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Statistical, descriptive and
historical account of the ...
North-western provinces
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STATISTICAL,
DESCRIPTIVE, AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
or THB
GORAKHPUR DISTRICT.
COMPILED FBOM MATBBIAL8 COLLICTID
BT
B. ALEXANDER, C.8.,
AHD BDIT»D BT
H. 0. CONYBEARE, C.S.,
AMD
EDWIN T. ATKINSON, B.A., F.R.G.S.,
BEN9AL CIVIL. SERVICE.
ALLAHABAD:
H0BTH.WE8T1BN PE0VIHCH8 AND OODH GOVKBHKKNT PBB8B.
1880.
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FOR THE NORJ
I
=*^.
§i*tt%tt
of
^©mAsnipium
Capita]
Tahsila
Police
Post 0
United
Cuthiu. Ghat
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l«MOm
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STATISTICAL, DESCRIPTIVE, AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
OF THE
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES.
GORAKHPUR DISTRICT.
CO
TIVE.
N TENTS.
Part I.— Geographical and Descrip
Part III.— Inhabitants, Institutions, and
History.
rage.
Population by successive censuses ...
Page.
... 845
Boundaries, area, &o.
... 271
Other census statistics
... 849
Administrative subdivisions
... 27-i
Castes and tribes
... 351
Change* in chose subdivisions
... 274
Oecuputions
... add
Tappus...
Bab-district of Ka-iia
... 277
Emigration
... 3«7
... 2*2
Customs and food ... ...
... ib.
Jurisdiotiuiisof civil courts...
... to.
Habitations and religious buildings ...
... 3n8
General appearance of the district ...
... 284
Religlou
... 370
Heights and soil*...
... 281
Language
... 372
Saline plains
... 285
Education ... ... ...
... 373
For sts and forest-grants ...
... 286
Post-office ...
... 375
Drainage and rivers
«. 291
Police
... 376
Alluvion and diluvion
... 301
Jail and lock-up ... .M
... 378
Proposed canals ...
... ib.
Fiscal history : former settlements ...
... 379
Lagoons
... 302
The current (settlements ... ...
... 392
Navigation
... 30tf
Revenue collections and instalments ...
... 396
Roads
... ib.
Proprietary tenures
... ih.
Tabic of distance* „,
... 309
Taallukas
... 398
Rainfall and climate
... 312
Leading families...
Coudmou of landholding classes
... 4O0
... 4«»3
Part II.— Producta : Animal, Vegetable,
Alienations
Condition and tenures of cultivating classes
... 403
... 404
and Mineral,
Rents and castes of tenantry
Wages and prices
... 408
.. 410
Animal kingdom : wild boasts, birds, &c.
... 314
Money-lending and interest .«
... 411
Cattle and Pastures ... ...
... 817
Manufactures and trado ...
... ib.
Fish and fisheries ..
... 319
Markets and fairs „
... 421
Vegetable kingdom : cultivated crops...
... 321
Weights and measures ...
... ib.
Progress of cultivation
... 829
District receipts and expenditure
... 4i3
Outturn
... 331
Municipality and house-tax towns ...
... tl.
Crop areas
... 334
Income and license taxes ...
... 424
Trees and forest-produce ...
... ib.
Excise and stamps
... ib.
Agricultural processes : manuring
... 837
Kcgift ration ... ... .«
... 425
Irrigation
... 338
Judicial and medical statistics
... U>.
Floods
... 348
History : legendary and Buddhist periods
... 428
"Droughts and f amines
... ib.
Hindu period ...
... 432
Minerals and building material
... 344
Musalmau period
... 4^9
Salt „
... 316
British period ...
... 4jI
Gazetteer of t
le district, pago
FA.RT I.
Geographical.1
Gorakhpub, a district in the Benares division, and after Mirzapur the most
extensive non-Him&layan district in the North-Western Provinces, lies between
north latitude 26° 7' 45* and 27° 29' 15," and east longitude 83° 8' 0* and
84° 32' 30." It is bonnded on the north by Nepal, from which it is separated
1 The materials for this notice have been supplied chiefly by Mr. E. Alexander, B.C. 8.,
who acknowledges the aid derived from the Settlement licportt and the writings of Swiuton,
Hamilton, Cunningham, Elliot, and others, But throughout the work, and especially in its
latter portions, considerable additions have been made by Messrs. W. Cruokc and 11. Cony bears
oi the same service.
35
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272
GORAKHFUB.
by an arbitrary line of boundary pillars ; and on the west by the district of
Basti, the frontier being for a short distance formed by the Ghunghi and Rdpti
rivers. On the south it is divided from the Azamgarh district by the river
Ghagra ; and on the east from the Champ&ran and Saran districts of Bengal
by a line mostly artificial, but supplied for a few miles by the former bed of the
Great Gandak river, whose main stream now runs almost wholly within that
province. The maximum breadth of the district from east to west is 86, the
minimum 47, and the average 64 miles. Its maximum length from north
to south is 83, its minimum 70, and its average 75 miles. Gorakhpur has,
excluding fractions, a total area of 4,584 square miles, of which 2,700 may be
roughly estimated as under cultivation, 1,102 as culturable, and 782 as barren.1
The total population by the last census (1872) was 2,019,361 souls.2
The following table shows the subdivisions into which for purposes of
revenue and general administration the district is divided, and details the area,
revenue, population, and police jurisdictions of each : —
Tahsil.
Farganah.
Included by the
Ain-i-Akbari in
Land
revenue
in
1877-78.
Present
area in
square
miles
(omitting
fractions.)
Popula-
tion in
1872.
Included In the police
Jurisdiction of
I.-MaharaJ-
ganj.
II— ITazur or
Sadr.
III.— Padrauna
IV.-Hata
V.-Banagaon,
VI.-Deoria „
Total .,
1. BlnAyakpur ...
2. Tilpur
3. Havcll Gorakh
pur (Part I.)
4. Ditto (Part II.),
5. Bhauapar (Part
6. Maghar
7. Sidhna Jobna
(including tappa
Batsara.)
8. Havcli Gorakh
pur (Part III.)
9. Shahjahanpur ...
10. Silhat
11. Anola
12. Dhuriapar
13. BhauApar (Part
II)
14. Chillupar
15. Balempur
\ Binayakpur and f
j Tilpur. I
Gorakhpur
Ditto
Bhauapara
Ratanpur
Dhewapara Kuha-
Gorakhpur
Dhewapara Kuha-
na.
Gorakhpur
Anhola
Dhuriapara
BhawApara
Cblllupara
Dhewapara Kuha
Rs.
17,111
48,575
2,08,868
1,74,217
26,170
62,953
3,37,202
87,258
78,454
1,15,987
43,721
1,12,181
32,307
42,070
2,96,886
16,83,460
145
287
789
474
64
116
156
138
279
111
317
77
110
587
4,584
21,722 Naikot or Piaaia.
57,021 NichUral, Mahlrajganj
Simra, and Kotibhar.
240,812 Ditto, except Nicola-
Tal.
231,213 Panira,RJgauli,Baraicha,
Manrirganj, Pipraich,
and Gorakhpur.
33,852 An outpost
65.610 SahDjanua and Rudar-
pur.
74.611 Kotibhar Ramkola,
Padrauna, Ka&siaa,
BiBhanpura, Tarakul-
wa and Kazipur, and
Taria Sujan.
Hata, Chaura, and Bar-
Hata and Tar akulwa.
69,821
81,562
135,847
70,116
177,693
48,674
48,919
818,648
H*ta> Deoria, and Ro-
darpur.
Rudarpur and Deoria
Bansgfon, Belghat, and
Gola,
An outpost.
Barhalgan).
Khukundu, Khampar,
Barhaj, and Laru.
2,019,350
1 Those accustomed to Indian statistics will not be astonished to learn that there is a
difference of as much as 634 square miles between the highest and lowest estimates of culti-
vation obtained from the different returns consulted. The figures above given are founded on
the settlement reports, allowance being made for the increase which has undoubtedly taken
place since they were compiled, as well as for cultivation in junple grant lands not surveyed
at settlement. ' Details of this population will be fouud in the beginning of Fart III.
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GOBAKHPUB. 273
The parganah divisions almost all represent roughly the limits of the
territories of the various petty princes who parcelled out the country between
them before the Muhammadans acquired any real hold on it, and their origin
may be briefly described as follows : —
(1) Bindyakpur corresponds with the eastern portion of the Butwal
Rfija's territory as it stood after the separation of (2) Tilpur by Tilak Sen
about 1725 A. D. He represented the younger branch of this family, and
divided the family possessions with his elder brother, Binayak Singh, The
parganah of Bindyakpur was cut in two after the Nepalese war by the ces-
sion of a strip of land to the Gurkha chiefs, and on the division of Basti from
Gorakhpur in 1865 its western portion was included in the former district*
(3) Haveli Oorakhjmr.— The northern, which is locally as well as in
the settlement reports recognised as having formed a distinct tract from the
southern portion, represents the domain held for some time by the Th&rfis. It
was divided from the southern portion, which formed the Sat&si raj, by a vast
forest, and was itself for the most part woodland. Not being clearly occupied
by any R&ja, it received no separate name, and was considered by the Muham-
madans as attached to the Haveli parganah.
(7) Sidhua Jobna.— The name is said to be derived from its being a
wild region, into which holy men or siddhas went to perform austerities. It
embraces all the tract which lay above the territory of the Majholi R£ja and
east of the Satisi rdj. The southern portion represents the country held by
R&ja Madan Singh to the north and east, just as (9) Shfihjahanpur repre-
sents that to the south and west. The north agrees roughly with the limits
of the Padrauna taltika. Shahjahanpur was at one time included in the same
parganah.
(6) Maghar.— This parganah was cut in two at the separation of the
Basti district (1865), and marks the limits of the old Maghar rdj.
(5) Bhaudpdr corresponds with the possessions of the Satasi rdj along
the west bank of the R£pti.
(11) Anola was the territory of the Anola Rfija.
(10) SUhat is the tract so long (1633-83) disputed between the Majhauli
and Satfisi Rajas ; while (12) Dhuridpdr was the country conquered by Dhur
Chand Singh (circ. 1350). (14) Chilltipdr, once known as Chahluapar, was the
name of a part of the country annexed by the Simara Bdbu, who thereon
became Raja of Chillupfir (circ. 1630); and (15) Salempur Majhauli was the
permanent territory of the Majhauli R6jas, who held Shfihjahfinpur and Silhat
for a time only.
a4
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11.
Rasulpur Gbaus (2 mahals).
12.
Ramgrarh Gauri (2 mahals).
13.
Gorakhpur (2 mahals).
14.
Katahla.
Iff.
Rihlapftra.
16.
Mahauli.
17.
Mandwa.
1R.
Mandla.
19.
fiaUnpur Magbar (2 mahals)
274 GORAKHPUR.
The formation of the present district may now be briefly described.
Elliot1 describes sarkfir Gorakhpur as consisting in AkLar's time (1596) of
19 parganahs and 24 mahals as follows: —
1. Atraula.
2. Anola.
3. Biniyakpur (2 mahals).
4. Bnmbnipara.
5. Bhawapara.
6. Tilpur.
7. Chillupara.
8. Dhuriapara.
9. Dhewapara Kuhana.
10. Rihli. *
Elliot apparently considers that this sarkar corresponded on the east
and south with the present district, and that Dhew¶ included Sidhua
Jobna, Salempur, and ShAhjahanpur. It is however more probable that the
limits of the sarkar to the east corresponded with the western boundary
Sarkar Gorakhpur line of parganahs Sidhua Jobna and Shahjahinpur, which
and it. probable limit,. ^ Rt that t;me ;ncluded togethep under the name of
the former in sarkar SSran. In the settlement report of Sh&hjab&npur
dated 1832 this is clearly stated to have been the case, and, as will be
shown in the historical account of the district, Sidhua Jobna never really
formed part of the Majhauli raj, and was not likely to be included with it
in Dhewapara. The name of the latter tract, too, clearly signifies the country
just across the Dhewa (a name of the GhAgra), and would be rightly applied
to Salempur Majhauli, but not to Sidhua Jobna. Sidhua Jobna was trans-
Limits extended, ferred to sarkfir Gorakhpur in 1137 F. S. (1730 A. D.)
1IS? FeS* and carried SMhjahanpur with it: the latter not being
created into a separate parganah until about 1150 F. S. (1743 A. D.)
Salempur took its present name on the conversion of the Majhauli
Kaja to Muhammadanism in about 1565 .2 Silhat, the
parganahs? " * * onlv other parganah now existing which is not given in
the above list, was separated from Haveli Gorakhpur
about 1700, after its reconquest by the Satfisi K&jas. And these four
parganahs, with all those on the list except fifimgarh Gauri (which seems to
have been retained by the NawSb Vazir), and with part also of Btitwal,
Constitution of now in NeP6l> represent pretty accurately the district
the district at time of Gorakhpur as it stood when made over to the Bri-
of cession, 1801, . , . „ _~. « -, ,. . ,. ,
tish in 1801.3 To this district, however, the following
1 Races of the North-Western Provinces, Vol. II., p. 119. Sarkar Gorakhpur was included
in the province of Oudh (Suba Avadh). * The popular and more ancient name of the chief
town Salempur is Nawapar, or, according to Buchanan, Nagar. * It seems at this time
to have been called in official correspondence sarkar Muazzimabad after Prince Muazzim,
son of Aurangzeb.
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GORAKHPUR. 275
divisions were annexed when the first English officer was appointed to their
charge : —
(1) Chakla Mdhtil (consisting of 6 parganahs).
(2) Chakla Azamgarh (11 parganahs).
(3; Nawdbganj (6 parganahs).
(4) Khairdgarh (7 parganahs).
The last named was immediately afterwards placed in charge of a
and changes in that separate officer, as being too distant from headquarters
constitution. ^0 j^ pr0perly managed (1802). After the Nepdlese war
the whole territory of Btitwal (except parganahs Bindyakpur and Tilpur,
which had for some time before our rule belonged at least nominally to
Oudh) was transferred to Nepdl (1816) ; while Nawdbganj was surrendered
to the Nawdb in exchange for some land attached to the Sh&hjah&npur
district, and in repayment of % money loan borrowed for war expenses.
Parganahs 1, 4, and 10 in Elliot's list were thus made over to Oudh. The
third change'occurred four years afterwards (1820), when the whole of chakla
Azamgarh and the bulk of Mdhtil were transferred from the Gorakhpur to the
Ghdzipur* and Jaunpur districts, the undivided charge being found too heavy
for one officer. A fourth alteration in area arose from the transfer of the
Tarai to Nepal after the mutiny. No further change seems to have been made
till 1864, when, the extent of the district being found too great to Allow of its
proper administration, a portion was separated to form the new district of
Basti. This arrangement, completed in 1865, gave the new district parganahs
Basulpur, Eatahla, Rihlapara, Mahauli, Mandwa, and Mandla, with parts of
Bindyakpur and Maghar.
It is not improbable that further changes will soon be made, as the
Arrangement of district is still exceptionally large and populous. The
t**18*1* present tahsil arrangement shown above dates only from
1872. The division by tahsils seems to have been introduced for the first
time in 1804, when the present Gorakhpur district, with some part of Basti,
was divided into five subdivisions, over each of which a tahsildar was placed.
This officer was at first charged with the maintenance of the police and with
the protection of life and property throughout his tahsil, as well as with the
collection of revenue, for whigh the kdmingo seems to have been directly
responsible. He was allowed a percentage on the collections, and bound to
maintain a sufficient police force to guard the treasure and put down dakaits
with a strong hand.
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276
GOBARHPUR.
The five tahsils were arranged as follows : —
(1) The present parganahsof 8alempur and Chillupar.
(2) Those of Bhauapar, Anola, and Bakhira (in the present Basti district).
(3) Haveli, Silhat, Maghar, and Basuipur Ghana (in Basti).
(4) Dhuriapar and Maholi (in Basti).
(ft) Sidhua Jobna, including Shahjahanpur.
Oar authority at this date seems to have been merely nominal in Tilpur
and Bin&yakpur, which were mostly nnder forest.
In 1809-10, after the restoration of the appointment of tahsildar, which
Changes in iso»- had been abolished in 1808, Bhauapar and Anola were
-°- joined to the sadr tahsil, while Maghar and Rasulpur Ghaus
were taken from the latter and united to B&nsi (in Basti), In 1817-18 again,
Changes after the a^ter ^e settlement of the Nepal boundary, a new tahsil
Nepalese war. wa8 formed in the north from parganahs Tilpur and Binayak-
pur. This arrangement seems to have continued undisturbed till 1835-40,
when a new tahsil was located at Bausgaon, and Anola,
Bhau&p&r, and Dhuriapar were put under its jurisdiction.
In 1845 the Tilpur tahsili was brought further south and loeated at Man-
stirganj, but after about 16 years the increase of culti-
vation and revenue in the northern parganahs made it
necessary to move it north again. The site at last selected was Maharajganj,
where it is still situated. Simultaneously with this second change it was
found advisable to diminish the area of the sadr tahsil, and in 1871-72 a
new tahsil was built at Hata, which relieved it of a considerable portion of the
Haveli parganah. To this new tahsil were added parganahs Shahjahanpur
and Silhat from the jurisdiction of the Sidhua Jobna and Salempur tahsfls.
The following table shows the present parganahs and their approxi-
mate cultivated area, including Idkhirdj lands which are omitted in the settle-
ment returns : —
In 1889.40.
In 1845.
•
Parganah.
Areas in square
mile (fractions
omitted).
Area in acres.
Cultivated accord-
ing to the last set*
tlement returns.
Column includes cul-
tivated area of
jungle grants, &c.
Number of tap-
Si
s»
85~
Population by
the last cen-
sus (1873).
1. Binayakpur East,
145.
3,095 under settle*
ment.
63,065 jungle grant,
&c, re*
serve, &c.
93,160 total.
15,114
26,738 in grants,&c
69
20,547
41,836
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GORAKHPUB.
277
Parganah.
S. Tilpur
3. Hafeli
4. Sidhua Jobna
5.—
5. Magbar
6. Silhat
7. Shahjahanpur
8. Bhauapar
9. Anola
10. Dhariapar
1 1. Chillfipar
12. Salempur Majholi,
287 i
Area in acres.
Cultivated accord-
ing to the last set-
tlement returns.
Column includes cul-
tivated area of
jungle grants, &c.
1,420 <
i
928
116
279
r
i
138
142
111
317
110
687
4,584
1 1 5,9 1 3 under settle-
ment.
68,007 jungle
grants, &c,
reserve.
188,920 total.
285,484 jungle
grants, Go-
vernment
' forests, &c.
626,876 under settle-
ment.
69,000
8,697 in gran ts,&c
912,360 total.
596,581 including
grants.
73,750
148,600 under settle*
ment.
30,500 jungle.
179,000 total.
89,432
90,970
71,340
202,383
65,249
374,366
67,697
120,000 in jungle
grants, fee
simple, &c.
386,397 settled.
*
2*
606,397
347,968
30,015 in jungle
grants.
877,983 total.
60,874
98,258
23,943 in grants.
122,201
2,932,461 total.
61,218
68,822
45,250
116.700
84,542
257,593
1,736,113 total.
28
o «
*£
la.
J*
*S"
582
III
0*
297 57,021
1,742
12
644,687
436,374
158 8,185
65,941
136,232
81,248
85,254
70,135
178,208
49,724
319,308
2,044,674
Tappas,
Subordinate to the parganahs are many minor tracts known as tappas,
which, after the r&j, are perhaps the oldest local subdivisions
of the country. The i( roj " or territory of each separate
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278 gorakhpubI
independent Rfija, though its boundaries were occasionally altered by the results
of a local war, was usually marked off with clearness, and, as already noticed,
gave their limits to most of the present parganahs. The tappa division seems
to have been almost as ancient and almost as clearly defined.
Its exact origin is extremely hard to ascertain ; but there is much in
favour of the theory that tappas represent the lands held by vassals of the
independent Rfijas under what Elphinstone1 justly calls the Rajput feudal
system. There is no doubt that this system prevailed in Gorakhpur. The
birt tenure in force to this day is nothing but a feudal tenure, the service it
exacted having been, as in other similar cases, converted into a scutage or
money payment.* There are 158 tappas in the present district, with an average
area of about 30 square miles each. In Sidhua Jobna and in South Haveli
Mr. Lumsden notices that the subdivisions are in many cases co-extensive with
natural divisions of soil, or with limits marked off by other natural boundaries,
such as rivers. He also mentions that in the latter parganah they often
represent taliikas " which might appropriately be formed into tappas at the
arrangement of fiscal subdivisions consequent on the cession." He does not,
of course, by this mean that the tappa subdivision was only introduced at the
cession. Tappas are mentioned as early as when R4ja Bernfith invaded and
established himself in Chillupdr (circ. 625); and they seem to correspond roughly
with the old "lordship often towns" mentioned by Manu. There is, however,
one broad difference between them and the same divisions in other parts of the
country : the township was never here the same important limit as elsewhere.
Mr. Wynne, in his Sabfiranpur report, but speaking of Grorakhpur, has
pointed this out ; and, as will be shown in the paragraph on " Tenures," the
rights, tenures, and subdivisions below the raj were in almost all cases founded
by and dependent on the Raja. The tappa was therefore no merely artificial
classification of the townships for administrative purposes. It very probably
at first represented the lands helds under the Raja by each baron and his
kinsmen. Afterwards, perhaps, when the country had to some extent settled
down, when payment had been substituted for service, and the division of
property amongst different members of the family had been recognised, the
tappps were converted into merely fiscal subdivisions and their boundaries
fixed by fiscal considerations only. The word itself seems to signify a
share or offshoot of some larger whole. Thus it is sometimes used to signify
a colony from an older village, as in the case of tappa Patna, a daughter
settlement of Patna Khas in parganah Shahjahanpur. The following ia a
i Hist, Book II., Chapter 2. 2 Vide inf. « Tenures."
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list of the tappas, showing the tahsQi and thana jurisdictions to which they
each belong : —
From north-east to south-west
Tahsfli.
Parganah.
Thana.
Tappa.
Ixahirajgan}
Biniyakpnr
1. PiasiaorNaikot,
1. Mirchawar.
2. Sirsa.
3. Part of Lehra.
2. TutibWri ...
4. Nagwan.
5. Sukarhari.
Tilpnr
3. Nichlayal ...
6. Khaa.
7. Domarkand.
8. Bharathfcand.
4. Maharajganj...
9. Sonari.
6. Kotbibhar ...
10. Purtnl Kathi.
11. Nai Kartii.
12. Mat kopa (part.)
Hareli Gorakhpur,
Mabarajganj...
13. Katahar.
6. Simara ...
Lehra (part)
14. Sumakbor.
7. Rigoli
15. Rigoli.
16. Part of Bhiri Baiai.
17. Hikra.
8. Paniara ...
Bhiri Baiai (part.)
1ft. Banki.
9. Baraicha ...
19. Baraicha (part.)
Matkopa (part.)
10. Mansfirganj ...
20. Unti.
21. Andhaya.
22. Lekhman.
23. Part of Baraicha.
2 parganaha and
5 whole than is and
23.
part of a 3rd.
part of 5 more.
S*4r
Haveli
11. Pipraich ...
1 Patra.
2. Khuth'in.
Rigoli
3. Pachwara (part )
12. Gorakhpnr ...
Ditto (part.)
4. Kasbn.
5. Marachi Chanda.
6. Gura.
7. Haveli.
Bhauapar ...
An outpost ...
8. Ret
9. Haveli.
Hareli ...
13. Chaura
10. Kiutali.
14. Barhi
11. Hajdhani.
12. Raaulpar.
Maghar
15. Sahnjanua ...
13. Gahasand.
14. Satagawan.
15. Utter Haveli.
16. Aurangabad.
17. Bharaand.
16. Rudrapar ...
18. Bhaduseri.
19. Suraa.
20. Pachori.
21. Khajuri.
1 whole, 2 in part
S whole, 6 in part.
21.
36
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OORAKHPUB.
TahsSli.
Pargaoab.
Thana.
Tappa.
(
1. B a tsar a.
Padrauna M.
Sidhua Jobna
Baralcha <
Part of Nag wan.
2. Nagwan.
Part of Batsraa.
m
Part of Papur.
17. Ramkola ...
Parwarpar (part.)
Papur (part.)
Dandipur (part.)
Ditto (part.)
18. Padrauna ...
Banai Chirigora.
Part of Bargaou.
Chaura.
Pakri GangranL
Papur (part.)
19. Kaasia
Parwarpar (part.)
Bandi.
Bhalaa.
Mainour Sabikhor.
Jhankul GangL
Chaura (part.)
20. Biasenpura ...
Part Bargaon Chaura,
Rimpur Roghi.
Rampur Dhab.
Pirthipur.
21. Kaaipur ...
Sipahi Kuchia.
Dhuria Bijaipar (part.)
Baduraon Bnatni.
Khan.
Part of Haveli
22. Iaria8iyan -.
Ha? eli (part.)
Bank Jogni.
23. Tarakulwa ...
Malsil Sarini.
1 parganah.
5 whole thaoaa and
4 in part.
22 tappaa.
Mate
Haveli „.
Maueurganj „.
1. Padkhori.
2. Bharsand.
3. Parwarpar (part.)
Pipraich
4. Agaya.
5. Bandwar.
Haveli ...
Hata
6. Dedup&r.
Sh&bjahanpur ...
•M
Parwarpar (part.)
Silhat
••«
7. Badohole,
8. Bhitni.
9. Padiap&r.
10. Narayanpar Cbiurha.
11. Singhpur.
12. Hanchara.
18. Bakhira.
14. Eatora.
16. Chiriaoo.
16. Paharpur.
Shahjahinpur
Tarakulwa
17. Chak Deya.
18. Nagwan.
19. Tarakulwa.
20. Pataa.
2i. BhaiSadawar.
it. Majhna.
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Tahsfli,
Parginah.
Thina.
Tappa.
8Uhat
Deoria
23. Sirijanou
24. Dont.
25. Idrakpnr.
26. Barnai.
27. Dhatura.
28. Gura.
Badarpnr ...
29. NagwaTikari.
80. Madanpur.
Chanra
31« Binayak.
82. Indopnr.
2 whole, 1 in part.
2 whole, 5 in part.
82 tappas.
Bioagaoo
Anola
Rndrapur
1. Harelf.
2. Bankata.
Dhnriapir _
Banagaon
8. Bhadar.
4. Mabsin.
Bhauaper •••
5. Easwasi.
6. PacbisL
7. Garmahi.
8. Eotha.
9. Bhabnull.
10. Pili.
11. Shahpur.
18. Gur.
18. Tiar.
14. Eunnfit (part.)
Beligbai
15. Parti,
16. Thill.
17. Utri.
Eurrofit (part.)
18. Nakuri.
19. Chodur.
90. Bareli.
Gola
81. Belfgbit (part.)
22 Dlndi.
28. Nahnri.
24 Eobari.
25. Ch&ndpar.
26. Sarha.
27. Bankat.
28. Ratanpnr.
Belighat (part.)
Barhalganj ...
29. Athfsi.
80. Gagha.
31. Majuri.
82. Eatahao.
83. Majholift.
84. Hareli.
85. Kasba.
86. Semra.
87. Sikandarpur.
2 whole and 2 in part.
4 in part
37.
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282
GOBAKHPtTE.
TahiflL
Parganah*
Thana.
Tappa.
Deoria
Salempur Majholi...
Deoria
1. Deoria.
2. Gfir.
3. Kachnwar (part.)
4. Suroli.
Rudarpur ^
6. Nai Gojharl.
8alempnr
81. Khukhundn ...
6. Samogar.
7. Euchuwar (part.)
8. Hatiaon.
9. Baironan.
10. Kbfikhundu.
11. Baroipfr
12. Paraina.-
82. Barha
13. Raipur (part)
14. Eaparwir.
Raipur (part)
83. Khampar
Mail (part.)
15. Gh&tl.
Ifi/Rbitnu
17. Haveli.
18. Gntaman.
19. Balwin.
t»4. Lar
20/SobaDpur.
21. Salempur.
22. Dodh.
Mail (part.)
2*. Balia.
1 whole, 1 in part.
4 whole, in
part.
23.
District total
12 34
158
KaiBia.
The subdivision of Eassia was separated from the Sadr in 1868,
SubdirUion of *n order to avoid the inconvenience of managing the
Sidhua Jobna parganah from so great a distance as
Gorakhpar. Comprising that parganah and part of Sh&hjab&npur, it is in
charge of an assistant magistrate-collector, who enjoys a large measure of
independence. The subdivision is likely at no distant period to become a
separate district.
There are three munsifs' and one subordinate judge's court, their exist-
CirU jurifldio ing jurisdictions being shown below. The munsifs9 courts
tionfl' were formerly at Manstirganj, B&nsgaon, and Deoria; that
of the last named being also held for three months in the year at Padrauan.
In 1862 however, when the headquarters of the tahsfl were shifted from
Manstirganj to Mahdr&jganj, the munsifs court was removed to Gorakhpur on
account of the unhealthiness of the northern tract during part of the year. In
1865 the visits of the munsif to Pad ra una were also discontinued, and the
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following jurisdictions formed on the complete separation of the district have
since been retained : —
1. The Sadr Amin's or Subordinate
Judges ;
S. Manors, 1st grade
8. MnDBifs, 2nd grade
4. MnneiTa, 8rd grade
> At Gorahpur
At Deoria
At Bansgaon
Pargaoah Binayakpur
East.
Tilpur.
HayelL
4 tappas from Maghar.
2 from Bhaaapar.
8 from Sidhua Jobna.
Sidhna Jobna, with ex-
ception of 8 tappaa
above Salempor.
Majhauli.
8 tappaa Siihat.
Dhuriapar.
Chillapar.
Anola.
Bhanapar,with the exeep*
tion of 2 tappaa.
The remaining 8 tappas
in Maghar and 6 tap-
pas in Salempor.
Majhauli.
General appearance.
Besides these there is the court of the civil (sessions) judge at Gorakh-
pur. The jurisdiction of the latter extends also over the district of Basti.
Lying east of Oudh and close under the Himalayas, the district in its
physical characteristics differs much from the Qangetic
plain. Speaking generally, Gorakhpur is a level tract
broken by nothing higher than a few sandhills in the centre and east, and sloping
very gently from north-west to south-east. The surface of this plain is inter-
sected by numerous risers and streams and dotted by a large number of lakes
and ponds. The water supply, except in very dry years, is abundant, and the
large amount of moisture in the soil gives the country a green fresh appear-
ance, which at once strikes the eye of one entering the district from the more
arid country south of the Ghfigra. In the north and centre are extensive tracts
of jungle and sal forest. The trees are not as a rule of any great size, but the
density and extent of the forest in some places convey a feeling of solitude
and wildness which cannot fail to impress the traveller who has just left
the populous and "highly cultivated country in the south. Here and to the
south-east there is, an expanse of cultivation only broken by fine mango
groves or by the numerous streams and tdU which occur at short intervals.
The west and south-west of the district, intersected by the Xmi and the
Ku&na, lie rather low, and in the rainy season this part of the country is as far
as the Rapti liable to extensive inundations. If the rainfall is at all exception-
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284 GOftAKHFOB.
ally heavy the water collects in the valley of the Xmi, and joining the lakes to
the east, presents the appearance of an immense sheet of water several miles in
extent. To the east of the Rdpti the ground rises slightly and there are a few
sandhills, bat it again sinks towards the south-east, and the general slope of
the country is, as before mentioned, in this direction.
Along the north of the district lies the tarai at the foot of the first range
of hills ; these are about eight miles beyond the frontier in Nep&l. The snowy
range can be seen distinctly from the frontier, and though there are no hills
within the district, their propinquity changes the character of the country
altogether from that which it bears in the south. The nature of the landscape
in the north is somewhat similar to that of the Diin. The streams are clear, and
run, in some oases, over pebbly beds. Large tracts are covered by forests which
contain some fine trees. In these tracts there are often open pieces of sward
admirably adapted for pasturing cattle ; sometimes there are large marshes full
of naP and infested by tigers and other wild animals. The principal cultivation
is rice, and the inhabitants are mostly hill men (Gurkhas) or Th&rus, who,
though differing from the former, are more like them than like the people of the
south. The climate of this tract is, as elsewhere in the tar4i, very dangerous at
certain seasons of the year, but mild and pleasant at the beginning of the hot
season. In the south the appearance of the country is altogether altered, and
the population is composed, as in the districts below the Ghagra, chiefly of the
ordinary Hindu and Muslim tribes. The climate is good and similar to that of
the southern districts. In the east, especially somewhat north of the centre,
the character of the country is mixed. Here are undulations and ridges which
show for the first time an approach to the hills. Patches of jungle appear,
and the climate is not so well suited to natives who come from other districts
as that of the south.
As before remarked, the slope of the country is from north-west to south-
_ east The average height above the level of the sea is
Heights*
only 316 feet. In the north-west the usual elevation is
about 350 feet, in the south-east about 305. The highest of the sandhills is
386 feet,5 and probably the ground nowhere sinks much below 300.
The soils of the district are classified either according
to their position or their composition. According to their
position these soils are :—
(1) Khddar or low riverside flats. Of such lands the Rapti basin affords
typical specimens.
1 A tall kind of reed. f This hillock lies between Padrauna and Kaasia* There is
•fcotfter ridge, Tory little lower, south of MichUml in pergaoah Tilpar.
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OOBAKHPUB. 285
(2) Kachdr or the same when liable to yearly inundation, Kachdr land
usually yields a spring crop only.
(3) Ohaiwr bhdt— that is, land low and marshy, bat not necessarily near
a river, nor liable to inundation in the same way as kachar. It is, in fact,
rather a water-logged soil near some jhil than a kh&dir soil. ,
(4) Chauridr bhdt, a higher lying soil than the cliaur bhdt, with consider-
able natural moisture and great fertility.
According to their composition soils are distributed into the following
classes : —
(1) Balua, a sandy light soil similar to that known elsewhere as bhdr. i
(2) Dorus? a dry siliceous loam, in which the sand slightly predominates ;
over the clay, and whose spring crops, therefore, in most years require irriga-
tion.
(3) Mattiydr, in which the proportions of sand and clay are reversed, and
which requires in most parts of the district little irrigation in ordinary
years.
(4) Bhit,% a calcareous soil retentive of moisture and requiring no irriga-
tion in ordinary years. Its productive qualities vary very much according to
its position, and even the best kind {chauridr bhdt aval) requires to be left
fallow occasionally.
The dorus soil is most prevalent in the south and west, the bhdt in the
centre and east, and the mattiydr in the north of the district In the centre
and south-east the more sandy soil crops up in the bhdt, and rises in some
plaoes into the sandhills before alluded to. The mattiydr soil in some parts is
called karela, a name properly applicable only to a very stiff clay which can
be dug up in large clods, and does not crumble like most other soils. " When-
ever," says Mr. Swinton, " excavations are made, the sand formation below the
superimposed stratum of culturable soil is sooner or later met with. The depth
of both strata varies very much in different localities." 8
There is very little tear in the district, though some is met with in the .
south. In the north there are some extensive swamps, and
in Tilpur, Binayakpur, and the extreme north of Haveli,
1 Doras is near the Ghigra usually known as banjar. In this locality it rises up towards
the high bank of the Gh&gra. haying been raised by tne sandy deposit left after each eucces*
sire inundation (Swinton 'a Manual, page 80.) f On the west ol the Little Gandak a
number of smalt eminences crop up in the bhat soil, formed of silicious soil like dorus.
* Manual, page 31. It may be here remarked that Mr, Lumaden was the only officer
who at last settlement seems to hare made any thorough classification of soils, and even he
does not always keep to the natural composition. In the Tilpur and Binayakpur reports Mr.
White and Mr. Wynne seem often to take dorus, mattiyar, and balua merely aa names meaning
lit quality, 2nd quality, &c. and it is not at all to be piesumed that what they call balua la
really a sandy soil; it may be an inferior mattiyar.
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286 GORAKHPUR.
owing to the cold left in the soil by the excessive moisture, a good deal of the
land bears virtually only one crop, that of rice. In the south-west, owing to
the extensive inundations, some of the land oan be gown only with a spring
crop, and there is consequently no autumn harvest.
The forests of the district, still very extensive, were a few years ago
enormous ; but the land they cover is chiefly culturable
and often particularly good. From the historical sketch
of the district hereafter given, it will seem probable that, owing to the
long struggle between Bhars and invading Aryans, but little land was left
free of jungle on the final subjugation of the former. The south-west was
cleared by the Dhuri&p&r Rajas; Chilldp&r by them and Raja Bernath'a
descendants ; and Salempur by the Majhauli Rajas. Between the latter
and the Dhuriap&r Raja's territory was left a broad fringe of jungle which
extended along the R&pti, covering the greater portion of Silhat and Haveli,
and remaining unreclaimed, chiefly, no doubt, because it was a bone of long
contention between the Sat&si and Majhauli Rajas. Bhau6par and a part of
Haveli were brought under cultivation by the former ; Anola and Maghar were
reclaimed by the descendants of Chandra Sen's other sons; Bin&yakpur was
brought under partial cultivation during the Bfitwal regime, and Tilpur, with
part of Sidhua Jobna, by the Tharfis. Haveli was almost entirely covered with
jungle till about 1600. Its northern and western portions were afterwards
largely reclaimed ; but the misgovernment of the 4mils between 1750 to 1800
caused the cultivators to abandon their holdings, and the bulk of the parganah
was in 1802 covered by jungle. On the rise of the Padraunu taluka the greater
portion of the Sidhua Jobna parganah was in the same state, owing to the
ravages of the Banjaras and the misgovernment of the amils.
At the time of its cession to the British a very large portion of the dis-
trict was covered with forest and scrubby undergrowth. The Collector x
reported that a transit duty on timber had been levied under the preceding
Government and brought in considerable sums. The duty was then farmed,
and produced during its first year as much as ten thousand rupees for the Go-
rakhpur, Basti, and Nawahganj districts, the wood exported being chiefly
sdl9 which was sent down to Calcutta. About 1829-30, jungle plots were for
the first time granted^ subject to a progressive demand, which culminated
during its tenth year. About 18,000 acres are still held under the terras
of these grants on what is really fee-simple tenure. Most of this laud lies
in the Gorakhpur parganah, and more than half its area is cultivated. Appli-
1 Mr. Roatledge, 1802*03.
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Q0RAKHPT7R.
287
cations for such grants soon, however, became bo numerous as to exoite appre-
hensions that too large a portion of the land-revenue might become fixed at low
rates incapable of enhancement. Government accordingly directed, about the
year 1840, that no further grants should be made on such terms. Leases might
be granted for periods sufficient to make it worth the grantee's while to clear
the land ; but on the expiry of those periods the grants must be open to reset-
tlement like other zamind&ri estates, and also liable to confiscation if the terms of
the lease should not have been carried out. The main object of the grants was
still to clear the land for cultivation, and a certain amount of land was fixed as
the minimum which the grantee must clear if he wished to keep the grant. The
amount of acres in any one gf ant was limited ; conditions were also introduced
as to sale on transfer and the maintenance of drainage. Still, however, the
amount of land held under jungle grants became so large, and the forest was
cleared off so rapidly, as to render a scarcity of timber probable. It was deemed
more profitable to preserve what was left than to allow its conversion into
fields. Accordingly, about 1850, the grants were stopped and all persons were
prohibited from cutting wood in the jungles reserved for Government ; licenses
being, however, granted for the manufacture of charcoal. x
The following list shows the jungle grants existing in the district during
1842:—
Blna/akpnr
Tttpar
Sidbua Jobna
f Lady Malkia
1 tMr. Bridgman
Atrt*.
13,200
10,120
Haveti
Total
...
42,380
(Mr. Finch
...
•••
25,830
.«• J „ Hastings
...
...
.—
1,932
C n Downes
•«•
...
...
13,048
•••
Total
•••
40,316
t Mr. Finch
t H Sym
23,672
•••
...
...
22,484
Total
...
46,166
1
'Mr. Bridgman
•••
«••
...
50,800
„ Deboaru
...
...
...
82,164
„ Arrouch
>••
...
...
14,140
„ Campier
.«•
•••
M.
17,624
M Fitzgerald
•••
t*c
...
20,724
..<
h Sym
M»
*••
-{
24,484
18,812
„ Wilkinson
...
•o
• ••
11,020
„ McComish
...
•••
• *•
11,198
„ Augustin
••«
• ••
...
4,714
„ Fitzgerald (R)
•••
•••
...
3,164
(A)
...
...
»••
11,484
Total
•••
210,428
Total for district
...
819 2X0
IMJ, whM the n.# gnat ralot were pawed, grant* hare been few and far between.
37
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Grant.
Cultivated.1
Acres.
Acres.
43,91ft
S6V7S9
16,9*9
6,197
SI 0,984
107,607
60,024
30,0 i 5
39,024
13,943
2g6 GORAKHPUR.
Between 1842 and 1850 further plots to the amount of 30,000 acres were
granted in Silhat and of 4,000 acres in Sidhua Jobna. At the end of 1872 the
area of the various jungle grants and proportion of cultivation in each stood as
follows : —
Parganah.
Bineyakpur ... ...
Tilpur *
Haveli ... ... —
Sidhua Jobna .»• ... ... •••
Silbat ••• ••• ••« ••»
Total ... 362,036 194,4U
Since 1872 a further area of 1,330 acres has been granted on leases
which will expire in 1922 ; and arrangements are in progress for a still larger
grant (about 5,000 acres) to the Mah&r&ja of Bettiah. It will be seen from
figures just given that more than half of the entire area has been reclaimed. It
has now become so much more profitable to grow timber than to reclaim, that
on many of the later grants less than half the land has been cleared ; aud as
Government has recently waived its right to resume solely on the ground that
a proper area has not been reclaimed, it is probable that the greater portion
of the land now under timber will remain uncleared.
The reserved forests are situate in 18 isolated blocks standing generally
Forests reserved " Kke islands in a sea of cultivation, which runs up into
by Government. little bays and creeks." The edges of such forests are
uneven, and the demarcation has in many cases been clumsily made and imper-
fectly denoted. A full description of the forests as they then stood is given
in Major Pearson's report of 1870.8 According to this officer, the area is
between 120,000 and 130,000 acres, or 190 square miles ; and Mr. Colvin, in
his letter on the settlement of the district, says 1 25,000 acres. From the report
of the Forest Department for 1876, however, it appears that the area, lately
125 square miles, has been reduced to 115 only. Hence it is clear that the
areas above mentioned must include part of the jungle grants or grazing lands
not immediately under the Forest Department, and therefore not to be classed
as reserved.
1 This column doe* not. like that at p. 977, Include the cultivation on fee simple grants.
'Here the area had since 1842 diminished, owing partly to the settlement as zamindiri
estates of such grants ub had fallen in, an.l partly to resumptions on account of rebellion*
1 Printed in Selections from Government Records, 1670.
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GORAKHPTO. 2ffJ>
The discrepancy in the areas given by the Forest Department is perhaps
to be explained by the transfer of a large block of forest land to the left bank
of the Gandak, and to its annexation by the Mah&rdjaof Bettiah, with whom it
has recently been settled as a grant. Though there are 18 blocks of Govern-
ment forest, there are only nine forests shown in the departmental return for
1872, vis.:—
(1) Nagw6n, including blacks I. and VI.
(2) Sonari
»
II. and part of VI.
(3) Bhan B&ban
»
VII. and VIII.
(4) East Lehra
»»
III. and V.
(5; West Lehra
»»
X.
(6) Belimpur
u
IX. and XL
(7) Dudhai
»»
IV.
(8) R&mgarh
»
XIII.
(9) Tilkonia
11
XII.
Domakand and Bharatkand are not shown, and it was from these forests that
the land just mentioned was annexed by the Bettiah chief. The whole area
now occupied by forests in the Gorakhpur district may be estimated at about
200,000 acres, or about 313 square miles. In 1860 there were 600,000 acres
in Gorakhpur and Basti,1 and as at l£ast two -thirds of this must have been in
Gorakhpur, it will be seen what a large area ha9 been since then reclaimed.
It is, however, certain that the area reclaimed since 1860 is small compared
to that cleared between the cession of 1801 and that date.
The Income from forests is about Rs. 40,000 yearly, and the net profit
after deducting expenses about Rs. 20,000. This income is chiefly derived
from the sale of trees felled by the purchasers and of s&l logs sawed by the
Forest Department. The usufruct of the minor produce, such as firewood,
pasture, thatching-grass, and dyes, is usually let for each forest yearly, but
yields little profit. A contraet for the wild honey is sometimes taken by the
Bhar caste. Before the forests were reserved it was a common practice for
these people to tap the trees for gum, which sold well ; but as it was found to
ruin the trees it has been stopped. The forest is composed mostly of sdl
(Shorea robusta) or sdkhu as this tree is called when young. There are also a
large number of makua {Bassia latifolia), semal (Bombax Malabaricum), and
shUJiam (Dalbergia sissoo) trees. Most of the timber is at present short. The
trees are much overgrown with creepers, and too closely planted to admit of
proper growth. The existing supply of timber is therefore limited to small
beams for building purposes and firewood. Large scantlings, such as those
used for the boatman's " dugouts, " are as a rule obtained from Nep&L
1Tbe authority is Swinton's Manual
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2k>
GoYxxjriaNi* Fo»bsts. The Hmits of the old jungle are taktn from a map
which accompanies Mr. S win ton's statistical
L — Nagwan. memoir, and are shown "by the dotted line
- T5"~«0nil,i, The forest marked hy the lines CD of "black ink
. DL — East I»ehra. aad numbered are the Got eminent forests.
IV.— Dlradhai. Xhe remainder are held in grant or fee-simple l>y
V.— Do. Madja*. wiYate indrriduals.
VI.— Do. Jagpnr.
VTL— BharJ Babsn.
Yni-Bhan BaisL
IX— Ban ax
X.— West Lenra,
XI.— Beltmpur.
XII.-TOkonia.
XIII.— Ramgarh.
XIV.— Domakand kites.
XV- N
XV* # **
XVI
XVII
THE GORAKHPUR FORESTS.
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OORAKHPUB. ttt
The most important forest held by a private individual is that of Kusniahi,
eight miles east of Gorakhpnr, belonging to the Mi&n
Private fore**, g^ ^„d ^ ghfl^ rR^ fa ^^ ^m ^^ fa
extent and has been preserved for nearly 70 years. The s&l wood, of which it
mostly consists, is therefore very fine, and the forest highly valuable. Most of
the other private forests, adjoin or intermingle with those reserved for
Government, and having been cat as soon as the trees were worth any*
thing at all, contain mere shrubs. The accompanying map shows roughly
the jungles now existing with the changes since I860, but it is
impossible without a regular survey to note the exact changes in the
limits of the jungles, and the map does not pretend to any great accuracy.
It must be noticed that some portion of the jungle area is overgrown with
long grass only, and not by tree or underwood. This is especially the case in
the Bin&yakpur and Tilpur parganahs. Here and there in those parganahs
patches of cultivation are dotted over the grass jungle, but the size of the map
does not permit of their being shown on it. The existing tree jungle lies
chiefly in Haveli and Tilpur, bnt there is some also in Bin&yakpur, Silhat, and
Padrauna. In Bin&yakpur still remains a good deal of grass jungle. A des-
cription of the pasture land in the north of the district is given under the head
of cattle in Fart II. of this notice. These pastures generally lie in or around
forests.
There are three great lines of drainage, the two first carrying southwards
Principal lines of the surplus waters of the north, the third receiving those
tok*** waters and conveying them south-eastwards into ' the
Ganges.
The first line, that of the R&pti and its tributaries, drains the western half
of the district. The watershed between it and the second line, which may be
drawn a little east of the boundary between Tilpur and Bin&yakpur parganahs,
passes down through Mansurganj, H&ta, Deoria, and Barhaj. In the northern
portion of this tract is a network of small streams, of which the Robin, the
Ghtinghi, and the Jh&rri are most important. These carry off the surplus water
from the country immediately below the hills, pouring it into the channel of the
R&pti, which carries it down to the Gtagra. To the Gh&gra the R&pti also
oonveys the drainage of the centre of the district. The second line, that of
the Little Gandak and its affluents, drains all the eastern half of the district,
except a small portion of parganah Sidhua Jobna, which inclines towards the
Great Gandak. This last-named river may, perhaps, be considered as mark-
ing a fourth line of drainage, but affects the Gorakbpur district too little to be
classed as one of the principal lines.
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29$ GORAKHPUR,
Of these the third is that of the Gh&gra, running south-eastward?.
It drains the south-west corner of this and the south-east of the Basti dis-
trict, receiving the Rdpti and Little Gandak on its coarse down to the
Ganges.
One of the distinguishing features in the first tract drained by the R&pti is
the large number of lakes and swamps, and the wide spread of the water over-
flowing from them and from the streams during the rains. The country in the
centre of this line is lower, aud the water accumulates therein more, than in
the other two. The third tract, through which the Gh&gra flows, is quite
different. The country seems to rise towards the banks of the river, and the
water flows past rapidly, with none of the stoppages which it encounters on its
way down the R&pti. A more detailed account of the principal rivers may
now be given.
The name of the Rapti originally Irfivati, was corrupted by the Muham-
RiTers of the district, madans into li&wati, whence its present title (vt-bt-pt).
The Raptu After passing through Oudh and Basti it enters this dis-
trict in parganah Haveli, near Mogalha. The general direction of its very
tortuous course is towards the south-east. It joins the Gh6gra near R&jpur in
tappa Kaparw&r, parganah Salempur ; and about three miles before the junction
it divides into two streams, enclosing an island belonging to Gaura village.
The size and velocity of the stream varies considerably. During the rains ifc
is in some places more than a quarter of a mile broad, and runs at about five
miles an hour ; while during the summer it is as a rule but 100 or 150 yard*
wide, and travels rather less than two miles an hour. The bed consists of mixed
sand and mud. Owing to its extremely winding course, and to the fact that
the banks washed by its deep current are usually high and perpendicular,
the river does not in most places cause extensive inundations. It nevertheless,
by cutting fresh channels, transfers whole villages from one bank to the
other, and south of Gorakhpur, where it forms the boundary, from one
parganah to another. A precipitous bank on one side of the river is
usually faced by a shelving bank on the other. But in some places (e. g. to the
west of Gorakhpur) both shores are sloping, and here the river inundates the
adjoining country. Such floods are fertilising, and only occasion loss when
they retire so late as to prevent the ploughing of the riverside lands. There
are a great number of small channels branching from and returning to the
stream, but these are dry except in the rains. The chief tributaries of the-
B&pti in this district are the GhAnghi, Dhamela, Rohin, Taraina, Xmi, Pharend;
and Majhna.
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GORAKHPUR. 293
In the rains the surface of the river rises so considerably that these
streams are stopped or thrust back to overflow their banks. The Domingarh
and Ami&r lakes are thus formed by the stoppage of the Rohin and Xmi
respectively. In the rains, boats of from 2,000 to 3,000 maunds x burthen
ply on the stream as far as its junction with the Dhamela.2 In the hot
weather, boats of 300 maunds8 can navigate it to the same distanoe, and
boats of 1,000* maunds as far as Gorakhpur. The formation of its banks dis-
courages its use for purposes of irrigation.
Mr. Lumsden (Settlement Report) mentions that in 1864 the volume of
the stream suddenly decreased so greatly as to excite fears that, except in the
rains, it would no longer remain navigable for boats of any size. This decrease,
which arose from the formation of a new channel in the Basti district, was how-
ever only temporary, and next year the stream flowed as before.6 The chief
places of importance on the river are Gorakhpur, Gajpur, Kotha, Kaparw6r,
Barhaj, and R&jpur. These are all market towns, Gorakhpur and Barhaj being
the most important. There are bridges of boats at Bird gh&t and Bhau&p&r
ghat ; but during the rains the former bridge is removed and a ferry takes
its place. Nadua is another ghat lying within 'the jurisdiction of the sadr
tahsil. K&rmaini gh&t lies within that of Maharajganj at the mouth of the
Dhamela. The water of the stream is not very clear, as it bears in solution a
good deal of mud. Its temperature is high.
The river is of immense importance as a means for carrying cheaply, safely,
and quickly the large export trade in grain and wood from Nepal and the north
of this district down to Gorakhpur, and thence into the Ghagra and Ganges.
(1) The Ghunghi nadi. — Rising in the Nepal hills, the Ghunghi flows
Trib taiiea of 8°uth-we8*iwar^s till it joins the Dhamela in two branches
the Repti. near Sikra and Giroi respectively. Its deep and well-defined
bed serves for some miles as the boundary, first between
Gorakhpur and Nepal, and again between Gorakhpur and Basti. The stream,
which is clear, with a sandy bed, runs very rapidly in the rains, and at a
medium pace during the cold and hot weather. It abounds with ndks or
crocodiles. In the rains it presents a serious obstacle to travellers, but soon
afterwards becomes fordable in most places. The water, escaping through its
1 From 71 to' 107 tons. * From this poiut to near Bansi it it a small stream,
only SO or 30 feet in width, during the cold and hot weather. It some years ago threw oat
into the Basti district a branch which diverted the greater part of its waters from the old
channel. The latter, to which the stream has never reverted, still exists to show how fine a
river it must once have borne. 8 Between 10 and 1 1 tons. 4 Between 35 and 36
tons. B This was entirely owing to the increase which took place in the volume and size
of the Dhamela, a fact which seems to prove that the water which before found its way down
the channel of the Bapti has been diverted in Basti to that of the former river. The old
channel, as before mentioned, has remained almost dry.
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2M G0&1KHPUB.
collateral channels, often works a good deal of mischief. The stream is not
navigable, but timber is sometimes floated down it. It has several tributaries
which serve to irrigate the ricefields of parganah Bindyakpur. Chief of theaet
are the Danda and the Gh£gra, both of which have steep banks, are infested
by ndkz, and in the rains are considerable streams. There are no towns of
importance on the Ghunghi in this district.
(2) The Dhamela. — The Dhamela, though it has but a short course in
_ _ . this district, is of considerable importance. On entering
The Dhamela. .... r
from Basti it is joined by the Ghunghi near Sikra and Giroi,
and there divides ; its smaller branch flowing southwards and joining the R&pti
in the Basti district, the larger running south-eastwards and joining it some
70 miles further down its course, just above KArmaini gh&t. The Dhamela is
here much the fuller and finer stream of the two,1 and is on this branch never
fordable. Boats of from 200 to 300 maunds* burthen can navigate it during
the entire year. The banks are as a rule high and abrupt Here and there eddies
or small whirlpools (bhaur), similar to those in the Great Gaudak, are met with;
but navigation is safe. . In the rains the river floods a large part of the adjoining
oountry, and often does mischief by sweeping away crops or boundary
marks and preventing cultivation. The deposit left (partly sand and
partly mud) does more harm than good, and the proprietors of the villages
between the Dhamela and the Ripti complain of its effects. The banks in
the hot weather are very steep, and the rise of the river in the rains is more
than 20 feet above its summer level. The current is then very powerful, and
the volume of water must be enormous. Dh&ni or Kh&nap6r B&zdr, one of
the great grain marts of this district, lies a short distance east of this stream.
N&ks and porpoises are common, as are rohu and the other ordinary river
fish (vide list in Part II). The Government ferries, are at K&rmaini gh&t and
Magarha, and a private ferry at Kanap&r is of some importance.
(3) The Rahin. — The Bohin enters this distrct from Nep&l in parganah
Biniyakpur East, and passing through parganah Haveli.
joins the R&pti below Domingarh, at the western end of the
city of Gorakhpur. It is joined in the north by the Bhagela nadi. For
about 15 miles northwards from its junction with the R&pti it is navigable
throughout the year by vessels of 100 maunds burthen, and in the rains for
some -15 miles higher. It is not fordable, even in summer, for 25 miles
above Gorakhpur. The current is sluggish. In the north the banks are
1 The parganah map of last settlement does not seem quite correct here, neglecting to
mark with santoient clearness the main stream of the Dhamela. * Between 7 and II
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aoRAKHPtm. 295
Steep and well marked, but after it enters Haveli Gorakbpur they are usually
sloping. It is joined in this parganah by a considerable tributary from
the north-east, tbe Piy&s or Jh£rri, which also rises in Nep&l, Floods are
rare, but at the point where it joins the Edpti there is a large tract of
lowlying land, which is completely submerged in the rains ; and it is
chiefly owing to the rise of this river and a small stream near it that the
Domingarh and Karmaini lakes to the west of Gorakbpur are formed. The
Bhagela and Jharri are in the rainy season swift, strong streams, and serve to
carry off tbe water which would otherwise accumulate below the hills. Both
have high well-defined banks, and after the rains become shallow, sluggish
streams easily forded. The colour and temperature of the water varies accord*
ing to the time of year. In the summer it is clear and cold, being supplied in
great measure by the melted snow from the hills ; in the rains it is discoloured
and warmer. Passing as it does through the large forest in parganahs Haveli
and Binayakpur, it is extensively used for floating down timber. There are no
places of commercial importance on its banks, and it carries little trade north
of M£oirfim.
(4) The Tura nadi. — The Tiira nadi rises in tappa tJuti, parganah Haveli
Gorakbpur. and falls into the R&pti near BelipAr, below
The Tftrs and JCmf . .
Gorakhpur. It is as small in size as importance.
(5) The Ami. — Rising from a small lakeiu Basli, the Ami enters this dis-
trict near Rampur village, at the junction of tappas Bharsand and Bhaduseri
(parganah JIaghar). It flows first eastwards, then south-east, dividing the
parganah from Bhauap&r, and eventually joins the Rapti near Sohgaura in
tappa Garmahi (parganah Bhauapar). Except during the rains, it is, though
deep in some places, a narrow, sluggish stream. Its waters are extensively used
for irrigation, and the fishing iu it is very valuable, rohu and similar river fish
being abundant. The bed is muddy. In the rains the river rises and causes exten-
sive inundations. Between it and the Hapti there is a ridge of high ground, and
again on the west another ridge capped by Bansgaon. Between them is a plain
known as the Amiir T&l ; and the whole of this is in the rains one vast sheet of
water, stretching for six or seven miles on either side of the Tucker embankment,
and on a rough windy day resembling a small sea covered with white-crested
waves. The river is bridged by the embankment just mentioned, and again near
Chittai ; 1 also at Maghar in the Basti district. During the rains boats of 100
maunds burthen can navigate it ; but the course of the stream being difficult
to follow owing to floods, and sunken trees being numerous, the navigation is
1 Where a line embankment, pietced by seven arches, hears across the Azamgarh road.
38
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896 GOfcAKfiPTTH.
attended with some risk. The subsiding waters of the stream leave behind
them very little deposit ; but such as is left is fertilizing loam, and the crops
grown] thereon are exceptionally good. The water is described as rather
turbid and warm.
(6) The Majhna. — The Majhna rises from a pond east of Pipraich (par-
ganah Haveli), and flowing southwards through the forest,
joins the R£pti near Majharia of tappa Nagwa Tikari in
Silhat. Both in volume and other respects the stream is insignificant. At
ftudarpur its name is changed to Bathua ; at Surya, tappa Madanpur, it
is joined by the Kurna nadi, and by the Eunhi near its junction with the
R&pti. Both these tributaries are small summer-dried streams which, except
for irrigation, are of no importance.
(7) The Pharend. —The souroes of the Pharend must be found near
Pipr&ich in Haveli Gorakhpur, whence the stream flows
almost due south to meet the R&pti. In the rains its size is
considerable ; but during the rest of the year it is narrow, shallow, sluggish,
and fordable in almost all places. It is an irrigating, but not a navigable
stream. Its name is derived from the pharend1 trees on its banks. It
joins the Majhna on the border of Silhat, and their united stream flows into
the Ripti under the name of the Bathua nadi.
(8) The Taraina nadi. — Rising from Til Sonda in tappa Bankata
(parganah Anola), and flowing in a south-easterly direc-
tion, the Taraina enters the north of the Bhenri Til
in parganah Chillfip&r, whence it, or rather another stream bearing the
same name, passes in to the R&pti. The banks are as a rule sloping.
The water is much used for irrigation. In the hot weather the stream
almost dries up, leaving a succession of pools. But' in the rains it runs
with considerable force, as proved by the fact that in 1871 it swept
away the bridge (now replaced) which bore the Benares road across it
It is however fordable, even during the rains, in many places. There are
no ndfo in this stream, and it is not navigable. It has one tributary, the
Sibi or Gangri nadi, which rising in tappa P61i, parganah Dhuriap&r,
flows southeast to join the Taraina in tappa Majuri, near Maktop&r. This
muddy-bedded stream is used for irrigation, but dries in summer ; it is not
navigable and can always be forded. It is called the Silni as far as Kan-
wadi in tappa Gagaha, and thence to its junction with the Taraina, the
Gangri.
1 Elsewhere c*Uedjdman (Eugenia jambotana^
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GORAKHPUR. «7
The Great Gandak or Nariyani, known in Nep&l as the Saligrfimi,1 rises
_ _ amongst the hills of the latter country and forms the north-
The Great Gandak. e . T .
east boundary of this district. Its course is, generally speak-
ing, south-easterly, and it joins the Ganges opposite the opium storehouse at Patna.
The Gandak itself forms the district boundary for a very short distance only,
turning eastward at the north-east corner of tappa Batsara into Lower Bengal. It
again, however, touches the district at the south-east corner of parganah Sidhua
Jobna, where it skirts the Bank Jogni tappa. Between this point and that
where it again turns into Bengal the boundary is partly formed by a branch
whioh there is good reason to believe was not along ago the main stream.
Where it first enters British territory its bed is stony and the stream itself clear
and rapid. The banks are high and the body of water even at the end of the
hot weather very large. The Great Gandak is never ford able, and boats of 800
mannds* burthen can navigate it throughout the year. Owing, however, to the
force of the stream and swirl of the so-called whirlpools (bhxiur) caused by irregu-
larities in the river bed, navigation is somewhat dangerous. Timber rafts from
Nep&l are frequently broken up and boats upset. Snags are also not uncommon
and increase the perils of the stream. The branch before referred to, while re-
sembling in some respects the main stream, has lower banks and frequently cuts
itself new channels, to the great loss and discouragement of the neighbouring
cultivators. Hr. Lumsden observes that its influence on cultivation is on the
whole injurious. Floods, however^ very rarely occur ; and as the deposits of the
stream are chiefly sand, the fact need not be regretted. This offshoot rejoins
the Gandak north of the Bank Jogni tappa, and henceforward the stream
appears to be confined to one channel and does little mischief.8 Wood, grain,
and sugar are the chief commodities borne by this river. The first comes from
Nep&l, and the second mostly from British territory, while the third is the
native chini manufactured in parganah Sidhua Jobna.
Crocodiles, porpoises, and several kinds of fish abound, and the latter are
caught in large numbers. The mahdser (Barbus mosal) is occasionally cap-
tured. The sand of the river is washed for the particles of gold which have
found their way down from the hills.
The river is not much used for irrigation, chiefly because the soil near it
is naturally moist (bfidt). Situated beside it are two marts, viz., Gola Pipragh&t
on the main stream and S&hibganj on the branch in tappa Bank Jogni.
1 Perhaps because ammonite f ossils ( Valigr&m) are found along its banks. Amongst Hindus
ammonites are revered as symbols of Vishnu. The other name of the river, Narayani, is
derived from one of the numerous titles of that god. * Between 28 and 29 tons*
* The stream flawing through the old channel has steadily diminished till now ,- it completely
dries up in the hot weather. In the rains it is navigable by vessels of 10 or 1 1 tons.
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498 OOHAKHPUR.
There are ferries at Parsoni ghfit, Madhub&ni, Gola Pipraghit, and Banii
ghfit near Padrauna. Two rivers, the Sonmati and Banmati, are said to join
it about 14 miles above the frontier, at a spot where there is an annual fair in
Magh (January-February). It has in this district no important tributary.
The water is clear, and from its depth has in many places a bluish hue. The
temperature of the stream is cool, owing perhaps to the snow water it receives
from the hills.1
From its source in the Chiriagora tappa, the Jharshi passes southwards
into the Saran district, forming lower in its course the
extreme eastern boundary of parganah Salempur, and ulti-
mately joining the Ghagra. The stream is of considerable use for irrigation,
and its piscatory is of some value. In the rains it flows with considerable
foroe, but on their close slackens gradually until at the beginning of the
< hot weather its water is almost stagnant. The stream is considered injurious
to health, and a dangerous kind of malaria often attacks strangers who halt
near it for any length of time.
Like the JMrahi, the Bandi n&la has several branches which unite at the
_. ^# ,. ,, north of tappa Sandi. It is a running stream only for a
The B&ndi nala. . n J ,
few months in the year, and soon after the conclusion of
the rains is dammed up for purposes of irrigation. In the hot weather it
dries up. It joins the Khanua in tappa Khan*
Known of yore as the Sarju, the Ghagra or Dehwa flows along the
southern boundary of the district. Entering the Dhuria-
pa> parganah at Majdip of tappa Belighat, . and passing
eastwards with a slight inclination to the south, it at length issues into the
Saran district of Lower Bengal. The stream is rapid in the rains, and flows
about two miles an hour at the beginning of the hot weather. Steamers
can navigate it during the rains, and boats of 1,000 maunds2 burthen throughout
the year. The bed is sandy, and the breadth of the stream varies considerably
according to the season. The main stream has been made the boundary be-
tween Gorakhpur and Azamgarh, but its shiftings cause frequent transfers of
villages from one district to the other. The main stream is said about 20 years
ago to have joined the Ku&na, west of Dhuriapdr, in the parganah of that ilk,
but now flows considerably further to the south. A branch which the river
threw out in 1872 adopted as its bed the old channel, and it was anticipated
that the main stream would revert to the same course ; but that anticipation
1 In the south-east corner of the district it has daring the last year or two shifted its courts
Slightly to tke east. « Between 85 and 36 tons.
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GOBAKHPUR. 299
has not jrot been justified by facts. The floods, which seldom though sometimes
take place, serve but to injure the neighbouring crops, as the riverside is
already watered amply from tanks and wells, and the deposit left is sandy. The
Rapti joins the Ghagra near Rajpur, and tho Little Gandak further east. These
streams and the Ku&oa are the only important tributaries from this district.
The banks marking the usual limits of the stream in the rains are high and
sharply defined, and it is only bettceen them that the breadth of the stream varies
at the different times of year. When after the rains the river subsides, numerous
chars, or islets of sand, appear in the channel, which becomes tortuous and
in some places rather shaUow. Country boats of the largest burden can, however,
always ply the stream, which is never fordable. The chief market villages on its
banks are Barhalganj, Rajpur, Bhagalpur, Mail Khas, and Naridon. One of the
most important marts in the district, Barhaj, stands a little way inland from the
river above Rajpur. It was formerly situate on the river bank ; but the
Rapti having shifted slightly to the east, and the Ghagra slightly to the south-*
west, the town now stands on a channel of the former. An immense trade in
grain, principally from Barhalganj and Barhaj, is carried down the river to the
Ganges.
There are ferries at (1) Kamharia gb&t, (2) Raja Sultanpur, (3) Chapri,
(4) Sahia ghat, (5) Poila Rimpur, (6) Duhuja Khair&ti, (7) Barhalganj, (8)
Rajpur, (9) Paina, and (10) Bhagalpur and Mail. In colour the water it
rather opaque, containing a considerable solution of sandy mud.
The Ku&na riBes in Oudh, enters this district in parganah Dhuriapdr,
and flows into the Ghagra at Marhundia. Its name is
said to be derived from the fact that its first source is a
-well (Ma). Some years ago, when reinforced in Basti by branches of the
Ghagra, it was during its course in Gorakhpur a deep navigable stream. But
by a southward movement of the former river the volume of the Ku&na was
greatly diminished. In 1872 the Ku&na was again swollen by two branches
of the Ghagra, and increased so greatly in depth and volume as to be nowhere
fordable in parganah Dhuriapar ; its capacity for navigation was thus of course
-greatly enhanced, and if the volume of water continues as at present, boats of
500 maunds1 or more will throughout the year be able to navigate the
stream for some distance above Dhuriaptfr. Mr. Lumsden notices a similar
enlargement of this stream by a branch of the Ghagra in 1 855, the result
then being a considerable amount of diluvion. At present floods are rare,
but the stream has out numerous deep channels along its shores.
1 Nearly IS torn burthen.
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300 GORAKHPtJR.
The banks of the stream are sleep and in the hot weather high. The
current is slow and the bed sandy. Tikua B&z&r, Sikriganj, Gaurganj, Dhurii-
p£r, Sh&hpur, and Gola are places of some size on its banks. At Tikua, Gaurganj,
and Gola markets are held. There is a Government ferry at Benri, and numer-
ous private ferries for foot passengers at intervals of two or three miles.
Descending from the Nep&l hills, the Little Gandak Sows southwards till it
joins the Ghftgra at Simaria, just within the S&ran dis-
Tfae Little Gandak. . . .
trict. It is often mistaken for a branch of the Great Gan-
dak, but is really quite distinct, entering Gorakhpur to the west of that stream.
For three months of the year, t.e., from the middle of July to the middle of Octo-
ber, it can be navigated by boats of 100 maunds burthen. But its volume and
current, then considerable, decrease rapidly after the close of the rains; and it
soon becomes a small stream, not more than 20 yards across, sluggish, and in
most places /ordable. The water contains a calcareous deposit which is said
to be a frequent cause of goitre amongst those who drink it, and the soil along
the stream is mostly blidt, which is largely composed of ehalk. Raggarganj,
Captainganj, and Hetimpur are b&z&rs of some importance on its banks.
Those banks are as a rule high and well defined, yet not so high as to prevent
the frequent use of the water in irrigation. They are connected by Government
ferries at Guria, Hetimpur, and Captainganj. A small branch known as the
Khanoa n&la leaves this stream near Hetimpur, and passes south-eastwards into
S&ran. But, except as the boundary between parganahs Sidhua Jobna and
Sh&hjah&npur, and an occasional source of irrigation, this offshoot is of no
importance.
The Durinchi is connected with the Mohan, a small stream which, rising
The Duranchi and we8^ °f Biraicha, flows south-eastwards as far as tappa Par-
Mohan, wfirpar, where one branch joins the Dur&nchi and another
the Little Gandak. The latter branch forms the northern boundary of parga-
nah Sh&hjah&npur and effects its junction near Hetimpur. Exept during the rains,
the Mohan is a mere rivulet. The Duranchi forms the border between the Silhat
and ShAhjah-inpur parganahs, joining the Little Gandak at the south-east cor-
ner of tappa Patna, When the rainfall is unusually heavy, and the Little Gan-
dak rises so as to block their streams, these two rivers rise and inundate the
neighbouring country. By such floods the sugarcane crop is damaged and a
sandy deposit left to mar the soil.
The Chillua rises in the centre of tappa Katahra, parganah Haveli.
Flowing south-westwards, it widens out into the Chillua
lake, which is also connected with the Bohin. The stream
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GOHAXHPUR. 301
Hows for some distance through the forest, and is hardly of much importance.
In the rains it used formerly to obstruct traffic on the Rigoli and Captainganj
road, which it now, however, crosses on an embankment pierced by bridges.
With the numerous streams which flow through or by this district cases
m of alluvion and diluvion are necessarily numerous; but
Alluvion and dilu- . .
vion. there appear to be no special local rules for settling disputes
between the proprietors. Some of the large landowners, such
ms the Mahdrdja of Bettiah, the RAja of Tamkuhi, and one or two others, decide
all such questions amongst themselves on the principle that if the changes made
are not of much importance, the deep-stream rule prevails and fixes the bound-
ary. If, on the other hand, the lands transferred by this rule are of considera-
ble extent, the line laid down in the revenue survey map is restored as nearly as
possible. Speaking generally, the deep-stream rule is observed throughout
the district In old days, any dispute on such a point between the zamind&rsof
different villages would have been referred to the local R6ja, and a dispute
between two R&jas would probably have been fought out. The larger rivers
being usually the boundaries of the various principalities the deep-stream
rule naturally obtained, as it would have been difficult for one R&ja to hold a
small plot of land touching his neighbour's territory while severed from his
own by a broad river.
There are at present no canals in the district, either for navigation
or irrigation ; and indeed the necessity for their con-
Proposed canals. .
struction is removed by a network of rivers. In 1859
Mr. Bird, the Collector, proposed to convert the Little Gandak into a oanal
for commercial purposes ; and Mr. Lumsden, in his settlement report, approves
of the suggestion, and says that the levels are favourable for the purpose.
No steps, however, have as yet been taken towards carrying out the idea,
and it is doubtful if much necessity exists for doing so. Some of the
numerous streams in the north of the district, such as the Danda, the Ghun-
ghi, the Gh£gra, and the Rohin, might easily be rendered navigable
by a succession of locks with weirs sufficient to allow the rush of water
in the rains to escape. But until this portion of the district ha* much
advanced the undertaking would be unprofitable. Running as it does by
Lotan and near Butwal, the Ghtinghi offers, if thus treated, the best
chance of financial success. In this part of the district there are, moreover,
no good roads ; but the sincere co-operation of the Nep&l Government, so
necessary in the construction of a northern-frontier canal, is hardly to be
expected.
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302 GORAKHPUB.
The lakes of Gorakhpur are numerous — so numerous thai only those'
conspicuous for their size, position, fisheries, or other quali-
ties, can be noticed here. Such lakes may be divided into
those that are perennial, those which alternate from a sheet of water in the
rains to a swamp at other seasons, and those which the summer leaves com-
pletely dry.
To begin with those that are perennial :—
The Nandawr Tdl in tappa Kasba, parganah Bhau&par, lies near the
Benares road, about 6 miles south of Gorakhpur, and is
The N&nd&ux Tai.
some 2£ miles in length by half a mile in breadth. In
its deepest parts it has during the hot weather about 25 feet of water.
The rains seem little to affeot the size of the lake, which always contains a
copious supply of water noticeable for its extreme clearness. It is plenti-
fully stocked which rohu and other fish, while its waters are used for
irrigation.
The Bdmabhdr Tdl at Easia is about half a mile long by a quarter mile
_ broad. In the rains its length extends to a whole, and its
The B&mibhir TfiL . .
breadth to half a mile ; but in the summer these dimensions
sink to about half a mile and 250 yards in breadth respectively. The average
depth in the rains is about 12 feet, and in the hot weather 5. The lake is never
dry. The water is used, although not extensively, in irrigation ; and the fishing
is valuable, letting for about Rs. 200 a year. It is chiefly remarkable on
account of the Buddhist remains on its banks. These stand at the north-west
corner of the lake, and consist of a lofty mound of solid brickwork now known
as Devisthan, an oblong mound crowned by a brick stupa,1 and a colossal
statue of Buddha, lying a short distance apart from a small ruined building
which was probably a shrine. To these remains some further reference will
be made in the Gazetteer portion of the notice.1
To the north of the Hata road is a smaller lake, communicating with the
Ramabhar Tal by two channels, oyer which bridges have been constructed. In
the rains the water flows from this tal with considerable force towards the
Ramabhar lakeland sometimes outs the road. The Ramabhar lake then rises
and overflows towards the south-east, laying the Barhaj road for some distance
under water. The Little Gandak is said to have once flowed by the more west-
erly of the two channels mentioned above.
We now come to the second class of lakes, which during summer dege-
nerate into swamps.
1 i.e. relic-temple. * Article " Kassia."
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QOKAKHPUR. 803*
The RAmgarh JK{19 near Gorakhpur, is abont 2' mites long By 1J broad.
The bulk of its surface after the rains is covered by tall reeds,
and presents the appearance of a dismal swamp. Passages
are cnt through the reels for the fishermen's- boats. Rohu and other fish are
caught in large numbers, and the fishing, which is leased out by the proprietor!
is valuable. In the rainy season the water rises 20 feet or more and covers the
reeds. The lake is then a large unbroken sheet of water at least 5 miles in length
by 3 in breadth. Immediately after the close of that season the water begins to
recede, and the rices, dham, and bora, are largely grown on the land thus cleared
for cultivation. In the rains some parts of the lake are 40 feet deep, but in
summer none are above 20. The influence of the R&mgarh swamp on the-
health of those living near it is said to be decidedly deleterious, oausing bad
fever and malaria. Two or three -chaunels branch forth from it. It is con-
nected with another jhil of considerable extent, the Nfirh&i T&l, which like it
is covered with reed and thorny plants. After the rains the latter t&l dries up
in many places, leaving detached pieces of water.
The surplus waters of the N&rh&i T&I are drained into the R&pti by the
m^ ™* ._,. m^ Gora brook. In the rains this is a stream of some size
The Nirb&i T&
and affords ample means for communication, but at ether
seasons it scarcely runs at all and cannot be navigated, except by the smallest
boats. A succession of little ponds linked together by the Gora form a chain:
between the Ndrh&i Tal aud the Rdpti. Below the water in both the Narh&i
and Rfimgarh jhih lies a deep mud. This when deserted by the waters and
exposed to the sun grows hard and firm enough to support a man walking on
it, but when covered or just left by water is soft and as dangerous to
tread on as a quicksand. The dryiug of this mud and the stagnant nature
of the swamp, except in the rains, are probably the cause of the malaria
before mentioned. Crocodiles are common in the Rimgarh, but not in the
Narhai T&l. Two or three offshoots from the R&pti join these lakes ; and in
the rains the river deposits through these offshoots large qualities of loam,
by which the Ramgarh T&l is being gradually silted up. The water, it is
said, has reeeded two or three hundred yards towards the east in the last ten
years. Very probably the R&pti originally traversed the present site of Gorakh-
pur city,1 flowing afterwards through part of the R&mgarh jhil and the channel of
the Gora. In this case it has gradually receded westward, raising the broad
embankment of rich earth which now separates it from the swamp and the
brook. Peas, linseed, mustard, wheat, and melons are grown on the mora
elevated portions of the land overlooking the water.
1 Bee Dr. Planck's Sanitary Report, IS71,
33
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304 GORAKHPUB.
The size of the Bhewri T&l, in tappa Sikandarpur of parganah Chillii-
mi_ _L , _„ par, varies very much according to the season of the year.
The Bhewri Til. • , . . . • ■ - « .■ *
In the rains it is a great sheet of water five miles long
and three or four broad, but at their close it sinks rapidly, until at the end of
summer it is about only one in length and about half that distance in breadth.
The depth differs considerably, the greatest in the rains being 20, and in the
summer 10 feet. The suson weed 1 grows in abundance on the ground left dry
by the receding water, and is used as fodder for cattle ; rice is sown in consi-
derable quantities along the edge of the lake. Here shells (sipi) are found from
which mortar is made. The Taraina joins the lake at its north-west corner and
helps to fill it in the rains ; while a branch of that lake stretches to the east, and
in the same season shoots forth a stream to join the R&pti. It is said that when
Raja Bern&th invaded Chillupar he was for a long time unable to take a castle
which stood on an island in the south-west of the lake. At length a fisher-
man pointed out to him that he could drain off part of the water into the Rapti.
Acting on this advice he dug the channel through which the stream above
mentioned flows, and was then able to cross to the island and storm the
fort.2 But though the channel may have been deepened or widened by the
Baja, it is undoubtedly natural. The fishing is of some value and is let
by the proprietors to boatmen who come from a distance. The usual arrange-
ment is that the lessees shall pay half of what they catch to the landlord.
When the rains are at all excessive the R&pti and G-h&gra are united through
this tal, which is then nearly 8 miles in length.
The Chillua Til lies north of Grorakhpur city, at the east of tappa Mar&che
m,. ™.« m*, Chandur. This lake is formed by the Chillua river, and till a
The Chillua Til. _ i
few years ago was completely surrounded by thick jungle.
The land to the south, however, has now been cultivated. To the north, north-
east, and west there is still jungle, which near the water consists of cane and thora-
bushes, but further inland of s&l trees. The breadth of the lake varies greatly,
not only according to the season of year, but from one place to another, being
at some points half a mile and at others 50 or <>0 yards only. At most seasons a
current flows through it towards the Rohin ; but in the rains, when this stream
is blocked by the Rapti, it in turn obstructs the Chillua, which then overflows,
filling the Chillua Tal, flooding the neighbouring country, and mingling its water
southwards with those of the K&rmaini lake. On the southern edge of the Chillua
T&l the subsiding waters are succeeded by boro rice, and a considerable quantity
of land reclaimed from the jungle is now sown with a spring crop watered from
1 Not to be confused with sarson (mustard). * Certain boatmen (Mall&h*)» calling
1 hemst'lves heirs of the fisherman here mentioned, have still rights of the fishing in the lake.
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GOftAKBPtTB. t0$
the lake itself. The fishing is valuable, but as usual is rather overcrowded by
the boatmens who rent it from the proprietors.
The last class of lakes are those which disappear with the approach of
_, . ., _ . summer. The Amiar Tfil, in tappas Kasw&si and Pachise of
The Amir T41. . > , . ,. . ■ , .
parganahs Bhauapar, exists only in the rainy season, when in
conjunction with the Bijra TA1 it extends for some miles on either side of
the Tucker embankment. It is formed by the overflowing of the Xmi and sinks
rapidly at the end of the rains, leaving bare a soil which produces excellent
crops. Boro is planted close to the river, where the mould remains sodden for
some times. Further from the bank peas are extensively sown, while barley and
other spring crops are raised at the extreme edge furthest from the river. In
some rare years, when the rainfall has been heavy and the current of the Xmi
strong, the river brings down a sterilizing deposit of sand.
The Domingarh and Ki'irmaini lakes on the outskirts of tappas Kasha
The Domin*arh an<* Gura in pargana Haveli, are formed, as before stated, by
and Karmaini T4U. tj,e rise 0f fa R0h,'n and a small stream to the west of Go-
rakhpnr. The former lake is about 2 miles in length and 1£ in breadth ; the
latter is larger. They are separated by some rising ground which becomes an
island in the rains.
The K&rmaini lake when at its greatest height extends north-west for five
or six miles ; but a considerable part of it is covered by trees and is rather shal-
low. The shores are lined by fine groves, which with their trees partly sub-
merged lend a very picturesque aspect to the lake. One or two small streams
connect it with the Rfipti. At the end of the monsoon the lakes rapidly sub-
side, and in a month are dry. Great quantities of tall khar and some vernal
crops are produced on the land thus uncovered. There is a current through
the lakes from north to south, occasioned by the tendency of the water to flow
into the Riipti, which eventually drains it off.
The Nawar Tdl, in tappa Beh of parganah Bhau&p&r, is during the
rains rather over 2 miles in length and about If of a mile in breadth. But at
their conclusion it dries up almost entirely, only a few pools being left.
Boro and spring crops are sown on the lately submerged soil, which is watered
from the lake itself.
The Ramkola Jhtt in tappa Papdr of parganah Sidhua Jobna, lies south-
east of the R&mkola, from which it derives its name. This is during the
rains a very large oval sheet of water, communicating with the Binde n&la.
The soil when relinquished by the water acquires sufficient consistency to be
capable of being dug with a spade, and resembles in appearance a stiff clay.
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866 GOfiAKHPUR.
It retains too much moisture to produce first-rate spring crops, and is even said
to be nnsnited for the thirsty rice. If the lake could be drained so as to ensure
the -retirement of its water immediately after the rains, it would probably
become highly productive. It is too shallow to sustain many fish, but is
frequented by large flocks of wild fowl.
The lakes and rivers already named are only a few amongst the enor-
mous number existing in the district. Small lakes, and
more especially ponds (pokhra), are so numerous that but
very little land is irrigated from wells. In a 'hot dry year, when there is little
or no winter rain, disputes sometimes arise as to the use of water, but as a
rule there is sufficient for all. In many places, especially in the north and
east, no irrigation at all is required, the soil being naturally moist at all sea*
sons. The large rivers-of the district are chiefly valuable as affording carriage
for the grain and sugar trade, which is very considerable.
The ordinary size of vessels employed in this carrying trade
is from 200 to 1,000 maunds * burthen if the grain is to be carried out of the
district as far as the Ganges, and from 500 to 2,000 maunds 2 if it is to be car-
ried to Calcutta. Within the district the usual measurement is from 100 to 500
maunds,8 but boats of only 50 or even 20 maunds4 are often employed on tha
B&pti and Dhamela, where the current is sluggish and navigation easy.
The only evil result of (he usual abundance of water is that the people in
many places trust almost entirely to the winter rains and natural moisture
of the soil for the water required by their crops. They therefore dig few wells,
and suffer severely when a year of drought has left them without means of
irrigation.
In the district itself there are no railway stations. The nearest are those
_ . „ at (1) Akbarpur on the Oudh and Rohilkhand line, in ihe
"Communication!. . .
Faizabad district, 68 miles from Gorakhpur ; (2) Zamania
on the East Indian Line, in the GhAzipur district, 102 miles from ^Gorakhpur ;
and (3) Faizabad in the district of the same name on the Oudh and Rohil-
khand line, 84 miles from Gorakhpur. The construction of the proposed
light railway to Dohrighat in Azamgarh would place a station just outside the
district, on the opposite bank of the Gh&gra ; while that of a similar line to
Gh&zipur will bring the nearest station of the East Indian Railway some 14
miles nearer Gorakhpur on the south. There used to be telegraphic communi-
1 Between 7 and 36 tons. * Between 17 and 78 tons. Theae large vessels usually start
from Barhaj, the smaller boats being there unloaded and sent back to Gula, Gorakhpur,
Dhani, or whatever mart they may ply from. * Batweena 3 and 18 tons • From
under 2 to under 1 ton*
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G0BAKHPUB. 307
cation between G-orakbpur and Zam&nia,*but this has now been closed for many
years. A light field telegraph was constructed daring the famine of 1873-74,
but afterwards removed.
There are two metalled roads, vit., (1) that from Gorakhpur to Benares
vid Barhalganj, of which there are 35 miles within the
district; and (2) the Basti and Faizabad road, of which
only 15 miles extending to Maghar He within Gorakhpur. The greater portion
of the latter road has been metalled within the last ten years.
In constructing and maintaining these bridged 1st class roads,1 the chief
difficulties are found in the number of watercourses, streams, and lakes to bo
crossed. The celebrated Tucker embankment on the Barhalganj line is a
wonderful example of such difficulties overcome. Constructed over the Amiar
and Bigra Tals, which, as before mentioned, extend for several miles during the
rainy season, it is three miles long, and has two very large, besides two smaller
bridges. Before its construction the passage of these lakes in the rains was a
tedious and dangerous process, numerous accidents occurring to travellers who
were obliged to undertake it. For a considerable distance the sides of the
bank are flanked by stonework, to enable it to stand the wash of the water,
which on a windy day is very great Commenced in 1845 and completed
some five years later, it was named after Mr. Collector Tucker. An immense
amount of convict labour was used in its construction, and, independently of the
cost of maintaining these men, Rs. 70,000 were spent on the work. A bridge
which convoyed the same road across the Taraina was less successful, being
swept away during the rains of 1871 by that usually sluggish stream. It has
been replaced by a new girder bridge. On the Basti road the encroachments
of the Rapti are continually threatening, and have sometimes succeeded in
cutting away the causeway, with which the stream runs parallel for the first
six miles. Two large watercourses, tributary to the same river, are hardly
less troublesome, and have on more than one occasion carried away the
bridges with which they have been spanned. Mr. Peart has recorded his
opinion that a bridge in the embankment bearing a road thus circumstanced
is a source of weakness in time of flood, and likely to lead to disaster.
The cost of keeping these, roads in order had up to 1871 been regulated
very much by the annual grant. An organized system of maintenance has now
been introduced, and Mr. Peart estimates the rate of repair at about Bs. 300 per
mile per annum. That sum includes occasional renewal of metal and repairs
to bridges. The traffic on the Barhalganj road is very great, but it is not heavy,
1 The infonnaUen regarding roads has been furnished by Mr. Peart, late District Engineer
of Gorakhpur.
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308
GOEAKBPUB.
the R&pti serving for the transmission of most weighty articles. It was metalled
for the first time in 1865 at a cost of nearly one lakh of rupees. This high-
way, which affords throughout the year rapid communication with Benares
and Azamgarh, is as important from a military as from a commercial point of
view. Extensive repairs were effected during 1873 on the JBasti road, and a
new embankment was made to remedy the injuries caused by river encroach-
ments. The road was embanked and partly metalled in 1869-70.
There are 912 miles of earthen or unmetalled roads, whereof almost the
whole are tended by the Public Works Department. The only exceptions are
the municipal roads in Gorakhpur city and a few other towns where the
Chaukid&ri Act (XX of 1856) has been introduced. Of earthen highways 476
miles are inoluded in the 2nd class — that isj amongst raised and bridged roads.
2nd and 3rd Th° remainder are village roads, usually mere cart tracks,
claea roacU. j}nt occa8i0nally bridged. All the principal places are thus
connected with each other and the capital, as also with many important towns
or villages in adjacent districts. Constant repairs are needed on these roads,
owing to the damage done by the rains and to the way in which the sand
works up to the surface. The average cost of repairing is about Rs. 30 a mile
per annum, but the amount spent varies considerably from one year to
another. The following list, while distributing unmetalled roads amongst the
2nd and 3rd classes, shows also the mileage within the district of each line : —
2nd Clam—Raised and bbidqbd, bot on metalled boadb.
Name of line.
Gorakhpur and Lotan
,, „ Nichlaval
N „ Bai.sighat
i, „ Satour
„ „ GatnUbat
„ „ Kaibhanghat
Mileage within
district.
... 45
... 55
... 48
... f»
... 61
... 86
Name of tow. Mileage within
district.
Kaurfrim and Gola ... 15
Sikrfganj „ Larh ... 56
Barhaj „ Padrauna ... 48
Rudrapur w Gola ... 96
Captainganj „ Karmainfghit .M 34
Total tnd claaa
476
3rd Clam— Unbaibbd aoADa with occasional bridges ahd culybbts.
Name of lime. Mileage with in
distf ict.
Captsinganj, Nimbna, and Bsgha .« 31
n ., ., 8abia ... 25
Padrauna and Nichlaval ... 38
„ „ Tiwan patti ... 16
,, „ 8aro6r ... 29
Bhagalpur „ Bhingari ... JO
„ ., Miusela ... U
Nichlaval, Bagapnr, and Banai ... 86
„ Cbaoparia and Mansfirganj 25
Bndarpar and Barhaj ... 14
„ „ Dhara tM 17
Name of line.
Rndarpur and Deoria
Tiwari patti and Panmr
Kazipur
Kaurfrim f9 findia
Pipriich „ Deoria
„ ' M Barhi
Bagtpur „ Bagha
8ahnj«nna V9 Tilaura *.
Shihpar branch, Rudrapnr-Gola
road ... ... .M
Maharftjganj branch, Gorakhpur-
Nfchlaval road
Mileage within
district.
... 7
... 12
... 14
... 14
... 82
... 24
... 88
11
IS
Total 3rd claaa ... 436
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GOIUKHPUR.
309
The difficulty of procuring nodular limestone (kunkwr)1 renders it impossi-
ble to metal the greater portion of tlnse roads ; but numerous bridges and
embankments have rendered them most valuable means of communication.
Few or perhaps no new road* appear to be called for, but much may yet be
done to improve the existing lines, especially in the north of the district.
The most important of the 2nd class roads are those — (1 ) from Gorakh-
pur to Nichlaval ; (2) from Gorakhpur to Bettiah m'APadrauna and Bdnsigh&t ;
(3) from Gorakhpur to Chapra vid Deoria, Ldrh, and Gatnigh&t ; (4) from
Barhaj to Padrauna ;' (5) from Gorakhpur to Samtir vid Hata and Easia.
The chief efforts of district engineers have of late been devoted to bringing
the 2nd class roads into good order, and to making them passable at all times of the
year by constructing embankments and bridges. The Deoria, Kasia, and Lotan
roads have received special attention, and are now in very good order. Bridges
have been constructed on them over thoTura,Majhna, Robin, Little Gandak, and
Dhanua. The Nichlaval road and the road from Kigoli to Captainganj have also
been put in order. They are both of considerable importance — the former as the
road on which a large part of the rice and sugar trade from the north is brought
down to Gorakhpur, the latter as connecting Captainganj with Dhani, Rigoli,
and E&rmaini gh&t. Another 2nd class road of importance is that from Sikri-
ganj to Ldrh, passing Barhalganj, Barhaj, and Paina. The facilities offered by
the different rivers as a means of communication have been noticed above. The
extreme north and north-west of the district will soon require something more
than the cart tracks which at present serve as roads. The rice and pepper trade
of that neighbourhood is becoming very considerable. If the Nepfcl authorities
would only consent to facilitate trade between their country and British India,
keeping up the roads on their side of the boundary line, a very important trade
in rice, timber, iron, and copper might be carried to Gorakhpur either vid Tfiti-
bh&ri and Nichlaval or by Lotan or Nai kot and Dh&ni. Even now the trade is large.
The following tables shows the distances of the principal towns and villages
from Gorakhpur. These are the distances by road, as a
wagon would have to travel ; they have been in no case
measured as the crow flies or by foot-path : —
l.
*.
a.
4.
5.
Gorakhpur to
Bellptr
Tucker embank-
ment, north end.
Kaurfram
Gagaha
Barhalganj
Gola
1
s
0
4
CM
0
3
12
16
*3
m
3
U
0 **
a
1
s
3
2
1
17*
«*
2*
A
« 1
3
86
14
11
«»
o
36
24
21
18»
10
» 1
S3
21
18
16|
20| '
10) 1
Gorakhpur
to Gajpur ...
Kotha
1
A
26
27
20
82
1 Kunkur is found, but lies so deep that the expense of digging it is great.
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310
GOBaKBfUft.
Gorakhpur to
1. Chatai bridge...
2. Rudrapur
3. Anola or Bang-
rainpur.
4 BinBgaon* or
Shahpur Kobra
5 Dhuri Apart ...
6. Shahpur .»*
5
JO
•**
5
u
o
9*
7
a
2
10
a
tf
18
6
3
1
19
19
9
6
30
93
90
17
87
33
97
94
is
Gorakhpur to Bhadar, 17.
„ Bankata, 90.
„ Barhiapar, 15.
* ViA Kauriram, 90
f Via Sikriganj, 99. Sikriganj is 98 miles
from Gorakhpur on loop road.
Gorakhpur to
1. Barhi
13
9. Rudarpur
97
8. Madanpur
31
4. Kaparwir
37
6. Gonra
39
6. Barhaj
41
7. Fain a
44
8. Mail
49
9. Bhagalpur
69
3
?
D
n
14
•8
P3
1
Ml
*
5
5
?
^
18
24
4
10
8
1
26
19
8
9
o
98
14
10
4
9
31
17
13
I
6
8
36
92
18
19
10
8 I
39
25
91
t«
13
11
oS
i
flu
6
8
1
8
Gorakhpur to Khaiopar— By road 81, direct 69.
Gorakhpur to
1. Subah Bazar
9. Motfram Chauki
3. Bhopa
4. Chaura
6. Patharhat
6. Deoria
7. Khukhundu
8. Miuaela
9. Salem pur
10. Majhauli
11. Larh
19. Gatnfghft
o
To Saharanpur
■♦a
■s
2
...
6
1
1
...
12
7
?
o
14
9
9
1
g
I
6
17
2
•••
16
91
33
11
16
98
4
9
91
2
7
19
3
ft-
12
Deoria to
khundu to
...
44
39
32
30
98
98
11
2 ©
W e8
...
46
41
94
89
30
95
18
2
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48
41
89
37
39
20
9
7
00*
58
53
46
44
49
87
25
14
19
...
60
55
48
46
44
39
97
16
14
By road
68,
direct
65.
8.
8
Gorakhpur to Rampur Kliaii<par
„ Kahfcoa
38 by road, 38 direct
69
46
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Aorakbpur to9
1. C^ter'B Well ...
5. FaHkki-kothi
3. Kusmlha
4. Jagdeepor
0. Dhara
6. Hata
7. Hetimpur
8. Kasia
9. Dhampattl
10. Kazipur
11. 8amur
i
GOKAXHPUB.
5
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311
3 3
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24
22
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38
29
27
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87
33
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26
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9 1
40
36
84
32
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15
12
47
43
41
39
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51
47
46
43
40
26
23
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W
5
Gorakhpur to Mainpur khas, 48
,i Tamkuhi 55
„ Taria Sujan 56
3
3
4
7 I 3
14 10
!■ 14
Gorakhpur to
1. Pipraich
i, Captainganj ...
f. Bamkola tM
4. Padrauna ...
■s
•*
1 »
» s* 1
9*
38
15 3
38
25
10
49
86
22
I
ii
Gorakhpur to Semra Hardeo.
By road.
Direct.
54.
48.
i>
Bisbnpura ,.•
62
53
n
Binsgaon ...
64
54
»»
Amwa Khas ...
68
56
ii
Bampur Bora-
han
68
59
if
Tiwari Patti ...
59
54
ii
Gola Pipragbat
and.Sahibganj
or the Great
Gandak ...
62
55
Gorakhpur to
I. Kotihl
t. Biraicha
8. Kothibhtr
4. Siswa
5. Sabia
6. Nichlaral
7. Tutibhari
83
34
40
41
43
51
57
s
1
4
10
II
13
21
27
3
i
i3
1
3
11
17
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16
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a
i
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f. B*gapfe ^.
I. Chaok
38
89
41
I*
40
■S
!
a
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M?
GOIUKHfCft.
Gorakhpur toMdniram
„ Cbaaraukha ...
,, Riiroli
„ Dh&nl and Khinaplr
w Simara
Haikot by cart tracks
•••
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•••
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27
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86
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Rigoli, Dhanl. Kh&napfir, and Bela-
hariya, which is about 39 miles
from Gorakhpar, are on a differ-
ent road branching from Rigoli
Gorakhpur to Pauira— by road at
direct 24.
Gorakhpur to
].
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• •• M.
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40
The average rainfall of the district is about 46 incnes, but varies very-
much from one year to aD other. In the following table k
shown its average at the principal stations if the district
between 1844-45 and 1849-50 :—
Rainfall and climate.
1844-46 »
1846-46
1846-47
1847-48
1848-49
1849-50
arerage 43-61.
The average total rainfall for the ten years 1860-61 to 1870-71- is given
below : —
_:
oi
CO
-#
*o
to
►:
00 1
e»
c?
•
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
r»
Period.
o
to
to
to
V3
to
•to
s
to
3
8
op
00
00
00
00
00
op
00
2
1st June to 30th Sep*
48'7
46-9
80*4
431
23*8
34*0
42-7
47-8
23*8
83 9
tember.
lit October to 8 1 8 t
4*2
100
29
8<2
•8
11
•9
25
•6
162
January.
lat February to Slat
82
82
•a
16
81
4*2
68
If
f
2<3
May.
Total
49*1
601
84*2
52*8
387
39*4
499
51-6
25*2
62'4
and for 1870-71 it was 574
J UntruBtworthy: the variations in different parts of the district are rery great.
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QORAKHPlftt.
aia
- The fainfell In 1873 and again in 1876 has been abnormally ai»all, and'
figures for previous years have therefore been given. The mean monthly
temperature in the shade is about 76°, averaging from about 60° in January
to 90° in June. How much the climate differs from that of most Dfiib
districts m*y be proved, thus c —
Monthly maximum and minimum average temperature, taken at meteorological
observatory of Gorakhpur,from 1873 to 1877.
1873.
1874.
1875.
1876v ! 1877.
Months.
M
08
a
m%
i
a
'-6
a
a
a
i
.9
a
■
a
a
•
.A
H
a
a
h
9 .
If
to
In
2 0
N
• *
£a
20
fa
S?a
► a
?a
fa
fa
fa
> s
<
<
«
«i
•«
«*
<
<
<
<
January
IV
' 497
75
47*
79*6
48*1
76-9
47*5
75*48
51-
February •-
84'
55-7
79
es-
78 9
548
88*4
51*5
74-64
49*
[ March ...
89'
69*9
89a
61*
98-8
64*4
101-9
61-9
89*2 *J
61-70
Afcril
100
71*
io«*
70-
101-3
754
981
662
100-
68-83
May ...
103 SS
7779
108*
784
99 5
76-3
101-4
74-2
104-21
7612
June ...
104*
S3*
92
78'
97 5
80-5
134-6
50*5
101-91
61-53
July
94-
86-
94*
783
94-6
796
95-2
8009
98-54
80-41
August* ...
n-
80-
90'
79-7
89 0
789
91-5
78«*
9712
79 64
September
93"
79*
90-
51*4
919
77-9
91 1
76 5
99-08
7836
October
92-
66*
89-
71-
97'0
66-2
86 6
67-5
9022
68 09
November M.
8ft-
57*
89 80
5870
840
56-4
89'3
55 7
87-42
5903
December ...
78'
50-
75-8
49*8
77-0
51*9
77-1
48 0
74-47
£0-28
The district, being situated near the hills, is not subject to very intense
heat, and the abundance of moisture in the soil generally prevents the ground
from retaining and giving out that scorching heat which is so distressing in
districts like Agra. Dust-storms are very rare, and cool breezes from the
north generally follow even short intervals of very hot weather. The climate
is, however, relaxing, and the cold weather is not so keen or so bracing as in
the North-Western Provinces west of Oudh.1 Until a few years ago Gorakhpur
1 From her husband's •* camp near Goruckpur," a few days before the close of 1837, Mrs.
Henry (afterwards Lady) Lawrence writes as follows :— " For the last two months the weather
has been as delightful as you can imagine— «-the very beau idealoi climate. There has not been
a drop of rain since the first week in October. The mornings and evenings are very cold,
and all day the air is so cool that we can sit out of doors. I never had such enjoyment of
nature. Sometimes our march begins two hours before sunrise, and the starlight mornings
with the dawning day are beautiful beyond description. We have been in the northern parts
of the district, where it joins the Nep&l frontier, and where there are long tracts of forest
and jungle. The country in which we are is a perfect plain, but we have been in sight of the
Himalayas and have had some glorious views of them ; the lower range undulating and wooded
behined them, the sharp peaks and angular outline of the snowy range looking tike opal or
mother-o'-pearl. I could not have conceived the luxuriance of oriental vegetation till I paw
It The trees are splendid, and in this district very abundant, independently of the forest."—
lift of Sir Henry Lawrence, by Sir Herbert Edwards and Herman Meri?ale, C.B. The
highest of the snowy mountains seen from Gorakhpur is DhvMagiri. It is probable that since
Ike passage just quoted was written, clearsnce of forest has much altered the eUoaate.
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314 GOBAKBroiL
bore an unhealthy name, bat recent clearances of forest have rendered the
Bonth and east of the district quite as salubrious as most places in India. The
tarii and existing forest tracts are still, no doubt, highly malarious ; and in
the northern part of Haveli, in Tilpur and Bin&yakpur, fever is terribly fatal
during the quarter succeeding the close of the rains. The 'rainfall is generally
heavy, and rain about or soon after Christmas is always looked for ; indeed, its
failure has, as before remarked, an evil effect on the spring harvest The rains
commence about the middle or end of June and last till the middle or end
of September.
PART II.
Products of the District, Animal, Vegetable, and Minebal.
Thb wide wastes and forests of the district shelter many wild animals.
Through them within 30 years used to roam wild elephants,
and tigers and leopards are still pretty common. In 1856,
a short time before the rebellion, the mails to Padrauna and the north are Baid to
have been stopped by the tigers which infested the road. These animals BtiB
venture sometimes within five miles of the city, and indeed in 1873 the Magis-
trate shot one within that city itself. Wild pig and deer are plentiful, especi-
ally in the north of the district, where the black-buok is found in considerable
numbers. The wild buffalo or arna is also met with near the Nepal frontier.
Poisonous snakes are very common, and the death-rate owing to them is high.
The amount of game in the district has much decreased since the mutiny,
owing to the clearance of woodland and increase of population. Some trade
in deer skins and horns is carried on with the north of the district and
Nepal.
The following is a list of the more remarkable animals found in the
district : —
Bdgh or %her} tiger (Fell* tigris\ still pretty common.1
Tendua, leopard or panther (Felis pardus), very common.
Chita, hunting leopard (Felts jubata).
Bhdlu or rkhhy bear {Ursus labiatu*), found occasionally on the Nepal
frontier.
Jangali suar or wild pig (Su$ Indicw), very common, especially in thick
forest.
1 A native authority who furnished a list 'of animals for the Gazetteer states there are
four kinds of tigers : (l) the true sher, (S) the goghlat which is yery thick and short ; (3) the
ndhar or ndjar chor, whioh is very long and fierce ; (4) the chitwa, which ill smaller, but very
fierce. (This may perhaps be the chita.)
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GOBAKHPTO. 315
ChUcU or spotted deer (Axis maculattu). The male is called jhdnkh.
KMnkhy antelope (Antilope bezoartica).
Rhdnhra, identified by Mr. Lumsden with the barking deer ( Cervulus
aureu*\ known in other parts of India as kdkar. The name perhaps contains
an allusion to the long canine teeth of its bearer (khdng, a tusk). The kh&nkra
is a small deer about two feet in height, and from its handsome little skin
partalas or sword-belts are usually made.
Silgdo or rojh (Portax pictus), common in the jungle. A variety called
the Ghordrojh, which is found in the Diw&ra lands near Barhaj and Paina,
owes its name to the fact that its form is stout and supposed to resemble that
of a horse.
Arna or wild buffalo (Bubalus ami).
Longer or large monkey (Presbytis entellus)^
Sahi or porcupine (Hyatrix leucura).
Ndk or magar> crocodile (Crocodilus biporcatus), very dangerous owing
to the fact that it is almost omnivorous.
Gharidl or gavyal (Gaviali* Gcmgeticu*)9 a long-nosed river saurian,
which, living on fish, is comparatively harmless.
Sdns or porpoise (Platanista Gangetica), very common in the B&pti and
all the larger rivers. A smaller variety is called gohtd.
Gddur or flying-fox (Pteropus EdwardsH), everywhere abundant.
The shdmdn, a bird with red and green plumage, is common here, but
__ _ said to be rare elsewhere. Such birds are often sent for
Bifuf.
sale to other districts, where a very good specimen will
fetch Bs. 10. When young they are sold for eight annas each. There is an
immense variety of water birds, of which, however, few or none are peculiar
to the. district. The large grebe is sometimes found. The florican and jungle-
cock are met with in the north of the district Hill mainas and parrots are
sometimes brought to Gorakhpur for sale, but no regular trade in them
exists.
_ , _ The natives believe at least a dozen kind of snakes to
inflict fatal bites, and the following undoubtedly do so :—
Gehuw&n, ^
JDogla, f Varieties of the Hid simp or cobra (Naja tripudiam).
Doma, J
' Karfit,' }
Khatkhor, > Varieties of the bungarus. The female karait is
Ghorkarait, J
called noggin and the ghorkarait is said to make noise like a horse neighing.
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316
ooftAK&ptm;
The following are only sometimes deadly, bat always cause pain and sickness
in those whom they bite : —
Amaitay a large snake with very long fangs. ^
Chitar or ehitra, a spotted snake about 18 inches long.
Ahirin, mahar, about four feet long, yellow and grey ; the bite produce*
swelling and great pain.
Sonkatar.
Sogana or sigona, a green snake.
The ajgar ot python is sometimes, though rarely, found in the north of
the district.
Besides these there are a large number of harmless snakes, some of them
possessing great beauty. Scorpions are very common. There are several
water snakes which the natives declare are poisonous ; the commonest are the
paniha, chakor^ and zardrang or yellow-hue. The number of deaths resulting
yearly from snake-bite is very large. About half only of such cases are pro-
bably reported ; but the following list of casualties thus caused during sit
warm months of 1872 will be found sufficiently long :—
Male.
Ifemale.
Total.
May 187S .*.
0UDQ & ••• •** •••
July I* ... ... •♦.
.August „ ... ••. *••
September » ••• ••• •••
October », •«* •.* •••
10
SO
41
SS
S2
12
11
39
69
68
31
13
si
•9
103
117
5S
25
Total
176
S15
391
In the remaining half of the year, ie., in the drier and oolder months,
but 43 cases occurred. Considering that (as before stated) there are probably
just as many cases unreported as reported, this large total of 434 shows a
very serious mortality. No measures, however, have as yet been taken for the
destruction of venomous snakes, and perhaps none are possible. Except for
the slaughter of pariah dogs and an occasional tiger, no reward for the
destruction of noxious beasts has been claimed in the district for some
years.
Accurate returns of the number of cattle killed by snakes or wild beasts
are not forthcoming, but it must be very considerable in the north, where large
herds graze about forests still infested with tigers. The returns of persons
destroyed by snake-bite and beasts of prey have since 1875 been amalgamated
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GOtUKWUR. tlT
find kept in less detail. It is only certain that 516 persons of both
sexes thus perished in 1875, 480 in 1876, and 427 in 1877 : average 474
yearly.
The cattle of the district are as a role poor and much jnferior to those
_ , , found up-country. Mr. Ridsdale mentions a letter written to
Domestic animals,
the Board of Eevenue about 1824-25 by the Collector
of Gorakhpur, who complains of the extreme difficulty of getting any cattle
sufficiently strong to drag the Government treasure carts. Since then cattle
have certainly improved, but the breed produced is still inferior No systematic,
breeding has been attempted ; but the purchase of cattle from neighbouring
districts and the practice of bringing large herds to grase in the north of
Gorakhpur have of course done something to improve the stock.
The prieeof the common bullocks born and bred in this district varies accord*
ing to age, strength, &c, from fis. 5 to Bs. 25, hardly ever
exceeding the latter sum. The average value of a pair of
bullocks used ia a plough in this district would probably be from Rs.15 to Bs. 80>
if they were of the district breed. As, however, many cattle of better breed are
purchased from other districts, this price must be raised to find the trot
average for bullocks of all kinds. This may be fixed at about Bs. 25 a pair.
Since the closing of the Government breeding studs atGhfoipur and Karantadih,
stud-bred horses have rarely appeared for sale in the district. The ordinary
country pony is the only steed for which anything like a
demand can be said to exist, and is sometimes a very service*
able beast. The price for such animals, when young, ranges from Bs. 5 to Bs. 20,
and when in their prijne from Bs. 10 to Bs. 50. To the Englishman at
Gorakhpur the acquisition of a good remount is a difficult or a doubtful matter*
No horses are bred, and the station is too small and too much out of the way to
attract dealers. No attempt has been made to establish a breeding stud of
any kind here.
In 1866-67 proposals were made to import some bulls from Hise&r in
x A . order to improve the breed of cattle, but the animals were
Attempts to im- r J
prove the trade of found too large for the small cows of the district aad the
M *' c* experiment foiled. At the same time some rams were intro-
duced, but these too were a failure, as they died within a year of their arrival.
In 1869 Mr. Collector Clifford, again tried the experiment with some long*
wooled sheep, but again without success. It should certainly be quite possible to
improve the breed of cattle if bulls of a good stock but small size were imported,
and he capital pasture here procurable should have a healthening effect on the
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318 GOBAMPUB.
young calves. A number of persons, chiefly Ahirs, live by pasturing cattle in
the north of the district and on the skirts of Nep&l.
Scattered oyer the northern forests are large open glades covered
with grass, which after the rains often grows to a great
height. The charw&has ' (graziers) burn this and then
bring their cattle to graze on the young shoots of grass which spring up. The
best pasture lands are in the east of Sidhna Jobna. The exact extent of patches
so mingled with the jungle cannot very well be estimated, but they must
cover at least 30,000 acres. The grazier collects from his own and neighbour-
ing villages a herd of cattle (lehar) containing from 60 to 200 head or even
more. This he drives into the jungles at the end of K&rtik (October-Novem-
ber). The cattle remain there till the end of Bais&kh or Jeth (t\*. May or
June), some six or seven months later, when they leave in order to reach their
villages before the rains descend. The rates which these heads pay to the
landlord vary considerably from one estate to another. But as a general rule,
a herd of cattle numbering 100 head of all ages and sexes would be allowed,
on payment of Bs. 5, to graze for the whole season of six months. Nor would
the fee be increased if the head of cattle were nearer 150 than 100. For
buffaloes Rs. 8 per hundred is the usual charge, but a price of two annas a
head is occasionally asked. Cattle are brought from great distances to graze,
being often driven 40 or 50 miles, and sometimes 80. The grazier is some*
times a servant paid at the rate of Bs. 3 a month by the different owners ;
sometimes several cattle-owners take it in turns to pasture their common cattle,
and sometimes, but very rarely, the herdsman is paid by a share in the calves
born while the herd is under his charge. Herdsmen or graziers are as a class
very honest. Camels are very rarely used in this district : elephants being com-
mon, and the facilities of carriage- by water great, they are
needed neither for riding nor burthen. The climate, more-
over, does not suit them. Goats are numerous, but there is no specially good
breed, nor have any attempts been made to improve the poorer breeds that
exist.
Several varieties of river fish are used for food in this district, and
constitute an important item in the fare of the poorer
classes. The best kinds are :—
Rohu {Ldbeo rohita}, a kind of carp which runs up to 10 or 121bs. in
weight, the average being about 3 or 4. This well-known fish is caught in
great numbers in lakes, such as the Bhenri and Nandaur t&ls, whose fisheries
are rented. It is taken all the year round, abut attains its best condition
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OORAEHPUR. 319
daring the winter. The Raronchhal and the Bakhna are varieties not quite
so good to eat as the true rohu.
The mahdsery here apparently called the mas&rh (Barbus mosal), is, as
already mentioned, sometimes caught in the Naraini, towards the extreme
north of the district
Baikari (SchiUrichihys garua), of which the larger variety is known as
silandi. This fish is only caught dnring the rains. It will take a fly, is found
in very rapid currents, and in appearance somewhat resembles a mackerel.
Naini (Cirrhina mrigala), resembles the rohu, but is yellower. Hindus
say it is a foul feeder and seldom eat it ; but the formation of its mouth is
opposed to this statement, and it is probably just as olean in its diet as the
rohu.
Arwdri or gray mullet (Mugil corsula), a small fish caught generally in
the rains and of very good flavour.
ChUlua (Aspidoparia morar), a very small fish of good but sometimes
muddy flavour. This is the " whitebait9' with which Indian butlers favour
their English masters. Small as it is, it will readily take a fly.
The following are also edible : — Qirai (Ophiocephalus punctatus), a
small fish, eaten by the poor.
Ooneh (Bagarius YarreUii), a large scaleless fish, rather like a fresh*
water shark. It is a very foul feeder, has a long mouth armed with sharp
teeth, and is only eaten by the very poorest classes.
The JalkaphAr (Notopterua kapirot) resembles the baikari in appearance,
and is very good eating. It is caught generally in the rains, and has a pair of
long barbels.
Tengar (Macrones tengara), a fish which is described as full-blooded.
It is also full flavoured, and its flesh is rarely eaten except in the form of a
spiced preserve.
The hilsa is sometimes caught during the rains. There are two kinds
of prawn (jhinga), one very large ; and two kinds of crab (kenkra). All of
these are edible.
Bdm-bdmi or eels (Anguilla Bengalenris) and bilondha are common in most
of the rivers.
The spines on the fins of the Singhi (Saceobranchus fossUU) and sakuchi
(species unverified) are said to give poisonous wounds. The singhi seems to
spend most of his time in mud holes at the bottom of the water.
41
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8*0 Ganiraptfft.
The species of the following varieties remain to be identified by some
practised ichthyologist : — Bhakura, a large fish which is excellent eating and
sometimes attains a weight of 20 or 30 lbs. Raiya, a Bmall, edible, and grace*
fill fish, something like a smelt- The sohiya, also small and edible, is a silvery
fish which loves deep waters. Mie strong flavour of the piyds commends it to
the palate of few except bargees* The moit smooth and shining, has fine
scales, many bones, and little flavour. Its stomach is, however, thought a deli-
cacy. The entrails of the parni, which sometimes reaches a weight of 80 lbs.,
are similarly esteemed. The kuisi is silvery and edible, but bony. The sidhri,.
mmbha, and ihuria are all small pond fish, eaten by the poorer classes. The
turji is described as small, but well flavoured. The mangur is some 6 or 7
indies in length and burrows in the mud of ponds. Its flesh is pleasant to the
taste, but said to lack firmness. The pengna is a small fish with strong sharp
fins, a body white below and brownish-green above, and a oouple of barbels.
Last and almost least comes the patharchatar with its length of about 6 inches.
It has a brown back, sharp fins, and pleasant flavour.
Turtles {kackhua) are very common, but are not, so far as can be ascer-
tained, extensively used as food. Many persons however eat their eggs, which
are often found 50 or 100 together. The rohu and its varieties, the bhakura, the
karonchhal, thebilondha,the bokhna, and the baikri, all yield oil. So do the
porpoise and the gonchh ; but being too strong for the nets and lines ordinarily
used, they are rarely captured. The fishermen are chiefly Mall&hs and Turhas,
a division of the Kahar caste. Their apparatus is simple, but effective. The net
^^^ most in use is the gdnja. This is a long hempen trap open
at one end, and fixed along the course of a stream by means
of a bambu framework. Through its open mouth, into a sort of chamber at the
other end, the fish are driven by a boat pulling down-stream. The open end is
then lifted out of the water and the net hauled ashore. The Jcorhel and the
iipahu are generally used from boats ; they are shaped liked extinguishers,
and, like the g&nja, have a bambu framework. In rivers they are pulled up
against the current, and in lakes they are repeatedly pushed down amongst
the weeds where the fish lie. The mahdjal or seine net is fortunately
rarely used. It is set by three or four boats, and covering a circum-
ference of 200 or 250 yards, is very destructive. If it were very
oommonly employed, the fisheries of the district would probably be ruined.
A small net called jhinguri or jhikhari is fastened to a triangle of bambu
and pushed on in front of the fisherman by means of a long handle.
Used to catch the prawns and small fish which abound in shallows, this is
exactly similar to the prawn nets used in England. Besides these nets, long
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and short rods, called respectively bansi, and katiya, aid the fisherman in his
labours. The terms employed by the fisherman of Gorakhpur are, for
his line, dori ; for his float, taraina ; for his lead, luka or goti ; for the bookr
kantiya or kdnta ; for the bait ehdra ; and for the frame on which the line is
wound, pelni. The last name is sometimes also applied to a hand-line. It i»
a common custom in the district to dam up streams which summer has left
with little or do current, and then to build, across the shallow water below the
dam, small compartments in which the fish can be easily chased and captured.
Walls are often constructed across small lakes and ponds with the same object.
Immense labour is sometimos spent on draining the lesser t&ls in ordqr to
catch the fish thus left gasping on their ooza
Native fishermen greatly overcrowd all places where there is anything
like good fishing to be got As they never dream of sparing a minnow once
caught, it is lucky that the rainy season, with its boisterous floods, protects
the breeding fish, Quite common is it to find 40 or 50 boats fishing in one
lake which is certainly not large enough for more than 30 ; and as the sons
of each fisherman deem themselves in some measure entitled to oome and fish
where their father fished before them, the number of destroyers is ever on the
increase. Tho R&pti and the Ami are perhaps the two best streams for fishing,
but fish are abundant in all of any size. The boatmen do not observe *ny
regular close season, but catch fish whenever they can. For the due preserva-
tion of a great food resource legislation may perhaps be required.
The amount of fish consumed in the district must be something immense.
Hindus and Muhammadans of all castes and classes eat it ; and the average
prioe during the greater part of the year being about one anna per ser only, or
two annas for the best fish, such food is within the reach of even the poorest.
During the rains and afterwards, until the waters subside, the price rises to
two or even three annas a ser. Those who abstain from fish are mostly abhagat*"
devotees who have taken a vow of perpetual celebacy, and avoid meat, fish, and
intoxicating liquor or drugs. The caste in which they are most numerous is
the Koeri. Some Brahmans, especially the worshippers of Shiva, refuse to eat
scaleless fish (such as eels), but devour all other kinds.
On passing from the animal to the vegetable kingdom, cultivated cropa
Vegetable king- demand our first notice. Of these a local distribution wilt
^om* serve as well as any more laboured classification ; and we
begin with the north of the district.
Here the principal growth is rice (dhdn, Oryzck saliva), for whose culture
Crops by local dit* and irrigation the moist tar&i soil and numerous streams
tribution. Dhto. of Binfiyakpur and Tilpur afford exceptional facilities. More
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822
GORAKHPUR.
of it indeed is grown than of all the other crops put together, and the rice
fields often present an unbroken expanse of some miles in extent. In par-
ganah Haveli also the crop occupies a large area, and it is met with every-
where in the district, though to a small extent only in the southern and
eastern tracts. A species of rice called boro must be elsewhere described,
as its cultivation and time of reaping differ from those of the ordinary
dhdn. Dh4n may itself be divided broadly into two classes — bhadui and
aghani.
The former is sown in Jeth (May- June) dn land which has been left
fallow since the autumn harvest of the former year. The ground is ploughed
in Pus (December-January) or M&gh (January-February) in order that the
BhaduL 8Un ma^ Penetrate and warm without hardening it overmuch.
The field is again ploughed before sowing in Jeth. It is
considered advantageous if a shower or two have fallen before this ; but whether
it rains or not, the seed must be sown by the end of the month just named.
Seed sown before rain falls is called dhuria bdwag (i. e., the dusty or dry sowing).
The soil best adapted to receive the crop is that lying low enough for the water
to lodge, but not too low, as excessive flooding is injurious. If no rain falls
before sowing, and unless the soil is very cold and moist, it is usual to irrigate
the fields directly after that process. It is for this purpose that the Thirds of
Bin&yakpur dam up the small streams, which th^y then divert by numerous
channels (hulaa) into their fields. As soon as the water has collected, naturally
or artificially, to a depth of about three inches, the field is ploughed once
more. This rather rough treatment is said not to injure the seeds, but to eradi-
cate weeds which would otherwise choke tho young crop. In As&rh (June-
July) any grass or weeds which may have sprung up are weeded out by
women and children, who receive as wages about 2£ 8ers °f "cc a day.
This process is called nirai. The amount of seed sown on the recognised
Mglia varies slightly in different parts of the district : the highest being 28
sers in B&nsg&on, the lowest 22 sers in the Sadr tahsil. After sowing, the
crop is generally dependent on the rains, and is ruined if they fail. As this
kind of rice thrives most when the water around it is not too deep, its
sower prefers a season of light and sustained to one of sudden and heavy rain-
fall. The fields have strong merhs or banks of about two feet high to retain the
water. The crop grows rapidly aud is out in Kudr (September-October), or
sometimes at the end of B had on (August-September), from which latter month
it probably derives its name. Its best varieties are — jhali, kapdrch{niy pajesar,
bendi (white and black), muttri} bdnsphul, parni or padni, dudha, sdtha, or itUhiy
Qnjanawct) *ina, kauria, gajbel, and bandelet.
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GORAKHPUB. 323
The seoond kind of dMn, aghani, is sometimes distinguished from its syno-
Aehani. njm jarhani; but no perceptible difference between the
two would appear to exist. There are indeed two varieties
of aghanij but these are varieties rather of cultivation than species, and
the term jarhani applies to both. Jarhani in fact merely denotes the winter
(jdra) as opposed to the Bhadon or bhadui crop. Of the two varieties
the first (chhitua; is generally sown or scattered (chhtina) over fields which
have lain fallow for some time and have been prepared, like those for the
bhadui dh&n, some months beforehand. Often, however, a field in which gram,
kirao,1 or linseed has been sown is selected for the crop. The stalks of the
former one, being dug into the ground and mixed with the soil about two
months before the rice is sown, form a kind of manure. The seed is sown in
Asarh about a maund to an acre, and just as the crop has begun to rise from
the ground, it is ploughed up again and dug into the earth. After a time it
sprouts afresh with greater strength than before. It is cut generally in Kartik
(October- November;. The second variety, behan, is so called from behan or
bihan, a cutting or seedling. This crop needs two fields. The first, called
khet biyar* is ploughed twice or thrice in Magh (January-February) and has
high walls. In Asarh, after the first good fall of rain, it is ploughed and the
water made to mix well with the soil. A plank heavily weighted is then dragged
over it, and when the earth has become quite soft and slushy the seed is sprin-
kled broadcast and the plank taken over once again. About 30 to 35 sers of
seed are sown to the acre. After a month the plant is usually ready for trans-
plantation to the second field, which has been carefully ploughed for some time
previously. If the crop is a good one, a biswa's growth in the biyar field is
enough for planting a bigha in the new one. The plants, which are one or
1 J feet in height, are stationed in their new home at distances of some two
inches from one another. As it is necessary to complete this work quickly
a great number of hands are employed, the average being a dozen men or
women to the authorized bigha. These persons if hired laborers get two razias*
of rice and a quarter ser of charban, or, if they prefer it, two annas a day. A
considerable quantity of water is needed for this crop, and the walls of the field
are usually high and strong, so as to keep in the rainfall. The harvest is most
often in Aghan (November- December). For carrying the crop to the thresh-
ing-floor the labourers get either two annas daily or one sheaf in 16, or if the
harvest be poor and labour plentiful, one in 24 only. This kind of rice
being cut very late, it is impossible usually to grow spring crop on the same
1 Kirdo it a small pea usually sown with barley, when the combined crop is called jau kir.i.
* Bihnaur in Benares; in Fatehpur and Allahabad birha. *A raxta is equal to I|
ser.
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834 GORAKHPUR.
land. The same fieldg are therefore used year after year for this crop alone.
When it is cut stalks of about ten inches high are left in the field ; in the hot
weather these are burnt, and as soon as any rain falls are dug into the ground,
forming a valuable manure. Amongst the best kinds of agbani dh&n are the
following i— Finer (mihin) grains, phen, gauria, baharni (white and black),
syam jira, and gurdhi. Coarser (mota) grains, harbelas, rajal, sahdiya, karga,
nainjot, and angetha. The aghani riee is as a rale more valuable, and yields
for the same area a larger outturn than the bbadui, but the latter of course
leaves the land vacant for a spring crop. In Sidhua Jobna a class of rice called
sengar is largely grown on lakes or ponds where the depth of water during
the rains prevents the ordinary kinds of rice being grown. Its peculiarity is
that it floats on the top of the water, and that the growth of the plant, whose
roots are fixed in the soil below, keeps pace with the rise of the surface, even
when that rise is sudden. It is cut in November, very often from boats, if
the rains have been late and the water has not subsided.
In a good season the yield of riee is very great, and rice itself is the sta-
ple food of the poorer classes throughout the district. The outturn per acre of
this and other crops will be shown on a later page. The process of threshing
the rice, or rather of treading it out with bullocks, is the same as elsewhere, and
known as dauri.1 But thoroughly to separate the grain from the husk, to turn
the dh&n into ch&nwal, another process is required. The rice is placed in a
dhenki or wooden mortar and pounded with a pestle, which, hinged on a ful-
crum, falls by its own weight and is lifted by the pressure of a foot on its lighter
or pedal end. Three sers of dh&n yield two of chdnwal and one of chaff
(bhiUa). The husking is usually the work of hired labourers, who receive as
wages one ser in twelve of the grain.
Except the cardamum and a little ginger there is no other crop in this part
of the district worthy of notice. The hill men raise a great
deal of the former, which they sell on the spot to travel-
ling merchants. These again export it, usually by the Dh&ni route, but some-
times by Nichlaval and Gorakhpur. The cardamums, which grow on small
bushes about 3 feet high, are plucked in Ohait (March- April) or Baisakh (April-
May) and spread out in the sun to dry. Either the thatch of the houses or a
dean-swept square of ground is chosen as the drying-place. The price paid is
about Be. 1-8 a panseri or Bs. 12 a maund ; and the export trade vid Dhani,
Gorakhpur, and Barhaj towards the Ghagra, and down that river to Patna and
Calcutta, is considerable.
1 Dauri is, strictly speaking, the rope with which the bullocks are tied together. See BlUot's
Glossary and Forb«i' Dictionary.
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oorakhpttb. 355
Passing south and south-east, vte find that though rice is still very widely*
Cultivation in the cultivated, sugarcane, wheat, and opium are the prin-
touth and south-east. cJpal cropg The eagt 0f parganah Haveli and the
whole of Sidhua Jobna produce a large amount of the first named growth,
which is indeed one of the chief staples of the district. An extensive trade is
carried on in ooarse chini (sugar), for whose preparation numerous factories
have been built (Inf., Manufacture*). The orop, which
pays well, demands an immense amount of care and
attention during the earlier stages of its cultivation. The process begins
directly after the old crop is reaped. Cuttings of stalk about 5 or 6 inches in
length are placed between layers of damp straw in a hole in the ground. This
bole being closed up with a coating of earth forms a kind of hot-bed. The
pieces of oaneare called porha, and a bundle of one thousand an anwala. Some
six of these bundles, costing from Be. 1-8 to Rs. 3, are required for the pakka
bigha. After about eight days shoots sprout from the cuttings, which are dug
up and planted in a field prepared with great care during the end of the rains
and cold weather. It is necessary to plough the field some dozen times, besides
taking a plank (pallia) over it to break up the clods. By March or April
these preliminaries are complete, the shoots are planted lengthways in the
farrow, about one inch apart and 2 inches below the surface ; and the soil is
smoothed down with an unweighted plank. Sometimes the cuttings are after
three days extracted and replanted, the plank being again passed over them ;
but this is not always done. Manure is spread over the surface, shout 4 cart-
loads to the bigha being sufficient. Partitions are then made in the field,
which is carefully irrigated, the water being spread over the whole surface by
means of a broad wooden shovel. From this time until the downfall of the
rains the crop requires frequent watering ; but it is of great importance that
the soil should not be sodden by too much at a time. The labour required
if the rains are late is extreme, as irrigation may be needed twenty times
over; but when once the monsoon has broken, little remains to be done until
the harvest in Pus or Phdlgun.1 Fields in which rice or kir&o have been
previously reaped are considered best for cane, unless land which has been a
whole year fallow can be obtained. If rice has been cut; the field is ploughed
up and the cane sowed at the end of Ph&lgun ; if kir&o, at the middle or end
of Chait (March-April). Two crops are often raised from the same plant,
the stumps being left in the ground after harvest and frequently watered.
1 t. e. from January to March. A little cane is cut and told for eating as opposed to
manufacture in the earlier month of Aghsn (November- December). In the bhdt lands
of the Gafcdak valley the plant is sometimes frown Without irrigation, but the Juice is less
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326 GORAKHPUR.
New shoots sprout in May or June, and a fair crop is often secured.1 The
more intelligent husbandmen assert, however, that this unrest is bad for the
field. The name of the second crop is peri (or banjar). There are four kinds
of sugarcane : —
(1), Mahgujur, which grows to the greatest height.
(2). Saroti ... y both yielding gur syrup,
in abundance,
yielding little gur and
(3^. Bhaunwarw&r ... j in abundance.
-\ yielding nine gur ana
(4). Barokba or katarha J used chiefly for eating.
Some account of the gur manufacture will be found in Part III. of this
notice.
Grown largely in the west of Haveli and centre of the district, wheat is
8onthem crops. more especially the staple of the south. B&nsg&on is noted
Wheat- for this and other spring crops, while Majhauli and the south
of Padrauna also produce wheat in abundance. It is sown in October or Novem-
ber, and very commonly mixed with barley, in which case the combined crop is
known as g&jdi. The harvest is in April or May. About 30 sers are sown to a
pakka bigha when wheat is sown alone. The dorus soil suits it best ; but it
grows very well on the uplands of Padrauna. The crop requires watering, but
not very often. In M&h&r&jganj, indeed, there are some spots where it grows
without any irrigation. Usually, however, the soil in the extreme north is not
well adapted for wheat, for which moreover the inhabitants, preferring rice,
care little. A considerable export trade in wheat is carried on vid Qok and
Barhaj, but cannot rival that in rice. The finest wheat is that grown in B&ns-
gfion and Maghar.
Owing to the splendid crops which are raised in the Hasanpur Maghar
parganah, the phrase " Hasanpur k& gehun " is commonly used to denote an
unusually fine crop. The outturn of wheat obtained without irrigation in the
north is of course unequal to that of the highly cultivated south-country lands,
but leaves a considerable profit to the farmer. Mastir {Ervum lens), urd
Other growths of (Phaseolus radiatus), l&hi ( Brassica napus), merua (Eleusine
the sooth. coracana), and other grains and pulses are grown throughout
the south and centre of the district, but are not of enough importance to
call for special accounts. The loki and the nenua, cucurbitaceous plants, some-
thing like pumpkins, are grown in great quantities by the poor, who train the
plants over their low huts. The fruits are very large, and being, though of little
1 8oon aftei the first crop has been cot, the straw from its leaves, which hare been allowed
to lie where they fell, is sometimes ignited. Flames spread al orer the field, without, however,
Injuring the plants, which after a little irrigation shoot forth again from beneath the ashes.
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GORAKHPUB. 82?
flavour, edible, furnish a plentiful supply of food. They are seldom sold, but
when they are, fetch about 12 annas a maund. Tobacco is extensively grown
for local consumption, but is not exported to any great extent. Its cultivation
hasjbeen described elsewhere,1 and, being marked in this district by no special
peculiarity, need not be described again. Gorakhpnr city is noted for its
manufacture of kkamlra, a smoking mixture of tobacco and spices.
Indigo is no longer grown in this district to the same extent as before
the mutiny (1857), Many of the Europeans who then
planted it have received or purchased sufficient land, untax-
ed or otherwise, to afford an ample rental and place them above the need
of undertaking the notorious risks of indigo culture. Thus many places stilt
called indigo factories are really but private residences. There are yet, how-
ever, a great number of factories where the manufacture is carried on more or
less briskly. A list of these and a description of the process will be found under
the head of Manufactures. Another cause which impedes the production
of the dye in this district is the increased difficulty of obtaining rent-hold land
on which to grow it. The crop is not one which native farmers care to sow
themselves, and their landlords regard with jealousy the occupation of the
soil By European planters. Tenants are therefore discouraged from subletting:
their holdings to indigo-planters even when they might otherwise be willing to
do so. The times of sowing differ according to the nature of the land, but
the ordinary season is in Chait or Ph&lgun, before the rains. Such is the case
where the soil, being moist and cool, needs no saturation by early showers,
or in those few spots where cheap wells supply the place of the lingering
rain-cloud. Where, on the contrary, land is high by position or dry by nature,
sowings are delayed until the first rains of Jeth or Asarh have expelled its
heat. The first kind of land is considered best, and it is deemed a great
advantage in either kind if it has lain fallow during the past year. Before
being sown the fields are carefully weeded and ploughed into long furrows.
The seed is then deposited, and the ground combed with a harrow. The
crop grows very slowly till rain falls, when it shoots up with wonderful rapid-
ity, growing as much as a foot in a week. Premature destruction is the
doom of any weed that appears amongst the crop at this stage of its growth.
The best weather far the rising plant seems to be that in which an inter-
val of rain too short to swamp is succeeded by another of sunshine too
short to parch. The time for reaping is, according to the forwardness of the
season, the end of Sawan (August) or the beginning of Ku&r (September).
Sometimes, where lands are subject to extensive inundations, the seed is scat-
1 See, for instance, the notice on the Bijnor district, pp. 270-2?3.
42
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328
GORAKHPUB.
Opium.
tered over them broadcast as the water subsides and left to grow as it may.
But the outturn of the crop thus sown in Bh&don or Ku&r is, as a rule,
extremely poor, and the practice itself is extremely rare.
Poppy cultivation is allowed in all the tahsils, but is far more exten-
sive in the south of the district than in the north. In
Padrauna opium is one of the chief products, being gather-
ed from plants on over 20,000 acres. The cultivation is, as a rule, confined
to prosperous and respectable cultivators, a fact only mentioned here because
in describing the condition of the agricultural population it is proposed to
show how well the system of advances works in this particular case. The
land must be prepared very carefully for the crop, which is sown in K&rtik,
and indeed needs, except as regards irrigation, almost more care than sugar-
cane. About two sers of poppy seed are required per acre, but the amount
appears to vary greatly in different localities. The crop is watered more or
less frequently according to the nature of the ground and quantity of the
winter rainfall. It always, however, demands laborious attention ; and this
fact accounts more perfectly than any religious or moral scruples for its
rare cultivation by Rajputs and other persons of high caste but lazy habits.
Beady for tapping in Phdlgun or the beginning of Ohait, the crop usually
pays well, unless injured by the not unfrequent calamity of hail. The accom-
panying table, supplied by the sub-deputy opium agent (Sir. Campbell),
shows admirably the difficulty of detenu ining the average yield for the dis-
trict generally of any one crop, varying as the outturn does from year to year
and place to place. In the north poppy lands are classed as unirrigated, and
hardly ever require watering. The crop thrives best on a sandy loam
(dorus), and requires, like the sugarcane, a good deal of manure. The opium
is extracted from the standing plants by pricking the poppy-heads and collect-
ing the juice which exudes during the night.
Statement showing poppy cultivation by parganahs, together with produce
and average of the Gorakhpur Division,
Name of
parganah.
Amount of
cultivation
during
1872 73.
Amount of
opium during
1872-73.
Average
per
bigha.
Amount of
cultivation
during
18oy-70.
Amount of
opium during
1809-70
Amount of
average
per bigha.
Eaveli Gorakhpur,
Bhuatar
Anola
Silhat
Sbahjahanpur ...
Maghar ...
Tilpur
cMlupdr
Dburiapar
Baleinpur Majhuli,
Bidbua Jobna
B. b d.
1,612 19 19
878 14 1
1,661 6 0
2,338 2 3
767 7 0
658 4 18
109 18 6
1,081 14 10
4,497 8 10
18.494 19 12
17,046 3 8
M. 8 c
73 38 13
122 23 0
146 7 10
220 26 2
63 34 1
64 13 1
1 17 1
138 7 13
441 14 11
1,473 12 5
1,160 36 14
K.p.
20
••«
2 0
2 0
20
2 0
2 0
6. c.
1 13
6 0
3 8
8 12
3 5
4 9
0 8
6 2
3 14
4 4
2 13
K.p.
1 0
50
2 0
2*0
1 0
20
20
B b. d.
1,221 2 O
877 15 0
1.691 15 0
. 1,799 7 0
1,036 10 0
453 5 0
73 3 0
1,164 13 0
6,400 7 0
14.687 4 U
17,223 0 0
M. 8. C
143 19 10
165 20 9
214 16 3
263 26 15
108 38 0
78 18 14
4 13 15
237 15 13
711 15 10
2,253 25 14
2,572 28 11
K.p.
2 0
2"6
2 0
2 0
20
a o.
4 11
7 9
6 1
6 10
4 3
6 14
2 6
8 2
6 4
6 8
8 6
6 0
K. p.
1 0
2*0
2*0
10
10
20
Total
44,146 18 7
3,906 31 9
...
3 8
2 0
45,619 1 0
6,343 39 4
20
...
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GORAKHPUB. S29
The outturn is hard to ascertain exaotly, as a good deal is no doubt
illicitly disposed of by the cultivators, but seven sers an acre is perhaps not
above the mark.
The other principal crops are peas, usually sown with barley ; barley
^ itself ; linseed ; the pulses maanr (Ervum lens) and arhar
Other crops.
(Cajanus flavus\ the millet kodo (Paspalum frumen-
taceum), boro rice, and sanon (mustard, Brassica campestris). Barley (jau)}
as before remarked, is usually sown in the same field as wheat, whose
cultivation its own closely resembles. As an unmixed crop, however,
it is grown extensively in the Sadr tahsil alone, whence a good deal is
exported vid Barhaj. It is of course a spring crop, being sown in Kirtik
and cut in Ohait. Peas (mattar) are grown for the spring harvest, chiefly
in the B&nsgaon, Salempur, and the Sadr tahsil. They flourish on the
rather moist lands left bare by receding floods, and are exported from the
district in some quantity ; masur also is a spring crop, grown mostly in the
Sadr and Padrauna tahsils, and largely used for food ; nothing in its cultivation
particularly calls for remark.
Linseed and sarson are the principal oilseeds, the latter being chiefly
grown in the Gorakhpur, the former in the Basti district ; they are spring
crops. The mustard oil extracted from sarson is in great request as a relish
for the bannocks (chapdti) which among the native population supply the
place of bread. Kodo is largely used as an article of food by the lower classes,
and like most millets is cultivated for the autumn harvest. Arhar is extensively
grown and thrives exceedingly. The crops of this plant grown towards the
north-west of Haveli are especially good, and with their dark-green foliage
vivify a landscape that would otherwise be somewhat bare. Arhar is less vul-
nerable than cereals to the attacks of hail, and as frosts are rare in the dis-
trict, is considered a safe crop ; but it occupies the ground too long to return
much profit.
This is perhaps the fittest occasion to trace the progress under British
Progress of cuiti- rule of opium, indigo, and sugarcane cultivation, and to
role.111111 ' record the various attempts which have been made to
introduce new staples or improve those existing. On the cession of the dis-
trict to its present rulers, sugar cultivation was a rarity. The exactions prac-
tised on the cultivators rendered them unable as well as unwilling to grow
so costly and troublesome a crop. Nor was the " beast more kinder than
mankind." As late as 1819 the Collector, writing to the Board for the infor-
mation of the Governor-General, says : " the extent of the forests, the white-
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330 tiORAKHPUB.
ants, and the wild riephants, which are very numerous in the north and
Bast of the district, prevent the cultivation of the sugarcane, except in the
south." In 1823 the Government monopoly of opium seems to have been first
extended to the district, the Collector being made deputy opium agent, and
the cultivation of opium, save under his permission, being prohibited.
About 1830 the cultivation of indigo, little practised hitherto by the land-
holders of the district, was started by European planters. In 1837-38 Mr.
Reade, reporting on the condition of Gorakhpur, writes that the sugarcane
tillage is spreading, but at present confined to three parganahs — Salempur,
fih&bjah&npur, and Sidhua Jobna. In these parganahs it had, however, made
great progress, as had that of the poppy, the outturn of opium being twenty
times what it had been only twelve years before. Again in 1840, reviewing
the excise receipts, he speaks1 of " the marvellously increasing culture of the
bounteous sugar, promising to drive out the poppy91 and check the increase
in the cultivation of the latter. The cultivation of both, however, continued
to increase steadily. Its extension was most remarkable in Sidhua Jobna,
fast recovering from the desolation whereto it had been reduced by the Ban-
j&ras, and possessed of a soil which, requiring little water even in the
driest years, is especially fitted for the growth of sugarcane. The total area
of land under opium cultivation in 1830 was about 4,900 bighas (pakka). At
last settlement there were about 40,000, and there are now some 45,000 bighas.2
Sugarcane cultivation has increased still more wonderfully. The crop is now
grown over 50,000 acres, nearly half of which lie in Sidhua Jobna. In 1830
there were not probably more than 5,000 acres at m ost, and the greater part
of this was in Salempur-Majhauli. The increase of late years has been par-
tially due to the usurers, who advance money more freely on sugarcane than on
other crops. Indigo is not mentioned in the report of 1837-40, and was perhaps
not grown to any very great extent till after the latter date. In his note on the
settlement of the district Mr. A. Colvin mentions that there were 33,000 acres
under indigo in 1870-71, but the statistics there given are deemed inaccurate,
and from information locally collected it is probable that not over 20,000 acres
are grown with indigo in a year. The average area thus cultivated amounts
perhaps to 18,000 or 19,000 acres. Before the mutiny, the area occupied by
this crop was probably greater than now. No systematic attempt has
apparently been made to improve the staple crops of the district. The
immense increase in the culture of sugar and opium is due rather to in-
creased security of life and property under British rule than to any direct
1See Mr. Ridsdale'a notes. 'About 21,000 acree. The bighas here mentioned are
opium pakka bights, which are no smaller than those of 1830.
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GORAKHPUB.
331
Outturn .
efforts for the extension of that culture. Indigo has been introduced by
U8, but it can hardly be called a staple crop, and its tillage is not likely to
increase. Experiments have been made occasionally with hemp (in 1811),
cotton (1861), and Carolina and other rice, but with no marked results. Cot-
ton and the bajra millet (Penicillaria spicata) are the two crops which succeed
least in the district; and it would be bad policy to attempt their introduction
on lands now grown with the rice, sugarcane, poppy, and wheat, which really
suit soil and climate.
The following statement shows the average produce per acre, average
cost of cultivation, and average profits left to the cultiva-
tor. Figures furnished by the tahsildars were in most
cases so obviously incorrect and contradictory that no trust could be placed in
them. Those given in the settlement report (para. 24 of Board's letter) are
also manifestly inaccurate, the outturn per bigha being apparently shown in
many cases for that per acre. Mr. Alexander has had, therefore, to trust to the
figures arrived at by a comparison of the information obtained from European
district officers and that supplied by the subordinate judge, Ali Bakhsh
Khdn, who very kindly tnterrogated various landlords on this subject. One
great difficulty has been the variation from place to place in the produce
of the principal crops. The outturn in gur, for instance, from an acre
of sugarcane in Padrauna is stated at 30 maunds, while at Bansg&on it
is put at 5J only. Though the latter figure is certainly wrong, the difference
in the yield is probably considerable : —
1
Crop
Sown in
Reaped in
proximate
rea under
nltivation
i acres.
t of culti-
ation per
ere in ru-
ees.
duce per
s r e in
innds and
rs.
ueat aver-
e rates in
pees, and
erage pro-
per acre.
<
5 + « o*
2 Z 3 ®
£3f25S
1. Wheat (gehtn) ...
October,
March,
150,000
9 to 18, aver-
7 to 13 mdt ,
Value 14 to
November.
May.
age 13 J.
average 10.
26, average
20. profit 6 1
2. Barley (jtf*)
Ditto ...
Ditto ...
118,000
6 to 12, aver-
age 9.
8 to 14 mds.,
average 11.
Value 12 to
25. average
3. Wheat and barley
.
18|,proflt9§.
mixed (gtjai) ...
Ditto ...
Ditto ...
815,000
7 to 16, aver-
age 11-8.
7 to 14 mds.,
average 10-3.
Value 13 to
27, average
20, profit Sft.
4. Oram (chana) % ....
Ditto ...
Ditto ...
39,000
average 5 ...
10 to 15 mds.,
average 12-20
Value 13 to 4
16, average
14*, profit 9 J.
«. Arhar J *...
Jane, July
Ditto ...
60,000
M 5 ...
18 of pulse,
besides the
stalks, which
are used as
fodder for
Value 14,
profit 9.
cattle. 1
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QORAKHPCB.
Crop.
Sown in
Reaped in
Approximate
area under
cultivation
in acres.
Cost of culti-
ration per
acre in ru-
pees.
Produce per
acre in
maonds and
•era.
Value at aver*
age rates in
rupees, and
average pro-
fit per acre.
6. Kodo, millet
June, July
August,
September.
94,000
Average 4
8
Value 11,
profit 7.
7. Unseed QKUi)
October,
March,
95,000
Rarely grown alone. In
November
April.
an acre of
mixed crops
probably not more than
one-tenth would be lin-
•
seed.
8. Agkani rice {dhdn
jarkcmi)
June, July
November,
December.
220,000
9
18
Value 28,
profit 19.
9. Bhadui rice {dhdn
bkadui) •*.
June ...
August,
October.
380,000
7
12
Value 18,
profit M.
10. Opium {pasta) ...
October,
February,
91,000
IS1
9 sera opium,
Value 56*
November.
April.
25 sere of
seed.
profit 38.
11. Indigo (£/)
March,
September,
18/00
201
15 sera of in-
Valoe 50,
June.
October.
digo.
profit 30,
from wbieh
cost of manu-
facture ia to
be deducted.
12. Sugarcane (AW) ...
June, July
November,
December.
50,000
16
80 mds. gur
and about
15 stalks
and scum.
Value 60,
profit 44.
It must be remembered that the " profits" shown include the wages of the
cultivator's labour, and that he has to give much of that labour and some
skill to the cultivation of opium and sugarcane. Indigo he rarely grows for
himself, but sublets his fields to the planter, receiving a rent of Rs. 5 or Rs. 6
per acre, and either so much for the crop or (more commonly) so much for his
services as a labourer.
The method adopted in ascertaining the cost of cultivation, and the diffi-
Mode of calcula- cultfes attending that or any other method, may be shown
*l°n* best by an analysis of the process in the case of one crop.
Let us take wheat. The elements to be considered in its cost are of course rent,
capital, and labour. The rent of good average land suitable for its cultivation
is about Rs. 2 J per bigha, or Rs. 4 J per acre. But in the cost of wheat the whole
of this rent cannot be included. Very often a second crop of some kind is grown
on the same land within the year ; and though wheat is the crop from trhich
the cultivator expects his chief profit, we cannot allow its share of the rent to
exceed three rupees. The elements of capital and labour may be considered
1Thia of course excludes coat of manufactures.
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GORAKHPUR. 333
together, intimately blended or interchanged as they are in *ne successive
processes of tillage. The first of these processes, ploughing, varies in cost
immensely according to locality and according as the farmer has or has not
cattle of his own. The number of times and depth to which the ground
requires ploughing, the hire of cattle and expense of their keep, are variable
quantities which combine to raise the cost of this operation from a single
rupee in one case to Rs. 3 in another. In sowing, again, the weight of seed
used differs oddly from place to place. The 30 or 35 sers which suffice
for a bigha in the east are increased in the south to a maund. Hence the
average cost of sowing one acre is from Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 ; but to this must be
added the wages of the hands employed to assist the actual cultivator in the
process. As this should not exceed 8 annas, and is often less, the average may
be fixed at 6.
Irrigation costs from 8 annas to Rs. 3-8 an acre, according to locality,
season, and nature of9soil. And lastly, the reaping and threshing, when the
labourers are not paid in kind, demand an outlay of from 12 annas to one
rupee. The total cost would thus range from about Rs. 7 J to about 14 an
aore. To this, however, must be added a proportionate share in the expenses
of buying, maintaining, and replacing the fixed capital, the plough-cattle, and
agricultural implements. In some places the cost of digging an earthen well
once every two or three years must not be forgotten. Inexorable custom
demands, moreover, that the peasant should pay a share of his harvest to several
village magnates, the landlord's factor, the accountant, the watchman, and the
family priest Not less than half a maund must perhaps be deducted from the
returns of eaoh aore for these payments (sahdri),1 and this translated into
money means about one rupee. Even supposing, therefore, that no well
must be due ; that the cultivator has bullocks and ploughs enough of his own,
and need merely pay his ploughmen and labourers, we cannot fix his outlay in
money (or grain reduced to its money value at less than Rs. 9 an acre,
while it may amount to nearly double that figure. Nor does this sum include
any allowance for the subsistence of the cultivator, though to get a fair estimate
of the cost of production, the value of the labour given by himself and his family
must be added. The tenant has in most cases to borrow about sowing time, and
this loan must be repaid with heavy interest. Without the loan he could not
cultivate, and its interest should therefore be added to the cost of production.
The profits here shown as left to the cultivator are minute, but it is
doubted whether, taking good years with bad, they have been understated. In
some papers published a few years back Mr. Halsey asserts that the cultivators
1 Which it, being interpreted, aids. Con/, the aide of the * uropean feudal system.
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334
GORAKHPUR.
of these provinces often work at a loss to themselves. Absurd as the state-
ment sounds, it is probably true, in so far that the profits left them after
their actual outlay do not equal fair wages at market rates for the trouble and
skill they have bestowed on their work. In the compilation of the above
table the farmer has been supposed to possess one plough and pair of bullocks,
but has not, on the other hand, been allowed a large family to aid him. Some
slight allowance has been also made for interest on borrowed capital. A
fitting conclusion to the subject of agriculture may be given by the following
statement, which shows roughly the areas grown in ,
different tahsils and during average years with the
principal classes of crop : —
Crop area.
Name of crop.
Sadr
Tahsil.
Bfinsgfion.
Deoria.
Hat*
Mahartj-
ganj.
Fadrauna.
Acres.
Acres.
Acres.
Actes.
Acres.
Acres.
Wheat
••i
42,853
41,674
S V 4
20,663
82,305
)
Barley
•••
63,137
62,511
5*,797
28,(65
12,765
£ 68,680
Mixed wheat and barley
53,595
20,837
4I.9C9
12,482
11,790
)
Oram
...
11,275
5,214
8,913
5,4 13
11,117
915
Peas
...
13,190
5,214
12/227
16,130
1,020
Masur (pulse)
i..
12,745
2,607
2,485
2,919
2,722
1,667
Mured peas, gram,
and
(often) barley
...
33,333
5,2 11
8,790
9.503
839
12.872
Linseed
...
1,470
277
3,193
10,852
1,890
7,076
Sugarcane
•••
1,853
4,535
8,064
12,572
279
S3,6C9
Indigo
»••
1,961
1,751
8,242
418
3*2
2 408
Opium
...
1,664
208
6,388
1,713
252
10,149
8 arson (mustard)
•••
1.619
554
585
1,531
1,061
4.919
Kodo (millet)
•••
12,745
43,244
15,72'
12,002
872
11,098
&£ !ricM
...
45,740
18,341
55,2 « 1
78,151
79,95
| 93.793
•••
77,K>8
45,853
35,696
77,774
83,447
Arhar (pulse)
...
8,823
10,427
19,967
5,991
2,381
11,602
The mango (Mangifera Indica) is perhaps the commonest, and is . cer-
Trees and forest tainly the finest fruit tree in the district It abounds in
produce. ^he southern and central tracts, and, though not so com-
mon, is frequently met with in the north. The Bombay and Maldah mangoes
have both been introduced and thrive ; the price per hundred is from Rs. 4
to 6. There are two kinds of the common country (desi) mango, which both
sell from Re. 1-8-0 to Rs. 2-8-0 per hundred. The fruit ripens in June or
July. The wood, which is much used for small beams and carpenter's work, is
very cheap, and a fair sized tree may be bought for Rs. 10. The guava
(Psidium pomi/erum) is also common, and the jack-fruit (Artocarpus integri-
folia), mahua (Bassia latifolia), pharend (Eugenia jambolana), and orange
(Citrus aurantium) also abound. The guava, planted usually by Koeris, ripens
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GORAKHPUR. 335
in September or October. The jack-fruit is sold, as a role, by weight. The
pharendjor jamun bears a small bitter plum, from which a kind of vinegar,
supposed to be efficacious in cases of indigestion and dysentery, is brewed.
The flower of the mahua is chiefly used in the manufac' ure of country spirit,
for which there is a great demand in the district ; while its wood is well
adapted for purposes of building and carpentry. An average tree will, if sound,
fetch about Us. 12. There are no less than nine kinds of oranges and limes.
Of these the papery lime (kdghazi nimbu), so called from the thinness of its
rind, and the sagdaran are most valuable, being supposed to possess medicinal
properties. The papery lime (citrus acida) is also used in the concoction of
sharbat The common orange (naurangi) is very extensively grown, and its
price ranges from 12 annas to Be. 1-4-0 per hundred. Tin tar or palmyra
(Borassus flabeniformis) and khajtir or date-palm (Phamim dactyli/era) supply
the south of the district with considerable quantities of toddy.
The principal woods, besides the mango and mahua, are :—
(1) Sdl (Shorea robusta), grown chiefly in the Government forests or
Nep&l, but also on land belonging to private individuals in the district. The
average price for good wood already cut into logs is 10 annas per cubic foot. A
medium sized tree is usually sold for Rs. 15 or 20 as it stands. The wood is
very hard and durable.
(2) Shuham (Dalbergia sissoo\ very plentiful. Its wood, which is
streaky, rather soft, and much cheaper than s&l, is used chiefly for making
boxes, palanquins, and furniture.
(3) Bargad or banyan (Ficus Bengalensis). — This celebrated tree
furnishes frames for arches and other brickwork, as well as for agricultural
implements. Its wood is cheap andjeasily turned.
(4) Kfaam, elsewhere gosham (Schleichera trijvga), a strong wood, used
for making carts and palanquins ; is sold for about half the price of sal.
(5) Tin (Cedrela toona). — This furnishes a good material for tables and
other articles of furniture. The wood fetches about 4 annas a cubic foot.
Besides these, the wild fig (Ficus glomerata), asna or asaina (Terminalia
tomentosa), lasora (Cordia myxa), panan, elsewhere sandhan, (Dalbergia ovgei-
nensis), akol (Alangium Lamarckii), ebony ( Diospyros dwmm),hara ( Terminalia
ehebula), babtil (Acacia Arabiea), nim (Melia Indiea), and kurma, (Stephegyne
parvifolia?) supply wood for agircultural implements. The piar (Buchanania
latifolia), paniha (Randia uliginosa), baisa (Salix tetrasperma), and others serve
for firewood. The ebony or tendu above mentioned is remarkable for the
hardness of its black heart-wood, which is often used for the jath l (or upright
1 Called elsewhere in the Benares division pa*.
43
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336 GOBAKHHTR.
pestle) of the sugar-mill. Bambus of more than one species are abundant.
The common cane rattan, or bent ( Calamus rotang), grows beside the Mal&wa
swamp in the Son&ri forest and elsewhere,1 but nowhere in any great
quantity.
Some of the trees already named are reputed to possess medicinal pro-
perties. The vinegar of the pharend, has been mentioned.
Medicinal trees, &c. . •
The fruit of the hara is used as a purgative. The bark
of the paniha is mixed in the decoctions with which quacks profess to fertilize
barren women. The roots of semal saplings are made ingredients in tonic
medicines. An embrocation from the leaves of the nun is prescribed in cases
of rheumatism. Other trees, however, are laid under requisition by the druggist.
The juice of the peach, aru or shaftalu (Prunus persica), is drunk to purify
the blood. A decoction from the fruit of the bel ((Egle marmelos) is used in
cases of dysentery, while the fruit itself is chopped up and given to cows and
buffaloes with the idea of increasing their milk. The seeds of the parfis, else-
where dhak (Buteafrondosa)) furnish a purgative medicine. The bark of the
ganniar (Premna Integrifolia) is boiled to yield a tonic for persons suffering
from boils. A strong purgative is supplied by the long cylindrical beans of
the amaltas (Cassia fistula). The yellow fruit of the mainphal (Randia dumetorum)
renders a medicine said to relieve headache. Infusions from the leaves of the
kharanj (Albkzia procera), bakayan (Meliaa&edarach)y&TiA miuri (Vitex negundo)
are administered to rheumatic patients.
Trees used for other The following are some of the miscellaneous purposes
purposes. served by the trees of the district : —
The leaves of the s&l tree are made into cups in which offerings are made
at marriages. The bark of the asna and the ashes of kusam wood are used in
tanning. The berries of the aonla (Phyllanthus emblica) are brought to play in
various religious ceremonies. The cotton-like substance found in the flowers
of the semal is used for stuffing pillows. From the bark of the khair (Acacia
catechu) is boiled a decoction oalled katha, which is mixed for chewing with
betel. The flowers of the tun and harsing&r (Nyctanthes arbortrutis) supply a
yellow dye, while a paler shade of the same colour is obtained from the fruit
of the hara.
The following vegetables and fruit* are largely grown by Koeris and
other " market gardeners" of the district. They are chiefly
sot before described produced in the garden lands round Gorakhpur itself,
under crops or trees. ^^ alone ftny great demftnd for them exists . but many
I It has, for instance, been mentioned above ai growing beside the Chillua Til
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GORAKHPUB. 337
of them are grown to some extent in the neighbourhood of other large
towns : —
(1) Vegetable plants.
Baldi (turmeric).
Piyac (oniony.
Adrak (ginger).
Marcha (pepper).
Shakarkand (kind of jam).
Gajar (carrot).
Uuli (radish).
Baingan (egg plant).
Alu (potato).
Gobi (cabbage).
Pin (betel).
Lahsan (garlic).
Dhania (coriander-seed).
Cucumber (kakri and kfra).
Of these the commonest are yams, carrots, potatoes, and t arm eric. The first is
sown in August or September, ripening in January or February (M&gh), and
is usually sold for from Re. 1 to Be. 1-8-0 a maund. Carrots are sown about a
month later, dug up in November or December, and bought for about 12 annas
to Re. 1 a maund. Potatoes are dag about January or February and fetch as
much as Rs. 2 a maund, their cultivation being more troublesome and their
occupation of the ground much longer. Turmeric is sown in June or July and
is ready by December or January, selling for Rs. 4 or 5 a maund.
(2) FruUs.
Pineapple (ananas). 1 Lichi.
Plantain (kela). I Custard-apple (sbarifa).
Melon (kharbfca and tarbosa). I Peaches (aru).
The celebrated pineapples of Gorakhpur are largely exported. There
remain to be noticed several processes common to the tillage of both field and
garden : such are manuring and irrigation. According to Mr. Reade neither
was much practised until the period of the settlements in 1833-37.
" In many parts," he writes in 1860, "the use of manure was till then
unknown. The improvement of crops by weeding and a
Manure. , , . ,. _, ,»*...,
better rotation was a novelty. Means of irrigation, always
obtainable with ease from the nearness of water to the surface, were compara-
tively little used." His account of the ignorance of the peasantry is confirmed
by the evidence of Messrs. Grant and Wroughton in 1821-22. Enquiring
carefully into the subject whilst surveying the district, they decided that not
only was the system of agriculture slovenly and unscientific, but that landlords
who should have given the lead in improvements were the most inclined to
regard their ignorance as a sacred heritage. The introduction and rapid
extension of sugarcane cultivation, the lessons learnt from indigo factories, and
the further stimulus given by the extension of poppy culture with its system of
advances, have done wonders in teaching the people the value of better hus-
bandry. Manuring is now commonly practised, and near the town of Gorakh-
pur as many as 20 or even 30 cartloads are given to one bigha. So liberal a
measure is, however, dealt out only to such land as is expected to produce two
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338 GORAKHFUB.
or three crops in the year. No statistics exist to show the average quantity
spread over a bigha of land adjoining an ordinary village, bat that quantity
would probably vary immensely from north to south. In the north, owing to its
natural fertility, and the fact that it is seldom sown more than once a year, the
soil is very rarely manured at all. In the south five cartloads would perhaps
represent fairly the average quantity spent per bigha on the homestead lands
surrounding a village. Those at any distance are very rarely found manured.
In the northern forests good crops are often obtained from the lands on
which cattle have been penned during the spring and summer, and it is
perhaps strange that this fact did not suggest systematic manuring to th*
yokels of the neighbourhood. One reason probably why they have not adopted
the practice is that till quite recently they were in the habit of moving about
from one place to another, never cultivating the same land more than three
years running. In the south manuring is now general, though it has only
lately become so. In his report on the settlement of parganah ChilluapAr,
Mr. Lumsden mentions that it had but recently been introduced in that pargana,
and the remark holds good regarding the Dhuri&pir parganah also.
Irrigation from streams, lakes, and other reservoirs is common, but that
»_, x, ™ « fr°m wg11s *s> except in the south of the district, rare. The
Irrigation, Wells, * 7
plentiful supply of water in all but exceptionally dry years
renders wells unnecessary over a great part of G-orakhpur ; and such tenants
as have the means to make wells usually hold what they consider a sufficiently
large area irrigable from natural sources. Hence, even near large towns like
Gorakhpur, wells are seldom seen, although they might in most cases be con-
structed without very much expense. The result has of course been that in
years when natural supplies have partially failed the crops have suffered severely
from want of water. An aocQunt of such calamities will be shortly given,
flow near water lies to the surface in most places, and how easy therefore is
the construction of wells, will be proved by the following extract from Mr.
Swinton's Manual i—
" In the Oorakbpur district water is often found in the cold season at from fire to six
feet from the surface, and in no instance hare I found a brick well deeper than 29} feet to the
bottom of the excavation with 14) feet of water in it. The greatest depth of water found in
any well was at Maghar, in parganah Maghar, the water being 15 feet from the surface ; anu
the shallowest pukka well found was at Datnsgar, between Belwa and Amorha, in parganah
Amorha,1 which was only 12 feet at the deepest part, with four feet of water* The highest
parts of the district, judging from the depth at which water is found, are west of Bakhira, in
parganah Hassan pur Maghar, where the well is 22} feet deep and the water 17 feet from
the surface ; Maghar (in the same parganah), well 29 J feet deep, water 16 feet from the sur-
face | Captaingftpj lo parganah Amorha, well IS feet deep, water IS feet from the surface)
£ Row included in the Basti district.
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GORAEHPtTR. 339
and the city of Gorakhpur, well 184 feet deep, water 11 feet from the surface j whilst the
lowest parts of the district would appear to be at Radhauli in parganah Hassanpur Maghar,
well 11 feet deep, water 6 J feet from the surface ; Datnagar in parganah Amorha, well 12 feet
deep, water 8 feet from the surface ; Amorha in the same parganah, well 13 feet deep, water
9 feet from the surface. At Basti, in parganah Musanagar Basti,1 the water is about 6 or 7 feet
from the surface, but In a well constantly used the water was 14 feet in depth."
Several other causes besides the natural moisture of the soil have com-
bined to impede the spread of irrigation. These may be summarized as
follows : —
First. — The want of tenant-right not only prevented the free peasant from
making wells, but gave him unsettled habits which survived even after the new
law had invested him with fixed interests in the land. He was more or less a
nomad, shifting the scene of his cultivation from year to year. Such villagers,
on the contrary, as were adscripti glebce, hindered by a half-servile status from
migrating elsewhere, had neither the will nor the power to make wells from
which they could derive no profit themselves.
Second — Until quite lately, at least, a very large proportion of the pro-
prietors were Br&hmans, Th&kurs, or Bhuinh&rs, who then as now felt that
repugnance to labour which makes them as a rule bad cultivators. Neither,
therefore, were they disposed to dig wells themselves, nor to spend money on
having them made.
Third. — Before the introduction of sugarcane and opium the prin-
cipal crops were rice, gram, and barley, which are very rarely watered
from wells.
Fourth— Owing to the large acreage till recently available for cultiva-
tion, it was customary in most parts of the district to allow land to lie fallow
every two or three years ; and this practice tended to discourage well
sinking.9
Fifth. — These causes having rendered it unusual for the fathers to dig
wells, except where earthen wells were extremely cheap, their conservative
children are slow to recognise the advantages of an innovation which is merely
a safeguard against occasional drought.
The settlement reports of 1860-1865 show that outside the Bhau&p&r
Beeent Increase of anc* Balempur parganahs well -irrigation is exceptional and
weJJa* chiefly restricted to horticulture, whilst in all parganahs,
•ave perhaps Balempur, water for the fields is derived from streams, lakes, and
ponds. Noticing the same fact just forty years ago, Buchanan ascribed it to
the greater cost of artificial irrigation in a country where natural is abundant.
1 Alio in the Basti district. * Fallowing is now almost confined to the lighter soils
of northern parganahs, such of Sidhna Jobna, which require occasional rest. In the south
the general use of manure renders that rest leas necessary.
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340 GOBAKHPUR.
Since he wrote> the expansion of sugar and opium cultivation has caused a
corresponding increase of wells, more especially in southern parganahs like
Dhuriapdr and Salempur. *
There can indeed he little doubt that the great extension of occupancy
and probability of rights amongst the tenantry, and the spreading cultivation
further increase. 0f valuable crops which require frequent and certain water-
ings, must during the currency of the present settlement lead to further increase.
If, as is likely, masonry linings are more often introduced to preserve the well,
the best safeguard against the distress of drought will have been provided.
Even in dry years the water, though sinking too low for many of the earthen
wells, often only eight or ten feet in depth, would in most parts of the district
be found sufficiently near the surface to fill masonry wells. The extent of
the increase is likely in future years to depend much on the nature of the seasons.
Dry years with a failure of the natural means of irrigation, though rendering
the cultivators less able to afford the expense of well-sinking, will render the
practice so obviously advantageous that it must be more generally adopted.
"Years of abundant rainfall will have an opposite effect.
The most common form of irrigation is undoubtedly that by the sling-
basket (dauri. elsewhere beri\ This is worked by two or
Irrigation by basket. n u. i A4 \ t A j. /
four men (usually the latter), who, standing above the
small basin in which the water is collected, immerse the basket, and then lift-
ing it together with a swing, fling the water it contains into another basin
some four feet higher. If the field is on a level with this second basin, nothing
more is needed than to let the water thus raised run into the field by a narrow
channel. But very often it is necessary to collect the water again in a third
basin a little further on, and once more to raise it to a higher stage. Some-
times, therefore, it is raised as many as four stages (bodar) ; but as a rule one is
sufficient. The baskets are round and shallow, about two feet in diameter, and
four strings are attached to them, two on each side. Thus, if two men are work-
ing, both hands are used, one to each string, and if four only one hand. Some-
times two baskets are worked at the same basin, one close behind the other. In
this case both have to be swung in exact time, so as to enable the second to fling
in its freight of water before the other returns. The work is fairly hard, and to
an unaccustomed hand very hard ; it is however not at all unusual to see women
taking part in it. The workers almost always work in gangs. The usual
Dumber of workers to one basket is six, of whom four work, while a relief of
1 See appendix IX to the Board of Revenue's Bnramary on settlement operations for
1867. This statement, however, does not distinguish between masonry wells built for field
irrigation and those serving other purposes. But a third and a half respectively of the large
totals returned at the past and present settlements of Gorakbpur-Basti (21,583 and 27,414)
are said to represent field wells*
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GORAKHPUB. 841
two sit out for about ten minutes. Standing in the field upon which the
channel is turned, another labourer distributes the water with a wooden shovel
(hatha).
Water for such irrigation is most often obtained from lakes or tanks, and
as these subside, lower channels and basins are dug down to the water from
the first, or the original channel and basin are made deeper. In every stage
the lower basin, from which the water is lifted, is deep, and the upper, into
which it is thrown, is shallow. A larger daily area can be watered by the
dauri than by the leathern bucket used in wells ; the swing of the former is
rapid, whilst lowering and relifting the latter takes a considerable time. The
bucket, which is called moth, costs from one to three rupees, according to its
size.
Mr. Crooke calculates that a party working one dauri with only one
stage can water a little over one bigha daily ; with two dauris that area would
perhaps become half as much again. This is supposing them to work in
reliefs from morning to evening, with only the usual interval of about two
hours in the middle of the day. From a well with one bucket not more than
one bigha could be irrigated, and the usual area is probably rather less. If
there are two stages to be worked by basket the space watered would be rather,
but not much less than with one : provided always that the water has not very
far to flow between the stages. When this is the case, much is necessarily
lost through absorption by earth and air. The expense of the bullocks which
work the well is about equal to that of the hired labourers who aid the tenant
to swing his baskets. The water required for this kind of irrigation is often
obtained from the bed of some shallow stream dammed up to supply an ample
reservoir. Sometimes, again, it is drawn from running streams; but those
of any size have before the beginning of the irrigation season sunk too far
below the crest of their banks to be thus utilized. The rice-lands of the north
are flooded from dams built across the streams, here so numerous. In some
few cases the fields above the dam are injured by water- logging, and complaints
are occasionally brought questioning the right to erect or maintain these
obstructions of the natural drainage. The host of small but well-fed streams in
this part of the district present great facilities for a system of irrigation which
would all but avert the danger of drought. In ordinary years little demand for
water, or rather little wish to pay the water-rate, could be expected ; but as
a safeguard against scarcity and famine outlay, such a scheme might more
than repay its cost. Perennial streams traverse the northern parganahs
within eight or ten miles of one another, and might easily be connected by a
net- work of small canals.
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342 GOBAKHPUB.
It is of coarse possible to be watered too much, and the south-west of the
Gorakhpur district has not uufrequently to complain of
slOOQSt »
injury from inundation. The Ku&na and the Ami are, as
already mentioned, both liable to sudden sw filings, which cause them to overflow
their banks. In some seasons the Gh&gra also rises so high as to inundate the
lower part of the Dhuriapar and Chilluap&r parganahs. Thus, on the 10th August,
1823,1 a remarkable and sudden uprising of both Gh&gra and its tributary
Ku&na flooded the whole of the Ainorha, Auraogabad, and South Maghar par-
ganahs of Basti, with a considerable portion of Dhuri&p&r and Chilluap&r. At the
same time the flood waters of the Xmi and R&pti, which had also overflowed,
were blocked back by those of the Ghfigra. The country round Gorakhpor
itself became a sheet of water, and communication with Azamgarh was
interrupted for several days. The damage done is described by the oollector
as " deplorable." Nor was the destruction of several villages the only mischief
worked by the flood. The drying of the waters was followed by so much sick-
ness, and their losses had so disheartened the peasantry, that a long time and
large Government advances were needed to restore cultivation. In 1 839
another flood occurred, but luckily on a much smaller scale. Beyond washing
away or swamping a good deal of rice along the R&pti, it did little damage.
In 1840 the performance was repeated ; but except in 1871 and 1873, when
some small injury was inflicted by the same cause, no floods of much impor-
tance have since then occurred. The Gh&gra about three years ago broke into
the Ku&na just under Sh&bpur of tap pa Belghdt, and swept several villages
away.
On the whole the floods of the district have been far less destructive than
Droughts and fa- *k droughts ; but its rainless years have not been frequent,
"fr0- for only seven have occurred since its cession to British rule
(1801). No records have survived to show how often they occurred in earlier
times, but tradition mentions two only in which the drought was so great as
Famines preceding^ *° canse any serious scarcity in the district Of these one
British rule. befell during the long reign of Aurangeb (1658-1707),
and probably in 1661.* It is said that no rain fell for two years, and that the
R&pti ran almost dry. The R&ja of Sat&si nearly died of starvation ; and a
Br&hman family who still hold the village of Pipara in parganah Sh&jah&npur
are said to have acquired their position by the wealth miraculously bestowed
on an ancestor* He was a Br&hman mendicant, and when the people could no
longer give him alms a miracle raised for him large orops of barley on fallow
1 Rldsdale's note. f * It is reasonable to infer/' writes Mr, Girdlestone, « that the
scene of the (1661) famine lay about Dehli and the npper half of the Duab." It may also
be inferred that the visitation extended to Gorakhpur.
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GORAKHPUK. 34K
lands which had never been ploughed. No sooner was the crop cut than
another sprung up, and again, after the harvest of the second, a third. By the
sale of the produce the Br&hman became immensely rich, and purchasing land,
became the founder of a powerful family. The second famine occurred about
50 years later, and in it a large number of persons are said to have perished,
but no authentic details regarding it are known. Buchanan tells a somewhat
strange story of a famine which in 1769 extended even to the beasts of prey.
"Most of the herbivorous animals having then perished, the tigers were
famished, and fixing in great numbers upon the town of Bhauap&r, in a very
short time killed about 400 of its inhabitants." The remainder fled, leaving
the town for some years deserted.1
The first drought recorded after the cession wa9 that of 1803 ; but a
partial failure of the autumn crop and some trifling difficulty in collecting the
„ , M revenue were its only results. " The records," writes Mr.
Famines of 1803.
Girdlestone,2 "are almost silent concerning Gorakhpur.
I have ascertained that in October, 1803, a considerable exportation of
grain to the reserved dominions of the Naw&b Yazir took place. This could
scarcely have happened if there had not been supplies enough in store
for home consumption. It is also stated that rain fell for many days con~
tinuously in August and September. At the time of the cession Gorakh-
pur was the least populous of all the districts which came into our posses-
sion. It is probable, therefore, that, with more moisture and less mouths
to feed, the kharif placed the people above actual want. There are other
reasons besides for this inference. The revenue was realized up to March
with only trifling balances, and the subsequent monthly accounts show
Gorakhpur to have consistently maintained a smaller gross balance than any
other district. No remissions were thoaght needful up to November, 1804 %
when the crisis had passed."
The next scarcity, in 1809, although it affected only the south of the dis-
trict, was within certain limits severer than that of 1803, and the spring crop
was much injured where no means of irrigation existed. In 1814 a temporary
failure of rain caused some damage to the autumn crop ; but the spring was
saved by a timely fall, nor does it appear that the natural
sources of irrigation failed. The next serious drought
was in 1837, when the collector repoj^ed that the want of rain and conse-
quent depletion of natural water-stores had raised the price of gram from
60 sers per rupee to only 15, and that of wheat from 33 to only 14. But
1 Eastern India, Il.% 50O> * Report on Pott Famines in the North* Wetter* rrmrinea
(1MI), pp. W-S0.
44
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344 O0BAKHPUB.
this dearth, elsewhere so fatal, seems to have caused in this district little
further distress than could be alleviated by a petty remission of revenue
(Rs. 208). During the next twenty years Gorakbpur suffered more from
inundations and excess of water than from want of it ; but in 1850 there was
again a partial failure of the autumn crop owing to an insufficiency of rain.
In 1860 and 1868-69, to so many districts years of exceptional drought
and distress, the Gorakhpur district escaped with little injury. In the
former year, indeed, revenue receipts increased, although symptoms of distress
showed themselves in an augmentation of crime. Less easy, however, was
the lot of the district in 1873-74. The results of insufficient or inopportune
rain were aggravated by the Bengal famine, which caused an enormous export
of grain stored in previous years. Distress grew so great that it became
necessary to open relief works and distribute food to a considerable number
of persons. It is to be noted, however, that but for the drain on district
produce caused by famine in the Lower Provinces the distress would probably
have been slight only ; and that it was chiefly the non-agricultural portion
of the population who hied to the relief works. In 1875 there was again
some distress owing to the same natural causes ; and had there been a similar
export of grain, there would probably have been just the same state of
affairs as in 1874. Fortunately there was not, and the distress was therefore
small.
In mineral resources the district is poor. Here is found no stone except
such boulders and pebbles as mountain streams have suc-
ceeded in hurtling across the northern border. Nodular
limestone or kankar is scarce. Of its two varieties, telia and dudhia, the former
is quarried chiefly along the Taraina,the latter in the south
-Stone and kankar. * . ., . ° A „- . .
country beside the Gnagra. Their average price on the
spot is said to be Re. 1-8-0 per hundred cubic feet, but to this must always
•be added about 8 annas a mile for carriage. The cost of metalling a mile of
road with the usual depth of kankar (6 inches) would amount more nearly to
Ks. 1,600 than Rs. 1,500. Owing to the dearth of kankar the lime made from
that material is expensive and fetches about Rs. 20 per
hundred maunds. An inferior kind is sold for Rs. 15.
Chunam is a lime made from the sipi, a shell found in the Bhenri T&l and other
•lakes. It sells on the spot for from 1^ 2 to Re. 1-8-0 a maund.
Two kinds of brick are made in the district The smaller, known
Bricks. as laJuyri> measures about 5" x ^xlj", and fetches from
Re. 1-8-0 to Re. 1-12-0 per 1,000. The larger brick or
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GORAKHFCR; 845
polka tnta of 12*x6*x4|* sells for from Rs. 5-80 to Rs. 6-8-0 per 1,000.
Ordinary flat tiles for roofing are obtained at from Rs. 2 to Rs. 2-8-0 the thou-
sand, but a small kind sells for from Re. 1 to Re. 1-8-0 only. Round tiles fetch
about half the price of flat The figures here given are averages, as the prica
of tiles varies, and in the rains rises to almost double the usual amount.
The manufacture of salt is prohibited in the district, and the salt sold
comes chiefly from Patna by boats ; a large quantity of
Baltpetre is, however, made.
PART III.
Inhabitants, institutions, and history of the district.
The earliest statistics which pretend to number roughly the people of
the district are those given by Buchanan, about"
®® 1835.1 Taking Gorakhpur, Basfci, and a part of Butwal
since transferred to Nep&l, he reckons the population at 277,099 families of
about 8 persons each, and the area at 7,423 square miles.
His classification was made by police-circles ; and the following are thfr
figures which seem to belong to the present district : —
1.
Gorakhpur
2.
Mansurgan]
8.
Padranna
4.
Kasia
5.
Belawa
6.
Balempur
7.
Bhagalpur
8.
Barhalganj
9.
Oajpar
10.
Bhauapar
11.
Anola
IS.
Gopalpnr
13.
Nichlawal
14.
Part of Lotan
14.
n PW
14.
„ Maghar
a in square
Number of
miles.
families
4
6121
813
23,879
546
20,366
129
8,203
113
5,641
296
13,498
168
16,697
128
10,801
336
11,868
31
7,350
104
3,843
327
9,463
622
6,825
160
4,500
460
200
MO
6,500
Total ... 4,486 158,665
His total population would therefore amount to some 1,226,120 soulffj
Of that population he classes about 8 per ctot. as Muhammadans, and the rest
as Hindus* His statistics are curious, and even labour to enumerate the
I Eatkrn India, Vol. U.
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946
GORAKHPUR*
number of single though marriageable girls. But as regards population they
are hardly worth scrutiny, resting on certain rather arbitrary premises which
are themselves based on very untrustworthy data. Thus he ascertained through
native subordinates the number of ploughs in a certain area, and, assuming each
plough to represent a certain number of persons, worked out his agricultural
population on this basis. The only point worthy of notice is perhaps the very
low figures given for Pali and Nichl&wal as compared with the adjoining Man-
surganj and Lotan. The devastations of the Nep&lese war in the two former par-
ganahs, and the settlement of numerous immigrants in the two latter, may
perhaps account for the difference. Buchanan specially notices the large
number of poor gentry who attempted to live on the land, though too proud to
till it themselves. And to the demand thus created he attributes the steady
influx of labour from Nepal*
The first regular census of the district took place in 1847. Including
Basti, it was found to number 2,376,533 inhabitants,
of whom about l,473,055,x or somewhat less than two-
thirds, may be taken as the population of the modern Gorakhpur. The follow-
ing is a brief classification of the figures : —
Centos of 1847*
1
Agricultural.
Non-agricultural.
Grand total.
Htadtis ••» ••• i»«
Masalmans ••• ... ...
1,779,678
198,765
831,347
66,843
2,110,925
365,608
Total ...
1,978,418
898,090
8,376,583
The proportion of Musalmans was therefore nearly 12 per cent, and tho
proportion of the agricultural to the total population about 85 per cent.
In 1853 the population was for the same area found to be only 2,087,874,
the proportion of Muhammadans being over 13 per cent.
The distribution by sex and occupation may be thus
shown : —
Census of 1858.
Hindus
Maaalmans
Agricultural*
Male. Female. Total
184,954
136,121
Total
3*1,075
1,890,559
196,019
1,967,518
969,183
1,908,571 1,599,646
Non-agricultural.
Male. Female, Total
936,681
57,234
998,915
219,581
51,782
964,313
449 269
108,966
668,298
Grand
total.
1,716,775
871,099
9,087,874
«r * ^"i61?1* h?*~ h9tn obtain*d &y dednoting from the grand total the totals for Amorha
Hagar, Basti, Bansi, Basulpur Ghana, Bineyakpur West, Maholt, and half of Maghar.
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GORAKHPUR,
347
Census of 1865.
The population of Gorakhpur, excluding Basti, may by the same method
as before be reckoned at 1,899,923. Neither, however, of
the two returns just given can be viewed with much con-
fidence. In 1865 the population of the same area, still including Basti, was
found to be 3,439,513, an enormous increase on former totals. About 2,071,213
of that figure belongs to Gorakhpur, and the remainder to Basti. The
details of occupation and sex are as follows : —
Agricultural.
Non-agricultural.
Grand
total.
i
Class.
Male.
Female.
Total.
Male.
Female,
Total.
1
i
1
Adults.
Boys.
Adults.
Girls.
Adults.
Boyi.
Adults.
Girls.
Hindu*
Xasslnmns
and others.
788,541
86,406
628,288
00,063
718,726
83,568
419,128
50,804
2,899,628
281,736
206,552
42,656
129,671
28,347
181,253
40,962
108,600
21,313
624,976
183,178
8,024,599
414,914
...
•••
ttofel ..
824,948
684190
802,294
469,932
2,681,359
248,108
158,018
222^15
129,818
768,164
8,439,518
465
Ceasni of 1872.
Before the next enumeration took place Basti had been severed from Go-
rakhpur. The census of 1872, the latest and probably the
most correct hitherto effected, gives for Gorakhpur alone a
population of 2,019,361, or about 440 to each square mile. Th?re were 7,097
villages and 381,237 houses, of which but 3,019 were built with skilled labour,
m., of masonry. The average population to each village was thus about 285,
and to each house a little over 5. The household in the better class of dwell-
ing averaged 9* and that in the poorer class 5 persons. There were but 184
towns containing populationsof over 1,000, and of these only 22 had over 2,000,
12 over 3,000, 6 over 5,000, and 1 over 10,000 inhabitants. So that there were
altogether 143 places with populations of between 1,000 and 2,000,
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348
GOBAKHPUB.
The following tables show the distribution of the population in the dif-
ferent parganahs, with statistics of religion and sex : —
A.— Population distributed hy religion^ age, and sex amongst the various
parganahs* .
Pargana.
Bhauapar, sadr
tahail portion.
HftYeli, do.
Maghar
Bhauapir, Bfos-
gion portion.
Anola m
Dhuriapfr ,.
Chillfipar
HaTeIi,Maharaj-
ganj portion.
Binayakpnr ..,
Tilpnr
Tappa Batsara,
or Bateaara.
Sidhna Jobna ,.,
Bh&bjahanpnr^
HaTeli, Padran
na portion #M
Silhat
fialempor ,.
Total
HlftDIJfl.
Up to 15 years.
Adults.
6
1
9
i
1
PR
9,989
7,936
14,108
13,513
45,161
65,629
64,269
59,386
13,734
10,984
19,185
18,296
7,179
5,641
9,623
9,570
15,251
11,581
20,127
19,335
36,231
25,607
53,746
51,661
9,401
6,618
15,559
14,450
47,713
38,886
65,430
61,847
3,695
8,317
6,738
6,383
10,817
8,195
16,257
15,895
6,648
5,249
10,420
9,279
68,109
59,108
106,545
99,010
15,555
12,218
22,088
20,989
14,163
11,826
20,249
18,942
26,591
19,892
41,874
88,710
56,877
40,262
100,168
96,105
386,595
296,274
584,790
552,786
MtJHAMMADANS AND OTHKBfi
sot Hindi? s.
Up to 15
ysars.
695
5,131
838
489
873
2,272
611
5,877
842
1,383
984
12,093
2,431
1,338
1,950
4,812
41,939
i
650
4,403
638
346
697
1,699
433
5,044
284
1,168
759
8,998
1,914
988
1,317
3,391
Adults.
1,002
8,730
1,121
598
1,182
8,290
1,006
8,345
543
2,205
1,352
18,395
3,216
1,696
8,190
8,847
82,661 64,718 60,557
4
I
788
8,096
1,024
554
1,070
3,196
946
7,651
525
2,101
1,249
17,434
3,151
1,686
2,890
8,246
Total.
25,787
123,495
34,878
17,789
37,433
95,539
26,577
127,364
11,813
36,163
19,418
204,142
48,290
37,131
73,106
170,704
22,887
107,718
30,932
16,119
32,683
82,163
22,342
113,448
10,409
26,859
17,536
177,650
88,272
32,690
69,742
147,944'
1,078,078 94,2781
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CJORAKHPUn.
B. — Statistics of age in greater detail. *
349
Hindtit.
Muhammadans and
others not Hindus.
Total population*
Mali.
Female*
Malb.
Femali.
Malb.
Female.
«M
*4
«M
««
ti
«H
O
o
o
o
o
o
•
i
1
a •
u °
a .
fe o
a
0
2!
i
a .
3*0
$
a .
9 ri
81
•
B
a
*
h
9 S
***
31
i
a
9
55
9
SP
H
9 "**
' Up to one year,
80,648
31
25,531
8'0
3,335
2,824
83,983
28,655
S'O
.Between land 6
1,47,758
15*2
1,81,603
15 6
16,048
155
14,590
160
1,63,806
15 1 1,46,192
156
„ 6 and It
1,68,004
17-2
1.18,677
184
18,949
170
12.176
ISO
1,86,253
I7'4
1,25,855
18*4
„ 19 „ 20
1,46,632
15*0 1,09.919
130
16,540
14'A
12,456
13-3
1,62,178
15*0
1,22,876
180
i» 90 „ 30
1,83,875
18 9
1,86,48«
220
19,969
18*7
20,572
22 0
2,03,844
18 9
2.07,055
219
» «0 » 40
lk58.759
15 8
1,41,057
16 7
17,466
16*4
15,628
16"?
1,71,245
158
1,56,689
16*6
,, 40 „ 50
82,024
84
73,054
8-6
9,354
87
7,915
88
91,378
8*4
8,965
8*6
„ 50 „ 60
39,366
40
42,319
50
4,449
4*1
4,443
4*7
48,815
40
46,716
5-0
Above 60 years
19,319
1-9
24,414
2'8
2,256
2-1
2,616
2*3
21,675
20
27,003 2'9
Total ...
9,71,885
8,48,060
...
1,06,687
98,918
10,78,078
...
9,41,278
••■
It will be seen that only 9*9 per cent, are Muhammadans, while the
rest, an almost unappreciable fraction excepted, are Hindus. The Muham-
madans are most mumerous in parganahs Haveli and Sidhua Jobna. But the
Muslim population of the latter is mostly composed of the lowest classes, des-
cendants of the camp-followers and soldiers who settled at Padrauna when that
place became a cantonment of the Naw&b's army in the latter part of the
eighteenth century.
The proportion of males to females is amongst Hindus 54 to 46, and
amongst Muhammadans 53*25 to 4675. Amongst R&jputs, a class else-
where addicted to the murder of their infant daughters, the proportion is
the same as amongst Hindus generally ; and the percentage of female babies
(below one year of age) is exactly the same in the Hindu as in the Muham-
madan population. These returns are, if correct, strong evidenoe that female
infanticide is not extensively practised ; and this appears really the case. The
great influence of his Brdhmans over the Sat&si R&ja seems to have been exer-
ted against the practice ; and the Majhauli R&jas after their conversion to
Muhammadanism, if not before, set their face against it.3 Mr. Ridsdale's notes
cite a collector's report of 1802, in which a R&jputani charged with girl
1 These moat be accepted as mere approximations. The untutored mind of the Indian rustic
-is rarely able to compute or recall his exact age, 'It is not to be supposed that the
Majhauli Bftjaa are still Mahommadaas, They hare reverted to their ancient Hindu orthc*
.-»*.
>
-v
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350 GOBAKHPUB.
infanticide is stated to have urged in defenoe the recognized and lawful custom
of her clan. To support this plea she produced a certificate of the Nagar
parganah registrar (kdn&ngo). The court of circuit ordered her discharge and
told the collector not to make arrests in such cases before taking their orders*
A few years later, however, the offence was declared criminal, and of late years
strong measures have been taken to repress it in Basti. Here, as before observed,
it seems to have never been at all common. Gorakhpar is one of the few dis~
tricts in which precautionary measures under the Infanticide Act (VIII. of
1870) have been judged unnecessary.
The census statistics show that the district contained 119 idiots, 105 per-
sons of partly unsound mind, 772 deaf or dumb people, and
465 lepers. The idiots are most numerous in the Sidhua
Jobna pargana, along the banks of the little Gandak, where goitre is also very
common. There is a proverbial expression, " Bhauapar ka banle," meaning a
particularly stupid person y but this refers rather to the general stupidity of
the people who used to live at Bhauap&r than to any prevalence of idiocy ia
that parganah.1
The table last given shows that of the total population nearly 5 per cent,
had passed their 60th year, an age which in this country
is a great one. The life statistics generally speak well for
the climate.
The density of the population, as ascertained in 1872; was HI to the
statute square mile, against 435 in 1865, 395 in 1853, and 312 in 1847.
Taking the density in individual tahsils the returns shew 506 souls to the mile
in Gorakhpur, 563 in B&nsgaon, 259 in Mahar&jganj, 499s in Padrauna, ancf
523 in Deoria. The number of villages or townships inhabited by the popu-
lation is given by the census as 7,097 ; and amongst these are now (1878)
distributed 8,216* mah&ls or estates. In 1847 four towns were entered, as
containing over 5,000 inhabitants ; but of these one was
Town population. M^ Bridgman>g ^^ aad the other a 8imilar faPeBt grftllt
containing the town of Padrauna. There remained Gorakhpur and Rudarpur,
with populations of 45,265 and 5,535 respectively.
In 1853 such towns had really attained the number of four, ezoluding
Padrauna, whose population is again mixed with that of its enclosing pro-
perty. The inhabitants of Gorakhpur were returned as 54,529, of Gola as
5,751, of Xmwa as 5,158, and of Barhalganj as 5,058.
»Mr. Crooke ingeniously suggests that the phrase may be a mistake for bowaha ea-Aoft,
or '«dumb idiot." The Sidhua Jobna idiots ire, he adds, called bang. *Qr, excluding
forest grants, 7,573.
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GORAKHPUR. 351
In 1865 the number is tho same, but the towns are different. The
population of Gorakhpur has fallen to 50,853, Rudarpur, with 7,565 inhabi-
tants, has displaced Gola and resumed its place uext to Gorakhpur. Amwa
maintains its place with 5,510, and Barhaj (5,080) has superseded Barhalganj.
The population of Padrauna is again the population of the grant, and not of
the town.
In 1872 the number has increased to seven, viz., Gorakhpur, (51,117),
Rudarpur (6,538), Amwa (6,150), Gaura kb4s (5,482), Paina (5331), Gola
(5,147), and Padrauna (5,092).
Distributing tho Hindu population amongst the four conventional
divisions, the census of 1872 shows 193,270 Brahmans
Hmdu castes. (90j382 females) ; 76,018 EUjptits (34,888 females); 58,061
Baniy&s (27,177 females) ; and 1,492,093 persons as belonging to the " other
castes" (695,613 females).
The Br&hmans are classed as Kanaujiya (187,378), Bh&t, Bhikham,
n Dube, Gaur, Gujr&ti, Gautam, Maithil, Up&dhia, SArasut,
Sarwariya, Saugaldipi, Shukul, Tilang, or unspeci6od.
None of these subdivisions, except the Kanaujiya, numbers more than 5,000
members. Some of them, it should be observed, are not subdivisions at all.
Dube, Upadhia, and Shukul, being mere titles borne by many subdivisions,
are for purposes of tribal distinction useless.
The Kanaujiyas, and therefore the Brahmans of the district generally,
belong chiefly to the Sawalakhi, Bhuinhar, Naipdli, aud
Sarwariya clans. They are, in fact, inferior of their class ;
and this circumstance, together with their commonly lax habits, renders them
of small account in the eyes of the Brahman aristocracy elsewhere. In his
work on Hindu Castes1 Mr. Sherring gives the fullest details procurable con-
cerning these local Brahman clans. From his account, and from the earlier
history of the district, it seems probable that the Naipali, and perhaps also the
Kashmiri and Magadha Brahmans, were cut off from their fellow-Aryans by a
wave of aboriginal invasion. Cooped up in the neighbourhood of the Nep&l
hills, they may perohance have acquired from their conquerors many habits
which they before regarded as corrupt. It has been suggested in like manner
that the Th&rus were Rajputs who, reduced to submission, were suffered to
remain in the north of the country.
The Sawalakhi* or Siwalakhias are said to derive their name from low-
born ancestors, who, passed off as Brahmans by an ancient king, retained that
title ever after. The £ing had sighed for the honour of feasting at one great
45
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352 GORAKHPUR.
banquet 125,000 (sawa lakh) priestly guests ; and as the requisite number was
not forthcoming, made requisitions on other tribes.1 The numerous Diib&,
Upadhias, Tiwaris, Misrs, Diksbits, Pandas, Awasthis, and P/ithakhs of the
district belong mostly to this subdivision. There is nothing to show when they
first became Br&hmans. But the legend may perhaps merely denote that
they belonged to the same class as the Naipdlis, and being found in the country
of the aborigines when the Aryans recaptnred it, were deemed below the salt.
The Bhuinhars represent a later stream of immigration . Mr. Oldham
shows2 strong grounds for believing thorn the offspring of
Bajput fathers and Br&hman mothers. Buchanan says that
they are often treated with contempt as of impure origin, and cites the
Domkat&rs as an instance.3 The Domkatdrs are not, however, true Bhuinh&rs,
but Rajputs or men of already mixed race who intermarried with the Domras
and other aboriginal tribes. The real BhuinhArs have always occupied a fairly
respectable position, and scout the idea of being connected with the impure
aboriginal tribes. Their chief branches are the Gautam, Kin war, and Gaur.
They live exactly like Rajputs, and will not hold the plough themselves. Sher-
ring notices the use amongst them of the title Singh, and this Raj pit suffix is
not uncommonly attached to their names in Gorakhpur. The Raja of Tamkiihi
is a Bhuinh&r.
Sarwaria Brahmans derive their name from Sarwar or Sarjup&r, a title
formerly applied to this district, Basti, and perhaps part
, of Oudh. The following account of the tribe, supplied by
a native lawyer,4 confuses thom with the Sawalakhis, but is of interest, as show-
ing what Brahmans themselves say: —
" Rama » he writes, " invited to the district 16 latjs belonging to different clam (gotra)
of the Kauaujia Brahmans, After investing them with the aaored thread, he gave them lands
and titles as follows :—
(1.) The Tiwdris , three in number, were sent to Pidi in Salcmpur Majhauli, Pfcla in.
Bansi (of Basti), and Gorakhpur itself.
(4.) The Shukuls to Bhcdi of Silhat.
(0.) The Pdndes to Itaiya in Maholi (of Basti).
(9.) The Dubes to Sarar in Haveli.
(10.) The two Misrs to Dharampur in Maholi and Beri in Ilaveli.
(12.) The Gautamias to Madhabansi of Saran.
(13.) Bhargiwas to Bhagalpur in Salempur Majholi.
(14 ) The Pdthakhn to Sanaura in Basti.
(16 ) The Upddhias to Eauria in Maholi.
(16.) The Chaubes to Nayanpur, also in Basti."
1 In an essay on caste, Munahi Kishori Lai professes to flx the exact date as 1563. Who the
king was seems a subject of much dispute. The name of the tribe may perhaps be connected
with that of the Siwalikh hills. * Memoir of the Ghftzipur District, by Wilton Oldham,
LL.D., Beugul Civil Service. 3 Eastern India, II., 350. * Uanga P rash ad Pande
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QORAKHPITR. 353
An Ojha Brahman of Tirhut afterwards settled at Havel i and a Bengali Brahman at Radhi,
The latter immigrant forced the earlier B rah mans to admit him to equality, and all yielded
except the Bhargiwa Brahmana of Bhagalpur.
Later still, a king of Kashi (Benares) forced a host of persons belonging to other castes to
assume the emblems and rights of Brahmana.1 Their descendants are now known as
Jutaha in opposition to the true Brahman or F&tiha j and if any of the latter intermarry or eat
with the former, he becomes degraded.
Before quitting the Brahmans we may briefly notice the kindred Bhdts.
Mr. Sherring traces their lineage to a Brahman father
and Sudra wife ; but they are in this district considered
descendants of the celebrated Mayyura Misra by a Vaisya bride. Mayyura
is often himself styled Bhat, but Misr seems to be his correcter title. Of
the 3,524 Bhats in the district, some possess considerable wealth. In the
census returns all the Sawalakhia and most of the Sarwaria Brahmans are
entered as Kanaujias. This race is supposed to number 187,378. But very
few real Kanaujias exist in the district.
The principal Rajput clans, including those which would more
„ properly be termed Agnikulas, are the Bais (12,597),
lajputa. Sarnet (7,811), Ponwar (5,137), Kausik (4,844), Ohauh&n
(3,470), Sengar 2,497, Sakarwar (2,243), Gautara (2,198), and Chandel
(2,146).
To the following tribes the census assigns less than 2,000 members
each : —
Bargujar, Bhat, Bhadauria, Bachhal, Bargyan, Bisen, Bhuinhar, Bil-
khariya, Dikshit, Douwar, Dakhanwar, Qahlot, Gaur, Gahrwar, Jaiswar, JaJon,
Kutiyar, Kachhw&ha, Kinwar, Katehriya, Karcholiya, Kusmani, Kakan,
Kharag, Kauhpuria, Malkhan, Mahta, Nagbansi, Ujjaini, Rathor, Raghu-
bansi, Raikawar, R&wat) Surajbansi, Solankhi, Sarwal, Sombansi, Suriya
Tilag, and Thapa. About 12,000 Rajputs remain unspecified. The tribes
which may be selected for some description are the Sarnet, Bisen, Rathor,
Kausik, Surajbansi, Gautam, Sengar, Nagbansi, Chauhan, Ponwar, Palwar,
and Kulhans, the two last not mentioned by the census. The invasion of
the Sarnet Rajas will be described in the historical portiou of this notice.
The earlier name of their tribe was perhaps Naikumbh ; and Mr. Oldham
tells how the new title was bestowed by one of the Dehli emperors. Having
to enter a doorway, some Naiktimbhs preferred to behead themselves on a
sword fixed across it rather than bow their heads. But the derivation of
the name conferred on their kinsmen by the admiring monarch is scarcely
1 An allusion to the Sawalakhia.
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354 GORAKHPUR.
satisfactory.1 Buchanan again derives that term from a band of gold called
" net" which one of the tribe was allowed to wear when serving at the Delhi
court.
The R&jas of Satasi, Anola, and Maghar, i.e., Bansi, belonged to this
clan, and another braneh held lands in Gh£zipur. The tribe is said to have
emigrated from Srinagar near Lfihor, but its exact origin is of course
uncertain.
The Bisen clan once held the south-east of the district, spreading thence
as far west as Undo. Though not pure Rajputs they are
highly esteemed, and claim descent from Bhrigu, a saint of
the golden age. Prom Bhrigu also was descendod Parasurama ; and from
Parasurima, Mayynra, already named as the reputed ancestor of the Bhats.
The head of the clan is the Raja of Majhauli.
The R&thors of Gorakhpur are, as noted by Sherring, rather despised by
_ . the other castes. This contempt is no doubt due to their
Rathors. . . , \
former subjection oy the Domkat6rs or Donwftrs. It is
not improbable, moreover, that the remnant left after that defeat formed
mesalliances with the Domkatfirs and other less respectable tribes.2
The Kausiks claim descent from ancestors of the lunar race, who entered
w ., the district with Dhur Chand. Legend traces them from
Kausiks.
Hamirpur to Ghazipnr, where King G&dh, brother of Dhur
Singh, held his court. Ejected thenoe by the Muslims under Masaud Gh&zi,
they took refuge in Gorakhpur. The R&jas of Barhi£p.ir and Gop&lpur hoth
belonged to this clan.
The only important Surajbansi or solar families are found in Maholi,
„ .,_ . Amorha, and Nagar of Basti. Buchanan identifies them
Surajbansis.
with the Raghubansis, but is probably mistaken. The
Surajbansis invaded Amorha under Kanhdeo, who wrested that parganah
from the Bhars. These Surajbansis seem to have boen entered in the census
returns as Bais.
1 Two alternative derivations are Riven «, one from the Sanskrit sar, a head, and net, a
leader, the other from the Persian sarnht, headtesfl. a The Naikumbbs then, as now, only raised
the hand to the head ; and never bowed the head when making obefrance. The emperor,
annoyed by this apparent want of respect of some Naiknmfrh chiefs in attendance at his court,
ordered that before their entrance a sword should be placed across the doorway in such a man-
ner that they, on entering his presence, should be compelled to stoop. Some of the Naifcumbh
chiefs maintaining their position were decapitated. The emperor, satisfied with this exhibition
of their firmness and determination, permitted them in future to make their saldm in their
o\rn fashion, and gave them the title of Sirnet."— Statistical JU emir of the Ghdzipvr District.
The Kathiya Kajputs have an exactly similar tradition. s Defeat, accompanied bj»
circumstances of disgrace, would suflico to explain any contempt into which the Rathors may
have fallen. Neighbouring Rajputs avoid intermarriage with certain Bisen families of Salem-
pur, whose women are said to have suffered insult daring the sack of their village fa the
mutiny.
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GOKAKHPUR. 355
The Gautams also are chiefly settled in Nagar, where they acquired
a dowry of several villages by marriage with the Suraj-
bansis. Many of the Gautams entered as Rajputs in
the census seem to belong more properly to the Gautam branch of the
Bhninharg.
The Sengara are more numerous in the Basti district than here. Strongly
represented in Et&wa and other Duab districts, they seem
Sengars* •
to have spread thence into Oudh, and from Oudh into
Basti and Gorakhpur. They are said to have gained a footing in this district
by taking service under a Bhar chief, whom they afterwards deposed and
murdered.1
The N&gbansis, as their name implies! are reputed descendants of the
Takshak, N6ga, or serpent race, sometimes called Scythians.
They are, however, recognized as indubitable Rajputs,
descended according to some accounts from a hero who sprang out of the earth to
defend St, Vasishtha's cow. The child of this cow-deliverer was afterwards lost
in a forest, when the grateful Vasishtha caused it to be suckled by a snake. The
Ntfgbansis may probably be descended from the ancient N&ga race who gave
princes to this tract in early times, and the story of a serpent foster-mother
may point to the fact of an aboriginal ancestress.2 Sidhua Jobna and Haveli
are the principal homes of the Nagbansis.
Of the Chauhfins the district has few to boast. The founder of the But-
wal Raj claimed to belong to this olan, and the claim is main-
tained by his kinsmen and others whose ancestors were his
companions in arms. It is, however, exceediugly doubtful if the story of their '
flight from Ghittor is true. They seem rather to resemble the Domkatars and
other mongrel tribes than the later invaders, the Kausik and Sdrajbansi Raj-
ptits.
The Ponw&r or Pram&ra clan, now so numerous, seems to have entered
the district in but small detachments. Its present footing
was gradually gained by marriage with the daughters of
local chiefs, such as Majhauli.
The Palw&rs, again, are not very numerous, but their legends furnish
another interesting illustration of the intermarriage of
castes in olden times. Their ancestor Patr&j had four wives
of various races, one being a Bhar. From the Rajpfit wife was born a son
1 A fall account of the Sengara will be found in the notice on Etawa Gazetteer, IV, 975,
976. The Sengar river in that district is aaid to derive its name from the clan * The
legend of the cow Ksmdhenn and it* attempted robbery by St. Viswamitra is somewhat
differently told by Buchanan (II, 460,461).
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356 GORAKHPUR.
called Palwala, who ejected the Bhdrs eastward from Faisabad. From this
new base a Pa I war colony invaded Basti, and finally established itself in
Gorakhpur also.
The Ghandel and Kulhans1 clans seem to have once possessed considerable
tracts in the Basti district, the latter being still largely
represented in Basulpur Ghatis. Buchanan's account of this
tribe seeuis to assert that their ancestor, and not that of the Si met Rajas, des-
troyed the Domkat&rs. He was, says this writer, a Br&hman who came eastwards
with bis employer, a learned scribe. A DonikaUir chief haying carried off the
daughter of this priest, the scribe concerted and successfully effected the plan
of poisoning the guards of the Domkatar fortress and murdering its chatelain.
Having thus outwitted the Domkatar, the scribe was himself outwitted by his
ungrateful servant the Brahman, who managed to establish himself as Raja
of the newly -conquered domain. This tale is nonsense, and was probably
concocted to conceal an origin derived from the intermarriage of Rajputs and
aboriginal tribes. It does not account for the succession of the Sarnet family,
or for the existence of Kulhans so far west of the Domangarh fort ; and seems
copied from a legend which makes a Kayath and a Brahman eject the Bhars
from Amorha.
The following are the principal clans into which the census divides the
Baniya or mercantile class: — OKandu (29,856), Kasaundhan
mf®° (9,795), Agarahri (3,883), Baramwar (3,516), Rauniyar
(2,486), Unaya (2,485), Agarwala (2,107), Umar (787), and Kasrwani
(367). The remaining tribes — Bandarwar, Chausaini, Dasa, Gindauriya,
Jaiswa>, Mahesri, Rastogi, Rautgi, and Saraogi — have less than 300 members
each. The Agarwalas, who hold a large amount of property in Gorakh-
pur city and its environs, may be considered the wealthiest of the district
merchants. The history of their clan has been given in more than one former
notice.*
The following list shows the names and numbers of the tribes included
amongst the l< other (Hindu) castes " of the census returns (1,492,093 souls).
But in preparing an enumeration of this sort some confusion of Hindus and
Muslims was perhaps inevitable: —
Agarei ...
484
Atit
••• 4)635
Barawar ...
m. 6,910
Aghori ...
237
Bahella ...
984
Barhai ...
... 21.941
Ahar ...
... 3,906
Bairagi M«
... 3,132
Berhia ...
... 15,912
Aheria ...
501
Bftndgar ...
... 1,609
Bari
... 6,861
Ahir ...
... 242,383
Banjara ...
349
Basor ...
75
Arakh ...
143
Bansphor
... 5,099 Bat war ...
... 1,932
* Or Kulh&n.
Both forms are used, but
that
given in the text is the
commonest.
1 See Gazetteer, II., 395, and
IV., 290.
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Beldar «»
•••
10,569
Bharbunja
•••
3,717
Bhat ...
...
3,524
bhfij1 ...
•••
638
Bhartia w.
•M
198
Bind ...
*••
10,7 09
Chai ...
...
3,736
Ctoamtr or ,
Julaha*...
210,103
Chitarah
•••
107
Dabgar —
•••
366
Patzi ...
•«•
407
lMhlwar
...
3,021
Ifcswal w
•t§
12
Dhanuk
•»«
410
Dharhi
•••
1,96o
Dhobi .„
...
22,864
Dhuoia...
•>•
1,402
Dom ...
■•«
3,707
Dosadh
...
23,545
Fakir ...
...
114
Gadaria
...
9,794
Gohal ...
—
1C4
Gusaln
• ♦•
749
Gujar ...
•••
81
Hela ...
• ••
424
Hajjani
• ••
80,45)
G0RAKHPUR.
357
Halwai
... 2,905
Manihar ,M
»§•
2,415
Ilijrah
...
35
Mochi
...
348
Jaiswar
...
... 5,142
Muaahar ...
...
ll,00tJ
Jat
• ••
180
Nalband ...
...
1,713
Jogi
•••
195
Nat
...
394
Juliha
...
••• 132
Naik
...
231
Kahar
• ••
.,. 30,819
Nun era ..,
44,316
Kalal
••«
... 39,<K)9
Fasi
_
80,075
Kanoangar ...
... 18,370
Patwa ...
•••
1,960
Ran jar
...
337
Pudhir ...
...
2,389
Rasera
•M
264
Bahti
*M
728
Katwar
200
Kajbhar .«
...
1,464
K4yath
•••
... 22,767
Ramaia ...
§•«
872
Mihtar
• •*
834
Rimjani ...
§•1
74
Khatik
«••
... 7,307
Raogrez ...
•M
4*6
Khatiri
•»«
142
Rawa
•••
424
Kisaa
• •1
... 15,420
R&wat
...
228
Koeri
•M
... 89.321
Sadh or Ssdhu
...
1,719
Roll
•••
... 32,242
Sat war
•••
41,649
Kumhar
•M
,.. 37.103
Sunar ..,
,..
16,472
Rurmi
*••
... 76,550
Taga
...
67
Lahera
...
m« 663
Tarkhar ...
*•»
1 369
Lo.lha
*••
... 3,121
Teli
...
55,ft54
Loh&r
ft.
M. 85,994
Th4ru ...
t*.
3,169
Mill
•••
~ 8,694
Thathera ...
...
2,535
Mallah
...
... 110,565
Tharoa.
We must now proceed to notice some of the more carious or important
races here mentioned.
If, as before suggested, the Tharfis represent the remnant of the Aryan
race who remained cut off in the north when the victori-
ous aborigines expelled their kinsmen to south and west,
there can be little doubt that they were Rajpfits of the old solar race who had
invaded the district from Ajudhia. The arguments in favour of this theory
are: —
(1) The common tradition of the people themselves both here and in
the Kumaon Tar&i asserts that they were Raj p tits who came up at the first
sack of Chittor (which might well be substituted for the destruction of
Ajudhia or of new Kdshi near Rudarpur by the Bh&rs).
(2)
the tribe.
(3)
(4)
The sacred thread (janeo) is commonly worn by some members of
The division into gotras, which is still recognised amongst them.
The observance of some Hindu rules, such as the rejection of meat
unless killed in the chase.
It is possible that many later Rajput arrivals, who had lost caste by stoop-
ing to tillage, were thus reduced to intermarriage, and thereby incorporation,
with the Thfirus. The chief clans of that race are the Pachhimi and Pfirabi, or
western and eastern. The former affect to despise the latter, and assume the
'Though separately shown by the census, the fihuj and Bhfirbhunja tribes are probably
Identical. 'This heading apparently refer toKoris or ttindu wearers There is a large
community ol Musalman Jul&haa who have perhaps been entered amongst the Shaikhs.
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358 GORAKHPUR.
title of Chaudhari, which is properly restricted to their bartvdiks or headmen.1
This is all in favour of the thoory that some of the Th&riis represent a, later
importation of Rajputs than the rest. And a further proof perhaps exists in the
fact that amongst the Pachhimis some are known as Khattri, still wearing the
sacred thread. But besides the western and eastern, there are several other sub-
divisions, such as the Dagwaria, Nawalpuria, Marchaha, Kupaliha, Jogitharu,
Kosith&ru, Kawasia, and Garhwaria; all of these, however, seem to belong to
the Purabi class, being divided between the Barhka Ptirabi or " upper," and the
Chhutka Pfirabi or " lower " eastern. The Pachhimi Thfcrus refuse to eat with
the Purabi ; and even between the subdivisions of the latter there are many
restrictions on the practice of eating together. This is more curious because
most members of the caste will eat pig's flesh and fowls, while all will drink
country spirits.
In character Thards are peaceable and truthful. They seem rarely to quarrel
amongst themselves, and have a horror of courts and cases which, it is hoped,
will long continue. Their leading men are intelligent, and their manners are
quite as good as those of true Hindis in the same relative position. The more
ignorart of the other tribes are muoh afraid of them, especially of their women,
who are deemed to possess the power of the evil eye, and can blight fields or
persons by it. They appear to be worshippers of Mah&deo, on whom and
perhaps on some other deities they bestow the 'title of lord (Thdkur). The
name Thdru is derived by R&ja Sivaprasad from Athwdrw, a villein who must
work every eighth day for his lord ; and if Thards be of Rajput descent, their
condition during Bh&r supremacy could scarcely be far removed from serfdom.
The Ahirs are here the most numerous of all the Hindu tribes. The
a 0 correctness of their numbers, as given by the census, is
Ahirs*
perhaps rather doubtful, and some Bh&rs and P&sis have
perhaps been included in their ranks. But in any case the tribe is certainly
very numerous. Their numbers may be explained by the wide extent of first-
rate pasturage which still exists, and must have been at the times of the
Rajpdt invasions almost unlimited.
The Ahirs in all probability accompanied the Rajputs and Bhufnh&rs,
tending their cattle and acting as camp-followers or marauders in their wars.
Ahir women, were moreover, in some request as wetnurses ; and the favour
of a Rajpdt foster-brother has raised more than one family to wealth and
xMr. Beames takes Barw&ik as the name of a distinct Thira clan, to which he assigns a
Tibetan origin. Oat the correct meaning of the word is that given in the text. Mr. Crooke
adds that the headmen of he Thar us are, like those of other tribes, called Mahto and Chau-
dhari. He, too, thinks that the customs and general appearance of the clan denote a libetaa
origin.
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QORAKHPUR. 359
respectability.1 One Ahir household, with the title of Rawat, owns a large
estate in Hasanpur Maghar. Ahirs, as a rule, remain faithful to their hereditary
callino- of herdsmen. But a good many engage also in tillage, and a few earn
their living as woodmen, foresters, or carriers. The Ahirs deny drinking spirits
and eating flesh, but in the north of the district are certainly guilty of the
former. The Ahirs separately entered by the census are, Mr. Alexander
imagines, the same as Ahirs ; aud in that case have no connection with the
Ahirs of Bohilkhand.
The Cham&rs stand next in numbers. Like Ahirs, they seem in this district
to have been rather the retainers of Aryan invaders than
themselves the invaded aborigines. There is nothing to show
any connection between them and the Bh&rs ; and their large numbers are not
at all inconsistent with the belief that 400 years ago they were but few. A dis-
trict which supplies abundant pasturage for cattle soon enough attracts
curriers to cure their hides.
Between Chamars and Eoeris intervene, in numerical strength, the Br&h-
mans already described. The Koeris are the agriculturists,
par excellence, of the district. It is they who keep up the
market gardens around Gorakhpur, and produce also the greater part of the
«pium grown in the district.
Next to Eoeris in numerical strength, the Kurmis or Kuubis possess
. many villages in the district. Their influence is perhaps
greatest in Sidhua Jobna, where the proprietor of the
Padrauna taluka is a Eurmi. His family, like that of many other Eurmis
in the parganah, claim descent from the celebrated Mayyura Misra by his
fourth wife, thus connecting themselves with the Majhauli and Tamkuhi
R&jas.
In point of numbers the Rajputs above mentioned press close upon the
Konbis ; and next to the Rajputs come the Lunias. The name of the Lunias
or Nunias shows salt-making 2 to have been the ancient occupation of their
caste. They now, however, live chiefly by the manufac-
ture of saltpetre and by labour on the roads. Their large
numbers are their only claim to notice.
The Telis or oilmen are also very numerous. But care is necessary
_ M to distinguish the caste from the calling; for while
Tells. ° °
some Telis are agriculturists, many oilmen are Musal-
m&ns.
1 Snch families are known as Barglh or Bargaha, and hold to some extent aloof from
their fellows. ' Lonotnon, salt.
46
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360 GORA&HPtTft.
Their servile status has perhaps prevented the Bhars from claiming of
believing the distinguished history wherewith modern
BhrtriondRajbhars, .,,... .j j ^ a , r>x-
ethnologists have provided them. Some, known as RAj-
bh&rs, go so far as to claim precedence over other Bh&rs on account of an
nuproven admixture of Rajput blood. Bhdrs are contemned and disliked by
Hindus, who accuse them of devil-worship, but fail to explain why the propi*
tiation of malevolent demons should be worse than the propitiation of Shiva*
Mr. S her ring plausibly proves that they were once a powerful aboriginal race
ruling from the Nepal frontier to the hills of Mirz&pur.
D&sddhs or Dos&lhs are by Sherring classed with Cham&rs, but the iden*
tity of the ttf o races is by no means a certainty. Mr. E. A.
Heade remarks that many Dos&dhs fought in dive's regi-
ments at Paldsi (1757), and in the beginning of the century this clan supplied
the district with all its village watchmen.1 These, the only police maintained
under the Oudh Government, were repaid by the use of a Small rent-free plot
and contribution of grain at harvest. Other Dosadhs, after serving in the
Nepdlese wars, received on its conclusion lands in parganah Haveli.
The Doms or Domr&s seem an undoubtedly aboriginal tribe. To the
present day they live a nomadic life, roaming about without
any fixed habitation, and under colour of selling baskets or
mats, subsisting chiefly by begging or theft. Tney are hereditary thieves,
against whom the law relating to persons without visible means of subsist-
ence9 has been constantly enforced. Good figures and intelligent faces often
combine to render their appearance not unpleasing. But their glittering
eyes and uncombed matted hair give them that wild look which is every-
where common to gipsy life. They themselves assert that there are seven
divisions of their race, but the one most common and most troublesome is
the Magaya. They will eat almost anything, and gladly accept broken
victuals from givers of every creed and class except washermeo, with whom
all the uncleanliness of cleansed garments is supposed to remain. Their only
religion soems a superstitious dread of malevolent local spirits (bk&l). Their
objection to work of any kind gives a good deal of trouble when they at last
find a home in the jail. Like the Bhantus of up-country districts, Doms
have a language of their own. This seems, however, rather a sort of thieves*
latin than a genuine aboriginal tongue.
Elliot represents them as founders of the Domangarh castle. But they
boast that they never willingly lived in houses or under any shelter more
substantial than a craftily constructed thatch of leaves. A few have abandoned
» Beade'a Inferior Castes; Ridsdale'g notes, * Criminal Procedure Code, chap. XXXVIII.
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GORAKHFUB. 361
their camps for Homes in the larger towns ; but the thievish propensities and
wild habits of the rest have banished them from the more civilized parts of the
country. The unhealthiness of swampy forests, the imprisonment of many, and
flight of others, have greatly reduced their ranks. But they are the pariahs of
the district, despised by every other caste, and should they finally disappear,
few will be found to regret their extinction.
The name of Badhak, meaning assassin, sufficiently denotes the former
occupation of the tribe that bears it. They were professional
robbers, and furnished recruits to the bands of stranglers
(thaff) which roamed the district both, before and some time after the British
occupation. They were sometimes also called Siy&hmarwas, from their habit of
killing and eating jackals. The misgovernment of the country shortly before
the cession, and the absence of any regular police force, gave grand opportunities
to all these robber tribes. And the Badhaks especially grew so numerous and
daring, that it was found necessary to keep up a large force of mounted and foot
police to guard the frontier against their inroads from Oudh. They were at last
declared a criminal tribe, and a large number being seized were boated under
surveillance near Oorakhpur. Most of the tribe have now settled down on the
lands allotted to them. But some now and then contrive to slip away and
resume their old trade of gang-robbery. Like the Domr&s, they have a slang
argot once used to prevent bystanders understanding what they said.
The Chais are here said to be connected with the Kewat subdivision of the-
^^ boatman (mattdh) caste. Mr. Sherriug, however, classes,
them with Nats and other jugglers. They seem now to
belong tono tribe or caste, but to form a mere guild of thimble-rigging thieves.
At fair? and other harvests of their trade they appear as a large and well-
dressed swell-mob. An article pilfered by one is passed rapidly along through
SO or 30 hands, and the respectable appearance of the thief when arrested,
coupled with the absence of the corpus delicti, goes often far to convince tha
accuser of his innocence. Chais are said to have secret roles binding themselves
to provide for the family of any of their number who may be imprisoned for
theft committed during such excursions, and to divide the spoil according to
a fixed scale. The agreement holds in force only for one expedition, and after the
division of the booty each thief is free to join another party if he pleases. But
as a rule the same set combine together again.
Bantarias are described by Elliot as a class of wood-rangers who received
lands from the Native Government untaxed in liou of police
services. They seem really to have been Ahirs. In 1839,
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362 GORAKHPUR.
after the revision of the police-force, their services were no longer required, and
they were allowed to keep the land at a fair assessment of revenue. They then
held 39 villages in the north of the Basti district, and their chief or R&wat
maintained a force of 120 musketeers, supplying 25 as a police-guard for the
courts of Gorakhpur. Many of the villages are still in their possession.
The exaot origin of the various hill tribes is uncertain, except in the
Paiitrfc or moan- case of the Gurkh&s, who are probably Rajputs. Their name
tainesrs. Gurkhas. jjag \)Gen misapplied to the Pah&ris who recruit our hill
regiments ; but the latter have no tribal connection with the ruling race of
Kepal. Dr. Wright says that the Gurkhas, who still retain their Aryan
appearance, quitted Rdjputana after the sack of Chittaur in 1568.1 Settling
down near Palpa, under the same chief who founded the Biitwal principality,
they did not invade Nep&l until just two hundred years later. Their name, he
adds, is derived from Gurkha, a town forty miles west of K&thm&ndu, which
they occupied for some time before pushing into Nepal. It is quite certain
that the Gurkhds were not heard of under their present name much before
1600 A. D., and that the accounts given by Swinton and others of their
invasion nearly a thousand years before is incorrect. Few (if any) Gurkhfis
permanently live in the district : but as their territory borders thereon, this
account is not perhaps out of place.
The Chhatris or Kshatriya hillmen wear the sacred thread and claim des-
cent from Brahman ancestors who wedded mountain wives.
They hold in Nep&l the next place to Gurkhds, who, how-
ever, keep aloof from them.
The Rdnas, Magars, Gurangs, and J&pas come next. They are the
soldier castes who mainly recruit our Gurkha regiments ;
Other mountaineers. . «
but are allowed to eat with Kshatris only where the food
has been first purified with melted butter (ghi). Next come the New&ro
and Garhtis, who represent the trading, mechanic, and agricultural callings.
These cannot eat with Kshatris, but do so with the soldier castes. All the
six classes last mentioned drink spirituous liquors and eat goat's flesh or fowls.
All have the Mongolian type of features : small eyes, high oheek bones, and
broad flattish noses.
The Limb n, Kir&ti, and Bhotia hillmen never dwell in the district, but
sometimes visit it to trade.
1 History of Nepdl (1877), pp. 25,975-81. See also Blphlnstone'a Hist, bk. IX.t chap.
1, and Thornton's Gazetteer, art. (< Udaipnr." If the Nepal Maharajas are descended, as they say,
from the Mabirinas of Chittsur, Mewar, or Udaipnr, they belong to the Siaodiya branch of tha
Gahlot Rajputs. The Maharajas of Visiansgram (Vijayanagar)area cadet branch of that
illustrious family.
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GORAKHPUR. 363
Some ace ount of the Banj&ras will be found in former volumes.1 But
an ingenious local derivation of their name may here be
added to those already mentioned. This erratic tribe used,
it is said, to fire the woods, and thereby clear out glades on which their numer-
ous cattle might pasture. The practice caused them to be called forest-kind-
lers (ban, a forest ; jdrna, to kindle). a How they scoured the district towards
the close of the eighteenth century will be shown in the historical section of
this notice. They have now settled down into traders, carrying grain, salt, and
other articles on pack -bullocks from one part of the country to another.
The companies in which they travel are generally from twenty to thirty
strong.
The numbers of the Sun&rsare respectable, but the Sun&rs themselves
are not much respected. There is no doubt that until a
Sunars. .
short time ago they were mostly receivers or stolen pro-
perty, and many of them still live by the same felonious trade. A native
proverb shows in what sort of estimation they are held : —
Sdnta, bdnta, balkhara%
Badal, bori, pdnt
Yahi men ye lete ham,
Chiter koy sojdn.
which is said to mean that, whether weighing with the usual scales, dividing
by heaps, swapping (e. g. silver for gold), adjusting the balance, or testing by
fire or water, these metallurgists will make something out of you. Verb. sap.
The following is a list of the slang words used by Sun&rs to facilitate their
frauds. It will be found to resemble in many cases that given by Sir H. Elliot
under the heading %i Kasbbara": —
fTagua (taga, a thread) ... Brahman.
I Dhfirha (dhur, a land measure), a ramindar.
{ Kiar ... ... ... a Sunar.
I Masik (masi, ink) ... ... a Kiyatfi.
Cast*! ,., \ Sagia (sag, rege table) ... a Koeri or Kurmi.
I Kong „ ... ... aMusalman.
i Khaolha (boiling milk) ... an Ah\r.
# I Bokhara ... ... ... a distiller.
ISishar ... ... ... a washerman,
fBajina (bajna, to ring ?; ... a rupee.
I Baburi an ashaf ri.
Coin, «taM ... J °an**ft° (weaUh) *old-
1 Pankh (money- testing) ... silrer.
J Subh ... ... ... copper.
LKulhi brass.
1 See, for instance, Gazetteer, V, J89-90 (Bijnor notice\ * This derivation is ffiren br
Itaja Bivaprasad, C.S.I., late Inspector of Schools. W gITen Dy
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364
GOIUKHPUR.
fTangalna
Tungani
Malna
Parera
Pariw&r
Words, CONNEC-
TED WITH «
ariiioHiHO.
Chimetha
Kokni
Gadui
Dhauai
I
pat
Losini
f Sojhina
(pdra ?)
Onus words ... <{
Phrases
. to weigh.
, scales.
. to raise,
, correct, said of scales.
, so weighted that one scale remains a
little down if so adjusted,
with a false beam,
hollow,
solid.
a false weight made heavier than it pur-
ports to be, used in buying gold, &c.
a true weight.
filings of steel, &c, used for filling up
jewellery which is made hollow.
to steal,
a fool,, pigeon,
a sharp fellow,
a thief,
a man.
a woman,
dekho, look f
test and weigh it
don't steal any.
I Frewa
Bka
I Kod
I Chunua
(.Kurti
f Lao *
{ Tarike palante do
(Tepna bandho
After perusing these words and phrases the reader will probably agree with the
natives in their estimation of the Sun&r's honesty.
The K&yaths are an important tribe by reason both of their numbers and
their large landed possessions. The manner in which much
of the latter was acquired is creditable neither to them nor
our past administration ; but some K&yaths made very fair landlords. Tbo
chief division is the Srib&stab, which, as noted by Mr. Sherring, receives hon-
orary titles, such as F&nde, K&ntkigo, Amodha, R&i, Th&kur, and the like.
The Srfb&stab now often styles himself B&bu.*
The Atiths seem to form a subdivision of the Gos&ins, and are chiefly
noticeable for the number of shares in villages which
Atiths. °
they have managed to acquire. In Silhat, Sidhua Jobna,
Haveli, and Tilpur they are found acting for the most part as ordinary* land-
holders, though some who are part owners of villages still wander about the
country.
The Musalmdns number altogether 200,372 persons, of whom 93,069 are
female. The great bulk (126,835) are Shaikhs. Muhammad-
ans never had in this district the same influence as in
1 Found sometimes in book Urdu as to. 'It appears that in the district itself this
division of the Ks/aths la sometimes misnamed Sri Bate.
Musalm&ns.
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GOftAKHPUR. 365
tnost otters of the Norlh-West. There are now a few families of some impor-
tance, but none of any antiquity.
One of the most striking results is the extent to which the Muslim
population has become Binduised.1 Many observe the
Rapprochement be- * ' .
tween Muslims and Hindu festivals, and some even go so far as to offer sacri-
fices of animals at shrines which, like that of Gorakh-
nath, may not be strictly Hindu, but are certainly not Musalm&n. Some of
their leading men, again, eat nothing which has not been cooked by Brahmans,
and the tomb of Kabi r at Maghar is in charge of two custodians — one a Hindu,
the other a Muslim. The Musalmans always paid great homage to the tomb
and the memory of its occupant. Yet Kabfr was named by a Br&hman, and
refused circumcision, besides making a pilgrimage to the temple of Jagann&th
in Orissa, and otherwise showing his partiality towards Hinduism.
Hindis, however, are on their side equally willing to reciprocate the toler-
ance or laxity of the Muslims. They take part in such Musalm&n rites as those
of the Muharram. The Muharram, which should be a mournful fast, is here a
noisy festival ; and its Warlike processions are joined by all the idlers of the
town. But as Hindiis in some cases make offerings to what are intended for
representations of the tomb at Karbala and the cave at Medina, it is clear that
they regard these solemnities a3 something more than a mere spectack. So
also at the ceremonies held in honour of that somewhat mythical young mar-
tyr, S&l£ri-Masadd. Gatherings which might be thought especially likely to
produce ill-blood between the two creeds are attended by large numbers of the
poorer Hindtis.
Muhammadans are most numerous in the neighbourhood of Gorakh-
pur. When the Raja of Salempur was converted, few Hindiis followed his
example. The bulk of the parganah is held by Br&hmans who obtained
grants from former R&jas or members of the family who still remained
Hindus, and the family itself has reverted to Hinduism. The chief Muham-
tnadan families are those of W&jid AH Shah, known as the Mian S&hibof
Gorakhpur; of Sayyid Shdh Abdull&h Sabzposh, also of Gorakhpur ; the
Pindaris of Dhuriap&r ; and the Sayyids of Shakpur in the same parganah.
Of the Christian population more than the usual proportion are European
landholders. Mr. Bridgman owns a very large area in both Gorakhpur
and Basti, and his estate is perhaps the best managed in either of these
districts.
There are a few Sikhs, but they possess little influ-
ence, and their religion is not at all generally followed.
1 They are perhaps the descendants of converted Hindus not quite thoroughly Muslimised.
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866
GORAKMtJR.
The census thus divides the people, according to
occupation, into those who get their living from the land
and those who do not : —
Occupations.
Agricultural.
NON-AGBICUL-
Total.
Religion.
Landowntrs.
Cultivators.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female
Male.
971,385
106,403
284
Female.
Hindus
Muaalmins
Christians ...
72,967
1,283
2
66,740
1,219
8
223,160
70,473
124
793,748
630,937
62,231
74
176,269
31,646
166
I60,.<83
29,610
172
848.060
92,909
249
Total
74,262
67,962
693,292
210,073
180,024
10,78,078
941/278
The agricultural population numbers, therefore, 1,629,254 souls, or
80*6 per cent, of (he whole. Of these 132,507 are Muhammadan, and the rest
Hindds. The percentage (82 3) of the former is extremely low, but there
exists little reason to doubt its accuracy. Of the Hindus 189,707, and of
the Musalmans 2,502, are landholders. Ihe total gives a percentage of
87 1 landowners to every 200 agriculturists, which is rather a low propor-
tion, considering the number of villages and shares distributed by grants in
birt} The proportion of Muhammadan to total landowners is 1'57 per cent. —
a further proof of the small influence they possess in the district. Taking
the total agricultural population, we find 116 acres of cultivated land to each
individual ; and as we may assume about one able-bodied cultivator to every
five individuals, the average holding must contain about 6 acres.
The returns of 1872 divide the adult male population into six classes,
Classification of non- °f which the fourth is the agricultural ; and distributes as
agricultural population. f0nows tne classings of the remaining or non-agricultural
classes. The first or professional class embraces all Government servants and
persons following the learned professions or literature, artistic or scientific
occupations. It numbered 2,999 male adults, amongst whom are included 191
purohits or family-priests, 218 pandits or learned Hindus, 99 musicians, and
so on. The second or domestic class numbered 27,107 members, and comprised
all males employed as private servants, washermen, water-carriers, barbers,
sweepers, innkeepers, and the like. The third represents commerce and num-
bered 10,389 males ; amongst these are all persons who buy or sell, keep or
Hnfra. « Ttuures."
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GORAKHPUR. 367
lend money and goods of various kinds, such as shop-keepers (4,005), money*
lenders (955), bankers (224), brokers (36), and all persons engaged in the
conveyance of men, animals or goods, such as boatmen (1,946), pack-carriers
(1,479), and ekka or Cart-drivers (357). The fifth or industrial class, contain-
ing 33,861 members) includes all persons engaged in the industrial arts and
Mechanics, such as necklace-makers (294), masons (32a), carpenters (1,977),
and perfumers (16) ; those engaged in the manufacture of textile fabrics, such
as weavers (3,994), tailors (1,104), and cotton-cleaners (967); those engaged
in preparing articles of food or drink, such as grain-parchers (538) and con-*
fectioners (308) $ and lastly, dealers in all animal, vegetable, or mineral sub-
fetances* The sixth class contains 55,437 members, including labourers
(51)608), persons of independent means (203), and persons supported by the
Community and of no specified occupation. The field labourers, as opposed to
those who> like the beld&rs and Lunias, work chiefly on roads and other public
Works, should perhaps be included in the agricultural population. The number
of boatmen, though large, is probably understated. Almost all the very con-
siderable heavy traffic of the district is Carried by water. The chief resorts of
bargees are Barhaj, Dhani, Gorakhpur, Gola, and Barhalganj ; but their con*
stant passage from one place to another must always render their enumeration
somewhat difficult. Daring the past ten years but 7,322 inhabitants of this
district (1671 females) have been registered for emigration beyond seas. Their
principal destinations were Trinidad, Mauritius, Jamaica, Demerara, and the
French West Indies.
From the occupations of the people we may pass to notice some of their
Customs and mode customs and habits of life. The councils known as panchd*
*' ltfd* yat are mostly in vogue amongst the lower castes. The
members are elected by the votes of the brotherhood. Their number, originally
^ , , five, is now rather indefinite, and in some cases includes
Panchayats,
every present adult male of the fraternity. The panel is
most often convened to decide questions of caste morality. Its sentence on the
offender takes as a rule the form of a money fine ; and this is usually spent in
feasting as many members of the caste as possible, the judges themselves being
always included.
An appeal often lies from this primitive court to the chaudhari or head*
^_ ,A . man of the clan, who was until lately a personage of much
C7Afl Honor is% *
recognized importance. It is said that chaudharis were at
first peculiar to the Baniya and Kahar castes. They have now been adopted by
every class except Brdhmans, Rajputs, Agarwala Baniyas, Kayaths, and the
47
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348 GOftlKHPUB.
upper order of Musalmins : by every class in fact that holds panch&yats. The
lower Musalm&ns, such as weavers (Juhika), are not without their chaudharia.
The office is, as usual in India, hereditary. Bat if the successor is consi-
dered unfit, the members of the caste concerned elect a panch&yat, who, after
enquiring into the claims and qualifications of each candidate, appoint a new
chaudhari. In important elections, such as that of a headman for the Baniy&s
of the chief market in Gorakhpur, Government assent was till very recently
necessary. And the chaudhari was held responsible for any serious breach of
the peace within his jurisdiction.
For his services, such as they are, the chaudhari is repaid in several
different manners *
(1). If he be headman of a market, he receives a small percentage, often
J ser (about Jtb.) in the rupee's worth, of all grain sold. In S&hibgauj baz&r,
however, he gets a fixed sum (about 8 annas a month) from each trader who
uses the market. Any dues levied by tie landlord of the bfizar are collected
by the chaudhari*
(2). If he is headman of a craft or caste, like the carpenters or black*
smiths, he is paid by a percentage on their earnings, usually about one-third
of an anna in the rupee.1
(3). If he belongs to some class, €. y», the Mallah, in which this arrange*
raent would not work Well, he is usually remunerated by presents of two or
three rupees at marriages, and by one-fourth of all fines levied under orders of
the panch&yat for caste offences.
The diet of the labouring classes is usually limited to one meal a day,
with perhaps a remnant for the evening. The food is
coarse rice (mot* dhan), kirao pulse, barley when cheap,
and cucurbitaceous fruits, such as the lauki and nenua. Water-nuts (Trapa
bispinosa) are eaten when obtainable ; and in years of scarcity the berries and
roots of the forest. A man's food costs from £ths to |ths of an anna per day.
The middle classes eat all kinds of rice, barley, arhar pulse, wheaten flour where
cheap, and fish. The average cost is two to three annas a day. The higher classes
eat the better kinds of the same grains, fish, and fruit, which is very abundant.
Exoept by Muslims and the lower castes of Hindus, flesh is always avoided.
Those who eat neither flesh nor fish are known as Bhagats or ascetics.
The houses in this district are almost all tiled, as thatch is found not to
stand the heavy rainfall. The walls, as a rule, are of
Habitations* .
moistened earth well plastered. In the neighbourhood of
the forests, however, they are built of brushwood woven round upright posts,
1 I *., about a| per cent.
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©ORAKHPTJR.
S69
*nd the roofs are often mere leaves matted strongly together by means of
bamboo splints* The cost of a common tiled house in an ordinary village wr,
including the price of labour, from Rs. 20 to 35. That of a better class build-
ing, with well-beamed roof and doorways and the best tiles, is from Rs. 50 to 75.
The brick houses, which are usually two-storied, have a good deal of wood-
work about them, and demand an outlay of from Rs. 350 to 25,000 or more*
Turning to religious buildings, we find two or three well-marked forms of
Temples and Hindu temples. The oldest consists of a square base, with,
uoe^uet, ^ sharp pyramidal roof or spire, thus ;—
The next is- similar, but the lines of its spire are convex instead of
atraight} thus :— ?
mx
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370 GO^AKEJPUB,
i n i,
lr>''" ■ \\ «. ^ The third is a further development of the second form into tlie dams
• 4 \jt ' usually adopted for Muh^mmadan mosques, thus :—=
•J.-*'"*
JC
The expense of building au ordinary sized temple is said to be Rs. 2,000 a
* mosque, being usually larger, would cost more.
The absence of fanaticism amongst the Musalm&ns has been already
noticed. They are mostly Shias, but the more influential
among them are, with the exception of the Mi&n jSahih,
Bunnis. The Brahma Samaj is not making much progress, but has been
adopted by a few educated men in Government employ. Tho Christian religion
gains a few converts yearly, but has never made any marked advance. The
Christian village of Bisharatpur was founded in the last decade by Mr. Wilkin-
son, a missionary. It has already a fair number of inhabitants, who support
themselves partly by agriculture.
Hinduism is of course the prevailing religion, and its
votaries may be divided into the following classes: —
(1). Those who have no marked preference for any one deity as compared
with another, and will worship anything provided that it has been daubed with,
a splotch of red paint, and the worship is not forbidden by their Brahraans.
These are the uneducated, and therefore the majority, of Hindus.
(2). Worshippers of Siva or Mah&deo, the destroying god, and his consort,
Pdrvati or Bhaw4ni. These are the most numerous of the more educated
sectaries.
(3), Worshippers of Vishnu, the preserving god. These are not so
numerous.
(4). Worshippers of Vishnu's incarnations, Rama and Krishna. These
are rather deified heroes than deities, and, being more human than the gods just
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gorakKbur. 371
mentioned, are perhaps more popular. A portion of the respect paid to Rama
is extended to hia wife Sita and his monkey ally Hanum&n.
(5). Worshippers of local deities and of deified mortals, such as Gorakh-
path and Kabir. This class perhaps includes more persons than any except the
first
As elsewhere, the great mass of Hindus have no very clear ideas
on religion, as distinguished from caste formalities and rites connected with
&uch events as birth, death, or marriage. Their oreed may be summarised as- a
belief in supernatural beings with power to harm them, and in the sanctity of
Brahmans. A general worship is accorded to all the deities above detailed.
But it is to the local divinities and the local shrines that persons seeking
Local places of special favours haye recourse. The chief of such shrine*
pilgrimage. is undoubtedly that dedicated at Gorakhpur to Gorakh-
path, a personage who probably lived no earlier than 1400 A.D. This is in
fact allowed by the more intelligent of his worshippers. But they explain that
both Gorakhn&th and his preceptor, Maohhendar Natb, were merely illusions
sent to reveal the shrine which had been built in the golden age, and that
Machhendar Nath is really a name for Vishnu. Other legends relate that
Machhendar N£th was a form of the Fourth Buddha, Loheswara, and that
he acquired the name because he assumed the form of a fish (matsya) to listen
to Siva. His residence was on the hills beyond Nep&I ; and Gorakhnath,
having produced a drought in that country, got him to descend into the valley,
where he worshipped him and obtained a blessing.
The present shrine is said to have been built by Fiddi Kh4n, to whom
the tomb of Kabir at Maghar is also attributed ; but is really much later. It is
acknowledged that the first temple was destroyed by order of the bigoted An-
rangzeb (1658-1707), and Wilson says that the present temple was built by
Budhenath, a prior (mahant) of monastios, who lived not more than eighty years
ago. This temple is visited1 by over 10,000 people on the Shidratri festival.
The temple of Siva at Dudh N&th, in the forest between the capital and,
Kudarpur, that of Parasu Rama at Sohnfig in Salempur-Majhauli, and the
images near Kasia, are, with the above shrine and the tomb of Kabir, the
chief goals of pilgrimage amongst the common people. Both the figures at
(Sohnftg and those at Kasia appear to be representations of Buddha. But their
origin has long been lost sight of, and it is to the glamour of mysterious anti-
quity that the sanctity of their unknown gods must be assigned. The temple
lit Dudh Nfith and shrine at Maghar perhaps owe their celebrity to much the
game feeling.
I In PhaJgun (February-March.)
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Plubaa.
Hamhan bdtt*.
Tunhan bdto.
Unhan kdtcn or bdlains
372 QOKAKBPtTB.
The language of the common people is a peculiar variety of the Bhojpuri
dialect It in many cases approaches Bengali rather than
Hindi ; but would probably be just as unintelligible to a na-
tive of Bengal proper (excluding Tirh&t) as to one from Agra. Bishan Dat
P&nde has written on this subject a book which, if not printed already, cer-
tainly merits printing by Government ;- and an elaborate analysis of the local
grammar will be found in the appendix to Mr. J. R. Reid's Azamgarh Settle-
ment Report. From these sources, and some notes kindly supplied by
Mr. Crooke, have been taken the following brief particulars : — ..
Verb*
(I). The present tense of the verb " to be " is almost always supplied by
an old root1 distinct from that of hona, thus—*
SlgGCLAR.
Ut. Main or man bdto*.
2nd. Tnin bdte.
3rd. U t>*\
The present tense of other verbs is conjugated in the same manner.
(2). The infinitive and future tense are always formed with a 6 tennis
nation,1 *s rahab^ to remain ; main rahabon, I shall remain. The latter is that
conjugated : —
Singular. I* Mainrahabonmm*inrah*mg*t%c%
S. Tain rahabe.
8. Urahab.
Plural; 1. Hamhan rakab*
9* Tain rahabo.
8. Unkan rahabam,
(3.) The past participle and past tense are compounded of the root and
aH I suffix. Thus mdral struck ; main rahalj I remained ; tain dekhat pahIo,jovL
kept looking.
(4.) The active past tense is hardly ever formed with the usual n*»
but by I, and terminations changing according to the person. Thus — Uhmar*
lu$—u$ ne mdra ; uh marlen=unhon ne tndrou
Pronouns*
(1). The pronoun of the 1st person is thus declined :—
Plnral.
Hamman, hamhan.
Hamar, hamar i, hamdrt*
Hamrank* hammatke
Singular.
K. Main or men.
G. Jfer, swri, wore,
I). Ace, monke, swlf.
Ab. Mo**<~
Hamraiue.
lit ig a mittake, as pointed out by Dr. Fits Edward Ball (Hindi Readtr), to suppose that thif
toot has any connection with that (bhd) which supplies the preterite hhayd. ■ So, else-
where in the Benares 4iYiaion, paehheba is used for pnehhega, and the like This is in fact
merely another instance of the interchange of 6 and g. The most familier illustration that
can perhaps be selected is the change from Goillanme to " Bill." ^ ^ .^ ^
■ ^ , -x y* v-
^ •-
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GORAKHFUB. S73
(S). As in otheT modern languages, the pronoun of the 2nd person is
rarely used in the singular. The plural is thus declined :— •
Honorific.
IV, Baure {4p).
G. Raunr or roifri .
D. Ace raure.
Ab, Jiaurg log te (1 ).
Ordinary,
Tain, tunkan.
Tukdr, tor, Unhankt, fukaranke,
Toke, torake, tunhanhe, tukarank*.
Tu*te, tote.
(3). The declension of the demonstrative pronouns, those of the 3rd
person, may be shown thus :—
Plural.
Unhan. inham.
8ingular.
N. U or t (wnh or yih)*
G. Okar, char, okari.
D. Ace., OkarH, okartH, eke.
tJnhanke, okaramkt, inhunke, ekaranke.
Ditto, ditto.
But besides these peculiarities in verbs and pronouns there are many
others. Such is the habit of using what may perhaps be called diminutives,
instead of the original nouns. Thus ghurawa is more often heard than ghora,
lodua than kodo} dhobinia and bitiya than dhobin and beti. The participles
barhka and ehhutka are used instead of their cognate adjectives bara and
elehofa. A large number of words formed by metathesis from more familiar
forms are commonly Used in this district. Champona, or ckaupna for instance,
takes the place of pahunchna} niman of untda, lanish of ndlish, and bhdwan of
khardb. A complete list would fill several pages, but a Rural tilotsary is
being compiled by Mr. Croofee.
No local literature, even in the form of a newspaper, exists. The district
can boast of one printing press at Gorakhpur.
Though still sadly deficient, education has of late years made considerable
progress. Sow much better than their fathers the rising
generation are instructed is shown by some statistics taken
at the last census (1872). Of those over 12 years of age only 19 in 1,000 were
found able to read and write; but amongst those under 12 the proportion rose
to 3 in 1,000.
About 1835, Buchanan1 noted that the ordinary country dialect was
universally employed ; that in many divisions of the district there was not a single
schoolmaster, and that,except children of literate parents and the highest families,
none learned to read and write. The schoolmaster, who was affectionately and
even respectfully addressed as Bhaiydji, in some places taught during the rains
alone. Writing only Devanagari, and not the cognate characters used in business,
the Pandits were useless for ordinary correspondence. In 1847 the Collector,
Mr. Tucker,3 remarked that "with the exception of some Brahmans to calculate
fortunate moments, some Eayath officials, and a few respectable Muhammadans,
e\ population of 2 J millions was in a state of utter ignorance."
1 Eastern Mia, II, 439. * Educational Statistic t compiled under orders of Gorem*
toeiit, N.-W. P., by Mr. B. Thornton, C.& : Calcutta, 1 Wo.
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374
tJoltAKHPtra.
la the wbolo district, which was then vastly greater than at present, there
were bat 428 schools; of these 243 were Persian, 170 Sanskrit, and the remain-
der Hindi. In the Persian schools the Daulat-i-Uind, a work on gardening
and agriculture by Mr. Penwick, was much appreciated; but these schools
seemed less susceptible of improvement than the Hiudi, whose teachers showed
less self-confidence and presumption. The total number of school-attending
children tfas 3,808, of whom the bulk were Brahinans (2,239) and Kayaihs
(775).
The system of halkibandi or primary village schools was intrd Juoed in
1849, but cannot bo considered to have male any re il progress until after the
mutiny. There are now (1877-78), as shown in the following statement, 180 such
seminaries: —
Statistics of schools in the Gorakhpur district, 1877-78. .
Class of school.
Zila or district (middle B.)
Tahrfli and parganah ...
GoTcrnment j Halkabandi ...
Government girls ...
I
municipal. |
and
Municipal boys i
girls f
Aided by j Boys
Government ( Girls
Unaided. ... i f1?1"^ and \
- • 1 Indigenous |
Totat
1
7
160
2
11
6
i 95
40'
Number if
scholar $,
83 67
3701 64
C871 299
63 ]
209 5<
561 13&
84 26
594
8771
87
721
'3 8
t» a
► at
<
139
188
277
U0;9S
329-55
«265
35
J93
«78
136
644
8381*63
*d
Qt
3 CO
A
♦a 2
M
— «a
a>
a.
'S >>
00
e^2
3
K «
18*07
1,915
5-6
1.823
27
17,019
76
267
273
*•»
1134
8,816
13X6
604
18
•••
48,14
25,844
Total
charges.
S,od«
1,866
17,10*
267
628
9,690
1,7,77
1,178
3,4,4 1*
All these schools are supervised by the Inspoctor of the Benares Division,
2ila# in conceit with tho local educational committee. Of the
latter the Magistrate is, as usual, ex officio President, and one
of his Assistants, Secretary. The committee exercises direct control over rillschools
except the zila school at Gorakhpur. This is of the middle B. class, which
instructs boys up to the standard of the middle-class vernacular examination*
The Inspector reports aomawhat unfavourably on this school, aud, unless it
improves "after not too long a period, could uot advise its maintenance in iU
present status."
The tahsili and parganah schools are at Barhalganj, Majhauli, Bteta,
Tahsili and par- K&mkola, Siswa, Ldrh, and Piprauli. The results of the
gftnih' middle-class vernacular examination showed that of thesa
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GORAKHPTJR.
375
schools Barhalganj alone could be " classed as efficient." Of the halkabandi
schools 8 are returned as upper and the remainder as lower ; of the former three
are pronounced "really," and the rest " fairly good." The returns of attendance
may be deemed as accurate as careful and persistent scrutiny can make them*
Teachers have been warned against keeping on the roll dummy names, and
informed that quality not quantity, the offiaiency of the school and not its
numbers, is the point on which their credit depends. Here as elsewhere there
is great difficulty in obtaining good halkabandi masters. "It is almost
impossible to get good local men on the present pay ( Rs. 5 to 10 monthly);
while outsiders, even if batter qualified from an eJuoational point of view,
entirely fail to conciliate or command the respect of parents ; and schools under
their charge rapidly dwindle away and become comparatively useless.'* Fees
levied at 6 pie per head monthly on the children of non-agriculturists have
reduced the attendance in these schools, and it has been decided no longer to
charge such fees for elementary instruction. The progress of other schools
detailed above' has been satisfactory, but not such as to call for special
notice.
The increase of education is perhaps attested by the inctease of post-office
transactions during the past ten or fifteen years. That in-
crease may be shown as follows, by a statement of financial
results :—
Post-office
Receipts in rupee*.
4
1-
i
i
n
a
g
„<s
i
3
si
0.0
8,125
so
187
...
•••
79
**•
98
1
6,091
5,375
17,747
18,640
0*
5,780
5,993
9,177
9,642
i
U
<3 *
il
If
O
13,090 5,094
11,778 2,048
27,295 12,956
28,437
18,563
Charges in rupee*.
t
CD
3
2,126
3,817
4,217
m
8
I
6,287
6,038
9,892
9,628
328
70
103
9
3
140
47
160
143
i
•a
5
13,647
11,778
27,295
28,437
The receipts from staging bungalows were formerly credited to post-offioe
instead of public works, and amounted in the first of the years here mentioned
48
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376
GORAKHPtm.
to Rs. 3,847/ There are 18 imperial and 18 district post-offices, the former
being divided into one central (sadr) and two subordinate, with their respective
branch offices. The imperial offices are at Gorakhpur (central), Barhalganj,
and Tamktihi (both subordinate), Bansgaon, Belaharia, Deoria, Hdta, Kasia,
L&rh, Maharajganj, Mansurganj, Padrauna, Pipraich, Rigauli, Rudarpur, and
Salempur (all branches to central office), Barhaj and Gola (both branches to
Barhalganj). The district offices are at Barhi, Belghdt, Biraioha, Chaura, Kazi-
pur, Kh&npur, Kotibh&r, Musela, Nichlaval, Panera, Piasia, Ramkola, Semra,
Sahnjanua, Tarakulwa, Tutibh&ri, Bishanpur, and Taria Sujan. The annexed
statement gives the number of letters, newspapers parcels, and books received
and despatched during the years above mentioned : —
1861-8S.
1865-66.
1870-71.
1875-76.
'
S
2
e
t
g
1
©
I
1"
2
5
E
•
00
I
o
1
<*•
s
1
o
|
1
E
o
2
9
ft
!
3
o
o
n
fceoeived,
116,073
16,035
•4,569
1,602
167,782
12,079
1
2,037j 1,135
188,692
13,225
1,652
3,005
880^88
18,324
4,368
2,340
Despatch-
97,053
2,063
440
601
150,155
4,104
1,669 18S
239,814
5,590
945
651
• •*
...
...
ed.!
1
The regular police are, like education and the post-office, an introduction
Police. Former °f British rule. To the misgovernment of the Oudh prefects
systems, (dmil) police was unknown ; and during the brief re-estab-
lishment of native authority in 1857 many landholders clamoured for the aboli-
tion of this foreign innovation,2 The modern gurait or village watchman was
represented in ante-cession times by the dfoddh, a servant or official paid by
the villagers to guard their crops. Bui in the north there existed a special
gendarmerie known as Bantari&s, who perhaps held rent-free land in payment
of their supposed services in tracking offenders and recovering stolen goods
from the forest. The grant of rent-free holdings was certainly confirmed to
them about the time of the Nepalese war (1814).8
Under the system introduced with the Company's government (1801),
the tahsildars were supposed to maintain a police force out of the percentage
(11J per cent.) allowed them on the revenue. But, owing to the untrustworthi-
ness of the tahsildars themselves, and the opposition of influential landholders,
this practice soon declared itself a failure. In 1809 a force of barhanddz or
grenadiers4 was organized to protect treasuries and travelling treasure ; but of
1 No record of covers despatched has during late years been kept. ■ Wingfield's
Mutiny Narrative, para. 36. » Billot's Supplemental Gbesary, art. " Bantaria."
t? Lightning thrower" is the literal meaning of this title.
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GORAKHPURj '377
police work, in the sense of protecting private property, they did nothing.
Stations for these barkand&z were established at the tahsils and some places of
importance along the high roads, such as Barhalganj and Nichl&val ; while along
the Oudh frontier a strong force of mounted police was kept up to prevent the
irraption of Badhaks and similar marauders from that misgoverned country.
About 1818, officers were first appointed to the permanent charge of barkandfiz
posts, with power to arrest and send up for trial criminals offending withia
their jurisdictions. And this would appear to have been the germ of the police
circle (thdna) system.
About 1835 again, when a revision of the police administration took
place, the number of th&nas was increased, and an efficient force assigned to
each. This measure was by no means premature. Some of the jurisdictions
extended over 800, 900, and even 1,000 square miles. The flite of the police,
we are told,1 were still employed in preventing the invasion of criminals from
Oudh. But what immediately led to enquiries and reform was the repeated
execution by their captors of thieves caught red-handed in the theft. The im-
possibility of obtaining legal redress in the general dearth of policemen perhaps
left the party of order no other alternative.
There are now 40 police stations, whereof 16 are of the first, 18
of the third, and six of the fourth class. The first
Modern system.
class stations, which have usually a sub-inspector, two
head and a dozen foot constables, are at Gorakhpur city, B&nsgaon, Pa-
drauna, Hata, Barhalganj, Gola, Rudarpur, Khukhandu, Barhaj, Kasia, L&rh,
Belgh&t, K&zipur, Mahdr&jganj, Taraknlwa, and Semra. The third class
stations, to which are generally attached two head and six foot constables,
are at Deoria, Mansdrganj, Rigauli, Rudarpur, Barhi, Chaura, Khanapir,
R&mkola, Taria Sujtin, Kotibh6r, Baraicha, Nichl&val, Piasia, Panera, Pipraich,
Bishanpur, Sahnjanua, and Tutibhari. The fourth class stations or outposts,
whose quota consists of but one head and three foot constables, are at Kauri-
ram, Motlram-ka-udda, Fakir-ki-kothi, Gagaha, Belip&r, and Chaumukha,
From the thdnas or stations of higher classes these fourth class, stations are distin-
guished by the name of chauki. All police stations, of whatever class, are manned
by the regular police enrolled under Act V. of 1861. They are assisted by
municipal and town police under Acts XV. of 1873 and XX. of 1856 respec-
tively. In 1877, the three forces together mustered 774 men of all grades, in-
cluding 12 mounted constables. There was thus one policeman to every 5*92
square miles and 2,608 inhabitants. The cost of the force was Rs. 96,378, and
of this Rs. 87,986 were debited to provincial revenues, the remainder being
1 Sec Mr. fi. A. Reade's note on the revision of the Gorakhpur police.
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378
GORAKHPUB.
defrayed out of municipal and other funds. The following statement shows for
a series of years the principal offences committed and the results of police
action therein :—
Cases cognizable b
police.
y the
Value of
property
Cate*.
Persona,
Tears.
u
P
-
M
6
o
a
■
c
o
o
2
Id
* 2
i
•*»
o
**
•C3
a
3
5*8
•o
2
«H O
1
"c
c
I
I
3
8
3
o
o*3
2>
00
2
I1
S1
831
s
C
i
Kil
«
H
&
eu
CQ
«5
Oi
1
Rs.
Rs.
1870...
4
13 15 688
1,445
34,108
17,943
8,072
1,650
618
1.851
976
375
72-2
1871...
8
18 15 1,100
1,266
27,207
10,454
2,858
l,67i; 654
1,590
1,365
225
8V8
1871...
14
6 6 1,119
1,650
254145
'8,427
8,647
2,857: 1,314
3,052
2,fi90
847
84 86
1873...
9
6| IS 1,470
2,567
45,476 20.17S
1 5,030
3,828' 1,678
3,293
2,*52
446
82-28
1874.
10
81 94 8,282
3,979
64,970
24,501
i 8,653
6,755 2,515
4,767
4,014
443
84 20
1875...
5
1 13 1,804
8,909
37,354
13,784,10,871
4,803 1,816
3,568
8,046
291
85 73
J876...
9
3 7 830
3,762
81,238
18,094
U 1 1,350
3,466 1,840
3,611
3,954
336
9001
1877...
10 141 14| 1,011
5,105
98,857
17,623
1 13,388
1 4,086 2,581
1 4,5(4
4.125
' 343
91-18
Besides the regular, municipal, and town police, there are 2,314 village
and road watchmen (chaukidar or gurait, marhaladar), organized under Act
XVI. of 1873. These were in 1877 distributed amongst the 7,110 inhabited
villages1 of the district at the rale of one to every 829 inhabitants, and at a
sanctioned cost of Rs. 83,388, met out of the 10 per cent. cess.
Convicts imprisoned through the agenoy of the police just described
are sent to the Central Prison at Benares or the District
Jail at Qorakhpur itself. The latter contained in 1850 an
average population of 1,351 inmates; of 696 in 1860 ; and in 1870 of 509.
The number of prisoners admitted was 2,248 in 1860 and 1,891 in 1870. The
principal statistics for 1877 may be thus tabulated ; —
Jail.
Hindu*.
Musalmdnt.
u
CD
o>
J*
•
to
0
-a
1
Total
number of
B
M
5
a> to
2 i2 "
§
Vi
5
•Sis
IS
r-ts
prisoners
►»
9
8 «
et yearly cos
of average
after deduct
Of manufact
during the
jear.
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i
i
-a
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oa
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53
Rs.
Bs.
2,457
1,782
817
215
24
608*50
1,817
1,764
587
66
37
33
1 There was till comparatively recent times a watchman for every fillago, paid by aa
assignment of lands or contributions at harvest.
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GORAKHPUR. 379
Of the total number of prisoners, 110, principally debtors, had been im-
prisoned by order of the civil courts. The total population of the district
being 2,019,361 persons, and the average daily number of prisoners as above,
it will be seen that '0301 per cent, of the inhabitants are as a rule in jail. A
comparison of the number of admissions with the total number of prisoners
during the year will show that 640 of the latter had remained in jail sioce
former years. The mortality was more than thrice as high as in any other
district jail of these provinces ; but 22 of the deaths were due to an outbreak
of cholera. The excessive casualties can hardly be assigned to the age or
extreme youth of the jail inmates, as 42 of the persons who died were between
16 and 40 years old. Of the jail population, generally, 29 are returned as
juvenile offenders, or persons under 16 years of age; 1,868 as between 16 and
40 ; 415 as between 40 and 60 ; and 27 as above the latter age ; but the age
of the few remaining persons is not stated. The greater part of the average
yearly expenditure on each prisoner consisted in the cost of his rations
(Rs. 15-l-2£). The remainder was made up of his shares in the expendi-
ture on establishment (Bs. ll-ll-9£), clothing (2-13-11 J), police guards
(Bs.2-10-9f), building and repairs (Re. l-6-5±), hospital charges (Re. l-0-4±),
and contingencies (Rs. 2-3-5). The average number of effective workers
throughout the year was 493*25 ; and of these most were employed on build-
ing or repairs connected with the jail (255*25) as prison servants (194*50), or
on manufactures (103*50). The previous occupation of the prisoners was in
few cases such as to fit them for profitable work in prison, the majority having
been agriculturists (1,298), men of independent property or no occupation, and
Government and domestic servants. Of non- agriculturists, a term whioh
is presumed to include shop-keepers and handicraftsmen, there were only
225.
The lock-up (havaldt) for under-trial prisoners is at Gorakhpur a division
of the jail. It had during the same year (1877) 2,376
different occupants, of whom 1,911 were afterwards trans-
ferred as convicts to the jail proper, and the average daily number of its
inmates was 84.
The fiscal history of the district begins with its cession to the East India
„. ,,. Company in November, 1801.1 The wretched condition
Fiscal history.
to which misgovernment had brought the country is vivid-
ly portrayed by its first Collector, Mr. Routledge. €l Although the soil of the
Gorakhpur district," he writes in 1802, " is proverbial for its fertility, and will
certainly yield abundant crops (when properly cultivated) of the most valuable
1 This sketch is based chiefly on Mr. Bidsale's notes.
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380 GORAKHPUB.
kinds, nothing bat the common necessaries of life are now grown, and these
scantily. The jama (revenue) will fall below the estimate, and this is purely-
owing to the exactions of the amil (Oudh governor) and his subordinates."
Mr. Routledge discovered also that the Oudh Nawdb's troops had received no
pay for a year, and he had great trouble in making them evacuate the district.
They were, he says, a mere rabble, useless in war, but grievous as a burden on
the unfortunate cultivators whom they were accustomed " to squeeze for the
Amil and plunder for themselves. "
The &mil who, during the first year of our rule, was still employed in
Khairagarh, was now brought to account. Bjing found to have embezzled
about a lakh of rupees, he was dismissed, and a European officer appointed
to Khairagarh, which thereon was severed from the district.1
The &mil having been dismissed, Mr. R>u:ledge proceeded to make arrange-
ments for the collection of the revenue through tahsild&rs.
These were at first paid a fixed salary, to which a percentage
of the collections was added if they managed to realize a fair proportion of
their balances. The first year was spent in ascertaining the condition of the
distriot and its inhabitants, and in acquiring the information necessary to any
plan of administering its vast area. The collector was at this time subordi-
nate to the Board of Commissioners for the ceded provinces at Farukh-
abad, and it was to them, therefore, that he reported his proposed arrange-
ments.
The collections of the first year (1801-02) necessarily showed a large
balance; and it was determined to make a triennial settlement u at fair rates,"
with specially favourable terms for the cultivation of waste lands. This, the first
First settlement, assessment of Gorakhpur under British rule, marks the
1803-04 to 1805-06 in- ... * . , . ,. , -
elusive. substitution of settlement with the landholders themselves
for the ruinous farming system of the later Nawabs. The change has perhaps
contributed more largely than any other measure to the immense advance in
prosperity which the district has made under English government.
Including various cesses (Rs. 8,940), the revenue of Gorakhpur-Basti and
Butwal had amounted at the date of cession to Rs. 6,27,570. But from this
was to be deducted Rs. 77,715 of more or less permanent remissions (ndnkdr
and rozina) ; and the net demand had therefore been Rs. 5,49,855 only. When,
however, the first settlement was made, it was found that, owing to decreased
cultivation and other causes, so large an assessment would, for the present at
least, be futile. The demand was therefore fixed at Rs. 5,44,555, or, deduct-
ing remissions (Rs. 66,173), at Rs. 4,78,382, of which Rs. 27,482 fell op
1 Supra, p. 275.
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GORAKHPUR. 381
B&twal.1 The new demand came into force with 1803-04. It had been esti-
mated to increase during its third year (1805-06) by Rs. 1,70,000, but the col-
lections fell far short of expectation.
But before the settlement came in force, other administrative measures had
not been neglected. Security of life and property were as necessary for the
oollecticn of the revenue as intrinsically ; and to restore order a large body of
Company's troops was imported into Gorakhpur. Attempts were made to esta-
blish police jurisdictions; and advances were at the same time granted to land-
holders to enable them to plough and sow their lands (1802-03). But, as might
have expected, the recipients squandered these sums in increasing the number
of their dependents and other private expenses, and the efforts of the tahsfld&rs
toorganize a police were strongly opposed by the Rajas and other powerful pro-
prietors.
The R&ja of Biitwal was especially contumacious. His refusal to permit
the establishment of police posts within his domains was very near bringing
him into open collision with the Company's troops. It was reported in 1 804
that he declined to pay a balance of about Rs. 12,000 due from him on
account of the past two years. Inquiries showed that he had for many years
under the Oudh regime succeeded in evading payment of the revenue due on
his lands north of Tilpur. In 1805 he was imprisoned ; but as Nep&lese troops
at this juncture invaded his domains, it was found impossible to recover the
balance. The timidity of the peasantry was found as great an obstacle to pro-
gress as the boldness of their landlords. Half a century of extortion and
broken pledges rendered them suspicious of invitations to settle. It had indeed
Suspicions of the keen a common trick for the amil or his subordinates, after
samindars. entering into solemn engagements that the cultivators
should hold at low fixed rates, to seize on the ripened crop and extort double or
treble the sum before agreed on.
It is not, therefore, surprising that these first advances of money proved
a failure, and that great difficulty was found in recovering even a part of
them.
From 1802 to 1805 the Collector was occupied in enforcing the authority
1802 to 1805. Dif- °f tne British Government and collecting the revenues of
Acuities. tne triennial settlement. It was found absolutely necessary
to have recourse to farming leases in many cases where, the zamindars were
either unwilling to accept or unable to satisfy the Government terms; and this
led in some instances to armed resistance, which was met by sharp punish-
1 In hU note on the current settlement Mr. Auckland CoWin gives a far larger sum, viz.,
Rs. 6,61,293.
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382 GOHAKHPXTR.
raent. Thus in 1803 one Damara Singh refused to acknowledge the British
authority or to pay revenue. An armed force was Bent against him, drove
him into his fort, stormed it and razed it to the ground ;
after which his estates were farmed. Again, in 1805, the
collector reports that the last of the forts held by oontumacious zamindars
had been levelled, and that a sharp watch was being kept to prevent their being
rebuilt In 1805 an attempt was made to raise the position of the tahsild&rs,
Tahsfidars res- an(* afc the 8ame ^me to Prov,'de an efficient police, by
powiibie for police, making these officers an allowance of 11£ per cent, on their
collections and holding them responsible for " an efficient police administra-
tion " within their jurisdictions.
A second triennial settlement in 1806 granted a slight redaction on the
actual, and a great reduction on the nominal, demand of
Second settlement, ° '
1806-07 to 1809-10 loOo-Oo. The assessment of the district, including Bast?,
inclusive. was fixed afc Rg 5^288, excluding remissions.1 The
transit dues hitherto taken were lowered, and a tax on professions was abo-
lished. Some effort was made to ascertain the capabilities of the different
mahdls (estates) by examination of the papers kept by the village accountants.
The reduction seems to have been urgently needed, for, in some places, the
zamfadars were beginning to quit their villages for the forest, with threats to
eject by force any one who should presume to till their lauds daring their
absence.
In spite of all that had been done, sales of land for arrears of revenue
Difficult position continaed frequent. The impossibility of efficient super-
of the Collector. vjg{on and controi ieft the native officials almost completely
to their own devices ; and native officials were in that day " indifferent honest"
How was a single European officer, fresh to the district, and destitute of all
those aids now available in the shape of maps, records, and well-informed
subordinates, to form even an approximate idea of the effect of the assessments
he proposed ? How could he scrutinize the action of tahsildars working in
parts of the country which he had never seen, even on paper ? It seems'almost
incredible, but it is true, that the collector was obliged to report his inability to
describe the relative positions and extent of the parganas composing his
charge.1 The enormous area and unsettled state of the distriot gave its chief
officer no time to inspect details ; and though, as before remarked, the principle
of settlement at fair rates with landholders themselves had at once been
recognised, years elapsed before it could be more than nominally carried
out.
1 Bs. 6,71,070 according to Mr. Colrin. ' See Mr. RidsoWs notes on 1805-06.
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GORAKHPUB. * ~" 583
The peculiar position of the RAjas in Gorakhpur-Basti was now of
Settlement with great service. To make settlements with them, and even
the Rajas, attain a rough fairness in the process, was comparatively
easy ; while their position and influence served to check the tahsilddrs and
underlings of Government, no longer supported in their exactions by a military
force.
The tahsilddrs nevertheless managed to abuse their pywer pretty freely ;
_. . . _ , and the police became, under their management, almost as
Visit of the Board. r .
oppressive as the rabble of the dmils. In 1808; therefore,
when the Board of Commissioners made on the spot a protracted enquiry into the
TahBildirs dig- administration of the district, it was determined to abolish these
missed' . officials and attempt a system under which the revenue should
be lodged directly with the collector. Needless to say that this scheme at once
proved a failure, and tahsilddrs were reappointed in 1810.
Reappointed, 1810. f_ _. ,..,,... , , , „ .
the police administration being, however, taken from them.
The machinery for the collection, as for the assessment, of the revenue was still
very imperfect. The size of the district and the amount of thick jungle into
which defaulters could always retire, the want of system and of adequate in-
formation, all rendered it extremely difficult to introduce any well-digested
Frequency of sales scheme. As the only means of checking arrears, sale of the
for arrears. lands on which they occurred was resorted to, and carried
out to an extent which soon caused fresh troubles.
In 1812 the Board passed orders to reject sale in all cases where it could be
avoided, as the frequency of the process had given occasion to serious disturb-
ances, and in more than one case to successful resistance of authority. In
1810-11, it seemed indeed as if the general dissatisfaction
caused by these sales and by the misconduot of the native
officials might excite violence requiring fresh military repression. But the
new settlement of 1810 and the Board's orders in some measure soothed the
Danger averted prevailing discontent. The Rajas were pacified by obtain-
by third settlement, ing a mild settlement made directly with themselves and
not with their dependents.
The other zamindars could make no formidable resistance without their
aid, and so the danger passed off without very serious consequences. The
effect, however, of the excessive sales was for many years afterwards felt in the
reluctance of zamindars to settle on the waste lands still so extensive in the
district, and more especially in the north.1
1 Amongst other estates the greater part of the Padrauna talfika was sold $ the price obtained
(Rs 8,000) was, howerer, so manifestly insufficient that the sale was annulled.
49
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384 CORAKHPTTIU
Coming Into force with 1810-11, this third settlement seems to have
been sanctioned for two years only. It was nltimately extended, however, for
three years longer, expiring with 1814-15. In laying before the Board his
proposals for assessment the Collector (1809) had to urge the inadvisability
of making it permanent. His opinion was on this point accepted ; but when
he proposed to settle with the birtias and other sub-proprietors in possession,
he was taken to task for s porting with, and offering violence to, the rights of
the B&jas and talukadars. The demand of the first year was fixed for the Gorakh-
pur-Basti district at Bs. 6,21,220, excluding ndnkdr remissions (Bs. 80,000 k1
The excise revenue was at the same time farmed for an average of Bs. 83,000
per annum. This settlement was financially a success; for, notwithstanding the
increase of sales for arrears, irrecoverable balances were small till 1814. In
the latter year the Nep&lese war of course diverted attention from their
recovery.
The operations of that war will be described elsewhere. Suffice it here
Damage conae- to Bay that t^ unfortunate B&ja of Bfitwal was again the
quent on the war. cause 0f fae disturbance. The amount of damage inflicted
by the campaign was very great, and security of life and property was through-
out the district rudely shaken. Large numbers of people were reduced to a
state of destitution, and the zamindirs were not yet sufficiently tamed to resist
the opportunities offered of indulging their animosities and reviving their ancient
Frequency of feuds. Gang-robberies became frequent and singularly
dacoities. bold. In 1813 over ten thousand rupees of Government
treasure had been carried off by robbers while on its way to Azamgarh ; but in
1 814 an attack was actually made on the B&nsi tahsili and was with great diffi-
culty repelled. The assailants numbered over two hundred, and were armed
with spears, bows and arrows ; and it was not before two barkand&z had been
killed and several wounded that they were repulsed. In the same year also, near
Magbar, twenty thousand rupees were carried off from Government treasure-
carts after a pitched battle in which three barkand&z were killed and seventeen
wounded. Several other unsuccessful attacks were also made on treasare parties
during this and the two following years.
Private property was, of course, exposed to still greater risk. But there
Poverty of the wa8 a* present little private wealth to tempt the robbers,
district. The Collector reported that there was no one able to contri-
bute towards a Government loan, and that in his opinion there was no one
whose bill for a thousand rupees would be accepted in a great trading city
like Calcutta or Patna. The greater part of the injury done to private property
* Or according to Mr. Colrin, who clearly includes these ndnkdr remissions, Rs. 7,18,027,
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GOtUKHPTTR. 385
was the work of the Nep&lese or of hostile zamindars ; but added to the
unsettling effects of war, it produced great recusancy in the matter of revenue
payments. Thanks, however, to the energy of the collector and his subordinates,
who all (including the collector himself) received rewards for their services, the
balances were not exorbitant. The demand of the tract which ohiefly suffered
was indeed so light that its non-collection affected the total returns but
little.
The war ended in 1816, and the frontier of the British territories was
fixed at the end of the year. A considerable part of the
End of the war. _, . , , , *▼ ^, ,1 i
Btitwal territory was ceded to Nepal, partly m order to
secure a convenient and even boundary line, and partly to show our desire to
treat the defeated Gurkh&s generously. With the latter object were also made
large money allowances. With the former, a large tract west of the Rapti and
other territorial concessions were exacted from Nepal.1
By the line thus hid down parganah Binayakpur was cut in two, and
Adjua tmentot more than half of it, with part of Tilpur, made over to NepAl.
the boundary line. j^ the same time the loan of ten million rupees was repaid
Cession of Khai- *° the Nawib Vazfr by the cession of Khairagarh. Ohakla
rigarh to Oudh. Nawdbganj, which had hitherto formed part of Gorakhpur,
was at the same time ceded to that potentate in exchange for some territory
added to the 8h£hjah&npur district.
These changes effected, the authorities were at leisure to direct their
Internal adminis- attention exclusively to the administration of the district. A
tration. fogb or fourth settlement had opened with 1815-16,
but was not formally sanctioned until after the close of the
1815-it to 1819-20 war. Its demand amounted to Us. 6,86,175, excluding
inclusive. remissions (about Rs. 90,000) and excise. It continued
in force for five years ending with 1819-20. Under its operation balances were
small and sales for arrears less numerous. To encourage zamind&rs and to
counteract a failure of the autumn harvest in 1817, the Board authorised large
Settlement of the advances. Many Th&rtis who had immigrated from the
Tharua. north were settled on grants in the outskirts of the north
Haveli jungle, chiefly in tappas Lehra and Samakhor.
A final proclamation had been issued at the commencement of the war,
calling on the ThArtis and other subjects of the British Government residing
north of Nichlaval to migrate southwards. The object of this measure was
twofold, It was hoped, by stopping the cultivation of the Tarai, to inflict loss
J See Smith's Five Yean of tfepdl*
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886 GORAKHPUtt.
on the Nep&l Government; and at the same time to prevent British subjects
from falling into the hands of the Gurkha troops. When the Gurkha raids
began in earnest, so many persons obeyed these orders that 55 villages were
colonised on lands still khown as the Jungle Buridi grants. Those settlements
have continued to prosper ever since, and now include over a hundred villages.
Their immediate effect was also most beneficial. Not only did the settlers
themselves bring a large area under cultivation, but their example encouraged
others to settle on the land to "the north and east.
Trustworthy information had at last been acquired regarding the capa-
Rtatistioal informa- bilities and condition of the district. In 1818 the col-
lion flnt obtained. lector compiled a series of statements showing the progress
of cultivation, the condition of the cultivators, the nature of the allowances made •
to the various pensioners and dignitaries, and the incidence of the Government
demand. These statements have unfortunately been lost; but the correspondence
Progress ol the regarding them shows that the district had to some e.xteut
diafcricfc* recovered prosperity in the south, while still backward
in the north and east. These two portions of the district are frequently con-
trasted.
The south is mentioned as well cultivated, in some places with sugarcane
Prosperous con- an^ other valuablo crops. It was blessed with some fair roads*
ditionof thesuuth. fa£r health, and, except in rare instances, with immunity fronj
breaches of the peace. It was also almost free from mischievous wild animals,
which are mentioned as one of the chief obstacles to cultivation in the north.
Backward state of ^e lfttter portion was almost entirely uncultivated, for the
the north. settlements of Thdr6s had only just begun. It was, more-
over, extremely unhealthy, covered to a great extent by morasses and forests,
and devastated by wild elephants.
The condition of the cultivators throughout seems to have been very low.
Low condition of They had no rights of occupancy, and were almost all of
the tenant class. the lowe9t castes. They were despised by the landowners,
and treated with nomore consideration than was absolutely necessary to prevent
their running away. This, indeed, they were constantly doing, as the vast area
still open to cultivation rendered it easy to find fresh holdings if life became
nnsupportablc on those they at present occupied.
The revenue of the district (Gorakhpur and Basti) had now risen to
about six and a half lakhs, and was collected with ease and
Fifth scttloment. ,,. */»ni I . ii/t * i
Proposal for making punctuality. A fifth settlement was about to bo made, and
it permanent ^ wag pr0p0secj t0 make this permanent. Operations began
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GORAKHPUR. 387
in 1820-21 ; but before they were completed Mr. Holt Mackenzie's Regulation
VII. of 1822 made its timely appearance. Under this enactment were insti-
tuted a professional survey ami a thorough inquiry into the condition of the
various parganahs. For each were furnished statements showing the amount
of cultivation and other details. The principle of assess -
Survey. . ... .
ment on the capabilities of the soil, on the cultivated and
culturable areas, was recognized. Before this, assessment had been made on
a rough guess of the rental, furnished for separate villages by the kanfingo,
and for the taltikas by the taldkad&rs themselves.1
The result of these enquiries was to show clearly how little the district
was ripe for a permanent settlement The surveyors, Lieutenants Grant and
Wroughton, were strong in their demonstration'of this view. They pointed out
that the population was scanty, the modes of cultivation imperfect, the peasantry
depressed, the requisite capital wanting, and the landholders so ignorant and
obstinate as to be utterly incapable of developing the resources of the country.
Permanent settle- The scheme was abandoned, most happily as results have
ment rejected. shown ; but theenquries made proved of the greatest impor-
tance. For the first time something more than a superficial enquiry was made
into the position of the subordinate landholders ; and the nature of their tenures
and the errors and defects of the old system of settlements on information pro-
vided by the kanungos and village accountants were exposed. The paper3 kept
by these officials were examined, and to some extent at least set right. Inquiries
were instituted into claims made for^the recovery of proprietary (zamiudari)
rights, and illegal appropriations of waste laud were cancelled. Property
acquired a tangible and enhanced value. And lastly, the acquisition of sys-
tematic information enabled European officers to assume more directly the man*
agement of the district, while the power and authority of their subordinates
was limited and carefully supervised. It is not saying too much to affirm that
this settlement gave a new and powerful stimulus to the progress of the
district.
Soils were classified into b&ngar or uplands, Uth (mattiydr) and dhuri
(balua), rental rates being fixed for each. In the determination of tenures, a
bounty was paid to the Collector for every revenue-free holding which he dis-
covered as liable to assessment. This inquiry brought to light a wholesale
system of fraud, many entire villages having been entered as tax-free which
had paid land-tax up to the date of cession. Such false entries brought to
punishment many Tillage accountants and other Qovernment officials. Settle-
1 Or, to translate into less accarato and technical language, for separate Tillages by the
pargsnah registrar, au4 Uv the baronies by the barons themselves,
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388 GORAKHPUR,
ment was still made with the R&jas and other taldkadirs, but the Collector in
many oase9 curtailed their power of enhanoing the amount payable by their
birtia sub-proprietors. It was ruled that such enhancements must not exceed
in proportion the enhancement made in their own revenue since last settlement.
The chief control of the district had in 1819 been transferred to the Board
of Commissioners for Bih&r and Benares, or, as it was afterwards styled, the
" Board of Revenue for the Central Provinces." This new authority directed
that the chief object in assessment should be to ascertain the average pro-
duce of the soil, and the share in that produce usually paid to the zamfnd&r.
The amount and value of the zamindar's yearly assets being thus discovered,
Government would leave him 10 per cent, for profits ; another 10 per cent,
to cover calamities of season, insolvency of tenants, &c, and 5 per cent for his
trouble and expense in collecting the rents. In other words, the demand was to
be fixed at 75 per cent, of the proprietor's average receipts.
Thus assessed, the revenue for Gorakhpur-Basti amounted to Rs. 7,59,041,
excluding the income from excise and ferries, which are now
mentioned for the first time.1 The settlement was comple <
ted in 1824 and finally sanctioned in 1825. It lasted, in different parganahs, from
ten to fourteen years, but meanwhile revisions and other causes had greatly in-
creased its amount. The settlement in 1826 of parganah Atnorha * added
Rs. 14,000 and raised the demand of that year to Rs. 7,63,000. In this case the
Board set aside the claim of the Raja, and ordered a direct settlement with the
subordinate landholders. A revision in 1828 of the assessment on the Sat&si
estate increased the district revenue by Rs. 7,000, while a similar measure in
Ratanpur-B&nsi added during the following year Rs. 16,000. The assess*
ment of parganah Sh&hj&hfinpur had, owing to want of time, remained unaltered
at settlement. It in 1830 came under revision, yielding an increment of
Rs. 26,600. Without, therefore, allowing for the increase caused by progressive
demands and assessment of waste land, the demand of the fifth settlement had
by 1830 risen to Rs. 8,12,600. Including all items, it can hardly have amounted
to less than Rs. 9,00,000.
The currency of the fifth. settlement perhaps marks the transition from
the misrule of violence to the reign of law. Disputes, which had been formerly
settled by riot or by the coercion of some bribed native official, now found their
way into the courts. A special commission in 1826 recommended that tahsil-
d&rs should be invested with judicial powers to try such disputes. A long in-
quiry on the subject of sales for arrears recalled attention to
a Board's order which had in 1812 forbidden suoh sales,
I Their proceeds being Be. 16,9 10. f In BtBti.
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GORAKHPUR. 389
unless after due investigation into the circumstances. This order had for a time
checked the evil, hut on the inter arma silent leges principle wa8 forgotten dar-
ing the Nepalese war. Between 1815 and 1821, therefore, sales went on briskly,
and the enquiries now made in the fuller light of the settlement statistics re-
vealed strange facts. The utter ignorance of the country, of the position of
Tbtir injustice in *^e lower proprietors, and of the interests of all subordinate
many cases. ^o ^ SUperior landholders, is shown by the fact that in the
sales at first made all rights of every kind were declared cancelled, and the estate
sold was surrendered to the absolute pleasure of the purchaser. Clear proof
Fraudulently con- wa9 obtained that most sales had been manoeuvred by over-
dais, trusted native officials, intent on buying at a bargain the
auctioned land. These abuses had caused much discontent, and the auction-
Administrative purchaser had in some cases been ejected vi et armis. They
progress. now ceased an(j the effects of their suppression were soon
visible. The revenue, which had been enhanced about ontf lakh and a quarter,
was collected with ease, and even punctuality. The zamind&rs were more con-
tented than they had ever been before, and were induced by the longer term
of settlement to extend their cultivation. Gang-robberies, though still not
unfrequent, had become less daring. Riots, arson, and similar offences arising
from local feuds regarding boundaries or waste lands, grew rarer. And the
police began to exercise their proper function of guarding private property
instead of merely acting as armed guards to escort Government treasure.
Communications were improved, and the export trade in grain, which is
now of so much importance, began to attract capital and to extend itself
rapidly.
There were of course many checks and hitches in the course of this improve-
ment. In 1821 the Collector wrote despairingly to the
ing trustworthy info r- Board about his inability to obtain trustworthy information.
m*tlon# u The records, he says," are deplorably deficient ; many im-
portant documents have been extracted and others falsified or mutilated." On
.another occasion, speaking of the kfintingos, he says " they are utterly unworthy
of confidence; they are possessed of valuable information, but retain it for their
own purposes." The system of collecting the revenue was still so unscientific
that as a rule quarterly and, in some oases, monthly instalments were realised,
without regard to time of harvest.
In 1827-28 further information was collected. Invalid grants of tax-free
land were resumed, and further inquiries as to the zamfnd&r's
Progress. ^^ jn waste pi0ts were directed. The settlements of some
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390 GORAKHPUR.
villages were, on the other hand, lightened, as it was shown that their value had
through spite been exaggerated.
In 1829 Mr. R. M. Bird was appointed Commissionerof Gorakhpur, Gh&zi-
Appointment of a zipur, and Azamgarh, with headquarters at the capital of the
Commissioner. first-named district. At the same time the Board of Reve-
nue (Central Provinces) was abolished and the Commissioner made subordi-
nate to the Sadr (Supreme) Board of Revenue.
In 1830 the first jungle grant was made to a European (Mr. Wilkinson).
First jungle grant, Up to this time, by a short-sighted policy, Government had
183°- prohibited Europeans from settling in the country, and had
ordered the collector on no account to allow such dangerous " interlopers " to
establish themselves on Government lands. This prohibition was a relic of the
time when the Company feared infringement of its trade monopoly, but had be-
come an anachronism as commerce was discarded for empire. The stimulus
which the grantees gave to the progress of the district is one
Influence of the „ _ * i .,«,..,. , n , - , ,
grants on the pro- of the most remarkable features in its history from this date
gre8 ° up to the Mutiny. They contributed to the improvement of
the country not only capital and energy, but personal influence. The protection
afforded to the weak by their presence was of great importance in a day when
courts were few, and when large questions left the district staff little time to
inquire into petty acts of tyranny.
In 1833-34 the terms of the current assessments began to expire, and in
Sixth settlement : the proposals for a sixth settlement under Regulation IX. of
first 'recognition of ig33 the rights of tenants are for the first time considered.
The scheme advised by Mr. Bird, and with slight exceptions
adopted, was to ascertain the class and value of the crops grown ; to discover
the fair rental of the villages, much as is done now, by fixing soil rates; and to
divide the rental, in the proportion of two to three, between Government and
the zamindars. Tenants were to be granted leases for their holdings at a fixed
rent not liable to enhancement during the term of settlement. The chief dif-
ference between this and former settlements was the negotiation of assessment
with the sub-proprietors to the exclusion of the tal6kd&rs, and the concession
tothelatter in most cases of nothing more than a seigniorial allowance (mdWcdna).
The claims raised by some of the Rajas to the ownership of forests in which
Government was now making large grants were rejected. It was only
conceded that no portion specially settled with them should be granted away,
except for special reasons.
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GORAKHPUR. 391
Its accurate and exhaustive enquiries protracted the arrangement of
Increase on tbo this settlement; but when at last sanctioned in 1841-42, it
revenue. was sanctioned for twenty years. How great had been the
material progress since last settlement is shovfti by the vast increase in the
demand ; without proving oppressive, it was fixed at Rs. 17,63,000 in 1840,
rising through progressive increments and other causes to Rs. 20,82,000 in
1860.
One result of settlement was to expose in the north of the district much
Further exposure *^e same akuses as ^ac^ elsewhere come to light at the pro-
of frauds by native ceding assessment. The collector notices in 1838 the extent
to which citizens of Gorakhpur had acquired, by intrigues
with tahsil officials, snug domains in this romote tract
The revision of police before referred to suppressed at about the same
time the custom of deciding boundary quarrels by force ;
and to develope the rising commerce of the district Govern-
ment organized a road fund, committees of landholders being appointed in
the different parganahs to suggest and supervise improvements.
The new settlement worked extremely well. The only opposition against
M . it came from the Rdjas, who resented the system of an assess-
1840. Successful - . m * / J
working of the new ment with their inferiors and dependents, as they considered
m t esi«ft . ^e samindars in actual possession of the villages. In reporting
the propossed arrangements for sanction, the Commissioner observes that " the
Rajas and other talukadSrs must suffer from a village settlement They are
the very creatures of anarchy, and their revenues have in fact consisted of the
Position of the l&rg6 share of the Government's rights they continued to
R*j*»- withhold." This language was much too strong, as the rights
of the R&jas were far older than those which the Nawdb transferred to tho Com-
pany, But it was impossible that their power and influence should be maintained
under a strong Supreme Government such as now held the country. They
were constrained to live at peace with each other, and having no longer any
sovereign power, turned for excitomont and pleasure to a lavish expenditure
on sensual pleasures. This soon brought them into debt, and in some cases to
ruin.
The R&ja of Barhi&p&r was one of the first to mortgage his property.1
TheR&ja of Gopfilpur plunged deeply into debt." The Sat&si and Majhauli estates
were both so mismanaged that at the outbreak of the Mutiny they were on the
1 Arrears of revenue had some time before this caused the transfer of a part of his estates
to the Pindari chiefs settled in the district. * While reporting in 1836-77 the settlement
of Dhuriapar, Mr. Reade writes that it is "equitable, bat must hasten the ineyitable ruin of
the Raja of Gopalpur, who is deeply sunk in debt."
50
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39* GOBARHPUB.
verge of ruin. The Padrauna family were not much better off.1 The only
local magnate who seems to have improved his position was the ft&ja of
Tamkuhi. The Ifah&rfja of Bettiah also extended his influence in the dis»
Jjrict, but his residence and the balk of bis estates were then as now outside
it.
From 1840 to 1850 the improvement of the district was steadily carried
on. Treasuries were built for the safety of the Government money on its passage^*
and the roads were put in order. Tahsilis were erected and courts established
in the interior of the district for the convenience of suitors. The clearance
of forest and increase of cultivation perhaps improved the climate, and the state
of the district generally was very encouraging when thrown back by the Mutiny
(1857). This, as will be hereafter shown, effected considerable changes in
the proprietary body. The estates of the Sat&si, Chilliip&r, and Barhi&p&r Rajas
were confiscated, the titles of the two former becoming extinct A part also of
the Padrauna taliika was confiscated, and the stipend paid since 1845 to the last
descendant of the Butwal Raja, in compensation for his talukadiri rights in
Tilpur, was abolished.
Seventh or cur- Preparations for the seventh or current settlement
rent settlement. j^j begun before the j|atinj and were resumed in 1859.
The chief peculiarity of this assessment was the heterogeneous nature of
the agency and methods employed. As in Heerut and Budann, the collector
was also the settlement officer. But, including as it then did Basti, his dis-
trict was the largest in these provinces. His numerous and varied labours left
him, as might have been expected, no time to supervise and control the work
of his settlement subordinates. Except in the case of parganah Sh&hjahanpur,
his assistants were left to their own devices, assessing their parganahs in separ-
ate fashions, and submitting separate fiual reports on their proceedings. The
parganah just named was settled between the winters of 1856-57 and 1861-62 by
the .collector himself, the late Mr. T.M. Bird, C.S.; parganahs Chill6p4r, Bhaua-
par, Dhuri&p&r, Anola, Sidhua Jobna, and south Haveli, between those of 1859-
60 and 1866-67 by Mr. J. J. F. Lumsden, C.S.* afterwards collector; parganahs
Tilpur and north Haveli 8 in the winter of 1861-62 by Mr. P. J. White; Salem-
pur-Majhauli and Silhat between the winters of 1859-60 and 1862-63 by ttfe
late B&bn Pi&ri Mohan Bdndhopidhyay ; parganah Maghar between those of
1860-61 and 1861-62 by the late Mr. Herbert Wilson, C.S.; and parganah
1 In 121 1 faslL i.e. about 1805 A. D., their taliika was Bold for arrears ; but an insuffi-
cient price being offered, the sale was annulled, and one-half was placed under direct manage-
ment, the vest being restored to the family. In 1237 fasli the whole was restored to them.
1 In 1837, for instance, at Khalilabad and Bakhra in Basti; and afterwards at Captaioganj,
Faikoli, and Pipraich in Gorakbpur. s South Haveli included the Hazur tah&fl and Hata
portions of Haveli j north Haveli its remaining or Maharajgaoj portion.
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GORAKHPUB.
39J
Measurements.
Bindyaipur between those of 1861-62 and 1863-64 by the late Mr. H. LeP.
Wynne, O.S.
The operations of the settlement may be described as usual under the
three heads of measurements, rent-rates, and assessments.
The measuring agency varied little in the different parga-
nahs. In four the pattcdris or village accountants alone were employed ; but fn
the remainder the ignorance or inexperience of these officials rendered the enter-
tainment of amins or skilled surveyors necessary. Five parganahs,1' indeed",
were measured by the amins without the aidr of the patwaris. The system of
supervision employed by each of the six officers engaged in settlement was
muoh the same. Sarghanas or head amins were appointed over parties of from
25 to 30 other amins or patw&ris; and the work of these sarghanas was in turn
checked as far as possible by the assessing officer himself. " On the whole,"
wrote Government in reviewing the settlement, <l although the measurements
were not made with the same close accuracy of figure and survey as those of
the succeeding settlements, it may be safely assumed that the field maps are
sufficient for all ordinary administrative purposes, and the areas quite exact
enough to form a trustworthy basis for assessment." The classification of area
was as follows : —
Area
IN ACSSS.
Unassessable.
Assessable.
Farganah.
t
Cultivated.
■J
9
a
o
k
«?
PS
. a
m
«8
►
s
28,589
a
3
IS
f
. s
*
5
Salempor Majhauli
5,612
70,782
12,143
222,151
35,121
257,272
374,396
SiLhat
1,454
81,600
42,342
4,020
88,724
10,949
99,673
179,089
Bidhaa Jobna ^
6,984
60,120
92,768
35,278
121,892
226,076
347,963
633,063
Shahjahaopur ••
1,084
11,015
10,611
4,502
S3,9t7
87,318
61,220
88,439
South Haveli •«
23,323
48.484
66,730
16,23*
161,471
64.502
225,973
880,748
Horth Haveli ...
1,687
28,504
43,543
16,964
57,7*0
100.420
158,200
248.148
Binayakpur »«
800
1,947
11,205
2,281
• 8,365
11,953
I5,3i8
81,051
Tilpur ...
1,29 9
9,021
32,788
13.698
11,565
47,610
59,175
115,881
Dhoriapar m.
4,310
55,697
20,165
7,332
93,656
2S,rei
116,718
203)222
Anola
1,542
, 14*71
7,769
2,845
39,370
5,906
45,276
71,803
Cliillfip&T
573
17,246
8,881
4,989
13,009
21,60$
84,511
66,149
Bhauapar
4,951
20,086
9,169
3,892
33,60-1
19,635
53,239
90.867
Magbar* •••
9,992
84,414
24.820
10, '99
77,341
32,228
109,564
181,919
Total
55,531
403.236
379,725
133,031
947,834
635,273
1,583,107
2,664,270
"The parganahs measured solely by amins were Chillupar, Bhauapar, Dhuriapar, Anoia,
and South Haveli ; those measured solely by patwaris^ Sidhua Jobna, Tilpur, North Haveli, and
Binayakpur. a The figures in the line for this parganah art approximate only. Maghar
has been haired between Gorakhpur and Basti, and but half the figures given in the
Board's renew of leltleinent have been taken.
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394 GOKAKHriTB.
The next step was to assume standard rent-rates for the various soils or
tracts of eaoh parganab, and, by applying these rates to the
Rent*-r&t6s«
areas, to ascertain the probable gross rental of each. In
their manner of assuming such rates the assessing officers showed great diver-
gence. Mr. Bird gives no clue to the method he adopted; and it is even doubt-
ful whether, in ascertaining the rental, he went through the formality of
assuming rent-rates at all. If he did so, however, he would seem to have
fixed three general rates only, for clayoy, loamy, and sandy soils respectively.
Mr. Lumsden's method " varied as his experience increased."1 In Ohillup&r
and Anola he adopted soil-ratos, arranging his soils according to their composi-
tion into two classes, and using the same rates indifferently for both watered
and unwatered land.2 His rates wore based on those actually paid, as ascertained
from personal enquiry on the spot, from the village records, and from the opi-
nion of parganah officers. In Sidhua Jobna and South Haveli, following the
custom of those parganahs, he assumed an average rate, not for each soil or
village, but for each tappa as a whole. Mr. White sometimes adopted separate
rates for different soils, and sometimes an all-round rate for an entire tract.
But how sueh rates were framed, or on what induction of ascertained facts, ia
nowhere recorded. The rates of Babu Pidri Mohan were based on the same
data as those of Mr. Lumsden, and fixed for the three classes of clayey, loamy >
and sandy soils. Mr. Wilson avowedly used no rent-rates, but depended chiefly
on the results of inquiry into the actual rental returns of each village. Like
Mr. Lumsden in Sidhua Jobna and south Haveli, Mr, Wynne framed average
rates for each tappa, making no distinction between dry and irrigated lands.
His rates were based on those returned by native officials as actually paid ;
and he checked them by comparison with the average rates per acre paid for
various crops.3 There was one point in the methods of all those officers which
struck the Board of Revenue as curious. Almost all explained that the rent of
land was influenced mainly by its position with regard to the village-site :
by its situation, that is, in the inner (goind), middle (miydna)y or outer (pdllu)*
zones. But no single officer Seemed to have adopted as the basis of his cal-
culations this well-recognized arrangement. The rates adopted for the different
soils or tappas of the parganahs assessed by each officer will be shown in
the gazetteer articles on those parganahs themselves. Meanwhile it maybe
1 G. O. No. 2356A., dated 20th October, 1873. * It should be remembered that in a
district where the spring-level is so high as in Gorakbpur, the difference in productive power
and rent between watered and unwatered land is less than elsewhere. Mr. Lumsden *s two
classes were (1) loam or loam and clay ; (2) sand. 3 The exact method of check is
rather obscorely stated. 4 These words are derived respectively from Hindi gwaind,
near, Persian miydn, middle ; and Hindi patla, margin, distance. They correspond to tho
$a*kan or 6dra, manjha or ut"jkau(a9 and barha or barhci of the Duab.
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GORAKHPUR. 395
mentioned that the average rate for the whole district, including Basti, was
Us. 2-3-2 per acre.
The application of the rent-rates to the total area, or, where rent-rates were
discarded, other processes, gave for the whole Gorakhpur
m® # district an assumed rental of about Rs. 29,96,431.1 Deduced
from this rental at 50 percent.,9 the revenue would have reached Rs. 14,98,215.
Its actual amount was fixed at Rs, 15,53,607, or including the 10 per cent,
cess and fees (nazrdna) on revenuo-freo estates, Rs. 17,39,894. In framing their
assessments and even rent-rates, most of the settlement officials seem to have
been guided by an estimate of the probable revenue and rental prepared by
Mr. Reade in 1860. This officer, formerly a Commissioner of Gorakhpur, had
drawn up a careful statement showing the increase which might d priori be
expected from each parganah. His predictions of the gross rental coincided
closely with those made by Mr. Robert Bird some twenty years before, and
furnished a fairly true key-note for subsequent proceedings Mr. Lumsden was,
indeed, the only officer who worked with any pretence to independence of Mr.
Reade's estimate, or who did not frame his rates more or less to suit that cal-
culation. The assessments of Messrs, F, Bird and Wilson, who had either pro-
bably or certainly worked without regard to rent- rates, were afterwards subject-
ed to some critical examination. But iu neither case could much fault be
found with the result. Mr. Bird's demand may have been deduced from a rental
fixed by rule of thumb ; yet after Mr. Lumsden's scrutiny, the Board decided
that it should stand. A revision of Mr. Wilson's assessment was proposed by
Mr. Money, Senior Member of the Board ; but the idea was abandoned when it
was found that resettlement on more approved principles would scarcely alter
the result. The incidence of the new demand, again including Basti, was
Re. 0-13-1 on the cultivable, and Re. 1-1-7 on the cultivated area. The cor-
responding figures of the past settlement wore Re. 0-10-5 and Re. 1-1-3. The
assessment just desoribod was sanctioned for thirty years, expiring on the 30th
June, 1889. The demand was in some cases progressive, not attaining its
maximum until several years after the beginning of that term.
In giving the official account of the collections and balances for the past
ten years, the following statement will also show how the settlement has
worked :—
1The reason why the assumed rental can be giren but approximately is that the Basti and
Gorakhpur portions of Maghar were settled together. We know, however, the amount of the
ultimate demands assessed on each portion, and we know also the gross assumed rental for both.
These form the data for a proportion sum whose result is the approximate assumed rental for
Maghar of Gorakhpur. *It is perhaps hardly necessary to mention that at the settle-
ments now current the demand was reduced from I to \ of the assets.
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296
GORAKHPUft.
Pabticdlabs
OF BALANCE.
-' '■
Demand.
Collec-
, tion.
Balan-
Percen-
Year.
Real
tage of
balance
ces.
on de-
In train
of liqui-
dation.
Doubtful
Irreco-
verable.
Nominal.
mand*
Ka.
Bf.
Hs.
R*.
Hs.
Us.
Hs.
Hs.
1868-69
11,58.184
11,47,318
10,866
148
10,109
•09
•94
1869-70
11,60,908
11,50,568
10,316
9,835
510
-89
1870-71
11,64,680
11,54,406
10274
10,274
•88
1871-72
11,63,628
11,58,140
5,488
395
565
4,628
•08
1872-73
11.61,497
11,59,99'
1,607
1,442
65
-18
1873-74
16,70,068
16,01,863
68.200
66,111
2,089
3*96
187475
16,73,974 16,71,632
2,342
2,842
1875-76
16,78,007 16,77,829
178
•••
178
1876-77
16,80,716116,79,893
823
202
•••
621
'01
1877-78
16,83,460116,89,370
"i
90
•••
*•*
t«»
Throughout the district the revenue falls due in four instalments. The
first two are payable after the autumn harvest, on the 15th. November and 15th
January ; the latter two after the spring harvest, cm the 1st of May and 1st of
June.
The tenures of the proprietors who pay this revenue may be classed under
Pro rietar te three heads : — (1) the ordinary zaminddri, pattid*ri,
and bhayach&ra, which have been described elsewhere,.1
and need not be described again ; (2) birt ; and (3) talukaddri.
The word birt, derived by Wilson from Sanskrit vritti, maintenance, signi-
fies a tenure originally granted by a feudal chieftain on account of kinship or
of services rendered. This tenure is of four kinds : —
(1) Jewan (jeona9 to eat) is an assignment of villages made to a cadet
of the Raja's family as a perpetual subsistence for himself
and his heirs ; (2) Sankalp, meaning, according to Benfey,
"expectation of advantage from a holy work," was a religious grant to Brahmans,
made in return for rites which were supposed to secure the safety of the grantor's
soul; (3) Marwat (mama, to die) was a landed compensation made to the family
of a dependant slain in the wars of the R&ja : it was sometimes called khunbaha,
or washing away of blood; (4) Mukaddam or headman's birt, which is
described as more in the nature of a contract than the other forms.
The nature and rights of a tenure so common in the district formed the
subject of long enquiries and deliberations at each recurring revision of assess-
ment. The chief point was to ascertain whether the birt-holders (birtiya or
1 Gazetteer, II, 222, and V, 615-16. The zamindari sad pattidari tenures of this district have
been largely created by sales since the introduction of British rule. But a few ancien-t bhaya-
chara village communities exist in the south. Throughout the district, by an error of record
at settlement, a number of genuine bhayachsra estates were entered as pattidari.
Birt tenures.
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aORAKHPUlL 397
birtxha) were or Were not proprietors entitled to engage for the revenue.
Government at first took the negative view, and directed settlements with
the Rijas and talukad&rs. But in 1835 the Board changed its mind. On the
The birti ai are rePorfc °^ the Collector, Mr. Armstrong, it held that the
declared proprietors tenure was heritable and transferable, and that the birtiyas
for the revenue, mU9* be considered as proprietors of the villages held
1885# by them. Settlement has ever since been made with
the birtiyaa themselves, who have thereby become independent of their
feudal chieftains. Bat they must still pay into the Government treasury, to
be credited to those chieftains, a seigniorial fee (mdlikdna) of 10 per cent, on
their revenue.
The policy of the plan now pursued cannot be questioned; but close inquiry
into the former differences of the tenure make it rather doubtful whether it
was fair to the Rajas to place all the birtiyas on the same footing of independ-
ence. The Jewan and Marwat forms certainly carried with them a proprie-
tary right in the land assigned. The quit-rent paid by the birtiya was often
merely nominal/ and his right of transfer was in later times unquestioned.
The Sankalp birt also, though it properly oarried no right of transfer,
was so near to a gift of the proprietary right in the land that there was no
injustice in recognising it as such after the grantee had been some time in
possession.
But the Mukaddam birt appears in many cases to have been merely a
contract, whereby the management of lands, and a certain commission out of
their rents, were granted durante bene placito of the grantor. Such assignments
were not intended to convey a proprietary right. In some cases the birtiya
was entitled to an allowance of but Tl5th of the assets, while in return he was
bound to collect the remaining -foths for his lord. It seems that another com-
mon form of tenure was mistaken for birt, and that the confusion had something
to do with the concession of proprietary right to this class of birtiyas. This
other tenure was that on which the zamindars of villages in many of ihe
Sidhua Jobna talukas hold* " In consideration of protection " these men trans-
ferred their lands to the tal&kad&r, keeping back for their own support only a
portion of the rent.1 The tenure in this case was not a birt or maintenance,
bat represented the land reserved by the real owner when making over his
rights in the rest to some more powerful landlord. The following is a transla-
tion of a comparatively modern " birt-n6ma " supplied by the kindness of
»It the case of Marwat, writes Sir H. Elliot, the rate was bat hall that of ordinary birt
tenures. *See Mr. Lumsden's report on the settlement of parganah Sidhua Jobna,
paras. 41-64.
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338 ooKAKHPim;
Mr. Irvine. It will be seen that it hardly conveys the idea of a permanent
alienation of proprietary right : —
'< In the name of Raja Joddhra j Singh, whose happiness and prosperity equal those of Lakshml
Narayan, who is conspicuous for his virtues in the circle of the tUptndemt* whom he protects; who
is of the most dignified and noble presence, ihe Baja of Rajas, the god-like dispenser of good
and evil. KatnauH village in tappa Fandu of M»nsfirganj having been assigned in birt to
Bhoya G Minim Singh, the said person may with confidence cultivate the land himself or by
mean§ of others, and shall pay the rent of the same according to the rates payable by birtiyas.
Dated Asarh 1123 fasli."
The express permission here given of cultivating by means of others is
much opposed to the idea that the grantee could sell or mortgage the land
without leave of the Raja. Being derived from the Rajas, birt tenure of all
kinds is naturally rare in the north of the district.
Taliikas or superior tenures, to which the birts were formerly subject,
include the remains of the Dhuri&p&r, Mai haul i, and
Taltikadari tenures. ,
Anola principalities. Next to these come the talukas of
Padrauna and Tamkuhi, with several others of les3 importance, founded
on grants made by the Majhauli or Sat&si Rajas ; and lastly, one held
in great part revenue-free by the guardian of the Imamb&ra at Gorakh-
pur.
Within the ancient Raj of DhuriapAr are now included two talukas, known
as the Pind6ri and the R&ni of Gopdlpur's jfigf rs.
The Pind&ri j&gir was conferred on the celebrated chief Karim Khin in
1818. The object of the grant was to remove him and
The Pindari jagir,
another marauder, Eadir Bakhsh, from the scene of
their former evil influence, and to afford them sufficient means for a peaceful
livelihood. The Rfija of Barhidpar being heavily in debt and also in arrears,
Government sanctioned the Collector's proposal to purchase and makeover a part,
of his estate to the Pindaris. The property was at first granted free of all taxa-
tion, but was after Karim Kh&n's death assessed with a demand of Rs. 6,000.
This settlement was in 1837 declared permanent. At the current settlement, how*
ever, a sub-settlement was made with the birtiyas and other occupants of villages,
while the Pindaris were allowed 55 per cent, of the estimated rental. The domain
includes 142 villages and a share in another. Almost the whole is held in birt
tenure.
The Gopdlpur taluka is that portion of the Gop&lpur family estates
TheGopaipnr Ra- still held by the Rdni. In this also are several villages held
ni's taluka. by birtiyas. The history of the Gopalpur family will be given
a few paragraphs hence.
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GORAKHPUR. 399
The Majhauli taluka, usually called the Majhauli RiJ, represents the remains
Majhauli Raj and Anola °f fc^e °^ Majhauli principality, once co-extensive with
taluka' parganah Salempur Majhauli. A large number of the
villages in this estate are held by birtiyas, who hold, indeed, very nearly half
the parg&nah. The domain has been placed under management of the court of
wards until such time as a loan made by Government to the Raja is repaid. In
the Anola talfika, also, the bulk of the villages is held by birtiyas.
The Padrauiia taluka, coinciding roughly with the northern half of par-'
ganah Sidhua Jobna, originated in the grant of a few vil-
lages made to a dependent by the R&ja of Majhauli about
1750. During the troubles of the next 50 years it was rapidly extended by the
fears of numerous weak yeogien, who surrendered a portion of their rights in
return for the talfikadar's protection. The sons of the first grantee divided
their possessions; and, owing to the mismanagement of one branch of the family,
the history of half of the taluka was most disastrous, culminating in its con-
fiscation for rebellion after the mutiny. The other half, though once sold
for arrears and again nearly ruined by litigation between its owners and the
Mahfir&ja of Bettiah, recovered under the management of Isri Part&p R&e, and
is now in a flourishing condition. At the formation of the current settlement, •
a distinction was made between those villages of the taliika which were still
partly held by the original proprietors and those which were held by birtiyas.
The former were admitted to a sub -settlement which, without forcing the pay-
ment of seigniorial fees, mdlikdna, secured them in possession of the lands
they retained when joining the taliika. The latter also were admitted to pro-
prietary settlement, but required to pay the usual fee of ten per cent, on their
-, L^. .w* revenue. A similar course was followed in the case of the
Tamktihi Raj.
B&nk Jogni taliika, also known as the Tamkdhi R&j.
Besides these there exist in parganah Sidhua Jobna five taldkas of less
Minor taitikaa f d d *mPortance — B&nsgaon, Ramkola, Parwarpfir, Sikhoni,
on grants of the Majhauli and Sankhop&r. All of these originated in grants made
by theR&ja of Majhauli to some of his retainers, after
the defeat of Madan Singh's descendants and the conquest of his possessions
in this parganah (circ 1590.) In parganah Haveli the Satdsi Rdjas were up
to the Mutiny taldkadars, receiving seigniorial fees from a very large number
of villages. The last R&ja having, however, joined the mutineers, his rights were
confiscated and the R&j came to an end* His seigniorial rights were put up to
auction and purchased for a large sum by a lady resident at Benares. As in
other cases, the mdlikdna is chiefly paid by birtiyas at the rate of ten per cent
on the demand,
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400 OORAKHPUR.
The six taldkas of Tighra, Domri, Paikoli, Balaa, Barera, and Pandip£r,
were derived from grants made to kinsmen or dependents by the Satasi Rajas.
They had before the British occupation been extended in the same manner as
the Sidhua Jobna talfikas. Bat after the cession (1801) the last-named property
was broken up by sales at the instance of the proprietors, and after the 'Mutiny
the two first were almost entirely confiscated for the rebellion of .their owners.1
The remaining three, though not of much size or importance, still exist Parg&na
South Haveli until quite lately contained several taliikas held by Brahmans ;
but of these Brahmpur-Methab61, owned by a large brotherhood of Dtibes,
alone survives. The others, amongst which that of Lachhmipur was the
most important, have been broken up by sales chiefly in execution of judicial
decrees.
The Kusmahi taluka, held by the guardian of the Im&mb&ra, consists of
w , w w, 19 villages, whereof 15 are revenue-free.2 The taldka had
Imambara taluka. ° '
its origin in a grant made to the Shf a devotee Baushan Ali
Sh£h by the Nawab Asaf-ud-daula (1775-97), who also built the Imdmbara.
Raushan Ali was the son of Sayyid Qhul&m Ashraf, a native of Bukhara, who
came to Dehli iu the reign of Muhammad Sh&h (1719-48), but fled thence
during one of the Abd&li invasions. Either Raushan himself or his father
afterwards settled at Sh&hpur in parganah Dhuri&p&r. When of middle age
Raushan quitted that village and adopted a religious life. He rapidly gained
a reputation for peculiar sanctity, and devoted all he possessed towards building
an Im&mb&ra.
Hearing of his fame Asaf-ud-daula in 1790 came to his assistance, and
besides enabling him to build the Imdmbfira, which is still one of the finest
buildings in this district, conferred on him 15 villages. Raushan Ali was
suoceeded in 1816 by his pupil Ahmad Ali Sh&h, generally known as the Mi&n
or Mir S&hib. This Ahmad lived to the age of 80. He assisted Government
during the troubles of 1857-58, and his right to hold free of revenue
the original 15 villages of the endowment was recognised. Four other
villages which were acquired by purchase or private gift are assessed with
revenue. The Mi&n Sihib died in 1875, being succeeded by his pupil W&jid
Ali Sh&h.
The history of the leading proprietary families will be described at some
length in that of the district. Chief amongst them are
Leadiog families.
the titled houses of Anola, Majhauli, Tamkiihi, and
1 The Tighra talCika was conferred on Mr. W. Reppe ; and half of the Domri taluka on
Sardar £6rat Singh, a Sikh nobleman. Balaa has to a large extent been sold. ' The
forest attached to this domain has been already mentioned, supra p. 291. The domain itself
seems to be rather a large reYenue-free estate than what is generally known as a taluka,
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GORAKHPUB. 401
Gopfilpur. The Anola R&jas are Sarnet R&jputs, and Lave since the extinc-
The Raiaa of Anola, Ma- ^on °^ ^e SatAsi title been the elder representatives
jhauii. Tamkuhi, and Go- 0f a family which supplies also a R&ja to B£nsi of
Basti. Their estates, which are taxed with a reve-
nue of Rs. 6,000, lie in parganah Anola. The Majhauli R&jas are Bisen
Rajputs who have been converted to Muhammadanism. Their estates,
lying in parganah Salem pur-Majhauli and Lower Bengal, pay a Government
revenue of Rs. 42,900. A younger branch of this house, the Rajas of Chilliip&r,
was attainted for rebellion in 1857. The Bhuinhar Rijput family of Tamkiihi
is far newer in the district than either of those already mentioned. Its founder
was, after the battle of Baksar (1764), driven from S&ran into Gorakhpur, where
he acquired a large estate much diminished by the time of his grandsons. One
of these, Shamsher Sahi, about 1830-40, recovered by purchase a great portion
of the lost acres, and settling at Salemgarh, founded the family known as B&bus
of that place. The eldest grandson remained at Tamkiihi, and by continued
good management increased the property. Inheriting the title of RAja which his
grandsire had brought from Saran, he obtained from Government its recognition.
The estates lying in parganah Sidhua Jobna are assessed with a rqjrenue of
Rs. 54,500. In the Kausik R&jputs of Gop&lpur we again find an historic
family. Their original founder, R&j a Dhur, entered the district about 1350;
and in the sixteenth century began constant struggles between the Barhi&p&r
and Gop&lpur branches of his descendants. In the beginning of the eighteenth
century these quarrels ceased, and the bead of the latter branch settled at
Gop&lpur as its recognized R&ja. The present R&ja is his descendant1 The
Mah&rija of Bettia possesses considerable property and influence in this
district. But as his residence and the bulk of his estates are in Saran, it is
unnecessary to give his family more than a passing allusion.
Besides these families the following deserve notice : — (1) That represented
by Sayyid Shdh Abdullah Sabzposh. The ancestor of this
house, who, like other Sayyids, claimed descent from
Muhammad, settled in Oudh during the reign of Sikandar Lodi (1488-1506).
Hence his descendants came to this district in the time of Aurangzeb
(1658-1707), and obtained some villages revenue-free. (2) The B&bus of
Daifdup&r in parganah Haveli, descended from Rndar Singh of the Sat&si family.
(3) The BAbus of Bftnsgaon in Sidhua Jobna descended from two troopers
who received a grant from Aurangzeb. (4) The B&bus of Singhpur in
Silhat, connections of the Sat&si family. (5) The B&bus of Rampur.
'The title of Barhiapir, held by the other branch of this family, became extinct after
the Mutiny.
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402 GORAKHPUR.
These- are Fram&r Rtfjputs of parganah Salempur, where they settled cm land
granted by the R&ja of Majhauli.
It will be seen, therefore, that the principal landed families are R&jputs
Condition of the °f respectable and even great antiquity. In spite of their
landnolding classes, large rental, their manorial cesses, and their low revenue,
the greater part of the landowners are described as by no means well off. The
chief reason of their poverty is the indebtedness which diverts a large share of
their profits into the hands of the usurers from whom they borrow. And the
reasons of that indebtedness hare usually been improvidence, excessive expen-
diture on marriages, and, in the case of a very large number, aversion to doing
any labour with their own hands. Buchanan, who calls the landowners ashraf,
Their former dia- mentions that very few of them will plough, sow, or reap
like of tilling their J r & r
own lands, themselves ; and that of these three processes ploughing
was held in the greatest aversion. The reason of this aversion was clearly
that the men usually employed as harwdhas or ploughmen are of very low
caste. They arc frequently Pfois or Bh&rs, who are accounted impure by
the higher caste ; and the plough is considered as contaminated by their use
of it. •
The description given by Martin of the relations between landlord and
tenant confirms the statement already made, that before our rule the latter were
rather in the position of serfs or labourers than of tenants. It shows also how
and contempt of w*de wa8 the division between them and the upper class,
their tenants. the ^j^f or u nobility." The greater part of the land-
holders were formerly either R&jputs or firahmans holding from the different
R&jas ; and all their kinsmen enjoyed a position immeasurably above that of
the churls who were retained to plough and do similar menial services. The
invasions of the Hindfis were accompanied by the extirpation, or at least the
expulsion, of all those amongst the former occupants who had any higher rank
than that of servants or labourers. Consequently there was no tenantry hold-
ing an intermediate position between the new owners and their slaves, and
all who were not members of the conquering body were regarded as beneath
contempt.
In course of time there necessarily arose a class who, though members* of
the chieftain's family, were in such reduced circumstances that they were forced
to cultivate some small portion of land. These were probably the men whom
These feelings Buchanan mentions as being considered ashr&f, though
brforceeDof™?rcunvi holding an inferior position. The constantly recurring
stances. wars 0f former times prevented the grantees' descendants,
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GOEAKHPUR, 403
unless Brahmans, from settling down into agricultural village communities.
This, again, may have encouraged them to look on fighting as their proper
occupation, and tillage as the inheritance of their servants or slaves. At any
rate, the idea that cultivation was beneath the dignity of a gentleman survived
till more peaceable times. When arms were laid aside, and attention was
turned to the improvement of the land, the grantees found themselves
restrained from personal farming. They accordingly let their properties at low
rates to husbandmen of low caste, such as the Cham&ra, who were attracted from
Oudh and the south. When our rule was introduced, the system of demanding fixed
payments for a certain period rendered the landlords ready to follow the same
course with their tenants, if they could thereby obtain an increased rent And
the security given by our law and administration attracted a better class of
tenants from the south. At the same time the withdrawal of the right of carry-
ing on private feuds with their neighbours, and the non-recognition of any
right of ownership over their servants or labourers, removed the causes which-
had induced the landholders to cultivate through their villeins or serfs. The
latter were, moreover, left free to migrate whither they pleased. The area held
by tenants (in the usual sense of the term) and by kinsmen of the landlord
greatly increased. But it required time to overcome the dislike which petty
magnates felt to working in their fields; and meanwhile
many had fallen into debt. At the same time sales
for arrears, at first enforced with needless frequency, threw a large
portion of the zamindars completely into the hands of the money-lenders.
The rascality and fraud of the unwatched native officials has before been
noticed. The bitter necessity of providing large sums suddenly, before
inquiry into the justice of the demand, and under pain of being sold up, forced
landholders to borrow frequently. Buchanan thought that thirty years of such
injustices had done more to impoverish proprietors than all the misrule of
Muslim Governments. He might perhaps have allowed that the fault was partly
that of the Native Governments themselves, which had taught men to refuse
revenue when not exacted by foroe.
But, however contracted, the indebtedness of the proprietary body conti-
nues a serious evil. It during the currency of the last
/lienatlons. ° J
settlement displayed itself in large transfers of landed pro-
perty. Taking the whole area of Gorakhpur and Basti as 3,208,892 acres, the
Board of Revenue1 shows that 542,259 changed hands, 326,836 by private
sale. The widest alienations were in the North Haveli parganah, where 102,670
out of 249,111 acres passed from their former owners.
1 See its review of the current settlement, No. 958A, dated 2nd October, 18? 1, appendix IX.
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404 GORAKHPffR.
From the landlords we pass to their tenants. The cultivators are as a
Condition of the c*aS3 ignorant, unenterprising, and indebted. They have
cultivating classes. hitherto lacked the spirit to raise themselves above an
abject status inherited from ages of ill-usage and oppression. Even under
their own R&jas and birtiyas they were regarded much as his villeins were
regarded by a Norman baron ; and the Oudh Government, as already mentioned,
subjected them to worse evils than that of mere contempt Mr. Wynne's
settlement report constantly alludes to the degraded condition of many culti-
* vators ; and in one place he mentions " a still lower class, veritable serfs," who
had sold themselves for the loan of a lump sum, and who were perpetually
working off the debt which they never succeeded in quite paying off. Mr.
Oolvin also notices the absence of the village communities which amongst the
more " robust tribes9' are of such importance, and " the marked social distinc-
tion between the zamiudars and cultivators which still exists." That distinction
was at first, probably, one of race.
As the different R&jas conquered their dominions, they brought under
subjugation a host of Bhars and P&sis whom as their
Their low status, ,. , , „ i ,
subjects they pro tected from other enemies, but as a class
they considered immeasurably inferior to themselves. These vanquished
people were at first, no doubt, the only tillers of the soil. Constant risk of
hostile attacks forbade the conquerors to scatter themselves amongst the
villages, and they must have lived in a compact body about their chief. The
owner of a village was often not only an alien but an absentee. But there
was another great gulf betwixt landlord and tenant. If, as security increased,
the tenant managed to acquire a fixed right in his holding, that right was
extinguished in the troublous times that preceded the British rule.
In 1818 the Collector reported that " the zaminddrsoan evict all raiyats,
and recent lack of unless holding on a term lease ;" and it appears that such
tenant right. leases were rarely granted for more than three years.1
Again in 1831 we read a similar assertion, proceeding from the same quarter.
" The cultivators generally claim no right of occupancy in the land. Their
rents are paid in money, and are often fixed for a certain term, during which
they cannot be evicted." As already mentioned, Mr. Bird in 1833 suggested
that tenants should receive a twenty-years' lease, in order to give them some
permanent interest in their holdings. The reports on the current settlement
continue to record the depression of the cultivating class, notwithstanding
that Act X. of 1959 was by this time investing some of its members with
rights of occupancy.
^Aidsdale's notea.
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GOBAKHPtJB. 405
In his report on parganah Rastilpur Ghaus Mr. Wynne notices
Mr. Wynne's ex- that the condition of the tenants has not improved so
ciuse^which'retord much ** might have been expected, considering the
their prosperity. development of the district and the increased value of
produce. For this he assigns three causes : (1) the exactions of the zamfn-
dftrs under the name of cesses (abwdb) ; (2) the indebtedness and ignorance
of the tenants themselves ; and (3) the uncertain demand for agricultural
produce.
In his report (1869) on B&nsi parganah he goes further and says :
"As for tenant right it is non-existent A few of the more intelligent
cultivators may have learned the purport of Act X. of 1859, but I have
never heard any other opinion than that the tenancy of the cultivator lasted
only so long as the landlord pleased. "Mr. Lumsden in his Anola report
mentions how the Bhars and P&sis, who were the chief cultivators before the
previous settlement (1840), " have been receding, giving way to the usual
agricultural classes, Kurmis, Koeris, and Cham&rs, and passing further
north in quest of fresh land which they can hold at the old almost nominal
rates." And he notices that right of occupancy has been conferred solely by
the provisions of Act X. Before the passing of that enactment it was unknown.
Again, in his report on Sidhua Jobna he expresses his opinion that cultivators
with a right of occupancy are a creation of the law lately introduced,
which confers that right on all who have held land for a period of twelve
years.
These statements will at once show that the position of the tenan-
try is lower, and was till lately more dependent on the caprices the
landlord, than elsewhere in the North- Western Provinces. Under the pre-
sent law their condition is improving and should continue to improve.
B ut their progress is still opposed by two great obstacles — ignorance and
indebtedness. The former prevents their comprehending the protection
afforded them by law, and renders them unable to cope with the chica-
nery of landlords or subordinate officials. The latter sweeps off to the coffer
of the money-lender their fair share in the increased wealthy of the
district
Some check has now been placed on the extra cesses and contributions
levied by landholders; but there is little doubt that much
Manorial r^" *
money is still exacted under the name of abwdb. In 1818
the Collector, reporting on this subject, remarked that if all such exactions were
prohibited, the zamind&r would get but Rs, 2 where he formerly got Bs. 4r or 5.
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406 QORAKHPUB.
The most common of the cesses levied on cultivators, as opposed to thosd
realized from trade and market dues, were the following : —
(1.) Fees on marriages ; on building new houses ; and ground-rent for
houses occupied.1
(2.) Cost of valuing the crop with a view to fixings the money-rent.
(3.) Present at harvest " to secure good will."
(4.) Fees to the accountant, barber, and other village-servants, often
collected and appropriated by the zamfaddr.
(5) Penalty levied on grain sold to persons other than the zamind&r of
his accredited agents.
(6) Contributions to the landlord on the occasion of a marriage in his
family.
(7) Presents to the faotor on collection of the rents.
The 5th is especially a serious burden, as the zamind&r often insists on
buying at a lower rate than the fair market one. These exactions were more
than once expressly prohibited by the Board and the Governor-General him-
self; but in 1837 the Collector writes that such prohibitions were useless,
The people did not understand their full value, and were too much in the
power of their landlords to venture on resistance. He adds that he has been
unable to gain any satisfactory information regarding the rights of the
tenants, as the zamfnd&rs were unwilling to acknowledge, and the tenants
were too poor and too ignorant to know if such rights existed. They
" admitted the paramount authority of the zamind&r and their absolute
dependence on his pleasure."
The kanungos, he says, stale that a tenant has rights of occupancy for
three years in land newly brought under cultivation by himself. But these
rights were not strictly observed if it suited the zamindar's purpose to ignore
them ; and he could as a rule eject a tenant when he pleased, whilst " the
tenant could in no case transfer his lands to a stranger without express
permission."
With such a state of things existing less than 50 years ago, it is no
wonder that the tenants have not yet freed themselves from all exactions. Nor
are such exactions likely to cease until the general opinion of landholders sets
against them. Mr. Alexander believes, however, that tenants have made a great
advance towards independence of their landlords, tfrom the exactions of the
money-lender they will find it harder to free themselves. The direct interference
of Government is in such commercial matters difficult, if not inadvisable. The
1 This parjot is too often regarded as a nefarious exaction. It is in fact a just and by
no means exorbitant rent. In towns it is sometimes called ghardwdri,
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GORAKHPUR. 407
advances made by indigo-factories and by Government itself for the cultivation
of opium are at present the only means that have in any way aided the pea-
santry to free themselves of debt. Education may afford them some protection;
but the existing generation of cultivators were reared in a day when education
hardly existed, and are too old to begin learning now. So long as the money-
lender secures the greater portion of the crop, it is vain to hope for much
improvement in the condition of the cultivator.
A small class of tenants known as dbddkdrs were formerly conceded
certain privileges in return for bringing waste land under
tillage. If they cultivated it themselves, they obtained
a lease for a term of years, during which they could not be ejected; aud
if employed as supervisors over the actual cultivators, they received a share in
the rents, also for a fixed term of years. In both cases they could transfer
their rights for the remainder of the term ; and in both it was usual for the land-
lord to grant them an advance at starting. A few dbddkars still exist.
The average size of a tenant's holding may be stated as rather over 5 acres
in the north, rather over 3 in the south of the district.
Size of tenant hold- . .
ings. The larger area ot the northern holdings is partly explained
by the fact that the frequent migration of their occupants
leaves a large number of fields free for yearly disposal. In some parts of the dis-
trict, such as the light soils of parganah Salempur, it is absolutely neces-
sary to allow all except the well manured and carefully-tilled land near the
village to lie fallow once in three or four years. If the fallow land were
counted, the holdings would average above the areas now given. But by holding
must be understood the land which the tenant holds for cultivation, and on
this assumption those areas may be deemed fairly correct.
In discussing the question as to t( whether a tenant with 5 m acres would be
as well off as if he had Es. 8 a mouth/' it is necessary to assume the following
conditions : —
la** — That he has not to work with borrowed capital, and is not therefore
burthened by the payment of interest as most oultivators really
are.
2nd. — That his rent is an average rent of (say) Rs. 3 an acre.
3rd. — That the soil is of average quality only*
AtJu — That he has a wife, one son, and one daughter to assist him, and
that he ploughs with his own cattle.
With these premises our answer to the question must be — No. If the hold-
ing consists of mere average soil, the tenant cannot continue growing the
whole of it with the more valuable crops ; and if he makes an average profit
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408 GORAKHPUB.
of Rs. 12 an acre he is a fortunate man. A succession of two or three bad
seasons may, moreover, throw him into debt, and once indebted he will find his
expenses nearly doubled. In his report on parganah Rasfilpur Ghaus Mr.
Wynne has gone very carefully into the question, and comes to the conclusion
that an average of Rs. 5-11-6 per bigha — much less than Rs. 12 per acre — is
a fair estimate of the profits.
The effect of Act X. of 1859 and its successor, XVIII. of 1873, has
^^ . been on the whole decidedly beneficial to the tenants. As
Effect of recent . . .
rent legislation. before pointed out, their right of occupancy was almost
entirely created by the former law. Some landlords profess,
indeed, that to prevent the growth of that right they are compelled to eject
tenants whose twelve years' occupation is nearly complete. But such ejectments
are really very rare, whilst the great number of tenants who have acquired
rights under the law may be estimated from the figures given in an appendix
to the Board's review of the current settlement (1871). These show that
whilst but 3,504 tenants with rights of occupancy existed at the time of the
former settlement (1833-36), there were no less than 158,701 at that of the
present.1 The advantage of conferring on the cultivator a securer position
grows yearly greater, as unoccupied land on which he can settle, if ejected, be-
comes yearly less. Since the appendix just cited was compiled, the number
of tenants with rights of occupancy has largely increased, and it may safely
be computed that at least one-third of the whole tenantry is possessed of them.
Ex-proprietary tenants have also sprung into existence under the Act of
1873.
Rents are usually paid in cash, except in the north of the district, where
the landlords almost always receive them in kind. When
paid in kind their amount varies from one^third to two-
thirds of the produce, but more than half is rarely taken. In some cases
the produce is divided after reaping and threshing, and in others after the
landlord himself cuts his share of the crops. Frequently the produce is
estimated before being cut, and the tenant is bound to deliver a certain
weight of grain, or of grain and straw, within a certain time after the har-
vest In some rare cases the rent is fixed at a certain weight of grain when
the tenant takes the field. Almost always, unless the landlord cuts his
own share, the tenant has to bear the expense of cutting and treading
out the whole. He has usually, also, to supply his own seed grain. If
the landlord supplies it, he almost always takes it back with interest, in
1 But while showing 198,701 tenants with rights of occupancy, this appendix ahows 469,334
without such rights. The average holding of the former is given as 3 acres 2 rods 2 poles,
and that of the latter as 2 acres 3 rods 13 poles.
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GORAKHPUB. 40fr
addition to the rent ; and as the landlord has a further advantage in measuring
the seed, the tenant has a bad bargain. The grain is lent by one measure and
recovered by a larger one, no allowance being made for the difference between
the two.
Bents are as a rule realised punctually and without difficulty. Consider-
ing the great extent of the district, the number of suits for arrears is small. This
is no doubt chiefly owing to the fact that the rents themselves are moderate.
In the south of the district, where tenants have pretty generally acquired rights
of occupancy, rents have risen. The increased value of produce caused by the
extension of the export trade, the greater difficulty in obtaining fresh lands to
cultivate elsewhere, and the right of occupancy conferred by the law after
twelve years9 possession, have all combined to produce this result. Even the
south has hardly yet reached the stage when the amount of rent is hotly contested
in the courts; but the struggle is just beginning. Suits for enhancement of
rent have hitherto been rare, the lowness of the rates before paid leaving room
for enhancement by agreement between the parties. In the north, owing to
unhealthiness of climate, there are fewer tenants who retain holdings sufficiently
long to acquire occupancy rights. And landlords are restrained from enhancing
their rents by the difficulty of inducing cultivators to take the land except at very
moderate rates. As, moreover, rents in kind are the rule, the amount received
varies greatly accordiug to season, and there is perhaps less temptation
to enhance than where the rent is paid in cash. In good years the value
of the landlord's share increases with an increased harvest, and in bad years
enhancement would be followed by the migration of his tenant. The Board's
summary of settlement operations shows that since the former settlement, 30
years before, the rent-rate on cultivated land had risen about 36 per cent. But
this is ratHer a calculation worked out on certain assumptions than a statement
of fact.
There can be no doubt that since the Bhars, P&sis, Musahars, and other
Castes of the te- migratory tenants have been replaced in the south by more
nantr7- settled and more skilful cultivators, the rents of this part of
the district have risen very largely. Owing to a rather vague but general
custom which requires a tenant growing the more valuable crops to pay a
higher rent, the introduction of sugarcane into Sidhua Jobna has caused
a great rise in the rental of that parganah. This custom is probably founded
partly on the assumption that land capable of growing the more valuable
crops is worth more than the rental commonly paid, and partly on the fact that
these crops are generally grown by Kurrais and other industrious tenants
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410
GORAKHPUR.
whom the landlords think it fair to assess much more heavily than Brahinaus
or Th&kurs.
In the south of Haveli also, and in other parganahs, the increased
price of produce and cultivation of lucrative crops has led to an enhance-
ment of rente, effected chiefly by agreement between landlord and tenant. But
in the northern portion of the district the great increase in the rental must
be ascribed to the extension of cultivation rather than to an enhancement in
the rate of the rent. The progress made in northern Haveli and Binayakpur
during the currency of last settlement was enormous. In the former the cul-
tivated area increased from 89,900 bighas to 158,200, or by about 80 per cent.;
and in the latter from 2,430 to 15,318, or more than 600 per cent. The latter
percentage may be overstated owing to error in the figures given of the
earlier settlement, but even taking it at 300 per cent, the progress is
extraordinary.
The estimated rental of Gorakbpur is now 42 lakhs in round numbers ; and
as tho revenue with cesses, also in round numbers, is
Landowners have at ««.,,, .. ./. ,i . i i
present little reason to only 18 lakhs, it is manifest that landowners are not as a
enhance rente. ruje cau0(j on t0 enhance. There is in fact not much
danger of a rack-rent being imposed during the present settlement Nor is it
likely that the interference of the Courts will be much required in fixing rents.
The illegal cesses before referred to are the peasant's real grievance iu most
cases where a grievance exists.
The wages received by agricultural labourers are sometimes paid
wholly in kind, and seldom altogether in cash.
But they may be set down as averaging Bs. 2
monthly. The average monthly wages of tho chief artisan classes are as
follows I—1
Masons
Carpenters
Blacksmiths
Potters
Rs.
.. 8
.. 8
Cobblers
Tailors...
Dyers ...
Barbers
Rs.
. 6
. 8
,. 8
. 6
Rs.
Gold or silver-smiths, 8
Braziers ... 8
Cotton-carders ... 7
Porters (coolie) ... 4
Ri.
Navvy (beldar) 4
Litter-bearers, 5
Watermen ••• 6
Shepherds or
.herdsmen.*, 5
The wages of carpenters and masons were returned in 1868 at 4 annas,
and of labourers as from 1 £ to 2 annas daily. It was at the same time stated
that, wages had remained unaltered during the past ten years, but the value
of that statement may perhaps be doubted.3
1 The following estimates of wages and prices in 1878 have been kindly supplied by the
Magistrate-Collector. * See a rather perfunctory return submitted to Mr. W. O.
yiotrdcn and printed in his Wages and Prices, 1871.
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GORAKHPUR.
411
For comparing the prices of the past twenty years more abundant
materials exist. The following statement shows the
market value of the principal agricultural staples in
1859, 1868, and 1878 :—
Weight purchaseable for one rupee iff
Articles.
1859.
1868.
1878.
S. c.
b. c.
S. c.
22 0
21 8
U 10}
Wheat
35 15
35 5
16 4
Barley ... ... ...
12 4
32 • 5
11 14
Oram ... ... ... ... ...
10 8
6 0
12 6
Bdjra millet ...
35 9
22 4
18 11
Jodr ditto ... ...
21 2
22 5
. 10 15
District rice
26 2
18 6
8 5
Pulses of sorts ...
...
...
7 12
Salt ...
...
...
9 0
Rs. a. p.
Rs. a. p.
Rs. a. p.
Cotton, wholesale, per ser ...
18 6 4
18 8 0
1 10 Si
Money is invested chiefly in laud, grain-dealing, or usury. -It is of course
Money-lending and in- difficult to lay down the exact rates of interest ; but
tcrest the following are givon in Mr. Tupp's Imperial Gazetteer
article on the district (1877). In small transactions, when cheap articles are
pawned, from 12 to 15 per cent. ; and when merely personal security is given,
from 18 to 37. In large transactions, when jewels and other valuable property
are pledged, from 6 to 12 per cent ; and when land is mortgaged, from 9 to 18.
When bankers lend money to bankers on personal security, the rate is from 9 to
18 per cent only. It may be added that when seed-grain is borrowed and the
crop hypothecated to the creditor, the interest in grain is 25 per cent, at harvest.
When money for the sowings is borrowed on the same security, 12 J per cent, is
paid.
The manufactures of the district are few, and the only one of any
Manufactures and gr*at importance at present is that of sugar-boiling, exten-
tradc- sively practised in the Hftta, Padrauna, and neighouring
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412
GORAKHPUR.
parts of the Deoria and Sadr tahsils. It is difficult to obtain any very
accurate statistics of the number of sugar factories,1 but
the following figures were furnished a few years ago by
the tahsildars : —
Sugar.
Parganah.
Number
of
factories.
Remark*,
Silhat ••• ••• ...
8hahjahanpur .„ ...
Ba?eli ... ...
Salenopur ... ,M
SidhuaJobna
28
73
57
65
Of which 5 arc in Mehia Tillage of tappa
Indarpur.
Of which 37 are said to be in tappa
Patna, moat of them being in Rampur
Khinpur village, not far from Deoria.
Almost all in the tappas lying north-west
and north of Silhat.
Of which half are said to be in Bar ha j.
The exact number is not stated, but ia
undoubtedly very large. Mr. Lumsden
estimated that, in addition to the amount
locally consumed, oyer 20,000 mauods of
chini sugar were yearly exported from
this parganah. Mr. Alexander thinks
that the number cannot be far short of
100, as this is the parganah in which
the cane seems to thrive best. Mr.
Lumsden numbers 52 factories in his
settlement report, but the number has
since increased.
The factory owner does not as a rule cultivate his own sugarcane. He
makes money advances to a number of neighbouring villagers, who grow the
crop and usually also extract the juice (ras) in their own or hired mills. The
kolhu or sugaivmill has already been described as " a large drum-shaped mortar,
in whioh an almost upright timber beam or pestle is made to turn by an arrange-
ment attaching it to a pair of revolving bullocks."2 The pestle is here called
jdth? The horizontal cross-beam which connects it with the bullocks is
named kdtar; and on the latter sits a man, partly to guide the bullocks,
partly to give greater weight to the jdth. Another man feeds the kolhu and
pushes the cane against the jdth. When seen for the first time this operation
seems likely to end in crushing the hand of the operator, but- accidents very
rarely occur. The expressed juioe trickles into a lower compartment of the
mill, called ghdgu; and hence flows through a wooden spout or parndli into the
vessels set to catoh it. In Gorakhpur, owing to the difficulty of obtaining
stone, the kolhus are all of wood. When extracted juice is generally boiled
1 By factory is here meant a whole factory, and not a single vat. The term hdrkhdna
is confusingly applied to both. And one tahaildar returned 137 factories, meaning vats, in
the single village of Rampur Khinpur. * Gas., V., S3 (Budaun district). > Sir
H. Elliot give this as the term used in Bohilkhand, as distinguished from Benares. Bat it
is used in this part of Benares also.
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GORAKHPUR. 413
at once in large iron vessels called kardhi, which are usually lent by the owner
of the factory to which the boiled syrup (guv or rdb)1 is to go, but are
sometimes owned or hired by the cultivators. Occasionally, if the factory
be very close, the juice is taken there at once. It makes of course a
great difference to the cultivator whether he manufactures independently or on
behalf of the factory owner. The latter takes an ample return for* the
advances he makes and for the hire of the karahi. But very few villagers grow
cane altogether without advances ; and one manufacturer informed Mr. Alex-
ander that he did not care to deal with such persons. He had not, he explain-
ed, the same hold over them as over cultivators who had bound themselves, by
taking bis advances, to grow a certain amount of cane. In a year, however,
when cane is at all scarce, an independent cultivator could command a very
high price for his gur and obtain large profits. The clients of the factory,
who receive payment at a rate fixed beforehand, derive no additional profit
from high prices. But where most of the cultivators must work on borrowed
capital, this system of advances is perhaps the best way of supplying a use-
ful want.
After its receipt at the factory the rab syrup is again boiled twice and
cleared of its scum. It is then allowed to harden and becomes chinif which
finds a very large export towards the south. The sugar is sometimes refined
by additional boiling and skimming, but is more often sent away in the rough
state, packed in large earthen jars.
No trusworthy statistics are available to show the average amount otJchdnd
or dry sugar produced yearly in a factory. But some establishments visited by
Mr. Alexander at Pipraich confessedly turned out from 400 to 500 maunds of
refined sugar (ehini) each in a season. The average value was about Bs. 12
to 15 a maund ; and as the cultivators get for their rib about Bs. 3 to 4 only,
the factories must make considerable profits. But they have usually, it must
be remembered, to carry the cMni some way before they can command a
market.
The principal places where the khdnd is collected for exportation are Cap-
tainganj, Pipr&ich, Gorakhpur, S&hibganj (in Sidhua Jobna), and Barhaj.
From Captainganj a little is said to go up to Nepal ; but by for the greater part
of the trade finds its way by Gorakhpur, the Bapti, or the Little Gandak and
Barhaj, to the Gh&gra. A considerable amount also descends the Great Gandak
to Calcutta. The Little Gandak is, as before mentioned, navigable only during
1 In Gorakhpur the word g*r is nsed without distinction for both gur and rib. ' Chtni
<*r Chinese hi the term applied to coarse brown sugar, as opposed to the fine variety named
misri or Egyptian.
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414 GOUAKIirUR. .
the rainy season ; but a large trade from along its banks travels by the Padrauna
and Barhaj road to the latter place.
But the great trade of the district is undoubtedly the export of grain ;
and especially of rice, barley, and wheat In his report on
the settlement of South Haveli (1867) Mr. Lumsden com-
ments as follows on the vast increase which during the past twenty years had
occurred in this traffic: — "The enormous rise in prioes throughout this district
is mainly to be attributed to the great increase in export trade. The natives
thoroughly understand this, and prices during the last famine in Bengal
rose to little under those current in the famine district, though grain was
abundant, and it was commonly remarked that if the Sarkar (Government)
would only stop the export trade, barley would be selling at a maund the
rupee."
The rice comes chiefly from Nepal and the north of Gorakhpur, whence
it finds its way by the Lautan, Nostanwoa, Deoghati,
and Tutibhari tracks to Dhani b izar. Hence it is
again distiibuted to Mendhawal in Basti, Gorakhpur, or Barhaj on the
Gbagra. Another line taken by this traffic is through Bahwar or Tutibhari
and Sichlaval to Captainganj, whence in the earlier part of winter the rice can
be conveyed down the Little Gandak in boats. The carts which carry the rice
are strongly constructed, so as to stand rough journeys across country. In the
months of the eold weather, which is their busy season, they may be seen
thronging the market at Dhani-bazar. Besides rices, they often bring chilis, lac,
and the rough square pice of Nepal.1 Except in the form of such coins, the
import of copper into British territory is forbidden by the Nepalese Govern-
ment.
The rice imports from Nepal amount, as will be hereafter seen, to about
1,37,500 maunds yearly ; but how large a weight is produced in the north of
the district itself is shown by the annual acreage under rice in Maharajganj
tahsil alone.2 Allowing for the local wants of the population in that tahsil,
Mr. Alexander thinks there should be a surplus of at least 50,000 maunds for
exportation in a fair year. But Maharajganj is not the only tahsil which
exports large quantities of rice. That of Sidhua Jobna finds its way either to
Bagarganj on the Little Gandak, or by Tiwari Patti and Sahibganj to the Great
Gandak. The large part played in export traffic by the
rivers of the district has been already referred to. Qaan-
1 A large proportion of the so-called Gorakhpur! pice are apparently Nep&lese. * About
156,400 acres, $uprat p. 334.
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GORAKHPUR. 415
tities of graia from Bansg&on and the south-eastern parganahs of Basti
find their way down the Ku&na to Gola and Barhaj. Timber as well as grain
are conveyed from Nep&l by the Rapti and its tributaries, the Dhamela,
and Bohin. The greater portion of all this traffic is absorbed by the Gh&gra.
The trade pasting down that river, as registered by the Bengal Government
atDarauli, just outside the Gorakhpur frontier, weighed in 1877-78 more than
all the exports passing road posts in the North- Western Provinces and Oudh.1
"The trade of the Ghfigra," writes Mr. Buck, " is of very great importance in
connection with the light railway project for theGorakhpur district. It seema
now tolerably certain that a railway can alway soompete with a jiver. This
being the case, it would seem that a line running from Naw&bganj (in Oudh)
down the Ghftgra-Gandak du&b to Ohapra on the Ganges would best meet the
requirements of trade. A great part, perhaps the greater part, of the Ghfigra
trade consists of grain, oilseeds, and sugar exported to the port of Calcutta."
Amongst the oilseeds thus exported linseed is conspicuous ; for like all sub-
Him&layan tracts, Gorakhpur is a great producer of that commodity;
So much for trade-routes by river. We pass to those by road. With
Nepdl, as we have already seen, the traffic is less by road
than track. The distributing emporium in Nep&l is as a
rule Butwal, while the Gorakhpur emporia are Dh&ni and Nichlaval. The
chief highways to and from Bengal are the Gorakhpur-Chapra and Gorakhpur-
S&ran road, quitting the district at Gathnigh4t and Samur respectively. The
trade with Gh&zipnr and Azamgarh crosses the Gh&gra at Deorigbat, entering
this district at Barhalganj. Commerce with Basti passes by the Gorakhpur-
Lotan and Gorakhpur- Basti roads.
The traffic with Nepal, Bengal, and Azamgarh or Ghdzipur was in
1877-78 registered at several outposts of the Agriculture
c ntgts . ^^ Commerce Department. The Nep&l stations were at
Nfotanwa and Deoghili in Bin&yakpur, and Tutf bh£ri and Bahwar in Tilpnr ;
the Bengal, at Gathnighat in Salempur and Samur in Sidhua Jobna ; and the
solitary south-frontier outpost was at Deorigh&t in Azamgarh. In the preced-
ing year there had been a third Bengal outpost, at Pfpragh&t on the Gorakh-
pnr-Bettia road ; but this was, owing to the insignificance of its registra-
tions abolished. The following table shows the statistics of the Nep&l
stations :—
« The weight of Ghfigra exports, aa registered at Darauli, was 39,83,591 maunds ; and of
Ghigra imports, 3,76,342 oiauuds.
53
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4i<r
GORAKHPUB.
Imported across Nepal Frontier, 1877-78.
Class A.
cs
i
-^
a,
■s*
tj
* 3
8
Is
2
Fame of
OUtpOBt.
ft;
<a
<*
^j
^j
9
•a
s
"3
IP
>
fee
>
Rs.
Hb.
Bahwar . •
27,807
38,859
8,623
8.623
Ttitt-
48,609
61,870
4,325
4,321
bbArl.
DeogbAti
21,031
30.434
1,520
1,534
Baotanw*
40,092
1,00,204
1,836
1,907
Total ..
1,37,591
2,34,367
16,304
' 16,396
i
7,U
1,698
1,318
Rs.
9,296
2,411
1,400
2,257
11,330
•8
3
Rs,
1,783 24,436
1,620 21,481
15,354 3,407
45,957
1,72(
1,961
1,621
1,92
7.J22
«J
etc
C8
o
>■
£
— —
Rs.
5.249
5,874
1,399
4,753
10
6,319
371
21.224
1,780
Rs.
6,865
120
1,643
8,528
Class B.
Class
C.
5
£
Rs.
13,6ft W.S74
l7,dtf 20,901
31,071
51,475
Rs.
48,145 1,10,687
61,030 1,32,933
39,400
63,467
2,120,61 ,4,82,3 16 700
Rs.
68
1,466
73,804/ 18 140
1,15,411: 47* 4,724
6,388
Rs.
6
579.
43*
68
69a
Exported across Nepal Frontier in the same year.
Class A.
Class B.
Class
C.
Name of
eutposD.
I
3
a
V
&
s
e
•a
a
3
s
i
1
a,
R
1.1
S B .
5 S 3
.3
3
6
4
l
|
>
60
0
*3
>
1
0
•a
>
1
"3
-3
>
"Si
"Z
•
0
-3
>
.SP
'a
s
0
0
2
1
0
0
"3
>
©
*
©
1
Rs.
R,
Rs.
Ri.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Babwar
Tiitl-
bhari.
DeoghAtj
Naotan-
wa,
292
29,93
3,226
33,793
860
2,82.
631
6,463
453
5,493
550
3,897
242
1,462
13,973
1,36,665
6
18
3,67;
6,277
12(1
115
6,770
6,105
2,244
11,103
27,331
1,90,835
856
1,508
2,062
8,23*
968
6,4 JO
«,070
3,608
-
3,614
6,011
722
797
4,511
4,002
493
26s
1,593
1,262
1,572
2,b«rt
1,027
1,190
1,113
1,695
82,998
71,377
18
115
M.0<H
3.S6
110
6,996
1,981
4,378
4,160
1,06,256
87,740
587
193
3,-7*
387
1,508
2,053
3323
479
::;
19,610
2,146
Total
'.4,791
3,456.
\ 3,94
9,831
10,413
6,654
4,512
3074)03
157
27,89
m
20,955
11,885
1,12,162 3;i 26
9,418
9,989
9^80
r
29,411
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GORAKHPUB.
417
As, however, traffic finds its way across the frontier by numerous by-
paths, the registration is confessedly imperfect. It has been determined to
move the Nepal posts further back from the frontier, chiefly on account of the
highly malarious character of their present sites : and this measure is likely
to increase also the accuracy of the returns. The figures for the Bengal posts
have been supplied in less detail, being simply arranged under the headings of
class A, or articles whose value is generally proportionate to their weight ;
class B, beasts or other chattels reckoned by number; and class C, goods
whose value bears no relation to their weight :—
Imposts.
EXPOBTS.
Class
Class
Class
Clast
Class
Class
A.
£.
c.
A.
B.
C.
Tost.
•
a
a
a
o
a
a
n
o
B
p
o
a
3
P
O
6
a
hi) **
.2? o>
*3
0
"5
*o5
0>
9
*3
"5
£
>
*
t>
>
Rs.
!* t>
£
>
P>
Ri.
Bs.
Ks.
Rs.
Rs.
Samfir
15,469
1,95,436
1,274
2,399
1,427
44,984
1,19.300
9,449
42,091
42Q
Gat nig list ...
10,966
2,06,996
4,705
6,069
1,968
6,056
18,345
1,90,61]
2,242
929
1,076
Total ...
26,425
4,02,431
4,367
7,482
63,329
3,10,111
11,691
43,021
1,496
For the Deorighat post, which at the close of 1877-78 had been estab-
lished for nine months only, the returns are even simpler. They may bo
shown for half a year as follows : —
Imports.
Exports.
Whence or whither bound.
Maunds.
Rupees.
Maunds*
Rupees
■To or from Ghuiipor
Azamgarh
24,124
8,509
1C,09,396
2,14,908
8,468
2,839
62,291
24,303
Total
32,633
16,24,204
J 1,307
76,594
The principal imports passing this station were, from Gh&zipur, Euro-
pean piece-goods (15,088 maunds), oilseeds, and saltpetre; from Azamgarh,
cotton goods, oilseeds, and metals. The chief exports were to Gh&zipur ric$
•(5,528 maunds), and to Azamgarh grain.
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418 GORAKHPCR.
From these registration statistics and other information it may be
Summary of ex- gathered that the chief exports of Gorakhpur are rice, sugar,
porta and import*. graillj and 0ilseeds ; the chief imports, European and other
cloth. The district, in fact, disposes to others of its surplus food, and receives
from others their surplus clothing. The distinctive feature of the cloth-trade
is the import of European piece-goods from Gh&zipur. In the district itself, of
•whose total area but '002 per cent, is under cotton, little cloth is produced. Indi-
genous cotton and cotton manufactures find their way from many surrounding
marts, and chiefly through Oudh from Cawnpore. But European fabrics are des-
patched from a few distributing centres only, of which Ghazipur is one. The
merchants who export grain are said to take in exchange large quantities of
doth, which are sold at Gorakhpur, Barhaj, Dh&ni, Sahibganj, and Mendhfiwal,
to numerous travelling retailers (baipdri). Gorakhpur is of course the principal
seat of this business ; and a statement of its cloth and other imports will be
found in the Gazetteer portion of this notice. A good deal of cloth is re-exported
to Nep&l, just as most of the Nep&l rice is re-exported to other districts. Amongst
minor imports must be mentioned the timber, hides, braziery, deer-horns, wool,
and ivory, that Nep&l sends into this district. In Sidhua Jobna, also, is a large
liide trade. That of Salempur has somewhat declined — a fact which, as the
business tended to encourage cattle-poisoning, is hardly to be regretted. Brass
and iron vessels find their way from Patna and Calcutta as well as Nep&l.
The district trade is of quite modern growth. In 1802 Mr. Routledge
Growth of the pre- writes that " the dmil has before parting wrung out the
sent trade. j^ remnant 0f wealth in this desolated province. Nothing
is grown beyond the bare necessaries of life, though the soil is good and fine
crops might be grown on it. The produce is barely sufficient for local consump-
tion." But jealous of a monopoly which they feared might be infringed, and of
forests whose clearance they dreaded, the Company's officers did little at first to
encourage trading enterprise. One of their first measures was to order a Mr.
McCleish, who sought leave to build a bungalow, out of the district.
The first export trade seems to have been in timber, ifrhich anyone wa3
apparently allowed to cut on payment of a duty. The collection of this duty
was in 1803 farmed for Rs. 11,501. There was also some traffic in cattle and
in a kind of coarse cloth imported from Nepfil ; but the chief articles of import
were salt and sugar. Small as it was, this trade was almost crushed by end-
less duties. Mr. Routledge reported that a sdir tax was levied on every article
crossing the NepAl frontier, the Ghagra, and the Gandak , and a rahddri or
transit duty at every parganah boundary which it crossed. He endeavoured
to make these imports smaller and more certain ; and selecting at the same
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GORAKHPim. 419'
time trade depots in each parganah, placed over each depdt a police officer
(kotwdl) and a public weigbman. In 1803 he speaks of establishing a flourish*
ing trade between Btitwal (then within British limits), Bhutan, and Tibet.
Btitwal was then as now the great oentre of Nep&l trade in this part of the
submontane country. The same year an exceptionally dry season caused a
scarcity, and a bounty was granted on the import of grain.
In 1806 application was made by another European, Mr. Yeld, for leave
td build rt a residence for purposes of cultivating indigo and manufacturing the
same." The Collector of the day strongly supported the request ; but the Gover-
nor-General in Council refused it, as against public policy. In 1807 mention is
made of bank-notes appearing in the district ; agd in 1805 or 1809 some land
was at length granted for an indigo factory in Azamgarh, then a part of this
district. Excise seems always to have yielded a large revenue, and the amount
of this in 1812 was Bs. 1,07,405; but excise hardly perhaps comes within the
scope of a trad6 history.
In 1812-13 exportation of grain into Oudh and Nepal was forbidden,
in view of *c the impending scarcity." After a few months, however, the pro-
hibition was removed. Three or four years later mention is made of a consi-
derable trade from Benares in cloth, sugar, and saltpetre. In 1820 Lahori
salt is noticed as selling at 2£ seers the rupee, and in the same year mention is
made of an ad valorem duty of 5 per cent, on all goods coming into Gorakhpur
city. In 1824 the Collector reported on the large lac trade flourishing in Bansi
and other places, and with Government consent imposed a heavy tax thereon.
As an illustration of the means by which Government officers sought in those
days to increase their salaries, it may be mentioned that he respectfully
claimed a percentage on the collections, as a reward for having discovered this
new source of revenue.
In 1827 the Governor-General in Council again grew uneasy about Eng-
lish and other European interlopers, " often men who have accumulated money
by embezzlement, and who nowwish to take the trade of the oountry into their
own hands." This gives the clue to the objections entertained by Government
against indigo-planters and other European settlers. It was feared that in a
vast district, officered by but one or two European officials, such persons might
acquire sufficient influence to monopolise trade.
In 1830, after Mr. Reade's appointment as Magistrate and Collector, we
hear the first mention of a considerable export trade in grain. He writes that
" the roads to Nepal, Oudh, Saran, Ghazipur, and Tirhtit are in excellent order,
and large quantities of grain have lately been exported for the western
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420 GORAKHPUR.
markets." Iii the same year salt outposts were established to stop the illicit
trade with Oudh, and an immediate rise in the price of salt ensued. In 1831
the first jungle grant was leased to Mr, McLachlan.
About 1835, Buchanan made some attempt to gauge the exports and im-
ports from or to the north of the district. How unsuccessful the attempt was
may perhaps be gathered from the fact that he valued the rice imports at over
18 lakhs of rupees. The more modest modern estimate of the Agriculture
and Commerce Department ( Its. 2,34,367), though no doubt imperfect, is far
more likely to be accurate. Buchanan's rice, moreover, was all, save a minute
fraction, husked ; and recent returns shows that the rice now imported is
all, save a minute fraction, unhusked. It is hard, again, to believe him when
he writes that the greater part of commodities other than timber " is sent by
land carriage, and not by rivers." His remarks on the state of arts, commerce,
and manufactures disclose the existence of no remarkable or peculiar in-
dustry. The arts were washing, carpentry, and boat-building ; the manufac-
tures brazen vessels, threads or string, cloth, and salt. The commerce in grain
and sugar is noticed, and the timber trade mentioned as one of considerable
importance, in which two Europeans are engaged. And we are told that the
copper, copper-vessels, and copper-coin, " all come from the dominions of
Gurkha."
In 1839 it is mentioned that the owner of an indigo factory near Barhaj
applied for a lease of the town and market for Rs. 1,000 yearly. He was refused,
on the ground that he wished to compel the cultivation and export of indigo,
which the people much dislike. But it is not even hinted that the town is a
great centre of trade, and the export business of Gorakhpur seems in truth to
have been irregular and unimportant until 1840. When Government treasure
was not unfrequently snatched by gang-robbers from the custody of the spear-
men, private traders would have been foolish to carry about them more than a
few rupees worth of goods.
The rise of the present trade undoub tedly dates from the revision of
police by Mr. Reade,1 and the clearance of the forest under numerous leases
about 1810, when large tracts were granted to different gentlemen whose capi-
tal and enterprise gave a stimulus to commerce generally. How greatly com-
merce has extended in the last twenty years may perhaps be shown by the
statistics relating to the import of cloth. Mr. Swinton's Manual2 values the
cloth imported yearly into the district about 1860 at half a lakh of rupees.
The Provincial Administration Report for 1862-63 increases the figure to two
ldkhs. About 1872, the imports of cloth into Gorakhpur city alone wero
1 Supra, p. 377 * P. 25,
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GORAKHPUR. -421
deemed worth 3£ lakh*, aud the municipal returns for 1876-77 show that in
that year the figure was actually over 5 lakhs.
There is still room for an extension of the trade, especially with Nepdl ;
and if the Government of that country would but remove some of the import
and export duties which now press on the traders, and turn their attention to
improving the roads between Butwal and Lotan, or making some of the small
streams in the same neighbourhood navigable, a large import business in copper,
iron, and timber might be expected.
In the foregoing remarks on trade have been mentioned the principal
marts of the district. But in each parganah are several
Afarfcets And fairs*
lesser towns or villages where markets occur once or more
weekly. At certain places fairs are held, generally in honour of religious fes-
tivals. The largest is the Dhanuk Jag fair at Baikunthpur, in parganah Salem-
pur-Majhauli. Held in November- December (Aghan), to commemorate the
marriage of R&ma, it has an estimated attendance of from 30,000 to 40,000
persons, and lasts a fortnight. The bathing-fair at B&nsighat in Sidhua Jobna,
held in the preceding month, is said to gather together 25,000 people, who
for three days wash their sins away in the Gandak. Similar gatherings with
10,000 or 15,000 attendants -muster at Rudarpur in Silhat on the Shiurfittri
festival in February-March ; at Barhaj on the Karttik Puranm&shi in October-
November ; at Birdgh&t in Haveli, on the R&mlila in August-September; at
Barhalganj on both Ramlila and K&rttik Puranmashi ; at Paikauli in Salem*
pur, on the Janam-Ashtami and Ramnauamf, in March and August ;l at
the Sohu&g shrine, in April-May ; at Bahrdmpur in Haveli, in May-June, to
celebrate the memory of Sayyid Saldr-i-Masdud, saint and martyr; at Kabfr-
n&th in Sidhua Jobna, to worship at Shiv&'s shrine ; and at Tarkulwa, in tho
same parganah, to worship at that of his consort. Commerce and gaiety are tho
principal objects of these fairs ; but the religious character which attaches to
them is still something more than a fiction.
In the measures used at its marts and fairs the Gorakhpur district
Weights and moa- ^ mos* peculiar. In some parganahs every small market
8ures* village has its own standards of capacity, weight, and
measure. These vary not only from place to place, but in many cases
with the nature of the commodity sold. The Government maund weighs as
usual 8,2281b. avoirdupois, containing 4 panseris or 20 sers of 2,0571b. each ;
while tho ser contains 16 chhat&ks of about 2 ounces. But in some par-
gariahs, as for instance Binayakpur, these measures are altogether unknown.
1 At Paikauli lives a holy man named Fanhan-ji, who presides over the fairs both at that
place and Baikunthpur.
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423
60BAKHPU8.
There the weight of 4 B6twal pice equals 1 ganda ; 25-gandas equal 1 *jij
16 seis, one m∋ and 16 minis, one gon.1 The sei weighs 1*149 of a
Government ser. The mini is a familiar measure of seed, and therefore of
land,2 in Bundelkhand and the Central Provinces. The rajia or razia is another
grain measure, weighing 42 gandas of pice.
The measures of area are no less Protean. The following table shows
the officially reoognized value of the bigha in different parganahs : —
Parganah.
Measure of
Government
bigha in square
yards.
Number of
bfgbaa to the
acre.
Bigha, what
decimal fraction
of the acre.
Dhuriapar, Bbauapar}
Chiliupar and Anoia 5
TUpnr and Binayakpur
,Maghar
fiidhoa Jobna M. — M.
•Majbanlt
SUhat
Shahjahinpur ... •••
.Haveli
3,186
4,444
8,588
1,968
3,806
3,161
9,600
3,164
1-5433+
1-0891
1-8700
S-4593
1*4640
1-5311
184
1*5297 +
•6480
•9181 +
•7300
•4066+
•6880 +
6531
'7436 +
•6537 +
The bigha is the square of the measure of length known as a jarib or
chain. The jarib contains as a rule 20 laiha^ a term which may be literally
tiauslated rod or pole; and the latha 5 hdths or cubits. The ignorance of
mensuration shown by the common people throws a great power for evil into
the hands of the landlord and village accountant. " I have over and over
again," writes Mr. White in his Haveli Settlement Report, " asked a cultivator
to give me his idea of a bigha, to measure it off in paces3 or otherwise intelligibly
describe it to me. And the invariable reply has been — ' Don't know. Whatever
the zamind&r and patwari mark off and point out to us, that is our holding of
so many bighas, and we pay rent accordingly.' The better sort of cultivators
are not so obtuse ; but I speak of the general ruck of raiyaU" A quarter of a
bigha, or 5 biswas, is sometimes called manda; and half a mile, or a quarter
of a Jcos, is known as dhdb. The bigha is used as a measure of distanoe as well
as area.
1 Under the name of don, this measure is familiar also in the west and south. * The
.measurement of land by the quantity of seed required to sow it is common amongst the hifla "'
on either aide of Ganges valioy. See Mr. Oonybeare's Note on Parganah Duahi and ift
aneetment, Chap. IV. 8 The pace, elsewhere Warn, is here known as parag or deg.
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GOBAKHPtm.
423
The statistics of this part of the notice may be closed with a financial
District receipts statement showing the total revenue and expenditure
and expenditure.
of the district for three out of the past fifteen years
:—
Receipts.
18*3-64.
1870-71.
1877-78.
Expenditure.
863-64.
1870-71.
1877-78-
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Land revenue ...
28,35,478
16,61,642
17,34,639
Revenue charges,
1,04,719
85,470
1,26,257
SUmps
146,676
1,84,510
1,98,690
Forest
2,597
4,581
...
Miscellaneous and
••«
...
...
Excise
1,092
5,614
2 876
revenue receipts.
Assessed taxes,
1,894,
315
5,809
Medical receipts
12,440
48,308
27,915
Stamps
7,114
5,542
1,619
(L. and J.)
Settlement
54,667
14,670
...
Police
8,950
1,060
1,586
Judicial charges,
62,613
1,95,733
1,11,363
Public works
881
6,900
4.267
Police, district and
Income tax
1,16,616
68,845
43,214
rural
1,19,461
94,530
90,119
Local fund ...
2,90,434
3,10,584
3,78,132
Public works
13,479
11,500
1,04,000
Poet-office ...
8.319
16,170
29,611
Provincial and
Medical
...
10
local funds
2,51,601
2,65,881
283,004
Education
.
»••
749
Post-office m.
6,228
17,842
18,7215
Excise
1,18,918
1,06,843
1,00,300
Medical
8,803
9,516
18,519
Forest ...
4,953
31,760
29,861
Educational
1,200
7,750
8,661
Cash and transfer
82,639
88,160
57,505
Cash and transfer
remittances.
remittances
20,22,478
2,95,616
4,83,221
Transfer receipts
4,44,527
8,45,153
1,81,272
Transfer receipts
aud money orders.
and mooey order
13,80,247
54,813
66,139
Mud id pal funds ...
...
24,074
36,036
Municipal funds ...
...
29,397
44,277
Recoveries
6,21,745
3,480
732
Advances
9,30,051
2,780
21,696
Ledger and savings
...
1,56,785
1,54,886
Pensions
1,230
10,073
10,195
bank deposits.
Ledger and savings
Miscellaneous
35,803
16,210
11,824
bank deposits ...
...
1,11,099
1,45,028
Jail
260
2,510
6,840
Miscellaneous ..
3,160
2,130
8,775
Registration
•*•
16,284
16,121
Jail
20,879
18,100
28,331
Deposits •••
6,98,811
2,44,713
2,04,630
Registration
...
6,620
4,824
Deposits ...
6,70,296
2,69,004
2,66,261
Military
1,24,306
1,35,348
1,75,534
Interest and re-
"
funds
5,160
5,702
4,869
Total
58,56,640
1
82,82,495j3!,6I,292
Total ...
50,86,995
1
15,79,026
19,27,104
Several items of the above account seem to demand some brief detail.
The municipal funds are collected and disbursed,
hou^-Kwns.a n d under Act XV- of 1873> h7 the owporatioB of Gorakhpur.
In 11 lesser towns — Barhalganj, Gajpur, Gaura, Gola,
Larb, Padrauna, Pipraich, R&mpur-Kb&npur, Rudarpur, Salempur-Majhauli,
and Siswa-baz6r — a house-tax is levied under Act XX. of 1856 on well-to-do
residents. The income and outlay both of such towns and tho municipality
54
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424
GORAKHPUR.
will be detailed in the Gazetteer articles on each. Meanwhile, it may be
mentioned that the expenditure is in every case chiefly on police, conservancy,
and public works.
The income-tax was imposed by an Act of 1870, and abolished with the
close of the financial year 1872-73. It was in the latter
^Income and license- leyied up(m 55g incomes exceeding Rs. 1,000, and
realized Rs. 18,528. The license-tax, imposed by Act
VIII. of 1877, was in force for a part of 1877-78, attaining in that year a
total return of Rs. 43,214.
Excise is levied under Act X. of 1871, The income
and expenditure under this head may be shown for five
years as follows :—
Excise.
1
Qi
O
03
CO
'3
a,
0
tn
00
2
i
|
'3.
§ §
00 O
a a
0
n
at
ao
O
e8
o
CO
s
ft*
"3
8
ft*
Q
Rs
H
O
fe
O
a
55
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
7,500
746
16,602
48n
665
97,101
4,9*2
92,170
7,872
238
16,210
1,025
108
78,377
3,805
74,571
9,156
240
14,249
1,494
28
88,444
2,938
85,506
10,100
360
17,210
1,406
21
1,04,534
1>,450
102,085
14,394
492
19,805
1,549
10
1,19,198
3,356
115,842
Stamp duties are collected under the Court Fees Act (VII.) of 1870 and
the Stamp Act (I.) of 1879, which has lately superseded
Stan,pS' that of 1869.
period as the last the revenue and charges under this head :—
The following table shows for the same
6
■i*
09
*c5
-4 0*
11
s
a
to
0) ^
P4
00
Of
to
CD
Yean
.0 «
5 ®
00
u
ft-
c5
.fi
O
.5*
0
s *■
2 '3
2a
ft*
O
5.3
3
0
OQ
00
2
ft*
W *
w
O
Q
H
0
*4
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
1872-7.1
1,140
82,603
1,12,394
497
1,46,634
3,054
1,43,580
1873-74
814
35,377
1,34,292
375
1,70,858
2,605
1 ,68,752
1874-75
1,486
37,145
1,27,679
279
1,66,639
2,771
1,63,368
1875-78
1,259
29,341
1,36,628
410
1,67,637
3,068
1,64,568
1878-77
1,525
32,088
1,44,908
228
1,78,749
3,148
1,75,092
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GORAKHPUR.
425
Registration.
Judicial.
In 1876-77 there were 4,728 documents registered under the Registration
Act (VIII. of 1871), and on these fees to the amount of
Rs. 13,192-6-3 were collected. The expense of establish-
ment and other charges amounted during the same year to Bs. 4,755-11-7.
The total value of all property affected by registered documents is returned as
Rs. 21,91,318, of which Rs. 19,35,412 represents immoveable, and the remainder
moveable property.
Connected with the subject of judicial recjipta and expenditure is the
number of cases tried. This amounted in 1878 to 42,197,
of which 5,853 were tried by civil, 6,017 by criminal,
and 30,327 by revenue courts.
The medical charges are incurred chiefly at the six dispensaries : the
contral at Gorakhpur, and branches at Rudarpur, Kasia,
Medical statistics. _. , . . ^ . . . . __ , . .. . JL
JDarnalganj, Uelahana, and Maharajganj. The returns
given below show that the chief endemic disease of the district is intermittent
fever or ague, due to the moisture of the climate, the highness of the spring-
level, and the abundance of forest. The character of the ague varies in different
parts of the district. In the south it is comparatively mild ; but in the north,
towards the Tarai, it is of a severe and often intractable type, being attended with
complications of the liver and spleen. The latter form of the disease often goes
by the name of Gorakhpur fever. Goitre is extremely common on the calca-
reous bfidt lands near the river Gandak and its branches. It may be attributed,
with great probability to the water, whioh contains large quantities of lime salts
in solution. The severest cholera epidemic of later years appears to have been
that of 1869. Dr. Prentis came to the conclusion that about 11 per cent, of
the inhabitants of Gorakhpur perished from it, and the cholera returns of the
year show for the whole district 8,593 deaths. The mortuary statements for
the five recent years may be thus summarised : —
Year.
Fever.
Small-
pox.
Bowel
com-
plaints.
Cholera.
Other
causes.
Total.
Proportion
of deaths to
every 1,<KH>
of popula-
tion.
1873 ••• »••
1874
1875 ... •••
1876 ••• •••
1877
37,028
84,308
28,969
32,439
36,329
14,928
13,795
611
765
68
2,312
2,580
2,286
1,272
1,441
429
3,988
2,662
898
4,285
6,270
4,835
5,604
6,778
8,179
59,967
69,506
40,099
49,131
29*69
29*46
19*85
20*66
23-40
The number of deaths from small-pox will at once arrest attention.
But that the Government vaccinators have not been idle will be seen from the
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426
GORAKHPU*.
following figures:— In 1873-74 as many as 6,912 ont of 10,111 vaccine opera-
tions were successful; in 1874-75, 11,515 out of 16,027 ; 12,700 out of 15,956
in 1875-76 ; 19,584 out of 23,585 in 1876-77 ; and in 1877-78, 22,013 out
of 24,711.
The following exhaustive list of indigenous medicines was supplied by
the kindness of Dr. Prentis. It will be seen that many of them are familiar
to the European as well as native pharmacopoeia : —
Order.
Scientific name.
Vernacular name.
Part used.
Vbqbtablb,
Ranunculacess
•••
Ranunculus sceteratus
•••
•••
Menispermacese
•••
Cocculus cordifolivs »
•••
Guluncha
Root.
Papayeracea
•M
Papaver comniferum
•••
Post, afim C poppy,
opium).
Capsule ; juice from
seeds ; oil.
ft
•••
Argemone Mexicana
•••
Shiyal-kanta «•
Oil from seeds.
Fumariacea
•••
fumaria parviflora
•••
8hahtara
Mt
Craciferse
•••
• ••
Sinapis juncea
„ alba
—
...
^™°n}(m«.tMd)
Ditto.
i*
•••
Leptdium sativum
•••
Halim (cress) ...
Seed.
Capparidaoen
• ••
Gynandropsis heptaphylla,
Karaela —
Ditto.
Tamaricace©
•••
Tamarix Gallica
•••
Jhao (tamarisk) ...
•••
Malrace©
•••
Hibiscus tsculentus
...
Bhindi, okra •••
Capsules.
n
M«
Sida acuta
•••
Kungoni ...
Root.
9$
•••
Gossypium herbaeeum
...
Kapis (cotton) ...
Hairs attached to
seed.
Fruit.
Tiliacese
...
Grswia Asiatic*
••«
Phalsa
Aurantiaoea
• ••
Citrus aurantium
•••
Naraogi (orange) ..
Ditto.
»
...
„ Umonum
...
Nimbu (lemon) ...
Ditto.
it
...
»i Bergamia
•••
(bergamot)
Ditto.
n
»••
JEgU marmeios
•••
Bel
Ditto.
r*
•••
Feronia elephantum
•••
Kath-bel, kaith —
Ditto.
Meliacese
»••
Mcha atedarach
•••
Nfm
Bark and leaves.
Cedrelacea
• ••
Cednla toona
•••
Tun
Bark.
linace®
•«•
Linum usitattssimum
•••
Tisi, alsi (linseed)
Oil from seeds.
Anacardiacea
—9
Mangiftta Indica
•••
Am (mango)
Kernel of seeds.
Leguminous
• ••
Clitoria ternatea
•••
AparsjtU
8eeds, root.
»•
"•
Dalbergia sissoo
•••
Shfsham (*' Indian
rosewood").
Bark.
it
—
Mucuna prurient
Mff
Kiwach (cowach)...
Hairs on pod.
99
•••
Butea frondosa
—
PaWB, dhak
Seeds and gum.
n
•••
Abrus prccatarius
M*
Mtilhati (Indian
liquorice).
Amaltis ...
Boot.
>♦
•••
Cassia fistula
•••
Pulp of pods.
•1
•«.
„ alata
• ••
•—
...
M
•m
Alhagi Maurorum
• ••
Jawftsa M,
8accharine exudation*
■•
—
Cmsalpinia bonducelt*
• ••
Kath-karanj
Seeds.
l»
••%
Tamarind** Indica
•••
Irali (tamarinds) ...
Pulp of pods.
n
•••
Acacia Arabica
•••
Babtt
Qum (arabic).
19
—
99 catechu
••«
Kbair kath
Catechu.
Moringaoea
M#
Moringa pterygosperma
•••
Sabajna, sainjna
(** Indian horse-
radish").
Boot.
Lytbraret»
... 1 Lawtpnia alb*
•••
Mihndi (henna) •••
Leaves.
«•
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GOKAKHrUR.
427
Order.
Scientific name.
Vernacular name.
Part used.
Combretaceas
Terminalia bell erica
••«
Bahera} fmyroba-
Fruit
t>
•••
• „ chebula
...
Harra > lans).
Ditto.
Granate®
•♦•
Punica granatum
•••
Anar (pomegra-
nate).
Bind of fruit and
bark of root.
Cucurbitaceas
•••
Cucurbita pepo
—
Eadu (pumpkin) .♦.
Seed.
»»
•••
Cucvmis utilissimus
...
Kakri (cucumber),
Ditto.
Umbelliferas
•••
Carum nigrum
...
Zira, kila
Fruit.
t«
•N
Cuminum Cyminum
• ••
„ sufed (cummin)
Ditto.
tt
M.
Ptychotis Ajowan
...
Ajwftin (aniseed) ..
Ditto.
>i
••■
Foeniculum panmorium
...
Sonf (fennel) ...
Ditto.
H
• ••
Anethum soma
• ••
Sowa (diU)
Ditto.
»
•••
Coriandrum sativum
*M
Dhanya (coriander-
seed).
Gajar (carrots) ...
Ditto.
n
...
Dave u& carota
M.
Root.
n
• ••
HydrocotyU Ariatica
...
Jal-kari (water
cress?).
Leaves.
Composite
• ••
Cichorium Intybus
Vermmia anthelmintica
• ••
Kasi (chicory) ...
Fruit.
«••
...
...
Ditto.
Arteminia Jndica
•••
Danna ...
Leaves.
l»
• ••
Matricaria suavedens
...
Babuna-k£-phal ...
Flowers,
Sapotacess
••■
Bassia latifolia
• ••
Mahua ...
Kernel of seeds.
Asclepiadace®
...
Cahtropis gigantea
••1
Madax ...
Bark of roots.
ft
•••
Hemidtsmus Indicus
• ••
Anantamul ...
Ditto.
Apocynace©
»••
Holarrhena antidysenterica,
Indarjau ...
Seeds.
99
• ••
Nerium odorum
• ••
Kanir (oleander) ...
Root.
LoganiaceflB
• ••
Slrychnos nux vomica
M.
Eachila ...
Seeds.
Bignoniacess
• ••
Sesamum Indicum
•••
Til
Oil from seeds.
Convolvulacea
• ••
Pharbilis nil
• *.
Kala dlna
Ditto.
»
•M
Ipomma Turpethum
Datura alba
• ••
Trepatta M
Roots.
Setanacess
•••
M*
Dhatura ...
Leaves and seeds.
w
...
Solatium Jacquinii
»••
Kutnya
Fruit and root.
ft
• ••
„ Indicum
•••
Kulai
Root.
91
•«•
Nicotiana tabacum
...
Tambiku (tobacco,)
Leaves.
_ t»
• ••
Cupsioum annuum
•••
Lai mirch (chiU), ...
Fruit.
Labiates
...
Mentha viridis
—
Podina (mint) ...
Leaves.
M
ft
• ••
Ocimum sanctum
„ basilicum
•••
Tulsi \ ,. .lx
Bihan J(ba8ll> -
Seeds.
»
...
Dracoeephalum Royleonum,
Bslangu „
Kafur-k*-patta ... J
Ditto.
VerDenaceae
•••
Meliandra Bengalensis
...
Leaves.
•••
Vitex negundo
•M
Nirgunch, nirgunthi,
Boot, leaves, and
fruit.
Leaves and root.
t>
*—
CUrodendron viscosun
...
Bhant
_ »»
• ••
Verbena officinalis
HI
•••
Leaves.
Plumbaginace©
•«•
Plumbago rosea
...
L41 chitra —
Bark and root*
»•
• ••
„ zeylanica
• ••
Chitra, chitrftng ...
Bark of root.
Aristolochiacess
• «•
Aristolochia Mtlica
•••
Tsan mui . -,
Koot.
Suphorbiacess
• ••
EmbHca officinalis
...
Aonla ...
Seeds and bark.
»
•••
Rottlera tinctoria
M«
Kamala
Leaves covering
capsules.
»
...
Ricinvs communis
•••
Arcnda (castor-oil
plant).
Leaves and oil from
seeds.
i*
• ••
Croton tiglium
••«
Jamilgota (oroton-
oil plant.)
Ditto.
_ •»
• ••
Jatropha curcas
•••'
Bagrandi —
Ditto.
Urticacese
• ••
Cannabis saliva
•••
Bhang (wild hemp,)
Resin and flowering
_ n
•m
Ficus Carica
•*•
Anjir (fig)
top.
Fruit.
Zingiberaceae
...
Zingiber officinale
Curcuma Tonga
• •«
Adrak (ginger) ...
Rhiaome,
_. »»
•••
.«■
Haldi (turmeric) ...
Tubers.
Musacesa
•tt
Musa sapientum
•••
Kela (plantain, ba-
nana).
Leaves.
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488
GORAKHPDK.
Order,
Scientific name.
Verncular name.
Part used.
Lilioceas
»••
Scilla Jndica ...
Kandra, Kundru
(squills J
Niriyal (cocoanot)
Akh (sugarcane) ...
Bulb.
Palmaceae
Gramlnaceas
•••
Coeos nucifera ...
Sacckarum officinarum Mt
Kernel of fruit and
its oil.
Sugar.
Animal.
Annelida
•••
Hirudo medicinali* ...
Jonk (leech)
The living annelid
itself.
Honey and wax.
Coleoptera
Hymenoptera
.••
Mylairia cichorii
Apis nullified ...
Teli
Madhmakhi (honey-
bee.)
Inorganic.
»
•••
•••
•••
Carbo ligni
Potasta nitras ...
Calcis carbonas impurus ...
5orfti chloridium ...
Eocla (charcoal.)
Shora (saltpetre.)
Kankar chuuam.
Nimak (table-salt.)
Cattle-disease.
Like other skilled Europeans who have investigated the subject, Dr.
Prentis has little belief in empirical native systems of medicine. He thinks
that the district does not contain a single " enlightened hakim" Turning from
man to beast, he observes that though rot sometimes
appears amongst the sheep, he has heard of no regular
cattle-epidemic. Mr. Orooke adds, however, that rinderpest (debi or debt ka-
niksdr) is often imported into the district by cattle returning from the Tarai
pastures. Foot-and-mouth disease (khdna) is common and causes, if it occurs
at agricultural seasons, great injury. The rot mentioned by Dr. Prentis is
most frequent in the Ghdgra and Rapti valleys.
We close this portion of the notice with a sketch of the district history.
The legends of the traditional age which preceded the
advent of the Muslims are as usual contradictory, absurd,
and untrustworthy. But by the aid of other lights the following main points
can be made out. The districts of Gorakhpur and Basti probably formed part
of the ancient kingdom of Mahd-kosala.1 Rama, who seems a not altogether
mythical hero, is said to have passed some time in prac-
tising austerities near the junction of Rapti and Ghagra
in Gorakhpur. It was here that he received instruction from the sage Visva-
mitra ; here that he in gratitude ceded the country north of Sarju to that sage's
Kausik descendants. Some Brahmans of the district affirm, indeed, that the
name Gorakhpur is a corruption of Gaurakshpur, denoting the country in
^Buchanan's Eastern India (1838), p. 925.
History.
Bama, circ, 8COB. C. ?
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. *
GOKAKHPUR. 429
which R4ma tended the herds of cattle belonging to his uncle during a season
of great drought at Ajudhya. Though undoubtedly wrong, the derivation
is of some value as evidence in favour of the theory that the district was at
one time a part of Mahfc-kosala and an appanage of Ajudhya.
Buchanan places the death of Rdma and first destruction of Ajudhya
about 750, and the second destruction of that city abont 512 years before Christ.
The birth of Buddha, S&kya Muni, or Gautama, took place, according to
Gautama Buddha, circ. the Desfc authorities, at some date between 600 and 550 B.C.
**> B-C. at Kapila ; while his death occurred between 550 and
500 B.C. at Kusianagara, which General Cunningham1 has satisfactorily
identified with Kasia in pargana Sidhua Jobna. From the accounts which
we possess of his life and death, and from the description given of the
country by Hwen Thsang, the Chinese traveller, it is certain that the country
in the neighbourhood of Padrauua and Gorakhpur was
ar mrm ©a. ^^ ^ ^ ^^ localities in which the Buddhist doctrines
gained general adherence, about 500 B.C. The next event in order of time
Conquest by the Bhsrs, is the traditional conquest of the district by the Bhars
°- B«E!«nn« £h4^(i8, and Thariis.
evre* 500-460 B. C.
Buchanan asserts that, according to the people of Ajudhya, their city
remained "deserted from the date of its second destruction till the era of Vik-
ramiditya (57 B.C.) He quotes also other legends showing the spread of
Buddhism down to Benares ; the expulsion of the family of the Sun from that
town; and the destruction of the same race at Ajudhya, and of the Lunar race
at Magadha, by the Cherus. He adds a tradition, familiar in the district,
oftheatte mpt made by some R&ja of one of these two
before 7hemP1into this races to establish himself near Rudarpur2 and found a
di8trict- new Kfahi (Benares).
His account is much confused ; but the local tradition clearly points to the
fact that this R&jacame from Ajudhya after its second destruction (512 B.C.),
and had very nearly succeeded in completing the walls of his new city.
When, however, 999 out of the 1,000 projected temples had been built, he
was overwhelmed and slain by the Bhars and oilier
Bat is ejected. . , .,
impure tribes.
Buchanan alludes in the same passage to an invasion of Gurkhas, who, he
says, were expelled by the Tharus ; and he seems to consider these last were Chi-
nese. But the Gurkhas, as is well known, were not heard of till very much later.3
i Archaohaical Survey Reports, vol. II. ; see also Gazetteer article on Katia. ■ Iuparpma
Silhat. Buchanan mentions that thejplace was then called Hansakshetra or 'G**1*. «* gires
the name of the prince as Vasishta Singh, ; Probablynot till the sixteenth century A. D.
Svpra p. 363
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430 OOBAKHPUB.
And it is likely that they have been confused with the Cherds and Bhars, namea
which were probably synonymous.1 It is probable that on the first Aryan
invasion these Bhars and Cheriis fled for the refuge to the hills ; and that their
long residence in the mountains, before descending to reconquer the plains,
may account for their confusion with Gurkhas. In a long article on the Bhars
Mr. Sherring has plausibly proved that they once ruled a wide tract including
the bulk of Gorakhpur and Basti, and extending to the foot of the Vindhyas in
Mirzapur. Their present degraded status in no way disproves his theory,
which is that the Bhars and other aboriginal tribes succeeded for a time in
reconquering the Aryan invaders. The Bhars themselves say they came from
the west, and the R&jbhars claim connection with the Rajputs. But the latter
pretension is easily explained by the desire of a conquered and utterly crushed
people to give themselves more consequence in the eyes of their conquerors.
The only difficulty in identifying the Bhars with the aboriginal Cheriis
lies in the tradition which unites them with the ThArus.
Bhim^d^hiSs q^t£ The latter were eiiter originally Hindus, or anciently
rt^ te tota^ Hinduized to a far greater extent than any other race
we are acquainted with. Their tradition of descent
from Bajputs of Chittor has been already noticed.2 They sometimes trace
their lineage to Br&hmans who lost caste by mixing with the aborigines, drink-
ing spirits, and eating flesh. But they also assert kinship with the Nep&l
Br&hmans, whose rules have been relaxed somewhat similarly. While dismiss-
ing these theories as unlikely, Buchanan notices their pretension to be consi-
dered the real descendants of the Sun, who, dispossessed for a time by Gur-
khas or impure tribes, recovered their kingdom after a short period of exile.
It is not improbable that this last tradition may be founded on fact. The
Th&rus may really, perhaps, represent the remnant of the old Siiraj-
bansi invaders, who, unable to escape southwards from the Bhars, took refuge
in Nep&l. They may have afterwards descended, and settling down amongs .
the conquerors, lost their caste distinctions. It may indeed be doubted if the
strict rules regarding eating and other habits of life were in force at so early
a date as that of the expulsion of the Aryans. The title Th&ru perhaps, as
already noticed, records the servile condition of the tribe under Bhar rule.*
The tradition which makes Tharus leaders amongst the Bhars is easily
explained by the closer connection between the former and the Aryans,
and the unwillingness of later Aryan conquerors to allow that the Bhars were
ever a nation strong enough to dispossess them of the country.
1 Buchanan seems to think that the Cheriis represent a distinct and earlier wave of
intasion than the Bhars. But Messrs. Sherring and C. A. Elliott (Chronichs of Unao) consider
these races identical. > Supra pp. 357-58. > Ibid*
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GORAKHPUB. 431
The Th4nis are said to have ruled the whole district with great splen-
dour, and to have constructed castles all along the Ghigra. But it is more
convenient to suppose that they have been confounded with the Bhars, and to
accept the common theory that the latter were the really predominant race of
that day. Whatever the caste of the new rulers, the fact remains that, shortly
after the rise of Buddhism, wild or aboriginal tribes succeeded in turning the
tables on their civilized Aryan masters.
" When the Aryan race first settled in Ajudhya, " writes Mr. C. A,
Elliott, " the natural resource of the aborigines was to Gy to the hills or
jungles. When the curtain next rises we find Ajudhya destroyed, the
Sdrajbansis banished, and a vast extent of country ruled over by aborigines
called Cheru in the far east, Bhars in the centre, and U&jpusis in the westv
The history of Gorakhpur fits in exactly with this
^Bhars probably abori- gketch Fjrgt we find u fttfcacheiJ to Ajudhya as a
vast pasture land for the cattle of the Siirajbansi or
Solar princes ; next, bestowed by BAma on his spiritual instructor,
Viswamitra ; afterwards, garrisoned by one of the great chiefs of Aju-
dhya, who constructed the enormous fortified works near Rudarpur ; lastly,
annexed by a dynasty of Bhar kings, who expelled the Surajbansis not only
from Gorakhpur but also from Ajudhya and Magadha. These Bhars ruled in
all probability for many generations.
Mr. Sherring believes that the aborigines rose and expelled the Aryans
after the latter were weakened by the contest between Br&hmanism and Bud-
dhism. It is not improbable that the conquering aborigines were themselves
Buddhists or Jainas. We know that Jaina Thirus established a dynasty else-
where in the sub-Him&layan tract, 1 and we know that a Buddhist Siidra
dynasty was about 350 B. C. established at Magadha.
The legend connecting the spread of Buddhism to Benares with the des-
truction of the families of the Sun and Moon is perhaps the story of the
triumph of Buddhist Bhars or Cherus, over the Aryan invaders. The
Buddhist remains noticed by Buchanan in the neighbourhood of Rudar-
pur may perhaps have been relics of a reoocupation by Buddhist abori-
It has been mentioned that the Siirajbansi founder of buildings in the
same tract had fled eastwards before the Bhars from Ajudhya. This quite agrees
with the legend of the Bhars themselves, that they came from the west. The
date of their conquest may here be fixed at between 500 and 450 B. 0. And
.they probably passed onwards to Magadha, where, according to Elpbinstone,
>Oudh Gazetteer, 1,111
55
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432 GORAKHPUR.
Biidras established a dynasty about 400. The struggle between themselves and
their Aryan masters must have lasted for many years.
The theory now advanced that Buddhism was the religion of the Bhars
and other aboriginal or at least earlier races is sup*
.^The Bhars probably Bud- porfced by the facfc that Gorakhpur and the C0Untry
about it was certainly the tract first converted to the
new faith ; and was with equal certainty wrested from the Aryan conquerors
by the Bhars about the time when the faith began to spread. About 250 B. 0.
we find the authority of Asoka, the great Buddhist Siidra of Magadha, recog-
nized not only in this district, but elsewhere north of the Narbada, Near
Bh&galpur in parganah Salempur, is a pillar inscribed with his edicts ; while at
Kah&on, in the same parganah is a similar monument erected by some other
Gupta king. *
If assumed to have conquered the district by 450 B.C., the Bhars must
" Keconqoeet of the dfa. have he,d U for near a ^ousand years. The history
trict by the Aryans, dre. of the reconquest by the Aryans seems to correspond
with the legendary account of the revival of Brah-
inanism, known as the regeneration of the fire-races. ' But at its commence-
ment we enter on the first stage of the historic period, and pass out of that
which is merely traditional.
The first reinvasion seems to have been that of the B&thors, who, advanc-
ing from Eanauj about 550 A. D., expelled the Bhars from a tract on the east
bank of the R&pti, from its mouth to near Gorakhpur. They are said to have
established themselves in a fort near the Bamgarh lagoon ; and legends repre-
sent them as living in amity with the Th&rus.
The Chinese traveller Hwen Tbsarig passed through the country about
635 A. D., but he makes no mention of the R&ja of
6«5.Wen ***' CirC' Gorakhpur or of any other town of importance in its
neighbourhood. 8 He describes the country as filled
with ruins of Buddhist convents and relic-temples, but says that it was
for the most part desolate, overgrown with jungle and scoured by rob-
bers.
About 900-950 A. D., a R&ja called Mdn Sen, or perhaps Madan Singh,
MA - was ruler of Gorakhpur (not then, however, known
by this name). Buchanan 4 considers him to have
been a Th&ru, but other traditions represent him as a R&thor. The difference
1 Archaeological Survey Reports, vol. I. * Marshman's History, vol. I , pp. i7-i«.
« The earlier pilgrim Fa- Hi an (circ. 400 &.D.) would appear to have visited Kasia, if not Rudar*
pur and other places in the district. For a map of his probable route see volume referred to in
penultimate note. * Eastern India! vol. II., p. 843,
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GOBAKHPUR, 433
may perhaps be reconciled by the common story that the R&thora and Th&rus
held the town together.1 He seems at all events to have been a real person*
A large tank at Gorakhpur, called M&ns&war (M&n -sugar or M&n-sarovar) is
ascribed to him ; and a smaller one, named Kaulada, to his wife Kaulavati.
His wealth was widely celebrated and brought down on him an invasion by a
Invasions of the Domka- tribo called iboth in ^e district and by Buchanan
t*ars- Domkatdr, but who seem to be the same as the Donwar
Rajpnte mentioned by Oldham and Sherring.* The exact origin of this tribe
is not known, but there is no doubt that they were the descendants of Aryans
who had intermarried with the aboriginal Doms (or Domras), and that they
now fell on Man Singh's capital and sacked it. They next proceeded to establish
themselves in a very strong position to the east of the present town, and built
a fort which was called after them Domangarh, and stood on a small island
formed by the river Bohin.
After them came the mixed Bhuinhar families, which seem to have been
very common at this time. It appears, indeed, by no
And BhuinharB*
means improbable that up to about this period inter-
marriage between different races was not prohibited ; and that all the strict,
rules relating to caste were introduced only when Brahmanism had again
triumphed over the aboriginal tribes.8 It is at any rate almost oertain that at
this time the Brahmans allowed the Kajpnt chiefs who fought for them to
marry into their families, and such alliances account for the Rajput titles Kausik,
Donwar, Ac, by which Bhuinhar Brahmans have distinguished some of their
sub-divisions.4 The license of intermarriage was in some cases, like that of the
Donwars, extended to marriages with women captured from the impure abori-
ginal tribes.
The Bhufnhars invaded the district from the south, treading close on the
heels of the Domkatars. The first family is said to have settled at Harpur in
Dhuriapar, and to have been followed by that from which the Rajas of Majhauli
are descended. The ancestor of this family, Maiur or Mayyura, is called a
descendant of the Brahman Parasram (Parasurama). But by other traditions
he is styled both a Rajput and a Bhat. He is supposed to have married four
Foundation of the Ma- wives of different castes, and from one of these, a Raj-
jhauli Kaj by putni, Bissu Sen, the founder of the Bissen Rajputs
was born,
1 It would also confirm the theory that TbarGs are descended from the Solar race, and
therefore closely connected with Rsthors. • See Sherriog's Castes, page 238. The differ-
ence there noticed as made by Dr. Oldham between the Donwar Rajputs and Bhufnhars is
strong evidence in favour of the identity of the former with Domkatars. " See a note on
castes by Mr. Growne, published in the Census Keport of 1872, 4See Mr, Oldham's
Memoir of Ghazipur.
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434 aORAKHHJB.
Bissu Sen established himself at Nawftpur, now Salempur, and soon
BissnSen Bisen circ. rose into importance as one of the most powerful chiefs
lloo A. u. in thj9 part of the country. His date is fixed at about
1100 A.D. Between his territory and that of the Domkatars or Domw&rs
there was a broad tract of jungle which prevented their coming into collision.
The Bhars still retained possession of the west of the district, and continued
to hold Amorha in Basti till the time of Akbar, who granted
it to the Jaipur princess, his wife. Her relations expelled
then, from this last stronghold and founded the Amorha R&j out of their
possessions.1
About 1350 A. D., the Rajput chiefs who had been
puts. expelled by the Muslim invaders began to enter the
district. One of the first of these was Dhur Chand, who claimed descent from
Dhur Chand Knusik one ^ftJa Kausik, uncle of Visramitra. The legend which
founds the Dhurtapir made R&ma grant Sarjupur to that saint's descendants
was now turned to advantage. That legend as given by
Elliot3 relates that Rdma, having promised to Yisramitra as much land as bis
arrow could cover in its flight, drew his bow on the banks of the Sarju, and sped
a shaft which fell at the foot of the hills. The tract thus bestowed was called
Sarjupftr or Sarwar, t. e. " beyond Sarju." The exact site of the Ghadipur
from which Dhur Chand's ancestors are said to have travelled is unknown.8
All that can be said with certainty is that a Kausik Rajput invaded the dis-
trict from the south and established himself in the tract of country called after
him, DhuriAp&f. The Bhars he is said to have conquered witli ease, and the
Bhuinh&rs of Harpur with difficulty. Before his death he had acquired con-
siderable power, and his sons are said to have been allies of the Shark] kings of
Oaunpur (1394-1457).
About the same time the founder of Sat&si R/ij, Chandra Sen,4 appeared
Foundation of the Sa- in the west of the district. He was a Sarnet Rajput to
Usi Ittj by Chandra Sen . Jf
garnet. whom tradition assigns a small domain near Ldh r.6
Offending an emperor of Dehli, be was pardoned only at the intercession
of a Brahman from this district6 On his release he accompanied the Brahman
eastward, and after many adventures reached the Kufina river in this district.
* Seo Mr. P. White's Settlement Report, Amorha. * Races of the North- Western
Provinces, vol. I., p '50, where the story is told regarding a jrrant to the bar w aria Brahmana,
* Elliot thinks it was part of Kanauj, p. 157. 4 In his Bausi report Mr. Wynne puts the
foundation of thegatasi JRdj at 1144 A I). Mr. Alexander thinks this date too early, and adds
that Sen ia merely a local pronunciation of the Rajput Buffix 8inh or Singh. » The name
of his birthplace wa9 Srfnagar, but its exact location is uncertain. • Why a Muslim
emperor should have heeded the intercession of a Gorakhpur Hrahman the legend does not
explain Tbe intercessor is paid to have lived mar Stltmpur Majhauli, and some improterished
Brahmans in the district still claim descent from him.
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GORAKHPUK. 485
Here be established himself and began to extend his authority eastward*.
In bo doing he became involved in hostilities with the Domkatar (or Donw&r)
chiefs.
They were on the point of compelling him to quit the district and seek
Hostilities with the h*s fortunes elsewhere, when his Brahman adviser sng-
mk&t&rs. gested a stratagem which proved completely successful.
Chandra Sen, being a pure R&jput, was deemed somewhat superior to the
Domw&rs, who had intermarried with both Doms and Bhars. He now there-
fore proposed to wed his daughter to the son of the principal Donwir chief, on
condition of being allowed to retain a part of the country he had invaded.
His proposal was gladly accepted. Immense preparations were made, and
„, , L , Chandra Sen gained admittance to the Domin-
Treacherous conduct of °
Chandra Sen, and Murder garh fort with a large body of followers. Then
of the Domkatars. . . ,. , .. , , , , , , a1_
seizing his opportunity he treacherously murdered the
Domkatar chiefs, while his followers outside slaughtered as many of the
beguiled clan as could be found. The power of the Donw&rs was crippled by
this blow, and Chandra Sen became one of the most
powerful chiefs in the district
The victims of his treachery fled in many cases to the north, where their
1300-1400. descendants still flourish. During the same century
Origin of the Biitwal Raj. ( j b00- 1 400) the Biitwal RAj was founded by an adven-
turer whom his descendants represented as a Cbauh&n RAj put. They used to
say that he escaped from the siege of Chittaur in 1303, that his name was
Makhund Singh, and that he at one time had great power. The truth of this -
story is, however, doubtful. Had he escaped from Chittaur, he would have
been a Gahlot rather than a Chauh&n.
His descendants never maintained the position of pure RAj puts, but
Family not probably intermarried with the TiiAnis. They never, moreover,
*^put8' possessed much authority within the present district of
Qorakhpur. Being cut off from the Satasi RAjas by a wide tract of forest,
they did not come into collision with those chiefs till much later. With the
Bansi branch of the SaiAsi house they, however, carried on a long struggle,
which reduced the border country to a state of utter desolation, and resulted
at last in the defeat of the BAnsi family.
The establishment of the Satasi RAj marks that period in the history of
„ . , the district when the invasions from the south began
Cessation of the invasions
after foundation of the to cease. A few petty chieftains made conquests in
the east of the district. But the power of the Dhu-
riapar and Majhauli R&jas checked the stream of invasion from the south, whilst
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436 GORAKHPUR,
the troubles in which the kings of Dphli were involved prevented the Muham-
madans from making any vigorous effort to subjugate the district.
Chandra Sen had prudently conneoted himself by marriage with the Ma-
jhauli Raja, and thus averted invasion from that quarter till he had secured his
position. After his death his three grandsons divided his possessions. The eldest,
. Jagdhar, took the eastern portion, extending over a
Origin of the nunc Satdst, ■
circuit of 84 kos and including a considerable extent
of land on the east of the Rapti. The circuit of his territory was soon extended
to 87 ko8, and fiom this fact his Raj was known as the Satdsi.
The second grandson, J&i, settled at Mag bar, and is said to have held lands with
a oircuit of 42 koa. He was the founder of what afterwards became the Bansi Raj.
The third, Randhir, occupied Anola, south-west of Gorakhpur, with a
boundary line of 21 kos. The residence of the Sat&si Rajas was at first a
fort on the Ramgarh jhil. The site is still pointed out, but no traces of the
building remain. The first hundred years of their dynasty are noticeable for
a war which they carried on with the Majhauli Raja regarding a tract of land
near Rudarpur, and for the birth of Gorakhnath.
The war continued with brief intervals of peace for three generations, and
1350- U50. War between m&*& ,n ^e occupation of the disputed tract by the
the Satfsi and Majhauli Raja of Majhauli. As consolation the Satdsi Rajas
succeeded in wresting a small tract of country from the
Dhuriapar family. It is probable, however, that this tract had previously been
taken from the Satasi Raj during the struggle between them and Majhauli.
It was about this time that the celebrated Gorakhnath flourished, and that the
town of Gorakhpur was founded.
Regarding the life of Gorakhnath there are hardly any authentic details.
Gorakhnath, drc. 1400 Hia name is said to have originally been Matsyendra
A,D* or Machhendrandth, and he lived as the pupil of a
Hindu Gosdin in the jungles near Rasiilpur. He discovered at the site of
the present temple a shrine sacred to the god Gurakh or Gorakh, who
appears to have been •a deity of great fame in the Nepdl country ; and having
devoted himself to the service of this deity, practised the greatest austerities. He
obtained a character for peculiar sanctity and took the name of Gorakhndth or
servant of Gorakh.
Shortly after bis death a quarrel in the Satdsi family induced some of its
Foundation of the pre- members to leave the Rdmgarh castle and establish
sent town of Gorakhpur. themselves near the shrine, from which the town they
founded took its name of Gorakhpur. Beyond the resemblance of sound, there
1 Other accounts, however, represent him as bat a friend of Machhendarnath. See Elliot's
(ftwiwy, art. Harbongka-rdQ. t
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GORAKUPUR.
4&7
is not much to connect Gorakbpur and Gorakhn&th with the Gurkhas. Ab
already mentioned, the latter derive their name from a town named Gurkha.
About 1,41)0 A. D. the Satasi Raja died childless,
and Hoal Singh, whom he had adopted from the Anola
family, was declared Raja. It is not improbable that this event had something
to do with the qnarrel just noticed.
About the condition at this period of eastern Gorakhpur little or nothing
is known. When Buddha died, towns of some size must have flourished in this
part of the country. The names of one or two, such as Kusianagara (Kasia)
and PAwa i Padrauna) are still preserved. But when Hwen Thsang visited these
places they were in ruins. In the beginning of the fifteenth century 'the south of
the modern parganah Sidhua Jobna and the greater part of parganah Shah-
jah&npur are mentioned as attached to the dominions of one Mardan or
Madan Sen, who appears to have been a chief of considerable power. The
accounts left of him are too vague to identify this chief. But it is not impos-
sible that he was the RAja of Saran and Champ&ran
who gave the Muhammadan deputies of those parts
bo much trouble. Though a Rajput and a personage of mucfariater date, he is
very commonly confused with the Madau Singh whom the Domwars ousted
in the tenth century.
At the close of the fifteenth, the district was therefore divided as follows: —
^. . . , A1_ ,. , . , The soul h-east,parganahs8alempur and Silhat, was held
Divisions of the district > r & i y
at the close of the fifteenth by the Bisen Rijas of Majhauli. The Kausik descendants
centufy* of Dhur Chand occupied the south-west— that is
parganah Dhuriapar and its neighbourhood. The Sarnet Rajas of Satasi and Anola
ruled the centre and west for some 20 miles north and east of Gorakhpur, as
well as southwards along the right bank of the Rapti. Further east of this was
Madan Singh, whose territory could, however, have included little of this district.
North of the Satasi country was a vast forest which furnished hunting-grounds
for the Raja. In the extreme north-west was the Butwal Raj ; while the north-
east was probably an uninhabited jungle. Beyond the limits of the present
district, to the west of Anola, lay the domains of the Sarnet Raja of Maghar.
All these Rajas were quite independent of each other, and within their
Independence and isolation several territories had sovereign power. They and
of the different Ra>s. tkeir k{nsmen appear to have lived on the produce of
their lands, careless of the world beyond their borders. With their neighbours
they had little intercourse, except in the case of an occasional boundary dis-
pute. No traditions, no remains of roads or bridges, testify to any commerce
or connection with the neighbouring districts. The history of the country after
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488 oorakhpur,
the fall of the Bhars is in fact merely that of the rise and fall of a number of
separate families. There is no trace of any national bond of union between the
Hindu invaders,1 or of any assimilation between them and the people they
displaced. A small body of fellow-clansmen would eject the aborigines and
settle down on a fertile tract large enough to support them. They would in
turn be ejected or exterminated by some fresh tribe of invaders, who seldom
oared to extend their conquest further than food requirements demanded.
It seems probable that between the downfall of Buddhism and the in-
Desolate condition of the vasion of Domkat&rs and Bisens, the bulk of the dis-
tbe district after the fall of triot had become uninhabited. As noted by General
Sleeman in Oudh, jungle soon springs up on land which
in these parts once falls out of cultivation. With the jungle come wild beasts
and malaria; and it soon becomes extremely hard to reclaim. What, therefore,
more likely than that the country, when laid waste by war between the
B&thors and Bhars, should become a forest, broken only by the narrow clear-
ings on which nomad aborigines grew their scanty meals. The invaders who
first repeopled the district would naturally settle down in these clearings,
knowing nothing of their neighbours, until extension of tillage removed the
forest curtain and brought them into contact with one another.
Information regarding the extent to which the Muhammadans invaded and
mbdued the district is exceedingly meagre and unsatisfactory till quite recent
Muhammadan period, circ. times. The best authorities almost entirely ignore
1280 A. D. Qorakhpur, and the local traditions deal only with the
semi-miraculous exploits of a few favoured individuals. The fact appears to
be that the district was one of those in which the Muslims really interfered very
little. Its Hindu R&jas remained independent in ail but name until the time
of the Naw&bs of Oudh.
The first mention of the Muhammadans is almost fabulous. Dh6r Ohand
is said to have fled before the Muhammadan force under SAl&r-i-Masaiid
GMzi. The date of this precocious hero is here fixed 300 years later than in
Rohilkhand, or at about 1330 A. D.8 The sons or grandsons of the same R6ja
are said (1399) to have sent an envoy with gifts to Timtir ; but as Timur
never came nearer than Bijnor, it is doubtful if they ever reached his fleeting
camp. The struggles that followed between the Jaunpur and Dehli kings, and
the wildness and poverty of the district, protected it for some time longer. The
1 Common ancestry formed a land of union between the Anola, Maghar, and^Satisi Rajas, but
they muat be considered as exceptions. Even between them there was after the first century
iittle intercourse. * Some account of Silar-i-Masaiid is given in Gazetteer, II, 77, and V„ 00.
Ganted his existence, it is doubtful whether he ever penetrated further down-country than
Bahraich But h.e is here credited with tip foundation of Ghaoipur.
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GORAKHPUR. 439
legends which describe the wealth and grandeur of such chiefs as M&n Singh
mast be deemed exaggerations. The R&jas in the south of the district seem to
have professed a kind of submission to the Sharki kings of Jaunpur
(1394-1476), but they neither paid tribute nor furnished a vassal contingent.
Bablol Lodi (1450-88) sent a force up as far as the Ghfigra, but did
not cross it ; and the struggle (1535-40) between Hum&-
yun and Sher Sh&h seems to have prevented either
from turning his attention to the conquest of the country. The descendants
of Dhur Chand are s&id to have sent an envoy to B&bar (1526), and to have
been honoured in return with the title of his " faithful allies. " But this seems
a mere repetition of the tale about Tiniur : and until the reign of Akbar, who
included the district in the province of Oudh, Gorakhpur would seem to
have remained almost an unknown land.
On his rebellion against Akbar (1564) Kh&n Zamfin seems for some
First historical invasion *ime to have established himself on the Gh&gra, cross-
of the Muslims, 1564. ing over when pre8ged by the Emperor's forces, and
taking refuge in the jungle which lined the bank.1 A royal force was sent
over to secure him, and fruitlessly searched through the forest. But mean-
while Kh&n Zam&n had escaped to the hills.
This was the first historical invasion of Gorakhpur or Basti by a Mus-
lim force. After the defeat and death of Khdn Zam& (1567), a fellow-rebel
named Sikandar Kh&n, who is described as a kinsman of the usurper Sher
Sh&h,* fled across the Ghigra into this district. He was pursued by the offi-
cers of Akbar ; but when they arrived at Gorakhpur, they discovered he had
crossed the Gandak into territory still held by the Afgh&n chiefs of Bengal ;
and after waiting some time for orders, the force was recalled to Agra.9
Local traditions assert that it numbered over a hundred thousand fighting
men, and was led by a general called Fid&e KMu. Eutering the west
of Basti, it marched through that district into this. During its stay at Go-
rakhpur the Dhuri&j&r R&ja, who readily professed submission, and perhaps
pleaded that his ancestors were the faithful allies of Timur or Babar, was not
interfered with.
But the K&ja of Majhauli, by opposing the scouts sent to search for Si-
kandar, incurred the resentment of the invaders. He seems at first to have offer-
ed a determined resistance, but was speedily convinced
of its futility. He not only submitted, but turned
1 Tabalcdt-i. AJcbari ; Dowson's edition of Elliot's Hutorians, V., 307. • He was pro-
bably the same Sikandar as deposed by Humayun from the throne of Dehli and who submitted
to Akbat in 1656. The Tabakdt-i Akbari (Elliot, V., 320) describes him as again breaking his
engagements. * Tabakdt, Elliot* 324 ; the first mention of Gorakhpur in the chronicles,
56
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440 GORAKHPTJB.
Mnsalm&n. Legend relates that with this army was a holy 'man named
Salem Sh&h, who had foretold the birth of Akbar's son Jahangfr. Ho was
now rewarded by a grant of land opposite to Naw&pnr, and placed under
Origin of the name Sa- ^e special protection of the Baja. In his honour the
lempur. jj^ja named the new town which grew up round his
residence Salempur, a title which was afterwards prefixed to that of its enclos-
ing parganah Majhauli. As, however, the R6ja on his conversion assumed
the title of Isl&m Kh&n, it is not improbable that the town and pargana are
named after him.1 Majhauli itself seems equivalent in meaning to the English
Middleton.
After reducing Nawfipur, the army probably marched up the left bank
Satfid family driven oat of the Bfipti and entered the Satdsi territory. The
of Gorakhpur since 1570 Raja resisted the invasion and was worsted. Refusing
conversion, he was expelled the district. His family
removed to Gajpur, in parganah Bhau&par, where they afterwards came to
terms. Fidae Kh&n, however, occupied Gorakhpur, where he is said to have
built a large tank in order to Bupply his camp. The tank was perhaps dug to
provide earth for an entrenchment or employment for the troops ; but the
neighbourhood of the B&pti renders the necessity for any fresh-water supply
unlikely. The Raja of Maghar was also attacked and compelled to declare
himself tributary.2 With the exception of the north and east, the whole district
thus became, in name at least, subject to the Emperor. In the west, however,
some portion was still held by the Bhars ; and this tract was now given by
Akbar to the Kachhw&ha kinsmen of his wife, the princess of Jaipur. After a
severe struggle they, partly by treachery and partly by strength of arms, ejected
Kise of the Amorha Raj, ^e Bh*r& and established themselves in Amorha.
1570-1620. On quitting the district, the imperial army seems to
have left garrisons at Gorakhpur and Maghar, Meanwhile (1577-92)
Akbar was busy in crushing the Afghans of Bengal, and their defeat by him
War between Majhauli gave an opportunity to the Majhauli Rija of seizing
and Mardan Singh's family. on fa oountry held by the descendants of Madan or
Mardan Singh, who was probably tributary to the Afgh&n princes.
1 The legend as to the period of Majhaulf s conversion is here given for what it may be
worth ; but Mr. Crooko's researches tend to Bhow that that conversion really occurred much later.
The renegade Raja, Boddh Mai, was the fifth predecessor of the present. Existing deeds by
this Boddh and his son Bhawani are dated 1767-68 and 1778-79 (1175 and 1186 fatli) res-
pectively ; bo that the death of the former may be fixed at a little more than 100 years ago*
The appearance of his tomb, which 6tands on the Little Gandak between Salempur and Majhauli,
points to the same conclusion. It seems that, being in arrear for his tribute, Boddh was sum-
moned to L)ehli and there converted. On his return his relations refused to receive him at
Majhauli, and ho lived at Salempur till his death. Meanwhile his orthodox son Bhaw&ni warn
raised to the cushion. * Not, howovcr, before he had been driven from Maghar to Biasi.
JTvom the latter place his descendants still take their title.
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OORAKHPUR* 441
Tradition declares that the R&ja or chief who was then head of the family
owed his rain to the curse of the goddess Devi, whose priest he had vainly com-
manded to visibly reveal her. His fall was really due to a dispute between
his dependents and those of the Salempur R&ja, who
Destruction of the family. .. , . . .. . i ,. , * *
marching against him with a large army defeated and
slew him. As usual, the victory was followed by the extirpation of the con-
quered family, and their dominions were parcelled out amongst the victors*
retainers or relations. The talukas of Rimkola, Bansg&on, Parwarpdr, and
others, since broken up or absorbed in Padrauna and Tainkuhi, owe their ori-
gin to granis made at this time.
Buchanan's statement that the vanquished family were Th&rfis,1 and their
chief's alleged contempt for Devi, receive some corroboration from another
legend which describes the image at Kasia as the wicked chief himself. It ii
just possible that, in spite of their Rajput origin, they may have kept up the
.temples and statues of Buddha still traceable around that town.
A little later, the succession to the Dhuriapar principality was fiercely
disputed between two of Dhur Chand's descendants, Badr and Pirthi. The Raj,
4is is not uncommonly the case in this country, did not necessarily descend to
Internecine quarrels in ^ne eldest son. One son inherited, the others being in
Dhuriapar, the position of mere dependents, receiving food and
clothing from their luckier brother. In this case both claimants were power-
fully supported, and the result was a violent struggle. It ended, as we shall
hereafter see, in the division of Dhuri&par between the combatants. Its
immediate consequence was the plunder of both parties by their neighbours.
The first to take advantage of the struggle was Babu Bernith Singh of
Semara, a kinsman of the Majhauli R&ja. He succeeded in crossing the Rapti
And foundation of the and annexing two tappas of Dhuri&par, corresponding
ChiUupar Raj, 1620-50. roughly with what is now called Chillupdr. Establish-
ing himself at N&harpur, he assumed the title of Raja. Another chief, Raja
Ho&l Singh of Satdsi, is said to have helped himself to ten more tappas of the
disputed tract. As Ho&l probably lived some two centuries before the quarrel,
it is moro likely that the robber was one of his descendants. But by one annexa-
tion or another Dhuriapar lost during this civil war 16 out of its 40 tappas*
Meanwhile the progress of events in the Basti district, though not perhaps
properly within the scope of this Memoir, claims attention. The two districts
-are so closely united in their history that it is impossible to explain events
^clearly in one without touching on the history of the other.
1 The assertion that they were Tharus is clearly due to a confusion between Madan SingK
lf or Man Sen, and Madan Singh H.
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442
jgoraehpub.
It has already been mentioned that the Bhars were at this time expelled
Expulsion of the Bhars from Amorha by the Kachhw&has or their dependents.
&m mm The first RAja of Amorha was, however, not a Kachh-
wfiha, but a Kayasth favourite of Akbar's Kaehhw&hiu wife. Jagafc Singh
appears to have accompanied Fid&e Khan's army to Maghar. There his aid
was invoked by the Brahman Bidyadhar, who wished to prevent a forced
marriage between the Bhar chief Mahiar and a Brahman's daughter. After
Foundation of the Amor- treache^18,J fining the confidence of the Bhar,
baand Nnjrar principalities Jagat intoxicated and slew him during a festival,
' * with the aid of Bidy&dhar. For this meritorious
act his family is said to have received the sacred thread. They at all events,
under colour of the real or pretended grant to their mistress, established them-
selves in A morha.
A Rfijput connected with the Udaipur family, and therefore a Sisodiya
Gahlot, was with Jagdeo at the time of the murder, assisting in both it and the
subsequent straggle with the Bhars. In consideration of his services he
received the eastern portion of the conquered tract, and established himself at
Nagar. The ousted Bhars took refuge in the extreme north of the district,
where they are said to have founded the Katahla R&j.
In 1610, Gorakhpur, which appears to have been looked on as a tributary
province, was bestowed by Jab&nofr as a fief on Afzal Kh&n, governor of
Patna. The troubles, however, which soon afterwards beset the Dehli empire
„ , . „ , „ . rendered the Muhammadan hold on Gorakhpur inse-
Expulaion of the Muslim . .
garrison from Gorakhpur. cure. The garrison was small, and its commandant
1 at%K QA
had incurred odium by some petty act of tyranny.
Taking advantage of these circumstances, Raja Basant Singh of Sat&si, a des-
cendant of Hoal Singh, raised forces and expelled it. He then established
himself in a fort on a site now occupied by the Basantpur quarter. At the
same time, or soon after, the R&ja of Maghar or B&nsi expelled the imperial
garrison from the former place, and almost all the local R&jas withhold pay-
ment of tribute.
During Sh&hjah6n's reign (1628-58) the Muhammadans were too busy
in the Dakkhan to turn their attention to thin part of the country, and no
occupation of this district by them is recorded. But on the accession of
Aurangzeb (1(558) and establishment of his power their influence revived.
About 1680, Kazi Khnlil-ur-Rahm&n was created chaklad&r of the Gorakhpur
government, and marching from Faiz&bad quickly made his power felt. The
new R&jas of Amorha and Nagar submitted promptly, and were therefore not
much molested. But Maghar was occupied by a strong force, and the R^ja
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GORAKHPUB. 443
was for some time at least deprived of the government of the country south of
* Occupation of Khalil- his capital, which he now established at B6nsi. Khalil-
abnd and Qorakbpur. aba(j wa8 about this time built, and through it a road
was made from Faiz&bad to Gorakhpur. Basant's son, Rudar Singh, was
expelled from the latter town, taking up his abode in pargana Silhat, near the
spot where the ancient Surajbansi R&ja was said to have founded his new Kash.
Here he fortified himself strongly; and the Muhammadans, having other
Foundation of Rndarpnr matters to attend to, appear again to have accepted a
in Silhat, nominal submission and a promise to pay tribute*
The town which grew up round his fort was called iu his honour Rudar pur, and
is now one of the largest places in the district.
The MusalmAns seem, however, to have taken on this occasion more
efficient means of retaining their position. They re*
Re-appointment of a . ° r J
Muhammadin commander paired Basant Singh s fort at Gorakhpur,' making
atGorakhpnr. .fc ft roa]]y stroag place; and they left an officer with
a numerous garrison in charge of the town.
From this date— that is from about the end of the seventeenth century—
the tribute which the Rajas had nominally promised* to Akbar was collected
with some regularity. But the Muhammadans never assumed the government
Independence of the IU- *n ^e same direct manner as the British*. The inde-
***• pendent position of the R£jas is strongly brought out by
Mr. Wynne in his settlement reports. He notes that they held not as mere
middlemen, nor even as mere representatives of the central authority (sarkdr),
but as that central authority itself. " It was they who assigned lands and
honours, although the confirmation of the Emperor at Dehli might be solicited
whenever the position attained by the grantee was so conspicuous as to draw
attention to him. Almost the whole of the subordinate tenures in the district
(and before our rule they contained the greater portion of it) are derived
from grants w^ich they made in their own names, and not merely permissively
as agents of the Dehli or Oudh families."
Before going further into this subject, we should notice a visit paid to the
1680-1700 A. D. VibH of district towards the close of the seventeenth century
Prince Muazzim. by the Emperor Bah&dur Sh&h, then Prince;Muazzim.
He was attracted to Gorakhpur by accounts of its wonderful sporl ; and to him
is ascribed the cathedral mosqne (J ami Maxjid) at its capital. In his honour
a division newly formed from sarkdrs Gorakhpur and S&ran, with headquar-
ters at Gorakhpur, was named Muazzimabad ; and by this title the districts of
Gorakhpur and Basti are mentioned in all official records from this date to
that of the cession (1801).
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444 GORAKHPUR,
Prince Muazzim's visit may have strengthened the hold on this district of
his dynasty. But, before the establishment of the government of the Vazirs at
Luoknow, the real masters of the district were the Rfijas. The imperial officers
at the head of the division were qaite content to accept an almost nominal sub-
mission from the load potentates ; but the Nawdbs of Oudk, who lived nearer
and had more leisure, attempted a more systematic and scrutinising form of
Greater influence of the government. The settlement of the dispute between
Nawab Vazira. {.fae rival claimants in Dhuriap&r is the first sign of the
change. The 'parganah' (which is then first mentioned under this designation)
was divided into two equal portions. The descendants of Bhadr Singh settled
to the west at Barhi&p&r, and Pirthi Singh's descendants to the east at Gop&l-
pur. The dmil or prefect is said to have marked out the boundary between
them, and to have been the chief agent in settling the dispute. As this
took place about 1700-50, it is reasonable to connect it with the ap-
w pointment of Saadat KMn as Viceroy of Oudh in
8aadatKhan. *\A . .„ , . _ , \ _ _.
1721. It will be remembered that the Oudh pro-
vince (Suba) had, since the reign of Akbar, included Gorakhpur. Being a
man of energy, Saddat soon succeeding in becoming virtually independent of
More regular collection *ne weakening Dehli empire. He firmly established
of tribute. ^ y^ jn j.ne provjnce) reduced the power of the
Bnjas, and, in the south of the district at least exacted their tribute with
regularity. In the north, owing probably to its difficulty of access, or its
uninviting poverty, his authority was never so surely introduced. But soon
_ a _ after the division of Dhuriap&r, a quarrel in the
Circ 1725 A. D. • «
Butwal family and the assumption by Tilak Sen of
independent authority obliged the Nawdb to march a force into this part
of the country.
Tilak Sen was head of the younger branch of the Butwal family, which,
expelling the Thfirus from Tilpur1, had for some time
^Tilak Sen and the Ban- held .,, rf ^ ejder branch He now rejecfcod thfl
suzerainty of his cousin, and declared himself an in-
dependent R6ja. The chief instrument of his ambition was the aid of the
Banj&ras, who now began to make occasional inroads from the west In this
turbulent and restless race he found useful and willing mercenaries. If his
date was really rather later than that here given, these Banj&ras were perhaps
fugitives driven before the Rohillas from Pilibhit and Khairagarh. Tradition
asserts, that to shade their camping-grounds, they planted most of the mango-
groves in the west and south of the district.
JThe name of Tilpur was long anterior to that of this particular Tilak ; but Tilak Sen wa«
probably a common title in the family.
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eoRAKHPtnt. 445
It is certain that owing to their inroads that district declined in prosperity,
for they pillaged and destroyed without attempting to colonize and recultivate
the country. Much of the jungle south-east of Gorakhpur is said to have sprung
Anarchy produced by the »P at this time ; and the lawlessness they carried with
Banjaras. them infeoted the Muhammadan garrison at Gorakhpur,
who arose and re-opened the old quarrel with the Sat&si Raja. About 1750 A. D.
Invasion of a fourth Mu- *to state of affairs called urgently for interference, and
lummadan army. the Naw&b accordingly marched a large army into the
district under Ali K&sim KhAn.
This army first reduced the turbulent Muhammaans to order, razing a
stronghold which their leaders had constructed on the
old site of the Domangarh castle* It then marched
north, routed a force brought against it by Tilak Sen's son, and invaded the
Butwal territories to recover arrears of tribute. But a tough struggle was
required before the Bdja even nominally submitted ; and peace was restored by
compromise nearly twenty years later, when the Butwal Buja seems to have
paid the Naw&b a personal visit and arranged terms. After the subjection of
Tilak Sen's son, the country he had held was annexed to Butwal. No attempt
was apparently made to conduct its government through Muhammadan offi-
cials, and tribute was only nominally levied.
In Gorakhpur, however, a large force was established, and it was pro-
bably about this time that the Muhammadan rule was strongest and most dis-
tinctly felt. Owing to the absence of written chronicles and he indifference of
Muhammadan authority natives to the past history of the district, it is extremely
W8tored» difficult to ascertain the exact character of this rule, and
the extent to which it interfered with the powers and prerogatives of the local
But no real government KAjas. Certain, however, that it did not even profess
mtroduced. to provide its subjects with police and protection. It
is extremely doubtful if, except at Gorakhpur itself, there were any courts of
justice. The people trusted to themselves and their R&jas for protection
against robbers and marauders, such as the Banj&ras.
The parganah divisions of the Muhammadans survive, but only because
they corresponded pretty closely with domains known before as those of the
various R&jas or their creatures. The Muhammadan name of the town and
district, Muazzimabad, is unknown to the common people ; and the government
Attention paid only to seems to have been at best an imperfect machinery for
the collection of revenue. collecting revenue. The fact that hardly any place of
Muhammadan influence note bears a Muhammadan name, and the scarcity
^^ of mosques or other Muhammadan buildings, show
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446 OORAKHPUB.
the fleeting nature of even the Naw&b Vazir's mark on the district. Even in
Gorckhpur itself — a town which they undoubtedly held for some time — the
traces of the Muslim governors are but scarce and faint compared to those
of the Hindu kings and saints whom they nominally conquered. Isl&m
itself is probably nowhere else so strongly coloured by Hindu ideas and
usages, and in few places have the two sects so closely united as in Grorakh-
pur.
All evidence in short tends to show that the position occupied by the
Hindu Rajas tributaries, Hindu Rajas of the district had up to this time been
not subjects. that rather of tributaries than of subjects. In his
B&nsi report Mr. Wynne writes that, " throughout, the authority of the local
B&jas was sufficient to counterbalance, if not to overcome, that of the chakladar
(or representative of the central government at Lucknow). The k&n6ngos
appointed by the latter were, till a few years before the ceesion, regularly
expelled, and the revenue they were sent to collect was as often withheld
as paid. The right of private war was exercised without question. Occa-
sionally the chakladAr was able to collect revenue from the tenants
direct ; but in general such sums as were realised at all were paid through
•the R&jas."
Under these circumstances, it would appear natural that when the
Battle of Buxar (Baksar), Naw&b's power was weakened by the battle of Baksar,
1784 A. D. * the local Rajas would have thrown off the yoke and
expelled the underlings who were no longer supported by his army. The
result was, however, just the reverse. At no period prior to* the cession
v f th 1 wer offi- c'oes *^e au^or^y °f ^e R&jfrS seem to have been
oen rather increased than bo weak, and the power of the delegates from Luck-
w * cow so strong, as at this. Not only did the notorious
Major Hannay exercise an almost supreme power over the south of the
district as the Viceroy's commander-in-chief, but the prefects and their
subalterns also acquired an influence which they had never before pos-
sessed.
Up to this time no regular system of collection seems to have worked,
except in the south of the district. The power and the nominal submission of tho
local R&jas had enabled them to maintain their government by merely paying
a kind of tribute. Even Sa&dat Khan seems merely to have enforced payment
of this tribute, and to have left the government and
^^ih!lSZ^ the collection of rents to the B&jas. In other districts
***- there was a regular system, under which a graded
series of officers were appointed to make collections from the persona in
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GOBAKHPUB. 447
possession of the land. This was extended to Azaingarh, bat in Gorakhpur
struck no root. It seems to have been as follows : —
An officer called chaklad&r was appointed to the charge of a chakla or
tract rather larger than a modern district, and under him were officers called
dtnil*, who held a smaller division, about the size of a tahsili. Below these
were kandngos, who were supposed to keep the entire accounts of a tract about
the size of a pargana, and to supply all the information necessary for the realiz-
ation of a fair revenue from the persons holding cultivated Land within it.
Besides these was a semi-military officer called the naziin, who seems to have
been employed in coercing contumacious defaulters and protecting treasure ;
and beneath him were several deputies (ndib-ndzim) who carried out these
duties under his orders.
But, as before noticed, the system could not work in a country where a
This system not carried *warm of local potentates had each sufficient power to
into force in Gorakhpur. h0|d fa kAnungos and even the fcnils in contempt,
and to counterbalance all the influence and strength of the chaklad&r himself.
The kanfygos were expelled, and the dmils soon arrived at the plan of bargain-
ing with the local Rajas for the payment of a certain sum in return for absolute
non-interference. This system very soon passed into one of farming. The
office of chaklad&r as at first instituted was abolished, and under the title of
Custom of farming the *m,'l> tne local Jtyjftj if he was strong enough, or some
revenues. publican from Oudh, if he was not, took a contract for
collecting the revenues. The term of his lease was one, three, or five years,
and a regular counterpart (kab&Hyat) for the sum to be paid, as well as a large
amount in advanee, was handed over to the viceroy.
When a RAja was weakened by a war with his neighbours or other causes,
Varying power of the tne farm °^ m#s domains would be bought for a large
**men- sum by some powerful noble or professional farmer,
who seized the opportunity of making his collections direct from the R&ja*s
dependants and tenants. And when the R6ja recovered his strength, he would
either agree to take the farm himself, or to buy out the interloping farmer by
guaranteeing him a certain pro6t on his engagement. Not unfrequently the
matter was solved by the farmers taking a large compensation from the R&ja
and disappearing with it, leaving the viceroy to realize the revenue as best he
could. In such cases it was seldom realized at all, as this course was only
adopted when the Naw&b's difficulties prevented the pursuit and punishment
of the defaulter.
The Luck now revenues, so far as drawn from this district, were indeed
very precarious. A few tappas lyiug along the Gh&gra and for several miles
57
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448 0ORAKHPUB.
up the banks of the Itapti wfcre, aft Mr. Reade mention's,1 held directly by
Musalman delegates. Their great fertility, and their accessibility from the
headquarters of the chaklad&r at Azamgarh, ensured the proper collection of
their income. But in other parts of the district fealty to the Oudh Govern-
ment was merely verbal, and revenues were paid only when coercion became
imminent.
Thus were affairs conducted till within thirty years of the cession to the
British. But in that short space of time occurred changes which completely
altered the administration and delivered the country to a reign of exaction and
misrule which unpeopled and well nigh ruined it.
As before mentioned, the Banj&ras first attracted attention about
The Banjwas become a 1720-30. Thirty years later we find them a verita-
serious nuisance. ble scourge and terror in the district They seem to
have formed a number of separate bands under various n&iks or leaders, but
frequently united to resist a powerful enemy like the Raja of Bftnsi.
Their object was almost always plunder ; and the centre and east of the
district, where great forests afforded an ample refuge, formed at first their base
of operations. The east wast moreover, better adapted to their plans, because
since the downfall of Madan Singh no power nearer than that of Majhauli
could venture to repress them. And to this day the memory of their violence
and cruelties lives fresh in this part of the district. But as plunder and
success inoroased their strength, they began to take an active part in the polities
of the district. They fomented quarrels between the
Rajas, being always ready to supply troops to which-
ever side offered the best prospect of advantage or revenge. The peasantry
were not, indeed, their only victims. Chiefs were harassed and weakened till
they fell an easy prey to the swarm of oppressors who, under the authority, real
or pretended, of leases from the viceroy, quartered themselves on the district;
These harpies usurped the titles of former officials, calling themselves,
without much regard to their power, Naw&bs, Chakla-
dars, Xmils, N&zims, Talukad&rs, and Naib-nazims ;
but were all guided by one principle, that of acquiring as much money as they
could in the shortest time possible. The chief officer of the district set them
the example.
Soon after the battle of Baksar, a Major flannay received charge of
the Naw&b's troops and of the Bahr&ich and Gorakh-
ed byMajoTHan^ay.8 **' Pur revenues. With the actual administration or
maladministration of the country he fieems to have
1 Report on Salempur, 1836.
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GORAKHPUR. 449
interfered but little. But he certainly strengthened the hands of revenue
collectors, and maintained a force sufficient to coerce the Rajas, weakened as
they were by their local disputes and warfare. Had he applied his power to
maintain order and prevent the farmers and marauders from pillaging the
people, he might perhaps have saved the country from the worst misfortunes
which overtook it It must, however, be allowed that the task would have been
difficult, ' and might have cost him not only his position, but his life. The
Oudh Government had already fallen into a condition of almost unparalled
inefficiency and venalitv. To realize this it is only
of ■*?%&£& of Oudh! necessary to quote the description of Oudh given by
General Sleeman a lifetime later in 1850, and to apply
the quotation to Gorakhpur. His account may be summarized as follows:
*' The revenue was farmed to men whose only object was to extort as much as
they could during their term of office. The Nawab's attention was engrossed
by the course of events which threatened his throne. Except the most power-
ful landholders, no man was safe for a moment in person, office, or property ;
and with such a feeling of insecurity prevailing, it was impossible that any
country should flourish. There was.no police. Those who should have
protected were the first to plunder ; and justice was to be had only by those
who could pay for it." Such was Gorakhpur as left by Major Hannay.
Regarding his personal exactions and cruelties there is perhaps not sufficient
evidence to warrant a decided opinion. Burke accused him of haying done in-
calculable mischief; and Mill, endorsing this opinion, states that he laid waste
a vast tract of country which before his oppressions was rich and flourishing.1
*' „.„ „ „ . But whether he directed or permitted the pillage, the
Responsibility of Major «... V. ,
Hannay for the wretched effect of bis government was equully injurious. Either
ata o t e coun ry. ^e jja(j uo^ the courage and wiU to oppose the extortions
of his subordinates, or he had not the power. Perhaps the truth lies between these
two alternatives. It is certain at all events that he made no scruple in farming
out his charge piecemeal to a set of extortionate and heartless underlings, who
rackrented and not unfrequently pillaged the people, till a great part of the agri-
cultural population were driven to abandon their holdings and quit the district.
The Satasi Raja meanwhile, instead of devoting his strength to protect
his domain from these evils, plunged into a war with
Bu^aTR4jaa?Q "" ** fche Butwal Raja, by. whom he was defeated with much
slaughter in 1788. The Bansi Raja oocupied himself
in expeditions against the BanjAras, whom he finally drove from his dominions
about 1790, following them up and inflicting severe punishment on. all who
1 History, yoI. IV., p. 313.
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460 GORAKHPUB.
fell into his hands. The Dhuri&p&r R6jas had not jet recovered from their long
family quarrel, and, having been farther weakened by the Banjaris, were power-
less to withstand the exactions of the farmers backed by Major Hannay's troops.
The Majhauli R&ja alone seems to have been prudent enough to reserve
Prudent conduct of the ^8 strength for the piotection of the land around his
Majhauli R&ja. capital. He virtually withdrew from the contest
with the Banjaras in the east, and abandoned the tract which now forms the
Sidhua Jobna parganah to their ravages. By this means he contrived to save
the greater portion of the Majhauli parganah from them and the farmers ; and
at the cession this was found to be almost the only portion of the district
which was fairly cultivated and inhabited.
The terrible state of insecurity in the Sidhua Jobna parganah gave the
Rise of the Bink Jogni opportunity for the rise of the two principal talukas
and Padrauna talukas. which still comprise between them the greater portion
of the parganah.
The first of these was Bank Jogni taluka or Tamkfihi R&j, which was
founded by Fateh Sahdi, Bhuinh&r Raja of Hoshydrpur in S&ran, He claimed
descent from Mayyura, founder of the Majhauli R6j, by a Bhuirfii&r wife ; and
his descendants are still recognized as connections by the Majhauli family.
Refusing to acknowledge British authority, he was after the battle of Baksar
expelled from S&ran, and settled on an estate he had bought a few years
before in tappas Bank and Jogni. He brought with him a large amount of
treasure, and received also the support of the Majhauli R6ja, who was wise
enough to see the advantage of retaining a friendly power xs a rampart
between himself and the Banjaras. By usurpation, or more commonly by volun-
tary transfers from weaker zamindars, he extended his possessions swiftly and
widely over the south-east of Sidhua Jobna, and before his death was recog-
nised as talukad&r of nearly 100 villages.
The second taluka, that of Padrauna, rose into importance much in the
Foundation of the Pa- same way, although its founders had a severer strug-
drauna taluka. g\Q ^fa ^,e Banjaras before they succeeded in estab-
lishing any kind of security for their dependents. It originated in a grant
made by the Raja of Majhauli to one of his followers, and the first grantee
was a dependent who had risen from a menial capacity, and was rewarded by
the grant of sjme of the villages most harassed by the Banj&ras. This cheap
method of providing for importunate claims accorded also with the policy
which led the Raja to support Fateh Sah&i.
The grant at first consisted of but two villages ; but the state of the
country gave the grantee an opportunity of extending his authority. The
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GORAKHPU*. 451
fact of his being a Kurmi furnished the pretext of claiming descent from
Mayyura's fourth wife ; and the influence he obtained from this connection with
the Majhauli Raja, still the most powerful prince in the district, gave him an
ascendancy which enabled him very quickly to make the neighbouring villages
acknowledge his authority. The dread, moreover, of Banjaras and other
marauders foroed the weaker proprietors to obtain the support of some power-
ful ally. He usually , therefore, found them ready to surrender the nominal
ownership of their villages, and to pay a certain
Extension of the Uluka. - , . . . - ,
percentage of their incomes, in return for the pro-
tection which he promised to afford them. The estates of the more inde-
pendent he either by fraud or force annexed. In that age of misrule no redress
could be obtained, except by those who were too strong to require it. The
Majhauli Raja was unlikely to interfere; and this portion of the district had now
become too poor to attract the rapacity of either Hannay or his subordinates.
In this manner the taluka rose into importance almost as rapidly as that
of Fateh Sahai ; and, owing to their common dependence on Majhauli, both
parties refrained from aggression on each other's domains. Whatever may be
thought of the coercion and fraud by which these talukas were to some extent
established, there can be no doubt that the security they afforded was of the
utmost value to the subordinate landholders whose estates they enclosed. With-
out the central authority of the talukad&r these men could never have com-
bined effectively to resist the Banjaras. Nor would there have been any
means of ending the quarrels and violence which prevailed before. One rapa-
cious master was better than a host of petty tyrants.
But in 1801 -the arrears of subsidies, due under various treaties for the
Cession to the East India use °f English troops, had reached an amount which
Company, 1801. ^ ^aw&b Vazir found himself quite unable to pay ;
and to wipe off the debt JSaadat AH surrendered Gorakhpur and other tracts to
the East India Gompany. Since the 10th November in the year just men-
tioned the district has been subject to British rule.1
Its condition at the time of cession was about as wretched as could well
be imagined. It is described as almost entirely without administration, over-
grown with jungle, roadless, infested by robbers, and in many places laid
waste by the armed retainers of the principal landholders. " I find it impos-
sible," writes Mr. Boutledge in 1801, "to convey to you any adequate idea
of the desolated state of this country. I have been informed that in one year
nearly 400,000 raiyats (led from it ; and those who remained only cultivated
by stealth for fear of opposition."
. * See Aitchison's Treaties, yol. II, p. 61, note.
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452 'GORAKHPHR.
The Bdtwal domain in the north was considered less unfortunate ; but it
had been wasted by wars with Sat&si, and was still scoured by Nep&lese
marauders pretending to oollect a tribute which the Bdja did not owe. Like
his brother chieftains, that K&ja was little disposed to submit tamely to the new
government. Plunder and private war had become as the breath of their
nostrils. Despoiled by' the Banjdras, the east was only beginning to recover
under the protection of the newly-formed talfikas. The depopulation of the
South- west had been successfully undertaken by the collectors of taxes ; and
the south-east, or Majhauli country, was the only flourishing part of the
district. Its centre had always been occupied by a large tract of jungle, which
the misgovernment of later days had greatly extended.
The fiscal and general administration of the district, from the date of the
cession to that of the Nepal ese war, has been else-
8 * where described. Long before the former event the
Gurkhas had taken advantage of the prevailing anarchy to increase their
possessions in the plains. Their encroachments had extended all along the
Tarii country at the foot of the hills, but were most marked in what was then
the north of this district They had driven the R&ja of Butwal from his moun-
tain domain of P&lpa, and followed up their success by the occupation of his
Tilpur and Bin&yakpur territories.1 They had annexed Shiur&j, a tract on
the left bank of the Arrah, just north of the modern Basti. For the revenue
of these tracts they indeed professed themselves liable to the Oudh Govern-
ment ; but they paid it or not, just as best suited their own convenience.
It has been already mentioned that at the first British settlement of land
' AggrewionB of the Our- revenue the B&ja of Butwal himself engaged to pay the
' khas. assessment on his nominal domains in this district,
and that he was. afterwards imprisoned for refusal to defray arrears. About
18C5 the Gurkhas claimed Bdtwal as part of the country conquered from hiru,
and sent officials to collect the revenue. On his release from imprisonment
the B&ja was inveigled to Kathm&ndu, where he was murdered on the ground
of alleged intrigues with the British. His family surrendered Butwal to the
direct management of the Company, and retired to enjoy their pension (mdli-
Icdna) in peace at Gorakhpur. Meanwhile, by the beginning of 1806, the
Nep&lese had annexed two-thirds of the disputed country. The provisional
Governor-General, Sir George Barlow, who was then at Allahabad, sent them
a letter demanding the evacuation of Butwal, but offering to let them keep
Sbiurij. This they answered by an offer to engage for the Butwal revenue on
1 Political and Military Transactions in India, 1818-23, by H. T. Prinsep, Bengal Civil
Service : London, 1825. This contemporary work ia the. best that can be consulted on the subject
of the Nepttese war.
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0ORAKHPUR; 453
the terms of the first settlement But Sir George was shortly afterwards super-
seded by Lord Minto, whose attention was engrossed by other matters. The ques-
tion dropped out of sight, and the Nepalese completed the annexation of Bfitwal
Emboldened by British indifference, they in 1810-11 crossed the Bfitwal
boundary and seized some villages of parganah P&li«
A commissioner is appoint- J ° r °
*d examine their claims, This led at the beginning of 1812 to a remonstrance
18,°"11" from Lord Minto, who, while repeating the offer of
Shifir&j, demanded the instant evacuation of Bfitwal. The Gurkhas replied
by asserting a distinct fight to all they had taken and more* Anxious to do
them every justice, Lord Minto appointed a commissioner to investigate
their claims. Proceeding to the northern frontier of this district, Major
Paris Bradshaw in 1813 submitted a report on the whole dispute. He showed
that the Gurkhas had no right to either Biitwal or Shifir&j ; and Lord Minto
thereon demanded the evacuation of both. The Nep&l court sent a respectful
and even affectionate answer, in which, without giving reasons, they said that
Major Bradshaw's investigation had led them to a conclusion just the reverse of
that formed by the British Government.
How Lord Minto would have met this reply it is vain to speoulate. But
The Company resnmes at ^ end of 1813 he WaS 6™<**<*ed by Lord Moira,
possession of the submon- who early in the following year peremptorily
tane country. ordered the Gurkhas to quit both Bfitwal and
Shifir&j. The Magistrate of Gorakhpur was at the same time directed
to march the Gorakhpur contingent into the disputed tract if the order
yrere not obeyed in 25 days. The Nep&lese, however, remained where they were^
and the Magistrate (Sir Roger Martin) handed the dispute over to the military
officer commanding. Three companies occupied Shifirdj and Biitwal without the
slightest opposition. The Magistrate established police-stations at Chitwa, Ba»
sauria,and Saurain Bfitwal, with subordinate outposts in Shiurij (April, 1814),
Before, however, the troops had rearrived at Gorakhpur, the Nep&lese snr*
Slaughter of its officials rounded «"* attacked the three stations in Bfitwal.
and declaration of war, Eighteen policemen were killed, and the chief officer at
Chitwa was, after bis surrender, murdered in cold
blood (May). The Magistrate ordered the fugitive remnant to retire on
B&nsi ; meanwhile 090 of the Shifir&j -outposts was attaoked and four more
policemen slain (June). War was now of course inevitable, but its declaration
was for- several reasons postponed til] the 1st November, 1814*.
The larger operations of the two campaigns that followed were conducted
0Y1 the Panj&b, Du&b, and Bih&r portions of the
Nepal frontier. .But of. the .four columns engaged in
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454 GORAKHPUB.
the first campaign, one under General J. S. Wood was directed to make Go-
rakhpur its base of operations. Starting hence on the 15th of November, it
was to penetrate through Btitwal into Palpa. The column consisted of about
4,000 infantry, including the 17th Regiment of British foot, and was strength-
ened by 11 guns of different calibre.
It was late in November before General Wood left Gorakhpur. Through
Action at Bfitwal, Janu- Biniyakpur or Tilpur, and Bdtwal, he marched
ary, 1815. without opposition. But the town of Bdtwal itself
lies at the foot of the hills, in the mouth of a pass ; and across this pass the
Nep&lese Colonel, l Vazir Singh, had built a strong stockade. To reconnoitre
and carry this work General Wood left his Tar&i camp on the 3rd of January.
A Brahman servant of the Butwal family, still living at Gorakhpur, offered
his services as guide, and conducted the force up the banks of the Ghunghi.
The last seven miles of the road lay through thick s&l forest, but the General
had been led to expect an open space in the immediate neighbourhood of the
stockade. Be was still in the wood with his advanced guard when the road
brought them suddenly in front of their goal, now not more than fifty yards
distant. The Nep&lese opened a smart fire, and, before General Wood had
completed a hurried reconnaissance, wounded two officers. But the main
body, including the British regiment, soon arrived ; a party that had sallied
from the stockade was driven up the hills ; and in pursuing them upwards
three companies of the 17th succeeded also in outflanking the enemy's work.
The enemy scrambled away up the hillside behind the stockade. But Gene-
ral Wood, thinking the fortification would be untenable unless the hill also
' were carried, forbore to press his advantage, and sounded a retreat Flushed
with the prospect of a oertain and easy victory, his troops were grievously
disappointed. They had lost 24 comrades to no purpose. The fatuous strategy
of their leader can only be excused on the ground that he had been hurried
and worried by a difficult morning's march.
The bravery displayed by the enemy, and exaggerated rumours of
Imbecility of General ^e*r strength, led him to imagine his own force in-
j s. Wood. adequate for an advance. Parties of irregular cavalry
were added to his force ; but instead of attempting to penetrate the hills, he
confined his operations to the defensive. Throwing up works at Lotan in
Basti, he placed there a garrison to defend the main route from Gorakhpur.
He himself moved with his main body to repel an incursion into Nichlaval.
1 The Nep&lese had early adopted English titles for their military officers. Bnt these
titles implied greater commands in their army than in the English. There were but one general
and some three or four colonels on the whole of their army list, A captain commanded a bat-
talion, and a laf tan or lieutenant a company.
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GOEAKHPUR. 455
His vacillating policy rendered such incursions an almost daily occurrence.
January, February, and even March, saw villages in the north of this district
plundered and burnt Though reinforced by further infantry and artillery, he
still deemed himself too weak to act offensively. He burnt by way of retaliation
several Gurkha villages, and marched whithersoever he heard the foe were
advancing. He still, however, believed and represented the Nep&lese force to
be much greater than his own. And it was not till April, when directed to
verify his belief by actual contact with the enemy, that he again appeared
before Bdtwal. On the 17th of that month he bombarded the place for several
hours without result. He then laid waste the Nep&lese possessions in the plain
and returned to cantonments at Gorakhpur. In. the middle of May the vic-
tories of General Ochterlony put an end to the fii;st campaign, leaving Dehra
Dun and Eumaun in the hands of the English.
But the demands of the Company were not yet satisfied. In March the
Close of the first cam- Nep&lese General Amar Singh had been consulted as to
^^?n of th^Twaito ^ ■dvisaWIity of ceding also the Gorakhpur and Saran
the Company, 1815. Tar&is, and had counselled his chief against it. In May
the English had 'demanded the whole of the Tar&i, whether in Gorakhpur, S&ran,
or elsewhere. The Nep&lese were, however, unready to surrender a traot ill
which most of their principal courtiers had been granted fiefs ; and the
Governor-General deemed preparations for a fresh campaign advisable. It
was proposed to reinforce the Gorakhpur column, and place it under the com-
mand of Colonel Nioholls for renewed operations against Butwal and Pdlpa. In
the second campaign, however, the Gorakhpur column took no part. Negotia-
tions lingered on till the end of October. The British demand had by that
time been reduced to the Tar&i country between the Sarju and Gandak, and any
other parts already held by our forces. Compensation to the extent of two l&khs
of rupees was at the same time offered to disappointed Nep&lese grantees. These
terms were accepted, and a treaty signed at Sigauli on the 28th November.
But this treaty was, so far as the Gurkhas were concerned, a mere feint.
Conclusion of the war, Ratification under their great seal was promised in fif-
March, 1816. teen <Jay8, but never came ; and it was soon ascertained
that the Nep&lese intended to continue the war. A formal intimation to that effect
met the British army on its way to the border in February, 1816. Sir David
Ochterlony this time penetrated into Nep&l through Bihdr, completing the
campaign by the beginning of the following month. The Nep&lese ratified the
treaty of Sigauli on the 4th March, and the whole of the lowlands between
Sarju and Gandak, except Butwal Khds,1 passed into the hands of the British.
1 i. e. Bfitwal, excluding Biniyakpur and Tilpur.
58 .
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456 GOBAKHPUB.
But as a politic act of conciliation, the Governor- General decided to surrender
to the conquered Nep&lese as much of the Tar&i as might not be required to
form a straight and even frontier. The boundary was surveyed and marked
out in the same year. It ran in a fairly direct line parallel to the trend of the
hills, but, except just north of P41i and Shitipur, did not approach their foot.
Between the close of the Nep&lese war in 1816 and the outbreak of the
Mutiny some forty-one years afterwards, the history of the district is marked
by no important events, except the settlements and famines already described.
The rebellion of 1857 was ushered in by disturbances towards the close
of May. Some of the more turbulent landholders, including those of Paina
on tte GJi&gra, burst out into acts of robbery and
Rebellion of J857-58. ° ' * *"u
violence. On the oth June, the headquarters of the
17th N. I., which supplied a detachment to Gorakhpur, mutinied at Azamgarh
and on the 7th July the convicts in the Gorakhpur jail made a desperate but
unsuccessful effort to escape. On the 8th the infantry detachment attempted
to seize the Government treasure, but were checked by Mr. Wynyard, the
Judge, with some troopers of the 12th Irregular Cavalry. On the lOtb six
European officers who had escaped from FaizAbad were murdered in Nagar
of Basti, and about the same time a detachment of the 17th N. I. plunder-
ed the opium treasury at Basti itself. Towards the close of July the land-
holders of the northern and western parganahs proclaimed our rule at an
end, and the criminal classes reaped a rich harvest of plunder. Six Nep&Iese
regiments were now marohed to Gorakhpur by Colonel Wroughton, and the
remnant of the 17th N. I. was disarmed (1st August). But disorder still
spread through the district, and in what is now Basti a number of the tahsilis
were plundered. Mutineers from Sigauli attempted to plunder also the opium
treasury at Salempur, but were repulsed by the guard. It is not very clear
why the civil officers felt themselves forced to abandon their district on the
13th August. Sir Charles Wingfield thinks it " sufficient to say that they declin-
ed to remain with less than four regiments," while Colonel Wroughton declined
to leave more than two. But there had as yet been no outbreak at Gorakhpur
itself, and that post could hardly be deemed untenable. On the 13th, however,
Europeans evacuate the Europeans and Nep&lese left together ; the Joint Ma-
district, August 1857. gistrate, Mr. Bird, alone remaining. The oare of the
district had been entrusted to a committee of five EAjas — Sat&si, Gop&lpur,
Majhauli, Tamktihi, and Bdnsi ; and Mr. Bird hoped to supervise their labours.
The retreating Europeans and Nep&lese wdre followed from Gorakhpur
by a body of insurgents under Muhammad Hasan, who was however repulsed
with loss (18th July). On his return to Gorakhpur two days later he w&*
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GOBAKHPU& 457
welcomed by the jail guard, whose charges had been released, and by the
R&ja of Sat&si, who had turned rebel. Mr. Bird fled into the forest, and, not-
withstanding the reward of Rs. 5,000 set on his head, reached Motih&ri in safety.
The committee of B&jas of course dissolved itself. By the treachery of Satdsi
and non-attendance of Majhauli, its numbers were by this time reduced to three.
The B&jas of Barhi&par, Nagar, Chillup&r, and other chiefs, followed the example
of Satdsi, openly siding with the rebels.
The insurgent army camped near Gorakhpur, setting fire to most of the
houses in the civil station and cantonments. But, considering himself secure in
Muhammad Hasan esta- ^s new authority, Muhammad Hasan endeavoured as
Wishes a rebel government far M p0SSible to prevent destruction of property.
Large sums of money were extorted by violence from the merchants and
bankers of the city. And in the words of Sir C. Wingfield, who was appointed
Commissioner just after the rebellion, u the strong preyed everywhere on tho
weak."
In & very short, time however, the reign of Muhammad Hasan came to an
end. The Nep&lese forces advanced under Sir Jang Bah&dur from the north,
and the British force under Colonel Roweroft from the south. The former
The English re-occupy occupied Gorakhpur on the 11th January, 1858, ! after
the district. slight skirmishes at Pipra on the Gandak,and Pipraich.
The latter defeated the rebels under Harkishan Singh at Mairwa. The insurgents
were driven through Gorakhpur city across the Rdpti, and Muhammad Hasan
fled with such speed that he the same day crossed the Gh&gra at Tanda. British
authority was re-established, and many disloyal landholders were punished
by death or the confiscation of their estates.
Thus in 1858 the Sat&si Raj fell after an existence of 500 years. The Bar-
hi&p&r title and estates* were forfeited, and it was some years before the R4ja was
pardoned and allowed to return to the district. Part of the Padrauna taluka
shared the same fate, and the family having lost large sums in litigation with
the R&ja of Bettia, were only saved from utter ruin by the industry and ability
WPTttblUeofPaaraan* of Isri Partib, father of the present Bie.« TheRajaof
Gop&lpur had remained faithful; but his estates were
so burdened by debt that it was absolutely necessary to sell the greater portion.
The R&ja's daughter-in-law, who purchased part of them, is generally known
as the R&ni of Gop&lpur. The Ghillup&r R&j came to an end ; the Raja being
1 Sir Charles Wingfield simply says the 6th, without mentioning the month or year ; but the
date has been taken from Colonel Rowcroft's own report. ' Such as they were ; but extra-
Tagance and litigation had left very little to be forfeited. * The family regained their pros-
perity by the purchase for a small sum of the Jangal Padrauna grant, held before by Mr. Sym.
t " The income derived from this rich tract," writes Mr. Lumsden, " has enabled Isri Partab to
pay off his debts and recover a portion of the taluka." (Sidhua Jobna Beport, para, 4).
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458 GOBAKHPUB.
hanged, and a small pension of about Us. 30 paid to his widow. The Muslim
Eija of Sh&hpur in Dburiip&r met with the same fate. Part of his property
was bestowed on the Gop&Ipur R&ja, and may be said to have saved the latter
from ruin. .The R&ja of Majhauli was so deeply indebted that, bat for the
timely intervention of Government, a few years must have seen him rained.
But his creditors were paid off by the State, and his lands placed under the
Court of Wards, by which they are still managed.
The R&ja of Anola remained almost undisturbed by the rebellion ; while
the Tamktihi chief, who had prudently abstained from putting himself promi-
nently forward on either side, preserved, and has since greatly increased his
possessions. The R6ja of Nichiaval, last representative of the Biitwal family,
joined the mutineers, thereby forfeiting the stipend Government had since
1845 allowed him in compensation for his taltikad&ri rights in Tilpur. A year
or two later Nep&l was rewarded for its assistance by large territorial con-
cessions in the north of the district. The evil effects of the rebellion have now
passed away and the revenue of the settlement since effected with ease.
The large income and area of the district, as it then stood, in 1865 caused
its division into two charges by the separation of
Basti. Even thus shorn, Gorakhpur is much larger
than the average district, and further reduction of its area has been long dis-
cussed.
Looking back to the beginning of the century and of British rule, no one
could deny that the strong arm and just intentions of our Government have
despite defects of administration, developed the resources and multiplied the
wealth of a land which native misgovemment had prostrated and ruined.
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GAZETTEER
OF THE
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES-
GORAKHPUR DISTRICT.
CONTENTS.
Amwa ... «•
Anola ... ...
Anola parganah
Baikunthpur ...
Bnirauna
Banagion I. .-
Bansgaon II. ...
Bansgaon tahsil
Barhaj
Barhalganj ^
Barhi
Belaharia ...
Belghat
Belfpar
Bhagalpur ...
Bhauapar parganah
Binayakpur parganah
Biraicfaa ... ...
Bishanpur .„ ...
Captainganj .. ...
Chaumukha
Chaura ... ...
Chillupar parganah
Deoria ... ...
Deoriatahsil ...
Phani
Dhuriapar parganah •••
Fakir-ki-kothi ...
Gagaha ... ...
Gajpur ... ...
Ganra ...
Ghati
Gola ... *••
Gopalpnr ... ...
Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur or Head-quarters tahefl
Ilata
Hata tahoit ...
llaveli parganah
ltaya •«• ...
Kan ion ...
Kasia •«« •••
Page,
400
ib.
ib.
4b2
4o3
ib.
464
ib.
ib.
467
408
ib,
4*9
ib.
ib.
470
472
475
ib.
476
ib.
ib.
ib.
478
479
ib.
480
485
486
lb.
487
ib.
488
489
16.
499
ib.
ib.
500
505
ib.
506
Page.
Kazfpur
...
••*
510
Khakhundu
ib.
Khanapar
• ••
612
Kotibhar ...
•••
• •i
ib.
Larh
ib.
Maghar parganah
...
613
Maharajganj
...
• ■•
5)5
Maharajganj tahsil
•••
•M
516
Majhauli and Salem pur
• ••
ib.
Mansfirganj
•••
..I
619
Motiraru-ka-udda
...
tb.
Musela ...
620
Nichlaval ...
,.'.
ib.
Padrauna ...
•••
ib.
Padrauna tahsfl
»*«
623
Paikauli
•••
•«•
ib.
Paina ...
...
•*i
524
Paisya
•■•
•••
525
Panera
•••
ib.
Pipraich .„
...
•••
ib.
Hani kola ...
»••
526
Rampur-Klianpur
...
ib.
Ranigha't ...
•••
...
ib.
Rigauli
...
...
ib.
Kudarpur-East
...
ib.
Rudarpur-Weht or ]
Rudrapur
•M
530
Sahiya
•••
• ••
531
Sahojanua ...
.♦•
...
ib.
Salem pur parganah
•—
...
ib.
Scraral
•••
...
634
Semra II
•••
...
ib.
Shahjahanpur parganah
.«•
ib.
Sidhua Jobna parganah
...
537
Silhat parganah
•••
541
S is wa- bazar
•••
543
Sohanag
*••■
...
544
Surauli
...
• ••
646
Tamktihi ...
• ••
ib.
Tarakulwa ...
••t
• ••
ib.
Taria-Sujan
•••
647
Til pur parganah
•••
ib.
Tutibhari ...
•M
'•••
560
59
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460 GORAKHPUR.
Amwa Kh6s or Proper, a collection of scattered villages in tappa RAmpur
Dh&b of parganah Sidhua-Jobna, stands near the Champaran frontier, 68 miles
by road from Gorakhpur. The Great Gandak, ou whoso bank it formerly
stood, now flows some miles to the east. Bat the alluvial tract between Amwa
and the river is still subject to occasional flooding.
Its population, 6,150 in 1872, is Amwa's only claim to notice. But
except in numbers, that population is nowise remarkable. It consists chiefly
of agriculturists belonging to low Hindu castes. The villages or hamlets which
compose Amwa contain no private buildings of any importance, and no public
buildings at all. So insignificant, indeed, is the place that iu 1870 the Sanitary
Commissioner1 was unable to find it. And he very rightly came to the conclu-
sion that, except in the form of scattered villagos, no such town could
exist.
Anola or Sangrfimpur, a compact village in tappa Haveli of the parganah
to which it gives, its name, stauds on a cart-track branching from the Gorakh-
pur-Belghat road, 13 miles south-south- west of Gorakhpur. It had in 1872 a
population of 2,735 persons, chiefly husbandmen and Hindus.
The village stands on a slight eminence, and, being surrounded by thick
masses of trees, presents at a short distance a rather picturesque appearance.
Not far north of it lio some large patches of forest, which are preserved for the
sake of the sport which they afford to the local raja. The strong bramble
hedges that fence in the fields around the village show that deer, antelope and
other four-footed foes of cultivation are still numerous. The only public insti-
tution is an elementary school. The rfija of Anola, whose family history has
been elsewhere2 told, inhabits a large brick house in the village ; and a good
many old brick wells may be found in the neighbourhood. But the prevailing
material of construction is mud. A house-tax was formerly levied under Act
XX. of 1856, but this has now been abolished. The name of the village is
sometimes written as if it were derived from dnwla or aonla, the tree elsewhere
known as emblic myrobalans. But between the place and the plant there
seems to be no real connection. Anola is still spelt Anaula, and was once
spelt Anhaula.
Anola, a parganah of the Bansgaon tahsil, is bounded on the south-east
and north-east by parganah Bhauapdr ; on the north by Bhau6p&r and parganah
Maghar ; on the south-west by the Basti district, and on its irregular southern
frontier by parganah Dhuriapdr. The north-eastern boundary with Bhau6pa>
is formed by the Amiir lagoon and Ami river. The Kuana affords an .
*See his report for that year, p. 38, para 1 19. 2Above, pp. 401, 43*.
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GORAKHPUR. 4ftl
occasional frontior with Basti ; and the Tarena, which rises in the parganah,
with Dhuriapar. Anola is divided into three tappas, Haveli, Mahsin, and
Bankata. Containing 401 of the revenue divisions known as villages (mauza)T
it had in 187 8l an area of 71,303 acres and a land revenue of Rs. 43,721.
According to the census of 1872, parganah Anola contained 325 inhabi-
ted sites, of which 217 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 90 be*
Population. ^^^ 20Q and 50Q ^ 12 between 50Q an(J ^000 . 2 between
1,00^) and 2,000; 3 between 2,000 and 3,000; and 1 (Bfinsg&on) between
3,000 and 5,000. The population numbered 70,116 souls (32,683 females),
giving 294 to the square mile. Classified according to religion there were
66,294 Hindus, of whom 30,916 were females ; and 3,822 Musalmans (1,070
females). Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes,
the census shews 9,818 BrAhmans (4,565 females) ; 4,735 R6jputs (2,232
females) ; and 2,014 Baniyas (924 females) ; whilst the great mass of the
population is included in the " other castes," which show a total of 49,727
souls (23,195 females). The principal Br6hman sub-division found in this
parganah is the Kanaujiya (9,818). The chief Rajput clans are the Sarnet
(2,414), Sakarwal, Bais, and Chaulmn. The Baniyas belong to the following sub-
divisions: K&ndu( 425), Agar wal, Agrahri, Baranw&r, Unai, and Kasaundhan.
The most numerous among the other castes are the Bind, Teli, Koeri, Abir,
Loh4r, Hajj&m, Chamdr, Dhobi, Kah£r, Satwfir, Gadariya, Kurmi, Bhar,,
Mallih, Nuniya, K&yath, Kalwar, Sonfir, Kam6ngar, Kah&r, Dom, Barhai,
Bh&t, Pasi, Thathera, M&li, Bfinsphor, B&ri, Atith, Khatik, KMkrob, KMn,
Halw&i, Bharbhunja, and Beldar. The Musalmdns are distributed amongst
Shaikhs (3,317;, JSayyids (10;, Mughals (6), and Pathans (444), or left
unspecified.
The parganah is a well-wooded and well-cultivated plain, whose only pro-
physical and agri- minences are the slight undulations adjoining the low
cultural features. basin of the Xmi. A memorial of ancient woodland sur-
vives in tappa Bankata, whoso nanie means the ft forest-elearing ;" and at the
assessment of 1839-40 there was still a large area of forest. But this has
dwindled down till limited to the game-preserve, less than one square mile in
extent, north of Anola.2 The bulk of the parganah is cultivated and, thanks
to the freshness of its cultivation, fertile. Of the total area 55,390 acres are
recorded as either tilled or arable.3 The extension of cultivation under British
rule has allowed the land-revenue to increase nearly fourfold.
1 Government Circular No. 70AM dated 4th July, 1878. * Sec article on that village.
* Mr. Luuwdeii'u settlement report, which gives the same total area as shown above.
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462 GORAKHPtnr,
The soils are loam (dorm) and sand (balua). There is no natural clay soil
(mattiydr) although the manured lands around village homesteads sometimes
pass by that name.1 Water for irrigation is obtained from many ponds and
the pools of many streams. Eighty-seven per cent, of the total area is watered.
But the instability of the sub-soil, and the distance of water from the surface,
render wells expensive. Of the two harvests, the largest and most remunera-
tive is the spring. Its principal crops are barley, wheat, and pulses ; but gram,
peas, tobacco, and opium are extensively raised.
Anola can boast no other noteworthy products. The only considerable
manufacture, that of coarse cloth, is not peculiar to the
Economical features.
parganah. Weekly markets are held at five towns or
villages, of which the most important for trade purposes is Bhainsa Mathu in
Mahsin. The official capital is Bausgaon, the historic capital Anola. The
marts at which the parganah sells its crops are, however, rather outside it than
of it. It is connected by road or river with many places, such as Gorakhpur
or Barhaj. Two unmetalled highways traverse the centre, two cart-tracks the
east of the parganah. The Ami and the Kuana are navigable for at least two-
thirds of the year.
The parganah was first cleared and colonized by the dependents of the
Sarnet Rajputs. The traditional leader of the colony was
Randhir Singh, ancestor of the present r&ja of Anola. At
what exact period he lived it is now impossible to say. But at the end of the
sixteenth century we find Anola a parganah of the Gorakhpur division (mrkdr) •
and Oudh province («rf&a), with a State rental of Rs. 5,028.a Part of Oudh it
remained until ceded to the Company and included in its present district
(1801). The land-taxes since imposed on it have been at the first assessment
Rs. 11,698 ; at the second, Rs. 10,648 ; at the third, Rs. 9,542 ; at the fourth,
Rs. 12,368 ; and at the fifth, Rs. 30.673. The sum last named had before the
expiry of the fifth settlement risen to Rs. 43,200 ; and the demand of the
next or current assessment has been shown above.8
Baikunthpur,4 a village in tappa Kachu&rof parganah SalempurMajhauli,
. stands on the banks of the Little Gandak river, about 40 miles southwest of Go-
rakhpur. It in 187 2 had 869 inhabitants. The village is held by a family of Bisen
Bajputs, an offshoot of the Majhauli house. It is remarkable as the site of the most
important fair in the district, held "by the Panhdri Ji of Paikauli (q. v.) on the
fifth of the bright half of Aghan.5 The fair has been established for the last 52
1 For a brief description of all these soils see above, p. 285. * 3,oi,i80</<fflu; see
Akbar's Institute*. ' For some account of all these settlements see above, pp. 379-65.
f This article has been kindly contributed by Mr. Crooke. * November-December.
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GORAKHPUR. 463
years. On its principal day a dramatic performance, representing the Dhanuk
Jug, or contest for the hand of Sita, daughter of Janaka, king of Mithila, is
given. The successful suitor, Ramchandra, breaks the bow of Siva on a large
masonry platform amidst the acclamations of the assembled spectators. The
fair is attended by about 30,000 people ; while it lasts, a large market is estab-
lished ; and as there is no good trade-centre in the neighbourhood, the sur-
rounding villagers flock hither to lay in their annual supplies of cloth, vessels,
&c. The sales are very large.
Bairauna Kh6s or Proper, a village in tappa Bairauna or Bairondu of
parganah Salempur Majhauli^ contains the ruins of an ancient fort attributed
to the Bhars.1 The distance by unmetalled road from Crorakhpur is about 37
miles. The population in 1872 was 738 only.
Bansg^on, or " the village of barabus," is the capital of the tahsfl so named.
It stands on a cart-track in tappa Mahsin of parganah Anola, 19 miles south
of Gorakhpur. The population amounted in 1872 to 3,069 souls.
The town or village really consists of 10 hamlets, whereof the principal are
Shahpur Kabra or B&nsgaon, Baraban, Dunkhar, and Majhgawan. On the
slight eminence crowned by Bar&bau, 6< the great forest," stand close together
the munsiPs court and the tahsili. Between them and Dunkhar, which con-
tains the first-class police-station, lies the excise store-house. Beyond the
police-station, in Shahpur Kabra, rises the great mass of the village houses,
which are mostly poor buildings of mud. The only public institutions not
•hitherto mentioned are the imperial post-office, a Government school, a hostel
(dharma&la) built in 1871 by general subscription, two Hindu temples and one
Muslim mosque. As might be expected, however, in a mere cluster of agricul-
tural hamlets there is no building of any special interest.
In Baraban are some masonry structures and the greatest appearance of
comfort, but as a whole the place looks like most Indian villages— poor, squalid,
and untidy. Where, however, a short distance lends enchantment to the view,
Bar&ban nestling amongst its fine groves of mango trees looks well enough.
The land around the town is held by a great number of proprietors,
some of whose holdings are barely sufficient to support existence. Owin^
probably to the nearness of Gorakhpur, into which the villagers carry
their grain for sale, there is little local trade. But a market is held every
Friday, and a fair on the ninth of the bright half of Ku&r (September-Octo-
ber). On this latter occasion, writes Mr. Crooke, all the Sarnet Rajputs go to
worship Devi at an old asthdn or shrine. Cutting their bodies in seven places,
1 For some account of the manner in which the Bisens expelled the Bhars sec articles
on MajhauU and Salempur,
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464 GORAKHPUR.
they offer up the blood to the goddess. They also sacrifice a male buffalo,
and carry round a young pig, which they kill by knocking it against the
ground. The ceremony is in memory of their conquest of the Chauhans
and occupation of Bansg&on.
BXnsg^on, an agricultural village in tappa Rampur Ragaha of parga-
nah Sidhua Jobna," lies 64 miles by road east of Gorakhpur. Its only claim
to notice is its population, which amounted in 1872 to 3,340.
Bansgaon has an elementary (halkabandi) school. About a dozen years
ago one of its landholders started an indigo factory which has long ceased
working. The village is said to have been founded by Bhuinh&rs from the
south, and still contain many Bhuiuhar inhabitants.
BXnsgaon, a tahsil with head-quarters at the Bansgaon first mentioned,
is bounded on its irregular north-eastern frontier by the Rapti, which severs it
from tahsfls Deoria, Hata, and Gorakhpur ; on the north, again, by the Go*
rakhpuror Head-quarters tahsil, on the west by the Basti district; and on the
south south-west by the Gh&gra, which divides it from the Azamgarh district.
Tahsfl Bansg&on contains the parganahs of Anola, Dhuriapdr, and Chillupar,
with all except the two northern tappas of parganah Bbauapar. It had in
1878 a total area of 394,648 acres, or over 616 square miles; and a total
land-revenue of Rs. 2,30,279. Its population in 1872 was 345,401, or 563
persons to the square mile. Bat a detailed account of the tahsil will be found
in the articles on its four parganahs.
Barhaj, in tappa Rafpur of parganah Salempur Majhauli, is the prin- #
cipal mart of the Gorakhpur district. It staads on the junction of several un-
metalled roads and a cart-track, 41 miles south-east of Gorakhpur. Tradition
mentions that the Gh igra and R&pti used once to meet nearly four miles west
of the town. But the tendency of Che confluence has ever been to follow east-
wards the current of the two rivers. In 1873 they mingled their waters just
opposite Gaura, less than two miles west of Barhaj ; and Barhaj now stands
on the Rapti, above its union with the Ghdgra. The town had in 1872 a popu-
lation of 4,970 persons, chiefly Brahmans, Kalw&rs, Mallahs, and Ahirs.
u Barhaj," writes Mr. Crooke, u is certainly the most thriving and about
the dirtiest town in Gorakhpur. But besides its commercial importance, it has
not a single feature of iuterest. From the Rapti it presents the appearance of
a mass of squalid houses interspersed with the spires of a few Hindu temples.
The river bank is covered with immense piles of wood, part for exportation,
part for boat-building, whiel^ is an active trade, and the greater part to feed
the furnaces of the numerous sugar factories. The only buildings even modor-
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gotukhpur. 4G5
ately respectable are a brand new masonry police-station (first class) and a
Government (halkabandi) school. At right angles to the river is one long street,
which passes by a bridge over the foul Rakba watercourse — the i cloaca
maxima' of Barhaj. This road was once metalled, but is now out of repair. As
it approaches the river it loses itself in a maze of filthy lanes which wind on to
the police-station and the ghats. The rest of the town consists of crooked
irregular streets crammed with Eperchandise of all sorts.
" The school has about 60 boys on its rolls and an average attendance of
about 40. All the pupils are from the poorer classes. None of the merchants'
sons attend. One of the leading mahdjans remarked lately to the writer that
they did not send their sons to school because they did not want Government
service, which was the sole end of education* They prefer to let their sons
sprawl about the shops and pick up the mahdjani alphabet from the clerks.
One of the principal trades of Barhaj is sugar-refining. It is carried on,
according to the usual system, by boiling down the lumps of raw sugar (bheli)
in an immense caldron (kardh), skimming and filtering the syrup, and then
coagulating it in earthen pots, finally dissolving the treacle from the saccharine
particles by the moisture from a layer of river grass (siwdr). The process is
rather rude and there is little regard to cleanliness. The sugar produced is of
the coarse brown variety known as Chinese.1 Barhaj is the depdt for all the
sugar produoed in parganahs Sidhua-Jobna, Salempur Majhauli, and Shfih-
jah&npur. Dr. Planck ten years ago (1870) reckoned the number of factories
at 40.* A visitor who sees the town only in its squalid every -day state would
be surprised to watch on a market day the enormous string of carts which
crowd into the place and render traffic in the narrow lanes almost impossible.
Cloth and vessels are largely imported and sold for local use or distribution to
the smaller district marts. Since the license-tax was introduced a new
. industry has been started, that of preparing a second set of ledgers for the
inspection of the assessing officer. The most enterprising merchants are a
colony of M&rwaris, and some Kalwfire, Baniy&s, and Ir&kis. Some of the
M&rw&ris do a good trade in insuring boats and cargoes from the danger of
the snags and rapids of the R&pti and Gh&gra. The influence of the Barhaj
trading classes in the neighbouring parts of the district is very* large. They
acatter advances through the villages for sugar and grain ; and there are few
threshing-floors or sugar-mills in the vicinity where one of their emissaries is
not on guard during the harvest season. It must be admitted that the Barhaj
dealers have rather an equivocal reputation. Judiciously managed bankruptcies
are a regular trade.
1 Supra, p. 413, note. ' See above, page 412, table, '" Remarks" column.
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466 GORAKHPUR.
" In Barhaj sanitation and local improvements are at a very low level.
As the trustee of the rAja of Majhauli, the owner of the place, Government
has no funds to spare for conservancy or local works. The most pressing
work is to clear a road straight down to the B&pti landings and improve the
town drainage. At present the refuse of the sugar refineries, added to the
usual abominations of a native town, supply a bouquet of disgusting odours
which Cologne could not rival*"
The above description requires but little supplement. The Hindu temples
therein mentioned are four or five, modern structures dedicated to Mah&deo or
Siva. There is at least one good-looking modern mosque ; and to the list of
public institutions must be added the imperial post-office. A few masonry
houses are occupied by leading merchants. Numerous but ill-kept wells tap
water at a distance of 25 feet from the surface. Many of the sugar factories
are really considerable buildings, enclosing extensive courtyards. The manu-
factured sugar is shipped in large quantities for Calcutta, but is not the only
great export of Barhaj. The town is an important depdt for the down-country
distribution of grain. It in 1870 contained no less than 31 golaa or granaries,
courtyards surrounded with covered racks for the storeage of the laden sacks.
Amongst minor exports must be mentioned wood, oilseeds, and hides ; amongst
the imports iron, cloth, and salt But something on this subject will be found
in the account of trade and manufactures for the district generally.1
The principal business quarters are Farehatta, Namakhatta or the salt-
market, Dalhatta or the pulse-market, and Naya or New B&z&r. At the east
of the town is an extensive quarter of Mall&hs or boatmen. Six hundred resi-
dent members of that caste earn their liviug by loading and unloading vessel
with that grain. But at Gorakhpur and Dh&ni, higher up the R£pti, the
numbers are only 250 and 100 respectively.2 The Rakba or Bh&gar water-
course joins the Rapti, and its mouth forms a convenient dock for small ship-
ping. On the R&pti itself may be seen a little forest of masts.
Markets are held every Tuesday and Wednesday, and on the full moon of
October-November (Karttik) Barhaj is enlivened by a fair. Near the town
stand the villages of Gaura and Paina, where many of its merchants have
villas. Though practically suburbs of Barhaj, these places will be described
in separate articles. If their population be added to that of Barhaj, the result
will be a total of 15,783 inhabitants.
Legend derives the name of Barhaj from one Barahan or Barha-ji, a
• Bi&hman hermit who turned Musalmftn. His supposed
tomb is still an object of veneration. Later still lived
* Supra pp. 411-21. * Report? furnialu4 by tahsUdars to Mr. Alexander.
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GORAKHPUB. 467
one Eunwar Dhir Sahi, who built here a castle. This stronghold is said to
have been stormed and destroyed by Musalmans not long before the foundation
of the modern town ; but its ruins may still be seen. The founders of the
existing Barhaj were the ancestors of the Majhauli r&ja, and its age is computed
at about 110 years. Its rise to commercial prominence had been rapid. In
1870 Dr. Planck was informed that the first sugar factory had been started but
40 years before.
Barhalganj, a small town in tappa Havel i of pargana Chilliipfir, stands on
the crossing of the metalled Azamgarh and another unmetalled road, 35 miles
'south south-east of Gorakhpur. The former highway crosses the Ghdgra just
south of the town. Barhalganj was in 1872 inhabited by 4,449 persons.
It was formerly deemed to include four muhallas or quarters. The first,
Lfilganj, was called after the Lai S&hib, brother of the rebellious Bisen raja of
Narharpnr. The second was Kasba Barhal or Barhalganj proper. The third,
Chillup&r, which perhaps gave its name to the parganah, took that name from
the fact that it lay across {par) a small stream styled the Chillu. In the fourth,
Gola or the granary, a grain-market was formerly held. But the separate
existence of the three quarters last named has been almost forgotten, and the
terms L4lganj and Barhalganj may be considered nearly synonymous.
The town consists chiefly of a street of masonry shops lining the sides
of the Azamgarh road. It has a fine metalled market-place flanked by stone
drains. There is a famous temple sacred to Shiva as lord of Jalesar {JaUsar-Ndth
Afahddeo). Another thdkurdwdra, known as the Charanp&dnka, is under the
management of the prior of Paikauli {q. v.) A little distance north of the town,
beside the Azamgarh road, the leading merchant Jagmohan Das has built a
third temple. In the town itself is a fine masonry house belonging to the
same citizen. Attached to the first-class police-station are
a pretty garden and two mounted policemen, who patrol
the road just mentioned. Barhalganj has also a parganah school, a hostel
(sardi) for travellers, a dispensary, and an imperial post-office. Several fine
groves surround the town ; and the trimness with which its road and market-
place are kept give it an exceptionally neat appearance. The
Chankiddri Act (XX. of 1856) is in force ; and during
1877-78 the house-tax thereby imposed, added to a balance of Rs. 7 1 from
the preceding year, gave a total income of Rs. 871. The expenditure, which
was chiefly on police (Rs. 480), conservancy, and public works, amounted to
Rs. 730. Of the 944 houses 225 were assessed with the tax, the inoidenoe
being Rs. 3-8-11 per house assessed and Re. 0-2-11 per head of population.
60
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468 GORAKHPtm.
Barhalganj has little trade of its own. But a good deal of traffio passes through
it along the metalled road, on its way to or from the GhSgra shipping, Azam-
garh, or Benares. Retained between calcareous {kankar) banks, the Gh&gra is
here unusually narrow. On the full moon of Kjirttik (October-November; and
the ninth of the bright half of Chait (March- April) large multitudes flock
hither to bathe in the stream.
Until the rebellion of 1857 the market belonged to the raja of Narhar-
• pur, a village about one mile east of the town. On the
confiscation of his property it was found (hat the dues
brought in about Rs. 2,400 yearly. But Mr. Collector Young, under whose
direct management the estate was placed, remitted the collections and imposed
the house-tax already mentioned. The removal of what was virtually a
transit duty gave a great impetus to the prosperity of the town ; but Barhal-
ganj is still behind Dohari, the Azamgarh mart on the opposite bank of the
Ghagra. Outside the town lie some lands known as Kr&zi Barhalganj, which
when confiscated were bestowed on the rfija of Gopalpur in reward for his
mutiny services. He both mortgaged and sold them, an inconsistency which
has led to long lawsuits not yet ended. Riots and disputes between the rival
claimants have lately compelled the Collector to take this property also under
direct management.
Barhi, 1 the Bite of a police-station and district post-office, stands on
the left bank of the Rapti, in tappa RajdhAni of parganah South Haveli,
13 miles south-east of Gorakhpur. The population amounted in 1872 to
1,058 souls. The road from Gorakhpur to Barhi crosses the line of drainage
from the Ramgarh and adjoining lakes, and is cut away every rainy sea-
son. It is not now kept under repair. The surrounding country is greatly
exposed to inundation from the R&pti, and the soil is so sandy as to
render the construction of buildings very difficult. It is proposed to transfer
the third-class police-station to the adjoining village of Dihghat, which occupies
a more elevated site. The first estabishment of this station was due to the
host of highwaymen which once infested the road. A short distance east of
Barhi, in the villages of Tongri, Upadaulia, andRajdhani khas, are the remains
of a great oity and fortress coeval with the Sahankot of Rudarpur, and said
to be the home of the Maurya dynasty.2
Belah ARIA, or Bela Haraiya, the site of a dispensary and post-office, lies
in tappa Lehra of parganah North Haveli, on the road from Nichlaval to
1 This and the fire succeeding articles are chiefly from the pen of Mr. Crooke, of whose
notes some advantage was taken also in the last. 2 /.«* the dynasty oi Chandragupta
(Sendrakottos) and Atoka.
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GORAKHPUK. 469
Karmaini-gh&t, about 40 miles north north-west of Gorakhpur. It lies on
the forest grant1 of Mr. J. H. Bridgman ; and an excellent house is occupied
by his resident agent, Mr. W. Palmer. Hard by stands S&hibganj b&z&r,
an important mart for country produce. Bela Haraiya had in 1872 a popu-
lation of 1 ,730 inhabitants.
Belghat, a large agricultural village of the tappa so called in parganah
Dhuri&p&r, stands on the junction of an unme tailed road and a cart-track,
about 26 miles south south-west of Gorakhpur. The population amounted in
1872 to 1,513 persons. The village contains a first-class police-station and
district post-office. It is the head-quarters of Babu B&mavatdr Singh, a
Kausik Rajput of the Gop&lpur family, who has a considerable estate in the
neighbourhood. During the rains the place is difficult of approach from
Gorakhpur, owing to the necessity of crossing the Ku&na river. There is
nothing of any interest in Belghat. Its name implies that the Sarju or Ghagra
once flowed past it ; and a late change of course has again brought the river
within some two miles of the village.
Bel* Pin, a police outpost on the metalled Azamgarh road, stands about
14 miles south of Gorakhpur, in tappa Kasw&nsi of parganah Bhau&pfir. It
occupies the high ground overlooking the Amiar lagoon. The embankment
known as the " Tucker bandh," which connects Belipar with Kaurir&m on the
other side of the marsh, begins a short distance south of the outpost. The
population of the village is 679 only.
BhAgalpur, a market village* in tappa Ballia of parganah Salempur-
Majhauii, crowns the left bank of the Ghagra, 52 miles south-east of Gorakh-
pur. It had in 1872 a population of 1,540 inhabitants. The place was evi-
dently the site of a very ancient city. Apparently the ruins at Khair&garh, which
are now on the Azamgarh bank of the river, were once conterminous with
Bhdgalpur, and have been separated from it by a change in the course of the
GhAgra. The ancient buildings on the Gorakhpur side have almost all dis-
appeared, and only the ancient pillar described by Buohanan2 remains.
«« Bhagalpur," writes that wordy author, " is said to be a corruption of Bhargiwapur, * and
it is said to have been the residence of the family of Br ah mans which gsve birth to Parasurama,
the incarnation of Vishnu. * * * Immediately below Bhagalpur the Dehwa (Qhsgra) has laid
bare some masses of brick rubbish, and this may possibly be part of the family abode,
the remainder of which has been swept away by the river ; but the quantity of bricks
is trifling, and they are usually considered by the natives as having belonged to a mud
fort built above by Sudrishta Narayau, a Kumar or younger brother of the Bhojpur
family who made some conquests in this part of the country Near this fort, in a
garden, is a stone pillar, which is a mere cylinder with a small flat cap, and totally
1 Supra, pp. 286-87. * Eastern India, W$ 364-66 ; see also Cunningham's
Archaobgical Survey Reports, I, 85-86. 8 I e. the town of Bhargiwa Sarwfcriai.
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470 GORAKHPDR.
destitute of elegance. There are no traces of buildings round it, and a considerable portion is
probably sunk in the ground. It has contained a long inscription in an ancient character, which
the Pandits cannot entirely read, many of the letters being of obsolete forms. The inscription
is besides very much defaced, partly by the action of time, and partly by some bigot having
attempted to cut through the pillar just in the middle of the inscription. The zeal of this bigot
was cooled before he cut half through the pillar, and if he wrought with a sword, as is usually
alleged, he must have had considerable patience to cut so far. It is however commonly believed
that he desisted from terror, blood having sprung from the stone when he made a gash in it
with one blow of the sword. Some Bay that this zealous person was a Muhammadau; others give
the honour to a Yogi. This latter opinion has probably arisen from some persons having carved
above the inscription, in modern characters, the words ' Raj Yog/ 1007; but this, 1 am told, has
no connection with a person of the order of Yogis, but implies accession to the Government, 1U07.
Neither the name of the person succeeding nor the era is mentioned, and the character being
very different from the other part of the inscription, had even these circumstances been known,
they would hare thrown no light on the antiquity of the pillar. Many persons call it the staff
(fdth) or club (yada) of Parasurama; but others say that it belonged to Bhim, the supposed son
of Panda, and others allege that it was erected by Bhagadatta, of whom I made frequent
mention in the account of Bang pur."
During the last rains, 1879, the remains of an ancient masonry passage
tinder the river are said to have been discovered.1 The head-quarters of a sub-
division of the Opium Department, fihagalpnr has a good opium bungalow
with weighing sheds and other offices. Its bathing fair on the full moon of
K&rttik (October-November) is attended by some 6,000 people.
BhauaP4K, a parganah of the Bansgaon and Head-quarters tahsils, is
bounded on its convex north-eastern frontier by the meandering Rapti, which
divides it from parganahs Silhat and Haveli ; on its concave south-western fron-
tier by parganahs Maghar, Anola, and Dhuriapar ; on its short eastern termina-
tion by Silhat ; and on its short western termination by Maghar. Alarge portion
of the boundary with Maghar and Anola is supplied by the Ami river and the
Amiar lagoon. Bhauapar is divided into seven tappas. Of these the two northern,
Bet and Haveli, belong to the head-quarters tahsiL The five southern, Kuswansi,
Pachasi, Gurhmi, Kota, aud Gagaha, are a part of tahsfl Bansgaon. The par-
ganah contains 432 of the revenue divisions known as villages (mauza). It
had in 1878 an area of 91,200 acres and a land revenue of Rs. 58,477.*
Acoording to the census of 1872 Bhauapar contained 280 inhabited sites,
of which 151 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 87 between
Popu ation. 2Q0 and 50Q ^ 2g between 50Q ^ ^00() . 1Q betweea ^qqq
and 2,000 ; and 2 between 2,000 and 3,000.
1 Granted however its existence, this passage must not he deemed an anticipation off
Brunei's Thames-tunnelling feat. The passage did not run under the river, but the river has
run over the passage. General Cunningham mentions a tradition that the li nigra once flowed
thre* miles north of fihagalpnr. 2 49,610 acres and Rs. 39,307 belong to the Bansgaon
tahsil j 41,6*0 acres and Ks. 26, 1 TO to the Head-quarters,
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GORAKHPUR. 471
The population numbered 82,526 sonls (39,000 females), giving 1,153 to
the square mile. Classified according to religion, there were 77,452 Hindis, of
whom 36,660 were females, and 5,074 Musalm&ns (2,340 females). Distributing
the Hindu population among the four great classes, the censtis shews 13,065
Brdhmans (7,228 females) ; 5,296 Rajputs (2,479 females); and 3,560 Baniyas,
(1,706 females) ; whilst the great mass of the population is included in the "other
castes" of the census returns, which show a total of 12,444 souls (5,761 females).
The principal Br&hman sub-division found in this parganah is the Kanaujiya
(12,867). The chief Rajput clans are the Ponwdr (1,292), Chandel, Sarnet,
Sakarwdl, Bais, Kausik, Solankhi, and Chauhan. The Baniyas belong to the
Kandu (1,460), Agarwil, Agarahri, Baranwdr, Unai, and Kasaundhan sub-
divisions. The most numerous among the " other castes" are the Bind, DosAdh,
Gound,1 Teli, Koeri, Ahir, Lohdr, Hajjam, Cham6r, Dhobi, Kah&r, Satw&r,
Qadariya, Kurmi, Bhar, Mullah, Nuniya, K&yath, Musahar, Kalw&r, Rajbhar,
Son&r, Kamingar, Kahir, Dom, Barhai, Barai, Bh£t, Pasi, Thatheri, Mali,
Bansphor, Bairagi, B&ri, Atith, Kis&n, Halwii, Kadera, Bharbhunja, and
Beldar. The Musalm&ns are Shaikhs (4,034), Sayyids (27), Patbaos (426),
and unspecified.
The parganah is a long irregular strip of country with a maximum
Physical and agri- expanse of about 30 by 7 miles. The flatness of its sur-
cnltarai features. face jB broken on\y by slight undulations whose ridges
are often shaded by fine mango groves attributed to the Banj&ras. The
soil is fairly productive ; and of the 9,867 acres returned as its total area
at settlement 66,290 were either cultivated or culturable. The soils are loam
(doras) and sand (balua). What is called clay {matti&r) is only found to a
very limited extent in lowlying situations. The crops chiefly grown for the
autumn harvest are bhadain or bhadni rice2 and maize ; for the spring harvest
the usual cereals, the usual pulses, and indigo. Until a few years ago at all
events no sugarcane was raised. Bhau£p&r is well drained by the Rdpti and Xmi,
which meet at the junction of tappas Kusw&nsi and Gurhmi. The interfluvial
tract including tappas Ret, Haveli, and Kusw&nsi, is much exposed to inunda-
tion not only from the rivers themselves, but from the Nawar and Nandaur
lagoons. During the monsoon this part of the parganah is a continuous sheet
of water, spanned between Belip&r and Kaurir&m police outposts by the mag-
nificent embankment known as the Tucker Bandh.8 When the floods subside
they leave a rich alluvial deposit ; the beds of the smaller lagoons are sown with
a winter crop ; and the Xmi shrinks into a narrow stream winding through
fertile corn lands. The south of the parganah is as a rule higher and sandier,
1 Sic in tbe Census report Perhaps Qond is intended. * Supra p. 32*. » Supra
p. 307.
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472 GORAKHPUR.
while the spring crops are generally better than further north. Of the total
cultivated area 61 per cent, is irrigated, chiefly from lagoons, artificial ponds,
and former beds (dokar) of streams. But as water is very near the surface,
temporary unbricked wells are easily dug.
The leading families are the Sarnet R&jputs of P&ndepar, Balw&n, and
Landholding fami- Kota, the Palw&r R6jputs of Gagaha, the Tiw6ri Brah-
Ucs- mans of Saigaura, and the Pande Brahmans of BalwSn.
The Naiks or Banj&ras of Chauriya in tappa Gurhmi deal largely in eattle,
and lend money and grain in the neighbourhood. The Satdsi family1 has
settlements in Gajpiir and Bhau&p&r villages ; and at the latter place are
the ruins ot a large castle on the highland overlooking the R&pti. It was
above3 mentioned how in 1769, when a famine had killed the cattle, the tigers
fell upon the inhabitants of Bhau&p&r. In the time of Buchanan '1835) the
same beasts were still credited with slaying yearly some seven or eight people
and 250 cattle of the neighbourhood. But the parganah has now been so
long without tigers that it bas almost forgotten their existence.
The chief commercial mart is Kalesar in tappa Ret, near the bank of the
Rapti, and adjoining the metalled road from Gorakhpur to
Basti. This lately established emporium is an important
dep6t for the produce of the fertile parganah Maghar. Piprauli in the same
tappa, south of Kalesar, is a thriving market, noted chiefly for the country cloth
which is imported for sale from Gorakhpur, parganah Maghar, and the neigh-
bouring villages. The minor bazars are Saraiya, 8iw6i, Gajpur, and Daunrpdr.
The parganah is thoroughly traversed by the metalled Basti and Azamgarh
roads and their unmetalled feeders, while an additional trade-route is provided
by the navigable Rdpti.
The only remains of archaBologioal interest are the Satasi stronghold at
Antiquities and Bhau&par and numerous mounds or other traces of old
HiBt0.ry- forts and villages attributed as usual to the Th&rus. The
Institutes of Ahbar (1596) return Bhaw¶ as a parganah of the Gorakhpur
division and Oudh province, with a State rental of Rs. 3,897 (1,55,900 dams).
How greatly cultivation has since then extended is shown by the revenues
imposed at modern British settlements. These were, at the first, Rs. 15,430 ;
at the second, Rs. 14,721 ; at the third, Rs. 14,750 ; at the fourth, Rs. 17,253 ;
and at the fifth, Rs. 40,904. The demand of the next or current assessment
has been shown above.
Bin*yakpur, the most northern parganah of the district and the Mahd-
r&jganj tahsil, is bounded on the north north-east and west north-west by
»P.43<J. *P. 343.
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GORAKHPUR. 473
Nep&I, the boundary on the latter quarter being supplied by the Ghunghi
river; on its irregular south south-western frontier by parganah Havel i; and
on the south-east by the Jharri river, which severs it from parganah Tilpur.
To distinguish it from Binfiyakpur of Basti, the parganah is sometimes called
Bin&yakpur East. It is divided into three tappas, Mirchwar, Nngwan, and
Sirsia ; and contains 79 of the revenue divisions known as villages (mauta)1.
Binayakpur had in 1878 an area of 93,116 acres and a land-revenue of
Bs. 17,111.
According to the census of 1872 it contained 77 inhabited sites,
of which 55 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 18 between
Population.
200 and 500 ; 2 between 500 and 1,000 ; and 2 between
1,000 and 2,000, The population numbered 21,722 souls (10,409 females),
giving 150 to the square mile. Classified according to religion, there were 20,028
Hind6s, of whom 9,600 wore females; and 1,694 Musalmfins (809 females).
Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes, the census
shows 544 Br&hmans (222 females); 255 B&jputs (111 females); and 474
Baniy&s (217 females); whilst the great mass of the population is included in
the "other castes," which show a total of 18,755 souls (9,050 females).
The principal Br&hinan sub-division found in this parganah is the Kanaujiya
(539). The chief R&jput clan is the Bais (127). The Baniyds belong to the
Agarw&l, K&ndu, Agarahri, and Easaundhan sub-divisions. The most numerous
among the other castes are the Ahfr (3,389), Hajj&m (1,525), Chamfir (2,177)
and Kurmi (1,832). The following castes comprise less than one thousand
members each : Dos&dh, Teli, Koeri, LohSr, Dhobi, Kahfir, Gadariya, Kurmi
Bhar, Mall&h, Nuniya, K&yath, Musahar, Kalwir, Son&r, Kahar, Barhai
Barai, Bh&t, Pasi, Thathera, Bansphor, Bairagi, B&ri, Atlth, Khatik, Kh&krob
Kis&n, Halwai, Kumar, Kori, and Baheliya. The Musalm&ns are Shaikhs (1 366)
Sayyids (16), Mughals (5), Pathans (243), and unpecified.
As a part or outskirt of the Sub-Him&layan Tar&i, Binfiyakpur is both
Physical and .grl. wild and swampy. From the base of the lower Him&laya,
cultural features. gome 15 myes djgtant, a series of rapid and roughly parallel
streams flow down across its northern border. Excluding the Ghunghi and
Jharri, already mentioned as mere boundaries, we find the west of the parganah
traversed by the Ghfigar, Danda, and Ainjar, tributaries of the former ; the
centre by the Rohin and its affluents, the Nidhi, Dhundi, Bhaghela, and
If anauwa. The course of all these streams lies almost due southwards. The
Ghunghi and Rohin, which rise in the hills themselves, are as usual
1 This estimate includes forest grants.
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474 GORAKHPUR.
distinguished from other rivers by their high banks of accumulated alluvial
matter. These banks slope rapidly down to the level of the surrounding country,
the beds of the rivers being often, probably, raised above that level.
Of the total area about 38,300 acres are or were jungle grants;1 about
23,200 are reserved Government forest. But before 1872 some 26,720 acres
of the jungle grants had been brought under cultivation ; and when the term
of the last grant expires, in 1906, tillage will have still further extended*
Including the area just mentioned, the total cultivation amounts to about
39,910 acres.2
But how small a fraction of the total area this represents may be seen
by referring to the first paragraph. The parganah consists chiefly indeed of
marsh and forest ; and of these the eastern tappa Nag wan is wholly composed.
Here are numerous morasses growing long reeds, the resort of the tiger and
wild buffalo; here probably may be found the origin of that malaria which
makes Bin&yakpur East twice as feverish as its western namesake, although
not so unhealthy as its eastern neighbour, Tilpur. But in the remaining tappas
reclamation has of late years proceeded rapidly. Along the banks of the
Ghunghi tillage has now reached the Nep&l frontier. Along, however, a con-
siderable part of that frontier, the parganah is a dreary land of grass dotted
near streams with a few trees. Hither at the end of the rainy season large
flocks are brought for pasture. But as they return southwards, the drovers
find pasture gradually give way to rice-fields and s&l forest to mango-groves.
The owners of villages are chiefly Brahmans, Rajputs, and Mongol-faced
Th&rus ; the peasantry are mostly of the caste last named, Kurmi's and Ahirs.
In their system of cultivation advantage is taken of the many streams, which
are dammed and diverted through artificial channels (kulaj to water the fields.
The principal crops are for the autumn harvest late (jarhan) rice ; for the
spring harvest cereals and pepper. But the people assert that, owing to the
" coldness " left in the soil by the rains, little of a spring harvest is realized.
Its crops and timber are the parganah's only important products. But
Economical fea- at ^8 own little villages, such as Paisia and Sirsia, there is
ture8# even in these little trade. Dhani, Nichlaval, and other marts
of neighbouring parganahs are also the marts of Binayakpur. Of officially-
recognized roads the parganah is entirely destitute.
In the fourteenth century, Bin&yakpur and Tilpur were colonized by the
first r6ja of Bdtwal, now a town of Nep&l. This chief is
said to have been a ChauhSn R&jput ; but if the tradition of his
1 Supra, rp. 286-88. * Or 13,190 acres, cxcludiug the cultivation of jungle grants.
See Wynne's Settlement Report.
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GORAKHPUB. 475
migration from Chittaur is to be trusted, was more likely to have been a Gahlot
His descendants intermarried with the Thirus and other hill -tribes ; and at
some date unknown a cadet of the family obtained Tilpur as a separate fief.
Though the independence of the Tilpur rulers was never recognized, the separa-
tion between the two tracts continued. In the Ain-i-Akbari (1596) they are
entered as separate parganahs of the Gorakhpur division (sarkdr) and Oudh
province («iifta), Bin&yakpur being credited with a State rental of Rs. 15,000
(6,00,000 dims). The parganah was then, however, very much larger than now.
It included, as it now does not, the eponymous village of Bin&yakpur. When
the tract was transferred from Oudh to the East India Company (1801), the r&ja
of Bfitwal was granted a money allowance in lieu of his claims on the dbddkdrs. *
But not many years afterwards the Nepalese ejected him from his hill domain of
Palpa, and in virtue of this conquest claimed and seized Bin&yakpur also.
Their presumption was ultimately punished in the Nep&lese war, and Bin&yak-
pur once more became British territory.
But in the course of the campaigns the population had been greatly
strengthened by the influx of refugees from Bfitwal and the Tarii, and within the
next twenty years Captain Stoneham was employed to bring this parganah and
the neighbouring North Haveli into better cultivation. Lands were parcelled
out, embankments were built, and channels for draining the marshes were dug.
Thus began a work which has been toilsomely continued by the unassisted
efforts of the people themselves.
After the rebellion of 1857-58, the friendly services of the Nepfclese were
rewarded with a grant of territory which, extending to the northern frontier of
Haveli, severed Bin&yakpur into two portions, east and west On the forma-
tion of Basti (1865) the latter was included in thct district. The first British
assessment of the parganah took place in 1813, and the demands, then and since
imposed, have been as follow :-1813, Rs. 520 ; 1839, Rs. 688; and 1864,
Rs. 7,505.
Biraicha, a village in tappa Biraicha of parganah Haveli, stands near
the right bank of the Little Gandak river, 34* miles north-east of Gorakhpur.
The population amounted in 1872 to but 1,370 ; and Biraicha is remarkable
only as the site of a third-class police-station and district post-office.
Bishanpur or Bishanpura is another small village noticeable for the same
causes. It stands in tappa Patnipur of parganah Sidhua-Jobna, on an old bed
of the Gandak and a cart-track, 62 miles east of Gorakhpur. Its police-station
and post-office are of the same classes as those at Biraicha. But of its popula-
tion, which is insignificant, the Magistrate-Collector is unable to supply details.
* Svpra p. 407.
61
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476 GORAKHPUR.
CaftaiNGANJ,' or Kaptfinganj, a fairly thriving market village in tappa
Parwarpar of parganah South Haveli, stands on the junction of two unmetalled
roads, 28 miles east-north-east of Gorakhpur. The population amounted in
1872 to 3,647 souls. The village, writes Mr. Crooke,1 was after the mutiny
confiscated for the treason of its former owners, and the market has since re-
mained in the hands of Government. A metalled road and masonry drains have
been constructed. Hard by on the east flows the Little Gandak ; and the place
has a considerable trade in sugar and country produce, which is sent down that
river to Patna and D&napur. Captainganj or Captain's market is the 2nd stage
on the road from Gorakhpur to Padrauna. It has a good encamping-ground
and an elementary school.
Cbaumukba, a police out-post on the crossing of the unmetalled Gorakh-
pur-Lotan and Captainganj Karmaiuigh£t roads, lies in tappa Bhari of par-
ganah North Haveli, 25 miles north of Gorakhpur. East of it rises a dense,
but somewhat stunted sal forest. The population amounted in 1872 to
933 only ; and the place is only noticeable as a halting-place on the junc-
tion of two important highways. It derives its name from a well with a tall
four-faced platform, said to have been built by a former district officer as a
traveller's refuge from the numerous wild elephants which then haunted the
neighbourhood.
Chaura, or Chaura Chauri, a village in tappa Keutali of parganah South
Baveli, stands on the unmetalled Gorakhpur and Deoriaroad, 16 miles south-east
of the former place. It was in 1872 inhabited by 132 persons only. But Chaura
has a third-class police-station, a district post-office, a small hostel (sardi) for
tavellers, a cattle pound, and an eletnentary school. It occupies some high
ground overlooking a great depression which is Hooded in the rains. When in
early winter the water subsides, fever is prevalent. The village contains so
few grain-dealers9 shops that supplies must be brought a considerable distance.
CfliLLtfplR, the smallest parganah of the district and the Bansgdon tahsil,
is bounded on the north-east by the R4ptif which severs it from parganahs
Salempur and Silhat ; on the west north-west by parganahs Bhau&p&r and
Dhuri&p&r ; and on the south by the Gh&gra, which divides it from the Azam-
garh district It is divided into five tappas, Majhaulia, Semra, Haveli, Kasha,
and Sikandarpnr ; and amongst these are distributed 210 of the revenue divi-
sions known as villages (mavza). Parganah Chillup&r had in 1873 an area of
70,636 acres and a land-revenue of Ks. 42,070.
According to the census of 1872 it contained 163 inhabited sites, of which
. , . 88 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 50 between 200 and
^epilation.
500 ; 19 between 500 and 1,000 ; 5 between 1,000 and
1 From whose notes this and the tiro following articles are taken.
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GQRAKHPUB. 47?
2,000 ; and one (Barhalganj) between 3,000 and 5,000. Jbe population nura-
bered 48,919 souls (22,342 females), giving 203 to the square mile. Classified
according to religion there were 45,923 Hindfis, of whom 20,963 were
females, and 2,996 Musalm&ns (1,379 females). Distributing the Hindu popula-
tion among the four great classes, the census shows 8,025 Brfihmans (3,602
females) ; 3,510 Rdjputs (1,629 females) ; and 1,516 Baniy£s (731 femalea) ;
whilst the great mass of the population is included in the " other castes/* which
show a total of 32,872 souls (15,001 females). The principal Br&hman sub-
division found in this parganah is the Kanaujiya (7,931). The chief R4jput
clans are the Ponwar (323), Chandel, Bais, and Kausik. The Baniyas belong to
the following sub-divisions : Kdndu (726), Agarwdl, Agarahri, Barasw&r,
Unai, and Kasaundhan. The most numerous among the other castes are the
Bind, Dosftdh, Gound,1 Teli, Koeri, Ahir, Lohar, Hajj6m, Chamar, Dhobi,
Kah&r, Satwir, Gadariya, Kurmi, Bhar, Mall&h, Nuniya, Kiyath, Musahar,
Kalwfir, Son&r, Kam&ngar, Kahftr, Dom, Barhai, Barayi, Bhat, Pasi, Thathera,
Mali, B&nsphor, Bairagi, B&ri, Atifch, Khatik, Kisan, Halw&i, Kadera, Bhar-
bhunja, Beld&r, Kum&r, and Eori. The Musalm'ms are Shaikhs (2,559),
Sayyids (56), Pathans (137), and unspecified.
The plain of Chill dpar forms the point of the wedge between Rapti and
Physical and agri- Grhagra. Through it, after furnishing for some distant
coharal features. fa boundary with Dhuriipar, the Taraina runs on to
join the former river. The chief geographical feature is the wealth of large
lagoons, which filling in the rainy season become almost dry before the end of
the hot Of such reservoirs the greatest is the Bhewri,2 through which the
Taraina flows. From, them and artificial uonds the fields obtain most of their
water. Except in the west of tappa Haveli, wells are devoted almost solely to
garden crops. But an additional source of fertilizing moisture is found in the
Taraina, which as it becomes stagnant is dammed for irrigation. A little over
40 per cent, of the cultivated area is watered. The parganah is perhaps the
most highly cultivated in the district. No less than 45,331 acres were at
settlement (1861) returned as tilled or arable. But arable waste is rare, and
no traces of forest are left. The soils are loam (doras) and sand (balua), clay
being unknown. The sand along the bank of the Gh&gra is extremely light
and poor.
As the water recedes towards the centres of the lagoons, their edges are
sown with rice. This and indigo are the principal crops of the scanty autumn
harvest. The spring harvest, which is by far the most important, consists
mostly of wheat, barley, garden-crops, and the pulses masiir, gram, and arhar. A
1 See article on parganah Bhaudpdr, " Population," note. * Supra p. 304,
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478 GORAKHPUR.
little sugarcane is frown. Though said to be of comparatively recent intro-
duction, manure is highly prized. The soil is no longer so fresh as in other
parts of Gorakhpur, and requires restoratives.
Its agricultural raw produce is Chillup&r's only noteworthy product.
Economical fea- When not sold at Barhalganj, Semra, or some other
tures* local mart, this can be exported to other districts by
the Rfipti. But one metalled and one unmetalled road connect the parganah
also with Gorakhpur, Barhaj and Gola, in the district itself.
The earliest traditional masters of the parganah were as usual the Bhars.
It is said that they were expelled about the middle of the
fourteenth century by Dhur Chand Kausik, first r&ja of
Dhuridp&r. In the end of the sixteenth or beginning of the seventeenth,
quarrels amongst his descendants enabled Bern&th Singh Bisen of Semra to
seize most of Chillupdr, and to assume from that tract the title of rAja.1 From the
time of this annexation Chilltip&r probably dates its existence as a separate par-
gana. It is entered in the Institutes of Akbar (1596) as a separate malidl of
the Gorakhpur division and Oudh province, with a State rental of Rs. 7,232
(2,89,302 ddms). The same authority mentions that at Chillup&r village is a
brick fort On its transfer from Oudh to the Company the parganah was included
in its present district The demands assessed on the parganah at successive
British settlements have been at the first, Rs, 12,283 ; at the second, Rs; 1^145;
at the third, Rs. 14,204 ; at the fourth, Rs. 14,543 ; and at the fifth, Es. 31,257.
The present demand of the next or current settlement has been shown above.
Deoeia, the head-quarters of the tahsil so named, is a town of tappa
Peoria, in the north of parganah Salempur. Through it passes an unmetalled
road from Gorakhpur, 33 miles distant on the north-west. The population of
1872 was 1,069. But this estimate includes as usual the inhabitants of several
separate villages which together form the nominal town.
Deoria has a tahsfli, a third-class police-station, a mnnsif 's court, an
imperial post-office, and an excise godown. Proposals were once made for
removing the office first named to Musela or Salempur, It was formerly located
at Mahuadih in Silhat, where the remains of one of the round towers formerly
used for the deposit of Government treasure are still visible. Plans for the
abolition of the excise godown have been based on the statements that the
water of the neighbourhood is unsuitable for the manufacture of liquor, and
that the demand for liquor is small.
1 The rajas of Chill6p&r lired at Narharpur, near Barhalganj, and on that account were
sometimes etyled the Narharpur rajas. Their title became extinct in I860, when the last
raja was c onricted of rebellion.
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GORAKHPUR. 479
About half a mile from the sandy hillock on which stands the tahsfli
may be seen the village of Mehra. Here is the market-place of Deoria. The
only modern institution which remains to be mentioned is the encamping-
ground. Near it in a field lies the grave of a British soldier who died here at
the time of the expedition to Paina.1
According to General Cunningham2 the name of Deoria is com-
monly applied to some place which contains a temple or
other holy building. Mr. Grooke notes that in the village
of Bharauli, about a mile north of the town, and on a mound beside the Eurna
watercourse, are an old statue of Shiva and the remains of what was probably
a temple. " In the next village, Bamhni, south of the Kurna, there are more
extensive ruin?. It is said that about ten years ago one Hikhai Tiwari, of the
adjoining village of Pinra, dreamt that there were some images in the mounds
of Bamhni. He proceeded to dig and ultimately found an ancient lingam and
argka? and a small black stone image about a foot high, now known as the
Bhagawati. The moulded black foundations of two old temples are visible.
West of these temples is an ancient tank about 40 yards square ; and op to
the temples there are remains of what was apparently a flight of masonry
bathing stairs. North of the Bhagawati temple is a very old pipal tree.
" At the other side of the Kurna, where the Gorakhpur road crosses the
water-course, are the remains of some Oudh governor's fort. The moat is still
clearly traceable. On the top is a Musalmdn tomb called the 'martyr man
(shahid mard).' Here the country people piake petty offerings, but none can
say whom the grave contains."
Dkobia tahsil will be described in the article on its single parganah
Saleinpur, with which it is co-extensive and identical.
DhAni, an important market in tappa Bigoli of parganah North Haveli,
stands on the meeting of two cart-tracks, 33 miles north north-west of Gorakh-
pur. The market-place really lies in Khinapdr,4 from which Dhajii is a sepa-
rate village. But it is always known as Dh&ni bdz&r. The population
amounted in 1872 to 1,913, or including that of Kh&nap&r to 4,886; but this
population fluctuates from season to season.
For Dhdni stands just west of the Dhamela. During most of the year
this stream flows quietly about 30 feet below the level of its banks, which are
steep and well defined ; and at soch seasons the place is crowded with traders.
1 Supra, Mutiny History. * Arch. Surv. Reports, L, 65. * The lingam is the
phallic emblem of Shiva. The argha is the boat-shaped metal ressel from which libations are
poued. * Not to be confused with the Khanapar in parganah Salempur.
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480 GORAKHPUJGL
But during the rains the river rises, and at many points overflows its banks.
Floods and the violence of the current put a stop to trade and navigation ; and
the merchants return home to Gorakhpur, Barhaj, or elsewhere. The trade,
which is DhAni's chief claim to notice, has been described above.1 Its landlords,
chiefly Rajputs and Brahmans, derive from its market a large income. The
streets are rather narrow, and the Dhamela landing might well be improved.
The surrounding fields are very fertile, and let at rents which in some cases
rise to Rs. 12 or 14 per acre. This rate is for Gorakhpur high indeed ; and
is perhaps demanded because the land produces about the best potatoes in the
district. Near the town is a large lagoon which affords good fishing.
DhuriIpXR, the largest parganah of the Bansgaon tahsil, is bounded on
the east by parganahs Chilliip&r and Dhuri&p&r, and on the north by parganah
Auola, all of its own tahsil ; on the north-west by the Basti district ; and on the
south south-west by the shifty Ghdgra, which divides it from the district of
Azamgarh. The parganah occupies, in fact, the south-western corner of it*
district. It contains the 24 tappas of Pali, Tiar, Gur or Gaur, Dandi, Nahuri
or Narrai, Kohara, Athaisi, Majuri, Ehutahan, Barhaj, Chan d par, Karmaut or
Earmiit, Bhabnuli, Sh&hpur, BhadAr, Parsi, Usri, Thdthi, Nakuri or Nakauri,
Chodur or Chorur, Haveli, Bankat, Ratanpur, and Belghat.
Of these all except the last and largest lie north-east of the Kuina river.
Dhuri&p&r is divided also into 1,213 of the revenue divisions known as villages
{mama). It had in 1878 an area of 203,099 acres and a land-revenue of
Bs. 1,12,181.
In it, according to the census of 1872, were 945 inhabited sites, of which
„ . x. 666 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 232 between 200
Population. „ '
and 500; 36 between 500 and 1,000; 9 between 1,000
and 2,000 ; and one between 3,000 and 5,000. The only town containing
more than 5,000 inhabitants was MadSriya or Gola, with a population of 5,147.
The inhabitants numbered 177,692 souls (82,153 females), giving 261 to
the square mile. Classified according to religion there were 167,235 Hindus,
of whom 77,258 were females ; 10,454 Musalm&ns (4,895 females) ; and 3
Christians. Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes,
the census shows 28,101 Brahmans (13,123 females); 8,969 Rajputs (4,166
females) ; and 4,321 Baniyis (1,976 females); whilst the great mass of the
population is included in the " other castes," which show a total of 1 25,844 souls
(57,993 females). The principal Br&hman sub-division found in this parganah
is the Kanaujiya (27,127). The chief lUjput clans are tho Ponwar ^346},
1 Pp. 414-418.
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GORAKHFUB. 481
Chandel, Bais, Kausik, and Chauhan. The Baniyis belong to the following
sub-divisions : Kindu (887), Agarwfil, Agarahri, Barauna,1 Unai, and Kasann-
dban. The most numerous amongpt the other castes are the Bind, Dos&dh,
Teli, Koeri, Ahir, Lohir, Hajjfim, Chamfir, Dhobi, Kah&r, Satw&r, Gadariya,
Rurmi, Bhar, Mallah, Nuniya, K&yath, Musahar, Kalw&r, Sun&r, Kamangar,
Kahar, Barhai, Bar Ay i, Bhat, Pasi, Thathera, M&li, B&nsphor, Bair&gi, B&ri,
Atith, Khatik, Khakrob, Kisan, Halwai, Kadera, Bharbhnnja, Kumh&r, Kori,
Baheliya, Gos&in, and Jaiswar. The Musalmfins are Shaikhs (2,250), Sayyids
(1,612), Mughals (49), Pathans (814), and unspecified.
The parganah is a rather fertile plain, of whose total area 143,215 acres
were in 1865 either culturable or cultivated. Its staple crop is that of the
spring harvest. Now, as that crop requires plenty of irrigation, 81 per cent, of the
cultivated land is watered. The water is drawn from lagoons, small ponds,
wells, and streams. The lagoons are never large ; but the largest are at Kasoh
and Nenua in tappa Chdndpar and at Karpaicha in tappa Tiar. The two for-
mer are silting np. The parganah is first bounded, and afterwards traversed,
by two streans flowing south-east towards the Ghagra. Of these the most
northerly is the Taraina, fora short distance the frontier with Anola. Running
between raviny banks, it is on the close of the rains dammed for irrigation.
The other and larger river, the Ku&na, is for a few miles the boundary with
Basti. Its lower reaches are navigable at all seasons ; but in the drier months
by light craft only. This Kuana * divides Dhuriap&r into two rather differ-
ent portions. The kachfy or alluvial lowlands of tappa Belgh&t and the bdngar,
The lowlands, uplands or remainder of the area. The lowlands clearly
owe their origin to the deposits of the Ghagra, which from
year to year and place to place still shifts across them. Owing to this fact,
and to the great sandiness of their soil, they have never been brought into
perfect cultivation. They are covered in places by tall wild grasses, and by
picturesque palmyras, which in ancient days were called the kings of grasses
(trinardja). But except tappa Khutahan, this is the only tract in which
sugarcane is systematically cultivated. Even here there are no sugar factories.
The cane is eaten raw, or its juice is merely boiled down into the coarse
treacly syrup known as gtlr. Throughout the lowlands water lies near the
surface, but in the uplands its distance increases U> about 18 J feet.
The uplands, writes Mr. Crooke, are " a fairly flat tract consisting
generally of doras or light loam, well adapted for the culti-
vation of the Bhadui or autumn rice and the usual spring
1 Probably intended for Baranwar, i.e., Baniyas oi Bulandshahr, * And the Ghagra,
where that mer has usurped the Kuana a bed.
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482 GORAKHPUR.
cereals. In some parts poppy is extensively grown, bat the deficiency of large
towns does not encourage the cultivation of vegetables, for which the soil
is well adapted. As in most of the district there is nothing grand or striking
about the scenery. A glimpse of the Himalayan snows can occasionally be
seen on a clear morning in the cold weather. The horizon is shut in on all
sides by splendid mango groves, 1 amidst which red-tiled hamlets nestle, each
graced by a lordly pfpal or bargad tree or surrounded by clumps of feathery
bamboos. But the landscape has a quiet grace of its own when seen under an
unclouded sky in the winter months. At this season the young crops cover
the country with one sheet of green, varied only by the yellow flowers
of the mustard. The sole exception to the general fertility is an faar or
saline plain extending over some 2,000 acres at the junction of tappas Gaur,
Chandpar, and Kurmaut. Traversed and gnawed into ravines by a small
watercourse called the Kachani, this tract is still haunted by herds of blue-
bull which damage the neighbouring crops.
" The most remarkable fact in connection with the recent history of
Shifting of the Dhuriapar is the change in the course of the Ghagra, which
Ghigra. occurred about eight years ago. Formerly this river met the
south-western corner of the parganah at the village of Majdip. Thence, taking a
south-eastern course, it wound round by the villages of Shiupur Raushanganj
and Urdiha, and met the Kuana at the village of Narhon, about 2 miles south-
east of the important commercial mart of Gola. But about the year 1871-72
it suddenly changed its bed and burst away due east from Majdip, through a
series of marshes and lowlying land, until it met the Kuana under the pre-
sent town of Shahpur or Bilaon Ehurd. Thenceforward the Ghagra and
Kuana became one stream, and the old bed of the Kuana was considerably
widened. The effect of this change has been to sever from the rest of the
parganah over a third of tappa Belghat. The tract so severed, which now lies
on the Xzaragarh side of the deep stream of the Ghagra, has a maximum
length from east to west of about 13 miles, and a maximum breadth fropa north
to south of about 4. At the recent alluvial settlement it became a ques-
tion whether or not this portion of the parganah should be transferred to Azam-
garh. It was finally decided to retain it as part of Gorakhpur for the follow- .
ing reasons : — Its transfer would have involved sending the records to Azam-
garh and necessitated a re-adjustment of police and revenue jurisdictions. Most
of the proprietors, moreover, live in the Gorakhpur district and fined it more
convenient to do their business there. Up to the present (1880) the Ghagra
*Mr. Alexander remarks that the gro?ea are not quite so fine as in Anola or Bhauapar.
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. GORAKHPUR. 488
has year after year changed its course. Its latest tendency is to push once
more southwards, and resume its former channel bj gradual erosion of the entire
intervening country. The soil being a very unstable alluvium, all hope of coo-
trolling the movements of the river has been abandoned* The change in its
course has caused enormous loss to the proprietors of the villages which have
been destroyed ; and Government has of course been compelled to make
extensive remissions of revenue.
" The parganah contains few objects of antiquarian interest At Dburia-
. . . . p&r proper, which is said to take its present name1
Antiquities. •
from a somewhat mythical Raja Dhdr Chand, there
are the ruins of an enormous fort on the left bank of the Ku£na. This, like
all similar ruins in this district, is traditionally assigned to a Bhar or Thara
dynasty. All really known is that it was for long occupied as their head-
quarters by the Kausik R&jputs, who have divided* into the two families
now residing at Gop&lpur and Barhi&p&r. Barhiap'ir is marked on the settle-
ment maps as Bhadar Kh&s, in tappa Bhadar, at the extreme north of the parga-
nah. Here is a series of enormous mounds, evidently marking the site of a
very extensive city. The place has not yet, it is believed, been properly
explored. Some of the mounds may perhaps represent the sites of temples*
The writer at a recent visit could find no inscriptions or images in the neigh-
bourhood. It is suggested that the remains are of the early Brahmanical period.
" The chief families in the parganah are the Kausik R&Jputs of
r M a ... Gop&lpur and Barhiap&r. Both hav# lost most of
Leading families. .. f . . , . m. „ .. - ..
their importance in modern times. The bopalpur family
is now represented by Dulhin Barpftl Kunwari, nephew's wife of the
late Raja Krishn Kishor Chand, who distinguished himself for loyalty
in the mutiny. At the time of that rebellion the Barhifip&r r&ja was Tej
Purt&b Bah&dur Cband, who when aopused of treason absconded. After a
wandering exile of some 14 years, he was finally allowed to return. Hia estates
and title were confiscated, the former being made over to Jhagru Tiw&ri, the
loyal landholder of Rajgarh in tappa Narri. The present representative ef
this grantee, who near the end of the rebellion was killed in a skirmish at
Ch&ndfpur ghfit on the Gh&gra, is Rauaphal Tiw&ri. The Barhiapar family
now hold but half their original estate. This moiety, which was entered on the
revenue-roll in the name of the Rini, escaped confiscation. The RAni has
1 The former name of tbe parganah, and presumably of the Tillage also, is said to hare been
Sherpur. But it is altogether unlikely that ihe Persian word Sher or Lion could have been
imported into the district before the present name was crystallized. Dhur Chand is supposed
to have lived in the fourteenth century. The first invasion ol the Persian-speaking Muslim*
took place much later. Supra pp. 434, 439.
62
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484 OOBAKHPTJB.
adopted as heir her nephew L&lendar Bahadur Chand, commonly called the
Lallan Sahib. The Sikriganj domain is held by a family of Piudaris who
were settled^ here after the great Central India campaign.1 They are now
represented by Muhammad Shah and Muhammad Ydr Khans, who arrogate to
themselves the title of Naw&b * They receive the usual seignioralty (mdlikdna)
of ten per cent on the revenue of the domain, which has been snbsettled with
Birtiyas and other under-proprietors.3 Another branch of the Kausik family
is settled at Belghat and is now represented by Ramawatar S&hi, a man of
considerable influence in this part of the district. Other leading Kausik fami-
lies are the B&bus of Malanpar and Jaswantpur in Tappa Bhabnuli, and of
Hata in tappa Majuri. Amongst Br^hmans the chief families are the Shukuls
of Mankor and Kakdijkor in tappa Majuri and the Pandes of Sariya. Most of
the proprietors are Brahmans and Rajputs. The villages are generally broken up
into petty shares. The proprietors occupy the best lands as home-farm. Rent-
rates are low except near Gola, Rs. 2 or 3 per btgha being the prevailing rate.
Like most of the Gorakhpur proprietors, the people are extremely litigious.
This evil is increased by the smallness of the shares. Widows' inheritances and
alluvial lands are fertile causes of litigation. Crime is rare, and very few
serious offences ever occur.
" There is no specially noted shrine in the parganah* Before the change
nllI , ., _ in the course of the river the chief bathing-place was
BeligiouB buildings. * r
Narhon in tappa Barhaj. Now the chief scenes of religious
ablution are Bisra ghat, Jhapatiya gh£t and Shahpur. The enormous profits of
the grain trade have lately enabled the Gola merchants to erect several Shivalas
and other temples. Such are those built by Buddhu Kalwfir and being built
by Hanuman Kalw&r. The latter promises to be, when complete, a very mag-
nificent building. Dulhin Harpdl Kunwari is raising a fine temple at Bisra
gh£t, a mile west of Gola.
" There are few or no manufactures in theparganah. The indigo factory
Trade and manu- at Beuri, adjoining Gola, formerly the property of Mr.
factures. Goutier, is now owned by Messrs. Moran and Co. of Calcutta.
There is a branch concern at Dhuriapar proper. The parganah contains 21
places where markets are held. The chief grain marts are Gola-Gopalpur in tappa
Barhaj, formerly on the Kuana, but now on the Ghagra ; and Dhakwa Bazar on
the Kufina in tappa Bhadar. The former belongs to the Gopalpur, and the latter to
the Barhifipdr family. From both are exported by river large quantities of wheat,
1 Supra p. 398. « The title is not recognized by Government. » Gorakhpur-
Basti Settlement Report, L, 46-47.
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GORAKHPUR. 4S5
linseed, and rice. Next to these Mr. Lumsden mentions Bilaon Rhurd. The
minor markets for country produce are Uruwa in tappa Kurmaut, Sikriganj
in tappa Parsi, Jhalia, Kdnri and At&nagar in tappa Belghdt, Dhuriapar pro-
per in tappa Bankat, and MAlanpar in tappa Bhabnauli. Asaunji in tappa
Tfaathi is famous for excellent gdrha cloth. Dhuridpar is the only parganah in
the district whioh produces the wood of the babdl acacia. This is extensively
exported for making the beds of sugar-mills [kolhu).
" There is little or no shooting. A few herds of nilgdi and wild-pig
frequent the diwdra of the Gh£gra. The numerous
small ponds and marshes are in winter a favourite
haunt of snipe and the various kinds of wild-duck. The Gh&gra produces
excellent fish, the chief of which are the bhaturay rohu, and parhin. It abounds
with gavyals and crocodiles ; and on the wide sandbanks immense flocks of
wild geese congregate in the cold weather/'
We have already seen that the history of the pargaftah begins with its
colonisation by Kausik Rajputs in the fourteenth century.
At the end of the sixteenth it is entered in the
Aih-i-Akbari as a parganah of the Gorakhpur sarkdr and Oudh province, with
a State rental of Bs. 37,942 (15,17,708 dams). But by this time the inter-
necine quarrels between the Dhuriapar and Barhiapar brandies of the Kausik
tribe had enabled a Bisen to sever and annex ChilliipAr (q. v.) Similar annexa-
tions continued until, at the close of the civil war, Dhuridpar had lost 16 out of
its 40 tappas. The feud was at length suppressed by the Nawdb of Oudh, pro-
bably in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. Dhuri&p&r and Barhifi-
p4r then became, as above mentioned, separate principalities. But the effects of
long war and anarchy were still visible for nigh a hundred years afterwards.1
The parganah was not brought into proper tillage until long after its
neighbours Anola and Chilltip&r. But cultivation may now be said to have
reached its average margin. The progress which has taken place since the
fourth British settlement of land revenue (1813) may be shown by the amounts
of the demands imposed before and after that assessment Those demands
were ; — at the first settlement, Rs. 44,907 ; at the second, Rs. 41,947 ; at the
third Rs. 37,743 ; at the fourth, Rs. 40,358 ; at the fifth, Rs. 88,436 ; and at
the sixth or current (1865) Rs. 1,12,391. It will be observed that at the
third assessment (1809) the demand was actually less than in the reign of
Akbar.
FAKfR Ki kothi, or the Hermitage, is the site of a police outpost on the
unmetalled road to Hata, 6 miles east of Gorakhpur. The Magistrate-Collector
* Mr. Lumsden anserta in faiB settlement report that the parganah had not altogether record-
ed er ea at the time o( the last settlement (,1635).
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486 GORAEHPTTR.
is nnable to discover in his office any record of the population by the last
census.
Gagaha,1 a police outpost in tappa Gagaha of parganah Bhauapdr,
stands on the metalled road from Gorakbpur to Benare3, 26 miles from the
former. This place, which in 1872 had but 159 inhabitants, is the head-
quarters of the Palwar Rajputs. Sir Henry Elliot is wrong in fixing the
Palw&r Chaurdri in Anola.8 It is really in tappa Gagaha. The Pal wars
are said to have originally held but 84 bighas of land, which increased by
conquest to 84 villages. They speak of " unchds kos-Ubhdt, " meaning that
kinsmen from 49 kos distance atteud their weddings and other ceremonies.
But the 49 kos are thus reckoned : —
Kos.
f Kauriya ... ... 7
Acamgarh district ... J Chhota Gopalpur ... ... 7
( Atraulia ... ... 7
Faiaabad ditto ... i *ir *** • - - "
"• \ Surharpur ... ... 7
Gorakhpur ditto ... Gagaha ... ... 7
Total •... 49
They also have the phrase " unchds kos-U-kumak" thereby boasting that
they can get help from 49 kos. They were a most turbulent tribe. In the
mutiny they attacked a party of Gurkhas escorting treasure. The story is that
the Gurkhas threw a box of rupees among them, and, while they were seizing
its contents, flung a shell filled with pepper over them, and then attacked them
while they were still in a stupefied state. A number of Palw&rs were taken
prisoners, of whom all were beheaded with the deadly Nep&lese knife (kukari),
as the people say, " like so many goats." The villages of the defeated
party were burnt, and a great part of their land was afterwards con-
fiscated for rebellion. The Palw&rs have never held up their heads
since. Gagaha has an elementary Government school and a very ancient
masonry well. Nodular limestone (kankar) is found in its neighbourhood.
Gajpur, a small town on the right bank of the R&pti, in tappa R&rapur
Eota of parganah Bhaufip&r« lies 18 miles in a direct line south south-east of
Gorakhpur.3 It in 1872 bad 3,2 JiO inhabitants.
Gajpur once possessed a police out-post; and the Chaukid&ri Act (XX of
1856) is still in force. During 1877-78, the house tax thereby imposed, added
to a balance of Rs. 179 from the preceding year, gave a total income of
Bs. 587. The expenditure, which was chiefly on police (Rs. 205 \ conservancy,
and public works, amounted to Rs. 343. Of the 590 houses in the village,
"149 were assessed with the tax, the incidence being Rs. 2-11-10 per house
assessed and Re. 0-2-7 per head of population.
1 Tbis and the following article haye been kindly contributed by Mr. Crooke. * Beamea'
Elliot, II., 61, ' Twenty-five milei by road.
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GOBAKHPUH. 487
Gajpur has not much trade, and is in fact little better than a halting-
place for boats on the R&pti. IS early opposite the village a bank of nodular
limestone runs across the river. This, which is a serious impediment to boats,
it has been proposed to remove by mining. The place belongs to the Satdsi
domain. Near the river is a ruinous kot or castle occupied by the widow
of the L&l S&hib, son of the late attainted R&ja of Satasi. The castle was
built by R&ni Soh&s Kunwari, grand-mother of the Lai £&hib.
6 AURA, a western suburb of Barhaj, stands on the un metalled road be-
tween that place and Barhalganj, 39 miles south-east of Gorakhpur. The
population amounted in 1872 to 5,482 souls. Musalm&ns are rare ; butMallaha
and other persons earning their livelihood by traffic on tbe Rapti are common.
The place contains also many Rajputs, Brahmans, Kurmis, Kalwars or distillers,
Sunars or metallurgists, and Lunias or saltpetre-workers. Though Gaura is
a suburb of Barhaj, and though both are parts of parganah Salempur, the
former is situate in a tappa (Kaparwar) different from that of the latter.
Gaura has several chini sugar -factories ; but Barhaj absorbs most of
the trade which might otherwise belong to it. The Ghaukidari Act (XX. of
1856) is in force; and during 1877-78 the house-tax thereby imposed, together
with a balance of Rs. 236 from the preceding year, gave a total income of Rs.
1,094. The expenditure, which was chiefly on police (Rs. 593*, conservancy,
and public works, amounted to Rs. 783. Of the 1,063 houses in the town 130
were assessed with tbe tax, the incidence being Rs. 2*9-7 per house assessed
and Re. 0-2-2 per head of population. Except, perhaps, two temples of Shiva,
Gaura can boast no noticeable buildings.
Its name is somewhat laughably derived from the Arabic gliaur9 reflec-
tion— the reflection being that of the Majhauli Raja when asked to permit the
foundat'on of the town. But Gaura was probably christened in much the same
manner as Gauda or Gonda of Oudh and Gaur of Bengal. Some connection
with Gaur Rajputs or BrAhmans may be suspected.
GflXTi, a village in the tappa so named of parganah Salempur, stands in
the fork between Khanua and Little Gandak rivers, about 45 miles in a direct
line south-east-by-east of Gorakhpur.
The population amounted in 1872 to 913 only, and about the village itself
there is nothing interesting. It contains, however, a second-class police-station
and district post-office. The surrounding country is very fertile and well culti-
vated, growing large quantities of sugarcane, poppy, and other valuable crops.
During the rains, owing to floods from the Chhota Gandak and its tributaries,
the approach to the village is difficult.
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488 GORARHPUR.
Gola, Mad Sri a or Gola-Gop&lpur, a flourishing town of tappas Ch&ndpor
and Barbaj in parganah Dliuriapar, stands on what was once the bank of the
Ku&na and is now the bank of the Ghagra. On it converge three unmetalled
roads fromGorakhpur, 33 miles distant on the north ; and one of these conti-
nues its way to Barhalganj and Barhnj. By the last census (1872; the popu-
lation mustered 5,147 ; but, since the change in the course of the Ghagra, must
have very greatly increased. The most influential caste is the Kalwar, to which
most of the local merchants belong.
Some fine groves which surround, and the river which flows past it, give
Site and appear- Gola an appearance which at a distance is decidedly pleas-
aDCe> ing. A nearer inspection is not so satisfactory. In spite
of the house-tax imposed some years ago for conservancy and other purposes,
there is still room for improving the tidiuess and fragrance of the town. Gola
consists of one narrow straggling street of shops running parallel to the Ghagra
and separated from it by*a thick mass of mud houses, through which a network
of narrow lanes leads down to the river landings. There are five muhal las or
quarters, viz., (1) Bhfkhlganj, said to derive its name from the metallurgists'
(Sunar's) shops which used once to abound in it;1 (2) Ruihata, or the cotton-
market ; (3) Baramthan ; (4) Daldahi ; and (5) Anjaiganj, or the grain-market.
The third and fourth are small quarters on the bank of the river. On that bank
are several large masonry houses. As remarked in the Dhuriapar article, the
traders have of late years shown much rivalry in erecting fine temples. Gola
has a new first-class police-station, an imperial post-office, and a good element-
ary (halkabandi) school. It is the head-quarters of a sub-division of the Opium
Department.
The town is a considerable depdt for the collection and river-export of
Trade and house- gram> but ^as ^l^e original trade. A brass-founder named
tax. Bishweshwar has a local reputation for making a kitid of
squirt used in sprinkling perfumes at marriages and other festivities. The
Chaukidari Act (XX. of 1856) is, as already noted, in force. During 1877-78
the house-tax thereby imposed, added to a balance of Rs. 213 from the preceding
year, gave a total income of Rs. 1,104.' The expenditure, which was princi-
pally on police (Rs. 578), conservancy, and public works, amounted to Rs. 756.
Of the 1,298 houses in the town 191 were assessed with the tax, whose
incidence was Rs. 4)40-8 per house assessed and Re. 0-2-9 per head of
population.
» The reason of this derivation is not apparent. Bhikhi is more Hkelj to mean a beggar
than a metallurgist. Bat it i* not uncommon as a man's name j and after some person so
named the quarter was probably called.
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aORAKHPUB. *89
GoW-Gop&Ipur, or Gopdlpur's grain-market, was so called because found-
ed by some former Raja of the neighbouring Gopalpur.
History. T^ market gtiU beiongs to the family, and the present
riija derives from its rents an income of about Ra. 5,000 yearly. The pros-
perity of Gola depends almost altogether on the caprices of the GhAgra. About
the time of the great rebellion, when that river reinforced the Kuana with its
channels, the town could as a grain emporium compete with Barhaj. But
before 1872 suoh channels had ceased to flow; aud when visited in that year by
Mr, Alexander, Gola looked poor and squalid enough. The Ghagra has now
in its full vokm€( usurped the bed of the Ku&na ; and the town has resumed its
place as a great distributor of grain. It can no longer, however, claim to be
the rival of Barhaj.
GopXlpur, a large village in tappa Chfindpir of parganah DhuriSp&r, lies
on an unmetalled road about four miles north-west of the place just described.
The population amounted in 1872 to 1,213, or including the inhabitants of
Old Gop&lpur, to 1283. The prevailing caste is the Rdjput. Ever since .the
division of the parganah between its contending Eausik factions,1 Gop&lpur
has supplied title and residence to a raja* A fine castle of brick is still occu-
pied by r&ni Dulhin Kuarin, widow of the late rdja Krishn Kishor. From
its walls can be obtained a good view of the surrounding country, which is
rather low and liable to inundation. An excellent elementary school is held in
a housd belonging to the Hini, who takes great interest in education. West
of the village rises an extensive mound used as a brick quarry by the villagers.
It was apparently a very large fort of the older Kausik colonists.
Gobakhpur,8 the headquarters of the district, lies between north latitude
26°42/ and east longitude 83°23, about 335 feet above sea-level and 134 miles
from Benares.3 Its population was 45,265 in 1847, 54,529 in 1853, and 50,853
in 1865. The census of 1872 gives its site an area of 727 acres, with an aver-
age of 70 persons to the acre. There were in the same year 51,117 inhabitants,
tof whom 33,986 were Hindus, 16,924 Musalmans, and 207 members of the
Christian and other faiths. Distributing the population among the rural and
urban classes, the returns show 1,444 landowners, 4,412 cultivators, and 45,261
persons pursuing occupations unconnected with agriculture. The number of
houses according to the same returns was 11,538, of which 1,925 were built
'See article on pargana Dhuridpdr, " History." * This article has been compiled
from the accounts of Messrs. Alexander and Crooke; a minute, dated 22nd February, i860,
by Mr. E. A. Reade, C.B. ; Mr. Planck's Sanitary Reports ; Buchanan's Eastern India ; the
Census Report of 1872 ; and Thornton's Gazetteer. * The distance is thus computed :
By nil from Benares to Jaunpur, 32 miles ; by road from Jannpur to Gorakhpur, 102 miles ;
total, 184. Another route is by rail from Benares to Akbarpur of Faizabad, 84 miles ; by
road from Akbarpur to Gorakbpur, 71 miles ; total, 156.
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490 GORAKHPUR.
"with skilled labour,'1 L e., of masonry, and 9,613 of mud. Of the former dwell-
ings 1,' 88, and of the latter 6,574, were occupied by Hindus. Taking the
male adult population, who numbered 18,815 persons over fifteen years of age,
we find the following non-agricultural occupations pursued by more than
fifty males: — servants, 5,057; labourers 2,038; cultivators and ploughmen, 1,948;
weavers, 910; grain-dealers and sellers, 771; land-owners. 635; shoe-makers and
sellers, 483; greengrocers, 380; cloth-merchants, 364: oil-makers and sellers,
350; carpenters, 292; tailors, 278; washermen, 277; porters, 265; beggars, 261;
Government servants, 252 ; shopkeepers, 208 ; milkmen, 200 ; barbers, 199 ;
fruiterers, 159 ; fishmongers, 155 ; grain-parchers, 148 ; gold apd- silver smiths,
144 ; water-carriers, 130 ; pandits, or doctors of Hindu divinity and law, 124 ;
butchers, 112; pack-carriers on ponies or on bullocks, 107 ; cotton-cleaners, 104 ;
dyers, 101 ; tobacconists, 97; betel-leaf-sellers, 95; wood-sellers, 93; toddy-
sellers, 87 ; rope and string makers and sellers, 85 ; merchants, 84 ; black-
smiths, 81 ; blanket-weavers, 80 ; sweepers, 74 ; book-sellers, 70 ; braziers, 67 ;
and brick- layers, 62.
Bounded on the south-west on the navigable Rapti, Gorakhpur may be
said to be surrounded on every other quarter by lakes. To
Site and appearance.
north-west and north lies the Karmaini aud Domingarh
Tfcls ; to the east and south-east those of Ramgarh and Narhai. When the
rains have swollen such waters, sailing becomes a favourite amusement with
the European residents, of whom several possess tiny yachts. Not many miles
east of the civil station lie forests which provide the additional pastime of
shooting. The town itself seems to have found its origin in a small hamlet
or village known as Old Gorakhpur, which was built, under circumstances here-
after mentioned, by a branch of the Sarnet Rajput house of Sat&si. Old
Gorakhpur is now so widely severed from the more southern modern city as
hardly to be deemed a part of it at all. As their numbers gradually grew, the
settlers founded other hamlets near the first, and the later Muhammadan
invaders built castles around which more villages sprung up. The names of
these settlements, derived from their founders, from some local deity, or from
some circumstances under which they were founded, often give a clue to their
ages. Its piecemeal method of accumulation fully accounts for the large area
over which Gorakhpur is scattered, as well as for its present appearance*
Though containing less than 52,000 inhabitants, the town stretches more than
three miles from north to south. Though its component villages have become
muhallas or quarters of a single municipality, that municipality still seems in
most places a collection of villages rather than one continuous town. The dif-
ferent quarters are often severed by market gardens aud groves of fruit-trees
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GORAKHPUR.
491
and bamboos. For the soil is rich, manure is handy, and water but 12 or 15 feet
from the surface. Wells are numerous, but their contents are for drinking purposes
not so good as those of wells beside the Ganges.
But, in spite of its straggling character, Gorakhpur may be broadly divided
The town may be into two portions — a northern with 29 and a southern with
divided into two parts, 39 quarters. The two are divided, not only by a strip
of cultivation, but by a water-course which from a small pond connected with
the lUmgarh lagoon finds its way to the BApti.1 They are so entirely separate
that on leaving one for the other it is at first hard to believe that one Baa not
altogether quitted the town.
The principal quarters of the northern portion are Dilfc&rpur, Alinagar,
and Captaingani. Of these the largest is Alinagar, where
Anorthernand ,. ,,r, ,, . . . . . . * 0 .1 - -r, ,
live all the wealthier native inhabitants ot the city. Its tree-
shaded main-street, lined by well-built masonry shops, is the best market-
place in Gorakhpur. In the southern part of ^he town the chief muhallas are
Basantpura, Mi&n-b&zar, Urdu-bdzar, Sdhibganj, Gola, and
m southern. _, . _. _ ■ _
Ghampur. The main-road of Basantpura is a narrow street
winding parallel to the river. It has a few fairly good shops, but its neigh*
bourhood, the south of the city, is a poor one. Mi&n-bdzar lies on the eastern,
outskirt, and therefore adjoins the civil station. Its site drains towards the
Ramgarh jhil, and through it by an artificial cutting flows in flooded seasons
the water of the RHipti. Its name is derived from the fact that the late Midn
SAhib of the Gorakhpur lm£mb&ra founded here a fine market-place (bdzdr).
Near the market-place is the house still occupied by his successor. Between
Mi&n-b&zar and the river lies Urdu-bdzar or the Camp-market, the most important
and populous quarter in the city. Many of its houses are brick built. Con-
nected with it by a westorn road is Halseyganj or Halsey's mart, named after
an Assistant Magistrate who some years later enriched Cawnpore with the fine
market named Collectorganj. This Halseyganj is a small triangular space with
a fenced and grass-grown centre. From another but a much earlier official,
Routledge Sahib, the Sdhibganj market and muhalla takes its name. Mr.
Routledge * was first Collector of the district. Sdhibganj, which stands just
north-east of the jail and river, passes between two great tanks, of which more
will be said hereafter. It contains some substantial masonry houses and shops,
and is the principal grain mart of the town. Leaving it by a northern road
we reach Gola. Gola too means, as usual, a grain market ; but its northern
portion is a market for vegetables also. Here are sold the potatoes, pineapples,
'This watercourse has now half a dozen different names. When the Rfipti si flooded the water-
course may perhaps be slid to ran from the river to the Ramgarh jhil. * Supra pp. 379.80.
63
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4&2 GORAKHFUR.
yams, carrots, and radishes, for which the market-gardens of Gorakbpnr are
famous. The market-place stands on a raised site, shaded in the centre bj trees,
but blocked towards its northern end by a small mud-built im4mb&ra. It is to
the southern part of the city what Alina«rar is to the north. North again
of Goia lies Ghanipnr, a Musalm&n quarter, which is also the northern*
most quarter of this part of the city. It includes the garden lands on the
banks of the dividing water-course already mentioned.
The civil station and cantonments lie east of the sontbern portion of the
Civil station and town. Neither are large of their class. The European
cantonments. residents of the former are generally limited to the judge,
the magistrate-collector and his two covenanted assistauta, the civil surgeon,
the district engineer, the district superintendent of police and bis assistant,
the sub-deputy opium agent, the inspector of customs, the inspector of post-
offices, and the postmaster. In the latter is located a native infantry regiment
with its complement of officers ; but a troop of native cavalry has sometimes
been detached hither from Kasauli. In 1841 there was, besides these
forces, a detail of native artillery.1 Within the cantonments and north of the
military lines stands the military hospital. This has been surrounded with an
earthwork embankment, and would be used as a place of refuge in case of
disturbances.
Before closing the descriptive part of this notice, it remains to mention
some of the principal public buildings. The masonry sarti
or hostel of Mr. Collector Chester stands in Basantpura,
on the rising ground overlooking the stretch of modern alluvium which
intervenes between the city and the river. Its high and turreted enclosing
wall is entered by a great gateway ; the enclosure within is shaded by trees
and includes a mosque. Dr. Planck (1870) complains that it is isolated from
the rest of the city by mud houses, which block up its approaches until " what
might be a great ornament seems lost in a corner.'9 The same causa damages
the appearance of the Im&mb&ra. An im&mb6ra, it should be explained, is a
consecrated building where during the Muharram festival Musalmftns perform
the rites of mourning for the Imams Hasan and Husain. This im&mb&ra was
built, as above2 related, by a holy mendicant named Baushan Ali, assisted by
Asaf-ud-daula, Naw&bof Oudh (1775-97). Though an imposing, it is there*
fore not an ancient structure. The adjoining bouse of its guardian, the Mian
84hib, was mentioned in the ^penultimate paragraph. The Khudai mosque,
the principal place of ordinary Muhammadan worship, closes the vista formed
* Bengal and Agra Guide for that year, quoted by Thornton. * P.40P.
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GOfiAKHPOB. 493
by the long line of shops in the Urdu b4z£r. It is a plainly built and rather
heavy-looking edifice, raised on a narrow plinth above an open space from
which four roadways diverge. The builder was K&zi Khalfl-ur-Bahm&n of
Maghar ; but the building was, as elsewhere1 told, ordered by prince Muaasim,
in whose honour Gorakbpur was for a short time called Muazzimabad.
The jail marks the site of the old fort reared above the R&pti by rij*
Basant Si ugh of Satasi, after whom the enclosing quarter,
Basantpura, is named.8 This stronghold was afterwards
occupied as a cantonment by both the Muhammadan and the British masters
of the district. But when the present cantonments were laid out east of the
city, it became converted to its present uses. The last remains of the old
castle were removed in 1874, during the extension of the jail ; and the RApti
has now receded some distance to the west. The site is raised about eight or
ten feet above the general level of the town, and the jail itself is built through-
out of masonry. It has a double wall entered on the north by a not very
imposing gateway ; and is aired within by several open spaces grown with
grass, flowers, or shrubs. Ventilation has been secured without by removing
the surrounding houses, till on the city side there is now a clear precinct of
about 40 yards width. The low-land abandoned by the river is cultivated as a
jail garden.3
The shrine of Gorakhnfith, adjoining the old Oorakhpur quarter, is
Shrine of Gorakh- more remarkable for the strange legends told of the saint
n*'k in whose honour it was founded4 than for any architectural
merit The building is buried in the enormous grove for which its multitude
of mango-trees is said to have earned the name of Pachlakhia6 ; and is thus
hidden from observation in a manner that somewhat adds to its mystery. Not
far from the shrine is the M&nsarwar pond/ overlooked by another temple.
The priests at St. Qorakhn&bh's are Earbored Jogis.7
Mr. Commissioner Heade's dharmsala or hostel stands in the Alfid&d
quarter, on tbe south of the city. It was built about 1837 for the use of
landholders visiting the city, and is now a benevolent trust managed by Gov-
ernment. On the shores of the Domingarh lake and site of the old Domin-
garb castles8 the same officer erected a large bouse intended as a sanatariuin
for the European residents of Gorakhpur. Of European houses at Gorakh-
pur itself, tbe finest is perhaps that belonging to Mr. Bridgraan.9 Othor
British buildings which deserve special mention are the church, orphanage
1 P. 443. * See p. 442. Basant Singh flourished about »68S. » Further par*
ticulara relating to the jail will be found at pp. 8/8-79. * For some account of St.
Gorakhnath nee p. 436. * I.e., the grcve of five hundred thousand Such exagger* lions
•re in naming groves not uncommon. Thus at Farukhabad we find a JNaulakhaand a Lakhola.
• Supr* p. 433. ' Gszr., V. 692. • Supfa pp. 433-86. • Fp. 387, 360.
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494 GOBAKHPUR.
and sohools of the Church Missionary Society in the civil station. Three miles
east of the city, at a place which bears the very appropriate name of Bish&rat~
£ur or Evangelopolis, the society has a branch establishment. In Urdu b&zir
it has a small masonry schoolhouse.
The courts and offices of the judge, magistrate- collector, and other
European officials will be found in the civil station. Gorakhpur has also
atahsili, a new central police-station (kotwdli) in the Turkm&npur quarter,
police outposts in several other muhallas, a central dispensary, a district {zila)
and five municipal schools, and a central post-office. It has been already men-
tioned that some good native houses and shops may be seen in Alina^ar,
Urdu b&z&r, S&hibganj, and other quarters of the city. But Gorakhpur is built
chiefly of mud ; and most of its dwellings have therefore a poor and squalid
appearance. Its tiled roofs give it no doabt a neater look than is possessed
by the towns of thatch, but this advantage is somewhat neutralized in its
northern quarters by the monkeys, the chartered libertines of many an In-
dian city. According to Buchanan, these animals " in their insatiable curio-
sity to discover what is below them turn over tile after tile, thus setting whole
roofs in disorder."
An unfailing characteristic of mud-built cities is the large number of holes
Sanitation and pits from which the earth for buildings has been dug. Dry
in summer, in the rainy season charged with stagnant of
and unsavoury ditchwater, such excavations have always been the chief eyesore
of Gorakhpur. But within the last fifteen years strenuous exertions have been
made to reduce their number, and to turn the larger pools into graceful reservoirs.
The largest were the Egrets' pond (Baglddah) and the Crows1 pond (Kauh
wddah), between which the Sfihibganj road passes. The improvement of the
former was taken up as a relief-work during the famine of 1873-74 ; and it
has now been converted into a tank with regular sides, surrounded by a
municipal garden. The Crows' pond, whose name popular legend prefers to
derive from a princess named Kanlivati,1 was similarly treated during the
famine of 1877-78. It is now a magnificent oblong sheet of water. The over-
flow of these tanks is conducted into the B&pti.
To prevent the flooding formerly so common in the city, natural drainage
lines have been widened and deepened. The west of Gorakhpur is now drained
into the Crows' pond, the north into the Sonaha tal, the centre, south, and east
into the BAmgarh jhil. But these have not been the only improvements of
late years. About 1870 Mr. Collector Young did much for the city in widen-
ing its main streets ; and there were then no less than 14 public latrines.
1 Seep, 433.
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GORAKHPUtt.
495
The rapid development during the last seven years of the municipal income
has enabled the Municipal Secretary, Mr. Crooke, to push forward reforms with
his accustomed energy. New roads have been constructed through the purlieus
of the Mian-b&z&r quarter and the slums between Alinagar and Jafra b&z&r.
Funds are now available for clearing a similar passage from Halseyganj to
Birdghit on the RApti, and for removing the unsightly houses between the
Crows' and Egrets' tanks. Existing highways have been metalled and flanked
by excellent masonry drains. Some police lines have been built opposite the
jail, a vegetable market in Halseyganj, a new school on the Domingarh road,
and new octroi outposts on various outskirts of the city.
From the duties collected at those outposts the municipal income is chiefly
derived. The following table shows the expenditure as well
as the income for two recent years : —
Municipality.
Receipts.
Opening balance ...
'Class L— Food and drink
„ II.— Animals for slaughter,
„ III.— Fuel, &c.
n IV.— Building materials ...
n V.— Drugs and spices, &o
„ VI.— Tobacco
„ VII.— Textile fabrics -.
„VHI.-Metals
o
Total
Rents ...
Fines ...
Pounds ...
Miscellaneous
Total
1876-77.
1877-78.
Rs.
Rs.
10,390
10,652
19,503
19,870
758
776
4,854
4,816
525
331
511
441
464
787
8,004
6,201
1,099
881
35,118
33,503
480
606
317
410
] 1,03a
3,683
36,947
38,203
Expenditure.
Collection
Head-office
Supervision
Original works ...
Repairs and main-
tenance of roads.
Police...
Education
Registration of births
and deaths.
Lighting
Watering roads ..
Draiuage works ..
Water-supply
Charitable grants..,
Conservancy
Miscellaneous
Total
1876-77.
Rs.
8,024
341
8,254
3,836
1,340
24
2 016
•••
1,750
17
4,472
4,578
647
30,297
1877-78.
Rs.
3,486
349
12,415
8,366
4,593
1,520
1,845
2,370
1,032
6,267
331
42,274
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496
GORAKHFUB.
Trade import*.
In the year last shown the octroi fell at the rate of Be. 0-7*11 per head
of population. The corporation or municipal committee
consist of 18 members, whereof 6 sit ex officio and the
remainder by election of the rate-payers. In epitomizing the local imports,
the municipal registers give also some idea of the local trade. Such imports
may be thus shown, again for two years : —
iVet imports in
Gontmmption per head in
Articles.
1874-76.
1876-77.
1874-75.
1876-77.
a
3
0
s
0
a
«
a
4)
0
5
1
o
Mds. s. c.
2
0
Mds.
Bs.
Mds.
Rs.
Mds.s.c
Rs. a. p.
Be. a. p.
Grain ...
2,72,977
...
9,34,838
...
6 11 8
...
4 21 16
—
Sugar, refined
3,847
•••
4,164
»••
0 2 15
...
0 3 4
...
Do., unrefined ...
19,365
...
15,861
•••
0 15 0
...
0 12 5
Mt
Clarified batter
2,256
•••
2,661
•••
0 1 12
...
0 2 1
...
Other articles of food,
Animals for slaugh-
ter.
3,14.699
hds.
17,553
15,457
•••
2,73.924
hdfl.
2,044
25,785
6 3 13
0 4 10
5 12 3
0 7 11
Oil and oil-seeds ...
10,74*
...
60,119
—
0 8 4
»••
1 5 3
...
Fuel, &e.
1,76,708
...
2.41,408
•••
3 16 18
•»•
4 27 0
...
Building materials ...
...
13,601
...
37.474
...
0 4 3
•*.
0 11 6
Drags and spices ...
...
20,165
•••
20 428
...
0 6 3
...
0 6 4
Tobacco
...
15,447
...
15,454
...
6 4 10
0 4 9
...
European cloth
Native do.
1 :
5,19,558
:!
4,29,849 r ...
87,633 I ...
i
9 12 6
: J
8 2 11
1 10 2
Metals ...
...
29,976
...
73,184. ...
0 9 1
...
1 6 8
Grain, fuel, sugar, oilseeds, and cotton are, therefore, the chief articles of
trade. The city itself produces little except tobacco and the vegetables above
mentioned. Its manufactures are few and unimportant. The only specialities
are the carpentry, chiefly palanquins, made in the R&iganj quarter, and the
turnery, such as round boxes, made in R&iganj and Ih&ta P&nde. In ih*
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GOR*KHPITll. 497
account already given of the district trade1 will be found some scattered
references to Gorakbpnr. But it is not a commercial city. With the exception
of the officials, the troops, and the traders who supply the local demand for
necessaries, the population is chiefly agricultural.
The name of the town was probably derived, as already told,2 from St.
Gorakhn&th, whose shrine adjoins old or original Gorakh-
pur. A quarrel in the Sat&si family induced some of its
members to quit the ancestral castle beside the B&mgarh jhil, and migrate
hither in the beginning of the fifteenth century. But legend says that Mansar-
war tank in the same neighbourhood was excavated in the tenth century by a
king named M&n Sen, who was overthrown by the DomkatAr founders of the
Domangarh fort.3
It seems certain that the cluster of hamlets which first constituted Gorakb-
pur lay somewhat north of the present site. There are grounds for believing
that the Rapti then flowed considerably north and east of its modern course,
sweeping round through that site and the Ramgarh jhil. " Evidence of this,19
writes Mr. Reade, " is constantly furnished by the discovery of drift wood and
portions of dinghia (boats) in excavating new wells." The first settlers pro-
bably found their position defended by the great Haveli forest to east and
north, by the Rohin to the west, and by the R&pti to the south.
In 1567 and 1570, during the reign of Akbar, Gorakhpur was visited for
a first and second time by Muslim invaders. They built here a brick fort which
is mentioned at the end of the century by Akbar's Institutes. But as the posi-
tion of that fort is unknown, its erection furnishes us with no clue as to the date
when the recession of the Rfipti made way for the present city. That recession,
however, took place before 1610, when the Muslim garrison was ejected and a
fort built on the site of the present jail by r6ja Basant Singh of Sat&si.
About 1680 the founder of the Khudai mosque, K&zi Khalil-ur-Rahm&n, was
appointed governor. He re-expelled the Hindus, repaired Basant's fort, and
threw into it a garrison. Mr. Reade informs us that the citadel of the fort was
built by Maizz-ud-din Khan, " who first seems to have been able to establish
Security of life and property in the neighbourhood of the forests.9' But by
Muizz-ud-din is probably meant prince Muazzim, afterwards the emperor
Bahfidur Sh&h, who visited Gorakhpur towards the close of the century. For
many years the city was in his honour officially styled Muazzimabad.
1 Supra pp. 418-18. * Page 486. * It should be observed, however, that
UansaroTar is the name of a great Tibetan lake with which the mythology of the Hindus has
always beea sufficiently familiar. And ponds Darned after that lake nay be found in other
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498 GORAKHPUR.
Before the middle of the last century the Musalmdn garrison had shown *
tendency to assert independence of the emperor and his Oudh naw&b. On the
part of the latter, therefore, a large army under Ali K&sim visited the city )
and razed a tower of refuge which the rebels had built on the site of the old
Domangarh castle. About the same time Gorakhpur was visited by the Jesuit
father Tieffenthaler. He mentions that the R&pti was crossed by a bridge of
boats 100 paces in length ; and that the circuit of the city was three miles,
though the residents reported it as seven. He notices the Khud&i and another
mosque, which being ruinous in Buchanan's time is probably no more. His
plan of the forb shows a square building with a bastion at each corner and
two intermediate bastions on each curtain.
In the second year of the next or present century the town and district
were ceded by the now independent Oudh naw&b to the- British. The first col-
lector pitched his tents near what is now the racquet -court, on the margin of a
pond whose edges had been cleared of jungle. Round his camp, to keep off
the tigers, was drawn a cordon of elephants. The cantonment was located in
the Captainganj quarter, on the site of a house and grounds afterwards called
Crommelin's. But in summer both the civil and military officers used to take
refuge in the fort, which had been repaired, and was probably cooler. In 1810,
when the behaviour of the Nep&lese brought the importance of Gorakhpur as a
military station into prominence, the Company's troops were removed from
Faizabad in the naw&b's territory and posted here. A larger cantonment
was necessary, and that now existing on the east of the city was laid
out. " The natives," writes Buchanan, " will not in general consent to cut
any tree that has been planted; and it required a very odious exertion of
power to clear so much ground as was sufficient to from a parade and a kind
of breathing-hole for the European officers of Government." Meanwhile a
civil station of double-storied houses had arisen on the other side of the
town. But the civilians were not long in following the soldiers, and thus their
present settlement arose. The security afforded by the presence of a large
military force, and the abolition of a cess hitherto imposed on the native in-
habitants by the raja of Satdsi, largely increased the number of persons who
made the town their home. In 1815, during the first Nepftlese campaign,
Gorakhpur became the head-quarters of a column under General J. S. Wood,
The collector who was his contemporary, Sir Roger Martin, laid out a race-
course bisected by the Bhauap&r road. But this hippodrome no longer exists.
The growing size of Gorakhpur had not hitherto been accompanied by a
growing attention to cleanliness. But in the third decade of the century the
city had the good fortune to be ruled by a collector who of all officials in these
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G0BAKHPU1L 499
provinces has perhaps earned for. himself the longest immortality. Mr. R. MT.
Bird steadily directed his efforts to clearing and bridging the natural lines of
drainage. These efforts did not cease when Mr. Bird was prortioted to the
commissionership ; but they were brought to an abrupt close by a Government
order transferring to imperial or provincial purposes all the funds (Rs. 26,000)
whith had been saved for the improvement of the town. About 1835 that town
was visited by Buchanan, who describes the buildings as very mean and the
streets as " crooked, dirty, and filled with impediments.9' In this state of relapse
Gorakhpur continued until 1850, when Mr. Reade describes its sanitary con-
dition as " deplorable." He, however, drew up a minute,1 laying down the
lines of those improvements which have ever since been steadily effected.
Some impetus to reform was given by the appointment in 1868 of a municipal
committee, and Gorakhpur is now as tidy and well ventilated a place as could
be found in the North- Western Provinces.
Gorakhpur, the Head-quarters, Sadr, or Haziir tahsfl of the district, has
its offices at the place just described. It is a tract of very irregular shape, but
its minor excrescences and indentations being disregarded, it m*y be said to be
bounded on the south, east, and east north-east by tahsfl H6ta ; on the north-
east by tahsfl Mah6r6jganj ; on the west north-west by the Basti district ; and
on the south south-west by intruding angles of the Bansgaon tahsil. The
R&pti forms for some distance the boundary, first with Basti and afterwards
with Bansg&on. The Head -quarters tahsil includes the two northern tappas
of parganah Bhau&p6r, the whole of the Gorakhpur parganah Maghar3, and 10
tappas on that side of parganah Haveli which adjoins the R-ipti. It had in
1878 a total area of 419,819 acres and a total land-revenue of Rs. 2,63,340,
Its population in 1872 was 330,875, or 506 persons to the square mile. But
a detailed account of. the tahsil will be found in the articles on its three par-
ganah s.
HaTA, a village in tappa Badaholi, of parganah Shfihjah&npnr, stands on
the unmetalled Kasia road, 28 miles east of Gorakhpur. Not far west of it
flows the Mohan brook. The population amounted in 1872 to 1,033 persons
only ; but Hata has since 1872 been the head-quarters of a tahsfl.
It contains, besides the tahsili, a first-class police-station, an imperial
post-office, a tahsili school, and a branch dispensary.
Ha'ta, a tahsil with court and treasury at the place just described, is
bounded on the east north-east by the Padrauna tahsil, the Khanua river
forming in places the boundary ; on north-by-wcst by the Mahirajganj tabsil ;
1 Mr. Reade was then a Member of the Board of Revenue. * It should be remembered
that adjoining this parganah Maghar is another in the Basti district.
64
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500 GORAKHPUB.
on its concave western frontier by the Head-quarters and BansgAon tahsil*,
the Rdpti being for a short distance the border with the latter ; on the sooth
south-west again by the R6pti, which severs it from the Bansg&on tahsil ; and
on the south-east by tahsils Deoria and Padrauna. Tahsil Hata includes the
parganahs of Shfihjahanpur and Silhat, and 6 tappas on the central eastern
side of parganah Haveli. It had in 1878 a total area of 367,867 acres and a
total land-revenue of Rs. 2,81,699. Its population amounted in 1872 to
287,230 souls. But further details of area, revenue, and population will be
found in the articles on the three parganahs of the tahsil.
Haveli or Haveli-Gorakhpur, the largest parganah of the district, forms
part of the Maharajganj, Head-quarters, andH&ta tahsils. On east-by-north it
marches with parganah Sidhua Jobna, the boundary being the Little Gandak
river : on the north-east its angles protrude into parganahs Tilpur and Bin&-
yakpur ; on the north-west the Ghunghi river severs it from Nepal and Basti ;
on west south-west, or south-west by west, it is bounded chiefly by the Dha-
mela and R&pti, which divide it from Basti and parganahs Maghar and Bhaua-
p&r ; its irregular south-eastern frontier indents or is indented by parganahs
Silhat and Shahjahanpur. It contains 28 tappas, — namely, Snmakhor, Katahra,
Bigauli, Sikra, Lehra, Matkopa, Bhari-Baisi, Banki, Baraicha, Unti, And hay a,
and Lekhman, all in tahsil Maharajganj ; Patra, Khutahan, Pachw&ra, Kasba,
MarAchi-Chandfir, Gaura, Haveli, Ketitali, Rajdh&ni, and Rasulpur, all in the
Head-quarters tahsil ; and Padkhori, Bharsand, Parwarp&r, Agaya, Bandw&r,
and Dedupar, all in tahsil H&ta. The parganah contains 2,001 of the revenue
divisions known as villages (mauza). It had in 1878 an area of 909,117 acres
and a land-revenue of Rs. 4,69,843.1
According to the census of 1872 Haveli contained 1,592 inhabited sites,
of which 657 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 713 between
Population. 200 and 500; 174 between 500 and 1,000 ; 25 between
1,000 and 2,000 ; 6 between 2,000 and 3,000 ; and 4 between 3,000 and 5,C00.
The only town containing more than 5,000 inhabitants was Gorakhpur, but
this had over 50,000.
The population numbered 541,846 souls (253,856 females), giving 580
to the square mile. Classified according to religion there were 483,011 Hindis
(226,038 females*, 58,319 Musalmans (27,576 females), and 516 Christians.
Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes, the census
shows 33,185 Brahmans (15,574 females) ; 5,894 Rajputs (2,546 females); and
1 605,294 acres and Re. 2,08,368 belong to the Maharajganj, 100,265 acres and Bl. 87,268 to
the Hata, and 903,568 acres and lis. 1,74,217 to the Head-quarters tahsils*
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GORAHKPTTB. 501
15,648 Baniyas (7,409 females); whilst the great mass of the population is
included in the "other castes," which show a total of 482,284 souls (200,509
females). The principal Brahman sub-division found in this pargana is the
Kanaujiya (32,448). The chief Rnjput clans are the Bais (1,521 >, Ponwir,
Chandel, Sirnet, Sakarwal, Kausik, and Chauh&n. The Baniyas belong to
the Kandn (3,121), Agarw&I, Agarahri, Barawa, 1 Unai, and Kasaundhan sub-
divisions. The most numerous among the other castes are the Bind, Dos&dh,
Gond,2 Teli, Koeri, Ahir, Lohar, Hajj&m, Cham&r, Dhobi, Kahar, Satw&r, Qa-
dariya, Kurmi, Char, Mall&h, Nuniya, Kayath, Musahar, Kalw&r, Rajbhar,
Sonar, Kam&ngar, Kah&r, Dom, Barhai, Bar&yi, Bh4tt P&si, Thathera, M&li,
Binsphor, Jogi, Bairagi, Bari, Atith, Khatf k, Kh&krob, Kis&n, Halw&i, Kadera,
Bharbhunja, Beld&r. Komar, Kori, Baheliya, Gosain, and Jaisw&r. The Mu>
salra&ns are Shaikhs (34,872), Sayyids (948), Mughals (204), Pathdns (10,955),
and unspecified.
The settlement reports divide Haveli into two portions ; the northern
Physical and agri* containing the six tap pas first named, and the southern the
cmtoral features. twenty-two remaining sub-divisions. North Haveli had
in 1865 an area of 358,659 a'3res, whereof 158,200 were cultivated, 59,807
were cultivable, and 115,511 formed parts of forest grants
North Haveli. , ' ' _. . r _ . *
more or less reduced to cultivation. On the east an un-
broken plain of flourishing fields, it towards the centre, as tappa Katahra is
reached, becomes worn into undulations by numerous water-courses. In the
troughs of such undulations lie considerable stretchers of low moist land grown
chiefly with late rice (jarlian). But the cultivation is unmistakably inferior
to that of the tract we have just quitted, and is, moreover, subject in places to
the ravages of four-footed marauders from the great forest. Between
tappas Katahra and Lehra that forest even yet forms an almost impenetrable
barrier. It is no purely local feature, but a part of the great wedge of wood-
land which stretches from Nep&l to some 20 miles south-east of Qorakhpur
city. The rivers along which it grows are the Rohin and the Rohin's affluents,
the Jharri or Piyas and the Chillua. The Rohin is the only stream that com-
pletely crosses Haveli ; and the Jharri is its only important feeder which does
not rise within that parganah. About two miles west of the former river the
forest ceases and the cultivation of tappas Lehra and Sum&khor begins. This
tract consists of a northern or Jangal Buridi and a southern or Rajgat
sub-division. The name of the former shows it to have been shorn from the
1 See article on parpanah Dhuridpdr, " population," note, * Article on parganah
Bhauudpdr u population*' sectiou, note.
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£02 GORAKHPUR.
forest1 ; but it is less fertile than the latter, which was brought under cultivation
earlier. Passing westward over Mr. Bridgman's great forest grant, we finally
reach tappas Rigauli and Sikra, the richest perhaps of Haveli. Watered by many a
lagoon and by the pools of many a stream, they receive every rainy season
rich alluvial deposits which, in return for no other labour than sowing, yield
most luxuriant spring crops. After traversing a corner of the tract, the
navigable Dhamela throws itself into the Rapti.
South Haveli had in 1867 an area of 553,639 acres, whereof 225,973
^ were cultivated and 82,968 cultivable. The proportion of
South Haveli. \ \ r
forest grants, which as in North Haveli have been more or
less brought iincter tillage, was 172,891 acres. As in North Haveli, the wood-
land belt continues to bisect the parganah, and though greatly narrowed and
sometimes pierced by modern clearings, still girds with a broad fringe of forest
the country north and west 0f the capital. East and west of this belt the
landscape might but for its many mango-groves be called open. On both
sides the land is thickly peopled and thickly cultivated, but much of the low
western side is subject to inundation from the R&pti and its tributaries. The
fine alluvial soil always produces a rich spring crop ; but the autumn outturn,
especially beetween Rupti and Robin, is often endangered by the floods. Though
everywhere common, lagoons are on this side of South Haveli commonest.8
On the eastern side of the forest the land rises into undulating ridges (dhug) of
sand. Large patches of waste land are commoner than on the west ; but the soil
is sufficiently fertile to produce large 'quantities of sugarcane. This part* of
the parganah is drained by the Tura, Pharend, Mohan, and Majhni, of which
ihe last forms the boundary line with Silhat. In the extreme south the surface
fe much broken by deep watercourses which convey the drainage of tappa
Rajdhani to the Rapti. These and floods have between them caused the aban-
donment of the road along the bank of that river, from Gorakhpur to Barhi.
The soils of the parganah are as usual divided into loam (dor as) y sand
(balua)y and clay (mattiydr or karaila). But of that last
8 oils.
named south Haveli has but little, and this fact fully accounts
for its small outturn of winter rice. On the banks of the Ghiinghi and R&pti,
as well as on the eastern side of North Haveli, is a good deal of the marly soil
1 Like the name Bankata, so common in these provinces, Jan gal Bnridi simply means the
t oreBt clearing. * " The principal of these," writes Mr. Crooke, " is Ramgarh, which
18 connected with a string of smaller marshes, and extends due south nearly as far as the
'Barhi police-station. In the rains this line of jfiits becomes one mass of waier. A consider*
,able part of their drainage passes into the Rapti by a ndla (watercourse) under the village
of Laheaara, about 4 miles fro'u Gorakhpur. The question of draining the Ramgarh jhil
lias been for some time under consideration; It has been proposed fur this purpose to deepen*
/the Lahesara aud other uala*. There can b« little doubt that this would be a most valuable
sanitary improvement, and would greatly improve the climate of the city and cautouiueut&"
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GORAKHPUR. 503
called bhdt. Land flooded by Rfipti is known as kachdr. On the distinction be-
tween the three great natural classes of soil just named the people lay littlo
stress, for in each are found very great differences of quality. The numerous
streams and lagoons afford ample means of irrigation;
and Mr. Lumsden was satisfied that not 10 per cent, of the
cultivated area in South Haveli was left unwatered for want of facilities. The
average depth of water is but 11 J feet from the surface, and unbricked wells
are easily dug. The staple crop of the parganah is autumn (bhadui) rice. But
as already mentioned, winter rice is not altogether absent,
and the drying margins of lagoons are in summer largely
planted with the rice called boro. Another great crop of the autumn harvest
is mash or urd pulse ; and sufficient indigo is raised to keep several factories
at work. At the spring harvest the principal staples are wheat, barley, linseed,
and gram. For the excellence of their wheat the western tappas, and
especially Paohw&ra, are noted. The cultivation of poppy is comparatively
limited.
• Except those of indigo and sugar, which latter is refined at many fac-
Trade and com- tories, the parganah has no important manufactures. Its
munications. crops are in fact its only noteworthy products. The principal
markets are Gorakhpur, Dhani, Captainganj, Pipraich, Rigauli,and Sahibganj ;
but there are also many smaller village marts, such as Gaura, Jaswal, and Par-
tawal. The mileage within Haveli of the metalled Benares road is small.
But some half dozen unmetalled roads traverse the parganah on their way to
Gorakhpur, and one on its way from Padrauna to Karmaini-ghat. Additional
trade routes are provided by the rivers fi&pti, Dhamela, Rohin, and Little
Gandak, of which all are navigable.
"The chief places of archaeological interest," writes Mr. Crooke, "are
the great Dom fort at Domingarh, near the junction of the
Rohin and Rapti ; the immense Maurya city at Upadaulia
or Rajdhini proper in tappa Rajdh&ni ; the tomb of Abdul K&dir Hazrat at
Itaya in tappa Ehutahan ; the Jh&r Khandi Mahfideo in tappa Baveli ; and
remains of forts at Mathia in tappa Unthi, Mednipur in tappa Bahraicha, Baila
Gaunar and Bagh&r in tappa Kiutali, and Barhampur in tappa Rasulpur.
" A good deal of shooting may be got in the parganah. The jungle east
of Gorakhpur itself abounds in deer, nilgai, and pig, and
*° several leopards have been shot there. Tigers have dis-
appeared owing to the cutting of the forest which once ran in one unbroken
line up to the Tar&i. There are immense quantities of duck and teal in the
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504 GORAKHPUR.
lakes of Rftmgarh, Chillua, and Jamu&r, and there is excellent snipe-shooting
in the neighbourhood of Gorakhpur. The blaek partridge is found in the east
of the parganah."
What existing tribe can claim the honour of having first peopled par-
_. ganah Haveli is doubtful. The earliest ruler of whom
Historv. • °
tradition speaks was one M&n Sen, ^ho is variously called
a Tharu or a Bdthor. He was overwhelmed about the middle of the tenth
century by the Domkat&rs or Domwars, a race of somewhat mixed origin. In
the fourteenth century, again, the Domkatars succumbed to the Sarnets, whilst
a chieftain said to have been a Chauh&n occupied some small northern part of
the parganah. The two principalities thus founded, those of Satasi and Biitwal,
continued their existence into the present century.
With the appearance of the Muslims, towards the close of the sixteenth,
the parganah assumed its present name. Haveli signifies the land su rounding
a fort, the fort in this case being that of Qorakhpur.1 In the Institutes of
Akbar (1596^ Haveli Gorakhpur has a State rental of Rs. 14,209 (5,68,385 ddms).
The smallness of the sum shows how large a part of the parganah must still
have been under forest. We know that a hundred years later Prince Muazzim
was attracted to Gorakhpur by accounts of the grand sport which the neigh-
bourhood afforded ; and the turmoils of following centuries are unlikely to
have favoured the increase of cultivation. Much of the woodland south-east
of Gorakhpur is said to .have sprung up during the devastations of the Banji-
ras in the beginning of the last century.
With the beginning of the present however, when the parganah
passed to its present rulers, a marked improvement took place* After the
Nep&lese war (1816;, the Jangal Buridi villages were bestowed for reclamation
on refugees who had fled the scene of campaign. Forest grants to other per-
sons still further increased the area under the plough. But the spread of cul-
tivation under British rule is best proved by the steadily rising demands of
successive revenue assessments. These demands were at the first settlement
(1803) Rs. 55,660; at the second (1806;, Rs. 59,688; at the third (1809),
lis. 70,045 ; at the fourth (1813), Rs. 79,290 ; at the fifth (1840), Rs. 2,76,610 ;
and at the sixth or current (1865-67), Rs. 4,00,109. The remaining forest ia
so valuable that reclamation has probably reached its limit ; but during the
term of the fifth or last assessment large tracts of waste and woodland were
converted into fields. The extension of tillage was not the sole effect of this
conversion. The climate was improved, facilities of traffic increased, and the
1 See article on Gorakhpur city, " History."
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GORAKHPUR. 505
security of life and property was established against the attacks of robbers and
the ravages of wild beasts.
Itaya, a hamlet in the forest, about 8 miles north-east of Gorakhpur, is
a place of worship much affected by the Musalmans of that city. Its shrine
is thus described by Buchanan, to whoso account Mr. Crooke thinks nothing
need be added : —
"It is a smtll monument dedicated to a saint named Abdul Kadir Ha z rat Ghaus Lizim
Dastgir. He was buried at Bigbtlad, but he fasted 40 days and nights in the forest here , and
the keeper says that he is the saint's descendant. As such a fast is considered by the people
here as rather an ordinary exertion of holy men, the keeper, in order to enhance the merit of
his monument, has brought a brick and lamp from Kict*hauchha in the dominions of the Nawab
Vaztr. He has 1 00 bighas free from assessment, and from 1,000 to 1,500 people assemble ou
the day of the longnamed saint."
In 1872 It&ya had but 307 inhabitants.
KahAon, a small village in tappa M&il of parganah Salem pnr-Maj haul i,
lies three miles north of Mail and 46 south-east of Gorakhpur. It had in 1872 a
population of 352 persons only.
Kahaon is part of the Majhauli domain, now under the Court of Wards.
Its only interest arises from its Buddhist or Jaina antiquities. Chief of these
is a coarse grey sandstone column, standing 24} feet from the surfaoe, and
popularly known as Bhimsen's pillar (lath). For 4 J feet from the base it is
square, each face being 1 foot 10 inches broad ; for the next 6} feet it is octa-
gonal ; as it tapers further upwards towards its bell-shaped capital it is first
fluted into 16 sides and afterwards circular. A metal spike at the top would
seem to show that the pillar was once crowned by a lion or some other termina-
tion. In small niches on each side of the square abacus above the capital are
naked figures, and on one side of the base is a sculptured image of some divine
being facing west The image rests its back on what is supposed to be a canopy
of cobra's heads, and at each of its feet is the representation of a votary. On
the three northern faces of the octagonal portion is a fairly legible inscrip-
tion in the Gupta character of the Allahabad column l It merely mentions
that one Madra, " the constant and friendly patron of Br&hmaus, Gurus, and
Yatis,'' dedicates five images of Indra. The term Yati is in the present day
applied to Jain priests, who are generally Br&hmans. The naked figures of the
columns, with their crisp curled hair, must, says General Cunningham, belong
either to the Jains or the later Tantrika Buddhists. It may be added that the
cobra canopy, though applied also to other deities and prophets, is the special
symbol of the great Jain tirthdnkdra, Parasn&th. The date of the inscription
1 Copies of the inscription and engraving* of the pillar will be found in Buchanan's Eastern
India, ir, an4 Cunningham's Archaological Reports, I.
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506 GORAKHPUR.
is 141, but the era is still a point of dispute amongst the learned. If Dr. Fitz-
Edward Hall is right in supposing the sambat intended, the pillar was raised
in 84 A.D. ; if General Cunningham'* choice of the Sdka be approved, the year of
erection was 219 A. D. The overthrow of the Gupta or Maurya dynasty
occurred some hundred years later.
In tho immediate neighbourhood of the pillar are three ancient tanks or
gars1 known as the Purena Karnahi, and Jhakarahi or Sopha. Around the pil-
lar are no traces of the enclosure mentioned by Buchanan, and the old well has
been filled up. Near the edge of the Karnahi tank is a small ruined temple,
almost levelled with the ground. This may have been the two storied pyra-
midal building seen by Buchanan. On the rubbish is a black stone image of
Buddha, now broken into two pieces but once about 7 feet high. The natives
call this Ak&skamfni, and the same name is applied to another large tank east
of the village. Arrangements are being made for protecting this idol from the
weather. Curiously enough, it seems to have escaped Buchanan's notice. The
fragments of two images mentioned by him are not now visible. Nor could
they be discovered at the time of the archaeological survey (1861-62;.
The officer who effected that survey presumes that the pillar must have
been placed opposite the temple in which the Panchendra, or five images of
Indra, were enshrined. Several temples and other buildings are likely to have
been crowded round the column ; for it would otherwise be hard to account for
the great size of the mound on which both oolumn and village stand. Though
not more than 6 feet in height above the fields, this eminence extends from
west to east upwards of 1,200 feet, with an average breadth of 400.
The village contains some fine old wells, whose gigantic bricks must
surely have been taken from some ancient building. It may be men-
tioned that the inscription on the pillar would seem to call that village
Kakubharati ; and from some compound of Kakubha, such as Kakubh&wan,
the name Kah&wan or Kah&on might easily have come. " The pillar," writes
Mr. Crooke, "is analogous to that at Bhigalpur, which is about 7 miles south
on the banks of the Sarju (Gh&gra). But the Kahaon pillar is much more
elaborately carved, and is not disfigured by some zealot as is that at Bhagalpur.
Kah&on is probably one of the Buddhistic stages between Bhagalpur and
Kasia, as mentioned in the article on Sohanag. No fair is held, but milk and
other dainties are offered to the image by the neighbouring villagers."
Kasia, the head-quarters of the sub-division so named, is a village of tappa
Mainpur-Sabekhor, in parganah Sidhua-Jobna. It stands on the crossing
1 Thi« strange word is by Genera! ftinninffhain derived from Sanskrit or*, to wet. But may
it not be auother form of yarha, yadhaiyuy &».? .
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GORAKHPUR, 507
of two unmetalled roads, 37 miles east of Gorakhpur. The population
amounted in 1872 to 918 persons only.
Kasia contains a first-class police-station, an imperial post-office, a
branch dispensary, and the court and residence of the officer in charge of the
sub-division. It was not long ago proposed to make the village the head-
quarters of a separate district But that schemo is for the present shelved ;
and Kasia still derives its chief importance from its Buddhist associations and
Buddhist remains.
The latter lie south-west of the village, near the Khanua and other
branches of the Little Gandak river. They consist of (I) a
lofty mound of solid brickwork, styled Devisthan or Ram-
abhar-Bhawaui ; (2) an oblong eminence bearing a much -ruined relic-temple
(xtupa * and named the castle of the dead Prince ; (3) a large statue of Buddha the
Ascetic ; (4) a low square mound covered with broken brick, near the village
of Anrudhwa ; aud (5) a number of small earthen hillocks which are scat-
tered like barrows over the plain north and east of the groat mound.
The Rainabhar mound (tila) derives its names of Devisthan and Bhawant
. from the fact that its summit is now sacred to the consort
Devisthan. r oli mi _ . . . ,
of Shiva. The goddess has no temple ; but some votivo
figures of baked clay, shaded by a fine old banyan-tree, mark the place as her
own. The mound is situated on the western bauk of the Riitnabhar lagoon,1
which forms part of the bed of tho Roha watercourse, a discarded channel of
tho Little Gandak. Devisthan is somewhat less than a mile distant from Kasia,.
and still rises 49 feet above the surrounding fields. It is probably the ruin of
a great brickwork relio-temple ; and at its south-eastern foot General Cunning-
ham3 discovered the remains of a smaller stupa. The wedge-shaped bricks of
this latter building showed its diameter to have been 161 feet only.
Nearly 1,600 yards north north-west of the Ramabhar mound lies that
known as the castle of tho Dead Prince, or Prince Matha
Mat ha kuar kakot.
(Aldtfia kuar kd hot). This, which is now covered with
scrub-wood and broken bricks, rises over 30 foot above the plain. Some 600
feet in length by from 200 to 300 in breadth, it would seem to have been formed
from tho ruins of two largo buildings and of several small ones. At its highest
point stands a Buddhist relic-temple of tho usual typo, i. e.,a round brickwork
tower with sphorical grass-grown roof. General Cunningham concludes that
this tower was built between 200 and 600 A. D., on the debris of some older
building. Its original diameter, now somewhat reduced, was about 27| feet;
aud its original height would, according to the usual proportion, have beeu
1 Supra, p, 302 * Archaeological Survey Reports, I., 77.
65
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508 GOBAKUPUR.
twice that figure. Small detached mounds and wedge-shaped bricks seem to
show that several lesser stupas must have once adorned the eminence. Towards
its north-west end are some rather large spaces quite clear of bricks ; and these
may be supposed to represent the courtyards or other vacant intervals between
the buildings. The mound is shaded in places by fine pipaU, sacred trees of
the Hindus. But the total absence of statues seems to show that it was crowned
by few or no Hindu temples.
The Buddhist statue of the " Dead Prince" himself lie? prostrate some
1,100 feet from the standing stupa just described. Carved
Statue of Baddha. / ° . „ ,
from the dark-blue stone of Gaya, it represents Buddha
the Ascetic seated under the Bodhi tree near that city. The sculpture is 10J
feet in height by 4} feet in width ; and the figure itself is colossal, the breadth
across the shoulders alone being 3 feet 8£ inches.1 The statue has, however,
been split from head to foot and otherwise injured. The short inscription on
its pedestal has been almost worn away by constant use as a whetstone. Be-
side it on the east is a low square mound, once perhaps the site of the temple
which enshrined it. By local legend this statue is sometimes described as the
remains of a wicked king, who was first petrified and afterwards cleft it twain
by a holy hermit.
Between the Ramabhar and Mtitha ktiar mounds lies a lower eminence
The Anrudhwa some ^00 feet square, which from its neighbourhood to the
mound, village of Anirudhwa or Anrudhwa may be called the An-
rudhwa mound. This mound bears some fine pipal trees, and some ruins
which from their square shape are perhaps the ruins of a Buddhist monas-
tery. The adjacent village clearly derives its name from Aniruddha, the cousin
of Buddha. But of both persons more hearafter. General Cunningham identi-
fies the mound and village as the site of the ancient Buddhist city.
To north and east of the Hatha kuar mound are a host of low grassy
barrows from 3 to 6 feet in height and from 12 to 25 in
diameter. That they are tombs General Cunningham is
certain. Mcgasthenes (circ. 300 B.C.) describes the Indian sepulchres as plain
tumuli of low earth. But neither here nor elsewhere at Kasia did the General's
excavations result in any discovery. An old resident told him that these mounds
were called Bhim&wat, which perhaps means "fearsome spots"; and that
ghosts were sometimes seen flitting about them. The common people have a
legend that these are the graves of some gypsy tribe once numerous in the
neighbourhood.
i A sketch of the carving will be found in Buchanan's Eastern India, I. ; and of iti site
in Cunningham's Archavloyical Reports, I.
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GORAKHPUB. 50D
Such are the existing remains of Kasia. Its many Buddhist shrines have
been effaced by the floods of the Little Gandak, or destroyed
to supply material for the humbler structures of surround-
ing villages. But for over 1,100 years Kusinagara, the city of the holy grass,:
was a place of importance and sanctity. It was here that, ' about 550 years
before Christ, Buddha died, or in the language of his followers, obtained nir-
vana.2 On his death the assembled mendicants were consoled by the venerable
seer Aniruddha, who was not only his cousin, but one of his ten great disci-
ples. The gods, said this Aniruddha, were looking down on earth and
bewailing the saint with dishevelled hair and uplifted arms. The death, he add-
ed, must be announced to the Mallian chieftains. And the Mallian chieftains
came with garlands, and bright raiment, and music ; and for six days the body
lay in state, attended by the people of Kusinagara. On the seventh, when the
nobles attempted to lift it for cremation, they found themselves unable to move
it. This, explained Aniruddha, was because they intended to carry it into the
city by a southern gate ; let them carry it through the northern. They assented,
and the body was lifted. Bearing it on a bier formed of their lances, they
brought it to the coronation-hall of the Mallians. Here was the funeral pile ;
but the chieftains were unable to ignite it, and Aniruddha said that the gods
would prevent its burning till Mahak&syapa arrived ; for Mahakasyapa had
been the saint's chief disciple. At length from Padrauna (P&wa) came this
Mah&k&syapa ; and when he had opened the end of the pile, it burnt without
mortal lighting.
Easia now became a great place of Buddhist pilgrimage, and as such
„ ... was in the fifth and seventh centuries visited by the Chineso
Chinese pilgrims. >
writers Fa Hian and Hwen Thsang respectively. The lat-
ter informs us that Buddha died in a s&l-forest rather more than half a mile from
the city, that is from the modern Anirudhwa. The forest was at a short dis-
tance from the Hiranyavati or Ajitavati river. This is now called the Little
Gandak; but in conversation with General Cunningham a man of Padrauna styled
it Hirana, which is of course a relic of the name first given.8 From these details
it may fairly be assumed that Buddha died on the spot now called the Castle
of the Dead Prince. On the scene of his death were erected three large and
1 Ease, Poa cynosuroidet. In the Buddhist books Kusinagara has several alternative
fonos, such as Kusinagara, Kusinara, and Kusigrimaka. * i. e., emancipation from
matter and re-absorption into the essence of the Deity. The Buddhists say that their pro-
phet's death took place on the foil moon of Baisakh (April-May) 543 B C. 3 Buchanan
makes the Hirana a feeder of the Little Gandak. Bat in the districts adjoining the larai
riye s often desert their beds, which thereon become mere affluents. The name of Hirana
may still live in those of more than one branch or affluent of the Little Gandak.
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510 GORAKBPUB.
three small stnpas, all standing in Hwen Tlisang's time. The largest, 200
feet in height, had been built about 250B.C. by Asoka. That monarch
also erected here a pillar whose inscription described the nirvana of Buddha.
In a great vihdra or monastery on the same site was a recumbent statue
representing Buddha as about to enter that state. The ruins of this monastery
and of Asoka's stupa were by Qoncral Cunningham identified with existing
remains on the Miitha kiiar mound.
Of the city itself Hwen Thsang remarks that its walls are ruined and its
interior almost deserted. But that its circuit had formerly been about two miles •
(12li) was clear from the brickwork foundations then still visible. The ruined
mound of Anrudhwa General Cunningham would identify with the palace of
the Mallian kings, where according to the Ceylonese account above given
Buddha was burnt. But there are other legends as to the exact spot where the
cremation took place ; and these the General would reconcile by supposing that
the Rdmabhar mound was its scene. We know that the place was marked by
a famous stupa, and we have already seen that the remains of stnpas exist on
that mound. Hwen Thsang describes Kusinagara as 116 miles north-east of
Benares, and about 148 miles north-west of Vaisali. The distance by modern
routes is much the same.
KaZIPUR or Fazlnagar, a village of parganah Sidhua-Jobna, stands on the
meeting of an unmetalled road and a cart-track, 47 miles east-by-south of
Gorakhpur. It had in 1872 but 419 inhabitants, and is remarkable only as
the site of a first-class police-station and a district post-office.
Khakhundu or Khukhundu, a village in tappa Khakhundu of parganah
Salempur, stands on the unmetalled road from Gorakhpur to Gathnighat, 44
miles sonth-east of the former. It has a first-class police-station, and a popu-
lation by the last census of 1,424. But its chief claims to notice are
antiquarian.
The remains cover nearly one square mile on the southern outskirt of the
village. They include a few large tanks and about
30 low mounds bristling with broken bricks and thick
scrub-wood. Of the mounds all the largest are square, leaving little doubt
that they were once the sites of temples. But the fine trees which now
shade their summits, the sacred figs,1 the bel, and the tamarind, and the sir as,
have overthrown the houses of the gods.
Most of the mounds (deora) have no special name. The greatest, which
lies just between Khakhundu and the hamlet of Parhalahi,is 120 feet square at
base and 16 feet in height. One or two have been already ransacked in the
1 The banydn, the pipal, and the pdkar are all represented.
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GORAKHPUR. 511
house-building peasant's search for bricks ; but except Baragaon in Bihar,
General Cunningham has seen no place which would still so well repay the
excavations of the antiquary. u Amongst the rubbish," he writes, " we might
expect to find both statues and inscriptions, and perhaps other objects, all
of which would help to throw light on the rise and progress of modern
Brahmanism, more particularly during the long period of its struggles with
expiring Buddhism."1
But on the tops of the mounds many ancient and interesting objects are
even now visible. There are four-armed figures of Vishnu, and representations
of the same god under five of his ten incarnations. There are phallic emblems
of Shiva, and statues of himself, his wife Parvati, and his son Ganesha. So
much for stone antiquities ; but there are also fragments of walls, of bricks with
flower ornaments and other mouldings, and of the plaster that covered the walls.
In some cases the remains, whether sculpture or masonry, are distinctly Jain
in character. Thus on the pedestal of one statue we see naked or " sky-clad
(dlgambara) " figures, and an antelope, the cognizance of the 16th Jain hierarcn
(tirthankara) Santanath. In the headdress of a naked figure, which General
Cunningham deems to represent Shiva, is a smaller naked figure, which he
calls a $uddha. A mutilated four-armed figure in another spot is called
Jug-vf ray " the hero of the age ;" and this title might not unfitly be applied
to Maha-vira, '' the great hero,'9 the 24th hierarch and pontiff of the present
age. On a long low mound of bambu-hidden ruins General Cunningham
discovered the remains of an octagonal building which he was inclined to
believe a Buddhist relic-temple (stupa).
Though it now contains no Jain residents, Khakhundu has still a Jain tem-
ple. This is a small modern structure, square, flat-
Modern Jftin temple. * , , , . , , ., T • i , . ■ •
roofed, and brick-built. Inside, squatting beneath a
triple umbrella, is a blue stone figure. Over his head flits an aerial drum-
mer ; and on his pedestal is a bull symbolizing the faot that he is Adinath,
the 1st Jain heirarch. By the people, however, he is mistaken for the
23rd, Parasnath. Another statue, surmounted by a naked Buddha-like figure,
resembles that mentioned at the end of the last paragraph. The temple is often
visited by Agarwala Sarajogis from Gorakbpur and Patna, who say that the
proper name of the village is Kishkindapura. Eishkinda is the title of a
Southern Indian mountain, celebrated in the Lay of Rama; but coming as it
does from a class little distinguished for veracity or learning, the derivation
must be distrusted.
1 Arch. Survey Reports, L, 91.
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512 GORAKHPUR.
The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Hwen Thsang, who visited Kasia about
635, encountered 30 miles south-west of that city a large town ; and in this
town dwelt a Br&hman millionaire who was devoted to Buddhism. From its
position one might at first suspect that the town was Rudarpur. But it was on
the route from Kasia to Benares, and through Rudarpur that route could not
have passed. Such an alignment would have involved the passage of the Rapti
as well as the Ghagra. General Cunningham is satisfied that the old high road
crossed the latter river at some point below its reinforcement by the former; and
popular tradition places the ancient ferry at Mail. The General suggests, there-
fore, that the town must have been Khakhundu, which by the old winding
tracks would have been about 30 miles from Kasia, and which is the most
extensive of the several ruined towns1 in this part of the district
Kh^napAr, or " the other side of the Khdnua," stands near that branch of
the Little Gandak, in tappa Haveli of parganah Salempur. Fifty-two miles
south-east of Gorakhpur as the crow flies, the village is 61 miles distant from that
city by road. It in 1872 contained but 1,435 inhabitants, and is remarkable
only as the site of a third-class police-station.
Kotibha'r, a village in tappa Purani Karhi of parganah Tilpur, stands on
the unmetalled road from Gorakhpur to Nichlaval, 40 miles north-east of tho
former. Tho population amounted in 1872 to 575 only ; but Kotibh&r has a
third-class police-station and district post-office.
La'rh or L&r, a town of tappa Balia and pargan ah Salempur, is the
principal place in the south-pastern corner of the district. Flanking the junc-
tion of two unmetalled roads from Gorakhpur and Carhaj respectively, it lies
58 miles south-east of the former. It had in 1872 a population of 4,382
persons.
" From a distance," writes Mr. Crooke, " it looks one of the most impos-
ing towns in the district. It is surrounded by
Site an appearanc . beautiful mango-groves and fields in unusually excel-
lent cultivation. On a closer inspection it is found to contain no building of
importance except the imambdra. The bazar is narrow and incommodious, and
the merchants' houses are mean in the extreme." L&rh has, however, a first-class
police-station, a parganah sohool, and an imperial post-office. It possesses also
a hostel (sardi) for travellers ; but this a poor structure standing on a site
exposed to floods. Besides the im6mb&ra, which in design and workmanship
is the best modern Muslim building in the district, there are two or three
1 See articles on Bhdgalpwr, Kahdon, and Sohdndg.
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GORAEHPUB. 513
mosques. All those places of worship aro duo to the strong Muhammadan
m m „0 fervour of the Iraki Shaikhs, who are the principal
The Irakis. ! *
merchants of the town. Though their name would
point to a Mesopotamian origiu, their physique and appearance indicate an
extensive admixture of Hindu blood.
The Irakis might be called the only enterprising Muslims in the district.
Exporting to Calcutta and Patna large quantities of grain,
spices, indigo, hemp, linseed, and sugar, they import in
exchange cloth. This again they jbx port, by way of Dhani or Nichlaval, to Nep&l.
They some time since attempted to start sugar refineries. But the black-ants
which abound in the town are said to have impeded the business, and all the
sugar of the neighbourhood is now refined at Barhaj. The Chaukidari Act (XX.
„ of 1856) is in force at Larh ; and during 1877-78 the house-
House-tax.
tax thereby imposed, added to a balance of Rs. 208 from
the preceding year, gave a total income of Rs. 948. The expenditure, which
was chiefly on police (Rs. 398), conservancy and public works, amounted to
Rs. 614. Of the 901 houses in the town 251 were assessed with the tax,
whose incidence was Rs. 2-15-2 per house assessed and Re. 0-2-9 per head of
population.
L&rh has no history. It has however a Hindu temple, whose foundation
is ascribed to the descendants of a local saint. Now as this saint had a cow which
was carried off by a tiger, his name was probably Vasishta.1 The stolen
animal was rescued by following the trail of foam (Idr) which had dropped
from her mouth. And hence, says tradition, the salivaceous name of L&r.
Maghar or Hasanpur- Maghar, a parganah of the Head-quarters tahsfJ,
is bounded on the east by parganahs Bhau&p&r and Haveli ; on the north by
Haveli and parganah Maghar of Basti; on the west by the parganah last
named ; and on the south by parganah Anola. The greater part of the
boundary with Bhauap&r is formed by the Ami river, and the whole of that
with Haveli by the R&pti* The parganah is divided into the nine tappas of
Gahas&nd, Satgawan, Uttar-Haveli, Aurangabad, Bhars&nd, Bhadesari, Suras,
Pachuri or Paohauri, and Khajuri. It contains 333 of the revenue-divisions
called villages. It had in 1878 an area of 74,661 acres and a land-revenue
of Rs. 62,953.
According to the census of 1 872, parganah Maghar contained 264 inha-
„ , . bited sites, of which 149 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 89
Population.
between 200 and 500: 17 between 500 and 1,000; 8
between 1,000 and 2,000/ and one between 2,000 and 3,000.
1 gmpra, p. 356.
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514 GORAKHPTTC.
The population numbered 65,810 souls (16,113 females), giving 567 to
the square mile. Classified according to religion there were 62,1 99 Hindtis( 29,280
females) and 3,611 Musalmans (1,652 females.) Distributing the Hindti. popu-
lation among the four great classes, the census shews 8,575 Brahmans (4 ,081
females), 1,619 Rajputs (710 females\ and 2,517 Baniyas (1,212 females) ; whilst
the great mass of the population is included in the " other castes, " which show
a total of 49,488 souls (23,277 females). The principal Brahman sub-division
found in this parganah is the Kanaujiya (8,369). The chief Rajput clans are the
Sakarwal (451), Bais, and Solan khi. The Baniyas belong to the Kandu (1,427),
Agarwal, Agarahri, Unai, and Kasaundhan sub-divisions. The most numerous
among the other castes are the Bind, Teli, Koeri, Ahir, Lobar, Hajj&m, Cha-
mar, Dhobi, Kahar, Satwar, Gadariya, Kurmi, Bhar, Mallah, Nuniya, Kayath,
Musahar, Kalwar, Rajbhar, Sonar, Kahar, Dom, Barhai, Barayi, Bhat, Pasi,
Thathera, Mali, Bansphor, Bairagi, Bari, Atlth, Khatik, Bharbhunja, Beldar,
Kumar, Gosain, and Jaiswar. The Musalmans are Shaikhs (1,933), Sayyids
(1 6), Mughals (8), Pathans (500), and unspecified.
Maghar is a flat and fairly fertile plain, sloping almost imperceptibly
Physical and agri- down to the Rapti. The tract skirting and once formed by
cultural features. t]m{. river, a fine alluvial tract famed for its wheat, includes
tappas Gahasdnd, Satgawan, Uttar-Haveli, and Aurangabad. The five remain-
' ing tappas, or southern portion of the parganah, are equally if not more produc-
tive. But after crossing them the river Ami forms, as already mentioned, the
boundary with Bhauapar ; and the land along its banks is comparatively poor.
Here the fields are either low and liable to flooding, or cut into small ravines
through which the freshets of the monsoon rush down to join the stream. In tappa
Bhadesari are yet left remnants of the forest which once clothed the face of
the parganah. Groves of mango and mahua are still numerous elsewhere.
But since the time of Buchanan (1835), who describes Maghar as scantily cul-
tivated and covered in great measure by trees, tillage has made rapid strides.
The parganah is now as open as any in the district. The soil is chiefly loam
(doras) ; but clay (mattit/ar) is not unknown, and along the banks of the Rapti is
a little of the marly bhdt. A few small lagoons are scattered over the parganah,
and the great Bakhira mere intrudes into the north-western corner from Basti.
The land adjoining this jhil is subject in the rains to inundation.
The metalled Gorakhpur and Basti road passes from east to west through
Communications and the heart of the parganah, and an unmetalled lino of the
trade- third class spans its north-eastern corner. The navigable
Rapti provides a third trade-route. The principal market villages within
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GORAKHPUR. 515
the parganah itself are Sahnjanua, Bhiti, Gahas&nd, Harpur, Pachaurr,
and Khajuri. But the marts chiefly u$ed by the inhabitants are in*
the adjoining parganah Maghar of Basti. Such are Mendhawal, B&gh-
nagar, and Hanumanganj. It is almost needless to remark that the one great
product of Maghar is its agricultural raw produce.
Its earliest existing colony was that founded by Sarnet B&jputs. In the end
of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century Jaf
Singh, a grandsonof the first r&ja of Sat&si, settled at Maghar,
now in Bastr. His possessions rapidly extended until their circuit was 84 miles,,
aad he assumed the title of r&ja. His descendant Bfinsdeo moved to a plao*
called Komar, which he renamed Bdnsi ; and Batan, the son of Bfinsdeo, gave
the new capital the additional title of Batanpur. Hence, in the Institutes of
Akbar i\596)9 Maghar forms part of a larger parganah called Batanpur op
Batanpur- Bansi. Some twenty years earlier Maghar village had become the
quarters of a Mupalm&n garrison ; but some thirty years later the rfija of fi&nsi
or Maghar expelled the intruders* About 1680 the Musalm&ns re-occupied
the place in force ; and it was probably at this time that Maghar, with the
Musalman prefix of Hasanpur, was severed from Batanpur-Bansi. In 1801,
on their cession to the British, both Masanpur-Maghar and Bataupur-B&nsi
became separate parganahs of Gorakhpur, and on the separation of Basti,
in 1865, twenty tappas of the former and the whole of the latter were transfer-
red to the newly-formed district Since thus shorn the parganah has not been
subjected to any fresh assessment ef land-revenue. What portion of former
' demands fell on its remaining nine tappas is uncertain ; and those demands
need not, therefore, be shown.
Mahab^jganj, the head-quarters of the tahsil so named, is a village of
tappa Sonari and parganah Haveli. The terminus of a third-class un metalled
branch from the road between Gorakhpur to Nichlaval, it stands 36 miles
north-east-by-north of the former. Its population, amounted in 1872 to 1,249
only.
The tahsili is a strong masonry building which cost over Bs 20,000,
and might be defended against a force which lacked artillery. But this is not
the only Government establishment at Maharfijganj. There are a first-class
police-station, an imperial post-office, and a branch dispensary. The patients
attending the last suffer chiefly from goitre and fever. The neighbourhood of
the Tarfii and of the Sonari forest render the surrounding country unhealthy.
And this circumstance, together with its isolation, makes Mahfir&jganj a*
unpopular a station amongst native officials as Padrauna. An excise godown
66
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516 GORAKHPUR.
which formerly existed has been closed, and its materials are being utilized in
the construction of a new building which will house the dispensary.
The tahsili establishment was removed hither from Mansurganj about 1870,
when the increased land-revenue of the northern parganaha demanded its
location nearer the northern frontier.
Maharajganj, a tahsil with court and treasury at the place just described,
is bounded on the north-north-east by the Gandak river, which divides it from
the Champ&ran district, and for a much longer distance by Nepal ; on the
north-west by the Ghfinghi river, which divides it from Nep&l and the Basti
district ; on the west by Basti, the rivers Dhamela and Rapti supplying some
two-thirds of the boundary ; on south-by-west again by the R&pti and Basti,
and by the Head-quarters and Hfita tahsils ; on the east-south-east by the
Padrauna tahsil, and for a short distance by the Gandak and Champaran.
Tabsfl Mah&r&jganj contains the whole of parganahs Tilpur and Binayakpur,
with 12 tappas of parganah Haveli. It had in 1878 an area of 782,164 acres
and a land-revenue of Rs. 2,74,074. Its population amounted in 1872 to
355,504 persons, or about 259 to the square mile. But further details con-
cerning the tahsil will be found in the articles on its three parganahs.
- Majhauli and Salrmpdr, adjoining villages of tappa Haveli and parganah
Salempur, stand on either bank of the Little Gandak river, 53 miles south-east
of Gorakhpur. They may be considered as one town, of which Majhauli is the
Hindu and Salempur the Musalm&n quarter. In 1872 they had between them
a population of 4,850 persons, amongst whom RAjputs, Br&hmans, and Muslims
were largely represented.
The more ancient of the two is Majhauli, which rises on the north or left
bank of the river. Here are the residence of the Majhauli rajas, four temples
of Shiva, and a parganah school. In Salempur on the right bank are an
imperial post-offioe, two mosques, and a market-place. The markets are held
every Wednesday and Saturday ; and to them the crops are conveyed along
the Gorakhpur and Gathnighat road, which^passes through Salempur.
The Ghaukidari Act (XX. of 1856) is in force at Salempur.Majhauli.
During 1877-78 the house-tax thereby imposed, together
with a balance of Rs. 169 from the preceding year, gave
a total income of Rs. 891. The expenditure, which was chiefly on police (Rs.
480), conservancy, and public works, amounted to Rs. 642. Of the 797 houses
in the united villages, 310 were assessed with the tax, whose incidence was
Bs. 2-5-4 per house assessed and Re. 0-2-1 per head of population.
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GORAKBPUR. 517
" In connection with this town," writes Mr. Crooke, " it may be interesting
The Bisens of Ma. to give some account of the great Bisen house of Majhauli,
JhaoU* certainly the most important of the ruling families in
Gorakhpur. It claims descent from an ascetic called Mewar1 or Mayur Bhat.
There are various accounts of his origin. Some say he came from Hastin&pur
and was the son of one Ashwa Th&ma ; others that he wus an emigrant from the
Panchbati MaharAshtrades. He read Sanskrit for a while at Benares, and be-
came a proficient in astrology. Quitting that city at last under a divine im-
pulse, he settled in Kakr&dih village of parganah Sikandarpur in Azamgarh.
The whole of that parganah gradually became his own. He had three wives,
the -first a Br&hmani named JSagseni ; the second Stirajprabha, a Sfirajbans
Rajputni; and the third Haikum&ri, a Gantam Bhuinharin. But besides these he
had a Kurmin concubine. He is said to have been a contemporary of Bikram&jit
of TJjjain. By his wife Stirajprabha he had a son, Biswa or Bissu Ben, the ances-
tor of the Bisens ; by Haikum&ri, a son Baikal or Bagmar S6bi, the ancestor of
the BhuinhAr families of Kuw&ri and Tamkfihi ; by Nagseni, a son Nages,
Nagesar, or Nagsen ; and by his concubine a son Indardawwan Mai. At this
time the west part of parganah Salempur was held by three Bhar brothers, of
whom the chief was Suraha of Surauli, while Biru held Bairauna and Niru the
fort of Nai. Taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by the marriage
of Suraha'B daughter, Mayur captured the Surauli fort. This seems a common
narrative in connection with the early R&jput conquest, and is told in other
places in connection with the downfall of the Bhars and Thatheras.2 Mayur
then founded a fort in Kundilpnr of tappa Haveli, which is now called Kunara,
and lies about two miles south-east of Majhauli. All his wives came to live
there; but his Kurmin concubine lingered on at the old castle of Kakr&dih.
S&ran district was then held by Chakra Narayan B&jbhar. Mayur conquered
him also. In his eld he surrendered the kingdom to Biswa Sen and went off
on a pilgrimage to the Him&laya, where he died. From Indardawwan Mai,
who remained in possession of Kakr&dih, a large Kurmi house has sprung.
To the third brother, Baikal, Biswa Sen gave the north-eastern portion of his
kingdom, that portion which now forms the Tamkuhi and Hathwa estates. Nag-
sen, the fourth brother, got some villages near Majhauli and planted the
Chaubaria R&jputs to watch the frontier.8 After Biswa Sen came 79 genera-
tions, all of whom retained the title of Sen. The 80th r&ja, Hardeo Sen,
obtained for his bravery the title of Mai from one of the Dehli emperors.
Then followed 23 generations, of whom nothing is known but their names.
1 Beaues' Elliot, L, 42, and supra, pp. 353, 36 f, 433. * Onda Gazetteer, II., 63,
107, 408. * bee article on Surauli.
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51*8 GORAKHPUR.
For the rdjas who followed some scraps of history may be gathered from
papers in possession of the Dharmner branch of the family. Bhim Mai, who
reigned from 1311 to 1366 A.D., is said to have been arrested for arrears of reve-
nue by Mubarak Khilji, Despatched to Dehli, he was there condemned to be
crushed to death by an elephant, but showed such bravery that he was released
and restored to his kingdom. The fact that nothing is really known of the r&j till
the fourteenth century seems to show that this was the true period of its origin.
This is indeed about the time given by the Oudh R&jputs, such as the Somban-
sis, Nikumbhs, and Kati&rs.1 As to the immediate successors of Bhim Mai,
we have only the dates of their accessions and deaths. Bat Bodh Mai, who is
said to have succeeded in 1564, is also said to have been arrested by Akbar for
default of revenue. He was sent to Dehli, converted to Muhammadanism and
called Muhammad Salim. On his return the R&ni refused to allow him into the
Majhauli castle. He therefore settled at the town of Nagar, on the opposite
bank of the Little Gandak, and founded the town of Salempur; while the r&ni
managed the r&j during the minority of her son Bhawani Mai. As it goes on
the chronicle has nothing of interest. Bhawani Mai was succeeded by his
brother Laohhmi Mai, whose grandson, Partap Mai, became rfija of Bh&galpur.a
Then followed Bhim Mai and Shiu Mai. On the latter's death the estate was
managed by his mother, Bachana Eunwari. Ajit flial was r&ja from 1753 to 1805.
During his time the British took over the district. His wife, Dilr&j Eunwari,
had a daughter who married the r6ja of Rewah. Dilr&j Eunwari adminis-
tered the raj till 1815. Then followed Tej Mai from 1815 to 1843, when the
present r£ja, Ddai Nar&yan Mai, succeeded. By a career of extravagance and
bad management he ruined his estate. Finally it was in 1870 put under the
Court of Wards, in whose charge it still remains.
" Among the Oorakhpur Bisons the chief families are those of Narharpur
rn parganah Chilliipar3 and of Baikunthpur, Dharmner and M abend in
Salempur. In the parganah last named the Misrs of Piyasi in tappa Bhitni
of Dogari in tappa Donr, and of Rew&li in tappa Ballia, all claim kinship with
the family through Nagseni, wife of Maytir Bhat. Connected with them are
the Misrs of Ghainpur and Charnadih in Azamgarh. Similarly, through Mayur
Bh&t's Eurmin concubine the Eurmis of Madhoban and Lakhnaur in Azam-
garh assert their relationship with the Bisens. But while accepting the Br&h-
raan connection, the Majhauli family disclaim any kindred with the Eurmis.
They admit their cousinhood with the Oudh R6jas of R&mpur Bhinga and
1 Ondh Gazetteer, II., «3-5, 318-19, 499. » The title is now extinct. ' The
title of rija, once held by this branch of the tribe, was forfeited for rebellion.
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GORAKHPUR. 519
M&nikpur, but assert that these houses were all founded by cadets of the Majhauli
family.
" They assert that their territory was originally bounded by the Gh&gra,
the R&pti, and the Narayani or Great Gandak rivers. If so, very little is now
left ef their former greatness. They have generation after generation
proved improvident and bad administrators. They have never produced a
single man of any note. Still they have made good marriages with the Sarnets
of B&nsi, Rudarpur, and Anaula; with the S 6 raj bans families of Mahtili in
Basti; with the Kausiks of Barhiap&r and Gopalpur ; with the Hayobans of
Hardi in Ballia ; with the Gaharw&rs of M4nda in Allahabad and Bijaipur
in Mirz&pur ; with the Baghels of Rewah, and with the Chandels of Agori-
Barhar and Bijaigarh in Mirz&pur."
u The Majhauli castle or hot is a block of commonplace brick building
on a sandy bluff overlooking the Little Gandak river. All the present struc-
tures are modern in date and of no military strength. The castle occupies
however a position wbioh in resolute hands, and particularly in ihe rainy
season, would be capable of defence. But the Majhauli Bisens never seem to
have been a fighting race. In their great contest with the Sat&si r&j they
lost parganah Silhat ; and since then proprietary rights have been oonferred
oa the Br&hman birtiyas in many of their best villages."
Mans<$ rganj, a village containing a third-class police station and an
imperial post-office, lies in tappa Padkhori of parganah Haveli, 18 miles
north-east-by-east of Gorakhpur. It had in 1872 a population of 675. What "
was known as the Mansurganj jurisdiction at the time of Buchanan's
survey contained a great part of parganahs Haveli and Sh&hjah&npur. The
tahstli itself was at Mansurganj, and the building which housed it is now
used as the police-station. Broken up about 1870, the tahsil was distributed
between the Head-quarters and H&ta jurisdictions. The tahsil offices were then
removed to Mah&r&jganj.
MotirIm k£ Ddda or Adda Motir&m is a police outpost on the Deo-
riya road, 8 miles south-east of Gorakhpur. It is also known as Chdh
ihikasta, or the broken well, the well in question being a large masonry
structure in the forest hard by. The outpost, which lies amidst dense sdl
woods, was established here to watch the road and protect travellers from the
gangs of Doms and other robbers who formerly infested the neighbourhood. •
They have long since been dispersed and the road is now as safe as any other
in the district. The climate of the place is very feverish in the rains. It
j
L
520 GORAKHPUR.
contains a few huts only and its population is not separately shown. In the
forest around it are found leopards, deer, and pigs.
Muskla or Miusela, a village on the unmetalled road from Gorakh-
pnr to Ltkrh, lies 46 wiles south-east of the former, in tappas Khakhundu and
Puraina of parganah Salempur. The village consists of Little Mnsela in the
former and Qreat Musela in the latter tappa. It had in 1872 a population of
153 souls only ; but has a district post-office.
Niohlaval, an ancient market village of tappa KMs and parganah
Tilpur, stands on the meeting of several unmetalled roads and cross-country
tracks, 51 miles north-east by north of Gorakhpur. The principal road is that
from Gorakbpur itself. Nichlaval had in 1872 a population of 1,098 inhabi-
tants, and is the principal mart in the north of the district.1 It is, moreover,
the site of a third-class police-station and a district post-office. Not many
miles distant stand the ruins of a castle which is said to have been the scene
of a sharp fight during the Nepdlese campaign.8
Padrauna or Parauna, the head-quarters of the tahsil so named,
is a cluster of five villages in tappas Pakri-Gangr&ni and Barg&on of par-
ganah Sidhua-Jobna. It stands on the banks of the B&nri watercourse and
the junction of several unmetalled roads, 49 miles east-by-north of Gorakhpur.
Its population amounted in 1872 to 5,092 souls. The villages composing the
town stand on a forest-grant3 whose population was by former censuses lumped
together with that of the town itself. And to this day the town is called
Jangal Padrauna, or Padrauna. forest.
The B&nri watercourse which passes through the site of Padrauna was
Unhealthinesa of once probably a bed or branch of the Great Gandak. This
sit0- idea is suggested not only by its appearance and direction,
but from the fact that in making during the late scarcity (1877-78) a tank
near his house, the chief (rdi) of Padrauna unearthed a large boat The B&nri
is now, however, a running stream in the rainy season only. Even then it can-
not be called a river, as its course ends in a succession of large pools which
have no defined outlet Hence perhaps the name of B&nri or " tail-less." The
overflow of these pools, and the succession of stagnant puddles to which the
watercourse is reduced in summer, are accused of rendering Padrauna mala-
rious. But malaria is not its only malady. Goitre (ghtgra) is very common
in the neighbourhood, and there are an unusual number of the partially dumb-
idiots called baugy who in trying to make themselves understood go through
most unpleasant facial contortions.
1 Supra pp. 414*15. * P. 454, ad fin. * See pp. 286-38, 350-51.
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GOBAKHPUB. 521
The chief of Padrauna, popularly bat wrongly styled its r&ja,1 is a Kurmi ;
and to this and other low castes most of the population belong. Padrauna is
not, therefore, what the high-caste Hindu is willing to consider a nice place;
and he has expressed his contempt for it in the following couplets :—
" Marne chdho, mdr na khde,
Chalo, chaio, Parauna jde"
" Should you want to die, don'i kill yonrseli j but go, go to Padrauna."
" Kurmi rdja, mama an, Bdnri nodi, khaird ban ;
Rtya praja ekhi rang, ghar ghar ndcke m&sal chond."
" The raja is but a Kurmi, the grain is but marua millet, the river is bat the Banri, the
forest is but of catechu acacias.
* * Raja and retainers are just alike; from house to house the only thing that dances is the
pestle in the mortar."
By omitting negatives and other means the inhabitants have ingeniously
attempted to pervert these proverbs into expressions of admiration. But their
readings meet with little support ; and whatever the reading, it is still deemed
an insult to recite one of these couplets to a Padrauna man.
Padrauna proper stands in tappa Pakri-Gangr&ni ; but the other im-
, . portant components of the town, Chh&oni and S£hibganj,
are parts of tappa Barg&on. Chh&oni is so called because
it was a cantonment of the Oudh Naw&b's forces ; SAhibganj is so called be-
cause founded by an English indigo-factor, Finch Sdhib. The former is the
market-place ; the latter is the head-quarters of a colony of very enterprising
M&rw&ri merchants, who deal in cloth and trade with Nep&l. It is also the site
of a Government schoolhouse, an excise godown, and an indigo factory, which is
unoccupied partly on account of its unhealthiness. Padrauna has besides these
buildings a small though strong tahsfli, a first-class police-station, and an
imperial post-office. In the north of the township are two temples called Shy 4m-
dh&m and R&mdhara. The former was built about 65 years ago by Ishwari
Prat&p, chief of Padrauna ; and the latter about 25 years ago by his son, the
present rai. Near these temples is a grove whose trees were brought from a
saored plantation at Mathura; and between them has been made a reservoir filled
by the Bdnri. This reservoir is called Bhiip's Ocean (Bhdp sagdr), after Bhiip
Singh, a reputed ancestor of the Padrauna family. That family, writes Mf.
Crooke, " have always been devotees ; and the collection of modern temples
erected by them is probably the finest in the district. The present chiefs
house is an imposing cluster of buildings. "
1 No such title finds its way into the official list of rajas and oawabs for the North- West-
ern Provinces.
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522 GORAKHPUR.
The Chaukidari Act (XX. of 1856) is in force at Padrauna ; and daring
1877-78 the house-tax thereby imposed, added to a balance of
Rs. 79 from the preceding year, gave a total income of
Rs. 829. The expenditure, which w,as chiefly on police (Rs. 382), conservancy,
and public works amounted to Rs. 626. Of the 821 houses in the town 322
were assessed with the tax, the incidence being Rs. 2-5-3 per house assessed
and Re. 0-2-5 per head of population.
In Chhaoni, which lies south of Padrauna proper, is a large mound
Antiquities. covered with broken brick and surmounted by a few statues,
Buddhist. Two hundred and twenty feet in length from west to east, it in
120 feet broad, and at its western end rises 14 feet above the surrounding fields.
A long trench on this higher or western side looks as if it had once formed the
matrix of a wall since dug out for the sake of its bricks.1 Bricks sufficient for
two houses had in 1861-62 been already excavated from a parallel wall whose
traces were still visible on the eastern side. Oeneral Cunningham3 concludes,
therefore, that the mound must have been the site of a conventual Buddhist
courtyard, about 100 feet square, with cells on each side for the accommodation
of the monks. In the centre of the yard, whose entrance was seemingly on the
eastern side, stood probably a stupa or relic-temple. We know that on the
cremation of Buddha's corpse the people of Padrauna or Pawa obtained one-
eighth of the relics ; and General Cunningham's excavations discovered wedge-
shaped bricks of two sizes, such as the circular Buddhist stupas were always
built of. Besides these traces of two relic-temples was unearthed the base of a
grey sandstone pillar. And pillars of Asoka or some other Buddhist ruler are
generally found in association with stupss-.
In a small roofless brick building a short distance north of these remains
are a few old statues. The temple is dedicated to Hathi
Bhaw&ni, or the Bhawani of elephant*, that », perhaps to
the goddess as mother of Ganesha. Rude votive figures of elephants in baked
clay lie scattered about. But the idol from which the temple derived its name
was not that of a Hindu goddess, but of some naked Jain saint squatting under
a triple umbrella. Since this statue was sketched by Bnchanan," about 1835, it
has disappeared. Its pedestal has been broken into three portions, each con-
taining a more or leas perfect figure. Two represent seated Buddhas, and the
third a naked female nursing a baby. These fragments are still visible on the
mound, and the remainder of the pedestal is preserved in the village. Buchanaa
1 Buchaotn tells ns that the trench was actually made M in search of materials for build-
ing" by a tahsildfcr named Sakbat-ul-lah (cire. 1815). * Archmologicdl Survey Report*,
1 , 74. ' Eastern India, plate L, fig. 2,
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GORAKHPUK. 5Z3
tells tis that when the big Jam statue was set" up to represent a Hindu
goddess, a devotee attached to the Oudh forces then at Padrauna indignantly
smote off a part of its face with his sword.
About four miles east of Padrauna is the tomb of Burhan the martyr
(shahld). At this, which is said to be of great antiquity,
flowers, oil, coppers, and bannocks (chapdti) are still offered.
A few votaries seem to gather for the purpose of worshipping it every Thursday
night. This Burhan was perhaps a comrade of the almost mythical S&l&r-i-
Masaud. The tomb of a martyr so called is still shown at Budaun,1 where he
is said to have been one cf Salar's principal officers.
General Cunningham identifies Padrauna with P£wa, a place which the
Buddhist P&li annals mention as exactly the same distance
away from Kusinagara or Kasia. The old name of Padra-
vana, he says, might easily have been corrupted into Padar-ban, Parban, Pawan,
and Pawa. If Padrauna is the same as Pawa, it must be at least 2,430 years
old, for the latter place is mentioned in connection with Buddha's death. In the
beginning of the fifteenth century, when the neighbourhood was ruled by
Madan Sen, his family priest, Rasa Musahar, is said to have worshipped at a
temple on the old mound.2 But the buildings of the existing Padrauna are
modern. The place seems to have been refounded about 90 years ago by
Gopal, first chief of Padrauna ; and its* Sfihibganj quarter is some 40 years
younger. '
Padrauna, a tahsfl with court and treasury at the palace just mentioned,
will be described in the article on its one parganah, Sidhua-Jobna, wherewith it
is co-extensive and identical.
Paikauli,3 a large village in tappa Surauli of parganah Salempur, stands
about 7 miles south-west of Deoriya, and had in 1872 a population of 1,596 inha-
bitants. It belongs to a family of Chaubaria Rajputs.4 The place is remarkable
for a large math or monastery occupied by Vaisbnava Bairagis,5 whose prior or
maliant is known as the Panhari ji. The title is said to be derived from Phal
Ahdriy because he oats fruits only, rejecting grain and meat. Greatly respected
by natives, he spends his time wandering about this and the Sdran districts.
The shrine or monastery has been established in Paikauli for 52 years, and there
are branch establishments at Ajudhia of Faizabad, Barhalganj, and Baikuntbpun.
1 See Gazr., V., 90,157. * Eatteru India, II., 355-56 ; and supra p. 437. * Thia
article has been kindly contributed by Mr. Crooke. * See article on Surauli. *£os
tome account of the Biir&gis tee Gazr., V., 591.
67
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524
GOBAKHPUB.
The prior presides at several religious fairs, of which the following are
the principal :—
District.
Gorakbpur
Saran
Ghazipur...
Baiktmthpur
Dohari Barhalganj
Sohanag ...
Sirkarpur ...
Dadri Cbatthar
Time.
Aghaa (November-December), bright half 5th.
Asarh (June-July), bright half 3rd.
Baixakh (April-May), bright half 3rd.
Karttik (October-Noyember), bright half 10th.
.Ditto ditto full moon.
The late mahant Siya Ram D&s died last year (1879), and has been succeeded
by Ajudhia Parshad Tiwari of Mahu&in in parganah Kopamau of Azamgarh.
The monastery is supported by contributions of grain and other offerings pre-
sented by worshippers. The prior has refused to accept landed property. His
disciples give vivid accounts of the dangers his predecessor experienced in
carrying on his pilgrimages during the mutiny. There are no fine buildings
at Paikauli ; but the Th&kurdwara and some extensive sheds for the accomoda-
tion of the ascetics deserve notice.
Faina, a town in tappa Baipur of parganah Balempur, stands on the
unmetalled Barhaj and Larh road, near the left bank of the Ghagra and 44
miles south-east-by-south of Gorakhpur. It in 1872 had 5,331 inhabitants.
The name is locally derived from paina, a stick or goad for plough-cattle.
It is said that on coming to the Gh&gra to perform some religious austerities
a devotee begged and obtained from the prince of the time a stick's length of
land. On this narrow space he lived for many years ; on it when he died was
built a shrine, and around the shrine sprung up a village. That village still
contains two temples of Shiva. It has, moreover, a Government school, where
Urdu and Hindi are taught.
Many of the inhabitants are boatmen (malldh), who live by conveying traffic
up and down the Gh&gra, between Barhaj and Patna. But the chief castes
of the village are the R&jput and herdsman (Ahir). In the mutiny the land-
holders plundered and obstructed the Government commissariat trains. To
punish them a small force under Mr. Collector Bird occupied the village,
which was afterwards confiscated and bestowed on the loyal r&ja of Majhauli.
It is said that the occupying levies carried off some of the R&jput women ;
and none of the neighbouring R&jput families will even yet give their daughters
in marriage to the thus disgraced Paina Chhatris,
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GORAKHPUR. 525
Paistya, Pi&siya, or Naikot,1 a village on the Nep&l border, stands in
tappa Mirchw&r of parganah Bin&yakpur, 40 miles in a direct line north of
Gorakhpur. It had in 1872 a population of 397, and is the site of a
third-class police-station and district post-office. The village is situated near a
large marsh called the Ainjar Tdl, which is fed by the overflow of the neigh-
bouring Ghfinghi river. The staple crop of the neighbourhood is Aghani or
winter rice. In the rains the flooded condition of the neighbourhood renders
approach to the village very difficult.
Panera or Kamasin, a village of tappa Banki and parganah Haveli, stands
on the unmetalled Captainganj and K&rmainigh&t road, 24 miles in a direct line
north-by-east of Gorakhpur. It in 1872 had 1,588 inhabitants. The sur-
rounding country has been lately cleared, but there still survives a consider-
able space of forest. Panera has a third class police-station and district post-
office. The proprietors are Ahirs. There is nothing of any interest in the
neighbourhood.
PiPRArcH, a small market and post town in tappa Pattra of parganah
Haveli, stands on the Pharend river and unmetalled Padrauna road, 13 miles
east north-east of Gorakhpur. The population of 1872 was 2,208.
The market flanks either side of the road as it passes through the town.
A short distance west of that town the Pharend or Phren is crossed by a rude
wooden bridge. The market is held weekly; there is a fair local trade in
grain, cloth, and metal vessels ; a good deal of sugar is refined ; and Pipraich
may be considered the head-quarters of the sugar trade in its own part of
Haveli. But it is not a thriving place. With some adjoining estates it is
included in the untaxed domain of the Gorakhpur Mian Sahib.2
The progress of the market has been checked by competition with the
neighbouring and rival mart of Sidhfiwa, the property of Government treasurer
Sarju Parsh&d. The only buildings are a new third-class police-station, an
imperial post-office, a Government elementary (kalkabandi) school, and a temple
of Mah&deo on the banks of the Phren.
The school will shortly be housed in a new structure which the Mi &rt
S&hib has promised to erect near the police-station. In the same locality is
one of the old round towers built in more disorderly times for the safe custody
of treasure on its way to head-quarters. The Chaukidiri Act (XX. of 1856)
is in force at Pipraich ; and during 1877-78 the house-tax thereby imposed,
added to a balance of Rs. 75 from the preceding year, gave a total income of
Bs. 525. The expenditure, which was chiefly on police (Rs. 1 92), conservancy,
1 This and the three following articles are* from the pen of Mr Crook e. * Supra p. 40 >.
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S2£ OOEAKHPUR.
and public works, amounted to Rs. 405. Of the 431 houses in the town 120
ty^re assessed with the tax, the incidence being Rs. 3-12-0 per house assessed
and Be. 0-3-3 per head of population.
IUmkola, a large agricultural village held by Rdjput proprietors, lies in
tappa P&pur of parganah Sidhua-Jobna. Through it passes the unmetalled
road from Padrauna to Gorakhpur, and its distance east north-east of the latter
is 38 miles. The population amounted iu 1872 to 2,058 persons.
Kdmkola has a third-class police-station, a district post-office, and a tahsili
school. The last-named institution is sparsely attended, and its removal to the
S&hibganj market-place of Padrauna is contemplated.
Rampur-Kh£npub, a village in tappa Patna of parganah ShAjahanpur,
had in 1872 a population of 2,308 inhabitants. Its distance east south-east of
Gorakhpur by road is 38 miles.
Here the Chaukidari Act (XX. of 1856) is in force. In 1877-78, the house-
tax thereby imposed, added to a balance of Rs. 323 from the preceding year,
gave a total income of Rs. 1,209. The expenditure, which was chiefly on police
(Rs. 306) conservancy and public works, amouuted to Rs. 687. Of the 630
houses in the village 108 were assessed with the tax, whose incidence was
Rs. 8-3-3 per house assessed and Re. 0-6-2 per head of population.
RXnighAt is a village on the Little Gandak river in tappa Gh&ti of par-
ganah Salempur. Lying 46 miles in a direct line south-east of Gorakhpur, it
had in 1872 a population of 206 souls. Here, on the banks of the river, are
the remains of a very large fort, concerning which nothing is accurately
known. It was probably one of the strongholds raised to guard the passage
of the river by the early Rijput invaders.
Rigauli, a Tillage in the tappa so called of parganah Haveli, is the site
of a third-class police-station and an imperial post-office. Built near the junc-
tion of the R&pti and Dhamela rivers, and the point where the Captainganj and
K&rmaini-gh&t road meets their united stream, it lies 20 miles in a direct line
north-by-west of Gorakhpur. The population amounted in 1872 to 667. Near
Rigauli is the K&rmaini-gh&t ferry over the R&pti. The adjoining country is
very much cut up by old channels of that river, the Dhamela, and their numer-
ous affluents. It is also liable to inundation from lagoons.
There is a small market-place ; and a colony of Manih&rs or Ch&rihfii*
carry on the manufacture of glass or lac bracelets (churi).
Kudarpur,1 next to Gorakhpur the largest town in the district, lies in
parganah Nagw&n Tikar of parganah Silhat, 27 miles south-east-by-south of
* This article has betn compiled mainly from a note by Mr. T. Stoker, C.S. But further
aid baa been derived from the memoranda of Messrs. Alexander and Crook© ; from Mr,
Planck's sanitary report for 1870 j and from Buchanan's Eastern India.
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GORAKHPUR. 527
Gorakhpur. An unmetalled road from that city to Barhoj is here met by
two similar highways from H&fca and Deo ria respectively. The population
amounted in 1872 to 6,491 ; but if adjacent hamlets were included in the esti-
mate, would perhaps amount to about 9,000.
This Rudrapur or Budarpur must not be oonfused with the village so
named in parganah Anola. To prevent such confusion it has long been the
local practice to spell the former Budarpur and the latter Rudrapur. But the
distinction is not always as clear to outsiders as it might be, and it is a pity
that the two places were not different rated in the sa me manner as the two
Fatehganjes of Bareilly ; the Budarpur of Silhat being called Budarpur East
and the Budarpur of Anola Budarpur West.
Budarpur is an isolated country-town situated in the midst of a wild
much-broken landscape, the watershed of the Majhna and
Kurna rivers. The Majhna sometimes takes the name of its
affluent, the Pharend; but is here most often called the Bathua. Bunning close
by the town, on the west, a deep though narrow stream, it is in the rains navig-
able by boats which ascend from the Bapti. The Kurna, dry in summer, passes
Budarpur on the south-east. The town itself occupies a fairly raised and well-
drained site on the Majhna slope of the watershed. But during the monsoon,
when the flow of the neighbouring rivers is blocked back by the flooded R&pti,
a good deal of water accumulates around it In the same season a good deal
of dirt and refuse is washed down to stagnate in the many excavations of the
town. For though largely built of ancient brick, Budarpur has many a hut
constructed of mud quarried on the spot
West of the town, almost as far as the B&pti, extends a great but
uncultivated plain. On the north the land was but lately reclaimed from forest,
and is still held as a forest-grant.1 The only traces of forest now left
are a few stunted sdl clumps, and many mahua trees, which on account
of their vinous flowers have been allowed to remain in the fields. On
the east a large tract of rather uneven waste stretches towards Deoria.
On the south is the junction of the two rivers. As the surrounding country
affords great facilities for grazing, many cattle are herded in the town
at night Budarpur is then said to contain more bullocks than human beings.
Cowsheds are numerous in or about the many unmade spaces sometimes called
roads ; and a considerable number of pigs is kept. It may therefore be gathered
that the inhabitants are chiefly low-caste Hindus ; and this is indeed the case.
The Khatik pig-breeders live in the north-east, the Cham&r ourriers in the east
of the town. In the midst of the Cham&rtola quarter, occupied by the latter,
1 Supra pp. 886-88.
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528 GOfiAKBPUR.
Mr. Planck once observed a gigantic manure-heap which was " quite a con*
siderable hillock. " The abundance of manure renders the outskirts of the
town particularly fertile. The market-gardens, fenced in with prickly pear or
other hedges, produce especially fine tobacco. Water lies some 25 feet from
the surface, and there are many large wells, of which not a few furnish water as
good for drinking as for irrigation.
Since Mr. Planck's visit (1870) the sanitation of the town has been mnch
improved and several roads have been made. Its principal place of business is
the Gola or grain-market on the banks of the Majhna. This market is of
moderate size, and the landing-slope which connects it with the river is steep.
It consists of two open but shady spaces, on which three roads concentrate.
Both the spaces and the roads are flanked by some good shops. From the former
a short and tortuous watercourse passes down to the river. The road ascend-
ing northwards from the Gola hns a cluster of well-built brick houses belong-
ing chiefly to Baniyas ; but beside it stand the imperial post-office and branch
dispensary. The last-named institution was built and mainly supported by the
late r&ni of SaUisi ;l and since her death its chances of permanence have
become small. Her representatives have already announced their intention of
discontinuing the subscription with which she was wont to enrich the Govern-
ment elementary school. That school is housed in one of the old buildings
forfeited for the rebellion of the late r&ja. The only Government establishment
remaining to be noticed is the first-class police-station. Perhaps the tidiest part
of the town is the large quarter inhabited by fortune-tellers (Bhenduria). On
the whole Rudarpur has a prosperous, if somewhat neglected and decayed
appearance.
It is still a rich place. Amongst inhabitants are a large number of saltpetre-
workers and metallurgists. The Gola has a very thriving
aspect, and is the entrepdt whence the grain and gter syrup
of the neighbourhood are exported by river. Some of this trade is said to reach
Calcutta. But except by river the trade is purely local. It is prevented from
developing by the cordon of quagmires which, created in the rains, at most
seasons opposes wheeled communication with the rest of the district The
Chaukidari Act (XX of 1856) is in force at Rudarpur ; and
in 1877-78, the house-tax thereby imposed, added to a
balance of Rs. 283 from the preceding year, gave a total income of Rs. 1,983.
The expenditure, which was chiefly on police (Rs. 738), conservancy, and public
works, amounted to Rs. 1,420. Of the 1,427 houses in the town 196 were assessed
1 See last paragraph of this article.
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GORARHPUR. 529
with the tax '; the incidence being Bs. 8-2-8 per house assessed and Be. 0-3-1 1
per head of population.
Bat it is for its antiquities that Budarpur is chiefly remarkabla Out-
Antiquities and s^e ** on ^e north-east is the rained fort named after its
^t0^- traditional founder S&han's or Sfiuh's castle (Sdhankot or
Sdnhkot). But S&han's claim to the honour of its foundation is not undis-
puted. It has been above1 mentioned that the old name of Budarpur was
Hansakshetra or Gosfield ; and that after the second destruction of Ajudhya,
about 512 B.C., a B&jput prince named Vasishta Singh fled hither and founded
a stronghold called New K&shi, that is New Benares. When Vasishta had
completed 999 out of the 1,000 temples with which he had intended to adorn
his fortress, he was overwhelmed by the Bhars and other " impure" tribes.
The new masters of Budarpur were probably Buddhists; and Mr. Carlleyle8
believes that S&hankot was once a castle of the Maurya kings. It was per-
haps held by the same masters as the similar Sahankot at Upadaulia of B&j-
dh&ni, about 12 miles distant. Buchanan adds that the goose from whom
Hansakshetra or Hansatirtha derives its name was the emblem of Brahma,
and that Brahma was the same as the Mah& Muni of the Buddhists. But. the
present ruins are undoubtedly the remains of a castle built on the old site by
Budra or Radar Singh Sarnet, B&ja of Satdsi. He flourished towards the close
of the seventeenth century, and from him Budarpur derives its name. The
etymology which connects the town with the god Budra or Shiva is worthless.
The castle is now a quadrangle about 350 yards square, enclosed by a
great mound of brick which rises some 40 feet above the surrounding country.
In Buchanan's time there seem to have existed traces of a wall six feet thick ;
and from the debris of this wall the mound is of course formed. Around it
runs a moat which in places has been filled up ; and along its eastern side,
about 200 yards from its base, runs the Majhna. On the south-eastern oorner
are remains of strong outworks, built perhaps to cover the ford of that river.
In one of these fortifications Mr. Stoker discovered two large blocks, of hewn
lime-stone, which seemed to have been intended, but never used, for a gateway.
Behind the fort, and defending the north or north-western side of the town,
he found a long ridge of clay and rubble briok. With fragments of brick
and stone the country all round Budarpur is strewn, and from this great arti-
ficial quarry the inhabitants draw material for any building of the better order.
Another ancient monument of Budarpur is the Dfidhn&th temple. To
this is attached a convent of Bharati Atiths« presided over
Efidhnath temple. , "
by a prior or mahant. The temple itself occupies a site which
1 P. 429. * Of the Archaeological Survey.
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530 OORAKHPUR.
bears traces of some far more ancient building. It is a small and rode brfck
structure surmounted by a pyramidal roof and surrounded by a flat-roofed
cloister or gallery. "The image of Shiva," writes Buchanan, "to whom a
temple of such celebrity is dedicated, of course came to its place without human
aid, and in the most remote ages of the world ; but according to the priests it
was not discovered until after the authority of the pure R&jputs was established.
A cow, as usual, pouring her milk (dtidh) on the ground, an opening was made
and the god brought to light It is on this account that the image is called
Diidhnath." A little south of the temple have been several other figures,
including one of Buddha. Additions were made to the temple by raja Bodhmal
Bisen of Majhauli, who, as already1 mentioned, was converted to Islam about
1570. Whether this act of generosity took place before or after his con-r
version is uncertain; but the Dudhn&th shrine is as popular amongst the
less educated Muslims as amongst the Hindus themselves. Beside it, on
the Sbivarattri festival, is held a twelve-day fair of the usual half-religious and
wholly profane character. And pilgrims sprinkle the phallic emblem of the
god with Ganges- water brought from distant Hardw&r and Pray&g (Allaha-
bad).
From the time of raja Rudar Singh to that of the great rebellion Rudar-
pur was the head-quarters of the Satfoi family. In the latter revolt the last
rfija joined. He was not a very energetic rebel, and for that reason perhaps-
escaped the penalty of death; but he has since died in transportation at the
Andamans. His extensive palace, adjoining the Sahankot, is now in ruins.
All his estates, except those which he had mortgaged to his daughter-in-law's
Madrasi father, were forfeited. But on the confiscation the right of the
daughter-in-law to the encumbered land was recognized. This lady, Bankat
Narsaiya, alias Mangal Kunwari, lately (1879) died at Benares. She was gene-
rally called r&ni of Satasi ; but as her father-in-law was attainted, and as her
husband could not therefore succeed him as r&ja, she had no right to the title.
From her husband, with whom she did not agree, she was separated. She
made him a small allowance, which he eked out with alms from his father's
old retainers. And she is understood to have left most of her property for reli-
gious purposes.
Rodrapur, a village of tappa Haveli and parganah Anola, stands on the
meeting of two unmetalled roads, 10 miles south-west of Gorakhpur. It had
in 1872 but 490 inhabitants, and is remarkable only as the site of a third-class
police-station and elementary (halkabandi) school.
1 See article on Majhauli and Salempur.
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GOBAKHPOR, 531
Sahiya, in tappa Balia of Salempur, is one of the several once Buddhist
villages fonnd in the south and centre of that parganah. It stands about three
miles east of Bhfigalpur (q. v.)9 and had in 1872 a population of 415 persons.
Here is a temple said to have been founded by Prat&p Mai Bisen, first
r£ja of Bhigalpur, who seems to have flourished about 1700. Aflat-roofed
quadrangular building, it stands on a heap of bricks which are probably Bud-
dhist remains. From these remains its idol was confessedly recovered ; and its
idol is a Buddhist statue. The image rests its left foot on the figure of a Bud-
dha, and resembles one formerly visible in the subterraneous temple of the
Allahabad fort. It is called, according to the taste of the worshipper, Th&kur
Chatarbhuji-Nar&yani, or Chaturbhuja Vishnu.
Sahnjanua or Sahjanua is the site of a third-class police-station and
district post-office in tappa Gahasfiud of parganah Maghar. Situated on the
metalled road from Qorakhpur to Basti, it is 10 miles west of the former, and
the first stage on the route to Fyzabad of Oudh. The population amounted
in 1872 to 344.
In the village are a good encamping-ground, a small bungalow belong-
ing to the Public Works Department, a Government arboricultural nursery,
and a temple sacred to Shiva.
Salempur or Salempur-Majhauli, a parganah coinciding with the Deoria
tahsil, is bounded on the east by the Saran district ; on the north-east by
S&ran and parganah Sidhua- Jobna ; on the north north-east by parganah Sh&h-
jahanpur ; on the north-west by parganah Silhai ; on the south-west by the
B&pti, which severs it from parganah Chillupdr ; on the south south-west by
the Gh&gra, which divides it from the Azamgarh district ; and on the south-
east again by S&ran. Other rivers besides the Gh&gra and R&pti form in
places the boundary. Thus the Little Gandak is for short distances the fron-
tier-line with Sh&hjabanpur and S&ran ; the Kh£nna and Jh&rahi with S&ran
only ; and the Kurna for a long distance with Silhat. Parganah Salempur had
in 1878 an area of 375,881 acres and a land-revenue of Rs. 2,96,886. It is
divided into 23 tappas — Samogar, Nai-Gajhari, R&ipura, Bairauna, Surauli,
Deoria, Gnbr&in, Kachn&r, Satiy&on, Khakhundu, Purafna, Mail, Balia, Donr,
Salempur, Barsip&r, Gh&ti, Bhitni, Haveli, Gautm&n, Sohanpur, Balw&n, and
Kaparwir. It contains 1,453 of the revenue divisions known as villages
(mauza).
According to the census of 1872 it possessed 1,262 inhabited sites, of
which 763 had less than 200 inhabitants; 359 between
Population. 20Q ^ 50() . 99 between 5Q0 and j 000 . 35 between 1,000
68
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532 G0BAKHPT7R.
and 2,000 ; two between 2,000 and 3,000 ; and two between 3,000 and 5,000.
The only towns with more than 5,000 inhabitants were Gaura and Paina.
The population numbered 318,648 souls (147,944 females), giving 540
to the square mile. Classified according to religion there were 293,412
Hindfis, of whom 136,367 werefemales ; 25,227 Musalmans (11,572 females),
and 9 Christians. Distributing the Hindu population among the four great
classes, the census shows 43,254 Br&hmans (20,154 females); 21,937 R&jputs
(9,984 females) ; and 8,948 Baniyas (4,218 females) : whilst the great mass
of the population is included in the " other castes," which show a total of
219,273 souls (102,011 females). The principal Brahman sub-division found
in this parganah is the Kanaujiya (40,572). The chief Rajput clans are the
Bais (3,482), Ponw&r, Chandel, Sakarw&l, Eausik, and Ohauh&n. The Baniyas
belong to the K&ndu (5,161), Agarwil, Baranwar, and Unai sub-divisions.
The most numerous among the other castes are the Ahir (43,684), Cham&r
(22,875), Kori (18,343), Koeri (17,593), Gond (11,266), Teli (9,164), Bhar
(8,971), Loh&r (8,176,) Kalw&r (7,754), Nuniya (7,453), Dos&dh (6,530),
Mall&h (6,451), Hajj&m (4,761), Kam&ngar (4,263), Satw&r (3,763), Dhobi
(3,810), Kah&r (3,976), Kurmi (5,458), K&yath (4,168), Bair&gi (2,252), Barhai
(2,027), Sondr (1,779), Gadariya (1,875), Bind (1,532), and Bari (1,054).
The tribes comprising less than one thousand members each are the Musahar,
R&jbhar, Kahar, Dom, Bhat, Pasi, Thathera, Mali, B&nsphor, Bair&gi, Atith,
Khatik, Khakrob, Kisan, Halwai, Kadera, and Bharbhiinja. The Musalmins
are Shaikhs (19,897), Sayyids (110), Mughals (37), PatWns (1,530), and
unspecified.
In general fertility Salempur perhaps excels any other parganah of the
Physical and agri- district. Of its total area 257,593 acres were at assess-
cultural features. ment (1863) retarned as cultivated ; and tillage must since
then have made still further inroads on the 40,508 acres which were unculti-
vated though cultivable. The parganah is studded with a host of fine mango-
groves, but, except in a few villages of tappa Deoria, no traces of forest survive.
Salempur bears, in fact, all the appearance of a long-settled country. Its hus-
bandmen, especially the Kurmis of Deoria, are laborious and skilful agricul-
turists. But beyond the charm of verdant cultivation, almost uninterrupted
save by shady groves, the landscape has few attractions. Though in the north
a slight ridge or two may be sighted, the parganah as a whole is wofully flat.
Its surface is drained by several rivers flowing southwards to swell the
Gh&gra. Besides those already mentioned are some of a smaller order, such
as the Easli and Kuura. Of many lagoons, the chief are those named the
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QOBAKHPTTB. 533
Takis, Danrara, and Gurer. Sach streams and lagoons between thera provide
ample means of irrigation. Bat as water lies near the surface wells also can
be dag at a small expense.
Its wealth of irrigation, indeed, almost secures the parganah from the
visitations of famine. Floods, and not droughts, are the natural calamities
which here are most to be dreaded. Inundations from the Ghagra sometimes
sweep off the autumn rice (bhadui) and interrupt the sowings for the spring
harvest. By herbivorous marauders cultivation is seldom troubled. The
parganah is markedly devoid of game. The waterfowl and the snipe which
haunt the margins of lagoons furnish the only sport obtainable. In spite of
the abundant moisture the climate is fairly healthy. But in the rainy season
fever prevails, and at all seasons the inhabitants of some villages suffer from
goitre (ghegh). The soil is in most parts the light loam known as doras ; bat
there are also a few patches of the sand (bulua) and clay (mattiydr), whereof
that loam is a mixture. The calcareous bhdt or chauridr bhdt present them-,
selves as usual in the neighbourhood of the Rapti, where surgarcane is widely
grown.
This and poppy are the parganah's most valuable products. Like
potatoes and other vegetables, the latter is most success-
fully grown by the Deoria Kurmis. The clay patches
along the brinks of streams or lagoons are utilized for the growth of fine
winter rice (Aghani). Tappa Rhakhundu is famous for its splendid fields of
arhar pulse. Cotton cultivation is little understood, and therefore little
practised. The name of bdjra millet is unknown. But as elsewhere, the
principal staples of the spring harvest are barley and wheat.
The manufactures of Salempur are insignificant ; but those which are
Trade and comma- mos^ important have been mentioned in the article on
nicatioDi. jt8 principal mart, Barhaj. The most noticeable centres
of trade, next to Barhaj, are L&rh, Majhauli, Salempur, aod Bhingari of
tappa Haveli. In the last class may be placed such mere market-villages
as Bhigalpur, Rajpur, Kaparw£r, Paina, Khanap&r, Karaundi, Samogar, Bal-
wan, and Khakhundu. At Bhdgalpur, Baikunthpur, and Sohan&g are held
great yearly fairs described in the article on each. The roads which connect all
these places with one another and with surrounding parganahs are unmetalled
fair-weather lines, four of the second and three of the third class. But the Gh&-
gra, the Rapti, aud the Little Gand^k may be deemed the chief trade-routes.
The two first are navigable for the whole, and the last for two-thirds of the
year.
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534 GORAKHPUR.
" The chief proprietors," writes Mr. Crooke,1 "are Br£hmans and Raj-
puts. The leading Rajput families are the great Bisen house of Majhauli,
with offshoots at Baikunthpur, Dharamner, Bhingari,
Khanap&r, Bairauna, Karanndi, and Kaparwar. Among the
Brahmans the most important families are the Misrs of Piyasi, Dogari, and
Rewali, and the Tiwaris of Pinri. The Chaubaria Rajputs are mentioned in
the notes on Majbauli and Surauli.
" There are several remains of considerable antiquity, such as the Bud-
dhistic pillars at Bhagalpur and Kahaon ; the Jain or
Antiquities. i
Brahmanical temples at Khakhundu and Bharauli (tappa
Deoria) ; the forts, at Bhagalpur, Surauli, and Nai ; the shrine at Sohanag ;
ruins of various kinds at Sahiya, R&nighat, Baryarpar (tappa Kachnar),
Bairauna, Khonda (tappa Raipura) and Bamhni (tappa Deoria) ; besides
innumerable dihs or village mounds, all over the parganah attributed by
popular rumour to Bhars and Tharfis."
In these Bhars or Th&rus, who were perhaps Buddhists or Jainas, tradi-
tion discovers the earliest inhabitants of the parganah.
The first Aryan colony seems to have been founded about
1700 by Bissu Sen Bisen, first raja of Majhauli ; but in the article on
that place will be found all that need be said of him and his descendants. At
the end of the sixteenth century the parganah formed part of Dehwapara
Kuhana, which included also Sidhua-Jobna and Sh&hjahaupur. In the middle
of the eighteenth, the power of its raja saved Salempur from the ravages of the
Banjaras. The year 1801 saw it ceded to the British and included in its present
district The land-tax demands since then assessed on the parganah have been
Es. 67,035 in 1803; Rs. 67,737 in 1806 ; Rs. 82,158 in 1809; Rs. 88,141
in 1813; Rs. 2,23,709 in 1840 ; and Rs. 2,90,740 in 1863.
Semra or Simara, an agricultural village in tappa Lehra of parganah
Haveli, stands not far east of the unmetalled road from Gorakhpur to Lautan,
36 miles north-by-west of the former. It contained in 1872 but 515 inhabi-
tants, and is remarkable only as the site of a first-class police-station.
Semra Hardeo is the site of a district post-office in tappa BargAon-
Chaura of parganah Sidhua-Jobna. Adjoining the Ghamparan frontier, it lies
48 miles in a direct line east-by-north of Gorakhpur. It in 1872 had 2,096
inhabitants.
SHAujAHiNPUB, a parganah of the Hata tahsil, is bounded on south-east
and north-east by parganah Sidhua-Jobna'; on north north-east by parganah
' FroDi whose notes and from (he settlement report of Babu Piari Mohan this article ha*
been chiefly compiled.
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OORAKHPUB* 535
Haveli ; on west south-west by a short length of Haveli and a long length of
parganah Silhat ; on south south-west by parganah Salempur. The whole
of the boundary with Silhat is furnished by the Dur&nchi ; a small part of
that with Salempur by the same river ; small parts of those with Salempur aud
Haveli by the Little Gandak ; a great part of that with Haveli by the Mohan ;
and a great part of that with Sidhua-Jobna by the Eh&nua. The parganah
had in 1878 an area of 88,432 acres and a land-revenue of Rs. 78,454. It is
divided into nine tappas, named Bachauli, Bhatni, Chakdiya, Nag* a, Pari&par,
Fatnan, Bhainsfriabar, Majhua, and Tarakulwa. And it contains 258 of the
revenue divisions called villages (mama).
According to the census of 1872 it had 246 inhabited sites, whereof 83
hadless than 200 inhabitants ; 118 between 200 and 500 ; 38
Population*
between 500 and 1,000 ; 6 between 1,000 and 2,000 ; and
one between 2,000 and 3,000.
The population numbered 81,562 souls (38,272 females), giving 591 to
the square mile. Classified according to religion there were 70,850 Hindus,
(33,207 females) ; 10,711 Musalmtas (5,065 females), and one Christian. Dis-
tributing the Hindu population among the four great classes, the census shows
5,224 Brahmans (2,445 females) ; 2,961 B&jputs (1,392 females) ; and 2,330
Baniyas (1,031 females) ; whilst the great mass of the population is included
in the " other castes," which show a total of 60,335 souls (28,339 females).
The principal Br&hman sub-division found in this parganah is the Eanaujiya
(5,138). The chief BAjput clans are the Ponw&r (666), Chandel, Sakarwal,
Bais, Eausik,and Chauhan. The Baniyas belong to the Kandu (1,882), Agarw&I,
Baranwa, and Easaundhan sub-divisions. The most numerous among the
other castes are the Dos&dh (2,020), Gound1 (2,024), Teli (2,645), Ahir (9,207),
lobar (1,738^, Hajjam (1,179), Chamar (7,529), Dhobi (1,282), Kahar (1,548),
Kurmi (9,885), Bhar (2,515), Mallah (1,003), Nuniya (1,757), Kalwar (2,118),
and Eamangar (1,018). The following clans comprise less than one thousand
members each : — Bind, Sonar, Kahar, Dom, Barayi, Pasi, Mali, BJnsphor,
Bair&gi, Ban, Atith, Khakrob, Kisan, Halwai, Khadera, Beldar, Kumdr,
Baheliya, and Jaiswar. TheMusalm&ns are Shaikhs (8,598), Sayyids (10),
Mughals (44), Path&ns (1,369), and unspecified.
ShahjahAnpur is a flat and well-cultivated tract which, adjoining as it
Physical and agri- ^oe8 Salempur, can hardly be called very fertile. Bucha-
cultaral features. nan (1835) mentions it as consisting chiefly of waste land
covered by long dismal grass and stunted trees ; but tillage has since then
advanoed across it with rapid strides. Of the total area 61,220 acres were at
1 See article on parganah Bhaudpdr, footnote concerning this caste.
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536 GORAKHPUB,
assessment (1862) returned as cultivated and 15,113 as culturable. In tappa
Pariapdr the general monotony of level is relieved by a few sandhills from 10
to 30 feet high, which form the continuation of a ridge which divides part of
Silhat from part of this parganah. But the only difference of elevation else-
where is the Blight difference between the watersheds (bAngar) and the basins
(kachhdr) of the Duranchi, the Mohan, and the Little Gandak. All these rivers
in the rainy season overflow their banks ; and in winter, when the floods have
subsided, their basins are cultivated* The Little Gandak winds from north to
south through the whole length of the parganah. The abrupt ascent from its
low banks to the uplands is gnawed into many ravines by the drainage
descending to the river. The soils of the watersheds are loam (doras) and clay
(mattiyar and kurail). The calcareous bhdt soil is found along the edges of
streams ; and the sandy balua is found in spots where, as in the part of Pariap&r
just mentioned, the west-wind has driven it across from Silhat. The crops
produced by these soils are just the same as described in the article on parganah
Salempur.
Those crops are the parganah's only important product. As before noticed,
Trade and comma- Sh£hjah&npur has only one village with over 2,000. inhabi-
nic*tions. tants, and it cannot therefore be expected to possess any
manufactures worthy of mention. At Hetimpur, indeed, are a small dying
business and a few sugar factories. But trade is on the whole minute, and
communications are therefore scarce. Through the parganah, near the northern
border, runs the unmetalled Gorakhpur and Easia road. On this the villages
of Hata and Hetimpur are situate ; and from this two other unmetalled lines
pass south south-westwards into Silhat and Salempur. On one of them stands
Tarakulwa.
In the beginning of the fifteenth century Sh&hjah&npur and part of the
neighbouring Sidhua-Jobna were seized, probably from
the aboriginal Bhars, by the Rajput Medhan Singh. Also
called Madan Sen, he was perhaps the same raja of Saran and Champa ran as
gave the Muhammadan governors of those tracts so much trouble. It is not
unlikely that his descendants acknowledged themselves tributary to the Afghan
princes of Bengal ; for when towards the close of the sixteenth century Akbar
crushed those princes, the r&ja of Majhauli was allowed to annex this parganah.
Medhan Singh's family wore extirpated, and their lands parcelled out amongst
the victorious Bisens. Towards the close of the same reign (1596) Shabja*
h&npur formed part of the great Dehwap&ra-Kuhana parganah, in the Gorakh-
pur division of the Oudh province.1
1 Bat see also p. 274.
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GOBAKHPUR. 537
Its present name is derived from a still existing village within its limits ;
and that village, again, was perhaps called after the emperor Sh&hjahan
(1628-58). The parganahwas ceded by Oudh to the British in 1801, and
since then has been assessed with the following land-revenues : — Rs. 15,734
in 1802 ; Rs. 10,645 in 1806 ; Rs. 11,242 in 1809 ; Rs. 12,406 in 1813 ; Rs.
39,445 in 1840 ; and Rs. 77,070 in 1862.
Sidhua-Jobna, a parganah coinciding with the Kasia sub-division and
Padrauna tahsil, marches on north-east-by-east with the Champ&ran district,
the Great Gandak river and one of its former beds affording in places a bound-
ary. On west north-west the frontier is supplied by parganas Tilpur and
Haveli , on west south-west by parganahs Haveli, Shuhjah&npur, and Salempur ;
and on south-by-east by the S&ran district. The border with Tilpur is formed
by the Little Gandak, and with part of Sh&hjabanpur by the Kh&nua branch
of that river. Parganah Sidhua-Jobna had in 1878 an area of 593,990 acres
and a land-revenue of Rs. 3,37,202. It is divided into 22 tappas, m*., Batsara
or Batesara, Nagwan or Naugawfin, Pfipur, Ddnd6pur, Bdnsi-Chiriagora,
Bargdon-Chaura, Pakri-Gangrani, S&ndi, Parw&rp&r, Mainpur-Sabakhor,
Bhalua, Rfimpur-Ragha, R&nipur-Dhdb, Pirthipur, Dhuria-Bijaipur, Sipahji-
Euchia, Jhankaul-G&ngi-tikar, Eh&n, Malsil-Sareini, Badur&on-Bhasni, Haveli,
and Bank-Jogni. The. parganah contains 1,295 of the revenue divisions known
jis villages (mauza).
According to the census of 1872 it possessed 1,251 inhabited sites, of
_ , . which 544 had less than 200 inhabitants; 487 between
Population.
200 and 500 ; 159 between 500 and 1,000 ; 52 between
1,000 and 2,000 ; 6 between 2,000 and 3,000 ; and 1 between 3,000 and 5,000.
The only towns containing more than 5,000 inhabitants were Padrauna and
Xmwa.
The population in 1872 numbered 417,641 souls (194,086 females),
giving 799 to the square mile. Classified according to religion, there were
356,377 Hindtis (165,646 females) and 61,264 Musalmfins (28,440 females).
Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes the census
Aows 28,480 Br&hmans (13,228 females); 13,616 R&jputs (6,195 females),
and 11,643 Baniyas (5,429 females) : whilst the great mass of the population
is included in the " other castes " of the census returns, which show a total
of 302,638 souls (140,794 females). The principal Br&hman sub-division found
in this parganah is the Eanaujiya (28,089). The chief Rajput clans are the
Bais (1,727;, Chandel, Ponw&r, Kausik, Solankhi, and Chauh&n. The Baniyas
belong to the Kdndu (8,375), Agarw&l, Baranw&r, Unai, and Easaundhaa
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538 "~ GORAKHPUR.
sub-divisions. The most numerous among the other castes are the Ahir (41,088)
Kori (40,236), Chamar (37,477), Gound1 (13,401), Teli (13,107), Lobar (7,481),
Hajjam (5,354), Dhobi (5,752), Bind (2,915), and Kabfir (2,090). Besides these,
the following tribes comprising less than one thousand members each are found
in the parganah: — Satw&r, Gadariya, Eurmi, Bhar, Mall&h, Noniya, K&yath,
Musahar, Kalw&r, R&jbhar, Sondr, Kam&ngar, Kah&r, Dom, Barhai, Bar&yi,
Bh6t, PAsi, Tbathera, Mali, B&nsphor, Bair&gi, Jogi, BAri, Atith, Khatik,
Ehdkrob, Kisan, Halw&i, Khadera, Bharbh6nja, Beld&r, Kum£r, Baheliya,
and Jaiswar. The Musalm&ns are Shaikhs (33,897), Sayyids (163), Mugbals
(64), Path&ns (2,551;, and unspecified.
An extensive tract straggling from the wild and marshy Tar&i to the
verge of the fertile S&ran, Sidhna-Jobna presents a great
Physical and agri- variety of physical and agricultural features. The distinc-
tions of surface are, however, chiefly due to the presence
or absence of forest, and to the nearness or distance of the Great Gandak
river. Northwards, in tappa Batsara, there is still some woodland left ; and
another fringe of trees extends along the bank of the Little Gandak into
tappa Nagwan. Like most streams rising in the lower Him&laya, the Great
Gandak is at first most fickle in its choice o f a plains bed. Swollen by fresh-
ets, it almost yearly cuts some new course through the light argillaceous
soil. It still more often overflows, and the deposits left by its floods are far
from fertilizing. "The knowledge," writes Mr. Lumsden, " that what is
now a rich sheet of paddy (rice) cultivation may next year become the bed of
a new channel must needs affect the state of cultivation and the pursuits of
the inhabitants. A disinclination to expend capital in carrying out improve-
ments and extending cultivation, an inferior kind of agriculture, and the
preponderance of shepherds and herdsmen amongst the inhabitants ; these
and many other like peculiarities are all to be traced, directly or indirectly,
to the Great Gandak and its numerous branches." Below tappa Rampur
Dh&b, however, the river becomes less capricious and adopts one regular and
well-defined channel. Unlike its major namesake, the Little Gandak is a steady
river, seldom guilty of inundations. The only other streams which need be
mentioned are the Jhar&hi and Bauri, both rising in the parganah itself ; and
the Kh&nua, which crosses its south-western corner.
But if the parganah differs from place to place, it has also some features'
which are common to its whole area. Such are the numerous shallow lagoons,
connected by watercourses, and the smaller ponds, natural and artificial. Such
1 See speculation on the identity of this caste in one of the footnotes to the article on par*
ganah Bkautpfr.
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GORAKHPUR. 539
are the large mango-groves and bambu clumps everywhere sighted, and
such are the village homesteads whose neat and often tiled mud huts crown
every convenient eminence. .
It must not from the last expression be inferred that Sidhua-Jobna
shows any sudden or striking inequalities of level. In its centre and south
the country is described as undulating slightly ; and between the watersheds
and basins of rivers some trifling difference of elevation is of course visible.
But like most of the district the parganah may be defined as a plain sloping
gently south south-eastwards. On the watersheds the soils are chiefly loam
(doras) and sand (baltta or dhusi) ; in the river basins chiefly the chalky- looking
clay called bkdt. The latter, which occupies nearly two-thirds of the whole
cultivated area, does not require irrigation. And here it may be mentioned
that of that cultivated area 35 per cent, was at assessment (1865) returned
as watered, chiefly from lagoons, ponds, and streams.
The cultivated area was itself returned as 347,968 acres. But to this
figure must be added a good deal of the unsurveyed waste-land grants (63,518
acres) ; and tillage must since then have spread over much of the 128,041
acres returned as cultivable. All the ordinary crops of the spring and autumn
harvests are produced in fair quantity aud quality. Sugar-
cane has within the past 40 years become the staple growth
of the parganah. There are at least half a hundred native sugar factories, whose
produce has under the name of bagalia gained an established plaee in the Calcutta
market. Besides the usual kinds of rice is grown one called clienawc or sengar,
which is almost peculiar to Sidhua-Jobna.1 Neither indigo nor poppy is exten-
sively cultivated. On the watersheds the chief autumn growths are rices, pulses,
and maize ; on the bhat lands, rices, turmeric, capsicums, ginger, and cotton.
The chief spring crops of the watersheds are wheat, barley, and the pulses
gram and arliar; of the bhat lands, wheat, barley, and oil-plants.
Several other products besides the crops require some brief notice.
Small particles of gold are found mixed with the sands of
the Great Gandak ; and those sands are sometimes washed
to find the precious metal. But the particles are far fewer than higher up-
stream, in the Nepal Tarai ; and Mr. Lumsden reckons that to recover Rs. 10
worth of gold must cost the sand-washers of Sidhua-Jobna almost double that
amount in time and labour. In the south aud south-east of the parganah
flourishes a fair trade in saltpetre. In 1865 there were as many as 168
factories and four refineries of this mineral. The luxuriant pasturage aloug
1 Supra p. 324.
69
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540 GOHAKHPUR.
the banks of the Gandak, and the remains of forest in the north, encourage a
considerable business in hides, which are exported half-cured to D&napur or
Calcutta. Hemp matting and sacking is extensively manufactured in the
south -east ; and in the west is woven a strong but dirty-looking cloth called
hokti.
For the loeal produce 42 market towns and villages provide a sale.
The most important emporia are Tiwfcrfpatti and Sihibganj,
both on a branch of the Great Qandak ; another S&hibganj,
on the waste-land grant of the late Mr. Sym1 ; and Ragarganj on the Little
Qandak. Other placos which are noteworthy for less commerical reasons are
Padrauna, Kasia, Tamkiihi, Kutahi, Kohrauliya, Dh&nipatti, Bishanpura,
Bampur-Borah&n, B&nsg&on, Arawa, Taria-Suj&n, Ramkola, and Serara-
Hardeo. About eight highways, all unraetalled, connect these places with each
other and surrounding parganahs.
The principal road-centres, that is the places where the largest number
of the best roads meet, are Padrauna and Kr*sia. The lines which meet or
cross at other places are not regularly bridged, and this defect, with the floods
which often cover the country, causes the suspension of all wheeled traffic
during the rains. But trade-routes are provided also by the Great Gandak,
Pro ject for a Little its navigable branches, and its minor namesake. In the
Gandak canal. monsoon small boats ply the Little Gandak as far north as
Ragarganj. It was many years ago proposed by means of locks to convert
this river into a navigation canaL The levels were so far as ascertained
favorable, and the canal would have proved a great boon to the parganah.
But the project has been almost forgotten.
As shown by the remains at Padrauna and Kasia, Sidhua-Jobna is a
tract of ancient civilization. Of its Buddhist history,
History. J
# however, nothing is known ; and we pass to the Hindu
epoch. With as little truth probably as in most Hindu etymologies, the name
of Sidhua is derived from the legend that it was a wilderness where holy men
or siddJuu came to perform austerities. But about the beginning of the
fifteenth century the south of the parganah was annexed and colonized by
Medhan Singh, of whom something was said in the last article. When bis
descendants succumbed to the Bisens, about 1580, the victors divided their
conquest into several petty talukas or baronies. Such were Bansgaon,
R&mkola, Parw&rp&r, Sikhoni, and Sankhopar. At the end of the same six-
teenth century the pargauah formed part of the great parganah of Dehwip&ra-
lSee article on I'adrauna, of which this Sauibganj>is a suburb.
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GORAKHPUR. 541
Kuhina, which included also Shahjah&npur and Salempur. A sub-division of
the Gorakhpur Government and Oudh province, DehwapSra bad a State rental
of Rs. 17,9 4 1.1 The smalluess of this sum as compared with that paid by a
smaller parganah like Dhuri&p&r shows how much of the tract must at this
time have been under forest.
The Bisens gradually spread northwards, and about 1750 we find their
chief, the rdja of Majhauli, granting Padrauna and other villages to a Kurmi
retainer. How these villages become the nucleus of a great domain has been
told above.8 From their original grantee is descended the r&i of Padrauna.
About 1765, on the cession of Bih&r to the British, a Bhtiinhar chief, who was
unwilling to acknowledge the new power, migrated from S&ran into this par-
ganah. Before his death he had accumulated the large tract of villages known
as the Bank-Jogni taluka ; and from him the r/ija of Tanikfihi is descended.3
Tbe Padrauna and Tamkubi families may bo considered the leading families
of tbe parganah.
That parganah was ceded by Oudh to the Company in 1801 ; but until
the settlement of the current revenue, in 1865, the Bank-Jogni and Padrauna
talukas were always assessed separately. If we include them in the general
reckoning, the following have been the demands imposed since cession on
Bidhua-Jobna : — At the first settlement ( 1802;, Lis. 96,949 ; at the second (1806),
Rs. 87,195 ; at the third (1809;, Rs. 80,361 ; at tbe fourth (1813), Bs. 83,668;
at the fifth (1840), Rs. 2,24,477 ; and at the current, Hs. 3,18,934.
Silbat, a parganah of the Hata talml, is bounded on east-by-north by the
Dur&nchi river, which severs it from parganah Silhat ; on north-by-west and
on west north-west by parganah Haveli, the river Majhna supplying in places
a boundary ; on west and south south-west by the ttapti, which divides it from
parganahs Bhau&p&r and Chillupar ; and on south-east by parganah Salempur,
a long part of the frontier being provided by the Kurna river. Silhat had
in 1878 an area of 179,170 acres and a land revenue of Its. 1,15,987.
It is divided into 17 tappas, viz., Banchara, Singhpur, Nar&yanpur-
Chiurha, Kataura, Bakhira, Bin6yak, Chiriaon, Pah&rpur, Idrikpur,
Donth, Barnai, Gaura, DhatiirA, Sirijam, Indupur, NagwAn-Tikar, and
Madanpur. The parganah contains 477 of the revenue divisions known as
villages (mama).
According to the census of 1872 it possessed 441 inhabited sites, where-
of 219 had less than 200 inhabitants; 155 between 200
and 500 ; 50 between 500 and 1,000 ; 14 between 1,000
1 7,17,010 dim. Bat see also p. 274 a Pp. 39H, 450-01. * Pfr 401, 450.
Population.
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542 GOBAKHPUR.
and 2,000 ; 1 between 2,000 and 3,000 ; and 1 between 3,000 and 5,000. The
only town containing more than 5,000 inhabitants was Rudarpur.
The population numbered 135,847 souls (62,742 females), giving 485 to
the square mile. Classified according to religion there were 126,500 Hindus
(58,535 females) and 9,347 Musalmfins (4,207 females). Distributing the
Hindu population among the four great classes, the census shows 11,629
Br&hmans (5,543 females); 6,452 Rajputs (3,071 females); and 3,252 Bani-
yas (1,503 females); whilst the great mass of the population is included in
the "other castes," which show a total of 105,167 souls (48,418 females).
The principal Br&hman sub-division found in this pargana is the Kanaujiya
(11,335). The chief Rajput clans are the Ponwdr (1,441), Sarnet, Sakarwal,
Bais, Solankhi, and Ghauhan. The Baniyas belong to the K&ndu (1,523),
Agarwfil, Baranw&r, and Kasaundhan sub-divisions. The most numerous
among the other castes are the Bind (1,341), Dosadh (1,342), Gound (1,91 1),1
Teli (3,918), Koeri (3,249), Ahir (17,950), Loh&r (2,783), Hajjam (1,756),
Chamar (1,368), Dhobi (1,637), Kah&r (2,736), Satwar (7,832), Kurmi (1,891),
Bhar (4,956), Malldh (14,909), and Nuniya (5,426). Besides these, the follow-
ing tribes comprising less than one thousand members each are found in the
parganah : — Kalwar, R&jbhar, Son&r, Kamfingar, Kahar, Dom,Barhai, Bar&yi,
Bhdt, Pasi, Thathera, Mali, Bansphor, B£ri, Atlth, Khatik, Kis&n, Halw&i,
Bharbhunja, Kori, Baheliya, and Jaiswdr. The Musalmans are Shaikhs
(7,676), Sayyids (53), Mughals (76), Pathdns (948), and unspecified.
Except where broken by an occasional sand ridge, the surface of Silhat
Physical and agri- *8 level. The general features of the landscape are almost
cultural features. fae game as jn the neighbouring Salempur. But in this
parganah there is much more forest. Though a large fringe of woodland,
which a quarter of a century ago shaded the west and south, has given way
to cultivation, a wilderness of stunted trees still stretches along the banks of
the Majhna to join the Eusmahi jungle2 in parganah Haveli. After forming,
as already noted, the frontier with that parganah, the Majhna crosses this
from north to south ; and it is joined within Silhat by the Kurna. Along its
banks and those of the R&pti the soil is the swampy and chalky-looking clay
known as chaur bhdt. In the north occur the ridges of sand (dkdsi ) lately
mentioned. But the bulk of the mould is loam (doras). Of the cultivated
area 98,258 acres were at assessment (1,863) returned as cultivated and 23,984
acres as cultivable. Though the gram and urd pulses are more extensively
grown here than in Salempur, the crops are mainly those described in the
article on that parganah (q. v.)
1 See article on pargana Bhauapar, population section, note. * Sttpra p. 391.
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GOBAKHrUR. 543
Beyond the business in agricultural raw produce, Silhat has little
Trade and commn- trade ; but what little exists has been noticed under the
nicatioos. head of its chief town, Rudarpur. The parganah has
many less important market villages, suoh as Madanpur, Sirijam, R>impur,
Sohiauna, Gauri, Mathia, Patharhat, Dharha, Parri, and Bakhira. T*o
unmetalled roads of the second and three of the third class tap the principal
places, and additional routes are provided by the Rapti and Majhna, both navi-
gable when the roads are waterlogged.
Remains at Rudarpur render it probable that the parganah was once a
... stronghold of Buddhists. In those days the terms Bud-
History. ,
dhist and Bhar are likely to have been identical ;* and we
may suppose that, as elsewhere in the district, the earliest inhabitants were
Bhars. If so their peace was roughly disturbed about the middle of the
fourteenth century, when the parganah became a bone of contention between
the lately founded Sarnet dynasty of Sat&si and the older Bisen house of Maj-
hauli. The war continued with brief intervals of peace for about a hundred
years, and ended in the victory of the Bisens, who annexed the disputed tract.
In the end of the sixteenth century Silhat was a part of parganah Haveli
Gorakhpnr. From this it was severed about 1680, when Rudar, r&ja of Satisi,
was ejected from Gorakhpur and made Rudarpur his capital. Through the
remainder of the Dehli rule, through the whole of the Oudh supremacy, and
from the beginning of the British occupation until the great rebellion, the
SatAsi r&jas continued to flourish in Silhat ,
The progress of the parganah since its cession to the British (1801) may
be proved by the steadily increasing demands imposed at successive settlements
of land-revenue. These were: — At the first settlements 1803), Rs. 8,516; at the
second (1806), Rs. 9,283; at the third (1809), Rs. 12,657; at the fourth
(1813), Rs. 16,461 ; at the fifth (1840), Rs. 54,300; and at the sixth (1863),
Rs. 1,02,621. The sixth settlement is still current, but its demand has, as
above shown, risen.
Siswa-bA*z£r, a village in tappa Old Earhi of parganah Tilpur, lies 43
miles north-east of Gorakhpur. It had in 1872 but 1,732 inhabitants ; and its
only claims to notice are a parganah school and a house-tax. For the Cbauki-
d&ri Act (XX. of 1856) is in force within its limits. During 1877-78 the
house-tax thereby imposed, with a trifling balance from the preceding year,
gave a total income of Rs. 184. The expenditure, which was solely on police,
amounted to Rs. 144. Of the 385 houses in the village 142 wore assessed
1 Pp. 431-32.
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544 GORAKHPUfi.
with the tax, (he incidence being Re. 1-3*0 per house assessed, and Be. 0-1-7
per head of population.
So HAN ag,1 a hamlet in tappa M&il and parganah Salempur, stands about
S miles south-west of Salempur and about 50 south-east of Gorakhpur. It in
1872 had but 29 inhabitants.
The hamlet is remarkable as containing an ancient tank and a large mass
of ruins and sculptures apparently dating from the later Buddhistic epoch.
The tank itself lies, like all ancient excavations of the kind, in a due north
and souih direction. It is 146 lattda? long and 77 broad, containing an area
of 27 J Mghas? West of it and extending along its entire length rises a mound
varying in height and breadth. The extreme elevation is about 50 feet and
the breadth in the widest part about 100. This mound is formed chiefly of
the large broad bricks characterestic of ancient buildings. It seems never to
have been excavated, and it is impossible to say accurately what buildings it
contained. But the highest part was probably a stupa erected over some
Buddhistic relics; and the lower portion (which shows traces of a quadrangular
building) a Buddhist monastery and apartments for ascetics.
The ancient name of Sohanag is said to have been Nagpur ; and it is
believed to be midway between Ajudbia and Janakpur in the MuzaS'arpur
district, the capital of Janaka, king of Mithila and father of Sfta. At Mithila
or Janakpur was held the assembly of kings at which raja Janaka promised
his daughter Sita to the prince who could bend the bow of Shiva. Now with
this bow, which was then in charge of Janaka, Shiva had conquered the gods
in the sacrifice of Daksha. Rdma succeeded in the task ; and the Farasu Hama
succumbed to the superior power of the Rama Chandra incarnation of Vishnu.
He returned to Sohanag, and there did penance to recover his divinity. After
this the shrine became ruined and the images were lost. Many years afterwards,
a king of Nep&l named Sohan, who was grievously smitten with leprosy,
set forth to die at K&shi (Benares). On his way he halted at Sohanag, and
using the water of the tank was miraculously cured. In gratitude he restored
the shrines. Some accounts say that Soban was a Bisen Rajput ; but others
deny, this. At any rate some claim seems to have been made by the Bisens of
Majhauli to connect themselves in some way with the worship at Sohan&g.
The natural inference from the story is that on the revival of Br&hmans the
ancient Buddhistic rites were revived. An exactly analogous case is the restora-
tion and re-identification of the Ajudhia holy places by king Yikramaditya of
Ujjain.
1 The whole of this article is by Mr. Crooke. * The tatta or lalha equals 8 feet 7|
inches. * I.e., about 18jj acres, according to the proportion between bigha and acre
prevalent in this parganah.
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GOBAKHPUR. 545
The chief remains visible at Sohan&g are now as follows. There is a small
ruined brick enclosure containing a modern Hindu temple of the common type.
In this shrine are four images, all doubtless Buddhistic. They are known as
Chatarbhuj Nar&yan (the four-armed Vishnu), Parasiiramji, Kuber Bhand&ri
(Ruber the storekeeper), and Ranchhor Tikam. The images of Parasurdm and
Kuber are engraved in Buchanan's Eastern India (II., 363).
But Buchanan never saw the place himself, and depended on the very im-
perfect description of his pandit. In the same enclosure are some ruined
ascetic's cells and the remains of a small Mah&deo temple with a round black
stone phallus, known as Maha Budra Nath. The temple containing the chief
images is said to have been built by Niwaz Singh, chakldddr or commissioner
under the rule of Oudh. It may perhaps be nearly a hundred years old, and
probably dates from a period not long before our occupation of the district.
On the highest point of the mound is a semi-ruinous temple, containing a small
black stone image representing a man with a woman in his lap. This is known
as Gauri-shankar or Mah&deo and P&rvati. At the base of the mound, near the
edge of the tank, is a small ruined temple containing a phallus and two black
stone images in excellent preservation. They are said to represent Parasfi-
r&ma's parents, — Jamadagni, son of Richika of the race of Bhrigu ; and
Renuka, daughter of raja Prasenajft.
But both these statues are certainly Buddhistic, and have been appropriated
by the Br&hmanical cultus. The phallus in this shrine is called the Jharkandi
M ah&deo. On the edge of the tank are some remains of an ancient landing
staircase ; and under an adjoining pipal tree is a small Bnddhistic figure known
as Laukus,1 that son of Ramchandrawho was miraculously formed out of a
handful of holy husa grass. In addition to the occasional visits of devotees to the
shrine of Parasur&m there is an annual fair held on the 3rd, bright half, Bais&kh
(April-May). At this gathering attend on an average 20,000 people.
Thoreal priests (pujdri) of the shrine are the Atitbs of Karwaniya in tappa
Ballia of parganah Salempur, whoso present representative is prior (mahant)
Gfiydpuri-Ji. The place is, however, practically in charge of a family
of Bhdts, who own two-thirds of the village of Sohan&g. Deokinandan
L&l, a lawyer of Gorakhpur, whose family live in the adjoining vil-
lage of Pilauli, has succeeded in procuring a decree in the civil court for the
tank and the ground on which the fair is held.
Adjoining this ancient site is a modern shrine occupied by a body of
Bamanandis. They have a Th&kurdw&ra with images of Lachhman and
1 The name stems, howerer, to ha?e been compounded from those of both Boma's sons, Lara
aadKusha.
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546 GORAKHPUH.
Janki and several ammonite fossils (Sdligrdm), The founder of this con-
vent was Dharni-das, who was succeeded by the noted ascetic Jiwa Ramji.
The latter disappeared on a pilgrimage, leaving behind him a stone cnp
(kundi) which he announced would fall to pieces on the day of his death.
The cup broke twelve years after his departure ; but no one knows where he
died. It is said that he could appear simultaneously at Sohan&g and Mathurf.
The succession of prion? since My tim& has been Tikaram, Ganesh-das,
Narayan-d&s, Jankf-das, Parasuram-das, Rameshwar*dfr&> R&mparshad-das,
and Kamsaran-dos, who at present occupies the cushion. The tomb (lamddh) of
Jiwa Rdm-das,1 with bis broken cup, is greatly venerated.
On the whole Sohanag is a very interesting place and offers a good
field for archaeological exploration. It seems to be one of a line of Buddhist
shrines extending from Bhagalpur ghat on the Gbagra to Easia or Kusana-
gara, the scene of Buddha's death. The intermediate stages were perhaps
Kahaon, Sohanag, and Khakhundn, in all of which Buddhist remains exist.
Surauli, a large village in the lappa so named of parganah Salempur,
lies about five miles south south-west of Deoria. Its population amounted
in 1872 to 424 persons.
Here are the remains of an extensive fort, covering an area of about
22 acres. The site is overgrown with scrub, but clearly defined by the still
visible traces of a surrounding ditch. Within are three large masonry wells,
and the remains of a fourth with steps descending into its shaft. The village
is held by Chaubaria Rajputs, who are said to take their name from parga-
nah Chaubar in Saran. Legend asserts that they were settled here by a r&ja
of Majhauli, who wished them to watch his frontier ; and that the fort was built
about 10 generations ago by one Dambar Sahi. It was destroyed shortly
before the British occupation v180l) by one of the Oudh nawab's deputies.
There is a superstition that any one attempting to plough within the fort
immediately dies. ,
TAMKtJHi or Tamakhoi, a village of tappa Haveli and parganah
Sidhua-Jobna, stands on the unmetalled road from Samiir to Tudari patti, 55
miles east-by-south of Gorakhpur. It had in 1872 but 708 inhabitants ;
and is here noticed solely as the site of an imperial post-office and the seat
of the Tamkiihi raja.8
Tarakulwa, a village of the tappa so named in parganah Shahjah&n-
pur, stands on the unmetalled Easia and Barhaj road, 40 miles south south-
east of Gorakhpur. Its population amounted in 1872 to 1,020 persons.
1 As no one knows where he died, this tomb is probably a cenotaph. * Supra, p. 401.
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GORAKHPUR. 547
Tarakulwa is situated on a great mound of sand, and its climate is considered
good. It has a district post-office and a first-class police-station, with cattle-
pound attached.
Taria Sujan is the site of a third-class police-station and district
post-office in tappa Haveli of parganah Sidhua-Jobna. It lies at a considera-
ble distance from any road, 56 miles east-by-south of Gorakhpur ; and in
1872 had 2,101 inhabitants.
TfLPUR, a parganah of the Mah&r&jganj tahsi!, is bounded on north
north-east by the Champ&ran district and Nepal, the border with the former
being provided by the Great Gandak river ; on north-west by the Jharrei river,
which severs it from parganahs Binayakpur and Haveli ; on its concave south-
western frontier by the latter parganah ; on. east south-east by parganah
Sidhua-Jobna, and again for a short distance by the Great Gandak and Cham-
pfiran. Tilpur had in 1878 an area of 183,764 acres and a land-revenue of
Bs. 48,575. It is divided into seven tappas, called Old Karhi, New Karhi,
Bharatkand, Domakand khfis, Sukarhari, and Son&ri. It contains 339 of the
revenue divisions known as villages (mauza).
According to the census of 1872 it possessed 251 inhabited sites, where-
of 155 had less than 200 inhabitants; 79 between 200
Population. ^d 50()5 lg betwQen 50Q and ^0()0. and 4 betweea
1,000 and 2,000.
The population numbered 57,021 souls (26,859 females), giving 199 to
the square mile. Classified according to the religion, there were 50,164 Hin-
dus (23,590 females) ; 6,853 Musalm&ns (3,267 females), and 4 Christians.
Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes, the census
shows 3,370 Br&hmans (1,617 females) ; 772 R&jputs (373 females) ; and 1,841
Baniyas, (821 females) ; whilst the great mass of the population is included in
the " other castes," which show a total of 44,179 souls (20,779 females). The
principal Brahman sub-division found in this parganah is the Eanaujiya
(3,145). The chief Rajput clans are the Sarnet (152) and Chauh&n. The Bani-
yas belong to the Kandu (1,224), Agarahri, Barauna,1 Unai, and Kasaundhan
sub-divisions. The most numerous amongst the other castes are the Teli
(1,832), Koeri (1,535), Ahir (6,225), Chamar (6,077), Dhobi (1,050), Kahar
(1496), Kurmi (1,714), Mall&h (1,450), Nuniya (3,047), and Musahar (2,444).
Besides these, the following tribes comprising less than one thousand members
each are found in the parganah :— Bind, Dosadh, Gound,2Loh&r, Hajy&m, Satwar,
1 See article on parganah Dfturidpdr, population section, note. * Article on parganah
Bhaudptir, population section, note.
70
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548 GORAKHPUB.
Gadariya, K&yath, Kalw&r, Rajbhar, Son&r, Kam&ngar, Dom, Barhai, Bar&yi,
Bh&t, Pasi, Thathera, Mali, B&nsphor, Jogi, Bairiigi, Bari, Khatik, Khakrob,
Kis&n, Halwai, Kum&r, Kori, Baheliya, Gosain, and Jaiswfir. The Masai-
m&ns are Shaikhs (6,436), Sayyids (27), Mugfaals (18), Pathans (311), and
unspecified.
The parganah may be divided into two portions. Its larger or northern
Physical and agri- division may be deemed a part of the Tarfii, while its
cultural features. southern is an open and fairly cultivated plain resembling
the bulk of the district. In the former tract must be placed tappas Sonari,
Sukarh&ri, Domakand, Bharatkand, and the northern half of tappa Kh&s. These
are regions of reserved forest, large grass prairies, patchy and slovenly cul-
tivation, poor hamlets, and morass. In the southern tract are included the
other half of Kh&s and tappas New and Old Karhi, Here, as already men-
tioned, are found freedom from forest and a fairly extensive cultivation.
Of the total area 59,175 acres were at the land-assessment of 1865 returned
as cultivated. But this estimate excludes the cultivation of waste-land grants ;
and since it was framed tillage must have made still further annexations
amongst the 46,386 acres which were returned as cultivable, though fallow.
The soil consists chiefly of the sandy loam called doras ; but there is a good
deal of clay (mattiydr) and a small amount of the almost pure sand named
balua. So great is the natural moisture of the earth that the ordinary crops
can be produced in abundance without artificial irrigation. Water, indeed, lies at
an average depth of but 8 feet from the surface ; and of the total cultivation
not quite 20 per cent, is recorded as watered. Wells are used, not for fields,
but for the purposes of human life. The usual sources of what little irrigation
exists are not wells, but streams and lagoons.
Chief of the former are the Little Gandak watering the eastern, and the
Malawa the western tappas. But there are many minor water-courses, such as
Chandan, the Khekara, the Hirna, the Soleh, and the Ghorburwa. Most if not
all of these rise in the parganah itself. The lagoons are of the usual type —
«reedy swamps which with the approach of summer gradually dry. But the
form of some shows that they were once bends in the beds of rivers. Like its
neighbour parganahs Tilpur is subject to extensive inundations. But owing
to the sandy nature of the soil these rapidly disappear.
As usual in watery tracts, autumn rice is the staple of the parganah.
Products, trade, For the spring harvest are grown a large quantity of wheat
aod communications. and a smaller quantity of chick-pea, (chana) barley, lentils,
(mcwtir), and mustard (Idhi.) Fruit is 'supplied by 1,500 acres of grove or
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GOBAKHPUB. 549
orchard. The wild hemp {bhang\ which provides an intoxicating drug, grows
like a weed in the fields. Catechu is tapped from innumerable khair acacias.
But except in the vegetable kingdom, Tilpur has no products worthy of
mention. Its trade is extremely limited, and its markets are of the agricultural
order. Such are Nichlaval, Siswa, and Mithaura, with their minor rivals, Rudra-
pur, Harilapur, Bilahikpur, Barhia, Chatia, Madanpura, and Chauk. Ttitibh&ri
and Kotibh&r are importaut on other than commercial grounds. The southern
part of the parganah is fairly provided with communications. Four name-
tailed roads run northwards to meet and end at Nichlaval, whilst a fifth
crosses three of them in a westerly direction.
In the fourteenth century the principality of Bfitwal, with its capital at
„. the foot of the Nepal hills, was founded by an adventurer
History. . . . „,; „,, J
of uncertain origin. This Makhund Singh, or his des-
cendants, gradually seized the whole of Biniyakpur and Tilpur from the Tha-
rfis. It is probable that before the end of the sixteenth century Tilpur had
been separated from the rest of this petty kingdom, as a fief for younger sons.
The parganah is at all events mentioned as a distinct sub-division in Akbar's
Institutes (1596), which adds that there is a brick castle at Tilpur ; but no town
or village thus called remains. The name of Tilak was perhaps common in the
Butwal family. For after a prince so named Tilpur is said to have been called ;
and with another prince so named the parganah is connected in the beginning
of the eighteenth century. This Tilak II. had held Tilpur as a fief from his
cousin, the raja of Bfitwal ; but resenting another's suzerainty, he declared
himself an independent raja. Calling in the aid of the warlike hucksters known
as Banjaras, he for long resisted the power of Bfitwal* But the internecine
conflict led probably to arrears of revenue. About 1750 the naw&b of Oudh, the
nominal ruler of the district, sent a large force to realize the land-tax. That
force first defeated Tilak Sen's son, and afterwards came to terms with the
Butwal raja. In accordance with those terms, or by right of the sword, the
latter re-annexed Tilpur.
Ceded to the English in 1801, Tilpur was a few years afterwards annexed
by the Nepalese, who, having defeated the rija of Butwal, chose to consider it
asstill a part of his domains. The Nepalese war followed, and theNepalese
themselves disappeared. In the course of the campaign, however, Nichlaval and
other places suffered from their incursions. After the great rebellion (1857-
58) a northern strip of the parganah was granted to their descendants in
reward for friendly services against the rebels. Amongst those rebels was the rdja
of Bfitwal, whose family had for two generations been settled at Nichlaval.
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550 GORAKHPUB.
Bis estates were confiscated and his title attainted. Since it became a British
possession Tilpur has been assessed with the following land-revenues :— Rs. 9,803
in 1803 ;Rs. 9,821 in 1806; Rs 7,646 in 1809; Rs. 11,470 in 1813;
Rs. 41,501 in 1840 ; and Rs. 41,888 in 1865. The increase which has taken
place since the last date is chiefly dne to the fact that the demands then
assessed were in many cases progressive.
TtfTlBH^nr, a village in the extreme northern corner of the parganah
just described, adjoins the frontiers of Nep&l and parganah Bin&yakpur. Situ-
ated on the banks of the Jharrei river in tappa Sukarhari, it lies 57 miles north
north-east of Gorakhpur. It is far distant from any road, and its population
was in 1872 limited to 1,468 persons. But Tiitibhari is noticeable as the
site of a third-class police-station and district post-office.
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STATISTICAL,
DESCRIPTIVE, AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT .
OF THB
BASTI DISTRICT.
COMPILED
Bt
H. 0. CONYBBARE, B.C.S.,
AND 1DITEP BT
B. T. ATKINSON, BA., B.C.S.,
Fellow of the Boyal Geographical Society.
ALLAHABAD
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDH GO V EBH MB K I f BESS
"'• 18 81*.
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I
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1
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STATISTICAL, DESCRIPTIVE, AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
OF THE
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES.
BASTI DISTRICT.
CONTENTS.
Part I.— Geographical and Descriptive.
page.
Boundaries, area, &c. .♦. ... 558
Administrative sub-divisions ... ... 16.
Tahsfls and parganas ... ... 553
Tappas ... ..» ... ... 565
District staff ... ... ... 556
Physical geography and scenery ... ib.
Woodlands ... ... ... ... 557
The three tracts of the district ••• 658
Soils ... ... ... ... ib.
Saline efflorescence, ravines ... ... 560
Water-level ... ••• ... ... ib.
Rivers. Systems of the Rapti, Kuana,
and Ghagra ... ... ... 56]
Adjustment of riparian disputes ... 567
The rivers as irrigators ... ... ib.
Lakes and swamps , .. ... ... 668
Communications ... ... ... 669
Table of distances ... ... ... 571
Meteorology and climate ... ... ib.
Part II— Products, Animal, Vbob-
TABLB, AND MlNBRAL.
Fauna ... ... ... ... 574
Domestic animals,ponies,horned cattle,&c. i 6.
Cattle disease, ... 576
Wild animals ... ... ... ib.
Reptiles ... ... ... ... 577
Birds and bird trade .♦• ••• ... 578
Fishes and fisheries ... ... ... 579
Price of timber ... ... ... 586
Crops ... ... ... ... 587
Rice and other growths ~. ... 588
Outturn ... ... ... ... 591
Agricultural processes, ploughing ... 592
Irrigation ... ... ... ... 694
Manuring ... ... ... ... 596
Other agricultural processes ... ... 598
Nomenclature of fields ... ... 599
Vegetable products of the wood and la-
goons ... ... ... ... 600
Droughts ... ... ... ... 602
Minerals, nodular limestone and lime ... 608
Bricks, brick-dust and tiles ... ... 609
Part III.— Inhabitants, Institutions,
,asd History.
Page.
Population ... ... ... 610
btatistics ... ... ... 614
Castes and tribes ... ... ... ib.
Occupations ... ... ... 639
Emigration ... ... ... 641
Towns and villages ... ... ib.
Dwellings and religious buildings ... ib.
Clothing... ... ... ... 6 #3
Food ... ... ... ... 646
Marriage Customs... ... .. 648
Religion Christianity and Muhammad-
an ism ... ... „ ... 650
Literature and language ... ... 657
Education ... ... ... 658
Post-office ... ... ... 659
Police ... ... ... ... 660
Infanticide ... ... ... 661
Jail ... ... ... ... 666
Fiscal history ... ... ... 667
Revenue collections and instalments, 668
Proprietary tenures ... ... 669
Leading landed families ... ... 672
Alienations ... ... ... 683
Cultivators, their castes „» ... 383
Average size of holdings ... ... 686
Halbandi or plough tenures M. ib.
Rents and enhancements of rent ... 687-683
Manorial cesses ... ... ... 688
Condition of the agricultural classes, 689
Serf ploughmen ... ... ... 691
Wages and prices ... M. ... 692 to 694
Loans and interest ... ... 694
Manufactures and trade *-. ... 695-696
Internal trade : Markets and fairs ... 705
Weights and measures ... ... 706
District receipts and expenditure ... 708
House-tax, towns ... ... ... 709
Income and license taxes ... ... ib.
Excise and stamps ... ... 710
Registration receipts ... ... 711
Judicial charges ... ... ... ibm
Medical charges and sanitary statistics ib.
Native medicine ... ... -, 713
History ... ... „, .„ 794
Gazlttrbr or thk district, page
71
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552 BOUNDARIES, AREA, &0.
Basti,1 a district of the Benares Division, is for 38 miles on the north-
. . . north-east bounded by the kingdom of Nepal 5 for 98 miles
Boundaries, area, &c. J ° r
on the west-north-west by the Gonda district ; for 62 miles
on the sonth-sonth-west by the Ghagra river, which severs it from the district
of Faizabad ; and for 95 miles on the east by the Gorakhpur district. For east
might, perhaps, be written east by south ; but for purposes of simplicity wo
need hardly recognize more than sixteen points of the compass. The British
tahsils which march with Basti are Utraula and Begamganj of Gonda ; Faiza-
bad and Akbarpur of Faizabad ; and Bdnsgaon, Gorakhpur, and Mahar&jganj
of Gorakhpur.
The district extends from 26° 23' 0* to 27° 30' 0* north latitude, and
from 82° 17' 0" to 83° 19' 30* east longitude. Its total area by the latest
official statement2 was 1,784,049 acres, or something over 2,787£ square
miles. Basti is, therefore, over 1 3 square miles larger than Lincolnshire.
Its length from north to south varies between 52 and 68, with a mean
of 60 miles ; its breadth from east to west between 28 and 52 miles, with a
mean of 40. The number of villages is returned as 7,524. The population,
1,416,90$ in 1865, had in 1872 risen to 1,472,994, or about 528 persons to
the square mile. But of both area and population further details will be given
in part III. of this notice.
For purposes of administration, general and fiscal, Basti is divided into 3
Administrative tahsils or sub-collectorates, over which are distributed 8 par-
Bttb-dimions. ganas or baronies. Here, as in Gorakhpur, we note the un-
usual feature of parganahs lying partly in one and partly in another tahsil.
But though possessing separate records the parganahs are as administrative units
almost obsolete. The divisions of civil and criminal justice are respectively the
petty judgeship ( munsifi ) and the police-circle ( thdna ). Of the former there aro
3, whereof one, B£nsg6on, is shared with the Gorakhpur district ; of tho
latter there are 26. 3But the following synopsis will show at a glance tho
various divisions, their equivalents at the close of the sixteenth century, and
their modern land-revenue, area, and population*
1The principal materials for this notice hare been the settlement reports of Messrs. IT.
leP. Wynne, as., H.Wilson, o s., and P. J White, 1861-65; Martin's (Buchanan's) Easter*
India, 1838 ; and the notes of Messrs. P. Wigram, o. s., and J. B. Thomson, c. s. Bat besides
these should be mentioned the census reports of 1872 and former years ; the annual reports of
the various Government Departments ; the records of the Board of Revenue, and brief memo-
randa by different officers now or formerly posted in tbo district. References to other autho-
rities, such as Elliot's Races and Historians, or Sherring's Caste*, will be found in the text or foot-
notes. The British districts which surround Basti on three sides have all been described In the
Gazetteers of Oudh and the North-Wcstern Provinces. From one of those districts, Gorakh-
pur, Basti was severed in 1865 only. It follows, therefore, that the scope of this notice is con-
siderably lessened, and that the Basti monograph will, in many respects, be little more than an
appendix to that of Gorakhpur. ^Government Circular No. 70A., dated 4th July, 187a.
'This estimate excludes three outposts or stations of the fourth class. But it includes
two which, before the end of the current financial year (1880-81), will be raised from the fourth
Class to the third. -
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•
BASTI.
553
i
Included
Land
revenue
At pa in
1878.
Total
In the
Tahsfl,
Parganah.
by Akbar'a
(exclud-
Square
popula-
police ju-
[a the mun-
Institutes
ing ces-
miles.
Acres.
tion in
risdiction
sifi of—
( 1569) in—
ses) in
1878-79.
1872.
of—
Ba.
Doraaria-
1. Bas (xlpur
Basfil-
1,68,191
330
75
164,101
Domar i 6-
1
g»uj.
Ghaua,
pur Qhau8.
ganj and
Chhapia.
i
ft ...
2. Batanpnr
B4nsi I.
(western por-
tion).
Batan p u r-
Magha r
and Ka-
tahla.
1,12,155
251
90
94,946
Dhebarua,
Misrauli,
and Ti-
lokpur.
i
1
rBansL
Bansi
Batanpnr Bansi
Ditto ...
2,26,076
560
467
266,658
Ch i I ia,
i
II., (eastern
Bansi,
portion).
tfeka,and
Bankata.
1
o •••
3. Binayakpur,
Biniy a k-
pur.
17,470
48
844
21,023
Lautan ...
J
IIaraia(late
4. Amorha ...
Amorha or
1,62,070
267
576
174,709
Captain.
1
Captain •
Amodh.
Mnj,
ganj),
Paikaulia,
Chhaoni,
and Pa-
rasr a m-
pur.
>»
5. Auranpabad
Nagar I.
(western por-
tion).
6. Mansurnagar
Bihlapara,-
54,341
115
172
66,110
Cap t a i n-
>>
Mandwa...
56,792
112
268
64,403
Paikaulia,
Basti I.,
• Basti.
(western por-
tion).
Basti ...
Auranga bad-
Nag aril,
(eastern por-
tion).
Bihlapara,
56,401
94
592
58,372
KalwSri (at
present a
mere out
post.) ...
» •••
Mansfirnag a r,
Basti II.
(eastern por-
tion).
Mandwa...
98,185
171
1
101,490
Basti and
Sonaha...
»» ...
7. Mahanli I.
(western por-
tion).
8. Has an pur
Mahanli ...
74,763
170
691
93,140
Gaeghat ...
J
>» •••
Ratanp u r-
53,989
109
685
57,325
Budbaul i,
Basti and
Magbar I.
Maghar.
Buddha -
Bansi.1
(western por-
band.
\
tion).
Kbalilabad
M a h a o 1 i II.
(eastern por-
tion).
Mahauli .-
93,859
212
52
111,709
Mahauli ...
Basti and
Bansgaon1
\
t) •••
Hasan pur-Mag-
har II. (raid*
die portion).
Batan pur
Magbar.
1,60,779
342
386
196,008
Dbanghat -
to, Du-
dh&ra,
Basti and
Bansi.8
1
\
Menh d a-
wal, and
Khalila-
Total ...
...
18,19,470
bad.
thoRnnai mi
inftifl.&llthe
2,787
8C9'1,472,994
udSKX to the B4n8gfcm instil; the rem»ind« .to the ' »-*« «««J
»Tappa» Menbdawal, Bakhir., Gopalpur, Majaora, Sakra and Belhar belong to the Uan«
mansifi, the rest to the munsifi uf Basti.
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554 , ADMINISTRATIVE SUBDIVISIONS.
By dropping the suffixes and prefixes with which a passion for long
names has adorned so many parganahs, we shall save both type &nd confusion.
Throughout this notice, therefore, let Basulpur-Gbans appear as Basfilpur
simply ; Batan pur-Ban si as B&nsi ; Aurangabad-Nagar as Nagar ; Mansnr-
nagar-Basti as Basti ; and Hasanpur-Maghar as Maghar. Here, as in Gorakh-
pur, the parganah divisions often coincide roughly with the limits of ancient
principalities like Amorha, B&nsi, and Nagar. But of this enough will be said
in the Gazetteer articles on the parganahs themselves. Before quitting the
second column of the table we need only mention that eastern portions of
Binayakpur and Maghar will be found in the Gorakhpnr district.
On the compilation of Akbar*8 Institutes ( 1596 ) Basti formed part of the
Gorakhpur and Avadh divisions ( sarkdr ) of the Oudh or Avadh province
( suba ). In the Gorakhpur di\ ision and district ( dasMr ) were included parganahs
Rasiilpur-Ghaus, Katahla, Bin&yakpur, Bihlapara, Mahauli, Mandwa and
Batanpur-Maghar ; in the Haveli Avadh district of the Avadh division par-
ganah Amorha. Katahla was B&nsi north of the R6pti. The old name became
extinct when the Sarnet Baja of Bfinsi defeated, and slew the Bhar or Polankhi1
Raja of Katahla. B&nsi south of the R6pti was called Ratanpur, and included,
as above shown, in the same parganah as Maghar. So far we hare been dealing
with certainties. But whether Rihlapara and Nagar are identical is doubtful.
The identification was suggested by Mr. Reade,2 who may have been quite as
wrong as when he made Amorha coincide with a lost sixteenth century parganah
called Mandla. All the copies of the Institutes inspected by Sir Henry Elliot
give Kihlapara, and Mr. Reade seems to have been the first who substituted an
R for the K.
When ceded by Oudh to the British ( 1801 ) all these parganahs were
included in the Gorakhpur district; and in Gorakhpur they remained until 1864-
65, when severed to constitute the existing district of Basti. Some account of
their vicissitudes during the interval will be found in the Gorakhpur notice ; 3
but since their separation they have undergone no important changes of area.
Nor have they discarded those ancient tappa sub-divisions whose multitude was
the geographical peculiarity of the united district.
Above 3 have been given some of Mr. E. B. Alexander's speculations as
to the origin of tappas. He suggests that these tracts represent the subordi-
nate fiefs into which the old Hindu raj or principality was divided. But
whether Hindu or not in origin, in name they are probably Muslim. In Persia
tappa means a small hill ; but the word is found also in Afghanist&n and other
1 Buchanan thinks that this prince belonged to the former tribe; some informants of Mr.
Wynne placed hiin in the latter. * Mr. K. A. Reade, C. B., was successively Collector
of Gorakhpur-Ba ti, Commissioner of Gorakhpur, and Senior Member of the Board of
Revenue. He is the author of a work on the Inferior Casta of the Nortli-W esttrn Provinces,
* Supra, pp. 874-76. 'pp. 277-78.
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BASTI.
555
parts of Central Asia. x It is easy to imagine that the hill gave its name to
the village stronghold which crowned it, and the village stronghold to the sur-
rounding lands. But it is only fair to add that to the Persian of India — the
French of Stratford-atte-Bowe — the word is unknown. Both Wilson and
Forbes class it as Hindi. In Basti there are 130 tappas, distributed as
follows over the different parganahs and tabsils :—
Tahstt.
Parganak
DomabiI-
OAWJ.
Rasulpur.
99
»
9i
»>
99
!•
99
»
99
»t
91
>»
99
99
Bans*.
99
j»
99
*»
>»
>#
91
»9
99
>»
99
91
99
»9
ft
99
>t
99
99
Bivsi.
99
91
»
99
»
99
»
99
99
91
>»
91
tf
99
99
99
»
99
w
99
>»
99
j»
99
»
91
99
99
99
99
99
it
•9
f>
99
9»
t»
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
n
99
99
99
99
99
91
99
99
t*
Tappa.
TahsiL
Parganak.
Tappa.
1. Awainia.
Banni (con-
Binayakpur.
4C.
Bhatiopar.
cluded.)
99
50.
Nitwal or Nctwar.
?. Karhi.
Ha bah.
Amorba.
61.
Bangawau.
3. Halaur.
9»
9«
52.
Belwa.
4 Sagara.
9>
99
53.
Dubaulia.
5. Chhapia.
9)
99
54.
Purena.
6. A dam pur.
99
9»
55.
Ramgarh.
7. Bhanpur.
99
91
56.
Sikandarpur.
8. Sehari.
99
Nagar.
67.
Ganeshpur.
9. Dhebarua.
91
99
58.
Khnriar.
10. Ehaialuii.
99
99
59.
Manwarpara.
11. Dewaichpar.
99
99
60.
Nawai.
13. Khankot.
99
99
61.
U'ii.
18. Kop.
»»
Basti.
62.
Hardi.
14. Budhi.
99
99
63.
Katanpur.
15. Hir.
9*
99
64.
Shiupur.
16. Kot.
99
9
65.
Atroh
17. Khuniaon.
Basti.
Nagar.
66.
Dubaktira.
18. Kbira
tt
99
67.
Haveli-Nagar.
19. Barikpar.
99
9»
68.
Kanaila.
20. Banjaraha
99
99
69.
Kalwtri.
21. Birdpuror Ghos.
99
99
70.
Eurba.
22. Aikhin.
)9
99
71.
filai.
23. Barhon.
19
t»
72.
Pipra.
24. Dabra.
>»
Baati
73.
Deoraon.
25. Siriraot.
99
99
74.
Haveli.
26. Nandapar.
99
99
75.
Eotbila.
27. Tharauli.
tf
99
76.
Karar.
28. Gharwaspar.
•>
99
77.
Umra,
29. Bargadoa.
9»
99
78.
Pandia.
SO. Sottas.
99
MabauH.
79.
B-irg4on-(or Badg-
31. Suhila.
aon) Pagar.
39. tfntapar.
9f
99
80.
Cbarkaila.
33. Nagwa.
99
>9
81.
Kapri-Mahsoo.
34. Naksauli.
99
99
8*.
Dihi.
35. Kondri.
99
99
83.
Jagannatbpur.
36. Hata.
99
99
64.
Kudarhu,
37. pachahr.
99
19
85.
Koraon.
38. Chaur.
99
99
86.
Kabra.
39. Chhattfei.
99
99
87.
Mahtauli.
40. Beson or Biaogaon
99
9»
88.
Subakhri.
41. BMr.
99
Maghar.
89.
Banskhor.
42. Fatharhat.
99
99
90.
Gusiari.
43. Patna-Hasanpur.
99
99
91.
Rudhauli
44. Gulaur.
KfULfLA-
99
92.
Amanabai.
45. Khesraha.
BAO.
46. Kudaran.
99
99
93.
Belhar.
47. A soar.
99
99
94.
Bakucbi,
48. Masna.
99
99
95.
Bakhira.
1More than one place bearing this suffix has acquired notoriety during the late Russo-Tnrkuman
campaign. Such is Geuk-Tepe (Gauk-tappa), which may, perhaps, be translated Blue-hill.
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556
DISTRICT STAFF.
Tahstl.
Parpanah.
KoALtLA-
BAD.
(continued).
Maghar
(continued).
>?
it
»»
•»
»
»»
>>
»•
»
•»
>»
»»
»
l»
i»
l»
tt
»»
n
l»
i»
•I
Mahauli.
»»
•»
»
. »»
•»
»f
Tappa.
96. Churaib.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
101.
103.
104.
104.
106.
107.
108,
109.
100.
111.
112.
Dewapar.
South Haveli.
G opal pur.
Kaiiba or Maghar.
Menhdftwal.
Majanra.
Ujiar.
IJn.
Phulethn.
Rampur-Paili.
Sakra or Sagra.
UtrawaL
Ajson.
Bargaon. (or
B-idgaon) East.
Bankat
Aoradanr.
Tahiti.
Farganah.
Khalila-
BAD —
(concluded,)
Mahaoli
(concluded)
»»
it
»i
F»
»»
H
»»
w
»»
»
»i
»
n
»»
*9
»•
>»
M
l>
»l
II
»»
»•
»
n
>»
n
1'
n
M
»»
>»
ti
l»
Tappa.
IIS. Busurgwar.
114. Chandraoti.
116. DeokallL
116. Pidfiipnr.
117. Kuchri.
118. Karri.
119. Karsand.
190. Mindar.
121. Mahthf.
12*2. Muhabra.
123. Mar ad pur.
124. Naudaor.
1«5. Simrf.
126. Strsi.
127 Sathara.
128 Tama.
1*29. Taraf-Belghatia
130. Taryapar.
District staff.
Having now shown the revenue, criminal, and civil jurisdictions into
which the district is divided, let us briefly notice the staff
hy which those jurisdictions are worked. The revenue and
criminal courts are those of the magistrate-collector, his two covenanted
subalterns, his deputy, and his five tahsildars. An European honorary
magistrate has oriminal powers in tahsil Khalilabad. The only civil courts
are those of the three munsifs. The judge of Gorakhpur tries cases on com-
mittal from the magistrates, and on appeal from both magistrates and munsifs.
The principal district officials remaining to be mentioned are the civil surgeon,
the district engineer,1 the district superintendent of police, the sub-deputy opium
a<rent and his two assistants, the deputy-inspector of schools, and the postmaster.
It may be noted that the "deputy opium agent" is the magistrate-collector, the
prefect of the district. But from interference with the " sub-deputy " he in
practice abstains.
Basti may be defined as a well-watered and well-wooded alluvial plain,
Physical geogra- doping almost imperceptibly towards the south-east Hills
phy and scenery. ^ has none. Though some 450 miles distant from the
nearest breakers of the Bengal Bay, it has a mean height above the sea of 326
feet only. The elevations of the dozen Great Trigonometrical Survey stations
Vary from but 353 to 302 feet The district then is flat, so flat that its many
streams and lakes cannot be seen from any distance. But of the Basti scenery
as of most sceneries, it may be said that it is at times not without a beauty of its
1 The Gorakhpur engineer is at present (1880-81) in charge of the district. Bat Haiti had
until quite Lately an engineer of its own, and is not likely to remain much longer without one.
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BASTI.
557
Woodlands.
own. There is a loveliness of colour as well as of form ; and under the cloud-
flecked sunlight of a day in the rains the gaze is refreshed by a verdure of many
tints. At the close of the rains, again, the untrodden snows of the Himalaya
somtimes lend a grand background to a northward view. But these aro
mere transient beauties, which vanish when the crops are cut and the haze of
summer fills the air. It is perhaps in the many clumps of timber that the
landscape finds its one stable element of the picturesque. Large groves of the
evergreen mango abound all over the district. Feathery
bambus may be seen growing round most of tho villages.
Mahua trees, with their mouse-odoured white flowers, are plentiful ; but most
plentiful on the banks of the Kuftnaand the Xmi, in the middle of the district.
Here they are clearly the survivors of the forest which once almost covered Basti.
Their liquor-yielding virtues saved them when the ground was reclaimed for
Cultivation. In the north may be found a few other remnants of ancient
woodland; but no valuable timber has been left. During the past fifty years
forest and waste land have been cleared to an enormous extent. No less than
100,153 acres have been bestowed or leased under the jungle-grant rules ;l and
of this area the bulk has been reclaimed. No waste-land now remains at the
disposal of Government. And this statement implies also that there are no forests
reserved by Government itself.
The following table shows the more important statistics concerning the
more important jungle-grants, those, that is, which have an area of over 3,000
acres: —
Parganah.
Name
of
grant.
Area in To whom
When
By whom now
At what term
acres.
granted.
granted
held.
expiring.
Binsi, tnppa
Ghos
AUdapur
9,852
Mr. T. Dickens,
1838
Mr. J. Bridgman,
50 years.
Ditto
Birdpar
29,316
Messrs. W. Gib-
bon & J. Clock.
1840
Mr.W. Peppe and
others.
Ditto.
Ditto
Neora
10,309
Mr. T. Dickens,
Ditto
Mr. J. Bridgman,
(
Ditto.
No deeds
Do., tappa Barik-
Katahla
3,156
Mr. J. H. Forbes,
Ditto
Mr. C. Wallace <
forthcoming
par.
i
to show.
i J>o.t tappa Unta-
Sarauli
5,189
Mrs. S.A.Bridg.
Ditto
Mr. J. Bridgman
60 years.
1 par.
man.
Do., tappa Sohas
Sohas
3,079
Manulal
1839
Balgovind Lai,
Ditto.
Binayakpur, tap-
Dtilha
3,619
Messrs. W. and H.
1840
Mr. W. Gibbon,
Ditto.
pa Bhatinpar.
Gibbon.
Basti, tappa Hardi
Basti
13,024
Mr. C. Hamilton,
Ditto
Heirs of Mr W.
Cooke (his widow
Ditto.
and others).
Si
*pra, pp. 286-288,
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558 THE THREE TRACTS OF BASTI.
Though homogeneous in its flatness and its general moisture, the district is
The district is really comPosed of three rather heterogeneous belts. The
divided into three first is that extending southwards from the Nepal frontier to
the RApti. About twenty miles north of that frontier runs
the first range of the lower Himalaya ; and this tract is an integral part of the
great sub-montane marsh called the Tar&i. In Basti it is about a score miles
broad. Being exposed to a heavy rainfall, and flooded by the freshets of hill-
streams, it is well-adapted to the cultivation of rice. This, indeed, is its staple crop.
Much of it is too swampy to produce any other growth, and much was but lately
cleared of jungle. The appearance of the inhabitants is sallow and aguish.
But when once it reaches the great catchwater drain of the R£pti, the
swampiness perforce ends. The second or central belt, between that river and
the Ku&na, is far less paludinous. The rainfall is smaller, the inundations are
less frequent and serious. Moisture escapes by the Xini and other streams,
besides those which bound the tract Health improves. Rice is still the prin-
cipal growth ; but wheat and other cereals are fairly plentiful. The breadth of
this belt varies from 12 miles on the west to 24 on the east
The third or southern belt, that bounded by the Ku&na and Ghagra, differs
much from both its northern parallels. Parts of this also are marshy ; this also
is traversed by many small streams. But by those streams the rainfall escapes
more rapidly ; exoept in the south eastern corner, where the Kudna is joined by
a channel of the Ghagra, inundations are rare ; and the soil is much sandier,
much drier. Rice is no longer the chief crop ; and for the ordinary cereals
irrigation is required. The tract ranges in breadth from 28 miles on the west
to 12 on the east.
What strata underlie the deep alluvial crust of the district is unknown ;
but it is consoling to know that the question is one of little
present importance. The surface itself seems a fluviatile or
estuarine formation of comparatively modern origin. Its soils are much the
same as those described in the Gorakhpur notice.1 The same soil may bear
different names according as its ingredients or its situation is considered ; and
while revenue records adopt the nomenclature by composition, the people prefer
that by position.
By composition soils are doras or loamy ; mattiydr or clayey ; balua or
Classed according to sandy ; and bhdt or limey clay. Owing to the rather disoon-
natural composition. nected nature of the Gorakhpur-Basti land-assessment, no
general estimate of the space filled by each of these varieties is forthcoming.3
But it is believed that they have here been named in the order of predominance.
1 Pp. 284-85. * In three parganahs only, Rasulpur, Nagar and Basti, did the settlement
report* attempt any classification of soils. And even in these the classification was not uniform.
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, THB THREE TBAOTS OP EASTI. 559
Doras or loam is a compound of sand and clay, chiefly the former. It is
Doras, mattiydr, the d&rnat, rausliy and siwdi of other traots in these pro-
batua, and bhdt. vinces ; and owing to its absorbent power and softness, is
considered the best of soils. On it are grown all crops except rice. Mattiydr,
on the other hand, produces fine rice, while its outturn of spring crops is inferior
in quantity and quality. In this soil the clay easily predominates over the
sand ; in balua, elsewhere called Wltir, the predominance of the sand is equally
unmistakeable. Even with the aid of manure and irrigation balua yields but
poor crops of the poorer grains. Bhdt is found in the low basins of rivers, and
chiefly of northern rivers. Plentiful in parganah Rasfilpur, it is still commoner
in parganahs Binayakpnr and Bansi. Its favourite localities are, in fact, the
banks of the R&pti and of its numerous discarded channels, as, fur instance, in
tappas Awainia, Bh&tinp&r, Nitwal, Kundri, Chhattisi, Bbir, and Patharhat. It
produces th« most luxuriant wheat and other spring1 crops, which are raised
with the least possible outlay ; for, being generally subject to flooding in the
rains, bhdt requires no irrigation. Though for the same reason it bears no
autumn crop, it is deemed of greater value than lands which return two har-
vests yearly.
The distinction between doras and inattiyar is often very doubtful. In
_ . Rasulpur Mr. Wynne found that if specimens of both soils
Distinction be- , . , , . . , i ,.«.
tweeu the first tiro were dried, pulverized, and again moistened, the differenco
some uies ou u. between them was "absolutely inappreciable." The fact
seems to be that the settlement surveyors here classed as mattiyir lands cropped
in autumn, and as doras lands cropped in spring. Such a distinction
would of course depend, not on the intrinsic constitution of the soils, but on
their greater elevation and depression ; on their capacity, that is, for retaining
a smaller or larger proportion of moisture. The land classed as doras, and
therefore as of the best quality, was often of the worst He had never, he
added, heard the natives use the terms doras and mattiyar except in connection
with the Government demand.
To tho people, indeed, the only familiar classification is that by position.
Soils classed by Soils are distinguished according to their relative situa-
positiun. j.jon wita regarci to village sites or the beds of rivers.
Thus, every village is theoretically circled into three concentric belts, the
goendygwaind or il near," surrounding the homestead; the miydna1 or u middle,"
surrounding the gcend ; and the pallu or " distant," surrounding the miydna. «
Here, as in the Diiab, where the same system prevails under a different nomencla-
*In the records of the earlier British assessments this iniyina zone is sometimes called autaU
72
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660 BASTI.
ture, an obvious reason can be given for the oblivion of natural differences.
The inherent character of the soil has been lost in its artificial advantages.
The most highly cultivated land is the best, irrespective of its original nature.
The goend is the most manured, the miy&na is the slightly manured zone.
The pallu, perhaps, is never manured at all ; but often contains some of those
much-prized clay lands which are fit for the growth of winter rice (jarhan ).
When its position with regard to the bed of a river is considered,
the soil may be either upland ( hangar ) or lowland ( kach&r, khddir). The up-
lands are the sandy ridges of watersheds ; and wheu irrigated Will produce
spring crops. The lowlands occupy the river basins, and consist of late alia •
vial deposits. The munjha or sandy deposits of the Ghigra are fit for little
but the growth of thatching grass and tamarisk (jhau ) ; but the silt left by
the Hapti often consists of the fine moist bhat above described. The banks
of some of the smaller streams present long stretches of hard impracticable
soil, which is often completely sterilized by saline efflorescence ( reh ). Such
tracts and the occasional but rare patches of eimilar ground inland are call-
ed dhiis when simply hard and impracticable; when subject to saline efflores-
Saline efflorescence scence, rihdi ( reh-hai ) or faar. Such efflorescence is in
and ravines. Basti, however, a rather uncommon phenomenon. Even in
the Domariiganj and B6nsi tahsils, where it seems to be commonest, no tisar
plain of any size could be discovered. The efflorescing salt is collected by
washermen and makers of glass ornaments. Under the name of salt-earth
flowers ( rehar matti ka pMl ) it was in Buchanan's time exported somewhat
largely to the east. % A few ravines may be found on the edges of rivers ; but
no large area is rendered barren by a net-work of such
Cultivable area. . * ~c ., . . , »«jj -i
erosions. \jt the total area, 2,344 square miles are return-
ed as cultivable, and of these but 516 are uncultivated.1
Water is of course nearer the surface in the lowlands than in the
uplands ; but for any generalization as to its average depth
throughout the district, statistics are unluckily wanting.
The distance from the surface must be slightest in the moist north-Rfipti coun-
try ; but the settlement reports and Mr. S win ton's Manual confine their
figures to the central and southern parganahs. Let us first examine tha
returns of the former essays. The total depth of a well in Rasiilpur is given
as from 18 to 19 J feet ; and allowance being made for at least a j*ard of water,
the distance from the surface must here be between 15 and 16£ feet. In
1 N.-W. P. and Oudh Administration Report, 1878-79.
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soils. 561
Basti the average depth of wells is 14£ feet, and the distance from the water
to the mouth 9g. The corresponding figures, for Maghar are 19 J2 and 13J
respectively ; for Nagar 25TV8 and 21}£. At Rudhauli in Maghar Mr. Swin-
ton discovered a well whose water lay hut 5£ feet from the surface. The only
parganah, however, in which his statistics have not been superseded by those of
the settlement reports is Amorha. Sounding individual wells in those villages,
he found the distance from the mouth at Datnagar 8, at Amorha 9, and at
Captainganj 12 feet. By striking a rough average for the central and south-
ern parganahs, Mr. J. B. Thomson obtains a water-level of 18 feet from the
surface.
i
The more important of the Basti streams have already received passing
mention : but the time has come to describe in detail both
Rivers.
these and the rest. The drainage line of course follows
what has been mentioned as the general slope of the country ; and lies there-
fore from north-west to south-east. The drainage systems may be reduced to
three — those of the RApti, of the KuAna,and of that Qhagra which in Gorakh-
pur receives both.
Like the great river of Burma, the Btipti derives its name from that
„ . Iriivati to whom legend assigns its formation. Iravati, or the
System of the Rapti. XTr , , , , , , T ,
Watery, was the cloud elephant on which rode Indra, god
of thunder. But the Rapti is not, like the Irawaddy, a snow-fed stream.
Bising in the Nepalese lower ranges, flowing westwards, and afterwards dou-
bling back through Bahraich and Gonda, it touches this district at Singarjot
in Rasulpur ( latitude 27° 18' north, longitude 82° 32' east). After running
in a southerly direction for about ten miles, and forming so far the western
boundary of Basti, it turns and wit?ds east-south-eastwards across the whole
district, leaving.it at Karmaiui-gh6t in Maghar (latitude 27° 1' north, longi-
tude 83° lfef east). Thence it enters Gorakhpur, in which it finally joins
the Gh&gra. A peculiarity of this river is that throughout Basti it has two dis-
tinct channels, both full during the rains, but one almost dry at other seasons.1
The old channel, or Budhi R&pti, enters the district about seven miles north of
the modern bed. The distance between them increases to about ten miles before
they once more approach each other. They were formerly about four miles
1 By a mistake io addition, or a clerical error, the settlement report makes this figure 6
yards 1 foot 10 inches, or 19 * feet. * 26 J feet in settlement report, whose arithmetic or
printing is, however, at fault. s Thus Mr. Wigram. But the two channels are now
more distinct than the Burhpanga and the Ganges. The one is not an offshoot of the other,
t hough it may | erbaps flow in that other's discarded bed.
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562 BASTI.
apart at B&nsi, re-uniting close to Karmaini-ghat. Such, at least, was the
case when the district was surveyed in 1837-3<5. But since then a fresh
change has occurred. At Bansi the R&pti forced its way north, and following
a depression, which was probably another ancient channel, joined the Budhi
B&pti. From this point, therefore, the southern branch is now almost dry. But
in the courses of the rivers which traverse the sub-Hi m&lay an belt of the N.-
W. provinces frequent changes are inevitable. Like the Po and the Mis-
sissipi, these streams in places gradually raise their beds above the level of the
surrounding -country. In times of flood the Ramganga and the R&pti
"spill" over into the nearest depression, carving therein a fresh channel. The
length of the H&pti in this district is 84 miles ; but the distance in a straight
line is only 48. Its two channels form a great catchwater drain which
intercepts all streams from the north. The principal of these in eastward
order are the following : —
The Xrra, which issues from the hills, divides the Nep&lese from the
Oudh Tar&i, forms for about seven miles the boundary
between this district and Gonda, and at length joins the
the Budhi R&pti.
The Awinda, the Sarohi, the Satohi, and other tributaries of the Budhi
Rapti, which rise in the Nepftlese Tar&i, and traverse the north of Basti for dis-
tances varying from six to nine miles.
The Banganga or Arrow-river, a hill stream which, after a course of about
18 miles in this district, joins the Budhi Rapti at Kakrahi-gbat, some 5 miles
north-east of B&nsi.
The Masdi, the Jamw&r, the Siswa, the Marti and the TilAr, all, save
the last, Tar£i streams, which uniting after a course in British territory of
about 20 miles, form one river called the Kfira.
The Kura itself, which six miles further on falls into the Budhi Rfipti,
and thence to Karmaini-ghat is called the Dhamela.
And the Ghiinghi, a mountain-stream which joins the Dhamela after
forming for many miles the boundary with Oorakhpur.
From the right or southern bank, in Basti itself, no large brooks
The Ami reinforce the Rapti. But the Xmi, which joins it in Gorakh-
pur, is an important affluent on this side. Rising on the
western frontier of the^district, in latitude 27° 7' north, longitude 82°43' east,
near the Basti- Domariaganj road, the Ami flows south-eastwards ; and after a
course of about 44 miles quits Basti to join the Rapti in Gorakhpur.
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RIVERS. 563
The principal places on the the banks of the Rapti are the tahsil capitals
Domariaganj and Bansi, and the grain marts Bitharia, Gaora, and
Tikar. Flowing through a sandy or other soft alluvial soil, this rirer is
somewhat capricious in its choice of a bed. The two existing channels
are by no means the only channels visible. "For a long distance on
either side of the river are depressions through which it once flowed ;
and villages which tradition places on its banks are often found many
miles from it. South of Bansi may be seen distinct traces of two old
channels ; whereas the Rapti now runs north of Bansi. But since the
change already mentioned — since the main stream cut across the lowlands
near that town, and reverted to the bed of the Budhi Kdpti — the course has
altered little. The earth of which the banks are composed is, as a rule, too
friable to admit of steepness. In the dry season the river is a series of long
shallow reaches, studded with dry stretches of sand and enclosed between
shelving declivities. Here and there, however, where the earth is firm and
the current strong, steep cliffs may be seen overhanging darkling pools. During
• the rains the river is full to overflowing ; and, where- the
banks are lower than usual, escapes to flood afar the sur-
rounding country. By such inundations are formed many large swamps and
lagoons. At Biinsi^ where B&nganga approaches Kapti, the whole tract between
them is sometimes overlaid with water for six miles.
But the B&nganga is not the only flood-spreading affluent of the R&pti.
Those of the latter's tributaries which do not rise in the hills have their source
in low marshy spots, suoh as ricefields. At length is reached a series of
hollows in which the water seems to stand ; and a defined channel soon after begins
to make its appearance. The bushy banks at last become steep. But in the
monsoon they are quite unable to contain the stream, which sometimes floods
the neighbourhood for days. The amount of silt thus de-
Their deposits. . , ' . . .
posited is m any single year inappreciable ; but during a
long course of years has in places had a marked effect in raising the level of
the country. After an experience of more than two decades in the district,
the planter Mr. Pepp^ noticed that many parts of his estate had acquired
a much higher surface. Land which had of yore been flooded deeply every
year was now high and dry enough to yield a wheat crop. The fertility of
the soil is indeed more often improved than spoilt by the deposits of the BApti's
tributaries. Of Mich streams the steadiest is the Xmi ; for after crossing the
Basti- Bansi road this runs between steep banks which in ordinary years it
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564 BASTI.
never overflows. TLe Xnii and the Jamwar are amongst the few Basti rivers
for which any statistics of velocity or depth are forth-
city of Ami and coming. Where crossed by the Basti-Menhddvval road the
®mmM° Xmi varies in depth from seven feet during the dry to 27
during the rainy season. In the latter its flood velocity is ten feet per second.
The corresponding figures for the Jamwar, taken on the Ban si- Nepal road,
are depth, 4" to *2 feet; velocity, 5.
The Rapti is throughout its course in Basti navigable by boats of 100
maunds.1 During the rains vessels of the same burden
Navigation.
ply on the Banganga, which at other seasons is useless for
navigation. The Kiira and its continuation, the Dhamela, would in flooded
months bear country boats of any size ; but in such months there is little
traffic. On the right bank of the Klin*, and the lands of several villages,
stands the large grain mart of Uska, which collects and distributes the rice of
the surrounding country and the Nep&lese Tarai. This and other grains are
in winter sent down the river to its junction with the Kapti, in boats of 100
maunds ; and, reshipped in larger vessels, pass through Gorakhpur to the
Gh£gra. No other affluents of the Rfipti are navigable.
Across the Rapti there are many private ferries, of which the two prin-
cipal, at Domaringanj and Bansi respectively, belong to the
Crossing on the /.'„,. ' & , . , , r . J , .
Rlptt and its afflu- raja of Bansi. ror these in the dry season are substituted
en Bm bridges of boats. Other ferries, the property of the same
owner, convey the Domariaganj-Nepal road across the Budhi R&pti and the
Arra. The Bansi-Nepal road passes the Banganga and Budhi R&pti just
below their confluence, by the r&ja's ferry in the rains and by ford ih the dry
season. The Jamwar it span3 on a bridge. A branch which leaves this high-
way for Lautan crosses the Kura at Sohds, by bridge of boats in the dry and
ferry in the flooded months. Another branch passes through Rehra-b&z&r
to cross the Kfira by ferry. The Xmi is bridged by roads from Basti to
Domari&ganj, Bdnsi, and Gorakhpur ; while on that from Khalilabad to
Menhd&wal it is crossed by a ferry. The other streams of the Rapti system
are fordable in the dry weather. In the rains the country is so flooded that
traffic ceases to cross them.
We come now to a far less important system, that of the Kuana. Rising
System of the *n Gonda, near Balra\mpur, the Kuana after a course of
Kuina. 28 miles reaches the western corner of parganah Rastilpur
1 i.e. of between 3 and 4 tons.
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SYSTEMS OF THE RAPT! AND THE KUXNA. 565
Hong. 82° 30' E., lat. 27Q 9' N.). Between this and Gonda it forms the
boundary for some 16 miles. Flowing next for about 54 through parganahs
Basti and Mahauli, it enters Gorakhpur ; and some 20 miles lower falls into
the Ghagra. Its depth near Basti varies from 13 feet in the shrunken to 40
in the flooded season ; and its highest recorded velocity during the latter is 7
feet per second. The Kuana receives in Basti many tributaries, bnt none of
any great size. The principal are the Katnehia from the north and the Rawai
and Man war or Manarama from the south. The Man war, again, is replenished
on its right or southern bank by a small stream known as the Ramrekha.
The Kuana is in Basti noted for the firmness of its banks, which in the
upper part of its course, as far as the neighbourhood of the district capital,, are
steep and high. For twenty miles every bend marked in the revenue survey
map of 1837-38 still exists. But when the river has been reinfo/ced at Lalganj
by the Manwar, its bed becomes more shiftily sandy and its banks more sloping.
On those banks scrubwood at tho same time gives plaee to grass. The Manwar
itself has shelving sides. Rising in Gonda. it passes
Its affluents. »
through parganahs Amorha and Nagar, draining the
south of the district. Its low-water depth on the Basti and Tanda road
is 7 feet, its flood depth 22 ; and its velocity when swollen by heavy
rain is 6 feet a second. The other southern tributary, tho Rawai, is a
small stream with steep banks. The Katnehia and its affluent, the Garehia,
are mere channels in the centre of a broad depression. Their sources are
swamps crossed by the B.isti-Bansi road. In the dry season they contain very
little water ; but what remains is carefully embanked for irrigation. Herein
these streams differ from the Rawai, which becomes too dry to furnish the
spring orops with water.
The only noteworthy villages on the banks of the Kuana are the marts
of Mansurnagar, Deorfion, Lnlgani. and Mukhlispur. The
Navigation and . . h \ ' tt. J' l
river is throughout the district navigable. In the dry
season, however, navigation is above Deoraon obstructed not only by occasional
shoals, which prevent boits with a draught of over three feet from passing,
but also by rude bridges on piles, constructed for local and temporary use.
Snags, too, are not uncommon. But below Deoraon the river is used all
the year round by boats of 100 maunds. For vessels of the same burden
the Manwar is in the rains navigable as high as Haraia. Being, however,
narrow and sinuous, it is little navigated, and its banks can boast no large
marts.
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566 BASTI.
v The Kuana is crossed near Basti by a bridge, and at Manstirnagar, Lal-
Croisings on the ganj and MukhlisPur by ferries. The Manwar and Bfitn-
Kuana and its af- rekha are bridged on the road from Basti to Faizabad ; the
former on that from Basti to Tanda. Except in the rains
the Rawai is fordable. The Katnehia and Garehia are bridged on the Basti-
Gorakhpar road. Soon after their junction they are met by that from Basti
to Menhdawal, which crosses them on a pile-bridge.
The third and last river system is that of the Ghigra or Sarju. The name
Sjstem of theGhagra. GhiSra> or more ProPer,y Gbighra, is a corruption of the
Sanskrit onomatopoBia Gharghara. It may, therefore, for
want of some more high-9ounding English equivalent, be translated Gurgle.
The river so-called bounds the whole south-south-western length of the district
from Ajudhya-ghat on the Faizabid to Bel-gh&t on the Gorakhpur frontier.
But of the district drainage this river directly receives almost nothing. Except
in the immediate neighbourhood of its banks, all surplus water is intercepted
by the Manwar or the Kn&na. When the Gh&gra indeed is in flood, it is less
a receiver than a giver of drainage. By overflowing its banks and drowning
the adjoining lowlands, it often does serious damage. In 1870 some unu-
sually heavy floods on the Manwar were explaiued by the fact that the Ghfigra
had from opposite Ajudhya spilt across country into that river. Next year
the Ghagra flooded much land, and destroyed the crops in the south of parga-
nah Mahauli. In one instance, near Sonhan in parganah Mahauli, has been
formed for four miles a deep channel through which some of the Sarju's surplus
waters yearly pass into the Ku£na, making the latter navigable for country
boats of all sizes. This channel now bears the name of the Malda.
The river wanders through a broad sandy bed which shifts from year to
year. The width of the basin between the high firm banks is fully four miles ;
and of this three or four are sometimes occupied by a flooded rapid stream.
In dry weather the river is a mixture of water and sand-banks, the resort of
the u cruel, crafty crocodile." It is then fringed by broad tracts of light sandy
soil> here barren, there bearing a spontaneous crop of tamarisk (jhdo) lushes,
and elsewhere, where a little good silt has settled, cultivated.
Once, though so long since that the date is forgotten, the stream ran on
the norther^ side of the basin. This is clearly shown by the old boats that are
sometimes unearthed there. But the great river changed its course and forced
its way to the extreme south, where it ate into the bank till stopped by the
firmness of the soil. For some years past again the process has been reversed.
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SYSTEM OF THE GHAGRA. 567
Year by year more of the iuhabited lowland which has formed on the northern
side is being cut away. The stream, too, is changing its course, and the deep
current edging northwards.
Schemes for strengthening the northern bank, opposite Ajudhya or
elsewhere, have been considered ; bat such schemes usually end in the
prudent resolve to avoid the costly and dangerous process of playing with
water.
The Ghagra is navigable by country boats of all tonnages. The sand-
Navigation and banks already mentioned are especially numerous in tho
. crossings. western part of its course, from Ajudhya to T&nda ; but
oppose no serious obstacle to navigation. On the northern or Basti side of
the river are situated no large marts. There are ferries at the Rajgh&t or
Royal Landing of Ajudhya, at Teora, Bilahari, Marna, Dalpatpur, Begam-
ganj, Sherwa, Salona, Mahripur, the Rajgh&tof Tanda, Mubarakpur, Phulpur,
Nau rah ni, Main li, Ch ihora, Mansiirginj, and Chandipur. All these crossings,
except that at the Raj ghat of Ajudhya, are managed by the Collector of Basti.
On none of them is a bridge of boats at any season maintained.
On the banks of the Ghagra the rule for the adjustment of boundary dis-
putes between riparian proprietors differs from that in force elsewhere. Here
it has been decided that the deep stream alone shall be the boundary; that
Adjustment of ri it alone shall determine to which district and to which
Parian disputes. village the disputed land belongs. In other parts of Basti
the more general rule prevails. In these too the deep stream is ordinarily the
boundary ; and land gradually thrown up by a river belongs to the estate
whereto it has accrued. But land, severed by a sudden change of channel and
still capable of recognition, belongs to the estate from which it has been
divided.
None of the larger rivers is used for irrigation. In the dry season, when
The rivers as irri- water is most required, their beds are too far below the level
gators* of the country to compete with wells or lagoons. But it
has been already noted that some of the Kuana's affluents are dammed to sup-
ply the fields with water ; and the same may be said of all the smaller streams.
Even the Xmi is in the upper part of its course no exception to this rule. The
dams are mere earthen banks some three feet high ; and being unable to with-
stand a flow of any volume, offer no real obstruction to a stream in the rains.
But in the north-east of Bdnsi may be seen conspicuous examples of more solid
embankments. By substantially _ damming the Jamw&r and the Siswa, two
73
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569 BASTI.
English grantees of waste-land have provided irrigation for the whole of
their estates. Basti has no Government canals ; and whether it. needs any is
doubtful.
Lakes and swampy lagoons of many sizes are almost innumerable1
Large tracts being subject to inundation iu the rains, and
Lakes and swamps. • .
the whole country being very flat, the surface drainnge
lodges in every slight hollow. Near the Rapti such hollows are often, as may
be seen from their serpentine form, discarded channels of that river. By its
overflow are filled the Bakhira and Pathra lakes ( tal ), the largest sheets of
water in the district*
The Bakhira or Badanch Tal, sometimes called the Motijhfl, lies on the
,„, _ eastern frontier of the district, between Bakhira and Menh-
The Bakhira lake.
dawal of parganah Maghar. The much-travelled Buchanan
describes it as the " finest piece of fresh water " that he had seen in India.
It holds water all the year round, the eastern or llapti end being closed by
an embankment. The lake thus formed in its deepest parts seldom outdepths
four or five feet ; but it covers a space of nearly five miles by two. On the
western and southern sides, where the banks slope regularly down, the fringe
of marsh is slight. But on the other sides no inhabited villages can be seen
for miles ; and the land is in the rains so constantly flooded that except for
pasturage it is almost useless. To the north this flooded tract extends for fully
three miles, dividing the swampy ground and rice fields on the edge of the
lake from the villages on the higher banks of the R&pti. To the east there
is a low fen stretching for about two miles to the edge of that river. Over
this the floods spread every year to fill the lake ; and over it the water would
escape if not detained by embankment.
The Pathra T&l, which lies on the right bank of the B4pti between Domarii-
Tbe Pathra and ganj aQd Bansi, is three miles long and from one to two broad.
Chaur Tala. j^ ghape [s highly irregular. In olden times it must have
been a fine lake, but its waters are now allowed to return at the close of the rains
to the river. The proprietors through whose lands tho outlet passes refuse to let
the rdja of Bansi, who owns the lake, build an embankment iu their boundaries.
Tho Chaur Tal, the property of the same owner, is wedged within the conflu-
ence of Banganga and R&pti, not tar north of Bansi. In the rains the space
between the rivers is, as already mentioned, extensively flooded; and the subsid-
ing floods leave the Chaur Tal about two miles long by three-quarters of a mile
1 A list for tahsil Haraia alone shows 37 considerable sheela of water. Yet tahsil Ilaraia
lies iu the least swampy belt of the district.
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LAGOONS. 5G9
in width. It should bo noted that in Basti, as in Norfolk, chaur or
" broad " is a generic term for a stream-fed lake. The Chaur T&l ,is not
the only chaur of the district, but merely the chaur, par excellence, in a
certain part of the district The wildfowl shooting on this and on the
Pathra Tal is preserved by the rAja. One of the sonthern parganahs, Nagar,
„,._.... is graced by another large lake called the Chandu T&l.
The Cu&ndu iakg.
This is fully two and a-half miles long and one broad.
Except at the eastern end, where the water escapes to finally join the
Man war, the Chandu has regularly slopiug sides. All these lakes or lagoons are
more or less used for irrigation. All in winter offer more or less employment
to the fowling-piece. The whole country is so moist that they have no particu-
lar effect on the general health. But to the almost ubiquitous swamps and
marshes must be attributed the fever, ague, and spleen diseases which ravage
the district.
Until lately Basti enjoyed the evil reputation of complete division from
Communications the rest of the world. Now, however, its county town is
Kal1, within what, in this country of long distances, might be
called easy reach of a railway. The Oudh and Rohilkhand line passes through
the neighbouring district of Faizabad ; and within a radius of 38 miles from
Basti are the stations of Malipur,. Akbarpur, Gosainganj, Nara, Ajudhya, and
Faizabad. Of these the most easily accessible are Akbarpur and Faizabad,
which lie respectively about 30 and 40 miles distant by road. But between
the district and the railway the Gh&gra fixes in the rains a great gulf.
The threo southern tahsils are traversed by one great metalled road, that
_ from Gorakhpur to Faizabad vid Basti. This has within
Road.
the district itself a length of 61 miles. But by the Public
Works Department it is divided into two separate highways, one of 28 miles
from Basti to Gorakhpur, the other of 33 from Basti to Faizabad. Connect-
ing the cantonments of Faizabad with those of Gorakhpur, the road is of some
military importance ; and it is flanked by encamping grounds at Khaljlabad,
Marirwa, Basti, Tilokpur, Manghat, and Khaliyanpur. As a trade route the
road is chiefly valuable between Faizabad and Basti. On it are situated
three tahsil capitals, Khali lab ad, Basti, and Haraia.
Of the remaining roads, all unmetalled, the chief are those from Basti
to Nep&I, vid the tahsil capital of Bdnsi ; from Basti to Nepal, vid the tahsil
capital of Domariaganj ; from Basti to Karmaini-gh&t, vid Menhdawal ;
from Basti to Tanda, vid R&jghat ; and from Bikramjot on the Faizabad to
Bhinpur on the Bansi line. But the following list will show at a glanoe all
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570 BASTI.
roads, divided into class I., metalled, raised and bridged ; class II., raised and
bridged bat not metalled ; and class III., occasionally bridged, but neither
metalled nor raised : —
First-class roadi. Mileage within district.
Basti and Gorakhpur ,„ ... ... ... ... ?8
„ „ Faizabad ... ... ... ... .. 33
Total ... 61
Second-class roads. Mileage within district
Basti to Tanda ... ... ... ... ... 16
„ „ Nej al, vi4 Domariaganj ... ... ... ... 50
„ „ Bans! and Naugarh ... ... ... ... 60
» »» Pipra ... ... ... ... ... 3
„ „ Karmaini-ghat ... ... ... ... ... 35
Ubka to Naugarh, Birdpur and N<-pal frontier ... ... 24
Total ... 178
Third-class roads. Mileage within district
Bikramjot to Bhfnpur ... ... ... ... 30
Gorakhpur to Biskohar ... ... ... w 65
Dumdumwa to Dhakeri ... ... ... ... 36
J ham a to Nepal frontier ... ... ... ... 3
Gorakhpur frontier to to Birdpur, vid Uska ... ... 22
Udaipur, Dumdumwa and Lautau ... ... ... 20
Birdpur to Intwa ... ... ... ... ... 28
Alidapur to Nepal frontier ... ... ... ,„ 8
Misrauli to Dhebarua ... ... ... „. 10
Binsi, Domariaganj and Biskohar ... ,„ ... ... 34
Bhanpur to Nandaur ... ... ... ... 26
Bakhira to Chhapra-ghat ... ... ... ... 36
Murerwa to Gae-ghat ... ... ... ... ... 18
Baati to Lilganj ,,. ... ... ... ... 12
Kuana-bridge, near Baati, to junction with last ... ... >.. 6
Basti to Kothila ... ... ... ... „. 14
Gorakhpur and Gonda frontiers ... ... ... ... 65
Lautan to Nepal frontier ... ... ... ... 7
Chaodradip-ghat, via Bitharia, to Man k aura ... ... ... 13
Total „. 441
Grand Total, all classes ... 680
On the downfall of the rains traffic north of-the Rapti comes to an
almost complete standstill. The roads are either lost under a sea of water, or,
being unmetalled, are converted into long lines of mire. None is thoroughly
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BOADS.
571
bridged, in the sense of possessing bridges wherever required ; and in such a
tract and season nnbridged roads are useless. Bat here it may be noted that
the district is nowhere rich in bridges. The largest is the iron girder
structure over the Kuana near Basti ; and even this is but 1 65 feet long.
The manner in which the principal roads cross the principal streams has been
told under the heading of rivers.
Thus may be shown the distances from the capital to the other principal
places of the district. But the figures in every case repre-
sent mileage by road, and not distance as the crow flies.
Paikaulia, for instance, is 37 mites distant by road, and is entered as such ; but
by cross-country cart-tracks the 37 miles could perhaps be reduced to 20 : —
Table of distances
Place.
Distance in miles
from Basti.
Place.
Distance in miles
from Basti.
Amorha
S3
Domarioganj
32
Bangion and t arasrfimi
ur
No road.
Dudhara
16
Bankata ...
...
32
Gaeghat
16
Ban»i ...
•••
33
Haraia
17
Barakfini
...
24
Hariharpar
No road.
Birdpur ...
...
67
Intwa ...
42
BUkohar
...
60
Kalwiri
12
Boddhaband ...
...
13
Khalilabad
22|
Belwa-bizar ...
...
28
Kothila and Sonaha ...
92
Bakhira
...
26
Lautan ...
66
CaptAiDganj ...
...
8
Magbar
27
Clib&oni
...
22
Mahauli
No road.
Obhapia ...
•••
26
Menhdawal
27
Cbhapra-gh&t ...
...
46
Misraalla
61
Cbilia
• a.
60
Mahson
7
Dhebarua
..
69
Paikaulia ...
37
Dubaulia
• ••
23
Rudhauli
19
Daldalba
•••
33
Tilokpui
No road.
Dbangbata
...
40
Uska
60
Bang&ou and Parasrampnr may be considered as respectively 34 and 30,
Hariharpur as 25*, Mahauli as 22, and Tilokpur as 47 miles distant across
country.
In climate Basti somewhat resembles North Rohilkhand, which indeed lies
in the same submontane tract. The characteristics of the
weather in that tract are dampness, moderate heat, and
partial immunity from the violent simooms and dust-storms which make summer
hideous elsewhere. Here the dry west wind begins blowing in March, about
the time of the vernal equinox. Towards the close of April it gives place
to the prevailing breeze of the year— that from the east ; but may still be
sometimes felt breathing faintly after midday, when the east wind often drops.
Climate.
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572
BASTf.
Summer has now set in ; the crops have been harvested ; the fields are
brown and bare. Owing, however, to the nearness of the Himalaya, and the
slight depth of water from the surface, the temperature is probably less than
in districts south of the Ghagra. In May cooling showers, known as " the
little rains, " sometimes slake the heat, and the grateful scent of moist earth
refreshes the nostrils. But the relief is only too fleeting ; and the thermometer
steadily rises till the end of June, when the crash of thunder heralds the
descent of the regular rains.
In Basti these are far heavier than in the more western districts of the
provinces. But the fall varies greatly from place to place, and in the two
northern tabsils is several inches heavier than in the three southern. The
mean for the whole district and a series of years is about 43 inches yearly ; but
the following table l gives ample details :—
Months.
1876.
1876.
1877.
3 54
1878.
1879.
Mean.
January ...
0*62
0-48
128
1-18
February ...
0-48
...
1 18
074
0 04
049
March -.
...
016
0*?>4
0?4
...
0 13
April
0J8
0-60
0 8C
1-16
...
0-66
May
2 88
OT.6
0 84
218
0 66
1 44
Jane ...
ft 44
2-S8
1-86
134
9 2»
4 68
July
11 12
12 24
6 66
7 24
22 78
11 81
August ... ...
1782
9-98
2-l8
9 24
13 98
1>» 62
September...
6 40
9*18
1-68
1454
11-30
8-43
October
...
9 10
4 81
0 10
9 10
3 43
November ...
...
...
...
...
...
December ...
0*16
...
1)2
...
0'26
0 29
Total
4716
38*98
23*80
3806
67*32
4306
The yearly mean for the six years ending with June, 1872,866018 to have
been much heavier, amounting to 51 4 inches.
The rains generally cease in the beginning of October ; and with them
their cloudy days and chromatic sunsets. But the dampness long continues.
The drying of the waterlogged earth is a feverish and unhealthy process.
Very seldom, and even then for a few days only, is felt the dry bracing cold
which marks the winter of more western districts. In some parts of Basti,
especially its eastern and northern parts, dense fogs obscure the morning ; and
at evening each village lies hidden under its own low pall of smoke. But at
the beginning and close of the clearer days may be seen the snows of the great
1 Kindly supplied by Mr. S. A. Hill, B. Sc., the Meteorological Reporter for these Provinces.
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CLIMATE AND RAINFALL.
573
White Mountain ( Dbvalagiri ) and its lesser sisters, same 50 leagues distant on
the north. In January, but never with any great punctuality, fall the slight
winter rains ; and somewhat later, in rare years, hailstorms make the farmer
tremble for his rising spring crop. Buchanan mentions that in winter, when
the west winds have blown strongly for some days, water is readily converted
into ice. The conversion can, of course, take place only at the very witching
hour of night or during the small hours which succeed it. Pit-ice, that is ice
naturally frozen in pits, is at such times procured in districts which lie much
further south than Basti. But at Basti no pit-ice is made. Liquor is cooled
with saltpetre, or by ice frozen in small private machines.
The following mean monthly thprraometrical and barometrical readings
for nearly three years were taken by Mr. Percy Wigram, then magistrate-col-
lector of the district. The thermometer was in the shade; the barometer was
a small aneroid, whose figures were taken at 10 a. m. daily. But this aneroid
seems to have shown, as might be expected, considerable deviations from the
mercurial instrument in the Gorakhpur observatory. And as the climatic condi-
tions of Gorakhpur and Basti are much the same, the reader would do well to
compare. the thermoinetrical readings also with those already given for the
former district : — l
Thkkmomktbb.
Barombteb
Maximum.
Minimum
Month.
870.
1871.
1872.
1870.
1871.
1872.
1870.
1871.
1872.
January
75
75
71
45
42
17
2958
29M9
29*27
.February
81
bl
77
49
49
66
29-51
2926
2S14
March
90
91
93
58
5*
69
29*41
29-21
2900
April
97
99
99
65
60
67
29-32
29*08
2902
May
105
95
103
73
71
73
29 06
28'89
2992
June
98
94
99
78
77
78
28*93
2880
28*81
July
89
89
£.9
77
76
76
28*85
28 79
2875
Auguwt
89
88
...
75
76
,.
28 91
28 84
•••
September
90
88
■••
75
73
2902
28*90
•••
October
88
91
• ••
67
67
...
29 12
29 03
...
November ...
82
84
•••
52
66
•••
29*36
29' 15
•••
December
76
76
...
42
44
••«
29*43
29'24
•••
The thermometer of the Jail Hospital is examined twioe daily, at sunrise
and i p. in -, but the practice has hitherto been too spasmodic to afford results
of value. Returns for five years are before us; but for two only, 1877 and
1879, are those returns complete iu every month. The maximum temperature
1 Supra, p. 313.
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57:1 BASTI.
of the former year, 101°, was registered in June ; the minimum, 51°, in Feb-
ruary, la 1879 the observations ranged from a maximum of 100° in May
to a minimum of 52° in December.
PART II.
Animal, vegetable, and mineral products.
To any peculiarity of fauna Basti can lay no claim. Its beasts, birds,
and fishes are all found elsewhere in theplains of the North*
Western Provinces, and have all been named in the intro-
duction to the fourth volume of this series. 1 But a few local particulars
regarding the more remarkable creatures may yet be profitably given. Let
precedence be assigned to the domestic animals.
A few elephants and camels are kept by the few who can afford to keep
Domestic animals; them ; but for camels the climate is said to be too moist.
P°nie8- Horses are seldom used and still more seldom bred. Those
who want them must seek the fairs of Sonpur in Saran, Devipatan in Gonda,
or even Batesar in Agra. But the ordinary couutry pony ( tattu ) is common
enough. On this rather fragile beast the landholder and the corn dealer take their
lazy rides or lade their grain for market. Ponies cost from lis. 7 to 25 each, and
are extensively bred ; but in more than one place they are sometimes found wild,
the descendants of domesticated ancestors. Several specimens haunt unmolested
the Gh&gra basin in Eastern and Western Chhapra of parganah Mahauli. A few
again may be seen on the banks of the Tehri watercourse, which from a lagoon in
Oudh flows to join the Gh&gra near Belwa. When captured such wild animals
sell for about tts. 20 each ; but they are reported to be rather vicious than
otherwise.
Of horned cattle there are no purely local breeds. But "Mahauli for bnl-
„ ... locks or men " ( Mahauli kd bard yd mard ) is a proverbial
Horned cattle. v j ' r
boast of that parganah. The Mahauli bullocks are rather
below the average size of those elsewhere used for agricultural purposes, but
are specially sturdy and muscular.
Their price and that of agricultural bullocks generally may be said to
„„ _ , range from Rs. 15 to 40 the pair. A rather better class
Bullocks and cows. . r
of animal is employed to carry grain sacks or other burdens;
but the best class of all is that kept for purposes of draught by landholders.
Whether the breed of cattle has really deteriorated with decreasing pasturage
1 Gazetteer IV., pp. VI. et seqq.
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FAUNA, 575
is doubtful. In 1812, when the grazing-grounds wore still ample, the collector
reports that there are " no cattle in the district fit to draw a treasure tumbril."1
Bullocks are fed on chaff, bran, and the straw of various cereals. When well-
fed a single animal may cost as much as 3 annas daily. Ordinary cows vary
in price from Rs. 5 to 20 each ; but the best yields perhaps not much more
than 21bs.a of milk a day. The clarified butter (gh{) made from that milk
is reserved, as a rule, for medicinal or ceremonial purposes. A few wild kine
are found on the banks of the Kuana, where that river bounds Domari&ganj;
but the herds which formerly haunted tappa Atrawal of Maghar have disap-
peared with the clearance of the forest.
Male buffaloes, which are little used except as beasts of burden, fetch
„ _, , from Rs. 5 to 15 each ; but females, on the other hand,
Buffaloes. '
sell from Rs. 9 to 35. The reason of their greater value
is their milk, from which are made the curds and clarified butter in ordinary
use. R&jput8 and Ahirs are the principal owners of buffaloes ; but goats
and sheep are kept by the lower castes alone, Ahirs, Garariyas, Cham&rs,
Khatiks and Jul&has. Goats are* bought by butchers or slaughtered at
Hindu sacrifices. They are valued, however, chiefly on account of their skins,
from which are constructed drums ( dhol, tdsa) and other articles. Whilst a
she-goat is worth Re. I and a he-goat Be. 1£, a good goatskin sells from
Re. 1 to Rs. 2. Of the castes last-named the Garariyas, as their name shows,1
devote themselves chiefly to the breeding of sheep. The price of these
animals has within the last few years risen from Re. 1 to Rs. 2 per head.
They are not generally used as an article of food, and themselves there-
fore obtain no food but grass. Their use is to supply the peasantry with
skins, wool, and manure. The skins are sold by butchers to shoemakers
at the rate of Rs. 20 to 25 the hundred. Of the wool are made blankets.
Between Sawan (July- August) and KArttik (October-November) sheep aro
allowed to wander about such fields as are reserved for the next spring crop ;
and in consideration of the manuring thus obtained their owners receive a
small payment in kind. Government in 1863 attempted to improve the stock
by the importation of two fine rams from Hiss&r ; but one died next year,
and the progeny of the other never survived their lambhood. Numerous cat-
tle of all sorts are yearly driven into the Nepalese Tardi for pasture. Depart*
ing about Aghan (November-December), they return in Jeth (May- June) or
Asarh (June July\
1 Letter in Board's records, Jany. 81st, 181?. * In India milk is measured by weight.
8 Garariya or Gadariya is derived from Hindi gdiary a sheep.
74
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576 BASTI.
In the summer months rinderpest is often epidemic. It bears the same
name (mdta) as human small-pox, to which the natives deenr
Cattle disease. . r 7
it analogous. It is highly contagious and very fatal, the
rate of mortality amounting to about 80 per cent, of the cattle attacked. The
most prominent symptoms are loss of appetite, constipation of the bowels, ex-
cessive thirst, quick respiration, grinding of teeth, and great heat of skin. To
these in a day or two succeed profuse mucous discharge from mouth and nostrils,
inflammation of mouth and gums, purging, great prostration, and eruptions which
from groin and udder extend over the whole body. Foot and mouth disease
{khdng) appears also in summer, but not in sufficient force to be deemed
epidemic. The same remark applies likewise to diarrhoea.
The district is no longer rich in large game. Tigers, leopards, and bears
w.ta . , are now unknown. But in Buchanan's time the first
Wild am id ale. _
named beasts molested the police of Dhuliyabandar1 and
had lately been numerous around Lautan. The following is a list of the more
important wild mammals, both common and uncommon : — Wolf, jackal, fox,
boar, buffalo (arna, Bubalus ar/ii), blue-bull (nilg&e, Portax pictws), hyaena,
spotted-door (chital, Axis misulatus), antelope, cat (banbilar, Felis chaus\ por-
cupine, fox, hare, monkeys of kinds (langur, Presbytia entellus ; bandar,
Inuus rhesus), mungoose (nowal, Ilerpestes Alalaccensis), otter, and porpoise
(suns, Platanisla Gangetica)% But some of these are seen very rarely indeed.
The wild buffalo, for instance, can only bo regarded as a visitor who sometimes
loses his way from the Nepiilcso Tarfii. Much the "same may be said of the
spotted deer ; but t\ ild-pig, the antelope and the blue-bull, wolves and jackals, are
common. The wolves are especially numerous in the mdnjha, the tract of tall
thick grass along the banks of the Ghagra. For the slaughter of a female wolf
Government offers Ks. 5 ; for that of a male wolf, Rs. 4 ; and for that of a male
or female cub, annas 8. But, although an occasional attempt is made to pass off
the cub of a jaokal for that of a wolf, wolves are seldom killed. The jackal is
said to suffer from hydrophobia which he sometimes communicates to men. The
people imagine that the disease lies dormant until the first thunder after the
victim has been bitten, and then makes its appearance. They also distinguish
a species of jackal called murdakhor, or corpse-eater, who preys on Muham*
madan corpses ; but such ghoul-like repasts are, when obtainable, relished by
all jackals. Another quaint superstition was once entertained with regard to
antelopes. In 1813, when those beasts were " the pest of the country " when
1 Dhuliyabandar was a police jurisdiction lying between the Jam war and Tiiir rivers.
Fart of it now lies in parganah Bansi, while part ba* apparently been ceded to Nepal.
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WILD BBASTS AND REPTILES. 577
the low-caste huntsman, with his poisoned arrows, might sight a thousand
head a day, their multitude was thus explained : " Formerly, the whole country
being covered with long harsh grass swarming with muskitoes, the antelope
bred only once in two years ; but, since much has been cleared, and the
number of muskitoes reduced, they breed every year."1 From the porpoise
is extracted an oil which is medicinally applied to burns and bruises.
Like wolves, reptiles are responsible for a good many deaths. In kind-
Ro UI ly supplying the following list of snakes Mr. Thomson
makes occasional reference to the pages of Fayrer'a Tha-
mtophidia:—A}gar or python,3 atibaran, ddhsar, andhawa, has do, bhamani,
paniha, long paniha, chikor% dukla, dudh'njfi cobra (page 7), doma, dundhay
dhusar, dhdmin (page 66;, karait, blue karait (page 11), katkhor (page 55),
ghor karait, kodaili, kh'dkatdi, sohdmin, m ihar, siyar, majgidwa, ndgin (p. 6),
8onkdtar (p. 8), sugtca, eontar, suskdr, and phitar. The paniha and chakory
although locally believed to be poisonous, are in reality harmless. So are the
long-nosed crocodile fghariy&l, Gamalis Gangeticus), and the turtle (kachhua,
Trinnyx G angelic us), reptile* of other orders. But the ordinary crocodile (nak
or nakra, Crocodilus biporcatus) is a voracious and dangerous saurian.
Ghariyals are said to be commonest in the Ghagra, naks in the Rapti
and the Bakhira lagoon ; but both are more or less numerous in all the larger
channels and sheets of water. The flesh of the n&k is sometimes eaten by fishermen,
while his oil is used for medicinal purposes or burning. How he is cap-
tured may be shown by the following extract from the writer last quoted : —
. " The fishermen in pursuit of the crocodile look for him in shallow parts where some spots of
the land project with channels of water running between. In such places they find the cro'io.
dile basking on the land. On the approach of the can >e he retires into the water, but goes
only to a very little distance, and by paddlin* slowly on and carefully observing the motion of
the weeds and air bubbles that escape from his lung*, they soon discover where he is They
then fix loosely, on the handle of a long paddle, a strong barbed harpoon iron, which is joined
by a rope to the paddle, and putting the harpoon gently down, find where the animal is. He is
very sluggish, and does not move when they touch his side, so that they draw up the instru-
ment, and thrust it into his back without any dexterity. The animal flounces a good deal, but
never attacks the canoe, which one stroke of his tail could instantly send to the bottom. He
often, however, shakes out the harpoon, after which he neither seems to have an increase of
ferocity nor shyness, but allows himself, as in the instance I saw, to be struck a second and a
third time until he is secured and dragged on shore. He there flounces and snaps with his
horrid jaws in a violent and dangerous manner, but, a large bamboo being thrust into Irs
mouth, he bites with such violence that he cannot readily disengage his teeth, and gives the
people time to secure the gag by tying a rope round his jaws. He is then helpless. In the one
1 Eastern India, IL, 503-504. * Python moluras, Linn Sometimes called r jck-snake.
1 Supra, p. 816.
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578 BASTI.
which I saw caught a ball fired through his head from a small fowling-piece instantly
deprived him of motion, nor did he show almost any sign of sensation when immediately after-
wards the harpoon was torn from his back. On the whole the crocodile, seems to be a stupid
animal, and to make but a poor resistance, considering his great power, and the tremendous
force of tail, jaws, and teeth, with which he is provided. The hardness usually attributed to
his skin will appear from the above account to have been very much exaggerated. I have seen
the crocodile, however, move with very great velocity, and have no doubt that in the pursuit
of fish it uses great exertions of this kind ; nor does it seem to be entirely destitute of cunning,
as crocodiles have been repeatedly found lurking in the fords of rivers through which high
roads pass. Of this indeed I saw one instance, and am assured that it is not uncommon. "
The average number of persons killed by wolves or reptiles during Four
Deaths from wolves recent years was 2215 yearly, the figures being 158 in
and rcptiiea. 1874j 263 in 1875, 22G in 1876, and 239 in 1878.1
In an available native list of " flying things (parindaf the only remark-
. , able point is the classification. Birds and bats are group-
Birds. , , ■ , . n ill
ed together, but winged insects 'are for some doubtless
vali I reason excluded. It is, however, amongst the birds alone that the Basti
sportsman will find sufficient food for his powder. The wildfowl shooting on
the Chandu, Chaur, Pathra, and Sikaudarpnr lagoons is uncommonly good,
and on the Bakhira Tal may be called excellent. The Imperial Gazetteer men-
tions pochard, pintail, mallard, spot-bill, grey duck, grey goose, brown goose,
bean goose, cotton teal, blue-winged teal, grebe, coots, and water hens as com-
mon. But these wild fowl are mostly birds of passage, descending from the
Himalaya at the beginning of winter, and revisiting the cool hills as summer
approaches. Snipe, too, are mere cold-weather tourists. Small game of other
descriptions is as scarce as elsewhere in a country whore cover is rare and pre-
servation almost unknown. A few partridges, quails, ortolans or pigeons are
all that could be got in a morning's shooting. Peacocks are encountered, but
there is the usual prejudice against their destruction. Falcons and tiercelets of
kinds are obtainable, but falconry is little practised. Buchanan gives the
following brief account of fowling on the Bakhira t&l :— •
" On dark nights a wide long net is stretched vertically between two canoes, with its lower
edge turned up, so as to form a bag near the water. Other canoes go, and disturb the birds in
distant parts of the lake, driving them towards the nets— for several are usually placed in a
row. Whole flocks are cnatngled at once, dropping into the bag ; and are immediately secured
by loweting the upper side of the net.
" The coot, which does not seem to differ from the kind that Mr. Latham calls common,
is taken in broad day. It is a tame bird, and allows a canoe paddled slowly to approach near,
and usually, to save the trouble of rising, which it does with difficulty, it dives to allow the
canoe to pass. Three or four canoes therefore paddle towards a coot, and when it dives, stop
1 The Sanitary Commissioner's report for 1877 leaves the Basti columns blank.
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BIRDS. 579
oyer the place, the people looking round, until they see it rise, on which they immediately set
up a shout. The bird terrified at this, dives again immediately, and remains until it is much
exhausted, so that, when it rises, it is neither able to fly nor to dire immediately. The
people indeed give it no time to recover, for, by carefully observing, they perceive some air
bubbles escape from the poor animal, just before it rises, and are prepared to seize its head as
it reaches the surface. Such haste is not however absolutely necessary, as one, which they
caught in my presence, was net able to move for several minutes after it was taken into the
canoe. When it had revived, I threw it into the lake ; and with the utmost stupidity it
immediately dived, and remained again below until quite exhausted, but, as we had removed to
a distance, it recovered, and then took wing."
In birds and plumage the trade is insignificant. There are of course a
Trade in birds and ^ew fowlers, belonging mostly to the Baheliya and F&si
plumage. castes. Netting is their favourite method of capture; and
from netting, indeed, the latter tribe derives its name.1 The birds thus cap-
tured, chiefly waterfowl and pigeons, sell for from 9 pies to I anna each, and
are eaten by both Hindus and Muslims. Pet birds from the hills, such as
the ehakor partridge and the mimicking black rnaina, are brought down from
Butwal by the Kepalese. The same merchants import also a small quantity of
deer-horns and yaks' tails. A ehakor can be bought for Re. 1, and a good
maina for from Rs. 3 to 5. Other feathered pets, such as lots and shamdns*
are procurable in the district itself. The l&ls are sold for from Rs. 5 to 8 the
hundred. Peacocks' feathers are sold for fans. A few fanciers from the
great towns of Murshidabad, Patna and Sh&habad in Bengal visit the district
to return with the gorgeous plumage of the " blue-breast (ntlkanth) " and other
birds.
In a watery district like Basti fish and fisheries are subjects of the liveliest
and most general interest. Before the close of the rains the
Fish and fisheries. no- i_ xi x p ,.
overflow of nvers has converted great tracts of country into
one gigantic fish-pond. The piscium genus haunts the bush nota qua sedes
juerat columbis. And the people take most successful precautions that as few as
. possible of the finny invaders shall retire with the retiring waters.
Almost all the fish mentioned in the Gorakhpur list 3 appear also in that
for Basti. The only three exceptions are the khuria, surji, and pengna, which
in this district perhaps bear other names. Such aliases are certainly borne by
the parni and patharchalary which are here known as parhini * and pat/iarjit.
It is indeed the great variety of local names which renders the scientific identi-
fication of most species by any but the practised ichthyologist impossible. The
nomenclature adopted by text-books, such as Captain Beavan's Fresh Water
» Sanskrit pd$ha, a net. f S*pr°> P- 31*- * Swra> * 3,820i * r(? Por/m*.
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580 BASTI.
Fishes of India, often differs greatly from that of remote districts in the North-
Western Provinces. In the following supplement to the Qorakhpur list all
attempt at scientific terminology has been discarded : — Argi, bacilli, baigasa,
bajjaki, bakahi, bhdglad, bilangra, bulla, chandsa, c/iengu, dhansaJiar, dhaur,
dhawi, dlvtimi, darhi, hansi, janam, kandya, kawa, khaswa, khuntra, kojailu, kiita,
lapchi, mollis, makhui, malga, masddhar, parchallt, patdsi, patra, phdnsi, photha
or bhotaha, rdgho, saur, and siitnaya.
The phansi is so called because there is a ring or noose (phdnsi) on its
neck. Of the m&sadhar's large scales small playing-cards (ganjtfa) are some-
times made. Oil is extracted in small quantities from the rohu, bhakura, moi,
and other fish; but it is merely made to moet the domestic requirements of
the fishermen themselves, and no regular oil industry exists. The favourite
time for the manufacture is the winter, when the fish are in the best condition.
Small sun-dried or smoked fish are exported in a more or less putrescent state
to Nepal, where they sell from Rs. 2 to 3 per maund ; and for a fresh fish the
Nepalese are said to pay twice its weight in grain. In the district itself the
price of the latter commodity varies from season to season ; but, on the whole,
may be quoted at from 1 to 2 annas per ser for the choicer, and from J to 1
anna for the coarser varieties. Except Bhagats, S&dhus, and others, who are
prevented by their religious vows, all classes eat fish. But that food is the
staple diet only of low Hindu castes, such as Beldars or Kahars, and of the
fishermen themselves. The fishermen are chiefly Mallahs and Chains, tribes of
boatmen ; Khewats, Goria Kah&rs, and Turhas, classes of porters and labourers ;
and the Siwarias, who, as sellers of grass and wood, may perhaps be called lum-
berers. Fishing is not, however, confined to these castes. It is the subsidiary
occupation of many others. Every cultivator follows more or less, according
to his leisure and opportunities, the trade of St. Peter.
The methods of capture are most varied. Hardly any form of fishing
known in other countries is unknown here. Even poison-
ing is practised, although practised rarely. A given part of
a river or lagoon is enclosed in a framework of bambus, and within the enclo-
sure are scattered pieces of wild fig-bark.1 This process has the effect of
poisoning the fish, who one by one rise dead to the surface. Nets of all sizes
and shapes are used. The mesh is often so small as hardly to admit of a finger
pa&siug through it. The destruction of small fry may, without exaggeration,
therefore, be called vast. But of all creatures fisb, perhaps, increase most
greatly in excess of the means of subsistence. The three principal rivers of
1 Elsewhere the bark of seferal other trees is employed for this purpose.
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METHODS OF FISHING. 581
the district afford a comparatively secure and hitherto inexhaustible nursery.
And it would be difficult to put in execution any restrictions as to the closeness
of the nets used.
The larger nets are, as a rule, employed during the rainy season and
the smaller after its conclusion. The gdnja, korhel or
karihil, jhinguri, and tapahn or tdpa have been described in
the Qorakhpur notice.1 The chdtur and batdo resemble the tapa, and the pelua
the jhinguri. The seine is here named batwan. Three other nets, called gdghif
kanhudy and till, are sometimes used. The rod and line (Iialuka) or line simply
(shittht) are familiar spectacles on the banks of rivers ; but comparatively few
fish are caught by those means. The principal fisheries are those of the great
rivers and lagoons mentioned in part I. ; and these are fished all the year round,
without thought of a close season. But the bulk of the fishing is done in
winter, on the smaller sheets of water left by the yearly rains.
When the water is shallow and expected to dry up soon the process is
simple. Across the orificos of the pool or rice-field are thrown mud dams
Qjdndli). In the one exit loft is fixed a grass or reed screen (patulca, chaundhi,
or chilwania) ; so that while the water escapes, not a fish can escape with it.
As that water subsides the work of destruction proceeds. First, the fish are
taken in the extinguisher-like tapa. Then, as the shallowness increases, men
may be seen wading in all directions with cone-shaped baskets. Having
thrust the wider ends down into the mud, they can remove at their leisure,
through the smaller ends, any fish that have been thus imprisoned. When the
water has almost disappeared, what little remains is baled out, and the fish are
left flapping helpless in the mud.
Much the same system is adopted even on those lakes which never run
dry. These are fed, as a rule, by a-flood channel from some river, and at the
end of the monsoon that channel is embanked. The dispute which prevents the
embankment of the Pathra Tal has been glanced at above. The fishermen of
the neighbourhood bitterly complain that at the close of the rains the finest
fish now return from the lake to the Rapti. But they can still afford to rent
the piscatory rights for soma Rs. 150 yearly. The rftja of Bansi, one of the
parties to the dispute just mentioned, duly embanks the outlet of his own pre-
serve at B&nsi. His practice of netting a few fish only when required is an
honourable exception to the rule which seeks to destroy yearly all the life in a
lake.
1 Supra, p. 320.
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582
BASTI.
Bat the various methods of fishing largo sheets of water are most per-
fectly exemplified on the Bakhira Tal. Iu the outlets of the dam which embanks
its escape channel are fixed screens which entangle many a fish. All round
its edges may be seen t&pas, which are ready for use in its shallower parts
whenever the cultivators find time to become fishermen. But the form of cap-
ture here most extensively adopted is spearing. The bottom is too weedy
to be netted with much success, and the shore is in few places so clear as to
admit of the drawing of a seine. But the water, being clear and nowhere
very deep, is a very favourable field for the harpooner. The spear or harpoon
(bdnsa) is an ordinary bambu staff, split into 15 or 20 pieces, each tipped
with iron. These are again bound together, and the central piece being
thickened by coils of string, the whole forms a bundle of spears some eight or
ten inches in diameter. The harpooners are sufficiently expert to make almost
certain of striking a fish some twelve or fifteen feet distant. The water is
regularly beaten by a line of five or six canoes, each containing a spearman at
the prow and a punter or paddler at the stern.
But enough has been said of the animal, and we pass to the vegetable
Vegetable king- kingdom. Though somewhat empirical, the division into
dom. Trees. ^rees an(j cr0pS wm serVe our purpose sufficiently well. The
following list shows the principal trees of the district : —
Kachla (Stri/chnoa n«r vomica).
Aghfi (DUlenia penlagyna).
Akol (Alangium Lamar c kit).
Am, mango (Mangifera Indica),
A rarfit, guava (Psidium guava).
A onla ( Phylla n thus emblica ),
Arjun (Terminalia arjuna)
Asidh (Lagtratrcemia parv\florct)>
Asna (Terminalia tomentoaa).
Asog (Saraca Indica).
Babul (Acacia Arabica).
Bfthera (Terminalia bell erica).
Bair, jujube (Zizyphua jujuba).
Wild do., jharberi (Zizyphua nummular ia).
Baisa (Salix tctrasperma).
Bakain (Melia azedarach).
Bans, bambu (Bambuaa. several species).
Bar or bargad. banyan (Ficua BengaUnaia).
Barbal (Ariocarpua tjkoo*.ha).
Bel (Aegle marmelos).
Bent, mttan (Calamus rotang).
Bhurkur i Hymenodictyon excels urn).
Bfjasal (Pterocarpua maraupium).
Ganiar (Premna ivtegrifolia).
Gular, wild flg (Ficua glomerata),
Harra ( Terminalia chebula).
Harsingar {Nyctanthe* arbor triatia).
Imli, tamarind ( Tamar Indus Indica),
Jait (Seabania JEgyptiaca).
Jamua or jaman (Eugenia jambolana).
Jbigana (Odina Wodier).
Kachnar (Bauhinia variegata).
Kaith (Feronia elrphantum).
Kambbar (Gmelina arborea).
Ksranj ( Pongamta glabra).
Karaunda (Cariaaa caranda*).
Karma ( Stephegyne parvi/olia).
Karri ( Saccnpetatum tomeniosum).
Katbal, jack fruit (Artocarpua inUgrifolin).
Kela, plantain (Mma aapientum).
Khair (Acacia catechu).
Khaja (Briedelia retusa).
Khajur, wild date (Phoenix aylvtatria).
Kusum (Schhichera trijuga).
Lasora (Cordia myxa).
Modar {Calotropia gigantea),
Mahua (Baasia latifolin)
Mainphal (Randia dumetorum),
Mulsari (Mimuaopa Elcngi).
Nfm (Melia Indica).
Pakar or pilkhan (Picua cordifolia).
Pin am or sandhan (Dalbergia Ouaeinensia).
Pindar or padal (Stereoapermum auaveolena).
Panyar ( Barringtonia acutangula).
Paras or dhak ( Butea frondoea).
Patju (I'utranjiva Boxburghii).
Pindar or panar (Randia uliginosa).
Pi pal C Ficua religioaa).
Piyar (Buchanan ia latifolia).
Bauna or rohna (MaUitus Philippine****).
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Benr, castor-oil plant (Ricinw communis).
Sain j an (Aforinga pterygosperma).
Sakhu or sal (Shorea robusia).
Sagun or teak (Tectona grandis).
Semal (Bombax Malabaricutn),
Sharifa, custard-apple (Anona squamosa).
TBEES. 583
Shisham, slasoo (Dalbergia sissoo).
Siras {Albizzia lebbek).
Tar, palmyra (Borassus flabelliformti).
Tendu, ebony {Diospyro* ebenum).
Tun (Cedrela toona).
Warga or amaltas {Cassia fistula).
As already mentioned, the district is well and almost densely wooded with
clumps of mango, bambu, and inahua. The flower of the last-named tree is
eaten, or distilled into whiskey-like liquor ; and from its seeds (koendi) is
extracted an oil. Mahuas are common around the district capitals, and
in a single tappa of Nagar are numbered at 10,000. The name of this tappa,
Pipra, is derived from the sacred and ubiquitous pfpal. In valuable timber
trees Basti is less rich. Here, as elsewhere in unafforested India, a tree has
little chance of surviving to maturity unless it is a fruit tree. The sakhus
of the district are few and small. But it is not intended to repeat what has so
often been said of these more familiar trees. In the Budaun, Bijnor, and
Qorakhpur notices will be found quite enough matter concerning the appear-
ance or uses of the mango, guava, aonla, asna, babul, bakain, bambu, bel,
barhal, ganniar, gular, harra, tamarind, jamun, kachnar, jack-fruit, plantain,
khair, jhigna or jhingan, wild date, kusam, mahua, mm, pakar, panan, paras,
pfpal, sakhu, semal, custard-apple, shisham, siras, palmyra, ebony, tun, and
warga. The instant elimination of these well-known species will lighten the
task of both writer and reader.
The aghdi has a hard wood not easily worked, but apt to warp and crack.
Its leaves are used as plates and laid under grass thatching,
while its buds and fruit are eaten. The timber of the
akol9 on the other hand, is readily manipulated ; and though well adapted for
more ornamental purposes, furnishes a material for the
stilts of ploughs. The sweet but somewhat astringen
fruit is edible, and the aromatic root is used in native medicine. Various mediciua
uses, too, has the greenish- white bark of the arjun. Its
r}nn' wood is in some demand for fuel and coarser carpentry, but
is difficult to work. The dsidh, a biggish tree with ashy bark and white
fragrant flower has a tough timber extensively used for
rafters, furniture, and agricultural implements. It may
be mentioned that of this material are sometimes made the shafts of European
buggies. The sweet gum is eaten, while the bark and leaves are largely
employed in tanning. The red or yellow flowers of the
asog may be seen in gardens and near Hindu temples ; but
its timber, when used at all, is used as fuel.
75
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584 BASTI.
The large bahera yields the common myrobalans used in dyeing.
From its fruit are made ink and medicinal vinegar, and from the kernels
thereof oil. Its wood furnishes scabbards, fishing floats, and other articles
whose object is lightness rather than durability. The jharberi or wild
jujube is here a mere bramble bush, used chiefly for
hedging ; but its leaves are eaten by cattle, while its
rufous and bullet-like berries are in times of scarcity an important food
for men. These berries are probably identical with the famous fruit of
the Lotos-eaters.1 The baisa is a kind of willow which
Baiia.
grows in watery places and supplies a firewood. Like
other willows it has romantic associations. As Majniin and Laila were
famous oriental lovers, and as the weeping willow is called after the
former, the baisa sometimes bears the name of the latter. The thorny bent
or rattan is found in small brakes along the edges of
Bent. ft . G
shallow streams. The wood of the bhurkur is used for
boxes, toys, scabbards, and the stocks of firelocks ; its bark as a febrifuge and in
tanning; and its leaf as cattle fodder. In Basti the timber
Bhurkur. * \
of the bij'isdl or " bastard teak " is more familiar than
the tree itself. The scantlings here used are small, and are worked up into
drums, furniture, and other pieces of carpentry. .The
harsingdr is a large shrub or small tree which derives
its generic name (nyctanthea) from the fact that its fragrant flowers, like
_ evening primroses, open at nightfall to drop at sunrise.
Harsingar. « , « . . i \ »
From these flowers is sometimes extracted a line but
transient buir or orange cloth-dye ; the leaves may be used in polishing wood ;
but the timber of the tree itself is used only as fuel.
The jait is a soft-wooded tree of short stature and short duration. It is
chiefly useful as a source of firewood ; but rope can be
made of its bark and cattle-fodder of its leaves. It is said
that when a widow of low caste is remarried, this tree sometimes represents
her in the marriage ceremony. The bridegroom, that is, goes through the
form of being wedded to the tree. The kachla is a small evergreen with smooth
ash-coloured bark and berries which in colour and size
Kachla.
resemble oranges. In the bark, and to a greater extent
in the seeds of the berries, is found a small quantity of the frightful poisons
. strychnine and Brucine (the latter familiar to readers of
Monte Cristo). The wood of the kaith is used in a great
* Herodotus IV., quoted in Sir H. Elliot's Supplemental Glo&ary.
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TREES. 585
variety of carpentry and as fuel. The acid pulp of its fruit furnishes the people
with a kind of jelly or pickle. The bark is medicinal, and the gum contributes
with that of other trees to supply the East Indian gum-arabic of commerce.
The fruit, root and bark of the kambhdr are used in native
medicine. Its wood is highly esteemed for its durability
under water ; but furnishes also a material for furniture, drums, toys and all
kinds of ornamental work. The pods (karanj kaldn) of the
karanj are familiar to native druggists, but it may be
doubted whether the tree itself is at all familiar to other inhabitants of the
district. The karaunda is a large evergreen shrub whose
wood makes an excellent fuel. But it is cultivated on
account of its fruit, which when half ripe is made into tarts, jellies, or pickles,
and when wholly ripe is eaten raw.
The yellow wood of the karri furnishes good rafters, but is apt to crack in
Karri. seasoning. The leaves can be used as fodder for cattle.
Khaja. So can those of the khdja, which affords good timber to
the carpenter and builder, an astringent bark to the tanner, and a sweetish
fruit to the peasant. Though used for roofing, planks, and boxes, the wood
of the karma is not very durable. Than the white-bloomed
lasora few tree9 could be more variously useful. Its soft
timber here serves chiefly as fuel ; but can be worked into gun-stocks, well-
curbs, and agricultural implements. Of its bark may be
Lasora.
made ropes ; and with the fibre of that bark boats are
sometimes caulked. The leaves are used as plates, and in Pegu as the covering
leaf of the Burma cheroots. The fruit is edible, and when young is often pickled.
The viscid pulp thereof serves as birdlime, and the juice supplies a transient
marking for cotton goods. A large shrub with thick branches, growing in
dry places, the maddr supplies from its juice a medicinal
drug and from its inner bark a strong silky flax. The
latter was formerly woven into fine cloth, but is now the material of bow-
strings, fishing-lines, and nets. The wood of the mainphal
Mainpbal. .
is used for agricultural tools, fences, and fuel. Its bark
and fruit are medicinal ; and when unripe the latter is sometimes roasted for
eating. The leaves are given as food to cattle. The maulsari is a large
evergreen tree which is cultivated chiefly on account of
Maulsari. .
its white, star-shaped and fragrant flowers. Its fruit is
eaten, from its seeds is expressed oil, and its bark is used medicinally. But
its timber is almost worthless.
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586 BA8TI.
The wood of the pdndar is burnt and makes excellent charcoal ; bat
when large enough can be used also in building. The root
and bark find their place in the native pharmacopoeia.
The panydr grows in moist places, such as the edges of
swamps; and hence perhaps its name (pdni, water).
Though used elsewhere for various kinds of carpentry, the wood is here good
enough for fuel only. The patju is a middle-sized evergreen
tree whose nuts are strung into rosaries and the amulet
necklaces of children. From this latter use it derived its original name of
putranjiva, or " child's life." The wood of the pinddr or
paniha is burnt, and its fruit cooked for eating. The kernels
(ehiraunji) of the piydr'a fruit are edible, and taste some-
thing like pistachio nuts. From them is extracted oil. The
bark of the tree is used in tanning, while its leaves are a substitute for platters.
Of the rauna also the bark is not unknown to the tanner.
Banna.
But the most important product of this large shrub is the
powder which covers the ripe fruit (kamala). Used in dyeing silk, this is also
a purgative and anthelmintic. But the rauna has other medicinal qualities.
Its leaves and fruit are applied externally with honey against the bite of
poisonous animals* The seeds, too, are elsewhere sold as drugs ; but the
wood is of service only as fuel. The castor-oil plant or
Falma Christi is a small soft-wooded tree cultivated in and
around villages on account of its oleaginous virtues. Of other virtues it has
none. Teaks are sparsely planted in gardens for the sake
rather of ornament than of timber ; and none indeed of
those planted is as yet large enough to furnish valuable scantlings. The
. . sainjna is sometimes called "the horse-radish tree,*' because
Europeans use the bark of its root as a substitute for
horse-radish. But the tree is cultivated mainly on account of its pods, which
are eaten as vegetables or pickled ; its flowers and leaves are also considered
edible. The latter and the twigs are lopped for cattle-fodder ; but the wood
is fit only for the fire.
And here it may be mentioned that the average price of wood
_ . _ Al _ fuel, when cut and stacked for use, is from Rs. 10 to
Price of timber. 7 7
Rs. 12 per 100 maunds. The timbers chiefly used in
construction, mahua, j&inan, and mango, fetch when sold in the log about eight
annas the oubic foot ; and when hewn into scantlings, from 12 annas to Re. 1.
Mahua trees sell for from Rs. 7 to Rs. 15 each, j&man trees from Rs. 3 to
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CROPS.
587
Bs. 10, and mango trees from Rs. 5 to Rs. 10. Bat the woods of all three
are much liable to decay through the dampness of the climate and the ravages
of the so-called white ants* It is therefore to be regretted that the more dur-
able sal timber is so rare and so expensive. The Cbitia forest in tahsil B&usi
is, perhaps, the only spot where good sal logs may be locally procured. Such
timber is usually brought when required from Gorakhpur or Bahr&m-ghdt of
Oudh. A tree of moderate size sells for from Rs. 20 to Rs. 25 ; but s&l wood
is most often bought in beams (silli), or in blocks (latta) containing four beams
each. These beams and blocks are not, however, definite measures ; their
dimensions vary, and with those dimensions the prices of beams vary from
Rs. 5 to Rs, 20, and of blocks from Rs. 20 to Rs. 80. When hewn and sold by
the cubic foot, sal timber fetches from Rs. 3 \ to Rs 4. Large bambusmay be
bought for Rs. 20, and small for from Rs. 12 to Rs. 15 the hundred.
For further information regarding the trees mentioned in the above list
the reader is referred to Dr. Brandis' Forest Flora of North-
West and Central India.1 "W e must now quit the grove for
the field. The following statement shows in hundreds of acres the area under
the principal cultivated crops, and has been re-arranged from Mr. Buck's Answers
to Chapter 1. of the Famine Commission's Questions.2
Crops.
CfiOPS OF TUB AUTUMN HARVEST (KHABIF).
Chops of the spring habyebt (Rabi).
Ordinary name.
Botanical
name.
Area (hun-
dreds of
acres).
Ordinary name.
Botanical
name.
Area (hun-
dreds of
acres).
Jodr or jondari
millet.
JBdjra ditto „•
Arhar •pulse ...
Mixed arhar and
joar.
Mixed arhar and
bajra.
BiceCrfAdit1) ...
Maize or Indian-
corn (makka). .
Holcus sor-
ghum.
Penicilla ria
spicata.
Cajanus Jla-
vu».
•••
••■
Oryza sativa,
Zea mays ...
874
3
298
8
1
5,832
234
Wheat (gehun) ...
Mixed wheat and
gram (gochna).
Mixed wheat and
barley (gojdi).
Barley (jau) ...
Mixed barley and
gram (jauchni).
Gram (chana)
Triticum vul-
gar*.
•••
Hordeum hex-
astiehon.
Cieer arieti-
num.
1,430
2
710
750
510
810
1 London : Wm. H. Allen and Co., 1874. * Answers to Questions put by the Pamine Com-
mission in terms oj the Resolution of the Government of the North- Western Provinces and Oudh,
letter No. l9Q0A.of 6th July, 187d. Chapter I; E. C. Buck, Esq., Member, Local Famine Com-
mittee. * The term dhdn is here applied also to many small autumn millets, such as
kodou, maruOf sdwdn, and kdkum
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588
BASTI.
Crops of the autcmw harvest (Khabif).
CflOFS OF THH SPRING HARTO8T (RABi).
Ordinary name.
Botanical
name.
Area (hun-
dreds of
acres).
Ordinary name.
Botanical
name.
Area (hun-
dreds of
acres).
Cotton (kapdi) ...
Mixed cotton and
arhar.
Indigo (nil)
Sugarcane (Hkh) ...
Garden crops
Miscellaneous do.,
Oos sypium
herbaceum.
Jmdl g oft r a
tinctoria.
Saccha rum
offictnarum.
1
55
1
253
10
490
Peas {kirdQ and
mattar).
Potatoes (dlu) ...
Opium (post or
a flat).
Tobacco (tambdku).
Garden crops
Miscellaneous do.,
« f Food crops ...
i \ Other do. ...
H V Grand
Fisum sati-
vum.
Solan urn tube-
rosum.
Papaver som-
niferum,
/Vrc otiana
tabacum.
••■
790
3
318
S
10
600
j [ Food crops,
►j 1 Other do.,
7,290
770
4,660
780
£ (Grand ...
8,060
6,440
The total area of both harvests is then about 1,350,000 acres; whereof
1,195,000 are sown with food-grains and 155,000 with other crops. Priority
has been assigned to the autumn crops, because here, as elsewhere, the agri-
cultural year begins on the 1st of July. By that time the rains have usually
fallen, the earth awakes from its long summer sleep, and the operations of
tillage are renewed with vigour. For the autumn harvest are tilled some three-
quarters of the arable area north of the R&pti ; but south of that river the
proportion is reversed, and about the same fraction of the total cultivation
devoted to the spring harvest.
Though the above are the principal crops of the district, there are many
minor growths which have probably fallen under the mis-
cellaneous headings. Such are hemp (san or sanei, Cannabis
sativa), patwa or patsan (Hibisous cannabinus), the millets kodon (Paspalum
frumentaceum^y marua (Eleusine coracana), sawan (Oplis-
menus colonus), kakun (Panicum Italicum), and chen (Pani-
cum miliaceum), the pulses urd or mash (Pkaseolus radiatus), moth (Phaseolus
aconitifolius), and mung (Phaseolus mungo), miinj grass (Saccharummunja), and
til or sesamum, called in South Indian reports jingelly (Sesamum orientate).
These are all products of the autumn harvest. The minor growths of spring
are oats ( jai, Avena sativa), linseed (tisi or alsi, IAnum
usitatissimum), mustard (lahi, rai, or sarson, Brassica cam-
pestris), masiir pulse or lentils (Ervum lens), safflower (kusum, Carthamus
of the autumn
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bices. 589
tinctorius), and vegetables. All the ordinary English vegetables can be
raised in winter ; and to them we must add several plants grown at other
seasons, such as ginger, melons, and gourds of kinds, coriander, pepper,
betel-leaf, turmeric, cowach, and aniseed (ajwdiri).
But we can here spare space only for a few details concerning the most
important crop. Rice is the staple growth of the autumnal
harvest, and the autumnal is, as already mentioned, the staple
harvest of the north of the district. Rice is therefore the staple crop of the
north of the district; but it is also, from the surpassing area which it occupies,
the staple crop of the district at large. Here, as in Gorakhpur, dhdn may be
divided into three broad classes: (1) the coarse early rice named ausani or Bha-
dui; (2) the finer late rice called jarhan or Aghani ; and (3; the comparatively
scarce summer rice styled boro.
Ausani or Bhadui derives its first name from the Sanskrit root ash, to eat ; l
its second from the fact that it sometimes occupies the
Ausani.
ground until Bh&don (August-September). Its varieties
are many ; but the difference is in many cases so slight that only the
practised eye of the rice-grower himself can detect it. The following
list is long enough, but does not pretend to be exhaustive : — Anjanawa,
parhni, parhni- surkh, saraya, mdtri, jhdli, madansanki, katauncha, baguri,
parbMiya, mahiya, sdthi, sokan, ganjkaisar^ bdnsphtil, kapdrchini, phdlgend,
regan, gandsi, kundiya, jei or jdsu, ndhu, narh, gajgaur, sdthay tabreni,
sonkharcha, unniydn, dudhi, regan-jdsu, bedi. nibua, banki, rankajra, and
kesar. Of these varieties the best and most familiar are perhaps the b&nsphdl,
kapurchini, and sokan. Little need be added to the description above2 given
of the manner in which the Bhadui crop is cultivated. The first ploughings
seem, however, to take place in February- March, a month later than in
Gorakhpur. Towards the close of March they are suspended, the season being
deemed unlucky. The crop is here sown chiefly on uplands not subject
to inundation. The time of sowing is June-July, and the weight of seed
sown about 40 local 8ers* to the acre. When the weather is wet and likely
to continue so, when it is feared that the seed may be chilled and killed by the
unusual moisture, that seed is often sown a day or two after germination. To
make it germinate it is first steeped in water for twenty-four hours and
afterwards placed in a heap covered with grass and blankets. Except when
the usual rains fail, no irrigation is required after sowing. But of late years
iFallon'B Hindustdni- Englith Dictionary, art" 4us." * Page 822. » The
local »ei equipoises loo of the copper coins known as Gorakhpuri pice*
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590 BASTT.
one or two weedings have always been considered necessary.1 The crop is
generally reaped in September- October, the average outturn being about 16
mdnis, or 6'4 maunds per acre. Mr. Thomson estimates the cost of produc-
tion at Rs. 6 per acre including rent ; Mr. Pepp6 places it as high as Rs. 9,
leaving a profit of Re. 1 to the cultivator. But it has been already2 shown
how complicated is the problem of forming such estimates.
The later Jarhan or Aghani rice is so called because it is reaped in the
winter (jdra) month of November-December (Aghan).
The following are some of its often scarcely disting-
uishable varieties: Baharni, mircha, satdiya, goghdi, patjatta, motisdyar,
. kusmij rdnthy karangi, mahdjogin, mohanbhog, golay amma, god, sugdpanki,
kaitra9 hansrdj} desi, parjatti, ludra, r&dwa, rdmbliog, Jcetaki, rds, harbilds,
peMn, ldngif pauwa9 Barhmahay rdtgol, gauriya, dnandi, chaugendwa,
rdni-kd-jar, latera, madh&kar, gurdih, rdjhdns, motlchdr, hanaksira, mdlda,
rdmjawain, do 8 an, bhdtiny bagulbdhin, ritiya, bilaur, mansdr, barwi, panya
and tini Of these the most highly esteemed are the latera, motfcb&r,
and Barhmaha or Burmese varieties. Like Bhadui, jarhan is usually sown
in June-July ; but, unlike Bhadui, it is usually sown on the loamy lowlands
surrounding villages (goenr doras). From its original field it is commonly
transplanted as described in the Gorakhpur notice3 ; and the places selected
for its final home are the flooded hollows called ddbar or soi. Plants which
cover but one acre in the nursery will cover six in the field of transplanta-
tion. The quantity of seed sown and the average produce per acre is much
the same as that of Bhadui rice. But Mr. Peppe fixes the cost at Rs. 9& and
the profit at Rs. 3. Aghani rice is sometimes attacked by the kapti caterpil-
lar and sometimes by a disease called toti, which prevents it from
flowering.
The boro or summer rice is planted in February-March along
the edges of lagoons or ponds. In such moist retreats
it can scorn the daily increasing ardour of the sun,
and presents a fringe of lovely green when the surrounding fields
have become a bleak brown playground for the hot-winds. It is reaped
in May-June. The largest expanse of boro rice may be seen around the
edge of the Bakhira T&l. The mill or mortar in which rices of all kinds are
husked is called akhuiy and corresponds to the okhli of other districts.
1 " Weeding," writes Mr. Peppe, " until a few years ago was never thought of. But now,
unless the fields are well weeded, the grass comes up and chokes the dhd*." 'Plage
33*. 8 Page 323.
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rLouaniNo.
591
A sufficient account of those remaining crops, which are important by
reason of their great area or great value, has been given in the Bareilly and
Gorakhpur notices.1 Such are jofir, wheat, barley, peas, sugarcane, indigo,
and opium. According to Mr. Thomson the crop last named is the only one
whose cultivation may be considered to have increased largely of late years.
Its tillage has attained the widest development in parganah Amorha. The
increase here and elsewhere is in no small measure due to the money advances
which the Imperial Government grants to those who agree to plant poppy.
The progress of tillage under British rule, before the separation (1865) of
this district from Gorakhpur, has been elsewhere2 noted.
The average outturn per acre of rice, with the average cost and profit
per acre of its cultivation, has been shown above. Some
Outturn of van. , , 7 .
ous crops; and the statistics supplied by the tahsildars enable us to give, for
their cultivation. ° whatever they may be worth, similar figures for the other
principal orops. The results may best be thrown into a
tabular form, thus : —
Crop.
Total outturn
per acre in
jnaunds.
Total co*t of cultivation
per acre in rupees.
Net profit per acre
in rupees.
Maxi-
mum.
Miui-
mum.
Maximum.
Minimum.
Maximum.
MiDimum.
Sers.
Sers.
Rs. a. p.
Rs. a. p.
Rs, a. p.
Rs. a. p.
Jodr millet
13
7
12 4 0
6 2 0
1 0 0
5 18 6
Arhar pulse
8
5
8 14 0
4 8 0
3 10 0
0 9 0
Sugarcane
804
10
34 12 0
12 8 0
22 13 0
6 3 0
Wheat
113
8
21 4 0
9 11 0
8 12 0
0 10 3
Barley «••
13*
7
14 8 0
6 0 0
6 12 0
0 13 0
Mixed wheat and barley,
ie
8
8 8 G
8 0 0
9 9 0
1 5 0
Gram
8
6
8 0 0
5 4 0
6 8 0
0 10 0
Peas white (matter) and
8J
7
9 0 6
5 4 0
7 8 0
0 15 6
purple [kirdo).
Opium ••• •*•
i
u
48 12 0
10 13 6
39 4 0
.3 11 0
Tobacco ...
SO
14 0 0
•••
The variations between the maxima and minima of the profit columns
are in every case so great as to be viewed with suspicion. The profit returns of
tahBil Khalilabad have in most cases indeed been excluded as excessive and
untrustworthy. But the outturn statistics of tahsil Haraia, which are even
more open to the same objection, have been altogether rejected. In the case
of sugarcane it is not stated whether the outturn is in raw juice or in the
1 Gazr., V., 554-66 ; supra, pp. 324-29. * Pp. 329-31,
76
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592 BASTI.
boiled syrop known as gur ; but if we may judge by the analogy of other
districts, the former is intended. The tobacco returns are for tahsil Khalil-
abad only. The statements from which these figures have been selected
relate chiefly to the minor crops ; but with these last we have not time to
deal. Wo need prolong our prose georgic only to describe briefly a few of
the more important agricultural processes and agricultural terms.
Ploughing is an almost perennial operation. It is perhaps interrupted only
by the hot weather and by the ill-omened intervals which
at the ends of March and September succeed the equi-
noxes. Even in the hot weather the land is often broken up by hoe
(Jcuddri\ The auspicious date for beginning these preparations for the au-
tumn crop is the third of the moonlit half of April-May. But in June-July,
when the first downpour of rain has loosed the baked earth, every plough
may be seen at work. The implement here used (hal or har) differs slightly
from all four of those already pictured in notices on Duab districts.1 It is
indeed a radical mistake to suppose that the same plough is used all over these
provinces. The chief peculiarities of the Basti instrument seem to be that its
boot or sole (kkopi) is much lighter, and its share (phdr) much longer, than
those used in Farukhabad or Mainpuri. A rough diagram will, however, serve
our purpose better than any description : —
1. The muthiya or handle. 2. The jdngha or stilt. 3, The hdri$ or beam. 4. The
agwdsi und pdtliu, pegs fastening the beam to the stilt. 5. The phdr or hare. 6. The
harsudha or pachela, a bolt securing the share in its place. 7. The khopi or sole.
The share is of iron, but all the remaining component parts are wooden.
The cost of the whole instrument is about Re. 1. The yoke or jiia, which
1 See Gaz, IV„ 514 (Mainpuri)., and VII., 38-39 (Farukhabad).
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IBRIGATION. 593
supports the beam on the necks of the oxen, is composed of just as many pieces.
" It may bo thus shown : —
"* iivtu
7
1. The handwar or /oke proper, which rests on the bullock's shoulders. 2. Tho
tarmuchi or lower piece. 3. The two pachas, which join 1 and 2 and divide the necks of tho
bullocks. 4. The two sails or outer pins, keeping the y»kc straight on those necks. 6. The
khura or prominent knob round which 6, the thong (ntdha), is looped. This latter secures
the yoke to the beam of the plough. 7. The two jothas or thongs which fasten the yoke to
the bullocks.
The two last are of leather and all the rest of wood, A complete yoke
may be bought for from 4 to 6 annas. The ploughing apparatus here described
is, according lo Mr. Wynne, "of the most miserably insufficient character,
though probably a more efficient instrument could not be drawn by the weak
ill-fed bullocks employed."
Whether for the autumn or the spring harvest, every field is ploughed at
least once in each direction. If the land, for instance, is first ploughed north
and south, it will afterwards bo ploughed east and west. Such double or cross-
ploughing is called samra. Fallow fields prepare! for wheat or poppy receive
8 samras ; those devoted to sugarcane, 6 ; barley-fields which have already
borne an autumn crop, 5 ; and rice-fields the same. A preliminary ploughing
for the purpose of breaking up the clods is called gorni ; and a last ploughing,
for the purpose of weeding out the grass, aohiia. The usual time of ploughing
is from early morning to noon ; but it is a not uncommon arrangement to
plough for three hours in the morning and three in the evening, with a rest at
midday. A man possessing but a single pair of plough-bullocks is called an
"immature cultivator" (kacha kdshtkdr). The " mature cultivator " (paka
kdshlkdr), who has two pairs, can with ease plough a local bigha, or 1,775
square yards, daily. It is probable that in ancient Basti, as all over the Old
World, tho unit of land measurement was the vague and varying area which
could be tilled within the year by a two-bullock plough. In some parts of
Rasiilpur and Bansi the rent is still assessed on the plough, and not ou the bfgha
or acre. It is a reasonable inference that tho plough-holding was onoo just as
well recognized a measure of surface as either of tho two latter standards.
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594 BASTl,
Plough measurements are still common in the wilder parts of Mirz&pur. We
have evidence that till the first half of the seventeenth century they were'
universal in the Dakkhan. The laws of the Manavas show that they once pre-
vailed in Northern India. Examples of their occurrence in Europe arc afforded
by the old English oarucato and perhaps by the old English hide. The
plough-holding of Horatius Codes, as mentioned by Livy, is perhaps not quite
a case in point ; for he received not as much as two oxen could plough within
the year, but as much as they could plough within the day.1
After ploughing irrigation is perhaps the most important agricultural
process. For the crops of the rainy autumn no irrigatioa
is, except in years of drought, required ; but for those of the
spring harvest it is needed everywhere. As already noted, no canals supply
water to the fields of the district ; but an ample stock of that element is pro-
curable from numerous streams, lagoons, reservoirs, and wells. From the first
three sources the water is lifted by sling-baskets, as described in the Gorakhpur
notice.2 When shaped like a boat such baskets are called dogala or beri;
when shaped like a round shield, don or donri. The ropes or strings by which the
basket is swung are termed dori, and tho small wooden instrument used in
opening and shutting tho apertures of the water channels hd'ha. In his Eastern
India Buchanan calculated that a "gang of ten men, working two pairs of
baskets, could irrigato some 4,727 square yards, or just under one acre, daily.
Whether this estimate includes the men standing in the fields and distributing
the water is uncertain. But Mr. Wynne reckoned that with eight labourers
to lift and two to distribute, one paha bigha of 3,973 yards could, bo watered
in tho day. Though, as we shall hereafter see, the most expensive, this is the
most common anJ popular method of irrigation. The people believe that tho
water thus raised contains a fertilizing sediment.
Wells are worked by exactly the same methods as those described in tho
Budaun notice.3 Water being near the surface, the commonest arrangement is
the lever and pot.4 But tho small winch-wheel (charkhi), with a pot at either
end of its rope, is also familiar. 6 The rarest method is that of the bul-
locks and leathern bucket (pur or moth). Part I. of this notice has already
1 See the compiler's note on the assessment of pargana Dudhf, p. 46. * Svpra, pp.
340-41. 3 Gnzr., V, 30-31. * The terminology of the lever-well apparatus is as
follows :— The lever Is called dhenkul \ the upright support or fulcrum on which it workf,
hhamba; the peg which hinges the first into the second, pdtka ; the rope, bart; the earthen
pot, kund ; and the little hollow dug for the reception of the water when first emptied beside tho
well, tjhula. From tho ghula the water finds its way into the fields by little earth-built
cbanuels. 5 This method of drawing water seems, however confined to certain limited
portions of the three southern taksils. Of the :J1,(H9 wells iu the district, only 149 are worked
on the char kid principle.
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IRRIGATED AREA. 595
shown what, in various parganahs, is tho distance from the mouth to tho
water of the well.
A masonry ( paka ) well usually costs from Rs. 100 to Rs. 130 ; but a
great deal of this expenditure is purely unnecessary. It in-
cludes the marriage (jalotsarg) of the well to an ima<*o ;
and this ceremony may eat up from Rs. 10 to Rs. 50 and more. When the
wooden frame (jammat ) of the well is deposited in its place, the carpenter
throws over it a sheet. Into this tho members of tho founder's brotherhood
cast from 2 pice to 1 rupee each, accord ing to their means and liberality. The
sum squandered by a leading landlord would hardly fall short of R3. 200.
" On account of its expense," writes Mr. Wynne, " the ceremony is often
delayed one or two years, during which time the family of tho builder will
make no use of the water." About Rs. 20 are spent in providing the villinro
B rah mans with food, money, and raiment. Similar offerings to the workmen
employed may of course be considered as wages. But the 100 or 150 men
collected and despatched for tho work by the proprietors of surrounding villages
do not deem that work one for which wages may be rightly demanded. The
construction of a masonry well is a holy deed ; the porridge, coarse sugar, and
spirits given to the labourers are regarded in the light rather of a marriage
feast than of remuneration. Tho cost of providing fuel for burning the bricks
rarely falls upon the founder ; for to assist him in his good work his neighbours
collect wood. His expenses are further reduced by the fact that for the top
courses of the masonry mortar is rarely used. A good masonry well, sunk
through firm clay soil, lasts for about a century. Its area of irrigation varies
from 10 to 20 acres, but is generally nearer tho latter than the former,
A masonry well is often built partly of fire-burnt and partly of sun-dried
bricks. In this case it is called kacha-paka. and mav cost
Unbricked wells*
as little as from Rs. 50 to Rs. 30 only. It should last for
10 or 20 years according to the nature of the soil : for a shorter period in sandy,
and a longer in clayey earth. But the great majority of wells are mere cylin-
drical excavations (chonra) unsupported by bricks of any kind. These may be
dug for small sums descending as low as Rs. 5 or even Rs. 2. They water
from 3 to 5 acres, and endure usually for some eight months only. The rains
too often reduce them into mere crater-shaped depressions.
The average cost of watering by sling-basket may be fixed at Re. \\ per
acre. Well irrigation with one pair of bullocks and
unga . ^^ bucket costs about 10 annas. But in the rare cases
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596 BASTI.
where more than two buckets are used a well ceases to be the chcapcsf'kind of
waterer. The cost per acre of working two buckets is Re. lr^ ; but three will
raise the expenditure to Re. 1|, and four to Rs. 2J. It will be remembered,
however, that these are averages. The cost varies of course according to the
number of waterings which the crop demands. Barley, peas, and the minor
spring crops are often watered only once, though generally twice ; wheat always
twice and sometimes oftener ; poppy from three to five times ; and sugarcane
as often as eight. The first watering of the spring crop is called i>atik.
The available statistics touching the area under irrigation are not of the
most convincing kind. According to the provincial an-
swers to the Famine Commission (1878), about 600,000
acres, or 48 percent, of the total cultivated area, are irrigable ; while about
380,000 acres, or 28 per cent, are Actually watered. But these figures must be
roceived with some caution. The area, 164,000 acres, which they represent as
watered for the autumn harvest, seems altogether exorbitant ; and irrigation
from other sources being commonest,1 that from wells should hardly have been
credited with 254,000 acres. But the settlement reports, which return the
watered as exceeding the un watered area in every parganah except Bansi and
Binayakpur, are perhaps even less satisfactory. If correct, they prove that at
the beginning (about 1860) of the assessment term now current, irrigated and
unirrigated cultivation measured 762,079 and 333,822 acres respectively. Bat
they serve also to show that since the beginning (about 1840; of the last assess-
ment-term irrigation -had greatly increased. In the five parganahs,2 whose
statistics for the earlier period existed, it had extended by 35,806 aores. Several
causes which formerly impeded its more rapid extension have been recounted
in the Gtorakhpur notice.3 Irrigation details for separate parganahs will
be found in the parganah articles at the end of this notice.
From irrigation we pass to the less savoury subject of manuring. In
Basti, as elsewhere in the fertile sub-Himdlayan belt of the
provinces, this process is comparatively rare. The princi-
pal source of manure is the muck-heap ; but human excreta and the stalks or
other refuse of plants may be mentioned as minor fertilizing agencies. Tho
muck-heap accumulated just outside their premises by every family of cultiva-
tors contains about 5 tons of miscellaneous refuse. In it tho droppings of cattle
form a very small ingredient ; for, except during tho rains, when they cannot
be dried, they arc almost always burnt. It has been ascertained that elsewhere,
» S * ss»Write8 Mr* """^k^8011, * Ras61pur, Bansi, Nagar, Basti, and Mahauli.
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MINOR AGRICULTURAL PROCESSES. 597
in the neighbourhood of large towns, far more can bo realized from the sale of
such droppings as fuel than from the increase of produce which would result
from their application to the land. Here, however, there is little doubt that
firing could be more cheaply procured from the neighbouring forests and the
numerous decayed mango trees. " But as this, " writes Mr. Wynne " would
involve the necessity of a little enterprise on the part of some, aud a little cash
expenditure on the part of all, it is considered better that the population should
content themselves with the home-made article." But though the dung of cattle is
burnt, its manuring virtues are not completely lost in the process. The ashes are
added to the muck-heap, and some portion of the ammoniac vapours given
out in burning must afterwards descend on the soil. When the weather is too
wet for the preparation of fuel cakes, a fair amount of droppings find their way
to the muck-heap. But when used as manure they are not used, as in Euro-
pean countries, with any admixture of straw. For straw and grass aro gener-
ally burnt. No litter is generally placed in stables and cattle-pens, because
it attracts snakes and insects. In this warm land, moreover, its fermentation
is perhaps injurious to the feet and the general health of the cattle. But owing
to its absence, all the liquid manure of those cattle is lost.
The second kind of manure is, like both others, almost monopolized by the
fields which immediately surround the village homestead. These are fertilized
by the villagers themselves, who in rural India perform certain necessary func-
tions al fresco. In Basti and Qorakhpur, where villages have more than the
usual number of outlying hamlets, manure of this sort is of course more evenly
distributed than elsewhere.
Manuring with the leaves and stalks of plants is comparatively rare.
Grain-parchers descend on the fields like locusts, removing all the leaves which
will serve as fuel for their ovens. Elsewhere, indigo leaves are largely applied
to the indigo crop ; but in Basti the indigo crop, always a rarity, is now com-
pletely extinct. The stalks of all the commoner crops are used as fodder,
roofing, or firing. About 15 inches of the stubble in jarhan rice fields is left
uncut, with the view of its rotting or being burnt on the field. But the field
is seldom enriched in either way. The cattle usually enter and browze down
every stalk.
Such are the manures of the district. The small available quantity of the
first and third kinds is often claimed for his home farm by the landlord, and
surrendered by all but the better and more independent class of tenants.
Manure is never bought ; and the only cost incurred in manuring is that of
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598 BASTI.
carriage. This, however, is slight, for the only fields manured as a rule are
those which being nearest the village are known as gcend. l On these, indeed,
are grown all the more paying crops, all the crops which the peasant finds best
worth manuring. Such are the wheat, poppy, and vegetables grown for the
spring harvest, and the sugarcano which occupies the ground throughout the
year. Barley is seldom manured, and the autumn crops never. One of the
tahsildars thus estimates the cost per acre of manuring the different manured
crops: — For wheat and poppy, to which are devoted 96 maunds of manure,
Be. 1£ ; for vegetables (192 maunds), Rs. 3; and for sugarcane (160 maunds),
Rs. 2J. Though intended probably to show averages, the estimate seems to
err on the side of excess. If, however, it related only to sandy soils, it might
not perhaps be deemed exorbitant. It goes without saying that such soils
require more heavy manuring than loams or clays. The fields are manured in
the months of September, October and November 2 only. The manure then
bestowed is considered sufficient for the whole year.
The minor agricultural processes may be passed over very briefly.
Other agricultural After being ploughed the field is sometimes harrowed or
procegses. rather smoothed by a heavy board which the plough bul-
locks drag across it. This implement, which in up-country districts is called
patela, here bears the name of henga ; and the ropes which attach it to the yoke
are known as barha or lardrL Weeding (nirdona) is usually practised twice
during the growth of the crop, the spud or scraper employed being called
khurpi. Throwing a field into fallow (banjar ddlna) for any length of time is
uncommon. The only case in which it ordinarily happens is that of a rice
field wherein for the next spring harvest but one it is intended to sow wheat.
As autumn returns such fields are left unoccupied, and called palihdr. The
general name for other land tilled during autumn in preparation for a spring
crop is ehaumds,3 So far indeed from fallowing being common, it is lament-
Fallowing and a^y rare' an(l overcropping is a vice which in some places
overcropping. seriously threatens the productiveness of the soil. After
remarking in 1864 that the crops of Basti are still markedly superior to those of
neighbouring districts, Mr. Wynne continues : " Yet under the ruinous system
of overcropping now practised the land must deteriorate, unless improved methods
of ploughing, improved farmyard economy, an improved breed of cattle, and
a scientific rotation of crops are speedily introduced,"
1 See above, section on Soils. * i. «. in Kafir and Karttik. * The reason being
that they are fallowed or tilled without bearing a crop during the four months (chau mds)
of the rainy season.
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AGRICULTURAL TERMINOLOGY. 599
To the last clause of this sentence a partial answer may be found
in the fact that with the principles of rotation the people are not wholly
unacquainted. Arhar pulse is followed in successive seasons first by
barley or wheat, afterwards by a rice crop, and ultimately by gram, peas,
mixed wheat and barley, or linseed. Rarely, indeed, are two
" white crops" grown successively. Leguminous growths
are interposed. The burden of such notoriously exhaustive plants as sugarcane,
poppy, and arbar, is never thrown twice running on the same land. When
after the reaping of the early rice the soil remains suitably moist, peas, lentils,
gram or linseed will be sown. But only when that soil has been well and
vigorously tilled will the rice crop be followed by sugar or wheat. Wheat is
itself sometimes grown year after year in the same field. But it must be
remembered that the field lies fallow during the autumn, and that in the long
interval between the two crops it is well manured. When it is at length
found that the powers of the land have been overtaxed, it is sometimes allowed
to lie fallow for a year or so. A year before it is again sown, its clods are
broken (lahua mdrna). This happens in August-September. . In January-
February the ground is once more stirred, this time with a hoe ; and in the
following June-July it is sown with an autumn crop. The same plan
is pursued when cultivation annexes virgin soil, or when old waste is
reclaimed.
Fields bear different names according to the crops and harvests for which
Nomenclature of they are successively tilled. Those prepared for the spring
fields# harvest are either palikdr, takrdr, or okhdon. Palihdr lands
have been already explained as those which, hitherto reserved for an autumn
crop like rice, are during some autumn left fallow and carefully prepared for
spring wheat. The wheat is sometimes followed by sugarcane. Takrdr fields
are rice lands which after the reaping of their rice are ploughed and manured
to bear, for the spring harvest immediately following, a crop of gram, barley,
mixed barley and pulses, mixed barley and wheat, or lentils. An okhdon field
is one ploughed in August-September, manured in the following month, and
sown with vegetables, poppy, or tobacco. Fields prepared for the autumn
harvest may be either mair, janewa, or maghar. A rrvair field is one which
after long lying fallow is broken up in August-September and dug again in-
January-February or May- June. In June- July it is carefully cleared of grass^
manured, and sown with a rice crop. Janewa lands, which have already borne
a spring crop within the year, are sown with an autumn crop in June-July ;
and maffhar fields are those which, having borne rice during the preceding.
77
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600 BAsTI.
season, are in the same month ploughed, hoed, and weeded for a fresh rice-
crop.
Crops, too, bear different names at different stages of their growth. Be-
fore their germination, while still imprisoned in the seed, they are known as
Ua. The husked rice grain (ahun) which has been steeped in water to cause
germination, is called jharai. Transplanted rice is during its seedling stage
termed bihan ; when it has grown to some height, ddhi ; and when at its full
stature, fadl. All cereals and millets, when the grain becomes distinguishable
in the ear, are called ekonta ; and when nearly ripe, reonra. Ears of barley and
wheat are when half ripe styled runL Pod-srrains whose flower has fallen
and pod has formed bear the name of dudha. When the crop is half ripe it is
termed gudra or gudri.
Most of the implements which constitute the cultivator's stock-in-trade
have now been named. Of those remaining to be mentioned, the most important
are the pharaha or mattock; the paina or ox- goad; the hasua or sickle; the
gardsi or chopper ; the nachtar or instrument for scraping the opium off the
incised poppy-heads ; the tabu or rope-muzzle for the oxen who tread out the
corn ; the pdncha or rake for collecting the grain on the threshing-floor ; and
the or<f and Jckdneha} baskets. But enough has been written of agriculture.
Pass we then to the vegetable products of the wilderness and the water.
In a district where forest has been so extensively cleared as in Basti,
what are generally known as the " minor forest products" are
Vegetable pro- 0f course rara Chief amongst them are the flowers, fruits,
ducts of the wood ° 7
and the lagoon. leaves, gum and bark of several trees above enumerated. Such
are the aonla, dsidh} babiil, bahera, bambu, wild date, harra^
wild jujube, lhair, mahua^ mainphal, jxtrda, &n&piydrm The rattan cane issparsely
encountered iu moist places. Twigs (htsrant) are collected for fuel. Several
long grasses are used either for the same purpose or for thatching, matting
screens, basket work, and rope. It will here suffice to mention the species
known as khar, bankets (Spodiopogon angustifolium), and ktis, with the flag-
like ndr. Thatching with grass rolls 3 inches thick costs about Re. 1 per
hundred square feet ; and, on the whole, tiling is a cheaper form of roofing.
Amongst forest products that are not vegetable let us note honey and lac.
Wild honeycombs aro occasionally found in trees, whence they are detached
by Bhars, Musahars, and other men of low degree. The same classes collect a
trifling quantity of lac, sometimes paying a small cess to the landlord from
whose trees that commodity is gathered. In places the lac insect (Coccus
lacca) is regarded less as a boon than as a nuisance. It afflicts the Brfihmana
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Vegetables. 691
by frequenting and not unfrequently killing their favourite plpal. " The
remedy," writes Buchanan, " to which these wiseacres have recourse is to cut
a branch on which the insect has fixed, to carry it to Prayag (Allahabad) and
to throw it into the sacred stream. On this all the insects on the tree perish."
Though a good deal of tasar silk is used in the district, and though &sna trees
on which to rear the silkworm (Antherea paphia) which produces it are com-
mon, sericulture is unknown.
Amongst the products of lagoons and ponds the principal are the seeds
(makhdna) of the water-lily, wild-rice {tin, Una or tinni), and the water-nut or
water-caltrop. The seeds of the water-lily (Anneslea spinoaa?) are fried and
eaten. The wild-rice, which at the end of the rains springs up along the
edges of the shallow water, corresponds apparently to the pasai of Rohilkhand.
When its grains ripen they drop off into the wisps of grass with which the
rice-heads are tied together. But it is in places the custom to sling round the
neck of the gatherer a narrow canoe-shaped basket, about three feet long,
which as he advances whisks under the ears and collects the falling seed.
By a convenient fiction, which denies that this wild-rice is a grain, Hindus
permit themselves to eat it on fast-days. The water-nut, being widely
and systematically planted, deserves a wider and more systematic descrip-
tion.
The various species of the trapa or water-nut are, or have been, a familiar
The singhira or water- f°°d *n many parts of Europe and Asia. Quoting the
nut- authority of Pliny, Captain J. F, Pogson1 affirms that
the European species natans supplied bread to the ancient Thracians. It is
said that specimens of the same variety have been found in a very perfect
state of preservation amongst the old lake-dwellings of Switzerland. But in
southern Europe such nuts are still ground into meal. They are known in France
as water-chestnuts (marron d'eau), and at Venice as Jesuit's nuts. In China
the " ling " or trapa bicornis is an important article of diet. But we are
now dealing with the Indian species, bispinosa, which Captain Pogson con-
siders far superior to the Chinese. The husks of both Chinese und Indian
species are provided with two horns or spines, from which they derive their
specific names. It may be added that the vernacular title of the Indian
variety is derived from a word (sing) meaning horn. This variety seems to be
most widely cultivated in Kashmir, where, for great part of the year, it
supplies the bulk of the population with a regularly-eaten food. Here it is
planted chiefly by Kah&rs, in their character of boatmen and fishermen ;
1 In a paper read before the Agri* Horticultural Society of Calcutta, 1878.
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602 BAST!.
but the Kdndu Bharbhunjas1 also engage in its cultivation. The time
of planting is the earlier half of the rains. Before the end 6f that
season, when the nuts ripen, many a tank is one great floating bed of
singh&ra leaves. The nuts are eatable either raw or cooked, and remain eatable
till the end of November. If dried in the sun they will continue edible
for years. They can, however, be ground down into a material for sweetmeats,
porridge and bannocks (chapdti). Captain Pogson is for having the water-nut
planted largely by Qovernment on the great Southern Indian tanks and
elsewhere. But its fine roots are accused of accumulating mud, and of thereby
reducing the depth and value of the reservoirs which bear it. If, moreover,
the crop were more nutritious or remunerative, it would be more generally
grown by the people themselves. They can well gauge the comparative merits
of staples wherewith their fathers were familiar.
From cultivation we pass, as usual, to the droughts which have checked its
progress. Some account of those which preceded the
separation (1865) of this district from Gorakhpur will
be found above.2 We need here deal only with those of 1868-69, 1873-74, and
1877-78.
The visitation of 1868-69 deserves no harsher title than that of a scarcity.
No relief-works for famished paupers were needed ; no
Of 1868-OT,
poorhouses for the old or weak were opened; no land-tax
was remitted or even suspended. Mr. Henvey is right in saying that from the
famine of that year " Basti escaped almost entirely."8 The monsoon broke
tardily though regularly in the middle of July ; but after a few days of rain
there succeeded an interval of drought which lasted till near the middle of
September. The long absence of moisture had meanwhile wrought consider-
able damage. In the trans-R&pti part of the district it was reckoned that
three-sixteenths* of the rice had perished. But eight-sixteenths were still
flourishing, and the remaining five-sixteenths were reported as recoverable in
the event of opportune rain. South of the R&pti half of the same crop had
been lost ; but here, as already shown, rice and other autumn growths supply
some quarter only of the whole yearly outturn. To save their rice the people
utilized the lift-irrigation which in most years is reserved for the spring crop.
But after brief storms in September the rain again ceased. By the beginning
of November and in the north of the district half the rice-crop, both av#ani
1 Sherring's Castes and Tribes of Benares (1873% p. 309 ; and infra, Baris and Bharbhunjas.
1 Pp. 342-44. 8 Narrative of the drought and famine in the North- Western Provinces,
1868-70, p. 59. 4 The rupee containing 1 6 annas'; it is common in Indian reports to imitate
the natife practice and reckon fractions in sixteenths.
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distress of 1873-74. 603
and jarha/ni,1 had failed. But the minor autumn growths had yielded a fair
return, and the rising spring grains looked promising. In the south of the
district little or nothing had been lost since September. The autumn millets
had returned a fair harvest, and the prospects of the spring crop were good,
notwithstanding the want of water. The lagoons and ponds had been almost
emptied to save the rice-crop. In the south-western corner of the district the
agriculturists manfully supplied the deficiency by the construction of cheap
earthen wells. But in the south-eastern corner, where the soil is sandy, the
evil was not so easily remedied.
The results at the close of the autumn harvest were that while about three*
fourths of the ausani or early rice had been realized, a still larger fraction of the
jarhani or later crop had been lost But sufficient grain to serve for seed was
in most cases garnered ; and the stalks of the wizened crops did duty as fodder for
cattle. The spring crop had in most places received its first or patik watering.
Its appearance was so hopeful that there was no fatal rise in prices. The
market was well stocked with grain. There arose no complaints of distress.
No emigration took place. Had Government imprudently opened relief-works,
the cultivators might have been withdrawn from the spring cultivation, which
demanded all their labour, all their care.
Some winter rain in January, 1869 still further improved the outlook. In
February it was anticipated that while the outturn of arhar pulse and sugar-
cane would be normal, that of wheat, barley, and peas would be some four or
six-sixteenths below the average. Of gram a half crop only was expected ;
and the expectation was justified, for gram suffered severely. But in March,
when the spring crop was garnered, it was found that the harvest was not
more than 25 per cent, below par. An eighth only of the land usually tilled
in spring had been left untilled that year. Prices, which had been somewhat
enhanced by the exportation of grain to less favoured western districts, fell. By
April they had regained their usual standard. All anxiety was quelled.
In 1873-74 Basti became the western outskirt of the tract affected by the
great Bengal famine. This and the neighbouring Go-
* rakhpur were the only North-Western districts which
that hungry year smote with any approach to severity. In climate and agri-
cultural conditions their northern tahsfls closely resemble the Lower Provinces.
In both rice is the staple crop. And in spite of the contradictory clamour
which at the time arose from irresponsible quarters, the Bengal famine of
1873-74 was mainly a rice-famine.
* Vidaupra sections on rice.
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604 BASTI.
The raius of 1873 l^egan a fortnight later and euded somewhat earlier than
usual. While they fell, they fell with less than the average heaviness. At their
close the lagoons and other reservoirs of the north-Rapti parganahs were found
almost empty. An extensive failure of the later rice was deemed inevitable, and
the result justified the expectation. The scanty spring crops of this tract would
at best prove a slender staff of life ; but even these were unpromising. The
twice-cropped fields, on which a vernal crop should have succeeded the rice,
were little better than earthenware. The winter rains, which make all the
difference between a good and a bad spring harvest, held off. The advances,
offered by Government for the construction of wells, offered but a partial
remedy. In mid-January a frost of uncommon severity nipped the arhar and
other tender pulse crops. But in the first week of February the long-delayed
rain fell in moderately heavy showers. At about the same time the exporta-
tion of grain to Bengal ceased and prices became less inflated. The starvation
which seemed imminent was averted, and in its place was threatened mere
hunger. The spring cereals could not, however, be hoped to supply the
whole population with food. The fasting poor were invited to labour on
road embankments and other public works of a kind which did not demand
skilled labour. In March the average daily number of persons thus relieved
reached 2,200. The Collector was now authorised to propose, where needful,
remissions or suspensions of revenue. In order to meet betimes the demands
of the autumn cultivation, advances for the purchase of rice-seed were direct-
ed. The seed was procured from Nepal; but of the sanctioned Rs. 5,00,000,
Rs. 43,209 only were disbursed.
Distress reached its highest point early in April, 1874, when the daily
muster on the relief-works averaged 28,000. As the harvesting of the spring
crops began, as the real deficiency of the outturn became clear, prices once
more rose. But a harvest there was; though grain was dear, the depleted
market was replenished; and by the end of April dearth was held to be
declining. The numbers employed on relief-works continued, nevertheless, to
increase; and at the time just noted reached 84,000. Were the labour and
discipline sufficient to exclude mere idlers in search of light work and cash
wages; The question was decided when the Lieutenant-Governor (Sir John
Strachey) visited the Benares province.
His inquiries resulted in the conclusion that there was no distress so severe
as to deserve the name of famine. Hosts flocked to the relief-works, not so
much because they were hungry as because they there found pleasant employ-
ment at a season when agricultural labour is always at a standstill. The
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FAMINE OF 1877-78. 605
attraction consisted "in the light work, in the liberty of going at night to
their houses after attending a sort of vast picnic during the day, and in the
wages earned at a time when ordinarily they had no employment in the fields
and had to live on their harvest savings."1 It was found that the labourers
were buying not only necessaries but luxuries. Orders were therefore passed
that a larger tale of work should be exacted, while the wages should be
reduced to the lowest sura needed for subsistence. The rates hitherto paid had
been for a man 1| anna, for a woman -J-, and for a child •§-. Men's wages were
now reduced to one anna, and those of the younger children to |th.
It was in the following month (May) foreseen that with the downpour of
the rains some change of system would be needed. The congregation of vast
multitudes at an unhealthy season and on outdoor wt>rk was for sanitary rea-
sons impossible. There were issued, therefore, the following prospective
rules : — First, that able-bodied persons of the labouring class should be employ-
ed on bond fide public works, at the usual rates of pay ; second, that for such
persons of the same class as were incapable of hard labour easy employment
should be found on roads or in poorhouses ; third, that for those altogether
incapable of labour gratuitous relief should be provided ; and fourth, that
those who on account of caste or other prejudices refused to accept relief on
the above terms should receive exceptional treatment. The poorhouses were
to be worked on the principles that relief should be given as a rule in the
shape of cooked food, and given only to those in actual want; that everyone
should work who could; and that working paupers should remain the whole
day within the walls. These preliminaries settled, warning was given that
the existing relief-works would be closed. And poorhouses were opened at
B&nsi and Basti.
This was the beginning of the end. The labourers on the relief-works
continued indeed to increase, and in the last week of May numbered 127,000
daily. But in the same week fell showers ; early in June the regular rains
set in; and all apprehensions of further dearth vanished. By the end of the
month last named the last relief-work was closed. The bulk of the able-bodied
paupers returned to till their fields. The poorhouses for the old and infirm,
which had opened with an attendance of about 80^, sheltered in August about
1,800 inmates. But in September the number fell to 1,200, and at the begin-
ning of October to 550. On the 21st of the latter month all poorhouses wero
closed. The State expenditure on relief-works for the able-bodied had by this
time amounted to about. Rs. 4,28,500. The expenses of poorhouses and other
lAdminUtraiio* Report, N.-W. 1\, 1873-74.
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606
BASTX.
institutions for infirm paupers were deemed "the fitting object of private
charity. They amounted to Rs. 9,640. But of this sum Government also, in
contributing to the Central Charitable Belief Fund, had contributed its share.
The next and last dearth, that of 1877-78, may be called a famine.
Whether many of its victims died of actual starvation
is perhaps doubtful ; but directly or indirectly it con-
siderably raised the death-rate. A comparison of the mortality during five
corresponding months of the affected year and its predecessor will at once put
this fact beyond question: —
Deaths in
and of 1877-78.
Norember.
December.
January.
February.
March.
1876.
1877.
1876.
1877.
1677.
1,984
1878.
1877.
1878.
1877.
1878.
9,885
2,768
2,514
4,894
6,911
1,79*
6,639
4,207
4,413
m
The story of the calamity opens in the usual way. Not much more than
a fifth of the usual rain fell during the monsoon of 1877. While the average
fall from June to September inclusive had for five years1 been 51*9 inches, it
was this year 11'3 only. Again, the northern rice-crop almost completely
failed. The minor autumn grains yielded but a fourth of their usual outturn.
The prices of food climbed high. During the last three months of the year
the condition of the poorer classes was considered critical. On the 22nd
October a poorhouse was opened at Basti ; and in January, 1878, similar
establishments at B&nsi and Menhd&wal. The number of inmates was inconsi-
derable ; but, before the end of the famine, relief operations had become far
more extensive than in the whole remainder of the Benares division.
Till the end of February distress continued to increase. For some five
weeks from the 19th of that month work for a few able-bodied paupers was
provided on the Basti and Menhddwal road. Meanwhile, however, the harvest-
ing of the spring crops had begun to give employment and bring in food.
The outturn of wheat and barley was fair ; but that of the inferior grains
was much below the average. On the 21st March the poorhouses at B&nsi and
Menhdawal were closed. And here perhaps the famine might have been expected
to cease. But the spring crops were after all insufficient to satisfy the wants
of a district which had already lost, in rice, its principal means of subsistence*
In May signs of unusual poverty and hunger appeared. People might be seen
1 1871-76 iachutaet
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FAMINE OF 1877-78. 60?
wandering from village to village in search of employment and food. Some*
crossed the border for Nep&l and others for Oonda. On the 28th May and 8th
June, respectively, relief-works were opened on the Rudhauli-Bansi and B&nsi-
KakrahigMt roads. Towards the end of the latter month distress reached its
highest point.
In the beginning of July works on the Belwa dam were opened as a
measure for the employment of all fully able-bodied persons requiring relief.
But the number of people who patronised this new venture was small ; and
after a few days the Gh&gra, swollen by the fall of the rains, flooded out the
few who had attended. The two works named towards the end of the last
paragraph were fully manned until towards the close of September. On tbe
26th of that month employment on the Kakrahighat road Was closed, fot
with good rains and the rising of the autumn crop suffering and prices had
abated. By the 26th October, when the Kudhauli and Ban si road-works were*
closed, the famine was over. But the Basti poorhouse remained open till ad
late as the 14th of March, 1879.
" The extent of the distress," writes Mr. C. A. Darnell,1 "must be gauged by
the number of recipients of relief iu various forms. A few were foreigners from
neighbouring districts, but their number amongst so many was inconsiderable4.
In tlie week ending 14th June the daily average was 28,982, or 1*96 per cent, of
the district population ; in the week ending 21st June, 52,886, or 3*59 per cent. ;
in the nine days ending 30th June, 63,908, or 4'27 per cent. ; in the week ending
7th July, 46,243, or 3*13 per cent. ; in the week ending 14th July, 29,685, or 2*01
per cent. Thence each week showed a decline. The 7th September showed
0-98 per cent., and the 14th October 019 per cent." It may be added that, of
tbe principal grains and pulses, rice attained its maximum price (8 sers the
rupee) in July, 1878 ; jodr millet (10f£ sers) in February of the same year
wheat (10f sers) in October, 1877 and July, 1878 ; gram (10f sers) in Feb-
ruary, 187^ ; and barley (11£ sers) in the preceding November. The total cost
to the State of relief-works, poorhouses, and other famine measures was
Ks. 1,50,350. In the case of poorhouses the Government grants were supple-
mented as usual by private subscriptions (Rs. 2,788). In more spontaneous
charity a conspicuous lead was taken by the Raja of B&nsi, who at stated times
bestowed a regular dole of food on a certain number of paupers. Dearths as
severe as that just described do not often afflict a district where water is so
near the surface and river communication so good as in Basti.
i Then Officiating Commissioner of the Benares Dirision. See his No. 41 r dated ISth
March, 1879.
78
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608 BASTI.
At times and places the excess of water is almost as mischievous as its
want. In Part I. of this notice was said enough of
Floods and blights. . . . . .
inundation from rivers ; but such inundation often
works much mischief. Untimely rain is a fertile source of blight, whether of
the reddish-yellow kind called rust (garuhi) or of the dirty-black kind called .
smut (s&hu, ddwa). When showers fall before December-January the wheat
is almost sure to prove a grand success. But if they descend after that month,
when the grain has filled out in the ears, more or less of blight is the conse-
quence. By rain which falls too soon after November- December the poppy
plant is said to be killed.
But the crops have also several insect foes. Such is the so-called white-
ant (termites) ; such a worm named tdngra, which devours the roots of the
rice. Of the tdba, the khaira, and the gandhi nothing is known except that the
last attacks grain while in a state of milky unripeness. For all these pests
the people can find no better cure than the incantationsof BrAhman priests
(guru) or low-caste magicians (ojha). In days when four-footed marau-
ders were still extensively mischievous, they adopted the more practical remedy
of daily sprinkling their crops with an infusion of cowdung and water. Even
the wild buffalo rejected green food thus treated. It is oddly enough stated
that in those times neither wild elephants nor deer ever attacked pulses.
In poverty of minerals Basti resembles most other great alluvial plains. No
,,. , .. , building-stone is found within it. The nodular lime-
Mineral kingdom. °
„ * . ,. stone named kankar is, however, quarried in several
Nodular limestone. ,
places. In most of these it is soft, clayey, and fitted
less for road-metal than for the manufacture of lime. But along the banks of
the Manarfima, in tappa ManwarpAra of Nagar, it is found in hard and excel-
lent knobs. The. following varieties of kankar are locally recognized ; but the
distinctions between them are distinctions of colour rather than composition : —
Telia or dark ; bichhua or scorpion-shaped ; balua or dhfarehwa, so-called,
because found in sandy or saline soil ; mfed, dudhia or cMn, that is white,
milky, or lime-coloured. The price of nodular limestone depends on its solidity,
but for well-cleaned knobs amounts to about Re. 1-12-0 at the quarry. To this
must be added from 8 to 12 annas for cartage. Mr. Thomson calculates that the
cost of metalling with six inches of kankar the one metalled road of the district
would be Rs. 1,426 a mile. But he allows to the metalling a width of 9 feet only.
Lime is made from kankar and shells. Burnt with ordinary refuse, kankar
jiime lime costs about Rs, 10 per hundred cubic feet ; but
with charcoal or firewood from Rs. 15 to Rs. 16.
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BUILDING-MATERIAL. 609
Shell lime is prepared as a rule with the latter kinds of fuel. That of
lacustrine shells (sip) is employed for the finer varieties of cement and fetches
about Rs. 3 per maund. But that made from snail (ghonghi) and other shells
costs about Re. 1 only ; or if burnt with refuse, as little as 12 annas. The
lacustrine shells are gathered by saltpetre-workers (Lunia) from the sides of
streams and lagoons. The banks of the rivers Ami, Manardma, Kudna and
Raw&i, and of the' Bakhira lake, may be mentioned as good localities for their
collection. As a material for whitewash and other plasters they sell unburnt
at from 5 to 8 annas the maund.
Bricks are manufactured by the potters (Kumhdr), who may be found in any
village of average population. The sun-dried or kacha
article is of two sizes, the larger called gtima, and the
smaller, gtimi. The former sells for about 2,000, and the latter for about 4,000
to the rupee. Kiln-baked or paka bricks made by native methods are of five
different sizes, the grUnni, g^ma, adhgazi, lakhauri, and ilmdssdhi. The gumi,
measuring 9" X 4 \" X 5", costs when of the best quality Rs, 8 per mille; the
gfima, 12* X 6" X 3", Rs. 10 ; the ftdhgazi, 18* X 6" X 2", Rs. 20 ; the lakhauri,
4£,'x3*Xl/r, Rs. 100 per ldkh;1 and the ilmfc-sahi, 5^x4',Xl", Rs. 115 per
I6kh. The brick used by the Public Works Department measures 9* X 4£" X 3*.
The price of its first class is from Rs. 6 to 9, of its second from Rs. 4 to
Rs. 5 the thousand.
The wood burnt in the kiln is generally that of the mango, the tamarind,
„ t . ^ a or the figs called bargad and pdkar. A kiln contain-
and brick-dost. e *
ing a lakh of bricks would require about 2,000 maunds
weight of firewood ; 25 maunds, that is, for every 1,000 bricks. Brick-dust or
surkhi, an ingredient in plaster and other builder's messes, is either ground from
brickbats in a kind of circular mill [chakki) or burnt from kiln-earth. Prepared
in the former manner it sells from Rs. 9 to 12 and even Rs. 16 per 100 cubic
feet, according to quality. But when made of kiln-earth burnt with refuse, it
has a price of Rs. 6 only.
Like bricks, tiles are made by members of the potter caste. As shown in the
Gorakhpur notice, flat tiles cost about double the price
of round ; while in the rains the price of all tiles rises to
almost double its usual amount. But when 10* long, kiln-burnt, and of the best
quality, they may be said to fetch on the average Rs. 4 per mille. Tiling with
such material costs about 8 annas per 100 square feet. The price of building
1 A lakh «1 00,000. It is probably because sold in lots of that quantity that the brick is
caUed lakhauri.
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610
BASTI.
wood has been shown under the heading of trees. And the road is now
clear enough for passing to the most important and engrossing subject of
this notice — the people themselves.
PART III.
Inhabitants, Institutions and History of the District.
The first attempt to count the people of the district was made about 1818
by Buchanan,1 But the requisite agency and the
requisite knowledge of census methods were wanting ;
and the attempt can be regarded only as a rather praiseworthy failure. Some
account of Buchanan's calculations has been given above.2 Such of hig
figures as seem to refer to Basii are these: —
Population.
Police circle,
Area in square
mi let.
Number of
families.
Sanichara
874
17,182
Mahuadabar
HI
• •*
2.2
10,226
Khamaria
• **
• ■•
220
20.195
Doraariaganj
• ••
...
• ••
•••
326
15,901
fasti
■ ••
• ••
§,
808
7,285
Maghar, part of
• ••
*M
l#
240
7,560
Bakhira
...
• •*
.«•
46
2,143
Bansi
♦ •»
• #•
• ••
687
19,654
Dliuliyabandar
• ••
• »«
••*
...
ISO
3
Lautan, pait of
•••
• ••
•••
Total
...
103
2,129
9,651
102,478
If we assume that Buchanan's estimate is correct, and that the family in-f
eludes about five persons, the total population would, just before the Ncp&lese
>var, have amounted to 512,390. His Sanichara corresponded pretty closely
with pargana Mahauli ; his Mqhu&dabar with parganah Nagar; and his
Khamaria with parganah Amorha. Of Dhuliya-bandar, a tract between the
Jam war and Til&r rivers, part now lies in Nepal and part in parganah Bdnsi.
The Mahuadabar which gave its name to the circle sq called was destroyed
pluring the Mutiny, and must not be confused with the Mahuadabar of parganah
JSasti. The four circles of Vazfrganj, Nawabganj, Mankapur, and L&lganj, which
Buchanan enters as parts of the Gorakhpur-Basti district, are now included
jn Gonda.
A first regular census was taken in 1847. As, however, Basti then formed
a portion of Gorakhpur, and as the great Maghar par-
ganah has since then been divided between the two
districts, the results can be shown but approximately. One-third of tfrp
* Eastern India, Vol. II. J J'p, 3*5-46.
Censuses of 1847,
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POPULATION.
611
Maghar population deducted, the inhabitants of the district numbered 937,771,
or about 345 to the statute square mile.1 There were 823,733 Hindus, of
whom but 194,537 followed occupations unconnected with agriculture, Out of
116,038 Musalmdns 81,157 were engaged in cultivation. Of the 15,714?
parishes (mama) in the united district, about 7,382 must have belonged
to the modern Basti. Of those in Basti, Birdpur2 alone is returned as possess-
ing more than 5,000 inhabitants. But being a forest grant, Birdpur is a group
of villages rather than a single village. The census of 1847 neglected to
record separately the male and the female population.
The next, that of 1853, remedied this defect It showed for the district
as it now stands a total population of about 1,235,720.
But for the same reasons as in the last case the
figure is merely approximate. The density of the inhabitants was 453 to the
square mile. And those inhabitants were thus classified:—
Agriculturists.
Non-agricvilurisU.
Total.
Grand
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
Agricultu-
rists.
Non-agri-
culturists.
254,982
55,813
810,795
total.
Hindus
Musaloians ...
423,401
59,724
385,484
66,316
132,793
29,100
122,189
26,713
808,885
116,040
1,063,867
171,853
Total ...
483,125
441,800
161,893
148,902
924,925
1,235,720
It will be seen that in six years the population had increased by 295,949
persons. The number of parishes may be reckoned at the same figure as
before. But two only ( Birdpur with 11,715 and Meuhd&wgi with 7,273 ) had
more than 5,000 inhabitants.
The penultimate census, that of 1865, showed for the first time details as
to castes &nd occupations, the proportion of children
to adults, and other important statistics. The Basti
figures were still unsevered from those of Gorakhpur; but after the same
deduction as before, the population may be roughly returned as follows:—*
1865,
Agricultural.
NoNr AGRICULTURAL.
Males.
female*.
Total.
Males.
Female*.
Total.
Grand
total.
Adults.
Boys.
Adults.
Girls.
Adults
Boys.
Adults
767906
18,516
Girls.
Hindus,
Musai-
nians.
292,359
45,387
206,325
52,794
277,999
45,349
168,782
27,642
946,065
151,172
81,870
17,432
56,154
12,456
49,410
9,861
264,340
58,265
1,210,405
209,437
Total.
338,346
239,119
823,348' 196,424
1,097,287
99,302
68,620
95,422
69,271
322,605
i,419,842
1 That is, a square mile of 640 acres. Unlike succeeding enumerations, the census of 1847
employs as its standard of area the larger geographical square mile (847*2 acres). * In
the report of 1847 the name is misprinted Tirpore.
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612
BASTl.
The only town which in this district contained more than 5,000 inhabitants
was Menhdawal (7,349). But the Birdpur grant, with its population of
13,671, is again entered as a single parish.
The next and last enumeration was that of 1872. As the latest and most
perfect yet obtained, its statistics deserve greater
detail than those of its predecessors '> and the follow-
ing table shows the population for each parganah separately. By adding to
the totals of that table 41 non- Asiatics ( 17 females ) and three Native Chris-
tians ( 2 females ), the census shows a gross result of 1,492,994 inhabitants.
.
Hindus.
1
mobamm1dak8and othkb8
not Hindus.
•
a
Total
«
Tahsil and par-
ganah.
Aged less than
15.
Adults.
Aged less than
15.
Adults.
§
r
&
*3
3
6
3
•3
a
oi
i
6
«5
"3
3
."3
a
•a*
-a
2
6
1
«5
-a
3
1
Tahsil Domarid-
ganj.
Rasulpur ...
Baosi West
29,118
16,484
22,924
13,234
36,048
21,061
36,185
20,873
8,706
6,588
68,71
4,422
11,278
7,049
10,971
6,886
87,150
50,182
7*,96!
44,764
495
878
Tahsil Bdnri.
B&nsi Bast ...
Binayakpor M.
60,201
4,177
40,341
3,251
67,007
5,854
68,7*1
5,583
10,227
441
8,464
380
13,648
701
13,049
636
741,033
11,178
125.575
9,850
476
429
Tahrtl Haraia.
Amorha
tf agar West ...
Basti West ,-
36,965
14,102
13,616
2",678
10,f72
10,728
50,466
18,427
17,463
47,654
17,845
16,904
2,754
1,129
1,346
2,220
948
1,061
3,559
1.629
1,653
3,423
1,458
1,597
98,784
35,187
84,077
80,975
30,923
30,290
652
586
670
Tahsil Basti.
Nagar Fast
Bssti East
Mahauli West ...
Maghar West ...
1,149
20,252
17,835
10,836
8,904
15,949
14,164
7,985
15,782
29,004
26,387
16,389
15,288
26,643
24,974
14,444
1,551
2,8t)7
2,164
1,980
1,361
9,110
1,754
1,566
2,140
4,049
2,979
2,59*
2,902
3,676
2,883
2,579
80,622
66,112
49,865
30,768
97,750
48.378
43,775
26,664
614
611
548
621
Tahsil KkaltU
abad.
Mahanli Bast ...
Mdghar Bast
22,248
33,896
16,958
25,661
218,149
32,261
47,580
99,935
44,025
2,213
10,024
1,778
7,987
8,168
18,829
8,158
18,306
59,680
(05,829
51,899
90,679
528
671
Total ...
270,868
384,679
868,469
50,930
43,919
68,170
65.778
784,647
688,333
528
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CENSUS OF 1872. 613
In 1872, then, Hindu males numbered 655,547, or 52*9 per cent of the entire
Hindu population; while the number of Hindu females was 581,618, or 471
per cent, of that population. In the same manner the Musalm&n males
amounted to 119,102, or 52'0 per cent., and the Musalman females to 109,685,
or 480 per cent, of the total Musalman population. Or, taking the whole
population, we find that there is a centesimal proportion of 53*2 males to 46*8
females and of 84*7 Hindfis to 153 Musalmftns. In spite of the suspected
murder of girl babies amongst certain clans, the proportion of females is
slightly greater than that (46*7 per cent.) for the provinces at large. If the
figures of this and of the two preceding censuses are to be trusted, from them
may be obtained two important but perhaps fortuitous results. The first is
that between 1853 and 1872 the proportion of males to females steadily though
slightly increased; the second, that the Hindus increased only one-quarter as fast
as the Musalm&ns. Whether either result is partly or wholly due to the practice
of female infanticide amongst certain classes of Hindus must remain to be solved
in some work of more speculative character. The calculations of the results
themselves will be found in Mr. Tupp's Imperial Gazetteer of the district.
In 1872 some attempt was for the first time made to collect the statistics of
bodily infirmities. These statistics tended to show the
existence within the district of 67 insane persons and
idiots (18 females), or *194 per 10,000 of the population; 204 deaf and dumb 44
females), or 1 -4 per 10,000 ; 793 blind (206 females), or 54 per 10,000 ; and 135
lepers (23 females), or '92 per 10,000. The rate per myriad is in every case below
the average for the provinces at large. Insanes and idiots are separately shown
by the census, but have here been lumped together. It is impossible that half-
educated enumerators could have distinguished between the two classes. What
Buchanan wrote of the district lepers forty-five years ago is still partly true :
" Both kinds of leprosy are pretty common ; and the korh or korhi, that in
which the joints fall off, is said to be on the increase. The people here do not
separate the diseased from their families ; and some of them continue to live
with their wives and beget children, who seldom escape the disease. The white
leprosy would not appear to be hereditary, nor is it beheld with such abhorrence
as the korh. It is commonly called sufeda and charakh." But it may be doubted
whether, as in Buchanan's days, many black lepers commit suicide. The korh or
black leprosy, he explains, is deemed the punishment of sin, and to expiate that
sin " some go to Ajudhya and more to Prayfig, and throw themselves into the
holy stream ; while others, to whom a distant journey would be inconvenient,
throw themselves into a pit filled with fire."
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614
BASTI.
At the satne time as the statistics of infirmities were collected the statistics
of age. These latter are, for what they may be worth,
shown in the following table. But it must be repeated
that Indian rustics rarely know their own ages : —
Statistics of age.
Age.
Vp to 1 year ...
Between l & 6 years.
„ 6 & IS ..
„ 12 & SO
„ SO & 30
„ 30 & 40
„ 40 & 50
„ 50 & 60
Above 60 years
IlindHf.
9*
If
•7,612
107,823
114,392
103,637
122,36 J
94,286
53,735
27,189
14,568
bo
41
I6'l
17-1
15 5
18-3
14 1
80
40
2-1
-3
a
24,007
96,143
80,171
69,108
119,688
i) 0,655
51,272
30,560
20,124
a
3
3
, o
be n
c S
a) a
41
16*5
13*7
1 1-8
2fr5
15 5
8*8
5S
3'4
Mu&almdni.
2
c *
II
6,039
20,179
20,715
17,509
91,489'
16,829;
9,426
5,004!
2,912
4-2
16-9
178
14 7
180
141
79
4-2
34
1
4,359
16,496
14,966
12,769
21,623
15,928
9,148
6,563
9,831
i
40
17-8
14 0
!!••
20-2
14 9
8*5
52
85
total population.
i
ae
3
3S,C51
128,003
135,107
121,146
148,841
111, UK
63,162
82,193
17,4ft
8g
o o
04
41
163
J7S
16*4
18-3
141
8-0
4
22
28,366
114,039
• *>,P7
81,877
141,310
106,584
60,421
36,113
23,950
9
3
2
9
&
41
*»6
13*8
11-9
205
154
87
52
34
Castes.
The percentages on total population are, as a rule, above the average of the
provinces. And this fact tends to provB that Basti is not, on the whole, un-
healthy.
The facts attaching to the statistics of caste may perhaps prove less revolting
to the reader. Distributing the Hindu population
into four conventional classes, the census shows
173,056 Brihmam (81,220 females) ; 44,274 R&jputs (19,240 females) ; 44,757
Baniyas ( 20,827 females ) ; and 985,141 persons belonging to "the other
castes" (460,331 females).1
» To avoid overloading our text with statistics, the proportion of each great class to the total
Hindu population is shown in a note. And that proportion may be compared with the propor-
tion in the provinces at large, thus :—
Basti. North- Western Provinces at laryt*
Brahmans „. 139 per cent 12 2 per cent.
Kajputs ^ 85 „ 90 „
Baniyas ~. « « „ S'9 „
Othew ... 790 „• 74-9 „
Total
1000
100*0
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BBJtHMANS. 615
Legend divides Br&hmans into two great nations, of which one, the Gaur,
colonised Hinddstan.1 Of the five races into which
this Gaur nation is again severed four are italicized
in the following paragraph.
The census classes the Brdhraans of Basti as u without distinction"
(73,388), Sarwariyas (68,241), Kanaujiyas (22,150), Gaurs (2,813), and Gau-
tams (585). Under the heading of u miscellaneous " it mentions also the
following small tribes : — Sdrasut, Sangaldwipi, Lohma, Gorakhbansi, Kash-
miri, Niwan, Eaojal, Sank&hdr, Balodra, Maithil, Maharashtra, Pachgoti, and
San&db. Pachgoti sounds suspiciously like Bachgoti, which is the appellation
of a Rajput and not of a Brahman clan. The names Pande, Shukul, Tiwari,
Misra, S&ndel, and Vasisht are added. But the first four are mere honorary
titles ; the last two are names of tribal subdivisions (gotra) ; and all are
common to many Br&hman tribes. Such of these miscellaneous or minor
clans as have not already been noticed2 must await description in notices on
districts where they are a little more numerous. Of the major tribes, the
Sarwariyas are described in the Gorakhpur ; the Kanaujiyas in the Et&wa
and Farukhabad ; and the Gaurs in the Aligarh and Meerut Gazetteers.8
Gautam, again, is rather a subdivisional title of several tribes than the name
of any one tribe. There are, for instance, Gautam gotras of the Khatkul Ka-
naujiyas, of the San&dhs, of the Bhuinhars and of the Sarwariyas. It is pro-
bable that the Gautams of Basti belong mostly to the two last-named tribes.
Of the Bhuinhars something has been said in the Gorakhpur and more
remains to be said in the Benares notice. Meanwhile some further account of
the Sarwariyas, the principal Br&hman clan of the district, will not be out of
place.
The Sarwariyas or Sarjiipdris derive their name from Sarwar or Sarjupdr,
, the country "across the Sarju" or Ghagra. This tract
included Gorakhpur, Basti, and part, if not all, of Gonda.
Though belongipg to the great Kanauji'ya race, the tribe must not be confus-
ed with that portion of the race known as Khatkul Kanaujiyas or Kanaujiyas
proper. As Kanaujiyas, the Sarjup&ris of course claim Kanauj for their ear-
liest home. But like tiearly all the Br&hmans of Basti,* they trace a more
immediate origin to Ajudhya, just across the Ghigra. Ajudhya was the capi-
tal of the deified Solar Rajput R&ma; and many families of Sarwariyas still
1 See preceding volume, p. 576 (Bareilly). ' For some account of the Sarasuts see
Gazetteer, III., 494 (Muzaffarnagar) ; of the Maithils, Gazetteer IV., 540 (Mainpuri) 5
and of the 8anadha, VII., 64 (Farukhabad). 8 Sec above, p. 852; Gazetteer, IV,
279 j VII., 63 ; and III., 856, 393. * See note on the castes of the district, Census Beport
Of 1865,
79
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616 BASTI.
assert that it was he who invited their ancestors to colonize this district.
Some say that, on the conclusion of his successful campaign against the giant-
king of Ceylon, he specially requested the original Sarwariyas to migrate from
Kanauj Another less flattering account relates that by receiving alms some
Kanaujiya Br&hmans lost caste in their own country ; and that the kindhearted
Kama provided them with the means of forgetting their disgrace in a new land.
Certain it is that, except by themselves, the Sarwariya Br&hmans are not re-
garded as of equal rank with the Kanaujiya -Brahmans proper.1 If, as Buchanan8
says, they assert superiority over the Kanaujiya?, it is merely because they have
an uneasy knowledge that the Kanaujiyas are their acknowledged betters.
The Sarwariyas have 1G clans or gotras, bearing respectively the names
of Garg, Gautam, Sandil, Bharaddhwaj, Vasisht, Vatsa, Kasyap, Kasyap,
Kausik, Chandrayan, Savaranya, Parasar, Pulasta, Vrigu, Atri, and Angira.
These names are in several cases, such as those of Vasisht, Kasyap, Kasyap,
Vrigu, Atri and Angira, derived from the appellations of great Br&bman
saints. Though locally recognized, the distinction between Kasyap and
Kasyap is doubtful. But St. Kasyap's son would have been called K&syap,
and might, like his father, have founded a separate gotra. Each of the various
clans has its honorary title or titles. Thus the Gargs are called Shukul and
Pande; the Chandrfyans, Sdvaranyas, Par&sars and Kdsyaps, Pande; the
Bharaddhwaj es, Diibe; the Vatsas and Gautams, Dube and Misra; the Kas-
yaps and Kausiks, Misra ; and the Sandils, Tripdthi or Tiw&ri, But it will bo
at once seen that this list does not account for all the clans ; and other titles,
such as Ojha, Pathakh, Upadhya and Chaube might be added. Buchanan
asserts that besides these 16 gotras or <c pangtis "3 there are three others, which
derive their names from places. What those names are he does not tell us ;
and his statement may be doubted, as opposed to more modern authority.
The three clans of the first rank are the Gargs, Gautams, and S&ndils.
Amongst the Sarwariyas, but far below the 16 clans just mentioned, are
sometimes placed others called Jutaha4 or counterfeit. But these, as shown
by the Gorakhpur tradition, belong more properly to the class named Sawala-
khis. 5 The line between the Sarwariya and the Sawalakhi is often difficult
to draw. But the former is the superior and the latter the inferior. The
former will become spiritual adviser {guru or purohit) to a family of respect-
able rank ; the latter will become a temple-priest (panda). But sacerdotal
appointments of this kind can be obtained by comparatively few of either
i Suprn, pp. 352-53. Starring \s Castes and Tribes of Benares (187*), P 29. ■ Eastern
India (i83ti), p. 451. 3 Panthis ? 4 In Eastern India this name is misprinted
Tutaha. ° Sec p. 353 j and for some account of the Sawalakh'g, pp. 351-52.
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rXjptjts. 617
class. u Where the number of Br&hmans is so enormous/' writes Buchanan,
" only a small proportion could live by deceiving the multitude, which is the
proper duty of Brahmans." A great many Sarwariyas have condescended to
practise even that agriculture which they formerly so much despised. The
number of Brahmans still deserves the epithet of enormous. Except Gorakh-
pur, Cawnpore, and Allahabad, no district in these provinces has so many of
that caste as Basti.
The legendary origin of the Rajput tribes has been mentioned elsewhere.1
On the distinction between the Solar. Lunar, and Fire
Rajput a.
races it is needless to dwell further. But in tho fol-
lowing list the names which appear on Tod's roll of the 36 Royal Tribes have
been italicised.
The R&jputs are returned as Siirajbami (9,491), Baia (7,212), Ponivdv
(1,058), Gautam (4,512), Parwar (1,216); ChauJidn (1,313), Bhfcraddhwftj
(4,211), Raghubansi (1,895), " without distinction" (1852), and miscellaneous.
Under the last heading appear the following sparsely represented tribes : — Ko-
nohik, Shiiibansi, Rajkum&r, Kulhans, Jaiswar (or Bhatti), Gahrwdr, Bluil2 (ov
Bhfila-Sultan), Pundir, Kinwir, Dikshit, Sakarwdr, Sarnet, Bachgoti, Bah-
mangaur, Rdthoi\ Bisen, Surwar, Kharag, N&gbansi, Orik, Gaur, Arail, Ba-
ghel, Bhuinh&r, Mabrawar, Sarandwipi, Chavdraband, Bargi'tjar, Bhimla,
Raikawar, Eatehriya, and Bansi. Bh&raddhwaj is a clan-name common to
many tribes. The Bhuinh/vrs, who are just as often called Br&hmans as Raj-
puts, have been mentioned under the former heading. Many of the miscella-
neous tribes have been described elsewhere ; and those that have not are too
small to enlarge this notice. A sufficient account of the Bais and Ponwars
will be found in the Gazetteers of Bareilly and Farukhabad respectively-8
The subject of Chauhdns, genuine and spurious, has been exhausted in the
Mainpuri and Bijnor notices. 4 There remain for description only the Siiraj-
bansis, Parw&rs, and Raghubansis.
All Rajputs of the Solar Race might perhaps be called Surajbansi.; but Su-
„0 ., . rajbansi is here the specific name of a tribe Of the
Surojbansis. ° rm , .
Solar Race the Basti Surajbansis of course boast
themselves members. But their standing amongst Rajputs is not remarkably
high ; and Mr. Sherring suggests that they were at first recruited from the
degraded scions of many Solar tribes.5 Such men would naturally have fore-
1 Gazetteer, V., 676. » This tribe is, according to Sir II. Klliot, idem ion 1 with the
" Balla" of Tod's list. 3 Gazetteer, IV., 545-57; and V., 286-1*7. * GiiEPftPf r, V.,
2SC-87 ; and VII., 68-69. B Gazr , IV., 545- 57, and V., 286-87. Castes and tribes of Benares,
p. 225.
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C13 sasti.
gathered and intermarried under the common title of Surajbansi or sun-born.
Both north and south of the Ganges plain, moreover, that title is a favourite
assumption of highland aborigines who seek a Hindu pedigree. And there is
some evidence in favour of the theory that the Surajbansis came from the
northern hills.
The Solar tribes are so-called because they claim descent from Ikshvaku,
the grandson of the Sun. This Ikshvaku founded Ajudhya ; and his fifty-eighth
descendant was the semi-historical R&ma.1 Unlike the other Solar tribes
who perhaps without exception trace their lineage to llama's sons, Lava
and Kusha, the Siirajbansis find an ancestor in his brother Bharat As
Raima's capital was on the common frontier of Basti and Faizabad, it
is odd that the tribe should in neither district claim continuous residence
from the time of his rule. The legend is that Bharat left Ajudhya
to assist a mountain uncle against some invaders. The realm of this
uncle was Kekaya, which has been diversely identified as Bhut&n and
Kashmir. But wherever on the Him&laya this place may have been, on
the Himalaya Bharat remained. He is said to have founded Srinagar on the
Alaknanda in Garhwal ; and from the neighbouring Kumiun are said to
have migrated the Mahauli Sruajbansis.2 Some of the old kings of KumAuu
may have styled themselves Surajbansis; for Surajbansi is the tribal name
borne by the Kashipur r&ja, who claims descent from those princes.
The Faizabad Surajbansis claim descent from one L&lji Singh, who, quit-
ting Kum&un about 350 years ago, became servant to a grain -dealer in par-
ganah Haveli Avadh. The grain-dealer having died childless owing to the
curse of a hermit, Ldlji took possession of his property and became a great land-
holder. The Oudh Gazetteer3 asserts that the Mahauli or Mahson Surajbansis
belong to the same stock as Lalji's descendants. The former certainly say
that they came from Kumiiin three centuries ago, when under their chiefs
Aiakdeo and Tilakdeo they expelled the native Rajbhars and Thdrus.4 The
prevailing gotra or clan is the S&varanya or Sftvaran. The rija of Mahauli
or Mahson is a Surajbansi ; and members of the same tribe have played a
dominant part in the history of parganah Amorha. But the Surajbansis are
less influential in this district than in Oudh, whence they have the privilege
of sending three chiefs to attend the Viceroy's court (darbdr).
1 Tod's Rdjasfhin, Madras reprint (1873), I. p. 30. According to another legend Ikshrika
was generated by a sneeze of the Supreme Being. See Grows ^'e Mathurd, 2nd edition, pedigree
opposite p. 59. * Eastern India, pp. 456-57. * II., 78. The work in qneation is,
however, mistaken in saying that the raja of Amorha was a Surajbansi. It is mistaken also
In making Mahauli and Mahson separate principalities. 4 Gorakhpur- Basti settlement
report, II., 204-05 j lid j as and Nawdbs of the North- Western rrovmces, 50.
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PARWA'RS AND RAGHUBANSIS. 619
The Parw&r R£jputs are often called Pal war and PaliwAr. Mr. Sherring
, suggests that the title is perhaps identical with that
of the Paliwal Baniyas, who derive their name from
Palli in Mfirwdr, and are sometimes credited with descent from Bargiijar Kdj-
puts. In support of this speculation he might have added that the Paliw&Is
appear in Tod's list of those 84 mercantile classes which are " chiefly of Raj-
put origin."1 But, though the Parw&rs really derive their name from a place
called P£li, they have in truth no connection with the Palwals. The Rajput
tribe boasts that its ancestors were Sombansis, that is, members of the Lunar
Race descended from Budh, the grandson of the Moon. As Hastindpur was the
principal seat of this Budh's descendants, we of course find the Parwars claim-
ing a north-western origin. They aver that in the 13th century they con-
quered and took their name from parganah P&li of Hardoi.2 The Parw&rs
have ever since been a powerful race in Oudh and in those districts of
the North- West which adjoin Oudh. Their valour and turbulence gave
during the Great Rebellion much trouble in Basti, Gorakhpur, and Azara-
garh.
Once established in Pali, they rapidly extended their conquests eastward.
Their original leader Pirthiriy, Patrdj or Burhdeo, is said to have wrested
much of Faizabad from the R&jbhars. Like the great Mayyura Misra of
Gorakhpur8 he married four wives of different castes. From the first,
a Rajputin, are descended the class of Parw&rs called Kaur ; from the
second, an Ahfrin, those named Ahiriniya ; and from the third, a Bharin
captive of his bow and spear, those known as Bhariniya. The fourth
was a fair but unhallowed fay Qieokanya or ddin) whom he met in the woods.
Her descendants are styled Dainiyas or Bantarias. It is said that one day this
lovely demon was baking cakes. Her first babe, which was lying at some
little distance, began to cry ; and in order to feed it, without at the same time
leaving the cakes, she assumed gigantic proportions. At this moment her
husband returned ; and finding the secret of her supernatural powers discover-
ed, the lady fled for ever. Few, however, of the Parwars in this district claim
her as their ancestress. The members of the tribe in Basti, Gorakhpur, and
Xzamgarh are chiefly Bhariniyas and Ahiriniyas.4 They boast that on grand
l Sherring, 851-32; 288-84. Tod, I., 76 and 109. •The Census Report of 1865
(note on castes of Aaanigarh), and after it Mr. 8herring speaks of Pali as in the neighbour-
hood of Dehli. But as the former authority prefixes to the name of Pali that of Sandi, there
was small excuse for this mistake. The several Oudh accounts quoted below leave no doubt
as to what Pali is meant. 3 Supra pp. 363-64, 369 and 488. * C*rn.eS£8 C(Ut"
and Tribes of Oudh, p. 51 ; Sherring, and Census Report of 1885, as above j 0*dh Gazetteer,
I., 387-82, and III., 478-81.
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G20 BASTT.
occasions they rally from all parts of a circle some eighty miles round. But
of this enough has been said above.1
About the Raghubansis there is less to be said. Their eponymous ances-
tor, Raghu, king of Ajudhya, was the 55th successor
Rnghubansis.
of Ikshvaku and the great-grandfather of Kama, .fbey
therefore claim to be Solar Rdjputs; and in this part of the country boast a
continuous* residence from the reign of Raghu himself. It is probable, how-
ever, that they crossed the Ghagra and entered Basti at a more advanced and
less mythical date. All over the North-Western Provinces, they of course
trace their origin to Ajudhya. But in Eta and some other districts they are
content to forget Raghu and to ascribe their colonization to the leadership of
Kusha, son of R&ma. In Basti they are fairly numerous, but not of much
landed importance. Their principal clan or gotra is the Kasyap.
The census classes Baniyas as Kasaundhan (9,795), Agarahri (9,702),
Kfindu (29,85G), Agarwdl (2,107), " without distinc-
tion" (1,977), and miscellaneous. In the last class
are included the following small tribes : Panwdr, Golapuri, Kasarwuni, Dasa,
Dhdsar, Bandarwar, Jaiswdr, Ummar, Bahwar, Sandil, Rajab, and Rastogi.
Panw&r is perhaps a misprint for Palwar or Paliwal. Some account of the
Kasarw&nfs will be found in the Gazetteers of Cawnpore and Et&wa.* The
Dasas or half-breeds, as opposed to the Bis&s or thorough-breds, are a division
of the Agarw&ls. The Agarwdls themselves receive more or less description
in the Saharanpur, Aligarh, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Et&wa, and Budaun no-
tices ;* the Dhiisars in those of Sah&ranpur, Aligarh, and Cawnpore,4 the
Ummars in those of Cawnpore and Farukhabad f and the Agarahris in the
lutter notice. Sandil or S&ndel is a name applied to clans of several Baniya
tribes. It is noticeable that the Baranwdr, Unai, Kamalpuri, Rauniyar,
and Baya Baniy&s mentioned by Buchanan have disappeared ; but his Jaun-
puris, though unmentioned in the census, still exist. Of the four classes at
present most numerous, the Kasaundhans and Kdndus alone await notice.
The Kasaundhans belong to that upper rank of Baniyas whose widows do
„ mm_ not remarry. They are in Jaunpur said to be
Kasaundhans
descended from the union of a Kdndu and a Sunar
woman.6 Lucknow is sometimes named as the first home of the tribe. But
the names of its two clans, eastern (Purbiya) and western (Pachhaiyan), point
1 Supra, p. 486. ' See Gazetteer, IV., 281 ; and supra, p. 64. 8 Gazetteer, II.,
182, 896; III., 859, 497 ; VI.# 280: and V., 45. « Gazetteer, II., ibid ; supra, p. 64.
9 Supra, p. 64 ; Gazetteer, VII., 72. ° Note on castes of that district, Census lieport
Of 1865.
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MISCELLANEOUS CASTES.
621
and Hindus.
to a more ubiquitous origin; and the Kasaundhans of these provinces are
most numerous in the Hamirpur distiict.1 Though here considered descend-
ants of the ancient Vaisyas, the Kandus are in many
cases mere agriculturists. Allowing the morganatic
remarriage of widows, they are therefore placed low in the scale of Baniyas.
They will eat the flesh of the wild boar ; but from intoxicating liquors they,
in public at least, abstain. According to Buchajian,* Rajputs have no scruple
in accepting water from their hands. About half the tribe are served by
Brahman priests ; but the remainder follow the heretical sects8 which have
ever been favoured by Baniyas. They, as a rule, call themselves Madhyddesis
or midlanders, after the geographical division in which ancient Hindu writers
placed this district. To their other clans are assigned the names of Kanau-
jiya, Gaur, and Chanch&ra.
Hitherto wo have been dealing with tribes who claim descent from the
The " other castes " of "twice-born" races of Manu — with tribes who have
the census. some pride of pedigree, and supply the district with
its leading families. We now descend to the lower strata of society, to those
whom Manu would most probably have classed as Sudras. But though of
mixed or aboriginal origin, these " other castes " form by far the most nume-
rous and useful part of the population. Their names are shown in the follow-
ing compilation from the census. But it should be premised that, though
classed with Hindus, several of the tribes here mentioned are for the most
part Muhammadan. The Julaha, the Ghosi, and the Taw&if would have found
a more appropriate place amongst the Muslim population : —
Aghori (religious-sectary) ...
Aheria ...
Ahfr (cowherd) ...
Arakh (hunter and fowler)
Atfth (religious sectary) ?...
Baheliya (hunter and fowler)
BahrOpia (mimic and buffoon)
Bairagi (religious mendicant)
Baiswar •• •••
Bajgi (musician)
Bangali (native of Bengal) ..
Banjftra ••• .♦•
Bansphor (bambu- worker) ..,
Bargihi «~ •••
Barhai (carpenter) ..•
1 Castes and Tribes of Btnares, p. 208.
"Religion."
44
19
158,184
3,343
3,214
723
104
2,250
474
22
6
21
5,818
779
M,577
9 Eastern Indie, II., pp. 465-66.
»/«/.
Digitized by
Google
G22
BA8TI.
^
B*ri (maker of leaf-platters)
•••
•••
•••
•••
4,2*8
Beld&r (navvy) ... ...
Mft
•M
%••
•••
4,145
Bharbhunja (grain-parcher)
•••
•••
•••
•••
8,194
Bbar... •*. ,M
•••
—
•••
•••
17,312
Bh#t (minstrel)
•M
...
•••
•••
2,318
Bhuj... ,„ ...
••«
• ••
*m*
•••
661
Bhutahfr ... .^
•••
•••
•••
•••
1,734
Bbartia ... ..,
••«
•M
•••
—9
201
Bind... ••• •••
•M
—
•••
—
451
l^nai... «m ••#
•M
•M
•••
...
16,989
Cham&r (carrier)
•••
• ••
•••
M*
205,658
Chhipi (chintz-maker) M,
• ••
•M
*••
•«•
2IS
Babgar (maker of leathern vessels)
• ••
• •ft
•••
•*•
7
Darzi (tailor) ... «••
...
•••
•••
•••
484
Bb&nuk (formerly archers)
• «•
• ••
•••
•••
17
Dhftdi, more correctly Dbarhi
•M
...
•••
•M
1,597
Dhobi (washerman) ...
•*•
•••
• *•
M«
25,360
Dhuna (cotton-cleaner)
•••
• •«
•••
•••
414
Dom ••• •••
•••
• ••
...
•M
745
Dusftdh ... M.
)••
•••
•••
•M
425
Fakir (religions mendicant)
• ••
••■
•••
•••
2*8
Gadariya (shepherd)
»••
M*
•••
•••
9,140
Gadhonia ... .M
M«
•M
••%
•••
86
Ghosi (Mnslim cowherd) ...
•••
•••
—m
•••
64
Gond *m •••
•••
ttt
•••
•••
777
Gositn (religions sectary) ...
M«
—
«••
•••
1,858
Bajjiin (barber)
•••
• ••
••«
•••
19,766
Halwii (oonfectioner) •••
...
•M
—
•«•
2,266
Jajak or Jichak ...
—
• ••
••«
•••
8
Jaiswar ... ...
—
• ••
•M
• ••
400
vat ••• ..• .«•
••«
M*
•M
• ••
915
Jogf (religions mendicant)
*••
•••
•••
•••
173
Jotishi (astrologer) ...
...
...
•••
•••
85
Jul£h6 (Muslim weaver) ...
«..
•••
•••
• *.
64
Kabar (litter carrier) «••
•••
•••
•M
••■
34,774
Kalal or Kalwal (distiller) ...
m
•••
• M
•••
10,715
Eam&ngar (formerly bow-makers)
•••
•••
• ••
•••
920
Eanjar (string-seller) M#
•»•
•••
•••
• M
866
Kfnpri ... ,M
»••
«••
•••
• ••
68
Karwal or Ear it ., ...
...
•M
• ••
•••
30
Easer6 (brazier)
N«
•••
—
•••
514
Eayasth or Kayath (scribe)
0—
•••
—
• ••
18,681
Ehagar
• •«
•••
• ••
9—
30
Ehikrob (sweeper) m .
•M
«••
•W
—
1,154
Eharw&r
•••
•••
• ••
•M
195
Khatfk (pig and poultry breeder)
• ••
• ••
•M
•••
6,302
Khattri
•••
•••
• ••
•••
102
Eisan (cultivator) ,„
#••
•••
• ••
HI
6
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MISCELLANEOUS CASTES. 623
Koeri (cultivator) ... ... m M# ... 24>574
Koli or Kori (Hindu weaver) ... ^ „. ... 9,887
Kumbar or Kohar (potter) .. ... .„ ... ... 98,688
Kurmi or Kuobi ... ... ... _ _ 113,154
Kuzagar (maker of ornamental pottery) ... ... ... 16
Lahera (lacquer-worker) ... ... ... ... ... «2
Lodh or Lodha, cultivator (formerly huntsman) ... ... ... 19,080
Lobar (blacksmith) ... ... ... ... ... i;f644
Maimar (builder) ... ,., ... ... „ 22
Mali (gardener)... . ... ... M. ... ... 6l,978
Maltfh or Khewat (boatman) ... ... ... ... 31,178
Mina... ... ... ... ... „, ... <j8
Murai or Murao (market gardener) ... ... ... U. 12,912
Muaahar ... ... ... ... ... ^ 630
Manakshahi (follower of Sikh religion) ... ••• ... 88
Nat or Nagar (acrobat) ... ... ... .... ... 196
Nunera or Nunia (saltpetre-worker) ... ... — ^, 17,602
OrhorRorh ... ... .„ ... ... ... 139
Palladsr (weighman) ... ... ... w ... is
Pa's! (fowler and watchman) ... ... ... ... 16,277
Patwi (necklace-maker) ... ... M. ... M. 901
ftftin ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 17
KaVjbhar ... ... ... ... ... M, 6,814
Ramaia ... .M ... ... ... ... 480
Rang war ... ... ... „. ... M, 203
Sanif si (religious mendicant) ... ... ... „, 48
oeori ... ... ... m. ••• ••• 840
Sarahia ... ... ... m ... ... 2,499
Sunar ... m. ... ... ••• ... 8,292
Tamoli (betel-nut seller) .M ... »M ... ... 2,106
Taskhar ... ... ••• MV ... ... 101
Tawaif (prostitute) ... ... ••• ••• ... 109
Teli (oilman) ... ... ... ,M ^ ... 27,194
Thathera (brazier) ... ... ... ... ... 1,218
To these must be added 3,683 persons of unspecified caste or occupation.
The Bang&lis were probably deemed too few to be distinguished otherwise than
by nationality. It will be noticed that no cobblers (Moohi) or water-carriers. '
(Bihishti) appear on the list. The former have been included in the great army
of Cham&rs, to which by caste they belong ; the latter, being mostly Muham*
madans, may perhaps be sought in the returns of the Muhammadan Shaikhs.
For the Kdchhis, so numerous in the Du&b districts, we may search in vain. Their
place is here taken by Mur&os. An aboriginal race of Bhuiuhdrs is found in
Chutia Ndgpur ; but the census does not enter the Bhuinhars as aborigines. If,
on the other hand, they are Aryans, it is hard to see why they were not classed
80
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C24 BASTI.
amongst the Br&hmans or R&jputs. The Ahirs, Arakhs, Baheliyas, Bairdgis,
B&nsphors, Banj&ras, Barhafs, Bhars, Bh&frs, Ch4is, Chanrirs, Darzis, Dba-
nuks, Dus&dhs, Jats, Jogfs, Jotiahis, Kam&ngars, Kaseras, Khattris, Koris,
Kurrais, Lodhs or Lodhas, Nuneras or Lunias, Rains, Rajbhars, Sanifais, Sunars,
and Thatheras are described in the fourth, fifth, present and seventh volumes
of this series. The Kharwdrs, Gonds, and Seoris will be mentioned in the Mir-
z&pur notice. For some reason unknown the census has included the last-
named class amongst the mendicant and religious orders. Accounts of such
orders have found or will find more appropriate place in the "religion "sections
of this and other notices. We here deal with castes only ; and the same reason
will save us the trouble of describing several classes which are as yet trades
rather than castes. The Mai mars, Pall&d&rs, Bahrupiyas, B&jgis, Beldars, and
Koris1 are recruited by members of several different tribes. Their develop-
ment into distinct and exclusive brotherhoods may be deemed incomplete.
The following paragraphs deal briefly with most of the remaining castes. But
. the occasional absence of material forbids exhaustive treatment.
The Aheriyas or Abeliyas are a low and destitute caste descended from
the Dh&nuks. Like the Dh&nuks they practise fowling ; but their chief em-
ployment in many districts is the capture of snakes, which they eat roasted.
They have hitherto been uncivilized, almost unclothed, and notoriously bad
a „ ... characters.2 But the pursuit of agriculture has in some
Aheliyas and Bargains. _ _ „.j T , . „ „
places begun to mollify their manners. Mr. Sherrihg
describes the Barg&his as a caste engaged chiefly in the domestic service of
high-class Hindds. But they are here probably identical with the Bargaha
Ahirs mentioned in the Gorakhpur notice.8 The Baris are a caste with but
«* . j «u 1 1. . one ^n, who stitch or peg large leaves into tempo-
Bins and Bharbhunjas. r o o t~*
rary platters and cups. But they are sometimes torch-
makers, tree-fellers, and even barbers. As servants they enjoy the reputation of
great fidelity. Mr. Reade quotes a proverb which says that "the Bari dies fight-
ing for his master."4 As its reputed ancestors were a barber and a female to-
bacconist, and as its widows remarry, the caste ranks low in public estimation.
The same may be said of the Bharbhunjas, who, according to Wilson, are descend-
ed from a Kah&r and a Siidra woman. Like the Chara&rs and other low castes,
they profess to be divided into seven clans (ktiri). All of these they can never
enumerate ; but the names of six, the Kanaujiya, Saksena, Uttarrdha, Kdndu,
Madhesia, and Jaisw&ra, are ascertainable. A class of Kayaths, belonging to the
1 According to Mr. Growse (note on castes, Census Report of 1872), the Maimars and Koris arc
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BHUJES AND OTHERS. 62#
Mfithurfclan, parch grain, and arc therefore called Bharbhunjas. But with the
Bharbhunja caste they have no connection. From the Halwais and Kah&rs that
caste is not so easily distinguished. Some of its members, especially those of the
Kandu and Kanaujiya clans, make sweetmeats ; and they are therefore mistaken
for Halwais not only by Bharbhunjas of other clans, but by the Halw&is them-
selves. The confusion is increased by the fact that the Halwais also have a
Kanaujiya and a Madhesia clan. The various clans of Bharbhunjas, moreover,
know little of one another. They neither eat together nor intermarry ; and
are practically separate castes. Amongst the Kah&r clans, again, we find the
names of Jaiswira and Kanaujiya. But from both Kah&rs and Halw&is the
Bharbhunjas are separated by the prohibition of eating or wedding together.
The Bhiij caste, which the census returns as existing only in this district,
Gorakhpur, and Jaunpur, is perhaps merely a subdivi-
sion of the Bharbhunja. Bharbhunjas are variously
styled Bhunja, Bhorji, Bhar-bhuja, Bhad-bhtija, Barbhunja, Bhujari, and Bhun-
jari. The basis of all these names is the Hindi verb bhunnd, to parch or fry;
and the bhar, khad or bar sometimes imposed thereon is nothing more than an
abbreviation of the Hindi bhdr, an oven.
Bharti or Bhartiya is the name of both a Kunbi clan and a class of religi-
ous mendicants. As the census does not include the
yas* Basti Bhartiyas amongst the latter, we may hazard
the speculation that the former is intended. But no positive statement can be*
made on the subject. The caste is mentioned in the returns for this district
and Sah&ranpur only ; and is not apparently to be confused with the Bharthi
or wood -splitting tribe of Mirzapur. .
The Chhipis are a separate caste, although their name simply means cloth-
printer (chhapna, to print). It is almost needless to
pw> * say that their claim to be considered Rathor RAjputs
is frivolous. But they still inhabit in large numbers what was once tho old
R6thor kingdom of Kanauj. They have given their name to parganah
Chhibrfimau in that neighbourhood ; and also, perhaps, to Cbhapra in Bihar.
The origin and nature of the Dh&dis or Dharhis, who are found here, in
Gorakhpur and in EUwa, have hitherto baffled re-
»nd Dhfinae. search. The Dhunas, Dhunyas or Kateras, whom the
bastard official language of the country sometimes prefers to style naddaf,
card or comb cotton. Musalmdns also engage in this occupation ; but the
Hindis with whom we are dealing form a distinct caste. " The instrument
by which the combing and cleaning arc performed," writes Mr. Sherring, " ia
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626 BJLSTT.
simply a bow. Squatting on the ground before a quantity of fresh1 cotton,
which is ordinarily full of dirt, seeds, bits of stick and so forth, the bow being
in his left hand and a wooden mallet in his right, the Katera strikes the
string of the bow and brings it quivering to the surface of the cotton, poitions
of which adhering to it in light fibres are at once caught up by the string.
The striking being repeated continuously, all the cotton is by degrees beauti-
fully combed. And at the same time its foul particles, becoming separated
from the fibres and being weighty, fall away of themselves/'
Of the Doms something has been said above.2 But for a further descrip-
tion of this interesting gypsy tribe, whose name has
been plausibly identified with the " Romany " of
Europe, no apology is needed. That the Dom is an aboriginal, and that his
abject degradation had its origin in his enslavement by Hindu conquerors, is
almost beyond doubt. But his present habits amply account for the contempt
and disgust with which even the lowest castes regard him. He is personified
pollution. He is the public scavenger, the public executioner. He eats the
flesh of disease-slaughtered swine, and prepares the pile for the unclean bodies
of the dead. He is a wine-bibber, a thief, and a vagabond. From the hour that
he pitches his ragged reed tent on some grassy roadside patch near the village,
thefts are expected, and expected with justice*
The seven clans into which he of course divides his tribe are by one list3
named Kunwar, Haz&ri, Sanwat, Bhagw&r, Chauhan, Chaudhari,and Balgaiyan.
Of these the first is highest ; but clan distinctions are less regarded than the
division into Maghaya Doms and Doms proper. The former, whose name is
commonly derived from a place called Magh or Magha in the Gaya district,
are quite irreclaimable. The latter sometimes adopt an honest life and enter
the ranks of the Bansphors or kindred tribes. For the purposes of thieving
and begging, the Doms divide the country into circles (ildka or gol). The
residents of different circles will not, it seems, intermarry. A Dom who com-
mitted theft in a foreign circle would quickly find himself surrendered to
justice by his brethren of the poached preserve. So strict indeed are these
laws of boundary that in some cases the customs of his fraternity would forbid
him to leave his own circle. Thus in Gorakhpur a Dom of the Mati&rigganj
tahsil cannot, under paiu of excommunication, pass west of the Robin river.
Though they sometimes accompany burglars, Doms seldom if ever consent to
bore the usual hole through the wall of the house attacked. The burglar's
chisel faab'ii) they never carry. Their specialty in thieving is the use of the
i i.e , raw. * Pp. 360-861. » That of Mr. W. Crooke, as , who has kindly fui-
nished an interesting note on the Doms.
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doms. 627
rough knife called bdnk, with which they cut through the wicker screens
sometimes used as doors. This bank is their only weapon. No Dom was
ever known to use a gun* But on their raids the gangs sometimes carry
earthen pots filled with burning charcoal ; and these when hard pressed
they use as hand-grenades. On opening a campaign of larceny they often
feign themselves Cham&rs or other men of low caste, bound on a pil-
grimage to Ajudhya. In the connubial season of early summer they are
particularly active, joining marriage processions with a view of begging or
theft. Stolen property they barter for grain, the receivers being chiefly
Chamfirs. When the theft is discovered and the Dom imprisoned, his kins-
women tie a cloth or string round their heads in token of mourning. At the
same time an obliging friend undertakes the protection of his wife, restoring
her only when the convict returns from jail.
In his relations with the fair sex, indeed, the Dom is somewhat licentious.
The late Sah&i of Gorakhpur, the principal executioner in this part of the
provinces, kept when not in prison four mistresses. But the Dom's licence is of
the insolent rather than the gallant order, and his behaviour towards women
often brings him into trouble. His marriage is celebrated without religious
ceremonies, and without the intervention of any caste council (panchdyat).
The tribe has indeed no regular foremen (chaudhari) to preside over
assemblies of the latter kind. But the leading man of the circle is called
master (mdlik), and felons of the Sahai stamp sometimes acquire great
influence.
The favourite viand of the tribe, both at marriages and other festivities, is
pork. For the slaughter of fish or game they have neither net nor spear.
They have not, like Hindtis, any half-sacred circle (chauka) within which to
cook their food ; and content themselves with a mere fire-place of clods.
Spirits, tobacco, and the intoxicating decoction (gdnja) from the wild hemp are
greedily CQnsumed when obtainable. Drunken brawls are common, and few
adult Doms are unmarked by knife-scars. But against washing their dirty
linen in public they have a chivalrous dislike. They never prosecute, never
appeal an order, and when arraigned never call a witness in defence. In jail
they are noted for their filthy habits. But on prison diet they rapidly fatten.
They are indeed a very healthy race. Against small-pox they take no precau-
tions, even in the way of inoculation. But from fever they protect themselves
by always encamping in open places. In wet weather they creep into villages
to shelter themselves in cowsheds or under the eaves of houses. But they
rarely remain more than three days in one place. When that place has been
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628
SASTI.
thoroughly thieved, or becomes too hot to hold them, their women shoulder
their few moveables and they decamp.
The Doms believe greatly in magic (ojhdi). They have no special dance**
or songs. But, like the Dus^dhs, they at weddings and on other important
occasions worship a god called Rah a. Marching in a body to some open
space, they plant in its midst a pair of stout barabns. Between and to these,
again, they tie cross pieces of iron or wood which are supposed to represent
swords. On this slender scaffolding they mount and perform a sort of funam-
bulistic dance. A cock is sacrificed to the god ; a trench is dug ; a fireplace is
built; while on the last, in an iron pot, are boiled milk, oil and clarified butter.
The trench is about seven cubits long by one in breadth and depth ; and in it,
after the acts just described, firewood is burnt to cinders. During this process
the women sing and beat drums ; while one man pretends to feel the afflatu*
of the god, and babbles nonsense. After some time he who is called gurud,
pastor and master, washes his feet in the liquids boiled hard by. He walks
through the smouldering trench, and is followed by the other men They are
said to avoid burning their feet by applying thereto the juice of the mad&r
(Calotropi8 gigantea). But as the man first through receives a present of about
Rs. 4, it is presumed that the operation is not altogether free from danger.
Like the Sunars, of whose vocabulary specimens were given above,1 the
Doms have a special slang of their own. And with Mr. Crooke's list of their
more important phrases we may bring our notice of the tribe to a close : —
English.
Domani.
English.
Domani.
Stealing •••
khinchni.
To escape when the
cheifi.
phcmei.
owner of the house
Durei.
wakes.
dhajurl.
To hide inside a house.
natarja.
To conceal stolen
puthi.
To summon the gang
ruelfi, kisui,
goods in the house
to one place.
chatarja.
of another.
To go away after a
chilwa.
Pice or coppers ...
chobi.
theft.
kotiya.
To call another to join
bundi.
WW,
in a theft
The arrival of a per-
kaja.
A rupee
ghfimni.
son at the time of
dhola.
committing an
ghumiyi.
offence.
Silver ornaments ...
chingbin.
To call a thief from
ruela*
giro.
outside into a house.
Sold
gandhan.
To warn a confederate
nautela.
To bring goods outside
siswd.
that he has been de-
a house.
tected and that he
Owner of property ^
kajw£b.
should escape.
mfikhar.
1 Pp. 363 and 364.
Digitized by
I
DOM VOCABULARY.
629
English.
Domini
English.
Domaui.
Escape to a distance, '
doni bbor.
A petticoat
dhanga.
Second
da war r a.
A turban
charath.
We will stay
dharab.
You have committed
dhamuri kardi.
A thief
dimur, nor.
a theft.
A dakait or gang-robber
phiswar.
You entered the house,
r6jh ghar meg
ghus-
A man »••
chamachhi.
wati.
A husband •••
cbuhmardua.
The child* is awake ...
larka chah jagtir
tama.
A aife •••
chahmihraru.
Let me sleep ...
roso turi deso.
A brother ...
chah babua.
A rope ...
barahi.
Father
dada.
I uni hungry
chah bhukh laguri.
Son .M
bbaiyi.
A Muhammadan ...
chu salman.
Sister-in-law •••
chuchki.
Milk
nuras.
brother-in-law ...
Bar.
A Hindu
Chilor.
Sister's husband •••
chah bhantfi.
A Brahman ...
Dhaman.
Woman ...
buuri.
A Kajput ...
Dhachob.
O woman ...
chah bfinri.
A Kurmi ...
bhuvml
A white ».
piyar dhur.
A Julaha ...
Khulma,
The baud «•
khuug'ri.
A Dhunia M.
chah Dhunhi.
Finger
chah angurt
Child
babua.
Head
bsl.
Beard
buki.
Mouth
dhunkah.
Moustache
gouchh.
(lose ...
doka.
Blood
dhan.
Eve
Check ...
khabin.
Meat
dhusan.
puwa.
Order
chahkam.
Wc are summoned ...
chah barahat hai.
An European
Dharangi.
Come ..
chalo.1
An Englishman ...
phangrez.
There ..«
aswan.
Faeces „,
chah jhara.
Man ...
bunra.
A house ,M
chakari. '
He is not a man ...
chah bunrab nahfn.
Black
dhara.
We will be released «.
huri nutaiyya.
A gaghara (round
koh gar.
W e will be imprisoned,
abdhi dhu tawabin.
earthen pitcher).
Jail
mah kathin.
A lota (round brass
chimti.
A bludgeon «.
chinko.
vessel).
A chopper
dttarasah.
A thali (platter) ...
kurpin.
A sword •••
dharwar.
A district ...
rasman.
A gun
bardu.
A hukka (native srnok*
butab.
A knife or dagger ...
banki
ing-pipe.)
The frame of a door...
dhuari.
A washerman
Quberi.
Return ...
ghuiniya deo>
A Kayath
Dhayath.
A cowrie
dhuri.
Earth
chan(i.
Chest •••
lorn a.
The ground
dhela.
Loins ...
dhainar.
A mat
dhari.
A Dom
chah bhufc.
A tatti (screen of
khurjan.
A Domin ...
chali bhuti.
roots, grass or reeds).
A hole cut in the wall
dhen.
A bambu
dhio.
of a house ..,
Urine
chahsab.
A burglar's chisel ...
nabarL
A bale of cloth ...
dhaper.
A wall M.
chit.
Cloth
iipari.
'J he door ...
dhuarah.
Hair ...
chahkapas.
F arched grain ...
chah bbfinja.
11 read ...
puti.
JSattu (porridge)
bartawa.
Boiled rice »••
matka. .
Bice
dhu. a.
Water
turni.
Halting-jflace or camp,
der khaiyyaii.
W heat w.
dhaun.
An old man
dhorwa.
Arhar pulse
khuri.
A voung man
nawan.
A necklet ...
tfinri-rdti.
A village
dbaon.
A nose-ring ...
chapikh.
A city
dahar.
rabakh.
Mr
1 In this phrase there seems nothing extraordinary or peculiar j bat it is included in
' Crooked list.
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630
BASTI.
English.
Domini.
Engliaa.
DomanL
Earring
M%
chipiyfirf.
chabitara.
What has become of
rfi jah bunra ka boa ?
A bracelet
»••
your husband ?
An anklet
• ••
flhirha, chiri.
He is in jail ...
banahath man.
Arm ornament
...
chahbazu, ghumanchi.
They are awake and
Cbujgar dhamori nab-
A woman's »4ri
or
dhipari.
the theft cannot be ;
hin bhurri, bhagor
cloak.
run away.
pubbi.
Dal (pnlse)
•••
chahdil.
Mash pulse •••
khoro.
A Gorait, or village
Nudait.
Gram pulse ...
dhama.
watchman.
A horse ...
chah nori.
Tornn
...
kangara.
An elephant «•
khoti.
The bambu frame at a
nachara.
A police darogha
Narogha.
door.
Jamadar or sergeant
nanida.
To be caught
•••
tharu.
(of police).
Steal somexhing
son,
nori karwdrl bhaiyyft
A constable „,
dual an ga, lalangC.
or h'«w can
your
chah mihraru kaisa A chaukidar or watch-
nokidar, guidha.
wife live?
jCwi rahe.
man.
i
Hajjftms.
As a trade-name the term Hajjim or barber includes both Hindfis and
Muslims. But the Hindu hair-dressers form a caste
better known amongst themselves as Nai or Na4. All
barbers are well employed in a land whose inhabitants are too lazy to shave
themselves ; but as Hindfis rarely grow beards, the Hindu barber has far more
work than his Muslim equivalent. The N&i shaves the head and face, pares
the nails and cleans the ears. But he has also more important functions.
Barbers are still in India what they have almost ceased to be in Europe, barber-
chirurgeons. In the former country they are even yet the recognized cuppers
and bleeders. They play also a considerable part in domestic diplomacy. They
arrange marriages and superintend marriage-feasts. They are the envoys who
invite guests to both weddings and funerals. On the seventh day after birth
the new-born child and its mother are entrusted to the care of the barber's
wife (naini). Amongst other clans of the caste may be mentioned the Sri-
Bastak, Kanaujiya, and Bhojpuriya.
Living simple lives and having healthy appetites, the inhabitants of India
love sweets. The demand has produced a large supply
of confectioners ; and such artists belong in Basti
chiefly to the Halwai caste. The Halwais are divided into the usual seven
clans, which in their case are named Kanaujiya, Pachpiria, Bauniwala, Gaunr,
Madhesia, Tihar, and LakhnAwa. In the Lower Dtiab there are other divisions,
such as the Chailha, Diibe, Bakarra, and Tilbhunja. Though these clans hold
Halwais.
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KAH4R3 AND KALJfLS. . 631
as a rule quite aloof from one another, intermarriage is to some slight extent
permitted. The Kanaujiyas, for instance, form an occasional alliance with the
Madhesias. The Pachpirias have miscellaneous tastes in religion. They wor-
ship five deities of their own ; but they also worship the banner erected in
honour of the Muslim saint Ghazi Miyan, and the models of Saints Hasan's and
Husain's tombs. They make pilgrimages to Bahraich, where the crescentading
martyr, Salar Masaiid Ghazi,1 was slain. But Gh&zi Miyan and Salar Masafid
were perhaps, if they ever existed, the same. Buchanan mentions that, although
keeping widows as concubines, the Halwais are deemed as of almost equal
rank with the Baniyas.
The word Eahar is said to be a contraction of Kandh&r, which is in turn
„ . . derived from kdndha, a shoulder. For the Kahars are
Kanars. .
chiefly carriers of palanquins, whose poles rest on the
shoulders. But here as elsewhere in India, improved modes of conveyance
and the decline of litter-carrying have forced the Kahar into other pursuits.
He is a domestic servant, a fisherman, an agriculturist, a grain-roaster, a net
maker, a stone-breaker and a general labourer. It is probable, however, that
the three former occupations, though more often adopted than formerly, were
always to some extent adopted by the tribe. When Anglo-Indians preferred
native habits and eschewed wheeled vehicles, a large staff of palanquin -bearers
formed part of almost every establishment. The head or aarddr bearer
remained as a body-servant when palanquins were discarded and the rest of
the Kahars dismissed. The names of the Bombay servants hammdl and
" boy" (bhoi) point to a similar origin. The Kahars assert that they have no
more than seven clans ; but Mr. Sherting's researches have resulted in the
discovery of twice that number, viz., Jaiswara, Gonr or Gond, Dhuria, Khar-
wara, Batma, Rawani, Turha, Dhimar, Gonria, Muriari, Jetans, Kanaujiya,
Baradiya, and Tonha. The same writer suggests that the Gonds may at first
have been Hinduized members of the aboriginal tribe so called. The industry
and respectability of the Kahars have secured them a high position amongst
the lower castes, notwithstanding the facts that their widows re-marry and
that some members of the tribe eat pork.
Though of almost the same rank as Baniyas, Kalals or Kalwars are not
„ , , , _ . deemed very reputable members of society. Their
Kalals and Kanjars. j r
widows do not re-marry j but they themselves too
often indulge freely in the spirits which it is their trade to distil and sell. It
is only fair to mention that one of their eight clans, the Bi&hut, neither sells
1 See Gazr , II., 77, and V., 90.
81
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632 BASTI.
nor drinks intoxicating liquors. Bidhuts, who abstain also from meat, earn their
living as grain-merchants and bankers. The remaining sub-castes are the Jais-
waras, who wed as many wives as they please ; the Bhuj-kalauras, descended
from marriages between Bharbhunjasend Kalw&rs; the Surliis,Sunris or Sirdhis,
who by eating swine's flesh have placed themselves lowest on the list; the Gurers,
the Raikalars, the Bhojpurias and the Tanks. A ninth clan, the Rangkis, is
sometimes added ; but the Rangkis, being Muslims, are not members of the
Hindu caste. None of the clans intermarries with others. The Kanjars
are a much lower tribe, who in their gypsy habits resemble the Doms and Nats.
They twist cotton and hemp into strings, make large brushes for cleaning cotton
yarn, and weave the screens of aromatic grass-root which are used to cool houses
during the hot-winds. Some of them are bird-catchers and skewer small birds
on spiked rods. They have seven clans, called respectively Maraiya, Sankat,
Bhains, Soda, Lakarhar, Goher, and Dhobi-bans. The first six eat and marry
together ; but will have nothing to say to the last, whose name implies connection
with the impure race of washermen. Kanjars eat everything save beef. The
„ , Karwals or Karils, found here and in DehraDun only,
Kanrals.
are probably identical with the Karauls of Benares.
If so, they are a tribe of fowlers, who assume the Rajput suffix Singh. They
too count seven clans ; but of these only four, the Haj&ris, Uttariyas, Purbiyas,
and Koireriyas, are Hindu. The remaining three, including one named
Turkiya, are Musalm&n. The various clans do not intermarry.
" The Pandits here insist," writes Buchanan, " that the Kayasths are mere
Sudras, and that they are lower than the Kindus ;
butonaccountof their influence they are included among
the gentry (ashrdf). All who have been long settled in this country live pure
and are endeavouring all they can to elevate themselves from the dregs of the
people ; but this has yet failed of success, as many of their kindred from
other countries, who come here, still adhere to their impurity, and sit on the
same mat with the pure men of this district. This impurity consists in drink-
ing spirituous liquors, and in eating meat killed by a butcher. They do not
keep widows as concubines. The highest Br&hmans will not eat in their house,
and the sweetmeats which they offer, even to the lower Brahmans, must not pass
through their hands. But a Brahman admits them without scruple to sit on
the same mat with him, which he will not do to any individual of a lower
tribe who does not happen to be r\ch or powerful. None of them here will
touch the plough, but they have been highly favoured in obtaining their lands,
the rents having in general been at the disposal of their kinsmen. Almost
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KHAKROBS. 633
the whole are of the Sribastav tribe. Perhaps 100 families of these are called
Khara Sribastav, alleging that the others, who are called simply Sribastava,
are bastards ; a compliment returned to the Kharas by the multitude. Many
of the Srfb&stavs, descended of some families who accompanied the Sarnets
from the west, call themselves Panels, and are generally allowed to be higher
than the others. There may be 10 families of Gaur Kriyaths, 15 of Athanaks*
2 of Bhatnagar, and about 10 who are avowedly bastards (Krishnapakshi).
Almost all the Kayaths have farms, and as many as can find employment use
the pen in the revenue and judicial departments ; for fifteen-sixteenths can
read and write, and many understand Persian. A few are traders, and a few
carry arms in the police and revenue departments ; for here the civil
officers are armed."1 It should be remembered that these lines were
written of combined Gorakhpur and Basti, and written some 65 years ago.
The officials of the revenue department are no longer armed, although
the traces of former armament may sometimes be noticed in the sword-
sling attached to the belt of an orderly. When Buchanan speaks of
gentry (ashrdf, bhaldmdnush) he means the first of the four classes into which,
he divides the population. The others are the lower mercantile (Baniya, Bak-
kdl), the artisan (A lharf), and the ploughman (grihasth, khetihdr). None
save the lowest consented to plough or reap ; and both these occupations are
still held in some contempt. The statement that Kayaths are allowed to sit
on the same mat as a Brihman seems to show that the former are not really con-
sidered Sudras. It is laid down in the laws of the Manavas that a Sfidra who
sits on the same seat as a Br&hman shall receive a gash on the offending part.*
The Khakrob or " dust-sweeper" is perhaps better known amongst Hindus
as Bhanri or Chuhra. The first of these two latter
Khakrobs. ft
names is derived from bh6ng, the intoxicating juice
of the wild hemp. But the Khakrob has several grander titles, which have
been invented in either concealment or irony of his despicable social stand-
ing. Such are Mihtar or prince,8 Halalkhor or eater of lawful food, and L61-
begi or worshipper of the Red Saint This red saint or L61 Guru is an
ancient tribal deity who has been identified with the demon (rdkshas) Aronaka-
rat. But Khakrobs who have turned Musalm&ns call him a follower of the
Prophet; and when not translating his name into Lalbeg, style him Pir Zahr.
Such Khakrobs are called Shaikhs. But most Khakrobs, though conforming
1 Eastern India, II., 466-67. • 8ee Rlphinstone's History, Bk. I., chapter I.
1 Elliot attempts to prove ( Supplemental Gfostan,, art. « Chuhra") that Mihtar is not a term of
contempt. Makattara, the Sanskrit equivalent of that Persian title, was applied, he says, to
tiudras generally, because they were more numerous than the ot'»er ca*tcs. But it is more
usual to heat that the early Muslim iuyadcrs called the swecperb Mihtnr w derision.
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634 BASTI.
in marriages and a few other ceremonies to Hindu modes, are in habits more
Musalnidn than Hindu. They bury their dead. They sometimes sacrifice in
the name of L&lbcg a fowl which has had its throat cut " in the name of God
the Compassionate, the Most Merciful." On the death of kinsmen they per-
form tija, which also is a custom peculiar to Musalm&ns. By including their
Shaikh brothers the Kh&krobs manage to count seven clans ; the six which
are Hindu being the Hela, Lilbegi, Gh&zipuri Rant, D&napuri Ratit, Hiri, and
Binsphor. But Sir Henry Elliot makes the Helas and R&fits distinct castes,
while adding the names of the following clans : — Baniw&l, Bilparw&r, Tdk,
Gahlot, Kholi, G6gra, Sardhi, Chanddlia, Sirs&wal, and Siriy&r. The Helaa
were perhaps distinguished from other Khakrobs because they will not look
after dogs, or eat food left by persons other than Hindus. But the D&n&puri
Raiits share to some extent this prejudice, refusing food that has been served
to Europeans. Most KMkrobs will devour the leavings of all classes. The
Lalbegis are so called because they once a year erect in honour of L&beg a
long pole covered with flags, colored cloth, cocoanuts, and other cheap trifles.
To the clans above named might perhaps be added other such as the Gadahlas
of Mirzdpur, who rear donkeys and thereon remove the city sweepings. Mr.
Sherring asserts that in Benares the various clans do not intermarry ; but the
evidenoe of Sir H. Elliot and Mr. P. Carnegy shows that in the rest of the
North- Western Provinces and Oudh they do. In spite of their dirty habits
and general degradation, the Khakrobs boast themselves superior to sweepers
of some other castes, such as Dh&nuks.
The Khatiks or Khatlks must not be confused with either the professional
-- A#1 musicians called Kathak or the Khatak Pathans found
in parts of the Diiab. The Kbatik rears pigs, goats,
and poultry. But be is sometimes a butcher, a leather-worker, a stone-cutter, or
a fruiterer ; sometimes extracts the juioe or toddy from the bark of the wild
date and the palmyra.1 As this last operation is most often performed by P&sis,
we are not surprised to find a P&si clan amongst tbe KMtfks. The other clans,
six of course in number, are the Bakar-ka<-Sao, Chalan-Mahrdo, Ghor-Charao,
Ajudhyab&si, Sunkhar, and Bauria. The Sunkhars and Pasis are said to have
at one time smoked together ; but when the former adopted the low trade of
poulterer, the latter withdrew from their society. None of the clans eats or
intermarries with another. At Khatik marriages boys dress themselves in
women's clothes and dance in public.
^rora the native name for the fermented juioe (tin or tddi) of tbe palmyra ( tdr or tdd)
is do rived the EogUih word " toddy." Another word of similar sense, " punch/' has also an
Bind ustani origin.
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KUMHlRS AND OTHERS. 635
Kumhar or Eoh&r is a contraction of the Sanskrit kwttibliakdra, a potter;
Kumhdro, Kuzagars, and Pottery is still the chief trade of the Eumh&rs, but
lAhera8- they also make bricks and tiles. Their seven clans are
the Kananjiya, the Hatheliya, the Swariya, the Bardhiya, the Godaihiya, the
Kasgar or Kastora, and the Chaubania-misr. All Kumhfirs are according to
the Dharma Parana descended from a Br&hman and a Eshatriya woman ; but
such descent seems now claimed only by the Chauhania-misrs, whose clai*-
name is compounded of two well-known R&jput and Br&hman titles. The
Bardhiyas and Godaihiyas are said to derive their names from the fact that
they load their brick-earth on bullocks (bardha) and donkeys {gadka) respec-
tively. The Easgars devote themselves chiefly to the manufacture of plates
and dishes. The Kuzagars or a jug-makers " are all perhaps members of the
Kumhdr caste, but confine themselves to the finer and more ornamental
branches of the ceramic art. Intimately connected with both Eumhars and
Kuzagars are the Laheras or Lakheras, who varnish earthenware and other arti-
cles. Their name is derived from the lac (l&h) of which their varnish is made.
The Lohfirs, who trace their lineage to Vis vs karma, the workman of
the gods, are sometimes carpenters as well as black-
Lohars and Mails. ° ' i • n i
smiths. Ihey have nominally seven clans, amongst
which intermarriage is forbidden ; but the number might be increased. Mr.
Sherring mentions the following ten: — Eanaujiya, Mahauliya, Sri-b&st&k,
Malik, Bandrsiya, Chaurasha, Purbiya, Maghaiya, Sinar, and Mathuriya. The
name of the second is perhaps derived from Mahauli in this district. The M&lis
or gardeners, who derive theirs from mdl, a wreath, are sometimes small-pox
doctors also. Those who adopt the latter profession are known as Darshaniyas.
The Malis are in some districts said to be identical with the S&nis. They have,
according to Buchanan, seven clans, named Magahi, Sirmaur, Ban&rsiya, Eanau-
jiya, Baghel, Kahauliya, and Desi. The tribe permits the remarriage of widows.
All boatmen of whatever caste are called Mall&hs. But there is a special
tribe of boatmen, fishermen, and net-makers bearing
& m this name. It is divided into the Malldh proper, the
Muria or Muri&ri, the Pandfibi, the Bathawa or Badhariya, the Chaini, Chain
or Chai, the Sur&ya, the Ouriya, the Tiar, the Eulwant or Kulwat, and the
Khewat clans. There is a tradition that these clans once intermarried ; but
they no longer do so. Their widows are allowed to wed again. Whether the
Chai clan has any real connection with the Chai tribe above1 noticed is doubt-
ful. Mr. Sherring describes them apart. The Ehewats or rowers2, who are often
» Supra p. 361. f Kheondt to row.
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633 BASTI.
basket-makers as well as boatmen, sometimes appear as a separate caste. AH
Mallahs claim descent from a common ancestor named Nikhad ; but these
Khewats boast that they alone are the offspring of his lawful wife. The Mal-
lahs of Benares assert that Rdma gave their chief a horse. But with the pro-
verbial sailor ignorance in such matters the recipient placed a bridle on ttie
tail instead of the head. Hence, it is said, the custom of placing the helm on
the stern instead of the bow. The Minus are an aboriginal tribe of whom
little or nothing is known except that they are expert thieves.
The Mur&os are the same as the Koeris, who are sometimes identified with
the K&chhis also.1 They are market-gardeners and
general cultivators. Buchanan derives their name
from mur or nwili$ a radish ; Sherring from maur, the crown of flowers placed
at marriages on the head of the bridegroom. The tribe has probably some
twenty or thirty clans, though claiming as usual only seven. The names of
some may be given as follows :— Kanaujiya, Hardia, Ilah&badi, Brijbasi, Kori,
Purbiha, Dakkhanaha, Nar&igana, Ban&rsiya, Kachhwaha, Torikoriya, Bard-
war, Jarahar, Goit, Chiramait, Bhdru, Sarwariya, and Bahmaniya. According
to Buchanan the Koeris have the same priests^ and eat in the same manner,
as the Kurmis or Kunbis. He adds that being mostly Vaishnavas they reject
animal food.
The Musahars are a half-wild tribe at the very bottom of the social lad-
der. They will eat almost anything, and are said to
Musanars ana aiats. .
derive their name from the fact that mice (mfoa)
form an important part of their diet. Like the Doms and Kanjars, already
described, the Nats are a vagrant and a gypsy race. They live by fortune-
telling, exhibiting animals, quackery, juggling, rope-dancing, and other acroba-
tic performances. If a Nat is asked to tell the clans of his tribe he will answer
that there are seven, the Kshatriyas, the snake-exhibitors, the bear-exhibitors,
the jugglers, the dancers, the rope-dancers, and the monkey-exhibitors. But
there really exist many more, of which many are subdivided into branches
bearing separate names. Of such subdivisions the following list makes no
reckoning :—R4ri, Bhantu, Gwal, Lodhra, Maghaiya, Jugila and Jhassitb,
all found in Gh&zipur ; Gwaliari, Sanwat, Brijbdsi, Bachgoti, Bijania, Baria,
Mah&wat and Bazigar, in Oudh ; Kam&rpali, Dangarpali, Mfirpali and Samarp^
li, in Bhdgalpur of Bengal. The Mahawats and Bazigars have however been
converted from Hinduism to Islam. Nats eat all kinds of flesh except beef.
* See Eastern India, II. 469 ; Castes and Tribes of Benares, 325 : and Beames' edition nf »L>
Supplemental Glossary, I., 181. «*wnes eemon of tl*
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P^SIS AND OTHERS. 637
Their dead are often buried. The Benares members of the tribe abstain from
intoxicating drinks, but their Oudh brethren are described as great drunk-
ards. Nat women go through much the same performances as their husbands,
and in those performances are not often troubled by any qualms of decency.
They sometimes bleed and extract teeth.
A not improbable legend, current amongst the Pasis themselves, tells us
that of yore that tribe were Bhars. There is, indeed,
Puis.
little doubt that the race is aboriginal. The Pasi
is not by Hindus regarded as Hindu, and his features are not those of an
Aryan. But he nevertheless fables that his ancestors, whether called Bhars
or Pasis, sprang from the sweat on the brow of the great Brahman Parasu-
rama. The first mention of the caste occurs perhaps in the Alhd Udcd Prasldb
of Chand. Its original occupation was, as shown above, netting or fowling.
This it still pursues; but it devotes itself also' to watchmanship, pig-breeding,
and field labour. The following are some of its clans : Jaiswara, Eainswat
or Kaithwan, Gujar, Tristiliya, Pasfwan, Chhiriyamar, Biadih, Biliari, and
perhaps Belkhar. In the name of Chhiriydmar or bird- slayer wo have again
a reference to the earliest trade of the Pasis. The present trade of the
Patwas or Patahras is the manufacture of cheap trin-
Patwas. .
kets. These they make of gold-edged silk or silk
cloth, zinc, tin and other inferior metals. Their five clans, which do not
intermarry, are the Kharewal or Khandiwal, the Khara or Khare, the Deo-
„ „_. , „ . „ bansi, the Lahera, and the Jogi Patwa. The name
Saiihiaa and TamboUs. ,.,„,,. \ , ,
of the Sarahias perhaps shows them makers of earthen
and often ornamental jugs or decanters (sardhi) ; but of this caste nothing
certain is known. The Tambolis derive their name from the Persian tambol, a
leaf of the pdn creeper (Piper betel). Like the Barayis, from whom they
are however quite distinct, they devote themselves to growing and selling this
commodity. They sell also the betel-nut with which the pdn leaf is chewed.
' The Telis are, as their name shows, pressers and
vendors of oil (tel). Amongst the lower castes they
occupy a fairly respectable position. According to Sir J. Malcolm,1 indeed,
they number in their ranks some persons of Rajput descent. When Parasu-
rama* he writes, began his war of extermination against the Eshatriyas, many
of that race saved themselves by saying that they belonged to other classes.
Resolved to punish the evasion which he suspected, the Brahman demigod
insisted that each questioned person should eat food with that tribe to which
I Euay on the Bhilt (quoted iii Beames' Elliot).
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638 BASTI.
he assigned himself. Many ate food with the Telia, and thereby degraded
themselves into that caste. Teh's have more than the usual number of clans,
whereof a few are these : — the Biahut-bans, Jaunpuri, Kanaujiya, Chachara,
Banarsiya, Gulhariya, Gulhani, Sri-b&stak, Jaiswara, Lahori and Ehara.
The Biahdt-bansis, who do not permit the remarriage of their widows, rank
highest ; the Gulhaois, perhaps, lowest. The Jaunpuri- tells have given up
the sale of oil and taken to that of pulses.
Of the Baiswars, Binds, Gadhonias, Jajaks, Khampris, Khagfirs, Orhs,
Ramaias, Rangwars, and Taskhars, nothing has as yet proved ascertainable.
We pass to the Musalm/inSjWhom the census classes as Shaikhs (30,982),
Pathins (23,292), Sayyids (3,982), Mughals (1,301),
" without distinction" (165,154), and miscellaneous
(1,624).
The term Shaikh was at first restricted to the descendants of Muhammad's
first four vicegerents {Khalifa) on earth. These prin-
ces were Abiibakr the Sincere (Sadik), Umr the Dis-
criminator (Fariik) between truth and falsehood, Usman and Ali Murtaza.
From them are derived the names of the four original Shaikh clans Sadiki,
Fariiki, Usmini and Ulavi. The descendants of Abbas, uncle of the Prophet,
were formed into a fifth class known as Abb&si. But the term Shaikh has
long ceased to bear its early meaning. * The first change was/' writes Mr.
J. C. Williams, " l that it was claimed by, and gradually conceded to, all who
were descendants of men converted to the faith during the reigns of the first
four Khalifas. Thus there are the Kuraishi Shaikhs, who are descended from
Muhammad's tribe, the Kuraish ; the Ansari Shaikhs or " the helpers," so
named because their ancestors were citizens of Madfna who assisted the pro-
phet on his flight from Makka ; the Murw&ni Shaikhs, who are (I believe) a
subdivision of the Kuraishis; the Hajjajis, who are descended from Hajjaj
bin Yiisuf, one of the princes of Ir&k ; and the Milkis, probably the same as
Maliks who were originally a Persian tribe, though more recently the word2
has been also used as a title like Khan or Beg. In more modern times the
title of Shaikh has been assumed in a wholesale manner by all converts to
Islam* and is now borne by thousands of the lower classes of Muhammadans
all over India "
The Pathans are for the most part descendants of the Afghan invaders
who have at different times overrun Northern India.
Pathans. rphey ^ themselves children of Israel ; their descent
i Qudh Ctntui Report, 1869. * i. e., Malik.
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MUSALMA'NS. 63?
from that patriarch being traced through Saul and through Afghan, the graiii*
son of Saul. According to Herklot they are divided into two principal tribes:-*-
Yusufzai or descendants of Joseph and Lodi or descendants of Lot. But &
multitude of minor subdivisions might be mentioned.
Though here less numerous than Shaikhs or Path£ns, Sayyids are here
and everywhere the most exalted of Muslims. Their*
name, which means lord, has found its way into west-
ern Europe ; and under the form Cid is the familiar title of a great Spanish
hero. Sayyids are descended from the martyrs Hasan and Husain, sons of Ali,
the fourth caliph, by F£tima, daughter of the Prophet. Every Sayyid cau
boast that the blood 'of four out of these five holy persons (panj tan-i-pdk)&owa
in his veins. The primary subdivision of the tribe was that into descendants
of Hasan (Hasani) and descendants of Husain (Husaini). But other clans,
bearing as a rule territorial names, have arisen in later times. Such, for instance,
are the Baghd&di and the Tabrizi. The descendants of Ali by his other wivea
fire called Sayyids ; but are distinguished from true Sayyids by the qualifying
epithet Alivi. This same title of Sayyid can also, as elsewhere mentioned,1
be inherited through a mother. Such inheritance is an exception to the
otherwise invariable rule amongst Muslims, that the children belong to the
father's tribe.
The Word Mughal formerly and properly denoted the Tatar conquerors oi
both Persia and India. But in the latter country it
Mughals. J
has for centuries been applied to the naturalized des-*
cendants of Persians as well as Tatars, of Iranians as well as Turanians. It is
now therefore most usual to consider Mughals as divided into two great
classes, the Ir&ni and the Tur&ni. Mughals tack to their names the titles Agha
And Beg; while their Women are known as rthanam. Similar titles are
assumed by the other three classes of Muslims already described. The male
Shaikh is indeed styled Shaikh simply ; but his wife hears herself called M&,
Bi, and Bibi. The Path&n alone is rightly entitled to the suffix of Kh&n ; for
that distinction is said to have been, a reward for valour, bestowed on the first
Afgh&n converts by one of the Caliphs. PatL&n women are addressed as
B&nu and Khdtun. The Sayyid is often called Mir ; while his womankind
have the pick of several titles such as Begam, Bibi, Bi, and Sb&h.
Whatever their tribe, the people of Basti may by " alterative exclusion" be
■ ^ . divided into two classes. There are those who as land-
holders or husbandmen derive their living from the
1 Gazr , r., 895.
82
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640
BASTI.
soil and those who do not. To the former class the last census allots 1,161 ,384
and to the latter 311,610 persons. The details are as follow ;—
Religion.
Land-owner*.
Agriculturists.
Non-agriculturist*.
Total.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
Male.
Female.
Hind 6* ...
Musalnians •«
Christians ♦.,
65,258
6,472
1
68,249
4,995
2
465,605
82,855
1
405,899
78,547
134,720
81,275
4
Ii7,470
28,140
1
665,583
119,102
6
581,618
106,682
3
Total
70,731
68,246
547,961
479,446
165,999
145,611
784,691
688,305
There are then 133,977 land-holders, 1,027,407 agriculturists, and 311,610
non-agriculturists. Basti is one of the few districts in which the census
returns seem to show anj thing like a sufficiently large proportion of cultivators.
The agricultural population supplies 788 per cent, of the total. The density
of the inhabitants per cultivated square mile is 631*8 in the Domari&ganj,
6753 in the Bdnsi, 919*3 in the Haraia, 900*4 in the Basti, and 840*7 in the
Khalilabad tahsil.
Proceeding to minuter subdivisions, and following the example of English
population statements, the census distributes the inhabitants amongst six
great classes — (1) the professional or official, (2) the domestic, (3) the com-
mercial, (4) the agricultural, (5) the industrial, and (6) the indefinite.
The first or professional class embraces all Government servants and per-
Classification of non- 80na following the learned professions or literature,
agricultural callings, artistic or scientific occupations. It numbered 5,230
male adults, amongst whom are included 227 parohits or family-priests, 545
pandits or doctors of Hindu divinity and law, 216 musicians, and so on. The
second or domestic class numbered 21,913 members and comprised all males
employed as private servants, washermen, water-carriers, barbers, sweepers, inn-
keepers, and the like. The third or commercial numbered 11,230 males.
Amongst these are all persons who buy or sell, keep or lend, money and goods
of various kinds — such as shopkeepers (5,814), usurers (758), bankers and
brokers (462) ; and all persons engaged in the conveyance of men, animals,
or goods, such as pack-carriers (165) and ekka or cart-drivers (253). The fifth
or industrial class contains 34,988 members, including all persons engaged in
the industrial arts and mechanics, such as dyers (100), masons (57), carpen-
ters (3,013), and perfumers (2) ; those engaged in the manufacture of textile
fabrics, such as weavers (5,622), tailors (1,553;, and cotton-cleaners (2,101) ;
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EMIGRATION. 641
those engaged in preparing articles of food or drink, such as grain-parchers
(1,156) and confectioners (1,204) ; and lastly, dealers in all animal, vegetable,
or mineral substances. Of the fourth or agricultural class sufficient has
been said already. The sixth or indefinite contains 37,296 members, includ-
ing labourers (32,371), persons of independent means (1), and 132 persons
supported by the community and of no specified occupation.
Of the labourer class 4,520 persons (1,317 females) have during the past
. ten years (1870-79 inclusive) been registered for emi-
gration beyond seas. The colonies to which they
departed were, in order of popularity, British Guiana (Demerara), Trinidad,
the French West Indies (Guadaloupe), Natal, Jamaica, Nevis,1 Mauritius,
St. Vincent, Fiji, St. Lucia, and Grenada.
The number of parishes or townships inhabited by the population, agricul-
m , tural and otherwise, is returned by the census as 6,911
Towns and Tillages, '
or about 2*4 to the square mile. Of these 6,821 have
less than 1,000 ; 88 between 1,000 and 5,000 ; 2 (Basti and Menhd£wal)
between 5,000 and 10,000 ; and none over 10,000 inhabitants. The number
of parishes (mauza) on the revenue-roll now (1880) amounts to 7,524 ; and
the number of estates ( mahdl ), as usual in this part of the country, coincides
with that of the parishes. It may be explained that in most districts of these
provinces the estates greatly outnumber the parishes ; while in a few tracts,
like south Mirz&pur, the parishes somewhat outnumber the estates. The
village homestead is generally built on the highest ground in the parish, that
is, on the spot least subject to inundation and damp.
As elsewhere in a country which has neither stone nor squires with a taste
for model cottages, the people live chiefly in mud huts*
The census, indeed, shows but 442 masonry structures
against 247,826 dwellings built with unskilled labour. But it must be
remembered that a good double-storied mud house, inhabited by some well-to-
do landholder, is often a house of greater comfort than many a dilapidated
brick"mansion. As the standard of living is low, and large towns are altoge-
ther absent, the number of noteworthy abodes is far smaller than in more west-
en* districts. The old mud forts with which Basti was formerly studded have
all but disappeared, and of modern masonry habitations few really deserve
mention. Such, perhaps, are the R6ja's castle at Bansi, the homes of the Jag-
dispur and Parwardira landlords in tahsfl Haraia, and one or two others in
the streets of Menhd&wal, Bakhira, Maghar, and Hariharpur.
1 This is one of the Leeward Islands.
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642 BASTC.
About 1835, Buchanan speaks of tiled roofs as a comparatively recent
introduction, which rustic prejudice often eschewed as unlucky. It has been
already1 noticed that in Gorakhpur such roofs have become the rule. In
Basti they are still the exception, or, if that term be deemed too strong, the
minority. The thatching most often consists of long grass or reeds, which
make a neater and tidier roof than rice-straw. Rafters and laths are seldom
used, the thatch being supported by the walls and by a single beam crossing
from one gable-end to the other. Roofs of leaves, pegged together with bambu
splints, are almost as obsolete as the wicker or brushwood walls which
they generally covered. The ordinary dwelling is, as just mentioned, the
mudhut It contains, as a rule, but one room. Its walls are from 5 to 10 feet
high and from 1J to 3 feet thick. The outer surface of those walls is often
adorned with a line or lines of handmarks, the hand being dipped in white-
wash, and the wall stamped with the open palm. " This," writes Buchanan,
" is considered as a very decent ornament for the house of a person of high rank
and easy circumstances, and, in comparison of the cakes of cowdung that
more usually occupy such situations, must be admitted as a great improve-
ment." Mr. Thomson gives the average ground dimensions as 30 feet by 15,
and the usual number of inmates as from 5 to 7. The interior is far
cleaner than might be expected from the slovenly look of the outside.
Whitewash and paint are seldom if ever used ; but the walls are sometimes
plastered with a solution of cowdung. The huts are huddled together in a
manner which renders fires highly destructive. The best class of village
dwelling is a two-storied quadrangle, enclosing a court or yard (whan or
chavJc). Though of mud, its walls often rest on brick foundations. The
cost of building the usual thatched mud cottage ranges from Rs. 10 to 15.
A tiled house of a better kind, such as would be inhabited by the village
grain-dealer, might be raised for Rs. 300. Its dimensions would be about 41
feet by 33 ; and it would have a sort of vestibule or veranda (ddldn), which
might serve as a shop. And here it may be mentioned that an ordinary vil-
lager's cottage is called ghar, a tradesman's house kothi or dUkdn, a land-
holder's dwelling bakhri, and a raja's castle hot.
If the houses of men are mostly mud-built, those of the gods are mostly
Religiou8building8:Hin- built of brick. Above2 have been given sketches of
da. the principal forms of Hindu temple. A tk&kurdw&ra,
a temple sacred to Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu, may be raised for about
Rs. 3,000. Its exterior is not unlike that of a well-built house, and it has in
1 Above, p. 368. » Pp. 3M-70.
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CLOTHING. 643
this respect at least a far less specially sacred appearance than the cheaper
shivdla or temple of Shiva, which costs from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 2,500. Mahd-
deo-a8thdns and Ktlli-chauras, small shrines dedicated to the god last named
and his consort, may be found in every village. They most often consist of
a small mud-built plinth, surmounted by little idols; and are sometimes
protected by a canopy of thatch or tiles. They are much frequented by all
classes of Hindus, and specially on the outbreak of small-pox or similar epide-
mics. Small-pox, indeed, is always ascribed to the wrath of the malevolent
goddess, and after her is named deui. One of the best known temples in the
district is that of Tegdhar at Bansi. This was founded in 1767-681 by raja
Bhagwant Singh, and derives additional reverence from the fact that one of the
sacred figs known as pipal has grown through its walls. The Muhammadan
mausolea (makbara, rauza), mosques (masjid) and
Muhammadan, n ' * '
other places of worship (%mdmbdray idguh), present in
this district no unusual features. Cheapest in construction is perhaps thp
idg&h, which according as it is built of mud or brick may cost from Bs. 55 to
Bs. 750, On the great mosque at Maghar, the principal building of its class
in the district, were spent about three centuries ago some Rs. 50,000. At Maghar,
too, are the tombs of Kabfr and KAzi Abd-ur-Rahman. But some account of
all these buildings will be found in the Gazetteer article on Maghar. The
district has but one Christian Church, that of the
Church Mission at Basti.
From the buildings that shelter the people let us turn to the clothes that
„, tl cover them. And here we cannot do better than
Clothing. _ ^
quote Buchanan, who wrote at a time when Europeans
had a more intimate acquaintance with such matters than at present. His
remarks are probably as true to-day as they were before the ink with which
they were written was dry ; for in India changes of fashion are almost unknown.
Speaking first of female attire, he says : —
" The petticoat (lahnga) is fully as muc!i in use as in Bihar ; bat the bodice (kurta) and
veil (orAni) are confined to a few young women of the Muham-
madan faith or Rajput tribe. Nor do any Hindus but the women
of the Khatri and Agarwala tribes adopt the drawers (fzir) of the Mubammadans ; and even
these (it is alleged) do so only when they go on prirate intrigues, to which they are said to be
much addicted. The gown (peshu>dz) is confined to Jets than SOOg of the chief Muham-
madan families and to the dancing-girls. The Hindu women, who wear a pettiooat, use also
a wrapper (idrhl) which covers their head and body, bnt does not entirely conceal the face ;
at least all young women contrive to show theirs as they pass. Besides the lahnga and sarhi
in cold weather they use often a mantle or ehddar. The petticoat is always coloured and
Gorak^uVw wtnkS'BJstt!,e<fc {f**U) ** »*tmu* * remembered that this figure includes
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644 BASTI.
moat commonly checkered. Those most raluable are of pare silk and cotton mired, from
Malda, and usually here called atlas.1 Then come those made of tasar* silk and cotton, which
are called gangam or gimgam, and are made in the country between the Ganges and Ghaghra.
The coarsest petticoats are made of cotton entirely in the same part of the country, and hare
various hard names according to their pattern. The longer wrapper (dhoti) worn with the
petticoat is always of cotton, and of rarious fineness according to the rank of the wearer.
The finer ones are always bleached ; and both fine and coarse are sometimes dyed, especially
at marriages. Widows of pure birth are not allowed to use the petticoat ; but the widows
of low castes, who are in the expectation of becoming concubines, continue to use this indul-
gence. Those who use the coarse petticoat are in better circumstances than those who use
the wrapper alone ; bo that it seems to have been chiefly the want of means that has preserved
the original Hindu dress among the women. The female wrapper, when of full size, is here
called dhoti ; which term in Bihar and Bengal is confined to the male dress, while the female
wrapper of full size is there called s&rhi. Many however cannot afford this, and must use not
only a small wrapper (khilua), but that composed of several pieces sewed together, which is an
abomination with the Hindus. So that every woman of rank, when she eats, cooks or prays,
must lay aside her petticoat and retain cnly the wrapper made without the use of scissors
or needle.
« The men also have chiefly preserved the Hindu dress from want of means to purchase
the Muhaminadan ; for every one who can possibly procure a full
dress (jora) by begging or borrowing uses it at marriages. The
number who can afford to appear in this dress at visits of ceremony (darb&r) is however very
email, and very few can afford aha wis. Many in visits adopt the more common Muhammadan
dress (Hindustani posh) ; but in ordinary almost every one uses the old Hindu fashion of a wrap-
per and turban, with a small mantle for the cold season. Even those Hindus who cannot afford
the wrapper of a full size use the turban, although many have it of a pitiful size. But it
must be observed that some old tribes, such as the Musahar, do not use this part of dress,
which here, however, is more general than in any part that I have seen, even the pandits and
men dedicated to religion wearing it ; while in most parts they either go bareheaded or use a
cap with flaps coming over their ears, such as we see in the old sculptures of Egyptian priests.
The turban I have no doubt is of Persian origin.3 The Muslims at home use a small conical
cap ; and some of the scribes, who have studied Persian, are beginning to imitate them in this
economy.
* In the cold season all who can afford it have quilts which they wrap round them, night
and day, when cold. Those who are easy use quilts of chints
Quilts and blankets.
(ratdi) or of coloured cotton cloth (lihdf). Those who are poorer
use quilts which when new are white (sufedi) but are never washed. Those who cannot
procure such quilts use those made of rags (gvdri). But such are chiefly used by the low
castes, who also use blankets j while those of pure birth, who cannot procure razais or sufedis,
use only a single (chddar) or double sheet (gildf, hhol, or dohar). They use blankets for bed-
ding, but never as a covering. The low castes, who use the blanket, always (?) hare a sheet
under it. In cold weather the women use little more covering than in the hot | the greater
quantity of fat, with which women are provided, rendering them less susceptible of cold than
1 Generally translated satin. The custom of mixing silk and cotton may perhaps have been introduced
by the Muslims ; for their prophet forbade his followors to pray in pure silk. Hence a mixtnre of sill: and
cotton is sometimes called nuwfcni, or "the lawful." 2 The tasar or koa (Antherea Paphia) is a
kind of wild silkworm found in the forests of these provinces and elsewhere. 8 So its name, a cor-
ruption or turra'band, would seem to imply. The first part of this compound, turra, means the brocad
or fringed end of a turban cloth. Though originally Arabic, the word became naturalised in Persia.
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CLOTHING. 645
men are. On the whole, the clothing here is fully as coarse and rather more scanty than in
Bihar and Shahabad. But I do not think that it is quite so dirty, a great many baying their
linen bleached and cleaned by the washermen.
*' Most of the men and of the Muhammadan women wear shoes ; but very few of the low
Hindu women use sandals. This, however, seems to be more
om *s * from eeonomy than aveision ; as the women of the chief families,
who can afford to live idle and in luxury, use the gaudy slippers made after the Patna fashion.
Ornaments of lac are confined to the women of the tribes called Chamar, Dom, and Dosadb, in
the very dregs of impurity. The numerous tribe of Ahirs use the base metals, brass, bell-metal,
and tin. The other tribes wear, almost all, ornaments of glass, with some of the metals
according to their rank and circumstances. Some tribes of Rajputs never use the base metals,
although even the B rib mans use them on their legs and arms. By far the greater part of the
women have at least a ring of gold in their nose ; and perhaps 200 families have their women
fully bedecked with the precious metals. Four or five families have coral, pearls, and diamonds.
The ornaments of glass are however considered the proper ones to women of rank while in the
prime of youth and beauty. And here it is these alone that widows are compelled to lay aside.
" Men very seldom anoint themselves with oil except at marriages and as a remedy for
disease. The women more or less frequently, according to their
tattooing. Dg' station, anoiot their heads with oil and paint their foreheads wuh
red lead (sendar). This even by young beauties is seldom done
of tener than twice a week, and by old ladies it is practised seldomer. A bit of coloured gloss is
pasted between the eyes at the same time, and is not disturbed by washing until the next day
of ornaments. Their heads of course cannot be washed in the intervals. The washing of their
forehead at any time is considered very disgraceful, and the alleging such an action considered
a term of great reproach. For widows of rank are not allowed to paint, and the washing off the
paint is considered an expression of a desire for the husband's death.1 Virgins are not allowed to
paint ; it would be consideredtoo glaring a declaration of their desire to attract the notice of men.
The eyes of bridegrooms are blackened ; bat no other males are guilty of this affectation after
the age of infancy. For the women, when tbey blacken their own eyes (which is only done
occasionally), apply some to those of their children. Most of the women are more or less
tattooed, although the operation is by no means considered indispensable ; and men of rank
have no icruples in drinking from the hand of a nymph whose skin is without Bpot. The
lower women, however, take a great deal of pains in adorning their skins with various figures.
" It is usual amongst the natives of India to cover themselves day and night with the same
clothing. At night the turban and such ornaments as would
incommode are laid aside ; bat no other material change takes
place. The bedding therefore consists of what is intended to enable them to lie easily. Those
who have the best kind of bedsteads, made by a carpenter, all the parts of which have received
some degree of polish, have usually a bad mattrass and some pillows covered with a sheet.
Curtains are never used by the natives of this district, although several Bengalie have shown
them the example. All the other bedsteads are of the rude kind called khatiyas, which are
mere rude sticks tied together, with a bottom of coarse ropes interwoven to support the bedding.
This in some cases consists of a blanket and sheet, or of a carpet or rug. In other cases the
bedding is a coarse mat or some straw. Many however cannot afford these luxuries, and
Bleep on the ground ; spreading on this a coarse mat of k&sa or gdnduri' under which in winter
1 Buchanan might ha?e added that In some castes the bridegroom himself paints the parting (mdng} of
faU bride's hair. Henoe perhaps the idea that in washing the paint off the wife wishes for her husband's
feath t Fragrant grasses.
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646 BASTI.
Is spread some straw. Religious mendicants are not allowed the use of bedsteads ; but use
good bedding, that is blankets or carpets. And many old infirm persons prefer the ground, as
giving them less trouble."
Their beds and their cooking utensils are as a rule the only furniture which
the people possess. Nothing need therefore prevent
Food,
us from passing to their last and most important
necessary of life — that is food. The impecunious classes confine their diet chiefly
to parched wheat (charban), the porridge (saftu) of various grains, peas, bar-
ley, lentils-pottage (masdr-ddl), the sdwdn and kdkun millets, coarse rice and
mahua berries. When food is cheap, writes one of the tahsildars, a poor man
can live on half an anna a day ; but the amount of salt and oil which he can
consume for that sum must be lamentably small. His richer neighbours eat
the finer rices, the arhar and mdsh pulses, wheat, potatoes and other vegetables,
curds, fish, and in some cases flesh. Their food is, moreover, flavoured withclari-
fied butter (ghi), salt, and sometimes with turmeric, capsicum or other spices.
It will be seen then that the staple diet is as usual grain. According to
Buchanan's calculations, the daily weight of rice or
meal consumed by a member of the luxurious classes
would be ljft>. ; and by a labourer, 21b. It is not mentioned whether the term
grain includes the usual allowance of pulse ; but in any case the amount seems
overstated.1 Rice is eaten either boiled (bhdt) or parched (Idwa and ch&ra).
According to the manner in which it is ground, wheat yields three kinds orf
flour or meal, dtd, sdji, and maida. From these are made the unleavened
bannock (chapdti) of the country and divers kinds of cakes, biscuits, and sweet-
meats. Thus, a cake made with wheat-flour and clarified butter is called
p&ri; with the former and milk, shirmdl; and with flour, butter, ahd milk,
bdharhhdna. The half-ripe grain is parched into charban, elsewhere known
as ch/ibena. Parched or parboiled barley is called arddwa. Barley-water
(ashjau) is prepared for medicinal purposes by twice boiling the grain, kneading
it, and straining therefrom the liquor. The latter is before drinking sugared.
The peas of the gram vetch are ground into betan, while its leaves and pods
(dti) are sold as vegetables. Vegetables themselves arfe
" * generally eaten in the form of curry. In such messes a
good many onions are used by Muslims, and a good deal of garlic by low Hindus.
The quantity of meat consumed is very small. Inferior goats-flesh and
mutton is eaten by Musahn&ns and the meaner Hindu
castes. Meat offered in sacrifice seems sometimes
1 See Qaietteer, V., 300, where the average daily consumption of a labourer is- shown to to
about 29 oz. of grain + 4 of pulse ; and Eastern India, II* 424.
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food. 647
considered lawful food for Hindus of a higher order; and even R&jputs eat
hares and venison slaughtered in the chase. But the flesh chiefly devoured
is that of the pigs sacrificed by the outcaste tribes, Cham&rs, Doms, Khatiks,
and others. Except, perhaps, at Basti or Menhdawal, no butcher would find a
trade. It has been already noted that almost all classes, except those pre-
vented by religious vows, eat fish.
Milk is a far scarcer article of diet than might be expected from the mul-
Miik, curds, clarified titude of cattle. This fact is partly due to an unwilling-
butter, and oil. ness to deprive the calves of their drink. From the
curds here used the butter has been already extracted ; but curds are the
regular food of the richer classes only. Ghi or clarified butter is an important
element in both the daily fare of the rich and the rarely occurring feasts of the
poor. The oils employed in the cookery are the mustard, the linseed, the sesa-
mum, and the mahua. The amount of oil consumed daily by a family of ten
persons varies, according to their means, from 10 to 1*36 ozs. avoirdupois.
But this estimate, which is furnished by Buchanan, includes the small quan-
tity burnt in what the poverty of the English language compels us to call
their lamps (chirdgh). The fragrant oil of sesamum is an ingredient in laddu,
tUwa, reori, and other sweetmeats.
Except by the wealthy sweetmeats are seldom eaten. Sugar is most often
tasted in its earliest stage of refinement, in the coarse
Sugar and salt*
treacly form known as gtir or compost. The weight
of salt consumed by a family of ten persons ranges, according to the authority
last quoted, from 2*15 to 9*8 ozs. daily. But the amount must of course
vary with the manner in which salt duties are levied. In Buchanan's
day the salt here eaten paid no duty save the transit-tolls of the Oudh
Government. Spirits and toddy are copiously drunk, even by classes who
profess not to drink them. Tobacco is not only smoked but taken in the form
of snuff and chewed. Four pipes (huqqa) of mixed tobacco and guv sugar are
considered a fair daily allowance for a smoker. In the practice of chewing,
whether the quid be tobacco or betel-leaf, the men are assisted by the women.
The total weight of food-grain produced in the district is by Mr. Buck fixed
Food produce of the a* 390,000 tons.1 Allowing the population a diet of
district- 18 ounces per head, he reckons that 282,000 tons are
consumed in the district itself. If, then, these figures be correct, there remains
for export a balance of 108,000 tons.
1 Answers to Chap, I. of the Famine Commission's Question*, 1878,
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648 BASTT.
From the food of the people to their customs. The panckAyaA, the coun-
cil which serves as both court of honour and trades-
Popular customs. . ... , 11
union committee, is as common here as elsewhere.
But little need be added bo the remarks already made on this institution in
other district notices.1 Amongst the Br&hmans, the R&jputs, and the classes
who ape their habits it is, as already said, unknown. It is the jury of the low
Hindu castes and of the low Muslim tribes who have not yet discarded the
Hindu habits of their forefathers. The following list is not exhaustive, but
at least shows with what classes the panch&yat is most popular :— Arakhs,
Baniyas of diverse races, Bar&is, Barhais, P&ris, Beldirs, Bh&rs, Bharbhunjas,
Bh&ts, Bhati&ras, Chamdrs, Daf&lis or drummers, Darzis, Dh&rhis, -Dhobis,
Dhunias, Gararias, Hajjims, Hal&lkhors, Halw&is, Jul&has, Kah&rs, Kalw&rs,
Khatiks, Khewats, Kbarw&rs, Kumhdrs, Kunjras, Lodhas, Loh&rs, Lunias or
Nunias, Malis, Mall&hs, Maim&rs, P&sis, Sun&rs, Telis, Thatheras, and Turhas.
When any one belonging to any of these castes transgresses the rules of the
tribe or trade, pilfers, or breaks the Vllth commandment, he is summoned
and tried by an assembly of the brotherhood. A conviction discastes him ;
but honour and caste may be regained by payment of a fine (t&wdn), by a
dinner given to the brotherhood, by hearing read the Bhftgavat Gfta, by
going on a pilgrimage, or by bathing in a holy river. The president or chau-
dhari of the panch&yat is elected by the members of the caste. He is, to
some extent, a censor, seeking and receiving reports on the trespasses of his
brethren. As an ensign of his office, he wears a peculiar turban. Amongst cer-
tain trades, or trades which are also castes, there exist hereditary chaudharis. But
these are masters of a guild rather than presidents of a judicial council. Thus,
the Bakk&ls, carters, and Kahdrs of different towns have foremen, with whom
Government deals in making commissariat or transport arrangements. For
their trouble they receive a commission on the earnings or sales of the trade.
But though, as a matter of convenience, Government makes use of these chau-
dharis, it has long withdrawn from all interference in their appointment.
Panch&yats or their foremen are sometimes concerned in the morganatic
M re-marriage (sag&i) of widows or discarded * wives.
Though the re-marriage of Hindu widows was legal-
ized by Act XV, of 1856, the upper castes have never countenanced the prac-
tice. But by the low tribes who adopt panchfiyats such second unions are
1 See Gazetteer, IV., S86.S7 (Etawa) ; V., 50-81 (Button) i supra p. 77 (Cawnpore) i and
supra 867 (Gorakhpur). » The word * discarded" has been preferred to the word
"divorced" because divorce is unrecognized by Hindu law, and except for persons professing
Christianity, by the legislature. But there is no doubt that divorces, under whatever name
may be preferred, are decreed by the panchiyats of the lower castes.
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FUNERALS. 640
fully recognised. They need be called morganatic only because the Hindu
law, the customs of the upper castes as explained by themselves, forbids widows
to re-marry. In Buchanan's time the children of these despised alliances
inherited six-sixteenths of their father's property ; and a proportion of ten-
sixteenths was considered quite sufficient to show the slight superiority pos-
sessed by the offspring of the regular marriage. Nor is it to the re-marriage
of women alone that Hind&s of the higher classes are opposed. In most of
these castes it is neither usual nor respectable for a man to take a second wife
if he has had male issue by the first. But " some rich men/1 writes Buchanan,,
" indulge themselves ; nor is auy punishment or atonement thought necessary.
The two wives, indeed, in general take care that the sufferings of the man
should be adequate to his fault." Unmarried women, he adds, or widows
who have not remarried, lose caste by having children. And " although the
Hindu law prohibits the capital punishment of women, the custom, from time
immemorial until the British Government, permitted the near relations to
put to death any female that disgraced them." If a girl be not married
before she is physically nubile, it is deemed to disgrace the relations ; and
the wedding is therefore a mere betrothal. Nuptials take place chiefly in
the beginning of the summer, when the harvesting of the crops has left the
people free for such festivities. In the cookery of marriage feasts milk is
perhaps the principal element ; and it is urged as an objection against winter
weddings that in the cold weather milk is hard to procure. An eldest son
cannot be married in the month of Jeth (May-June), and it may be added
that he cannot marry an eldest daughter.
Wedding expenses are as usual heavy, but funeral expenses are light.
Except at the last rites of r&jas and other celebrities.
Funerals. .
the reading of a funeral service is rare. Unless
the family be rich, it seldom cares to reduce its corpses to ashes. After more or less
singeing the body is committed to some river. According as the rank of the
mourners is high or low, the mourning lasts from 10 to 30 days ; and for at least
the former period the family of the deceased is considered unclean. During
the ten days of sorrow a pitcher may often be observed hanging from some
sacred tree in the neighbourhood of the dead man's house. This contains
water, and sometimes other viaticum, for his soul's journey. A small saucer
bearing a lighted wick is occasionally placed in the same umbrageous position.
This is intended to help the poor ghost along the dark road to Hades
(Jampuri) \ and the ceremony of its suspension is called the lamp-giving
(dipddn). While the mourning lasts ten votive rice-balls (pinda) are thrown
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650 BASrr.
into the river which received the corpse or its ashes. When that mourning is
over an offering is made to the funeral priests (Mah&br&hman, Mahapatra), and
the obsequies known as srdddh are performed. If the mourners can afford it,
they give a cow to the Brahmans. If they be poor they give four annas, which
the fiction of the occasion deems the price of a cow.1 The commemoration
(tithi, 8apind{-srdddh) of deceased parents and grand-parents is observed yearly.
On these occasions rice-balls are again offered. The funeral priests are a
degraded class who must not be confused with true Br&hmans. A sneering
phraseology sometimes styles them crow (Earathaha) Brahmans, because like
crows they flock round the carcass. But though their association with corpses
keeps them in almost perpetual uncleanliness, their nominal status is high.
In days of Hindu rule they were exempt from capital punishment ; and Hindu
Bacerdotalism affects to regard them as greater than rfjas.
The religion of the people is a subject on which at the first glance nothing
Religion. Christianity would seem left to be said. Its main features are
and Muhammadanism. thoge afr^y noticed in accounts of other districts.
Christianity has as yet proved little more than an exotic. A handful of British
inhabitants represents the Church of England ; while a few Native Christians
of the usual unenquiring type pass their lives under the paternal rule of the
Church Mission.1 How sluggish the zeal of their class may perhaps be proved
by the fact that it has never yet produced a fresh sect,. Nor, in Basti, is the zeal
of Islam much livelier. The fire of early Muslim conquest had burnt low
before the Muslims invaded this district. Their temporal hold on Basti was
never strong enough to impress the country strongly with their spiritual
character. But the remote tract across the Gh&gra was not altogether un- *
stirred by the fanatical thrill of the Wahhibi revival. In tappa Ujidr of
parganah Maghar, the earliest stronghold of the Muhammadans, lies a block of
villages belonging to Muhammadan converts from Hinduism. For their
rebellion in 1858, members of this community forfeited to Government land
assessed with a revenue of Rs. 2,378 yearly; and in the midst of their little
Islftm, by one of their brotherhood, was about the same time founded a school
of distinctly Wahh&bi character. This seminary at Karrhi may be small ; but
its reputation is apparently wide. The frequent visits which it receivedfrom
wandering Musalmto foreigners led, in 1880, to a visit from the magistrate;
who, amongst its 18 pupils, found students from Bettiah, Nepal, Balrimpur^
i Buchanan says that these 4 annas " are called" the price of a cow. But may he not hare
mistaken gduddn for gauka-ddm? ■ Some SO Native Christians inhabit the Naya Bizar
Bubutb of Basti. But these, writes Mr Powlett, are « temporarily resident only : being with-
out exception employes of the Mission." / . uuuS mw
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BELICKON. 651
and Faizabad. For the blessings of gratuitous board, lodging, and instruction
these pupils are indebted to the surrounding landlords, who support the
Bchool by the willing and regular contribution of one ser in every maund's
weight of garnered grain, In a notice of this kind literary perspective cannot
be sacrificed by devoting any further space to the minor religions. But,
as already shown by census statistics, an overwhelming majority of the
inhabitants are Hindus. And of these Hinfids much remains to be written.
The Hindu of Basti is not bigoted, and readily reveres any god that is made
Hinduism. Viihnn and w^^ hands. But as might be expected in the neigh-
hia incarnations. bourhood of Ajudhya, Rama and his wife Sfta are the
principal objects of worship. Just as Rama was Vishnu incarnate in the Solar
race, so was Krishna R6ma incarnate in the Lunar.1 But the Lunar race is not
strongly represented in Basti. Krishna is little worshipped and his wife R&dha
less. Vishnu himself, that preserving deity of whom Rdma and Krishna were
mere emanations, has many votaries ; but they belong chiefly to the Ram&nandi
sect, described once for all in the Et&wa notice. The idols which represent
this god are as a rule named Vasudev or Chatarbhuj ; and he is adored also
under the form of an ammonite (sdligrdm). Such fossils are common enough
on the banks of the Qreat Gandak or S&ligr&mi, just before its entry into
Gorakhpur; and to reach Basti they have therefore not far to travel.
But though Vishnu as Rfima has the largest number of adorers, Shiva is
gw the god of the upper castes. It is from Br&hmans,
R&jputs, and other wearers of the sacred thread that
the destroying deity receives most propitiation. These classes are supposed to
be instructed in the meaning of two mysterious texts, which seem, however, to
have had no original connection with Shiva. The first is the Gayatri, the most
holy verse of the Vedas.8 On assuming the sacred thread the youth may learn
it from any who can teach him ; but by most it is soon forgotten. The second
text, from the Tantras, can be taught only by the person adopted as priestly
director. It is therefore called the Gurumukhi;8 and when a director is
appointed he is vulgarly said to blow into his disciple's ear. As, once appointed,
he often proves troublesome, many prefer to postpone learning the Gurumukhi
until well advanced in years. The director is often an Atitb, a member that
is of the sect which makes the phallic emblem (lingo) of Shiva its special
charge. Without knowing much of his writings, this class professes to follow the
1 It has not been forgotten that Krishna is sometimes given, on his father's sides, a solar
pedigree ; but it is as member of a lunar dynasty, the Jadons of Mathura, that he is chiefly
celebrated. * Translated by Colebrooke : " Let as meditate the adorable light of the
Divine Raler ; may it guide our intellects." » From gvru, a priestly director, an*
««JA, a mouth.
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652 B*STL
doctrine of a sage named Shankara. The worship of Shiva's consort or shakti
is said to have been introduced after the introduction of British rule. Her
names of Devi and Bhaw&ni were already known ; but her sudden popularity
was due to the rumour that she was the god whose favour had raised the
English to power.1 Of her son Ganesha there are many idols ; but except
when perched over a door, he appears as a mere attendant on his father
Shiva.
The village gods or demons (grdmyadevata), here called Dih or Dihw&r,*
are perhaps as extensively worshipped as any of those
already mentioned. But their worship is almost always
subsidiary to that of some greater deity. Few put their trust in the village
gods alone. Almost every old village can show, on the mound beneath
some shady tree, the shrine or sthdn of one of these divinities. It is
said that they were once anonymous; but at the present day it is the
fashion to name them after some god or some ancient local hero. Their
priests are mostly of mean caste, and as often as not Chamars or Dos&dhs.
From these ignoble servants the village-gods receive, at harvest-home, the
swine and spirits purchased by the contributions of the villagers. But when
the shrine is sacred to a great hero, the priest is often a member of that hero's
caste. When it is named after some god who could not with decency receive
a public offering of pork, the low-born priest performs the oblation in the
privacy of his own hut. From the fact that they are tended chiefly by men of
aboriginal race, it may be inferred that the Dihw&rs are a survival of the days
when the demonolatry of the MIechhas had not yet yielded to the purer Br&h-
manism of the early Aryans. Members of the higher castes still avoid the
Dihw&r ; and when the fear of some ghastly epidemic has driven them to his
shrine, ascribe the act to the solicitations of their women. In Bengal and
southern India the Br&hmans are still said to hold his worship impious. Here,
however, no actual objections are raised to his propitiation. At marriages the
Brdhman himself sends, through that god's own priest, an offering to the village
god. But the wily Br&hman has for many decades been supplanting the old
Dihw&rs with village-gods of his own creation, with "ghosts vastly more
powerful and mischievous than those of the low fellows who had hitherto
enjoyed the spoil." These modern deities are called Brahma Devatas, and are
provided with hereditary Brahman priests. For the lumps of clay which
represented the Dihw&rs have been substituted the images of popular divinities.
» Eastern India, II.. 477. * The tetm Dihwar is more properly applied to the mounds
■aered to theie gods than to the gods theinseWei.
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RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL. 658
Instead of the swine and the spirits, of the rough statuettes of elephants and
horses, are offered burnt sacrifices of coarse sugar and clarified butter.
The principal religious festivals are the Holi, the N&gpanchami, the Janam-
Religious festival*. The ashtami,the Nandashtami, the Dfw&li, and the Dasahra.
Holi The first falls on the full moon of Phalgun (February-
March), when sacrifices of the kind last mentioned are offered to all the gods,
with a view of their saving the people from the malevolent demon Dhundha.
But for at least 15 days before, and often for eight days after, is held a kind of
carnival. Obscene and abusive songs are sung by all ; but the rich sometimes
hire the singers. Women assemble together in houses, and are said to defile
their lips with even greater indecencies than the men. For the former it is
the festival of the Bona Dea ; for the latter, the Saturnalia. Even sacred
names come in for their share of abuse ; and in order to vex his followers, the
orthodox vilify Kabir. But the principal feature of the Holi is the red dye or
powder with which, on the forenoon succeeding the great sacrifice, the people
squirt or pelt one another. For weeks afterwards traces of the romp may be
noticed on the garments of even those who claim a respectable position. At
the close of the festival each prays to his favourite god ; while the wealthier
householders give a feast to their family and servants.
The Nagpanchami, or " fifth of the serpents," is the fifth of the bright half
of Sa wan (July- August). It is probably a relic of snake-
worship. Having bathed in the morning, the head of
the family paints on the wall of his sleeping-room two rude figures of serpents,
makes offerings to Br&hmans, and feasts his household. The Janamashtami,
or " eighth of the nativity," is a sort of Hindu Christmas, commemorating
the birth of Krishna. The feast falls on the eighth of the dark half of Bh&don
(August-September). Inthesamemonth,butontheeighthofthebrighthalf,occurs
the Nandashtami or Dadbfkhand. This derives its first name from Nanda, the
adoptive father of Krishna, who is said to have founded the festival; but that fes-
tival wouldappearto commemorate the destruction of certain demons (rc^Aaja) by
the goddess Devi. The people fast, burn lights before the images of Krishna or
of R&ma, and make offerings. After this many take a good meal; and the night is
passed in singing and music. On the following morning the roads resound with
drumming, shouts,and the applause which rewards some vigorous dancing; while
the throng is besprinkled with mixed water, curds, and turmeric. The Diwilt
is the birthday of Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu and the goddess of wealth. It
falls on the new moon of Karttik (October-November), and is chiefly remark-
able for the illuminations which brighten the streets at night. The agency
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654 BASTt.
employed is simple. Nothing is required save a host of small wicks in small
earthen saucers of oil. But the effect, when every storey sparkles with its
rows of wee flame, is surprisingly fair ; nor is the smell, when a thousand
lights expire, less surprisingly foul. To the agriculturist the Diwali is a sort
of settling-day, on which he must pay back the loans borrowed for his autumn
cultivation. The Dasabra, which occurs in the preceding month (Xswin, Kuar,
September-October) on the tenth of the bright half, celebrates the victory of
Rama over Havana, the giant king of Ceylon. Its eve, the ninth of the bright
half, is known as the RamlUa; and commemorates the exile and other events
which preceded Rama's accession. It should be noted that there is an earlier
Dasahra, the tenth of the bright half of Jeth (May-June). Another festival
connected with Rama is his birthday, the Ramuauami, or ninth of the bright
half of Chait (March-April).
Such .are some of the features which most strongly mark the face of
popular Hinduism. But amongst the Hindus there
exist sects which, however degenerate, vaunt the
guidance of a more refined and refining doctrine. There are others whose
professed scorn for worldly pleasures leads them to set at defiance not only the
comforts but also the decencies of life. The Barnanandis, Kabirpanthis, Sikhs,
Jains, Sadhs, Jogis, Bairagis, and Saniasis have found description in other
notices.1 It remains to devote some brief space to the Atitlis, Radhabal-
labhis, and Aghorpanthis.
The Atiths or Atits are Shaivas who derive their name from the Sanskrit
. . . Altta, * passed away," or " freed from worldly cares and
Atiths •
feelings." They are nominally a sub-division of the
Dasnamis, who are again a branch of the ascetic order known as Dandi. It
should be explained that the Dandis or wand-bearers are the only legitimate
modern representatives of the fourth or mendicant stage of life prescribed by
Manu for all Brahmans. Those Dandis who follow the precepts of Shankara
or Shankaracharya are divided into ten branches, and therefore called Dasnarai
or ten-named. But of these ten branches only three and a half maintain the
purity deemed needful for true Dandis; and the backsliding majority, the
Vanas, Aranyas, Puris, PArvatis, Giris, Sagaras, and part of the Bharatis, are
styled Atiths. How the Atiths have lost their original sanctity is perhaps
shown by the fact that they often lead luxurious family lives. They abstain
no doubt from trade, and they affect the character of the religious sage. But
i For Barnanandis or BamiYat*, see Gazr., IV, 190-93, for Kabirpanthis and Sikhs or
ftanakshahis, ibid , 56S-65 ; for Jaais, Gazr., HI, 497-99; for Badus or Satyanaims, supra
73-74 i for Jogis, Bairagis and SaniasU, Qasr, V , 591-91.
y
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KA'DHXBALLABHrs. 655
such behaviour cannot conceal the blot of their departure from the rugged paths
of celibacy and asceticism. The few who remain truly celibate 'are deemed
sure of re-absorption into the divine essence, and are therefore called
Nirvani; but the ordinary unmarried Atith is too often suspected of sensual
indulgence. All places occupied by Atiths, whether married or bachelor, are
called monasteries {math) ; and if inhabited by a prior (mahant) of the order,
receive also the name of thrones (gadi). To the Atiths belong almost all the
temples of Shiva and some' of those sacred to his consort. Each temple lies
within the jurisdiction of some prior, who appoints its priest (pujdri).
Such priests, and the heads of inferior houses, are chosen from the band of
pupils (chela) attached to each prior. As pupils they often pass their lives
in pilgrimage ; and when once beneficed, they are supposed to send the prior
all profits not required for their own subsistence. Before death the prior
appoints one of his past or present pupils to succeed him, and the installation
of the new chief is solemnized by the priors of neighbouring houses. The
Atiths are in general quite illiterate. Their ranks are, according to Buchanan,
recruited chiefly from amongst the R&jputs and the lower castes. Few
Brahmans or Baniyas join them. *
It has been mentioned that Krishna and RAdha have few votaries ; but
amongst that select few must be reckoned the Radha-
ballabhis. These /ire of course Vaishnavas. They
worship Krishna as lord or lover of R&dha (Rddhdvalldbha) ; but though
professedly adorers of the husband, they show the wife or mistress a degree
of preference which throws her better half into the shade. The Hindu religion,
like most others, feels the need of some woman to worship. Yet the cultus
of Rddha is a most undoubted innovation. The R&dha of the Mdhabhdroua
is a very different personage, the wife of Duryodhan's charioteer. Not even
in the Bhdgavat is any Rddha specially mentioned amongst the fair cowherd-
esses with whom Krishna amused himself at Brinda-ban. The chief authority
for this Radha's pretensions is the comparatively modern PurAna known as
the Brahma- Vaivartta. It tells us that in the beginning the Primeval
Being cleft himself in twain. His right half became Krishna, his left
R&dha ; and by their reunion was begotten *the universe. With Krishna
RAdha continued to dwell in Goloka, the heaven of Vishnu. Here she gave
origin to the Gopis, divine cowherdesses ; while from her husband's person
were in like manner produced their male equivalents, the Gopas. But from
the heavens of the Hindus conjugal infidelity is not excluded. Having had
» Eastern India, II., 483-84 ; Wilson 'a Essays on the Religion of the Hindus, I., 204.
64
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05G BASTI.
od one occasion ample cause to resent Krishna's conduct, R&dha shut
him out of her palace. The Gopa Sudama, the confidential friend of her
husband, protested. For his audacity he was cursed, and doomed to appear
on earth as the demon Shankhachuda. But he retaliated with an impreca-
tion whose equal power brought Radha from heaven, to be born in the house
of a Brinddban Vaisya. About the same time Krishna made his worldly
appearance ; and in the fulness of years the two were married. But the curse of
Sud&ma bad not yet exhausted its venom ; and from Krishna's adolescence
to the close of his earthly career his wife was severed from him. They were
re-united only after he had followed her back to the heavenly Goloka.
The veneration of the Radhaballabbfs for tbeir goddess is much the same
as that which, in the Purana just mentioned, is expressed by the god Ganesha.
" Mother of the universe," he cries, " thou art the great goddess, the parent
of all wealth, and of the Vedas. The wise ascetic who first pronounces thy
name, and next that of Krishna, goes to the latter's heaven ; but he who
reverses this order sins the sin of slaying a Brahman. The fool who reviles
Radhika shall suffer pain and sorrow in life ; shall hereafter be doomed to hell,
as long as sun and moon endure." Like most abuse, the last sentence is perhaps
a confession of weakness. The R&dhaballabhfs are perfectly aware that the
weight of priestly authority is against them. Brahman orthodoxy and Brfihman
pride of race scorn the idea that Krishna the knightly Kshatriya, Krishna the
descendant and the kinsman of Briihraans, should have married the daughter of
a Sudra or even a Vaisya cowherd. That she was Krishna's paramour is not
indeed denied ; but the admission is of course even more insulting than the
denial. Though by their own showing R&dha was on earth no more than a
Vaisya, the R&dbaballabhis are aristocratic. They admit to theirorder none save
Br&hmans and Rajputs. But though a few pandits enter that order as directors,
the Brahmans as a rule avoid it. The sages of the R&dhaballabhis are mostly
Rajputs who have forsworn the world and women; who live in places called
arenas (akh&ra) ; and themselves bear the generic names of Bair&gi and
Vaishnava.1
If the Atiths represent the ascetic, and the R&dhaballabhfs the feminine
side of the Hindu religion, the Aghoris or Aghorpanthis
Agborpanthis. ... _ .... . ° ?.
display that religion in its most revolting form.
Their original worship seems to have been the propitiation of Devi with
human victims. In imitation of the goddess's grisly aspect, her votary made
himself as hideous as possible. His wand was a staff set with bones; his
> Wilson, I., 173-77 ; Buchanan, II., 4*7*8.
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AGHORPANTHfS. 657
drinking-cup the upper half of a skull. Though indifference to worldly objects
was the keynote of his creed, he showed no reluctance against cheering
himself with animal food and intoxicating drinks. The regular worship of the
sect has of course been long suppressed ; but a few disgusting wretches still
extort arms by the practice of whnt they are pleased to call its rites. They eat and
drink everything, down to ordure and carrion. With the former they smear
£heir bodies or pelt people who refuse to grant their demands. They inflict
gashes on their limbs, that the crime of blood may rest on the head of the
recusant. Nor are these the only repulsive devices by which they draw cash
from the always credulous and often timid Hindu. <c One of them atGorakh-
pur," writes Buchanan, " shocked the people so much that they complained
to Mr. Ahmuty, then judge, who drove him out as a nuisance." In the present
daya magistrate would probably apply to an Aghori those sections of the Criminal
Procedure Code which relate to vagabonds. And it is perhaps the fear of such
treatment which prevents the sect from practising its rites under the eye of the
police. But in Buchanan's day its chief, who lived at Benares, gave instruction
to many respectable persons including Brahmans and Rajputs; while in this
district the principal landholders had " a strong hankering after" its doctrine.
Derived as it was from the propitiation of Devi, that doctiine is of course Shaiva.1
A Baasi divine informed the writer last quoted that the highest known
science was Vedic theology. On this and its attend-
Literature and language, . . . . ,
ant studies, gramnmr, mythology, astrology and law,
he mentioned many works. But these were almost all composed in Sanskrit ;
and it may be doubted whether, of the few Sanskrit scholars in this district,
half a dozen ever read them. Who wrote them is often uncertain ; but it is>at
least certain that none of them was written in Basti. The poems most popular
with the learned classes were the Ram&yana of V61miki, the Raghu and Kum&r
of Kalul&sa, and the Naishdd of Shri Harsha. Of two works on prosody, one
was written in a language called Sarpabhisha, or the dragon's tongue. This,
a gibberish corruption of Sanskrit, was supposed to be spoken in hell; but it
had been learnt, perhaps with a view to future use, by several industriously
idle savants. The book which is perhaps most favoured of most readers-
is the Hindi translation of the R&mayana by *f ulsfdas. But Basti has not, and
never had, any literature of its own. Noteven a newspaper is published.
On the Bhojpuri patois spoken by the bulk of the people much has been-
said above.2 Specimens already given have shown how much its declensions
and conjugations differ from those of book Urdu and book Hindi. But in the
» Wilsoa, I., 833-34 ; Buchanan, IL, 492-93. 2 Pp. 37-2-73,
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658
BASTI.
matter of vocabulary the difference is equally striking. For yifc,*his, we have
itthu or hai; for wuh, that, otthu or hau. Instead of tnd, mother, a peasant
will say matdri ; he will call his daughter not larki, a girl, but larhini. His
•wife is styled mihrdru, not joru ; and similarly, with regard to his wife, he is
not shauhar, a husband, but marrnddhu. This patois is not confined to the
peasantry. It, or something like it, is spoken by women of all ranks; and is
• therefore spoken in their homes by even educated men. In the India of to-day,
as in the Italy of Cicero, the dialect of ladies is not always that used in public
by their sons. The public language of gentlemen is Urdu.
The educational conditions of 1835 and 1847 have been noted in the
account of Gorakhpur, which then included this
Education. . .
district. Public instruction is now directed by
a local committee, whereof the magistrate-collector is president and one of
his assistants secretary. Supervision on behalf of the educational department
is effected by the school inspector of the Benares circle. And the statistics for
all classes of schools were in 1877-78 : —
Number of
•
/
►»
OD
scholar*.
s
tO
1
08
e
ft.
o
Class of school.
J3
2
►k
3
1
Total
O
CO
9
ud
:S .2
charges.
8
■3
a
3
a
"a
S3
s
e
0)
.a
8
<
CO
CU
1
15 CO
Bs.
Bs.
Kb.
fTahsili...
6
369
38
.«•
360-7
5
1,742
1,878
Goyebh ment, } Halkabandi
133
4,039 36'
•••
3,919*
3-6
13,976
18,976
(. Girls ...
3
57
36
.,
81-
4-7
384
384
Aided bt Goybrnm bnt— Boys ...
2
184
16
3
120"
17*28
976
2 071
Unaided— Indigenous ... M
86
22S
364
181
...
545*
6*3
300
9,941
Total
4,963
631
8
5,0*4-7
4-21
17,377
81,260
The absence of a zila or district school will at once be noticed. Did one
exist, it would probably belong to the middle class, which gives secondary
instruction in English. But the small demand for such instruction is already
satisfied by the two aided institutions, the " middle9' of the Church Mission and
another Anglo-vernacular school. The district lacks also the educational estab-
lishments known as parganah, municipal, aided girls, and unaided missionary.
The tahsili schools are at Menhd6wal, Bansi, Basti, Haraia, and Bh&npur.
They teach boys up to the standard of the middle class vernacular examination.
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POST-OFFICE.
659
The result of that examination (1877-78) was to show that of these
schools all save one were efficient ; while three had improved since the preceding
year. The halkabandi or village schools teach rural children reading, writing,
arthmetic and other elementary learning. Of these 34* only were classed as
efficient and 76 as improved, the remainder being stationary or retrograde.
The experiment of levying fees from non-agricultural children, which had •
been unsuccessfully tried in three schools, was abandoned. The Government
girls, whose curriculum is much the same as that of the halkabandi schools, are
at B£nsi, Old Basti, and the adjacent Nayd Baz&r. Female education is as yet in
the experimental stage ; and owing to want of funds, or native apathy, or both,
the experiment has as yet met with little success. Of indigenous schools little
is known except that they are usually short-lived, and that their discipline is
too lax to admit of much progress in those " three R's." which are their only
useful teaching. How small an area education has hitherto covered may
be judged from the returns of the 1872 census. The sexes, ages, and creeds of
the few persons then able to read and write may be summarized thus: —
Hindu males, 4,623, and females, 2& ; Musalm&n males, 457, and females, 6 ;
Christian males, 4 ; total of all classes, 5,119, or '342 per cent, of the district
population. But these figures are confessedly imperfect, and most so in the
case of females. The forms distributed to census enumerators contained no
column for women ; and women were often, therefore, excluded from the
reckoning. The reluctance of the educated classes to supply information
concerning their womankind is well known.
Between 1872 and the present time, if we may judge from postal statistics,
education has increased but little. The receipts of
the post-office have not been markedly augmented by
any augmentation in the number of those who can read or write letters. The
following table shows both income and expenditure for two years : —
Post-office.
Years.
\
S3 «i
O «
Rs.
Oft
o
3
1
1
J
M
1
ha rges, fixed aod
contingent, sala-
ries, &c.
1
i
a
if
11-
lis.
i
<*
Si
1
Q«H
«
£
"Bs7
u
«
O
o
H
Rs.
Rs
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Bs.
Rs.
Rs.
1870-71 ...
117
94
Advances
from
treasuries.
6,931
Opening
balance.
4,026
11,168
6,955
4,050
40
m
11,168
1877-78 ...
51
7,246
173
4.482
1 1,951
7,138
4,484
154
175
11,951
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6G0 BiSTL
The actual number of letters received during the latter year was 179,296 ;
of papers, 9,776 ; of packets, 3,442 ; and of parcels 1,950. The total number
of missives which reached Basti by post was therefore 194,464. The district
contains 10 imperial and 16 district post-offices. The former are at Basti
( Sadr or central ) ; Ainorha, Bansi, Basti city, Domari&ganj, Haraia,
Khalilabad, Mahauli, Menhdawal, and Uska (branches of central). The
district offices are at Bangaon, Biskohar, Buddhaband, Captainganj, Chhapia*
Cbhapraghat, Chilia, Dhebarua, Daldalha, Dudhara, G&eghat, Kothila,
Lautan, Misraulia, Paikaulia, and Rudhauli. There is as yet no telegraph.
Like education and the post-office, a regular police was the introduction
of British rule. According to the latest u allocation
statement," Basti contains 29 police-stations, whereof
6 belong to the first, 6 to the second, 14 to the third, and 3 to the fourth
class. The first-class stations, which have usually a sub-inspector, two head
and a dozen foot constables, are at Bansi, Basti, Chhaoni, Doraariaganj,
Khalilabad, and Menhdawal. The complement of the second-class stations,
at Chilia, Dudhara, Haraia, Kalw:'iri, Parasnimpur, and Rudhauli, is as a rule
one sub-inspector, one head and nine foot constable?. The third-class stations, at
which are generally quartered two head and six foot constables, lie at Bankata,
Barakuni, Buddhaband, Captainganj, Chhapia, Dhebarua, Dhanghatta, Lautan,
Mahauli, Misraulia, Paikaulia, Sonaha, Tilokpur, and Uska. The fourth-class
stations or outposts, whose quota consists of but one head and three foot con-
stables, are at Intwa,Dubaulia, and Belwa bazar. From the thdnas or stations i>f
higherclasses these fourth -class stations are distinguish ed by thenameof ckauki.
Such is the distribution of police-stations as at present recognized. Bat
considerable changes have been proposed, and may some day be effected.
The proposals include the degradation of the Dudhara, Kalwari, and Parasnim-
pur stations from the second to the third class.1 If completely carried out, this
arrangement will give the district three instead of six second-class, and 17
instead of 14 third-class stations.
All stations, of whatever class, are manned by the regular police, enrolled
under Act V. of 1861. This force is assisted by the town police recruited under
1 Neither Kalwari nor Barakuni, Captaing«nj nor Haraia, is at present in the class shown
by the allocation statement. Bnt it was deemed sufficient, in the text, to compare the ar-
rangement now recognized by Government with that proposed. The actual classification of
stations at the end of 1880 may, if necessary, be shown thus:— First class: Bansi, Basti,
Captainganj, Chhaoni, Domarisganj, Khalflabad, Menhdawal. Second class: Chilia, Dudhara,
Third class : Bankata.Gaeghat, Ptrasraropur, Kudhauli. Buddhaband, Chhapia, Dhanghata,
Dhebarua, Lautan, Mahauli, Misraulia, Paikaulia, Sonaha, Tilokpur, Uska. Fourth class :
Barakuni, Dubaulia, Haraia, Intwa, Kalwari. The abolition of the Gaeghat station has bees
already sanctioned.
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INFANTICIDE.
661
Act XX. of 1856. In 1878 the three forces mustered together 425 men of all
grades, including eight mounted constables. There was thus one policeman to
every 6'55 square miles and 3465 inhabitants. The cost of the force was
Rs. 58,402, of which Rs. 57,340 were debited to provincial revenues and the
remainder defrayed from municipal and other funds. The following statement
shows for a series of years the principal offences committed and the results of
police action therein : —
Cases cognitable by
the police.
Value of
property.
Cases.
Persons,
U&
$
0>
2
£
3
3
*S
Year.
!*£
.<§ 2
Si * «
s s 1
1
u
■%
s
45
a
►
8
<0
J
r
3
o
.3
a
* .2
Is
2 »
O
♦»
■a
0
O
ft.
onvicted i
committed
sessions.
1
•s
o
Sal
Cop
S
O 35
w
H
GO
K
H
P
3-.
ffl
Q
<
® O O
Rs.
Rs.
1874 ...
11
6
7
801
1,888
28,250
12,980
8,418
9,841
1,253
2,630
2,112
435
8030
1875 ...
7
I
6
1,086
1,786
80,570
19,91.8
3,926
3,370
1.036 2,098
1,696
387
8083
1876 ...
4
»
7
997
t,846
26,068
16,814
4,631
2,962
966j 9,086
1,729
288
8299
1877 ...
9
611
1,849
3,902
83,763
19,626
10,384
4,208
1,588 2.891
2,542
340
87-92
1878 ...
• IjT
1,488
6,678
46,869
22,511
11,212
6,486
2,55 7 1 4,061
3,549
431
8739
Infanticide.
Besides the regular and town police, there are 2,003 village and road watch-
men, organized under Act XVI. of 1873. These were in 1878 distributed
amongst the 9,620 inhabited villages of the district at the rate of one to
every 728 inhabitants. Their sanctioned cost, Rs. 72,228, was met out of
the 10 per cent. cess.
Measures for repressing the murdei; of female children here claim a more
than usual share of the policeman's attention. A for-
mer Assistant Magistrate of the district, Mr, Robert
Smeaton,1 has kindly furnished on this subject a note which deserves to be
quoted at length : —
" From the earliest times of British rule the Basti district has been notori-
ous for the practice of female infanticide. Long before organized efforts were
made by Government to put a stop to the crime, it was known to be prevalent.
The earliest instance on record dates back as far as 1£02. Writing on the
17th April of that year, not six months after the cession, the Collector-Magis-
trate of Qorakhpur reported that a female child had been slaughtered by her
Rajput parents in parganah Nagar. But the father obtained a certificate from
the local registrar (kdnungo) to the effect that the act was justified by custom ;
1 Wow Junior Secretary to the Government of these Provinces.
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662 BASTI.
that killing of this kind was no murder; and the matter was apparently
allowed to drop.
"About 1835, Buchanan alludes to the practice as still rife in Gorakhpur-
Basti ; but he notices that the drastic method of active murder, formerly in vogue,
had by this time given place as a rule to the slower but equally sure process of
starvation. Despite the evil reputation of the district, however, it was not
until 1856 that the Government awoke to the necessity of introducing a policy
of interference. In that year Mr. Moore, C.S., was deputed as a special commis-
sioner to report generally on the prevalence of female infanticide; and a large
portion of his elaborate report, which forms a valuable contribution to the
records of the North- Western Provinces, was devoted to the Benares division
and the Basti district The appendices afford interesting details of 118 Basti
villages, and of these 113 were found by Mr. Moore to be open to suspicion.
The limit of age adopted in his enquiry was six years, this having been the
standard previously used in Mainpuri and elsewhere for similar purposes ; and
the returns brought out in terrible prominence the existence of the crime.
Hardly had the results of Mr. Moore's investigations been submitted to Govern-
ment when the Mutiny broke out, and Mr. Moore was himself one of its earliest
victims.1 What the intention of the Government of the time had been with
reference to the reported results is not apparent. But the rebellion of 1857,
with its larger interests and more important political issues, left the infanti-
cide question unsolved ; and again there ensued a period of inaction. It was
not until the figures disclosed by the census of 1865 forced the attention of
the Government to the disproportion between the sexes that the matter
again came to the surface. So startling were the percentages that it was
deemed expedient to institute a special enquiry ; and Mr. Hobart, C.S., who
was attached to the staff of the Basti district, was deputed in 1867-68
to undertake the work. An admirable sequel to Mr. Moore's recorded
enquiry, the report contains in concise form all the leading facts in con-
nection with the practice of female infanticide in Basti, with an elaborate
analysis of the R&jput clans believed to be implicated. The returns are
given for the 216 villages in which Mr. Hobart believed that the practice more
or less existed, and the figures collated by him proved beyond the possibility
of doubt that the crime still lingered in many Rajput villages and families.
" Although no immediate action was taken on Mr. Hobart's report, the
results of his enquiry contributed not a little to the speedy passing of Act
VIII, of 1870, the first legislative measure on the subject since the
1 He was murdered in the Mirzapur district, of which he was then Joint-Magistrate. His
promising life had lasted for little over 24 years.
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INFANTICIDE. 663
commencement of British rule in Northern India. The provisions of the Act
necessitated a careful house-to-house enumeration in all Rajput villages
(the crime is practically restricted to Rajputs in Basti), where, for any reason,
suspicion was believed to exist. This work devolved on me, as Assistant
Magistrate of the district. Its results are recorded in extenso in my report on
the subject, dated the 15th June, 1871, and published in the official records of
the North-Western Provinces. It will thus be seen that there have been three
distinct local enquiries and reports on the subject of female infanticide in Basti,
and it may be interesting to show very briefly how the returns at these three
periods compare. Taking first the 118 villages referred to by Mr. Moore, I
found that the figures stood, so far as I could ascertain, as under : —
Year.
Under six years.
Percent-
age of
girls.
Boys.
Girls.
In 1858 ...
In 1871 ..
1.280
1,176
282
600
18-
" The detailed comparison instituted by me showed that whether the 118
villages were regarded from the standpoint of totals or percentages, en masse
or in detail, on the basis of territorial sub-divisions or on the surer principle
of clans and families, improvement was everywhere visible. This result was
no doubt due partly to the slow growth of public opinion, partly to the greater
supervision exercised under an improved system of administration, and partly
to the warning which the two official investigations unquestionably conveyed
to the suspected clans.
" In his enquiry of 1867-68 Mr. Hobart took the great mutiny of 1857
as his starting-point for thq, enumeration of male and female children ; and
I adopted the same land-mark in 1871, partly to facilitate comparison of results,
and partly because it conduced greatly to the speedy carrying out of the cen-
sus among people whose computation of time is usually far from accurate. Of
the 216 villages I found that in the four years' interval 54 per cent, had
improved while 16 were stationary and 30 retrogressive. The totals of the
minor population (i. e. of all born since the Mutiny) stood as under: —
Boys. Girls. Percentage of girls,
1867-68 ... ... ... 2,538 714 22'
1871 ... — ... 8,700 1,881 85-
" The proportion had thus improved in less than four years by three per
cent., and the figures showed that in the interval the boys had increased by
1,167, and the girls by 517, in the ratio of 69 to 31. Here also, therefore,
improvement was visible.
85
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664 BASTI.
" My own enquiry in 1871 extended over a much wider field than that of
either of my predecessors, for it embraced practically all the Rajput villages in.
the district. I adopted a girl percentage of 40 as a basis of operation, and
regarded all with a percentage under that limit as prima facie open to sus-
picion. Of the 400 villages visited by me, I found 232 with under 40 per
cent., and to these I added 26 villages, which, though able to show in 1871 a
girl percentage of 40 or more, had been believed by Mr. Hobart to be open to
grave suspicion. My proposal was to bring all the 258 under the operation of
Act VII. of 1870 at the outset. Of these 258, 26 were over the 40 per cent,
limit, 107 showed girl percentages varying from 25 to 40, while the remaining
125 had a female proportion of under 25. Of the 125, agun, I found 38 villages
unable to produce a single girl born since the mutiny. As regards totals,
the returns showed that in the whole 258 villages which I recommended for
proclamation, there were 4,374 boys to 1,531 girls, in the ratio of 74 to 26.
The general percentage was of course vitiated by the startling figures of the
group of 125 villages under 25 per cent, where there were 2,213 boys to only
369 girls in the proportion of 86 to 14.
" In the final orders on the subject, the Government of the North-Western
Provinces exempted 18 of the 258 villages from the operation of the Act ; and
240 villages, containing 2,096 families, with a minor population of 4,161 boys
and 1,392 girls (in the ratio of 75 to 25) were duly proclaimed. A special
police force was sanctioned, paid from rates imposed under the Act on the
more guilty villages and clans.
fi The practice of female infanticide is restricted in the Basti district to the
Rajput caste. Foremost among all the guilty clans stands that of the Siiraj-
bansis. They contributed 130 to the total of 240 proclaimed villages ; and their
girl percentage, on a minor population of 2,906, was only 23. The Amorha
parganah is their home, and it is here that the sharpest measures and the closest
supervision have been found nfccessary. These Surajbansi R&jputs, though
united by the bond of a common ancestry, and belonging to the common gotra
of the BharaddhwAj, are divided locally into three classes, known respectively
as Kunwars, BabiU, and Thakurs. All three were found to be deeply impli-
cated, but the order of precedence in suspicion and guilt was that here given.
" .Next to the Siirajbansis in evil repute come the Gautams, who are chiefly
found in parganah Nagar. They are much less numerous than the Suraj-
bansi Rajputs; but in the 26 villages which were proclaimed, the minor
population of 743 showed a girl percentage of only 19. Of the Bais and Hal-
bans clans — the former scattered over the district, the latter found chiefly iu
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INFANTICIDE. 665
pargana Basti — 28 and 14 villages respectively were placed on the proclaimed
list ; the aggregate minor populations (of 365 and 634) giving a girl percent-
age on each case of 30. None other of the other 16 clans which contributed
to the total proclaimed number calls for comment, as the number of villages
was in every case under 10, and the minor population small.
" Ever since the proclamation of the suspected villages in 1871 an
elaboiate system of registration and supervision has been maintained. From
time to time changes have been introduced. The police rates have been
somewhat modified, while here and there exemptions have been allowed both
in villages and in families. But the proclaimed population is in the main the
same ; and it is interesting to note the final girl percentage of the proclaimed
villages as given in the successive reports to Government on the subject, and to
observe the steady improvement that has resulted. The figures are as under : —
Girl percentage,
1874-75 ... „. ... ... ... S8 3
1875-76 ... ... ... ... ... 8203
1876-77 ... ... ... ... ... 34-3
1877-78 ... ... ... ... ... 869
1878-79 ... ... ... ... ... 38-8
u These figures point conclusively to progress. It is impossible to claim for
them absolute accuracy ; but they may be safely accepted as approximating
closely to the truth (having been verified from time to time by the covenanted
staff), and as such they afford the best possible evidence of the good effects of
the measures inaugurated by Act VII. of 1870.
" Of the causes of the crime, direct or . indirect, it is hardly necessary to
speak. There is no doubt that the large expenditure incident to the marriage
of daughters is, so far as Basti is concerned, the chief. These Rajputs are a
proud race; they have an elaborately constructed scale, under which each
class finds its appropriate place ; and they have a very definite code of rules
as to intermarriage. All this means heavy expenditure ; and as the class are
as thriftless as they are impoverished, the resort to infanticide is not so much
a matter of surprise as otherwise it might be. It has been held that to the
idea that the terms " s£la" and iC sasur," as disgraceful and dishonouring,1 is
due in part the prevalence of the crime ; and I am not prepared to say that this
is not the case. But while allowing for this — and for the influence of custom,
habit, and example — I am convinced that the real cause is to be found in the
desire to escape from a burden of expenditure which traditional usage has
1 Sdla means brother-in-law ; samr or » *srat father-in-law. As terms of abuse they convey
the idea that the person using them has been on more than intimate terms with the sister or
the daughter of the person addressed.
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666
BASTI.
for ages imposed, in connection with the marriage of TUjput girls. Hdc fonte
derivata clades. As to the actual practice of the crime : when, how, and by
whom it is perpetrated : what the means are— salt or opium, strangulation or
inanition ; all such matters are involved in considerable doubt. Direct evi-
dence is very rarely attainable owing to the extreme privacy with which the
domestic life of the guilty clans is invested and to the difficulty of securing
trustworthy testimony. Hence it is that conviction is so rarely secured even
where there is moral certainty as to guilt and indirect proof of complicity.
" I do not think (but in this my opinion must be taken quantum valeat)
that infanticide is now directly practised in one out of every hundred por-
claimed villages in Basti and elsewhere ; and I attribute the cessation of the
practice wholly and entirely to the wholesome action taken under Act VII.
of 1870. But I fear that indirectly the poison still lingers ; that to neglect
and insufficient nourishment at a certain age is due the abnormal number of
deaths of female children among the guilty clans which is still observable.
Time and education — and the growth of civilising influences — will doubtless
help to remedy this ; and then, but not till then, will the social sanction
supersede the legal, and the voice of society condemn what the law so often
fails to detect and punish."
Convicts imprisoned through the agency of the police just described are
sent to the central prison at Benares or the district
jail at Basti itself. It has been elsewhere shown that
though long-term prisoners generally go to the central, and short-term prison-
ers to the district establishment, there is no -fixed rule as to the exact length of
term which shall qualify the convict for either.1 In 1870, five years after the
formation of the district, the Basti jail had an average daily population of 137 and
received 776 inmates. The principal statistics for 1877 may be thus tabulated :—
Jail.
Hindu*.
Musalmdns.
u
I
S .
fl
©*C
*^
©
■s
bo
a
C
©
u
a
"C
a
"S. .
a U
O 09
©
8.?
CI
*2 fa
Total num-
ber of prison
erg during
the year.
i
en
a
©
©
-3
©
1
©
•a j»
13
ei ©
2 >»
3»
as
'§1
1
3tal yearly
head of
strength.
et yearly c
head of
strength
d acting pr
manufactur
fe
£
fe
<
«
Q
<
Q
H
Rs.
SQ
Bb.
3,144
1,200
139
1*7
23
333*25
2,724
2,611
850
9
43
4*
See Gazr., V, 600 (Bareilly). Long-term prisoners are those whose term exceeds two yean.
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JAIL AND LOCK-UP. 667
Of the total number of prisoners 27, principally debtors, had been impri-
soned by order of the civil courts. A comparison of the number of admissions with
the total number of prisoners during the year will show that 420 of the latter
had remained in jail since former years. Of the jail population generally, 9
are entered as juvenile offenders, or persons under 16 years of age ; 1,310 as
between 16 and 40 ; 188 as between 40 and 60 ; and 15 as above the latter
age ; but the age of the few remaining persons is not stated. The greater
part of the average yearly expenditure on each prisoner consisted in the cost
of his rations (Rs. 19-1-1 1 J). The remainder was made up of his shares in the
expenditure on establishment (Rs. 13-0-8£), clothing (Rs. 2-13-llf ), police
guards ( Re. l-7-6\ building and repairs (Rs. 4-5-0), hospital charges (Rs. 1-0-8)
and contingencies (Rs. 2-0-6). The average number of effective workers
throughout the year was 27525 ; and of these most were employed on building
or repairs connected with the jail (9925), as prison servants (59 75), or on
manufactures (9275). The previous occupation of the prisoners was in few
cases such as to fit them for profitable work in prison, the majority having been
agriculturists (923), men of independent property or no occupation, and
Government or domestic servants. Of non-agriculturists, a term which
is presumed to include shopkeepers and handicraftsmen, there were only
360.
The lock-up for under-trial prisoners is at Basti an appanage of the jail.
It had during the same year (1877) 1,568 different
Lock-UD
occupants, of whom 385 were afterwards transferred
as convicts to the jail proper ;l and its average daily number of inmates was
610.
Following the usual order, we should here pass to fiscal history. But the
fiscal history of Basti, down to its disruption from
Fiscal history. _ .
Gorakhpur, has been shown in the notice on the
latter.8 As an independent district Basti dates only from the 6th May, 1865.
The current assessment of land revenue had become current several years
earlier. It remains only to show how the area of each parganah was classified
by the survey preceding that assessment ; to note what acreage was returned
as barren, what as cultivated, and so on. The annexed table will effect our
purpose at a glance : —
1 The small proportion of persons transferred to the jail proper is rather noticeable The
proportion of those convicted must have been ranch larger ; and why did so few convicts find
theii way to prison ? •« The reason probably is," writes Mr Powlett, « that during the latter
half of 1877, the scarcity half, the rattan took the place of the jail as a punishment."
* Above, pp 87«-»5.
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CC8
BASTI.
Parganab.
Binayakpur ...
Maghar
Bunsi ••
Kasulpur
Mahuuli ~
Ha gar ..
Amorha
Basti
Total
AREA IN ACHES.
Unassessable.
.ASSB38ABLH.
1
Cultiva-
ble.
Old/al-
low.
Cultivated,
Total.
Revenue-
free.
Barren.
Watered.
Un wa-
tered
Total cul-
tivated.
396
4,642
6,044
2,6 TO
3,x68
1,921
4 490
2.6U8
2.524
56,83 i
45,665
22,796
59,675
15,739
22.669
17.516
4,517
58,845
78,233
35,225
32,327
28,648
39,' 82
29,782
887
Not shown
83,512
9,489
14,794
6,906
11,167
5.291
6,708
117,743
120,353
105,201
106.331
. 75 806
80,919
95,7 73
12,418
51,505
157,230
36,196
30,630
11,158
24.687
17,373
19,121
169,248
277,583
141.397
135,984
81,364
106,t»06
113, 46
27 4t5
292,686
436,0 17
211,577
246,651
138,578
183,0 4
168,342
20,639 243,317 ' 301,759
| 707 332 1341,117 t I.04S.449 ~l,7i«4..VO
These figures have been taken in the case of Maghar from the settlement
Report ;l and in all other cases from the Board's review of the assessment.
But they can be regarded as approximate only. It has been found impossible
to reconcile their grand total with that of the late official statement (1878)
shown at p. 572. But the difference is more than accounted for by the
difference in the total area of parganah Bansi.
The term of the current assessment expires on the 30th June, 1889. Its
demand was in some cases progressive, attaining a
maximum about 1873-74. How well it has worked may
be shown by the following account of collections and balances for ten years : —
Collections and
Demand.
Collec-
tions.
Balan-
ces*
Pabticularb
OF BALANCE
Real
1
Nomi-
nal,
Percent-
age of
Year.
In train
of liqui-
dation.
Doubt-
ful.
~Rs7~ "
Irrecov-
erable.
balance
on de-
mand.
Kg.
Kb.
Kb.
Rs
Rs.
Rs.
1868-69
10,21,387
10,15.133
6,254
...
4,810
1,444
...
•61
1869-70
10,20.011
10,14,419
5,592
...
4,9 If
681
...
-64
1870-71
10 20,777
10V10,786
9,981
4,666
...
...
5,815
118
1871-72
J 0,17,787
10,14,744
3,043
79
...
2,971
...
•so
1872-73
10,14,941
10,10,961
3,980
8,550
208
222
•M
•39
1873-74
13,20,283
12,76,170
44,113
42,969
899
255
...
8'34
1874-75
13,19,915
(3,18,486
1,429
406
784
193
46
•iO
1875-76
13 20,085
13,19,547
638
171
...
•••
867
•-
1876-77
13,19,641
18,19,398
943
...
•••
...
243
...
1877--8
13,19,514
13,18,261
1,263
1,228
...
-
25
•09
1 At assessment Maghar contined 29 tappas, of which 9 (Aurangabad, North Haveli,
Satgawan, Gahasand, Bharsand, Bhadesari. Suras, Pacha uri, and Khajuri) hare remained in
Gorakhpur. The figures for the other 20, which were included in Basti, have been added
together and shown in the above table.
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PROPRIETARY TENURES.
669
Instalments of revenue.
Throughout the district the revenue becomes due in four instalments, pay-
able on dates when the garnering of the various crops
has brought rents into the landlord's pocket. The
two first or autumn payments are made on the 15ths of November and Janu-
ary respectively, the two last or spring payments on the lsts of May and June.
The tenures of the proprietors who pay this revenue may be classed under
four heads : — (1) the zominddri, and (2) the pattiddri,
which having been described before1 need not be
described again ; (3) the birt, and (4) the drdzi. Mr Thomson gives the
following analysis of the manner in which these forms of possession are distrib-
uted amongst the different parganas : —
Proprietary tenures.
Parganah.
Zamin.
dari.
Pattidari.
Birt.
Perfect.
Jmper-
feet.
Arazi.
Villages.
Villages.
Villages.
Whole
villages.
Parts of
villages.
Parts of
villages.
Rasulpur
Bansi
Biuajnkpur ...
Napar
Basti ...
Mahauli ... „•
Maghar
Amorha * ... ...
S96
301
10
166
334
472
76
517
429
1,448
96
6
199
138
280
•••
"*522
86-*
487
1,399
31
101
2i»2
176
286
•••
81
3
41
94
14
40
47
42
•••
Total
2,179
2,595
2,776
850
169
143
From this it will be seen that, while prevailing in the south, imperfect
pattiduri is in the north absent. " In many of the pattiddri villages of the latter
tract," adds Mr. Thomson, " the lands held in common consist merely of tho
village-sites, tanks, groves and waste. Bhayach6ra tenure is everywhere
unknown."
It is usual to contrast the birt tenures with the fiefs of the feudal system •
BJrt but, as in toost cases where European is compared
with Indian, the comparison is too general. Some
forms of birt no doubt resembled feudal holdings, but others did not. In
order to prove this double proposition we need only examine the five forms of
birt which once existed in Basti. Of these, four have been described in the
Gorakhpur notice.2
1 Gazr., II., 222, and V., 615-16. * Supra, pp. 396-90.
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670 BASTI.
The jewan birt was there defined as " an assignment of villages made to a
cadet of the riija's family, as a perpetual subsistence for himself and his heirs."
The grand difference between this and the fief of mediaeval Europe is that the
bond between lord and vassal was primarily one of blood-relationship. Like
the tenures of Rajputana, the jewan was " founded on the principle of family
partition, and not on that of securing great military leaders."1 Nor did it
demand from the vassal so complete a military service as in Europe. Complete
homage it no doubt implied ; for in Basti the raja was comparatively a greater
man than in Raj pu tana. Save perhaps in Nagar, he bore no brother near
the throne. The authority within their own domains of his vassals was
<^ limited. The pretensions of the independent Rajput baron, who except
^y * in time of peace regarded the raja as his cousin, who claimed as of right
a cousin's share in the land, would have ill been tolerated here. Against
such pretensions the most jealous precautions were taken in the north,
where ruled the Bansi rajas. These chiefs seldom made jewan grants to
any save illegitimate kinsmen, who were precluded from rivalry by their
slender chances of succession. But in the south such grants were not so
rare.
The marwat and sankalp birts were still freer from the obligation of mili-
tary service. The first was a landed compensation made to the family of a
dependant slain in the rajas wars ; the second was a glebe granted to priests
for the safety of the grantor's soul. The so-called mukaddam birt, again,
depended on service, but on service of the least military kind. The birtiya
was in this case not a feoffee, but a steward. His tenure depended on the
rather one-sided contract by which he, the headman (mukaddam or mahto)
of the village, had undertaken its management on behalf of the raja. The
contractor was allowed to reserve for himself 7 per cent, of the area, while for
the proceeds of the rest he accounted to his lord. But the arrangement lasted
only during the raja's pleasure ; it arose solely from the raja's convenience.
Not till the clearance of a forest tract was needed did he find himself forced
to concede greater permanence of tenure. To encourage arduous reclamations
better terms were required. The contractor therefore received not only an
advance, but a deed securing his future possession. In this deed was recog-
nized his right to retain a tithe or a quarter of the cultivated land, and the
whole of the manorial dues (adir). But when land increased in value, the
raja began to receive instead of giving an advance. As his necessities increas-
ed, he demanded larger and larger sums of purchase-money, making in return
i Elphinstone's History of India, Bk. II, chap. 2,
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BIRT AND XUKZl HOLDINGS. 671
larger and larger concessions to the birtiya. But the usual arrangement
was that the latter should receive 20 per cent, or one-fifth of the yearly
assets.
The only really feudal birt was in fact the murchabandi, 01 warden ship of
the marches. Murchabandi means entrenching; and the murchabandi birtiyas
were a real entrenchment against northern invaders. The raja settled some
trusted Rajput family on a border tract ; and in return for the grant they were
bound to guard his frontier, to serve him in war and to swell his retinue in
peace. Instances of this tenure are afforded by the Rajput villages of Meh-
noni, Khuniaon and (Jhilia, all in Biinsi. In Gorakhpur none of the kind is
apparently forthcoming ; and in the notice on that district the murchabandi
birt was not mentioned.
Such, before 1835, were the different forms of birt. But long before that
year the hereditary and transferable rights of all birt-holders had become fully
recognized ; and in that year, as already noted, the Board of Revenue decided
that all birt-holders must be deemed proprietors of the villages held by
them. With them have ever since been made the engagements for the land-
tax. At the settlement of 1839 they were still bound to pay their ancient
chieftains a seignoralty (mdlikdna) of 20 per cent, on their revenue. But this
fee has since been reduced to 10 per cent. It is paid into the Government
treasury along with the revenue; and in some cases, where the former payee
has been attainted for treason, is credited to Government itself. Thus in par-
ganah Basti the State receives the seignoralty of the rebel raja of Gonda ; and
in parganah Nagar the seignoralty of the rebel raja of Nagar. The ancient
chiefs and Government are now in the position of the superior proprietors
called taallukaddr8 ; while the birt-holders represent their biswaddrs or sub-
proprietors.
The word drdzi,. the plural of the Arabic arz, simply means lands ; and
. . here as elsewhere is used in that general sense. But
it has also, as applied to a form of tenure, a special
meaning. An drazi was a portion of a village or estate granted or sold to
some owner or owners whom bars of rank or blood severed from the original
landlords. It therefore came to be regarded more or less in the light of a
separate estate, and in some cases %the arazi-holder pays the revenue due on his
holding direct into the treasury. In others, however, he is compelled to adopt
the more usual course of paying it through the lambarddr, the landholder
whom, when there are more than one in the village, Government holds respon-
sible for the land-tax.
86
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672 BASTI.
Having briefly described the principal proprietary tenures, we proceed to
give some account of the principal proprietary fami-
Leadlng landed families. ^ By ^ doing we ^^ giye alao 80me ideft of tbe
castes whose acres are broadest.
The r&ja of B&nsi represents a family which has not only given r&jas to other
places, but has also absorbed the possessions of other
Rajas of Bans!. ^^ ^ ^.^ ^ tfacej nQW to the panjub, now to
Garhw&l, now to Bundelkhand, and now to Assam. But traditions as a rule
agree that the Srinagar from which its ancestor came was some place in the
far north-west. This ancestor was named Chandra Sen or Singh. His date
ranges according to the best authorities1 from 1200 to 1350 A.D. He claimed
descent from the Solar dynasty of Ajudhya, and there is some reason for sup-
posing that he was a Dikshit Rajput. But according to other accounts his
tribe were Naikumbh Rajputs, and therefore probably a branch of the Chau-
h&ns. The legend runs that, having incurred the displeasure of the reigning
Muslim emperor, he was thrown into prison at Dehli. But, having used his
influence in suppressing a revolt, he was released and rewarded with the title
of Sarnet, This title, about whose exact origin and meaning accounts differ,1
has ever since been borne by his tribe.
Now, while Chandra Sen was in prison, a Tiw&ri Br&hman from Chittia in
this district had foretold his rise to greatness. On his release, this same Br&h-
man advised him to push his fortunes in the direction of Qorakhpur. The two
came to Basti together ; and Chandra Sen had soon conquered or cowed into
submission all the local chiefs north of the Ku&na. How he extended his pos-
sessions into Oorakhpur, overcoming by guile the Domkat&rs or military Brfih^
mans, has been told elsewhere. Marrying a daughter of the Bisen rfja of
Majhauli, he by her left three sons. Of these Jagdhar S&h became r&ja of
Satasi in Oorakhpur ; Jai Singh, r£ja of Maghar in this district ; and Randhir
Singh, rVja of Anaula or l?nwal in Qorakhpur. The title of Sat&si was for«-
feited for treason in the great rebellion ; and the r6ja of Maghar or B&nsi is
now tbe senior titled chief of the house. The junior branch of Anaula is still
however in existence. Chandra Sen is said to have left a fourth and perhaps
illegitimate son, Bijai Singh. On him his brother Jai of Maghar bestowed a
large domain now embracing some 400 or 500 villages in Maghar and Rasulpur.
1 Messrs. J. B. Thomson and £. B. Alexander. Some account of the family will be found above,
pp. 353-54, 40i, 434-36 and 440 ; in Mr. Wynne's Settlement Report of parpanah Baosi ; and in the
official Rajas and Nawdbs of the N.W. P. For general notices of the Bar nets here and else-
where see Sherring's Castes and Tribes of Benaresh articles ■« Naikumbh!" •• Dikshit/' and
« Sarnet"; Buchanan's Pastern India, II.; and Mr. C. A. Elliott's Chronicles ojf Un4o. % See
pp. 353-64.
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THE BXNSI FAMILY.
673
Babus of Rudhauli.
1.
ralip.
13.
Deo.
2.
} 'hi- lab.
14
Lac bh man.
3.
Makrand 1.
15.
Udit I.
4.
Bhagwant.
16
Amur.
5.
Bikram L
17.
Bikram II.
6.
Surat.
18.
1 ej 1.
7.
Murat.
19.
Pohu.
8.
Nandan.
SO.
Udai.
9.
Rath.
tl.
Jai II.
10.
Alab.
23.
Jaidharan*
11.
Gopal.
23.
Mfichh.
IS.
fiasant.
24.
Baghu.
25. Rai.
This tract is known as the Bajhera. On it dwell Bijai's descendants, the
Bh&iyas or B&bus of Rudhauli. For their rebellion
in 1857-58 one branch of this family forfeited land
assessed with Rs. 8,808 yearly. But the confiscated estates were afterwards
bestowed on Bh&iya Krishnparshdd Singh, the loyal head of the other
branch. Krishnparsh£d, who was certainly the most prominent member of the
family in recent times, died last year (1879).
The Maghar principality, to which Jai I. succeeded on the death of his
father, is credited by tradition with a
circuit of 42 kos or 84 miles. He and
his descendants ruled it for about 300
years. A list of those descendants is
marginally given. But it should be
remarked that a pedigree showing as
many as 25 successions in as few as
three centuries makes rather large
demands on the credulity of the genea-
logist. It is the fashion in India to reckon generations as shorter than in Europe,
where about three go to the century. But even in India, four successive mon-
archs of the same line have been known to reign between them 151 years
(1556-1707). The last or 25th rftja on this list, R&i Singh, died childless ;
but not before he had adopted as his successor his distant cousin, Hati or
Sans&r Singh, son of the r&ja of Anaula. Hati was succeeded in turn
by each of his four sons, Madhu I., Rim I., Udit II., and B&nsdeo or
B&sdeo.
By the time that Bdnsdeo had ascended the cushion, the Muslim armies of
the Dehli emperors had begun to invade the district. He, probably, was the
r&ja of Maghar who was attacked and forced into tribute about 1570. At the
same time Maghar became the quarters of a Muslim garrison. But whether
B&nsdeo was then the reigning prince or not, we know that he found Maghar
unpleasantly crowded with the imperial soldiery, and that he migrated to a
place called the Promontory (Komar). Being surrounded on almost every
side by the R&pti, his new home was deemed a safe refuge. From his name it
is said to have derived its modern appellation of Bansi. In just the same
manner, in just the same century, and perhaps with just the same amount of
truth, the great town of Bins Bareli is said to have taken its title from two
brothers called Btadeo and Bareldeo.1 But Bdnsi is as likely to mean the
1 See Gazr., V., 653.
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674 BASTI.
village of bamboos as anything else. A legend which makes St. Kabir predict
prosperity to Bfinsdeo if he left Maghar is probably an anachronism. Kabir
seems to have died before 1450.'
B&nsdeo died childless, leaving, however, his widow pregnant. His prime
minister, a Shukul Brahman of Bhergarh2 near Bansi, seized the opportunity
of usurping the cushion. In his. successful intrigues he was aided by the
KAyaths of Sawardand and Chitiona. But the rani fled for life to her father,
the Chauhan raja of Mainpuri ; and at that place gave birth to a posthumous
son, Ratan Singh. As usual in such legends, Ratan on attaining manhood re-
covered his patrimony. Returning to Basti with a few faithful followers, he
enlisted the aid of the Solankhi r&ja of Katahla. By that prince's advice he
settled in a village which he called after his own name, Ratanpur; and for
several years occupied himself in the organization of a- party. At last his
opportunity arrived. Through one of the usurper's mistresses, who was intri-
guing with one of the usurper'sslaves, he procured the assassination not only of
that usurper but of that usurper's Kayath allies. He then succeeded to the
bulk of his father's power. But the Muslims still remained at Maghar, and in
their marches between Faizabad and Qorakhpur continued to overrun the
south of the principality.
In the story of Batan's restoration there is much of the improbable. The
commonplace of ancient romance, whereby a single youth survives to revivify
a family, is twice employed. The K&yaths of Saw&rd£nd and Chitiona are
said to have been perpetuated by an ancestor who as a boy had been the sole
remnant of Ratan's massacre. The raja of Katahla was an ancient foe of Bansi;
and in those days such feuds were not lightly forgotten. Ratanpur of tappa
Barikp&r is placed in that raja's territory ; and an act of dominion such as
giving his name to a village would scarcely have been permitted to an adven-
turer of a hated family. It is probable, however, that Ratanpur was not a part
of Katahla. In the Institutes of Akbar Ratanpur and Katahla are entered as
separate parganas, which in this part of the country generally meant separate
principalities. The mention of Ratanpur in the Indian Domesday Book shows
that Ratan's restoration must have taken place before 1596-98. The fact (if it
be. a fact), that his father left Maghar not earlier than 1570 would leave little
time for the events narrated in the legend. But if Alexander founded Alex-
andria before he was 25, there is no reason why Ratan should not have founded
Ratanpur at an equally early age.
1 His followers say be lived 300 years, from 1149 to 1449 ; and accepting the latter date
as that of his death, 11. H. Wilson makes him flourish in the beginning of the fifteenth century.
■ This castle stood within what is now Sirapar village.
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THE BA'NSI FAMILY. 675
The Institutes had hardly named Katahla as a separate tract before it
,„,,., was absorbed in Ratan pur- B&nsi. The r&ia who had
Annexation of Katahla , # . J
befriended Ratan died, leaving a widow and an infant
son. The brother of thelate prince succeeded by usurpation, while the widow
aud her child fled. But when the Tiwari of Chittia, a descendant of that Ti-
wdri who had brought Chandra Sen to the district, pledged his writing for their
safety, both widow and child returned. The latter was shortly afterwards
murdered by his uncle ; and upbraided by the bereaved mother, the Tiw&ri
d ied of remorse. But on his-deathbed he bade his heir avenge the murder which
his negligence had permitted; and when the funeral rites were over that heir
sought rnja Ratan. Ratan was easily persuaded to turn his arms against his
usurping neighbour. Sallying forth on pretence of hunting, he attacked and
slew the raja of Katahla, who was fishing with a few friends. And Katahla
itself was at once annexed to his own domains.
When Ratan died is uncertain. By one account his death occurred in
a Mn „ 1527 ; by another he is said to have annexed Katahla
and of Rasulpur. J
in loaO1 ; but from what has preceded it will be seen
that both dates are probably a long lifetime too early He was succeeded
by his descendants, r£jas Tej II., Makraud II. or Mukram, Sakat, Partab II.,
Kunj, and R&m II. Before his death in 1716 the last had treacherously slain
and seised the lands of Kesari, Kulhans raja of Rasulpur.
This R&m had two sons. The elder, Bhagwant, was slain in his father's
lifetime by the roving Banj&ra freebooters who had now begun to harass
the north of the district.2 The younger, M&dhu II, succeeded, but his rule was
constantly disputed by Tej, son of the deceased Bhagwant. Peace was at
length restored when Madhu promised to abdicate after a certain term of
years in favour of Tej ; but before the expiry of that term the death of his
uncle had already put the nephew in possession. After a reign of twenty
years Tej II. was succeeded by his son Ranjit; but now began another
internecine conflict. Ranjit's younger brother Daljit revolted, was defeated and
was imprisoned. Escaping after seven years he took service with the Chandel
raja of Shiurajpur in Cawnpore,3 who appointed him manager of certain estates
in Oudh. Here Daljit had the good fortune to save the wife of the reigning
nawab from the hands of some Rohilla marauders ; and the grateful Shuja-ud-
daula (1756-75) lent him a force wherewith once more to try his fortunes in Basti.
1 The first statement is made in Mr. Thomsen's notes; the second in the R&jaa and Natcdbs,
The chronology of the latter authority is, however, little to he trusted. It brings Chandra Sen
to Basti in the reign of Shahjahan (1628-58) ; adds 39 generations ; and afrer this addition
informs us that Katan " became raja of Katahla in 1530." * See above, pp. 444-46 and 447.
9 For a long account of the Shiurajpur family see above, pp. 50-67.
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676 BASTI.
The rival brothers met at Panghataghfit, about 6 miles east of Bansi.
Seeking one another out, they fought a single combat in which Ranjit was
slain and Daljit mortally wounded. The unexpected death of both claimants
led to a compromise by which Bansi became, like Sparta, a land of two kings.
Bah&dur and Sarabjft, the infant sons of Ranjit and Daljit respectively, were
set up as joint r&jas. To the former B&nsi and to the latter Narkata were
assigned as residences. On the death without issue of Bahddur in 1777,1 his
brother and successor Jagat attempted to dethrone Sarabjit. The result was
that, calling in the aid of the Btitwal raja,* Sarabjit defeated and slew him.
Thus were once more united the two parts into which the B&nsi domain had been
divided. But that domain was greatly diminished by the reckless prodigality <rf
itd now sole owner. Towards the close of the last century Sarabjit bestowed
no less than 987 villages around Bakhira on an illegitimate son, the ancestor
of the rebellious B£bu of that place. On the attainder of the latter in 1858
these villages became confiscated to Government
Sarabjit himself died childless, but not before he had adopted as his heir
a son of the now very distantly related r&ja of Anaula. The new chief, Shri
Frakash Singh, was succeeded by his son Mahipal ; who, dying childless, was
succeeded by his brother Mahendra. During the great rebellion r&ja Mahendra
distinguished himself by his loyalty to Government. For his services he was
rewarded with the Companionship of the Star of India and with the forfeited
estates of the rebel raja of Nagar. He was succeeded in 1868 by the present
raja R&m III. Like the other r&jas of the district the chiefs of Bansi were once
independent princes ; like the other rijas of the district, they are still exten-
sive landholders. Their estates in parganah Bin&yakpur East,8 Binsi, Rasul-
pur, llaghar, Basti, and Nagar, pay the State a revenue of Rs. 56,000. Their
principal seat is Narkata on the R&pti, just opposite B&nsi.
Something of the Siirajbansi rdjas of Mahauli, who about three hundred
years ago wrested that parganah from the aboriginal
Rajas of Mahauli Jw ., i i m. , , , , . , . . ., . ,
Rajbhars and Tharus, has been said in describing the
Siirajbansi Edjputs themselves. Compared with the Sarnets of Bansi, these
Mahauli Rdjputs are a comparatively modern house. While claiming Ajudhya
as their prehistoric home, they admit that their re-arrival in this neighbour-
hood dates no earlier than the sixteenth century. Whether there be truth in
1 1185 of the harvest sera. * Mr. Thomson says ndzim, that is deputy of the Ondh
Government. But the Butwal raja was at this time practically independent. Under the
suzerainty of Oudh the rajas were, as above shown (p. 446), tributaries, not subjects. The
Butwal raja some eleven years later waged war on his own account with the raja of Sataai.
And it may be doubted whether the nawabs of Oudh would have ventured to keep a deputy
iu his domains. ' Of Gorakhpur.
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KAJAS OF BANSI and mahauli. 677
their assertion that they came from Kumiiin is doubtful ; but it may be con-
ceded that they were led by two brothers named Alakdeo and Tilakdeo.
Slaying Kaulbil the Rajbhar, and annexing his lands, these chiefs thereby
gained a goodly nucleus for their later acquisitions. From some later emperor
of Dehli their descendants obtained the title of Pdl, which is still suffixed to
the names borne by members of the house. Amongst those descendants is
the present raja of Mahauli or Mahson, Bhaw&ni-GhulAm Pal. Mahauli village
was the old and Mahson is the present seat of 'his family. His estates, lying
partly in parganahs T&uda and Akbarpur of Faizabad aud partly in parganahs
Mahauli and Rasiilpur of Basti, pay Government a land-tax of Rs. 22,000.
The Mahauli family has extensive ramifications in the south of the district.
From this stock spring the Babiis of Siktar and Matauli, of Parsain, Harihar-
pur, Jaswa), Bhanpur, Sisai, and Rampur. Half the villages of parganah
Mahauli are in truth held by members of the raja's clan or by grantees (Hrtiya)
of former r&jas.
But besides the Mahauli clan there are other Surajbansi families who, while
and other Surajbansi claiming the same general origin, invaded the district
families. a^ other times and from other places. Such are the
BArajbansis of parganah Amorha, whose ancestor K&nhdeo migrated from
Faizabad early in the seventeenth century. According to one Account he
came hither as a follower of his kinswoman, a Jaipur princess who had
wedded the emperor of Dehli. But this is merely another version of the story
which bestows Amorha on a Kayath favourite of Akbar's Kachhwahin wife.*
The*more trustworthy tradition tells how, after assisting a Kayath to expel the
Bhars and become raja of Amorha, K&nhdeo claimed some portion of the
booty for himself. This was at length conceded to his son Kansnarayan, who
by compromise with the Kayath raja obtained the eastern half of the parga-
nah. But with half the Sfirajbansis did not rest content. Slowly but surely
ousting the Kayaths, they became, what they are still, the dominant landhold-
iog body in Amorha.
The rajas of Basti belong to the same stock of Kulh&ns Rajputs as those
Rasiilpur rajas who were extinguished by the house of
B&nsi. But of this, to judge from the account sup-
plied to the official Rdjas andNawibs, they seem themselves unaware. That
account is to the effect that a Rajput named M&dhu Singh bad inherited from
his ancestor Gardbi certain lands annexed without imperial warrant from the
Bhars of parganah Basti. This M&dhu was in 1330 defeated and dispossessed
» Census Report of 1866, note on castes of Gorakhpor and Basti. * Supra, p. 442.
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678 BASTI.
by Udharaj Kulhans of Bhagulam, who by implication must be held to have
acted with the sanction of the Dehli emperor. From Udharaj, who before his
death had annexed the whole parganah, is descended the present raja.
This statement errs perhaps on the side of modesty. It leaves out of sight
the fact that the Basti domain is a remnant of the Kulhans kingdom, which
once extended from the heart of Bahraich to the heart of this district. Mr.
Thomson traces the foundation of that kingdom to one Sej, who with his
brother Tej came from a village south-west of Dehli. The Oudh Gazetteer
brings Sej or Sahaj from Bagl&na, the western frontier of the Narbada valley,
in the time of the Tughlak emperors (1321-1412). In either case the tradi-
tion of Sej's treacherous annexation is the same. Ugrasen, the Dom raja of
Gonda, demanded his lovely daughter in marriage. Dissembling his rage at
the proposed m&alliance, the Kulhins made preparations for a wedding ; but
at the wedding-feast drugged and slaughtered the whole of the bridegroom's
party. The story is common enough. It accounts, in Gorakhpur, for the des-
truction of Domkatars by Sarnets ; and led Buchanan to suppose that it was
the Kulhans, and not the Sarnets, by whom the Domkatars were overreached.1
But however the Kulhans kingdom was established, we know that it
included not only most of Gonda and Babraich, but parganahs Rasulpur and
Basti of this district. According to Basti tradition Rasulpur was bestowed
on Tej, the brother of Sej ; but it not long afterwards reverted to the line of
the latter. The remainder of the kingdom was retained by Sej himself, who
distributed it in fiefs each seven miles long amongst his principal knights.
About tenth2 in descent from Sej was Achalnarayan, who granted parganah
Basti to his cousin, the ancestor of the present raja. And here, so far as the
rajas of Basti are concerned, the history of the Kulhans tribe might cease.
But nothing can be lost by telling briefly the fate of its other branches.
King Achalnarayan is a villain of local romance. The last act in his career
of unbridled tyranny 'was to carry off to his castle in Gonda the maiden
daughter of a small Brahman gentleman. The outraged father pleaded as
vainly as the father of Chryseis ; and his vengeance was more complete.
Starving himself to death before the gates of the oppressor, he before death
pronounced a curse on that oppressor's dynasty. His ghost sought the Sarju,
the faithful friend of Brahmans, and prevailed on that river to avenge him.
The Sarju sent up its bed a lofty wave which washed into nonentity the wicked
i Eastern India, //., 461 ; supra, 356, 435 ; Oudh Gazetteer, I., 540. » The pedigrees of
the Bhabiipair and Cbhcdwara families in Gonda show seven and thirteen generations
respectively. The Gonda mean is therefore ten j and by Basti tradition also Achalnarayan
was tenth in descent from Sej.
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RjfJAS Otf BASTI. G7&
king, his castle and his household. There followed several yeais of anarchy,
during which the kingdom was broken up amongst contending chieftains;
But Sakat, the posthumous son of Achalnarayan, succeeded in retaining a small
domain which included Babhnipair in Gonda and Rasiilpur in this district.
Babhnipdir became the fief of a younger son ; and at the death of Kirat, the
the third descendant of Sakat, Rasiilpur alone remained in the possession of the
direct line. Rajpur in that parganah was the capital of the principality. But
the fifth successor of Kirat, Kesari Singh, lost, as already seen, both life and
lands to the r&ja of Bdnsi.
The luckless Kesari left an infant son named Chhatarp61, who on attaining
manhood obtained from Dehli a warrant reinstating him iu his father's pos-
sessions. But finding himself unable to enforce the warrant, he retired to
Babhnip&ir, where he was recognized as r£ja ; aud the present rfini of Babhni-
pfrir is his representative. His uncle, the brother of Kesari, submitted to the
riya of Bansi i and left descendants who may still be found in Chaukadda,
Sh&hpur, and Awainia villages. But of all direct male descendants from the
ancient Sej, the Basti rajas are the most important. Their estates in p&rga-
nahs Haveli and Dhuriapfir of Gorakhpur, in parganahs Basti, Amorha, Nagar;
Mahauli, and Maghar of this district, pay Government a revenue of Rs. 33,142.
Their seat is at Basti. The present raja is Mahesh Sitlabakhsh Singh.
Besides the three existing houses of rajas, there were within the last quar-
ter century two others which, though extinct in their
Houses of Nagar and maiu or titled branches, have not altogether perished.
These were the Gautams of Nagar and the K&yaths of Amorha. The ances-
tor of the Gautams, Jagdeo or Jagatjot, is said to have come hither from
Southern India, but is more likely to have come from Argal in Fatehpur.
Taking possession of a dozen villages which he had received as dower with
his wife, he found the neighbourhood of Nagar ruled by a Domkatar or Bhar
rfija named Badal. This Badal, otherwise Laila, had named Nagar Lailapdr •
and his father Rahila had named and fixed his headquarters in a village
called Rahilwara. Jagdeo expelled Badal and built a castle on the shore of
the Chdndu lake. He is said also to have named the principality, which he
now founded, Aurangabad Nagar ; but the first part of that name was proba-
bly given much later, in the reign of Aurangzib (1658-1707). Jagdeo's grand-
son, rfija Bhagwant R&o, was slain by an Afghan governor ; but hia son or
grandson Chande R&o expelled the usurper and recovered the principality.
Chande's great-great-grandson, rfija Gajpati Rdo, fixed his capital at Ganesh-
pur. The descendants of his brothers, whom he robbed of all their lands,
87
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680 BASTT-
may be found as landholders at Penda, Bhainsi, and a few villages of the Basti
and Haraia tahsils.
That Gajpati's brothers should have had any lands of which to be robbed
may at first seem strange: The other great clans of Basti had a strictly
monarchical constitution. The raja, the representative of the eldest branch,
retained complete authority over the whole of the ancestral domain. Arbi-
trary assignments of land might sometimes be made for the support of younger
sons ; but these were purely optional, were often revoked, and involved no
sacrifice of the political suzerainty. With the Gautams of Nagar it seems to
have been otherwise. Theirs was a democratic form of inheritance. Each
cadet succeeded of right to some share of land and some share of sovereign
power.1 Thus, of Gajpati's eight younger sons, four obtained the Pipra barony
(tdalluqa), containing 60 villages ; while four others obtained that of Ganesh-
pur, containing 54. Some of the descendants of the Pipra chiefs rebelled in
1857 ; and 12 of the villages therefore confiscated were bestowed on Mr. W.
Cooke, who during that troublous year had deserved well of Government. Of
the Ganeshpur chiefs, three died childless ; but the descendants of the fourth
may still be found in various villages of pargana Nagar. Somewhat reduced
by the claims of younger sons, the Ganeshpur barony was early in this century
sold for arrears of revenue. The purchaser, Mrs. Fidden, widow of a gentle-
man who was at once a medical official and a timber-merchant, sold it to
Government. And Government bestowed, it on some reclaimed Pindari cos-
sacks whose descendants still live at Ganeshpur.
The younger sons of raja Harbans, who succeeded Gajpati, received in like
manner a barony of GO villages, which they divided amongst themselves. In
the time of raja Ambar, the fifth descendant of Harbans, other 60 were grant-
ed away or sold for arrears of revenue. But by way of compensation, Ambar
robbed his kinsmen Nihal and Raghu of 60. Two or three generations later,
or seventeen from raja Jagdeo, the direct male line of the family failed ; and
the head of a collateral branch became raja. On the establishment of British
rule in 1801, one R&mpraknsh Singh held the title. The domain for whose
revenue he engaged included 114 villages ; and he was allowed also a seignor-
alty on the revenue of 62 others held by grantees of himself or former r&jas.
But his line was destined to a violent end. His fourth successor, r&ja Jaipra-
tfip, was slain in an aftray with the landholders of Dengrapur ; while r6ja Udai-
prat&p, Jaipratap's brother and successor, committed suicide while awaiting
1 The same was the case v.ith the Bisons of Mahadewa. a not very distant parganah in the
adjoining district of Gonda. 5ee Ou*k CfizetUer, I., 5<0,
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HOUSES OF nagar and amorha. 681
trial for rebellion in 1 858. For that rebellion the title and estates were con-
fiscated, the latter being bestowed, as already noted, on the raja of Bansi. But
Udaipratap's son Bishnath is still living.
A Gorakhpur tradition1 makes the founders of the Nagar and Amorha dynas-
ties allies. But in describing them as contemporane-
ous with Akbar (1556-1605), it is probably just as mis-
taken as in connecting Jagdeo Gautara with the Gahlot house of Udaipur.
The twenty-three generations with which the Nagar dynasty is locally credit-
ed would argue a far higher antiquity than three centuries. According to
Basti legend, the founder of the Amorha principality came hither some four
hundred years ago. The Tharu aborigines of pargana Amorha, it says, had
been expelled by some Bhars, who fixed their capital at Choil-kfizi in tappa
Rimgarh. The last Bhar chief, Maniar, sought by force to marry the daugh-
ter of a high Brahman living at Barhar. And to frustrate his honourable
though highly insulting intentious, the Brahman doctor, Bidyadhar of Ajudhya,
summoned from Mirzapur a Sirkari Kayath named Rai Jagat Singh. Jagat
hastened to obey the bidding of his spiritual master, and arriving in Basti slew
Maniar. For this act of valour Bidyadhar rewarded the Kayath with the
sacred thread, which the Kayaths of Amorha have ever since worn. But this
" rewarding with the sacred thread" is probably a mere phrase to express the
idea that Bidyadhar consecrated Jagat as raja.2 As raja of Amorha, he was
recognized by the Dehli emperor. But he was not long afterwards despatched
as governor to Gujarat, leaving his son Dodraj behind him as regent.
Dodraj was slain by his father's ally Kanhdeo Surajbansi, who usurped
the cushion ; but the interloper was expelled by Khemraj, the second son of
Jagat. Then the Surajbansis succeeded in killing Khemraj 's son and successor.
But the next heir went to Dehli, turned Musalman, and,like the converted raja of
Majhauli,3 assumed the name of Sail m Khan. Having by this apostate device
obtained the loan of an imperial force, he returned and ejected the Rajputs.
But it has been already shown that he or his representative was at last obliged
to surrender half the principality to Kanhdeo's son Kansnarayan. The turn-
coat Salim was himself dethroned by his unregenerate Hindu cousins, Karan
and Ashkaran. But the reunion of church and state was, as we have seen, un-
able to check the tide of Surajbansi aggression. The descendants of Karan
1 Supra, p. 442. 2 If not a Brahman, almost every raja is by courtesy a Rajput ; and
as a Rajput is entitled to wear the sacred thread. In days and places of Hindu rule the founder
of a dynasty was consecrated by some Brahman, who invested him with this thread (janeo),
painted his forehead with the frontal mark (Jilak), and hailed him as raja. This explanation
is given becaose Mr. White ( Settlement Report) rewards Jagat with the " Brahmanical
thread" for •' preserving the purity of the Brahmau blood.,, 8 Supra, pp. 440.
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582 BASTI.
and Ashkaran live in reduced circumstances at Chauri and Sikandarpur vil-
lages. Another branch of the family once held the office of parganah registrar
(kdniingo), which was forfeited for treason in 1857 ; but still survives in
Kidhaura village.
The last raja of Amorha, Jang Bahddur Singh, died in 1855. He was suc-
ceeded by his widow r&ni Jagatraj Kunwari, whose estates and title became
forfeit for implication in the great rebellion. The former were, in reward for
her loyalty, bestowed on the rani of Basti.
In relating the vicissitudes of the house of Bansi mention was twice made
„ _ M of the Chittia Tiwaris. Though neither rich nor
The Tiwdris of Chittia. . ® .
titled, these Brahmans can boast a pedigree as ancient
and as noble as that of any family in Basti. When the three sons of raja
Chandra Sen became respectively rajas of Sat&si, Maghar, and Anaula, they
respectively selected as their prime ministers the throe sons cf the Chittia
Tiwari. Tho descendants of the officials thus appointed may to this day be
met at tho capitals of the three principalities — at Gorakhpur, Bansi, and
Anaula. But they still recognize as their chiefs those far distant cousins who
still live at Chittia of Bansi. Tho cordial understanding between the Bansi
rajas and their Brahman friends has stood the test of at least half a thousand
years. The sons of Bholan&th Tiwari, a late member of the Chittia family,
still hold several villages which their father received from riya Sarabjlt. But
against itself the house of Chittia is divided. Feuds and litigation between
its various branches have been and still are frequent. Yet, though such
quarrels and the partition of their ancestral estates amongst many sons have
deprived them of that union which gives strength, the Chittia Tiwaris have
still great influence. It is doubtful whether the whole family would now
acknowledge any one man as their head ; but one of their best known representa-
tives is named Acharajn&th. A kindred house, the Tiwaris of Madanpur in
Bansi, are descended from ancestors who migrated from Majhauli on thq
invitation of their Chittia cousins.
Basti is not one of those districts in which land changes owners rapidly.
... A. It has no large towns where ancient patrimonies may
Alienations. ~ r J
be squandered, or where the man of commerce may
amass means to become a man of acres. True that in 1858, when the district
was still a part of Gorakhpur, large areas passed into fresh hands through the
rebellion of ancestral landlords. The case of the Bakhira B&bu was above
pited. His comrade Ilahi Bakhsh Khan of Nandor was not an ancestral landlord,
\mt lost many villages in the same hazardous speculation of revolt. HargovindJ
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LAND TRANSFERS.
683
Singh of Menhd&wal forfeited about 20, and Wali Muhammad Chaudhari of Tilja
40 or 50. But a rebellion has occurred only once during British rule and is
not likely to occur again.* The exact area which since the formation of the
district has been transferred by more peaceable methods it would be extremely
difficult to estimate. But the following table, compiled and shortened from
those in the yearly reports of the Reveijue Board, supplies other statistics of a
hardly legs important nature: —
ALIENATIONS.
BT PRIVATE ABRAXGBMHNT OB INHE-
BT OBDBB OF OOPBT.
BITABOB
•
Year.
Sold.
Sold.
Number of
transfers by
sale, moitgage,
succession, or
otherwise
Aggregate
Pfice of
Number of
transfers
land-tax ou
property
by sale or
Aggregate
Price.
property
trans-
otherwise.
land-tax.
transferred.
ferred.
1864-65
395
•••
223
1,475
279
18Q5-66
1,065
•••
189
1,6 8
•••
409
1866-67
1,515
M»
72
3,366
•••
675
1867-68
9,254
• ••
75
4,255
IN
682
1868-69
1,380
• »•
189
5,066
••?
1,088
1860-70
...
• M
151
12,955
*«•
1,808
1870-71
...
• ••
169
4,390
•••
816
1871-73
8,107
7,591
58
4,272
1,23,826
1,473
1872-73
2,001
3,988
68
5,929
2,19,116
1,754
1378-74
872
4,204
79
7,185
3,23,294
2,67 *
1874-75
512
4,072
92
5,168
2,46,623
1,780
1875-76
210
2,543
139
5,624
3,39,24}
1,958
1876-77
172
5,127
127
9,817
4,99,792
3,241
1877-78
81
4,085
111
4,092
3,08,859
2,746
1878-79
46
697
91
12,423
4,38,603
4,824
1879-80
...
...
...
11,095
4,18,292
6.171
Cultivators ; their castes
In descending from landlord to tenant we must not forget that the former
is often his own cultivator. The last fifty years have
in this respect witnessed a great revolution. It has
been elsewhere mentioned that Buchanan divided the population into four
classes, of which none save the lowest would either plough or reap. The land
was owned almost exclusively by the highest, who called themselves ashrdf or
nobles ; while the manual drudgeries of tillage were scornfully resigned to men
of low degree, such as Kurrais, Mur&os, and Lodhs. In commenting on this state
of affairs Briggs* predicts that the landlords must sooner or later betake them-
selves as elsewhere to husbandry. And his prophesy has been verified. The
1 Details showing (he revenue on all lands confiscated for rebellion will be found below
upwards tbe close of this part pf tjio notipe. *pwd*tax in India, 219.-2Q,
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684 BASTI.
number of " useless mouths" is probably quite as great now as then. But the
increase of population has produced many fresh mouths, which can be filled only
by the labour of their owners. Br&hmans and R&jputs still prefer to let their
lands; but in cases where those lands are too narrow to support both a land-
lord and a tenant, the landlord himself cultivates. Amongst the tillers of the
soil almost every caste is now represented. The low cultivating tribes lately
mentioned are still, however, the best and most numerous agriculturists.
Next perhaps in skill and numbers stand several classes common in the north
of the district —the Ahtrs, Dhelpuras, and Trukia or Turkia Musalm&ns. The
last, a fairish race with blue-grey eyes and beards more often brown than
black, seem to be sparsely scattered all over the Tarai belt of these provinces.
In some lately cleared northern tracts, where cultivators of these agricultural
castes are also the landlords, the result is a great gain to the general prosperity.
Tappa Ghos or Birdpur of Bansi, for instance, is owned chiefly by Kurmis,
MuWLos, and Trukias. Though populous above the average, it is equally above
the average in wealth. It exports grain largely. " Crime," writes Mr. Wynne,
u is rare ; litigation almost unknown. The proprietary being merged in the
cultivating class, the burden of supporting an idle, profligate, and litigious
body of zaminddrs is not thrown upon the land."
As elsewhere tenants may be divided into two classes — those with rights
of occupancy and those without. Rights of occu-
and tenures. .
pancy are heritable by descendants, but can be trans-
ferred in no other manner. And native nomenclature — not necessarily the
nomenclature adopted in native translations of the statutes — has been shrewd-
ly judicious in calling the possessor of tenant-right an hereditary (maurusi),
the man that lacks it a non-hereditary (ghair-mauii&si) tenant. Neither of
these classes has in practice more than one subdivision. Occupancy tenants are
distinguished into occupancy tenants proper and ex-proprietary tenants. But
the latter, who were created by the Rent Act of 1873, have yet had little time
to assert their existence ; and speaking broadly, we may say that the rights of
both subdivisions are acquired in the same manner. The occupancy tenant
proper obtains his by continuous cultivation for twelve years as tenant ; the
ex-proprietary tenant, who as his name shows was once a proprietor, by con-
tinuous cultivation for twelve years as landlord.
Tenants-at- will, again, are sometimes subdivided into tenants of the land-
lord and sub-tenants of a tenant. But in the rights of these two bodies there is
no practical difference ; and Mr. Thomson describes the last as rare. Rare, too,
are those leasehold tenants who belong to neither of the two classes already
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TENANTS.
685
mentioned ; who are neither tenants with permanent rights of occupancy
nor tenants for one year only. In estimating the numbers and average hold-
ings of cultivators we need therefore show but three great classes — the culti-
vating landlord, the occupancy tenant, and the tenant-at-will. The following
table, collated from the various settlement reports, gives the latest available
statistics regarding each of these classes : —
Parganah.
Rastilpnr
Bansi
Binayakpur
Nagar
Basti
Mahauli
Maghar
Amorha
Total
Area in acrea
cultivated by
ad
u
1
"3
o
S
•2 8
5*
?
s
ao
s
ft >
«M
"5
a
O
O V
» ° .
00
$
%*
as
e5
Tenant
rights
pancy
S
a
<
2
S
40,667
18,837
80,308
101,397
24,172
64,525
64,013
418,955
277,563
69,«85
4,098
4,541
10.488
19,121
5,724
23,088
22,939
40,443
86,465
26,398
38,771
15,637
58,743
113,156
• 23.12
85,141
25,92.)
74,333
135,894
...
72,033
54,649
92,445
219,127
62,783
42,249
24,785
38,642
105,676
-•
820,561
230,821
544,447
1,057,919
...
a
< a
3-9 or almost 4.
3-
4-
The third column seems to accuse Mr. Wynne of underrating the strength
of tenant right. Writing in 1864, he asserts that to the northern parganahs
that boon and the Act (X of 1859) which created it are alike unknown. He
had heard on this subject but one opinion, which was that tenancy lasted
only so lung as the landlord pleased. But Mr. Wynne's statements are
confirmed by Mr. Thomson, who adds that, though the existence of occu-
pancy rights has at length dawned on the peasant, the peasant seldom fights
for them in court. In case of disputes he prefers to abandon his holding
and migrate to some other village. Nor is it the obstacle of leases which
prevents the twelve-year tenant from claiming these rights. Leases are next
to never granted. The arrangement between landlord and cultivator is
generally verbal, the latter remaining as long and only so long as he pays his
rent.
Statistics for the two last columns of the lines for parganas Mahauli and
Amorha are wanting. But by way of compensation, for three other parganahs,
fuller details than those of the last column can be given. Thus in Nagar the
average holding of the cultivating zaminddr landlord is 5 acres ; of the
cultivating birtiya landlord, 6; of the occupancy tenant, 8 ; and of the tenant-
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686 BASTI.
at-will, 3. Tn Basti the averages are for zamindars 9 acres ; for birtiyas, 12
for occupancy tenants, 4 ; and for tenants-at-will, 3. The Maghar figures
are for the first class, 10 ; for the second, 14 ; for the third, 3; and for the
last, 2.
For " average holding" some such phrase as " allotment per head" would
M^ mM. perhaps be more appropriate. Three or four acres is
Average size of holdings. , , ,, . * , , . , ,. . , , ,
no doubt the quotient or the cultivated area divided by
the cultivators. But in Indian agricultural society partnership of brothers is
still the rule. One or two cultivating kinsmen club together, using the
same scanty capital, fixed and circulating. And the average holding of such
a firm, who may be legally considered as one person, amounts to something
over 5 acres. That is about the area which, within the year, can be properly
tilled by the common plough and the common pair of bullocks.1 The
importance of a cultivator, or in other terms the size of his holding, is
still measured by the number of ploughs he uses. Witness the following
quatrain : —
* Das hal rdo ; dth hal tdna f
Chdr hal ka bara kisdna.
Do hal kheti ; ek hal bdri ;
Ekhalsebhali kuddri"
Ten ploughs, that is, make a knight ; eight ploughs a squire; and four
ploughs a substantial yeoman. For ordinary field-work two are enough;
but one shall suffice you for a garden only. Than one, indeed, a hoe is
better. Though this proverb speaks somewhat slightingly of the one-
plough fraternity, it is certainly right in calling the cultivator with four
ploughs, or over 20 acres, a substantial yeoman. From such large hus-
bandmen were taken in former days the headmen of the village, and to
them is still and therefore applied, in the present day, the title of mukaddam
or mahto.
His ploughs in some cases indicate not only the amount of the rustic's
Hailandi or plough substance, but the amount of the rustic's rent. In the
tenures, northern parganahs are found holdings which, because
their rental is assessed per plough and not per Mgfta, are known as " ploughly"
(hulbandi). The accomplished pen of the late Mr. Wynne has left us the
following description of this tenure : — " Where it prevails there is no separate
rent-rate on the different fields; but each plough in the village is taxed by the
zaminddr at from Us. 16 to Rs. 22 annually. It generally happens, then, that
1 Mr. Thorn gon gives 5 acres as the area which can be easily cultivated by a single plough.
In the neighbouring district of Gonda, writes the Oudh Gazetteer (I., 526), the ordinary plough
will suffice for the cultivation oi between 5 and 6 acres. Hence our own estimate.
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BENTS. 687
the cultivators form themselves into petty joint-stock companies, with so many
ploughs allotted to each ; every individual claiming his shaie of the profits
according to the number of ploughs contributed by him to the joint-stock.
For instance, if there are 36 ploughs in a village, the lessee will perhaps keep
six in his dr,1 and the remainder will probably be divided into five thoks* of
6 ploughs each. In one of them there may be two and in another a dozen
shareholders, who cultivate all the fields of the thok in common, and divide
the profits according to the number of ploughs they possess, whether
one or two or even half a{ plough." Half a plough here as elsewhere
means a plough with a single bullock. The tenure thus described is met
with in Bharauli, Raithaulia, Biidhan, Manoharpur, and other villages be-
longing to tappa Awaini&n of Rasulpur. But in Bansi it is still more
familiar. Universal in tappa Kop of that parganah, it is common in tappas
Kh&nkot and Dew&ichpar, occasional in tappas Dhebarua, Khajahni, and
Budhi.
Rents are paid chiefly, however, by a rate per bfgha, or by a lump sum on
the holding. Cash rents are the rule ; but, especially
m the northern or rice-growing parganahs, rents in
kind are by no means uncommon. They are general, for instance, in tappas
Dhebarua and Khajahni just mentioned. On many holdings in the same
locality it is the fashion to pay partly in money and partly in crops. In such
cases the kind rents are paid on the late rice-fields, and the cash r§nts on the
rest of the holding. Thus in some villages of tappa Banjara Mr. Wynne found
the land divided into plots of 10 bighas each, half that area being rented in
money and half in crops. The cultivators had distributed themselves into small
clubs or companies whereof each tilled one or more of these plots. Rents in
kind are paid chiefly by the system known as batdi, that is by dividing the
garnered grain between landlord and tenant. The threshed and winnowed
crop is arranged in heaps (rdd\ of which both parties take a certain number.
In the north the heaps are five. The first is appropriated by the tenant, " to
cover the expenses of cultivation." Of the remaining four half are received by
the landlord and half by the cultivator. Here, therefore, the rent is f ths of
the produce. But in the south six heaps are usual. The tenant gets, as
before, choice of the first ; and as before, at the autumn harvest, the rest are
equally divided. But at the spring harvest the landlord obtains two only of
the five heaps remaining. Thus the rent for an autumn crop is -^ths, and for
a spring crop £rd of the produce. The landlord has often, however, by the
1 i.e , or his own personal cultivation. 2 i.e., shares. -
88
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688 BASTI.
advance of Rs. 16 for the expenses of cultivation, forestalled the tenant's right
to the choice of the first heap ; and in this case his rent rises at harvest to
■fths, -fyths, or J, according to the circumstances aforesaid. The advance is
sometimes made in seed ; but the baig or bi&dr customs, which regulate such
seed-loans, are described elsewhere.1
With suits for the enhancement of rent the oourts are rarely troubled,
and enhancements of Debt owe(^ to tne landlord, or traditions of subordina-
ted, tion, render the tenantry submissive to his will. This
yielding temper and the prevailing ignorance form, of course, strong temptations
to exaction. But in the north a host of rival owners, who would welcome
fresh settlers to their wide waste-lands, prevent the cautious squire from
too greatly or suddenly increasing the rents of his estate. It seems, neverthe-
less, admitted that after the opening of the expired assessment landlords
recouped themselves for enhanced land-tax by a proportionate enhancement in
their demands on the tenantry. The practice thus introduced was again,
observed when the term of the current assessment opened. But Mr. Thomson
believes that since then rents have been almost stationary. And this belief
is to a great extent borne out by the statistics of enhancement cases.
During 1874-75 there were but 17 such cases for disposal ; during 1875-76
but 5; during 1876-77 but 4 ; during 1877-78 but 4; and during 1878-70
but 22.
In most cases the proprietor seeks to raise his income, not so much by an
addition to rents as by an addition to those petty
manorial casses (abwib) which in every half-civilized
society are a common feature of the relations between landlord and tenant.
Of such irregular exactions a list has been elsewhere* given. Some few of
them may not, perhaps, offend European notions of equity. In the small
ground-rent (parjot, bchH or ghardtvdri), for instance, taken from non-agri-
cultural occupants of houses in the village, there seems nothing unusual or
oppressive. But the bulk of these cesses are open to grayer objections. Thus
a domestic occurrence in the landlord's family, or the indulgence of his
private taste for bricks and mortar, are seized as occasions for levying an aid
or fine from the tenantry. In two cases Hr. Wynne ascertained that the
income-tax imposed on the proprietor was collected rateably and without
a murmur from the villagers. But such exactions are borne only up to a
certain limit ; and when overdone result in the flight of the cultivators.
The villages owned by Gosains, whose monastic vows withhold them from
» Gazr. V., 935 (BareUly) ; and VII., 125 (Farukfcabad). * Supra, p. 406.
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CONDITION OF THE AGRICULTURAL CLASSES. 689
this kind of extortion, are always the most densely inhabited in the
neighbourhood.
The imposts just mentioned are one of the causes which tend to maintain
Condition of the agri- *he tenant's present poverty. Another is the rarity
cu tura c asses. 0f tenant-right ; for resistance to exaction can hardly
be expected where revenged by ejectment at the end of the year. A third
obstacle to agricultural progress is the uncertain demand for agricultural
produce. The enterprise of the country has not reached that point at which
traders anticipate years of scarcity by buying in plentiful seasons ; and at
ordinary times, therefore, export is little encouraged. But these are not the
principal causes of poverty. Marriage expenses* the support of poor
relations, the religious necessity amongst Hindtis of begetting children,
and the reluctance to emigration, are more valid reasons for the general
impecuniosity. In quitting her father's house the daughter leaves behind
her a substantial souvenir of debt. The comparatively modern introduc-
tion of the principle that the state should in times of dearth support
the hungry is perhaps a step towards a regular poor law. But the absence
of any such statute has hitherto thrown a multitude of needy kinsmen
on the hands of the well-to-do. It has been said that famine is the
horizon of the Indian villager, insufficient food his foreground. From the
account already given of such visitations it will be seen that the Basti
peasant has had little to bemoan in the way of famines. But insufficient
food is the certain fate of those who must almost all become fathers, who
will almost none quit the ancestral village for some less crowded field ot
labour elsewhere.
It is not for a moment admitted, however, that the peasant is as
wretched as a fashionable pessimism represents him. Poor and indebted
from his birth, he knows not better things ; ignorant and unambitious,
he does not seek them. " Oh, too happy the husbandmen," cries Virgil,
" if they only knew their own blessings." The Basti husbandman is not
too unhappy, because he does not know his own evils. Of the leisures
and pleasures of life ho no doubt enjoys but little. Except through the
weary heats of summer, when agriculture is suspended, his life is one
of almost unceasing toil. In the sweat of his face he truly indeed eats his
bread. But he has so few appliances for otherwise killing time that his
labour perhaps serves to keep him happy. Cultivation, moreover, is not
the most unpleasant form of toil. The cultivator may not take an amateur
gardener's loving interest in the growth of his plants. But his money-
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690 BASTI.
grubbing instinct is gratified as he sees his crop become worth daily so many
more pieces of silver.
Over the peasantry of other countries the Indian agriculturist can indeed
boast many advantages. In British India the security of life and property is
greater than in most parts of Southern Europe. Though the mouths are many,
food and tobacco are cheap. At most seasons little clothing is required. The
cold of winter nights is no doubt uncomfortably felt by the few who do not
possess blankets ; but it is never sufficiently severe to cause actual pain.
"People who spend most of their lives but of doors need little furniture. A
roof to shelter them from rain is all they require in the way of housing. Of
the peasant's character, as apart from his condition, it is beside our purpose to
speak. But family affection is strong within him; his good temper and politeness
are innate ; and who shall say that these gifts cannot do something to increase
the general happiness? It is elsewhere1 urged, as evidence against the exist-
ence of any general misery, that the proportion of suicides to population is
less in the agricultural North- Western Provinces than in the commercial
England and Wales. But this argument need not be further pressed.
If orientals fear death less than Europeans, they also perhaps fear less the ills
of life.
If indebtedness is the lot of the tenant, it is none the less the lot of the
landlord. By both it is regarded as an immemorial custom, almost as a neces-
sary accident of existence. It probably causes its victims less uneasiness than
does a cough or a cold. By both proprietor and peasant it is incurred in much
the same manner. If the lower classes are averse from emigration, the upper
are averse from labour. But common to both is the duty of maintaining their poor
relations ; common to both an excessive expenditure on weddings and a reck-
less improvidence in most other matters. Common to both, it may be added,
are a great lack of education and a small ideal of comfort. But in bearing and
social rank there is a marked difference between landlord and tenant. The
former is descended as a rule from a conquering, the latter from a conquered
race. Until the beginning of the British rule (1801) the latter was rather a
villein than a freeman. Above the abject humility which was inherited from
ages of ill-usage and oppression he has as yet lacked the vigour to raise
himself. Traces of serfdom may even yet be found in the status of the pro-
fessional ploughman (harxodha). The lately published Oudh Gazetteer does
not indeed hesitate to apply to this person, in all its nakedness, the term of
slave.
1 Gaxr., VII., 116 (Farukhabad),
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SERF- PLOUGHMEN; WAGES. 691
His proper name is Sdwak, a corruption of the Sanskrit Srdvaka, a pupil
or votary. It is therefore identical with the title of
Saraogi, now bestowed on the Jains of the district.
Bat it is here applied rather to the lieu by which the servile status is acquired
than to the serf himself; and the latter generally passes by the name of Sdwati,
an adjective formed from Sdwak. The servitude of the Basti S&waki is less
permanent and therefore less real than that of his fellows in the neighbouring
district of Qonda There men in urgent need of money execute a deed by
which, in consideration of a loan, they bind themselves and their posterity for
ever to serve the lender. The sum for which he sells himself and his children's
children varies with the necessities of the borrower; but seldom exceeds 200
or falls short of 100 rupees. It is in fact about the price of a good pony.
Here, however, the serf ploughman no longer sells his services for longer
than one year. The term is generally less, as will be seen from the following
description of the three kinds of S&waki found in the district.
The tihdra, ploughman is a tenant with a small holding, but no plough-cattle
of his own. He works for two days in the fields of another man ; and in
return gets on the third day the use of that man's cattle and plough for his
own fields. But even when his employer is also his landlord, his services do
not absolve him from the payment of rent on his holding.
The darmdhdddr is the serf of two masters. Half the day he works for one,
and the remaining half for the other. His employment lasts for six months,
from May-June to October-November. He receives between Re. \\ and
Re. 1| monthly from each employer ; but is liable to have his pay cut for every
day on which the rain stops his plough.
The sdwakddr or chhatidn works throughout the year one plough for one
master. Ploughing therefore for both harvests, he gets at each a sixth of the
garnered and winnowed grain; while once in the year he receives also a cheap
blanket. Eastwards, however, his payment often consists in the privilege of
tilling, with his master's plough and cattle, 15 biswds of rent-free land. The
small but variable sum1 known as his Sdwak or bondage-money is everywhere
paid in advance. It bears no interest and is repayable only when the serf
repudiates his yoke. But this he seldom does. Mr. P. J. White describes the
possession of the money as a strong moral bond which prevents as a rule any
breach of the contract. And no doubt it is felt as such by a class who, though
they deem it a duty to perjure themselves in court on behalf of their friends,
are on the whole by no means dishonest.
1 From Bi. 10 to Be. 25 generally, but in a few exceptional cases more.
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693 BASTI.
Such is the not unsightly ontline of the terms on which the plough-bonds*
man serves. But the colouring added by Mr. Wynne's Sahdranpur Settlement
Report is less pleasant. There he calls the Gorakhpur-BastiS&wakis "veritable
serfs, bought, with their own consent, it is true, by the loan of a lump sum J
which, and the sum advanced monthly for subsistence, they are supposed to
work out by their labour \ and which, it is needless to say, <s never shown in the
zaminddrtf books as quite paid off." " These men," he adds, "live in the utmost
squalor, with often not a sufficiency of even the most miserable food. A more*
wretched proletariat it would be difficult to find in any country." The actual
slaves, described by Buchanan as introduced from the east, were never probably
found so far west as this district. They were chiefly Eurmis. Their thraldom
was hereditary ; they lived in their master's houso, and were not suffered to
intermarry with free persons. Concubines who are virtually slaves are now per-
haps, as then, imported from the hills for the harems of wealthy MusalmAns*
The beauty of the fair mountaineers is not unjustly prized by dwellers in#dis-
triots adjoining the foot of the Himalaya.
In 1863 Mr. Wynne drew up several elaborate and not uninteresting
statements showing the income and outgoings of three different classes of
cultivators. His calculations, now somewhat out of date, are too lengthy for
detailed reproduction here. They will be found in his Rasftlpur Settlement
Report (pp. 41 to 47) ; and we need merely give their general results. His
first statement shows us the cultivator in easy circumstances, tilling 30
bighas with 5 plough?, but saddled with a family of nine persons. Here the
receipts were Rs. 476, the expenditure Bs. 461, and the balance at the close
of the year Rs. 15. The next picture is that of a small cultivator with a family
of 5 persons, a holding of 6 bighas and one plough : the receipts in this case
being Rs. 98-80, the expenditure Rs. 95, and the balance Rs. 3-8-0. We
are finally introduced to a professional ploughman whose holding and family
are the same as in the second example. Bis earnings are Rs. 59-6-0, his spend-*
ings Rs. 49-2-0, and his surplus at the end of the year Rs. 10-4-0. The two last
classes of cultivators, when not occupied by their own fields, seek labour
elsewhere.
In considering the condition of the agriculturist we must not indeed
forget that he can often eke out the profits of his
scanty holding by some non-agricultural pursuit
He is often a fisherman or a currier as well as a husbandman. While his
autumn crop is growing, watched by his old mother or his little boy, he
can work on the roads. The wages which he earns in this fashion, as
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BERF-PLOUOHMEtf ; WAGES.
693
well as those which repay more skilled labour, are shown in the folio wing
table. In it the present rates are compared with those of the Rebellion
and another more recent year :—
* !■■
Class of artisan or labourer.
Average daily wagei
in
.
1857.
1807.
1879.
i
i
Annas.
Annas.
Annas.
Porter or common labourer ... ...
1
2
1 to 2 accord-
ing to age.
1 Mason ... ••• ••• •••
Si and 3
4
3 to 5
Carpeuttr ... ••• ••• ••
2| and 3
4 and 5
3 to 5
f blacksmith ...
Scullion and torch-bearer (maih'alchi)
2| and 3
4
3 to5
4
6 and 6
4 to 5
fitter-carrier
4 and 5
6
4 to 6
Saltpetre-worker ... ...
2
2*
2| to :«
Potter ... -. ... •••
2
8
¥| to 4
Dyer1 ... ••• ... •-
2
24
see note.
Tailor — ••• ...
3
4
3 to 6
Sawyer ... ~» ••>
2
3
3»
Confectioner ••» ... ••-
3
3*
8 per maund
of sweetmeats.
Metal -polisher ... ...
2
24
3 to 4
Saddle-maker ... ... ...
2
24
3 to 4
1 potton-clcaner ••• ••• •••
2
24
1 per ser
cleaned.
Metallurgist ... ••• •••
t
4
44
4 to 6
But in the cases of day-la I tourers and perhaps of some few others these
wages vary according to sex and age. Women get usually a quarter and boys
a half less than men. In the wages of some workmen are included what are
really the profits of their fixed capital. Thus the ploughman who uses his own
plough and cattle receives from four to six annas daily ; while his ploughless
brother of the same craft receives but from 1 J to two rupees monthly. The
remuneration of the Sawaki ploughman, who gets a sort of retaining fee, is of
course even less. But agricultural labourers of all sorts are as often paid in
kind as iu cash. And whether paid in ca^h or in kind, their wages vary
according to the process which they perform. The rate for watching, for
instance, varies slightjy from that for reaping. Reapers sometimes receive,
instead of a daily wage, a sixth share (bhdta) of the grain 5 but from this share
is of course deducted the amount of the advance which they have generally
succeeded in getting.
1 Dyers are now described as paid by the yard, the rate varying according to the colour
of the dye. •iiuf the mure uspal remuneration is a rate of 6 annas per foot sawn, and
pot a daily wage.
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694
BASTI.
No excuse is needed for passing from wages to the kindred subject of food
prices. The following table shows, for the same years
and prices. , _ _ , ... f . n .
as the last, the prices of the principal cereals, millets
and pulses : —
Grain.
Average weight porcbaseable for one rupee in
1S57.
1867.
1879.1
Barley
Small purple peas (Hr4o) •••
Arhar pulse ... ... •••
Jodr millet ... ... •••
Marua do. ••• m«
Coarse rice »~ ... —
Sera.
98
22
24
28
80
15
8ers.
14
20
7
17
20
10
Sers.
25 to22|
20
HI
23} to 26|
24 to 29|
18i to 20
In an almost purely agricultural district like Basti grain-dealing and
Grain-lending, money- grain-lending are common forms of investment for
lending, and interest. capital. Cultivators borrow seed from the village land-
lord or corn-chandler, repaying it in kind at harvest. The interest charged is
nominally 25 per cent., but is really much more. Why it is so can be best
explained by a quotation from the Farukhabad notice. " The lender takes
advantage of the natural fall in prices between the time of sowing, when they
are highest, and of reaping, when they are lowest The terms of the account
are astutely shifted from kind to cash when grain is dear, and from cash to
kind when it is cheap. Thus, if 10 sers of seed are borrowed for the spring
sowings in K&rttik (October- November), when the price is Bs. 4 per maund
of 40 sers, the lender's books debit the borrower with He. 1. At the re apings
in Baisakh (April-May), when the market-rate has fallen to (let us say) Rs. 2
the maund, the cash-figure is reconverted to grain, and the debt appears as 20
sers. Interest is now added at tho rate of 25 per cent., which raises the sum
to 25 sers* As a matter of fact much more than 1£ times the loan is
repaid. In the extreme case just taken the debtor returns 2£fold." But for
further details concerning the sharp practice of grain-lenders the reader is
referred to the Farukhabad notice itself, to the Bareilly notice, and to Mr.
Beames' note on Bisdr in his edition of Sir Henry Elliot's Glossary.2
1 As dnring the early part of 1879 prices had not altogether recovered from the influence
of famine in 1877-79, it has been thought advisable to show those rates only which were pre-
valent from the beginning of June to the end of the year. To the prices here given may be
added those of wheat, 15 to 16 sers ; gram, 16 to 13 j ; and kodon millet, 18} to 24. On the last*
named grain, which if taken in sufficient quantity has intoxicating or poisonous effects, the
half-famished population of 1878 are said to hate recovered their strength. For in the
autumn of that year the kodon crop was unusually abundant. 2 See Uaar., VII , 124-26 ;
V., 684 36 ; and Beames' Elliot, I., 230-82.
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MONEY-LENDING*. 695
The classes who lend money are much the same as those who lend grain ;
but amongst landlord usurers Br&hmans are especially conspicuous. Of large
houses which confine their business solely to banking and money-lending there
are few. When cheap ornameuts are offered as seourity but half their value
is lent ; and if interest is charged, the rate varies from 12 to 18 per cent, yearly,
according to the magnitude or pettiness of the transaction. When merely
personal security is given, the interest risos from 16 to 37 percent ; but if the
borrower b£ a banker, with whom the lender has frequent dealings, as little as
from 6 to 9 per cent, is charged. Here as everywhere, however, money is
easily obtained only by those who want it least. Except to a wealthy firm,
it is never lent on purely personal security. By others valuable jewels must bo
pledged or their lands mortgaged. In the former case from 6 to 18 per cent,
interest is charged ; in the latter from 9 to 18 percent. As received by the borrower,
the loan is ofteu less than its nominal amount. When large sums are lent, the
usurer first deducts 5 per cent., hy virtue of what is called his hakk pahrdwa, that
is, perhaps, his preliminary right. Similarly, when small ornaments are pawned,
one anna in the rupee is retained by the pawnee as hakk chhota or " little right.*'
Little right, indeed ! the reader may exclaim. But it is only fair to mention that
when such deductions are made the interest charged is less.
When not invested in grain-dealing or usury, money seeks to multiply
itself in land. Thus laid out it is expected to yield from 6 to 12 per cent,
yearly. But it is from the safety rather than the profit of such investments
that estates are purchased .
The openings for the speculator are indeed extremely few. Manufactures
exist, but they are of the usual half agricultural
description. Such is the sugar industry, which
so far as the processes employed are concerned, has been described in the
Budaun notice.1 But to the technical terms connected with the sugar-mill the
following may be added. The hole through which the expressed juice
escapes from the bottom of the mill is called kolhani ; the wooden or earthen
cup with which it is ladled into the cauldron, saika ; the cauldron itself kardh ;
the wooden instrument wherewith the syrup is extracted from the cauldron,
khdri, and the wooden vessel wherewith it is ladled into another cauldron, ddh ; .
the iron skimmer with which the surface of the boiling juice is cleared, porta;
the round flattish and earthen eooling-pan, chdk ; and the iron vessel which
transfers to it the hot syrup, l&nki? Connected with sugar are sweetmeats,
1 Gazr., VM 83-84. * For other terms connected with the sugar-mill, and for equival-
ents of'u'icic. sec Gaar., V, 63 (lludaun) -, ibid. 632 (Bareilly) ; supra, 412-19 (Gorakbpur) ;
and Gazr., VII ., 39 4u (Farukhabad).
89
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696
BASTI.
which to supply the local demand are concocted in cloying profusion. Tho
manufacture of salt is as elsewhere prohibited, but considerable quantities
of saltpetre are prepared by the Lunia, Nunia, or Nonera caste. Coarse cloth,
coarse pottery, and neat though simple vessels of the baser metals are made in
the few small towns and the larger villages. If charcoal-burning and hide-
curing rise to the dignity of manufactures, both must be mentioned. Ill Basti and
Northern India generally the carpenter is still what his name once implied, a
cartwright.1 The principal products of his craft are wagons, ploughs and
other agricultural apparatus. On the banks of the RApti and Gh&gra are
constructed a few clinker-built boats and barges. The method of building is
perhaps peculiar to India. The prow and stern are exactly similar, and shall
therefore be called the two ends. These ends and the bottom of the vessel
are put together on the ground, in one flat piece, thus :—
I
IjHilflilTl
U
in
llli
ill
The ends are then bent up like those of a bow, being kept in that position
by props ; while the bottom is retained in its original flatness by weights.
Next the sides are added ; and our bow being now permanently strung, the
props are removed. A few ribs are afterwards inserted for the sake of strength,
but the vessel has no keel.
It is probable that, with the exception of sugar, few of the manufactures
Trftde just mentioned are exported. The exports of Basti
are limited chiefly to agricultural raw produce, a term
in whioh unrefined sugar is included; and unrefined sugar, it should bo
explained, is sugar whose treacle has not been removed by pressiug or
straining. These agricultural exports find their way down-country by river
to the marts of Qorakhpur and Bengal. The principal imports are the raw-
eotton, cotton-stuffs, and salt sent by road from Cawnpore through Faizabad •
the metal vessels and stone shipped by river from Benares and Mirz&pur ; and
the spices, drugs, iron and timber of Nep&I, which travel by both road and river.
Proceeding from this general statement to details, we may classify the
1 Lat. carpentarius, from carptnttwt, a cart or chariot.
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EXTERNAL COMMERCE. 697
commerce of Basti as external and internal, as trade with places outside tho
district and trade within the district itself.
The external trade, again, divides itself into trade with places outside British
External commerce : (o) territory and trade with British territory itself. Let us
foreign. begin with the foreign commerce. Until 1856 Basti
was bounded on three of its four sides by native states, and the result was no
Obstacles by which it slight check on trade. The cotton and other merchan-
was and is impeded. ftQQ 0f western districts found the direct route to Basti
and Nepal practically closed. To avoid the exactions of Oudh, a wide detour
through Jaunpur and Azamgarh was inevitable. Nor could river traffic attain
its present development. The Oudh landholders levied harassing tolls on vessels
passing up and down the Gh&gra. The annexation of Oudh introduced free-
trade on the southern and western frontiers But on the northern Nep&l still
imposes certain restrictions on the natural course of commerce.
These restrictions are both direct and indirect. There are orders forbid-
ding the passage of merchandise except by specified routes, and there is an
objectionable system of taxing traders. The bulk of the traffic wending to and
from Basti must pass through certain Nepalese marts lying between our frontier
and the foot of the hills. These are Sirsewa, Bah&durganj, and Captainganj, all
in that Shinny district which once formed a part of Gorakhpur- Basti. The two
last are certainly modem foundations, being named respectively after the late
Sir Jang Bahadur and one of those captains who in the Nep&lese army command
battalions. At Bah&durganj is quartered during the trading season a military
force ; and from this place probably are detached the patrols that watch the
Basti border. An old mart further to the east, in what was once Gorakhpur,
is Biitwal. Through these towns is forced every form of Nepalese export
except fragrant resins (dMp)>1 bankas grass, rough wood, grain, and clarified
butter. .But the tariff of exempted articles varies froiri place to place ; and
even for exempted articles a customs pass is required. The patrols prevent
other commodities from passing the frontier except through the favoured depots.
If a British subject is caught crossing the border with prohibited goods, those
goods are confiscated. A Nepalese trader stopped under similar circumstancos
not only loses his wares but is turned back. Hence perhaps the common belief
that Nep&lese subjects are forbidden to enter our territory.
The trade of the privileged towns is almost wholly in the hands of a few
British subjects who have settled there as shopkeepers. They buy goods which
1 The term dhiip is applied also to the wood, imported in small quantities, of the Juniper us
excelsa, or pencil ce tar. Dliup simply means, in fact, irny fragraut funiigant Used as incense ;
aud to this use the wood just mentioned is sometimes applied.
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698
BASTI.
itinerant hucksters (haipdri) bring from British India, and soli these again to
the hillmen. Conversely, they buy from the hillmen and sell to hucksters who
are returning to this district. To take shops in the Nepalese marts these
British subjects are practically forced by the fact that, if they do not, their
merchandise is taxed at a rate about 25 per cent, higher. The Biskohar
traders, most of them engaged in the Nepal business, are said to complain
bitterly of this regulation. " If we may believe report," writes Mr. Fuller,1
" the residence of the richer traders is rather enforced by official pressure
than tempted by benefits.' * The so-called residents retire to British territory
during the rains, when the malarious marts of the Nepalese Tarai are deserted.
It may be urged that they need not return to Nepal unless they please. But
if they went not thither their occupation would be gone.
The prime object of these vexatious restrictions would seem to be the
enrichment of the Nepaleso depots at the expense of the Britisli frontier
towns. The latter, the natural and perennial centres of trade, have undoubt-
edly suffered. Though larger than when the Nepal marts were first estab-
lished, and all exports from them to British dominions forbidden under pain of
death,2 the business of Biskohar has greatly declined. But these Nepal marts,
which are uninhabitable for a third of the year, cannot hope for any really
corresponding gain. A second reason which perhaps forces traffic through
them is, perhaps, the easier collection of the customs dues. In the same man-
ner, it may be urged, and in a British municipality, imports must pass certain
octroi outposts. In these Nepalese towns customs dues are certainly levied ;
and it is a matter of regret that they are not levied by less uncertain methods.
They are assessed in some cases on the load, in others on the weight, now on
number and then on the value. The rate of taxation per maund, so far as can
be gathered from Basti traders, is for the salt, sugar, potatoes, and tobacco
imported into Nepal, annas 4, 4, 10, and 4 respectively ; for the exported carda-
mums and turmeric Rs. 5 aud Re. 1}. But the taxes are farmed out to con-
tractors and differ on the frontiers of different districts. All that is certain
about them is their uncertainty ; and their very arbitrary nature must have a
rather discouraging effect on trade. Besides customs duties an octroi is some-
times levied on imports, while another impost known as khunt is taken from
non-resident traders.
" A British trader," reckons Mr. Fuller, " taking 100 raaunus of coarse
sugar (gur) to the Captainganj bazar will have to pay the following taxes.
1 From whose able report on the Foreign trade of these provinces (1877-78) most of the
information here given has been gathered. * Gorakhpur- Basti Settlement Report, II., 76.
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I
TRADE WITH NfcPXL.
699
The value of a maund of gnr is assumed to be Ks. 7, and the 100 maunds is
presumed to be laden on 50 bullocks : —
Ks a. p. Rs. a. p.
Customs at ... ... 0 0 9 per rupee of value ... ... 32 13 0
Khunt at ... ... 0 2 0 per bullock ... ... 6 4 0
Plus octroi (if paid) at Vs*h of total value ,M ... ... 26 14 9
Total ... 65 15 9
" On his entry to a municipality in the North- Western Provinces he will
not, as a rule, be taxed more than Rs. 12£, at the rate of 2 annas a maund.
But it is not so much the amount levied by Nepal that appears to be complained
of as the manner in which it is levied. It is much to be wished that a fixed
tariff of duties were published which would enable a traler to calculate with
some certainty the profits of a venture, and give some basis on which illegal
exactions could be complained of."
From the restrictions on the Nepal trade to the Nepal trade itself. The
Routes to and from Ne- tw0 principal road-routes by which this enters Basti
Pal; are: (1) from Sirsewa, Bahddurganj, and Captainganj,
by way of Marni in the north-west corner of the district or of Kakrahighat on
the Banganga, above that river's junction with the Rapti ; (2) from Biitwal,
via Lautan or Uska. But most of the roads are little better than cart-tracks,
and degenerate into such after crossing the Nepal border. The produce of the
Nepal Tarai enters the district by numberless by-paths or by no path at all.
River-routes are provided by the Banganga and Dhamela ; but also, though
not directly with this district, by the li&pti and other affluents of the Ghagra.
and registration of traffic Five Posts of tne Agriculture and Commerce Depart-
on those routes. - ment register the traffic passing to or from Nepal by
road. One, at Marni, watches the trade with Bahadurganj and Sirsewa ; a
second at Kakrahighat, that wending across the Banganga and Rapti; the
third at Uska ; the fourth at Sohas on the Eurna near Uska ; and the fifth at
Lautan, that which by several converging roads leaves or seeks Biitwal. The
value of the traffic which during the financial year 1878-79 passed these posts
may be thus shown : —
Post.
Value in rupees of traffic, 1878-79.
Imports.
Exports.
Total.
Marni ... ••• ••• •••
Kakrahighat ... ••• ••• •••
Uska ... ••• ••• •••
Sohas ... ... ••• •••
Lautan ..♦ ••• •»• •••
Kb.
1,00 818
47,089
4,64.570
20,048
2,94,417
lis.
2.32,852
38/M9
64,387
7,386
2,10,058
hs.
3,33,170
80,338
4,98,967
27,434
5,04,475
Total
9,26,942
6,17,432
14,44,374
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700
BASTI.
These returns are perhaps somewhat vitiated by the want of supervision
and the unfitness, moral or mental, of the registering clerks. But "whatever
percentage of error they may contain, they do succeed in showing in broad
lines of light and shade both the volume and the direction of exports and
imports." * The great excess of imports over exports will at once be noticed.
The balance against Basti seems to consist chiefly in the value of the imported
grain and timber. The cash paid for these articles is apparently retained in
Nepal, and not exchanged for British Indian commodities.
The imports from Nep&l are of two classes : those which are allowed to enter
„ n the district direct from the Tar£i, and those which
Imports from Nep&l. 7
traverse or proceed from the submontane marts. The
Nep&lesc hills are not near enough to maintain any direct trade with Basti, or
rather their exports are unnaturally intercepted by the marts in question. The
commodities supplied by the Tar&i are chiefly confined to unhusked rice and
wheat ; but barley and millets, gram and other pulses, are imported in more
sparing quantities. The food thus introduced is collected at Lautan, Uska, and
Menbdawal. Hence it is sent, if intended for Calcutta, down the fiapti and the
Gh6gra ; or if intended for consumption in these provinces, across the Ghagra
to T&nda and Faizabad. Clarified butter, also, is of course largely imported
from so well known a cattle-breeding tract as the Tar&i.
But with the exception of this grain and this clarified butter almost all
the Nep&lese imports reach our border through the towns lying betweon
that border and the hills. The principal articles thus received are drugs,
fibres and fibre manufactures, hides, iron, oilseeds, spices, and timber ; but
to this list likewise should be added clarified butter and grain. Some opium
also is imported ; but as this must be contraband, the less said about it the
better. Tne drugs, of which a large weight finds its way to Lautan, aro nearly
all non- intoxicating. They consist of ghurbach, the root of p flag {Acorns
calamus) found in swampy places ; lodh} the bark of a forest-tree (Symplocos
racemosa) ; kaiphal, also the bark of a forest-tree (Myrica sapida); ka/tha or terra
japonica, the resin of the kbair (Acacia Catechu); lobdn, bahroza or benzoin, the
turpentine of the chir pine (Pinns longifolia); kardyal? the gum of the sal
(Shorea robusta); majith or Indian madder, the root of the small plant known as
Rubia cordifolia ; ddl hard, the yellow wood of the hill berberry (Bcrberis
Lycium); chdb, the berries of creeping plants of different species and the Piper
genus ; kakra singi, the horn (sing) like galls of the wild shrub called Rhus
1 The quotation is from a letter (1880) by Mr. Ruck, the Director of Agriculture and Com-
merce. * Called also ral>i,e, tlit gum par excellence, and dh6p or dhuna, i. e , c/««
fumigant.
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NEPALESE IMPORTS. 701
succedanea; Icumkum, the young leaves of a genus named Didymocar pus ;
chiraita, the well-known liver medicine decocted from various species of Ophelia;
pakMnbedy the rhizome of Saxifraga ligulata ; nirbisi or jadwdr, and alUy the
roots of different species of Aconitum ; with bikhman and einyia, whose aconite
origin is less certain. These drugs are used chiefly for medicinal and veteri-
nary purposes ; but we cannot linger further to describe their exact uses. An
interesting note on the subject was contributed by Mr. J. Hooper, U.S., to the
Agriculture and Commerce report for 1878-79. Mr. Hooper adds some
half dozen other drugs whose botanical species he was unable to identify.
The demand for such articles, chiefly spontaneous forest produce, surprises
the inhabitants of the wild and wooded Nep&lese hills. " The Biskohar
traders," they exclaim, "are a strange folk, who give silver in exchange
for sticks and leaves." One curious fact connected with the import of
catechu and some other resins is that, in places where they are taxed at
all9 women and children are allowed to carry them across the frontier
untaxed.
The fibres are those of the plant known as lariasan (Crotolariajuncea) and
of the grasses bhanj and bankas (Spodicpogon angustifolium)} The fibre
manufactures are coarse jute sacks and coarse hemp cloth or matting (bhangra,
bhangela)? The alternative terms " cloth or matting" rightly express the
great differences in the texture of this fabric. It is sometimes a coarse loose
sacking ; sometimes a compact wearing material ; but in both cases of great
strength and durability. Another stuff bearing the same name, with pua or
alio prefixed, is made from the fibre of a plant called " chabu shisban" (Maoutia
puya). This pua bhangra is finer, softer to the touch, and of a rather darker
colour than the ordinary bhangra. The chief Basti mart for these fibre manu-
factures is Uska.
Nepalese hides and horns are imported in small quantities only. The iron
is introduced in the form of either pig-iron or manufactured tools, such as
pick-axe heads. But the import is decreasing in favour of the cheaper and
better European article. The import of uncoined copper, though allowed
in Buchanan's time, is now forbidden, being punished by the confiscation
of the contraband metal. It is the not unreasonable conclusion of tho
Nep&l Government that the less raw copper is exported, the more coined
copper will find its way into Hindustan. The coppers known throughout
these provinces as " Gorakhpuri pice " are largely coined at T&nsen in the
Palpa district, and largely imported into British India. The oilseeds are
1 This identification was made at Kew. ' Ftom bhdng, the intoxicating wild hemp.
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702 BASTI.
chiefly linseed, rape (sarson), mustard (rat), and sesamum (til). The linseed
seems as a rule to seek Lautan, the mustard Uska. A large quantity
of these oilseeds fiuds its way down the R&pti and the Gb&gra to Cal-
cutta.
The principal spice is turmeric, used in cookery as well as dyeing. The
Nep&lese plant has a shorter, rounder, and yellower root than the variety
known to the market-gardeners of the plains. Next to turmeric stand tfjpat,
the leaf of the cinnamon tree {Cinnamonum tamala) ; and timur, the aromatic
berry of a shrub {Zanthoxylum alatum) found in the hills. The other spices are
cinnamon itself, chillies, cardamums, ginger, black-pepper, coriander-seed, the
hill betel-nut, and tree-lichens of kinds (bttrhna). But the latter are used as a
perfume rather than a spice.
The timber which is the principal export of Nepal is for the most part
floated in logs down rivers such as the Rapti and the Dhamela. But a little
of it passes also by road, in the shape of axles, cart-wheels, and other carpentry.
The chief varieties are the woods of the sdl and dsna trees, both above men-
tioned as indigenous in this district also. Sal forests are the only plantations
which the Nepal Government takes any pains to preserve. But even sal troes
are rather recklessly felled; and unless some restraint is put upon this practice
the timber imports must surely decrease. 6al logs are so heavy that, to keep
them afloat on their way down-stream, they must be lashed to u du^-out "
canoes.
Exports from this district to Nep&l must in raosfc, if not all, cases pass through
Ex orts to Ne >il tlie NePilese submontane towns. Chief amongst such
exports are cotton-twist, cotton-stuffs, cocoanuts, hard-
ware, sail, sugar, and tobacco. Probably on account of its heavy transport
expenses, raw-cotton is little exported. Being both forced through the towns
just mentioned, the cotton manufactures and the spices from Nepal practically
pay for one another. The former consist of a little country-spun yarn, a good
deal of European piece-goods, and a far larger amount of native cotton. The
European stuffs eome chiefly viA Gorakhpur from Ghazipur ; the little raw
cotton and the country cloth from Faizabad or Tanda. The cocoanuts leave
the district mainly by way of Kakrahigh&t, Hardly needful, perhaps, to note
that they are a mere re-exportation, which cannot be produced in a country
so far from the salt sea as Basti. The export of salt is increasing. But
the Nepdlese prefer the Tibetan to the Indian chloride, and except in
times of mourning, when the former is forbidden, rarely use the latter. Very
little refined sugar finds its way into Nepal. The exports, which adopt as
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EXPORTS OF THE DISTRt01\ 703
ft rule the Kakrahighit route, consist chiefly of unrefined varieties like
hiolasses (shtra).
The external trade with British territory may be trade with other districts
External trade: (5) with °f these Provinc«s * or with districts of other Indian
British territory. provinces; or even, through those other provinces,
with England itself. The commerce with other districts of these provinces is
of course the most important, but for the purposes of this notice need not be
discussed as apart from the other two trades just mentioned. Materials, in*
deed, for any such separate treatment are wanting. In Basti the Department of
Agriculture and Commerce registers Nep&lese traffic only.1 It may, however,
be noted that the commodities exchanged between district and district in these
provinces are chiefly limited to raw-produce — cotton, unrefined sugar* grairt>
oilseeds, and timber. Exchanged also are salt, iron, and tobacco ; but the two
former come wholly, and the last partly, from other provinces or native states.
The reason why imports and exports are chiefly unmanufactured is that
the conditions and requirements of society are almost purely agricultural.
There are no great manufacturing centres. On entering a district raw
produce finds a limited manufacture in some small country town, whence
the manufactured article is distributed to the immediate neighbourhood
only.
The articles which Basti chiefly imports from British territory are raw
cotton, cotton-goods, and salt. Next, after a Ions: in*
Imports. °
terval, come metal vessels, stone, and the timber of
Qorakhpur or Oonda ; but these need not be further mentioned. Cotton)
which prefers a dry soil and climate, cannot here be grown in sufficient quan-
tities for home consumption. It must, therefore, be imported. Produced in
Bandelkhand and the Du&b, it is collected in the great emporium of Cawnpore.
Hence in a raw or manufactured form it is sent across the Ganges to Faiz-
abad or Tanda, and from these marts passes over to Basti. It travels mostly
by road, eschewing as a rule the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway. Of Euro-
pean cotton-goods much comes from Calcutta and little from Bombay. The
imports of piece-goods are ten or a dozen times as great as those of cotton-
yarn. The principal distributing centre is Ghazipur, near the railway from
Calcutta; and from GhAzipur these manufactures travel to Basti by way of
1 A since closed post at the Kuana-bridge near Basti registered in 1878-79 the traffic passing
•long the Faizabad and Tanda roads— that is a certain amount of the traffic with Oudh. The
value vi the imports from Faizabad was returned as Ks. 3.24,838, and from Tanda as Rs. 2,16,57* j
total Rs. 5,41.411. The corresponding figures fur the exports were, towards Faizabad, Rs. 3,90,469 j
towards linda, Ks. 3,21,681} and total Hi. 7,19,090.
90
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704 BASTI.
Azamgarh or Gorakhpur or both. Here as elsewhere in the Nortb-Western
Provinces the manufacture of salt is forbidden, and that necessary is imported
chiefly from Jodhpur aod Jaipur in Bajputana. But rather more English salt,
from Liverpool vid Calcutta, is used in the Benares division than elsewhere.
Though in British India Tibetan salt is untaxed and Indian Bait taxed, little or
none of the former ever reaches the plains. Difficulties of transport raise its
price even in the hills to that of taxed salt ; and to bring it further would not
pay-
The principal exports to British dominions are rice, wheat and other grains,
sugar and oilseeds. Amongst minor exports may be
Exports. * . , . . _. & , . ._ . . \ _ J .
mentioned opium, indigo, and clarified butter. Lac is
collected in small quantities from the pipal and other trees, but in quantity so
small that its import is more likely than its export. Owing to accidents of season
the grain trade is liable to greater fluctuations than that of the exported. sugar
or the imported cotton. But as a rule Basti produces far more grain than it
requires, and exports largely. Its surplus stocks pass across the Gh6gra to the
entrep6ts of Jaunpur and Benares, or down the Ghagra and its tributaries to
Calcutta. How large the grain traffic on the Gb&gra is has been shown above.1
If uninfluenced by abnormal causes, the traffic in spring grains lasts from about
the middle of April to about the middle of August; and of these vernal products
wheat is of course the most important. The large wheat export from these provin-
ces to England through Calcutta promised for a small time great prosperity to
India. The famine prices of 1877-78 nipped it in the bud, and whether it will
live to flourish remaius to be seen. But at present rates it pays better to keep
corn in the country than to export it. The margin of profit, after sale in England,
was never great. As compared with those of rice and wheat, the other grain
or pulse exports of Basti are small. They include joar millet, peas and
gram.
In the requirements of its growth sugar is the opposite of cotton. Flou-
rishing in the damp' soil and climate of Basti, where cotton pines, it is thence
exported to the cotton districts. To Bengal, too, much fiuds its way. The ex-
ports consist chiefly of unrefined varieties like compost (gur), putri, rdb and
molasses (shira) ; but refined sugar leaves the district in no contemptible abun-
dance. The same causes which render the district a productive field for sugar
adapt it also to the growth of linseed, For its linseed, and not for its fibre,
flax is widely cultivated. The export of other oilseeds— mustard (rai), rape
(sarson), and mahua- berry (koetidi), is comparatively small. Oilseeds are, as a
*P. 415.
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INTERNAL TRADK ; FAIRS. 705
rule, sent down the rivers to Calcutta. The minor exports need not detain us
long, A Government monopoly, opium is exported only to the Government;
faotory at Gb&zfpur. A small quantity of safflower and other dyes is transmitted1
to other districts of these provinces or Calcutta. The clarified butter exported
from Basti is probably produced in the Nepal Tarai and re-exported. The
principal producers of this commodity are, not the districts of the Benares divi-
sion, but the Agra districts bordering the Jarana. The quantity produced in
Basti itself is by reason of defective pasturage small.
We now come to the second great class of trade, the internal commerce
Internal trade : markets between places witbin Basti itself. This may be briefly
and fairs. defined as the exchange of agricultural raw produce for
coarse and primitive manufactures. The rustic brings his crops to the nearest
market village or small town, bringing back cloth, metal vessels, or other simple
necessaries. But his requirements are neither extensive nor expensive. Hia
demand for manufactures falls short of his supply of grain, and he should
therefore return with a cash balance. What becomes of this balance is an
intricate question on which the village usurer could probably throw some
light.
In every parganah are several places where markets are held once weekly
or oftener. More about these rural centres of commerce will be found in the
town and parganah articles. Suffice it here to mention that the only mart with
any real pretensions to a large business is Menhdawal. But a considerable
trade is carried on at Baghnagar in Maghar, Bansi, Basti, Belwa of Amor ha,
Bhdnpur, Biskohar, Chi Ilia, Dubaulia, Domariagauj, G&eghat, Ganeshpur of
Nagar, Haraia, Hanum&nganj of Maghar, Lautan, Mukhlispur of Mahauli,
Nagar, and Uska. At many places holy festivals become the excuse for fairs
which are really commercial rather than religious. Chief of such gatherings
are those held in the end of October-November and the beginning of March-
April at Sitar&mpur in Amorha. The first, called the Kdmki kd Nihdn, has for
its ostensible object ceremonial bathing in the Gh&gra, and is attended by
about 100,000 persons. The second, which takes place on the R&mnauami fes-
tival, is attended by about 10,000. To the Ashndn Bharat-bhdri fair, held in
the end of October-November at Bhftri of Rasulpur, are assigned 50,000
visitors. At Jign&n of Bansi, in the following month (November- December),
some 35,000 holiday-makers celebrated the betrothal and marriage of Rftma
(Dhdnukjiig and Rdmbiydh). Attendances of 12,000, 11,000, and 10,000 res-
pectively are ascribed to the gatherings assembled in March-April at L&lganj of
Mahauli (the Muhdra) ; at Amorha (the lidmrekha) ; and at Sirsi of Amorha (the
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706 BA8T1.
Makhaura). The Shiurattri fair held in February-March at Tama of Maghar
has about 9,000 ; the Bhadesarn&th held in the same month at Bbadesar of
Basti, about 6,000 visitors. The same figure represents the numbers who
assemble to celebrate the " full-moon bathing" (Ashn&n Puranmdshi) at Kak-
rahfghat of B&nsi in October-November ; while about a thousand less meet at
the " pond-bathing" (Ashndn Pokhra) held in the following month at Amauli-
pur of Amorha.
The minor gatherings are those held thrice yearly at Menhdawal and twice
yearly at Bansi ; the Shiurattri at Katesarnath in Rasulpur (February- March);
the bathing-assemblages at Pachos and Pandol in Amorha (December-January
and March-April) ; the f6te of Kabir at Maghar (December-January); and the
Paltadevi at Alidapur of Bansi (March- April). Some further account of tho
principal fairs will be given in the articles on the towns, villages, and parganas
where they take place. It will be seen that they are chiefly of Hindu origin ;
but many are held also in honour of the rather mythical Muslim martyr Sayyid
Salar, alias Bala Pit*,1 alias Ghazi Miydn. None is deemed of sufficient size or
turbulence to require the attendance of an additional police force. There is
much sameness about the articles, often articles of luxury, exposed for sale at
all. The commonest wares are cotton and woollen cloth, metal utensils, cutlery,
rice and other grains, salt, spices, sugarcane, sweetmeats, toys, shoes, ornamental
caps and cheap female ornaments.
A corollary to the subject of commerce is that of weights and measures.
Thesfc are in many respects peculiar. The Govern-
Weights and measures. ' ,
meut ser of 80 tolas or 2 ^5 10 avoirdupois is not in
general use. The unit of weight is the copper coin called the Gorakhpuri or
Biitwal pice, of which that ser contains 22£. Four of these pice = 1 ganda.
Seven or eight gandas=»l local ser "crude" (kacha); 40 gandas**l panseri9
which equipoises 150 rupees; and 25 gandas=*l local ser "mature"
(paka). The weight known as the set varies in practice from 22£ to 31£ gan-
das, according to the locality and the nature of the grain sold. But the sei par
excellence, the sei by which the variations of other seis are measured, is a sei
of white rice ; and this equals one local ser mature. Sixteen of these true seis
»1 mini and 16 mfinis=:l gon. But paddy or unhusked rioe weighs about
twice as much as husked or white rice ; and in measuring the former 8 seis
only go to the mdni. In this paddy weight 5 manis=al man ; and this man»
48 Government sers. Neither man nor mini must be confused with the smaller
1 The title of Bali Pir or High Saint is bestowed also on other persons, such as Shaikh Kabir
of Kanauj. The latter is not, however, to be confused with the greater Kabir whose shrine majr
be seen at Maghar,
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MEASURES OF LENGTH AND AREA. 707
and rarer weight known as rn&na. The m&na equals 6 J gandas only ; or, in
other words, 4 mdnas = l local ser mature.
So greatly do the customary standards differ from mart to mart that the
above remarks must be taken as general only. In the present backward com-
mercial state of the district and the provinces, the want of uniformity matters
perhaps but little. So long as the people prefer this confusion of weights, the
interference of the legislature would be undesirable ; and before such interfer-
ence becomes urgent, the extension of trade and communications will probably
have rendered local measures almost as extinct as they are in England.1 Mean-
while it is needless to ask the question whether the State should not assert the
exclusive right of making weights as it does of coining money. It is always
open to a purchaser to claim measurement by Government weight, just as it is
always open to the seller to claim payment in legal tender instead of Nep&lese
pice. Government weights are kept at all tahsfldars' offices ; and to these
offices weights professing to represent Government standards can always be
brought for verification and stamping.
The crude ser is prevalent chiefly in the southern parganas, where the sei is
not used. But, as might be expected from its rice origin, the latter weight is
universal in the rice-bearing north-country. The mature ser is in vogue all
over the district When collected into heaps on the threshing-floor, grain is
sometimes measured by a standard of capacity called pdthi. The weight
of a p&thi varies in different villages from about 1 to about 1£ Govern-
ment maunds. Like the m&ni, the pdthi is familiar in the hill-country south
of the Ganges plain.2 Ordinary scales are called tardzu ; goldsmiths' scales,
kdnta; giant scales for weighing sacks, rdtul ; and balances for weighing
wood, tak. Weights, made as elsewhere of iron or stone, are named bdnt and
batkara.
For measures of length and area an unit is supplied by the hdth or cubit
Measures of length and The values of this standard differ in different parganas ;
area- but were sanctioned by the old Oudh Government and
have been adopted by our own. They are as follows: — In £&nsi, Rasulpur,
and Binayakpur, 22*7 inches ; in Amorha, 206 ; in Nagar and Basti, 209 ; in
Magbar, 21*4; and in Mahauli, 213. From the cubit upwards, the table ia
everywhere uniform. Five cubits » 1 latta and 20 lattas ■» 1 jarib. The square
of the latta is called dkur or biswdnsi; that of the jarfb a bigha ; and every-
1 The death-blow to purely local standards was in that country given by the Imperial Weights
and Measures Act, which, passed in 1 834. came into force on the 1st January, 1 826. * The
mani in Bundelkhand and the Central Provinces j the patha or paihi in Chatia Nsgpur and
South Mirsspur.
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708
Bisrr.
where 20 dlmrs = l dhdi or liswa, while a bigha contains 20 dh&is. Bat as
the cubit varies, the uniformity of all these other measures is of course an
uniformity in name only. The relative valaes of the bigha and the acre differ
from parganah to parganah thus : —
Pargana.
Measure of Gov-
ernment bfgha in
square yards.
Number of M ghas
to the acre.
Bfaha what deci-
mal fraction of
the acre.
Bansi, Rasfilpur, and Biuayakpur
Nagarand Basti
Amorha —•
Maghar
Mahauli •••
8,97*
3,403
1,179
3,633
3,500
1-9173 +
] 4229 +
4 1061 +
1-3700
1-3828 +
•8214
•7031
•24 3 i
•73UO
•7231
But besides these official or mature (paka) standards, there are many others
known as crude (kacha). The average value of the crude hdth is about 20
inches. Three h£ths=»l rassi or latta of 5 feet The square of 5 rassis is-
called a mandi ; while 24 rcandis make a bipha of about 1,666*5 yard*
English. The native yard or gaz varies everywhere. In the south it is
a few inches shorter, in the north about 4 inches longer than the English yard ;
while at B&nsi it attains the monstrous length of 3 feet 7£ inches. But a table
showing all these crude measures would probably fill volumes. Mr. Wynne
mentions that almost every landholder in Rasulpur has his own mandi ;
while at the fairs at Bh&ri and Katesarnith every trader has his own gaz.
The term mandi is in navvy's work sometimes applied to the Government
biswa.
In the coinage of Basti there is nothing peculiar, for the wide currency of
District receipts and ex- Nep41ese coppers oan hardly be called a peculiarity,
pcnditure. a ietter in the Board's Records for 1802 shows thai;
there were then current seven different kinds of rupees. Taking the Lucknow
coin and the figure 100 as its standard, it places the value of the Benares
rupee somewhat above that par ; those of the Moti Sh&hi, Gauhar Shahi, and
Muhammad Sh&hi between 96 and 97 ; and that of the Rikabi above 91. The
Moti Sb&hi is said to derive its name from the same Scotch officer (Mr.
Ahmuty) as Motfganj of Allahabad. The seventh rupee mentioned is the
Gop&l Sh&hi ; and Buchanan notes in 1813 the occasional use of others from
the Calcutta, Murshidabad, and Farukhabad mints. But it may be doubted
whether' the keenest numismatist could now collect many specimens of these
coins in Basti. The only rupees in general circulation are those of the
modern British Government. And in British Government rupees the district
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DISTRICT RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE.
TOD
fucome and expenditure for two out of the past ten years may be shown
thus : —
Receipts.
1872-73.
1879-80.
Expenditure.
1872-73.
1879-80.
Kb.
Its.
Ks.
Kb.
Land revenue
13,37,653 13.86,671
Rerenne charges
66,164
1,76,8 '0
Stamps
50,840
81,851
Ktcise (including opium) ...
1.842
1,373
Medical receipts (law and
Assessed taxes
144
47
justice)
7,662
11,179
Stamps
1.235
1,050
Police ...
*73
6,823
Judicial charges
35.778
96,689
Public works
16,023
94,652
Police, district and rural ...
1,16,654
1,33.195
Income and license taxes ...
16,750
16,711
Public works
7*,304
28,860
Local funds ...
2,38,880
7 048
ProrincUl and local funds ...
4,32,646
10,525
Post office ...
7,5107
83,794
Post-office
7,679
15.417
Medical ,,.
•••
9i
Medical .M
4,150
12,647
Kducational ...
969
137
Educational
3,100
18,693
Excise
23,592
39.006
Cash and transfer remittances,
7,46,716
6,25,00J
Cash transfer remittances,
34,280
1,41,900
Transfer receipts and money
Transfer receipts
22,617
6,419
orders.
2,869
9,133
Money orders
26,479
44,477
Municipal funds
6 606
1,595
Municipal funds ...
4,14(>
1,975
Advances recoverable ...
226
659
Itecoreries ...
404
1,057
Peusions
1,213
1,641
Bates and taxes
Included
2,60,086
Ledger and savings-b a n k
in Local
deposits
...
2,033
Funds.
Miscellaneous
1,110
2,31*2
Ledger and savings-bank
Jiil
15,43-
17,507
deposits ,.,
•••
10,492
Registration ...
8 573
2,772
Miscellaneous
4,580
6,857
Deposits
62,358
1,26,017
Jail
•••
4,921
Maliksna1
18.476
11,417
Registration
8,041
9.914
Military
1,700
658
Deposits
65,762
1,45,663
Interest and refund, Famine ..
Relief works(f ami oc charges),
Total
...
5,223
Total
18,64,456
21 ,71,988
12,79,126
14,24,977
House- tax towns.
Several items of this accouut will be none the worse for explanation.
There is no municipality in Basti. But the so-called
municipal funds are collected and disbursed chiefly
on police, public works and conservancy, in the towns of Menhdawal aud
Biskohar. Here, under Act XX. of 1856, a house-tax is levied on well-to-do
residents. Though superintended by the Magistrate-Collector, its assessment
is in the first instance effected by a committee ipanchiyat) representing the
townspeople. Until a few years ago there were as many as a dozen house-
tax towns in Basti. The income and outlay of the two that remain will be
detailed in their Gazetteer articles.
The income-tax was abolished in 1872 ; and the above account, which
begins with April2 of that year, shows not the receipts
for a perfect twelve-month. As an example, then, of
what could be realized under this head, let us take 1870-71. In that year,
1 Allowances made to owners of sequestrated estates. 2In India, as in England, the
flnauoial year begins on the 1st April.
Income and License tax.
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710
UASTX.
under the Act of 1870, the tax was assessed at the rata of six pies in the rupee on
all profits exceeding Rs. 500 yearly. The actual assessment amounted, for the
whole district, to Rs. 59,496. There were 844 incomes of between Rs. 500 and 750
per annum ; 267 of between Rs. 750 and 1,000 ; 184 of between Rs. 1,000 and
1,500; 65 of between Rs. 1,500 and 2,000; 108 of between Rs. 2,000 and 10,000 ;
and 9 of between 10,000 and 100,000. The total number of persons assessed
was therefore 1,477. The license-tax, imposed by Act VIII. of 1877, yielded
in 1878-79 and 1879-80 returns of Rs. 17,198 and Rs. 16,711 respectively.
Excise is levied under Act X. of 1871. At the close of the year 1879-80
the district contained 147 shops for the sale of native
liquor, but none for the sale of English spirituous
drinks. There were working 5 licensed stills ; and 18,566 gallons of liquor
were issued. The following table will show that the receipts of late years have,
though liable to great fluctuations, been on the whole progressive : —
Excise.
| Fees for 1
Fines
Still.
DU- 1 license |
Madak
and
Gross
receipts.
Gross
charges.
Net
Year.
head
tillery to sell Drugs.
and
Tdri.
Opium.
miscel*
re-
duty.
fees. . English
ch&ndu*
lane-
ceipts.
liquor.
ous.
Rs.
Bs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
1873-78
10,609
14
8,898
4,600
100
6,989
123
...
62,213
1.274
23,939
1878-74
6.496
12
8,2(?8
4,600
160
8,807
96
66
16,900
1,633
16,367
1874-76
6,891
18
8,914
2,528
861
4,632
114
2
18,456
2,745
15,710
1876-76
14,726
17
6,079
2,344
208
4,776
158
.«•
48,307
2,064
26,263
1876-77
14,841
12
6,388
3,(00
160
4,699
96
1
28,137
1,946
26,192
Struck on these five years, therefore) the average of the net receipts is about
Ks. 21,492 yearly.
Stamp duties are collected under the Stamp Act (I. of 1879/ and Court-fees
Act (VII. of 1870). The following table shows, for
the same period as the last, the revenue and charges
under this head : —
Stamps.
Year.
ffundi and
adhesive
stamps.
Blue-and-
black
document
stamps.
Court-fee
stamps.
Duties and
penalties
realized.
Total
receipts.
Gross
charges.
Net
receipts.
1872-78 ...
1873-74 ...
1874-76 ...
1875-76 ...
1876-77
Rs.
4(2
371
466
609
724
Bs.
21,980
22,851
20,887
18,695
20,146
Rs.
29,009
36,351
86,806
38,279
40,460
Rs.
64
75
60
291
29
Rs.
60,705
6t,6i8
57.409
67,674
61,868
Rs.
1,968
!,815
1,353
1,603
1,657
Rs.
48,737
69,833
66,066
56,171
69,701
1 This Act has lately superseded that (XVlI.)of 1869.
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BEGISTBATtON, JUDICIAL CHARGES. 711
The average net receipts may therefore be get down as about Rs. 56,099
yearly.
The details of registration receipts may be shown for a third year not men-
. tioned in the above general table of income and expen-
egwtratioiu ditnre. In 1876-77 fees to the amount of Rs. 7,872
were realized on the 3,350 documents registered under the Registration Act
(VIII. of 1871). The expenses of establishment and other charges reached
during the same year the sum of Rs. 2,772. The total value of all property
affected by registered documents was returned as Rs. 13,20,931, of which
Rs. 11,86,800 represented immoveable and the remainder moveable property.
Under the head of judicial expenditure we may note the results usually
attained for the money, or in other words the number
Judicial expenditure. . J. ' . . .
ot cases usually tried in the year, xned by Criminal
Courts in 1878-79 were 2,900 ; by Civil Courts, 1,664 ; and by Revenue
Courts, 804.
The medical charges are in great part those incurred at the one central and
Medical charges and the three branch dispensaries. The first is at Basti ;
sanitary statistics. ^ three jatter Mng situated at Birdpur, Bansi, and
Menhd&wal respectively. At these institutions cases are treated and medicines
dispensed by native doctors, under the general supervision of the Civil Sur-
geon. The diseases which most often call for treatment, all more or less ende-
mic, are as follow: — intermittent and simple fevers, smail-pox, rheumatism,
indigestion, dysentery, diarrhosa, cholera, bronchitis, inflammation of the lungs,
pleuritis, consumption, anosmia, dropsy, leprosy and other skin diseases
(shingles, scabies, impetigo, &c), mumps, liver and spleen complaints, para-
lysis, stone in the bladder, and goitre.
" Basti," writes Dr. Kelly, " is peculiarly damp and relaxing. That part
towards the north, known as the Tar&i, has a malarious climate ; and the
natives suffer largely from intermittent fever,1 which may be considered the
most prevalent disease. The inhabitants generally are poor, badly fed and
clothed, and being exposed under such conditions to noxious climatic influ-
ences, readily succumb to disease. Enlargements of the spleen are very
common as the result of repeated attaoks of ague. Very little has been done
towards improving the drainage of swamps in the district. But the cutting of
1 Speakinar of these fevers, Dr. Buchanan writes: " Some of a slight nature are called
*cohl and hot' {sirdl-yarmi), and require little attention. The people allege that they are
also liable to slight febrile attacks if they omit for some days to eat before 10 o'clock in the
forenoon, especially near the equinoxes. This kind of complaint is called kharai, and U
accompanied by head-ache and bleeding at the nose. '
91
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712
BASTI.
forests and increased cultivation have done much towards ameliorating the
prevalence of disease.
" There has been a yearly epidemic of cholera for some time past. Cholera
invariably appears at the commencement of the hot season and disappears soon
after the setting-in of the rains. Its character is that of Asiatic cholera. Mala-
ria, insufficient food and clothing, are amongst the chief causes to which its
presence may be attributed. It attacks the poorer classes in large numbers.
It is impossible to give any idea of the rate of mortality. The deaths reported
as from cholera are not to be depended upon. Little attention is, in my opinion,
paid to the cause of death by goraits (village-watchmen, whose duty it is to
report deaths). My native doctors have frequently visited villages where
cholera was reported, and on arrival were shown cases of fevers, simple diar-
rhoea, and dysentery.
" Small-pox also is annually epidemic, and is likely to remain so until
Small-pox and vaccina- natives entertain less aversion to vaccination. The
mortality under this disease is, I believe, small, but
I can give no data. It is not reported like cholera ; nor will the inhabi-
tants, as a rule, accept of any treatment for it. It is most prevalent in March,
April, and May, but it is also present in the winter months."
Vaccination is, however, increasing. In Buchanan's time it was unknown.
But in 1874-75 as many as 4,815 out of 5,778 operations performed by the
Government vaccinators were successful ; in 1875-76 as many as 28,787 out
of 29,264 ; 9,455 out of 10,564 in 1876-77 ; 10,170 out of 10,985 in 1877-78 ;
and in 1878-79,. 11,014 out of 11,672. Inoculation is less common than
elsewhere owing, according to Buchanan, to the extreme views which the
Muslim inhabitants entertain on the subject of predestination.
^ After Dr. Kelly's remarks the following figures, showing for five years the
principal causes of mortality, must be taken cum grano :—
Year.
Fever.
Small-
pox.
Bowel
com-
plaint.
Cholera.
Other
causes.
Total.
Proportion
of deaths
to 1,000 of
population.
1*74
1876
1«76 ...
1877 .-
1*78 ...
13,737
12,978
20,. 22
26,(46
6! ,866
2,132
418
1.004
39
311
780
679
672
706
('•96
1,151
961
4,028
2,338
6,296
668
2.063
1,932
2,794
6,827
8,520
19,475
20,022
27.264
37,003
62,415
18*22
13-69
18*78
2512
42*37
Arerage
24,828
760
2,618
4,287
83,236
22'56
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NATIVE MEDICINE.
713
Native medicines.
The treatment adopted by private native practitioners (tabirdj ) is allopathic.
But, though thus far in accord with the bulk of
European opinion, these gentlemen hold somewhat
singular beliefs as to the origin of disease. All maladies are assigned
to one or more of four predisposing causes, viz., excess of air (bdth), bile
or. heat (pit), mucus (kapk) and cold (M). All save perhaps a dozen
of the native drugs mentioned in the EtAwa, Cawnpore, and Gorakhpur
notices1 are procurable also in this district. But Dr. Kelly adds the follow-
ing. Remain to be added in some cases their uses, in all their scientific
names : —
Plant.
Part uBed, or nse to which
Plant.
Part used, or use to which
put, or both*
put, or both.
Abrakh.
Btdhdra •••
Root decocted into pur-
Aart..
•••
Decoction from root used
as febrifuge.
Bihiddna (quince-
gative.
Alubukhdra (dried
seed.)
prunes).
Bijband ...
Demulcent.
Amrtd (guars;
>...
Leaves an astringent.
Btlaikand ...
Ditto.
Anchi
...
Decoction from bark a
gargle.
Biran ...
Decoction from root mix-
ed with salt, as a sto-
AtgonJ jangli
• ••
Apparently a gum ; nsed
in poultices for rheuma-
machic*
tism.
Chabhar .».
Expectorant.
AspgoL
Chakor ...
Seeds, mixed with borax
AtU%
and curds, applied as a
Azjnuda.
Chambdi (kind of
cure for ringworm.
Leaves and oil used as an
Bubrang
...
Anthelmintic.
jasmine.)
injected unguent.
Bachaur niba
•••
Koot decocted into febri-
Chandtar
Demulcent.
fuge.
Chanoldi ,,,
Astringent root nsed in
Bach desi
t.t
Stomachic.
menorrhagia.
Bahchi
...
Fruit an ingredient in
ointment for itch.
Chhiriydkand ...
Chhohdra.
Demulcent.
Banchhdla ("forest
Expectorant and febri-
Chipra ...
Stomachic
bark.")
fuge.
Chiraiti* ,„
Hepatic.
Bonddl
...
Emetic.
Chirchira.
Ban haldi(" forest
Chobchini, (China
turmeric ")
root or Smilax.>
Bdnxlochan.
Bar ha
.«•
Seeds a demuTcent.
Ddrchtni (cinna-
Barhni
•••
Juice, mixed with honey,
mon).
used in mania.
Daiya „,
Seed mixed with salt as a
Baroh
...
Decoction from bark used
purgative.
as astringent in dy-
Deoddr (hill ce-
Decoction from wood used
sentery.
dar).
as febrifuge.
Bent (rattan)
•M
Boot decocted into a rheu-
matic medicine.
Dhira M,
Stomachic in cases of
colic
Bhatkatiya
• ••
Expectorant.
Bhatrenri
*••
Decoction from root nsed
in rheumatism.
Faridbuti ...
Demulcent.
JCtair., IV,
403-04; supra, pp. 161, 42«-
28. * Supra, "Imports from Nepil."
» JM.
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714
BASTO.
Plant.
Gaddpurna
Ganda bahroza
(pine-resin or
turpentine.;
Ganima ...
Gheku&r ...
Gobhi ...
Gogul.
Golkalha
Golndr.
GoUhakari
Gular (wild
Part uaed, or use to which
put, or both.
fig)
Gvrch
Ha\8
JIar,..
Ring (assafos-
tida).
Ildechi (car da-
mums.)
Jdephal (nut-
meg.)
Janet.
Jdtdmdsi.
Javatri (mace.)
Kabdbchini (cu-
bebs.)
Kachndr ...
Kachur M,
Kdddm AM
Adephal.
Kafvtr (camphor.)
Kdgchangha
Aakrartngi.1
Kakraundha
Kdli kutki.
Kdmrdj.
Karaunda ...
Karel (karaela,
sal resin.)
Kdri sdwan ...
Kartvat.
Karydrl
Kusarya
Ravalqatta.
Keuli
Decoction from root used
in dropsy.
Febrifuge.
Tonic.
Applied as a paste in oph-
thalmia.
Demulcent.
Demulcent.
Bark used as an astrin-
gent in tnenorrhagia
Febrifuge and astringent.
Bark used in poulticeB for
rheumatic pains.
Powdered, mixed with
honey, and used in simi-
lar cases.
Decoction from bark used
as a gargle.
Mixed with black salt as
a stomachic.
Root a demulcent.
Stomachic,
Used with rice-water as
an astringent in tnenor-
rhagia.
Root a febrifuge.
Demulcent.
Poultice in rheumatism.
Decoction from root used
in rheumatism.
Boot and leaves decocted
into rheumatic medicine.
Plant.
Kkdkasddna
Khambhdr
Khokia ...
Khurdsdni a j wain,
Kishmisk (r a i-
sins.)
Koni ...
Koriya ...
Kulanjan.
Kulfa ~«
Kundran
Kuxdm or kesar
(safflower, saf-
fron.)
Zachhmana •••
Ldjar ...
Lodh*
Long (cloves).
Lvbdn (benzoin).
Malkdkan
Mangrel ...
Majith (madder.)
MajAphaL
Meuri M.
Mida m.
Mochras M,
Muktpurni
Murra.
Mushk fmusk).
Mushy black and
white.
Ndgar motha ...
Ndgkeaar*
JSUkandra
Padam.
Pdkar
Pdlumdr
Palwal
Part used, or use to which
put, or both.
Powdered, mixed with
ginger, and used in cases
of lumbago.
Purgative ; used also for
congestion of brain in
fever.
Root an ingredient in
poultices for abscesses.
Root and flower are febri-
fuges.
Bark.
Leaves and root ingre-
dients in an astringent
for Menorrhagia.
Root decocted into a feb-
rifuge.
Ingredient in an ointment
externally applied for
strangury.
Root a diuretic.
Astringent.
Root an emetic
Stomachic.
Leaves rubefacient ; ap-
plied in rheumatism.
Bark, a tonic and demul-
cent.
Demulcent.
Used in cases of rheuma-
tism.
Mixed with sugar and used
as astringent in dysen-
tery.
Oil applied in rheuma-
tism.
Root an astringent in
cases of dysentery.
Root and bark, astringent
and sedative.
Root, fruit and leaf ; feb-
tifuge, stomachic, and
refrigerant.
1 Supra, " Imports from Nepal." » Ibid.
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DBUGS.
715
Part used, or use to
Plant.
which put, or both.
Famrand
•••
Boot and bark ; febrifuge
and sedative.
Fapita.
Farhi
Ml
Astringent.
Fatal m(m
• ••
Juice used in cases of
mania.
Ptlu...
•«t
Alterative; powder used
in cases of leprosy.
Pipal
»••
Root decocted into a gar-
gle.
Fitpdpra
»••
Febrifuge.
tiihwdn
•••
Decoction from root, a
febrifuge.
Fxydz j a n
(garlic.)
Pokharbked
«/'»
• ••
Powdered, mixed with
honey, and used in cases
of vesical calculus.
Pokharm&r.
TUdjgur.
Rdmsdr •«
Rdmtarat or thin-
di
Rosin «•
Rosvcot ...
Raton jot.
Revand chlni
(rhubarb.)
Rinka
Sdymuma.
Saldjit (storax.)
Sdlpurni
Boot a diuretic.
Decoction a lotion in
rheumatic cases.
Ointment of root.
Leaves used in splenitis.
Stomachic, used in colic.
Boot decocted into a feb-
rifuge.
Samandsokh ...
Sand (senna)
Sandal, red (jra-
hat chan dan)
and white.
Sangpasti ...
Sarphonka ...
Sttr&ja kachi
(•' unripe 1 o-
tus.")
Sarvan
Sehanr
Sewin •••
Singia.1
Sirsaka ...
Sufed dab M.
Sukhdarshan.
Supdri (betel-
nut).
Stranjdn.
Tabdshir (bambu
sugar.)
Taj (kind of cin-
namon.)
Tar (palmyra) ...
Part used, or use to
which put, or both.
Boot decocted into a de-
mulcent.
Styptic.
Mixed with black pepper
becomes a medicine for
splenitis.
Diuretic.
Febrifuge.
Alterative in cases of
leprosy. Oil of leaves
an unguent in rheuma-
tism.
Demulcent.
Boot decocted into febri-
fuge.
Styptic.
Astringent root decocted
into medicine for dia-
betes.
But the native pharmacopoeia is not altogether vegetable. It includes many
minerals, such as lime, nitre, alkaline earths (sajji and Ichdri mitti),
potter's clay (kaUs) salt, sulphur, borax, arsenic (sanihya), yellow arsenic or
orpiment (hartal), cinnabar or red sulphuret of mercury (shangarf), copper-
as or sulphate of iron (Mrdkasfo), sal ammoniac (navshddar), corrosive
sublimate (raskapir), white-lead (pufeda), lead, pewter, tin, iron, brass, silver
and gold filings.
Like its predecessors this notice shall be closed with some account of the
district history. But we must content ourselves with
ory* the merest sketch. The materials, never very ample,
have been almost exhausted in describing that Gorakhpur of which, till 1865,
Basti formed a part.
] Supra, « Imports from Nepal."
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716 BASTI.
The two districts probably supplied its north-eastern corner to the ancient
Puranic kingdom of great KoshAla. This extended
Rama, about 775 B.C.
along the foot of the Himalaya from the S&rda to the
Gandak, and from the foot of the Himalaya southwards to the Ganges.1 Its
capital was Ajndhya, the court of the heroic H£ma. The mass of legends
which surrounds his name must not obscure his claims to be considered a real
and historic personage. According to the calculations of Buchanan, he must have
flourished about 775 years before Christ. Had he been a Western potentate
he would have been deified ; and from a mortal emperor would have become an
immortal god. But being an eastern ruler, he has been declared an incarna-
tion of an already existing deity. As the earthly embodiment of the saviour
Vishnu, he is still, as already shown, the* favourite god of Basti.
It is unlikely, however, that Basti was at this time much more than a forest
interspersed with swamps and pasture-glades. There
Buddha, about 550 B.C. r r r &
is a legend that, during a season of drought at Ajudhya,
Rama drove his cattle across the Gh&gra to graze. But that there were some
clearings occupied by villages is probable. Buddha, who lived about the mid-
dle of the sixth century B. C, was probably born in the district.2 The birth-
place of the great faith-founder is however a name and nothing else. Kapila-
vastu or Kapila-nagara has never been conclusively identified with any existing
village. The forms vastu* and basti are of course cognate and synonymous ;
but it must not be supposed that the comparatively modern Basti is the same
as the ancient Kapila-vastu. fiaffara, again, is merely the later nagar writ
large ; and General Cunningham4 seems to identify Kapila-nagara with the
existing parganah capital of Nagar. Mr. Beal6 locates the city on the K&pti,
about 60 miles above Qorakhpur ; and thereby places it well within this district.
Our knowledge about the position of Kapila may however be reduced to this : —
that it lay on the route from the Buddhist cities of eastern Gorakhpur to the
Buddhist Sravasti of Gonda ; and that that route probably passed between the
Ghagra and Rapti rivers.
But long before the time of Buddha the kingdom of Great Koshala had
become divided. On B&ma's death and the partition
m n of R&ma's empire, the paternal domains north of the
> Sakti Sanggam Tantra, quoted in Eastern India, (II. 326). * Bat the claim of Kapila
to tbis honour is not altogether undisputed. The Singhalese accounts say that Buddha was
born at Benares ; and Fa Hian mentions a place called Tadwa (7b-trat), about 8} miles east
of Kapila, as a pretender to the same distinction. * It may interest the reader to re-
mind him that vastu is merely the astu of his Greek-grammar days with a dig&mroa super-
added. 4 See his map showing the travels of Chinese pilgrims (plate 1 of volume I.,
Archsaological Surrey Reports.) s Travels of Fa- Hian and Sung-yun, translated from the
Chinese by the Key, Samuel Beal, B.A, chaplain in H. M.'s Fleet, London (Tiubner's), 1869.
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HISTORY. 717
Ghagra had fallen to the share of his son Lava. Being bounded on the south
by Saketa or Ajudhya, and on the east by Vaish&li or Bihar, the new king-
dom must have included Basti. Its capital was sometimes Sr&vasli and some-
times Kapila. The king who ruled the tract in Buddha's day was Prasen&jifc.
The Vishnu Purana, which fables him the fiftieth in descent from Lava,
adds also that he was the great-grandson of Buddha himself. At any rate
he was the contemporary of Buddha and one of the earliest converts to
Buddhism.1
For about seven centuries after Prasen&jit's death the kingdom flourished
Bikramajit or Vikrami- under his successors. Whether those successors were
ditya, about 150 A. D. ajf Buddhists it is impossible to say ; but it is certain
that Vikram&ditya, who conquered this part of India about 150 A. D., was a
bigoted Hindu. The sacred Hindu buildings at Ajudhya being overthrown and
overgrown by forest, he restored them. This Vikramaditya, who was the
most powerful monarch of Northern India, must not be confused with that
earlier namesake who in 57 B. C. founded an sera. To Buchanan must be
ascribed the credit of first suggesting the distinction. While mentioning that
the legends collected by Wilford required the existence of eight Vikram&lityas,
Elphiustone seems to recognize the existence of one only 2
The Ajudhya traditions relate that after a glorious reign of eighty years
Vikram&ditya was in an evil hour visited by the ascetic
Pamudra P&l. This Samudra beguiled him to allow his
royal spirit to be transported by magic into a corpse. The king's body was no
sooner vacant than Samudra re-occupied it with his own spirit, and refused to
quit it. By this impious trick the man of piety acquired the throne of Sr&-
vasti, which his descendants retained for seventeen generations. The fact im-
bodded in this legend is that the Buddhist Samudra Gupta, who reigned for
the first forty years of the third century A. D., overthrew the local dynasty
and ruled in their stead. His success was perhaps merely the termination of
civil wars excited by the drastic religious policy of Vikramiditya. The eighty
years assigned to the latter's reign will hardly surprise those who know
that in ancient history a single name often stands for a whole dynasty. It is
remarkable that from Samudra Gupta to Gay&ditya, the last Aditya monarch of
Eanauj, there are exactly seventeen names on the list of the great Baiss
emperors who governed Northern India,
1 See Oadb Gazetteer, I., 539, and III., S81-8S. ■ Ibid.; Eastern India* II, 334-36, end
Elphinstone's Hirtory, Bk. IV. chapter 1. * The correct transliteration of Hwen
Thsang'a Fei-she is Vaisya. But as pointed out by General Cuoningham, Vaisa or Bais
Kshatrlya was probably intended.
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718 BASTI.
The Guptas were themselves of lowly origin ; and, as already shown, their
predominance coincided with the uprising of those
aboriginal tribes who all along the Sub-Himalayan tract,
in Rohiikhand and Oudh, in Gorakhpnr and Bih&r, sooner or later supplanted the
war-enfeebled Aryans. The accession of the new dynasty was in fact not only
a triumph of Buddhist over Hindu, bet of race over race.1 In the democratic
bosom of Buddhism, which renounces caste, the despised autochthones had
found a solace for the contumelies of the proud invaders who had lorded it
over them so long. Of the many centuries of aboriginal rule which followed
next to nothing is known. But there are aborigines and aborigines ; and the
legends collected by Buchanan seem to prove that the Bhar or the Cheru had
at times to dispute the realm with the Th&ru or the hillman. If we use the
"or" instead of the "and," it is because Bhar and Cheru, Thiru and hillman,
are by some deemed convertible terms.' The Thartis are said to have ruled with
exoeptional splendour, and to have left their brick strongholds scattered all
over the north -Gh&gra country. But their advent was elsewhere and per-
haps here followed by the encroachments of forest and the decay of ancient
towns.8 In the beginning of the fifth century the district was traversed by
the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fa Hian, who passed across it from Gonda to
„ „ ^ Gorakhpur. Sr&vasti was then inhabited by but 200
Fa Hian'n Yisit in the - .,. t tt m i . i «-
beginning of the fifth poor families. In Kapila, the capital of Kosh&la (ifctu-
century. *a-Zo), "there is no government or people ; it is just
like a great desert There are simply a congregation of priests and about
10 families of lay people * * *. The country of Kapilavastu
(Ka-weilo-u>eiy is now a vast wilderness. You seldom meet any people
on the roads, for they are much in dread of the white elephants and
lions (wild elephants and tigers?) which frequent the neighbourhood and
render it impossible to travel fearlessly." The palace of Suddhodana, where
Buddha was born, was in ruins. But about a dozen towers (stupas or
relic-temples), which marked the localities of great events in Buddha's
life, were "still existing." Fa Hian mentions also the spring called the
Arrow Fountain; the place where king Yirudhaka slew the offspring of the
S&kyas ; and the spot where Buddha hurled a dead elephant outside the city
walls.4
1 North- Western Provinces Gazr., V., 647$ Oudh Gazr., I., Ill | and Supra, pp. 42V- 3 2.
* Eastern India, II., 341 ; Ondh Gazr., I., 539. Buchaoan mentions a race called Sirira as
" succeeding" the Cherfis. He perhaps means the Seoris or Soeris, a tribe sometimes deemed
akin to the Cherus ; bat the identity of hisSiviras was considered too uncertain to justify
their mention in the text. "Said by Mr. Beal to be a mistake fur KapiJo-wei, i.e.,
city df Kapila. * Beal, pp. 65-89.
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ACCOUNTS OF CHINESE PILGRIMS. 719
Bat all these localities and buildings are described with much greater ful-
Hwen Thsang's account nes8 by Hwen Thsang, who visited Kapila about 635
of Kapiit, circ. 68ft A.o. A D a The kingdom of Rie-pi-lo-fa-sou-tou (Kapila-
vastu)," writes the latter, "has a circuit of about 4,000 li (660 miles). It has
ten deserted towns, which present a dreary aspect. The royal city is in ruins,
and one no longer knows what was the extent of its circumference. The palace
which stood within the capital was from 14 to 15 li (about two miles) in cir-
cuit. It was entirely built of brick. Its remains are still high and solid, but
it has been deserted for ages. The villages are fairly peopled. There is no
king, but each town has its own chief. The land is fat and fertile ; the sowings
and the reapings take place at regular periods ; the seasons never derange
themselves ; the manners of the inhabitants are sweet and affable. There
were once nearly a thousand Buddhist convents whose rnins still exist" The
relic-temples were even more numerous. " To the north-west of the town one
counts stupas by hundreds and thousands. It was in this place that the raoe of
S6kya was massacred. After king Yirudhaka had conquered the SAkyas, he
led them and their families prisoners to the number of 99,900,000 souls, and
had them all slaughtered. Their corpses accumulated like heaps of straw ; and
their blood, which had flowed in waves, formed a large lake. Secretly prompt-
ed by the gods, men gathered up their bones and gave them sepulture." Viru-
dhaka was the son of the Prasen&jit aforesaid, and effected this butchery because
the S&kyas had taunted him with the fact that his mother was a slave-girl.
But Hwen Thsang does not content himself with mere general statements
as to the number of the buildings he visited. The position of the various con*
vents and shrines he describes with much careful detail. All seem to have been
monumental, marking spots associated with the adventures of Buddha or other
saints. Thus at the place where Buddha was born stood a monastery (vihdra);
and at the place where he displayed his strength by " putting" the elephant,
rose a temple. The ditch which the fall of the huge beast dinted in the ground
might still be seen beside the southern gate of the city, and was called the -
elephant's fosse {Haitigarta). Outside the eastern gate was the Hindu tem-
ple of Ishvaradeva, a stone idol of imposing size. When Buddha was still a babe,
his nurse bore him into the temple. On his entrance the idol rose, and conti-
nued standing before him until his departure. Near the city were a stupa and
a column, both reared about 250 B.C. by the emperor Asoka. The column
was surmounted by the figure of a horse.
Several incidental details serve to give the Chinaman's account a little local
colour. The neighbourhood seems to have been fairly wooded. Just outside
92
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720 BASTI.
the town on the south wa9 a wood of fig-trees (gillar ?) ; while at some distance
in another direction might be seen some ancient asogs. Nearly five miles to
the south-east, and flanked by a temple, lay the Arrow Fount, so called because
it sprang from a hole pierced in the ground by Buddha's arrow. South-
eastwards past Kapila itself flowed a little burn. This was perhaps the Mana-
r&ma, but was then called the River of Oil. Of oil indeed its stream had once
consisted. But when Maya, the mother of Buddha, wished to bathe in it alter
her confinement, the oil was turned into water, which it had ever since,
though "sweet and unctuous," remained.1
Though noticing the religious buildings of the past, Hwen Thsang is alto-
„, ^ . # ffether silent as to the religious beliefs which he found
The Domkatars. e . . . ° .
existing at the time of his visit Whether, therefore,
in the first half of the seventh century Basti was chiefly Hindu or Buddhist
must ever remain uncertain. Buddhism had in places perhaps faded before
the sister faith of Jainism. We know that about 1000 A.D. the neighbouring
Gonda was ruled by a Jain dynasty whose race is diversely described as Tharu
or Rajput. It was perhaps a mixture of both; for Aryan invaders did not in
that age altogether despise intermarriage with the aborigines. The contem-
porary kings of Gorakhpur are in just the same manner called sometimes Tha-
riis, sometimes R&thors. But before the end of the twelfth century the
dynasties of both Gorakhpur and Gonda were crushed by the Domkatars- or
Domwars. These are variously styled either Rfijputs or military Br&hmans*
But there is no doubt that they had wedded the daughters of both Doms and
Bhars, deriving from the former tribe the first part of their own name. The
realm of the new rulers extended from the west of Gorakhpur to the east
6f Gonda, and included of course the bulk of Basti.2
But the supremacy of the Domkatars did not long remain unchallenged.
Their straggle with the Buchanan asserts that th«y were from the very first
Bhars- forced to dispute possession with the Bhars, who at
length gained the upper hand. That these Bhars now or afterwards obtained
great power is undoubted. They were for many centuries later the dominant
race in the southern parganahs Amorha and Mahauli ; while by some accounts
they about this time obtained possession of Katahla, a tract extending from
the hills to the Parasi brook near B&nsi. But the rulers of Katahla were
according to other traditions Solankhi B&jputs.
1 Mtmoire* s*r Us Contrfos Occidental esy par Iliouen Thsang ; tradaits du Chinois en Francals
par Stanislas J ulien (Paris, 1857\ Vol. I., pp 809-95. This volume owed its publication
the munificence of the Third Empire. t Oudh Gazr., I., 539, and III., 283-84. See
hIso above, 432-33. The Oudh Gazetteer is probably Wrong in calling the Domkatars Doms
tout court.
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RAJPUT INVASIONS. 721
For towards the close of the thirteenth century, when the Muslim empire
had become firmly and more firmly established at
Rajput invasions. .
Dehli, its encroachments began driving the B&jputs
to seek fresh homes down-country. The first B&jput invasion which in
The Sarnets expel the *n*s district assumed any great importance was that
Domkatare, about 1275. of the garnets. Above has been told how their
cl i ;f, Chandra Sen, expelled the Domkatars from Gorakhpur and eastern
Basli, about 1275. Above has been noted how, on Chandra Sen's death, his
son Jai Singh succeeded to the principality of Maghar in this district. That
principality probably included all Bansi south of the Rdpti. But Bansi north
of that river was held ohiefly, as just mentioned, by the r&ja of Katahhi.
About the same time, moreover, as Jai succeeded to bis heritage, another
The Chauhtos, circ. r*ce of B&jputs seized some part of the north-BApti
1300, country. These were the Chauhans, founders of the
Btitwal and P&lpa principality. But if it be true that their chief Makhund
fled from Chittaur after its sack in 1303, they should rather be called Sisodiyas
or Gahlots ; and if their real tribe is somewhat uncertain, it is because they
never eared to maintain an untainted Rajput lineage. They intermarried
freely with those Th&rus whose lands in the north-eastern corner of the district
they annexed. But their annexations lay chiefly in what are now Nap&l
and Gorakhpur. In Basti their domains were limited to Bindyakpur and
Bfinsi, west of the Jamw&r and Kura rivers. Their misalliances estranged"
them from the other chiefs of the district ; and in its history they find little place.
There is a legend that the Bhars were expelled from parganah Basti*
The Kulhans, about by Gardhi Singh, a R&jput of unknown tribe ; and
1M0- that Gardhi's descendants were in 1330 ejected by a
Kulh&ns named Udharaj. It is possible that Gardhi Singh was a Domkatdr,
for at the beginning of the fourteenth ceutury the western parganahs, Basti*
and Ba3ulpur, were still held by the Dom or Domkat&r raja of Gonda. This-
raja was overthrown, and his domain in both Basti and Gonda annexed, by
Sej or Sahaj the Kulh&ns. The date 1330 may be allowed to stand, as other
accounts concur in bringing Sej hither in the tine of the Tughlak emperors
(1321-1412). With his conquest disappeared the last vestige of Domkatar
domination,
The date of tho Gautam invasion is not oven approximately known. But
^ „ as, before the final extinction of the title in 1858,
The Gautains. • .
there had been twenty-three Gautam rajas of Nagar,
it may be presumed that these llujputs made thoir appearance at least as early
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722 BASTI.
as either of the two tribes last mentioned. Their chief, Jagdeo or Jagatot,
obtained his principality by wresting parganah Nagar from the hands of the
Domkat&rs or Bhars. Different traditions give the names of both the latter
races; and to both traditions geographical considerations lend some support. If
the Domkat&rs held Basti on the north, the Bhars held Mahauli on the east
and Amorha on the west.
If asked to describe the territorial allotment of the district at the begin-
_, . . m ^ a. A , K ning of the next or fifteenth century, we should there-
DiriBiona of the district ft . J\
at the beginning of the fore reply thus : — The north, including the balk
fifteenth century. of parganah Bansij wa8 raled by the ^ of Katahla ;
bat a small north-eastern corner, including parganah Bin&yakpur, belonged to
the r&ja of Bdtwal. The eastern centre, oomprising parganah Maghar and
B&nsi, south of the R&pti, owed allegiance to the r&ja of Maghar ; the western
centre, comprising parganahs RasuJpur and Basti, to the r&ja of Gonda. The
southern parganahs, Amorha and Mahauli, were held by Bhars ; while the
remaining southern parganah, Nagar, a barrier between the two Bhar prin-
cipalities, was subject to the r&ja of Nagar.
These petty princes seem to have * recognized, when it suited their con-
venience, the suzerainty of the Dehli emperors. In
the south they may perhaps have extended this half-
oondesoending submission so far as to acknowledge the superiority of the
Jaunpur kings (1394-1476). But in practice if not in theory they were auto*
cratic. Like the servants of Alexander in the Maccabees, they " all put crowns
upon themselves.'9 To say that they resembled English barons in the reign
of Stephen or John is to give a scant idea of their importance ; for though
just as independent of the sovereign, of one another they were far niore
independent. Except perhaps in Nagar, tbey were sole masters of the soil and
of their subjects' lives. Each principality was a little country in itself, agricul-
turally and commercially Belf-supporting.1 Save when a disputed frontier
provoked war, each was heedless of its neighbours. But for further details of
Fasti's condition in the middle ages we may search in vain. Like all old world
Hindus, the inhabitants oared not to preserve their own history ; and the
district had not as yet tempted the sword or the pen of the Musalm&n. We
must therefore hasten on to the time of the first authentic Muslim invasion.
In 1564 the rebel Kh&n Zam&n fled across the Gh&gra into Sarw&r, and
Muslim invasions, through the forests which then -adjoined the north
ft64"67, bank of the river was fruitlessly pursued by the
1 Supra, p. 437.
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KUSALM4N PERIOD. 723
troops of the emperor Akbar. But Sarw&r or Sarjupar included parts of other
districts besides Basti, and whether the imperial force entered Basti is uncer-
tain.1 When Khan Zam&n was three years later (1567) slain elsewhere, his
example of seeking refuge in this part of the country was followed by a fellow
rebel named Sikandar Kb&n. Sikandar was bootlessly chased through
Basti and Gorakhpur by a large army under Fid&e Kh&n. But the general
lingered in the two districts some time, reducing the local chiefs to submission.
Amongst others the r&ja of Maghar was rendered tributary ; and at Maghar
itself was left an imperial garrison.1 The humiliation and perhaps the active
annoyance to which he was exposed caused the r&ja to quit the ancient seat of
his family and to found a new capital at fi&nsi in the extreme north of his
domains. His descendants have ever since been known as the rftjas of Bdnsi.
The title of Maghar was indeed no longer applicable ; for parganah
Maghar was now completely in the hands of the Musalm&ns.
But though constantly marching across the south of the district, from
The Surajbansis expel Gorakhpor to Maghar and from Maghar to Faizabad,
the Bbars from Mahauli. the Musalm&ns seem to have interfered but little with
the looal chiefs. So long as the latter paid their tribute, they might fight with
and expel one another as much as they would or could. Thus some Stirajbansi
fiajputs from the south were allowed to eject the Bbars and the few Thdrua
who still lingered in parganah Mahauli. The brothers Alakdeo and Tilakdeo
slew the Bhar or R&jbhar r&ja and annexed his domains up to within a few
miles of Maghar itself. To mnch the same period, that is to about 1580 A.D.,
is ascribed the expulsion of the Bhars from Amorha. It has been above shown
that the real date of this event was probably earlier ; but in cases of uncer-
and the Kiyaths seise tointy the commonly accepted chronology is safest.
Amorha, circ isao A. D. The KAyath Jagat Singh, who slew the Bhar r&ja and
seized his lands, is by some accounts represented as a favourite of the emperor
Akbar's Kachhw&hin wife. But he seems to have been aided also by some
S6rajbansis, who afterwards deprived his descendants of half their heritage.
His own nn warlike tiibe could have given him but little assistance.3
By the Institutes of Akbar (1596 the whole of Basti is included in the
Oudh or Avadh province (s6ba)y Amorha being a part of the Avadh, and all
the remaining parganahs of the Gorakhpur division (sarkdr.) But the
1 TabaAdt-i-Akbari in Dowson's edition of Elliot's Historians, V, 307 * Ibid, 324
and shpra, 439-40. To Fidae Khan is attributed the foundation of Kabfr's mausoleum at
Maghar. After him, perhaps, is named tappa Fidaipur of Mahauli. There was only one
grandee of Akbar's reign thus called, and tfidae was merely his poetical nom deplume. His
real name was Mirsa Bustam j and as he was a general, and Governor of Bihar, be is pro-
bably the person intended. See Blochmaun's Ain-i-Akbarit 1 , 314. » *>p. 442.
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724 BASTI.
comparatively small state rental debited toj he tract is a sign of either imperfect
Muslim authority or scanty population. A small contingent of yeomanry and
militia is as usual entered opposite the name of each division ; but, as usual,
the force is likely to have been a merely paper force. Rasiilpur is shown as
a separate parganah (mahdl), probably because it was held as a separate
fief by some cadet of the Gonda family. Basti, which about this time was
granted away in the same manner, appears under the name of Mandwa. The
only modem parganah not then formed was Bansi, whose elements were shared
between the Ratanpur, Maghar, and Katahla sub-divisions.
But Katahla was not destined long to remain an independent sub-division.
Extension of the BanBi About 1600 it was annexed, and its raja slain, by
principality. Ratan, raja of Bansi. Against the other northern
power, that of Butwal, the Bansi chiefs were less successful. Long wars, in
which they were often worsted, laid waste the debateable lands between the
two principalities. Tappas Banjara, Sohas, and Ghos are mentioned as
suffering great devastations But the Bansi rajas must have gained the upper
hand when, at some date unknown, the Butwal raja was driven back into par-
ganah Binayakpur, and parganah Bansi assumed its present dimensions. About
1610, its rulers found an opportunity of re2ainin£ for
The Muslim garrison . ' . Vl \ . °. °.
is expelled from Maghar, a time their lost heritage ot Maghar. Affairs in liajpu-
eirc. 1610; ^.ana an(j ^e £>akkhan jja(j diverted the attention and
the force of Dehli from this less important part of its empire. A simultaneous
and successful attack was made by the raja of Satasi on the Gorakhpur, and
by the raja of Bansi on the Maghar garrison. For about half a century after-
wards the local chiefs of Sarjup&r were left completely to their own devices.
But on the accession of the emperor Aurangzfb (1658 ), the Masai man
power again made itself felt. Kazi Khalil-ur-Rahmant
but isYesfcored about 1680. * °. .1floA . , , . . , , ,,
who was about 1680 appointed commissioner {chakla-
ddr) of the Gorakhpur division, marched from Faizabad with a strong force
and reduced the district to order. The rajas of Amor ha and Nagar promptly-
submitted. Maghar was re-occupied by a large garrison, and the raja of Bansi
driven back to the place from which he took his title. Khalilabad was founded,
and named after the commissioner1 ; while through it, from Faizabad to
Gorakhpur, was constructed a new military road. The district was not long
afterwards visited by the emperor Bahadur Shah, then prince Muazzira. la
his honour, the Gorakhpur division was renamed Muazzimahad ; and by the
latter title, with which is sometimes associated that of Maghar, the Gorakhpur
* The tomb of this officer may be seen, at Maghar. See article on that town*
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CESSION TO THE BRITISH. 725
nnd Basti districts are mentioned in all official records between this period and
the cession (1801).
Meanwhile the Kulhans house of Gonda had fallen into difficulties. Par-
The Bansi raja annexes ganah Basti the rfija had, as already mentioned, grant-
Rasulpur, circ i70>. ed to a younger branch of the family ; and parganah
Rasulpur, which though similarly granted had been resumed, was the only
possession left to the chief of the clan. In bis reduced condition he fell an
easy prey to the ambition of the Bansi rdja, who about 1700 slew hiin and
seized Rasulpur. In 1721, then, when Sa&dat Kb6n became Viceroy of Oudh
and assumed independence of the Dehli emperor, the parganahs. in this part of
Divisions of the district his dominions were distributed as follows : — Maghar
StofiS^J^QoV. ™ ™led by ^3 own deputy and garrison ; Binayak-
eminent, 1721. pUr by the Chauhdn r&ja of Butwal; Bansi and Rasiil-
pur by the Sarnet raja of Bansi ; Basti by the Kulhans rfija of Basti ; Amorha
by the K&yath r£ja of Amorha, ill able to hold his own against Suraj bansi
rebels ; Nagar by the Gautam raja of Nagar ; and Mahauli by the Surajbansi
r&ja of Mahauli.
Under the new regime the tribute dii9 from the rijas was at first collected
with some regularity. But its collection was always
The rule of Oudh. . ° . J . J
an easier matter in the south than in the north, whore,
feuced by forests and moated by rivers, the local chiefs could fall into arrears
An expedition under AH W1"th no little hope of impunity. An expedition under
Kasim enters the district. A\[ K&sim Kh&u was about 1750 despatched across
Basti and through Gorakhpur into the Butwal principality. It no doubt
taught the northern r&jas that the arm of Oudh was long enough to reach
them, but its effect was somewhat fleeting. The Muhammadan influence be-
came again as slight as it usually has been in this district. The r&jas resumed
their former position — that of irregular tributaries, but not of subjects. The
collection of their tribute was the ouly branch of administration to which the
Oudh Government devoted its attention. The protection of life and pro-
perty was left to their desultory care, and they became as despotic as before*
Their private wars were not only connived at but
encouraged. Thus about 1765, the Oudh Nawfib,
ShujA-ud-Daula, lent Daljit Sarnet a force wherewith to attack his elder
brother, the raja of B&nsi. At the internecine battle of Panghat&ghat near
B&nsi both brothers were slain. And in 1777, the son of Daljit was allowed,
with the assistance of Butwal, to defeat and slay a rival but rightful claimant
to the principality.
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726 basti.
Not long after the battle of Baksar (1784), an English officer of the Luck-
Major Hannay's admin- now government was placed in civil and military
iatration, about 17M. charge of this and other districts. Southern Basti soon
felt Major Hannay's vigour, and the hands of the Oudh officials were every-
where strengthened. A regular land-tax. was imposed and collected with much
oppression. The right of collection was leased out to contractors, who rack-
rented and pillaged the people. That the former was often their own r&ja did
not much mend matters. But if the men of the south suffered from the extor-
tions of Oudh, those of the north groaned equally un-
der the forays of the Banj&ras. Above1 has been
shown how, during the last seven decades of the last century, these pedlar-
bandits harassed Gorakhpur. From the north of this district they were finally
driven about 1790, when the r&ja of B&usi inflicted a severe defeat on their
combined bands. They had early in the century slain the heir-9pparent of a
B&nsi r&ja; and with them, therefore, the Sarnets had something of a blood-feud.
But misrule came to a gradual end after November, 1801, when, in pay-
Cession to the East India ment of arrears of subsidies due under various treaties,
Company, 1801. J3ast; an(j otlier districts were ceded by Oudh to the
East India Company. Musalman rule was now extinct ; and on the principle
iC nothing save good of the dead" we may quote as its epitaph the only words
that have been said in its favour. u It must be observed," writes Buchanan,
"notwithstanding the ferocity usually attributed to the Muhammad an conquer-
ors, that scarcely any family of note among the native chiefs who possessed
the country before the conquest had become extinct or been deprived of
its lands during the long period which followed under Muhammadan control.
But that, during the Hiudu Government, each change had been followed by
the complete destruction or banishment of the family that was subdued."
The wretched condition of the district at cession has been amply described
Early British adminis- elsewhere.3 It was " almost entirely without adminis-
tratlon- tration, overgrown with jungle, infested by robbers,
and in many places laid wafte by the armed retainers of the principal land-
holders." When the first collector, Mr. Routledge, took charge on behalf
of the Company, he found his hands filled. Ee had first to get rid of the Oudh
troops, clamouring for arrears of pay ;4 next, of the parasitic Oudh officials,
1 P. 448. * Above, pp 379-80, 451-5*. 3 Buchanan calls him " Major Butledge."
This nomenclature is perhaps the result of a confusion with Major Roughs edge, a welt-known
political and military officer of that day. But it is possible that, like Sir William Maonnghten
end other*, Mr. Routledge hsd been transferred from the military to the civil service of
the Company. * After crossing the Rapti, on their way from Gorakhpur to Lucknow,
these troops lingered awhile and plundered the surrounding country {Board'* Records), This
district, which lay on the high-road to Oudh, must hare been the principal sufferer.
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THE GREAT REBELLION. 72?
who had at the same time stung and sacked the blood of the country. la his
efforts to establish a police he was more successful than in his attempts to
frame a solvent land assessment. To restore order a force of 360 sibandis was
in March, 1802, raised by Captain Malcolm McLeod ; while by November of
the same year all defensible castles save those of the Amorha and Basti rfjas
had been razed to the ground.i The latter measure was rendered necessary
by the contumacious attitude of landholders who felt galled by the unaccus-
tomed yoke of a real government.
The district was already making swift progress towards prosperity when
M that progress was checked by the Nep&lese war (1814).
Nepalese war, 1814. . ,. . J \ /
The operations of the campaigns m 1815 and the
following year have been recounted once for all,8 Suffice it to remind the
reader that the cause of strife was the disputed territory comprising Shiur&j,
north of the modern Basti, and Butwal north of the modern Gorakhpur. The
police established in these frontier tracts by the British Collector had been
slain or expelled by the Nep&lese. During the war the north of the district
suffered not only from the incursions of the enemy, but from the lawlessness
of its own inhabitants. Notwithstanding the presence of a garrison which
General Wood had left entrenched at Lautan, a night attack was in March,
1815, made on the Bansi tahsili by 200 men supposed to be "Jackal-killers8."
Though the assault was repulsed, two grenadiers ibarkanddz) were killed: while
four others, and the tahsild&r himself, were wounded. A party conveying
treasure was in May of the same year surprised as far south as Mughar by a
band of gang-robbers (dakdit), who killed three grenadiers, wounded 17, and
carried off nearly 21,000 rupees. With a perhaps unconscious pun the collector
remarks that the grenadiers, being armed only with matchlocks of uncertain
fire were no match for the long spears of the banditti.4
The Nep&lese war ended in March, 1816, but not so the turbulence which
it had excited. In May of that year the B&nsi tahsili was again attacked
by Jackal-killers. The attack was again beaten off, but not without a loss of
seven killed and six wounded. In January, 1817, over 6,000 rupees of treasure
were plundered by gang-robbers at Captainganj. But by June, when the
1 Board's Records and Buchanan, II., 844. Sibandi is a corruption of Sipdhbandi, *.«., one
bound to the army, a soldier. The term was however applied rather to irregular than to regular
levies. 2 Supra, pp. 458-55. * Board's Records. Jackal-killer {siydr-marwd) i s a
nickname applied to the Mosahar caste ; but it is here, probably, intended a§ a general term for
men of low birth and character. 4 But before the Nepalese war such robberies had been not
altogether unknown. In March, 1811, and in a wood near Basti, some treasure on its way
from Amorha was plundered by a band of 50 robbers. In January, 1812, another convoy of
Government money was attacked between Mahauli and Azamgarh by a gang supposed to be
Jackal-killers from Balrampur in Oudh. Ibid .
93
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728 •BASTI.
boundary with Nepali was marked out according to treaty, order seems to hate
been restored.1 It was next and last disturbed by the rebellion of 1857-58.
The history of that sedition naturally centres in Gorakhpur, the capital of
_ , the district whereof Basti was then a part Bat in
Rebellion of 1857-58. . . . . . „ M ,. , A, ,
recapitulating the main features ot the outbreak we
may add a few local details.1 At Azamgarh on the 5th June, 1857, mutinied
the headquarters of the 17th Native Infantry, which supplied detachments both
to Gorakhpur and to the Opium Treasury at Basti. On the 8th and 9th their
example was followed by the troops at Faizabad. Seven English officers from
the latter garrison, who had failed in an attempt to descend the Gh&gra, crossed
over that river into this district. Gathering together at Amorha, they thence
proceeded to Captainganj, where the tahsildar warned them to avoid Basti
and the detachment of the 17th. Turning at his advice towards G&egh6t, they
were by a promise of accommodation and sharbat inveigled into Mahu&dabar
of parganah Nagar. Here they were all save one massacred by the Muslim
inhabitants (10th June). The survivor passed through some rather thrilling
adventures to be rescued by Mr. Peppe and to tell the tale.8 Mr. Pepp^, a
planter who for the time had been created deputy-magistrate, burnt Mahu&-
dabar to the ground. In this act of righteous retribution he was assisted by
a party of the 13th Irregular Cavalry.
Other fugitives from Faizabad met with a kinder receptiou. Colonel Len-
nox of the 22nd Native Infantry and his family were saved from destruction
by Muhammad flasan, afterwards rebel ruler of the district Hiding them
for a while in his little castle, he at last despatched them, disguised as natives,
to Gorakhpur. A party of natives, dressed in their discarded clothes, were
first sent out towards that city, beguiling his retainers and the surrounding
villages into the belief that the Europeans had already departed.4 Muham-
mad Hasan's conduct on this occasion perhaps preserved his neck next year,
when the gallows were busy. Another future rebel, Mirza Ali Hasan, follow-
ed his example by saving, near Amorha, two customs patrols. On the 19th
June, Captain Boileau and four other officers from Gonda fled across the north
of the district to B&nsi. After being sheltered here for a few days by the loyal
r&ja, they departed through Gorakhpur to Gh&zipur, escorted by some of his
troopers and matchlockmen.
About this time the Basti detachment of the 17th Native Infantry plundered
the opium treasury and marched off, but without injuring the few European resi-
1 Ibid. ■ Taken chiefly from Mr. (afterwards Sir Charles) Wingfield'e Mutiny Narra-
tive for Gorakhpur- BastL * See Oudh Gazetteer, I., 479-S8. 4 Colonel Lennox's
narrative, lbid.$ 47S.
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FORMATION OF THE PRESENT DISTRICT. 729
dents. About this time, too, martial law was proclaimed throughout the dis-
trict. Instigated and sometimes led by their chief, the r&ja of Nagar, the Gau*
tam R&jputs in July rose. They at once dispossessed existing proprietors of
all lands which tradition assigned to their own ancestors ; and their turbulent
example was followed by most of the Amorha landholders, who openly defied
the Government officials* It was proclaimed that British rule had given place
to that of Oudb. And from Oudh, at the meetings of the Nagar r&ja and his
rebel colleagues, it was resolved to obtain assistance.
On the 1st August the Gorakhpur detachment of the 17th was disarmed
by Nep&lese troops, and affairs began to assume a brighter appearance. But
the Nep&lese officers were averse to move their cholera-stricken forces. When
this was once known, disorder again made head. On the 10th, local rebels,
aided by a party from Oudh, plundered the- Ehalilabad tahsfli ; while on the
same day the b&bu of Bakhira, an illegitimate descendant of the B&nsi family,
expelled the police from Bakhira station. Two days later, the Captainganj tahsfli
was captured by insurgents who, for the first time, included Muhammad Hasan*
Forty troopers of the irregular cavalry, who had been detached for the protec-
tion of the tahsfli, here went over to the enemy. On the 13th matters were
considered sufficiently threatening to justify the evacuation of the district. Its
British officers and the Nep&lese troops left together. But the joint magistrate*
Mr. Bird, remained to supervise the labours of a committee of five r&jas to whom
the management of Gorakhpur and Basti had been entrusted. This assembly, of
which the B&nsi r&ja was a member, proved unable to maintain order. Another
member, the Kausik raja of Gopfilpnr, tried in vain to restore the loyalty of his
Gautam kinsmen in Nagar. So little, in tratt, did his efforts succeed, that the
uncle of the Nagar r&ja placed a guard over Mr. Bird's housev When thai
officer was at length forced to fly, the committee dissolved itself. On the
following day Muhammad Hasan made his public entry into Gorakhpur, and
rebel misrule was established.
In his administration Muhammad Hasan retained existing fiscal and judicial
sub-divisions. But his conservatism in this matter disgusted many of the land-
holders, his partizans, who declared that under former Viceroys of Dehli police
jurisdictions were unknown. Dresses of honour and salutes were bestowed on
the r&ja of Nagar and other chiefs who furnished contingents to the rebel army.
Within the limits of their respective domains, or what they claimed as suek,
they were allowed to exercise full civil and criminal powers The rija of B&nsi
refused to recognize Muhammad Hasan's authority or to surrender the treasure
at the B&nsi tahsfli. He on one occasion defeated a large force which had
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730 BASTI.
been sent to coerce him. Bat hostile preparations which seemed irresistible at
length constrained him to submit and receive a rebel tahsildar at B&nsL
Being a woman and the niece of an important Insurgent, the loyal r&ni of
Basti was allowed a greater latitude of resistance. She succeeded in prevent-
ing the establishment of a rebel police at Basti.
But before January 1858 was in its teens the simultaneous arrival in Go-
rakhpur of British and Nepalese forces put Muhammad Hasan to flight. Such
was his panic speed that on the very day of his rout at Gorakhpur he spurred
across the south of Basti and passed over the Ghfigra to T&nda. A Gurkha
detachment was despatched through the district to Gonda.1 Crossing the
Gh6gra on the 18th February, at Phiilpur of Mahauli, the field-force
under Colonel Bowcrofl again defeated the rebels. They were again worsted
at Amorha on the 17th April.3 After this British order was rapidly restored.
In the distribution of penalties and rewards that followed the Bakhira b6bu
was hanged, while the Nagar r&ja probably escaped a similar fate only by sui-
cide. The estates of both were confiscated ; and those of the latter were bes-
towed on the r&ja of Bansi, who was afterwards created a Companion of the
Star of India. The lands of the rani of Amorha, who had been implicated in
the rebellion, were in the same manner granted to the r&ni of Basti. The
revenue on all forfeited estates amounted to Rs. 65,135, the items for the
different parganahs being these : Rasulpur, Bs. 3,225 ; B&nsi, Rs. 4,626 ;
Bin&yakpur Rs. 1,289; Amorha, Rs. 9,079; Nagar, Rs. 29,818; Basti,
Bs. 4,722 ; Mahauli, Rs. 4,761 ; and Maghar, Rs. 7,585.
Thus ended the most important passage in the history of the district.
Later events of note, such as the land-assessment and
aenft°dtorict 1865. ° Pre" ^e visitations of drought, have been described else-
where. But the most remarkable occurrence in the
rpcent annals of the Basti parganahs was their severance from Gorakhpur and
constitution into a new collectorate. This arrangement came into force on the
6th May, 1865.8 It has resulted in a vastly improved administration ; and
if the native rulers from whom the district was received could revisit the
scene of their wilful failures, they would perforce confess the power of a good
government " to scatter plenty o'er a smiling land."
1 Oudh Gazetteer, 1. 647. * Colonel Rowcroft's letters, dated 28nd February and 19th
April, respectively, preserved in station-staff office at Gorakhpur. 'Government order
tf o. 1696 (General Department) bearing that date.
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GAZETTEER
OF THE
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES,
BASTI DISTRICT.
CONTENTS.1
Page.
Amorha
...
•••
731
Amorha parganah
•••
...
732
Bakhira
...
«••
737
Banrfon
...
• •■
738
Bankata
...
• ••
ib.
Bansi aM
•«•
•••
73«
Bansi tahsfl
•••
• ••
741
Bans! parganah...
•••
• ••
ib.
BArakuni
...
•••
748
Baati
•••
...
ib.
Baati tshail
•M
...
762
Basti parganah ...
...
...
ib.
Belwa
...
••*
757
Bhadeaar
...
• ••
ib.
Bhanpnr
•••
• ••
ib.
Bh&ri
...
• ••
ib.
Binayakpnr parganah
...
...
768
Bird pur
...
••*
761
Biskohar
• ••
...
762
Buddhaband ...
*••
»••
768
Captalnganj
.«•
...
ib.
Chhaoni
«•«
••«
ib.
Chhapia .-
• ••
•M
ib.
Chhapraghit or Dhanghata
•••
ib.
Chillia ...
• ••
...
ib.
Dal da I ha ...
»••
*
764
Dhebarua
*•*
• ••
•6.
Domariaganj
• ••
•••
ib.
Domariaganj tahsfl
•4.
•••
ib.
Dubaulia
•••
...
U.
Dudhira
• •«
~*.
765
Gaegh&t
••«
...
ib.
Oaneahpur
Haraia ...
Haraia tahsil ^
Hariharpur
Intwa
Jignan
Katwari
Kakrahfgh*t ...
EhalSlabad
Kbalilabad tahafl
Eothila or Sonana
Lalganj ,«,
Lautan ...
Maghar
Magbar parganah
Mahanli
Mahanli parganah
Mahson ...
Menhdawal
Misraulia ...
Nagar
Nagar parganah
liar kasha ...
Paikaulia
Paraarampar ...
Rasfilpur parganah
Rudhauli
Slrsi
8itarampur
Tama ...
Tilokpnr _
Uska
Page.
765
766
ib.
ib.
767
ib.
ib.
768
tb.
ib.
ib.
769
ib.
770
773
777
ib.
782
ib.
784
ib.
786
789
ib.
790
ib.
795
ib.
ib.
796
ib.
ib.
Amobha, a village which gives its name to a parganah of tahsfl Haraia, lies in
tappa R&mgarh of that tract, 23 miles west-by-south of Basti. It adjoins the
right bank of the RArarekha rivulet, which is, however, known by different local
names above and below the village. The population amounted in 1872 to
1,394 persons.
1 Thia list contain* the names of all tahsffs, parganabs, tahsfl capitals, house-tax towns, police-
stations, post-offices, Tillages with over 8,000 inhabitants, and scenes of important fairs. One
•r two places of historical or commercial interest have been added.
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732 BASTl.
Passing north-westwards through their mud habitations, the nnmetallecF
road from G&egh&t some three miles farther on joins the metalled Basti-Fais-
abad highway. Amorha has an imperial post-office, and in March-April
becomes the scene of a fair known as the RArorekha.
Ever since Akbar's reign (1556-1605), and perhaps since earlier times, the
village has been the capital of parganah Amorba It was for three or four cen-
turies the seat of the K&yath r&jas who disputed the sway of that parganah with
the Surajbansi R&jputs. Writing some forty-five years before the final
extinction (1858) of the title, Buchanan seems to have imagined that the Amorha
r&jas were themselves Sirajbansis, as will appear from bis remarks on the
local antiquities : —
* There is, " he says, <* a very long winding canal, extending from- Amorha to Ru* pnagsx,
another seat of the Suryabansi family. It is said to be ] | hot (about 8 miles), long and is
about SO yards wide, but in many places is nearly obliterated, and bears every mark of high'
antiquity. There are on its sides several heaps like the ruins of old buildings, but very
much reduced by the action of time. The rijs> attribuies the work to a person of hi*
family named Kadal Singh ? but it seems much too old for his (t.*, Badal Singh's) ime. In
digging on the north sides of the canal the raja's grandfather discovered an image which has
been placed in a mud-walled hot called the Lord's house (Thakurrari)j and is grotesquely:
clothed, being now considered as the family deity. It is a complete image, and. not a earring
in relievo as usual in Hindu images, nor has it any attendants. It is about the human, sise,
nor have I before seen any soch, The priest calls it the- keeper of Bali raja."
After explaining with perhaps needless length that Bali, a great-great*
grandson of St. Kasyap, was driven to hell by Vamana, an incarnation of
Vishnu—
" Bali, however, " the same writer adds, " was- of sueh consequence that after an incar-
nation of Vishnu sent him to hell, it was necessary for so great a deity to remain there and watch;
him | and the priest alleges that this image represents that incarnation. It has, however, no.
resemblance to the other images of Vamana that I hare seen. The priest further says that this
Image was placed here by Ambarisha. a king of Ajudhya, of the family of the sun. The Mus-
lims destroyed the temple and threw out the image; which was afterwards found by. a potter,
and placed where it now is by Kan jit Singh, uncle of the present r&ja."'
Amorha, the most western parganah of the district and the fiaraia tahsflr
is bounded on the east by parganahs Nagar and Basti ; on the north and west
by the Gonda district of Oudh ; and on the south-west by the river Gh&graf
whieh severs it from the Oodh district of Faizabad. It is sub-divided into six
tappas, named respectively Bang£on, Purena, Rimgarh, Dubaulia^ Belwa, and
Sikandarpur ; and contains 882 estates (mahdl), coinciding with the same
number of parishes (mauza). Amorha had in 1878 an area of 171,456
acres, or nearly 268 square miles, and a land revenue (excluding cesses) of
Bs. 1,62,070.
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AMOBHA PABGANAH. 733
According to the census of 1872 it contained 831 inhabited sites, whereof
511 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 268 between 200
ropulation.
and 500 ; 39 between 500 and 1,000 ; and 13 between
1,000 and 2,000. The population numbered 17,409 souls (80,975 females),
giving 652 to the square mile. Classified according to religion, there were
162,753 Hindus, of whom 75,332 were females, and 11,956 Musalm&ns (5,643
•females). Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes,
the census shows 31,106 Br&hmans (14,787 females), 14,600 R&jputs (5,912
females), and 6,283 Baniyas (2,898 females) ; whilst the great mass of the
^population is included in the " other castes, " which show a total of 110,764
souls (51,735 females). The principal Br&hman sub-divisions found in this par-
ganah are the Sarwaria (20,983), Eanaujia (297), Gaur (355), Gautam (253),
Pinde, Sdrasiit, and Sangaldwipi. The RAjputs belong to the Ponw&r (116),
Bais (1,378), Gautam (12), Parwir (494), Chauh&n (339), Surajbansi (7,096),
Bh4raddhw4j (3,533), Baghubansi (179>, Eonohik, Shifibansi, RdjkumAr, Bh4-
la-Sult&n, Kinwar, Ndgbansi, Gaur, Baghel, RaikawAr, and BAnsi clans ; the
Baniyas 4o the AgarwAl (258), Kasaundhan (3,432), EAndu (547), Agarahri,
!(405), GolApuri, Dhusar, SAndel, and Rajjab sub-divisions. Those of the other
castes which exceed in number one thousand souls each are the EahAr (4,623),
Eurmi (12,044), Teli (3,936), Dhobi (2,824), NAi (3,116), Cham Ar a 20,073),
Ahir ( 16,845), Gadariya (1,756), Barhai (3,426 ), LohAr (1,852), EAyath (3,155),
Khewat (1,732), Tamboli (2,718), Ehatfk (1,390), EumhAr (3,339), Nuniya
(1,450), Bharbhunja (1,899), Eoeri (9,258), and PAsi (1,529), The following
have less than one thousand members each : — Bhar, EalwAr, DharkAr, BAri,
Atit, ChAi, Mali, SunAr, Manibe,1 GosAin, BairAgi, BhAt, EhAkrob, Thathera,
Eoli, Lodha, RAjbhat,1 Halw&i, Baheliya, SarAhiya, OosAdh, Mariya, MurAo,
Godhania, and Dam. The MusalmAns are Shaikhs (475), Sayyids (100),
Mughals (82 j, PathAns (433), and unspecified.
The occupations of the people are shown in the statistics collected at the
same census. From these it appears that of the male
'Occupations. . .
adult population (not less than 15 years of age), 1,161
belong to the professional class of officials, priests, doctors, and the like ; 2,945
to the domestic class, which includes servants, water-carriers, barbers, sweep-
ers, washermen, Ac. ; 1,907 to the commercial class, comprising bankers, car-
riers, and tradesmen of all sorts ; 41,673 to the agricultural class ; and 4,372 to
the industrial or artisan. A sixth or indefinite class includes 3,984 persons
"Probably a census misprint for Manibar. 'There is a caste so called. Bat
Bajbhar is probably intended.
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734 BABTI.
returned as labourers and 593 as of no specified occupation. Taking the total
population, irrespective of age or sex, the same returns give 28,741 as land-
holders, 105,906 as cultivators, and 40,062 as engaged in occupations
unconnected with agriculture. The educational statistics, which are confess-
edly imperfect, show 747 as able to read and write out of a total male popula-
tion numbering 93,734 souls.
A rich and open plain, sloping gently towards the south-east, the parganah
Physical and agricultural *8 *n thai direction traversed By two principal streams,
features. The Manar&ma drains from end to end the centre of
the tract ; its affluent, the B&inrekha, flows further south, past the walls of the
capital Amorha. Both brooks derive some portion of their names from that
deified R&ma whose court lay just across the Gh&gra ; but both have other titles.
While the Manarama is often called Manwar or. Manaur, the R&mrekha is
above Amorha known as Tapha, and below that town as Mista. On the edge
of the Manar&ma grow rushes which are woven into matting ; on the edge of
the fi&mrekha flourishes khar grass, which is cut for thatching and fodder.
The Gh&gra is outside the parganah rather than of it ; but being fickle in its
choice of a bed, it frequently swallows or throws up large plots of alluvial land.
Its floods often overlay and sterilize with sand the fields which lie in its basin.
But Amorha is less rich in rivers than in lagoons. Of such fishy reser-
voirs the chief are at Sikandarpur, Pachos, Bbaganai, and Chinthi-bh&t. The
first is remarkable for the wealth of winter rice which fringes its water ; the
second for the abundance of shells which it offers to the lime-burner. Most
of the lagoons, whether large or small, produce wild rice (Una or tint ). " This, "
writes Mr. P. J. White, " is by the higher castes eaten exclusively on fast
days ; and has popularly the credit of possessing eminent medicinal properties
in diarrhoea, when the grain is administered mixed with tyre (curds). The
rice is palatable, and though the superior orders are dainty about making it
their daily food, the poorer classes are not so squeamish in taking advantage
of the bounty of nature. The plants are not cut, but are tied togetheV at top
in bundles as they stand in the water ; and in Ku6r (September-October),
when the ears are ripe, the grain is brushed from them."
This tina is almost the only really important wild growth of the parganah.
Of forest produoe there is next to none. Mahua and sdkhu trees are numerous,
while patches of scrubwood are encountered in a few northern villages. But
Amorha is as devoid of any plantation that can be called a forest as of any
elevation that can be called a hill. To the absence of woodland is perhaps due
the more than average salubrity. But beside the Ghagra on the south, beside
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AHOBHA PARGANAH. 735
lagoons on the west, the climate is disagreeable and goitre disfigures the inha-
bitants. Towards the north, again, the neighbourhood of the Gonda forests
has an evil eftect on. health.
The soils are as usual loamy (doras), clayey {mattiy&r), and sandy (balud).
In the north loam is intermixed with clay ; eastwards loam prevails ; south-
wards, beside the GbAgra, the mould is altogether sandy, and of that sandy
alluvial kind called mdnjha ; while westwards the surface consists of much clay
and little loam. Easily first in point of fertility, the loam soil yields every
crop ; but rice can be grown only in its moister hollows. The production of
rice is the specialty of the clay lands; but in years of favourable winter rain
they will bear also pod crops, oil-seeds, and even sugarcane or wheat. Unless
heavily manured, the sandy soil is unfit for any but the poorer growths, barley,
millets, and the arhar pulse. The thickly falling leaves of the last-named crop
afford a by no means contemptible manure. Speaking of manure generally,
we may say that it is most often and most thickly applied to the goend zone
immediately surrounding the village homesteads. The middle zone (miydno)
is more, and the outer (pallo) zone most, sparingly treated to compost. The
same remarks apply with more or less truth to irrigation. For this process
the streams and the lagoons afford great facilities.1
Of the total cultivated area, which at assessment was returned as 105,676
acres, 84,089 were tilled for the spring and the remainder for the autumn har-
vest. The principal spring growths are wheat, peas, and arhar, the two last
covering almost equal spaces, and between them about the same space as the
first At the autumn harvest rice so far distances all other crops that those
others need not even be mentioned. Of the more paying crops, indigo is quite,
and cotton almost, unknown ; but during the term of the last assessment sugar-
cane more than doubled its area, while from one-fiftieth opium advanced to
cover one-thirty-seventh of the whole pargatiah acreage. The owners of the soil
which produces all these staples are chiefly Siirajbansi R&jputs, robust men
who when poor sometimes enter the Native Army. Roughly noting, in
thousands of acres, the distribution of the land amongst its various cultivating
classes, we find 42£ tilled by the landlords themselves, 24} by tenants with
rights of occupancy, and 38 £ by tenants-at-will.
The metalled Basti and Faizabad road spans from east to west the whole
breadth of the parganah. On it stands the tahsf 1 capital
Economical features. „.-.., , , , i i ,,
Haraia ; from it branch north-eastwards and south-
1 The Settlement Report (1861) does not show the extent of the irrigated ar8a. That area if
dow said to amount to 97,718 acres.
94
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736 BASTI.
eastwards respectively the unmetalled lines known as the Bjkramjot-Bh&npur
and Gorakhpur-Gonda-frontiers roads. Another great trade route is cheaply •
supplied by the Gb&gra ; while for half the year and by small vessels the
Manar&ma also is navigable. On or near the great river or the chief highways
stand the parganah capital of Amorha and the marts of Belwa and Dubaulia,
The markets held weekly at these places and Haraia provide a sale for those
agricultural staples which arc the one great product of the tract. From Belwa,
ft centre towards which gravitates the surplus grain of all the surrounding
parganahs, that grain is exported across river to Oudh or down river to
Calcutta. An occasional emporium for such commodities is supplied by neigh-
bouring fairs, and chiefly by that held on the Ramnauami festival at Ajudhya,
across the Ghagra. But within the parganah itself, at Sitar&mpur opposite
Ajudhya, gather two great yearly meetings ot the same kind, and these will be
described in the article on the village where they take place. Smaller fairs
are held in December- January at Pachos village ; in November-December
at Amaulipur ; at Amorha and Paodol village in March- April.
Being singularly poor in manufactures, Amorha makes importations which
are comparatively considerable. From. Nepal to Belwa, Dubaulia, and Haraia
arehrought iron, copper, and utensils of those metals, spices, ginger, and tur-
meric. Brass vessels are imported from MirzApur. To Belwa and Dubaulia
the Ghfigra, and to Haraia the Manarama, bear cloths from the cities of Ben-
gal. From Haraia theso fabrics And their way to Bdnsi and the markets of
Oudh. Raw cotton from Kanauj and Cawnpore is imported through Lucknow
in carts.
The dues levied in markets by landlords seem to disturb trade little or
nothing. " The proprietors of b&zdrs," writes Mr. White, " customarily levy a
duty known as chungi on all laden carts, sumpter cattle, and carriers. For
example, they take 1£ sers of grain per cart, \ ser per buffalo load, \ ser per
bullock, TVth or Jth ser per coolie, \ ser per maund of ghi (clarified butter),
1 anna per bale of cotton, etc. These duties are quite willingly paid for the
privilege of bringing goods to market." Under the same heading Mr. White
mentions the ghardw&ri levied on shops. But this, as above1 shown, is merely
a rent. The additional tax of from J anna to 8 annas monthly for " watch and
ward" is perhaps not quite so defensible ; but this too is paid without murmur.
Until the sixteenth century Amorha has no history of its own, as apart
from that already1 given for the district at large. But
in Akbar's Institutes (1596) we find it entered, under
*P. 668. « Pp. 716-30.
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BAKHTBA VILLAGE;. 73T
the name of Amorodh or Amorha, as a part of the Haveli-Avadh district {dastAr\
• pi the Oudh division (sarkdr) and province (stiba). It was at this time still
held, or had been lately held, by Bhars. They were expelled, as above1 shown,
by Jagat Singh K&yath, first raja of Amorha. But his Siirajbansi coadjutors
soon picked quarrels with his descendauts. His successor was forced to divide
the parganah with the Rajputs, the latter obtaining its eastern half. Saintly
Br&hmans were persuaded by grants of land to settle themselves on the K&yath
border, as a sort of breakwater against the flood of R&jput invasion. But
neither the compromise nor the precaution was of much avail. The Surajbansia
slowly but surely gained ground, and on the death (1855) of the last E&yath
r&ja had already attained their present position as the predominant territorial
caste.
Meanwhile (about 1721) the viceroys of Oudh had assumed independence
of the Dehli emperors. Amorha thereby became part of a new kingdom ;
and by its new kings was ceded (1801) to the East India Company. It was at
once included in the Gorakhpur district, and has since been assessed with the
following land revenues:— in 1802 Bs. 1,10,431; in 1806 Rs. 1,06,226; in
1809 Rs. 1,09,651; in 1813 Rs. 1,13,052; in 1840 Rs. 1,34,729 ; and in
1860 Rs. 1,65,295. The collector in 1810 reported cultivation as sufficiently
extensive to justify a permanent assessment ; but luckily for the exchequer
the parganah is still temporarily settled. In 1865 Amorh^ became a portion of
the newly- formed district of Basti.
Some account of the local antiquities will be found in the article on
Amorha. The remains are, as a rule, too decayed for
identification by even an expert, but by the country-
folk are generally deemed the monuments of an ancient Th&ru supremacy.
Bakhira or Baghnagar, a market-village in tappa Bakhira of parganah
Magbar and tahsil Kbalilabad, stands on the crossing of two unmetalled
roads, 28 miles east-north-east of Basti. Bakhira and Baghnagar are in
reality not one village, but two adjacent villages. Though held in the latter,
the market usually takes its name from the former. Throughout this article,,
therefore, let B6ghnagar be called Bakhira, and let Bakhira proper be left out
of consideration.
The village had in 1872 a population of 358 only. It is bounded on the
east by a great lake to which it gives its name. The Bakhira-tal has, however,
other titles, being known also as the Bad&nch and the Moti or Pearl lagoon.
The last appellation was bestowed on it by nawab Saadat AJi of Oudh (1797-
1 Pp. 681,721.
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738 BASTI.
1814), who used often to hunt on its banks. A general description of the
lake will be found above.1 Legend relates that it was formerly the
garden of a raja called Mangal, and that it was excavated by the mis*
ohievous tushes of a mighty boar. Lying in wait with a spear, the king
slew that boar ; but the beastrs wraith had its vengeance. Returning
from his successful qnest, Mangal met a band of women celebrating a
festival wherein a thread is tied round the wrist, as in the marriage-rite.
And he good-humouredly joined in the ceremony; but when he reached
his palace his two wives saw the thread on his wrist, and cried — u Our
husband has taken a third sharer of his bed." And in her wrath one of
them, Chola-devi, broke the thread. Thereon the goddess in whose honour
that thread had been tied turned Chola-devi's face into the face of a sow. And
the deformed lady fled to the woods ; but after some time spent in prayer and
penance, the holy saint Angira cured her and restored her beauty. And in
his gratitude king Mangal built a fair staircase descending into that lake
which once had been his garden.8
On the feast of the Shiurattri is held a small fair ; and an unsuccessful
attempt was in the beginning of the century made to remove the scene of this
gathering to the site of the staircase just mentioned. But more important in
a commercial aspect are those weekly markets where the agricultural produce
of the surrounding country is exchanged for coarse cloth and other simple
manufactures. Bakhira was formeriy the capital of a large domain granted
by a raja of B&nsi to his illegitimate kinsman* In 1813 the mud rampart,
ditch, and bambu hedge with which its chiefs had surrounded it still made it
" very inaccessible." But for his rebellion in 1857-58 the last babu of Bakhi-
ra was hanged, and his lands became forfeit to Government. Meanwhile the
domain had been recognized as a separate parganah ; but this was early
during British rule re-absorbed in parganah Maghar.
Bangaon, a village in tappa Bangaon of parganah Amorha and tahsfl Haraia,
stands in the extreme north-western corner of the latter, 29 miles west-north-
west of Basti. Bat this distance is measured as the crow flies, for Bangaon is
approached by no road. Its population amounted in 1872 to but 493 souls;
and the village is remarkable only as the site of a district post-offiee.
Bankata, a village of tappa Majora, in the extreme north of parganah
Maghar and tahsil Khalilabad, stands beside an unmetalled road, 32 miles
north-east of Basti. Here are a third-class police-station and a population,
according to the last census, of 324 inhabitants* Within a few yards of th*
1 F. 668. ' Eastern India, II., 396. * Supra, p. 676.
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BiNSI TOWN. 739
police-station may be Been a district post-office, which for some reason unknown
appears to be called Daldalha.
Bansi, the capital of the tahsil and the pargana so named, crowns the right
or south bank of the R&pti. 32 miles north-north-east
Site and appearance.
of Basti. Several nnmetalled roads from Basti, Do*
mari&ganj, Nep&l, Bankata, and elsewhere converge upon the town ; and the
Bapti is crossed by a ferry belonging to the local r&ja. During the rainy season
the surrounding country is flooded far and near by that river. At other times,
between the high bank of the river and the raised site of the town intervenes a
narrow stretch of cultivated land. But on the east, during most months, lies
an accumulation of water left by the floods ; and into the depression which
it occupies flows most of the town's surface drainage.
But B&nsi should perhaps be called an overgrown village rather than a
town. It had in 1872 a population of 3,391 persons only. And it is a settlement
of the somewhat squalid type usual in rural India : a mass of mud hovels, dotted
here and there with a temple, a mosque, or the brick-built house of some grain-
dealer. Its northern suburb Narkatha, the seat of the r&ja, lies across
the R&pti ; and will be mentioned in a separate article. But the r&jas of B&nsi
used once to live in Bansi itself, and the remains of their castle may still be
seen on a high site in the south-east corner of the town. In the midst of the
ruins rises a great pdkar fig, the supposed abode of a demon who did a former
r&ja to death ; and this tree is now an object of worship. Buchanan, who
thought that the castle was originally reared on a heap of Thiru remains, adds
that the demon was the ghost of a Brahman. Another foundation of the rajas
is the temple of Tegdhar, which, built in 1767-68, is still one of the most noted
Hindu places of worship in Basti.
The town may be divided into two parts, B&nsi proper and Sitalganj.
The former, which is also the older, has a narrow and somewhat tortuous main
street running from south to north, and rising rather suddenly towards the
river. From this street, which is the artery of business, diverge on east and
west other narrow roadways. Though lying close south of B&nsi proper,
Sitalganj is divided therefrom by a plot of low ground. Much smaller than
its northern neighbour, it is also far neater. Built on a well-raised site, it has
four wide roads, meeting in a centre which is used as a market-place on Satur-
days. Another market is held just east of B&nsi proper on Tuesday.
About a hundred yards north-west of B&nsi stands the small and fort-like
tahsili, to which is attached a garden. The other
public buildings of the place are the first-class police-
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740 BASTI.
station, the munsifs court, the imperial post-office, the tahsili school, the hostelry
(sardi) for natives, the staging-bungalow, and the branch dispensary. In this*
goitre-stricken neighbourhood the institution last named is felt to be a great
boon. In 1870 Dr. Planck saw " quite a little line" of sufferers sitting patiently
outside in the sunshine, " awaiting the drying of the red iodide of mercury
applied to their swollen throats." While on the subject of sanitation, we may
mention that the water of the B&nsi wells is, as a rule, bad, discoloured, and
often unpleasant to the taste. Three or four only of such reservoirs supply
water fit for drinking ; and the people slake their thirst chiefly from the Ripti.
How damp the locality is in the rainy season is proved by the fact that the
water in these wells then rises to within seven feet of the surface.
During the past quarter century the prosperity of Bfinsi would seem to
have declined. It was once an important entrepfit for
grain, which passed through it for shipment on the*
Rdpti. Since 1855, however, when the Rapti proper shot its deep stream,
across country to join the Burhi R&pti, this traffic has dwindled. The Ahwa
channel, which now connects the two rivers, is narrow, winding, and impetu-
ous. The difficulty of its navigation somewhat deters merchandise from pass*
ing down stream by way of the Burhi Rapti ; while below B&nsf the bed of the-
B&pti itself has become almost too shoal to bear any cargoes save those of the
rainy season. The house-tax, which was formerly levied in the town under
Act V. of 1861, has been abolished. But a fair local business in grain is stiff
carried on at the weekly markets ; and B£nsi has also two yearly fairs, whioh^
though theoretically religious, are practically mercantile.
Like B&ns-Bareli in Rohilkhand, commonly called Bareilly, Bansi proba-
_. bly derives its name from some ancient plantarion or
plantations of bamboos (bdns) ; but like B4ns-BarehV
it is reputed to take its title from a founder styled Mja Bdnsdeo.. The name of
this prince was perhaps invented, as usual in ancient legends, to account for
that of his foundation. The site of the town is said to have before his time
been called the promontory (komar), because it protruded into the R&pti.1'
And there is probably this amount of truth in the tradition, that about 1570>
a rija of Maghar was driven northwards by Muslim invasions to take refuge,
at Bansi, whence ever since his descendants have taken their titles.
The further history of the town coincides with that of its r&jas, and the
latter has been told above.2 Though he now bears, in the Government
1 There ia still on the north-eastern outakirt of Bansi a. village called Baghaua Soma*
* Pp* 672-7 ft»
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BANSI TAH8fL 741
tahsilddr, * a brother near the throne, " the r6ja is- still the great local
magnate.
BlNSi, a tahsll with headquarters at the place just described, is bounded on
east-south-east by the Gorakhpur distriot, the border being supplied chiefly by
the Qhiinghi and Dhamela rivers ; on the north-east and north by Nep&l ; on
west-north-west by the Domariaganj tahsil ; and on its rather irregular south-
ern frontier by the Basti and Khalllabad tahsils. Tahsil B6nsi contains the
parganah of Bmiyakpur and the 29 eastern and southern tappas of parganah
Bfcnsi. It had in 1878 a total area of 389,931 acres, or over 609 square miles,
and a total land revenue of Rs. 2,43,545. Its population in 1872 was 287,681,
or 472 persons to the square mile. But a detailed account of the tahsil will be
found in the articles on its two parganahs.
Bansi or Ratanpur-B&nsi, the most northern and the largest parganah of
the district, forms part of the Domariaganj and Bansi tahsils. It is bounded
•on the east by the Gorakhpur district and parganah Bin&yakpur; on the north
by Nep&l. Its north-western and south-western sides are indented by the Gonda
district and parganah Rasulpnr respectively. It marches on the south with
parganah Maghar. The boupdary with Gorakhpur is provided mostly by the
Ghunghi and Dhamela rivers ; the boundary with Gonda mostly by the Budhi
Rapti and its affluent, the Arra. B6nsi is divided into 40 tappas. Of these the
11 western— Budhi, Eop, Hir, Eot, KMnkot, Dew&ichpar, Dhebarua, Khajahni,
Khira, Barikpar, and KuniAon— belong to the Domariaganj tahsil. The eastern
remainder, which belongs of course to tahsil Bansi, consists of t&ppas Banjara,
Ghos,1 Bargadoa, Tharauli, Sirwant, Aikhin, Barhon, Dabra, Pachahr; Kundri,
Nandapar, Gharwfapdr, Soh&s, Suhela, Unt&p&r, Nagwa, Naksauli, Hata,
Chaur, Kud&ran, Chhattisi, Beson, Bhir, Patharhat, Patna-Hasanpur, Gulaur,
Ee8arba, Asnar, and Masna. The parganah contains 1,791 estates (tnahdl),
coinciding with the same number of villages {mauza) ; and of these 452 lie in
the Domari&ganj tahsil. It had in 1878 an area of 519,527 acres or about 811}
square miles, and a land revenue of Rs. 3,38,230. Of the former somewhat
over 251 square miles, and of the latter Rs. 1,12,155, belong to Domariaganj.
According to the census of 1872, parganah B&nsi contained 1,842
inhabited sites, of which 1,263 had less than 200
Population.
inhabitants ; 496 between 200 and 500 ; 62 between 500
and 1,000 ; 10 between 1,000 and 2,000 ; and 11 between 3,000 and 5,000.
The population numbered 361,604 souls (170,339 females), giving 854 to
the square mile. Classified according to religion, there were 292,322 Hindfis,
1 Sometime divided into four, v%m^ Birdpor, Alfdfipur-north, AUdapnx-toutb, and Keonu
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742 BASTI.
of whom 137,569 were females, 69,278 Mnsalmdns (32,768 females), and 4
Christians. Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes,
the census shows 35,134 Brahmans (16,651 females), 3,444 KAjputs (1,558
females), and 8,381 Baniyas (3,083 females) ; whilst the great mass of the
population is included in the " other castes," which show a total of 245,363
souls (115,477 females). The principal Brihman sub-divisions found in this
parganah are the Sarwaria (7,119), Kanaujia (350), Gaur (220), Gautam
(127), Sangaldwipi, Lohma, Shukul, Tiwari, Kunjal, Sankah4r, and Balodra.
The Rdjputs belong to the Panwdr (115), Bais (819), Gautam (98), Parwdr
(10), Chauhdn (296), Surajbansi (176), Bh6raddhwaj (10), Raghubansi (92),
Kunwar, Sirnet, Kharog, Bhimla, and Katehriya clans ; the Baniyas to the
Agarw&l (1,071), Kasaundhan (2,890), Kdndu (1,193), Agarahri (1.062), Go-
lapuri, Kasarwani, Jaiswar, Ummar, and Bahwar sub-divisions. Those of the
other castes which exceed in number one thousand souls each are the Bhar
(3,949), Kahar (7,473), Kurmi (15,591), Teli (6,191), Dhobi (9,937), Nai
(3,746), Chamdr (46,451), Ahir (39,456), Gadariya (2,093), Barbai (5,451),
Lohar (4,183), Kfiyath (3,137), Khewat (10,707), Tamboli (4,551), Kalwar
(3,607), Dhark&r (1,747), Kumhir (6,447), Atit (1,069), Chai (4,225), Mill
(4,308), Sunar (1,800), Nuniya (5,791), Bharbhunja (2,339), Koeria (4,577),
Pdsi (9,870), Koli (2,487), Lodha (12,388), R&jbhat1 (2,281), and Arakh (1,669).
The following have less than one thousand members each : — Khatik, B&ri,
Manibe,2 Gosdin, Bairfigi, Bh&t, Khfikrob, Thathera, Koli, Lodha, Halwii,
Patwa, Kanjar, Dh&rhi, Baheliya, Sarihiya, Murfio, Darzi, Bhufnhar, Gound,8
Rangwa, Fakir, Dhuna, Bind, Suthra, Tawdif, Dom, Kdndu, J4t, K&pri,
Musahar, and Bahrupiya. The Musalm&ns are Shaikhs (11,536), Pathans
(7,443), Sayyids (899),Mughals (560), and unspecified.
The occupations of the people are shown in the statistics collected at the
same census. From these it appears that of the male
€ # adult population, not less than 15 years of age, 434
belong to the professional class of officials, priests, doctors, and the like ; 5,392
to the domestic class, which includes servants, water-carriers, barbers, sweepers,
washermen, Ac. ; 3,787 to the commercial class, comprising bankers, camera,
and tradesmen of all sorts ; 87,049 to the agricultural class ; and 12,138 to
the industrial or artisan. A sixth or indefinite class includes 6,418 persons
returned as labourers and 1,573 as of no specified occupation. Taking the total
population, irrespective of age or sex, the same returns give 20,862 as landholders,
1 See article on parganah Amorha, " population," note. * Vid. ibid. » Probably
a ceosus misprint for Gond or Gaonr. The latter is a subdiriaional title of several caatca.siich»
for inatance, as the Halwaia.
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BANSI PABGANAH. ' 743
261,116 as cultivators, and 79,616 as engaged in occupations unconnected
with agriculture., The educational statistics, which are confessedly imperfect,
show 842 as able to read and write out »f a total male population numbering
191,265 souls.
Like all the rest of the district, Bansi is a plain. But in some respects, of
Physical and agricul- degree rather than quality, it differs from its sister
toral features. parganahs. It is slightly less devoid of forest than
they, and it is far moisten Flowing east-south-eastwards through the south
of the parganab, the river RApti divides it into two very unequal portions.
The northern or larger tract may be considered part of the marshy submon-
tane country called the Tar&i ; and here the salient geographical feature is the
multitude of streams.
The Rapti is itself directly fed only by a few petty watercourses which drain
the hollows of tappa Pachahr. In former days it was replenished by the
Parfisi,1 a stream whose chief tributaries are the Ikr&ri and the Bankasiha.
But the Parfoi now falls into the Ghaur T41, largest of the many weedy lagoons
with which the parganah is studded ; and, except in the rainy season, no outlet
conveys its waters from that lagoon to the R&pti. Tet if the R&pti absorbs few
streams, another river which is supposed to occupy its ancient bed absorbs a
host of streams. Itself sluggish and meandering, the old (Burhi) R&pti acta as
a great catchment drain for the reception of many a dashing brook from the
Nep&ese mountains or the country near their foot. It swallows in sncoession
the Arm, the Charangahwa or Chhagrihwa, the Awinda or Aondahi, the Ghurhi-
sotwa, and the Debil&ti. It next receives on its opposite or right bank the Sikri
watercourse, and finally unites with the rapid Banganga at Kakrahigh&t. Into
the streams already mentioned flow many others. Thus the Awinda is rein-
forced by the Sarohi, and the Sarohi by the Kurma and the Satohi. But the
enumeration of all such minor rivulets would swell the present article to a length
which, even if permissible, would be harassing. The rivers of this tract, whether
small or large, are constantly changing their courses. After its junction with the
Banganga the Burhi R&pti has of late years been joined, through the Ahwa
watercourse, by the Rapti itself. The united stream floats on till, at the
edge of the parganah and the district, it meets the Dhamela. And this intro-
duces us to another system of northern drainage.
Of the streams which compose that system we need here mention only
those which cross the northern border. The less important brooks, which
1 Galled by Buchanan the Ghagar or Hani. Bat different local names, aa in the case of
Rhine and Scheldt, are here applied to man j rivers in different parts of their courses,
95
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744 ' BASTI.
rise within the parganah itself, must for sake of brevity be omitted. The
Masdi joins the Jamwar ; the Siswa and the Tinawa join the Tilar ; the Jamw&r
and Tildr combine to form a river known as the Kunda or Kara. The Kara
again is met by the Hagni ; and after its later junction with the Ghunghi is
styled the Dhamela.
The smaller geographical division of B&nsi, the division south of the R&pti,
is far less sw&mpy. Its greater distance from the Him&laya and the Tarai
forests render its rainfall far smaller ; and its climate is for less feverish. Its
streams are purely indigenous ; for the exotic waters, those born outside the
parganah, have been checked in their southward course by the R&pti. Of these
homebred brooks the largest are the Bar&r and its affluent, the Budh. They
are formed by the union of numerous channels which, rising sometimes less
than a mile from the southern bank of the R&pti, suggest the idea of sluices or
escapes from a canal flowing on a higher level. Clearcut, broad, and deep, the
bed of the Barfir favours the tradition that it was once a bed of the Bipti.
After being joined on the southern frontier by the Budh, this Bar&r flows on
to join the Ami in Maghar.
The soils of the parganah are classed as clay (mattiydr), loam (dora&\ and
sand (balua). But of the clay there is a great deal, and of the sand there is
probably very little. A limy-looking variety (bhdt) of the former is extremely
common on the banks of the Bipti, and in the lowlying basins which convey
northern streams towards that river. Being constantly flooded in the rainy
season, it produces no autumn crop ; but for the same reason it yields, without
irrigation, a rich spring harvest The people themselves less frequently name
soil according tp its natural composition than according to its position with
regard to the village homestead. Land is generally called " near " (goenr), or
surrounding that homestead ; "middling " (miydna), or surrounding the near ;
and " far " (paUu), or surrounding the middling.
What proportion of the total area is cultivated cannot exactly be shown.
Many of the villages are forest grants ; l and having thereby escaped re-assess-
ment have also escaped survey. The principal grants are those of AUd&pur,
Birdpur, and Neora in tappa Ghos ; Eatahla in tappa Birtkp&r ; Sarauli in
tappa Unt&p&r ; and Sohta in tappa Sohas. None of these measures less than
3,000 acres, and they cover between them over 60,900. But of the assessed
villages, which measured 409,096 acres, we know that 260,219 acres were
cultivated and that 99,883 more were cultivable. Of the cultivated area,
again, 111,126 acres were watered; while less than ^th was occupied by
1 S*pra, pp. 286-88.
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BXNSI PARGAtfAH. 745
mango groves. B&nsi is do doubt sufficiently moist to retain its moisture
without the aid of trees ; but so long as it produces more grain than it needs,
one can hardly sympathize with Mr. Wynne's remark that such plantations
are a deplorable waste of the best land. Since 1813 the " very stately forest1'
of sdl and other trees on the bapks of Bnrhi R&pti, the stunted woods on the banks
of Jam war and Til&r, have been thinned with no sparing axe. And the plough
has made great inroads on the dismal stretches of long coarse grass which,
flooded in the rains and withered in summer, offended the eye of Buchanan.
Besides the usual autumn and spring harvests, Mr. Wynne reckons a
third, the winter or jarharu But the only crop garnered at this intermediate
reaping is rice, the staple grain not only of the northern clay lands but of the
parganah at large. Rice is also the chief growth of autumn, covering more than
thrice the ground occupied by the second great crop of that season, urd or
tndsh pulse. The principal products of the spring harvest are wheat, and next,
after a long interval, barley, peas, linseed, and arhar pulse. None of the crops
hitherto mentioned covers less than 10,000 acres. The area occupied by the more
paying staples — poppy, sugarcane, tobacco, and vegetables— is comparatively
small. But in years just preceding assessment landlords strive to reduce the
apparent value of the land, and sueh crops are sparsely grown. It is sig-
nificant that within the two years immediately succeeding the assessment survey
the cultivation of poppy had increased in the proportion of 84 to 137. The
masters of the soil are chiefly Brahmans.
The parganah has no manufactures worth mentioning. The crops, which are
^^ . its only important product, find a sale at many villages
where weekly markets are held. But if Bansi is not
a great producer, it is a great distributor. Its through-trade with Nepal
centres in the marts of Biskohar and Uska ; and how considerable the traffic
of these places is has been shown above.1 Fairs are held twice yearly at Bansi ;
at Kakrabighfit in October-November, and in March-April near Aliiapur.
The gathering last named, which assembles on what is called the Dasahra of
Chait (March- April); is the most important of its kind in the parganah. Lasting
for about nine days, it is held in honour of a goddess named P<a. Before her
image are offered goats, rams, and even buffaloes ; but the real object of the fair is
commerce rather than religion. Buchanan (1813) estimated the number of visitors
at 50,000, of whom some 300 or 400 were the usual itinerant tradesmen. Since
his time, however, the attendance has greatly declined. A second and smaller
fair was formerly held at the same place on the Dasahra of Karttik (Ootober-
1 P. 699.
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746
BASTI.
November). The principal road centres of the parganah are B&nsi and Dam-
durawa. The principal roads are the unmetalled lines (1) from Domariaganj to
Nepfil by way of Intwa ; (2) from Basti to Nepdl by way of B&nsi, Dumdamwa,
and Birdpur ; (3) from Dumdumwa to Lautan. But the parganah is intersec-
ted also by some four or five unmetalled lines of a poorer class. Daring the
rainy season traffic is greatly impeded by the flooded state of the country.
Bat several of the rivers, such as the two R&ptis and the Dbaroela, are naviga-
ble; and were it not for numerous "snags," the same might be said of many
northern streams like the Jamw&r. The only places of importance, besides
those already mentioned, are Chilia, Dhebaraa, Misraulia, Soh&s, and Tharauli.
Till the beginning of the present century the history of B&nsi is almost
„, identical with that of the Sarnet r&jas, who derive their
History. . m .
title from its capital. Little, therefore, need here be
added to what has been said on pages 672-76. In Akbar's Institutes (1596) the
parganah is entered as Ratanpnr-Maghar or Ratanpur-B&nsi, the first part of
this name being derived from that of its r&ja, Ratan ; while Katahla, which was
just afterwards absorbed within its limits, appears as a separate sab-division.
Bat if B&nsi gained by the annexation of Katahla on the north, it lost by the
gradual separation of Maghar on the south. The first to withdraw any part
of the latter parganah from the rule of its Sarnet r&ja were the invading Mnsal-
m&ns ; bat large tracts were afterwards alienated by the act of the r&jas them-
selves. Thus, towards the end of last century 987 villages were made over to
a cadet of the family, the ancestor of the rebel b&bu of Bakhira.
About 80 years after B&nsi had fallen from the grasp of Akbar's successors
into that of their now independent Oudh deputies, it was ceded (1801) by the
latter to the English. B&nsi, Maghar, and Bakhira were recognized as separate
parganahs of the newly-formed Gorakhpur district ; and the first was included
in the B&nsi tahsil. The demands with which it was assessed at successive
settlements of land-revenue were : in 1802, Rs. 24,120; in 1806, Rs. 21,591 ;
in 1809, Rp. 29,439; in 1818, Rs. 81,571 ; in 1840, Rs. 2,45,541 ; and in
1864, Rs. 3,05,127. From the three last sets of figures the advance which cul-
tivation had made daring 50 years of British rule is clearly apparent. In the
year succeeding that last named B&nsi was severed from Gorakhpur, to form part
of the newly-created Basti district.
'• The chief remains of antiquity, n writes' Bachansn, « to (Wc) Katahla, in the forest on
the southern bauk of the Barhi Rapti. It is said to hare originally
Antiquities. ^^ ^ ^t ot ^ Thir6% after which u became the chief residence
of chiefs called the Katahla rsjas.1 They appear to hare been totally exterminated by the
* Supra, pp. 674-76, 790, and 724.
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HANSI PARGANAH. 747
Sarnet chief who took the place." But a legend asserts that "the family, haying offended
the goddess of their city (Katahla Devi), was by her converted into stones, and that these
still remain in their original forms. The place seems to have been a town with many buildings
of brick and small tanks, but no traces of fortification ; and to have extended more than a
mile each way, although I could not fully trace its outline. The brick buildings are reduced
to mere heaps ; but the bricks are not so much broken as In the ruins usually attributed to the
Th&rus, and they are quite in a different style. The ruins of Thirds usually consist of one
great mass like what may be supposed to have been the remains of one great building, with
some small heaps adjacent ; but Katahla consists of many small heaps scattered at irregular
•distances over a great extent of ground.
M There are few stones remaining. One, which is a flag smoothed on one side and cut into
mouldings on the edges, is placed with one end in the ground and worshipped as Katahla Devi.
&any offerings of potter's ware are placed around ; for it is supposed that no cowherd or
woodcutter could safely enter the forest without procuring her favour by such an offering.
The Bharsof 8anauli are the priests ; whence perhaps it may be inferred that the rajas of
Katahla were of this tribe, which it is generally allowed to hare succeeded the Tharus. ftear
this stone/on the aide of a tank, are the foundations of two small temples, the chamber in
<each of which has been only a few feet in diameter. In one is placed part of an image called
Bhawani; bnt it ia the head and breast of a male, so far as can be judged from what remains.
The fragments worshipped in the ruin of the other temple are so small that it is impossible to say
what they hare been intended to represent. On a heap of brick, some way distant from thencer
f s lying a stone spout which terminates in a crocodile's head very rudely carved. It probably
nerved to convey out the water used in washing the image that stood in the temple. All the
people, however, with me worshipped it by prostration and by tonohing it with their foreheads.
" After the destruction of Katahla, the Sarnet built a large mud fort at Sanauli in the
same forest It has a deep and wide ditch and a strong rampart; but
BananH and 8ar»yat. or*
within there was no considerable building. The town, however, was large,
and has contained some buildings of brick ; but it has long been deserted except by a few
Bhars, who cut wood* The village of Sarayat, about 10 or 1 1 miles north from Band, stands on
a heap attributed to the Tharus, but very small and not clearly marked : the quantity of rubbish
being trifling. At the south end of the village ia a Unga (phallus) very much decayed. Under
a tree in the village are some stones. Neither the pandit of the survey nor I could learn any
tradition concerning these images.
" The chief object of worship is Piita Devi in the wood near the Jamwar. The chief of
the convent of Atf ths at Bakhira is the priest of the goddess. There are
** w " two small temples, but quite modern, having been built by the prede-
cessor of the present priest They are in the sfnhammadan style, that consist of a cubical
chamber surmounted by a dome. They stand on the ruins of a large temple, the foundations of
which in some places are still a few feet high ; and a fragment of a stone pillar, and the images,
ntill remain. There is no doubt that the images are very ancient. In one temple a large an-
gular stone projects from the floor, and is said to be a lmga ; nor has it a greater resemblance to
anything else. In the other modern building is the image called Palta, exceedingly worn by
the lapse of ages, and the features totally obliterated. It represents the goddess destroying
a man who has sprung from the truncated neck of a buffalo, so common in the monuments of
the sect of Buddha in Bihar. Before the two modern temples, at the limits of the ancient
building, is a tree, under which are portions of two broken lingas. At each Dasahra there is an
assembly (the Falta Devi fair above mentioned.)
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748 BASTT.
" Abont- four or five mfles east from Mahadewa1 1 saw two elevations somewhat like the
rniirs attributed to the Tbarus, but containing: fewer bricks. They were called Trupaaandihi
and Trnpasandihi-ka-JhuDga, the latter word signifying a grove ;* for the ruin is covered with
trees. On this latter is a small conical heap of brick s, which has evidently been a temple ; and
on its ruin have been placed two lingas, which it probably once contained. On Trnpasandihi,
or the high place of the worshipper of three gods, there are in fact three llngas placed under a
tree. They are exceedingly weather-worn, and one of them, on the side of the phallus, has
a human face. Besides these there are many fragments.
. " There are the ruins of some petty forts, erected by various ra j*s aad thieves, especially
one at hf usharua, about two miles from Mahadewa, which was a stronghold of theBanjfra tribe,
when ttiese predatory merchants were in the habit of plundering Binsi."
BXrakuni, hamlet of Snnh&n a village, in tappa Seobakhn of parganah Ma-
faauli and tahsil Basti, is noticeable only as the site of a third-class police station.
It lies 24 miles south-south-east of Basti, and had in 1872 a population of 534
souls.
BA8TI, the capital of the district, stands in north latitude 26° 49' and east
longitude 82° 44', 116 miles by rail and road from Benares.8 It is the chief
town not only of the district but of tahsfl Basti, parganah Basti, and tappa
Haveli. Its site has an area of 127 acres, with a population of 40 to the acre.
Its inhabitants amounted in 1872 to 5,087 persons, of whom 3,723 were
Hindus (1,660 females) and 1,361 were Musalmans (619 females). But as the
people of Basti muster less than 10,000, the census report leaves their occupa-
tions undetailed. In 1847, 1853, and 1865, when they mustered less than 5,000,
even their numbers are not mentioned.
The mud-built town of Basti stands on a site but little raised above the low
Site and appearance. green rioe-lands which surround it. It consists chiefly
Old Basti. 0f the old entrenched village whose citadel was the still
existing castle of the raja. The fortifications of this village were constructed
in much the same manner as those of a Soman camp. A square whose skies
measured each about half a mile was enclosed within a wide ditch, and
the earth dug from this excavation was thrown up on its inner side to form a
wall or bank. The bank now appears as a weatberbeaten mound of varying
height, but no value for the prevention of ingress or egress ; while the ditch
is a stagnation of broken margin and varying width. Thus the town is stfl!
surrounded by water, which is broadest on the eastern side. Near this
eastern side, moreover, lies a rice-fringed lagoon. The site is not, on the
whole, one which would have been chosen by a medical committee.
1 Mahadewa or Mahdewa of tappa Aikhin was in Buchanan's time the headquarters of a
police circle named Dhuliya-Bhandar. * Or rather a brushwood thicket. The
• details of this distance are these ' — By rail from Benares to Akbarpur, 84 miles ; .by road
from Akbarpnr to Basti, 38; total 112. Another and longer route is as follows:— By
rail from Benares to Faisabad, 120 miles j by road from Faisabad to Basti, 40 f total, 169.
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BASTI TOWN. 749
Through the east of that site runs, wide and straight, a metalled road. This
is merely the end of a branch which connects the town with the more southerly
Gorakhpur and Faizabad highway; but it supplies Basti with a high street.
Well raised aud drained, and crossing the surrounding ditch on bridges, it is
flanked on either side by houses which are chiefly shops. None of these houses
is brick-built, and the great majority are one-storied. But their raised
earthen floors and tiled roofs, with a few double-storied buildings of the same
kind intermixed, give this street an appearance of neatness which is not
encountered in other parts of the town. Off it Basti becomes a mass of
crowded hovels which differs in no respect from an ordinary village. Even on
the main road itself the only spot which suggests the idea of a brisk trade
is the Chauk, or crossing where four roads meet This is used as a market-
place on Tuesdays and Saturdays ; and in its neighbourhood are most of the
few good wells which the town can boast. The water in the Basti wells rises
to within some 10 or 11 feet of the surface, but is seldom sweet enough for
healthy drinking.1 It is almost a case of " water, water everywhere, nor any
drop to drink."
From the statement that the main road passes through the east of the town
it may be inferred that most of the houses lie west of that highway. And this
western portion of Basti is, like that of London, the most aristocratic quarter.
Here stands, high -raised and strongly built, the castle (kol) of the rfija. Cover-
ing almost the whole of the mound which it adorns, it occupies about 4 acres of
ground. It is girt on all sides save the east by one of those thick and lofty
quickset hedges of male bambu* which once formed so impenetrable a barrier
round all the baronial strongholds of the district. Outside all lies a ditoh which is
never very poor in water. The building has a picturesque frontage, with a steep
entrance-way rising to the main gate; while opposite this facade is a small openr
plain, used as a picket for the wealthy owner's elephants, horses, and cattle.
Elsewhere in the town are several other breathing-holes of the same kind. Ad-
joining the castle is the Paithan-tola quarter, a widespread congery of poor
mud houses which has a little bazar of its own.
East of the main road the only building that need be mentioned is the old
hostelry (sar&i). This is a large quadrangle of the usual untidy type, but
shaded within by some good trees. The main road is met at its north-eastern
end by the unmetalled lines from Menhd&wal, Bansi, and Domariftganj. On its
south-western exit from the town it travels on through Nayfi Bazar to the civil
station.
1 Sanitary Commissioner's Report, 1870. 9 Dend rocolammttirietus.
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750 BASTL
Naya Bazar or Newmarket, so called in contradistinction to the old Basti
just described, is a modern growth of shops and other
buildings which has sprung up along the road on the
lands of 5 different villages. On the same highway, between the town and the
civil-station, stand the central {tadr} dispensary and the new hostelry. The
former was once the tahsildar's office; the latter is a large masonry building,
greatly frequented by travellers passing through Basti on their way to or
from Faizabad.
The civil station clusters around the point where the road just mentioned joins
the Gorakhpur-Faizabad line. The site is on the lands
Civil station.
of Amhat village, some three miles south-west of
the town ; and, being well-raised, drains readily towards the neighbouring
Kuina. The station crowns, in fact, the slope which rises north-eastwards from
that river ; and the name of Maohhora, sometimes borne by the latter, is
perhaps suggestive of the excellent fishing with which its flowing waters pro-
vide the European residents. Of European dwellings there are some half-
dozen only, but more are hardly required. There are also a church, a
library, and a swimming-bath. The principal public buildings are the court,,
office, and treasury of the magistrate-collector ; the court where the judge of
Gorakhpur holds occasional sessions ; a large tahsildari ; the central post-office;,
the tahsili school ; the district jail ; the staging bungalow ; and the Government
opium store-house, which lies east of the station. This European quarter ia
fairly planted with rnahua and mango-trees. Indeed, the name of Amhat pro-
bably means mango-market.
The public institutions, not hitherto mentioned, are the two parganah school*
in Old Basti and Naya Bazar respectively ; and the imperial post-offioe, the
raunsif s court, the first-class police-station, and two Anglo-vernacular schools,
all in the former.
Basti has no important manufactures. It is at best little more than the-
_>, market-town of an agricultural tract It has no muni-
cipality, no house-tax under Act V. of 1861. But it
has for many years possessed a fine roadway ; and a fine roadway is the begin-
ning of improvement in all our North-Western towns. Like other mud-built
settlements, Old Basti is disfigured by many stagnant waterholes, which have
been dug to supply material for its dwellings. But these excavations can be
filled in, and further buildings erected, with earth from the old embankment
which surrounds the town. And improvements of this nature have been in
progress for years.
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BASTI PARGANAH. 751
The original village perhaps owed its first promotion to its selection as the
seat of its first raja. This event probably took place
at some time in the seventeenth century.1 As the
capital of the new principality Basti obtained an importance which it has never
since lost When, on its cession to the British (1801), it ceased being the
capital of a principality, it became the capital of a tahsil. Bat, if still important,
Basti was neither rich nor beautiful. Buchanan some years afterwards ("1813)
describes it as " more sorry than any place of the size in the (Gorakhpur-Basti)
district ;" and its people as seeming " in the most abject state of poverty." He
adds that the town then contained 500 houses, of which 110 were two-storied
and two were built partly of brick. One of these two last was " the very sorry
mud-walled castle" of the r&ja. The mud wall of the village itself appears to
have been supplemented by a bambu hedge which has since disappeared. For
some time before the Great Rebellion (1857) Basti had been the site of an
opium storehouse and treasury, which was guarded by a detachment of native
infantry. But the place did not attain its present leading position until eight
years later (1865), when it was chosen as the headquarters of the newly-estab-
lished district. Since then it has steadily grown, both in population and in
general importance.
About a quarter of a mile south of the town, at Manhan, is a ruin attributed
. . . . to the Thfirus. It consists of a heap of rubbish
Antiquities. .
about 200 yards in diameter, irregular m form and
surface, and without any trace of a ditch. Tradition says that its summit was
once hallowed by a phallic emblem {lingo) of Shiva; but this had, even before
Buchanan's time, disappeared. Some three-quarters of a mile north-east of
Old Basti, in Lakhnaura village, rises another mound of reputed Th&ru origin.
" It may," writes the author just mentioned, " be 300 yards in diameter,
but (is) of very little elevation ; whether from having originally consisted of
a number of small buildings, or from many of the bricks having been removed,
I cannot say." About 1,000 yards beyond this, in Barwa village, is another
ruin assigned to founders of the same race. " Its diameter is smaller, but the
elevation is more considerable, although it contains more earth than usual.
On it is a linga very much decayed. About two miles beyond this, north and
east, is another ruin called Arel, and attributed to the Th&rfis. It is about 300
1 The first raja of Basti seems to hare flourished ten generations after his ancestor Sej,
whose date may be placed about the middle of the fourteenth century {supra, p. 678). And
ten generations may be set down as equalling something oyer 300 years. Had the Basti princi-
pality, moreover, been founded before the end of the sixteenth ceatury, parganah Basti would
probably have appeared in the Mn-i-Akbari under its present name and not under that of
Mandwa.
96
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752 BASTI.
yards in diameter, but is higher than (that of) Lakhnanra. Some deep and large
excavations have been made into it, probably in search of bricks.' *
Basti, a tahsil with head-quarters at the place just described, is bounded on
east-by-south by tahsil Khalilabad; on north-by- west by tahsils B&nsi and
Domari&ganj; on west-by-north by the Haraia tahsil; and on south-south-
west by the Gh&gra, which divides it from the Faizabad district Tahsil Basti
contains the eastern parts of parganahs Nagar (7 tappas) and Basti (7 ); the north-
western corner of parganah Maghar (3) ; and the western portion of parganah
Mahauli (10). It had in 1878 a total area of 350,009 acres, or nearly 547
square miles; and a total land-revenue of Rs. 2,82,738. Its population in 1872
was 313,327, or 571 persons to the square mile. But a detailed account of the
tahsil will be found in the articles on its four parganahs.
Basti or Manstirnagar-Basti, a parganah of the Basti and Haraia tahsils, is
bounded on the east-north-east by parganah Maghar, a border being supplied
by the Katnehia watercourse and its affluent, the Garehia ; on the north- north-
west by parganah Rastilpur and the Gonda district ; on west-south-west by
parganah Amorha; and on the south by parganahs Nagar and Mahauli, the
boundary with the former being supplied chiefly by the Ku&na river and its
affluent the Raw&i. The parganah is divided into 1 1 tappas. Of these the seven
eastern — Kothila, tfmrah, Paria, Karar, Haveli, Deor&on and Sikandarpur
—belong to the Basti tahsil ; thd four western — Shitipur-Gop&lpur, Atroh, Ratan-
pur, and Hardi— belong to the tahsil Haraia. Basti contains 926 estates (mahdl),
almost coinciding with the same number of villages (mauza); and of these 578
lie in the Basti tahsil. The parganah had in 1878 an area of 181,389 acres, or
nearly 283| square miles ; and a land-revenue of Rs. 1,54,977. Of the former just
over 171 square miles, and of the latter Rs. 98,185, belong to the Basti tahsil.
According to the census of 1872 Basti contained 796 inhabited sites, of
which 507 had less than 200 inhabitants; 241 between
Population. 2Q0 ^d 50Q^ ^g between 50() Rn(j ](m; and g
between 1,000 and 2,000. The only town containing more than 5,000 inhabitants
was Basti, with a population of 5,087.
The population numbered 168,893 souls (90,225 females), giving 1,181 to
the square mile. Classified according to religion there were 150,594 Hindus,
of whom 70,224 were females; 18,295 Musalm&ns (8,443 females); and
4 Christians. Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes,
the census shows 20,205 Brahmans (9,440 females) ; 5,534 R&jputs (2,465
females); and 4,464 Baniy as (2,053 females); whilst the great mass of the
population is included in the "other castes/9 which show a total of 120,391 souls
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BASTI PARGANAH. 753
(56,26C females). The principal Br&hman sub-divisions found in this pargatnah
are the Barwaria (15,126), Kananjia (188), Qaur (218), Gautam (46), Shnkul,
Mahirisht, and San&dh. The Rajputs belong to the Ponwfir (55), Bais (1,211),
Gautam (348), Parwar (350), Chauhan (97), Stirajbansi (95), Bh&raddhwaj (212),
Raghubansi (273), Rajkumar, Eulh&ns, Sakarw&r, Bachgoti, EUthor, Sarwar,
and Kharog clans; the Baniyas to the Agarw&l (62), Easaundhan (2,742), K&ndu
(109). Agarahri (1,112), Panwar, and Bandarwir sub-divisions. Those of the
other castes which exceed in number one thousand souls each are the Bhar (3,982),
Kah&r (4,012), Kurmi (23,940), Teli (3,174), Dhobi (3,166), N« (2,316),
Cham&r (27,428), Ahfr (16,439), Barhai (3,037), Loh*r (1,739), K&yath
(2,378), Khewat (1,487); Tamboli (2,488), Kalwdr (1,048), Khatik (1,437),
Kumh&r (3,465), Ch&i (2,703), Mili (2,997) and Nuniya (2,164). The follow-
ing have less than one thousand members each:— Gadariya, Dhark&r, B&ri, Atit,
Son4r, Manihar, Bharbhunja, Koeri, Gos&in, Bairagi, P&si, Bh&t, Kh&krob,
Thathera, Koli, Lodha, Halwai, Patwa, Eanjar, Dh&rhi, Arakh, Rangwa, Mussu-
bar, Kam&ngar, Tarkhar, Baisw&r, and Bhartiya. The Musalmfins are (Shaikhs
(1,833), Path4ns (1,828), Sayyids (100), Mughals (47), and unspecified.
The occupations of the people are shown in the statistics collected at the
same census. From these it appears that of the male
Occupations. . i ,i <.* ~
adult population (not less than 15 years of age) 427
belong to the professional class of officials, priests, doctors, and the like ;
3,839 to the domestic class, which includes servants, water-carriers, barbers,
sweepers, washermen, &c. ; 587 to the commercial class, comprising bankers,
carriers, and tradesmen of all sorts ; 42,508 to the agricultural class ; and
2,615 to the industrial or artisan. A sixth or indefinite class includes 3,353
persons returned as labourers and 346 as of no specified occupation. Taking
the total population, irrespective of age or sex, the same returns give 15,877
as landholders, 119,178 as cultivators, and 33,838 as engaged in occupations
unconnected with the agriculture. The educational statistics, which are con-
fessedly imperfect, show 538 as able to read and write out of a total male
population numbering 90,225 souls.
The parganah is an alluvial and fairly fertile champaign, sloping impercep-
Physical and agricultural tibly towards the south-east. Shaded by many a
features. sombre grove, it has, nevertheless, no woodland of
sufficient continuity to be called a forest.1 In such a tract we should expect
, Of the extensive forest which in 1813 skirted the banks of the Kuana little remains save
the mahua trees. But even in 1813 this woodland is described as consisting largely of plan-
tations thst had run wild. Tbe so-called forest grant of Hardi, in the tappa bearing that
name, is now a great expanse of cultiration. Its area is over 13,000 acres. But for some
account of such grants tee pp. 286-88.
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754 BASTI.
the chief natural features to be the rivers and lagoons, the ehief artificial
feature a high state of cultivation. And in Basti this expectation would be
verified.
The principal river is the Kn&na, which flows south-south-eastwards across
the whole breadth of the parganah. Its high and abrupt banks are through-
out Basti fringed by a narrow belt of brushwood and trees. Steep also are
the banks of the Raw&i, which, after an east-south-easterly course through the
parganah and along its southern frontier, joins the Ku&na. The Garehia, a
narrow channel in the centre of a broad depression, runs south-eastwards
along the Maghar boundary. It at length joins the Katnehia, whose waters
wander in the same direction to form the same border. Issuing from the
Jasoia lagoon, between tappas tfmrah and Sikandarpur, this Katnehia is the
only one of all the streams here mentioned which rises in Basti itself. Save only
the Ku&na, whose bed lies too much below the level of the surrounding
country, all these rivers are a fertile source of irrigation.
The same may be said of the lagoons, whereof the chief are Bhm'la in
tappa Atroh; Aila in tappa Shiiipur ; Saraini in tappa Kothila ; Jasoia,
Dudhrfs, and Pharendia in tappa tfmrah ; Hasanpur and Kanethu-Buzurg in
tappa Sikandarpur ; Rasna, Majbaua, Jagat, and Bhartpur in tappa Paria ;
Karar-khas, Tdl-khara, and T6l-Balaur in tappa Karar ; and Nariion, tfrw&ra,
Jokaila, Sengraula, and Mahdeo in tappa Haveli. But rivers and lagoons
are not the only reservoirs which moisten and refresh the fields. The average
depth of water is less than 10 feet from the surface; the soil favours the
construction of wells ; and at the land-assessment 2,845 of such excavations
were found in working order. Of the total cultivated area, 113,146 acres,
95,773 were returned as irrigated.
Here as elsewhere the soils are divided into clay, sand, and that loam
which is a compound of both. The tappas east of the Kufina, those in the
Basti tahsfl, have for the most part a loamy surface ; but in some, as for
instance in tappa tfmrah, fine clay-lands are often encountered. The Haraia
or west-Ku&na tappas have a lighter and more sandy mould. Of the culti-
vated area 76,258 acres are recorded as tilled for the spring and 36,799
acres for the autumn harvest. Roughly noting in thousands of acres the
space occupied by the principal crops of the former season, we get the following
results :— Wheat, 24J ; peas, 12| ; arhar pulse, 8£ ; linseed, 6 ; sugarcane, 4$ ;
and barley, 4. Marked in the same manner, the chief autumn crops stand
thus :— Rice, 26 £ ; and urd pulse, 4£. Of the more valuable agricultural staples
cotton and indigo are unknown. The prejudice against the latter, which in
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BASTI PARGANAH. 755
1865 was still sparsely cultivated, seemed chiefly due to the "inquisitorial
interference " of factory subordinates whose employers had granted advances
for its growth. Poppy, which at the spring harvest covers an area
next greatest to that of barley, is described as "a mine of wealth to
the parganah." How large the acreage occupied by sugarcane has been
already shown. The owners of the soil are chiefly Rajputs, Br&hmans, and
K&yaths.
The principal markets at which the grain of the parganah finds a sale are
the district capital Basti, Deoraon, and Mansurnagar.
Economical features. •
Being on the banks of the Ku&na river, writes
Mr. P. J. White, " Deor&on does a brisker export and import trade than Basti,
which is more of a central market. From Deor&on grain is extensively
exported by water to Gola-Gop&lpur1 on the Gh&ghra; and it receives thence,
in return, all the usual native articles of luxury and necessity, excepting coarse
cloth which is manufactured by Jul&has (Muslim weavers) in the parganah."
The smaller marts are Bhairuganj of tappa Hardi ; Eusama and Siswa in
tappa Haveli ; Sonaha and Kotheli of tappa Kothila ; Majhaua-Mir of tappa
Paria ; Sultaua and Sahibganj in tappa Sikandarpur ; Mahu&dabar of tappa
Atroh ; and Kesr&i, Belghfit, Tendna, Pagarghat, Kachia, and Ghhatra of tappa
Shiupur. The four last named are modern foundations. But all these miDor
markets, whether old or new, open twice weekly. To them the villagers of the
neighbourhood bring cotton, thread, tobacco, salt, vegetables, coarse cloth,
ornaments and toys. A casual huckster sometimes appears with metal utensils.
But at each place the main trade is the grain-trade, conducted by from 10 to
20 corn-chandlers. Several yearly fairs cause an occasional outflash of petty
trade in places where at most times even petty trade is unknown. A large
gathering of this kind takes place at Ajudhy a ghat on the Kuana, beside a
temple sacred to Shiva as Lord of Hardwdr (Hardw&rnath). The assemblage
is held on the full moon of Chait (March- April) ; and, like the great fair at
Hardwar itself, has sometimes been disturbed by outbreaks of cholera. Of
manufactures deserving the name the parganah has absolutely none. Its prin-
cipal road is the metalled highway from Gorakhpur to Ifaizabad, passing
through Basti ; but on Basti converge, chiefly from the north, several good
unmetalled lines. Starting from Bhanpur in Rastilpur, another road of the
latter class passes south-westwards, by Mansurnagar and Paikaulia, to meet
that first named at Bikramjot in Amorha. The Kuana provides the tract
with a small but central water-route.
1 Svpra, pp. 488-89.
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756 BASTI.
From its aboriginal Dom or half-aboriginal Domkat&r masters parganaa
Basti seems to have been wrested in the fourteenth
century by Kulh&ns R&jputs. For long an integral
portion of the Kulh&ns principality of Gonda, it was at length granted to a
cadet of the ruling house, the ancestor of the present r&ja of Basti. But
towards the end of the sixteenth century it fell under the superior power of
the Dehli emperors. In the Domesday- Book (1596) of Akbar it is entered
as Mandwa, a part of the Gorakhpur district (dasttir), Gorakhpur division
(sarkdr)j and Oudh province (*tfta). About 1720, when the power of Dehli
bad declined, their viceroy in this Oudh province assumed independence; and
Basti continued under its new masters until 1801, when ceded by them to the
British. It was now placed in the Gorakhpur district, of which it remained
part until severed in 1865 to form with other parganahs the new district of
Basti. Meanwhile it had been assessed with the following land-revenues : —
Bin. 29,741 in 1803 ; Rs. 28,533 in 1806; Rs. 28,425 in 1809; Rs. 43,061
in 1813; Rs. 1,02,855 in 1840; and Rs. 1,49,115 in 1865,
The rather insignificant antiquities of Basti have been described in the
article on that town. The only other remains men-
Antiquities, ii.
tioned by Buchanan are those beside the Bhuila
lagoon, some 15 miles west of Basti. Attributed as usual to the Th&rds, they
©onsist of a roundish heap of brick dibris, some 1,200 yards in circumference,
but of trifling elevation. " The tops of the walls of several chambers may be
traced on a level with the present surface, and these probably show that the
building has been a house and not a temple, as the chambers are small. On
the south side of the heap, adjacent to a tank nearly obliterated, there projects
from the rubbish about 2£ feet of an octagonal stone pillar, much weather-worn
and having its sides alternately wider and narrower. It is called Sivawa, and is
considered an object of worship. On a small heap of rubbish between the above-
mentioned tank, the great ruin and the marshy lake are two places of worship.
One, dedicated to an anonymous Muhammadan martyr (Bhuila Shahid), has
no tomb ; but images of potter's ware are placed under a tree to obtain his
favour. The other is a linga (phallus) called the Bhuile&var. North from the
great heap are two smaller ones quite detached, but at a, small distance.
" The Kulhfins RAjpute, who now hold the country, had built about 100
forts, many of which had gone to ruin when Major Rutledge (Mr. Collector
Routledge) destroyed the remainder. The chief seat of the tribe, in the woods
about 7 ko8 (14 miles) north-west of Basti, was called Silanagar; but the
Muhammadans changed its name into Mansurnagar, in honour of Mansur Ali
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BHARI. 757 '
Khin, father of. Shuj£-ud-daula and vazir of the empire." Buchanan goes
on to describe this Mansiirnagar, which gives the pargana to its first name, as
entirely deserted. It has since then been repeopled ; and is now, as already ^
mentioned, one of the principal markets in the tract.
Bblwa BAzAr is a flourishing mart on the lands of Hanumdnpur village
in tappa Belwa of parganah Amorha and tahsil Haraia. Situated near the
point where the metalled Gorakhpur and Faizabad road meets the Gh&gra, it
stands some 28 miles west of Basti. The population amounted in 1872 to 757
persons only. But Belwa has a fourth-class police-station and some commer-
cial importance. The market, which stands on land confiscated after the
mutiny, is leased to the rija of Basti. Hither is brought, for export across or
down the Gh&gra, nearly all the surplus grain of the surrounding parganahs.
By the same river are imported brass vessels from Mirz&pur and cloth
from the towns of Bengal. From' Nepal come by road iron, copper,
vessels of those metals, spioes, ginger, and turmeric. By road too, through
Oudh, carts bring the raw cotton, which has been collected at Eanauj and
Cawnpore.
Bhadbsar, a village in tappa Deor&on of parganah and tahsil Basti, is
remarkable only as the scene of a large yearly fair. This takes place in Febru-
ary-March, lasts several days, and has an estimated attendance of 6,000 visi-
tors. But the village, which is 4 miles south-south-west of Basti, had in 1872
a permanent population of 232 persons only.
Bhanpur, a village in tappa Chhapia of parganah Rasiilpur and tahsil
' Domariaganj, is remarkable only as the site of a tahsili school. Standing on
the junction of two unmetalled roads, 19 miles north -north-west of Basti, it in
1872 had 930 inhabitants. The villagers hold market every Monday. This
Bh&npur must not be confused with that other market-village which gives its
name to tappa Bhinpur in the same parganah.
Bhari, in tappa Sagara of parganah Rasiilpur and tahsil Domari&ganj,
lies 28 miles north north-west of Basti ; and had in 1872 only 539 inhabitants.
But it must be noticed for the same reason as the place last named. It has
a tank which is celebrated as one of Krishna's favourite bathing-places ; and
hereby is held, in the end of October-November (Karttik), a fair which
boasts some 50,000 attendants. The gathering lasts for about a fortnight.
During its continuance the waterside is crowded with the booths of pedlars,
confectioners, and other dealers in cheap trifles. But the ostensible object of
the fair is the ceremonial bathing (ashndn) which takes place on the full moon
of the month.
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758 BASTI.
The tank retains its shape too well to claim an antiquity of very many
centuries. Bat beside it rises, to a height of some 18 feet above the surrounding
plain, a mound of ruins ; and if Mr. Wynne is right in calling these the d&ris
of successive temples, Bhari must be a place of ancient sanctity. Around the
mound are several smaller tanks and the remains of several detached buildings.
The mound itself is a large heap of brick rubbish. Irregular in form and surface,
it extends some 400 yards from north to south and some 350 from east to west.
It " has evidently been," writes Buchanan, " a very large house, palace or
castle, with several small tanks encroaching on the sides, but no traces of a
ditch." The full name of the place is Bharat- bhari ; that is, according to the
villagers, the enclosure (bdri) of Bharat, the brother of Rama. But the towns-
men of Domariraganj told the writer just quoted that the eponymous hero was
a Tharu called Bharatbhari.
Binayakpur, the smallest parganah of the district and the Bausi tabsil, is
sometimes, to distinguish it from its namesake in Gorakhpur, called Binayak-
pur West. Occupying the north-eastern corner of the district, it is itself
bounded on the north-east by Nepal ; on the north-west, west, and south-south*
west by parganah Bansi ; and on the south-east by the river Ghunghi, which
severs it from the Gorakhpur district. Binayakpur has two tappas — the north-
ern named Bbatimpar, the southern Netwar or Nitwal. It is divided into 107
estates (mahdl), coinciding as a rule with the revenue divisions known as
villages (mauza). It had in 1878 an area of 31,064 acres, or over 48£ square
miles ; and a land-revenue of Rs. 17,470. But though recognized in fiscal and
other documents as a separate parganah, Binayakpur is practically part of par-
ganah Bansi, and with it farms one great parganah-tahsil.
According to the census of 1872, Binayakpur contained 110 inhabited sites,
of which 80 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 26 between
Population.-
200 and 500; 3 between 500 and 1,000; and one
between 2,000 and 3,000.
The population numbered 21,023 souls (9,850 females), giving 429 to the
square mile. Classified according to religion, there were 18,865 Hindus, of whom
8,834 were females; and 2,158 Musalmans (1,016 females). Distributing the
Hindu population among the four great classes, the census shews 1,945 Brah-
mans (951 females); 370 Rajputs (164 females); and 741 Baniy&s (365
females) ; whilst the great mass of the population is included in the " other
castes," which show a total of 15,809 souls (7,354 females). The principal
Brahman sub-division found in this parganah is the Sarwaria (348). The
R&jputs belong to the Bais (173) and Kulhans clans ; the Baniyas to the
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binAyakpur parganah. 759
Kasaundhan (33), K6ndu (291), and Agarahri (120) sub-divisions. Those of
the other castes which exceed in number one thousand souls each are the Eurmi
(1,150), ChamAr (2,465), Ahfr (1,273), Lodha (1,615), and RAjbhar (1,470).
The following have less than one thousand members each : — Bhar, Kahfir, Teli,
Dhobi, N&i, Gadariya, Barhai, Loh&r, K&yath, Ehewat, Tamboli, Kalw&r,
Dhark&r, Khatik, Kumhar, Bari, Atit, Ch&i, Mfili, Sun&r, Nunia, Bharbhunja,
Koeri, Gos&in, Bair&gi, Pasi, Bh&t, Rh&krob, Koli, Halw&i, Kanjar, Dharhi,
Arakh, Bind, and Musahar. The Musalmans are Shaikhs (624), Path&ns
(392), Mughals (43), Sayyids (34), and unspecified.
The occupations of the people are shown in the statistics collected at the
same census. From these it appears that of the male
Occupations.
adult population (not less than 15 years of age), 29
belong to the professional class of officials, priests, doctors, and the like ; 199
to the domestic class, which includes servants, water-carriers, barbers,
sweepers, washermen, Ac. ; 96 to the commercial class, comprising bankers,
carriers, and tradesmen of all sorts ; 5,487 to the agricultural class ; and 316
to the industrial or artisan. A sixth or indefinite class includes 522 persons
returned as labourers and 48 as of no specified occupation. Taking the total
population, irrespective of age or sex, the same returns give 771 as land-
holders, 17,392 as cultivators, and 2,860 as engaged in occupations uncon-
nected with agriculture. The educational statistics, which are confessedly
imperfect, show 34 as able to read and write out of a total male population
numbering 11,173 souls.
Lying in the Tarai, in the great Sub-Him&layan marshland, Bin&yakpur is
Physical and agricultural both flat and fennv' Ita geographical features are
features. less pronounced than those of its Gorakhpur name-
sake1 on the east and of B&tisi on the west. Though both moist and feverish,
it is neither so moist nor so feverish as they. Like them it is well-wooded,
but unlike them it has no regular forest. A fringe of spontaneous scrub-
wood still indeed . skirts the south-south-western border ; and in tappa Bb&-
timp&r is a large forest grant (Dulha) of over 3,6(Jb acres. But the former
is not tall or continuous ; and the latter, like most other holdings of the same
nature,2 is now an almost unbroken expanse of cultivation. Cleared has
been the stretch of fine timber which in 1813 decked the east of the parganah.
That parganah's only plantations are fine and frequent mango-groves, the
sure sign of a prosperous neighbourhood, but not, as Mr. Wynne opined, " a
waste of valuable land."
» Supra, pp. 473-74. * Supra, pp. 286-88.
97
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760 BA8TI.
From the mountains some 15 miles distant on the north, or from springs
in the intervening morasses, several streams flow rapidly past the north-eastern
border. The Til4r bounds the parganah on its north-western and part of its
western frontier ; the Ghdnghi on its south-eastern. The Tinawa flows west*
ward aeross it to join the Til&r ; while the Hagni runs through the south-
eastern skirt of the tract almost parallel to the Ghdnghi. Like many other sub-
Him&layan streams, that last named has silted its bed up till now it flows, in
places, above the level of the surrounding country. The parganah has a fair
number of lagoons, but not so many in proportion to its area as Bansi. Both
rivers and lagoons are to some small extent utilized in irrigation, the former
being dammed for that purpose. But the soil is by nature so moist that little
watering is required. Of the total cultivated area, 19,121 acres, only 6,903
were at assessment returned as irrigated.
The soils and crops of Binayakpur are those already mentioned in the
article on B&nsi. But the bkdt clay and the winter-rice which grows thereon •
here predominate more easily than in that parganah. If invidious comparisons
need be drawn between the two tappas, Bhatimpar is slightly less fertile than
Nitwal. The principal proprietors of the former are the money-lending Shukul
Br&hmans of Btira and Khairauti ; and of the latter, the Kulh&ns R&jputs of
Ekdinga and Lautan.
The place last named is the only town or mart of the least importance.
. %M • The only road, that on which Lautan stands, is merely
Economical features. y . 7 J
an unmetalled line passing through the south-eastern
corner of the parganah. The crops which are the one great product of Binayak-
pur find their way by cross-country tracks to the several villages where weekly
markets are held. And hence the surplus stocks are exported, vid Lautan, to
Uska and other marts of adjoining parganahs. The absence of any manufactures
deserving the name is inevitable in an agricultural tract which possesses no large
towns.
Bin&yakpur is the fragment of an ancient and much larger parganah which,
„. until the adjustment of boundaries (1816) after the
Nep&lese wars, extended northwards to Butwal at the
foot of the hills. The history of this tract and of the Butwal r&jas who ruled it
has been told in the article on parganah Bin&yakpur East,1 but a few local details
remain to be added. The eponymous village of Biniyakpur is not in Basti or
Gorakhpur, and must therefore be in Nepal. During the last century con-
stant struggles between the r&jas of Bdnsi and Butwal laid waste the debateable
1 Supra, pp. 474-75.
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BIRDPUB VILLAGE. 761
land between this parganah and its larger sister of the same tahsfl. In 1864 the
frontier tappas are described as having only lately, and that not entirely, recov-
ered. When it became British territory (1801), Bin&yakpur West was at
once assessed with a small land-revenue ; and did not, like its eastern name-
sake, remain exempt from taxation till the fourth assessment. The amounts
imposed on the parganah at successive revisions of assessment were : Rb. 382*
in 1803 ; the same in 1806 \ Bs. 679- in 1809 ; in 1813 Rs. 1,602 : Rs. 10,613
in 1840 ; and in 1864, Rs. 16,020. The, lightness of the demand at the earlier
settlement was due to the fact that Binayakpur was then an almost unbroken-
forest. But even when the current assessment was framed it was deemed
inadvisable to exact as revenue half the rental.
The only antiquities mentioned by Buchanan are a few ruined castles whose
Antiquities. ruins must ere now have almost disappeared.
Bibdpub, a village in tappa Ghos of parganah and tahsil Bftnsi, stands
beside the unmetalled road from Basti and Bfinsi to Niep&l, 57 miles north-
north-east of the former town. Not far west of the village funs a little water-
course called the Mekra, an affluent of the Jamw&r ; and not far south a
second unmetalled road crosses that first mentioned. In 1847 the inhabi-
tants were returned as numbering over 7,500 \ in 1853 as over 11,700 ;
in 1865 as over 13,600 ; and in 1872 as over 17,500. But in each case
these startling results were obtained by confusing* the village with its enclos-
ing forest grant.
The village has a branch dispensary and an European dwelling-house belong-
ing to Mr. Pepp£. He and others are lessees of the forest-grant just mentioned,
whereof Birdpur is the headquarters. Leased in 1840' to Messrs. W. Gibbon
and J. Clock, this grant has an area of 29,316 acres, or nearly 46 square miles.
It has now been almost cleared of forest, and when the lease expires, in 1890, will
probably boast but few trees save those of its fruit-groves. On the estate, in. the.
neighbourhood of Birdpur itself, are some fine private irrigation channels.
Birdpur was named after Mr. R. M. Bird, perhaps the most famous revenue-
official of these provinces, who in 1828 became first commissioner of the
Gorakhpur division.1 About two years ago, when schemes were on foot for
reducing the great size of the Gorakhpur district,, it was proposed to make the
place the capital of anew collectorate which should include the northern parga-
nahs of both Gorakhpur and Basti. But this project may be now considered
as finally abandoned.
i This Gorakhpur division survived till 1834 only, when the commissioner's headquarters,
were transferred to Gbazfpur. In 1842 they were again removed to Benares.
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762 BASTI.
Biskohar, a flourishing mart in tappa Budhi of parganah B&nsi and tahsil
Domari&ganj, stands on an unmetalled road or cart-track, 50 miles north-north-
west of Basti. About a mile sonth-west of the place itself the frontiers of par-
ganahs B&nsi and Rasulpur meet that of the Gonda district The population of
Biskohar varies greatly, being largest during the trading season of winter ;
but by the census of 1872 was returned as 2,839.
Biskohar has a district post-office. The Chaukid&ri Act ( V. of 1861) is in
force here; and during 1878-79 the house-tax thereby imposed, together with
a balance of Rs. 176 from the preceding year, gave a total income of Us. 897.
The expenditure, which was chiefly on police (Bs. 264) and conservancy
(Rs. 120), amounted to Rs. 419. In the same year the town contained 618
houses, whereof 162 were assessed with the tax ; the incidence being Rs. 4-7-1
per house assessed and annas 4 per head of population.
But it is as an entrepdt for the Nep&l trade that Biskohar is chiefly remark-
able. The imports which pass through it, for distribution to other places in
British territory, consist chiefly of unhusked rice, wheat and other grains ;
drugs and spices ; fibres and fibre manufactures ; copper coinage and iron ;
oilseeds, clarified butter, timber, hides and blankets. The exports which
through it find their way to Nep&l are cotton-twist, cotton-stuffs, cocoanuts,
hardware, sugar, and tobacco. The business of Biskohar is, however, far
smaller than it was before the Nep&lese placed on trade with British territory
those vexatious restrictions which have been above described.1 Up to the autumn
of 1861, writes Mr. Wynne, there were hardly ever leas than from 300 to 400
hillmen encamped in the neighbouring grove. But the establishment just
afterwards of certain privileged marts in the Nep&lese Tar&i, and the prohibition
against trading through any other emporia, dealt a serious blow to the pros-
perity of the town. Many of the Biskohar tradesmen are forced to take houses
in the Nepalese marts by the fact that, if they do not, their merchandise
is on its way through those marts taxed at some 25 per cent, above the
ordinary rate. But during the rains the piarshy and malarious climate of
the Tar&i towns renders them almost uninhabitable ; and those merchants
who have temporarily shifted their quarters across the frontier gladly
reseek their homes at Biskohar. The town is built on lands belonging to
some Hara* R&jputs, who are the principal proprietors of the tappa. The
family is a branch of that settled at Mahnani, in tappa Kot of the same,
parganah.
1 Supra, pp. 697-703, where the reader will find a detailed account of the Nepalese trade in
genera). * The Haras or Jar.g haras are a sub-division of the Tomars. But none of
these three names appears in the Basti census of 187*.
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CHILIA VILLAGE. 763
BuddhAband or Budh&b6ndh, a village in tappa Ujiar of parganah Maghar
and tahsil Khalilabad, lies 13 miles east of Basti. It had in 1872 but 744
inhabitants ; and is noteworthy only as the site of a third-class police-station
and a district post-office.
Captainganj, or Captain's market, forms part of Baitas village, in tappa
Naw6i of parganah Nagar and tahsil Haraia. Standing on the metalled Basti-
Faizabad load, 8 miles west-south-west of Basti, Rait&s had in 1872 a popu-
lation of 748 souls.
The place (Captainganj) probably derives its name from the fact that id the
first quarter of the century it was a small military station. Until within the last
fifteen years it was the headquarters of a munsifi and a tahsiL But in 1876,
when the tahsild&r's office was removed to Haraia, and the tahsil renamed after
that village, Captainganj began to lose importance. It is now merely the
site of a third-class police-station and a district post-office. In Buchanan's time
it had but 25 shops ; and it once more finds itself in about the same commer-
cial position.
ChhAoni, a hamlet of Khankalan village, in tappa Sikandarpur of parga-
nah Amorha and tahsil Haraia, is remarkable only as the site of a first-class
police-station. By the police the neighbourhood has long been occupied. The
next village Khamaria, was as early as 1813 the head quarters of a large
circle.1 Standing on the metalled Gorakhpur-Faizabad road, 22 miles west-
by-south of Basti, Khankal&n had in 1872 a population of 262.
Chhapia, which gives its name to the tappa thus called of parganah Rasiil-
pur and tahsil Domariaganj, stands not far west of the unmetalled Basti- Binsi
road, 25 miles north-north-west of Basti. It is a mere village, which in 1872
had only 191 inhabitants ; but must be mentioned as the site of a third-class
police-station and a district post-office.
ChhaprIghXt, or Dhanghatta, in tappa Euchri of parganah Mahauli and
tahsil Khalilabad, is the site of a third-class police-station and a district
post-office. Here, 45 miles south-east of Basti, an unmetalled road from
Menhdawal to the Ghagra crosses that connecting the Gorakhpur with the
Gonda frontier. Dhanghata had in 1872 a population of 609. Chhapr&gh&t is,
strictly speaking, the name of the landing-place where the Menhd&wal road
reaches the Ghagra several miles further south : and this landing-place, again,
derives its name from the large village of Chhapra.
Chilia or Chilhia, a village in tappa Aikhin of parganah and tahsil B6nsi,
stands on the junction of two unmetalled roads, 50 miles north-north-east of
1 Supra, p. 610.
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764 BASTI.
Basti. It is here noticed as the site of a second-class police-station and a
district post-office ; bat had in 1872 only 969 inhabitants.
Daldalha. See Bankata.
Dhebarua gives its name to tappa Dhebarua of parganah B£nsi and tahsfl
Domariaganj. Standing beside a cart-track, in the fork between Chhagrihwa and
Awinda rivers, it is 59 miles north of Basti. Dhebarua bad in 1872 a population
Of 362 only ; but is the site of a third-class police-station and a district post-office.
Domariaganj, the capital of the tahsil so named, is a village of tappa Halaur
and parganah Rasulpur. Past it, on the north, flows the Rapti ; and round it, on
other sides, lie serpentine ponds which were once beds of that river. A good
nnmetalled road from Basti to Nep&l passes through the Tillage, crossing the
B&pti by the r&ja of Bansi's ferry. Both over the water and south of that village-
this highway is met by others of a less perfect kind. The distance north-north-
west of Basti is 32 miles ; the population amounted in 1872 to 1,145 souls.
Domari&ganj has a tahsili, a first-class police-station, and an imperial post-
office. It was formerly surrounded, like Basti, with a ditch, a mud rampart,
and a hedge of male bambu. In latter times its police-station was fortified.
But all traces of these works, the monuments of an age when security was not,
are fast disappearing. The place probably derives its name from the Doms or
Domkat&rs, who once ruled not only Rasulpur but Gonda.
Domariaganj, a tahsil with head-quarters at the place just described,
is bounded on east-south-east by the B&nsi tahsil and on north-north-east by
Nep&l. On its irregular and often protrusive west-north-western border it
marches with the Gonda district, and on its south-south-eastern frontier with
tahsils Haraia and Basti. Domari&ganj contains parganah Rasdlpur and
the 11 north-western tappas of parganah B&nsi. It had in 1878 a total
area of 371,935 acres, or over 581 square miles; and a total land-revenue
of Rs. 2,65,346. Its population in 1872 was 259,047, or about 445 souls to
the square mile. But a detailed account of the tahsfl must be sought in the
articles on its two parganahs.
Dubaulta or Dubauli, a small mart in tappa Dtrbaulia of parganah Amorha
and tahsil Haraia, stands on the nnmetalled road between Gdeghfct and Amorha,
23 miles west-south-west of Basti. It in 1872 had 1,519 inhabitants.
Here are a police ontpost and a market, which, being not far from the
Gbagra, is an entrepdt for goods embarking on or disembarked from that river*
But something more on this subject will be found in the article on parganah
Amorha. The market-place was confiscated for the rebellion of its owners in
1857, and is now yearly leased by Government. The shops of Khusbilganj
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GANESHFUB.
765
village, which adjoins Dubaulia on the week, may perhaps be considered an
outlying portion of the same mart.
DddhXra, a village in tappa Uji£r of parganah Maghar and tahsil Khalil-
abad, stands on the nnmetalled road between Basti and Menhd&wal, 15 miles*
east-north-east of the former. Its population amounted in 1872 to 903 persons
only ; but it is remarkable as the site of a second-class police-station and a
district post-office.
GAbghAt, or the cow's landing, is a village of tappa Charkaila, parganah
Wahauli and tahsil Basti. After passing through it the unmetalled Gorakhpur
and Gonda frontier road quits Mahauli and enters parganah Nagar. But not
far west of the village this highway is crossed by another of a better class,
running southwards from Basti to Tanda in Faizabad. The distance south of
Basti is 16 miles. By the census of 1872 the population was 1,689.
G&egh&t has a district post-office. But it is noteworthy chiefly as one of
those small marts which collect and distribute the merchandise imported or
exported by the neighbouring Gh&gra river. The amount of grain which
passes through it for down-country exportation is considerable.
Gankshpub, which gives its name to tappa Ganeshpur of parganah Nagar
and tahsil Haraia, lies near the right bank of the Ku&na river, 4 miles west
of Basti. It in 1872 bad 2,550 inhabitants.
Here markets are held twice weekly ; but the place is chiefly remarkable
as the head-quarters of a large and almost revenue-free domain known as the
Pind&ri jdgir. Comprising the bulk of the tappa, it was originally held by
Gautam BAjputs, cadets of the family which supplied the parganah with its
r&jas. These Gautams fortified Ganeshpur, in the usual manner, with a ditch,
a mud wall, and a quickset hedge of male bambu.1 Such bulwarks enabled them
under native rule to hold their own. But under British sway their tenure
no longer depended on the sword. They allowed their land-tax to fall into
arrears ; and to defray the debt Government in 1811-12 sold their domain.1
It appears to have been bought by Mrs. Fidden, widow of one of those trading
civil surgeons who in the early 'days of the Company's rule did so much to
promote the commercial prosperity of places where they happened to be posted.
But Mrs. Fidden found herself unable to manage the property. She therefore
either sold it herself, or, by defaulting in the payment of revenue, forced
Government to sell it for her. In 1818 it was again sold on account of arrears,
due from its then possessor, Bibi Moti Kh&nam. Now at this time the Company
wished to provide for a turbulent cavalier of fortune who had distinguished
1 Supra, pp. 679-81, and Eastern India, 1L, 377. ' Board's Records, 1 811-12.
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766 BASTI.
himself during the Marhatta wars ; a man whom, though he might have been
suppressed with a strong hand, it was cheaper to steady by the gift of a com-
fortable property. Government itself therefore bought in Ganeshpur for
Rs. 8,343 and bestowed it in 1819 on the ex-colonel of Cossacks, the Pindari
K&dir Bakhsh. The terms were that he should himself hold it revenue-free ; and
that his heirs should hold it after him, on payment of a light and never-enhance-
able revenue.1 His descendants are still in possession. Their revenue is indeed
almost nominal, amounting to Rs. 1,877 J only. At the assessment of 1865 the
settlement officer ruled that they were illegally holding, without additional
payment, many villages besides those originally granted. He therefore imposed
on their whole domain a revenue of Rs. 10,009£. But the Pind&ris successfully
fought their case up to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and as
a result of this appeal to Caesar the tax of Rs. 1,877 J remains unaltered.
Haraia, the capital of the tahsil so named, lies in tappa Purena of par-
ganah Amorha. Past it, on the south-west, flows the Manaur or Manarama
river, which is here crossed by the metalled Basti and Faizabad road. Haraia
is 17 miles west-by-south of Basti, aud in 1872 had 840 inhabitants.
Here are a tahsfli, a second-class police-station, a tahsili school, and an
imperial post-offioe The present importance of the village dates from 1876,
when the tahsil headquarters were removed hither from Captainganj, and the
tahsil itself was renamed after Haraia. But, before this, Haraia was not alto-
gether unknown to local commerce. The Manaur river is navigable, and here
meets the only first-class road of the district. It results that the village is an
emporium where goods passing up the river from the Ghdgra, or down the
river from the road, have their bulk broken. The principal export is grain ;
the principal import, cloth,
Haraia, a tahsil with headquarters at the place just described, is bounded
on the east by tahsil Basti ; on north-north-west and on west by the Gonda
district ; on south-west-by-south by the Ghagra, which divides it from
the Faizabad district. Tahsil Haraia contains parganah Amorha, with the
western tappas (4) of parganah Basti and (5)%of parganah Nagar. It had in
1878 a total area of 317,176 acres, or over 495 square miles ; and a total land-
revenue of Rs. 2,73,203. Its population was in 1872 returned as 305,222, or
618 souls to the square mile. But further details concerning the tahsil must
be gathered from the articles on its three parganahs.
Hariharpur, a market village of tappa Aor&d&nr, parganah Mahauli and
tahsil Khalilabad, stands on the left bank of the Katnehia, about 18 miles
1 Board's Records, 1816-19.
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kalwXri town. 767
south-east of Basti. It in 1872 had 2,194 inhabitants, and possesses a few good
masonry houses. It seems to have formerly been a place of some commercial
importance ; bat its trade, like that of most towns in parganah Mahauli, has
waned. Its name, which means the town of Krishna and Shiva, was probably
derived from that of some Brahman who was called Harihar after both divini-
ties. Shiva being the destroying god, and Krishna an incarnation of the sav-
ing one, such names serve to propitiate at once two opposing principles.
Intwa, a village in tappa Kot of parganah B&nsi and tahsil Domari&ganj,
stands on the Grossing of two unmetalled roads, 42 miles north-by-west of
Basti. It has a police outpost ; but its population amounted in 1872 to 310
only. Though its name seems to mean " the place of bricks," Intwa is a mud
built village.
Jignan, in tappa Kop of parganah Bansi and tahsil Domari&ganj, lies 46
miles north-by-west of Basti. It had in 1872 only 127 inhabitants, but is
remarkable as the scene of a large yearly fair.
This takes place in November-December, or, as a Hindu would say, on the
5th of the bright half of the month Aghan. It lasts for two days, and its
ostensible object is worship at the local Th&kurdw&ra or shrine of Krishna*
But the occasion is a festival connected with another of Vishnu's incarnations,
R&ma. Pilgrims come hither from Ajudhya and less distant places to cele-
brate the Dhinukjug, the feast of the Bow. This, the weapon of the god
Shiva, was entrusted to Janaka, king of Mithila ; and Janaka had promised
his lovely daughter Sita to the suitor who could bend it Like the bow of
Ulysses, it could be bent by but one person, and that was the fortunate Rama
of Ajudhya,
But though, as at all Hindu fairs, religion lends an excuse for the meeting,
commerce is the real motive that inspires it. Though the festival here lasts but
two days, the shop-keepers remain for about a fortnight. The total number
of visitors is reckoned at about 35,000.
Kalwari, " the town of distillers," is a flourishing little mart in tappa Kal-
wdri of parganah Nagar and tahsil Basti. Through the parish (tnauza) passes
the unmetalled Gorakhpur and Gonda frontiers road. The distance Bouth-
south-west of Basti is 12 miles ; the population in 1872 was 3,311.
Kalw&ri has a second-class police-station;1 but is remarkable chiefly as one of
those emporia which, all along the same road, serve as brief resting-places for the
merchandise imported or exported by the Ghagra. This river flows a few miles
distant on east and south. The principal exports are grain and spices > the
JSec note, p. 660,
98
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768 BASTI.
principal imports, cloths, tobacco, metal utensils, and cotton. But the last-named
commodity comes chiefly from across the river, by way of Tanda in Faizabad.
KakrahighAt or Kakrahi, a village in tappa Hata of parganah and tahsil
Bansi, stands on the junction of the Banganga and Burhi-Rapti rivers, some
37 miles north-north-east of Basti. Below that junction, but still within the
village, the unmetalled road from Basti and B&nsi to Nepal crosses the water by
ferry or ford according to the season.
The village had in 1872 a population of 175 persons only. Bat in it an
outpost of the Agriculture and Commerce Department registers the very con-
siderable traffic which here passes from or towards Nep&l. And Kakrahighat
becomes in October-November the scene of a not unimportant fair,
KHALfLABAD, the capital of the tahsil- so named, is a village of tappa Chu-
raib and parganah Maghar. The metalled road from Gorakhpur to Faizabad is
here crossed by another wending northwards from Chhapragh&t to Menhddwal.
The distance east-by-south of Basti is 22£ miles ; the population amounted in
1872 to 1,943 souls.
Khalilabad has a tahsili, a first-class police-station, and an imperial post-
office. Its commercial importance is merely that of a market village which
trad os with the immediate neighbourhood. It derives its name from its founder,
Kazi Khalil-ur-Rahm&n, who was appointed commissioner (chakladar) of the
Gorakhpur division about 16S0.1 His name, again, means the friend of God,
which in oriental literature is only one of the many synonyms for Abraham.
KHALfLABAD, a tahsil with headquarters at the place just described, is
bounded on east by south by the Gorakhpur district ; on the north by tahsil
Bansi ; on west-by-north by tahsil Basti; and on south-west-by-soutbbytho
Ghagra, which divides it from the Faizabad district. Tahsil Khalilabad con-
tains the eastern tappas (17) of parganah Maghar and (22 ) of parganah Mahauli.
It had in 1878 a total area of 354,998 acres, or over 554 square miles ; and a
total land revenue of Rs. 2,54,638. Its population was by the census of 18*2
returned as 307,717, or 554 persons to the square mile. But further details
concerning the tahsil must be gathered from the article on its two parganahs.
Kothila or Sonaha, a village in tappa Kothila of pargana and tahsil Basti,
stands besides the Basti, Domari&ganj, and Nepal road, 22 miles north-north-
weat of the district capital. Sonaha is in strict accuracy the name of a small
village which adjoins Kothila on the east. The population of the two together
amounted in 1872 to 907 persons. Here are a third class police-station and
a district post-office.
1 Supra, p. 724.
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LAUTAN. 769
LjClqan Jt in tappa Bargaon-Pagdr of pargaua Mahauli and tahsfl Basti,
stands on the junction of two unmetalled roads, about 10 miles south-east-by-
south of Basti. It is built on the lands of Sar&igbat village, which in 1872 had
989 inhabitants. Amongst the insignificant little marts of the parganah it is
remarkable for its manufacture of sugar and printed cloths.
Lautak, a town in tappa Net* ar of parganah. Binayakpur and tahsil Bansi,
stands on the west or right bank of the Ghtinghi river, 56 miles north-east of
Basti.. That is, however, not the distance as the crow flies ; but the distance
by a good unmetalled road which from Basti passes through Lautan into Go-
rakhpur. From the latter district Lautan parish (mauza) is severed only by the
Ghdughi. The population in 1872 reached 701.
Lautan has a third-class police-station, a district post-office, and a registra-
tion post of the Agriculture and Commerce Department. The little office last
named was lately established to watch and estimate the very large traffic which
here passes from or towards Nep&l. The main road is met and crossed at
Lautan by a cart-track from the Nep41ese mart of Biitwal. And it is as an
entrepdt for Nepalese goods that Lautan is chiefly remarkable.
The principal imports are uhhusked rice, wheat, clarified butter, drugs and
spices, fibres and fibre manufactures, iron, copper coinage, oilseeds, hides and
horns. The grain is stored at Lautan and thence sent, if intended for Calcutta,
down the Rapti and Ghagra ; or, if intended for consumption in these provinces,
across the Gh&gra to Tanda and Faizabad. But it is not only Nepalese grain
which is collected and distributed by Lautan. The town offers a popular market
to the rice of the surrounding country. It may be noticed that certain Kep&lese
imports show a curious caprice in their choice of a distributing emporium.
Thus amongst oilseeds, linseed chiefly affects Lautan, and mustard the more
southern Uska. Lautan, again, is the favourite mart for drugs, and Uska for
fibre manufactures. The principal exporta to Nep&l are cotton-twist, cotton-
stuffs, cocoanuts, hardware, salt, sugar, and tobacco. Many of these goods
have of course travelled from places outside the district, outside the provinces,
or even outside the country. The total value of the Nepfilese exports and
imports which during 1878-79 passed the Lautan registration post was
Us. 5,04,475.
The prosperity of Lautan and its neighbourhood has indeed greatly advanced
since the time of Buchanan's survey (1813). That writer describes the town
itself as containing only 70 poor huts ; the surrounding country as a dismal and
ill-cultivated tract of forest and tall grass. For the huts of mud or wicker we
must now substitute shops which, though still mud-built, have at least a fairly
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770 BASTI.
respectable appearance. Instead of forests we have fruitful groves of mango-
trees. And the unhealthy-looking grass, which withered brown in summer, has
been replaced by broad expanses of green ricefields.
Maghab, a village in tappa Easba or Maghar of parganah Maghar and tahsil
Khalilabad, stands on the metalled Gorakhpur and Faizabad road, 27 miles east-
by-south of Basti. In the settlement maps it is entered as Kasba-Kh&s : that
is, the town par excellence^ the old chief town of the pargana. It in 1872 had
2,551 inhabitants. Just east of the village the road just mentioned crosses the
Ami river on a fine bridge, thereby connecting the Gorakhpur with the Basti
district.
But Maghar is now noteworthy only as a place of past importance and present
pilgrimage. It is celebrated as containing the cenotaph and shrine of the pro-
phet Eabir Sh&h. Some account of his life, his poetical precepts and the sect
which he founded, has been given in the Mainpuri notice. All these subjects,
however, are involved in some obscurity.1 Abul Fazl calls him the Unitarian ;
but it is impossible to assert whether he was more Musalm&n than Hindu, more
Hindu than Musalm&n. It is equally impossible to say that his doctrines were,
like those of several other reformers, an attempt at compromise between
Hinduism and Islam ; for both faiths he attacked most unsparingly. Yet both
Hindu and Muslim agree that he was a saint in whose creed there was something
akin to their own ; that he was a man worthy of worship. And both, when
uncorrupted by theological education and theological hatred, flock with equal
devotion to his shrine.
The local legends concerning his life, which have much in common with
those elsewhere summarized, may be thus told : A Muslim weaver of Benares
was bringing home his bride, when she went aside to slake her thirst at the
Chanda tank near that city. What saw she on the water but a lovely child,
floated lightly on a leaf of lotus. Though to outward seeming newly born,
this boy had the perfect gift of speech. Water or milk from his nurse's hand
he refused to drink. But he besought them that they should bring him a two-
year heifer which had never bred, and this he sucked whenever he needed
nourishment. • Having thereby shown his aversion from Islam, he was deemed
a Hindu ; and a Br&hman named him Kabir. Some years afterwards the
weaver wished him to undergo circumcision, but Kabir declined this rite. He
wished, he said, to receive formal instruction (upadesh) from the Hindu doctors ;
but they refused to instruct him, saying that he herded with Muslims. Kabir
therefore betook himself to stratagem. He one night laid himself across the
1 Gaz„ IV., 562-64.
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MAGHAR VILLAGE. 771
threshold of the cell where dwelt a holy pandit. Towards morning the saint
came out and stumbled over Kabir, who thereon gave vent to the usual Hin-
dustani oath of surprise, " Oh father, father" (Bdpre bdp). " Call not on
your father," shouted the good man, " but say Ram, Ram." Now " B&m,
Ram," is the ordinary form of Hindu salutation ; and the sprawling divine
had merely called attention to the deficiency in Kabir's manners. But the
expression is literally an invocation of the name of Rama ; and in being told
to utter it Kabir insisted that he bad received religious instruction. His
claim seems to have been admitted ; and its plausibility was strong. The only
religious instruction usually vouchsafed to the low-class Hindu is the instruc-
tion that, when he seeks to pray, he should mutter incessantly the name of
some God.
Kabir now became renowned for his learning and sanctity. He journeyed
to Jagannath of Urfsa, where king Indrayumna had long and vainly attempted
to rear, beside the ocean, his celebrated temples. Since Kabir blessed the
works the waves have never touched them ; and beside them a monument was
raised to his memory. After many other wanderings he reached Maghar, and
there seemed to die. And his disciples disputed over his body, the Hind ds
wishing to have it burned according to their own rites, while the Muslims
seized it and buried it according to the rites of Islam. Whilst hot words
were still being bandied about, the saint, who was in fact at Brind&ban of
Mathura and had but shaken off his old body, sent word that if they opened
his grave they should find no further cause for quarrel. And they opened the
grave and found nought save a delectable fragrance.
This is said to have happened in 1274 ; and though Kabir's real death was
deferred until about 1450, his admirers at once reared above the sacred spot
a shrine (rauza). The original building was replaced or restored by Naw&b
Fidae Kh&n, who about 1567 garrisoned Maghar with an imperial force ;2 but
the tomb has always been in charge of the same Musalm&n family. The
present sacristan, who, like the adoptive father of the saint himself, is a Musal-
m&n weaver (Julaha), holds for his services a revenue- free village in the par-
ganah, and receives also an allowance of 4 annas daily, payable at the Gorakhpur
treasury. These emoluments enable him, on nights of festival, to illuminate
the shrine. About 1764 his ancestor was joined at that shrine, but not displaced,
by a mahanty the prior of some Hindu order. This prior was a very holy
1 Readers of the old Household Word* may remember an amusing article in which " Laing
the Mof ussilite " describes a dayniththe King of Oudh. Under the form of " Boppery,
boppery, bopp," this oath is very frequently placed in that monarch's mouth. 'Accord-
ing to ti. H. Wilson the founder was one Bijli Khin Fathan.
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772 ' BASTI.
person, and his presence added popularity to the spot. When he died his ashes
and grilled bones were placed under a second shrine beside the first ; and this
Hindu erection is sometimes supposed sacred to Kabir. The mabant's succes-
sor has at least nominal charge of bis tomb (samddk). The remuneration is in
this case a revenue-free village in the Gorakhpur district, but no daily allowance.
The last custodian, Man D&s, was slain in an affray between certain members of
Kabir's sect (panth). The sister shrines stand picturesquely east of the town,
on the banks of the river Xmi ; but neither is architecturally striking, neither
impressively large.
Beside them is held in December-January (Pis) a fair which lasts almost
the whole month. The ostensible object of the meeting is the oblation of gifts
at the shrine of Kabir ; but these are for the most part of the meanest descrip-
tion. Though superfluous copper coins are sometimes presented, the usual
offering is a mixture of pulse and rice [khichri). The real convening motive
is the love of cheap shopping. Petty tradesmen flock hither from Lucknow,
Cawnpore, Benares, Gorakhpur and Menhdawal ; and from 2 to 4 annas a
booth is levied as the due of the township landlord. Nothing of much value
is exposed for sale. The fair is not a market for horses or cattle. But its
total attendance of visitors may perhaps be reckoned at 5,000.
East also of the town, on the lip of the same stream, rise another mosque
and another temple. Some ten years ago a rich man of Gorakhpur built near
the former a flight of steps (gh&t) descending to the river. In the town itself
stand the biggish tomb of K&zi Khalil-ur-Rahm&n, a seventeenth-century
governor ; and some old but solid masonry houses, belonging to K&yaths and
Bakkdls. Westward may be traced the remains of a castle which is said to
have been the stronghold of the Magbar rfjas. The fortifications were in the
usual style of a quadrangle defended by a ditch, an earthen rampart, and a
quickset bambu hedge ; but covered some 16 acres and contained some brick
buildings. West of this castle lies the village of Ghanshy&mpur,. which, accord-
ing to legend, contained a fortress of the Th&rus. Around the castle itself, and
thence through the town to Kabir's tomb, may be seen spots covered with brick
rubble. Buchanan suggests that these! " if ever the Thirds resided here, must
be the remains of their town,"
But the Th&ru occupation, if not altogether mythical, is at all events too
uncertain to claim further notice here. The name of Maghar seems to be
Hindi, meaning a kind of ricefield ; and the first really tangible characters
in its history were the Sarnet Rajputs, who about 1300 made it the capital
of their principality. But about 1570 they fled before the Muslims to Bansi;
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* MAGHAR PARGANAH. 773
and Maghar, vacated by its raja, was garrisoned by the imperial troops
under Fidae Khan. About 1610 the Sarnet chief, now called the raja of B&nsi,
succeeded in expelling the Muhammad an garrison and resuming possession of
the town. But some seventy years later, when the Dehli emperor was once
more at leisure to make his power felt in this part of the country, Kazi
Khalil-ur-Rahmdn was despatched from Faizabad with a force which easily
re-occupied Maghar. Through it from Faizabad to G-orakhpur was made a
new military road whose alignment must have much resembled that of the
modern metalled highway between those places. From this time till 1801,
when the district was ceded by Oudh to the Company, the Musalmans never
again lost their hold on the town. It became a military post of considerable
importance ; and the administrative division which included it was sometimes
entered in official documents as Sarkdr-i JHuaziimdbdd o &fag/iar, the Govern-
ment of Gorakhpnr and Maghar. Nawab Mansfir AH Khan of Oudh, better
known under the title of Safdar Jang, carried his interest in the place so far
as to set aside several villages for the support of Kabir's shrine.1
Maghar or Hasanpur-Maghar, a parganah of the Basti and KhalJIabad
tahsils, twice protrudes its eastern border iuto the Gorakhpur district, where-
with boundary lines are in places afforded by the R&pti and Kini rivers. On
its equally irregular northern frontier it is bounded by parganah Bansi, the divi-
sion being for some distauce marked by the Budh and Barfir watercourses.
For a few miles on the north-west it marches with parganah Rasulpur ; while
for many on the south-west the Garebia and Katnehia brooks sever it from
parganah Basti. Its neighbour on the south-south-west is parganah Mahauli,
Maghar is divided into 20 tappas. Of these the seventeen eastern — GopAlpur,
Sakr^, Majora, Belhar, Menhd&wal, Bakhira, Bakochi, Amanabad, Phulethu,
Dew&p&r, Churaib, Rumpur-Paili, South Haveli, Uji&r, Maghar or Kasba, tfn,
and Atriiwal — belong to the Khalilabad ; the three western— Rudhauli, Gusiari,
and Banskhor, — to the Basti tahsil. The parganah contains 1,M46 estates
(mah&l), coinciding as a rule with the same number of parishes (mama) ; and
of these 968 lie within tahsil Khalilabad. Maghar had in 1878 on area of
289,661 acres, or over 452£ square miles; and a land revenue of Rs. 2,14,168.
Of the former above 342£ miles, and of the latter Rs. 1,60,779, belong to the
same Khalilabad.
According to the census of 1872 parganah Maghar contained 1,147 in-
habited sites, of which 705 had less than 200 inhabit-
Popultttion. anfcs ^ 3g4 between 200 and 50Q . 6g between 500 an<l
1 Safdar Jang died in 1 766.
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774 BASTI.
1,000 ; 7 between 1 ,000 and 2,000 ; and 4 between 2,000 and 3,000. The onlj
town containing more than 5,000 inhabitants was Menhdawal, with a popula-
tion of 8,124.
The total population numbered 253,533 sonls (117,243 females), giving
1,092 to the square mile. Classified according to religion, there were 199 466
Hindtis, of whom 91,815 were females; and 53,867 Mtisalmfcns (25,428 females).
Distributing the Hindu population amongst the four great classes, the
census shows 25,362 Brahmans (11,700 females); 4,864 Rajputs (2,194
females) ; and 6,832 Baniy&s (3,083 females) ; whilst the great mass of the
population is included in " the other castes," which show a total of
162,408 souls (74,828 females). The principal Brdhman sub-divisions
found in this parganah are the Sarwaria (2,141), Kanaujia (9,803), Qaur
(320), SarasAt, and Maitbil. The Rajputs belong to the Fonwfcr (123),
Bais (691), Gautam (350), Chauhdn (71), Surajbansi (92), Bharaddhwaj
(33), Raghubansi (210), Jaiswdr, Kunwfir, Dikshit, Sakarwar, Sirnet,
Rathor, Bahmangaur, Orik, and Arail clans ; the Baniyas to the Agarwal
(755), Kasaundhan (1,472), Kdndu (2,487), Agarahri (913), Panw&r, and
Kasarw&ni sub-divisions. Those of the other castes which exceed in number
one thousand souls each are the Bhar (2,376), Kahdr (5,843), Kurmi (19,444),
Teli (4,237), Dhobi (4,433), Mi (2,987), Chamfir (32,905), Ahir (25^89)',
Gadaria (1,050), Barhai (3,613), Lohdr (3,446), KsLyath a,977), Khewat
(11,399), Tamboli (4,161), KalwAr (2,054), Dhartar (1,131), Kumh&r (5,714),
Chii (2,400), M41i (1,507), Sonar (1,166), Nuniya (2,014), Bharbhunja (1,262),
Koeri (6,837), P&si (1,307), and Lodha (4,302), The following have less than
one thousand members each :— Khatik, B&ri, Atit, Manibe,1 Gosiin, Bair&oj,
Bhdt, Khakrob, Thathera, Koli, Halwdi, Patwa, Kanjar, Dh&rhi, Arakh,
Murao, Jogi, Baheliya, Sarahiya, Bhuinhar, Bind, Taw&f, Beld6r, Seori,
Kasera, Bargahi, Sorath, and Tamera. The Musalm&ns are Shaikhs (5,834),
Pathans (5,050), Sayyids (401), Mughals (183), and unspecified.
The occupations of the people are shown in the statistics collected at the
Occupations. Same census- From these ifc aPP«ars that of the male
adult population (not less than 15 years of age),
1,604 belong to the professional class of officials, priests, doctors, and the like ;
3,847 to the domestic class, including servants, water-carriers, barbers,
sweepers, washermen, &c; 837 to the commercial class, comprising bankers
carriers and tradesmen of all sorts ; 6,152 to the agricultural class ; and 7 129
to the industrial or artisan. A sixth or indefinite class includes 5,744 persons
1 See article on parganah Amorha, " population," note.
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J
MAGHAR PARGANAH. 775
returned as labourers and 742 as of no specified occupation. Taking ihe total
population, irrespective of age or sex, the same retnrns give 20,707 as land-
holders, 185,004 as cultivators, and 47,622 as engaged in occupations uncon-
nected with agriculture. The educational statistics, which are confessedly
imperfect, show 984 as able to read and write out of a total male population
numbering 136,091 souls.
The plain of Maghar has greatly changed since about 1815, when Bucha-
nan describes it scantily cultivated and covered in
fcaturesT1 ftnd agricultural great measure by trees. Trees are now no commoner
and cultivation no thinner than in any other part of
the district. The Ami meanders south-eastwards across the tract, to join the
Rapti in Gorakhpur. It is itself joined within the parganah by various intermit-
tent watercourses which serve as escapes for surface drainage. Of several large
lagoons, the Bakhira Til or Moti Jhil on the Gorakhpur frontier is easily the
largest. Irrigation is obtained not only from these natural reservoirs, but
from those wells in which the parganah is rich. Water seems to lie at an
average depth of 13 \ feet from the surface.
The soils are chiefly loam (doras) and clay (mattiydr). The richest loam
tracts are tappas Amanabad, Phulethu, Dew&p&r, South-Haveli, and Maghar,
all in the south of the parganah ; while the finest clay lands are those of tappas
Ujiar, Bdnskhor, Charaib, and Bampur Paili, all on or near the south-western
border. But though Maghar is as a rule fertile, it has wide regions of rather
inferior productiveness. The tappas of the northern frontier, GusiAri, Gopalpur,
Sakra and Majora, are less thickly peopled and less profusely watered than other
parts of the tract. Much of tappas Budhauli, tJn, and Atrawal consists of poor
land shaded by mahua trees. And in tappas Bakhira and Menhdawal, adjoining
the Bakhira-tAl, cultivation is impeded by the dread of inundations from that lake.
In the tappas which at present compose the parganah 16;J,248 acres were
at assessment (1862) returned as cultivated; and of these again 117,743 were
recorded as watered.1 The spring crops seem to cover more than twice the
ground occupied by those of the autumn. Chief amongst the former are
wheat, barley, arJtar pulse, purple peas (kirdo) and linseed ; chief amongst the
latter rice and urd pulse. In winter the white flowers of the poppy-field
form a pleasant feature in the landscape. The opium crop cannot of course take
its place beside wheat and rice as one of the staple growths of the parganah,
but it is the most widely grown of all the more precious crops. Of sugarcane
there is comparatively little, and cotton is almost unknown. The landlords ar&
1 See above, p. 668, note.
99
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776 BASTI-
chiefly Bhuinhdrs and Musalm&ns. Proprietary tenures are chiefly patdddri,
and of that form known as imperfect pattiddru
Besides its crops and a few unimportant manufactures, to be mentioned here-
after in the article on Menhd&wal, Maghar has no
Economical features. remarkable prod,icte. Its surplus agricultural commode
ties find a sale not only at Menhddwal, but at Bakhira or Baghnagar, Hanum6n-«
ganj, Budhauli, Gusidri, the tabsfl capital Khalilabad, the old parganah capital
Maghar, and several other villages where weekly markets are held. The metalled
road from Gorakhpur to Basti spans the south of the parganah, passing Maghar
and Khalilabad. The unmetalled Karmainigh&t and Basti line, on which stands
' Menhdiwal, runs south-westwards across the whole breadth of the tract Two
unmetalled highways cross at Budhauli and two more at Bakhira.
The history of Maghar has been told with sufficient fulness in the article on
the neighbouring but smaller parganah Maghar of Go-.
rakhpur.1 It remains only to add a few local details.
In copies of Akhars Institutes (1596) the two Maghars, undivided as yet
from one another and from B&nsi south of the Rfipti, are entered as Batanpur-..
Maghar or Batanpur B&nsi. Before their cession to the British (1801) they
had lost their B&nsi tappas, while the country around Bakhira had become
recognized as a separate parganah. Bakhira was soon, however, absorbed in
Maghar, and that parganah remained unsevered until 1865. It was then divid-
ed into two portions ; about two-thirds of it being given to the new-born district
of Basti and the remaining third going to form parganah Maghar of Gorakhpur.
There are few remains of antiquarian interest. Some of those that exist
A . . . have been' mentioned in the article on Maghar town*
Antiquities.
Buchanan refers to several ruinous castles of the Sar-
nets ; but he names only that at Gusi&ri, which he deemed the most remarkable*
Here lived for some time one Bhiu Singh Kachhw&ha, a cadet of the Jaipur
family, who married a Sarnet noblewoman.2 The popular but comparatively
modern temple of Shiva at Eop of tappa Bakhira, adjoins a mound of dibria-
to which some ascribe a Dom or Domkat&r and others a Th&ru origin.
"The rain if in the style of those attributed to the Tharus, being a large heap of brick
rubbish, without any traces of a ditch. It is about a third of a mile in diameter, and very
irregular in its shape, having many projecting corners. Its South- Western quarter is very
high ; but in other parts it is low, and north from it broken bricks are scattered to a consider-
able distance on some high land, although they do not form heaps. In that direction there
probably havet>een some small houses, while the great mass was the chief's castle. This ruin
I Suprp, p. 515. * He was a grandson of the historical Jai Singh I. of Amber, who,
died in 1660 ; and a son-in-law, apparently, of Madhu II. of Banei.
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MAHAULI PAHGANAtf. 777
U (Ailed Kopa. A little way east from the heap is the temple of Shiva. It is a small cubical
building covered by a dome, in the Muhammadan style \ and stands at the west end of a tank
dng by that people, its longest diameter being from east to west.1
Except the name Kopesh war, the Lord of Kopa, there is nothing to denote a connection with
the ruin, although the image may be old enough. About 200 votaries assemble on the Shiurattri.
Mahauli, a village in tappa Bankat of parganah Mahauli and tahsil Khalil*
abad, stands near the right bank of the Katnekia, about 18 miles south-east of
Basti. That is the distance as the crow flies, for Mahauli is approached by no
road. Its population amounted in 1872 to 2,414 souls*
Mahauli has a third-class police-station and an imperial post-office. It has
also some historical associations which entitle it to notice. Whether its name,
like that of the Mathura Maholi> is a corruption of Madhupuri matters little.
But we know that it about 1580 became, the stronghold of those Surajbansi
r&jas who seised the surrounding country from the Bhafs. Having thus
become the capital of a principality, it is in 1506 recorded as the capital of the
parganah which still bears its name ; for in Akbar's Institutes and this part
of India the terms principality (rdj) and parganah (mahdl) were generally
synonymous. The Mahauli rajas continued to dwell at Mahauli till about 1780*
But a great sickness which then fell upon the family, and was supposed to pro-
ceed from the wrath of a deity, caused their migration to Mahson. The
remains of their castle were still distinctly visible in the second decade of this
century. Built on a mound of broken brick, the reputed ruins of a Tharu fast-
ness, it was surrounded by a brick rampart which enclosed several buildings of
the same material The village was in 1814 still surrounded by forests which
had been planted as a defence against the Musalman cavalry. But before the
hunger of the plough and the demand for fuel these have long disappeared.
Mahauli, a parganah of the Ehalilabad and Basti tahsils, occupies the
south-eastern corner of the district. It juts on the east into G-orakhpur, from
which it is for some miles divided by the Kuana river. It is bounded on the
north-east by parganah Maghar, and on the north-north-west by parganah Basti.
On its ooncave west-north-western side it is indented by parganah Nagar and
again skirted for a while by the Kuana, The whole of the south-south-western
frontier is supplied by the river Ghigra, which severs the parganah from the
Faizabad district. Mahauli has 32 tappas. Of these the 22 eastern— Karri,
Tama, Aor&d&nr, M&ndar, Fidaipur, Kars&nd, Deokalli, Muhabra, Chandraoti,
Bankat, Ajaon, Naudanf, Buzurgwar, Tariapar, Mahthi, Kuchri, Sathara,
1 The Muhammadans were not the only people who dug their tanks in this manner. Bu-
chanan seems to have been unaware that the aboriginal races, his favourite Tbarus probably
included, made their reservoirs Surajbtdi, or longest from east to west. A Hindu tank is gene-
rally Chandrabtdi, or longest from north to south.
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778 BASTI.
Taraf-Belghatia, Sirsi, Bargfon, East Mur&dpur, and Simri— belong to the Kha-
lilabad tahsfl. The remaining 10— Kapri-Mahson, Kur&on, Dehi, Mahtoli, Bar-
gaon-Pagar, Jagann&thpur, Charkaila, Kudarha, Kabra,and Seobakhri, — He, of
course, in tahsfl Basti. The parganah contains 1,096 estates (mahdl), coinciding
as a rule with the same number of parishes (mama) ; and of these 601 are in-
cluded in tahsfl Khalilabad. Mahauli had in 1878 an area of 245,153 acres,
or somewhat over 383 square miles ; and a land-revenue of Bs. 1,68,622. Of
the former rather more than 212 miles, and of the Utter Rs. 93,859, belong to
the same Khalilabad.
According to the census of 1872 parganah Mahauli contained 952 inhabited
sites, of which 608 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 277
Population. between 200 and 500 ; 50 between 500 and 1,000 ; 14
between 1,000 and 2,000; 2 between 2,000 and 3,000 ; and one between 3,000
and 5,000. The total population numbered 204,849 souls (95,604 females),
giving 1,074 to the square mile. Classified according to religion, there were
184,762 Hindus, of whom 86,031 were females ; and 20,087 MusalmAns (9,573
females). Distributing the Hindu population amongst the four great classes,
the census shows 24,936 Br&hmans (11,364 females) ; 7,000 Rajputs (3,223
females) ; and 8,451 Baniy&s (3,964 females) ; whilst the great mass of the
population is included in " the other castes9' of the census returns, which show a
total of 144,375 souls (67,480 females). The principal Brahman sub-division*
found in this parganah are the Sarwaria (11,359), Eanaujia (10,360), Gaur
(54), Gautam (127), and Pande. The R&jputs belong to the Ponw*r (554),
Bais (1,793), Gautam (301), Parw&r (207), Chauhin (212), Sftrajbansi (1,620),
Bh&raddhw&j (213,) Raghubansi (6), Konohik, Kajkum&r, Gaharwar, R&jbansi,
Pander, Sakarw&r, Sirnet, Gaur, and Bhuinh&r clans ; the Baniy&s to the
Agarwal (1,314), Kasaundhan (1,871), K&ndu (2,476), and Agarahri (2,323) sub-
divisions. Those of the other castes which exceed in number one thousand
souls each are the Bhar (2,894), Kabar (6,109), Kurmi (17,255), Teli (3,899),
Dhobi (3,942), N&i (3,390), Cham&r (33,421), Ahir (28,214), Gadariya (1,586),
Barhai (3,085), Loh&r (2,668), K£yath (2,839), Khewat (3,426), Tamboli (2,086),
Kalw&r (1,130), Kumh&r (3,816), M41i (1,815), Sun&r (1,895), Nuniya( 1,784),
Manibe1 (1,278), Koeri (1,581). Koli (2,786), and RSjbhar (1,841). The Mow-
ing have less than one thousand members each : — Dhark&r, Khatik, Biri, Atit,
Bharbhunja, Gos&in, Bair&gi, Pasi, Bh&t, KMkrob, Thathera, Lodba, Halwai,
Patvva, Eanjar, Dh&rhi, Arakh, Baheliya, Sar&hiya, Gound,* Dhuna, Beldar,
1 See article on parganah Amorha, «• Population/' note. f See Bimilar note to article
on parganah Biusi.
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MAHATJLI PARGANAH, 779
Seori, Jaisw&r, Ramaiya, Kharw&r, and Ninakshahi. Tbe Musalm&ns are
Pathans (4,223), Shaikhs (2,770), Sayyids(656), Mughals (178), and unspecified.
The occnpations of the people are shown in the statistics collected at the
same census. From these it appears that of the male
adult population (not less than 15 years of age), 563
belong to the professional class of officials, priests, doctors, and the like ; 2,143
to the domestic class, including personal servants, water-carriers, barbers,
sweepers, washermen, &c ; 1,591 to the commercial class, comprising bankers,
carriers, and tradesmen of all sorts ; 52,003 to the agricultural class and
4,226 to the industrial or artisan. A sixth or indefinite class includes 5,488
persons returned as labourers and 605 as of no specified occupation* Taking
the total population, irrespective of age or sex, the same returns give 20,228
as landholders, 148,624 as cultivators, and 35,997 as engaged in occupa-
tions unconnected with agriculture. The educational statistics, which are con-
fessedly imperfect, show 848 as able to read and write out of a total male
population numbering 109,245 souls.
The Mahauli landscape has no special peculiarities. Tbe parganahis a well-
Physical and agrlcoltu- tiUed alluvial P1*"11 of the appearance familiar else-
ral feature*. where in the district. The fiat horizon is shut in by
thiokly-scattered mango-groves ; in tappa Muhabra and elsewhere are found
small patches of scanty brushwood jungle ; and in the neighbourhood of the
Ghagra are long stretches of waste land waving with thatching-grass or stud-
ded with grazing cattle. But forest is just as absent as rock or hill. The
salient feature of the tract is as usual its rivers, which creep in south-easterly
or east-south-easterly courses towards the Gh&gra. In the direction last-
mentioned flow tbe two principal streams, the Ghagra itself and the Ku4na,
About 1850 the former set northwards at the point where most nearly
approached by the latter. It in three years cut through the four miles of inter-
vening country, and at length burst into the Ku£na, which runs in a lower
bed. The result was a connecting channel which, where it leaves the Ghagra,
is two or three miles wide. Every rainy season, when this channel is flood-
ed, the autumn crops of eighteen southern tappas are more or less damaged.
In many places the ground does not dry in time to be sown with a spring crop,
or at least to be manured so as to produce a paying one. The expedient of
growing the water-logged soil with winter-rice would probably have been tried
if possible. The subsiding floods seldom leave behind any beneficial deposit,
and too often a sterilizing deposit of sand. These facts will sufficiently
explain the statement that during the term (1840-1862) of the last assessment
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VBO basti*
nearly 10,000 acres were rendered unculturable by the action of thd
Gh£gra.
From the point where reinforced by this channel, the once qniet Ku6n* has
during the fahre become a great branch of the greater river. For navigation,
except by the smallest craft, it was temporarily spoilt. When the floods subsi-
ded, they were found to have shoaled tip the river with sand-banks or snagged
its channels with uprooted trees. A southward movement of the Ghfigra has
now somewhat reduced the evil. But one of the first results of the former
change was the dilution of half Mukhlispur grain-mart The principal affluents
of the Ku&na are the Manwar, which joins it on the right bank just above
L&Iganj, near the Nagar frontier ; and the Eatnehia, which after a long south-
easterly course through the parganah finds a mouth just above Mukhlispur,
in the eastern centre of the tract.
The two latter streams and others are utilised for purposes of irrigation, but
the principal sources of water for the fields are lagoons, ponds, and wells. The
lagoons seem during late years to have shrunk considerably. Not only
does cultivation make far greater demands on their water than formerly ; but
into them, since the conversion of forests into fields, the rains wash more silt.
The settlement report (1862) describes the distance of water from the surface
as "small;" but of the watered area it gives more precise details. Of the
total cultivation, 135,394 acres, no less than 104,182 are recorded as irrigated.
The soils are as usual called loam (dor as) y clay (mattiydr), and sand (balua).
But here as elsewhere the settlement surveyors seem to have made their classi-
fication with no very scientific accuracy. It is often hard to decide when clay
is sufficiently sandy to be styled loam ; and they seem to have often evaded
the difficulty by classing as the former all lands cropped in autumn, as the
latter all lands cropped in spring* " Much that appeared as mattiy4r and
balua in the former papers," writes Mr. "Wilson, "is now recorded as doras.
This is in many cases owing to the reduction of the harshness of the soil by
manuring, irrigation, etc." But such processes are insufficient to turn clay
or sand into loam. And the nomenclature adopted seems hardly less artificial
than that of the people themselves, who class soils as near (goind) the village*
midland (miydna), and far (pallu) from the village.
The area sown for the spring harvest is more than five times as large as that
sown for the autumnal. Noting roughly in thousands of acres the space occupied
by each of the principal spring crops, we should get the following results :— •
Wheat, 38} ; barley or mixed barley and wheat, 20£ ; mixed barley and purple
peas (jaukirdt), 18} ; arhar pulse 13J ; and white peas, 11}. Marked in the
L
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MAHAULI PARGANAH. ' 791
same manner, the chief autumn growths would stand thus : Rices, 13£ ; and urd
pulse, 6. The owners of the soil which produces these crops are chiefly Stirajbansi
Bijputs; amongst their tenantry Kurmis, Ahirs, Koeris, and Chamars prevail.
An agricultural tract with no large towns, Mabauli has no important pro-
duct, except its' crops. Its only manufactures. are the
sugar and printed cloths of Lalganj and the coarse
blankets of Hainsar. The parganah was formerly famed for its cattle ; and
though these have decreased as pasturage has been brought under the plough,
the cattle-trade is still considerable. " The only markets whose trade extends
beyond the parganah," notes the writer last quoted, " are Gaeghat and Mukhlis-
pur for grain and Lalganj for sugar and cloths. On the whole the markets
are not flourishing. The banks of the Gh&gra are low and present no site suit-
able for a bfizar. Gaeghat, the nearest to the Gh&gra, suffered from attacks in
the Mutiny ; and L&lganj and Mukhlispur have suffered from the shoaling of
the Ku&na, on which they are situate, a great part of their trade being taken
up by the bazar of Dhakwa, lower down that river. This is not, however, very
material. The country is so level that it can be crossed by carts in every
direction, and the difference of a few miles in distance is scarcely felt." The
parganah is, nevertheless, drained by four unmetalled roads. On one of these
stands Mukhlispur ; on a second, Lalganj ; on the third, Gaeghat and Chhapra-
ghat ; on the fourth, Mahson. Though unmentioned by Mr. Wilson, Chhap-
raghat and Mahson are places of some importance. So are Hariharpur and
the old parganah capital Mahauli, of which neither stands on any officially recog-
nized highway.
The earliest traditional masters of Mahauli were Bajbhars and Tharus. But
about 1580 the aborigines were expelled by those 86-
rajbansi Eajputs who founded the Mahauli principality
and who are still the chief landholders of the parganah. The new-comers made
Mahauli village their capital ; but the present raja, a descendant of the first,
lives at Mahson. In the Institutes of Akbar (1596) the parganah is entered as a
part of the Gorakhpur district (dastur), Gorakbpur division (sark&r), and Oudh
province {suba). About a century and a quarter afterwards the rale of the
Dehli emperors gave place to that of their now independent Oudh viceroy*
But it is probable that Mahauli still remained a part of the Gorakhpur district.
And of the Gorakhpur district {zila), as remodelled by the British, it remained
a part after its cession (1801) to the East India Company. The demands
assessed upon the parganah at successive British settlements of land revenue
have been ; in 1803, Kg. 35,435 ; in 1806, Bs. 52,336; Bs. 55,109 in 1809 ;
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782 BASTI.
Rs. 61,979 in 1813 ; in 1840, Kb. 1,34,090 ; and in 1862, Rs. 1,66,613. Tho
enormous increase since the first decade of British role shows the strides with
which, under that rule, cultivation has advanced. During the second decade
Buchanan notes the existence within the parganah of " two long stunted forests,
very ugly." But these have succumbed before the plough.
The only antiquities mentioned by the same author are the remains of three
, ±. .A. Siirajbansi castles. Of these one has been mentioned
Antiquities.
in the article on Mahauli village ; and of all three it
may now be said that perierunt etiam ruince. When Buchanan wrote the par-
ganah was included in the police-circle of Sanichara, a still existing village
which has no other claim to mention.
Mahson, a large village in tappa Kapri-Mahson of parganah Mahauli and
tahsil Basti, stands beside the unmetalled road from B&nsi to I41ganj, 7 miles
south-south-east of the former. When we have said that it in 1872 sheltered
3,575 inhabitants, we have said almost all that can be said about it It is,
however, the seat of the Mahauli r&ja and a market of some local importance.
Menhd^wal, the largest and commercially the most important town of
the district, lies in tappa Menhd&wal of parganah Maghar and tahsil Khalil-
abad. Its north latitude is 26°57; its east longitude 89°9; and its distance
north-east-by-east of Basti 27 miles. The unmetalled road from Basti to
Karmaini-gh&t is here met by several others from Rndbauli, B&nsi, Bakhira,
and elsewhere. The population, being then short of 5,000,. is not mentioned
in the census report of 1847. But it amounted in 1853 to 7,273; in 1865
to 7,349; and in 1872 to 8,124. In the year last named the inhabited site was
returned as measuring 180 acres, and as peopled at a density of 45 to the acre.
Of the inhabitants as many as 6,842 were Hindiis and as few as 1,282 Musal-
mans. The people are, writes Dr. Planck ten years ago, " well dressed, pros-
perous in appearanoe."1
Distant some five miles only from tbe R&pti, about two from the edge of
the Bakhira lagoon, and even less from the low country
flooded during the monsoon by those waters, Menh-
d&wal stands in a rather damp and malarious locality. Issuing from its
north-eastern and south-eastern outskirts respectively, two natural water-
courses convey its surface drainage southwards towards the lagoon. The town
itself consists mostly of mud hilts, irregularly grouped about a winding road
whose general direction is north-eastwards. This main street is joined or
crossed by others, the chief quadrivium being that called the Chauk or Square,
■Sanitary Commissioner's Report, 1870.
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J
MENHDAWAL TOWN. 783
the principal market-place of Menbddwal. Towards their junction in thi*
centre all the roads are lined with fair shops. But the appearance of business
is greater than the appearance of orderly arrangement in the buildings.
West of the Square one of the roads opens out into another market-place.
This, a widish space flanked by excellent houses, while graced within by trees
and wells, is devoted chiefly to cotton. Some of the buildings are fronted by
palisaded enclosures for the storing of that commodity; but there are also
good shops for the sale of other articles. Towards the north of the town
are yet two more market-places — one dealing chiefly in Nep&lese goods, the
other in tobacco. The last, a square of goodly houses enclosing goodly trees,
is perhaps the pleasantest part of Menhda* wal. But the bulk of the town is a
rambling collection of hovels, accompanied by the usual complement of pits
dug to supply material for mud-walls, tiles, and bricks. Numerous wells
supply good drinking-water at a depth, in the cold weather, of 15 feet. But
they are not always tended with the care they deserve. " Mud and filthy
water," wrote Dr. Planck some years ago, "announced the neighbourhood
of a well almost as surely as an unpleasant odour announced the neighbour-
hood of an excavation."
On an open space traversed by the main road stands the first-class police-
station. Beside the same thoroughfare on the south rises a Th&kurdw&ra or
temple of Krishna ; whilst a second on the northern outskirts reminds one
that Menhdawal is above all things a town of Hindtis. It is said that every
house has its cow. The place boasts also an imperial post-office, a branch
dispensary, and a tahsili school. The sardi or native hostelry is a shop-like
building on the main road.
The Chaukidari Act (XX. of 1856) is in force. During 1878-79 the
house-tax thereby imposed, together with a balance
House-tax. *«».«*■ i- ,
of Ks. 717 from the preceding year, gave a total
income of Rs. 2,604. The expenditure, which was chiefly on police (Rs. 797)
and conservancy (Rs. 324), amounted to Rs. 1,193. The returns showed
1,400 houses, of which 432 were assessed with the tax : the incidence being
Rs. 4-5-11 per house assessed and Re. 0-3-91 per head of population. Some
idea of the town's growth during the past 65 years may be gathered from the
statement that about 1815 it had but 500 houses.1
Menhdawal is now, as already mentioned, the principal mart of the district.
Its trade consists chiefly in the exchange of goods
from the Nepal hills for goods from the Ganges plain.
' Eastern India, II., 392.
100
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784 BASTI.
Bat in its markets may be seen also articles from the Nep&lese Tar&i and from
England. The most considerable Nepalese imports brought as a rule from
Biitwal are iron, copper-coinage, unbnsked rice and other grain, chiretta and
other dmgs, ginger and other spices (tumeric, cardamums, cloves, cinnamon,
chilies, pepper, hill betel-nut, coriander-seed, etc.), fibre manufactures Udt and
ihangray, vegetable dyes, bankaa grass, and clarified butter. The imports from
plaoes in these provinces — from Cawnpore, Allahabad, Mirzapur, and Gorakh-
pur — are raw cotton, cotton-stuffs, English and native, salt, metal vessels,
sugar, and hides. The last are exported chiefly to Patna in Bengal. From
Saran in the same province are brought for local consumption large quantities
of tobacco ; and in the tobacco-market live several agents of Chhapra mer-
chants, wholesale dealers in this solacing drug. The weekly market-days are
supplemented by three yearly fairs : one held on the Ramlila festival in Sep-
tember-October (Kuar) ; the second at the feast of the wedding of Rima in
November-December (Aghan); and last on the birthday of Shiva (Shitir&ttri)
in February-March. But at none of these meetings is the attendance large.
The number of visitors is reckoned at 3,000 for the first and 1,000 each for the
second and third.
The town was founded by one Damodar Singh, who received from his
chieftain, the B&nsi r&ja, a large fief in the neighbour-
hood. On this grant the original market was estab-
lished by one of his descendants ; but the warlike pedlars known as Banjaras
«re perhaps entitled to some share of the credit. Afenhd&wal parish (mauta )
is still owned partly by R&jputs and partly by Banj&ras. The former gave
some trouble during the Great Rebellion, when the lands of Hargovind Singh
became forfeit for treason ; the latter call themselves Ndik, a title which is
properly due only to the chiefs of their clan.
Misraulia, a village in tappa Barikp&r of parganah B&nsi and tahsil
Domari&ganj, stands about 34 miles in a direct line north-by-east of BastL
The distance by road and cross-country track is, however, some 20 miles greater.
Not far from the village on the north-west lies an extensive forest tract ; not
far from it on the north-east the Sikri watercourse joins the Burhi RApti river.
The population amounted in 1872 to 166 persons only; and Misraulia is mentioned
merely as the site of a third-class police-station and a district post-office.
Nagab, a village in tappa Nagar or Haveli of parganah Nagar and tahsil
Basti, has some slight historical interest. A map in General Cunningham's
Archceological Survey Report*1 seems to identify it with the Kapila-nagara where
1 Vol. I., plate I.
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NAGAR PARGANAH. 78*
Buddha was born ; but the real site of that prophet's birthplace is, as above
shown,1 extremely doubtful. Buddha was probably a Gautam Rajput; and it
is an odd coincidence, through nothing more, that Nagar in the fourteenth
century became the capital of a Gautam principality. From that time until
1858 its castle remained the seat of those Gautam r&fas who before the dawn
of British sway were the practically independent rulers of parganah Nagar.
Their history has been told elsewhere.9 It need only be added that Nagar,
which in 1872 had 2,054 inhabitants, stands on the shore of the Chandu lake,
6 miles south-west of Basti ; and that it holds a small fair in April* May (Bai-
sakh).
Nagar or Aurangabad-Nagar, a parganah of the Haraia and Basti
tahsils, is bounded on its convex east-south-eastern side by parganah Mahauli,
the Euana river forming a part of the boundary; on north-by-east by parganah
Basti, the Ku6na and its affluent* the Raw&i, supplying most of the border ; on west-
north-west by parganah Amorha, the Man war river being for a short distance
the dividing-line ; and on south-south-west by the Gh&gra river, which severs
it from the Faizabad district. Nagar has 12 tappas* Of these the 7 eastern —
Dobakhra, Nagar, Kiira, Pipra, Pil&i, Eanaila, and Ealwari — belong to the
Basti tahsil. The western and larger remainder, included in tahsfl Haraia,
consists of tappas Aujhi, Manwarp&ra, Naw&i, Khuri&r, and Gaoeshpur. The
parganah contains 670 estates (mahdl), coinciding aa a role with the same
number of parishes (mauza) ; and of these 348 are in the Haraia tahsil. Nagar
had in 1878 an area of 134,524 acres, or nearly 210£ square miles; and a land-
revenue of Bs. 1,10,742. Of the former over 115$ miles, and of the latter
Bs. 54,341, belong to tahsfl Haraia.
According to the census of 1872, parganah Nagar contained 58& inhabited
sites, of which 387 had less than 200 inhabitants ; 162
Population. between 200 and 500; 28 between 500 and 1,000; 6
between 1,000 and 2,000; and 3 between 2,000 and 3,000.
The population numbered 124,482 souls (58>673 females), giving 1,199 to
the square mile. Classified according to religion there were 112,164 Hindus, of
whom 52,704 were females ; 12,317 MusalmAns (5,969 females), and one Chris-
tian. Distributing the Hindu population among the four great classes, the census
shows 16,984 Brdhmans (8,155 females); 5,878 Rajputs (2,597 females) ; and
5,352 Baniyfis (2,545 females) ; whilst the great mass of the population is
included in the * other castes," which show a total of 83,950 souls (39,406
females). The principal Br&hman sub-divisions found in this parganah are the
1 P. 716. * Supra, pp.- 679 81.
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786 BASTI.
Sarwaria (8,590), Kanaujia (197), Gaur (1,343), Gautam (6), Pande, Sangal-
dwipi, Lohma, Gorakhbansi, Kashmiri, Sandel, Niwan, Yasisht, and Pachgoti.
Th6 BAjputs belong to the Panwar (35), Bais (241), Gautam (3,354), Parwar
(134), Chanhan (60), Surajbansi (289), Bharaddhwaj (3,533), Raghubansi (22),
Konohik, Jaiswar, Bachgoti, Bisen, Bhuinhar, Mahrawar, and Raikawar clans,
the Baniyas to the Agarwal (222), Kasaundhan (1,956), Kandu (559), Agarahri
(2,054), Panwar, and Rastogi sob -divisions. Those of the other castes which
exceed in number one thousand souls each are the Bhar (1,675), Eahar (3,045),
Kurmi (13,669), Teli (2,568), Dhobi (2,308), Nai (2,193), Chamar (iy,916),
Ahir (14,372), Barhai (2,150), Lohar (1,729), Kayath (1,447), Tamboli (2,152),
Kumhar (2,465), CMi (1,279), Nuniya (1,758), and Kori (1,691): The follow-
ing have less than one thousand members each : — Gadariya, Khewat, Ealwar,
Dharkar, Ehatik, Bari, Atit, Mali, Sonar, Manibe,1 Bharbhunja, Gosain,
Bair&gi, P&si, Bhat, Khakrob, Thathera, Eoli, Lodha, Halw&i, Patwa, Kanjar,
Bhuinhar, Gound,9 J&t, Bargahi, and Chhipi. The Musalmans are Shaikhs,
(991), Pathans (1,328), Sayyids (47), Mughals (16), and unspecified.
The occupations of the people are shown in the statistics collected at the
^ same census. From these it appears that of the male
Occupations. . ,
adult population (not less than 15 years of age), 659
belong to the professional class of officials, priests, doctors, and the like ;
2,217 to the domestic class, including personal servants, water-car-
riers, barbers, sweepers, washermen, Ac.;" 1,354 to the commercial class,
comprising bankers, carriers, and tradesmen of all sorts; 28,910 to the agricul-
tural class; and 3,249 to the industrial or artisan. A sixth or indefinite class
includes 2,929 persons returned as labourers and 312 as of no specified occupa-
tion. Taking the total population, irrespective of age or sex, the same returns
give 14,577 as landholders, 80,710 as cultivators, and 30,195 as engaged'in
occupations unconnected with agriculture. The educational statistics, which
are confessedly imperfect, show 438 as able to read and write out of a total
male population numbering 65,809 souls.
Nagar slopes gently, with no sudden elevations or depressions, towards the
Physical and agricul- east-south-east. Like the rest of the district, it is one
vast mixture of field and fruit grove. Compared
with that of surrounding parganahs, its soil is undoubtedly poor. But the
poverty is merely comparative, for the average productiveness of the tract is not
low. True that the only tappas which can be called pre-eminently fertile are
1 See article on parganah Amorha, "Population," note. * Corresponding note to
artiole on pargana Bansi. v •
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NAGAR PARGANAH. 787
the southern tappas, Aujhi and Kalwdri. But except on the sandy fields of the
eastern Ktira and Pipra, the crops are everywhere fair. " The almost unbroken
waves of cultivation," writes Mr. P. J. White, "beautiful mango-groves,
numerous reservoirs of water, many streams and streamlets ; the villages safely
enclosed by hedges of cactus and coolly sheltered by a dense shady belt of
tamarind, bambu, pipal, or other large trees ; cattle dotting the plain amid the
limited waste-plots — all combine to give a picturesque beauty and cheerfulness
to the physical aspect of the parganah. The contrast is as emphatic as it pos-
sibly can be to the dull, bare, arid plains and uncomfortably exposed, hot-look-
ing, red-brick villages of Bundelkhand."
The Gh&gra and the Kuana merely bound the parganah. But the Raw&i
traverses its north-eastern corner, and the Manwar, with an east-south-easterly
course, pierces it from end to end ; a watercourse called the Manjhauri, an
affluent of the Ku&na, skirts for some distance the north of tappa Ganeshpur
and the parganah. Another called the Machw&i passes through the north-
western tappas to fall into the Chandu-t&l, the greatest of the local lagoons.
The surplus waters of this reservoir find their way through an old canal into
the Manwar, just below Nagahra village. The Chandu-t&l lies in tappa Nagar
or Haveli ; the next largest lagoons are those at Marhni in tappa Khuriar and
Som in tappa Kanaila. All these sheets of water are valuable fisheries. All
are sown with water-nuts (aingdra) and spontaneously produce wild -rice (Una).
But many smaller lakelets and ponds are scattered over the face of the country.
In the diwdra villages — that is in the tract skirting the Gh&gra and subject
to its inundations— the climate is unhealthy. Here goitre is hot uncommon.
About the middle of the parganah, again, on the brink of the Machw&i water-
course, the population suffers from fever in the months just succeeding the
rainy season. But with these exceptions the parganah is fairly salubrious.
The total cultivated area, 86,465 acres, was at assessment divided into three
classes of soil. These were loam or doras (55,792 acres), clay or mattiydr
(16,541), and sand or balua (14,132). No less than 75,376 acres of the same
area were returned as irrigated from the Manwar, water-courses, lagoons, ponds,
and wells. In some other parts of these provinces irrigation from wells is
considered the best, and the people ask " what is better for the crop than the
milk of the mother which bore it ?" Here however, being supposed to contain
a fertilizing sediment, the water from the four first-named sources is preferred.
Water lies at an average depth of less than 22 feet from the surface.
The aitea tilled for the spring harvest prevails over that tilled for the
autumn harvest in the proportion of about 56 to 30. Roughly noting in
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788 BASTL
thousands of acres the spaces occupied by the principal crops of the former, m
get : wheat, 21 i ; arhar pulse, 9 ; mixed barley and purple peas (jaukirdi^ 7 J ;
barley alone, 4£ ; sugarcane, 4 ; and gram pulse, 4. Marked in the same manner,
the chief autumn growths stand as follows : Rices, 14£} urd or mdsh pulse,
5£ ; mothi pulse, 4± ; and kodo millet, 3£. Amongst the owners of the soils
which produce these crops Gautam Rajputs are largely represented. The
bulk of tappa Ganeshpur, with a few villages in tappas Dobakhra and Nawtf,
is held at a small quit-rent by a Musalm&n family still known as the Pindaras.
This ta'alluqa was granted to their ancestor Kadir Bakhsh, a Pindari chief
whom the British Government wished to provide with sufficient means fora
peaceful livelihood (1818-19).1
Nagar has but one manufacture of any note — the chintz and gilt cloths
prepared by the cotton-printers (Chhipi) of Bahadurpur.
Economical features. r r j r \ r / r
These stuffs are extensively sold not only in the district
itself, but even in Biitwal of Nep&l. The main trade of the parganah i»as usual
its trade in grain ; but there is also some commerce in home-made or imported
cloth, and in imported spices* tobacco, cotton, copper and brass utensil*. The
principal marts are Bah&durpur, Pand&r, Kalw&ri, and the old parganah capital
Nagar, where a small yearly fair is held in April-May. The minor market
villages are Behra, Ganeshpur, Gotwa, and Pipra. The larger markets {hath)
are held twice, the smaller once weekly. The large external towns with which
the places just named carry on their trade* are Menhd&wal of Maghar, Biskohar
of B&nsi, Belwa of Amorha, and Barhalganj of Gorakhpur. Water communi-
cation with the two last is provided by the Gh&gra. Navigable also are the Ku&oa
and, in the rainy season, the Manwar. The metalled Basti and Faiaabad road
spans the north of the parganah,. passing the old tahsil capital Captainganj*
From it branches near the Basti border an unmetalled line to T&nda of Faiza-
bad. And this second highway is crossed at Kalwari by a third of the same
class, running almost parallel to the Gh&gra.
The earliest possession of parganah Nagar is by differing traditions assigned
to both the DomkatAraand the Bhars. But the aboriginal
History. , Jt_ J . . . ° ,
occupants, whoever they were, seem to have been. ejected
in the first half of the fourteenth century by Gautam R&jputs. The Gautams
fixed their capital at Nagar, and until the rebellion of 1858 supplied the parganah
with a r&ja. But though a separate principality, the tract does not appear
under its own name in Akbar's Institutes (1596). It is generally identified with
Bihlapira or Kihlap&ra, a parganah which that work places in the Gorakhpur
1 Supra p. 398.
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PAIKAULU VILLAGE. 789
district (dasttr) and division (sarkdr) of the Oudh province (s^baj. Since the
beginning of the eighteenth century Nagar has passed through much the same
vicissitudes as other parts of the district. It was usurped by the Oudh Viceroys
of the Dehli emperors, and by its Oudh rulers was ceded to the British (1801).
The land-taxes assessed at successive British settlements were : — in 1803,
Rs. 58,784 ; in 1806, Bs. 54,970 ; Rs. 55,483 in 1809 ; Rs. 54,243 in 1813;
in 1840, Rs. 76,796; and in 1865 Rs. 1,17,814. The great increase since
1813 will not fail to arrest attention ; for it means a vast advance in tillage ?s
well as in State income. It is well that the parganah was not permanently
settled three years earlier, when the Collector reported that cultivation was suffi-
ciently extensive to justify such treatment.1
Nagar seems indeed to have been cleared of forests earlier than the more
northern parganahs of the district. In 1814 Buchanan
describes " the plantations as moderate, although many
still are superfluous.** The only antiquities which he mentions are the raja's
castle at Nagar and the fortifications of Ganeshpur ; the latter consisting as
usual of a ditch, an earthen rampart, and a bambu hedge.
Nabkatha, a village in tappa Chaur of parganah and tahsil B&nsi, stands
on the north or left bank of the R&pti river, some 33 miles north-north-east of
Basti. Just opposite on the southern bank rises the town of B&nsi, whereof
Narkatha may perhaps be considered a suburb. On the ferry which connects
the village with the town converge two unmetalled roads from the north*
Narkatha is remarkable for its population, which in 1872 numbered 3,808 ;
and also as the present seat of the B&nsi r&jas. Soared out of Bansi-castle by
the malevolent ghost of a Br&hman, they about 1760 migrated across the
river and built here a new house. This at first consisted of an one-storied mud-
built quadrangle flanked by two-storied towers8 of the same material. But for
mud has since been substituted brick.
Paikaulia, a village in tappa Ratanpur of parganah Basti and tahsfl
Haraia, forms the extreme end of the wedge between the Rawti river and a
southern tributary. Standing on a cart-track , 73 miles west-north-west of Basti,
it had in 1872 a population of 498.
Here are a third-class police-station and a district post-office. Paikaulia
was in 1814 the only place in the parganah, except Basti, which could be
1 Letter in Board's Records, 9th March, I8IO. * His description applies more strictly
to the police circle of Mabuadabar, which almost, however, coincided with the existing parga-
nah. The head-quarters of the circle, Mabuadabar Tillage, was destroyed during the Mutiny,
and must not be confused with the small mart thus called in tappa Atroh of parganah Basti.
The name simply means •• the pool of mahud trees ;"and should be common enough in a district
where both mannas and pools are numerous. " Eastern India, II., 396.
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790 BASTI.
called a town.1 But its commercial importance, if it ever possessed any, has
declined.
Parasra'mpur, a village in tappa Bangawan of pargana Amorha and tahsil
Haraia, is remarkable only as the site of a third-class police-station. The popu-
lation amounted in 1872 to 332 persons only. The distance west-north-west
of Basti is about 30 miles as the crow flies ; for no road has as yet reached the
village.
HAstfiiPUR, or Rasulpur-Ghaus, a parganah of the Domariaganj tahsil, is
bounded on the east by parganah Bansi ; on north-east-by-north again by
Bansi, the Parasi and Ikrari watercourses supplying a partial boundary ; on its
jagged west-south-western side by the Gonda district, from which it is severed
chiefly by the R&pti and Kuaoa rivers ; on south-east-by-south by parganahs
Basti and Maghar. Rasiilpur is sub-divided into 8 tappas, called Awainia,
Karhi, Halaur, Sagara, Chhapia, Xdampur, Bhanpur, and Sehari. It contaius
727 estates (mahdl), coinciding as a rule with the same number of parishes
(mauza). The parganah had in 1878 an area of 211,275 acres, or somewhat
over 330 square miles ; and a land revenue (excluding cesses) of Bs. 1,53,191.
According to the census of 1872, parganah Rastilpur contained 645 inha-
bited sites, of which 347 had less than 200 inhabitants; 239
Population. between 200 and 500; 49 between 500 and 1,000, and 10
between 1,000 and 2,000.
The population numbered 164,101 souls (76,951 females), giving 495 to the
square mile. Classified according to religion there were 126,275 Hindus,
(59,109 females); and 37,826 Musalmans (17,842 females). Distributing
the Hindu population among the four great classes the census shows 17,384
Brahmans i 8,172 females) ; 2,557 Rajputs (1,127 females) ; and 4,253 Baniy&s
(2,025 females) ; whilst the great mass of the population is included in the
" other castes," which shew a total of 102,081 souls (47,785 females). The
principal Br&hman sub-divisions found in this parganah are the Sarwaria
(2,565), Kanaujia (947), Gaur (303), Gautam (10), Pande, Sangaldwipi, Shu-
kul, Tiwari, and Misr. The Bajputs belong to the Panwdr (60), Bais (906),
Gautam (49), Parw&r (21), Chauh&n (238), Stiraj bansi (l23),Bharaddhwij (3),
Raghubansi (113),Kulhans,Chandrabansi,and Bargtijar clans ; the Baniy&s to
the Agarwal (294), Kasaundhan (1,555), Kdndu (82), Agarahri (1,713), Dasa,
and Bandarwar sub-divisions. Those of the other castes which exceed in num-
ber one thousand souls each are the Bhar (1,569), Kahax (3,228), Kurmi,
1 Eastern India, 7/., S90. The areas described by Buchanan were police circles. Bat this
Basti police circle corresponded pretty closely with the modern parganah.
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RAStfLPUR PABGANAH. 791
(10,060), Teli (2,622), Dhobi (2,203), N&i (1,481), Chamar (22,999), Afair
(16,424), Gadariya (1,079), Barhai (3,615), Lohir (1,781), Kayath (3,457),
Khewat (1,291), TamboU (2,516), Kalwar (1,185), Kumhfa (2,948), Chai (1,587),.
Mali (7,865), Sunar (1,200), Nuniya (2,457), Koli (1,409), and Arakh tt,477).
The following have less than one thousand members each : — Dhark&r, Khatik,
B&ri, Atit, Manibe,1 Bharbhtinja, Gos&n, Bair&gi, Ptei, Bhit, Khakrob, Tha-
thera, Lodha, Rajbhar, Halwai, Patwa, Kanjar, Dh&rhi, Dhnna, Jat, Orh, and
Nat. The Musalm&ns are Shaikhs (6,919), Sayyids (1,745), Path&ns (1,594),
Mughals (193), and unspecified.
The occupations of the people are shown in the statistics collected at the same
census. From these it appears that of the male adult
population (not less than 15 years of age), 341 belong to the
professional class of officials, doctors, and the like ; 2,841 to the domestic class,
which includes servants, water-carriers, barbers, sweepers, washermen, Ac. ;
1,121 to the commercial, comprising bankers, carriers, and tradesmen of all
sorts ; 37,385 to the agricultural class ; and 4,889 to the industrial or artisan.
A sixth or indefinite class includes 4,137 persons returned as labourers and
640 as of no specified occupation. Taking the total population, irrespective, of
age or sex, the same returns give 13,214 as landholders, 1,09,477 as culti-
vators, and 41,410 as engaged in occupations unconnected with agriculture.
The educational statistics, which are confessedly imperfect, show 708 as able to*
read and write out of a total male population numbering 87,150 souls.
The parganah is a level tract of ploughed fields interspersed with mango*
Physical and agricultu- groves. Turning eastwards across it after forming the-
ral features. Gonda border, the Rapti divides it into two not very
unequal portions. But to the bed of that river the country slopes upwards*
rather than downwards. The Rapti seems to flow rather along the ridge of a
watershed than in any depressed basin. And, except for a short distance along
the northern bank, it receives almost none of the parganah drainage.
The remaining streams, rising near the Rapti and flowing away from it,
suggest the idea of escape channels from that river. The surplus water of thfr
northern tappas is carried off by the Par&si and its affluent, the Ikr&ri water-
course, which, as already noted, supply for some distance the northern border.
The southern tappas are drained into the Ku&na, which rises in the next dis-
trict; into the Ami, which rises within the parganah; and into the Rihawa
watercourse, another home-bred stream which replenishes the Kuina. The-
banks of these smaller rivers " consist to a considerable distance of the most
1 See article on parganah Amovbs, " Population," note.
101
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792
BASTI.
impracticable soil, very hard and often covered by a saline efflorescence that stop*
almost all vegetation."1 The Ku&na is fringed as usual with a stretch of
scrubwood ; but the parganah can boast no nearer approach to a forest.
Of lagoons it has a large allowance. The greatest is the Pathra-t&l, which
lies partly in tappa Sagara and partly in parganah Bansi. Next in size are
the Sewand and In&war tals of tappa Awainia, the Pipr&hia-t&l of tappa Chha-
piya, and two other sheets of water not far south-west of the Pathra-t&l itself.
The field irrigation is of two kinds : by lift from lagoons and ponds and by
lever and pot from wells. The latter method is seldom adopted except for the
sake of the rarer and more valuable crops, such as pdppy, sugarcane, and
vegetables. But as water lies but 15 or 16 feet from the surface, lever-wells
could, if needed, be dug on a far larger scale. Of the 141,379 acres returned
at assessment (1863) as cultivated, 105,201 were also returned as watered.
The areas recorded as tilled for the different harvests were : for that of the
spring 80,362 acres ; for that of the autumn, 56,225 ; and for that of the trans-
planted winter rice, 30,784. Noting roughly in thousands of acreB the space
occupied by each of the principal spring crops, we get : wheat, 19 ; barley, 8$ ;
arhar pulse, 6} ; lentils (masdr), 5 ; and mustard 3J. Marked in the same
manner, the chief autumn growths stand in the following order : — Broadcast
rice, 19$ ; and urd or mdsh pulse, 3|. But these figures show only the area
temporarily monopolised by each crop ; and except wheat, they are all sometimes
mixed in the same field or followed in the same field and year by other staples.
Let us take as an instance a spring crop not hitherto mentioned. Peas when
grown alone occupy a comparatively small area, but when mixed with other
crops have a large share in over 11,000 acres.
The soils which produce these crops are as usual divided into sandy (balua),
clayey (mattiydr), and loamy (doras). The sandy mould is of course unmistake-
able ; but the criterion which the assessment surveyors adopted for the distinc-
tion of clay and loam is very far from apparent. The difference between
these two soils, writes Mr. Wynne, is " absolutely inappreciable." But to the
natural composition of the earth they plough the people themselves pay no
heed. To them all soil is goenr, miy&na, or pallu : that is " near the village,"
" midland," and " farthest from the village." A large proportion of the goenr
lands are planted with mango-groves, which occupy "043 of the total cultiva-
ted area.
To plant such giant orchards has always been deemed a peculiarly merito-
rious aotion. The merit is perhaps greater because the fruit, being far more
1 Mr. Wynne's Settlement Report (para. 2).
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RASULPUR PARGANAH. 793
than sufficient for the planter's own family, is as a rule distributed gratis amongst
the villagers. It is hardly necessary to note that the planter is almost always
the village landlord. The landlords of Rasiilpur are chiefly Brahmans and
JRijputs. Next after long intervals stand Kfcyaths and MusalmAns, Baniy&a
and the monastic orders1 ; whilst the rest belong to miscellaneous and generally
lower caste*. During the currency of the last settlement (1840-62) the villages
in the hands of the trading community, a term which includes money-lending
Brihmans, increased largely. The tenures are mostly of the kinds known as
perfect pattiddri and zamwddri, while the birt holdings are comparatively few.1
Amongst the tenantry the Musalm&ns, Kurmis, Koeris, Mur&os, and Lodha
are conspicuous as well for their numbers as for the excellence of their cultiva- •
tion.
Its cultivation is Rasulpur's only remarkable industry. Its manufactures
are almost limited to the necessaries of life, as that term
Economical features. . . 1 .
is understood by a clownish folk spending most of their time
out of doors. But even of these necessaries some are imported. Though the
preparation of saltpetre is allowed, salt must be brought from elsewhere ; aud
a considerable portion of the cloth and the metal vessels used is foreign. It
may be noted that the principal mart for salt is Bayara of tappa Bh&npur.
For the sale of the agricultural raw produce, which is the parganah's one
important merchandise, weekly markets are held in many obscure villages.
Such are Chaukanda of tappa Karhi, Bhaw&niganj of tappa Bh&npur, and
Bhagobhar of tappa Sagara. The yearly fairs of Bh&ri in Sagara, Halaur in
the tappa of that ilk, and Katesarn&th in Karhi,8 provide an occasional opportunity
of buving and selling all commodities for which any demand exists. But there
are a few marts of a somewhat more than merely local ambition — marts which
export to other parganahs and districts a little sugar and 'a great deal of grain.
Amongst these may be mentioned Singarjot, Bhitaria, Bharautia, Gaura, and
Tighra, all on the Rapti. Their exports wend as a rule down-stream, to Barhaj of
Gorakhpur ; but the exports of all together are not equal to those of Uska, in
1Bair£gis and Gosatns. * Supra, pp. 669-71. s The fair at Bbari hat been men-
tioned ia a separate article. The Ratesarnath assembly, held in honour of Mahadeo or Shiva,
lasts for about a fortnight in February-March (Phalgun). Taking place on the very moveable
Muhammadan feast of Muhurram, the Halaur fathering may according to the year take place
in any one of the English months. It Is held at the shrine (jdargdh) of a saint named Hazrat
Shah Sayyid Abd-ur-Rasult who is said to hare come from Khurasan in the reign of Alamgir
( 1658-1707). He planted here a sacred tree whose leaves and fruit visitors to the shrine carry
off as relics {tabarruk). Over 1.00) Sayyids, claiming kinship with this < Prophet of Khurasan/
divide the proceeds of the five revenue-free Tillages with which that shrine is endowed These
men are found all over the country, from Dehli to Bihar, in every position and in every
employment. But they still cling tenaciously to the infinitesimal and constantly diminishing
dividends which mark their connection with a locally famous man.
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794 BASTI.
the neighbouring Bansi. The tahsU capita] Domari&ganj, also on the R&pti,
has perhaps a rich commercial future. The only obstacle which, in Mr. Wynne's
opinion, prevents it from rivalling Uska and becoming a first-rate grain mart is
the want of local enterprise. He adds that the R&pti is even now easily naviga-
able ; and that with a little care in removing sunken trees it might become a
channel of communication not often equalled in the country. The Ku&na also
is navigable. The principal road of the parganah is the unmetalled line from
Basti to Nep&l, by way of Domari&ganj. This, which passes near Chaukanda
and Katesarnath, is quitted south of the R&pti by two easterly branches ; north
of the R&pti by a north-westerly branch, near which stands Singarjot But
these branches, like the trunk itself, are unmetalled.
The parganah derives its name from Rasulpur on the R&pti, in tappa
Halaur. In the first half of the fourteenth century
it was still held by the Dom or Domkat&r raja of
-Gonda. But the territories of this aboriginal or half-aboriginal ruler were
about that time annexed by the Kulb&ns R&jputs. The power of the Kulh&ns
tribe gradually dwindled until they had lost their domains in Gonda, and until
their domains in this district had become divided into the two separate prin-
cipalities of Rasiilpnr and Basti. There is still a Kulh&ns r&ja of Basti, But
about 1700 Rasulpur was seized and the Kulh&ns ejected by the Bansi r&ja,
chief of the Sarnet R&jputs.
Meanwhile, in 1596 and the Domesday-book of the emperor Akbar,
Basiilpur had been entered as a part of the Gorakhpur district (dastdr),
Gorakhpur division (sarkdr), and Oudh province (stiba). But the imperial rule
was never very strong in this part of the country ; and it was not till abont
1720, when the Viceroy of Oudh assumed independence, that the local r&ja
really felt his sway questioned by any superior power. Even then the B&nsi
r&ja remained the great magnate. But in 1801 the pargauah was ceded by
Oudh to the East India Company, and the dominion of petty local rulers gave
place to that of a strong oentral government. The demands assessed on the
parganah at successive British settlements of land revenue were :— in 1803,
Bs. 43,230 ; in 1806, Rs. 37,227 ; Rs. 50,135 in 1809 ; Rs. 62,456 in 1813 ;
in 1840, Rs. 1,28,343 ; and in 1862, Rs. 1,50,251.
There are as usual few remains of antiquarian interest Buchanan mentions
mounds of broken brick attributed to the Tharus at Bh&ri
(j, v.) and at a village called " the Elephant's Trunk"
(Hathsari or Hastfsanda). Now at this village is said to have dwelt a Th&ru
chief or demigod named Samaya ; and in the ruins of a temple called
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SrTX&rfMPUB VILLAGE. 795
Samayasth&n, at another Tillage called Penriya, was discovered 'during 1813
an image which was supposed to represent him. The sculpture differed little
from those which, found in similar spots, are called Cbaturbhuj, Lachhminar&yan,
Gaj&dhar, and Basdeo (Vasndeva). There is some reason, therefore, to snspect,
argues Buchanan, that such idols are in fact representations of the Samaya
Devata of the Th&rus. u The name implies1 the deity of the reason, time, or
opportunity. In the present system, however, a goddess presides over the seasons
(KaJardpini)." At Jamohananear Bh&npur* were found some 11 years earlier
two images nam6d Bam and Lachhman. But there was some reason to suspect
that the Brahman who professed to have ploughed them up had in reality
brought them from elsewhere, with a view of trading on their sanctity.
The remains of several petty castles built by the Kulhans Rajputs and their
successors, the Sarnets, are antiquities more undoubtedly genuine.
Budhauli, the village which gives its name to tappa Budhauli of parganah
Maghar and tahsfl Basti, stands besides the unmetalled Basti and Bansi road,
19 miles north-by-east of the former town. It in 1872 had 2,092 inhabitants.
Near it flows the river Xmi ; and near it is still left a considerable remnant of
ancient woodland.
Budhauli has a second-class police-station and a district post-offioe. It is
the head village of a tract known as the Bajhera, which about 1300 was granted
to the anoestor of its present landlords by raja Jai Singh of Maghar. The ori-
ginal grantee, Bijai Singh, is said to have been a brother of the grantor ; and
his descendants have sometimes been accused of turbulence. The Bajhera
includes many villages in Rastilpur as well as in Maghar.
Sirsi, in tappa Sirsi of parganah Mahauli and tahsil Ehalilabad, is the scene
of a large yearly fair. This, which takes place in March- April, is called the
Makhaura, and has an estimated attendance of 10,000. The actual and per-
manent population of the village was in 1872 returned as only 365. That village
stands on the right bank of the Kufaa, about 36 miles south-east of Basti.
SfrXB^MPUR or 8it&r6mpur-Baburi, a village in tappa Belwa of pargana
Amorha and tahsfl Haraia, is remarkable for the same reason as the place last
mentioned. Standing on the banks of the Gh&gra, opposite Ajudhy a of Faiz-
abad, it is traversed by the metalled Gorakhpurand Faizabad road, which
crosses the river by ferry. The distance west of Basti is 30 miles. The village
had in 1873 only 1,387 inhabitants. But it boasts two great annual fairs, held
ostensibly for the purpose of religious bathing in the river. The first, named
1 In Sanskrit and Hindi, which were probably unknown to the ancient Tharns. » Jamo-
ahna and Bhanpur are neighbouring Tillages in tappaa Adampnr and Chhapia respectively.
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796 BASTT.
Kamki-k&-Nihan? takes place on the full-moon of K&rttik (October-November),
and is attended by about 100,000 visitors. The second meeting is held in
Chait (March-April), and has an estimated attendance of 10,000 only.
Tama, another village with a large yearly fair, lies in tappa south Haveli of
pargana Maghar and tahsil Khalilabad. The distance east-by-south of
Basti is 25 miles ; and the population amounted in 1872 to 197.
The fair is held on the Shiur&ttri festival in February- March, and lasts for
that one day only. The attendance is variously reckoned at from 9,000 to
40,000 ; but the business transacted is insignificant, being almost limited to the
sale of sweetmeats. The primary object of the meeting is worship at the tem-
ple of Shiva. Legend relates that in the woody waste-lands which then sur-
rounded the village sprang up many hundred years ago a phallus (pindi)y the
sacred emblem of that god. Discovered by shepherds who were grazing their
flock, it has ever since been worshipped. Round the plaoe of discovery was
built a raised plinth, but for years no temple rose to shelter the miraculous
stone. The defect was at last remedied by a r&ja of B&nsi, who constructed
not only a temple but also a tank, a flight of steps descending thereto, and a
masonry well. He, moreover, planted a mango-grove, placed some Gosains
from Anola of Gorakhpur in charge of the temple, and endowed it with the
whole village. Tly grant was at first untaxed ; but in 1838-391 it was
resumed by the British Government, the Gos&ins being admitted to engage for
the revenue.
Tilokpur, a village in tappa Budhi of parganah B&nsi and tahsil Domaria-
ganj, lies about 44 miles north-north-west of Basti, but is approached by no
road. It had in 1872 but 201 inhabitants, and is noticed merely as the site of
a third-class police-station.
Uska, a flourishing mart in tappa Nagwa of parganah and tahsil B&nsi,
stands on the right or western bank of the Dhamela, 50 miles north-east of
Basti. The name of Uska belongs more strictly to a village on the opposite
side of the river, in tappa Unt&p&r, but is now applied to the cluster of shops
and houses which has sprung up on the lands of Parti, Rehra, and Mugbalha
villages. In 1872 the population of Uska proper amounted to 501 persons ;
that of united Parti, Rehra, and Mugh&lha to 2,711.
The market lies on the unmetalled route from Nep&l to Gorakhpur, by way
of Dumdumwa in this district. It is, moreover, built beside a stream which up
to this point is navigable throughout the year. To these two circumstances .
Uska owes its great and increasing prosperity. It is one of the chief emporia
1 1846 of the harvest area.
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TJ8KA.
797
for merchandise passing between Nepal and these provinces. Its exports
and imports are those already enumerated in the article on the more northern
Lantan (q. v.). But it is specially remarkable as the centre to which gravitates
most of the Nep&lese mustard and Nep&ese fibre manufactures. It has a large
export trade, not only in the grain of Nepal, but also in that of the surrounding
British territory. Consisting chiefly of unhusked rice, this grain is sent down
the Dhamela and Bapti to Barhaj of Gorakhpur. Towards the close of the hot
season, when the Dhamela begins to shallow, this journey is broken. As far
as Mobana, at the mouth of that river, the cargoes travel in small canoes,
and are thence reshipped, in larger vessels, to aocomplish the second stage.
The agents employed in the exportation are known as tattidddrs. In 1864,
Mr. Wynne calculated that about 2,160 boatsyearly conveyed about 648,000
maunds of grain from Uska down to Barhaj. The Uska registration post of
the Agriculture and Commerce Department registered, in 1878-79, a greater
amount of traffic with Nep&l than any similar office in the district. The total
value of goods passing to or from that country was reckoned at Rs. 5,04,475.
Uska has, besides this registration post, a third-class police-station, and an
imperial post-office.
The market was founded about 45 years ago by Mr. Oelsen, a Danish
grantee of waste-lands. The name Uska is perhaps a corruption of Oelsen-ka,
or Oelsen'6. The n may have become nasal and disappeared ; the second
vowel, being thus left unprotected, may have followed it. While chief
officer of the district Mr. Percy Wigram suggested that the importance of
the mart and the magnitude of its trade would justify the creation of a muni-
cipal committee and the imposition of an octroi-tax. But Uska is eminently
an emporium, a town through which goods pass on their way to other markets.
Any tax which in default of close supervision tended to become a transit duty
would damage its prosperity. And it is perhaps for this reason that Mr. Wig-
ram's proposition has as yet borne no fruit.
Ekd of Volume VI.
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