revenue  of  £450  per  annum.  The  fauna  and  flora  are  not 
specially  remarkable.  The  chief  timber-tree  is  the  bdbul,  extensively 
grown  in  the  forests  of  Mi£ni  (Meeanee),  Kdthri,  Ghalhim,  Khathar,  and 
Husri,  which  aggregate  an  area  of  12,070  acres,  yielding  to  Government 
an  annual  revenue  of  £1837.  They  were  all  planted  by  the  Mirs  of 
Sind  at  different  dates  between  1790  and  1832.  The  three  fisheries  of 
the  tdluk  (the  B£di,  Sipki,  and  Karo  KMho)  yield  an  annual  revenue 

of  ^973- 

The  population  of  the  Deputy  Collectorate,  98,217,  was  divided  in 
the  Census  of  1872  as  follows: — Muhammadans,  65,627,  including 
9939  Baluchfs,  46,361  Sindfs,  2322  Sayyids,  1402  Memons  and 
Khwdjas,  927  Mughals,  449  Pathans,  and  136  Bramlis;  Hindus, 
27,304,  including  20,861  Vaisyas,  4540  Siidras,  1198  Br&imans,  720 
Kshattriyas,  and  163  miscellaneous  (Kachhis,  Bhils,  etc) ;  Sikhs,  4454. 
These  figures  are  inclusive  of  the  native  military  establishment,  but 
exclusive  of  the  Europeans,  Eurasians,  Pirsf  s,  Goanese,  etc.,  official  and 
otherwise,  living  in  the  cantonments. 

The  revenue  and  magisterial  charge  of  the  tdluk  is  vested  in  a 
Deputy  Collector,  with  1  mukhtidrkdr  and  7  tapdddrs.  In  the  city  of 
Haidardbdd,  there  is  also  the  Huzdr  Deputy  Collector,  the  Cantonment 
Magistrate,  and  the  subordinate  judge  of  the  Civil  Court  The  police 
of  the  tdluk  and  city  aggregate  405  men,  of  whom"  333  are  in  the  city, 
and  the  remainder,  72,  distributed  over  the  tdluk  in  15  thdnds  or 
outposts. 

The  revenue  of  the  tdluk  for  1873-74  was  ,£22,179,  being  £20,162 
imperial  and  £2017  local,  derived  from  the  following  sources: — 
Imperial— land  tax,  £8038 ;  abk&ri  or  excise,  £7377 ;  stamps,  £3757 ; 
salt,  ,£358 ;  registration,  £240 ;  telegraph,  £281 ;  fines  and  fees,  £84 ; 
postal  and  miscellaneous,  ^£27 :  Local— cesses  on  land  and  sayer  or 


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538  HAIDARABAD  TOWN,  SIND. 

customs,  ^490;  percentage  on  alienated  lands,  £26;  cattle  pound 
and  ferry  funds,  ^510;  fisheries,  ^906;  tolls,  ^85. 

The  topographical  survey  of  the  tdluk  for  the  purposes  of  settlement 
was  completed  in  1858.  The  prevailing  tenure  is  the  usual  zaminddri 
of  the  District.  There  are  in  the  tdluk  50  jdgirddrs,  holding  between 
them  63,902  acres,  or  one -fourth  of  the  whole  area,  62,506  being 
arable,  and  paying  an  annual  revenue  of  ^£440.  A  single  jdgird&r, 
Mir  Muhammad  Khan  Khanani,  holds  above  28,353  acres.  The 
number  of  seri  grants  is  47;  total  acreage,  1140;  and  there  are 
besides  42  mdfiddrs  holding  small  patches  rent  free, 

Three  towns  —  Haidarabad,  Adam-jo-Tando,  and  Kaisar-jo- 
Tando — have  been  constituted  municipalities,  the  annual  income  being 
^10,978. 

The  only  medical  establishments,  jails,  post  office,  and  telegraph 
station  in  the  District  are  in  Haidarabad  City,  as  also  are  the  chief 
educational  institutions. 

Haidar&b&d  {Hyderabad). — Municipal  town  and  chief  town  of 
Haidarabad  District,  Sind.  Lat  250  23'  5*  n.,  long.  68°  24'  51'  e.  ; 
pop.  (1872),  35,272,  of  whom  13,065  are  Muhammadans,  16,889 
Hindus,  367  Christians,  and  4951  'others.'  The  suburban  population 
is  reckoned  at  5880.  The  municipal  area  is  about  15  square  miles. 
The  municipal  revenue  (1873-74)  was  ^10,913,  and  the  disbursements, 
^8495 ;  rate  of  municipal  taxation,  6s.  2d.  per  head.  Upon  the  site 
of  the  present  fort  is  supposed  to  have  stood  the  ancient  town  of 
Nerankot,  which  in  the  8th  century  submitted  to  Muhammad  Kisim 
Sakffi.  In  1768,  the  present  city  was  founded  by  Ghulam  Shall 
Kalhora;  and  it  remained  the  chief  town  of  the  Province  until  1843, 
when,  after  the  battle  of  Miani  (Meeanee),  it  surrendered  to  the  British 
and  the  capital  was  transferred  to  Karachi  (Kurrachee).  The  city  is 
built  on  the  most  northerly  hills  of  the  Ganja  range,  a  site  of  great 
natural  strength,  3  \  miles  east  of  the  Indus,  with  which  it  is  connected 
by  the  high  road  to  Gidu-Bandar,  where  a  steam-ferry  crosses  the  river 
to  Kotri  on  the  Sind  Railway.  In  the  fort,  which  covers  an  area  of 
36  acres,  are  the  arsenal  of  the  Province,  transferred  hither  from 
Karachi  (Kurrachee)  in  186 1,  and  the  palaces  of  the  ex-Mirs  of  Sind. 
Haidarabad  is  at  present  supplied  with  water  from  the  plains  below 
the  town ;  but  a  system  of  works  is  now  (1877)  under  construction, 
which  provides  for  bringing  water  from  the  Indus  at  Gidu-Bandar, 
and  storing  it  in  a  reservoir  for  the  city  and  a  well  in  the  fort 
Haidarabad  is  the  centre  of  all  the  Provincial  communications — road, 
telegraphic,  postal.  From  the  earliest  times,  its  manufactures — 
ornamented  silks,  silver  and  gold  work,  and  lacquered  ware — have  been 
the  chief  of  the  Province,  and  in  recent  times  have  gained  prizes  at  the 
Industrial  Exhibitions  of  Europe.    A  local  specialty  is  the  manufacture 

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HAIDARABAD  PARGANA  AND  TOWN,  OUDIL    539 

of  the  earthen  vessels,  mati,  which  are  used  by  the  pa/a  fishermen  to 
buoy  themselves  up  on  the  water  while  fishing.  Statistics  of  the  local 
trade  are  not  available;  but,  as  the  municipality  derives  an  annual 
income  of  ^6000  from  tolls  on  various  articles,  it  must  be  very  con- 
siderable. The  chief  public  institutions  and  buildings  are  the  jail 
(capable  of  holding  600  convicts),  the  Government  Anglo-vernacular, 
engineering,  high,  and  normal  schools,  post  office,  municipal  markets, 
court-houses,  civil  and  police  hospital,  charitable  dispensary,  library, 
travellers'  bungalow,  and  lunatic  asylum.  To  the  building  of  the  last, 
Sir  Cowasjee  Jahingfr  Readymoney  subscribed  ^5000.  The  barracks — 
occupied  by  artillery  and  infantry,  European  and  native,  12 16  strong — 
are  built  in  12  blocks,  with  hospitals,  bdzdr,  etc.,  to  the  north-west  of 
the  city.  The  only  noteworthy  antiquities  are  the  tombs  of  the  Kalhora 
and  Tdlpur  Mirs.  The  Residency,  memorable  for  its  gallant  defence 
by.  Sir  James  Outram  against  the  Baluchfs  in  1843,  situated  3  miles 
from  Haidardbdd,  is  known  as  Mfr-jo-Tando,  being  the  residence  of 
some  of  the  ex-M{rs  of  Sind.     For  further  history,  see  Sind  Province. 

HaAdaaAbML—Pargand  of  Nighdsan  tahsil,  Kheri  District,  Oudh. 
A  part  of  the  old  pargand  Bhiirwara  belonging  to  the  Ahbans  and 
Pdsis;  afterwards  seized  by  the  Sayyids,  and  then  occupied  by  the 
Gaurs,  with  whom  a  zaminddri  settlement  was  effected  about  1792  a.d. 
Since  then  various  branches  of  the  old  Ahban  family  have  recovered 
possession,  and  they  now  own  the  principal  estates.  The  rest  of  the 
zatninddrs  are  retainers  or  followers  of  the  Sayyids  and  the  chakldddrs. 
Along  the  banks  of  the  Kathnd,  which  forms  the  western  boundary, 
the  land  lies  very  low,  and  is  covered  with  jungle.  The  ground  slowly 
rises,  and  the  cultivated  tract  commences  about  2  miles  from  the 
river.  The  soil  here  is  a  light  domdt,  but  it  rapidly  improves,  and 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  border  of  cultivation  is  of  the  very  highest 
quality,  producing  every  variety  of  crop,  and  paying  high  rents.  The 
belt  of  villages  lying  across  the  centre  of  the  pargand,  most  of  which 
are  the  property  of  Government,  produce  sugar  of  the  greatest  purity, 
which  requires  hardly  any  refining  to  make  the  clearest  candy,  and 
realizes  a  considerably  higher  price  than  any  other  in  the  Shihjahdnpur 
market  Fine  groves  also  dot  the  pargand.  Area,  98  square  miles,  of 
which  41  are  cultivated.  Pop.  (according  to  the  Census  of  1869,  but 
allowing  for  recent  changes),  Hindus,  30,997 ;  Musalmdns,  47 1 1 ; 
total,  35,708,  viz.  19,297  males  and  16,411  females.  Number  of 
villages,  108 ;  average  density  of  population,  317  per  square  mile.  In 
the  south  of  the  pargand9  near  the  Kathni,  are  the  ruins  of  the  jungle 
fort  of  Mahmiiddbdd ;  a  similar  fort  is  found  at  Ahmadnagar.  Both 
attest  the  former  greatness  of  the  Sayyids  of  Pihini,  by  whom  they 
were  erected. 

Haidar&bi<L — Town  in  Unao  District,  Oudh;  19  miles  north  of 


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540  HAIDARGARH—HAILAKANDI. 

Unao  town.  Lat  260  55'  n.,  long.  8o°  17'  e.  Founded  about  180 
years  ago  by  Haidar  Kh4n,  who  named  it  after  himself.  Pop.  (1869), 
Hindus,  3043  ;  Muhammadans,  766 ;  total,  3809,  dwelling  in  788  mud 
houses.  Two  weekly  markets;  small  annual  trading  fair.  Average 
sales,  about  ^2400. 

Haidargarh.— Tahsil  or  Subdivision  of  Bdra  Binki  District,  Oudh; 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Bira  Bdnki  and  Rim  Sanehi  tahsils,  on 
the  east  by  Mus£firkh£na  tahsil  of  Sultdnpur,  on  the  south  by 
Mah4r£jganj  tahsil  of  R£i  Bareli,  and  on  the  west  by  Mohanldlganj 
tahsil  of  Lucknow;  lying  between  26*  31'  30*  and  26*  51'  n.  lat,  and 
between  8i°  12'  and  8i°  39'  e.  long.  Area,  297  square  miles,  of  which 
181  are  cultivated.  Pop.  (according  to  the  Census  of  1869,  but  allowing 
for  recent  changes),  206,663,  viz.  104,445  males  and  102,218  females; 
including  Hindus,  184,333;  Muhammadans,  21,317.  Number  of 
villages  or  townships,  372 ;  average  density  of  population,  685  per 
square  mile. 

Haidargarh. — Pargand  of  Haidargarh  tahsil,  B4ra  Bdnki  District, 
Oudh ;  bounded  on  the  north  by  Siddhaur  pargand,  on  the  east  by 
Subehk  pargand,  on  the  south  by  Bachhrdwdn  pargand  of  Rdi  Bareli, 
and  on  the  west  by  Lucknow.  Originally  occupied  by  the  Briars,  who 
were  dispossessed  by  Sayyid  Mfran,  and  afterwards  extirpated  by  Sultin 
Ibrihim  of  Jaunpur.  It  is  now  chiefly  in  the  possession  of  the  Amethia 
clan  of  Rdjputs.  Area,  103  square  miles,  of  which  59  are  cultivated. 
Government  land  revenue,  ^18,819,  or  an  average  of  5s.  8Jd.  per  acre. 
Autumn  crops — rice  of  excellent  quality,  cotton,  hemp,  millet,  and 
pulses;  spring  crops  —  wheat,  barley,  gram,  linseed,  peas,  sugar, 
tobacco,  and  poppy.  Of  the  118  villages  of  which  the  pargand  is 
composed,  61 J  are  tdlukddri,  29 \  taminddri,  26  pattiddri,  and  1  bhaya- 
chdra.  Pop.  (1869),  Hindus,  67,676 ;  Muhammadans,  3882 ;  total, 
71,558,  viz.  36,307  males  and  35,251  females;  average  density  of 
population,  694  per  square  mile.  Grain  is  exported  to  Lucknow, 
Sultinpur,  Dar&bid,  and  Cawnpore ;  principal  imports,  cotton  and  salt 
Saltpetre  is  manufactured  in  four  villages  to  the  extent  of  35,000 
maunds,  or  1277  tons,  annually.    Seven  market  villages. 

Haidargarh. — Town  in  Bdra  Bdnki  District,  Oudh ;  25  miles  east 
of  the  headquarters  station.  Founded  by  Amfr-ud-daul£  Hafdar  Beg 
Khdn,  Prime  Minister  of  Nawib  Asif-ud-daul&  It  is  now  the  seat  of 
the  tahsil  revenue  courts,  but  otherwise  of  little  importance. 

Haidargarh.  —  Pass  in  South  Kanara  District,  Madras. — Stc 
Hassangadl 

|Tft.i1&1r4iifl<, — Subdivision  in  the  south  of  C£ch£r  District,  Assam. 
Area,  344  square  miles ;  pop.  (1872),  65,671. 

HailAktodi— Village  in  the  south  of  Cachir  District,  Assam,  on 
the  right  or  east  bank  of  the  Dhdleswari  river.    Headquarters  of  the 


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HAING-GYI—HAJIPUR.  541 

Subdivision  of  the  same  name,  and  also  a  thdnd  or  police  station.  It 
gives  its  name  to  a  fertile  valley,  which  is  entirely  laid  under  water 
by  the  floods  of  every  rainy  season. 

Haing-gyi  (or  Negrais). — An  island  in  the  Bassein  or  Nga-won  river, 
in  Pegu  Division,  British  Burma.  Lat  15°  54/  n.,  long.  940  20'  e.  It 
is  situated  near  the  western  bank,  3  \  miles  distant  from  Pagoda  Point, 
and  is  rendered  conspicuous  by  a  hill  at  its  northern  end,  which  slopes 
away  towards  the  centre.  A  narrow  belt  of  level  ground  skirts  the 
coast  The  channel  between  Negrais  and  the  Bassein  is  1  mile  broad 
on  the  south  and  4^  miles  broad  on  the  north,  opposite  the  abandoned 
station  of  Dalhousie,  For  the  history  of  Negrais  Island,  see  Bassein 
District. 

H^jamro. — River  of  Sind ;  one  of  the  central  deltaic  channels  of  the 
Indus ;  debouches  into  the  sea  south-east  of  Karachi  (Kurrachee),  in 
lat  240  6'  n.,  and  long.  670  22'  e. 

H^jfganj. — Town  and  headquarters  of  a  police  circle  {thdnd\  in 
Tipperah  District,  Bengal;  situated  on  the  D4k£ti£  river.  Lat  23°  15' 
N.,  long.  900  53'  30"  e.  An  important  seat  of  river  traffic  Betel-nut 
is  extensively  cultivated,  and  a  considerable  trade  in  the  article  carried 
on  with  Dacca,  Nar&nganj,  and  Calcutta. 

H^jipur. — Subdivision  of  MuzafTarpur  District*  Bengal .  Area,  662 
square  miles,  with  1306  villages  and  77,203  houses ;  lying  between  25°  29' 
and  260  1'  n.  lat,  and  between  850  6'  45"  and  85°  41'  e.  long.  Pop. 
(1872),  543,845 — Hindus,  493,308,  or  907  per  cent;  Muhammadans, 
50,489,  or  9*3  per  cent ;  Christians,  44 ;  'others,'  4 ; — males,  257,373, 
and  females,  286,472.  Proportion  of  males  in  total  population,  47*3 
per  cent ;  average  density  of  population,  822  per  square  mile ;  number 
of  villages  per  square  mile,  1*97  ;  persons  per  village,  416  ;  houses  per 
square  mile,  113;  persons  per  house,  7*6.  The  Subdivision,  which 
was  formed  in  1865,  comprises  the  4  police  circles  of  Lalganj,  Mahwa, 
Hijiganj,  and  Mohnir. 

EUjlpur. — Municipal  town  and  headquarters  of  Hdjipur  Subdivision, 
and  a  police  circle  {thdnd),  Muzaffarpur  District,  Bengal;  situated  on 
the  right  or  east  bank  of  the  Little  Gandak,  a  short  distance  above  its 
confluence  with  the  Ganges  opposite  Patnd.  Lat  250  40'  50"  n.,  long. 
850  14  24"  e.  Said  to  have  been  founded  by  one  Hiji  Ilyas,  about  500 
years  ago,  the  supposed  ramparts  of  whose  fort,  enclosing  an  area  of 
360  bighds,  are  still  visible.  The  old  town  is  reported  to  have  reached 
as  far  as  Mohnar  th&nd,  20  miles  to  the  east,  and  to  a  village  called 
Gadii-sardi  on  the  north.  Hijfpur  figures  conspicuously  in  the  history 
of  the  struggles  between  Akbar  and  his  rebellious  Afghan  governors  of 
Bengal,  being  twice  besieged  and  captured  by  the  imperial  troops,  in 
1572  and  again  in  1574.  Its  command  of  water  traffic  in  three 
directions  makes  the  town  a  place  of  considerable  commercial  im- 

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542  HAJO—HALA  DEPUTY  COLLECTORATE. 

portance.  Pop.  (1872),  22,306 — viz.  Hindus,  18,765;  Muhammadans, 
3510  ;  Christians,  27  ;  '  others,'  4; — males,  10,737,  an^  IX>S^9  females. 
Municipal  revenue  (1876-77),  ^457  ;  expenditure,  ^648 ;  incidence  of 
taxation,  4|d.  per  head  of  population  within  municipal  limits.  Within 
the  limits  of  the  old  fort  is  a  small  stone  mosque,  very  plain,  but 
of  peculiar  architecture,  attributed  to  Hijf  Ilyas.  Its  top  consists 
of  three  rounded  domes,  the  centre  one  being  the  largest  They  are 
built  of  horizontally  placed  rows  of  stones,  each  row  being  a  circle,  and 
each  successive  circle  being  more  contracted  than  the  one  immediately 
below  it,  until  the  key-stone  is  reached,  which  is  also  circular.  Two 
other  mosques  and  a  small  Hindu  temple  are  in  the  town  or  its  immediate 
vicinity.  A  Buddhist  temple  is  surrounded  by  a  sardi  or  rest-house, 
built  for  the  accommodation  of  the  late  Sir  Jang  Bahadur,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  visits  from  Nepal  Besides  the  ordinary  courts,  the 
town  contains  a  school,  police  station,  post  office,  charitable  dispen- 
sary, and  distillery. 

H4J0. — Village  in  the  north  of  Kironip  District,  Assam,  near  the 
left  or  east  bank  of  the  Baraliya*  river,  and  about  6  miles  north  of 
the  Brahmaputra.  In  the  immediate  neighbourhood  is  the  celebrated 
Mahimuni  temple,  situated  on  the  summit  of  a  low  hill.  The  place 
is  annually  visited  by  thousands  of  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  India,  not 
only  Hindus,  but  also  Buddhists  from  beyond  the  Himalaya,  who 
venerate  it  as  a  spot  rendered  sacred  by  the  presence  of  the  founder 
of  their  faith. 

H&la. — Deputy  Collectorate  of  Haidarabad  (Hyderabad)  Dis- 
trict, Sind,  situated  between  250  8'  and  26*  15'  n.  lat,  and  between 
68°  16'  30"  and  69*  17'  e.  long.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Naushahro  Deputy  Collectorate ;  on  the  south  by  Haidardbdd  taluk 
and  Tando;  on  the  east  by  the  Thar  and  Pdrkar  Political  Superin- 
tendency;  and  on  the  west  by  the  Indus.  Area,  2500  square  miles; 
population  (1872),  216,139.  The  Deputy  Collectorate  is  divided  into 
4  td/uks,  viz.  Hala,  AlahyaY-jo-Tando,  Shalidadpur,  Mirpur  Khis.  It 
contains  245  villages  and  townships,  14  of  which  have  a  population  over 
800.  In  general  aspect,  it  is  an  unbroken  plain,  sandy  and  unprofitable, 
on  the  eastern  side ;  but  intersected  by  canals  and  fringed  with  forest 
on  the  west.  These  canals,  95  in  number,  are,  with  the  exception  of 
one,  Government  property;  they  have  an  aggregate  length  of  1874 
miles,  and  yield  an  annual  income  of  ^£2  7,995.  Temperature,  74*  to 
1030 ;  average  annual  rainfall,  about  6  inches.  The  only  peculiarity 
in  the  soil  is  an  unctuous  earth  called  chdniah^  said  to  have  been 
obtained  from  lakes  near  the  town  of  Hala,  and  eaten,  especially  by 
women.  Chdniah  is  now  the  name  of  a  compound  of  soda,  largely 
used  in  the  glazing  of  pottery.  Snakes  abound,  and  are  very  destruc- 
tive to  human  life.    The  chief  tree  is  the  bdbuL    The  forest  areas 


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HALA  DEPUTY  COLLECTORATE.  543 

aggregate  24,764  acres,  yielding  in  1873-74  a  revenue  of  ,£3066. 
They  were  all  planted  between  1790  and  1830  by  the  Mfrs  of  Sind. 
The  fisheries,  eight  in  number,  yield  a  revenue  of  ,£130. 

The  population  of  the  Deputy  Collect  orate  (216,139)  was  divided 
in  the  Census  of  1872  as  follows:  —  Muhammadans,  176,773;  and 
Hindus,  39,366.  In  character,  habits,  dress,  etc.,  the  inhabitants  of 
Hala  are  not  distinguished  by  any  peculiarities  from  those  of  the  rest 
of  the  District  As  elsewhere  in  Sind,  the  prevalent  crimes  are  cattle- 
stealing,  theft,  and  housebreaking.  The  criminal  returns  for  1874  show 
a  total  of  161 1  offences,  or  1  in  134  of  the  population.  The  civil 
returns  for  the  same  year  give  a  total  of  1296  suits,  value  ,£14,578. 
The  chief  revenue  and  magisterial  charge  is  vested  in  a  Deputy 
Collector  and  Magistrate,  who  has  under  him  a  mukhtidrkdr  for  each 
of  the  4  tdluks,  and  a  tapdddr  for  each  of  the  24  tapds.  The  only 
civil  court  in  the  Deputy  Collectorate  is  that  at  the  town  of  Hala, 
presided  over  by  a  native  subordinate  judge,  who  goes  thence  on 
circuit  annually  to  Adam-jo-Tando,  Alahya>-jo-Tando,  Mfrpur  Khas, 
and  Shahdidpur.  The  Hala  police  number  164  officers  and  men,  or  1 
constable  to  13 17  of  the  population.  Forty-three  of  the  whole  are 
mounted.   The  only  jails  are  the  4  lock-ups  at  the  mukhtidrkdr  stations. 

The  revenue  of  the  Deputy  Collectorate  for  1873-74  was  ^39,314, 
being  ,£36,970  imperial  and  .£2344  local,  derived  from  the  following 
sources: — Imperial—  J^and  tax,  ,£29,285;  abkdri,  £3250;  stamps, 
,£3054;  salt,  ,£124;  registration,  £"522;  postal  and  miscellaneous, 
j£66g:  Local—  Cesses  on  land  and  sayer,  ,£1782;  percentage  on 
alienated  lands,  £"65;  ferry  funds,  ,£363;  fisheries,  ,£130.  A  topo- 
graphical survey  for  the  purposes  of  assessment  was  completed  in 
1865.  The  rates  of  the  Settlement  concluded  in  1871-72  for  ten  years, 
vary  from  is.  for  inferior  soils  to  8s.  for  high-class  irrigated  lands. 
Tenants,  as  a  rule,  pay  the  zaminddr  in  kind,  but  the  Government 
dues  are  now  received  in  money.  The  prevailing  tenure  is  the  ordinary 
zaminddri  of  Haidarabad  District,  but  jdgirs  are  very  numerous,  98 
grantees  holding  between  them  250,000  acres,  97,000  of  which  are 
cultivable.  The  total  number  of  seri  grants  is  68,  aggregating  912 
acres.     The  number  of  mafidars  is  48. 

There  are  9  municipalities  within  the  Deputy  Collectorate — Alahydr- 
jo-Tando,  Adam-jo-Tando,  Hala,  Ghotana,  Khokhar,  Matirf,  Mfrpur, 
Narsapur,  Shahdadpur — with  an  annual  aggregate  income  of  .£2535. 
The  only  dispensaries  are  at  Hala  and  AlahyaVjo-Tando — total  admis- 
sions (during  1874),  4543 ;  average  daily  attendance,  40.  There  are  in 
all  20  Government  schools,  with  an  attendance  of  849 ;  the  indigenous 
schools  number  11,  with  120  scholars.  At  the  village  of  Salaro,  near 
Hala,  an  experimental  cotton  farm  and  economic  garden  is  maintained 
by  Government 


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544  HALA—HALA,  OLD. 

The  trade  of  the  Deputy  Collectorate  is  confined  almost  wholly 
to  agricultural  produce.  Exports,  ,£139,798;  imports,  ^£85,163. 
Transit  trade,  about  ^190,000.  Lacquered  ware,  glazed  pottery  (for 
which  prizes  were  gained  by  the  Hila  workmen  at  the  Karichi 
(Kurrachee)  Exhibition  of  1869),  and  striped  cloths  called  susis  and 
khesis  are  the  chief  manufactures.  There  are  in  all  22  fairs,  the  chief 
one  (a  Hindu)  being  attended  annually  by  35,000  persons;  the 
remainder  are  Muhammadan  fairs,  with  an  average  attendance  of 
3000.  Roads  aggregate  nearly  600  miles  in  length ;  none  are  metalled, 
and  very  few  even  partially  bridged. 

The  chief  antiquities  are  the  ruins  of  Brahmanabad  and  Khudabid. 
The  latter,  2  miles  from  Hila  (New),  was  once  the  favourite  residence 
of  the  Tilpur  chiefs,  and  is  said  to  have  rivalled  Haidarabid  in  size 
and  population.  The  ancient  tombs  at  Lal-Udero,  Kimiro,  and  Myo 
Vahio  are  all  noteworthy. 

Bii&.—Td/uk  of  the  Hila  Deputy  Collectorate,  Sind.  Pop.  (1872), 
78,237;  area,  524  square  miles;  revenue  for  1873-74,  ,£13,467, 
being  £12,471  imperial  and  £996  local. 

HAla,  New. — Municipal  town  and  chief  town  in  the  Hila  Deputy 
Collectorate,  Haidaribid  District,  Sind ;  formerly  known  as  Murtizibid. 
Lat.  250  48'  30"  n.,  long.  68°  27'  30"  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  4096 — including 
2646  Muhammadans  (mainly  agriculturists  of  the  Memon  tribe),  and 
1 234  Hindus  (chiefly  Lohinos  and  Bhabras,  traders).  Municipal  revenue 
(1873-74),  £275;  expenditure,  £263;  rate  of  taxation,  njd.  per 
head.  The  local  trade  consists  chiefly  of  grain,  piece-goods,  gAi,  cotton, 
and  sugar,  valued  approximately  at  £3900.  The  transit  trade  (in  the 
same  articles)  is  valued  at  about  £700.  Hila  has  long  been  famous 
for  its  glazed  pottery  and  tiles,  made  from  a  fine  clay  obtained  from  the 
Indus,  mixed  with  powdered  flints.  The  ornamentation  is  brilliant  and 
tasteful.  The  susis  or  trouser-cloths,  for  which  Hila  is  also  celebrated, 
are  manufactured  to  the  value  of  ^750  yearly.  Hila  was  built  about 
1800  a.d.  in  consequence  of  Hala  (Old),  2  miles  distant,  being 
threatened  with  encroachment  by  the  Indus.  Among  the  antiquities 
round  which  the  new  town  has  grown  up  are  the  tomb  and  mosque  of 
a  Pfr  or  saint,  who  died  in  the  16th  century,  and  in  whose  honour  a 
fair,  largely  attended  by  Muhammadans  from  all  parts  of  the  Province, 
is  held  twice  a  year.  The  British  Government  contributed,  in  1876, 
;£ioo  to  the  repair  of  this  tomb.  Hila  is  situated  on  the  Aliganj 
Canal,  and  is  immediately  connected  with  the  Trunk  Road  at  two 
points.  It  contains  a  subordinate  judge's  and  mukhiidrkdr's  courts, 
dispensary,  and  travellers'  bungalow. 

Hila,  Old.— Town  in  the  Hila  Deputy  Collectorate,  Haidaribid 
District,  Sind.  Pop.  (1872),  2467,  mainly  agriculturists.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  founded  about  1422  a.d.,  but  was  partially  abandoned  in 


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HAtANI—HALEBID.  545 

1800  a.d.  owing  to  threatened  encroachments  of  the  Indus;  and  Hala 
(New)  was  built  in  its  stead,  2  miles  off. 

fffllfoi, — Town  in  the  Naushahro  Deputy  Collectorate,  Haidar£b£d 
District,  Sind.  Pop.  (1872),  1633,  mainly  agriculturists ;  the  Muhamma- 
dans  are  chiefly  Sahatas,  and  the  Hindus  are  Lohinos  and  Punjabis. 
Export  trade  in  grain ;  annual  value,  ^£700.  Near  Hildni  the  Tdlpur 
forces  defeated  in  178 1  the  last  of  the  Kalhora  dynasty,  and  the  tombs 
of  the  chiefs  who  fell  in  the  battle  mark  the  spot  The  town  lies  on 
the  high  road,  and  is  about  200  years  old. 

Halaria.  —  One  of  the  petty  States  of  South  Kithiiwir,  Bombay 
Presidency ;  consists  of  4  villages,  with  3  independent  tribute-payers. 
The  revenue  in  1876  was  estimated  at  ^1500;  tribute  of  ;£io  is  paid 
to  the  Gdekwir  of  Baroda,  and  £1  to  Jundgarh. 

HaicUL  —  River  of  Chittagong  District,  Bengal ;  one  of  the  chief 
tributaries  of  the  Karnaphulf.  Navigable  by  native  boats  for  a  distance 
of  24  miles  throughout  the  year,  and  for  35  miles  in  the  rainy  season. 
One  of  the  principal  fishing  rivers  of  the  District. 

Haldi — River  of  Southern  Bengal,  rising  in  lat.  220  18'  30"  n.,  and 
long.  870  13'  15"  e.,  near  the  western  boundary  of  Midnapur  District 
Flows  south-south-east  till  it  falls  into  the  Hiigli,  in  lat  22*0'  30"  n., 
long.  88°  6'  15"  e.,  near  Nandfgdon,  in  the  Tamliik  Subdivision,  a  few 
miles  south  of  the  confluence  of  the  Riipnirdyan  and  HiSglf.  The  Haldf 
is  a  large  river  at  its  mouth,  and  is  navigable  throughout  the  year  up 
to  the  point  where  it  receives  its  principal  tributary,  the  Kasai,  beyond 
which  it  dwindles  away  into  an  inconsiderable  stream.  Its  other 
tributary  is  the  Kil&ghdi,  a  non-navigable  stream,  which  takes  its  rise 
in  the  north-west  of  Midnapur,  and  empties  itself  into  the  Haldf  near 
Ndrdyangarh  police  station.  The  Haldi  is  connected  with  the  Riipn£- 
rdyan  on  the  north,  and  with  the  RasiSlpur  river  on  the  south,  by  a 
tidal  navigable  canal. — See  Rupnarayan  and  Rasalpur  Canal. 

Halebid  ('Old  Ruins '). — Village  in  Hassan  District,  Mysore.  Lat. 
13°  12'  20"  n.,  long.  76*  2'  e.;  pop.  (1871),  1207.  The  site  of 
the  ancient  city  of  Donlsamudra  or  Dvdrkvatipura,  the  capital  of  the 
Hoysala  Ballila  dynasty.  It  was  apparently  rebuilt  in  the  13th  cen- 
tury by  King  Vira  Someswara,  described  in  certain  inscriptions  as  the 
founder.  To  him  is  assigned  the  erection  of  the  two  magnificent 
temples  in  honour  of  Siva,  which  rank  among  the  masterpieces  of 
Hindu  art  The  larger  of  these,  the  Haisaleswara  temple,  though 
never  completed,  has  elicited  from  Mr.  Fergusson  the  opinion  that, 
'  taken  altogether,  it  is  perhaps  the  building  on  which  the  advocate  of 
Hindu  architecture  would  desire  to  take  his  stand'  Its  dimensions  are 
roughly  200  feet  square,  and  25  feet  high  above  the  terrace  on  which 
it  stands.  The  material  is  an  indurated  potstone  of  volcanic  origin, 
found  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  takes  a  polish  like  marble.    The 

vol.  iil  2  M 

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546  HALER1—HAL0N. 

ornamentation  consists  of  a  series  of  friezes  one  above  another,  each 
about  700  feet  long,  and  carved  with  the  most  exquisite  elabora- 
tion. One  frieze  alone  represents  a  procession  of  not  less  than  2000 
elephants.  The  smaller  or  Kaitabheswara  temple  has  unfortunately 
been  entirely  split  to  pieces  in  recent  years  by  the  growth  of  trees  and 
their  roots  through  the  joins  of  the  stones.  Some  of  the  most  perfect 
sculptures  have  been  removed  to  the  Museum  at  Bangalore.  There 
are  also  ruins  of  Jain  bastis  and  of  other  buildings  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  city  of  Dorasamudra  was  taken  and  sacked  by  the 
Muhammadans  in  13 10,  and  the  capital  of  the  Ballalas  transferred  to 
Tondanur. 

Haleri. — Village  in  the  territory  of  Coorg,  which  has  an  historical 
interest  as  the  first  settlement  of  the  family  of  Lingayats  from  Ikkeri  in 
Mysore,  who  established  themselves  as  Rajas  of  Coorg  in  the  17th 
century.  The  old  palace  is  still  in  existence.  It  is  built  on  the  usual 
plan  of  Coorg  houses,  though  on  a  larger  scale,  and  with  breastworks 
and  other  defences.     Lat  12°  27'  n.,  long.  75°  52'  e. 

TTft.lhn.1iA — River  of  Bengal,  formerly  a  considerable  stream  lining 
in  Maimansinh  District,  which  has  now  almost  disappeared,  or  been 
absorbed  by  the  Brahmaputra  or  Jamuna.  Branches  of  it,  however, 
remain  on  both  sides  of  the  Jamuna,  that  on  the  west  bank  being  much 
the  larger  of  the  two,  and  flowing  in  a  very  tortuous  course  through 
Bogra  District,  for  about  30  miles,  until  it  joins  the  Karatoya  at  Khan- 
pur.  The  lower  part  of  the  Halhalia  is  navigable  for  large  boats. 
Chief  markets  on  the  banks — Kalianf,  Pachibari,  Dhunot,  Gosainbarf, 
and  Chandanbasia.  The  Halhalia  is  locally  confounded  with  another 
river,  the  Manas,  which  has  almost  disappeared  in  consequence  of  the 
same  causes  to  which  the  Halhalia  itself  owes  its  diminished  size. 

Haliy&L — Municipal  town  in  Supa  Subdivision  of  North  Kanara 
District,  Bombay.  It  lies  in  lat.  150  19'  50"  n.,  and  long.  74°  48'  e., 
to  the  south-west  of  Dharwar.  Pop.  (1872),  5071 ;  municipal  revenue 
(1874-75),  ^363 ;  rate  of  taxation,  is.  4d.  per  head.  Post  office  and 
dispensary. 

Hallir  (or  Halawar;  otherwise  known  as  Nawdnagar). — A  tract 
of  country  in  Kathiawar,  Bombay;  lying  between  21°  44'  and  22°  55' 
n.  lat,  and  69°  8'  and  71°  2'  e.  long.  Takes  its  name  from  the  Halla 
Rajputs,  and  includes,  among  others,  the  chiefships  of  Nawanagar, 
Rajkot,  Gondal,  Dhrol,  and  Kotra  Sunganl  Limits  of  tract  not 
strictly  defined,  but  includes  an  area  of  about  5000  square  miles 

H&loiL — River  of  Berar,  rising  in  220  6'  n.  lat,  and  81  *  5'  e.  long., 
about  8  miles  south  of  the  Chilpfghat  in  the  Maikal  range ;  flows 
northwards  for  about  60  miles  through  Balaghat  and  Mandla  Districts, 
Central  Provinces;  and  falls  into  the  Burhner,  in  lat  22°  40'  N.,  and 
long.  8o°  47'  e.    Average  elevation  of  its  valley,  2000  feet 


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HALWAD—HAMIRPUR  DISTRICT.  547 

Halwad. — Fortified  town  in  the  peninsula  of  KathiaVar,  Bombay 
Presidency;  85  miles  south-west  of  Ahmedibid.  Pop.  (1872),  6391. 
Lat  230  1'  n.,  long.  71°  14'  30"  e. 

Hambar. — Village  in  Firozpur  (Ferozepore)  District,  Punjab ;  on  the 
road  to  Ludhiana,  10 \  miles  west  of  Firozpur.  Lat  30°  57'  n.,  long. 
75°  46'  e. 

Hamirpur. — A  British  District  in  the  Lieutenant-Governorship  of 
the  North-Western  Provinces,  lying  between  250  5'  and  260  io'  n.  lat., 
and  between  790  22'  45"  and  8o°  25'  15"  e.  long.  Area,  2287  square 
miles ;  population  in  1872,  529,137.  Hamirpur  forms  the  south-western 
District  of  the  Allahibid  Division.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Jumna  (Jamuni) ;  on  the  north-west  by  the  Native  State  of  Bdoni  and 
the  Betwa  river ;  on  the  west  by  the  Dhasdn  river ;  on  the  south  by 
the  Alfpura,  Chhatarpur,  and  Charkhan  States;  and  on  the  east  by 
Binda  District.  It  encloses  the  Native  States  of  Sarfla,  Jigni,  and 
Bihat,  besides  portions  of  Charkhan  and  Garauli.  The  administrative 
headquarters  are  at  the  town  of  Hamirpur  ;  but  Rath  has  the  largest 
population  in  the  District 

Physical  Aspects, — Hamirpur  forms  part  of  the  great  plain  of  Bundel- 
khand,  which  stretches  between  the  banks  of  the  Jumna  (Jamuni)  and 
the  central  Vindhydn  plateau.  The  District  is  in  shape  an  irregular 
parallelogram,  with  a  general  slope  northward  from  the  low  hills  on  the 
southern  boundary  toward  the  valleys  of  the  Jumna  and  Betwa,  which 
limit  it  on  the  north  and  west.  The  hilly  southern  region  is  composed 
of  scattered  outlying  spurs  from  the  main  line  of  the  Vindhya'n 
range.  Their  general  elevation  does  not  exceed  300  feet  above  the 
Jumna  valley,  or  a  total  of  about  800  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  their  sides  are  almost  bare  of  trees  or  jungle.  They  are  rendered 
picturesque,  however,  by  the  artificial  lakes  of  Malioba,  for  which  the 
District  is  celebrated.  These  magnificent  reservoirs  were  constructed 
by  the  Chandel  Rajas,  about  800  years  ago,  for  purposes  of  irrigation 
and  as  sheets  of  ornamental  water.  They  are  hemmed  round  on  two  or 
three  sides  by  rocky  hills,  while  the  outlets  are  stopped  by  dams  of 
massive  masonry,  whose  antiquity  conceals  all  traces  of  their  artificial 
origin.  Many  of  them  enclose  craggy  islets  or  peninsulas,  crowned  by 
the  ruins  of  granite  temples,  exquisitely  carved  and  decorated.  The 
largest  lake  has  a  circumference  of  about  5  miles.  As  we  descend 
from  the  hill  and  lake  country,  we  arrive  at  the  general  plain  of  the 
District,  which  spreads  northward,  almost  unbroken  by  isolated  heights, 
in  an  arid  and  treeless  level  towards  the  broken  banks  of  the  rivers. 
Of  these,  the  principal  are  the  Betwa  and  its  tributary  the  Dhas£n, 
both  of  which  are  unnavigable.  On  the  triangle  formed  by  their 
junction  with  the  stream  of  the  Jumna  stands  the  town  of  Hamfrpur, 
which  is  thus  isolated  from  the  remainder  of  the  District  by  the 

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548  HAM1RPUR  DISTRICT. 

Betwa  river  and  the  Native  State  of  Bioni.  The  Hamfrpur  bank  of 
the  Jumna  is  high  and  rocky ;  its  opposite  shore  is  low  and  shelving. 
There  is  little  waste  land,  except  in  the  ravines  by  the  river-sides.  The 
deep  black  soil  of  Bundelkhand,  known  as  mdr,  retains  the  moisture 
under  a  dried  and  rifted  surface,  and  renders  the  District  fertile ;  but 
unhappily  the  kdns  grass,  the  scourge  of  the  Bundelkhand  agriculturist, 
has  overrun  much  of  the  country. 

History. — The  early  annals  of  Bundelkhand,  of  which  Province 
Hamfrpur  forms  a  portion,  have  been  briefly  sketched  in  the  article 
on  Banda.  During  the  Chandel  supremacy,  from  the  9th  to  the  14th 
century,  Mahoba,  on  the  south  of  the  District,  was  the  capital  of  that 
dynasty.  The  Chandels  adorned  the  town  and  its  neighbourhood  with 
many  splendid  edifices,  remains  of  which  still  exist  in  great  numbers; 
besides  constructing  the  noble  artificial  lakes  already  described.  The 
last  of  their  Rijis,  Parm£l,  was  defeated  in  the  year  n  83  by  Prithi- 
r£j,  the  Chauhin  ruler  of  Delhi;  after  which  disaster  the  Chandel 
princes  abandoned  Mihoba  and  fixed  their  capital  at  the  hill  fort  of 
Kalinjar,  in  Banda  District  About  twelve  years  later,  Mdhoba  was 
conquered  by  Kutab-ud-dm,  the  general  of  Shahlb-ud-din  Ghori,  and, 
with  occasional  interruptions,  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Musalmans 
for  500  years.  In  1680,  the  District  came  into  the  possession  of 
Chhatar  S41,  the  great  national  hero  of  the  Bundelas,  and  was  the  theatre 
of  many  battles  during  his  long  struggle  with  the  imperial  forces.  On 
his  death,  about  1734,  he  assigned  to  his  ally,  the  Peshwa*  of  the  Mar- 
hattas,  one-third  of  his  territories ;  and  M£hoba  formed  a  portion  of  the 
region  so  granted.  The  larger  part  of  the  present  District  of  Hamirpur 
fell  to  his  son  Jagatraj.  During  the  next  seventy  years  the  District 
continued  under  the  government  of  his  descendants,  who,  however, 
carried  on  among  themselves  that  intestine  warfare  which  was  universal 
in  Bundelkhand  throughout  the  latter  half  of  the  18th  century. 
Rival  R£j£s  had  forts  in  every  village,  and  one  after  the  other  collected 
their  revenue  from  the  same  estates.  Moreover,  the  Bundela  princes 
were  opposed  by  the  Marhatta*  chieftains ;  and  All  Bahidur,  an  illegiti- 
mate descendant  of  the  Peshwi's  who  had  made  himself  Nawib  of 
Bdnda,  succeeded  in  1790  in  annexing  a  portion  of  the  District  He 
was  defeated  by  the  British,  and  died  in  1802.  The  British  District  of 
Bundelkhand  was  formed  in  the  succeeding  year  (1803),  a  part  being 
granted  to  our  ally,  Raja*  Himmat  Batadur,  as  the  price  of  his 
allegiance.  The  town  of  Malioba  itself,  with  the  surrounding  country, 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Pandits  of  Jalaun,  until,  on  the  death 
of  their  last  representative  in  1840,  it  lapsed  to  the  British.  The  Sub- 
division known  as  J&tpur  was  ruled  by  the  descendants  of  Chhatar 
Sal  until  1842,  when  the  last  Raja\  believing  that  our  reverses  at  Kabul 
would  prove  fatal  to  British  rule,  revolted,  and  having  been  easily 

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HAMIRPUR  DISTRICT.  549 

captureil,  was  removed  to  Cawnpore,  receiving  from  us  a  pension  of 
^200  a  month.  Jaltpur  was  handed  over  to  another  claimant,  who 
mortgaged  it  to  the  Government  and  died  without  issue  in  1849.  His 
territories  lapsed  to  Government,  and  have  since  formed  a  part  of  Hamir- 
pur  District  When  the  British  first  occupied  Hamfrpur  in  1803,  they 
found  it  in  the  same  wretched  condition  as  the  remainder  of  Bundel- 
khand  The  land  had  been  impoverished  by  the  long  war  of  indepen- 
dence carried  on  under  Chhatar  SaU ;  overrun  and  ravaged  by  predatory 
leaders  during  the  disastrous  period  of  Marhatta*  aggression ;  and  devas- 
tated by  robber  chiefs,  who  levied  the  revenues  on  their  own  account, 
granting  receipts  for  the  payment,  which  the  authorized  collectors  were 
obliged  to  accept  As  early  as  1819,  the  attention  of  Government  was 
called  to  the  fact  that  many  estates  were  being  relinquished  by  the 
zaminddrsy  through  their  inability  to  meet  the  demands  for  the  land 
revenue.  In  1842,  land  in  Hamirpur  District  was  reported  to  be  utterly 
valueless,  and  many  instances  were  adduced  in  which  purchasers  of. 
estates  had  been  completely  ruined  through  over-assessment.  Several., 
estates  were  held  by  Government  for  arrears  of  revenue,  because  no 
purchasers  could  be  found  for  them.  A  new  land  settlement  was 
effected  in  1842  on  a  greatly  reduced  assessment  On  the  outbreak  of 
the  Mutiny,  Hamfrpur  exhibited  the  same  return  to  anarchy  which  cha- 
racterized the  whole  of  Bundelkhand.  On  the  13th  of  June  1857,  the 
56th  Native  Infantry  broke  into  mutiny,  and  the  massacre  of  Europeans 
began.  Only  one  Christian  escaped  with  life.  The  surrounding  native 
chiefs  set  up  rival  claims  to  portions  of  the  British  territory,  and 
plundered  all  the  principal  towns.  The  Charkhan  Rija*  alone  main- 
tained a  wavering  allegiance,  which  grew  firmer  as  the  forces  of  General 
Whitiock  approached  Mihoba.  That  town  was  reached  in  September 
1858,  and  the  fort  of  Srinagar  was  destroyed.  After  a  short  period 
of  desultory  guerilla  warfare  in  the  hilly  regions  of  Bundelkhand,  the 
rebels  were  effectually  quelled,  and  the  work  of  re-organization  began. 
Since  the  Mutiny,  the  condition  of  Hamirpur  seems  to  have  improved ; 
but  it  has  not  yet  recovered  from  the  long  anarchy  of  the  Marhatta*  rule, 
and  the  excessive  taxation  of  the  early  British  period.  The  poor  and 
neglected  aspect  of  the  homesteads,  the  careless  and  apathetic  appear- 
ance of  the  people,  and  the  wide  expanse  of  shadeless  plain,  all  bear 
witness  to  the  prolonged  disorganization  and  mistaken  economy  of 
former  days. 

People. — The  Census  of  1842  and  that  of  1853  did  not  include  the 
whole  of  the  present  District,  which  has  since  been  enlarged  by  the 
addition  of  Ma*hoba  and  Jiitpur ;  and  they  are  consequently  of  little 
use  for  purposes  of  comparison.  The  Census  of  1865  gives  a  popula- 
tion of  520,941  persons,  and  that  of  1872  states  the  number  as  529,137, 
showing  an  increase   of  8196,  or    1*57  per  cent      In   1872,  there 


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55°  HAMIRPUR  DISTRICT. 

were  121,011  houses;  number  of  persons  per  house,  4*37;  houses 
per  square  mile,  52*88 ;  inhabitants  per  square  mile,  231*21.  Classified 
according  to  sex,  there  were  276,196  males,  and  252,941  females ;  pro- 
portion of  males,  52*19  per  cent  The  preponderance  of  males  is  due 
partly  to  the  unwillingness  of  the  Rijputs  to  state  the  number  of  their 
women,  and  partly  to  the  former  prevalence  of  female  infanticide. 
Classified  according  to  age,  there  were,  under  15  years — males,  97,904 ; 
females,  83,909 ;  total,  181,813, or  34'3*>  per  cent  As  regards  religious 
divisions,  the  Hindus  numbered  493,877,  or  93*6  per  cent;  and  the 
Musalmins,  33,658,  or  6*4  per  cent  Of  the  Hindus,  Brihmans  num- 
bered 58,637,  or  1  i*i  per  cent ;  Kshattriyas,  43,092,  or  8*i  per  cent ; 
Vaisyas,  19,147*  or  3*7  per  cent ;  and  Siidras,  373,001,  or  70*7  per 
cent  The  Brdhmans  are  mainly  engaged  in  agriculture,  and  have 
consequently  lost  much  of  the  respect  due  to  their  caste.  The  Rijputs 
have  been  very  minutely  reckoned  in  the  Census,  in  order  to  dis- 
cover which  classes  amongst  them  are  addicted  to  infanticide.  They 
amount  to  62  clans ;  three  of  which  were  found  to  be  specially  guilty 
of  the  practice — namely,  the  Parihdrs,  Chauhins,  and  Bais.  The 
Chandels  and  Bundelas,  the  old  dominant  classes,  have  now  sunk  to 
548  and  612  respectively ;  most  of  whom  still  cling  to  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Mdhoba,  the  seat  of  their  former  supremacy.  The  Bais  are  far 
the  most  numerous  of  the  Eijput  classes  in  the  District  Among  the 
Vaisyas  or  trading  classes  the  only  division  of  any  peculiarity  is  that  of 
the  Mdrwdrfs,  who  number  200.  They  act  as  bankers  and  money- 
lenders, but  they  have  also  acquired  much  landed  property.  Among 
the  Siidras  or  low  castes,  the  most  numerous  are  the  Lodhfs,  the 
Chimirs,  and  the  Korfs.  The  Musalm&is  are  the  descendants  of 
converted  Hindus,  who  were  originally  Thikurs,  and  their  habits  are 
still  much  the  same  as  those  of  their  fellow-Rijputs.  The  Census  of 
1872  returned  31,570  landowners,  207,636  agriculturists,  and  289,931 
persons  engaged  in  other  occupations.  There  are  very  few  wealthy 
inhabitants,  the  landowners  being  often  scarcely  at  all  better  off  than 
their  labourers,  and  living  in  much  the  same  style.  There  are  no  native 
Christians  in  the  District,  nor  has  any  settlement  been  effected  by  the 
Br£hma  Sam£j.  The  Musalmins  are  making  no  converts.  The  Dis- 
trict contains  6  towns  with  a  population  of  more  than  5000  persons— 
namely,  Rath,  14,515;  Hamirpur,  7007  ;  Mahoba,  6977  ;  Maudha, 
6025;  Sumerpur,  5599;  and  Jaitpur,  5159.  The  urban  population 
is  on  the  decrease.  The  language  in  common  use  is  Bundelkhandf, 
which  is  a  dialect  of  Hindf. 

Agriculture. — The  staple  produce  of  the  District  is  grain  of  various 
sorts,  the  most  important  being  gram.  Other  pulses,  wheat,  and  millet 
are  also  largely  cultivated.  The  autumn  crops  are  heavier  than  the  spring, 
cotton  being  the  most  valuable  amongst  them.     Its  cultivation  is  on 


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HAMIRPUR  DISTRICT.  551 

the  increase.  Out  of  a  total  area  of  1,464,641  acres,  320,057  acres  are 
returned  as  barren,  and  1,144,584  as  cultivable,  of  which  latter  area 
only  762,212  acres  are  actually  under  cultivation.  Manure  is  little  used, 
except  for  garden  land.  Irrigation  is  practised  on  only  16,000  acres, 
chiefly  in  the  south,  where  water  can  be  obtained  from  the  artificial  lakes 
constructed  by  the  Chandel  princes.  There  are  fourteen  small  canals 
connected  with  these  lakes,  and  belonging  to  Government ;  but  they 
supply  water  to  an  area  of  only  820  acres.  The  remainder  of  the 
irrigated  land  is  watered  by  hand  labour.  The  out-turn  of  ddj'ra,  a 
kind  of  millet  much  grown  in  the  District,  is  about  j£i,  is.  6d.  per 
acre ;  that  of  ///,  an  oil-seed,  about  £i9  4s.  per  acre.  In  Hamirpur, 
as  elsewhere  in  Bundelkhand,  the  cultivators  have  suffered  much  from 
the  spread  of  the  kdns  grass,  a  noxious  weed,  which  overruns  the  fields 
and  is  found  to  be  almost  ineradicable  wherever  it  has  once  obtained  a 
footing.  It  is  usual  to  abandon  the  lands  thus  attacked,  in  the  hope 
that  the  kdns  may  use  up  the  soil,  and  so  finally  kill  itself  out,  which 
it  is  said  to  do  in  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years.  The  peasantry  are 
hopelessly  in  debt,  and  careless  as  to  comfort  or  appearances.  Most  of 
the  landowners  have  no  capital,  and  the  few  wealthy  zaminddrs  are 
foolishly  penurious  in  all  matters  of  improvement.  The  land  is  for 
the  most  part  cultivated  by  tenants-at-will.  Out  of  1159  estates  in  the 
District,  657  are  held  on  zaminddri  tenure,  in  which  the  rights  of  the 
coparceners  are  denoted  by  fractions  of  the  rupee;  317  by  pattiddri, 
possession  in  severalty;  and  185  by  bh&yachdra,  or  brotherhood,  in 
which  mode  of  tenure  the  gain  or  loss  is  distributed  by  fixed  shares,  and 
the  revenue  apportioned  by  custom.  Rents  vary  much  with  the  nature 
of  the  soil ;  the  best  lands  are  returned  at  from  12s.  to  j£i9  4s.  per  acre ; 
the  poorest  at  from  2s.  to  4s.  Few  farms  extend  to  100  acres ;  from 
20  to  25  acres  form  a  fair-sized  holding.  The  rates  of  wages  are  as 
follows : — Smiths,  4^d.  to  6d.  per  diem ;  bricklayers  and  carpenters,  3|d. 
to  4jd. ;  labourers  in  towns,  3d. — in  villages,  2 Jd.  Wages  have  risen 
from  15  to  100  per  cent  during  the  last  twenty  years.  The  average 
prices  of  food  grains  for  the  ten  years  186 1-7 1  are  as  follows : — Gram,  4s. 
8&  per  cwt;  bdjra^  4s.  5fd.  per  cwt.;  wheat,  6s.  2^d.  per  cwt;  barley, 
4s.  5}d.  per  cwt     On  the  whole,  prices  have  been  rising  of  late  years. 

Natural  Calamities. — The  District  of  Hamirpur  is  little  subject  to 
blight  or  flood ;  but  droughts  and  their  concomitant,  famine,  are  un- 
happily common.  The  last  great  famine  was  that  of  1837,  which  pro- 
duced so  deep  an  effect  upon  the  native  mind  that  the  peasantry  still 
employ  it  as  an  era  by  which  to  calculate  their  ages.  The  scarcity  of 
1868-69  was  severely  felt  in  Hamirpur,  though  most  of  the  deaths  which 
it  induced  were  due  to  disease  rather  than  to  actual  starvation.  It 
pressed  more  heavily  on  the  upland  villages  than  on  the  country  near 
the  banks  of  the  Jumna.    Symptoms  of  distress  first  appeared  early  in 

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552  HAM1RPUR  DISTRICT. 

the  year  1869,  and  the  scarcity  was  not  allayed  till  November.  Relief 
measures  were  adopted  in  March,  partly  by  gratuitous  distributions, 
chiefly  by  means  of  local  works.  During  the  whole  period  of  distress,  a 
daily  average  of  546  persons  received  gratuitous  aid,  and  2736  persons 
were  employed  on  famine  works.  Gram,  the  staple  food  of  the  people, 
rose  from  its  average  of  4s.  8<L  per  cwt  to  a  maximum  of  10s.  8<L  per 
cwt  in  September.  Famine  rates  may  be  considered  to  be  reached  when 
gram  sells  at  8s.  3$d.  per  cwt,  and  Government  relief  then  becomes 
necessary.  This  test,  however,  cannot  altogether  be  relied  on,  as  the 
cultivators  cease  to  employ  labour  on  the  approach  of  scarcity,  and 
prices  become  merely  nominal,  the  poorer  classes  having  no  money  to 
purchase  food.  In  portions  of  the  District,  a  regular  scale  of  remission 
of  revenue  and  rent,  in  famines  of  varying  intensities,  has  been  drawn 
up,  and  neither  Government  nor  the  zaminddrs  are  permitted  to  recover 
more  than  the  stipulated  proportion.  The  means  of  communication  are 
now  probably  sufficient  to  avert  the  extremity  of  famine. 

Commerce  and  Trade,  etc. — The  commerce  of  the  Hamfrpur  District 
is  chiefly  carried  on  by  means  of  its  great  river  highway — the  Jumna. 
The  cotton  and  grain,  which  form  the  staple  exports,  are  carried  down- 
ward ;  while  rice,  sugar,  tobacco,  and  Manchester  goods  constitute  the 
chief  imports  upward.  The  navigation  between  Allahibad  and  Agra  is 
rendered  dangerous  by  shoals,  rocks,  and  sunken  trees.  Efforts  have 
been  made  to  improve  this  part  of  the  river,  but  with  little  success. 
About  one-fifth  of  the  grain  raised  in  the  District  is  exported,  and  the 
remainder  used  for  home  consumption.  The  manufactures  consist  of 
coarse  cotton  cloth  and  soapstone  ornaments.  No  railway  passes 
through  the  District,  and  the  nearest  station  is  Mauhax,  on  the  East 
Indian  main  line,  about  30  miles  from  the  town  of  Hamfrpur.  There 
is  only  one  metalled  road,  between  Hamfrpur  and  Naugaon,  70  miles 
in  length ;  and  there  are  four  other  fair-weather  roads.  The  only  print- 
ing-press in  the  District  is  at  Hamfrpur;  it  is  used  for  lithographic 
work  in  Hindi  and  Urdu. 

Administration. — The  first  land  settlement,  in  1805,  included  only  a 
small  portion  of  the  present  District ;  and  much  of  the  revenue  was 
necessarily  remitted,  owing  to  the  depredations  of  freebooting  chiefs. 
The  second  arrangement,  two  years  later,  was  equally  futile,  from  the 
same  cause,  and  from  the  badness  of  the  seasons.  From  1809  till  1842 
the  assessments  were  several  times  increased,  in  face  of  the  fact 
that  the  revenue  could  not  be  collected,  through  the  poverty  of 
the  zaminddrs.  Large  balances  were  constantly  accruing.  Unfortun- 
ately the  area  and  fiscal  divisions  for  these  settlements  varied  so  much 
that  the  statistics  are  not  available  for  purposes  of  comparison.  In 
1842,  the  District  had  become  so  impoverished  that  a  considerable 
decrease  in  the  Government  demand  became  imperatively  necessary. 

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HAMIRPUR  DISTRICT.  553 

The  incidence  of  the  land  revenue  was  accordingly  altered  in  that  year 
from  3s.  io|d.  on  the  cultivated  area,  to  3s.  3^d.  This  settlement, 
which  continued  in  force  until  1872,  is  considered  to  have  been  a  fair 
one,  and  succeeded  in  removing  the  pressure  of  former  assessments. 
The  total  land  revenue  demand  for  1870-71  amounted  to  ^108,410,  of 
which  ^£108,33  2  was  collected.  The  number  of  estates  was  registered 
at  1 127,  and  the  proprietors  or  coparceners  at  28,086.  Average  land 
revenue  paid  by  each  estate,  ^96,  4s.,  and  by  each  proprietor, 
^3,  18s.  The  District  is  administered  by  a  Magistrate,  Assistant 
Magistrate,  Settlement  Officer,  Deputy  Collector,  and  five  tahsllddrs. 
There  are  10  magisterial  courts.  In  187 1,  there  were  25  police  stations, 
with  534  men ;  giving  1  policeman  to  every  4*28  square  miles  and  to 
every  975  inhabitants.  The  cost  of  the  police  was  ^8058,  chiefly 
paid  from  imperial  funds.  The  Tegular  police  were  supplemented  by 
1953  village  watchmen  {chaukiddrs\  or  1  to  every  242  inhabitants. 
The  total  number  of  persons  convicted  for  all  offences,  in  187 1,  was 
1088,  or  1  person  in  every  486  of  the  population.  The  District  con- 
tains one  jail,  the  average  daily  number  of  prisoners  in  which  amounted 
to  400  in  1850,  72  in  i860,  and  129  in  1870,  or  '076,  '013,  and  '024  of 
the  inhabitants,  respectively.  Although  the  Musalm£ns  only  number 
6*4  per  cent  of  the  whole  population,  they  formed  as  much  as  23*2  per 
cent  of  the  prisoners  in  1870.  Education  has  spread  considerably  of 
late  years.  In  1850,  there  were  only  1078  persons  under  instruction  in 
the  District  In  i860,  there  were  104  schools,  attended  by  141 4  pupils, 
and  maintained  at  a  cost  of  ^582.  By  1870,  the  number  of  schools 
had  increased  to  112,  and  the  pupils  to  3066;  while  the  amount 
expended  upon  education  had  risen  to  ^1354.  The  greater  part  of 
the  expense  is  borne  by  Government  In  1872,  there  were  1023 
Hindu  males  and  4  Hindu  females,  856  Muhammadan  males  and 
9  Muhammadan  females,  who  could  read  and  write.  The  District  is 
divided  into  8  fiscal  divisions  (pargands).  It  contains  no  municipal 
towns  at  present,  as  Rdth,  which  for  a  short  time  was  erected  into  a 
municipality,  found  its  trade  impaired  by  the  octroi,  and  was  accord- 
ingly relieved  of  its  burdens. 

Medical  Aspects. — The  climate  of  Hamfrpur  District  is  dry  and  hot, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  shade  and  the  bareness  of  the  soil,  except  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Mdhoba  lakes,  which  cool  and  moisten  the 
surrounding  atmosphere.  No  accurate  thermometrical  observations 
have  yet  been  taken.  The  rainfall  was  17*2  inches  in  1868-69  (tne  vear 
of  scarcity);  37*1  in  1869-70;  and  38*1  in  1870-71.  The  two  last  read- 
ings may  be  accepted  as  the  average  of  ordinary  good  seasons.  In 
1871,  the  total  number  of  deaths  recorded  was  11,251,  being  at  the 
rate  of  21*52  to  each  thousand  inhabitants,  a  figure  probably  below  the" 
truth.    Of  these,  5804,  or  11*14  per  thousand,  were  assigned  to  fever 


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554  ' HAMIRPUR— HAMPI. 

(which  is  endemic  in  the  District),  and  3182  to  bowel  complaints. 
Hamirpur  is  comparatively  free  from  small-pox,  only  '54  deaths  per 
thousand  of  the  population  being  due  to  this  cause.  Snake-bites  and  the 
attacks  of  wild  animals  were  answerable  for  68  deaths ;  and  38  were 
attributed  to  suicide.  There  are  charitable  dispensaries  at  Hamfrpur, 
M£hoba,  and  Rith. 

Hamirpur. — Northern  tahsil  of  Hamirpur  District,  North-Western 
Provinces ;  consisting  of  the  narrow  tongue  of  land  enclosed  by  the 
confluence  of  the  Betwa  and  the  Jumna  (Jamund),  together  with  a  large 
strip  of  country  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  former  river.  Area,  367 
square  miles,  of  which  226  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  95,388;  land 
revenue,  ^21,113  ;  total  Government  revenue,  ^22,434;  rental  paid 
by  cultivators,  ,£39,351 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per  acre, 
is.  9jd. 

Hamirpur.  —  Administrative  headquarters  of  Hamfrpur  District, 
North-Western  Provinces.  Lat  250  58'  n.,  long.  8o°  n'  50*  e.  ;  pop. 
(1872),  7007.  Situated  on  a  tongue  of  land  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Betwa  and  the  Jumna  (Jarauna),  on  the  right  bank  of  the  latter  river. 
Founded,  according  to  tradition,  by  Hamir  Deo,  a  Karchuli  Rijput, 
expelled  from  Ulwar  (AlwaV)  by  the  Muhammadans.  Capital  of  a 
District  under  Akbar.  Possesses  little  importance  apart  from  the 
presence  of  the  civil  station.  Hamfr's  fort  and  a  few  Musalmin  tombs 
form  the. only  relics  of  antiquity.  Several  Europeans  were  murdered 
here  during  the  Mutiny.  Court-house,  police  station,  hospital,  jail, 
dispensary,  school,  circuit-house,  travellers'  bungalow,  two  sardis,  bdzdr. 
No  manufactures ;  small  trade  in  grain.  The  civil  station  is  small,  and 
deficient  in  houses  and  roads.  Lies  on  the  route  from  Banda  to  Cawn- 
pore  ;  distant  from  the  former  36  miles,  from  the  latter  39  south,  from 
Kalpi  28  south-east,  from  Agra  155  south-east,  from  Allahibad  no 
north-west.  Local  taxation  supports  a  municipal  police  of  12  men,  at 
an  annual  cost  of  ^81. 

Hamirpur. — Southern  tahsil  of  Kangra*  District,  Punjab ;  consisting 
of  a  wild  mountain  country,  but  more  thickly  inhabited  than  the  other 
portions  of  the  District  Area,  660  square  miles ;  pop.  (1868),  180,132 ; 
persons  per  square  mile,  273. 

Hampi — Ruined  city  in  Bellary  District,  Madras.  Lat  15*  19'  50* 
N.,  long.  760  30'  10*  e.  ;  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Tungabhadra,  36 
miles  north-west  of  Bellary.  The  site  of  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
Vijayanagar  kings.  The  ruins  cover  9  square  miles,  including  Karali- 
pur,  on  the  south,  and  Anagundi,  the  later  seat  of  the  dynasty. 

Hampi  was  founded  on  the  fall  of  the  Ballila  dynasty,  about 
1336  a.d.,  by  two  brothers,  Bukka  and  Harihara,  whose  descendants 
flourished  here  till  the  battle  of  Talikot,  1565  a.d.,  and  afterwards  at 
Anagundi,  Vellore,  and  Chandragiri  for  another  century,  until  finally 


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HAMPI,  RUINED  CITY.  555 

overwhelmed  by  the  advancing  powers  of  Bijipur  and  Golconda. 
During  the  two  and  a  quarter  centuries  that  the  Vijdyanagar  Rljds  held 
the  city  of  Hampi,  they  extended  it  and  beautified  it  with  palaces  and 
temples. 

Edwardo  Barbessa  describes  the  capital  as  '  of  great  extent,  highly 
populous,  and  the  seat  of  an  active  commerce  in  country  diamonds, 
rubies  from  Pegu,  silks  of  China  and  Alexandria  and  Cuinabar, 
camphor,  musk,  pepper,  and  sandal  from  Malabar.'  The  palaces  of  the 
king  and  his  ministers,  and  the  temples,  are  described  as  'stately 
buildings  of  stone,'  but  the  greater  part  of  the  population  lived  in 

*  hovels  of  straw  and  mud.'  In  the  travels  of  Caesar  Frederic,  the 
palace  is  thus  spoken  of:  'I  have  seen  many  kings'  courts,  yet  have 
never  seen  anything  to  compare  with  the  royal  palace  of  Bijianuggur, 
which  hath  nine  gates.  First,  when  you  go  into  that  part  where  the 
king  lodged,  there  are  five  great  gates,  kept  by  captains  and  soldiers. 
Within  these  are  four  lesser  gates,  which  are  kept  by  porters,  and 
through  these  you  enter  into  a  very  fair  court  at  the  end.'  He  describes 
the  city  as  being  24  miles  round,  enclosing  several  hills.  The  ordinary 
dwellings  were  mean  buildings  with  earthen  walls,  but  the  three 
palaces  and  the  pagodas  were  all  built  of  fine  marble.  Of  the  remains 
of  all  this  greatness  now  visible,  Mr.  Kelsall,  in  his  Manual,  says  : 

*  Many  of  the  buildings  are  now  so  destroyed  that  it  is  difficult  to  say 
what  they  were  originally  meant  for,  but  the  massive  style  of  archi- 
tecture and  the  huge  stones  that  have  been  employed  in  their  con- 
struction at  once  attract  attention.  Close  to  Kamalapur  there  is  a  fine 
stone  aqueduct,  and  a  building  which  has  at  some  time  or  other  been  a 
bath.  The  use  of  the  arch  in  the  doorways,  and  the  embellishments 
used  in  decorating  the  inner  rooms,  show  that  the  design  of  this 
building  was  considerably  modified  by  the  Musalmdns,  even  if  it  was 
not  constructed  by  them  altogether.  A  little  to  the  south  of  this  is  a 
very  fine  temple,  of  which  the  outer  and  inner  walls  are  covered  with 
spirited  basso-relievos,  representing  hunting  scenes  and  incidents  in  the 
Jl&mdyana.  The  four  centre  pillars  are  of  a  kind  of  black  marble, 
handsomely  carved.  The  flooring  of  the  temple,  originally  large  slabs 
of  stone,  has  been  torn  up  and  utterly  ruined  by  persons  in  search  of 
treasure,  which  is  supposed  to  be  buried  both  here  and  in  other  parts 
of  the  ruins.  The  use  of  another  covered  building  close  by,  with 
numerous  underground  passages,  has  not  been  ascertained.  It  also 
is  covered  with  basso-relievos,  in  one  of  which  a  lion  is  represented. 
At  a  little  distance  is  the  building  generally  known  as  the  "  Elephant 
Stables,"  and  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  was  used  for  this 
purpose.  Two  other  buildings,  which,  with  the  "  Elephant  Stables," 
form  roughly  three  sides  of  a  square,  are  said  to  have  been  the  concert 
hall  and  the  council  room.     Both,  but  especially  the  latter,  have  been 

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556  HANDIA—HANGO. 

very  fine  buildings.'  Besides  these,  the  remains  of  the  zan&nd  and  the 
arena  are  still  visible.  But  the  huge  monoliths  applied  to  various 
purposes  form  perhaps  the  most  distinctive  feature  of  these  ruins— one, 
a  water-trough,  is  41  \  feet  long ;  another,  a  statue  of  Siva,  35  feet  high. 
There  are  two  fine  temples,  between  which  the  road  passes,  but  which 
are  remarkable  for  nothing  but  the  enormous  size  of  the  stones  which 
have  been  used  in  their  construction.  Masses  of  cut  granite,  many  of 
them  30  feet  in  length  by  4  in  depth,  are  seen  high  up  in  the  wall,  and 
no  explanation  can  be  given  of  the  mode  in  which  they  were  placed  in 
their  present  position.  There  are  also  several  temples  in  a  fair  state  of 
preservation,  notably  one  dedicated  to  Vishnu,  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  from  the  palace,  and  close  to  the  river.  It  is  entirely  of  granite, 
and  contains  some  splendid  monolithic  pillars,  richly  carved.  The 
inscriptions  at  Hampi  have  contributed  materially  to  our  knowledge  of 
Vijayanagar  history.  There  is  still  a  great  annual  festival  here,  although 
the  village  is  insignificant  in  size,  with  a  population  of  less  than  500. 

Handii.— North-eastern  tahsil  of  AllahaMd  District,  North-Western 
Provinces,  lying  along  the  northern  bank  of  the  Ganges.  Area,  286 
square  miles,  of  which  172  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  166,677; 
land  revenue,  ,£29,165  ;  total  Government  revenue,  ,£32,097 ;  rental 
paid  by  cultivators,  ,£40,880 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per 
acre,  3s.  2$d. 

HandiA. — Ancient  Muhammadan  town  in  Hoshanga'bad  District, 
Central  Provinces,  on  the  Narbada  (Nerbudda)  river ;  with  a  dismantled 
stone  fort,  said  to  have  been  built  by  Hoshang  Shah  Ghorf  of  Malwa. 
Lat  220  28'  30"  n.,  long.  770  2'  e.  Handid  was  the  headquarters  of  a 
sarkdr  or  District  under  Akbar's  rule,  and,  lying  on  the  old  high-road 
from  the  Deccan  to  Agra,  attained  considerable  size  and  prosperity,  as 
appears  from  its  ruins.  On  the  withdrawal  of  the  Mughal  officials, 
about  1700  a.d.,  and  the  construction  of  a  better  road  across  the 
Vindhyi  Hills,  vid  Indore,  Handia  sank  into  insignificance.  The 
Marhattas  gave  it  up  to  the  British  in  1817.     Pop.  (1870),  1992. 

Hangarkotta. — Port  in  South  Kanara  District,  Madras;  situated 
about  5  miles  from  Old  Barktfr,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Silanadi  river, 
and  10  miles  north  of  Udipi.  Called  in  the  Government  accounts  the 
port  of  Barkiir.  Considerable  export  trade  in  rice  (principally  to  Goa), 
etc.,  and  import  trade  in  cotton,  piece-goods,  cocoa-nut  oil,  and  salt 
from  Goa.     Value  of  imports  in  1874-75,  ^3300 ;  exports,  ,£37,900. 

HangO. — Village  in  Bashahr  State,  Punjab ;  situated  near  the  north- 
eastern base  of  the  Hangrang  Mountains,  at  the  head  of  a  flourishing 
valley,  watered  by  three  tributaries  of  the  river  Li.  Lat  310  49'  n.,  long. 
7  8°  34'  e.  Contains  a  temple  of  local  reputation,  described  by  Thorn- 
ton as  devoted  to  a  mixed  faith,  partly  Hindu  and  partly  Buddhist 
Elevation  above  sea  level,  11,400  feet 


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HANGRANG—HANSKHALL  557 

Hangrang.  —  Mountain  pass  in  Bashahr  State,  Punjab,  between 
Kuniwar  and  the  Chinese  territory.  Lat.  310  48'  n.,  long.  780  35'  e. 
Thornton  states  that  the  valley  to  the  south  is  well  wooded  and  culti- 
vated, but  the  northern  slope  is  thickly  covered  with  snow.  Elevation 
of  crest  above  sea  level,  14,800  feet. 

HangU  (or  Miranz&i). — Western  tahsil  of  Kohit  District,  Punjab ; 
consisting  of  the  Miranzdi  valley,  inhabited  by  a  tribe  of  Bangash 
Pathans,  and  annexed  in  1851.  Two  years  later,  the  inhabitants 
rebelled,  and  were  reduced  in  1855.  Area,  400  square  miles;  pop. 
(1868),  36,060  ;  number  of  villages,  38. 

HangTL — Village  in  Kohat  District,  Punjab,  and  headquarters  of  the 
tahsil.  Lat  330  32'  n.,  long.  710  6'  e.  Lies  in  a  small  open  plain,  25 
miles  west  of  Kohit.  Picturesquely  situated  close  under  steep  hills  on 
the  north,  with  2  shrines,  one  of  which  overlooks  the  village  westward. 
The  taksUddr  of  Hangu  is  chief  of  the  upper  Bangash,  and  through 
him  Government  conducts  all  its  dealings  with  the  Orakzii  borderers. 

HAnflL— Tahsil  of  Hissar  District,  Punjab,  lying  between  280  50'  and 
290  25'  n.  lat,  and  between  750  50'  30"  and  760  22'  e.  long. 

HAnsi. —  Municipal  town  of  Hissar  District,  Punjab,  and  head- 
quarters of  the  tahsil  Lat.  290  6'  19"  n.,  long.  760  o'  19"  e.  ;  pop. 
(1868),  13,563,  consisting  of  7830  Hindus,  5718  Muhammadans,  and  15 
Christians.  Lies  on  the  Western  Jumna  Canal,  and  on  the  Hissar  and 
Delhi  road,  16  miles  east  of  the  former  town.  Founded,  according  to 
tradition,  by  Anang  Pal  Tuar,  King  of  Delhi  Centre  of  local  admini- 
stration under  Hindus  and  Muhammadans,  and  long  the  principal  town 
of  Hariana,  Desolated  by  the  famine  of  1783,  after  which  it  lay  in 
partial  ruins  for  many  years.  In  1795,  the  famous  adventurer  George 
Thomas,  who  had  seized  upon  the  greater  part  of  Hariana,  fixed  his 
headquarters  in  the  town.  Thenceforth,  Hansi  began  to  revive ;  and  on 
the  establishment  of  British  rule  in  1802,  it  was  made  a  cantonment, 
where  a  considerable  force,  consisting  chiefly  of  local  levies,  was 
stationed.  In  1857,  the  troops  mutinied,  murdered  all  Europeans  upon 
whom  they  could  lay  their  hands,  and  combined  with  the  wild  Rajput 
tribes  in  plundering  the  country.  On  the  restoration  of  order,  it  was 
thought  undesirable  to  maintain  the  cantonment  A  high  brick  wall, 
with  bastions  and  loopholes,  surrounds  the  town,  while  the  canal,  which 
flows  at  its  feet,  contributes  to  its  beauty  by  a  fringe  of  handsome  trees. 
Since  the  Mutiny,  however,  the  houses  have  largely  fallen  into  decay, 
and  the  streets  lie  comparatively  deserted,  owing  to  the  removal  of  the 
troops.  A  large  dismantled  fort  overlooks  the  town  on  the  north. 
Local  trade  in  country  produce — cotton,  ghiy  and  cereals.  Tahsili, 
school-house,  police  station,  sardu  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76, 
^£461,  or  9d.  per  head  of  population  (12,251)  within  municipal  limits. 

Wfoiqlrhiili — Town  and  headquarters  of  a  police  circle  (thdnd)  in 


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558  HAPVR—HARAPPA. 

Nadiyd  District,  Bengal ;  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Churni  river, 
lat.  230  21'  30*  n.,  long.  88"  39'  30*  e.     Seat  of  considerable  trade, 

Hipnr  (Hauper). — South-eastern  iahsil  of  Meerut  (Mfrath)  District, 
North-Western  Provinces,  lying  along  the  western  bank  of  the  Ganges, 
and  irrigated  by  distributaries  from  the  Ganges  CanaL  Area,  408 
square  miles,  of  which  284  are  cultivated;  pop.  (1872),  205,140; 
land  revenue,  ^29,412 ;  total  Government  revenue,  ,£32,534;  rental 
paid  by  cultivators,  ,£59,568 ;  incidence  of  Government  revenue  per 
acre,  2s.  3d. 

H&pur  (Hauper). — Ancient  town  in  Meerut  District,  North-Western 
Provinces,  and  headquarters  of  Hdpur  tahsil.  Lat  28°  43'  20*  n.,  long. 
770  49'  45*  e.  ;  pop.  (1872),  14,544,  consisting  of  8696  Hindus,  5847 
Musalmins,  and  1  Christian.  Lies  on  the  Meerut  and  Bulandshahr 
Toad,  18  miles  south  of  the  former  city.  Founded,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, in  983  A.D.,  by  the  Dor  chieftain  Hardatta,  from  whom  it  took  the 
name  of  Harfpur.  Perron,  the  French  general  in  the  service  of  the 
Marhattd  chief  Sindhia,  established  in  the  neighbourhood  a  system 
of  j'dgirs  or  grants  for  his  disabled  veterans.  During  the  Mutiny, 
Walidid  Khan  of  Miligarh  threatened  Hdpur,  but  was  obliged  by  the 
loyal  Jits  of  Bhatona  to  retire.  Several  fine  groves  surround  the  town, 
but  the  wall  and  ditch  have  fallen  out  of  repair,  and  only  the  names  of 
the  five  gates  now  remain.  Tahsilt\  police  station,  school-house,  dis- 
pensary, 3  sard  is,  28  mosques,  25  temples.  Considerable  trade  in 
sugar,  grain,  cotton,  timber,  bamboos,  and  brass  utensils.  Municipal 
revenue  in  1875-76,  ^1208 ;  from  taxes,  ^932,  or  is.  3§ d.  per  head  of 
population.  Well  adapted  for  horse-breeding;  headquarters  of  the 
famous  Hdpur  Stud. 

Harti.— Chiefship  in  the  north  of  Chhindwdra  District,  Central 
Provinces;  comprising  91  villages,  of  which  86  are  inhabited.  It 
consists  of  a  mountainous  country  north  of  Amarwdra,  and  a  lowland 
tract  opening  on  the  Narbadi  (Nerbudda)  valley,  and  containing  a 
masonry  fort,  where  the  chief  resides.  He  is  a  Gond,  and  receives  from 
Government  ^600  per  annum,  in  commutation  of  former  privileges. 
Chief  village,  Hardi,  lat  22°  37'  n.,  long.  79°  16'  E. 

Tffarfrmfl.lr. — Mountain  in  Kashmir  State,  Punjab ;  a  peak  of  the  lofty 
range  which  bounds  that  kingdom  on  the  north.  Lat.  34°  26'  n.,  long. 
750  e.  Thornton  states  that  a  small  lake,  known  as  Gangd  Bal,  nestles 
on  its  northern  slope,  and  forms  an  object  of  great  veneration  to  the 
Hindus.    Estimated  elevation  above  sea  level,  13,000  feet 

Har&Otf  (Harowtee). — State  in  Rijputina. — See  Kotar. 

Harappa. — Village  in  Montgomery  District,  Punjab ;  lying  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Rivi,  16  miles  south-east  of  Kot  Kamilia.  Lat 
30°  40'  n.,  long.  72°  53'  e.  Now  a  hamlet  of  no  importance, 
but  identified  by  General  Cunningham  with  the  site  of  a  town  in 

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HARCHOKA— HARDOI  DISTRICT  559 

the  territory  of  the  Malli,  attacked  and  taken  by  Alexander  the 
Great  The  ruins  cover  an  area  3  miles  in  circumference,  scat- 
tered over  with  large  broken  bricks.  The  principal  remains  occupy 
a  mound  forming  an  irregular  square,  with  sides  about  half  a  mile 
in  length.  On  the  western  side,  where  the  mass  of  ruins  lie,  the 
mound  rises  to  a  height  of  60  feet,  and  encloses  solid  walls  built  of 
huge  bricks,  and  apparently  belonging  to  some  extensive  building. 
Coins  of  early  date  have  been  picked  up  amongst  the  debris.  Tradi- 
tion assigns  the  foundation  of  the  ancient  city  to  an  eponymous  Blj£ 
Harappa.  The  only  modern  public  building  is  a  police  station ;  but 
till  quite  recently,  Harappa  ranked  as  headquarters  of  a  tahsil. 

HarchokA.— Village  in  Chdng  Bhak£r  State,  Chutid  N4gpur.  Lat. 
*3°  S1'  3°*  N->  l°ng«  8i°  45'  30"  e.  ;  situated  on  the  Muwihi  river  near 
the  northern  boundary  of  the  State.  Remains  of  extensive  rock 
excavations,  supposed  to  be  temples  and  monasteries,  were  discovered 
here  a  few  years  ago. 

HaitUL — Western  tahsil  or  revenue  Subdivision  in  Hoshangdtad 
District,  Central  Provinces.  Pop.  (1872),  128,543,  residing  in  413 
villages  or  townships  and  23,960  houses ;  area,  1851  square  miles. 

HardA. — Chief  town  and  civil  station  in  Hardi  tahsil,  Hoshang£b4d 
District,  Central  Provinces.  Lat  220  21'  n.,  long.  770  8'  e.  ;  lying  on  the 
high  road  to  Bombay.  Being  a  station  of  the  Great  Indian  Peninsula 
Railway,  it  has  superseded  Handia,  which  is  12  miles  distant  Under 
the  Marhattis  an  dmil  or  governor  resided  at  Hard£ ;  and  on  the 
opening  of  the  campaign  of  181 7,  Sir  John  Malcolm  made  the  town 
his  headquarters.  Since  the  cession  in  1844,  this  already  thriving 
place  has  been  further  improved,  mainly  by  Mr.  J.  F.  Beddy,  formerly 
Assistant  Commissioner  at  Hardi,  who  among  ether  benefits  secured 
a  good  water  supply  by  throwing  a  dam  across  the  river.  Principal 
trade,  export  of  grain  and  oil-seeds.     Pop.  (1877),  9170. 

Hardoi — A  District  of  Oudh  in  the  Sftipur  Division  or  Com- 
missionership,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  North- Western  Provinces,  lying  between  260  53'  and  27°47'n.  lat, 
and  between  790  44'  and  8o°  52'  e.  long.  Area  (Parliamentary  Return, 
1878),  2285-64  square  miles;  population,  according  to  the  Census  of 
1869,931,517  persons.  In  shape,  the  District  forms  an  irregular  parallelo- 
gram between  the  Gumti  and  Ganges ;  greatest  length  from  north-west 
to  south-east,  78  miles ;  average  breadth,  46  miles.  Bounded  on  the 
north  by  Shihjahdnpur  and  Kheri ;  on  the  east  by  Sftdpur,  the  Gumti 
marking  the  boundary  line ;  on  the  south  by  Lucknow  and  Undo ;  and 
on  the  west  by  Farrukhdbdd,  from  which  it  is  separated  by  the  Ganges. 

Physical  Aspects. — Hardoi  is  a  level  District,  the  highest  point  lying 
north  of  Pihini,  near  the  Gumti,  490  feet  above  sea  level.  The  country 
continues  high  along  the  Gumti,  with  a  breadth  of  from  3  to  8  miles, 


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S6o  HARDOI  DISTRICT. 

sinking  eastward  into  the  central  plain,  which  is  from  10  to  20  miles 
broad,  and  intersected  by  the  S£i  river.  Beyond  this  plain  the  country 
again  rises,  forming  the  watershed  between  the  S£i  and  Garra,  with 
other  tributaries  of  the  Ganges,  the  elevation  being  from  470  to  480 
feet  The  main  portion  of  the  District  is  formed  by  the  valley  of  the 
Sii.  Beyond  the  Garra  lies  the  valley  of  the  Ganges,  with  an  elevation 
of  396  feet  at  Sandi.  Towards  the  Ganges,  near  Sandi  and  Bilgrim, 
the  land  is  uneven,  and  often  rises  into  hillocks  of  sand,  cultivated  at 
the  base,  and  their  slopes  covered  with  lofty  munj  grass,  whose  large 
waving  white  plumes  form  a  graceful  feature  in  the  landscape.  Wide 
usdr  or  saline  plains  run  through  the  middle  of  the  District  on  each 
side  of  the  line  of  railway,  and  are  almost  wholly  uncultivable.  The 
soil  of  Hardoi  is  lighter  than  that  of  perhaps  any  other  District  of 
Oudh,  27  per  cent,  being  sand,  56  per  cent  loam,  and  17  per  cent. 
clay.  The  rivers  of  Hardoi,  commencing  from  the  west,  are  the 
Ganges,  Ramgangd,  Garra,  Sukheta*,  Sai,  Biita  and  Gumti  The 
first  three  are  navigable  by  boats  of  500  maunds  or  about  17  tons 
burden.  The  Gumti  is  here  a^small  river,  whose  dry-weather  discharge 
is  not  more  than  300  cubic  feet ;  it  has  high  sandy  banks,  and  is  easily 
fordable.  The  Sii  is  also  an  insignificant  stream  in  Hardoi.  There 
are  no  river  marts  in  the  District  except  Sandi  on  the  Garra,  and  no 
fisheries  or  river-side  industries  are  carried  on,  with  the  exception  of  a 
little  timber  traffic  on  the  Ganges.  Several  large  jhils  or  lakes  are 
scattered  throughout  the  District,  the  largest  being  that  of  Sandi, 
which  is  3  miles  long  by  from  1  to  2  miles  broad.  These  jhils  are 
much  used  for  irrigation,  126,000  acres  being  watered  from  them. 
Large  tracts  of  forest  jungle  still  exist,  and  formerly  afforded  shelter  to 
bands  of  robbers.  Tigers  have  been  exterminated,  but  leopards  are 
still  found  in  the  northern  jungles.  Antelope,  spotted  deer,  and 
nilgdi  are  common.  The  mallard,  teal,  grey  duck,  and  common  goose 
are  more  abundant  in  Hardoi  than  in  any  other  District  of  Oudh ;  and 
the  chain  of  jhils  which  dot  the  lower  levels  of  the  Sal  valley  abound 
in  all  kinds  of  water-fowl.  Fine  rohu  fish  are  found  in  the  Garra  and 
Rimganga  rivers. 

History. — The  early  traditions  of  this  District  go  back  to  the  days  of 
the  Mahdbhdrata,  and  relate  how  Balaram,  the  brother  of  Krishna, 
accompanied  by  Brahmans,  was  making  a  tour  of  the  sacred  places  of 
the  land.  On  coming  to  Nimkhir,  he  found  certain  holy  Rishis 
engaged  in  hearing  the  sacred  books  read ;  and  as  one  of  them  would 
not  rise  to  salute  him,  he  smote  off  his  head  with  a  blade  oikusd  grass. 
In  order  to  purge  himself  of  his  guilt,  it  was  required  of  him  that  he 
should  rid  the  holy  men  of  a  certain  demon  named  Bfl,  who  dwelt  in 
a  lonely  spot  where  now  stands  the  town  of  Bflgram,  and  who  used  to 
persecute  the  worshippers  at  Nimkhdr,  by  raining  blood  and  filth  upon 


HARDOI  DISTRICT.  561 

their  sacrifices.      Balirdm  accordingly  slew  the  demon,  and  a  low 
mound  at  Bflgrdm  is  still  pointed  out  as  the  site  of  his  abode.    Passing 
from  mythological  times,  the  first  authentic  historical  records  of  Hardoi 
are  connected  with  the  Musdlman  colonization.    Biwan  was  occupied 
by  Sayyid  Sdlir  Masdrid  in  1028  a.d.     The  Shaikhs  declare  that  they 
conquered  Bflgrdm  in  1013,  but  the  permanent  Muhammadan  occupation 
did  not  commence  till  12 17.     Gopimau  was  the  earliest  conquest  in 
Oudh  effected  by  Sayyid  Silir ;  and  descendants  of  the  early  conquerors 
are  still  to  be  found.    The  settlement  of  Pdli  by  a  Pdnde  Brahman,  a 
Risaldir,  and  a  Shaikh,  all  three  of  whom  are  represented  at  this  day  by 
men  of  property  in  the  neighbourhood,  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the 
occasional  stability  of  oriental  families.      Isauli  in  Bangar  was  also 
conquered  by  Sayyid  S£l£r ;  but  Sindi  and  Sdndfla  were  not  occupied 
until  long  afterwards.    The  latter  was  the  capital  of  a  Pdsi  kingdom, 
which  seems  to  have  spread  over  the  country  down  both  banks  of  the 
Gumti  and  the  S£i,  extending  from  its  original  seat  at  Dhaurahra  and 
MitauIL     The  Pdsis  are  still  very  powerful  in  Hardoi.     Owing  to  the 
situation  of  the  District  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Ganges,  and  to  the 
fact  of  its  commanding  the  fords  near  the  great  city  of  Kanauj,  Hardoi 
formed  the  scene  of  many  sanguinary  battles  between  the  rival  Afghdn 
and  Mughal  Empires.     It  was  here  that  the  Sharki  kings  of  Jaunpur 
mustered  their  forces,  and  bid  defiance  to  the  Lodi  sovereigns  of  Delhi. 
Here,  again,  the  Khilji  for  a  brief  space  rallied  his  forces  against  the 
Mughals,  and  established  his  headquarters  at  Bilgrim.     In  yet  later 
times,  Hardoi  formed  the  border-land  between  the  Nawdb  Wazir  of  Oudh 
and  the  Rohilli  Afghdns.     It  was  this  constant  passage  of  armies 
which  rendered  the  formation  of  any  organized  government  in  Hardoi 
impossible  till  after  the  accession  of  Akbar.     In  his  time  the  whole  ot 
the  north  of  the  District  was  a  jungle,  and  the  few  settlements  which 
had  been  made  there  were  mere  military  outposts.    With  the  Mughals, 
cannon  came  into  general  use ;  and  the  fords  of  the  Ganges  lost  their 
former  strategical  importance,  as  the  crossing  of  troops  could  be  pro- 
tected by  the  new  engine  of  warfare.     Hardoi  then  ceased  to  be  the 
natural  meeting  place  of  eastern  and  western  India ;  jungles  were 
cleared ;  new  Muhammadan  colonies  were  established  at  Gopdmau  by 
Akbar,  and  at  Shdhdbdd  and  Sindi  by  Shih  Jahin.     It  is  not  clear 
what  were  the  precise  relations  of  these  Musalmin  chieftains  to  their 
Hindu  neighbours.    The  Bflgr&n  family  pretend  to  have  had  authority 
owtrpargands  Bdwan,  Sindi,  and  Hardoi.    But  the  few  villages  com- 
prising their  present  estate  appeared  to  have  been  slowly  acquired  by 
purchase  at  different  times,  extending  over  a  long  period.     In  like 
manner,  the  Sdndfla  Musalmdns  are  not  even  mentioned  by  Colonel 
Sleemanas  landlords,  and  the  larger  part  of  their  property  was  acquired 
at  a  very  recent  date.    The  country  was  probably  covered  with  jungle, 

VOL.  III.  2  N 

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$62  HARDOI  DISTRICT. 

and  the  few  scattered  villages  of  Hindus  were  dominated  by  the  brick 
forts  of  the  Musalmans.  The  principal  landed  clans  of  Rajputs  are  the 
following : — The  Ahbans,  really  Chawar  Kshattriyas,  who  claim  to  have 
sprung  from  Raj£  Gopi,  and  to  have  occupied  Gopamau,  having  pre- 
viously ousted  the  Thatheras,  about  ioo  a.d.  The  Sombansis  came  from 
Kumhrawan  to  Sandi  about  1400  a.d.  Their  chief  was  compelled  to 
yield  to  the  Musalmans,  but  he  retained  Sandi  for  some  time,  and  then 
abandoned  it  for  Sivajfpur,  where  his  descendant  still  remains.  The 
Gaurs,  the  most  powerful  clan  in  the  District,  occupy  the  central  tract, 
having,  as  alleged,  driven  out  the  Thatheras  from  Ba"  wan  and  Sara  during 
the  time  of  the  Kanauj  sovereignty,  about  11 18  a.d.  The  Nikumbhs 
say  that  they  came  from  Ulwur  (Alwar)  about  1450  a.d,  ;  the  Katiars 
from  Farrukhabad  about  1550;  and  the  Bais  of  Gundwa  from  Bais- 
wara.  Under  native  rule,  Hardoi  was  the  most  turbulent  of  all  the 
Districts  of  Oudh.  It  was  divided'  into  the  chaklds  of  Sandfla,  Sandi, 
Pali,  and  Tandiaon,  the  latter  including  the  wild  tract  of  Bangar,  east 
of  and  along  the  Sii,  in  which  the  Pisis,  the  ancestral  lords  of  the  soil, 
had  taken  refuge,  and  maintained  a  guerilla  warfare  against  all  authority, 
Hindu  or  Musalman,  supported  in  many  cases  by  their  Kshattriya  neigh- 
bours. Ahrori,  v&pargand  Gopimau,  was  their  main  residence.  Colonel 
Sleeman  in  his  '  Diary,'  under  date  22d  January  1849, tnus  describes 
the  state  of  this  part  of  the  country:  'Tandiaon,  8  miles  west  The 
country  level ;  in  parts  well  cultivated,  particularly  in  the  vicinity  of 
villages;  but  a  large  portion  of  the  surface  is  covered  with  jungle, 
useful  only  to  robbers  and  refractory  landholders,  who  abound  in  the 
pargand  of  Bangar.  In  this  respect,  it  is  reputed  one  of  the  worst 
Districts  of  Oudh.  Within  the  last  few  years,  the  king's  troops  have 
been  frequently  beaten  and  driven  out  with  loss,  even  when  com- 
manded by  a  European  officer.  The  landholders  and  armed  peasantry 
of  the  different  villages  unite  their  quotas  of  auxiliaries,  and  concentrate 
at  a  given  signal  upon  the  troops  when  they  are  in  pursuit  of  robbers 
and  rebels.  Almost  every  able-bodied  man  of  every  village  in  Bangar 
is  trained  to  the  use  of  arms  ;  and  none  of  the  king's  troops,  save  those 
who  are  regularly  disciplined  and  commanded  by  European  officers, 
will  venture  to  move  against  a  landholder  of  this  District  When  the 
local  authorities  cannot  obtain  the  use  of  such  troops,  they  are  obliged 
to  conciliate  the  most  powerful  and  unscrupulous  by  reductions  in  the 
assessment  of  the  lands,  or  additions  to  their  nankdrJ  This,  be  it 
remembered,  was  written  in  1849,  shortly  before  the  annexation. 
Hardoi,  together  with  the  rest  of  Oudh,  became  British  territory 
under  Lord  Dalhousie's  Proclamation  of  February  1856.  Since  the 
Sepoy  rebellion  in  1857,  civil  order  has  been  firmly  established,  and 
nothing  has  occurred  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  District 
Population. — The  population  of  Hardoi  District,  according  to  the 

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HARDOI  DISTRICT.  563 

Census  of  1869,  amounted  to  931,517  persons,  of  whom  500,994  were 
males  and  430,523  females ;  number  of  villages  or  townships,  1961 — 
houses,  180,590 ;  average  pressure  of  the  population  on  the  soil,  407 
per  square  mile.  Hardoi  is  the  most  thinly  populated  District  in  Oudh, 
except  Kheri  and  Bahrdich.  The  Hindus  number  845,293,  of  whom 
54*1  per  cent  are  males  and  45*9  per  cent,  females.  Female  infanti- 
cide was  formerly  extremely  common  in  Hardoi,  and  the  small  pro- 
portion of  females  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  offence  has 
not  yet  been  altogether  stamped  out  The  Muhammadans  number 
85,824,  of  whom  5 1  per  cent,  are  males  and  49  per  cent  females ; 
Christians,  European  and  native,  48;  'others,'  352.  The  most 
numerous  caste  are  the  Chamirs,  144,208,  who  thus  form  18  per  cent 
of  the  Hindu  population.  Next  in  order  of  number  come  the  Brdh- 
mans,  112,101;  and  the  44  clans  of  Rdjput  Kshattriyas,  75,708. 
These  and  the  foregoing  are  mostly  yeoman  proprietors  and  cultivators. 
The  other  principal  high  castes  are — Vaisyas,  25,631 ;  and  Kdyasths, 
9479.  Of  lower  castes,  there  are— Ahfrs,  65,214;  Pdsis,  62,367; 
Muraos,  49,440;  Garerias,  30,815;  Kahirs,  26,613.  The  strongest 
sections  among  the  Muhammadan  population  are  the  Pathans,  15,584 ; 
Shaikhs,  1 1,926 ;  Juldhds  (Muhammadan  weavers),  11,144;  Sayyids, 
5350.  Only  809  are  returned  as  Mughals.  The  Musalmins  reside 
principally  in  the  large  towns,  but  even  in  these  they  form  the  minority 
of  the  population.  In  some  cases  they  have  inhibited  the  building  of 
temples ;  and  recently,  on  a  protest  being  made  against  a  temple  being 
erected  by  a  Hindu  Ri]i  on  his  own  land  in  the  town  of  Sindfla,  it 
appeared  on  inquiry  that  no  Hindu  temple  had  ever  been  built  in  the 
town,  owing  to  the  bigotry  of  the  Muhammadans.  But  such  instances 
are  not  common,  and  Musalmdns  often  join  in  the  Rdmlild,  and  other 
religious  celebrations  of  the  Hindus.  Hardoi  has  a  larger  town 
population  than  the  other  Oudh  Districts.  Out  of  18  towns  in  Oudh 
containing  upwards  of  10,000  inhabitants,  5  are  situated  within  this 
District.  None  of  them,  however,  are  places  of  any  trade,  and  only 
one,  Sdndi,  is  situated  on  a  navigable  river.  The  9  largest  towns  and 
their  populations  are — Shahabad,  pop.  (1869)  18,254 ;  Sandila,  15,51 1 ; 
Bilgram,  11,534;  Mallanwan,  11,670;  Sandi,  n,i23;  Pihani, 
7582  ;  Hardoi,  7156 ;  Gopamau,  5949  ;  and  Pali,  5122, — all  of  which 
see  separately.  Of  these,  the  first  seven  have  been  subjected  to  local 
taxation  for  the  maintenance  of  a  town  police ;  but  Hardoi  town  is  the 
only  regularly  constituted  municipality.  The  different  villages  and  town- 
ships are  thus  classified  in  the  Census  Report  of  1869 : — 595  contain  less 
than  200  inhabitants ;  655  from  200  to  500;  395  from  500  to  1000; 
151  from  1000  to  2000;  32  from  2000  to  5000;  4  from  5000  to 
10,000;  and  5  from  10,000  upwards.  The  principal  religious  fairs  are 
the  following : — At  Bilgrdm,  in  September,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Rdmlild 


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564  HARD01  DISTRICT. 

festival,  lasting  ten  days,  and  attended  by  about  40,000  persons;  at  Hattia 
Haran,  during  the  whole  month  of  Bhddra  (August  and  September), 
attended  by  100,000  persons ;  at  Barsuya,  in  April  and  November,  the 
Pramhanska  Samddh  festival,  lasting  for  only  a  single  day  on  each 
occasion,  and  attended  by  from  15,600  to  "20,000  persons.  These, 
together  with  several  other  smaller  fairs,  are  held  for  religious  purposes, 
and  have  no  commercial  importance. 

Agriculture.  —  Rice,  wheat,  and  other  food  grains  form  the  great 
staples  of  agriculture.  With  regard  to  the  crops  cultivated,  the 
seasons  of  sowing  and  reaping,  rates  of  rent,  condition  of  the  cultivators, 
etc.,  the  remarks  on  these  heads  made  in  the  articles  Kheri  and 
Lucknow  apply  equally  to  this  District  The  area  under  crops  is 
844,560  acres,  or  131 9  square  miles,  being  somewhat  more  than  half  the 
entire  area.  Excluding  revenue-free  grants,  the  area  is  thus  classified : 
— 59  per  cent  under  crops ;  2  per  cent  groves ;  25  per  cent  arable 
waste ;  5  J  per  cent  barren ;  5  \  per  cent  water  area ;  3  per  cent  roads 
and  village  sites.  A  plough  and  pair  of  oxen  are  able  to  cultivate  6 
acres  of  loam  or  clay,  or  8  acres  of  sandy  soil.  The  average  price 
of  wheat  and  bdjra  for  the  three  decennial  periods  ending  1870 
are  returned  as  follows :  — 1841-50,  wheat  3s.  5J&,  bdjra  3s.  2d. 
per  cwt ;  1851-60,  wheat  3s.  2d.,  bdjra  3s.  id ;  1861-70,  wheat  4s, 
ad,  bdjra  4s.  3d.  per  cwt.  The  average  rates  in  1870  for  different 
varieties  of  food  grains  at  the  Madhuganj  mart  were  as  follows:— 
Common  unhusked  rice,  4s.  9£d  per  cwt. ;  common  husked  rice,  10s. 
8d. ;  wheat,  5s.  nd. ;  barley,  4s.  2d.;  bdjra,  5s.  4d ;  jodr9  5s.  id; 
gram,  4s.  7d..;  arhar,  4s.  4d  ;  urid,  7s.  6± ;  moth,  7s. ;  mug,  5s.  7d  ; 
masuri,  4s.  8d  per  cwt  The  food  grains  in  common  use  among  the 
peasantry  are  maize,  kodo,  bdjra,  and  jodr,  made  into  bread-cakes ; 
barley  and  gram  parched  and  eaten  dry  ;  and  peas,  moth,  and  urid  as 
pottage.  Two  meals  are  taken  a  day,  at  noon  and  sundown.  Fish  are 
abundant,  and  ought  to  form  an  important  article  of  diet,  but  owing  to 
the  dearness  of  salt,  the  people  are  unable  to  cure  them ;  and  thus, 
while  they  are  used  as  manure  at  one  time  of  the  year,  there  is  a 
scarcity  during  the  remaining  months.  Landed  property  in  Hardoi  is 
more  evenly  divided  under  the  different  tenures  than  is  usual  in  Oudh. 
The  distribution  is  as  follows: — Tdlukddri,  392  villages;  zaminddri, 
795  >  pattiddri,  753  villages.  Of  the  total  of  1961  villages,  the  various 
clans  of  Kshattriyas  hold  1157  ;  the  Musalmans  come  next  with  406  ; 
and  following  them  are  the  Kiyasths  with  157,  and  the  Bnihmans  with 
150.  Hardoi  is  conspicuous  for  the  absence  of  the  great  feudal 
chiefships  so  common  in  other  Oudh  Districts.  There  are  only  18 
tdlukddrs,  holding  altogether  432  villages  (comprising  364,925  acres), 
and  paying  ^36,035  of  Government  revenue.  The  largest  estates  are 
those  of  Khaslat  Husam,  53,857  acres,  paying  ^5116;  and  of  Raja" 

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HARDOI  D1S1R1CT.  565 

Sir  Hardeo  Bakhsh,  43,166  acres,  paying  ,£4406  of  Government 
revenue.  The  small  proprietors  number  21,758,  holding  1569  villages, 
covering  1,105,000  acres,  or  an  average  of  50  acres. 

Communications  y  Trade,  Commerce,  etc. — The  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand 
Railway  from  Lucknow  to  Shdhjahinpur  runs  through  Hardoi  for  a 
distance  of  62  miles,  with  stations  at  Sindila,  Kachona,  Sitdpur  road, 
Hardoi,  Chdndpur,  and  Sh£hab£d.  There  are  also  329  miles  of  raised 
and  bridged  roads,  and  73  miles  of  minor  roads,  intersecting  the 
District.  The  principal  imports  are  cotton,  salt,  country  cloth,  and 
European  piece-goods;  the  chief  exports  being  food  grains,  sugar, 
tobacco,  horned  cattle,  and  hides.  In  1875,  the  value  of  the  imports 
was  returned  at  ,£102,952,  and  the  exports  at  ,£62,977.  The  only 
manufacture  of  any  note  carried  on  is  in  the  weaving  of  a  peculiar 
description  of  muslin  known  as  mahtnudi. 

Administration. — The  judicial  staff  consists  of  3  European  and  6 
native  magistrates,  besides  6  native  honorary  magistrates,  all  of  whom 
have  also  civil  and  revenue  powers.  The  total  revenue  of  the  District 
in  187 1  amounted  to  ,£158,676,  of  which  ,£145,213,  or  90  per  cent, 
was  derived  from  the  land;  and  the  civil  expenditure  to  ,£18,705.  At 
the  recent  revised  land  settlement,  between  1864  and  1868,  the  Govern- 
ment land  revenue  demand  was  enhanced  by  42  per  cent.  In  1875, 
the  gross  revenue  amounted  to  ,£170,952,  of  which  the  land  con- 
tributed ,£151,396;  total  civil  expenditure,  ,£18,476.  The  pre- 
sent incidence  of  land  taxation  is  at  the  rate  of  3s.  4§d.  per  cultivated 
acre,  or  2s.  4|d.  per  acre  of  cultivable  land.  The  regular  police  force 
in  1873  consisted  of  436  officers  and  men,  maintained  at  a  cost  to 
Government  of  £6610 ;  the  village  watch  or  rural  police  numbered 
2625,  maintained  by  the  landholders  or  villagers  at  a  cost  of  ^7350  ; 
and  the  municipal  force  of  85  men,  costing  ,£685  from  municipal 
funds.  Hardoi  District  possesses  a  singular  immunity  from  crime. 
Education  has  made  considerable  progress.  In  1873,  there  were 
4762  scholars  attending  102  schools  (of  which  13  were  girls'  schools). 
By  1875,  the  number  of  schools  had  increased  to  142,  and  of  pupils  to 
5877.  There  are  no  newspapers,  or  literary  or  educational  societies,  in 
the  District ;  nor  are  there  any  poorhouses  such  as  exist  in  Sftapur 
and  Lucknow,  nor  any  charitable  endowments. 

Medical  Aspects,  etc. — The  climate  of  Hardoi  does  not  differ  from 
that  of  Oudh  generally,  except  that  it  has  perhaps  the  smallest  rainfall 
of  any  District  in  the  Province.  The  average  annual  rainfall  for 
the  ten  years  ending  1872  was  about  32  inches,  that  of  the  Province 
generally  being  about  42.  In  1873,  the  rainfall  was  only  21  inches, 
and  in  1874,  31  inches,  being  the  lowest  recorded  in  Oudh  in  each 
year.  The  average  mean  monthly  temperature  for  the  three  years 
1869  to  187 1  was  as  follows: — January,  590  F. ;  February,  66£°; 


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566  HARDOI  1AHS1L  AND  FARGANA. 

March,  750 ;  April,  750 ;  May,  92  J°;  June,  94^°;  July,  87°;  August, 
86|";  September,  82 £°;  October,  770;  November,  690 ;  December, 
61  °  F.  Malarial  fevers  are  the  only  prevailing  endemic  disease  of  the 
District,  and  are  attributable  to  the  extensive  marshes.  Epidemic 
cholera  occasionally  occurs,  and  small-pox  prevails  annually,  generally 
in  the  cold  season.  Cattle  diseases  known  as  paschima  and  kurd  are 
common. 

Hardoi — Tahsil  or  Subdivision  of  Hardoi  District,  Oudh  ;  lying 
between  270  9'  and  270  39'  n.  lat,  and  between  790  52'  30"  and  8o°  31' 
e.  long.,  and  bounded  on  the  north  by  ShaMbdd  tahsil,  on  the  east 
by  Misrikh  tahsil  of  Sftapur,  on  the  south  by  Sandfla  and  Bilgram 
tahsils,  and  on  the  west  by  Bflgram.  Area,  638  square  miles,  of  which 
359  are  cultivated.  Pop.  (according  to  the  Census  of  1869,  but 
allowing  for  recent  transfers),  229,229,  being  Hindus,  216,275,  and 
Muhammadans,  12,954;  the  number  of  males  was  125,329,  and  of 
females,  103,900.  Number  of  villages  or  towns,  504;  average  density 
of  population,  358  per  square  mile.  The  tahsil  consists  of  the  5 
pargands  of  Bangar,  Gopamau,  Sara  (South),  BaVan,  and  Barwan. 

Hardoi — Chief  town  and  administrative  headquarters  of  Hardoi 
District,  Oudh  ;  on  the  Oudh  and  Rohilkhand  Railway,  63  miles  from 
Lucknow,  and  39  from  Shihjahanpur.  Lat.  270  23'  40"  n.,  long.  8o*  10' 
5"  e.  The  town  appears  to  have  been  founded  more  than  700  years 
ago  by  a  body  of  Chamar  Gaurs  from  Narkanjan,  near  Indore,  who 
drove  out  the  Thatheras  and  destroyed  their  fortress,  the  remains  of 
which  still  exist  in  the  shape  of  large  mounds.  The  present  town  is 
largely  built  of  bricks  dug  out  of  the  old  Thathera  remains.  Hardoi 
itself  is  a  place  of  no  importance ;  and  was  selected  as  the  head- 
quarters of  the  District  on  the  occupation  of  the  country  after  the 
Sepoy  Mutiny  of  1857,  apparently  for  its  central  position.  Pop. 
(1869),  Hindus,  6317 ;  Muhammadans,  839  ;  total,  7156,  residing  in 
13 13  houses.  The  Government  buildings  consist  of  the  usual  courts, 
police  station,  jail,  school,  dispensary,  tahsilddr*s  office,  etc.  Bi-weekly 
market  Hardoi  has  been  constituted  a  municipality  under  Act  xv.  of 
1867  ;  revenue  in  1876-77,  ^552,  derived  almost  entirely  from  octroi; 
expenditure,  ^532. 

Hardoi — Pargand  of  tahsil  Digbijiiganj,  Rdi  Bareli  District,  Oudh; 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  little  river  Naiya,  on  the  east  by  Sim- 
rauta,  on  the  south  by  R£i  Bareli,  and  on  the  west  by  Bachhrawan 
pargands.  The  land  was  formerly  occupied  by  the  Bhars,  who  suc- 
ceeded in  defeating  a  party  of  Sayyid  SdlaVs  invading  force  about  1030 
a.d.  They  continued  to  hold  this  pargand,  just  in  the  centre  of  Oudh, 
and  far  from  any  seat  of  civilisation,  400  years  longer,  till  the  beginning 
of  the  15th  century,  when  they  were  attacked  and  utterly  annihilated 
by  Ibrdhim  Sharki  of  Jiunpur,  who  bestowed  the  estate  upon  one  of 


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HARDOI  TOWN— HARD UAG ANJ.  567 

-  his  followers,  Sayyid  Jalal-ud-din,  whose  descendants  still  reside  in 
rz  the  town.  Area,  15,561  acres;  Government  land  tax,  ^3996,  or  at  the 
a  rate  of  5s.  ijd.  per  acre;  pop.  (1869),  15,706,  residing  in  23  villages, 
L-  of  which.  15  are  tdlukddri  and  8  the  property  of  village  communities. 
£  The  soil  is  very  fertile,  raising  the  best  crops;  and  rents  in  con- 
j  sequence  are  high.     In  one  township,  Asni— celebrated  for  its  tobacco 

— the  rents  are  as  high  as  ^4,  16s.  per  acre.  Kurmis  are  the  chief 
:  cultivating  caste.  Saltpetre  and  salt  were  formerly  manufactured,  but 
::;  this  industry  has  been  discontinued  since  the  British  annexation.  Two 
-■  small  markets,  in  Atehra  and  Para  Khurd.  About  15,000  maunds  of 
i.  wheat  are  annually  exported  to  Lucknow  and  Cawnpore. 

Hardoi — Town  in  pargand  of  same  name,  R£i  Bareli   District, 

Oudh;  situated  on  the  road  from  Digbijaiganj  to  Bachhrawan,  12 
-,  miles  north  of  Rii  Bareli  town,  and  4  miles  east  of  Thulendi.  Lat 
:    260  28'  n.,  long.  8i°  15'  e.     Founded  by  a  Bhar  chief  named  Hardoi, 

-  prior  to  Madrid's  unsuccessful  invasion.  On  the  extermination  of  the 
:    Bhars  by  Sultan  Ibrdhim  of  Jiunpur,  a  mud  fort  was  built  here,  the 

ruins  of  which  still  exist      Pop.  (1869),  1590,  being  Hindus,   1407, 

>  and  Muhammadans,  183 ;  number  of  houses,  260.  Two  masonry 
:    mosques,  an  Idgah,  and  Hindu  temple. 

Hardnaganj.  —  Municipal    town     in     Aligarh    District,    North- 

-  Western  Provinces.  Lat.  270  56'  30"  n.,  long.  780  n'  40"  e.  ;  area, 
■    80  acres;   pop.   (1872),  6970,  consisting  of  6353  Hindus  and  617 

>  Muhammadans.  Lies  in  the  open  plain,  6  miles  east  of  Aligarh. 
f  Founded  by  Hardwa  or  Balirdm,  brother  of  Krishna,  but  containing 
f  no  remains  to  justify  this  mythical  antiquity.  Occupied  by  Chauhan 
;  Rajputs  after  the  Musalmin  conquest  of  Delhi.     Plundered  during  the 

Mutiny  by  neighbouring  villagers.  Fine  open  bdzdr  lined  with  good 
shops,  police  station,  post  office,  school.  Rampur  station  on  Oudh 
and  Rohilkhand  Railway  lies  3  miles  north ;  and  the  Ganges  Canal, 
passing  1  mile  east,  carries  off  most  of  the  local  traffic  Imports, — salt, 
timber,  and  bamboos;  exports, — cotton  and  grain.  Canal  irrigates 
surrounding  lands.  Municipal  revenue  in  1875-76,  ^462  ;  from  taxes, 
jQZ9Z>  or  is.  6d.  per  head  of  population  (5200)  within  municipal  limits. 


END  OF  VOLUME  III. 


MORRISON  AND  G1BB,  EDINBURGH, 
PRINTERS  TO  MBR  MAJESTY'S  STATIONERY  OPTICS. 


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