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UNJVERSiTY OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
#
THE
IMPERIAL GAZETTEER
OF INDIA
VOL. XX
PARDI TO PUSAD
NEW EDITION
PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF HIS MAJESTY'S
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA IN COUNCIL
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1908
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PIIEI.TSHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH
NEW YORK AND TORONTO
DS
X3Lf
INTRODUCTORY NOTES
Notes on Transliteration
Vowel-Sounds
a has the sound oi a in 'woman.'
a has the sound of a in ' father.'
e has the vowel-sound in 'grey.'
i has the sound of/ in 'pin.'
1 has the sound of / in ' police.'
o has the sound of ^ in ' bone.'
u has the sound of // in ' bull.'
u has the sound of u in ' flute.'
ai has the vowel-sound in ' mine.'
au has the vowel-sound in ' house.'
It should be stated that no attempt has been made to distinguish
between the long and short sounds of e and o in the Dravidian
languages, which possess the vowel-sounds in ' bet ' and ' hot ' in
addition to those given above. Nor has it been thought necessary
to mark vowels as long in cases where mistakes in pronunciation
were not likely to be made.
Consonants
Most Indian languages have different forms for a number of con-
sonants, such as d^ i, r, &c., marked in scientific works by the use
of dots or italics. As the European ear distinguishes these with
difficulty in ordinary pronunciation, it has been considered undesir-
able to embarrass the reader with them ; and only two notes are
required. In the first place, the Arabic k, a strong guttural, has
been represented by k instead of q, which is often used. Secondly,
it should be remarked that aspirated consonants are common : and,
in particular, dh and th (except in Burma) never have the sound uf
th in ' this' or 'thin,' but should be pronounced as in ' woodhouse'
and ' boathook.'
503073
iv INTRODUCTORY NOTES
Burmese Wo7-ds
Burmese and some of the languages on the frontier of China have
the following special sounds : —
aw has the vowel-sound in * law.'
6 and ii are pronounced as in German,
gy is pronounced almost like J in ' jewel.'
ky is pronounced almost like ch in ' church.'
th is pronounced in some cases as in ' this,' in some cases as in
'thin.'
w after a consonant has the force of jnv. Thus, ywa and ptve
are disyllables, pronounced as if written yuwa and puwe.
It should also be noted that, whereas in Indian words the accent
or stress is distributed almost equally on each syllable, in Burmese
there is a tendency to throw special stress on the last syllable.
General
The names of some places — e.g. Calcutta, Bombay, Lucknow,
Cawnpore — have obtained a popular fixity of spelling, while special
forms have been officially prescribed for others. Names of persons
are often spelt and pronounced differently in different parts of India ;
but the variations have been made as few as possible by assimilating
forms almost alike, especially where a particular spelling has been
generally adopted in English books.
Notes on Money, Prices, Weights and Measures
As the currency of India is based upon the rupee, all statements
with regard to money throughout the Gazetteer have necessarily been
expressed in rupees, nor has it been found possible to add generally
a conversion into sterling. Down to about 1873 the gold value of
the rupee (containing 165 grains of pure silver) was approximately
equal to 2J., or one-tenth of a £ ; and for that period it is easy to
convert rupees into sterling by striking off the final cipher (Rs. 1,000
= £100). But after 1873, owing to the depreciation of silver as
compared with gold throughout the world, there came a serious and
progressive fall in the exchange, until at one time the gold value of
the rupee dropped as low as \s. In order to provide a remedy for
the heavy loss caused to the Government of India in respect of its
gold imyments to be made in England, and also to relieve foreign
trade and finance from the inconvenience due to constant and
unforeseen fluctuations in exchange, it was resolved in 1893 to close
the mints to the free coinage of silver, and thus force up the value of
the rupee by restricting the circulation. The intention was to raise
INTRO D UCTOR V NO TES v
the exchange value uf the rupee to is. 4^/., and then introduce a gold
standard (though not necessarily a gold currency) at the rate of Rs. 15
= £1. This policy has been completely successful. From 1899 on-
wards the value of the rupee has been maintained, with insignificant
fluctuations, at the proposed rate of is. ^d. ; and consequently since
that date three rupees have been equivalent to two rupees before 1873.
For the intermediate period, between 1873 and 1899, it is manifestly
impossible to adopt any fixed sterling value for a constantly changing
rupee. But since 1899, if it is desired to convert rupees into sterling,
not only nmst the final cipher be struck off (as before 1873), but
also one-third must be subtracted from the result. Thus Rs. 1,000
= £100 — ^ = (about) £67.
Another matter in connexion with the expression of money state-
ments in terms of rupees requires to be explained. The method of
numerical notation in India differs from that which prevails through-
out Europe. Large numbers are not punctuated in hundreds of thou-
sands and millions, but in lakhs and crores. A lakh is one hundred
thousand (written out as 1,00,000), and a crore is one hundred lakhs
or ten millions (written out as 1,00,00,000). Consequently, accord-
ing to the exchange value of the rupee, a lakh of rupees (Rs. 1,00,000)
may be read as the equivalent of £10,000 before 1873, and as the
equivalent of (about) £6,667 ^^er 1899; while a crore of rupees
(Rs. 1,00,00,000) may similarly be read as the equivalent of
£1,000,000 before 1873, and as the equivalent of (about) £666,667
after 1899.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the rupee is divided into
16 annas, a fraction commonly used for many purposes by both
natives and Europeans. The anna was formerly reckoned as i^d. ;
it may now be considered as exactly corresponding to id. The
anna is again subdivided into 12 pies.
The various systems of weights used in India combine uniformity
of scale with immense variations in the weight of units. The scale
used generally throughout Northern India, and less commonly in
Madras and Bombay, may be thus expressed : one maund = 40 seers ;
one seer =16 chittaks or 80 tolas. The actual weight of a seer
varies greatly from District to District, and even from village to
village; but in the standard system the tola is 180 grains Troy
(the exact weight of the rupee), and the seer thus weighs 2-057 lb.,
and the maund 82-28 lb. This standard is used in official reports
and throughout the Gazetteer.
For calculating retail prices, the universal custom in India is to
express them in terms of seers to the rupee. Thus, when {)rices
change what varies is not the amount uf money to be paid for the
vi INTRODUCTORY NOTES
same quantity, but the quanlit}- to be obtained for the same amount
of money. In other words, prices in India are quantity prices, not
money prices. When the figure of quantity goes up, this of course
means that the price has gone down, which is at first sight perplexing
to an English reader. It may, however, be mentioned that quantity
prices are not altogether unknown in England, especially at small
shops, w^here pennyworths of many groceries can be bought. Eggs,
likewise, are commonly sold at a varying number for the shilling.
If it be desired to convert quantity prices from Indian into English
denominations without having recourse to money prices (which would
often be misleading), the following scale may be adopted — based
upon the assumptions that a seer is exactly 2 lb., and that the value
of the rupee remains constant at \s. ^d. : i seer per rupee = (about)
3 lb. for 25. ; 2 seers per rupee = (about) 6 lb. for 2s. ; and so on.
The name of the unit for square measurement in India generally
is the blgha, which varies greatly in different parts of the country.
But areas have always been expressed throughout the Gazetteer either
in square miles or in acres.
MAP
Punjab to face p. 394
IMPERIAL GAZETTEER
OF INDIA
VOLUME XX
Pardi Taluka. — Southernmost tdliika of Surat District, Bombay,
lying between 20° 17' and 20*^ 32' N. and 72° 50' and 73° 7' E., with
an area of 163 square miles. It contains one town, Pardi (population,
5,483), the head-quarters; and 81 villages. The population in 1901
was 61,691, compared with 58,245 in 1891. Land revenue and cesses
in 1903-4 amounted to nearly \\ lakhs. The tdliika adjoins the
Portuguese territory of Daman, and is for the most part an undulating
plain sloping westwards to the sea. The fields are, as a rule, unenclosed.
Pardi is divided into an infertile and a fertile region by the Kolak
river. Its climate has a bad reputation. The annual rainfall, averaging
72 inches, is the heaviest in the District.
Pardi Town.— Head-quarters of the tdhika of the same name in
Surat District, Bombay, situated in 20° 31' N. and 72° 57' E., on the
Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway. Population (1901),
5,483. The town contains a dispensary and three schools, two (in-
cluding an English school) for boys and one for girls, attended
respectively by 230 and 94 pupils.
Parenda Taluk. — Crown taluk in the west of Osmanabad District,
Hyderabad State, with an area of 501 square miles. The population
in 1901, including ya^J/-jr, was 59,685, compared with 71,860 in 1891,
the decrease being due to the famine of 1900. The taluk contains
112 villages, of which 6 w[q Jaglr, and Parenda (population, 3,655)
is the head-quarters. The land revenue in 1901 amounted to i-8 lakhs.
The soil is chiefly regar or black cotton soil.
Parenda Village. — Head-quarters of the tdluk of the same name
in Osmanabad District, Hyderabad State, situated in 18° 16' N. and
75° 27' ¥.. Population (1901), 3,655. The fort, erected by Mahmud
Gavan, the celebrated Bahmani minister, contains several large guns
mounted on bastions. Parenda was the capital of the Nizam Shahis
for a short time after the capture of Ahmadnagar by the Mughals in
1605. It was besieged unsuccessfully by Shah Jahan's general in 1630.
It was, however, reduced by Aurangzeb during his viceroyalty of the
2 PARENDA VILLAGE
Deccan. The fortifications are in good order, but the old town is in
ruins. Numerous ruins in the neighbourhood and the fort testify to
the former populousness of the place. It now possesses a tahsil and
police inspector's office, a custom station, a school, and a taluk post
office.
Parganas, The Twenty-four. — District in Bengal. See Twenty-
four Pakganas.
Parghat. — Old pass or route across the \Vestern Ghats in Bombay,
leading from Satara District to Kolaba. Two villages, Par Par or Par
Proper and Pet Par, situated 5 miles west of Mahabaleshwar and
immediately south of Pratapgarh, give their name to and mark this old
route into the Konkan, which goes straight over the hill below Bombay
Point, and winds up a very steep incline with so many curves that it
was named by the British the Corkscrew Pass. Passing through the
two Pars, the farther line of the AN'estern Ghats is descended by an
equally steep path to the village of Parghat in Kolaba District. This
route was maintained practicable for cattle and the artillery of the
period from very early times, and toll stations for the levy of transit
duties as well as for defence were stationed at various points. Afzal
Khan, the Muhammadan general of the Sultan of Bijapur, brought his
forces by this pass to the famous interview at Pratapgarh, where he was
murdered by Sivajl. Until the building of the Kumbharli road in 1864
and the Fitzgerald Pass road in 1876, the Parghat was the only highway
leading from Satara to the Konkan.
V2Sg\,— Taluk in Mahbubnagar District, Hyderabad State, with an
area of 220 square miles. The population in 1901, including y'iZ^zrj-,
was 31,425, compared with 22,008 in 1891. It contains 71 villages,
of which 22 2atjagi7-. Pargi (population, 2,361) is the head-quarters.
The land revenue in 1901 was Rs. 48,000. In 1905 this taluk was
enlarged by the addition of villages from the Koilkonda and Jedcherla
taluks^ and now contains 114 khaha villages.
Parichhatgarh. —Town in the Mawana tahsil of Meerut District,
United Provinces, situated in 28" 59' N. and 77° 57' K., 14 miles east
of Meerut city. Population (1901), 6,278. The fort round which the
town is built lays claim to great antiquity ; tradition ascribes its con-
struction to Parikhshit, grandson of Arjuna, one of the five Pandava
brethren in the Mahabharata, to whom is also attributed the foundation
of the town. The fort was restored by Raja Nain Singh on the rise of
Gujar power in the eighteenth century. It was dismantled in 1857,
and is now used as a police station. The town is administered under
Act XX of 1856, with an income of about Rs. 1,700. The trade is
local. There are branches of the Church Missionary Society and the
American Methodist Mission, and two primary schools.
Parkal.— 7'J//<'^ in Karimnagar District, Hyderabad State, with an
PARLAKIMEDI ESTATE 3
area of 654 square miles. The populatiun in 1901, \\\c\\x^\\\g jagirh, was
84,228, compared with 74,048 in 1891. The taluk contains 1 1 7 villages,
of which 5 2LXZjdgir\ and Ambal (population, 1,849) i^ ^^e head-
quarters. The land revenue in 1901 was 3-1 lakhs. Rice is extensively
raised by tank-irrigation.
Parlakimedi Estate. The largest permanently settled impartible
estate in Ganjam District, Madras, lying in the west of the District,
with an area of 614 square miles, and a population (1901) of 256,414.
In 1903 ^i:. peshkash and cesses amounted to Rs. 1,05,900.
The Raja claims descent from the Orissa Gajapatis. The whole
Kimedi country, consisting of the present zamindaris of Parlakimedi,
Peddakimedi, and Chinnakimedi, was under one ruler until 1607 ; but
in that year the Kimedi Raja allotted Peddakimedi and Chinnakimedi
to his younger son, whose descendants subsequently divided them
into the two existing zammddris of those names. The British first
came into contact with the Parlakimedi family in 1768, when Colonel
Peach led a detachment against Narayana Deo, the zaminddr, and
defeated him at Jalmur. In 1799 the Company temporarily assumed
control of the estate for breach of an engagement. Restored to the
family, this difficult country was the scene of continued disturbances
for many years. In 18 16 it was ravaged by Pindaris ; in 1819 it was
found necessary to send a Special Commissioner, Mr. Thackeray, to
quell a rising in it ; while in 1833 a field force was sent under General
Taylor, and peace was not finally restored till 1835. No further
disturbance took place for twenty years, but in 1856-7 the employment
of a small body of troops was again necessary to restore order.
The estate was under the management of the Court of ^^'ards from
1830 to 1890, owing to the incapacity of two successive Rajas. \N"hen
the estate was taken under management there was no money in hand
and the peshkash was heavily in arrear. During the management
considerable improvement was effected in its condition, a survey and
settlement being made, good roads constructed, sources of irrigation
improved at a cost of 29 lakhs, and cultivation greatly extended ; the
income rose from Rs. 1,40,000 to Rs. 3,86,000, and the cash balance
in 1890 amounted to nearly 30 lakhs. The Raja who then succeeded
has recently died, and the estate is again under the management of
the Court.
Parlakimedi is singularly favoured by nature, the soil being fertile
and irrigation available from the Vamsadhara and Mahendratana)a
rivers, a channel from the latter, and many large tanks. The lands are
lightly assessed, and the ryots are much better off than in the other
zamindaris of the District.
There are 120 miles of metalled road in the estate. A light railway
of 2 feet 6 inches gauge, 25 miles in length, was constructed by the
4 PARLAKIMEDI ESTATE
late Raja at a cost of 7 lakhs from Naupada, a station on the East
Coast Railway, to Parlakimedi, the chief town of the zainindari.
This is the first work of the kind undertaken by a private individual
in Southern India. Besides its capital, the chief places in the estate
are Mukhalingam, a place of pilgrimage, and Patapatnam, Battili, and
Hiramandalam, which are centres of trade.
Parlakimedi Tahsil. — Westernmost zamlnddri tahsil in Ganjam
District, Madras, lying between 18° 31' and 19° 6' N. and 83° 49' and
84° 25' E., with an area of 972 square miles. The population in 1901
was 311,534, compared with 304,359 in 1891. The tahsil contains
one town, Parlakimedi (population, 17,336), the head-quarters; and
1,015 villages. The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4
was Rs. 1,16,000. The tahsil consists of the Parlakimedi Estate,
which is described separately, and the Parlakimedi Maliahs. The
latter are attached to the estate and are chiefly inhabited by Savaras.
They have an area of 358 square miles, and contained a population
in 1901 of 55, 120, compared with 52,302 in 1891. They consist of the
forts (as the head-quarters villages are termed) and muttahs (groups of
villages) of the ten Bissoyis, or hill chiefs. Of their 348 villages, 122
are situated below the Ghats and the rest above. In 1894 the Raja
of Parlakimedi brought a suit in the Agent's court to obtain possession
of these Maliahs and won his case. On appeal it was held by the
High Court that he had no right to any portion of them. A further
appeal to the Privy Council was dismissed, and the Government has
ordered the introduction of a ryotwdri settlement in the 122 villages
below the Ghats. The Bissoyis hold the muttahs as service indmddrs,
on condition of keeping order in the hill tracts and maintaining
an establishment of sarddrs and paiks. The latter may be described
as the rank and file, and the former as the titular commanders of
a semi-military force which the Bissoyis employed in olden days to
overawe the Savaras, and to garrison posts at the passes as a check
upon their irruptions into the low country. The Bissoyis pay a quit-
rent called kattubadi, and this was included in the assets on which
the peshkash of the Parlakimedi zamlnddri was fixed. They collect
wJw/7/.y (customary fees), which were settled and fixed in 1881, from
the Savaras. The Maliahs contain considerable forests, in which is
some good sal {Shorea robtistd). The highest point in them is
Devagiri, 4,535 feet above the sea.
Parlakimedi Town.— Chief place in the zamlnddri and tahsil of
the same name in Ganjam District, INIadras, situated in 18° 47' N.
and 84" 5' E., 25 miles from the Naui)ada station on the East Coast
Railway by the 2 ft. 6 in. railway which the late Raja constructed to
meet the main line there. The town stands in the midst of picturesque
scenery, being situated in an amphitheatre of hills with beautiful tanks
PARLI TOWN 5
adjoining it. Its population is increasing rapidly, and in 1901 amounted
^0 17)336- The chief buildings are the palace, constructed for the
Raja from designs by a former Government architect at a cost of
6 lakhs, and a second-grade college, maintained entirely by the Raja,
which has a hostel attached to it. In 1903-4 the college had an
average attendance of 488 students, of whom 40 were reading in the
F.A. classes. The Raja also maintains a girls' school and a resthouse
for native travellers. Parlakimedi was constituted a municipality in
1886. The municipal receipts and expenditure during the ten jears
ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 14,000 respectively. In
1903-4 they were Rs. 17,000. Most of the income is derived from
taxes on houses and lands, and tolls. Fine mats, fancy baskets, flower-
stands, cheroot-cases, &c., are made here from a species of reed. The
chief trade is in rice.
Parli Fort (or Sajjangarh). — Fort in the District and tdluka of
Satara, Bombay, situated in 17° 40' N. and 73° 55' E., on a detached
spur of the Western Ghats, about 6 miles west of Satara town, and
1,045 ^^^"^ above the plain. Population (1901), 1,287. The fort was
built by one of the kings of Delhi in the thirteenth century. Parli
was the favourite residence of Ramdas Swami (1608-81), the spiritual
guide or guru of Sivaji (1627-80), who gave it to the Swami in indm.
The local tradition is that, if Sivaji in Satara required counsel from
Ramdas, the Swami reached Satara through the air in a single stride.
The temple of Ramdas is in the middle of the village, surrounded by
the dwellings of his disciples. The temple of basalt with a brick-and-
mortar dome was built b\- Aka Bai and Divakar Gosavi, two disciples
of the Swami. A yearly fair, attended by about 6,000 people, is held in
February. On the north-west of Parli village are two old Hemadpanli
temples. The existence of these makes it probable that a fort had
been constructed before Musalman times. It was subsequently occu-
pied by them, and surprised by a detachment of Sivaji's Mavalis in
May, 1673. A few days before his death in 1681 Ramdas Swami
addressed from Parli a judicious letter to Sanibhaji, advising him for
the future rather than upbraiding him for the past, and pointing out the
example of his father, yet carefully abstaining from personal comparison.
In 1699, when the Mughals were besieging Satara, Parshuram Trimbak
Pratinidhi prolonged the siege by furnishing supplies from Parli. After
the capture of Satara in April, 1700, the Mughal army besieged Parli.
The siege lasted till the beginning of June, when the garrison evacuated
the fortress. Aurangzeb renamed it Naurastara. In a revenue state-
ment of about 1790 Parli appears as the head-quarters of a pargana
in the Nahisdurg sarkdr, with a revenue of Rs. 22,500. In 1818 it
was taken by a British regiment.
Parli Town.— Town in the Amba taiuk of Bhir District, H\derabad
6 FARLI TOWN
State, situated in i8° 51' N. and 76° 2ii' ^1 ^4 miles north-east of
Amba, at the foot of the spur of hills passing through the taluk.
Population (1901), 7,289. The temple of Baijnath, built on a hill to
the west of the town, is an important place of pilgrimage. Parli is
a centre of the cotton trade, and contains a ginning-mill employing
50 hands daily.
Parmagudi. — Zamuiddri tahs'il and town in Madura District,
Madras. See Para.magudi.
Parner Taluka. — Tdluka in Ahmadnagar District, Bombay, lying
between 18° 50' and 19° 21' N. and 74° 11' and 74° 44' E., with an
area of 727 square miles. It contains 117 villages, including Parner
(population, 5,300), the head-quarters. The population in 1901 was
72,617, compared with 79,093 in 1891. The density, 100 persons per
square mile, is much below the District average. The demand for
land revenue in 1903-4 was 1-3 lakhs, and for cesses Rs. 10,000. The
surface of Parner is very irregular and hilly, consisting of a series of
plateaux of various heights. The highest is the Kanhur or central
plateau, formed by the widening out of the summit of one of the
spurs of the Western Ghats, which traverses the tdluka from north-
Avest to south-east. The average height of the central plateau is about
2,800 feet above sea-level, though some points on it are 300 feet higher.
On the whole, the water-supply is fairly good. Many of the smaller
streams have a perennial flow.
Parner Village. — Head-quarters of the tdluka of the same name
in Ahmadnagar District, Bombay, situated in 19° N. and 74° 26'
E., 20 miles south-west of Ahmadnagar city and 15 miles west of
Sarola station on the Dhond-Manmad Railway. Population (1901),
5,300. Parner contains numerous money-lenders, chiefly Marwaris,
with a bad name for greed and fraud. In 1874-7 disturbances arose
between the husbandmen and the money-lenders. The villagers placed
the money-lenders in a state of social outlawry, refusing to work for
them, to draw water, supply necessaries, or shave them. The watchful-
ness of the police saved Parner from a riot. Near the camping-place,
at the meeting of two small streams, is an old temple of Sangameshwar
or Trimbakeshwar. The village contains a Sub-Judge's court and
a dispensary.
Parnera Hill. — Hill in Surat District, Bombay, situated in 20° 34'
N. and 72° 57' E., 4 miles south-east of Bulsar, and 120 miles north of
Bombay, rising to a height of about 500 feet above the plain. From
its commanding position the fortified sunmiit has long been considered
a place of consequence. Originally a Hindu fort, it remained under
the Raja of Dharampur, till, about the end of the fifteenth century,
it was taken by Mahmud Begara, Sultan of Gujarat (1459-15 11),
The fort remamed for some lime under the charge of Musalman
PAR ox 7
commanders, but in the disorders that marked the close of the power
of the Ahmadabad kings it fell into the hands of a chief of banditti.
According to a Portuguese writer, Parnera was twice (in 1558 and 1568)
taken by expeditions from Daman, and on the second occasion the
fortifications were destroyed. After it had been in ruins for more than
a hundred years, the fort was, in April, 1676, taken and rebuilt by
Moro Pandit, one of Sivaji's generals. For about a century Parnera
remained under the Marathas. It was then (17S0) taken by a detach-
ment of English troops under Lieutenant Welsh. At first, as a pro-
tection against the raids of Pindaris, the fort was occupied by a military
detachment ; but early in the nineteenth century the garrison was
removed, and during the Mutiny of 1857 the fort was dismantled.
Paro. — Town in the State of Bhutan, situated in 27° 23' N. and
89° 27' E. Paro is the head-quarters of the Paro Penlop, the governor
of Western Bhutan.
Parola. — Town in the Amalner tdluka of East Khandesh Dis-
trict, Bombay, situated in 20° 53' N. and 75° 7' E., 22 miles west of
Mhasvad on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. Population (1901).
13,468. Parola has been a municipality since 1864, with an average
income during the decade ending 1901 of Rs. 8,700. In 1903-4 the
income was Rs. 9,800. It is said to have been raised by its proprietor,
Hari Sadashiv Damodar, from the position of a small village of fifty
houses to that of a walled town. He is also said to have built, about
1727, the spacious fort, one of the finest architectural remains of the
kind in Khandesh. It must have been at one time a very strong
place : it is surrounded by a moat, and the entrance was formerly
protected by a drawbridge and large flanking towers. During the
Mutiny in 1857, the proprietors proved disloyal, and their estate was
confiscated, the town being taken possession of by Government, and
the fort dismantled. A considerable trade is carried on in cattle,
cotton, lugdas (women's robes), and grain ; and the village of Mhasva,
2 miles distant, is famous for ghl. The town contains two cotton-gins,
a cotton-press, a dispensary, and five schools, with 620 pupils, of
which one, with 54 pupils, is for girls. Four miles south-west is a
handsome temple of Mahadeo on an island in the Bori river.
Paron (or Narwar). — Mediatized chiefship in the Central India
Agency, under the Resident at Gwalior. It is a minor State, about
60 square miles in area, surrounding the village of Paron.
Though the holder is of very ancient family, being descended
from the Kachwaha clan, of which the Maharaja of Jaipur is now the
principal representative, the present holding has only existed since
181 8, the chiefs ancestor having been driven from Narwar in the
beginning of the nineteenth century by Daulat Rao Sindhia. In
1 81 8, through the mediation of the Resident at Gwalior, the present
8 PARON
estate of Paron was granted to Madho Singh under the British guar-
antee, on the condition that he disbanded his army and ceased from
plundering. When the Mutiny broke out in 1857, Man Singh, nephew
and successor of Madho Singh, joined the rebels. His fort was as-
saulted and he was forced to fly. Seeing the turn events were taking,
he surrendered in 1859, and was reinstated in his possessions. Later
on he undertook to secure the rebel Tantia Topi, the Nana Sahib's
agent, who was then wandering in these districts. After handing
over Tantia Topi, an annuity of Rs. 1,000 was granted to him and his
heirs in perpetuity. On his death on December 31, 1882, the Gwalior
Darbar contended that the guarantee should lapse, owing to the chief's
defection in 1S57, a view which the Government of India declined to
accept, and the succession was continued to his son, Gajendra Singh.
The present holder is Raja Mahendra Singh, who was born in 1892,
and succeeded in 1899, the State being administered by a Kamdar
under the direct supervision of the Resident at Gwalior. The chief
bears the title of Raja. The population has been : (i88t) 7,328,(1891)
7,984, and (1901) 5,557. Hindus number 4,562, or 82 per cent. ; and
Animists, 891, chiefly Saharias and Mlnas. Of the total population,
only I per cent, are literate. There are thirty-one villages, of which
Munderl (population, 1,165) is the largest, though not that from
which the State takes its name. The head-quarters of the present
administration are situated in this place, and a school and a dispensary
have been opened there.
Of the total area, 16 square miles are under cultivation, of which one
square mile is irrigated ; of the uncultivated area, 24 square miles are
capable of cultivation. Good crops of all ordinary grains and poppy
are grown. The total revenue is Rs. 25,000, of which Rs. 18,500
is derived from the land.
Parsoli. — Chief place in an estate of the same name in the State
of Udaipur, Rajputana, situated in 25° 7' N. and 74° 53' E., about
84 miles north-east of Udaipur city. Population (1901), 831. The
estate consists of 40 villages, and is held by a first-class noble of
Mewar, who is termed Rao and is a Chauhan Rajput descended from
the Bedla family. The income is about Rs. 20,000, and a tribute
of Rs. 740 is paid to the Darbar.
Partabgarh State (/V^/a/^aM).— State in the south of Rajput-
ana, lying between 23° 2>'^' and 24" 18' N. and 74° 29' and 75° E., with
an area of 886 square miles. It is bounded on the north and north-
west by Udaipur ; on the west and south-west by Banswara ; on
the south by Ratlam ; and on the east by Jaora, Sindhia's districts
of Mandasor and Nimach, and a detached portion of the Rampura-
Bhanpura district of Indore. The greater portion of the State consists
of fine open land ; but the north-west is wild, rocky, and hilly, and
PARTABGARH STATE 9
a range, which in places attains an elevation of 1,900 feet, forms the
entire western boundary. There are no rivers of any importance :
the Jakam, which is the largest, rises near Chhoti
Sadri in Udaipur, flows through the north-west of the nysical
State, and eventually falls into the Soni, a tributary
of the Mahl.
A large proportion of Partabgarh is covered with Deccan trap, the
denudation of which has exposed underlying areas of older rocks
belonging to the Delhi system, such as shales, quartzites, and lime-
stones, which in the west rest unconformably upon gneiss.
In addition to the usual antelope, gazelle, and small game, tigers,
leopards, bears, sambar [Cenuis unicolor), and ckital (C. axis) are to
be found along the western border.
The climate is generally good and the temperature moderate. The
annual rainfall, measured at the capital, averages a little over 34 inches.
More than 63 inches fell in 1893, and less than 11 in 1899.
The territory was formerly called the Kanthal, meaning the ' border '
or ' boundary ' {kdntha) between Malwa and Gujarat. The northern
portion was inhabited by Bhils and the rest by
• T^-- 1 1 .in.- / History.
various Rajput clans, such as the Sonigaras (a
branch of the Chauhans) and the Dors or Dodas. The founder of
the State was one Bika, a descendant of Rana Mokal of Mcwar, who
left his estates of Sadri and Dariawad in 1553, proceeded south
and subdued the aboriginal tribes. In 1561 he founded the town
of Deolia or Deogarh, naming it after a female chieftain called Devi
Mini, and subsequently he overpowered the Rajputs living farther
to the south and east. About sixty-five years later, one of his suc-
cessors, Jaswant Singh, being considered dangerously powerful, was
invited to Udaipur and treacherously murdered with his eldest son
in the Champa Bagh, whereupon the Kanthal was occupied by
Mewar troops. Jaswant Singh's second son, Hari Singh, proceeded
to Delhi about 1634, where, partly by the interest of Mahabat Khan,
Jahangir's great general, and partly by his own skill and address, he
got himself recognized as an independent chief by the emperor Shah
Jahan on payment of a tribute of Rs. 15,000 a year. He also received
the rank of Haft hazdri, or 'commander of 7,000,' and the title of
Rawat or, as some say, Maharawat. On his return the Mewar garri-
son was expelled with the help of the imperial forces, and the whole
country brought under subjection. Hari Singh's son, Pratap Singh, who
succeeded in 1674, founded the town of Partabgarh in 1698 ; and from
it the State now takes its name, though some of the people still use the
older name Kanthal, or, uniting the names of the former and the
present capitals, call the State Deolia-Partabgarh. As recently as
1869 the chief was described in an extradition treaty then ratified as
10
partAbgarh state
the ' Rajah of Dowleah and Partabgurh/ In the time of Sawant Singh
(1775-1844) the country was overrun by the Marathas, and the Maha-
rawat only saved his State by agreeing to pay Holkar a tribute of
Sdlim shdhi Rs. 72,720, in lieu of Rs. 15,000 formerly paid to Delhi.
The first connexion of the State with the British Government was in
1804; but the treaty then entered into was subsequently cancelled by
Lord Cornwallis, and a fresh treaty, by which the State was taken
under protection, was made in 181 8, The tribute to Holkar is paid
through the British Government, and in 1904 was converted to
Rs. 36,360 British currency.
The chiefs subsequent to Sawant Singh have been Dalpat Singh
(1844-64), Udai Singh (1864-90), and Raghunath Singh, who was
born in 1859, succeeded by adoption in 1890, and was installed with
full powers in 1891. He bears the titles of His Highness and Maha-
rawat, and receives a salute of 15 guns.
Among places of archaeological interest are Janagarh, 10 miles
south-west of the capital, with its old fort, in which some Mughal
prince is said to have resided, and the remains of a mosque, bath,
and stables ; Shevna, 2 miles east of Salimgarh, which tradition says
was the capital, Shivnagri, of a large state, and which must have been
a fine city. Besides a fort it contains several temples, one of which,
dedicated to Siva, is beautifully carved. At Virpur, near Sohagpura, is
a Jain temple said to be 2,000 years old, and old temples also exist
at Bordia, 20 miles south of the capital, and at Ninor in the south-
east ; but none of these places has been professionally examined.
The number of towns and villages in the State is 413, and the popu-
lation at each Census has been: (1881) 79,568, (1891) 87,975, and
(1901)52,025. The decrease of nearly 41 per cent, at
Popu a ion, ^j^^ i^^j, g(-mmeration was due partly to the famine of
1899-1900, followed by a disastrous type of fever, and partly, it is
believed, to an exaggerated estimate of the Bhils in 1891. The State
is divided into the three zilas or districts of Partabgarh, Magra, and
Sagthali, as shown below : —
7ila
Number of
Population.
Number able
to read and
write.
Towns.
Villages.
Magra
Partabgarh
Sagthali .
State total
I
97
144
171
5,846
32,166
I4-OI3
108
1,666
414
I
412
52,025
2,188
The only town is Partabgarh, the capital. More than 61 per cent,
of the people are Hindus, 22 per cent, are .A.nimist BhIls, and
9 per cent, are Jains. The language mainly spoken is Malwi or
TRADE AXD COMMUNlCAriONS li
Rangri. By far the most numerous tribe is that of the BhIls, the
original inhabitants of the country, who in 1901 numbered 11,500.
Next come the Mahajans (5,600), the Brahmans (3,200), the Rajputs
(3,200), the Kumhars (3,000), and the Chamars (2,600). About
51 per cent, of the population are dependent on agriculture.
The north-west (the Magra district) is hilly and stony, and here
maize is almost the only product ; elsewhere the soil is excellent,
being mostly black intermixed with a reddish-brown . .
, rp, ... , . Agriculture.
loam. 1 lie prmcipal crops are wheat, sugar-cane,
maize, Jozvdr, gram, and barley. Poppy is extensively cultivated.
The Bhils largely practise the destructive form of shifting cultivation
known as wd/ar, which is described in the article on Banswara
State.
Irrigation is mainly from wells, of which more than 2,000 are worked
in the khdlsa portion of the State ; there are nine irrigation tanks,
but they are old and out of repair, and the area watered from them
is insignificant.
The hilly portions of the State are fairly well wooded, teak, black-
wood, pipal {Ficus re/igiosa), and babfil [Acacia arabica) being fre-
quently met with, while the south produces sandal-trees, which are
a State monopoly. There is no systematic forest conservancy, and
the Bhils burn the jungle for purposes of sport or agriculture practi-
cally unchecked.
Manufactures are unimportant, the products consisting only of coarse
cotton fabrics, black woollen blankets, and a little
enamel work of gold on glass, the latter ^^^^^^ ^^J^^^^^s^Zx^r^s.
confined to a few families at the capital.
The principal exports are grain and opium, and the imports are
cotton cloth and salt. The trade is mostly with Bombay. During
the eight years ending 1900 the average number of chests of opium
exported was 629, worth about 3 lakhs, and the export duty levied
by the Darbar averaged Rs. 7,700. In 1901 this duty was raised
from Sdlim shahi Rs. 27 to British Rs. 27 per chest of i| maunds,
and the 532^ chests exported in 1903-4 paid a duty of more than
Rs. 14,000. Salt is obtained from Sambhar, about seven to eight
thousand maunds being imported annually.
There is no railway in the State, the nearest station being Mandasor
on the Rajputana-Malwa line, 20 miles from Partabgarh town by a
metalled road which was constructed in 1894, and of which 13 miles
lie in Partabgarh territory. With this exception and a few streets at
the capital, the communications are mere country tracks. Two British
post offices and one telegraph office are maintained, and the State
has no local postal system.
Partabgarh is less liable to famine than most of the States of
VOL, XX. B
12 PARTABGARH STATE
Rajputana, but in 1899-1900 the rainfall was less than one-third of
the average and both harvests failed. The system of relief was ade-
quate and efficient, and the extent of the operations
was limited only by the financial resources of the
State. Practically no land revenue was collected; more than 727,000
units were relieved on works and nearly 100,000 gratuitously in villages
and poorhouses. Including advances to agriculturists and remissions
and suspensions of land revenue, the famine cost the State about
1-7 lakhs, and one-third of the cattle perished.
Tlie State is governed by the Maharawat with the help of a Kamdar
. . . or minister and, in judicial matters, of a committee
of eleven members styled the Raj Sabha. Each of
the three districts is under a hdkiin.
In the administration of justice the courts arc guided generally by
the Codes of British India. The lowest courts are those of the hakims,
two of whom (at Partabgarh and Sagthali) are second-class magis-
trates, and can decide civil suits the value of which does not exceed
Rs. 500, while the third (in Magra) is a third-class magistrate and can
decide civil suits up to a value of Rs. 250. The Sadr Criminal and
Civil Court, besides hearing appeals against the decisions of hakims,
takes up cases beyond their powers, the presiding officer being a first-
class magistrate with jurisdiction in civil suits up to a value of
Rs. 1,000. The highest court of the State is the Raj Sabha; it can
punish with a fine of Rs. 2,000, five years' imprisonment, and two
dozen stripes, and decide civil suits not exceeding Rs. 3,000 in value,
while it hears appeals against the decisions of the Sadr Court. When
presided over by the chief, its powers are absolute. The principal
nobles have limited jurisdiction in their own estates over their own
people ; in criminal cases they can award six months' imprisonment
and Rs. 300 fine, while on the civil side they decide suits the value
of which does not exceed Rs. 1,000. Cases beyond their powers
go before the Raj Sabha.
The normal revenue of the State, excluding income from lands
alienated to Rajputs, Brahmans, temples, &c., is about 1-7 lakhs,
of which one lakh is derived from the land, Rs. 40,000 from customs,
and Rs. 20,000 as tribute from jdglrddrs. The normal expenditure
is about 1-4 lakhs, the main items being privy purse (Rs. 40,000),
tribute (Rs. 36,360), cost of administration (Rs. 33,500), and army
and police (Rs. 24,000). The State is in debt to Government to
the extent of about 6\ lakhs, and the finances have consequently
since 1901 been under the control of the Resident in Mewar.
According to the local account a mint was established at the capital
early in the eighteenth century, but the story is improbable. The
coins struck there have for a long time been commonly called Sdlim
ADMINISTRATION 13
shdhi, the name being derived from that of Sahm Singh, the ruler
of Partabgarh from 1758 to 1775, or possibly a contraction of Shah
Alam II, who is said to have confirmed the right of coining. The
local rupee was formerly worth from 12 to 13 British annas, but
in January, 1903, it exchanged for about 7 annas only. It was con-
sequently decided to replace the local currency in 1904 by British
coin ; but as the actual market rate of exchange during the period
of conversion was more favourable to holders of the Partabgarh rupee
than the rate fixed on the average of the previous six months, no coins
were tendered for conversion. The Sdlim shdhi currency is, however,
no longer legal tender in the State, and the Partabgarh mint has been
closed in perpetuity.
There are three kinds of land tenures in the State : namely, khdlsa,
chdkrdna, and dharmCida. Khdlsa land is the property of the State
and is leased generally on the ryotwdri system, there being few inter-
mediate zaminddrs. The lessees can neither sell nor mortgage, but,
on the other hand, they are never, without sufficient reason, deprived
of their holdings, which usually descend from father to son. Chdkrdna
lands are those granted to Rajputs and officials for work performed,
and are held on the usual tenure of service and tribute. Lands
granted to Brahmans, temples, Charans, and Bhats are called dhar-
mdda ; they are held rent free, but neither they nor chdkraiia lands
can be mortgaged or sold.
A rough settlement was made in 1875, when leases were granted
for ten years, but the people were opposed to a settlement of any
kind, and it has since been customary to grant annual leases. Regular
settlement operations are, however, in progress, which were to be
finished by the end of 1906. The current assessment per acre
varies from 8 annas to Rs. 1-8 for 'dry' land and from Rs. 2-8 to
Rs. 1 7-8 for ' wet ' land, and the revenue is collected mostly in cash.
The military force consists of 13 gunners, 22 cavalry, and 76
infantry, with 19 unserviceable guns ; while the police force numbers
170 of all ranks, including 6 mounted men. The jail has accom-
modation for 23 males and 17 females, the average daily number
of prisoners in 1904 being 33. A new jail is under construction.
Eciucation is at a low ebb, only 4 per cent, of the population
(8-3 males and about o-i females) being able to read and write.
In 1901 there was but one regular school, attended by 194 pupils,
or less than 3 per cent, of the population of school-going age, while
the total expenditure on education was Rs. 600. The daily average
attendance at this school fell in 1903 to 98. Recently two more
schools have been started : namely, a nobles' school at the capital
for the sons of Thakurs and of people of means, and a small
vernacular school at Deolia. The daily average attendance at these
14 PARTABGARH STATE
institutions in 1904 was, respectively, 30 and 14, and the total
expenditure on education was Rs. 2,650.
The State possesses one hospital, with accommodation for 4 in-
patients, and one dispensary. In 1904 the number of cases treated
was 9,311, of whom 16 were in-patients, and 643 operations were
performed. The cost of these institutions, about Rs. 1,900, was
borne entirely by the State.
A'accination is very backward. Only one vaccinator is employed,
and in 1904-5 the number of persons successfully vaccinated was
244, or about 4 per 1,000 of the population.
\Rajputdtui Gazetteer, vol. iii (1880, under revision).]
Partabgarh Town {Pratdpgarh) (i). — Capital of the State and the
head-quarters of the district of the same name in Rajputana, situated
in 24° 2' N. and 74° 47' E., twenty miles by metalled road west of
jSIandasor station on the Rajputana-Malwa Railway. The popula-
tion in 1901 numbered 9,819, of whom 52 per cent, were Hindus,
27 per cent. Jains, and 20 per cent. Musalmans. The town, which
was founded by, and named after, Maharawat Pratap Singh in 1698,
lies 1,660 feet above sea-level, in a hollow formerly known as Doderia-
ka-khera. It is defended by a loopholed wall with eight gates built
by Maharawat Salim Singh about 1758, and on the south-west
is a small fort in which the chief's family occasionally reside. The
palace, which is in the centre of the town, contains the State ofifices
and courts ; and outside the town are two bungalows, one used by
the chief and the other as a guest-house. Partabgarh used to be
somewhat famous for its enamelled work of gold inlaid on emerald-
coloured glass and engraved to represent hunting and mythological
scenes. The art of making this jewellery is said to be confined
to five families, and the secret is zealously guarded. In the town
are eleven Jain and nine Hindu temples, a combined post and tele-
graph office, a small jail which has accommodation for 40 prisoners
and is generally overcrowded, an Anglo-vernacular middle school
for bo)s (daily average attendance 98 in 1904), a school for the
sons of the wealthier classes (daily average attendance 30 in 1904),
and a hospital called the Raghunath Hospital after the present chief,
which was built in 1893 and has accommodation for 4 in-patients.
Partabgarh District {Pratdpgarh). — Southern District of the
Fyzabad Division, United Provinces, lying between 25*^ 34' and
26° 21' N. and 81° 19' and 82° 27' E., with an area of 1,442 square
mile.s. It is bounded on the north by Rae Barell and Sultanpur; on
the east and south-east by Jaunpur ; on the south by Allahabad ; and
on the west by Allahabad and Pac Bareli. Portions of the District
are enclosed in Jaunpur and Allahabad, and some villages of Allahabad
form enclaves within Partabgarh. The general aspect is that of a richly
PARTAH(}ARn D I STRICT 15
wooded and fertile plain, here and there relieved by gentle undulations,
and broken into ravines in the vicinity of the ri\ers and streams. The
southern portion is perhaps more densely wooded
than other parts. IJarren tracts of uncultivablc land i'nysical
impregnated with saline efflorescence {t-eli) are met
with in places, but do not extend over any considerable area. For
the most part, Partabgarh is under rich and varied crops, dotted with
many villages and hamlets, which are surrounded by fine groves of
mango, mahud, or other trees.
The Ganges forms part of the southern boundary, and the Gumtl
touches the north-east corner of the District. The chief river is,
however, the Sai, which enters Partabgarh from Rae Bareli, and after
an exceedingly tortuous south-easterly course falls into the Gumti in
Jaunpur. This river runs chiefly between high banks, broken by deep
ravines, at a considerable depth below the level of the surrounding
country. It is navigable during the rains, when it swells into a con-
siderable stream ; but in the hot season it runs nearly dry. It receives
a number of tributary rivulets, but none of importance. The District
contains many tanks and swamps, some of which in the rains measure
several miles in circumference.
Partabgarh is entirely composed of alluvium, and kankar or nodular
limestone is the only rocky formation.
.Small patches of jungle land occur in many parts, chiefly covered
with dhak (^fiutea frondosa). The babul {Acacia arain'ca) grows in the
ravines, and the usual varieties of fig and other trees are scattered
about the District. Groves of mango and mahud {Bassia latifolia) are
exceptionally numerous and large, one of them covering an area of
80 acres.
Wild animals are not numerous, owing to the closeness of cultiva-
tion. Wolves are fairly common in the ravines and broken land, and
wild hog and a few n'llgai are found in the tamarisk jungle along the
Changes. Jackals and foxes occur in all parts. Wild-fowl are un-
usually scarce, though in the cold season geese and duck visit the
large sheets of water. Both rivers and tanks abound in fish.
The climate is dry and healthy. The mean monthly temperature
ranges from about 60° in December and January to 92° in May.
Over the whole District the annual rainfall averages 38 inches,
evenly distributed. Considerable fluctuations occur from year to year,
and the fall has varied from 19 inches in 1877 to 75 in 1894.
Tradition connects most of the ancient sites in the District with
the Bhars ; but some of them certainly date from the Buddhist period.
Legend ascribes the foundation of Manikpur on the
rr ,, , r ,-,T>ii History.
Ganges to one Manadeva, son of a mythical Baldeva
of Kanauj, and its change of name to Manik Chand, brother of the
i6 PARTABGARH DISTRICT
great |ni ('hand. The Bhars were displaced by the Somavansis from
JhusT, and other Rajput clans spread over the District. In the
eleventh century the warrior saint of Islam, Saiyid Salar, defeated
the Hindu princes of Manikpur and Kara, but Muhammadan rule was
not established till the defeat of Jai Chand by Muhammad Ghorl.
Manikpur and Kara on the opposite bank of the Ganges were im-
portant seats of government in the early Muhammadan period.
Ala-ud-dTn Khiljl was governor here, before he gained the throne of
Delhi by murdering his uncle on the sands of the river between these
two places. In the fifteenth century the District came under the rule
of the SharkI kings of Jaunpur, and after its restoration to Delhi the
Rajput chiefs and the Muhammadan governors were frequently in
revolt. The Afghans long retained their hold on the District, and
early in the reign of Akbar the governor of Manikpur rebelled.
Manikpur lost its importance when Allahabad became the capital of
a Province, and from that time it was merely the chief town of a
sarkar. The Rajputs again rose during the anarchy which marked the
disruption of the empire after the death of Aurangzeb. They were,
however, gradually reduced by the Nawabs of Oudh, and in 1759
Manikpur was removed from the Suhah of Allahabad and added to
Oudh. The later history of the District is a record of constant
fighting between the officials of Oudh and the Rajput chiefs. At
annexation in 1856 the eastern part of the District was included in
Sultanpur, while the west formed part of Salon {see Rae Bareli
District). A new District was in process of formation when the
Mutiny broke out. Raja Hanwant Singh of Kalakankar escorted the
fugitives from .Salon to Allahabad, and then turned rebel. With few
exceptions all the large landholders joined the mutineers, and the
District relapsed into a state of anarchy. Troops advanced in July,
1858, but the campaign was checked by the rains, and it was not till
November that British rule was re-established. On November i, 1858,
the proclamation of the Queen, assuming the government of the
country, was read to the army by Lord Clyde at Partabgarh town.
The area of the District then formed was altered in 1869 by the
transfer of territory to Rae BarelT.
Only one or two of the ancient sites which are found in many parts
have been excavated ^ The chief memorials of Muhammadan rule
are at Manikpur, where the vast mound of the ancient fort still rises
high above the Ganges, and a number of ruined mosques and palaces
dating from the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan attest the
former importance of what is now a mere village.
Partabgarh contains 4 towns and 2,167 villages. The population
has increased considerably during the last thirty years. The numbers
' Cunningham, Archaeological Stni'ey Reports, vol. xi, pp. 63 and 70.
AGRICULTURE
17
Population.
at the four enumerations were as follows: (1869) 782,681, (1881)
847,047, (1891) 910,895, and (1901) 912,848. There are three tahs'tls —
Partabgarh, Kunda, and Patti — the head-quarters
of each being at a place of the same name, except
in the case of Partabgarh, the tahsilddr of which is stationed at Bfi.a.
This is the only town of importance, and is also a municipality and
the head-quarters of the District. The following table gives the chief
statistics of population in 1901 : —
TahsTl.
Partabgnrh
Kunda .
Patti
District total
s
Number of
n!
ITm
"> s
•
m
c
&
rt =
S
J3
0
<
H
>
4.^2
z
679
^M
I
686
467
1,442
802
4 2,167
316.580
323.508
272,760
9I2,S
733
596
584
633
oci- 1
U'"'~ C^-. I
MS goo O
a? *" O "
« o.
+ 3-3
- 2.8
+ 0-5
+ 0-2
sis*
z
«
10,942
9>7oi
7.308
27.9.51
Hindus form nearly 90 per cent, of the total, and Musalmans
10 per cent. The whole District is thickly populated, and supplies
considerable numbers of emigrants to other parts of India and to the
Colonies. The AwadhI dialect of Eastern Hindi is spoken by almost
the whole population.
The most numerous Hindu castes are Kurmis (agriculturists),
1 12,000 ; Brahmans, 1 1 1,000 ; Ahirs (graziers and cultivators), 102,000 ;
Chamars (tanners and labourers), 98,000 ; Rajputs, 70,000 ; Pasis
(toddy-drawers and labourers), 51,000; and Banias, 33,000. Musal-
mans include Shaikhs, 27,000; Pathans, 12,000; and Julahas (weavers),
7,000. Agriculture supports 77 per cent, of the total population,
a high proportion. The District supplies a considerable number of
recruits for the Indian army. Rajputs hold nine-tenths of the land,
Sombansis, Bachgotis, Kanhpurias, Bilkharias, and Bisens being the.
chief clans. Brahmans, Kurmis, Rajputs, and Ahirs occupy the largest
areas as cultivators.
Only 43 native Christians were enumerated in 1901, of whom
36 belonged to the Anglican communion. A branch of the Zanana
Bible and Medical Mission was founded here in 1890, and a branch
of a Canadian mission in 1903.
In the south-west near the Ganges lies a strip of low alluvial land,
which is generally sandy and unproductive. Beyond the high bank
is a tract of rich loam, which gradually stiffens to
clay. The valley of the Sai is mainly composed of
a light fertile loam, deteriorating to sand near the river and its
tributary streams. North of the Sai lies another clay tract. Both
T<S
PARTAPGARH DTSTRTCT
of these areas of stiff soil are studded with lakes and swamps, and
are liable to waterlogging in wet seasons owing to defective drainage,
but in ordinary years they produce excellent rice. The cultivation of
sugar-cane is chiefly confined to the Patti tahsil.
The usual tenures of Oudh are found. About two-thirds of the
total area is included in talukddri estates, while nearly lo per cent,
is held by sub-settlement holders and under-proprietors. The main
agricultural statistics for 1903-4 are given below, in square miles : —
Tahsil.
Total an^a.
Cultivated. Irrijjfateci
Cultivable
waste.
Paitabgarh
Kunda
Patti
lotal
43^
543
467
265 127
289 1 151
256 136
38
50
41
1.442
810 414
129
Rice covered 207 square miles, or 26 per cent, of the total, barley
192 square miles, gram 138, wheat tii, arhar 88, peas and masiir 62,
jotvdr 54, and bajra 52. The chief non-food crops are poppy (19),
yrtw-hemp (16), and sugar-cane {19). A little indigo is also grown,
and there are many small pan gardens.
A marked increase occurred in the area under cultivation between
the first and second regular settlements, chiefly due to the reclamation
of waste. A large area near the Changes, once occupied by a swamp,
was reclaimed by a European, who constructed a large dam and
erected pumps. The drainage of the Patti iahsll has recently been
improved. The area bearing two crops in a year has also risen, and
the principal changes in the methods of cultivation have been directed
towards increasing this area. The larger areas under rice, sugar-cane,
and poppy are also noticeable. Advances are taken with some
regularity under the Land Improvement and Agriculturists' Loans
Acts. During the ten years ending 1900 the total loans amounted to
1-6 lakhs, of which i-i lakhs was advanced in 1896-7. Li the next
four years the advances averaged Rs. 3,500 annually.
The cattle bred locally are small and inferior. The ponies of the
District are also poor, but a stallion is now maintained by Clovern-
ment. Sheep and goats are largely kept, and a fine breed of sheep is
found in the Kunda tahsil. The Gadarias, or shepherds, who own
the latter keep them chiefly for their wool.
Wells are the chief source of irrigation, supplying 257 square miles
in 1903-4. Tanks or swamps served 153 square miles, but the area
supplied from them is liable to considerable fluctuations. Thus in the
dry year 1897 more than 84 per cent, of the irrigated area was supplied
from wells. Other sources are negligible. The number of wells is
ADMINISTRA TION iq
increasing rapidly, and masonry wells have replaced unprotected ones
to a considerable extent. Water is almost invariably raised from wells
in leathern buckets drawn by bullocks, and from tanks and j7it/s by
the swing-basket. Some of the tanks used for irrigation are artificial
but these are of small size.
Kankai' or nodular limestone is the chief mineral product, and is
used for metalling roads and for making lime. A little saltpetre is
extracted from saline efflorescences, and glass is also manufactured.
There are very few industries besides agriculture. Indigo is still
made on a small scale, and sugar-refining is of considerable importance
in the east of the District. An interesting experi-
ment in the rearing of silkworms and manufacture comrnunlaitions.
of silk is being conducted by the tahtkdar of Kala-
kankar. Coarse cotton cloth and woollen blankets are made at a
few places.
The District exports grain, oilseeds, opium, i'a;/-hemp, and hides,
and imports piece-goods, metals, hardware, and sugar, the local pro-
duction of common sugar being insufficient. Bela is the chief mart,
and small markets have sprung up at several places along the railway.
The main line of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway passes from
south-east to north-west across the District, and at Bela meets the
Allahabad-Fyzabad branch running from north to south. There are
615 miles of road, of which 64 are metalled. The latter are in charge
of the Public Works department ; but the cost of all but 24 miles is
charged to Local funds. The chief routes are from Partabgarh town
to Allahabad and Fyzabad, and towards Rae BarelT and Akbarpur.
Avenues of trees are maintained on 97 miles.
The District is so well protected by means of irrigation that it has
suffered little from famine. Deficiency of rain caused some damage
to the crops in 1864, t868, and 187-?. In 1878 the „
„ r , , • . • Famine.
eriects ot drought m the previous year were more
marked, and relief works were opened, but never attracted more than
4,600 persons on one day. The early cessation of the rains in 1896
was felt, because it follow^ed a series of years in which excessive rain
had done much damage. Relief works were opened in December,
but were not largely resorted to, and distress was less severe than in
the adjoining Districts.
The Deputy-Commissioner is usually assisted by four Deputy-
Collectors recruited in India, and a tahsllddr is stationed at the
head-quarters of each tahsll. The cultivation of .
... ^^ r X r^ ■ Administration,
poppy IS supervised by an orncer of the Opuim
department.
Two Munsifs and a Subordinate Judge have civil jurisdiction in the
District, which is included in the Civil and Sessions Judgeship of Kae
PARTABGARH DISTRICT
Barell. Crime is light and not of a serious type, the more heinous
forms being rare. Thefts and burglaries are the chief offences. Female
infanticide was once very prevalent, but has not been suspected for
many years.
A summary settlement was made in 1856, and on the restoration
of order in 1858 a second summary settlement was carried out, by
which the revenue was fixed at 7-3 lakhs. A survey was then made,
and a regular settlement followed betw^een i860 and 187 1. The
assessment was largely based on the actual rent-rolls, and average rates
were derived from these to value land cultivated by proprietors or held
on grain rents. It resulted in an enhancement of the revenue to
9'9 lakhs. A large number of claims to rights in land were decided
by the settlement courts. The second regular settlement was made
between 1892 and 1896 by the Deputy-Commissioner in addition to
his regular duties. It was based, as usual, on the actual rent-rolls, and
allowance was made in valuing land which did not pay cash rents for
the difference in rents paid by high-caste and low-caste cultivators.
The new revenue amounts to 13-4 lakhs, and the incidence is Rs. 1-6
per acre, with very slight variations in different pargaiias.
Collections on account of land revenue and revenue from all sources
have been, in thousands of rupees : —
1880-1.
1890-1.
IQOO-I.
1903-4-
Land revenue .
Total revenue .
9,.^3
11,75
9,96
12,98
13,26
18,20
13,03
18,13
There is one municipality, Bela, and three towns are administered
under Act XX of 1856. Beyond the limits of these, local affairs are
managed by the District board, which in 1903-4 had an income of
Rs. 90,000, chiefly derived from local rates, and an expenditure of
Rs. 97,000, including Rs. 49,000 spent on roads and buildings.
The District Superintendent of police has under him a force of
2 inspectors, 65 subordinate officers, and 237 constables distributed in
12 police stations, besides 32 municipal and town police, and 1,719
rural and road police. The District jail contained a daily average of
125 prisoners in 1903.
In regard to education, Partabgarh does not hold a high place.
In 1 90 1, 3-1 per cent, of the population (6-i males and O'l females)
could read and write. The number of public schools increased from
88 with 3,121 pupils in 1 880-1 to 126 with 7,037 pupils in 1900-1.
In 1903-4 there were 161 such schools with 7,493 pupils, of whom
65 were girls, besides 48 private schools with 1,036 pupils, including
2 girls. Only 916 pupils had advanced beyond the primary stage.
Two schools are managed by Government and 100 by the District
PARUR 2 1
board. The total expenditure on education was Rs. 40,000, of which
Rs. 24,000 was provided from Local funds, and Rs. 6,000 by fees.
There are ten hospitals and dispensaries, with accommodation
for 95 in-patients. In 1903 the number of cases treated was
49,000, including 674 in-patients, and 1,489 operations were per-
formed. The expenditure amounted to Rs. 11,000, chiefly met from
Local funds.
About 24,000 persons were successfully vaccinated in 1903-4,
representing the low proportion of 26 per 1,000 of population. Vacci-
nation is compulsory only in the municipality of Bela.
[H. R. Nevill, District Gazetteer, 1904.]
Partabgarh Tahsil {Fratdpgarh). — Central ta]isll of Partabgarh
District, United Provinces, comprising the parganas of Ateha and
Partabgarh, and lying between 25° 43' and 26° 11' N. and 81° 31" and
82° 4' E., with an area of 432 square miles. Population increased
from 306,427 in 1891 to 316,580 in 1901, this being the only part
of the District which showed an appreciable rise. There are 679
villages and three towns, Bela (population, 8,041), the District and
tahsil head-quarters, and Partabgarh (5,148) being the largest. The
demand for land revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 4,17,000, and for cesses
Rs. 67,000. The density of population, 733 persons per square mile,
is the highest in the District. Through the centre of the tahsil flows
the Sai in a very winding channel. The banks of the river are sandy,
but good loam is found at a short distance. In the south the soil
is clay and swamps abound. In 1903-4 the area under cultivation
was 265 square miles, of which 127 were irrigated, wells being the
chief source of supply.
Partabgarh Town {Fratdpgarh) (2). — Town in the District and
tahsil o{ the same name. United Provinces, situated in 25° 54' N. and
81° 57' E., 5 miles south of Bela. Population (1901), 5,148. It is
said to have been founded about 16 17 by Raja Partab Singh. The
fort was of some importance in the eighteenth century and sustained
several sieges. In the nineteenth century it was taken by the Oudh
government. The Raja of Partabgarh resides in a fine building,
portions of which are of considerable antiquity. He maintains a large
school with 164 pupils, and a dispensary. Partabgarh is administered
under Act XX of 1856, with an income of about Rs. 600. There
is a flourishing local trade.
Parur {Paravfi?-). — Head-quarters of the tdlt/k of the same name
in Travancore State, Madras, situated in 10° lo' N. and 76° 15' E.,
about 17 miles north of Ernakulam, the southern terminus of the
Cochin-Shoranur Railway. Population (1901), 12,962, including almost
all the Jews of Travancore. A Raja of Pariir once ruled here. At one
time the place belonged to Cochin, but it was made over to Travancore
2 2 PARUR
in 1762. It was then converted into a military station for the frontier
troops. Tipu, in his second invasion of Travancore, destroyed a great
portion of it. It is now a busy trading centre, and contains the courts
of a District and Sessions Judge, a Munsif and a magistrate, and other
public ofifices.
Parvatipur. — Village in the head-quarters subdivision of Dinajpur
District, Eastern Bengal and Assam, situated in 25° 40' N. and
88° 56' E. Population (1901), 1,787. It is an important railway
junction, where the Assam and Bihar sections of the Eastern Bengal
State Railway branch off east and west from the main line.
Parvatipuram Subdivision. — Subdivision of Vizagapatam Dis-
trict, Madras, consisting of the zamindaii tahsils of Parvatipuram
(including Agency area), BIS.SA^fcuTTACK, Ravaoada, Gunupur,
BoBBiLi, and Salur (including Agency area).
Parvatipuram Tahsil. — Zam'indari tahsil in Vizagapatam District,
Madras, lying between 18° 38' and 19° 8' N. and 83° 17' and 83°
50' E., in the north of the extensive plain drained by the Nagavali or
Langulya river, with an area of 799 square miles. The population in
1901 was 160,523, compared with 157,014 in 1891. The head-quarters
are at Parvatipuram Town (population, 17,308); the number of
villages is 498. The northern part of the tahsil is hilly and lies within
the x\gency limits ; the rest is flat and presents no features of interest.
The tahsil is all zaitnnddri land, belonging partly to the Belgam and
Parvatipuram estates and partly to the zamlnddrs of Kurupam,
Sangamvalsa, and Merangi. The demand for land revenue and cesses
in 1903-4 was Rs. 77,500.
Parvatipuram Town. — Head-quarters of the subdivision and
tahsil of the same name in Vizagapatam District, Madras, lying in
18° 47' N. and 83° 26' E. Population (i 901), 17,308. An Assistant
Superintendent of police and a police reserve are stationed here.
Lying at the junction of roads from Bengal, Jeypore, Palkonda, and
Vizianagram, Parvatipuram is a rapidly growing centre of trade
between the hills and the low country.
Pasni. — An open roadstead and port in Makran, Baluchistan,
situated in 25° 16' N. and 63° 28'' E., about 220 miles from Karachi,
on a sandbank connecting the headland of Zarren with the mainland.
The inhabitants live in mat huts ; the telegraph bungalow and three
other structures constitute the only permanent buildings. The popu-
lation (1904) numbers 1,489, and consists of Meds (1,065) ^^'^^ ^ ^^w'
Hindus, Khojas or Lotias, and Kalmatis. Pasni obtains its importance
from its proximity to I'urbat, the head-quarters of Makran, about
70 miles distant. Mail steamers make fortnightly calls at the port,
but the open roadstead affords poor anchorage. Improved facilities
for landing are now in contemplation. The trade of Pasni is rapidly
PATAN TALUK A 23
expanding, and amounted in \h1uc to about 4^ lakhs during the Iwenty-
one months from June, 1903, lo P'ebruary, 1905. The annual customs
lease has also risen from Rs. 4,500 in 1899 1° ^^^- 18,000 in 1905.
The only industry is fishing, on which the majority of the population
subsist.
Pasrur Tahsil. — Central /aksii of Sialkot District, I'unjab, lying
between 3 1° 56' and 32^ 20' N. and 74*^ 32' and 74° 57' E., with an area
of 394 square miles. The population in 1901 was 193,746, compared
with 203,875 in 1 89 1. The head-quarters are at the town of Pasrur
(population, 8,335), ^"*i '*■ '^^^^ contains the town of Kila Sobha
Singh (3,338) and 443 villages. The land revenue and cesses
in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 3,10,000. Irrigation dams arc an im-
portant factor in cultivation, especially in the south and west of the
tahsil. The richest tract is the north-east corner. In the centre the
country lies higher and is less fertile, while in the south the soil is
a sour cla)-. The Degh passes through the eastern portion.
Pasrur To'wn. — Head-quarters of the fa/isil of the same name in
Sialkot District, Punjab, situated in 32° 16' N. and 74° 40' E., on the
road from Sialkot to Amritsar, 18 miles south of Sialkot town. Po])u-
lation (1901), 8,335. ^^ ^^''"-^ originally called Parasrur after I'aras
Ram, Brahman, to whom the town was assigned by its founder ; it is
mentioned by Babar as a halting-place between Sialkot and Kalanaur,
and seems to have once been of considerable importance. It possesses
a large tank, constructed in the reign of Jahangir. To feed this, Dara
Shikoh dug a canal, traces of which are still extant. Near by are the
remains of a bridge built by Shah Daula. At the Muharram a great
gathering takes place at the shrine of Mian Barkhurdar, a famous
Muhammadan saint. The trade of Pasrur has much decayed, partly
through the opening of the North-Western Railway, and partly on
account of the octroi duties which have diverted trade to the neighbour-
ing village of Kalaswala. Hand-printed cotton stuffs are the only manu-
facture of importance. Pasrur is a station of the American United
Presbyterian Mission. The municipality was created in 1867. The
income during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 7,900, and
the expenditure Rs. 7,800. The income in 1903-4 was Rs. 8,000,
chiefly from octroi ; and the expenditure was Rs. 6,900. The town
contains an Anglo-vernacular high school maintained by the District
board, and a Government dispensary.
Patan Taluka (i).— North-western tdluka of the Kadi/ra«/, Baroda
State, with an area of 409 square miles. The population fell from
136,083 in 1891 to 104,136 in 1901, The tdluka contains two towns,
Patan (population, 31,402), the head-quarters, and Balisna (4,650);
and 140 villages. It presents the appearance of a fairly wooded plain,
with the river Saraswati running through the centre. To the west and
24 PA TAN TALUK A
north the soil is black, while to the east it is light and sandy. In
1904-5 the land revenue was Rs. 3,26,000.
Patan Town (i). — Head-quarters of the tdluka of the same name.
Kadi /ra;//, Baroda State, situated in 23° 51' N. and 72° 10' E., on
the Gaikwar's State line from Mehsana on the Rajputana-Malwa
Railway. Population (1901), 31,402. In former times it was known
as Anhilvada or Anhilpur, and was founded about a.d. 746, or,
according to some accounts, in 765, by Vanaraja, the forest-born son
of the beautiful Rani, Rup Sundri. He was the first of a line of kings,
named Chavada, a dynasty which was succeeded by the Solankis, and
afterwards by the Vaghelas. The town, afterwards known as Nahrwara
or Nahrwala, was celebrated for its size and magnificence, and yielded
much plunder to Mahmud of Ghazni. The last of the Vaghelas,
Karan Ghelo ('the insane'), was overpowered in 1298 by Ulugh Khan ;
and the Muhammadans afterwards levelled the walls of the town,
buried the temples in their foundations, and ploughed up the ground
on which they stood. The modern Patan has sprung up on the ruins
left by the ancient conquerors, but does not possess the magnificent
palaces, parks, tanks, schools, libraries, markets, and offices which are
said to have adorned the old town. Some remains, however, are still
to be seen which indicate the former greatness of Anhilvada. One
of these is the Rani Vav, or large well built by Udayamati, the queen
of Raja Bhima, in the eleventh century, of which a few battered
fragments remain. The water is said to possess the power of curing
infantile cough. The Sahasra Ling Talav, or * tank with the thousand
shrines,' was dedicated to Siva by the famous Jay Singh Siddha Raja
of the Solanki line (1093-1143), when he set out on his expedition
against Yasovarma, king of Mahva. But of this nothing now remains,
save a large field with the ruins of a Muhammadan building in the
centre, constructed on the site of a temple. Bairam, the minister of
Humayun and Akbar, was assassinated on the bank of this lake in
1561, while on his way to Mecca. A marble statue of Vanaraja, the
founder of the place, in one of the Jain temples, bears an inscription
dated 1467. Another tank worthy of notice is the large reservoir to
the south of the town, known as the Khan Sarovar, which, however,
is of Muhammadan origin. The modern town of Patan, together with
the citadel, is the result of Maratha efforts. It is situated to the south-
east of old Anhilvada, nearly a mile from the SaraswatT river. A lofty
wall, most of which is of great thickness, entirely surrounds it, and
there are numerous gateways. The public buildings, of which the chief
are the offices in the citadel, the high school, and the civil hospital, are
of no great interest ; and the general aspect of the streets and houses,
with the exception of a few which display profuse and elaborate wood-
carving, is depressing. The Jain temples in the town are said to
PATAN TOWN 25
number 108 or no, but none is of much architectural or archaeological
importance. In these thousands of palm-leaf manuscripts are carefully
preserved, of which a list has recently been made. The manufactures
carried on at the present day are not of great importance, though there
is a fair out-turn of swords, betel-nut slicers, patolas (variegated saris),
embroidery, and pottery. The last is said to be superior to any of its
kind in Gujarat, and is remarkable for its glaze. It is, however, of a
very fragile nature. Wood-carving and ivory-turning are also practised.
The town is the most important centre for trade in the Kadi prdnt^
and its commercial facilities have been greatly increased since the
opening of the line from Mehsana to Patan. The municipality, which
was reconstituted on a partly elective basis in 1905, has an income
of Rs. 10,000 from excise, customs, and tolls, besides an annual grant
of Rs. 5,000 from the State.
[J. Burgess and H. Cousens, Architectural Antiquities of Gujarat
(1903)0
Patau Taluka (2). — South-easternmobt tdluka of Satara District,
Bombay, lying between 17° 8' and 17° 34' N. and 73° 39' and 74° \' E.,
with an area of 438 square miles. It contains 203 villages, but no town.
Patan is the head-quarters. The population in 1901 was 104, 167, com-
pared with 131,833 in 1891. The density, 238 persons per square
mile, is the same as the average of the District. The demand for land
revenue in 1903-4 was 1-2 lakhs, and for cesses Rs. 11,000. Piitan is
hilly. The chief feature in the west is the Koyna valley running south,
with lofty fianking hills. On the east the valleys of the Koyna, Tarli,
and Kole open into the plains of the Kistna. The soil of the eastern
valleys is good, yielding both early and late crops, chiefly y'^zf^r and
ground-nuts, and, when watered, sugar-cane. The rest of the soil is
red, and except in the hollows where rice and sometimes sugar-cane
are grown, is under nomadic cultivation. The Koyna and the Tarli
with their feeders furnish abundance of water to the villages on and
near their banks. Away from the rivers, both on the tops of the hills
and in the valleys, especially during March, April, and May, water is
scarce. The climate is cool and healthy in the hot season, but the
chilly damp of the rains makes it feverish. Compared with the greater
portion of the District the rainfall is heavy, averaging 67 inches
annually.
Patan Town (or Lalita Patan) (2).— One of the chief towns of Nepal,
situated, approximately, in lat. 27° 41' N. and long. 85° 20' E., on
rising ground, a short distance from the southern bank of the Bagh-
mati, about 2 miles south-east of Katmandu. Patan is thus described
by Dr. Wright, formerly Surgeon to the British Residency in Nepal :—
' It is an older town than Katmandu, having been built in the reign
of Raja Bir Deva in the Kaligat year 3400 (a. d. 299). It is also
26 PAT AN TOWN
known by the names of Velloudebi and Lalita Palan. The latter name
is derived from LaUt, the founder of the city. Its general aspect is
much the same as that of the capital [Katmandu]. The streets are
as narrow and dirty, the gutters as offensive, and the temples even
more numerous ; but it appears much more dilapidated than Katmandu,
many of the houses and temples being in ruins. The main square,
however, in the centre of the town, is very handsome. On one side is
the old Darbar with a fine brazen gateway, guardian lions, and endless
carvings. In front of this are monoliths, with the usual figures on
them, and behind these a row of handsome old temples of every
description. The parade-ground lies to the south-east of the town,
the road to it passing through a suburb abounding in pigs. The
parade-ground is extensive, and there are several large tanks to the
west, while on the southern side stands a huge Buddhist temple of
the most primitive description. This temple is merely a mound or
dome of brickwork, covered with earth. There is a small shrine at
each of the cardinal points, and on the top what looks like a wooden
ladder. Many similar mound-temples or chaityas exist in and around
Patan. The population of the town is said to be about 30,000, mainly
Nevvars.'
From the early part of the seventeenth century Patau was one of the
three petty Newar States in the Valley of Nepal, and its quarrels with
its neighbours at Katmandu and Bhatgaon paved the way for its
conquest by the Gurkhas in 1768-9. The town is now garrisoned by
the Gurkha government.
Patan. — District and head-quarters thereof in the Bundi State,
Rajputana. See Keshorai Patan.
Patancheru. —Village in the Kalabgur taluk of Medak District,
Hyderabad State, situated in 17° 32' N. and 78° 16' E. Population
(1901), 1,886. It was formerly the head-quarters of the Subahdar
(Conunissioner) of the Bidar Division, and is still the head-quarters of
the Commissioner of the Medak Gulshanabad Division. Groups of
underground Hindu temples are said to exist in the vicinity of the
village, buried under the sand. Some old copper coins were recently
discovered here. A pillar bearing the zodiacal signs, sculptured in
a circle around a lotus or conventional representation of the sun, is
an interesting relic. The place contains many buildings and tombs
of Musalman origin.
Pataudi State. — Native State in the Punjab, under the political con-
trol of tlie Commissioner of the Delhi Division, lying between 28° 14'
and 28^ 22' N. and 76° 42' and 76° 52' E., in the midst of the British
District of Gurgaon. Its area is 52 square miles; population (1901),
21,933; and it contains one town, Pataudi (population, 4,171), the
capital, and 40 villages. It consists of a level plain, badly watered,
except in a few villages to which floods give occasional irrigation. The
ruling chief of Pataudi is descended from a saintly Afghan family,
PATHANKOT TOWN 27
which settled originally near Saniana in Patiala. A descendant, Talab
Faiz Khan, who was closely connected with the Jhajjar family by
marriage, was in the Maratha service and received the fief of Rohtak.
On the defeat of the INIarathas in 1803 he was employed under Lord
Lake, who in 1806 granted him the Pataudi territory in perpetuity.
In 1826 he took part in the siege of Bharatpur. His son, Akbar All,
behaved loyally during the Mutiny of 1857. The present Nawab was
born in 1863 and succeeded in 1898. The administration is carried
on by a iidzwi, who exercises judicial functions and superintends the
revenue administration, which is in the hands of a tahsllddr with
a staff of eleven subordinates. The State maintains a small force of
horsemen as the Nawab's personal escort, and 33 infantrymen who are
employed on guard duties. It also supports a dispensary and a pri-
mary school at Pataudi, and 4 village schools. The total land revenue,
as settled in 1891, amounts to Rs. 76,631. The excise administration
is leased to the British Government for Rs. 650 per annum.
Pataudi Town. — Capital of the Pataudi State, Punjab, situated
in 28° 20' N. and 76° 48' E., 19 miles south-west of Gurgaon, and
2\ miles from Jatauli station on the Rajputana-Malvva Railway.
Population (1901), 4,171. It was founded in the time of Jalal-ud-
din Khilji, by Pata, a Mewati, from whom it derives its name. The
town contains the residence of the Nawab of Pataudi and the public
offices of the State.
Patdi. — State in the Kalhiawar Political Agency, Bombay, lying
between 23° 7' and 23° 8' N. and 71° 48' and 71" 58' E., with an
area of 40 square miles. The population in 1901 was 2,190, residing
in seven villages. The revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 22,000, and the
cultivated area 94 square miles. The State ranks as a fourth-class
State in Kathiawar.
Patdi. — Town in Ahmadabad District, Bombay. See Patki.
Pathankot Tahsil. — Tahs'il of Gurdaspur District, Punjab, lying
between 32*" 5' and 32° 30' N. and 75° 20' and 75° 56' E., with
an area of 367 square miles. It consists mainly of a narrow strip
of broken country along the left bank of the Ravi, but includes a
small fertile tract to the west of the river, irrigated by hill-streams.
It includes the hill station of Dalhousie (population, 1,316), together
with the cantonments of Balun and Bakloh, and the cart-road
leading thereto. It also contains the towns of Pathankot (population,
6,091), the head-quarters, and Sujanpur (5,687); and 395 villages.
The population in 1901 was 141,623, compared with 140,850 in
1 89 1. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs.
2,76,000.
Pathankot Town.— Head-quarters of the talis'il of the same name
in Gurdaspur District, Punjab, situated in 32° 16' N. and 75° 40' E.,
VOL. XX. c
2 8 PATHANKOT TOWN
and the terminus of the Amritsar-Pathankot branch of the North-
western Railway. Population (1901), 6,091. A good cart-road leads
from Pathankot to Palampur (70 miles) and Dharmsala (52 miles), and
another to Dunera (for Dalhousie and Chamba). The situation of
Pathankot has, from very ancient times, made it an emporium of trade
between the hills and plains. From coins found here, Cunningham
concluded that it was at an early date inhabited by the Udumbaras,
who are coupled in the Puranas with the Traigarttas and Kulindas, or
people of Kangra and Kulu, and with the Kapisthalas, who must be
the Kambistholi mentioned by Arrian as dwelling on the Ravi ; and
that the kingdom of Dahmeri, which in historical times included most
of Gurdaspur and Kangra, bears a name derived from this people.
The capital of this State was Nurpur in Kangra, but Pathankot must
have been a place of some importance, as from it the Pathania Rajputs
of Nurpur take their name^ It was from ancient times held by a line
of Rajput chiefs, of whom the most noted are Raja Bakht Mai, who
fought for Sikandar Siiri at Mankot ; Bas Deo, who rebelled against
Akbar ; Suraj Mai, who rebelled against Jahanglr ; and Jagat Singh,
who rebelled against Shah Jahan and accompanied Dara Shikoh to
Kandahar. The State of Pathankot was taken by Ranjit Singh in
1 81 5. The municipality was created in 1867. The income during
the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 11,500, and the expenditure
Rs. 11,200. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 10,500, chiefly from octroi ;
and the expenditure was Rs. 11,800. Pathankot is the seat of a
considerable blanket and shawl-weaving industry, and, lying at the
point where the trade routes from Chamba, Nurpur, and Kangra unite,
is a place of some commercial importance, with a growing trade. The
District board maintains an Anglo-vernacular middle school and a
dispensary.
Pathardi. — Town in the Shevgac;n taluka of .\hmadnagar District,
Bombay, situated in 19° 10' N. and 75° 11' E., about 30 miles east
of Ahmadnagar city. Population (1901), 6,299. '^^6 town lies pic-
turesquely on the side of a steep hill which rises in the midst of
a barren tract, skirted on the north and east by a range of hills running
from Dongargaon into the Nizam's Dominions.
Patharghata. — Hill in the head-quarters subdivision of Bhagalpur
District, Bengal, lying between 25° 17' and 25° 22' N. and 87° 12'
and 87" 16' E., on the bank of the Ganges. On the northern side
of the hill are some rock sculptures, apparently of a date prior to the
seventh or eighth century a. d., the most interesting of which is a long
row of figures known locally as the Chaurasi suntii (' 84 sages '). The
^ Archaeological Survey Reports, \o\. xiv, p. 115. The name of Pathankot has
nothing to do wilh the trans-Indus Pathans, but is often written Paithan, and accord-
ing to Cunningham is a corruption of Pratisthdna, ' the citablished city.'
PA THAR I STATE 29
hill also contains five caves, in the most important of which, the
Bateswar cave, bronze and silver relics have been discovered.
[M. Martin, Eastern India, vol. ii, pj). 64-5 ; Archaeological Survey
Reports, vol. xv, pp. 36-7.]
Pathari State. — A petty mediatized .State in Central India, under
the Bhopal Agency, with an area of 22 square miles, and a population
(1901) of 2,704. Locally the State is called Baro-Patharl or Chor-
Pathari, the former from the old ruined city of Baro, the latter from its
former unenviable notoriety as the home of marauding gangs.
The chiefs, who are descended from the Bhopal house, are Pathans
of the Barakzai family and the Mirzai Khel. Murid Muhammad Khan,
father of the original grantee, held a Jdgir in Rahatgarh (now in the
Central Provinces), of which he was deprived by Mahadaji Sindhia.
On the mediation of the British authorities, however, his son, Haidar
Muhammad Khan, received the Pathari yo^Jr in 1794, as a grant from
Daulat Rao Sindhia. Land is still held by the Nawabs at Rahatgarh,
in the Saugor District of the Central Provinces. The present chief,
Abdul Karmi Khan, succeeded in 1859 as a boy of five, and received
powers in 1872. He pursued, however, a course of extravagance,
plunging the State so deeply in debt as to necessitate his removal
from the management in 1895. He resides at Sehore with his family,
and the State continues under British administration. The chief bears
the hereditary title of Nawab. The archaeological remains at Pathari
are of considerable interest, forming in fact a part of those at Baro,
which is situated one mile south of this town. The road from Baro
to Pathari is marked by the remains of numerous temples, sati stones,
and other indications of an extensive settlement.
The soil is ferUle and produces good crops. Of the total area of
22 square miles, 5 square miles, or 23 per cent., are cultivated, while
12 square miles are capable of cultivation, the rest being grazing,
jungle, and waste land. The chief ordinarily exercises limited powers,
all serious matters being dealt with by the Political Agent. The State
has a revenue of Rs. 9,000. Its finances are at present burdened with
a debt of Rs. 30,000.
The chief town of Pathari is picturesquely situated on a small sand-
stone hill 1,800 feet above the level of the sea, on the edge of a lake
enclosed by a fine dam of undressed stone, in 23° 56' N. and 78° 13' E.
It is II miles distant by metalled road from Kulhar station on the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway. Population (1901), 1,106. A British
post office and a jail are situated in the Icjwn.
Pathari shows many signs of its importance in the early days ot
Hindu rule, though, as it now stands, it is purely Muhammadan in
character. The remains of numerous statues, carved stones from
Hindu temples, and old foundations are everywhere visible. The
c 2
30 PATHARI STATE
principal object of interest is the magnilicent column which stands
to the east of the town. It is cut from a fine white sandstone,
apparently hewn in the old quarry close by, and is 47 feet high,
42 feet being in a single piece. It is surmounted by a bell capital,
on which there were originally two human figures back to back, but
only a part of one remains. Close by is a small temple, which now
contains a lingain, but was originally dedicated to Vishnu, as is shown
by the figure of Garuda over the doorway. On the northern face of
the pillar there is an inscription of thirty-eight lines. The record is
dated in a.d. 861, and sets out that the temple of Vishnu (no doubt
that close by) was built by a king Parabala of the Rashtrakuta race,
who set up this Garuda bannered pillar before it. The record is
additionally interesting in connexion with the Monghyr copperplate,
which records the birth of the Pala king Devapala, who was born
of Ram Devi, daughter of king Parabala. A slab in an old Imori
(well with steps), dated in 1676, records its construction by Maharaja
Prithwiraj Ju Deo, in the time of Aurangzeb. The Hindu town was
destroyed by the Muhammadans, possibly by Alamgir.
^Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. xvii, part ii, p. 305 ;
A. Cunningham, Archaeological Survey Reports^ vol. vii, p. 64 ; vol. x,
p. 69; Nachrichten der Konig. Gesell. der JVissen. zu Gottingen (1901),
p. 519 i Indian Antiquary, vol. xxi, p. 258.]
V2i\Xy2s\, —Thakurdt in the Malwa Agency, Central India.
Patharia. — Thakurdt in the Bhopal Agency, Central India.
Pathar Kachhar.— State in the Baghelkhand Agency, Central
India. See Baraunda.
Patheingyi. — Township to the east of Mandalay city in Mandalay
District, Upper Burma, lying between 21° 51' and 22^ 8' N. and 96° 3'
and 96° 24' E., with an area of 213 square miles. Its population was
31,597 in 1891, and 28,546 in 1901, distributed in 152 villages, the
head-quarters being at Patheingyi (population, 532), about 6 miles
north-east of Mandalay. The western part of the township is irrigated
by the Shwetachaung Canal and produces rice ; the eastern is high land
bearing 'dry crops.' Alayin rice is cultivated below the Nanda tank
and west of the Shwetachaung Canal, and the centre of the township
is now irrigated by the Mandalay Canal. The area cultivated was
65 square miles in 1903-4, but will probably increase largely now that
the Mandalay Canal has been completed. The land revenue and
thalhanieda amounted to Rs. 2,02,000.
Pathri Taluk. — Western taluk of I^arbhani District, Hyderabad
State, with an area of 784 square miles. Including jdglrs, the popula-
tion in 1901 was 119,324, compared with 123,553 in 1891, the decline
being due to the famine of 1900. The idluk contains two towns,
Pathri (population, 5,828), ihe head-cjiiartcrs, and Manwat (7,395);
JWTJAr.A STATE 31
and 170 villages, of which rg are j'aglr. In 1905 this /d/uk received
8 villages from the Anibarh Ar///k of Aurangabad District, and gave
6 villages to that fd/uk in exchange. The land revenue in 1901 was
3-8 lakhs. The (lodavari river separates it from Bhlr District
on the south. The soils are chiefly alluvial and regar. North is thi-
jdgii' tdhtk of Partur ; population (1901), 28,213. It comprises 90
villages ; and Partur (4,043), its head-quarters, is a station on the
Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railway. It has an area of about
374 square miles, and contains a ginning factory, a State post otifice
and a British sub-post office, a school, and a dispensary, the last two
being maintained by the j'lgir authorities.
Pathri Town. — Head quarters of the taluk of the same name in
Parbhani District, Hyderabad State, situated in 19° 15' N. and 76°
27' E. Population (1901), 5,828. The town contains a tahsll and
police inspector's office, a post office, and two schools.
Pathyar. — Village in Kangra District, Punjab, 12 miles south-east
of Dharmsala. Population (1901), 1,983, An inscription of a primidve
type, cut in both the Brahmi and Kharoshthl scripts, in letters of
remarkable size, recording the dedication of a tank, probably in the
third century B.C., has been found here. The village suffered serious
damage in the earthquake of April 4, 1905.
\Epigraphia hidica, vol. vii, p. 116.]
Patiala State. — The largest in area, wealth, and population of the
three Phulkian States, Punjab, and the most populous of all the Native
States in the Province, though second to Bahawalpur in area. It lies
mainly in the eastern plains of the Punjab, which form part of the
great natural division called the Indo-Gangetic Plain West ; but its
territories are somewhat scattered, as, owing to historical causes, it
comprises a portion of the Simla Hills and the Narnaul ildka^ which
now constitutes the nizdmat of Mohindargarh, in the extreme south-east
on the borders of Jaipur and Alwar States in Rajputana. The territory
is interspersed with small tracts or even single villages belonging to the
States of Nabha, Jind, and Maler Koda, and to the British Districts
of Ludhiana, Ferozepore, and Karnal, while, on the other hand, it
includes several detached villages or groups of villages which lie
within the natural borders of those States and Districts.
Its scattered nature makes it impossible to describe its boundaries
clearly and succinctly, but briefly it may be described as consi.sting of
three portions. The main portion, lying between 29° 23' and 30° 55' N.
and 74° 40' and 76° 59' E., and comprising the plains portion of the State
west of the Jumna valley and south of the Sutlej, is bordered on the
north by the Districts of Ludhiana and I^ erozepore ; on the east by
Karnal and Ambala ; on the south by the State of jTnd and Hissar
District; and on the west by Hissar. This portion forms a rough parallelo-
32 P ATT A I. A STATE
gram, 139 miles in length from east to west, and 125 miles from north to
south, with an appendage on the south lying south of the Ghaggar river
and forming part of the nizdmat of Karmgarh. The second block lies in
the Siwalik Hills, between 30^40' and 31° 10' N. and 76°49'and ifi^'Y^.
It is bordered on the north by the Hill States of Bhagal, Dhami, and
Bhajji ; on the east by those of Koti, Keonthal, and Sirmur ; on the
south by Ambala District ; and on the west by the States of Nala-
garh and Mailog, and by Ambala District. This portion is 36 miles
from north to south, and 29 miles from east to west, and forms a
part of the fiizdmat of Pinjaur. The third block, the nizdmat of
Mohindargarh, lies between 27° 47' and 28° 28' N. and 75° 56' and
76^' 17' E., and is entirely surrounded by Native States— Jind to the
north, Alwar and Nabha to the east, and Jaipur to the south and west.
It is 45 miles from north to south, and 22 miles from east to west.
No great river flows through the State or along its borders, the chief
stream being the Ghaggar, which runs in an ill-defined bed from the
north-east of its main portion south-west through
Physical _ _ •
aspects ^^'^ Pawadh to the Bangar and thence m a more
westerly direction, separating the Pawadh from the
Bangar (Narwana tahsll), after which it leaves Patiala territory. The
other streams are mere seasonal torrents. They include the Sirhind
Choa or stream which enters the State near Sirhind and traverses the
Fatehgarh, Bhawanigarh, and Sunam tahsl/s, following probably the
alignment of the canal cut by Firoz Shah III about 1361. South
of this through the Bhawanigarh and Karmgarh tahslls flows the
Jhambowali Choi, and the Patialewali Nadl, which passes the capital.
Both fall into the Ghaggar. There are minor streams in the Pinjaur
tahsll and the Mohindargarh nizdmat. In the former alone are there
any hills of importance, the rest of the State being a level plain.
Geologically, the State may be divided into the Patiala Siwaliks,
composed entirely of Tertiary and principally of Upper Tertiary
deposits ; the Aravalli outliers in Mohindargarh ; and the portion
which lies in the Indo-Gangetic alluvium.
Botanically, the State includes a large portion of the Eastern Punjab,
belonging partly to the upper Gangetic plain, and partly to the desert
area ; the territories of Narnaul, &:c., in north-eastern Rajputana, with
a desert flora ; and a tract near Simla in the Outer Himalayas, whose
flora is practically that described in the Flora Simlensis. The kikai-
{Acacia arahica), which grows abundantly in the Pawadh and Dun,
is used for all agricultural purposes. The bet-i {Zizyphus Jitjnba) is
planted near wells and in fields, and in the Mohindargarh nizdmat and
at Sunam, Samana, and Sanaur in gardens. Banur and Sirhind, the
eastern parts of the I'awadh, are noted for their mangoes. The pipal
{Ficits re/(i,iosa), barota {Ficiis i/idica), and 7iim {Afe/ia Azadirachta)
PHYSICAL ASPECTS
IZ
are planted close to wells and ponds near villages. The shlshatu
i^Da/bergia Sissoo) is planted in avenues along the canals, and siras
{Albizzia LebbeU) on the road-sides. The frdns [Tamarix orien talis),
common near villages, is used for roofing. The dhdk [Bu/ea frondosa)
is found in marshy lands and blrs (reserves). The Jand {Prosopis
spicigera), kikar, rent, and jdl are common in the Jangal, Bangar, and
Mohindargarh. The khair {Acacia Ca/echu) and gugai {Ba/samode/idron
Muki/l) are common in the Mohindargarh nizdmat, and the khajFir
{Phoenix dacfyiifera) in Pinjaur, Dun, and in the Bet (Fatehgarh tahsJl).
Chltal (spotted deer), chark/i, kdkar (barking-deer), musk deer,
gural, and leopard are common in the hills ; and the following mam-
mals are found throughout the State : wolf, jackal, fox, wild cat, otter
(in the Bet), wild hog (in the blrs), antelope, nilgai (in the blrs, Bet,
Narwana, and Mohindargarh), monkeys (in the Narwana fa/isll), and
gazelle {chinkdra).
Game-birds include peafowl, partridges (black and grey), quail,
lapwing, chikor, and pheasant (in the hills). The crane, snipe, green
pigeon, goose, and sand-grouse are all seasonal visitors. Among
venomous snakes are the cobra, chitkabra or kaiiridla (found every-
where), dhdman, ragadbans, and padma (in the Mohindargarh tiizdmat).
The healthiest parts of the State are the Bangar and Jangal tracts
and the Mohindargarh nizdmat. The Bet and the thdnas of Ghuram
Ghanaur and Banur are very unhealthy, consisting largely of swamps.
In the Pawadh, where there is no marsh-land, the general health is fair.
The climate of the hills is excellent, except in the Pinjaur ihdna. In
the Pinjaur hills the winter is cold, and the rainy season begins some-
what earlier than in the plains, while in summer the heat is moderate.
In the Jangal tract and the Mohindargarh nizdmat the heat is intense
in the hot season, which begins early, and the air is dry all the year
round. But if the sky is clear the nights are generally cool.
The rainfall, like the temperature, varies considerably in different
parts of the State. About Pinjaur and Kalka at the foot of the Simla
Hills it averages 40 inches, but decreases away from the Himalayas,
being probably 30 inches at Sirhind, 25 at Patiala and Pail, 20 at
Bhawanigarh, and only 12 or 13 at Bhatinda and in the Mohindargarh
nizdmat. In the south-west the rainfall is not only less in amount, but
more capricious than in the north and east. Fortunately the zone of
insufficient rainfall is now for the most part protected by the Sirhind
Canal, but Mohindargarh is still liable to severe and frequent droughts.
Patiala town lies in a depression, and there were disastrous floods in
1852, 1887, and 1888. The greatest achievement of the State Public
Works department has been the construction of protective works,
which have secured the town from the possibility of such calamities
in future.
y,i P ATI ALA STATE
The earlier history of Patiala is that of the Phulkian States. Its
history as a separate power nominally dates from 1762, in which year
Ahmad Shah Durrani conferred the title of Raja
upon Ala Singh, its chief; but it may be more justly
regarded as dating from 1763, when the Sikh confederation took the
fortress of Sirhind from Ahmad Shah's governor, and proceeded to
partition the old Mughal province of Sirhind. In this partition
Sirhind itself, with its surrounding country, fell to Raja Ala Singh.
That ruler died in 1765, and was succeeded by his grandson Amar
Singh, whose half-brother Himmat Singh also laid claim to the throne,
and after a contest was allowed to retain possession of the Bhawanigarh
pargana. In the following year Raja Amar Singh conquered Pail
and Isru from Maler Kotla, but the latter place was subsequently made
over to Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. In 1767 Amar Singh met Ahmad
Shah on his last invasion of India at Karabawana, and received the
title of Raja-i-Rajgan. After Ahmad Shah's departure Amar Singh
took Tibba from Maler Kotla, and compelled the sons of Jamal Khan
to effect a peace which remained unbroken for many years. He next
sent a force under his general Bakhshi Lakhna to reduce Pinjaur,
which had been seized by Gharib Das of Mani Majra, and in alliance
with the Rajas of Hindur, Kahlur, and Sirmur captured it. He then
invaded the territory of Kot Kapura, but its chief Jodh having been
slain in an ambush, he retired without further aggression. His next
expedition was against the Bhattis, but in this he met with scant
success ; and the conduct of the campaign was left to the chief of
Nabha, while Amar Singh turned his arms against the fortress
of Govindgarh, which commanded the town of Bhatinda. After a long
struggle it was taken in 1771. Soon after this Himmat Singh seized
his opportunity and got possession of Patiala itself, but he was induced
to surrender it, and died in 1774. In that year a quarrel broke out
between jTnd and Nabha, which resulted in the acquisition of Sangrur
by jTnd from Nabha, Patiala intervening to prevent Jind from retaining
Amloh and Bhadson also. Amar Singh next proceeded to attack
Saifabad, a fortress only 4 miles from Patiala, which he took with the
assistance of Sirmur. In return for this aid, he visited that State and
helped its ruler Jagat Parkash to suppress a rebellion. In a new
campaign in the Bhatti country he defeated their chiefs at Begran,
took Fatehabad and Sirsa, and invested Rania, but was called on to
repel the attack made on JInd by the Muhammadan governor of
Hansi. For this purpose he dispatched Nanu Mai, his Diwan, with
a strong force, which after defeating the governor of Hansi overran
Hansi and Hissar, and Rania fell soon after. But the Mughal govern-
ment under Najaf Khan, its minister, made a last effort to regain the
lost districts. At the head of the imperial troops, he seized Karnal
HISTORY
.35
and part of Rohtak ; and the Raja of I'atiala, though aided for
a consideration by Zabita Klian Rohilla, met Najaf Khan at jTnd and
amicably surrendered Hansi, Hissar, and Rohtak, retaining Fatehabad,
Rania, and Sirsa as fiefs of the empire. The wisdom of this moderation
was evident. In 1777 Amar Singh overran the Farldkot and Kot
Kapura districts, but did not attempt to annex them, and liis newly-
acquired territories taxed his resources to the utmost. Nevertlieless, in
1778 he harried the ^Vlani IVIajra territory and reduced Gharib Das tf>
submission. Thence he marched on Sialba, where he was severely
defeated by its chief and a strong Sikh coalition. To retrieve this
disaster Amar Singh formed a stronger confederacy, enticed away the
Sialba troops by offers of higher pay, and at length secured the sub-
mission of the chief without bloodshed. In 1779 the Mughal forces
marched on Karnal, Desu Singh, Bhai of Kaithal, being in alliance
with them, and hoping by their aid to crush Patiala ; but the Delhi
minister found it more profitable to plunder the Bhai, and the Sikhs
then united to oppose his advance. He reached Kuhram, but then
retreated, in fear of the powerful forces arrayed against him.
In 1 781 Amar Singh died of dropsy, and was succeeded by his son
Sahib Singh, then a child of six. Diwan Nanu Mai, an Agarwal Bania
of Sunam, became WazTr and coped successfully with three distinct
rebellions headed by relatives of the Raja. In 1783 occurred a great
famine which disorganized the State. Eventually Nana Mai was
compelled to call in the Marathas, who aided him to recover Ban Or
and other places; but in 1788 they compelled him to pay blackmail,
and in 1790, though he had been successful against the other enemies
of Patiala, he could not prevent them from marching to Suhlar, 2 miles
from Patiala itself. Saifabad had been placed in their hands, and
Nanu Mai's fall from power quickly followed. With him fell Rani
Rajindar, cousin of Amar Singh, a woman of great ability and Nanu
Mai's chief supporter, who had induced the Marathas to retire and
visited Muttra to negotiate terms with Sindhia in person. Sahib
Singh, now aged fourteen, took the reins of state into his own hands,
appointing his sister Sahib Kaur to be chief minister. In 1794 the
Marathas again advanced on Patiala, but Sahib Kaur defeated them
and drove them back on Karnal. In this year Bedi Sahib Singh
attacked Maler Kotla and had to be bought off by Patiala. In 1798
the Bedi attacked Raikot, and, though opposed by the Phulkian chiefs,
compelled its ruler to call in George Thomas, who advanced on
Ludhiana, where the Bedi had invested the fort, and compelled him to
raise the siege. Thomas then retired to Hansi ; but taking advantage
of the absence of the Sikh chiefs at Lahore, where they had assembled
to oppose the invasion of Shah Zaman, he again advanced and laid
siege to jTnd. On this the Phulkian chiefs hastened back to the relief
36 PATIALA STATE
of Jind and compelled Thomas to raise the siege, but were in turn
defeated by him. They then made peace with Thomas, who was
anxious to secure their support against the Marathas. Sahib Singh
now proceeded to quarrel with his sister, and she died not long after-
wards, having lost all influence in the State. Thomas then renewed
his attacks on the jTnd State, and as the Phulkian chiefs united to
resist him he invaded Patiala territory and pillaged the town of
Bhawanigarh. A peace was, however, patched up in 1801, and Thomas
retired to Hansi, whereupon the Cis-Sutlej chiefs sent an embassy to
General Perron at Delhi to ask for assistance, and Thomas was
eventually crushed. The British now appeared on the scene ; but the
Phulkian chiefs, who had been rescued from Thomas by the Marathas,
were not disposed to join them, and remained neutral throughout the
operations round Delhi in 1803-4. Though Holkar was hospitably
received at Patiala after his defeat at Dig, he could not obtain much
active assistance from Sahib Singh. After Holkar's flight to Amritsar
in 1805, the dissensions between Sahib Singh and his wife reached
a climax, and the Rani attacked both Nabha and Jind. These States
then invoked the intervention of RanjTt Singh, Maharaja of Lahore,
who crossed the Sutlej in 1806. Ranjit Singh did little to settle the
domestic differences of the Patiala Raja, but despoiled the widows
of the Raikot chief of many villages. Patiala, however, received no
share of the plunder ; and on Ranjit Singh's withdrawal the conflict
between Sahib Singh and his wife was renewed. In 1807 Ranjit Singh
reappeared at Patiala, when he conferred Banur and other districts,
worth Rs. 50,000 a year, on the Rani and then marched on
Naraingarh.
It was by this time clear to the Cis-Sutlej chiefs that they had
to choose between absorption by RanjTt Singh and the protection
of the British. Accordingly, in 1808, Patiala, Jind, and Kaithal
made overtures to the Resident at Delhi. No definite promise of
protection was given at the time; but in April, 1809, the treaty with
Ranjit Singh secured the Cis-Sutlej territory from further aggression
on his part, and a week later the desired proclamation of protection
was issued, which continued to ' the chiefs of Malvva and Sirhind . . .
the exercise of the same rights and authority within their own posses-
sions which they enjoyed before.' Two years later it became necessary
to issue another proclamation of protection, this time to protect the
Cis-Sutlej chiefs against one another. Meanwhile internal confusion
led to the armed interposition of the British Agent, who established
the Maharani As Kaur as regent with sole authority. She showed
administrative ability and an unbending temper until the death of
Maharaja Sahib Singh in 18 13. He was succeeded by Maharaja
Karin Singh, who was largely influenced at first by his mother and
HISTORY 37
her minister Naunidhrai, generally known as Missar Naudha. The
Gurkha War broke out in 1814, and the Patiala contingent served
under Colonel Ochterlony. In reward for their services, the British
Government made a grant of sixteen parganas in the Simla Hills
to Patiala, on payment of a nazarCma of Rs. 2,80,000. Kami Singh's
government was hampered by quarrels, first with his mother and later
with his younger brother, Ajit Singh, until the Hariana boundary
dispute demanded all his attention. The English had overthrown
the Marathas in 1803 and had completed the subjugation of the
Bhattis in Bhattiana in 1818; but little attention was paid to the
administration of the country, and Patiala began to encroach upon
it, growing bolder each year, until in 1835 her colonists were firmly
established. When the attention of the British Government was
at last drawn to the matter, and a report called for, the Maharaja
refused to admit the British claims, declined arbitration, and pro-
tested loudly when a strip of country more than a hundred miles
long and ten to twenty broad was transferred from his possessions
to those of the British Government. The Government, however,
listened to his protest, the question was reopened, and was not finally
settled till 1856, when some 41 villages were handed over to Patiala.
When hostilities between the British and the government of Lahore
became certain at the close of 1845, Maharaja Karm Singh of Patiala
declared his loyalty to the British ; but he died on December 23,
the day after the battle of Ferozeshah, and was succeeded by his
son Narindar Singh, then twenty-three years old. It would be idle
to pretend that the same active spirit of loyalty obtained among the
Cis-Sutlej chiefs in 1845 ^^ showed itself in 1857. The Maharaja
of Patiala knew that his interests were bound up with the success
of the British, but his sympathies were with the Khalsa. However,
he provided the British with supplies and carriage, besides a contin-
gent of men. At the close of the war, he was rewarded with certain
estates resumed from the Raja of Nabha. The Maharaja sanctioned
the abolition of customs duties on the occasion of Lord Hardinge's
visit in 1847.
The conduct of the Maharaja on the outbreak of the Mutiny
is beyond praise. He was the acknowledged head of the Sikhs, and
his hesitation or disloyalty would have been attended with the most
disastrous results, while his ability, character, and high position would
have made him a formidable leader against the British. On hearing
of the outbreak, he marched that evening with all his available troops
in the direction of Ambala. In his own territories he furnished
supplies and carriage, and kept the roads clear. He gave a loan
of 5 lakhs to Government and expressed his willingness to double
the amount. His troops served with loyalty and distinction on many
38 P ATI ALA STATE
occasions throughout the campaign. Of the vahie of the Maharaja's
adhesion the Commissioner wrote : ' His support at such a crisis was
worth a brigade of EngHsh troops to us, and served more to tran-
quillize the people than a hundred ofificial disclaimers could have
done.' After the Mutiny the Narnaul division of the Jhajjar terri-
tory, jurisdiction over Bhadaur, and the house in Delhi belonging
to Begam Zinat Mahal fell to the share of Patiala. The Maharaja's
honorary titles were increased at the same time. The revenue of
Narnaul, which had been estimated at 2 lakhs, was found to be only
Rs. 1,70,000. On this, the Maharaja appealed for more territory.
The British Government had given no guarantee, but was willing
to reward the loyal service of Patiala still further ; and consequently
parts of Kanaud and Buddhuana, in Jhajjar, were conferred on the
Maharaja. These new estates had an income of about one lakh,
and the Maharaja gave a nazardna equal to twenty years' revenue.
In 1858 the Phulkian chiefs had united in asking for concessions
from the British Government, of which the chief was the right of
adoption. This was, after some delay, granted, with the happiest
results. The power to inflict capital punishment had been with-
drawn in 1847, but was exercised during the Mutiny. This power
was now formally restored. The Khamanon villages (the history
of which is given under 'Administration' on p. 47) were transferred
to Patiala in i860. Maharaja Narindar Singh died in 1862 at the
age of thirty-nine. He was a wise ruler and brave soldier. He
was one of the first Indian chiefs to receive the K.C.S.I., and was
also a member of the Indian Legislative Council during Lord
Canning's viceroyalty.
His only son, Mohindar Singh, was a boy of ten at his father's
death. A Council of Regency was appointed, which carried on the
administration for eight years. The Maharaja only lived for six years
after assuming power. During his reign the Sirhind Canal was sanc-
tioned, though it was not opened until 1882. Patiala contributed
one crore and 23 lakhs to the cost of construction. The Maharaja
was liberal in measures connected with the improvement and general
well-being of the country. He gave Rs. 70,000 to the University
College, Lahore, and in 1873 he placed 10 lakhs at the disposal
of Government for the relief of the famine-stricken people of Bengal.
In 1875 he was honoured by a visit from Lord Northbrook, who
was then Viceroy, when the Mohindar College was founded for the
promotion of higher education in the State. Mohindar Singh died
suddenly in 1876. He had received the G. C.S.I, in 1871.
A long minority followed, for Maharaja Rajindar Singh was only
four when his father died. During his minority, which ceased in
1890, the administration was carried on by a Council of Regency,
HISTOR Y
.39
composed of three officials under the presidency of Sardar Sir Dewa
Singh, K.C.S.I. The finances of the State were carefully watched,
and considerable savings effected, from which have been met the
charges in connexion with the Sirhind Canal and the broad-gauge
line of railway between Rajpura, Patiala, and Bhatinda. In 1879
the Patiala State sent a contingent of 1,100 men to the Afghan
War. The Maharaja was exempted from the presentation of tiazars
in Darbar, in recognition of the services rendered by his troops
on this occasion. He was the first chief to organize a corps of
Imperial Service troops, and served with one regiment of these in
the Tirah expedition of 1897. Maharaja Rajindar Singh died in
1900, and a third Council of Regency was formed. The present
Maharaja, Bhupindar Singh, was born in 1891. He is now being
educated at the Aitchison College, Lahore. He ranks first amongst
the chiefs of the Punjab, and is entitled to a salute of 17 guns.
In 1900 it was decided by the Government of India to appoint
a Political Agent for Patiala, and the other two Phulkian States of
Jlnd and Nabha were included in the Agency, to which was after-
wards added the Muhammadan State of Bahawalpur. The head-
quarters of the Agency are at Patiala.
The Siva temples at Kalait, in the Narwana laksii, contain some
old carvings supposed to date from the eleventh century. Of Pjnjauk,
it has been remarked that no place south of the Jhelum has more
traces of antiquity. The date of the sculptured temples of Bhima
Devi and Baijnath has not been determined. The walls of the
houses, &c., in the village are full of fragments of sculptures. The
gardens, which are attributed to Fidai Khan, the foster-brother of
Aurangzeb, were modelled on the Shalamar gardens at Lahore, and
are surrounded by a wall originally made of the debris of ancient
buildings, but the fragments of sculpture built into it are much
damaged. At Sunam are the remains of one of the oldest mosques
in India. At Sirhind Malik Bahlol Lodi assumed the title of Sultan
in 1451, and his daughter was buried here in 1497, in a tomb still
existing. The oldest buildings in the place are two fine double-
domed tombs, traditionally known as those of the Master and the
Disciple. The date is uncertain, but the style indicates the four-
teenth century. Shah Zaman, the refugee monarch of Kabul, was
buried in an old graveyard of great sanctity near the town. The
first certain mention of Sirhind is in connexion with events which
occurred in 1360, but the place has been confused by historians
with Bhatinda or Tabarhind, a much older place. The fort at Sirhind
was originally named Firozpur, probably after P'lroz Shah. The tomb
of Ibrahim Shah at Narnaul, erected by his grandson, the emperor
Sher Shah (1540-5), with its massive proportions, deeply recessed
40
P ATI ALA STATE
Population.
doorways, and exquisite carvings, is a fine example of the Pathan
style. Bhatinda was a place of great importance in the pre-Mughal
days ; but the date of the fort, which is a conspicuous feature in the
landscape for miles round, is unknown. At Patiala and at Bahadur-
garh, near Patiala, are fine forts built by chiefs of Patiala.
The State contains 14 towns and 3,580 villages. Its population at
the last three enumerations was: (1881) 1,467,433, (1891) 1,583,521,
and (1901) 1,596,692. The small increase in the last
decade was due to the famines of 1897 and 1900,
which caused much emigration from the Mohindargarh nizdmaL The
State is divided into the five nizdmats, or administrative districts, of
Karmgarh, Pinjaur, Amargarh, Anahadgarh, and Mohindargarh.
The head-quarters of these are at Bhawanigarh, Basi, Barnala, Rajpura,
and Kanaud respectively. The towns are Patiala, the capital, Nar-
NAUL, Basi, Govindgarh or Bhatinda, Samana, Sunam, Mohindargarh
or Kanaud, Sanaur, Bhadaur, Barnala, Banur, Pail, Sirhind,
and Hadiaya.
The following table shows the chief statistics of population in
1901 : —
Nisainat.
c5
3
w u
err:
<
Number of
B
cS
D.
p
§1
-33
Percentage of
variation in
population be-
tween 1891
and 190 1.
Number of
persons able to
read and
write.
c
e2
>
Karmgarh
Pinjaur .
Amargarh
Anahadgarh .
Mohindargarh
State total
1,834
784
858
1,836
575
4
I
3
4
2
665
1,588
605
454
268
500,635
212,866
365,448
377,367
140,376
273.0
27'-4
425-9
205-5
243.8
-0.8
-5-97
+ 1.06
+ 8.62
- 5-09
15,370
3,695
7,596
8,899
2,537
5,412
14
3,580
1,596,692
295.0
+ 0.83
38,097
Note. — The fiirures for the areas of nicamais are taken from revenue returns. The
total State area is that given in the Census Report.
Hindus form 55 per cent, of the total, and Sikhs, though Patiala is
the leading Sikh State of the Punjab, only 22 per cent., slightly less
than Muhammadans. Jains, fewer than 3,000 in number, are mostly
found in the Mohindargarh nizdmaf. The density, though higher than
the Provincial average for British Districts, is lower than the average
of the Districts and States situated in the Indo-Gangetic Plain West.
It is lowest in the Anahadgarh nizdtnai, where less than 14 per cent,
of the total area is cultivated. There is not, however, much room for
extension of cultivation, as the cultivable tracts are fully populated.
Punjabi is the language of 88 per cent, of the population.
Nearly every caste in the Punjab is represented in Patiala, but the
Jats or Jats, who comprise 30 per cent, of the population, are by far
AGRICULTURE 41
its strongest element. Other cultivating castes are the Rajputs, Ahirs
(in Mohindargarh), Gujars, Arains, and Kambohs. Brahmans and
Fakirs number nearly 8 per cent, of the population ; and artisan and
menial castes, such as the Chamars, Chuhras, Tarkhans, &c., comprise
most of the residue. Of the whole population, 62 per cent, are
dependent on agriculture ; and the State has no important industries,
other than those carried on in villages to meet the ordinary wants of
an agricultural population.
In 1901 the State contained 122 native Christians. The principal
missionary agency is that of the American Reformed Presbyterian
Church, which was established in 1892, when Maharaja Rajindar Singh
permitted Dr. Scott, a medical missionary of that Church, to establish
a mission at Patiala town, granting him a valuable site for its buildings.
The only other society working among the native Christians is the
American Methodist Episcopal Mission, established at Patiala in 1890.
In the village of Rampur Katani (Pail tahsll) an Anglo-vernacular
primary school, started by the Ludhiana American Mission, teaches
22 Jat and Muhammadan boys. There is also a small mission school
at Basi, where twelve or thirteen sweeper boys are taught.
Agricultural conditions are as diversified as the territory is scattered.
In the Pinjaur tahsll they resemble those of the surrounding Simla
Hill States, and in the Mohindargarh nizdmat those .
of Rajputana. Elsewhere the State consists of level
plains with varying characteristics. The Rajpura, Banur, and Cihanaur
tahsils of the Pinjaur nizdmat, the Patiala and part of the Bhawanigarh
tahsll of the Karmgarh ttizdmat, and the Fatehgarh (Sirhind) and
Sahibgarh (Pail) tahsils of the Amargarh nizdmat lie in the Pawadh,
a naturally fertile tract of rich loam. Sirhind and Pail are both pro-
tected by wells, and, though not irrigated by canals, are the richest in
the State from an agricultural point of view. The Narwana tahsll lies
in the Bangar, a plateau or upland in which the spring-level is too low
for wells to be profitably sunk. The remaining parts of these three
nizdjnats, and the whole of Anahadgarh, lie in the Jangal, a tract
naturally fertile, but unproductive owing to the absence of rain and
the depth of the spring-level until irrigated by the Sirhind Canal.
The Jangal consists of a great plain of soft loam covered with shifting
sandhills, with a few wells on the borders of the Pawadh ; but agri-
culturally it is in a transition stage, as the canal permits oi intensive
cultivation.
The bhaiydchdrd is the general form of tenure, except in Mohindar-
garh, where the pattlddri form is prevalent.
The main agricultural statistics for 1903-4 are given in the tabic
on the next page.
The principal food-grains cultivated arc gram (area in 1903-4,
42
P ATI ALA STATE
660 square miles), barley and gram mixed (587), wheat (432), hdjra
(367), joivdr (362), wheat and gram mixed (284), and maize (239).
Mustard covered 286 square miles, (r/^ar/ (yWw grown for fodder) 238,
and cotton 72. In the hill tract (Pinjaur tahsll) potatoes, ginger,
turmeric, and rice are the most valuable crops, and Indian corn is
largely grown for food. In the Sirhind and Pail tahslh sugar-cane
is the most paying crop. It is also grown in parts of the Patiala,
Amargarh, and Bhawanigarh talis'ils. Cotton is grown generally in all
but the sandy tracts of the south-west, and it forms the staple crop in
Narwana. Tobacco is an important crop in the Pawadh tract. Rice
is grown in the three tahsils of the Pinjaur nizdmat which lie in the
Pawadh. Wheat is the staple crop in the north-western half, -barley
and gram, separately or mixed, in the south and west, and millet in
the INlohindargarh nizdmat. In the latter millet is an autumn crop,
dependent on the mcnisoon rains. In the rest of the State the spring
harvest is more important than the autunm harvest, and its importance
increases as canal-irrigation is developed.
Nisainat.
Total.
Cultivated.
Irrigated.
Cultivable
waste.
Karmgarh
Pinjaur .
Amargarh
Anahadgarh ,
Mohindargarh
Total
1,834
784
858
1,836
57.=)
1,338
467
672
1,661
445
368
143
^43
465
38
386
217
128
96
49
5,887
4>583
1,257 , 876
Cash rents are very rare. The landlord's share of the produce varies
from one-fifth to one-half, and one-third may be taken as the average
rate. Land irrigated from wells usually pays a higher rate than other
land, except in the dry tracts to the west and south, where the soil
is inferior and the expense of working wells heavy. The highest rates
are paid in the submontane country to the north and east of Patiala.
The wages of unskilled labour when paid in cash, as is generally the
case in towns and more rarely in the villages, vary from 3 annas a day
in oudying tracts to 6 annas in the capital. A reaper earns from 6 to
12 annas a day, and a carpenter from 8 to 12 annas or even R. i in the
hills. Prices have risen about 1 2 per cent, in the last fifteen years.
Few State loans to cultivators were made prior to the revision of the
settlement which began in 1901 and is still proceeding, and very high
rates of interest were charged. During the three years ending 1906,
a total of nearly Rs. 80,000 was advanced. The rate of interest on
loans for the construction of wells and the purchase of bullocks is just
under 4I per cent., while loans for the purchase of seed are given free
of interest.
FORESTS 43
■ The cattle of the Jangal in the south-west and of Mohindargarh are
fine up-standing animals, but the cows are poor milkers, and cattle-
breeding hardly exists. Ponies of a fair class are raised in the Bangar,
in the Narwana fahsll ; and there is a State stud at Patiala, established in
1890, with 5 horse, i pony, and 3 donkey stallions, and 25 brood-mares.
Fairs are held twice a year at Karauta and Dharson, both in the
Mohindargarh 7iizdmat, at which about 20,000 cattle change hands
yearly. Cattle fairs were also started in 1903-4 at Bhatinda, Barnala,
Mansa, Boha, Dhamtansahib, Sunam, Patiala, Rajpura, Dhiiri, Sirhind,
and Kanaud.
Of the total area under cultivation in 1903-4, 1,257 square miles, or
27 per cent., were classed as irrigated. Of this area, 342 square miles,
or 27 per cent., were irrigated from wells, and the rest from canals.
The State contains 12,696 wells in use, besides unbricked wells, lever
wells, and water-lifts. Patiala owns 84 per cent, of the share (36 per
cent.) of the Sirhind Canal possessed by the Phulkian States. The
Hissar branch of the Western Jumna Canal, which irrigated 85 square
miles in 1903-4, also secures against famine a large part of the Narwana
tahsll ; and in the tahs'ih of Banur and Ghanaur a small inundation
canal from the Ghaggar, which irrigated 14 square miles in 1903-4,
serves a number of villages. Wells are mainly confined to the Pawadh
and the part of the Jangal which adjoins it. Wells are also used in the
Mohindargarh nizamat, but the water in some is brackish and only
beneficial after rain. Jats generally use the bucket and Arains the
Persian wheel on a masonry well, but some of the Arains and Kambohs
in the Banur tahsll use the ding/i or lift.
In the hill thdnas of Pinjaur, Dharmpur, and Srinagar, in the Pinjaur
Dun and Siwaliks, the State possesses valuable forests, in which con-
siderable quantities of chll {Finns longifolia), pine,
oak, deodar, and bamboo are found. The first and
second-class forests have an area of 109 square miles, with 171 square
miles of grass lands. It also possesses several ' reserves ' (Inrs) aggre-
gating 12,000 acres in the plains. The forests are controlled by
a Conservator, who has two cissistants in the hills and one in the
plains. Avenues of shlsham {Dalbergia Sissoo) are planted along the
canal banks, and ol klkar [Acacia arabica) along the roads. The forest
revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 51,000.
Kankar is found at many places. Slate, limestone, and sandstone
occur in the Pinjaur hills, and in the detached hills of the Mohindar-
garh nizamat. Saltpetre is manufactured in the Rajpura, Ghanaur,
Banur, Narwana, and Narnaul tahsils, and carbonate of soda in the
Bangar. Copper and lead ores are found near Solon ; and mica and
copper and iron ores in the Mohindargarh nizamat.
Manufactures, other than the ordinary village industries, are virtually
VOL. XX. D
44 PATIALA STATE
confined to the towns. Cotton fabrics are made at Sunam, and silk at
Patiala. Gold lace is manufactured at Patiala, and susl at Patiala and
Basi, the latter being of fine quality. At Samana
communiSions. ''^"^ Narnaul legs for beds are turned, and at Pail
carved doorways are made. Ironware is also pro-
duced at four villages. Brass and bell-metal are worked at Patiala and
Bhadaur, and at Kanaud (Mohindargarh), where ironware is also
manufactured. The only steam cotton-ginning factory in the State
is at Narwana. A workshop is situated at Patiala. The number of
factory hands in 1903-4 was 80.
The State exports grain in large cjuantities, principally wheat, gram,
rapeseed, millet, and pulses, with ghi, raw cotton and yarn, red pepper,
saltpetre, and lime. It imports raw and refined sugar and rice from
the United Provinces, piece-goods from Delhi and Bombay, and
various other manufactures. The principal grain marts are at Patiala,
Narnaul, Basi, Barnala, Bhatinda, and Narwana ; but grain is also
exported to the adjoining British Districts and to Nabha.
The North-Western Railway traverses the north of the State through
Rajpura and Sirhind, and the Rajpura-Bhatinda branch passes through
its centre, with stations at the capital, Dhuri Junction, Barnala, and
Bhatinda. The latter line is owned by the State, but worked by the
North-^^'estern Railway. The Ludhiana-Dhuri-Jakhal Railway, with
stations at Dhuri and Sunam, also serves this part of the State. The
Southern Punjab Railway passes along the southern border, with a
station at Narwana in the Karmgarh nizdjiiat. A mono-rail tramway,
opened in February, 1907, connects Basi with the railway at Sirhind.
There are 185 miles of metalled roads, all in the plains, and about
194 miles (113 in the plains and 81 in the hills) of unmetalled roads
in the State. Of the former, the principal connects Patiala with Sunam
(43 miles), one branch leading to Sangrur, the capital of Jlnd State,
and another to Samana, The others are mainly feeder roads to the
railways. There are avenues of trees along 142 miles of road.
The postal arrangements of the State are governed by the convention
of 1884, as modified in 1900, which established a mutual exchange of
all postal articles between the British Post Office and the State post.
The ordinary British stamps, surcharged 'Patiala State,' are used.
Under an agreement concluded in 1872, a telegraph line from Ambala
to Patiala was constructed by Government at the expense of the State,
which takes all the receipts and pays for the maintenance of the line.
The earliest and most terrible of the still-remembered famines was
the chdllsa of Samvat 1840 (a. d. 1783), which depopulated huge tracts
. in the Southern Punjab. In 181 2 and 1833 the
State again suffered. The famine of 1 860-1 was the
first in which relief was .systematically organized by the State. Relief
ADXriXISTRAriON 45
works were opened: over 11,000 tons of grain were distributed, and
3^ lakhs of revenue was remitted. The famine of 1897 cost the State
nearly 2 lakhs in relief works alone. Three years later came the great
fiimine of 1900. It was a f(xlder famine as well as a grain famine, and
cattle died in large 'numbers. Relief measures were organized on the
lines laid down for the British Districts of the Province. Nearly 4 lakhs
was spent on relief works and gratuitous relief. Two lakhs of revenue
was remitted and 2\ lakhs was suspended.
The Political Agent for the Phulkian States and Bahawalpur resides
at Patiala. He is the representative of the Lieutenant-Governor, and
is the channel of communication in most matters . , . .
, , r. 1 • • 1 1 J 1 Administration.
between the State authorities on the one hand and
British officials or other States on the other. He has no control over
the State courts, but he hears appeals from the orders of certain of
the District Magistrates, &c., of British Districts, in their capacity as
Railway Magistrates for the various railways which pass through
Patiala territory.
During the minority of the Maharaja, his functions are exercised
by a Council of Regency consisting of three members. There are
four departments of State : the finance department {Dmuin-i-Mdl)
under the Diwan, who deals with all matters of revenue and finance,
the foreign department {Munsh'i Khdna) under the Mir Munshi, the
judicial department {Scidr Add/at) under the AdalatI, and the military
department {Bak/ishi Khdna) under the Bakhshi or commander-in-
chief. The Chief Court was created by Maharaja Rajindar Singh, to
hear appeals from the orders of the finance, foreign, and judicial
ministers. There is no regular legislative department. Regulations
are drafted in the department concerned and submitted for sanction
to the IJids-i-Khds, or court of the Maharaja. Under the present
arrangements the power of sanction rests with the Council of Regency,
the members of which possess the power of initiation. For general
administrative purposes the State is divided into five nizdmats^ each
being under a iiazim, who exercises executive powers and has sub-
ordinate to him two or three 7iaib (deputy) ndzims in each nizdinaf,
and a tahs'ilddr in each tahs'il.
The lowest court of original jurisdiction in civil and revenue cases
is that of the fahsilddr, from whose decisions appeals lie to the udzini.
The next higher court is that of the naib-tidzvn^ who exercises criminal
and civil powers, and from whose decisions appeals also lie to the
ndzim. The 7idzim is a Sessions Judge, with power to pass sentences
of imprisonment not exceeding fourteen years, as well as an appellate
court in criminal, civil, and revenue cases. From his decisions appeals
lie in criminal and civil cases to the Sadr Add/at, and in revenue
cases to the Diwan, with a second appeal to the Chief Court, and
D 2
46 PATIAl.A STATE
a third to tlie Ijlds-i-Khas ; both the last-mentioned courts also
exercise revisional jurisdiction in all cases. All sentences of death or
transportation for life require the confirmation of the Maharaja, or,
during his minority, of the Council of Regency.
Special jurisdiction in criminal cases is also exercised by the
following officials. The Mir Munshi, or foreign minister, has the
powers of a Sessions Judge with respect to cases in which one or both
parties are not subjects of the State ; cases under the Telegraph and
Railway Acts are decided by a special magistrate, from whose decision
an appeal lies to the Mir Munshi ; certain canal and forest officers
exercise magisterial powers in respect of offences concerning those
departments; and the Inspector-General exercises similar powers in
respect of cases in which the police are concerned. During the settle-
ment operations the settlement officers are also invested with power to
decide revenue cases, and from their decisions appeals lie to the
Settlement Commissioner. At the capital there are a magistrate and
a civil judge, from whose decisions appeals lie to the Mudwin Addlat.
The Sikh Jats are addicted to crimes of violence, illicit distillation,
and traffic in women, the Hindu Jats and the Rajputs to cattle-theft,
and the Chuhras to theft and house-breaking, while the criminal
tribes — Sansis, Baurias, Baloch, and Minas — are notorious for theft,
robbery, and burglary.
In 1902 a few panchdyats were established in the Narwana and
Govindgarh tahslls for the settlement of disputes of a civil nature.
The experiment has proved successful, and there are now 76 of these
rural courts scattered about the State. Up to the end of 1906, they
had disposed of more than 45,000 cases, the value of the claims dealt
with being considerably over 60 lakhs. The parties have the right
to challenge the decision of the parichdyat in the ordinary courts, but
up to the present less than 2 per cent, of the decisions in disputed
cases have been challenged in this manner.
The chief of the feudatories are the Sardars of Bhadaur, who
between them enjoy a jdgir of over Rs. 70,000 per annum. Like
the ruling family, they are descendants of Phul ; but in 1855 the
claim of Patiala to regard the Bhadaur chiefs as feudatories of her own
was disallowed by Government, and their villages were brought under
British jurisdiction. Three years later the supremacy over Bhadaur
was ceded to the Maharaja as a small portion of the reward for his
loyalty in 1857. The tenure of the jdgtr is subject to much the same
incidents in respect of lapse and commutation as similar assignments
in the British portion of the Cis-Sutlej territory. There are at present
six sharers in the jdgir, while the widows of deceased members of the
family whose shares have lapsed to the State receive maintenance
allowances amounting to Rs. 8,699.
ADMINISTRA TION
47
The numerous jaglrdars of the Khamanon villages receive between
them over Rs. 90,000 a year from the State, and are entitled, in
addition, to various dues from the villagers. Ever since 18 15 Patiala
had been held responsible for the general administration of this estate,
though the British Government reserved its rights to escheats and
military service. In 1847 the question of bringing the villages
entirely under British jurisdiction was mooted. The negotiations were
prolonged until after the Mutiny, when, in i860, Government trans-
ferred its rights in the estate to Patiala in return for a nazardna of
Rs. 1,76,360. The Jdgtrddrs are exempted from the appellate juris-
diction of the ordinary courts, and are entitled to have their appeals
heard by the foreign minister. The jdgJrddrs of Pail constitute the
only remaining group of assignees of any importance. Their j'dgtrs
amount in all to over Rs. 18,000, and are subject to the usual incidents
of lapse and commutation.
The main area of the State corresponds roughly to the old Mughal
sarkdr of Sirhind, and was subject to Akbar's fiscal reforms. Formerly
the State used to collect nearly all its revenue in kind, taking generally
one-third of the produce as its share, calculated either by actual
division or by a rough and ready appraisement. In 1862 a cash
assessment was first made. It resulted in a total demand of about
30-9 lakhs, reduced three years later to 29-4 lakhs. Afterwards
summary assessments were made every ten years, until in 1901
a regular settlement was undertaken, a British ofificer being appointed
Settlement Commissioner. The present demand is 41-5 lakhs or,
including cesses and other dues, 44-8 lakhs, of which 4-7 lakhs are
assigned, leaving a balance of 40 lakhs realizable by the State. The
revenue rates on unirrigated land vary from a minimum of R. 0-6-4
in parts of Mohindargarh to a maximum of Rs. 5-1 1-3 in the Bet
circle of the Sirhind tahsil, and on irrigated land from 12 annas in
Pail to Rs. 9-9-6 in the Dhaya circle of Sirhind. There are wide
variations from circle to circle in the average rates. The average
' dry ' rate in one of the Mohindargarh circles is ten annas, while in
the Bet of Sirhind it is Rs. 3-14-6. Similarly, the average 'wet' rate
in the Sunam tahsil is Rs. 1-13-4, and in the Dhaya of Sirhind
Rs. 5-1 1-3.
The collections of land revenue alone and of total revenue are
shown below, in thousands of rupees : — •
1880-1.
1890-1.
1 900- 1.
1903-4.
Land revenue .
Total revenue .
32,68
40,92
32>7i
53,16
33,17
65,34
34,63
66,75
The principal sources of revenue, other than land revenue, and the
48 PATIALA STATE
amounts derived from each in 1903-4, are: public works, including
irrigation and railways (14-1 lakhs), excise (2-2 lakhs), octroi (1-9 lakhs),
stamps (i-7 lakhs), and provincial rates (1-4 lakhs); while the main
heads of expenditure are public works (14-4 lakhs), army (9-1 lakhs),
civil list (4-5 lakhs), police (4-2 lakhs), land revenue administration
(4 lakhs), general administration (3 lakhs), religious and charitable
endowments (1-9 lakhs), and medical (i-8 lakhs).
The right of coinage was conferred on Raja Amar Singh by Ahmad
Shah Durrani in 1767. No copper coin was ever minted, and only on
one occasion, in the reign of Maharaja Narindar Singh, were 8-anna
and 4-anna pieces struck ; but rupees and gold coins or ashrafis were
coined at intervals up to 1895, when the mint was closed for ordinary
coinage. Up to the last the coins bore the legend that they were
struck under the authority of Ahmad Shah, and the coinage of each
chief bore a distinguishing device, generally a representation of some
kind of weapon. The Patiala rupee was known as the Raja shdhi
rupee. It was rather lighter than the British rupee, but contained
the same amount of silver. Rupees known as Ndnak shdhi rupees,
which are used in connexion with religious ceremonies at the Dasahra
and DiwalT festivals, are still coined, with the inscription —
T>egh, tegh 0 fateh Jiusrat be darajig.
Yaft az Ndnak Guru Gobi/id Si/igh.
Prior to 1874, the distillation, the sale, and even the use of liquor
were prohibited. The present arrangement is that no distillation is
allowed except at the central distillery at Patiala town. The distiller
there pays a still-head duty of Rs. 4 per gallon. The licences for retail
sale are auctioned, except in the case of European liquor, the vendors
of which pay Rs. 200 or Rs. 100 per annum according as their sales
do or do not exceed 2,000 bottles. The State is privileged to receive
a number of chests of Malwa opium every year at a reduced duty of
Rs. 280 per chest of 140^- lb. The number is fixed annually by the
Government of the Punjab, and varies from 74 to 80. For anything
over and above this amount, the full duty of Rs. 725 per chest is paid.
The duty paid on the Malwa opium imported has, since 1891, been
refunded to the State, with the object of securing the hearty co-
operation of the State officials in the suppression of smuggling.
Import of opium into British territory from the Mohindargarh 7iizdniat
is prohibited. The importers of opium into Patiala pay a duty of
R. I per seer to the State. Licences for the retail sale of opium and
hemp drugs are sold by auction. Wholesale licences for the sale of
liquor, opium, and drugs are issued on payment of small fixed fees.
Patiala town was constituted a municipality in 1904 and Narnaul
in 1906.
The Public Works de[)artment was reorganized in 1903 under a
ADMINISTRA 'HON 49
Superintending Engineer, who is subject to the control of one of the
members of Council of the Regency. An extensive programme of
public works has been framed, the total cost of which will be 85 lakhs ;
and a considerable portion of it has been carried out at a cost of
25 lakhs during the three years that have elapsed since the reorganiza-
tion of the department. Public offices, tahsils, police stations, schools,
dispensaries, markets, and barracks have been erected. The darbar
chamber in Patiala Fort has been remodelled and reroofed, and is
now a magnificent hall. A large Central jail has been constructed at
Patiala, and a number of new roads have been made. Among build-
ings erected during the last few years by private subscription may be
mentioned the Victoria Memorial Poorhouse at Patiala, which cost
Rs. 80,000, and the Victoria Girls' School, which cost half that sum.
In 1903-4 the regular police force consisted of 1,973 of all ranks.
The village watchmen numbered 2,775. There are 42 police stations,
3 outposts, and 17 road-posts. The force is under the control of an
Inspector-General. District Superintendents are appointed for each
nizdmat with inspectors under them, while each police station is in
charge of a thdnadar. The State contains two jails, the Central jail
at the capital and the other at Mohindargarh, which hold 1,100 and
50 prisoners respectively. The Imperial Service contingent maintained
by the State consists ot a regiment of cavalry and two battalions of
infantry. The local troops consist of a regiment of cavalry, two
battalions of infantry, and a battery of artillery with eight guns. The
State possesses altogether fifty serviceable guns. The total strength of
the State army— officers, non-commissioned officers, and men — is 3,429.
Patiala is the most backward of the larger States of the Punjab in
point of education. The percentage of literate persons is only 2-4
(4-2 males and o-i females) as compared with 2-7, the average for the
States of the Province. The percentage of literate females doubled
between 1891 and 1901, but that of literate males declined from
5-3 to 4-2. The number of persons under instruction was 6,479 i"
1880-1, 6,187 in 1890-1, 6,058 in 1900-1, and 6,090 in 1903-4. In
the last year the State possessed an Arts college, 21 secondary and
89 primary (public) schools, and 3 advanced and 129 elementary
(private) schools, with 538 girls in the public and 123 in the private
schools. The expenditure on education was Rs. 83,303. The
Director of Public Instruction is in charge of education, and under
him are two inspectors.
The State possesses altogether 34 hospitals and dispensaries, of
which 10 contain accommodation for 165 in-patients. In 1903-4 the
number of cases treated was 198,527, of whom 2,483 were in-patients,
and 10,957 operations were performed. The expenditure was
Rs. 87,076, wholly met from State funds. The administration is
50 PATIALA STATE
usually controlled by an officer of the Indian Medical Service, who
is medical adviser to the Maharaja, with nine Assistant Surgeons.
The Sadr and Lady Dufferin Hospitals at the capital are fine buildings,
well equipped, and a training school for midwives and nurses was
opened in 1906.
Vaccination is controlled by an inspector of vaccination and regis-
tration of vital statistics, under whom are a supervisor and thirty
vaccinators. In 1903-4 the number of persons successfully vaccinated
was 43,782, or 27 per 1,000 of the population. Vaccination is no-
where compulsory.
The Bhadaur villages in the Anahadgarh talis'il were surveyed and
mapped by the revenue staff in 1854-5, and the whole of the
Mohindargarh tahsil in 1858, while they were still British territory.
In 1877-9 ^ revenue survey of the whole State, except the Pinjaur
ia/is'i/, was carried out ; but maps were not made except for the
INIohindargarh and Anahadgarh 7iizdmats^ and for a few scattered
villages elsewhere. During the present settlement, the whole of the
State is being resurveyed, and the maps will be complete in 1907.
The first trigonometrical survey was made in 1847-9, ^^''^ maps
were published on the i-inch and 2-inch scales ; but the Pinjaur tahsil
was not surveyed until 1886-92, when 2 -inch maps were published.
A 4-inch map of the Cis-Sutlej States was published in 1863, and in
the revised edition of 1897 the Pinjaur tahsil was included. The
I -inch maps prepared in 1847-9 ^G^e revised in 1886-92.
[H. A. Rose, Phulkidii States Gazetteer (in the press) ; L. H. Griffin,
The Rdjds of the Fi/njab {second edition, 1873); Khalifa Muhammad
Hasan, Tdrlkh-i-Patidla (1877); also the various Histories of the
Sikhs.]
Patiala Tahsil (or Chaurasi). — North-eastern tahsil of the Karm-
garh nizdmat, Patiala State, Punjab, lying between 30° 8' and 3o°2 7'N.
and 76° 17' and 76° 36' E., with an area of 273 square miles. The
population was 121,224 in 1 901, compared with 128,221 in 1891. It'
contains two towns, Patiala (population, 53,545), the head-quarters,
and Sanaur (8,530); and 197 villages. The tahsil lies wholly within
the Pawadh. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to
2-1 lakhs.
Patiala Town.— Capital of the Patiala State, Punjab, situated in
30° 20' N. and 76° 28' E., on the west bank of the Patiala stream,
34 miles west of Ambala cantonment, and on the Rajpura-Bhatinda
branch of the North-Western Railway. It is also connected with Nabha
and Sangrur by metalled roads. Population (1901), 53,545.
After the fall of Sirhind in 1763, Raja Ala Singh built a masonry fort
on the site of Patiala, then a petty village, from the customs dues
collected at Sirhind. The inhabitants of Sirhind migrated in large
PATKAI 51
numbers to Patiala, which has ever since been the capital of the chiefs
of the State. It is the centre of a considerable local trade, many
articles of luxury being manufactured in it. It contains a State work-
shop. The old palace is in the middle of the town, which is not
unpicturesque, the bazars being wide and straight, though the side
streets are narrow and crooked. The environs of the town are, how-
ever, beautifully laid out with gardens and shady roads, among which
are the numerous public buildings and residences of the Maharaja and
his officials. Of the former, the Mohindar College, the Rajindar
Victoria Diamond Jubilee Library, the Rajindar Hospital, the Baradari
or royal residence, the Moti Bagh, or 'pearl garden,' and the Victoria
Memorial Poorhouse deserve mention. The sanitation of the town
is efficient ; but owing to its low-lying situation it is subject to heavy
floods, which occasionally do much damage to its buildings, and cause
malarial fevers in the autumn months. A municipality has recently
been established. The town contains the Sadr and Lady Dufferin
Hospitals, and the Lady Curzon Training School for midwives and
nurses, opened in 1906. The Victoria Girls' School was opened in
the same year.
Patkai. — A range of hills lying to the south of Lakhimpur District,
Assam, between 26° 30' and 27° 15' N. and 95° 15' and 96° 15' E.
The general height of the range is about 4,000 feet, but it contains
summits nearly 7,000 feet in height. The hills are composed of Upper
Tertiary rocks, and their sides are clothed with dense forest. The pass
over the Patkai is the recognized route between Burma and the Assam
Valley, though, as it entails a long march through wild and hilly
country, there is little intercourse between the two Provinces. It was
by this route that the Ahoms entered the valley of the Brahmaputra in
the thirteenth century ; and it was used by the Burmese when they were
summoned to Assam at the beginning of the nineteenth century to
assist Chandra Kanta, one of the last of the Ahom Rajas. In 1837
Dr. Griffiths crossed the Patkai into the Hukawng valley, and in 1896
a railway survey party traversed the range. The construction of a
line from Ledo in Lakhimpur District over the Patkai and down the
Hukawng valley to Taungni station in the Mu valley was estimated
to cost 383 lakhs for a total length of 284 miles. The line, if made,
would be carried through the summit of the Patkai in a tunnel 5,000
feet in length and situated 2,750 feet above the level of the sea. The
rocks in that neighbourhood consist of an indurated sandstone. The
hills are inhabited by Naga tribes. Those who live on the Hukawng
side of the watershed are subject to Singpho chiefs. They are armed
with daos, muskets, and cross-bows, and their villages are usually well
situated for defence. An account of these people is annexed to the
report of the railway survey party.
52
PA TL UR
Patlur. — ' (j-own ' taluk of the Atraf-i-balda District, Hyderabad
State, lying south of Bidar District, with an area of 595 square miles
including jdgirs. The population in 1901 was 52,833, compared
with 53,878 in 1891. It contains 138 villages, of which 23 ave j'dglr,
and Dharur (population, 1,949) is the head-quarters. The land revenue
in 1 901 was i-6 lakhs.
Patna Division. — A Division of Bihar in Bengal, lying between
24° if and 27° 31' N. and 83° 19' and 86° 44' E. It is bounded on
the east by the Bhagalpur Division, and on the west by the United
Provinces, and extends from Nepal on the north to the Chota Nagpur
plateau on the south. The head-quarters of the Commissioner, who
is assisted by an Additional Commissioner, are at Bankipore. The
Division includes seven Districts, with area, pot)ulation, and revenue
as shown below : —
District.
Area in
square miles.
Population,
1901.
Land revenue
and cesses,
in thousands
of rupees.
Patna
Gaya
Shahabad
Saran
Champaran
Muzaffarpui
Darbhanga
Total
2,075
4,712
4,373
2,674
3,531
3,035
3,348
1,624,985
2,059,933
1,962,696
2,409,509
1,790,463
2,754,790
2,912,611
19,58
1 9,. "^4
21,62
16,22
6,89
13,64
12,93
23,748
"5,514,987
1,10,42
Note.— In the Census RepOJ-i oi igoi the area of Saran was shown as 2,656
square miles, of Muzaffarpur as 3,004 square miles, and of Darbhanga as
.3,3,1s square miles. The figures adopted above aie taken from the recent
Settlement Reports.
The population increased from 13,118,917 in 1872 to 15,061,493 in
1881 and to 15,811,604 in i89i,but in 1901 it had fallen to 15,514,987.
This decrease was shared by all the Districts except Muzaffarpur and
Darbhanga. In Champaran the decline is attributable to the un-
healthiness of the District, which suffered greatly from malarial
affections and severe epidemics of cholera. Elsewhere the decrease
is mainly attributable to the direct and indirect losses caused by the
plague epidemic, a very heavy mortality, the flight of the immigrant
l)opulation, and, in some parts where the epidemic was raging at the
time of the Census, the failure of the census staff to effect an ex-
haustive enumeration. Prior to 1901 the epidemic had been most
virulent in Patna, whose population declined by 8-4 per cent, during
the decade.
'^I'he average density is 653 persons per square mile, a high propor-
tion compared with Bengal as a whole. The population exceeds that
PATNA DIVISIOS- 53
of any other Division, and is, in fact, about the same as that of Ihc
whole of the lionibay Presidency excluding Sind, while it is nearly
three times as numerous as that of Assam. In 1901 Hindus constituted
88-4 per cent, of the total and Musalmans 11-5 per cent.; there were
7,350 Christians (of whom 3,146 were natives), and 999 Jains.
The Division is intersected from west to east by the Ganges. North
of the river it is a flat alluvial formation, rising very gradually towards
the foot of the Himalayas, and possessing many tracts of great natural
fertility. On the other side of the river it contains a strip of alluvium
along the bank of the Ganges, but farther south the soil changes, and
the surface becomes more undulating and gradually rises till the Chota
Nagpur plateau is reached. The north of the Division enjoys in
ordinary years a comparatively copious rainfall increasing towards the
north, but is peculiarly liable to failure of crops in seasons of deficient
rain. In the south a large area is protected by the Son Canals
system, and elsewhere the undulating surface enables the people to
construct small reservoirs from which to water their fields. The four
North Ganges Districts have recently been surveyed, and a record-of-
rights has been prepared. This tract is the main seat of the indigo
industry in Bengal, and its out-turn in 1903-4 amounted to 907 tons,
compared with 476 tons from the rest of the Province. The com-
petition of synthetic indigo and the consequent fall in prices have
struck a severe blow at the prosperity of the industry, and for some
years it has been steadily on the decline. Experiments are being
made with a view to increase the out-turn and to improve the quality
of the dye, while several factories are now devoting their attention to
other crops, and attempts are being made at Ottur in Muzaffarpur
District and elsewhere to revive the old sugar industry.
The Division contains 35 towns and 34,169 villages. The largest
towns are Patna (population, 134,785), Gava (71,288), Darbhanga
(66,244), Arrah (46,170), Chapra (45,901), Muzaffarpur (45,617),
Bihar (45,063), Dinapore (33,699 including the cantonment), Bettiah
(24,696), Sasaram (23,644), and HajIpur (21,398).. Owing to the
prevalence of plague at the time of the Census (March, 1901), these
figures do not in several cases represent the normal populations of the
towns ; a subsequent enumeration held in July showed the population
of Patna city to be 153,739. Patna is, after Calcutta and its suburb
Howrah, the largest town in Bengal, and is a very important commercial
centre ; a large amount of trafific also passes through Revelganj,
HajIpur, and Mokameh, while the workshops of the Bengal and North-
western Railway are at Samastipur.
The Division contains the oldest towns in the Province ; and Patna,
Gaya, and Bihar have a very ancient history. Patna was the Pataliputra
of Greek times and, like Gaya, contains many interesting antiquities.
54 PATNA DIVISION
This neighbourhood was at one time a stronghold of Buddhism ;
and many Buddhist remains occur in Patna, Gaya, Champaran, and
Muzaffarpur Districts, among the most important sites being Patna
city and Buddh Gava. Four pillars mark the route taken by Asoka
through Muzaffarpur and Champaran on his way to what is now
the Nepal tarai. Of these, the pillar near Lauriya Nandangarh
is still almost perfect; another. stands near Basarh, which is probably
the site of the capital of the old kingdom of Vaisali. Interesting
remains of the Muhammadan period are found in the town of Bihar,
in the city of Patna, and at Sasaram, Rohtasgarh, Shergarh, and
Maner. Buxar was the scene of the defeat in 1764 of Mir Kasim
in the battle which resulted in the civil authority of Bengal, Bihar, and
Orissa being conferred on the East India Company. Several places
in the Division are associated with incidents in the Mutiny of 1857.
After the outbreak of three regiments at Dinapore, Shahabad, from
which the native army was largely recruited, was for some time overrun
with the rebels, and the story of the defence of Arrah is well-known.
Gaya was traversed by several bands of mutineers, and on three occa-
sions the jail was broken open and the prisoners released. At Sagauli
in Champaran District Major Holmes was massacred by his troops.
Patna District. — District of the Patna Division, Bengal, lying
between 24° 57' and 25° 44' N. and 84° 42' and 86^4' E., with an
area of 2,075 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the river
Ganges, which divides it from Saran, Muzaffarpur, and Darbhanga ; on
the south by Gaya ; on the east by Monghyr ; and on the west by
Shahabad.
With the exception of the Rajgir hills in the south, the whole District
is quite flat. The land along the bank of the Ganges is slightly higher
than that farther inland, and the line of drainage
Phvsicsl
asoects consequently runs from south-west to north-east.
The Rajgir hills^ which enter the District from
Gaya, consist of two parallel ranges ; they seldom exceed 1,000 feet
in height, and are for the most part rocky and covered with low
jungle. The principal river is the Ganges, which flows for 93 miles
along the northern boundary. The Son forms the western boundary
of the District for 41 miles, entering it near Mahabalipur and flowing in
a northerly direction to its junction with the Ganges. A little above
the junction it is bridged by the East Indian Railway at Koelwar, from
which point the river divides into two streams with a fertile island in
the middle. The Pilnpun river, which rises in the south of Gaya
District, flows through Patna in a north-easterly direction. At Naubat-
pur it approaches the Patna Canal, and from that point it turns to
the east, and fiills into the Ganges at Fatwa. Some 9 miles above
this point it is joined by the Morhar. The Panchana and the Phalgu,
PATNA DISTRICT 55
though comparatively small streams, are of the greatest value for irriga-
tion purposes ; the whole of their water is diverted into artificial
channels and reservoirs, and their main channels are mere dried-up
beds for the greater part of the year. The Sakri is another river which
fails to reach the Ganges owing to the demands made upon it for irriga-
tion purposes, nearly all its water being carried away by two large
irrigation channels constructed on its left bank, 12 miles below Bihar
town.
The whole District is of alluvial origin except the Rajgir hills, which
consist of submetamorphic or transition rocks.
The District contains no forests. The level country near the Ganges
has in the rice-fields the usual weeds of such localities. Near villages
there are often considerable groves of mango-trees and palmyras
{Borassus Jiabellifef), some date-palms {Fhoe?iLv sylvestris), and nume-
rous examples of the tamarind and other semi-spontaneous and more
or less useful species. Farther from the river the country is more diver-
sified ; and sometimes a dry scrub jungle is to be met with, contain-
ing various shrubs of the order of Euphorbiaceae, the palds {Bitlea
frondosa) and other leguminous trees, and various kinds of Fiais,
Schleichera, Wetidlandia, and Ginelina. The grasses that clothe the
drier parts are generally of a coarse character.
Antelope are found near the Son river, and wild hog in the didras or
islands of the Ganges ; bears and leopards occasionally visit the Rajgir
hills, and wolves also are sometimes seen.
Owing to its distance from the sea, Patna has greater extremes of
climate than the south and east of Bengal. The mean temperature
varies from 60° in January to 88° in May. The highest average maxi-
mum is 101° in April. Owing to the dry westerly winds with increasing
temperature in March and April, the humidity at that season is
very low and averages 50 per cent. With the approach of the monsoon
the air gradually becomes more charged with moisture, and the
humidity remains steady at about 86 per cent, throughout July and
August, falling to 71 per cent, in November. The annual rainfall
averages 45 inches, of which 7 inches fall in June, 12-2 in July, 11-3 in
August, and 6-9 in September. Floods are common, but they ordinarily
do little damage and are seldom attended with loss of life. Heavy
floods occurred in 1843, 1861, 1870, and 1879; of late years the prin-
cipal floods were those of 1897 and 1901, when the Son and the
Ganges were in flood at the same time.
The District possesses great interest for both the historian and the
archaeologist. It was comprised, with the country now included in the
Districts of Gaya and Shahabad, within the ancient
kingdom of Magadha, whose capital was at Rajgir ;
and its general history is outlined in the articles on Magadha and
56 PATXA DISTRICT
Bihar, in which Afagadha was eventually merged. Its early history
is intimately interwoven with that of Patna City, which has been
identified with Pataliputra (the Palibothra of Megasthenes). It con-
tains the town of Bihar, the early Muhammadan capital, from which
the sub-province takes its name ; and it was a famous seat of Buddhism,
and many places in it were visited and described by the Chinese
pilgrims. Fa Hian and Hiuen Tsiang.
In recent times two events of special interest to Englishmen stand
prominently out and demand separate notice. The one is known as
the Massacre of I'atna (1763), and the other is connected with the
Mutiny of 1857. The former occurrence, which may be said to have
sealed the fate of Muhammadan rule in Bengal, was the result of a
quarrel between Mir Kasim, at that time Nawab, and the English
authorities. The Nawab, after much negotiation, had agreed to a con-
vention which was also accepted by Mr. Vansittart, the Governor, that
a transit duty of only g per cent, should be paid by Englishmen, which
was far below the rate exacted from other traders. This convention,
however, was repudiated by the Council at Calcutta ; and Mir Kasim,
in retaliation, resolved to abandon all duties whatever on the transit
of goods, and to throw the trade of the country open to all alike — a
measure still less acceptable to the Company's servants — and their
relations with the Nawab became more strained than ever. In April,
1763, a deputation, consisting of Messrs. Hay and Amyatt, was dis-
patched from Calcutta to Monghyr, where the Nawab had taken up his
residence ; but it was now too late for negotiation. Numerous and
fierce disputes had arisen between the gumdshtas (agents) of the English
and the Muhammadan officers ; and an occurrence which happened
at Monghyr, while Messrs. Hay and Amyatt were there, hastened the
rupture. Mir Kasim seized and detained some boat-loads of arms
which were passing up the Ganges to Patna, on the ground that the
arms were destined to be used against himself, whereupon Mr. Ellis,
the chief of the factory at Patna, ordered his sepoys to occupy Patna
city, which was done the following morning, June 25. In revenge
the Nawab sent a force in pursuit of Mr. Amyatt, who had been allowed
to return to Calcutta, Mr. Hay having been detained as a hostage.
Mr. Amyatt was overtaken and murdered near Cossimbazar. In the
meantime the Company's sepoys, who had been plundering Patna city,
were driven back to the factory, a large number of them being killed.
The remainder, less than a sixth of the original force of 2,000 men,
after being besieged for two days and nights, fled in their boats to the
frontier of Oudh, where they ultimately laid down their arms. They
were brought back to Patna, to which place had been conveyed
Mr. Hay from Monghyr, the entire staff of the Cossimbazar factory,
who had also been arrested at the first outbreak of hostilities, and
HISTORY 57
some other prisoners. As soon as regular warfare commenced, Mir
Kasim's successes came to an end. He was defeated in two battles
by Major Adams, at Giria on August 2, and at Udhua Nullah on
September 5. These defeats roused the Nawab to exasperation, and
on September 9 lie wrote to Major Adams : ' If you are resolved to pro-
ceed in this business, know for a certainty that I will cut off the heads
of Mr. Ellis and the rest of your chiefs, and send them to you.' This
threat he carried out on the evening of October 6 with the help of
a renegade named ^\'alter Reinhardt, who was known to the Muham-
madans as Sumru. About 60 Englishmen were murdered, their bodies
being thrown into a well in the compound of the house in which they
were confined, and aliout 150 more met their death in other parts of
Bengal. This massacre was followed by an active campaign in which
the Enghsh were everywhere successful ; and finally in August,
1765, after the decisive battle of Buxar, the administration of Bihar,
Bengal, and Orissa was made over to the East India Company. An
English Resident was appointed at Patna ; but the administration of
Bihar, which then comprised only Patna and Gaya Districts — Patna
city itself being regarded as a separate charge — remained in the hands
of natives. In 1769 English Supervisors were appointed, and in 1770
a Council for Bihar was established at Patna. In 1774 the Supervisors,
who had meanwhile been designated Collectors, and the Council for
Bihar were abolished, and a Provincial Council was established at
Patna. This lasted till 1781, when Bihar was made a District under a
Collector and a Judge-Magistrate. In 1865 it was divided into Patna
and Gaya Districts, the Bihar subdivision being included in the former,
and nineteen estates were transferred from Patna to Tirhut in 1869,
thus constituting the District as it now exists.
The other important event in the modern history of the District is
the mutiny of the sepoys stationed at Dinapore, the military station
attached to Patna city. The three sepoy regiments at this place in
1857 were the 7th, 8th, and 40th Native Infantry. General Lloyd, who
commanded the station, wrote expressing his confidence in their loyalty,
and they were accordingly not disarmed ; but as the excitement in-
creased throughout Bihar, and stronger measures seemed in the opinion
of the Commissioner, Mr. Tayler, to be necessary, the general, while
still apparently relying on the trustworthiness of the men, made a half-
hearted attempt at disarming the sepoys. The result was that the
three regiments revolted and went off in a body, taking with them
their arms and accoutrements, but not their uniforms. Some took to
the Ganges, where their boats were fired into and run down by a
steamer which was present, and their occupants shot or drowned. But
the majority were wiser, and hastened to the river Son, crossing which
they found themselves safe in Shahabad. The story of what took place
58 PATNA DISTRICT
in Shahabad will be found in the article on Arrah. When the
news reached Bankipore that the rebels, headed by Kunwar (or Kuar)
Singh, had surrounded the Europeans at Arrah, an ill-fated attempt
was made to rescue them. A steamer, which was sent up the river
on July 27, stuck on a sandbank. Another steamer was started on
the 29th ; but the expedition was grossly mismanaged. The troops
were landed at 7 p.m., and fell into an ambuscade about midnight.
When the morning dawned, a disastrous retreat had to be commenced.
Out of the 400 men who had left Dinapore fully half were left behind ;
and of the survivors only about 50 returned unwounded. Two volun-
teers, Mr. McDonell and Mr. Ross Mangles, both of the Civil Service,
besides doing excellent service on the march, performed acts of
conspicuous daring. The former, though wounded, was one of the
last men to enter the boats, and subsequently stepped out of shelter,
climbed on the roof of the boat, and released the rudder, which had been
lashed by the insurgents, amidst a storm of bullets from the contiguous
bank. Mr. Ross Mangles's conduct was equally heroic. He carried a
wounded man for 6 miles till he reached the stream, and then swam
with his helpless burden to a boat, in which he deposited him in safety.
Both these gentlemen afterwards received the Victoria Cross as a
reward for their heroism.
The chief places of archaeological interest are Rajgir, Maner,
Patna City, Bihar, and Giriak. The village of Baragaon has been
identified as the site of the famous Nalanda monastery, and with the
neighbouring village of Begampur contains masses of ruins : at
Tetrawan and Jagdispur are colossal statues of Buddha, and at Telhara
and Islampur the remains of Buddhist monasteries. Many other
Buddhist remains are of more or less interest.
The population increased from 1,559,517 in 1872 to 1,756,196 in
1881 and to 1,773,410 in 1891, but dropped to 1,624,985 in 1901.
_ , ^. The apparent increase between 1872 and 1881 was
Population. , , • , 1 r .• • • 1 r
largely owing to detective enumeration in the former
year, while the decrease recorded in 1901 is due mainly to the direct
and indirect results of plague, which first broke out in January, 1900,
and was raging in the District at the time when the Census was taken,
causing many people to leave their homes and greatly increasing the
difficulties in the way of the census staff. The loss of population was
greatest in the thickly populated urban and semi-urban country along
the banks of the Ganges, where the plague epidemic was most virulent.
The south of the District, which suffered least from plague, almost held
its ground. Plague has since become practically an annual visitation
and cau.ses heavy mortality. The principal statistics of the Census of
igor are shown in the table on the next page.
The chief towns are Patna Citv, Bihar, Dinapore, Mokameh, and
AGRICULTURE
5^
Barh. The head (luurlcis are at Bankipore, a suburb of Patna. The
density is highest along the Cianges and in the Bihar ihdna, and least
in the Bikram and Masaurhibazurg tJiaiuis in the south-west and in the
Rajgir hills. There is a considerable ebb and flow of population across
the boundary line which divides Patna from the adjoining Districts,
and, in addition to this, no less than one-twentieth of its inhabitants
have emigrated to more distant places. They are especially numerous
in Calcutta, where more than 30,000 natives of this District were
enumerated in 190 1 ; these were for the most part only temporary
absentees. The vernacular (jf the l^istrict is the Magahi dialect of
Bihari Hindi. Hindus number 1,435,637, or 88-3 per cent, of the
total population, and Musalmans 186,411, or ii'5 per cent.
Subdivision.
3
<
Number of
Population.
.2 -
Percentage of
variation in
population be-
tween i8gi
and 1901.
Number of
persons able to
read and
write.
0
>
Bankipore
Dinapore .
Barh
I'ihar
District total
334
424
526
791
2
2
2
I
975
791
I. -075
2,111
341,054
315,697
365,327
602,907
1,021
745
695
762
- >5-6
- 10.4
- 10-5
- 0.9
27,77s
21,155
22,509
32,833
2,075
7
4,952
1,624,985
783
- 8.4
104,275
The most numerous Hindu castes are Ahirs and Goalas (220,000),
Kurmis (181,000), Babhans (114,000), Dosadhs (96,000), Kahars
(85,000), Koiris (80,000), Rajputs (64,000), Chamars (56,000), and
Telis (52,000). Agriculture supports 62'3 per cent, of the population,
industries ry-i percent., commerce 1-2 per cent., and professions 2-4
per cent.
Christians number 2,562, of whom only 139 are natives. The
principal missions are the London Baptist Missionary Society, the
London Baptist Zanana Mission, the Zanana Bible and Medical
Mission, and the Roman Catholic Mission. The Zanana Bible and
Medical Mission possesses a well-equipped hospital in Patna city ; the
Roman Catholic Mission has a boys' school at Kurjl, and a girls'
boarding-school and European and native orphanages at Bankipore ;
while each of the other missions, in addition to evangelistic work,
maintains some schools.
The agricultural conditions are fairly uniform throughout ; but the
Bihar subdivision is for the most part lower than the rest of the District
and is better adapted for the cultivation of rice, . . ,.
_ . ,. Agriculture.
while the Barh subdivision is more suited to rabi
crops. The most naturally productive soil is the didra land along the
bank of the Ganges ; but the most valuable of all is the fertile high
VOL. XX. K
6o
PATNA DISTRICT
land in the vicinity of villages, where well-irrigation can be practised,
and vegetables, poppy, and other profitable crops are grown.
The chief agricultural statistics for 1903-4 are shown below, areas
being in square miles : —
Subdivision.
Total. Cultivated.
Irrigated
from canals.
Cultivable
waste.
Bankipore .
ninapore .
Barh.
Bihar
Total
334
434
526
791
246
311
.3*8
584
10
60
1 2
18
^7
2,075
1,5^9
70
''
It is estimated that lo per cent, of the cultivated area is twice
cropped. Rice is the staple food-crop, covering 338 square miles.
It is sown in June and reaped in December; in low-lying marsh lands
sowing may commence as early as April. The greater portion of it is
transplanted, but on inferior lands it is sown broadcast. Of other
food-crops, wheat (202 square miles), barley (127 square mWe.?,), jowdr
(20 square miles), inarud (97 square miles), maize (189 square miles),
gram (149 square miles) and other pulses (175 square miles) are widely
grown. Maize forms the principal food of the lower classes, except in
the Bihar subdivision, where mama takes its place. Maize and rahar
are frequently sown together, the maize being harvested in September
and the rahar in March. Oilseeds are grown on 74 square miles,
while of special crops the most important is poppy (27 square miles).
The poppy cultivated is exclusively the white variety {Papaver somni-
feruvi), and the crop, which requires great attention, has to be grown
on land which can be highly manured and easily irrigated. Potatoes
are also grown extensively and arre exported in large quantities, the
Patna potato having acquired more than a local reputation. Little use
has been made of the provisions of the Land Improvement and
Agriculturists' Loans Acts ; Rs. 2,800 was advanced under the former
Act during tlie scarcity of 1897.
In addition to the common country cattle, two varieties are bred :
one a cross between the Hansi and the local stocks, and the other with
a strong English strain known as the Bankipore breed. The former
class are large massive animals, and the bullocks do well for carts
or ploughs, though the cows are not very good milkers. The Bankipore
breed is the residue of an English stock imported some fifty )'ears ago.
The cows are excellent milkers, but the bullocks are not heavy or
strong enough for draught purposes. The breed has fallen off greatly
of late years through in-breeding and the want of new blood, but the
District board has recently imported two Jersey bulls from Australia.
Bullocks from Tirhut arc largely used for ploughing. Pasture grounds
TRADE AND COMMUNICATIONS 6i
are very scarce, and the cattle are usually fed with chopped straw or
maize stalks witli bhusa (chaff) and i)ulsc, or with linseed cake when
available. Persons wishing to buy horses or cattle usually go to the
Sonpur fair in Saran or the Barahpur fair in Shahabad, a fair at Bihta
with an attendance of 5,000 being the only cattle fair held in Patna
District. Of other fairs, that held at Rajgir is by far the most
important.
The whole District depends largely on irrigation. In the head-
quarters and Dinapore subdivisions the Patna Canal, a branch of the
Son Canals system, irrigates an area of 70 square miles, and supplies
most of the needs of the people. The length of the main canal (in this
District) is 42^ miles, that of the parallel channels 24 miles, and that
of the distributaries 161 miles. In the Bihar subdivision an extensive
system of private irrigation works fed from the local rivers is maintained
by the zamlndars. Each zaminddr has vested rights in a certain
quantity of river water, which he carefully stores by means of embank-
ments and distributes through reservoirs and channels to his ryots.
It is estimated that the area thus irrigated in this subdivision is about
437 square miles, out of a total cultivated area of 584 square miles.
The system works admirably as long as the rivers which feed the
irrigation works bring down their normal quantity of water; but a
serious drought, both locally and in the hills of Chota Nagpur w^here
these rivers rise, means an almost complete failure of crops. The
absence of a proper system of managing the head of supply has caused
many old streams to silt up and rendered useless some of the
distributing channels. Well-irrigation is universally used for vegetable
and poppy cultivation, and occasionally for irrigating the rati crops ;
one well will irrigate about 2 acres of land. Irrigation from tanks is
seldom practised.
Carpets, brocades, embroidery, pottery, brass-work, toys, fireworks,
lac ornaments, gold and silver wire and leaf, glass-ware, boots and
shoes, and cabinets are made in Patna city ; carpets
in Sultanganj, Pirbahor, and Chauk ; and embroidery communiStions.
and brocade work in the Chauk and Khwaja Kalan
thdnas. Durable furniture and cabinets are made at Dinapore. The
manufactures of the Barh subdivision are jessamine oil {chameli), coarse
cloth, and brass and bell-metal utensils ; and of the Bihar subdivision
soap, silk fabrics, tubes for hiikkas, muslin, cotton cloth, and brass and
iron-ware. Apart from hand industries, certain articles, such as stools
and tables, are made in the workshops of the Bihar School of Engineer-
ing, and chests for packing opium in the saw-mills of the Patna Opium
Eactory. Opium is manufactured by Government at a factory in Patna
city. Some iron foundries are at work in Bankipore and Dinapore,
and an ice and aerated waters factory has been started at Bankipore.
£ 2
62 PATNA DISTRICT
The principal imports are rice, paddy, salt, coal, kerosene oil,
European cotton piece-goods, and gunny bags ; and the princi})al
exports are wheat, linseed, pulses, mustard seed, hides, sugar, tobacco,
and opium. A large amount of trade is carried by the railway, but the
bulk of it is still transported by river. Patna city, with its 7 or 8 miles
of river frontage in the rains and 4 miles in the dry season, is the great
centre for all the river-borne trade. It is by far the largest mart in the
District, and its commanding position for both rail and river tralific
makes it one of the i)rincipal commercial centres of Bengal. Goods
received by rail are there transferred to country boats, bullock-carts, &c.,
to be distributed throughout the neighbourhood, which in return sends
its produce to be railed to Calcutta and elsewhere. The river trade
is carried by country boats and river steamers between Patna and
Calcutta and other places on the Ganges and Nadia Rivers, and by
country boats between Patna and Nepal. Trade has declined very
greatly of late years, largely owing to the reduced freight charged by the
railways on goods booked direct to Calcutta. Other important markets
are Dinapore, Bihar, Barh, Mokameh, Islampur, Fatwa, and
HiLSA. The principal trading castes are Telis, Baniyas, and Agarwals.
The transport by river is mostly in the hands of Musalmans, Tiyars,
and Mallahs, while the road tratific is almost monopolized by Goalas
and Kurmis.
The main line of the East Indian Railway runs through the north of
the District for 84 miles from east to west, entering at Dumra station
and leaving at the Son bridge. The chief stations are at Mokameh,
Barh, Bakhtiyarpur, Patna, Bankipore, and Dinapore. From Bankipore
one branch line runs to Gaya, and another to Gigha Ghat in connexion
with the Bengal and North-Western Railway ferry-steamer which
crosses the Ganges to the terminus of that railway at Sonpur. A third
branch line from Mokameh to Mokameh Ghat establishes another
connexion with the Bengal and North-Western Railway. A light
railway (18 miles in length) connects Bakhtiyarpur and Bihar. Ex-
clusive of 673 miles of village tracks, the District contains 614 miles
of road. Of these 132 miles are metalled; 10 miles are maintained
from Provincial and 17 from municipal funds, and the remainder by
the District board. The chief road crosses the north of the District
through Barh, Patna city, Bankipore, and Dinapore, leading from
Monghyr on the east to Arrah on the west. Other important roads
are those from Bankipore to Palamau, from Bankipore to Gaya, from
Fatwa to Gaya, and from ]3akhtiyarpur through Bihar to Hazaribagh.
The Ganges and the Son are the only rivers navigable throughout
the year. The former is navigable by steamers, and daily services
run between Digha and Goalundo, Digha and Buxar, and Digha
and Barhaj, with an extended run every fourth day to Ajodhya
AD MINTS TRA TIOX 63
on the Gogra. Paddle steamers ply from Digha to Goalundo, but
above Digha there are shallows and only stern-wheelers can be used.
The passenger traffic consists principally of labourers going to Eastern
Bengal in search of work, while the goods traffic is mostly in grain,
sugar and its products, and piece-goods. The Patna Canal is navi-
gable, and a large number of bamboos are brought down by it to
Patna. A bi weekly service runs on it between Khagaul (Dinapore
railway station) and Mahabalipur in the head-quarters subdivision via
Bikrani. Several ferries cross the Ganges, the most important being
those from Bankipore and Patna.
The District is not ordinarily liable to famine, and even in 1896-7
only local scarcity in the Barh and Bihar subdivisions was felt. Test
works were opened, but were closed almost at once. The total amount
spent on relief was only Rs. 31,000.
The District is divided into five subdivisions: Bankipore, Bihar,
Barh, Patna City, and Dinapore, The staff subordinate to the
District Magistrate-Collector at head-quarters con- . .
r T-.TkT-.. A-.luT-. Administration.
sists of a Jomt-Magistrate, an Assistant Magistrate,
and seven Deputy-Magistrate-Collectors. The other subdivisions are
each in charge of a European officer — in the case of Bihar a Deputy-
Magistrate-Collector, and in the case of Barh, Patna city, and Dinapore
a member of the Indian Civil Service. The subdivisional officers
of Barh and Bihar are each assisted by a Sub-Deputy-Magistrate-
Collector.
The civil courts for the disposal of judicial work are those of the
District Judge, who is also the Sessions Judge, three Sub-Judges
and three Munsifs at Patna and one Munsif at Bihar, while the
Cantonment Magistrate at Dinapore is vested with the powers of
a Small Cause Court Judge. Criminal courts include those of the
Sessions Judge, District Magistrate, and the above-mentioned Joint,
Assistant, and Deputy-Magistrates. The majority of the cases which
come before the courts are of a petty nature. Both burglary and
robbery are, however, more common than in the other Districts of the
Division. Riots are also numerous ; they are generally connected
with land disputes or arise out of cattle trespass or questions of
irrigation.
Under the Muhammadans the District formed part of Subah Bihar.
After it passed under British rule the principal feature of its land
revenue history has been the remarkable extent to which the sub-
division of estates has gone on. In 1790 there were 1,230 separate
estates on the roll held by 1,280 registered proprietors and copar-
ceners, the total land revenue in that year amounting to 4-33 lakhs.
In 1865 the Bihar subdivision with 796 estates was added to the
District, and four years later 19 estates were transferred tVom i-'atna
64 PATNA DISTRICT
to Tirhut. This brouglit the District practically to its present dimen-
sions. In 1 870-1 the number of estates was 6,075, while the number
of registered proprietors had increased to 37,500 and the revenue
to 15-08 lakhs. In 1903-4 the number of estates had still farther
increased to 12,923 and of proprietors to 107,381, while the current
land revenue demand was 14-97 lakhs. This subdivision of estates
has added greatly to the difficulty of collecting the revenue and of
keeping the accounts connected therewith. The average area held
by each ryot, as shown in the latest settlement papers of certain
Government estates, varies considerably in different parts of the Dis-
trict, ranging from 1-47 acres in the Bihar to 4-76 acres in the Barh
subdivision for ordinary holdings, and from 7-30 acres in Dinapore
to 13-04 acres in the head-quarters subdivision for the didras or river
islands. The rents of homestead land are between Rs. 6 and Rs. 24
per acre. The average rate for clayey soils is about Rs. 5, while
land in which sand predominates lets for about half that amount.
The best didra lands fetch as much as Rs. 30 per acre, and the
worst, where the soil consists chiefly of sand, as little as 12 annas.
The rent of this class of land is higher than it would otherwise be,
owing to the fact that in many cases the tenant has no occupancy
right. About two-thirds of the Bihar subdivision is held under the
bhaoli or produce-rent system. Three forms of this system prevail :
namely, ddndbandi, where the value of the produce is estimated and
the equivalent of the landlord's share paid in cash or rice ; batai,
where the actual produce is divided ; and a fixed payment of rice
and ddl. The last is comparatively rare. In the case of ddndbandi
and batai the shares are supposed to be equal, but actually the
landlord gets more than half. A common proportion is known as
'nine-seven,' i.e. out of every 16 seers the landlord takes nine and
the tenant seven. The ryot always gets the straw and other by-
products.
The following table shows the collections of land revenue and of
total revenue (principal heads only) in thousands of rupees : —
1 880- 1.
i8go-i.
1 000 -I. 1903-4.
Land revenue .
Total revenue .
14,76
28,03
I4,yi 15,07
31,85 32,68
Outside the municipalities of Patna, Barh, Bihar, and Dixaporf,
local affairs are managed by the District board, with subordinate local
boards in each subdivision. The District board has guaranteed
4 per cent, interest on the capital (8 lakhs) of the Bakhtiyarpur-
Bihar light railway, but it is entitled to receive half of any profits
in excess of that amount. In 1903-4 its income was Rs. 2,86,000,
PATNA CITY 65
of which Rs. 2,09,000 was derived from rates ; and the expenditure
was Rs. 2,47,000, inckiding Rs. 1,46,000 spent on pubh'c works and
Rs. 44,000 on education.
The District contains 28 police stations and 31 outposts. The
force subordinate to the District Superintendent consisted in 1903
of 6 inspectors, 49 sub-inspectors, 88 head constables, and 1,195
constables; there was also a rural police force of 176 dafaddrs and
3,240 chmikiddrs. The District jail at Bankipore has accommodation
for 453 prisoners, and subsidiary jails at Barh and Bihar for 28 and
25 respectively.
Of the population 6-4 per cent. (12-3 males and o-6 females) could
read and write in 1901. The total number of pupils under instruction
increased from about 27,000 in 1883-4 to 43,941 in 1 890-1 ; it fell to
38,162 in 1900-1, but rose again in 1903-4, when 41,533 boys and
1,689 girls were at school being respectively 34-4 and 1-3 per cent,
of the children of school-going age. The number of educational
institutions, public and private, in that year was 1,829, including
two Arts colleges, 25 secondary, 1,255 primary, and 547 special
schools. The expenditure on education was 3-51 lakhs, of which
1-45 lakhs was met from Provincial funds, Rs. 44,000 from District
funds, Rs. 7,000 from municipal funds, and i-i6 lakhs from fees.
The chief educational institutions are the Patna College, the Patna
Medical College, and the Bihar School of Engineering at Patna, the
Bihar National College and the female high school at Bankipore, and
St. Michael's College for Europeans and Eurasians at Kurjl, situated
half-way between Bankipore and Dinapore. There is a fine public
library at Bankipore.
In 1903 the District contained altogether 15 dispensaries, of which
5 had accommodation for 163 in-patients. The cases of 142,000 out-
patients and 2,500 in-patients were treated, and 12,000 operations
were performed. The expenditure was Rs. 39,000, of which Rs, 3,000
was met from Government contributions, Rs. 19,000 from Local and
Rs. 14,000 from municipal funds, and Rs. 3,000 from subscriptions,
A lunatic asylum at Patna has accommodation for 206 males and
56 females.
Vaccination is compulsory only in municipal areas. During 1903-4
the number of persons successfully vaccinated was 35,000, or 21-7 per
1,000 of the population.
[M. Martin, Eastern India (1838); J. R. Hand, Early English
Administration of Bihar (Calcutta, 1894); and Sir \\'. W. Hunter,
Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. xi (1877).]
Patna City (or Azimabad). — Chief city of Patna District, Bengal,
situated in 25° 37' N. and 85° 10' E., on the right bank of the (ianges
a few miles below its junction with the Son. Included within the
66 PATNA V/TY
municipal limits is Bankipore, the administrative head-quarters of
Patna District and Patna Division. The city is situated on the East
Indian Railway 332 miles from Calcutta ; and though its prosperity
has somewhat diminished of late years, it still possesses an important
trade, its commanding position for both rail and river traffic making
it one of the principal commercial centres of Bengal, and, after
Calcutta, the largest town in the Province. Buchanan-Hamilton
estimated the population at 312,000; but his calculation referred to
an area of 20 square miles, whereas the city, as now defined, extends
over only g square miles. The population returned in 1872 was
158,900 ; but the accuracy of the enumeration was doubted, and
it was thought that the real number of inhabitants was considerably
greater. It is thus probable that the growth indicated by the Census
of 1881, which showed a population of 170,654, was fictitious. There
was a falling off of 5,462 persons between 1881 and 1891, while the
Census of 1901 gave a population of only 134,785, which represents
a further decrease of more than 18 per cent. This was due mainly
to the plague, which was raging at the time of the Census and not
only killed a great number but drove many more away. A second
enumeration taken five months later disclosed a population of 153,739.
The decrease on the figures of 1891, which still amounted to 7 per
cent., may be ascribed, in addition to the actual loss by deaths from
plague, to a declining prosperity due to the gradual decay of the
river-borne trade. The population at the regular Census of 1901
included 99,381 Hindus, 34,622 Musalmans, and 683 Christians.
Patna has a very ancient history. It is to be identified with the
Pataliputra of ancient India, the Palibothra of the Greeks, and the
Kusumapura of the early Gupta emperors. Megasthenes describes
the city as situated on the south bank of the Ganges at the con-
fluence of another large river, Eramiohoas (the Greek form of Hirajiya-
Vdhu) or Son, which formerly joined the Ganges immediately below
the modern city of Patna. The tradition of this junction still lingers
among the villagers to the south-west of Patna, where there is an old
channel called the Mara (' dead ') Son.
Regarding the origin of the city various legends exist. The most
popular ascribes it to a prince Putraka, who created it with a stroke
of his magic staff and named it in honour of his wife the princess
Patali. This story is found in the Kathd Sarit Sdgar and in Hiuen
Tsiang's travels. Diodorus attributes the foundation of Palibothra
to Herakles, by whom perhaps he may mean Balaram, the brother
of Krishna. According to the Vayu Purana and the Sutapitaka, the
city of Kusumapura or Pataliputra was founded by the Sisunaga
king Udaya, who ruled in Magadha towards the end of the fifth
century e.g.; but the Buddhist accounts place its origin in the reign
PATNA CITY 67
of Udaya's grandfather, Ajatasatru. When Buddha crossed the Ganges
on his last journey from Rajagriha to Vaisali, the two ministers of
Ajatasatru, king of iMagadha, were engaged in building a fort at the
village of Patali as a check upon the ravages of the people of VrTji,
and he predicted that the fort would become a great city. The
Nandas who overthrew the Sisunagas removed the capital of Magadha
to Pataliputra from Rajagriha, the modern Rajgir, in the south-east
of Patna District. Under Chandragupta, the Greek Sandrokottos,
who established the Maurya dynasty in 321 B.C., Pataliputra became
the capital of Northern India. It was during the reign of this king
that in 305 B.C., or a little later, Megasthenes, whose account of
it has been preserved by Arrian, visited the city. He says that
Palibothra, which he describes as the capital city of India, is distant
from the Indus 10,000 stadia, i.e. 1,149 miles, or only 6 miles in
excess of the actual distance. He adds that the length of the city
was 80, and the breadth 15 stadia ; that it was surrounded by
a ditch 30 cubits deep; and that the walls were adorned with 570
towers and 64 gates. According to this account, the circumference
of the city would be 190 stadia or 24 miles. Strabo, Pliny, and
Arrian call the people Prasii, which has been variously interpreted
as 'eastern' {prachya) people, or the men of Parasa, a name applied
to Magadha, derived from the palas-Xxee, {Biitea f?-ondosa).
Asoka ascended the throne in 272 B.C., and was crowned at Patali-
putra in 269 B.C. During his reign of forty years he is said to have
changed the outward appearance of Pataliputra. He replaced or sup-
plemented the wooden walls by masonry ramparts, and filled his capital
with palaces, monasteries, and monuments, the sites of which have not,
as was once thought, been washed away by the river, but still remain to
be properly excavated and identified by archaeologists. Dr. Waddell
has already shown that Bhiknapahari, an artificial hill of brick debris
over 40 feet high and about a mile in circuit, now crowned by the
residence of one of the Nawabs of Patna, is identical with the hermitage
hill built by Asoka for his brother Mahendra ; a representation of the
original is still kept at the north-east base of the hill, and is worshipped
as the Bhikna Kunwar. The site of Asoka's new palace Dr. Waddell
places at Sandalpur. South of this, near the railway in Buland Bagh,
is a curious big flat stone, to which the marvellous story still clings
that it cannot be taken away but always returns to its place. This, in
Dr. Waddell's opinion, is the actual stone bearing the footprint of
Buddha which was- seen and described by the Chinese pilgrims. Fa Hian
and Hiuen Tsiang. Fragments of a polished column, the outline of
monastic cells, carved stones, and other remains point to Kumrahar as
the site of the old palace. In the adjacent hamlet of Nayatala is a
sculptured pillar in highly polished hard sandstone of a pair of Matris,
68 PATA^A CITY
or 'divine mothers,' in the archaic style seen in the Bharhut sculptures.
In the land to the south, which is still called Asobhuk or ' Asoka's plot,'
are situated brick ruins known as Chotapahari and Barapahari (pro-
bably the hermitage hill of Upa Gupta who converted Asoka), while in
the Panchpahari Dr. Waddell recognizes the five relic stupas of excep-
tional grandeur which Asoka is said to have built. According to tradi-
tion, the third Buddhist council at Pataliputra was held in the seven-
teenth year of Asoka's reign. With the death of that monarch in
231 B.C. the city disappears from history for 530 years, during which
period the first empire of Northern India was destroyed by the
Scythians and Andhras. But in a.d. 319 the city, now under the
name of Kusumapura, witnessed the birth of a second empire, that of
the Gupta kings. Chandra Gupta I married a Lichchavi princess of
Pataliputra. The date of his coronation, March 8, a.d. 319, marks the
beginning of a new era in Indian history. Though Kusumapura is un-
doubtedly identical with Pataliputra or Patna, yet of this second line of
emperors not a single trace remains except a broken pillar which stands
among some Muhammadan graves near the dargah. Samudra Gupta,
the son and successor of Chandra Gupta I, greatly enlarged the empire
and removed the capital from Pataliputra or Kusumapura westwards,
but Pataliputra was still a sacred place for the Buddhists. About 406,
during the reign of Chandra Gupta II, Fa Hian, after visiting Upper
India, arrived at Pataliputra, of which he gives a short description,
and resided there for three years while learning to read the Sanskrit
books and to converse in that language.
The next description of Patna is supplied by Hiuen Tsiang, who
entered the city after his return from Nepal, in 637, more than a
hundred years after the fall of the Gupta empire. At that time
Magadha was subject to Harshavardhana, the great king of Kanauj.
Hiuen Tsiang informs us that the old city, called originally Kusuma-
pura, had been deserted for a long time and was in ruins. He gives
the circumference at 70 //, or \\\ miles, exclusive of the new town of
Pataliputra.
Little is known of the mediaeval history of I'atna. In the early years
of Muhammadan rule the governor of the province resided at the city
of Bihar. During Sher Shah's revolt Patna became an independent
capital, but it was reduced to subjection by Akl)ar. Aurangzeb made
his grandson Azlm governor, and the city thus acquired the name of
AzTmabad, which is still in use among Muhammadans. The two im-
portant events in the modern history of Patna city— the massacre of
1763, and the mutiny of the troops at Dinapore cantonments in
1857 — have been described in the account of Patna District. The
old walled city of Patna extended about i^ miles from east to west
and three-quarters of a mile from north to south. It is to this day very
PATNA CITY 69
closely built, mainly with mud houses, hut the fortifications which
surrounded the city have long since disappeared.
The city was constituted a municipality in 1864. The municipal
limits include the suburb of Bankipore on the west. The income
during the decade ending 1901-2 averaged 2'i8 lakhs, and the
expenditure 1-91 lakhs. In 1903-4 the income was 1-93 lakhs, in-
cluding Rs. 83,000 from a tax on houses and lands, Rs. 21,000 from
a conservancy rate, Rs. 16,000 from tolls, Rs. 13,000 from a tax on
vehicles, and Rs. 35,000 as grants. The incidence of taxation was
R. 0-14-5 P^^ head of population. In the same year the expendi-
ture amounted to \'i<\ lakhs, the chief items being Rs. 5,000 spent on
lighting, Rs. 10,000 on drainage, Rs. 48,000 on conservancy, Rs. 20,000
on medical relief, Rs. 7,000 on a new hospital building, Rs. 31,000 on
roads, and Rs. 6,000 on education. A drainage scheme was carried
out between 1893 and 1895 at a cost of 2-68 lakhs, but was defective
owing to its being unaccompanied by any flushing scheme. Two
complementary schemes were carried out in 1894 and 1900, by
which 4^ square miles of the total area are now flushed.
For administrative purposes the city, excluding Bankipore but in-
cluding a few outlying villages known as the rural area of the City
subdivision, has been constituted a subdivision under a City Magis-
trate, who holds his court at Gulzarbagh in the heart of the city. The
courts and jail are situated at Bankipork. Patna is the head-quarters
of the Commissioner and Additional Commissioner, the Bihar Opium
Agent, a Deputy-Inspector-General of police, a Deputy-Sanitary Com-
missioner, and the Executive Engineer of the Eastern Son division.
The Patna College is a fine brick building at the west end of the city.
Originally built by a native as a private residence, it was purchased by
Government and converted into law courts. In 1857 the courts were
removed to the present buildings at Bankipore; and in 1862 the
college was established here. It possesses a chemical laboratory,
and a law department and collegiate school are also attached to it.
Close by is the Medical College, in front of which a new hospital has
been erected. In this neighbourhood also stands the Oriental Library,
founded by Maulvi Khuda Bakhsh Khan Bahadur, C.I.E., the present
librarian, who has collected a number of valuable Persian and Arabic
manuscripts. This library is subsidized by the Bengal Government, by
the Nizam of Hyderabad, and by private subscriptions. Farther east
at Afzalpur, on the ground formerly occupied by the Dutch factory,
have been erected some fine buildings for the Bihar School of Engineer-
ing, which was opened in August, 1900, out of funds originally col-
lected to commemorate the visit of the Prince of Wales to Patna in
1876. It has a good workshop for practical work, and the course of
studies is the same as that of the apprentice department of the Civil
70 FATNA CITY
Engineering College at Sibpur. About 3 miles farther east, in the
quarter called Gulzarbagh, the Government manufacture of opium is
carried on. Patna is one of the two places in British India where
opium is manufactured by Government. The opium is made up into
cakes, weighing about 3^ lb. and containing about 3 lb. of standard
opium. These are packed in chests (40 in each) and sent to Calcutta,
whence most of them are exported to China. The opium buildings are
on the old river bank, and are separated from the city by a high brick
wall. Beyond Gulzarbagh lies the city proper. The western gate is,
according to its inscription, 5 miles from the gold at Bankipore and
12 miles from Dinapore. In the southern quarter called Sadikpur, a
market has been laid out on the ground formerly occupied by the
Wahhabi rebels. Nearly opposite to the Roman Catholic Church is
the grave where the bodies of Mir Kasim's victims were ultimately
deposited. It is covered by a pillar, built partly of stone and partly of
brick, with an inlaid tablet and inscription. The chief Muhammadan
place of worship is the monument of Shah Arzani, who died here in
1623, and whose shrine is frequented by both Muhammadans and
Hindus. An annual fair is held on the spot in the month of Zikad,
lasting for three days and attracting about 5,000 votaries. Adjacent
to the tomb is the Karbala, where 100,000 people attend during the
Muharram festival. Close by is a tank dug by the saint, where once
a year crowds of people assemble, and many of them bathe. The
mosque of Sher Shah is probably the oldest building in Patna and
the madrasa of Saif Khan the handsomest.
[L. A. Waddell, Pataliptiira (Calcutta, 1892), and Report on iJte
Excavations at Pdtaliputra (Calcutta, 1903).]
Patna State. — Feudatory State of Bengal, lying between 20° 9' and
21° 4' N. and 82° 41' and 83° 40' E., with an area of 2,399 square
miles. Up to 1905 the State was included in the Central Provinces.
It lies in the valley of the Mahanadi, bounded on the north by
Sambalpur, on the west by Raipur District, on the south by the
Kalahandi State, and on the east by the Baud State. The head-quar-
ters are at Bolangir, a village with 3,706 inhabitants (1901), 75 miles
from Sambalpur by road. The State consists of an undulating plain,
broken by numerous isolated peaks or small ranges, while a more
continuous chain of hills runs along the north-western border. The
northern and southern portions are open and well cultivated, and are
divided by a belt of hilly country covered with dense forest which
traverses the centre. The Tel river divides Patna from Kalahandi on
the south, and the Ong from Sambalpur and Sonpur on the north.
The Suktel and Barabhailat traverse the centre of the State.
The Maharajas of Patna formerly dominated a large extent of
territory to the east of the Ratanpur kingdom, and were the head
PATXA STATE 71
of a cluster of States known as Ihc Athara Garhjat or 'eighteen forts.'
The present rulers are Chauhan Rajputs, and claim for their family an
antiquity of 600 years in Patna, with a pedigree of twenty-eight genera-
tions. According to their traditions, their ancestor was a Rajput
prince who lived near Mainpuri and was expelled from his territories
by the Muhanmiadans. He came with his family to Patna, where he
was killed in battle ; but his wife, who was pregnant, was sheltered by
a Binjhal, in whose hut she brought forth a son. At this time Patna
was divided among eight chiefs called the Ath Malik, who took it in
turn to reign for one day each over the whole territory. The Rajput
boy Ramai Deo, on growing up, killed all the chiefs and constituted
himself sole ruler. In succeeding reigns the family extended their in-
fluence over surrounding territories, including the greater part of what
is now Sambali)ur District and the adjoining States, the chiefs of this
area being made tributary. Chandarpur was conquered from the rulers
of Ratanpur. The twelfth Raja, Narsingh Deo, ceded to his brother
Balram Deo such portions of his territories as lay north of the river
Ong. The latter founded a new State (Sambalpur), which very soon
afterwards by acquisition of territory in every direction became the
most powerful of all the Garhjat cluster, while from the same time the
importance of Patna commenced to decline. In the eighteenth century^
when the Marathas conquered Sambalpur, Patna had become a depen-
dency of that State, and was also made tributary ; and its subsequent
history is that of Sambalpur. It was made a Feudatory State in 1865.
In 1869 the tyranny of Maharaja Sur Pratap Deo and of his brother
Lai Bishnath Singh caused a rising among the Khonds of Patna.
They were speedily reduced, but not until Lai Bishnath Singh and his
followers had committed many atrocities in cold blood. An inquiry
into the causes of the outbreak led to the deposition of the chief, and
the assumption of the management of the State by the British Govern-
ment in 187 1. The Maharaja died in 1878, and was succeeded by
his nephew Ramchandra Singh, who was born in 1872 and educated
at the Rajkumar College, then located at Jubbulpore. He was in-
stalled in 1894, but had already then begun to show some signs of
derangement of intellect, and in 1895 he shot his wife and himself in
the palace, both dying instantaneously. As he left no male issue, his
uncle Lai Dalganjan Singh was recognized as chief, on his undertaking
that he would conduct his administration with the assistance of a Diwan
ap[)ointed by Government. In 1900, in consequence of the unsatis-
factory condition of the State and an outbreak of organized dacoity,
the chief was called on to invest his Diwan with large judicial powers
and control over the police. A Political Agent in subordination to
the Commissioner of Orissa, as Superintendent of the Tributary Mahals,
controls the relations of the State with the Bengal Government.
72 PATNA STATE
The population in 1901 was 277,748, having decreased by 16 per cent,
during the preceding decade. The decrease is mainly to be attributed
to the famine which visited the State in 1900. The number of in-
habited villages is 1,850, and the density of population 116 persons
per square mile. Nearly the whole population are Oriyas, and speak
Oriya. Gahras or Ahirs, Gandas, Khonds, Gonds, and Savaras are
the most numerous castes.
The soil is generally light and sandy, but some black soil is found
in the north. About a third of the whole State is comprised in
zamhiddri or other estates held on special tenures, of which no survey
or measurement has been made. Of the remaining portion, 426 square
miles were cultivated in 1904. The staple crops are rice, covering
243 square miles, /// 86, pulses 41, and cotton 11. The surveyed area
contains 1,139 wells and 1,581 tanks, from which 48 square miles can
be irrigated. The exact area under forest is not known, but it has
been estimated at 1,400 square miles. The principal timber tree is
sal {Shorea robicsta), with which are associated sdj {Terminalia ioiiien-
iosa), bljdsdl {Fierocarpus Marsupium)^ and other common species.
There is a very little teak in the extreme south. Owing to the distance
of the State from a railway, the exports of forest produce are not
important. The sale of the hides of animals forms, however, a not
inconsiderable item of revenue. Iron ore is found, and is smelted by
indigenous methods and made up into agricultural implements. The
State contains 45 miles of gravelled and 58 of embanked roads.
The principal routes are those leading from Sambalpur by Bargarh
to Bolangir and on to Bhawani Patna, the Bolangir-Sonpur road, and
the road leading from Raipur to Vizianagram, which passes for
13 miles through Patna. Exports of produce are sent principally to
Sambalpur.
The total revenue in 1904 was Rs. 2,00,000, of which Rs. 77,000
was derived from land, Rs. 25,000 from forests, and Rs. 20,000 from
excise. The land revenue is obtained by settlement with the headmen
of villages, who are allowed a percentage of the 'assets.' In the area
called the Kondhan, inhabited by the forest Khonds, the revenue is
paid through the tribal chiefs, who receive remuneration in cash. The
three tracts of Angar, Soranda, and Patnagarh are regularly surveyed
and assessed on the ' soil-unit ' system of the Central Provinces, and the
remaining area is summarily assessed. The total expenditure in 1904
was Rs. 1,70,000: the principal heads being the tribute, Rs. 8,500;
expenses of the ruling family, Rs. 39,000 ; general administration,
Rs. 14,000 ; police, Rs. 22,000 ; and public works, Rs. 33,000. The
tribute is liable to revision. The public works of the State were
managed by the Chhattisgarh States division from 1893 to 1904, and
during this time Rs. 2,33,000 was expended. Besides the roads already
PATTAN MUNARA 73
mentioned, a palace for the Maharaja, a courthouse, and a dispensary
have been constructed, in addition to minor works. The educational
institutions comprise one English and one vernacular middle school,
a girls' school, and 37 primary schools with a total of 3,8x9 pupils,
including 672 girls. The expenditure on education in 1904 was
Rs. 9,200. At the Census of 1901 only 5,142 persons were returned
as literate, 1-9 per cent. (3-6 males and o-i females) being able to read
and write. A dispensary has been estabhshed at Bolangir, at which
25,000 patients were treated in 1904.
Patoda. —'Crown' tdltik in the south-west of Bhir District, Hyder-
abad State, with an area of 353 square miles. The population in 1901,
including yVf^m, was 30,022, compared with 42,085 in 1891, the de-
crease being the result of the famines of 1897 and 1899-1900. The
taluk contains 74 villages, of which 3 'dxejd^r, and Patoda (population,
3,179) is the head-quarters. The land revenue in 1901 was i-i lakhs.
The Manjra river rises in the hills west of Patoda. The taluk is
situated on a fertile plateau, and is hilly toward the north and west.
Patri {Fdtdi). — Town in the Viramgam tdluka of Ahmadabad
District, Bombay, situated in 23° 11' N. and 71*" 53' E., on the
Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway, 58 miles west of Ahmad-
abad city, on a bare plain at the border of the Rann of Cutch. The
town is surrounded by a wall and contains a strong castle. Population
(1901), 5,544. The chief trade is in cotton, grain, and molasses.
The town has a dispensary and two vernacular schools, one of which
is for girls, attended by 242 and 128 pupils respectively.
Pattadkal. — Village in the Badami taluka of Bijapur District,
Bombay, situated in 15*^ 57' N. and 75° 52' E., 9 miles from Badami
town. Population (1901), 1,088. It contains several old temples,
both Brahmanical and Jain, with inscriptions dating from the seventh
or eighth century, and considered by experts to be pure examples of
the Dravidian style of architecture.
Pattan Munara. — Ancient ruin in the Naushahra tahsil of Baha-
walpur State, Punjab, situated in 28° 15' N. and 70° 22' E., 5 miles
east of Rahimyar Khan. At the close of the eighteenth century the
remains of four towers surrounding the central tower of a Buddhist
monastery still existed here, but only the lower storey of the central
tower now remains. Tradition avers that it had three storeys, and that
the extensive mounds around it are the ruins of a city which was over
100 square miles in extent. It is possible that the ruins mark the site
of the capital of Mousicanus, who, after a brief submission to Alex-
ander, revolted and was crucified in 325 B.C. The name Mousicanus
probably conceals the name of the tribe or territory ruled by the chief-
tain, and it has been suggested that it survives either in the tribal name
of the Magsi or Magassi Baloch or in that of the Machkas. Another
74 PATTAN MUNARA
theory identifies the capital with Arur in Sind. A Sanskrit inscrip-
tion, now lost, is said to have recorded the existence of an ancient
monastery. The town was refounded by the Sumras in the tenth
century, but it is now a desolate ruin.
Patti Tahsil.— Eastern tahsil of Partabgarh District, United
Provinces, conterminous with the pargana of the same name, lying
between 25° 39' and 26° 4' N. and 81° 56' and 82° 27' E., with
an area of 467 square miles. Population increased from 272,592
in 1 89 1 to 272,760 in 1901. There are 802 villages, but no town.
The demand for land revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 406,000, and for
cesses Rs. 57,000. The density of population, 584 persons per square
mile, is the lowest in the District. Through the centre of the tahsil
flows the Sai, while the Gumti touches the north-east corner. A con-
siderable area is badly drained, and a cut is now being made to
improve it. The greater part, however, is fertile, and sugar-cane is
grown more largely than elsewhere in the District. In 1903-4 the
area under cultivation was 256 square miles, of which 136 were irri-
gated. ^\^ells supply twice as large an area as tanks or swamps.
Patti Town. — Town in the Kasur tahsil of Lahore District, Pun-
jab, situated in 31° 17' N. and 74° 52' E., 38 miles south-east of
Lahore city anci the terminus of the Amritsar-Patti branch of the
North-Western Railway. Population (1901), 8,187. Patti is an
ancient town, and has been identified by some authorities with the
Chinapati of Hiuen Tsiang. It contains an old fort, used by Ranjit
Singh as a horse-breeding establishment. The population consists
principally of Mughals, and is largely agricultural. The municipality
was created in 1874. The income during the ten years ending 1902-3
averaged Rs. 5,300, and the expenditure Rs. 4,700. In 1903-4 the
income was Rs. 5,400, chiefly derived from octroi ; and the expendi-
ture was Rs. 5,100. The town has a vernacular middle school and
a dispensary.
Pattikonda Taluk (' Cotton-hill '). — Westernmost taluk of Kurnool
District, Madras, lying between 15° 7' and 15° 52' N. and 77° 21' and
78° \' E., with an area of 1,134 square miles. The population in
1901 was 143,033, compared with 138,703 in 1891. The density is
1 26 persons per square mile, compared with the District average of
115 and the Presidency average of 270. The taluk was the worst
sufferer in the District in the great famine of 1876-8, when it lost
about 60 per cent, of its inhabitants. It contains 104 villages, includ-
ing five 'whole indms,'' but no town. Pattikonda, Pvapalli, Kodu-
mur, and Maddikera are places of some importance, the first being the
head-quarters. The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4
amounted to Rs. 3,20,000. The Tungabhadra forms the northern boun-
dary, separating it from the Nizam's Dominions. The only other river
PATTVKKOTT.M TOWN 75
is the Hindri, wliich rises near Maddikera and drains nearly two-thirds
of it. Pattikonda was part of Bellary District till 1858. It was then
called Panchapalaiyam, or the ' land of the five poligdrs.^ Almost
every village contains a ruined fort. The rainfall is 23 inches, about
two-thirds of which is received during the south-west monsoon. The
taluk is almost entirely 'dry,' there being only 34,925 acres of 'wet'
cultivation supplied by petty tanks and wells. The prevailing soil is
black cotton soil, but the southern portion is gravelly and hilly. The
taluk contains 112 square miles of ' reserved ' forests, almost the whole
of which lies on the Erramalas in the southern and south-eastern
portions.
Pattikonda Village. — Head-quarters of the taluk of the same
name in Kurnool District, Madras, situated in 15° 24' N. and
77° 31' E. The population in igor was 4,373, and it is a Union
under the Madras Local Boards Act V of 1884. It consists of two
portions : the old pettah, and the new Munro's pettah which is named
after Sir Thomas Munro, (Governor of Madras, who died here of
cholera on July 6, 1827, when on tour. To his memory Govern-
ment constructed a fine stone-feced reservoir, built a mantapam, or
porch, close by, and planted round it a grove of tamarind-trees. The
grove and well are maintained by the Ramallakota taluk board.
A weekly market is held in front of the grove.
Pattukkottai Taluk. — Southern subdivision and taluk of Tanjore
District, Madras, bordering on Palk Strait, and lying between 9° 49'
and 10° 35'' N. and 78° 55' and 79° 32' E., with an area of 906 square
miles. The population in 1901 was 295,894, compared with 271,626 in
1891, showing an increase in the decade of nearly 9 per cent., due to
the influx of labourers for the extension of the District board railway
recently under construction. Pattukkottai Town, the head-quarters,
has a population of 7,504, and Adirampatnam, a small port, 10,494.
The number of villages is 792. The demand for land revenue and
cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 2,97,000. In several ways it forms
a striking contrast to the other taluks of the District, since practically
no part of it is within reach of the Cauvery. The greater portion is
' dry ' land, the small ' wet ' area within it being watered by tanks and
wells ; and the soil is nearly all of a red ferruginous variety which
forms arable land of inferior quality. Four-fifths of the total area is
either zammddri or indm, a further point of contrast to the rest of the
District ; but in the remainder the percentage of unoccupied land is
higher, and the incidence of the assessment per head and the rent
of the average holding are lower, than in any other taluk. Pattuk-
kottai is the most backward tract in Tanjore in point of education,
and, though the largest of the taluks, is the least densely peopled.
Pattukkottai Town.— Head-quarters of the tCiluk of the same
VOL. XX. ?■
^6 ■ PATTUKKOTTAI TOWN
name in Tanjore District, Madras, situated in io° 26' N. and
79° 19' E., with a station on the District board railway. Popula-
tion (1901), 7,504. An inscription in the ruined fort relates that
this building was erected by Vanaji Panditar in honour of Shahji
Maharaja in a.d. 1686-7. I" the western part of the town is an
elaborately sculptured and ancient Siva temple of considerable size,
containing many inscriptions. In 181 5 Sarabhoji, the Raja of Tan-
jore, erected a miniature fort and column, with an inscription in
English to commemorate the triumph of the British arms and the
downfall of Bonaparte. Brass vessels, mats, and coarse cotton cloths
are manufactured.
Patuakhali Subdivision. — South-eastern subdivision of Backer-
gunge District, Eastern Bengal and Assam, lying between 21° 49' and
22° 36' N. and 89° 59' and 90° 40'' E., with an area of 1,231 square
miles. The subdivision is a fertile deltaic tract, merging to the south
in the Sundarbans, where there are extensive areas of waste land
covered with forest. The population in 1901 was 522,658, compared
with 496,735 in 1891. It contains one town, Patuakhali (population,
5,003), the head-quarters, and 1,051 villages, and is the most sparsely
populated subdivision in the District, supporting only 425 persons per
square mile, the density being lowest towards the south where the
Sundarbans have been only partially reclaimed.
Patuakhali Town. — Head-quarters of the subdivision of the same
name in Backergunge District, Eastern Bengal and Assam, situated in
22° 22' N. and 90° 22' E., on the Patuakhali river. Population (1901),
5,003. Patuakhali was constituted a municipality in 1892. The
income and expenditure during the decade ending 190 1-2 both
averaged Rs. 3,000. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 5,000, half of
which was derived from a property tax ; and the expenditure was
Rs. 4,000.
Patiir. — Town in the Balapur tdliik of Akola District, Berar, situated
in 20° 27' N. and 76° 59' E. Population (1901), 5,990. In the side
of a low hill just east of the town are two caves hewn in the rock.
These are simple vihdras with a veranda. The inscriptions on the
pillars and architraves have not yet been deciphered, and the caves
are otherwise unadorned, and contain no images except a portion of
a seated figure with the legs crossed, which has been held to be a Jain
saint, but may possibly be Buddhist.
The town is commonly known as Patur Shaikh Babu from the
shrine of Shaikh Abdul- Aziz, commonly known as Shaikh Babu, who
is said to have come to Patur from Delhi in 1378, and to have died
here eleven years later. According to the legend the saint was highly
regarded by Muhammad bin Tughlak, whom he cured of fever on one
occasion, and who built the shrine over his grave. But unfortunately
PAUKTAIV 77
for the legend, Muhammad bin Tughlak died thirty-nine years before
the shrine was built. An inscription in the interior of the shrine con-
tains a chronogram giving the date of the saint's death, while another
over the principal gate records the fact that the shrine was repaired in
1606-7 by Abdur Rahim, Khan-i-Khanan, son of Bairam Khan. A
Hindu fair is held annually in January-February, lasting upwards of
a month. A Musalman fair, lasting for three days, is held at the
shrine of Shaikh Babii. The gates in the walls of the town bear
some inscriptions, now illegible.
Pauk Subdivision. — South-western subdivision of Pakokku Dis-
trict, Upper Ikirma, comprising the Pauk, Saw, and Seikpvu town-
ships.
Pauk Township. — Central township of Pakokku District, Upper
Burma, lying between 21° 10' and 21° 49' N. and 94° iS' and
94° 44'' E., with an area of 1,490 square miles. It is a rugged tract,
bounded on either side by hill ranges, and watered by the Kyaw river,
a considerable affluent of the Yaw, which flows through its southern
areas. Along these two streams a considerable amount of rice is
grown. The population was 36,515 in 1891, and 41,021 in 1901,
distributed in igo villages. Pauk (population, 1,826), a village near
the junction of the Kyaw and Yaw streams, about 40 miles west of
Pakokku, is the head-quarters. The area cultivated in 1903-4 was
42 square miles, and the land revenue and tliathameda amounted to
Rs. 94,000.
Paukkaung.— Eastern township of the Prome subdivision of Prome
District, Lower Burma, lying between 18° 48' and 19° 11' N. and
95° 2 1'' and 95° 53'' E., with an area of 694 square miles. The popu-
lation in 1901 was 29,797, including nearly 5,000 Chins, and in 1891
was 31,995, so that the decrease has been 7 per cent, in ten years.
The eastern half of the township is covered by the forests of the
Pegu Yoma, and the density is low. There are 241 villages, the head-
quarters being Paukkaung (population, 1,224), which is connected
with Prome by a good road. The area cultivated in 1903-4 was
32 square miles, paying Rs. 15,000 land revenue. The total revenue
for the same year was Rs. 88,000.
Pauktaw. — Township of Akyab District, Lower Burma, lying
between 19° 47" and 20° 24' N. and 92° 56' and 93° 15' E., on the
eastern bank of the Kaladan river, with an area of 496 square miles,
the greater part of which is flat country intersected by tidal creeks.
The population was 40,875 in 1891, and 43,395 in 190 1. There are
190 villages, but no town. The head-quarters are at Pauktaw (popu-
lation, 755), on a tidal creek to the east of Akyab town. The area
cultivated in 1903-4 was 127 square miles, paying Rs. 1,88,000 land
revenue.
F 2
78 PAUMBEN
Faumben. — Island and village in Madura District, Madras. See
P AM BAN.
Paundravardhana. — Ancient kingdom in Eastern Bengal and
Assam. See Pundra.
Paung. — Township in the Thaton District of Lower Burma, lying
between i6° 28' and 16° 52' N. and 97° 14' and 97° 36' E., with an
area of 353 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the Thaton
township ; on the east and south by the Donthami and Sahveen rivers ;
and on the west by the Gulf of Martaban. The township is fertile
and thickly populated. The population was 46,332 in 1891, and
55,071 in 1 90 1, inhabiting 142 villages. The head-quarters are at
Paung, a village of 1,651 inhabitants, on the western slopes of the
Martaban hills, which run north and south through the centre of
the township. The ancient site of Martaban lies at its south-eastern
corner on the Salween, opposite the port of Moulmein. The area
cultivated in 1903-4 was 224 square miles, paying Rs. 3,23,600 land
revenue.
Paungbyin, — Central township of the Upper Chindwin District,
Upper Burma, extending on either side of the Chindwin river from
the Yoma to Katha District, between 23^ 48' and 24° 35' N. and
94° 32'' and 95° 12' E., with an area of 2,719 square miles. Except in
the valley of the Chindwin, it is a mass of low hills. The population
was 19,190 in 1891, and 26,409 in 1901, distributed in 268 villages, of
which the most important is Paungbyin (population, 1,167), the head-
quarters, on the Chindwin, about 70 miles north of Kindat. The
area cultivated in 1903-4 was 40 square miles, and the land revenue
and thathatneda amounted to Rs. 68,000.
Paungde Subdivision. — South-eastern subdivision of Prome Dis-
trict, Lower Burma, comprising the Paungde and Thegon townships.
Paungde Township. — South-eastern township of the Paungde
subdivision of Prome District, I^ower Burma, lying between 18° 26'
and 18° 52' N. and 95° 23' and 95° 50' E., with an area of
379 square miles. Except in the neighbourhood of the Pegu Yoma
in the north-east, the township is flat and thickly populated. The
population increased from 56,430 in 1891 to 60,604 in 1901. There
are 250 villages and one town, Paungde (population, 11,105), the
head-quarters. The area cultivated in 1903-4 was 86 square miles,
paying Rs. 86,000 land revenue.
Paungde Town. — Head-quarters of the subdivision of the same
name in Prome District, Lower Burma, situated in 18° 30' N. and
95° 31' E., on the Rangoon-Prome railway, 130 miles from Rangoon
and 32 miles by road from Prome. The population in 1901 was
11,105, and has steadily increased since 1872. Paungde was con-
stituted a municipality in 1884. The municipal income and expen-
PAVAGARIJ 79
diture during the ten years ending 1900 averaged between Rs. 31,000
and Rs. 32,000. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 42,000, the chief
sources of revenue being tolls on markets and slaughter-houses
(Rs. 26,000), and house tax (Rs. 4,300) ; and the expenditure was
Rs. 37,000, the principal items being roads (Rs. 6,500) and conser-
vancy (Rs. 4,200). The town contains a jail, a hospital, and a middle
school. The Provincial reformatory was removed from Paungde to
Insein in 1896, the premises being converted into a jail, and in 1900
new jail buildings were erected. The middle school, established in
1875, has 130 pupils.
Paunglaung. — River of Burma. See Sittang.
PaunT. — Town in the District and tahsll of Bhandara, Central
Provinces, situated in 20° 48' N. and 79° 39' E., on the Wainganga
river, 32 miles south of Bhandara town by road. Population (1901),
9,366. Some bathing ghats or flights of stone steps have been con-
structed on the bank of the AVainganga, and the town contains a fort
which was stormed by the British in 1818. Pauni was constituted
a municipality in 1867. The municipal receipts during the decade
ending 1901 averaged Rs. 4,200. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 4,500,
mainly derived from a house tax. The staple industry of the town is
the manufacture of silk-bordered cloths, and thread of very fine counts
is woven. The weavers are, however, not very prosperous. The town
stands in the fertile black-soil tract called the PaunI Haveli. It
contains vernacular middle and girls' schools, a school for low-caste
Dher boys, and an Urdu school, and also a dispensary.
Pauri. — Head-quarters of Garhwal District, United Provinces,
situated in 30° 8' N. and 78° 46' E., at an elevation of 5,390 feet
above sea-level. Population (1901), 486. The village lies on the
northern slope of the Kandaulia hill, with a magnificent view of
a long line of snow-clad mountains. Pauri was chosen as the head-
quarters of the Garhwal subdivision of Kumaun District in 1840.
Besides the usual offices, it contains a dispensary and a jail. The
American Methodist Mission has its head-quarters here, and maintains
a dispensary, a female orphanage, and schools for bo)'S and girls.
Pavagarh. — Hill fort in the Kalol tdluka of the Panch Mahals
District, Bombay, situated in 22° 31' N. and 73° 36' E., about 28 miles
east of Baroda and 11 miles south-east of Champaner Road station on
the Baroda-Godhra Railway. It stands on an isolated hill surrounded
by extensive plains, from which it rises abruptly to the height of
2,500 feet, being about 2,800 feet above the level of the sea. The
base and lower slopes are thickly covered with rather stunted timber ;
but its shoulders and centre crest are, on the south, west, and north,
cliffs of bare trap, too steep for trees. Less uiaccessible, the eastern
heights are wooded and topped by massive masonry walls and bastions,
8o PAVAGARH
rising with narrowing fronts to the scarped rock that crowns the hill.
To the east of Pavagarh lie the vast Barya State forests, and the
hill seems to form the boundary between the wild country to the east
and the clear open plain that stretches westward to the sea. On the
east side of the north end of the hill are the remains of many beautiful
Jain temples ; and on the west side, overlooking a tremendous preci-
pice, are some Musalman buildings of more modern date, supposed to
have been used as granaries. The southern extremity is more uneven,
and from its centre rises an immense peak of solid rock, towering to
the height of about 250 feet. The ascent to the top of this is by
a flight of stone steps, and on its summit stands a Hindu temple of
Kali, with a Mu.salman shrine on its spire. The fortifications include
the lower fort, a massive stone structure with strong bastions stretching
across the less precipitous parts of the eastern spur. This line of
fortification is entered by the Atak Gate, once double, but now with
its outer gate in ruins. Half a mile farther is the Moti or Great Gate,
giving entrance to the second line of defence. The path winds up the
face of the rock through four gates, each commanding the one below
it. Massive walls connect the gates and sweep up to the fortifications
that stretch across the crest of the spur. Beyond the Moti Gate, the
path for about 200 yards lies over level ground with a high ridge on
the left, crowned by a strong wall running back to the third line of
defence. This third line of defence is reached through the Sadan
Shah Gate, a winding passage cut through the solid rock, crowned with
towering walls and bastions, and crossed by a double Hindu gateway.
In old inscriptions the name of the hill appears as Pavakgarh or
' fire hill.' The first historical reference to it is in the writings of the
bard Chand, twelfth century, who speaks of Ram Gaur the Tuar as
lord of Pava. The earliest authentic account is about 1300, when it
was seized by Chauhan Rajputs, who fled from Mewar before the
forces of Ala-ud-dln KhiljT. The Musalman kings of Ahmadabad more
than once attempted to take the fort, and failed. In 1484 Sultan
Mahmud Begara, after a siege of nearly two years, succeeded in
reducing it. On gaining possession, he added to the defences of the
upper and lower forts, and for the first time fortified the plateau,
making it his citadel. In spite of its strength, it was captured through
treachery in 1535 by the emperor Humayun. In 1573 it fell into
the hands of Akbar. In 1727 it was surprised by Krishnajl, who
made it his head-quarters, and conducted many raids into Gujarat.
Sindhia took the fort about 1761; and Colonel Woodington cap-
tured it from Sindhia in 1803. In 1804 it was restored to Sindhia,
with whom it remained until 1853, when the British took over the
management of the Panch Mahals.
Pavugada. — North-eastern taluk of Tumkur District, Mysore,
PA WAY An town 8i
detached from the rest, and ahiiosl entirely .surrounded by Madras
territory. It Hes between 13° 53' and 14° 21'' N. and 77° o' and
77° 31' E., with an area of 524 square miles. The population in
1901 was 61,241, compared with 53,377 in 1891. The tdh/k contains
one town, Pavugada (population, 2,840), the head-quarters; and 144
villages. The land revenue demand in 1903-4 was Rs. 99,000.
The Penner flows across the east. The west and north of the hiluk
abound in rocky hills, many crowned with fortifications, among which
the needle-peak of Nidugal (3,772 feet) is conspicuous from all the
surrounding country. The separate tract east of the Penner is also
bounded by hills. The soil is sandy, and contains many talpargis
or spring-heads. In some parts wells have to be cut through a soft
porous rock. Some tobacco and cotton are grown. Iron and rice
are exported.
Pawapuri {Apdpapuri, the ' sinless town '). — Village in the Bihar
subdivision of Patna District, Bengal. Population (1901), 311. Maha-
vlra, the last of the Jain patriarchs, is said to have been buried in the
village, which possesses three Jain temples and is a great place of
pilgrimage for the Jains.
Pawayan Tahsil.— North-eastern tahsil of Shahjahanpur District,
United Provinces, comprising the parganas of Pawayan, Baragaon,
and Khutar, and lying between 27° 55' and 28° 29' N. and 79° 53' and
80° 23' E., with an area of 591 square miles. Population fell from
249,222 in 1891 to 223,359 in 1901, the decrease being the largest
in the District. There are 653 villages and one town, Pawayan
(population, 5,408), the tahsil head-quarters. The demand for land
revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 2,90,000, and for cesses Rs. 46,000.
The density of population, 378 persons per square mile, is the lowest
in the District. In the north lies an area of about 52 miles of forest.
The Gumti, which is here a small stream, crosses the centre of the
tahsli, and on either bank extends an arid stretch of sandy soil with
malarious swamps in the low-lying places. The western portion is
more fertile, and there is some good land between the forest and
the central tract. In 1903-4 the area under cultivation was 360
square miles, of which 114 were irrigated. Wells supply three-quarters
of the irrigated area, and swamps or Jhlls most of the remainder.
Pawayan Town. — Head-quarters of the tahsil of the same name
in Shahjahanpur District, United Provinces, situated in 28° 4' N. and
80° 5' E., on the steam tramway from Shahjahanpur city to Mailani
in Kherl District. Population (1901), 5,408. Pawayan was founded
early in the eighteenth century by a Raja whose descendants still
own a large estate in the neighbourhood. It contains a fahslli,
a inunsif'i, a dispensary, and a branch of the American Methodist
Mission. Pawayan is administered under Act XX of 1856, with an
82 rA J FA VAN TOWN
income of about Rs. i,8oo. The bazar is poor and straggling, but
there is some trade in sugar and brass vessels. The tahslli school
has 158 pupils.
Payagale. — Central township of Pegu District, Lower Burma, lying
between 17° 15' and 17° 57' N. and 96° \' and 96° 54' E., with an
area of 1,236 square miles. It contains one town, Pegu (population,
14,132), the head-quarters of the District; and 242 villages. The
township head-quarters are at Payagale, a village of 882 inhabitants
on the railway, about 14 miles north of Pegu. The population was
69,822 in 1891, and 93,209 in 1901. The western half of the town-
ship is hilly and sparsely populated, and, though the eastern half is
a level plain crowded with villages, the average density is only
75 persons per square mile. The area cultivated in 1903-4 was 296
square miles, paying Rs. 4,73,300 land revenue.
Payanghat (' below the Ghats ') (r). — The name given by the Musal-
mans of Bijapur to the low country in the east of the present Mysore
State, conquered by them from Vijayanagar in the seventeenth century.
Payanghat (2). — The name given in Berar to the valley of the Purna
river, the principal affluent of the Tapti. The valley lies between
the Melghat or Gawllgarh hills on the north and the Ajanta range
on the south, and varies in breadth from 40 to 50 miles. Except the
Puma, which is the main artery of the river system, scarcely a stream
in this tract is perennial.
Peddapuram Subdivision. — Subdivision of Godavari District,
Madras, consisting of the PeddapurAiM and Ramachandrapuram
taluks.
Peddapuram Taluk. — Inland taluk in Godavari District, Madras,
lying between 16° 57' and 17° 39' N. and 81° 55' and 82° 20' E., with
an area of 504 square miles. The population in 1901 was 167,020,
compared with 161,841 in 1891. It contains one town, Peddapuram
(population, 12,609), the head-quarters; and 200 villages, of which
Jaggammapeta is an important local market. The demand on account
of land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 3,89,000. The
taluk has a good system of irrigation from reservoirs, and the Lingam-
parti tank, the largest in the District, irrigates 5,000 acres. Along the
Veleru, a perennial stream running through it, is some exceptionally
fertile soil. The greater part of the taluk, however, is covered with
hills and jungle. The chief crops are rice, oilseeds, rdgi, pulses, and
(in the Yeleru valley) sugar-cane.
Peddapuram Town.— Head-quarters of the taluk of the same
name in Godavari District, Madras, situated in 17° 5' N. and 82° 8' E.
Population (1901), 12,609. Peddapuram was formerly the head-
quarters of a large zavunddri ; and the ruins of a fort stand on the
hill overlooking the town. The place possesses a large weekly market,
PEGU DIVISION
83
and a high school maintained Ijy the American Evangelical Lutlieran
Mission. Local affairs are managed by a \}\\\ovi panchdyat.
Pegu Division. — Division of Lower Burma, lying between 16^^ 19'
and 19° 11' N. and 94"^ 41' and 96° 54' E., and comprising the greater
part of the strip of country that stretches between the Irrawaddy and
the Sittang rivers from 19° N. to the Gulf of Martaban, and, with
the exception of a single township, w^iolly to the east of the former
river. It is well watered and, except for the area covered by the
Pegu Yoma at the northern end, forms one expanse of plain land
of extraordinary fertility.
The population of the Division at the last four enumerations was :
(1872) 848,077, (1881) 1,215,923, (1891) 1,523,022, and (1901)
1,820,638. Its head-quarters are at Rangoon, and it contains the
following Districts : —
Dibtiict.
Area in
s>(}uare miles.
Population,
igoi.
Land revenue,
. •,903-4, ^
in thousands
of rupees.
Rangoon City
Hanthavvaddy
Tharrawaddy .
Pegu
Prome .
Total
19*
3,023
2,851
4,276
2,9 '5
234,881
484,8 1 1
395,570
339,572
365,804
32
3^,29
11,22
18,72
4,81
13,084
1,820,638
69,36
* Exclusive of river areas.
Of the inhabitants in 1901, 1,541,388 were Buddhists, 65,534
Musalmans, 152,191 Hindus, 38,274 Christians, and 21,709 Animists,
the majority of the remainder being Sikhs and Jews. According to
race, 1,330,816 were Burmans, 103,420 Karens, and 78,576 Takings.
The density was 139 i)ersons per square mile, or a little over three
times as great as that of the Province as a whole. In 1901 the
Division contained 8 towns and 6,817 villages. Of the towns only
two — Rangoon (234,881), and Promk (27,375) — had a population
exceeding 20,000. Rangoon lies at the southern end of the Division,
and there is no other commercial centre. In Prome and Pegu,
however, it possesses towns of historical interest, once the capitals
of two dynasties of the past, that of the Pyus in the north and
that of the Talaings in the south, and both the scene of warlike
operations during the first and second Burmese Wars. Syriam, close
to and west of Rangoon, also has a place in the history of Burma
as a famous emporium of olden days, and one of the first of the
ports at which the people of the country entered into commercial
relations with the strangers who were destined centuries later to be
their conquerors.
84 PEGU DISTRICT
Pegu District. — District in the Pegu Division of Lower Burma,
lying between i6° 54' and 18° 25' N. and 95° 57' and 96° 54' E., with
an area of 4,276 square miles. It was formed in 1883 by taking the
townships of Kyauktan, PaungHn (now Hlegu), Pegu (now Kawa and
Payagale), and Pagandaung (now Thabyegan) from Hanthawaddy Dis-
trict. In 1895 the Pyuntaza and Nyaunglebin townships were transferred
from what was then Shwegyin District to Pegu, and Kyauktan and
Thabyegan were returned to Hanthawaddy. Pegu is separated on the
north from Toungoo District by the Kun stream, which rises in
the Pegu Yoma and flows in an easterly direction into the Sittang
river, which in its turn constitutes the eastern boundary of the District.
The Pegu Yoma forms the western boundary ; and on the south the
District is separated from Hanthawaddy District by an irregularly
demarcated line drawn along a spur of the Yoma eastward to the
Gulf of Martaban.
Portions of the hilly country in the north-west are picturesque, but
the greater part of the District and more than nine-tenths of the in-
, habited area have little claim to attention except
Privsicfl.!
aspects ^'^^"^ ^^^ agricultural or commercial standpoint. East
of the railway line, as far as the horizon, lies a vast
almost treeless plain, green in the rains, but very bare during the hot
months of the year.
The only rivers of importance are the Pegu river, the Ngamoyeik or
Pazundaung creek, and the Sittang. The first rises in the Yoma, and
after flowing past Pegu town in a south-easterly direction, finally enters
the Rangoon or Hlaing river near its mouth. The second, also rising
in the Yoma, has a southerly course through the south-west corner
of the District, and flows into the Rangoon river close to where the
Pegu river enters it. The Sittang river is navigable by boats of
shallow draught, but is extremely dangerous in its lower reaches
owing to an enormous bore, which rushes up it from time to time
from the Gulf of Martaban. To avoid this, and at the same time to
facilitate trade with Rangoon, the Pegu-Sittang Canal was constructed.
This canal extends from Myitkyo, on the Sittang, as far west as Tawa,
on the Pegu river, and forms one of the most distinctive geographical
features of the District. Other streams which flow from the Yoma
eastwards into the Sittang, draining the Nyaunglebin or northern
subdivision, are the Kyeingyaung, the Yenwe, and the Pagangwe,
which are perennial, but navigable only during the monsoon.
The rocks of the Pegu Yoma, which occupies the north-western
portion of the District, consist of what have been called Pegu groups
of beds, and are miocene in age. The rest of the District is alluvial,
the type of alluvium being that common to the whole of the delta. In
the west, where the land is high, laterite exists in large quantities.
PHYSICAL ASPECTS 85
'J'he forests are of two kinds, evergreen and deciduous. The former
may be either closed or open in character. The closed evergreen
forests consist of lofty trees of Sterculia, AUnzzia, Pierocarpus,
Dlpterocarpus, Parashorea, and Hopea species, under which are
smaller growths. Among palms are found Livisto/iia, Arenga saccha-
rifera, Areca, and Calamus. Climbers and creepers are very numerous
and varied, and the flowering shrubs are beautiful. The open ever-
green forests are found along the eastern base of the Pegu Yoma
as far down as Rangoon. They are less damp than the closed forests,
and contain fewer creepers and climbers. Chief among their con-
stituents are Dipterocarpiis iaevis, D. alatus, Parashorea stellata^
Pentace burinannica, Albizzia lucida, Lagerstroeniia tomentosa, and
Dillenia parvijlora. The deciduous forests are either open or mixed
in character. The open are of two kinds, in forests and low forests.
The former are found chiefly on laterite, and are characterized by in
{Dipterocarpus iuberciilatus), Dillenia pi/lcherrinia, Shorea leiccobohya,
Pentacme siamensis, Xylia dolabriforniis, Lagerstroeniia macrocarpa,
and Strychnos Nux-vomica. The low forests are similar to the ///
forests, but this tree itself is generally absent, and the ground is
covered with long stiff grass. The mixed forests are of several kinds.
The lower mixed forests are not unlike the low forests, but are without
the dense grass covering and the vegetation characteristic of laterite
soil ; the upper stretches, typical of the Pegu Yoma, contain teak in
abundance, and also Xylia dolabriforniis, Dillenia parviflora, three
species of Sterculia and Terminalia, Lagerstroeniia Flos Reginae,
L. tomentosa, and Homalium tomentosum. Bordering the rivers are
savannah forests similar to those described under Hanthawaddv
District. Orchids abound everywhere'.
The jungles are the habitat of all the beasts common to Lower
Burma. In the month of December, before the crops are reaped,
herds of wild elephants come down from the hills and do great
damage ; bison, hog, and many kinds of deer are also met with,
but their numbers annually decrease owing to their destruction by
man, and they are gradually retiring into the hills fiirther from the
haunts of civilization.
The climate of Pegu is very similar to that of Rangoon, but,
probably owing to its proximity to the hills, the rainfall is heavier.
The average fall for five years is 119 inches recorded at Pegu town,
and 114 inches farther north at Nyaunglebin. It is probably rather
higher in the hilly areas to the west, and lower in the extreme north
near the Toungoo border. Large tracts of country are unprotected
by embankments, and on this account are liable to be flooded by
the overflow of the Sittang.
' See Kuiz, rrcliininaiy Forest Rcpoi of Pegu ^Calcutta, 1875'.
86 PEGU DISTRICT
Legends relate that the town of Pegu was founded by Thamala
and Wimala, two sons of the ruler of the Taking kingdom of Thaton
in A. D. 573, the elder son, Thamala, being conse-
crated king. From the commencement of the
historical period Pegu was an important centre of Taking rule, in
the end taking the place that had been occupied by the ancient
capital of Thaton, and during the closing years of their independence
the Takings were generally known as Peguans. Little is known of
the history of Pegu until the beginning of the fifteenth century. The
Takings were constantly at war with the Burmans, and for two cen-
turies and a half were under Burmese dominion. In 1385 Razadirit,
one of the greatest of the Taking kings, came to the throne. This
monarch was constantly engaged in hostilities, but it is recorded that
before his death in 1422 he found time to devote himself to religion
and good works and to the reorganization of his kingdom. In the
year 1534 Pegu was besieged by Tabin Shweti, of Toungoo, and
ultimately captured. Tabin Shweti reigned ten years in Pegu, and
is entitled to the merit of having built numerous pagodas in the
District. On his death one of his generals, Bayin Naung, who took
the name of Sinbyumyashin (* the lord of many white elephants '),
made himself master of the whole of the Sittang Valley. Cesare de'
Federici, who visited Pegu in 1569, wrote of this monarch : —
' The emperor has twenty-six tributary crowned kings and can
bring into the field a million and a half of men, and, as they will eat
anything, they only want water and salt, and will go anywhere. For
people, dominions, gold and silver, he far excels the power of the
great Turk in treasure and strength.'
On his death in 1581 Sinbyumyashin's enormous territories, larger than
any ever ruled over by a monarch in Burma, were left to his successor,
but with the removal of his controlling hand the empire soon resolved
itself into a congeries of minor principalities. Pegu fell into the hands
of the Burmans of Ava at the beginning of the seventeenth century,
and it was not till 1740 that the Taking dynasty was revived. Seven-
teen years later the town was once more and finally captured from the
Takings by the famous Alompra (Akungpaya). The conqueror had
from the first made the eclipse of Pegu by his newly founded town
of Rangoon one of the main features of his policy, and with the final
defeat of the Takings the old capital ceased to play a part of any
importance in history.
During the wars with the British, Pegu was the scene of several
encounters. After the capture of Rangoon in 1824 the Burman
commander-in-chief retired here, but the inhabitants rose against
him and handed the place over to the British. During the second
Burmese War the town was more stubbornly defended. Early in
POrur.A TTON
87
June, 1852, the defences were cairit'd by a force under Major Cotton
and Commander Tarleton, R.N., the granaries were destroyed, and
the guns carried away. The Talaing inhabitants, however, at whose
request the expedition had been sent, were unaljle to hold the town
after the withdrawal of the British, and the Burmans reoccupied the
pagoda platform and threw up strong defences along the river. In
November of the same year a force under Brigadier McNeill was
sent from Rangoon to retake the town, which object it accomplished
after considerable fighting and with some loss. Most of the troops
were withdrawn, a garrison of about 500 men with a few guns under
Major Hill being left. Hardly had the main force retired, however,
when the Burmans attacked this garrison, which was not ultimately
relieved till a considerable force had been dispatched against the
enemy. As the result of the war, the province of Pegu passed to the
British and became, with the previously acquired provinces of Arakan
and Tenasserim, the Chief Commissionership of Lower Burma. Ran-
goon has ever since been the capital of the Province.
The District contains several interesting pagodas, most of which
are situated either in or close to the capital. - At Payagyi, 10 miles
north of Pegu on the railway, is a large pagoda which was first built
by Nga Ya Gu, the son of a minister of one of the early Peguan
kings. The building has long been in bad repair, but is now being
renovated.
The population at the last four enumerations was: (1872) 110,875,
(1881) 184,815, (1891) 237,594, and (1901) 339,572. These figures
show a rapid growth, only exceeded in Lower Burma
by the increase in Myaungmya and Pyapon Districts.
The distribution according to townships in 1901 is
following table : —
Population.
shown in the
Township.
Area in square
miles.
Number of
Population.
U
Percentage of
variation in
population be-
tween 1891
and 1901.
Number of
persons able to
read and
write.
c
(2
Hlegu
Kawa
Payagale .
Pynntaza .
Nyaunglebin
District total
703
514
1,236
1,443
380
233
206
242
232
261
49,642
79,057
93,209
52,952
64,712
71
154
75
37
170
+ 11
+ 31
+ 33
+ 129
+ 64
13,907
24,579
29,799
13,315
15,172
4,276
2
M74
339,572
79
+ 43
96,772
The great majority of the inhabitants are rural. The District con-
tains one municipal town, Pegu, its head-quarters, and one other
urban area containing more than 5,000 inhabitants, Nyaunglebin,
administered by a town committee. As is the case everywhere in
88 PEGU DISTRICT
Burma, Buddhists (305,500) form the majority, but the number of
Hindus (18,600) is not insignificant. The latter are for the most
part Tamil-speaking cultivators from Madras. The number of Chris-
tians is 9,000, and of Musalmans 4,800. Burmese is the language
of 83 per cent, of the population. Karen is freely spoken, but only
a small proportion of the Talaings use their ancestral tongue.
The Burmans, with a total of 223,500, outnumber all other nationali-
ties. The Talaings are, however, about 45,000, and the Karens about
33,000 in number. In 1901 no less than 68 per cent, of the total
population were directly supported by agriculture. Of these, 4,580
were dependent on taungya (shifting hill cultivation) alone.
There are 8,885 native Christians. The American Baptist Mission
works among the Karens, the chief centres of Christian population
being Pado, in the neighbourhood of Nyaunglebin, and Intagaw, in the
Kawa township ; but the Pwo Karens near Hlegu and the Sgaws in
the Payagale township continue as a rule in the Buddhist faith. There
is a Roman Catholic mission at Nyaunglebin, with a good brick church.
In 1901, 6,982 persons were returned as belonging to the Baptist
communion, the number of Roman Catholics being only 257. It is
probable that a good many of the Roman Catholics of the District
omitted to give their denomination at the Census, and thus were
included in the total of those whose sects were not returned.
Pegu consists for the most part of a vast alluvial plain, formed by
the deposits of the Sittang and Pegu rivers and their tributaries. The
soil is a rich loam, and generally fertile. In the
north of the District, where cultivation is com-
paratively recent, the crops are particularly plentiful ; but in the
southern townships of Hlegu and Kawa the soil is beginning to show
signs of exhaustion, and fallows are not infrequent. The easternmost
part of the Kawa township has been quite recently formed by fresh
deposits of the Sittang, and the soil here is so impregnated with salt
that cultivation is not on the whole very profitable. To the advantages
of a fertile soil are added those of a plentiful supply of rain. In fact
cultivation sometimes suffers from an excess of water ; and owing to
the uniform flatness of most of the District, when a flood does occur
its effects are apt to be very far-reaching.
There is little that calls for special note in connexion with the
systems of cultivation in the District. In growing rice the ordinary
methods obtaining in Lower Burma are followed. Ploughing is begun
in June, shortly after the beginning of the rains, and transplanting,
where in vogue, is generally completed by the end of August. In
most parts, however, transplantation is not largely adopted. Sowing
broadcast is much cheaper ; and under favourable conditions of soil
and rainfall this method is found to produce a sufficiently good crop,
AGRICULTURE
89
so that, as a rule, transplanting from nurseries is undertaken only in
order to fill up gaps where sowing has not proved successful. The
practice of pruning the rice by cutting off the tops of the blades before
the plant comes into ear seems to be not uncommon. Reaping is
begun in December, and the harvest is generally completed by the end
of January.
The following are the main agricultural statistics for 1903-4, in
square miles : —
Township.
Total area. Cultivated.
Forests.
Hlegii ....
Kawa ....
Payagale
Pyuntaza
Nyaiinglebin
Total
1,236
1.443
3S0
161
345
296
170
188
- 2,557
4,276
1,160
-!557
In 1903-4 rice occupied 1,133 square miles, out of a total cultivated
area of 1,160 square miles, or as much as 98 per cent. Several
varieties are produced, that known as figaseiti being the commonest
in all parts, but the preference for any particular kind seems to depend
on little else than custom or the whim of the cultivator. After rice,
the principal food-crops are mangoes, plantains, and jack-fruit. Nearly
11,000 acres are under orchards, about a quarter of this being given
up to plantains. Some maize and tobacco and a little sesamum are
grown, but these products are of no great importance.
In most parts of the District the area under cultivation is being
rapidly extended. It stood at 908 square miles in 1891, 1,141 square
miles in 190 1, and 1,160 square miles in 1904. It has, in fact, been
found necessary of late to depute several officers for the sole purpose
of making grants of land. The new ground on the bank of the Sittang
furnishes the most important field for their work. Farther north, too,
lie large tracts of hitherto unoccupied jungle land, which are being
taken up and cleared for cultivation. Apart from the increase in area,
cultivation does not seem to be very progressive. Little or no improve-
ment can be noted in the quality of the seed, nor have attempts to
introduce new varieties met with any success. The working of the
Land Improvement and Agriculturists' Loans Acts is said to be not
altogether successful in Pegu. In spite of the precautions that are
taken to prevent large areas of land from falling into the hands of
speculators, the annual statistics show a large increase in the landlord
class.
Cattle-breeding is not carried on to any great extent. Most of the
cattle used by cultivators are imported from the Shan States or Upper
Burma. There are, however, in the north a few low-lying tracts where
90 PEGU DISTRICT
the ground is too deeply flooded for cultivation, and here buffalo-
breeding becomes an occupation of some importance. In the Pyuntaza,
Nyaunglebin, and Hlegu townships no difficulty is experienced in feed-
ing cattle. In the Payagale and Kawa townships, however, where
cultivation has practically monopolized the whole available area, more
grazing grounds are urgently wanted. From the Nyaunglebin sub-
division herds of buffaloes have to be sent after the ploughing season
to other parts of the District, where they can be more conveniently fed
till the following rains. There is no sheep or goat breeding.
The District is so well provided with water that no system of irriga-
tion is necessary. There are over a hundred fisheries in different parts,
especially in the flooded tracts of Pyuntaza and Kawa, which are leased
annually for sums ranging from Rs. loo to Rs. 5,000; but the fishing
industry nowhere assumes the importance that it does in the Irrawaddy
delta.
With the exception of a few areas reserved for fuel-supply in the
middle of the cultivated plains, the whole of the forest system lies to
the west of the railway, covering the broken and hilly
country on the slopes of the Pegu Yoma. South of
the Kodugwe stream is an extensive evergreen tract, which is one
of the most remarkable and beautiful features of the District, but it
produces only the pyinma {Lagerstroeinia Flos Reginae) and t hit si
{Melanorrhoea usitaid) among trees which have a marketable value.
In the deciduous forests are found teak, pyingado {Xylia do/abriformis),
kanyijibyu {Dipterocarpus alati/s), kokko {Albizzia Lebbek), and in
{Dipterocarpus ti/bera/lafus), together with other trees, many with
gorgeous flowers and luxuriant foliage. Savannah forests are still to
be found near the mouth of the Sittang, but they are fast disappearing,
to give place to cultivation. The few patches of scrub jungle east of
the railway line contain large quantities of a creeper {Fara^nerin
glandiiliferd) which yields a good quality of rubber. Minor products
of more importance commercially, however, are wood-oil, shaw fibre
{Sterci/lia), bamboo, and cane. A quantity of timber is floated down
the Sittang, and thence, through the Pegu-Sittang Canal, into the Pegu
river. Of the whole area of 4,276 square miles comprised within the
District of Pegu, 2,057 square miles are included in 'reserved' forests,
and about 500 square miles are classed as ' unprotected ' forest land.
The gross forest receipts in 1903-4 amounted to 2 lakhs.
Very few minerals are known to exist. A prospecting licence to
search for gold in the bed of the Sittang river has recently been
granted to a European firm, who have large interests in the petroleum
trade in Upper Burma. It remains to be seen whether their operations
will have any result in that portion of the stream that skirts Pegu
District. Laterite is plentiful in the west, and clay is extensively used
TRADE AND COMMUNICATIONS 91
for pottery work at Pegu and Tawa, and for the manufacture of bricks,
of which a large and constant supply is required for pagoda building.
In a District so largely devoted to rice cultivation, only domestic
industries or those ancillary to agriculture provide employment for
any considerable number of the people. Pegu was
in former days famed for its pottery, but the article connnunicatfons.
well-known throughout the country as the ' Pegu jar '
is not now manufactured to any extent in the District. The industry
is still carried on, however, in Pazunmyaung, on the bank of the
Sittang, and in the town of Pegu itself. Here, in the dry season, pots
of the ordinary domestic kinds are made in large quantities for local
use, the glazing material being brought from the hills east of the
Sittang ; but the ceramic art is no longer practised with the skill and
assiduity of former days.
Mention must be made of the silver-work of Pegu. There is nothing
peculiar in the methods of the silversmiths ; but special care and
dexterity appear to be applied to the work, and prizes have been won
by local artificers at exhibitions. In parts of the Hlegu township,
where the thinbyu reed is readily obtainable, mat-making is practised.
Carts and agricultural tools are made in quantities, but only for the
local market. In spite of the vast quantity of paddy produced, the
rice-milling industry is practically non-existent. There are two small
mills at Pegu and one at Nyaunglebin, but the rice-mills of Rangoon
are so easily and quickly reached that the profits of local millers are
barely sufficient to make it worth their while to work regularly.
Timber-sawing affords employment for some of the inhabitants of the
western part of the District, and there are steam saw-mills at Pegu,
at Nyaunglebin, and at Madauk on the Sittang river.
The enormous plain which occupies the eastern portion of the
District is entirely given up to the cultivation of rice, which finds its
market in Rangoon. During the months of January and February the
resources of the railway are severely strained to convey the mountains
of paddy that are stacked at the stations north of Pyinbongyi. The
ceaseless roll of carts, the volumes of dust, and the babel of voices
make existence intolerable in any of these so-called railway towns
during the busy season. The rice from the southern part of the
District is generally conveyed by the numerous waterways that con-
verge at Rangoon. On the east side the canal south of Minywa is
alive with traffic at this time; and the lock at Tawa, where boats
congregate to await the tide in the Pegu river, presents at night an
animated and striking scene. On the south-western side of the District
the Pazundaung creek, which flows into the Hlaing at Rangoon, carries
down almost all the rice from the Hlegu township. The great majority
of the population are engaged in some way in agriculture, even traders
VOL. XX. G
92 PEGU DISTRICT
and others striving hard to get possession of land. The monopoly of
commerce is practically in the hands of Chinamen and natives of India,
though in the large bazars of the District are to be found numbers of
Burman silk- and cloth-dealers.
The main railway line connecting Rangoon with Mandalay runs
through the heart of the District, making a parabolic curve eastward,
with its vertex at Nyaunglebin. There are at present nineteen railway
stations in the District. A railway from Pegu to Martaban is in
process of construction. The road from Pegu to Rangoon runs almost
parallel to the railway, but inclines more to the west, until it reaches
the Prome road at Taukkyan, in Hanthawaddy District, where it turns
south. The road to Toungoo in the north runs more or less parallel
to the railway, and numerous cross and feeder roads connect the main
lines of communication, such as the Dabein-Hlegu, the Nyaunglebin-
Pazunmyaung, the Pegu-Thanatpin, and the Payagyi-Payabyo roads.
The most important highways are maintained from Provincial funds.
Embankments are plentiful in the low-lying parts of the country. In
the south-eastern portion of the District communications are far from
perfect, for, with the exception of two short highways in the Kawa
township, there are absolutely no means of reaching in the rains an
enormous area which is being brought under cultivation west of the
mouth of the Sittang, a great deal being new land formed from deposits
swept by the river from the eastern or Thaton bank. The lengths of
metalled and unmetalled roads are, respectively, 140 and 68 miles.
Further means of communication are provided by the Pegu-Sittang
Canal, which runs from Myitkyo on the Sittang to Tawa on the Pegu
river, and by a branch running through the Thanatpin lake into the
old town moat of Pegu. Along this canal ply a number of launches.
The District is divided into two subdivisions, Pegu and Nyaung-
lebin, of which the former consists of three townships, Hlegu, Kawa,
, , . . and Payagale, and the latter of two, Nyaunglebin
Administration. , „ _ r^y ^r , , • uj- • •
and Pyuntaza. 1 he Nyaunglebm subdivision is
ordinarily in charge of an Assistant Commissioner, while the Pegu
subdivision and each of the five townships are administered by Extra-
Assistant Commissioners or viyo-oks. There are still eleven circle
thugyis in the District, the remnant of the old revenue-collecting
agency. These petty revenue officials have, however, for the most
part been superseded by ynvathugyis (village headmen). The village
headmen number 531 ; and on their efforts in helping the police,
collecting the revenue, and generally assisting District officers prac-
tically depends the success of the administration. Except where there
is a circle thiigyi., village headmen are paid by commission on the
amount of revenue they collect, and they are also authorized to take
fees in petty cases which they are empowered to decide. At head-
ADMINISTRA TION 9 3
quarters are a treasury officer, an akunzvun (in charge of the revenue),
and a superintendent of land records, with a staff of 6 inspectors and
51 surveyors. The District forms a Public Works division, with sub-
divisional officers at Pegu, Nyaunglebin, and Thanatpin ; it is also
conterminous with the Pegu Forest division.
Till recently the administration of justice in the District, as in the
Pegu and Irrawaddy Divisions generally, was in a transitional stage.
The Commissioner was Sessions Judge and the Deputy-Commissioner
was District Judge, but the greater part of their judicial work was done
by Additional Judges. The Pegu and Toungoo Districts now, how-
ever, form the charge of a whole-time District Judge with head-
quarters at Pegu, and Pegu with Hanthawaddy forms the charge of
the Hanthawaddy Divisional and Sessions Judge, whose head-quarters
are at Rangoon. There are no whole-time subdivisional judges ; but
the township courts of Hlegu and Kawa are presided over by a judge
at Kawa, the Nyaunglebin and Pyuntaza township courts by a judge at
Nyaunglebin, and the township court of Payagale by a judge at Pegu,
who also exercises Small Cause Court powers in Pegu town. As might
be expected, where the country is so fast coming under cultivation, the
majority of civil cases are brought on assignments of land. In spite
of the elaborate precautions taken to prevent large areas from falling
into the hands of adventurers and speculators, the annual statistics
prove that the landlord class has obtained a firm hold. The large
number of undefended suits is an index of the hopelessness of resis-
tance to the mortgagee's claims, and on the survey maps it is easy to
trace the huge holdings that have passed into the hands of cosmo-
politan capitalists. Chinamen and Chettis, Chulias and Coringhis,
generally clothed with an innocent alias, apply, and often success-
fully, for large grants of land, which others are hired to clear and
cultivate. Thus, not only old, but large portions of new, land have
already passed into the possession of absentee landlords.
Violent crime is not so common in Pegu as in the neighbouring
Districts of Hanthawaddy and Tharrawaddy. Freedom from this
form of criminality is said to be due to the fact that there are prac-
tically no toddy-trees in the District, and that liquor is not so readily
procurable as in some localities. During the year 1902, with a popu-
lation of nearly half a million, not a single murder was reported.
Dacoity is rare, and in the cases that do occur the accused are often
found to belong to other Districts. Catde-theft is undoubtedly com-
mon, though the statistics compare favourably with those of the sur-
rounding areas ; but the presence of cattle-thieves is not surprising,
when one considers the completely unprotected state in which cattle
are allowed to roam for months at a time, before and after they are
wanted for ploughing.
G 2
94
PEGU DISTRICT
Up to 1883 Pegu formed part of Hanthawaddy (or Rangoon)
District. The southern portion of the present District, including the
whole of the Pegu subdivision and a further area subsequently trans-
ferred to Hanthawaddy, was cadastrally surveyed in the years 188 1-3,
and was brought under settlement in 1882-4. Ii"^ 1^95 the District
boundaries were altered ; Kyauktan and Thabyegan in the south were
relinquished to Hanthawaddy, and the Pyuntaza (now called the
Nyaunglebin) subdivision was added in the north. The settlement
of the southern areas was for a period of fifteen years, and had there-
fore to be revised during 1898— 1900. This resulted in a net increase
in revenue of Rs. 3,00,000, or nearly 26 per cent. The northern sub-
division, with the exception of the Bawni circle, was settled in the year
1897-8. The highest rate of land revenue at present paid is Rs. 4 per
acre. This is levied in about 38 villages in the Kawa township, in the
middle of the large plain east of the railway line, which is not reached
by the tidal waters of the Sittang. In some of the circles which lie
farther east, and in the Hlegu and Payagale townships, the rates vary
between Rs. 3-8 and Rs. 2, though in the newly cleared and hilly lands
west of the railway line they are as low as Rs. 1-4. In the northern
subdivision, too, the prevailing rates are between Rs. 2 and Rs. 3-8,
but on the whole the average assessment there is lower, in consequence
of the distance from the Rangoon market. The overflow of the Sit-
tang and the vagaries of the hill streams, especially in the vicinity
of Pyuntaza village, are responsible for the low rates fixed in some of
the northern circles. It was originally intended that the Bawni circle,
which lies in the township of Pyuntaza, should be settled along with
the rest of the Nyaunglebin subdivision in the season 1897-8. Owing,
however, to the extraordinarily rapid extension of cultivation, it was
discovered that the cadastral maps were already out of date by the
time the Settlement officer arrived, and it was decided to postpone
the settlement till a resurvey had been effected. The rate assessed
on garden land is generally Rs. 2-8 per acre in the southern sub-
division, and Rs. 2 in the northern ; but somewhat higher charges are
made on land under tobacco, dani palm, or miscellaneous cultivation.
The average assessment on land under cultivation of all kinds is a
fraction over Rs. 2 per acre, and the average size of a holding is
26-6 acres.
The following table shows the growth of the revenue in recent years,
in thousands of rupees : —
1880-1.
1890-1.
1900-1.
1903-4.
Land revenue
Total revenue
5,83
7.95
8,74
i.S,64
25,23
18,72
30,72
ADMINISTRATION 95
The other main items besides land revenue in 1903-4 were capitation
tax (Rs. 3,49,000), excise (Rs. 4,14,000), and fisheries (Rs. 2,10,000).
The District cess fund, administered by the Deputy-Commissioner
for the provision of various local needs, yielded an income of
Rs. 2,39,000 in 1903-4; and the expenditure was Rs. 2,42,000, of
which about half was devoted to public works. The only munici-
pality in the District is Pegu, but Nyaunglebin is administered by
a town committee.
The police are under the control of the District Superintendent.
Each subdivision is in charge of an Assistant Superintendent, and
each township has an inspector. The subordinate civil police force
consists of 8 head-constables, 40 sergeants, and 249 constables. The
military police force numbers 3 native officers, 26 non-commissioned
officers, and 196 sepoys, who are employed to escort prisoners and
treasure and to patrol the District in the dry season. The number
of headmen is 531, and these, with a large number of 'ten-house'
gaungs, constitute the rural police. There are sixteen police stations
and one outpost. Military police are posted at the subdivisional and
township head-quarters, and at two other outlying police stations.
There is no jail in the District. Convicts are sent to the Rangoon
Central jail to serve out their sentences.
The proportion of literate persons is high. It amounted in 1901
to 45 per cent, in the case of males and 9-2 per cent, in the case
of females, or 28-5 per cent, for both sexes together. The number
of pupils was 8,740 in 1891, 16,446 in 1901, and 18,361 in 1903-4, of
whom 3,705 were girls. In the last year there were 20 secondary,
281 primary, and 363 elementary (private) schools in the District.
These figures include both lay and monastic seminaries. The public
institutions are under the supervision of three deputy-inspectors of
schools. The work of one of these is confined to the Karen schools.
The Burman schools were till recently under the charge of a single
deputy-inspector, but a second officer of this class has been appointed
recently. The Karen schools form a considerable proportion of the
total. The only institution worthy of special note is the Pegu muni-
cipal school. Local fund expenditure on education amounted, in
1903-4, to Rs. 43,800, of which Rs. 37,600 came from the District
cess fund, and Rs. 6,200 from municipal funds. The Provincial
expenditure was Rs. 5,100.
The District contains two hospitals with 52 beds, and three dis-
pensaries. Excluding the figures for two of the latter, 24,316 cases
were treated in 1903, of whom 2,120 were in-patients, and 1,121 opera-
tions were performed. Of a total income of Rs. 13,500, municipal
funds provided Rs. 6,700, the District cess fund Rs. 1,500, and town
funds Rs. 2,800.
96 PEGU DISTRICT
Vaccination is compulsory only within municipal limits. In 1903-4
the number of successful vaccinations was 10,167, representing 30 per
1,000 of the population.
[H. Des Voeux, Settlement Report (1899); W. E. Lowry, Settle-
ment Reports (1900 and 1901); W. V. Wallace. Settlement Report
(1902).]
Pegu Subdivision. — Subdivision of Pegu District, Lower Burma,
consisting of the Hlegu, Kawa, and Payagale townships.
Pegu Town. — Head-quarters of Pegu District, in the Pegu Division
of Lower Burma, situated in 17° 20'' N. and 96° 29' E., on the railway,
47 miles north-east of Rangoon. The town stands on the banks of
a river bearing the same name, and partly on a ridge which forms the
extremity of a long spur of the Pegu Yoma. Its population at each of
the last four enumerations was: (1872) 4,416, (1881) 5,891, (1891)
10,762, and (1901) 14,132. Its increase during the past thirty years
has been steady, though it seems probable that it will in the future owe
its reputation rather to its antiquity and historical associations than
to its commercial importance. The majority of the inhabitants are
Buddhists. Pegu, doubtless, originally derived its importance from the
fact that it was situated at the highest navigable point of a perennial
river, which is easily reached from all points of the rich rice plain
on the east, and which flows directly past Rangoon, the principal
port of the country. In far distant times the rising ground where
the town now stands was almost certainly situated on the sea-coast ;
and the legend goes that Hanthawaddy {a term originally applied
to a considerable tract of country in the neighbourhood of Pegu)
was the name given to the spot where the geese {hintha), like the
ark on Mount Ararat, first settled after the retirement of the
waters.
Pegu has for centuries been connected with the Talaings or Peguans,
who from the commencement of the historical period till comparatively
modern times were the dominant nationality in the southern portion of
what is now Burma. Thaton was the earliest known Talaing capital.
It is said to have been in a.d. 573 that the Peguans established them-
selves in Pegu. The town first became known to the outside world,
however, in the days when the Toungoo dynasty of Burmese kings
ruled in it. It is described by European travellers in the sixteenth
century as of great size and magnificence. Cesare de' Federici, who
visited it in the latter portion of the sixteenth century while it was
the capital of the Toungoo kings, has given a detailed description of its
glories. When Alaungpaya overran and conquered Pegu in the middle
of the eighteenth century, he employed every means to efface all traces
of Talaing nationality, destroying every house in the town and dis-
persing the inhabitants. His fifth son Bodawpaya, who succeeded in
PEGU TOWN 97
1 78 1, pursued a different policy, and in his time the seat of the local
government was for some time transferred from Rangoon to Pegu. The
town figured in both the first and second Burmese Wars. In the
second War it was twice captured, and was the scene of a good deal of
fighting.
The present town consists of two portions, the areas within and with-
out the four walls by which the old town was encompassed. In general
plan and configuration it may be compared more closely to Ava than to
any of the other royal residences. On the top of the walls, which are
about 40 feet wide, are built the residences of the European oflicials,
and under the shade of the mango and other fruit trees which stud
the slopes there is a delightful retreat from the surrounding heat and
glare. Between the western face of the old fortifications and the river
are the bazar and main portion of the native town, while in the centre
of the enclosure, towering to a height of 324 feet, is the golden cone of
the Shwemawdaw pagoda, one of the most remarkable buildings in
Burma, and an object of greater veneration to the Takings than even
the Shwedagon pagoda at Rangoon. The shrine owes nothing to its
site, but in symmetry of design and beauty of structure it is perhaps
unrivalled. Along the roads in this part of the town are the principal
Government buildings and private houses, the courthouses, municipal
office, circuit-house, and school, while across the river stretches an iron
double-girder bridge. This was originally intended for Akyab town, but
fortunately for Pegu it was found too short for the purpose for which
it was required there. Farther to the west, beyond the railway, and
about a mile from the river, is a gigantic recumbent image of Buddha
called the Shinbinthalyaung, one of the most interesting monuments
in the Province.
The management of the town has, since 1883, been vested in a
municipal committee. Between 1890 and 1900 the income of the
municipality averaged Rs. 48,000 yearly. In 1903-4 it was Rs. 1,14,000.
Fees from bazars and slaughter-houses yield about half of the receipts,
while direct taxation, including levies on account of conservancy
and lighting, produces nearly Rs. 20,000. The expenditure, which
during the decade averaged Rs. 51,000, amounted to Rs. 1,01,000 in
1903-4. The chief objects on which money is expended are edu-
cation (Rs. 4,000), conservancy (Rs. 16,000), public works (Rs. 22,000),
hospital (Rs. 20,000), and general establishment (Rs. 8,000). The
principal problems that the committee has to solve are the provision
of a water-supply, the setting on foot of an adequate scheme of con-
servancy, and the improvement of the drainage system. The first of
these is very difficult. The water of the river is not fit for drinking
purposes, and that obtained from shallow wells, sunk in different places,
has, on analysis, been found impregnated with noxious germs. An
98 PEGU TOWN
attempt was made to form a reservoir in a portion of the old moat,
and to this end several houses were expropriated from sites on its
banks ; but this scheme was doomed to failure, owing to the discovery
of impurities in the moat water. The town, which has in many parts
a subsoil of laterite, and slopes gently down to the banks of the river,
has a good natural drainage, but this requires much artificial assistance
in the congested portions near the bazar. The masonry drains at
present existing are inadequate, and a considerable outlay will be
needed for their extension and improvement.
The bazar claims notice as being the hive round which the native
inhabitants swarm from the first break of dawn until long after midday.
The main portion of the building consists of five sheds, with brick walls
and shingle roof of little architectural value. It is perhaps due to their
proximity to the river that these buildings have escaped for so many
years destruction by fire. Next to the bazar the favourite rendezvous
is the bank of the canal which has been constructed to join the main
Sittang Canal near Thanatpin. The traffic along this waterway is so
great that, in their efforts to crush competition and continue a mono-
poly, the principal launch-owners have even conveyed passengers
without charge. In the carrying trade by steam-launch, by Chinese
sampan, and by the long Chittagong boat, which is now so popular
in the delta, the Burman has practically ceased to compete. The
town possesses no industries of importance. Pottery and silver-work
are turned out, and two small rice-mills are at work. By no means
the least important institution in the town is the hospital, with 36
beds. It is built in three blocks, one for the public generally, a
second for the offices and storerooms, and a third for members of
the military police.
Pegu River. — River of Burma, rising in the north-west corner
of Pegu District on the eastern slopes of the Pegu Yoma, and flowing
into the Rangoon River immediately east of the city of Rangoon,
about 180 miles from its source. For the first two-thirds of its course
it runs in a south-easterly, and for the last third in a south-westerly
direction. The only town of importance on its banks is Pegu, one
of the ancient capitals of the Talaing kingdom, now the head-quarters
of a District, where the stream is crossed by a substantial iron bridge.
Below Pegu the river is connected with the Sittang river on the east by
the Pegu-Sittang Canal, a navigation channel constructed to facilitate
communication between Rangoon and the Sittang. From Pegu to
Rangoon the stream flows through a dead level in a winding channel
of no great breadth. At its mouth the river is about a mile wide.
Here it separates the eastern portion of the city of Rangoon from
Syriam, which was once fiimous as a trading centre and has of late
shown signs of regaining a portion of its lost commercial importance.
PEGU YOMA 99
The Pegu river is navigable for light-draught steamers as high as Pegu
during the rainy season.
Pegu-Sittang Canal. — A navigable canal in Pegu District, Lower
Burma, running generally north-east and south-west and connecting
the Pegu and Sittang rivers. The canal was originally begun in
1873-4, and consisted in the first instance of the length from Tawa, a
few miles due south of the town of Pegu, to a village called Minywa.
This section joined the Paingkyun and Kyasu creeks ; and, as the
former flows into the Pegu river and the latter into the Sittang, these
rivers were thus connected. In 1878 a lock was built at Tawa, while
the Kyasu creek was closed and the canal was extended to Myitkyo,
a village in Pegu District on the Sittang, where another lock was
built. A branch running from Pegu south-eastwards into the main
canal at Pagannyaungbin was dug in 1883. The length of the canal
from Tawa to Myitkyo is 38 miles, and the length of the branch is
8 miles. Tolls are levied for the use of the canal by boats or rafts,
yielding about a lakh in 1903-4. The total capital expenditure on
the work has been about 44 lakhs. A lock at Minywa, 14^ miles
from Tawa, is under construction, which, when completed, will esta-
blish communication with the Sittang 47 miles below Myitkyo. In
the construction of the canal advantage was taken of the numerous
natural channels which existed. The canal is consequently very
irregular in trace and in bed-width. There are four escapes, at Kyaik-
padaing, at Pagannyaungbin, at Minywa, and at Abya. The canal is
protected from the floods of the Sittang by the Pagaing embankment,
which extends from Myitkyo to Tazon, and from the floods of the
Pegu river by the Pegu river embankment. A third barrier, from
Zwebat to Moyingyi on the Pagaing embankment, forms a reservoir
which will serve to feed the canal in the dry season. The Pagaing
embankment incidentally renders cultivation of a large area of land
possible, and the Zwebat-Moyingyi embankment will bring further
areas under the plough.
Pegu Yoma. — A chain of hills in Burma, to the east of the
Irrawaddy, running north and south and forming the watershed be-
tween the Irrawaddy and the vSittang, from about 17° 20' to 20° N.
Like the last-named river, its northern end is situated in the District
of Yamethin and its southerly limit lies a little to the north of
Rangoon ; in fact it may be said to extend, in the shape of undu-
lating ridges, into Rangoon itself, one of its final mounds being
crowned by the great golden Shwedagon pagoda, which lies to the
north of the city. The total length of the chain is about 200 miles ;
and its crests separate the Districts of Magwe, Thayetmyo, Prome,
Tharrawaddy, and Hanthawaddy on the west from those of Yamethin,
Toungoo, and Pegu on the east. From its eastern slopes flow the Pegu
loo PEGU YOMA
river and several of the tributaries of the Sittang, while to the west it
sends down no stream of importance, but its more southerly hills hold
the springs of the various watercourses that swell the volume of the
Myitmaka or Hlaing river, upon the banks of which Rangoon is built.
The Yoma is of no great height, its loftiest peak being only about
2,000 feet above the level of the sea, but it is steep and rugged. Its
geological structure is simple. The beds composing it have been
thrown into gentle broad synclines and anticlines, and their sands and
shales probably overlie conformably the Nummulitics on the eastern
slopes of the Arakan Yoma. A portion of the range is no doubt
of miocene age, but it is probable that representatives of other geo-
logical groups are present in it. The forests are rich in teak and other
valuable timber, the bulk of which is floated down the Myitmaka to
Rangoon. The inhabitants of the Yoma are for the most part Karens ;
but in the north, on the borders of Prome, Magwe, Toungoo, and
Thayetmyo Districts, there are a few villages of Chins, the only known
representatives of the race in any strength to the east of the Irrawaddy.
They appear to have come from the Arakan Yoma, but the date of
their migration is doubtful.
Pehowa. — Ancient town and place of pilgrimage in the Kaithal
tahsll of Karnal District, Punjab, situated in 29° 59' N. and 76° 35' E.,
on the sacred SaraswatI river, 16 miles west of Thanesar. It lies
in Kuruksh?:tra, and its name is a corruption of the Sanskrit
Prithudaka, the ' pool of Prithu,' the son of Raja Vena. Two inscrip-
tions dating from the end of the ninth century a.d., found at Pehowa,
show that it was then included in the dominions of Bhoja and his son
Mehendrapala, kings of Kanauj. The more important inscription
records the erection of a triple temple to Vishnu by a Tomar family ;
but no traces of ancient buildings remain, the modern shrines having
been erected within the last century. After the rise of the Sikhs to
power Pehowa came into the possession of the Bhais of Kaithal, whose
palace is now used as a resthouse ; but with Kaithal it lapsed to the
British Government, and has since lost its importance, the population
having decreased from 3,408 in 1881 to 2,080 in 1901. It is still,
however, a place of pilgrimage ; and close to it are the temples of
Pirthudakeshwar or Pirthuveshwar, built by the Marathas during their
supremacy in honour of the goddess Saraswati (Sarsuti) and of Swami
Kartik. The latter is said to have been originally founded before
the war of the Mahabharata in honour of the war-god Kartaya. The
town has a dispensary.
Peikthano (or Paikthado). — Ancient capital in Upper Burma.
See Magwe District.
Feint. — Formerly a Native State, and now a tdhika of Nasik Dis-
trict, Bombay, lying between 20° \' and 20° 32' N. and 73° 15' and
PEN TALUK A loi
73° 39' E., with an area of 432 square miles. There are 227 villages,
but no town. The head-quarters are at Peint. The population in
1901 was 53,392, compared with 59,601 in 1891. The density, 124
persons per square mile, is below the District average. The demand
for land revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 37,000, and for cesses Rs. 2,500.
In both climate and appearance the tdluka resembles the Konkan.
A maze of hill and valley, except for some rice-fields and patches
of rough hill-side cultivation, Peint is covered over its whole area
with timber, brushwood, and grass. Towards the north, a prominent
range of hills passing westwards at right angles to the main line
of the Western Ghats gives a distinct character to the landscape.
But over the rest of the country ranges of small hills starting up
on all sides crowd together in the wildest confusion, with a general
south-westerly direction, to within 20 miles of the sea-coast, and
divide the valleys of the Daman and Par rivers. The heavy rainfall,
which averages 87 inches annually, the thick forest vegetation, great
variations of temperature, and a certain heaviness of the atmosphere
combine to make the tract unhealthy. The prevailing diseases are
fever and ague. The population consists almost entirely of forest
and hill tribes, nominally Hindus, poor and ignorant, unsettled in
their habits, and much given to the use of intoxicating spirits. Their
language is a corrupt Marathi, with a large mixture of Gujarat! words.
A large part of Peint is well suited for grazing, and considerable
numbers of cattle and sheep are exported. The chief products are
timber of various kinds (including bamboos), rice, ndchni, oilseeds,
beeswax, honey, stag-horn, and hides.
The ruling family, by descent Rajputs of the Puar tribe, adopted
many generations back the family name of Dalvi. A branch of the
family embraced Islam in the time of Aurangzeb. During the Maratha
supremacy the Peint estates were for a long period placed under
attachment by the Peshwas. In reward for services rendered in
1 818, the family were reinstated in their former position by the
British Government. The last chief, Abdul Momin alias Lakshadir
Dalpat Rao III, died in 1837, leaving only a legitimate daughter,
Begam Nur Jahan. The State was placed under British management
on the death of the last male chief, but the Begam was allowed a life
pension of Rs. 6,000 a year, in addition to one-third of the surplus
revenues of the State. On her death in 1878, the State finally lapsed
to the British Government. Harsul, the former place of residence
of the Begam, is situated in 20° 9' N. and 73° 30' E.
Pempa La. — Pass in the State of Bhutan, situated in 2 7°39'N. and
89° 15' E.
Pen Taluka.— North-eastern tahtka of Kolaba District, Bombay,
lying between 18° 28' and 18° 50' N. and 73° and 73° 22' E., with
I02 PEN TALUKA
an area of 293 square miles, including the petty subdivision {petha)
of Nagothana. It contains one town, Pen (population, 9,229), its
head-quarters; and 198 villages. The population in 1901 was 76,559,
compared with 74,516 in 1891. The density, 261 persons per square
mile, is below the District average. The demand for land revenue
in 1903-4 was 1-22 lakhs, and for cesses Rs. 8,000. The chief
river is the Amba, of which the water is sweet and drinkable from
June until September. The prevailing soils are reddish and black.
A large area of tidal swamp is used as salt-pans. The climate is
generally healthy. The annual rainfall averages 121 inches.
Pen Town. — Head-quarters of the tdluka of the same name in
Kolaba District, Bombay, situated in 18° 44' N. and 73° 6' E.,
16 miles east-by-north of Alibag. Population (1901), 9,229. It has
been a municipality since 1865, having an average income during'
the decade ending 1901 of Rs. 14,000. In 1903-4 the income was
Rs. 15,500. Pen is connected with the Deccan by the Konkan road
and the Bor Pass. Steamers from Bombay call daily at Dharamtar
ferry on the Amba river, 5 miles distant ; and cargo boats up to
50 tons burden come to Antora or Pen bandar, a mile and a half
distant, at spring tides. The neap tide port. Bang bandar, is 4 miles
below Pen. In 1903-4 the exports amounted to 3-2 1 lakhs and the
imports to 3-70 lakhs. Pen is one of the two ports forming the Sakse
(Sankshi) customs division. The water-works were constructed in 1876
at a cost of Rs. 28,000. Pen contains a dispensary, a middle school,
and five other schools.
Pendhat. — Village in the Mustafabad tahsll of Mainpurl District,
United Provinces, situated in 27° 21' N. and 78° 36' E., 29 miles
north-west of Mainpurl town. Population (1901), 2,423. It is noted
for the worship of Jokhaiya, a deity believed by the lower classes
in the Doab to have great powers. Jokhaiya was a BhangT, who,
according to tradition, fell in the war between PrithvvT Raj of Delhi
and Jai Chand of Kanauj. The shrine is visited annually by thou-
sands of pilgrims in the hope of obtaining offspring or an easy
childbirth.
Pendur. — Town in the Malvan taluka of Ratnagiri District, Bom-
bay, situated in r6° 3' N. and 73° 42' E. Population (1901), 5,364.
Penganga. — River of Berar, having its source in the hills beyond
Deulghat, on the western border of Buldana District, in 20° 31' N. and
76° 2' E. After flowing in a south-easterly direction through this
District and a portion of Akola, it forms the southern boundary of
Berar, joining the Wardha which forms the eastern boundary of the
province, at Jugad, in the south-eastern corner of Yeotmal District
(19° 52' N. and 79° \\' E.). The course of the Penganga, from
its source to the point where it joins the Wardha, exceeds 200
PENNER ro3
miles in length ; and its principal tributaries are the Pus, the Arna
and Aran, which unite before they flow into it, the Chandrabhaga,
the Waghari, which displays on its banks a curious laminated forma-
tion of Purana sandstone, and the Vaidarbha, which is the adjec-
tival form of the name of the old kingdom of heroic times. All
these tributaries flow into the Penganga from the north.
Pennahobilam. — Village in the Gooty taluk of Anantapur District,
Madras, situated in 14° 52^ N. and 77° 19' E. Population (1901),
only three persons. It stands on the bank of the Penner river just
where this turns eastwards for the first time. The channel at this
point is narrow and rocky. The village is a sacred place of pilgrimage,
as it contains a famous temple to Narasimha, the man-lion incarnation
of Vishnu. This building is not architecturally remarkable, much of
it being made only of plaster ; but it is most picturesquely situated
on rising ground among fine trees, under which stand a crowd of
buildings for the accommodatiom of pilgrims.
Penner {Uttara Pindkini ox Northern Pennar). — River of Southern
India which rises on Channarayan-betta, to the north-west of Nandi-
droog in the Kolar District of Mysore, and running north-west past
Goribidnur, enters the Anantapur District of Madras, at one point
again crossing Mysore in a projecting part of the Pavugada taluk
(Tumkur District). Some distance north of Anantapur it turns to the
east, and passing through Cuddapah and Nellore Districts, falls into
the sea below Nellore town. Its tributaries from Mysore are the
Jayamangali, Chitravati, and Papaghni.
In Anantapur District the Penner runs for the most part in a wide
and sandy bed. It comes down in sudden freshes (generally in
October and November) for two or three days at a time, and then
as quickly dries up again. In Cuddapah it is joined on its right bank
by the Chitravati, and the two streams have forced a passage for them-
selves through the picturesque gorge of Gandikota, about a mile
long and 300 feet deep. Lower down the Papaghni flows into it, and
thereafter, as it winds through the Eastern Ghats, its course again
becomes wild and beautiful.
The river enters Nellore District through a narrow gap in the Ghats
near Somasila, and thenceforward is for the first time rendered useful
for irrigation. From Somasila to Sangam, a distance of 25 miles,
it waters about 5,000 acres from inundation channels. At Sangam
it is crossed by a dam, built in 1886, which is 4,072 feet long. On
the left bank of the river this dam supplies the great Kanigiri reservoir,
and thus irrigates 86,000 acres ; and a channel is being constructed
from it on the right bank, which will fill the Nellore reservoir and
water 10,000 more. Lower down the river, at Nellore town, a dam
constructed in 1855 was repaired and brought into its present shape
ro4 PENNER
by Sir A. Cotton in 1858. The channels from it supply 64,000 acres
of land on the right bank. Altogether the river irrigates 155,000 acres
in this District, yielding a revenue of 31 lakhs, or about 5^ per cent,
upon the capital of 61 lakhs which has been invested. The great
Tungabhadra Project now in contemplation proposes to turn much
of the surplus water of the Tungabhadra into the Penner, and this
water would be utilized in Nellore District by constructing a high
dam across the narrow gap at Somasila and forming a huge reservoir
there. It is calculated that channels from this on both sides of the
river would command 500,000 acres.
The Penner is crossed by the Madras Railway at Penner u in
Anantapur District, and by the East Coast section of the same rail-
way at Nellore, near its mouth.
Penukonda Subdivision. — Subdivision of Anantapur District,
Madras, consisting of the Penukonda, Dharmavaram, MadakasTra,
and HiNDUPUR taluks.
Penukonda Taluk. — Southern taluk of Anantapur District, Madras,
lying between 13° 54' and 14° 22' N. and 77° 20' and 78° 2' E., with
an area of 677 square miles. The population in 1901 was 92,482,
compared with 81,104 in 1891. The taluk contains 96 villages and
one town, Penukonda ('big hill') (population, 6,806), the head-
quarters, situated at the base of a large hill from which it takes its
name. It is a place of historical importance, having become the
capital of the fallen Vijayanagar monarch after his overthrow in 1565
at the battle of Talikota. The demand for land revenue and cesses in
1903-4 amounted to Rs. 1,56,000. It is the most hilly tdhik in the
District, and much of it is consequently quite unfit for cultivation.
There is no black soil, and red and gravelly soils predominate. The
unirrigated crops are cholam and horse-gram, and the irrigated staples
are rice, sugar-cane, and some rdgi. The Penner river flows along its
western and the Chitravati along its eastern boundary. At Bukka-
patnam the latter river has been dammed up and a very large tank
formed ; but the Penner is at present little utilized for irrigation,
though a project for damming it has been proposed. Seven other
tanks irrigate an area of more than 300 acres each.
Penukonda Town. — Head-quarters of the subdivision and taluk
of the same name in Anantapur District, Madras, situated in 14° 5' N.
and 77° 36' E. Population (1901), 6,806. It is picturesquely placed
at the foot of a steep, rugged, and strongly fortified hill over 3,000 feet
in height, on the edge of an uneven plain which is flanked and crossed
by smaller elevations of manifold shapes and sizes. From the hill, and
connected with it at both ends, a semicircular line of massive fortifica-
tions stretches out for some distance into the plain, and is washed on
its southern side by a considerable tank. Partly within and partly
PENUKONDA TOWN 105
outside this line is the present town ; and the remains of the ancient
buildings on the lower ground, the towers and ?/iantapams on the
slopes of the hill, and the trees and the green crops of the cultivated
patches combine to make a very pleasant picture, while an air of
departed greatness is afforded by the numerous ruins and fragments
of carved stone which lie about on every side. The view of the town
and its surroundings from the top of the hill is well worth the climb.
According to tradition, it was founded by one Kriyasakti Udaiyar.
The earliest inscription, on the northern gate of the fort, says that
king Bukka I of Vijayanagar entrusted the province of Penukonda to
his son Vira Virupanna Udaiyar, in whose time the fort was built.
Thus at the very beginning of the rule of the Vijayanagar dynasty the
place was the residence of one of its princes. It evidently continued
for many years to be one of the chief strongholds of the line ; and
Krishna Deva, the greatest of its kings, is declared to have made it
his residence for a period. When the Vijayanagar power was over-
thrown by the Musalmans at the battle of Talikota, it was to Penu-
konda that the king fled, taking with him a few followers and the
treasures of his palace. The place then became the head-quarters
of what remained of the fallen empire. In 1585 the king moved to
Chandragiri in North Arcot, and then Penukonda was ruled by local
governors. In 1577 the Sultan of Bijapur blockaded it closely, but
a part of his troops were bought off and the siege failed. In 1589 the
Sultan of Golconda made another attempt on it, but it was most
heroically defended by Jagadeva Raya, and the Musalmans eventually
retreated. It fell at last to the Sultan of Bijapur in 1652, the governor,
so says tradition, being bought over. About a century later it became
part of the possessions of Morari Rao, and from him it was taken
by Haidar All in 1762. It remained a Mysore possession, with some
slight interruptions, until the death of Tipu in 1799.
Of the many buildings in and about the town the most handsome
is the Sher Khan mosque, which is constructed of dark green granite
with black hornblende mouldings, and contains some excellent carving.
Both this and another mosque in the fort have clearly been at one
time Hindu temples. Babayya's dargdh is another well-known Muham-
madan institution. Babayya, says the legend, was a prince who turned
fakir. His spiritual guide gave him a twig, and told him to plant it
wherever he stopped and to take up his residence at the place at which
it budded. It budded at Penukonda, and the fakir and his following
accordingly established themselves in the chief Hindu temple there.
News of the sacrilege having been brought to the ruler of the place,
he put the fakir and the priest of the temple through several tests
to see which of them was the more holy man. In all of these the
fakir was victorious, and the king accordingly allowed him to remain
io6 PENUKONDA TOWN
in the temple. The dargdh is now a great place of pilgrimage for
Musalmans and the centre of an organization oi fakirs which extends
throughout the Presidency.
The chief Hindu building in Penukonda is the Gagana Mahal or
palace. It is a handsome two-storeyed erection, possessing a tower
from which a good view of the town is obtained. It is built in the
same Hindu-Saracenic style which was also adopted in the palace
buildings at Vijayanagar.
Penukonda now contains the offices usual to the head-quarters of
a subdivision and a taluk, and is the station of a District Munsif.
It is also of some importance from a commercial point of view, and
takes the lead in all intellectual matters in the South of the District.
Perambakkam. — Village in the Conjeeveram taluk of Chingleput
District, Madras, situated in 12° 51' N. and 79° 35' E., about 14 miles
north-west of Conjeeveram town. Population (1901), 1,117. Near
here occurred, in 1780, the defeat of Colonel Baillie's force by Haidar
All, one of the most severe reverses that ever befell the British arms
in India. Sir Hector Munro, the Madras Commander-in-Chief, had
directed Baillie, who had 2,800 men with him, to meet him at Con-
jeeveram. Haidar received intelligence of the plan and set out to
intercept the force. Baillie thereupon sent to Sir Hector for reinforce-
ments, and a detachment was dispatched to him which increased his
strength to 3,700 men. Baillie, however, delayed too long in setting
out, and was caught by the whole of Haidar's army in a defile studded
with palmyra palms. Here his force was subjected to a cross-fire from
fifty guns. Baillie and most of his officers were soon w^ounded, and
eventually the blowing up of two tumbrils of gunpowder in the middle
of the square in which the troops were formed started a panic. The
British, however, concentrated the small remnant of their men on
a little eminence, and repulsed thirteen attacks of the enemy during
another hour and a half. Baillie then surrendered, and indiscriminate
slaughter of the prisoners was prevented by French officers serving in
Haidar's army. In the Darya Daulat, Haidar's garden-house on the
island of Seringapatam, is a fresco depicting this defeat in quaint
native fashion, an exploding tumbril being given a prominent place
in the composition. This has been renovated and is in excellent
preservation.
[A full account of the battle is to be found in Lives of the Lindsays
(vol. iii, pp. 250-60), contributed by the Hon. John Lindsay, who was
one of those taken prisoners to Seringapatam.]
Perambalur. — Northern taluk of Trichinopoly District, Madras,
lying between 10° 55' and 11° 32' N. and 78° 40' and 79° 10' E., to
the south of the Vellar river, with an area of 674 square miles. The
head-quarters are at the village of the same name. The population in
PERIM T07
1901 was 204,257, compared with 195,006 in 1891. The number of
villages is 128. The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4
amounted to Rs. 4,01,000. The general aspect of the taluk is flat,
except in the north-west, where the Pachaimalais, which separate it
from Musiri, run for a short distance into it. From these hills, up to
and along the banks of the Vellar, stretches a continuous plain of black
cotton soil in which are large tracts of stiff black clay. In the southern
portion the country is rocky, and the soil as a rule poor. Channels
from the Vellar and its t\To affluents the Kallar and Chinnar irrigate
a part of the taluk, but otherwise the irrigated crops depend upon tanks
and wells. The annual rainfall is usually the highest in the District,
averaging 39 inches. The area still available for cultivation is large,
being nearly two-fifths of the total unoccupied area in the District.
Perambur. — Suburb of Madras City.
Periakulam. — Tdink and town in Madura District, Madras. See
Perivakulam.
Periapatam. — Village in Mysore District, Mysore. Sec Piriya-
PATNA.
Perim (i). — Island in Ahmadabad District, Bombay. See Piram.
Perim (2). — Island in the narrowest part of the Straits of Bab-el-
Mandeb, situated in 12° 40' N. and 43° 23' E., distant from the
Arabian coast nearly \\ miles, and from the African coast 11 miles;
greatest length, 3^ miles ; average width, about i^ miles ; circumference
(following the sinuosities of the coast-line), probably more than 30 miles ;
area, 5 square miles. The island is administered along with Aden ; and
the following account of it is taken from Captain F. M. Hunter's
Statistical Account of Adeti (1877), pp. 17 1-2: —
' Perim is called by the author of the Periplus the island of Diodorus,
and is known among the Arabs as Mayoon. The formation is purely
volcanic, and consists of long, low, and gradually sloping ranges of
hills, surrounding a capacious harbour, about a mile and a half in
length, half a mile in breadth, and with a varying depth of from 4 to 6
fathoms in the best anchorages. The hills were formerly intersected
by bays and indentations, which in the course of time have been filled
up with coral and sand, and are now low plains, scantily covered with
salsola, sea-lavender, wild mignonette, and other {)lants which delight
in a soft sandy soil. These plains occupy about one-fourth of the
island, and occur principally on the north side. *■ The rocks, which are
all igneous, are nowhere exposed, save where they dip perpendicularly
into the sea ; they are covered with a layer of volcanic mud of from
two to six feet in depth, above which is another layer of loose boulders,
or masses of black vesicular lava, in some places so thickly set as to
resemble a rude pavement. The highest point of the island is 245 feet
above the level of the sea. All endeavours to find water have failed,
and but a scanty supply is procurable from the adjacent coasts. Water-
tanks were constructed, which used to be chiefly supplied from Aden,
VOL. XX. H
io8 PERIM
and it was proposed to erect reservoirs to collect the rain ; but, as at
Aden, a condensing apparatus was found more suitable.
' Perim has never been permanently occupied by any nation save the
British. Albuquerque landed upon it in 15 13 on his return from
the Red Sea, and, having erected a high cross on an eminence, called
the island Vera Cruz. It wajs again occupied for a short time by the
pirates who frequented the mouth of the Red Sea, and who amassed
considerable booty by plundering the native vessels engaged in the
Indian trade. They formed a project of settling here and erecting
strong fortifications ; but having with much labour dug through the
solid rock to a depth of fifteen fathoms in a fruitless search for water,
they abandoned their design, and removed to Mary's Island, on the
east side of Madagascar.
' In 1799 Perim was taken possession of by the East India Company ;
and a force under Lieutenant-Colonel Murray was sent from Bombay
to garrison it, with the view of preventing the French troops, then
engaged in the occupation of Egypt, from proceeding to India to effect
a junction with Tipu Sultan. But it was deemed untenable as a military
position, and the Straits were too . broad to be commanded by any
batteries on the shore ; the troops were accordingly withdrawn.
' In consequence of increasing steam navigation in the Red Sea,
the attention of the Indian Government was directed to the necessity
of a lighthouse to facilitate the navigation of the Straits. Perim was
consequently reoccupied in the beginning of 1857. The lighthouse
was completed in 1861, and quarters were also built for a detachment
of native infantry, 50 strong, who garrison the island. The detachment
is relieved every two months when practicable.'
The garrison is still maintained on the island, which has a population
(1901) of 1,236, and is provided with a police force of 10 men. The
island contains a coal depot, a condenser producing annually 170,000
gallons of water, and two lighthouses. An Assistant Resident with
first-class magisterial powers is stationed here.
[J. S. King, Description a?id History of the British Outpost of Perim
(1887).]
Periyakulam Taluk. —Taluk in the Dindigul subdivision of
Madura District, Madras, lying in the south-west corner of the Dis-
trict, between 9° 32'' and 10° 15' N. and 77° ii' and 77° 51' E., with
an area of 1,520 square miles. The population in 1901 was 320,098,
compared with 263,253 in 1891. The taluk contains three towns,
Periyakulam (population, 17,960), the head-quarters, Bodinayak-
KANUR (22,209), ^'""d Uttamapalaiyam (10,009); and 83 villages.
The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to
Rs. 3,75,000, 2C(\^ peshkash from zaminddri estates to Rs. 32,000. The
taluk, compared with other parts of the District, is sparsely populated.
Through it flow the Vaigai and Suruli rivers, the latter of which receives
the water of the Periyar Project, and the tributary rivers Teni and Vara-
hanadl. On three sides it is hemmed in by hills — on the west by the
THE PERIYAR PROJECT T09
Western Ghats, on the north by the Pahii Hills, and on the south
by the smaller Andipatti range, A large valley running up into the
Western Ghats, known as the Kambam Valley, is one of the pleasantest
parts of the District.
Periyakulam Town. — Head-quarters of the taluk of the same
name in Madura District, Madras, situated in 10° 7' N. and 77° t^t^' E.,
on the banks of the Varahanadl, about 45 miles west of Madura city
and 35 miles south-west of Dindigul. Population (1901), 17,960.
The town was created a municipality in 1886. The receipts and
expenditure during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 15,600
and Rs. 15,400 respectively. In 1903-4 the income, most of which
was derived from tolls and the taxes on land and houses, was
Rs. 19,800; and the expenditure was Rs. 20,500. A scheme for
supplying water is under consideration. The town is an important
centre for the trade of the Kambam Valley, and, being distant only
5 miles from the foot of the ghat by which the ascent is made to
Kodaikanal, has a considerable trade in grain and fruit with that
place and the adjoining hill villages.
Periyar Project, The. — The Periyar ('big river') is a river of
Southern India which rises on the western side of the range of the
Western Ghats, and flows down to the Arabian Sea through the
Native State of Travancore. The area through which it passes is
within the zone of the heaviest rainfall in the south of India, and
the crops there are grown by the aid of rain alone and without
irrigation. Consequently the water of the Periyar ran uselessly to
the sea. The great project to which the river has given its name
consists in the construction of a huge masonry dam across the upper
waters of the river, in Travancore territory, forming a great lake, and
taking the water of this lake through a tunnel in the Western Ghats
across to the opposite, or eastern, slope of that range to supply the
arid areas which lie immediately below it on that side. In short,
a great river which formerly ran down one side of a mountain range
has been bidden to turn back and flow down the other side of it.
The lake has an area of 8,000 acres in Travancore territory, which
land has been rented from that State for Rs. 40,000 per annum. The
height of the dam, which is situated in 9° 32' N. and 77^^ 7'' E., is
173 feet, and it is made of solid masonry throughout. The tunnel
through the Ghats is 5,704 feet long, and the open cutting or
debouchure on the northern side which leads to it from the lake
adds 500 feet to its length. The tunnel proper has an entrance
sluice 12 feet wide by 7^ feet high and a gradient of i in 75, and
is drilled through hard granite. The bed of the Vaigai river is
utilized for some distance to carry the water to places where it
is wanted, and the scheme includes in addition 36 miles of main
H 2
no THE PERIYAR PROJECT
canal and 190 miles of distributaries. Up to 1904 the total capital
cost of the Project had been 92 lakhs.
The scheme was suggested as early as the commencement of last
century, but was at first thought to be chimerical. It was revived
in 1862, but it was not until 1882 that a beginning was seriously
made with the preparation of estimates for the Project. The success
of the work was mainly due to the efforts of Colonel Pennycuick,
R.E., CLE., Chief Engineer to the Madras Government. It was
carried to completion in the face of enormous difficulties, the country
being entirely uninhabited and most inaccessible, the climate infected
with deadly malaria, the difficulty of getting labour and transport
immense ; and many of the technical problems involved in the work
were of an entirely new description. The foundations of the dam
were carried away time after time before they had proceeded suffi-
ciently to be out of the reach of floods, and unforeseen difficulties
and trials had constantly to be met and overcome. The official
History of the Project, by Mr. A. T. Mackenzie, one of the staff of
engineers who carried it to completion, gives a full account of the
undertaking and the manner in which it was effected.
It is too soon as yet to judge of the financial result of the Project,
as the whole of the land commanded has not yet been prepared for
' wet ' cultivation by the ryots and so cannot be supplied with water.
At the end of 1903-4 the total area of land irrigated, including
second-crop cultivation, was 142,000 acres, and the net revenue was
Rs, 3,55,000, giving a profit of 3-86 per cent, on the capital outlay.
The total cultivable area commanded by the main canal and its twelve
branches is 121,000 acres, including land of all classes. The supply
available is probably sufficient for only about 111,000 acres; and the
most important problem that now remains is concerned with the
extension of the system, by forming a second reservoir in which to
store the surplus water which still runs to waste.
Peruah. — Ruins in Malda District, Eastern Bengal and Assam.
See Pandua.
Perur. — Village in the District and taluk of Coimbatore, Madras,
situated in 10° 58' N, and 76° 56' E,, 4 miles from Coimbatore city.
Population (1901), 1,636. It is sometimes called Chidambaram, the
prefix Mel (western) being added to distinguish it from Kll (eastern)
Chidambaram in South Arcot. It contains a remarkable Hindu
temple of great sanctity, which enjoys the distinction, shared by few
others, that Tipii spared both its buildings and its lands. Fergusson
considers' the date of the erection to be about the beginning of the
eighteenth century, as a figure of a soldier carrying a matchlock is
sculptured in the porch in front of the shrine, and his costume and
^ History of Indian Architecture (1876), pp, 370-2.
PESHAWAR DISTRICT in
the shape of his weapon are exactly those found in contemporary
pictures of the wars of Aurangzeb or the early Marathas. He thinks
that its completion was probably interrupted by the Musalman usurpa-
tion in Mysore. The inner shrine is no doubt much older, as Perur
is a place of ancient sanctity. The modern portion of the temple is
richly sculptured, but in a coarse and clumsy fashion in rough material.
For this reason the effect is disappointing, though the labour bestowed
upon the building must have been immense. The priests declare
that the principal portion of the temple was built by Alagadri Naik,
brother-in-law of Tirumala Naik of Madura (1623-59). An annual
festival in the Tamil month of Margali (December-January) is very
largely attended by the people of this District and of Malabar.
Peshawar District. — District in the North-West Frontier Province,
and the most north-western of the regularly administered Districts in
the Indian Empire. It lies between 33° 43' and 34° 32' N. and
71° 22' and 72° 45' E., with an area of 2,611 square miles. It is
bounded on the east by the Indus, which separates it from the Punjab
District of Attock and from Hazara. On all other sides it is encircled
by mountains, at the foot of which, except on the south-east, the
administrative border runs. These hills are inhabited by independent
tribes, whose territories lie in the following order, beginning from the
north-east corner, where the boundary leaves the river. The Utmanzai,
Gadun, Khudu Khel, and Salarzai clans are hamsdyas of the Bunerwals ;
north of Mardan lies a small piece of Utman Khel country, west of
which is Sam Ranizai sloping up to the Malakand pass ; beyond Sam
Ranizai comes the main Utman Khel country, which stretches as far
as Abazai on the Swat river ; the country between the Swat and Kabul
rivers belongs to the B urban Khel, Halimzai, and Tarakzai Mohmands ;
from the Kabul river to Jamrud at the mouth of the Khyber Pass is
Mullagori country ; the hills between the Khyber and the Kohat Pass
are the abode of the Malikdin and Aka Khel Afridis ; on both sides of
the Kohat Pass live the tribes known as the Pass Afridis, beyond whom
on the south side of the District live the Jowakis, whose territory runs
nearly as far as Cherat. East of Cherat the range is inhabited by
Khattaks, and forms, except for the Khwarra and Zira forest on the
banks of the Indus, part of Kohat District.
To the north-east great spurs, separated by intricate lateral valleys,
run into the District, the Mora, Shakot, and Malakand passes leading
through them into Swat. From the north-west out-
Physical
lying ranges of the Hindu Kush run down the aspects.
western border, loftily isolated peaks to the north
merging in the confused and precipitous heights on the south bank of
the Kabul river. South of the Khyber, the range sinks to a mean level
of 4,000 feet, and at the point where the Kohat pass leads out of the
112 PESHAWAR DISTRICT
District turns sharp to the east, and runs along the south border of the
District to the Indus. On this side the highest points are Cherat,
with an elevation of nearly 4,500 feet, and the Ghaibana Sir, 5,136 feet
above sea-level. The shape of the District is an almost perfect ellipse,
the greatest length of which is 86 miles, its greatest width being
54 miles.
Viewed from a height it appears a vast plateau, whose vivid expanse
of green is in abrupt contrast with the grey precipitous slopes of the
hills which rise sharply from its edge ; but its true formation is that
of a huge basin into which flow the waters from the surrounding hills.
This basin is drained by the Kabul river, which traverses the valley
eastwards from its debouchure through a deep ravine north of the
Khyber Pass until it falls into the Indus above Attock, Throughout
its course the Kabul is joined by countless tributaries, of which the
principal is the Swat ; and before they unite below Prang (Charsadda),
about 24 miles from the hills, these two rivers cover the central part of
the western plain with a perfect network of streams, as each divides
into several channels. The Bara, flowing from the south-west, also
enters the Kabul near its junction with the Swat ; and the united
stream, now known as the Landai, or 'short river,' flows for 12 miles
in a wide bed as far as Naushahra, and thence for 24 miles in a deep
channel to the Indus. Other streams are the Budni, a branch of the
Kabul ; and the KalpanI or Chalpani, the * deceitful water,' which,
rising beyond the Mora pass, receives the drainage of the Yusufzai
plain and falls into the Landai below Naushahra.
Peshawar has not been geologically surveyed, but the general struc-
ture of the District appears to be a continuation westwards of that
of Hazara. Judging from partial traverses and from information of
various kinds, one may say that its northern portions, including the-
hiUs on the northern border, are composed, like Hazara, of meta-
morphic schists and gneissose rocks. Much of the flat plain of
Peshawar and Naushahra and the northern slopes of the Cherat
hills consist of a great slate series with minor limestone and marble
bands, some of which are worked for ornamental purposes. South
of the axis of the Cherat range, the rest of the District is apparently
composed of a medley of folded representatives of Jurassic, Cretaceous,
and Nummulitic formations. They consist of limestones, shales, and
sandstones of marine origin, the general strike of the rock bands
being east and west across the Indus in the direction of Hazara and
Rawalpindi. Much of the valley of Peshawar is covered with sur-
face gravels and alluvium, the deposit of the streams joining the Kabul
river on its way to the Indus ^
^ VV. Waagen, ' Section along the Indus from the Peshawar Valley to the Salt
Range,' Records, Geological Survey of hidia, vol. xvii, pt. iii.
PHYSICAL ASPECTS 113
The District, wherever irrigated, abounds in trees, of which the
mulberry, skiska/fi, willow, tamarisk, and tallow-tree are the most
common. In the drier parts scrub jungle grows freely, but trees are
scarce, the palosi or bcr being the most frequent. The more common
plants are Flacourtia sapida, F. sepiaria, several species of Greivia,
Zizyphus nummtiiaria, Acaci'a Jacquemontii, A. leucophloea, Alhagi
camelonoii, Crotalaria Burhia, Prosopis spicigera, several species of
Tamarix, Akriitfji odoriim, Rhazya stricta, Calotropis procera, Peri-
ploca aphy/Ia, Tecoma undulata, Lycmm europaeum, Wiiha?iia coagu-
lanSy W. somnifera, Nafinoiiwps Ritchieana^ Pagonia, Trihdus, Peganum
Harmala, Calligojium polygonoides. Polygonum aviculare, P. plebeju??i,
Ritmex vesicaritis, Chrozophora plicata, species of Aristida, Anthi-
stt'ria, Cenchrits, and Peufiisetum.
The fauna is meagre. Mdrkhor are found on the Pajja spurs which
jut out from the hills north of Mardan, and occasionally near Cherat,
where uridl are also seen. Wolves and hyenas are now not numerous,
but leopards are still met with, though rarely. The game-birds are
those of the Northern Punjab ; and though hawking and snaring are
favourite amusements of the people and many possess firearms, wild-
fowl of all the migratory aquatic species, including sometimes wild
swans, abound in the winter. Non-migratory species are decreasing
as cultivation extends. The Peshawar Vale Hunt maintains an excel-
lent pack of hounds, the only one in Northern India, and affords
capital sport to the large garrison of Peshawar. There is fishing in
many of the streams near the hills.
The best time of the year is the spring, February to April being the
months when the air, though cold, is bracing. December and January
are the coldest months, when the temperature sometimes falls below 30°
and the nights are intensely cold. During the hot season, from May
to July, the air is full of dust-haze. Dust-storms are frequent, but,
though thunderstorms occur on the surrounding hills, rain seldom falls
in the plains. This season is, however, healthy, in contrast to the next
months, August to October, when the hot-season rains fall and the
air is stagnant and oppressive. After a fall of rain the atmosphere
becomes steamy and fever is common. In November the days are
hot owing to the clear atmosphere, but the nights are cold. Showers
are usual during winter. Inflammatory diseases of the lungs and
bowels and malarial fever are prevalent at this season. The principal
disease from which the valley, and especially the western half of it,
suffers is malarial fever, which in years of heavy rainfall assumes a
very deadly form, death often supervening in a few hours.
The annual rainfall varies from 11 inches at Charsadda to 17^ at
Mardan. Of the total at Mardan, 11 inches fall in the summer and
6i in the winter. The heaviest rainfall during the last twenty years
ti4 PESHAWAR DISTRICT
was 35 inches at Mardan in 1882-3, and the Hghtest 3 inches at
Katlang in 1883-4.
The ancient Hindu name for the valley of Peshawar as it appears
in Sanskrit literature is Gandhara, corresponding to the Gandarites
of Strabo and the country of the Gandarae described
^^ by Ptolemy, though Arrian speaks of the people
who held the valley against Alexander as Assakenoi. Its capital, Peu-
kelaotis (or Pushkalavati), is mentioned by Arrian as a large and
populous city, captured by Hephaistion, the general of Alexander,
after the death of its chieftain Astes. The site of Pushkalavati has
been identified with Charsadda, where extensive mounds of ancient
debris are still to be seen. The Peshawar and Kabul valleys were
ceded by Seleucus to Chandragupta in 303 B.C., and the rock edicts
of Asoka at Mansehra and Shahbazgarhi show that Buddhism had
become the state religion fifty years later. The Peshawar valley was
annexed by the Graeco-Bactrian king Eucratides in the second cen-
tury, and about the beginning of the Christian era fell under the rule
of the Kushans. It is to the intercourse between the Greeks and the
Buddhists of this part of India that we owe the school of art known as
Graeco-Buddhist, which in turn served as the source of much that is
fundamental in the ecclesiastical art of Tibet, China, and Farther Asia
generally. For it was in this District that the Mahayana school of
Buddhism arose, and from it that it spread over the Asiatic continent.
Buddhism was still the dominant religion when Fa Hian passed
through in the fifth century a.d. Sung Yun, who visited Peshawar
in 520, mentions that the Ephthalite king of Gandhara was at war
with the king of Kabul ; but at the time of Hiuen Tsiang's visit in
630 Gandhara was a dependency of Kabul. Buddhism was then
falling into decay.
Until the middle of the seventh century, epigraphic evidence shows
that the population remained entirely Indian, and Hinduized rulers
of Indo-Scythian and Turkish descent retained possession of Peshawar
itself and of the Hashtnagar and Yusufzai plains. They were suc-
ceeded by the so-called Hindu Shahis of Kabul or Ohind. In 979
one of these, Jaipal, advanced from Peshawar to attack Sabuktagin,
governor of Khorasan under the titular sway of the Samani princes ;
but peace was effected and he retired. Nine years later Jaipal was
utterly defeated at Laghman, and Sabuktagin took possession of
Peshawar, which he garrisoned with 10,000 horse. On his death in
998, his son Mahmud succeeded to his dominions, and, throwing off
his nominal allegiance to the Samani dynasty, assumed the title of
Sultan in 999. In 1006 Mahmud again invaded the Punjab; and
on his return Jaipal's son and successor, Anandpal, attempted to
intercept him, but was defeated near Peshawar and driven into
HISTORY 115
Kashmir. But he was able to organize further resistance, for in
1009 he again encountered Mahniud, probably at Bhatinda, on the
Indus, where he met with his final overthrow. The Ghaznivid
monarchy in turn fell before Muhammad of Ghor in 1181 ; and after
his death in 1206 the provincial governors declared their indepen-
dence, making the Indus their western boundary, so that the Pesh-
awar valley was again cut off from the eastern kingdom. In 1221 the
Mongols under Chingiz Khan established a loose supremacy over it.
About the close of the fifteenth century, a great tide of Afghan immi-
gration flowed into the District. Before Timur's invasion the Dilazaks
had been settled in the Peshawar valley, in alliance with the Shalmanis,
a Tajik race, subjects of the rulers of Swat. The Khakhai (Khashi)
Afghans, a body of roving adventurers, w-ho first come into notice in
the time of Timur, were treacherously expelled from Kabul by his
descendant Ulugh Beg, whereupon they entered the Peshawar valley
in three main clans — the Yusufzai, Gigianis, and Muhammadzai — and
obtained permission from the Dilazaks to settle on a portion of their
waste lands. But the new immigrants soon picked a quarrel with
their hosts, whom they attacked.
In 15 19 Babar, with the aid of the Dilazaks, inflicted severe punish-
ment on the Yusufzai clans to the north of the District ; but before his
death (1530) they had regained their independence, and the Dilazaks
even dared to burn his fort at Peshawar. The fort was rebuilt in 1553
by Babar's successor, Humayun, after defeating his brother Mirza
Kamran, who had been supported against Humayun by the Ghorai
Khel tribes (Khallls, Daudzai, and Mohmands), now first heard of in
connexion with Peshawar. After his victory Humayun returned to
Hindustan. On his departure the Ghorai Khel entered into alliance
with the Khakhai Khel, and their united forces routed the Dilazaks
and drove them out of the District across the Indus. The Ghorai
Khel and Khakhai Khel then divided the valley and settled in the
portions of it still occupied by them, no later tribal immigration
occurring to dispossess them.
The Khallls and a branch of the Mohmands took the south-west
corner of the District; to the north of them settled the Daudzai; the
remaining Mohmands for the most part stayed in the hills, but settlers
gradually took possession of the triangle of land between the hills and
the Swat and Kabul rivers ; the east portion of the District fell to the
Khakhai Khel : namely, to the Gigianis and Muhammadzai, Hasht-
nagar; and to the Yusufzai and Mandanrs^, Mardan and Swabi and
the hill country adjoining.
In the next century the Mandanrs were driven from the hills by the
Yusufzai, and concentrated in the east portion of the Peshawar valley,
whence they in turn expelled the Yusufzai. Peshawar was included in
ii6 PESHAWAR DISTRICT
the Mughal empire dunng the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah
Jahan ; but under Aurangzeb a national insurrection was successful in
freeing the Afghan tribes from the Mughal supremacy.
In 1738 the District fell into the hands of Nadir Shah; and, under
his successors, Peshawar was often the seat of the Durrani court. On
the death of Timur Shah in 1793, Peshawar shared the general dis-
organization of the Afghan kingdom ; and the Sikhs, who were then in
the first fierce outburst of revenge upon their Muhammadan enemies,
advanced into the valley in 1818, and overran the whole country to the
foot of the hills. In 1823 Azim Khan made a last desperate attempt
to turn the tide of Sikh victories, and marched upon Peshawar from
Kabul ; but he was utterly defeated by Ranjit Singh, and the whole
District lay at the mercy of the conquerors. The Sikhs, however, did
not take actual possession of the land, contenting themselves with the
exaction of a tribute, whose punctual payment they ensured or ac-
celerated by frequent devastating raids. After a period of renewed
struggle and intrigue, Peshawar was reoccupied in 1834 by the Sikhs,
who appointed General Avitabile as governor, and ruled with their
usual fiscal severity.
In 1848 the Peshawar valley came into the possession of the British,
and was occupied almost without opposition from either within or
without the border. During the Mutiny the Hindustani regiments
stationed at Peshawar showed signs of disaffection, and were accord-
ingly disarmed with some little difficulty in May, 1857. But the
55th Native Infantry, stationed at Naushahra and Hoti Mardan, rose
in open rebellion; and on a force being dispatched against them,
marched off towards the Swat hills across the frontier. Nicholson
was soon in pursuit, and scattered the rebels with a loss of 120 killed
and 150 prisoners. The remainder sought refuge in the hills and
defiles across the border, but were hunted down by the clans, till they
perished of hunger or exposure, or were brought in as prisoners and
hanged or blown away from guns. This stern but necessary example
prevented any further act of rebellion in the District.
Peshawar District contains 7 towns and 793 villages. The popu-
lation at each of the last three enumerations was: (1881) 599,452,
Population. ^^^91) 7ii,795> and (1901) 788,707- It increased
by nearly 11 per cent, during the last decade, the
increase being greatest in the Mardan tahs'il, and least in that of Nau-
shahra. The District is divided into five tahslls, the chief statistics
of which are given in the table on the next page.
The head-quarters of each fahsll is at the place from which it is
named. The chief towns are the municipality of Peshawar, the
administrative head-quarters of the District and capital of the Pro-
vince, Naushahra, Charsadda, Tangi, and Mardan. Muham-
POPULATION
117
niadans number 732,870, or more than 92 per cent, of the total;
Hindus, 40,183; and Sikhs, 11,318. The language of the people is
Pashtu.
Tahsil.
0)
3
w S
C~
Number of
c
.0
B
"a
a.
§'6
Percentage of
variation in
population be-
tween i8gi
and 1901.
Number of
persons able to
read and
write.
c
0
So
>
Pesliawar .
Charsadda
Mardan .
Swabi
Naushahra
District total
451
3S0
610
467
703
I
3
I
2
259
168
130
94
142
248,060
142,756
137,215
144,513
116,163
550
376
225
309
166
+ 9-7
+ 7-4
+ 20.5
+ I0.6
+ 7-3
h
2,611
7
793
788,707
302
+ 10.8
31,247
Peshawar is as much the home of the Afghans as Kabul, and hence
we find that of the total population of the District 402,000, or 51 per
cent., are Pathans. They are almost entirely dependent on agriculture.
Their distribution is as above described. The Khattaks are the prin-
cipal tribe in the Naushahra tahsil. Among these fanatical Pathans,
the Saiyids, descendants of the Prophet, who occupy a position of
great influence, number 24,000. In the popular phraseology of the
District, all tribes who are not Pathans are Hindkis, the most
numerous being the Awans (111,000). They are found only in the
Peshawar and Naushahra tahstls, and besides being very fair culti-
vators are petty traders as well. Gujars (16,000) and Baghbans
(9,000) are other Hindkl agriculturists. These tribes are all Muham-
madans. Of the trading classes, Aroras (17,000) and Khattris (13,000)
are the most important, and the Parachas (carriers and pedlars, 7,000)
come next. Of the artisan classes, Julahas (weavers, 19,000), Tar-
khans (carpenters, 16,000), Lobars (blacksmiths, 8,000), Kumhars
(potters, 8,000), and Mochis (shoemakers and leather-workers, 5,000)
are the most numerous. The Kashmiris, immigrants from Kashmir,
number 9,000. Of the menial classes, the most important are
Nais (barbers, 9,000), Dhobis (washermen, 8,000), and Chuhras and
Musallis (sweepers, 8,000). I'he MirasTs (4,000), village minstrels
and bards, and the Ghulams (300), who are chiefly engaged in domestic
service and appear only in this District, are also worth mentioning.
Agriculture supports 60 per cent, of the population.
The Church Missionary Society established its mission to the
Afghans at Peshawar in 1855, ^"^ '""O^^ ^'^s branches at Naushahra
and Mardan. It organized a medical mission in 1884, and in 1894
founded the Duchess of Connaught Hospital. The Zanana Mission
has a staff of five English ladies, whose work is partly medical and
partly evangelistic and educational. The Edwardes Collegiate (Mission)
ii8
PESHAWAR DISTRICT
Agriculture.
School, founded in 1855, is now a high school with a collegiate de-
partment attached.
With the exception of the stony tracts lying immediately below the
hills, the District displays a remarkable uniformity of soil : on the
surface, light and porous earth with a greater or less
intermixture of sand ; and below, a substratum of
strong retentive clay. The only varieties of soil are due to variations
in the depth of the surface earth, or in the proportion of sand mixed
with it ; and with irrigation the whole valley is capable, almost without
exception, of producing the richest crops. Sandy and barren tracts
occur in some few localities, but they are of small extent, and bear an
insignificant proportion to the total area. The spring harvest, which
in 1903-4 occupied 70 per cent, of the total area cropped, is sown
chiefly from the end of September to the end of January, and the
autumn harvest chiefly in June, July, and August, though sugar and
cotton are sown as early as March.
The District is held almost entirely by communities of small peasant
proprietors, large estates covering only about 153 square miles. The
following table shows the statistics of cultivation in 1903-4, in square
miles : — ■
Tahsll.
Total.
Cultivated.
Irrigated.
Cultivable
waste.
Not available
for
cultivation.
Peshawar
Cbarsadda
Mardan .
Svvabi
Naushahra
Total
451
380
610
467
703
203
261
409
317
177
175
119
38
47
'57
58
53
35
259
91
6r
148
"5
267
2,611
1,367
531
562
682
The chief food-crops are wheat (555 square miles), barley (287), and
maize (231). Sugar-cane (32) and cotton (26) are also of some
importance. The neighbourhood of Peshawar produces apricots,
peaches, pomegranates, quinces, and other fruits in great abundance;
and 8-62 square miles were under fruits and vegetables in 1903-4.
The area cultivated at the .settlement of 1895-6 showed an increase
of 7 per cent, in the previous twenty years, largely due to the extension
of canal-irrigation in the Naushahra and Peshawar tahsils. Since
1895-6 there has been a slight decrease in the cultivated area, which
seems to show that the limits of the resources of the District in this
respect have been reached. Little has yet been done towards improving
the quality of the crops grown. Loans for the construction of wells and
the purchase of plough cattle are readily appreciated by the people,
and during the five years ending 1902-3 an average of Rs. 9,100 was
TRADE AND COMMUNICATIONS 119
advanced. In 1903-4 Rs. 6,460 was advanced under the Land
Improvements Acts, and Rs. 5,420 under the Agriculturists' Loans Act.
Wheeled carriages are common throughout the District, though there
is much pack traffic mainly carried on bullocks, which are fine strong
animals, much superior to those used in agriculture. Horses are not
extensively reared in the valley. The Civil Veterinary department
maintains a horse and seven donkey stallions, and the District board
three pony and two donkey stallions. Large flocks of sheep and goats
are owned by the border villages, which have extensive grazing rights
on the stony plains at the foot of the hills.
Of the total cultivated area of the District in 1903-4, 531 square
miles or 40 per cent, were irrigated. Of these, 71 square miles were
irrigated from wells, 453 from canals, and 7 from streams and tanks.
In addition, 26-5 square miles, or 2 per cent., are subject to inundation.
Well-irrigation is resorted to in the eastern half of the District wherever
the depth of the spring-level allows. The District contains 6,389
masonry wells worked with Persian wheels by bullocks, besides 5,121
unbricked wells, lever wells, and water-lifts. The most important
canals of the District are the Swat, Kabul, and Bara River Canals.
The two first are under the management of the Canal department, the
last named is in charge of the Deputy-Commissioner. The Michni-
Dilazak canal, taking off from the left bank of the Kabul river, and the
Shabkadar branch canal from the right bank of the Swat river, belong
to the District board. The District also contains a large number of
private canals, which are managed by the Deputy-Commissioner under
the Peshawar Canals Regulation of 1898.
There is ample historical evidence that in ancient times the District
was far better wooded than it is now, and the early Chinese pilgrims
often refer to the luxuriant growth of trees on hill-slopes now practically
bare. The only forest at present is a square mile of military ' reserved '
forest ; but large areas of waste, in which the people and Government
are jointly interested, have been declared ' protected ' forests. Of these,
the most important is that known as the Khwarra-Zira forest in the
south-east corner of the District. Fruit gardens and orchards are
numerous, especially near Peshawar city.
The District contains quarries of slate and marble, and kafikar is
found in considerable quantities. Gold is washed in the Indus above
Attock and in the Kabul river, but the yield is very small.
Peshawar is noted for its turbans, woven either of silk or of cotton,
with silk edges and fringes ; and a great deal of cotton cloth is pro-
duced. Cotton fabrics, adorned with coloured wax,
and known as ' Afrldi waxcloth,' are now turned out cnmmunkadons
in large quantities for the European market. The
principal woollen manufactures are felted mats and saddle-cloths, and
I20 PESHAWAR DISTRICT
blankets ; glazed earthenware of considerable excellence is made, and
a considerable manufacture of ornamental leather-work exists. Copper-
ware is largely turned out. Matting, baskets, and fans are made of the
dwarf-palm.
The main trade of the District passes through the city of Peshawar,
and, though of varied and not uninteresting nature, is less extensive
than might perhaps have been expected. In 1903-4 the value of the
trade as registered was 182-5 lakhs, of which 68 lakhs were imports.
The bulk of Indian commerce with Northern Afghanistan and the
countries beyond (of which Bokhara is the most important), Dir, Swat,
Chitral, Bajaur, and Buner, passes through Peshawar. The independent
tribes whose territories adjoin the District are also supplied from it
with those commodities which they need. Besides Peshawar city, there
are bazars in which a certain amount of trade is done at Naushahra,
Kalan, Hoti Mardan, Shankargarh, Tangi, Charsadda (Prang), and
Rustam. The chief exports in 1903-4 were European and Indian
cotton piece-goods, raw cotton, yarn, indigo, turmeric, wheat, leathern
articles, manufactured articles of brass, copper and iron, salt, spices,
sugar, tea, tobacco, and silver.
The transactions of the Peshawar market, however, are insignificant
when compared with the stream of through traffic from the direction of
Kabul and Bokhara which passes on, without stopping at Peshawar,
into the Punjab and Northern India.
The main line of the North-Western Railway enters the District by
the Attock bridge over the Indus, and has its terminus at Peshawar,
whence an extension runs to Fort Jamrud. A branch line also runs
from Naushahra through Mardan to Dargai. The District possesses
157 miles of metalled roads, of which 40 are Imperial military, 93 Im-
perial civil, 17 belong to the District board, and 7 to cantonments.
There are 672 miles of unmetalled roads (23 Imperial military, 123
Imperial civil, and 516 District board). The grand trunk road runs
parallel with the railway to Peshawar and thence to Jamrud at the
mouth of the Khyber Pass, and a metalled road from Naushahra
via Mardan crosses the border from the Malakand pass into Swat.
Other important roads connect Peshawar with Kohat, with Abazai,
with Michni, with the Bara fort, and with Cherat. The Khyber Pass
is the great highway of the trade with Kabul and Central Asia, and is
guarded two days a week for the passage of caravans. The Indus,
Swat, and Kabul rivers are navigable at all seasons, but are not much
used for traffic. The Indus is crossed by the Attock railway bridge,
which has a subway for wheeled traffic, and by three ferries. There
are four bridges of boats and six ferries on the Kabul river and its
branches, two bridges of boats and six ferries on the Landai, and three
bridges of boats and twelve ferries on the Swat river and its branches.
ADMINISTRA TION 1 2 1
The District is divided for administrative purposes into five tahsih^
each under a tahsllddr and naih-tahsildar, except Peshawar, where
there are a tahsllddr and two tiaibs. The tahsils
of Mardan and Swabi form the Yusufzai subdivision,
in charge of an Assistant Commissioner whose head-quarters are at
Mardan, the home of the famous Corps of Guides. This officer is
entrusted, under the orders of the Deputy-Commissioner, with the
political supervision of Buner and the Yusufzai border. European
officers with the powers of subdivisional officers are in charge of
Peshawar city, and of the Charsadda and Naushahra tahsils. The
Deputy-Commissioner is further assisted by an Assistant Commissioner,
who is in command of the border military police. There are also three
Extra-Assistant Commissioners, one of whom has charge of the District
treasury. The District Judge and the Assistant Commissioner at
Mardan have the powers of Additional District Magistrates.
The Deputy-Commissioner as District Magistrate is responsible for
the criminal work of the District ; civil judicial work is under a District
Judge, and both are supervised by the Divisional and Sessions Judge
of the Peshawar Civil Division. The Assistant Commissioner, Mardan,
has the powers of a Subordinate Judge, and in his civil capacity is
under the District Judge, as also are two Munsifs, one at head-quarters
and one at Mardan. There is one honorary Munsif at Peshawar.
The Cantonment Magistrate at Peshawar is Small Cause Court Judge
for petty civil cases within cantonment limits. The criminal work
of the District is extremely heavy, serious crime being common. The
Frontier Crimes Regulation is in force, and many cases are referred to
the decision of councils of elders. Civil litigation is not abnormally
frequent. Important disputes between Pathan families of note are,
when possible, settled out of court by councils of elders under the
control of the Deputy-Commissioner, The commonest type of civil
suit is based on the claim of reversionary heirs to annul alienations of
lands made by widows and daughters of deceased sonless proprietors,
as being contrary to custom.
The plain south of the Kabul river and the rich dodb between
the Kabul and Swat rivers have always been under the control of
the central government of the time, while the Khattak hills and the
great plain north of the Swat and Kabul rivers have generally been
independent.
In 1834 the Sikhs finally gained a firm hold on the doab and the
tract south of the Kabul river. They imposed a full assessment and
collected it through the leading men, to whom considerable grants
were made. The Sikh collections averaged (>\ lakhs from 1836 to
1842, compared with 5-I lakhs under the Durranis. These figures
exclude the revenues of Yusufzai and Hashtnagar, which are also
PESHAWAR DISTRICT
excluded from the first summary settlement, made in 1849-50, when
the demand was 10 lakhs. Yusufzai was settled summarily in 1847
and Hashtnagar in 1850.
In 1855 a new settlement was made for the whole District. It gave
liberal reductions in Peshawar, the dodl), Daudzai, and Naushahra,
where the summary assessment, based on the Sikh demands, had been
very high, while the revenue in Yusufzai was enhanced. The net
result was a demand of less than 8 lakhs. This assessment was treated
as a summary one, and a regular settlement was carried out between
1869 and 1875, raising the revenue to 8 lakhs. The settlement worked
well, particularly in those villages where a considerable enhancement
was made, the high assessment acting as a stimulus to increased effort
on the part of the cultivators. The revenue, however, was recovered
with the greatest difficulty ; and the history of the settlement has been
described as one continuous struggle on the part of the tahsilddr to
recover as much, and on the part of the landowners to pay as little, of
the revenue demand as possible. This was due to the character and
history of the people, and does not reflect at all on the pitch of the
assessment. The latest revision began in 1892 and was finished in
1896. The chief new factors in the situation were the opening of the
Swat and the Kabul River Canals, the development of communications
in 1882 by means of the railway, the rise in prices, and the increase in
prosperity due to internal security. Assessed at half the net ' assets ',
the demand would have amounted to 23I lakhs, or Rs. 2-7-7 P^r
cultivated acre. The revenue actually imposed was slightly more than
II lakhs, an increase of about 2\ lakhs, or 28 per cent., on the former
demand. Of the total revenue Rs. 1,89,000 is assigned, compared
with Rs. 1,76,000 at the regular settlement. The incidence per culti-
vated acre varies from Rs. 1-11-4 in Charsadda to R. 0-8-8 in
Mardan.
Frontier remissions are a special feature of the revenue administra-
tion. A portion of the total assessment of a border estate is remitted,
in consideration of the responsibility of the proprietors for the watch
and ward of the border. The remissions are continued during the
pleasure of Government, on condition of service and good conduct.
The collections of total revenue and of land revenue alone are shown
below, in thousands of rupees : —
1880-1.
1 890-1.
1900-1.
1903-4.
Land revenue
Total revenue .
6,83
9>72
7,11
9,72
9,69
18,54
10,03
16,70
Peshawar City is the only municipality. Outside this local affairs
are managed by a District board, whose income is mainly derived from
J DMJMSTKA nON 1 2%
a local rate. In 1903-4 the income of the board was Rs. 1,15,600,
and the expenditure Rs. 1,21,000, public works forming the largest
item.
The regular pcjlice numbers 1,265 <^^f ^"^ ranks, of whom 210 are
cantonment and 277 municipal police. There are 27 police stations
and 20 road-posts. The police force is under the control of a Super-
intendent, who is assisted by three European Assistant Superintendents ;
one of these is in special charge of Peshawar city, while another is
stationed at Mardan.
The border military police numbers 544 men, under a commandant
who is directly subordinate to the Deputy-Commissioner. They are
entirely distinct from the regular police. The posts are placed at
convenient distances along the frontier ; and the duty of the men is
to patrol and prevent raids, to go into the hills as spies and ascertain
generally what is going forward. The system is not in force on the
Yusufzai border, as the tribes on that side give little or no trouble.
The District jail at head-quarters can accommodate 500 prisoners.
Since 1891 the population has actually gone back in literacy, and
in 1 901 only 4 per cent. (6-5 males and o-i females) could read and
wriie. The reason is that indigenous institutions are decreasing in
number every year owing to the lack of support, while public in-
struction at the hands of Government has failed as yet to become
popular. The influence of the Mullas, though less powerful than it
used to be, is still sufficient to prevent the attendance of their co-
religionists at Government schools. The education of women has,
however, made some progress. This is due in a large measure to
the exertions of lady missionaries, who visit the zandnas and teach
the younger women to read Urdii, Persian, and even English. The
number of pupils under instruction was 1,833 in 1880-1, 10,655 ''"^
1890-1, 9,242 in 1900-1, and 10,036 in 1903-4. In the latest year
there were 10 secondary and 78 primary (public) schools, and
30 advanced and 208 elementary (private) schools, with 64 girls
in public and 755 in private institutions. Peshawar city contains an
unaided Arts college and four high schools. The total expenditure
on education in 1903-4 was Rs. 61,000, to which District funds
contributed Rs. 25,000, the Peshawar municipality Rs. 6,400, and
fees Rs. 14,700.
Besides the Egerton Civil Hospital and fcjur dispensaries in
Peshawar city, the District has five outlying dispensaries. In these
institutions there are 133 beds for in-patients. In 1904 the number
of cases treated was 202,793, including 2,980 in-patients, and 9,290
operations were performed. The income amounted to Rs. 27,600,
which was contributed by municipal funds and by the District board
equally. The Church Missionary Society maintains a Zanana Hospital,
VOL. XX. I
124 PESHAWAR DISTRICT
named after the Duchess of Connaught, which is in charge of a
qualified European lady.
The number of successful vaccinations in 1903-4 was 24,000,
representing 33 per 1,000 of the population.
[J. G. Lorimer, District Gazetteer (1897-8).]
Peshawar Tahsil. —Head-quarters tahsil of Peshawar District,
North-West Frontier Province, lying between 33° 43' and 34° 13' N.
and 71° 22' and 71° 45' E., with an area of 451 square miles. The
population in 1901 was 248,060, compared with 226,113 in 1891. The
tahsil consists of two distinct tracts. The first is a low-lying riverain
basin, through which flow the branches of the Kabul river north of
Peshawar city ; this tract comprises the old Daudzai tappa, which is
low-lying and swampy, and that of Khalsa, which also contains a good
deal of marshy ground, especially near Dilazak and Muhammadzai.
The second tract consists of uplands which rise gradually to the
Afridi hills ; it comprises the Khalil and Mohmand tappas, so named
from the Pathan tribes which hold them. The tahsil is intersected by
the Kabul River Canal. It contains the city and cantonment of
Peshawar (population, 95,147), its head-cjuarters, and 259 villages.
The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to a little more than
Rs. 5,00,000.
Peshawar City. — Capital of the North-West Frontier Province,
and head-quarters of the District and tahsil of the same name, situated
in 34° i' N. and 71° 35' E. The cantonment is situated on a ridge
overlooking the surrounding plain and the city, which lies near the
left bank of the Bara stream, 13^ miles south-east of the junction of
the Swat and Kabul rivers, and 10^ miles from Jamrud fort near the
entrance of the Khyber Pass. It is distant by rail from Calcutta
1,552 miles, and from Bombay 1,579 miles, and by road from Kabul
190 miles. It is the terminus of the grand trunk road, but a branch
of the North-Western Railway runs on to Jjiinrud. The population
was 79,982 in 1881, 54,191 in 1891, and 95,147 in 1901, consisting
of 68,352 Muhammadans, 18,552 Hindus, 5,144 Sikhs, and 3,063
Christians. Of the total population, 21,804 live in cantonments.
Peshawar was in the time of Fa Hian the capital of the Gandhara
province, and is historically important at all later periods. (^1?^
Peshawar District.) It was famous during the early centuries of
the Christian era as containing the begging-pot of the Buddha, a holy
plpalAxt.^ whose branches are said to have given shade to the Master,
and an enormous stiipa built by Kanishka. Buddhist remains still
mark its early greatness. The name is not improbably derived from
Parashawara or Purushai)ura, the seal of a king named Purush ; and
the present form Peshawar is referred to the emperor Akbar, whose
fondness for innovation is said to have led him to change the name,
PESHAWAR CITY 125
of whose meaning he was ignorant, to I'eshawar, the ' hontier town.'
In 1552 Huniayun found the fortress in ruins, but had it repaired
and entrusted it to a governor, wlio successfully defended it against
the Afghans under Khan Kaju. The town appears to have been
refounded by Balgrani, a contemporary of Akbar, and was much
enlarged by General Avitabile, its governor under the Sikhs. It
became the head-quarters of a British District in 1849, and the capital
of the North-West Frontier Province in 1901.
The modern city has but slight architectural pretensions, the houses,
though lofty, being chiefly built of small bricks or mud, held together
by a wooden framework. It is surrounded by a mud wall, built by
General Avitabile, which is gradually being replaced by a wall of
brick. The city has sixteen gates. The main street, known as the
Kissa kahani, which is entered from the Kabul Gate (re-erected as
a memorial to Sir Herbert Edwardes), is a broad roadway 50 feet
in width, consisting of two double rows of shops, the upper rooms of
which are generally let out as lodgings ; the street is well paved, and
at busy times presents a very picturesque sight. The remainder of
the city proper consists of squares and markets, with narrow and
irregular streets and lanes. A masonry canal runs through the centre
of the city, which is, however, only used to carry off drain-water and
sewage. Drinking-water is brought down in pipes from the water-
works, for which the municipal committee pays a yearly rental. Wells
are used only in the hot season to supply colder water than the pipes
afford. The sanitary and conservancy arrangements are very good,
and all the drains are paved. There are now very few old houses of
architectural importance, most of them having been destroyed at the
time of the capture of the city by the Sikhs from the Durranis.
Several handsome mosques ornament the city ; and a large build-
ing, known as the Gorkhattri, once a Buddhist monastery, and sub-
sequently formed into a Hindu temple, is now used as the tahsili.
Just without the wall, on the north-western side, a quadrilateral fort,
the Bala Hisar, crowns a small eminence completely dominating the
city. Its walls of sun-dried brick rise to a height of 92 feet above
the ground, with a fausse-braye of 30 feet ; bastions stand at each
corner and on three of the faces, while an armament of guns and
mortars is mounted above.
South-west of the city, stretching from just outside the walls, are
the suburbs of Bhana Mari and Deri Baghbanan, where there are
gardens noted for their fruit, producing quinces, pomegranates, plums,
limes, peaches, and apples in abundance. These gardens, especially
a public garden called the Wazir Bagh, form a favourite pleasure-
ground of the people ; north of the city is another public pleasure-
ground, the Shahi Bagh or ' royal garden.'
I 2
126 PESHAWAR CITY
Two miles west of the city lie the cantonments, where the civil
offices are also situated. The cantonments were occupied by British
troops soon after annexation in 1848-9. The garrison has been much
reduced and consists at present of one battery of field artillery, two
regiments of British and three of Native infantry, one regiment of
Native cavalry, and one company each of sappers and miners, bearer
corps, and army hospital native corps. The garrison forms part of
the Peshawar military division of the Northern Command, and the
head-quarters of the division are situated here.
The municipality was constituted in 1867. The income and
expenditure during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged 2-3 and
2-15 lakhs respectively. In 1903-4 the income was 2-8 lakhs, of
which more than 2 lakhs were derived from octroi, while the
expenditure amounted to 2-9 lakhs, the chief heads of charge being
conservancy (Rs. 26,000), education (Rs. 12,000), hospitals and
dispensaries (Rs. 18,000), public safety (Rs. 46,000), and administra-
tion (Rs. 36,000). The income and expenditure of cantonment funds
during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 53,000 and
Rs. 52,500 respectively; in 1903-4 the income was Rs. 69,000, and
the expenditure Rs. 70,000.
The main trade of the District passes through the city of Peshawar.
Though of a varied and not uninteresting nature, it is less extensive
than might perhaps have been expected, but its position makes it
important as an entrepot for Central Asia. The principal foreign
markets having dealings with Peshawar are Kabul and Bokhara. From
the former place are imported raw silk, worsted, cochineal, jalap,
asafoetida, saffron, resin, simples, and fruits, both fresh and dried,
principally for re-exportation to the Punjab and Hindustan, whence
are received in return English piece-goods, cambrics, silk, indigo,
sugar, tea, salt, and spices. Bokhara supplies gold coins, gold and
silver thread and lace, principally for re-exportation to Kashmir, whence
the return trade is shawls. Iron from Bajaur, skins, fibres and mats
made of the dwarf-palm {mazri), are the only remaining items of
importance coming from beyond the border.
The city possesses an unaided Arts college attached to the Mission
high school, and four high schools : namely, the municipal and
Edwardes Mission Anglo-vernacular high schools, and two unaided
Anglo-vernacular high schools. It also contains a civil hospital and
four dispensaries. Another institution is the Martin Lecture Hall
and Institute, with its reading-room and library, also maintained by
the Peshawar Mission.
Peth. — Former head-quarters of the Valva tdlnka of Satara District,
Bombay, situated in 17° 3' N. and 74° 14' E., 45 miles south-east of
Satara town. Population (1901), 6,820. Peth is a local trade centre.
PH AG WAN A TAHSir. 127
the chief articles of trade being grain and cattle. A yearly fair attended
by about 5,000 people is held in February.
Pethapur State. — Petty State in Mahi Kantha, Bombay.
Pethapur Town. — Chief town of the State of the same name in
the MahT Kantha Agency, Bombay, situated in 23° 13' N. and
72° 2il' E., on the west bank of the Sabarmatl. Population (1901),
5,616. The town is noted for the brilliancy of its dyes and for the
manufacture of cutlery, but the latter industry is declining. Consider-
able quantities of cloth are brought into the town to be coloured, and
are then exported to Siam.
Petlad Taluka. — Tdluka in the Baroda prdnt^ Baroda State, lying
to the north of the river MahT, intersected by parts of Kaira District,
with an area of 181 square miles. The population fell from 157,786
in 1891 to 134,558 in 1901. It contains 7 towns, Petlad (population,
15,282), the head-quarters, Sojitra (10,578), Vaso (8,765), Nar
(6,525), PiHij (5,282), Dharmaj (4,827), and Bhadran (4,761); and
68 villages. The tdluka consists mostly of a level plain, without rivers
and woods, but with numerous trees lining the fields or clustering
about the villages. About one-fourth of the soil is black, one-half
is light red or gordt, and the remainder a mixture of these called besdr.
The tdluka is specially known for its excellent tobacco. In 1904-5
the land revenue was Rs. 4,83,000.
Petlad Town. — Head-quarters of the tdluka of the same name,
Baroda prdnt, Baroda State, situated in 22° 29'' N. and 72° 50' E.,
on a broad-gauge line from Anand on the Bombay, Baroda, and
Central India Railway to Cambay. Population (1901), 15,282. Petlad
contains a naib-subah'' s office, a civil court, a jail, Anglo-vernacular and
vernacular schools, a dispensary, a library, and numerous dharmsdlas
and temples. It is administered as a municipality, with an annual
grant from the State of Rs. 3,100. Being the centre of a tobacco-
producing tract, a prosperous trade is carried on in that product ;
and there is in addition a considerable manufacture of cloth, brass
and copper pots, and locks.
Phagwara Tahsil. — Tahsll of Kapfuthala State, Punjab, lying
between 31° 9' and 31° 23' N. and 75° 44' and 75° 59' E., with an
area of 118 square miles. The population increased from 63,549
in 1891 to 69,837 in 1901. It contains one town, Phagwara
(population, 14,108), and 88 villages. The land revenue and cesses
in 1903-4 amounted to 2-1 lakhs. The tahsll, which lies in the
great plain of the l^oab, is fertile everywhere. It is divided into
three tracts known as Sirwal, Manjkl, and Dhak. The characteristic
of the Sirwal is a soft blackish sandy soil, containing moisture, and
generally capable of producing sugar-cane and rice without inunda-
tion. The Manjkl has a hard red soil, productive of good crops with
T28 PH AG WAR A TAHSTL
timely rainfall or sufficient irrigation. The Dhak has a soil of fertile
blackish clay.
Phagwara Town. — Town in the Phagwara tahsll, Kapurthala
State, Punjab, situated in 31° 14' N. and 75° 47' E., on the North-
western Railway. Population (1901), 14,108. The town is growing
rapidly in population and commercial importance, as the exemption of
its market from octroi enables it to compete on favourable terms with
neighbouring towns in British territory. It is now the largest mart in
the JuUundur Doab, and possesses a high school and a dispensary.
Phalakata. — Village in JalpaigurT District, Eastern Bengal and
Assam. See Falakata.
Phalalum. — Peak in Darjeeling District, Bengal. See Phalut.
Phalauda. — Town in the Mawana tahs'il of Meerut District, United
Provinces, situated in 29° 11' N. and 77° 51' E., 17 miles north of
Meerut city. Population (1901), 5,214. It is said to have been
founded by a Tomar named Phalgu, whose descendants were dis-
possessed by Mir Surkh, a Persian from Mazandaran. The town
is a poor place, with narrow dirty streets, but has fine mango groves
surrounding it. There is a dargdh of a saint called Kutb Shah, where
a religious fair is held annually ; and the Church Missionary Society
has a branch here. Phalauda is administered under Act XX of 1856,
with an income of about Rs. 1,300. It contains a primary school with
75 pupils in 1904.
Phalia. — Tahsil of Gujrat District, Punjab, lying between 32° lo'
and 32° 44' N. and 73° 17' and 73° 53' E., with an area of 722 square
miles. The Jhelum bounds it on the north-west and the Chenab on
the south-east. The plateau which occupies most of the northern
portion of the tahsil is separated from the riverain tracts to the north
and south by a high bank, below which the country slopes gradually
towards the rivers. The population in 1901 was 197,974, compared
with 203,938 in 1891. The tahsil contains 311 villages, including
Phalia, the head-quarters. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4
amounted to 3-2 lakhs. Chilianwala, the scene of Lord Cough's
battle with the Sikhs in 1849, is in this tahsil, and the Jhelum Canal
has its head-works at Mong Rasul. The village of Sadullapur
is of some historical interest.
Phalodi. — Head-quarters of a district of the .same name in the
State of Jodhpur, Rajputana, situated in 27° 8' N. and 72° 22' E.,
about 70 miles north by north-west of Jodhpur city. Population
(1901), 13,924. It is a large and flourishing town, the home of many
enterprising merchants trading, in some cases, beyond the borders
of India ; and it possesses several fine houses with beautifully carved
sandstone fronts. The town contains a post office, an Anglo-vernacular
school, and a small hospital. The principal manufactures are metal
PHAPHrXD 129
utensils and mats of camel hair. Phalodi is said to have been founded
about the middle of the fifteenth century, and, along with the district,
was taken by Rao Maldeo nearly loo years later. It was granted
to the chief of Jaisalmer by Akbar, and was subsequently included
for a short time in Bikaner. The fort, a large and well-built one, with
walls over 40 feet high, has a capacious reservoir for water and some
fine palaces. About 10 miles to the north is a large depression
(5 miles in length and 3 in breadth) called the Phalodi salt source.
It was leased to the British Government in 1878 and worked till 1892,
when it was closed, as the manufacture was found to be unprofitable
owing to the distance from the railway.
Phaltan State. — Petty State in the Satara Political Agency,
Bombay. See Satara Agency.
Phaltan Town.— Chief town of the State of Phaltan, Bombay,
situated in 17° 59' N. and 74° 28' E., 37 miles north-east of Satara.
Population (1901), 9,512. The town was founded by Nimbraji in the
fourteenth century. The streets are well kept and clean, and the road
round the town is well shaded by trees. The municipality, established
in 1868, had an income of over Rs. 14,000 in 1903-4. Gujarat VanTs
carry on a brisk trade between the roast and the interior. The town
contains a dispensary.
Phalut. — One of the loftiest peaks in the Singalila spur of the Him-
alayas, in the head-quarters subdivision of Darjeeling District, Bengal,
with a height of 11,811 feet, situated in 27° 13' N. and 88^3' E. The
view of the great northern snowy mountains from this hill is one of
indescribable grandeur. A jagged line of snow connecting the two
highest known mountains in the world, Everest and Kinchinjunga,
dazzles the eye ; and, while the deep silence around impresses itself
upon the spectator, the thick clumps of pine forest with their wide-
spreading arms add a weird solemnity to the scene. The Nepal frontier
road passes by this hill, and there is a staging bungalow which is avail-
able to travellers on application to the Deputy-Commissioner of Dar-
jeeling.
Phaphund. — Town in the Auraiya tahstl of Etawah District, United
Provinces, situated in 26° 36' N. and 79° 28' E. 36 miles south-east of
Etawah town. Population (1901), 7,605. The town was a place of
some importance before British rule, but it declined during the eigh-
teenth century. It was formerly the head-quarters of a tahsll^ and is
still the residence of a Munsif, and contains a dispensary. The tomb
and mosque of a celebrated saint, Shah Bukhari, who died in 1549,
attract about 10,000 pilgrims annually. Phaphund is administered
under Act XX of 1856, with an income of about Rs. 2,000. There is
little trade. The town school has about 200 pupils, and a girls' school
about 30.
130 PHENI
Pheni. — River of Eastern Bengal, and also subdivision and village
in Noakhali District, Eastern Bengal and Assam. See Fenny.
Phillaur Tahsil.— 7a>^jJ/ of Jullundur District, Punjab, lying on
the north bank of the Sutlej, between 30*^ 57' and 31° 13' N. and 75°
31'' and 75° 58' E., with an area of 291 square miles. The population
in 1901 was 192,860, compared with 189,578 in 1891, The head-
quarters are at the town of Phillaur (population, 6,986) ; and it also
contains the towns of Nurmahal (8,706) and Jandiala (6,620),
with 222 villages. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted
to 4-2 lakhs. The Sutlej forms the southern boundary of the ta/isl/,
and along the right bank is a narrow strip of low-lying alluvial land
about i-| miles in width. The uplands which form the greater part
of the iahsil are an unbroken plain with a loam soil.
Phillaur Town. — Head-quarters of the tahsll of the same name
in Jullundur District, Punjab, situated in 31° \' N. and 75° 48' E., on
the north bank of the Sutlej, on the North-Western Railway and the
grand trunk road. Population (1901), 6,986. The town was founded
by Shah Jahan, who built a royal sarai here, converted by Ranjit
Singh into a fort in consequence of the British occupation of Ludhi-
ana. A cantonment was established here after the first Sikh War,
but the native troops mutinied in 1857 and it was not reoccupied.
The fort was made over in 1891 to the Police department, and is now
occupied by the Police Training School and the central bureau of
the Criminal Identification Department. The chief commercial im-
portance of the place is as a timber market. Its only manufacture
is that of cotton cloth. The Sutlej is crossed here by a railway bridge
5,193 feet long, completed in 1870. There is no foot-bridge, but ferry
trains are run at frequent intervals. The municipality was created in
1867. The income and expenditure during the ten years ending 1902-3
averaged Rs. 9,400. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 11,000, chiefly
from octroi; and the expenditure was Rs. ir,ooo. The town has an
Anglo-vernacular middle school, maintained by the municipality, and
a Government dispensary.
Phul Nizamat. — A nizdmat or administrative district of the Nabha
State, Punjab, lying between 30° 8' and 30° 39' N. and 74° 50' and
75° 50' E., with an area of 394 square miles. The population in
1901 was 111,441, compared with 101,245 in 1891. It contains two
towns, Phul (population, 4,964), the head-quarters, and Dhanaula
(7,443) ; and 96 villages. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4
amounted to 4-3 lakhs. The iuzdmat includes five separate areas
interspersed with the territories of Faridkot, Patiala, and jTnd States,
and with the British Districts of Ferozepore and Ludhiana. Its main
block is the territory round the towns of Phul and Dhanaula, which has
an area of 289 square miles, Jaito and Lohat Baddi pargatias com-
PHULKTAN STATES 131
prising most of the rest. It is divided into the five poh'ce circles of
Dyalpur, Phul, Dhanaula, Jaito, and Lohat Baddi. The nizdmat lies
wholly in the great natural tract known as the Jangal, which is dry
and healthy, possessing a sandy soil of considerable fertility where
water is available. The spring-level is too far below the surface for
well-irrigation, but the fuzdmat is now commanded by the .Sirhind
Canal.
Phul Town. — Head-quarters of the Phul iihdmat of Nabha State,
Punjab, situated in 30° 20' N. and 75° 18' E. Population (1901),
4,964. The town was founded by Chaudhri Phul, the ancestor of the
Phulkian houses, who in 1627 left Mahraj and founded a village, to
which he gave his own name, 5 miles east of that place. It contains
a vernacular middle school, a police station, and a dispensary. Ram-
pur, a station on the Rajpura-Bhatinda branch of the North-Western
Railway, 3 miles from Phul, possesses a large grain market ; and
Chotian, a large village 2 miles distant, has an Anglo-vernacular
middle school for Sikhs.
Phulbani. — Head-quarters of the Khondmals subdivision of Angul
District, Bengal, situated in 20° 29' N. and 84° 16' E. Population
(1901), 475. Phulbani contains the usual public offices; the sub-jail
has accommodation for 14 prisoners.
Phulchari. — Village in the Gaibanda subdivision of Rangpur Dis-
trict, Eastern Bengal and Assam, situated in 25° 12' N. and 89° 37' E.,
on the right bank of the Brahmaputra river. Population (1901), 2,782.
It is the terminus of the Brahmaputra-Sultanpur Branch Railway, and
a large jute-exporting centre.
Phuljhur. — River of Eastern Bengal and Assam, formed by the
union of the Karatoya and Halhalia in Bogra District, in 24° 38' N.
and 89° 29" E. It is subsequently joined by the Hurasagar, an offshoot
of the Jamuna (3) ; and the united stream, after being further aug-
mented by the Baral and IcHAi\rATi (i) near Bera in Pabna District,
flows into the Jamuna (3).
Phulkian States. — The three Native States of Patiala, Jind, and
Nabha in the Punjab are collectively known as the Phulkian States.
They are the most important of the Cis-Sutlej States, having a total
area of 7,599 ^ square miles, with a population (1901) of 2,176,644 and
a gross revenue of 97-5 lakhs. The main area of this group of States
contains 5,611 square miles, and lies between 74° 10' and 77° 3' E.
and 29° 4' and 30° 54' N. It is bounded on the north by the District
of Ludhiana ; on the east by Ambala and Karnal ; on the south by
Rohtak and Hissar ; and on the west by Ferozepore and the State of
' These figures do not agree with the area given in the article on the Pinjab,
which is the area returned in 1901, the year of the latest Census. They are taken
from more recent returns.
132 P HULK I AN STATES
Faridkot. This area is the ancestral possession of the Phulkian houses.
It lies mainly in the great natural tract called the Jangal (desert or
forest), but stretches north-east into that known as the Pawadh and
southwards across the Ghaggar into the Nardak, while its southernmost
tract, round the ancient town of jTnd, claims to lie within the sacred
limits of KuRUKSHETRA. This vast tract is not, however, the exclusive
property of the States ; for in it lie several islands of British territory,
and the State of Maler Kotla enters the centre of its northern border.
On the other hand, the States hold many outlying villages surrounded
by British territory. While the three States, as a group, form a com-
paratively continuous area, individually each resembles Brunswick or
the county of Cromarty, its territory being scattered and inextricably
intermingled with that of the other States. Besides its share in the
ancestral possessions of the Phulkian houses, Patiala holds a consider-
able area in the Simla Hills, acquired in 1815. In addition to these
possessions, the three States hold a fairly compact block of outlying
territory in the south-east of the Punjab, between 75° 58' and 76° 27' E.
and 27° 48' and 28° 27' N. The area of this tract is 1,534 square
miles. It is bounded on the north by Hissar ; on the east by Rohtak
and Gurgaon ; and on the south and west by Rajputana. Each of the
States received a part of this territory as a reward for services in the
Mutiny.
The ruling families are descended from Phvil, their eponym, from
whom are also sprung the great feudal, but not ruling, families of
Bhadaur and Malaud, and many others of less importance. Collaterally
again the descendants of Phul are connected with the rulers of Faridkot,
the extinct Kaithal family, and the feudatories of Arnauli, Jhamba,
Siddhuwal, and, north of the Sutlej, Atari. These numerous branches
of a vigorous stock belong to the great Siddhu-Barar tribe, the most
powerful Jat clan south of the Sutlej, and claim descent from Jaisal,
a Bhati Rajput, who, having founded the State of Jaisalmer in 1156,
was driven from his kingdom by a rebellion and settled near Hissar.
Hemhel, his son, sacked that town and overran the country up to
Delhi, but was repulsed by Shams-ud-din Altamsh. Subsequently, in
1 212, that ruler made him governor of the Sirsa and Bhatinda country.
But his great-grandson Mangal Rao, having rebelled against the
Aluhammadan sovereign of Delhi, was beheaded at Jaisalmer. His
grandson, Khivva, sank to the status of a Jat by contracting a marriage
with a woman of that class ; and though the great Siddhu-Barar tribe
in the following centuries spread itself far and wide over the Mai,\v.\
country up to and even beyond the Sutlej, the descendants of Khiwa
fell into poverty and obscurity, until one of them, Sanghar, entered
the service of the emperor Babar with a few followers. Sanghar
himself fell at Panlpat in 1526 ; but the emperor rewarded his devotion
PHULKIAN STATES 133
by granting his son Baryani the chaudhraynt or intendancy of the
waste country south-west of Delhi, and thus restored the fortunes of
the family. The grant was confirnied by Huniayun ; but in 1560
Baryam fell fighting against the Muhammadan Bhattis, at once the
kinsmen and hereditary foes of the Siddhu tribe. Baryam was
succeeded as chaiidJiri by his son Mahraj and his grandson Mohan,
who were both engaged in constant warfare with the Bhattis, until
Mohan was compelled to flee to Hansi and Hissar, whence he returned
with a considerable force of his tribesmen, defeated the Bhattis at
Bhedowal, and on the advice of the Sikh Guru Har Gobind founded
Mahraj in Ferozepore District. But the contest with the Bhattis was
soon renewed, and Mohan and his son Rup Chand were killed by
them in a skirmish about 16 18. His second son Kala succeeded to
.the chaudhrayat and became the guardian of Phul and Sandali, the
sons of Rup Chand. Phul left six sons, of whom Tiloka was the eldest,
and from him are descended the families of Jind and Nabha. From
Rama, the second son, sprang the greatest of the PhTilkian houses, that
of Patiala. The other four sons succeeded to only a small share of
their father's possessions.
In 1627 Phul founded and gave his name to a village which is now
an important town in the State of Nabha. His two eldest sons
founded Bhai Rilpa, still held jointly by the three States, while Rama
also built Rampur. The last named successfully raided the Bhattis
and other enemies of his line. He then obtained from the Muham-
madan governor of Sirhind the intendancy of the Jangal tract. His
cousin Chain Singh was associated with him in the office ; but Rama
could brook no rival and caused his cousin to be assassinated, only to
fall in turn a victim to the vengeance of Chain Singh's sons. The
blood-feud was duly carried on by Ala Singh, Rama's third son, who
killed all but one of the sons of Chain Singh.
Ala Singh, now quit of his nearest enemies, established a post at
Sanghera, to protect its people against the chiefs of Kot and Jagraon.
In 17 18 he entrusted Bhadaur to his brother, and rebuilt Barnala,
where he took up his residence. Shortly afterwards his son Sardul
Singh attacked and destroyed Mina, the possession of a Rajput who
was related to the powerful Rai Kalha of Kot. This roused the Rai
to a determined attempt to destroy the rising power of Ala Singh ; and
collecting a large force led by the Rajput chiefs of Halwara, Malsin,
Thattar, and Talwandi, and the famous Jamal Khan, Rais of Maler
Kotla, and strengthened by an imperial contingent under Saiyid Asad
All Khan, general of the JuUundur Doab, he attacked the Sikhs outside
Barnala. The imperial general fell early in the day and his men
abandoned the field. The troops of Maler Kotla and Kot followed
-their example, and the Sikhs obtained a complete victory, routing the
134 PHULKIAX STATES
Muhammadan forces and taking many prisoners and much booty.
This victory raised Ala Singh to the position of an independent chief,
and the Sikhs flocked to his standard. But the next ten years were
consumed in desultory warfare with the Bhattis, and Ala Singh allied
himself with the imperial governor of Sirhind against the chief of Kot,
who was forced to abandon his principality. Ala Singh, however, soon
quarrelled with his ally, and was in consequence thrown by him into
prison, where he would have perished but for the self-sacrifice of
a follower, a relative of Chain Singh, his hereditary foe. Thus freed,
Ala Singh built the fort of Bhawanigarh, 22 miles west of the town
of Patiala. Three years later his general, Gurbakhsh Singh, Kaleka,
subdued the territory of Sanaur or Chaurasi, in which the town of
Patiala lies, and fortified the latter place to hold the conquered territory
in check. Meanwhile the Dlwan of Samand Khan, governor of Sirhind,
had fled for protection to Ala Singh, who refused to surrender him.
Samand Khan thereupon marched on Sanaur, only to meet with a
severe defeat. Bhai Gurbakhsh Singh, the founder of the Kaithal
family, next invoked the aid of Ala Singh in subduing the country
round Bhatinda, which was then held by Sardar Jodh Singh. Ala
Singh dispatched a considerable force against this chief, but effected
nothing until the Sikhs from the north of the Sutlej came to his aid,
overran the country, and placed Bhai Gurbakhsh Singh in possession
of it. Ala Singh then turned his arms against two neighbouring chiefs,
who, having called in vain upon the Bhattis for help, were slain with
several hundred followers and their territories annexed. With his son
Lai Singh, Ala Singh now proceeded to overrun the country of the
Bhatti chiefs, who summoned the imperial governor of Hissar to their
aid ; but in spite of his co-operation they were driven from the field.
This campaign terminated in 1759 with the victory of Dharsul, which
consolidated Ala Singh's power and greatly raised his reputation.
Ahmad Shah Durrani on his invasion of India in 1761 had appointed
Zain Khan governor of Sirhind ; but the moment he turned his face
homewards, the Sikhs, who had remained neutral during his campaigns
against the Mughal and Maratha powers, attacked Sirhind, which was
with difficulty relieved by Jamal Khan of Maler Kotla and Rai Kalha
of Kot. In 1762 Ahmad Shah Durrani determined to punish the
Sikhs for this attempt on Sirhind ; and though a great confederacy of
the Phulkian chiefs and other Sikh leaders was formed and opposed his
advance near Barnala, the Durrani inflicted on them a crushing defeat,
their loss being estimated at 20,000 men. Ala Singh himself was
taken prisoner and Barnala occupied by the Afghans. The chiefs
ransom of 4 lakhs was paid with difficulty, and he was released ; but
Ahmad Shah, in pursuance of his policy of employing the Sikhs
against the Mughal power, gave Ala Singh a robe of honour with the
PHULPUR TOWN 135
title of Raja and authority to coin money in his own name, thus
founding the Patiala State. These gifts, however, raised the suspicions
of the Sikhs : and Ala Singh only recovered his position in their eyes
when, in 1763, he headed the great force of confederated Sikhs which
took Sirhind, after Zain Khan had been defeated and slain outside
its walls. In this battle the nascent State of Jind was represented
by Alam Singh, a grandson of Tiloka, and that of Nabha by Hamir
Singh, his great-grandson. After the victory, the old Mughal district
of Sirhind was divided among its conquerors. Sirhind itself, with its
surrounding country, fell to Ala Singh, Amloh to Nabha, and a con-
siderable area to Jind. In this year jTnd and Nabha may be deemed
to have come into being as ruling States, and henceforward their
histories diverge.
The right of adoption was granted to the chiefs of Patiala, Jind, and
Nabha in i860, together with the further concession that, in the event
of the chief of any one State dying without male issue and without
adopting a successor, the chiefs of the other two, in concert with the
Political Agent, should choose a successor from among the Phulkian
family. Succession in these cases is subject to the payment to the
British Government of a nazardna or fine equal to one-third of the
gross revenue of the State. The Political Agent for the Phulkian
States and Bahawalpur resides at Patiala.
Phulpur Tahsil. — Zh/^w/ of Allahabad District, United Provinces,
comprising the parganas of Sikandra and Jhusi, and lying between
25° 18' and 25° 45' N. and 80° 53' and 82° 10' E., on the north bank
of the Ganges, with an area of 286 square miles. Population fell from
176,851 in 1891 to 171,653 in 1901. There are 486 villages and two
towns, including Phulpur (population, 7,611), the /«//5// head-quarters.
The demand for land revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 3,04,000, and for
cesses Rs. 49,000. The density of population, 600 persons per square
mile, is above the District average. Stretches of alluvial land border
part of the course of the Ganges, but most of the tahs'il lies in the
fertile uplands. In 1903-4 the area under cultivation was 172 square
miles, of which 65 were irrigated. Wells supply a rather larger area
than tanks ox Jhl/s, and no other sources are important.
Phulpur Town. — Head-quarters of the fahsil of the same name in
Allahabad District, situated in 25° 2>z' N. and 82° 6' E., on the
metalled road from Allahabad city to Jaunpur. Population (1901),
7,611. The place is said to have been founded in the seventeenth
century, but has no history. Besides the usual offices, it contains
a dispensary, a police station, and a post office. Phulpur is admin-
istered under Act XX of 1856, with an income of about Rs. 1,300.
The market is of some importance, and there is a considerable trade
in cloth, cotton, and metal vessels. Sugar was formerly an important
136 PHULPUR TOWN
article of trade, but is so no longer. A little cotton cloth is made.
The tahs'di school has about 90 pupils.
Phultala. — Village in the head-quarters subdivision of Khulna
District, Bengal, situated in 22"^ 58' N. and 89° 29' E., on the Bhairab
river. Population (1901), 3,911. It has a brisk sugar manufacture
and a large trade in rice, betel-leaves, &c. Phultala is a station on the
Eastern Bengal State Railway, and is also connected with Khulna town
by a good road.
Phulwari. — Town in the head-quarters subdivision of Palna Dis-
trict, Bengal, situated in 25° 34' N. and 85° 5' E. Population (1901),
3.415-
Pigeon Island (also known as Netrani or Nitran). — Island 10 miles
off the coast of North Kanara District, Bombay, situated in 14° \' N.
and 74° 16' E., about 15 miles north-west of Bhatkal. The island is
about 300 feet high and half a mile broad. It is well wooded, and
has a good landing on the west side. In clear weather it is visible
25 miles off. Its shores abound in white coral and lime, which are
taken by boats to the mainland. The number of pigeons that haunt
its caves have given the island its name. Besides pigeons, the island
is frequented by the swiftlet {Collocalia unicolor)^ whose nests the
Chinese esteem a delicacy. It also contains one of the largest known
colonies of the white-bellied sea-eagle.
Pihani.— Town in the Shahabad tahsil of Hardoi District, United
Provinces, situated in 27° 37' N. and 80° 12' E., 16 miles north of
Hardoi town. Population (1901), 7,616. The Hindus trace the foun-
dation of the town to a settlement of Brahmans, while the Musalmans
claim that it was founded by Saiyid Abdul Ghafur, Kazi of Kanauj,
who remained faithful to Humayun after his defeat by Sher Shah.
Several of his descendants attained high rank, while his nephew
became chief mufti under Akbar, with the title of Sadr Jahan. His
tomb and mosque are the chief adornments of the town. Pihani was
administered as a municipality from 1877 to 1904, when it was con-
stituted a 'notified area.' During the ten years ending 1901 the
income and expenditure averaged Rs. 4,000. In 1903-4 the income
and expenditure were Rs. 7,000. Pihani was formerly noted for the
manufacture of sword-blades of the finest temper, and of woven
turbans ; but both of these arts have declined. There are three
schools, including one for girls, attended in all by 250 pupils, and
the American Methodist Mission has a branch here.
Pihewa. — Ancient town in Karnal District, Punjab. See Pehowa.
Pihij. — Town in the Petlad td/uka, Baroda prant, Baroda State,
situated in 22° 40' N. and 72° 49' E. Population (1901), 5,282. The
town possesses a vernacular school.
Pilibhit District. — North-eastern District of the Bareilly Division,
PlLIBHIT DISTRICT 137
United Provinces, lying between 28^^ 6' and 28' 53' N. and 79° 37' and
80° 27' E., with an area of 1,350 square miles. On the north it is
bounded by Naini Tal ; on the north-east and east by the State of
Nepal and Kheri District ; on the south by Kherl and Shahjahanpur ;
and on the west by Bareilly. Though se[)arated only by a short
distance from the outer ranges of the Himalayas, Pilibhit consists
entirely of a level plain, containing depressions but
no hills, and intersected by several streams. The snects
largest river is the Sarda, which, after a long course
through the Himalayas and across the boulder-strewn tract known
as the Bhabar, becomes an ordinary river of the plains at the north-
east corner of the District. It then flows south-east, sometimes
dividing Pilibhit from Nepal, and often giving off smaller channels.
A few miles south-west of the Sarda is an affluent called the Chauka,
which flows in what was probably an old bed of the main river.
In the centre of the District a long swamp, called the Mala, lies
north and south, dividing it into two distinct portions. The eastern
tahstl of Puranpur contains a large area of forest land, and is remark-
able for its unhealthy climate, the poverty of its inhabitants, and
the instability of cultivation. The river Gumti rises in the centre
of this tract, but has a badly-defined bed, consisting of a series of
swamps. ^V^est of the Mala conditions are better, and the country
gradually assumes the prosperous appearance of the plains of Rohil-
khand. The Khanaut, Katna, and Deoha are the principal rivers
in this tract.
The District consists almost entirely of alluvium, though the bed
of the Sarda contains gravel and small boulders.
The flora of the District presents no peculiarity. In the north
and east a large forest area is found, consisting chiefly of sal,
which gives place to the ordinary trees of the plains in the south
and west.
In the wilder parts of Puranpur tigers and leopards are numerous,
but elsewhere scarce. Wild hog and deer of various kinds are found
in many parts, and do much damage to the crops. The jackal and
wolf are also common. Black and grey partridge, quail, sand-grouse,
jungle-fowl, peafowl, geese, ducks, and snipe are the commonest
game-birds. The mahseer is found in the Sarda, and fish are 'com-
mon everywhere.
Fever is endemic throughout the District, and is especially viru-^
lent in the swamps near the forests in Puranpur. Except for fever,
Pilibhit is fairly healthy, and its proximity to the hills causes a
more even temperature and cool climate than in the Districts farther
south.
The same cause ensures a copious rainfall, the annual amount
138 PILIBHIT DISTRICT
averaging more than 49 inches. The two northern tahsils receive
52 inches and Bisalpur in the south about 44. Damage is occasionally
caused both by excess and by deficiency of rain.
At the end of the tenth century a line of princes of the Chhinda
family ruled in the north of the District ; nothing is known of them
but their names, recorded in an inscription found
near Dewal, and the fact that they made a canal.
Local history commences with the rise of the Rohilla power in the
eighteenth century, when Pillbhlt fell into the hands of Hafiz Rahmat
Khan, the great leader of the Rohillas after the death of Ali Muham-
mad. He resided for a time at Pilibhit, which is indebted to him for
its mosque and walls, some of its markets, and all that distinguished
it before the advent of British rule. Rahmat Khan was killed in the
battle near Katra in 1774, fought between the Rohillas and the
Nawab of Oudh, who was aided by a British force lent by Warren
Hastings. Pilibhit was occupied without resistance, and became part
of the new dominions added to Oudh. In 1801, with the rest of
Rohilkhand, it passed to the British, being ceded in lieu of the
payment of tribute.
At the time of the Mutiny, in 1857, part of the present District
was included in a subdivision of Bareill}'. News of the rising of the
troops at Bareilly reached Pilibhit on June i, and tumults at once
broke out among the population. The Joint-Magistrate was forced
lo retire to Naini Tal ; and while the surrounding villages remained
a prey to the rapacity and extortions of rival zamindars, the city
nominally submitted to the authority of Khan Bahadur Khan, the
rebel Nawab of Bareilly, a grandson of Hafiz Rahmat Khan. Order
was restored in 1858, and has since then only been seriously disturbed
in 1871, when a riot, which was not suppressed without bloodshed,
occurred between Hindus and Muhammadans on the occasion of
a Hindu festival.
Besides the ruins near Dewal several extensive mounds are situated
in various parts of the District, which have not been explored. Local
tradition connects them with the mythical Raja Vena.
There are five towns and 1,056 villages. Population has fluctuated
considerably, owing to the unhealthy nature of a great part of the
. District, and the facility with which its inhabitants
migrate. The numbers at the four enumerations
were as follows: (1872) 492,098, (1881) 451,601, (1891) 485,108, and
(1901) 470,339. The famine of 1877-8 and the fever epidemic of
1879 had serious effects on population. There are three tahs'ils — BIsal-
PUK, Pilibhit, and Puranpur — each named from its head-quarters.
The principal towns are the municipalities of Pilibhit and BIsalpur.
The following table gives the chief statistics of population in 1901 : —
AGRICULTURE
139
Tahs'il.
<
Number of
c
0
1
(2
Population per
square mile.
Percentage of
variation in
population be-
tween 1891
and 1901.
Number of
persons able to
read and
write.
1
>
Blsalpur .
Plllbhit .
Puranpur ,
District total
363
474
513
2
3
424
390
242
196,333
184,922
89,084
541
390
174
-1- 2.9
- 6.4
4,260
5,066
1,447
T,350
6
1,056
470,339
348
- 3-0
10,773
Hindus form 82 per cent, of the total and Musalmans more than
17 per cent. The density is below the Provincial average, owing to the
large area of forest and waste in Puranpur. Almost the entire popula-
tion speak ^Vestern Hindi, Kanaujia being the prevailing dialect.
Among Hindus the most numerous castes are : Kisans (cultivators),
54,000 ; Kurmis (agriculturists), 47,000 ; Lodhas (cultivators), 35,000 ;
Chamars (leather-workers and labourers), 31,000 ; Brahmans, 25,000 ;
and Muraos (market-gardeners), 25,000. The chief Muhammadan
tribes and castes are: Julahas (weavers), 15,000; Pathans, 13,000;
Shaikhs, 12,000; Behnas (cotton-carders), 6,000; Banjaras (grain-
carriers and agriculturists), 5,000 ; and Rains (cultivators), 5,000. The
Kisans and Lodhas are found chiefly in the Bareilly and Agra Divisions,
the Kurmis in the centre of the Province, and the Banjaras in the sub-
montane tracts. About 69 per cent, of the population are supported by
agriculture — a high proportion ; 6 per cent, by general labour, and
2 per cent, by weaving.
Out of 1,283 native Christians in 1901, 1,138 were Methodists. The
American Methodist Mission has worked in this District since 1861.
In the north-western tahs'il of Pilibhlt, with its clay soil and heavy
rainfall, rice forms the most important crop ; wheat and gram are
also grown, and the cultivation of sugar-cane has
extended considerably. Puranpur produces rice and
wheat, but barley and oilseeds are grown to a larger extent than in
Plllbhit, as the soil is lighter. In the south of the District rice is
also an important crop, but sugar-cane is more valuable, and wheat
and gram cover a larger area than in the north-west. The standard
of cultivation varies considerably. In the south and west it will bear
comparison with the best of the Rohilkhand Districts ; but in the
north-east and east, where the energies of the cultivator are devoted
to protecting his crops from the depredations of wild beasts, tillage is
slovenly and irrigation rare.
The ordinary tenures of the United Provinces are found ; but the
District is remarkable for the extent to which zamtndari mahdh have
remained undivided, especially in the two northern tahstls. Out of
VOL. XX. K
Agriculture.
140
PILIBHiT DISTRICT
1,493 i>i<^^i5Is in these, only 30 :ixe pattiddri, while in the Blsalpur tahsl/
617 tuahdls :ire paf/lddri ax\d 371 za??iJ}iddri. The main agricultural
statistics for 1903-4 are given below, in square miles : —
Tahsil.
Total.
Cultivated
Irrigated.
Cultivable
waste.
Blsalpur
Pllibhit.
Puranpur
Total
363
474
513
241
240
178
84
37
18
66
59
230
1.350
659
139
355
Rice covered 186 square miles, or 28 per cent, of the net cultivated
area, and wheat 194 square miles, or 29 per cent. ; gram, barley, and
hdjra are the next most important food-crops. Sugar-cane was grown
on 58, and oilseeds on 23 square miles. Hemp {sdn), though it
covered only 11 square miles, is increasing in importance.
There has been no permanent increase in cultivation during recent
years, and fluctuations are considerable, owing to climatic reasons. A
rise is, however, noticeable in the area sown with the more valuable
crops, rice and sugar-cane. Wheat sown alone has been replaced by
barley or by mixed crops, and there has been an increase in the area
double cropped. Except in adverse seasons, loans from Government
are rarely taken. No advances were made from 1890 to 1894 ; and
though Rs. 97,000 was lent during the next ten years, Rs. 53,000 of
this amount was advanced in 1896-7.
The District contains large stretches of grazing ground, especially
in the Puranpur tahsil, and a special breed of cattle is found here,
called panwdr ; the bullocks are of average size, quick movers, and
fiery tempered. Some Hansi bulls were once imported, but were not
a success. Very few ponies or horses are kept, and the sheep and
goats are generally inferior.
There is great divergence between the different tahslh in the
methods of irrigation, and the need and facilities for supplying water.
In 1803-4 wells supplied 64 square miles, lakes and swamps 37,
rivers 19, and Government canals 19 square miles. The canals, which
are situated entirely in the western part of the Pilibhit tahsil, consist of
two systems, drawn from the Bahgul and Kailas, both of which are small
streams. In ordinary years irrigation is not necessary, and small tem-
porary wells can be made wherever required, except in the sandy tracts
of Puranpur. In the Bisalpur tahsil the supply from wells is regularly
supplemented by a defective and wasteful private arrangement of dams
on the small streams which traverse that area, especially on the Mala
swamp. The minor rivers are similarly used in the Pllibhit and
Puranpur tahs'ils in seasons of drought. Water is generally raised
FAMINE 141
in earthen pots suspended from a lever {dlwukn), as the spring-level
is high.
The 'reserved' forests of Pilibhit District cover 149 square miles,
and are included, with some forest lying in NainI Tal District, in the
Pilibhit Forest division. They lie on both sides of the Mala swamp
and south-west of the Chauka, forming an area shaped like a horse-
shoe. The forests are the poorest in the Province, and are chiefly
valuable for the grazing they afford, and the products used by the
inhabitants of the neighbourhood. Sal {Shorea robiistd) and haldu
{Adina cordifolid) are the most valuable trees ; but many years must
elapse before timber of value is produced. About 64 miles are occupied
by similar forests belonging to private persons in the Puranpur iahsil,
and 44 miles in the south of Blsalpur are covered with jungle, chiefly
dhdk {Buteaf?-07idosa).
Sugar-refining is the most important industry. Boat-building and
wood-carving were formerly carried on largely ; but
the carpenters have now turned their attention to communications.
cart-making. There is a small manufacture of
hempen bags and metal vessels, and cotton-weaving is carried on,
but chiefly for local supply. Catechu is prepared in the north of
the District.
The staple exports are wheat, sugar, and rice. In the last few years
an export trade in ^a;/-hemp has sprung up. The finer varieties
of rice grown in the rich lowlands of Nepal are exported through this
District, and there is also a considerable trade in hill produce, such as
borax, pepper, and ginger. Neoria, Bisalpur, and Puranpur are the
principal trade centres, outside Pilibhit town.
The Lucknow-Sitapur-Bareilly metre-gauge railway passes across the
centre of the District, and a branch is contemplated from Pilibhit town
to Tanakpur, the mart at the foot of the Kumaun hills. The District
is very badly provided with roads, and the northern and eastern parts
are almost impassable, except by elephants, during the rainy season.
There are 13 miles of metalled roads from Pilibhit towards Bareilly,
and 299 miles of unmetalled roads. The absence of kankar or nodular
limestone is the chief cause of the want of better roads. Avenues of
trees are maintained along 84 miles.
The natural moisture of the soil is generally sufficient to protect the
District from the extremity of famine, and excessive rain is more to
be feared than drought. In the sandy tracts in the
east and south, however, where wells cannot be made,
drought affects the people. Large remissions of revenue were made in
1825-6, and the famine of 1837-8 was felt. Details of later famines
are not available till that of 1868-9, when Rs. 43,000 was spent on
relief, and large advances were made for seed and bullocks. The
K. 2
T42 PlfJBHlT DISTRICT
famine of 1877-8 caused some distress and the revenue demand was
reduced. In 1896-7 scarcity was again felt, but liberal advances were
made and the District recovered rapidly.
The Collector is ordinarily assisted by two Deputy-Collectors re-
cruited in India, and a tahsilddr resides at the head-
quarters of each tahs'ii. An officer of the Forest
department is stationed at Pilibhit, while the canals are part of the
Rohilkhand Canals under an officer at Bareilly.
Pilibhit is included in the Civil and Sessions Judgeship of Bareilly,
and there is one District Munsif. Crime is usually light.
At annexation, in 1801, Pilibhit was included in the large District of
Bareilly. From 1833 to 1842 part of the area now forming Pilibhit was
included with other taJislh in a District called North Bareilly. A sub-
division was then created, consisting of Pilibhit, Puranpur, and other
territory, which became a separate District in 1879. In 1880 the
Baherl iahsll was restored to Bareilly, and the Bisalpur tahs'ii added
to Pilibhit, The early settlements were thus made as part of Bareilly
District, to which reference may be made for the methods followed.
The demand fixed at the first regular settlement, under Regulation IX
of 1833, on the present area was 5-9 lakhs. At the next settlement,
between 1865 and 1872, the Bisalpur tahstJ was treated as part of
Bareilly District, and the Pilibhit and Puranpur tahs'ih were settled
separately. The total revenue was raised to 7-2 lakhs; but a succession
of bad years caused reductions to be made, and part of the District
has since been under a system of short settlements. The Bisalpur
tahs'ii was again settled in 1902 together with Bareilly District, the
revenue being raised from 3-1 to 3-3 lakhs; but the revision of settle-
ment in the other two tahslls has been postponed for ten years. In
1902-3 the incidence of revenue was R. r per acre, varying from
5 annas in Puranpur to Rs. 1-5 in Pilibhit.
The total collections on account of land revenue and revenue from
all sources have been, in thousands of rupees : —
1
1880-1. ; 1890-1.
1900-1.
1903-4.
Land revenue
Total revenue
7,18 7,01
9,24 9,81
7.29
10,52
7,"
10.74
There are two municipalities, Pilibhit and Bisalpur, and three
towns are administered under Act XX of 1856. Beyond the limits of
these, local affairs are managed by the District board, which had an
income of Rs. 72,000 in 1903-4, chiefly derived from rates. The
ex])enditure was Rs. 79,000, including Rs. 40,000 on roads and
buildings.
The District Superintendent of police has a force of 3 inspectors,
PiLIBIIIT TOWN 143
55 subordinate officers, and 221 men, distributed in 9 police stations.
There are also 109 municipal and town police, and 1,066 village and
road police. Up to 1902 convicts were sent to the Bareilly District
jail ; but a jail has now been built, which contained a daily average of
48 prisoners in 1903.
Pilibhit occupies a medium place as regards the literacy of its popu-
lation, of whom 2-3 per cent. (4 males and 0-2 females) could read and
write in 1901. The number of public schools rose from 62 with 2,124
pupils in 1880-1 to 77 with 3,066 pupils in 1900-1. In 1903-4 there
were 107 public schools with 4,289 pupils, of whom 238 were girls,
besides 45 private schools with 667 pupils, including 46 girls. Three
of the schools were managed by Government, and 87 by the District
and municipal boards. The total expenditure on education in 1903-4
was Rs. 27,000, chiefly met from Local funds.
There are 5 hospitals and dispensaries, with accommodation for
66 in-patients. About 52,000 cases were treated in 1903, of whom
777 were in-patients, and 1,100 operations were performed. The
expenditure was Rs. 10,000, chiefly from Local funds.
In 1903-4, 21,000 persons were vaccinated, giving the high pro-
portion of 45 per 1,000 of the population. Vaccination is compulsory
only in the municipalities.
{Settlement Report of Pilibhit (1873) ; Bareilly District Gazetteer
(1879, under revision); Assessment Report^ Tahsll Bisalpiir {i()02).\
Pilibhit Tahsil. — North-western tahsil of Pilibhit District, United
Provinces, comprising the parganas of Pilibhit and Jahanabad, and
lying between 28° 29' and 28° 53' N. and 79° 37' and 80° 3' E., with
an area of 474 square miles. Population fell from 199,039 in 1891 to
184,922 in 1901. There are 390 villages and three towns, including
PilIbhit (population, 33,490), the District and tahsil head-quarters.
The demand for land revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 3,03,000, and for
cesses Rs. 50,000. The density of population, 390 persons per square
mile, is considerably above the District average. The Deoha and
Katna and many smaller streams traverse the tahsil, and in the west
two canals from the Bahgul and Kailas irrigate a small area. A long
swamp, called the Mala, forms the eastern boundary, fringed by a sal
forest. In 1903-4 the area under cultivation was 240 square miles,
of which 37 were irrigated. In dry years temporary wells can be made
readily, and the rivers are also used.
Pilibhit Town, — Head-quarters of the District and tahsil of the
same name. United Provinces, situated in 28° 38' N. and 79° 48' E.,
on the Lucknow-Sitapur-Bareilly Railway. Population (1901), 33,490.
The name is derived from Periya, the title of a Banjara clan, and l?hif,
a ' wall' or ' mound.' It has no history till the middle of the eighteenth
century, when it became ihe residence of Hafi/ Rahmal Khan, the
144 PiLIBHIT TOWN
Rohilla leader. In 1763 he surrounded it with a mud wall, and six
years later with a brick wall. For a time Pilibhit was called Hafizabad,
after the title of the great soldier. The town never rose to the
importance of Bareilly ; and after the defeat and death of Hafiz
Rahmat Khan in 1774 it declined under the rule of Oudh, and under
the British, to whom it was ceded in 1801. At the time of the Mutiny
in 1857, Pilibhit, though it had been the capital of a District from
1833 to 1842, was the head-quarters of a subdivision. The Joint-
Magistrate was compelled to retire to Naini Tal, and the town was the
scene of constant disturbances, though nominally subject to the rebel
governor of Bareilly.
Pilibhit is almost surrounded by water. It lies between the Ueoha
and Kakra, which were formerly connected by ditches still forming
drainage channels, though not constantly filled. A fine mosque built
by Hafiz Rahmat Khan, in imitation of the Jama Masjid at Delhi,
is the chief ornament of the town. The public buildings include
the District courts, male and female dispensaries, a clock-tower,
a Sanskrit school, and a Turkish bath. The houses are largely built
of brick, and there are several good market-places lined with shops.
Besides the ordinary District staff, a Forest officer resides at Pilibhit,
and there is a branch of the American Methodist Mission. The
municipality was constituted in 1865. During the ten years ending
1 90 1 the income and expenditure averaged Rs. 46,000 and Rs. 45,000
respectively. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 76,000, including octroi
(Rs. 35,000) and rents (Rs. 22,000); and the expenditure was
Rs. 71,000. A revised drainage scheme has lately been carried out.
The trade of the town is largely concerned with the agricultural
produce of the District, wheat, rice, sugar, and .s■^;^hemp forming
the chief exports. In addition, Pilibhit is an important depot for the
produce of Nepal and the Himalayas. Carts and bedsteads are
largely made and exported. The municipality maintains eight schools
and aids four others, attended by 724 pupils.
Pilkhana. — Town in the Sikandra Rao tahsll of Allgarh District,
United Provinces, situated in 27° 51' N. and 78° 17' E., 11 miles
south-east of Aligarh town. Population (1901), 5,109. The town is
old, and gave its name ^o a tabika farmed to Daya Ram of Hathras at
the beginning of British rule. It is administered under Act XX of
1856, with an income of about Rs. 1,200. There is a primary school
with 60 pupils.
Pilkhua. — Town in the Ghaziabad tahsll o[ Meerut District, United
Provinces, situated in 28° 43'' N. and 77° 40' E., 19 miles south of
Meerut city on the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway, and on the metalled
road from Delhi to Moradabad. Population (1901), 5,859. The town
is badly drained and surrounded by stagnant pools, though a small
FIND DADAN KHAN TAHS2L 145
drainage cut has been made. It contains branches of the Church
Missionary Society and the American Methodist Missions. From
1872 to 1904 it was administered as a municipality, with an income
and expenditure averaging about Rs. 3,000, but it has now been
declared a 'notified area.' The chief manufacture is country cloth,
which is especially noted for a peculiar pattern made by dyeing. There
is also a considerable trade in leather and shoemaking, and the pro-
ducts are exported as far as Calcutta and Bombay. In 1904 there was
an aided primary school with 35 pupils.
Pimpalner. — Tdhika of West Khandesh District, Bombay, lying
partly above and partly below the Western Ghats, between 20° 50' and
21° 16' N. and 73° 51' and 74° t^t^' E., with an area of 933 square miles.
There are 151 villages, but no town. The head-quarters are at Sakri.
The population in 1901 was 56,638, compared with 59,278 in 1891.
The density, 61 persons per square mile, is about two-fifths of the
average for the District. The demand for land revenue in 1903-4 was
1-3 lakhs, and for cesses Rs. 8,000. The plains are intersected by
abrupt mountain ranges, of which the range of the Selbari hills is
the most considerable. The tract below the Western Ghats is com-
posed of steep hill ranges, clothed with forest and inhabited by Bhils.
The climate is unhealthy, especially to Europeans and natives of the
Deccan. There is a fair water-supply, the rivers being utilized for
irrigation by means of masonry dams. The annual rainfall averages
21 inches.
Pimpladevi. — Petty State in the Dangs, Bombay.
Pimpri.— Petty State in the Dangs, Bombay.
Pinahat. — Former name of a tahsil in Agra District, United Pro-
vinces. See Bah.
Pinakini, Northern and Southern. — Two rivers of Southern
India. See Penner and Ponnaiyar.
Pindari. — Glacier in the District and tahstl of Almora, United
Provinces, situated between 30° 16'' and 30° 17' N. and 80° and
80° 3' E. The glacier is fed by the snow from the lofty peak of
Nanda Kot and other mountains lying north of it, and is the source
of the Pindar river, a tributary of the Alaknanda, which flows into
the Ganges.
Pind Dadan Khan Tahsil.— Southern subdivision and tahsil
of Jhelum District, Punjab, lying between 32° 27' and 32° 50' N. and
72° 32'' and 73° 29' E., with an area of 875 square miles. It is bounded
on the south-east by the Jhelum river, and is traversed in its northern
portion by the Salt Range. The hills consist of two roughly parallel
ranges about 6 miles apart, with a strip of richly cultivated and fairly
level uplands between. The southern slopes of the hills are steep
and barren. The rest of the tahsil consists of a belt of alluvial plain.
146 FIND DAD AN KHAN TAHSIL
a portion of which is much affected by saline deposits. The population
in 1 90 1 was 170,130, compared with 173,071 in 1891. It contains the
town of Find Dadan Khan (population, 13,770), the head-quarters;
and 207 villages. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted
to 2-8 lakhs. Katas and Malot are places of considerable archaeo-
logical interest, the village of Jalalpur possesses historical importance,
and the Mayo Mine at Khewra is one of the chief sources of the
supply of salt in India.
Find Dadan Khan Town. — Head-quarters of the subdivision
and tahsll of the same name in Jhelum District, Punjab, situated in
32° 36' N. and 73° 4' E., on the right bank of the Jhelum river, and on
the Sind-Sagar branch of the North-Western Railway. Population
(1901), 13,770. It was formerly the depot to which salt was brought
from the Mayo Mine, and from which it was carried across the river
to the railway ; but the bridging of the Jhelum at Haranpur, and
the extension of the railway to Khewra, have ruined this trade. Brass
vessels are made in the town, which also has a considerable weaving
industry, while its embroidered lungls are often sold at high prices.
Boat-building is largely carried on, and river boats of Pind Dadan
Khan make are in request throughout the whole course of the Jhelum.
Unglazed pottery of a deep red colour, ornamented with black patterns
and remarkably strong and good in quality, is a speciality of the town,
as also are stout leathern riding-whips made after English patterns.
The municipality was created in 1867. During the ten years ending
1902-3 the receipts averaged Rs. 28,700, and the expenditure
Rs. 28,100. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 22,300, chiefly from
octroi; and the expenditure was Rs. 27,000. The town has a high
school, maintained by the municipality. There is also a Government
dispensary.
Pindi Bhattian. —Village in the Hafizabad tahsll of Gujranwala
District, Punjab, situated in 31° 54' N. and 73° 19' E. It is a strong-
hold of the Bhatti Rajputs, from whom it takes its name, having been
founded by them in the time of Akbar. The Bhatti chiefs were
expelled by Ranjit Singh, but were reinstated by the British Govern-
ment, to whom they had rendered considerable assistance in the
Sikh ^Vars. They also did good service in the Mutiny. The town has
some trade in ghi, thread, grain, and Kabul fruits, and good saddles
are made. It contains a wealthy community of Arora merchants, and
formerly had a municipal committee which was abolished in 1890.
It has prospered greatly since the construction of the Chenab Canal,
the population having risen from 3,674 in 1891 to 6,145 ^•'' ^9°^ j ^'""d
it is now administered as a ' notified area.'
Pindi Gheb Subdivision. — Subdivision of Attock District, Punjab,
consisting of the Pindi Gheb and Talagang tahsils.
PINJAUR TAHSIL 147
Pindi Gheb Tahsil. — 7}?/w// of Attock District, Punjab, lying
between 33° o' and 2it Al' N. and 71"^ 42' and 72° 40' E., with an area
of 1,499 square miles. The Indus bounds it on the north-west. Its
highest point lies in the Kala-Chitt.\ range. The tahs'il is mainly
a bleak, dry, undulating and often stony tract, broken by ravines, and
sloping from east to west : a country of rough scenery, sparse popula-
tion, and scanty rainfall, ^\'est along the Indus are the ravines and
pebble ridges which surround Makhad. Only near Pindi Gheb town
does the broad bed of the Sil river show a bright oasis of cultivation
among the dreary uplands which compose the rest of the tahsll. The
population in 1901 was 106,437, compared with 99,350 in 1891. It
contains the town of Pindi Gheb (population, 8,452), the head-quarters ;
and 134 villages. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to
i'9 lakhs.
Pindi Gheb Town. — Head-quarters of the subdivision and tahsll
of the same name in Attock District, Punjab, situated in 33° 14' N.
and 72° 16' E., 21 miles from Jand station on the North-Western
Railway. Population (1901), 8,452. Formerly known as Pindi
Malika-i-Shahryar or Malika-i-Auliya, or 'queen of the saints,' it
derives its modern name from the Gheba tribe of Jats, and is now the
ancestral home of the Jodhra Maliks, who founded it in the thirteenth
century. The municipality was created in 1873. The income and
expenditure during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 4,400.
In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 5,200, chiefly from octroi; and the
expenditure was Rs. 5,800. A vernacular middle school is maintained
by the municipality, and a dispensary by Government.
Pinjaur Nizamat. — A nizdmat or administrative district of the
Patiala State, Punjab, lying between 30"^^ 4' and 31° 11' N. and 76" 29'
and 77° 22' E., with an area of 784 square miles. The population
in 1901 was 212,866, compared with 226,379 in 1891, dwelling in one
town, Banur, and 1,588 villages. The land revenue and cesses
in 1903-4 amounted to 6-5 lakhs. The nizdmat forms the north-
eastern part of the State, and is divided into four tahsils — Rajpura,
Banur, Pinjaur, and Ghanauh. Of these, the first lies in the
Himalayan area, and the other three in the Pawadh. The country
is scarred by torrent-beds, and is characterized by a peculiar subsoil
which makes irrigation from wells difficult. The head-quarters are at
Rajpura. Pinjaur Village is a place of some antiquity.
Pinjaur Tahsil. — North-eastern tahsll of the Pinjaur nizdmat,
Patiala State, Punjab, lying between 30° 41' and 31° ii' N. and
76° 50' and 77° 22' E., with an area of 294 square miles. The
population in 1901 was 55,731, compared with 56,745 in 1891. The
tahsll contains 1,136 villages, of which Pinjaur is the head-quarters.
The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 84,000.
148 PINJAUR VILLAGE
Pinjaur Village. — Head-quarters of the Pinjaur nizdmat and tahsil,
Patiala State, Punjab, situated in 30° 48' N. and 76° 59' E., 3 miles
from Kalka on the Simla road, at the confluence of the Koshallia and
Jhajhra, two tributaries of the Ghaggar. Population (1901), 812. The
name is a corruption of Panchapura, and the place is of considerable
antiquity, being mentioned by Abu Rihan in 1030. In 1254 it
formed part of the territory of Sirmur, which was ravaged by Nasir-ud-
dln Mahmiid, king of Delhi. It was the fief of Fidai Khan, foster-
brother of Aurangzeb, and the Raja of Sirmur recovered it in 1675
from the son of its former holder, a Hindu. Fidai Khan laid out
the beautiful gardens, which still remain. Wrested from the Muham-
madans by a Hindu official who made himself master of Mani Majra,
it was taken by Patiala in 1769 after a desperate siege, in which the
attacking force, though reinforced from Hindur, Kahlur, and Sirmur,
suffered severely. There are extensive Hindu remains and fragments
of an ancient Sanskrit inscription in the village. Bourquin, Sindhia's
partisan leader, dismantled the fort about 1793. The village has
a dispensary and a police station, and is famous for its sacred tank,
Dharamandal or Dharachettra.
Pinlebu. — South-w^estern township of Katha District, Upper Burma,
lying between 23° 40' and 24° 22' N. and 95° 6' and 95° 48' E., on
either side of the Mu stream, with an area of 1,367 square miles. It
was, together with the rest of the State of Wuntho, annexed in 1891.
The population in 1901 was 29,321, distributed in 362 villages. The
head-quarters are at Pinlebu (population, 617), on the Mu, in the
centre of the township. The surveyed area under cultivation in
1903-4 was 35 square miles, and the land revenue and thaihameda
amounted to Rs. 75,700.
Pipar. — Town in the State of Jodhpur, Rajputana, situated in
26° 23' N. and 73° 33' E., on the left bank of the Jojri river (a tributary
of the Luni), about 32 miles east of Jodhpur city, and 7 miles south-
east of Pipar Road station on the Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway. Popu-
lation (1901), 6,785. The town is of some commercial importance,
and is noted for its dyed cloths. Tradition assigns the foundation of
Pipar either to a king of the Paramara Rajputs prior to the Christian
era, or to a Paliwal Brahman named Pipa.
Piplia. — Thakurdt in the Malwa Agency, Central India.
Piplianagar. — Thakurdt in the Bhopal Agency, Central India.
Piploda. — One of the mediatized chiefships of the Central India
Agency, in the Malwa Political Charge. It has an area of about
60 square miles.
The ancestors of the present chief were Doria Rajputs, who migrated
from Kathiawar, one Kaluji seizing the fort of Sabalgarh, 7 miles from
the present town of Piploda, in 1285. In 1547 Shardul Singh, sixth
rjR.iAf 149
in descent from KalujT, greatly extended his possessions and founded
the town of Piploda. The estate was reduced to its present dimensions
by the inroads of the INIarathas, the Thakur becoming subject to Amir
Khan. When independence was guaranteed to Jaora in 1 818 by the
twelfth article of the Treaty of Mandasor, the question of the status of
Piploda arose. Through the mediation of Sir John Malcolm, the
Nawab of Jaora agreed in 182 1 to allow the Thakur to hold his lands
on paying Rs. 28,000 a year as tribute, and surrendering half the
sdyar dues of the holding. In 1844 a fresh agreement was made,
without the cognizance of the Government of India, in which the
Thakur's position was more carefully defined. During the Mutiny
Thakur Shiv Singh furnished cavalry and men to the British authorities
at Mandasor. The present chief, Thakur Kesri Singh, succeeded in
1887, having been educated at the Daly College at Indore.
The estate has a population (1901) of 11,441, of whom Hindus
form 84 per cent. There are 28 villages in the thaki/rdf, the
revenue of five of v,hich is assigned to Panth-Piploda {see Malwa
Agency). About 72 per cent, of the population speak the Malwi
dialect, and 90 per cent, are agriculturists, the principal caste supported
by it being the Kunbi.
The land is for the most part highly fertile, being chiefly black
cotton, producing excellent crops of all the ordinary grains and of
poppy. Of the total area, 33 square miles, or 55 per cent., are
under cultivation, 3 square miles of this being irrigable. About
30 square miles produce cereals, 3 poppy, and one cotton. There
are two metalled roads in the estate, one leading to Rankoda, the
other to Puniakherl.
The Thakur administers the estate with the assistance of a kdmddr,
and has limited judicial powers, all heinous cases being referred to the
Political Agent. The total revenue is Rs. 95,000, of which Rs. 90,000
is derived from the land. The Thakur receives small yearly idnkas
(cash payments) from the States of Dewas (Rs. 253) and Jaora
(Rs. 1,000). Revenue from irrigated land is collected in cash, from
unirrigated in kind. The incidence of the revenue demand is
Rs. 3-3 per acre of cultivated area.
Piploda, the capital of the estate, is situated in 23° 36' N. and
74° 57' E., II miles from Jaora, with which it is connected by
a metalled road. Its population in 1901 was 3,282. A ^a/^-bungalow,
a British post office, a hospital, a jail, and a school are situated in the
town. Seven miles away stands the old fort of Sabalgarh, the first
capital of the holding.
Piram {Perim). — Island in Ahmadabad District, Bombay, situated
in 21"^ 36' N. and 72° 21' E., in the Gulf of Cambay, 4-^- miles
south of Gogha, and 2\ from the nearest part of the Kathiawar shore.
I50 FIR AM
Piram is a reef of rock covered in part by brown sand, its dimensions
at high water being one mile by about half a mile. It is included in
the estate of the Gogha Kasbdtis^ to whom it was assigned by one of
the Delhi emperors. Except on the south, it is surrounded by rocky
reefs rising to the surface from a depth of from 60 to 70 feet. Past
the island the tide runs with extreme force. To avoid the chopping
sea and sunken reefs, boats crossing from Gogha to Piram stand out
as if making for Dehej Bara at the mouth of the Narbada. In the
east of the island millet is grown and the low sand-hills are covered by
asclepias. Beyond these are some nlm trees {Melia Azadirachtd) and
a fringe of mangrove bushes. The island is uninhabited in the rains,
but contains a few families of husbandmen and fishermen in the fair
season. On the ruins of an old bastion there is a dioptric light of
the fourth order, visible for 17 miles.
Piram is the Baiones Island of the Periplus. Till the fourteenth
century it would seem to have remained in the hands of Bariya Kolis.
Then under their leader Mokharji, the Gohel Rajputs, who about
a century and a half earlier had retired from Marwar to Gujarat,
passed south from Ranpur near Dhandhuka and took Gogha and
Piram. Strengthening himself in his island fortress, Mokharji became
a great pirate chief; but his power was short lived. About the year
1300 complaints of his piracies were laid before Muhammad bin
Tughlak, who was then in Gujarat quelling a revolt. Advancing in
person he attacked Piram, slew Mokharji, and took his fort. The
island was then deserted, and an attempt to colonize and fortify it
failed. The Hindu seamen of the Gulf of Cambay still cherish
Mokharji's memory, seldom passing Piram without making him an
offering. Of his stronghold there remains, skirting the shore, a ruined
wall, with, below high-tide level, a gateway ornamented by two rock-
cut elephants 10 feet long and 8 or 9 feet high. No further attempt
would seem to have been made to fortify Piram, till, on the decay of
Mughal power, about the middle of the eighteenth century, the
ambitious Surat merchant MuUa Muhammad All built a fort on the
island and tried to establish himself as an independent chief. Afraid
of the climate his people forsook him, and the Mulla, giving up Piram,
built a fort at Athva on the Tapti, a few miles below Surat. The lines
of the MuUa's fortress, from whose ruins the lighthouse tower was
built, may be seen near the centre of the island stretching across its
entire breadth. Besides traces of fortifications there are remains of
temples, one of them with a rudely cut sitting figure of Buddha. The
local story that Mokharji built a mole from the mainland to Piram
has, perhaps, no better foundation than the half-sunk wall and gate-
way and the reefs that, at low water, stand out like a giant's causeway.
Its large store of fossils gives a special interest to Piram. Besides
I'TRTYAPATNA 151
masses of petrified wood, lart;,e quantities of animal remains were found
in 1836. Almost all were embedded in the rock in the south-east
corner of the island, where the sea washes bare the lower conglomerate.
The remains are the same as those of Upper Sind and of the Siwalik
Hills. Besides two titanic ruminants, apparently with no living types,
named the Bramatherium and the Sivatherium, there are species of
elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, horse, ox, antelope, several forms
of crocodile, fresh-water tortoises, and fishes of gigantic size.
Pirawa District. — One of the Central India pargafias of the State
of Tonk, Rajputana. It is for certain purposes included in the charge
of the Political Agent, Malwa. It has an area of 248 square miles,
and lies between 24° i' and 24° 24'' N. and 75° 51' and 76° 11' R.,
being bounded on the north by Indore, on the west by Indore and
Jhalawar, and on the south and east by Gwalior. A group of Indore
villages almost divides the northern from the southern half. The
country is undulating in character, the uplands being chiefly reserved
for grass, while the rich black soil in the valleys yields fine crops.
The population in 1901 was 25,286, compared with 40,806 in 1891.
There are 126 villages and one town, the head-quarters of the district.
The principal castes are Sondhias, Mlnas, Dangis, and Chamars,
forming respectively about 20, 14, 9, and 8 per cent, of the total.
Nothing is known of the history of the district prior to the time
of Akbar, when it formed part of the Kotrl-Pirawa sarkar of the
Subah of Malwa. It was included in the territory bestowed on Ratan
Singh of Ratlam by Shah Jahan, but when Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh
of Jaipur was Subahdar of Malwa it was transferred to Bajl Rao
Peshwa. Subsequently, Holkar took possession ; and in 1806 Jaswant
Rao Holkar made it over to Amir Khan, the grant being confirmed
by the British Government under the treaty of 181 7. Of the total
area, 210 square miles, or 84 per cent., are khdlsa, paying revenue
direct to the Tonk Darbar, and the khdlsa area available for cultivation
is about 166 square miles. Of the latter, about 59 square miles, or
35 per cent., were cultivated in 1903-4, the irrigated area being nearly
6 square miles. Of the area cropped, joivdr occupied 58 per cent.,
cotton 9, maize 8, and poppy 6 per cent. The revenue from all
sources is about 1-4 lakhs, of which four-fifths is derived from the
land. The town of Pirawa is situated in 24° 9' N. and 76° 3' E.,
about 140 miles almost due south of Tonk city. Its population in
190 1 was 4,771, Hindus forming nearly 50 per cent., Musalmans 31,
and Jains about 19 per cent. The town, which, from the inscrii)tions
in its Jain temples, appears to date from the eleventh century, contains
a picturesque fort of no great age, a post and telegraph office, a small
jail, a vernacular school, and a dispensary for out-patients.
Piriyapatna. — Town in the Hunsur tdhtk of Mysore District,
1 5 2 PTRI YAP A TNA
Mysore, situated in 12° 20' N. and 76° 6' E., 13 miles from Hunsur.
Population (1901), 3,872. Its original name was Singapattana, but
the king who built the fort of stone and extended the place in the
sixteenth century named it after himself. It was in the possession
of the Changalva kings of Nanjarajpatna (in Coorg) till 1644, when
it was taken by Mysore. The Coorg Raja was confined here in the
time of Tipu Sultan, but the fort was dismantled by the British on
their advance against Seringapatam in 1791. The town is inhabited
chiefly by traders, who export cotton, tobacco, and other commodities
to Coorg, Cannanore, &:c. A pack of hounds is maintained in the
neighbourhood, which is regularly hunted by planters from Coorg and
others. The municipality dates from 1898. The receipts and expen-
diture during the three years ending 1901 averaged Rs. 1,100 and
Rs. 900. In 1903-4 they were Rs. 2,100 and Rs, 1,700.
Pir Mangho. — Hot springs in Karachi District, Sind, Bombay.
See Maoar Talao.
Firmed. — Hill station on the Firmed range of hills, forming the
southern portion of the Cardamom Hills, Travancore State, Madras,
situated in 9° 33' N. and 76° 59' E. Population (1901), 9,932. Its
general elevation is from 3,000 to 3,500 feet. Around it are thirty
tea estates owned by Europeans, containing about 8,000 acres under
crop. Roads connect the station with Changanacheri, Kottayani,
Trivandrum, and other important places on the west, and with Madura
District on the east. It is the head-quarters of the first-class magis-
trate and Assistant to the Superintendent and District Magistrate of
the Cardamom Hills, and contains postal and telegraph offices. Pirmed
is supposed to be an abridgement of Plr-medi{ (' Plr's hill '), and to
have been so called because a Musalman saint named Pir Muhammad
once lived here in seclusion.
Pirojpur Subdivision. — Western subdivision of Backergunge Dis-
trict, Eastern Bengal and Assam, lying between 22° i' and 22° 54' N.
and 89° 52'' and 90° 14' E., with an area of 692 square miles. The
population in 1901 was 553,494, compared with 519,603 in 1891.
It contains one town, Pirojpur (population, 14,1 19), the head-quarters,
and 1,066 villages, and supports 800 persons per square mile, the
density being greatest in the north and centre. In the extreme north
it is covered with great swamps like the adjoining parts of Farldpur
District, while in the south in the Matbari thdna, where the density
is only 480 persons per square mile, it merges in the Sundarbans.
Pirojpur Town. — Head-quarters of the subdivision of the same
name in Backergunge District, Eastern Bengal and Assam, situated
in 22° 35' N. and 89° 59" E., on the Baleswar river. Population
(1901), 14,119. Pirojpur was constituted a municipality in 1885. The
income during the decade ending 1901-2 averaged Rs. 6,300, and
rTTIfAPURAM ESTATE 153
the expenditure Rs. 6,200. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 9,000,
of which Rs. 5,000 was derived from a property tax ; and the expen-
diture was Rs. 8,000.
Pirpainti. — Village in the head-quarters subdivision of Bhagalpur
District, Bengal, situated in 25° 18' N. and 87° 25' E., on the East
Indian Railway. Population (1901), 2,741. There is a considerable
export of country produce. Stone is quarried in the neighbourhood.
Pishin. — Subdivision and tahsil covering the centre of the Quetta-
PJshin District, Baluchistan, lying between 30° \' and 31° 12' N. and
66° 21' and 67° 48' E. It consists of the southern slopes of the Toba
hills and the basin of the Pishin Lora, the latter being a plain lying
about 5,000 feet above sea-level. The area of the tahsil is 2,717
square miles; its population in 1901 was 51,753, showing an increase
of 14,573 since 1891. Pishin, the head-quarters, which has sprung
up since the British occupation, is 6 miles from Yaru Karez rail-
way station. The villages number 271, and the land revenue in
1903-4 amounted to Rs. 80,700. Large revenue-free grants, a relic
of Afghan rule, are held chiefly by Saiyids. The tahsil contains two
irrigation works, the Shebo canal and the Khushdil Khan reservoir.
Pishin Lora'. — River in Baluchistan, having its source in the
western slopes of the Kand mountain of the Toba-Kakar range and
terminating in the Hamun-i-Lora. Its total length is about 250 miles.
The principal affluents meet near Shadlzai in Pishin. In addition
to the Barshor Lora or main stream, they consist of the Kakar Lora,
the Surkhab, and the Shorarud. Below the confluence of the upper
tributaries the bed is 200 yards wide, and lies between scarped banks
about 20 feet high. The running stream, however, is usually not more
than a few yards wide and quite shallow. On entering the hills west
of Shorarud the course becomes deep and narrow, until it debouches
into the Shorawak plain (30° 22' N,, 66° 22' E.). Here it becomes
dissipated into several channels which find their way through Nushki.
The area drained includes the west of the Sarawan country, Quetta-
Pishln, and Nushki in Baluchistan, besides Shorawak in Afghanistan.
For purposes of irrigation, water is taken off wherever it can be made
available. The Shebo canal and the Khushdil Khan reservoir in
Pishin are dependent on it for their supply; and in 1903 an embank-
ment for irrigation was constructed in the north of the Nushki tahsil
across the Bur channel.
Pithapuram Estate. — A permanently settled zamlnddri estate in
Godavari District, Madras, with an area of 383 square miles, of which
the greater part lies in the zamlnddri tahsil of Pithapuram and the
Cocanada taluk. The estate contains 168 towns and villages, and has
* Lora is a Pashtfi word signifying a channel carrying flood-water, as distinguished
from rnd, a perennial stream.
154 PI TIT A PUR AM ESTATE
a population (1901) of 280,317. The total demand on account of land
revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to 4 lakhs.
After the subjugation of the present Godavari District by the
Sultan of Golconda {circa 1572), \\-\c parganas of Selapaka, Cocanada,
and Prolunadu (as the country round Pithapuram was then called)
were constituted a revenue farm. These parganas were the nucleus
of the existing Pithapuram estate. In 1647 they were transferred,
apparently because the holder had fallen into arrears, to Ravu
Chandra Rayanam, a court favourite. This Rayanam was of the
Velama caste, and from him the family still holding the estate traces
its descent. As a special mark of favour he was allowed to repair
and occupy the fort at Pithapuram, which henceforward became the
residence of the family.
For the next few years the history of the estate was uneventful ; but,
like its neighbours, Pithapuram took advantage of the struggle for
power in the Deccan to withhold the peshkash, or tribute. It shared
their fate when Asaf Jah, Nizam-ul-mulk, proved victorious (1724);
and under the stern rule of his Sarlashkar, Rustam Khan, the recal-
citrant zam'mddrs were ousted and their estates brought under direct
management. After Rustam Khan's death his successors for some
time pursued the same policy, but about 1742 the estates were
restored to the families of the former owners.
Pithapuram took little part in the conflict between the French and
the English. Some acts of hostility in conjunction with the neigh-
bouring zaminddr of Peddapuram led, however, to the seizure and
occupation of Samalkot fort by the Company's troops in 1764, Other-
wise the estate emerged intact from this troubled period, and in 1787
was described as one of the most fruitful and best cultivated zam'in-
ddris under the Company. The zaminddr collected the land customs,
and also claimed the sole right of manufacturing and vending salt in
the Rajahmundry sdrkar. The military force maintained was small
and merely sufficed for the collection of the revenue, which was paid
almost entirely in cash — an unusual circumstance.
In 1802 the estate was permanently settled, when the revenue was
estimated at about 4 lakhs and d^ peshkash of 2-6 lakhs was imposed.
Up to 1827 considerable additions were made. In that year, owing
to the minority of the holder, it came under the Court of Wards and,
in common with similar estates in Godavari District, passed through
a period of depression. In 1844 it was heavily in arrears. To
restore the financial position most of the recently acquired portions
were relinquished, and the ancient za??middri was handed over free
of encumbrances to the proprietor. The estate is now again under
the management of the Court of Wards, owing to the minority of the
present holder.
PITHAPURAM TOJJW 155
The zaminddri is very fertile. Much of it is watered by the Go-
davari irrigation system, while the remainder is supplied by the small
river Yeleru or by tanks. An engineering establishment is maintained
to supervise the estate works in connexion with the Yeleru irrigation,
which are numerous. The chief crops, as elsewhere in the District, are
rice, other cereals, and oilseeds. Until quite recently the prevailing
system of land tenure was the vantu varadi. Under this, each village
was assessed for a term of years in a lump sum. The amount to be
levied from each holding was then settled by a committee of the ryots
themselves. Any person dissatisfied with the assessment imposed on
his holding had the right to challenge the owner of a similar holding
which he considered under-assessed. The latter had then to submit
to an enhancement of his assessment, in which case the challenger
received a corresponding diminution, or to exchange holdings. This
system, owing to its manifold disadvantages, has now been generally
abandoned, and in most cases the highest rent offered is assumed to
be the proper rent of a holding, the leases being sold by auction.
A field survey, to be followed by a regular settlement, is in progress,
and the revenue system will probably in course of time be assimilated
to that in Government land. The average rates paid for ' wet ' and
'dry' land are Rs. 7-0-2 and Rs. 3-15 per acre respectively. The
total income of the estate is 10^ lakhs, of which the land revenue
brings in 9^ lakhs.
Among the places of importance within the zaminddri are the
towns of CocANADA, the District head-quarters, Samalkot, and
PiTHAPURAM. CoRiNGA, which also bclongs to it, was once a well-
known port, but its trade has now altogether disappeared.
Pithapuram Tahsil. — Zaminddri tahsll in Godavari District,
Madras, lying between 17° 3' and 17° 19' N. and 82° 10'' and
82° 32' E., with an area of 191 square miles. The population in
1901 was 84,089, compared with 83,824 in 1891. It contains one
town, Pithapuram (population, 13,220), the head-quarters; and
48 villages. The demand on account of land revenue and cesses
in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 2,90,000. The tahsil lies on the coast
to the north of the delta of the Godavari, and receives a low rainfall.
It would be an infertile area were it not for the excellent irrigation
from the Yeleru river.
Pithapuram Town. — Head-quarters of the za?nlnddri tahsil of
the same name in Godavari District, Madras, situated in 17° 7' N.
and 82° 15" E., 10 miles from Cocanada by road and 398 miles from
Madras by rail. Population (1901), 13,220. The weekly cattle market
is an important institution, and there is a small local industry in the
manufacture of bell-metal ware. Pithapuram with its hamlets consti-
tutes a Union, and the town contains the residence of the zafnlnddrs
VOL. XX. L
156 PITHAPURAM TOWN
of the estate of the same name. The principal temple has some
inscriptions of importance ; and in front of it is a pond called Pada
Gaya, to which Pithapuram owes its reputation as a place of pil-
grimage.
Pithoro. — Recently formed tiiluka of Thar and Parkar District,
Sind, Bombw-y, lying between 25° and 25° 35' N. and 69° 15' and
69° 40' E., with an area of 481 square miles. The population (1901)
was about 37,713, and the tdluka contains 128 villages, Samaro being
the head-quarters. The land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to
more than 2 lakhs. The Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway traverses the tdluka^
which is irrigated by the Mithrao, Jamrao, and Hiral Canals. The
chief crops are rice and cotton.
Plassey (from palds, the Butea frondosd). — Village in the head-
quarters subdivision of Nadia District, Bengal, situated in 23° 47' N.
and 88° 16' E., on the left bank of the Bhagirathi river. It is famous
as the scene of Clive's victory over Siraj-ud-daula, Nawab of Bengal,
on June 23, 1757. After the capture of Calcutta by Siraj-ud-daula in
June, 1756, Clive was dispatched with reinforcements from Madras to
re-establish the British factories in Bengal, and he recaptured Calcutta
in January, 1757. After prolonged negotiations he succeeded in gain-
ing over Mir Jafar, the Nawab's general, whom he promised to install
as Nawab in place of Siraj-ud-daula. In March Chandernagore was
taken from the French, and on June 13 a fresh advance was made;
Katwa was captured on the 18th, and on the 22nd the troops marched
to Plassey, where Siraj-ud-daula was encamped with an army of 50,000
foot, 18,000 horse, and 50 pieces of cannon, mostly 24-pounders and
32-pounders drawn by bullocks. To oppose this army Clive had a
force of 900 Europeans, of whom 100 were artillerymen and 50 sailors,
100 topasses or Portuguese half-castes, and 2,100 sepoys; the artillery
consisted of 8 six-pounders and 2 howitzers. Clive encamped in a
mango grove, which has since been washed away by the Bhagirathi,
and the enemy were entrenched on the river bank to the north of him.
At daybreak on the 23rd the enemy advanced to the attack, enveloping
his right, Mir Jafar being on the extreme left of the line. Both sides
maintained a vigorous cannonade until 2 o'clock, when Siraj-ud-daula
drew off and returned to his entrenchments. At this, Mir Jafar
lingered behind on the left and eventually joined the British. Clive
advanced and cannonaded the Nawab's entrenchment, and entered his
camp at 5 o'clock after a slight resistance, Siraj-ud-daula having already
fled to Murshidabad. This decisive victory was won with only a small
loss, but it made the British masters of Bengal. A monument marks
the scene of the battle-field.
Pochamcherla.— r<7////^ in Nalgonda District, Hyderabad State.
It was formed in 1905 from the Kodar %\x\)-tdluk of Warangal Dis.
POINT 157
trict, and 15 and 35 villages taken from the Suriapet and Mirialguda
taluks of this District. Pochamcherla (population, 1,899) '^ the head-
quarters, and the taluk consists of 100 khdlsa villages, its land revenue
being 2-77 lakhs. Rice is extensively cultivated by tank-irrigation.
Podanur. — Village in the District and taluk of Coimbatore,
Madras, situated in 10° 58' N. and 77° o' E., 4 miles from Coim-
batore city. Population (1901), 6,568. It is the junction of the
Nilgiri branch of the Madras Railway with the main line, and the
site of considerable railway workshops. It enjoys a cool and healthy
climate. A sugar manufactory has recently been opened.
Podili Tahsil. — Zamindari tahsll in the north-west of Nellore
District, Madras, lying between 15° 23' and 15° 45' N. and 79° 12' and
79** 49' E., with an area of 564 square miles. The population in igoi
was 58,937, compared with 68,400 in 1891. It contains in villages,
of which Podili is the head-quarters. The tahsil is a part of the
Venkatagiri Estate. There is a temple on the Velikonda hills near
Garladinne, where a largely attended festival is held annually. These
hills run through the west of the tahsil. Of other scattered eleva-
tions, the most conspicuous is a fine range some miles south of Podili
village. Two rivers, the Musi and Gundlakamma, run through the
tahsil and empty themselves into the Bay of Bengal.
Poicha. — Petty State in Rewa Kantha, Bombay.
Poila (or Pwela ; Burmese, Piaehla). — State in the Myelat division
of the Southern Shan States, Burma, lying between 20° 43' and 20° 55' N.
and 96° 38' and 96° 46' E., with an area of 102 square miles. It is
bounded on the north by Pangtara ; on the south by Hsamonghkam ;
on the east by Mawson and Yawnghwe ; and on the west by Kyong
and Kyawkku. Two circles are detached and border on the Meiktila
District of Upper Burma. The State consists of open rolling downs ;
there are no perennial streams, and the country is dry. The population
in 1901 was 7,866 (distributed in 62 villages), about half of whom were
Taungyos. The greater part of the remainder is made up of Danus
and a few Taungthus. The residence of the Myoza is Poila (population,
1,247), a village near the centre of the State boasting a large bazar.
The revenue in 1904-5 amounted to Rs. 8,100, and the tribute to the
British Government is Rs. 4,500.
Poini. — River of North Arcot District, Madras, which rises in the
hills of the Chandragiri taluk in 13'' 34' N. and 79° 6' E. It flows
almost due south, and after receiving the waters of numerous smaller
streams finally joins the Palar not far from Arcot, after a course of
about 45 miles. Its waters are largely used for irrigation, and it is
crossed by a dam, 792 feet in length from wing to wing, which was
built in 1853. The dam was much damaged in 1874 by the same
flood which breached the Palar dam, and was subsequently recon-
L 2
158 POINI
structed. During the south-west monsoon the Poini has a more
regular supply of water than the Palar. The area commanded by
the dam is 26,500 acres, of which 22,000 acres were irrigated in
1903-4. The supply might be further increased during the north-
east monsoon if the storage capacity of the reservoirs which are fed
by it were enlarged ; but during the south-west monsoon all the surplus
water running over this dam has to be sent down to the Palar barrage,
where the supply is often deficient.
Point Calimere. — Headland in Tanjore District, Madras. See
Calimere, Point.
Point Divi. — Headland in Kistna District, Madras. See Divi,
Point.
Point, False. — Headland and lighthouse in Cuttack District,
Bengal. See False Point.
Pokaran. — Head-quarters of a jdgir estate of the same name in
the Sankra district of the State of Jodhpur, Rajputana, situated
in 26° 55' N. and 71° 55' E., about 85 miles north-west of Jodhpur
city. Population (1901), 7,125. It has a post office, a vernacular
school, and a dispensary. The town is on low ground closed in by
hills to the north, south, and west, and water is plentiful. The small
fort is well built and strong in appearance, but is commanded by
the adjacent hills. About 2 miles away are the ruins of Satalmer,
a village founded by Satal, the eldest son of Rao Jodha, about the end
of the fifteenth century, but dismantled by Rao Maldeo (1532-69) to
find material for the Pokaran fort. The site of Satalmer is still marked
by a conspicuous Jain temple and the monuments raised to the memory
of the deceased members of the Thakur's family. Close to the town
of Pokaran is a salt marsh about 4 miles in length and 2 in breadth,
where salt was formerly manufactured. The estate of Pokaran consists
of 100 villages, yielding a revenue of about a lakh. The Thakurs of
Pokaran are the head of the Champawat sept of the Rathors, and are
descended from Champa, a brother of Rao Jodha. They enjoy the
privilege of attesting all grants of land or villages made by the Darbar,
and are entitled to a seat just behind the Maharaja of Jodhpur on an
elephant, from which, on state occasions, they flourish the itiorchal, or
peacock feather fly-whisk, over their chief's head. The present Thakur
of Pokaran (Mangal Singh), besides being the pradhdti or premier
noble, is a member of the council and a Rao Bahadur.
Pol. — Petty State in Mah! Kantha, Bombay.
Polavaram Subdivision. — Subdivision of Godavari District,
Madras, consisting of the minor taluks of Polavaram, Chodavaram,
and Yellavaram.
Polavaram Taluk. — Minor taluk in the Agency tract of Godavari
District, Madras, lying between 17° 7' and 17° 28' N. and 81° 5' and
FOLLACHI TOWN 159
81'^ 37' K., with an area of 564 square miles. ^Fhe population in 1901
was 58,274. It contains 292 villages, Polavarani being the head-
quarters. The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted
to Rs. 64,000. The taluk is situated on the right bank of the Go-
davari river. At the point where the river enters stands Bison Hill,
which belongs to the Papikonda range, running the whole length of the
taluk. There are extensive forests in Polavaram, the Government
Reserves extending over 112 square miles. About 20 per cent, of
the inhabitants belong to the hill tribe of Koyis. The picturesque
island of Pattisima, a little below Polavaram village, is the scene of
a large yearly festival ; and another festival is held at Taduvayi in the
interior.
Pollachi Subdivision. — Subdivision of Coimbatore District,
Madras, consisting of the taluks of Pollachi, Palladam, and
Udamalpet.
Pollachi Taluk. — South-west taluk of Coimbatore District, Madras,
lying between 10° 15' and 10° 55' N. and 76° 49' and 77° 16' E., with
an area of 710 square miles. The population increased from 183,669
in 1 89 1 to 195,608 in 1 90 1. It contains one town, Pollachi (popu-
lation, 8,958), the head-quarters; and 158 villages. The demand for
land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 was Rs. 3,04,000. The north of
the taluk consists of an undulating plain, but the southern portion
is covered by the great Anaimalai Hills and their dense forests. The
former faces the Palghat Gap in the Western Ghats, and consequently
receives some of the south-west monsoon which is prevented by this
range from reaching the east of the District, and so has an early
cultivation season. The taluk contains less irrigated land than any
other except KoUegal, but its ' dry ' land is usually good and includes
some black loam on the extreme east. Nearly half the small extent of
zamlnddri land in the District lies in this taluk.
Pollachi Town. — Head-quarters of the taluk of the same name in
the south-west corner of Coimbatore District, Madras, situated in
10° 39' N. and 77° V E. Population (1901), 8,958. Standing on the
highway from the east to the west coast, it must always have been
an important market town. Evidence of its early importance was dis-
covered in 1800, in a hoard of silver coins of ttie emperors Augustus
and Tiberius. It has, however, no industry except agriculture. 'l"he
divisional officer is stationed here. The hospital at Pollachi has
accommodation for 36 in-patients and a maternity ward. It was
founded in 1858, the building being erected by private subscrip-
tion, and has an endowment of Rs. 17,700. In the vicinity of the
village are a number of interesting dolmens and rude stone circles,
which are termed by the people 'graves of the dead.' Several of them
have been opened, and have been found to be arranged in circles
i6o POLL AC HI TOWN
of diameters ranging from lo to 45 feet, and to contain fragments
of human skulls and bones, and occasionally broken pieces of earthen-
ware and a few implements and ornaments. These objects were
usually met with at a depth of from 5 to 7 feet below the surface.
Three bronze images of male and female figures were found ; and
that these are of non-Aryan origin is to be inferred from the position
of the woman, who is seated at the right side of her husband, instead
of the left side as in all Brahmanical rites.
Polur Tahsil (or Sulurpet).^Zfl?/««^«?-/ tahstl in the southern
corner of Nellore District, Madras, lying between 13° 30" and 13° 59' N.
and 79" 51' and 80° 9' E., and bounded on the east by the Bay of
Bengal. Its area is 355 square mile.s, and the population in 1901
was 74,512, compared with 69,593 i^^ 1891. It contains 139 villages,
the head-quarters being Sulurpet. There is only one river of im-
portance, the Swarnamukhi, which supplies some of the tanks. The
soil is generally sandy or gravelly, and the principal crop is rice,
though rdgi and cambu are also grown. Irrigation is mostly from
rain-fed tanks.
Polur Taluk.— Southern taluk of North Arcot District, Madras,
lying between \2° 20' and 12° 45'' N. and 78° 51' and 79° 22' E.
Area, 596 square miles; population in 1901, 155,673, compared with
i39>7°i iri 1891. The taluk contains 170 villages and one town,
Polur (population, 9,206), the head-quarters. The demand for land
revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 3,02,000. The taluk
is essentially a mountainous area, a large part of it being occupied by
the Javadi Hills. The forests have great potential value, and yield
a considerable amount of timber and other produce.
Polur Town. — Head-quarters of the taluk of the same name in
North Arcot District, Madras, situated in 12° 31' N. and 79° 7' E.
Population (1901), 9,206. It stands about 2 miles from the northern
bank of the Cheyyar, and east of some hills. Between these is built
the embankment of the Poliir reservoir, which is fed by the waters of
the Manjalar. The Sampatgiri hill near by is topped by a holy temple,
and there is another shrine in the town. A small ruined fort, without
any history, stands not far off. The town is poorly built, with narrow
and ill-arranged streets, but has a brisk trade in grain.
Ponabalia Shamrail. — Village in the head-quarters subdivision
of Backergunge District, Eastern Bengal and Assam, situated on the
bank of the Sundha or Shugandha, 5 miles from Jhalakati. Population
(1901), 498. Ram Bhadra Rai, zatnlnddr of Ponabalia, is said to have
defeated the Maratha army here in 1748. The village contains a temple
of Siva, which is one of the fifty-one places of Hindu pilgrimage,
scattered over India, where tradition relates that a limb or some por-
tion of the body of the goddess Sati fell, while her husband Siva was
PONDICHERRY i6r
perambulating the whole earth with her corpse on his shoulders. The
nose of the goddess is said to have fallen at this place.
Ponani. — Taluk and town in Malabar District, Madras. See
PONNANI.
Pondicherry {Fuducheri, Pulcheri). — The chief of the French
Settlements in India, the capital of which, a town of the same name,
is the head-quarters of their Governor. The town is situated on the
Coromandel coast in 1 1° 56'' N. and 79° 49' E., about 12 miles north of
Cuddalore. It lies on the road leading from Madras to Cuddalore, and
is the terminus of the Villupuram-Pondicherry branch of the South
Indian Railway. The distance from Madras to Pondicherry is 122 miles
by rail and 105 by road. The area of the Settlement is 115 square
miles, and its population in 1901 numbered 174,456. It consists of
the four communes of Pondicherry, Oulgaret, Villenour, and Bahur.
The population of the town of Pondicherry in the same year was
27,448, of whom 12,904 were males and 14,544 females. Hindus
numbered 14,544 and Christians 7,247, most of the latter being
Roman Catholics. The history of the place is given in the article on
the French Possessions. The Settlement was founded in 1674 under
Francois Martin. In 1693 it was captured by the Dutch, but was
restored in 1699. It was besieged four times by theEngli.sh. The first
siege under Admiral Boscawen in 1748 was unsuccessful. The second,
under Eyre Coote in 1761, resulted in the capture of the place, which
was restored in 1765. It was again besieged and captured in 1778
by Sir Hector Munro, and the fortifications were demolished in 1779.
The place was again restored in 1785 under the Treaty of Versailles of
1783. It was captured a fourth time by Colonel Braithwaite in 1793,
and finally restored in 18 16.
The Settlement comprises a number of isolated pieces of territory
which are cut off from the main part and surrounded by the British
District of South Arcot, except where they border on the sea. This fact
occasions considerable difficulty in questions connected with crime, land
customs, and excise. The Collector of South Arcot is empowered to
deal with ordinary correspondence with the French authorities on these
and kindred matters, and in this capacity is styled the Special Agent.
At Pondicherry itself is a British Consular Agent accredited to the
French Government, who is usually an officer of the Indian Army. The
town is compact, neat, and clean, and is divided by a canal into two
parts, the Ville blanche and the Ville noire. The Ville blanche has
a European appearance, the streets being laid at right angles to one
another, with trees along their margins reminding the visitor of conti-
nental boulevards, and the houses being constructed with courtyards
and embellished with green Venetians. All the cross streets lead down
to the shore, where a wide promenade facing the sea is again different
1 6 i PONDICHERRY
from anything of its kind in British India. In the middle is a
■ screw-pile pier which serves, when ships touch at the port, as a point
for the landing of cargo and, on holidays, as a general promenade for
the population. There is no real harbour at Pondicherry ; ships lie at
a distance of about a mile from the shore, and communication with
them is conducted by the usual masnia boats of this coast. Facing the
shore end of the pier is a statue of the great Dupleix, to whom the place
and the French name owed so much. It is surrounded by a group of
carved stone columns which are said to have been brought from the
ruins of the celebrated fort of Gingee. Behind is the Place Dupleix
(or Place de la Republique) with a band-stand ; and west again of this
the Place du Gouvernement, a wide extent of grass with a fountain in
the middle of it, round which stand the chief buildings of the town,
including Government House, the Hotel de Ville, the High Court, and
the barracks. Other erections in the town are the Secretariat, the
Cathedral of Notre Dame des Anges, the college of the Missions
Etrangeres, the Calve college, two clock-towers, a lighthouse, the
hospital, and the jail. The town also contains a public library of
about 16,000 volumes, and public gardens with a small collection of
wild animals and birds.
Pondicherry was made a municipality in 1880, with a mayor and
a council of eighteen members. The receipts and expenditure of this
body during the ten years ending 1902 averaged Rs. 47,000. There
is no drainage system ; but the water-supply is excellent, being derived
from a series of artesian wells, which are one of the features of the
place. Until they were discovered, about the middle of last century, the
only source of supply was from ordinary wells sunk within the town.
The best of the present artesian sources is at Mudrapalaiyam, from
which pipes have been taken to reservoirs in the market and the Place
du Gouvernement. The roads of the town are kept in excellent order.
The ordinary means of locomotion is the well-known ' push-push,' which
is pushed and pulled by two men. The chief educational institutions are
a college belonging to the Missions Etrangeres, which teaches up to the
B.A. standard in French, and the Calve college, a non-denominational
institution in which both Europeans and natives receive instruction up
to the Matriculation. The latter is affiliated to the Madras University.
The industries of Pondicherry consist chiefly of weaving. The Patnul-
karans, a Gujarati caste of weavers, make a kind of zephyr fabric which
is much used locally and is also exported largely to Singapore. Cotton
stuffs are also woven by machinery in the Rodier, Savana, and Gaebele
mills. A new industry is the manufacture of cocotine, a substitute for
ghl^ at the Sainte Elisabeth factory. The total value of the imports by
sea in 1904 was £179,000, and of the exports £1,102,000, of which
£27,000 and £435,000 respectively were brought from and sent to
PONNAIYAR 163
France or French colonies. The principal imports are wines and spirits
and areca-nuts, but the total is made up of a number of items of which
none is individually important. The exports mainly consist of ground-
nut kernels and oil ; but cotton fabrics, coco-nut oil, and rice are also
items of importance. The boats of the Messageries Maritimes Company
call regularly at the port.
Ponmudi. — A picturesque hill in the north-east of the Nedumangad
idluk uf Travancore State, Madras, situated in 8° 44' N. and if \o' E., at
the head of the basin of the Vamanapuram river. It is about 3,000 feet
high and contains a sanitarium which is largely visited. Tea is exten-
sively grown in the neighbourhood, and a company called the Ponmudi
Tea Company has been formed.
Ponnagyun. — Central township of Akyab District, Lower Burma,
lying between 20° 11' and 21° N. and 92° 48' and 93° 6' E., with an
area of 704 square miles. The township is long and narrow, and com-
prises a considerable portion of the country lying between the Kaladan
and Mayu rivers. In the south, where it borders on the Akyab town-
ship, it is a network of tidal creeks ; in the north it is hilly. The popu-
lation increased from 44,700 in 1891 to 49,555 in 1901. It contains
290 villages, and the head-quarters are at Ponnagyun (population, 565),
among the southern creeks. The area cultivated in 1903-4 was
106 square miles, paying Rs. 1,62,000 land revenue.
Ponnaiyar (or Ponniar; the Dakslmia Pindkini or Southern
Pennar). — River of Southern India, which rises on Channarayan-
betta, north-east of Nandidroog in the Kolar District of Mysore, and
runs through the east of Bangalore District, forming the large Jangam-
kote and Hoskote tanks. Leaving Mysore to the east of Sarjapur, it
flows south-east through the Salem District of Madras (where it is
crossed by the Madras Railway), and, some distance north of Dhar-
mapuri, turns east to South Arcot District, and falls into the sea to the
north of Cuddalore. Its length in Mysore is about 50 miles, where
about 86 per cent, of its water is stored for agricultural purposes. It
flows through the Madras Presidency for about 200 miles, and the area
of its drainage basin is 6,200 square miles. The river is bridged near
Cuddalore, and also at the point (near Panruti) where it is crossed by
the South Indian Railway. Its only considerable tributary is the
Pambar, which joins it on the left bank in .Salem District. In South
Arcot the Ponnaiyar runs in a wide sandy bed between low banks. At
one time it seems to have flowed down the Malattar (' barren river '),
which is now merely a small branch into which it occasionally spills at
high floods ; for ancient Tamil works speak of Tiruvennanallur, which
is now on the southern bank of the Malattar, as lying on the southern
edge of the Ponnaiyar. The river is very liable to sudden high freshes,
and serious floods occurred in 1874, 1S84, and 1898, those of 1884
1 64 PONNAIYAR
being the worst. The Ponnaiyar and the neighbouring Gadilam river
overflowed and joined, and for twenty-four hours their combined waters
rushed through Cuddalore New Town to the sea. Thirteen arches of
the bridge over the Ponnaiyar were swept away and much other
damage was done.
The river is not at present utiUzed for irrigation on any consider-
able scale until near the end of its course. The dam near Tiruk-
koyilur in South Arcot waters about 24,000 acres, from which the
total revenue is Rs. 93,000. Of this, about Rs. 11,000 is due to the
improvements made, representing an interest of over 4 per cent, on
the capital outlay. The construction of a dam higher up the river,
to supply a large area in two of the upland taluks of the same Dis-
trict, has been suggested.
Like other large rivers, the Ponnaiyar is sacred. It is deemed
especially so in the first five days of the Tamil month of Tai, when
the Ganges is said to flow into it by underground ways. Festivals
are then celebrated at many of the important villages along its
banks.
Ponnani Taluk. — Southernmost coast taluk of Malabar District,
Madras, lying between 10° 15' and 11° 3' N. and 75° 52' and 76° 13' E.,
with an area of 426 square miles. It contains 73 amsiuns, or parishes.
The population increased from 449,290 in 1891 to 478,376 in 1901,
giving a density of 1,123 persons per square mile. It is the most
populous taluk in the District, and the density is greater than in any
other in the Presidency. The land revenue demand in 1903-4
amounted to Rs. 5,19,000. The head-quarters are at the seaport of
Ponnani (population, 10,562), situated at the mouth of the river of
the same name. In comparison with the other taluks of the District,
Ponnani is flat and uninteresting, especially along the coast. Inland,
however, are some small ranges of low hills, clothed with scrub or
rough grass ; and between these, as usual in Malabar, wind green rice-
fields fringed with groves of trees.
Ponnani Town. — Head-quarters of the taluk of the same name
in Malabar District, Madras, situated in 10° 48'' N. and 75° 56' E.,
at the mouth of the Ponnani river. Population (1901), 10,562, mostly
Mappillas. It is a busy port \ at which in 1903-4 the imports were
valued at 8 lakhs and the exports at 6 lakhs. Kerosene oil and salt are
the chief imports, and coco-nuts, coir, and copra the chief exports. The
Ponnani Tangal, or Mappilla priest, is the chief of his sect, and the
town is the centre of Muhammadan education on the coast, possessing
a religious college. There are 27 mosques, the principal of which, the
' Some English ships, under Captain Bonner, visited Ponnani (Ponana) in 1619, and
unsuccessfully attempted to purchase pepper from the Zamorin, who was then residing
there (W. Foster, The English Faciories in India, p. 71 \
POONA DISTRICT 165
Janiath Masjid, is supposed t(i have been built in 1510. Besides the
usual taluk offices, the town contains a District Munsifs court.
The Ponnani river, which is the longest in Malabar, rises in the
Anaimalais and flows through the Palghat Gap due west, with a total
course of about 150 miles. The bed of the stream, unlike that of
most of the Malabar rivers, is shallow and usually contains little water;
but during the rainy months it is navigable for a considerable distance
inland, and is used for floating down timber from the hills near Palghat.
At its mouth it is connected by backwater with Tirur station on the
north, and by canal with the Viyattil lake and the line of backwater
which extends to Trivandrum on the south.
Ponne. — River in North Arcot District, Madras. See Poini.
Ponneri. — Northern taluk of Chingleput District, Madras, lying
between 13° 11' and 13° 34' N. and 80° 2' and 80° 21' E., on the
shore of the Bay of Bengal, with an area of 347 square miles. The
population in 1901 was 136,597, compared with 122,418 in 1891. It
contains the town of Pulicat (population, 5,448) aad 240 villages
(including the head-quarters, Ponneri). The demand on account of
land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 2,70,000. The
Korttalaiyar and Araniya Nadi flow through the taluk, which is an
uninteresting tract of nearly level land sloping towards the sea. The
coast is fringed with a line of hillocks of blown sand, inside which
are a series of backwaters connecting Ennore with the Pulicat Lake.
The annual rainfall is 47 inches, or slightly more than the District
average.
Poodoocottah. — Native State in Madras. See Pudukkottai.
Poona Agency, The. — Political Charge, consisting of the State of
Bhor in the south-west of Poona District, Bombay. See Bhor.
Poona District (P////^?).— District in the Central Division of the
Bombay Presidency, lying between 17° 54' and 19° 24' N. and 73° 19'
and 75° 10' E., with an area of 5,349 square miles. It is bounded
on the north by the District of Ahmadnagar ; on the east by Ahmad-
nagar and Sholapur ; on the south by the Nira river, separating it from
Satara and the estate of the chief of Phaltan ; and on the west by
Kolaba. Two isolated blocks of the Bhor State, one in the west and
the other in the south, are included within the limits of Poona
District.
Towards the west the country is undulating and intersected by
numerous spurs of the Western Ghats, which break off in a south-
easterly direction, becoming lower as they pass .
eastwards, and in the end sinking to the general aspects.
level of the plain. On the extreme western border
the land is so rugged and cut up by valleys and ravines that on the
slopes and sides of the hills a system of spade tillage takes the place
1 66 POONA DISTRICT "
of ordinary cultivation by ploughs and bullocks. Along the western
border of the District the Western Ghats form a barrier inaccessible,
except by a few difficult passes or ghats. Of these, the Borghat,
traversed by both a road and a railway, is the only line fitted for
wheeled vehicles. The ridges, which form the main line of the moun-
tains, have the flat tops and steep sides common to basaltic hills.
Within the limits of the District not a few of the hills have had their
sides hewn into rock temples, or their summits crowned with fortresses.
Many streams rise in the Western Ghats, and flow eastwards, until they
join the Bhima river, which passes through the District from north-
west to south-east. The main tributaries are, on the left the Vel
and Ghod, and on the right the Bhama, Indrayani, Mula, and
Nira. The water of the rivers is good for all purposes, and all of
them are sources of supply to the many villages along their banks.
Poona is well supplied with water from six artificial lakes, of which
the chief is the Kharakvasla lake, lo miles south-west of Poona city,
with an area of 5^ square miles.
Almost the whole rock of Poona is stratified trap. In many parts
of the hilly portion of the District the hill-tops are crowned with
collars of trap resembling the walls of a fortress. Beds of basalt and
amygdaloid alternate, their upper and lower planes being strikingly
parallel with each other and apparently with the horizon.
Poona District, lying as it does partly on the Western Ghats, pos-
sesses a varied flora, of the Konkan or Ghats type on the west, pass-
ing into the Deccan type in the east. The chief plants of the Konkan
type are Ciemaiis hedysarifolia, Dillenia pentagyiia, Bocagea Dalzellii,
Cocculus ffiacrocarpus, Capparis Moonii, Garciiiia indica, Thespesia
Lampas, Kydia ca/ycina, Sterculia colorafa, Erinocarpus Nimmoanus,
Linum inysore?ise, Impatiens, Heynea trijiiga, Gyinnosporia Rothiana,
Sfuithia, Desmodhim, Mucuna, Careya, Casearia, and Begonia. Of the
Deccan type the following are a few familiar examples : Clematis
triloba, Fumaria, Capparis, Flacourtia, Ahutilon muticuDi, Triumfetta
rhomboidea, Tribulus terrestris, Allan thus excelsa, Balanites Roxburghii,
Boswellia serraia, Heylandia latebrosa, Taverniera Nunwiularia, Dichro-
stachys cinerea, Mimosa hamata. Acacia arabica, Anagallis arvensis, and
Caralluma fimbriata. The commonest road-side trees are the pipal
{Ficiis religiosa), vada {Ficus bengalensis), nandruk {Ficiis retiisa),
pipri {Ficus Tsiela), mnbar {Ficus glomerata\ karanj, tamarind, mango,
jdmlml {Eugenia Jambolana), and babul. Oranges, limes, grapes, figs,
plantains, and guavas are grown and are of good quality.
The spread of tillage and the increase of population have greatly
reduced the number of wild animals. Tigers, ieopards, and bears are
found only in the Western Ghats, and even there in small numbers.
The sambar and the spotted deer are rare, and bison is. now unknown.
HISTORY 167
The wolf is found in small numbers over the whole District. AVild
hog abound in the babul groves on the banks of the Bhima and (Ihod,
in the western hill forests, and, since the opening of the Mutha canal
(1873), in the neighbourhood of Poona. The antelope and the Indian
gazelle, and sometimes the hog deer, are found in the hills. The Dis-
trict is poorly supplied with game-birds. Except for quail, and on rare
occasions for duck and snipe, no large bags are made in the District.
Snakes are numerous but mostly harmless. The rivers and streams are
fairly stocked with fish, about thirty kinds being offered for sale in the
Poona market. During the rains, and still more towards their close,
when the waters of the streams dwindle into chains of pools, fish are
caught in nets and traps by the chief fishing classes, the Maratha
and Koli Bhois.
The height of the Poona plateau (1,800 feet), its freedom from
alluvial deposits, and the prevalence of westerly breezes, make its dry,
invigorating air better suited to Europeans than any climate in Western
India. The air is lighter, the heat less oppressive, and the cold more
bracing than in almost any other District of the Presidency. November
to February form the Poona cold season, March to June the hot, and
June to October the wet. During the cold season cool land winds
prevail, with sea-breezes mostly after sundown. The hot winds, the
chief characteristic of the hot season, are over by the middle of May.
During the hot season the air is occasionally cooled by severe thunder-
storms, bringing heavy rain and occasionally hail. The temperature
falls to 48° in November and rises to 107° in May. The south-west
monsoon begins about the middle of June and lasts till the end of
September. The rainfall varies considerably in different parts of the
District. In the western parts of the Junnar, Khed, Haveli, and Maval
tdhikas it is heavy and regular ; in the central belt it is moderate ; and
in the Bhimthadi and Indapur talukas on the east it is very irregular.
At Lonauli on the Ghats it averages over 185 inches annually. In
Poona city 32 is the average, while farther east it does not exceed
20 inches in places.
In prehistoric times Poona District is said to have formed part
of the Datidakdranya or Dandaka forest of the Ramayana, infested
by wild men. In very early times it was crossed by
important trade routes, which led to the Konkan by
such passes as the Borghat and the Nana pass. Ample evidence on
these points is to be found in the rock-cut inscriptions at Bhaja, Bedsa,
Karli, and the Nana pass. The history of the District commences
with that of the town of Junnar, 56 miles north-west of Poona, and
16 from the rock-cut steps which lead down the Nana pass into the
Konkan. A century before Christ the town was ruled by an Andhra
king. In the succeeding two centuries Buddhism established itself
1 68 POONA DISTRICT
at Junnar, and the circle of hills round the town became honeycombed
with caves for the monks of this religion. At Bedsa an inscription
of this period furnishes one of the earliest known notices of the
Marathas. Until 1290 no further evidence is forthcoming regarding
the fortunes of the District ; but it seems probable that it passed
successively under the dominion of the early and Western Chalukyas
(550-760), the Rashtrakutas (760-973), the Western Chalukyas (973-
1184), and the Deogiri Yadavas. Under the latter, it was divided
between petty Maratha or Koli hill chiefs. With the fall of the
Deogiri Yadavas, Poona came under the dominion of Delhi, and
Muhammad bin Tughlak marched against Kondana, the present Sinh-
garh fort, in 1340. The Bahmani dynasty incorporated Poona in its
possessions, and held it at the time of the Durga-devi famine (1396-
1407). An interesting account of Poona under the Bahmanis has
been recorded by the Russian traveller Athanasius Nikitin (1468-74).
The founder of the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Ahmadnagar, MaUk Ahmad,
made Junnar his head-quarters for a time. One of his successors con-
ferred Poona as a jaglr on Maloji Bhonsla, the grandfather of Sivaji,
who was born at Shivner fort, close to Junnar, in 1627. The emperor
Shah Jahan about this period penetrated into the Deccan and recovered
for the Mughals the northern portions of the District. With the rise
of Sivaji, Poona became the scene of conflict between the Marathas
and the Delhi emperors, the former holding the forts and passes in the
hills and the latter the open country. To this period belongs one
of Sivaji's most famous exploits, the capture of Sinhgarh. An expedi-
tion of Aurangzeb into the Deccan led to the capture and death of
Sivaji's son Sambhaji, and the temporary re-establishment of the
Mughals. SambhajT's son Sahu recovered the District from Aurangzeb,
and thenceforward it remained under the rule of the Peshwas, of whom
the first, Balajl, was Sahu's minister. For the next hundred years
(1714-1817) Poona was the seat of the Peshwas, the heads of the
great Maratha confederacy. Baji Rao Ballal, second Peshwa, insti-
tuted the dakshina or money gifts to learned Brahmans that led to the
foundation of the Deccan College. His successor Balajl Baji Rao
brought the Maratha power to its zenith, though destined to witness,
at the close of his rule, the disastrous defeat of Panlpat (1761). The
subsequent years are full of stirring events, when the Peshwas first
opposed the Nizam and Haidar All, and subsequently allied them-
selves with different members of the Maratha confederacy in the
hope of raising a barrier against the advancing power of the British.
In these intrigues they were ably assisted by the famous minister
Nana Farnavis. Alternately the ally of Sindhia and Holkar, both
of whom in turn plundered Poona city (1798 and 1802), Baji Rao
Peshwa was finally brought into conflict with the British owing to
POPULATION 169
the murder of Gangadhar Shastri, the minister of the Gaikwar of
Baroda, whose safety they had guaranteed. In the Treaty of Poona
an attempt was made by Bajl Rao Peshwa to conciHate the British
power ; but a subsequent resort to force led to the battle of Kirkee on
November 5,1817, and to the end of Maratha rule in the District. After
annexation the District was managed by Mr. Elphinstone, the former
Resident at the court of the Peshwa. In 1826 the Ramosis rose
in revolt, and were joined by the Kolis from the hilly western tracts.
This rising and a similar one in 1844 were quelled without much
difficulty. Since then, the most notable chapter in the history of the
District is connected with the disaffection that arose in Poona city
in 1897 over the measures taken to check the spread of the plague.
Discontent was rife, and ended in the murder of the special plague
officer, Mr. Walter Rand of the Civil Service. The subsequent depor-
tation and imprisonment of certain leading citizens, together with the
establishment of a strong punitive police post, put an end to acts
of violence ; and the peace of the District has since remained un-
broken.
The earliest historical remains are the caves of Junnar. The
inscriptions in these caves and at the Nana pass in the vicinity are
of special interest, being the oldest known Brahmanical inscriptions
yet discovered. Later in date are the Buddhist caves at Karli,
Bhaja, Bedsa, and Shelarwadi, probably all dating from the first
and second centuries after Christ. Later Hindu dynasties have left
the Saivite rock temple at Bhambhurda, 2 miles west of Poona,
and scattered Hemadpanti remains varying from the tenth to the
thirteenth century, which it is customary to attribute to the Gauli-raj,
or Deogiri Yadavas. The chief Hemadpanti remains are the Kuka-
deshwar temple at Pur 10 miles north-west of Junnar, the tanks of
Belhe 21 miles north-east of Junnar, and Pabal 21 miles north-east
of Poona ; transformed mosques at Poona, Junnar, and Sasvad ; and
the Ganga and Jumna rock-cut reservoirs on the top of Shivner fort
in Junnar.
The number of towns and villages in the District is 1,189. ^^^
population at each of the last four enumerations was: (1872) 922,439,
(1881) 901,828, (1891) 1,067,800, and (1901) 995.330. p^ ulation
The decHne in 1881 was due to the famine of 1876-7,
while the decrease in 1901 is chiefly due to the famine of 1900 and to
plague. In both famines the eastern portion of the District suffered
severely.
The distribution of the population by tdlukas in 1901 is shown in
the table on the next page.
The chief towns are : Poona City, Kirkee, Junnar, Baramati,
SiRUR, LoNAULi, Sasvad, Indapur, Talegaon-Dabhade, Khed, and
170
POONA DISTRICT
Alandi. The villages with population exceeding 5,000 are Talegaon-
Dhamdere, Otur, Ghod, Manchar, and Pandare. Of the total
population, 93 per cent, are Hindus, 5 per cent. Musalmans, 10,703
Tains, and 14,484 Christians. Marathi is the chief language, being
spoken by 90 per cent, of the population.
V
^
1
Taluka.
t3
Number of
)pulation.
centage o
riation in
ulation be
/een i8gi
nd 1901.
umber of
ons able ti
ead and
write.
1/
B
0
0
H
>
o.
I""
Junnar
591
1
158
"7,753
199
+ I
5,020
Khed . . I
„ Ambegaon pctha \
876
i 2
176
113-449
j 179
i- 5
4.726
) ...
66
42,826
\ - 2
1,372
Sirfir ....
601
1
78
65.992
no
- 23
3,160
Maval
385
2
162
65,176
169
- 3
3,-^6
Haveli
823
i 2
156
299,988
i ,^97
\- '
35,685
„ '\\\\\i\\\ petha •'.
(...
79
26,967
i - 9
421
Purandhar .
470
1
90
72,716
155
- 18
3,341
Bhimthadi . . J
1,036
\ I
78
80,814
j 119
\ ■" '^
3,081
,, Dhondpef/ia \
( ...
50
42,754
1-36
3,524
Indapur
District total
.=567
I
85
66,895
118
- 6
2,130
5.349
II
1,17s*
995,330
186
- 7
65,806
* According to the latest returns of the Agricultural department, the number of villages is 1,205.
The Hindu population is largely composed of Marathas and allied
castes, of which a description will be found in the article on the
Bombay PRESinENCV. The local Brahman sub-caste is the Deshasth,
who form 60 per cent, of the total number. Next to Deshasths in
importance are the Chitpavans or Konkanasths (14,000), a sub-caste
that came from the Konkan, and rose to a position of great power
in the days of the Peshwas, who themselves belonged to this sub-caste.
Many Brahmans are money-lenders, general traders, and landholders.
The Marathas of the old fighting class number 333,000, or one-third
of the total population ; while Maratha Kunbis, who are closely allied
to them though socially inferior, number 98,000. An important cul-
tivating caste is the Mali or gardener (61,000). In the hilly western
portion of the District the land is for the most part in the hands
of Kolls (46,000). Dhangars or shepherds number 42,000. Mahars
(82,000) and Mangs (22,000), the depressed classes, who probably
represent primitive tribes dispossessed by the Aryans, are numerous,
a few families being found in almost every village, where they occupy
a hamlet apart from the houses of their better caste neighbours.
The vicinity of Bombay city induces many of the labouring classes to
seek work in that place during the busy season. The emigrants are
chiefly drawn from the Ghats villages, where the peasants are much
involved in debt, and are known in Bombay as ghdtis. Ramosis or
professional watchmen (22,000), widely distributed throughout the
AGRICULTURE 171
District, once formed part of the Maratha fighting forces. Chamars
or leather-workers number 18,000. Musalmans (46,000) are chiefly
Shaikhs (27,000), a term loosely used to designate either converts
from Hinduism or descendants from Arab invaders. In Junnar they
are an indication of the former predominance of the Musalman king-
dom of Ahmadnagar. Agriculture supports 57 per cent, of the popula-
tion, and industries and commerce 15 and 2 per cent, respectively.
In 1 90 1 the native Christians, who numbered about 8,000, included
3,765 Roman Catholics, 1,131 of the Anglican communion, 117
Presbyterians, and 243 Methodists. The Church of England Mission
has a branch known as the Panch Houd Mission in Poona city and
another small branch in the Haveli tdii/ka, which perform social,
educational, and religious work among both sexes. The Church
Missionary Society carries on evangelistic work in seven stations and
maintains in Poona city a divinity school, where natives are trained
as catechists. Closely connected with it is the Zanana Bible Medical
Mission, working among women. The Church of Scotland Presby-
terian Mission, with its head-quarters in Poona cantonments, maintains
a hospital in Poona city, a boarding-house, orphanage, and 23 schools,
of which 1 1 are for girls. The United Free Church of Scotland
Mission, established in 1882, has branches at Lonauli and Sasvad;
and the Methodist Episcopal Mission, established in 1873, maintains
a home for Eurasian boys and girls and four boys' schools in Poona
city. The American Marathi Mission, established in 1855 at Sirur,
maintains two orphanages, and several schools for low-caste children,
in which special attention is paid to industrial training. An energetic
Brahman lady, Pandita Rama Bai, established in the Bhimthadi
tdluka in 1896 the undenominational Mukti Mission, which comprises
a church, school, printing press, and a large boarding establishment,
costing Rs. 80,000 a year and financed from Great Britain, Australia,
and America. The Poona Village and Indian Mission, styled inter-
denominational and embracing all the Protestant sects, was established
in 1895; it has three stations in the Bhor State and maintains a hos-
pital, two orphanages, and a school. Among minor establishments
are the Zanana Training Home at Wanowri, a Boys' Christian Home
at Dhond, the St. Vincent of Paul Society for the relief of the poor,
and the St. Anthony's bread guild which provides clothing and rations
for the destitute. The Salvation Army has branches at Sirur and
Talegaon-Dhamdhere.
In Poona all arable land comes under one or other of three
great heads — 'dry-crop' land, watered land, rice land. The khartf ox
early crops are brought to maturity by the rains of the . . ,^
/u . L 7 •• J J Agriculture.
south-west monsoon ; the rain or spnng crops depend
on dews, on irrigation, and on the small cold-season showers which
VOL. XX. M
172
POONA DISTRICT
occasionally fall between November and March. The principal khar'if
crops are spiked millet {bdjra), mixed with the hardy iio; and joivdr.
These are sown late in May or in June, and are reaped in September
and October or November. In the wet and hilly west the chief har-
vest is the kharif, which here consists of rice and hill millets, such as
rdgi and vari. The rati crops are sown in October and November,
and ripen in February and March. They are chiefly the cold-season
Indian millets, such as shdlu, tdmbdi, and dudhmogra, and wheat,
together with gram, lentils {masur), kulith, and other pulses. As in
other parts of the Deccan, the chief kinds of soil are black, red,
and barad or stony. The black soil, found generally near rivers,
is by far the richest of these. The red soil is almost always shallow,
and coarser than the black. The stony soil is found on the slopes
of hills. It is merely trap rock in the first stage of disintegration ; but,
if favoured by plentiful and frequent rains, it repays the scanty labour
which its tillage requires. With four bullocks, a Kunbi can till some
60 acres of light soil. The same area of shallowish black soil re-
quires six or eight bullocks. Eight bullocks can till 50 acres of deep
black soil. Many husbandmen possess less than the proper number
of cattle, and have to join with their neighbours for ploughing.
The District is mostly ryotwdri, only about 15 per cent, of the
total area being indm or jdglr estates. The chief statistics of cultiva-
tion in 1903-4 are shown below, in square miles: —
Taluka.
Total.
Cultivated.
Irrigated.
Cultivable
waste.
Forests.
Junnar .
Khed .
Silur
Maval .
Haveli .
Purandhar
Bhimthadi
ludapur
592
876
601
385
823
470
1,036
567
427
593
493
235
(;86
■358
794
406
11
18
5
I
iS
16
53
24
3
4
7
3
2
9^
148
33
86
103
38
"3
93
Tola
5»35o*
3.892
146
20
710
* Statistics are not available for 89 square miles of this area, which is based on
the latest information.
The chief crops are bdjra (i,ioo square miles) and jowdr (885),
grown almost entirely in the eastern portion of the District. Bdjra
is sown on light lands whenever the early rains suffice. Rice occupies
no square miles, and is grown mainly in the western portion known as
the Maval. Inferior hill millets, with wheat, peas, beans, and gram as
second crops after rice, are grown in the Maval when the moisture
is sufficient. The central belt grows a variety of products. Its cereal
is bdjra, and the chief oilseeds are niger-seeds and ground-nuts.
Safflower covers 92 square miles. Wheat (126 square miles) is grown
AGRICULTURE 173
as a 'dry crop' in a considerable area in the Maval and in the central
portions of the District. Of pulses, which occupy about 352 square
miles, the most largely grown are gram, tiir, ??iath, ku/it/i, and miig.
Sugar-cane is extensively grown (20 square miles in 1903-4), chiefly
under irrigation. Vegetables form an important market-garden crop
near Poona, as also do grapes, figs, papayas, guavas, oranges, and (jther
favourite fruits. Among special crops, the grape-vine ( Vitis vinifera)
is occasionally grown in the best garden land on the border of the
western belt and in the neighbourhood of Poona city. The vine is
grown from cuttings, which are ready for planting in six or eight months.
It begins to bear in the third year, and is in full fruit in the sixth or
seventh. With care, a vine goes on bearing for sixty, or even, it is
said, for a hundred years. The vine is trained on a stout upright,
often a growing stump which is pruned to a pollard-like shape about
five feet high ; this mode is said to be most remunerative. Or a strong
open trellis roof is thrown over the vineyard about six feet from the
ground, and the vines are trained horizontally on it ; this mode is
preferred by the rich for its appearance and shade, and is said to
encourage growth to a greater age. The vine yields sweet grapes
from January to March, and sour grapes in August. The sour grapes
are very abundant, but are not encouraged ; the sweet grape is tended
in every possible way, but is apt to suffer from disease. After each
crop the vine is pruned, and salt, sheep's droppings, and dried fish are
applied as manure to each vine after the sour crop is over. Vines
are flooded once a year for five or six days, the earth being previously
loosened round the roots. Blight attacks them when the buds first
appear, and is removed by shaking the branches over a cloth, into
which the blight falls, and is then carried to a distance and destroyed.
This operation is performed three times a day until the buds are
an inch long.
The cultivation of sugar-cane and other valuable crops has greatly
increased of late years, owing to the construction by Government
of irrigation canals, as also has the use of new manures. English
ploughs are used in a few places, and iron sugar-cane mills are seen
everywhere. The Poona Experimental Farm, which is situated about
2 miles from the city in Bopudi village, originated in a small piece of
land taken for the agricultural class at the College of Science in 1879.
In 1888 it was handed over to the Agricultural department, which
since that date has superintended the raising of hybrids of cotton,
wheat, and Jowdr, the growing of forage crops for the use of the model
dairy attached to the farm, the testing of new crops, the trial of new
agricultural implements, and the distribution of seed both to agricul-
turists and, for scientific purposes, to experimental farms at Pusa
and elsewhere. The farm is used for educational purposes by the
u 2
174 POONA DISTRICT
students of the College of Science, by junior civilians, and by visitors
and agriculturists ; and it is furnished with an increasing collection of
soils, manures, seeds, fibres, botanical specimens, and indigenous and
imported implements. A portion of the land, which measures 66 acres,
is annually reserved for growing small plots of all important varieties
of typical crops. A second farm at Manjri, occupying about 45 acres,
and 8 miles distant from Poona, is devoted to experiments in sugar-
cane cultivation. Since 1894 attention has been directed to the
system of manuring sugar-cane, to testing several methods of culti-
vation, to the acclimatization of imported varieties of cane, and to
studying the most profitable methods of utilizing bone manure.
Botanical experiments in cotton and wheat are also carried out.
A sewage-farm, on which sugar-cane, fodder, ground-nuts, maize, and
sweet potatoes are grown, forms part of the Manjri Farm. The model
dairy farm at Kirkee contains 68 cows and 53 cow-buffaloes, and sells
dairy produce of an annual value of about Rs. 24,000. The gardens at
Ganeshkhind are maintained for botanical and experimental purposes,
and are in charge of the Economic Botanist. They contain excellent
mango orchards. Advances to agriculturists under the Land Improve-
ment and Agriculturists' Loans Acts amounted during the decade
ending 1904 to 2i'4 lakhs. Of this sum, 11 lakhs was advanced in
the three years 1899-1900, 1900-1, and 1901— 2.
The District has ten breeds of cattle, of which the khildri, or herd-
cattle from West Khandesh, are the most valuable draught animals in
the Deccan. Buffaloes are common in all parts and are of eleven
kinds, but the best breeds are imported from Sind, Cutch, and
Gujarat. For rice-field work the Poona cultivator prefers the buffalo
to the bullock, and the cow-buffaloes supply most of the milk used
in the District. Poona has long been famous for its horses, and there
are few villages in east Poona without one or two brood-mares. Of
eight breeds of horses the local or deshi variety, bred on the banks
of the Bhlma and Nira, was most esteemed by the Marathas. The
Dhangar pony, thick -set, short-legged, and strong, very unlike the
ordinary village pony, is of the same breed as the Nira pony. Horse-
breeding is carried on by the Army Remount department, which
maintains eight horse stallions and four pony stallions at Sirur, Bara-
mati, Dhond, and Indapur. Donkeys are used as load-carriers by
stonecutters, limeburners, potters, and washermen. Mules, chiefly
cast commissariat animals, are used by charcoal-burners for carrying
loads and drawing carts. Flocks of sheep are found in most large
villages, and goats are common. Fowls are reared everywhere,
while turkeys, geese, and ducks are found in the towns, where also
many Musalmans and some Hindus breed pigeons for amusement
or profit.
AGRICULTURE 175
Of the total cultivated area, 145-5 -'^Huare miles, or 4 per cent., were
irrigated in 1903-4. The areas under the various classes of irrigation
sources were : Government canals, 56 square miles ; private canals,
7 square miles ; tanks, 6 square miles ; wells, 75 ; and other sources,
one square mile. The chief water-works made or repaired by Govern-
ment are the Nlra and Mutha Canals, and the Shetphal, Matoba,
Kasurdi, Sirsuphal, and Bhadalwadi tanks. The Mutha Canals,
completed in 1878, and the reservoir from which they are fed, Lake
Fife, command r6,8oo acres; while the NIra Canal, fed by Lake
Whiting, completed in 1886, commands 113,000 acres. The former
supplied 7,000 and the latter 31,000 acres in 1903-4. Well-irrigation
is of great importance in Indapur and other drought-stricken parts of
the east. Wells are circular, 8 to ro feet across and 20 to 50 feet
deep. Water is raised in a leathern bag. Near Poona city good crops
are raised by well-irrigation for the Bombay and Poona markets,
and many additional wells have been constructed out of Government
loans during recent years. The District contains 22,177 wells and
27 tanks, used for irrigation purposes.
The forest lands may be roughly grouped into three classes : hill,
river-bank, and upland Reserves. Except in the Sinhgarh range the
hill Reserves, consisting of mixed evergreen woods and teak coppice,
are found in the west. The evergreen woods yield little timber, but
the teak coppices, chiefly on the slopes and terraces of the easterly
spurs, furnish a valuable revenue. The groves found along the banks
of almost all" the larger rivers consist mostly of well-grown babul. The
third class of forest lands, the upland or mdl Reserves, are found in
every subdivision, but chiefly in Sirur, Bhimthadi, and Indapur. The
chief forest trees are : the mango, the ain, the nana and the bondara
{Lagers troemia lanceolata and L. parvifoHa, two closely allied species),
the hedu {Naucka cordifolia), the kalamb {Nauc/ea parvifo/ia), the asan
{Bridelia retusa), the savi (Botnbax ma/abariaim), the dhaura {Cono-
carpus latifolta), the teak, the jdmbiil {Eugenia Janibolana), the yela
{Terminalia be/erica), the dhaman {Greivia tiltaefo/ia), the myrabolam,
and the bamboo. The Forest department is in charge of about
500 square miles of ' reserved ' forest in the District, and the Revenue
department manages 210 square miles of fodder reserves and pasture
lands. In 1903-4 the forest revenue amounted to Rs. 60,000.
Except iron, which occurs in various places as hematite associated
with laterite, or as magnetic grains in stream beds, the District
produces no metallic ores. The trap rock yields good building stone
and road-metal almost everywhere, boulders being preferred to quarried
stone. A variety of compact dark-blue basalt, capable of high polish,
is worked into idols and pedestals for wooden pillars. Quartz occurs
throughout the trap in various forms, either crystalline or amorphous
176 rOONA DISTRICT
in the form of agate, jasper, and heliotrope. Stilbitc, and its associate
the still finer apophylite, though less common than quart/, are by no
means rare. One magnificent variety consists of large salmon-coloured
crystals 2 or 3 inches long. The other mineral products are common
salt, carbonate of soda, sand for mortar, and limestone.
The chief manufactures are silk robes, coarse cotton cloth, and
blankets. The Poona cotton and silk-embroidered /fl-^r/^ have a wide-
spread reputation, and the brass- and silver-work
^^^^..^;^o+;^»,^ f''^ the same place is much admired. Among other
communications. . > °
special manufactures may be mentioned toys, small
rlay figures carefully dressed, and ornaments, baskets, fans, &c., of
khaskhas grass, decked with beetles' wings. The manufacture of
paper by hand, formerly of some importance, has of late years
practically ceased. A few Musalman papermakers are still to be
found in Junnar town.
Among the factories of the district are two cotton-spinning and
weaving mills, a paper-mill, a flour-mill, and a brewery. In 1904 the
cotton-mills contained 308 looms and 13,924 sjoindles, employed
1,069 hands, and produced i-6 million pounds of yarn and 700,000
pounds of cloth. A Government gun-carriage factory and an arms
and ammunition factory at Poona and Kirkee employ about 2,100
hands. 'J'here are also railway workshops at Lonauli.
Of late years, except the development caused by cheap and rapid
carriage of goods, there has been no marked change in the trade of
the District. It is, generally speaking, small. The increased demand
for raw sugar has led to a larger production. The raw sugar goes
mostly to Bombay and Gujarat, 'i'he chief exports are grain, raw
sugar, cotton cloth, vegetables, fruits, brass-ware, and silk cloth. The
chief imports are rice brought from Ahmadnagar and Thana, wheat,
.salt, and cojjper and brass sheets. The chief agencies for spreading
imports and gathering exports are trade centres, markets, fairs, village
shops, and pedlars' packs. The leading merchants are Marwar VanTs,
Gujarat YanTs, Bohras, Parsis, and Brahmans.
Besides about 222 miles of metalled and 913 miles u{ unmetalled
roads, 112 miles of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway traverse the
District from west to east, and this section is joined at Dhond by
the north to south cross connexion from Manmad. The Southero
Mahratta Railway runs from Poona southwards ff;r a distance of
about 48 miles within the District, and has nine stations in that
length. Metalled roads {)lace the District in communication with
Nasik, Ahmadnagar, Sholapur, Belgaum, Sat.nra, and Kolaba Districts.
\Vith the exception of 341 miles of unmetalled roads, all the roads are
maintained by the Public Works department. The chief of them
are the Bombay-Poona mail road to the foot of the Borghat, the
ADMINISTRA TION 1 7 7
Poona-Aliiii.'idiiagar road, the Poona-Sholapur road, and the Poona-
Nasik road ; while of nmds niainlainrd by the local authorities the
chief are those from Manchar to Amhegaon, from Khcd to Phorgiri,
from Sirfir to Nira bridge, from Junnar to Pelhe, and from IJaramati
to Patas.
With much of its rainfall cut off hy the \v(!stcrn hills, large tracts
in the cast of the District have a very uncertain water su])ply. During
the last five hundred years there is either traditional
or historical mention of at least twenty-five famines.
The first was the dread calamity known as the Durgii-dcvT famine.
Other famines are recorded in T422, 1460 (i)amaji-])ant's)-, 1473, ^S^o,
1630, r787, 1792, 1793, 1802-3 (ravages of Ilolkar's troops), 1820,
1823, 1824, 1825, 1832-8, 1844-6, 1862-7, 1876-7, 1896-7, and
1 899-1 902. In the year 1792-3 no rain whatever fell till October,
and the price of grain rose to 8 seers for the rupee. In 1802, owing
to the devastation of the country by Ilolkar's troops, the price of grain
is said to have risen to 4 seers for the rupee. In 1824-5 and
1845-6 failure of rain caused great scarcity. In 1866 7 more than
Rs. 80,000 of land revenue was remitted, and Rs. 20,000 was spent on
relief to the destitute. Poona was specially affected by the famine
of 1876-7. In 1896-7 the whole l^istrict suffered. At the height of
the famine in May, 1897, there were 22,223 persons and 3,345 <^lcpcn-
dents on relief works and 6,566 in receipt of gratuitous relief. 'I'he
number gratuitously relieved reached a maximum of 23,998 in
September and October, 1897. In 1899 the practical cessation of
the rain from the middle of September onward resulted in widespread
failure of crops, the Dhond pctha suffering most. As early as
December the number on relief works and of those gratuitously
relieved exceeded it,ooo. It advanced steadily till May, when it
was 65,717, in addition to 17,236 dependents on relief works and
13,237 in receipt of gratuitous relief. The latter figure rose to
28,536 in September. The relief works were kei)t open till October,
T902, when the daily average attendance was about t,ooo, just lowered
from 2,000 in the previous month. It is calculated that over 20,000
persons died from the effects of famine and 120,000 cattle perished.
Including remissions of advances to agriculturists and land revenue,
more than 45 lakhs was spent in the District in the last famine. The
advances made to cultivators exceeded 10 lakhs.
The District is divided into eight tdlukas as follows: BuTmthadi,
Havkli, Indapur, Junnar, Kukd, Mavaf,, Purandiiar, and Sikuk.
The Collector is assisted by two Assistant Collectors y^^njinistration.
and a Personal Assistant. The petty subdivisions
(ficfhns) of Dhond, Anibcgaon, and Mulshi are incUidcd in the
Bhimthadi, Khed, and llaveli /d/ukns respectively. The Collector
178 POONA DISTRICT
is Political Agent for the Bhor State, which is included in the District
for some administrative purposes.
The District and Sessions Judge, who is also Agent for the Deccan
Sardars, is assisted by a Small Cause Court Judge, a Special Judge
under the Dekkhan Agriculturists' Relief Act, and six Sub-Judges.
There are thirty-eight ofificers to administer criminal justice in the
District. The city of Poona forms a separate magisterial charge under
a City Magistrate. There are also two benches of magistrates to assist
him in criminal work. There is a Cantonment Magistrate for Poona
cantonment, and another at Kirkee. The commonest forms of crime
are theft and housebreaking.
The earliest revenue system of which traces remained at the
beginning of British rule was the Jatha, that is, the family estate, or
the thai, that is, the settlement system, under which the whole arable
land of each village was divided among a certain number of families.
The lands occupied by each family were distinguished by the original
occupant's surname, even when none of his descendants remained.
These holdings were called jathas or family estates. The head of
the family was held responsible for any land revenue due for the lands
belonging to the family, and was styled viukaddam. In theory the
leading family estate and its head were responsible for the whole
rental of the village, and were bound to make good the failures of
minor family estates. This responsibility, however, could not be
enforced, and the Government was frequently content to accept less
than the full rental. Malik Ambar's settlement was introduced between
1605 and 1626. It was based on a correct knowledge of the area
of the land tilled and of the money value of the crop, coupled with
a determination to limit the state demand to a small share of the
actual money value of the crop. It is generally thought that, under
Malik Ambar's survey, areas were fixed by an estimate or nazar-pdhdni.
The rates were intended to be permanent and were therefore moderate.
Between 1662 and 1666 a more correct measurement of the land was
made ; but owing to the state of the country, which had su.lfered from
war and pestilence, Malik Ambar's system had to be discontinued.
In 1664 in its stead a crop division was introduced. In 1669, when
Sivaji reconquered Poona, he introduced a cash rental instead of
payment in kind. The settlement was by village, or mauzawdr. The
village had therefore to make good a lump sum, and the villagers were
left free to arrange for the recovery of the state dues on land which
had fallen waste. Land deserted by its owner became the joint
property of the village, which either divided it or cultivated it jointly.
Under this system Sivaji's rental was uncertain, as individual property
in land had a tendency to vanish, and this led to Malik Ambar's
system of a fixed money rent for the whole village being restored in
ADMINISTRA TION
179
1674. The rise in the price of produce greatly reduced the state
share in the out-turn of the land, and to make good this loss special
cesses were levied on several occasions and under various names. This
system continued till 1758, when, under the rule of Peshwa Balaji
BajT Rao, a new and very elaborate measurement and settlement were
introduced. In the times of the Peshwas the government collected
its revenues through its own agents ; the maximum of the land tax
was fixed and only charged on lands actually under tillage, while
remissions were made in bad seasons. The revenues fluctuated
according to the prosperity of the country. Between 1772 and 1800,
the years of the administration of Nana Farnavis, the management of
the Peshwa's land revenue was perhaps more efficient than at any
other time. In the reign of Bajl Rao II the practice of farming the
revenue for short terms to the highest bidder was introduced. The
charges involved by this system aggravated the evils of its predecessor.
Much hardship resulted from the exactions of these temporary revenue
farmers.
The assessment introduced at the beginning of British rule when
prices were high pressed heavily on landholders in seasons either of
bad crops or of low prices. Consequently the leading features of the
revenue system before 1856 were high assessment and large remissions.
About 1825, when distress was acute, Mr. Pringle was appointed to
survey the District and revise the assessment. His survey settlement
was introduced over the whole District between 1829 and 1831.
The measure proved a failure, partly from the heaviness and in-
equality of the assessment in a period of bad seasons and partly from
the malpractices of Mr. Pringle's establishment. The defects were
early foreseen and the new rates were soon discontinued. The first
settlement confirmed for thirty years was introduced into the Dis-
trict between 1836 and 1854. About 1855 a regular revenue survey
was undertaken. A revision survey was made and introduced between
1874 and 1901. This survey found an increase in the cultivaljle area
of 6 per cent., and the settlement enhanced the total revenue from
about 6 lakhs to 12 lakhs. The average assessment per acre of 'dry'
land is 9 annas, rice land Rs. 2-7, and of garden land Rs. 2.
The following table shows the collections of land revenue and of
revenue from all sources, in thousands of rupees : —
1880-1.
1890-1.
1900-1.
1903-4.
Land revenue
Total revenue .
10,^0
18,15
16,60
30,00
I2,7.S
25>28
17,88
The District has twelve municipalities : namely, Poona City and
Poona Suburban, Sasvad, Jejuri, Baramati, Indapur, Sirur, Tale-
i8o POONA DISTRICT
gaon-Dabhade, Lonauli, Khed, Alandi, and Junnar. The total
income of these municipalities averages about 4^ lakhs. Outside the
municipalities, local affairs are managed by the District board and eight
tdluka boards. The receipts of these in 1903-4 were Rs. 2,25,000,
the chief source of their income being the local cess. The expenditure
in the same year amounted to Rs. 2,09,000, including Rs. 87,000 spent
on the construction and maintenance of roads and buildings.
The District Superintendent of police is aided by an Assistant and
3 inspectors. In 1903-4 there were 18 police stations, with 16 chief
constables, 3 European constables, 231 head constables, and 988 con-
stables. The mounted police numbered 28, under 4 European constables
and 6 daffaddrs. The Yeraoda Central jail, intended for the confine-
ment of all classes of prisoners, as well as for relieving District jails
throughout the Presidency, is situated 3 miles north of Poona city. It
has accommodation for 1,580 prisoners, and in 1904 the average daily
number of prisoners was 1,452, of whom 40 were females. The present
structure was built altogether by convict labour. The prisoners are
employed outside the walls in gardens, and are hired out to contractors
for unskilled labour. Inside the prison various industries are carried
on, including weaving, carpet-making, coir-work, cane-work, and car-
pentry. A printing press has recently been established. There are 10
subsidiary jails and 12 lock-ups, with accommodation for 125 and 181
prisoners respectively. A reformatory school for juvenile offenders at
Yeraoda is under the supervision of the Educational department.
Poona stands seventh as regards literacy among the twenty-four Dis-
tricts of the Presidency. In 1901, 6-6 per cent, of the population
(ii'7 males and 1-5 females) could read and write. Education has
made much progress of late years. In 1855-6 there were only
95 schools, with a total of 4,206 pupils in the District. In 1881 the
number of pupils rose to 15,246, in 1891 to 30,370, and in 1901
was 25,963. In 1903-4 there were 411 schools with 24,801 pupils, of
whom more than 4,400 were females. These schools include 22 pri-
vate schools with 417 pupils. Among the public institutions are 2 Arts
colleges (the Deccan and Fergusson), one professional college, the
College of Science, 14 high schools, 21 middle schools, 341 primary
schools, and 10 special schools, including a training college for male
and 2 for female teachers, one workshop, and a medical class at the
Bassoon Hospital. The College of Science includes engineering classes,
agricultural classes, a workshop, and a forestry class. The Deccan
College has a law class attached to it. Out of 389 public institu-
tions, 14 are supported by Government, 201 by local boards, 50 by
municipal boards, 119 schools are aided, and 5 are unaided. The
total expenditure on education in 1903-4 exceeded 6| lakhs, of which
nearly i^ lakhs was recovered as fees and Rs. 52,000 was contributed
POONA CITY i8i
by local and municipal boards. Of the total, 25 per cent, was expended
on primary schools.
In 1904 the District contained 4 hospitals and 20 dispensaries, pro-
viding accommodation for 252 in-patients. About 145,000 patients,
including 3,573 in-patients, were treated in these, and 5,520 opera-
tions were performed. The total expenditure, excluding the cost of
two of the hospitals and five of the dispensaries, which are maintained
from private funds, was Rs. 1,47,165, of which Rs. 11,617 ^^^ P^^'d
from local and municipal funds. A lunatic asylum at Poona contained
146 inmates in 1904.
The number of persons successfully vaccinated in 1903-4 was 27,000,
representing a proportion of 27 per 1,000 of population, which is much
above the average for the Presidency.
[Sir J. M. Campbell, Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xviii (1885) ; W. W. Loch,
Historical Account of the Poo?ia, Sdtdra, and SholdpJir Districts {1877).]
Poona City {Puna). — Head-quarters of Poona District, Bombay,
situated in 18° 31' N. and 73° 51' E., on the Great Indian Peninsula
Railway, 119 miles south-east of Bombay, and a terminus of the
Southern Mahratta Railway ; 1,850 feet above the level of the sea,
and, in a straight line, about 63 miles from the coast. The name
seems to be derived from the Sanskrit punyapur, or 'cleanser,' pro-
bably referring to the holy meeting of the Mutha and Mula rivers.
It is the military capital of the Deccan, and from June to October the
seat of the Government of Bombay.
During the last fifty years Poona has been steadily growing in size.
In 1851 its population was returned at 73,209; by 1863 it was sup-
posed to have risen to about 80,000. At the next three enumerations
it was : (1872) 118,886, (1881) 129,751, and (1891) 161,390. In 1901
it was returned at 111,381, exclusive of 41,939 in the cantonment and
suburbs; total, 153,320. Hindus numbered 122,393; Muhammadans,
18,165; Christians, 8,474; Parsis, 1,900; and Jains, 1,473.
With the heat of April and May tempered by a sea-breeze, a
moderate rainfall, and strong cool winds, the climate is agreeable, but
of late years it has not been reputed to be healthy. The annual rain-
fall for 1891-1901 averaged 28 inches. The mean temperature in
1901 was 70°; maximum ito° (in May), minimum 43° (in December).
Poona has suffered severely from the plague, which first gained a foot-
hold in the city in January, 1897. In 1899 the mortality rose to 125
per week, or an annual death-rate of 207 per 1,000. Severe repressive
measures in 1897 failed to eradicate the epidemic.
The first mention of Poona in history seems to be in 1604, when it
was granted by the Sultan of Ahmadnagar to MalojT, the grandfather
of SivajT. In 1637 the grant was confirmed in favour of Shahji, father
of Sivaji. In 1663, during the operations conducted against Sivaji by
i82 POONA CITY
order of Aurangzeb, the imperial viceroy Shaista Khan took possession
of the open town, from which, when surprised a few days afterwards by
Sivajl, he had great difficulty in making his escape. His son and most
of his guard were cut to pieces, and he himself wounded. A powerful
force, however, immediately reinstated the discomfited commander.
In 1667 Aurangzeb restored Poona to Sivajl; but under the sway of
his successor Sanibhaji, it was occupied by Khan Jahan, an officer
of the emperor. On the Peshwa obtaining supremacy in the Maratha
confederacy, the chief seat of government was removed from Satara
to Poona. In 1763 Nizam All of Hyderabad sacked the city and
burned such parts of it as were not ransomed. In the struggle between
the successive Peshwas and their nominal subordinates Sindhia and
Holkar, Poona suffered many vicissitudes, until in 1802, by the provi-
sions of the Treaty of Bassein, the Peshwa allowed a British subsi-
diary force to be stationed here.
The final defeat of the Peshwa Baji Rao, and the capture of Poona
in 1 81 8, were the results of three engagements. In the battle of
KiRKEE (November 5, 181 7) the British forces, commanded by
Colonel Burr, defeated a vastly superior force under Bapu Gokhale.
The battle of Yeraoda (November 16 and 17, 1817) occurred near
where the present Fitzgerald Bridge now stands, the British guns on
' Picket Hill ' commanding the position. The British troops were com-
manded by Brigadier-General Lionel Smith. The result was the flight
of the Peshwa's army and the immediate occupation of the city by the
British. The third battle, that of Koregaon (January i, 18 18), was
fought 2 miles distant from Loni, on the right bank of the Bhima, and
16 miles from Poona. After the deposition of the Peshwa Baji Rao II
(181 8), the city became the head-quarters of a British District as well
as the principal cantonment in the Deccan.
The city stands on the right bank of the Mutha river. Much of the
country round is barren and rocky, and to the east stretches an open
plain. Not much high ground is seen to the north and west, but to the
south extends a line of hills ending in the bold square rock of Sinh-
garh. Close at hand, on the north, is the confluence of the streams
of the Mutha and Mula ; through the heart of the city, the line
of the Kharakvasla canal, and on the south the lake and temple-
crowned peak of Parvati are objects of interest. The Katraj aqueduct
was built by an ancient Maratha family. This duct, together with
three other private aqueducts, supplies the city in ordinary years with
about half the required supply of drinking-water. The other half is
derived from the Mutha Right Bank Canal at three places. The main
near the Parvati bank supplements the supply from the Katraj aqueduct.
The municipality draws from the canal about 750,000 gallons a day,
for which it pays Rs. 10,000 to Government. Any amount drawn in
POONA CITY 183
excess of this is paid for at the rate of 3 annas per 1,000 gallons.
The old water-works owe their existence to the liberality of Sir Jamsetji
Jijibhoy of Bombay, who contributed Rs. 1,75,000 towards the entire
cost of Rs. 2,00,000. The new water-works for the Poona cantonment
and suburbs were constructed in 1873-4, and were furnished with
new settling-tanks and filter-beds in 1894-5. The maximum daily
consumption from these works is 1,700,000 gallons. The pumping
station is situated to the east of St. Mary's Church, the power being
passed from a Poncelet wheel to three centrifugal pumps on the right
bank of the canal and to a Worthington water engine on the left bank.
There are five settling-tanks, with a total capacity equivalent to three
days' consumption, and four filter-beds with an area of 45,000 square
feet. Water is pumped from the canal into the settling-tanks and
thence into the filter-beds by means of centrifugal pumps. Two
reservoirs supply the cantonments and suburbs, the charge for water
by meter varying from 6 to 8 annas per 1,000 gallons, according as
the cost of pipes and connexions is borne by the householder or not.
For three or four months in the hot season very little water is available,
and pumping has to be performed almost entirely by steam-power.
Gardens on every side, and groves of acacia along the banks of
the rivers, give much of the neighbourhood a green, well-clothed
appearance.
The city proper extends along the Mutha for about \\ miles in-
land, varying in height from 30 to 70 feet above the river. Its length
is about 2 miles from east to west, and its breadth about i| miles,
the total area being 2\ square miles. For police and other purposes
the city is divided among eighteen wards ox peths. Under the Peshwas
it was divided into seven quarters, named after the days of the week.
The ruined palace of the Peshwas stands in the Shanwar quarter,
or Saturday ward. The palace was burned down in 1827, and all that
now remains is the fortified wall. The chief streets run north and
south. Though broad in parts they are all more or less crooked,
none of them offering an easy carriage-way from one end to the other.
From east to west the only thoroughfiire is by lanes, narrow, short, and
interrupted. One of these was set apart for the execution of criminals,
who, in the time of the Peshwas, were here trampled to death by
elephants. Most of the houses are of more than one storey, their
walls built of a framework of wood filled in with brick or mud, and
with roofs of tile.
East of the city is the military station, with an area of 4^ square
miles and a population of 32,777. Within cantonment limits, north-
wards to the Mutha-Mula river and for 2 miles along the road leading
west to the cantonment of Kirkee, are the houses of the greater part
of the European population. The remaining European quarter or
1 84 FOONA CITY
Civil Lines was made a suburban municipality in 1884. In area it
covers \\ square miles, and had in 1903-4 an income and expenditure
of Rs. 31,000 and Rs. 33,000 respectively, the former chiefly derived
from a house tax and octroi. The first Residency was built where
the present Judge's house now stands, at the Sangam or junction of
the Mula and Mutha rivers. The compound included the site of the
present Science College and the English burial-ground close to the
present Sangam Lodge. The Resident's quarters contained five houses,
besides out-offices for guard and escort parties. The entire block was
destroyed on November 5, 18 17, immediately upon the departure of
Mr. Mountstuart Elphinstone to join the British forces drawn up for
battle at Kirkee. There have been five European cemeteries open
since the Maratha possession of Poona — one near the old Residency,
the second near the present church of St. Paul, the third in East
Street, one near the rifle butts, and one on the left of the Sholapur
road. A new Residency was built near the present site of St. Paul's
Church in 1819, and was accidentally burnt down in 1863. The
Sangam Bridge was first built on piles in 1829, at a cost of Rs. 95,000.
Sir John Malcolm opened it in 1830, under the name of the Wellesley
Bridge, after the Duke of Wellington. It was rebuilt with stone in
1875, at a cost of Rs. 90,000. Holkar's Bridge was built by Madhu
Rao Peshwa, and so named because Holkar was accustomed to pitch
his tents in its vicinity. Close by is ' Holkar's tomb,' so called, being
a Saiva temple erected in memory of Vithoji Holkar and his wife,
who was a satt.
As a civil station, Poona is the residence of the usual District officers
and the head-quarters of the Commissioner of the Central Division.
It is also the monsoon head-quarters of the Bombay Government.
The garrison generally consists of European and Native infantry,
artillery, and cavalry. There is a branch of the Bank of Bombay.
In addition to the Peshwa's palace, already referred to, the city contains
numerous palaces and temples from one to three hundred years old,
of which the chief are : Belbag, built by Nana Farnavis about a century
ago ; the Faraskhana, the remains of the Budhwar palace which was
burnt down in 1879 ; Ganpati's temple; the new market, built by the
Poona city municipality ; the temple of Omkiireshwar ; the Vishrambag
palace, now used as a Government high school. Other chief objects
of interest, outside the Poona city municipal limits, are : the arsenal,
built in 1882 ; the Bund gardens on the right bank of the Mula-Mutha
river ; the Saiva caves of Bhamburda, the oldest remains in Poona ;
Chatarshingi hill with a temple of a devt, where a large fair is held
annually in September-October ; the Western India club ; the council
hall ; Government House, Ganeshkhind ; the Poona gymkhana ;
Yeraoda Central jail, intended for all classes of prisoners, as well as
POONA CITY 185
for relieving the overcrowding of the several 1 )istrict jails ; the Sassoon
Hospital ; the Jewish synagogue ; the office of the City Magistrate,
formerly the jail ; the Native General Library ; the General Post and
Telegraph office ; the Record office or Poona Daftar ; and the Empress
Gardens at Wanowri. The total number of in-patients treated at the
Sassoon Hospital in 1903-4 was 2,585, in addition to 12,110 out-
patients. Other medical institutions are the Roman (.'atholic school
hospital, the St. Margaret Hospital, St. John's Hospital, and six dispen-
saries, treating annually about 40,000 patients.
The city municipality, established in 1857, had an average income
during the decade ending 1901 of 3^ lakhs. In 1903-4 the income was
also 3^ lakhs. The chief items of income are octroi (\\ lakhs) and
conservancy tax (Rs. 39,000), while the expenditure, which amounted
to 3 lakhs in 1903-4, is chiefly devoted to conservancy (i lakh) and
establishment charges (Rs. 44,000). The income and the expenditure
of the cantonment fund in 1903 4 were nearly i-8 lakhs and 1-5 lakhs
respectively.
Though Poona is no longer so great a centre of trade and industry
as under the Peshwas, there are still many handlooms for the weaving
of fabrics of silk and cotton ; and articles of brass, copper, iron, and
clay are made in the city. Throughout Western India Poona workers
have earned a reputation lor tlie manufacture of cloth, silver and gold
jewellery, combs, dice, and other small articles of ivory, of fans, baskets,
and trays of khas-khas grass ornamented with peacocks' feathers and
beetles' wings, and of small, carefully dressed clay figures representing
the natives of India. There are now several important factories in the
city and its immediate vicinity. Chief of these are the gun-carriage
factory ' and arsenal in cantonments, and the small arms and ammuni-
tion factories at Kirkee. At Dapuri there is a large brewery. In
addition there are two cotton-mills, some iron and brass foundries, and
a paper-mill.
Besides a female normal school, an unaided normal class for mis-
tresses, and a training college for preparing teachers for vernacular
and Anglo-vernacular schools, and several Government and private
vernacular, Anglo-vernacular, and English schools, Poona has twelve
high schools and three colleges— the Deccan and Fergusson Colleges
teaching up to the degrees of B.A. and first LL.B., and the College
of Science with special training for civil engineers and agricultural
specialists. There is a medical school attached to the Sassoon Hospital,
a forest class at the College of Science, a municipal technical school,
and a reformatory at Yeraoda. The total number of schools is 78 for
boys with 7,205 pupils, and 4 for girls with 3,318 pupils. The city
contains 2 Subordinate Judges' courts, in addition to the chief revenue,
' The gun-carriage factory was closed in 1907.
1 86 POONA CITY
judicial, and other public offices. Besides the purely European clubs,
Poona contains the Deccan Club, to which both Europeans and natives
can belong; two native clubs, the Sarvajanik Sabha and the Deccan
Sabha; and a newly opened club for ladies. The most important
library is the Native General Library in Budhwar Peth.
Poonamallee. — Town and cantonment in the Saidapet taluk of
Chingleput District, Madras, situated in 13° 3' N. and 80° 1' E., on
the western trunk road, 13 miles west of Madras city and 5 miles north
of St, Thomas's Mount. It contains a population (1901) of 15,323
persons, and is the head-quarters of a ^t^vA^j-tahsllddr and a District
Munsif. The place was formerly a convalescent depot for the troops
of the Madras Command, a purpose for which it was well suited by its
good drainage and general salubrity. It still contains barracks which
could accommodate 500 men, but is now only a sanitarium for con-
valescent European troops. Four hundred yards to the east of the
cantonment, which is about half a mile square, is the old fort of Poona-
mallee, now occupied principally by warehouses, storerooms, and the
hospital. It is a Muhammadan work, 175 yards long and 142 broad,
surrounded by a rampart 18 feet high. It was of considerable service
in holding the country, towards both Madras and Conjeeveram, during
the ^Vars of the Carnatic.
Pooree.— District, subdivision, and town in Bengal. See PurI.
Popa. — An extinct volcano, situated in 20° 56' N. and 95" 16' E.,
towards the south of Myingyan District, Upper Burma, 4,961 feet
above the sea. It is an isolated hill mass rising up from undulating
sandy country, and has acquired a more than local notoriety as the
reputed abode of certain powerful nats or spirits. Popa is more or
less conical in shape ; its summit is bare, but its lower slopes are
covered partly with thick jungle and partly with garden land, which
receives a liberal rainfall and bears excellent crops. The crater at its
summit is about a mile across, and forms a punch-bowl 2,000 feet in
depth. A Government bungalow has been built near the summit, but
no regular use has as yet been made of the hill as a sanitarium.
Porahat.— Estate in the north-west of Singhbhum District, Bengal,
lying between 22*^ 15'' and 22° 54'' N. and 85' 5' and 85° 46' E., with a
total area of 813 square miles, or 514 square miles if its dependencies
be excluded. It is for the most part hilly and is largely covered with
forest. A fairly open belt of country runs from the north-east to the
south-west ; this has been opened up by the Bengal-Nagpur Railway,
and is healthier and more extensively cultivated than the remainder of
the estate.
In former times the whole of Singhbhum proper was ruled by
a family of Rathor Rajputs, claiming descent from an officer of Raja
Man Singh's army which was sent to Bengal at the time of Daud
FOR AH AT I §7
Khan's rebellion. The States of Saraikela and Kharsawan were carved
out of the original State for junior members of the Raja's family ; and the
chief of Saraikela gradually extended his power and dominions until
he became a serious rival to the head of the family, who was now
known as the Raja of Porahat. The country was saved by its rocky
boundaries and sterile soil from conquest by the Marathiis, and was
still independent when, in 1818, Raja Ghanasyam Singh Deo tendered
his allegiance to the British Government. His chief objects were to
secure a recognition of his supremacy over the Rajas of Saraikela and
Kharsawan, and to obtain aid in reducing the refractory tribe of Larka
Kols or Hos. The British Government disallowed his claim to supre-
macy over his kinsmen of Saraikela and Kharsawan, but accepted
merely a nominal tribute of Rs. loi, and refrained from interfering
in any way with the internal administration of the State. An engage-
ment embodying these conditions was taken from him in 1820. It
was intended that similar agreements should be entered into by the
chiefs of Saraikela and Kharsawan ; but the matter appears to have
been overlooked, and those chiefs have never paid tribute, though
they have frequently been called upon to furnish contingents of armed
men to aid in suppressing disturbances. The Porahat family gradually
sank into poverty ; and in 1837 the Raja received a pension of Rs. 500
as a compassionate allowance, in compensation for any losses he might
have sustained in consequence of our assumption of the direct man-
agement of the Kolhan. In 1857 Arjun Singh, who was then Raja,
after delivering up to Government the Chaibasa mutineers, rebelled
himself. He was captured and deported to Benares, and his State
was confiscated. Some portions of it were given to the chiefs of Sarai-
kela and Kharsawan, and one or two other persons who had helped
the Government during the Mutiny ; and the rest, on Arjun Singh's
death, was regranted in 1895 to his son Natpat Singh 'to be held
by him and his lineal male heirs according to the custom of lineal
primogeniture (the eldest male of the eldest branch being preferred)
as an inalienable and impartible revenue-free zamlnddri.' Anandpur
and Kera were formerly khorposhs or maintenance grants made by the
Raja of Porahat to junior members of the family, and their holders
paid quit-rents to him ; these were remitted by Government after the
Mutiny, and Narpat Singh has now no right to receive rents from or
to interfere with them, but he has a reversionary right of succession
in the event of extinction of male heirs. Bandgaon and Chainpur are
under-tenures, the rent of which has been fixed in perpetuity. The
forests of the Porahat estate are managed for the Raja's benefit by the
Forest department.
The estate (excluding the dependencies) is divided into ten groups
of villages or pirs. Two of these, which lie in the more open part
VOL. XX. N
1 88 PORAHAT
of the country, are known as the Sadant pirs, and the remainder as
the Kolhan pirs. The estate has recently been resettled for fifteen
years from 1903. In Porahat proper 159 square miles are cultivated,
and 73 square miles are cultivable waste, 38 square miles are un-
cultivable, and 244 square miles are under forest. The chief crop is
rice, but some millets and pulses are also grown, especially in the
more hilly Kolhan ptrs. The rates for the best rice land vary from
R. 0-12-7 per acre in the Kolhan to Rs. 1-9-2 in the Sadant plrs ;
and the total rental fixed at the settlement was Rs. 38,000, rising to
Rs. 42,000 after five years.
Porakad {Fona). — Town in the Ambalapulai idluk of Travancore
State, Madras, situated in 9° 22'' N. and 76° 22' E. Population (1901),
2,264. Formerly the head-quarters of the Chempakasseri Rajas, it
passed to Travancore in 1748. It was once a notable port, but
declined with the rise of Alleppey. The Portuguese, and after them
the Dutch, had settlements here.
Porali. — River in Baluchistan, draining the south of the Jhalawan
country and the Las Bela State. It rises near Wad in 20° 33' N. and
66° 23' E., and enters the Pab range by a tortuous but picturesque
channel. A course of 175 miles carries it to the sea at Miani Hor.
The principal affluents are the Kud, which drains the valley of Ornach,
the Tibbi, and the Lohendav. About five miles north of Sheh in Las
Bela the Porali bifurcates, and most of its flood-water is carried off by
the Titian, which enters the Siranda lake. Within the hills many flats
are irrigated from this river, and the nidbat of Welpat in Las Bela is
also dependent on it. Temporary dams have been erected near Sheh
and on the Titian for purposes of cultivation. The Porali has been
identified with the ancient Arabis or Arabius.
Porbandar State. — Native State in the Kathiawar Political
Agency, Bombay, lying between 21° 14^ and 21° 56' N. and 69° 28'
and 70° E., with an area of 636 square miles. It is situated in the
west of the peninsula of Kathiawar, and consists of a strip along the
shore of the Arabian Sea, nowhere more than 24 miles broad.
The Porbandar State may be described roughly as a plain sloping
from the Barda hills to the sea, drained by many rivers, the largest
of which, the Bhadar, Sorti, Vartu, Minsar, and Ojat, contain water
throughout the year. Towards the coast lie tracts of marsh land
called gher, formed by the rainfall. On some of these, which are
penetrated by salt water, only grass and reeds can flourish ; but on
the rest rice, gram, udid, mug, and other crops are grown. The largest
gher is the Modhwara, about 6 miles long by 4 miles broad, con-
nected with the sea by the Kindari creek. This marsh, though fed
by no large stream, receives all the drainage of the Barda hills. When
it fills during the rainy season, the villagers dig away the sand with
PORBANDAR STATE 189
which the sea annually closes the mouth of the creek, the water flows
into the sea, while the sea-water enters the marsh during very high
tides. The Gangajal is a large fresh-water marsh situated not far
from the Kindari creek, about 2 miles in circumference, but unless
the rains are heavy does not hold water for more than eight months
in the year. The climate is healthy ; the annual rainfall averages
25 to 30 inches.
The chief is a Hindu of the Jethwa clan of Rajputs and belongs to
one of the oldest races in Western India, whose advent is approxi-
mately set down at from a.d, 900 to 1000. They held Barda and
occupied much of the adjacent coast region of Halar. After the cap-
ture and sack of Ghumli, the Jethwas retired to Ranpur, where they
remained for many years, but were finally driven to Chhaya. While
there they acquired Porbandar and Navi from the Mughal government,
and reconquered much of their adjacent possessions from the Jiidejas.
In 1785 Sultanji transferred his seat of rule to Porbandar, which has
ever since been the Jethwa capital and given a name to the chiefship.
The ruler executed the usual engagements in 1807. He is entitled to
a salute of 11 guns. The family follow the rule of primogeniture in
point of succession, and hold a satiad authorizing adoption. The
chief's title is Rana of Porbandar.
The population at the last four enumerations was: (1872) 72,077,
(i88i) 71,072, (1891) 85,785, and (1901) 82,640, showing a decrease
of 4 per cent, during the last decade, owing to the famine of 1899-
1900. In 1901 Hindus numbered 71,642, Musalmans 9,741, and
Jains 1,158. The capital is Porbandar Town, and there are 96 vil-
lages. The style of house-building is peculiar. No mortar is used,
but the limestone, of which better-class houses are built, is accurately
squared and fitted ; and it is asserted that the quality of the limestone
is such that when once the rain has fallen on a wall thus built, the
joints coalesce and the wall becomes one solid block.
The soil is as a rule an excellent black soil, though a less fertile red
soil occurs in places. The area cultivated in 1903-4 was 295 square
miles, of which 59 were irrigated. The principal crops are joivar,
bdjra, wheat, cotton, &c. ; and the principal products of the sea are
fish of different kinds. Turtles of large size abound along the coast,
but are not captured. Oysters are found, but do not produce pearls
like those of the Gulf of Cutch. The limestone, known as Porbandar
stone, found over almost the whole of the State, is chiefly quarried in
the Barda hills, notably at the Adatiana quarry, and is largely exported
to Bombay. Iron is also found, but is not smelted. Silk of good
quality and cotton cloth are manufactured. In 1903-4 concessions
were granted for the erection of a cotton-press. The Malik hill is
the only portion of the elevated country that is fairly wooded. The
N 2
I go PORBANDAR STATE
forest revenue, derived chiefly from the sale of grass and wood, was
Rs. 33,000 in 1903-4.
Much of the trade of the State has been absorbed by Bombay, but
large quantities of timber are still imported from the Malabar ports.
Cotton seed and tobacco are imported from Broach, embroideries
from Surat, and raw sugar from Gandevi and Navsari. Grain is im-
ported from Karachi. All the exports go to Bombay. Heavy port
dues, the competition of Veraval and Bhaunagar, and insufficient com-
munications account for the decline of the State as a trading centre.
In 1 88 1 a British Superintendent of customs was appointed under the
local administration, but has now yielded place to a State official.
The total value of the sea-borne trade in 1903-4 was 44 lakhs. The
chief harbours are Porbandar, Madhavpur, Miani, and Navibandar.
The Bhavnagar-Gondal-Junagarh-Porbandar Railway passes through
the State; and the net income of the State from the line in 1903-4
was Rs. 79,570.
Porbandar ranked as a State of the first class in Kathiawar until
1869, and was restored to this rank again in 1886, during the period
of Government administration. First-class powers were given to the
present ruler in 1900, with certain restrictions, which have recently
been removed. The chief has power to try persons for capital offences,
the trial of British subjects for such offences, however, requiring the
previous permission of the Agent to the Governor. He enjoys a
gross revenue of about 9I lakhs (1903-4), chiefly derived from land
(3 lakhs). The State pays a tribute of Rs. 48,504 jointly to the
British Government, the Gaikwar of Baroda, and the Nawab of
Junagarh. The police force numbered 299 men in 1905. There
are one jail and four lock-ups, with a daily average (1903-4) of 29
prisoners. The number of schools is 38, with a total (1903-4) of
pupils. The municipality at Porbandar had an income of Rs. 26,000
in 1903-4. I'he State has one hospital and three dispensaries, afford-
ing relief to about 123,000 patients in 1903-4. In the same year
about 1,700 persons were vaccinated. A horse-breeding farm is main-
tained by the State.
Porbandar Town. — Chief town and port of the State of the same
name in Kathiawar, Bombay, situated in 21° 37' N. and 69° 48' E.,
on the shore of the Arabian Sea, and the terminus of the railway from
Rajkot. Population (1901), 24,620, including Hindus, 17,862; Musal-
mans, 5,566; and Jains, 1,113. Though a bar prevents the entrance
of ships of any great size into the port, it is much frequented by craft
of from 1 2 to 80 tons burden. In spite of the levy of heavy customs
dues, and the competition of other ports, commerce is considerable,
including, besides a local traffic with the Konkan and Malabar coast,
a brisk trade with the ports of Sind, Baluchistan, the Persian Gulf,
PORT BLAIR 191
Arabia, and the cast coast of Africa. In 1903-4 the imports were
valued at 17^ lakhs and the exports at 25 lakhs. At a little cost the
port might be made one of the most secure on the Kathiawar sea-
board. The town is entirely built of stone, and was surrounded by
a fort which was demolished during British administration. It is said
to have been called in ancient times Sudamapuri, and it has been
Jethwa capital since about 1785. Telephonic connexions are laid
throughout the town, which contains nine public gardens, the chief
of which is the Rajwadi with an income of Rs. 3,000. The sea-face
is provided with a lighthouse 90 feet high, showing a dioptric light
of the fourth class, visible for 15 miles at sea. The town possesses
several fine public buildings.
Port Blair. — A Penal Settlement in the Andaman Islands, Bay of
Bengal, which consists of the South Andaman and the islets attached
thereto, covering an area of 473 square miles. Of this total, 327
square miles are in actual occupation. The unoccupied area consists
of the densest jungle. The occupied area is partly
cleared for cultivation, grazing, and habitation, and sn^cts
partly afforested. A great part of the unoccupied
area is in the hands of the hostile Jarawas ; but they are gradually
retreating northwards under pressure of the forest operations, which
are extending over the whole area of the Penal Settlement.
The South Andaman Island has a very deeply indented coast-line,
comprising the following harbours : on the east coast, Port Meadows
and Port Blair ; on the south coast, Macpherson's Strait ; on the west
coast. Port Mouat, Port Campbell, and Port Anson. Vessels of large
draught can anchor and trade with safety in these in any weather and
at all seasons. If Baratang be reckoned with the South Andaman as
a natural apanage, Elphinstone Harbour must be added to the list.
Smaller vessels also find the following places safe for shelter and most
convenient for work : on the east coast, Colebrooke Passage, Kotara
Anchorage, and Shoal Bay ; on the west coast, Elphinstone Passage
in the Labyrinth Islands, and in some seasons Constance Bay ; in
Ritchie's Archipelago, Kwangtung Strait and Tadma Juru, and in
some seasons Outram Harbour.
For forest trade, the staple commerce of the islands, a more con-
venient natural arrangement is hardly imaginable. Port Mouat is only
2 miles distant from Port Blair, over an easy rise ; Shoal Bay is 7 miles,
with an easy gradient from Port Blair, and runs into Kotara Anchorage ;
and Port Meadows is but a mile from Kotara Anchorage. Creeks
navigable by large steam-launches run into Port Blair from some dis-
tance inland. Five straits surround the island : two, Macpherson's
Strait and Elphinstone Passage, navigable by ships ; and the rest.
Middle Strait, Colebrooke Passage, and Homfray's Strait, navigable
192 PORT BLAIR
by large steam-launches. Diligent Strait, practicable for the largest
ships, and only 4 miles across at the narrowest point, separates
Ritchie's Archipelago from the main islands ; and the archipelago is
itself intersected everywhere by straits and narrows, which are mostly
navigable.
The whole of the Settlement area consists of hills separated by
narrow valleys, rendering road-making and rapid land communication
difificult. The main ranges are the Mount Harriett Range, up to
1,500 feet; the Cholunga Range, up to 1,000 feet; and the West
Coast Range, up to 700 feet. These run almost parallel, north and
south, down the centre of the island. To the north, the Cholunga
Range breaks up into a number of more or less parallel ridges. To
the south, below Port Blair Harbour, the country is a maze of hills
rising to 850 feet, and tending to form ridges running north and
south.
No stream in the island could be called a river, and on the east
coast perennial streams are not common. On the west and north,
however, more surface water is found, and perennial streams running
chiefly from south to north are fairly numerous. Fresh water is, how-
ever, everywhere obtained without much difficulty from wells, and
rain-water reservoirs (tanks) could be formed in all parts. Navigable
salt-water creeks are numerous, and are of much assistance in water-
carriage.
The old settlement at the Andamans, established by the well-known
Marine Surveyor Archibald Blair in 1789, was not a penal settlement
at all. It was formed on the lines of several then
in existence, e.g. at Penang and Bencoolen, to put
down piracy and the murder of shipwrecked crews. Convicts from
India were sent incidentally to help in its development, precisely as
they were sent to Bencoolen, and afterwards to Penang, Malacca,
Singapore, Moulmein, and the Tenasserim province. Everything that
Blair did was performed with ability ; and his arrangements for estab-
lishing the settlement in what he named Port Cornwallis (now Port
Blair) were excellent, as were his selection of the site and his surveys
of parts of the coast, several of which are still in use. The settlement
flourished under Blair; but unfortunately, on the advice of Commodore
Cornwallis, brother of the Governor-General, the site was changed for
strategical reasons to North-East Harbour, now Port Cornwallis, where
it flourished at first, but subsequently suffered much from sickness.
Here it was under Colonel Alexander Kyd, an engineer officer, and
a man of considerable powers and resource. On the abandonment
of the settlement in 1796, on account of sickness, it contained 270
convicts and 550 free Bengali settlers. The convicts were transferred
to Penang and the settlers taken to Bengal. After that the islands
HISTORY 193
remained unoccupied by the Indian Government till 1856, the present
Penal Settlement being formed two years later.
Since its foundation, the history of the Penal Settlement is merely
one of continuous official development from March, 1858 (when
Dr. P. J. Walker, an experienced Indian Jail Superintendent, arrived
with 4 European officials and 773 convicts, and commenced clearings
in Port Blair Harbour), to the present day.
The penal system in force at the Andamans is sui generis, has grown
up on its own lines, and has been gradually adapted to the require-
ments of the present complex conditions. The system has always
been independent of, and was never at any time based on, the Indian
prison system, and has been continuously under development from
its inception by Sir Stamford Raffles for about a hundred years. The
fundamental principles on which it is founded are still substantially
what they were originally, and have stood the criticism, the repeated
examination, and the modifications in detail of a century without
material alteration. The classification of the convicts, the titles of
those who are selected to assist in controlling the general body, the
distinguishing marks on their costume, the modes of employing
them, and their local privileges are virtually now as they were at
the beginning.
The first temporary Superintendent of the Andamans was Captain
(afterwards General) Henry Man, who had long been Superintendent
of the Penal Settlements in the Straits. In January, 1858, he was
authorized by the Government of India to follow generally the system
in force in the Straits Settlements, and received powers under the
Mutineers Acts, XIV and XVII of 1857 (since repealed). Captain
Man was succeeded in March, 1858, by Dr. P. J. Walker, who drew up
rules, sanctioned by the Government of India, which were based on
instructions identical with those given to Captain Man. These were
followed by the Port Blair and Andamans Act, XXVII of 1861 (since
repealed), and by modifications in the rules made by successive
Superintendents and by Lord Napier of Magdala, as the result of an
official inspection of the Settlement in 1863. In 1868, when General
Man became permanent Superintendent, he embodied in the Andaman
system the Straits Settlements Penal Regulations, and thus brought the
system still more closely into line with that of the Straits Settlements.
These modifications still affect almost every part of it. A formal
Regulation was drafted in 187 1, and after discussion by Sir Donald
Stewart, Chief Commissioner and Superintendent, Mr. (Justice) Scarlett
Campbell, and Sir Henry Norman, became the Andaman and Nicobar
Regulation, 1874, supplemented by rules passed by the Governor-
General-in-Council and the Chief Commissioner. In 1876 a new
Andaman and Nicobar Regulation was drawn up, but the rules under
194 PORT BLAIR
the Regulation of 1874 were continued. These rules, together with
the Superintendent's by-laws (Settlement Standing Orders) passed
under them, and modified from time to time by the Government
of India and by the Commission of Sir C. J. Lyall and Sir A. Leth-
bridge in 1890, form the still-growing penal system of the present
day.
The methods employed were originally a new departure in the treat-
ment of prisoners, the salient features being the employment of con-
victs on every kind of labour necessary to a self-supporting community,
and their control by convicts selected from among them. Permission
to marry and settle down is given after a certain period, when the
convict is called a 'self-supporter.' Indian convicts were first trans-
ported in 1787 to Bencoolen in Sumatra to develop that place, then
under the Indian Government. The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Stamford
Raffles, drew up a dispatch in 18 18, explaining the principles he had
already successfully adopted for their management; and in 1823 he
sent the Government a copy of his Regulations. In 1825 Bencoolen
was ceded to the Dutch, and the convicts were transferred to Penang
and Singapore. Penang had been occupied in 1785, and convicts
were sent there in 1796. When the Bencoolen convicts arrived, they
remained under the Regulations of Sir Stamford Raffles, and in 1827
the Penang Rules were adapted from these. When Malacca was
occupied in 1824, convicts were sent there from Penang, and shortly
afterwards they too were placed under the Penang Rules. Singapore
had been founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819; and in 1825
convicts arrived there from Bencoolen and India, and in 1826 from
Penang. The Bencoolen Rules, and later the Penang Rules, were
in force at Singapore, with modifications, for many years, until Regu-
lations for the management of Indian convicts were drawn up in 1845
by Colonel Butterworth, the Governor of Singapore, known as the
Butterworth Rules. They were modified by Major McNair, Superin-
tendent of the convicts, in 1858. The Butterworth Rules were founded
on the principles laid down by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1818 and on his
Bencoolen Rules. A leading part in the drafting and working of these
was taken by General Man, to whom it fell to start the Andaman Penal
Settlement in 1858. He carried them with him to Moulmein and the
Tenasserim province, to which places Indian convicts were also trans-
ported ; and when he was appointed permanent Superintendent of the
Andaman Penal Settlement in 1868 he embodied the Regulations for
Tenasserim in the rules and orders he found already existing. The
intimate connexion of the Andamans with the original penal system
from the beginning is further illustrated by the fact that, when the
old settlement at Port Cornwallis was broken up in 1 796, the convicts
were transferred to Penang.
ADMINISTRA TION
195
The Penal Settlement is administered by the Chief Commissioner,
Andamans and Nicobars, as Superintendent, with a Deputy and a staff
of Assistant Superintendents and overseers, who are ....
, ,, ^ ^ J , , Administration.
almost all Europeans, and sub-overseers, who are
natives of India. The petty supervising establishments are staffed
by convicts. There are, besides, special departments — Police, Medi-
cal, Commissariat, Forests, Tea, Marine, &c., of the usual type in
India, except that all civil officers are invested with special powers
over convicts. Civil and criminal justice is administered by a series
of courts under the Chief Commissioner and the Deputy-Super-
intendent, as the principal courts of original and appellate juris-
diction. The Chief Commissioner is also the chief revenue and
financial authority.
The Penal Settlement centres round the harbour of Port Blair, the
administrative head-quarters being on Ross Island, an islet of less than
a quarter of a square mile, across the entrance of the harbour. For
administrative purposes it is divided into two Districts and four sub-
divisions. The subdivisions remain constant, but their distribution
between the Districts has varied from time to time. At present they
are as follows : Eastern District (head-quarters, Aberdeen) — Ross,
Haddo ; Western District (head-quarters, Viper Island) — Viper, Wim-
berley Ganj.
Within the subdivisions are stations, places where labouring convicts
are kept, and villages, where either ' free ' settlers or ' self-supporters '
dwell. As these stations and villages enter largely into the life and
description of the place, a list is given here.
Ross.
North Bay.
Mount Harriett.
EASTERN DISTRICT
Ross Subdivision
Stations
North Corbyn's
Cove.
Madhoban.
Middle Point.
Rutland Island.
South Point.
Villages
Aberdeen,
Phoenix Bay.
Haddo.
Tea Garden, Navy
Bay.
Haddo Subdivision
Stations
Rangachang.
Garacherama.
Minnie Bay.
Pahargaon.
196
PORT BLAIR
Chatham.
Phoenix Bay.
Janghghat.
Niagaon.
Birch Ganj.
Villages
BumHtan.
Taylerabad.
School Line.
Garacherama.
Protheroepore.
Austinabad.
Pahargaon.
Lamba Line.
Dudh Line.
Viper Lsland.
Dundas Point.
Mitha Khari.
Namunaghar.
Ograbaraij.
Chauldari.
WESTERN DISTRICT
Viper Subdivision
Stations
Port Mouat.
Elephant Point.
Villages
Port Mouat.
Dhani Khari.
Horn fray Ganj.
Namunaghar.
Manglutan.
Baghelsinghpura.
Nawashahr.
WiMBERLEY GaNJ SUBDIVISION
Stations
Shore Point.
Kalatang.
Bajajagda.
Goplakabang (includ-
Jatang.
Bindraban.
ing Middle Straits).
Villages
Bamboo Flat.
Bindraban.
Tusonabad.
Stewart Ganj.
Anikhet.
Manpur.
Wimberley Ganj.
Cadell Ganj.
Temple Ganj
Kadakachang.
Hobdaypur.
Alipur.
Mathura.
Persons transported to Port Blair by the Government of India are
either murderers who for some reason have escaped the death penalty,
or perpetrators of the more heinous offences against the person and
property. Their sentences are chiefly for life ; but some, varying from
very few to a considerable number, with long-term sentences, are also
sent from time to time. Except under special circumstances, con-
victs are not received under eighteen years of age, nor over forty, and
they must be certified as medically fit for hard labour before trans-
portation. Youths between eighteen and twenty are kept in the boys'
gang under special conditions. Girls of about sixteen are occasionally
ADMINISTRA TION
197
received ; but as all women locally unmarried are kept in the female
jail, a large enclosure consisting of separate sleeping wards and work-
sheds, there are no special rules for them.
The following table shows that murder and heinous offences against
the person, dacoity (gang robbery with murder or preparation for
murder), and other heinous offences against property, make up nearly
the whole total : —
Year.
Murder.
Against
person.
Dacoity.
Against
property.
Others.
Total.
1874 .
5.575
107
1,262
325
300
7,569
1881
7>445
158
2,444
1,012
393
11,452
1891
7,946
308
1,711
1,337
436
11,738
1901
7,795
817
2,262
904
169
11,947
1905-6 .
«,559
812
3,050
2,038
237
14,696
These figures illustrate clearly the violent character of the convicts,
and it is of value to examine their behaviour under continuous restraint.
Between 1890 and 1900, the average proportion of convicts who com-
mitted or attempted murder was 0-12 per cent., the figures rising to
0-154 in 1894. Neither the nature of the labour nor the discipline
enforced appears to have any effect on the tendency to murder, and
the motives traced are similar to those disclosed among an ordinary
population, while murderous assaults are usually committed quite sud-
denly on opportunity and cause arising.
The full penal system, as at present worked, is as follows. Life-
convicts are confined in the cellular jail for six months, where the
discipline is severe but the work is not hard. They are then put
to hard gang labour in outdoor work for \\ years, and are locked
up at night in barracks. For his labour during this period the convict
receives no rew^ard, but his capabilities are studied. During the next
five years he remains a labouring convict, but is eligible for the petty
posts of supervision and the easier forms of labour: he also gets
a very small allowance for little luxuries, or to deposit in the special
savings bank. He has now completed ten years in transportation, and
can receive a ticket-of-Ieave, being termed a 'self-supporter.' In this
condition he earns his own living in a village ; he can farm, keep
cattle, and marry or send for his family. But he is not free, has no
civil rights, and cannot leave the Settlement or be idle. After twenty
to twenty-five years spent in the Settlement with approved conduct,
he may be released either absolutely or, in certain cases, under con-
ditions as to place of residence and police surveillance. While a ' self-
supporter,' he is at first assisted with house, food, and tools, and pays
no taxes or cesses ; but after three to four years, according to certain
198 PORT BLAIR
conditions, he receives no assistance, and is charged with every public
payment which would be demanded of him were he a free man.
The women life-convicts are similarly dealt with, but less rigorously.
The general principle is to divide them into two main classes : those
in, and those out of, the female jail. Every woman must remain in the
female jail unless in domestic employ by permission, or married and
living with her husband. Women are eligible for marriage or domestic
employ after five years in the Settlement, and if married they may
leave the Settlement after fifteen years with their husbands ; but all
married couples have to wait till the expiry of both their sentences,
and they must leave together. If unmarried, women remain twenty
years in the jail. They rise from class to class, and can become petty
officers on terms similar to those for the men.
Term-convicts are treated on the same general lines, except that they
cannot become 'self-supporters,' and are released at once on the expiry
of their sentences.
Convict marriages, which are described below under Caste, are
carefully controlled to prevent degeneration into concubinage or
irregular alliances ; and the special local savings bank has proved
of great value in inducing a faith on the part of the convicts in
the honesty of the Government, besides its value in causing habits
of thrift and diminishing the temptation to violence for the sake of
money hoarded privately.
The whole aim of the treatment is to educate for useful citizenship,
by the insistence on continuous practice in self-help and self-restraint,
leading to profit. Efforts to behave well and submission to control
alone guide the convict's upward promotion ; every lapse retards it.
And when he becomes a ' self-supporter,' the convict can provide
money out of his own earnings as a steady member of society, to
afford a sufficient competence on release. The incorrigible are kept
till death, the slow till they mend their ways, and only those who
are proved to have good in them return to their homes. The argument
on which the system is based is that the acts of the convict spring from
a constitutional want of self-control.
All civil officers in the Settlement are Magistrates and Civil Judges,
with the ordinary powers exercised in India ; and if a term-convict
misbehaves seriously, his case can be tried magisterially and an addi-
tional punishment inflicted. In the case of a life-convict, any sentence
of * chain gang ' that may be imposed is added to the twenty (or
twenty-five) years that he must, in any case, remain. Any offence
under the Indian Penal Code or other law is punishable executively as
a 'convict offence,' except an offence involving a capital sentence,
which is tried at Sessions in the ordinary manner. ' Convict offences,'
though punishable executively, are all tried, however trivial, by a fixed
ADMINISTRATION 199
quasi-judicial procedure, including record and appeal, so that the con-
vict is made to feel that justice is as secure to him as to the free.
The convicts, while in the Settlement, are divided in several ways.
The great economic division for both sexes is into labouring convicts
and 'self-supporters'; the former perform all the labour of the place,
skilled and unskilled, and the latter are chiefly engaged in agriculture
and food supplies. The commissariat division is into ' rationed ' and
' not rationed ' ; in the former class are nearly all the labouring convicts,
and in the latter all the 'self-supporters' and some of the labouring
convicts. The financial division is into classes indicating those with
and those without allowances, with numerous subdivisions according to
the scale of allowances.
There are also disciplinary gangs, involving degradation either on
account of bad character on arrival, or while in the Settlement. These
are known as Cellular Jail Prisoner, Chain Gang, Viper Jail Prisoner,
Habitual Criminal Gang, Viper Island Disciplinary, Unnatural Crime
Gang, Chatham Island Disciplinary, ' D ' (for ' doubtful ') ticket men.
The ' D ' ticket may be explained as follows. Prisoners in the third
class are obliged to wear wooden neck tickets, bearing full particulars
of their position. On the ticket is the convict's number, the section of
the Indian Penal Code under which he was convicted, the date
of his sentence, and the date his release is due. For a convict of
* doubtful ' character the ticket has a D ; for one of a gang of criminals
convicted together it has a star, and the presence or absence of A
shows the class of ration ; for a life-prisoner it has L.
There is a class of ' connected ' convicts. Prisoners convicted in the
same case, marked by a star on the neck ticket, are all specially noted
and never kept in the same station or working gang. These special
arrangements sometimes involve considerable care and organization, as
a gang of dangerous dacoits may arrive in Port Blair forty strong.
The Settlement is divided into what are known as the 'free' and
'convict' portions, by which the free settlers living in villages are
separated from the ' self-supporters ' who also live in villages. Every
effort is made to prevent unauthorized communication between these
two divisions. No adult person can enter the Settlement without
permission, or reside there without an annual licence ; and certain
other necessary restrictions are imposed on him as to his movements
among and his dealings with the convicts, on pain of being expelled or
punished. The 'free' subdivisions are Ross, Aberdeen, Haddo, and
Garacherama. The 'convict' subdivisions are Viper and Wimberley
Ganj.
A large proportion of the free settlers are descendants of convicts
(known in Port Blair as the 'local-born') and permanent residents.
Like every other population the 'local-born' comprise every kind of
200 PORT BLAIR
personal character. Taken as a class they may, however, be described
thus. As children they are bright, intelligent, and unusually healthy.
It is the rule, not the exception, for the whole of a ' local-born ' family
to be reared. On the score of intelligence they do not fail throughout
life. As young people they do not exhibit any unusual degree of
violence or inclination to theft, but their general morality is distinctly
low. Among the girls, even when quite young, there is a painful
amount of prostitution, open and veiled : the result partly of temptation
in a population in which the males very greatly preponderate, but
chiefly due to bad early associations, convict mothers not being a class
likely to bring up their girls to a high morality. The boys, and some-
times the girls, exhibit much defiant pride of position, in being free
as opposed to the convict, combined with a certain mental smartness,
idleness, dislike of manual labour, and disrespect for age and authority
that stand much in their way in life. Their defiant attitude is probably
due to the indeterminate nature of their social status, as has been
observed of classes unhappily situated socially elsewhere. Heredity
seems to show itself in both sexes rather in a tendency towards the
meaner qualities than towards violence of temperament. The adult
villagers are quarrelsome and as litigious as the courts will permit them
to be. They borrow all the money they can, do not get as much out of
the land as they might, and spend too much time in attempting to get
the better of neighbours. At the same time, it would be an entire
error to suppose that the better elements in human nature are not
exhibited, and many convicts' descendants have shown themselves
upright, capable, hardworking, honest, and self-respecting. On the
whole, considering their parentage, the 'local-born' population is of
a much higher type than might be expected, though there is too great
a tendency on the part of the w'hole population to lean on the
Government, the result probably of the minute supervision necessary
in the conditions of the Settlement.
The population of the Penal Settlement consists of convicts, their
guards, the supervising, clerical, and departmental staff, with the
_ , . families of the latter, and a limited number of ex-
Population. . , ,. , ,,...,.
convict and tradmg settlers and their families.
Detailed statistics have been maintained since 1874, and are shown
in the tables on the next page ; but it must be remembered that
in intervening years the numbers of the convicts may vary con-
siderably.
The mother tongues of the population are as numerous as in the
parts of India and Burma from which it is derived ; but the lingua
Jranca of the Settlement is Urdu (Hindustani), spoken in every
possible variety of corruption, and with every variety of accent.
All convicts learn it to an extent sufficient for their daily wants,
POPULATION
and the understanding of orders and directions. It is also the ver-
nacular of the 'local-born,' whatever their descent. The small extent
to which many absolute strangers, such as the Burnians, the inhabitants
of Madras, and others, master it, is one of the safeguards of the Settle-
ment, as it makes it impossible for any general plot to be hatched. In
barracks, in boats, and on works where men have to be congregated,
every care is taken to split up nationalities, with the result that, except
on matters of daily common concern, the convicts are unable to con-
verse confidentially together. The Urdu of Port Blair is thus not only
exceedingly corrupt from natural causes, but it is filled with technicali-
ties arising out of local conditions and the special requirements of
convict life. Even the vernacular of the 'local-born' is loaded with
them. These technicalities are partly derived from English, and are
partly specialized applications to new uses of pure or corrupted Urdu
words. As opportunity has arisen, some of these have been collected
and printed from time to time in the India?i Afiiiqt/ary. The most
prominent grammatical characteristic of this dialect appears in the
numerals, which are everywhere Urdu, but are not spoken correctly.
Free resident population,
Administrative establishment.
including children and
Year.
conditionally released. 1
Civil.
Military.
Marine.
Police.
Total.
Male.
Female.
Total.
1874 .
50
426
19
330
825
466
372
838
1881
45
336
19
736
1,136
941
669
1,610
1891
85
460
39
541
1,125
1,357
1,340
2,697
1901
100
466
70
532
1,168
1,623
1,36s
2,991
1905-6 .
107
517
14
595
1,233
1,594
1,382
2,976
Year.
Convict population.
Total population.
Adults.
Children.
Grand
total.
Male.
Female.
Total.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
1874 .
1881
1891
1901
1905-6 .
6,7.33
10,3 • 5
10,^74
11,217
13,981
836
1,127
864
7.30
715
7,569
11,452
11,738
11,947
14,696
7,654
11,766
12,532
13,235
16,070
907
1,329
1,439
1,477
1,494
370
636
824
773
738
301
467
765
621
603
9,232
14,198
15.560
16,106
18,905
The conditions under which the people live are so artificial and
so unlike those of an ordinary community that it is impossible to
describe them on the usual lines. There are hardly any natural
movements to observe and report. The following remarks aim at
a description of the social state of the convicts and of the unofficial
population in the regulated conditions of life imposed on them.
PORT BLAIR
The restrictions under which the free residents live have a distinct
effect on the characters of those subjected to them from childhood
to death, an effect which will become more and more apparent
as generation after generation of convicts' descendants come under
their pressure. They include Government establishments introduced
from India, traders from India and Burma, domestic servants who have
accompanied their masters, very few settlers from outside, and the
descendants of convicts who have settled in the Penal Settlement
after their release.
General convict statistics for a series of years are given below : —
Particulars.
Number of convicts re-
ceived
Number of life-convicts .
Number of term-con victs
Number of convicts re-
leased
Admissions into hospital
Number died
Number escaped and not
recaptured
Number executed .
Male
Female .
Male .
Female .
Male
Female .
Male
Female .
Male
Female .
Male
Female .
Male
Female .
Male
Female .
1874.
1881.
1891.
1901.
1905-6.
603
1,102
869
1,232
1,507
97
100
52
80
54
6,727
7,668
8,033
9,204
9,642
836
1,122
861
714
673
6
2,657
2,840
2,037
4.339
5
4
19
42
355
64
685
215
300
4
3
73
32
31
11,192
25>53i
22,328
22,319*
25,991
842
827
1,094
1,290
1,246
107
534
435
433
529
9
18
17
17
30
24
15
14
5
13
6
13
12
6
5
* Medical statistics are for 1900.
In this table the 'escaped' are those who have not been heard of
again. As a matter of fact, such unfortunates, as a rule, die in the
jungles or are drowned at sea. Very rarely does a convict escape
to the mainland.
At the Census of 190 1 the population of Port Blair was distributed
over an occupied area of 327 square miles in 29 'stations,' or places
where labouring convicts are kept, and 34 ' villages,' or places where
free residents or ticket-of-leave convicts (' self-supporters ') reside. The
population then numbered 16,256, including 150 persons — 114 males
and 36 females — on the mail steamer. Details of the population on
March 31, 1906, are shown in the table on the next page.
Every religion in India is represented among the convicts, but it
was impossible to classify Hindus by sect. The Sikhs are represented
chiefly in the military police battalion, the Buddhists by the Burman
convicts, and the Christians by the British infantry garrison and the
officials. It may be noticed that not one person was returned as a Jew
among all the convicts.
The necessary work of the Settlement is all performed by convicts.
POPULATION 203
Omitting those employed as [)ublic servants, the ex-convict and free
unofficial poi)ulation is chiefly supported by agriculture, which was
recorded as the means of subsistence of 57 per cent.
Christians.
Hindus.
Muham-
madans.
Buddhists.
Others.
Total.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
Civil
Military .
Marine .
Police .
Free residents
Convicts.
Conditionally
released con-
victs .
Children of all
ranks .
Total
58
155
12
2
37
37
58
34
38
202
382
636
7-657
8
498
552
440
408
10
157
2
211
180
3,676
3
194
161
157
I
3
2,460
4
2
8
I
3
'5'
5
4
16
3
107
517
14
595
845
13,981
II
738
777
715
603
323
92
9,421
1,402
4,433
569
2,468
II
163
23
16,808
2,097
As the maintenance of caste among natives of India involves the
maintenance of respectability, and as the aim of the penal system is
the resuscitation of respectability among the convicts, nothing is per-
mitted that would tend to destroy the caste feeling among them. The
tendency as usual is to raise their caste wherever that is possible, and
occasionally some crafty scoundrel is convicted of illegitimate associa-
tion with fellow Hindus. Two Mehtars (sweepers) were some time ago
detected in successfully managing this : one, a ' self-supporter,' masque-
raded for years in his village as a Rajput (Rajvansi), and another
for years was cook to a respectable Hindu free family on the ground
of being a Brahman. It is also not at all uncommon for low-caste
ex-convict settlers to adopt a mode of dress and life which would be
quite inadmissible if they were to return to their native villages. In
Port Blair, as elsewhere, the great resort of those desiring to raise their
social status is the adoption of Islam. On the other hand, instances
have occurred in which men who were not so by caste have volunteered
to become Mehtars, debasing their social status in order to adopt what
they regarded as a less arduous mode of life than cooly labour.
Considerable ethnographic interest attaches to the descendants of
convicts, as a marked difference is maintained at present between the
free introduced from India and the free with the taint of convict blood.
In certain cases the barrier is broken down socially, but entry by
marriage into a ' local-born ' family is regarded as degrading to an
immigrant from India. How long this will last, and in what direc-
tions the barrier will be habitually broken through, is worth watching.
At present there is much greater sympathy on the part of the im-
migrants, temporary or permanent, with the actual convicts than with
their descendants.
VOL. XX. o
204 PORT BLAIR
Although the ' self-supporter ' is entitled to send for his family from
India, he very seldom does so, or it may be that the families are seldom
willing to join convicts ; and the result is that the ' local-born ' are
nearly all the descendants of convict marriages. Any ' self-supporter '
may marry a convict woman from the female jail, if he has the permis-
sion of the Settlement authorities and the marriage is in accordance with
the social custom of the contracting parties. In practice, an inquiry
ensues on every application, covering the eligibility of the parties to
marry under convict rules, the capacity of the man to support a family,
and the respective social conditions in India of both parties. A Hindu
would not be allowed to marry a Muhammadan woman, while an un-
divorced Muhammadan woman with a husband living in India would
not be allowed to marry at all, and so on. When the preliminaries
have been settled, often after prolonged inquiry, permission is registered
by the Superintendent, who then calls upon the parties to appear before
him and certify, on a given date, that they have been actually married
according to their particular rite. The marriage is registered by the
Superintendent and becomes legal. Owing to the enormous variety of
marriage rites in India, the statement of the parties that the appropriate
ceremonies have been performed is accepted. In carrying out this prac-
tice there is no difficulty as regards Christians, Muhammadans, and
Buddhists, endogamy within their group being easily ensured ; but some
difficulty has arisen as regards Hindus. Customs among Hindus differ
indefinitely, not only in every caste but with every locality ; and as the
convicts come from various castes and localities, in the strict view of the
question hardly any Hindu marriage contracted in Port Blair could be in
accordance with custom, which, be it noted, is a different question from
legality. In the Settlement, however, the knot has been cut since 1881
by recognizing only the four main divisions {vania) of Hindus as
separate castes, within which there must be endogamy among the
Hindu convicts : namely, Brahmans, Kshattriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras.
Before 1881, under pressure of the dominating conditions, the rule
was merely Hindu to Hindu, Muhammadan to Muhammadan, Chris-
tian to Christian ; Buddhists and others hardly came into consideration.
The birth and growth of caste among convicts' descendants is thus a
question of the growth and formation of new or special local Hindu
castes, which can be studied obscurely in every part of India, and
clearly enough in all regions where a Hindu propaganda is being
carried among indigenous and animistic populations in the course of
the natural spread of civilization along new lines of communication.
In Port Blair the caste feeling exists as distinctly, within limits, among
the ' local-born ' Hindus, as it does elsewhere among the natives of
India ; and the interest of the question lies in observing how the people
have settled the relative social status of the descendants of what, in
POPULATION
205
India, would be looked on as the offspring of mixed castes ; f(jr fond as
they are of talking of their caste and claiming it, the ' local-born ' have
but hazy ideas on the subject as it is understood in the localities from
which their parents came. They take into consideration only the caste
of the father, as they understand it, that of the mother being ignored.
Having introduced this great innovation into custom, they divide them-
selves into high and low castes ; the children of Brahman, Kshattriya,
and Vaisya fathers holding themselves, so far as they can, to be of
high caste and apart from the whole of the innumerable castes coming
under the head of Sudra or low caste. Then a ' local-born ' man marries,
if possible, the daughter of a man of the same caste as his own father.
Thus is a full caste system like that of India being developed among
the descendants of the convicts.
The present customs connected with marriage among the ' local-born'
show clearly that there is as yet no notion of hypergamy, and that under
pressure of surrounding conditions caste has to be set aside in marriages,
and can only be maintained by ignoring the caste of the mothers. There
is, however, a strong desire to marry into the same caste, and wherever
practicable this is no doubt done. It is probable that caste mainte-
nance in its strictness will commence in the isogamy which, in India,
is so merged in hypergamy that it was left out of consideration in
the last Census Reports. That in time caste will rule marriages and
social relations in the Penal Settlement in all its accustomed force,
there appears to be little doubt.
The following table gives statistics of civil conditions in 1901 : —
Total.
Males.
Females.
Unmarried
Married .
Widowed
Total
4-387
10,458
1,411
3,762
9>259
1,101
625
1,199
310
16,256
14,122
2,134
Sickness and mortality are always matters of great consideration
among a convict population ; but the conditions are also artificial,
owing to the conflict between efficiency in discipline and labour, and
the maintenance of a low sick-rate and death-rate by regulations and
direct measures. The tendency on one side is to err in the direction of
penality and economy, and on the other to secure health by leniency
and extravagance. Port Blair has had no exceptional experience of
this struggle, which is perpetually maintained wherever prisoners are
congregated in civilized countries. All convict sickness and mortality
tables must be considered with these qualifications. While the annual
rainfall does not bear any real relation to either sickness or death-rate,
the monthly rainfall has a decided effect on the sick-rate, which rises
o 2
2o6
PORT BLAIR
regularly every year during the rains (June-September). The following
tables compare sickness and mortality in the Settlement for a series of
recent years, mostly corresponding with census years : —
Year.
Average daily strength.
Daily average
sick.
Deaths in and out
of hospital.
Male.
Female.
Total.
Male.
Female.
Total.
Male.
Female.
Total.
1874
1881
i8gi
I goo
1905
6,852
9,966
10.739
10,880
13,634
88s
1,097
837
714
722
7.737
11,063
11.576
11.594
14.356
580
1.205
664
602
937
25
13
24
27
34
605
1,218
688
629
971
177
543
461
452
529
17
18
24
16
30
194
561
485
468
559
Ratio per 1,000 of Average Strength
Year.
Of admissions to hospital.
Of daily number of sick.
Of deaths.
Male.
Female.
Total.
Male.
Female.
Total.
Male.
Female.
Total.
1874
1881
1891
1900
1905
2,I02'l6
2,s6i«8i
i,6o7>i3
2,o5i'38
1,906-34
1.291-53
753-87
1,342-89
1,80672
1,72576
2,009-44
2,382-54
1,588-03
2,036-3 1
1,897-25
84-65
120-91
61-83
53-35
68-72
28-25
11-85
28-67
37-28
47-09
78-20
iio-og
59-43
54-20
67-63
25-83
54-49
42-93
41-54
38-80
19-21
1 6-4 1
28-67
22-41
41-55
25-07
50-71
41*90
40-36
38-93
Statistics for isolated years are, however, illusory, as from some causes
not yet reported the sickness and mortality appear to rise and fall in
successions of years, as shown in the following abstract : —
Cycles of Health
Period.
Death-rate.
Average death-
rate per 1,000.
Four years ending 1874
Low
18.46
Seven years ending 1881 .
High
49.07
Six years ending 1887
Low
22-02
Five years ending 1892
High
41-37
Si.x years ending 1S9S
Low
28.39
Two years ending 1900
High
41-25
Five years ending 1905
Low
37-3°
The worst year on record was 1878-9, with a death-rate of 67-30.
Sickness and death-rates for any given period or year are really due to
a combination of causes, which are very difficult to determine, but an
elaborate inquiry made in 1902 showed that the highest rates are among
the latest arrivals. The inference is that the health statistics for any
given period depend largely on the number of new arrivals and convicts
of short residence present ; and it is possible, for example, that the high
rate in 1878-9 was due to the weakness caused by the prevalence of
famine in India.
REVENUE SYSTEM
207
The following figures may be taken as approximately exhibiting the
relative importance of prevalent diseases : —
Disease.
Percentage
among
the sick.
Malarial fever (47 per cent.), and dysentery conse-
quent tliereon (7 per cent.) ....
Ulcers and injuries ......
Phthisis
All other diseases, including dysentery other than
malarial (7 per cent.)
Total
.S4
16
6
24
100
Ulcers and injuries are classed together, as they are both ordinarily
caused by outdoor work, and are largely due to the carelessness of the
convicts. The organization of a mosquito brigade and other apparatus
for reducing mosquitoes will perhaps largely reduce the importance of
malaria. After fever, dysentery (caused by malaria and otherwise) is
the chief disease, and is being combated by improved cooking, milk,
and diet. Phthisis (with tuberculosis), as an infectious preventible
disease likely to spread if unchecked, is being treated in a special
ho.spital, and by other preventive measures.
Only about 6 per cent, of the labouring convicts are employed as
agriculturists, and those chiefly to supply special articles of food for the
convicts and staff, such as vegetables, tea, coffee, and .
cocoa. But agriculture is the main source of livelihood
among the ' self-supporters,' whose labours have contributed to the solid
progress of the Settlement. The area of cleared land has increased
from 10,421 acres in 1881 to 25,189 in 1905, and that of cultiva-
tion from 6,775 to 10,364 acres. Although the working of the regu-
lations has very largely reduced the number of ' self-supporters ' in
the last decade, the result of steady agricultural labour for many years
is shown by increased productive capacity in the land, and a rise in
the prosperity of the 'self-supporters.' The value of supplies pur-
chased from these rose from £1,913 in 1874 to £3,260 in 1881,
£3,572 in 1891, and £7,116 in 1901.
All the land in the Penal Settlement is vested in the Crown, and all
rights in it are subject to the orders of the Government of India. Prac-
tically the land is held at a fixed rent under licence
from the Chief Commissioner, on conditions which, system.
ififer alia, subject devolution and transfer to his con-
sent, and determine the occupation on compensation of a year's notice
or on breach of the conditions. The working of the rules, framed
primarily to meet the requirements of the ' self-supporter ' convicts, is
2o8 PORT BLAIR
in the hands of the District officers, through amlns or native revenue
officials. Village revenue papers like those maintained in India are
kept up, and fixed survey fees are demanded.
House sites, except those of cultivators which are free, are divided
into four classes, and a tax is levied varying from Rs. 2 to Rs. 25
according to the net annual income of the holders.
Land for cultivation is divided into valley and hill land, the rent
being fixed according to quality with a maximum of Rs. 4-8 per
acre for the valley and Rs. 2-4 for the hill land. Licences are given
for five years, and may be surrendered on three months' notice. They
are subject to special conditions for each holding, and to general con-
ditions, among which are that the land may not be surrendered or
transferred without permission, and that 5 per cent, of the amount
paid by the transferee is paid to the Government as a fine. Similar
conditions are attached to licences for house sites. Grazing fees are
levied by licence for the use of the Government (common) lands for
grazing or cutting grass for cattle, at the rate of Rs. 2 per annum per
animal, and in the case of goats 8 annas per annum each ; but culti-
vators may graze two bullocks free for each 5 to 15 highas (if to 5 acres)
of land held by them.
' Self-supporters,' subject to good behaviour, can hold land on, inter
alia, the following general terms : free rations and free use of village
servants for six months ; free grant of an axe, hoe, and da ; rent, tax,
and cess free for three to four years, with a limit of 5 b'lghas if the land
is uncleared jungle, or for one to two years with a limit of 10 highas if
the land is already cleared. Double holdings are permitted up to two
years. ' Self-supporters ' must not sublet or alienate their holdings,
must occupy them effectively, must assist in making village tanks,
roads, and fences, and must keep houses and villages clean and in
good repair. Their houses may be sublet, with permission, but only
to other ' self-supporters,' as free men and convicts may -not live
together in villages.
The following cesses and fees are levied : educational cess, collected
with the revenue on house sites and land, according to grade, from
Rs. 3 to 6 annas per annum ; village conservancy fees, from 4 to
2 annas per house per mensem, collected monthly ; chauhiddri (vil-
lage officials) fees, 4 annas per house or lodger per mensem, collected
monthly ; sdlutri (veterinary) fees, raised from possessors of cattle to
provide for veterinary care and inspection of village cattle, at about
half the educational cess.
The village officials, who receive fixed salaries, are the chaudhri
(headman) and the chauklddr (watchman). The chaudhri is the head
of the village, responsible for its peace and discipline, and for assis-
tance in the suppression of crime. He is the village tax collector.
TRADE AND MANUFACTURES 209
auctioneer, and assistant land revenue official. The chaukiddr is his
assistant.
Generally speaking a ' self-supporter ' has an income of from Rs. 7
a month Upwards, and an agricultural ' self-supporter ' can calculate on
a net income of not less than Rs. 10 a month. As the peasantry of
India go, the ' self-supporter ' is well off. The free resident popula-
tion are probably not in so good circumstances, so far as it depends on
the land.
The forests are worked by officers of the Indian Forest department
as nearly as may be on Indian lines, and the Settlement is divided into
afforested and unafforested lands. The * reserved '
forest areas amount to about 156 square miles. As
little change as possible is made in these, but the growing condition
of the Settlement makes it sometimes imperative to effect small altera-
tions in area. The Forest department superintends the extraction of
timber and firewood, and the construction of tramways ; but the con-
version of timber at the steam saw-mill on Chatham Island is done by
the Public Works department. In 1904-5 the Forest department
employed 1,102 men. Elephants are used to drag logs from the
forests to tramways or the sea, and rafts are towed by steamers to
Port Blair. This is a comparatively new department for utilizing
convict labour, and is now the chief source of revenue in cash. The
earnings under this head have increased from i-6 lakhs in 1891 and
2-8 lakhs in 1901 to 6-2 lakhs in 1904-5. In the last year the total
charges amounted to 3-4 lakhs.
Although the ' self-supporters ' and the free residents follow occupa-
tions other than agriculture and Government service, the numbers so
employed have but a comparatively small effect on
the industries of the Settlement, and practically all manufactures,
the labour available is found by the labouring con-
victs. There is an unlimited variety of work, as can be seen from the
following list of objects on which they are employed : forestry, land
reclamation, cultivation, fishing, cooking, making domestic utensils,
breeding and tending animals and poultry, fuel, salt, porterage by land
and sea, ship-building, house-building, furniture, joinery, metal-work,
carpentry, masonry, stone-work, quarrying, road-making, earthwork,
pottery, lime, bricks, sawing, plumbing, glazing, painting, rope-making,
basket-work, tanning, spinning, weaving, clothing, driving machinery
of many kinds and other superior work, signalling, tide-gauging,
designing, carving, metal-hammering, electric-lighting, clerical work
and accounting, hospital compounding, statistics, bookbinding, print-
ing, domestic and messenger service, scavenging, cleaning, petty super-
vision. The machinery is large and important, and some of the works
are on a large scale.
^10
PORT BLAIR
The general heads of employments of labouring convicts appear
from the following abstract of the labour statement on December 21,
1906 : —
Supervising
Ineffective (excluding
Departmental
establishment (ex-
Fixed establishments,
departments), 2,256.
employ, 3,081
cluding departments),
969.
2,602.
Sick and weakly 1,355
Commissariat 727
Petty officers . 969
Boats . .259
Lunatics . .219
Marine . . 448
Private service 205
Lepers . -53
Medical .316
Government
In jails . . 572
Forest . r,i2 2
service -153
Others . . 57
Tea . .317
Station service 892
Other depart-
Supplies .453
ments .151
Conservancy . 141
-
Others . . 499
Fixed works,
Artificer corps.
Miscellaneous
Females,
1,516.
849.
labour, 995.
348.
Workshops. 413
Artificers . 448
At disposal of
Jail labour . 348
Quarries . . 61
Coolies. . 401
officers for
Potteries . . 4
repairs . 995
Brickfields . . 590
Jail buildings . 448
In the Phoenix Bay workshops a great variety of work is performed,
under the heads of supervision, general, machinery, wood, iron, leather,
silver, brass, copper, tin ; and attached to the shops are a foundry,
a tannery, and a limekiln. This department is always growing. The
whole of the out-turn is absorbed locally, and no export trade is under-
taken. The work done has nearly all to be taught to the convicts
employed, and is performed partly by hand and partly by machinery.
By hand they are taught to make cane-work of all sort.s, plain and
fancy rope-making, matting, fishing-nets, and wire-netting. They do
painting and lettering of all descriptions. They repair boilers, pumps,
machinery of all sorts, watches and clocks. In iron, copper, and tin,
they learn fitting, tinning, lamp-making, forging, and hammering of all
kinds. In brass and iron they perform casting in large and small sizes,
plain and fancy, and hammering. In wood they turn out all sorts of
carpentry, carriage-building, and carving ; and in leather they make
boots, shoes, harness, and belts. They tan leather and burn lime. By
machinery, in iron and brass, they perform punching, drilling, boring,
shearing, planing, shaping, turning, welding, and screw-cutting. In
wood they learn sawing, planing, tonguing, grooving, moulding, shaping,
and turning ; and in wheel-making they do the spoke-tenoning and
mortising. Machinery is continually being added, in order to relieve
labour for forestry and agriculture, the two descriptions of employ-
ment which are best calculated to make the Settlement completely
self-supporting. Machinery will make it industrially, and forestry and
COMMUNICA TIONS 2 1 r
agriculture financially, independent : points that are never lost sight of
and control the labour distribution.
The work of the Marine department about Phoenix Bay is chiefly
connected with the building, equipment, and working of the steam-
launches, barges, lighters, boats, and buoys maintained.
In the female jail women are employed on the supply of clothing,
but they also do everything else necessary for themselves ; and the
only two men allowed to work inside the jail are the Hospital
Assistant and the jail carpenter.
The bulk of the exports consist of timber, empties belonging to the
Commissariat department, canes and other articles of jungle produce,
edible birds'-nests, and trepang. The imports consist chiefly of Govern-
ment stores of various kinds, private provisions, articles of clothing,
and luxuries.
The means of communication are good, and may be grouped as by
water about the harbour, by road, and by tram (animal and steam
haulage). Eight large and two small steam-launches, _
J -jii 1 rii 1 1 Communications,
and a considerable number of lighters, barges, and
boats of all sizes are maintained. Sailing boats, except for the amuse-
ment of officers, are, for obvious reasons, not permitted. Several
ferries ply at frequent intervals across the harbour. The roads are
metalled practically everywhere, and are unusually numerc;us. Where
convicts are concerned, it is a matter of importance to be able to move
about quickly at very short notice. The roads include about no miles
of metalled and about 50 of unmetalled routes. The tram-lines by
animals are chiefly forest, and their situation varies from time to time
according to work. The steam tram-lines are from Settlement Brick-
fields to South Quarries and Firewood area, 5 miles ; North Bay to
North Quarries^ 2 miles ; Forest ^\'imberley Ganj to Shoal Bay,
7 miles ; Bajajagda to Constance Bay and Port Mouat, 6 miles.
Short lines are maintained at a number of other places.
The harbour of Port Blair is well supplied with buoys and lights.
The lighthouse on Ross Island is visible for 19 miles, and running-in
lights, visible 8 miles from both entrances to the harbour, are fixed on
the Cellular Jail at Aberdeen and on South Point. There is also
a complete system of signalling (semagraph) by day and night on the
Morse system, worked by the police. Local posts are frequent, but
the foreign mails are irregular. Wireless telegraphy between Port
Blair and Diamond Island off the coast of Burma has been worked
successfully since 1905, and the various portions of the Settlement are
connected by telephone.
The external postal service is effected by the Port Blair post office,
which is under the control of the Postmaster-General, Burma. The
Chief Commissioner, however, regulates the relations of the post
212
PORT BLAIR
office with convicts. The following table gives statistics of the
postal business : —
1890-1.
1900-1.
1904-5.
Number of post offices ....
Total number of postal articles de-
livered : —
Letters
Postcards
Packets
Newspapers .....
Parcels ......
Value of stamps sold to the public Rs.
Value of money orders issued . Rs.
Savings bank deposits by convicts . Rs.
I
69,082
7,150
3,328
36,686
3,276
4,. 305
+
+
§
I
65,112
18,360
38,316*
IO,620f
2,568
3,810
1,40,820
§
I
82,498
19,474
18,018
21,476
3,952
3,510
1,60,372
25,550
Finance.
* Including unregistered newspapers.
t Registered as newspapers in the Post Office.
t The figures are included in those given for Bengal.
§ No returns issued.
The penal system is primarily one of discipline, financial considera-
tions giving way to this all-important point. The labour of the convicts
is firstly disciplinary ; secondly, it provides for the
wants of the Settlement so far as these can be sup-
plied locally ; thirdly, it is expended on objects directly remunerative.
All necessary expenditure in cash is granted directly by the Govern-
ment of India, and against this are set off the earnings of the convicts
in money. The following table gives the total receipts and expendi-
ture for a series of years, in thousands of rupees, but a considerable
variation occurs from year to year : —
1891.
1901.
1905-6.
Receipts, total ....
Fxpenditure, total .
Net cost of Settlement
,, ,, per convict .• Rs.
4-74
12,97
8,23
69-10- 1 1
5,71
17,34
",63
99-4-9
9,10
21,86
•2,77
88-4-3
The value of convict labour expended on local work and supplies is
not included.
The net cash cost of the convict at any given period depends on
how far convict labour is em[)loyed on objects returning a cash profit,
and also on the number of ' self-supporters,' who supply local products
at a far smaller cost than those procured from places outside the Settle-
ment. Since 1891, very large jails and subsidiary buildings have been
under construction, absorbing labour which could otherwise have been
employed in the forests and on other objects remunerative in cash,
while the number of ' self-supporters ' has been greatly reduced by
a change in the regulations, resulting in a reduction of agricultural
holdings and the amount of jungle cleared annually. Both of these
PUBLIC WORKS
13
arrangements are disciplinary, and illustrate the dependence of cost
on general policy.
The following table shows the progress of the principal sources of
revenue and expenditure, in thousands of rui)ees : —
Land revenue
Forests
Other heads .....
Total revenue
Salaries, establishment, and contin-
gencies ......
Tea cultivation .....
Education .....
Medical ......
Ecclesi xstical . . . . .
Commissariat establishment and sup-
plies ......
Marine ......
Jail
Police ......
Subsistence money to convicts .
Forest establishment and supplies
Clothing for convicts and police
Public works .....
Purchase of stores ....
Passage money and freight on stores .
Other charges .....
Total expenditure
1890-1.
2,81
4>74
1,20
16
5
37
8
4>U
I, .^7
92
1.75
33
26
36
1,63
13
12,97
1900-1.
36
2,78
2,57
5,71
1,38
30
5
40
8
6,10
22
24
1,46
71
2,85
38
',73
1=;
17,34
1905-6.
31
5,83
2,96
9,10
1,23
25
6
44
10
7,18
25
28
1,40
88
=;,oo
' 58
1,09
1,20
',75
17
21,86
The public works are constructed and maintained in all branches
by the artificer corps, an institution going back historically long
beyond the foundation of Port Blair in the Indian ^ ^,. ,
, , ,^ , Public works,
penal settlement system. Men who were artisans
before conviction, and men found capable after arrival, are formed
into the artificer corps, which is divided into craftsmen, learners, and
coolies. This corps is an organization apart, has .special privileges
and petty officers of its own, known as foreman petty officers, who
labour with their own hands, and also supervise the work of small
gangs and teach learners.
The total strength of the British and Native army stationed in the
islands in 1905 was 444, of whom 140 were British. The Andaman
Islands now belong to the Burma division. The military station.
Port Blair, is attached to Rangoon, and is usually garrisoned by
British and Native infantry. Port Blair is also the head-quarters of
the South Andaman Volunteer Rifles, whose strength is about 30.
The police are organized as a military battalion 701 strong. Their
duties are both military and civil, and they are distributed all over the
214 PORT BLAIR
Settlement in stations and guards. They protect the jails, the civil
officials, and convict parties working in the jungles, but do not exercise
any direct control over the convicts.
The ' local-born ' population is better educated than is the rule in
India, as elementary education is compulsory for all male children of
'self-supporters.' The sons of the 'local-born' and
of the free settlers are also freely sent to the schools,
but not the daughters ; fear of contamination in the latter case being
a ruling consideration, in addition to the usual conservatism in such
matters. A fair proportion acquire a sufficient knowledge of English
for clerkships. Provision is also made for mechanical training to
those desiring it, though it is not largely in request, except in tailoring ;
and there is a fixed system of physical training for the boys. Native
employes of Government use the local schools for the primary
education of their children. Six schools are maintained, of which
one includes an Anglo-vernacular course, while the others are primary
schools. In 1904-5 these contained 152 boys and 2 girls of free
parents, and 55 boys and 40 girls of convict parents ; and the total
expenditure was Rs. 5,360. Owing to mistakes in enumeration, the
census returns for literacy are of no value.
There are four district and three jail hospitals in charge of four
medical officers, under the supervision of a senior officer of the Indian
Medical Service. Medical aid is given free to the
whole population, and to Government officials under
the usual Indian rules. The convicts unfit for hard labour are classed
as — sick and detained in hospital, convalescents, light labour invalids,
lepers, and lunatics. For each of these classes there are special rules
and methods of treatment under direct medical aid. Practically every
child born in the Settlement is vaccinated.
Port Canning. — Village in the District of the Twenty-four Parganas,
Bengal. See Canning, Port.
Porto Novo. — Town and port in the Chidambaram idliik of South
Arcot District, Madras, situated in 11° 30' N. and 79° 46' E., at the
mouth of the Vellar river. Population (1901), 13,712, more than
a fourth of whom are Musalmans. It is known in Tamil as Parangi-
pettai, or ' Europeans' town,' and is one of the two ports of the District.
The Portuguese founded here, during the latter part of the sixteenth
century, the first European settlement on the Coromandel coast
within the limits of the Gingee country. An English settlement was
established in 1683. In 1780 the town was plundered by Haidar All,
and in July of the following year was fought in its vicinity the famous
battle between Sir Eyre Coote and Haidar, in which the former won
a signal victory. The battle was one of the most decisive of all those
fought with Haidar's troops, for had the British retreated the whole
POTTANGI
215
Carnatic would have been at Haidar's mercy. The place was twice
captured by the French and was finally restored to the British in 1785.
Porto Novo is a Union under the Local Boards Act and contains
a salt factory. It had once a considerable trade with Ceylon and
Achin, but this has declined. The value of the exports and imports
in 1903-4 was Rs. 12,50,000 and Rs. 59,000 respectively. The only
special manufacture is a species of mat made from the leaves of the
screw-pine. The Porto Novo ironworks attained much notoriety in
the early years of the last century. Their melancholy history is
referred to in the account of South Arcot District.
Portuguese Possessions. — These consist of the territories of
Goa, Daman, and Diu, lying wholly within the limits of the Bombay
Presidency, and governed by a Governor-General of Portuguese India,
resident at Goa city. They cover a total area of 1,470 square miles
and contain a population (1900) of 531,798, distributed as follows : —
Area.
Population.
Goa ....
Daman ....
Diu ....
1,301
149
20
475.513
41,671
14,614
Their total revenue in 1903-4 was 23 lakhs. A description and
history of these possessions will be found under the articles Go.\,
Daman, and Diu.
Porumamilla. — Town in the Badvel taluk of Cuddapah District,
Madras, situated in 15° \' N. and 79° E. Population (1901), 5,522.
It possesses a fine tank. There are the ruins of an old fort to the
north of the town, and the place was formerly the seat of a local
chieftain. An inscription on stone in front of the temple of Bhairava,
which stands on an eminence close to the tank, is dated a. d. 1369,
and records that Bukka Bhupati's son Bhaskara Bhupati, who reigned
at Udayagiri, constructed the tank. The date corresponds with that of
the reign of Bukka I of Vijayanagar ; and if this be the chief men-
tioned, the inscription is of importance. There is a very old temple
of Lakshmlkantaswami in the town, which is said to have been re-
paired by the above-mentioned Bhaskara Bhupati. To the west of the
place, on the bank of the Sagileru river, are some stone cromlechs.
Pothanur.— Village and railway junction in Coimbatore District,
Madras. See Podanur.
Pottangi.— Za;;/J;?^ar/ tahsil in the Agency tract of Vizagapatam
District, Madras. It is situated on both slopes of the Eastern
Ghats, and so is hilly in character and for the most part covered
with jungle, though a great quantity of this has been destroyed. The
main road to the Jeypore estate from the low country passes through
2i6 POTTANGI
it. Area, 625 square miles; population (1901), 73,013 (chiefly hill
tribes), compared with 77,641 in 1891 ; number of villages, 920. The
head-quarters are at Pottangi. The tahsll is entirely zaminddri land,
belonging to the Jeypore and Pachipenta estates.
Pragjyotisha. — Subsequently called Kamarupa, the name of an
ancient kingdom which at the time of the Mahabharata comprised
Assam and a great part of Northern and Eastern Bengal. It stretched
westwards as far as the Karatoya river, and included a portion of
Rangpur District. It was ruled by a succession of princes of Mon-
goloid stock.
Prakasha. — Town in the Shahada tdluka of West Khandesh District,
Bombay, situated in 21° 31' N. and 74° 25' E., 45 miles north-west of
Dhulia at the junction of the Tapti river with two of its tributaries.
Population (1901), 3,687. East of the town stands an old temple of
Gautameshwar Mahadeo, in whose honour a great Hindu fair is held
every twelve years, when the planet Jupiter enters the constellation
Leo. There are several other interesting temples in the neighbourhood.
The municipality, established in 1870, has recently been abolished.
The town contains a boys' school with 165 pupils.
Prang. — Town in the Charsadda tahsll of Peshawar District, North-
West Frontier Province, situated in 34° 8' N. and 71° 49' E., above
the junction of the Swat and Kabul rivers, 16 miles north-east of
Peshawar. It is practically a portion of the town of Charsadda. The
population, apart from Charsadda, in 1901 was 10,235, consisting chiefly
of Muhammadzai Pathans.
Pranhita ('helpful to life'). — River in the Central Provinces,
formed by the united streams of the ^VARDHA and Wainganga, whose
junction is at SeonI in Chanda District (19° 36' N. and 79° 49' E.).
From here the river has a course of 72 miles, until it joins the Godavari
above Sironcha. Throughout its length the Pranhita is the western
boundary of Chanda District and of the Central Provinces, which it
separates from the Hyderabad State. Its bed is broad and sandy,
with the exception of a long stretch of rock below the confluence at
Seoni.
Pratapgarh. — State and capital thereof in Rajputana ; and also Dis-
trict, tahsll, and town in the United Provinces. See Partabgarh.
Pratapgarh. — Fortress in the Javli tdluka of Satara District,
Bombay, situated in 17° 55' N. and 73° 35' E., 8 miles south-west of
Mahabaleshwar, on a summit of the Western Ghats commanding the
Par ghdt, and dividing one of the sources of the Savitrl from the Koyna,
an affluent of the Kistna. The fort, 3,543 feet above sea-level, looks
from a distance like a round-topped hill, the walls of the lower fort
forming a sort of band or crown round the brow. The western and
northern sides are gigantic cliffs, with an almost vertical drop in many
PRESIDENCY DIVISION
217
places of 700 or 800 feet. The towers and bastions on the south and
east are often 30 to 40 feet high, while there is in most places a scarp
of naked black rock not much lower. In 1656 SivajT, the founder of
the Maratha power, selected this almost impregnable position as orie
of his principal forts. Pratapgarh was the scene of his treacherous
murder of the Muhammadan general Afzal Khan, who had been sent
against him by the Sultan of Bijapur. In 1659 Sivajl decoyed Afzal
Khan to a personal interview by a pretended submission, the two
leaders being each attended by a single armed follower. Sivaji stabbed
the Musalman general, and gave the signal to his ambushed army to
attack the Muhammadan troops, who, bewildered by the loss of their
chief, were utterly routed. In the Maratha ^\^ar of 18 18 Pratapgarh
was surrendered to the British by private negotiation, though it was an
important stronghold and was held by a large garrison.
Prempur. — Petty State in MahI Kanth.n, Bombay.
Presidency Division. — Commissionership of Bengal, extending
from the Ganges on the north to the Bay of Bengal on the south, and
lying between 21° 31' and 24° 52' N. and %f 49' and 89° 58' E. The
head-quarters of the Commissioner are at Calcutta, and the Division
includes six Districts with area, population, and revenue as shown
below : —
District.
Area in square
miles.
Population,
IQOI.
Land revenue
and cesses,
. '903-4.
in thousands
of rupees.
Twenty- four Paignnas
Calcutta .
Nadia
Murshidabad
Jessore
Khulna
Total
4,844
32
2,793
2, '43
2,925
4,?65
2,078,359
847,796
1,667,491
1, 333, '84
1,813,155
',253,043
20,32
18
10,94
12,14
10,60
9,24
17,502
8,993,028
63,42
Note.— Calcutta is not strictly speaking a District of the Presidency Division,
l)ut it is usual and convenient to treat it as such. In th(- Census Report of
igoi the area of the Twenty-four Parganas was sliown as 2,108 square miles,
excluding the Sundarbans; the area given above, supplied by the Surveyor-
General, includes 2,941 square miles in the Sundarbans. The area of Khulna
similarly includes 2,688 square miles in the Sundarbans.
The population was 7,427,343 in 1872 and 8,211,986 in 1881 ; in
1891 it had grown to 8,535,126 and in 1901 to 8,993,028. The
average density is 514 persons per square mile, compared with 474 for
Bengal as a whole. Fifty per cent, of the population are Hindus and
49 per cent. Musalmans ; the remaining i per cent, includes 62,416
Christians, of whom 30,993 are natives, 12,842 Animists, 3,005 Bud-
dhists, 2,245 Jains, and 1,938 Brahmos. The area of the Division,
which is known as Central Bengal, corresponds approximately to the
2i8 PRESIDENCY DIVISION
old kingdom of Banga or Samatata, and to Ballal Sen's division of
Bagri (or Bagdi). The Division is bounded on the west by the
Bhagirathi river and on the east by the MadhumatT, and forms the
western extremity of the Ganges delta. Its northern Districts have
been gradually raised above flood-level ; and the great rivers, which
formerly flowed through them, have shrunk to insignificance, and no
longer fulfil their old functions of depositing silt and supplying good
drinking-water. Their head-waters have been silted up and their
channels are often so high that they are no longer able to carry off
the drainage of the surrounding country, which has thus become far
less healthy and fertile than it was formerly. The District of Khulna
is an exception to these conditions and still forms part of the true
delta. Along the sea-coast, in the south of the Twenty-four Parganas
and Khulna District, the Sundarbans extend over an area of 5,629
square miles. This tract is a region of low-lying islands, intersected
by a network of rivers and cross channels. In the north it is being
gradually reclaimed for cultivation, while in the south it is covered with
valuable forests, and on the sea-board the process of land-making is still
going on. Central Bengal possesses few distinctive ethnical features \
but its southern portion is the main habitat of the Pods, who are
closely allied to the Chandals, and who with them are probably the
descendants of the first of the Mongolian invaders from the north-east.
The Kaibarttas and Bagdis have overflowed from Western Bengal, and
the Chandals from the east.
The Division contains 46 towns and 20,496 villages. The urban
population forms 16 per cent, of the whole; the greater part of it is
found in Calcutta and in its great industrial suburbs on the banks
of the Hooghly river. The principal industries in these towns are the
manufacture of gunny-bags, the baling of jute for export, paper-making,
and cotton-spinning. Murshidabad District is one of the seats of the
silk industry. The largest towns are Calcutta (847,796), with its
suburbs Cossipore-Chitpur (40,750), Maniktala (32,387), Garden
Reach (28,211), South Suburbs (26,374) and Baranagar (25,432);
Santipur (26,898), Krishnagar (24,547), Berhampore (24,397).
Naihati (13,604), and Bhatpara (21,540). Among its other towns
may be mentioned NabadwIp, an ancient capital of the Sen kings of
Bengal ; and Murshidabad, for many years the seat of the Muham-
madan Nawabs. The early history of Calcutta is intimately associated
with the beginning of British rule in India.
Proddatur Taluk.— Northern taluk of Cuddapah District, Madras,
lying between 14° 36' and 15° 2' N. and 78° 26' and 78° 53' E., with
an area of 478 square miles. The Nallamalai Hills form a natural
frontier on the east, while in the south the tract is bounded by the
Cuddapah taluk and the Penner river. The population in 1901 was
rJWME l)J STRICT 2 1.;
10 J, 5 70, compared with 98,418 in 1891. It contains one town,
Proddatur (population, 14,370^, the head-quarters; and 86 villages.
The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to
Rs. 2,58,000. Owing to its fertile black soil, I'roddatiir is the most
densely peopled tdluk in the District, its population, who are mainly
Telugus, numbering 2x5 per square mile, compared with an average of
148 for the District as a whole. 'Cuddapah slabs' are much used for
building. About one-fourth consists of ' reserved ' forest, most of
which lies on the Nallamalais. 'I'he Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal
traverses it. Cotton is the principal product. There are no manu-
factures except indigo.
Proddatur Town. — Head-quarters of the subdivision and taluk
of the same name in Cuddapah District, Madras, situated in 14° 44' N.
and 78° 2>2) E. Population (1901), 14,370. It contains a District
Munsifs court, and two cotton-presses which work during the cotton
harvest.
Prome District. — District in the Pegu Division of Lower Burma,
stretching across the valley of the Irrawaddy between 18° 18' and
19° 11' N. and 94° 41' and 95° 53' E., with an area of 2,915 square
miles. It is bounded on the north by Thayetmyo District ; on the
east by the Pegu Yoma ; on the south by Henzada and Tharrawaddy
Districts ; and on the west by the Arakan Yoma. The Irrawaddy flows
through the District from north to south, dividing
it into two portions, differing considerably in area, asoects
appearance, and fertility. To the west of the
river lies the Padaung township, constituting about one-third of the
total area of the District. Here the country is broken up by thickly
wooded spurs from the Arakan Yoma into small valleys, drained by
short and unimportant tributaries of the Irrawaddy, and but little
cultivated. The remaining six townships lie to the east of the Irra-
waddy. North and north-east 'of Prome town the country resembles
that on the Padaung side ; for the forest-covered spurs of the Pegu
Yoma forni numerous valleys and ravines, stretching as far as the
Irrawaddy, and watered by torrents \shich, as they proceed south-west
towards level country, eventually unite into one large stream called the
Nawin, spanned by a wooden bridge to the north of Prome. The
south and south-west consist of a large and well-cultivated plain, inter-
sected by low ranges with a general north and south direction, the
chief of which are called the Prome hills. Towards the east and
south-east this fertile tract is drained by streams, shut out from the
Irrawaddy by the Prome hills, and sending their waters into the Inma
Lake, from which the Myitmaka (known farther south as the Hlaing)
flows seawards in a line parallel to that of the Irrawaddy. The
Inma, the only lake of any size, is ro miles long and 4 wide in the
VOL. XX. P
220 PJWME DISTRICT
broadest part. It is 12 feet deep during the rains, but practically
dries up in the dry season.
The hills that bound the District, the Pegu Yoma on the east and
the Arakan Yoma on the west, are geologically dissimilar. The eastern
range, in common with the whole country lying between the Irrawaddy
and Sittang rivers (with the exception of an outlier or two of crystalline
rocks near Toungoo), is composed of beds none of which is older
than the miocene or Middle Tertiary period, while the western range
consists of two groups of beds, a newer of eocene or Early Tertiary
age, and an older group of (probably) Triassic age, with here and there
scattered outcrops of serpentine. The Pegu group, made up of the
Pegu range and the greater part of the District east of the Irrawadd}',
as well as a tract to the west of that stream, may be divided into three
parts — lower, middle, and upper. The lower division consists mainly
of a series of beds of blue clay, which seem entirely devoid of fossils,
and may, it is conjectured, have a thickness of 400 feet. The middle
division is represented by a considerable thickness of massive argilla-
ceous sandstone grits and shales, the latter predominating towards
the base. These beds are generally devoid of fossils, and can be seen
to the best advantage in the gorge above Prome. The upper division,
not less than 600 feet thick, contains shales and sandstones^ and is
extremely rich in fossils, apparently of Middle Tertiar)- age. The bed
at the base of this division forms the river bank nearly oi)positc Prome.
The vegetation is mainly composed of deciduous forests, which
can be divided into in forests, upper mixed forests, dry forests, and
savannah forests. The in forests are mainly characterized by in
{Dipterocarpus ti(berculatiis), and are similar to those described under
Pegu District, as also are the upper mixed forests, in which teak
is abundant. The dry forests are characteristic, and contain among
their chief constituents Dalbergia cultrata, Diospyros burmannica,
Buchanania /atifo/ia, and Crataeva re/igiosa, and among shrubs
Thespesia Lampas, Barleria cristata, B. dichotonia, Calotropis, Clero-
dendron infortunatum, and Bambitsa Tiilda and B. stricta. In certain
areas sha {Acacia Catechu) forms a conspicuous part of the \egetation.
The river is bordered with savannah forests (described under Hantha-
WADDY District) and many widespread weeds — Amaranf/ii/s, Rumex
maritiviits, Polygonum, Rani/ncit/i/s scelerati/s, and others.
The fauna is of the usual type. One of the most characteristic
wild animals of Burma, the thaniin or brow-antlered deer, abounds in
the high grounds to the east of Prome. The elephant and the rhino-
ceros are found, but only in the Arakan Yoma.
The climate of Prome is much drier than that of the rest of the
Pegu Division, and its temperature has a wider range, from about
60^ in January to loo*^ in June. The District has a lighter rainfall
HISTORY 22 \
than any other District of Lower Hiiriua, except Thayetmyo ; it is
fairly regular and well distributed, the average for the last decade being
48 inches for the whole District, 43 inches at Prome, 48 inches at
Shwedaung, and 53 inches at Paungde.
The Burmese name for Prome is Pyi; and according to tradition
the once-flourishing kingdom of Prome was founded by a king named
Dutabaung, of the Pyu tribe, who with the Arakanese
and other tribes constituted the Burman race in the
remote past. Early accounts place the foundation of Thareklieilra, the
old capital, in the year after the second great Buddhist Council, held
in 443 B. c. Of this ancient city only a few embankments and pagodas
remain in marshy ground 5 or 6 miles from Prome. Later on, we hear
of a reigning house founded by one Tepa, which, as there is no record
of a subsequent line, probably lasted till the first break-up of the
kingdom of Prome. There is little of historical value in the ancient
Prome chronicles ; but these seem to point to the conclusion that
the Pyus were members of the Burman race, who, cutting themselves
off" at an early date from the parent stock, then concentrated at
Tagaung, and struck off down the Irrawaddy valley till they were
brought up by the Taking dominion on the edge of the delta, where
they halted and formed a principality of their own. Little credence
can be given to the stories of the early kings, but it seems clear
that during the early centuries of the Christian era the Pyus suffered
defeat at the hands of the Takings, The year 104 b.e. (a. d. 742)
is given as the date of the destruction of Prome by the Peguans.
\Vith the overthrow of the Pyu dynasty the reigning house is said
to have withdrawn north again, and founded a new kingdom at
Pagan ; and it seems probable that the sack of Prome in the eighth
century was more or less connected with one of the movements
which culminated in the glories of mediaeval Pagan. The Takings
never had a firm hold over Prome. We hear later of an independent
kingdom ; and it was in the neighbourhood of Prome that the forces
of Prome, Ava, and Arakan were defeated b)' a Toungoo army in 1542.
In the middle of the eighteenth, century Prome was, however, held b\
the Takings, and the town was the scene of much carnage during tlic
operations which ended in the overthrow of the Peguans by tlic
Burmese conqueror Alaungpaya. Prome played a not incons[)icuous
part in the first Burmese War, for the investment of the town by
a Burman army of 60,000 men in 1825, and the defeat of this force
by Sir A. Campbell, constituted one of the most decisive features
of the campaign. The town was temporarily occupied in the second
Burmese War by a small force under Commander Tarleton, and the
subsequent defeat of the Burman leader by (General Godwin confirmed
its possession by the British in 1852. The timely rebellion of Mindon
1' 2
22.
PR OME niS TR K ' T
Islin caused the withdrawal of the Buniian troops from the District
during the rest of the war, and there has been no serious trouble since
its annexation in 1852.
The chief objects of archaeological interest are two pagodas, the
Shwesandaw and the Shwenattaung. The former is 80 feet high and
stands, its gilded cone conspicuous from afar, on a platform of stone
on a hill in Prome town. Various tales describe its foundation, and
it is supposed to contain four hairs from Gautama's head. It has been
repaired and enlarged from time to time, and the festival in November
is numerously attended. The Shwenattaung pagoda lies in the Shwe-
daung township, 14 miles south of Prome, and tradition makes the
wife of Dutabaung its foundress. It is said to be the repository of
certain relics of Gautama, and its eight-day festival in March is
attended by thousands.
The population of the District at the last four enumerations was :
{1872) 280,288, (1881) 328,905, (1891) 368,977, and
(1901) 365,804. The distribution according to town-
ships in 1 90 1 is shown in the following table : —
Population.
a .
Number of
c
.0
0 E
age of
on in
on be-
.8qi
er of
able to
and
te.
1 ,/
Towiibliip.
•S'S
c
S
S.
Percent
variati
populat
tween
and I
s q v
<
H°
^
Ph
i-
Prome
9
Nil
27.375
3-042
- 9
10,654
Paukkaun.ij
694
241
29.797
43
/
5,205
Hmawza .
273
447
68,591
-.SI
- '3
16,040
Paungde .
379
250
60,604
160
+ 7
'3,64«
Thegon
241
296
60,982
2.S3
+ 15
'3,.'i33
Shwedaung
300
3"
66,743
222
+ I
•^',837
Padaung .
District total
1,019
2.-915
216
6IJ12
.51
— I
11,971
3
1,761
365,804
125
— I
87,788
The rural population (excluding Prome, Paungde, and Shwedaung
towns) is 316,537, distributed in 1,761 villages, giving a density of 109
persons per square mile. Away from the Irrawaddy valley, in the
forest areas of the Paukkaung and Padaung townships, the population
is sparse. Prome is one of the very few Districts of Burma which
returned a smaller population in 1901 than in 1891. The decrease
is due to the emigration of Burmans from Prome town and the
neighbouring country, and from the hill tracts in the east and west
of the District, to the more generous rice-bearing areas of the delta.
The other portions of the District, especially the townships of Thegon
and Paungde, lying on either side of the railway, have increased in
population. The people are nearly all Buddhists, the total professing
the faith of Gautama numbering 351,000 in 1901. Hindus and
AGRTCVf.TVRE
223
MulKimniadans are confined to the towns, and nunil)er only 2,600
each ; and the total of Animists is 8,600. Burmese is the language
of 94 per cent, of the people, but Karen and Chin are spoken in
the hilly areas.
Burmans form 93 per cent, of the population, and are found every-
where except in the hills. There are 4,200 Karens, who nearly all
retain their dialect, and 1,200 Shans, of whom ratlier more than half
still talk their own vernacular. The Chins, living for the most part
to the west of the Irrawaddy, number 11,600, and about 60 per cent,
speak the Chin language. They are said all to profess Buddhism
(though the census figures do not bear out this assertion), and those
near the Burmese villages have adopted Burmese dress and dropped
their own language. The number of people dependent on agriculture
in 1901 was 251,300, or less by 7 per cent, than the corresponding
total in 1 89 1. Of these, 17,600 were supported by tainigya or shifting
cultivation.
There are only 481 Christians, half of whom are Baptists. The
American Baptist Mission started work at Prome town in 1854, and
now has centres at Prome, Paungde, and Inma. The Anglican and
Roman Catholic Churches are also represented at Prome.
The rainfall, though light, can on the whole be depended upon.
The principal rice-tracts are in the Hmawza township, the middle
of the Thegon and Paungde townships, and the
Shwedaung township. In the rest of the District
taungya, or shifting hill cultivation, is prevalent ; in fact, the percentage
of taungya cultivation is higher in Prome than in any other District
in the Pegu and Irrawaddy Divisions. Field-work begins in the hot
season with the carrying of manure to the ground. The custom of
stabling the cattle provides the husbandman with a large supply
of cow-dung, which is mixed with paddy husk before use. It is now
usual to manure both nurseries and fields. The nurseries are sown
broadcast and the rice is transplanted, not sown broadcast on the
fields, as in Pegu District. For transplantation, and frequently for
reaping, the able-bodied women work in gangs under chosen leaders.
The custom of hiring a number of men for a fixed sum to reap the
whole crop is unknown ; in fact the rates of pay would not attract
Burmans or natives of India from other Districts. The threshing
is done in the villages, an arrangement which dispenses with the
necessity for huts in the fields. Owing to the scarcity of cultivable
waste, the rent paid by tenants is exceptionally high ; in certain parts
of the District as much as one-half of the crop is given to the land-
lord, who pays the revenue. Famine is unknown, in spite of the
comparative dryness of the climate.
The cultivated area has increased from 372 square miles in 1 880-1
224
FRO ME PT STRICT
to 437 square miles in 1891, and 500 square miles in 1903-4. The
main agricultural statistics for 1903-4 are shown below, in square
miles ; —
Township.
Total area.
Cultivated.
Irrigated.
Forests.
Prome
9
2
Paukkaung
694
32
•^ i
Hmawza ,
273
125
37
Paungde .
379
86
II
*- 2,005
Thegon
241
93
2
Shwedaung
300
87
'
Padaxing .
Total
1,019
75
6
2.915
500
61
2,005
More than a hundred varieties of rice are recognized, and this crop
covered 428 square miles in 1903-4. Besides the ordinary cold-season
crop a certain amount of viayin, or hot-season rice, is grown. The
area under rice has increased by nearly 40 per cent, in the twenty years
ending 1903. In 1903-4 gardens covered 33 square miles, and 3,700
acres were cultivated with tobacco on the banks and islands of the
Irrawaddy. During the same year cotton was grown on the hills on
1,600 acres, as compared with 3,000 acres in 1882. Prome is famous
for custard-apples, which are planted largely on the hill-slopes facing
Prome town.
No improvements in cultivation are noted. Havana tobacco was
experimentally introduced in 1903, but beyond this no new crops
of importance have been tried. Without being actually prosperous,
the cultivators are, on the whole, fairly well-to-do, and till recently
have not resorted to Government for loans. No agricultural advances
were granted during the ten years ending 1900, but a beginning was
made with loans to the extent of Rs. 1,400 in 1901-2, and Rs. 7.440
in 1903-4.
There are plenty of cattle for ploughing, which are bred and trained
in the District. Ponies, sheep, and goats are not bred locally. The
cattle are kept under the houses and stall-fed. It has been found
that there is little need for grazing grounds, and such as exist are but
little used. This accounts for the unusually healthy state of the cattle,
for there is little doubt that large grazing grounds tend to spread
epidemics.
No large irrigation works have been constructed, but a few minor
works exist in the Padaung and Paukkaung townships. The Inma
Lake, an important fishery, is the only large natural reservoir. In
all, 61 square miles were irrigated in 1903-4, of which nearly
9 were supplied from private canals. Of the total, about 38 square
miles are situated in the Hmawza township. The fisheries are
TA'.U)K .LY/) CO}fMrXJrA77()XS 225
comparatively uninipoitaiU, producing a revenue of Rs. 38,000 in
1903-4-
The forest tracts fall naturally into two groups : those to the west
of the Irrawaddy on the Arakan \'onia, and those to the east of the
river on the Pegu Vonia. The latter can be sub-
divided again into two groups : those lying in the
drainage of the Nawin in the north, and those in the drainage of
the Shwele in the south. The former were worked to excess by
the Burmans, but natural obstructions near the mouth of the Shwele
fortunately preserved the Shwele forests from the indigenous methods
of timber extraction. The Shwele has now been cleared, and the
timber is worked departmentally by the Forest officials. The hill-
slopes contain, besides teak, other valuable timbers, such as pyingado
[Xylia dolabriformis)^ padauk {Pterocarptts indka), and pyinma {I.ager-
siroemia Flos Reginae). Between the hills and the river are large
stretches of in and cutch forests, containing, in addition to these trees
{Dlpferocarpus tiiberculatus and Acacia Catechu), useful growths such
as ihitya {Shorea obUisa), thitsi {Melatiorr/ioea iisitata), and ingyin
iyPentacnie siafiieiisis). The total area of ' reserved ' forests is 538
square miles, and an area of 169 square miles is under settlement
with a view to reservation. The forest receipts in 1903-4 were 9-7
lakhs. There are 1,467 square miles of ' unclassed ' state forest.
No discoveries of metal or precious stones have so far been made.
Large quantities of laterite and stone ballast are extracted from a hill
near Hmawza by the Burma Railways Company, and small outcrops
of coal have been met with in the Padaung township. Prospecting
licences have been taken out for petroleum, but there has been no
success so far.
Cotton- and silk-weaving are carried on throughout the District, the
former for the most part as a subsidiary occupation. Silk-weaving
is mainly pursued in the town of Shwedaung and
in the neighbouring circles, where, in fact, every communl/aUons.
other house has a loom. The census returns in
190T showed that there were more silk-weavers in Prome than in any
other District of Burma, with the single exception of Mandalay. Cotton
looms are plentiful throughout the country, and in most cases the
family loom provides the members of the household with clothing.
The only exceptional industry is sericulture, which was probably
imported from China. It is carried on largely by the Yabein tribe,
who live apart in their own villages, their occupation being offensive
to the strict Buddhist. The method of manufacture is crude in the
extreme. The eggs are hatched in a coarse cloth, and the worms
swept into a tray and fed on mulberry leaves. After 30 days or so
the larvae begin to spin, and when ready to commence this process,
226 PROMR DISTRICT
are picked out with the hand, and thrown on to the cocooning tray,
on which a plaited bamboo ribbon, about two inches wide, is coiled.
To this ribbon the larvae attach their cocoons, and these, when ready,
are torn off and put to simmer in a common pot. The filaments are
then picked up with a fork and reeled on a bamboo reel suspended
over the pot. The thread thus produced is coarse and dirty, and
mixed with pupae and other refuse. The price of raw silk at the
river-side markets is Rs. 5 to Rs. 6 a pound. Other manufactures
are ornamental boxes for keeping palm-leaf books, coarse brown sugar,
and cutch from the forest-covered townships. The Acacia Catechu
is common, and in 1901 Prome returned a larger number of cutch-
workers than any other District of Burma. In Prome town there is
a steam rice-mill, employing 60 hands, and a steam saw-mill, employ-
ing 47 ; but on the whole, factory industries are poorly represented.
The main exports are paddy and timber. Paddy is sent by the
railway to the south, and by the Irrawaddy steamers to Mandalay
and intermediate towns, while teak from the Pegu Yoma is floated
down the river in large quantities to Rangoon. A small amount of
cotton is exported to Rangoon after a partial cleaning at Prome.
The principal imports are piece-goods, hardware, European goods,
ngapi, and salted fish from Rangoon and other parts of the delta.
The trade of Prome has declined somewhat since the opening of the
Toungoo-Mandalay railway, as, previous to this, goods for Upper
Burma were sent largely by rail to Prome town, and thence by steamer.
This is still the route, however, for the passenger and mail traffic
between Rangoon and a number of up-river stations, so that there
is still a certain amount of transhipment business at Prome.
The Rangoon-Prome railway enters the District 5 miles from
Paungde in the south, and runs through the middle of the Paungde,
Thegon, and Hmawza townships to Prome, the terminus of the line.
It has stations at Paungde, Padigon, Thegon, Sinmizwe, and Hmawza.
The Irrawaddy, flowing from north to south through the District,
gives access to the Hmawza, Shwedaung, and Padaung townships ;
and an excellent system of metalled roads connects the remoter places
in the District with the landing-places on the river or the stations on
the railway. The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company's steamers provide a
daily service from Prome to Thayetmyo, and from Prome to Henzada,
and a tri-weekly service from Prome to Rangoon, and from Prome to
Mandalay, stopping at river-side stations.
There are 91 miles of metalled and 116 miles of unmetalled roads
maintained from Provincial funds. The main routes are the Prome-
Rangoon road (mile 177 to mile 140) through Shwedaung and
Paungde, and the road from Prome to Paukkaung, both of which
are metalled and bridged. Unmetalled roads lead northwards into
ADMINISTRATTOX 227
Thayetmyo District, and westwards over ilie Arakan NOnia to 'laung-
up in Sandoway District. A number of footpaths are bridged and
embanked, but are not available for wheel-traffic. The most impor-
tant of these is from Shwedaung to Nyaungzaye on the Irrawaddy.
Roads maintained from Local funds connect the more important
villages. Of the District cess fund roads, 7 miles are metalled and
84^ unmetalled.
The District is divided into three subdivisions : T'rome, containing
the townships of Prome, Paukkauno, and Hmawza ; Paungde, con-
taining the townships of Paungde and Thegon ;
and Shwedaung, containing the townships of Shwe-
daung and Padaung. The executive staff is of the usual kind, the
Paungde subdivision being generally in charge of an Assistant Com-
missioner. There are 669 village headmen. At head-quarters there
are, besides the Deputy-Commissioner, a treasury officer, an akunwiin
(in charge of the revenue), and a superintendent of land records, with
a staff of 4 inspectors and 34 surveyors. The District forms a sub-
division of the Tharrawaddy Public Works division, and a Forest
division with a subdivisional officer at Paungde.
Prome, with Tharrawaddy, forms the jurisdiction of a Divisional as
well as of a District Judge : the District Judge has his head-quarters at
Tharrawaddy, the Divisional Judge at Prome. There are, besides the
Divisional and District Judges, two civil judges, one at Prome, pre-
siding over the Prome and Hmawza township courts, the other at
Paungde, presiding over the Paungde and Thegon township courts.
These judges have Small Cause Court jurisdiction up to Rs. 50 in the
Prome and Paungde municipalities respectively. The other township
courts are presided over by the township officers. In addition to the
District, subdivisional, and township magistrates, there is an additional
magistrate at Paungde. The District is noted for cattle-thefts ; but this
form of crime is decreasing slowly, though in 1901 the number of con-
victions was as large as 411. Cattle-theft is kept down as much as
possible by active co-operation between the village headmen, the
magistrates, and the police, and by the patrolling by military ])olice
of the roads most used by cattle-thieves.
Previous to the British occupation the principal sources of revenue
were land tax and a form of income tax. The latter was assessed by
the local officers, who were guided mainly by the property of the
person assessed, but no fixed rates were laid down. It would appear
that in portions of the District half the produce was demanded from
the cultivators. After annexation efforts were made to distribute tlie
land tax properly, and acreage rates were introduced in 1862 for rice
lands. There was a settlement of the richest portion of the District in
1867-8, and again in 1.S84-5 : and in 1900-1 a revision of the rates
2 28 J'ROMK J)ISTRICT
fixed in 1884-5 produced an inrrease of over a lakh, or nearly 30 per
cent. The present rates on rice land vary from 6 annas to Rs. 2-6
an acre, and on gardens from 6 annas to Rs. 3. The average area of
a holding at present is 5^ acres, compared with 7 acres in i88t.
The steady growth of the revenue during the past twenty years may
be gathered from the table below, which gives the figures in thousands
of rupees. The total for 1903-4 includes 3 lakhs from capitation tax
and 3'8 lakhs from excise.
1
1880-1. t 1890-1.
igoo-i.
1903-4.
Land revenue
Total revenue
2,88 1 3,16
7,44 1 9,06
3,92
9,49
4,81
13,00
There is a District cess fund, administered by the Deputy-Com-
missioner for the upkeep of roads and other local necessities. Its
income (composed for the most part of a cess of 10 per cent, on the
total land revenue) was Rs. 71,600 in 1903-4, and its expenditure
Rs. 64,000, of which nearly one-third was devoted to public works.
There are two municipalities: that of Prome, constituted in 1874, and
that of Paungde, in 1884. Shwedaung has a town committee, which
was formed in 1882.
The strength of the police is 406 of all ranks, under the orders of
the District Superintendent. An Assistant Superintendent is in charge
of the police in the Paungde subdivision. The force consists of
3 inspectors, 2 chief head constables, 6 head constables, 41 sergeants,
and 352 constables, distributed in 14 police stations and 4 out-
posts. The military police number 166 of all ranks, 66 being
stationed at Prome town, the rest distributed in the other six town-
ships. The District possesses two jails, at Prome and Paungde, with
accommodation for 325 and 177 prisoners respectively. The Paungde
jail was built in 1900, taking the place of the old reformatory school,
which had been used as a jail since 1896.
The percentage of literate persons in 1901 was 45 in the case of
males, 4 in that of females, and 24 in the case of the two sexes
together. The number of pupils was 8,946 in 1881, 8,851 in 1891,
ro,2oi in 1901, and 10,166 in 1903-4, including 1,093 girls. In the
last year there were 19 secondary, 126 primary, and 428 elementary
(private) schools in the District. The most important institutions are
the schools at Prome and Paungde. Judging from the attendance and
from the passes obtained, female education is making a steady advance.
The total expenditure on education in 1903-4 was Rs. 44,600, muni-
cipal funds contributing Rs. 12,900 and Provincial funds Rs. 8,800,
while Local funds provided Rs. 10,000 and fees Rs. 12,900.
The District contains hospitals at Prome, Paungde, and Shwedaung,
rROMF. TOWN 2jg
with 78 bt^ds. In 1903 the number of rases ireatt'tl was 30,179, inchid-
ing 1,011 in-patients, and 559 operations were performed. Towards
a total expenditure of Rs. 13,800, municipal funds contributed
Rs. 7,600 and Local funds Rs. 4,900.
Vaccination is compulsory only wathin municipalitie.s, but the esti-
mated percentage of protected persons in the District as a whole
is fairly high. In 1903-4 the number of persons successfully vac-
cinated was 17,490, representing 48 per 1,000 of population. At one
time small-pox was a scourge of particular virulence in Prome town,
but vaccination has done much to reduce the ravages of this disease.
[W. E. T>ovvry, Settlement Report {\()02).'\
Prome Subdivision. — North-eastern subdivision of Prome Dis-
trict, Lower Burma, containing three townships : Promp:, Hmawza,
and Paukkauxg.
Prome Township. — Township of Prome District, Lower Burma,
consisting wholly of the municipality of Prome, with an area of
9 square miles. The non-municipal revenue raised in the township
in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 1,42,000, the greater part being excise.
Land tax, levied in lieu of capitation tax, contributed Rs. 4,000. The
cultivated area within the limits of the township fell from 3 square
miles in 1890-1 to 2 square miles in 1903-4, and the agricultural
population from 10,600 to 2,100 between the years 1891 and 1901.
Prome Town. — Head-quarters of the District of the same name
in Lower Burma, situated in 18° 49' N. and 95° 13' E., on the eastern
bank of the Irrawaddy, at the mouth of the Nawin, 161 miles by
railway from Rangoon. The populaticm, according to the last four
enumerations, was as follows: (1872) 31,157, (i88i) 28,813, (1891)
30,022, .and (1901) 27,375. Of the population in 1901, Buddhists
numbered 24,200, and Musalmans and Hindus about 1,400 each.
The number of Buddhists was approximately 3,000 lower than in
1891, whereas that of the Lidian religions was about the same. It
will thus be seen that the diminution in the past decade, for which
various reasons have been assigned, is confined to the indigenous
population. The town is well laid out, having been almost entirely
destroyed in 1862; and is divided into several quarters, Xawin on the
north, Ywabe on the east, .Sinzu on the south, and Shweku and San-
daw in the centre. In a line skirting the high river bank are the
municipal school, the courthouses, the church, and the telegraph
office. The Strand road traverses the town from nortli to south, and
from it well-laid roads run eastwards into the urban areas. North of
Sinzu is the famous Shwesandaw pagoda, and in the Nawin quarter
are the markets. The municipal water- works, opened in r885, supply
the town with water from the river.
The date of the foundation is not known. The original cai)ital of
230 PROME TOWN
the kingdom of I'rome was 'J'harekhettra, 5 or 6 miles inland. This
was the ancient city, no doubt, which the early histories state was
destroyed by the Talaings in the eighth century ; and it was probably
after the reigning dynasty had gone northwards to retrieve their shat-
tered fortunes in Pagan that the remnant of the Pyus chose as their
capital the existing town of Prome, destined in after time to be one
of the chief centres round which the early peoples of the country
struggled for the mastery in Burma. Prome was the scene of warlike
operations in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, and its occupation
and defence and the subsequent defeat of the Burmans near the town
by the British in 1825 were among the conspicuous incidents of the
first Burmese War. In the second Burmese War it was captured and
occupied temporarily by Commander Tarleton, and three months later
in the same year (1852) General Godwin's advance up the river placed
the town in the occupation of the British, out of whose hands it has
not passed since.
The principal industries are the manufacture of silk cloth, large gilt
boxes for palm-leaf books, and lacquer-ware. A saw-mill and a rice-
mill are at work in the town, but no other factories. Cotton, both
local produce and imported from Upper Burma, is partially cleaned
at Prome before export to Rangoon. The through trade has decreased
since the opening of the Toungoo-Mandalay railway, goods being no
longer sent for transhipment to the same extent as formerly.
Prome was constituted a municipality in 1874. The income during
the ten years ending 1900 averaged Rs. 1,23,000, and the expenditure
Rs. 1,20,000. In 1903-4 the receipts were Rs. 1,48,000, the chief
sources being tolls on markets and slaughter-houses (Rs. 63,000), house
and land tax (Rs. 12,000), and water rate (Rs. 17,000). The expendi-
ture in the same year was Rs. 2,43,000, the chief heads being drainage
(Rs. 16,000), conservancy (Rs. 40,000), and roads (Rs. 19,000). The
amount devoted to the water-works was Rs. 82,000.
The municipality maintains a high school with 360 pupils, and in
1900 new school buildings were erected at a cost of Rs. 32,000. The
annual municipal contribution towards education is Rs. 7,000. The
hospital, maintained largely from municipal funds, has accommodation
for 42 in-patients. Four beds are specially set apart for eye-diseases,
which are exceptionally prevalent in Prome.
Pubna. — District, subdivision, and town in Eastern Bengal and
Assam. See Pabna.
Pudukkottai State. — The third most important of the five Native
States in political relations with the Government of Madras. It lies
on the eastern side of the Presidency, between 10° 7' and 10° 44' N.
and 78° 25' and 79° 12' E., and is bounded on the north and west
by Trichinopoly District, the ('ollcctor of which is ex-officio Political
rUDUKKOTTAF STATE 231
Agenl for the Stale, on the south by Madura, and on tlic cast by
Tanjore. It comprises an area of r,ioo square miles, and measures
50 miles from east to west and 40 miles from north to south. It is
called after its chief town, the name meaning ' new fort." The State
was formerly known as the 'I'ondiman's country, from the family name
of the ruling chief.
Pudukkottai resembles in its physical as|)ects the upland parts of
the east coast of the Presidency, and consists for the most i)art of an
undulating plain of barren or sparsely-culti\ated land
interspersed with small but picturesque rocky hills, as^e'^s
some of which are crowned by ancient forts and
temples. These hills are most numerous in the south-west portion,
where the country is extremely wild and rugged, and here also are
the thickest forests. In these are found antelope, spotted deer, wild
hog, and some wild cattle, which appear to have originally been village
cattle of the ordinary type but are now larger and stronger than the
usual plough bullocks. Four small rivers drain the country from west
to east.
The climate resembles that of the surrounding Districts and is fairly
healthy. Temperatures have not been officially recorded ; but Puduk-
kottai is probably cooler than Trichinopoly in the hot season, as it
is more open and nearer the sea. Malaria is rare. Guinea-worm used
to be very common, but is now less prevalent. The annual rainfall
averages 35 inches.
During the last quarter of a century there have been three cyclones,
wdiich occurred in 1884, 1890, and 1893, all during the north-east
monsoon. In the first two the rainfall amounted to about i\ inches,
and in the last it was from 12 to 27 inches in different parts of the
State, but no serious damage occurred.
In early times the northern part of the present Pudukkottai Stale
belonged to the Chola kings, whose capital was at UraiyOr near
Trichinopoly, and the southern part to the Pandva
kings of Madura. About the middle of the sixteenth
century Madura passed to the Naik dynasty, and its kings acquired the
whole of the territory which makes up the present State, ruling it through
a poligar or feudatory chief. In the seventeenth century the country
came into the possession of the Setupati of Ramnad, who had been a
vassal of the Naiks but had thrown off his allegiance. It was temporarily
recovered about 1664 by Chokkanatha, the Naik ruler of Trichinopoly,
but soon afterwards came again into the possession of Ramnad ; and
about 1680 the Setupati, Raghunatha Kilavan, appointed Raghunatha
Tondiman as chief of the district of Pudukkottai. This latter is said to
have been the brother of a girl of the Kalian caste whom the Ramnad
chief had married. From him the present Rajas trace their descent.
232 PUDUKKOTTAT STATE
The relations i^'i the EngHsh with the State began during the Carnatic
wars of the eighteenth century. During the siege of Trichinopoly by
the French in 1752 and 1753 the Tondiman of the time did good ser-
vice to the Company's cause by sending them provisions, although his
own country was on at least one occasion ravaged as a consequence of
his fidelity to the English. In 1756 he sent some of his troops to assist
Muhammad Yusuf, the Company's sepoy commandant, in settling the
Madura and Tinnevelly countries. Subsequently, he was of much ser-
vice in the wars with Haidar Ali, and in the operations against the
rebellious poligars of Sivaganga and Panjalamkurichi in Madura and
Tinnevelly Districts respectively, capturing the latter and handing him
over to the English. In 1803 he solicited, as a reward for his services,
the favourable consideration of his claim to the fort and district of
Kilanelli, near Arantangi in the south of Tanjore. He based his claim
on a grant made by Pratap Singh, Raja of Tanjore, and on engagements
subsequently entered into by Colonel Braithwaite, Sir Eyre Coote, and
Lord Macartney, on the faith of which he had retaken the fort from
Haidar Ali. The Madras Government, after a very complimentary re-
view of his services, complied with his request ; and the grant was con-
firmed in 1806 by the Court of Directors, subject to the condition that
the district should not be alienated, and that it should revert to the
British Government upon satisfactory proof that the inhabitants were
subjected to any oppressive system of management. The grant was
further made subject to the yearly tribute of an elephant ; but this was
never insisted upon, and in 1836 was formally remitted. Beyond this
grant, there is no treaty or arrangement with the Raja. A sanad per-
mitting adoption in accordance with Hindu law was conferred on him
in 1862. At first the political charge of the State was entrusted to the
Resident at Tanjore. A\'hen this office was abolished in 1841, the duty
was transferred to the Collector of Madura. From 1865 to 1874 the
Political Agent was the Collector of Tanjore, and from 1874 up to the
present time the Collector of Trichinopoly has carried on the duties of
the post.
The present Raja, His Highness Raja Sri Martanda Bhairava Tondi-
man Bahadur, who was born on November 27, 1875, succeeded his
grandfather in 1886 as a minor. He is the grandson of Raja Rama-
chandra Tondiman Bahadur (fifth in descent from Raghunatha) by his
eldest daughter, and was adopted by the late Raja in 1877. During his
minority the late Sir A. Seshayya Sastri, K.C.S.I., was Diwan Regent.
The Raja, who had been for some years under the private tuition
of an English gentleman, was installed on November 27, 1894. He
has a privy purse of Rs. 1,24,000 a year, and is entitled to a salute
of II guns.
No systematic examination of the archaeological remains in ihe State
POPUr.ATIOX 233
has been nidde. Near Xartamalai. in a cluster of low rocky hills 9 miles
north west of Pudukkottai town and to the west of the road from
Trichinopoly, are ancient rock-cuttings consisting of caves with pillar
supports to the roof and carvings, which are probably of Jain origin.
The most interesting antiquities so far discovered consist of coins.
Roman auni have been found, and also some curious native copper
coins which are believed to be about a hundred years old. The latter
are lumps of copper without edgings, but the designs on some of them
are well executed. The coins being very small the legends are imper-
fect, but they are believed to have been struck by Raja ^'i)aya Raghu-
natha (1807-25). Some curious old chain armour has been found near
Tirumayam. The inscriptions on some of the temples are believed to
be of interest, but have not been deciphered.
The State contains one town, its capital Pudukkottai, the inhabi-
tants of which numbered 20,347 in 1901 ; and 377 villages. The largest
of the villages are Tirumayam and Karambakudi, the
population of each of which is over 3,500. The popu-
lation of the State was 316,695 in 1871, 302,127 in i88r (the decline
being due to the great famine of 1876-8), 373,096 in 1891, and 380,440
in 1 90 1. The density in 1901 was 346 persons per square mile, which
is considerably less than in the neighbouring Districts of Tanjore and
Trichinopoly, but slightly above the density in Madura. In the same
year Hindus numbered 353,723, or 93 per cent, of the total; Muham-
madans, 12,268, or 3-2 per cent.; and Christians, 14,449, or 3-8 per cent.
The most numerous caste among the Hindus is the Valaiyans (52,890),
formerly shikaris but now largely agriculturists : next come the Kalians
(47,462), the Paraiyans (32,550), and the Pallans (27,381), who are
chiefly cultivators and farm labourers; and then the Idaiyans (26,479),
who are shepherds. As elsewhere in Southern India, the great majority
of the people subsist by the land.
The Christian missions working in the State are the Roman Catholic
(Jesuit and Goanese) and the Protestant (Leipzig Lutheran, and AVes-
leyan). Aviir, a village 12 miles to the south of Trichinopoly, is the
centre of the Catholic missions. Of the Christians in the State in 1901,
14,406 were natives, and of these 14,051 were Roman Catholics, 233
Lutherans, and 17 Methodists.
Vital statistics are registered by the village otificers, as in British
territory. The recorded birth- and death-rates in 1903-4 were 9-28
and 8-75 respectively per 1,000 of the population. These figures
show that registration is by no means complete, and steps are being
taken to improve matters. Regulation I of 1903 has made regis-
tration compulsor}' in Pudukkottai town, and Regulation II of the
same year gives the Darbar power to make it compulsory in rural
tracts also.
234 PUDUKKOTTAI STATE
The general agricultural conditions of the State, the soils and seasons
and the methods of cultivation, resemble those in the adjoining areas
. , in Trichinopoly and Madura. Out of the total area
Agriculture. ^ ., ,,
of 1,100 square miles or 704,000 acres, 271,879
acres are held on the usual ryotii<dri or indm (favourable rate)
tenures; 157,417 acres are occupied \))' jdgirs (estates), or relate to
t7idms the tenure of which has been inquired into but in respect of
which title-deeds have not yet been issued ,; 50,070 acres represent
unoccupied lands fit for cultivation ; and the rest is waste, such as
hills, forest, village-sites, t&c, which is not fit for cultivation. Among
the lands held on indfn and other favourable tenures is the Manovarti
'dglr, which is held by the Raja himself. This class of land also in-
cludes many villages and minor indms granted at lenient rates of assess-
ment by former Rajas to Brahmans and the old militia. An inquiry
into the terms on which these are held has recently been conducted
and is now practically complete. Of the area occupied on the ryotwdri
or ' minor ' indm tenures, all but 118 acres pays money rents. The re-
mainder is held on what is called the amdni system, under which the
Darbar takes as the land revenue one-half of the net produce on ' wet '
lands and one-third of that on 'dry' lands, after first deducting the
swatantranis or fees due to village officers and servants. The reasons
which have caused such a large area as 50,070 acres of arable land
to remain unoccupied are being investigated.
The principal food-crops are rice, cainbu {Pennisetu/n typhoideiini), rdgi
{Eleusine coracana), cholain {Sorghum vu/gare), and varagu {Faspa/um
scrobiculatum). Other important crops are horse-gram, ground-nuts
{Arai/iis hvpogaea), and black gram. The proportion of the cultivated
area to the land available for cultivation has gradually increased during
the past eight years from 66 to 84 per cent. The extent of ' wet '
(irrigated) land under occupation in 1903-4 was 108,000 acres, and that
of ' dry ' (unirrigated) land, 1 70,500 acres. The irrigation sources of the
State are 4 rivers, 62 dams, 7,356 artificial reservoirs, 190 channels,
3,927 jungle streams, and 18,452 wells. Of these, the reservoirs are
the most important. The country is dotted with them and some are of
considerable size.
The forests contain only small timber. No law regarding forests has
been enacted, but sixty blocks of jungle have been marked out and
' reserved.' They cover about one-seventh of the area of the State, and
some are reserved for the Raja to shoot over. Wild cattle are occasion-
ally caught in them and broken in and used as draught animals, as they
are remarkable for their strength and endurance. Their capture has
lately, however, been prohibited. Several plantations have been made
near the streams and rivers ; and these contain 245,000 casuarina trees,
the wood of which makes excellent fuel. The principal sources of forest
TRADE AND COMMUNICATIONS 235
revenue are the sale of fuel and minor produce such as gums, tanning
barks, &c., the lease of the right to collect leaves for manure, tanning
bark, Nux vomica, and red ochre, seigniorage fees on granite and laterite
removed, licence fees for stone-quarrying, stone-masons' licences, and
a tax on brick-moulds. The total forest revenue in 1903-4 amounted
to Rs. 35,000.
Minerals are few. Iron ore is found in places, but is not mined.
Red ochre is procurable in abundance and is extracted in large quan
tities. Granite and laterite are used for building. The laterite is a very
hard variety, and the old fort of Kilvellikkottai is built entirely of it.
There are no large industries in the State. Silk fabrics are made at
Pudukkottai town, the number of silk-weavers' houses being about 200.
Cotton stuffs are woven there and at Karambakudi,
and black woollen blankets at Sellukudi. Rush mats '^''^'^^. ^"?
communications.
and also bell- metal vessels are made in and about
Karambakudi. These are much in demand both within and outside
the State. Bangles are made at Vaittur. Perfumes are manufactured
at Pudukkottai and exported to some extent, being much appreciated
among Hindus.
The other chief articles of export are ground-nuts, Niix vomica seeds,
dvdram bark used for tanning leather, and acacia bark employed in
distilleries. The chief imports are salt, rice, European piece-goods, and
tobacco. The Chettis conduct the greater part of the trade, and there
are also a considerable number of I^abbais, an enterprising body of
mixed Musalman descent.
The State is well provided with roads, which are kept in good condi-
tion. Pudukkottai town is connected with Trichinopoly by two routes,
one running direct through Kiranur and the other passing through
Iluppur and Viralimalai on the Madura trunk road. It is also con-
nected by road with Tanjore, Budalur, Gandarvakottai, Pudukkottai, and
Arantangi in Tanjore District, and with Melur in Madura. There are in
addition several smaller lines within the State. The total length of all the
roads is 272 miles, and the outlay on them in 1903-4 was Rs. 45,000.
Light spring carts drawn by ponies (known as jatkas) ply from Tanjore
and Trichinopoly to Pudukkottai, the distances being 36 and n
miles respectively. There is no railway in the State ; but the Darbar
has been asked whether it is prepared to finance that portion of a line
from Trichinopoly to Pudukkottai town which would run through the
territory of the Raja, and another proposal contemplates the con-
struction of a line from Madura District, through this State, to Tanjore.
The chief town and seven other places are connected with Trichinopoly
by telegraph. There are 28 post offices. Both the post and telegraph
ofifices are under the management of the Government of India Postal
and Telegraph departments.
VOL. XX. g
236 PUDUKKOTTAI STATE
The State suffered severely in the famine of 1876-8, when relief works
were opened and gratuitous relief was distributed. The country is en-
tirely dependent upon timely local rainfall, but actual
famines are of rare occurrence. In 1894-5, owing
to the failure of rain in both monsoons, distress was felt in the northern
part. The Raja visited the affected tracts, and ordered the suspension
of the collection of the land revenue and the opening of relief works.
The administration of the State is in the hands of a council, consisting
of the Raja, the Diwan (formerly called the Sirkele), and a (!ouncillor.
Orders are passed and correspondence carried on in
Administration. , ^ ^, T-k- - • r^ 1 n^u cl. ^
the name of the Diwan-m-Council. 1 he State is
guided in all important matters by the advice and counsel of the British
Government, represented by the Political Agent, the Collector of Tri-
chinopoly. Since 1902, an assembly of representatives has been con-
stituted on the lines of the Mysore Assembly. It is composed of 30
persons, chosen by the State as representative of the various classes of
the community, nominations being made by the heads of departments
and by public institutions. The assembly meets once a year. The
results of the preceding year's administration and the budget for the
ensuing year are placed before it, and its members are allowed the
privilege of interpellation on all matters connected with the adminis-
tration.
The immediate control of the revenue and magisterial departments
is in the hands of the Diwan Peshkar, who is also the chief magistrate
and is invested with first-class magisterial powers. The salt, excise,
and forest departments are under the control of the Superintendent
of salt, ilbkari, and separate revenue. The Superintendent of police in
Trichinopoly District is ex-officio Superintendent of the force within the
State. The country is divided for administrative purposes into three
taluks : Kolattiir, the head-quarters of which is at Kiranur, and Alangudi
and Tirumayam, the head-quarters of which are the places after which
they are named. In each of these is stationed a tahslldar^ who is
responsible for land revenue ; an inspector of salt, abkdri, and separate
revenue ; a sub-magistrate, and an inspector of police.
Legislative measures are enacted by the Dlwan-in-Council, and, as
in the case of the other Native States subject to the Madras Govern-
ment, are forwarded to that Government for approval before being
passed into law.
Civil justice is administered by the Chief Court at Pudukkottai,
which consists of three judges and a registrar who has Small Cause
jurisdiction. There are also ten Small Cause Courts for rural areas,
sub-registrars of assurances being invested with the powers of Small
Cause judges to about the same extent as Village Munsifs in British
territory. All appeals are disposed of by the Chief Court.
AD.\riXTSTRA TIOX
237
The criminal courts arc the Sessions court, presided over by the
judges of the Chief Court sitting singly by turns ; and the courts of the
chief magistrate, who has first-class powers ; the special magistrate,
Pudukkottai, with first- or second-class powers ; the town second-class
magistrate ; three tdhtk magistrates and three stationary magistrates
with second-class powers; and six sub-registrars invested with third-
class powers. All appeals lie to the Chief Court. Serious offences,
such as dacoity or robbery, are rare, the greater part of the crime
consisting of house-breaking and thefts. Sentences of rigorous im-
prisonment for life and forfeiture of property, the former of which,
under the law of the State, takes the place of capital punishment, are
subject to the confirmation of the Raja. The criminal courts have no
jurisdiction over European British subjects, and any offenders of this
class are handed over for trial to the Political Agent, who is Justice of
the Peace for the State. The receipts under Law and Justice amounted
in 1903-4 to Rs. 61,000, and the charges to Rs. 40,000.
The Regulation of the State dealing with the registration of assur-
ances differs but little from the Indian Registration Act, the chief point
of divergence being that under the former registration is compulsory in
the case of several kinds of documents regarding which it is optional
under the latter. There are twelve registry oftices, including that of
the head of the department, who is called the Registrar of xA.ssurances.
The cost of the department is Rs. 18,000.
The total revenue of the State in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 11,28,000,
and the total expenditure to Rs. 10,21,000. The chief items are shown
in the following table : —
Receipts.
Expenditure.
Rs.
Rs.
Land revenue
7,97,000
Palace ....
2,49,000
Salt ....
38,000
Administration
1,85,000
Excise on spirits and
Religious and charitable
drugs
84,000
endowments
1,21,000
Forests.
35,000
Public works
2,40,000
Assessed taxes
7,400
Registration .
29,000
The ordinary currency of the State is the British Indian coinage, but
a small round copper coin, worth one-twentieth of an anna and called
amman-kasu, is also current. This is minted for the State, and bears
on one side the word vijaya (' victory ') in Telugu, and on the other
a representation of the Raja's tutelary goddess Bruhadamba. This
deity is the consort of the god Gokarnaswami, and a temple to them
stands in Tirugokarnam, a suburb of Pudukkottai town. To this
the Rajas are wont to go on occasions of public worship.
The land revenue consists of the assessment on land held on the
ryotwari tenure, quit-rents on certain classes of iniims, a small tax on
g 2
238 PUDUKKOTTAI STATE
jciifirs, and the value of the Slate's share of the produce of land held
under the amani system above referred to. The rates of assessment on
'wet' land on ryolwdri tenure vary from Rs. 4 to Rs. 10 per acre, and
those on 'dry ' land from 6^ annas to Rs. 1-8. There are also special
rates for ' dry ' land on which rice is grown.
The history of the land revenue possesses some interest. In 1878,
when Mr. (afterwards Sir) A. Seshayya Sastri became Diwan, about
16,000 acres were held on a tenure under which the cultivator and
the State shared the produce. The Diwan substituted for the State's
share a money assessment based upon the average out-turn for the five
years from 1871 to 1875 and the average selling price of grain during
those years. No remissions of the assessment so arrived at. were to
be allowed on account of bad seasons. The village accountants' fees
(formerly payable in kind) were commuted into a cess of 6 pies per
rupee of assessment.
It had long been customary to give a paper to each ryot every year,
which specified the fields which happened to be in his possession and
were to be cultivated by him in that year. The ryots were not, however,
considered to possess any occupancy rights in their land or any power of
transfer. Their status has now been changed from that of tenants-at-
will into that of proprietors ; and owners of land are now able to
mortgage, transfer, or sell it, proceedings which would have been
void at law under the previous system. These reforms, however,
quickly showed very clearly the necessity for a regular survey and
settlement. The cadastral survey of the State is now in progress. On
its completion, the settlement will be taken in hand.
Revenue used to be derived from the earth-salt manufactured from
saline soils as a State monopoly ; but in 1887 the Madras Government
arranged with the Darbar for the suppression of this manufacture, and
entered into a convention (still in force) by which it agreed to pay
the Darbar Rs. 38,000 annually as compensation, imposing at the same
time the obligation of maintaining a preventive staff costing about
Rs. 10,000.
The system of collection of the excise revenue is almost the .same
as that in the Madras Presidency. A State distillery is maintained
for the manufacture of country spirit, and rents are collected on licences
for retail shops and on palm-trees permitted to be tapped for their
juice. Still-head duty is collected on the liquor issued from the dis-
tillery at rates nearly equal to those obtaining in the Madras Presidency.
There are 108 arrack (spirit) and 233 toddy (fermented palm-juice)
shops, one foreign liquor shop, and also one shop in the chief town
for the sale of opium and gafija. The cost of the excise department
is Rs. 8,000.
Under the head of assessed taxes among the sources of revenue given
EDUCATIOX 2yj
above is included the mo/i/affa, which consists of a tax on huuscs and
trades. Terraced houses are assessed at R. i per annum, tiled houses
at 8 annas, thatched houses at 4 annas, and huts at 6 pies. Shops
and bazars are charged at the rate of Rs. 3, Rs. 2, R. r, and 8 annas,
according to their importance. Silk looms pay R. i each, other looms
12 annas, and oil-mills Rs. 2 per annum.
Tolls are levied in Pudukkottai town and at eight other gates. The
proceeds amount to Rs. 30,000. A revenue of about Rs. 20,000 is
derived from market fees, cart-stand fees, and rent of public buildings.
There is no stamp law in the State. (Jourt fees are levied in cash.
The Public Works department is under the control of an Engineer,
aided by two Assistant Engineers and a subordinate staff. The care of
the State buildings and the maintenance and construction of irrigation
works form the principal part of its business.
The military force now maintained consists of 22 officers, 90 privates
(of whom 6 are gunners), and 16 troopers, who are known as tlie Raja's
body-guard and are under the immediate control of an officer called
the commandant.
The strength of the police force is one chief inspector, 5 inspectors,
28 head constables, and 229 constables. There are 2^ police stations.
As has already been mentioned, the force is in charge of the District
Superintendent of Trichinopoly. The annual cost of the department
is Rs. 35,000.
The seven prisons include the Central jail at Pudukkottai town and
six subsidiary jails. The convicts in the former are employed in making
wicker baskets, ropes, cloths, bell-metal vessels, and net bags, in garden-
ing, and in pressing gingelly oil. They are also emplo\ed in the con-
servancy of the town. The value of the labour done both within and
without the jail by them in 1903-4 was Rs. 2,200. There were 50 con-
victs in jail at the end of 1903-4 (8 of whom were life-convicts) and 15
under-trial prisoners, besides 5 civil prisoners, all of whom were lunatics.
The cellular system is not in force, but arrangements have been made
to introduce it. The cost of the department is about Rs. 7,000.
According to the Census of 1901 Pudukkottai, if it had been a
British District, would have taken the fifth place among the twenty-two
Districts of the Madras Presidency as regards the „.
, ■ , ,11 Education,
education of its male population, but would have
ranked last as regards the education of its girls, the actual percen-
tages of the literate of each sex to the total population of that sex
being 15-6 and 0-4 respectively. At the end of 1903-4, there were
35 State, 146 aided, and 96 unaided educational institutions. Of these,
255 were primary, 13 secondary, and 6 special schools. Altogether,
8,397 boys and 846 girls were under instruction. Pudukkottai town
possesses a second-grade college, teaching up to the F.A. examination,
240 rUDUKKOTTAI STATE
which at the close of 1903-4 contained 36 students in the college
department. Provision has been made in the institution for the
religious instruction of Hindu boys, and physical development also
receives special attention. A school called the Vani Vilasa Veda
Sastra Pathsala teaches Sanskrit on Oriental lines. The staff consists
of eight pandits : three for the Vedas, one each for Tarka (logic) and
Vedanta (metaphysics), one for Mimamsa (a school of philosophy),
and two for Kavya (poetry). The library contains over a thousand
volumes on paper and cadjan (palm-leaves). About half the students
get daily allowances in kind from the assignments made to religious
and charitable institutions. The town State girls' school teaches up to
the lower secondary standard. There is an industrial school at Puduk-
kottai under the control of the Engineer. The State also endeavours to
spread general elementary education. Girls of all castes and Muham-
niadans and Panchania boys are taught free. In the lower classes
non-Brahman Hindus form the majority of the pupils. Of the girls,
the most numerous are those of the Muhammadan community. In
1903-4 the receipts from fees, &c., amounted to Rs. 14,000 and the
gross expenditure was Rs. 40,000, the net cost to the State being
Rs. 26,000. Of the total outlay, Rs. 15,000 was devoted to primary
education. The control of the Educational department is vested in the
principal of the College, Mr. Radhakrishna Ayyar, a gentleman known
even in Europe for his works on arithmetic.
Pudukkottai town possesses a well-equipped hospital, with 28 beds for
males and 4 for females, and also a dispensary for women and children,
while 7 other dispensaries have been opened in the
rural parts. The dispensary for women and children
is in charge of a lady apothecary, and the other institutions are under
the control of the chief medical and sanitary officer. In 1903-4, 440
in-patients and 85,700 out-patients were treated, and the number of
operations performed was 1,800.
The vaccination staff, consisting of one inspector and ten vaccinators,
works under the supervision of the chief medical and sanitary officer.
About 26 per 1,000 of the population were successfully vaccinated in
1903-4. Vaccination is compulsory only in Pudukkottai town.
The conservancy of this town is controlled by a sanitary board, with
a full-time secretary as its chief executive officer. Conservancy in other
parts is attended to by the revenue staff, acting upon the advice and
suggestions of the chief medical and sanitary officer. The total
annual cost of the Medical department, including vaccination, is about
Rs. 26,000.
[For further particulars of the State see its Annual Administration
Reports and the Trichinopo/y District JManual (1878).]
Pudukkottai Town. Capital of the State of Pudukkollai, Madras,
rune AT TOWN 241
situated in 10° 23' N. and 78° 49' E., i}^ miles by road from Trichi-
nopoly. Population in 1901, 20,347, compared with 16,885 i" 1891
and 15,384 in 188:. Hindus number 18,459; Musalmans, 1,344;
and Christians, 544. It is an unusually clean, airy, and well-built town,
possessing many fine public buildings. At the suggestion of Sir W.
Blackburne, the Political Agent, Raja Vijaya Raghunatha Raja Bahadur,
who died in 1825, pulled down the whole of the old town, which was
built with narrow and tortuous lanes, and rebuilt it in regular streets,
a large number of the houses being tiled. The place was further
improved in the time of Sir A. Seshayya Sastri, K.C.S.I., who was
Diwan-Regent for some years while the present Raja was a minor. The
fine public buildings outside the town were erected by him. The chief
of these are the new palace, the public offices, the hospital, the jail, the
college, the Residency, and the summer villa. The old palace, which
contains the Raja's Darbar room, is in the heart of the town. This
building is not used except on state occasions and is somewhat out of
repair. Two large drinking-water tanks in the town (Pallavankulam
and Pudukulam) and several others were also improved at considerable
cost, but with the most beneficial results, during Sir A. Seshayya
Sastri's administration. Particulars of the educational and medical
institutions in the town will be found in the article on the State.
Pukhrayan. — Another name of the BhognIpur Tahsil, Cawnpore
District, United Provinces.
Pulgaon. — Town in the District and tahsll of Wardha, Central
Provinces, situated in 20° 44' N. and 78° 19' E., on the Great Indian
I'eninsula Railway, 19 miles from Wardha town and 452 from
Bombay. Population (1901), 4,710. Pulgaon is quite a new town,
and originally consisted of a collection of huts of the workmen who
built the railway bridge over the Wardha river close b)', the name
meaning 'bridge village.' It was constituted a municipality in 1901.
The receipts and expenditure in 1903-4 were Rs. ir,ooo and Rs. 7,000
respectively. The income is derived principally from road tolls and
rents of land. Pulgaon is an important centre of the cotton trade,
receiving the produce of nearly the whole of the Arvi tahsll. The
Pulgaon Spinning Mills were opened in 1892 with a capital of 5 lakhs,
and have nearly 15,000 spindles. The out-turn of yarn in 1904 was
21,300 cwt., valued at more than 10 lakhs. A weaving department
containing 165 looms was added in 1902 at an additional cost of
3i lakhs. There are also 5 cotton-ginning factories and 3 pressing
factories, with a total capital of 4^ lakhs, and containing 146 gins and
3 presses. Pulgaon has a primary school and a dispensary.
Pulicat Town.— Town in the Ponneri taluk of Chingleput District,
Madras, situated in 13" 25' N. and 80° 19' E., on the southern extremity
of an island which separates the sea from the Pli.icat Lake, 2-^ miles
242 PULICAT TOWN
north of Madras city. Population (1901), 5,448. Pulicat was the site
of the earliest settlement of the Dutch on the mainland of India. In
1609 they built a fort here and called it Geldria, and in 16 19 the
English obtained from the chiefs a permission to share in the pepper
trade of Java. Later, it was the chief Dutch settlement on the Coro-
mandel coast. It was taken by the English in 1781 ; restored in 1785
to Holland under the treaty of 1784, and again surrendered by the
Dutch in 1795. In 181 8 Pulicat was handed back to Holland by
the East India Company under the Convention of the Allied Powers
in 1814; in 1825 it was finally ceded to Great Britain by the treaty
of March, 1824. The only relics of Dutch authority now remaining
are the curious and elaborate tombs in their old cemetery, which are
maintained at Government expense. The town was formerly a centre
of trade with Penang and the Straits, but this has now ceased. It was
also once a sanitarium much frequented by residents of Madras, but
the prevalence of malarial fever put it out of favour. The place is now
comparatively deserted, and is inhabited chiefly by the Muhammadan
trading community of Labbais. The only trade now carried on is
managed by these people. It consists chiefly of the export of woven
cloth, dried fish, and prawns. The Hindus of the town are for the
most part very poor and earn their livelihood by fishing and daily
labour. The old Roman Catholic church here attracts large crowds
from Madras and elsewhere to one of its annual feasts.
Pulicat Lake. — A shallow salt-water lagoon, about 37 miles in
length and from 3 to 1 1 in breadth, lying along the shore of the Bay
of Bengal in Nellore District, Madras, between 13° 24' and 13° 47' N.
and 80° 2' and 80° 16' E. It is separated from the sea by the long,
narrow, sandy island of SrIharikota, and by the spit of sand on which
stands the town of Pulicat, after which it is named. Like the Chilka
Lake, it was probably formed by the antagonism between the sand-
bearing currents of the Bay and the silt-laden streams which flow into
it. There is shoal-water for some distance to seaward, and this shoal
probably grew gradually into a long sand-bar which checked the flow
of the land streams. The lake contains several islands (on which
much lime is made from the shells found upon them), and is connected
with the sea by openings north of Pulicat and elsewhere, and so is
influenced by the tide. It is seldom more than 6 feet deep in the dry
season. About thirty years ago a dam was built across the middle
of it from SrIharikota through the island of Venad to the mainland, in
order to reduce its extent and thus check the smuggling of the natural
salt which forms along its shores. This has turned the northern half
into a sandy waste. The Buckingham Canal enters the lake south
of Pulicat and utilizes it for about 6 miles.
Pulivendla.— North-western taluk of Cuddapah District, Madras,
ruxcii 243
lying between 14- 10' and 14° 44' N. and if 57' and 78° 38' E., with
an area of 701 square miles. It is bounded on the south by the
Palkonda Hills and on the north by the Erranialas, while to the east
runs the Papaghni river. The population in 1901 was 103,396, com-
pared with 105,843 in 1891. It contains one town, Vempalli-: (popula-
tion, 10,793), ^t^d 1 01 villages, including Pulivendla (1,894), the
head-quarters. The demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4
amounted to Rs. 2,38,000. The greater part is unirrigated, there being
no river of any size in it. An estimate for Rs. 19,000 has recently
been sanctioned for the construction of a tank, commanding 750 acres
in Vemula. Irrigation from wells is, however, general ; and in favoured
situations, such as the eastern portion, where the subsoil water lies at
no great depth, the ground so tilled becomes most productive. The
chief, and indeed almost the sole, industry is agriculture. Cotton and
cholant divide the greater part of the land between them.
Pullampet. — South-eastern taluk of Cuddapah District, Madras,
lying between 13° 44' and 14'^ 25' N. and 78° 59' and 79° 29' E., with
an area of 979 square miles. The \'elikondas, which are a section of
the Eastern Ghats, and the Palkonda (or Seshachalam) Hills bound it
on three sides. The population in 1901 was 143,521, compared with
149,109 in 1 89 1. It contains one town, Razampeta (population,
15,287), the head-quarters; and 127 villages. The demand for land
revenue and cesses in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 2,62,000. Unlike the
rest of Cuddapah, Pullampet benefits considerably from the north-east
monsoon, and its annual rainfall (35 inches) is the heaviest in the
District. More than one-third of the taluk consists of ' reserved '
forests, most of which lie on the Palkonda Hills. Cultivation is
principally carried on in two valleys. One of these, the Cheyyeru
valley, which formerly constituted the petty chiefship of Chitvel, is
most fertile and productive.
Pulney. — 7^7///-^ and town in Madura District, Madras. See Palm.
Punadra.— Petty State in Mahi Kantha, Bombay.
Punaka. — AN'inter capital of the State of Bhutan, situated in 2f 35' N.
and 89° 51' E., on the left bank of the Bugni river, 96 miles east-north-
east of Darjeeling. Punaka is a place of great natural strength.
Punalur. — Head-quarters of the Pattanapuram taluk in Travancore
State, Madras, situated in 9° \' N. and 76° 59' E. Population (1901),
2,826. It is a station on the Tinnevelly-Quilon Railway, and the
neighbouring forests yield excellent fibre which is made into paper.
Punamallee.— Town in Chingleput District, Madras. See Poona-
MALLEE.
Punch.— Principal place in the jdgir of the same name, Kashmir
State, situated in 33° 45' N. and 74° 9' l^-> ^t an elevation of 3,300
feet above sea-level. It lies on sloping ground above the right bank
244 PUNCH
of the Tawi. Population (1901), 8,215. The town is oblong in shape,
and is unwalled, with narrow streets. There are about 750 houses,
generally single-storeyed with flat mud roofs. The fort, in which the
Raja resides, stands on a mound about 300 yards from the south-west
corner of the town. Punch is well supplied with water brought by
channels from the neighbouring streams. The climate is hot in the
summer, and the rice-fields in the neighbourhood are probably one of
the causes of the prevalence of fever. During the five hot months
it is the custom to migrate to the summer camping-ground in the hills
known as Dhoks. There is a flourishing market and a large trade is
done in grain and ghi, in spite of the fact that there are no roads in
the jdgir fit for cart traffic. A good 6-ft. road for pack transport
has nearly been completed from the town to Uri on the Jhelum, and
there is a project for a road to Rawalpindi, with a suspension bridge
over the Jhelum at Lachman Patau. Other important tracks lead to
Gulmarg and Tosh Maidan in Kashmir, and to Jhelum. The ancient
name was Parnotsa, and the place is often mentioned in the chronicles.
The Kashmiris always speak of Punch as Prunts.
Pundra. — Ancient kingdom in Eastern Bengal, which, according to
Sir A. Cunningham, has given its name to Pabna District. It was
bounded on the north-east by Pragjyotisha or Kamarupa, on the west
by the Mahananda river, on the east by the Karatoya, and on the
south by the kingdom of Banga ; and it comprised parts of the modern
Districts of Rangpur, Dinajpur, Purnea, Malda, Rajshahi, Bogra, and
Pabna. The capital may have been at Mahasthan or Pandua (i).
This kingdom was in existence in the third century B.C., and Asoka's
brother found shelter there in the guise of a Buddhist monk. It was
still flourishing in the seventh century, when Hiuen Tsiang travelled in
India; and it is mentioned as a powerful kingdom in the eighth century,
and as a place of pilgrimage in the eleventh. King Ballal Sen gave it
the name of Barcndra, and it is the traditional home of the Pod caste.
Pundri. — Town in the Kaithal tahsll of Karnal District, Punjab,
situated in 29° 46' N. and 76^^ 34' E., on the bank of a great tank
called the Pundrak tank. Population (1901), 5,834. It was formerly
one of the strongholds of the Pundirs, a Rajput tribe who held
Thanesar and the Nardak. It has a vernacular middle school.
Punganuru Tahsil and Zamindari. — Estate situated above the
Ghats in the north-west corner of North Arcot District, Madras, lying
between 13° 10' and 13° 40' N. and 78° 22' and 79° E., and adjoining
Mysore. It extends over 648 square miles, and forms a tahsll in
charge of a di^^w'v^-iahstlddr and sub-magistrate. The population in
1901 was 96,852, compared with 92,023 in 1891. It contains 564
villages and one town, PunganIjru (population, 6,353), ^^^ head-
<iuarters and residence of \\\it zamlndar. ")l\\q pcshkash and land cess
PUNJAB 245
in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 81,000. The estate runs up to the
Mysore plateau, and its temperature is thus considerably lower than
that of the rest of the District. Large game is abundant, and twenty-
five years ago elephants were found. An excellent breed of cattle is
maintained, and sugar-cane is largely cultivated. The family of the
present zaminddr is said to have settled in the country as far back
as the thirteenth century, and its members have a long local history.
During the Mysore Wars the zaminddr assisted I^ord Cornwallis with
transport and provisions, and he and his successors managed the
estate for many years as lessees for the British. In 1832 the owner
died without issue and a series of disputes arose. The estate
eventually i)assed to his brother. A permanent sonad (grant) was
bestowed by Government in 186 1. The zainhuidr belongs to the
sect of Lingayats.
Punganuru Town. — Head-quarters of the /«/?,«/ and zamlnddri o{
the same name in North Arcot District, Madras, situated in 13° 22' N.
and 78° 35' E., on a plateau 2,000 feet above sea-level. Population
(1901), 6,353. i'^'ic town is prosperous, and owing to its elevation its
temperature is much less torrid than that of the lower parts of the
District. A large cattle fair is held in April. The zaminddr has set
aside a portion of his palace for the use of European travellers, and
the building possesses a museum containing a curious collection of
life-size models representing natives of various castes in their usual
costumes. A mile from the town are the ruins of a large Roman
Catholic chapel bearing the date 1780.
Punjab {Panjdb). — In its strict etymological sense the Punjab, or
' land of the five rivers,' is the country enclosed and watered by the
Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and .Sutlej ; but the Province as now
constituted includes also the table-land of Sirhind between the Sutlej
and the Jumna to the south of the former river, the Sind-Sagar Doab
or wedge of country between the Jhelum and the Indus, and west of
the latter river the two tracts which form Dera Ghazi Khan and part
of Mianwali District. The Province lies between 27° 39' and 34° 2' N.
and 69° 23' and 79° 2' E., and with its Native States has an area of
133,741 square miles, being larger by one-tenth than the British Isles,
and comprising a tenth of the area of the Indian Empire. Of the total
area, 36,532 square miles belong to Native States under the political
control of the Punjab Government, and the rest is British territory.
The population in 1901 was 24,754,737 (of whom 4,424,398 were in
the Native States), or 8-4 per cent, of the whole population of the
Indian Empire.
On the north the Himalayan ranges divide the Punjab from Kashmir
and the North-West Frontier Province. On the west the Indus forms
its main boundary with the latter Province, except that the Punjab
246 PUNJAB
includes the strip of riverain which forms the Isa Khel tahsll of
Mianwali District, west of that river. Its south-western extremity
also lies west of the Indus and forms the large District of Dera Ghazi
Khan, thereby extending its frontier to the Sulaiman range, which
divides it from Baluchistan. On the extreme south-west the Province
adjoins Sind, and the Rajputana desert forms its southern border.
On the east, the Jumna and its tributary the Tons divide it from the
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, its frontier north of the sources
of the latter river being contiguous with Chinese Tibet.
The Province falls into five main physical divisions. Three of
these — the Himalayan region, the Himalayan submontane which
stretches from the Jumna to the Salt Range, and
Physical ^j^^ ^j.j^ plateaux of that range — are small in area,
but the submontane is the most fertile and wealthiest
in the Punjab. The other two are the arid south-western plains, and
the western portion of the Indo-Gangetic Plain ^^'est which extends as
far westward as Lahore. Both these divisions are of vast extent, but
infertile towards the south, where they encroach on the plains of Sind
and Rajputana.
The Punjab proper comprises five doabs^ or tracts lying between
two rivers. These received their names from the emperor Akbar,
who formed them by combining the first letters of the names of the
rivers between which they lie. They are: the Bist Jullundur, also
called the Saharwal Doab, lying between the Beas and the Sutlej ; the
Bari, between the old bed of the Beas and the Ravi ; the Rechna
(Rachin-ab, or Rachin-ao), between the Ravi and the Chenab ; the
Chinhath, between the Chenab and the Bihat (another name for
the Jhelum), also called the Chaj ; and the Sind-Sagar, between the
Indus and the Jhelum or Bihat.
The whole Central Punjab is a vast alluvial plain ; but the north-
east of the Province is formed of a section of the Himalavas,
stretching up to and beyond the great central ranges so as to include
the Tibetan cantons of Lahul and Spiti. The Salt Range, with the
plateaux which lie to the north between it and the Indus, forms its
north-western angle, and the Sulaiman Range forms the southern half
of the western frontier of the Province. These are the only mountain
systems of importance ; but a few insignificant outliers of the Aravalli
system traverse Gurgaon District in the extreme south-east, and
terminate in the historic Ridge at Delhi.
All the seven great rivers of the Punjab rise in the Himalayas, and
after long courses, sometimes of several hundred miles, amid snow-
clad ranges, they debouch on the plains. The slope of the low country
is to the south and south-west, and is very gradual, seldom exceeding
2 feet in a mile ; and this determines the course of the rivers. In the
rnVSlCAI. AS/'ECTS 247
process of time each stream has cut for itself a wide valley, which lies
well below the level of the plain, and whose banks mark the extreme
limits of the course on either side. Within this valley the river
meanders in a narrow but ill-defined and ever-shifting channel. In
the winter the stream is comparatively small ; but as the mountain
snows melt at the approach of the hot season, the waters rise and
overflow the surrounding country, often to a distance of several miles
on either side. At the close of the rainy season the waters recede,
leaving wide expanses of fertile loam or less fertile sand.
Of these seven rivers, the Indus is the greatest. Already a mighty
stream when it emerges from the Hazara hills, it flows almost due
south past Attock. Here it enters a deep gorge, terminating at
Kalabagh, where it pierces the Salt Range. Thus far it forms the
western boundary ; but south of Kalabagh it enters the Province, and
divides the Isa Khel tahsll of Mianwali from the rest of that District.
Farther south again it forms the western boundary until it re-enters
Punjab territory near Bhakkar, and divides Dera Ghazi Khan from
Mianwali and Muzaffargarh Districts and from the State of Bahawalpur.
The Jhelum enters the Punjab east of the Salt Range, flowing south
between this and the Pabbi hills, which terminate at Mong Rasul.
Thence the river flows west and then south until it is joined by the
Chenab near Jhang. The Chenae rises in the Himalayan canton of
Lahul within the Province, and after traversing the Chamba State and
the Jammu province of Kashmir debouches on the plains east of the
Jhelum, into which it falls about 225 miles from the hills. The Ravi,
rising in Chamba, reaches the plain below Dalhousie, and joins the
combined waters of the Jhelum and Chenab 50 miles south of Jhang.
The united streams of these three rivers form the Trimab. The Beas,
rising on the south of the Rhotang pass on the opposite side of the
Central Himalayas to the Ravi, traverses the Kulii valley southward,
and then bends suddenly westward, through the Mandi State and
Kangra District, until it turns the northern flank of the Siwaliks, and
enters the plains within a few miles of the Ravi. Thence its course is
more southerly, and it falls into the Sutlej about 70 miles from its
debouchure. The Sutlej, rising near the source of the Indus in Tibet,
enters the Province near the Shipki Pass, traverses Bashahr and other
States of the Simla Hills, and pierces the Siwaliks near Rupar.
'I'hence it runs almost due west to its junction with the Beas near
Sobraon, where it takes a more southerly course for 270 miles, and
falls into the Trimab 9 miles north of Uch. Below this confluence
the waters of the Jhelum, Chenab and Ravi, Sutlej and Beas form the
Panjnad, or 'five rivers," which fall into the Indus at Mithankot.
Lastly, the Jumna, the only one of the great rivers of the Province
which ultimately drains into the Bay of Bengal, rises in Tehri State
248 PUNJAB
in the United Provinces, and from its junction with the Tons at the
eastern extremity of Sirmur territory forms the boundary between
the Punjab and the United Provinces for a distance of over 200
miles.
The Province presents great varieties of scenery, from the snow
peaks and glaciers of the Upper Himalayas to the deserts of shifting
sand in the Sind-Sagar Doab and Bahawalpur. The scenery of the
Himalayas has often been described. In the Salt Range it is
picturesque and even grand in places, and in the interior of the range
the slopes are everywhere green with box and bog-myrtle. The
southern face exhibits a very rugged and broken appearance, but
on the north the contours of the hills are for the most part smooth
and undulating. Between the Salt Range and the Himalayas the
aspect of the country varies greatly, from the deep, shaly, and infertile
ravines of Jhelum to the rich uplands of Gujar Khan. The Siwaliks
and the Pabbi hills are much tamer than the Salt Range, and the
vegetation which clothes them is coarser and scantier, though the
Jaswan Dun in Hoshiarpur is not lacking in richness and beauty.
But the characteristic scenery of the Punjab is that of the plains, and
tlie contrast between their appearance before and after the crops have
been cut is most striking. As harvest approaches, the traveller,
especially in the irrigated tracts, rides through an endless expanse of
waving crops of different shades of colour, out of which the villages
seem to rise like islets in an ocean of green. After the harvest all is
changed ; and the dull brown of the fields is relieved only by the trees,
solitary or in groves and avenues, and by the hamlets and village
ponds. The lowlands through which the great rivers work their way
retain some of their verdure throughout the year, and, especially in
the east of the Province, are studded with groves and gardens. But
in the plateaux between the rivers, and in the great sandy plains of
the south, where cultivation is impossible without the aid of artificial
irrigation, the scanty vegetation takes a more sober hue, and the only
relief the eye can find from the stretches of bare soil is afforded by
stunted and infrequent bushes.
' Geologically the Punjab falls into three natural divisions : the
plains, the Salt Range, and the Himalayas. The plains consist
almost entirely of the Indo-Gangetic alluvium, but contains beds of
sedimentary rocks of Peninsular type. These comprise a small area
of rocks of a transition age, which form a series of outliers of the
Aravalli rocks at Delhi and to the south and south-east, whence they
are known as the Delhi system -. They are composed of a lower
group of slates and limestones, and an upper and much thicker group
' Condensed from a note b)' Mr. H. H. Ilayden, Geological Survey of India.
* Manual of tlie Geology of India, p. 69 (' The Delhi System ').
PffVSlCAL ASPECTS 240
of quartzites ; the upper beds, known as the Alwar quartziies, arc-
exposed on the Ridge at Delhi. Two small outliers, also referred to
the Delhi system, are found near the Chenab, at Chiniot and Kirana,
within 35 miles of the beds of extra-Peninsular type found in the
Salt Range. From the strong contrast they afford in petrological
and dynamic conditions, they are almost certainly older than the
oldest rocks of that range and in all probability pre-Cambrian.
In the north of the Province the Salt Range stretches from
the Jhelum valley on the east to the Indus on the west, and crops
up again beyond that river. Its geological features are particularly
interesting, and the age of the salt which gives its name to the
hills is still uncertain. The lowest beds to which a definite period
can be assigned are shales, yielding trilobites. obolus, and hyolit/ies,
and regarded as Lower Cambrian. They are underlain, w^ith apparent
conformity, by purple sandstone, which may also be Cambrian. From
its apparent position below this sandstone the salt marl has been
classed as Lower Cambrian or pre-Cambrian, but it also occurs at
various horizons of higher levels. It has no appearance of stratifica-
tion, but is a soft, structureless mass, showing no signs of sedimentary
origin. In it are found immense masses of rock-salt, and bands and
strings of gypsum, with disintegrated patches of dolomite. Magnesian
sandstone appears to lie conformably on the obolus shales, but has
yielded only fragmentary fossils. It is, however, probable that this,
together with the overlying salt pseudomorph sandstone, belongs to
the Cambrian system.
A great break then occurs, representing the Silurian and Devonian
and part of the Carboniferous epochs ; and the next formation,
a boulder-bed, lies unconformably on all the older deposits. It con-
sists of faceted and striated boulders embedded in a fine matrix,
giving evidence of a glacial origin ; a few fossils are found, including
Conularia, and the series is regarded as Lower Permian, of the same
age as the Talcher boulder-bed. The Upper Permian is represented
by olive and speckled sandstones and lavender clay, containing Coiii/-
laria and other fossils, and the Froductus beds which yield Xenaspis and
Cyclolobus. Over these are found Lower Triassic beds of limestone,
sandstone, and marl, containing ammonites, and termed ceratite beds.
The Middle and Upper Trias appear to be wanting, the ceratites being
overlain by sandstones, oolites, and shales, in the upper beds of which
have been found ammonites and belemnites of Upper Jurassic age.
They are followed by pisolitic sandstones, containing at the Chichali
pass a rich Lower Cretaceous (neocomian) flora, and overlain uncon-
formably by shales and sandstones with coal seams passing into
Nummulitic limestone, the coal and limestone being of Lower
Tertiary (eocene) age. Above the limestone is another unconformity.
250 PUXJAB
followed by a great mass of sandstone, with beds of red clay similar to
the Nahan beds of the Himalayas ; this in turn is overlain by typical
Siwalik sandstones.
The Himalayas fall into three broad divisions : a northern, a central,
and a southern. The northern, known as the Tibetan zone, extends
through Kanawar and Spiti into Lahul, and affords an almost unbroken
sequence of sedimentary deposits ranging from Cambrian to Creta-
ceous. The oldest beds are slates and quartzites, for the most part
unfossiliferous, but containing in the higher beds trilobites and other
fossils of Middle and Upper Cambrian age. These are overlain,
unconformably, by conglomerate, followed by a great mass of red
quartzite, believed to be of Lower Silurian age, and passing up into
limestone and marl with Silurian fossils (trilobites, corals, &c.). The
limestone gradually gives place to a white quartzite, which is one of the
most characteristic horizons of the Himalayas. Except in Kanawar
and Upper Spiti the quartzite is usually overlain by beds of Upper
Permian age, but near Lis in Kanawar a great thickness of limestone
and shale is found ; the limestone contains a rich fauna of Lower
Carboniferous age, and the shales have yielded Upper Carboniferous
brachiopods and bryozoa. Next in order is a conglomerate of variable
thickness, overlain by calcareous sandstone and a bed of dark mica-
ceous shale representing the Permian. The uppermost bed, known as
the Frodi/ctus shales, is found throughout the Himalayas, and contains
Upper Permian brachiopods and ammonites. The latter are especially
interesting, as they are closely allied to species {Xenaspis carbonaria
and Cydolobus oldhami) from the upper Produdus limestone of the
Salt Range. Above these shales is a thin shaly band with ammonites,
known as the Otoceras beds, which passes into a vast thickness of
limestone, intercalated by shale, and representing the whole of the
Trias, and the Lower and probably Middle Jurassic. Fossils are
numerous throughout, and representatives of all subdivisions in the
Alpine Trias have been recognized. The limestones are succeeded by
the well-known Spiti shales, famous for their ammonites. They are of
Upper Jurassic age, and are overlain by the Giumal sandstone and
Chikkim limestone and shales representing the Cretaceous system.
A broad zone of metamorphic, crystalline, and unfossiliferous rocks
forms the axis of the Himalayas. The crystallines are partly intrusive,
and partly the result of contact with the metamorphism of the Cam-
brian slates in the northern zone. South of the metamorphics, however,
the unfossiliferous sedimentary rocks extend from Chamba through
Kangra and the Simla Hill States to Garhwal. They consist chiefly
of limestones, slates, quartzites, and conglomerates of unknown age,
and have been divided into three systems. The Jaunsar system,
regarded as liie oldest, consists of grey slates overlain by blue lime-
PTfYSICAf. ASPECTS 251
stones, followed by red slates and quartzites exposed near Chakriila.
In Jaunsar-Bawar and the east of Sirmur the quart/ites are overlain by
a considerable thickness of trap and volcanic ash. Above the Jaunsar
system a great development of limestones forms most of the higlier
parts of the mountains running north from Deoban, and is known as
the Deoban system. It is also seen in Sirmur, and in the Shali peak
north of Simla. Above this follows the carbonaceous system, covering
the greatest part of the Lower Himalayas. At the base is a great
thickness of grey slate, with beds of grit and quartzite, resembling the
Cambrian slates of the Tibetan zone. 'I'he slates, which are known as
the infra-Blaini or Simla slates, are overlain by a characteristic series
of conglomerates or boulder-slate and pink dolomitic limestone, which
has been recognized in many parts of the Simla Hill States, while
similar beds occur near Mussoorie on the east and in ("hamba to
the north-west. These are overlain by carbonaceous shale, followed
by a quartzite bed of variable thickness, the two being included in
the infra-Krol group, while the overlying Krol beds consist of limestone
with subordinate bands of carbonaceous shale, the limestone attaining
a great thickness in the Krol mountain near Solon. The age of the
Jaunsar and Deoban systems is quite unknown ; the carbonaceous
system has been referred in part to the Permian and in part (the Krol
limestone) to the Trias, but this classification is not final.
The sub-Himalayan zone consists entirely of Tertiary beds, as a rule
abutting against the pre-Tertiary rocks of the central and lower zone.
These are comparatively narrow on the east, but gradually widen, till
on the north-west they spread over the plains, forming a continuous
mantle covering Jhelum and Rawalpindi Districts, and extending to
the northern parts of the Salt Range. The lowest or Sabathu group
consists of grey and red gypseous shales, with subordinate bands of
limestone. It is overlain conformably by the 1 )agshai group, composed
of a great thickness of grey sandstones, with bright red nodular clays.
These are followed by bright red or purple clays, overlain by sand-
stones which constitute the Kasauli group. The Sabathu group yields
fossils of Nummulitic age, while no recognizable fossils have been
found in the Dagshai, and only plant remains in the Kasauli group ;
but it is probable that the two last represent the oligocene and
lower miocene of Europe. I'he Upper Tertiary or Siwalik series
is separated from all the older beds by one of the most marked
structural features of the Himalayas, the main boundary fault, a great
dislocation which can be traced for long distances along the lower
parts of the range. Sandstones and red clay form the lowest group,
being well seen at Nahan. They are succeeded, often unconformably,
by many thousand feet of very soft grey sandstone, with bands of clay.
These are overlain by conglomerates which constitute the uppermost
vor.. XX. K
252 PUNJAB
portion of the Siwalik series. In the Siwalik Hills the thickness
of the series is at least 15,000 feet. The two upper groups contain
great quantities of mammaUan remains of pliocene age.
The flora falls naturally into four primary divisions : the Himalayas,
the submontane belt from the Jumna to the Ravi, the plain proper,
and the Salt Range on both sides of the Indus with connected country
in the north-west of the Province.
The Himalayan tract includes the basin of the Sutlej, from the
Tibetan border at Shipki to the hill station of Kasauli in Ambala
District ; the basins of the Beas and Ravi, from their sources to the
submontane tracts of Kangra and Gurdaspur ; the basins of the
Chandra and Bhaga, which unite to form the Chenab, from the high
watershed that divides their sources from the Indus valley to the
eastern borders of Kashmir and Jammu ; and a promontory bounding
the Kashmir valley on the south, and culminating in the station of
Murree about 6,500 feet above sea-level.
The vSutlej basin is again divided into two well-marked portions,
of which the outer includes Simla District and adjoining Hill States,
with Kasauli. The trees and shrubs of this portion, to about 6,000 feet,
are mainly subtropical. But above this is a temperate belt which
begins, roughly speaking, at Simla, and is rich in familiar pAiropean
forest trees, such as yew, pines, oak and holly, elm, a horse-chestnut,
several sorts of spindle-tree and buckthorn ; and, among humbler
growths, crowfoots, columbines, anemones, cresses, violets, stitchworts,
cranesbills and St. John's worts, brambles, roses, spiraeas and wild
strawberries, woodbines, guelder-rose and ivy, bell-flowers, gentians,
Solomon's seal, meadow-rush, and herb-paris. The Flora Simlensis
of the late Sir Henry CoUett (edited by Mr. \V. B. Hemsley) takes in
only a part of the Simla Hills, but it describes 1,236 species ot
flowering plants, a number somewhat less than that of the native
plants of the British Islands. The component elements, however,
differ materially from those of any European flora, for, apart from
the subtropical contingent, the Outer Himalayas preserve many forms
allied to the plants of North-Eastern Asia (e.g. Hydrangea), as well as
Indo-Malayan types. The deodar, which flourishes near Simla, is
related to the cedars of the Lebanon and the Atlas. East of Simla
the rivers drain into the Jumna, and not towards the Sutlej, but as
a matter of convenience certain petty States south-east of Bashahr
and the territories of Sirmur are grouped with the Simla area. In
this tract the Chaur mountain, rising almost from the plains to over
12,000 feet, shows successive zones of vegetation, from the almost
tropical valleys at its southern base to birch forest and subalpine
pastures near its summit.
The upper portion of the Sutlej basin within Indian limits — that
PHVSICylL AS/'ECTS 253
is to say, Kanawar and the Spiti valley, with Lahul and Pangi, both
drained by the Chenab — constitutes a mainly alpine field of huge
extent and great elevation. The flora is most closely linked with the
vegetation of Western Tibet and Middle Asia, and includes few trees
and very little forest. A pine, which is also found in the mountains
of Afghanistan, extends to the lower levels of the inner Chenab basin ;
but, except in Pangi, a small pencil-cedar, stunted junipers, a few scat-
tered birches, with pollard willows grown from saplings planted by the
watercourses, complete the list of trees for this portion of the Punjab
Himalayas.
Crossing outwards again to the basins of the Beas and Riivi, the
Kulu valley and the higher glens of Chamba present a far more varied
and luxuriant aspect to the forester or botanist. The trees are mainly
those of the Simla country ; but certain shrubs and herbs reappear
that are rare or absent in the Sutlej valley, owing doubtless to its
greater indraught from the heated sands of the Punjab and Northern
Rajputana. On the other hand, some West Asian types — for example,
the wild olive and the Oriental clematis — are found in the drier parts
of Kulu more abundantly than to the eastward, while a few European
forms — e.g. the great spearwort and the purple loosestrife — have
their eastern limit in the Beas valley. The hill stations of Dalhousie
and Dharmsala come within this area. Epiphytic orchids, which are
missing from the Simla country except very locally, reappear near
Dharmsala, but do not pass west of the spurs that divide the Kangra
ranges from the basin of the Ravi.
The Murree hills, which are separated from the Ravi country by
a long stretch of the Outer Himalayas lying within Jammu territory,
differ considerably owing to the presence of a stronger West Asian
element in their flora.
The submontane belt is practically restricted to the Districts of
Ambala (with its adjoining States), Hoshiarpur, and Kangra. 'i'he
sal tree, which is not found elsewhere to the west of the Jumna,
survives in a single dfin (or strath) connected with the Kangra valley
but actually within the northern border of Hoshiarpur District. The
Kiarda Dun in Sirmur State and the Kalesar forest in Ambala shelter
a number of species that are characteristic or abundant in the Siwalik
tract east of the Jumna, though unknown or rare farther westward.
The plain also has its subdivisions, which are, on the whole, even
better marked than those of the Himalayas, an important influence
being exercised by the climate of the Great Indian Desert which
borders the whole southern limit of the Province, and sends out two
arms which embrace the actual country of the five' rivers. That
1 The Beas, Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum, and Indus. The Sutlej is included in Hindu-
stan, of which at the same time it forms the traditional boundary.
R 2
254 PUNJAB
on the east takes in a great part of the Thulkian States, its apex
being near the town of Ludhiana, on an ancient bed of the Sutlej.
The western arm (locally known as the Thai) extends from the Sind
border up the Indus valley to the south-west angle of the Salt Range.
The eastern chain of sandhills and alternating barriers has of late,
however, lost much of its desert character through canal extensions.
From Ludhiana to the Jumna valley, and along the Jumna to the
neighbourhood of Delhi, the country is substantially a portion of the
great Gangetic plain, though some interesting peculiarities present
themselves : a crowfoot (best known from North-Eastern America)
occurs, also a rose which is elsewhere most abundant in the swamps
of Eastern Bengal, and a kind of scurvy-grass {Coch/earia), a genus
usually partial to far colder latitudes. The south-east portions of the
Province, and the upland tract skirting the western valley of the Jumna,
present certain features of the Deccan flora, merging ultimately in the
Aravalli system. Trees in the extreme south-east are few, and mostly
of Arabian or North African affinity. Similar forms, though seldom
reaching the dimensions of a tree, characterize the southern fringe
of the Punjab ; but towards the Indus, a ^^'est Asian or indeed Euro-
pean element becomes prominent, in the case especially of those field
annuals which come up each winter with the crops of the season : such
as poppy, fumitory, rockets, catchfly, spurrey, chickweed, vetches and
trefoils, thistles, blue pimpernel, bindweed, toadflax and veronicas,
broomrape, goosefoots, milkspurges, asphodel and others.
Between the desert and the Indus the dodbs bounded by the great
rivers presented formerly a succession of alkaline wastes, often covered
with low bushes of the saltwort tribe, or untilled expanses dotted with
a scrub of thorny bushes of the acacia family and of va?i {Salvadora,
a desert representative of the olive), with an occasional row of tamarisks
near a creek or waterhole, relieved in the autumn by a short-lived flush
of climbing plants, and in good seasons by an abundant crop of
grasses, which afforded coarse but invaluable pasture to the cattle
of the nomad population. Canal extension and systematic state
colonization are now changing all this rapidly, and the flora is ap-
proximating to the general spring and autumn series of agrestal species
of Northern India, though a strong West Asian admixture maintains
itself. Beyond the Indus, in Dera Ghazi Khan District, this 'Oriental'*
element begins to predominate, even as regards shrubs and perennials ;
and it continues northwards to the Salt Range and the hills near
Attock, where several types common to the Orient and the Medi-
terranean— e.g. pinks and larkspurs — may be gathered at less than
2,000 feet above sea-level.
^ The region from the Mediterranean to the Indus, and between the Red Sea and
Ihe Steppes, is thus termed by botanists.
PHYSICAL ASPECTS 255
Himalayan forms are still prevalent in the Salt Range, especially
at the higher levels. On the north face of the culminating summit
(Sakesar), at about 4,800 feet above the sea, there are a few oaks,
of a common North-\\'est Himalayan species, while herbaceous plants
of the same region intermingle with trans-Indus representatives ; but
the slopes abound with box-trees, olives, and other Western forms.
The herbs and grasses, moreover, although Indian forms abound,
include a decided proportion of more Western types ; but, owing to the
dryness of the climate, these are usually such as characterize the arid
zone that extends on the west through Africa to the Atlantic Islands.
Until the beginning of the nineteenth century both lions and tigers
appear to have been common, and the Nardak of the Eastern Punjab
was a favourite hunting ground of the Mughal emperors. As late
as 1827 Major Archer says that lions were sometimes seen within
20 miles of Karnal, while tigers were exceedingly numerous in its
inunediate vicinity ; and in the neighbourhood of Sirsa and in other
parts of the Punjab tigers were abundant until past the middle of the
nineteenth century. Lions are now entirely extinct and tigers practi-
cally so, though occasionally a straggler from the Aravalli Hills is found
in the South-East Punjab, or one from the eastern tarai in Nahan
or Ambala. Another animal practically extinct in the Punjab is the
wild elephant, though it is occasionally met with in Nahan and Ambala.
The only common representatives of the feline tribe are the leopard,
the hunting leopard, and the wild cat, with the lynx, along the southern
border \ the leopard is chiefly found in the hills. Two kinds of bear,
the black and the brown, are found in the hills ; hyenas and wolves
are seen in most Districts, but are not common ; jackals and foxes
on the other hand abound. Ibex and bharal are found in the Higher
Himalayas, and lower down musk deer, barking-deer, and wild goats ;
in the Salt Range the urial {Ovis vignei) is not uncommon. In the
plains antelope are plentiful, especially in the east and south of the
Province, and nilgai, 'ravine deer' {chinkdra), and hog deer {par ha)
are common in places. The wild hog, badger, porcupine, and hare
are found in most parts. The grey ape {langur) lives in the hills,
and monkeys abound, both in the hills and in the canal-irrigated
Districts. The otter and river porpoise are found in all the rivers.
Peafowl are plentiful, and so is the lesser bustard ; the great bustard
is less common. Flocks of sand-grouse (imperial painted, pallas, and
pintail) are frequently seen in the dry tracts. The grey partridge
is found everywhere, and the black partridge is occasionally met with ;
in the hills the chikor {Caccabis chukor) and slsi {Anwioperdix bonhami)
partridges are common, and the snow partridge is found at high eleva-
tions. All the Indian pheasants are found in the Himalayas, including
the argus, monal, koklas, chir, and white-crested pheasant. Bush-quail
256 PUNJAB
and rain-quail are found in the plains, and the common grey quail
comes in hosts at the ripening of the wheat. In the winter large
numbers of water-fowl visit the rivers and jhils. The most common
ducks are the sealing-wax bill, pintail, mallard, pinkhead, shoveller,
teal, and goose teal ; geese, cranes, flamingoes, pelicans, ibises, herons,
bitterns, snipe are all also more or less plentiful. The crow, vulture,
and kite are ubiquitous, and the adjutant bird is occasionally met with.
Hawks of various species are found, and often fetch high prices for
sporting purposes. Green parrots fill the air with their screeching
in the irrigated tracts, the golden oriole sometimes flashes through
the trees, and the blue jay and woodpecker lend a frequent note
of colour to the scene. Immense flocks of rosy pastors visit the
plains in the hot season, and the maina is common everywhere in
the neighbourhood of houses.
The sharp-nosed or fish-eating crocodile {ghariyal) is found in all
the great rivers, and the blunt-nosed crocodile or magar {Crocodihts
palustris) is also met with in the lower reaches. The poisonous snakes
are the karait, cobra, Echis carinafa {kappa), and, in the east of tiie
Province, Russell's viper. Lizards of various kinds are common. The
commonest fish are the rohu {Labeo rohita) and mahseer, the latter of
which runs up to 50 lb.
Locusts sometimes arrive in swarms, chiefly from the south-west, and
do considerable damage. White ants attack timber and garnered grain,
which is also much subject to injury from weevils. Mosquitoes abound,
and with sandflies combine to make life a burden in the hot season ;
and house-flies swarm, especially towards the beginning and ending
of winter. Scorpions and centipedes are numerous, but not much
seen. The honey-bee, hornet, and wasp are common, and the firefly's
flashing light is to be seen wherever there is irrigation.
Over the greater part of the Punjab the climate is of the most pro-
nounced continental character, extreme summer heat alternating with
great winter cold ; but its diversified surface, including montane, sub-
montane, and plains zones, modifies very largely the temperature,
weather, and climate in different parts of the Province. The Punjab
has accordingly been divided into four natural divisions, in each of
which the general meteorological conditions are believed to be fairly
homogeneous. These are the Himalayan (stations, Simla and Murree),
the sub-Himalayan (stations, Ambala, Ludhiana, Sialkot, and Rawal-
pindi), the Indo-fiangetic Plain West (stations, Delhi and Lahore), and
the soutli-west dry area (stations, Khushab, Montgomery, Multan,
and Sirsa).
As a whole, the Punjab has in normal years two well-defined rainy
seasons. The first or period of the north-east monsoon includes the
' Christmas rains,' as they are called, which fall between the end of
PHYSICAL ASPECTS 257
December and the end of February or the middle of March. The
second rainfall period is that of the south-west monsoon, from the
end of June to the middle of September. The rainfall is naturally
heaviest in the Himalayas. The highest average received is 126 inches
at Dharmsala, and the average of the Himalayas is nowhere less than
36. In the plains the rainfall decreases rapidly away from the hills.
I'he submontane zone, which skirts the foot of the hills, and of which
Rawalpindi and Sialkot may be taken as typical stations, has an annual
fall of 30 to 40 inches. The eastern plains from Delhi to Lahore belong
to the West Gangetic plain, and have a mean rainfall of about 24 inches,
the valley of the Jumna having a higher rainfall than the rest. To the
west and south-west lies the dry area, characterized by an extremely
light and variable rainfall, and a heat and dryness in the hot season
extreme even for the Punjab. The ordinary south-west monsoon winds
from the Sind and Kathiawar coasts encircle but do not blow into this
area, which therefore gets very little rain from this source, though it
occasionally receives heavy cyclonic downpours from storms that have
travelled westward from the head of the Bay. Montgomery and Multan
are typical stations of this tract.
The plains, owing to their arid nature and remoteness from the sea,
are subject to extreme vicissitudes of climate. In the winter the cold
exceeds anything met with elsewhere in the plains of India. In January
and February the night temperature commonly falls below freezing-
point, while by day the thermometer does not as a rule rise above 75° ;
and for four months of the year nothing can be more perfect than the
Punjab climate, with its bright sun and keen invigorating air. In
summer, on the other hand, the fierce dry heat is surpassed only in
Sind. In June the thermometer commonly reaches 115° to 121°, while
the night temperature averages from 79° to 83°.
About the end of December the weather conditions ordinarily become
disturbed ; rain falls in the plains and snow on the hills. The rainfall
of this season is almost exclusively due to cold-season storms or
cyclones, which follow each other at varying intervals, averaging
about ten days, from the end of December to about the middle of
March. Important features of these storms are the rapid changes of
weather which accompany them. Their approach is preceded by the
appearance of a bank of cirrus cloud, which gradually overspreads the
whole .sky. Under this canopy the heat rapidly increases, more par-
ticularly at night, and temperatures from 5° to 15° higher than usual
are registered. In the rear of the disturbance a rapid change lakes
place, accompanying the clearing of the skies and the change of wind.
The thermometer falls with great rapidity, sharp frost on the ground
is experienced, and air temperatures of 18° or 19° are occasionally
recorded at the hill stations. This fall of temperature appears to be
258 PUNJAB
directly related to the snowfall on the hills, and is proportional to
the amount of the snowfall and to the lowness of the elevation to
which it descends. As the rainfall of this period accompanies the
march of cyclonic storms from west to east across Northern India, it
is ordinarily heaviest at the northern and Indus valley stations, and
usually diminishes to a very small amount over the south and south-
cast.
The mean temperature in most parts increases from February to
May at about the rate of io° a month, and by the end of March or
beginning of April the hot season is in most years fairly established.
From April till near the end of June there is, as a rule, no rain of im-
portance, though occasional thunder- and hailstorms afford temporary
relief from the great heat. A desiccating, scorching west wind blows
during the greater part of this period, and the thermometer ranges from
about 95° in the early morning to about 115° in the heat of the day.
These westerly winds commence to drop towards the end of June, and
for a few days calm, sweltering heat succeeds the scorching blasts ol
the hot winds. About the end of June south and east winds bring
up heavy cumulus clouds, and in favourable years the monsoon rains
arc then ushered in with violent thunderstorms and heavy showers. The
rainfall is generally very variable and irregular in its advance, and is
ordinarily brought up by the approach to the south-east of the Province
of a cyclonic storm from the Bay of Bengal. This carries with it the
moist south-east air-currents from the Bay, and at the same time induces
an inrush of moist air from the north of the Arabian Sea across the
Sind and Kathiawar coasts and eastern and central Rajputana into the
South and East Punjab. The rainfall of the monsoon season is seldom
steady or continuous, nor does it, as a rule, extend over the whole
Province, as in the west and south the fall is both scanty and uncertain.
For two or three days in succession heavy, fairly general rain may fall ;
but this is succeeded by intervals of oppressively hot and sultry weather,
when the rain ceases or only falls as scattered showers. These condi-
tions continue with greater or less intensity till the second or third week
of September, when, with not infrequently a second outburst of violent
thunderstorms, the rains cease and fine weather commences.
Severe cyclonic storms are practically unknown in the Punjab. Hail-
storms are fairly frequent, especially in March and April, and often
cause considerable damage to the crops.
Although the Province is traversed or bounded by seven large rivers,
it is not to any .serious extent subject to inundations from them, and it
is only in the comparatively narrow riverain belts bordering the channels
of the rivers that floods do serious harm. An exception to this gene-
ralization is to be found in the extreme south-west, where parts of
the Districts of Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, and Multan, border-
HISTORY 259
ing on the Chenab and Indus, are low enough to be subject to frequent
inundations even during the passage of normal floods. Protection is
afforded by the erection of dikes, but they are not always sufficiently
strong to resist a heavy spate. Nearly all the high floods of which
records exist have occurred in July or August, when the summer mon-
soon is at its height. The earliest of these was in 1849, when the town
and civil station of Shahpur were washed away by the Jhelum. In 1856
and in 1878 the Indus rose very high, and on both occasions the towns
of Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan were flooded out and large
portions of the Districts submerged. In 1892, 1893, and 1905 the
Chenab and the Jhelum were heavily flooded, and in the second of
these years the Kohala suspension bridge on the Kashmir road was
carried away. The great Indus flood of 1878 is said to have been
in part the result of heavy landslips in the hills.
Throughout the period over which authentic records of Indian
earthquakes extend, the Punjab has repeatedly suffered from the
effects of seismic disturbances of greater or less intensity. This is
due to the presence of important lines of weakness in the earths
crust, caused by the stresses involved in the folding of the Himalayas
and resulting in the development of faults. The most important of
these is that known as the ' main boundary fault,' which runs through
the Lower Himalayas from end to end of the Punjab. Along these
lines readjustments of the equilibrium of the crust are constantly taking
place, and when these readjustments are irregular or spasmodic the
movement results in an earthquake. Such earthquakes as are due to
this cause are naturally most severe in the neighbourhood of the fault.
A striking exemplification is to be found in the Kangra earthquake of
1905. About 20,000 human beings perished in this catastrophe, which
ranks as one of the most disastrous of modern times. The loss of life
occurred principally in the Kangra valley, Dharmsala, Mandi, and Kulu,
but the shock was perceptible to the unaided sense throughout an area
of some 1,625,000 square miles. Although this most recent catastrophe
dwarfs all earthquakes jjreviously recorded in the Province, those of
1803, 1827, 1842, and 1865 were of considerable severity.
The Punjab was undoubtedly the seat of the earliest Aryan settle-
ments in India, and the RigA'eda was probably composed within its
borders. In one of its finest hymns the Vipasa
(Beas) and Sutudri (Sutlej) are invoked by the sage
Visvamitra to allow the host of the Bharatas to cross them dryshod.
And in the later Vedic period the centre of Aryan civilization lay
farther to the south-east, between the Sutlej and the Jumna, in the
still sacred land of Kurukshetra round Thanesar, the battle-field
of the Mahabharata, while Indrapat near Delhi still preserves at least
the name of Yudhishthira's capital, Indraprastha. For a brief period
26o PUNJAB
after 500 b. c. part of the Punjab may have formed a Persian province,
the Indian satrapy conquered by Darius, which stretched from Kala-
bagh to the sea, and paid a tribute of fully a million sterling.
In invading the territories east of the Indus Alexander yielded to
mere lust of conquest, for they no longer owed allegiance to the
Persian empire. In 326 B.C. he crossed the river at Ohind or Und,
invading thereby a dependency of Porus (Paurava), whose kingdom lay
in the Chaj Doab. The capital of this dependency was Taxila (San-
skrit, Takshasila), now the ruins of Shahdheri, but then a great and
flourishing city, which lay three marches from the Indus. Its governor,
Omphis (Ambhi) or Taxiles, was in revolt against Porus, and received
the Macedonians hospitably. Leaving Philippus as satrap at Taxila,
Alexander, reinforced by 5,000 Indians under Taxiles, marched to the
Jhelum (Hydaspes), where he found Porus prepared to dispute his
passage of the river, probably near Jhelum town. Alexander, however,
turned his enemy's right flank by crossing higher up, and defeated him
with great loss. Porus himself was captured, but soon admitted to
alliance with the Macedonians and granted the country between the
upper reaches of the Jhelum and Chenab (Bhimbar and Rajauri).
His nephew, also named Porus, ruler of Gandaris (possibly the modern
Gondal Bar, between the Chenab and the Ravi), had already tendered
his surrender ; but the Macedonians crossed the Chenab and drove
him across the Ravi. Here, in the modern District of Amritsar or
Gurdaspur, Pimprama, the capital of the Adraistoi, surrendered to
Alexander, and he then invested vSangala, the capital of the Kathaioi.
Having taken it by assault he advanced to the Beas ; but his
soldiers being reluctant to cross that river, he erected twelve massive
altars on its bank to mark the eastern limits of his invasion, and re-
turned to the Jhelum, making Porus governor of all the conquered
country west of the Beas.
At his newly founded city of Bucephala (? Jhelum), Alexander now
prepared a flotilla to sail down the Jhelum and the Indus to the sea.
Starting late in October, 326 B.C., the Macedonians marched in two
divisions, one on either side of the river, Alexander himself with some
of the troops sailing in the fleet, which numbered nearly 2,000 vessels,
great and small. At the capital of Sophytes (probably Bhera) he was
joined by Philippus, and thence hastened to invade the territories of
the Malloi and Oxydrakoi, two powerful tribes which held the country
south of the confluence of the Jhelum with the Chenab. The strong-
holds of the former soon fell, as did a Brahman city (? Atari or Shor-
kot) ; but the capital of the Malloi offered a desperate resistance, and
had to be carried by assault, in which Alexander himself was wounded.
The Malloi and Oxydrakoi now submitted, and the satrapy of Philip-
pus was extended to the confluence of the Chenab with the Indus,
HISTORY 26 r
including the Xatliroi and Ossadioi tribes. At the confluence of these
rivers Alexander founded a city, possibly the modern Uch Sharif, and
thence sailed on down the Indus to the capital of the Sogdoi, where he
fortified another city, constructed dockyards, and repaired his ships.
His voyage now lay through the kingdom of Mousicanus, correspond-
ing to the modern Sind.
Alexander thus made no attempt to hold the I'unjah east of the
Jhelum. That country he designed to make a dependent kingdom
under Porus, while Philippus governed the Sind-Sagar Doab as satrap.
This arrangement, however, did not endure. In 324 Philippus was
murdered by his mercenaries, and no successor was apjwinted, Euda-
mus and Taxiles being ordered to carry on the adnnnistration. After
Alexander's death Porus ousted Peithon from Sind, and in revenge
Eudamus decoyed him into his power, and murdered him six^ years
later. His execution was the signal for a national revolt against the
Macedonian power. Eudamus withdrew with his Greek garrison, and
Chandragupta (Sandrocottus), the Mauryan, made himself master of
the Punjab and the lower Indus valley. Himself a native of the
Punjab, Chandragupta organized the predatory tribes of the north-
west frontier against the Greeks. His mastery of the Punjab enabled
him to conquer Magadha : and when, about sixteen years later, in
305 u.c, Seleucus Nicator, king of Syria, marched into India to
recover Alexander's Indian conquests, he was content to cede to
Chandragupta even the territory west of the Indus, and to give him
a daughter in marriage. Under his son Bindusara and his grandson
Asoka, Buddhism became the state religion of the Punjab, as is shown
by the pillar erected at Topra and by the Buddhist remains at Sui
Vehar, in the Bahawalpur State, and in the Kangra valley. Under
the Mauryan dynasty Taxila remained the capital of the great vice-
royalty, which extended from the Sutlej to the Hindu Kush, and
probably included Sind. After Asoka's death Euthydemus, who had
usurped the Graeco-Bactrian throne, extended the Greek power in
India. In 205 or 206 Antiochus III of Syria acknowledged his inde-
pendence, and then crossed the Paropamisus into India and made
a treaty with Sophagasenas (Subhagasena), returning to Syria in the
following year. Ten years later, in 195 li.c, Demetrius, son of Euthy-
demus, reduced the Punjab, rebuilt Sagala, which he renamed Euthy-
demia, and extended his conquests so far that Justin calls him ' King
of the Indians.' But while engaged in the.se conquests he lost Bactria,
and his successors appear to have ruled only over the Western Punjab
and the Kabul valley ; but little is known about them until Menander
raised the Graeco-Bactrian power to its zenith in India. According to
Plutarch, Menander's territories extended to the Narbada and Indus
delta. But this great kingdom was doomed, as we shall so often find
262 PUNJAB
its successors were doomed, to fall before barbarian invasion from
the west.
By loo i;.c. Maues or Moga, king of the Sakas, a tribe expelled
from Sogdiana by the Yueh-chi, founded a kingdom in the North-
west Punjab, with its capital at Taxila, which endured for about
seventy years. This kingdom was overrun by Kozula Kadphises, the
chief of the Kushan tribe of the Yueh-chi. He also destroyed the last
Greek principality in India, and his son Wemo Kadphises (Hima-
kapisa) had extended his sway all over North-Western India by a. d. io'.
About A.I). 25, however, we find a Parthian satrapy established in
Afghanistan and Northern India, with Gondophares, the Gundoferus
of St. Thomas's mission, as its founder. The Parthian power was
short-lived, for by a. d. 78 the Kushans had recovered their supre-
macy in the person of Kanishka, under whom the so-called Scythian
power reached its zenith. He was succeeded by Hushka (Huvishka)
and Jushka (Vasudeva). Under the latter the Kushan dominions
shrank to the Indus valley and Afghanistan ; and the dynasty was then
supplanted by Ki-to-lo, chief of the Little Yueh-chi, and he in turn by
the Ephthalites or White Huns about the middle of the fifth century.
Under Toramana and his son Mihirakula these Huns held Northern
India, Sagala being their capital. The latter is doubtless the great
Mihirakula of the Rdjataranginl, who lost his empire in Central India
and gained the kingdom of Kashmir, retaining probably the Punjab
until his final overthrow at Karor in 544, after the Ephthalite power
had endured for a century. Space precludes any detailed account of
the religious history of the Punjab after Asoka made Buddhism its
state religion ; but the coins of the Kushan kings bear effigies of
Zoroastrian, Greek, and Hindu divinities, while Mihirakula's perse-
cution of the Buddhists was terrible in its severity, a policy which
probably contributed to his downfall. At all events. Buddhism was
now on the decline.
In the latter half of the sixth century arose the great kingdom of
Thanesar. This, however, included only the Punjab east of the
Jhelum river ; for in the middle of the seventh century Hiuen Tsiang,
the Chinese pilgrim, found Taxila and Singhapura in the Salt Range
dependent on Kashmir, while the Central Punjab from the Indus to
the Beas formed the kingdom of Tseh-kia, whose capital lay near
Sakala, and to which Multan was a subject principality. Early in the
eighth century Thanesar ceased to exist as a great kingdom, and the
Tomar dynasty of Kanauj established itself in the South-East Punjab,
where it held Hansi and founded Delhi. After a century's dominion,
the Tomars were supplanted by the Chauhans of Ajmer in 1 151.
The Muhammadan conquerors of India invaded the Punjab by two
' The date of the Kushans is still in dispute.
HTSTORY 263
distinct routes. As early as the year 38 of the Hijra the Khalila Ali
had appointed governors to the frontiers of Hind, and six years later,
in A.D. 664, a Muhammadan general penetrated to Multan. This
inroad, however, resulted in no permanent conquest ; and the first
real invasion occurred in 712, when Muhammad bin Kasim, another
of the Khalifa's generals, conquered Sind and took Multan, which then
lay on the north bank of the Ravi, in the dominions of Dahir, ruler of
Sind. He made Multan the base of further inroads, and garrisoned
Bramhapur on the Jhelum, the modern Shorkot, Ajtahad, and Karor :
and afterwards, with 50,000 men, he marched via Dipalpur to the foot
of the Himalayas near Jhelum. But his ill-deserved execution pre-
vented a farther advance ; and it was not till some years later that the
whole province of Multan was reduced, and the part of the Punjab
dependent on Kashmir subdued.
By 871 the power of the Khalifat was on the decline, and Multan
became an independent and prosperous kingdom under an Arab
dynasty. The rest of the Punjab was divided among Hindu kings,
the Brahman dynasty of Ohind probably holding the Salt Range, while
as early as 804 Jalandhara or Trigarta was an established kingdom.
More than a century elapsed before the Muhammadan advance was
resumed, and Ghazni now becomes its base. In 979 Jaipa', king of
Lahore, advanced on Ghazni to encounter Sabuktagin, its Amir, at
Laghman, but effected a treaty and retired, only to be defeated there
nine years later, in 988. Jaipal was then in alliance with the kings
of Delhi, Ajmer, Kalinjar, and Kanauj ; and his defeat was decisive,
as he had to surrender four strongholds towards Ghazni. Sabuk-
tagin occupied the country up to the Indus ; and Shaikh Hamid, the
Afghan governor of Multan, also did homage to him. Sabuktagin was
succeeded by the renowned Mahmud of Ghazni, who in looi com-
menced a series of inroads into India. In the first, Jaipal was
defeated near Peshawar, and, having burnt himself to death, was
succeeded by his son Anand Pal. The latter allied himself with
the governor of Multan, Abul Fateh Lodi, but was also defeated at
Peshawar in 1006, whereupon Multan was reduced. In 1009 Anand
Pal, who had formed a great coalition of Hindu rulers, including those
of Ujjain and Gwalior, met with his second defeat near Peshawar,
after which Mahmud .sacked Nagarkot or Kangra. Nevertheless in
loio Mahmud had again to subdue Multan, where the Karmatian
heretics had revolted, and deport its Lodi governor. In 10 14 he
reduced Nandana, a fastness in the Salt Range, driving 'I'rilochan Pal,
Anand Pal's son and successor, to seek an asylum in Kashmir ; and in
the same year he plundered Thanesar. The subjugation of the greater
part of the Punjab was hardly completed before 1021, when Trilochan
Pal was defeated again and slain. It was left, however, to Masud, son
264 PUNJAB
of Mahmud, to reduce Hansi, the old capital of Siwalik, in 1036. But
the Ghaznivids were already destined to succumb to a stronger power,
and as early as 1041 Masud was compelled by the Seljuk Turks to
retreat into the Punjab. Nevertheless Ghazni remained the centre
of their authority ; and it was only as the Turkish power in Central
Asia increased that they gradually withdrew into the Punjab, until their
kingdom was virtually confined to that province.
P'inally, in 11 81, Khusru, who significantly bore only the title of
Malik, not that (jf Shah, surrendered Lahore to the invader, usually
called Shahab-ud-din, but more correctly Muizz-ud-din, Muhammad
of Ghor. Muhammad was governor of Ghazni under his brother,
the Sultan of Ghor, when in 11 75-6 he took Multan from the Kar-
matians and laid siege to Uch, which was betrayed by its queen. In
1 1 79 he captured Peshawar. Meanwhile the Kashmir ruler had
invoked his aid against Khusru, who was endeavouring to consolidate
his power in the Punjab, with the result already related. In 1191
Muhammad of Ghor made his first great expedition into the South-
East Punjab. After conquering Sirhind, which he garrisoned, he
advanced to meet PrithwT Raj of Ajmer, who, with his brother, the
ruler of Delhi, and all the chiefs of Hind, encountered him at Talawari,
near Thanesar. Muhammad was defeated and wounded. In the
following year, however, he returned and, though too late to relieve
Sirhind, overwhelmed Prithwl Raj, whom he captured, and whose
brother, Rai Govind of Delhi, fell in the battle, which was fought on
the scene of Muhammad's former defeat. By this victory Ajmer with
all the Siwalik territory, including Hansi, fell into his hands ; and his
slave and lieutenant Kutb-ud-din Aibak completed his work, taking
Delhi in the following year (1193). The tribes of the Salt Range,
however, made the communications between Ghazni and Lahore
precarious ; and, though he suppressed them with ruthless severity,
Muhammad was in 1206 assassinated by them on his way to Ghazni.
On Muhammad's death Kutb-ud-dTn established himself as an
independent ruler at Lahore, another slave, Taj-ud-din, obtaining
Ghazni. Taj-ud-dln soon ousted Nasir-ud-din Kubacha from Lahore,
which he held for Kutb-ud-din, but the latter, advancing from Delhi,
drove him back to Kirman in the Kurram valley, and for six weeks
occupied Ghazni. On his death in 12 10 his slave Shams-ud-din
Altamsh was raised to the throne at Delhi, while Nasir-ud-din secured
most of the Punjab. But Taj-ud-din, driven from Central Asia by the
Khwarizmis, retreated into the Punjab, wrested Lahore from Nasir-ud-
dln, and attacked Altamsh, only to be defeated and taken prisoner at
Talawari. Altamsh then seized Lahore, and thus became master of
the Punjab, though Nasir-ud-dIn maintained himself at Uch. Mean-
while, the Khwarizmis themselves had had to yield to the invading
/riSTORV 265
Mongol hordes, and in r22i their Sultan Jalal-ud-din fled into the
Punjab, pursued to the west bank of the Indus by Chingiz Khan.
Escaping from his pursuer with'a handful of followers, Jalfd-ud-dln
defeated an army of Altamsh, but fearing to attack Lahore turned
south towards Multan and Uch, overthrew Nasir-ud-din, and returned
to summer in the Salt Range. These events led to the first Mongol
invasion of the Punjab. Alarmed by Jaliil-ud-dln's successes, Chingiz
Khan had dispatched against him a force which captured Nandana
and invested Multan. In the following year (1223) another Mongol
army compelled Jalal-ud-din to evacuate the Punjab, after burning L'ch
in his retreat.
Five years later Altamsh defeated Nasir-ud-din and annexed Multan
and Uch, with Sind. His authority, thus extending over nearly the
whole Punjab, was confirmed in 1229 by a diploma of investiture from
the Abbassid KhalTfa of Baghdad. He failed, however, to extend his
frontier beyond the Salt Range, and an unsuccessful expedition against
the Mongols in that quarter was followed by his death in 1236. Under
the influence of 'the Forty,' a corps of Turkish Mamluks which he had
formed, his dynasty rapidly decayed. His daughter Razia, the only
Muhammadan queen who ever ruled at Delhi (1236-40), had to face
religious disaffection within the city, where a Karmatian rising was
suppressed after much bloodshed. Her feudatories of Lahore, Hansi,
and Multan also rebelled, though unsuccessfully ; but such was the
weakness of the kingdom in 1241 that a Mongol army sacked Lahore.
Uch, with Sind, became independent, and the Turkish Amirs deposed
Razia's successor, Bahram Shah, a degenerate son of Altamsh, in the
following year. The reign of the next king, Ala-ud-dln Masud, was
chiefly noteworthy for the rise of Balban, one of ' the Forty ' who in
1246 compelled the Mongols to raise the siege of Uch. For the next
twenty years, Balban and his cousin, Sher Khan, feudatory of Lahore,
kept the Mongols and Karlugh Turks at bay. Under Balban's stern
rule the disaffection, which had brought rapine to the very gates of
Delhi, was checked. More than once he had to ravage the Mewat,
while the Mongols made good their footing in the Indus valley, and,
aided by a disloyal vassal at Uch, placed an intendant at Multan.
In 1266 Balban was placed on the throne of Delhi, and devoted his
whole reign to organizing resistance to the Mongol encroachments.
The power of ' the Forty ' was broken. Sher Khan died, not without
suspicion of poison. Balban's son Nusrat-ud-din Muhammad, the
patron of the poet Amir Khusru, bid fair to continue his father's work,
but in 1285 fell in battle with the Mongols near Dipalpur, and earned
his title of 'the Martyr Prince.'
Two years later Balban died, and was succeeded by the Khilji line
of Sultans in 1290. Its founder, Firo/ Shah 11, had to contend with
266 PUNJAB
religious disaffection, and in 1296 was assassinated by Ala-ud-dln
Muhammad Shah, his nephew and son-in-law, who usurped the throne.
Ala-ud-din's ambition led him to attempt conquests in Southern India,
while from 1296 to 1305 the Mongols overran the Punjab. In 1298,
with 200,000 men, they penetrated to Delhi, but met with severe
defeat under its walls. In 1303 they beleaguered the Sultan within
the city, and, though compelled to retreat after a few months' siege,
invaded Hindustan in the following year. Ala-ud-dln now reorganized
his forces, and rebuilt the frontier towns of Samana and Dipalpur, but
failed to protect Multan and the Siwaliks from the Mongol inroads.
In 1304, however, Ghazi Beg Tughlak, governor of the Punjab, routed
their retreating forces and secured a respite from their inroads until
Muhammad Shah's death in 1316. Four years of anarchy followed,
but eventually Ghazi Beg seized Delhi and established the Tughlak
dynasty. Like his Khiljl predecessor, the founder was assassinated by
his eldest son, Muhammad, who in 1325 caused a pavilion to fall on
him, and ascended his throne. Muhammad bin Tughlak is the most
striking figure in mediaeval Indian history. Though his father had built
the great fortress of Tughlakabad, now a cyclopean ruin, near Delhi,
he endeavoured to transplant his capital to Deogiri in the Deccan.
While unable to withstand the Mongols, who in 1327 ravaged Multan
and had to be paid a vast ransom to spare Delhi, he planned the
conquest of China, Khorasan, and trans-Oxiana. A scholar, a poet,
and a patron of letters, he was as a ruler ruthlessly severe. His
economic measures included the introduction of a token currency,
and led to frightful disorders and distress. In and around Delhi
a terrible famine, caused by his exactions, raged for years ; but the
Sultan took vigorous measures to restore prosperity, and organized
a system of loans to the starving peasantr)-. He obtained a formal
recognition from the Abbassid Khalifa of distant Egypt, though he
ruled an independent kingdom as wide as that of Aurangzeb. Never-
theless his power was built on sand. 'l"he Afghans, who now appear
for the first time on the north-west frontier, overwhelmed Multan in
1343. Even the country round Sunam and Samana was in open
revolt, and the Gakhars seized Lahore. Eventually Muhammad bin
Tughlak died of fever in 1351 while on an expedition in Sind, leaving
the kingdom to his cousin the noble Firoz Shah III. With this king's
accession the modern history of the Punjab begins to take shape. He
dug canals, notably that from the Jumna, and founded Hissar. Sirhind
was colonized and became a separate government. Nagarkot (Kangra)
was taken, and Sirmur and the hills north of Ambala were subdued.
Firoz Shah reigned for thirty-seven years and was succeeded, after
the usual interlude of anarchy, by Muhammad Shah III in 1390.
Mewat, however, was in revolt and the Khokhars under Shaikha seized
HISTORY 2(17
Lahore. Prince lluinayun was about Lu inarch against thcni, when
his father's death recalled him to the throne, and the rebellion had
to be put down by Sarang Khan, feudatory of Dipalpur, in a regular
campaign in 1394. By 1395 the empire had fallen into chaos. Rival
puppet Sultans waged war on one another from their opposing capitals
at Delhi, while Sarang Khan attacked Multan on his own account.
On this scene of disunion the Mongols reappeared in force. In
1397 Pir Muhammad laid siege to Uch, Sarang Khan's fief, defeating
a relieving force, and also invested Multan, which surrendered in 1398,
and thus paved the way for Timur's great inroad of that year. Crossing
the Indus south of the Salt Range, Timur plundered Talamba in
September, and advanced via Ajodhan to Bhatner. Thence his
march lay through Fatehabad, Tohana, across the Ghaggar, through
Kaithal and Panipat to Delhi, which he sacked on December 26.
Crossing the Jumna he attacked Hardwar, and recrossing the river
in January, 1399, defeated Ratn Sain (probably the Raja of Sirmur)
in the Kiarda Dun, advanced through the Siwaliks, took Nagarkot
and Jammu, and encamped at Bannu early in March. In this
incredible march Timur massacred men, women, and children by
tens of thousands, and reduced the country along his route to ruin.
It is, however, a consolation to read that he killed some thousands
of Jats near Tohana because they were given to robbing travellers.
The only immediate result of his inroad was to reinstate Khizr Khan
in possession of Multan, which Sarang Khan had wrested from him.
On his departure the struggle for Delhi recommenced, with tlie added
miseries of pestilence and famine. The Punjab fiefs remained virtually
independent, and indeed Delhi never regained her ascendancy until
Babar founded the Mughal dynasty.
Eventually in 14 14 Khizr Khan, who had been practically master,
not only of Multan, but of the whole Punjab since Tuiiur's departure,
took Delhi and founded the Saiyid dynasty, which owned a nominal
allegiance to the Mongols. But the four Saiyid rulers were as weak
as those whom they had supplanted. The Mongol governor of Kabul
exercised a fitful control over the Punjab, which was in constant revolt
under its Turk and Khokhar feudatories. Again, the necessity for
a strong warden of the marches compelled Muhammad Shah IV to
entrust Dipalpur and Lahore to Bahlol, a LodI Afghan, in 144 1 ; but
Bahlol soon patched up a peace with the Khokhars, and in 1451 took
Delhi and founded the first Afghan or Pathan dynasty. Multan had
become an independent kingdom in 1443. Under the Lodis the
Punjab enjoyed such peace as a country no longer worth plundering
might enjoy. The period is remarkable for a popular religious revival,
for it produced Nanak (1469-1538), the founder of Sikhism.
In 1526 Babar, a fugitive king of Samarkand, defeated Ibrahim, the
VOL. XX. S
268 PUNJAB
Lodi king of Delhi, at Panlpat, and thus estabUshed the Indian empire
of the Mughals. As usual, disunion and disaffection had led to the
ruin of the Afghan domination. Daulat Khan, himself a Lodi, governor
of the Punjab, sought the aid of Babar, then king of Kabul, against
his kinsman, and enabled him to seize Lahore in 1524, when he estab-
lished Ala-ud-din, Daulat Khan's uncle, as 'Sultan" at Dipalpur. Daulat
Khan, now alarmed for his own safety, raised a force to oppose Babar,
who had returned to recruit fresh troops in Kabul, but offered little
resistance ; and Babar, having seized his stronghold in the Siwaliks,
marched down the Jaswan Dun, crossed the Sutlej, and overthrew
Ibrahim at Panlpat in April, 1526. Babar spent the last years of his
life in establishing his rule in India from the capital at Agra, and, on
his death at the age of forty-eight, Humayun succeeded him in 1530.
But Kamran, Babar's second son, promptly annexed the Punjab, and,
though the Afghan power was still far from crushed, Humayun frittered
away his power in a futile conquest of Gujarat. In 1540 Sher Shah
drove him out of India, through the Punjab and into the desert country
near Uch, whence he fled to Persia. Sher Shah held effective control
of the Punjab, building Rohtas in Jhelum District to overawe the
Gakhars of the Salt Range, who had long been vassals or allies of
the Mughals. Aided by the Shah of Persia, Humayun expelled
Kamran from Kabul in 1547, and eight years later he overthrew
Sikandar Sfiri, who had seized the Punjab, defeating him at Sirhind
in 1555. Sikandar retreated to the Kangra hills, and Akbar was press-
ing in pursuit of him when he received news of Humayun's death at
Delhi in 1556.
AVith Akbar's accession a new era began. The Mughal empire was
finally and firmly established, and the Punjab, after twenty years of
incessant war, enjoyed comparative peace. Sikandar was indeed
intrenched at Mankot, and Himu, a shopkeeper of Rewari, who had
risen to be "Wazir of the last of the Afghan emperors, seized Delhi
and proclaimed himself ruler of India under the title of Mkramajit.
In 1556, however, Akbar routed him at Panlpat. Mankot surrendered
after an eight months' siege, and only a difficult campaign was required
to secure the north-west frontier in 1586. ^^'ith the rest of India, the
Punjab benefited by Akbar's reforms and owes to him the foundations
of its modern revenue system.
The accession of Jahanglr in 1605 was followed almost immediately
by the revolt of his son Khusru, who escaped from Agra and laid siege
to Lahore. The rebellion was suppressed by the emperor in person,
and the adherents of the defeated prince were punished with fearful
severity. In 161 1 Jahangir married Nur Jahan, who during the
remaining years of his reign dominated his policy and his fortunes.
Her influence at fir^t was for good ; but later she involved the emperor
J U STORY 269
in conflicts with his son, Khurram (Shah Jahan), and hi,-, faniou-.
general, Mahabat Khan, who in 1626 seized the emperor in his camp
on the Jhelum. After making a spirited attempt to rescue him, the
empress consented to share his brief captivity. Jahangir did not long
survive his release. He died in 1627 at Bhimbar, and was buried
at Shahdara near Lahore. His widow raised a splendid mausoleum
over his remains, and herself lived in retirement at Lahore for eigh-
teen years after his death.
Shah Jahan was proclaimed at Agra early in 1628, but his younger
brother, Shahryar, had already set up his standard at Lahore. He was
speedily overthrown by the energy of Asaf Khan, the father-in-law
of the emperor, and the ill-starred enterprise terminated with the
execution of the pretender and his principal adherents. During the
last five years of Jahangir's reign, Lahore had been the capital of
the empire ; but Shah Jahan determined to build for himself a new
capital on the banks of the Jumna at Delhi. His reign was the
most prosperous period of Mughal rule, a period of profovmd internal
peace and inmiunity from foreign invasion ; but it was, none the less,
marked by military activity beyond the frontiers. Kandahar was seized
in 1639, only to be lost again ten years later ; and the great expeditions
of 1652, commanded by the princes Aurangzeb anil Dara Shikoh,
failed to recover it. The successes of the imj)erial army in Balkh
and Badakhshan in 1644 were neutralized by the disastrous retreat
conducted by Aurangzeb through the passes of the Hindu Kush,
but the expedition against Baltistan in 165 1 was crowned by the
capture (jf Skardo. A dangerous illness which j^rostrated the emperor
in 1657 was the signal for the outbreak of strife among his sons.
After his defeat near Agra, Dara fled to llie Punjab, trusting to his
popularity with the people of the province to gain him adherents,
hi this he was not altogether disappointed ; but the restless activity
of his brother compelled him to fly, and in the following year he
was captured and put to death at Delhi.
The reign of Aurangzeb dates from June, 165S, though iiis father
survived in confinement at Agra till 1666. It was one long struggle
against the powers of the South. In the Punjab the profound peace
which the province had known under Shah Jahan continued for half
a century under his successor, broken only by the march of the
iniperial armies through the province in 1673-5 ^^^ crush the Afghan
revolt, and by the insurrection of the Satnamis of Narnaul in 1676.
The war with the Afghan tribes dragged on for two years, and was
only brought to a close by a treacherous massacre at Peshawar. The
insurrection of the Satnamis infected the Hindu i)opulation of Agra
and Ajmer. Detachments of the imperial army were defeated, and
the insurgents advanced on Delhi. A panic spread throughout the
ij 2
2 70 PUNJAB
army, and it was with difficulty that the suldiers could be brought to
face the enemy. Confidence was restored by the personal exertions
of the emperor, and a crushing defeat was inflicted on the insurgents.
In the closing years of Aurangzeb's reign signs were already visible
that the downfall of the empire was not far distant, and the century
after his death in 1 707 saw the rise of a new power in the Punjab.
This power was the Sikhs, originally a mere religious sect, founded
by Baba Nanak, who was born near Lahore in the latter half of the
fifteenth century, and who died at Dera Nanak, on the Ravi, in 1538.
A full account of the sect will be found in Prinsep's History of the
Punjab (2 vols., 1846) and Cunningham's History of the Sikhs (second
edition, 1853), to which works the reader is referred for a complete
or detailed narrative. Baba Nanak was a disciple of Kabir, and
preached as a new religion a pure form of monotheism, eagerly
accepted by the peasantry of his neighbourhood. He maintained
that devotion was due to God, but that forms were immaterial, and
that Hindu and Muhammadan worships were the same in the sight
of the Deity. His tenets were handed down by a succession of Gurus
or spiritual leaders, under whom the new doctrine made steady but
peaceful progress. Ram Das, the fourth Guru, obtained from Akbar
a grant of land on the spot now occupied by the city of Amritsak,
the metropolis of the Sikh faith. Here he dug a holy tank, and
commenced the erection of a temple in its midst. His son and suc-
cessor, Arjun Mai, completed the temple, and lived in great wealth
and magnificence, besides widely increasing the numbers of his sect,
and thus exciting the jealousy of the Mughal government. Becoming
involved in a quarrel with the imperial governor of Lahore, Arjun
was imprisoned in that city, where he died, his followers asserting
that he had been cruelly put to death.
' This act of tyranny,' writes Elphinstone, ' changed the Sikhs from
inoffensive quietists into fanatical warriors. They took up arms under
Har Govind, the son of their martyred pontiff, who inspired them with
his own spirit of revenge and of hatred to their oppressors. Being now
open enemies of the government, the Sikhs were expelled from the
neighbourhood of Lahore, which had hitherto been their seat, and were
constrained to take refuge in the northern mountains. Notwithstanding
dissensions which broke out among themselves, they continued their
animosity to the Musalmans, and confirmed their martial habits until
the accession, in 1675, of Guru Govind, the grandson of Har Govind,
and the tenth spiritual chief from Nanak. This leader first conceived
the idea of forming the Sikhs into a religious and military common-
wealth, and executed his design with the systematic spirit of a Grecian
lawgiver.'
But their numbers were inadequate to accomplish their plans of
resistance and revenge. After a long struggle. Guru Govind saw his
HISTORY 27 T
strongholds taken, his mother and his children massacred, and his
followers slain, mutilated, or dispersed. He was himself murdered in
1 708 by a private enemy at Nander in the Deccan. The severities of
the Musalmans only exalted the fanaticism of the Sikhs, and inspired
a spirit of vengeance, which soon broke out into fury. Under Guru
Govind's principal disciple, Banda, who had been bred a religious
ascetic, and who combined a most sanguinary disposition with bold
and daring counsels, they broke from their retreat, and overran the
east of the Punjab, committing unheard-of cruelties wherever they
directed their steps. The mosques were destroyed and the Mullas
killed ; but the rage of the Sikhs was not restrained by any con-
siderations of religion, or by any mercy for age or sex. AV^hole towns
were massacred with wanton barbarity, and even the bodies of the
dead were dug up and thrown out to the birds and beasts f)f
prey. The principal scene of these atrocities was Sirhind, which the
Sikhs occupied, after defeating the governor in a pitched battle ; but
the same horrors marked their route through the country eastward of the
Sutlej and Jumna, mto which they penetrated as far as Saharanpur.
They at length received a check from the local authorities, and retired
to the country on the upper course of the Sutlej, between Ludhiana and
the mountains. This seems at that time to have been their principal
seat ; and it was well suited to their condition, as they had a near
and easy retreat when forced to leave the open country. Their retire-
ment on the present occasion was of no long continuance ; and in
their next incursions they ravaged the country as far as the neighbour-
hood of Lahore on the one side and of Delhi itself on the other.
The emperor, Bahadur Shah, was compelled to return from the
Deccan in order to proceed against the Sikhs in person. He shut
them up in their hill fort at Daber, which he captured after a desperate
siege ; the leader Banda and a few of his principal followers succeeded
by a desperate sally in effecting their escape to the mountains. The
death of Bahadur Shah in 1 7 1 2 probably prevented the extermination
of the sect. During the dissensions and confusion which followed that
event the Sikhs were allowed to recruit their strength, and they again
issued from their mountain fastnesses and ravaged the country. In
1 7 16, however, Abdus Samad Khan, governor of Kashmir, was dis-
patched against them at the head of a large army by the emperor
Farrukh Siyar. He completely defeated the Sikhs in several actions,
took Banda prisoner, and sent him to Delhi, where he was barbarously
put to death along with several other of the Sikh chieftains. An active
persecution ensued, and for some time afterwards history narrates little
of the new sectaries.
In 1738 Nadir Shah's invading host swept over the Punjab like
a flooded river, defeated the Mughal army at Karnfd in 1739, ^"•l
272 PUNJAB
sacked the imperial city of Delhi. Though Nndir retired from India
in a few months with his plunder, he had given the death-blow to
the weak and divided empire. The Sikhs once more gathered fresh
courage to rebel ; and though again defeated and massacred in large
numbers, the religion gathered new strength from the blood of the
martyrs. The next great disaster of the Sikhs was in 1762, when
Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Afghan conqueror of the Marathas at Pani-
pat in the preceding year, routed their forces completely, and pur-
sued them across the Sutlej. On his homeward march he destroyed
the town of Amritsar, blew up the temple, filled the sacred tank
with mud, and defiled the holy place by the slaughter of cows. But,
true to their faith, the Sikhs rose once more as their conquerors
withdrew, and they now initiated a final struggle which resulted in
the secure establishment of their independence.
By this time the religion had come to present very different features
from those of Baba Nanak's peaceful theocracy. It had grown into
a loose military organization, divided among several tnish or con-
federacies, with a common meeting-place at the holy city of Amrit-
sar. The Mughals had nominally ceded the Punjab to Ahmad Shah ;
but the Durrani kings never really extended their rule to the eastern
portion, where the Sikhs established their authority not long after 1763.
The Afghan revolution in 1809 facilitated the rise of RanjTt Singh,
a Sikh adventurer, who had obtained a grant of Lahore from Zaman
Shah, the Durrani ruler of Kabul, in 1799. Gradually this able
chieftain spread his power over the greater part of the Punjab, and
even in 1808 attacked the small Sikh principalities on the east or left
bank of the Sutlej. {^See Cis-Sutlej Statks.) These sought the pro-
tection of the British, now masters of the North- Western Provinces with
a protectorate over the Mughal emperor at Delhi ; and an agreement
was effected in 1809 by which Ranjit Singh engaged to preserve friend-
ship with the British Government, and not to encroach on the left bank
of the Sutlej, on condition of his sovereignty being recognized over all
his conquests north of that river, a treaty which he scrupulously
respected till the close of his life. In 1818 RanjTt Singh stormed
Multan, and extended his dominions to the extreme south of the
Punjab ; and in the same year he crossed the Indus, and conquered
Peshawar, to which shortly after he added the Derajat, as well as Kash-
mir. He had thus succeeded during his own lifetime in building up
a splendid power, embracing almost the whole of the present Province,
together with the Native State of Kashmir.
On his death in 1839, his son Kharak Singh succeeded to the throne
of Lahore, but died, not without suspicion of poison, in the following
year. A state of anarchy ensued, during which the Sikhs committed
depredations on British territory, resulting in what is known as the first
TIT STORY 27;,
Sikh War. The Sikh leaders liuving resolved on war, iheir army,
60,000 strong, with 150 guns, advanced towards the British frontier, and
crossed the Sutlej in December, 1845. The details of the campaign
are sufficiently known. On December 18 the first action was fought at
Mudki, in which the Sikhs attacked the troops in position, but were
defeated with heavy loss. Three days afterwards followed the toughly
contested battle of Ferozeshah ; on January 22, 1846, the Sikhs were
again defeated at Allwal ; and finally, on February 10, the campaign was
ended by the capture of the Sikh entrenched position at Sobraon. The
British army marched unopposed to Lahore, which was occupied on
February 22, and terms of peace were dictated. I'hese were, briefly,
the cession in full sovereignty to the British Government of the territory
lying between the Sutlej and the Beas rivers, and a war indenuiity of
\\ millions sterling. As the Lahore Darbar was unable to pay the
whole of this sum, or even to give satisfactory security for the payment
of one million, the cession was arranged of all the hill country between
the Beas and the Indus, including Kashmir and Hazara ; arrangements
were made for the payment of the remaining half-million of war indem-
nity, for the disbandment of the Lahore army, and its reorganization
on a reduced scale. The other terms included the cession of the
control of both banks of the Sutlej ; the recognition of the independent
sovereignty of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Jammu ; a free passage through
Sikh territory for British troops ; and the establishment of a British
Resident at Lahore. In addition, at the request of the Lahore Govern-
ment, it was settled that a British force should remain at Lahore for
a time to assist in the reconstitution of a satisfactory administration.
Simultaneously, a treaty was executed with Maharaja Gulab Singh by
which the English made over to him in sovereignty the Kashmir
territory ceded by the Lahore government, in consideration of a pay-
ment of three-quarters of a million sterling. Shortly afterwards diffi-
culties arose regarding the transfer of Kashmir, which the Sikh governor,
instigated by Lai Singh, the chief of the Lahore Darbar, resisted by
force of arms. Lai Singh was deposed and exiled to British India ;
and in December, 1846, a fresh treaty was concluded, by which the
affairs of the State were to be carried on by a Council of Regency,
under the direction and control of the British Resident, during the
minority of the young Maharaja Dalip Singh.
For a time the work of reorganizing the shattered government of the
country proceeded quietly and with every prospect of success. Bui
besides many minor causes of discontent among the people, such as
the withdrawal of the prohibition against the killing of kine, and the
restored liberty of the much-hated and formerly persecuted Muham-
madans, the villages were filled with the disbanded soldiery of the old
Sikh army, who were only waiting for a signal and a leader to rise and
2 74 PUNJAB
strike another blow for the power they had lost. At length, in April,
1848, the rebellion of the ex-Diwan Mulraj at Multan, and the murder
of two British officers in that city, roused a general revolt throughout
the Punjab. Multan city was invested by hastily raised frontier levies,
assisted afterwards by British troops under General Whish ; the siege,
however, had to be temporarily raised in September, owing to the rapid
spread of disaffection among the Sikh troops. The two rebellious Sar-
dars, Chattar Singh and Sher Singh, invoked the aid of the Amir of
Kabul, Dost Muhammad, who responded by seizing Peshawar, and
sending an Afghan contingent to assist the Sikhs. In October, 1848,
the British army, under Lord Gough, assumed the offensive, and
crossed the Sutlej. Proceeding from Ferozepore across the Punjab
at an angle to the Sikh line of march, it came up with Sher Singh at
Ramnagar, and there inflicted on him a severe check. The Sikh army,
consisting of 30,000 men and 60 guns, made a stand at Chilianwala,
where an indecisive and sanguinary battle was fought on January 13,
1849. Two or three days after the action, Sher Singh was joined by
his father Chattar Singh, bringing with him Sikh reinforcements, and
1,000 Afghan horse. Lord Gough awaited the arrival of the column
under General Whish (set free by the fall of Multan on January 28),
and then followed up the Sikhs from Chilianwala to Gujrat, where the
last and decisive battle was fought on February 22, the Sikhs being
totally defeated with the loss of 60 guns. The Afghan garrison of
Peshawar were chased back to their hills, the Amir Dost Muhammad
himself narrowly escaping capture. The remnants of the Sikh army
and the rebel Sardars surrendered at Rawalpindi on March 14, and
henceforth the entire Punjab became a Province of British India.
The formal annexation was proclaimed at Lahore on March 29, 1849,
on which day terms were offered to, and accepted by, the young Maha-
raja Dallp Singh, who received an annuity of £50,000 a year and
resigned for himself, his heirs, and his successors, all right, title, and
claim to the sovereignty of the Punjab, or to any sovereign power
whatever. He resided till his death in England, where he purchased
estates, married, and settled down as an English nobleman.
The Punjab, after being annexed in 1849, was governed by a Board
of Administration. It was subsequently made a Chief Commissioner-
ship, the first Chief Commissioner being Sir John Lawrence, who
afterwards became the first Lieutenant-Governor.
At the outbreak of the Mutiny in 1857 there were in the Punjab
the following troops : Hindustanis, 35,000 ; Punjabi Irregulars, 13,000 ;
Europeans, 10,000 ; there were also 9,000 military police. The Euro-
peans consisted of twelve regiments, of whom no less than seven were
either at Peshawar or in the hills north of Ambala, leaving only five
regiments to hold the country from the Indus to the Sutlej. The news
Hf STONY 275
of the massacre at Delhi roac^hed Lahore on May 12. There had not
been wanting premonitory signs that the Hindustani sepoys were dis-
affected and Hkely to rise; and, accordingly, on May 13, 3,000 native
troops were successfully disarmed at Mian Mir. At the same time
European troops were thrown into the forts of Govindgarh and I'hil-
laur, the first important as commanding Amritsar, the second as con-
taining a large arsenal which subsequently supplied the munitions of
war for the siege of Delhi. On May 14 the arsenal at Ferozepore was
secured ; the sepoys here mutinied on the following day, and escaped
without punishment. On the 21st of the same month the 55th Native
Infantry rose at Mardan and fled to independent territory ; many were
killed in pursuit, and the remainder were captured by the hillmen.
On June 7 and 8 the native troo{)s at Jullundur broke and escaped to
Delhi. In the first week of July the sepoys at Jhelum and Sialkot
mutinied ; they were destroyed, as were the 26th Native Infantry,
who mutinied at Peshawar on August 28.
Simultaneous with the vigorous suppression of open mutiny, 13,000
sepoys were disarmed without resistance during June and July. While
the Hindustani troops were thus disposed of, the dispatch of rein-
forcements to Delhi, an object of paramount importance, proceeded
without a break. About May 17 it had become apparent that the
Punjab did not sympathize with the movement in Hindustan, and
that a good spirit prevailed in the Punjabi troops. It was therefore
safe to augment them ; and eighteen new regiments were raised in the
Province during the later months of the year. As these forces were
being enrolled to supply the place of those who marched down to
Delhi, the stream of reinforcements was steadily maintained. Four
regiments from the European garrison of the Punjab formed the
greater portion of the force that first marched upon Delhi. Next
followed two wings of European regiments of infantry. Then a con-
siderable force of native troops was dispatched, including the (luides,
two regiments of Punjab cavalry, a body of Punjab horse, two regi-
ments of Punjab infantry, and a body of 1,200 pioneers raised from
the Mazbi Sikhs ; 7,000 men, forming the contingent of the Cis-Sutlej
chiefs of Patiala, Jind, and Nabha, accompanied the regular troops to
the siege. An irregular force of 1,000 men was also detached to clear
the western part of the Delhi territory. \\'agon trains were organized
from Multan and Ferozepore via Ambala to Delhi. Siege trains,
treasure, stores, and transport animals were poured down from the
Punjab for the besieging force. Finally, in August, one last effort
had to be made to send reinforcements, in spite of the risk run in
denuding the Province of Europeans and loyal troops. The need for
aiding the force at Delhi was, however, imperative ; it was therefore
resolved to send Brigadier-General Nicholson with the movable
2 76 PUNJAB
column and every European who could be spared. Two half-
regiments of European infantry, the 52nd Foot, and three regiments of
Punjab infantry were dispatched. These were followed by a siege train
from Ferozepore, a wing of the ist Baloch Regiment from Sind, and a
contingent 2,000 strong from the Maharaja of Kashmir. There then
remained only 4,500 Europeans (including sick) to hold the Punjab.
The crisis had now come. If Delhi were taken speedily, all was
well ; if otherwise, there would be a struggle for European dominion
and existence in the Punjab itself. The next few weeks after the
departure of Nicholson's column were weeks of anxious suspense, in
which all eyes were turned to Delhi. Symptoms of the wavering faith
of the people in the British power appeared in local outbreaks at
Murree in the north, and in the wild and barren tracts south of
Lahore, between the Ravi and Sutlej. Both were, however, soon
suppressed, and the fall of Delhi on September 14 put an end to all
further cause for apprehension. The first sign that the mass of the
inhabitants had regained confidence was that the Sikhs of the Manjha,
or the tract between the Ravi and the Sutlej rivers, who had hitherto
held aloof, came forward for enlistment in the new levies.
The loyal action of the chiefs had an important bearing on keeping
the population steady during the crisis. The Raja of jTnd was actually
the first man, European or native, who took the field against the muti-
neers ; and his contingent collected supplies in advance for the British
troops marching upon Delhi, besides rendering excellent service during
the siege. The Rajas of Patiala and Nabha also sent contingents for
field service ; and with the exception of the Nawab of Bahawalpur,
who did not stir, every chief in the Punjab, so far as he could, aided
the English in preserving order and in suppressing rebellion. Rewards
in the shape of grants of territory were made to the chiefs of Patiala,
Jind, and Nabha, and a large iaiukdari estate in Oudh was conferred
upon the Raja of Kapurthala.
Since the Mutiny, the Punjab has made rapid progress in com-
mercial and industrial wealth. In 1858 the Delhi territory lying on
the right bank of the Jumna, together with the confiscated territory
which had formerly belonged to the Nawabs of Jhajjar and Bahadur-
garh, was transferred from the North-Western Provinces to the Punjab.
The territory thus transferred included the present Districts of Delhi,
Rohtak, and Clurgaon, almost the whole of Hissar, and portions of
Karnal and Ferozepore. The year after the suppression of the rebel-
lion is remarkable for the commencement of the first line of railway in
the Punjab, from Amritsar to Multan (February, 1859), and for the
admission of water into the Bari Doab Canal. With the exception
of punitive military expeditions against marauding hill tribes, the
history of the Province has been one of uninterrupted progress.
HfSTOA'Y ?77
Canals have spread Irrigation over its thirsty fields ; railways have
opened new means of communication for its surplus produce ; and
British superintendence, together with the security afforded by a firm
rule, has developed its resources with astonishing rapidity. In October,
1901, the North-West Frontier Province was formed. It comprises all
the territories formerly administered or controlled by the Lieutenant-
Governor of the Punjab which lie to the west of the Indus, except the
trans-Indus portion of the Isa Khel tahsil of Mianwali District, the
District of Dera Ghazi Khan, and the territory occupied by the pro-
tected tribes on its western border and known as the Baloch Trans-
frontier. It also includes the District of Ha/ara, east of the Indus.
Though the Punjab was the earliest seat of \'edic civilization,
archaeology has hitherto failed to discover any monuments or traces
of the epic period. Not a single relic of the Macedonian invasion has
been brought to light, and, as in the rest of India, the oldest archaeo-
logical monuments in the Punjab are the Asoka inscriptions. Of these,
two were inscribed on pillars which now stand at Delhi, where they
were re-erected by Firoz Shah in about 1362, one having been origin-
ally erected at Topra at the foot of the Siwalik Hills in the Ambala
District of this Province, and the other near Meerut in the United
Provinces. Both the inscriptions are in the ancient Brahmi script,
which is found in all the Asoka inscriptions excepting those at Shah-
bazgarhi and Mansehra in the North-West Frontier Province. The
vast ruins of Takshasila (Taxila), now known as Shahdheri, in Rawal-
pindi District, remain to show the extent of the capital of the great
Mauryan province which comprised the modern Punjab and the North-
West Frontier Province. South-east of Takshasila is the tope of Manik-
yala, identified by General Sir Alexander (Cunningham as one of the
four great stupas mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hian. It is
the largest stupa in Northern India, and is believed to have been l)uili
to commemorate the sacrifice of the Bodhisattva, who gave his body to
feed a starving tigress. Near this great stupa is a smaller one, which
contained a slab with a KharoshthI inscription recording its erection
during the reign of Kanishka early in the Christian era.
In Kangra District a few remains testify to the prevalence of
Buddhism in the Himalayan valleys of the north-east Punjab. Close
to Pathvar, 6 miles south-east of Kanhiara (? Krishna-vihara), a votive
inscription of a primitive type in both Brahmi and KharoshthI has
been found ; and at Kanhiara itself an inscription, also in both
characters, records the foundation of a monastery, and indicates the
existence of Buddhism in that locality during the second century a.d.
A much later inscription at Chari contained the formula of the
Buddhist faith. The existence of Buddhism in the south west of
the Punjab is demonstrated l)y the ruined stupa and inscription at
2 78 PUNJAB
Sui Vehar in the modern State of Bahawalpur, and by a similar ruin
at Naushahra, loo miles south-west of Sui Vehar.
The Punjab can show but few Hindu antiquities. To some extent
this is due to the destructive action of the great rivers on whose banks
the ancient cities lay, but the iconoclasm of the Moslem invaders was
even more destructive. Thus the Arabic inscriptions on the Jama
Masjid or Kuwwat-ul-Islam at Delhi record that material for the
building was obtained by demolishing twenty-seven idol-houses of
the Hindus, and their profusely carved but partially defaced pillars
are still to be seen in its colonnades. But the early Muhammadans
often preserved the ancient Hindu monuments which were free from
the taint of idolatry, for in this very mosque stands the iron pillar
erected by Raja Chandra, probably Chandra Gupta H, an early king
of the Gupta dynasty (a.d. 375-413). The Inner Himalayas, however,
mostly escaped the Muhammadan inroads, and some ancient Hindu
shrines have survived ; but owing to the style of construction prevalent
in the hills, in which wood enters largely, the remains are few and not
of very great antiquity. Stone temples exist at Baijnath, where there
is an inscription of 1239, and at Nurpur. Those in the Kangra fort
were destroyed by the earthquake of April, 1905. In Kulu the stone
lingam temple at Bajaura contains some sculptures of great age, and the
temple of Parasu Rama at Nirmand on the Sutlej possesses a copper-
plate of Raja Samudra Sena of unknown date. The temple of Hidimba
Devi at Manali, which bears an inscription cut among profuse wood-
carving, recording its erection in the sixteenth century, and that at
Nagar have conical wooden roofs presenting a type peculiar to the
hills. All these places lie in Kangra District. In the Chamba State
the Devi temples at Barmaur and Chitradi date from the eighth
century a.d. They are of a different style from the two Kulu temples
last mentioned, and their wood-carving is superior to that found at
Manali. The temple at Triloknath in the Mandi State contains
a Sarada inscription. The temples at Malot and Kathwar in the
Salt Range are built in the Kashmir style.
The Muhammadan period inaugurated a new architectural era,
nowhere in India better exemplified than in the Punjab. The early
Pathan period (1193-1320) is represented by the Kuwwat-ul-Islam,
the Kutb Minar, the tomb of Altamsh, the gateway of Ala-ud-dln, and
the Jamaat-khana mosque at Delhi. Another noteworthy monument
is the tomb of Altamsh's eldest son at Malikpur. The Tughlak or
middle Pathan period (1320-1414) is represented by the vast ruins
of Tughlakabad and of Firozabad near Delhi, with the Kalan mosque
and other monuments in and around that cit}-. The later Pathan
period (141 4-1556) produced the Moth-ki-masjid near Mubarakpur
with its glazed tile decoration, and the impressive Kila i Kohna mosque
rOPUf.ATlON 279
of Sher Shah at Indrapat, with other monuments round Delhi. The
Mughals revived the splendours of Muhanimadan architecture. At
Delhi Akbar built the tomb of Humayun and the tomb of Azam
Khan, which dates from 1566, in which year Adham Khan's tomb at
Mihrauli was also erected. Jahangir's reign saw the construction of
the Nila Burj (in 1624) and the mausoleum of the Khan-i-Khanan.
He also built the first of the three Moti Masjids or ' pearl mosques '
in the Punjab at Lahore in 161 7-8. Shah Jahan founded the modern
city of Delhi and called it Shahjahanabad. In it he erected the Red
Fort, in which were built the Diwan-i-am and the matchless Diwan-i-
khas. Opposite the Red Fort rose the imposing Jama Masjid, and
in the midst of the city the smaller Fatehpuri and Sirhindi mosques.
^^'azlr Khan, Shah Jahan's minister, built the mosque still known by
his name in Lahore, and his engineer All Mardan made the Shalimar
garden near that city. The zealot Aurangzeb added little to the
architectural monuments of his predecessors, but his reign produced
the great Badshahi mo.sque at Lahore and the beautiful Moti Masjid
in the Red Fort at Delhi. His daughter built the Zinat-ul-masajid <ir
' ornament of mosques ' at Delhi. After Aurangzeb's death ensued
a period of decay, which produced the Moti Masjid at Mihrauli, the
Fakhr-ul-masajid, and the tomb of Safdar Jang at Delhi. A feature
of this period is the mosque with gilded domes, hence called ' Sunahri,'
of which type one was built at Lahore and three at Delhi.
The south-west of the Punjab has developed an architectural style
of its own, distinguished by a blue and white tile decoration, cjuite
distinct from the kdshi tile-work of Lahore and Delhi. This style is
exemplified by the tomb of the saint Rukn-ud-din at Multan, and
that of the Nahar ruler, Tahir Khan, at SItpuk. The tomb of the
famous saint Baha-ulT-fakk, the grandfather of Rukn-ud-din, dates
from the thirteenth century ; but it was injured at the siege of Multan
in 1848, and has been entirely renewed. Lastly may be mentioned
the Jahazi Mahal with its remarkable frescoes at Shujabad, built by
Muzaffar Khan in 1808.
The total population of the Punjab in 1901 was 24,754,737, including
the Baloch tribes on the border of Dera Ghazi Khan District. The
density of the population was 185 persons per square
mile, as compared with 174 in 1891 and 158 in 1881.
In British territory alone it is 209, compared with 121 in the Native
States. The density is greatest in the natural division called the Indo-
Gangetic Plain West, where it rises to 314 persons per square mile,
and in the Districts of Jullundur and Amritsar in this area to 641 and
639 respectively. The sub-Himalayan tracts, with 300 persons per
square mile, are nearly as densely populated, Sialkot rising to 544 and
thus ranking as the third most densely populated District in the
28o PUNJAB
Frovince. In marked contrast to these two areas are the north-west
dry area with 96, and the Himalayan with 77 persons per square
mile. In the latter, Chamba State, with only 40 persons per square
mile, is the most sparsely inhabited tract in the Province.
The Punjab contained, in 1901, three cities — Delhi, Lahore, and
Amritsar — with more than 100,000 inhabitants, 53 towns with more
than 10,000, and 99 with more than 5,000. The principal towns are:
Rawalpindi (population, 87,688), Multan (87,394), Ambala (78,638),
JuLLUNDUR (67,735), Sialkot (57,956), and Patiala (53,545)- All of
these include large cantonments. Villages numbered 43,660, of which
14,127 contained 500 inhabitants or more. In the Punjab plains the
village is as a rule a compact group of dwellings ; but in the south-
west and the hill tracts it comprises a number of scattered settle-
ments or hamlets, grouped together under the charge of a single
headman for fiscal and administrative convenience.
During the ten years ending 1891 the total population of the Punjab
rose from 21,136,177 to 23,272,623, an increase of lo-i per cent. In
the next decade the rate of increase was not so rapid, owing partly
to the famines of that period, and partly to emigration to other
Provinces in India and beyond the seas. During the twenty years
since 1881 the population has risen by 17 per cent. The enumerations
of 1854 and 1868 were not extended to the Native States, and even
in British Districts were imperfect. Since 1854, however, the increase
of the population in British territory may be safely estimated to exceed
45 per cent. Migration plays an important part in the movement of
the population. The Punjabi is free from that disinclination to emigrate
which is so strongly felt in other parts of India ; and Uganda, Hong-
Kong, the Straits Settlements, Borneo, and other countries attract
large numbers for military and other service. More than 25,000
Punjabis are believed to have been resident in Uganda in 1901 ; and
though no precise estimate of the total number of emigrants out of
India can be made, it must have largely exceeded the number of immi-
grants. According to the Census the emigrants to the rest of India
numbered more than 500,000, exceeding the immigrants by over
200,000. Immigration is mainly from the contiguous United Provinces
and Rajputana, but Kashmir also supplies a large number. Emigration
is mainly to the same territories, but service in the army and military
police takes more than 20,000 persons to Burma and many to other
distant places. Within the Province the foundation of the Chenab
Colony has led to an extensive movement of the population from the
congested submontane I )istricts to the virgin soil of the new colony.
In 1 89 1 the mean age of the population was 22-8 years for males
and 224 years for females. Ten years later the figures were 25 and
249, excluding the North-West Frontier Province. Judged by
rorrr.Ariox rSi
European standards, this mean is low ; but it is higher than that of
any other Province in India, and, allowing for the general inaccuracy
of the age-return, indicates a longevity above the Indian average. It
is held luckier to understate rather than overstate one's age in the
Punjab : and the number of children in proportion to adults is high,
as the following tabic, which gives the distribution o\er five main
age-periods of every :;o,ooo of the populatitjn, shows : —
1891. 1901.
lOid riovincf.) ■ (N'ftw Province.)
O lO
10-15
lj-25
-'r.-40
40 and over
I,v6i -'.3,^0
.1974 lA^i
4.5(>' 4.47S
?.:.^73 4-4^4
lulal
JOjOGO 20,000
The discrepancies in this return are due to the fact that in i8gi
the current year of age was returned, whereas in 1901 the completed
3'ear was recorded, as it was, in 1881 ; and comparisons with the
figures of that year show that the mean age of males was the same
in 1901 as in 1881, while that of females had only risen by a tenth
of a year. The figures, however, are affected by migration and various
other factors, so that no conclusions of \aluc can be drawn from
them. Famine, causing a diminution in the number of children, had
in 1901 appreciably affected the figures in the Districts of Ilissar,
Rohtak, and Jhelum.
In rural areas the village watchman is entrusted, under the super-
vision of the village headman and the higher revenue officials, with
the duty of registering births and deaths. Though almost invariably
illiterate, this agency is so closely supervised in British Districts that
the registration is, in the mass, exceedingly accurate, and its results
are in close agreement with the census returns. In munici|)alities
and cantonments registration is in the hands of the local authorities
and is often defective. The system of compilation is anomalous.
The cantonment returns are excluded from those of the Province
altogether, as are those of such Native States as register births and
deaths. Municipal returns go direct to the Civil Surgeon, but those
from rural areas are compiled by the Superintendent of police, and
forwarded by him to the Civil Surgeon, who sends both the municipal
and rural returns to the Sanitary Commissioner. In each Division the
inspector of vaccination is also charged with the duty of inspecting
the birth and death registers, and his supervision has greatly improved
the accuracy of the returns. The following table shows the principal
vital statistics for the Province : —
282
PUNJAB
Year.
Population
under
registra-
tion.
Ratio of
registered
birtlis
per 1,000.
Ratio of
registered
deaths
per 1,000.
Deaths per 1,000 from
Cholera.
Small-
pox.
Bowel 1
Fevers, com-
plaints.
1881 .
189I .
1901 .
1904 .
17,251,627
18,763,581
20,108,690
20,108,690
38.69
35-04
35-43
41.48
28-37
29-43
36-13
49-06
0.30
0-33
O.OI
0-04
0-20
0.14
0.31
0-05
19-39 0-95
21.72 0.62
25-26 ; 0.73
18.82 j 0.60
In the first three quinquennia of the period from 1881 to 1901 the
birth-rate averaged a Httle over 39 per 1,000, but in the last quin-
quennium it rose to 43, pointing to better registration. The fewest
births occur in May, after which the rate rises gradually till July and
is high in August and September, reaching its zenith in October. It
then falls gradually until it drops suddenly in March. The mean
death-rate for the five years ending 1900 was 33-7 per 1,000; but it
rose in 1901 to 36, in 1902 to 44, and in 1903 to 49 per 1,000, plague
alone accounting for 10-22 per 1,000, or more than a fifth of the deaths
in the last year. The unhealthy season in the Punjab is the autumn,
and the deaths in October corresponded to an average annual rate of
51 per 1,000 in the ten years 1891-1900. March and April are by
far the healthiest months. The number of deaths from fever fluc-
tuates greatly from year to year, according as the autumnal months
are unhealthy or the reverse. The deaths from cholera, small-pox,
and bowel complaints are relatively very few. Under the last head
only deaths from dysentery and diarrhoea have been registered since
1901.
In so far as specific infirmities are concerned, the figures of the
latest Census showed a marked improvement on those of 1881 only
421 persons in every 100,000 of the population being returned as
infirm, compared with 743 in the latter year. Lepers now number
only 19 in every 100,000 as compared with 26 in 1891 and 45 in
1881 ; and the blind 305, compared with 349 in 1891 and 528 in
1 88 1. Insanity shows an apparent increase to 35 per 100,000 in 1901
from 29 in 1891 ; but this infirmity is often confused with deaf-mutism,
which shows a marked decrease to 80 per 100,000 in 1901 from
97 in 1891.
The disease returned in the Punjab as most fatal to life is fever.
In this malady the people vaguely include most disorders accompanied
by abnormally high temperature; but making all due allowances for
this fact, malarial fever is unquestionably the most fatal disease
throughout the Province. The death-rate fluctuates greatly. In 1892
the rate was 34-8 per 1,000, and 33-4 in 1900 ; but in 1899 it was only
i8-6. In the two former years heavy monsoon rains caused extensive
rOPULA TION 283
floods and an unhoahln aulumii. .Nfalaiial fever is most prevalent
in the riverain valleys. This is especially marked in the tract west
of the Jumna, which is naturally waterlogged, and where the faulty
ah'gnment of the old Western Jumna ("anal used to obstruct the
natural drainage lines. Much has been done by realigning the canal
and constructing drainage channels to remedy this evil, but the tract
remains the most unhealthy in the Province.
Cholera is hardly endemic, though a year seldom passes without an
outbreak, and occasionally a local epidemic. Epidemic cholera caused
65,000 deaths in 1892 and 25,000 in 1900. Small-pox is endemic,
but owing to the wide extension of vaccination it is not very fatal to
life, the mortality during the ten years ending 1903 never having
exceeded 3 per 1,000. Vaccination is compulsory only in twenty-three
of the more advanced towns, and small-pox is most fatal in towns where
it is not enforced.
The first outbreak of plague occurred in October, 1897, in a village
of JuUundur District, but infection had probably been imported from
Hardwar in the previous May. For three years the disease was almost
entirely confined to the adjacent parts of Jullundur and Hoshiarpur
Districts, but in November, 1900, it broke out in Gurdaspur and soon
spread to the neighbouring District of Sialkot. In 1901 outbreaks
occurred in several Districts ; since then the disease has spread widely,
and the Province has never been completely free from it. The
number of deaths was comparatively small till 1901, when 20,998
were recorded. In the following year mortality increased more than
tenfold, and the epidemic still continues. The deaths from plague
in 1905 numbered 390,233, or 15-8 per 1,000 of the population. The
usual measures have been adopted for dealing with outbreaks of plague
and with the object of preventing its spread, including the isolation of
plague patients and the segregation of persons who had been exposed
to infection, the evacuation of infected houses and villages, and the
disinfection of houses and effects. Medical treatment and anti-plague
inoculation have always been freely offered ; but the people have
usually preferred native medicines, and the attempts which have been
made to eradicate or diminish plague by means of inoculation have
not proved successful. Until May, 1901, most of the precautions,
with the exception of medical treatment and inoculation, were com-
pulsory; but since then compulsion has been gradually abandoned.
and is now chiefly restricted to the reporting of plague occurrences,
and the inspection or detention of persons travelling either by road or
railway to certain hill stations.
Judged by English standards infant mortality is extremely high,
especially in the case of girls. This will be clear from the following
table :—
VOL. XX. T
284
PUNJAB
Year.
Infant
population
in 1901.
Number of
deaths under
one year.
Deaths per 1,000
of infant
population.
Number of
births
registered.
Deaths per 1,000
registered
births.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
igoi
igo2
1903
1904
\ 401,640
372,471 -j
91,894
107,832
117,891
97,610
88,058
101,216
110,782
90,832
270
316
346
286
379
321
351
288
373.466
461,952
452,622
436,678
339.067
418,525
410,240
397.371
246
233
260
223
260
242
270
229
The births registered show a marked excess of male births, 1 1 1 boys
being born to every loo girls. This initial deficiency in the number
of females is accentuated, especially in the first year of life, by the
heavy mortality among girls and women up to the age of 40. Of the
24,754,737 persons enumerated in 1901, 13,552,514 were males and
11,402,223 females, so that 53-9 per cent, of the population were
males and 46- 1 per cent, females. In other words, for every 1,000
males there were 854 females in 1901, compared with 851 in 1891
and 845 in 1881. These figures show that the number of females in
the Punjab is increasing more rapidly than the number of males,
though improved enumeration probably accounts to some extent for
the higher ratios of 1891 and 1901. The proportion of females
in the Punjab as a whole is probably not affected by migration. In
different parts of the Province the ratio varies, being lowest in the
central Districts and highest in the Himalayan and submontane.
These variations are not explicable by differences in the position of
women. The Sikhs, whose women are comparatively well educated
and enjoy more liberty than those of either Muhammadans or Hindus,
return a very low ratio of females, the figures for 1901 being Sikhs 778,
Hindus 844, and Muhammadans 877 per t,ooo males.
Among Muhammadans marriage is a civil contract. Among Hindus,
Sikhs, and Jains it is in theory a sacrament, indissoluble save by
death, and not even by death as far as the wife is concerned. But
practice does not always follow precept ; and among the lower Hindu
and Sikh castes remarriage {karewa) is allowed, while in the Himalayas
women are sold from hand to hand, and a system of temporary
marriage prevails. On the other hand, the prejudice against widow
marriage is almost as strong among Muhammadans of the superior
classes as it is among orthodox Hindus. All castes view marriage
as desirable for a boy and indispensable for a girl, an unmarried
maiden who has attained puberty being a social stigma on her family,
especially among the Rajputs. Betrothal is, as a rule, arranged at
a very early age, and the wedding takes place while the bride is still
a child, though she does not go to live with her husband till a later
period. Infant marriage is, however, by no means universal, and
4'5 per cent, of the girls and 26 per cent, of the boys over fifteen are
POPULA TIOX
285
unmarried. Early marriages are commonest among Hindus and in
the east of the Province. The ceremonies connected with marriage
are of infinite variety, the wedding especially being made an occasion
for much costly hospitality and display. In general, Hindus and Sikhs
observe the rule of exogamy which forbids marriage within the tribe,
and that of endogamy which permits it only within the caste ; but
a third social rule, which has been called the law of hypergamy, also
exists. By this a father must bestow his daughter on a husband of
higher social status than his own, though he may seek a bride for his
son in a lower grade. This rule renders it difficult and costly for the
middle classes to find husbands for their daughters, or brides for their
sons, as the lower grades have no scruple in exacting money for a girl.
Among the Hindu agriculturists in the extreme east of the Province,
the seven circuits round the sacred fire, prescribed by Hindu law,
form the essential part of the marriage ritual, and the strict Hindus of
the towns everywhere observe the same usage. Farther west among
the agriculturists the number is reduced to four, while in the south-
western Districts the important part of the ceremony is the sir me/ or
joining of the heads of the parties. The Muhammadan form of
marriage, simple in itself, has almost everywhere been coloured by the
Hindu ritual.
The following table gives statistics of civil condition as recorded in
1891 and 1901 : —
Civil
condition.
1891.
1901.
Persons.
Males.
Females.
Persons.
Males.
Females.
Unmarried
Married .
Widowed .
io,397.°33
io,547>329
2,328,261
6,516,598
5,237.107
818,729
3,880,435111,241,255 7,027,895
5,310,222 11,062,125 1 5,459,012
1,509,532 2,427,270 852,148
4.213.360
5,603,113
1,575,122
Polygamy is not at all common, and is largely a question of means.
Among Hindus and Sikhs only 6 per r,ooo of the married males have
more than one wife, and among Muhammadans only ir. Many of
the agricultural and menial castes allow the marriage of widows,
preferably to the brother of the deceased husband ; and it is among
them that polygamy is commonest. It is rare among high-caste
Hindus, who do not recognize remarriage. The ceremonies of re-
marriage are much simpler than those of marriage, and the woman
never acquires the status she had in the house of her first husband,
though the children of the second marriage are regarded as legitimate.
Avowed polyandry is confined to the Himalayan tracts, though the
practice is not unknown among some socially inferior castes in the
plains. In the hills it usually exists in the Tibetan form, in which
the husbands are all brothers. Indications of succession through
286 PUNJAB
females among tlie polyandious tribes are few and obscure, and the
general rule is that sons succeed as the children of the brotherhood
which owns their mother. Divorce is not common, even among
Muhammadans, though their law recognizes a husband's right to put
away his wife without assigning a reason. Among the Hindu agri-
cultural tribes of the plains it is extremely rare, though the custom
is not unknown among the inferior castes and among the Jats of the
central Districts. It is only in the Eastern Himalayas, within the
limits of Kangra and Simla Districts and the Hill States, where
the marriage tie is notoriously loose, that the power of divorce belongs
by custom to the wife as well as to the husband. The joint-family
system of Hindu law is almost unknown to the peasantry of the
Province. It prevails only among the Brahmans and the clerical
and commercial classes, and even among them it hardly exists outside
the towns of the Delhi Division. Among the agricultural tribes of the
plains, sons by different mothers usually inherit in equal shares ; but
the chundawand rule, by which they inherit per stirpes^ is not un-
common among both Hindus and Muhammadans, especially in the
centre and west of the Province.
With the exception of Tibeto-Burman, spoken in its pure form only
in the Himalayan canton of Spiti and in a debased form in Lahul and
Upper Kanawar, the vernaculars of the Punjab belong entirely to the
Aryan family of languages. Of this family the Indian branch greatly
predominates, the Iranian being represented only by 52,837 persons
speaking Pashtu, 40,520 speaking Baluchi, and 3,074 speaking Persian.
Pashtu is confined to the Pathan tribes setded in Attock District and
in the Isa Khel tahsll of Mianwali on the banks of the Indus, and
to Pathan immigrants. Baluchi is virtually confined to Dera Ghazi
Khan District and the adjacent State of Bahawalpur. Persian is
spoken only by immigrant families and refugees from Persia and
Afghanistan.
Western Punjabi is spoken in the Indus valley and east of it as far as
the valley of the Chenab in Gujranwala, whence its boundary is a line
through Montgomery District and the State of Bahawalpur. East of it
Eastern Punjabi is spoken as far as the meridian passing through
Sirhind. East again of that line Western Hindi is the dominant
speech. These languages are divided into numerous dialects. The
Western Punjabi (also called Jatkl, ' the Jats' speech,' and Multani)
comprises the Hindko, Pothwari, Chibhall, Dhundl, Ghebl, and
Awankarl. Eastern Punjabi has two main dialects : the standard
of the Manjha, or central part of the Bari Doab, spoken round
Amritsar ; and that of the Malwa, the tract south of the Sutlej.
Western Hindi comprises Hariani (the dialect of Hariana), Bangaru
(that of the Bangar), Jatu (the Jat speech), and AhirwatI (the Ahir
POPULAT/O.V 287
s[)eech). To these three languages must be added the maze of
Sanskritic dialects spoken in the hills, and hence called generically
Paharl. These resemble RajasthanI rather than Punjabi, and merge
into the Tibeto-Burman in Lahul and Kanawar. The GQjarl, or Gujar
speech, likewise deserves mention as a tongue spoken in the Hima-
layas, and also closely resembling RajasthanI.
The following table shows the numbers returned in 1901 as speaking
the chief languages : —
Western Punjabi ...... 2,755,463
I'unjabi I5;34^>,175
RajasthanI ....... 603.747
\\'estern Hindi ...... 4,164,373
Western Pahari . ..... 1,554,072
.\s an institution, caste plays a far less important part in the social
life of the people than in other parts of India. Its bonds are stronger
in the east than in the west, and generally in the towns than in the
villages, so that in the rural areas of the Western Punjab society is
organized on a tribal basis, and caste hardly exists. Ethnically, if the
Buddhists of the Himalayan tracts of Lahul, Spiti, and Kanawar be
excluded, the mass of the population is Aryan, other elements, such as
the Mongolian and the Semitic (Saiyids, Kureshis, and other sacred
Muhammadan tribes), having by intermarriage with Indian converts to
Islam lost nearly all traces of their foreign origin. Socially the landed
classes stand high, and of these the Jats (4,942,000) are the most
important. The Jat, or Jat as he is termed in the south-east of the
Province, is essentially a landholder {zamindar\ and when asked his
caste usually replies 'Jat zaminddr.^ The Jats are divided into
numerous tribes and septs, and many of these hold considerable
areas which are divided among village communities. By religion they
are essentially Hindus, 1,595,000 being so returned in 1901 ; and they
also comprise the great mass of the Sikhs, 1,390,000 being of that
creed. The Sikh Jats are mainly confined to the central Districts
of the Punjab. Large numbers of Jats have from time to time been
converted to Islam, and the Muhammadan Jats number 1,957,000.
As cultivators the Hindu or Sikh Jats rank higher than any other
class in the Province, and they make enterprising colonists and
excellent soldiers, the Sikh holding a marked pre- eminence in these
respects. The Muhammadan Jat lacks the energy of his Hindu and
Sikh kinsman, but he is not far behind him as a cultivator. Next
in importance are the Rajputs (1,798,000). The majority of them are
Muhammadans (1,347,000). They do not rank high as cultivators,
but furnish many recruits to the Indian army under the general
designation of Punjabi Muhammadans. The Hindu Rajputs are
found mainly in the north-east corner of the Province, and in the
288 PUNJAB
Himalayan and submontane tracts, the Rajput tribes of the plains
having for the most part accepted Islam. As a body the Rajputs
stand higher than the Jats in the social system, and this has prevented
their adherence to the levelling doctrines of Sikhism. Below these
castes, both socially and numerically, stand the Muhammadan Arains
(1,007,000), the Hindu and Sikh Sainis (127,000), and the Kambohs
(174,000), who live by petite culture and rarely enlist as soldiers. In
the south-east of the Province the Ahirs (205,000) hold a position
little if at all inferior to the Jats. In the Himalayas of the North-East
Punjab, the Kanets (390,000) and Ghiraths (170,000) form great
cultivating classes under Rajput overlords.
In the north-west the Gakhars (26,000), Khokhars (108,000), and
Awans (421,000), and farther west and south the Pathans (264,000),
take the position held by Rajputs elsewhere. In the south-west,
especially in Dera Ghazi Khan District west of the Indus, the Baloch
(468,000) form a dominant race of undoubted Iranian descent. Essen-
tially pastoral tribes are the Gujars, or cowherds (632,000), found
mainly in the Lower Himalayas, and the Gaddis, or shepherds (26,000),
in the Stale of Chamba and Kangra District.
The trading castes in the villages occupy a lower position than
the landowning classes, but in the towns they rank higher. The most
important are the Banias (452,000) in the south-east, the KhattrTs
(436,000) in the centre and north-west, and the Aroras (653,000) in the
south-west. All these are Hindus or, rarely, Sikhs. The principal
Muhammadan trading classes are the Shaikhs (321,000) and Khojas
(99,000). Attached to these classes by a system of clientship, which
is a curious combination of social dependence and spiritual authority,
are the various priestly castes, the Brahmans (1,112,000) ministering
to Hindus, and the Saiyids (238,000) to Muhammadans. Both these
classes, however, often follow secular occupations, or combine them
with religious functions ; and similar functions are exercised by count-
less other religious tribes and orders.
The ethnical type in the Punjab is distinctly Aryan, there being
few traces of aboriginal or foreign blood, if the Tibetan element in
the extreme north-east be excluded. The typical Punjabi is tall,
spare but muscular, broad-shouldered, with full dark eyes and an
ample beard. The hair is invariably black, but the complexion
varies from a deep olive-brown to wheat-coloured. As a rule the
lower classes are darker than the upper, and the complexion is fairer
in the north-west than in the south-east. The Jats of the Manjha
and Malwa exhibit a splendid physique, and the peasantry of the
plains are generally a fine people ; but in the riverain valleys there
is a marked falling-off, and in the south-east of the Province the type
approximates to that of Hindustan. In marked contrast to the plains
POPULATION 289
people are those of the Himalayas. Among these the higher or Rajput
class is slight, high-bred, and clean-limbed, but sometimes over-refined,
while owing to immorality the lower classes are often weakly and
under-sized. Nothing is more striking than the influence of hereditary
occupation and town life on physique ; and the urban and trading
populations are markedly inferior physically, though not intellectually,
to the peasantry.
The Punjab by religion is more Muhammadan than Hindu. Of the
total population enumerated in 1901, 12,183,345 persons, or 49 per
cent., were Muhammadans. In the west and in the submontane
tracts Islam is the dominant religion, its followers forming four-fifths
of the population in the north-west dry area ; but the Hindus are
more numerous in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and in the Himalayas they
form 95 per cent, of the population. In the south-west, Multan and
Uch were the earliest strongholds of the Moslem faith, and the popu-
lation is deeply imbued with Muhammadan ideas, Hinduism being
confined to the trading, landless castes, who are socially despised by
their Muhammadan neighbours. The early Sultans made Delhi a great
centre of Muhammadan influence, but they and their successors appear
to have left the Hindus of the Punjab unmolested in religious matters
until the Mughal empire was firmly established. Akbar's policy of
religious toleration lessened the gulf between the two creeds, but many
Muhammadan tribes ascribe their conversion to the zeal of Aurangzeb.
Islam in the Punjab is as a rule free from fanaticism, but among the
more ignorant classes it has retained many Hindu ideas and super-
stitions. Though the great mass of its followers profess the orthodox
Sunni creed, the reverence paid to Saiyids as descendants of All, the
Prophet's son-in-law, is unusually great ; and popularly Islam consists
in the abandonment of many Hindu usages and the substitution of
a Muhammadan saint's shrine for a Hindu temple. A very important
ftictor in Muhammadan religious life is the Sufi influence which,
originating in Persia, was brought into the Punjab by the early Sultans
of Ghor. Its first great exponent was the saint Kutb-ud-din Bakhtiyar,
in whose honour the Kutb Minar at Delhi was erected. His disciple
Baba Farid-ud-din, Shakar-ganj, of Pakpattan in Montgomery District,
is perhaps the most widely reverenced saint in the Punjab ; and the
shrine of his disciple Khwaja Nizam-ud-din, Aulia, near Delhi, is also
a place of great sanctity. Spiritual descendants of these saints founded
shrines at Maharan in the Bahawalpur State, at Taunsa Sharif in Dera
Ghazi Khan District, and elsewhere. Thus the Province is studded
with Sufi shrines.
Hinduism in the Punjab is a singularly comprehensive creed. As
the Province can boast no great centres of Hindu thought or learning,
the Punjabi Hindu looks to Hardwar on the Ganges as the centre
290 PUNJAB
of his faith. But Hardwar is accessible only to the eastern Districts,
so elsewhere i)ilgrimages are made to countless minor temples and
shrines, even those of Muhammadan saints. \^ishnu is worshipped
chiefly by the Banias of the south-east and by the Rajputs, but
Sivdiwalas or temples to Siva are nearly as common as Thakurdwaras
or temples of Vishnu (Thakur). Far more popular than these are
the widely spread cults of Ck'iga, the snake-god, and Sakhi Sarwar,
the benevolent fertilizing earth-god, whose shrine in Dera Ghazi Khan
is the object of regularly organized pilgrimages. Guga's legend also
makes him a Rajput prince converted to Islam, and Sakhi Sarwar
has been metamorphosed into a Muhammadan saint. There are
countless minor cults, such as that of Sitla, the 'cool one,' the small-
pox goddess, and those of the siddhs or ' pure ones.' Ancestor-worship
is very common among the Jats.
In the Himalayas Vishnu and Siva have many devotees, the Rajputs
especially worshipping the former ; but underlying these orthodox cults
are those of the innumerable deotds (gods or spirits), devis (goddesses),
and Mrs (heroes), which are probably more ancient than Hinduism.
The principal religious orders are the Sanyasis and Jogis, who follow
in theory the philosophical system of Sankaracharya and Patanjali.
There are also Muhammadan Jogis, whose mysticism has much in
common with the practices of the Hindu ascetics. The Bairagis, a
\^aishnava order founded by Ramanand in the fourteenth century, are
likewise numerous.
The Arya Samaj was founded by Pandit Dayanand Saraswati,
a Brahman of Kathiawar, about 1875. Dui'ing his lifetime the "doc-
trine spread rapidly; but since his death in 1883, the growth of the
Samaj has been comparatively slow, and in 1901 only 9,105 males
over 15 returned themselves as Aryas. The movement has been
well described as being 'primarily the outcome of the solvent action
of natural science on modern Hinduism.' The Samaj finds its sole
revelation in the Vedas, which, rightly interpreted, prove that those
who were inspired to write them were acquainted with the truths which
modern science is slowly rediscovering. It attaches no merit to pil-
grimages or to most of the rites of popular Hinduism. The liberal
social programme of the Aryas is the outcome of their religious views,
and includes the spread of education, the remarriage of widows, and
the raising of the age for marriage. They are drawn, as a rule, from
the best-educated classes of the community, Khattris, Aroras, and
Brahmans ; and the doctrines they preach have met with acceptance
chiefly in the progressive tracts north and east of the capital. At
Lahore they maintain a college. Since 1893 the Samaj has been
divided into two parties. The cause of the schism was the question
of the lawfulness of meat as an article of diet. Those in favour
POPULATIOX 291
of it are known as the ' cultured ' or ' college ' party, and those against
it as the iiiahdinia party.
Religious architecture still maintains the tradition of each sect or
community, with few deviations from the old plans which were designed
mainly with a view to the needs of each religion. Ablution is an
essential feature of every sect, so that a tank of water, with other
necessary facilities, is found in a prominent position in all buildings.
Mosques, now usually built of brick, consist of an open courtyard,
with the mihrdb on the west, surmounted by a dome flanked with
miliars or pillars. The Hindus enclose their temples in a walled
courtyard, containing the shrine for the deity to which the temple
is dedicated. Over this is a pyramidal tower, surmounted by a metal
finial shaped to represent the emblem of the divinity enshrined. The
temples of the Sikhs are usually designed on an orthodox square plan
consisting of nine parts, known as the naukara. The general arrange-
ment is a courtyard, in which is situated a tank of water for washing
and a central open construction {l)dradari) for the reading of the
' Granth.' Over this is a dome, which may be distinguished from that
of a mosque by being generally fluted or foliated in design. The
modern Sikhs being adepts in wood-carving, the doors and other details
are not infrequently freely decorated. Jain temples are built on a
somewhat similar plan to those of the Hindus, except that more than
one shrine is often found in the enclosure and pillared verandas are
a feature. In modern examples, however, this latter characteristic is
frequently omitted.
Excluding the Jesuits at the Mughal court, the first Christian nu's-
sionary to the Punjab was a Baptist preacher who visited Delhi early
in the nineteenth century. Delhi and Simla are the only stations now
occupied by this mission. The first great missionary movement in the
Punjab proper was the establishment of the American Presbyterian
Mission at Ludhiana in 1834. The Ludhiana Mission, as it thus came
to be called, occupies a number of stations in the Central Punjab
south of the Ravi, and maintains the Forman Christian College at
Lahore, with a printing press at Ludhiana. The Church Missionary
Society began operations in the Punjab in 185 1. Its stations com-
prise a group round Amritsar and Lahore, and a long line of frontier
stations stretching from Simla to Karachi in Sind. It has a college
in Lahore which prepares natives of India for holy orders, and the
Church of England Zanana Mission works in many of its stations.
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel began work in Delhi
in 1852. In 1877 it was reinforced by the Cambridge Mission, which
maintains the St. Stephen's College at Delhi. Other missions are the
Methodist Episcopal, the Church of Scotland, the Moravian, the
American United Presbyterian, the Zanana Bible and Medical Mis-
292 PUNJAB
sions, and the Salvation Army, besides the missionary work conducted
by various Roman CathoUc orders.
The following table gives statistics of religion as recorded in 1891
and 1901 : —
1891.
igoi.
Hindus
10,122,473
10,344,469
Sikhs
1,851,070
2.102,896
Jains
4.S615
49,983
Buddhists
6,236
6,940
Zoroastrians . ....
370
477
Muhammadans ....
11,198,270
12,183,345
,-., . ,. \ European and Eurasian
Christians j ^^^.1^ . . .
28,971
19.561
28,611
37.980
Jews and unspecified
57
36
Of the total population, at least 56 per cent, are supported by agri-
culture. Next in importance is the artisan section of the community,
which numbers 4,898,080, or i9-8 per cent, of the population. Of
these, cotton-weaving, spinning, &c., supports 1,012,314, and leather-
working 742,034, while potters number 269,869, carpenters 263,717,
and iron-workers 164,814. The making of tools and implements
supports 135,786, and building 121,153; goldsmiths number 120,755,
and tailors 108,963, but the figures for these smaller groups are subject
to several qualifications. Commerce supports only 2-8, and the pro-
fessions 2-2 per cent., of the population, while public service maintains
2 per cent. The residue is composed of general labourers (812,584
in number), personal domestic servants (1,771,944), and 827,289
persons whose subsistence was independent of occupation. In spite
of the caste system, the division of labour has not been pushed very
far in the Punjab. The carpenter is often an ironsmith, the shopkeeper
a money-lender, the agriculturist a trader, and so on.
The staple food consists of the grain grown in the locality. Well-to-
do people eat wheat and rice, while the ordinary peasant's food consists
chiefly of wheat, barley, and gram in summer, and maize in winter.
The poorer classes use inferior grains, such as china (^Panicum inilia-
ceum), mandua {Eleusine coracana), jowdr (great millet), &c. In the
hill, submontane, and canal-irrigated tracts, where rice is largely grown,
it forms the principal diet of the people in general ; but elsewhere
it is eaten only on festive occasions. In the west and south-west
bajra (spiked millet) is mostly consumed in the winter. Pulses and
vegetables are eaten with bread by prosperous zamindars and towns-
people ; but the poorer classes, who cannot always afford them, merely
mix salt in their bread and, if possible, eat it with buttermilk. Peasants
are especially fond of curds, buttermilk, and green mustard {sarson)
as relishes with bread Gh'i is used only by those who can afford
POPULATION 293
it. Meat is seldom eaten, except by the better classes, and by them
only on occasions of rejoicing or by way of hospitality. The common
beverages are buttermilk, water mixed with milk and sugar, country
sherbets, and sardai, a cooling drink made by bruising certain
moistened ingredients in a mortar ; but the use of the two latter
is almost entirely confined to the townsfolk. Aerated waters are
coming rapidly into use. Hemp {bhang) is ordinarily drunk by the
religious mendicants {fakirs), both Hindu and Muhammadan. In
towns cow's milk is used, but in rural tracts buffalo's is preferred,
as being richer. In the camel-breeding tract camel's milk is also
drunk.
The dress of the people is of the simplest kind and, in the plains,
made entirely of cotton cloth. A turban, a loin-cloth, a loose wrap
thrown round the body like a plaid, and, in the cold season, a vest
or jacket of some kind, are the usual garments. White is the usual
colour, but dyed stuffs are often worn, especially on festive occasions.
As a rule Muhammadans avoid red, while Saiyids and others claiming
descent from the Prophet favour green. Hindus similarly avoid blue,
but it is the characteristic dress of Sikh zealots, like the Akalis.
Minor variations in dress are innumerable, and fashion tends to
adopt European clothes, often with most incongruous results, among
the men.
^^'omen are far more conservative ; but the influence of Islam has
brought about the adoption of the trouser instead of the Hindu skirt,
which is only general in the south-east. Here again local and tribal
customs vary. Thus Rajput women, Hindu as well as Muhammadan,
wear the trouser, and Gujars the petticoat, while many Sikh and Hindu
J at women wear both. In the wilder parts of the central area the skirt
was little more than a kilt, but the more elaborate garment is coming
into fashion. The tight bodice is essentially a Hindu woman's garment,
the looser skirt a Muhammadan characteristic. The wrap or chadar
is universally worn ; and \.he />ardd system compels most INIuhammadan
and many Hindu and Sikh ladies of the better classes to wear, when
compelled to leave the house, -an ungainly and uncomfortable veil
{hurka) which covers the whole form.
The ordinary peasant's house is not uncomfortable, though hardly
attractive. Built of mud, with a flat roof, and rarely decorated, it is
cooler in summer and warmer in winter than a house of brick or stone.
In the large villages of the Central and South-East Punjab the dwellings
are close and confined, but in the south-west a ruder and more spacious
type is found. Houses of stone are found mainly in the hills, and slate
roofs only in the Himalayas. Brick (pakkd) houses in the villages are
rapidly increasing in numbers, but in comfort are hardly an improve-
ment on the old. In the cities such houses have long been the rule :
294 PUNJAB
but to secure privacy and additional room they are built or rebuilt to
several storeys, rendering sanitation an insoluble problem. The furni-
ture of an ordinary house is cheap and simple, comprising a few string
beds, stools, boxes, spinning-wheels, and cooking utensils, with a grain-
receptacle of mud.
Muhammadans bury their dead, while Hindus and Sikhs, with some
exceptions, burn them. The casteless people, such as the Chuhras
and Chamars, who stand outside the pale of Hinduism, imitate which-
ever religion happens to be dominant in their neighbourhood. Hindus
collect the bones from the ashes of the funeral pyre and send them to
be thrown into the Ganges, or, if they cannot afford that, cast them
into an adjacent stream.
Games are singularly few, especially among children ; and this
perhaps explains why cricket, and to a lesser extent football, have
become popular in the schools. In the villages a kind of prisoner's
base, clubs, quoit-throwing (among the Sikhs), tent-pegging, especially
in the Salt Range and western plains, and camel racing on the Bikaner
border, are fairly popular. Otherwise athletics are a growth of British
rule. Wrestling is virtually confined to professionals. Sport is often
keenly followed, hawking, coursing, a.nd shooting being favourite
pastimes of the well-to-do in many rural tracts. In the towns quail-
fighting is the form of sport most actively pursued. The drama hardly
exists, except in a few rude plays {sivdngs), acted by the professional
castes. Folk-songs are fairly numerous, but the music is singularly
rude and barbarous. The monotony of village life is rendered bearable
by the numerous and costly ceremonies which a birth, a wedding, or
a funeral demand.
Pilgrimages offer great distractions, and are regularly organized to
shrines like that of Sakhi Sarwar. Fairs also afford excuse for
numberless holidays, which are mostly spent in harmless though aim-
less amusements.
The principal Hindu holidays are : — the Basant Panchmi, or feast
of SaraswatI, goddess of learning ; the Sivaratri, or feast of Siva ; the
Holi, or the great spring festival and Saturnalia of Northern India ;
the Baisakhi, or Hindu New Year ; the Salono, or day when amulets
against evil are solemnly put on ; the Janm Ashtmi, or birthday of
Krishna ; the Dasehra, which recalls Rama's conquest of Ravana ; and
the Dewali, the Hindu feast of lanterns. Instead of the Holi, Sikhs
observe a kindred festival called Hola Mohalla, held the day after, and
also Guru Nanak's birthday.
The chief Muhammadan holidays are, in the Punjab as elsewhere : —
the Id-ul-Fitr or day after Ramzan, the Id-uz-Zuha, the Muharram,
liara AN'afat, Juma-ul-wida, and Shab-i-barat. Besides these, every
localitv has a succession of minor fairs and festivals of its own.
POPULATIOX 295
The personal name generally consists of two words, which are
selected from a variety of causes, astrological, religious, and super-
stitious. The father's name is rarely, if ever, given to the son, and
there is seldom anything like a surname, persons being distinguished
only by the variety of names employed. Among Hindus it is essential
that the religious name given at birth should never be known or used,
and the name by which a man is known is more or less a nickname ;
while among botli Hindus and Muhammadans it is often not easy to
say what a man's real name is, as a man who is known among his
friends as Gotra or Mujjan will on occasions of state entitle himself
Govardhan Das or Murtaza Khan. The second name among Hindus
is often in a sense honorific, and originally had a religious meaning.
Ram and Lai distinguishing Brahmans, Singh Kshattriyas, and Mai,
Rai, and Lai Vaisyas ; but these distinctions do not now hold good.
All Sikhs indeed have names ending in Singh, but the title is not
confined to them ; and as to the others, a man who one year is
called Parsil will, if things prosper with him, call himself Parasurama
the next.
Muhammadan names generally consist of two words, the alam or
name and lakab or honorary title, such as Muhammad Din, though,
as above mentioned, the villager will as often as not be known by an
abbreviation such as Mamdu. A combination of one of the 'comely'
names of God with r?^^ ('servant ') is also common, such as Abdullah,
or Abdul Ghafur. About half the proper names of Muhammadans are
of religious origin, and the rest differ in no way from those of Hindus.
Besides the two regular personal names, both afifixes and prefixes are
found. Affixes generally denote the caste or clan, such as Ahluwalia,
Ramgarhia, Seth, or Varma (a purely Khattri appellation), or are
honorific, such as the Muhammadan ' Khan.' This affix sometimes,
but rarely, tends to harden into a surname. Prefixes are honorific and
answer to the European Mr. or Monsieur : such are, among Hindus,
Baba, Lala, SodhT, Raja, and Pandit ; and among Muhammadans,
Munshi, Fakir, Wazirzada, and Makhdum. In addition a man may
bear honorific titles, many of which, such as Rai Bahadur and Khan
Bahadur, are given by Government, so that a Muhammadan's full style
and title may run Makhdum Abdul Aziz Khan Shams-ul-Ulama Khan
Bahadur, or a Hindu's Baba Raghunath Singh Rai Bahadur Diwan
Bahadur.
The most common endings for place names in the Punjab are the
Arabic -dbdd ('abode') and -shdhr ('city') and the Hindu -///;-, -mxgar,
and -2vdra, all meaning ' town ' or ' place,' and -kot and -garh meaning
' fort.' Many are in the genitive, meaning, like Mukerian or Fazilka,
the place of a certain tribe or people ; while the termination -tvdia,
meaning ' belonging to,' is one of the most common.
2 96 PUNJAB
Excluding the Himalayan and other hill tracts and the ravines of
Rawalpindi, Attock, and Jhelum Districts, the vast alluvial plain is
broken only by the wide valleys of its rivers. Its
soil is a sandy loam, interspersed with patches of clay
and tracts of pure sand. The soils of the Himalayan and lower ranges
resemble those of the plains ; but both sand and clay are rarer, and
the stony area is considerable. The quality of the soil is, however,
of comparatively little importance, facilities for irrigation, natural or
artificial, being the primary factor. The monsoon current extends
only to the extreme south-eastern Districts. The rainfall is fairly
sufficient for agricultural purposes in the hills and in the submontane
tracts, but diminishes rapidly as the distance from the hills increases,
being as little as 5 and 7 inches in Muzaffargarh and Multan. It is
only in or near the Himalayas that unirrigated cultivation can be said
to be fairly secure.
The Punjab has two harvests : the rabi ijiari) or spring, sown
mostly in October-November and reaped mostly in x\pril-May ; and
the khartf {sdivani) or autumn, sown in June-August and reaped from
early September to the end of December. Both sugar-cane and cotton,
though planted earlier, are autumn crops. The spring sowings follow
quickly on the autumn harvesting. To the spring succeeds the extra
{zaid) harvest, chiefly tobacco, melons, and similar crops, harvested
late in June. Speaking generally, the tendency, as irrigation develops,
is for intensive cultivation in the rabi to replace the extensive cultiva-
tion of the khar'if.
The advantages of frequent ploughing are thoroughly recognized,
especially for wheat and sugar-cane, for which a fine seed-bed is
essential. The plough used is an implement of simple construction,
made of wood with an iron or iron-pointed share, and drawn by
a single yoke of bullocks. When the soil has been reduced to a fairly
fine tilth, a heavy log of wood roughly squared, called sohdga, is used
to supply the place of a light roller. • It breaks up any remaining clods,
and also compacts and levels the surface.
There are three methods of sowing : by scattering the seed broad-
cast on the surface, by dropping it into the furrows by hand, or by
drilling through a tube attached to the plough handle. The last
method, if skilfully used, deposits the seed in the bottom of the furrow,
and is employed when the surface is dry. The second is employed in
moderately moist, and the first in thoroughly moist soils.
Land near a town or village is heavily manured, as also is land near
a well, since it can be easily irrigated and valuable crops grown on it.
Sugar-cane, maize, tobacco, and vegetables are always manured. Wheat,
cotton, barley, and melons are manured only when manure is readily
available. Spiked millet, gram, tdm ?ntra, and other inferior crops are
AGRICULTURE 297
never manured. Tliorough manuring costs from Rs, 60 to Rs. 80 an
acre, and is most common in the vicinity of the larger towns, tlic
municipal boards of which make a considerable income by sales of
refuse. In such localities two to four very rich crops a year are grown.
Irrigated land is manured much more generally than unirrigated.
Besides the sweepings of villages, night-soil, the dung of sheep, goats,
and camels, the ashes of cow-dung, and nitrous earth are used for
manure. The two last are applied as a top-dressing, especially for
vegetables and tobacco. The others are spread over the land after
the rabi has been harvested, and ploughed in before the monsoon rains
set in. A top-dressing of thoroughly decomposed manure is often
applied to sugar-cane after the cuttings have struck, the soil being
then hoed by hand and irrigated. Cattle, sheep, goats, and camels
are often folded in the fields for the sake of their manure, and in the
hills shepherds derive much profit by lending their flocks for this
purpose. The practice of using cow-dung for fuel seriously diminishes
the natural supply of manure.
Weeding and hoeing are resorted to only for the more valuable
crops. The crops are cut entirely by hand, and harvesting employs
all the menials of a village. Grain is mostly trodden out by cattle.
The implements in use, of a primitive type and simple construction,
are well adapted to the cultivator's needs, but are capable of improve-
ment. The iron sugar-press has now almost ousted the old cumbrous
wooden press.
Agriculture affords the main means of subsistence to 13,917,000
persons, or 56 per cent, of the population, exclusive of 214,000 par-
tially supported by it. The Punjab is essentially a country of peasant
proprietors, landholders and tenants numbering, with their families,
13,452,000 persons. Of the total number supported by agriculture,
36 per cent, are actual cultivators, only 184,000 being rent-receivers.
The principal crops in spring are wheat, gram, and barley. Wheat
is the staple crop grown for sale. The development of canals in the
past ten or fifteen years has led to a great expansion of the area under
spring crops, especially wheat, which ordinarily covers about 10,000
square miles. In good years, such as 1894, 1895, and 1901, it covered
more than 10,900, but in the famine years of 1897 and 1900 only about
7,800 square miles. Though best sown between the middle of October
and the middle of November, it can be put in later ; and in the North-
ern Punjab, if the winter rains are late, it may be sown up to the first
week in January. There are many indigenous varieties, both red and
white, bearded and beardless. Rather more than half the area under
wheat is irrigated. The out-turn per acre varies from 4 to 1 2 rwt. on
irrigated, and from 4 to 7 cwt. on unirrigated land.
Next to wheat comes gram, which usually covers more than 3,100
298 PUNJAB
square miles, but the area fluctuates with the rainfall. Sown as a rule
earlier than wheat and mainly in the poorer unirrigated lands, it is
generally harvested a fortnight earlier, but is not infrequently sown and
harvested with it. The yield per acre is about 4 to 9 cwt. on unirri-
gated land, but may rise to 11 cwt. under irrigation.
Barley is often sown mixed with wheat and gram, as it matures even
if the rainfall be not sufificient for the wheat. It is also useful as a catch-
crop, since it can be sown later than wheat. It is grown extensively for
the breweries and as fodder. Barley ordinarily covers about 1,600
square miles. On irrigated land the out-turn per acre is from 5 to
II cwt., compared with 3 to 9 cwt. on unirrigated land.
The staple cereals in autumn are maize, great millet {Jo'u<dr), spiked
millet {Inijra), and rice. Of these, maize is the principal food-grain of
the montane, submontane, and central tracts, and is cultivated exten-
sively in all three. In 1904 it covered about 1,900 square miles. It is
sown from the middle of June to the middle of August, and harvested
between the middle of September and the middle of November. Maize
yields from 4 to 11 cwt. per acre on land dependent on rainfall, and
from 7 to 13 cwt. where irrigation is available.
In the Rawalpindi and Delhi Divisions spiked millet is the chief
crop, but it is also grown throughout the Province. It ordinarily
covers more than 2,500 square miles, but in years of good rainfall
more than 3,100 square miles. It requires less moisture than great
millet, but its stalks are of inferior value as fodder. The yield per acre
varies from 2^ to 10 cwt.
Great millet, grown throughout the Province, ordinarily covers
3,000 square miles. This also is chiefly sown on unirrigated land.
When sown as a food-crop, it still yields from 120 to 180 cwt. of
fodder per acre. Sown only as a fodder-crop it is called chari. The
out-turn of grain per acre is from 3 to 5 cwt., increased by i or 2
cwt. if irrigated.
Rice is grown chiefly in Kangra, Hoshiarpur, Karnal, and Ambala
Districts, and throughout the Lahore and Multan Divisions. It ordi-
narily covers more than 1,100 square miles. There are many recog-
nized varieties. Sowings extend from March to August, and the
crop is harvested in September and October.
Other important autumn cereals are rdgi or mandivi {Ekusi/ie
coracana), china {Faniciim miliaceuni), and kang7u or Italian millet
{Setaria italicd). In 1904 these covered more than 300 square miles.
Cotton is increasing rapidly in importance as an export staple. The
area sown now amounts to over 1,600 square miles. The crop is gene-
rally irrigated, except in the Delhi Division. Sown from March to
July, it is picked from October to December. Ginning mills are spring-
ing up in the chief cotton tracts. A hundred p(junds of uncleaned
A GRIC UL TL ^RE 2 99
cotlon gives about 30 pounds of clean lint. The cotton is of the short-
stapled variety known as ' Bengals,' but is in brisk demand.
Oilseeds are ordinarily sown on 1,000 to 1,300 square miles, but the
area varies with the rainfall. The principal kind is sarson or rape-seed
(Brassica cainpesiris), sown from August to December on unirrigated
land and ripening in March. Another kind, ioria, is sown on irrigated
land in August, and cut in November or December. Sesamum or ///
{Sesamtfi?i oriefiiale) is an autumn crop, and a little linseed or a/si
{Linutn usitatissimuiii) is grown in the spring.
Indian hemp or san is only grown sparsely for the local manufacture
of rope. It covered 77 square miles in 1904.
Spices covered more than 40 square miles in 1904, generally on
manured and irrigated lands close to the villages. Chillies are the
most important crop of this class ; ginger is grown chiefly in the
hills.
Sugar-cane is an important and valuable crop in Rohtak, Delhi,
Karnal, JuUundur, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Sialkot, Gujran-
wala, and Jhang Districts. It ordinarily covers about 520 square miles,
of which more than 80 per cent, is irrigated and the rest moist land.
Usually propagated from sets laid down from the middle of February
to the middle of April, the crop is seldom cut till December or even
later, thus occupying the land for nearly a year.
The poppy is a spring crop sown from September to January, the
juice being extracted in April and May. In 1904 it covered more
than 14 square miles.
Tobacco is grown more or less in every District as an 'extra' spring
crop, sown in March or April and picked in June. In 1904 it covered
a little more than 80 square miles, mostly manured lands near the
villages.
Tea is grown only in Kangra District, the States of Mandl and Sir-
mur, and on a small area in Simla. In Kangra there are 112 tea
estates (15-5 square miles), of which 2i7) (with 3,500 acres) are owned
by European planters. The out-turn in the latter varies from 150 to
250 lb. per acre, and the total output exceeds 1,000,000 lb. annually'.
The area under indigo has greatly decreased of recent years, owing
to competition with chemical indigo. The area in 1903-4 was a little
more than 8a square miles, of which about 30 square miles were in
Muzaffargarh District and 25 in Multan.
Highly manured land near villages grows turnips, carrots, and simi-
lar produce, which occupy 578 square miles. Potatoes, already a
valuable crop in the Kangra and Simla Hills, are increasing in impor-
tance. Mangoes are a paying fruit-crop in Hoshiarpur, JuUundur,
1 This was written before the earthquake of 1905, which had disastrous effects on
the tea industry.
VOL. XX. U
300 PUNJAB
Multan, and Muzaffkrgarh ; and in the two latter Districts and in Dera
Ghazi Khan the date-pahii flourishes, there being nearly 1,500,000
female trees which produce about 33,000 tons of fruit annually. It
is consumed entirely in Northern India. There is some export of
pears, apples, and other European fruit from the Kulu valley, but in-
accessibility hinders the development of the industry.
The crop rotations shown below are generally recognized, but all
depends on climatic conditions, soils, the means of irrigation, and the
system of agriculture followed in any given tract : maize, indigo, or
hemp, followed by wheat ; great millet, followed by masTir and gram ;
rice, followed by barle}', masFir, and peas ; turnips or cotton, followed
by maize ; cotton or maize, followed by senji ; senji, followed by melons.
Since annexation, the potato, tea, and English fruits and vegetables
have been introduced. The first named is so important that the people
call it 'the hillman's sugar-cane.' Attempts made to acclimatize
American maize have succeeded only in the hills, and even there
the stock has deteriorated. It requires nearly five months to mature,
and the heat of the plains ripens it too rapidly. In 1901 an experi-
mental farm of 55 acres w^as started at Lyallpur in the Chenab Colony.
A 500-acre seed farm has also been opened in the Jhelum Colony.
A combined Agricultural College and Research Institute is to be
established at Lyallpur, with a staff which will include a Principal,
a Professor of Agriculture, an Agricultural Chemist, an Economic
Botanist, an Entomologist, and a Mycologist. The college will train
men for the Agricultural department, and also as teachers of agriculture
in normal schools. The present experimental farm at Lyallpur will be
largely increased in size, and it is intended to establish similar farms
on a smaller scale in localities selected as characteristic of the main
divisions of the Province. As the scheme develops, it is hoped that
an Agricultural Assistant will be appointed for each District. The
Veterinary department is a part of the Agricultural department, under
the control of the Director of Agriculture.
The working of the Land Improvement and Agriculturists' Loans
Acts varies from District to District. In some, borrowing from Govern-
ment is unpopular, the cultivators preferring to take loans from the
village banker, because, though the rates of interest charged by
Government are low, it general!}' insists on punctual and regular re-
payment in fixed instalments, whereas the village bankers do not require
punctual repayment, and often accept grain or cattle in lieu of cash.
Moreover, the official formalities necessary before the cash reaches
the cultivator's hands often deter him from applying for a loan from
Government.
During the decade ending 1900 about 2^ lakhs a year was advanced
under the Land Imi)rovement Loans Act, 3-4 lakhs being advanced in
A GRIC UL TURE 3 o i
1 900- 1 and r-5 lakhs in 1903-4. Loans are made at 6i per cent, per
annum interest, and on the security of the borrower's holding. They
are seldom misapplied, and are mostly taken for sinking irrigation
wells, the number of which rose from 211,000 in 1890-1 to 276,000
in 1903-4. Allowing for the wells which fell out of use, more than
100,000 wells must have been sunk or renewed in this period, and
of these a large proportion were made with the aid of loans from
Government. Advances under the Agriculturists' T.oans Act are made
on the personal security of the cultivator, and practically only in or
after drought, to enable him to replace cattle that have died and to
purchase seed. Between 1891 and 1900 about 4-5 lakhs was advanced
annually, 2 lakhs being advanced in 1900-1 and i lakh in 1903-4.
The indebtedness of the cultivators has long engaged the attention
of Government, and the extent of the evil was illustrated by a special
investigation into the conditions of certain tracts in Sialkot, Gujran-
wala, and Shahpur Districts. The measures taken to cope with reck-
less alienation of land are described below, under Land Revenue. The
creditors are in the great majority of cases small Hindu shopkeepers.
Agriculturist money-lenders are found in parts of the Punjab, such as
Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Ferozepore, and Ludhiana, where the Sikh, 'half
agriculturist, half soldier, and wholly Bania,' predominates; and they
are said to be even more exacting than the trading classes. The
ordinary rate of interest varies from 21 to 25 per cent., except in the
case of loans on jewels, which are given at about 12 per cent.
A Registrar of Co-operative Credit .Societies has been appointed in the
Punjab. The number of registered societies on March 31, 1906, was
151, of which 108 were in the Districts of Gurdaspur and JuUundur.
The yak is found within the geographical limits of the Punjab, but
only in the Northern Kangra hills. In summer it finds pasturage up
to 17,000 feet, but in winter grazes below 8,000 feet. In the Higher
Himalayas it is used for ploughing and pack-carriage. At lower eleva-
tions it is crossed with the ordinary cattle of the hills.
The Punjab kine are of the humped Indian type. In the Himalayas
the mountain or Pahari breed is dark in colour, becoming black or red
as the elevation increases. The Dhanni or Salt Range breed is similar
in size but lighter, tending to white, in colour. In the plains there are
several breeds, the principal being those of Montgomery, the Malwa,
and Hariana, and that of the Kachi, the country between the Chenab
and the Thai steppe. The best animals are reared in the southern
Districts— Hissar, Delhi, Rohtak, Gurgaon, and Karnal. Bulls and
bullocks are used for ploughing throughout the Province.
Wild buffaloes are no longer found in the Punjab, but the domesti-
cated variety is common and highly prized. A good cow-buffalo yields
from 25 to 30 seers of a white insipid milk, rich in fat, from which large
U 2
302 PUNJAB
quantities of ghi (clarified butter) are made. The protit from ghl is in
some Districts very large. Hides are an important article of com-
merce, and bones are largely exported.
The most prevalent cattle diseases are foot-and-mouth disease,
haemorrhagic septicaemia, rinderpest, black-quarter, and anthrax.
Sheep and goats also suffer from the first named. Though it is very
common, the losses from it are slight, as only 2 or 3 per cent, of
the animals attacked die. Septicaemia is also prevalent, especially
during the rains, and the mortality is usually 90 per cent. Buffaloes
are its chief victims, but it also attacks kine. Rinderpest is common,
more especially in the hills, where it assumes a virulent form, killing
80 or 90 per cent, of the animals attacked. Cattle, sheep, goats, and
even camels are subject to this pest. Inoculation, segregation, and
other measures for combating cattle diseases are controlled by the
qualified assistants who work under the Superintendent of the Civil
Veterinary department and the Deputy-Commissioner. The prices
of cattle vary considerably. A good milch buffalo fetches Rs. 100 or
even Rs. 150. A pair of young Hariana plough bullocks cost Rs. 120
or Rs. 140, and a cow from Rs. 50 to Rs. 70 ; but as a rule inferior and
cheaper cattle are in demand.
The Baloch and Dhanni breeds of horses are the best known in the
Punjab. Generally the Punjab stock has immensely improved during
the last thirty years from the infusion of the English and Arab blood
of thoroughbred stallions. Large horse-fairs are held at Sargodha (in
Shahpur), Dera Ghazi Khan, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Amritsar, Multan,
and Jalalabad (in Ferozepore).
Sheep are important in the South-W^est Punjab, where wool is a
staple product. The dinnba or fat-tailed sheep is found in the Salt
Range, but does not flourish east of it. In the Himalayas the variety
found resembles that of Dartmoor or Exmoor, the khddu being the
best breed. Goats are kept chiefly for milk and meat, but the hair
is also largely utilized.
Camels are found generally throughout the plains and in the Lower
Himalayas, but the south and south-west supply the largest numbers.
Mostly used as a pack-animal, the camel is also employed for draught,
riding, and even ploughing in those parts. Camel fairs are held at
Abohar and Bhiwani (in Hissar).
Donkeys are miserable creatures in the I^unjab, except in Rawal
pindi and the Districts west of the Chenab. Mule-breeding from
imported donkey stallions supplied by the Army Remount depart-
ment is carried on in ten Districts and in both the canal colonies,
and elsewhere by the Civil Veterinary department.
Cattle are largely stall-fed. Every village has its grazing grounds ;
but the grass is never abundant and fails entirely in years of scanty
AGRICULTLKK 303
rainfall, when the cattle are driven off in large nimibers to find pasture
along the rivers and below the hills.
The principal cattle fairs are those held at Amritsar, Jahazgarh
(in Rohtak), Gulu Shah (in Sialkot), and Hissar.
The extent to which cultivation is dependent on irrigation may be
gauged from the fact that 41 per cent, of the cultivated area is irrigated,
mainly from wells and canals, and that 7 per cent, more is subject to
inundation from the rivers. Hence only 52 per cent, of the cultivated
area is wholly dependent on the rainfall. Of the 41 per cent, irrigated,
22 per cent, is irrigated from canals, 14 from wells, 4 from wells and
canals combined, and i from streams and tanks.
The necessity and demand for irrigation vary with the climatic and
physical conditions. Speaking generally, the necessity for perennial
irrigation varies inversely with the amount of the rainfall, being there-
fore greatest in the south-west and least in the north-east submontane
tracts. The two principal means of irrigation are canals and wells, the
latter including various indigenous kinds of lift, and the area in which
each can be used is determined by the depth of the spring-level.
Perennial canals are beneficial where the spring-level is not less than
20 feet below the surface ; but where it is higher, wells are used in the
cold season and the canal is reserved for irrigating the autumn crop
during the summer months, to prevent the soil from becoming water-
logged.
Native rulers were not blind to the possibilities of irrigation in the
Punjab ; but, at annexation, the only canals open in the Province, as it
stood before the addition of the Delhi territory after the Mutiny, were
the Hasli (since merged in the Bari Doab Canal) and a good many
inundation canals in the south-western Districts. Thus the present
canals are almost entirely the creation of British rule. These canals
fall into two classes : (i) the perennial canals, with permanent head-
works ; and (2) the inundation canals which run only in the flood
season, and irrigate the lowlands along the rivers. Of the former
class there are now six canals : the Western Jumna, Sirhind, B.\ri
Doab, Chenab, Jhelum, and Sidhnai, though there is seldom enough
water in the river for a cold-season supply to the last named. I'hese
great canals serve four-fifths of the total area irrigated from Govern-
ment works. There are six series of inundation canals : the Upper
and Lower Sutlej, Chenab, Indus (right bank), Muzaffargarii
(from the left bank of the Indus and right bank of the Chenab), Shah-
pur, and Ghaggar. Besides these, numerous small inundation canals
are owned by private individuals or District boards. Of these, the
Grey Canals in Ferozepore are the chief. The total length of main
channels and branches in 1S90-1, 1900-T, and 1903-4 was 3,813,
4,644, and 4,744 miles respectively.
304 PUNJAB
■ Canal revenue is direct or indirect. The former is paid by the
cultivator according to occupier's rates fixed for different crops. It
is assessed on all the great perennial canals by the canal officers, and
the rules provide liberal remissions for failed crops. The indirect
charges (owner's or water-advantage rate) aim at taxing the landowner
for the rent or profits derived by him from the canal. The gross
receipts averaged 50 lakhs between 1881 and 1890, 102 lakhs between
1891 and 1900, and amounted to 162 lakhs in 1900-1 and 200 lakhs
in 1903-4. In the same periods the expenditure (excluding capital
account) was 26 lakhs, 42 lakhs, 60 lakhs, and 66 lakhs. The net
profits in 1903-4 were 134 lakhs, and, deducting interest on capital
expenditure, 94 lakhs, or 8-7 per cent. The most profitable canal was
the Chenab Canal, which yielded 19-6 per cent. The return on capital
has decreased greatly in the case of ' minor ' works. This is due to
the expenditure of 10 lakhs of capital during the ten years ending 1890
on protective works, which produced no direct return. The returns
from inundation canals fluctuate enormously. For example, on the
Upper Sutlej Canals the dividend was only 1-95 per cent, in 1 900-1
and as much as 43-2 per cent, in 1901-2.
The efficient distribution of the water depends largely on the tele-
graph system by which canal officers are kept in constant touch with
the gauge stations. Control of the distribution is secured by a sys-
tematic devolution of responsibility. The Chief Engineer receives
a weekly report on the state of the crops, and is thus enabled to
supervise the general distribution of the water throughout the Province;
the Superintending Engineer controls its distribution among the divi-
sions of his canal, and so on. Within the village the policy is to leave
the distribution of the water in the hands of the cultivators, who see
that it is divided in accordance with the share lists based on the area
to be irrigated in each holding. On inundation canals the supply
depends on the rise of the rivers, and these rarely do more than supply
water for sowing a spring crop, which has to be matured by well-
irrigation.
A vast irrigation scheme was sanctioned in 1905. It will comprise
three new canals : the Upper Jhelum, Upper Chenab, and Lower Bari
Doab. Of these, the first will take off from the Jhelum in Kashmir
territory, 18 miles from the British border, and, skirting the Pabbi hills,
pass close to Gujrat town and tail in above the head-works of the
existing Chenab Canal. It will have only one branch ; but its dis-
tributaries, 562 miles in length, will irrigate the southern part of Gujrat
and a part of Shahpur District, which is not supplied by the Jhelum
Canal. The Upper Chenab Canal will take off from the Chenab river
opposite Sialkot, and will irrigate a large part of Gujranwala and Lahore
Districts and a little of Sialkot ; then, crossing the Ravi river by
AGRICULTURE
305
a siphon t6 miles below Lahore, it will feed ihc tliird eanal in the
series. This, the Lower Bari Doab Canal, will run parallel with the
Ravi river through the whole length of Montgomery District and end
in Multan District, the northern portion of which it will also irrigate.
These projects are estimated to cost 782 lakhs, and will take nine
years to complete, provided that sutificient labour is forthcoming. The
total length of the three canals will be 230 miles, with 2,714 miles
of distributaries.
The only navigable canals are portions of the Western Jumna and
Sirhind systems. The former is navigable from its head to Delhi ;
a portion of the Hansi branch is also navigable, the total length
of navigable channels being 207 miles. The Sirhind Canal is navi-
gable for 180 miles from its head at Rupar, and from the town of
Patiala to Ferozepore, where it connects with the river Sutlej, whence
there is a continuous water-way to Karachi. The boat traffic is insig-
nificant, the boat tolls on both together amounting to less than
Rs. 5,000 per annum ; but there is a considerable raft traffic, &c.,
particularly on the Western Jumna Canal, where the dues average
about Rs. 40,000 per annum. The rafts consist principally of timber,
sleepers, scantlings, and bamboos, which are floated down the hills
to the canal head, and are thence passed into the canals.
Almost all the irrigation carried on by indigenous methods is from
wells. In 1903-4 the Punjab contained over 276,000 masonry wells
and 38,000 unlined and lever wells and water-lifts. In that year
the total area of the crops matured under well-irrigation was about
5,400 square miles. Masonry wells are worked by bullocks, the Persian
wheel or a rope and bucket being used. Unlined wells are chietly
found in riverain lands, but small unlined wells are also used in
submontane tracts with a high spring-level. They are mostly worked
by a lever. Masonry wells cost from Rs. 150 to Rs. 750 or more
according to depth. Unlined wells cost only about R. r per foot,
but seldom last more than three years.
In the Salt Range and the hilly tracts of Gurgaon and Dera Ghazi
Khan, torrents are embanked and the water is spread over the fields
as required. In the hills and submontane tracts a considerable area,
chiefly under rice, is irrigated by small channels {kuhls) taken out
of a river or stream and often carried along the hill-sides.
Fish are plentiful in most of the rivers and canals of the Province.
In certain Districts the fisheries are leased by Government to con-
tractors, and in 1904-5 the total income from this source was Rs. 4,342.
In accordance with the provisions of the Indian Fisheries Act (IV
of 1897), certain methods of fishing, such as the use of the drag-net,
have been prohibited in some of the streams of Rawalpindi District,
and in the Jumna for a mile above and a mile below the Okhla weir
3o6 PUNJAB
at the head of the Agra Canal, while in Sirmur and the hill-country
of Patiala the fish in the Giri and other streams are strictly preserved
in the interests of anglers.
The state under native rule took all, or nearly all, the produce of the
land which was not required for the subsistence of
Rents, wages, and ^^^^ cultivators, and it is only since the value of land
prices. . ' •' .
has risen under the more lenient British assessments
that anything in the shape of a margin leviable as rent has been in any
general way available for the owners of land.
The assessment on land, which under Sikh rule was usually taken
direct from the cultivator in kind, is now always taken from the owner
in cash, and the latter recovers from the tenant, in kind or in cash,
an amount which ordinarily ranges from twice to three times the value
of the assessment. The usual practice is to take rent in kind at a share
of the produce, and 57 per cent, of the rented area of the Province
is now subject to some form of kind rent ; but where crops difficult to
divide are grown, and in the neighbourhood of towns, or on lands held
by occupancy tenants, or in tracts, such as the south-east of the Punjab,
where the custom is of some standing, it is not unusual to find rents
paid in cash. The exact rate at which a rent in kind is paid is largely
a matter of custom ; and such rents, while varying considerably from
soil to soil, do not change much from time to time. Cash rents, on
the other hand, have necessarily increased with the increase in the
prices of agricultural produce ; and the average incidence of such
rents has risen from Rs. 1-13-2 per acre in 1 880-1, to Rs. 2-6-5
in 1890-1, and Rs. 4-6 in 1900-1.
As nearly one-half of the land in the Punjab is cultivated by the
owners themselves, and a fair portion of the rest by owners who pay
rent to co-sharers or other owners, the tenant class is neither so large
nor so distinctively marked as in the rest of Northern India, and the
law affords much less elaborate protection to the tenant than is usual
in the United Provinces or in Bengal. A limited number of the
tenant class, amounting to nearly one-fifth of the whole, have been
marked off by the legislature on certain historical grounds as entitled
to rights of occupancy, and the rents of this class cannot be enhanced
to a standard higher than 12^ to 75 per cent, (according to circum-
stances) in excess of the land revenue. In the case of the remaining
tenants, who hold at will, no limit is fixed to the discretion of the
landlord in the matter of enhancement ; but the procedure to be
followed in ejectment and the grant of compensation for improvements
legally executed are provided for by the law in respect of both classes
of tenants.
The figures given in the following table are of interest as showing
the direction in which rents are developing : —
RENTS, WAGES, AND PRICES
307
i88o-i.
Acres.
1890-1.
1900-1.
1903-4-
Acres.
Acres.
Average area held per proprietor .
30-8
18.8
1 17-8 1
Not
available.
Average area of tenant's holding .
Percentage of total cultivated area held
6.0
.3-7
.3-3
2-5
by tenants
Percentage of tenant area held by occu-
34-7
46-0
52-3
54'
pancy tenants .....
Percentage of grain-rented to total
rented area
31-3
49.8
19.6
54-1
17.0
56.6
19-0
57-.')
These statistics are subject to a good many reservations which need
not be entered into here ; but they are sufficient to disprove the usual
impression that the increase of the landowning population entails
a withdrawal of land from tenants, and that with the development
of the country the practice of kind rents is disappearing.
With normal prices, the sum required for the food of a labouring
family may be taken to be about Rs. 4^ a month, and to this Rs. i|
a month must be added for a reasonable amount of furniture, clothing,
and other necessaries. The ordinary unskilled labourer, therefore,
looks to get about Rs. 6 a month or its value, and this may be
taken as the ordinary rate roughly prevailing. The labourer in a town
is usually paid entirely in cash ; in the country he is paid either wholly
or partially in kind. The country labourer needs a little more food
than the town labourer ; but whereas the latter has house-rent to pay,
the former generally obtains his house at little or no expense to himself.
The cultivator who rents but does not own land lives at a standard
of comfort very little higher than the landless labourer. As his expen-
diture, like his income, is almost entirely in grain, and a large part
of his food and clothing is produced by himself, it is difficult to
estimate his receipts in money ; but it would probably be fair to say
that, when the ordinary day labourer receives Rs. 6 a month, the
receipts of the cultivator after paying his rent would be represented
by something Hke Rs. 7 or Rs. 8, while if the cultivator were also
an owner of land his average income, after payment of Government
dues, might be put at Rs. 10, or more. Skilled labourers, such as
blacksmiths or masons, get about Rs. 16 a month or its equivalent,
and carpenters still more. The ordinary vernacular clerk in a com-
mercial or Government office will as a rule get something between
Rs. 15 and Rs. 20, but on this he has to maintain a better style
of dress and living than men who work with their hands. Wages
are now twice or thrice as high as they were in Sikh times, and
there has been a progressive rise in recent years. So far as the
labourer's food is concerned, its money value has in the last twenty
years increased by 30 to 35 per cent., while the other items of his
expenditure have decreased in price ; and it would probably be correct
3o8 PUNJAB
to say that during the same period the labourer's wages have risen
from 20 to 25 per cent. With artisans the increase has been larger,
or from 25 to 30 per cent.
Although there are large piece-goods and other marts at places like
Delhi and Amritsar, no official statistics are maintained regarding the
prices of any but agricultural staples. For these, three classes of data
are available : the prices obtained by agriculturists at harvest time at
a fair number of towns and large villages in each District ; the whole-
sale prices prevailing at the end of each fortnight in six representative
cities of the Province ; and the retail prices prevailing at the end of
each fortnight at the head-quarters of each District. The differences
between the figures obtained under the first and second of these heads
,are due partly to the cost of carriage, and partly also to the want of
capital among agriculturists, which necessitates their selling while the
market is still low. To illustrate the difference which prevails between
the three classes, an example may be taken from one of the central
Districts in 1904, when wheat sold at the country markets at harvest
time for Rs. 19-5 per ten maunds, whereas at the head-quarters the
average wholesale price for the year was Rs. 2 1 and the average retail
price Rs. 22. In making rough calculations for assessment purposes,
it is usual to assume that the agriculturist gets 4 annas per maund of
82 lb. less than the recorded average retail prices of the year. The
rise of prices in the Province at large is best studied in the retail
figures, which are available in greater completeness than the others.
Table V at the end of this article (p. 383) shows prices for a series
of years at Delhi, Amritsar, and Rawalpindi. In wheat, which is the
main staple of the Province, the average rate of increase in the three
markets noted is 36-7 per cent, for the period 1880-1900; and if
wheat, gram, Joivdr, and Inyra are dealt with in the proportion in
which they are grown, the average joint increase is 35-4 per cent.
The mileage of railways within the Province has more than quad-
rupled in the same period, and the large rise in prices is doubtless
due in the main to this improvement in communication, accompanied
by the opening of foreign markets.
Village life is still simple and possesses few luxuries. All the articles
that the people require, except matches, lamps, and kerosene oil, and,
most important of all, piece-goods, are made locally, and are much the
same as they were before British rule. The wealth which is being
accumulated by the people is hoarded, commonly in ornaments, and
less usually in cash. The circulation of Punjab circle currency notes
rose from 134 lakhs in 1891-2 to 263 in 1903-4, and the deposits in
the Postal savings banks increased from 63 to 80 lakhs in the same
period. The peasantry, especially the landowners, have a much higher
standard of living than they had forty years ago, their increased means
FOJ^ESTS 300
enabling them to travel more, cat better food, wear better elothing,
and own more horses, utensils, and jewels. The Sikh Districts of the
C'entral Punjab and the submontane and Himalayan tracts are per-
haps the most prosperous. Among the landless labouring classes the
increase in general comfort has been marked, owing to the extension
of canal-irrigation and the foundation of the Chenab Colony, which
has attracted large numbers of labourers from nearly every part of the
Province. In the towns cheap European luxuries, such as German
watches, patent leather shoes, and bicycles, find a considerable sale,
as do American drugs and cigarettes. Round most of the larger towns
suburbs are springing up containing villas built in pAiropean style with
gardens, to which the wealthier classes resort as a change from their
close ill-ventilated homes within the ancient walls.
The forests may be divided into two main classes, those of the hills
and those of the plains. For the most part the forests of the plains
are of the class known as dry forests, growing in
Forests
tracts of scanty rainfall and poor, sandy, and often
salt-impregnated soil. The characteristic trees are the tamarisk or
farash {Tamarix articiilafa), the leafless caper or karil {Capparis
aphyi/a), the Jand {Prosopis spicigera), the vaft {Salvadora oleoides),
and a few acacias of the species known as klkar in the Punjab and
Imbul in the rest of Northern India {Acacia arabica). Forests of this
type, interspersed with large treeless wastes, occupy extensive areas
in the Lahore, Montgomery, Multan, Chenab, Jhelum, and Shahpur
Forest divisions, where they are estimated to cover an area of about
4,000 square miles. In the Central Punjab large tracts covered with
the dhdk {Butea frondosa) are common. As they approach the hills
these forests become richer in species, and gradually blend with the
deciduous forests of the Lower Himalayas, while to the south and west
they give place to the deserts of Rajputana and Sind. On the banks
and islands of rivers, and indeed wherever water is near the surface,
the sh'isham {Dalbergia Sissod) often becomes gregarious, and is of
some importance ; and many other species, such as acacias and the
black mulberry, are found. The avenues of shlsham and other trees
planted along roads and canals are an important feature in the scenery
of the Province.
The sal tree (Shorea robi/sta) is found in the small submontane
forest of Kalesar in Ambala, in the adjoining State of Sirmur, and in
a few scattered areas in Kangra District. This is, however, the
extreme western limit of its growth, and it can never be expected to
attain any great dimensions. The rocky hills of the Salt Range and
Kala-Chitta are in parts covered with an open forest, in which the
olive {Olea cuspidata) and the phulahl {Acacia ?nodesta) are the prin-
cipal trees.
310 PUNJAB
The hill forests fall into groups classified by their elevation. Below
3,000 feet they are composed of scrub and bamboo {Dendrocalamus
strictus). The bamboo forests are most important in Kangra, where
they cover an area of 14,000 acres ; the scrub forests survive in good
condition only in places where they have been protected by closure
from grazing. Between 2,500 and 5,000 feet of elevation the chil pine
(PiuHS lofigifo/ia) is the principal tree. Forests of this tree are found
throughout Kangra proper, in the Murree and Kahilta tahs'ih of Rawal-
pindi, and in the lower portions of the valleys of Kulu, Bashahr, and
Sirmur. Between 5,000 and 8,000 feet occurs the true zone of the
valuable deodar {Cedrus Deodara\ which grows either in pure forests
or mixed with the blue pine {Pinus excelsa), the silver fir {Abies Web-
bia?ia), the spruce {Picea Morinda), and trees of various deciduous
species. The principal deodar forests are found in the Parbati valley,
and around the head-waters and side streams running into the Beas in
Kulu, on either side of the Ravi in Chamba and the Chenab in Pangi,
in the valleys of the Sutlej and the tributaries of the Jumna in Bashahr,
and in Jubbal. In this zone extensive forests of blue pine, pure or
mixed with deodar, also occur, principally in Kulu and Bashahr. Above
8,000 feet, extensive areas, especially in the zone between 9,500 and
12,500 feet, are covered with silver fir, spruce, and trees of various
deciduous species. Approaching 12,500 feet, which is about the
limit of tree growth, rhododendron, birch, and juniper are found.
The grassy slopes which extend from the limit of tree growth to the
line of perpetual snow afford pasturage, and shepherds and herdsmen
migrate thither annually with their flocks and cattle.
The administration of all the more important forests is controlled by
the Forest department, under a Conservator. There are twelve Forest
divisions, including those of the Bashahr and Chamba States, the
forests of which are leased by the Punjab Government. The forests
of the Simla Hill States are under the general care of the Simla
Forest officer, who advises the chiefs. In 1904 the land under the
Forest department amounted to 9,278 square miles, of which 1,916
were completely 'reserved,' 4,909 'protected,' 1,914 'unclassed,' or
given over with some restrictions to the use of the public, and 539
' leased.' There were also 1 1 2 square miles of ' reserved ' forest, and
square miles of ' unclassed,' under the Military department ; and other
civil departments had charge of 4 miles of 'reserved,' 10 acres of
' protected,' and 7,033 square miles of ' unclassed ' forests, the last
being chiefly waste land in the charge of Deputy-Commissioners.
All deodar forests of commercial importance are worked in accor-
dance with working-plans, prepared by the Forest department and
sanctioned by the Local Government. Under their prescriptions
7,140 deodar trees are allowed to be cut annually, and the annual
FORESTS 3 1 1
yield of deodar timber from the forests under the control of the
department is estimated at 659,000 cubie feet. This timber, together
with a certain amount of blue pine and r////, is floated down the various
rivers to the plains, where it is sold to railways for sleepers, or to the
public. Efforts are now being made to introduce exploitation by
private enterprise. The chll forests of Murree and Kahuta are also
under a working-plan, and for those of Kangra a plan is in prepara-
tion. In the Kangra forests the chil trees are systematically tapped
for resin. The spruce and fir forests are for the present principally of
value as grazing grounds, and for supplying local requirements in forest
produce. They hold, however, enormous stocks of timber, which may
eventually become of commercial value. The scrub forests below
2,500 feet and much of the plains forests are managed as grazing
grounds. The bamboo forests of Kangra form a valuable property,
yielding an annual surplus revenue of about Rs. 20,000.
All closed forest areas in the lower hills and in the plains may be
regarded as fuel and fodder reserves. In times of drought such areas
are opened to grazing, and if necessary to lopping, so as to enable the
people to keep their cattle alive until the occurrence of more favour-
able seasons. The area of forest land in the plains is rapidly decreasing
as colonization schemes are extended, and the consequent contraction
of fuel and fodder-producing areas may be felt in the future.
Changa Manga in Lahore District contains a plantation of 8,872
acres fully stocked with s/ilsham and mulberry, and there are smaller
shlsham plantations at Shahdara in the same District, and at Jullundur,
Ludhiana, and Jagadhri. Efforts have been made for many years past
to increase the stock of deodar in the hill forests by artificial sowings
and plantings, which have been to a certain extent successful.
The wants of the people are fully provided for by the various forest
settlements, which record their rights to timber, fuel, grazing, &c., in
the Government forests ; and in some places the inhabitants have the
first option of taking grazing leases, and buying the grass from the
adjoining forests. The relations of the department with the people
are satisfactory, and offences against the forest laws are usually trivial
and are becoming less numerous.
Attempts are made to protect all the more valuable forests from fire.
Fortunately the valuable deodar forests are but little exposed to this
danger, but the ^A// forests become highly inflammable in the hot season.
The local population at first resented the restrictions imposed by fire
conservancy, and many cases of wilful firing of forests used to occur ;
but such occurrences are now happily less frequent, and the people
often give willing help in extinguishing fires in Government forests.
The financial results of the working of the department are shown
in the following table : —
312
PUNJAB
1880-1 to
1889-90
(average!.
I 890- I to
1 899- 1 900 1 900- 1 . 1903-4.
(average).
Rs.
Revenue . . , 7,74,362
Expenditure 5,49,045
Surplus . . 2,25,317
Rs.
10,06,412
7,08,100
2,98,312
Rs. Rs. 1
12,60,234 16,51,077
8,35.299 9.55.918
4.24.935 6,95,159
Mines and
minerals.
Saltpetre is
Forest revenue is principally realized from the sale of deodar timber,
which produces about 6 lakhs annually, sales of other timber amount-
ing to only Rs. 60,000. The other chief items are sale of fuel
(Rs. 4,60,000), and grazing and grass (Rs. 1,64,000).
The Punjab is not rich in minerals ; and nearly all its mineral
wealth is found in the hills, the only products of
the alluvium being kankar or nodular limestone, salt-
petre, carbonate of soda, and sal-ammoniac,
found on the sites of used and disused habitations,
generally associated with the chlorides of sodium, magnesium, or
potassium, and the sulphates of sodium, potassium, or calcium. The
initial process of manufacture, which consists in allowing water to per-
colate slowly through the nitrous earth, results in a solution not merely
of nitre but of all the associated salts. The separation of the nitre from
the rest is the work of the refiner. Refineries exist all over the Province
and pay an annual licence fee of Rs. 50, while for the initial process the
fee is Rs. 2. Saltpetre is exported to Europe, and is also largely used
in India in the manufacture of fireworks and gunpowder for blasting.
In 1903-4 there were 35 refineries in the Punjab. These produced
73,917 cwt. of refined saltpetre, the out-turn being nearly 41 per cent,
of the crude substance. Impure salt {sittd) to the amount of 58,322 cwt.
was also educed, the out-turn being over 32 per cent, of the saltpetre so
utilized. Of this amount, only 4,091 cwt. were e.xcised at Rs. 1-5-9
per cwt. (R. i a maund), 54,496 cwt. being destroyed. Pure salt is not
educed. A large saltpetre refinery exists at Okara in Montgomery
District.
The only other important mineral product of the plains is kankar,
or conglomerated nodules of limestone, used for metalling roads, which
is found in most parts. Carbonate of soda (barilla) is made from the
ashes of various wild plants, chiefly in the west and south-west of the
Province. Sal-ammoniac is manufactured in Karnal, by burning bricks
made of the clay found in ponds and heating the greyish substance
which exudes from them in closed retorts.
The most valuable mineral is rock-salt, which, with gypsum, forms
immense beds in the Salt Range. It is worked in that range at Khewka
and NiJKi'UK in Jhelum District, at Kalahagh in Mianwali, and at
Wakcha in Shahpur. Salt is also manufactured at Sultanpur, in (lurgaon
MINES A XT) MINERALS 313
District, by evaporation of the saline subsoil water. Salt, dark in colour
and containing a large proportion of earth and other impurities, is
quarried at Drang and Gunia in the State of Mandl. 'J'he total amount
of salt made and sold in the Punjab rose from 79,295 t(jns in i88o-r to
84>338 tons in 1890-1, 94,824 tons in 1900-1, and 105,163 tons in
1903-4. The average output of the Salt Range and Mandi mines in
the six years 1898-1903 was 93,698 tons, of which 89,023 came from
the Salt Range ; the output of the Salt Range in 1904 was 99,192 tons.
Large deposits of gypsum occur in Spiti and Kanawar, but too inac-
cessible to be at present of any economic value.
Although the existence of coal at numerous points throughout the
Salt Range had long been recognized, no attempts were made to
work it until recentl)-, except at the large colliery near Dandot
in Jhelum District. Within the last few years, however, prospecting
licences have been taken out at Kalabagh on the Indus in Mianwali
District, a few other places in Jhelum, and Sandral in Shah pur ; and
great hopes are entertained that the coal will prove to be of a paying
quality. The Dandot Mines have been worked since 1884 by the North-
western Railway. There is only one seam of coal, which outcrops at
various points along the hill-side at a mean distance of 300 feet below
the limestone scarp, which here rises 2,300 feet above sea-level. The
seam averages 2 feet 9 inches in thicknes.s, and is worked on the long-
wall system, all the coal being taken out in one operation. The mines
are entered by level or inclined tunnels from the hill-side, the longest
stretching 900 yards under the hill. From the mouth of each tunnel the
coal is conveyed on an inclined tramway to the edge of the hill, whence
a funicular railway runs down the cliff to the North-Western terminus
at Dandot. The coal is classed as a bituminous lignite, and, though low
in fixed carbon, has a relatively high calorific value. About 1,500 men
are employed on the mines, at a daily wage of 8 annas for a miner
and 3^ or 4^ annas for a cooly. 'i'he workers are chiefly agriculturists,
who leave the mines when their fields claim all their time, to return to
them again when the crops need less attention. Very few can really
be called miners. Makranis were at one time imported from Karachi,
but the experiment was not a success. In 1891 the out-turn was
60,703 tons, in 1901 67,730, and in 1904 45,594 tons. In 1901 it
was estimated that three million tons remained to be worked.
There are no gold-mines in the Punjab, but gold-washing is curried
on at various places in the ui)per reaches of most of the rivers. The
industry is not remunerative, a hard day's work producing gold to the
value of only 2 or 4 annas'. The total recorded output in 1904 was
370 oz.
Iron is found in Kangra District at several points along the Dhaola
' Punjab JVodiicts, by Baden Powell, pp. 12, 13.
314 PUNJAB
Dhar, in the form of crystals of magnetic oxide of iron imljedded in
decomposed and friable mica schists. The supply is practically inex-
haustible, and the quality of the ore is equal to the best Swedish iron.
The remoteness of the tract, combined with difficulties of carriage and
absence of fuel, have hitherto prevented smelting on a large scale.
Besides iron, antimony ore is found. Iron mines are also worked at
Kot Khai in Simla, and in the Hill States of Jubbal, Bashahr, Mandi,
and Suket. Sirmur State possesses several iron mines, but they are
not worked owing to their inaccessibility and the poor quality of
the ore.
Copper was formerly smelted in considerable quantities in various
parts of the Outer Himalayas in Kulu, where a killas-like rock persists
along the whole range, and is known to be copper-bearing. Veins
of galena and of copper pyrites occur in the Lower Himalayas, in
Kulu, and in the Simla Hill States ; and stibnite is found at Shigri in
the valley of the Chandra river in Lahul.
There are quarries at Bakhli in the State of Mandi, near Kanhiara
in Kangra District, and throughout Kulu, which turn out a good quality
of slate. A quarry at Kund in the Rewari tahsil of Gurgaon is worked
under European management, but the slate and flake are not of good
quality.
Petroleum springs occur in Attock District, and in the hills to the
south-east, but the average recorded output during the six years ending
1903 was only 1,674 gallons. In 1904 the output was 1,658 gallons.
Near Kalabagh in Mianwali District, on the Indus, considerable
quantities of a pyritous shale are extracted for the production of alum,
but the mining is carried on in an irregular and fitful way. The output
was estimated in 1898 to amount to 750 tons, and to only 129 tons
in 1904.
Cotton-spinning is the great domestic industry of the Province, coarse
cotton cloth being woven by hand in almost every village. In 1901 the
number of persons returned as supported by cotton-
manufa^"ures. weaving in British territory was 778,947, of whom
322,944 were actual workers and 456,003 dependents.
The coarse country cloth is strongly woven and wears well, and is not
likely to be entirely displaced by the machine-made article for some
time to come. Finer qualities are also manufactured, but these in-
clude only longcloths and damasks, white or coloured, with woven
patterns. Muslin {ta/izeb) is made in small quantities at Delhi and
Rohtak. The longcloths, when checked and of thick material, are
called khes, and when striped are termed sfisi, the latter being made
of machine-spun yarn with sometimes a few silk threads in the warp.
The lungl or pagri is a long narrow strip of cotton cloth worn by men
round the head as a turban or as a band round the waist. Beautiful
ARTS AXD MAXUFACTURES 315
khes are madf in ihe Soulh-AVesi and Central Punjab. The ga/n-f/ns of
Ludhiana closely resemble similar goods made in Europe, and its /i/zigls,
imitations of those made in Peshawar, are famous. The /ungts of
Shahpur and Multan are more ornate. A special cloth made of a
mixture of cotton and wool called garbi hi is woven in Gurdaspur
District and exported all over India. The glazed fabrics of Jul-
lundur, especially the diaper called ghdti or hdbulchashm or 'nightin-
gale's eye,' are also famous. Cotton rugs, ddris or shatranjis, are turned
out at Lahore and Ambala. Cotton-pile carpets are made at Multan,
but recent productions indicate that a crude scheme of colours has
ruined the beauty of this manufacture. Cotton-printing is carried on
in many parts of the Punjab, and the productions of Kot Kamalia,
Sultanpur, and Lahore are especially famous. The printing is done
by hand by means of small wooden blocks. Within recent years fairly
large quantities have been exported to Europe and America, but the
trade is declining owing to the fashion having changed.
Sheep's wool is largely produced in the plains, and is woven or
felted into blankets and rugs. Dera Ghazi Khan and Bhera produce
coloured felts {iia?>idds) in considerable quantities. The finest wool
is that of Hissar, and the western Districts also produce a fair quality.
Some of the wool worked up in the Province is imported from
Australia, most of this being utilized by the power-loom mills at
Dhariwal. Of greater interest, however, are the manufactures of
pashm, the fine hair of the Tibetan goat. This is imported through
Kashmir, Kulu, and Bashahr, and supplies Ludhiana, Simla, Kangra,
Amritsar, and Gujrat, the chief seats of artistic woollen manufacture.
The industry dates from early in the nineteenth century, when famine
drove numbers of artisans from Kashmir to seek a home in the Punjab.
Real Kashmir shawls continued to be made until the Franco-German
War, when the demand ceased ; and the manufacture of pashtnnia,
or piece-goods made from pashm, is now confined to ahvdns or serges,
curtains, and ordinary shawls. In many Districts sacking, coarse
blankets, and rugs are made of goats' and camels' hair.
Practically the whole of the silk used in the Punjab is imported
from China. It is woven in most parts, the chief centres being
Amritsar, Lahore, Patiala, Batala, Multan, Bahawalpur, Delhi, and
Jullundur, where both spinning and weaving are fairly important
industries. The articles manufactured may be divided into three
classes : woven fabrics of pure silk, woven fabrics of silk and cotton,
and netted fabrics of silk or silk and cotton, of which the second are
being turned out in largely increasing quantities. Turbans and waist-
bands {iif/igis) of cotton cloth with silk borders woven on to them are
also very largely made. Netted silk is made in the form of fringes,
tassels, gvcdXt^, patjdma strings, &c.
VOL. XX. X
3i6 PUNJAB
Many kinds of wearing apparel are decorated with embroidery.
The wraps called phulkaris (' flower-work ') are in most Districts
embroidered with silk, and the industry has grown from a purely
domestic one into a considerable trade, large numbers being exported
to Europe for table-covers and hangings. Very similar are the orhnds
of Hissar, which are embroidered in wool or cotton. Delhi is the
centre of the trade in embroideries, in which gold and silver wire,
as well as silk thread, is largely used, on silk, satin, and velvet. The
purity of the manufacture is guaranteed by the municipality, which
supervises the manufacture, fees being paid by the artisans to cover
expenses. This practice, a relic of native rule, is highly popular among
the workmen, who thereby get a guarantee for the purity of their wares.
The embroidery is applied chiefly to caps, shoes, belts, uniforms,
turbans, elephant trappings and the like, besides table covers and
similar articles of European use.
The carpet- weaving of Amritsar is a flourishing and important indus-
try, and its products are exported to all parts of the world. Pashm
is used for the finest carpets, and the work is all done by hand.
Woollen carpets used to be made at Multan, but owing to the com-
petition of Amritsar the industry is now confined to the manufacture
of mats. Felt mats called namdds are made of unspun wool and
embroidered.
Ornaments are universally worn, and Punjabi women display
jewellery as lavishly as those in any other part of the plains of
India. It has been estimated that Amritsar city alone contains
jewels to the value of two millions sterling, and the workers in
precious metals in the Province considerably outnumber those in
iron and steel. Gold is mainly confined to the wealthier classes,
and is not largely worn by them except on special occasions ; whereas
silver ornaments are in daily use by all but the poorer classes. The
late Mr. Baden Powell ' gave a list of ninety-nine names for ornaments
used in the Punjab, and the list is by no means exhaustive ; it includes
ornaments for the head, forehead, ears, nose, neck, arms, and waist,
with bracelets, anklets, and rings for the toes and fingers in great
variety. The general character of the gold- and silver-work is rough
and unfinished. Superior work is turned out at Amritsar and Delhi,
and at the latter place a good deal of jewellery is made for the
European market.
Iron is largely smelted in Kangra and Simla Districts, but the out-
turn is insignificant compared with the amount imported into the
Punjab. Lahore used to be famous for the manufacture of weapons,
but the industry is now extinct. In Gujranwala and at Bhera in
Shahpur District cutlery is made, but the production is irregular.
' Pttnjah Maiuifai lures, pp. 181-4.
AJ^TS AND MANUFACTURES 317
The finish of these articles, thcnigh not perfect, is better than the
quaHty of the steel, which is tough but deficient in hardness. Dama-
scening or inlaying small articles of iron with gold wire is carried on
in Sialkot and Gujrat Districts. Agricultural implements are made
by village blacksmiths, who are also often carpenters. In Lahore
ironwork has been considerably improved under the influence of the
North-Western Railway workshops.
All the brass and copper used is, in the first instance, imported,
chiefly from Europe. Formerly copper was obtained from Kabul,
but the import has entirely ceased. Various copper and zinc ores,
found in the Kulu hills and other parts of the Himalayas, used to
be mined, but the imported metals are so cheap that there is no
immediate likelihood of the mines being reopened. European spelter,
chiefly German, has long since driven the Chinese zinc out of the
market. Both yellow and grey brass (or bell metal) are manufactured
in the Punjab. Brass- ware is either hammered or cast ; copper-ware
is either cast or made of sheet copper soldered together. The industry
is limited to the manufacture of domestic utensils, which are only
roughly ornamented. The chief centres of the manufacture are the
towns of Rewari, Delhi, Jagadhri, Panlpat, Gujranwala, Amritsar, Find
Dadan Khan, and various places in Sialkot District.
Rough unglazed pottery is made in nearly every village, the potters
being generally village menials who supply the villagers' requirements
in return for a fixed share of the harvest. Unglazed pottery of a rather
better kind is made at Jhajjar, and thin or ' paper ' pottery at Panlpat,
Jhajjar, Jullundur, Tanda, and a few other places. Glazed pottery is
made at Multan. Originally confined to the manufacture of tiles,
there is now a large trade in flower-pots, plaques, vases, &c. The
predominant colours are light and dark blue, brown, and green.
Porcelain of disintegrated felspathic earth, mixed with gum, is made
at Delhi. China clay is found near Delhi and in the Himalayas, but
has not hitherto been utilized. The manufacture of glass is mainly
confined to the production of glass bangles. Bottles, glasses, mirrors,
lamps, lamp-chimneys, and other articles are made at Karnal, Kangra,
Hoshiarpur, Lahore, and Delhi.
Wood-carving as an indigenous art is almost entirely architectural,
being devoted to doors and doorways, balconies and bow windows.
Apart from the hill work, which has a character of its own, the wood-
carving of the Punjab may be divided into three styles : the earliest or
Hindu, the Muhammadan, and the modern Sikh style. Examples of
the Hindu work are to be seen principally in the large towns, particu-
larly at Lahore. The forms used are fantastic, tassel shapes, pendants,
and bosses being predominant ; but the style, except for a very recent
revival, may be said to be extinct. With the Muhammadans came the
X 2
3i8 PUNJAB
development of lattice-work or pi>ij?-a, which is to this day the charac-
teristic feature of Punjab wood decoration. Most of the old doorways
and bukhdrchds to be seen in frequent profusion in the old towns
belong, broadly speaking, to this style of work. The Sikh style, the
work of the present day, may be said to be a modern adaptation of
the Muhammadan, with occasional Hindu influence underlying it.
It is characterized by clear-cut carving, broad treatment, and as
a rule fairly good joinery. The best wood-carvers are to be found
at Amritsar, Bhera, Chiniot, and Batala, Of late years the European
demand has led to this handicraft being largely applied to small articles
of decorative furniture.
Inlaid work is also of Muhammadan origin, and was probably intro-
duced from Arabia. The chief centres are Hoshiarpur and Chiniot.
The wood inlay-work of Hoshiarpur has a high local reputation, and
is capable of considerable development. For many years pen-cases,
walking-sticks, mirror-cases, and the low chauki, or octagonal table,
common in the Punjab and probably of Arab introduction, have been
made here in s/itsham wood, inlaid with ivory and brass. Since 1880
tables, cabinets, and other objects have also been made, and a trade
has sprung up which seems likely to expand.
Turned wood ornamented with lac in various combinations of
colours is produced in almost every village. Pakpattan has more
than a local reputation for this work, while a family in Ferozepore
produces a superior quality.
Furniture after European patterns is made in every station and
cantonment, the best-known centres being Gujrat and Kartarpur in
Jullundur District. Gujrat is known for its wooden chairs, chiefly made
of shishani, the supply of which is abundant.
Ivory-carving is practically confined to the cities of Amritsar, Delhi,
and Patiala ; but at the latter place it has greatly declined. Combs,
essential to the attire of an orthodox Sikh, are made in large quantities
at Amritsar, where paper-cutters and card-cases ornamented with geo-
metrical open-work patterns, of some delicacy of execution but no great
interest of design, are also made. The ivory-carving of Delhi is of
a high order of excellence, and miniature painting on ivory is also
carried on. Ivory bangles are turned in several Districts, the chief
being Amritsar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujranwala, Multan, and Lahore.
Billiard-balls are made at Ludhiana.
The manufacture of paper is now confined almost entirely to the
jails. Sialkot was famous in Mughal and Sikh times for its paper,
but the industry has greatly declined owing to the competition of jail-
made and mill-made paper ; and this is also the case at Multan.
Gunny-bags, matting, rope, baskets, blinds, and the like are largely
made of various fibrous plants all over the Province.
ARTS AND ArA.VUFACTURES
319
The decade ending 1900 witnessed a striking extension of industrial
enterprise. In the cotton industry there were, in 1904, 114 steam
factories for ginning and pressing cotton, compared with 12 in 1891,
and 6 in 1881. The produce of these factories is still for the most
part exported abroad, or to other Provinces in India. The Punjab
contains eight cotton-spinning and weaving mills, of which six ha^•e
been started since 1891, and a good deal of the Punjab-grown cotton
is utilized in the Province. The following table shows their recent
development : —
Number of
Daily
average
of hands
employed.
Mills.
Looms.
Spindles.
1 900-1 .
1903-4 .
5
8
426
475
80,188
112,508
2,040
3,201
These mills have a nominal capital of 60 lakhs. The out-turn of yarn
has steadily increased since 1895-6, but that of woven goods shows
a tendency to decrease, as appears from the following figures, which
give the out-turn in pounds : —
1895-6. I 1899-igOO. ! 1900-
Yam spun . 14,361,000 17,601,863 75235,843
Goods woven. 91,254 j 705,408 404,258
1901-2.
9,629,422
272,695
1903-4. I
11,578.346'
64.927
The commonest counts spun are 13's, ii's, 15's, i6'.s, and 12's, in
the order given, and these amounted to 8^ of the 9-6 million pounds
spun in 190 1-2. The goods woven are almost all grey. The esti-
mated out-turn of cleaned cotton in 1903 was 104,496,400 lb., of which
more than one-fourth was exported. While the Punjab is of consider-
able importance as a cotton-producing Province, the staple is short,
varying from -^ to -| of an inch, and occupies a low position in the
market.
The Egerton Woollen Mills, established at Dharlwal in 1880, are
the only woollen mills in the Province. The company has a nomi-
nal capital of Rs. 12,00,000. Its progress is shown by the following
figures : —
1890-1.
1901.
1904.
Number of looms
,, spindles
,, hands employed
"5
4.564
620
128
4.320
820
264
6,708
908
In 1903-4 the mills turned out broadcloths, blankets, greatcoats,
serges, flannels, tweeds, iois and shawls, travelling rugs, knitting yarns,
32C PUNJAB
braids, Berlin wool, socks, caps, gloves, and other kinds of knitted
goods to the amount of 572,061 lb., valued at Rs. 7,30,118. The native
shawl-weaving industry and manufacture oi pattu and blankets have not
been much affected by foreign imports.
The Province contains eight breweries, from which nearly 2,000,000
gallons of malt liquors were issued in 1903-4. In 1904 there were
15 ice factories worked by steam, compared with 4 in 1891. The
number of indigo factories decreased from 27 to 12. There were, in
1 89 1, two distilleries for the manufacture of spirits according to the
European method, but the number has now risen to six. In 1903-4,
273,102 gallons (London proof) of spirits were issued from these.
Most of the spirit is made from sugar, but some is whisky distilled
from barley malt.
There were 5 private iron foundries in 1904 : namely, three at Delhi,
one at Lahore, and one at Sialkot. Steel trunks and boxes are made
in large numbers at Multan, Lahore, and Sialkot. At the place last
mentioned surgical instruments are made by an enterprising firm. The
most important iron-works, however, are the North-Western Railway
workshops at Lahore.
Factory operatives are protected by the Indian Factories Act, revised
rules under which were promulgated in 1892. The orders of the In-
spectors have been enforced without difficulty, and very few prosecutions
under the Act have been necessary. In 1892 there were 34 factories
in which steam-power was used. The number has now risen to 175.
While the conditions of labour of the mill operatives has been de-
cidedly improved, it does not appear that there has been any tendency
for wages either to rise or fall during the last ten years. The highest
rates are paid in the Government workshops on the North-Western
Railway, where many skilled mechanics are employed. The ordinary
rates in private factories are 3 annas to 5 annas a day for male
operatives ; 2 annas to 4 annas for women and children ; and from
Rs. 30 to Rs. 60 a month for skilled mechanics.
The condition of skilled artisans in the indigenous industries of the
Punjab, such as carpet-weavers, leather-workers, brass-workers, is not
favourable. The capitalists in some cities formerly safeguarded their
interests by a trade practice, according to which, when a workman left
one employer for another, the second employer was held to be liable to
the first to the extent of all advances received, and the thraldom of the
artisan to the second employer was maintained. This trade practice
has recently been declared illegal by several decisions of the Chief
Court, and the growing competition among capitalists for the service
of workmen is beginning to have its natural effect in strengthening the
position of the artisan. The present transitional stage from the guild or
caste system to the system of free competition between capital and labour
COMMERCE AND TRADE 321
is one of much interest to the student of sociology. The change is,
however, as yet only in its initial stages, and has scarcely affected the
village artisans, who still receive their customary dues in kind, and are
almost as much dependent on the nature of the harvests as the agri-
culturists themselves. In towns also the hereditary nature of many
caste industries, and the tradition of preserving the trade secrets within
the trade caste, still continue. The freedom to learn where and what
one wills has not yet been obtained, but is being gradually brought
about by the competition of capital for labour, by the industrial schools,
and by the introduction of steam-power and factory labour, which,
having no caste tradition, is open to all.
Prior to annexation the Punjab proper had practically no trade with
the rest of India. It had no surplus agricultural produce to export,
and the anarchy which ensued on the decay of the
Mughal empire was an effectual barrier to commercial trade
enterprise. Ranjit Singh's policy aimed at excluding
British traders from his kingdom, while the earliest efforts of the British
Government were directed to opening up the water-way of the Indus.
Since annexation the security afforded to person and property, the
improvement of communications, and above all the extension of
canal-irrigation, have vastly developed the agricultural resources of
the Province.
The main source of the wealth of the Punjab lies in its export of
wheat, of which the largest amounts exported were 550,911 tons in
1891-2,457,991 in 1894-5,493,826 in 1898-9 \ 623,745 in 1901-2,
536,374 in 1902-3, and 877,022 in 1903-4. Next to wheat, raw cotton
is the principal export, and besides wheat inferior grains are exported
on a large scale, chiefly to Southern Europe. During the ten years
ending 1900 the value of the agricultural produce exported exceeded
that of the amount imported by an average of nearly 438 lakhs a year,
a sum which considerably exceeds the total land revenue, with cesses
and irrigation rates, levied in the Province.
Among imports, cotton piece-goods, European and Indian, stand
first. The imports of the former fluctuate greatly. Valued at 218 lakhs
in 1890-1, they had fallen to 190 lakhs in 1900-1, but rose to 253 lakhs
in 1901-2, falling again to 231 lakhs in 1903-4. Indian-made piece-
goods, however, tend to oust the European, the imports of the former
having increased threefold in value between 1891 and 1904. In the
case of twist and yarn this tendency is even more marked. The other
considerable imports are iron and steel, sugar, wool (manufactured),
^ All figures for years prior to 1900-1 on pp. 321-3 include the trade of the
North- West Frontier Province, whether internal or external 'j.e. within India or with
other Asiatic countries, including Kashmir^ and those for the subsequent years its
internal trade alone.
32 2 PUNJAB
gunny-bags and cloth, dyes and tans, and liquors. Wheat and gram are
also imported in times of scarcity. The well-to-do classes in the Punjab
consume wheaten bread, even when wheat is at famine prices, and are
not content with a cheaper grain. Hence the imports of wheat vary
inversely with the out-turn of the local wheat harvest. In the pros-
perous year 1898-9 the value of the wheat imported was only 6 lakhs :
the poor harvest of 1 899-1 900 raised it to 29 lakhs, and, the scarcity
continuing into 1 900-1, to over 41 lakhs in the latter year. Good
harvests in 1901-2 and 1903-4 reduced it to 8 and 10 lakhs respec-
tively. The import statistics of the coarser and cheaper food-grains,
such as gram and pulse, are an index to the purchasing power of the
poorer classes. Less than 8^ lakhs in value in 1898-9, the imports
of these grains exceeded 87 lakhs in 1 899-1 900, falling to 39 lakhs
in 1900-1 and 5^ in 1903-4. The figures show that in periods of
acute distress the poorer classes are compelled to fall back on inferior
grains, until better harvests and lower prices permit them to resume
their wheaten diet.
The development of the export trade in wheat has created new
centres of trade, in places favourably situated on the lines of com-
munication, especially on the Southern Punjab Railway and on the
line from Wazirabad through the Chenab Colony. Along the former
large grain markets have been established at Rohtak, Kaithal, Bha-
tinda, and Abohar. The last named, ten years ago a petty agricul-
tural village, has now become a considerable trade centre, and has
attracted much of the wheat trade from Fazilka. In the Chenab
Colony important trade marts have been established at Gojra, Lyallpur,
Sangla, Chiniot Road, and Toba Tek Singh. Kasur in Lahore District
has likewise benefited at the expense of Ferozepore. Imports are distri-
buted chiefly through the cities and larger towns, such as Delhi, Lahore,
Amritsar, and Multan. A Punjab Chamber of Commerce, with its
head-quarters at Delhi, has recently been established.
The trading castes are the Khattris in the centre and north, the
Banias in the east, and the Aroras in the west. The village trader
is the collecting and distributing agent, but he almost always combines
money-lending with shopkeeping. Nearly every cultivator is his client,
and to him nmch of the agricultural produce of the village is handed
over at a low price, to liquidate debts which have sometimes accumu-
lated for generations. To this, however, there are notable exceptions,
the Sikh and Hindu Jats being often themselves keen traders. More-
over, in the case of wheat, the exporter often deals direct with the
cultivator, and in the east of the Province many cultivators in the
slack season fill their carts with produce and set out to sell it in
the best market they can find. Most towns are centres for the
collection of agricultural produce, and, as mentioned above, many
COyrMERCE AXD TRADE :i,2-s
large grain markets have been established along the lines of rail.
These usually have the advantage of being free from municipal octroi
duties which, in spite of the system of refunds and bonded warehouses
for goods in transit, more or less hamper commerce. No statistics are
available to show the volume of this internal trade.
The trade outside the Province is almost entirely with other Pro-
vinces and States in India, the amount that comes over the passes
from Central Asia being relatively insignificant. More than 90 per
cent, of the recorded exports and a still higher proportion of the
imports are carried by rail, the remainder being borne partly by rail
and partly by boat on the Indus to and from Sind and Karachi. The
bulk of the trade of the Province is with Karachi, which in 1903-4
sent 37 per cent, of the imports and received 54 per cent, of the
exports. Bombay and Calcutta together accounted for 27 per cent, of
the imports and 14 per cent, of the exports, and the. United Provinces
for 23 per cent, of the imports and 19 per cent, of the exports. Wheat,
raw cotton, oilseeds, hides, raw wool, and a certain amount of inferior
grains go to Karachi, in exchange for cotton and woollen piece-goods,
sugar, metals, and railway plant and rolling stock. The trade with
the other seaport towns is on the same lines. Bombay takes a large
amount of raw cotton, and sends silk, tea, and tobacco. Hides and
skins, leather, dyes, and tans go largely to Calcutta, whence comes
a great deal of the wearing apparel, jute, and woollen piece-goods
imported. Cotton and woollen manufactured goods are exported to
the United Provinces, which send sugar, coal and coke (from Bengal),
ghl^ gram, and pulse.
The trade with Kashmir is partly by the Jammu-Kashmir Railway,
and partly by the roads leading into the Districts of Gurdaspur, Sialkot,
Gujrat, Jhelum, and Rawalpindi in the Punjab and Hazara in the
North-West Frontier Province. In Table VH attached to this article
(p. 385) the figures for 1903-4 exclude the trade through Hazara, now
a District of the North-West Frontier Province. The trade with
Ladakh passes either through Kashmir or over the Bara Lacha (pass)
into the Kulu subdivision of Kangra. The chief imports from Kashmir
are rice and other grains, ghi^ timber, oilseeds, manufactured wool,
raw silk, hides and skins, and fruits ; and the chief exports to Kashmir
are cotton piece-goods, wheat, metals, tea, sugar, salt, and tobacco.
C/iaras, borax, and ponies are the principal imports from Ladakh,
and metals and piece-goods are the chief exports thither.
The direct trade with countries beyond India is small, being confined
to that with Chinese Tibet, and an insignificant trade with Kabul
through Dera Ghazi Khan. Trade from Chinese Tibet either comes
down the Hindustan-Tibet road to Simla, or enters Kulu from Ladakh
or through Spiti. The chief imports arc raw wool and borax, and the
324 PUNJAB
chief exports are cotton piece-goods and metals. The chief imports
from Kabul are fruit, ghl, and raw wool ; the chief exports are piece-
goods, rice, leather, and sugar. The trade with Kabul, which passes
down the main trade routes, as well as that with Tirah, Swat, Dir,
Bajaur, and Buner, is registered in the North-West Frontier Province ;
much, however, passes through to the Punjab, and beyond it to the
Lower Provinces of India.
The Punjab is well provided with railways. Karachi, its natural
port near the mouths of the Indus in Sind, is directly connected with
the Punjab by the broad-gaucre North-Western State
Communications. „ ., ' \ , ^ °. .
Railway from Lahore. Delhi is in direct communi-
cation with Karachi by another line passing through Rewari and Merta
Road Junctions, and also by the Southern Punjab Railway, which runs
along the southern border of the Province to join the Karachi line at
Samasata. Karachi has recently been brought into closer contact with
Ludhiana by the new branch of the Southern Punjab Railway from
Ludhiana via Ferozepore and M^Leodganj Road. The north-west
corner of the Province is directly connected with Karachi by the
branches of the North-Western Railway, which leave the main line
at Campbellpur, Golra, and Lala Musa and converge at Kundian,
whence the Sind-Sagar branch follows the east bank of the Indus
and joins the Karachi branch at Sher Shah. The new VVazTrabad-
Khanewal line taps the fertile Chenab Colony in the Rechna Doab
and also connects with Karachi via Multan. The Jech Doab line
commences from Malakwal, a station on the Sind-Sagar branch of
the North-^Vestern Railway, and ends at the Shorkot Road station
of the WazTrabad-Khanewal branch. Another small line is under
construction from Shahdara, 3 miles north of Lahore, to Sangla Hill
on the Wazirabad-Khanewal Railway. It will serve as an outlet to the
immense grain traffic in the interior of the Chenab Colony.
In the east of the Province the country is covered with a network of
branch lines, of which the Delhi-Umballa-Kalka, Simla-Kalka, Rajpura-
Bhatinda, Bhatinda-Ferozepore, and Ludhiana-Dhuri-Jakhal are the
most important. The Rewari-Bhatinda-Fazilka (metre-gauge) State
Railway links up the important junction of Bhatinda with the Raj-
putana-Malwa line, which also connects with Delhi. The Delhi-Agra
branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway has recently been
opened. In the centre of the Province a branch of the North-Western
Railway, recently opened, connects Amritsar with Patti, a town in
Lahore District.
The oldest railway is that from Amritsar to Lahore, opened in 1862.
That from Multan to Lahore linked up the capital with the Indus
F'lotilla in 1865; but it was not till 1878 that its extension north-
westwards began, and only in 1883 was through communication from
COMMUNK \i TIONS 3 2 5
Peshawar to Calcutta and Bombay established. Meanwhile Amritsar
and Rewari had been linked with Delhi in 1870 and 1873 respectively;
and, though no farther extensions were made till 1883, progress was
rapid after that year. In 1891 the Province contained 2,189 I'^iles of
railway, which increased to 3,086 in 1901 and 3,325 miles in 1904.
In the latest year the total was distributed under — broad gauge,
2,757 niiles ; metre gauge, 380; and narrow gauge, 198 miles.
The greater portion of the railways in the Punjab is worked by
the North- Western State Railway, which included 2,585 miles on
the broad gauge, and 138 on narrow gauges in 1904. In January,
1886, when the contract of the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway
Company expired, Government took over that line and amalgamated
it with the Indus Valley, the Punjab Northern State Railways, and
the Sind-Sagar branch into one imperial system called the North-
western State Railway. The Amritsar-Pathankot Railway, which
originally belonged to the Local Government, was transferred to the
North-Western Railway in 1892. The Rajpura-Bhatinda, Ludhiana-
Dhuri-Jakhal, and Jammu-Kashmir Railways were built respectively
by the Patiala, the Maler Kotla and Jind, and the Kashmir States,
but are worked by the North-Western Railway, with which has also
been amalgamated the Southern Punjab Railway. The management
of the Kalka-Simla Railway was taken over by the North-^^^estern
Railway on January i, 1907.
The railways in the Punjab may be classed under two heads, com-
mercial and military. The commercial section of the North-Western
Railway cost on an average Rs. 1,32,000 per mile to construct, inclusive
of the worked lines and the Amritsar-Pathankot Railway. The worked
lines cost on an average Rs. 55,000 per mile to construct, and the
Amritsar-Pathankot Railway Rs. 82,000 per mile. In 1904 the Punjab
had one mile of rail to every 40 square miles of territory. The only
Districts not yet traversed by a railway are Dera Ghazi Khan, Kangra,
and Hoshiarpur. The strategical value of the railway system lies
chiefly in the facilities it offers for the transport of troops to the
north-west frontier of India ; the commercial value lies mainly in
the export of cotton, grain (especially wheat), and oilseeds to Karachi.
Combined with the canals the railways have revolutionized economic
conditions, the former inducing the production of wheat on a vast
scale, and the latter placing it on the world's markets. Further, their
combined effect renders the Province, as a whole, secure from serious
food-famines. In 1899- 1900 the canal-irrigated tracts formed a granary
whence grain was distributed by the railways. The railways also tend
to equalize prices in all parts of the Province and from year to year,
but it may be doubted whether by themselves they have raised prices
generally. It is, however, true that they are tending to erase local
326 PUNJAB
variations in speech, dress, manners, and customs, and to obliterate
the few restrictions which the caste system in the Punjab imposes
on the ordinary intercourse of daily life.
The chief road is a continuation of the grand trunk road, which,
starting at Calcutta, runs through Northern India to Delhi. Thence,
in the Punjab, it passes through Karnal, Ambala, Ludhiana, Jullundur,
Amritsar, Lahore, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, and Attock, where it enters the
North-\Vest Frontier Province and ends at Peshawar, with a total
length of 587 miles, metalled and bridged throughout. The section
from Karnal to Ludhiana was made in 1852, but that from Phillaur to
the Beas was only completed in 1 860-1. From the Beas to Lahore
the road was opened in 1853, and thence to Peshawar in 1863-4. It
runs alongside the railway, and still continues to carry a certain amount
of slow traffic. The other roads are mainly important as feeders to the
railway system. On the north the chief routes are the Hindustan-Tibet
road, which runs from the Shipki Pass on the frontier of the Chinese
empire to the railway termini at Simla and Kalka ; the Kangra Valley
cart-road, which brings down tea and other hill products to Pathankot ;
the Dalhousie-Pathankot road ; and the Murree-Rawalpindi road, which
now forms the main route from Kashmir. All these, except the Dal-
housie road, are metalled, and all are practicable for wheeled traffic,
except that part of the Tibet road which lies north of Simla. In the
centre of the Province a metalled road runs in a loop from Lahore via
Kasur and Ferozepore to Ludhiana, where it rejoins the grand trunk
road. The other metalled roads are merely short feeders of local
importance connecting outlying towns, such as Hoshiarpur and Kapur-
thala, with the railways. As feeders and for local traffic unmetalled
roads suffice for the requirements of the people, and the construction
of metalled roads has accordingly been of recent years subordinated to
that of railways, at least in the plains. Thus in 1880-1 the Province
contained 1,381 miles of metalled roads; and though in 1900-1 the
mileage had risen to 1,916, in 1903-4 it was only 2,054, compared
with 20,874 of unmetalled roads. All roads, except 147 miles of
strategic roads in Dera Ghazi Khan District, are maintained from
Provincial or District funds. Most of the important metalled roads
are Provincial, while unmetalled roads are maintained by District
boards, their metalled roads being often made over to the Public
Works department for maintenance. The total annual expenditure
on land communications is about 4 lakhs for original works, and 10 to
12 lakhs for repairs.
The chief means of transport of goods by road is the bullock-cart.
This is a heavy substantial vehicle without springs or tires, and made
by any village carpenter. It is drawn by a pair of bullocks at the rate
of 2 miles an hour, and 10 to 15 miles are reckoned a fair day's
COAfAfUXrCA 770. VS t, 2 7
journey. It will stand the roughest usage and the worst roads, and
only in the hills and in the sandy tracts does its weight render its use
impossible. In the sandy deserts bordering on the Bikaner desert, and
in the Sind-Sagar Doab, including the Salt Range, the camel is the
chief means of transport of merchandise, while in the Himalayas goods
are carried on mules or by bearers. For passengers by road the light
springless cart known as the e^a is the almost universal means of
locomotion ; it will carry four to six passengers, and go at the average
rate of 5 miles an hour. On metalled roads, the ' tumtum,' a vehicle
with springs not unlike a dog-cart, is much in use. On the important
cart-roads to the hills regular passenger services are maintained by
means of a two-wheeled carriage called a ' tonga,' drawn by two ponies ;
at every 4 miles there are stages at which ponies are changed, and
journeys are performed at the rate of about 8 miles an hour. Regular
services of bullock-carts are also maintained on these roads.
All the great rivers are navigable in the rains ; and the Indus and
the lower reaches of the Jhelum, Chenab, and Sutlej are navigable
throughout the year. Except on the Indus, timber is the most impor-
tant article of commerce transported by this means. There is a con-
siderable trade on the Indus with Sind. Navigation on all rivers is
entirely by means of rude country craft, the Indus Steam Navigation
Flotilla having ceased to exist some twenty years ago. The grand
trunk road crosses the Ravi, Jhelum, and Indus by roadways attached
to the railway bridges, and the Chenab by a footway ; and roadways
cross the Sutlej between Lahore and Ferozepore, and the Chenab
between Multan and Muzaffargarh. There is a bridge of boats on the
Ravi near Lahore ; and the Indus is crossed by bridges of boats at
Khushalgarh, Dera Ismail Khan, and Dera Ghazi Khan, the two latter
replaced by steam ferries in the summer. All the rivers are provided
with ferries at frequent intervals, which are generally managed by the
District boards.
The Districts and States of the Punjab (except the States of
Chamba, Jind, Nabha, and Patiala, which have their own postal
arrangements) form, together with the North-West Frontier Province
and Kashmir, one postal circle under the Postmaster-General of the
Punjab and North-West Frontier Province. It is divided into seventeen
postal divisions. The table on the next page shows the advance in postal
business in the Punjab during the two decades since 1880, giving also
the figures for 1903-4. The figures exclude the North-West Frontier
Province and also (for the most part) Kashmir.
These figures include both the imperial and the local or District
post. The latter system was a substitute for the posts which land-
owners were in early days bound to maintain for the conveyance of
official correspondence in each District. As the District came under
328
PUNJAB
settlement, this personal obligation was replaced by a cess levied on
the land revenue, and eventually in 1883 the cess was merged in and
became part of the local rate. The expenditure on the District post
averaged Rs. 1,50,274 during the five years ending 1902-3, and
in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 1,42,253. In 1906 the cess was abolished,
and the system was amalgamated with the imperial post. The value
of the money orders paid during the year 1903-4 amounted to
329 lakhs, or nearly 102 lakhs more than the value of those issued.
1 880- 1.
i8go-i.
I goo- 1.
IQ03-4-
Number of post offices
and letter-boxes
S42
1,269
4,900
6,850
Number of miles of
postal communica-
cation
8,397
9.474
13,512
15,318
Total number of postal
articles delivered —
Letters .
16,990,413
18,589,127
26,935,983
27,544,764
Postcards
1,906,717
12,632,567
31,430,787
38,130,426
Packets
226,198
891,4.=) 3
3,159,862*
3,441,282*
Newspapers .
1,778,007
2,966,000
3,284,T76t
3,i8r,4i2t
Parcels .
199,764
252,332
423,098
536,224
Value of slamps sold
to the public . Rs.
6,33,.=;ioi
8,46,980^
14,63,57s
18,33,466
Value of money orders
issued . . Rs.
66,30,053!
1,20,69,110^
2,42,07,579
2,27,01,278
Total amount of sav-
ings bank deposits Rs.
56,49,794
1,09,11,336!
79,79,023
Famine.
* Including unregistered newspapers. + Registered as newspapers in the Post Office.
\ Including Kashmir.
The Punjab contains two main tracts which are not secure against
drought : one in the south-east comprising most of the plains Districts
of the Delhi Division and that of Ferozepore ; the
other, the Districts of Gujrat, Jhelum, and Rawal-
pindi in the north-west. The north-west of Gurdaspur and the
Sharakpur and Ajnala tahs'ils (in Lahore and Amrit.sar Districts
respectively) are also insecure. But hitherto famines have been fre-
quent and severe only in the south-eastern tract, of which Hissar is
the centre. This area lies on the edge of the sphere of influence of
the south-eastern monsoon, and any deflexion of its currents leaves it
almost rainless ; but the Western Jumna and Sirhind Canals, especially
the former, have greatly circumscribed the area liable to famine. In
the north-west the rainfall, though liable to fail, is much less capricious
than in the south-east, and here scarcity has never deepened into
serious famine. Well-irrigation in the insecure tracts is largely impos-
sible or unprofitable, owing to the depth of the water below the
surface.
Generally speaking, the autumn crops used to provide the agri-
cultural population in the Punjab with their staple food and most
FAMINE 329
of the fodder for the cattle, the spring crops being grown only for
profit. To a great extent this still holds good, especially as regards
fodder; but of late years the area under spring crops has greatly
increased, and now, even in the insecure tracts, it almost equals that
under autumn crops. The loss of a single harvest, or even of both the
annual harvests, does not in itself necessitate measures of relief. Such
measures are required only after a succession of lean years, and thus
the point when ftiilure of the monsoon spells famine can, as a rule, be
accurately gauged. Besides a rise in prices, not always a very trust-
worthy sign, indications of the necessity for measures of relief are
usually afforded by the contraction of private charity and credit,
activity in the grain trade, increase in crime, and aimless wandering
in search of employment or food.
The first famine in the Punjab of which any information exists oc-
curred in 1783-4 (Samvat 1840), and is popularly called the chdllsa
kdl, or ' famine of the year 40.' It affected the whole country
from the Sutlej to Allahabad, and was acute in the neighbour-
hood of Delhi. Hariana was desolated and the people perished or
emigrated. The mortality must have been very great, and few villages
now existing in this area boast a history anterior to the famine.
Famine again occurred in 1833-4, 1837-8, 1860-1, 1868-9, 1877-8,
1896-7, and in 1 899-1 900. In 1833-4 the conditions were those
of severe scarcity rather than of famine ; and though there was
suffering in Hissar and Rohtak Districts and the Fazilka ta/isi/, no
relief, beyond large suspensions of revenue, was given. The scarcity
was, however, the precursor of serious famine in 1837-8, when the
tract between Allahabad and Delhi was most seriously affected, but
Hissar, Rohtak, and Fazilka also suffered. Relief works were opened
for the able-bodied, but the relief of the infirm and helpless was left to
private charity. The main features of this famine were the prevalence
of aimless wandering and the extraordinary amount of violent crime.
The famine of 1 860-1 affected only the Districts between the
Jumna and the Sutlej, and was the result partly of the Mutiny, and
partly of deficient rainfall in the two preceding years, followed by
a failure of the monsoon in i860. The principles adopted in 1833-4
were again followed. Gratuitous relief was given mainly in the form
of cooked food.
Practically the same tract was again affected in 1868-9, but the
great influx of famine-stricken immigrants from Rajputana exhausted
the resources of private charity. The principle that it was the duty
of the people to relieve the infirm and weak had to be abandoned, and
Government acknowledged its liability to supplement charitable aid.
Large works under professional control and minor works under civil
officers were also utilized for affording relief. The excess mortality in
330 PUNJAB
Rajputana and the Punjab was estimated at 1,300,000. About 3 lakhs
of revenue was remitted in the Punjab.
The great famine of 1877-8 hardly reached this Province, in which
only scarcity existed. Fazilka and the Districts of the Delhi Division,
which were not protected by irrigation, suffered most.
After 1878, in spite of occasional short harvests, the Punjab had
a respite from actual scarcity till 1896-7. In 1895 the monsoon
ceased early in August, and a poor autumn harvest was followed by
a deficient spring crop in 1896. In the latter year failure of the mon-
soon caused widespread scarcity in the Punjab, as in other parts of
India. The whole of the Delhi Division, except Simla, and parts
of the Lahore and Rawalpindi Divisions were affected. A total of
22^ million day-units were relieved, of whom half were in Hissar.
Relief cost 22^ lakhs, 22 lakhs of land revenue was suspended, and
at the close of the famine \\\ lakhs was advanced for the purchase of
seed and cattle. After one good year the monsoon failed again in
1898 and 1899, and famine supervened in the same tracts. The
scarcity of fodder caused immense mortality among cattle, and the
distress among the people was intense. Relief was afforded to
52 million day-units at a cost of 48 lakhs. In addition, 44 lakhs of
land revenue was suspended, and 19 lakhs granted for the purchase
of seed and cattle as soon as favourable rain fell in the autumn of
1900. The Charitable Relief Fund also allotted 12 lakhs to the
Punjab. Hissar was again the most deeply affected tract, account-
ing for two-thirds of the numbers relieved.
Of recent years the immediate effects of scarcity on the population
of the Province have been practically negligible. The famine of 1899-
1900, the most severe since annexation, affected the health of the
people, so that many were unable to withstand disease which under
more favourable circumstances might not have proved fatal. It might
have been anticipated that the two famines of the decade ending 1900
would have appreciably affected the population in Hissar and Rohtak
Districts, but the Census of 1901 showed an increase of nearly 10 per
cent, in the latter. Generally speaking, as regards mortality, the after-
effects of famine are almost more potent than famine itself. Practi-
cally no deaths from actual starvation were recorded in the Punjab in
the recent famines. During famine cholera is most to be feared ; but
when famine ceases, after a plentiful monsoon, malaria, acting on a
people whose vitality has been reduced by privation, claims a long tale
of victims. At such seasons the mortality is naturally greatest among
the very old and the very young. This is shown by the fact that, at
the recent Census, Hissar returned only 999 children under five in
every 10,000 of its population, compared with the Provincial ratio
of 1,340. This paucity of children, however, is to some extent due
ADMINISTRATION 331
to a diminished birth-rale. The famine of 1899-1900 lasted exactly
thirteen months from September, 1899. Up to December the birth-
rate was fairly normal, but after that month it rapidly declined until the
close of the famine. In July, 1900, it was only 22'3 per 1,000, as com-
pared with 40-5, the annual average for the month in the five years
1 89 1 -5. On the other hand, the re-establishment of normal con-
ditions, after famine, is followed by an abnormally high birth-rate.
Thus, in Hissar, famine ended in August, 1897. Up to July, 1898,
the birth-rate remained low ; but it then rose rapidly and remained
well above the average until September, 1899, the highest figures
occurring in October and November, 1898, when they reached 81-7
and 76-7 per r,ooo, as compared with 57 and 50-8 respectively, the
averages for those two months in 189 1-5.
Whether it will ever be possible to render the Punjab free frcnu
liability to famine is a difficult question at present to answer. The
two great remedies are the extension of railways and irrigation. As
to the former, from the point of view of famine protection, the Pro-
vince is as a whole well off, and further schemes are in hand for
facilitating distribution of the immense surplus stocks produced in
the large canal colonies. As to the latter, much has been done and
much more is in contemplation. The Chenab and Jhelum Canals, by
rendering cultivable vast areas of waste, have been of incalculable help
in reducing the pressure on the soil in the most thickly populated
Districts, and in increasing the productive power of the Province ;
but, until the insecure tracts themselves are rendered safe by the
extension to them of irrigation, scarcity and famine nmst be appre-
hended. The new Upper Jhelum, Upper Chenab, and Lower Bari
Doab Canals have been described above (pp. 304-5).
On the annexation of the Punjab in March, 1849, a Board of
Administration was constituted for its government. The Board was
abolished in February, 1853, its powers and func- a j • • + *•
tions being vested in a Chief Commissioner, assisted
by a Judicial and a Financial Commissioner. After the transfer
of the Delhi territory from, the North-Western (now the United)
Provinces, the Punjab and its dependencies were formed into a
Lieutenant-Governorship, Sir John Lawrence, then Chief Com-
missioner, being appointed Lieutenant-Governor on January 1, 1859.
In this office he was succeeded by Sir Robert Montgomery (1859),
Sir Donald M^Leod (1865), Sir Henry Durand (1870), Sir Henry
Davies (187 1), Sir Robert Egerton (1877), Sir Charles Aitchison
(1882), Sir James Lyall (1887), Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick (1892), Sir Mack-
worth Young (1897), Sir Charles Rivaz (1902), Sir Denzil Ibbetson
(1907), and Sir Louis Dane (1908).
In 1866 the Judicial Commissioner was replaced by a Chief Court.
VOL. XX. Y
332 PUNJAB
A Settlement Commissioner was shortly afterwards appointed to super-
vise the land revenue settlements; but this otifice was abolished in 1884,
and a Second Financial Commissioner appointed. In 1897, however,
the old arrangement was reverted to, a Settlement Commissioner re-
placing the Second Financial Commissioner.
The direct administrative functions of Government are performed by
the Lieutenant-Governor through the medium of a Secretariat, which
comprises a chief secretary, a secretary, and two under-secretaries.
These are usually members of the Indian Civil Service. The following
are the principal heads of departments : the Financial ('ommissioner,
the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of Public Instruction,
the Inspector-General of Prisons, the Inspector-General of Civil
Hospitals, the Sanitary Commissioner, the Conservator of Forests, the
Accountant-General, and the Postmaster-General. The last two repre-
sent Imperial departments under the Government of India. The
heads of the two branches (Irrigation, and Roads and Buildings)
of the Public Works department are also ex-officio secretaries to
Government, and the heads of the Police and Educational departments
are similarly under-secretaries in their respective departments. The
Financial Commissioner, who has a senior, a junior, and an assistant
secretary, controls the Settlement Commissioner, the Commissioner
of Excise (also Superintendent of Stamps), the Director of Agriculture,
the Director of Land Records (also Inspector-General of Registration),
and the Conservator of Forests. He is also the Court of Wards for
the Province.
The civil administration is carried on by the Punjab Commission, a
body of officers now recruited exclusively from the Indian Civil Service,
though prior to the constitution of the North-West Frontier Province
one-fourth of the cadre was drawn from the Indian Staff Corps. The
Commission is supplemented by the Provincial Civil Service, which is
recruited in the Province either by nomination, or by examination, or by
a combination of the two, and is almost entirely of Punjabi origin.
With a few exceptions, the higher appointments in the administration
are held exclusively by members of the Punjab Commission, while mem-
bers of the Provincial service, who are graded as Extra or as Extra-
judicial Assistant Commissioners, perform the functions of District
judges, magistrates, and revenue officials. The minor posts in the
administration are held by the Subordinate services, which are recruited
entirely from natives of the Province.
The territories under the control of the Lieutenant-Governor consist
of 29 Districts, grouped into 5 Divisions, and 43 Native States. Each
District is in charge of a Deputy-Commissioner, who is subordinate
to the Commissioner in charge of the Division. A District is divided
into sub-collcctoralcs called tahsils, varying in number as a rule from
ADMLVISTR.1 TION :,j3
three to seven, each under a talmlddr with a naih {(i\:\iw\.'^)-tahsilddr .
Of the 29 Districts, Kangra, with an area of 9,978 square miles, is the
largest, and Simla, in area less than the county of London, the smallest.
The average 1 )i8trict corresponds in si/x with one of the larger English
counties. In population Lahore, with 1,162,109, ^s the largest, and
Simla, with 40,351, again the smallest District. The average population
of a District is 701,046. Particulars regarding each Division, District,
and State will be found in Table III on pp. 380-1. For purposes of
criminal, civil, and revenue jurisdiction, the District is the unit of ad-
ministration. The Deputy-Commissioner (as the officer in charge of a
District is designated, the Punjab being a non-Regulation Province) is
Collector, with judicial powers in revenue suits, and also District Magis-
trate, being usually invested as such with power to try all offences not
punishable with death. The District staff includes a District Judge,
whose work is almost entirely civil, though he is also ordinarily invested
with magisterial powers, which he exercises in subordination to the
District Magistrate. It also includes from three to seven Assistant or
Extra-Assistant Commissioners, with criminal, civil, and revenue
powers, of whom one is in charge of the treasury. It further includes
one or more Munsifs or civil judges. The tahsllddrs are invested with
revenue, criminal, and civil powers, and their assistants, the naib-iahsll-
ddrs, with revenue and criminal powers. In ten Districts there are
subdivisions, each consisting of one or two outlying ta/isl/s, in charge of
an Assistant or Extra- Assistant Commissioner, who resides at the head-
quarters of his jurisdiction. Lahore city also forms a subdivision, and
subdivisional officers are posted to the hill stations of Murree and
Dalhousie during the hot season. As a rule, however, there is no inter-
mediate link between the District and the tahsll. In two tahsils a sub-
tahsil exists in charge of a naib-tahsllddr. The tahsildar has under
him from two to five field kdnii/igos, each of whom supervises twenty to
thirty /rt/'z£'a;7i' or revenue accountants, in charge of the revenue records
of a group of villages. Each village has one or more headmen, who
collect the revenue, and chaukiddrs or watchmen. In most Districts
the villages are grouped into circles or zails^ each under a non-official
{zai/ddr) of local influence, whose duty it is to render general assistance
to all Government officials. Commissioners of Divisions now exercise
judicial powers only in revenue appeals, their civil and criminal jurisdic-
tion having been transferred to the Divisional and Sessions Judges.
The Native States under the control of the Lieutenant-Governor of
the Punjab are 43 in number, comprising an area of 36,532 square
miles, and a population in 1901 of 4,424,398 persons, as shown in
Table III on pp. 380-1, with a total revenue of 155 lakhs. Kashmir,
formerly included among the Punjab States, was placed under the direct
political control of the Government of India in 1877. Of the 43 Stales,
Y 2
334 PUNJAB
the three Phulkian States (Paliala, Jind, and Nabha) and Bahawalpur
are in charge of a Political Agent under the direct control of the
Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab ; Chamba is under the Commis-
sioner of Lahore ; Kapurthala, Faridkot, Maler Kotla, Mandi, and Suket
are under the Commissioner of JuUundur ; Sirmur, Kalsia, Dujana,
Pataudi, and Loharu are under the Commissioner of Delhi ; and the
28 Simla States are under the control of the Deputy-Commissioner of
Simla, as ex-officio Superintendent, Simla Hill States.
. The relations of the British Government with Bahawalpur are regu-
lated by treaty ; those with the other States by sanads or charters from
the Governor-General. The States of Patiala, Bahawalpur, Jind,
Nabha, Kapurthala, Sirmur, Faridkot, and Maler Kotla maintain
Imperial Service troops. The other States and also Kapurthala pay a
money tribute, amounting in 1903-4 to a total of Rs. 2,66,434. The
States of Patiala, Jind, and Nabha are ruled by members of the Phulkian
family ; and should there be a failure of direct heirs in any of them, the
sanads provide for the selection of a collateral as successor by the chiefs
of the other two States. A nazardna or relief is payable to the British
Government by the collateral who succeeds. The Phulkian chiefs, and
also the Raja of Faridkot, are bound by sanad to execute justice and to
promote the welfare of their people ; to prevent satl^ slavery, and female
infanticide ; to co-operate with the British Government against an
enemy, and to furnish supplies to troops ; and to grant, free of expense,
land required for railways and imperial lines of road. On the other
hand, the British Government has guaranteed them full and unreserved
possession of their territories. They, with Bahawalpur and Kapurthala,
differ from the remaining feudatories in the fact that they possess power
to inflict capital punishment upon their subjects. The treaties with
Bahawalpur define the supreme position of the British Government, and
bind the Nawab to act in accordance with its wishes, while in turn the
British Government engages to protect the State. Sanads of varying
import are also possessed by the minor feudatories.
Of the chiefs, those of Bahawalpur, Maler Kotla, Pataudi, Loharu,
and Dujana are Muhammadans ; those of Patiala, jTnd, Nabha, Kapur-
thala, Faridkot, and Kalsia are Sikhs ; and the rest are Hindus. Of
the Muhammadan chiefs, the Nawab of Bahawalpur is head of the
Daudputra tribe, being a descendant of Bahawal Khan, who acquired
independence during the collapse of the Sadozai dynasty of Afghani-
stan early in the nineteenth century. The Nawab of Maler Kotla is
a member of an Afghan family which came from Kabul about the time
of the rise of the Mughal empire ; his ancestors held offices of im-
portance under the Delhi kings and became independent as the
Mughal dynasty sank into decay. The chiefs of Pataudi and Dujana
are descended from Afghan adventurers, and the Nawab of Loharu
LEGISLATION AND JUSTLCE 335
from a Mughal soldier of fortune, upon whom estates were conferred
by the British (Government as a reward for services rendered to Lord
Lake in the beginning of the ninetecntli century.
With one exxeption (Kapurthala), the Sikh chiefs belong to the Jat
race. Chaudhri Phul, the ancestor of the Phulkian houses (Patiala,
Jind, and Nabha), died in 1652. His descendants took advantage of
the break-up of the Mughal empire in the eighteenth century, and of
the confusion which attended the successive Persian, Afghan, and
Maratha invasions of Delhi, to establish themselves, at the head of
marauding bands of Sikh horsemen, in the Mughal province of Sirhind,
and eventually rose to be independent chiefs. The Raja of Kapur-
thala claims Rajput origin, and his ancestor, Jassa Singh, took rank
among the Sikh Sardars about 1750. The founder of the Faridkot
family, a Barar Jat by tribe, rose to prominence in the service of the
emperor Babar, Jodh Singh founded the Kalsia State about the same
time. The remaining chiefs, whose territories lie among the Outer
Himalayan hill ranges, are principally of Rajput descent, claiming
a very ancient lineage.
The rulers of Patiala, Faridkot, Jubbal, Baghal, Kanethi, Mailog,
Kunihar, Bija, Madhan, Dhadi, Tharoch, and Kuthar were minors
in 1906^. The chiefs of Maler Kotla and Kumharsain are of unsound
mind, the Raja of Bashahr is of weak intellect, and the Raja of Bilas-
pur was in 1903-4 temporarily deprived of his powers as a ruling chief
for misconduct. The State of Patiala is administered by a council of
regency, composed of a president and two members ; and an English
guardian and tutor supervises the education of the Maharaja. The
administration of Faridkot is conducted by a council, presided over
by an Extra-Assistant Commissioner deputed by Government. Maler
Kotla is administered by the heir apparent. In Bija, Kunihar, Mailog,
and Madhan the administration is carried on by councils of State
oflficials ; in Dhadi it is in the hands of a relative of the chief, and
in Tharoch in those of the tvazlr. Bilaspur, Jubbal, Bashahr, Kum-
harsain, and Kanethi are administered by native officials of the British
service deputed by Government. In Baghal the council consists of a
brother of the late chief and an official deputed by Government, while
in Kuthar the manager is a member of the ruling family of Suket.
By the Punjab Laws Act of 1872 custom governs all questions
regarding succession, betrothal, marriage, divorce, the separate pro-
perty of women, dower, wills, gifts, partitions, family
1 .• 1 J .• 1 r u- 1 Legislation
relations such as adoption and guardianship, and ^^^ justice.
religious usages or institutions, provided that the
custom be not contrary to justice, equity, or good conscience. On
1 1 he Nawab of Bahawalpur died at sea in February, 190;, while returning from
a pilgrimage to Mecca. lie left a son two years of age.
336 PUNJAB
these subjects the Muhammadan or Hindu law is applied only in the
absence of custom,
A Legislative Council was created for the Punjab in May, 1897,
consisting of the Lieutenant-Governor and not more than nine
members nominated by him, of whom five were non-officials in
1904. The members do not as yet possess the rights of interpella-
tion and of discussing the Provincial budget, which have been granted
to the Councils of the older Provinces. The following are the chief
legislative measures specially affecting the Punjab which have been
passed since 18S0 : —
Arts of t lie Gm<ernor-General iv (Legislative) Council.
The Punjab University Act, XIX of 1882.
The District Boards Act, XX of 1883.
The Punjab Municipal Acts, XIIT of 1884 and XX of 1890.
The Punjab Courts Act, XVIII of 18S4 (as amended by Acts XIII of 1888, XIX
of 1895, and XXV of iSpg).
The Punjab Tenancy and Land Revenue Acts, XVI and XVII of 1889.
The Government Tenants Punjab Act, III of 1893.
The Punjab Land Alienation Act. XIII of 1900.
Regulations of the Governor-General in {Executive^ Council.
The Frontier Crimes Regulations, IV of 1887, IV of 1889, and III of 1901.
The Frontier Murderous Outrages Regulation, IV of 190T.
Acts of the Punjab Legislative Council.
The Pimjab General Clauses Act, I of 189S.
The Punjab Riverain Boundaries Act, I of 1899.
The Punjab Land Preservation {Chos") Act, II of 1900.
The Punjab Descent o^ Jdgirs Act, IV of 1900.
The Sind-Sagar Doab Colonization Act, I of 1902.
The Punjab Steam Boilers and Prime Movers Act, II of 1902.
The Punjab Military Transport Animals Act, I of 1903.
The Punjab Court of Wards Act, II of 1903.
The Punjab Pre-emption Act, II of 1905.
The Punjab Minor Canals Act, III of 190?.
The supreme civil and criminal court is the Chief Court, whicli
consists of five Judges, of whom one at least must, under section 4
of the Punjab Courts Act, XVIII of 1884, be a barrister of not less
than five years' standing. The Court has from time to time been
strengthened by the appointment of temporary Additional Judges,
who numbered four in 1906. Of the five permanent judges, three
are members of the Indian Civil Service, one is an English barrister,
and one an Indian pleader.
Subordinate to the Chief Court are the Divisional and Sessions
Judges, each exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction in a Civil and
Sessions division comprising one or more Districts. As Divisional
Judges, these officers try most of the appeals in civil suits from the
LEGISr.ATIOX AXn JiSTICR 337
courts of first instance. As Sessions Judges, tliey tr\- sessions cases,
with the aid of assessors, and hear criminal appeals. Thus the
Divisional and Sessions Judges in the Punjab fulfil the functions of
District and Sessions Judges in the Regulation Provinces. Appeals
in minor civil suits from the Munsifs' courts are heard by the District
Judge, whose court is also the principal court of original jurisdiction in
the District. The Divisional and Sessions courts are established under
Act XVIII of 1884, which also provides for the appointment of Sub-
ordinate Judges (exercising unlimited civil jurisdiction) and Munsifs.
The latter are of three grades, the jurisdiction of a first-grade Munsif
being limited to suits not exceeding Rs. 1,000 in value. There are
Small Cause Courts at Lahore, Amritsar, Delhi, and Simla, and many
Munsifs are invested with the powers of such courts under Act IX
of 1887.
Relatively to the population, the Punjab may be called the most
litigious Province in India. In 1901 the number of suits instituted
was rr'4 per 1,000 of the population, the next highest figure being 9-6
in Bombay. During the last few years, however, the annual number
of suits has declined considerably, from 227,284 in 1900 to 156,354 in
1905. In the year 1904-5 alone there was a decline of no less than
26 per cent., due mainly to an amendment in the law which extended
the period of limitation in suits for the recovery of money lent from
three to six years. The Punjab Alienation of Land Act of 1900 has
also had a considerable effect in checking litigation between money-
lenders and agriculturists. Suits of this class show a falling-off of
nearly 42 per cent, in the first five years (1901-5) during which the
Act was in force. The question of codifying the customary law has
of late years attracted some attention. An attempt has been made to
codify the custom as to pre-emption in the Pre-emption Act II of 1905,
but it is not possible to say at present what the ultimate effect of that
Act will be. During its first year it stimulated litigation to some
extent.
The District Magistrate is ordinarily (and Additional District and
subdivisional magistrates and other magistrates with full powers are
occasionally) invested with power to try all offences not punishable
with death, and to inflict sentences up to seven years' imprisonment.
Further, in the frontier District of Dera Ghazi Khan and in Mian-
wali an offender may be tried by a council of elders under the Frontier
Crimes Regulation, and in accordance with its finding the Deputy-
Commissioner may pass any sentence of imprisonment not exceeding
fourteen years ; but sentences exceeding seven years require the confir-
mation of the Commissioner, who has also a revisional jurisdiction in
all cases.
The litigious spirit of the people is illustrated by their readiness to
338 PUNJAB
drag their petty disputes into the criminal courts. About one-third of
the charges preferred are ultimately found to be false. In a normal
year the number of true cases is about 5 per 1,000 of the population,
but this figure naturally fluctuates from year to year. A season of
agricultural depression will cause an increase in crime against property
and a decline in the number of petty assault cases, the prosecution of
which is a luxury reserved for times of prosperity. The commonest
form of crime is cattle-lifting, which is rife in the South-Western Pun-
jab and in those Districts of the Eastern Punjab which border on the
United Provinces and Rajputana. Crimes of violence, generally arising
out of quarrels connected with women or land, are commonest among
the Jat Sikhs of the Central Punjab and the Musalman cultivators of
the northern Districts. Offences relating to marriage have increased
during the last five years, probably owing to the ravages of plague,
which has caused a proportionately higher mortality among females
than among males, and has thus enhanced the value of the surviving
women. The same cause has led to an increase in civil suits relating
to women. In an average year about 250,000 persons are brought to
trial, about 27 per cent, being convicted.
All sentences imposed by magistrates of the second and third
classes are appealable to the District Magistrate; and in 1904, out
of 28,564 persons sentenced by them, 34 per cent, appealed and
36 per cent, of these appeals were successful. Sentences imposed
by District Magistrates and magistrates of the first class are, as a rule,
appealable to a Sessions Judge; and in 1904, out of 21,336 persons
sentenced by those courts, 32 per cent, appealed, and of these appeals
37 per cent, were successful. Sentences imposed by Courts of Sessions,
and those exceeding four years passed by District Magistrates, are
appealable to the Chief Court; and in 1904, out of 1,799 persons
so sentenced, 61 per cent, appealed, with success in 28 per cent, of
the appeals.
Of the 6,618 civil appeals filed in the courts of District Judges in
1904, 38 per cent., and of the 9,591 filed in the Divisional Courts,
26 per cent, were successful ; but of the 2,374 filed in the Chief Court,
only 9 per cent, succeeded.
The revenue courts established under the Punjab Tenancy Act are
those of the Financial Commissioner, Collector (Deputy-Commis-
sioner), and Assistant Collectors of the first grade (Assistant or Extra-
Assistant Commissioners), and Assistant Collectors, second grade
{Jahstlda?-s and naib-tahsilddrs). These courts decide all suits regard-
ing tenant-right, rent, and divers cognate matters, in which the civil
courts have no jurisdiction. Appeals from Assistant Collectors ordi-
narily lie to the Collector, from him to the Commissioner, and from the
Commissioner to the Financial Commissioner, with certain limitations.
FINANCE
339
The Registration Act was extended to the Punjab in 1868. All
Deputy-Commissioners are ex-officio registrars and all tahfilddrs are sub-
registrars under the Act, but most of the registrations are performed
by non-official sub-registrars, remunerated by a percentage of fees.
General control over them is exercised by the Inspector-General of
Registration. The figures below are for the old Province up to
1 900- 1 ; those for 1904 are for the Province as now constituted.
18S0-1
to
1889-90
(average).
I 890- I
to
1 899-1900
(average).
1900-1.
1904.
Number of offices
Number of documents
registered
221
70,994
277
129,067
297
134,906
266
75,573
Finance.
Under Sikh rule revenue was realized from all known sources of
taxation, direct and indirect. Land, houses, persons, manufactures,
imports and exports, alike contributed to the income
of the Khalsa under Ranjit Singh. The outlying
provinces, in which revenue could be levied only by a military force,
were farmed out to men of wealth and influence, who exercised powers
of life and death without interference from the court of Lahore, so
long as their remittances to the royal treasury were made regularly.
The revenue from districts nearer Lahore and more completely under
control was collected by local tax-gatherers, called kdrddrs, whose
more important proceedings were hable to review by the ministers
of the Maharaja. The salt revenue was realized by a sale of the
monopoly.
Under this system the country was, on the whole, wonderfully
prosperous. Every Jat village sent recruits to the Sikh army, who
remitted their savings to their homes ; and many a heavily assessed
village thus paid half its land revenue from its military pay. Money
circulated freely, manufactures and commodities were in brisk demand,
and commerce flourished despite the burden of taxation. From land
revenue Ranjit Singh raised 165 lakhs, partly in cash and partly,
or mostly, in kind. From excise he realized 2 lakhs. In the Province
generally the dual system of realizing the land revenue remained in
force till 1847, and to a much later period in the Native States and
great jaglrs. During the regency, however, from 1845 to 1849,
summary revenue settlements were made ; and on annexation the
assessments thereby imposed were maintained as a temporary measure,
quinquennial settlements being made in tracts which had not been
assessed. The customs and excise systems were also reformed, and
in the year after annexation coin of British mintage replaced the
old currency, 50 lakhs of which were withdrawn from circulation.
340 PUNJAB
The estimated revenue for tiS49-5o was as follows : land revenue
(including grazing tax, income from forests, gold-washing, iron mines,
and rents of lands), 152 lakhs; excise (on salt, liquors, and drugs),
including stamps and canal water rate, 26 lakhs; tributes, 5 lakhs;
post office, 3I lakhs ; and miscellaneous receipts, 3^ lakhs — a total
of 190 lakhs. After the Mutiny of 1857 the Delhi and Hissar
Divisions were added to the Punjab, increasing its revenue by 66-2
lakhs.
All items of revenue other than those derived from purely local
sources, such as District and municipal funds, fall into one or other
of two classes. They may be treated as Provincial, in which case
they are at the disposal of the Local Government, or as Imperial,
in which case a portion returns into the Province in the form of
payments, the balance being absorbed into the Imperial exchequer
(see chapter on Finance, Vol. IV, ch. vi). Since 187 1 the financial
relations of the Local and Supreme Governments have been regulated
by periodical settlements. This arrangement consists in the assign-
ment for Provincial uses of the entire income under certain heads
of revenue and a fixed proportion of income under others, termed
' shared heads.'
Under the first Provincial settlement the total receipts rose from
284-44 lakhs (Provincial share 5i'39) to 335'Oi lakhs in 1882 (Pro-
vincial share 80-25), owing to the rapid growth of stamps and excise
revenue. In the same period expenditure rose from 179-14 to 216-06
lakhs (the Provincial share rising from 116-57 to 133-85 lakhs), owing
to the development of the departments transferred to Provincial control.
The Provincial income and expenditure during the quinquennium
averaged 65-13 and 129-31 lakhs respectively, compared with 49*22
and I20-II lakhs estimated in the contract. The Provincial balance
was 29-63 lakhs in 1882. Under the second settlement Provincial
received 40-7193 per cent, of the land revenue, and was made liable
for the same proportion of the cost of settlement and survey operations,
and refunds of land revenue. Half the receipts and expenditure under
forests became Provincial, and the same division was made of stamps,
excise, and registration, formerly wholly Provincial, while half the
licence tax collections also became Provincial. On the other hand,
the pay of Civil Surgeons and other charges devolved on Provincial.
Under this settlement the receipts rose from 344-37 to 351-54 lakhs
(Provincial from i40'35 to 150-68 lakhs), while expenditure fell from
237-03 to 2 1 8- 1 2 lakhs, but the Provincial share of this rose from
146-36 to 155-77 lakhs. The Provincial income and expenditure
averaged 146-84 and 152-98 lakhs respectively, as compared with
the estimates of 144-90 and 144-94 lakhs, leaving the balance at
17-36 lakhs, or 7-36 more than the minimum reserve prescribed in
FT NANCE 341
1887. The settlement was renewed on the same terms for tlie tliird
quinquennium, during which the income rose from 361-03 to 414-50
lakhs (Provincial from 151-93 to 168-30 lakhs), and the expenditure
from 224-53 to 245-19 lakhs (Provincial from 153-04 to 175-17 lakhs).
The Provincial income and expenditure averaged 160-66 and 162-05
lakhs respectively, compared with the estimates of 144-90 and 144-94
lakhs, while the Provincial balance rose to 27-71 lakhs. The cost of
certain measures, of which the most important was the reorganization
of the Punjab Commission at a cost of 2-27 lakhs a year, was met by
assignments from Imperial.
Under the fourth settlement the Provincial shares were fixed as
follows : land revenue 25, stamps 75, and excise 25 per cent. Half
the income tax, hitherto wholly Imperial, also became Provincial.
The income rose from 421-92 to 473-10 lakhs (Provincial from 134-91
to 142-27 lakhs), chiefly under land revenue (9-43 lakhs), stamps
(2-88), excise (r-86), income tax (o-8o), registration (0-95), and irri-
gation (2-20), to take the annual averages. Expenditure increased
from 248-22 to 284-20 lakhs (Provincial from 180-39 to 185-34 lakhs),
owing to larger outlay on public works, maintenance of canals, salaries
and expenditure of civil and political departments, and famine relief.
Survey and settlement charges, hitherto shared, became Provincial,
raising the total of expenditure. The Provincial income and expen-
diture averaged 139-49 and 179-41 lakhs respectively, as compared
with the contract figures of 13219 and 167-24 lakhs; but the settle-
ment affected the finances of the Province adversely, and the quin-
quennium closed with a balance of 5-23 lakhs, or hardly more than
half the prescribed minimum.
The fifth settlement made in 1897 was afterwards extended to
1904-5. It was modified in details in consequence of the separation
of the North-West Frontier Province in 1901, but the general terms
remained unaltered. Famine (which commenced in November, 1896)
and plague (which broke out early in 1897) led to diminished receipts
and larger outlay, resulting in a complete collapse of the Provincial
finances, which had to be supported by special grants from Imperial
funds. Famine cost 54-70 lakhs and plague 6-58 lakhs during the quin-
quennium 1 897-1 90 1. Mianwali District was created, and the Chenab
and Jhelum Colonies extended. In 1902-3 arrears of land revenue,
aggregating 39-30 lakhs, \vere remitted, and loans to agriculturists,
amounting to 9-06 lakhs, were written off in that and the following
year. In 1902-3 the Supreme Government contributed 3-80 lakhs
for extensive measures against plague, over and above the ordinary
plague expenditure from Provincial funds. In that year the income
was 519-36 lakhs, and the expenditure 299-65 lakhs (Provincial 219-23
and 208-94 lakhs respectively). Financially, the conditions in the
342 PUNJAB
Punjab since 1897 have been so abnormal that analysis of the figures
for 1 89 7- 1 903 would serve no useful purpose.
From April i, 1905, the new Provincial settlement came into effect.
Its noticeable features are : —
(i) Permanency — leaving the Province to enjoy the fruits of its
economy, unless grave problems of Imperial interest call for assistance
from Local Governments ; (2) in the case of ' shared heads ' the expen-
diture is divided between Imperial and Provincial in the same pro-
portion as in the case of corresponding heads of income, except land
revenue, the expenditure (31 '04 lakhs) under which is entirely Pro-
vincial, while the Provincial share of the income is three-eighths (95-58
lakhs) ; (3) the Local Government obtains, for the first time, a direct
financial interest in ' major ' irrigation works, three-eighths of the
income (62-89 lakhs) and expenditure (37-74 lakhs), which includes
interest on capital outlay 15-62 lakhs, having been assigned subject
to a guarantee of a net income of 28 lakhs per annum.
Since the settlement was sanctioned the famine cess (Provincial
rates) has been abolished, and a compensatory assignment of 6^ lakhs
per annum given to Provincial. Recoveries from District funds on
account of District Post charges were waived and the Patwari cess
abolished from April i, 1906, and the cantonment police provincialized
from April i, 1905, lump assignments aggregating 17-83 lakhs being
given as compensation. Famine expenditure did not enter into the
Provincial settlement, and the question of its distribution is now under
consideration.
Prior to annexation, the character of the land tenures throughout
the Punjab was very indefinite and varied considerably from place
to place. Usually, however, cultivation was carried
Land revenue. , u r • j j ^ c
on by a number of mdependent groups 01 persons
scattered at uncertain intervals throughout the cultivable area of the
country. Each of these groups was, or believed itself to be, sprung
from a common stock, and the area it cultivated was known as
a village or mauza, while the cultivators lived together on a common
village site. When the crops were cut, a part of the produce was
handed over to the village menials in payment for their services, and
the rest was divided between the state and the cultivator. In many
cases the state share was taken by some magnate or court ofificial
to whom it had been assigned ; and there would often be some
man of local influence who, from his character or traditional claims,
was in a position to attend at the division of the grain heap and
demand a small share for himself. When an assignee or intermediary
claimant was strong enough, he would break up the waste, settle culti-
vators, and otherwise interfere in the village arrangements ; but he
seldom, if ever, ousted the cultivator so long as the latter tilled his
LAND REVENUE 34.^
land and paid his dues. The land itself was very rarely transferred,
and when a transfer did take place it was almost always to some
relation or member of the village community.
On annexation the three duties which fell on the land revenue
officials were the determination and record of rights in the land,
the assessment of the land, and the collection of the revenue ; and
the same duties continue to constitute the main features of the land
revenue administration at the present day.
A great deal of time and anxiety were expended in the early days
of British rule over the determination of the various parties who had
rights to the soil, and more particularly over the question of ownership,
the persons recorded as owners being as a rule made responsible for
the revenue. In many cases, more especially in the south and west
of the Province, intermediaries of the kind above noticed were
admitted to have superior claims to the proprietary right ; but in
most instances the cultivators were held to be the owners of the
village lands, either jointly or in severalty.
In the Punjab, as in the United Provinces, the ordinary landholder
is known as za/nhidar, the term being applied irrespective of the size
of the holding. A distinction used to be made in revenue records
between zaminddri and patilddri tenures on the one hand, and bhaiyd-
chdrd tenures on the other — the former referring to estates held as
a single unit or portions representing fractions of a single original
share, and the latter to estates held in separate portions representing
no fractional parts of the whole. The former classes of tenure are,
however, less common than formerly, and the distinction is now of
little practical importance. The zainlnddrs in an estate are technically
bound by a common responsibility towards Government, each being
responsible for any balance of revenue due from other zamlnddrs
in the village ; but here too the tendency is towards individualism,
and with lighter and more elastic assessments the enforcement of
collective responsibility has become practically obsolete. In practice,
the owner or owners of each holding are assessed separately to revenue
and are responsible to Government for the revenue so assessed. The
revenue in each village is collected from the owners by one or more
headmen or lambarddrs, who pay the proceeds into the Government
treasury and receive a percentage on the collections as their remuneration.
The persons recorded as owners, while undertaking the responsi-
bility for the Government revenue, obtained a very much fuller right of
property over their lands than had been usual in Sikh times. The
right of transfer remained at first under some control and was little
used ; but as the revenue became lighter and land more valuable, the
owners began to alienate, and within thirty years after annexation land
had already begun to pass freely into the hands of money-lenders.
344 PUNJAB
This evil grew more and more marked, until in 1901 the Go\ernment
was compelled to place considerable restrictions on the powers of
alienation enjoyed by agricultural tribes, in order to prevent their
being completely ousted from their lands.
The initial examination of rights in land which occupied the first
twenty )ears or so after annexation was a part of the process known
as the regular settlement of the various Districts, and was accompanied
by measurement of the land and by the preparation of a complete
cadastral map and record of titles. The arrangement originally
contemplated was to undertake a revision of the record of each
District only when the District came under reassessment, that is to
say, at intervals of twenty or thirty years. But since 1885, when the
whole record system was reformed, it has been the practice to enter
all changes as they occur in a supplementary register and to rewrite
the record of titles once every four years ; and this record is in law
presumed to be true until the contrary is proved. In the same way,
instead of making a fresh cadastral measurement of the District at
each settlement, it is now becoming more usual to note changes in
field boundaries as they occur, and to provide a fresh map at resettle-
ment from the data thus available instead of by complete remeasure-
nient.
The cadastral record, though it also shows all rights to land, was
primarily meant to be a fiscal record indicating the persons liable to
pay the land revenue. Having determined the persons thus liable,
the next point is to decide the manner in which the assessment should
be taken. The Sikh government most frequently took its revenue (as
above described) in the form of a share of the crop, an arrangement
which proportioned the assessment very satisfactorily to the quality of
the harvest, but was attended by much friction and dishonesty. To
avoid these disadvantages, and to maintain the tradition imported
from the North-Western (now United) Provinces, the British revenue
was levied in the form of a fixed cash assessment, payable from year
to year independently of the character of the harvests. This form of
revenue was, in most parts of the country, a considerable relief to the
people after the harassment of the Sikh system, and it has ever since
remained the predominant form of assessment in the Province. It
subsequently, however, became clear that, in dealing with a people
who save little from one year to another, an assessment of a fixed
character caused a good deal of hardship where the harvests varied
greatly in character ; and it has therefore become gradually more
usual, especially on river-side areas and in rainless tracts of the
^^'estern Punjab, to assess the land by a cash acreage rate on the
crops of each harvest, so that the revenue may fluctuate with the area
actually cropped.
LAND REVENUE 345
The prevalent form of assessmenl prior to annexation absorbed
the whole, or nearly the whole, of the produce which was not required
for the maintenance of the cultivator. The first rough assessments
under British rule aimed at obtaining the money value of a share
of the gross produce approximating to that obtained by the Sikh
revenue proper, after excluding its superfluous cesses ; and as more
detailed information became available, it became usual to look upon
one-sixth of the gross produce as a fair standard of assessment. Later
on, however, when land became more valuable and letting to tenants
more common, it became, and has now for many years continued to
be, the rule to assess on the net rather than on the gross ' assets,' and
to assume, as in the United Provinces, that the normal competition
rents paid on rented lands are a fair index to the net ' assets ' of the
proprietors generally. In the rare cases where competition rents are
ordinarily paid in cash, there is little further difficulty ; but in the
more usual case of kind rents the value of the net ' assets ' can be
arrived at only after a number of elaborate and somewhat uncertain
calculations as to prices, yields, &c. Although therefore the standard
of assessment is represented, as in the United Provinces, by one-half
the net ' assets,' this standard has not, as in those Provinces, been
looked on as determining the average assessment, but as fixing
a maximum which should not be exceeded. In four settlements
recently sanctioned, for instance, the proportion of the calculated half
net 'assets' taken in each District has been 78, 81, 69, and 87 percent,
respectively. These figures do not include the cesses, which are
calculated on the land revenue but are separate from it. The rate at
which these cesses are levied varies in the different Districts ; but the
prevailing rate is one of about 13I per cent., or about 2\ annas
per rupee, on the land revenue, of which 5 per cent, goes to the
village headman, and 8^ per cent, to Local funds. Efforts are at
the same time made to assist local agriculture, not only by the loan
of money for the purchase of seed and bullocks and the construction
of wells, but also by remitting temporarily the revenue assessable on
improvements such as the construction of gardens and wells. The
increased assessment due to the improvement caused by a new well is
remitted for a period of twenty years from the date of the construction
of the well.
The assessment or settlement of the Province has usually been
taken up District by District. The settlements effected immediately
after annexation were summary in character, and the revenue then
assessed remained payable for four or five years only. The more
elaborate settlements subsequently made, which were known as regular
settlements, were usually for thirty or twenty-six years ; and the
prevalent term now in force is one of twenty years.
346 PUNJAB
In a tract where the previous assessment has approximated to the
standard of half the net 'assets,' the main grounds for enhancement
after twenty or thirty years are the increase of cultivation and the rise
in prices. The cultivation of the Province between 1880 and 1900
increased about 19 per cent., and the price of the main staple (wheat)
rose in the same period by about 36 per cent., while the land revenue
demand of the Province, standing in 1880 at 193 lakhs, was 203 lakhs
in 1890, 250 lakhs in 1900, and 283 lakhs in 1904, which at present
prices represents an assessment of 460,000 tons of wheat. Adding
cesses (60 lakhs) and canal rates (168 lakhs), the total assessment
comes to 511 lakhs, representing 813,000 tons of wheat. The assess-
ment in the time of Akbar (1594), when cultivation was quite un-
developed, reached a sum of 282 lakhs, which at the prices then
current represented in wheat no less than 1,700,000 tons.
The collection of the grain assessments imposed by the Sikhs taxed,
as may be imagined, the energies of a large staff of officials. Since
annexation it has been usual to entrust the collection of cash assess-
ments to the village headman, who, in return for this and other
services, receives 5 per cent, of the revenue which he collects. In
the early days of British rule, when the assessments were based on
imperfect data and were often very severe, the headman frequently
failed to collect the revenue ; and stringent measures had to be under-
taken to recover the Government dues, involving in many instances
the wholesale transfer of proprietary rights from the agricultural to the
moneyed classes. Even at the present day the collection of dues from
a body so numerous as the peasant revenue-payers of the Province is
a task which cannot always be accomplished without friction ; and
the law has reserved for Government very complete powers, by way of
attachment, arrest, and sale, for the realization of its demands. The
enforced sale of a defaulter's property, which in early days was
common, is now, however, almost unknown.
In collecting the fixed assessments it is now the rule, on the
occurrence of any markedly bad seasons, to arrange for total or
partial suspensions of the revenue, calculated on the basis of the
cropped area of the harvest as recorded by the revenue staff. The
suspended revenue is allowed to lie over till next harvest, and is then
collected or further suspended according to the conditions then pre-
vailing. Should it be found necessary to postpone the collection for
a considerable time, it is ultimately remitted altogether. When crops
suffer from causes not of the ordinary seasonal nature for which
allowance is made at assessment, e.g. by locusts or hail, the area
damaged is calculated, and the revenue thereon is remitted at once.
This system of suspending and remitting revenue has since 1880
become much more developed than it was in the earlier days of
LAND KR VENUE 347
British rule, and during the famines of 1896 and 1900 it did much
to foster the resources of the affected areas. In Hissar, which suffered
most at that time, 5-9 lakhs, representing 83 per cent, of the land
revenue of the District, was suspended in 1899-1900; and in 1901-2
a sum of 37-3 lakhs then under suspension in various Districts was
entirely remitted.
Mention has been made of the fact that, owing to the serious extent
to which land was passing from the hands of the old agricultural
tribes to those of the moneyed classes, the Government was in 1901
compelled to place restrictions on the alienation of land in the Punjab,
this being the first occasion on which a general measure of this
character has been introduced in India. Under the Land Alienation
Act (XIII of 1900), the Government has in each District notified
certain tribes as ' agricultural tribes,' and has classed as ' agriculturists '
for the purposes of the Act all persons holding land, who either in
their own names or in the names of their ancestors in the male line
were recorded as owners or as hereditary or occupancy tenants at the
first regular settlement. A member of an agricultural tribe may not,
without permission, sell or otherwise permanently alienate his land to
any one who is not a statutory ' agriculturist ' of the same village or
a member of the same agricultural tribe or group of tribes (for the
present all the agricultural tribes of a District are counted as being
in one group). Similarly, a member of an agricultural tribe may not
mortgage land to any one who is not a member of the same tribe or
group of tribes, unless the mortgage is in certain specified forms which
fix a limit to the period of usufructuary possession or else ensure the
retention of the cultivating possession by the mortgagor. The Act
has not yet been long enough in force for its results to be accurately
gauged ; but as a general rule the object arrived at appears to have
been achieved, and the intention of Government to be duly appre-
ciated by the class for whose benefit the new measure was under-
taken.
The assessments in the Punjab have generally been noted for their
moderation. In the first regular settlements the assessments imposed
at the summary settlements, which had been hastily conducted after
annexation, were much reduced, though the enormous fall in prices
which followed the pacification of the country made the burden of the
earlier assessments heavier than had been intended. The policy of
lenient assessments thus initiated has been adhered to.
For purposes of assessment land is divided into two main classes,
irrigated and unirrigated. The latter includes moist {saildh) land, not
actually irrigated, in the valleys of the great rivers and on the banks of
hill torrents. This is of the most varying quality, and its assessment
varies accordingly. Sailab land on hill torrents is occasionally assessed
VOL. XX. z
348 PUNJAB
as high as Rs. 4 per acre. Other unirrigated land pays from 3 or 4 annas
to Rs. 2 or Rs. 2-8 an acre. Canal-irrigated lands are assessed to
land revenue in three different ways : (i) by a fixed assessment on the
land calculated on its value if unirrigated, plus a fixed or fluctuating
canal-advantage land revenue ; (2) by a fluctuating canal (fiahri) rate
or rates, no separate ' dry ' rate being imposed ; and (3) on the Sirhind
Canal, by a (fluctuating) combined occupier's and land revenue canal
rate. The first system is in force on the Western Jumna and Bari Doab,
and the second on the Jhelum and Chenab Canals. Lands irrigated
by wells pay 12 annas to Rs. 6 or Rs. 7 per cultivated acre. The lowest
rates are taken in the south-west, where the average area for each well
is far larger than the area which can be irrigated from it in any one
year, and where a considerable part of the crops grown is consumed
by the tenant and his cattle without any return to the landlord. The
highest rates are paid in the north-western Districts, where only 3 or
4 acres are attached to each well, the land being double cropped and
producing valuable staples.
Under Sikh rule salt was one of forty-eight articles which were
liable to customs, town, or transit duties. The cis-Indus and Kala-
bagh salt mines were farmed out to persons of
,„ eminence ; and the farmer, as long as he paid the
revenue. ' .
amount of his contract, was allowed to dispose of
the salt in any manner he might think proper. He was under no
restrictions as regards time, place, or price, and might sell whole-
sale or retail, either at the mines or in distant markets. The prices
charged by the farmers do not appear to have been high ; but mining
and transport difficulties helped to restrict the area within which the
rock-salt was consumed, and the cis-Sutlej tract seems to have been
almost entirely supplied at this time with salt from Rajputana.
Upon annexation the management of the cis-Indus and Kalabagh
mines was at once taken over by the British Government. An excise
duty of Rs. 2 a maund was levied at the mines, in lieu of all charges
to which the salt was formerly subject ; and on payment of this duty
the salt was allowed to pass free throughout the British dominions,
subject only to the additional duty of 8 annas a maund levied on all salt
crossing the branch customs line established for the protection of the
Bengal revenue. The duty imposed was considerably higher than the
prices charged by the farmers for salt under the Sikh government, but
all articles except salt and liquor were exempted from excise, customs,
and transit duties. The Imperial customs line was at the same time
extended along the Sutlej and the Panjnad to the Indus at Mithankot,
and a preventive line was established on the Indus to exclude Kohat
salt from the cis-Indus portion of the Province. The manufacture of
alimentary earth-salt in the cis-Indus Punjab was also prohibited. The
MISCELLANEOUS REVENUE 349
adoption of the principle of a fixed duty on liie production of salt,
levied at the source, foreshadowed the adoption of the policy now in
force throughout India. Salt crossing the customs line into the cis-
Sutlej Punjab from Rajputana was liable to the duty in force in the
United Provinces of Rs. 2 a maund. The history of salt taxation in
the cis-Indus Punjab from this time merges in the history of salt
taxation in British India, and it is unnecessary to specify the enhance-
ments and reductions in the rate of the duty which have since been
made. In 1870 a price of one anna a maund was charged on rock-
salt excavated on behalf of Government in addition to the duty.
From 1849 to 1869 the salt mines and quarries in the cis-Indus
Punjab and at Kalabagh and the preventive line on the Indus were
under the management of the Provincial Government; but in 1869
the Government of India assumed the direct control of the inland
customs department, and the administration of the salt revenue in the
Punjab was at the same time made over to the Imperial department.
In 1878 the customs line was abolished, but the preventive line at the
Indus was still retained. Upon the abolition of the customs line the
Punjab system of levying duty at the mines was extended to the Rajput-
ana salt sources, but the change of policy had no material effect upon
the salt supply of the Punjab. Cis-Indus rock-salt continued to be
the main source of supply for the trans-Sutlej Districts, and with the
extension of the railway to Khewra in 1882 the demand for this salt
rapidly grew.
By the annexation to the Punjab of the Delhi territory after the
Mutiny two additional sources — the Nuh and Sultanpur salt-works in
Gurgaon and Rohtak Districts — were brought within the Province.
The greater part, however, of the salt produced at these works was
consumed in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh ; and the
competition of superior salt at a uniform rate of duty after the aboli-
tion of. the customs line and the lease of the Rajputana salt sources
by the British Government soon proved fatal to these works. The
quantity of Nuh and Sultanpur salt which annually crossed the
customs line into British territory before 1878 was about 158,000
maunds and 680,000 maunds respectively. By 1883-4 the salt from
the Nuh works, which were not on the line of railway, had become
unsaleable, and the works were closed. The Sultanpur salt-works,
most of which are on the Farrukhnagar branch of the Rajputana-
Malwa Railway, are still struggling for existence, but the annual sales ,
from the works in the three years ending 1903-4 have averaged only
65,763 maunds.
For some years after annexation earth-salt was made on a con-
siderable scale under a contract system of taxation in the Rajanpur
tahsil of Dera Ghazi Khan District; but in 1881 the prohibition of
Z 2
35«
PUNJAB
the manufacture of alimentary earth-salt was extended to the territory
west of the Indus, and all licit salt works were closed.
The preventive line on the Indus was withdrawn in 1896, when
the duty on Kohat salt was raised to Rs. 2 a maund of 1021^- lb. The
transport of this salt to cis-Indus territory, both in the Punjab and in
the new North- West Frontier Province, is, however, still prohibited.
At present Rajputana salt is consumed in Delhi and the adjoining
Districts, and from Ambala northwards the Punjab is supplied with
rock-salt from the cis-Indus and Kalabagh mines. The salt excavated
from the cis-Indus mines is the cheapest in India, and of excellent
quality, the analysis of a sample showing a percentage of 98-86 of
chloride of sodium, and the average percentage may be taken at 97.
The trade in salt within the Province is in a satisfactory state. In
1903-4 the number of traders dealing direct with the Salt department
was 2,035, '"^"d ^^^ '^ supplied to all parts of the Province without
the intervention of middlemen. Salt from the Mayo Mines at Khewra
is delivered, sewn up into bags (which are provided by the traders) and
loaded into railway wagons, at a price of 1 anna 3 pies a maund. Salt
from Warcha and Kalabagh, where arrangements for its removal are
made by the traders, is sold at 9 pies a maund. The illicit manu-
facture of salt is still carried on in Rajanpur, and cases occasionally
occur in Multan, Muzafifargarh, Delhi, and Gurgaon ; but salt is good
and cheap, especially in the central artd western portions of the Pro-
vince, and offences against the Salt Law are rare.
Details of the quantities of salt sold for consumption within the
Province are given below : — :
Salt made and sold.
Salt imported.
fc^aji ^ ■
3 P 3'C
■£
•C'u
<A
"o Ulj V
Period.
On behalf of
Government.
'6
c
c
*^
c
5
fa
0
E
p
fa
Gross revenue, in
licences for the
facture of salii
stances, but ex
miscellaneous re
Consuifiption i
Province.
Mds.
Mds.
Mds.
Mds.
Mds.
Mds.
1 880- 1 to 1889-
90 '^average^ .
1,71.=;, 205
611,170
.^94,619
i,5.i7
50,80,241
2,047,473
1 890- 1 to 1899-
1900 (average)
2,086,198
243,899
314,154
1,559
57,03,369
2,188,088
I 900-1
2,405,520
175,817
403,3.^7
2,386
63,97,285
2,459,223
1903-4 .
2,662,780
199,967
.^65.470
2, .384
:;7,o8,i88
2,542,282
The incidence of consumption per head was 6| lb. in 1881, 7| lb. in
1891, 7^ lb. in 1901, and 7^ lb. in 1904.
The Punjab system of excising opium differs essentially from that
of the rest of India, in that the cultivator is allowed to sell the pro-
MISCELLANEOUS REVENUE 351
(iuce of his poppy crop to licensed vendors instead of being compelled
to sell it to the state as in other Provinces. Hence the state, not being
a monopolist of the drug, has to resort to its taxation, and ever since
annexation it has levied a twofold tax upon it : firstly, it levies an
acreage duty on the poppy crop ; and secondly, it taxes its sale by
putting up to auction the licences to purchase the produce and resell it
Avhen made into opium. Under this system of direct taxation opium
is but lightly taxed in the Punjab. The acreage duty is low (only Rs. 2
per acre in the tracts in which opium is made, and Rs. 4 in those in
which the poppy is cultivated chiefly for the poppy-heads), in order to
safeguard the cultivator against failure of the crop or inability to realize
it ; and this involves a low rate of import duty, as a high rate would
encourage smuggling. On the other hand, the import duty has to
be pitched high enough to prevent the home-produce being under-
sold.
In the Punjab opium is made only in the following tracts : Shahpur
and Ambala Districts, the Thanesar tahsil and Pehowa circle (in
Karnal), the Chunian tahsil of Lahore, the Rajanpur tahsil of Dera
Ghazi Khan, in the plains ; and, in the hills, the Kot Khai tahsil of
Simla and the Kulu subdivision of Kangra. The plant is also
cultivated chiefly for poppy-heads in four tracts : Jullundur and
Amritsar Districts, the Hoshiarpur tahsil of Hoshiarpur, the Lahore
and Kasur tahsils of Lahore, and the Jampur tahsil of Dera Ghazi
Khan. Throughout the rest of British territory in the Province the
cultivation of the poppy has now been absolutely prohibited ; but it
is cultivated in several Native States, especially in those of the Hima-
layan region. The total area cultivated in British territory averaged
10,000 acres between 1891 and 1900, while it was 4,700 acres in
1 900- 1, and 8,852 acres in 1903-4. The area varies greatly from
year to year. Li Shahpur, Simla, and Kulu it is fairly constant ; but
elsewhere it depends on the price of wheat, a large area being sown
only if wheat is cheap. The area cultivated for poppy-heads varies
much more than that sown for opium, and their price in consequence
also fluctuates greatly.
Opium is imported into British territory from the Native States of
the Province, especially the Simla Hill States, Sirmur, Mandi, and the
Himalayan area of Patiala ; but importation from Bahawalpur and
certain plains tracts of the other Native States is prohibited. It is
also imported from Malwa, Bengal, Kashmir, and Afghanistan. The
Government of India allows a maximum of i,ii6-| maunds of Malwa
opium to be imported at a duty of Rs. 280 per chest, compared with
the usual duty of Rs. 725. Of this amount, about 330 maunds are
delivered annually to the Phulkian States, and the duty on this is
credited to the States in order to interest them in the prevention of
352 PUNJAB
smuggling. The Opium department also supplies the Punjab Govern-
ment with Bengal opium, not exceeding 176 maunds a year, at Rs. 8-8
a seer; and this is sold by the Government treasuries at Rs. 15 a seer
in the Districts of Hissar, Rohtak, and Delhi, and elsewhere at Rs. 17.
All other imported opium pays Rs. 2 per seer when it crosses the
border. The Punjab exports no opium except to the North-West
Frontier Province, but statistics of this export are not available.
Opium-smoking is not common, being practised only by dissipated
coteries in the larger towns, and the sale of madak and chandu (prepara-
tions for smoking) is illegal. Licences for their sale used to be granted ;
but the shops were all closed in 1890, and even their possession for
private use is limited to one tola weight.
Prior to annexation the only spirit made in the Punjab was an
uncoloured rum from sugar, and this is still the chief alcoholic drink
of the people. To control its production, in 1863 no less than
118 state distilleries were established at District and tahsil head-
cjuarters. Each of these was an enclosure in which private distillers
were permitted to set up stills, the spirit manufactured being kept in
store by the excise officials and issued by them, after payment of the
duty, to retail vendors. This system has now been abolished and
replaced by six private licensed distilleries — at Sujanpur, Amritsar,
Rawalpindi, Karnal, and Simla. The last chiefly distils whisky from
barley malt. The other four distil uncoloured rum for the majority
of the population. At each distillery a resident exciseman supervises
the output and vend. A duty of Rs. 4 per gallon (raised in 1906 to
Rs. 6 in the case of coloured spirit, and the so-called brandy, whisky,
and gin which are prepared from a cane-spirit basis) is levied both at
the still-head and on all Indian spirit imported into the Province,
European liquors paying customs duty at the port of arrival. There
are seven breweries, all of which except one are situated in the hills,
and a tax of one anna a gallon is levied on the beer before it leaves
the brewery. Spirit-drinking is most prevalent among the Sikhs. The
recorded consumption of the Province is about 300,000 gallons a year ;
this, however, does not represent nearly the total amount actually
consumed, as illicit distillation is extremely prevalent, and, owing to
the universal cultivation of sugar-cane, very hard to detect. The
consumption of licit country spirit is on the increase.
The figures for imported spirits shown on the next page include the
amount consumed by the European population ; the quantity sold
to the Indian public is about 25,000 gallons annually, and is increasing.
In the cities cheap European spirits compete with native spirits.
Although the hemp-plant grows abundantly, charas, the drug ex-
tracted from its leaves and flowers, cannot be made in the Province.
It is imported from Yarkand and Kashgar, via Leh, to bonded ware-
MISCELLANEOUS REVENUE
353
houses in the Punjab or United Provinces. Before it is sold, a duty
of Rs. 6 per seer is levied. Charas-^mdkmg is considered disreputable,
and is a dangerous practice, often leading to insanity. Jy/iang, the
dried leaves of the hemp-plant, supplies a medicinal beverage with
cooling properties, which is drunk chiefly by Sikh ascetics. The plant
grows wild in such quantities in the hills and submontane Districts
that it is impossible to prohibit the gathering of its leaf, but any person
found in possession of more than one seer is liable to a penalty.
Licensed vendors may collect bhang without restriction within their
own Districts, but in Districts w^here hemp does not grow all bhang
imported is subject to a duty of Rs. 4 per maund. Thus while the
duty on charas is easily realized by guarding the routes of import, that
on bhang is very difficult to collect, and where it grows wild cannot be
imposed at all.
Details of net excise revenue, &c., are shown below. The figures
up to and including the year 1 900-1 are for the Punjab as constituted
before the separation of the North-West Frontier Province ; those for
1903-4 are for the Punjab as now constituted : —
Net
revenue in rupees.
1890-1 to
1899-1900
1900-1.
1903-4.
Imported spirits (by licence fees) .
(average).
69,370
91,982
99,006
Indian spirits (including native fermented
liquors made in Kangra District) made
in British India, by still-head duty and
licence fees .....
13.63,906
i4>/6,443
16,34,463
Beer made in British India (by duty per
gallon) ......
32,109
1,01,114
1,23,594
Charas and bhang (by licence fees)
17,869
1,94,114
1,72,612
Charas and bhang (by quantitative duty
and warehouse dues) ....
.'.8,875
1,27,426
1,83,990
Opium, licence fees, and miscellaneous
receipts
5,29,188
6,10,007
5,85,577
The incidence of the gross excise revenue, excluding opium, was
I anna i pie per head in 1881, i anna 5 pies in 1891, and i anna
9 pies in 1904.
Stamped paper of a primitive kind came into use in the Punjab
immediately after annexation. In 1872 the present system was in-
augurated by the appointment of a Superintendent of Starnps, an
office which is now combined with that of Commissioner of Excise.
Every Government treasury is a local depot for the sale of stamps,
judicial and non-judicial, to the public, and of postage stamps to
postmasters. Similarly, sub-treasuries are branch depots. All trea-
surers are ex-officio vendors of stamped paper to the public. They
are entrusted with stocks of stamps, and are required to meet the
354 PUNJAB
detailed demands for stamps made by the public, indenting upon
the main stock of the local depot when their own runs low. The net
revenue from the sale of judicial stamps in the Punjab between 1881
and 1890 averaged 23 lakhs and in the following decade 27 lakhs,
while non-judicial stamps in the same periods brought in on an average
II and 14 lakhs respectively. In the year 1900-1 judicial stamps
realized 27 lakhs and non-judicial stamps 15 lakhs, and in 1903-4
(after the separation of the North-West Frontier Province) the net
revenue was 27 and 13 lakhs respectively.
The net revenue from income tax rose from an average of lo-i lakhs
between 1886 and 1890 to 11-2 lakhs in the following decade, and
amounted to 11 -6 lakhs in 1903-4, after the separation of the North-
West Frontier Province and the exemption of incomes below Rs. 1,000.
The corresponding number of assessees was 40,251, 44,785, and 21,709.
The incidence of the tax per head (of the assessees) in 1903-4 was
Rs. 53-6-8, and there were i-i assessees per 1,000 of the population.
Local government in the Punjab, as in the rest of India, is of two
kinds, the local government of the village and that of the District and
town ; the former is an indigenous institution dating
cioal ^"(Q^^ the remotest antiquity, the latter an exotic of
Western importation. The Indian village community
is described in Vol. IV, chap, ix (pp. 279, 280). All three types of village
community there described are in one form or another represented in
the Punjab. The Jat village of the south and central plains is a per-
fect type of the joint village, while the villages of the Salt Range, owned
by landlords of a dominant race, who have gathered round them
dependent communities of cultivators, represent the landlord village.
The ryutivdri type of village may be said to exist in the south-western
plains, where the so-called village is merely a group of isolated home-
steads, built wherever a well has been sunk in the arid desert. Here
the village is really a fiscal unit ; and much the same may be said of
the villages of the hills, which are in reality only groups of hamlets,
loosely held together by certain common interests and joint rights of
grazing or pasture in the forests. In these latter cases village self-
government has naturally never existed, but the true village community
has from time immemorial administered its own affairs with little out-
side help or interference. The landowners of the village, connected by
common descent, real or fictitious, form among themselves a republic,
which rules its dependent priests, artisans, and menials with oligarchic
authority. The informal assembly of the village, comprising every
adult male of the proprietary body, is presided over by a headman,
chaudhri, nii/khia (lit. ' spokesman ' ), or, to use the modern term,
lambardCxr. Often there are several headmen. The headman of
a village is appointed by the Deputy-Commissioner, and, if he is
LOCAL AXD MUXLCTPAL 355
recognized by tlie cuniuuinily as its nalural leader, his influence equals
his authority. If not, his authority is Hniitcd to such legal powers as
are conferred on him, and in tlie South-Easl Punjab a leader of the
opposition is regularly chosen. The headman transacts the business
of the community, including the management of its common fund, to
which all contribute, and to supplement which, in many villages, a
hearth or door tax is imposed on all residents who are not members
of the proprietary body. The communal body has no legal powers ;
but it is in its power to inflict on recalcitrant members of the com-
munity the punishment of social excommunication, and on the menials
and artisans various inconveniences. Only the village banker is beyond
its authority ; and he, by virtue of being the creditor of every man in
the village, is able to bring considerable pressure on the council to
order things according to his pleasure. There is, however, but little
prospect of the village council being utilized as a part of the machinery
uf Government. As being essentially a tribal organization, it can
never be entrusted with legal powers in a community that is daily
approaching the industrial stage, and the spread of education makes
it increasingly difficult for it to exercise its unauthorized powers of
control.
In some form or other municipal administration has existed in the
Punjab ever since annexation. In its earliest stage conmiittees of
townsmen were formed to administer the surplus of the funds raised
by cesses or duties for watch and ward purposes. This system worked
well, but it lacked the essentials of municipal government, the funds
being vested in official trustees. A more regular form of municipal
administration was introduced in Simla and Bhiwani under the Act
of 1850; and in 1862 the head-quarters of Districts were formed into
regular municipalities, with committees, mostly elected, invested with
control over local affairs and power to regulate taxation. In 1864
there were 49 committees, of which 28 had elected members. Hitherto
the municipalities had been constituted under the executive authority
of Government; but in 1866 doubts arose as to their legal status, and
more especially as to the validity of the octroi tax from which their
funds were mainly derived. Accordingly, the first Municipal Act for
the Punjab was passed in 1867, and renewed for a year in 1872. In
1873 a new enactment, which made election permissive, was passed;
and under it 190 committees were constituted, 8 of these (Simla,
Dharmsala, Dalhousie, Murree, Delhi, Lahore, Amritsar, and Multan)
being of the first class, 17 of the second, and 165 of the third. They
were controlled by the Local Government, the Commissioner, or the
Deputy-Commissioner, according to their class. The Local Bodies
Loans Act of 1879 empowered the Local Government to grant loans
to approved municipalities for improvements: and in 1884 a new
356 PUNJAB
Municipal Act was passed, with the object of restoring the elective
principle and widening the sphere of municipal activity. Two classes
of committees were recognized, the first having greater latitude to
incur expenditure on public works than the second. The Act of 1867
had, however, been too widely applied, and between 1885 and 1887
no less than 41 committees were abolished. In 1891 was passed an
amending Act, which reformed the system of taxation, and provided
a simple form of municipal administration for towns which it is in-
expedient to constitute regular municipalities. The tovv'ns to which this
form has been applied are termed 'notified areas.'
In 1904 the Province contained 8 municipalities of the first class,
131 of the second, and 48 'notified areas.' Three of these (Lahore,
Delhi, and Amritsar) contained over 100,000 inhabitants, 47 more
than 10,000 but less than 100,000, and 137 less than 10,000 inhabitants.
The average incidence of municipal taxation in 1903-4 was Rs. 1-8
per head. The population within municipal limits was 2,299,893,
including 210,223 i^ 'notified areas,' according to the Census of 1901.
In 1903-4 the members of municipal committees numbered 1,503, of
whom 229 were ex officio, 495 nominated, and 779 elected. The
committees in the 'notified areas' were composed of 186 members,
84 ex officio and 102 nominated. Only 126 Europeans sit on all these
committees.
The principal source of municipal income is octroi, which in 1903-4
realized as much as 30 lakhs out of the total of Rs. 55,48,000. Direct
taxation of houses and lands is virtually confined to the hill munici-
palities and Delhi. Water rate is levied only in Ambala, Simla,
Kasumpti, Dharmsala, Lahore, Dalhousie, and Murree, in all of
which water-supply schemes have been carried out. The main fea-
tures of municipal finance are shown in Table XII at the end of this
article (p. 389).
Local self-government of the District likewise dates from the early
days of British rule. Prior to 187 1 each District had a District
committee, but it was merely an advisory body. The rules under the
Local Rates Act of that year made these committees administrative
bodies, and they did excellent work. In 1883 Lord Ripon's Act
extended the elective principle to District boards, and under it local
boards were also established in tahslls. The system of election at first
promised well ; but it was soon found that membership of a board was
not sought for public ends, and men of good position and local in-
fluence were reluctant to stand. It is now an accepted fact that the
best men prefer nomination by Government to canvassing for election.
Local boards were soon found to be superfluous, as the business of the
District boards could not with advantage be delegated, and they are
rapidly being abolished. In 1903-4 the Province possessed 26 District
PUBLIC WORKS 357
boards, excluding Simla, where the Dcputy-Commi.s.sioner exercises the
powers of a District board. These boards were composed of 1,077
members : 207 ex officio (the Deputy-Commissioner being nearly always
ex-officio president), 495 nominated, and 375 elected. Only 7 Districts
had local boards, 28 in number, with 531 members: 28 ^.v ojfficio, 161
nominated, and 342 elected.
'I'he District fund is mainly derived from the local rate — a cess
ordinarily of i anna 8 pies per rupee, or Rs. 10-6-8 per cent.', on the
land revenue of the District — supplemented by grants from Provincial
funds. The expenditure of a District board is chiefly devoted to the
maintenance of schools and dispensaries, vaccination, roads and rest-
houses, arboriculture, ferries, cattle-pounds, horse-breeding, and horse
and cattle fairs. Its expenditure on education, medical relief, and oiifice
establishments is largely of the nature of fixed establishment charges.
Famine works have been readily undertaken by District boards in time
of necessity ; and large expenditure under this head, coinciding as it
always must with little or no income from the local rate, has frequently
necessitated financial aid from Government. District boards have
afforded invaluable assistance to Deputy-Commissioners as consulta-
tive bodies, but the necessity of conforming to the rules of the
educational, medical, and other departments leaves little scope for
local initiative. Even in the case of public works, six-sevenths of the
sum available is ear-marked for maintenance and establishment. The
income and expenditure for a series of years are shown in Table XIII
at the end of this article (p. 390).
The Public Works department is divided into two branches : Irriga-
tion, and Buildings and Roads. The former has hitherto been an
Imperial branch under a Chief Engineer, who is ^ . ,.
, ^ . , 1, • • , ^ . Pubhc works.
also eX'Offiao secretary to the Provmcial Covernment.
According to the Provincial settlement which came into force in 1905,
the Provincial Government participates in the profits earned by the
branch, and bears a share of the working expenses. Under the Chief
Engineer are Superintending Engineers, who control circles formed of
one or more canals. These circles are again divided into divisions,
each in charge of an Executive Engineer. The size of a division varies
according to circumstances ; but, excluding head-works divisions, it
usually comprises an irrigated area of about 350,000 acres. The
Province is divided into 6 circles and 26 divisions. Each division
is further divided into 3 or 4 subdivisions in charge of a subdivisional
officer, usually an Assistant Engineer. Not only does the department
maintain all the canals in its charge, but its officers are responsible for
the registration and measurement of the irrigation and the assessment
1 Now reduced to Rs. 8-5-4 P^^' cent, by the abolition of the cess for famine
(1906).
358 PUNJAB
of the revenue levied on it. For canal revenue purposes each sub-
division is divided into sections, generally three in number, each in
charge of a ziladdr, and each section is again subdivided into patwdris'
circles. For maintenance purposes, a subdivision is divided into
sections, in charge of overseers or sub-overseers. The revenue estab-
lishment of a whole division is further supervised by a Deputy-Col-
lector, who is also a second-class magistrate. When the supply of
water is less than required, the Superintending Engineer controls
inter-divisional distribution and the divisional ofificer that between
subdivisions. The internal distribution of water and regulation of
supply is primarily in the hands of the subdivisional officers. The
ziladdr, who is constantly in touch with all his pativdris, indents for
water at distributary heads. The subdivisional officer receives reports
for all his channels daily and thus controls the distribution. The
Executive Engineer supervises the internal distribution by subdivisional
officers, and controls the inter-divisional distribution ; and a report on
the general state of crops is submitted "weekly by each divisional officer
direct to the Chief Engineer, who thus controls generally the distri-
bution throughout the Province. The efficient distribution on Punjab
canals is mainly due to the very extensive canal telegraph system.
The Chief Engineer also controls the irrigation works of the North-
West Frontier Province, and is ex-officio secretary to the Agent to the
Governor-General and Chief Commissioner of that Province.
The Buildings and Roads branch is under a Chief Engineer, who
is likewise ex-ofjicio secretary to Government. It is divided into three
circles, each under a Superintending Engineer. The number of
divisions varies from time to time according to the funds allotted for
expenditure, but is ordinarily between 12 and 13, each under an
Executive Engineer. Each division embraces from one to four civil
Districts. A division is again divided into subdivisions, usually con-
trolled either by Assistant Engineers or by upper subordinates. This
branch is maintained from Provincial funds, and its primary object
is the construction and maintenance of Imperial and Provincial
works ; but it also assists municipalities and District boards with
advice and the loan of its officers when they can be spared, and all
important sanitary works are carried out for such bodies by the branch,
a percentage being charged for establishment, tools, and plant, though
this charge is frequently remitted.
The appointment of Sanitary Engineer to Government was created
in October, 1900, for a period of five years in the first instance, with the
rank of Superintending Engineer. The cost of his pay and establish-
ment is met from Provincial revenues, which are credited with the fees
recovered from the local bodies which utilize his services. The Sani-
tary Engineer is a member of the Provincial Sanitary Board, and is its
rUl'I.IC WORKS 350
executive officer and expert adviser to Clovernmenl and the Board in
all matters relating to sanitary engineering.
The only railway built from Provincial funds was the 65 miles of line
from Amritsar to Pathankot. Its capital cost up to March 31, 1896,
was : direct, 55 lakhs ; indirect, 5 lakhs. The actual cash paid from
Provincial funds was 6 lakhs, the balance having been advanced on loan
at 4 per cent, from Imperial funds. As the net earnings barely exceeded
I per cent, on the capital cost, the undertaking proved a serious financial
loss ; and the Government of India took over the proprietorship of
the line, including its management, in 1897, the Local Government
forgoing the 6 lakhs it had spent on it.
The most important buildings constructed during the decade ending
1901 were the Secretariat offices at Simla and the Chief Court and Jubi-
lee Museum at Lahore. District court buildings have been built at
-Simla, Amritsar, and Lyallpur, a sessions house at Jhelum, and a resi-
dence for the Commissioner at Delhi. Six new jails were constructed
and one enlarged ; a female penitentiary, nine tahsil buildings, and five
combined tahsil and police stations were built, and police accommoda-
tion extended in six Districts. The principal educational buildings
erected were : the Government College, Lahore, with a boarding-
house ; new buildings for the School of Arts, Lahore ; school-rooms
for boys and girls, a reception bungalow, band-room, and restoration
of buildings at the Lawrence Military Asylum, Sanawar ; a new Techni-
cal school at Lahore ; a combined boarding-house for the Central
Training College, Lahore ; the normal and central model schools,
Lahore ; and normal schools at Jullundur and Rawalpindi. The chief
medical buildings at Lahore were the following : the new Medical
School ; a separate ward for Europeans at the Mayo Hospital ; the
Lady Aitchison Hospital for Women ; the Prince Albert Victor wing
attached to the Mayo Hospital ; new dissecting rooms in connexion
with the Mayo Hospital ; an ophthalmic ward in connexion with the
Mayo Hospital ; and a new lunatic asylum for the Punjab. A church
was also built at Dalhousie. Additions in the form of realignments,
metalling, or bridging have been made on a large number of roads, and
feeder roads to the different railways have been extensively constructed.
Since 1901 a General Post Office, a University Hall, a boarding-house
attached to the Medical School, and a female ward in the Lunatic
Asylum have been erected at Lahore, the Saragarhi memorial and
the Victoria Jubilee Hospital at Amritsar, and the Walker Hospital
and a new wing to the Foreign Office at Simla. Water-works and
drainage works have been carried out at Lyallpur, and extensive im-
provements niade in the Upper Mall at Lahore.
The most important bridges constructed were as follows : on the
Kangra valley road, the Lyall viaduct over the Chakki torrent, twenty-
36o PUNJAB
eight spans of 39^ feet, and the Dheri bridge, of 214 feet span; a bridge
over the Jhelum at Kohala, two spans of 98 feet and one of 142 feet ;
the Banganga bridge in Kangra, 85 feet span ; and the Leh bridge near
Rawalpindi, three spans of 60 feet.
Owing to the construction of the Chenab Canal, a large tract of coun-
try embracing portions of Jhang and Gujranwala Districts, and known
as the Chenab Colony, has been opened up. For the development
and proper administration of the colony, roads and buildings have been
and are being constructed. Large sums have been spent on unsuccess-
ful attempts to prevent the encroachment of the Indus in Dera Chazi
Khan.
The following large municipal works have been carried out since
1881 : water-supply of Lahore city and suburbs, Simla, Rawalpindi,
Delhi, Amritsar, and Ambala ; drainage and sewage works at Lahore,
Delhi, Amritsar, Simla, Ludhiana, and Jullundur.
For thirty-five years, from 1851 to 1886, a military force known
as the Punjab Frontier Force was directly under the orders of the
Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab. In the latter
^' year it was transferred to the control of the Com-
mander-in-Chief. The troops in the Punjab all belong to the
Northern Command, with the exception of those quartered at Delhi,
which belong to the Meerut division of the Eastern Command. The
Lieutenant-General Commanding has his head-quarters at Rawalpindi
and Murree ; and the Punjab is garrisoned by the Rawalpindi and
Lahore divisions and the independent Derajat brigade of the Northern
Command, and by the Meerut division of the Eastern Command.
The military stations in 1904 were: Rdivalpindi division — Attock,
Campbellpur, Jhelum, several stations in the Murree hills, Rawal-
pindi, and Sialkot ; Lahore division — Ambala, Amritsar, Bakloh,
Dagshai, Dalhousie, Dharmsala, Ferozepore, Jullundur, Jutogh, Kas-
auli, Lahore (Fort and Cantonment), Multan, Sabathu, and Solon ;
Derajat brigade — Dera Ghazi Khan ; and Meerut division — Delhi.
All these (except Bakloh, Dharmsala, Jhelum, Campbellpur, and the
stations in Dera Ghazi Khan District) are garrisoned by British
infantry, and all but Campbellpur, Murree, Solon, Dagshai, Sabathu,
Lahore (Fort), Dalhousie, Kasauli, and Jutogh by Native infantry.
British cavalry are stationed at Rawalpindi, Sialkot, and Ambala, and
Native cavalry at those places and at Lahore Cantonment, Ferozepore,
Multan, Jullundur, and Jhelum. British artillery are stationed at all
the foregoing, except Jhelum, and at Campbellpur, Jutogh, and Attock.
Sappers and miners are stationed at Rawalpindi, and a military railway
company at Sialkot. Transport units are permanently located at the
following stations : mule corps and cadres at Rawalpindi, Hassan
Abdal, Sialkot, Jhelum, Lahore Cantonment, Ferozepore, Jullundur,
ARMY 36 T
and Ambala ; camel corps at Campbellpur, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Shah-
pur, Multan, Montgomery, Lyallpur, and Lahore Cantonment. There
are arsenals at Ferozepore and Rawalpindi. The total strength of the
British and Native regular army stationed within the Province on
June I, 1904, was as follows: British, 17,277; Native, 21,420; total,
38,697. There are four volunteer corps, the total strength of which in
1904 was 2,270. Of these, the Punjab Light Horse, raised in 1893,
has its head-quarters at Lahore, with detachments at Delhi, Ambala,
Rawalpindi, Lyallpur, and Palampur : its strength in 1904 was 186.
The I St Punjab Volunteer Rifle Corps has its head-quarters at Lahore,
with detachments at Amritsar, Dhariwal, Gurdaspur, Rawalpindi,
Murree, Sialkot, Delhi, Karnal, Ferozepore, and Dharmsala, and Srina-
gar in Kashmir : its strength is 701. The Simla Volunteer Rifle Corps
has its head-quarters at Simla, with a detachment at Kasauli : its
strength is 363. The North-Western Railway Volunteer Rifles have
their head-quarters at Lahore, with detachments at all important
stations. The corps has a strength of 1,267, but many of these are
in other Provinces. There are also detachments of the 2nd Bombay,
Baroda, and Central India Railway Volunteers and of the East Indian
Railway Volunteers, at Sirsa, Ambala, and Kalka, which have a com-
bined strength of no.
The Punjab stands first among the Provinces of India in the
number of recruits it supplies for the Native army, and second to
none in the fighting quality of the races recruited. The principal
classes recruited in the Province are Sikhs, the recruiting centre for
whom is at Jullundur ; Punjabi Muhammadans, Jhelum ; Dogras,
Jullundur ; and Jats and Hindustani Muhammadans, Delhi.
The forces maintained by the Native States under the control of the
Punjab Government are of two kinds : Imperial Service troops and
local troops. Eight of the principal States maintain the former.
Thus, the Patiala contingent consists of a regiment of cavalry and
two battalions of infantry ; Jind, Nabha, and Kapurthala each main-
tain a battalion of infantry, and Bahawalpur a transport corps with
a mounted escort of camelmen, while Farldkot, Maler Kotla, and
Sirmur furnish a company of sappers apiece. No State in India,
except Gwalior and Kashmir, furnishes a larger contingent than Pati-
ala. The local troops are of all degrees of strength and efficiency.
They range in strength from the regiment of cavalry, two battalions
of infantry, and one battery of artillery that Patiala can put into the
field to the half-dozen soldiers of some of the Hill States. Even in
the largest States they are employed more as armed police than as
a military force, while in the smaller States their services are utilized
in the collection of revenue, as well as in the maintenance of order
and the performance of ceremonial functions.
362 PUNJAB
On the annexation of the Punjab in 1S49 a police force was
organized in two branches, a military preventive and a civil detec-
tive police, the former consisting of 6 regiments of
Fo ice an ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ troops of horse. By the beginning of
i860 its strength had risen from 15,000 to 24,700
men, excluding the Peshawar and Derajat Levies, and the thagl^ can-
tonment, and canal police, the total cost exceeding 46^ lakhs a year.
In 1 86 1 the cis-Indus police were reorganized under the Police Act
(V of 1 861), which was not completely extended to the six frontier
Districts till 1889. Revisions in 1862, 1863, and 1869 reduced the
cost of the force to 25 lakhs; and in 1863 the Derajat, Peshawar,
cantonment, thagi, and canal police were brought under the general
system of the Punjab. The railway police were organized in 1869.
The police of the North- West Frontier Province became a separate
force on the constitution of that Province in 1901.
The establishment now consists of a single force controlled by an
Inspector-General, who is ex-officio undersecretary to Government.
He is assisted by three Deputy Inspectors-General, one of whom is
in administrative charge of the railway police and the criminal inves-
tigation department. Commissioners of Divisions are also Deputy-
Inspectors-General ex officio. Each District has a Superintendent, and
the larger Districts each have one or more Assistant Superintendents
who (with the exception of the officers in charge of two subdivisions)
work under the Superintendent at head-quarters. The unit of adminis-
tration is the thdna or police station under a sub-inspector, and out-
posts and road-posts are established where necessary. Nearly half the
force is armed with bored-out Martini-Henry carbines, swords, and
batons. The remainder are armed with swords and batons only.
The sole military police now maintained are in Dera Ghazi Khan
District, which has two forces, each under the command of an
Assistant Commissioner : the border military police proper, and
a militia raised in 190T to take the place of the regular troops
recently withdrawn. The training of constables is carried out in the
Districts in which they are enrolled. Before promotion to head con-
stable, constables go through a course of instruction at the Police
Training School, established at Phillaur in 1891. Head constables
and sub-inspectors have also to go through a course at this school
to qualify for promotion to the higher grades, and all men who receive
direct appointments are required to qualify at the school before they
are confirmed.
The village watchmen or chaukldars, who are appointed by the
District Magistrate on the recommendation of the village headmen,
receive on an average Rs. 3 a month as pay from the village com-
munity. They are not as a rule armed, though in some places they
POLICE AXD JAILS 363
carry swords or spears. Their duties are similar to those in other
Provinces, but they are regarded as acting under the control of the
village headmen, who are jointly responsible for reporting crime. In
most municipal towns the regular force is supplemented by a body paid
from municipal funds. Cantonments have police paid from Provincial
funds, and in some Districts there are ferry police. All these bodies
are controlled by the District Superintendent. The railway police,
who are responsible for the maintenance of law and order over the
whole North-Western Railway system, are organized under a Deputy-
Inspector-General. There is no separate detective staff in the Punjab.
The system of identification , by means of finger-prints is employed,
and the training school at Phillaur includes a criminal identification
bureau. The strength of the regular District police is one man to
7-8 square miles or to 1,647 persons; the number of village watchmen
exceeds 29,600.
Nine tribes have been registered under the Criminal Tribes Act.
Of these the most important are the Sansis, Baurias, and Mahtams ;
they are usually settled in villages under the charge of a police guard,
whose duty it is to see that no registered member of the tribe is absent
without leave. The imposition of punitive police posts on villages
which have misconducted themselves is not an uncommon feature of
the administration.
The jail administration is under an Inspector-General, who is an
officer of the Indian Medical Service, as are generally the Super-
intendents of Central and District jails. The post of Superintendent
of a District jail is generally held by the Civil Surgeon. Jails in the
Punjab consist of Central and District jails. There are no subsidiary
jails, but their place is taken by large lock-ups. The greater portion
of the prisoners are confined in barracks, to which the cubicle system is
being gradually applied. A jail on this system is being built at Lyallpur.
Table XV attached to this article (p. 392) shows how mortality in
jails has decreased since 1881. It must, however, be noted that tuber-
culous diseases have shown a tendency to increase during recent years.
It is hoped that this will be checked by improvements now being made
in the ventilation of dormitories, and in the arrangements for cleansing
and disinfecting clothing and bedding. It is also intended to build
special tuberculous wards in the larger jails ; indeed, such accommo-
dation is being provided in two of the Central jails. It will be noticed
also that the average cost of prisoners has steadily increased since
1 88 1. The increase is mainly due to higher prices of food-grains
and of such articles as woollen and cotton yarns used in the manu-
facture of clothing and bedding, and also in some measure to expen-
diture incurred in effecting a general amelioration of the conditions
of prison life.
VOL. XX. A a
364 PUNJAB
The chief industries carried on in the Central jails are lithographic
printing, weaving woollen and cotton fabrics, carpet-making, brick-
making, and expressing oil. The greater portion of the out-turn is
supplied to Government departments. When opportunity has offered,
prisoners have been employed in carrying out large public works :
and temporary jails were built at Chenawan in 1884 and at Mong
Rasul in 1898 in connexion with the excavation of the Chenab and
Jhelum Canals. In District jails the chief industries are paper-making,
expressing oil, rope-making, and weaving cotton carpets.
Until 1903 the Punjab possessed no reformatory, but in that year
one was opened at Delhi and placed under the Educational depart-
ment. Nothing can be said yet with regard to its working.
Prior to the constitution of the Punjab in 1849, Government schools
existed in the Districts of the Delhi territory which then formed part
. of the old North-VV^estern Provinces, and in the
rest of the Province indigenous schools afforded
a foundation for the present educational system. Under the Sikhs,
teaching as a profession was almost entirely in the hands of the
Muhammadans, who, besides teaching the Koran in the mosques,
gave instruction in the Persian classics. On these schools were
grafted the earliest Government vernacular schools. Purely Hindu
schools were rare, being either colleges in which Brahman boys
learnt Sanskrit and received a half-religious, half-professional training,
or elementary schools where sons of Hindu shopkeepers were taught
to keep accounts and read and write the traders' scripts. The few
Gurmukhi schools that existed were of a purely religious character.
The best feature of the indigenous schools was that they were not
confined to the religious and mercantile classes, but were open to the
few agriculturists w'ho cared to attend them. After annexation the
Christian missions established several schools, that at Lahore as early
as 1849. Government soon followed their example and founded
schools in the cities and larger towns, while District officers founded
and maintained schools at minor places out of Local funds.
In 1854 the Educational department was first organized. It was
administered by a Director of Public Instruction, with 2 inspectors,
10 deputy, and 60 sub-deputy -inspectors. The schools directly sup-
ported by Government numbered io8 (4 District, 100 tahsil, and
4 normal schools). The department cost about 2 lakhs per annum,
and in addition a cess of i per cent, on the land revenue provided
for the maintenance of numerous village schools. The Persian script,
already in use throughout the Western Punjab, and in two-thirds of
the indigenous schools of the eastern Districts, was unhesitatingly
adopted as the standard ; but the choice of a language offered greater
difficulties. Punjabi is not a literary language ; and Urdu, though
EDUCATIOy 365
unpopular, was so generally in use, especially in the law courts, that
it was perforce adopted. Gurmukhl and Hindi schools were, however,
to be encouraged wherever the people desired them.
Difficulties in administration soon arose. All the schools were
under the direct control of the department, and District officers
were dissociated from their working. The lower grades of officials
were foreigners, imported from Hindustan and without influence over
the people. Accordingly, in i860, all the vernacular schools were
entrusted to the Deputy-Commissioners and taksilddn, the unpopular
inspecting agency being abolished. But this measure failed to provide
for the professional supervision of the schools, and it was soon found
necessary to appoint an inspector in each District as the Deputy-
Commissioner's executive agent and adviser in their management. In
the same year provision was made for the levy of school fees.
Superior Anglo-vernacular zila (District) schools were also established,
and the personnel and curriculum in all schools improved. In 1864
Government colleges were established at Lahore and Delhi, and in
1865 a scheme for an Oriental University was fornmlated. In 1868-70
the status of village schoolmaster was improved, the minimum salary
being fixed at Rs. 10 a month; but funds xim short, and, as the
immediate result of this measure, a number of schools were closed.
The decentralization of finances in 187 1, however, enabled the Local
Government to devote more adequate funds to education, and the
village schools rose rapidly in numbers and efficiency.
As now constituted, the inspecting staff of the department consists
of a Director of Public Instruction, 5 Inspectors, 2 Inspectresses,
9 assistant inspectors, 28 District inspectors, 24 assistant District
inspectors, and 2 assistants to the Inspectresses. The Director and
two of the Inspectors are Europeans and members of the Indian
Educational Service, as are the principal and three professors of the
Government College, the principal and the vice-principal of the Central
Training College, the principal of the Mayo School of Art, and the
head master of the Central Model School, Lahore. The rest of the
staff is drawn from the Provincial service, which also supplies a pro-
fessor and five assistant professors to the Government College, the
vice-principal of the Mayo School, the assistant superintendent of
the Central Training College, the registrar of the office of the Director
of Public Instruction, the superintendent, reformatory school, and the
reporter on books, Educational department. Four members of this
service are Europeans. The assistant inspectors are selected from the
Subordinate service, which comprises 197 appointments in all, and
supplies teachers to the principal colleges and schools. The majority
of the teaching staff, except that of the Government high schools, are,
however, employed by local bodies. District boards, and municipal
A a 2
366 PUNJAB
committees, which engage teachers for the schools under their control
subject to certain departmental rules, or borrow members from the
Subordinate service for the more important posts.
The Punjab University at Lahore was established in 1882. Prior
to that year colleges and schools had been afifiliated to the Calcutta
University. In 1868 a proposal to establish a Punjab University had
been negatived by the Government of India ; but a grant-in-aid of
Rs. 21,000, equal to the annual income from private sources, was
sanctioned for the improvement of the existing Government College
at Lahore, and in 1870 Sir Donald M^Leod inaugurated the new
Punjab University College. The senate of this institution established
an Oriental school and college at Lahore, its objects being to pro-
mote the diffusion of European science, as far as possible, through
the medium of the vernacular languages, and the improvement and
extension of vernacular literature generally ; to afford encouragement
to the enlightened study of Eastern classical languages and literature ;
and to associate the learned and influential classes with Government
in the promotion and supervision of popular education.
In 1877, on the occasion of the Imperial Assemblage at Delhi, the
movement in favour of a Punjab University was revived, and resulted
in its incorporation under Act XVII of 1882. The University was
empowered to grant degrees in Medicine in 1886, and degrees in Law
and Science in 1891. There are five Faculties — Oriental Learning,
Arts, Law, Medicine, Science and Engineering. The Syndicate is the
executive committee of the Senate. Under the Indian Universities
Act of 1904 the Senate has been reconstituted. It now consists of
75 ordinary fellows, of whom 60 are nominated by the Chancellor and
15 elected by the Chancellor's nominees. There are also 10 ex-officio
fellows, 2 of whom are also ordinary fellows.
Prior to 1870 the Calcutta University had dominated the higher
secondary education of the Punjab \ but soon after that year the
Lahore College began to hold its own examinations, which were better
adapted to the requirements of the Province. After its incorporation
as a University the number of graduates was at first very small, only
16 qualifying in 1883-4, in which year the expenditure was Rs. 21,000.
In the next six years, however, progress was rapid. Diplomas, being
passports to higher employment under Government, were eagerly
sought after, and in 1889-90 as many as 41 students graduated, and
the expenditure had risen to Rs. 60,912.
In 1 883-4 there were only three Arts colleges : the Government
and Oriental Colleges at Lahore, and St. Stephen's College at Delhi.
The number of candidates for matriculation was 551, and of passes 224,
the average cost of each student's education being Rs. 400, and the
total expenditure on colleges Rs. 79,223. By 1889-90 the number of
EDUCATION
367
Arts colleges had risen to seven, and that of matriculation candidates
to r,or6. Passes had increased to 462, and the expenditure to
Rs. 2,06,346, while the cost of each student's education had fallen by
Rs. 65, owing to the levy of higher fees and the larger number of
students. In 1888 the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School at Lahore,
established by the Arya Samaj, was raised to the status of a college,
and became in a few years one of the most largely attended in the
T'rovince. Another important unaided institution, the Islamia College
at Lahore, was opened in 1892 by the Muhammadan community; and
in 1897 the Sikhs established the Khalsa College at Amritsar, By
1900-1 the number of Arts colleges had risen to 12, with 2,148
matriculation candidates and 1,214 passes. Expenditure had risen to
Rs. 2,89,582, but the average cost of a student's education was only
Rs. 185, or less than half its cost in 1883-4.
The only college which imparts higher professional teaching is the
Lahore Medical College. Established in October, i860, it was raised
to collegiate status in 1870. In the latter year it had 68 students. In
1887-8 a monthly fee of Rs. 2 was imposed. In 1889 the erection
of the Lady Lyall Home for female students added to its usefulness.
The Law School at Lahore is of collegiate status, and prepares stu-
dents for the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Founded in 1870 with two
departments, an English and a vernacular, and a two years' course, it
was remodelled in 1889-90, and the course extended to three years,
only graduates in Arts being admitted to the Licentiate in Law exami-
nations. In 1 89 1-2 intermediate and LL.B. classes were formed, and
two sets of examinations prescribed, one leading to the Licentiate, the
other to the LL.B. degree. In 1897-8 the number of students had
reached 434, the highest limit; but the supply of trained lawyers was
in excess of the demand, and in the next three years the numbers fell
to 248.
The following table shows the chief results of university examina-
tions: —
Passes in
1883-4. i8go-i.
IQOO-I.
1903-4.
Matriculation .
First or Intermediate in Arts
or .Science
Ordinary Bachelors' degrees
Higher and special degrees
224 384
39 87
'3 41
3 8
1,214
244
J27
42
1,121
233
133
42
Secondary schools are either middle or high. A middle school
usually contains a primary as well as a middle department. A high
school, in addition to its high department, usually contains these two
also. The middle course extends over three classes, and terminates
in the case of vernacular schools in the middle school examination.
368 PUNJAB
The high-school course extends over two years, and ends with the
entrance examination of the Punjab University. Enghsh is not taught
in the vernacular schools, and is commenced only at the upper primary
stage in the Anglo-vernacular schools. The vernacular is thus the
medium of instruction for all departments up to the third middle class,
English being the medium only in the high department.
The effective organization of secondary education dates from i860.
As education spread, it became easier to obtain men capable of teaching
up to the entrance standard, and it was thus found possible to increase
the number of high schools at comparatively small cost. The vernacular
middle schools progressed even more markedly. In 1877 the Punjab
Textbook Committee was appointed to prepare suitable English and
vernacular Readers, and in 1 880-1 the establishment of the Central
Training College helped to provide better qualified teachers.
In 1883-4 there were 25 high schools with 912 scholars, and 198
middle schools with 5,107 scholars. In the next six years the number
of high schools had risen to 41, with a satisfactory increase in the num-
bers on the rolls ; and though the number of middle schools had
decreased, the number of scholars had risen. After 1882, in accor-
dance with the recommendations of the Education Commission, all
schools except those attached to training institutes were made over
to local bodies for management, and rules were framed to encourage
their conversion into aided schools, the further extension of secondary
education being made dependent on private institutions. Scholarships
were made tenable on a uniform system, and Jubilee (now known as
Victoria) scholarships and srt'wJ;/^^;-/ scholarships were founded to foster
education among Muhammadan and Hindu agriculturists. Fees were
rai.sed, and a system of payment by results was introduced into the
grant-in-aid rules. Special attention now began to be paid to moral and
physical instruction and to school discipline. In furtherance of the new
educational policy of the Government of India, one high school in each
District has, since 1904, been maintained as a state institution.
The first step in primary education was an attempt to raise the indi-
genous schools of the Punjab to a higher level of efficiency. But this
scheme failed ; and it was found necessary to convert the principal
indigenous schools into Government schools, or branches of mission
schools, or to bring them more or less under the influence of District
or municipal committees. The educational cess, however, realized so
little that salaries sufficient to attract competent teachers could not
be offered, although no attempt was made to provide a school for every
group of villages. It was accordingly resolved to reduce a number of
schools in order to raise the efficiency of the remainder. The result was
that schools were accessible only to a small proportion of the boys of
school-going age ; and Sir Charles Aitchison recognized the necessity
EDUCATION 369
of improving the indigenous schools, without destroying their distinctive
character, by the offer of Hberal grants-in-aid on easy conditions. The
system was accordingly reorganized, the management of the schools
being transferred to local bodies, which were, on the other hand, re-
quired to devote a fixed proportion of their income to primary education.
Revised grant-in-aid rules provided for payment by results and staff
grants to certificated teachers employed in aided schools. Specially
liberal grants were made to indigenous and low-caste schools. The
introduction of inter-school rules and good-conduct registers conduced
to the moral, as the gymnastic instruction did to the physical progress
of the boys. The recommendations of the Education Commission of
1883 rendered it possible to give effect in greater detail and with greater
precision to the policy inaugurated by Sir C. Aitchison. Schools and
scholars increased in numbers and efficiency, though the imposition in
1886 of higher fees on sons of non-agriculturists reduced the number
of boys of that class in the lower primary department. By 1889-90 the
number of aided schools had risen to 300, with 10,000 pupils; and
they continued to progress until 1896-7, when the growing popularity of
the Government schools, combined to some extent with the pressure of
bad seasons, checked their advance. On the other hand, the District
boards, with many pressing calls on their resources, could not meet
the demand for primary education. Numerically, primary schools show
but a slow advance, but in efficiency their progress has been marked.
The abolition of the lower primary examination in 1898 enabled the
course of instruction to be made continuous for fully five years, and
permitted controlling officers to devote more time to questions of
organization and discipline, methods of instruction, and so on, at
their inspections. In the upper primary department more time was
allotted to object lessons and elementary science.
In 1886 the necessity of a simpler and more practical curriculum for
sons of agriculturists led to the establishment of zam nddri s,choo]s. In
these, half-time attendance only is required, and they are closed during
each harvest. Elementary reading and writing, in the character chosen
by the people, and arithmetic by native methods, are taught. Qualified
teachers in these schools received extra pay, and arrangements were also
made to train teachers in those subjects in the normal schools. From
1886 to 1892 the schools prospered ; but the people then began to
realize that they led to nothing, as they did not fit boys for Govern-
ment employ, and ever since they have been losing ground. In 1901
the zamif/dari schooh numbered only 187, with 3,887 pupils. In view
of their increasing unpopularity, steps were taken in 1904 to open
village schools with a simpler course of studies, planned with special
reference to the requirements of agriculturists. The Punjab possesses
a few special low-caste schools. These are mainly dependent upon
370 PUNJAB
missionary enterprise, and are, like all indigenous schools, eligible for
grants-in-aid on easy conditions.
Encouraged by results in the United Provinces, several girls' schools
were opened in the Punjab as early as 1855, and in 1862 Sir Robert
Montgomery held a great darbar at Lahore in order to enlist the co-
operation of the chiefs and notables of the Province. Under this
impulse nearly 1,000 schools with 20,000 girls had been opened by
1866, but the results were unsubstantial and the attendance soon fell
off. A sound system of female education was only founded in 1885-6,
in which year it was attempted to make the existing schools places of
healthy elementary education, adapted to the simple requirements of the
people, and rewards for diligent work were substituted for payments for
mere attendance. An Inspectress of Schools was appointed in 1889.
As yet, however, female education can hardly be said to have taken firm
root except in the Central Punjab (Lahore, Amritsar, Gujranwala, Sial-
kot, and Jullundur), where Sikh influences are strong, and among the
Hindu element in the western Districts. There is, however, throughout
the Province much private teaching, almost exclusively religious, by
Hindu, Sikh, and Muhammadan women, and, as far as religious objec-
tions allow, by the ladies of the Zanana and other Christian missions.
And the most gratifying feature of recent years has been the steady
increase of private enterprise on behalf of female education, several
unaided schools, notably the Kanya Maha Vidyalla at Jullundur, having
been opened. The establishment in 1905 of the Normal School for
Women at Lahore marks a new era in the development of female edu-
cation in the Province. Its success, which depends much on the sym-
pathetic co-operation of the educated classes, will to a considerable
extent remove one great obstacle in the way of the advancement of
the education of girls — the lack of qualified women teachers.
The Lahore Central Training College was opened in 1881, the first
of its kind in India. Since its foundation most of the secondary
schools have been supplied with trained teachers, and a few years ago
the Punjab was able to spare a number of trained and experienced men
to assist in revising and improving the training school system in the
United Provinces. There were at first two classes : the senior English,
which prepared teachers for higher work in English secondary schools ;
and the senior vernacular, which trained men for all kinds of purely
vernacular teaching in secondary schools. In 1883-4 a junior English
class was opened, to train teachers for the primary classes of Anglo-
vernacular schools. With the extension of university education, the
preliminary educational qualifications were raised; and since 1896
only B.A.'s, or those who have read up to that standard in a recog-
nized college, are admitted to the senior English class. For admission
to the junior English class men must have either passed the inter-
EDUCATION 37 r
mediate examination or attended the classes of a college for two years.
In 1904 this institution was completely reorganized. The staff has been
strengthened, the period of study has been raised to two years, a clerical
and commercial class has been added, and the number of available
stipends much increased. A teacher's degree examination, open to all
graduates in Arts who have attended the Central Training College for
another year after passing the senior Anglo-vernacular certificate exami-
nation, has also been instituted.
Normal schools were originally founded to train teachers for both
middle and primary schools, but have been restricted to training for the
latter alone since the organization of the Central Training College.
The schools are under the control of the Inspectors ; and in pursuance
of the policy of having one in each circle, normal schools were estab-
lished at JuUundur in 1887 and at Multan in 1891.
Prior to 1886 the Medical and Veterinary Colleges, the Law School,
the Engineering Class of the Punjab University, and the Mayo School
of Industrial Art were the only real technical institutions in the
Province, the few so-called industrial schools being mere workshops
in which inferior articles were made at a high cost. In the three
following years, however, some progress was made, the chief step being
the establishment of the Railway Technical School at Lahore, to
provide instruction for the children of the railway workshop employes.
This school has a primary and a middle department ; the course of
study is much the same as in the ordinary schools, with a progressive
course of carpentry, drawing, and practical geometry. The functions
of the Mayo School were also extended, and private industrial schools
were encouraged. An entrance examination in science and a clerical
and commercial examination were also instituted, the one in 1897,
and the other in 1900. The movement thus begun bears fruit, and
some industrial schools have sprung up at the larger training centres,
such as Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Delhi ; but the number of students is
still small. In ordinary schools also the course of study has been remo-
delled, so as to include practical mensuration and agriculture in primary
schools, and to develop the powers of observation by object lessons.
The schools for Europeans and Eurasians in the Punjab were
mcluded in the scope of Archdeacon Baly's inquiry in 1881. No less
than 440 children of school-going age were then found to be receiving
no education whatsoever. Under the Resolution of the Government of
India passed in that year, however, the grants to existing schools were
increased, and Rs. 11,945 was given by Government for enlarging
school-houses. The absence of an enactment making attendance at
school compulsory, the apathy of parents, and the migratory character
of the European and Eurasian community have been great obstacles
to advancement. The schools, especially in the plains, labour under
372
PUNJAB
many disadvantages, the lack nf trained teachers being especially felt.
Of recent years the progress made has, nevertheless, been considerable.
In 1903, 46 Europeans and Eurasians passed the matriculation, 94 the
middle, and 102 the primary school examination.
When in 187 1 attention was first directed to the backwardness of
education among Muhammadans in India, inquiry showed that in the
Punjab the Musalman community had availed itself of the facilities
offered as fully in proportion to its numbers as the Hindus. Much
had been done to foster the study of Arabic and Persian. Indeed,
the latter had been favoured at the expense of vernacular languages
and literatures, and it was felt that no special measures for the advance-
ment of Muhammadan education were required. It was, however,
found that Muhammadans seldom prosecuted their studies beyond
the middle schools, and that few attended colleges. Muhammadan
boys spent years in learning the Koran by rote in the mosques, and
thus reached manhood before their education could be completed. The
poverty of the Muhammadans as a community, and the fact that they
were mostly agriculturists, also militated against their higher education.
Progress was, however, made, and in 1883-4 the Muhammadan college
students were thrice as numerous as in 1870-1. Nevertheless, their
number in the secondary schools and colleges remained proportionately
far below that of the Hindus, and the necessity of special measures was
realized. In 1887 Jubilee scholarships (now called Victoria scholar-
ships), tenable in high schools and colleges, were founded by Govern-
ment ; and local bodies were authorized to establish them for middle
schools. In addition, half the free or semi-free studentships in
secondary schools and scholarships were reserved for Muhammadan
boys. The community itself also began to realize the necessity for
self-help, and various societies were started which organized Anglo-
vernacular Muhammadan schools in the cities and large towns. The
result was a rapid advance in higher Muhammadan education, though
the Hindus and Sikhs still retained the lead. In the ensuing decade
the community showed a growing preference for the public schools,
especially those in which English was taught, and availed itself fully
of the scholarships and studentships offered, though the societies
continued to maintain many schools with or without Government
grants-in-aid. The following table shows the number of Muhammadans
under instruction in public institutions : —
1891.
IQOI.
IQO4.
Arts colleges
Secondary schools
Primary schools
Special schools .
123
1 3 ,900
.^^>,252
51.^
.'.09
19,512
4.1-772
1,224
21,13.',
50,440
r,'03
r.DUCATTON
373
In 1883-4 the proportion of the population of school-going age in
the Punjab under instruction was 4-2 per cent., and in the course of the
next six years it rose to 7-8 per cent., but since then it has showed no
advance. This is mainly due to the steady decline of private schools
which do not conform to any of the departmental standards, and are
not inspected by the department. People either send their boys to
the public schools, or keep them at home to help in domestic or other
work. The percentage of males in British Districts able to read and
write was 6-8 according to the Census of 1901, and that of females 0-37.
The most advanced Districts are Simla, Amritsar, and Multan : the
most backward are Hissar, Rohtak, and Gurgaon.
Fees in Government schools and colleges are fixed, and the pro-
portion of free and half-rate studentships is also .specified. Schools
and colleges which receive aid from Government are bound to observe
the rules laid down for them in this behalf. Unaided schools, however,
are quite free in the matter of fees. The majority of them charge very
low fees, as compared with the Government and aided institutions.
The following table shows the main features of educational finance
in 1903-4:^
Expenditure on Institution.s maintained or aided
BY Public Funds
Pro-
vincial
revenues.
District j
and , Pfp-
municipal | ^'
funds. 1
Other
sources.
Total.
Arts and professional
colleges
Training and special
schools
Secondary boys' schools .
Primary boys' schools .
Girls' schools
Total
Rs.
1,71,718
1,05,748
1,00,549
8,123
69,904
Rs.
7,983
10,930
2,77,256
3,58,909
6.3,141
Rs.
68,282
8,760
4.42,744
91,897*
42,303
Rs.
28,198
28,665
99,424
79,936
Rs.
2,76,181
1,54,103
9,19,973
4,58,929
2,55,284
4,56,042
7,18,219
6,53,986
2,36,223
20,64,470
* Including receipts from other sources.
In 1 90 1 the number of publications registered under the Printing
Press and Books Act was 1,478. Of these, 425 were poetical works
and 409 religious treatises. Language and pictures came next, with
113 and 82 respectively. Except perhaps in its popular poetry modern
Punjab literature displays little originality, and many of its productions
are merely translations of English works into the various languages
and scripts of the Province.
The number of newspapers published in 1903 was 209. The only
important English newspapers are the Civil and Military Gazette and
the Morning Post, published daily at Lahore and Delhi respectively.
The native-owned newspapers include 31 published in English, 1 in
374 PUNJAB
English and Urdu, 164 in Urdu, 6 in Hindi, and 7 in Gurmukhl.
The leading papers are more or less actively political, their columns
being devoted mainly to the criticism of Government measures and
policy. Generally speaking, these journals are either sectarian, or the
mouthpieces of various classes or cliques of the educated community.
Few are of much importance, and many are little more than advertising
sheets. The Tribune and the Observer^ published in English at Lahore,
are the leading Hindu and Muhammadan organs respectively.
The Civil Medical department is controlled by an Inspector-General
of Civil Hospitals. The department was organized in 1880, prior to
which year hospitals were under the Inspector-General
of Prisons. Each District is under the medical
charge of a Civil Surgeon, who is stationed at the District head-quarters
(Simla has two ofificers of this class) ; but in the summer months a Civil
Surgeon is stationed also at Murree, and the Civil Surgeon of Gurdaspur
District is transferred to Dalhousie. As a rule, the chief hospital of
each District is at its head-quarters, and is in charge of a Civil Assistant
Surgeon, who after a five years' course at the Lahore Medical College
has qualified for the diploma of Licentiate of Medicine and Surgery
of the Punjab University ; the minor hospitals and dispensaries in the
outlying towns of the District are in charge of Hospital Assistants, who
have qualified by a four years' course at the college. The work is super-
vised by the Civil Surgeon, who is required to inspect each dispensary
four times a year.
The progress made since i88r may be gathered from Table XVII
attached to this article (p. 394). The number of hospitals and dis-
pensaries has risen by 44 per cent., and in-patients in much the same
ratio, while out-patients have more than doubled. The contribution
from Government has slightly decreased ; but the income from Local
and municipal funds has more than doubled, and that from fees, en-
dowments, and other sources has also increased very largely.
The only institution maintained by Government is the Mayo
Hospital at Lahore, an integral part of the Medical College, to which
it affords clinical instruction. Before the establishment of this college
the Subordinate medical service was recruited from the Calcutta
College, whose candidates were mostly Bengalis. Partly to obtain
recruits locally, and partly with the object of popularizing Western
medicine throughout the Province, a medical school was established
in i860 at Lahore, and in 1870 its status was raised to that of a college.
The buildings consist of one large block, containing three class-rooms,
a dissecting room, a chemical laboratory, several museums, and a large
central hall, to which have been added in recent years a large and
well-equipped dissecting room with a lecture theatre capable of accom-
modating 400 students, and pathological and physiological teaching
MEDICAL 375
laboratories, with a post-mortem theatre and mortuary. The teaching
staff now consists of 8 professors, 6 lecturers, a demonstrator of anatomy,
and 3 class assistants. A hostel for female students was built in 1889
by the Punjab committee of the Countess of Dufferin's Fund, chiefly
from a donation of Rs. 50,000 given by the Maharaja of Kashmir.
Arrangements have been made for a similar hostel for male students
at a cost of over Rs. 2,00,000. The growth of the college is ai){)arent
from the fact that in 1903 it trained 234 students in the English class
and 308 in the Hospital Assistant class, compared with 8 and 44
respectively in i860.
In 1900 a central asylum for lunatics was constructed at Lahore at
a cost of 2 lakhs. It is controlled by a commissioned medical officer,
with a military Assistant Surgeon as deputy-superintendent. It has
accommodation for 468 patients; and in 1903 a separate building,
capable of accommodating 120 female lunatics, was erected at a cost
of Rs. 74,000. The daily average number of inmates in 1904 was
554. The record of the alleged cause of insanity is usually drawn
up by the police and has litde scientific value. Of the cases treated
in 1904 in which any cause is assigned, 16-59 per cent, were attributed
to the excessive use of Indian hemp in one form or another, 8-09
to epilepsy, 0-71 to heat, and 7-09 to moral causes, such as grief,
worry, and disappointment.
At Kasauli, a Pasteur Institute was established in 1901 for the
treatment of persons bitten by rabid animals, which now treats
patients from all parts of India. In 1906 a central Research Insti-
tute was founded there, which will provide means for the scientific
study of the etiology and nature of disease in India, besides the
preparation of curative sera for the diseases of man, and the training
of scientific workers. The institution is in charge of a Director, with
a staff of assistants.
The practice of inoculation as a protection from small-pox has
prevailed in the Punjab from time immemorial. The method adopted
was to keep dry crusts from the pustules mixed with grains of rice in
a box ; when a mild form of the disease was desired, a few grains of
rice were inserted into a wound near the base of the thumb, while a
severe attack was procured by inserting a little of the powdered crusts.
The practice was most prevalent among Muhammadans, and was per-
formed by Saiyids and Mullas as a quasi-religious ceremony. The
Hindus of the South-East Punjab did not protect themselves for fear of
offending the goddess of small-pox, but elsewhere Rajputs and Nais
(barbers) usually acted as inoculators among Hindus. The practice
was largely prevalent in Rawalpindi, Jhang, and Shahpur Districts as
late as 1887, and to a less extent in Karnal, Hoshiarpur, Kangra,
Multan, and Dera Ghazi Khan. With a few exceptions, the attempt
376 PUNJAB
to enlist the inoculating classes as vaccinators was not successful.
\"accination is now under the charge of the Sanitary Comniissioner,
and Civil Surgeons are primarily responsible for vaccinations in their
Districts. The staft" consists of 5 divisional inspectors, 28 superinten-
dents, and 260 vaccinators. The felling-ofi" of vaccination in igoi
shown in Table XVII attached to this article (p. 394) is chiefly due
to plague. Vaccination is compulsory in 23 municipal towns.
The success of the system oi selling quinine through the post office
in Bengal led to its introduction into the Punjab late in 1894. First
introduced experimentally in the Delhi Division, it was extended in
1S99 to that o'i Lahore, and it is now jiroposed to extend it to all
the Districts of the rro\ ince, although in 1901 the total sales only
amounted to 293 parcels, each containing 102 live-grain packets of
quinine. The small measure of success which the system has met with
is iiot easily explained, though it may in part be accounted for by the
reluctance of the literate classes, from which the post office officials are
drawn, to act as drug-vendors. It is, however, apparent that the people
are at present indifferent to the advantages of the system, and, as a
rule, little aware of the value of quinine as a prophylactic. In Kangra,
however, in 1905 some 2,300 packets, each containing 102 powders of
seven grains each, were distributed at a total cost of Rs. 3,669.
The chief defects of village sanitation are the impurity and contami-
nation of drinking-water, the accumulation of tilth, the presence of
manure-heaps near the houses, and the existence of ponds of stagnant
water in or around the village site. It has been considered inadvisable
to legislate for the compulsory sanitation of villages, but District boards
are empowered to grant rewards in the form K^i a reduction of revenue
to the villages most active in sanitary improvements.
Surveys in the Punjab have been carried out by two distinct agencies :
the local pahcCxris eflecting the cadastral or tield surveys, and the Survey
of India compiling maps based on triangulation.
When the revision of a settlement is undertaken,
the maps, measurements, and records-of-rights oi ownership and
actual possession are thoroughly revised by the Settlement officer and
a special stat^' oS. iaJisllJars, naib-tahsihidrs, and field kdnuiigos. On
the conclusion oi the operations these records are transferred to the
custody of the 1 )eputy-Commissioner, who is henceforth responsible for
dieir maintenance, and correction when necessary. Briefly, the system
in force is this : the pahvari makes a field-to-fieki inspection at each
harvest, noting all changes in rights, rents, and possession, and all
amendments required in the field map. The changes thus noted are
recorded, after attestation by a superior revenue officer, in a revised
rccord-of-rights, which is prepared for each village every fourth year
and called the jamabandi. The Deputy-Commissioner is assisted in
SURVEYS 377
this duty by a revenue assistant (Assistant or Extra Assistant Com-
missioner), the Director of Land Records acting as his expert adviser
in all matters connected with it. The staff consists of a District kdnungo^
with a number of field kdnungos and pativdris or village accountants.
In 1904 there were 7,yo6 pahvdris and 386 field kdnungos in the
Province. Patwdris used to be hereditary village officials, servants
of the village coininunily and members of the trading castes ; but
they are now enlisted without regard to hereditary claims, and more
than a third in 1903 were of agricultural castes. Two-thirds have
passed the middle-school examination. Candidates go through a prac-
tical course in field surveying and land record work in the District
pahvdri school. After passing the examination, they may be ai)pointed
on salaries usually rising to Rs. 14 a month. The post is non-pension-
able, but -dpiihiidri may on retirement receive a gratuity not exceeding
Rs. 150. Patwdris also receive a share of the fees levied for mutation
entries in the record-of-rights. The cadastral survey is made entirely by
the patwdris, and usually during a resettlement of the land revenue.
The system used is a scientific one, known as the square system, and
its results are remarkably accurate. It consists in laying out the entire
village area into s([uares, which are also shown on the ma[). The fields
are then plotted in, being co-ordinated to the sides of the squares, and
the village maps thus show the boundaries of every field. 'I'hey are
tested by comparison with the survey maps.
In the Chenab and Jhelum Colonies, in which large areas ' of
Government waste have been brought under cultivation, the square
system has been extended to the formation of all fields into squares,
ecjual to Jjtb of a survey square, i.e. to i acre 18 poles. This system
of square fields greatly facilitates irrigation and revenue management,
and is a safeguard against boundary disputes. It is being gradually
extended in some localities to old proprietary lands.
The maps of the Survey of India arc based on triangulation carried
out between 1850 and i860. Kashmir and the North-Western Hima-
layas were topographically surveyed between 1848 and 1865, and Jhelum
and Rawalpindi Districts (including the recently constituted District of
Attock) between 1851 and 1859. These surveys, though excellent, are
now out of date in the matter of roads, cS:c., and do not show village
boundaries. The survey of Kangra, Kulu, the hills of Hoshiarpur, and
the Simla Hill States was completed in 1903. The whole of the Punjab
plains, with the exception of Hissar, was surveyed between 1846 and
1 880, village by village, on the 4-inch scale, and Hissar was surveyed
on the 2-inch scale between 1882 and 1884. In 1883 arrangements
were made with the Surveyor-General for the revision of the survey maps
on the basis of the village ma[)s ; and in 1884 a party of the Survey of
India began compiling new maps from reductions of these village
378 PUNJAB
plans, checking and revising them in the field, and completed maps of
Jullundur, Ludhiana, Ferozepore, Anibala, and Jhang Districts, and of
the plains portions of Hoshiarpur. To enable this work to be extended,
traverses were run over Shahpur, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gurdas-
pur, and Amritsar Districts. The party was withdrawn in 1889, but
in 1 90 1 the work was recommenced. Lahore was completed by 1906,
and the work is progressing in Amritsar, Montgomery, Multan, and
Muzaffargarh. In addition to this, riverain surveys are being carried
out to enable boundaries to be relaid in the areas subject to floods.
Several lines of spirit-levels have also been run through portions of
the Province. The Cis-Sutlej States were surveyed during 1846-7 on
the I inch to the mile scale, and Patiala, Jind, Nabha, &:c., in 186 1-2
on the same scale. The large State of Bahawalpur was surveyed
during 1869 to 1875, the inhabited area village by village on the 4-inch,
and desert tracts on the 2-inch scale. Kapurthala State was resur-
veyed when Jullundur was surveyed between 1884 and 1889.
[K. B. Saiyid Muhammad Latif : History of the Punjab (Calcutta,
1891). — J. W. M^-'Crindle : The Invasion of India by Alexander (1893).
— J. D. Cunningham : History of the Sikhs (second edition, 1853). —
Sir C. Gough and A. D. Innes : The Sikhs and the Sikh War (1897).
— Sir H. B. Edwardes : A Year on the Punjab Frontier, 2 vols. (185 1).
— Sir L. H. Griffin: The Rajas of the Punjab (second edition, 1873),
and Ranjit Singh (Oxford, 1892). — C. J. Rodgers : Revised list of
Objects of Archaeological Interest in the Punjab (Lahore, 1895). — H. G.
Raverty : Tabakdt-i-Ndsiri. — W. Francklin : Memoirs of George Thomas
(Calcutta, 1803). — J. B. Fraser : Memoirs of James Skinner, 2 vols.
(185 1). — H. Pearse : Memoirs of Alexander Gardner (1898). — Sir J. W.
Kaye : Life of Lord Metcalfe, 2 vols, (second edition, 1858). — Sir H. M.
Lawrence : Adventures of an Officer in the Service of Ranjit Singh,
2 vols. (1845).— L. J- Trotter : Life of John Nicholson (1898).— Sir H. B.
Edwardes and H. Merivale : Life of Sir Henry Laivrence, 2 vols. (1872).
— R. Bosworth Smith : Life of Lord Laivretice, 2 vols. (1883). — Bhai
Maya Singh and H. M. Clark: The Panjabi Dictionary {hsihoxe, 1895).
— Rev. E. P. Newton: Patijabi Grammar (Ludhiana, 1898). — R. C.
Temple : The Legends of the Punjab, 3 vols. (1881-5) ; ' Punjab Indus-
trial Monographs ' (Lahore) : Cotton (1885), Woollen (1886), Silk (1887),
Brass and Copper (1888), Wood (1889), Gold and Silver (1890), Fibres
(1891), Pottery and Glass (1892), Leather (1893), Silk (1899), Ivory
(1900), Stone (1906). — Report on the Famine in the Punjab in 1896-7
(Lahore, 1898); The Pimjab Famine of 1899-1900 (Lahore, 1901). —
S. S. Thorburn : Report on Peasant Indebtedness and Latid Alienations
to Money-lenders in the Rawalpindi Division (Lahore, 1896). — Census
Reports, 1885, 1868, 1881 (by D. C. J. Ibbetson), 1891 (by E. D.
Maclagan), 1901 (by H. A. Rose). — District Gazetteers.~]
TABLES
379
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TABLES
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382
PUNJAB
TABLE IV
Statistics of Agriculture, Punjab
(In square miles)
i
1S88-90 1
(average), j
iSqi -IQOO
(.mirage).
1 guo - 1 . i
1903-4.
Total area .
89,067
89,711
89,595
89,270
Total uncultivated area . i
.^3,644
51,568
48,400
46,958
Cultivable but not cultivated
34,5'5 !
32,497
26,635
26,373
Uncultivable (including
1
forests) .
19,129
19.071
19,765
20,585
Total cultivated area .
35,423
38.143
41,195
4^>3I2
Irrigated from canals .
3,160
5,363
8,354
9.336
Irrigated from wells and
canals ....
784
1,117
1,555
i,.= 99
Irrigated from wells .
6,'J74
6,072
5,989
6,124
Irrigated from other sources .
86
133
247
311
Total irrigated area
9.704
12,685
16,145
17.370
Unirrigated area (including
inundated)
25,719
25,458
25.050
24,942
Total cropped area.
Rice
1,085
1,055
1,184
1,074
Wheat ....
9,575
9,847
11,901
12,216
Other food-grains and pulses
16,454
14,899
19,289
16,668
Oilseeds ....
1,101
1,311
2,705
1 ,683
Sugar-cane ....
538
528
514
517
Cotton ....
i,iSi
1,231
1,608
1,637
Hemp {san,
66
66
73
77
Other fibres
2
4
6
4
Opium ....
22
14
12
14
Iitdigo ....
203
134
142
84
Tea .....
14
15
16
16
Tobacco ....
86
So
99
84
Miscellaneous
1,783
2,147
3,366
4.137
Total area cropped
32,110
31,331
40,914
38,211
Area double cropped .
3,126
3 -.507
5.;2i
5-4' +
TABLES
3^3
TAPJ.E V
Pricks of Staples in the Punjab
fin «eers per ni]~ee)
Selected
staples.
Selected centres.
Percentage
of area
under crop
in 1900-1.
Average for ten
ending
years
Average
for the
year 1904.
1880.
i8go.
1900.
Wheat ]
Delhi .
Amiitsar
)
1
29.1 -
20.39
23.1 S
1S.16
21-41
1545
i^>73
15.87
18-16
I
Rawalpindi .
(
22.44
20.46
16-25
17.26
Gram
Delhi .
Amritsar
)
.... {
25-77
29. Oi
23-9.^
28.7S
21-42
21.99
23-35
2>-42
t
Rawalpindi •
1
1
26.37
25-58
20-55
24-6
Towar \
Delhi .
I
(
27.C8
23.28
2 1 -60
27.42
Amritsar
7.0 -
3 '-38
28.37
20.29
29
\
Rawalpindi .
)
1
28.37
29-53
24-oS
24.96
\
Bajra
\
Delhi .
Amritsar
Rawalpindi .
1
[
.0.0 j
23-65
26.09
28.84
20.64
22.06
2S.63
1S.62
15-94
19.97
21-75
24-92
22-6
Salt i
Delhi .
Amritsar
Rawalpindi .
1
1
(
903
ic-?3
10.45
11.94
14-09
14.24
11-24
12-05
13-40
I3-I
15-54
1602
Note.— The figures for the famine years 187S, 1S79, 1897, and 1900 have been
omitted.
384
PUNJAB
TABLE VI. Trade bv Rail and River of the Punjab
(including North-West Frontier Province) with other
Provinces and States (excluding Kashmir and Ladakh)
(In thousands of rupees)
1890-1.
1 900- 1.
1903-4.
J?iiports.
Cotton, raw
2,92
4,"
5,01
Cotton twist and yarn
28,56
18,31
32,18
Cotton piece-goods ....
2,72,83
3,20,03
3,97,20
Grain and pulse
23,20
"i,.34'i5
42,77
Hides and skins
5>99
'5,75
14,95
Metals and manufactures of metals
70>3.^
1,05,73
^.59,07
Oils
13,26
18,97
21,33
Oilseeds
8,50
32,58
25,72
Opium ......
74
4,06
4,07
Provisions .,..••
4.^,00
31,82
35,31
Salt
6,57
10,65
8,44
Spices ....••
i3,.S4
22,64
26,29
.Sugar
1,14,21
1,65,58
2,01,39
Tea
9,57
i;,66
10,03
Wood ......
8,16
20,58
Woollen goods .....
20,70
33,67
37,44
All other articles ....
Total
^ \ Government
2,64,52
3,60,40
4,70,89
8,98,44
12,92,27
15,12,67
37, .50
1.91,66
1,89,00
Treasure j Commercial . . .
Total
Exports.
*
*
1,07,81
*
*
2,96,81
Apparel
52,31
54,25
Coal and coke ....
I
19
4
Cotton, raw
35,93
1,06,19
2,55,86
Cotton, manufactured
5 1 ,00
75,64
79,24
Wheat ....
1,97,77
1,65,90
5,43,69
Other grains and pulses
1,02,76
1,06,88
1,04,07
Dyes and tans .
10,60
17,47
J 1.03
Jute and manufactures of jute
4,87
10,55
7,92
Hides and skins.
31,32
77,45
63,34
Metals and manufactures of meta
Is \
13,44
12,12
17,06
Leather ....
20,41
13,37
13,73
Oils .....
2,07
9,68
2,44
Oilseeds ....
i6,oS
59,74
43,50
Provisions ....
29,32
27,43
17,53
Railway plant and rolling stock
10,77
26,73
31,82
Spices ....
",.30
12,84
12,74
Sugar ....
21,55
24,62
14,83
Tobacco ....
86
4,43
2,73
Wool, raw ....
23,.3o
23,54
30,04
W^ool, manufactured .
35,28
57,73
30,07
All other articles
97,22
1,14,82
1,33,26
Total
„ \ Government
Tr^^^^"''^ 1 Commercial . . .
7,15,86
9,99,63
14,69,19 '
72,01
40,78
7,i9t
*
36,07
39,48
Total
7,i9t
75,55
1,12,79
* Not available.
t Currency figures only.
TABLES
385
TABT.E VII
Trade of the Punjab with Kashmir and Ladakh
(In thousands of rupees)
18Q0-1
(including trade
through Hazara).
1900 -I 1903-4
(including trade (excluding trade
through Hazara). through hazara).
KashmTr.
Ladakh.
Kashmir.
Ladakh.
KashinTr.
98,01
Ladakh.
Imports.
Total imports.
Treasure : —
Government
Commercial
Total
Exports.
Total exports .
Treasure : —
Government
Commercial
Total
54.32
3,42
r,29,i5
4,18
I
6,21
I ",67
5,20
10,11
9,41
-— -
1,67
5,20
I
19,52
56,52
2,76
i'o
95-64
6,00
3,24
2,17
78,66
4,10
3,07
10
10
33
45
10
9,24
33
4,10
45
386
PUNJAB
TABT.R VTTI
Statistics of Criminal Justice, Punjab
Average
for ten
Average
for ten
Percen- !
tage of
years
ending
1890.
years
ending
1900.
igoi.
1904.
convic-
tions in
1904.
Number of persons tried :
{a) For offence^; against
m
person and property
For other ofl'ences
100,186
121,939
116,446
134,070
15
(0
against the Indian
Penal Code .
For offences against
special and local
21,456
23,151
21,713
26,656
20
laws
Total
51,255
70,117
63,010
79,791
53
172,897
215,207
201,169
240,517
28
TABLE IX
Statistics of Civil Justice and Revenue Court Cases,
Punjab
Average
for ten
years
ending
1890.
Average
lor ten
years
ending
1900.
igoi.
1904.
Suits for money and movable
property ....
Title and other suits .
Rent suits * . . . .
Other Revenue Court cases f
Total
212,313
37,740
•>778t
20,330:
211,844
34,263
1,201:
34."' +
201,423
30,811
275*
.36,4 > 5:
180,105
30,040
497
32,944
272,161
281,419
268,924
243,586
" Ihe figures for rent suits and other Revenue Court cases for 1881-4 are for insti-
tutions ; those for the remaining years for (iisposals only.
t Other Revenue Court cases include figures for execution of decrees of Revenue
Courts throughout, with the exception of the years 1880-4 and i888 and 1889, for
which the data are not available.
} These figures are for the old Province.
TABLES
387
63
U
2: "?■
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> ro
0 0
OS 0^
Ph "
OJ ci
M <
r K
9 a
a; S
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f::; «
I 2
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a w
H H
PS ^3
0 H
:^ H
c«
0 Z
12; 0
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y.
a
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w
<
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a ::>
oi (^ t
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< P
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0
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> g
o
388
PUNJAB
TABLE XI
Provincial Expenditure, including North-West
Frontier Province up to March 31, 1901, but
FOR Punjab as now constituted for the Year
1903-4
(In thousands of rupees)
Average
Average
for ten
for ten
Year
Year
years
years
ending
ending
ending
ending
March 31,
March 31,
March 31,
March 31,
1901.
1904.
1890.
1900.
Opening balance
Charges in respect of reventie
90
2,47
25,25
collection ....
23,76
31,30
35,05
35,93
Salaries and expenses of Civil
Departments : —
{a) General administra-
tion ....
10,05
10,15
IO,OS
9,25
(i) Law and justice
34,19
41,84
48,68
43,38
{c) Police
I'^M
38,35
43,81
37,30
{d) Education
7,08
7,61
7,63
10,50
{e) Medical .
4,85
6,40
8,72
I 1,19
{/) Other heads
83
1,06
i,c6
2,11
Pensions and miscellaneous
civil charges
6,06
9,79
12,84
13,14
Famine relief
1,20
-2
Irrigation ....
26
76
I ,o.T
53
Public works
2594
28,32
25,84
43,85
Other charges and adjustments
Total
Closing balance
'0,47
10,07
11,07
16,69
1,53,66
2,47
1,86,85
2,05,78
2,23,85
32,00
TABLES
389
TABLE XII
Income and Expenditure of Municipalities (excluding
Notified Areas), Punjab
Average
1889-90.
for ten years
1890-1 to
1 899- 1 90a
1900-1.
1903-4.
Income fi-om —
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Octroi
22,99,144
25,27,057
27,07,406
30,29,966
Tax on houses and
lands
1,17,721
1,37,208
1,07,925
2,37,919
Other taxes
42,966
59,162
83.752
1,36,443
Loans
2,32,919
1,61,489
6,58,325
Rents and othersources
Total income
Expenditure on —
8,761838
11,46,599
12,85,01 I
14,85,673
33,36,669
41,02,945
43,75,583
55,48,326
Administration and col-
lection of taxes
4,88,016
5,79,243
6,39,495
7,00,054
Public safety
5,14,076
5,66,100
6,39,^04
6,93,969
Water-supply and
drainage :
Capital
1,32,494
3,19,398
2,70,744
7,53,443
Maintenance
98,651
1,26,788
1,68,174
2,10,378
Conservancy
3,05,986
4,92,286
5,67,395
5,87,339
Hospitals and dispen-
saries
2,65,265
3,31,091
4,01,272
5,87,909
Public works
3,71,801
4,05,426
3,26,225
4,18,253
Education .
4,44,628
5,40,690
5,63,852
6,14,382
Other heads
Total expenditure
8,14,414
7,09,529
8,10,672
8,50,595
34,35,331
40,70,551
43,86,933
54,16.322
39°
PUNJAB
TABLE XIII
Income and Expenditure of District Boards,
Pun TAR
Excluding; the Dfstrict of
Whole
Mianwali.
Province.
Average
1889-90.
for ten years
1800-1 to
1899-1900.
1900 I.
1903-4.
Income from —
Rs.
Rs.
Rs. 1 Rs.
Provincial rates .
19,18,204
20,62,940
20,66,918
24,03,661
Interest
T,!OC
1,124
1,417
1,361
Education .
46,8sS
80,317
1,11,386
1,20.8^1
Medical
9,326
21,449
25,050 40,662
Scientihc, &c. .
8s,Si4
86,125
87,42 s
94,085
Miscellaneous .
70,41?
1,28,948
3,35,941
2,88,411
Public works
48,23.3
1,07,151
1.38,919
1,83,233
Pounds
43,4.36
55,050
53,944
58,273
Ferries
Total income
Expendi/iire on —
1,44,383
1,51,965
1,62,528
I,5I,62<;
23,67,769
26,95,069
28,83,531
33,42,146
Refunds
1,967
2,617
3,168
2,318
General administration
1,0.^,491
1,14,161
1,28,672
1,35,864
Education .
4,68,451
5,76,302
6,12,567
6,68,125
Medical
2,59,894
3,16,23s
5,61,538
3.77,6?^
Scientific, iSfc. .
I>i5,i52
1,45,678
1,52,350
1,33,809
Miscellaneous .
.4,59.708
6,91,402
8,01,814
10,25,264
Public works
Total expenditure
9.14,242
9,16,148
7,56,918
9,04,418
23,24,905
27,62,546
30,17,027
32,47-452
TABLES
391
TABLE XIV
Police Statistics, Punjab (as now constituted)
1 iS.Si.
1891.
igoi.
IQ04. 1
Provincial and Ferry
1
!
Police.
Superintendents and as-
sistant superintendents
47
53
51
56
Inspectors
44
42
43
49
Sub-inspectors
407
463
401
526
Head constables
1,603
1,666
1,689
1,814
Constables
10,073
9,720
9,767
10,426
Municipal Police.
1
Inspectors . . . '
6
6
8
8
Sub-inspectors
J?
27
34
37
Head constables
339
388
432
448
Constables
3,451
3o38
3,639
3 •791
Town watchmen .
104
124
138
Cantonment Police.
Inspectors
* . .
4
4
4
Sub-inspectors
2
5
5
6
Head constables
28
58
60
69
Constables
391
51S
531
574
Military Police.
Commandants and sub-
commandants
3
4
Native officers
Xotavailabli
N'ot available.
37
14
Non - commissioned offi-
cers and men
245
606
Railway Police.
Deputy and assistant su-
perintendents
1
3
Inspectors
5
5
10
10
Sub-inspectors
13
13
23
26
European platform ser-
geants
9
18
Head constables
80
90
200
221
Constables
620
681
957
1,108
Chaukiddrs .
84
84
7
Rural Police.
Daffadars and chaukidars
29,645
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Total expendituie
32,23,3-J3
32,75,278
33,45,684
38,62,429
Average
of five years en(
(old Province).
ling igoi
i()04 (new
Province).
Statistics of cognizable
crime.
Number of cases reported
58,229
85,365
Number of cases decided
in the criminal courts .
37,397
43,313
Number of cases ending in
acquittal or discharge .
6,552
12,796
Number of cases ending
in conviction
28,957
30,517
392
PUNJAB
TABLE XV
Jails Statistics, Punjab
Including iemale jail ac L^liore.
TABLES
393
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394
PUNJAB
TABLE XVII
Statistics of Hospitals, Lunatic Asylums, and
Vaccination, Punjab
1881.
189I.
1901.
1904.
Hospitals, ifc.
Number of civil hospitals and
dispensaries ....
170
206
246
263
Average daily number of —
(a) In-patients
1)2^6
1,472
1,711
1,924
{b) Out-patients
8,682
13,526
19,897
21,538
Income from —
{a) Government payments Rs.
59,724
48,391
66,144
59.019
{b) Local and municipal pay-
ments . . . Rs.
2,33.582
4,06,063
5,05,042
5,53,765
{c) Fees, endowments, and
other sources . . Rs.
21,835
30,964
58,749
88,376
Expenditure on —
(a) Establishment . Rs.
1,63,437
2,38,612
3.17.249
3,46,700
{b) Medicines, diet, build-
ings, &c. . . . Rs.
1,44,919
2,40,36s
3,18,800
3,30,507
Lunatic Asyhtms.
Number of asylums .
2
2
I
I
Average daily number of —
{a) Ciiminal lunatics
40
50
109
III
{b) Other lunatics .
273
278
382
443
Income from —
{a) Government payments Rs.
31,546
31,721
54,289
60,6^6
(/') Fees and other sources Rs.
6,284
19,660
17,203
12,666
Expenditure on —
(a) Establishment . . Rs.
16,167
14,987
20,376
28,200
{b) Diet, buildings, &c. Rs.
21,063
36,394
51,116
45,102
Vaccination.
! Population among whom vacci-
nation was carried on .
19,629,722
20,734,248
20,293,834
Number of successful operations
653,300
629,82s
632,240
Katio per i,ooo of population .
33-2«
30-38
31-15
Total expenditure on vaccina-
tion .... Rs.
62,187
87,459
92,017
Cost per successful case . Rs.
0-1-7
0-2-3
0-2-4
PURANDHAR TALUK A 395
Punnata. — An ancient kingdom in the south-west of Mysore,
with its capital at Kitthipura, now Kittur, on tlie Kabbani. It was
a 'six thousand' province, and was absorbed into the Ganga kingdom
in the fifth century. In the fourth century i?.c., Bhadrabahu, the Jain
leader, who is traditionally said to have been accompanied by Chandra-
gupta, and who died at Sravana Belgola, directed the migration he had
conducted to the South to proceed to Punnata, when he found that
his own end was approaching. It is mentioned as PoiDuiata by Ptolemy,
who adds regarding it ' where is beryl.'
Puntamba. — Town in the Kopargaon tdhika of Ahmadnagar Dis-
trict, Bombay, situated in 19° 46' N, and 74° 37' E., on the Godavari,
12 miles south-east of Kopargaon town, and on the Dhond-Manmad
Railway. Population (1901), 5,890, including a hamlet of 1,745. The
traders are Marwaris and Brahmans. Puntamba has fourteen modern
temples, and two flights of steps or ghats to the Godavari, one built by
Ahalya Bai, the great temple-building princess of Indore (1767-95),
and the other by one Shivram Dumal. The chief temple dates from the
middle of the seventeenth century and belongs to Changdev, a famous
saint said to have had 1,400 disciples.
Pur (i). — Ancient town in the Bhilwara district of the State of
Udaipur, Rajputana, situated in 25° 18' N. and 74° 33' E., about 72 miles
north-east of Udaipur city, and about 7 miles south-west of Bhilwara
station on the Rajputana-Malwa Railway. Population (1901), 4,498. A
primary school is attended by 34 boys. Garnets are found in the vicinity.
The Porwal Mahajans are said to take their name from this place.
Pur (2). — Town in the District and fa/isJl of Muzaftarnagar, United
Provinces, situated, in 29° 39' N. and 77° 51' E., 16 miles north of
Muzaffarnagar town, on the metalled road to Roorkee. Population
(1901), 6,384. The town is surrounded by fine groves and contains
some good brick houses, but the drainage is defective. In the low
waste land close by an important camp is formed for artillery practice
every cold season. The town is administered under Act XX of 1856,
with an income of about Rs. 1,500.
Purandhar T^Xxi^b.. Tdluka of P(jona District, Bombay, lying
between 18° 6' and 18° 27' N. and 73° 51' and 74° 19' E., with an
area of 470 square miles. It contains one town, Sasvad (population,
6,294), the head-quarters ; and 90 villages. The population in 1901
was 72,716, compared with 89,100 in 1S91. The density, 155 persons
per square mile, is below the District average. The demand for land
revenue in 1903-4 was 1-2 lakhs and for cesses Rs. 9,500. The taluka
is for the most part a hill tract. The ranges run north-east and south-
west, dividing it into two valleys, along which flow almost parallel
streams. A spur of the Western Ghats, which forms the watershed
between the Bhima and the Nira, runs along the northern boundary.
VOL. XX. c c
396 rURANDHAR TALUK A
Its chief peaks are those on which stand Malhargarh fort and the
temples of Bhuleshwar and Dhavaleshwar. A branch of the same
spur fills the southern half of the td/uka, the only important peak
being crowned by the twin forts of Purandhar and Vazirgarh. The
general level is about 2,800 feet above the sea ; but the hill of Puran-
dhar is nearly 1,700 feet higher. The Nira, with its small feeder the
Karha, and the Ganjauni are the principal streams. The Karha,
from the lowness of its banks, is of great use to landholders, who
hold back its water by means of dams, and raise it with lifts. The
Nlra water-works command a large area of the tdhika. Besides 1,038
wells for drinking purposes, about 1,677 wells are used for irrigation.
The raw sugar of Purandhar is much prized for its quality, which is
said to be due to the peculiar practice of keeping the cane in the
ground for eighteen months. The cane is planted in May or June,
and cut in November or December of the following year. The height
above the sea, the unfailing water-supply, and the woody valleys com-
bine to make Purandhar one of the pleasantest and healthiest parts of
the District. The annual rainfall averages 23 inches. The western
branch of the Southern Mahratta Railway traverses the Idhtka.
Purandhar Hill. — Once a fortress, and now a sanitarium for
European troops, in the Poona division of the Western Command, in
the Purandhar tdhika of Poona District, Bombay. It really consists of
two .separate hill forts, Purandhar and Vazirgarh, situated in 18° 17' N.
and 73" 59' E., 20 miles south-east of Poona city. Population (1901),
944. The income and expenditure of the cantonment fund in
1903-4 were each Rs. 1,800. The highest point of the mountain of
Purandhar is upwards of 1,700 feet above the plain, and 4,472 feet
above sea-level. Purandhar is larger, higher, and more important than
Vazirgarh. The summit of both hills is crowned with masonry ruins
studded here and there wnth bastions. Purandhar is varied by two
elevations, on the higher of which, the loftiest point in the range, is
a temple to Siva. 'Phe hill on which this temple stands is part of the
upper fort of Purandhar. On the northern face of the hill, 300 feet
below the temple and upwards of 1,000 feet above the plain, runs
a level terrace on which stands the military cantonment, flanked on
the east by the barracks, and on the west by the hospital. The northern
edge of the terrace is defended by a low wall with several semicircular
bastions and a gate flanked by two towers. This is called the Machi
or ' terrace ' fort. At the foot of the hill is a well-built resthouse, from
which the ascent leads by a wide, easy road. From the middle of the
cantonment a winding road, 830 yards long, runs towards the upper
fort, ending in a flight of rude stone steps which wind between a loop-
holed wall of masonry and the basalt cliff on which the fort stands.
A sharp turn leads suddenly to the Delhi Gate, flanked by solid
/'U/^ANPUR TAHSlL 397
l)astion towers. The defences, like most of the hill forts in this
part of the country, are of perpendicular rock, weakened rather than
strengthened by curtains and bastions of masonry.
The earliest known mention of Purandhar is in the reign of the first
Rahmani king, Ala-ud-dln Hasan Gangu (1347-58), who obtained pos-
session of almost the whole of Maharashtra, from the Purandhar range
to the Cauvery, and fortified Purandhar in 1350. During the early rule
of the Sultans of Ahmadnagar Purandhar was among the forts which
were reserved by the government and never entrusted to jagirdars or
estate-holders. The fort of Purandhar passed to Maloji, the grand-
father of Sivaji, when Bahadur Nizam Shah of Ahmadnagar (1596-
1600) granted him Poona and Supa. In 1665 it was invested by
the forces of Aurangzeb, under the command of Raja Jai Singh,
the famous Rajput general, assisted by the Afghan Dilawar Khan.
Though the defence by Bajl Prabhu, a Deshpande of Mahad, who
was the commandant of the fort, was obstinate, Sivaji appears to have
been so intimidated at the prospect of the fall of Purandhar that he
surrendered it, together with Sinhgarh, and entered the service of
Aurangzeb. He revolted, however, and recaptured Purandhar in 1670.
After the power of the Peshwas at Poona had superseded that of the
descendants of Sivaji, Purandhar was the usual stronghold to which
the Peshwas retreated when unable to remain in safety at their capital.
Here, in 1776, was concluded a treaty between the British Government
and the Maratha States ; but its conditions were never fulfilled, being
overruled by the subsequent Treaty of Salbai in 1782 between the
British Government and Sindhia, at the close of the second Maratha
War. In i8r8 Purandhar was invested by a British force under General
Pritzler. On March 14 a mortar battery opened on it ; and on
the 15th Vazlrgarh admitted a British garrison. As Vazirgarh com-
manded Purandhar, the commandant had to accept the terms given
to that garrison, and the British colours were hoisted at Purandhar on
March 16, 18 18. The fort C(jmmands a passage through the hills,
called the Purandhar ghat.
Puranpur Tahsil. — North-eastern tahs'il of Pllibhit District, United
Provinces, conterminous with the pargana of the same name, lying
between 28° 21' and 28° 50' N. and 79° 56' and 80° 27' E., with an
area of 513 square miles. Population fell from 95,205 in 1891 to
89,084 in 1901. There are 242 villages, but no town. The demand
for land revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 93,000, and for cesses Rs. 15,000.
The density of population, 174 persons per square mile, is very low.
This tahsil forms one of the most backward tracts in the United
Provinces. Along or near the north-eastern border the Sarda forms
the Nepal frontier, and is joined by the Chauka, which has a channel
roughly parallel to that of the Sarda. The Mala swamp divides Puran-
c c 3
398 PURANPUR TAHSIL
pur from the Pllibhlt ta/isll, and a stunted forest forms a horseshoe-
shaped border round three sides of the tahsll. The central portion
consists of a sandy plain, which easily falls out of cultivation ; and
the whole area is distinguished by its unhealthiness, the poverty of its
inhabitants, the scarcity of cultivators, and their readiness to migrate.
Since 1883 many villages have been subject to a light assessment
revised every year, or every five years, according to the instability
of cultivation. In 1903-4 the area under cultivation was only 178
square miles, of which 18 were irrigated.
Puri District. — Southern District in the Orissa Division of Bengal,
lying between 19° 28' and 20° 26' N. and 84° 56' and 86° 25' E., with
an area of 2,499^ square miles. It is bounded on the north and
north-east by Cuttack District ; on the south-east and south by the
Bay of Bengal ; on the west by the Madras District of Ganjam ;
and on the north-west by the Tributary States of Nayagarh, Ranpur,
and Khandpara.
Its general shape is triangular, and it may be roughly divided into
three tracts — west, central, and east. The western extends from the
right bank of the Daya river across the stony country
f^/!!*^^ of Dandimal and Khurda, till it rises into the hills
aspects. '
of the Tributary States. A low range, beginning
in Dompara and running south-east in an irregular line towards the
Chilka Lake, constitutes a watershed between this tract and the
Mahanadi river. The most important peaks are in the Khurda sub-
division. On the north of the Chilka Lake they become bold and very
varied in shape, and throw out spurs and promontories into the lake,
forming island-studded bays, with fertile valleys running far inland
between their ridges. The middle and eastern divisions consist entirely
of alluvial plains, the south-western part of the Mahanadi delta. They
are watered by a network of channels, through which the most southerly
branch of that river, the Koyakhai, finds its way to the sea. The
middle tract comprises the richest and most populous portion of the
District \ the eastern is less thickly peopled and in the extreme east
loses itself in the jungles around the mouths of the Devi. The
following scheme briefly shows the river system of the District : —
I Kushbhadra .\^ uv,i ' i - ? Kushbhadra . F.ay of Benq-al.
Koyakhai . ' Kushbhadra .\ y .
^ Bhargavl .•^Nun" . . ) j^ T ^ Chilka Lake
( Bhargavl . Bhargav! . )
is™. : >«>-^ • I
Only one of these rivers, the Kushbhadra, reaches the sea. It follows
a very winding course and is of little value for navigation. Its bed has
' The area shown in the Cctisiis Report of 1901 \\as 2,472 square miles; that given
above is taken partly from a report of the District Magistrate and partly from p. 47
of the Orissa Settlement Report.
PURI DISTRICT 399
silted up, and in seasons of heavy rainfall its floods devastate the sur-
rounding country. The three rivers most important to the people
of Purl are the Bhargavl, the Daya, and the Nun, which all enter
the Chilka Lake, after running widely diverse courses. L)uring the
dry season they die away into long shallow pools in the midst of
winding stretches of sand, but in the rains they come down with
a great rush of water that often threatens to burst the banks and
inundate the surrounding country. Their banks are generally abrupt,
and in many parts are artificially raised and strengthened as a pro-
tection against floods. The coast-line consists of a belt of sandy
ridges, varying from 4 miles to a few hundred yards in breadth.
It contains no harbours of any importance. Purl port is simply an
unprotected roadstead, open from the middle of September to the
middle of March. During the remainder of the year the surf does not
allow of vessels being laden or unladen. The principal lakes are the
Chilka and the Sar. The latter is a backwater of the river Bhargavl,
4 miles long by 2 broad. It has no outlet to the sea, from which
it is separated by sandy ridges.
Some of the hills are composed of compact gneiss, most of the
others being of garnetiferous rock with occasional bands of quartzose
gneiss. Laterite forms a raised terrace-like plain around the hills,
except a few far out in the alluvium, and it probably underlies the
whole of the recent alluvium which covers the eastern portion of
the District. On the southern bank of the Chilka Lake, in one or two
places at an elevation of 20 to 30 feet above the present flood-level, is
found a bed of mud with estuarine shells, evidencing an elevation of
the land since the comparatively recent period when the Chilka Lake
had a freer communication with the sea than it now has. A similar
deposit occurs at some places on the spit between the Chilka Lake
and the sea \
In the Mahanadi delta, swampy places near the sea have on the
banks of rivers and creeks the vegetation of a mangrove forest. Where
sand-dunes intervene between the sea and the cultivated land behind,
an equally characteristic littoral vegetation is met with, the principal
species of which are Spinifex, Hydrophylax, and Geniosporuvi pro-
stratum. The cultivated land has the usual rice-field weeds, while
ponds and ditches are filled with floating water-weeds or submerged
water-plants. Near human habitations shrubberies of semi-spontaneous
shrubs are common, and are loaded with a tangled mass of climbing
Convolvulaceae. The arborescent portion of these village shrubberies
* Mei/ioiis, Geological Survey of India, vol. i, pt. iii, ' The Geological Structure
and Physical Features of the Districts of Bankura, Midnapore, and Orissa ' ; and
Records, Geological Survey of India, vol. v, ' Sketch of the Geology of Orissa,' by
W. T. Blanford.
400 PUKi DISTRICT
includes the red cotton-tree {Boinl>ax iiialabaricum,) jiyal {Odina
IVodier), Ta mar Indus indica, Moringa pkrygosperma, pi pa I {Fit us
religiosa), banyan [Ficus bengaleusis), and the pahiis Borassus flabellifer
and khajur {Phoenix sylvestris). In the north-west of the District
some forests are under the control of tlie Forest department ; these
are described below.
Small game is plentiful, but in the open part of the country the
larger wild beasts have been nearly exterminated.
Purl District is directly on the track of the cyclonic storms which
cross Orissa frequently during the monsoon season, but on the whole
the sea-breezes ensure an equable climate. In April and May the
average maximum temperature is 89°. The mean temperature falls
from 86° in the hot months to 84" in the monsoon season and to
']-f in February. Cyclonic storms occasionally occur in the north
of the Bay in May, and with these storms weather of the south-west
monsoon type prevails. The humidity ranges from 75 per cent, in
December to 86 per cent, in August. The annual rainfall averages
58 inches, of which 8-4 inches fall in June, 10-9 in July, 12-1 in
August, and 10-7 in September.
The river channels near the coast can only carry off a small pro-
portion of the flood-water, which enters the low country through the
Koyakhai, and the District is liable to disastrous floods. In twenty-
four of the thirty-two years ending 1866, such serious floods occurred
as to require remissions of revenue exceeding 4 lakhs, while more than
2,\ lakhs was expended by (lovernment on embankments and other
protective works. In 1866 more than 412,000 persons were driven
by the floods from house and home. Tiie years 1872, 1892, and 1896
were also memorable for high floods, those of 1892 being remarkable
for their severity and those of 1896 for their duration. At such times
the embankments are of little use, as they are either breached or over-
topped. Proposals have been made to limit the floods entering the
Koyakhai, but the cost of the schemes hitherto formulated is pro-
hibitive.
The general history of Purl is that of Orissa. The only two
noteworthy political events that have taken place since the District
. passed to the British, together with the rest of the
province in 1803, are the rebellion of the Raja of
Khurda in 1804 and the rising of the paiks in 181 7. The Raja
of Khurda, although stripped of a considerable portion of his territory,
had been left by the Marathas in comparative independence within his
own fort. When the British entered the province, the Raja passively
espoused their cause, and the decision of the Commissioners to retain
the parganas taken by the Marathas was accjuiesced in by him. But
after the European troops had returned to Madras and the native force
POPULATION 401
at Cuttack had been considcral)ly reduced by the necessity of estab-
lishing detached outposts in different parts of the country, the Raja's
mob of paiks and peons made a raid on the villages in the vicinity
of Pipli. Troops were sunmioned from Ganjam and a detachment
was quickly dispatched from Cuttack. The rebels, driven out of PiplT,
retreated to the fort at Khurda, followed by our troops. In three weeks
the approaches, which were stockaded and fortified with strong masonry
barriers, were carried by storm. The Raja made his escape, but sur-
rendered a few days later. His territory was confiscated ; and he was
kept in confinement until 1807, when he was released and allowed to
reside in PurT town, and an allowance was made for his maintenance.
In 1817 \\\& paiks or landed militia rose in open rebellion against
the oppressions suffered at the hands of the underlings to whom was
entrusted the collection of the revenue, and also against the tyrannies
of a venal police. The rebels, led by one Jagabandhu, attacked the
police station and Government offices at Banpur, where they killed
upwards of a hundred men and carried off about Rs. 30,000 of treasure.
The civil buildings at Khurda were burnt to the ground, and another
body of the insurgents advanced into the I-embai pargana and there
murdered one of the native officials. The authorities at Cuttack at
once dispatched a force, one detachment of which marched direct
to Khurda, and another to Pipll. After some severe fighting British
authority soon re-established itself everywhere. The Raja, who had
joined the rebels, was captured in Purl town, as he was on the point
of taking flight, and was removed to Calcutta and placed in con-
finement in Fort A\'illiam, where he died in November, 181 7. The
country was gradually restored to order and tranquillity ; and at the
present day Khurda is a profitable Government property, the cultivators
being a contented and prosperous class. The father of the present
Raja of Pur! was convicted in 1878 of murder and sentenced to penal
servitude for life. The present Raja is the hereditary superintendent
of the temple of Jagannath, but has delegated all his powers as such
to an experienced Deputy-Magistrate-Collector for a period of five
years.
The District contains numerous antiquities of surpassing interest,
of which the most important are the great temple of Jagannath in
PuKi Town, the caves and rock sculptures at Khandgiri and Udaya-
giri, the Lingaraj temple and other remains at Bhubaneswar, the
black pagoda at Konarak, and the Asoka inscription at Dhauli.
The population of the District increased from 769,779 in 1872 to
888,592 in 1881, 944,998 in 1891, and 1,017,284 in 1901. The public
health has not been good since i8qi. Cholera is im- „ , ^.
... Population,
ported annually by pilgrims, fever is prevalent durmg
the cold season, while small-pox occasionally appears in a virulent
402
PURI DISTRICT
form. The principal statistics of the Census of 1901 are shown
below : —
Subdivision.
rt
3
<
Number of
Population.
CO;
§1
Is
= 3
P4
Percentage of
variation in
population
between 1891
and iQOi.
Number of
persons able to
read and
write.
Towns.
Villages.
Pun .
Khnrda
District total
1,528
97'
2,499
1 1,889
... 1,212
658,048
359,236
431
370
407
+ 7.2
+ 8.4
49,644
23,023
I j 3,'oi
1,017,284
+ 7-6
72,667
The only town is Puri, the head-quarters. The density for the
whole District is lower than it would otherwise be owing to the
inclusion of the area of the Chilka Lake, the population of the head-
quarters flid/ia in which the greater part of it is situated being only
254 persons per square mile, against 753 in Pipli. Pilgrims were
e.xceptionally numerous at the time when the last Census was taken,
but apart from this the ebb and flow of population is very slight.
The vernacular of the District is Oriya. Buddhism, for ten centuries
the prevailing religion of Orissa, has left no traces beyond the cave-
dwellings of the hermits and some recently deciphered inscriptions.
Sun-worship was one of the principal forms into which Buddhism
disintegrated, and its most exquisite memorial is the temple of
Konarak. At the present day no less than 98-2 per cent, of the
population are Hindus, and i-y per cent. Muhammadans.
Chasas, the chief cultivating caste of Orissa, number 300,000, Brah-
mans 101,000, Bauris 84,000, Gauras 53,000, Gurias 26,000, and Karans
and Kewats 33,000 each. The Gurias are the confectioner and the
Karans the writer caste of Orissa. Of the less common castes two hill
tribes, the Khonds and Savaras, have a few representatives, Kumutis are
a caste practically confined to Puri and the Orissa Tributary States, and
Daitas and Kahalias are small castes peculiar to this District. Chris-
tians number 1,078, of whom 913 are natives; the only mission is the
Baptist Mission, with stations at Purl town and six other places. Of
the total population, 60 per cent, are supported b)- agriculture, 16-5
per cent, by industries, 0-4 per cent, by commerce, and 4-0 by the
professions.
'I'he greater part of the head-quarters subdivision is subject to
floods ; and except in the west, where the subdivision encroaches on
the laterite uplands of Khurda, and along the sea-
shore in the south and east, where the sand forms a
belt of varying width, the soil is of the normal alluvial type, consisting
of every variety of mixture from almost pure sand to almost pure mud.
In the north sandy loams are most conunon, while in the lower levels
Agriculture.
AGRICULTURE
403
of the southern par^anas black soils are more general. The surface
of the Khurda subdivision is composed of the detritus of metamorphic
rock, sandstone, and vegetable mould, and is therefore for the most
part fertile.
The chief agricultural statistics for 1903 4 are shown below, areas
being in square miles : —
Subdivision.
Total.
Cultivated.
Cultivable
waste.
Forests.
Purl
Khurda .
Total
1,528
971
636
."^36
1,172
26
222
368
113
2,499
248
481
Rice is the staple food-grain, covering 1,030 square miles, or 87 per
cent, of the cultivated area. The most important variety is the sdrad
or winter crop, which is grown on 923 square miles ; early rice (bidli)
and spring rice {ddlua) are also cultivated, but the proportions are
small. The winter rice, which is for the most part transplanted from
seedlings, is divided into three classes, known as bara, niajhld, and
laghu according to the amount of water required. Pulses occupy
124 square miles, or 1 1 per cent, of the total cultivated area, the chief
kinds being ki/rfhl, mung, and h'lrlii. Mariid is grown in parts, chiefly
as a second crop ; and castor-oil, sugar-cane, cotton, indigo, pdn,
tobacco, and vegetables, though occupying small areas, possess some
importance.
Cultivation has steadily extended since the settlement of 1837,
except in a few tracts where it has been checked by the calamitous
floods of recent years. Agricultural experiments have been set on foot
in the Khurda Government estate, but the ryots are slow to adopt
improvements. Cow-dung is generally used as manure. During the
ten years ending 1902, Rs. 48,000 was advanced under the Agricul-
turists' Loans Act and Rs. 25,000 under the Land Improvement
Loans Act.
The cattle are similar to those found in the southern Districts of
Lower Bengal. In the head-quarters subdivision about 4 per cent,
of the total area in each village was set apart at the recent settlement
for grazing purposes.
Irrigation is little resorted to, except for the spring rice and the
February pulse crops. The water is derived from the Sar lake and
various big reservoirs and tanks, and is raised either by a mat scoop,
by a hollow tree-trunk {Jantd), or by unglazed earthen pots fixed to a
bamboo lever itenda).
The forests of the Puri Forest division lie within what is technicalh-
known as the dry evergreen forest zone, and comprise sal and mixed
404 Pl'RI DISTRICT
forest. They consist of no square miles of 'reserved" and 371 S(iuare
miles of 'protected' forests in the Khurda Government estate. In the
nietamorphic region to the south-west the sal {Shorea roluista) is seen
at its best, its chief companions being abhis {Diospyros vieIanoxylon\
Carcya arborca, dsan {^Terminalia tomentosa), and BiicJianania latifolia.
In the mixed forest the chief species arc ^biogeissus latifolia, jiyal
{Odiiia IVodier), kit sum {Schleic/iera frijiiga), Pterospermum siiberifoliiim,
and Dillenia Pentagyiie, while in the north-west Hylia dolabriformis
(the ironwood tree of Pegu and Arakan) is extremely common. Of
bamboos, Bambusa arundinacea and Dendrocalamus strictus ul)Ound.
Climbers are numerous, the most noticeable being Bauhinia Vahlii,
Milletia auriculata, Entada sca/idens, and Combretum decandrum.
Teak is being planted with fair success. Strychnos mix vomica seed is
collected by the department for sale, and kamalagundi powder {Mal-
lotus philippinensis^ is gathered as a dye. The total receipts (jf the
Forest department in 1903-4 amounted to Rs. 39,000.
Laterite, lime, and sandstone are f(^und in the Khurda subdivision ;
but no quarries are regularly worked.
Tasar and cotton cloth, brass and bell-metal utensils, brass, gold,
and silver ornaments, and wickerwork baskets are manufactured.
Images of the Hindu gods are carved in stone,
coiJmunicTtfons. ^^^'^^ ^^'^^ '"^ considerable degree of skill. Coarse
sugar is prepared from sugar-cane.
The chief exports are rice, gram, pulse, unrefined sugar, coco-nuts,
brass, and silk ; and the chief imj)orts are raw cotton, cotton piece-
goods, refined sugar, spices, nuts, iron, tobacco, kerosene oil, salt, and
copper. Purl town, .Satyabadi, PiplT, Balkati, Khurda, and Eanpur are
the centres of trade. Rice is shipped in considerable quantities from
Pur! for the Madras ports and for Colombo and Mauritius, the value
t)f the trade to Colombo and Mauritius in 1903-4 being 6-55 lakhs.
\\'ith this exception, nearly the whole of the external trade has been
absorbed by the railway. During the rains some traffic is carried up
and down the rivers in country boats. Trade is chiefly in the hands
of people of the Brahman, Teli, Guria, and Tanti castes.
The East Coast section of the Bengal-Nagpur Railway passes through
the entire length of the Khurda subdivision. A branch line 28 miles
long conects Purl town with Khurda Road station. The District is
well supplied with roads, the principal being the pilgrim road from
Cuttack to Purl, and the Cuttack-Ganjam road which traverses the
Khurda subdivision. These are linked together by two important
cross roads; namely, the metalled road from Pipli to Khurda, con-
necting these places with the railway at Khurda Road station, and
the Patnaika-Khurda road. All these roads are metalled. Other
important roads are those running westwards from Khurda to the
FAMINE 405
Central Provinces, and the road from Madhab to Pun via Gop, a con-
tinuation of the Cuttack District road, which takes off Irom the pilgrim
road at Madhab. The Cuttack-Puri and the Cuttack-Ganjaui roads,
with a length of 107^ miles, are maintained by the Public Works
department; while 108 miles of metalled and 114 miles of unmetalled
roads are under the control of the District board. The Kushbhadra,
Bhargavl, and Daya rivers are navigable for several months of the year.
The most important ferries are those where the Ganjam and Puri trunk
roads cross the large rivers.
The greatest famine within living memory is that of 1866, which
was felt with more intensity in Puri than in either Cuttack or Balasore.
In i86q the rice crop had utterlv failed. The rainfall
in the District averages about 58 inches ; but in that
year only 36-3 inches fell, of which 5-2 inches fell in September
and none at all subsequently. The local supply of rice was wholly
inadequate, and prices rose rapidly. Government was compelled to
im[)ort rice; but in June, 1866, it was selling at 6 seers a rupee, and
even when supplies of rice began to find their way into the District,
the quantities received were so small that it was impossible to carry
on the relief operations without a break. In August the widespread
distress was aggravated by a severe inundation, and the mortality
became appalling. The position began to improve in November, when
large supplies of rice were received, but in certain tracts gratuitous
relief had to be continued for many months longer. In October, 1866,
it was reported that 210,866 deaths had occurred during the year.
These figures, imperfect as they ])robably are, give a mortality of no
less than 360 per 1,000. The total quantity of grain imported by
Government into Purl in 1866 amounted to 47,383 maunds ; of this,
16,626 maunds were gratuitously distributed and 5,940 were sold at
cheap rates. A sum of Rs. 1,03,000 was expended by the Public
^^^orks department in providing work for the distressed.
Scarcities have since occurred in 1884, 1885, 1888, and 1897.
During 1896 the rainfall was unseasonable and badly distributed, and
some parts of the District were visited by an insect pest. The area
affected was 365 square miles with a population of 102,000 persons,
chiefly near the Chilka Lake. Relief operations were opened in Feb-
ruary and closed in September, 1897. The total recorded mortality
during this period was 4,231 ; Rs. 21,000 was spent on relief, of which
Rs. 18,000 was contributed from charitable funds. The number of
persons relieved was 42,455. In addition Rs. 15,000 was advanced
to the Raja of Parikud for the repairs of the embankments in his
estate, and Rs. 18,000 was distributed in loans to the cultivators to
enable them to sow their lands ; Rs. 80,000 of revenue was remitted, and
suspensions of the demand were granted to the extent of Rs. 65,000.
4o6 PURI DISTRICT
For administrative purposes the District is divided into two subdivi-
sions, with head-quarters at PuRi and Khurda. The administrative
staff at Purl, subordinate to the District Magistrate-
Collector, consists of three Deputy-Magistrate-Col-
lectors ; the subdivisional officer of Khurda is a Deputy-Magistrate-
Collector, and he is assisted by a Deputy-Collector and a Sub-Deputy-
Collector. An Inspector of salt is stationed at Purl, and a Deputy-
Conservator of Forests at Khurda.
The District and Sessions Judge is also Judge of Cuttack and
Balasore ; the only other civil court is that of a Munsif at Purl,
assisted occasionally by an additional Munsif from Cuttack. The
criminal courts include those of the Sessions Judge, the District
Magistrate, and the above-mentioned Deputy-Magistrates. The Oriyas
are generally a law-abiding people, and organized crime by professional
criminals is almost unknown ; it has hitherto been confined to the occa-
sional drugging and robbing of pilgrims on the road to Puri town, and
infrequent dacoity.
Under British rule the first settlement of land revenue, excluding
Khurda, was made in 1 804-5 ^^" the basis of the assessment papers ob-
tained from the record-keeper and sadr kdnungo of the Marathas. Purl
at this time formed part of the southern division of Orissa, or the tract
south of the Mahanadi. In 1837 a settlement was made for thirty years ;
this expired in 1867, but owing to the recent famine it was extended
till 1897 ; a new settlement for thirty years was then made with effect
from 1899, with a current demand of 3-77 lakhs. These figures, as
already stated, exclude the Khurda Government estate, the area of
which is 1,013 square miles, of which all but 42 square miles con-
stitute the Khurda subdivision. The current settlement is for fifteen
years from 1897 ; the demand from this estate is 3-27 lakhs. The
total land revenue demand of the District in 1903-4 was 7-27 lakhs,
of which Rs. r 0,000 was payable by 3 permanently settled estates,
2 -60 lakhs by 483 temporarily settled estates, and 4-57 lakhs by 4
estates held direct by Government. There are in many cases inter-
mediate tenure-holders with quasi-proprietary rights, known as viukad-
dams, padhdns, sardardhkdrs, and piirsct/iis, who are survivals of the
tenures existing before the first British settlement, described in the
article on Cuttack District. The average area held by a ryot is
about 2 acres, and the incidence of rent per acre is Rs. i-ro in
the Khurda estate, and Rs. 1-11-7 in the remainder of the District,
the average rate varying from Rs. 1-7-3 ^^^ non-occupancy ryots to
Rs. 1-15-5 for settled and occupancy ryots; the rate on homestead
lands is Rs. 6-9-8 per acre.
The following table shows the collections of land revenue and of
total revenue (principal heads only), in thousands of rupees : —
ADMINISTRATION 407
1880-1. i8go-i. igoo-i. 1903-4.
Land revenue . . . 4,64 6,56
Total revenue . . . 6,44 9,16
7,74 7,51
11,41 11,77
Outside the municipality of Puri, the management of local affairs
rests with the District board, to which subdivisional local boards are
subordinate. In 1903-4 its income was Rs. 82,000, of which Rs. 35,000
was derived from rates ; and the expenditure was Rs. 85,000, including
Rs. 40,000 spent on public works and Rs. 30,000 on education.
The District contains 6 police stations and 19 outposts. In 1903 the
force subordinate to the District Superintendent consisted of 3 inspec-
tors, 32 sub-inspectors, 31 head constables, and 380 constables; there
was, in addition, a rural police force of 211 daffaddrs and 2,149
chankiddrs. The District jail at Purl has accommodation for 126
prisoners, and a subsidiary jail at Khurda for 10.
In 1901, 6-2 per cent, of the population (13-9 males and 0-4 females)
could read and write. The number of pupils under instruction was
about 20,000 in 1884, 20,964 in 1892-3, and 20,902 in 1900-1. In
1903-4, 24,342 boys and 2,442 girls were at school, being respec-
tively 32-0 and 3-1 per cent, of the children of school-going age.
The number of educational institutions, public and private, in that
year was 2,033, including 22 secondary, 1,384 primary, and 627 special
schools. The chief educational institution is the Purl District school.
For the education of aborigines and depressed tribes four lower
primary schools are maintained. The expenditure on education was
Rs. 1,22,000, of which Rs. 17,000 was met from Provincial funds,
Rs. 30,000 from District funds, Rs. 1,150 from municipal funds, and
Rs. 62,000 from fees.
In 1903 the District contained ir dispensaries, of which 8 had ac-
commodation for 150 in-patients; the cases of 53,000 out-patients and
1,200 in-patients were treated, and 2,000 operations were performed.
The expenditure was Rs. 17,000, of which Rs. 1,600 was met from
Government contributions, Rs. 12,000 from Local and Rs. 4,000 from
municipal funds, and Rs. 700 from subscriptions.
The District often suffers severely from small-pox, the average death-
rate from this cause during the last quinquennium being 2-24 per 1,000.
Vaccination is compulsory only in Purl municipality. The people
generally are averse to vaccination, but in spite of this the number
of successful vaccinations rose in 1903-4 to 48,000, or 49 per 1,000
of the population.
[B. K. Ghosh, History of Purl witJi an Accoioit of Jagannath (Cut-
tack, 1848); W. W. Hunter, Orissa (1872), and Statistical Account
of Bengal, vol. xviii (1877); W. H. Lee, History of Puri (Calcutta,
4o8 PURI DISTRICT
1898), and Inscriptions in the District of Piiri (Cuttack, 1898);
J. Taylor, Settlement Report of Khurda Estate (Calcutta, 1900);
S. L. Maddox, Settlement Report of Orissa (Calcutta, 1900).]
Puri Subdivision. — Head-quarters subdivision of Purl District,
Bengal, lying between 19° 28' and 20° 23' N. and 85° 8' and 86° 25' E.,
with an area of 1,528 square miles. The population in 1901 was
658,048, compared with 613,575 in 1891, the density being 431 per-
sons per square mile. The subdivision forms the south-western section
of the Mahanadi delta, and consists almost entirely of alluvial country
stretching from the Eastern Ghats to the Bay of Bengal. It contains
one town, Puri (population, 49,334), its head-quarters; and 1,889
villages. The famous temple of Jagannath is situated in Purl town,
while other important antiquities are the black pagoda at Konarak
and the Asoka inscription at Dhauli. The Chilka Lake in the south-
west corner of the subdivision occupies about one-fifth of its total area.
Puri To"wn. — Head-quarters of Purl District, Bengal, situated in
19° 48' N. and 85° 49' E., on the coast. It is celebrated as the site
of the great temple of Jagannath, by which name it is commonly known.
The population, which was 22,695 in 1872 and 22,095 ^^"^ i88r, increased
to 28,794 in 1891 and to 49,334 in 1901. During the great festivals
the population is swollen by many thousands of pilgrims, and on the
occasion of the Census of 1901 over 17,000 were present in the
town. The ordinary resident population is therefore about 32,000.
The number of houses in 1901 was 7,521. Puri was constituted a
municipality in 1881. The income during the decade ending 190 1-2
averaged Rs. 44,000, and the expenditure Rs. 36,000. In 1903-4 the
income was Rs. 61,000, of which Rs. 19,000 was derived from a tax on
houses and lands (or property tax) and Rs. 12,000 from a conservancy
rate ; and the expenditure was Rs. 47,000.
Purl is a city of lodging-houses, being destitute alike of manufactures
or commerce on any considerable scale. The streets are mean and
narrow, with the exception of the principal avenue which leads from the
temple to the country liouse of Jagannath. The houses are built of
wattle covered with clay, raised on platforms of hard mud about 4 feet
high, and many of them gaily painted with Hindu god^ or with scenes
from the Sanskrit epics. The intervening sandhills between the town
and the beach intercept the drainage, and aggravate the diseases to
which the overcrowding of the pilgrims gives rise. A number of
measures have recently been taken for the improvement of the sani-
tary condition of the town. To prevent overcrowding, iron sheds and
resthouses have been erected for the accommodation of excess pilgrims ;
arrangements are being made to shelter indigent lepers ; steps have
been taken to clean the Swetganga tank by means of a pulsometer
pump, and the water is used to flush the drains along the Baradand :
PURf TOWX 4og
and a complete drainage scheme for the town is in contemplation.
The opening of the railway has greatly mitigated the dangers of the
journey. Formerly thousands of pilgrims used to die annually upon the
road from exhaustion and want of food. But now pilgrims visit Purl
at all times during the year, and this has affected the number that flock
to the town during the two chief festivals. Moreover, many pilgrims
now hasten away as soon as the gods have left the temple and the
dragging of the cars has commenced. For the poorer pilgrims who have
to make the journey on foot, pilgrim hospitals have been opened along
the main lines of road, and a medical patrol has been established in the
vicinity of the holy city. The great difficulty has been to check the
overcrowding in Purl town, but much good has resulted from the work-
ing of the Purl Lodging-house Act (Bengal Act IV of 187 i).
The Government offices stand on the beach, with a sandy ridge
between them and the town. The site is salubrious, and the monsoon
blows so fresh and cool from the sea that in former days the officials
from Cuttack used regularly to come to Purl during the hot season.
During the rains it is less healthy. The District jail has accommodation
for 126 prisoners, who are employed on oil-pressing and the manufacture
of coir yarn. The chief educational institutions are the District school,
to which is attached a hostel for non-resident students, the Haras Chandi
Sahi middle school for the sons of the pandas or priests of Jagannath,
and the Purl Sanskrit school.
The shrine of Jagannath is the region of pilgrimage beloved of
Vishnu, known to every hamlet throughout India as the abode of
Jagannath, the ' Lord of the World.' According to tradition, Jagannath
made his first historical appearance in the year A. D. 318, when the
priests fled with the sacred image and left an empty city to Rakta
Bahu and his buccaneers. For \\ centuries the idol remained buried
in the western jungles, till a pious prince drove out the foreigners and
brought back the deity. Three times it has been buried in the Chilka
Lake ; and whether the invaders were pirates from the sea or the
devouring cavalry of Afghanistan, the first thing that the people saved
was their god. The true source of Jagannath's undying hold upon the
Hindu race consists in the fact that he is the god of the people.
The poor outcast learns that there is a city on the far eastern shore,
in which priest and peasant are equal in the presence of the ' Lord of
the World.' In the courts of Jagannath and outside the Lion Gate
thousands of pilgrims every year join in the sacrament of eating the
holy food, the sanctity of which overleaps all barriers of caste, for
a Purl priest will receive food even from a low-caste Hindu. The
worship of Jagannath aims at a Catholicism which embraces every form
of Indian belief and every Indian conception of the deity. He is
Vishnu under whatever form and by whatever title men call upon his
410 PURl TOWN
name. The fetishism of the aboriginal races, the nature-worship of
the Vedas, and the lofty spiritualism of the great Indian reformers,
have alike found refuge here. Besides thus representing Vishnu in
all his manifestations, the priests have superadded the worship of the
other members of the Hindu trinity in their various shapes, and the
disciple of every Hindu sect can find his beloved rites and some form
of his chosen deity within the sacred precincts.
It has been supposed that the worship of Jagannalh is an adaptation
by the Brahmans of some Buddhist cult. Puri probably was the
original place where the famous tooth relic of Buddha was worshipped ;
and it is noticeable that the wooden image of Jagannath contains
a certain article, about which the priests maintain perfect silence, and
which is never replaced by another new piece, whenever the image is
renewed. The crude form of the images of Jagannath, his brother
Balaram, and his sister Subhadra, with their round shapeless heads and
their arms represented by stumps only, strangely resembles the
Buddhist symbol of a wheel supported by a trisiila or trident. The
abolition of caste rules in regard to the mahdprasdd, or the sacred
food cooked in the temple, recalls the protest of Buddhism against
caste prejudices. In some modern representations of the ten incarna-
tions of Vishnu, the place of the ninth or Buddha incarnation (avatar)
is occasionally occupied by the figure of Jagannath.
The temple appears to have been built by king Choda Ganga in
the second half of the twelfth century, not, as tradition has it, by
Ananga Bhlma. It soon became famous, and the devotion of centuries
has made Jagannath a very wealthy god ; the income was estimated in
1877 at more than 7 lakhs, though the temple authorities deny that it
reaches anything like so high a figure and allege that it is only a little
over one lakh. The immediate attendants on the god are divided
into 36 orders and 97 classes, at the head of whom is the Raja of
Khurda, the representative of the ancient royal house of Orissa, who
takes upon himself the lowly office of sweeper to Jagannath. Decora-
tors of the idol, priests of the wardrobe, cooks, dancing-girls, grooms,
and artisans of every sort follow. A special department keeps up the
temple records, and affords a literary asylum to a few learned men.
The sacred enclosure is nearly in the form of a square, 652 feet long
by 630 broad. The interior is protected from profane eyes by
a massive stone wall 20 feet high. Within rise about 120 temples
dedicated to the various forms in which the Hindu mind has imagined
its god. But the great pagoda is the one dedicated to Jagannath.
Its conical tower rises like an elaborately carved sugar-loaf, 192 feet
high and surmounted by the mystic wheel and flag of Vishnu. Outside
the principal entrance, or Lion Gate, in the square where the pilgrims
chiefly throng, is an exquisite monolithic pillar, which stood for
PUR I TOWN 411
centuries before the temple of the Sun at Konarak. The temple of
Jagannath consists of four chambers, communicating with each other :
namely, the hall of offerings ; the pillared hall for the musicians and
dancing-girls ; the hall of audience ; and lastly the sanctuary itself,
containing rude images of Jagannath, his brother Balaram, and his
sister Subhadra. The service of the temple consists partly in a daily
round of oblations, and partly in sumptuous ceremonials at stated
periods throughout the year. The offerings are bloodless ; but, never-
theless, within the sacred enclosure is a shrine to Bimala, the stainless
queen of the All-Destroyer, who is annually adored with bloody
sacrifices.
Twenty-four festivals are held, consisting chiefly of Vaishnavite
commem.orations, but freely admitting the ceremonials of other sects.
The car festival, which takes place in June or July, is the chief event
of the year. The great car is 45 feet in height and 35 feet square,
and is supported on 16 wheels of 7 feet diameter. The brother and
sister of Jagannath have separate cars a few feet smaller. When the
sacred images are at length brought forth and placed upon their
chariots, thousands fall on their knees and bow their foreheads in the
dust. The vast multitude shouts with one throat, and surging back-
wards and forwards, drags the wheeled edifices down the broad street
towards the country house of the god. Music strikes up before and
behind, drums beat, cymbals clash, the priests harangue from the cars,
and singers engaged for the purpose chant coarse songs to induce
the crowd to pull vigorously. The distance from the temple to the
country house is about a mile ; but as the heavy structures have no
contrivance to guide them and the wheels sink into the sand which in
some places covers the road, the journey sometimes takes several days.
The cars are dragged from the temple to the country house by the
assembled pilgrims and by some of the townspeople who hold revenue-
free lands granted to them as remuneration for the work ; when the
pilgrims are insufificient to drag the cars back, coolies are engaged
from the neighbouring villages. In 1904 the pilgrims alone pulled
the cars to the country house in four hours and brought them back
again to the temple without such assistance. In a closely packed
eager throng of 100,000 men and women, many of them unaccus-
tomed to exposure or labour, and all of them tugging and straining
at the cars to the utmost under a blazing sun, deaths must occa-
sionally happen. At one time several people were killed or injured
every year, but these were almost invariably the result of accidental
trampling. The few cases of suicide that did occur were for the most
part those of diseased and miserable objects, who took this means to
put themselves out of pain. The ofificial returns place this beyond
doubt. Nothing, indeed, could be more opposed to the spirit of
VOL. XX. D d
412 PURI TOWN
Vishnu-worship than self-immolation. Accidental death within the
temple renders the whole place unclean.
The pandas or temple priests employ a body of emissaries, number-
ing about 3,000 men, who wander from village to village within their
allotted beats, preaching pilgrimage as the liberation from sin; they
travel through India in this way, enlisting pilgrims and receiving
a commission for so doing. Nothing can exceed the liberality of the
pilgrims to their spiritual guides ; but it is to be feared that this
liberality is preyed upon, and that many pilgrims are in a state of
destitution before the time comes for them to turn their backs upon
the holy city and set their faces once more homewards. In 1902 a
fund was started for the relief of destitute pilgrims. It has now been
placed on a permanent basis, and is managed by a committee of five
non-official and three official members. The District Magistrate is the
president of the committee ; Government makes an annual grant equal
to the amount that is raised by subscriptions and donations, subject to
a maximum of Rs. 1,000 a year. The object of the fund is to afford
relief to destitute pilgrims, especially in the shape of travelling and
diet expenses, and thus enable them to return to their homes.
The town contains several ancient tanks, which are regarded as
tlrthas or sacred places and in which the pilgrims bathe from religious
motives. On its western outskirts, at a distance of about 2 miles from
the Great Temple, stands the sacred temple of Loknath, or ' Lord of
Regions.' The divinity is held in very great esteem by the people of
the District, and the place is largely visited.
[^Sir W. W. Hunter, Orissa, vol. i, pp. 81-167. J
Purna (the ancient Payoshni). — River of Berar, having its source
in the Gawilgarh hills, in 21° 36' N. and 77° 36' E. After flowing for
about 50 miles in a south-westerly direction, it runs in a westerly
course, about midway between the Gawilgarh and Balaghat hills,
draining the central valley of Berar. Its tributaries from the northern
range of hills are the Bichan, the Shahnur, the Sapan, the Palor, the
Chandrabhaga, the Mohasli, and the Bhan ; and from the southern
range the Kata Purna, the Murna, the Mun, the Bordi, the Ghan, the
Biswa (Vishvaganga), and the Nalganga. The Puma is the boundary
between the Daryapur, Akot, and Jalgaon td/iiks on the north, and the
Murtazapur, Akola, Balapur, Khamgaon, and Malkapur taluks on the
south. It ultimately falls into the Tapti.
Purnea District. — District in the Bhagalpur Division of Bengal,
lying between 25° 15' and 26° 35' N. and 87° o' and 88° 32' E., with
an area of 4,994 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the
State of Nepal and Darjeeling District; on the east by Jalpaiguri,
Dinajpur, and Malda ; on the west by the District of Bhagalpur ;
and on the south by the Ganges, which separates it from the Santal
PURNEA DISTRICT 413
Parganas and from South Bhagalpur. The District lies therefore at
the eastern extremity of the submontane tract known as North Bihar,
which is wedged in between the Ganges and Nepal. Purnca originally
belonged to Bengal, the river Kosi forming the eastern boundary of
the sub-province of Bihar ; but, in common with the rest of the
Bhagalpur Division, the District now forms part of Bihar.
Lying towards the eastern limit of the Gangetic plain, Purnea
presents an almost dead level, with the exception of a few tracts of
undulating country in the north, bordering on Nepal,
and a small hill of nodular limestone {kankar) near asoects
Manihari in the south, an outlying spur of the Chota
Nagpur plateau. The east of the District is intersected by rivers and
natural drainage channels, which give access to all parts of this tract
during the rainy season ; and the rice swamps are never completely
dry. The w6st, on the other hand, is a sandy grass country seamed
by old channels of the Kosi river, which is constantly changing its bed
and is now steadily trending westwards. Wherever it goes, the Kosi
covers its banks with a thick deposit of sand during its annual
inundations ; and the consequence is that this part of the District is
comparatively little cultivated, though it affords pasturage for vast
herds of cattle.
The rivers are all tributary to the Ganges, the largest being the
Kosi, the Mahananda, and the Panar. The Panar is formed by
the confluence of several hill streams from Nepal, and roughly marks
the boundary line between the arable land in the east and the pasture
land in the west. It receives several tributaries on its left bank, and
sends off the Monain and Bhishna from its right bank, eventually
joining the Ganges in the south-east corner of the District. Of the
other rivers, the most important are the Saura, which, rising in the
north-west of the District, flows past the Purnea town and joins the
Ganges near Manihari ; and the Kankai, the principal tributary of
the Mahananda.
The District is covered by alluvial deposits, consisting in the east
of a rich loam, while in the west the country is deeply overlaid with
sand deposited by the Kosi.
In the east, where the ground is not occupied by the usual crops of
North Bengal, it is covered by an abundant natural vegetation. Old
river-beds, ponds, and marshes, and streams with a sluggish current
have a copious vegetation of Vallisneria and other plants. Land
subject to inundation has usually a covering of Tamarix and reedy
grasses ; and in some parts, where the ground is more or less marshy,
Rosa involiicrata is plentiful. Few trees occur on these inundated
lands ; the most plentiful and the largest is Barrinf:;tonia aaitangula.
Though the District contains no forests, this part of it is well timbered,
D d 2
414 PURNEA DISTRICT
but the sandy western prairies are nearly treeless. Mango groves are
a common feature, and several species of Ficus are also numerous.
The villages are generally embedded in thickets or shrubberies of
semi-spontaneous and more or less useful trees.
Wild hog and hog deer abound ; there are also a few leopards and
wild buffaloes, and tigers are occasionally met with.
There are no extremes of temperature ; the mean is 62° in January,
rising to 75° in March and reaching 84°, its highest point, in May.
The lowest mean minimum is 48° in January and the highest mean
maximum 95° in April. Rainfall commences early and is heavy, the
annual fall being 71 inches, of which 13-1 inches fall in June, 17-7 in
July, 15-8 in August, and 12-9 in September. Destructive floods, due
to the overflow of the Ganges, Kosi, and Mahananda, occur almost
annually in the south and east of the District. The earthquake of
1897 was severely felt and caused great damage to masonry houses.
The Mahananda river traditionally marks the farthest eastern limit
of the extension of Aryan influence, and the early history of this
District is confused by the struggles which ensued
between the western invaders and the aboriginal
inhabitants. It is probable that the north of the District was overrun
by the Nepalese and other hillmen, until it was finally conquered by
Saif Khan in the seventeenth century. According to the Mahabharata,
the Mahananda formed the boundary between the kingdom of Anga
on the west and Pundra or Paundravardhana, the country of the Pods,
whose capital was at Mahasthan in Bogra District. During the ninth
century the Pal dynasty rose to power in the country formerly known
as Pundra and Anga, and the monolith near Darara factory, in the west
of the District, probably dates from this period. In the beginning
of the thirteenth century the south of the District is said to have
constituted part of the kingdom of Lakshman Sen, whose capital was
at Nadia, and to have been conquered by Muhammad-i-Bakhtyar
KhiljI. In the early days of Mughal rule Purnea was an outlying
military province of the Mughal empire, and its revenues were almost
consumed in protecting its borders against the incursions of the wild
tribes from the north and east. Early in the seventeenth century
a faujdar was appointed with the title of Nawab, who united with the
command of the frontier army the fiscal duties of dmil or superintendent
of the revenues. At this time the northern frontier was at Jalalgarh,
a frontier fort only a few miles north of Purnea town. In 1722 the
post o{ faujdar was held by Saif Khan, the greatest of the governors of
Purnea, who extended the frontier on all sides, driving the Nepalese
30 miles northward to the present frontier and taking possession of the
Dharampur pargatia, which thfen lay west of the Kosi and was included
in the sarkdr of Monghyr. One of his successors, Shaukat Jang,
POPULA Tioy
415
declared war against Siraj-ud-daula, the Nawab of Bengal ; and the
latter, flushed with his recent capture of Calcutta, marched in 1757 to
Purnea and gained a great victory at Nawabganj.
The District came into the possession of the British in 1765, along
with the rest of Bengal ; but it remained in a state of anarchy until
1770, when an English official was appointed with the title of Super-
intendent. Its present area has been arrived at gradually after the
transfer of large portions to create the District of Malda, and more
recently to consolidate Bhagalpur upon the western frontier. During
the Mutiny two parties of mutineers entered Purnea, but were forced
out into Nepal by the energetic action of the Commissioner, Mr. George
Yule, before they could do any mischief. There are ruins of old forts
at Benugarh, Asurgarh, Darara, Sikligarh, Jalalgarh and elsewhere.
The population of the present area increased from 1,714,995 in
1872 to 1,849,073 in 1881, and to 1,944,658 in 1891, but fell to
1,874,794 in 1901. The decrease of 3-6 per cent,
during the last decade is attributable to the general
unhealthiness of the District, and especially to the two great cholera
epidemics of 1891 and 1900, the latter of which accounted for over
46,000 deaths, or 24 per 1,000 of the population ; while the total
recorded death-rate in the same year reached the appalling figure of
56 per 1,000. During the years 1 892-1 900 the reported deaths
exceeded the births by more than 38,000. Fever is the chief cause
of the mortality ; a peculiar form known as ka/adnkha, whose
characteristic symptom is pigmentation of the skin, is apparently of
malarial origin and is extremely malevolent. Goitre and deaf-mutism
are prevalent along the course of the Kamla river.
The table below gives particulars of population for each subdivision
in 1901 : —
Population.
Subdivision.
a
a
c~
— c
rt -
<
Number of
Population.
Population per
square mile.
Percentage of
variation in
population be-
tween i8<;i
and IQOI.
Number of
persons able to
read and
write.
c
0
H
Villages.
Purnea .
Araria .
Kishanganj
District total
2>57i
1,077
1,346
2
I
1,528
600
1,227
838,333
416,985
619,476
326
387
460
375
- 2.6
-3.6
-4.8
25,210
13,893
16,488
4,994
3
3,355
1,874,794
-3.6
55,591
The three towns are Purnea, the head-quarters, Kishanganj, and
the important railway junction of Katihar. The density is less than
in any other Bihar District. The only fMna which showed an in-
crease during the decade ending 1901 was Saifganj, which owes its
development of 28-6 per cent, to the growing importance of Katihar.
4r6
PURNEA DISTRICT
With this exception, the decline is greatest in the thanas in the east,
especially in Balarampur, which is studded with marshes unfit for
cultivation and is already the most sparsely populated thatia in the
District. Numerous graziers from the Bihar Districts, particularly
from Bhagalpur, feed their cattle during the cold-season months on
the splendid pasture-lands to be found on the left bank of the Kosi
river. The Mahananda river forms a linguistic boundary between
Hindi on the west and Bengali on the east ; and the Census figures,
which" return 94-6 per cent, of the population as Hindi-speaking and
only 5 per cent, as Bengali-speaking, are not reliable. Dr. Grierson
estimates that a third of the inhabitants speak Bengali, and this is
probably correct. The Mahananda is also a religious boundary, as
Musalmans number two-thirds of the inhabitants east of this river,
but west of it less than one-third. Of the total population, Hindus
(1,080,091) constitute 57-6 per cent, and Muhammadans (793,672)
42-3 per cent. In 1901 the number of native Christians was 134.
The majority of the Muhammadans are returned as Shaikhs
(671,000) ; and these, together with the Jolaha and Dhunia functional
castes, are doubtless the descendants of converts from the aboriginal
Rajbansis or Kochs '(io3)Ooo) of North Bengal, who are still very
numerous east of the Mahananda. Ahirs and Goalas number 125,000,
and most of the other great Bengal and Bihar castes are largely
represented. The Kishanganj subdivision is the home of the Gangai
or Ganesh (42,000), who are especially numerous along the course of
the Kankai river. Of the population, 71 per cent, are supported by
agriculture, 12 per cent, by industries, 0-5 per cent, by commerce,
and 0-6 per cent by the professions.
Owing to the extensive pasturage, the proportion of arable land is
far below the average of the neighbouring Districts.
The agricultural statistics for 1903-4 are shown
below, areas being in square miles : —
Agriculture.
Subdivision.
Total.
Cultivated.
Cultivable
waste.
Pumea ....
Araria ....
Kishanganj
Total
2>57I
i>o77
I, .346
1,568
421
955
531
171
135
4.994
2,944
837
Rice is the principal crop, and is grown on 1,910 square miles, or
65 per cent, of the net area cropped, winter rice covering 40 per cent,
and autumn rice 25 per cent. Pulses and oilseeds, principally mustard,
of which the District is one of the largest producers, are extensively
grown, each crop covering 9 per cent, of the net cultivated area, while
indigo and tobacco occupy 23,000 and 31,000 acres respectively. The
TRADE AND COMMUNICATIONS 417
cultivation of indigo, which is grown mainly in the south and west,
is on the decline, but tobacco and jute are gaining ground. Jute
covers 3 per cent, of the net cropped area, being grown principally in
the north and east.
Cultivation is gradually increasing, and within the last thirty years
a large amount of waste land has been brought under the plough. The
cultivators are on the whole well-to-do, and Government loans are
rarely needed; Rs. 9,000, however, was advanced in 1892-3 in con-
sequence of a partial failure of the crops.
The local cattle are small and feeble ; but good cart-bullocks are
imported from Chapra and Tirhut, the principal markets being the
Khagra, Shahpara, Islampur, and Madanpur fairs in this District, and
the Alawakhawa fair in Dinajpur. There are also large cattle markets
at IchamatT, Phulbaria (near Kasba), Phulbaria (near Biblganj), and
Gandharbdanga. In the vast grass prairies on the banks of the Kosi
and Ganges, fine buffaloes are bred in large numbers, the are7n or
long-horned variety, which is said to contain a strain of the wild
buffalo, being more common in the south and the bhangris or short-
horns in the north.
Rough coloured cloths, known as phoias, cart-wheels, mats, and
gunny-bags are manufactured in the Kishanganj subdivision, the last
being of superior quality and largely exported ; rough
but durable blankets are woven by a colony of communkTtfons.
Gareris at Katihar. The art-ware known as bidri is
manufactured, in the shape of Jmkka stands, bottles, and plates, from
an alloy of brass inlaid with silver ; but the industry is declining, being
now confined to a few famiHes in the neighbourhood of Purnea and
Kasba. Indigo is still the most important manufacture, and there are
about twenty-five factories in the District; but the area under cultiva-
tion has much contracted in recent years, and the out-turn in 1903-4
amounted to only 256 tons. Five jute presses, two of which are
worked by steam, give employment to about 200 operatives.
The chief exports are rice and food-grains, jute, oilseeds (especially
mustard seed), and tobacco ; and the chief imports are rice and paddy
from Dinajpur, food-grains, sugar, salt, European piece-goods, kerosene
oil, and gunny-bags from Calcutta, sugar and country-made cloths from
the United Provinces (chiefly Mirzapur, Azamgarh, and Ghazipur), and
coal. The chief centres of trade are Forbesganj, Raniganj, Kasba,
Purnea, Katihar, Barsoi, Kishanganj, and Kharkhari, all except
Raniganj and Kharkhari being situated on the railway, which conveys
the bulk of the traffic. The trans-frontier trade with Nepal is carried by
carts, coolies, and pack-animals, the principal imports from Nepal being
rice and paddy, jute, gunny-bags, mustard seed, and timber, and the
chief exports salt, sugar, kerosene oil, cotton twist, and piece-goods.
4t8 PURNEA district
The Bihar section of the Eastern Bengal State Railway (metre gauge)
traverses the District from Kachna on the border of Dinajpur to Mani-
harl on the Ganges, connecting with the Bengal and North-Western
Railway at Katihar. A branch line runs from Barsoi to Kishanganj,
and a second branch from Katihar via Purnea and Forbesganj to the
Kosi at Anchra Ghat. The chief road is the Ganges-Darjeeling road
from the Ganges at Karagola to Titalya in Jalpaigurl, which is metalled
throughout its length of 105 miles. This is a Provincial road but is
maintained by the District board, which keeps up in all 2,234 miles of
roads, of which 120 miles are metalled and 424 are village tracks. The
most important of these are the road from Jankinagar to Abadpur, pass-
ing through Purnea, Kadba, and Barsoi, and that from Pathardewa to
Maniharl through Forbesganj, Araria, Purnea, and Katihar. The
steamers of the Ganges service of the India General Steam Naviga-
tion Company touch at Maniharl in the south of the District, and
connect at Sakrigali with the East Indian Railway.
The District is not especially liable to famine, but in the great
Bengal famine of 1770 more than a third of the inhabitants are
said to have perished. There was scarcity in 1874, when relief was
afforded on a lavish scale.
For administrative purposes the District is divided into three sub-
divisions, with head-quarters at Purnea, Kishanganj, and Basantpur.
. . . The District Magistrate-Collector is assisted by a staff
of five Deputy-Magistrate-Collectors. The subdivi-
sional officers at Basantpur and Kishanganj are usually Deputy-Magis-
trates, though the latter, who is assisted by a Sub-Deputy-Magistrate,
is occasionally a Civilian.
The civil courts are those of five Munsifs, two stationed at Kishan-
ganj, and the others at Purnea, Basantpur, and Katihar ; and of a Sub-
Judge subordinate to the District and Sessions Judge, who is ex officio
a special judge under the Bengal Tenancy Act. For criminal work,
apart from the Sessions court, there are normally five courts of magis-
trates at Purnea, two at Kishanganj, and one at Basantpur. Dacoity
and burglary are prevalent crimes.
In 1760, shortly before the British took over the administration of
the District, the land revenue demand was fixed at 21 lakhs, of which
1-64 lakhs was allotted for collection, garrison, and other charges. In
1764 the demand was reduced to 18 lakhs, and on the Company's
occupation it dropped to 15 lakhs, and in 1793 to 12^ lakhs. With
a few unimportant exceptions, the whole of the District is permanently
settled. In 1903-4 the current demand was 11-79 lakhs, payable by
1,702 estates, the incidence being R. 0-8-9 P^^" cultivated acre, or
27 per cent, of the rental. Settlement proceedings under the Tenancy
Act are in progress in Surjyapur pargana, which is nearly coterminous
ADMINISTRA TION
419
with the Kishanganj subdivision, and are being extended to the whole
District. Many of the proprietors are absentees ; and they frequently
experience great difficulty in recovering their rents, as the cultivators
are independent, and prone to combine against their landlords. This
has led to a great extension of the farming system, especially in the east
of the District, where five-year leases are common. A peculiar tenure,
known as the gdch, is prevalent in the Kishanganj subdivision. This
tenure was originally a grant of an undefined area of jungle land at a low
rental, to encourage reclamation ; but it tends to become hereditary.
Rents vary widely in different parts of the District, the prevailing rates
ranging between 7 annas and 14 annas per acre in the Kadba /rt?-^a««
and between Rs. 2 and Rs. 6-4 in the Surjyapur/«?'^rt«rt ; while for the
best jute and tobacco lands as much as Rs. 30 per acre is sometimes
paid.
The following table shows the collections of land revenue and of
total revenue (principal heads only), in thousands of rupees : —
1880-1.
1890-1.
1900-1.
1903-4-
Land revenue .
Total revenue .
11,70
17,89
12,60
20,30
11,69
20,93
22,16
Outside the municipalities of Purnea and Kishanganj, local affairs
are managed by a District board, to which local boards for the three
subdivisions are subordinate. In 1903-4 its income was Rs. 2,22,000,
of which Rs. 1,13,000 was derived from rates; and the expenditure
was Rs. 2,35,000, including Rs. 1,54,000 spent on public works.
An embankment constructed by the Gondwara indigo concern pro-
tects the east bank of the Kosi, and a small Government embankment
has been constructed at Belwa to restrain the Panar from encroaching
westwards. The Kosi is spanned near Kursela by a railway bridge
which is an excellent piece of engineering work, and there is a fine
railway bridge over the Mahananda near Barsoi.
The District contains 15 police stations and 26 outposts. The force
under the District Superintendent in 1903 consisted of 4 inspectors,
52 sub-inspectors, 40 head constables, and 485 constables; the rural
police numbered 4,801 chauklddrs and 493 daffaddrs. The District
jail at Purnea town has accommodation for 246 prisoners, and sub-
jails at Kishanganj and Basantpur for 40.
Education is exceptionally backward, as only 3-0 per cent, of the
population (5-7 males and o-i females) could read and write in 1901.
The number of pupils under instruction increased from 15,483 in
1892-3 to 18,967 in 1901-2. In 1903-4, 23,098 boys and 3,551
girls were at school, being respectively i6-o and 2.5 per cent, of
those of school-going age. The number of educational institutions,
420 PURNEA DISTRICT
public and private, in that year was 1,084, including 16 secondary,
918 primary, and 150 special schools. The expenditure on education
was Rs, 1,29,000, of which Rs. 9,000 was met from Provincial funds,
Rs. 39,000 from District funds, Rs. 1,100 from municipal funds, and
Rs. 49,000 from fees.
In 1903 the District contained 17 dispensaries, of which six had
accommodation for 59 in-patients. The cases of 66,000 out-patients
and 704 in-patients were treated during the year, and 1,851 operations
were performed. The expenditure was Rs. 24,000 and the income
Rs. 34,000, of which Rs. 3,000 was derived from Government contribu-
tions, Rs. 7,000 from Local and Rs. 4,000 from municipal funds, and
Rs. 14,000 from subscriptions.
Vaccination is compulsory only within the Purnea and Kishanganj
municipalities. The number of successful operations in 1903-4 was
61,000, or 33-2 per 1,000 of the population.
[M. Martin, Eastern India, vol.iii (1838) ; Sir W. W. Hunter, Statis-
tical Account of Bengal, vol. xv (1877).]
Purnea Subdivision. — Head-quarters subdivision of Purnea Dis-
trict, Bengal, lying between 25*^ 15' and 26° Y N. and 87° o' and
87° 56' E., with an area of 2,571 square miles. The subdivision is a
low-lying alluvial tract, bounded on the south by the Ganges. The west
is liable to inundation from the Kosi river, and part of the east from the
Mahananda, which have covered large areas with sterile sand ; to the
south there are numerous swamps. The population in 1901 was
838,333, compared with 861,194 in 1891, the decrease being due to
general unhealthiness, and to a serious epidemic of cholera which took
place in 1900. It contains two towns, Purnea (population, 14,007), the
head-quarters, and the important railway junction of Katihar (9,761);
and 1,528 villages. It is the most sparsely populated subdivision in
North Bihar, the density being only 326 per square mile. The chief
markets are at Purnea, Katihar, Kasba, Phulbaria, IchamatT, and
Barsoi ; and a fair of long standing is held at Karagola.
Purnea Town. — Head-quarters of Purnea District, Bengal, situated
in 25° 46' N. and 87° 28' E., on the east bank of the Saura river. The
population in 1901 was 14,007; but it has declined steadily for many
years, owing to the unhealthiness consequent on the silting up of the
Kali Kosi river, which was once the bed of the Great Kosi. Purnea
was constituted a municipality in 1864. The income during the
decade ending 190 1-2 averaged Rs. 22,000, and the expenditure was
Rs. 19,000, a portion of which was devoted to a drainage scheme.
In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 35,000, of which Rs. 14,000 was de-
rived from a tax on houses and lands and Rs, 5,000 from a conser-
vancy rate ; and the expenditure was Rs. 28,000. The town contains
the usual public offices. The District jail has accommodation for
PURWA TAHSIL 42 r
246 prisoners ; and the principal jail industries are the manufacture
of carpets and mats, mustard oil, oil cake, and newdr or coarse tape.
The products are disposed of locally, except the nervar, which is sent
to the Buxar Central jail.
Purulia Subdivision. — Head-quarters subdivision of ManbhQm
District, Bengal, lying between 22° 43' and 23° 44' N. and 85° 49' and
86° 54' E., with an area of 3,344 square miles. The subdivision
occupies the declivity between the Chota Nagpur plateau and Western
Bengal. To the east it merges in the alluvial plains, but to the west
and south the country is more broken. This part of the subdivision
contains the Baghmundi and Dalma ranges of hills, the latter of which
separates it from Singhbhum. The population in 1901 was 1,024,242,
compared wth 971,894 in 1891, the density being 306 persons per
square mile. It contains three towns, Purulia (population, 17,291),
the head-quarters, Jhalida (4,877), and Raghunathpur (4,171); and
4,273 villages.
Purulia Town. — Head-quarters of Manbhum District, Bengal,
situated in 23° 20' N. and 86° 22' E., on the Sini-Asansol branch of
the Bengal-Nagpur Railway. Population (190 1), 17,291. Purulia was
constituted a municipahty in 1876. The income and expenditure
during the decade ending 1903-4 each averaged Rs. 22,000. In
1903-4 the income was Rs. 27,000, mainly derived from a tax on
persons (or property tax), a conservancy rate, and receipts from
markets; and the expenditure was Rs. 21,000. The town contains
the usual public ofifices, and a large leper asylum is situated in the
neighbourhood. The Inspector of Schools for the Chota Nagpur
Division is stationed here. The jail has accommodation for 276
prisoners, who are employed mainly on oil-pressing, aloe-pounding,
weaving, cane-work, and gardening.
Purushottapur. — Zamlnddri tahsll in the north of Ganjam District,
Madras, consisting of the Atagada Estate, and lying between 19° 30'
and 19° 52' N. and 84° 43' and 85° 2' E., with an area of 294 square
miles. It is bounded on the east by the Kallikota estate and on the
west by the Goomsur taluk. The population in 1901 was 102,396,
compared with 96,529 in 1891. They live in 270 villages. The
demand for land revenue and cesses in 1903-4 was Rs. 83,800.
The ^^'^vX-^-tahslIddr in charge resides outside the estate at Puru-
shottapur, in the adjoining taluk of Berhampur. Owing to its situation
close to the hills in the north, Atagada is perhaps the most favoured
area in the District for irrigation. Three streams — the Bhaguva, the
Jagati, and the Donnai — take their rise in these hills and traverse
almost the whole of the estate ; and as the land slopes gradually, it
lends itself admirably to the utilization of their water.
Purwa Tahsil. — South-eastern tahsil of Unao District, United
42 2 PURWA TAHSIL
Provinces, comprising the parganas of Purwa, Maurawan, Asoha,
Bhagwantnagar, Daundia Khera, Panhan, Bihar, Patan, Magrayar, and
Ghatampur, and lying between 26° 8' and 26° 36'' N. and 80° 34''
and 81° 3' E., with an area of 548 square miles. Population fell from
293,152 in 1891 to 290,910 in 1901. There are 513 villages, and
three towns, Purwa (population, 10,260), the tahs'il head-quarters,
and Maurawan (7,911) being the largest. The demand for land
revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 4,81,000, and for cesses Rs. 52,000. The
density of population, 531 persons per square mile, is a little below
the District average. Purwa lies between the Sai on the north and the
Ganges on the south, and is intersected by a small stream called the
LonT. The Ganges valley is narrow and contains extensive areas of
grass jungle. Most of the tahsll lies on the uplands, the southern
portion being well wooded and highly cultivated, while the north
contains large stretches of barren usar land. A chain of jhils and
swamps running through the centre supplies irrigation. In 1903-4 the
area under cultivation was 286 square miles, of which 128 were
irrigated. Tanks supply more than a third of the irrigated area, and
wells most of the remainder.
Purwa Town. — Head-quarters of the tahs'il of the same name in
Unao District, United Provinces, situated in 26° 28' N. and 80° 47' E.,
on the road from Unao town to Rae Bareli. Population (1901),
10,260. The place was of some importance under native rule, being
the head-quarters of a chakla ; but after annexation the capital of the
new District was fixed at Unao. Purwa contains a dispensary and
munsifi, besides the usual offices, and is administered under Act XX
of 1856, with an income of about Rs. 1,900. It is noted for its
shoes and leather-work. There is a large weekly market, besides three
annual fairs, each of which is attended by 7,000 or 8,000 persons.
There is a school with 114 pupils.
Pusa. — Village in the Samastipur subdivision of Darbhanga District,
Bengal, situated in 25° 59' N. and 85° 40' E., near the right bank of
the Burhl Gandak and close to the boundary of Muzaffarpur District.
Population (1901), 4,570. The village was acquired by Government
in 1796 ; and other waste lands appertaining to Bakhtiyarpur, a village
on the other side of the river with a population of 1,384 in 1901, were
assigned to Government in 1798 without any additional rent. Pusa
was long used as a stud depot, but all stud operations were closed in
1874; and in 1875 ^ model farm was established, the soil being of the
first quality, the situation good, and water carriage and large markets
within easy reach. In 1877 Government leased the estate to a Euro-
pean firm, who continued to grow tobacco here in prolongation of
previous experiments till 1897, when the lease expired and was not
renewed. In 1904 the estate, which comprises 1,280 acres, was made
PUS AD TOWN 423
over to the Government of India as the site for an Imperial agricultural
college, research laboratory, experimental cultivation farm, and cattle-
breeding farm. The necessary buildings are being constructed, and
the experimental farm and cattle-breeding farm have been started.
Pusad Taluk. — Taluk of Yeotmal District, Berar, lying between
19° 25' and 20° 2' N. and 77° 18' and 78° 11' E., with an area of
1,273 square miles. The population fell from 138,485 in 1891 to
109,028 in 1901 ; and its density, 86 persons per square mile, is the
lowest in the District, and lower than that in any other tdhik of Berar,
save the Melghat. The taluk contains 298 villages and only one
town, Pusad (population, 6,742), the head-quarters. The demand for
land revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 2,00,000, and for cesses Rs. 15,000.
Pusad, which is the southernmost taluk of Berar, lies in the large bend
of the Penganga river which bounds it on three sides, occurring about
half-way between its source and its junction with the Wardha. The
south-eastern portion of the taluk, in an angle formed by the bend
of the river, consists of the Kinwat forest Reserve. Until August,
1905, the taluk formed part of Basim District, which was broken up
on the reconstitution of Berar, Pusad being transferred to Yeotmal,
until then known as Wun District.
Pusad Town. — Head-quarters of the taluk of the same name in
Yeotmal District, Berar, situated in 19° 55' N. and 77° 38' E., on the
Pus river, from which it takes its name. Population (1901), 6,742.
Pusad is mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari as a pargana town. It
contains two old Hemadpanti temples, and the ruins of some others ;
also the remains of an irrigation tank, now silted up.
Oxford : Printed at the Clarendon Press by Horace Hart, M.A.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
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