Transcript
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TME IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF
INDIA.
MORRISON AND GIBB, EDINBURGH,
PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTV'S STATIONERY OFFICE.
fHE Imperial Gazetteer of India.
W.
W.
HUNTER,
C.S.I.,
C.I.E.,
LL.D.,
DIKECTOR-GENEKAL OF STATISTICS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.
VOLUME
X.
multXn to pal hall
I.
UNITED STATES AiR
FO:""!^E
CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH CENTER GEOPHYSICS
RE^.EARCH LIBRARY
SECOND EDITION.
TRUBNER
&
CO.,
LONDON,
1886.
I/.
/6
UNIV. OF llASriACKUSHll'S AT BOSTOT:
•
ur-nv.
OF
?'A^7.icinjsEri3
IMPERIAL GAZETTEER
INDIA.
VOLUxAIE
Mliltan
{Afoolfan).
i'
X.
— Division
or Commissionership in the Punjab,
and 74° 2' E. long., and comprising the four Districts of Multan, Jhang, MontThe gomery, and MuzAFFARGARH, cach of which see separately. on the north by Shahpur District, on the east by Division is bounded Gujranwala and Lahore Districts; on the south by the river Sutlej, which separates it from the Native State of Bahawalpur and on the west by the river Indus, which separates it from Dera Ismail Khan Area (188 1), 20,295 square miles, containing 25 towns and District.
lying between 29°
and 32°
4' n. lat,
and between
70° 36'
;
Population (1868) 1,477,936; with 297,668 houses. namely, males 936,356, and females 776,038. Total (1881) 1,712,394, increase in the thirteen years 1868-1881, 234,458, or 15-9 percent.
4339
villages,
Number of families, 359,294. Average density of population, 84 persons per square mile. Classified according to religion, ther.e were in 1881— Muhammadans, 1,385,782, or 80*9 per cent. ; Hindus, 304,164,
or
177 per
;
cent.; Sikhs, 20,314, or 1-2 per cent.
;
Jains, 63
;
Parsis,
67
Christians, 1998;
and
'others,' 6.
Multan Division contains 25 municipal towns, with an urban population of 9*95 per cent, of the total population of the Division the total of 4364 towns and villages, 3413 contained less
;
while of
than
five
hundred inhabitants, and 6 1 2 from five hundred to a thousand. Average area under cultivation for the five years 1877-78 to 1881-82, 2397 Total square miles; cultivated area in 1883-84, 2519 square miles. revenue in 1883-84, ^291,630, of which ^154,727 was derived from
the land-tax.— For further
information, see
the
District
notices
for
Multan, Jhang, Montgomery, and Muzaffargarh.
f^VOL.
t
X.
A
2
MULTAN DISTRICT.
Mliltan {Mooltan).—.^
British District in the Lieutenant-Governor-
ship of the Punjab, lying between 29° 22' and 30° 45' n. lat., and between 71° 4 and 72° 54 30" e. long. Area in 1 881, 5880 square miles ;
population in
Miiltan forms the the same year, 551,964 persons. It is bounded on the north by southern District of the Biri Doab. Jhang District; on the east by Montgomery District; on the south by
State, from which it is separated by the Sutlej; and on the Muzaffargarh District, from which it is separated by the Chenab. west by The administrative head-quarters are at the city of Multan. The District of Multan consists of an obtuse Physical Aspects.
Bahawalpur
—
wedge of land, enclosed by the confluent streams of the Chenab The and the Sutlej, which unite at its south-western extremity.
irregular triangle thus cut off lies wholly within the Bari
District boundaries
Doab, but the
prolonged across the Ravi in The the north, so as to include a portion also of the Rechna Doab.
have been
artificially
past or present courses of four of the great rivers of the Punjab determine the conformation of the Multan plateau. At present, the Sutlej
forms its southern and the Chenab its north-western boundary, while Along the banks of the Ravi intersects its extreme northern angle. fringes of cultivation, varying these three modern streams extend
from 3 to 20 miles; but the interior presents the usual Mid-way between the barren appearance of the Punjab table-land. boundary rivers, a high dorsal ridge enters this District from Montgomery, forming a part of the sterile region known as the bar.
in width
lower plateau on either side by abrupt banks, which mark the ancient beds of the Ravi and the Beas (Bias). These two rivers once flowed for a much greater distance southward before joining
It dips into the
the
Chenab and the
Sutlej than
is
now
the case;
and
their original
course
may still be distinctly traced,
not only by the signs of former fluvial
action, but also
by the existence of dried-up canals. The Ravi still clings by General Cunningham, and in to its seasons of high flood finds its way as far as Multan by the abandoned When the District was thus abundantly intersected by four bed.
ancient w^atercourse, as observed
mighty rivers, the whole wedge of land, except the dorsal ridge of the Numebar, could obtain irrigation from one or other of their streams. rous villages then dotted its whole surface; and Al Mazudi, in the loth century, describes Multan, with oriental exaggeration, as surrounded by
120,000 hamlets.
the District
;
At the present
day, the Beas (Bias)
;
is
totally lost to
and the only rich cultivation is that which stretches along the Chenab and the Sutlej. Elsewhere, a wild jungle of brushwood covers the soil, which, though naturally good, requires abundant irrigation to bring it under efificient Numerous canals supply water from the Sutlej to the tillage.
the Ravi merely waters a small corner
surrounding country.
Pools ox Jhi/s collect during the rainy weather
MUL TAN DISTRICT.
in
3
the hollows formed by the old watercourses, and are utilized by embankments and artificial channels for fertilizing the neighbouring
fields.
The
follows
:
general
aspect of the
District
may be
briefly
described
as
— Starting
a strip
rivers, is
during the rains.
Sutlej,
from the present banks of the Chenab and Sutlej of land subject to the annual overflow of those rivers This strip extends inland about three miles from the
and rather further from the banks of the Chenab and Ravi. is intersected by the canals, but does not generally receive much canal water. Beyond this riverain strip comes a belt of higher land where wells can be sunk without difficulty, the water being from 20 to 30 feet below the surface and canal irrigation is also generally plentiful. The breadth of this belt depends chiefly on the canals. Where there are none, as in most parts of Sarai Sidhu tahsil, it is not more than four or five miles across along the Chenab, where the canals run almost parallel with the river, it is six or seven miles and along the Sutlej, where the canals strike more inland, it is upwards of ten miles. Farther inland and extending up to the bdr^ the country is known as the Rawa. Where water is reached by the canals, the cultivation is good but where there are no canals, it is only in favourable hollow spots where drainage water collects that wells can be worked
This
tract
; ;
;
;
with any profit.
plateau of the bar.
Filling the centre of the District
comes the barren
;
The bar
lands are principally available for pasture
and the proceeds of the grazing tax form an important item of Government revenue. The sale oi ghi (clarified butter) is a lucrative source The only valuable articles of jungle of income to the pastoral tribes. produce are sajji^ an impure carbonate of soda, saltpetre, and vegetable Kankar, or nodular limestone, is found in certain localities dyes.
sparsely scattered over the surface.
Of
wild animals, wolves are very
common; and
History.
during the
five years
ending 1882,
^133
was paid
in
in
the shape of rewards for the destruction of 350 wolves.
— The
city
now known
as Miiltan probably bore
the
earliest times the
name
of Kasyapapura, derived from Kasyapa, father
of the Adityas
ology.
and Daityas, the Sun-gods and Titans of Hindu mythvarious
Under
Hellenic
forms of this ancient
designation,
Miiltan figures in
the works of Hecatoeus, Herodotus,
and Ptolemy.
General Cunningham believes that the Kaspeiriea of the last-named author, being the capital of the Kaspeirsei, whose dominions extended
from Kashmir (Cashmere) to Muttra, must have been the principal city Five hundred years in the Punjab towards the 2nd century of our era.
earlier,
Multan appears
in the history of Alexander's invasion as the
chief seat of the Malli,
whom
the
Macedonian conqueror
utterly sub-
dued
itself;
after a desperate resistance.
He
left
Philip as Satrap at Miiltan
in this distant
but
it
seems probable that the Hellenic power
4
<|uarter
MUL TAN DISTRICT.
have
soon came to an end, as the country appears shortly afterwards passed under the rule of the Gupta dynasty of Magadha.
to
At a
in
later period,
Greek influence may once more have extended
to
Miilt^n under the Bactrian kings, whose coins are occasionally found
the District.
of
The
the
forming part
early Arab geographers mention Miiltan as kingdom of Sind, ruled over by the famous
his
reign, the well
- known Chinese Buddhist where he found a golden image
Raja Chach.
pilgrim,
During
Hiuen Tsiang,
visited Miiltan,
of the sun, from which General
of the
Malli.
city,
Cunningham
derives the
it
modern name
though other authorities connect
fell
rather with that of the
Muhammadan power, and kingdom, was conquered for During the decline of the the Khalifat by Muhammad Kasim. Khalifs, their influence naturally grew weak in the remote Province of Sind; and about the close of the 9th century, two independent kingdoms sprang up, with their capitals at Mansura and Miiltan.
Sind early
a prey to the aggressive
like
Miiltan
District,
the
rest of
the
A native Arab dynasty of Amirs continued to reign over the country about the junction of the Chenab and the Sutlej, until the rise of the
Ghazni Empire. In 1005, Sultan Mahmiid laid siege to Miiltan city, and having conquered it, with the whole of Sind, continued thereafter to appoint the After passing for a time under the dynasties of Sumra and governors. Ghor, the District regained a brief independence in 1442, under But Shaikh Yusaf, an officer appointed by the people themselves. when the Mughal princes consolidated the whole of Upper India into and it a single Empire, Miiltan passed under their wider sway
;
remained the capital of one of their subahs till the imperial organization On Nadir Shah's invasion in 1738-39, Zahid Khan, a fell to jjieces. Sadozai Afghan, was appointed by Muhammad Shah to be Nawab of Miiltan. He founded a family which long continued to rule in the Bari Doab, in spite of frequent interruptions by Marathas and
Afghans.
The
history of the District during the latter half of the i8th century
comprises the usual tangled details of Sikh and
revolutions and internal warfare.
Muhammadan
dynastic
one of the Sadozai family,
Miiltan.
At succeeded
length, in 1779, Muzaffar
Khan,
in obtaining the governorship of
Though
constantly harassed by the Bhangi Sikhs, he
managed
At
slain,
to develop considerably the resources of his Province.
Ranjit Singh
several times attacked his capital, but was compelled to retire.
June 18 18, the Sikhs conquered the city, after a long by a desperate assault, in the course of which Muzaffar Khan was
length, in
siege,
with
five
of his sons.
rapidly
After passing
through
the
hands of two or three Sikh
MUL TAN DISTRICT.
governors,
Multiii
District
5
was made over
in
1829 to the famous
modern Districts of Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan, IMuzaffargarh, and Jhang. The whole country had almost assumed the aspect of a desert from frequent warfare and spoliation but Diwan Sawan Mall induced new inhabitants to settle in his Province, excavated numerous canals, favoured commerce, and
Savvan Mall, together with the
;
restored prosperity to the desolated tract. Singh, however, quarrels
After the death of Ranji't
Mall and the and on the nth of September 1844, the former was fatally shot in the breast by a soldier. His son Miilraj succeeded to his governorship, and also to his quarrel with the authorities at Lahore. Their constant exactions at last induced him to tender his resignation. After the establishment of the Council of Regency at Lahore, as one of the results of the first Sikh war, difficulties arose between the Diwan Miilraj and the British officials, which culminated in the murder of two British officers, and finally led to the Miiltan rebellion. That episode,
took place between Savvan
Kashmir Raja
;
together with the second Sikh war, belongs rather to imperial than to
local history.
It
ended
in
the capture of Miiltan
and the annexation of
city offered a resolute
the whole of the Punjab by the British.
The
defence, but,
fighting
;
and though the
at discretion
trial
being stormed on 2nd January 1849, ^^ ^^^^^ severe fort held out for a short time longer, it was
for the
by Miilraj on the 22nd January. Miilraj was murder of our officials, and, being found guilty, was sentenced to death ; but this penalty was afterwards commuted for that of transportation. The District at once passed under
surrendered
put upon his
direct British rule.
Popiilatio7i.
—The
first
regular Census in 1855 returned the
number
of inhabitants of Miiltan District at 411,386.
That of 1868 disclosed
a total population of 472,268, showing an increase of 60,882, or
147
per cent, in the thirteen years ending 1868.
in 1881, the population of the District
At the
last
enumeration
further increase of 79,696, or i6"9 per cent.,
This increase
is
largely
due
to
was returned at 551,964, or a between 1868 and 1881. immigration, caused by the immense
briefly
development of canal
irrigation in late years.
follows
summarized as towns and 1287 villages; number of houses, 117,098, of which 93,599 were occupied, and 23,499 unoccupied; number of families, 115,847. Total population, 551,964, namely, males 304,517, and females 247,447.
The
results of the
Census of 1881 may be 5880
square
:
— Area
of
District,
miles,
with 6
Proportion of males in total population, 55*2 per cent.
density of the population throughout the District
is
The
average
returned at 94 per square mile. It must, however, be remembered that nearly half the whole area consists of great pasturage grounds, the property of Govern-
ment, and scantily inhabited by
nomad
graziers.
The
area included
6
MUL TAN DISTRICT,
is
only 2922 square miles, and on that area Classified according 188 per square mile. to sex and age, there were in 1881 under 15 years of age, boys
within village boundaries
the density of population
is
—
119,528, and girls 101,141
;
total children, 220,669, o^
4° P^^
o-^'Cil.
of
the population:
15 years
and upwards, males 184,989, and females
to religion,
146,306
;
total adults,
Religio7i.
— Classified according
331,295, or 60 per cent.
Muhammadans numbered
Hindus
is
435,901, or 78-9 per cent, of the District population, while the
are returned at 112,001, or 20*3 per cent.
The remainder
;
made up
of
6.
— Sikhs,
2085; Christians, 1861; Parsis, 63 Jains, 47; and 'others,' In the following return of the principal castes and tribes, it must
be remembered that nearly every caste, although generally possessing a dominating preponderance of one religion, also includes many
members of other
of
religions.
Thus, the
Jats,
numbering 102,952, and
the Rajputs 59,627, are almost entirely
Hindus
;
while the
Muhammadans, with a sprinkling Aroras (76,842), Brahmans (4183), and Khattris
(9798) are almost exclusively Hindus, with a slight Muhammadan element. The other leading tribes and castes (including both Muhamare Chuhra, 29,489; Arain, 23,981; Julaha, 23^753; Mochi, 16,596; Kumbhar, 13,716; Tarkhan, 11,915; Charhoa, 11,452; Machhi, 9610; Mirasi, 7510; Nai, 6035; Kassab, 5914; and Khojah, 5640. The Muhammadan population by race, as dis-
madans and Hindus)
—
tinguished from descendants of converts, comprises Baluchi's, 18,547 ; Shaikhs, 12,649; Pathans, 9067; Sayyids, 8908; Mughals, 4601; and
Daiidputras, 13 15.
as follows:
specified,
According
431,656;
to sect, the
—Sunnis,
The
Muhammadans
are returned
Shias,
3830;
Wahabis, 79; and un-
numbered 1861, of whom and only 42 Natives. Town and Rural Populatio?i, etc. Multan District contains 6 municipal towns namely, Multan City, population 68,674; Shujabad, 6458; Kahror, 4804; Jalalpur, 3875; Talamba, 2231; and DunYAPUR, 2041. These towns contain a total urban population of 88,083,
336.
Christian populationj
1709 are Europeans,
no
Eurasians,
—
—
of the District population. Of the 1293 towns comprising Multan District in i88r, 997 contained less than five hundred inhabitants; 189 from five hundred to a thousand ; 88 from one to two thousand 1 1 from two to three thousand ; 6 from
or
15-9
per cent,
and
villages
;
three to five thousand
are
;
and
in
2
upwards of
the
five
thousand.
The
villages
nearly
great
all
situated
irrigated
tract
lowland
tracts
bordering
the
rivers,
the
sterile
bar
containing
only a
nomadic
Report
population of graziers.
classes
As regards occupation,
including
(2)
all
the Census
returned the adult male population under the following seven main
:
—
(i) Professional class,
civil
Government
officials
and
servants,
and
military,
9717;
domestic and
menial
class,
5304;
(3)
commercial and trading
class,
including carriers, 11,500;
MULTAN DISTRICT.
(4) agricultural
7
industrial
and pastoral and manufacturing
class,
class,
class,
including gardeners, 74,943
;
(s)
46,393
is
;
(6)
indefinite
and non-
productive
23,659;
(7)
unspecified,
13,473-
of the great majority of the population
a dialect
The language known as Jatki
or Miiltani, classed by many as a dialect of Sindhi, between which Numerous language and Punjabi it occupies an intermediate position. at Atari have been identiThose ruins occur throughout the District. fied by General Cunningham with the City of the Brachmans,' taken by
'
Alexander during
Agriculture.
— The
his invasion of India.
returns of
1883-84
state the total area
under
assessment for land revenue at 3,785,361 acres.
Of
this area,
518,622
acres were returned as under cultivation; 3,021,277 acres as grazing
land, or land capable of being brought under cultivation;
and 245,462
though
not
acres
as
uncultivable
waste.
Cultivation
British
has steadily
rapidly
increased
since
the
annexation.
the Jat tribes
lost
the agriculture remains slovenly, as
The character of who compose the
and
the
mass of the
pastoral
rural population
have not yet
their predatory
propensities.
Only where Hindu
capitalists of
Arora,
Khattri, or Baniya castes have obtained a hold
upon the
soil,
does the
husbandry reach even the ordinary standard of the Punjab plains. Illploughed land, seldom manured, sown with seed broadcast, and producing thin or irregular crops, shows a marked contrast to the fertility which might naturally be expected in a District, the cultivated portions Near the city, however, capitalist of which are so abundantly irrigated. The farmers have brought their estates to a high state of cultivation. creaking of the wooden Persian wheel, worked by bullocks, and lifting a steady supply of water from the wells, may be incessantly heard around
Miiltan, from before daybreak to long after dusk.
The area under various crops in 1883-84 (including lands bearing double crops), for the two great harvests of the year, is returned as follows i—^^zZ'f— Wheat, 237,912 ; y/^^V, 58,958; barley, 4801; gram. 11,050; peas, 28,514; masuri, 3293; oil-seeds, 5005; drugs and Rice, 13,209 Kharif spices, 1231; miscellaneous, 49,067 acres.
—
acres; bdjra, 12,224; china, 3598; other cereals, 525; pulses, 4099; oil-seeds (///), 12,978 ; cotton, 34,413; indigo, 62,392; sugar-cane, and miscellaneous, 495 acres. Of these, indigo forms the most ;
2953 important
commercial staple, its cultivation having been largely encouraged by the Diwan Sawan ]\Iall, and later by the British Government. With the exception of one small European concern, Each well, where indigo is there are no indigo factories in Miiltan. grown, has its own vats the manufacture is carried out on the spot by
;
the zaminddr and his assistants,
and the dye, made up
into balls,
is
bought by traders who come in the cold weather from Bombay and Kabul. Sugar-cane forms a very valuable crop, but with the exception
;
8
of a
MUL TAN DISTRICT.
little grown in the neighbourhood of Multan city as fodder for the Commissariat elephants, its cultivation is confined to a few villages in Shujibad tahsil. Cotton occupies a considerable proportion of the kJiarif area, but it is grown almost entirely for home consumption.
The
average produce per acre of the various crops was returned as
follows in
1883:
lbs.
;
— Rice,
800
lbs.; indigo,
31 lbs.; cotton, 104 lbs.;
472 lbs. Irrigation extends over 326,057 acres from Government canal works, and over 97,732 acres supplied by private enterprise, mainly from wells. Rents are almost universally paid in kind. Unskilled labourers are
inferior grains,
wheat, 752
paid at the rate of from 3jd. to pd. per diem, while skilled labourers receive from is. to is. 6d. The average prices of food-grains for twenty
years ending 1882
7s. 3d.
is
returned as follows
:
—Wheat, 15I
;
seis
per rupee, or
;
per cwt.
;
barley,
22J
sers per rupee, or 4s. iid. per cwt.
gram,
igf
5s.
sers per rupee, or 5s. 8jd. per cwt.
;
5|d. per cwt.
andy^ar, 2o|
etc.
bdjra, 20 J sers per rupee, or sers per rupee, or 5s. 5d. per cwt.
city of
Commerce
a?id T?-ade,
—The
Multan forms the great com-
mercial centre of the District, but there are also bazars at Shujabad,
Kahror, Sarai Sidhu, Talamba, Lodhran, Talalpur, and other smaller
towns.
Thence the
surplus produce of the District finds
{q.v.).
its
way
to the
markets of
Multan City
The
chief articles of trade are sugar
and indigo from the lowlands, and wool and ghi from the pasture lands of the bar. Silk and fine cotton fabrics are produced at Multan coarse cotton cloth for home consumption is woven in every village. Indigo is also largely manufactured from the raw material. Woollen and cotton pile carpets are largely manufactured in Multan city, which has also a w^ide reputation for its blue and green glazed pottery, and enamel work. The Multan branch of the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway, opened in 1864, connects the city with the Northern Punjab, and has its terminus at Ramuwala, a temporary station on the left bank of the Chenab, two miles beyond Sher Shah. The intermediate stations on the line w^ithin Multan District are Channu, Kacha-khu, Khanewala, Rashida, Tatipur, Multan City and Cantonments, Muzaffarabad junction, and Sher Shah total length, 74 miles. The Indus Valley State Railw-ay, opened for traffic in 1878, starts from Multan cantonments, and makes use of the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway as far as Muzaffarabad junction, whence it runs south, with stations at Buch, Shujabad, Gelewala, Lodhran, and Adamwahan, where it leaves Multan District, after a course of 61 miles, by the Empress bridge over the Sutlej, and passes into Bahawalpur State. The Government tele;
graph
from Lahore to Karachi (Kurrachee) passes through Miiltan, line goes to Dera Ghazi Khan. Telegraph lines also run along the whole length of the railway, with offices at each station.
line
and a branch
The
principal lines of road radiate from
Multan
to
Sher Shah, Jhang,
MUL TAN DISTRICT.
Lahore,
Mailsi,
9
Kahror,
Bahawalpur,
and Sukkur, with
numerous
is
branch Hnes and cross-country tracks. 51 miles; unmetalled roads, 1131 miles. afforded by the Sutlej, Chenab, and Ravi
Total length of metalled roads,
Water communication
rivers,
which are navigable
throughout the whole of their length of 245 miles.
but there are
ferries at all the chief crossings.
With the exception
of the railway bridge over the Sutlej, none of the rivers are bridged,
Adjnimstratmi.—ThQ
ordinary head-quarters
District
is
under the control of the Commisis
sioner of the Miiltan Division,
staff
who
stationed at Miiltan
city.
The
of the District comprises a Deputy
the
Commisand
sioner, with a JudiciaL^ssistant,
an Assistant Commissioner, and two extrausual
fiscal,
Assistant Commissioners, besides
constabulary,
medical
officers.
Each
tahsil
is
in
charge of a tahsilddr, assisted by a ndib
tahsi/ddr, with a village staff of petty revenue officers.
There are two
at
mimsifs, or subordinate civil judges, both of
whom
hold their courts
Miiltan
city,
executive
and exercise jurisdiction over the whole District. The staff is supplemented by a cantonment magistrate, and
in
a bench
of honorary magistrates
the
city.
The
total
imperial
revenue in 1872-73 amounted to ^92,042, of which sum the land-tax In 1883-84, the total land revenue of the contributed ^65,486. District w^as returned at ^102,715, of which ;£56,282 was derived
from the direct land-tax. The other principal items are grazing dues, The total direct income of the 'Lower salt, customs, and stamps. amounted Sutlej and Chenab Inundation Canals' Division in 1873-74 A small provincial and local revenue is also raised in to ^12,147. In 1883, the number of civil and revenue judges the District. amounted to 13, and that of magistrates to 22. The imperial pohce
force in
1883 consisted of 646 men of all ranks, supplemented by a municipal police of 233 men, and a cantonment constabulary of 38 men. Besides these there is a force of 604 village chaukiddrs or rural The police, who are maintained by a cess levied on the villagers. property total machinery, therefore, for the protection of person and
numbered 152 1 policemen, being i to every 3-8 square miles of the Besides the District jail and area and every 362 of the population.
lock-up
for
the
criminals
of the
District
there
is
also
a
central
other parts jail at Miiltan, which receives long-term prisoners from The total number of inmates in both jails in 1883 of the Division. was 4630, and the daily average 13 13. Education remains in a very backward state, the Muhammadan In 1881, the population being especially apathetic in this matter.
Census returned
7241, of
the
whom
the
number of children receiving instruction at Hindus contributed 48 per cent., though they
population.
only amount to
20 per cent, of the whole
The
total
number
of schools
under the supervision of the Education
Depart-
lo
MULTAN
in Miiltan District in
TAHSIL.
79.
ment
1883-84 was
its
Of
these 9 are reprecity,
i
sented by the District school and
the railway school for
boys' schools,
branches in Miiltan
is
Europeans and Eurasians, 4 are aided missionary
are vernacular schools, 2 of the middle
The
total
and 4 are aided missionary girls' schools. All the others and 59 of the primary grade. number of pupils attending these schools in 1883-84
was 3924, with an average attendance of 3080. Besides these, there were 8 indigenous schools, with 148 pupils inspected by the Department.
The uninspected indigenous
is
;
schools
include
— 394
is
schools
where the Kuran alone
together with the
taught; 122 schools where Persian
18 Sanskrit schools
;
taught
13 Arabic schools ; 10 schools, where a high standard of arithmetic Mahajani or commercial
Kuran
is
taught
;
For
5
fiscal
and 7 Gurmukhi schools. and administrative purposes, the
District
is
divided into
having their head-quarters at Miiltan, Shiijabad, Lodhran, Mailsi, and Sarai Sidhu. The 6 municipal towns of Multan,
tahsils^
Shujabad, Kahror, Tulamba, Jalalpur, and Danyapur had an
aggregate revenue, in 1883-84, of ^11,767, being at the average rate of 2s. 8d. per head of the population (88,083) within municipal limits.
Medical Aspects.
the
—The
climate of Multan
its
is
proverbial, even
among
hot and dusty Punjab plains, for
heat and dust in the dry
The annual season, although the cold weather is very pleasant. mean temperature is about 77° F. In 1883, the thermometer in May ranged from a maximum of 111-9° to a minimum of 68"2° in July, from a maximum of 105-9° to a minimum of 70-8' and in December, from a maximum of 75*9° to a minimum of 37 "0°. The average annual
;
;
rainfall is
for
returned by the Meteorological Department at 7-17 inches, that 1883 being 6-5 inches. The total number of deaths reported in 1883 was 16,530, being at the rate of 30 per thousand, of which 11,508
assigned
to
fevers.
were
of
The
District
contains
6
Government
charitable dispensaries,
which afforded
relief in
1883 to 39,933 persons,
whom 1926 were in-patients. [For further information regarding Multan, see the Gazetteer of Midtdn District, published under the
Government (Lahore, 1884); the Pimjab and the several annual Administration and Departmental Reports of the Punjab Government]
authority
of the Punjab
Cefisus Report for
1881
in
;
Miiltan.
villages,
— Tahsil
]\Iultan
District,
Punjab, stretching from the
bank of the Chenab.
31,511
Area, 949 square miles, with 287 towns and Population (1868) houses, and 16,147 families.
138,272;
75,236.
in
in
males 95,374, and females (1881) 170,610, namely, Increase of population since 1868, 32,338, or 23-3 per cent., Classified according to religion, there were thirteen years.
1881
— Muhammadans,
Parsi's,
Jains,
46;
122,831; Hindus, 44,950; Sikhs, 935; 63; Christians, 1763; and 'others,' 4. Of the 287
MULTAN
towns and
38
villages,
CITY.
ii
225 contain less than five hundred inhabitants, and hundred and a thousand, while only 24 contain The average area under a population exceeding a thousand souls. years 1877-78 to 1881-82 is returned at 190 cultivation for the five square miles, or 121,602 acres, the area under the principal crops being as follows :— Wheat, 44,433 acres yWr, 12,672 acres; cotton, 12,096 acres; indigo, 6941 acres; bdjra, 5993 acres; rice, 4864 acres; barley, 2616 acres; gram, 2457 acres and vegetables, 7159 acres. Revenue
between
five
;
;
of the tahsil, ;£"i 7,450.
The
administrative
staff,
including the officers
i
attached to
missioner,
the
i
Divisional
and
District
head-quarters, comprises
i
Commissioner,
Deputy Commissioner,
Judicial
Assistant
Com-
3 Assistant or extra-Assistant Commissioners, i Small Cause Court Judge, i tahsilddr, 2 immsifs, and i honorary magistrate. These officers preside over 10 civil and 9 criminal courts. Number of village police circles {thdjids\ 3 ; strength of regular police, 244 men watch or rural police {chaukiddrs), 95. Mliltan {Mooltan). City, municipality, and administrative headquarters of Multan District, Punjab; situated in lat. 30° 12' n., and
;
—
long.
on a mound, the accumulated debris of ages, at a distance of four miles from the present left bank of the Chenab, enclosed on three sides by a wall from 10 to 20 feet in height, but open towards the south, where the dry bed of the old Ravi intervenes between the town and citadel. As late as the days of Timur, the Ravi
71° 30' 45"
E.,
seems
lower
are
to
have flowed
;
past
Miiltan, joining
the
Chenab 10 miles
citadel,
at
down and the now picturesquely crowned by
original site
consisted
of two islands, which
the
city
and
an
elevation
The above the surrounding country. fortifications were dismantled in 1854, but the fort still remains a place of some strength, and is occupied by a European garrison. Large and irregular suburbs have grown up outside the wall since the Within the city proper, one broad bdzdr^ the annexation in 1849.
of
some 50
feet
Chauk, runs from the Husain gate for a quarter of a mile into the centre of the city, ending at the Wali Muhammad gate, from which
three broad streets lead to the various gates of the city.
The
other
streets are narrow and tortuous, often ending in culs-de-sac. Multan is a town of great antiquity, being identified with the capital of the Malli, whom Alexander conquered in his invasion of the Punjab
;
but the history of the city is included in that of Multan District. The principal buildings include the shrines of the Muhammadan to saints, Baha-ud-din and Rukhn-ul-alam (of the Arab tribe of Koresh,
which the Prophet belonged), which stand in the citadel. Close by are the remains of an ancient Hindu temple of the Narasinha Avatar of Vishnu, called Pahladpuri, partially blown down by the explosion of the powder magazine during the siege of 1848-49. The great temple of
12
the Sun, from which
city,
MULTAN
CITY.
General Cunningham derives the name of the once occupied the very middle of the citadel, but was destroyed during the reign of the zealous Musalman Emperor Aurangzeb, who This erected a Jama Masjid or 'cathedral mosque' in its place. mosque afterwards became the powder magazine of the Sikhs, and was
blown up
as
mentioned above.
1868,
The
ments),
population in Miiltan city and suburbs (excluding the cantonin
was
43,385,
or
including
cantonments,
54,652.
88 1, the total population of the city and suburbs was 57,471, namely, males 31,088, and females 26,383, or including cantonments, Classified 68,674, of whom 38,988 were males and 29,686 females. according to religion, the total population of the city and cantonments
In
1
Muhammadans, 36,294; Hindus, 29,962 Sikhs, 46; and 'others' (mainly the European civil and military ; population), 171 1. Number of houses, 12,617. Municipal revenue in 1875-76, ^£"8240; in 1883-84, ^10,214, or 3s. 6|d. per head of
in 1881 consisted of
;
—
661
Jains,
population (57,471) within municipal limits. The civil station of Miiltan, which lies north and wTSt of the city
proper, contains a court-house
and
treasury, Commissioner's offices, the
dweUings of the
civil residents, jail, post-office,
church, telegraph
hall
office,
dispensary, staging
bungalow, and municipal
with
clock-tower.
in
is a branch of the Arya Samaj There are two numbers about 100 members. railway stations Miiltan, one at the city, and one at the at cantonments. Within the fort, and overlooking the town, is the
Besides the public institutions, there
the city, which
plain,
massive obelisk,
70 feet in height, erected in
memory
of Mr.
Vans Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson, two
in April 1848, at the
British officers,
outbreak of Miilraj's rebellion.
murdered The Church
Missionary Society maintains a station at Miiltan. East of the city is the Amkhas, formerly the audience hall and garden house of the Hindu
governors
this
is
of Miiltan,
the cenotaph of the
now used as the tahsili building. North of Diwan Sawan Mall, and the European
garden
lies to
cemetery.
A
fine public
the west of the
first
;
city.
As
a trade
rail
centre,
Miiltan
ranks of
importance,
being conIt therefore
nected by
collects
with Lahore and Karachi
and by the Ravi, Jehlam
Karachi
(Jhelum), and
into
Chenab with
a
focus
all
the whole central Punjab. trade
the
of
the Province wath
(Kurrachee), and, through Karachi, wdth Europe. Large quantities of raw produce were formerly shipped by country boats and by the steamers of the Indus flotilla, and of the Sind, Punjab, and
Delhi Railway, from Sher Shah, the port of Miiltan, to Karachi; but the steamer service has ceased since the opening throughout of the Indus Valley State Railway. The local merchants correspond with
firms in
all
parts of the Punjab, west of the Sutlej,
and
in
most of the
3;;
MUL TAN CANTONMENT- MUNDLANA.
smaller towns with any export trade
at
;
1
and there
is
probably no large firm
or even Bhiwani
Lahore, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Find
its
Dadan Khan,
and Delhi, which has not
agents at Miiltan.
the
chief imports
The
trade of Miiltan comprises every article of produce, manufacture,
in
and consumption cotton and other
the whole Province
;
;
being
])iece-goods
while the main staples of export are
sugar, cotton, indigo,
and wool.
Leaving out of consideration what
the city requires for
its
own
use, the use of Miiltan as a trade centre
seems to be to collect cotton, wheat, wool, oil-seeds, sugar, and indigo from the surrounding country, and to export them to the south to receive fruits, drugs, raw silk, and spices from Kandahar traders, and The Afghan traders take back indigo, to pass them on to the east. European and country cotton cloth, sugar, and shoes. Miiltan receives European piece-goods and European wares generally, and distributes
;
them
to the
western Districts and in
its
own neighbourhood.
The
total value of the imports, as
shown
in the
municipal returns for 1881-82,
was ^871,435, and of the exports, ^400,121. The chief local manucountry shoes factures are silk and cotton weaving and carpet-making
;
are also
made
in large quantities for exportation.
The
glazed pottery
large scale,
and enamel work of
Miiltan.
the
city.
Miiltan, although not industries
on a
have a high reputation.
— Cantonment
Lat. 30^
11'
in
15" n., long.
Miiltan District, Punjab; \\ mile east of 71° 28' e. Population (1881)
11,203, namely, males 7900,
a
and females 3303. LTsually occupied by European regiment of infantry and a battery of artillery, and by two
See previous
State,
article.
regiments of Native infantry.
Miiltan. — Town
situated
Dhar on the Ratlam-Dhar
in
road,
Bhopawar Agency, Central India 5 miles from Badnawar and 36 from
Dhar
city.
The
residence of a thdkur or chief,
State,
who
is
related to the
Rahtor Rajput chiefs of Ratlam
State, for
is
and on
this
account enjoys the
high consideration of the people.
He holds 29 villages from Dhar which he pays a tribute of ^^1804. The soil is rich, water abundant, and opium and wheat are produced in considerable
Revenue of the chief, ;£"62oo. Town in Gadag Sub-division, Dharwar bay Presidency. Population (1881) 3826. Mundargi is
quantities.
Mundargi.
hill
—
District,
Bom-
situated at the
base of a
of
on which stands a ruined fort, about 24 miles south-east Its position on the Nizam's frontier has helped it Post-office, and two schools with to grow into a large market town.
Gadag town.
])Upils in
365
1883-84.
Mundhri.
vinces.
— Town in
Tarora
iahs'il^
Bhandara
District, Central Pro;
Population (1881) 2314, namely, Hindus, 2046
;
Kabirpanthi's,
124
Muhammadans, 92 and aboriginal tribes, 52. Mundlana. Town in Gohana tahsil^ Rohtak
;
—
District,
Punjab
14
situated
MUNDRA—MUNGELL
on the Gohana - Pdnipat road, 6 miles from Gohana town. Population (1881) 5469, namely, 5130 Hindus, 288 Muhammadans, and 51 Jains. A large agricultural village rather than a town, possessing
no commercial
or
administrative
importance.
Post-office
and
school.
Mundra.— Port in the Native State of Cutch (Kachchh), Bombay Presidency; situated in lat. 22° 48' 40" n., and long. 69° 52' 30" e., on the coast of the Gulf of Cutch, 29 miles south of Bhiij, the capital of Population (1872) 7952; (1881) 8900, namely, 4189 males the State.
and 47 1
Jains,
1
females.
Hindus numbered 3241; Muhammadans, 435°;
1307; and 'others,' 2. There is no made road from the port The fort, which is situated to the town, which is 3J miles distant.
2% miles north of the port, contains a white mosque distinguishable a
good way
patam
long.
off.
Mungapakam
District,
{Mimagapdka).
—Village
in iVnakapalli taluk, Vizagalat.
Madras Presidency;
E.,
situated in
83°
3'
30"
in the fertile proprietary estate of
Number of houses, 1230. Muhammadans 52. The estate originally comprised 8 5215, and villages, paying a peshkash (revenue) of ^2465, but has now been
Population (1881) 5267.
incorporated with the estate of Anakapalli. Western tahsil or Sub-division Mungeli.
and Mungapakam. Hindus numbered
17° 38' n.,
—
of Bilaspur
District,
villages,
Central
Provinces.
Area,
16 13
square miles;
number of
1212; houses, 89,713.
Total population (188 1) 322,117, namely, males
Average density of population, 1997 158,106, and females 164,011. persons per square mile. Of the total area of the tahsil, 5 1 1 square miles are comprised within the revenue-free estates {za?ninddris) of Pandaria and Kanteli, leaving an area of 1102 square miles, with a population of
Even 243,391, forming the Government portion of the Sub-division. of this area, 283 square miles pay neither revenue nor quit-rent, and the total area assessed for Government revenue is only 818 square miles.
472 square miles are under cultivation, 283 square miles are cultivable but not under tillage, and 63 square miles are uncultivable
Of
these,
Total Government land revenue, including local rates and an average of 8fd. per cultivated acre. Total rental paid by cultivators, ^^22,614, or an average of is. 5|d. per In 1883, Mungeli tahsil contained i civil and 2 cultivated acre. criminal courts, 2 police circles {thdnds), 5 outpost stations {chaukis), a
waste.
cesses, ;£i 1,193, or
regular police force
chaiikiddrs.
numbering 67 men, and a
village
watch of 780
Mungeli.
E.,
—Town
in Bilaspur District, Central Provinces,
and head81° 44'
quarters of Mungeli tahsil ; situated
in
lat.
22°
4' N.,
and
long.
36 miles west of Bilaspur town. Population (1881) 4757, namely, Hindus, 3568; Kabirpanthis, 417; Satnamis, 350; Muhammadans,
—
MUNGIR—MURADABAD.
353
;
—
—
1
5
and aboriginal tribes, 65. The river Agar winds round three sides of Mungeh', which lies on the direct road from Bildspur to Jabalpur (Jubbulpore), and carries on an increasing trade in cereals, Police station-house and town school; 2 large salt, and skins.
Jains, 4
;
markets are held weekly.
Mungir.
GHVR.
—
District,
Sub-division,
and town
in
Bengal.
See
Mox-
Munir.
Man'iar.
— Town
in Ballia District,
North- Western Provinces.— 5^'^
District,
North Western Proon a plain Large Population (1881) 2391. 14 miles north-east of Etawah town. mound, identified by Mr. Hume with the Miinj taken by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1017, after a desperate resistance on the part of the Rajput
Miinj.
;
—Village
and
ruins in
vinces
situated in
lat.
26^ 53' 45" N.,
Etawah and
long. 79° 12' \" e.,
garrison.
Local tradition connects the site with the wars of the Pandavas and the Kauravas, chronicled in the Mahdbhdrata, when the Raja of Miinj and his two sons fought on the side of Raja Yudhishthira.
The
position of the great gateway
and
traces of
two bastions are
still
pointed out.
mound
Curious square well, built of sculptured blocks. The forms an inexhaustible quarry of ancient bricks, from which the
construct their huts.
in
villasjers
— Petty State Kathiawar, MUJPUR. Belgaum Munoli. — Town Maxoli. Munshiganj. — Sub-division of Dacca
Munjpur.
in
District,
Bombay Bombay
Presidency.
See
Presidency.
See
District, Bengal.
Area, 401
square miles, with 825 villages and 58,614 houses.
males 241,441, and females 278,006 ; total, Muhammadans, 275,329; Hindus, 244,088; ing to religion, there were
—
Population (1881), Classified accord519,447.
Average density of population, 1295 persons per square mile; villages per square mile, 2 '06; persons per village, 630; houses per square mile, 150 persons per house, 8'8. This Sub-division In 1883 consists of the 2 police circles of Munshiganj and Srinagar. it contained 4 civil and magisterial courts, a regular police of 52 men, and a village watch of 861 men. Munyeru. River in Kistna District, Madras Presidency. One of the large affluents of the Kistna river, rising in the Nizam's Dominions, and joining the main stream about 20 miles above the anient at Bezwada. It crosses the high road to Haidarabad (Hyderabad), 25 miles It is fordable, except for a from, and north-west by west of, Bezwada.
and
Christians, 30.
;
—
few days in the rainy season.
Muradabad.
Provinces.
See
Moradabad. Muradabad. Town in Unao
— —
District,
taJisU,
and town
District,
in
the
North-^^'estern
Oudh
;
situated
36 miles
6
;
1
MURADNA GAR—MURBAD.
from Unao town, and 19 from Safipur, on the Hardoi road. Said to have been founded about 300 years ago by Murad Sher Khan, after whom the place is named. Population (1881) 4149, namely, 2945 Hindus and 1204 Musalmans, residing in 50 brick and 930 mud vernacular Bi-weekly market, and 3 annual religious fairs houses.
;
school.
(Merath) District, North- Western Meerut city 18 miles south-west, and a Population (1881) station on the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway. 4393, namely, Muhammadans, 2487, and Hindus, 1906. Founded 300 years ago by Mirza Muhammad Marad Mughal, whose mausoleum still
Muradnagar.
—Village
in INIeerut
Provinces.
Distant
from
exists.
office.
Large sardi built by founder; school, police weekly market is held every Tuesday. Murarai.— Village in Murshidabad District, Bengal
station,
post-
A
;
from which
the greater part of the dma7i rice crop, almost exclusively produced in Lat. the Rarh or western half of the District, is exported to Calcutta.
24° 27' 15" N., long. 87° 54'
E.
Murarai
is
a station on the East
Indian Railway, distant from Calcutta (Howrah) 155 miles. Murassapur. Town in Partabgarh (Pratapgarh) District,
—
Oudh
4 miles from Manikpur, on the road from that place to Rai Bareli. Population (1881) 1527, namely, 1013 Hindus and 514 Musalmans. Adjoining this village is the bazar of Nawabganj, a flourishing grain mart, the annual sales at which amount to an average of £1^00. Large fair on the occasion of the Dasahara festival, attended by about
30,000 people.
Cotton-printing
is
carried on to a considerable extent.
Government
Sub-division of Thana District, Bombay Presidency. Murbad. Population (1872) Area, 351 square miles, containing 171 villages. 57,203; (1881) 63,934, namely, males 32,842, and females 31,092,
—
school.
occupying 10,715 houses.
1
640
;
and
'
others,' 480.
Hindus number 61,814; Muhammadans, The people are mostly Thakurs, Kolis, and
Land revenue (1882), £9^2-]. This Sub-division hes in most of it is very hilly, and fairly wooded. the east of the District and suffers from the w^ant of means of exporting It is difficult of access, The water supplied by wells is fairly good, but scanty. its produce.
Marathas.
;
The
ever,
climate
it is
is
feverish.
oppressive though not unhealthy; after the rains, howOf the 351 square miles, lof are occupied by the
lands of alienated or part-alienated villages. The remainder contains of Government forests, 127,495 acres of cultivable land, 16,498 acres acres of public pastures and forest lands, 7875 acres of grass, 61,072
and 4820 acres of village sites, roads, ponds, and river-beds. Of the in total area of the Government villages, 217,760 acres, alienated land
Government
villages
occupied 341
acres.
In 1880-81, of 101,691
fallow. acres, the total area of occupied land, 50,272 acres were
Of
the
7
MURDARA—MURREE.
1
remaining 51,419 acres, 131 acres were twice cropped. Grain crops occupied 42,714 acres; pulses, 4832 acres; oil-seeds, 2663 acres; fibres, 131 7; and miscellaneous crops, 24 acres. In 1880 there were 7180 lioldings with an average area of 14^ acres, and an average rental
of
^i,
5s.
3id.
In 1883 the Sub-division contained
i
;
i
civil
and
2
criminal courts; police circle (t/uind),
Bhandara District, Central ProHindus numbered 1755; Kabirpanthis, 294; Muhammadans, 43; and aboriginal tribes, 50. Murdeswar.— Port in Hondwar Sub-division, North Kanara District, Bombay Presidency; situated in lat. 14° 6' n., and long. 74° 36' e., 13 miles south of Honawar, and in the Bhiitkul/^/^?. The rocky promontory jutting out into the sea is crowned by a temple and a ruined fort and, at
in
Murdara.
—Town
regular police, 51
men.
Tirora
tahsil^
vinces.
Population (i88i) 2142.
;
its foot,
on the shore,
is
a small bungalow.
The
port
is
the small bay
to the south-east of the rocks, with the villages of Kaikini
and Mawalli
adjacent.
of trade
Population (1881) 2185. Annual average value during the five years ending 1881-82 imports, ^1999;
schools.
Two
—
exports, ^'1792.
In
1881-82, the imports were valued at ;^ii29;
is
the exports at
^660. Murdeswar Honawar Customs Division.
one of the
six ports
forming the
Murgod. Town in the Parasgarh Sub-division, Belgaum District, Bombay Presidency; situated 27 miles east of Belgaum town, in lat.
15° 53' 35" N.,
—
and
long.
74°
58'
10"
e.
Murgod
is
a considerable market for cotton
Population (1881) 4895. and grain, and a small
business is done in printing coarse cloth. attended by 300 to 400 people. Post-office.
A
fair
is
held annually,
Murliganj. Town in Bhagalpur District, Bengal situated 12 miles Madahpura, on the Daus river, which has now become the main channel of the Kiisi. Large bazar. Near the village are numerous ^//j/j
;
—
east of
or landing-places, used at different times of the year for the purposes
of trade, according to the height of water in the
spices, sugar, iron,
river.
Imports
—
salt,
and
fine rice;
exports— rice,
oil-seed, a little cotton,
and coarse
saltpetre.
Village in Coorg, Southern India ; situated on the IMerkara-Cannanore road, 9 miles from Merkara. Head-c^uarters of the Pdrpattigar of Kauntmurnad. Travellers' bungalow, and village school with 102 pupils. Population (1881) 913. Murree (i^Z-fZ/^r/).— Northern tahsU of Rawal Pindi District, Punjab, lying between 33° 41' 30" and 34° 5' 15" n. lat., and between 73° 15' and
73° 38'
E. long.,
Murnad.
—
and comprising the
forest-clad range of hills
on which
the sanitarium of
Murree
is built.
The Murree
chain of
hills consists
of a series of ridges, mostly of grey sandstone and red clay strata,
running south-westward from the valley of the Jehlam (Jhelum). the northern borders of Rawal Pindi District, the hills culminate VOL. X. B
On
to a
i8
height of about
MURREE.
10,000 feet
in
the
mountains beyond the Murree
sanitarium, and stretching onwards into Hazard, blend at last with the
snowy ranges which shut in Kashmir. Around Murree the scenery is rich and varied. The mountain-sides are clothed with forests of oak and pines, which are, as usual, most dense on their northern slopes and these, set off by the rich valleys below, and the background of the snowy Kashmir ranges, form a pros;
pect which cannot be equalled in
many
parts of the lower Himalayas.
They are less lofty and change adorned by beautiful trees their shapes become more diversified, the valleys broader, and there is more cultivation. The villages and hamlets are picturesquely placed on the
Farther south the
hills
in
aspect.
more irregular, but are
still
;
nooks or on projecting spurs; while occasionally the ruins of an old castle recall the bygone splendours of a Ghakkar
hill-sides
in
chief, or a fort the
tyranny of the Sikhs.
Still
farther south, the trees
;
and gradually give place to brushwood the hills are rounded, and the scenery more tame and uniform. Gradually too, as
are less lofty,
approach the southern frontier of the District, the length of the grows less and less until, near the borders of Jehlam District, ranges only a narrow line of upland separates the Jehlam river from the plains. The most northern of these parallel ranges within Rawal Pindi District
the
hills
l)rojects far out into the plains as
in height.
an isolated ridge a it.\v hundred feet This ridge passes westwards about 10 miles to the north of Rawal Pindi city, and ends in some stony eminences two miles west At the Margalla of the Margalla pass, and the Grand Trunk Road.
fountain, erected to the is a handsome monument and memory of General John Nicholson, killed at the storming of Delhi. The monument can be seen for miles on either side of the pass and
pass there
;
the fountain, to which water
great
is
carried from a perennial spring,
is
a
boOn
to travellers.
Here the range meets, or
hills,
slightly overlaps,
the extremity of another range of
enters
that of the Chitta Pahar,
which
Rawal Pindi District from the direction of the Indus. Total area of Murree tahsil, 210 square miles, with 94 towns Population (1881) and villages, 6299 houses, and 7168 families. Classified 17,063. 39,198, namely, males 22,135, ^"^ females
according to religion, the population consisted of
— Muhammadans,
Hindus, 1987; Sikhs, 175; Christians, 414; and Jains, 2. Of the 94 towns and villages, 72 contained less than five hundred inhabitants, 18 between five hundred and one thousand, while four had a i)opulation exceeding one thousand. Of the 210 square miles
36,620;
comprising the
returned
as
fahst/,
only
26 square miles,
or 12
for
per cent.,
the
five
are
the average
area
under cultivation
years
from 1877-78 to 1881-82, the principal crops being Indian corn 8786 acres, and wheat 4085 acres. Revenue of the tahsU, ;£']6().
—
MURREE HEADQUARTERS.
The
iahsilddr,
19
administrative staff consists of an Assistant Commissioner and a
who
preside over 2 civil
and
2
criminal courts.
police circles {thd?ids), 2; strength of regular police force, 79 police {chankiddrs), 81 men.
Number of men rural
;
Murree
District,
N.,
(Marri).
— Sanitarium
and
hill
station
in
Rawal Pindi
Hills,
Punjab, and head-quarters of Murree tahsil. long. 73° 26' 30" E. Situated on a ridge of the
feet
Lat. 33° 54' 30"
Murree
Murree forms the great northern sanitarium for the Punjab, and until 1877 was the ordinary summer resort of the local Government, which has now forsaken it for Simla. The site was
7517
above
sea-level.
selected in 1850, almost immediately after the annexation of the Pro-
and building operations commenced at once. In 1851, temporary accommodation was provided for a detachment of troops; and
vince,
in
in size
The station grew rapidly 1853, permanent barracks were erected. and population, and now attracts large numbers of visitors from
Lahore, Rawal Pindi, Peshawar, and the plains generally.
A road, pass-
able throughout by wheeled conveyances, connects the sanitarium with
the
Rawal Pindi city, distant about five hours' journey. The houses crown summit and sides of an irregular ridge, commanding magnificent
fields,
views over forest-clad hill-sides, into deep valleys studded with villages
and cultivated
with the snow-covered peaks of the Kashmir
ranges as a background.
Broad and easy roads
is
intersect the station.
The
climate
is
well adapted to the constitution of Englishmen.
The
lowest recorded temperature
21° F., the highest 96°.
Earthquakes
occur almost annually.
it
Epidemic cholera has twice appeared: in 1858 committed great ravages among the soldiers of the European depot; in Commissioner's, 1867 it attacked the native population and visitors. post and telegraph Assistant Commissioner's, and tahsilddr's court
; ; ;
branch treasury charitable dispensary ; four hotels, three kept by Europeans. Churches of the Anglican, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic denominations. English and Parsi shops ; branch of the
offices
Alliance
Bank
of Simla
;
Club
;
Assembly Rooms
is
;
Lawrence Memorial
Asylum,
for the
education of sons and daughters of European soldiers.
transferred to
in
A
school for children of residents
Rawal Pindi during
the cold weather.
A
brewery established
i860, the property of an
English company, does an extensive business.
stuffs
Brisk imports of food-
during the
summer months from Rawal
Pindi and Hazard.
During the height of the Municipal revenue in 1883-84, ;^2o89. season, the population of Murree probably amounts to about eight thousand. The Census of February 1881, which was taken in the
no account of
namely,
411.
depth of winter, represents only the permanent population, and takes visitors. That Census returned the population at 2489,
Muhammadans, 1374; Hindus, 702; Number of houses, 410.
Jains,
2; and 'others,'
20
MURREE HILLS— MURSHIDABAD.
Murree
Hills.
— Range
in
Rawal Pindi
District,
Punjab, taking
the sanitarium which crowns one of their principal and ridges; situated between 33° 53' 30" and 33° 54' 3°" n. lat, They form a series of 25' 15" and 73° 26' 30" e. long. between 73°
their
name from
lateral spurs
of the Himalayan system, running down from the main Kashmir (Cashmere) and Hazard chain at right angles towards the
plains, with
The a general direction from north-east to south-west. of Murree, attain a height of loftiest peaks, behind the sanitarium Thence they stretch down to the Murree ridge itself, 10,000 feet.
whose highest portion, the Kashmir Point, has an elevation of 7517 The houses of European residents cover the above sea-level. space of 3I miles to Pindi Point, 7266 feet in height. Farther south, The rich and varied scenery of Murree, the hills change in aspect. its pine-clad mountains, deep glens, and distant glimpses of the with snowy range, gives place to a less grand but perhaps more picturesque and romantic country, consisting of angular hills, divided by broader and cultivated valleys, with hamlets perched on projecting spurs or
feet
hidden in nooks upon the hill-side, while the ruined castles at their summits recall the former greatness of some Ghakkar or Sikh chieftain. Still farther south, the trees yield to brushwood, the hills grow tame and uniform and at length, near the borders of Jehlam (Jhelum) District, only a narrow line of upland separates the valley of the Jehlam river from the great alluvial plain of the Punjab. See also ante, Murree Tahsil, which necessarily covers part of the same ground as the present
;
article.
Mursan.
situated in
— Town
lat.
in
Aligarh
District,
North- Western
77° 59'
e.,
Provinces
;
27°
7
34
40"
n.,
and
long.
on the Muttra
(Mathura) road,
of Aligarh town.
Jat Rajas,
miles west of Hathras (Hattras),
Population (1881) 4708.
and 24 south-west Residence of a family of
son of the
post-office.
whose present representative is Raja Ghansyam Singh, grandFort, dismantled in 181 7. late Raja Tikam Singh, C.S.I. Two schools, police station, Agricultural and rather neglected town.
Murshidabad {Maksuddbdd
or
Muxaddhdd).
—
British
District
in
the Lieutenant-Governorship of Bengal, lying between 23° 43' 15" and 24° 52' N. lat., and between 87° 43' and Z%° 47' e. long. It forms
the north-western corner of the Presidency Division,
and
is
bordered
from north to south-east by the main stream of the Ganges, locally known as the Padma, separating it from Maldah and Rajshahi District on the south by Birbhiim and on the west by the
along
its
entire frontier
;
;
Santal Parganas.
The
at
area was returned in 18S1 at 2144 square miles;
and the population
quarters
are
at
Barhampur,
District.
The administrative head1,226,790 persons. but Murshidabad City is the most
populous place in the
;
MURSHIDABAD,
Physical Aspect.
21
— The District
is
divided into two nearly equal por-
tions by the river Bhagirathi, the ancient channel of the Ganges,
flows
due north and south.
in their
The two
tracts
which form a striking contrast to
each other
Bhagirathi,
geology and agriculture.
The country west
of the
District
known
as the Rarh, forms a continuation of the hard clay
and nodular limestone, which extends through the neighbouring
of Birbhiim from the mountains of Chutia Nagpur.
is
The
general level
bils
high and slightly undulating, but interspersed with
;
or broad
marshes and seamed by hill torrents at many points the formation The soil of the terminates in clay cliff's overhanging the Bhagirathi. Rarh tract is greyish or reddish, mixed with lime and oxide of iron
and beds of kankar or nodular limestone are scattered here and there. The rivers are liable to sudden freshets, but they never lay the entire The fields, therefore, country under water for any long space of time. do not possess the fertility of a deltaic tract. They rarely produce more than one crop in the year, the dman or winter rice. The Bagri, or eastern division of Murshidabad, differs in no respect
It lies enclosed from the ordinary alluvial plains of Eastern Bengal. within the Ganges, Bhagirathi, and Jalangi rivers, and is also intersected by minor offshoots of the Ganges. There are a few permanent swamps ; but the whole country is low-lying, and liable to annual inundations,
which sometimes, as in the present year (1885), are so severe as to cause widespread suffering, but usually do no more than deposit a topIn variety of crops, this portion of dressing of inexhaustible fertility. The dus or early the District is not surpassed by any part of Bengal.
rice
crop forms the great staple of agriculture.
is
A
second or cokl-
weather crop
hillocks,
is
also yielded
by many of the
fields.
In the north-west of the District there are a few small detached which are said to be of basaltic formation. The river system
its
constituted by the Ganges,
offshoots
and
tributaries.
The Ganges
the eastern boundary of the District along its entire Its banks are extremely subject to nowhere enters it. length, but It is navigable throughout the year by boats of alluvion and diluvion.
or
Padma forms
four tons burthen,
and
is
nowhere fordable.
The
only marts of im-
portance on the Murshidabad side of the Ganges are Bhagwangola or The offshoots of the Ganges on this bank comAlatali and Dhulian.
prise the Bhagirathi, Bhairab, Sialmari,
and
Jalangi.
The
Bhagirathi,
which branches
from the parent stream near the police station of Though now Suti, is far the most important river in Murshidabad. only navigable during half the year, it carries a large trade, and flows
off
past
Its of interest in the District. the original bed of the Ganges, and channel undoubtedly represents
all
the ancient and
modern
sites
also
the farthest south-western limit of the Gangetic delta. Bhagirathi retains the sanctity which the Great River here loses
The
;
and
;
22
MURSHIDABA D.
opening of the railway
it formed the main line of communicaBehar and the North-west. On its east or left bank are situated Jangipur, Jiaganj, Murshidabad, Kasimbazar, and Barhampur; on the right bank are to be seen the ruins of Badrihat and Rangamati.
until the
tion with
Ganges and the Pagla, Bansloi, and Kuiya ultimately find their way into the Bhagirathi by numerous inter-connections. The left bank of the Bhagirathi is embanked along its entire length, except for the first 25 miles, which are unprotected. There are no canals in the District.
From
the west, the Singa joins the
;
])warka, Brahmini, Mor,
elevated western tract,
The mineral products of INIurshidabad are entirely confined known as the Rarh. Iron is found in
occurs in several places, and
is
to the
places,
but not in sufficient quantity to repay smelting.
ghiiti7i also
Calcareous earth called
lime.
Kankar
or nodular limestone crops
making up generally over the western
extensively used for
half of the District,
and
is
applied to road-making purposes.
silk,
Jungle
products consist of tasar
beeswax, medicinal roots and drugs,
and
lac
;
the lac insect
tree,
is
frondosa
by jungle
tribes of Santals
domesticated on jute plants and the Butea and Dhangars. In the south-
west of the District, at the confluence of the Mor and Dwarka rivers, there is a tract of low-lying country, about 16 square miles in extent, known as the Hejal, which is used for pasturing cattle. During the
rains
it is
covered with water, and yields crops of
utilize
it
cius
and horo
rice
but during the dry season, the Goalas
of cattle.
for pasturing large herds
Besides the Hejal, there are numerous smaller pasturage
grounds scattered over the District. Wild beasts are now very uncommon in Murshidabad, and are yearly becoming more and more scarce, Several kinds of deer being driven away by the advance of cultivation.
are,
however, found in the Rarh tract. The History of Murshidabad District centres round the city of the same name, the latest Muhammadan capital of Bengal, and still the In 1704, Murshid Kuli Khan, also residence of the titular Nawab. known in English histories as Jafar Khan, changed the seat of Government from Dacca to the Httle town of Maksudabad, where he built a This change was palace, and called the place after his own name.
undoubtedly determined by the superior position of the new capital, Dacca had with reference to the growing wants of the administration.
purpose as a frontier station against the inroads of the and danger in that quarter was now pirates terminated by the conquest of Chittagong, and the relinquishment of The rising all designs upon the independent kingdom of iVssam.
served
its
Arakan and Portuguese
;
importance of the European Settlements on the Hugli, together with the growth of commerce and manufacture at Kasimbazar, were sufficient reasons to determine a wise ruler to post himself permanently
on the main
line of
communication between the upper Ganges valley
MURSHIDABAD.
and the
sea, at a
23
spot which was also the most central in his wide Murshid Kuli Khan, by birtli a Brahman, by educaAnd dominions. tion a courtier, was one of the most able administrators that ever served Only second to the Nawab in the Mughal Empire in time of peace. establishing the importance of Murshidabad, was the Jain banker, Manik Chand Jagat Seth, by whose predominating influence as a financier the residence of the Governor became also the centre of the revenue collections for the three Provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa.
the direct line
The dynasty founded by Murshid Kuh Khan did not continue in beyond two generations but when x-\li Vardi Khan won
;
the throne by conquest in 1740, he found Murshidabad to be most conveniently situated for maintaining his hold upon the rebellious Pro-
vince of Orissa, and subsequently for keeping the plundering Maratha During these horsemen behind the frontier of the Bhagirathi river.
troublous times, the city
foreign war.
for himself
itself
never suffered either from domestic or
Each
successive prince, after the Eastern fashion, built
;
one or more new palaces and the great family of Jagat Seth preserved their position as State bankers from generation to generation. On entering Murshidabad after the victory of Plassey, Colonel Clive
^vrote
:
—
'
This
city is as extensive, this
populous, and rich as the city of
first
London, with
inhabitants,
if
difference, that there are individuals in the
.
possessing infinitely greater property than in the last city.
inclined to destroy the Europeans, might have
.
.
The
done so
with sticks and stones.'
conquest of Bengal by the British, Murshidabad remained for some time the seat of administration. Plassey was fought in 1759, just beyond the present southern limits of Murshidabad District; but that battle was not regarded at the time as interfering with Muhammadan independence beyond the substitution of a sub-
Even
after
the
servient
Nawab
for the savage
Siraj-ud-daula.
The
only apparent
Kasimbazar result was that the commercial Chief of the Factory at Resident to the Darbar, who took up his was superseded by a Political quarters nearer the city, at Motijhil,— the Pearl Lake,'— in the palace
'
of a former Nawab.
In 1765, the East India
Company
received the
grant of the dhud?ii or financial administration of Bengal, Behar, and the Orissa from the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam, as the prize of
victory at Baxar
;
and
in the following year
at the
Lord
Clive, as
Governor
ot
Bengal, presided in
revenues.
person
Fu?iyd or annual settlement of the
But even on this occcasion, the young Nawab sat on the The entire work of inasnad, with the Governor on his right hand. or supervision, m the administration still remained, without serious check hands of the Muhammadan ofticials and Jagat Seth continued to be The first great reform was ettected in 1 772 by Warren the State banker.
;
Hastings,
who removed
the
Supreme
Civil
and Criminal Courts from
—
24
MURSHIDABAD.
to Calcutta.
Murshidabad
After an experience of three years, the
;
Murshidabad and it was not till 1790, under Lord Cornwallis, that both the entire revenue and judicial staff was ultimately fixed at the present capital of India. 7'he Mint, the recognised emblem of metropolitan pre-eminence in the East, was abolished in 1799. About the same date, the civil headquarters of the District were transferred to Barhampur, which had been from the first the site of the military cantonments. Murshidabad city was thus left only as the residence of the Nawab Nazim, a descendant of Mfr Jafar, who till 1882 retained certain marks of sovereignty within his palace, and received a pension of ^160,000 a year. The last holder of the title was for many years resident in England. On his return to India, he abdicated his position in favour of his son, who succeeded him, but without any sovereign rights, and on a diminished pension.
tribunal of criminal justice was re-transferred to
The
title
of the present descendant of the once independent rulers of
is
Bengal, Behar, and Orissa,
now
simply that of
'
Nawab Bahadur
of
Murshidabad.'
The importance of the District of Murshidabad declined wdth the decay of its chief city. When a Collector was first appointed to the
charge in 1772, its area extended over the neighbouring za?ui?iddris of Birbhiim and Bishnupur. These outlying tracts had always been noted
for lawlessness
finally
;
and
for the better administration of justice they
severed
from Murshidabad
in
1787.
;
The
District
were was thus
reduced to very
much
line,
its
present size
but the irregularity of the
western boundary
which marches with Birbhiim, has been a con-
stant source of perplexity to the local officials.
attaching to the ruins of Kasimbazar, and to
The historical interest Barhampur, w^hich has
now ceased
those headings.
Division.
People.
been explained under In 1875, the District of Murshidabad was transferred from the Division or Commissionership of Rajshahi to the Presidency
to be an important military station, has
— Early
estimates of the population, ranging from
1801 to
1852, which were based
upon no trustworthy
data, uniformly returned
the inhabitants of the District at about one million. The Census of 1872 returned the real population of Murshiddbad, on an area
corresponding to that of the present District (2144 square miles), at At the last Census in 1881, the population was ascertained 1,214,104. to be 1,226,790, showing an increase of only 12,686, or 1-04 per cent., in the nine years from 1872 to 1881. This very small increase is partly
due
to the ravages of fever, which prevailed virulently in Murshidabad during the autumn of 1880; but it also denotes the decay of a once
thriving commercial centre,
city.
and the decreasing population of a great
briefly
See
Murshidabad
City.
The
results of the
Census of 1881 may be
summarized as
;
MURSHIDABAD.
follows:
total
25
— Area,
2144 square miles, with
5
towns and 3580 villages;
houses, 278,027, of which 257,967 were occupied, and 20,060 unoccupied. Total population, 1,226,790, namely,males 586,483,
;
number of
and females 640,307
proportion of males, 47*86 per cent.
;
Average
towns and villages per square mile, 1*67; persons per town or village, 342; houses per square mile, 1297 inmates per occupied house, 47. Classified according to sex and age, there were under 15 years of age, boys 243,088,
density of population, 572*2 persons per square mile
;
—
470,464, or 38*3 per cent, of the population: 15 years and upwards, males 343,395, and females 412,931 total adults, 756,326, or 617 per cent, of the population.
girls
and
227,376;
total children,
Religion. One of the surprises first disclosed by the Census of 1872 was that the Muhammadans form a minority of the population. Even in the city and suburbs of Murshidabad itself, they are outnumbered by the Hindus, and they predominate only in the agricultural tracts in the north-east and south-east of the District. In 1881, Hindus numbered
—
Muhammadans, 589,957, 634,796, or 517 per cent, of the population or 48*1 percent.; Jains, 675; Christians, 470; Brahmos, 14; Buddhist,
;
i;
and aboriginal
tribes
still
professing their
is
primitive
The
general character of the population
mixed.
faiths, 877. Bengalis of the
delta, hill tribes
of Behar are
all
from Chutia Nagpur, and the peculiar Hindu castes represented ; while the presence of the court has
introduced Rajputs from the North-west for military service or trade, Afghans and Persians from beyond the frontier, and a body-guard of
Habshis from the east coast of Africa.
Tribes^ Castes^
etc.
— Besides the 377
aborigines
still
professing their
primitive faiths, the Census of 1881 returned 25,350 others of aboriginal
Hindus in the religious classification. Of Brahmans number 33,935 Rajputs, 8955 Baniyds, 14,333 ^^^ Kayasths, 15,655. By far the most numerous caste is the Kaibartta, 100,355 ^^ number; following on which, in
descent, but included as
Hindu
castes proper, the
\
;
;
numerical order, come the Sadgop, 36,927; Goala, 35,411; Bagdi, 30,568; Chamar, 22,550; Tanti, 19,818; Chandal, 17,972; Koch, 17,582 Napit, 13,493 Sunri, 13,038; Teli, 12,088; Kumbhar, 10,487 Mai, 9687; Earhai, 9673; Karmakar or Lobar, 8952; Kalu, 8642;
; ;
;
7729; Dom, 7505; Madak, 7253; Dhobi, 7048; and Jugi, 5240. The native Christians number 250. 6265 Among the Hindus are included the Vaishnavs, numbering 25,034 the Jains, who are especially influential at the trading centres of Azimganj
Hari, 7753; Tior,
:Mallah,
;
;
and Jiiganj the Brahma Samaj, which has a regular meeting-house at Barhampur and other minor sects. Towns, etc. For a Bengal District, Murshidabdd contains a fair share of large towns but it appears certain that the urban population is not now on the increase. The five following places are returned in the
;
;
—
;
;
26
MURSHIDABAD.
:—
population 39,231
;
Census of 1881 as each containing a population of more than 5000
Barhampur, 23,605 Kandi The or Jamu-Kandi, 10,661; Jangipur, 10,187; Beldanga, 5455. Other places of some importlast is a mere aggregate of rural villages.
MuRSHiDAUAD CiTV,
;
ance are the river marts of Jiaganj and AziiMGANJ, situated opposite one another on the Bhagirathi ; Bhagwangola (Old and New) and Dhulian on the Ganges; the railway stations of Murarai and Nalhati. The urban population appears to be steadily decreasing. In 1872, 6 towns contained a population exceeding five thousand, with an aggreIn 1883 there were only 5 towns exceedgate of 108,472 inhabitants.
ing five thousand, containing a total urban population of 89,139, or This decrease, 7*2 per cent, of the total population of the District.
—
although largely owing to the falling off in the population of Murshidabad since that city ceased to be a metropolis, is also due to the decay in the weaving trade, caused by the introduction of English piecegoods.
The
interests of the District
have now become almost purely
Sites
agricultural,
instead
of manufacturing.
or Ghiasabad,
of historical
interest
include Kasimbazar, with the neighbouring ruins at Kalkapur and
Sayyidabad
of Gheria.
;
Badrihat
Rangamati, and the
classified
battle-field
The towns and
the Census Report
villages
are thus
according to
size
in
of a total of 3585 villages, 17 12 contain less than two hundred inhabitants; 1266 from two hundred to five hundred
:— Out
463 from five hundred to a thousand; 121 from one to two thousand ; 13 from two to three thousand 5 from three to five thousand ; and 5 more than five thousand. As regards occupation, the Census Report
;
returned the male population under the following 6 classes
fessional
:
—
(i) Pro-
domestic servants, inn and lodging-house keepers, etc., 14,329 (3) commercial class, including bankers, merchants, carriers, etc., 21,869 i (4) agricultural and pastoral class, including gardeners, 201,090 (5) manufacturing and industrial
and
official
class,
14,662
;
(2)
;
;
class,
61,046; and
(6) indefinite
and non-productive
class,
including
male children, 273,487. Agriculture. Rice constitutes the staple crop throughout the District; the dma7i or late rice being prevalent in the western half, and the dus or early rice in the eastern. To this latter tract also are mainly confined the second or cold-weather crops, consisting of wheat, barley, and many
—
varieties of oil-seeds
and pulses. nowhere form more than 10 per
It is
estimated that these latter crops
cent, of the food supply,
;
parts only 3 per cent. Jute is but little both of indigo and mulberry for silkw^orms
and in some grown and the cultivation The area is on the decline.
now under mulberry
manure and the
half of the District.
is
estimated at about 17,000 acres.
The
use of
practice of irrigation are limited to the
Rarh
or western
Water
is
conducted over the
fields
from tanks or
MURSHIDABAD.
natural watercourses.
little
i7
A\'ells
and
artificial
canals
do not
exist.
Very
spare land remains that has not been brought under the plough.
It is
15 to 40 cwts., according as
estimated that the average produce of an acre of land varies from the value is it produces one or two crojjs
;
put
at
from £1,
los. to
^4.
The
rates of rent in
compared with neighbouring Districts, enhanced by the effect of recent legislation.
low, as
Murshidabad are nor have they been much
They vary
exceedingly,
according to the position of the
field,
the quality of the crop grown,
official return,
and
the social status of the cultivator.
According to an
di/s
dated
1872, the rates paid for high lands suitable for
froQi IS. 6d. to 7s. 6d. per acre
;
or early rice, range
those paid for low lands suitable for
6d. to
a man or
late rice,
range from
is.
^i,
los. i)er acre.
Lands growthe neigh-
ing special crops, such as vegetables, garden produce,
etc., in
bourhood of the cultivators' homesteads, pay from ^£2, 2s. to ^^2, 85. an acre. There is litde that is peculiar in the land tenures of the District, beyond the rdnuids or deer-parks held revenue-free by the Nawab, and the cultivating tenure known as iitbandi or fasii-Jamd, according to which the rdyat pays rent, not for his entire holding, but only for the land actually cultivated, the amount being determined by
the nature of the crop grown.
This tenure
is
mainly confined to the
Hejal
river,
tract, in
the south-west of the District, watered by the
of the chars or alluvial accretions
is
Dwarka
sides of
and
to
some
on both
is
the Bhagirathi.
There
also a tenure, in
which the rent
paid in
kind, called bhog-jot^ according to which the rdyat pays to the landlord
one-half of the produce of his
fields,
instead of money.
The
sub-infeu-
dation of estates has been carried out into
many
stages, their peculiar
character and incidents differing in the several pargands.
The
ordinary rates of wages have risen somewhat of late years, but
of food
the price
appears to have
increased in a yet
larger
ratio.
Between 1858 and 1880 the wages of a common coolie
;
are reported to
have increased from 6s. to 8s. or 9s. per month of an agricultural labourer, from 8s. to los., paid partly in kind; of village smiths and carpenters, from I2S. to 1 6s. and i8s. ; of town artisans, from 13s. to 15s. or £^i jjer month. On the other hand, a table giving the prices of common rice during a period of thirty-four years, between 1836 and 1869, shows an average for the first twenty years of 2s. 7d. per cwt, against an average For the twelve years for the last fourteen years of 4s. id. per cwt. 1870 to 1 88 1, the average price of common rice was about 19 sers per In 1870, the price of common rice was rupee, or 5s. iid. per cwt.
4s.
1
iid. per cwt.
;
;
in
1866, the year of dearth,
it
;
had
risen as high as
;
8s. 2d.
1
in 1874, the rate
was
9s.
2d. per cwt.
year),
4s.
in 1878, 9s. per cwt.
in
88 1
(an unusually favourable
4d.
per cwt.
;
and
m
1883-84 (an unfavourable year), from 4s. 8d. to 8s. per cwt. Murshidabad is not specially liable to Hood or drought, and the
28
MURSHIDABAD.
two halves of the country tend to modify In addition, the means of communica-
differing circumstances of the
the intensity of either calamity.
tion
and the
activity of local trade are sufficiently
ample
to prevent a
local scarcity from developing into famine.
In 1866, in 1874, and again in 1S85, Murshidabad lay on the border-land of distress, but in neither The population year was a large system of Government relief required. mainly depends for its food supply upon the dmaji rice crop and if the
;
price of rice were to rise in January to
6s.
lod. per cwt., that should be
regarded as a sign of approaching scarcity. The manufactures of Murshidabad are not in a Manufactures, etc.
—
flourishing state.
The winding
in
of silk
is still
the staple industry, but
it
has steadily declined since the day
great factory at Jangipur
when
At
the
Company
closed their
most is and a considerable quantity of cocoons are imported from neighbouring Districts to be wound off there. There were in 1872, 45 filatures under the management of Europeans and the number of basins, including those belonging to The out-turn of natives, was about 5000, employing 10,000 persons. raw silk in 1872 was estimated to be 246,000 lbs., worth ^168,000
1835.
present, sericulture
common
in the south-east of the District,
;
valued at the low price of 14s. per
filatures
In 1881 there were only 23 silk lb. under European management, besides 73 in the hands of natives; giving employment to an average of 3904 persons, and yielding an out-turn of 155,308 lbs. of raw silk, of an estimated value of ;^i 18,716. The weaving of silk cloth is also conducted in several
villages, the
;£6o,ooo.
i860.
The
annual production being about 100,000 pieces, valued at Indigo material condition of the weavers is very low.
time, the annual out-turn
cultivation has never recovered from the unfortunate disturbances of
At the present
from twelve concerns
averages about 2200 cwts., valued at ;^7o,ooo.
of indigo was only 1047 cwts., valued at
city
In 1881, the out-turn At Murshidabad ;^38,47i.
and Barhampur there are
special industries of ivory-carving, bell-
metal work, and gold and
silver
embroidery.
The
skilled artisans thus
employed are in comfortable circumstances. Murshidabad occupies a favourable position for trade, both by river and rail and some of the Jain merchants of Azimganj take rank among There is also a brisk road traffic between the richest men in Bengal. Owing to the gradual silting up of the different parts of the District.
;
the river bed, despite the constant attention of the engineering
staff,
the
through trade on the Bhagirathi has greatly fallen off
in recent years.
During the ten years from 1840 to 1850, the traffic registered at Jangipur amounted to an annual average of nearly 400,000 tons ; for the ten years ending 1881-82, the registered traffic at Jangipur toll averaged
only 170,000 tons.
lowest since 1874.
In 1881 the
traffic
was only 151,000
tons, the
The
tolls
paid at Jangipur for the ten years ending
MURSHIDABAD.
29
J 88 1-82 averaged ^^7591 per annum. According to the returns furnished by the old registration system, Murshidabad stands twelfth among the Bengal Districts in the total value of its exports and imports. In
1876-77 the exports were valued at ;^i,02o,i24, of which ;£"553,69o was carried by river and ^466,452 by rail the imports were valued at ;£739>9o6> of which ^£523,036 was carried by river and p^2 16,870 by rail. The total export of rice was 1,061,900 mau?ids^ of gram and pulses 342,400 maunds, of wheat 184,300 ??iaunds, of silk 10,377 maunds (valued at ^518,850), and of indigo 1560 viaunds (valued at
;
;^3 1,200).
chiefly
The
chief items of import were
European piece-goods
salt
(^^200,550), almost entirely conveyed by rail;
(278,000 viau7ids\
viainids,
conveyed by river;
raw cotton (22,100
valued at
^33,150).
The
four leading marts are thus arranged
:— Murshidabad,
exports (in 1876-77)^129,000, imports ;^25,ooo; Dhulian, exports ;^68,ooo, imports ^118,000; Jangipur, exports and imports, ^89,000
each; Jiaganj, exports ^38,000, imports ^^i 23,000. Owing to an alteration in the system of registration, details of District trade arc not
available for a later year than 1876-77.
The
little
State railway from Nalhati to
Azimganj runs
14 miles within the limits of Murshidabad.
total length of
for about In 1871 there were 13
management, with a 182 miles, maintained at an annual cost of ^2410. In addition, 44 miles of the main road from Nadiya to Bhagwangola, passing through Barhampur, were under the charge of the Public Works Department. Since that date, the introduction of the Road
Cess has given munication.
a great impulse to the extension of
principal hnes of road in the District under local
means of com-
Administration.
— In
the year 1870-71 the net revenue of Murshidto ;£! 92,046, towards
abad
District
amounted
which the land-tax con-
tributed ;£"i33,o62, or 69 per cent. ; the net expenditure was ^^57, 692, or less than one-third of the revenue. In 1883-84 the six main items
excise,
of revenue yielded ;^ 176,822, as follows: Land revenue, ^124,235 ; ^15,864; stamps, ^22,978; registration, ;^i47i; road cess,
—
In 1883 there were 3 covenanted civil, and 8 revenue courts. For police purposes, the District is divided into 25 than as or police circles. In 1883, the regular District and town police force
^^^6278
;
and municipal
taxes,
^5996.
;
officers stationed in the District
8 magisterial, 9
numbered 785 men of all ranks, maintained at a total cost of ^12,947. There was also a rural police or village watch of 4034 men, maintained by the villagers themselves. The total machinery, therefore, for the protection of person and property, consisted of 4819 officers and men,
giving
I
man
to every 0*44 of a square mile of the area, or to every
The estimated total cost was;2£^2 6,369, 255 persons of the population. averaging ;^i2, 6s. per square mile, and 5d. per head of population.
7
30
Murshidabdd
classes
MURSHIDABAD,
District has always
viz.
borne a bad reputation for certain gang robbery and housebreaking. In 1883, the total number of persons convicted of any offence, great or small, was 2870, being i person to every 428 of the population. By far the greater proportion of the convictions were for petty offences. The District contains one jail and two lock-ups. In 1883, the average
of crime,
dakaiti or
daily
number of prisoners was 161-96, of whom 12 were females. These figures show i prisoner to every 7573 of the population.
Education has widely extended during recent years. In 1856 there By 1883 these were only 6 inspected schools, attended by 717 pupils. numbers had risen to 430 schools, with upwards of 12,000 pupils,
to every
showing an average of 4*9 square miles to each school, and 97 pupils thousand of the population. This great increase is due to the extension of the grant-in-aid rules to t\\Q pdthsdlds or village schools, a
The above figures reform inaugurated by Sir G. Campbell in 1872. The Census of are exclusive of uninspected and unaided schools. 188 r returned 15,845 boys and 423 girls as under instruction, besides
instruction.
32,967 males and 815 females able to read and write, but not under the Among special institutions may be mentioned
—
up to the the Nizamat College, first Arts course of the university examination and the limited to the education of the relatives of the Nawab
Barhampur
College, founded in 1853, wi;ich
now
;
teaches
;
Nizamat
free school in
attendance at
Murshidabad city. In 1883, the average daily the Barhampur College was 30 the cost to Government
;
was ^1075, or an average of ^32,
12s. for
each pupil.
The
District
is
divided into 4 administrative Sub-divisions, contain-
There are 68 pargaiids or Fiscal Divisions, with an in 1883 of 2383 revenue-paying estates, owned by 10, 75 aggregate proprietors and coparceners, each estate paying an average land revenue of £,^2, 8s., and each proprietor ^11, los. to Government.
ing 23 thdnds.
In 1883 there were 8
civil
judges and 10 stipendiary magistrates; the
the
nearest court was
maximum
miles.
distance
of any village from
There are 5 municipalities in the District Murshidabad city, Barhampur, Kandi, Jangipur, and Beldanga with a total population of 89,442 persons; their aggregate municipal income in 1883-84
—
—
33
was returned
head.
at
^7418, the average
rate of taxation being is. 4d. per
Medical Aspects.
that
common
to
The climate of Murshidabad does not differ from Lower Bengal, except that it experiences, to some
—
extent, the burning winds of Central India during the hot season.
The
mean atmospheric
pressure of the year
at
is
returned
at
29715; the
annual average temperature
78-6°
F.
In
1883, the
maximum
temperature recorded by day was 105-2°, in the month of May; the minimum by night was 46-2°, in December. The average annual
—
MURSHIDABAD SUB-DIVISIOX-MURSIII DA BAD.
rainfall
in
1;
3
over a period of twenty-eight years
is
56-0 inches.
The
rainfall
1883 was only 40 inches, or 20 inches below the average. As regards health, Murshidabad District ranks perhaps below the The stagnant pools formed by the Bhagigeneral standard of Bengal.
rathi during the dry season constitute a perennial source of malaria
and cholera
observed.
is
rarely absent from the city
and suburbs of Murshidabad.
nine out of every ten
It
P^nlargement of the
spleen
is
found
in
cases
is
Elephantiasis and hydrocele are also endemic.
on
record that not only the trading
several flourishing
emporium of Kasimbazar, but
also
weaving villages, have been absolutely depopulated by malarious fever within the present century. The vital statistics
show^ a death-rate during 1883 of 24-67 per thousand.
There were, in 1883, five charitable dispensaries in the District, at which 1076 in-door and 34,099 out-door patients were treated during There is a Government lunatic asylum at Barhampur, conthe year.
structed out of a portion of the old barracks in 1874.
[For further
information
Murshidabad, see The Statistical Account of Bengal, by W. W. Hunter, vol. ix. pp. 1-265 (Triibner & Co., London, I S 76 The Statistical and Geog7'aphical Report of Mui'shiddbdd District, )
regarding
;
by Colonel Gastrell, Revenue Surveyor (1857) Rep07't on the Rivers of Bengal, by Captain W. S. Sherwill (1858); the Bengal Census Reports and the several annual Administration and Departfor 1872 and i88t mental Reports of the Bengal Government.]
; ;
Murshidabad Sub-division.
of
— Sadr or
head-quarters Sub-division
of Murshidabad District, Bengal.
towns and
of
villages,
551,745,
whom
1381 260,614 were
;
Area, 997 square miles; number houses, 112,718. Population (1881)
Hindus, 290,671
religions.
Muhammadans,
402 Christians, and 58 of other
of persons per square mile, 553; villages per square mile, i'4; houses per square inmates per house, 4*9; proportion of males, 48 per cent. mile, 122
;
Number
This Sub-division comprises the 10 police circles of Sujaganj, Gorabazar, Barwan, Nawada, Hariharpara, Jalangi, Gowas, Daulatbazar,
(Tokaran, and Kalianganj.
terial courts.
In 1873
it
contained
7
revenue and magis-
Murshidabad Sub-division.— Properly
Sub-division.
the City of Murshidabad
it
See
Lalbagh Sub-division, by which name
is
distin-
guished from the Sadr Sub-division of Murshidabad District.
the
(or Maksuddbdd). Principal city in the District of same name, Bengal situated in 24° 11' 5" n. lat., and 88° 18' 50" e. long., on the left bank of the Bhagirathi. Murshidabad is still the most populous town in the District, though its historical importance has
;
Murshidabad
—
entirely departed.
bably
The diminution commenced immediately from
in the
the date
number of inhabitants prowhen it ceased to be the
in
capital of Bengal, in 1772.
We
have no estimate of the population
32
MURSHIDABAD
CITY.
The circumference of the those days, but it must have been very great. suburbs has been put as high as 30 miles but the largest extensive miles dimensions of the city proper in 1759 are said to have been 5 miles in breadth on each bank along the Bhagirathi in length, and 2\ In the beginning of the present century, by which time of the river. have several estimates of the decay of the city had already set in, we was then population ; but we neither know the area which the city the In 1815, adopted. supposed to cover, nor the modes of enumeration at 30,000, and the total populathe number of houses was estimated In 1829, the Magistrate, Mr. Hawthorn, returned souls.
;
tion at 165,000
the city population at 146,176.
ants of Murshidabad city to
In 1837, Mr.
Adam
amount
to 124,804 persons,
found the inhabitwhich shows
a decrease of nearly 15 per cent, in eight years. Murshidabad At the first regular Census in 1872, the population of down to 46,182; and at the last enumeration in city had dwindled The old city, however, comprised a much larger 1 88 1, to 39,231.
area than
Classified included in the municipal boundaries of to-day. in 1881 consisted of— Hindus, according to religion, the population The city of 'others,' 694. 22,719; Muhammadans, 15,818; and has been formed into a municipality under Act vi. of
is
Murshidabad
1868.
Gross municipal income in 1876-77, ^2777; in 1883-84, The is. 4jd. per head. ^3335 average incidence of taxation, municipality is Lalbagh, the name also of official English name for the The municipal boundaries, Sub-division of which it is the centre.
5
the
17th March 1869, include as fixed in a notification of Government dated villages villages on the right or west bank of the Bhagirathi, and 160 17
on the left bank of the river. The History of Murshidabad
i8th century.
the seat of
city is the history
of Bengal during the
In 1704, the great Nawab, Murshid Kuli Khan, fixed
Government at the city which he called by his own name. Murshidabad has up to the present day continued to be the residence
of the
Nawab
of Bengal
;
but
it
has lost
all historical
importance since
1790, in
criminal
which year Lord Cornwallis
jurisdiction to Calcutta.
finally transferred the
supreme
The
old
name
of the place was
Maksiidabad or Mukhsoosabad, and it is stated by Tieffenthaler to have been originally founded by the Emperor Akbar. In 1696, the Afghans from Orissa, in the course of their rebellion, advanced as far as Maksiidabad, defeated 5000 of the imperial troops, and plundered the The neighbouring town of Kasimbazar is said to have been town.
saved from a similar
The place fate by the intercession of its merchants. was called Murshidabad by its second founder but the old name yet lingers, and is said to be still in constant use among the Muhammadans. English Records, as late as It is regularly spelt Muxudavad in the early Tradition relates that Murshid Kuli Khan moved his the year 1760.
;
—
MURSHIDABAD
Government
CITY.
33
to this place througli fear of Prince Azim-us-Shan,
who
had attempted to assassinate him at Dacca. It seems more probable that he was induced to take this step by political considerations. Dacca had lost its importance, for the Maghs and the Portuguese were no longer dangerous and the banks of the Bhagirathi afforded a more central position for the management of the three Provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa. The new city also was situated on the line of trade, along which the treasures of India were now beginning 10 find their way to the European settlements on the Hugh' and it commanded the town of Kasimbazar, where all the foreigners had important factories. Moreover, the situation in those days was regarded as very
; ;
healthy.
The
further history of the city
is
involved in the sketch of
the general history of
Murshidabad District.
The City and its Buildings. Murshidabad exhibits at the present day but few traces of its former grandeur. The chief object of attraction is the palace of the Nawab, on the banks of the river, and nearly in the centre of the city. It is a large and imposing pile of buildings in the Italian style, and its proportions are by some preferred to those of the
—
Government House
at
Calcutta.
It
took ten
but
all
years in building, and was completed in 1837, at a cost of ;£"i67,ooo.
The
is
architect was General Macleod, of the Bengal Engineers
;
the
other persons engaged on the work were natives.
called
;
The
edifice itself
by the natives the iVina Mahal and, together with other same wall, it is known as the Nizamat kild or fort. The palace is 425 feet long, 200 wide, and 80 high. It has a splendid marble floor, and contains a banqueting-hall 290 feet long,
buildings enclosed within the
'
with sliding doors encased in mirrors.
a
In the centre of the building
is
dome, from which hangs a vast and most superb chandelier of 150 branches, presented to the Nawab by the Queen. Beneath stands a beautiful ivory throne, with painted and gilded flowers, a specimen of the perfection of that ivory work for which Murshidabad is famous. Hung on the walls are portraits of the present Nawab, his ancestors, and his sons.' {Travels of a Hindu, vol. i. pp. 79, 80.) The zandnd, or private apartments, are situated to the right of the main entrance, and in the rear of the palace. Within the same enclosure is the Imambara or house of prayer,' which is built directly in front of the northern principal door. Outside the hi/d, and a short distance on the left along the road leading to Barhampur, is a magnificent range of coach-houses and stabling for horses and elephants. The Nizamat College, which has been built exclusively for the education of the relatives of the Nawab, at a cost of ^7800, is situated in the opposite direction, a little way up the river.
'
The present Imambara dates only from a.h. 1264 (a.d. 1S47), as is denoted by an inscription composed of the letters of the words, The VOL. X. C
'
;
34
MURSHIDABAD
It
is
CITY,
Grove of Karbala.'
larger than the
itself
Imambara
at Hiigli
a fine structure, being considerably but it occupies the place of the ;
far more celebrated building erected by Siraj-ud-daula, which is thus MS. described in a native chronicle i^Tarikh4-Matisuri, by Sayyid Ali Blochmann, pp. 97-102) :— It was built with translated by Professor
;
'
care and reverence,
Muhammadan workmen
only being employed and
Hindus excluded. The Nawab laid the first stone with his own hand, and put lime over it, after which the workmen commenced. In the midst of the Imambara, a piece of ground called ifiadmd was dug out to the depth of a man's stature, and filled with earth taken from the On all four sides were rooms forming a sort of holy place at Karbala.
On the east were vestibules facing towards the west, with a and a place set aside for a sort of chapter-house, where the In the west of the building there were elegies on Husain were read. similar vestibules facing toward the east, in which were nearly a hundred flags, and the sacred coffins made of silver, gold, glass, and wood. During the Muharrain, the Kuran was here chanted day and night, and The cloisters in at fixed times during the other months of the year. and east of the building were constructed on a similar plan the north but these contained only the out-offices, etc., where hundreds of workcloister.
pulpit
men
the place.
kept themselves in readiness during the Muhan-am to illuminate The verandahs of the second storey contained screens of
On the screens were pictures men, animals, and flowers, which had a striking effect when their of All kinds of chantransparent panes were illuminated from within. deliers, in large numbers, were placed in the vestibules, and also Indian In the north and south vestibules were two representations lamps. the horse on which the prophet ascended to heaven, of the Burag,
mica, behind which the lamps hung.
—
The length of the tails face and a peacock's tail. reached to the roof of the house. Well-polished shields and china or silver plates were fitted into the tails, to represent the eyes of a Swords, sabres, and daggers were arranged in peacock's feathers. different patterns around these shields, and hundreds of wax candles
with a
human
made
treasures,
whole a dazzling and splendid object. All these costly upon the temple by Siraj-ud-daula with so much pride, were turned into ready money by Mir Kasim. This was a motive which would not, however, to relieve his own necessities, have seemed sacrilege to one so religious as Mir Kasim, but to
the
lavished
—
—
assist
the
poor of the
city,
and
to despatch a
number of indigent
Muhammadans on
years ago.
cost ;^6o,ooo, the
a pilgrimage to Mecca.'
This building was acci-
dentally burnt to the ground during a display of fireworks about forty
Whilst the present Imambara was building, which is said to have workmen received their food in addition to their
MURSHIDABAD
wages, and
CITY.
35
was finished a present of a double shawl and it At the season of the Miiharraiii^ a daily distribution of food attracts large crowds, who are again drawn together in The Nawab attends one the evening by fireworks and illuminations. day's celebration, and takes his seat on a black carpet, over which a white embroidered coverlet is spread, and a black rug takes the After the recitation of the customary place of the usual bolster. Other curious practices, elegies, sherbet and spices are handed round. peculiar to the sect of the Shias among the Muhammadans, accompany this festival. On the seventh day of the Miiharram^ the Imambara
a handkerchief.
when
They place chains turned into a harem, and all the Begams attend. on the Nawab, according to custom, and a chain round his neck. Hundreds of women, high and low, receive presents from the Begams, who are said to distribute thousands of rupees. The imperial music forms the most striking emblem of royal dignity still maintained at Murshidabad. It may still be heard in the early morning sounding from the great fortified gateway which leads to the palace. This peculiar strain of instrumental music, which was allowed
is
by the Delhi Emperors to
of
all
is
subahddrs (deputy governors) as a mark
delegated
sovereignty,
chroniclers as the public
frequently alluded to by the native accompaniment of each important event in
the history of the Nawabs.
The
of
Raft
Festival
is
still
celebrated
at
Murshidabad
in
honour
by the Muhammadans to the With this saint is connected the celebrated custom l)rophet Elias. of launching tiny light-ships on the river, which may be seen to
Khwaja
Khizr, the
name
given
great
season, thousands of
On certain nights in the rainy advantage on the Bhagirathi. little rafts, each with its lamp burning, are floated
the
stream.
down
lete
is
Their construction
is
very
simple.
A
piece of
plantain or
bamboo
bears a sweetmeat or two and
the lamp.
This
rendered more picturesque by the unusual presence of the
are allowed out of doors for the occasion.
women, who
The Nawab
participates in the
show with much miagnificence on the last Thursday of the month of Bhadra (September), when the European residents are
invited.
A
raft
of 100 cubits square
is
constructed of plantain trees
and bamboos, and covered with earth. On this is erected a small At a given signal fortress, bearing on its walls all manner of fireworks. the raft is launched and floated to the farther side of the river, when the fireworks are let off, their reflection on the \\-titer producing a most beautiful effect. Apart from the Nizamat kild and the buildings connected therewith, there is but one other structure worth notice now standing in the city proper. This is the mosque erected by Mani Begam, in the vicinity The of the Mubarak M.anzil, formerly called the Kandil Bagh.
—
36
peculiarity of this
MURSHIDABAD
mosque was
its
CITY.
liberality of worship.
On
one side
prayers were conducted according to the Hanafi rite of the Sunni sect,
while on the other side were being observed the religious ceremonies
of the Shias, the Court
sect.
The General Aspect of
Surveyor (i860):
— 'Numerous
the
City
is
thus described by the
buildings
Revenue
the
brick
stand
all
along
banks of the river, north and south of the palace, which belong to, and are chiefly occupied by, the relatives and adherents of the Nawab. Many others, some with pretty gardens, are scattered about in the tangled maze of jungle, hovels, holes, and tanks which lie to the
eastward.
Standing on the top of the palace dome, the
its
loftiest
little
place in
the District, and looking over the city and
suburbs,
eye but a dense forest of
clear spot
is
to
be seen.
It is
bamboos and trees of all only when one turns
meets the Hardly a kinds.
to the west that
the river and the high land in the north-west of the District present
A stranger, as he stood and gazed, would never imagine tracts. below was a dense mass of human beings of all classes, crowded There are no defined together in every description of house and hut. limits to Murshidabad as a city, nor is any part known especially by
open
that
It is given indiscriminately to a collection of temples, this name. mosques, handsome brick houses, gardens, walled enclosures, hovels, huts, and tangled jungle, containing the ruins of edifices that have
sprung up and decayed around the present Nawabs of Murshidabad.'
Motijhil, or the Pearl
many
palaces of the former
and
Lake
is
it
(a
name
2
also applied to a lake in
Kashmir
Dr.
and another in Lahore), B. Hamilton states that
;
about
miles south of Murshidabad.
has been one of the former windings of the but others are of opinion that it was formed by the excavations river made to procure bricks for building the houses, which were at one It continues time surrounded by the lake in the form of a horse-shoe.
to
magnificence.
be a beautiful spot, but hardly a It seems to have been
relic
first
remains of its ancient chosen as a residence by
It
is
Nuazish
Muhammad,
however,
the
for
nephew
the
of All Vardi Khan.
built
more
at
celebrated,
palace
by
Siraj-ud-daula
an
enormous expense. The materials were partly brought from the ruins of Gaur; and a few arches are still left, constructed of the black marble (or rather hornblende) which once covered the tombs of the old Pathan kings of Bengal. The following story is told of its completion, to explain the name of Mansiirganj, by which it is commonly known ^As the building was nearly finished, Siraj-ud-daula invited Ali Vardi When he came, Siraj-ud-daula locked him up in a room, to see it, and refused to release him unless the zaminddrs there paid a fine for This request the Nawab was compelled to grant, and also their land.
:
to allow to his petulant grandson the privilege of erecting a granary.
;
MURSHIDABAD
This granary the
Victorious,
i.e.
CITY.
37
people called Alansiirganj, or the Granary of the
Siraj-ud-daula,
is
who
outwitted his grandfather.
The abwdb
extorted on this occasion
It
said to have
amounted
in
to Rs. 501,597.'
was from
the
battle
Motijhil
that
;
Siraj-ud-daula,
for
of
Plassey
Jafar
it
was
in
the palace
it
1757, here
marched out
that
at
Colonel
Motijhil
Behar, and Orissa, held the Mir Jafar fixed his residence on the farther side of the river; and Motijhil or Muradbagh, as the place was sometimes called, from the name of a second palace in the neighbourhood now became the home of the English Political Resident at the court of Murshidabad. One of the first to fill this office was Warren Hastings. Subsequently, during the years 1771-73, Mr. John Shore (afterwards Lord Teignmouth) lived at Motijhil, where he amused himself by improving the grounds and studying the Oriental languages. He described his life there in the following words Here I enjoy cooing doves, whistling blackbirds, and purling streams. I am quite solitary, and, except once a week, see no one of Christian complexion.' In 1785-86 the head-quarters of the English were removed from Motijhil to Maidapur, prior to their final transfer to Barhampur. The Punyd or annual settlement of the revenues of Bengal was annually held at Motijhil, until it was abolished in 1772, when the Khalsa or Treasury was removed to Calcutta. It was a ceremony of state, at which all the great za?ninddrs attended in person, and paid a sort of homage to the Nawab. Khilats or presents were distributed, which were regarded as a confirmation of their appointment and the rent-roll of the Provinces was then fixed for the year. A form like the Fimyd is still kept up at the kachari of every zamindd?; Clive but the Government ceremony has never been re-established. attached great importance to this institution, and raised a special
as diwdji of Bengal,
first
CHve placed Mir that Lord Clive,
on the masnad ; and
was again
English Pimyd, in 1766.
—
—
:
—
*
revenue collection in order to defray the expenses; but in 1769 the In 1767 the Court of Directors prohibited the giving of presents.
Punyd was held
at
Motijhil with peculiar
pomp.
The Nawab was
seated on the masnad^ with Mr. Verelst, the Governor, on his right hand.
manner urged the ministers and landholders encouragement to the clearing and cultivating of lands for the mulberry. On this occasion, khilats were distributed to the amount of Rs. 216,870. Some of the items were for the Governor and his Council, Rs. 46,750; for the Nizamat, Rs. 38,800; for the people of the Treasury, Rs. 22,634; for the Zamindar of Nadiya, Rs. 7352 for the Raja of Birbhiim, Rs. 1200 for the Raja of Bishnulatter in the strongest
The
to give all possible
—
;
;
pur, Rs. 734.
Khush Bdgh,
Nawabs,
lies
the
on the
Gardoi of Happiness, the old cemetery of the right bank of the Bhagirathi, opposite Motijhil.
;
38
MURSHIDABAD
following description
is
CITY.
The
quoted in the Report of the
of three walled enclosures.
based upon notes by Captain Layard, Revenue Surveyor :— The cemetery consists
from the east
outer of these is entered by a gateway which are the ruins of an old ghat, which formerly led down to the Bhdgirathi, when that river ran under the walls.
The
side, in front of
The wall facing the is now nearly half a mile distant. loopholed for musketry, and flanked by octagonal bastions. The grounds inside are all laid out as gardens, with hedges bordering the walks ; and the flowers grown in the beds serve to adorn the tombs.
The channel
river
is
Many
fine trees also afford
a delightful shade to the explorer.
Traces
still
of fresco paint, almost obliterated
by damp and neglect, may
be
In the outer enclosure there are eighteen tombs, These two have the same only two of which have any inscription. The verse from the Kuran, the one in Persian, the other in Arabic. middle of the three enclosures is the principal cemetery, and contains good Nawab,' All Vardi Khan, and of his grandthe remains of the Besides the mausoleum, there are a mosque and son Siraj-ud-daula.
seen on the walls.
'
two other buildings
set apart for the
female descendants of the dead,
who
still
retain charge of the cemetery.
palls,
Spread on the tombs are darksilver
coloured cloths or
spangled with gold and
flowers
;
fresh
flowers are strewed daily on and around them, and lights are kept continually burning. This cemetery was first endowed by Ali Vardi Khan,
who
allotted Rs.
305 monthly, from the collections of the
villages of
Bandardeh and Nawabganj, to defray the expenses of keeping the place in order. After the murder of Siraj-ud-daula, his widow, the Begam Lutf-ul-nissa, who had accompanied her husband in his flight to Rajmahal, and had been afterwards banished to Dacca with other ladies of the court, was subsequently recalled and placed in charge of Here she remained till her death, the cemetery of Khush Bagh.
receiving, in addition to the
allowance
Rs. 305 already mentioned, a personal 1000 per mensem. She now lies buried in the mausoleum by the side of her husband, but the charge is still held by her descendants, who draw pensions from the Government treasury at Barhampur. Forster mentions in 1781, that mullds were employed
of Rs.
here to offer prayers for the dead, and the widow of Siraj-ud-daula used often to come to the tomb and perform certain ceremonies of mourning. The entire cost of the establishment required for maintaining the burial-ground
is now defrayed by the English Government. innermost enclosure contains only a tank, the former The third and dwelling-place of the attendants, a muzaffar-khdna or travellers' home, and a well. This latter is no longer used, and has been walled up
for
it
is
said that a fakir accidentally
its
fell
into
it
and was drowned,
city
which caused
waters to be polluted and accursed.
To
the north-east of Motijhil,
and immediately outside the
of
MURTAZArUR.
39
Murshidabad, is the Kuttara, containing the tomb of Murshid Kiili Khan, erected for him by forced Hindu labour. It is said to have been constructed after the model of the great mosque at Mecca, and has two
splendid minarets 70 feet high.
the
stair,
The Nawab
is
buried at the foot of
so as to be trampled on by every one
is
who
passes up.
The
Kuttara
described
by Hodges, a
traveller
of 1780, as
'a grand
seminary of Musalman learning, 70 feet square, adorned by a mosque which rises high above all the surrounding building.' In this neighbourhood was the Topkhdna, the arsenal of the Nawabs, which formed the eastern gateway of the city. A cannon had been placed between two young trees, which have now grown up, and their branches have combined to lift the gun high above the ground. Berhampur, the civil head-quarters of Murshidabad, and formerly a military cantonment,
is
dealt with in a separate article.
Trade.
— Murshidabad
of the
the
in
city,
with
its is
suburb of Azimganj, on the
the
chief centre
opposite bank
Bhagirathi,
manufacture
Jagat Seth
District.
Though
has
long ago fallen
of trade and banking house of into decay, the Jain merchants of
the great
Murshidabad
still
rank as the wealthiest of their class in Bengal.
silv^er
Their dealings in gold and
bullion
are
especially large
local
traffic
some of
their
number almost monopolize
far
the
and ; on the
Brahmaputra, as
the
principal industries of
native court.
is
The up as the north-east frontier of Assam. Murshidabad are those fostered by the luxury of Carving in ivory, conducted with much skill and
finish,
article to order,
an old speciality of the city. The carvers can turn out any from the smallest European toy to the state-throne of the
Nawab.
Other manufactures are the embroider)' of fancy
silk
articles with
gold and silver lace, the weaving of
instruments, and hookah-pipes.
goods, the making of musical
total
In the year 1876-77, the
at
value of
the registered river trade of IMurshidabad city was returned at ;^i 54,692.
Among
were raw
the exports, valued altogether
silk
;^i29,752, the chief items
(^45,000), rice (^37,000), gram and pulse (^10,000), and The imports were valued at only ^£24,940, including wheat (^7000). Owing to an sugar and salt (each ^5000), and piece-goods (;£"3ooo).
alteration in the system of registration,
for
no trade
statistics are available
Murshidabad
square miles
or
Area, 610 of Amraoti District, Berar. town and 256 villages. Population (1S67) 104,658; (1881) 110,573, namely, 57,342 males and 53,231 females,
Murtazapur.
;
— Tdluk
i
city for a later
year than 1876-77.
contains
181-26
persons
per
square
1929; 99,264; 23; Sikhs, 16; Christians, 8; and Buddhist, i. Area occupied by cultivators, 343,847 acres. Total agricultural population, 76,953.
Hindus
numbered
mile. Number of houses, Muhammadans, 9332; Jains,
19,630.
Parsis,
The
tdliik
contains
i
civil
and
3 criminal courts
;
police circles {ihdtids),
40
MURTAZAPUR TOWN—MURWARA.
Total
station
3; regular police, 81 men; village watch {chaukiddrs)^ 274. revenue, ^36,869, of which ^^30,426 is derived from land.
Murtazapur.
on the Nagpur
in
— Town
in
Amraoti
District,
Berar,
and a
;
line of the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway
situated
lat. 20° 44' N., and long. 77° 25' e., 30 miles west-south-west of Amraoti town. Population (1881) 4887. Large quantities of cotton are sent here from Karinja and other places for carriage to Bombay. Travellers' Murtazapur is the head-quarters of Murtazapur taJisil.
bungalow.
Murwara.
District,
— Northern
tahsil 01 Sub-division of Jabalpur (Jubbulpore)
Central
Provinces.
Area, 11 76 square miles;
number of
towns and
513; houses, 40,749. Total population (1881) Average density 157,716, namely, males 79,473, and females 78,243.
villages,
tahsil,
of population, 134 persons per square mile. Of the total area of the 157 square miles pay neither revenue nor tribute, leaving the
assessed area at 1019 square miles.
Of
these,
520 square miles are
returned as under cultivation, 246 square miles as cultivable but not
under
at
tillage,
adult agricultural population (male
and 253 square miles as uncultivable waste. The total and female) was returned in 1881
67,264, or 42*65 per cent, of the whole population of the tahsil. Average area of cultivated and cultivable land available for each adult
Total Government land revenue, including local 7 acres. and cesses levied on the land, ;2^942 7, or an average of 6|d. per cultivated acre. Total rental, including cesses, paid by the cultivators, ^22,170, or an average of is. 3|d. per cultivated acre. In 1883, Murwara tahsil contained i criminal and 2 civil courts, 3 police circles {thdnds)^ and 11 outpost stations {chaiikis)^ a regular police force numbering in men, and a village watch of 374 {chaukiddrs). Murwdra. Town and municipality in Jabalpur District, Central Provinces, and head-quarters of Murwara tahsil ; situated in lat. 23° 51' N., and long. 80° 26' e., 57 miles north-east of Jabalpur city, on the road to Mirzapur. Murwara, which in 1872 was a mere agricultural village with 2885 inhabitants, had by 1881 increased to an important commercial town, with a population numbering 8612, and composed of
cultivator,
rates
—
— Hindus,
;
7078; Muhammadans, 1155; Jains, 114; Kabirpanthis, 159 Satnamis, 26 ; Christians, 6; Parsis, 2 ; and aboriginal tribes, 72. Municipal revenue in 1882-83, ;f 59°) of which ^£^535 was derived
average
incidence
of taxation,
is.
from taxation;
3|d.
per head.
iMurwara has now become an important mercantile centre, with a large
trade in grain, oil-seeds,
salt,
lac,
hides, leather, ghi^ iron, lime, piece-goods,
and spices. The town contains a Government school and the Kathna river is here crossed by two fine bridges, one on the northern road, and the other on the Jabalpur branch of the
sugar, tobacco,
;
East Indian Railway.
—
MUSAFIRKHANA—MUSSOOREE.
TahsU or Musafirkhana. Oudh. See Muzaffarkhana.
Musiri.
41
District,
—
Sub-division
of
Sultdnpur
— Tdluk
or
Sub-division in Trichinopoli District,
i
Madras
villages.
Presidency.
Area, 748 square miles, containing
town and 222
and 135,806
250,082;
IMusiri
Population (1871) 255,132; (1881) 258,068, namely, 122,262 males Hindus numbered females, occupying 46,322 houses.
Muhammadans, 3585;
lies
Christians,
4397;
^''^d
'others,'
4.
Sub-division
north
of the
Kaveri
river.
The
villages
along the bank of the Kaveri, being well irrigated by channels from The centre and northern portions of the Subthat river, are fertile.
division are, as a rule, unirrigated.
In addition to the Kaveri, the
Ayyar and the Karaipottanar are the only rivers of any importance. The country is generally flat, the only range of hills being the Pachamalais. The soil is black in the hollows, and red on the higher
and in the neighbourhood of the hills. The rates of assessment on irrigated lands range from 2s. to 14s. the rates for unirrigated In 1883, the Sub-division contained 3 criminal lands from 9d. to 7s.
levels
;
courts
;
10 police stations {thdnds)
;
79 regular police.
Land revenue,
^35,372. Musiri.
in Musiri Sub-division, Trichinopoli District, Madras head- quarters of an Assistant Collector and a tahsilddr. Situated on the Cauvery river, 25 miles from Trichinopoli town, and almost exactly opposite to Kulitilai station on the Erode Branch of
— Town
;
Presidency
the South Indian Railway.
A
considerable amount of
Lat.
traffic
from the
long.
Sub-division
78° 28' 56"
is
carried on at this station.
10° 57' n.,
and
E.
Population (1881)
post-office.
4088.
Number
of houses,
953.
Dispensary and
Muskara.
— North-Westem
tahsil
of Hamirpur
District,
North-
western Provinces, lying along the south bank of the river Betwa. Population Area, 410 square miles, of which 224^ are cultivated. Land revenue, ;£i5,33o; total Government revenue, (1881) 79,817.
^17,185; rental paid by cultivators, ;£23,346 average incidence This tahsil was formerly of Government revenue, is. 2d. per acre. known as Jalalpur. In 1885 it contained i civil and i criminal regular police, 48 men court number of police circles {thdnds), 5
; ;
;
;
village
watch or rural police, 189.
Mussooree {Masuri).
trict,
—Town
and sanitarium
in
Dehra Dun Dis-
North-Western Provinces. Lat. 30° 27' 30" n., long. 78° 6' 30" e. Stands on the crest of a Himalayan peak, among beautiful and varied mountain scenery. Mussooree forms practically one station with Landaur, where there is a convalescent depot for European troops, Large established in 1827. Elevation above sea-level, 7433 feet. Protestant and Roman numbers of visitors during the summer months. Catholic churches, three or four private schools, public library, masonic
;
42
MUSTAFABAD TAHSIL AND TOWN.
3
lodge, club, volunteer corps, brewery,
banks,
3 hotels,
numerous
boarding-houses.
The
Botanical Czardens, established by Government,
A summer home for have been purchased by the municipality. soldiers' children was established in Mussooree in 1876, and provides accommodation for about 100 children in the hot weather months. The Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway have also a school at Mussooree
European employes. Charitable dispensary. Mussooree is the summer head - quarters of the Trigonometrical branch of the Survey of India. The population fluctuates greatly, accordThe Census in February 1881 was ing to the season of the year. taken in the depth of winter, and returned a total population of permanent residents of Mussooree numbering 3106, namely, Hindus, 2019 Muhammadans, 644; Christians, 440; Jain, i; and 'others,' 2. In September (1880), during the height of the season, a special Census was taken which returned the population of Masiiri at 7652, and of the
for the children of their
;
adjacent
cantonment of Landaur
at
4428;
total,
12,080,
namely,
Hindus, 6406; Muhammadans, 3082; Europeans, 2355; Eurasians, 182; Native Christians, 43; and 'others,' 12. Municipal income of Mussooree (1883-84), ^3361, of which ^3303 was derived from
taxation.
For further
Provinces,
Mainpuri District, NorthMustafabad pa?'gaiid ; lying in the centre of the Doab upland, and watered by two branches Area, 321 square miles, of which 181 are of the Ganges Canal. Population (1872) 155,476; (1881) 162,201, namely, cultivated.
Mustafabad.
— North-western
and
details, see
Landaur.
tahsil of
western
conterminous
with
males 88,884, and females 73,317 increase of population since 1872, Classified according to religion, 6725, or 4-3 per cent, in nine years.
;
150,036; Muhammadans, 9380; Jains, Of the 270 towns and villages comprising Land the tahsil, 164 contain less than five hundred inhabitants. total Government revenue, ;£"32,648; rental paid revenue, ;^ 29,1 50;
there were in 1881
— Hindus,
5.
2780;
and
'others,'
by
civil
In 1883, Mustafabad tahsil contained i ;£"45,5io. and i criminal court, 2 police circles {ihd?ids\ a regular police of 42 men, and a village watch or rural police of 370 chauk'idd7's.
cultivators,
Mustafabdd.
—Town
—
in
Ambala (Umballa)
District,
Punjab.
Lat.
30° 12' N.,long. 77° 13'
E.
Lies on road from Saharanpur to Ludhiana.
Small citadel, the residence of a Sikh Raja. Mustafd,bdd. Town in Faizabad (Fyzabad) District,
ated 19 miles from Faizabad town.
Oudh
;
situ-
Hindus, 1327, and Muhammadans, khand Railway passes through the village. Two Hindu temples and one mosque. Mustafabad. Town in Salon tahsil, Rai Bareli District, Oudh situated 3 miles north of the Ganges, and 20 from Rai Bareli town, on
Population (1881) 2377, namely, The Oudh and Rohil1050.
—
'
MUTTRA.
the road from Salon to Manikpur.
43
Formerly a flourishing place, with Rdja Darshan Singh plundered tlie town in the later years of native rule, and since then it has declined. Population (1881) 2528, namely, 1566 Hindus and 962 Musalmans.
many handsome
buildings and tombs.
Village school.
Muttra
27° 58' N.
(Mat/iurd).
—
British
District in
the
Lieutenant-Governor14' 30"
ship of the North-Western Provinces, lying between 27°
lat.,
and
and between 77°
19'
30" and 78° 33'
e.
long.
Area,
Muttra Population (1881) 671,690 persons. 14527 square miles. It is bounded forms the north-western District of the Agra Division. on the north by the Punjab District of Gurgaon and the North-
on the east by Aligarh and western Provinces District of Aligarh and on the west by Etah Districts on the south by Agra District The administrative headBhartpur State and Gurgaon District. (juarters are at the city of Muttra, on the right bank of the Jumna
;
;
;
(Jamuna).
the gods
'
Muttra
(MoSovpa
rj
is
tCjv Ocwv),
mentioned by Ptolemy as the Modoura of and by Arrian and Pliny as Methora
'
'
(Mc^opa).
Physical Aspects.
strip
—The
is
District of
Muttra comprises an
irregular
of territory, lying on
general level
either side of the river
Jumna (Jamuna).
The
to
only broken on the south-western angle, along
hills, nowhere rising above the plain, the general elevation above sea-level falling from 620 feet in the north-north-west to about 566 feet in the south-south-west, following the course of the Jumna. The chief natural peculiarity of the District is the want of rivers. The one perennial stream, the Jumna, divides it into two not very unequal portions, the eastern tract containing about 640, and the western
the Bhartpur frontier, by low ranges of limestone
more than 200
feet
about 810 square miles.
The
eastern half of the District, comprising the Mat,
Mahaban, and
Saddbad tahsils, presents the usual features of the Gangetic Doab, consisting for the
wells
Its
soil
most part of a rich upland plain, abundantly irrigated by and traversed by distributaries of the Ganges canal. luxuriant crops and fruitful orchards indicate the fertility of the but it possesses little historical interest, and owes its present
and
rivers,
;
prosperity chiefly to
several
the
security of British
rule.
Above Bhadaura,
into
old
beds of the
Jumna have transformed themselves
lagoons.
The
western or trans-Jumna portion, on
the other hand,
comprising the Kosi, Chh^ta, and Muttra tahsils, though comparatively unfavoured by nature, is rich in mythological associations and antiquarian remains.
ing
trees
The
aspect of this sacred tract, where the divine
is
brothers Krishna and Balarama grazed their herds,
to the traveller.
very disajipointlarger forest
field,
are not found.
The The
crops
dust
are
scanty,
and the
lies
deep on every road and
44
MUTTRA.
and the slightest breath of air stirs it up into an impenetrable haze. For eight months of the year, the Jumna shrinks to the dimensions of a mere rivulet, meandering through a waste of sand, and bounded by monotonous flats of arable land, through which the hill torrents have worn stony ravines. During the rains, however, when pilgrims chiefly visit the sacred sites which are found throughout the whole transJumna tract, the river swells to a mighty stream, a mile or more m breadth; the temporary torrents and lakes are filled to overflowing; green foliage spreads over the barren rocks and hills and the dusty plain becomes a waving mass of verdure. The rural inhabitants avoid hamlets, and live in larger semi-fortified villages. This centralization of the people is due partly to the quality of the water, which in outlying spots is often undrinkable partly to
;
;
but chiefly to historical causes dating from the last century, when such strongholds were necessary to protect the husbandmen from the onslaughts of Jats and Marathas. The one great need of the west Jumna tract is water. The rainfall has
the great sanctity of certain tracts,
indeed few channels by which to escape, and the fields are given the advantage of almost every drop. But the general saline character of the wells renders them useless when no rain falls to freshen them.
Where water
is
plentiful,
industry of the Jat cultivators
the Agra canal and
its
certain tracts of Muttra tahsil, the amply repaid and the construction of branches, which intersect the tract from end to
as
in
is
;
end, has proved a great advantage.
The
only navigable waters are the
of salt
Jumna
;
river
and the Agra
canal.
Until within recent years, the former used to carry from the north large
and cleaned cotton and from the east, large The Muttra and sugar, tobacco, and spices. Achnera, and the Muttra and Hathras Railways have to a large extent superseded the river as a means of communication, and merchandise The whole length of the Agra navigation is now extremely small. main canal is navigable, and a special navigation channel about 8 miles Large sums have long connects the main canal with Muttra town. been spent on rendering the canal navigable but, so far, it seems doubtful whether the receipts will cover the interest on the outlay. What traffic exists on the canal is chiefly through traffic between Delhi and Agra, or places beyond. Agra and Delhi are the termini of the
quantities
quantities
of
rice,
;
navigable portion of the canal.
Till very recently, nearly the
whole of Muttra District consisted of
and woodland, and many of the villages still stand among encircling groves. But the new roads constructed as relief works during the great famine of 1837-38 threw open many large tracts of country, and the task of reclamation has since proceeded rapidly under the auspices of Government. The sheet of water known as the
l^asture
iMUTTRA.
Noh
Jhi'l
is
45
a
swampy
lake,
about
tract.
2
miles east of the Jumna, in the
It
northern portion of the
Doab
has an average length of 2\
miles, with a breadth of li, but swells in the rainy season over a
much
all
larger area.
There
the
is
scarcely any forest timber in the District,
and nearly
is
wood may be
is
classed as fuel.
5
The
area under groves
quite
insignificant,
occupying only
per cent, of the District area.
grass
plentiful.
The
seeds, fruit,
and bark of many
trees are
fit
Thatching used for
medicinal purposes, for dyeing, or as food.
]Hirposes,
is
Sandstone,
for building
procurable at two places on
the western border of the
District, at Barsana and Nandgaon, where low rocky hills crop out above the surface of the ground. This stone, however, is not much used, except by the canal officers for bridges and other works on the Kankar or nodular limestone is abundant throughout Agra canal. Muttra, but that obtained from the country east of the Jumna is
larger, harder, of better colour,
and
in thicker strata
than that found in
the western division.
The
wild
animals
most commonly found are leopards, wolves,
7iilgdi^
hycTenas, wild hog,
and
principally in the western
hilly
tracts
along the Bhartpur border. The central portion of Muttra District forms one of the History.
—
The circuit of 84 kos most sacred spots in Hindu mythology. around Gokul and Brindaban bears the name of the Braj-Mandal, and Here carries with it many associations of the earliest Aryan times. Krishna and Balarama, the divine herdsmen, fed their cattle in the and numerous relics of antiquity in the towiis of forest pastures Muttra, Gobardhan, Gokul, Mahaban, and Brindaban still attest In addition to the sanctity with which this holy tract was invested. the short article on Gokul, which had to be written before the author visited the place, a short account of that famous river-side village will be found at the end of the longer article Mahaban. During the Buddhist period, Muttra became a centre of the new faith, and is mentioned by the early Chinese pilgrims in their itineraries. After the invasion of Mahmiid of Ghazni in 1017, the city fell into
;
insignificance
till
the reign of Akbor.
its history merges in that of the Jats of Bhartpur, and only acquires a separate individuality with the rise of Suraj In 1 7 12, Badan Singh, father of that famous adventurer, Mall. ])roclaimed himself leader of the Jats, and took up his residence at In his old age he distriSahar, where he built a handsome palace.
Thenceforward
buted his possessions among his sons, giving the south-western portion of Bhartpur to his youngest, Partab Singh, and the remainder of his
dominions, including Muttra, to his eldest, Suraj Mall. On Badan Singh's death, Suraj Mall moved to Bhartpur, and assumed the title of Raja.
46
MUTTRA.
In 1748, the Mughal Emperor Ahmad Shah invited the Jat leader to Holkar under the command of the Wazir Safdar Jang, in
join with
suppressing the Rohilla rebeUion.
When
Safdar Jang revolted
lot
{see
Oudh), Suraj Mall and
his Jats
threw in their
with the Wazir, while
Ghazi-ud-din, the imperial general, obtained the help of the Marathas.
Safdar Jang retreated to Oudh, whereupon Ghazi-ud-din laid siege to Bhartpur, but, mistrusting his Maratha allies, shortly returned to Delhi,
deposed
Ahmad Shah, and raised Alamgir 11. to When Ahmad Shah Durani invaded India
to
the throne.
in
Khan endeavoured
plundered
its
levy tribute
their
from
all
the people withdrew into
wealth,
forts,
1757, Sardar Jahan Muttra but finding that he fell back upon the city,
;
and massacred
the inhabitants upon
whom
he could lay hands.
Two
years later, the
new Emperor was murdered,
Ghazi-ud-
and the Afghan invader once more advanced upon Delhi.
din fled to Muttra and Bhartpur, and organized the
of Jats and Marathas which shattered
itself in
Hindu confederacy
vain against the forces
Suraj Mall, however,
of
Ahmad Shah
at
Panipat
in
January 1761.
withdrew his forces before the decisive battle, marched on Agra, ejected the Marathas, and made himself master of the city.
Ahmad Shah had placed the hapless Shah Alam on the throne of Delhi, and the Jat leader thought it a favourable opportunity to attack the Rohilla Wazir, Najib-ud-daula. Marching to Shahdera, 6 miles from Delhi, he was surprised, captured, and put to death by a small party of the imperialists. Two of his sons, who succeeded to his command, were successively murdered, and the third, Nawab Singh, after losing Agra The fourth son, Ranjit during Zabita Khan's rebellion, died in 1776. Singh (not to be confounded with the more famous Sikh Maharaja),
inherited Bhartpur with only an insignificant strip of territory.
During the contest between Sindhia and the Rajput princes
in 1788,
the former obtained the aid of the Jats in raising the siege of Agra, then
Muttra and held by Sindhia's forces, and besieged by Ghulam Kadir, Agra thus fell once more into Sindhia's hands. In 1803, Ranjit Singh of Bhartpur joined Lord Lake in his campaign against Sindhia, wnth a and upon the defeat of the Marathas, he force of 5000 Jat horsemen
;
received as a reward the south-western portion of Muttra, with Kishan-
garh
and Rewari.
But
in
the
following year, Ranjit
Singh gave
shelter to
Holkar, when a fugitive, after the battle of Dig (Deeg).
;
This led to the first siege of Bhartpur by Lord Lake and although his capital was not taken, Ranjit Singh lost the territory granted to
him
in
1803, and the whole of Muttra District thus passed
under
British rule.
J^Iutiny of 1857.
Thenceforward Muttra remained free from historical incidents till the News of the Meerut outbreak reached Muttra on Two days later, some Bhartpur troops arrived, 14th May in that year.
MUTTRA.
47
and marched for DcUii under British officers. The force halted at Hodal on the 26th; and on the 30th the sepoys sent to escort the treasure from Muttra to Agra proved mutinous, so that the officials were compelled to fly and join the troops at Hodal. Shortly afterwards, the Bhartpur force likewise mutinied, and the Europeans fled for their lives.
The
June.
Magistrate returned to Muttra, and, after vainly visiting Agra in
till
search of aid, remained with the friendly Seths (native bankers)
July, the
i4tii
After the mutiny of the Gwalior contingent at Aligarh on 2nd
the Europeans into Agra.
Nimach (Neemuch) insurgents, marching on Muttra, drove all The whole eastern portion of the District then rose in rebellion, till 5th October, when the Magistrate made
from Agra, and
captured
the
rebel leader Deokarn. proceeded through the District to Kosi, punishing the insurgent villages and after its return to Agra through Muttra, no further disturbances took place. Popiilatio7i. The Census of 1853 returned the number of inhabitants of Muttra at 862,909. At the enumeration of 1865, the population of
an expedition
Colonel Cotton's column
shortly afterwards
;
—
it then stood was 802,702, or as at present constituted, In 1872, the total population of the present District was returned at 782,460 persons, being an increase of 114,273, or 17-1 per
the District as
668,187.
cent.,
during the seven years from 1865 to 1872. The last enumeration, returned the population of Muttra District at 671,690, showing a decrease of 110,770, or 14-1 per cent., in the nine years between This large falling off is ascribed to the eftects of 1872 and 1 88 1.
in 1881,
famine caused by drought in 1878, and to an outbreak of epidemic
fever in 1879.
The results disclosed by the Census of 1881 may be briefly summarized as follows: Area of District, 14527 square miles, with number of houses, 85,949. Total popula7 towns and 848 villages tion, 671,690, namely, males 360,967, and females 310,723; proportion of males, 537 per cent. Average density of population, 462-3 persons l)er square mile ; villages and towns per square mile, 0*58 persons per
—
;
;
village,
786; houses per square mile, 59*1; inmates per house, 7*8. Classified according to sex and age, the population comprises under 15 years, boys 124,106, and girls 101,738; total children, 225,844, or
—
33*6 per cent, of the District population
:
15 years
and upwards, males
236,861, and females 208,985
Religion.
—As
;
total adults,
regards religion, Muttra
still
still
445,846, or 66-4 per cent. remains an essentially
Hindu
l)cr
District, the old faith
counting 611,625 adherents, or 91-1
58,088 remainder of the population
Christians,
cent., as
against
and
follows:
— Brahmans, 118,249;
Of
338.
Muhammadans, or 8-5 per cent. The is made up of Jains, 1594; Sikhs, 45 The chief Hindu castes were represented as
—
;
Rajputs, 55,121; Baniyas, 39,726; and
Kayasths, 4015.
the lower classes of Hindus, the principal castes
.
—
MUTTRA.
48
in
numerical order are as follows:
—
Jat,
117,265; Chamar, 99,410;
Kori, 18,209; Gadaria, 15,559; Barhai, 13,835; Nai, 13,402; Bhangi, 12,543; Kumbhar, 11,016; Mali, 7542; Giijar, 7150; Ahir, 6027;
Kahar, 5878; Dhobi, 5676; and Mallah, 5056.
are divided according to sect
into
The Muhammadans
Giijars, 14,
— Sunnis,
57,732, and Shias, 356.
Christians
Rajputs numbering 3184; Mewatis, 1906; Jats, 174; and The are found among the Muhammadan population.
include
262; Eurasians, 19; and Natives, 57. Seven towns in 1881 contained a Tow7i a?id Rural Population.
— Europeans,
—
population exceeding 5000 souls, namely
BAN,
21,467;
KOSI,
;
Chhata, 6014
Muttra, 47,483 Brinda11,231; MaHABAN, 6182; KURSANDA, 6018 and Sarir, 5199. These towns contain a total urban
; ;
population numbering 103,594, or 15*4 per cent, of the District populaThe 848 villages, with a total rural population of 568,096, are tion. 186 contain less than two classified according to size as follows:
—
hundred inhabitants; 275 from two to five hundred; 234 from five hundred to a thousand; loi from one to two thousand 34 from two As regards to three thousand; and 18 from three to five thousand. occupation, the male population is returned under the following six (i) Professional and official class, 10,742; (2) domestic classes: servants, inn and lodging-house keepers, 1798; (3) commercial class, including merchants, traders, and carriers, 7452 (4) agricultural and pastoral class, 146,474; (5) industrial and manufacturing class, 57,256 and (6) indefinite and non-productive class, including labourers and male children, 137,245. Outof a total areaof 1452 square miles, 1048 square miles Agricultwe were returned as cultivated in 1883-84, 172 square miles as cultivable waste, 103 square miles as barren, and 129 square miles as non-assessed and revenue-free. Jodr^ bdjra, and cotton form the principal crops for the autumn harvest {kharif)^ while wheat, gram, and barley constitute These require but the principal staples for the spring harvest {rabi). little skill or trouble in their cultivation, nor do they demand artificial The more valuable crops, such as sugar-cane, tobacco, irrigation. In the western indigo, and vegetables, occupy only a small area.
;
—
;
;
—
pargaiids^ a narrow belt of sand extends for about 3 to 5 miles from the
border, followed by a light but strong loam, which prevails
foot of the
up
to the
sandhills skirting the
Jumna
and
valley.
Close to these low
ridges, the soil
pure sand.
becomes much The loam, though
lighter,
ending near the river
easily
friable
in beds of worked, contains quite
enough clay to give it body. Irrigation from tanks is not practised, and no small streams pass through the District but distributaries from the Ganges canal water part of the Voab pargams, while the Agra canal, which now traverses the whole trans-Jumna tract, will spread fertility
;
through the dusty plain of the Braj-T^Iandal.
MUTTRA.
The mass of
the population are fairly well
off.
49
The
last
settlement of
the land revenue pressed lightly
upon the
District.
No
very severe
;
famine has occurred
ing Districts.
lately
;
the harvests have yielded well
and the
l)easants are therefore in better circumstances than those of neighbour-
The
tenures of land do not readily
fall
under the standard
types of the
North-Western Provinces, being held under imperfect
species of zam'uiddri
are split
munity
;
and hhaydchdra. The greater number of estates up into infinitesimal fractions among the whole village comand the small farmers, who till their own scanty plots, form
a very large class, while the
proportionately small.
number of non-proprietary cultivators is Most of the latter have no hereditary rights, but
hold as tenants-at-will.
Of
the total male adult agricultural population (143,500) of Muttra
30,544 are returned as landholders, 11 99 as estate servants, 85,649 as cultivators, and 26,108 as agricultural labourers. Average The total area cultivated by each adult male agriculturist, 5*12 acres.
District,
dependent upon the soil for a livelihood numbers 347,787, or 55-8 per cent, of the District population. Of the total area of 14527 square miles, 1323 square miles are assessed for Government revenue. Total Government assessment, including rates and cesses, ;^i 88,980, or an average of 5s. 6Jd. per cultivated acre. Total rental paid by cultivators, including rates and
agricultural population, however,
cesses,
;^26i,72 8,
or
:
an average of
7s.
ijd.
per
cultivated
acre.
Wages rule as follows per diem field hands,
;
— Coolies
The
17I
and unskilled
;
labourers, 2jd. to 3|d.
2 Jd. to 3d.
bricklayers
and
carpenters, 6d. to
2s.
Women
obtain about one-fifth less than men, and children from
prices of food-grains in January 18S4
sers per rupee, or 6s. 4d. per
;
one-third to two-thirds.
were as follows
rice, 7 sers
:
— Wheat,
;
cwt
;
best
per rupee, or i6s. per cwt.
/t'ir
and gram, 23
sers
per rupee,
;
or 4s. lod. per cwt.
bdjra^ 22 sers per rupee, or 5s. id. per cwt.
and
barley, 25 sers per rupee, or 4s. 6d. per cwt.
Natural Calamities. Muttra has often suffered severely from drought and famine. In 181 3, the pargand of Sahar was a centre of great distress. Many persons perished of hunger, or sold their wives and
In 1825-26, all the western oftheNorth-Western Provinces were visited by a terrible drought, which specially afflicted Mahaban and Jalesar (now in Agra District). In 1837-38, the famine pressed severely upon the Doab portion of Muttra, and also on the south-western hill tract. In 1860-61, only half the usual quantity of land was irrigated, and only the irrigated area produced a harvest. Many of the poorer cultivators left the District towards the close of i860, and only one -fourth returned. The deaths from
Districts
—
children for a few rupees or a single meal.
starvation averaged 497 a
month
but
in
in the first
second quarter, of 1861
VOL. X.
;
July and
quarter, and 85 August they fell
in the
to
5.
D
50
MUTTRA.
total
The
number of deaths from
starvation was reported at about
2500.
The
suffered
last
more and
famine occurred in 1877-78, in which Muttra and Agra for a longer period than the other Districts of the
Division, the mortality in Muttra for 1878 being higher than in
any
other District of the North-Western Provinces, reaching the enormous
The rainfall from June to September 7 1 '56 per thousand. 1877 was only 4*30 inches, as against i8'28 inches in the preceding The deficiency in the rains year, and even that was below the average. aff'ected the main food crops, which are mostly raised on unirrigated
proportion of
lands, the irrigated tracts being chiefly reserved for the
cultivation of sugar, indigo,
more
lucrative
and cotton.
Thus, in consequence of short
crop,
sowings, prices rose from early in July; and in September 1877 positive
distress
began to be manifested.
The autumn
on which the
grains were not
poorer people depend, failed absolutely, and
procurable.
common
was aggravated by crowds of refugees who were attracted by the fame of the many charitable institutions existing both in the city itself Relief works were started at different places all and in Bhartpur. over the District in October; but the climax of the famine was not reached till July and August 1878, when the average daily attendance The poorhouse for the relief of those at the relief works was 20,483.
local distress
The
from the adjoining Native
States,
unable to work was not closed
till
June 1879, having afforded
District,
relief to
395,824 paupers. Commerce and Trade^
has
little
etc.
—The
7J
being mainly agricultural,
external trade,
and no manufactures of importance.
East Indian Railway traverses the extreme eastern border of the
The Doab
i
pargands, and
station,
has a course of
miles within the District, with
Manikpur or Jalesar Road.
The
light railway
on the metre
gauge system, now connecting the East Indian line with Bhartpur, runs from Hathras road station on the main line, through Hathras, to Muttra It has 3 stations within Muttra District, at city, a distance of 29 miles. A continuation of this line has also been Barahna, Raya, and Muttra. constructed from Muttra to Achnera in Agra District, a distance of 23 miles, with stations at Bhainsa and Parkham within Muttra District. Ten metalled roads Total length of railway communication, 40 miles. within the District have an aggregate length of 176 miles; the chief are the Agra and Delhi, Muttra and Bhartpur, and Hathras roads. The unmetalled lines comprise 115 miles of 'first-class,' and 414 miles ot
'second-class' roads.
Administration.
—The
District of Muttra, as
dates only from the year 1832,
when
it
an administrative unit, was formed out of Agra and
Sadabad.
The
District staff usually consists of a Collector-Magistrate,
Joint Magistrate, and Assistant Magistrate
—
all
Europeans; together
1
MUTTRA,
with
I
5
Deputy Magistrate, 6
Muttra
is
ta/isildars,
and 8
special Magistrates
—
all
natives.
comprised
in the jurisdiction of the civil
and sessions
judge of Agra; and the sub-judge of the same city also exercises civil powers within the District. At Muttra itself is a munsifs or civil court
of original jurisdiction.
The
total
the District in 1876
amount of revenue, imperial, local, and municipal, raised in amounted to ;^234,i78; the land-tax contributing
In 1883-84, the total imperial revenue of Muttra District
^138,354.
(excluding local and municipal funds) amounted to ^191,735, the chief items being as follows Land revenue, ^141,438; stamps, ;£"8226 ;
:
—
excise,
;£'4989
;
provincial rates,
;
^20,327;
registration,
;£'i307
and
irrigation
District
is
sub-divided into 6 tahsils^
assessed taxes, ;£4479 and navigation, ^£"3784. The containing in 1883-84 an aggregate
;
of 1438 estates, paying an average land revenue of ;£"ii2 each.
The total strength of the regular and municipal police force was 854 men, maintained at a cost of ^8153, of which ;£'5495 was paid from provincial and ^2658 from other sources; being i policeman to every 17 square mile and every 787 of the population, the cost averaging ^5, I2S. 6d. per square mile, or 2|d. per head of the population. The District jail at Muttra contained in 1883 a daily average of 196 prisoners, The District contains 15 of whom 184 were males and 12 females. imperial and 6 local post-offices, together with 5 telegraph stations
belonging to the different railway companies.
Education w^as carried on in 1880-81 by 210 Government, municipal, and unaided missionary and indigenous schools, with an aggregate of 6486 pupils, being i school to every 7 square miles of area, and 9-6 The zild or high school in pupils to every thousand of the population. Muttra city was attended by 244 pupils in 1880-81. Middle-class
Anglo-vernacular schools exist at Aring, Farah, Brindaban, Kosi, Chhata,
Mahaban, and Sadabad. The Government schools, which in 1880-81 numbered 136 with 5162 pupils, had increased to 155 with 5602
pupils in 1883-84.
No
statistics
of private unaided schools are avail-
able for the latter year.
The
three municipal towns of Muttra, Brindaban,
and Kosi had an aggregate revenue in 1883-84 of ^8571, of which ;£"7i99 was derived from octroi average incidence of taxation, is, 7.Id. per head of the population (87,714) within municipal limits. The climate of Muttra is dry and hot, owing to Medical Aspects. Great extremes of the proximity of the sandy deserts on the west.
;
—
temperature occur, the cold of winter being comparatively excessive, while hot winds blow from the west with great violence during Aj)ril,
May, and June. 1 88 1 amounted
The
average rainfall for a period of thirty years ending
to 25*45 inches; the
maximum
during this period being
37 inches in 1867, and the minimum, 11*3 inches in i860 (the year of famine). No thermonietrical returns are available. On the whole, the
52
climate
is
MUTTRA
TAHSIL.
its
considered healthy, perhaps on account of
five
dryness,
and
the absence of permanent ponds or torrents in the dry season.
The
average registered mortality during the
death-rate of 46*47 per thousand.
years ending 1883 shows a
dispensaries
in
—
at
Government maintains 3 charitable Muttra, Brindaban, and Kosi which afforded relief
—
1884 to a total of 24,759 persons, of whom 571 were in-patients. Muttra {Mathurd). Head-quarters tahsil of IMuttra District, NorthIt western Provinces, conterminous with the pargand of Muttra. occupies the south-western portion of the District, stretching from the Jumna on the east to the foot of the Bhartpur hills on the northThe Giri Raj, a hill about 5 miles long, near Gobardhan, west. with a maximum height of about 100 feet above the surrounding
—
plain,
is
of the greatest
sanctity,
being associated in mythological
honour numerous temples ta/isil, the Jumna's and low alluvial soil, influence is apparent for three miles inland From this point ravines, and sandy downs are found along its bank. up to the neighbourhood of the Bhartpur hills, the whole country is
legend with the god
Krishna, in whose
hill.
have been
built
on the
In the east of the
;
one uniform plain, without a single river or stream. The average depth of water below the surface is 49 feet, and in certain tracts in the This renders the sinking of north-west, as far as from 50 to 62 feet. wells a matter of considerable expense, and until recently irrigation was
The great need of the country water has now resorted to. been supplied by the Agra Canal, which runs down the centre of the tahsil for a length of 16 miles, and has proved a great boon to the agriculturist. The principal crops are tobacco, sugar-cane, gram, cotton, and barley. Bdjra and jodr are also largely grown, as is wheat,
little
—
—
although this
last
crop
is
scarcely seen in the neighbouring tahsils.
Population (1881) 220,307, namely, males 117,905, and females 102,402; average density of population, 549 persons per square mile.
Classified according to religion, Hindus number 196,699; MuhamOf madans, 22,905; Jains, 331; Christians, 328; and 'others,' 44. the 231 towns and villages comprising the tahsil^ 121 contain less than five hundred inhabitants ; 73 between five hundred and a thousand ; and 33 between one and five thousand. Two towns contain a population exceeding five thousand, namely, Muttra (47,483) and Brindaban
(21,467).
The total area of Muttra tahsil^ in 1881-82, was 396 square miles, of which 28 1 J square miles were cultivated. Area assessed for Government revenue, 332 square
miles, namely, 234 square miles cultivated, Of the total 74 square miles cultivable, and 24 square miles waste. cultivated area at the time of the recent land settlement, 30,059 acres
were cultivated by the proprietors themselves as sir or homestead lands, 20,232 acres by tenants with occupancy rights, 59,320 acres by tenants-
i
MUTTRA
at-will,
CITY.
53
while 1509 acres were rent-free grants
principal landed proprietors are the Jats,
vators,
made by zafiiinddrs. The who are also the best culti-
and hold 35,512 acres; Brahmans, 34,869 acres; Rajputs, acres; Baniyas, 17,725 acres; Kayasths, 6774 acres; and Total Oovernment land revenue Muhammadans, 4336 acres. 1 88 1-82), including local rates and cesses levied on ;£^33,32 2, or (
27,352
;^38,oo2. Total rental, including rates and cesses, ^^66,870. In 1884, Muttra taJisU contained (including the District head-quarter
land,
courts)
I civil
and 8 criminal courts
496.
10; strength of regular police, 279
{c/iaukidd/'s),
number of police circles {thdnds), men; village watch or rural police
;
Muttra
{Mathiird).
—
City, municipality,
and administrative head;
quarters of Muttra District, North-Western Provinces
27° 30' 13" N.,
situated in
lat.
and long. 77° 43' 45" e., on the right bank of the Jumna Fa-Hian, the Chinese pilgrim, (Jamuna), about 30 miles above Agra. mentions it as a centre of the Buddhist faith about 400 a.d. and his successor Hiuen Tsiang, about 650 a.d., also records that it contained 20 Buddhist monasteries and 5 Brahmanical temples. The antiquities of Muttra have been so fully described by Mr.
;
Growse, in his volume entitled Mathurd, that
it
is
unnecessary to
do more than
minarets
is
refer to
them
here.
with white plaster, and in part with
The Jama Masjid is now restored The view from its encaustic tiles.
very
fine.
Muttra
city rises like a
mud
fortress
from the
bank of the Jumna, studded with striking wdiite edifices the river with The Td-gah or Katra has not been restored its bathing ghdts in front.
;
—
but
its
hard red sandstone walls
still
still
stand, with the plaster modelling
and graceful ornamentation
with the site of the ancient Buddhist
It has been identified monastery of Upagupta, and marks one of the oldest religious spots in India. It stands on a lofty but ruined platform, commanding a noble view of the surrounding
visible inside.
country.
The
magnificent masonry tank
known
feet
as the Patara-kund,
with high walls and steps rising about
still
fifty
from the water,
is
in
good preservation.
The water
lies
about forty to
sixty feet
below the mounds of ruins w^hich surround it. A fringe of pipal, nim, and banyan trees overtops the masonry walls. Three great flights of stone steps lead down on three sides to the tank ; and on the fourth side there is an inclined plane, originally of red sandstone, now replaced Muttra contains many in part by bricks, for horses to descend to drink. Buddhist faith, and its whole atmosphere breathes the relics of the gentle religion of Krishna. The charity of the inhabitants and pilgrims
to the animal creation has
encouraged swarms of monkeys
in the city,
and innumerable
turtles in the river off the h2i\\\mg ghdts.
The carved
facades of the houses in fine white stone and wood, with the richly ornamented houses of the great merchants along the principal street?,
—
54
—
MUVA TTAPALAI—MUZAFFARGARIL
artistic cities
render Muttra one of the most interesting and
India.
jAIuttra
of
modern
was sacked by Mahnuid of Ghazni, with terrible atrocity, in About 1500, SuUan Sikandar Lodi utterly destroyed all and in 1636, Shah Jahan appointed the shrines, temples, and images In 1669-70, a governor expressly to 'stamp out idolatry' in Muttra.
1017-18.
;
Aurangzeb
visited the city,
and destroyed many temples and
shrines,
so that the existing remains date back for the most part only to the
{See Muttra District.) period of Jat supremacy. the Buddhist buildings may still, however, be traced.
Some
{See
relics
of
Muttra
District.)
belonging to
built
Muttra was again plundered by 25,000 Afghan cavalry Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1756. The principal surviving
Sati-biirj
edifices include the
(or
'
Tower
of
the
Faithful
Widow
'),
1570; the Jama Masjid or mosque of Abd-un-Nabi Khan, built in 1662; the mosque of Aurangzeb, built in 1 669 on the site of the temple of Kesva Deva ; and the modern temples of Gata-sram (1800), Dwara Kadhis (1815), Bije Gobind (1867), and Radha
by Raja Bhagwan Das
in
Muttra still forms a great centre of Hindu devotion, numbers of pilgrims flock annually to its festivals. The surrounding country teems with associations and legends of the divine brothers Krishna and Balarama, who dwelt in the neighbouring plain.
Krishna (1871).
large
and
Population (1872) 59,281 ; (1881) 57,724, including within municipal limits, 55,016, and the cantonments, 2708.
the
area
city
The
proper contained a total population of 47,483 in 1881, namely, males A light line of railway connects Muttra 24,650, and females 22,833.
The CawnpurAchnera Railway also connects the town with Cawnpur, Agra, Bhartpur, and Rajputana. Government offices, courts, charitable dispensary,
with the East Indian main line at Hathras road station.
high school,
;
jail,
telegraph station.
is.
Municipal revenue in 1883-84,
^5705 from taxes, ^4787, or within municipal limits.
Muvattapalai.
See INIUATTAPALAI.
8Jd. per head of population (55,016)
State,
— Tdluk
in
Travancore
Madras Presidency.
North - eastern tahsil of IMeerut (Merath) District, Muwanah. North-Western Provinces, lying along the west bank of the Ganges, and including the ancient city of Hastinapur. See Maw^ana. Town in Kashmir (Cashmere) State, Northern Muzaffarabad.
—
—
India.
Lat. 34° 24' n., long.
73°
of the
border.
Jehlam with the Kishen
Important as commanding
Ferries over both rivers.
22' e. Stands at the confluence Ganga, just beyond the Hazara
the entrance of the
Baramula
Pass.
Fort built by Aurangzeb, and sub-
sequently replaced by a stronger one under the Afghan Governor, Ata
Muhammad.
Muzaffargarh.
—
District
in
the Lieutenant-Governorship
of the
MUZAFFARGARH,
Punjab, lying between
}i'^
55
lat.,
2()
i'
and 30° 46' 45"
n.
and between 70°
and 71°
49' E. long.
338,605 persons.
Miiltan Division.
Area, 3139 square miles. Population (1881) Muzaffargarh forms the westernmost District of the
and Jhang
bounded on the north by Dera Ismdil Khan on the east and south-east by the river Chenab, wliich separates it from Miiltan District and Bahawalpur State and on the west by the Indus, which separates it from Dera Ghazi Khan Muzaffargarh is divided into three tahsils Sananwan, which District.
It is
;
Districts
;
—
includes
strip
all
the northern portion of the District, excepting a narrow
;
southern portion of the District
Alipur, which embraces the and Muzaffargarh, the centre. The District stands thirteenth in order of area, and twenty-eighth in order of population among the 32 Districts of the Punjab, and comprises 2*94 per cent, of the total area, and i'8o per cent, of the total popu;
along the right bank of the Chendb
lation of the Lieutenant-Governorship.
The administrative
head-quarters
are at the
town of Muzaffargarh.
Physical Aspects.
—The
District of Muzaffargarh occupies the
extreme
southern apex of the Sind Sagar Doab, the wedge-shaped tract between
the Indus and the confluent waters of the Five Rivers or Panjnad,
locally
known
as the
their confluence in a
Chenab. The District stretches northward from narrow ridge of land gradually widening for about
northern border a distance of some
Its
130 miles, until at
its
55 miles
intervenes between their channels.
shape
is
therefore that of a
tolerably regular triangle, with the base
resting against the cis-Indus
portion of Dera Ismail Khan.
sists
The northern
half of the District con-
of the valley of the Indus on the west, the valley of the
east,
Chenab
on the
while the wild thai or central desert of the Sind Sagar
for a considerable distance
Doab extends
down
its
midst.
This arid
backbone in the centre of the wedge, has a width of 40 miles in the extreme north, and terminates abruptly on either side in a high bank, about 10 miles from the present bed of the Indus, and 3 miles from that of the Chenab. As the rivers converge, the thai
plateau, rising like a
gradually contracts, until, about 10 miles south of Muzaffargarh town,
Though apparently an elevated table-land, it composed of separate sand-hills, whose intermediate valleys lie at a lower level than that of the Indus, and have at times been flooded by the bursting of the western barrier ridge or bank. Scattered amid this waste of sand-heaps, a few good plots of land occur, which the
it
disappears altogether.
really
is
ceaseless
industry
of the Jat
cultivators
has converted into
smiling
fields of grain.
which fringe the thai towards the rivers are for under cultivation but wide reaches of barren soil, the most part especially on the Indus side, often separate the tilled patches with a
The border
strips
;
towering growth of jungle grass, glistening stretches of white
saline
56
efflorescence,
MUZAFFARGARIL
or
South of the thai width of 20 miles, more or less subject to inundation from side to side. The middle tract lies sufficiently high, as a rule, to escape excessive flooding,
stunted
shrubs
of
tamarisk.
plateau, the space
between the
rivers contracts to a
while
it
This portion of the
remains, on the other hand, within the reach of easy irrigation. District, accordingly, consists of a rich and pro-
But in the ductive country, thickly studded with prosperous villages. extreme south, and in some other parts, the floods from the two rivers
spread at times across the whole intervening
leave luxuriant
tract.
if
On
abating, they
pasturage
for
cattle
;
and
their
subsidence takes
place sufficiently early, magnificent crops of wheat, peas, and gram are The towns stand on high sites or raised in the cultivated portion.
are
but the villages scattered over the protected by embankments lowlands are exposed to annual inundations, during which the people
;
abandon
their grass-built huts,
and take refuge on wooden platforms
attached to every house, where they remain night and day till the floods Numerous pools, supplied from the flooded rivers, cover the subside.
The Indus and the Chenab once united their surface of the District. In the time of streams far to the north of their present confluence. Timiir, the junction took place at Uchh, 60 miles above the existing
confluence at Mithankot.
Throughout the cold weather,
large herds
of camels, sheep, and goats, belonging chiefly to the Povindah merchants of Afghanistan, graze upon the sandy waste of the thai.
The
principal rivers of Muzaffargarh are
—
(i)
the western boundary of the District for a distance of
stream, which
is
The Indus, which forms no miles. The
is
two miles broad in the cold weather,
swollen in the
hot weather by the melting of the Himalayan snows, to such an extent The depth of the main channel as to overflow its banks far and wide.
from about 12 feet in the cold weather to about 24 feet in the summer. The current is strong and rapid, and this, together with the tendency of the river to form islands and shoals, renders navigation by The most remarkable feature of the Indus is the boats very difficult. At one time, the river no gradual shifting of its stream to the west. doubt flowed down the centre of the thai desert. In the middle of the District are numerous villages, now far away from the Indus, to whose proper names are added terminals denoting that at one time they stood on or near the river bank ; and the inland portion of the District is full of watercourses which were once beds of the Indus. (2) The Chenab forms the eastern boundary of Muzaffargarh for a length of 109 miles. This river, though locally known as the Chenab, has received the waters of the Jehlam (Jhelum) and Ravi, before reaching this District, and is more correctly the Trinab. After it has
varies
flowed three-fifths of the distance
united Sutlej and
down
Muzaffargarh,
it
receives the
Beas
(Bias),
and becomes the Panjnad or Five
— —
MUZAFFARGARH.
Rivers, though
it
•
;
57
with the Indus, just
continues to be called the Chenab. After its junction beyond the southern borders of the District at
Dera Ghazi Khan, the combined waters become for a composed of the five rivers The Chendb is of the Punjab, plus the Indus and Kibul rivers. narrower and less rapid than the Indus, with a depth of water varying from 15 feet in winter to 30 feet in summer. The stream shifts very much, and navigation is difficult, but not so dangerous as on the Indus. Both the Indus and Chenab carry silt in suspension in their waters, and during the floods deposit it on the adjacent lands, which it greatly Occasionally, however, destructive inundations occur, which fertilizes.
Mithankot
in
short distance the Satnad or Seven Rivers,
rivers, which supply natural about 150,000 acres, a series of Government inundation canals, taking off from side channels or branches of the Indus and Chenab, affords irrigation to over 200,000 acres. These canals were nearly all excavated by native rulers, and most of them date from the
do great harm. Besides the normal annual overflow of the
irrigation to
early years of the present century.
Eighteen forest
the
tracts,
management of the Forest Department, but
rainfall,
with a total area of 975I50 acres, are under are unreserved.
Although with an inappreciable
vegetation of great variety.
Muzaffargarh District
is full
of
date palm, khajji or khejur (Phoenix sylvestris), is largely cultivated, and the fruit forms a staple food of the population during part of the year. The trees pay a tax to Government, which yields a considerable revenue. The timber and other trees
The
common
Tahli or shisham in the District include the following: (Dalbergia Sissoo), which grow with great luxuriance two fine avenues of these trees lead from Muzaffargarh, one, 5 miles long, to Sher
;
Shah
ferry,
and the
;
other,
11
miles
long,
to
Khangarh.
;
Kikar
ukd)ih
(Acacia arabica)
(Prosopis
sharinh or
the
siris (Albizzia
Lebbek)
in
ja?id or kajida
spicigera),
;
commonest
;
tree
the
District;
;
jal (Salvadora and karinh or karita (Populus oleoides); jhit (Salvadora persica) euphratica). Other trees common in Muzaffargarh are P'lpal (Ficus religiosa); bor (Ficus bengalensis) ; girdndli or amaltas (Cassia fistula) lasura (Cordia myxa); rohira (Tecoma undulata);^^;?^/ (Cordia rothii);
(Tamarix articulata)
piichhi ox jhau (Tamarix dioica)
jamiui (Eugenia jambolana)
dhdk or chichhra (Butea frondosa) and sohdnjna (Moringa pterygosperma). The garden trees include mangoes,
;
;
pomegranates, apples, oranges, limes, and
figs.
There are no metals found
are unimportant.
in
in Muzaff"argarh,
and the mineral products
Kankar
or nodular limestone occasionally occurs, but
Earth salt used Governments, but this is to be largely manufactured under the native now prohibited. The majority of the descendants of the old nunaris such small quantities as not to be worth collecting.
•58
MUZAFFARGARH.
salt-makers
or
have
taken to agriculture, and others to
charcoal-
burning.
Indus,
Tigers are often met with in the dense jungles on the banks of the towards the south of the District. They do considerable
to cattle, but rarely attack
damage
are found throughout the District,
especially
man, unless in self-defence. Wolves and wild hog are extremely common,
on the banks of the
rivers.
The
only deer in the District are
hog-deer, the Indian gazelle, and the swamp-deer.
extinct.
The
last is nearly
Jackals and foxes are
are very
common.
District.
Hares are very
rare.
Otters
are found in the south of the
Hedgehogs
are
common.
Hog and deer are occasionally taken by on poles driven into the ground. The nets of inimj rope supported game birds include floriken, sand-grouse, black and grey partridge, quail, snipe, plover, many varieties of duck and teal, water-fowl, etc. Fish of an excellent quality abound in the rivers, and afford a means
Mungoose common.
of liveUhood to a large
History.
number
of people.
— Muzaffargarh
District hardly possesses
any
distinct annals
own, having always formed part of the Multan Province, whose During the Mughal period, it was fortunes it has invariably followed. included in Akbar's sarkdr of Multan and when the Durani Empire
of
its
;
superseded that of Delhi in North-Western India, Muzaffargarh fell to Its last Muhammadan the new power, with the rest of the Province. ruler, Muzaffar Khan, the Afghan Governor of Multan under the
Durani dynasty, gave his name to the present head-quarters town, which he enlarged and surrounded with a wall. The southern and middle portions of the District, however, were in the hands of the Nawab of Bahawalpur, only the extreme north being held by Muzaffar Khan. During the long struggle between the Afghan Governor and
the Sikhs
{see
Multan
much
in the
cause of their ruler
District), the Muzaffargarh peasantry suffered and in 18 18, the army of Ranjit Singh, ;
advancing
upon Multan, stormed the two towns of Thenceforth the northern portion of the District passed under the rule of the Sikhs, and was administered by Diwan Sawan Mall and his son Miilraj. The southern half, however,
for their final attack
Muzaffargarh and Khangarh.
remained in the hands of the Bahawalpur Nawabs, who held it as independent chiefs up to the conquest of Dera Ghazi Khan by Ranjit Singh. But after that date they accepted a lease of the whole District from the Sikh Maharaja and the Nawab failing to remit the annual amount in 1830, Ranjit Singh sent General Ventura to take charge of his conquests, and the river Sutlej (Satlaj) was accepted as the boundary between the Sikh Empire and the territories of Bahawalpur. The Sikh supremacy remained unshaken until the Multan rebellion
still
;
At the first distribution in 1849. of the Province for administrative purposes by the British authorities.
and the annexation of the Punjab
MUZAFFARGARIL
the town of Kliangarh,
1
59
1
miles south of Muzaffargarh, was selected
as head-quarters of a District.
Before the close of the year, however,
;
away by a flood upon the Chenab and as Khangarh was also situated at an inconvenient distance from the main road between Miiltan and Dera Ghazi Khan, the head-quarters were Subsequent transfers of territory to and from fixed at MuzaffLirgarh.
the chosen site was carried
Leiah and J hang brought the District into its present shape in 1861 and the name was then changed from Khangarh to Muzaffargarh. The Census of 1855 returned the total number of Population.
;
—
inhabitants in
Khangarh
District, as
then composed, at 211,920, or in
the area comprising the present Muzaffargarh District, at 251,104.
The
next Census in 1868 gave the population of the present District at 298,180, showing an increase of 47,076, or i8'i per cent., since 1855.
At the
last
enumeration
in
1881,
Montgomery
District
contained a
])opulation of 338,605.
Supposing the Census
for the earlier years to
have been as accurate as that of 1881, these figures show an increase of population of 87,501, or 34-9 per cent., in the 26 years since 1855, of which 40,425, or 13-6 per cent., represents the increase in the second
One of the principal period of 13 years between 1868 and 1881. Muzaffargarh causes of increase is thus stated in the Census Report has developed of late years more rapidly than almost any other District
'
:
in the
fertile, canal irrigation has been not surprising that the immigrants are The high nearly three times as numerous as the emigrants. of males seems to show that the small emigration has been percentage
Province
;
the soil
is
naturally
is
enorm.ously extended, and
it
.
.
.
chiefly temporary, while the
immigration appears to have been in a
great
measure permanent.' The results of the Census of 1881 may be
follows:
villages,
— Area of
briefly summarized as 3139 square miles, with 9 towns and 6S5 number of houses, or rather groups of houses and hamlets
District,
;
Total 62,215; number of families, 72,798. namely, males 184,510, and females 154,095;
54*5 per cent.
population,
338,605, proportion of males,
Average density of the population, 108 persons per
square mile;
yjer
number of
village,
villages per square mile, 0-22;
;
population
town or
5-4.
488
houses per square mile,
zi)
'>
inmates per
house,
Classified
according
total girls 64,038; 15 years of age, children, 140,819, or 41-6 per cent, of the population: 15 years and
1881— under
and boys 76,781, and
to
sex
age,
there
were
in
upwards, males 107,729, and females 90,057; total adults, 197,786, or 58-4 per cent. Religious Z>/r/i-/^;^^.— Classified according to religion, the ^Muhammadans form the great bulk of the population, numbering 292,476, or
86*4 per cent, of the District population.
or 12-8 per cent.;
and Sikhs, 27S8, or
o-8 per cent.; Jains, 11
Hindus numbered 43'297. and
;
—
6o
Christians,
-^Ty.
MUZAFFARGARH.
The
principal
Muhammadan
tribes include
— Sayyids,
These
of the
6928; Pathans, 3959;
are the
castes
early
Baluchi's,
58,356; and Shaikhs, 5046.
in the times
Muhammadans by race descent. The are mainly Muhammadans by conversion
invasion,
following tribes and
and most of them still contain a proportion of Hindus. The Jats, the most numerous class in the District, forming the great mass of the agricultural population, number 109,352; Rajputs, 7961; Kumbhars, 6629; Julahas, 13,625; Churas, 11,312; Mochis, 11,103; Tarkhans, 8024; Mallahs, 7967; Charhoas, 6318; Arains, 3991; and Mirasis, 3634. According to sect, the Muhammadans consist of Sunnis, 290,054; Shias, 2378; Wahabis, 28; Faraizis, 14; and 'others,' 2. The Sayyids and Pathans rank
Musalman
—
highest in
general estimation
among
the
Muhammadan
population,
owing to the influence of Muzaffar Khan, who gave estates to many of his compatriots. The Baluchi's form the bulk of the population along the Indus, where they cultivate the soil, and also raise large herds of cattle and camels many of them bear a bad reputation for predatory habits. The mass of the agricultural community, especially in the eastern portion of the District, consists of Jats, but the word here
;
hardly possesses any ethnical significance, being indiscriminately applied
to all the lower
Muhammadan
cultivating castes.
As a
rule,
the
Muhammadans,
especially the Baluchis
and
Jats, are
very lax in their religious observances.
Some
of their ceremonies are
borrowed from Hindu ritual, and among certain tribes a Brahman priest The Shaikhs and well as a mulla assists on certain occasions. Pathans are the strictest Muhammadans, but even they are said to have become a good deal Hinduized. The worship of the Muhammadans has been diverted from Allah the One God to that of their pirs or saintly men, who are credited with the ability to procure the Saints' shrines are very numerous in objects of the disciples' vows.
as
Muzaffargarh, and pilgrimages to them are very
common, being made
both as a religious duty and for amusement. Throughout the District, the Hindus have sunk into a position of complete social insignificance, with the exception of the Aroras or
Karars, numbering 33,827,
villages,
who form
the shopkeeping class in
all
the
by sinking wells. The other castes, exclusively or almost exclusively Hindus or Sikhs, Brahmans, 1841 ; Mahtams, 2943; Labanas, 2315; Od, 1862; are and Khattris, 1608. The form of Hinduism most prevalent is that of the worship of Vishnu in his Krishna incarnation.
to develop agriculture
and have done much
—
ToiV7i
and Rural
Population.
— Muzaffargarh
does not contain a
;
but the followsingle town with upwards of five thousand inhabitants Muzaffargarh, ing nine places have been constituted municipalities 2720; Khangarh, 3417; Khairpur, 2609; Alipur, 2555; Shahr
—
MUZAFFARGARIL
6i
Sultan, 2132; Sitpur, 2035; Jatoi, 2035; Kot Adu, 2574; and Total urban population, 21,856, or 6-4 per Daira Dinpana, 1779.
cent, of the District population.
The
entire population, however, included
within the municipal limits of the above towns, numbers 24,936, or 7-4 Of the villages, or collections of per cent, of the District population. hamlets comprising the rural population, 246 contain less than two
hundred inhabitants; 20S from two to five hundred; 150 from five 18 from two hundred to a thousand 66 from one to two thousand As thousand and 6 from three to five thousand inhabitants. to three regards occupation, the Census of 1881 divided the adult male popula(i) Protion of Muzaffargarh into the following seven main classes fessional and official class, 3221 (2) domestic and menial class, 1098 (4) agricultural and pastoral class, 57,679 (3) commercial class, 2241 indefinite and non(5) industrial and manufacturing class, 25,632 ; (6)
; ; ;
—
;
;
;
;
productive
class,
1883-84 amounted to 382,952 acres, of which 236,002 acres were irrigated from canals, while 146,950 acres depended for water-supply upon the natural inundations of the Indus and the Chenab, or upon private wells. Of the remaining
Agriculture.
in
—The area
11,237
;
and (7) unspecified under cultivation
class,
6621.
area, 169,026 acres in the thai tract are utilized for grazing purposes
;
924,504 acres are
crops can be
still
available for cultivation
rainfall
;
while 511,525 acres are
is
uncultivable waste.
The
in
of the District
so slight that
no
grown
reliance
upon
its
precarious aid.
Water,
is everywhere plentiful, except on the high thai in the north. network of canals and minor distributaries intersects the whole lowland, worked by Persian wheels where the banks are high, but used for The District, indeed, suffers, not from inundation during the floods.
however,
A
want of water, but from want of proper control over
have
all
it.
The
canals
been dug by the people themselves, and existed for the most A small committee, elected by part before the British annexation. the clearing of the channels and other the contributories, manages
similar duties,
The
harvest,
staple crops include
under Government supervision. wheat and barley
millets for the kharif or
for the
rabi or spring
and various
tract,
northern
a small
amount of
indigo,
autumn har\-est. In the cotton, and sugar-cane is
commercial crops
is
added
;
in the south, a greater quantity of these
raised ; while in the central belt, around Khangarh, they are produced in much larger proportion, with a corresponding diminution in the
cereals.
Ihe
barley,
;
following
list
shows the area under each crop
:
in
1883
(including lands yielding two crops in the year)
Rabi—\s\\tdX, 191,605
)
acres:
34,178; gram, \2,ooZ jodr, 15,735; oil-seeds 17,970; drugs and spices, and miscellaneous crops, 2517 acres: Khat'if— vegetables, 783 4548; rice, 34,512 acres; bdjra, 13,304; other millets, 748; pulses, 6966;
10,020; peas,
masur^ 6301
(chiefly mustard),
;
— —
62
oil-seeds
(///),
MUZAFFARGARH.
9901
; ;
indigo, 29,740 sugar-cane, 5540 Of non-food miscellaneous crops, 2256 acres. and vegetables, 245 forms the most lucrative staple. The average out-turn crops, indigo
cotton, 20,708
;
;
;
per acre of the principal products was returned as follows in 1883-84 wheat, 727
lbs.
;
:
lbs.
;
rice,
;
506
lbs.
;
inferior grains,
420
lbs.
;
cotton, 293
unrefined sugar {gnr\ 1520 lbs. The agricultural District in 1883-84 was returned as under— Cows stock of IMuzaffargarh and bullocks, 163,164; horses, 2319; ponies, 1594; donkeys, 7241;
indigo, 23 lbs.
Horse and sheep and goats, 100,505 camels, 5260 ploughs, 42,120. District in 1880, to encourage donkey stallions were introduced into the and horse fairs are breeding, which had been previously neglected
; ;
;
now held annually
rents,
at
Muzaffargarh station.
is
Most of the land
where they
cultivated by the proprietors in
person
in
;
and
exist, are
almost universally payable
kind.
No
material difference in welfare exists between tenants with occupancy Land is still so abundant, that occupancy rights and tenants-at-will. have no attraction, and tenants prefer not to be tied to the land, rights
but to be able to change their cultivation of the
when they
like.
At the time
setdement in Sanawdn tahs'il, applications were common by tenants not to be recorded as having rights of occupancy, though they were by custom entitled to permanent possession. Tenants are eagerly sought after, and, as a rule, are free from any attempts at extortion on
the part of the landlords, although some proprietors study to get their Indebtedtenants into their debt in order to obtain a hold over them.
common, both among proprietors and tenants, but to a much This greater extent among the Muhammadans than the Hindus.
ness
is
difference in indebtedness
class,
is
due
to the difference in the habits of each
spendthrift and improvident, income beyond agriculture while the and without any other source of Hindus are a thrifty class, and those who own and cultivate land almost
the
Muhammadans
being often
;
always combine trade and money-lending with the cultivation of their
fields.
The
class of day-labourers consists
mainly of wandering families from
Khorasan (Khurasan), who immigrate temporarily for the winter, and They receive their leave for their own homes as soon as spring sets in. wages in grain at rates returned at 20 to 24 lbs. per diem and these
;
rates
do not appear towns is paid at the
to 4^d. a day.
have risen of late years. Skilled labour in the rate of about is., and unskilled labour at from 3d. Prices of food-grains ruled as follows in January 1884
to
:
Wheat, 18
sers per rupee, or 6s. 3d.
per cwt.
;
barley, 29 sers per rupee,
or 3s. lod. per cwt. ; gram, 23 sers per rupee, or 4s. lod. per cwt. ; jodr, 25 sers per rupee, or 4s. 6d. per cwt. Commerce and Trade, etc, The mercantile classes of Muzaffargarh display great apathy with regard to distant trade. The carrying business
—
MUZAFFARGARIL
east
63
and west lies entirely in the hands of the Povindah merchants Khorasan (Khurasan). The chief articles of export include wheat, of sugar, cotton, indigo, and ghi, which are sold by the cultivators to the again dispose of them to the ])etty dealers in the villages, who
Povindahs.
nuiJij'it,
The imports comprise English piece-goods, iron, The only town with any commercial rock-salt, etc.
lime, sugar,
pretensions
Camels form the usual means of wheeled vehicles being practically unknown. Snuff is manuf:ictured throughout the District generally, but more especially at Alipur, whence considerable quantities find their way to the Derajat and Bahawalpur. The only other manufactures consist of country cloth and
is
Khairpur, in the extreme south.
transport,
The principal road is that counterpanes, date leaf mats, and paper. from Miiltan to Dera Ghazi Khan, crossing the Chenab at Sher Shah
and running through Muzaffarpur town. The District contains and 524 miles of unmetalled road; and water communication is afforded by the Indus and Chenab rivers. Adffii?iistratio?i.—T\\t District staff ordinarily comprises a Deputy Commissioner, i Assistant, and 2 extra-Assistant Commissioners, together Two munsijs with the usual fiscal, medical, and constabulary officials.
ferry,
altogether 12 miles of metalled
or subordinate civil judges are stationed in the District.
The
Imperial
revenue in 1872-73 amounted to ^£"63,543, of which sum the land-tax (including fluctuating revenue and grazing tax) contributed ^58,736. In 1883-84, the Imperial revenue amounted to ^71,668, of which
Muzaffargarh ;^39,82 5 was derived from fixed land revenue only. contained in 1883 a total of 9 civil and revenue judges, and 11 magis-
During the same year the imperial police force numbered 369 and men, besides a municipal constabulary of 45 men. The total machinery, therefore, for the protection of person and property consisted of 414 men, being at the rate of i policeman to every 7-6 square miles of area and every 818 of the population. The District
trates.
officers
jail at
Muzaffargarh received in 18S3 a total number of
^^-^^
convicted
in a
prisoners, with a daily average of 62.
Education
still
remains
very
backward
1875
state.
The
total
number
of children receiving instruction in
In ^^'^s i974» ^"<^ tl'^G cost of the schools was returned at ^640. 1883-84 there were only 29 schools under Government inspection, attended by 1 545 pupils. This is exclusive of indigenous village schools uninspected by the Education Department, which in 1882 were returned The Census Report of as numbering 381, attended by 2189 pupils. 1881 returned 3279 boys and 122 girls as under instruction, besides 10,598 males and 145 females able to read and write, but not under
instruction.
As usual
For
in
the Punjab, the
Hindus contribute a
far
larger proportion
of scholars, relatively to their
fiscal
numbers, than the
Muhammadans.
sub-divided into 3
fahsils,
having their head-quarters
and administrative purposes the District is at Sandwan in the
;
64
MUZAFFARGARH
TAHSIL,
in the south.
north, Muzaffargarh in the centre,
and Alipur
Munici-
paHties have been established at the ten towns or villages of Muzaffargarh, Khangarh, Shahr Sultan, Jatoi, Alipur, Khairpur, Sitpur, Kinjar,
Kot Adu, and Daera Dinpana. Their aggregate income in 1883-84 amounted to ;^2355, or an average of 2s. per head of the population
(23,693) within municipal limits.
Medical Aspects.
— The
District
is
unusually hot and dry, but no
records of temperature exist. of twenty-one years ending
The
average annual rainfall for a period
1881 amounted to only 5*9 inches, the
maximum
minimum,
during that period being 12-4 inches in 1872-73, and the
\'2 inches in 1866-67. I^ ^^^3 the rainfall was 37 inches. Remittent and intermittent fevers and skin diseases prevail widely. The Small-pox is now uncommon, and cholera all but unknown.
number of deaths reported in 1883 amounted to 11,790, or 35 per Five Government charitable dispensaries, at Muzaffargarh, Alipur, Khangarh, Kot Adu, and Rangpur, afforded relief in 1883 to
total
thousand.
[For further particulars 43,968 persons, of whom 703 were in-patients. Muzaffargarh, see the Gazetteer of Muzaffargarh District, regarding
published under the authority of the Punjab Government (Lahore,
1884)
;
Mr. E. Stack's
Memorandum upon
Curreiit
Land
;
Settlemejtts in
the temporarily Settled Pai'ts of British India, p.
330
the Punjab Census
Report
for 1881 ; and the several annual Administration and Departmental Reports of the Punjab Government.] Central tahsil oi Muzaffargarh District, Punjab; Muzaffargarh.
—
situated between 29° 40'
20' 30" E. long.
;
and 30°
16' n.,
and between 70°
52'
consisting of the middle belt between the
and 71° Chenab
and the Indus, south of the thai, and fertilized by the annual inundaArea (1881), 925 square miles; number of tions of both rivers. towns and villages, 391; houses, 30,050; families, 32,171. Population (1868) 130,724; (1881) 146,885, namely, males 80,351, and
females 66,534, showing a total increase since 1868 of 16,161 souls, Classified according to religion, or 12*3 per cent., in thirteen years. Muhammadans, 125,820, or 857 per cent.; there were in 1881
—
Hindus, 20,390, or 13-9 per cent. Sikhs, 631 Jains, 11 and Christians, 33. Of the 391 towns and villages, 281 were mere hamlets of less than five hundred inhabitants 74 villages contained between five hundred a thousand; 28 from one to two thousand; while 8 had upwards and The average area under cultivation for of two thousand inhabitants. the five years 1877-78 to 1881-82 was 269 square miles, or 172,252
; ; ;
;
under the principal crops being wheat, 84,893 acres 9984 acres; jodr, 6512 acres; bdjra, 4787 acres; gram, 4564 acres; moth, 2687 acres; cotton, 15,643 acres; indigo, 10,083 acres; Revenue of the tahsil, ;£^2 7,350. The and sugar-cane, 3350 acres.
acres, the area
rice,
—
administrative
staff,
including officers attached to the District head-
I
—
MUZAFFARGARH TOWN.
quarters,
65
consists of a
Assistant Commissioners,
preside over 6 civil
{thdnds)^ 6
;
Deputy Commissioner, 3 Assistant or extratahsilddr, and i miuisif. These officers i and 5 criminal courts. Number of police circles
strength of regular police, 102
men;
and
village
watch or rural
head4'
police {chaukiddrs)^ 157
Muzaffargarh.
N.,
— Town,
e.,
men.
municipality,
administrative
lat.
quarters of Muzaffargarh District, Punjab.
Situated in
30°
30"
and
long. 71° 14'
on the road from Miiltan to Dera Ghazi Khan,
6 miles from the present cold-weather
bed of the Chenab.
The town
of Miiltan,
derives
its
name from Muzaffar Khan, an Afghan Governor
who
fixed his residence here about 1795.
Population (1881) 2720
namely, Hindus, 1592; Muhammadans, 1064; Sikhs, 36; Jains, 7; 'others,' 21. Number of houses, 702. Municipal income (1883-84),
^422,
or an average of 3s.
i
Jd. per head.
fort
Muzaffargarh consists of a
built
by Nawab Muzaffar Khan,
formed by a circular-shaped wall 30 feet high, enclosing a space with a diameter of 160 yards; and of suburbs, which surround the fort on all sides, so as to nearly conceal it from view. The fort w^all has 16 bastions, and battlements all round. It is built with a veneer of burnt brick, which has peeled away in many places, and a backing of mud
The road from Miiltan entering the town cuts off a segment at the north end of the fort, which is bisected by the main bdzdr running north and south. The houses within the fortification are built with burnt bricks where they face the street, but elsewhere generally with mud. They are chiefly occupied by Hindus. The suburbs round the
over 6 feet thick.
fort are
generally mud-built.
They are more
extensive on the south side,
where they are occupied by the poorer Muhammadans.
side live the District officials.
On
the north
The
principal streets have
been paved
Drinking
with brick, but the
pavement generally requires renewal.
water
fort
Muzaffargarh obtained from wells outside and inside the town. was stormed by the army of Ranjit Singh in 18 18. It became
is
the
head-quarters
in
of the
District
administration
under the British
Government
1859, after
quence of inundation. Muzaffargarh, and in 1873 ^^^7 destroyed a considerable portion of the
suburbs.
Khangarh had been abandoned in conseThe floods of the Chenab are now approaching
The town
local
possesses
no manufactures, and the trade
proximity to
is
of a purely
character.
The
Miiltan city interferes with the
function the town would otherwise perform in the collection of agricultural
produce and the distribution of European goods.
The
public
buildings consist of the usual
station, sardi or native
Government courts and
offices, police
inn,
bungalow, and the municipal hall with
buildings
church, post-ofiice, dispensary, travellers' The public its public library.
situated about
and dwellings of the European residents are
VOL. X.
E
66
MUZAFFARKHANA—MUZAFFARNA GAR.
Khan and
Ah'pur roads.
{Musafirkhd?ia).
a quarter of a mile north of the town, at the intersection of the Dera
Ghazi
Muzafifarkhdna
Sultanpur District,
—
Tahsil
or
Sub
-
division
of
Oudh
;
bounded north by
Ram
Sanehi Ghat and
Bikanpur tahsi/s, east by Sultanpur, south by Raipur, and west by Salon and Mahardjganj. Muzaffarkhana comprises the 3 pargands of Isauli, Area, 396 square miles, of which 224 Jagdispur, and Gaura Jamiin.
Population (1869) 247,726 (1881) 221,229, namely, males 106,984, and females 114,245, showing a decrease since 1869 of Classified according to 26,497, or of io*7 per cent, in twelve years. Hindus, 186,552, and Muhammadans, religion, there were in 1881
are cultivated.
;
—
34,677. Average density of population, 556 persons per square mile. Of the 433 towns and villages comprising the pargand, 272 contain less than
five hundred inhabitants. Land revenue, ^^28,083. In 1884, Muzaffarkhana fa/ist/ contained i civil and i criminal court, with 4 police circles (f/idnds), a regular police force of 52 men, and a village watch or rural police of 926 chaukiddrs. District in the Lieutenant-Governorship of the Muzaffarnagar. North-Western Provinces, lying between 29° 11' 30" and 29° 45' 15" N. Area, 1656 lat., and between 77° 3' 45" and 78° 10' 45" e. long.
—
square miles.
District of the
Population (1881) 758,444 persons.
Muzaffarnagar
is
a
Meerut (Merath) Division. It is bounded on the north by Saharanpur District ; on the east by the river Ganges, separating it from Bijnaur District on the south by Meerut (Merath) District and on the west by the Jumna (Jamuna) river, separating it from the Punjab The administrative head-quarters are at the town District of Karnal.
; ;
of
Muzaffarnagar.
Physical Aspects.
— The
District
of ^Muzaffarnagar
lies
near the
northern extremity of the
Doab
or great alluvial plain
between the
Ganges and the Jumna, and shares to a large extent in the general monotony of that level region. Its central portion consists of an elevated plateau, cut into three unequal divisions by the rivers Hindan and Kali Nadi, whose confluence takes place near the southern boundary
of the District.
The
first
of these divisions, that lying close along the
bank of the Ganges, is covered in its northern part by one continuous swamp, which results from the overflow of the little river Solani and percolation from the Ganges Canal. South of this marshy tract stretches the kJiddar or low-lying valley
of the Ganges, over which the river runs freely in every direction,
frequently changing
or impracticable.
its course, and rendering cultivation hazardous At places patches of tillage may be seen amid the rank vegetation with which the khddar is overrun, but the greater part is densely covered by coarse grasses, interspersed with In this tract, too, percolation from occasional clumps of tamarisk.
MUZAFFARNAGAR.
the
67
Ganges Canal
is
working
evil,
and
village after village has
been
injured by the increasing marsh area, rendering year by year fresh fields
useless,
and causing cultivation
to dwindle.
Canal
irrigation has
it
made
to
the upland so
much more
attractive to cultivators, that
is difficult
keep the inhabitants of the valley to the tract that they have occupied The population is said to be here decreasing, from time immemorial. and wild animals to be increasing, so that between the deterioration of
the
soil,
the superior attractions held out elsewhere to tenants,
and the
increasing difficulty of cultivation, the future prospects of this tract are
not promising.
ground, and
for the
it
The kJiddar^ however, will always be may perhaps be made to yield a larger
a useful grazing
supply of timber
it
ploughs and sugar mills of the prosperous upland than
is
does
at present.
This lowland valley
succeeded on the west by the
first
of the three
central plateaux, extending as far as the
KaU
Nadi.
It is
reached by a
low terrace, deeply cut into ravines by the surface drainage, and of little agricultural value. The upland region is naturally sandy and
unfertile
but it is watered and enriched by the main line of the Ganges Canal, which enters the District from Saharanpur, and gives off the Aniipshahr branch near the village of Jauli. Under the influence of irrigation, the soil is rapidly improving, and the character of the crops has been greatly raised. The next division, passing westward, is the triangular upland enclosed between the valleys of the Hindan and the Kali Nadi. These minor streams flow in deep channels ; but the soil is naturally fertile, and the water obtained from wells is sufficient to turn it into a highly cultivated tract. The Deoband branch of the Ganges Canal was introduced into the Hindan-Kali doab a few years ago. The land is high throughout the centre of this tract, and is naturally
;
fertile,
but the water-level
is,
as a rule, at a great depth.
The
eastern
and western portions of this central highland slope down to the rivers on either side, and are there marked by much broken ground, and a tendency, especially in the south, to an increase of ravines which cut into the good land above. The lowland
along the
Hindan
estates
is
marked by steeper banks,
is
larger
in
area,
latter
broader and more
river, several
fertile
than that of the Kali Nadi.
Along the
to excessive saturation,
flood.
have been injured by the appearance of reh, due and the overflow of the river itself in time of
The westernmost plateau is that which stretches between the Hindan and the Jumna, and is watered by the Eastern Jumna Canal. In the neighbourhood of the Jumna, much of the land is covered with dJidk jungle, through which occasional oases of light sandy soil crop out in little elevated bosses but elsewhere the labour of the villagers and the
;
68
MUZAFFARNAGAR.
spread of irrigation have been successful in inducing a high state of
cultivation.
On
the whole, although Muzaffarnagar
its
is
not so flourishing as the
far
rich Districts to the south,
condition
is
above the average of
In the north-eastern corner, however, as above Indian rural tracts. of swamps is rapidly driving back the cultivator, stated, the spread whose place is usurped by wild hog and hog-deer. Measures are
being taken
deposit of
to the
for
the
reclamation
will
of
this
neglected
region
silt,
which
doubtless prove exceptionally
fertile,
by the owing
History. — Tradition
mass of organic debris brought down by the flooded
represents
Solani.
Muzaffarnagar as having formed a
in
Pandava kingdom which had its capital at Hastinapur Meerut, and at a more historical date being included in the dominions of Prithwi Raj, the Chauhan ruler
portion of the
the adjoining District of
as
of
Authentic history first shows us the country around MuzaffarDelhi. nagar at the time of the Musalman conquest in the 13th century, and it remained a dependency of the various dynasties who ruled at Delhi
until the final dissolution of their empire.
probably consisted of Aryan
settlers,
The earliest wave of colonists They Brahman and Rajput.
were succeeded by the Jats, who occupied the whole southern portion of the District, where their descendants still form the chief landowning At a later date, the Giijars took possession of the poorer tracts class. which the Jats had left unoccupied, and they too are still to be found
as
zammddrs.
Finally, with the
Muhammadan
irruptions, bodies of
Shaikhs, Sayyids, and Pathans entered Muzaffarnagar,
and parcelled
out amongst themselves the remainder of the territory. Timiir paid one of his sanguinary visits to the District in 1399, when all the infidel inhabitants whom he could capture were mercilessly put to the
sword.
Under Akbar, Muzaffarnagar was included
in the sarkdr of Saharanpur.
family of Barha rose to great eminence,
During the 17th century, the Sayyid and filled many important Their ancestors are said to have settled offices about the court. in Muzaffarnagar about the year 1350, and to have enjoyed the patronage of the Sayyid dynasty which ruled at Delhi in the sucIn 1414, Sultan Khizr Khan conferred the control ceeding century. of Saharanpur on Sayyid Salim, the chief of their fraternity; and from that time onward they rose rapidly to territorial power and
court influence.
of the Barha stock
Under Akbar and his successors, became the leading landowners
as
various
branches
in the Province.
They were
celebrated
daring
military
leaders,
being
employed
by the Emperors on all services of danger, from the Indus to the their aid that the It was mainly through Narbada (Nerbudda). of Agra was won in 1707, by which Bahadur Shah made good victory The part which they bore in the his claim to the imperial title.
1
MUZAFFARNAGAR.
revolution of 17 12,
69
when Farukhsiyyar was elevated to the throne, As a reward for the important services rendered on that occasion, Sayyid AbduUa was appointed Wazir of the Empire, and Sayyid Husain All was made commanderbelongs to the general history of India.
in-chief.
On
their fall in 1724, the
power of the Barha family began
to wane, until, in 1737, they
were almost exterminated, on a pretext of rebellious designs, by their inveterate enemy the Wazir Kamar-ud-din. During the whole of the disastrous i8th century, Muzaffarnagar suftered from the same Sikh incursions which devastated the remainder
The Sikhs were assisted in their raids by the Giijars, of the Upper Doab. whose roving semi-nomad life made them ever ready to join in rebellion As regularly as the crops were against the Government of the time. cut, Sikh chieftains poured their predatory hordes into the Doab, and The country was divided between levied an organized black-mail. them into regular circuits, and each chieftain collected requisitions from his own circuit only. It was during this period of unsetded and anarchic insecurity that those mud forts began to spring up whicli became in time so characteristic of the Upper Doab. In 1788 the District fell into the hands of the Marathas, under whom the famous
military adventurer,
George Thomas, was appointed
Marches,' and endeavoured with
raids across the
Jumna. District held large possessions in the southern pargands
of the last century.
Warden of the some success to prevent the constant The Begam Samru of Sardhana in IMeerut
'
at the
end
fall of Aligarh in 1803, the whole Doab as far north as Siwalik Hills came, without a blow, under the power of the British, the final Sikh and Muzaffarnagar was at first attached to Moradabad. invasion occurred in the following year, encouraged by the advance of
After the
A
was promptly suppressed by Colonel Burn, who drove the intruders back across the river. In 1804, IMuzaffarnagar was included in the new District of Saharanpur; and in 1824, the nucleus of the present District was formed by the creation of a subHolkar's forces
;
but
it
Collectorship with jurisdiction over 13 out of the existing i-] pargands. No events of importance disturbed the peace of Muzaffarnagar for many years after the conquest. The construction of the great canals
gave an impetus to agriculture, and the security of British rule allowed the cultivators to repair their fortunes, which had suffered greatly during
the long anarchy of the Sikh
and Maratha
struggle.
Thelirst incident which broke the course of civil administration was the Mutiny of 1857. On the news of the outbreak at Meerut, the
Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar, influenced by exaggerated reports of a general rising throughout the Doab, issued orders that all the public This measure naturally produced a general offices should be closed.
impression that British rule was suspended.
At
first
there was no
70
MUZAFFARNAGAR.
rebellion,
and the semblance of government was kept up, but plunder and incendiarism went on unmolested. At length, on the 21st of June, the 4th Irregulars rose in revolt, and murdered their commanding officer, as well as another European, after which they marched
open
off to Shamli.
Five days
first
later,
a party of the 3rd Cavalry arrived at
the town
;
and on the
of July, Mr. R.
M. Edwards came
in
from
Saharanpur with a body of Gurkhas, and took charge of the administraVigorous measures were at once adopted to repress crime and tion. collect revenue, the good effects of which became quickly apparent.
western /^r^'^;w^, however, remained in open revolt; and the rebels of Thana Bhawan attacked Shamli, where they massacred ir3 Reinforcements shortly after arrived from persons in cold blood.
The
Meerut and Thana Bhawan, being evacuated by the rebels, had its and gates razed to the ground. After this occurrence no notable event took place, though the troops were kept perpetually on the move, marching back and forwards along the bank of the Ganges, and Order was restored watching the mutineers on the opposite shore.
;
walls
long before the end of the
Population.
]\Iutiny.
1853, the population of Muzaffarnagar was returned The Census of 1865 showed an increase to a at 672,861 persons. In 1872 the population was returned at persons. total of 682,212
— In
last
690,107 (on the present area of the District, 1656 square miles). The enumeration in 1881 disclosed a further increase of the population
to 758,444, being an
advance of 68,337, or 9*9 per cent., in the nine and 1881. The results of the Census of 1881 may be briefly summarized as follows: Area of District, 1656-1 square miles, with 16 towns and 896 villages; number of houses, 97,018. Total population, 758,444, namely, males 409,436, and females Average density of the 349,008 proportion of males, 54 per cent.
years between 1872
—
;
population,
458 persons per square mile; towns or villages per houses per square square mile, -55 ; persons per town or village, 832 Classified according to sex and mile, 58-5; inmates per house, 7-8. under 15 years of age, boys 149,319, and girls age, there were in 1881 122,865; total children, 272,184, or 35-9 percent, of the population:
;
—
15
years
and upwards, males 260,117, and females 226,143;
total
adults,
486,260, or 64-1 per cent.
other cases, to the former males must be set down, as in so prevalence of female infanticide, which Government has done all in
its
The many
excessive preponderance of
power
to suppress, but
less
which has not yet been
entirely
'
stamped
out.
than 94 villages were still on the proclaimed list' under the Infanticide Act. In 1881, out of a total of 133,141 of the suspected castes (Jdts, Giijars, Rajputs, Tagas, and Ahirs), the perIn 1874, no
centage of females was as low as 42 "i per cent.
Religion.
— As
regards
the
religious
classification in 1881,
Hindus
—
MUZAFFARNAGAR.
tion.
71
were returned as numbering 535,046, or 70-5 per cent, of the popula-
Muhammadans numbered
54.
213,842, or
28-2
;
per
cent.
;
The
remainder of the population consists of
Christians,
—Jains, 9316
of
Sikhs, 186
Of
the
higher classes
Hindus, the
and Brdhmans
numbered 42,100
reckoned
in at 33,445.
at only
the District.
The Rdjputs are numerically a small body, 20,066 persons, but they hold large landed property The Baniyas are unusually numerous, being returned
in iSSi.
Many
of
them
are Jains,
and they form a wealthy and
'
prosperous mercantile community.
The
other
Hindu
castes
'
are set
down at a total of 439,435, composing the immense majority of the population. The Chamars head the list, as usual in the Doab, with 107,794 persons their position is still scarcely removed from that of
;
and they form the labouring class in the District. Next come the Jats, numbering 71,468, who hold a large portion of the soil as zamifiddrs^ and are an active, enterprising, and intelligent tribe. The Giijars, 26,957 in number, and Tagas (13,785) are also among the
rural serfs,
landowners
clude
in
Muzaffarnagar.
;
The
other principal
;
Hindu
castes in-
— Kahars, 45,498
Bhangis, 29,348
Kachhis, 22,939; Gadarias,
Mali's,
14,332; Kumbhars, 13,830; Barhais, 11,167; Nais, 8601; and
7279.
Of the Musalman population, the Shaikhs are far the most numerous ; most of them being the descendants of converts from Hinduism. The Sayyids, once the dominant race, are now rapidly sinking in the social scale, through improvidence and bad management, which have led them to mortgage or resign their estates to Hindu Baniyds.
Toum and Rural Population. Muzaffarnagar contains a considerable urban population. In 1881, sixteen towns were returned as each containKairana, 18,374; ing a population exceeding five thousand. These are
Muzaffarnagar,
the civil
station
—
and administrative head-quarters
of the District, 15,080;
Khandala, 11,109; Thana Bhawan, 762S; Khatauli, 7574; Shamli, 7359; MiRAMPUR, 7267; Jalalabad, Pur, 6592; Jansath, 6284; BuDHANA, 6232; Bhukarheri, 6195 Jhanjhana, 5655; SiSAULi, 5391; Charthawal, 5300; and 5735; Gangeru, 5275. These sixteen towns contain an aggregate of 127,059 inhabitants, or 167 per cent, of the total population of the District.
;
Most of them, however, are
the
strict
rather overgrown villages than towns in
subsist
sense,
its
as
the greater part of their inhabitants
by
agriculture or
subsidiary operations.
195 are mere hamlets with less 273 contain from two to five hundred 241 from five hundred to a thousand 119 from one to two thousand from two to three thousand 19 from three to five thousand; 13 49 from five to ten thousand ; while 3 towns contain between ten and
are thus classified according to size
—
;
The 912 towns and
villages
than two hundred inhabitants
;
;
;
;
twenty thousand inhabitants.
Hindi
is
the ordinary language of the
72
MUZAFFARNAGAR,
Urdu
is
inhabitants of the khddar tract, while
commonly spoken by
the
people of the uplands.
As regards occupation,
the Census of iSSi returned the male popu:
lation of Muzaffarnagar District
Professional class, including military
class,
(i) under the following six headings and officials, 5319 (2) domestic including inn and lodging-house keepers, 1404; (3) commercial
;
—
;
class,
including
bankers, merchants, traders, carriers,
etc.,
;
8597
(4)
and pastoral class, including gardeners, 161,945 (5) manufacturing and industrial class, including artisans, 78,291 (6) indefinite and non-productive class, comprising general labourers and male chilagricultural
;
dren, 153,880.
Agriculture.
— Muzaffarnagar
is
essentially
an agricultural
District,
but
tillage
has not yet been carried to so high a pitch as in
some other
portions
of the Doab.
In 187 1, out of a total area amounting to
In 1883-84, 1,033,468 acres, 629,735 acres were under cultivation. out of a total area of 1,060,561 acres, 707,380 acres, or 667 per cent., w^ere under cultivation, of which 166,806 acres were irrigated from the
Government
while
canals, and 93,470 acres by private irrigation from wells, Of the uncultivated area, 447,104 acres w^ere unirrigated. 200,663 a-cres were returned as grazing lands, or cultivable, while In the rabi harvest, the chief 152,518 acres were uncultivable waste.
crops are wheat, barley, millet, and pulse.
The
/^//^^•//'
harvest includes
;
some of these grains, besides sugar-cane, cotton, and indigo it is the most important both as regards the extent of cultivation and the value
of crops.
The best lands produce two harvests in the year. In 1871 there were 224,812 acres under wheat and barley, 54,154 under yWr and bdjra, 44,757 under rice, 32,781 under cotton; and 42,829 acres were The corresponding figures for 1883-84 planted with sugar-cane. show a considerable advance in cultivation. In that year, wheat and
barley occupied 299,926 acres; Jodr and bdjra, 65,104 acres; rice, 40,765 acres; cotton, 29,296 acres; sugar-cane, 54,645; and indigo,
5727
acres.
The
use of manure
is
increasing.
Irrigation
is
wddely
practised both
from wtUs and canals. In 1883-84, no fewer than 166,806 acres were watered from one or other of the great canals. Under their influence there has been a steady increase in the cultivation of the superior crops, such as cereals, sugar-cane, and cotton, to the Some harm has been done exclusion of the poorer pulses and millets.
by over-saturation and the efflorescence of the destructive reh salt but this is now being remedied by a Government drainage system. The condition of the peasantry is comfortable, and the village communities are prosperous and intelligent, especially among the Jats and Gujars. Most of the land is cultivated by husbandmen having while the number of tenants-at-will is rapidly rights of occupancy
;
;
MUZAFFARNAGAR.
73
The prevailing declining under the provisions of recent legislation. tenures are the various forms of pattiddri, which may be divided into three classes, perfect and imperfect pattiddri and bhdyachdra, and are Where the separate shares of each individual arc defined as follows.
as so many portions of a bigha, and are so recorded in the proprietary register, but while a joint responsibility of all the shares for the general liabilities continues, the tenure is called imperfect /^///^iW.
known
Here, although the joint responsibility remains intact, the accounts of each individual share are kept separate; as soon as the common In land (shami/ai) is divided, the tenure becomes perfect pattiddri.
process of time the land becomes minutely sub-divided, and the land actually in each man's possession becomes the measure of his rights,
and hence
arise the
bhdyachdra tenures.
There
is
a growing tendency
system.
for separate ownership to replace the old
communal
the total male adult agricultural population (159,302) of ^Muzaffarnagar, 43,841 are returned as landholders, 1356 as estate servants,
Of
68,255 as cultivators, and 45,850 as agricultural labourers. Average area cultivated by each male adult agriculturist, 4-33 acres. The total population, however, dependent on the soil numbers 430,946, or 56*82 per cent,
of the total District population.
Of
square
miles, 79-3 square miles are held
a total District area of 1656-1 revenue-free, while 1576-8
miles are assessed for Government revenue, of which ioi9"8 square miles are cultivated, 333*6 square miles are available for cultivaTotal Governtion, and 223-4 square miles are uncultivable waste.
square
ment assessment, including
;2{^i44,503, or
local rates
4s.
and cesses levied on the land,
an average of
4id. per cultivated acre.
Amount
of rental paid
by
cultivators, including rates
or an average of 6s. ojd. per cultivated acre.
and cesses, ^{^209,065, Rents are more frequently
they often vary with the
to
13s.
paid in kind than in cash.
crop.
irrigated lands,
In the
2s.
latter case
7s.
As a whole, they run from
and from
3d.
6d.
6d. per acre for
to 5s.
3d. per acre for unirrigated
lands.
The
average out-turn of sugar-cane per acre
i
is
about
15
cwts.,
valued at £'], 4s. ; that of cotton, about and that of wheat, about 9 cwts., valued at
cwt. 2 qrs., valued at
los.
£2
;
£1,
Wages and
prices
have both been on the increase since the Mutiny, probably keeping
pace with one another.
about 9d.
follows in
a
Bricklayers, carpenters, and smiths receive day; and unskilled labourers, about 3d.; boys, ijd.
Agricultural labourers
are generally paid
19-^-
in
kind.
Prices
ruled as
;
1884:
sers
—Wheat,
;
sers per rupee, or 5s.
4s.
lod. per cwt.
Z2i
gram,
25I
per rupee, or
4id.
per cwt.; barley,
1 1
sers ^^tl
;
rupee, or
3s.
5d. per cwt.
jodr, 28 j sers per rupee, or 3s.
lod. per cwt.
;
^d. per cwt.
rice,
bdjra, 23 sers per rupee, or 4s.
common
12 sers
per rupee, or
9s.
4d. per cwt.
;
and best
rice, 6 J sers, or 17s. 4d.
per cwt.
;
74
MUZAFFARNAGAR,
Natural
Calamities.
—The Ganges and Jumna (Jamuna) occasionally
destruction of villages on their
its
shift
their
channels, and thus cause
banks; while the Hindan and
liable to
tributary the
Kdli Nadi are both
latter stream,
also, before
floods, which, in the ill-defined ravine of the
often effect considerable damage.
Muzaffarnagar suffered
the opening of the canals, from famines, caused by drought ; but this source of distress has been greatly mitigated, and its danger for the
future minimized, by the spread of irrigation.
pressed less severely on this District than on
The scarcity of 1 860-61 many others and in
;
1868-69 the difference was still more marked. Large stores of grain were hoarded in the grain-pits, and the existence of these supplies But at the close of the year 1868, contributed to keep down prices. wheat had risen to 9 sers per rupee, or 12s. 5jd. per cwt., and measures From December 1868 till October 1869, of relief became necessary. an average of 195 persons wxre daily employed upon famine works
;
while, for the greater portion of that time, 53 persons received gratuitous Nevertheless, grain was abundant, and continued to be relief daily.
exported in large quantities;
rather to the external
and such
distress as
existed was
due
demand than
agricultural
Muzaffarnagar is almost entirely an Commerce and Trade, etc. District, and its trade is accordingly confined to the raw Jalalabad is the great grain-mart of the material which it produces.
surrounding country.
tion,
—
to failing supplies.
80,000 tons though not quite so good as in the region immediately to the The Sind, Punjab, and south, are yet ample for the present resources.
of food-grains
In average years, Muzaffarnagar can spare about for export. The means of communica-
and has
Delhi Railway runs through the heart of the District for 26 miles, one at Khatauli and the tw^o stations within its boundaries There are 60 miles of first-class,' 200 other at Muzaffarnagar town.
—
'
miles of 'second-class,' and 120 miles of 'third-class' roads.
traffic also
Much
passes by the Ganges Canal, on which Khatauli
is
the chief
commercial depot.
Administration.
District
— In
i860,
the
;
total
revenue of
Muzaffarnagar
^101,616, or more than two-thirds, w^as derived from the land-tax, and about ^20,000 from canal collections. At the same date, the total expenditure was ^37)886, In 1883, the total or Httle more than one -fourth of the revenue. of which sum the land-tax contributed receipts had risen to ^165,408 ;^i22,2i7, or three-fourths of the whole; stamps realized ^11,088;
was returned
at ;£"i4o,785
of which
;
excise,
;^7449
;
provincial rates,
irrigation
^^15,589; assessed
rising
taxes,
^Z^^ZV
the
still
it
registration,
^1327;
and navigation, ;^2 285.
of late
years,
Though
yet
land revenue has
presses lightly
irrigation, has
been constantly
on the cultivators, as the increase of value, owing to more than kept pace with the higher rates of assessment
1
MUZAFFARNAGAR,
75
and further improvement may be expected in future years. In 1883 the District was administered by 3 covenanted civilians, and contained The regular District and town 2 1 magisterial and 10 revenue courts. l)olice numbered 668 men of all grades in 1883, being i policeman to every 2-47 square miles and every 1135 inhabitants; the total cost This force was supplemented by 1222 of maintenance was ^{^'6350. village watchmen {chaukiddrs), whose maintenance entails an expenmachinery, therefore, for the protection of person and property consisted of 1890 men, maintained at a cost of ;^io,797, being an average of i policeman to every o-88
diture of
£aAM
per annum.
The
total
per head of the population.
square mile and every 401 inhabitants, and an average cost of 3^d. The number of persons convicted of all
i
conviction for every 557 inhabitants. The criminal administration of Muzaffarnagar was formerly beset with difficulties, on account of the numerous gipsy communities who
offences in 1883 was 1361, or
frequented the District but a more vigorous system at present exists, and the worst clan of vagrants has been settled in a colony at Bidauli, under police surveillance. There is one jail, the average daily number The total number of prisoners of prisoners in which in 1883 was 159. cost per prisoner was £\, 14s. lod., and the admitted was 634. The average earnings of each amounted to 15s. ']\^. Education is making but slow progress. In i860 there were 5159 In 1870 the number of schools was children under instruction. returned at 320, and the pupils at 6507 while the sum expended upon In 1874 the schools numbered 443, and the education was ^^2282. while the sum devoted to education had risen to £z^^'i' pupils 7401 In 1883-84 there were 128 schools attended by 4115 scholars under
;
;
;
Government inspection. This is independent of uninspected schools, which are included in the figures for the earlier years. The Census of 1 88 returned 6014 boys and 90 girls as under instruction, besides 21,215 males and 161 females able to read and write, but not under instruction. The District is sub-divided into 4 tahsils and 1 7 pargands, with an
1883-84 of 1845 estates, each paying an average land revenue of ^66. The District contains 3 municipalities— Muzaffarnagar, Kandhla, and Kairana. The aggregate revenue in 1883-84 amounted to ^3168, of which ^2632 was derived from taxation, and their expenditure to ;^32i3; the average incidence of municipal taxaBesides the regularly tion was IS. 2id. per head of the population. constituted municipalities, several other towns levy a house -tax for
aggregate in
conservancy, sanitary, and j)olice purposes. Sanitary Aspects.— The climate of Muzaffarnagar
cool,
is
comparatively
heat
is
owing to the proximity of the
hills.
The
average
decidedly greater than in Saharanpur, though perceptibly less than The in Meerut ; but no thermometrical observations are available.
76
average
32*13
MUZAFFARNAGAR TAHSIL AND TOWN,
rainfall, for a
period of upwards of thirty years ending 1881, was
rainfall was 27 inches, or 5-13 inches below the average. The principal endemic diseases are malarious fevers, Fever also occurs in an epidemic form and dysentery, and diarrhoea. cholera and small-pox frequently visit the District. In 1883 the total number of deaths reported was 21,109, or 29-57 per thousand of the The vital population; and of these, 18,399 were assigned to fever alone. statistics for the previous five years showed an average death-rate of The cattle are occasionally attacked by epidemics 37*94 per thousand. In 1867 of rinderpest, pleuro-pneumonia, and foot-and-mouth disease. it was computed that 10 per cent, of the cattle in Muzaffarnagar died from disease. Two charitable dispensaries afforded medical relief in
inches.
In 1881 the
;
1883-84 to 322 in-door and 12,579 out-door patients. [For further information regarding Muzaffarnagar, see the Gazetteer of the Northwestern Pi'oviiices, by E. T. Atkinson, Esq., C.S., vol. iii. (Government
Press, Allahabad, 1876), pp. 439-749; also the Settlenmit Report of Muzaffarnagar District, by JNlessrs. A. Cadell, A. Colvin, and S. N. Martin (1873); the Census Report of the N'orth- Wester71 Provinces iox 1881 and the several annual Administration and Departmental Reports of the North-Western Provinces Government.]
;
North-eastern tahsil of Muzaffarnagar District, Muzaffarnagar. North-Western Provinces, comprising the fiWQpargandsoi Muzaffarnagar, Bajhera, Charthawal, Purchhapur, and Gurdhanpur; stretching from the Ganges beyond the Hindan, intersected by the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway, and watered by the Ganges Canal. Area, 457 square miles, of which 306 are cultivated. Population (1872) 174,427; (1881) 202,707, namely, males 110,864, and females 91,843 increase of popu;
—
lation since
1872, 28,280, or 16*2 per cent, in nine years.
Classified
according to religion, there were in 1881
— Hindus,
madans, 56,686; Jains, 1278; and 'others,' 74. and villages comprising the tahsil, 142 contain less inhabitants. Land revenue, ^29,968; total Government revenue,
;
144,669; MuhamOf the 265 towns than five hundred
^^34,826; rental paid by cultivators, ;£"75,869 incidence of Government revenue per acre, 2s. ojd. In 1883, Muzaffarnagar tahsil contained 13
civil
and criminal courts (including the head-quarter courts
of the District), 5 police circles {thdnds), a regular police force of 208 men municipal police, 73 ; and a village watch of 333 chaukiddrs.
;
Muzaffarnagar.
in
lat.
— Town,
and
Station
municipality,
and administrative head;
quarters of Muzaftarnagar District, North-Western Provinces
situated
from on the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway. Population (1872) 10,793; (1881) 15,080, namely, males 8814, and females 6266. Hindus number 8972; Muhammadans, 5710; Jains, 349; Christians, 35; and 'others,' 14. Area of town site, 880 acres.
29° 28' 10"
N.,
long.
77° 44'
e.,
on the
military road
Meerut
to Landaur.
MUZAFFARPUR.
from taxation;
Municipal income (1S83-84), ^1756, of which average incidence of taxation,
77
^1340
is.
was derived
per
QJd.
head.
Muzaffarnagar was founded by a son of Muzaffar
the reign of the
built,
Emperor Shah Jahan, about 1633. and crowded with small narrow lanes. District court, tahsili, schools, telegraph office, dispensary. jail, Formerly notorious for fever, but great sanitary improvements have lately been effected.
'I'rade in agricultural
Khan Khanjahan, in The town is closely
produce.
in
Muzaffarpur.
—
District
the
ship of Behar, under the jurisdiction
Patna Division or Commissionerof the Lieutenant-Governor of
Bengal, forming the western portion of the old District of Tirhut, which
1875 ^"^0 the two present Districts of Darbhangah and Muzaffarpur extends from 25° 30' to 26° 52' 30" n. lat., and from 84° 54' 30" to 85° 57' 30" e. long. It is bounded on the north
split
was
up
in
Muzaffarpur.
by the Independent State of Nepal on the east by Darbhangah District on the south by the Ganges, which separates it from Patna District and on the west by Champaran District and the Gandak
;
;
;
river,
which separates
is
north to south
48 miles.
it from Saran District. Its greatest length from 96 miles, and its greatest breadth from east to west Area, 3003 square miles. Population (1881) 2.582,060 souls.
The
chief town
and administrative head-quarters of the
District are at
Muzaffarpur town, situated on the right or south bank of the Little
Gandak
river.
Physical Aspects.
— Muzaffarpur
lies
District consists of three separate tracts.
The southern tract
includes the Hajipur Sub-division, and so
much
of the
on the right bank of the Buri Gandak river. The land is for the most part high and slightly undulating; and the soil, which consists of rich mould and sand, produces most of the opium, indigo, and tobacco grown in the District. Of the cultivated area, two-fifths is rice land, and three-fifths is under 7'abi, bhadoi, and non-food crops. The central tract, occupying the area between the Buri Gandak and the Baghmati rivers, is low and subject to inundation, and the soil consists of alluvial matter mixed with rich mould. Of the cultivated area, three-fifths is rice land, and two-fifths is under mixed crops. The northern tract between the Baghmati and the frontier is also low, and in many places marshy, the soil consisting of sand and
Muzaffarpur Sub-division as
clay, with
an admixture of iron.
Of
the cultivated area, three-fifths
is
rice land,
under mixed crops. The principal rivers or streams which intersect the District are the Baghmati, Buri Gandak, Lakhandai, and Bya. Of the two boundary rivers, the Ganges requires no remarks. The
two-fifths
is
and
other, the
rains for boats of
Gandak, is a large and very rapid river, navigable in the 1000 inati7ids up to Ld,lganj, and for boats of 500 maunds up to Sahibganj but in the dry season only boats of 200
;
78
MUZAFFARPUR.
In the rains, boats are only able to
vtaunds can pass up and down.
carry half loads up-stream.
The Baghmati
enters the
1 7
District
from Nepal
at
a point
2
miles
after
north of Maniari g/idt, or
flowing south-west in a
strikes
off in
miles north-west from Sitamarhi,
or less irregular course for
and
more
some 30
miles,
Hatha (20 miles
a south-easterly direction, and leaves the District near At its nearest bend, Le. by east of Muzaffarpur town). Hathauri ghdf, the river runs 10 miles north-east of Muzaffarpur. It is navigable in the rains from the frontier to Maniari for boats of
250 7naunds, from Maniari to Gaighati
after
for boats
of 500 maunds, and
it
passing
Gaighati
(18
miles east of Muzaffarpur)
becomes
In the dry season the Baghmati navigable for boats of 2000 maimds. places not more than knee-deep. is fordable, and in some
The Buri Gandak enters the District from Champaran near Baryapur (20 miles north-west of Muzaffarpur), and flows in a south-easterly direction and almost parallel to the Baghmati till it leaves the District
The town of Pusa (20 miles south-east of Muzaffarpur). on its right bank. The river is navigable in the Muzaffarpur stands rains for boats of 1000 inaiaids up to Muzaffarpur, and for boats of 500
near
viautids
up
to Baryapur.
In the dry season only boats of 100 inaunds
can get up to Muzaffarpur.
Both
this river
and the Baghmati are very
apt to shift their courses. The Lakhandai enters the District from Nepal near Itharwa (18 miles north of Sitamarhi), passes through the town of Sitamarhi, and thence
flows
in
a
south-easterly
direction,
skirting
the
indigo
factories
of
Dumra, Runi Saidpur, Ouror, and Tiwarah, and joins the Baghmati near Hatha. The stream rises and falls very quickly, and its current is It is navigable in the rains only for boats of 500 maimds up to rapid.
Sitamarhi, during which season large quantities of oil-seeds are sent
down for transport The Bya issues
to Calcutta.
out of the
Gandak near Sahibganj (34
miles north-
west of Muzaffarpur), and
flows in a south-easterly direction past the
indigo factories of Durea, Seraya, Chak Daulat, Batanlea, Karhari, and Chitwara, and leaves the District at Jandhara (30 miles south of The head of the stream has much silted up of late Muzaffarpur).
by drainage from chaiws, and attains and Gandak are both in flood, being its by inundation from the former, and being checked in its course filled by the high waters of the latter river, which it joins a few miles south
years.
The Bya
is
largely fed
greatest height
when
the Ganges
Ordinarily, the stream is of Dalsingh Sarai (in Darbhangah District). the rains it is navigated throughout its entire length not navigable, but in
by boats of 100 maimds.
irrigation.
Formerly the stream was much used
for
The most important
of the
minor streams are the Purana Dar
—
MUZAFFARPUR.
Ixighmati
District
79
and the Adhwara (known as it approaches Darbhangah by the name of Little Baghmati), which flow southwards from Nepal, at some 6 or 7 miles' distance from Sitamarhi, on the west and east sides respectively. These two streams are invaluable for irrigation in years of drought, when scores of dams are thrown across
them.
Population.
—The
population of Muzaffarpur District, as at present
constituted, after the division of Tirhiit into the two separate Districts
and Darbhangah in 1875, amounted in 1S72 to 2,245,408; while in 1881 the population was returned at 2,582,060, showing an increase of 336,652, or 14*9 per cent., in nine years. The results arrived at by the Census of 188 1 may be briefly summarized as
of Muzaffarpur
follows:
—Area of
number
density
District,
3003 square
miles, with 16 towns
and 5138
villages;
of houses, 380,810, of which 368,254 were occupied.
Total population,
1,316,329.
2,582,060, namely, males 1,265,731, and females Proportion of males in total population, 49-1 per cent.;
of
population,
mile,
average
859*8
persons
per
square
mile;
villages per square
172; persons per
7.
village,
501; houses per
square mile, i26"8; inmates per house,
Classified according to sex
and
age, the population in 1881
comprised
— 15 years
and under, boys
525,063, and girls 499,880; total children, 1,024,943, or 397 per cent, of the population: 15 years and upwards, males 740,668, and females 816,449 total adults, 1,557,117, or 60*3 per cent.
;
Religiofi.
—
Classified according to religion,
or
877
per cent, of the population;
;
Hindus number 2,265,380, Muhammadans, 316,308, or i2"2
higher classes of Hindus include
per cent.
and
Christians, 372.
The
— Brahmans,
96,206;
Babhans,
military
and
cultivating
Brahmans,
171,633; Rajputs, 167,594; Kayasths, 42,552; and Baniyas, 30,262. Among the low castes, the most numerically important are the following:
—Goalas, 299,127, the most numerous
caste in the District; Dosadhs,
179,827; Koeris, 141,551; Chamars, 122,837; Kurmis, 115,117; Malas, 89,863; Kandus, 82,152; Dhanuks, 52,773; Nuniyas, 41,616; Lobars, 38,897; Napits, 38,642; Musahars, 33,657; Kumbhars, 33,408; Tatwas, 32,725 Sunn's, 32,656; Kalwars, 29,039; Dhobi's,
;
28,433;
21,552;
11,543;
Kahdrs, 25,573; Tantis, 23,921; Sonars, Barhais, 16,291; Barui's, 12,350; Basis,
23,899; 11,690;
Binds,
Mali's,
Madaks, 10,722; Gareris, 10,530; and Doms, 10,042. The aboriginal population numbers 19,496, but they are returned as Hindus Caste-rejecting Hindus, in the religious classification of the Census. The 36 most numerous Hindu castes contain in all 96-5 per 6524.
cent, of the
To7i'}i
Hindu population of the and Rural Population.
a
— Muzaffarpur
five
;
District.
District
contains
sixteen towns with
population exceeding
thousand, namely
;
Muzaffarpur, population (1881) 42,460
Hajipur, 25,078
Lalganj,
8o
16.431;
MUZAFFARPUR.
MOHNAR,
; ; ;
Ghataro, 5982
7447; SaRSUNDHA, 6805 ; SiTAMARHI, 6125; Jajwarali, 5858 Bahilwara, 5796 Kanta, 5627 Seohar, 5475 Jarang, 5273 Manikchak, 5166 Basantpur, 5107 These sixteen towns Dhanauli, 5052; Singhara Buzurg, 5032.
; ;
; ;
;
contain a total urban population of 158,714, or 6-i per cent, of the inhabitants of the District, leaving 2,423,346, or 93-9 per cent., for the The Census of 1881 classified the 5154 towns and rural population.
villages according to size as follows
:— 1474 contained less than two from two to five hundred; 1253 from five hundred inhabitants; 1941 hundred to a thousand 386 from one to two thousand 68 from two from five to to three thousand; 16 from three to five thousand; 13 ten thousand and 3 from ten to twenty thousand inhabitants. As regards occupation, the male population was returned in 1881 under the following six classes :— (i) Professional and official, 10,635 ; domestic servants, lodging and hotel keepers, etc., 42,447 (3) com;
;
;
(2)
;
mercial,
including
merchants,
traders,
carriers,
etc.,
;
agricultural
and
pastoral, including gardeners,
456,404
32,151; (4) (5) manufacclass,
turers
and
artisans,
77,233;
(6) indefinite
and non-productive
comprising general labourers, male children, etc., 646,861. The material condition of the people is for the most part poor, principally by reason of over-population and consequent low wages. In
more the southern parts of the Hajipur Sub-division, whether from the agriculture, the superior fertiUty of the soil, or other advanced state of
causes, the cultivators are in
good circumstances
;
but in most parts
condition of the mass of the people is pinched and stinted. For the improvement of the purely labouring classes, The supply of labour is much it is difficult to suggest any measures.
of the District
the
greater than the
demand
;
and the natural consequences of
this state
scale, or by of things can only be mitigated by emigration on a large temporary immigrations to thinly-peopled Districts at times of harvest.
The
latter practice already prevails
to a certain extent, and, with the
increased facilities of travelling afforded by the'Tirhut State Railway, Although the year. will, it is hoped, become more popular year by
present prices of food-grains have risen very considerably during the i a7ina century, the wages of field-labourers have remained stationary,
and \\
the
a?i?ia
per diem being
of
the
still
labourers at the present day.
interests
Owing
the usual rates paid to able-bodied to an insufficient protection to
cultivators,
much
of
the
profits
that
should
have been
result
is
theirs
has been
swallowed up
life,
by other
classes.
The
that in
good years the majority of the
cultivators enjoy a bare
sufficiency of the necessaries of
while in years of short harvests
in debt.
they suffer privation
Agriculture.
—
and sink deeper and deeper
;
Statistics are not available
regarding the area under
cultivation or that of the principal crops
but the introductory paragraph
2
MUZAFFARPUR.
in the section of this article dealing with
8i
the physical aspects briefly
mentions the prevailing crops
given below.
in
the different tracts of the District
Certain figures regarding special crops, such as poppy and tobacco, are
Maiiufadures.
—The chief manufactures of
Muzaffarpur District are
indigo, saltpetre, opium,
exist
and tobacco. Such other manufactures as are merely conducted to the small extent required for home
consumption.
Indigo cultivation was carried on in Muzaffarpur District in 1876-77
(the latest year for
which
statistics are available) at
32 factories and
2i^
out-works, on an area of 74,719 highds (the local bighd being 4225 The out-turn square yards), at an outlay returned at ^190,943.
amounted
facture.
to
Saltpetre refining,
8358 luaunds in 1876-77, an unfavourable year for indigo. under a system of hcences, is an important manu1876-77, the number of licences granted amounted to saltpetre refiners derive very large profits from their
In
16,486.
The
business, as they
buy crude saltpetre at low rates {i.e. from 4s. to 6s. per maimd) from the Nuniyas or makers, refine it by a cheap and easy process, and sell it in Calcutta, probably making a profit of more than cent, per cent. Each Nuniya family earns an average of about 12s. a month during six months of the year but after deductions for rent and certain exactions, the earnings must be reduced to 8s. a month. The Nuniyas, though the most industrious and honest class in the District, are the poorest of all workmen. Poppy was cultivated on 57,577 highds in 1876-77, yielding a total The average out-turn per bighd is a out-turn of 6367 maunds of opium. little under 9 lbs., which, at the Government rate of 5s. per lb., gives
;
The out-turn the cultivator a return of about £^2^ 5s. per bighd. varies very greatly in the Haji'pur Sub-division from 4 to 40 lbs. per
highd^ the average being
about 12 J
lbs.,
as against an average of about
rates of rent for
8 lbs. for the rest of the District.
The
poppy lands
vary from
is
4s. to 30s.
;
per bighd.
In the poorer lands the cultivation
hardly profitable
for
but
many
cultivators
grow a small patch of opium,
more
the sake of the protection
they receive from the
Opium
Department, than for the
other hand, the profits
from the cultivation. On the on good lands are very large, sometimes as
profits derived
high as
^5
or jP^d per bighd.
is
Tobacco
grow^n on an area estimated at 20,000 bighds, the average
cost of cultivation being put
down
is
viaimds per bighd.
its
Tobacco
it
at ^£2, and the average yield at 1 a very exhausting crop, and the land for
production requires to be changed every two or three years.
doubtful whether
it
The
scarcity of manure renders
will
be found practicable
to introduce tobacco cultivation
in
on a
large scale in Muzaffarpur, except
soil
the vicinity of towns, where night VOL. X.
can be purchased.
F
The
82
crop, however,
is
MUZAFFARPUR.
a remunerative one, where it can be raised, the Tobacco manufacture is average return being £2, i6s. per bighd. on at Pusa. It was originally started by Government largely carried European firm in as "an experiment, and afterwards made over to a
Calcutta,
who have estabhshed
The Pusa tobacco
the manufacture on a successful footing. manufactured into cakes after European and
American methods bears a high reputation.— 5^^ Pusa.
Memis of CoJiwiufiicatioJL—ThQ District is well provided with roads, town the most important being the road from Hajipur via Muzaffarpur frontier, which, though bearing three and Sitamarhi to Sonbarsa on the line distinct names for its various sections, really forms one continuous
Next in importance come the roads which of 92 miles in length. connect Muzaffarpur town wdth Darbhangah and Motihari, and Altogether, 1 1 main roads (including those with Saran via Rewaghat. already mentioned) radiate from Muzaffarpur town to the limits of
the District, and these roads are connected or crossed by numerous
others.
Muzaffarpur District is intersected by the Tirhiit State Railway, and by a branch connecting Muzaffarpur town with Hajipur on the Ganges Another branch from in the south of the District, opposite Patna.
Muzaffarpur town to Sitamarhi in the north of the District near the Nepdl boundary has been (1885) surveyed, and estimates submitted to
Government
for the work.
main sources of District revenue in 1883-84 aggregated ^172,869, of which the land revenue contributed
Administratioju
six
— The
;2^97,i65; excise,
^22,225; stamps, ^33,421; registration, ^2923; Total charges of road cess, ^13,055; and municipal taxes, ^4080. and police, civil administration, as represented by the cost of officials In 1883-84, Muzaffarpur District contained 15,055 revenue^^25,509.
paying estates, owned by 75,118 separate proprietors and co-parceners; average revenue paid by each estate, ^6, 9s. id., or by each
individual shareholder,
£\,
6s.
The
District police force (regular
and
municipal) numbered 483 officers and men, maintained at a cost of besides a rural police or village w^atch of 4578 men, maintained landholders and villagers at an estimated total cost of ;£i5,286. by the
£mS^
The
total number of prisoners received in the District jail during the same year was 1045, the daily average prison population being 159.
The
District school,
which
is
of the
first
class,
contained a total of
360 pupils on the 31st
March
1883.
Schools of a lower class numbered
Municipalities have been estabhshed at 2851, with 23,556 pupils. Total municiMuzaffarpur, Hajipur, Lalganj, Sitamarhi, and Mohnar. pal income in 1883-84, £a1(^^ ; the average incidence of taxation
being lod. per head of the population (97^95 1) within municipal limits. Charitable dispensaries are stationed at Muzaffarpur, Hajipur, Sita-
MUZAFFARPUR SUB-DIVISION AND TOWN
marhi,
in-door
83
and Sursand, which afforded medical rcHcf in 1883 to 483 Average annual rainfall at and 27,739 out-door patients.
Muzaffarpur town, 46*47 inches. Head-quarters Sub-division of Muzaffarpur District, Muzafifarpur.
—
1218 square miles; number of towns and villages, 2043 houses, 145,191. Population (1881), males 500,906, and females 518.729; total, 1,019,635, namely, Hindus, 892,243; Muhammadans, Density of population, 837 persons 127,083; and Christians, 309. per square mile villages per square mile, i '68 houses per square mile, 122; persons per village, 499 ; persons per house, 7*02. This
Bengal.
\
Area,
;
;
Sub-division comprises the
Paru,
\}i\XQ.Q.thdnds
it
ox police circles of Muzaffarpur,
contained 4 civil and 5 criminal courts, with a regular police force of 245 of all ranks, and a village watch or
and Katra.
In 1883
rural police aggregating
Muzaffarpur.
the
Little
— Chief
in
1991 men.
town and administrative head-quarters of
26°
7'
Muzaffarpur District, Bengal; situated on the right or south bank of
Gandak,
lat.
;
23" n., and
long. 85° 26' 52"
e.
Population (1872) 38,223 (1881) 42,460, namely, males 22,802, and females 19,658. Classified according to religion, there were in 1881
—
Hindus, 29,748; Muhammadans, 12,479; and 'others,' 233. Area of town site, 2560 acres. The income of the Muzaffarpur municipality in 1883-84 amounted to ;£'3296, of which ^^29 14 was derived from
taxation
;
average incidence of taxation,
;
is.
4jd. per head.
Municipal
expenditure, ^3165; average incidence income (1876-77), ;£"29o8 of taxation, 8id. per head of population w^ithm municipal limits. The town is clean, and the streets in many cases broad and well kept, running principally from east to west. There is a good collectorate and court-house, a jail, dispensary, and several schools, some of the best of which are supported by the Behar Scientific Society and the Dharma Samaj. The bazars are large, and markets are held daily. Roads run to Hajipur, Lalganj, Rewaghat, Sohansighat, Motihari, Sitamarhi, and on to Nepal, Pupri, Kamtaul, Darbhangah, Piisa, and Considerable trade is carried on by the Little Gandak, Dalsinhsarai. which river, if slightly improved, would admit boats of 500 maimds, or Near the court buildings about 20 tons burden, all the year round. To is a lake or imhi, which is simply an old bed of the river. prevent the current from cutting away the ground near the offices, an embankment was thrown across the lake towards Daudpur. The
river has
not been able to force
its
way
into the lake, but
;
it
has cut
it
very deeply into the high bank near the circuit-house
and unless
changes
time
its
course, or protective works are erected,
it
will
probably in
break through
it
between
dation.
and the
The
strip of land which at present intervenes In 1871 the town suffered much from inunprincipal religious buildings are two large temples in the
the
lake.
;
84
MUZANG—MYA UNG-MYA.
Rama and
his wife Sita,
centre of the hazdr, dedicated one to
other to Siva.
and the
Muzang.
Anarkalli,
station.
Southern suburb of Lahore city, Punjab lying south of and containing many of the houses belonging to the civil
;
—
Population (1881) 7301.
Myan-aung.
— Township
in
Henzada
District,
Irawadi
Division,
To the westward, near the Arakan range, the country British Burma. Between the lower is mountainous, and produces valuable timber. slopes of the hills and the Irawadi, it is low, and was formerly subject
to inundation
;
a large tract, however,
is
now protected by embankments.
(1881) 44,3"; villages, 152; gross Of the gross revenue, ^^6798 is derived from revenue, ^11,485. land; ^3957 from capitation tax and £^0 from the fishery revenue.
Population (1876-77) 40,972;
;
Local cesses contribute ^690. 39,142 acres, mostly under rice.
The
area cultivated in 1881-82 was
was as follows 5119;
carts,
:— Horned
4198;
cattle,
In the same year the agricultural stock 19,765 pigs, 878 goats, 130 ploughs,
;
; ;
sledges,
1349; and boats, 157.
The township
Burma
:
is
divided into 6 revenue
circles.
Myan-aung.
—Town
in
Henzada
District, British
e.,
situated
on the right bank of the Population (1881) 5416, of whom 5160 are Irawadi (Irrawaddy). Buddhists, 191 Muhammadans, 43 Hindus, and 22 Christians. Houses, Formerly the head-quarters of Henzada, then 981 revenue, ^{^1186. contains court-houses and the usual public called Myan-aung District Founded by buildings, and is the seat of an Assistant Commissioner. Captured a.d., and called by them Ko-dwut. the Takings about 1250 the Burmese conqueror Alaung-paya in 1754, who gave the town by
in lat. 18° 16' 50" N.,
and
long. 95° 22' 20"
;
;
its
present
Myauk
19,520
spur,
;
name of Myan-aung. - bhet - myo. Township
—
in
Sandoway
District,
Arakan
Division, British
Burma.
;
Area, 1540 square miles.
(188 1 ) 23,757
is
the northern portion of
and
for
gross revenue, ^5018. It Sandoway from the Ma-i river to the Kwet-taung In 1875 the most part mountainous and forest-clad.
Population (1876) occupies the whole of
the area under cultivation was 15,038 acres, or about 23 J square miles; The chief products are rice, tobacco, in 1881 it wvas 17,964 acres.
cotton, sugar-cane, fibres, betel etc.
Tobacco, vegetables, and
a
little
iron-
wood
are exported to Kyauk-pyii
in
;
small trade in cattle.
;
The people
on
in
are principally engaged
agriculture
for
salt is
is
manufactured
every
and the weaving of cotton cloth
house.
home
is
is
use
carried
The
to
only road in the township
;
the one across the Arakan
Yomas
Taung-gup
communication
maintained by boats.
In
1881 the agricultural stock comprised 12,749 horned cattle; 656 pigs; i sledge; and 960 boats. 15 goats; 5860 ploughs; 41 carts; Myaung-mya. Seaboard township in Bassein District, Irawadi
—
i
MYAUNG-MYA TOWN AND CREEK.
Division,
British
flat
85
coast-line
consists of a
Area, 1224 square miles. Burma. and sandy beach, bordered by grassy
Tlie
plains, varying in
width from a t^uarter to half a mile. the Kok-ko channel, the country is
at
From
the coast as far north as
other
seasons
during the rains; temporary fishing hamlets are established by the
uninhabited
inhabitants of the villages farther inland.
The
lower portion of the
tidal
country,
especially to the eastward,
is
low and intersected by
forest.
creeks, whose banks have a deep fringe of heavy
From
the
Kok-ko northwards, the country gradually rises, the intricacy of the creeks diminishes, and the size of the plains and permanently inhabitIn the western and central portion of the townable spots increases.
ship,
north of La-bwut-ta, in 16° 18' N.
hills
;
lat.,
the land rises into small
well-wooded
and here small
tracts
of rice cultivation appear,
which, farther north, in the centre of the township, increase in size. In the north-western corner an outcrop of magnesian limestone
forms low
hills,
\vhich are
densely wooded.
tract
The extreme northern
ground,
portion consists of a
narrow
of low
which stretches
up 15 miles north-north-east, between the Pya-ma-law and the JMyaung-
mya creeks. The most important
lower portion, are the
leave the
itself,
streams, besides the
Myaung-mya-haung and
numerous creeks in the the Ywe, which both
Myaung-mya at the town of that name, the Myaung-mva and the Pya-ma-law. This last is one of the mouths of the Irawadi, which it leaves at Shwe-laung in the tow^nship of the same name in Thon-kwa District, and reaches the sea by two mouths, the It is navigable by river steamers Pya-ma-law and the Pyin-tha-lii. its mouth, where there is a formidable throughout its entire length
;
4 miles wide. The township is now divided into eight revenue circles. In 1876-77, The gross revenue in 1881, it was 45,242. the population was 34,914
bar,
is
;
in
1882 was ;£'i9,i82.
Myaung-mya
the
(formerly Tshiep-gyi).
— Town
and head-quarters of
Myaung-mya township, Bassein District, Irawadi Division, British Burma; situated in lat. 16° 35' n., and long. 94° 51' e., on the Myaungmya creek. Population (1881) 2315 number of houses, 374. It was Myaung-mya the scene of the first rising among the Karens in 1853.
;
contains a court-house, police station, market, and a large pagoda with an image of Gautama Buddha. Revenue (1881-82), ;£"i2 2. Myaung-mya. Creek in Bassein District, Iraw^adi Division, British Burma, forming the northern boundary of Myaung-mya township. This
—
channel leaves
Daga
near Ot-po, in
lat.
17^ 4' n.,
and
long. 95° 16'
e.,
and runs south under various names, till, turning westward a little east It is navigable by river of Myaung-mya, it takes the name of that town. steamers of 300 tons burden from a short distance above Myaung-mya ;
86
in its
tide.
MVA UNG-MYA-HA UNG~MYIT- TA- VA.
upper course, large boats can pass at all seasons with the flood Its extreme length is 15 miles; the chief branch is the Tha-ye-
bon, the head-waters of the Ywe.
Myaung-mya-haung.
District,
— Creek
in the
Myaung-mya township, Bassein
It leaves the Tha-ye-bon a Irawadi Division, British Burma. few miles from its northern mouth, and, flowing in a generally south-west direction, falls into the Bassein River by two mouths, the northern
called Po-laung-gyi,
and the southern,
Pin-le-ga-le.
It is tidal in the
dry season, and navigable by boats of light draught. Mya-wa-di. Portion of the Kama township, Thayet-myo District,
—
Irawadi Division, British Burma. Mye-bon. Township in Kyauk-pyii District, Arakan Division, British
—
Population (1877) 19,607; circles. In 1881 the land revenue was ;£32'jg; Gross capitation tax, ;£22oi; net tax, ;£i22; local cess, ^^334Area under cultivation, 22,457 acres, of which revenue, ;£5936. The agricultural 21,910 acres were under rice, and 92 under tobacco. stock was, in the same year horned cattle, 9709 ; pigs, 786 goats, 18 The head-quarters is at Mye-bon, on an ploughs, 2383; boats, 1530.
12
Burma; comprising
revenue
(1881) 19,640; villages, 124.
—
;
;
island formed by the
south-east portion of
numerous creeks which intersect the south and Mye-bon township. Township in Thayet-myo District, Irawadi Division, Mye-de. Lat. 18° 50' 3" to 19° 29' 3" n., and long. 95° 13' 30" British Burma.
—
to 95° 55' E.
Area, 922 square miles.
Population (1876) 60,700;
(1881) 66,192.
Bounded on
;
the north by
by the Pegu Yoma range on the west by the river Irawadi (Irrawaddy). The cultivated area in 1881-82 This township was 35,949 acres; gross revenue {1881), ^^9808.
includes 92 registered village tracts, divided into 13 revenue circles. On the British annexation of Pegu in 1852, Mye-de was divided into the
3 townships of Nyaung-bin-teip, Nga-taik,
Upper Burma; on the east south by Prome District; and on the
The first is and Mye-de. king of Ava in 1438 a.d. and said to have been founded by a Shan the family of the Myo-thugyi, or revenue officer, is the oldest in the
;
The total revenue under Burmese rule may District of Thayet-myo. be set down at ^£17 2 g, besides annual 'presents' to the court at Ava. Mye-de, the former head-quarters of the township, is now superseded by Allan-myo. Myit-ma-ka. A stream, rising in Prome District, flows southward
—
through Tharawadi and Hanthawadi Districts, Pegu Division, British Burma. Myit-ma-ka is the upper portion of the Hlaing River. Myit-ta-ya. River of Bassein District, Irawadi Division,. British
—
Burma;
rises in the eastern slopes of the
south-south-east course of about 30 miles,
falls
by two large mouths nearly
3 miles apart.
Arakan range, and, after a into the Bassein River These can be entered by
i
—
———
—
87
jMYLAPUR- MYSORE.
round the island
river,
is
boats of 5000 bushels burden, and in high winds the inner passage
preferred by native boatmen to the open Bassein
there
nearly three
miles
broad.
About 4 miles
inland, the
northern
mouth
receives a large portion of the drainage from
the
Arakan
Hills,
brought down by the river Taw-gyi.
or Saint Thome).
Mylapur {Mai/apur
;
—A
suburb of the
city of
Madras. The name is spelt variously Mnyi/dpurafn, or Peacock Town Malaipuram^ or Mount Town Meliapur, Mirapiir (by the Portuguese), and Meelapor in the Tohfatal Majahudin. It has been suggested that it is the Malifattaii of Rashid-ud-din, but more recent inquirers favour the identification of Negapatam with Malifattan. The
;
is said to have been written in Mylapur. Mylapur formed the principal scene of the labours of St. Thomas in India. The shrine, regarded as the tomb of the apostle, was visited by several travellers in the 13th and 14th centuries. It attracted the Portuguese to this spot, and gave the
great Tamil classic, the Kiira/,
A
legend relates that
Portuguese
name to it. Mylaveram. Town
—
in
Kistna
District,
Madras Presidency.
Hills,
See
Mailaveram.
Myllim
is
(or
Molim).
;
— Petty State
in the
Khasi
Assam.
rice,
Poputitle
lation (1881) 12,351
revenue,
^293.
The
presiding chief, whose
Seim,
is
named
U
Hain Manik.
Principal products
—
potatoes,
millet, Indian corn, ginger, sohphlaiig (an edible root), sugar-cane, and cinnamon. Iron is found; the manufactures consist of baskets and
iron implements.
Township and town in Akyab District, Arakan Lower Burma. See Mro-haung. Myouk - bhet - myo. Township in Sandoway District, Arakan Division, Lower Burma. See Myauk-bhet-myo. Myoung-mya. Seaboard township, town, and creek in Bassein District, Irawadi Division, Lower Burma. See Myaung-.mya. Myoung-mya-houng. Creek in the Myaung-mya township, Bassein District, Irawadi Division, Lower Burma. See Myaung-mya-haung. Mysore (or Afahesh-uru, Buffalo town,' the commonly accepted
Myo-haung.
—
Division,
—
—
—
'
derivation being from Mahesh-dsiira, the buffalo-headed
demon
in
;
cor-
rupted to Maheshur, and to Mysore, Maisur). India; situated between 11° 40' and 15° N.
— Native State
lat.,
Southern
40'
and between 74°
and 78° 39'
the
capital.
E.
long.,
surrounded on
all
sides
by
British territory.
The
is
administrative head-quarters are at
Bangalore, but Mysore City
of Bangalore
station
is
The Maharaja
in the year.
resides in the two cities alternately for
several
months
The cantonment
civil
now an
British
'assigned tract' forming the
administration.
and military
:
under
The
followino: table iiives
the statistics of area
and
population, according to the Census of iSSi
ss
MYSORE.
Area, Population,
etc.,
of Mysore State in i88i.
Census Report.)^
{According
to the
Divisions.
;
MYSORE.
Hills.
89
general elevation of the country increases from about 2000 along the northern and southern frontiers, to about feet 3000 feet at the central water-parting which separates the basin of the Kistna (Krishna) from that of the Kaveri (Cauvery). This line of water-
The
above
sea-level,
parting divides the country into two nearly equal parts, a little north of the 13th degree of latitude; and various chains of hills, running chiefly
north and south, subdivide the whole into numerous valleys, widely
differing in
shape and
size.
An
interesting feature of the country,
is
and one of great importance
'
number of isolated rocks, from an historical point of view, difficult of access '), or drugs (from the Sanskrit diirgd, called droogs which are found in all parts, and which often rear their heads as stupendous monoliths to the height of 4000 or 5000 feet above the
the large
level
These rocks, from the circumstance that their summits frequently afford a plentiful supply of good water, were in former days used as hill fortresses to domineer over the adjacent and in particular Nandidrug (4810 feet) and plains; some of them
of the
sea.
—
Savandrug (4024 feet)— have been the scene of many a hard- fought contest, while Kabaldrug obtained an evil fame as a State prison. The eight highest peaks in Mysore are Mulaina Giri (6317 feet), Kuduri-mukha (6215 feet), Baba Biidan Giri (6214 feet), Kalhatti (6155 Gudda feet), Rudra Giri (5692 feet), Pushpa Giri (5626 feet), Merti
(5451
in the
feet),
Woddin Gudda (5006). Four of these hills are comprised Baba Budan or Chandradrona range, a magnificent cluster in
is
the shape of a horse-shoe, in the centre of which
valley called Jagar.
a rich but pestiferous
naturally divided into two regions of distinct character country, called the Malnad, on the west, confined to the tracts bordering or resting on the Western Ghats ; and the more open country, known as the Maidan, comprising the greater part of the
Mysore
is
—the
hill
State,
where the wide-spreading valleys and plains are covered with numerous villages and populous towns. The Malnad is a picturesque land of hill and forest, presenting most diversified and beautiful scenery. With regard to the Maidan or open country, the means of water-supply
and the prevailing cuUivation give the character to its various parts. The level plains of black soil, in the north, grow cotton or millets the tracts in the south and w^est, irrigated by channels drawn from rivers, are covered with plantations of sugar-cane and fields of
those irrigated from tanks are studded with gardens of cocoa-nut and areca palms; the high-lying tracts of red soil, in the east, yield the stony pasture-grounds, in the central ragi and similar dry crops portions of the country, are covered with coarse grass, and occasionally
rice
;
;
relieved by shady groves.
Water System
a?id Irrigation.— The drainage of the country, with a
90
slight exception, finds its
MYSORE.
way
to the
Bay of Bengal, and is divisible into Kistna (Krishna) on the north, the Kaveri (Cauvery) on the south, the two Penners and the Palar on the east. The only streams flowing to the Arabian Sea are those in
three great river systems,— that of the
certain tracts in the north-west, which, uniting in the Sharavati, hurl
themselves
down the Ghats in the magnificent falls of Gersoppa and some minor streams in Nagar and Manjarabad, which flow into the A line drawn east from Ballalrayandriig to Gargita and the Netravati. Nandidriig, and thence south to Anekal, with one from Devaraydriig
;
north to Pavugada, will indicate approximately the watershed separating From the north of this ridge flow the the three main river basins.
TuNGA and
the
the Bhadra, rising TuNGABHADRA, which, with
in the
its
Western Ghats and uniting
in
tributary the
Hagari
Sri
or Vedavati,
Saila,
joins the Kistna
beyond the
limits
line,
of
the
Mysore, in
near
Karnul.
From
the south of the
the Yagachi, the
Hemavati with its afiluent Lokapavani, Shimsha, and Arkavati flow into the
Kaveri (Cauvery), which, rising in Coorg, and taking a south-easterly course through Mysore, receives also on the right bank the LakshmanTiRTHA, the GuxDAL, the Kabbani, and the Honnu-hole before
quitting the territory.
From
the east of the line, in the immediate
neighbourhood of Nandidriig, spring three main streams, forming a die Tripotamie des Dekhans,' system which Lassen has designated namely, the Northern Penner (with its tributaries the Chitravati
'
and Papaghni), which discharges into the sea at Nellore the Southern Penner, which ends its course at Cuddalore and between them, the Palar, whose mouth is at Sadras. Owing to either rocky or shallow beds, none of the Mysore rivers are navigable, but timber is floated down the Tunga, the Bhadra, and the Kabbani at certain seasons. Most of the streams are fordable during the dry months, or can be crossed by rude bridges formed of logs or During floods, traffic stones thrown across from boulder to boulder.
;
;
over the streams
is
often suspended until the water subsides.
at the
But some-
throughout the rainy season they are generally crossed ferries by rafts, basket boats, canoes or ferry-boats.
times
cross
appointed
Men
pots.
also
by supporting
support an
themselves
on
earthen
Though
useless for navigation, the
tributaries,
main streams,
system
especially the Kaveri
extensive
of irrigation
channels drawn from immense dams called anicuts, upper waters at a high level and permit only the overflow to pass
stream.
and its by means of which retain the
down
There are no natural lakes in Mysore but the streams which gather hill-sides and fertilize the valleys are at every favourable point embanked in such a manner as to form series or chains of reservoirs, called tanks, the outflow from one at a higher level supplying the next
;
from the
i
MYSORE.
lower,
9'
and so on
all
down
the course of the stream at short intervals.
These tanks, varying
in size
from small ponds to extensive
lakes, are
;
dispersed throughout the country to the total number of 37,682 and to such an extent has this principle of storing water been followed, that it
would now require some ingenuity
to
discover a
is
site
suitable for a
new
one.
The
largest
of these tanks
the Sulekere, 40 miles in
circumference.
The
hydrography of the north-east.
spring heads, called talpargis, form an important feature of the They extend throughout the border
regions situated east of a line drawn from Kortagiri to Hiriyur and Molkalmuru. In the southern parts of this tract the springs may be
tapped in the sandy
close to the surface.
soil
at short distances apart,
and the water
rises
the water
is
When Northward, the supply is not so plentiful. obtained, it is either conducted by narrow channels to
is
the fields, or a well
bullocks.
constructed, from which the water
is
raised
by
The geological structure of Mysore is mainly hypogene penetrated and broken up by plutonic and trappean rocks in every form of intrusion, and overlaid with occasional patches of laterite and kajikar (calcareous deposits), and, to the north of the main axial
Geology.
schists,
line,
—
with black cotton-soil.
The
granitic upheavals are seen either in
precipitous
layers,
dome-shaped monoliths, in low steppes, or in undulating and joints, so as to present almost a stratified appearance. Detached cuboidal masses may be observed, not only weathering by concentric exfoliation into spheroids on a large The prevailing scale, but assuming in their decay most fantastic forms. mica, and hornblende, in varying granite is composed of quartz, felspar,
separated by fissures
combinations
resulting
;
but
we
and
also find syenite, protogine, pegmatite with
its
and amygdaloidal granites, with serpentine in eruptive masses, or in dikes and veins. Trappean rocks in the form of basalts, greenstone, felstone, and felstone porphyries, with other combinations, are to be seen similarly
kaolin,
porphyritic,
hypersthenic,
penetrating the gneiss
intrusive masses, in low dikes,
resulting in
and mica and chloride schists in disrupting or The earth, and extensive overflows. the shape of an open loam, varying in colour from a light
;
but overlays the altered The long gneiss, etc., in such a way as to ensure excellent drainage. Bangalore, and at the head-waters of the low dikes are numerous round
red to dark chocolate,
is
not only highly
fertile,
Arkavati valley, where their intrusion is greatest, and where their decay by concentric exfoliation and lamination may be distinctly traced. Solid veins, too, may be observed running through the isolated granitic drugs which form so striking a feature of the country, and around the bases of which fallen portions from the bare ^summits present singular
masses of amorphous forms.
92
MYSORE.
The gneissic rock about Bangalore possesses great economic value, being easily quarried from the surface, and well adapted for fine archCertain porphyries, work by the mere process of hammer-dressing.
basalts,
work, but require chisel-dressing.
polish.
veins,
and granitoids yield excellent building material for ordinary The Turuvekere basalt bears a high
or quartzose
crystallized,
The gneiss is also frequently traversed by granitic when the component minerals are segregated and
the mica occurring in plates, the quartz in amorphous nodules or hexahedral prisms, and the felspar compacted in beds of varied colouring.
Milky quartz is also segregated into large beds containing nests and seams of iron-ore and amethystine crystal. Tourmaline, beryl, garnets, schorl, epidote, actinolite, agates, ribbon-jasper, chert, and sundry ochres Iron-ore of pure quality, and occaare procurable in various places.
sionally magnetic, is abundant, while magnetic iron-sand overlays the country thickly about the Hagalwadi Hills. In the Tungabhadra valley, clay slate and the softer shales are com-
mon, and in this direction long stretches of black cotton-soil are found. Beds of limestone and sandstone are to be seen at intervals in the northern part of the State, their discontinuity and dispersion being due Laterite is found to plutonic disturbance and subsequent denudation. near Bangalore in small quantities, and plentifully in Shimoga District,
where
it
reddish brown.
occurs in detached blocks, the prevaiUng colour being a It is used for building purposes and as road metal.
Kankar is found in tracts penetrated by basaltic dikes, being met with in nodular masses and friable concretions in clay and gravel above It is used for tank emthe rocks, as also in irregular overlying beds.
bankments, and also burnt into lime.
small fragments and dust
are now, after
parts.
;
of country near Betmangalam in Kolar, gold
many
trials
In the alluvium covering a tract is found in the form of and the auriferous strata, on being worked, and losses, proving remunerative in some
light
History.— i:\\t early history of Mysore is involved in obscurity; but has been thrown on it by numerous inscriptions on stone and copper found throughout the State. Various places mentioned in the Mahdbhdrata and Rdmdyaita have been identified. Mysore was the kingdom of the mythical Sugriva, whose general, Hanuman, aided
Rama
in his expedition against
Lanka
or Ceylon.
At a
later period,
Buddhist emissaries appear to have visited the country, in the 3rd The Jains established and long maintained their suprecentury b.c. macy in Mysore, and have left several richly wrought temples and other
memorials.
In the earliest historical times, the northern part of Mysore was held by the Kadamba dynasty, whose capital, Banawasi, is mentioned by Ptolemy they reigned with more or less splendour during fourteen
;
\
MYSORE.
centuries,
93
though
latterly
they became feudatories of the Chalukyas.
The Kongus
or C^angas,
who were contemporary
with the Kadambas,
governed the southern part of Mysore with Coimbatore. Their capital was at first at Karur in the latter District, and afterwards at Talkad on the Kaveri, where their dynasty was subverted by the Cholas in
the 9th century.
The numerous
inscriptions of this family indicate
that the earlier sovereigns professed the Jain faith, which, about the
2nd century a.d,, was relinquished for Brahmanism. Another ancient race was that of the Pallavas, who held a portion of the eastern side of Mysore, but were overcome by the Chalukyas in the 7th century, The latter though they maintained a strong rivalry till the loth. l)Owerful dynasty came from the north of India in the 4th century, and conquered an extensive territory, part of which they retained till the close of the 12th century, when the Ballala chiefs overthrew them and annexed what remained of their dominions. The Cholas do not appear to have ruled in Mysore for more than a century and a half. Another line of kings, the Kalachurias, was equally short-lived. The Hoysala Ballala kings, who professed the Jain faith, were an They brought under their dominion all enterprising and warlike race. the western, central, and southern parts of the State as now existing, They ruled till besides portions of Coimbatore, Salem, and Dharwar. Dwdrkdvati Patafi), now Halebid but in 1 3 10, at Dwarasamudra [ox
;
that year,
Malik Kafur, the general of the Emperor Ala-ud-din of Delhi, Sixteen years took the Ballala king prisoner and sacked the town. later Dwarasamudra was entirely destroyed by another force, sent by
Muhammad Tughlak
Several temples
later
still
Briggs' Ferishfa, vol. i. pp. (cf. 373-413)remain, both of the earlier Jain period and of the
Among these last, the kings, who reverted to Brahmanism. Hoysaleswara Temple ranks as one of the architectural wonders of
After the subversion of the
India.
Hoysala Ballala dynasty, a new and
powerful
Hindu
sovereignty arose at Vijayanagar on the Tungabhadra.
in
This city was founded
been two high
title
officials
of the court of Warangal.
1336 by Hakka and Bukka, said to have Hakka took the
of
Harihara, and
between continuous
the
whom and
rivalry,
the
Musalman
gave to his dynasty the name of Narsinha, kings of the Bahmani line there was
leading to frequent wars, which continued even after
dismemberment of the Bahmani kingdom. In 1565, four out of the five Musalman kings of the Deccan united against Rama Raja, the sovereign of Vijayanagar, who was defeated and slain in the famous battle of Tdlikot (1565); and his descendants, after maintaining their authority for some time at Penukonda and Chandragiri farther During the feeble rule of the south, became extinct as a ruling house. last Narsinha princes at Penukonda, the petty local chiefs, generally
94
MYSORE.
called pdlegdrs, asserted their independence, of whom the most imI)ortant were the Wodeyar of Mysore in the south, the Nayak of Keladi
in the north, the
Nayak of Ualam (Manjarabad) in the west, and the Wodeyar is a plural or and Tarikere. Bedar master.' honorific form of odeya, a Kanarese word meaning lord or In 1610, Rdj Wodeyar of Mysore, emboldened by the weakness of
chiefs of Chitaldriig
' '
'
Tirumal, the viceroy of the decaying Narsinha dynasty, seized the fortress of Seringapatam, and thus laid the foundation of the present Mysore State.— 6"^^ also Mysore District. Raj Wodeyar was the ninth in succession from Vijaya Raj, who is
his to have been a Yadava Kshattriya, and to have come with brother Krishna Raj from Dwarka in Surashtra or Kathiawar in 1399, obtained in the palmy days of the Vijayanagar monarchy, and to have Prior to the chiefship of Hadarnaru, near Mysore. possession of the
said
seizure of Seringapatam by Raj
Wodeyar,
it is
said that a fort
had been
erected at Puragere, to which had been given the
name
of
Mysore— or,
from Mahesh-dsura, a by Kali or Chamundi, who under buffalo-headed monster destroyed Although the latter name is the tutelary deity of the Mysore family.
more
coxx^ciXy,
Makesh-uru,
'buffalo town,'
Seringapatam became the capital, the Rajas have always been known The capture of Seringapatam by in his'tory as the Rajas of Mysore. Raj Wodeyar was the prelude to further acquisitions by two of his The latter, who reigned from successors, Chama Raj and Kanthi Raj. was noted as an efficient administrator. During the 163S to 1658,
intervals of his warlike expeditions, he introduced a tolerably successful
revenue settlement, fortified his capital, and established a mint wherein huns or pagodas were struck in his name, which continued to be the
current national
money
until the
Muhammadan
usurpation (1761).
The
thirty
-
next ruler but one, Chikka
four
years,
made
his
Deva Raj, during a long reign of kingdom one of the most powerful in
Southern India; and in his time, in 1687, the State religion reverted to Vishnuism from the worship of the Hngam or emblem of the god Raj. Siva, which had hitherto been in vogue from the times of Krishna the death of Chikka Deva Raj in 1704, the Mysore State comprised At the present Districts of Mysore, the south of Kadiir, and Tiimkiir, with
part
of Bangalore, besides Coimbatore and Salem Districts in the jMadras Presidency ; that is, a territory now producing a revenue of
about ^1,000,000. After two more princes, the direct line failed in The next Raja, a collateral relative named Chamaraj, was im1 73 1. prisoned by the Dalavai (or Commander-in-Chief) and the Diwan and a in the pestilential fortress of Kabaldriig, where he soon died
;
distant relative
named Chikka Krishna Raj was put on
this chief that
the throne in
1734It
was during the reign of
the famous Haidar
Ah
MYSORE.
usurped the inasnad,
his
95
miHtary prowess, with the wealth seized by
him
is
at Bedniir in
1763, having
made
Iiim the
it
first
personage
in the
State.
But
his
dynasty was as brief as
was
brilhant,
and
its
history
too well
lost
;
son
known to need recital at length. \\\\i\X the and on the defeat and death of Tipii Sultan
father won, the
at the siege of
Seringapatam in 1799, the English conquerors restored to the throne a representative of the ancient line in the person of Krishna Raj, son of
Chdma Raj
great ability,
of Arakotara.
From 1799
to 1810, the
Raja being a minor,
the administration was conducted by Purnaiya, a Maratha
Brahman
of
who
ruled with a vigorous hand and
filled
the State coffers.
But when, on his retirement, the young chief was invested personally
with sovereign authority, he soon dissipated the wealth accumulated by
his minister,
and commenced a career of misgovernment which ended
by the British authorities assuming in 1831 the administration in his name. On his demise in 1868 he was succeeded by an adopted son,
the third child of of the royal house, the
Chikka Krishna Arasu of the Bettada Kote branch new sovereign being installed under the title of Chama Rajendra Wodeyar. When the government was first taken out of the hands of Krishna Raj, two Commissioners were nominated to represent British authority. This arrangement, however, proved embarrassing, and Colonel Morrison He was almost immewas appointed sole Commissioner in May 1834. diately succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel (afterwards Sir Mark) Cubbon, who ruled the country with distinguished ability and success until 1861.
administration
The Government of India then resolved more in accordance with that The Court of Directors had ordered that
should
to
introduce a system of
in force in British territory.
the mode of government one which could be worked by native agency; but it was, almost from the first, found necessary to appoint three European
be
officers
to
superintend the administration
of the
then three great
Divisions of the State.
In 1861, the British regulation system was
staff
more
fully introduced,
and the European
was increased.
But on
the recognition of the claims of the adopted son to succeed to the throne when he came of age, arrangements were gradually made for
reorganizing the administrative constitution of
it
Mysore so
as to adapt
for the future government of the Maharaja by native agency.
the 25th
March
1
881, the Maharaja
On Chama Rajendra Wodeyar was
;
duly installed by the Governor of Madras, representing the Viceroy and the Chief Commissioner handed over office to the new Di'wan.
Excepting the disappearance of the tides of the Chief Commissioner and the General Secretary, few changes in the methods of administration then took place.
Present Native Administration.— TX^a following is a general view of the administration as established in 1 88 1 on the rendition of the country
96
to the Maharaja, with
MYSORE.
more recent changes. pubHc business,
remain
alteration
The
laws,
and the main
rules for the transaction of
in force at the time of the
until altered by competent must be made by regular and formal process, with the concurrence of the Government of India. All assessments of land revenue, and all proprietary rights and tenures previously acknowledged by the State, are upheld by the new native Government. No demand on account of taxes and no appropriation of public money can be made, except by regular process and by the The Maharaja's private income regularly constituted authorities. The is kept permanently separate from the revenues of the State. IVIaharaja is aided by a Council, which deals with all the more important
transfer of the governing power,
authority
;
and any material
administrative measures, with propositions involving reference to the
Government of
offices.
India,
and with nominations
is
to the
The
chief executive officer
the Diwan,
who
most responsible is ex officio head
of
all
departments, with a secretary for each of the principal ones.
judicial
The
department
is
entirely separate
from the executive.
A
European chief judge, with two native judges, form the chief court, There is a Civil and Sessions exercising the functions of a High Court. Judge at Mysore, and another at Shimoga while at Bangalore, the duties of that appointment are performed by the judges of the chief The ordinary magisterial work of each District is court in turn. managed by a Deputy Commissioner, a Judicial Assistant with one or more immsifs for civil work, and aniilddrs {taluk officers) for The police are largely under the control of the District petty cases. One of aided by a police assistant in each District. magistrates, the four regiments of Native Infantry has been disbanded while the In the three regiments of Silladar Horse have been formed into two. Survey, Settlement, and Educational Departments, native agency is
; ;
Europeans. Considerable largely substituted for that of economies have been effected in the Jail Department, and in all branches of the Public Works Department, wherever practicable, European officers have been replaced by natives. A Representative Assembly is annually convened at Mysore at the close of the Dassara festival (corresponding with the Durga-piija of Northern India), composed of two or three of the most influential
being
private
residents in
each
taluk.
Before this
meeting, a
statement
(which takes the place of the old annual reports) is made by the Diwan of the chief administrative results of the past year, and of the
coming one. Suggestions are invited from the members and their representatives of local w^ants, which are
principal measures proposed for the
disposed of
at the
time or registered for inquiry.
to the
The
proceedings in
all.
English are translated into the vernacular so as to be understood by
Population.
— According
Census of 187 1, the
total population
;
MYSORE.
of Mysore then
houses,
97
amounted
and in 19,630 taken at 27,078 square miles, or 2355 more than for the Census of 1881. The area shown in 1881 is 24,723 square miles; and the population is returned at 4,186,188 persons, dwelling in 733,200 houses, and in 17,655 towns and villages. The figures of 1881 yield
the
following averages Persons per square mile, 169; villages per square mile, 071; persons per village, 237; houses per square
:
to 5,055,412 persons, dwelling in 1,012,738 villages or townships. The total area was
—
mile, 36-46;
persons per house, 5-71.
Classified
according to sex,
there were
2,085,842 males and 2,100,346 females; proportion of males, 49-8 per cent. Classified according to age, there were under
—
767,991 boys and 770,432 girls; total children, 1,538,423, or 36*8 per cent, of the population 15 years and upwards, 1,317,851 males and 1,329,914 females; total adults, 2,647,765, or 63-2 per
15 years,
:
cent.
The
following
is
the
religious
;
classification
adopted
:
— Hindus,
Buddhists,
3'956,336, or 94*5 per cent.
Christians, 29,249, or
Muhammadans,
;
200,484, or 4*8 per cent.
;
07
per cent.
21.
city
Parsis,
47
Sikhs, 41
;
9; Jew,
i;
and
in
'others,'
The
Christian population,
17,430 of
whom
and cantonment, admits of several principles of sub-division. Out of the total, 5188 w^re returned as Europeans, 3040 as Eurasians, and 21,021 as native converts. According to another principle, 7847 are Protestants, and 20,510 Roman
reside
Bangalore
Catholics, leaving 892 unspecified.
The
ethnical classification affords the following results
;
:
— Brahmans,
and Taking the
162,652; Kshattriyas, 13,251 ; Marathas, 41,239 Jains, 10,760; other Hindu castes, sub-divided into trading classes, agricultural castes,
artisan
castes, miscellaneous
castes,
wandering
tribes,
out-castes,
non-Hindu aboriginal
military,
fication:
castes
and
tribes, total 3,958,286.
population, exclusive of the
—Among
and
writers' castes, the
or priestly, and Kshattriya or Census gives the following caste classithe Vaisyas or trading class, the Komatis were 25,985,
;
Brahman
and
'others,'
128,622; Satanis (servants in Vishnuite temples), 16,873
IDasaris
and other mendicants, 2736 ; Rachevars (athletes and fighters), 7708; Rangars (calico printers), 3493 Lingayats, 470,269 Wokligas
;
;
(agricultural
labourers),
803,521
;
others
of
the
agricultural
class,
Kunchigars (brass and copper smiths), 82,474; Kurubars (shepherds), 291,965; Uppars (salt-makers), 84,583; Tiglars (market gardeners), 44,283; Collars (cowherds), 57,916; Idigars (toddydrawers), 84,407 Neyigars (weavers), 167,755; Kumbhars (potters), 31,269; Agasars (washermen), 69,928; Gonigars (sack - makers),
128,622;
;
1531
;
Darji's (tailors),
pressers),
29,449
tribes,
;
5991; Napits (barbers), 30,376; Ganigars (oilKorachars, Lambanis, Jogis, Dambaros, and other
G
wandering
VOL. X.
53,782; out-castes, 622,245; non-Hindu aboriginal
—
98
castes
:
MYSORE.
and tribes, 5718, namely, Iraligars, 1229; Soligars, 1596; and Kurumbas, 2893. Muhammadans were classified as follows Sunnis, 179,296; Shias, 4248; Wahabis, 516; Pindaris, 5055; Labbays, 4656; Mappilas, 385; Dairas or Mahadavis, 3777; and
—
'
Betta
others,' 2551.
divided the male population as regards occupations main groups: (i) Professional class, including State officials and members of the learned professions, 90,452 (2) domestic servants, inn and lodging-house keepers, 15,223 (3) commercial class,
into six
The Census
—
;
;
including bankers, merchants, carriers,
class,
all
etc., 45,366 (4) agricultural 1,008,826; (5) industrial class, including manufacturers and artisans, 128,926 ; and (6) indefinite and non;
including shepherds,
productive
class,
comprising
all
male children, general labourers, and
persons of unspecified occupation, 797,049. Of the 21 towns and 17,634 villages in
contained in
1881
less
two to five hundred; from one to two thousand ; 50 from two to three thousand 30 from three to five thousand; 15 from five to ten thousand; 3 from ten to fifteen thousand ; and 3 more than fifty thousand. There are altogether 21 towns with more than 5000 inhabitants, showing a
;
Mysore State, 11,496 than two hundred inhabitants; 4592 from 1189 from five hundred to a thousand; 277
total
population of the State.
urban population of 346,317 persons, or Z't^ per cent, of the The five largest towns are Bangalore,
;
population of city and cantonments (1881) 155,857
Mysore Town,
and Kolar,
60,292;
11,172.
Shimoga,
12,040;
Seringapatam,
11,734;
Wild Tribes.— Oi the wild tribes, the Betta (Hill) Kurubas are the most numerous. They live in the woods in small communities called
hddis, their dwellings being merely sheds
made
of branches of trees.
Of
late
years they have lost
much
of their former shyness, and besides
felling
wood
for
the Forest Department, seek
still
employment on
cofiee
plantations.
foresters,
They
retain
their
love
of sport,
being excellent
and well acquainted with the habits of wild beasts. They have no principle of caste, but each community is governed by a headman, who is generally the patriarch of the village. They are averse from cultivating the soil in the careful manner practised by most Mysore peasants, contenting themselves with sowing a little millet.
Like some other wild
tribes in India, they are credited with possessing
magical powers, which, added to the inaccessibility of the retreats in which they have taken refuge, may have tended to preserve them from
utter extermination.
They
are dark in colour,
and short
in
stature,
appearance as some of the wilder tribes Their long coarse hair grows to a length of 15 in Central India. inches, and is drawn off the head to the back, and fastened by a
but have not so savage an
MYSORE.
piece of string.
the men.
99
The women
are rarely seen,
and do not work with
A
branch of the Kurubas, called the Jenu (Honey) Kurubas, subsist
in
almost entirely on forest products, and occupy themselves in collecting
honey
are,
the jungle.
Having found out the
tree,
it
tree
where the combs
they climb an adjoining
the bees.
and, placing a pole between the
this sub-tribe are very
two, contrive to creep along
with a torch in their hand, and then
smoke out
Both men and women of
unprepossessing in appearance, their features being coarse and irregular,
and their hair hanging down in a dishevelled mass. The Iraligars seem to be another tribe closely resembling the Jenu Kurubas. The Soligars are a secluded race, who speak Kanarese they are remarkable for their keenness of sight, and skill in tracking wild animals. In the Malnad, the aborigines are called Holiaru (from the Kanarese word hola^ a field), and have from time immemorial been rural serfs, attached to the farms of the feudal head-men. One branch, called Mannalu (from manim, land, and dlu, a slave), used to be sold with the land, and w^ere specified in the leases; while another, called Honnalu (from hoiinu, gold), were transferable with or without the
;
The price of a man and w^oman was from j[^^ to J[^^ ; and it was calculated that these, with a pair of bullocks, could cultivate lo acres of land. Their master maintained them, giving them 2 lbs. of
soil.
rice daily, with
feast-days, and an annual supply which were added presents on marriage. The children who were born belonged to the lord of the soil. The Holiaru live in huts in the neighbourhood of the farms, and generally
this
double
amount on
of clothes
and blankets,
to
possess small gardens for kitchen produce.
They
faces,
healthy race, with broad features and
flat
are a stout and and generally carry
about with them a wood-knife.
more than 50 sub-classes skill and industry are unsurpassed by any agriculturists of India. The majority of Mysore Brahmans belong to one or other of the Pancha Dravida or five southern
cultivators
The Wokliga
are divided into
;
they form the backbone of the population, and for
tribes,
namely
—
(i)
Karnataka, (2) Telinga or Andhra, (3) Dravida or
Tamil, (4) Mardtha, and (5) Gujarathi. These names indicate the countries from w^hich the various sects originally came ; and they still
use their native languages as their
house-tongue in their though, of course, they speak Kanarese elsewhere.
'
'
own homes,
Hindu Sects. The three great sects of orthodox Hindus are called respectively— (1) Smarta, (2) Madhava, and (3) Sri Vaishnava. The Smarta hold that the creature is not separate from the Creator, but
partakes of His essence, the doctrine hence being called advaitani
;
—
the
Madhava, on the contrary, say that the Creator and His creatures are
separate, their doctrine being called dvaitam (dualism); whilst the third
100
sect
MYSORE.
combine the doctrines of the two former, holding that the creature, from the Creator during life, becomes absorbed into His
;
separate
Of essence after death, the doctrine being called visishta advaitain. the unorthodox sects, the most influential is that of the Lingdyats they detest Brahmans, and generally hold aloof from Government
service,
being chiefly occupied as traders, and, indeed, taking the lead There are in commercial pursuits in the northern part of Mysore. also many Jains ; their high priest resides at Sravana Belgola, in the
statue of
French Rocks Sub-division of Mysore District, where there is a colossal Gomateshwara. The Jain temples are called Bastis, in which
Lajiguage.
are to be seen the statues of their Tirthankaras.
— The language spoken throughout Mysore, except
Chitaldriig,
is
in
Kolar
and the eastern side of
Kanarese
;
which
is
the vernacular
There are three dialects of Kanarese (i) Purvada Hale Kannada, or the archaic Kanarese of inscriptions earlier than the end of the 7th century ; (2) Hale Kannada, or old Kanarese up to the end of the T4th century, in which were wTitten the older sacred books of the Jains and the majority of the Mysore stone and (3) Hosa Kannada, the existing language. inscriptions The whole of Mysore State has not been surveyed by Agriculture. The following figures include both the Revenue Survey Department. the surveyed and unsurveyed portions of the State, and must be regarded as only approximate. The total area of Mysore State is 24,723
of 8 J millions of people.
;
—
—
Of this area in 1880-81, approximately 7055 square square miles. miles were under cultivation, 5717 square miles were cultivable waste, and the remainder, 11,951 square miles, or 48 per cent, of the whole,
were
uncultivable
waste.
At
the
close
of
1879-80 there
were
3,511,828 acres of cultivable waste land remaining unappropriated, and 219,093 acres having been resigned or resumed by Government
during the year 1880-81, there was a total of 3,730,921 acres available Of this, only 216,173 acres were taken up; thus at for cultivation. The area the close of 1880-81 there were 3,514,748 acres unutilized.
under actual cultivation was 4,280,674 acres, namely, 5543752 acres under rice, 21,058 acres under wheat, and 3,139,560 acres under other Of the food-grains, such as ragi, gram, and other cereals and pulses. remaining 565,304 acres, 147,464 were occupied by oil-seeds 135,542 by cocoa-nut and areca-nut 159,165 by coffee; 52,178 by vegetables 24,076 by sugar-cane; 12,986 by tobacco; 9619 20,893 by cotton by mulberry 523 by pepper; 2671 by fibres and 178 by lac. About 800 acres were planted with potatoes.
; ;
;
;
;
;
land,
In 1884-85, out of a total area of 4,474,057 acres of cultivated 3,329,457 acres were occupied by ragi and other dry crops ; 597,443 by rice; 163,877 by oil-seeds; 131,689 by cocoa-nut and
areca-nut; 141,717 by coffee; 27,422 by vegetables; 21,385 by cotton;
—
MYSORE.
loi
the 23,993 by sugar-cane; 20,378 by wheat; 606S by tobacco; and remainder by mulberry, pepper, fibres, and lac, in smaller proportions. Rent per acre Average rates of rent and produce are as follows
:
—
for rice (1880-81), 10s. 6d. per
annum
2\d.
;
;
for wheat, 9s. o^d. per
;
annum
;
;
for inferior grains, including ragi^ 3s. 6d.
for cotton, 3s. 8|d.
;
for oil-
seeds, 3s. 3|d.
6s.
;
for fibres, 3s.
for sugar-cane, 13s.
for tobacco,
Produce per acre in 1880-81, of rice, 1170 lbs.; of wheat, of ragi and inferior grains, 1087 lbs.; of cotton, 392 lbs. 831 lbs. of sugar-cane, 15 10 of ordinary fibres, 414 lbs. of oil-seeds, 834 lbs. The prices current of produce in 1880 of tobacco, 397 lbs. lbs.
3id.
;
;
;
;
;
were as follows per maiind of 80
cotton,
to
5s.
lbs.
:
— Rice,
;
5s.
2jd.
;
wheat,
6s. id.
;
£2,
3s.
ijd.
is.
;
sugar,
;
£\,
iis.
salt, 8s.
;
lofd.
3s.
;
gram, from
lofd.
;
2s.
6d.; ragi,
iiW.
to
ddl, 6s.
7jd.
beans,
tobacco,
pair of
£2,
id.
silk,
los.
4jd.
;
molasses,
iis. 3d.; ghi,
£2,
i6s.
o|d.
;
A
bullocks cost from
to
£1
lb.
^20
lbs.
;
loid. per ser of 2
i6s.
a sheep, from 4s. to £1 iron, i6s. per viamid of 80
;
fish,
from
;
lbs.
and
about
per
The wages
is.
of labour in
1880-81
were
for unskilled labour,
from 3d. to
3d. per
diem
;
for skilled labour,
from 6d. to
to 2s.
IS.
;
2s.
per diem.
The
hire of a cart per
3s.
of a score of donkeys, from
to 15s.
;
day varies from is. and of a boat, from
was in 1880-81 returned at 2,444,906 cows and bullocks; 1,729,088 sheep and goats; 38,130 donkeys; 29,480 pigs; 4325 horses; 14,156 ponies; 563,314 ploughs;
to 8s.
The
agricultural stock of the State
68,153 carts
;
and 118
boats.
RagL
is
the staple food of the mass of the people, generally eaten in
the shape of a porridge or pudding, called hittu.
;
This crop
is
entirely
dependent upon rain and therefore a scanty rainfall, at the time when Nor would artificial rain is wanted, is productive of much distress. irrigation afford a remedy, inasmuch as the red soil on which ragi flourishes is not found in the valleys watered by channels and tanks, On the other hand, ragi is a very hardy or only to a limited extent.
plant, withstanding successfully a
for
long drought, while the grain keeps
other than grain crops and whole cultivated
many years. The more valuable products
following
of the
soil,
oil-seeds,
which together occupy 90
per cent, of the
area, are the
:— The
grown
elegant endogenous tree,
areca or betel-nut is produced by an in shaded and fenced gardens where a
good supply of water
high winds.
is
available,
and where
shelter
is
afi'orded
from
In 1880-81, areca-nuts to the value of
said to have
;^{;i
69,806 were
exported from the State.
Although the coffee-plant
by Baba Biidan
cultivate
it
is
been introduced into Mysore
first
many
generations back, the
scale
successful attempt to
on a large
five years ago.
was made by Mr. Cannon about fortyThe success of Mr. Cannon's experiment led to the
I02
MYSORE.
]\Ir.
occupation of ground in Manjarabad taluk by
Green
in 1843.
A
wide
of enterprise has since been opened to European planters in Manjarabad and other western taluks, where the conditions of a moist
field
temperature and an elevation of from 2500 to 4000 feet are to be Natives have also generally taken to the cultivation, but do procured. not pay the same attention to the preparation of the ground and the
growth of the plant.
expensive process.
is a troublesome and needed during a whole year to produce good plants from the seedlings ; and although a few berries are gathered in the fourth and fifth years, the planter can hardly expect to
Clearing for a plantation
is
Constant care
realize a full
crop
till
the seventh or eighth year,
when
the out-turn
is is
about
5 or 6 cwts. per acre.
The produce from
native plantations
The berries on an average, not one quarter of this. when picked are pulped, and after fermenting for one day, to remove saccharine matter, are washed, cleaned, and dried, and put in bags to be sent to Bangalore or the western coast for curing and exportation. The number of plantations held by Europeans in 1875-76 was
probably,
301, with an area of 32,638 acres; native planters held 23,942 gardens, In 1883, the number of plantations with an area of 80,487 acres.
held by Europeans was 489, with an area of 41,379 acres; native The total planters held 22,791 gardens, with an area of 99,893 acres. number of gardens was 23,280, covering an area of 141,272 acres; In 1884, yielding an out-turn of 4,961,397 lbs., valued at ;£"i49,32i.
the
number of
plantations held by Europeans was 529; native planters
irriga-
held 22,743 gardens. Sugar-cane is grown throughout the State wherever means of
tion are available, but especially about Seringapatam, near which, at
Palhalli, there was
jaggery.
cent.,
till
recently a large
European factory
is
for refining
The
out-turn of sugar from jaggery
calculated at 50 per
rum.
and of the refuse about 30 per cent, is utilized for distilling The value of the jaggery and sugar made in Mysore in 1880-81
was estimated at ^157,789. Cocoa-nut palms are grown extensively in gardens. The trees begin to produce nuts when seven or eight years old. As each tree bears for sixty years, and produces annually from seventy to a hundred nuts, the cultivation is reckoned very profitable, provided that w^ater is found tolerably near the surface. The export in 1880-81 of fresh cocoa-nuts from Mysore State was valued at ;^io,452, and of cocoa-nut oil at ^666. The attempts to rear cinchona have been fairly successful, there being two plantations, of which that at Kalhatti, on the Baba Biidan Mountain, contains more than 30,000 trees, and the other, on the Biligirirangan Hill, 3000 trees. The only species which has hitherto been found suited to the climate is C. succirubra, Pavon ; C. Calisaya, Weddel/, and C. Condaminea, Humh.^ having failed.
;
MYSORE.
In Chitaldriig District, where black
soil
is is
103
the northern taluks, a good deal of cotton
commonly met with in grown. A Government
farm was established to promote the cultivation, but the results were
and the enterprise was consequently stopped. Tobacco is grown in Hassan District, but has not received special attention. Cardamoms are .in some places propagated by cuttings of the root, and elsewhere by felling trees of the primeval forests on the Western Ghats, when the plant springs up spontaneously. This cultivation is now attracting the attention of European planters but though a valuable commodity, the demand for cardamoms is limited. In the Lai Bagh or Government Garden at Bangalore, attempts have been made with some success to grow vanilla, cocoa, rhea, ipecacuanha, and various other exotic plants, while the culture of apples, peaches, strawberries, and other fruits has been greatly improved. The vanilla plant, without any particular attention or care further than fertilizing the blossoms, has been found to yield freely but the difficulties in curing the beans have not been overcome. La?id Tenures. The land tenures in Mysore are so far peculiar, that
unsatisfactory,
of a fine quality
;
—
whereas
in the plain districts the 7'dyahvdri
is
system prevails, in the
hill
tracts the land
held in wargs or farms, and not in separate
soil is classified as irrigated
fields.
In the level country, the
the former being called
different
*
wet,'
kinds of crops.
last,
it
and unirrigated, and the latter *dry land, each producing Garden land is classed separately. The
'
possession of this
prietary right
;
or of irrigated land, always carried wath
'
'
it
a pro-
would appear that dry land formerly belonged to the State, which could at any time resume it for any public object without compensation. The rdyats received patfas, which were yearly renewable, being rather running accounts than real leases and as the rates were often arbitrarily fixed at the pleasure of the shdnabhog or village accountant, great discrepancies were found to exist, and gross partiality was common. To remedy this capricious and complicated mode of assessment, it was determined in 1863 to introduce the system of Survey and Settlement pursued in the Bombay Presidency, according to which the survey, classification, and assessment are disposed of in their several branches under the supervision of one responsible head. The process is not expeditious, owing to the great care and discrimination required to ensure a trustworthy classification and an equitable assessment but as the leases hold good for thirty years, and give a complete proprietary right, a substantial boon is conferred on the cultivators. The limits of
but
; ;
the survey
fields or as
'numbers,' which, generally speaking, comprise as
as can be
many
much land shown by mounds of
ploughed by a pair of bullocks, are earth called bdtidhs, at the corners of each
sides.
'number' and along the
I04
In
1
MYSORE.
866, an Indin
Commission was formed
for the
purpose of inquiring
into the rent-free holdings, the indniddrs receiving fresh grants,
which
amount of quit-rent where such is payable. In 1 880-81, the Indvi Commission closed its inquiries. The number of indni lands confirmed were 57,888, of which 57,726 were enfranchised and 162
specify the
ifidtn
unenfranchised; of whole villages there were 2095 confirmed; 11,302 lands were resumed for invalidity of tenure and 4658 cases were 'struck off' as neither identifiable nor enjoyed. The total cost
;
of the
Commission
to the close of
1880-81 amounted to ^95,358,
while the total addition to the revenue during the same period was
^85,432.
In the Malnad, although for administrative purposes there are nominal villages, the agriculturists do not live in communities, but each rent-payer has his own farm, and his own labourers, who were formerly serfs. The absence of any organization like that of the Ayagdr or
Bdra Baloti
(the
12 village
officials),
which prevailed in the plain
Districts, of course
threw
all
authority into the hands of the pdtel or
farmer, who, so long as he paid the
was
practically omnipotent,
except
Government demand on his farm, when crimes of a grave nature
took place within his jurisdiction.
nition of their feudal status.
this
In the wilder part of the country, the head-men received from the State grants of rent-free land in recog-
The rural slavery which mainly upheld system was abolished by orders of the Government of India; but it does not seem to have been of a specially oppressive kind,
the pdtels^ as a rule, treating their serfs rather as menial servants than
as slaves.
The Malndd farms comprise, besides rice lands and areca-nut gardens, a certain proportion of wood for timber and fuel, and grazing ground
for cattle, the
kdns, in which are
in some instances being extensive forests called grown coffee, pepper-vines, and other products. Sivappa Nayak of Keladi, who ruled over the Nagar country in the middle of the 1 7th century, fixed the Government share of the produce
woods
at one-third, taking as the basis of his valuation the quantity of
seed
required to sow a definite area of land, called locally the bijivari (from
hijd^
been equitable; but
shisi^ seems to have and notably Haidar All, added various extra charges called/^///, amounting to one-third more, which bore heavily on the landholder. The new settlement is rectifying this
a seed).
The
total
assessment, called the
his
successors,
injustice.
The
only other tenure of importance
is
land granted for coffee
on certain specified conditions as to the plantation of a fixed number of plants every year, and the payment of an excise at i rupee (2s.) per cwt. Such grants have virtually been issued under the guarantee of the British Government, and are therefore as valid as
cultivation,
'
'
MYSORE.
fairly
105
any other leases, provided that the conditions referred to have been The payment of 'excise' has recently been complied with. superseded by an assessment on the cultivated area. Coffee lands are now (1885) held on an acreage assessment— either at the I rupee (2s.) per acre with a guarantee for 30 years on the terms of
Survey Settlement
;
on a permanent assessment of \\ rupee (3s.) per desire it, on the terms of the Madras Coffee Land Rules, reserving to Government the claim to royalty on valuable Nearly all the mineral products, namely, metals and precious stones. large planters have adopted the permanent tenure. Grass lands, merely for purposes of pasture and growth of fuel or grasses for fodder, are granted on a separate assessment of 4 annas (6d.) per acre, provided they are in clearly defined compact blocks. The Faiimie density of population per square mile, 303; villages per square mile, 072 ; houses per square The District contained 2137 towns mile, 57-2 ; persons per house, 6*4. consisting of 138,912 occupied and 31,721 unoccupied and villages,
houses.
1
The
decrease in the population
is
mainly due to the famine of
which famine, it is estimated, there had been a loss 8 76-7 7 ; during of about a million of lives in Mysore State {(/.v.). There were in 1881, under 15 years of age, 174)644 boys and 171, 734 girls; total children, The adults 346,378, or 38*4 per cent, of the District population. numbered 268,535 males and 287,653 females; total, 556,188, or 6i-6
of the population.
All the population figures in this article, and
all
averages and per-
MYSORE
in
DISTRICT.
117
centages calculated therefrom refer to Mysore District as constituted
the
February 1881, one month before the rendition of Mysore State to Maharaja. In 1S83, however, there was a reorganization of Districts, the former Districts of Chitaldriig and Hassan being
abolished,
and
their territories distributed
among
other Districts.
results of the change, so far as regards
Mysore
District, is to
The make up
In
the
article,
a population
of 1,194,087
figures,
for
the
reconstituted
all
District.
absence of
1880-81.
later
however,
statistics
given in this
last
except where otherwise stated, refer to the year of the
Census,
tion into the following six
In respect of occupation, the Census of 188 1 divided the male populamain groups: (i) Professional class, including
—
State officials of every kind
16,405; (2)
(3)
and members of the learned professions, domestic servants, inn and lodging-house keepers, 2178;
class,
commercial
including bankers, merchants, carriers,
etc.,
7388
;
(4) agricultural class, including shepherds, 197,966; (5) industrial class, including all manufacturers and artisans, 25,279; and (6) indefinite and
unproductive
class,
comprising
all
male children, general labourers, and
persons of unspecified occupation, 193,963. The religious division of the people in 1881 showed
or 95-1 per cent.
;
— Hindus, 859,001,
;
Muhammadans,
40,916, or 4*5 per cent.
Christians,
2603, or o'3 per cent. ;Parsis, 36; and Sikhs, 10.
The Hindus were
further
sub-divided, according to the two great sects, into worshippers of Vishnu
and worshippers
of Siva.
to
chiefly belonging
the Smarta sect
at
In point of caste, Brahmans numbered 33,008, the claimants to the rank of
;
Kshattriyahood were returned
5692
;
among
Jains,
the Vaisyas, the Komatis
15 19;
^Marathas,
were
2268,
and
'others'
18,275;
castes, the
Satanis (serving in Vishnuite temples), 2626; Rachewars (athletes
fighters), 1908.
Of inferior
are
most numerous
is
3723; and the Wokligas
agricul-
(159,097),
who
agricultural
labourers;
'others' of the
tural class, 6777; Kurubas (shepherds), 89,131 ; Bestars (fishermen), 84,778; Uppars (salt - makers), 20,476; Collars (cowherds), 4216;
Vaddars (stone-masons, well-sinkers, tank-diggers), 8059 Kunchigars (brass and copper smiths), 3166; Neyigas (weavers), 31,672; Idigars Ganigars (oil(toddy -drawers), 6363; Agasas (washermen), 14,312
;
;
pressers),
The
11,515; Kumbars (potters), 10,056; Napits (barbers), 6304. Lingayats, who have always been very influential in this part of
the country, were returned at 144,523, of
agriculturists,
whom many
tribes,
are classified as
though trade
is
the special occupation of the sect.
Out-
castes were returned at
154,696; wandering
in
1573; aboriginal
non-Hindu tribes, 4355. The ]VIuhammadans muster strongest
all
Mysore
taluk^
and
are almost
returned as Deccani (Dakshini)
Muhammadans.
Sunni's,
They
are distri-
buted by the Census into 33,060
1027 Shias, 100 Wahabis,
ii8
MYSORE
DISTRICT.
2089 Pindan's, 2573 Labbays, 1646 Daira or Mahadavl ; and 'other' Out of the total of 2603 Christians, 184 were 421. returned as Europeans and 221 as Eurasians, leaving 2198 for native converts. According to another principle of division, there were 634 Protestants and 1969 Roman Catholics. Mysore District contains 2137 towns and villages, with few houses of the better class, or over ^50 in value. Of the total number of towns and villages, 845 contain less than two hundred inhabitants; 798 from two to five hundred 351 from five hundred to one thousand 1 10 from one to two thousand 19 from two to three thousand 9 from three to five thousand 1 from ten to fifteen 3 from five to ten thousand thousand; and i more than fifty thousand. The town of Mysore, Avhich is described in the following article, covers an area of about 3 square miles, and contains a total i:)opulation of 60,292 persons. The four following towns also each contain a population of more than 5000: Seringapatam, 11,734; Malvalli, 5078; HuxsuR or Dod-Hiinsur, 5670; and Nanjangab, 5202. There are altogether eleven municipauties in the District, with an aggregate municipal revenue in 1880-81
Muhammadans,
;
;
;
;
;
;
—
of
^9643.
Of
the interesting sites
ancient metropolis of Southern India,
that has drifted from the
city of TiRKANAMBi; the old
may be mentioned Talkad, the now covered with blown sand
;
bed of the river Kaveri (Cauvery); the ancient cantonments at Hirode or French Rocks
its
and the
of Siva.
just
hill
of
Chamundi, with
falls
colossal figure of the sacred bull
The
celebrated
of the Kaveri near
Sivasamudram
District
lie
beyond the Mysore boundary, within the Madras
of
Coimbatore.
Agriculture.
— The main cultivation of Mysore
The
is
District consists of dry
crops, though there are especially favoured tracts
irrigation
where the
facility
is
of
permits rice to be grown.
corocana,
GcErtn.),
great food staple
ragi
(Eleusine
which
its
preferred
by the labouring
It is esti-
classes to rice,
on account of
will
strengthening qualities.
mated that 4s. for one month.
cattle.
purchase enough of
this grain to sustain
a
man
The
straw of ragi furnishes, also, the best fodder for
The
crops, both wet
;
and
but
dry, are generally classed as hain or
it
kdr, according to the season
is
not usual to take both a hain
crops, both wet
in September,
and a kdr crop off the same are sown in July and August
dry crops in April.
land.
;
Hain
kdr wet crops All crops can be grown as
rice, cotton,
and dry, and kdr
either hai?i or kdr, with
the exception of certain sorts of
vegetables, which are
wheat, gram, and
many
grown
as hain only.
Among
miscellaneous crops
tobacco, cotton,
raised only in certain localities,
may be mentioned
and sugar-cane.
success.
Coffee cultivation has been attempted, but with Httle
In 1883 there were 85 plantations owned by natives occupying 132 acres of land, yielding an approximate out-turn of 1400
9
MYSORE
lbs.
;
DISTRICT.
^50.
The
to the persistent mortality
1
1
estimated value of the yield,
off,
cultivation of mulberry
also has greatly fallen
owing
among
the
silkworms.
Out of a
total
area of 29S0 square miles, 1096 square miles are
;
returned as under cultivation
164 square miles as cultivable waste
;
and
1720 square miles as uncultivable waste. The following statistics are from returns made in 1S80-81, the year before the rendition of the State:
— Area
6796; other food-grains, 4497; cocoa-nut and arecanut, 13,947; cotton, 1732; sugar-cane, 241; and mulberry, 3241. The corresponding figures for 1884 show a considerable increase in
under
rice,
61,119 acres;
wheat,
568,455;
oil-seeds,
36,221;
vegetables,
cultivation.
wheat,
In that year, rice occupied (approximately) 102,015 acres 10,373 acres; other food-grains, 875,618 acres; cotton, 711
;
;
acres; coffee, 153 acres
and sugar-cane, 260
acres.
;
The average
wheat land,
9s.
5s.
rent per acre for rice land in 1880-81 was 9s. 3d.
4d.
;
for
for land producing inferior grains,
5s.
4d.
;
for
land
producing cotton,
4d.
;
oil-seeds,
and
fibres,
5s.
5s.
4d.
;
for sugar-cane land,
and
for
tobacco land,
4d.
The
average produce of an
acre of rice land is 1393 lbs.; of wheat lands, 574 lbs.; of land producing inferior grains, 820 lbs. ; of cotton lands, 984 lbs. of oilseed lands, 820 lbs. of sugar-cane lands, 11 25 lbs.; and of tobacco Current prices in 1880 per viaimd of 80 lbs. were lands, 840 lbs.
; ;
as
follows— for
;
rice,
6s.; wheat, 4s.
;
lod.
;
cotton,
;
£2;
;
sugar,
;
£\,
ddl,
IIS. 2jd.
7s.
salt, 9s.
lod.
gram, from
4d.
;
3s. 7d. to 6s. id.
ragi, 2s. 5d.
7d.
;
tobacco,
^3,
7s.
7s.
unrefined sugar, 13s. 4d.
and
ghi, the
Indian substitute for butter,
costs
lard, etc.,
£2,
is.
15s. 8d.
A
plough bullock
£2,
a sheep
3id.
17s. 6d. the lb.
Skilled"^
is is.
is
The The
hire of a cart
agricultural stock
and silk at and unskilled is. 6d. a day, of a donkey 6d., and of a boat 2s. returned at 6488 carts, 93,587 ploughs, and 49
Iron
sells at 13s.
per 80
lbs.,
labour costs
6d. a day,
boats. Irrigation
is
industriously practised wherever practicable,
by means
channels drawn off by anicuts, or dams, from the large rivers. On the Kaveri there are 9 of these anicuts, besides 7 on the LakshThe total length of channels is mantirtha, and 5 on other streams.
of
artificial
497 miles, watering an area that yields a revenue of ;j^27,5oo.
total
The
soil,
number of tanks is 1978. manure is less necessary than in other
of
Owing
to
the
fertility
of the
Districts.
The common
cattle
breeds.
Mysore are of a poor description, but there are two or three famous Foremost among these is the amrita iiiahdl, which is said to have been selected by Haidar All for military purposes, and is still The characteristics of this breed carefully maintained by the State. endurance, speed, soundness of feet, and a light colour. are size, Two other local breeds, differing from the amrita mahdl chiefly by the
I20
MYSORE
DISTRICT.
^^iri.
absence of thorough-bred qualities, are known as hallikdr and niadhiLThe total live stock of Mysore District (1884) is returned at
603,927 cows and bullocks, 212 horses, 3975 ponies, 7280 donkeys, 698,754 sheep and goats, and 5725 pigs. It has been observed that the jungle tribe of Kurubas are in the habit of domesticating the young
of the wild hog.
Manufactures,
centrated
at
etc.
— The
city,
chief industries of Alysore District are con-
Mysore
and
at
Ganjam, the modern quarter of
are cotton
Seringapatam.
The
articles
made
cloth of fair quality,
kamblis or country blankets, coarse paper, and sugar.
Cotton-weaving
and the manufacture of pottery and brass-w^are are carried on in most villages, to meet the local demand. The Avinding of raw silk is a declining industry. At Hunsur there Avere formerly Government and at the factories connected with the Commissariat Department
;
present
time leather
articles
(boots, knapsacks, etc.), fine
blankets,
and
the
carts continue to
training
be produced there by workmen who maintain The tannery is now in the hands of they received.
an enterprising native. At the same place, also, there are extensive pulping works for coffee, which is sent from the Coorg plantations. Palhalli was formerly the site of another important factory, known as
the Ashtagram Sugar Works, where the jaggery produced by the rdyats
from sugar-cane and the date-palm was refined. This factory obtained honourable awards at several exhibitions in Europe, but it has now been abandoned.
The
principal exports are food-grains, oil-seeds, betel-leaf, sugar, silk,
;
tobacco, hides, sandal-wood, and sheep
the imports are piece-goods,
There is a great demand for grain in Coimbatore and the Nilgiri Hills, and a considerable trade and Madras. In the 31 mines of the is conducted with Bangalore Local traffic District the output of iron in 1880-81 was worth ^462. is carried on chiefly at weekly markets, and a large number of the traders are Musalmdns. The merchants residing at the town of Mysore
hardware,
salt, ghi,
cotton,
and
w4ieat.
belong for the most part to the Kunchigar caste. The chief annual The fairs are held at Seringapatam, Ganjam, and Chunchankatta.
total
miles.
is 178 miles, and of District roads 637 About 46 miles of the Mysore State Railway passes through Mandya and Ashtragram taluks to Mysore city, the present terminus
length of State roads
of the
line.
In 1 880-81, the total revenue of Mysore District amounted to ^149,978. The chief item was land revenue, ;£"ioo,26i. By 1883, the total revenue of the District had increased to ^194,355, land revenue, ^125,029; forests, ^13,108; the chief items being and abkdri or excise, ^32,197. The District is divided into 14 taluks
AdmiiiistratioTi.
—
—
or fiscal divisions, with 117 hoblis or minor fiscal units.
In 1870-71,
;
MYSORE
the total
DISTRICT.
estates
121
number of revenue-paying
registered proprietors or coparceners.
\\\Q
was 552, owned by 25,955 These figures do not include
an
jdgir of
Yelandur
in the south-east of the District, containing
a very fertile tract, which was granted as an area of 73 square miles hereditary fief, rent-free, by the British Government to the Diwan
—
During 1880, the average daily prison population was 345*2, and of the taluk lock-ups, 13*3; total, 358*5, of whom 15*4 were women, showing i person in jail to every 2517 of the population. In the same year, the District police force numbered 53 officers and 570 men, maintained at an aggregate cost These figures show i policeman to every 4 J square miles of ^7153.
Piirnaiya in
1807.
of the District
jail
;^2,
of area or to every 1449 persons of the population; the cost being 8s. per square mile, and nearly 2d. per head of population.
The Maharaja's
college,
situated at
Mysore
city,
had
in
1880-81
an average daily attendance of 32 scholars. The number of schools, Government and aided, in 1880 was 174, attended by 5947 pupils, being i school to every 17 square miles, and 6*6 pupils to every thousand of the population. Of the 174 schools, 8 are girls', with 371 pupils. These figures are exclusive of the iahik schools and of 2 jail In 1883 there were 184 schools, with returned 10,498 boys and 341 girls as under instruction, together with 29,063 males and 791 females able to read and write. In 1880-81 there were two printing presses, both in Mysore city. Medical Aspects. The climate of Mysore is hotter than that of the neighbouring District of Bangalore, and exhibits greater extremes of
schools, educating 392 pupils.
8515
pupils.
The Census
of 1881
—
temperature.
The mean annual temperature
rainfall,
is
a
little
above 77° F.
is
The annual
calculated over a period of 38 years,
28*9
between August and October May also is a rainy month. In 1881 the rainfall was returned at 27*8 It has been inches, of which 6 inches fell in October and 5 in May. observed that the tracts lying close beneath the Nilgiri Hills and the Western Ghats receive less rain than the open country. The prevalent disease is malarious fever, which is generally ameninches, of which the greater portion falls
able to treatment.
In special
tracts,
however, such as the island of
and the iardi lying beneath the Nilgiri Hills, it is complicated with enlargement of the spleen and visceral congestions. Europeans are most liable to fever during the cold months, from December to February. Both Europeans and natives enjoy the best Outbreaks of health during the prevalence of the south-west monsoon.
Seringapatam
epidemic cholera, when
they occur, generally
commence about
;
the
it
month of April.
in 1880,
The
vital statistics are far
from trustworthy
but
may be mentioned
that out of a total
to fever,
number of 14,490 deaths reported
1058 to bowel complaints, 431 to
9636 were assigned
; ;
122
small-pox,
raja's
MYSORE TALUK AND
and 42
to snake-bite
CITY.
Hospital
whom
and wild beasts. In 1880, the Mahawas attended by 866 in-patients, of 106 died; the out-patients numbered 15,594. Total income of
at
Mysore
city
the hospital,
^1237;
of other dispensaries in the District, ^£205.
[For
further information regarding Mysore, see the Gazetteer of Mysore^
by
Mr. Lewis Rice, 2 vols. (Bangalore, 1877).] Mysore. Tdluk in the centre of Mysore District, Mysore State. Population Area, 394 square miles, of which 152 are cultivated. 120,172, namely, 59,013 males and 61,159 (1871) 126,930; (1881) females, consisting of 104,389 Hindus, 14,504 Muhammadans, 1333
—
Christians, 36
Parsis,
and 10
Sikhs.
All the Parsis,
and the
great
majority of the
Muhammadans and
(1883),
Christians, are found in the city of
Mysore.
country
is
Revenue
w^atered
exclusive of water rates, ;£9485tributaries
by two small
is i
of the Kabbani.
The The
sea-
principal natural feature
level.
the
Chamundi
;
Hill,
3489
feet
above
The
tdluk contains
criminal court
police circles {thdnds), 6
regular police, 284
men; chaukiddrs or village watchmen, 264. Mahesh-um, 'Buffalo town,' the generally accepted derivation being from Mahesh - dsiira, the buffalo-headed demon Capital of Mysore corrupted to Maheshur, and to Maisur, Mysore). State. Situated in 12° 18' 24" n. lat, and 76° 41' 48" e. long., 10 The Census of 187 1 returned miles south by west of Seringapatam.
Mysore
(or
—
the
total
number of
Of
the population in
inhabitants at 57,815, that of 1881 at 60,292. 1881, 28,979 were males and 31,313 females.
to religion, there
Classified according
were 45^669
unspecified.
Hindus,
13,288
Muhammadans, 1289
is
Christians,
and 46
about 3 committee
Town
is
over 3 suburbs. over by the Deputy Commissioner, with the is presided Most of the municipal revenue Magistrate as Vice-President.
square miles, spread
The total area The municipal
In derived from octroi duties and taxes on houses and shops. 1883-84, the total municipal income amounted to ^7i47, of which ;£4526 was derived from octroi duties, and £'i']^S from taxes The total expenditure in the same (chiefly on houses and shops).
year was ^'6714, of which
works,
The etc. Utakamand (Ootacamund) high-road runs through the city, from which also roads diverge to Malvalli (eastward), the Wainad (westward), and by way of Yelwal (north-westward) to Coorg and
^1473
-
for conservancy,
^2403 was for police, ;^533 and ^7^9 ^^ collection,
for public
Bangalore
Hassan
District.
etc.
Ge7ieral Aspects, Buildings,
—
iSIysore city
is
situated at the foot of
the Chamundi Hill, in a valley formed by two parallel ridges running north and south. The general line of drainage is towards the south,
and
in the rainy season the surface water runs off rapidly into a large
tank, called after
Deva
Raja.
The
fort
alone drains into the Dalavai's
MYSORE
(or
CITY.
The
123
streets
Commander-in-Chief's) tank, 4 miles farther south.
fort.
generally are broad and regular, except in the
The
majority of
the houses are
tiled,
and some of them are
substantial buildings,
two or
three storeys high, with terraces.
Altogether, the city has a clean
and
prosperous look, and of late years some fine public buildings have sprung up, while the efforts of the municipal board have greatly improved the
sanitation.
The fort stands The ground-plan The yards long.
In the interior
is
in the south of the city,
is
forming a quarter by
itself.
quadrangular, each of the sides being about 450
defences consist of a stone wall, ditch, and glacis,
;
with outworks and flanking towers
but they are
mean and
ill-planned.
the palace of the Maharaja, built since 1800 in an
extravagant style of
paintings executed
Hindu
architecture, and,
artist.
adorned inside with a few
front, tawdrily painted by a European and supported by four wooden pillars fantastically carved, comprises the Sejje or Dassara Hall, where the Maharaja shows himself to the This throne is the people on great occasions seated on his throne.
The
principal object of interest in the palace.
It is
made
of fig-wood,
overlaid with ivory,
and
is
generally stated to have been presented to
Chikka Deva Raj
in
1699 by the
Muhammadan Emperor
and
Aurangzeb.
The
ivory has since been covered with gold
silver plating,
wrought
this
with the customary figures of
Hindu mythology.
To
be seated on
throne constitutes the coronation ceremony in Mysore ; and the State appellation of the Maharaja is Simhdsan-ddhipati, or 'ruler enthroned.'
The
only other rooms in the palace worthy of mention are the ambd-
viMsa, with floor of chimdm and doors overlaid with richly carved ivory and silver, where the late Maharaja used to receive his European
guests
;
and the Painted Hall, with massive
its
walls of
mud, which
is
the
only relic of the original palace destroyed by Tipii Sultan.
ing
The
build-
and
surroundings have undergone
for the
while a new palace The remainder of
many improvements of late, Maharaja has been erected at Bangalore.
enclosed
within the
fort
is
the
area
covered
royal
with houses, which are mostly occupied by
members
of the
household.
Opposite the western gate of the fort is a lofty and handsome building known as the Jagan Mohan Mahal, which was erected by the
late
Maharaja
is
for the entertainment of the
European
officers.
The
upper storey
decorated with grotesque paintings of hunting scenes.
The houses
of the
of the European residents are for the most part to the east The old Residency, built by Colonel Wilks in the town.
is
beginning of the present century,
now
called the
Lower Residency,
used for the Sessions Court and the Representative Assembly, as well as for the accommodation of the Maharaja's European guests. The present Residency, first occupied as such by Sir James Gordon as
and
is
124
guardian to the Maharaja,
site,
NAAF,
is more to the south-east, but on a loftier The which commands a splendid view of the whole city. building now the official residence of the Diwan was originally built by the Duke of Wellington (then Colonel Wellesley) for his own
occupation.
formerly occupied by the village of Puragere.
was was erected by one of the earliest of the Wodeyar line, and called Maheshnru, buffalo town, from Mahesh-dsuru, the buffalo-headed monster slain by Chamundi or Kali. This fort remained the capital of the Wodeyars
History.
site
— The
of the
town, according to local
tradition,
In 1524, a
fort
until they
obtained possession of Seringapatam in 1610.
design to obliterate
all
Tipii Sultan,
in furtherance of his
traces of the
Hindu
Raj,
razed the town to the ground, and began to build a fortress on a neighbouring hill, to which he gave the name of Nazarabad. On his downfall in 1799, the present fort was rebuilt on the old site with the very
stones that had been
removed by
Tipii.
The
late ]\Iaharaja,
who was
then as an infant solemnly placed by the English on the fig-wood throne, continued to reside here until his death in 1868. His profuse expenditure stimulated the trade of the town.
in 1831,
Since the British occupation
Bangalore has been
the seat of administration.
N
Naaf
of
(or jVdf).
— An
of the western boundary of
arm of the Bay of Bengal, forming a portion Akyab District, and separating the Province
Lower Burma from Chittagong in Bengal. 'Naaf is the Bengali name given to the estuary, which is known to the Burmese as the x\naukngay.
It is
about 31 miles long and 3 miles broad at
its
mouth, shallow-
ing considerably towards the head.
Lat. 20° 45' n., long. 92° 30' e.
The
island of Shahpuri, which protects the entrance to some extent from the monsoon, finds a place in history as the immediate casus belli
of the first Anglo-Burmese war. In September 1823, a small British detachment, then occupying the island, was attacked by the Arakanese troops under the Raja of Ramri, and this led to the war of 1824-25.
Numerous rocks and
dangerous.
shoals render the entrance to the
Naaf estuary
St.
Ferry-boats ply regularly between Maung-daw, in Arakan,
side.
and the Chittagong and Oyster Islands.
Off the coast
lie
the uninhabited
Martin's
Naaf (or Anaiik-nga)\ the 'Little West Country'). Township in Akyab District, Arakan Division, Lower Burma; lying between the Naaf estuary on the west, the Ma-yu Hills on the east, and touching the Bay of Bengal towards the south. The northern portion is but The central part is sparsely inhabited, and is covered with forest.
—
NAB AD WJP—NABHA.
;
125
well cultivated and the southern is a narrow, sandy tract, which forms Naaf is divided into 1 1 revenue good grazing ground for cattle. circles, with its head - quarters at Maung-daw. Population (1881)
53,804; number of villages, 344. Total revenue (1881-82), ^13,250 namely, land revenue, ^8008; capitation-tax, ^4737 fisheries, ;^7o;
; ;
salt,
acres, of
local cess, £,1^1Area under cultivation, 41,416 which 38,000 acres are under rice. Town in Nadiya District, Bengal. See Nadiva Nabadwip.
^82; and
Town. Nabaganga.
Nadiya
river
— — River
east
—
of Bengal, an offshoot of the IMatabhanga in
its
District.
After entering Jessor on
western boundary, the
Jhanidah, Magura, meets the Madhumati on the extreme east of the District. The Nabaganga has long been completely shut up at its head, and cannot now be traced beyond a swamp 6 miles from its former source, which was at Damurhuda. It is drying up year by year, and in the hot season is unnavigable. In December, however, boats of about 2 tons burthen can still pass up to
flows, first
and then
south-east, past
it
Nahata, Naldi, and Lakshmipasa,
till
Jhanidah.
Nabha.
of the
— One
of the cis-Sutlej States under
the
political control
Government of the Punjab, lying between 30° 17' and 30° 40' N. lat, and between 75° 50' and 76° 20' e. long. Area, 928 square miles, with 3 towns and 482 villages; number of houses, 42,019; Total population (1881) 261,824, number of families, 56,519. namely, males 145,155, and females 116,669; proportion of males,
55 '4 per cent.; density of population, 282 persons per square mile;
persons per town or i33j57i
Sikhs,
village,
539; persons per house,
4-6.
Classified
according to religion, the population in 1881 consisted
j
of^ Hindus,
375; and
77,682;
is
Muhammadans, 50,178;
Jains,
Christians, 18.
descended from Tiloka, the eldest son of Phul, a village in the Nabha territory. The Raja of Jind (Jhind) is descended from the same branch, and the Raja of Patiala is descended from Rama, second son of Phul. These three families are accordingly known as the Phulkidn houses. The history of the State is of little importance until after Ranj it Singh's cis-Sutlej campaigns of 1807-08, when it appeared that the Sikh conqueror would be satisfied with nothing less than absolute supremacy over the whole country to the north of the Jumna. On this, the Raja of
ruling family
The
a Sidhu Jat,
who founded
Nabha
applied to the English for aid.
his
arrival
at
He
the
received Colonel Ochter-
lony on
Nabha
with
utmost cordiality;
and
in
under British protection, with the other cis-Sutlej States. The Raja Jaswant Singh was a faithful ally of the British Government but after his death, which
1809,
the
State was
May
formally taken
;
;
126
NAB HA TOWN.
occurred in 1840, his son, Raja Debendra Singh, at the time of the the Sikh invaders, and his first Sikh war in 1845, sympathized with carriage and suppHes required from him in conduct in regard to
accordance with treaty was dilatory and suspicious in the extreme. Previous to the battles of Miidki and Ferozshah, only 32 camels and
681 viaicnds of grain were furnished, while after those actions supplies were sent in abundance, and after the final victory of Sobraon the whole resources of the Nabha State were placed at the disposal of the conduct British Government. An official investigation was made into the
of the
Nabha
Chief, wdth the result that he
a pension of ^^5000 a year.
in power.
was deposed and assigned His eldest son, Bharpur Singh, was placed
At the time of the Mutiny in 1857, this Chief showed distinand was rewarded by grants of territory to the value military of over ;^i 0,000, on the usual condition of political and Raja Bharpur Singh died in danger. service at any time of general
c-uished loyalty,
1863, and was succeeded by his brother, By the sanad of without issue in 1871.
Bhagwan
Singh,
who died
was pro-
May
5,
i860,
it
vided
a case of failure of male heirs to any one of the three Phulkian houses, a successor should be chosen from among the descendants of Phul, by the two other chiefs and the representative of Accordingly Hira Singh, the present Raja, a the British Government.
that, in
Jdgirddr of Jind, but of the same family as the late ruler, was then He is a Sikh of the Sidhu Jat tribe, and was selected as his successor.
born about 1843. The supposed gross revenue of Nabha State
principal products — sugar,
cereals, cotton,
military force, including poUce, consists 50 artillerymen, 560 cavalry, and 1250 infantry.
in 1883 was ^65,000 and tobacco. The estimated of 12 field and 10 other guns,
;
A
iiazardfia
is
pay-
able to the British
Government on the succession of collaterals to the Chiefship, and the Chief is bound to execute justice and promote the to prevent sati, slavery, and female infantiwelfare of his subjects to to co-operate with the British Government against an enemy cide and to grant, free of expense, land required furnish supplies to troops
;
•
;
;
for railroads
On the other hand, he is and imperial lines of road. the Government in full and unreserved possession of guaranteed by and he has also powers of life and death over his subhis territory
;
jects.
In the succession to the Chiefship the rule of primogeniture
holds.
The Raja of Nabha is entitled to a salute of 1 1 guns. Nabha. Chief town and capital of Nabha State, Punjab, and
—
resi-
dence of the Raja.
Population (1881) 17,116, namely, Hindus, 8351
Christians,
2.
Muhammadans, 6090; Sikhs, 2526; Jains, 147; and Number of houses, 3246. Nabha town is the only place
ance in the
State.
of any import-
;
NABIGAXJ—NA CHANG A ON.
1
2 7
Nabiganj. Village in Mainpuri District, North-Western Provinces on the Grand Trunk Road, 24 miles east of Mainpuri town. Lat. 27°
11'
—
50"
N.,
long.
79°
25'
25"
E.
Hindus 916, and Muhammadans
inn).
133.
Population (1881) 1049, namely, Police outpost; sardi (native
Nabiganj.
District,
—Village
and police
station in the south-east of Sylhet
river.
Assam, on the Barak branch of the Surma Bengal of rice, s'ltalpdti mats, and oil-seeds.
Exports to
Nabinagar.
north-west
ciuarters
— Town
in
Sitapur District,
Oudh
;
situated 3 miles
of
Laharpur
of the
Head2524. tdlukddr of Katesar, whose residence is the only
town.
Population
(1881)
masonry building in the village. Founded about two centuries ago by Nabi Khan, son of Nawab Sanjar Khan of Malihabad. Captured fifty or sixty years afterwards by Gaur Rajputs, who have held it ever
since.
Nabisar.
District,
—Town
E.,
in
the
Umarkot
tdluk of the
situated
in
Sind,
Bombay Presidency;
lat.
Thar and Parkar 25° 4' n., and
long.
69° 41'
with
Nawakot, Juda, Daraila,
20 miles south of Umarkot, and connected by road Samara, Harpar, Mitti, and Chelar.
Head-quarters of a tappdddr.
school, dharnisdla,
chiefly
ghi.
and
post-office.
Contains a police thdnd, Government Population (1881) under 2000,
engaged in agriculture, cattle-breeding, and an export trade in Manufactures of weaving and dyeing. Local and transit trade in
cotton, cocoa-nuts, grain, camels, cattle, hides, sugar, tobacco, wool,
and
metals.
Nabog Nai {N'oyagni). — Pass
the east.
crest
in
India, over the range of mountains
Lat. 33° 43' n., long.
sea-level,
Kashmir (Cashmere) State, Northern bounding the Kashmir valley on
e.
75° 34'
(Thornton).
Elevation of
above
12,000
feet.
Ndbpur
{Ldbhpiir).
— Trading
town
village in
Birbhum
tahsil,
District,
Bengal,
recently transferred from Bardwan.
Nachangdon.
— Ancient
in
Wardha
20° 42'
Wardha
District,
Central Provinces; situated in
lat.
n.,
and
long. 78° 22' e., 2
miles south of Pulgaon railway station, and 2 1 miles from AVardha town.
Hindus number 3035 and followers of aboriginal religions, The sardi {ndXxwe. inn), with its strong stone walls and gateway, 183. resembles a fort, and was once successfully held by the inhabitants
Population (1881) 3615, chiefly agriculturists.
;
Aluhammadans, 286;
Jains, 11 1;
It contains a well, a carved stone on which records was constructed four centuries ago by Badshah Lar. Every Thursday a market takes place in the square in the centre of the town and on the 4th of Aswin Vadhya (end of September) a yearly fair is held in the temple of Puranik. Nachangaon has a good town school, and is a police outpost.
against the Pindaris.
that the building
;
—
128
NA CHIARKO VIL—NADl YA.
(also called Srivil/iputur).
Nachiarkovil
—Town
in the Srivilliputur
Madras Presidency. Lat. 9° 30' 25" n., 40' E. Population (1881) 1245; number of houses, 286. long. 77° There is a fine pagoda here. Nadanghat.— Trading village in the Kalna (Culna) Sub-division of
tdink of Tinnevelli District,
Bardwan
46' N.,
District, Bengal.
Nadaun.
and
Sir
— Town
in
long. 79° 19'
e.,
Kangra District, Punjab, situated in lat. 31° on the left bank of the Beas (Bias), 20 miles
Head-quarters of the jdgir of the late Kangra town. Jodhbir Chand, who was recently succeeded by his son Amar Chand. Population (1868) 1855. Not separately returned in Once a favourite residence of Raja Sansar the Census of 1881. built himself a palace at Amtar, on the river bank, one Chand, who
south-east of
Raja
mile
from the town, where he held his court during the summer.
well, jdgirddr's police station, post-
Handsome temple and covered
office,
school-house.
Manufacture of soap and of ornamental bamboo
pipe-stems.
Nadigaon.— Town
India.
in Datia State, Baghelkhand Agency, Central Population (1881) 5475, namely, Hindus, 5071, and Muham-
madans, 404. Nadiya {Nuddea; Nabadwip). District in the Lieutenant-Governorship of Bengal, lying between 22° 52' 33" and 24° 11' n. lat., and between 88° ii' and 89° 24' 41" e. long. Area, 3404 square miles. Nadiya Population, according to the Census of 1881, 2,017,847 souls.
—
District forms the northern portion of the Presidency Division.
It is
bounded on the north by the District of Rajshahi; on the east by Pabna and Jessor on the south by the Twenty-four Parganas on the and on the north-west by west by Birbhiim, Bardwan, and Hilgli
;
;
;
the
lines are formed principally by rivers main stream of the Ganges), separating Nadiya from Pabna and Rajshahi; the Jalangi, marking the line of division with Murshidabad; and the Bhagirathi, forming the western boundary of the District, although, owing to changes in the course of the last-named river, a strip of land belonging to Nadiya, and comprising the town of Nadiya and a few adjacent villages, now lies on the farther
Murshidabad.
The boundary
present the
Padma
(at
bank of the river. The Kabadak forms the south-eastern boundary, The District takes its name from the separating Nadiya from Jessor. but the administrative head-quarters town of Nadiya or Nabadwip and chief town is Krishnagar, on the Jalangi. Nadiya is emphatically a District of great rivers. Physical Aspects. at the head of the Gangetic delta, its alluvial surface, though Situated still liable to periodical inundation, has been raised by ancient deposits As opposed to the of silt sufficiently high to be permanent dry land.
;
—
swamps of
the Sundarbans
farther
seaward,
its
soil
is
agriculturally
NADIYA.
classed as 'high land,' bearing cold-weather crops as well as rice.
rivers
129
The
have now ceased their work of landmaking, and are in their turn beginning to silt up. Along the whole north-eastern boundary flows the wide stream of the Padma, which is here the main channel of the
Ganges; and
of that great
all
the numerous waterways of the District are offshoots
The Bhagirathi on the eastern border, and the Jalaxgi and the Mataehanga meandering through the centre of the District, are the chief of these offshoots, and are called distinctively the Nadiya Rivers.' But the whole surface of the country is interlaced with a network of minor streams, communicating with one another by
river.
'
side channels.
The
is
Jalangi flows past the civil station of Krishnagar,
the old town of Nadiya.
Its
and
falls
into the Bhagirathi opposite
The Matabhanga, after throwing ofl" the Pangasi, the Kumar, and the Kabadak, bifurcates near Krishnaganj, into the Churxi and the Ichhamati, and thereafter loses its own
chief offshoot
the Bhairab.
name.
All of these rivers are navigable in the rainy season for boats of the
burthen ; but during the rest of the year they dwindle down to shallow streams, with dangerous sandbanks and bars. In former times, the Nadiya Rivers afforded the regular means of communication
largest
* '
between the upper valley of the Ganges and the seaboard and the keeping open of their channels still forms one of the most important duties of Government. The elaborate measures adapted for this object will be found fully described in the Statistical Account of Be7igal (vol. ii.
;
Tolls are levied at Jangipur, Hanskhali, and Swariipganj, amount of about ^20,000 a year, and a considerable proportion of this revenue is expended on repairs, etc. by the engineering staff. But though much of the trade of the District still comes down to Calpp. 19-32).
to the
cutta
by
this route
the East
during the height of the rainy season, the lines of Indian and Eastern Bengal Railways, and also the main
now carry by far the In 1883-84, the number of boats plying on the 'Nadiya Rivers' was returned at 65.813, of a burden of 957,075
larger portion of the traffic.
tons, and carrying cargo to the value of ^2,896,191. The tolls levied amounted to ^20,090, and the expenditure incurred in keeping the rivers open, in establishment and maintenance, was jQ\2,<^2-]. Besides the larger rivers mentioned above, Nadiya District contains a large number of minor channels {khdls)^ and of bils or swamps. Reclamations of river or marsh lands have not been carried on in Nadiya District on any extensive or systematic plan but the marshes
;
stream of the Ganges and the Sundarbans route,
are largely utilized for the cultivation of the long of rice, or as reed and cane producing grounds.
-
stemmed
varieties
River
traffic,
consisting chiefly of grain, oil-seeds,
and molasses,
I
is
largely carried
on
at
the following
towns:— (i) On
the Bhagirathi;
VOL. X.
T30
NADIYA.
of the District,
former.
station
Kaliganj and Nadiya, the latter of which, although the ancient capital is now of less importance as regards trade than the
(2) On the Hugli— Santipur and Chagdah, the latter also a on the Eastern Bengal Railway. (3) On the Jalangi— KarimKrishnagar, and Swariipganj. pur, Chapra, (4) On the Matabhanga— Munshiganj, Krishnaganj, and Damurhuda. (5) On the Churni— Hanskhali and Ranaghat, the latter also a railway station. (6) On Nonaganj, Bangaon, and Gopalnagar. (7) On the the Ichhamati
—
Pangasi or Kumar Alamdanga, also a railway station. Padma Kushtia, also a railway station.
—
—
(8)
On
the
Leopards and wild hog are plentiful in the District, with an occasnipe and wild duck are numerous in the swamps. Snakes abound the number of deaths from snake-bite being about five hundred per annum, besides about fifty other deaths annually from wild
sional tiger
;
;
animals.
The
river fisheries
is
form an important item
is
in the
wealth of
the District,
and there
hardly a single town or large village without a
number
of fisher-families.
Fishing as an occupation
carried
on upon
a large scale in the Padma near Kushtia, whence an almost daily exportation of hilsd and other fish takes place by rail to Calcutta,
commencing
History.
at the
end of the rainy season, and
is
lasting
till
the end of
the cold season.
one of great antiquity from Bhattanarayan, and sanctity. They the chief of the five Brahmans imported from Kanauj by Adisur, King As, moreover, the family has figured somewhat conof Bengal.
trace descent in a direct line
—The family of the Nadiya Rdjas
spicuously in history, their annals are
more
interesting than usual.
The most
came
time
celebrated of the line was Maharaja Krishna Chandra, who to the gadi in 1728, and is described as the Maecenas of his
a munificent patron of letters, whose delight it was to entertain and converse with distinguished pandits, and who lost no opportunity of bestowing gifts of money and land upon men of learning and piety.
—
So famous was his bounty that there is a Bengali proverb still current, that he who does not possess a gift from Krishna Chandra cannot be At the time when Siraj-ud-daula was in arms a genuine Brahman. and in against us, Krishna Chandra took the part of the English recognition of his services. Lord Clive conferred on him the title of Rajendra Bahadur, and presented him with 12 guns used at Plassey,
;
which are
still
to be seen in the palace.
letters,
Chandra inherited, as a rule, his love of and men of piety and learning have always been received with favour at the Nadiya Court so that the town and District have gradually acquired great fame as the home of philosophers and pmidits.
The
successors of Krishna
;
The town
is also regarded as peculiarly sacred, being the birthplace of Chaitanya, the great Vaishnav reformer, in whose honour a festival
NADIYA.
attended by four or
five
131
held every January or February.
fame and sanctity of
interesting
;
its
thousand followers, and lasting twelve days, is But it is not only on account of the ancient capital that the District of Nadiya is
historical attractions alike for natives and Here was the capital of Lakshman Sen, the last Hindu king of Bengal and here was for it no longer remains the battle-field of Plassey, where, in 1757, Clive defeated the Muhammadan Nawab. The waters of the Bhagirathi have swept away the actual scene of the battle, and only a solitary tree remains to mark the spot where Clive's famous Mango-Grove once stood.
it
possesses
English.
;
—
—
In i860, Nadiya District was the principal scene of the indigo riots
which occasioned so
after the first
much excitement throughout Lower Bengal. Soon European planters established themselves in the District,
among
in
a feeling of jealousy arose
the large native landholders,
who
found their influence suffering
consequence of the presence of the new-comers. They accordingly endeavoured to raise in the minds of the cultivators an ill-feeling against the planters, and against the strange crop. Constant quarrels followed, and the planters, failing to get redress from the courts, had recourse to fighting the native landholders with bands of club-men. They also began to purchase, or to
obtain sub-tenures of the lands adjoining their factories, so that they
might be as
latter,
much as
possible independent of unfriendly zaminddrs.
The
however, took every occasion to create a feeling of dissatisfaction
the indigo cultivators, and not without success.
among
too, a
Unfortunately,
number
of circumstances
thus engendered.
combined to intensify the bitterness Crops had, for some years previous to i860, been
;
the rdyats were in a state of chronic indebtedan increase w^hich had taken place in the value of other agricultural produce, the cultivators saw^ that it would have paid Collisions them better to grow oil-seeds and cereals than indigo. became common ; and such was the excited state of the peasantry, that a spark was all that was required to set the indigo districts in a blaze. The crisis was brought about by some ill-disposed persons starting a rumour that the Government had declared itself against indigo planting. The District was for a time at the mercy of the cultivators
poor
ness
;
prices were low
to
;
and owing
;
and those rdyats who had lands sown with indigo in terms of their The contracts with the factories, were seized by the mob and beaten. Bengal Government succeeded in quieting the disturbance, and a Commission was appointed to inquire into the relations between Indigo cultivation in Nadiya the planters and the cultivators. received at this time a blow from which it has never altogether
recovered.
Population.— 0\^\v.g to numerous changes which have taken place
the area of the District jurisdiction,
tlie
in
results of early attempts
made
132
to
NADIYA.
if
enumerate the population of Nadiya would, even
they could be
considered accurate, be of no value at the present day. The first trustworthy Census was taken in 1872 ; and according to that enumeration, the population, on the area of the District as at present constituted,
and 3691
in
1
1
consisted of 1,812,795 persons, inhabiting 352,017 houses villages, the average density of the population being 530 per
square mile.
The
last
Nadiya
'3 1
District of 2,017,847,
per cent., in
enumeration in 1881 disclosed a total population showing an increase of 205,052, or nine years. This increase is the largest returned
;
for
any
District in the Presidency Division
it
and the Collector
is
of
opinion that
District
District,
represents merely the natural increase of births over
deaths, aided by a contingent of pilgrims
who were enumerated
fair at
in the
on
their
way
to or
from a religious
Nadiya town.
The
however, suffered severely from malarious fever in 1880 and 1881, and it has been estimated that the deaths from fever alone
during the eight months preceding the Census of 1881, amounted to
missioner, therefore, thinks that
real,
80,000, or nearly 4 per cent, of the population. the increase is
The Census Commore apparent than
and is probably due to the fact that the enumeration of 1872 was not so well taken in Nadiya District as had previously been
believed.
The
follows:
results of the
Census of 1881 may be
briefly
— Area of
District,
3404 square
miles, with 11 towns
summarized as and 3689
,
villages; number of houses, 378,032, of which 360,686 are occupied and 17,346 unoccupied. Total population, 2,017,847, namely, males 985,245, and females 1,032,602; proportion of males, 48*8 per cent. The preponderance of females is due to the fact that a considerable number of males belonging to the District are employed in Calcutta, only visiting their homes at intervals. Average density of population, 592-8 persons per square mile; number of towns or villages per square mile, i '09 persons per town or village, 545 houses per square mile, in; inmates per house, 5-6. Classified according to sex and age children under 15 years, males 420,836, and females 390,392;
;
;
—
total children, 811,228,
or 43-6 per cent, of the District population:
total
15 years and upwards, males 564,409, and females 642,210; adults, 1,206,619, or 56*4 per cent.
Religio7i.
—
Classified
according
to
religion,
Hindus
numbered
864,773, or 42-8 per cent.;
Muhammanans,
1,146,603, or 56-8 per
and 'others,' 3. number 106,721, namely, Brahmans, 59,894; Rajand Kayasths, 40,780. The lower castes of Hindus inputs, 6047 clude the following Kaibartta, the most numerous caste in the District, forming the bulk of the Hindu agricultural castes, 126,063 in number; Gwala (cowherds and milkmen), ^^^2>^2; Napit, 23,234;
cent.; Christians, 6440; Brahmos, 28;
Hindu high
;
castes
—
;
NADIYA,
;
133
Madak, 19,747; Lobar, 19,241; Kumbhar, 19,177 Jaliya, 19,052; Sadgop, 18,174; Baniyd, 17,706; Kalu, 16,179; Teli, 16,156; Jugi, 15.775; ^^^\ 14,284; Kapili, 13,308; Sunn, 11,796; Dhobi, 10,495;
Barhai,
10,446; Tanti,
5918.
as
The
aboriginal
7807; Mali, 6898; Hari, 6415; and Sonar, and semi-aboriginal tribes, who are all returned
Chamars, 61,058; Chandals, 43,780 Koch, 15.335; Bhuiya, 703; Bhumij, 124; Santal, 29; and other aborigines, 14,350. Caste-rejecting Hindus number 21,384,
religion, include
Hindus by
—
Bagdi, 42,946;
of
whom
in
Historically, the
21,330 are returned as Vaishnavs. Vaishnavs are merely worshippers of Vishnu,
century,
as
their
spiritual
who
agree
recognising Chaitanya, the great Vaishnav reformer of the
founder.
their
sixteenth
upon
caste.
entering
the
sect
renounce
is
family
But many of them and friends, and
form a community which
Starting
now
generally recognised as a distinct
from a basis of religious brotherhood and perfect equality, they have developed distinctions and class barriers among themselves, almost as stringent as those among the general Hindu community which they have quitted. The town of Santipur, in the Ranaghat Sub-division, is held sacred by them as the residence of the
descendants of Adwaitya, one of the two
first
disciples of Chaitanya.
The Vaishnavs Hindu society.
derive their recruits mainly from the lower ranks of
The
sect
has degenerated
from
its
former high
standard of faith and morals, and holds a very low place in popular estimation. A large proportion of them live by begging, and many of
the females by prostitution.
An
named
interesting sect
of
Hindus has
its
home
in
Nadiya
District,
namely, the Kartabhajas.
The founder
of the sect was a labourer
Ram
Smaran
of Ghoshpara,
Kanchrapara.
Pal, a Sadgop by birth, who lived in the village about 3 miles from the present railway station of Here the members of the sect hold their gatherings
;
assembling, in October and November, to the
number of
forty or fifty
thousand, to pay
homage
to their spiritual head, or kartd.
An
account
of the tenets of this sect will
be found
in the Statistical
Account of
^^«^^/
(vol.
ii.
pp. 53-55).
The Muhammad? ns
of
Nadiya
District
exceed the
Hindus
in
number, being returned at 1,146,603, or 56*8 per cent, of the District population. Their social status is not high, and they are mostly
cultivators.
A
chants and traders
few are petty landed proprietors or respectable merbut the Hindus are generally better off than the
;
corresponding class of
Muhammadans.
is
The
existence of a large Musalat
mdn
population in Nadiya
accounted for by wholesale conversions
a period anterior to the
Mughal Emperors, during the Afghan
Murshidabad and Dacca.
supre-
macy
;
and also to the
fact that the District
was the highway between
the great
Mughal
capitals of
—
134
NADIYA.
only form of sectarianism which the
is
The
Muhammadan
religion has
developed in Nadiya,
a rather powerful Faraizi or
community.
These are
not
now
a
disloyal
sect
Wahabi puritan body, and are not
Census.
returned as a separate
Muhammadan
in the
Half a
Titu
for a
century ago, the case was very different.
The
fanatic leader,
Miyan, found
husbandmen,
short time to
Nadiya in 1831 a sufficient body him to set up the standard of defy the British Government.
in
of disaffected Faraizi
revolt,
to lead
and
The
Christian
community
in
1881 numbered 6440, comprising 69
By sect the 67 Eurasians, and 6304 native converts. Church of England, 3444 \ Christian population is returned as follows
Europeans,
:
—
Protestants, 1084; Episcopalians, 15;
Catholics, 1202; Baptists, 324; Church of Scotland, 30; other denominations and unspecified, These figures do not exactly agree with those obtained from 341. other sources, as the Church Missionary Society claims 6128 native converts belonging to its Missions at Krishnagar town and outstations. There is also a Roman Catholic Mission at Krishnagar established in 1856, with a nunnery attached to it, concerning which
Roman
no
statistics are available,
about
their
but which is believed to have a following of hundred converts. The majority of the Christians earn living as husbandmen, and a few as constables, servants, and
five
vernacular teachers, or as preachers in connection with the Mission. The staff of the Church Mission Society in 1881 consisted of 3
European and 27 native preachers, 61 native Christian and -^^i ^onChristian teachers. The Mission maintains a theological and training
school at Krishnagar, with 25 pupils in 1881, besides 45 excellent boys' schools attended by 2057 pupils, and 19 girls' schools with 502 pupils. The Church of England Zanana Mission Society also maintains 4 girls'
schools, with 149 pupils in 1881.
Toivn and Rural Popidation.
able urban population.
— Nadiya
District contains a consider-
The following
eight towns are municipalities con-
taining upwards of five thousand inhabitants in 1881:
civil station
Krishnagar,
the
and administrative head-quarters of the District, population 27,477; Santipur, 29,687; Nadiya or Nabadwip, 14,105; Kushtia, 9717; Chagdah, 8989 Raxaghat, 8683; Kumarkhali, 6041; and MiHRPUR, 5731. Besides the foregoing, there are two other muni;
cipal towns, containing
less
than
five
BiRNAGAR, 4302; and Jaguli, 1985.
total
thousand inhabitants, namely, These ten towns contain a
urban population of 119,840
It is
souls, or 5*9 per cent, of the total
District population, leaving 1,898,007 as forming the
number
of inhabit-
ants in the rural villages.
a curious circumstance regarding the town population, that whereas the Muhammadans form the majority of the population as a whole, they are invariably in a very considerable
minority in the towns.
Thus, while the
Muhammadans
comprise 56*8
NADIYA.
per cent, of the general population,
in
135
the eight largest towns
men-
tioned above they only form 28*5 per cent.
Of the 3700 towns and villages in the District, 847 are returned as containing less than two hundred inhabitants; 1506 from two to five
hundred; 958 from five hundred to a thousand; 325 from one to two 48 from two to three thousand ; 8 from three to five thousand 5 from five to ten thousand; and 3 upwards of ten thousand As regards occupation, the Census divides the male inhabitants. (i) Professional and official population into the following six classes:
thousand
;
;
—
19,244; (2) domestic servants, inn and lodging-house keepers, etc., 14,616; (3) commercial class, including merchants, traders, carriers, etc., 33,121 ; (4) agricultural and pastoral class, including
class,
gardeners, 371,162; (5) manufacturing and industrial class, including
103,699; (6) indefinite and non-productive class, comprising and male children, 443,403. The general condition of the people has steadily improved of late years, as regards clothing,
artisans,
general labourers
living,
and other comforts.
is
Krishnagar, which
of the District,
is
the administrative head-quarters
and chief town
College
situated on the Jalangi river.
A Government
was established here in 1846.
of excellent
The town
is
noted for the manufacture
coloured clay figures.
Nadiya, the ancient capital of
the District, was formerly situated on the east
but,
bank of the Bhagirathi,
changes of the river-course, it now lies on the west bank It has always been celebrated for the sanctity and of the stream. Reference will be made further on to the of its paiidits. learning famous iols or indigenous Sanskrit schools of Nadiya. The battle-
owing
to
field
the Bhagirathi have
of Plassev was situated within this District, but the floods of washed away the scene of that memorable engage-
ment.
Agriculture.
Bengal,
is rice,
— The staple crop of Nadiya, as of most other the of which there are four crops — namely,
(i)
Districts in
diis
or
autumn
crop, reaped in
August and September;
;
(2) the
dman
or winter
crop, reaped in
November
(3) boro or spring rice, harvested in
March
and (4) jdli, the late autumn crop, cut in October or November. Both the dina?i and the boro rice require transplantation. Among the other cereal and green crops are wheat, barley, oil-seeds, The fibres grown in Nadiya are hemp, flax, peas, gram, chillies, etc. This last is not grown to any great extent, and the cotton, and jute.
or April
;
produce
is
inferior in quality to that of the eastern Districts of
Bengal
;
the average out-turn of the fibre per acre is from 12 to 15 cwts., and Sugar-cane, the gross value is estimated at about ^7, los. per acre. indigo, tobacco, turmeric, mulberry, and /if /^ are among the other special
crops.
Indigo
is
the chief export staple of the District;
there are two
136
crops,
NADIYA.
one sown in April or May and reaped in August or September, and the other sown in October and reaped in July. The finest dye is obtained from the spring sowings, which also cover the largest area.
Though
rice covers by far the larger portion of the cultivated land, second or cold-weather crops of pulses, oil-seeds and wheat, grown on dus land, are more common in Nadiya than in any other District of Eastern Bengal. As a matter of fact, enough rice is not grown in the District to satisfy the local demand, which is met by importation from
the south.
In some parts, especially in the Sub-division of Chuadanga, the cultivation of chillies or long-pepper forms an important feature in
the rural industry, as the peasant relies
upon
this special crop to
pay
the rent of his other
fields.
The
out-turn of rice per acre varies, according to the kind of land,
cwts.,
from \\ cwts. to 13
valued at from 12s. to ;^i,
is
i6s.
The
is
extent
is
of cultivable spare land in the District
very small.
Irrigation
only
by means of small watercourses, the cost being estimated at about 4s. 6d. an acre. Manure, consisting of cow-dung or oil-cake, is used for lands
practised in the event of a deficiency in the rainfall,
and
effected
not adjacent to
rivers,
nor watered by them.
3s. to 7s.
The
rent of rice land ranges from
6d. an acre
;
the rent of
other kinds of land varies in different parts of the District, and accord-
ing to the crops produced.
Rents of
all
kinds have risen greatly since
the Permanent Settlement in 1793, being now in many parts of the District double what they then were, and everywhere 30 per cent,
higher.
to ;^i, i2s. a
husbandman can afford to spend from ;£"i, los. month on the comfortable living of an average-sized household. Small cultivators are generally in debt. About five-eighths of the husbandmen in Nadiya District hold their lands with a right of
well-to-do
A
occupancy, but almost
all
of them are liable to enhancement of rent.
No
class of small proprietors exists
who own,
is
occupy, and cultivate
their hereditary lands without either a superior landlord above, or a
sub-tenant or labourer under them.
There
a tendency in the District
towards the growth of a distinct class of day-labourers, neither possessing
nor renting land.
agriculture, are paid
These men, termed krishans, when employed in sometimes in money and sometimes in land, but do not receive any share of the crops. Women are seldom employed in agricultural labour, but children are engaged to look after cattle. Wages have doubled during the last twenty years coolies and agri;
cultural day-labourers at present
earn from 4|d. to 6d. a day.
13s. 8d.
The
price of the best cleaned rice
quality, 5s. a cwt.
is
is
a cwt., and of the
common
A
large proportion of the cultivable area of
held on uibandi tenures,
—
that
is
to say, without leases
Nadiya and for a
single season only.
The
general custom
verbal permission to cultivate a certain
is for the husbandman to get amount of land in a particular
NADIYA.
place, at a rate agreed upon.
137
While the crop is still on the ground, measured and the rent assessed on it. The extent of land remaining in the hands of superior landlords is said to be less than
the land
is
half that sublet to intermediate holders.
Natural Calamities.— ^\\^\.% occur every year in Nadiya, attacking Floods are common particular crops, but not on any extensive scale. and, after what has been said above of the rivers of the District, it The most will be readily understood that they cause much damage.
;
severe flood in recent times occurred in 187
1,
when
and
fell
three times,
and the other
rivers twice.
the Bhagi'rathi rose Fortunately the rising
;
little loss of human life but the number of cattle which died was estimated at 200,000 head, and from a half to two-thirds of the rice crop was lost. Nadiya suffered severely in the great famine of 1866. There was
of the waters was so slow that there was very
a serious drought in the District in 1865
;
and
at the
end of October
of that year the Collector reported that prospects were very gloomy, the price of dus rice having already risen from 4s. id. a cwt. in
The harvesting of the dinati or winter previous year to 8s. crop brought a slight temporary relief; but in the spring of 1866 great distress again prevailed, and from April to October of that year
the
During that period, private relief were necessary. principal centres of relief were at one time or another in twenty-four
Government and
tributed.
relief
operation, in addition to sixteen minor depots at which food was disThe aggregate number of persons who received gratuitous
was 601,123, and the aggregate number employed on relief-works
was 337,059.
the
The
total cost of relief
during the famine, including half
amount spent on
relief-works,
was ^^5948, of which Government
paid ^4850Manufactures,
European supervision,
Trade, ^/r.— The manufacture of mdigo dye under to which reference has already been made, still
The out-turn of indigo in remains the chief industry of the District. Cotton-weaving is everywhere viauiids. 1882-83 amounted to 2536
on the decline, especially at the town of Santipur, where in the beginning of this century the commercial agent of the Company used to Santipur muslin is purchase muslin to the annual value of ^150,000.
still
exported to a small extent.
;
Sugar-refining by
has proved unsuccessful
District of Jessor.
but
several refineries in native
European methods hands exist at
Santipur, to which the raw material
ware, particularly at
is brought from the neighbouring Other special industries are the making of brassNadiya town and Mihrpur and the moulding of
;
clay figures at Krishnagar.
The
District of
Nadiya
is
very favourably situated for trade.
On
the
by large rivers; while the numerous it is bounded streams which intersect it all become navigable for a considerable
north and west
138
portion of the year.
NAD I YA.
The Eastern Bengal Railway runs north through the District for a distance of nearly 100 miles; and the fair-weather According to the registration returns for roads are also usually good.
1876-77, the aggregate value of the trade of Nadiya amounts to more than ^4,000,000 but a large proportion of this represents traffic in About half the transit, included twice over as imports and exports.
;
total
mart of Kushtia, where the railway first In 1876-77, Kushtia received of the Ganges. touches the main stream from the surrounding country silk valued at ^^388,000, indigo ;^7 1,000, timber ;^6o,ooo, rice ;£6o,ooo, oil-seeds ^38,000, sugar ^33,000,
is
set
down
to the single
turmeric ^30,000, jute ^29,000; while it took from Calcutta, for disNo tribution, piece-goods valued at ^344,000, and salt ;£i 2,000. Other are available for any later year than 1876-77. trade statistics
important marts are Hanskhali, Santipur, Chagdah (which has given its name to a special kind of jute in the Calcutta market), Kumarkhali,
Chuadanga, Krishnaganj, Bagula, and Alamdanga. The chief exports of local produce are jute, linseed, wheat, pulses and gram, rice, longpepper or chillies, sugar and tobacco. The only institutions in the District worthy of note are the tols, or In these iols, smriti (Hindu social and indigenous Sanskrit schools.
religious law)
and nydya
(logic) are taught
by learned pandits
to eager
pupils, attracted, often from considerable distances, by the ancient fame valuable report on the Nadiya tols by Professor of these institutions. E. B. Cowell (Calcutta, 1867) contains a full account of the schools, the
A
manner of
Professor Cowell of the pupils, and the works studied. of a mere collection of mud describes the tol as consisting generally hovels round a quadrangle, in which the students live in the most
life
'
primitive
manner
possible.
his brass water-pot
Each student has his own hut with and mat, and few have any other furniture.' A
.
.
.
No fees are student generally remains at the tol for eight or ten years. pandits depend for their livelihood on the presents charged, and the which their fame as teachers ensures them at religious ceremonies.
Most of the
surrounding
that the
tols are
in
Nadiya town, but there are
pupils
in
is
also a few in the
it is
villages.
No
registers of attendance are kept, but
said
;
number of tols as well as of 1873, the number of these schools
;
gradually decreasing
in
Nadiya and the neighbourhood
juris-
was seventeen
in
Administration.
— In consequence
1882 they had decreased to ten. of the important changes of
it
diction which have taken place in Nadiya,
is
impossible to present
a trustworthy comparison of the revenue and expenditure at different The area of the District is at present smaller by a third than periods. The land-tax in the latter year was ;£"i35j993 5 ir^ it was in 1790. 1850,
it
was ;£ii7,449;
in 1870,
it
had
fallen to
^101,755; and
first
in
1883-84, tO;£9i,io5.
The
total net
revenue in 1809-10, the
year
; ;
NADIYA.
for
139
which a balance-sheet is available, was £\2\,\\^', in 1850-51, it had risen to ;^i39,755 ; and in 1870-71, tO;^'i78,379. In 1882-83, the six main items of Government revenue aggregated £\(i%\i2, made
up
as follows
:— Land
revenue,
^107,032;
excise,
^11,708; stamps,
taxes, ^£'34,569; registration, £2-]^^,; road cess, p{;687i; municipal still greater ratio than the ;£6i88. The expenditure has increased in a
revenue.
In 1809, the net expenditure on
it
civil
administration was
had risen (exclusive of police expenditure) to ^^29,762 in 1870, it had further increased to ^58,410, also excluding police. In 1882-83, the total cost of the District officials and police amounted to ;£"34,36o. While the Government net revenue in 1870
;£'r7,9i7; in 1850,
;
it was in 1809, the net expenditure increased Sub-division of property has than threefold in the same period. more gone on rapidly under British rule. In 1790, the number of estates in the District was 261, held by 205 proprietors, paying a total land-tax of the average payment from each estate being ;^52i, and
was one-third more than
^135,993, from each proprietor, ;^663. In 1883-84, the total number of estates was 2806, held by 10,704 proprietors; average payment from each estate, £^^2, 9s. 4jd., and from each proprietor, £Z, los. 3d. In 1793 Protection to person and property has steadily increased. there was only i civil court and i covenanted English officer in Nadiya in 1800 there were 39 courts and 2 covenanted officers; and in 1883 the number of magisterial courts was 26, and of revenue and civil For administrative and police courts, 18, with 4 covenanted officers. purposes, the District is divided into six Sub-divisions and thirty police
circles
{ihdnds\ as
follows :—(i)
Krishnagar or head-quarters SubKrishnagar, Kaliganj, Lakshipara,
;
division,
comprising the
six thdfids of
Chapra, Krishnaganj, and Hanskhali (2) Ranaghat Sub-division, comprising the four thdnds of Ranaghat, Santipur, Chagdah, and Haringhata ; (3) Bangaon (Bongong) Sub-division, comprising the five thdfids (4) Kushtia of Bangaon, Maheshpur, Ganapota, Sarsha, and Gaighata
;
Sub-division, comprising the six thdrids of Kushtia, Naupara, Daulatpur, Bhadulia, Kumarkhali, and Bhaluka; (5) Mihrpur Sub-division, comprising the four thdfids of Mihrpur,
and
Karimpur, Gangni, and Tehatta Chuadanga Sub-division, comprising the five thdnds of Chuad(6) dnga, Damurhuda, Alamdanga, Kalupol, and Jabunnagar. The regular police force in 1883 consisted of 695 officers and men, including 262
employed
;^ii,2i9.
in
municipal or town duties, maintained at a total cost of
is
There
also a rural police or village watch
men, maintained by the landholders
strength of the police of
all
and
villagers or
numbering 3494 by rent-free grants
of service {chdkrdii) lands, at an estimated cost of ^16,247.
classes
The
total
i
and ranks was,
therefore, 4189, or
man to every 481 of the population, maintained at a total estimated cost of ;^2 7,466, equal to a charge of ^8, is. 4d- per square mile of
140
District area, or 3 Jd. per
NADIYA.
head of the population.
jail
There are
5 jails
and
lock-ups in the District; the average daily
203, or
I
population in 1883 was
criminal always in
jail to
every 9940 of the population.
The
average annual cost of maintenance per prisoner was ;£6, 9s. Education has made rapid progress. In 1856-57 there were only
19 Government and aided schools in the District, attended by 1865
pupils.
In 1871-72, just prior to the introduction of Sir George Campbell's reforms, which had the effect of including village schools
with 9120 pupils.
within the State system of education, the
By 1883
further risen to about 750,
number of schools was 253, number of inspected schools had and the number of pupils to over 20,000,
the
showing I school to every 4*54 square miles, and 10 pupils to every thousand of the population. These figures exclude the uninspected village schools, and the Church Mission Society's and Zanana Mission schools referred to on a previous page. The Census Report of 1881
returned
26,443 boys and 1046 girls as under instruction, besides 54,472 males and 1726 females able to read and write, but not under instruction. The Government College at Krishnagar was attended in
1883-84 by a daily average of 53 pupils; the total expenditure was ;^2343 ; the average cost of each pupil was /^44, 4s. The number of candidates from this college who presented themselves for the First Arts examination of the Calcutta University was 14, of whom 8 passed. For the B.A. degree, 4 passed in the third division out of 6 candidates
examined.
The
ten
municipalities
already
named had
in
1883-84
;
a
gross
municipal income of;^7553, the expenditure being ;£6732 rate of municipal taxation, is. i^d. per head of population.
average
Medical Aspects.
—The average monthly and
August, ii'58 inches;
;
annual
rainfall at Krish-
nagar town, for a period of twenty years ending 1881, is returned as follows: January, 0*50 inch; February, i*i6 inches; March, 1*09
—
inches; April,
July,
2-69 inches;
May, 6*82 inches; June, io'i9 inches;
September, 777 inches;
io'49 inches;
October, 4*60 inches; November, 0-38 inch
Total annual average,
57*43 inches.
and December, o'i6
total
inch.
In 1882, the
rainfall
was
No thermometrical 46*93 inches, or 10*50 inches below the average. returns are available, but the average annual mean temperature is about
77° F.
suffers
much from endemic
Being a low-lying plain dotted over with many swamps, Nadiya fever. A very severe outbreak of epidemic
Krishnagar and the neighbouring villages Another and a more intense outbreak of epidemic than 66,187 deaths in 1880, and 74,822 in 1881.
fever occurred in 1864-66.
suffered very severely.
fever caused
no
less
Besides remittent and intermittent fevers, small-pox, diarrhoea, dysentery, and cholera are prevalent in Nadiya. Cattle suffer from ulceration of
the hoof, which, though sometimes epidemic,
is
not generally
fatal,
and
NADIYA SUB-DIVISION AND TOWN.
141
from throat disease of a serious type. There are 8 charitable dispensaries in the District, which in 1882 afforded relief to 294 in-door and
18,755 out-door patients.
The
total
number of
registered deaths in
Nadiya District in 1882 was 79,459, equal to a rate of 39'37 per [For further information regarding Nadiya, thousand of the population. see The Statistical Accoimt of Be?igal, by W. W. Hunter, vol. ii. pp. (London, Triibner & Co., 1875) Report on the Nadiya Rivers^ I -1 65 by Captain J. Lang (1847-48); the Bengal Census Reports for 1872 and 1881 and the several annual Administration and Departmental Reports of the Bengal Government.] Sadr or head-quarters Sub-division of Nadiya District, Nadiya.
;
;
—
Bengal,
Kaliganj,
comprising
the
six
police
circles
{thdnds)
of
Krishnagar,
and Hanskhali. Area (inclusive of Krishnagar, the head-quarters town of the District), 701 square miles, with 2 towns and 544 villages, and 70,576 houses.
Nakshipara,
Chapra,
Krishnaganj,
Population (1872) 334,076; (1881) 374,973, showing an increase Classified according of 40,897, or 12*24 per cent, in nine years. Hindus, 205,298; Muhammadans, to religion, there were in 1881
—
Number of persons per 167,378; Christians, 2295; and 'others,' 2. towns or villages per square mile, 78 ; persons square mile, 535
;
per town
per house,
cent.
or village, 5*3;
In
687 ; houses per square mile, 107 ; inmates proportion of males in total population, 48-5 per 1883, this Sub-division contained, including the District
head-quarters courts, 5 civil and revenue and 10 magisterial courts, with a regular police force of 265 men, and a village watch numbering
813.
Nadiya
(or
Nabadivip).
— Ancient
capital
of
Bengal, and the residence of
Lakshman
lat.
Sen,
the last
Hindu king of Bengal.
88° 25' 3"
E.,
Situated in
23° 24'
Nadiya District, independent 55" n., and long.
on the west bank of the Bhagirathi. Area, 1472 acres. Population (1881) 14,105, namely, 13,716 Hindus, 384 MuhamMunicipal income (1876-77), ;£"328; madans, and 5 Christians. (1883-84), ^442, of which ;^363 was derived from taxation incidence of taxation, 6 Jd. per head of population within municipal limits. According to local legend, the town was founded in 1063 by Lakshman Sen, son of Ballal Sen, King of Bengal. He is said to have been induced to change the site of his capital from Gaur by the superior sanctity of the Bhagirathi at this spot ; but no doubt he was really pushed onwards by the growing power of the Muhammadans, who took Nadiya and finally overthrew the native Hindu dynasty under Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1203. Nadiya has long been famous Here, towards the end of the 15th cenfor its sanctity and learning. tury, was born the great reformer Chaitanya, in whose honour a festival, attended by some 4000 or 5000 Vaishnavs, is held in the month of
;
—
142
NADOL.
Mdgh (January or February) every year. The famous tols or Sanskrit schools have been referred to in the article on Nadiya District {vide In the historical section of the same article will be found supra).
some account of
at Krishnagar.
the Rajas of Nadiya, whose descendant
now
resides
Nadol
(or Nadolai).
—Town
in
Jodhpur
State,
Rajputana.
The
seat of an important branch of the
Chauhan
clan of
Ajmere from a
very early period ; and with the surrounding district, of which it was the capital, for centuries an object of contention between the States of Maiwar (Udaipur) and Marwar. Rao Lakha of Nadol was one of the
Rajput princes who unsuccessfully opposed Mahmiid of Ghazni in his famous expedition to Somnath. The fortress, or rather its remains, stand on the declivity of a low ridge, to the west of the town, with square towers of an ancient form, and built of a curious conglomerate of granite and gneiss, of which the rock on which it stands is composed. Nadol was once the capital of the province of Godwar, and is now known chiefly for its architectural remains. Of these, Tod {Annals of
Rdjdsthdn, vol. i. p. 598; second edition, Madras, 1873) says 'It is impossible to do full justice to the architectural remains, which Here everything shows that the Jain are well worthy of the pencil. faith was once predominant, and that their arts, like their religion, were of
:
The temple of Mahavira, a character quite distinct from those of Siva. the last of their twenty-four apostles, is a very fine piece of architecture.
Its
vaulted roof
is
a perfect
model of the most ancient
style of
dome
in
The principle is the East, probably invented anterior to the Roman. no doubt the same as the first substitute of the arch, and is that which
marked the genius of Caesar
in his bridge over the
Rhone, and which
appears over every mountain torrent of the ancient Helvetii, from whom he may have borrowed it. The principle is that of a horizontal instead At Nadol, the stones are placed by a gradual of a radiating pressure.
projection one over the other, the apex being closed by a circular keyThe angles of all these projections being rounded off, the stone.
spectator looking up can only describe the vault as a series of gradually
diminishing amulets or rings converging to the apex. The effect is very pleasing, though it furnishes a strong argument that the Hindus first became acquainted with the perfect arch through their conquerors.
The
fifty
torun in front of the altar of Mahavira
years ago in the
is
exquisitely sculptured, as
one hundred and changed its course. It But is not unlikely that they were buried during Mahmild's invasion. the most singular structure of Nadol is a reservoir, called the channa
well as several statues of marble, discovered about
bed of the
river,
when
it
baoli^
from the cost of
it
grain of pulse {chantia).
The
having been paid by the returns of a single excavation is immense the descent is by
;
a flight of grey granite steps, and the sides are built up from the same
—
NAF—NAGA
materials by piling blocks the least cement.'
;
HILLS.
143
upon blocks of enormous magnitude, without
No
statistics arc available as to population.
Ndf
(or Anauk-ngay).
— An
township in Akyab
District.
See
arm of the Bay of Bengal Naaf.
between 25°
13'
;
also
a
Ndig^
Hills.
— British
7'
District forming the south-easterly corner of
It lies
the Province of Assam.
and and between 93° land between the settled District The approximate valley and the semi-independent State of Manipur. The population is variously area is returned at 6400 square miles. The administrative headestimated at from 94,380 to 120,000 souls. quarters are at the station of Kohima. The District forms a wild expanse of forest, Physical Aspects. mountain, and stream, which has up to the present date been only
94° 13' e.
and 26° 32' n. lat., long., being a mountainous border of Nowgong in the Brahmaputra
—
imperfectly explored.
The valleys as well as the hills are covered with dense jungle, and dotted with small lakes of deep water and shallow
marshes,
which
all
contribute to engender a very virulent type of
is
malarious fever.
It
estimated that virgin forest covers an area of
about 2800 square miles.
Forest, has recently
A
considerable
tract,
called the
Ndmbar
been brought under the conservancy
but the greater portion
is still
rules of the
Forest Department
secure
;
a pathless waste, the
home
of large game.
The
jungle products collected by the
utilized in weaving.
wild tribes comprise beeswax, a variety of cinnamon, several kinds of
dyes,
and various
fibres
which are
wealth has not yet been fully ascertained.
several localities
Coal
is
The mineral known to exist in
is
on the Rengma
Hills,
and limestone
rivers.
to be obtained
slate
along the banks of the
Nambar and Jamuna
Chalk and
have also been found. It is rumoured that silver exists in the hills but the Nagas themselves are indifferent to the value of any of the Hot springs have been met with in precious metals, or of jewels.
many
Large
places.
The
wild animals
include the elephant, rhinoceros,
buffalo,
and many kinds of deer. abound in the hill streams. The chief rivers are the Dayang, Dhaneswari or Dhansiri, and Jamuna, which all become navigable during the rainy season for small boats. Each of these has many hill streams for tributaries. The surface
wild ox or gdyal, tiger, leopard, of good flavour
fish
of the country has not sufticient inclination to discharge the entire local
rainfall,
which stagnates
in a chain of
marshes
at the close of the rainy
season.
The
principal hills are the
Rengma and Barel
ranges.
The
on the right bank of the Dhaneswari river, attains an elevation of from 2000 to 3000 feet. It is covered with forest and underwood, and the slope is very steep. The Barel Mountains run up from the frontier of Cachar, crossing the
range, situated in the west of the District
District in a north-easterly direction.
Rengma
Their greatest height
is
at the
144
NAG A
HILLS.
peak of Japvo, which is about 10,000 feet above sea-level. On the boundary of the District they are saddle -backed in shape, often bristling into sharp ridges, with steep and almost inaccessible slopes.
In the interior they
roll
out into table-shaped spurs with grassy sides.
Through
which
this range several passes lead into the State of Manipur, along
hill
ponies can be led;
and
it
is
said that
no insuperable
District
obstacles exist to the construction of a good road. The Naga Hills were formed into a separate History.
—
under a Deputy Commissioner in 1867. Even at the present day this tract has not been completely surveyed, and it constitutes one of the It is inhabited least orderly portions of the whole British Empire. almost entirely by the aboriginal tribe known as Nagas, who will be
described more particularly in a subsequent paragraph. they maintained peaceable relations with the native
It is said that
Aham
kings of
Assam ; but soon after our occupation of the Province, they commenced a series of depredations on the Districts of Nowgong and Between Sibsagar towards the north, and Cachar on the south-west. the years 1832 and 185 1, no fewer than ten armed expeditions were despatched to chastise them in their native hills. Apart from their natural inaccessibility and the wide range of country over which they
wander, the Nagas were protected by reason of a diplomatic difficulty. Their hills border the territory of the Raja of Manipur and it was considered unadvisable to raise any questions with that State, whose
;
first
treaty with the British dates
back as early as 1762.
to
Our
policy
towards the
Nagas has uniformly been directed
In 1867, a Deputy Commissioner was first stationed at Samaguting, and a portion of the Naga Hills was constituted for certain purposes into an This was rendered necessary by the continual raids executive District. of savage Naga tribes on British villages in the plains, no less than 19
establishing political control rather than direct government.
of such inroads having occurred between 1853 and 1865, in which 233 British subjects were killed, wounded or carried off, necessitating frequent
retaliatory expeditions against the offending tribes.
It
was thought that
by the estabUshment of a British station within the hills, a central position would be secured, from w^hich peaceful influences might gradually be extended over the Nagas, who have always manifested The systematic explorapredatory instincts and rugged independence. also held out as an object of scarcely secondary tion of the country was
importance.
The
;
eastern
it
hmits of the
District were
fixed
at the
was not intended that the country on the farther bank, also inhabited by Naga tribes, should be regarded as beyond the Since that date, surveying parties have been frontier of British India. engaged in ascertaining the geographical outlines of this constantly wide stretch of country, which possesses both political and physical
Dayang
river
but
NAGA
Interest,
HILLS.
which separates the
valley
i45
of
as containing the watershed
Assam from
the mountain glens of
all
Upper Burma.
But despite
attack
precautions, the Nagas have illustrated their traditional
more than one determined upon our survey parties. In 1873, a party under Captain Samuells and Lieutenant Holcombe explored the eastern hills, which extend beyond the Dayang river towards the Patkai range. The Nagas were found to be somewhat suspicious and sulky, but it was hoped that after more intimate intercourse they would become convinced of our pacific intentions. No show of actual hostility was manifested; but in
character as successful jungle fighters in
the following cold season, including the beginning of 1875, ^^^ scene
changed. The Nagas turned out and Lieutenant Holcombe and his
in force, the party
was surrounded,
eighty,
followers, to the
number of
hills,
were treacherously massacred. Manipur, similar symptoms of
party under Captain Butler,
In the western
ill-will
bordering on
were manifested.
The
survey
who had done more than any
other single
man
to
open out
this country,
was attacked on the night of the 4th
January 1875 t)y the people of Wokha, under which village his camp had been formed. The attack was made in great force, but was promptly met by a counter attack, and the village was fired and
occupied.
The
ascertained loss of the Nagas was 18 killed, and
;
all
their
on our side 4 men were slightly wounded. Again, on the loth January, Captain Butler was attacked in open day by from 400 to 500 Nagas, who were easily driven off with heavy loss. Later in the same year, however, Captain Butler was cut off and killed. In 1877, the Angami Nagas of Mezuma raided upon a friendly Naga village in North Cachar, killing 6 and wounding 2 persons, the cause
property was captured
of the attack being a feud of thirty years' standing.
the offending village was burned.
As the
it,
tribe
refused to give up the raiders, an expedition was sent against
and These events led to a review of the position which the British occupied in the hills; and in 1878 it was determined by Colonel Keatinge, then Commissioner of Assam, with the approval of the Government of India, to abandon Samaguting, a low and unhealthy site on the extreme edge of the Angami country, and to fix the future head-quarters of the Political Officer at Kohima, in the middle of the group of powerful Angami villages which it was
specially necessary to control.
indications of further trouble soon presented themselves.
This change was carried out in the cold weather of 1878-79, but In October
1879, Mr.
escort of 21 sepoys
Damant, the Deputy Commissioner, accompanied by an and 50 armed police, proceeded to the powerful
fortified village of
and strongly
village,
Khonoma.
On
reaching the gate of the
Mr. Damant was
at
once shot dead, and a volley was poured
VOL. X.
K
146
into the escort,
escort, 35
NAGA
who turned and
HILLS.
followed by the Nagas.
fled,
Of
the
to to
were killed and 19 wounded.
besiege the garrison in the great straits for want of food and water.
days,
The Nagas then proceeded Kohima stockade, who were reduced
After a blockade of twelve
the siege was raised by the opportune arrival of a force of Manipuri troops, with a small body of sepoys under Colonel Johnstone, Political Agent of Manipur. A regular military campaign against the Nagas ensued, which lasted Khonoma was taken on the 22nd November 1879, till March 1880. but the defenders retreated to a very strong position above the village
the campaign.
on a spur of Japvo, where they maintained themselves till the end of Jotsoma was captured on the 27th November, and every one of the 13 villages which had entered into the coalition The most notable event against us was either occupied or destroyed. of the war, however, was the daring raid made in January 1880, by a party of Khonoma men from the fort above the village, at the time beleaguered by our troops, upon the tea-garden of Baladhan in Cachar, more than 80 miles distant, where they killed the Manager, Mr. Blyth, and 16 coolies, plundered what they could, and burned everything in
the place.
Khonoma submitted, and the was at an end. Fines in grain, cash, and labour were expedition imposed upon those villages which took part against us the Nagas had to surrender the firearms they were known to possess, and in some instances the removal of a village from a fortified and inaccessible crest Khonoma was razed to the ground, and to a site below was directed. From all villages, an agreement was its site occupied by an outpost. taken to pay revenue in the shape of i viaiind of rice and i rupee per
On
the 27th March, the fort above
;
house,
to
provide a certain
amount of labour annually
for
State
purposes, and to appoint a head-man
who should be
last,
responsible for
good order and
for carrying out the wishes of
this,
Government.
After the close of
the twelfth and
policy to be adopted in dealing with the
expedition, the whole Nagas was submitted by the
Chief Commissioner to the Government of India, who in February 1 88 1 finally decided that our position at Kohima should be retained, a regiment permanently stationed in the hills, and the District administered as British territory.
Hills has
Since that date, the history of the Naga
been one of the progressive establishment of peace and good order, and the quiet submission of the Nagas to our rule. The Sub-division of Wokha was first opened in 1875. The station is situated in the country of the Lhota Nagas, who are separated from The village of Wokha had the Angamis by the Rengmas and Semas. on several occasions attacked survey parties sent into the hills, and it
was determined
to
occupy the
site
to secure our position there.
The
NAG A
their country in visiting the plains.
HILLS.
147
Lhotas have no connection with the Angamis, who do not pass through
The boundaries
finally
of the
Naga
Hills
District, as
now
settled,
were
gazetted in July 1882.
etc.
Populatio7i,
— Neither the regular Census of 1872 nor
An
that of i88r
was extended
in
to this District.
lation of all the
Naga
estimate in 1855 gave the total poputribes at about 100,000. At the time of the Survey
1871-72, an enumeration of the inhabitants dwelling under British
authority,
conducted by Captain Butler, ascertained a
is
total of
but no details are available, and the enumeration
very inaccurate and incomplete.
civil
68,918; admitted to be
and
military population of
1
The Census of 1881 returned the Kohima village and station at 1380,
Hindus numbered 1259
'others,'
2.
;
namely, 135
males and 29 females.
Christians,
IMuhamtracts
madans,
94;
25;
and
For the
at
hill
generally, the estimated
number of
tribes
villages
was returned
231,
and
the
the population of
Naga
roughly put
purposes of revenue assessment, the
down at 93,000. For number of houses in most of
the
and the following estimates arrived Angami Nagas, 35,000; Lhota Nagas, 34,000; at of the population Sema Nagas, 8000 Kachha Nagas, 9000 and Rengma Nagas, 8000
villages w^ere
Naga
counted
in 1882,
—
;
;
:
total
is
estimated
Naga
population, 94,000.
In addition to the Nagas,
it
Assamese, 1000; Aitaniyas, 400; Cacharis, estimated that there are 3500; Kukis, 2600; and Mikirs, 8800: total 16,300, or an estimated grand total of 110,300 for the whole District. The Mikir tribe are remarkable for the extent to which they herd together it is no uncommon circumstance to find three or even four families, in no way related to each other, residing under the same roof.
;
—
The Ndgds.
— Under the
generic
number of
virtually
independent
tribes,
name of Naga who are in
is
included a large
to the
sole occupation of
the hill country from the northern
boundary of Cachar
is
banks of
the Dihing river in the extreme east of the Province of Assam.
The
it
explanation of the term generally accepted
that which derives
from the Bengali Jiankfa, meaning
'
naked
;
'
but some authorities are
inclined to connect it with naga, the Sanskrit for 'snake,' an origin which suggests an association with the well-known aboriginal traditions
of Central India.
The
various tribes of Nagas
are all apparently
sprung from a
and
all
live
common stock of the Indo-Chinese family of nations, much in the same primitive state; yet they now speak
which are so
distinct
from each other that villages communicate through an interpreter using a foreign tongue. The British District is inhabited by five tribes known as the Angami, Rengma, Kachha, Lhota, and Sema
different dialects,
lying scarcely a day's journey apart can only
Nagds.
The Rengmas
are a small
and inoffensive
clan,
occupying the
hill
148
range of the same name.
NAGA
HILLS,
distinguished from the Mikirs
At the present day they can scarcely be among whom they live, and they carry
on a river traffic by means of the Jamuna river with Bengah' traders. There are also 9 Rengma villages situated due north of Kohima. These villages form a strong and united community, and for a long period prevented the warlike Angami tribe from raiding on the timid Tradition states that the Rengma Nagas originally occupied Lhotas.
the higher ranges east of the Dhaneswari, but were forced to fly to their present homes in consequence of intestine feuds and the attacks of
Their villages are small, and other and more powerful Naga tribes. with a few exceptions undefended, although from their being situated in the midst of heavy forest jungle and dense underwood, without roads,
they are very
of cotton
is
difficult
of access.
Besides
rice,
a considerable quantity
grown
hoes, etc., to
which is bartered for salt, bells, beads, The Rengraas acknowBengali hawkers from Nowgong.
in the hills,
ledge a plurality of gods, to
whom
they
make
sacrifices of cows, pigs,
and fowls. Marriage is a civil contract, and merely needs the consent of The only ceremony consists of a feast given the girl and her parents. by the bridegroom to the whole village. The Angami and kindred Kachha clan of Nagas dwell respectively They are an athletic in the south-east and south-west of the District. race, with brown complexion, flat noses, and by no means bad-looking and high cheek-bones. They are brave and warlike, but also treacherous and vindictive. Their dress consists of a dark blue or black kilt, ornamented with rows of cowrie shells, and a thick cloth of home manuAs ear-ornaments, they wear tusks facture thrown over the shoulders.
of the wild boar
neck-collar
;
made of
but the most coveted decoration of a warrior is a goat's hair dyed red, and fringed with the long
Strings of various coloured beads
shell
scalps of slain enemies.
their
ornament
necks in
front, a
conch
being suspended behind.
Above the
elbow are worn armlets either of ivory or plaited cane, prettily worked Between the calf and the knee are bound pieces of in red or yellow. finely cut cane dyed black, the calves being encased in leggings of
cane similar to the armlets. The hair is generally cut square in front, and tied into a knot behind, with a plume of eagle or toucan feathers. The women are short in stature, stout, and extremely plain-featured.
They have to perform all fields, hew wood and draw
for the family.
the drudgery of the house, to work in the
water, besides weaving the clothing required
The
national
weapons
are a spear, a shield,
This last also serves as a sole
implement of
is is 5
and a ddo or bill-hook. agriculture, and for all
domestic purposes. and coloured hair.
The The
shaft of the spear
twined with plaited cane
in front with a bear or
shield
feet
long by 18 inches broad, the
framework consisting of
split
bamboos, covered
NAGA
tiger skin,
HILLS.
149
and protected behind by a board.
When
proceeding on a
foray, they invariably carry a large stock of sharp-pointed bamboos a few inches in length, intended to be stuck in the ground to retard the
pursuit of an
enemy.
Of
recent years,
many have succeeded
in obtain-
and the possession of firearms is the supreme Although the importation of arms and ammunidesire of every Nagd. prohibited, the Nagds manage to obtain supplies of native tion is
ing guns or muskets,
manufactured guns from Manipur.
The Angami
villages are invariably built
fortified
on the summits of the
hills,
and are strongly
with stone walls, stockades, and ditches.
The
approaches, also, are formed by a species of covered way, so constructed as to admit but one person at a time, and guarded by massive The number of houses in a village varies from doors, and sentries.
20 to 1000.
They
are built with long gable roofs,
and eaves almost
In dimensions, they are sometimes 50 feet long by 30 feet broad, and are generally divided into only two rooms. The religious ideas of the Nagas are of a very vague order. Some
touching the ground.
say they believe that
if
world, their spirits will
fly
they have led good and worthy lives in this away and become stars ; but that those who
pass
have lived
separate
evilly
are compelled after death to
through seven
and are finally transformed into bees. have no idea whatever of a future state, and Others, again, seem to when questioned on the subject reply, Our bodies rot in the grave, In common with the and there is an end of it who knows more ?
existences as spirits,
'
;
'
aborigines of Central
India, they are extremely superstitious in the
all their
matter of omens
;
and
ceremonies and
sacrifices are
directed,
not towards a benevolent supreme power, but to appease the wrath of numerous malignant spirits and demons. Their mode of taking an oath
is
to place a spear-head or the
muzzle of a gun between their
teeth,
and
on themselves destruction by that weapon if they are not They inter their dead in a special burying-ground, speaking the truth. and over the grave of a chief erect a stone tomb 3 or 4 feet high. The Nagas cannot be said to possess any organized form of polity.
to imprecate
Each community has certain chiefs called peunids ; but the authority of is little more than nominal, and the oflfice is not hereditary. Their one maxim of jurisprudence is that blood once shed can never be expiated, except by the death of the murderer or one of his nearest
these chiefs
relatives.
Hence
seldom
noticeable feature in these internal quarrels
village
at
is
A blood-feuds last from generation to generation. is that the whole of one
;
war with the whole of another village but clan is it may thus happen that a single village contains two hostile clans within its walls, with a neutral clan living between on good terms with both. The Nagas are fond of hunting, and esteem the They secure their game by flesh of the elephant as a great delicacy.
at
feud with clan, and
I50
pitfall traps
NAGA
is filled
HILLS.
of the pit
into
it is
covered over with branches and leaves of trees. The bottom with sharp bamboo spikes, so that any animal falling
transfixed
and
killed.
a heavy, long, square-headed ddo or hand-bill, and a light hoe.
Their only agricultural implements are Their
system of cultivation is that known asyz/;;/, which requires that fresh But in patches of jungle should be cleared by fire every three years. those ranges where the hills have a gentle slope, terraces are cut from
the base to the summit
;
and the same land
is
continuously cultivated,
is
being irrigated by
artificial
channels along which water
often con-
ducted from considerable distances.
The Kiikis are comparatively recent immigrants into the Naga Hills from the mountains bordering on Tipperah and Chittagong. They form what is known as the Langtung colony, and are a short, hardy, and warlike race, much feared and respected by the tribes among whom Their villages are all situated in dense jungle, and genethey dwell. Some of the principal rally on high ridges with water near at hand. villages contain as many as two hundred houses, built on platforms The houses are built raised three or four feet above the ground.
wholly of bamboos, and generally divided into two apartments. The chiefs residence is, of course, much larger, and built with large posts,
and thatched with grass and bamboo leaves intermingled.
of the Kukis
is
The
dress
of the scantiest, often consisting of nothing beyond a
large cotton shawl or sheet {chddar), either
wrapped round the
loins, or
hanging down
from the shoulder to the knee.
The women wear
a
short petticoat reaching from the waist to the knee, with generally a
second petticoat tied under the armpits, but this is frequently disfor a small cotton shawl thrown loosely over the shoulders. They are of excessively filthy habits, and disease and death are concarded
stantly
head,
Naga Hills who have a recognised word is law, and he is the arbitrator in all quarrels and disputes. The chieftainship and title are hereditary honours, descending from father to son. Their ideas as to religion and
only tribe in the
among them. The Kukis are the
whom
they
call
hausd ;
his
a future state are very vague
:
but, like nearly all savage tribes, they
believe in the existence of evil spirits or demons, whose machinations
are only to be averted by sacrifice. future state of retribution,
deities
pigs,
They
also
seem
to believe
in
a
and
in a plurality of gods.
The
principal
and
worshipped are called Tevae and Sangron, to whom fowls, rice spirits are offered in sacrifice on occasions of sickness,
afflictions.
famine, or other
They
believe that
it
when
If a
the spirit leaves
life
the body, the angel of death conveys
led in this world, the soul
is
away.
good
has been
transported with a song of triumph to the
gods, ever after to remain at ease.
The
sinner, however,
is
subject to a
variety of tortures in the next world
—
to
impalement, hanging, immer-
NAGA
sion in boiling water, etc.
HILLS.
151
Tlie Kukis are very fond of the chase,
and
tril)e
are expert huntsmen, destroying
more wild
beasts than any other
in the District. Wild elephants are killed for the sake of the tusks, which fmd a ready sale in the markets. Bows and arrows, spears, and ddos form their weapons. They are
very fond of war, not apparently for the mere sake of plunder, but to
gratify a spirit of revenge, or to
procure heads for religious ceremonies
on the death of a chief. Like all other wild tribes, their knowledge of war consists simply in surprising their enemies. They surround the place to be attacked in the night-time, and at break of day rush in from every quarter and massacre indiscriminately all they come across. The small clan residing within the Naga Hills are said to have lived
peaceably for several years past, and there
continuing to do so in future.
is
every probability of their
is,
One
of their customs
on the death
of a chief or head-man, to smoke-dry the body and keep it for two months, after which it is interred with grand honours, and a great feast
is
Rice and cotton are the chief products, given to the whole clan. which are cultivated on \.\\QJum system, but in a manner different to that followed by the Cacharis and Nagas, who take three or four sucthe Kuki's, however, take only one cessive crops from the same land
;
crop and clear fresh ground every year.
are inveterate smokers.
Men, women, and children
the heaviest burdens of
life.
The women bear
When
fields,
not employed in household duties, or in the cultivation of their they work at their looms, weaving cloths for the family, while the
set about basking in the sun. The Mikirs are the most peaceful and industrious of the hill tribes, and labour under the imputation of cowardice because they are less They inhabit the lower warlike and vindictive than their neighbours. the plains and since our hills, usually within a day's journey from annexation of Assam, they have been recognised from the first as British Within the limits of subjects, and rendered liable to pay a house-tax. In the Naga Hills District, the Mikirs are estimated to number 8800.
;
men
the neighbouring District of
in 1881, dwelling in the
Nowgong they numbered 47^497 persons border tract specially known as the Mikir Hills.
not in organized communities, but in solitary huts or small hamlets, as many as thirty individuals sometimes occupying the same They carry on a brisk traffic with Bengali traders, bartering house.
They
live,
their cotton, erid silk,
and various jungle products
d.xi6.
goods.
As
is
also the case with the Cacharis, they
for salt and piecehave recently fallen
under the influence of Hinduism;
of the Vishnuite sect are
gosdi7is ox religious instructors
now
very busy
among them.
to the civil and military administrative head-quarters at Kohima, the following places are estimated to contain over two thousand in-
Next
habitants
:
— Kohima
(the
Angami
village),
Viswema, Chanduma, and
152
NAGA
HILLS.
Sephima.
DImdpur, on the Dhaneswari river, about 15 miles distant from the civil station, which has recently been created a police outpost, has become the home of a few Marwari and Muhammadan traders. Up
to 1876, five villages occupied
by Angami Nagas, and one village of Kachha Nagds, had been subjected to the payment of a house-tax. By 1882, 69 Angami, 22 Kachha, 8 Sema, 9 Rengm^, and 54 Lhota
Agriculture^
villages
were assessed for house- tax at a rate of Rs. 2 per house. etc. The staple crop grown throughout the hills is
—
rice,
which yields two harvests. The kezi crop, corresponding to the dus of the plains, is sown broadcast about April, and reaped in July. It can be cultivated on any description of forest land, and yields a coarse grain, which is consumed locally. The thedi or chedi crop corresponds
to the sail of
careful irrigation.
the dman of Bengal. It requires good soil and sown about June, transplanted in the following month, and harvested in November. Of recent years, a considerable
It is
Assam and
extension of rice cultivation has taken place, especially in the neighbour-
hood of Samaguting
still
;
but at least three-fourths of the District area
is
uncultivated w^aste.
The
other food crops comprise Indian corn,
two small species of grain called stithe and kesithe, and various vegetables. Potatoes were introduced by the Deputy Commissioner in 1869. Cotton
cultivation
is
restricted to the lower ranges lying north of the Barel
Hills,
and Rengma
Mikirs.
state
which are chiefly occupied by Rengma Nagas and
is
The
tea plant
indigenous to the country, but the general
other causes, has hitherto kept
only agricultural implements used
of insecurity, combined with
capital at a distance.
European
required
gation
The
are the ddo or hill-knife
for the
primitive
and a rude koddli or hoe. No animals are methods of tillage but oxen of several
;
breeds, pigs, goats, and even dogs, are bred for food or barter.
is
Irri-
extensively practised, both
artificial
channels.
from natural watercourses and In only two villages is the Government revenue
raised
by means of a rent assessed upon the cultivated land ; and in these cases the rates are as follows For basti or homestead land, on which vegetables, etc. are raised, is. 8d. per acre; riipit or lowland,
:
—
suited for the valuable
crop of thedi
rice, 2s. id.
per
diCie
;
fari?ighdti
or high land, suited for kezi rice
pulses, IS. 8d. per acre.
and a second crop of mustard seed or The natural calamities of flood and drought
;
are practically
sufl'er
unknown
in the District
but the rice crops occasionally
in the District.
from the ravages of insects, rats, and mice. There are no regular rates of wages or of prices
Prior to the formation of Samaguting into a civil station, the Nagas
were entirely ignorant of the value of money, and all trade was conducted by barter. Even at the present day, copper coins are looked upon with suspicion in the remote villages. The Nagas had no native standards of weight or measurement, but the 7naimd and ser of the plains have
NAGA
now been
generally introduced.
HILLS,
1,
153
In 187
ordinary day-labourers could
;
not be obtained for less than 6d. or Qd. a day
are imported from
skilled artisans,
who
Assam
or Bengal,
demanded
£^\^
los. a
month.
and
In 1883-84, the price of unskilled labour was as high as from is. to 2s., The excessive skilled artisans obtained from 2s. to 4s. per diem. In March 187 1, best cleaned rice sold for
rate of wages, indeed, forms the great obstacle to the carrying out of
public improvements.
^i
per cwt.,
common
rice for 9s. 4d. per cwt.,
and common unhusked
paddy
for 4s. per cwt.
These
prices,
the season
and the
was
etc.
state of the market.
however, vary greatly according to In 1883-84, the price of
per cwt. manufacturing industries of the Naga Hills are solely confined to the production of the few rude articles required for domestic use. The most important is the weaving of coarse thick
rice
los. iid.
common
Ma7iiifactures^
—The
cloth of various patterns, the prevailing colours being dark blue, with
red and yellow stripes, and brown, with black stripes.
a certain creeper.
is
The
material
is
either cotton, the fibre of a plant of the nettle species, or the bark of
is done by the women, on whom also burden of agricultural operations, as well as The only ironwork consists of the forging of ddos^
The weaving
laid a full share of the
all
in-door work.
koddlis,
and spear-heads. Trade is generally conducted by means of barter, and has increased very much both in amount and complexity of recent years. There are no permanent markets, and the profits are entirely in the hands of Marwari and Muhammadan traders. During the rains, water communication
road,
is
by means of the principal rivers. A tolerable from Samaguting to the river mart of Gol^ghat, in the District of Sibsagar and there are several passes across the southern hills into Cachar and Manipur, over which ponies can be led. A good bridle road has now (1883) been opened out from Dimapur to Kohima. The local products available for export comprise rice, cotton, cloth woven from the nettle fibre, ivory, beeswax, and various dyes obtained from the jungle. In exchange, salt and iron are imported but the one great desire of every Naga, to satisfy which
available
67 miles in length, extends
;
;
he
will
run any risk and pay any price,
Adrninistratmi.
—The
District has
remains in such a backward state
is a gun and ammunition. been formed so recently, and still of civilisation, that the revenue bears
a very small proportion to the expenditure.
In 1869-70, the receipts
from
all
sources
an increase
amounted of more than
to only ;^497,
eleven-fold
total, however, shows on the year but one previous
which
;
The the house-tax contributed £,^'^0, and the land-tax proper, ;^55. expenditure on civil administration in the same year was ^^62 20.
In 1881-82, the house-tax and land revenue combined yielded a total revenue of ;^2496, and in 1883-84 of ;2^2 82 9. The other main items of
—
1
;
54
A^A GAL—NA GAPA TNAM.
revenue in 1883-84 comprised excise,
inahals^jr^^\o\
^529
;
stamps, ;£"838
;
elephant
and fisheries, ^30. Seven European officers are stationed in the District. For police purposes, the Naga Hills is divided into the Kohima, Wokha, and Dimapur thdnds^ while outposts are stationed at Henima, Samaguting, Pephima, Kemphima, and Pherima. The police force, which is organized on a semi-military basis, numbers 460 officers and men. A regiment of Native infantry is also quartered in the District. [For further information regarding the Nagd Hills, and the races inhabiting the tract, see The Statistical Account of Assain^ by W. W. Hunter, vol. ii. pp. 173-199 (Triibner & Co., London, 1879); Report on Survey Operations in the Ndgd Hills in 1875-76, by Lieut. R. G. Woodthorpe, R.E. and the annual Administration Reports of the Assam Government.] Nagal. Village in Dehra Dun District, North-Western Provinces. Lat. 30° 23' N., long. 78° 10' E. Situated on the Garhwal boundary, close to a small river, which is utilized for numerous mills. Nagalapiir. Low hill range in Chengalpat District, Madras, lying between 13° 24' and 13° 27' 40" n. lat., and between 79" 49' and 79° 51' 50" E. long. connected with the Sattiawad Hills on the north, and the Nagari group on the west. Average height, about 1800 feet. Bluff ridges and beetling crags, here and there starting up into sharp
;
—
—
;
tapering peaks, are the characteristics of the range.
Highest peak,
2500
feet.
Three
Nagamangala. Tdluk in Hassan District, Mysore State. Area, 313 square miles, of which 75 are cultivated. Population (1871) 74,702; (1881) 53,870, namely, 25,446 males and 28,424 females.
Hindus numbered 52,951 Muhammadans, 901 and 'others,' 18. Land revenue (1881-82), exclusive of water rates, ;^76i8, or 3s. per
;
—
zig-zag passes cross the range.
;
cultivated acre.
Sheep-breeding
is
Expenditure on administration for 1881-82, ;^ioii. very extensively carried on, also the manufacture of
brass utensils by the Jains at
I
Bellur.
In 1883 the tdluk contained
police circles {thdnds), 5 ; regular police, 44 village watch {chaukiddrs)^ 306. Total revenue, ;£^i 2,673.
;
criminal court
men
in Hassan District, Mysore State situated and long. 76° 47' 40" e., 61 miles byroad south-east of Hassan town, and 28 miles north of Seringapatam. Head-quarters of the Nagamangala /^7///C'. An ancient town, Population (1881) 2397. containing the remains of several temples and royal buildings.
;
Nagamangala.
lat.
—Village
in
12° 49' 10" N.,
Formerly the residence of a line oi pdlegdrs. The inner fort is said to have been erected in 1270 the outer fortifications are assigned to 1578. In 1630 it was captured by the Hindu Raja of Mysore. The whole town was sacked and reduced to ruins by the Marathas during the war with Tipii Sultan in 1792.
;
Nagapatnam.
PATAM.
— Town
in Tanjore,
Madras Presidency.
See
Nega-
NAGAR TOWN AND
Nagar
(or
RIVER.
capital
155
of Birbhuni
e.
Rdjnagar).
— Town
and ancient
District, Bengal.
Lat. 23° 56' 50" k., long.
87° 21' 45"
Formerly
princes of
in
of considerable importance as the metropolis of the
Hindu
Birbhiim, prior to the conquest of Bengal by the
Muhammadans
1244 it was plundered by the Uriyas. The site of Nagar is now covered with crumbling houses, mouldering mosques, and weed-choked tanks the ancestral palace of its Rajas has almost fallen into ruins. North of the town, and buried in dense jungle, are
1203
A.D.
In
;
the remains of an ancient
mud
fort said to
have been built
in the last
century as a defence against the Marathas.
The famous Nagar
wall or
entrenchment, extending in an irregular and broken line around the
town
for a distance of
32 miles,
is
now undergoing
a rapid process of
decay.
The
g/idts
or gateways have long ceased to be capable
parts of the wall
of
defence, and
many
have been washed almost
level
with the ground by the annual rains.
Nagar {N'agore^
Tanjore
District,
the ancient
'
Thellyr
').
— Seaport
officially
is
in
Negapatam
tdhik,
Madras Presidency;
situated in
lat.
10' 49' 26" N.,
and
long. 79° 53' 24" E., 3 miles north of,
and
included within, the
Negapatam
municipality.
river Vettar,
The harbour
conveniently situated at the
mouth of the
and Burma.
native vessels) in
and a considerable trade is carried on (in areca-nuts, spices, timber, and ponies, with the Straits
The average annual value for the five years ending in In 1883-84, was ^36,864 for imports, and ^6545 for exports. 1883-84, the imports were valued at ;£6 1,749, of which ^60,808
foreign ports
;
came from
the exports were valued at
^2861,
of which
;£"i266 were to foreign ports.
resorted to during
Nagar has a celebrated mosque with a minaret 90 feet high, and is its annual festival by Muhammadan pilgrims from all
parts of India. The town, with a small territory surrounding it, was sold by the Raja of Tanjore to the Dutch at Negapatam in 1771, but was soon afterw^ards wrested from them by the Nawab of the Karnatik with the aid of the English. It was afterwards restored to the Raja,
who made
a grant of
it
to the
English in 1776.
In the campaign
of 1780-81, food supplies were obtained hence for the British troops.
Haidar ceded the place to the Dutch, from whom it passed to the 1781. (For municipal and population details, see Negapatam.) Nagar. River of Northern Bengal. Approaching Dinajpur District from Purniah at its extreme northernmost point, it flows southward for
English in
—
—
about 90 miles, marking the boundary between Dinajpur and Purniah, till it falls into the Mahananda (lat. 25° 29' 45" n., long. 88° 7' e.), Navigable at the point where the latter river first touches on Dinajpur.
by large cargo-boats during the rainy season. and Kulik. The bed of the Nagar is rocky
Chief tributaries
in the north, but
— Patki
becomes
;
156
NAGAR RIVER AND TOWN.
its
sandy towards
southern section
river of
;
the banks are sloping and for the
most part uncultivated.
N^gar.
— Small
Northern Bengal
Gur, which
is
;
rises in the
north of Bogra
in
District, enters Rajshahi,
and
after a course of
about 20 miles
the
latter District, falls into the
the
name
given to the united
streams of the Atrai and Jamuna.
Nagar.
the
three
— Division
Districts
of Mysore
of Shimoga,
State,
Kadur, and
;
Southern India, comprising Chitaldrug, each
Area of Nagar Division, 11,652 square number of occupied and towns, 4766 Population houses, 216,999; and of unoccupied houses, 35,959. (1881) 1,204,365, namely, 618,981 males and (1871) 1,364,261 Number of persons per square mile, 103; towns 585,384 females. occupied houses per square and villages per square mile, 0*4 Hindus nummile, i8"6; and persons per occupied house, 5*5. bered 1,146,470; Muhammadans, 55,028; Christians, 2864; and
of which see separately.
miles
;
number of
villages
;
;
'
others,' 3.
Nagar.
23,659
tained
— Tdluk
square miles.
Area, 494 of Shimoga District, Mysore State. Revenue, ;£"i6,o52. Population (1881)43,665, namely,
males
I civil
and
20,006
females.
Hindus
152.
Muhammadans, 850; and
police, 53
Christians,
;
numbered 42,663 In 1883 the tdluk con;
by
hills.
Nagar
and i criminal court police circles {thd7ids)^ 8 regular men. The country is densely wooded, and is almost enclosed Chief products, rice and areca-nut. (or Bednur). Village in Shimoga District, Mysore State,
—
Southern India.
Lat.
13°
15'
n., long.
75°
6'
e.
In 1640, Nagar,
under the name of Bednur, became the capital of the Keladi chieftains, who transferred the seat of their Government from Ikkeri. It attained
great prosperity,
and
w^as
strongly fortified with a wall 8 miles in
cir-
sacked by Haidar Ali in 1763, it is said to have yielded a booty of millions sterling. The conqueror named it Haidar Nagar, established his arsenal here, and continued the
cumference with 10
gates.
When
mint
at
which the
first
Haidari pagodas were struck.
Nagar suffered
during the wars with Tipii Sultan, and was also an object of attack in
the insurrection of 1830.
roads across the
It has latterly benefited by the opening of and is the head-quarters of Nagar tdluk. The name of Nagar, by which the old Bednur is now generally known, was given to it in the days when it was boasted to contain a Idkh (100,000)
ghdts.,
of houses.
Punjab due north Former capital of the Kulu of Sultanpur, the head-quarters town. The Rajas, and now the residence of the Assistant Commissioner. ancient palace of the Rajas crowns an eminence looking down upon
Nagar.
—Town
in the Kiilu Sub-division of
Kangra
District,
;
situated
on the
left
bank of the Beas
(Bias) river, 12 miles
KAGAR HILL—NAGARKOIL.
t]ie
157
It
river
from a
heiglit of
itself
about a thousand
forest,
feet.
commands
a
magnificent view, and
forms a striking feature from the town.
Nagar.
pore) and
— Hill range, covered with
Mandla
Districts,
between Jabalpur (Jubbul-
Central Provinces.
The
valley of the
— See Nandarthan. Nagari. — Hill range
'
Narbada (Nerbudda) lies below. Nagarbasti. Town in Darbhangah District, Bengal situated on the east bank of the Little Gandak, in lat. 25" 52' 15" n., and long. 85' 51' 30" E., 20 miles south of the town of Darbhangah. Population Roads lead to Malinagar, to Bilaspur for Darbhangah, (1881) 1070. and to Rusera via Jitwarpur indigo factory on the opposite bank of T/ui7id, school, and bazar ; bi-weekly market. the river. Nagardhan. Decayed town in Nagpur District, Central Provinces.
—
;
—
in
North Arcot
District,
Madras
;
forming the
extreme south-easterly spur of the Eastern Ghats, and consisting of altered and hardened sandstone some hundreds of feet thick, up-
heaved towards the east in perpendicular precipices by granite or gneiss rocks, which are intersected by dikes of serpentine trap.' (Cox.) The
—
sandstones are of various colours, chiefly pale red, yellow, and white,
both in large and small grains.
Table Mountain
at the
Cape
of
The formation is similar to that of Good Hope, near which coal and
diamond conglomerates have been found. Nagari Nose. Principal peak of the Nagari Hills, North Arcot District, Madras Presidency. Lat. 13° 22' 53" n., long. 79° 39' 22" e. Elevation above the sea, 2824 feet. Although 50 miles inland, this hill is visible from the sea in fine weather, and is a recognised landmark.
—
At the foot of the hill is the village of Nagari (population in 1881, 2565), near Nagari station on the north-west line of the IVLidras Railway. Nagari is a very busy place, visited by merchants from T^Iadras for the purchase of rice, indigo, and ground nuts. The rice raised in the neighbourhood is of superior quality. Nagari has the largest fair in the
District.
It
was once a
city
Nagar Khas.
— Village
more than a mile
ta/isil,
in diameter.
in Basti
Basti District, North-Western
Provinces. Lat. 26'' 42' n., long. 82° 43' e. Situated on the northern bank of the Chandu Tal Lake, six miles south-west of Basti town. Nagar Khas is supposed by General Cunningham to be identical with
the ancient Kapila-vastu
or Kapila-nagara, the traditional
real site of
birthplace
is
of
Gautama Buddha, although the
It
Buddha's birthplace
was certainly the capital of a Gautama principality in the 14th century, and remained the seat of a line of Gautam Rajas till 1858, when their estates were confiscated for rebellion. Population
doubtful.
(1881)2371.^
Nagarkoil.
— Town
in the State of
Travancore, Madras Presidency.
Lat. 8^ 11' N., long. 77° 28' 41" e.
A
suburb of Kotar, once the seat
158
NAGAR KOT—NAGAUR.
now
the head-quarters of a District,
It is also the centre of
of the Travancore Government, and with courts
and other Government
offices.
a
large Christian population.
The London Mission
Society has a
good
Nagarkoil publishes the only newsschool and printing-press here. reputation for fine lace-work, done by paper in the State ; and has a
the Mission converts.
Nagar Kot.
Kangra.
— Ancient
town
in
Kangra
District,
Punjab.
— See
Thar and Parkar District, Sind, Rann of Cutch (Kachchh). (1881) 37,512, namely, 20,379 males and Population (1872) 33,259; 17,133 females, dwelhng in i town and 3 villages, consisting of 6636 Hindus number 10,160; Muhammadans, 11,192; occupied houses. Gross revenue and Jains, 870. aboriginal tribes, 15,265 Sikhs, 25
Nagar Parkar.— ^^f/z^/C-
of the
l^ombay Presidency, bordering on the
;
;
(1881-82), ;£4546; area in 1882 assessed to land revenue, ;£"9t,240 In 1883 the acres, the whole of which was under cultivation in 1882.
taluk contained
circles
;
2
civil
and
2
criminal courts
;
1
7
thd7ids or police
76 regular police. Nagar Parkar. Chief town and
—
municipality of
Nagar Parkar
;
tdliik,
lat.
Thar and Parkar District, Sind,
Bombay
Presidency
situated in
and long. 70° 47' 30" e., 120 miles south of Umarkot. Connected by good roads with Islamkot, Mitti, Adigaon, Pitapur, Head-quarters of a viukhtiydrkdr Birani, and Bela in Cutch (Kachchh). and tappdddr, with the usual public buildings and post-office. Popula24° 21' N.,
tion (1881)
1773; municipal revenue (1881-82), ^329. Manufactures and dyeing of cloth. Local trade in cotton, w^ool, grain, cocoa-nuts, piece-goods, hides, tobacco, and metals transit trade in The town is believed to be of grain, camels, cattle, wool, and ghi.
—weaving
;
some antiquity about a mile distant is Sardhara with a temple to Mahadeo, and a spring sacred among Hindus. In 1859, Nagar Parkar
;
was the scene of a rebellion, for the suppression of which a British force was despatched from Haidarabad (Hyderabad). The ringleaders were transported for a term of years. Nagaur. Town in Jodhpur State, Rajputana; situated in lat. 27° 11' 15" N., and long. 73° 46' 15" e., in a jungle-covered plain distant 84 miles north-west from Nasirabad (Nusseerabad), and 75 north-east from Jodhpur city. Nagaur was first occupied by Chanda, chief of With a valuable adjacent territhe Rahtor Rajputs, about 1382 a.d. tory, it was for centuries regarded as the appanage of the heir to the gadi of Jodhpur. It was several times occupied temporarily by the
—
;
Musalman forces, once notably by Akbar in 1561, who conferred it on the chief of Bikaner ; it was, however, subsequently recovered by It was at one time so prosperous that it is said to have paid Jodhpur. At least one-quarter annually from commercial imposts alone. ^7500
—
—
—
1
NA GA VALI—NA GINA.
of the city is
59
now
in ruins, i)resenting a
confused mass of
fallen
houses
such as one might expect to encounter in some city of and the dead, but scarcely to be seen in a town containing some 30,000 A superior breed of cattle is reared in the neighbourinhabitants.
of debris^
hood.
Nagavali.
Nagavaram.
tion
— River the Madras Presidency. See Languliya. — Estate Yernagudem taluk, Godavari
in
in
District,
Madras Presidency.
Lat. 17° 13' 40" N., long. 81° 22' 20" e.
Popula-
Consists of 40 hill (1881) 5839; number of houses, 1182. villages, inhabited chiefly by Kois, and from one of these villages the
estate receives its
fort.
name.
The
village of
Nagavaram has a dilapidated
;
left
situated on the Village in Cachar District, Assam bank of the Sonai river, i mile north of its confluence with the Rukhmini, and 14 miles south of Silchar, with which it is connected In January 187 1, a Bengali settlement here was bv a good road. This outrage was an incident in cut to pieces by a party of Lushais. the raid which led to the retributive Lushai expedition of the following
Nagdirgrdm.
—
year.
Naggery.
Nagina.
— Village
;
and railway
station in
North Arcot
District,
Madras Presidency.
western Provinces
See
Nagari Nose.
tahsil of Bijnaur
— North-eastern
(Bijnor) District, North-
consisting chiefly of a
tract, bordering on the Garhwal Hills, gauds of Nagina, Barhapura, and Afzalgarh.
submontane and well-watered and comprising the three par-
A
flat plain,
well watered
by streams, with a high average productiveness, and a remarkably dense
population.
mango-groves.
tion,
The prevailing features are sugar-fields and numerous The country is well supplied with means of communica-
(juarters
and nine unmetalled roads converge on Nagina town, the headArea, of the tahsil, and the largest town in Bijnaur District. 474 square miles, of which 226 square miles are returned as under cultivation. Population (1872) 165,116; (1881) 170,075, namely, Classified according to religion, males 90,554, and females 79,521. Hindus, 113,489 Muhammadans, 56,541 Jains, there were in 1881 and 'others,' 12. Of the 465 villages comprising the tahsil, 2>'^t^ 33 contain less than five hundred inhabitants. Land revenue, ;^26,620 total Government revenue, including local rates and cesses levied on ^'"^"(^ ^30,130; rental paid by cultivators, ^43,160. In 1883, Nagina tahsil contained 2 civil and 2 criminal courts, with 5 police circles {thd?ids), a regular police force of 70 men, a town and municipal police of 50 men, and a village watch or rural police of 392 chaiikidars. Town and municipality in Bijnaur (Bijnor) District, Nagina. North-Western Provinces, and head-quarters of Nagina tahsil ; situated in lat. 29' 27' 5 X., and long. 78° 28' 50" e., on the road from Hardwar
—
;
;
;
;
—
"
i6o
to
NAGKANDA—NAGODE.
Moradabad, 48 miles north-west of the latter town. Nagina was founded by the Pathans, between 1748 and 1774, who built the fort, now used as a tahsili. The town was sacked in 1805 by the Rohilld freebooter, Amir Khan; and in 1817 it became the head-quarters of the newly formed District of Northern Moradabad till 1824, when the head-quarters were removed to Bijnaur on the constitution of the prePopulation (1872) 19,696; (1881) 20,503, namely, District. males 10,325, and females 10,178. Classified according to religion, Muhammadans, 13,178; Hindus, the population in 1881 comprised 7280; Jains, 33; and Christians, 12. Municipal revenue (1883-84),
sent
—
which ;£'ii59 was derived from taxation; average incidence Nagina was formerly celebrated for of taxation, is. ijd. per head. it is now noted for its cloth, hempen its manufacture of gun-barrels The rope and sacking, ebony-carving, glass-ware, and matchlocks.
;£'i2 2o, of
;
principal trade
is
the export of sugar.
During the Mutiny of 1857-58
the town was the scene of several conflicts, as well as of the final defeat of the rebels on the 21st April 1858, which crushed out the revolt in
Bijnaur District. Nagkanda {Narkajida).—?3iss in Kumharsain State, Punjab, lying in lat. 31° 15' N., and long. 77° 31' e., over a ridge proceeding west-
ward from Hattu peak.
place
is
much
The Elevation above sea-level, 9016 feet. frequented by visitors from Simla on account of the fine
view to be obtained of the snowy range. A well-supplied dak bungalow is maintained for the convenience of travellers. Nagode {Nagaudh or Uchahra).—V tliy State under the Baghel-
Bounded on the north-east by the khand Agency, Central India. States of Sohawal and Rewa, on the east by Rewa, on the southArea, 450 square miles. east by Maihar, and on the west by Panna. Population (1881) 79,629, namely, 39,646 males and 39,983 females, of whom 68,070 were Hindus; 2902 Muhammadans; 679 Jains; 11 Christians; 2 Sikhs; and 7965 aboriginal tribes, of whom 2129 Revenue, about ^15,000, of which were Gonds and 5836 Kols. ;^7ooo is alienated mjdgirs and religious and charitable grants. The
Jabalpur (Jubbulpore) extension of the East Indian Railway passes Nagode was originally included, as one of the feuthrough the State.
datories of Panna, in the
sanad granted
to
Raja Kisori Singh.
But as
the State
had been
in the possession of the Purihar ancestors of Lai
Sheoraj Singh before the establishment of the power of Chhatar Sal in Bundelkhand, and the family had never been dispossessed either by the Bundela Rajas or by AH Bahadur, a sanad was given to Lai
Sheoraj Singh in 1809, confirming him in the possession of his
tory.
terri-
He
was succeeded
in
1818 by
his son,
was deposed
in 1831 for the murder of his Balbhadra, was then a minor, and the State was therefore temporarily of
Balbhadra Singh, who Raghubind, son brother.
—
NAGODE TOWN—NAGOTHNA.
taken under British administration.
i6i
On
attaining his majority in 1838,
Raghubind was installed. The Rdja rendered good service during the Mutiny, and was rewarded by a grant of land from the confiscated State of Bijeraghogarh, the right of adoption, and the honour of a Raghubind died in 1874, and was succeeded by his salute of 9 guns. son, Jadho Bind Singh, the present Raja, who is a Purihar Rdjput. The military force consists of 2 guns and 116 infantry and police. In the Froceedifigs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1874, page 109, will
be found an account of the antiquities of this State.
Nagode.— Chief town
India; situated in
route by
lat.
of
Nagode
State, in
Baghelkhand, Central
24° 33' 45" n.,
and
long. 80" 37' 55" e.,
on the
Rewa from
Sagar (Saugor) to Allahabad,
no
miles north-
west of Jabalpur (Jubbulpore). Site of a cantonment for British troops. There is a fort here, in which the Raja once resided, built on the Amran, a tributary of the Tons, at an elevation of 1099 feet above the level of the sea. Nagode was abandoned as a cantonment in 1876, and about the same time the Raja left the town and took up his residence at Uchahra. Nagode town has consequently lost much of its importance; the population (1881) has decreased to 4828, and houses both in cantonments and the town are falling into disrepair. Nagode is on the road from Satna to Nowgong, 17 miles from the former, and 84 miles from the latter place. Nagore. Town and port in Tanjore District, Madras Presidency.
—
See
Nagar.
Ndgothna.
— Town
in
Pen
Sub-division,
Presidency; situated in
lat.
18° 32' 30" n.,
24 miles from the mouth of the river by steamers up to Dharamtar ferry, 15 miles below Ndgothna, at all times of the year. At Dharampur passengers and goods are transhipped to macMvds (lateen-rigged smacks) of burden up to 20 tons,
traffic for
is
Kolaba District, Bombay and long. 73° 10' 55" e., Amba, which is navigated
and carried up with the flood tide to Nagothna. The passenger the Southern Deccan and Konkan is considerable, and cargo
also
has been
in
brought up by boats of 80 tons burden and under. The channel much improved by the removal of rocks. A road, 70 miles length, runs from this place to Mahableswar, and another running
north-east joins the
Bombay and Poena road
of
at the foot of the Borghat.
In the beginning
Gujarat.
the sixteenth century
Nagothna belonged
to
the defeat of the prince of Gujarat by the Portuguese, the neighbourhood of Nagothna seems to have passed to Ahmadnagar, the allies of the Portuguese. In 1636, the Mughals handed the Ahmadto Bijapur. About ten years later it passed to Sivaji. Negotan in a treaty between the British and the Peshwa in Nagothna is 15 miles south of Pen and 40 miles south-west 1739. from Bombay. Average annual value of trade during the five years
On
nagar
It is
Konkan
called
VOL. X.
L
;
1
62
NAGPUR.
1881-82
ending
office.
— imports,
;?{^68oo,
and
exports,
^39,090.
Post-
Ndgpur.
— Division
or Commissionership of the Central Provinces,
comprising the Districts of Nagpur, Bhandara, Chanda, Wardha, and Balaghat, all of which see separately; lying between 18" 40' and
and between 78° 4 30" and 81° 9' e. long. The Division is bounded on the north by Chhindwara, Seoni, and Mandla Districts on the east by Raipur District and the Native States of Kawardhd, on the south by the Nizam's Dominions Khairdgarh, and Kanker and on the west by the Amraoti and Wun Districts of Berar. The Nagpur Division contains an area of 24,040 square miles, with 21 Population (1872) towns and 8200 villages, and 580,862 houses. (1881) 2,758,056, namely, males 1,383,785, and females 2,411,278;
22° 20' N. lat,
;
Total increase of population in the nine years 1872-1881, 1,374,271. 346,778, or 14-4 per cent. Average density of population, 114-7 persons per square mile ; towns and villages per square mile, '34 persons per town or village, 335 ; houses per square mile, 24-16 persons per house,
;
;
4'75-
Classified according to religion, the population of
Nagpur Division
in
1881 consisted
of— Hindus,
:
dans, 84,595, or 3 per cent. 27 ; Christians, 5428; Buddhists, 6; Brahmos, 6; Jains, 7358; Parsis, 189 Jews, 12; non-Hindu aborigines, 388,324, or 14 per cent.; and
;
2,257,206, or 81-8 per cent.; MuhammaKabirpanthis, 19,270 Satnamis, 629 ; Sikhs,
;
'
others,' 6.
The
total aboriginal population
by
tribe, as distinguished
from
numbers 441,838, namely, Gonds of different clans, 428,761; Baigas, 9669; Kawars, 2402; Korkus, 661; Kols, 297; and Bhils, 48. Of high caste Hindus, Brahmans number 44,542, and The most numerous caste in the Division is the Rajputs 26,960.
religion,
Kurmi, the principal cultivating class, returned at 407,950, the other Mahar, preponderating castes ranking as follows in order of numbers Somosi, a class of weavers, day-labourers, and village watchincluding men, 307,691 Tell, oil-pressers, 166,062; Gawari, cowherds, cartmen,
:
—
;
cultivators,
and
field
servants,
101,739;
Marar, gardeners and
of Rajput
descent,
culti-
vators,
100,661;
Powar,
;
Koshti, weavers, 82,271
90,098; Dhimar, fishermen, water-carriers, domestic
agriculturists
servants, palanquin-bearers, river-side cultivators,
and
rearers of the tasdr
silkworm, 78,218; Mehra, weavers, village watchmen, and cultivators, 68,516; Mali, gardeners, 55,506; Kallar, including Sunri, distillers, wine-sellers, cultivators, traders, and money-lenders, 54 463 ; Lodhi,
barbers, 32,575; Sonar, gold and
landholders and cultivators, 42,456; Mana, cultivators, 39,313; Ndi, silver smiths, 31,798; Barhai, carpenters, 25,984; Maratha, cultivators, soldiers,
and domestic
servants,
etc.,
25,308
21,623
;
Ahir, cattle-rearers, dairymen, cultivators, farm servants,
;
Chamar, skinners and leather dealers, 20,742.
NAGPUR
in
DISTRICT.
163
Nagpur Division contains a considerable urban population, residing 21 towns with upwards of five thousand inhabitants, aggregating
299,184, or IO-8 per cent, of the whole Divisional population; leaving 2,458,872, or 89*2 per cent., as representing the rural or village population.
Of
the 8200 rural villages, 4320 contain less than two hundred
inhabitants; 2561 have between two
five
;
and five hundred; 994 between hundred and a thousand 288 from one to three thousand and As regards occupation, the Census 37 from three to five thousand. divides the male population into the following six main classes: (i)
;
—
Professional, military,
and
official
class,
35,945
;
(2)
domestic
class,
including inn and lodging-house keepers, 15,729 ; (3) commercial class, including merchants, traders, carriers, etc., 22,234; (4) agricultural and
pastoral class, including gardeners, 603,569; (5) industrial and artisan class, 226,094; (6) indefinite and non-productive class, comprising
general labourers
Of
the adult male
and male children, 480,214. and female agricultural population, 22,570 are
returned as landed proprietors; 496,057 as tenant cultivators, of whom 142,050 are tenants without permanent rights, 65,316 are tenants at
fixed rates or with rights of
occupancy, and 288,691 are assistants in
home
farm
cultivation; while 526,410 agricultural labourers, estate agents,
bailiffs, etc.,
bring the total adult agricultural population of the
to
Nagpur Division
population
head.
;
1,051,060, or
'^^'i
per cent, of the Divisional
Of
average area of cultivated and cultivable land, 9 acres per the total area of 24,040 square miles, 18,188 square miles
Government land revenue, of which 6243 square miles cultivation, 7 no square miles as cultivable, and Total amount of Government 4835 square miles as uncultivable waste. assessment, including local rates and cesses levied on land, ^231,607, or an average of is. id. per cultivated acre. Total amount of rent actually paid by cultivators, ^371,305, or an average of is. lofd. per cultivated acre. Total Government revenue from all sources in 1883-84, ;^4i3,8io. Justice is afforded by 50 civil and 55 criminal courts, including the head-quarters courts and offices of the Chief Commisare assessed for are returned as
under
sioner of the
Central
Provinces.
[For further information, see the
separate articles on the Districts comprising the Division
enumerated
above.]
sionership of the Central Provinces, lying between 20° 36'
Nagpur Division of the Chief Commisand 21° 43' N. lat., and between 78° 17' and 79° 42' e. long. It forms an irregular triangle, with its eastern base resting on Bhandira, its northern side bounded by Chhindwara and Seoni, and its south-western side by Wardha. At its south-eastern angle it adjoins Chinda District, while
in the
Nagpur.— District
on the west
its
apex touches Berar.
Population in 1881, 697,356 souls.
administrative head-quarters of the
Area, 3786 square miles.
The
i64
NAGPUR
Nagpur
City.
DISTRICT.
Central Provinces, as well as of the Division and District of Nagpur,
are at
Physical Aspects.
tinuous chain of
— The
;
District of
Nagpur
Its
lies
immediately below the
great table-land of the Satpura range.
hills.
northern frontierjs one conthose mountains themselves
At
its
western extremity this chain consists of
east,
spurs from the Satpuras
but farther
form the boundary. A second great division of hills shuts in the District on the south-western side, reaching its highest point south-west of Katol where the hill of Kharki rises almost 2000 feet above sea-level. Across the country thus enclosed, a third range runs from north to south,
parting
it
into two great plains of very unequal size, which, with the
hills that
bound them, occupy
hills
nearly the whole of the District.
sterile,
In this
range the
outlines.
are bare
and
with rugged and often grotesque
above the
They culminate in the height named Pilkapar, 1899 feet Towards the south-east, however, the boundary of sea. Nagpur runs at some distance below the second hill chain, thus includ-
ing within the District the richly cultivated valley of the
the southern side of the
hills.
Nand
river
on
This
tract naturally
belongs to the great
Wardha cotton field, of which it forms the most eastern and elevated part. The three hill ranges must all be regarded as offshoots belonging They nowhere attain any great elevation. to the Satpuras on the north.
While the heights themselves are rocky and sterile, the valleys and and fertile soil. In the midst of barren hills, covered only with loose boulders and low scrub, the traveller unexpectedly looks down upon valleys studded with fruitStrips of highly trees, and smiling with corn and garden cultivation. cultivated soil rise from the plain below, and creep through the gorges and up the hillside, until they suddenly lose themselves in rock and In the contrasts thus offered between hill and dale, jungle brush w^ood. and homestead, desert and garden, the most striking feature of the hill
loAvlands at their feet possess a rich
scenery
is
to be found.
Of
the two great plains, that to the west of Pilkapar slopes
lies
down
tract
to
is
the river Wardha, beyond which
East Berar.
This western
to join the
watered by the
Jam and
the Madar, on their
way
Wardh^,
;
and contains the most highly cultivated land in the District everyw^here it abounds with mango and other fruit trees, and teems with the The great plain on the eastern side of the richest garden cultivation. Pilkapar range, at least six times larger than the other, stretches away It consists of a rich to the confines of Bhandara and Chanda. undulating country, luxuriant with mango groves and trees of all sorts, and dotted towards the east with countless small tanks. Its general slope is towards the Wainganga, which flows for a short distance Through this plain the perennial between Nagpur and Bhandara.
stream
of
the
Kanhan (which
receives
the
Bench, the Kolar, the
NAG PUR
DISTRICT.
165
Wana, the Sur, and the Bor) flows between higli banks, in a narrow channel deep below the surface of the country, along a sandy bed, In a flood, the barred here and there with jagged ledges of rock. waters swell with extraordinary rapidity, and pour down in impetuous Here and there rises a solitary height, torrents to the Wainganga. such as the Haldoli Hills in the south-east, 1300 feet high; the heights at Chdpgarhi and Bhiokdnd and, in the north-east of the District, the sacred hill of Ramtek. The last attains an elevation of 1400 It is in the form of a horse-shoe, with the heel feet above the sea. towards the south-east. At its outer extremity, towards the north, the cliff is scarped, rising sheer from the base about 500 feet. On the summit are the old fortress and the temples below, in the hollow formed by the inner sides of the hill, and embosomed in groves of mango and tamarind, nestles a lake, its margin adorned with temples, and enclosed by broad flights of steps of hewn stone, reaching down to From the summit, the prospect is wide and magnificent. the water. Lastly, in the middle of the plain stands the isolated little hill crowned by the Sitabaldi fort, commanding an extensive vie\v, and interesting both from its historical associations and its geological importance. Within the limits of the horizon, as seen from Sitabaldi, every
;
;
formation belonging to the District
of a few
is
to
be found.
is
Indeed, the circuit
hundred yards presents an epitome of the geology of the
Peninsula.
On
the hill-top, the surface
strewn with nodular trap.
hill,
A
few yards below, in the scarped face of the
layer of fresh-water
may be
into
traced a shallow
formation
;
below
this,
a soft bluish tufa, which
passes into a porous amygdaloid,
augitic greenstone.
;
and deeper,
hill,
an exceedingly
fine
At the base of the
beneath the
basalt, is sand-
stone and below the sandstone, gneiss. This juxtaposition of volcanic and plutonic rocks, enclosing between them the wreck of a vast sand-
stone formation, invests the geology of
Nagpur with
particular interest.
Over more than half the area of the
District, trap is the surface rock.
The
serrated outline of the Balahi Hills, near Bhandara, indicates the
which extend dow^n to Cuttack, as the flattened summits characterize the trap. In the upper part of the Wana valley, and northwards from Nagpur up the basins of the Kolar, the Kanhan,
crystalline formations
as at
and the Bench, sandstone formations predominate. In some few parts, Maunda, and near Umrer, beds of laterite occur on the surface. The superficial deposits are the regar or black cotton-soil, and the red soil. The former is found almost universally with trap, and seldom
exceeds 12 feet in depth.
feet,
The red soil is sometimes as deep as 50 and occurs with plutonic rocks, sandstone, or laterites. Neither
is
deposit
fossiliferous.
History.
—The
first
rulers in this part of the country are said to
live in the
have
songs
been the mythical Gauli chieftains, whose exploits yet
i66
of the villagers.
NAG PUR
Our
historical
1
DISTRICT.
of the
knowledge of N^gpur, however, begins
with the
6th
century,
when
the District formed part
Gond
kingdom of Deogarh. Jatba, the first Rdj-Gond ruler who resided below the Gh^ts, perhaps a younger brother of the Deogarh king, constructed a strong fortress on the Bhiogarh Hill, commanding the
Chhindwara to the plains of Nagpur. The numerous which now stud the District with their ruins, were probably built by him and his descendants to protect new batches of settlers, Three while the country around was being brought under the plough. or four generations later, about a.d. 1700, Bakht Buland raised the His successful wars Deogarh kingdom to its greatest prosperity. widely extended his dominion, while the connection he formed with Delhi, and his freedom from religious prejudices, led him to encourage the immigration of artificers and agriculturists, both Hindu and
chief passes from
Gond
forts
Muhammadan.
the
city of
Not least of his achievements was the foundation of Nagpur, which was walled in and made the capital by Chand Sultan, the next king. On Chand Sultan's death in 1739, Wall The widow Shah, a natural son of Bakht Buland, usurped the throne.
of the dead king called in Raghuji Bhonsla from Berar, to support her two sons, Burhan Shah and Akbar Shih. AVali Shdh was slain, and the
rightful heirs placed
on the throne.
Raghuji then retired to Berar.
Dissensions, however, speedily arose betw^een the two brothers, resulting
in a
bloody civil war. In 1743, the elder brother invited the support once more of Raghujf Akbar Shah was driven into exile, Bhonsla, who w^as again successful. and finally poisoned at Haidarabad (Hyderabad). But this time Raghuji did not retire.
He now
constituted himself protector;
and while
into his
Burhan Shdh retained the
his descendants
title
of Raja, with a pension, both of which
all real
have since held, Raghuji took
power
own hands, and, making Ndgpur his capital, quickly reduced all Deogarh The nominal supremacy left to the deposed to own his authority.
princes w^as
probably intended to show that the Bhonslas held the Nagpur territory from the Gonds, and not, like the other chiefs of the Nevertheless, in Maratha confederation, by favour of the Peshwa. difficulties in which the Peshwa 1744, Raghuji took advantage of the found himself, to obtain from him a sanad conferring the right of levying tribute from Berdr to Cuttack.
for Berar,
first
In 1750 he received
r\t\\
sa?iads
Gondwana, and Bengal.
and he was
still
By
his successful foreign wars, the
and
;
greatest of the
Bhonsla princes extended
his rule over a
wide
died,
country
at
in his full career of aggression
when he
Nagpur, in March 1755. Raghuji was succeeded at Nagpur by his eldest son, Janoji, while Chanda and Chhatisgarh were given as an appanage to a younger son,
named
!Madhuji.
Janoji at
first
devoted himself to setthng the territory
;
NAGFUR
left
DISTRICT.
167
him by his father, but when hostilities began between the Nizam and the youthful Peshwa, Janoji sold his support to each side by turns. At last, disgusted by his treachery, the Peshwd and the Nizam in 1765 united their forces against Jdnoji, burned down Nagpur, and forced the Four Rdjd to disgorge the greater part of the money he had received. years later, a treaty was concluded between J-inojf and the Peshwa, in which the dependence of the Bhonslas was fully acknowledged. Three
years afterwards, Janoji died.
Before his death he had adopted his nephew Raghuji, the son of Madhuji of Chanda. But while Madhuji with his son were on their way to Nagpur, Sabaji, another brother of the The civil war which followed late king, seized the vacant throne.
ended on the
brother with his
rest of his life.
battle-field
of Panchgaon,
IVIadhuji then
first
own hand.
In 1777 he
where Madhuji killed his governed as regent for the
entered into relations with the English,
to
whom he
displayed a friendly policy throughout.
His death took
place in 1788.
Hitherto the dominions of the Bhonslas had enjoyed great prosperity Justice was well administered, under their rough and soldier-like rule. crimes were few, and the people comfortable and contented. The reign It began succes^ully with of Raghuji 11. brought with it other times.
Nigpur power, and with close relations with the In 1798, Mr. Colebrooke was appointed Resident to the Before long, however, Mr. Colebrooke withdrew, court of Raghuji. and Raghuji united with Sindhia to oppose the British Government.
extensions of the
English.
Assaye and Argaon (Argaum) shattered the forces of and by the treaty of Deogaon, Raghuji lost nearly a third of his kingdom, and engaged to receive permanently a But the Raja now endeavoured to extract Resident at Nagpur.
The
battles of
the confederates;
from
his
his
diminished
territory
a
revenue
the
raids
far
beyond
its
means
utterly
in
and
exactions, together with
District
of the
Pindaris,
desolated the present
of Nagpur.
Raghuji died
181 6.
His son, the blind and paralyzed Pawoji, soon after became perfectly
imbecile.
A contest for the regency between the widow and Apa Sahib, the nephew of the late Raja, ended in the success of the latter. A few months later, the Rajd was found dead in his bed, poisoned, as was As soon as Apa subsequently proved, by his cousin and successor. Sahib felt himself safe on his throne, his bearing, hitherto so cordial to the British, entirely changed. His avowal of friendship with the Peshwa, then in arms against the British, together with the concentration of his troops at Nagpur, at length induced the Resident to summon what force he could, and to occupy the hill of Sitabaldi. During the 26th and 27th November 181 7, the small English army had to endure the repeated attacks of the Nagpur troops, and at one time were
1
68
NAG PUR
A
desperate
fight,
DISTRICT.
ended
in the complete
driven from the smaller of the two eminences which form the Sftabaldi
position.
however,
finally
defeat of the enemy.
Apa
Sahib attempted to disavow any connection
with the attack
troops,
but the Resident had been strengthened by fresh ; and he now demanded the surrender of the Raja, and the disbandment of his army. The first point was conceded the second was not gained till a battle had been fought close to Nagpur, in which, At after an obstinate resistance, the Marathds were utterly routed. first it was resolved to retain Apa Sahib on the throne, subject to the control of the British but his fresh intrigues, and the discovery of his Apa Sahib complicity in the murder of his cousin, caused his arrest. succeeded, however, in escaping to the Mahadeo Hills, and ultimately made his way to the Punjab. A grandson of Raghuji ii., still of tender years, was now raised to the throne under the title of Raghuji in. During his minority, the Resident administered the country till 1830. On the death of Raghuji iii. without issue in 1853, the State was declared to have lapsed to the British Government, and was administered down to 1 86 T by a commission of officers under t"he Commissioner of the 'Nagpur Province.' When tidings of the Mutiny reached Nagpur in May 1857, a scheme for rising was immediately formed in the lines of the irregular cavalry,
; ;
in conjunction with the
Musalmans of the
city.
The
night of June the
13th was the time agreed upon, and the ascent of a fire-balloon from
the city was to give the signal to the cavalry.
Meantime,
to allay sus-
picion, the cavalry formally volunteered for service against the mutineers
in
Upper
India.
On
the 13th June, a few hours before the time fixed,
a squadron received orders to march towards Seoni as part of a force
moving northw^ard from Kamthi (Karaptee). This took them by and they at once sent a dafdddr^ named Daiid Khan, to the
lines to rouse the regiment.
first
surprise,
infantry
Daiid
Khan
was, however, seized by the
It was now discovered that the cavalry were and the alarm became general; the ladies were sent for safety to Kamthi, and troops summoned from that place cannon were brought up to defend the arsenal, and the guns on the Everything now depended on the Sitabaldi Hill got into position. temper of the regular infantry and cavalry. When Lieutenant Cumberlege \vent to take command, he found that the regiment had fallen The conspirators in of their own accord, ready to execute any orders. in the city now knew they had failed, and the fire-balloon was never The cavalry too lost all heart, and unsaddled their horses. sent up. Subsequently they were turned out without arms, and with the regular Several of the native infantry and cavalry in front and on each flank. officers, together with two Musalmans of the city, both men of high birth and position, were convicted and hanged from the ramparts of the
man he
addressed.
saddHng
their horses,
;
—
NAGPUR
fort
DISTRICT.
169
overlooking the
city.
On
the 24th June, the irregular cavalry were
own lines. In November they were again armed, and employed towards Sambalpur,
disarmed, and the
men
kept under surveillance in their
A squadron, which was comwhere they performed their duties well. posed almost entirely of Marathas, appears to have been implicated In this crisis, the judgment in this affair equally with the Musalmans.
and resolution of Mr.
calamity.
Ellis
and
his coadjutor,
Mr. Ross, averted a great
In i86t, the 'Nagpur Province' was amalgamated with the 'Sagar
and Narbada
city.
Territories,'
the
whole
forming the
present
Central
Provinces, with
the
head-quarters of the
administration at
Nagpur
Population,
of
—A
rough enumeration in 1866 returned the population
at
Nagpur
District
639,341.
last
The more
in
disclosed 631,109.
t'on of 697,356, a
The
Census
careful Census of 1872 1881 returned a total popula-
considerable
portion
showing an increase of 66,247, or 10*5 per cent., of which is due to immigration, owing to
extended trading
at
facilities
and railway advantages.
The
results arrived
by the Census of 1881 may be briefly summarized as follows: Area of District, 3786 square miles, with 9 towns and 1673 villages, and 145,593 houses. Total population, 697,356, namely, males Average density 351)756, or 50*4 per cent, and females 345,600.
of population, 184-2 persons per square mile; villages per scjuare mile,
per house, 4*8.
415; houses per square mile, 38*5; persons and age, there are under 15 years of age, males 129,622, and females 125,342; total children, 254,954, or 36*6 per cent, of the District population: 15 years and upwards, males 222,134, and females 220,258; total adults, 442,392,
•44; persons per village,
Classified according to sex
—
or 63*4 per cent.
Religio7L
District
—
Classified according to religion, the population of
Nagpur
consists
of
— Hindus,
madans, 39,765, or 57 3564; Christians, 4850; Parsis, 178; Brahmos, 6 Buddhists, 5 Jews, 4; aboriginal tribes, nearly all Gonds, 42,750, or 6-i per cent, of
;
598,441, or 85*8 per cent.; Muhamper cent. ; Kabirpanthis, 7371 ; Satnamis, 416
;
Jains,
;
population and others,' 6. Among Hindu castes, Brahmans number 21,028, and Rajputs 11,212. Chief among the lower castes of Hindus are the following Kurmi, the principal cultivating class, and most numerous caste in the District, 145,815; Mahar, 82,066;
the
;
'
:
—
Tell,
54,491; Koshta, 37,733; Mali, 27,610; Mehra, 18,884; Maratha, 12,823; Gawari, 12,256; Dhimar, 12,222; Barhai, 11,527; Nai, 10,201; Sunri, 8992; Sonar, 8975; Lodhi, 7956; Chamar, 7633;
Dhobi,
6875;
Shias,
Muhammadan
38,086;
The Baniya, 6528; Gadaria, 5989; Barui, 5425. Sunnis, population are divided according to sect into
—
1141
;
Wahabis, 35;
Faraizis,
8; and
'others,' 495.
I70
NAGPUR
Christians comprise
;
DISTRICT,
1446; Eurasians, 630; Indo;
The
— Europeans,
Portuguese, 66
Toivn and
Natives of India, 2303 and unspecified, 405. Rural Population. Ndgpur District contains nine towns
—
with a population exceeding five thousand inhabitants, namely,
City, 98,299;
Nagpur Umrer, 14,247; Khapa, 8465; Ramtek, 7814; Narkher, 7061; MoHPA, 5515; KalmeshWAR, 5318; and Saoner, 5023. The total urban population thus
Kamthi
(Kampti), 50,987;
disclosed
amounts
to
202,729,
or over
29
per cent, of the total
inhabitants, a ratio considerably higher than in
any other
District of
889 574 from two to five hundred; 149 from five hundred to a thousand; 33 from one to two thousand; 15 from two to three thousand; and 13 from three to five
contain less than two hundred
inhabitants;
the Central Provinces.
The 1673
villages are
thus classified:
—
thousand.
population
Nagpur
District contains 8 municipal towns, with a total
of 194,207 souls; total municipal income in 1882-83, ^27,089, of which ^{^23,847 was derived from taxation, mainly octroi duties ; average incidence of taxation, 2s. 5 Jd. per head of the municipal population.
population
military,
into
the following six
class,
As regards occupation, the Census main classes:
13,513; (2) domestic
etc.,
divides the male
(i)
—
Professional,
and
ofiFicial
class,
including inn including
pastoral
and lodging-house keepers,
class,
8135
;
(3)
;
commercial
class,
merchants, traders, carriers,
etc.,
9055
(4) agricultural
and
including gardeners, 126,353; (s) industrial and artisan class, 66,088 ; (6) indefinite, non-productive, and unspecified class, comprising
general labourers and male children, 128,612.
of both the agricultural
The
material condition
and non-agricultural
classes has greatly increased
of late years, owing to the increased demand for cotton in the English market, the extension of cultivation, the opening out of railway and road
communications, and a considerable rise in the prices of agricultural produce, as well as in the rate of wages. Agriculture. Of the total area (3786 square miles), 1932 were
—
returned in 1883-84 as cultivated; and of the portion lying waste, 789 square miles were returned as cultivable; and 1065 square miles as
uncultivable waste.
The
total area assessed for
Government revenue
is
3005 square miles, of which 1783 square miles are under cultivation, 474 square miles cultivable, and 748 square miles uncultivated waste.
The
agricultural
produce consists of three classes
—the
rabi or spring
crops,
the
is
kharif or rain crops, and the bdghdit or garden crops.
acres.
the grand rabi crop, and was grown in 1883 on 343,226 Other food -grains occupied 517,738 acres; while 198,561 acres were devoted to oil-seeds. Of the kharif cro^s, by far the most important is cotton, which in 1883 was grown on 115,909 acres. Rice occupied 32,417 acres. The garden cultivation, which is confined to the best black soil, produced sugar-cane on 1288 acres, and
Wheat
NAGPUR
acres.
DISTRICT.
171
tobacco on 815 acres, besides vegetables of different kinds on 4539
Of the adult male and female agricultural population in 1881, 5988 were returned as landed proprietors; 98,006 as tenant-cultivators, of whom 17,681 were tenants-at-will, 14,209 were tenants at fixed rates or
with rights of occupancy, 61,215 were assistants in
home
cultivation,
bailiffs,
and
104,293 were agricultural labourers.
etc.,
Estate agents, farm
bring up the total adult agricultural population of Nagpur District to 209,568, or 30 per cent, of the District population Of average area of cultivated and cultivable land, 8 acres per head.
shepherds, herdsmen,
;
late years, the
condition of the
as follows
for
rice,
husbandmen has
for the
generally improved.
of land
grain,
The
2S.
rent rates per acre in
:
are returned
— Land
2 s.;
1883
for
different qualities
for
suited
oil
wheat or
is.
inferior
;
per acre;
;
-seeds,
ii^d.
for
cotton,
Total amount of Government assessfor sugar-cane, 2s. 4d. 2s. 2jd. ment, including local rates and cesses levied on the land, ;^88,o58, or an average of is. 6fd. per cultivated area. Total rental paid by cultiAverage produce per vators, including rates and cesses, ;£i27,559.
oilinferior grain, 306 lbs. rice, 504 lbs. 300 lbs. 144 lbs.; cotton, 100 lbs.; sugar {gur\ 500 lbs. The prices percwt. were rice, 6s. lod. wheat, 5s. id. linseed, 7s. 6d.; cotton, raw,
acre
—wheat,
;
;
;
seeds,
—
;
;
;
I2S.
IS.
3d.; refined sugar,
£\,
i6s.
Skilled labourers received
up
to
per diem
unskilled, as low as 4jd.
On
the forest lands, which
cover an area of 320,000 acres, most of the fine timber has been felled ; but under the present system of conservation, the saplings are making
progress.
Of
forest fruit-trees, the
is
most important
is
the mahiid, from
the flowers of which the District
distilled ddrii, the spirituous liquor
most used
in
grain
Commerce and Trade. The principal exports consist of raw cotton, and other agricultural produce, and cloth the principal imports are salt, sugar, English piece and miscellaneous goods, cattle, hardware, and cutlery. The exports considerably exceed the imports in value, and therefore large quantities of gold and silver are sent into the District from Bombay. The manufacture of common cotton cloth is declining, owing to the competition of machine-made goods from England. Kamthi is by far the largest entrepot for wheat, rice, and other grain but the cotton produced in Nagpur mostly finds its way to Hinganghat
;
—
;
in
Wardha
District, or to
ported to Bombay.
Amraoti in Berar, from whence There are over 200 miles of made roads
it
is
trans-
in
Nagpur.
The
eastern road to Bhandara, the southern road to
chief lines are the northern road to Jabalpur (Jubbulpore), the Chanda, and the north-
western road to Chhindward.
The Nagpur branch
of the Great Indian
Peninsula Railway leaves the main line at Bhosawal, and terminates at Sitdbaldi, the western suburb of Nagpur ; it has a station also at Bori.
—
1
172
NAGPUR
lie
DISTRICT.
within the District.
also intersects
Twenty-six miles of this line
The
partially
opened Nagpur-Chhatisgarh Railway
Nagpur
District for
a distance of about twenty-four miles. In 1861, Nagpur was formed into a separate Administration.
—
District of the British
Government
of the Central Provinces.
It is
administered by a Deputy Commissioner with Assistants and tahsilddrs.
Total revenue in 1876-77, ^135,220, of which the land-tax yielded ^83,416; total revenue in 1883-84, ^154,275, of which the land-tax
contributed ;^82,88i.
The pdndhri,
a kind of house-tax,
officials
is
peculiar to
this part of the country.
all
Total cost of District
and police of
of
all sorts
Number of civil and revenue judges kinds in 1883-84, ;£i 9,545. Maximum distance within the District, 18; magistrates, 22.
from any village to the nearest court, 38 miles ; average distance, 2 miles. Number of police, 1005 men, costing;,^ 13,2 12; beingi policeman
to about every 3I miles and to every 694 inhabitants. The daily average number of prisoners in jail in 1883 was 848, of whom 52 were females.
was ;^5383. The number of under Government inspecDuring the year 1882, no tion was 197, attended by 11,502 pupils.
The
total cost of the jails
in that year
Government or aided schools
in the District
less
Medical Aspects.
than 181,191 persons visited the Nagpur Museum. The year is divided into three seasons
—
:
the hot,
from the beginning of April to the beginning of June the rainy season sets in in June, and lasts till September, the latter month and October being generally close and sultry, though refreshed by occasional
;
showers; the cold weather occupies the intervening months till the The annual mean temperature at Nagpur for a period of twelve years is returned at 787° R, the monthly means being
ensuing April.
—
January, 68-6°; February, 73-8°; March, 8r8°; April, 887'; May, 93°;
June,
77*1°;
2>6'2°
;
July,
79'!°; August,
79°;
September, 79T°; October,
67-4*.
November, 70*9°; and December,
In 1883, the tem:
perature in the shade at the civil station was returned as follows
May, highest reading 1177° F., lowest 75*5°; lowest 7i"i"'; December, highest 82*2°, lowest
annual
rainfall
is
July,
43'i°.
highest 94*3°,
The
average
in
returned
at
43*88 inches.
"5 7
The
rainfall
1883
is
amounted
to 61 "45 inches, being 17
inches above the average.
From the middle of September most unhealthy period of the year.
cholera
is
to the
middle of December
is
the
The
prevailing disease
fever, but
occasionally epidemic
;
of late years, the ravages of small-pox
have been materially lessened by vaccination. The total number of registered deaths in 1883 was 21,456 (from fever, 4587), equal to a rate of 44*63 per thousand, as against an annual mean of 33*66 per thousand
Nagpur has a lunatic and a leper asylum, and a medical school; and during the year 1883, 10 charitable dispensaries afforded medical relief to 148,211 in-door and out-door
for the previous five years.
NAG PUR TAHSIL AND TOWN.
patients.
173
[For further information regarding Nagpur District, see the
(now Sir Charles) Grant, pp. 292-345 (Nagpur, 1870); the Census Report of the Central Provinces for 1 881; the Settlemefit Report of Nagpur District^ by A. B. Ross, Esq. (1869); and the several annual Administration and Departmental
Gazetteer of the Central Provinces^ by Mr.
Ke{)orts of the Central Provinces
Government.]
Ndgpur.
tral
— Central
tahsil or Sub-division of
Nagpur
District,
Cen-
Area, 852 square miles, with 3 towns, 418 villages, and 58,806 houses. Population (1872) 244,626; (1881) 268,479, namely, males 136,065, and females 132,414; average density of
Provinces.
population, 315*12 persons per square mile.
tural population
The
total adult agricul-
(male and female) numbers 48,539, with an average area of 9 acres of cultivated and cultivable land to each. Of the total area of the tahsil {2)^2 square miles), 103 square miles are held revenue
free
;
Ys'hich
while 749 square miles are assessed for Government revenue, of 473 square miles are cultivated, and 115 square miles are avail-
able for cultivation, the remainder being uncultivable waste.
Total
amount of Government land revenue, including local rates and cesses levied upon land, ^24,224, or an average of is. 5|d. per cultivated acre amount of rent paid by cultivators, including rates and cesses, Nagpur tahsil ;^34,62 2, or an average of 2s. ijd. per cultivated acre. contained in 1883, 11 civil and 15 criminal courts (including the Divisional and District head-quarter courts), with 3 police stations {thdnds), and 6 outpost stations {chaukis), a regular police force 85
;
strong, besides a village
Nd^ur. — Chief
stration
District,
watch of 717 chaukiddrs. town of Nagpur District, and the
;
seat of admini-
of the Central Provinces situated in the centre of Nagpur in lat. 21° 9' 30" n., and long. 79** 7' e., on a small stream
called the Nag.
The municipal
limits include, besides the city proper,
the suburb of Sitabaldi, the
European
station of Sitabaldi with Takli,
and a considerable area of land
under cultivation. crowned with the fort, which commands a fine view of the country round. Below, on the north and west, lies the prettily wooded station of Sitabaldi. Beyond, to the north, are the military lines and bdzdrs : and again beyond these, the suburb of Takli, once the head-quarters of the Nagpur irregular force, but now occupied only by a few bungalows. Close under the southern side of the hill is the native suburb of Sitabaldi. Below the eastern
(chiefly black soil)
In the centre stands Sitabaldi Hill,
glacis
is
the railway terminus.
as the
Beyond
this
lies
is
the broad sheet of
the city, completely
water
known
Jama
Talao, and farther east
hidden
the
in a mass of foliage. Three great roads connect the city with European station, two of which are respectively on the north and south banks of the lake, while the third, the most northern, crosses the railway by a bridge to the north of the terminus. The handsome tanks
;
174
NAGPUR TOWN,
three finest
and gardens outside the
The
were constructed by the Maratha princes. tanks are the Jama Taldo, Ambajhari, and Tehngkheri,
city
which supply a considerable portion of Nagpur with water. The chief the Tulsi gardens are the Mahdrdj Bdgh, in the station of Sitabaldi, Paldi, ShakarBagh, inside the city, and the four suburban gardens of Of the numerous Hindu temples, dara,'sonagaon, and Telingkheri.
some
great
ornamented Nakarkhana gate remains.
' '
with elaborate are in the best style of Maratha architecture, Bhonsla palace, built of black basalt, and profusely The carvings. with wood carving, was burnt down in 1864, and only the
The tombs of the Bhonsla
city.
kings are
in the
Sukrawari quarter, to the south of the
population of Nagpur city (including the military lines and increased to municipality) in 1872 was 84,441; in 1881 it had Classified accordnamely, males 50,032, and females 48,267. 98,299, Muhammadans, ing to religion, there were in 1881— Hindus, 79,842; Kabirpanthis, 63; Satnamis, 8; 14,110; Christians, 2424; Jains, 959; aboriginal religions, Parsis, 138; Brahmos, 6; Buddhists, 2; Jews, 4; In 1882-83, the Nagpur municipality had an 6. 737 unspecified, taxation, of ;£i 7,870, of which ^15,089 was derived from
The
;
income
mainly octroi duties; average incidence of taxation,
3s.
id. per head.
Nagpur carries on a large and increasing trade, the chief imports being and miswheat and other grain, salt, country cloth, European piece The chief article of manufacture goods, silk, and spices. cellaneous famous, and export is cloth. The finer fabrics of Nagpur have long been
and are
request.
still,
in
spite of the
competition of English
(markets)
are
stuff's,
in
great
Large weekly bazars Square and in the Gachi Paga.
held in
the
Giirganj
Most of the public
offices are in the
Nagpur Residency, now the civil station of Sitabaldi, including the old a plain but commodious ofiicial residence of the Chief Commissioner, the Secretariat, a large and subbuilding in well-wooded grounds, and The city contains the Small Cause Court, the tahsili^ edifice.
stantial
Other the Honorary Magistrates' Court, and the police station-houses. prisoners ; institutions are— the Nagpur central jail, built to contain 1060 in different quarters of the city hospital, with three branch dispensaries asylum ; the leper asylum ; the Sitabaldi poorthe lunatic the town School house ; the Morris College ; the City High School Normal the Free Church Mission Native School ; Roman Catholic School ; the Eurasian boys; Bishop's School, for the education of European and
;
;
and the Railway School.
force consists of a
There are three public sardis (native
inns),
purposes. besides several private dharmsdlds for similar
The
military
small detachment from the English regiment at
Native Kamthi (Kamptee), the head-quarters and wing of a regiment of and miners. The former garrison infantry, and a company of sappers
below the the fort (built in 18 19); the arsenal, just
fort,
contains con-
NA GRAM—NAHARA.
siderable stores
175
station are
and munitions of
war.
Both town and
considered healthy.
Nagram. Town in Lucknow District, Oudh situated about midway between the two roads from Lucknow city to Sultinpur and Rai BareH. Annual bazar sales, about ^3550, the prinPopulation (1881) 4838.
;
—
cipal trade being in rice,
which
for
is
largely cultivated in the neighbour-
girls. Said to have been founded by Raja Nal, a Bhar chieftain, the site of whose fort still It fell within the track of Sayyid Salar's invasion exists. but it was
hood.
Two
schools,
one
boys and one for
;
afterwards again
left
to the Bhars,
who
held
it
till
they were expelled
by the
at
Amethia Dingur.
Kumhrawan Amethia Rajputs, a branch of the family established They were afterwards expelled by the Muham-
madans, although they subsequently succeeded in regaining a portion of Sayyids now hold two out of the three divisions their possessions.
{tarafs) of the place.
Nagwan.
—Village
in
Garhwal
E.
State,
North- Western Provinces.
lies
Lat.
on the Budiya stream, a feeder of the Jumna (Jamuna), close to their confluence. According to Hindu belief, the Ganges reaches the village by a subterranean course, and breaks out in a neighbouring spring. Native State in the Punjab. See Nahan {Sirmur or Sar77ior). SiRMUR. Nahan. Capital of Sirmur (Sarmor) Hill State in the Punjab, and residence of the Raja situated about 40 miles south of Simla, at the western extremity of the Kiarda Diin, and from its elevated position Moor(3207 feet) visible from the plains at a considerable distance. croft describes it as cleaner and handsomer than the generality of Indian towns. Nahan is built on the uneven crest of a rocky eminence ; the houses are small, built of stone cemented with lime. The Raja's
30° 50' N., long.
78° 19'
(Thornton);
—
—
—
;
are seven or eight houses built in
There European style outside the town. One very fine house, surrounded by a handsome garden, has been Several excellent houses are lately erected by the Raja for his own use. used as rest-houses for the Raji's guests, and as residences for the Population (1881) 5253, namely, European officials of the State. Muhammadans, 985 Sikhs, 102 Jains, 5 and Hindus, 4145
dwelling
is
a large edifice of stone in the centre of the town.
—
;
;
;
;
'others,'
i6.
Number
2
of houses,
937.
Large, well-supplied
bdzdr^
dak bungalow, worked by the
sai'dis^
dispensary,
State.
On
laid
school, and an iron foundry an eminence adjacent to the town, a new
cantonment has occupied by the of the campaign been wrested by
been
out for the
British during the
was restored
the Gurkhas.
to
Rdja's troops. Nahan was Nepal war of 1814, and at the close the Raja of Sirmur, from whom it had
Nahara.
— Petty
State of the
Pandu Mehwas,
in
Rewa Kantha,
—
176
NAIGAON RIBAHI—NAIKDAS,
Presidency.
THE.
Bombay
villages.
Held
jointly
Area, 3 square miles, with, including Nahara, five by two proprietors, called thdkurs. Revenue,
is
^60
;
tribute of £^2^ los.
paid to the Gaekwar of Baroda.
Petty State in Naydgdon, or Nawagdon). Bundelkhand, Central India. Bounded on the south by the Chhatarpur State on all other sides, it lies within Hamirpur District of the North- Western Provinces. The area was estimated in 1875 ^t 16 square miles, the population at 3360 persons, and the revenue at The population in 1881 was 3365. Lakshman Singh, one of ^^1037. the banditti leaders of Bundelkhand, having been induced to surrender after some resistance on promise of pardon, received in 1807 a sa?ud On his death in 1808, he was succeeded by his son for 5 villages. In 1850 it was decided that the State is held merely on Jagat Singh. a life tenure, and ought to have been resumed on the death of Lakshman Singh. It was continued to Jagat Singh, however, who had been so long in possession, on the distinct understanding that it was to lapse At his earnest request, the Government absolutely at his death.
Naigaon Ribahi
;
(or
—
allowed his widow, Thakurain Larai Dulaiya, to succeed after his death,
which occurred
in 1867.
Naihati
(Nyehattee).
—Town and
municipality in the District of the
Twenty-four Parganas, Bengal. Lat. 22° 53' 50" n., long.' 88° 27' 40" e. Station on the Eastern Bengal Railway, 23J miles from Calcutta. Population (1872) 23,730; (1881) 21,533, namely, males 10,655, and Classified according to religion, there were in 1881 females 10,878.
town
Area of Hindus, 18,695; Muhammadans, 2817; and 'others,' 21. Municipal revenue (1872), ;£'66o, 4s. (1883-84), site, 6680 acres. ^1241, of which ^1185 was derived from taxation average incidence
;
;
of taxation,
is.
i\&. per head.
school.
Bench
of magistrates, sub-registry
office,
English and
girls'
trict,
Naikdas, The. A wild forest tribe found in Panch I^Iahals Disand in the Rewa Kantha Agency, Bombay Presidency. Of the
Naikdas two
stories
—
origin of the
are told.
One, that their ancestors
nobles and merchants of Champaner, who took to the forests on the decay of that city towards the close of The other states that they are descended from the sixteenth century.
were grooms to the
Muhammadan
an escort sent by the Raja of Biglan to the Raja of Champaner. The Naikdds are generally small in stature, thin and wiry, remarkably active, capable of enduring fatigue, and not wanting in courage; black in Except the colour, with dark eyes, square faces, and irregular features. chiefs and a few others in good circumstances, who dress like Rajputs or Kolis, the men wear a few yards of dirty ragged cloth round the The women wear over the loins and a second cloth round the head. shoulders a robe or sari of a dark blue or red colour, a petticoat, and sometimes a bodice. Except tin and brass ear-rings, the men wear no
NAIN-NAINI
ornaments.
shells,
TAL.
1
77
The women wear tin ear-rings, necklaces of beads or and brass bangles and armlets, much like those worn by Bhil women. Their chief food is Indian corn gruel, the well-to-do sometimes using coarse rice. Except the ass, crow, and snake, few forms of flesh are forbidden the Naikdas. They eat large black ants, squirrels, and monkeys even in large towns the sight of a Niikdd is said to be enough to frighten away the monkeys. For months in each year, after their stock of grain is finished, most of them live on wild fruits and roots. They are much given to mahud spirits, and at their festivals drink to excess. Though the Naikdas eat carrion and rank among the very lowest classes, their touch, though avoided, is not held to cause pollution. They are labourers and wood-cutters. A few have bullocks and ploughs, and till regular fields. But most of them practise only the rough nomadic tillage, burning down the brushwood on the hillsides, and sowing the coarser millets among the ashes. Naikdas show no respect to Brahmans, and care little for Brahmanical
;
rites, fasts,
or feasts.
The
objects of their
worship are
spirits
and
ghosts.
In honour of the
fix
spirits
whom
human
they invoke by various fantastic
face.
names, they
teak posts in the ground, roughly blacking
the top into something like a
them at Over these posts they
smear milk or red lead, and
set round them rows of small clay horses. Marriages and deaths are the only occasions of ceremony. A widow
;
may marry
fond
again on such occasions there is no ceremony. The Naikdas do not intermarry with any other caste. Lazy, thriftless, and of drink, they are most
of them deeply sunk in
debt.
— See
;
Narukot.
Nain.
situated 20 miles
village in Salon tahsil^ Rai Bareli District, Oudh from Rai Bareli town. Population (1881) 789, all of are Hindus. The head-quarters of a branch of the Kanhpuria
in Oudh. During between the landholders and 1857, the Nain tdlukddrs joined the rebel
— Small
whom
clan,
reported to be the most turbulent Rajputs
native rule, constant fighting took place
the king's troops;
soldiery,
and in and plundered the station of Parshadepur. Village and municipality in Shakargarh Naina Kot.
—
taJisil,
in
Ourdaspur District, Punjab. Population (1881) 1452, namely, 9S4 Hindus, 449 Muhammadans, 16 Sikhs, and 3 'others;' number of
houses, 407.
A
third-class municipality, with a
;
revenue in 1880-S1
is.
o^^So;
expenditure, ;£"79
average incidence of taxation,
ijd. per
head of the population. post-office, and school.
The
village contains a police station {f/idnd),
N^ini Tdl.
vinces.
— Hill
station in
Kumaun
lake,
District,
North-Western Pro-
Lat. 29° 22' N., long. 79° 29' 35" E.
little
Picturesquely situated on
the banks of a beautiful
which nestles among the spurs of
VOL. X.
M
1 7
8
NAINWAH—NAJAFGA RH JHIL.
Favourite sanitarium and
the Himalayas.
summer
resort of
Europeans
It is also the head-quarters of the Government of the from the plains. North-Western Provinces during the hot weather. Exquisite scenery among the surrounding hills. Elevation above sea-level, 6409 feet.
population increases largely during the height of the season. In February 1881, the Census returned the population, then at its lowest, at 6576, namely, Hindus, 5639; Muhammadans, 811; and A special Census taken in September 1880, at the Christians, 126.
The
height of the season, returned a total population of 10,054,
made up
Hindus, 6862; Muhammadans, 1748; Europeans, 1348; as follows: Municipal Eurasians, 34; Native Christians, 57; and 'others,' 5. income (1883-84), ^4955, of which ^4194 ^vas derived from taxation;
average incidence of taxation, 8s. 4d. per head. On the 1 8th September 1880, Naini Tal was visited by a violent cyclone and rainstorm, which resulted in a landslip causing the death
of 42
—
Europeans
public Assembly
and 105 natives, the total destruction of the Rooms, several houses, and property to the value of
disastrous
occurrence, a complete system of works has been carried out by the municidrainage and of protective pality at a cost of ^20,000, and the station is now in a better and safer condition than it was before the landslip occurred. The Naini Tdl military convalescent depot, established soon after the
^20,000.
Since this
Mutiny, has accommodation for about 350 European invalid soldiers. Nainwah. Town in Biindi State, Rajputana situated 30 miles Nainwah is a town of some consequence, north-east of Biindi town.
—
;
and
is
preservation,
surrounded by old and flanked on
of sizes, chiefly of
fortifications
its
and a ditch kept
It
in
fair
northern and western faces by large
contains
tanks, from which the fosse can be flooded at pleasure.
20 guns Population (1881) 5254, namely, Hindus 4545, and
;
light calibre
only a few are mounted.
Muhammadans
709.
Najafgarh.— Village
in
Cawnpur
E.
;
District,
North- Western Provmces.
Lat. 26° 18' N., long. 80° 36'
distant from
Cawnpur
city
16 miles
south-east. Population (1881) 1020. Chiefly noticeable for the ruins of a palace, in mixed Indian and European style, built by General Martin, the well-known French adventurer and partisan soldier, who amassed
a considerable fortune. surrounding country.
Local manufacture of indigo grown in the
Najafgarh Jhil.— Large straggling lake or marsh in Gurgaon and Delhi Districts, Punjab, lying between 28° 26' 30" and 28° 34' n. lat.,
and between
76° 56'
and
77°
4'
30"
e. long.
Its length, including its
when full, in October, Torrents from the Gurgaon more than 27,000 acres. it submerges is Hills, and several channels in Delhi District, feed the lake, which
various branches, measures about 46 miles, and
NAJIBABAD TAHSIL AND TOWN.
then drained into the
success,
179
Jamuna (Jumna), by means
of an escape channel,
so as to allow of cultivation
want of The scene of an important defeat of the rebels by sufficient fall. General Nicholson during the Mutiny of 1857. Najfbdbdd. Northern iahsil or Sub-division of Bijnaur (Bijnor) District, North-Western Provinces, lying between the Ganges and the Garhwal Hills, and comprising \.\\& pargauds of Najibabid, Akbardbad,
to the
on the submerged land. however, has attended these operations, owing
Only
partial
—
and Kiratpur.
Area, 494 square miles, of which 168 are cultivated.
;
Population (1872) 141,685 (1881) 133,561, namely, males 71,678, and females 61,883; decrease of population since 1872, 8124, or 57 per
cent, in nine years.
Classified according to religion, the population in
1881 consisted of
121
;
— Hindus,
86,594; Muhammadans, 46,870; Jains,
and
'others,' 21.
five
tained less than
^22,304,
;^25,oo4.
with 5
or
In
police
municipal and
villages composing the tahsii, 315 conhundred inhabitants. Government assessment, including local rates and cesses levied upon land, 1883 the tahsil contained i civil and 2 criminal courts, stations [thdjids)^ a regular police force of 63 men, a town police of 55 men, and a village and road police of
Of 362
302 chaukiddrs.
Najibabad.
—Town
and municipality
in
Bijnaur
District,
North-
Western Provinces, and head-quarters of Najibabad tahsil. Situated in lat. 29° 36' 50" N., and long. 78° 23' lo" e., on the banks of the Malin
Nadi stream, 31 miles south-east of Hardwar. Population (1881) Hindus numbered 17,750, namely, males 9109, and females 8641. 9535 Muhammadans, 8089; Jains, 114 and Christians, 12. Area of town site, 239 acres. Najibabad was founded by the Nawab Najib-ud)
;
handsome square stone fort of Pathargarh, i mile His tomb is a handsome building, surrounded and the Kothi Mubirak Banyad, now used as a rest-house, remains as a monument to him within the town. To the north stands the tomb of his brother, Jahangir Khdn. The town still retains many a memorial of Pathan magnificence, now put to ignoble uses. A bdradari or twelve-doored pavilion, probably a summerdaula,
who
erected the
town, in 1755. by numerous apartments
east of the
;
house of the old rulers of the town, was a few years ago said to be
The thoroughfares are mostly paved with and the Sanitary Commissioner reported in 1875 that the 'fine shops and durable cleanly roadways would be a credit to any town in the Province.' The principal place of business is a paved
used as a slaughter-house.
brick,
square at the intersection of four cross roads.
The
public buildings
police station,
comprise the usual Sub-divisional courts and
dispensary, post-office,
offices,
and Government school. Large through traffic in timber from the Bhabar forests to the north. Manufactures of brass, copper, and iron work, matchlocks, blankets, cotton cloth, and shoes.
i8o
Imports of grain
;
NAKO—NAKODAR.
exports of sugar.
Markets are held twice a week.
Municipal revenue (1883-84), ^1812, of which ^1632 was derived from taxation; average incidence of taxation, is. lojd. per head of
population.
Ndko.
the
left
— Village
in
Bashahr (Rassahir)
;
State, Punjab.
Lat. 31° 52'
i
N., long. 78° 40' E.
(Thornton)
lies in
the
Kunawar
Hills,
mile from
bank of the
feet.
Li, or river of Spiti.
Chiefly noticeable as being
the highest inhabited place in the principality.
level,
Elevation above sea-
11,850
Nakodar. South-western tahsil of Jalandhar (JuUundur) District, Punjab, lying along the bank of the Sutlej (Satlaj), between 30° 56' 30" and 31° 15' N. lat., and between 75° 6' 15" and 75° 39' e. long. Area,
342 square miles, with 306 towns and villages, 30,183 houses, and 44,530 families. Total population, 194,069, namely, males 105,424, Muhammadans form the bulk of the popuand females 88,645.
lation,
—
numbering 118,617; Hindus, 58,590; Sikhs, 16,705; Jains, Average area under cultivation for the five 154; and Christians, 3. years 1877-78 to 1881-82, 206,532 acres, the principal crops being the following wheat, 76,376 acres; gram, 25,444 acres; Indian corn,
—
16,673 acres; iJioth, 16,794 acres; sugar-cane, 12,224 acres; barley, 9174 acres cotton, 8872 acres ; rice, 1319 acres Revenue of the tahsil^ ^28,654. The and tobacco, 1091 acres. administrative staff consists of i tahsilddr and i mujisif^ presiding over 22,117 acres; jod)\
;
;
I
criminal and 2 civil courts
;
number
of police circles {t/idnds), 2
;
strength of regular police, 35
chaukidd7's.
men;
besides a village watch of 272
in Jalandhar (Jullundur) District,
Nakodar.
— Town and municipality
Punjab, and head-quarters of Nakodar tahsil ; situated in lat. 31° 7' 30" Population N., long. 75° 31' E., about 15 miles from Jalandhar town.
Jains,
Muhammadans, 51 17 Hindus, 3193 Sikhs, 73 Number of houses, 1196. Nakodar 100; and 'others,' 3. is said to have originally belonged to Hindu Kambohs, but it has been held during historical times by a family of Musalman
(1881) 8486, namely,
;
;
;
Rajputs, on
whom
it
was conferred
in y'^f^fr during the reign of Jahangir.
They were ousted early in the Sikh period by Sardar Tara Singh, Ghaiba, who built a fort, and made himself master of the surrounding
territory.
office,
Seized by Ranjit Singh in 1816.
schools.
7}?/^^///,
police station, post-
dispensary, sardi ; grant-in-aid vernacular school,
girls'
and
several
indigenous boys' and
sugar.
Brisk trade in grain, tobacco, and
side the
Outis well paved, and has a thriving appearance. town are two large and handsome tombs, dating from the reign The later tomb, bearing date 1021 Hijra, is of the Emperor Jahangir. the burial-place of the religious adviser of Shah Jahan, but it is not known who is buried in the earlier tomb. Both are embellished on the
The town
—
NAKPUR—NALA TU'AR.
outside with fine encaustic
tiles,
—
1
1
8
and the
earlier
in
one contains some
well-
preserved paintings.
Municipal revenue
1883-84, £,\o<)^ or iiid.
per head of population within municipal limits.
Nakpur. Town in Faizabad (Fyzabad) District, Oudh situated on the Tons river, 52 miles from Faizabad town. Population (1881) Founded by 3903, namely, 1820 Muhammadans and 2083 Hindus. Muhammad Naki about 300 years ago. Naklir. South-western taJisilox Sub-division of Saharanpur District, North-Western Provinces, lying along the east bank of the Jumna
;
—
—
prising the
Eastern Jumna Canal; compargands of Nakiir, Sultanpur, Sarsawar, and Gangoh. Area, 423 square miles, of which 288 are cultivated. Population (1872) 189,022; (1881) 201,622, namely, males 108,238, and females
(Jamuna), and watered in part by the
93,384; total increase since 1872, 12,600, or 6'6 per cent, in nine Hindus (1881) number 130,484; Muhammadans, 68,800; Government land revenue, ;j^2 6, 169, Jains, 2278; and 'others,' 60.
years.
or including local rates
cultivators, ^^42,893.
and cesses, ;^2 9,485. Total rental paid by In 1884, the tahsil contained i criminal court,
5 police circles {tJuhids), a regular police force
numbering
7
1
men, and
359 village chaukiddjs. Nal. Petty Bhil State in the
—
Mehwas
tract of
Khandesh, Bombay
Population (1881) estimated at 340 persons; supposed gross revenue, ^no. The principal produce is timber. From its
Presidency.
position in the centre of forest, the climate
a
Bhi'l,
is
unhealthy.
The
school.
;
chief,
was educated with his brother
the village of Vaghapani.
at the
Kukarmanda
The
they
family in matters of succession follow the rule of primogeniture
live at
Nal. Lake in Ahmadabad District, Bombay Presidency situated between 22° 45' and 22° 50' 15" n. lat., and between 72° i' 45" and 72°
;
—
8'
9" E. long.,
area,
about 37 miles south-west of Ahmadabad city. Estimated (For a description of the lake, see Ahmadabad 49 square miles.
—
District, ante, vol.
i.
p. 83.)
One of the Punjab Hill States. See HiNDUR. Nalagarh. Hill range, Punjab. See Chintpurxi. Nalapani (or Kala?iga). Hill fort in Dehra Dun District, NorthNalagarh
(or
Hindur).
—
—
—
Western Provinces.
Hastily thrown
Lat. 30° 20' 30" n., long. 78° 8' 30"
e.
(Thornton).
up by the Gurkhas on the outbreak of the war of 1814. Perched upon a low Himalayan spur, about 3-| miles north-east of Dehra. Attacked by General Gillespie, who fell while leading the storming party desperately defended for a time, but evacuated by the enemy after a second assault, and demolished shortly afterwards by the British. Elevation above sea-level, 3286 feet. Nalatwar (or The Forty Gardens). Town in Bijapur District,
;
—
—
1
82
NALBANA—NALDR UG.
Presidency
Bombay
16" 14' 40" N.,
and
situated 56 miles east by north of Kalddgi, in lat. ; Population (1881) 4293. Three long. 76° 19' 50" E.
temples with four inscriptions, one of which contains the name of In the Western Chalukya King Jagadekamalla 11. (1138-1150). 1802, Nalatwar was plundered by the chief of Shorapur in the Nizam's
Dominions.
Nalbana
Bengal.
ference,
(literally
*
The Reed Forest').
— Island
e.
in the
5
Chilka Lake,
level of the
Lat. 19° 41' 30" n., long. 85° 20'
About
is
miles in circum-
and nowhere more than a few inches above the
water.
The
island
is
entirely uninhabited, but
its
regularly visited by
parties of thatchers, for the sake of
abundant growth of reeds and
high grasses.
Nalbari. Trading village and police station in Kamriip District, Assam. Lat. 26° 25' 55" n., long. 91° 27' 45" e. Situated in that portion of the District north of the Brahmaputra, and on the south bank of the Noa Nadi, near the road leading to Barpeta, and about A bi-weekly market is held here, and 30 miles from Gauhati town. in the cold weather the Bhutias bring down ponies, blankets, madder,
etc., for sale
—
or barter.
in
Nalbari.
—Village
the
District of Darrang,
Assam
;
about 20
miles north of the Sub-divisional town of INIangaldai.
golds or storehouses of several Marwari merchants,
Containing the
trade with the
who
Cachari population.
Nalchha. Ruined town and head-quarters of Nalchha /^r^^;^^', in Dhar State, Central India; situated in lat. 22° 25' n., and long. 75' 28' E., on the route from Mhow (Mau) to Mandu, 27 miles south-west The situation on the southern of the former and 7 north of the latter. verge of the rich open table-land of M^lwa is very picturesque a
—
—
—
;
small stream runs near the town, which
is
also well supplied with water
from tanks and
wells.
Bazar.
Some
of the
ruins
are
very
fine.
Thornton says
ruins into
when Sir John Malcolm converted one of the palatial a summer residence, a tigress and her cubs were driven out
that
of one of the apartments.
Nalchiti.
— Municipal
village in
Bakarganj
District,
Bengal
;
situated
on the
and long. 90° 19' 10" E. Seat of a large trade; chief exports— rice and betel-nuts; imports salt, tobacco, oil, and sugar. Population (1881) 2692 municipal income (1883-84), pf 178. Fortified town in Haidarabad (Nizam's Dominions), Naldnig. Deccan. Chief town of Naldrug District. Population (1881) 3182. The following account of a visit made to the fort in 1853, by Colonel Meadows Taylor, is taken from The Story of My Life (pp. 286, 287) The fort of Naldrug was one of the most interesting places I had ever
river of the
same name,
in lat. 22" 37'
55"
n.,
—
;
—
:
'
seen.
It
enclosed the surface of a knoll or plateau of basalt rock,
I
—
NALDRUG.
183
;
which jutted out into the valley or ravine of the small river Eori from The sides of the main plateau of the country, and was almost level. this knoll were sheer precipices of basalt, here and there showing distinct columnar and prismatic formation, and varying from 50 to 200 edge of the plateau being 200 feet more or less above the river, which flowed at the base of the precipice on two sides of the Along the crest of the cliff, on three sides, run the fortifications fort. bastions and curtains alternately, some of the former being very firmly built of cut and dressed basalt, and large enough to carry heavy guns
feet in height, the
and the parapets of the machicolated curtains were everywhere loopOn the west side, the promontory joined the holed for musketry. plateau by a somewhat contracted neck, also strongly fortified by main a high rampart, with very roomy and massive bastions, below it a
fausse-braie, with the
same
;
;
then a broad, deep, dry ditch, cut for the
most part out of the basalt itself; a counterscarp, about 20 or 25 feet and beyond it a glacis and esplanade, up to high, with a covered way
the limits of the town.
'The entire circumference of the enceinte might have been about and a half; and the garrison in former times must have been very large, for nearly the whole of the interior was covered by ruined walls, and had been laid out as a town with a wide street running up All the walls and bastions were in perfect repair, and the the centre. effect of the fort outside was not only grim and massive, but essentially
a mile
picturesque.
'Naldriig
held
a
memorable place
in
in
it
local history.
Before
the
Musalman invasion who may have been
belonged to a local Rc4ja, vassal of the great Rajas of the Chalukya a feudal dynasty, 250 to 1200 a.d., whose capital was Kalyani, about 40 miles distant; but I never could trace its history with any certainty, and
the 14th century,
Hindu period it was only traditional. The Bahmani dynasty, 35 1 to 1480 A.D., protected their dominions to the west by a line of massive forts, of which Naldriig was one ; and it was believed that the former defences, which were little more than mud walls, were replaced
during the
1
by them with fortifications of stone. Afterwards, on the division of the Bahmani kingdom, in 1480 a.d., Naldriig fell to the lot of the Adi'l
Shahi kings of Bijapur
strengthened
its
;
and
they, in their turn, greatly increased
and
was often a point of dissension between and the Nizam Shahi potentates— lying, as it did, upon the Adil Shahi and was the nominal frontier between Bijapur and Ahmadnagar besieged by both in turn, as the condition of the walls on the southern face bore ample testimony, as well from the marks of cannon-balls as
defences.
It
—
from breaches which had afterwards been filled up. In 1558, AH Add Shah visited Naldriig, and again added to its fortifications, rebuilt the western face, and constructed an enormous cavalier near the eastern
i84
NALGANGA—NALLAMALAIS.
end, which was upwards of 90 feet high, with several bastions on the
edges of the cHff; but his greatest work was the erection of a stone dam across the river Bori, which, by retaining the water above it,
afforded the garrison an unUmited supply.'
The
District of Naldriig
to the British
in i860.
Government under the
was one of those surrendered by the Nizam treaty of 1853. It was restored
Nalganga.
rises
— River
in
in
Buldana
District,
Berar.
(lat. 20''
The Nalganga
53' n., long. 76^
near Buldana town, runs past Malkapur
15' E.) to the
Wagar
river,
which joins the
Piirna.
In the hot season,
the Nalganga dwindles to a mere chain of pools.
Nalglin.
— Pass
Bashahr (Bassahir)
State,
Punjab, over the range
Lat. 31° 19' n., long.
of mountains bounding 78° 17' E. (Thornton).
Kunawar
to the south.
A
stream of the same
name
flows north-east
from the pass to join the Baspa.
feet.
Elevation above sea-level, 14,891
Petty State of the Sankhara Mehwas, in Rewa Kantha, BomNalia. bay Presidency. Area, i square mile. Held jointly by two proprietors,
called
—
thdkurs.
The revenue
in the
is
estimated at
^74
;
and
tribute of
^3,
14s. is
Naliya.
—Town
paid to the Gaekwar of Baroda.
Abdasa Sub-division of Cutch
e.
State,
Bombay
Presidency.
Lat. 23° 18' n., long. 68° 54'
Population (1881) 5266.
Hindus
Naliya
built.
is
numbered 2386;
It
Muhammadans, 1937; one of the most thriving towns of Cutch
and
;
Jains, 943. walled and well
has a class of prosperous traders, being the residence of
retired native
merchants who have made their fortunes
in
Bombay
or
Zanzibar.
Nalkeri. State forest in Coorg. Teak and other woods are cut here and carted to Mysore. Area, 40*2 square miles. Nalknad. Village in the territory of Coorg, and at one time the capital of the State under Raja Dodda Vira Rajendra, the hero of Coorg Distance from Merindependence. Lat. 12° 14' n., long. 75° 42' e. kara, the Coorg capital, 24 miles. The palace, built in 1794, is now partly used for public offices. Close by is a handsome little pavilion, erected by the Raja in 1796 for the celebration of his second marriage with Mahadevamma. Behind towers the majestic mountain of Tadiandamol, in the Western Ghats. Nallamalais (' Black Hills '). Range of hills in Karniil District, Madras Presidency; situated between lat. 14° 43' and 16° 18' n., and between long. 78° 43' and 79° 36' e., stretching from the Kistna river
— —
—
to the southern frontier of Karniil District.
The
continuation of the
Nallamalais, southward in the
as the Lankamala range. The average height of the Nallamalais is between 1500 to The greatest elevation is attained by a 2000 feet above sea-level.
District, is
Cuddapah
known
NALLAMALAIS.
185
detached peak called Bairenikonda, 3133 feet high, situated eastward of The highest point in the main range is the Gundla the main range. The Giindlakama, Zampaleru, and Erahmeswaram Hill, 3049 feet.
Paleru rivers rise in this
hill,
The second
eastern
highest peak in the main range
rise
near a ruined temple of Brahmeswaram. The is Errachelema.
slopes
for the
hills
most part almost abruptly
;
along the
5 to 10
western base of the
miles broad.
Geology.
runs a tarai^ or zone of jungle from
— The
Geological Department have
named one
of the four
Sub-divisions of the large
in
Cuddapah system of
rocks, over 20,000 feet
thickness,
slates
'the Nallamalai group.'
This group consists of
quartzites.
bum
slates,
superimposed upon the Bairenikonda
are
GumThe
in
so
called,
not sufficiently
regular in cleavage or firm
texture to be of any
economic
use.
Under
the
term quartzite are
railway cuttings
included various kinds of altered detrital rock.
The
have disclosed a fine serviceable sandstone in the main ridge.
Under
former Governments, lead and diamond mines w^re worked near the western entrance of the Nandikanama Pass. Recent experiments with
the lead-ore have
'
shown
that
is
it
contains a high percentage of silver.
in villages
Wootz
'
or Indian steel
manufactured
near the western
base of the southern portion of the range from ore quarried out of the main ridge. Plint weapons of rude form have been found east of the
range.
Fauna.
Game
quail,
The fauna of the Nallamalais is abundant and varied. includes tigers, bears, leopards, sdmbhar, spotted and rib-faced
There are
of
the
also
—
deer, hill antelope, gazelle, wild hog, pea-fowl, jungle fowl, partridge,
and imperial and green pigeons.
two or three
are
kinds of wild cats, porcupmes, and Malabar squirrels.
Lihabitants.
— The
only inhabitants
in
Nallamalais
an
aboriginal race, the
tribe of
stage.
Chenchus,
about 50 Yanadis.
number about 2000, and a broken The Chenchus are savages in the hunting
The men wear nothing but a narrow^ strip of cotton cloth round A the loins the women are clothed like Hindus, but more scantily. Chenchu man, who has not lost his primitive habits, always carries an
;
axe slung in his girdle, and bows and arrows in his hand.
several
Recently
of the tribe have been employed as police and watchmen.
They
are an inoffensive people, easily managed by judicious treatment; but also easily roused to violence, and traditionally addicted
The Chenchus live in small hamlets, along the base and lower spurs of the hills. Their huts are of primitive but neat construction, sometimes dome-shaped, sometimes resembling waggon-tilts. Their food is roots and berries, tamarinds (pulp and stone crushed into a mass and mixed with wood-ash), milk, etc. but they also eat grain, which they obtain honestly or by theft. At the foot of the
to petty theft.
;
1
86
NALTIGIRL
are a few standing
graziers
Nallamalais
combine the trade of
practice of cattle-lifting
Forests.
camps or tafidas of Banjdras, who and cattle-dealers with the occasional
and
dacoity.
is about five to six thousand square miles, the whole covered with forest. The general characteristic of the timber is density and hardness of texture, owing probably to the light rainfall, which averages between 40 and 45 inches. Yet forms of vegetation characteristic of regions bountifully fed with moisture are found to a considerable extent, and in that respect the
—The
area covered by the Nallamaldis
hills
are said to bear a strong resemblance to the Siwalik range.
The
five
principal timber trees are the
Nallamdu (Terminalia tomentosa),
specimens of Terminalia
(Anogeissus
latifolia),
bellerica, yepi
(Hardwickia binata), siriman
yegi (Pterocarpus
Marsupium), teak, the wild
once, rising to ;^6ooo per
mango, and
others.
Under
the system initiated in 1882, the revenue
itself at
derived from these forests doubled
annum.
roads practicable for wheeled traffic cross the range. an old military work known as the Mantraulakanama or Dormal Pass (not to be confounded with the Dormal Pass across the LankamaU range in Cuddapah). This pass, after lying for many years neglected and impassable, was opened again in 1883.
Roads.
—Two
is
The northern
The southern road
parallel to the
Kistna State Railway,
of the pass.
The Bellarycalled the Nandikanama {q.v.). now in course of construction, runs approximately Nandikanama Pass road, and intersects it near the crest
is
be taken through the main ridge by a on the west by a viaduct that will be the highest as yet built in India. There are two or three bridle paths across the Nallamalais. Of these, the one most used is the Veliigodekanama, 32 miles long, w-hich runs between the
This railway
will
tunnel, 600 yards long, which will be approached
two above-named carriage roads. Temples. Three Hindu temples of great renown are situated in the Nallamalais, namely (i) Srishailam (the Parwattam of early authorities) on the Kistna river ; (2) Mahnandi, built around a hot spring a few and miles north of the western end of the Nandikanama Pass (3) Ahobalam, picturesquely situated near the southern frontier of Karnul District.
—
—
;
Medical.
—Want of water
is
seriously felt in the
Nandikanama
Pass,
through which both the main carriage road and the railway run. In a The less degree the same want is felt throughout the whole tract. deficiency of water, the ruggedness of the ground, and the unhealthiness of the climate during the cold and rainy seasons account for the
desolation of this beautiful
hill
range.
Naltigiri.
— Low chain of
hills in
hills,
south of the Assia range of
Cuttack District, Bengal, 3 miles from which it is separated by the
NAMAKAL—NAMAL.
Biriipa river.
1
87
The
Naltigiri
chain has two peaks of unequal height,
Naltigiri
and bears
remains,
little
vegetation, except a few valuable sandal-wood trees,
is
the only ones found in Orissa.
famous
for its
Buddhist
some of which
in
are
in
a fair state of preservation.— (For
vol. xviii. pp.
details, see Statistical
Accoimt of Bengal,
94-96-)
Ndmakal.— 7^//w/^'
715
Salem
area
District,
Madras Presidency.
revenue
is
Area,
as
square
miles.
The
liable
to
distributed
follows: Government villages, 292,175 acres; mittah and shrotriem The extent actually under cultivation in villages, 221,636 acres.
—
Kambu on dr}-, is 104,567 acres, paying ;£"i8,959. on wet lands form the staple cultivation but other grain Irrigation is crops, as vardgu, ragi, and c/iolanj, are largely grown. (Cauvery) channels and small rivers, carried on from the Kaveri and from 163 tanks, 80 minor reservoirs, and 6303 wells. Irrigated
rdyativdri villages
rice
and
;
area,
10,551
acres, assessed
at
/^SiGj.
132,212
namely,
122,365
males
and
females,
Population (1881) 254,577, occupying 53,949
and 353 villages. Hindus numbered Muhammadans, 3386; Christians, 875; and 'others,' i. The north-eastern portions of Namakal taluk are mountainous, and The general aspect is dreary and its south-western area is flat.
houses, scattered over 3 towns
250,315;
uninteresting.
courts;
police circles (t/idnds),
In 1883 the td/uk contained i civil and 3 criminal 11; regular police, 89 men. Land
in
revenue, £34,^07.
Namakal.— Town
13' 15" N., long.
Salem
E.
District,
Madras Presidency.
;
Lat. 11°
78° 12' 40"
Population (1881) 5147
number of
houses,
Hindus numbered 4540; Muhammadans, 581; and Namakal is the head-quarters of Namakal tdluk, It is built at the foot of and the residence of a Deputy Collector. a fortified rock (the Durgam), which rises 300 feet above the plain, and is very difficult of access. This citadel was of some importance in the Mysore campaigns, and its outer walls are still in good preserva1043.
Christians,
26.
tion.
a few
It was captured by the English in 1768, only to be lost again months later to Haidar. Namakal is held in much honour by The Hindus. Local tradition marks it as the abode of Vishnu. community. weavers of Namakal form a numerous Namal (yV/>;/^/).— Town in MianwaH ta/isil, Bannu (Bunnoo) District,
Punjab
;
situated
on the eastern slope of the
e.
Salt
Range,
in lat.
32° 40' 15" N.,
and
long. 71° 51'
Namal
is
the chief town of the
Pakkar ildka or
ravines.
estate, a
wild tract of country
much
intersected by
The
village lands are irrigated by several hill torrents, which
unite close to the
town to form the Wahi nala. The population of in 1868 at 5010, but it is not given separately in the Census of 18S1. jDdk bungalow. Near Namal are two curious structures shaped like sentry-boxes, and supposed to be dolmens.
Namal was returned
—
1
88
NAMBAR—NANDAN SAR.
Nambar.
— River
in
the
Naga
Hills,
Assam
;
tributary
to
the
In one portion of its course it forms a fine waterfall, passing over a reef of limestone rock, near which are some hot springs {pung). It has given its name to an extensive forest,
Dhaneswari (Dhansiri)
river.
which lies between the Mikir Hills and the Dayang (Doyong) river, The forest and comprises an area of about 390 square miles. is a Government reserve, but as yet (1883) very little of it has been
explored.
Nambiyiir. Town in Satyamangalam taluk, Coimbatore District, Madras Presidency. Lat. 11' 21' 30" n., long. 77° 22' E. Population number of houses, 1320. (1881) 5241 Nanai. River of Assam. See Nonai. Nanda Devi. Snow-clad mountain peak in Kumaun District, one of the higher Himalayan summits. North-Western Provinces
—
—
;
—
;
Lat. 30° 22' N., long. 80°
i' E.
;
elevation above sea-level, 25,661 feet.
is
Almost conical
in shape.
The summit
inaccessible.
The Hindus
regard the cloud which usually rests on the peak as smoke from the
kitchen of the goddess Nanda.
Nandair
77°
26'
{Na?ider).
—Town
in
;
the Nizam's
situated in
Haidarabad (Hyderabad), Deccan
50"
E.
lat.
Dominions or State of 19° 9' N., and long.
Population (1881)
14,091.
The
head-quarters of
Nandair District is situated on the left or north bank of the Godavari river, on the high road from Haidarabad city to HingoU, 145 miles Nandair was at one time fortified, but the walls north of the former. It was founded in commemoration of the Sikh are now in ruins. Guru Gobind, one of the grandsons of Nanak, who was assassinated
in
1708-09.
Nandakuja.— River
the Baral, which
it
in
Rdjshahi District, Bengal, an offshoot of
leaves at
Nandakuja
factory,
and
rejoins after a
nearly semicircular course (for the last six miles of which it passes During the dry season no through the centre of the Chalan bil).
water escapes from the Nandakuja its only point of contact with the waters of the bil is at Kachikata, where it receives them through the Banganga, and carries them with it on its way to the Brahmaputra.
;
confluents of the Nandakuja are the Baranai and the Atrai, the waters of the latter being divided between it and the Gur ; both rivers are open all the year round, and are navigable by boats of from 20 to
The
24 tons burthen. These streams convey to the northern Districts the miscellaneous commodities of Calcutta, and carry back return cargoes
of
rice.
Nandan Sar.— Lake
in
Kashmir (Cashmere)
State,
Northern India
;
situated with four others on the north side of the Pir Panjal Mountain, Forms the source of the Haripur river. close to the Nandan Sar pass.
Place of Hindu pilgrimage.
Lat. 33' 37' n., long. 74° 40'
e.
1
—
NANDARTJIAN—NANDGAON.
Nandarthan
(or
J
1S9
Nagardhdn).
— Decayed
;
town
in
Nagpur
District,
Central Provinces; situated in lat. 21° 21' n., and long. 79° 21' e., 4 Populamiles from Ramtek, just off the old Kamthi (Kamptee) road.
MuhamKabirpanthis, 255 namely, Hindus, 2135 Formerly a 122; Jains, 46; and aboriginal religions, 56. Outside the old castle, an action cavalry station of the Nagpur Rajds. was fought when the British besieged Nagpur in December 181 7.
tion (1S81) 2614,
;
madans,
The school
is
well attended.
Nan-daw. Small pagoda in Sandoway District, Arakan Division, Dower Burma situated on a hill about half a mile north of Sandoway town, and said to have been built by Min Bra in 763 a.d. (two years
;
—
later
than
the
Festivals held here in
neighbouring An-daw), to contain a March, June, and October.
in
rib of
Gautama.
—Town the Nizam's Dominions, Haidarabad (Deccan). Bombay Presidency. See Belgium Nandgad. — Town Nandigad. Bombay Presidency. Ndndgaon. — Sub-division of Nasik
— See Nandair.
Nander.
in
District,
District,
Population (1881) villages. namely, 15,535 males and 14,864 females, occupying 5664 30,399, Hindus numbered 25,884; Muhammadans, 1794; and houses. The Sub-division, Land revenue (1882), ^3386. 'others,' 2721.
Area, 437 square miles,
containing 88
situated in the
south-east corner of the District, is bounded on the Malegaon Subdivision on the east by Khandesh District and Nizam's territory on the south by Yeola and on the west by The north and west are rich and level, but Chandor Sub-division. the south and east are furrowed by ravines and deep stream beds. The eastern half is thickly covered with aiijan trees (Hardwickia
north by
;
;
;
binata,
the western half is open, with a sparse growth of Water - supply abundant, the Climate dry and healthy. The north-eastern chief rivers being the Pan j an and the Maniad. line of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway runs through the Sub-
Roxb.)
;
bushes.
division.
area of 32 acres,
1880-81 there were 3564 holdings, with an average and an average rental of ^i, 19s. 3d.; incidence In of land-tax, about 4s. 7jd. per head of the whole population. 1880-81, of 107,761 acres held for tillage, 13,002 were fallow or under grass. Of the remaining 94,759 acres, 96 were twice cropped. Of 94,855 acres, the area under actual cultivation, grain crops occupied 78,458 acres (59,555 under bajra, Pennisetum typhoideum, Rich.)\
In
pulses occupied
fibres, 3989 acres oil-seeds, 7390 acres 4507 acres In 1884 under cotton); and miscellaneous crops, 511 acres. (3958
;
;
the Sub-division contained 2 criminal courts
;
i
police circle {thdfid)
;
34 regular policemen
Ndndgaon.
— The
;
125 village watchmen.
chief
town of Nandgaon Sub-division, Nasik
;
I90
District,
NANDGAON CHIEFSHIP—NANDL
Bombay Presidency
;
situated about 60
miles north-east of
Nasik town, and a station on Peninsula Railway. Population (1881) 4416. The railway station is connected with the Ellora caves by a road 44 miles in length. The
the north-eastern
Hne of the Great Indian
town has the ordinary Sub-divisional revenue and police offices, and a Near the railway station is a travellers' bungalow. post-office. Feudatory chiefship attached to Raipur District, Nandg^on.
—
The chiefship consists of 4 pargands, namely, Nandgaon and Dongargaon to the south Pandada, 20 miles to the north, at the foot of the Saletekri Hills, and separated from Nandgaon
Central Provinces.
;
by the Khairagarh /^r^^«^' and that part of Dongargarh which belongs to the Khairagarh chief; Mohgaon, about 50 miles to the north, a very fertile pargand, lying between the Dhamda and Deorbijia khd/sa Area, 905 pargands ; and Khamaria, belonging to Khairagarh. square miles, with i town and 540 villages, and 48,351 occupied
houses.
188 1) 164,339, namely, males 81,717, and females i8r6 persons per square mile. Of the 82,622 ; total area of the State, 441 square miles are cultivated; and of the portion lying waste, 288 square miles are returned as cultivable.
Population
(
density of population,
Principal products
principal
manufacture — coarse
—
rice,
wheat, gram,
cloth.
kodo^
oil-
seeds,
The
is
;
original grant
and cotton was made in
1723 to the family
priest of the
Raja of Nagpur, but additions took
tribute
place in 1765 and 18 18.
The
late
chief
Supposed gross revenue, ;£"i4,653
a Bairagi, or religious devotee. is payable of ;£46oo.
in
Mahant Ghdsi Das,
is
the
chief,
who died
November
1883,
He was described as an able, energetic, and enlightened ruler. succeeded by his son, a promising young man, during whose
minority the administration
of the State is carried on conjointly The Nagpur-Chhatisgarh Railway by his mother and the Diwan. passes through Nandgaon, and has caused a considerable influx of traders, and a general increase of prosperity, combined with
a rise in prices of food-grains.
The
late
;
chief built a comfortable
ddk bungalow close
grain stores
and also constructed large and feeder roads at considerable cost, besides having spent The military force of nearly ^2000 in digging and improving tanks. the State consists of 7 elephants, 100 horses, 5 camels, and 500 infantry. Eight schools were attended by a daily average of 263 pupils in 1883, and the desire for English education is reported to be increasing.
to the railway station
Good bdzdr ; dispensary. Nandi {Nuudy). Village
—
to
in
Kolar
north-eastern base of the
627.
hill
fort of
District, Mysore State, at the Nandidrug. Population (1881)
Since 1825
it
has ceased to be a military station.
An
ancient
in
temple, dedicated
Bhoga Nandiswara, has some
inscriptions
the Grantha character.
An
annual
cattle fair, held at the Siva-ratri
1
NANDIAL—NANDIDR UG.
festival, is
1
9
The best attended by 50,000 persons, and lasts for 9 days. bred in the country are brought here for sale, to the number For many years prizes were distributed by Government on oi 10,000. The spirit of competition was most gratifying, and no this occasion.
l)ullocks
'
owners
any part of the world could have been more eager to attract As much as ^100 is sometimes attention than the rdyats at Nandi.' Since 1874, the Government offered for a pair of draught bullocks. Cattle Show has been transferred to Bangalore. Taluk or Sub-division of Karniil (Kurnool) District, Nandial.
in
—
Population (1881) males and 38,594 females, dwelling in i town Hindus numbered and 91 villages, containing 17,143 houses. In 1883 the 65,705; Muhammadans, 10,935; ^"^ Christians, 1642. police circles {thdjids), taluk contained i civil and 3 criminal courts
78,282, namely,
:}i^^(i^^
;
Madras Presidency.
Area, about 894 square miles.
men. Land revenue, ^18,806. The Bull,' the form in which Siva is Nandid.1 (from Naudl, worshipped in the Ceded Districts and Mysore). Town in Karniil Lat. 15° 29' 30" n., long. 78" (Kurnool) District, Madras Presidency. 31' 40" E, Population (1881) 8907, occupying 2005 houses. Hindus numbered 5749; Muhammadans, 31 12; and Christians, 46. Nandial is the head-quarters of Nandial tdluk, and also of a Deputy Collector and other European officers. It contains 9 Sivaite pagodas, and is a prosperous place, surrounded by highly cultivated fields. Nandidlampett {Nandial). Town in Cuddapah (Kadapa) District, Madras Presidency. Lat. 14° 43' 30" n., long. 78° 52' 15" e. PopuNandialampett was lation (1881) 31 10; number of houses, 876.
14
;
regular police, 102
'
—
—
formerly a place of
some importance, but now
is
only a moderate-
sized agricultural village.
in the State of Mysore, comBangalore, Kolar, and TuiMKUR, each Area of Nandidnig Division, 8212 square of which see separately. miles; 7728 towns and villages; 276,921 occupied and 68,091 unoccu-
Nandidnig {Mmdydroog).
three Districts of
— Division
prising the
pied houses.
Population (1871) 2,073,547 ; (1881) 1,543,451, namely, Number of persons per square 762,266 males and 781,185 females. mile, 188; towns and villages per square mile, 0*9; occupied houses
Hindus per square mile, 3i'4; and persons per occupied house, 5-5. numbered 1,428,651; Muhammadans, 93,385; Christians, 21,389; and Sikhs, 6. The Division was formed Buddhists, 9 Parsis, 1 1 in 1S63, by the addition of Tiimkiir to what had been previously known as the Bangalore Division.
; ;
Nandidnig
Siva).
(literally
hill
— Fortified
in
The Hill Fort of Nandi,' the sacred bull of Kolar District, Mysore State; 31 miles north
'
of Bangalore,
43' 38" E.
4810
feet
above
sea-level.
Lat. 13° 22' 17" n., long. 77°
The summit forms an
extensive plateau, in the centre of
192
NANDIGAMA—NANDIGARH.
which is a tank fed by perennial springs. The forest surrounding the mountain, covering an area of 7 square miles, and producing large In the immediate timber-trees, has been reserved by Government.
neighbourhood are the sources of many large rivers. The temperature Nandidrug faces averages 10 degrees lower than on the plain below. east and west, and is connected by a low ridge with an adjoining hill The chief approach a few feet lower than itself, known ns Baynes' hill. from the bottom of the saddle on the south up the is by a bridle-path
There are also two steep footpaths cut in the rock. on a huge block of gneiss, running up perpendicularly It is protected by a double line of ramparts. to a height of 1500 feet. The earliest fortificatious were erected by the Chik-ballapur chiefs; but the extensive w^orks whose ruins now crown the summit were A cliff is still pointed out constructed by Haidar Ali and Tipii Sultan. as Tipii's Drop, from which prisoners are said to have been hurled. Nandidrug was stormed by the British army under Lord Cornwallis in The sides are precipitous, except on the west, where the defences 1 791. had been strengthened by a triple line of ramparts. Battering cannon
western face.
The
fort is built
were moved up the lower slope with extreme difficulty, in the face of But after a bombardment of a formidable fire from the upper walls. The storming party 2 1 days, two breaches were reported practicable. was headed by General Medows in person, and the assault was delivered
by
clear moonlight
on the morning of the
1
9th October.
An
entrance
into the inner fort was effected after a sharp struggle, in which 30 soldiers
rolled
were killed or wounded on the British side, chiefly struck by stones down from above. The entire loss during the siege was 120 men.
salubrity of the spot has led to its becoming a summer resort for European officials of Bangalore. The large house on the summit the was erected by Sir Mark Cubbon, Resident at Mysore in 1834. At the north-east base is the village of Nandi. Tdluk or Sub-division of Kistna District, Madras Nandigama.
The
—
Presidency.
Area, 649 square miles.
Population
in
1881, 107,288,
namely, 53,677 males and 53,611 females, dwelling in i town and Hindus numbered 99,977; 171 villages, consisting of 18,659 houses. In 1883 Muhammadans, 6659; Christians, 650; and 'others,' 2. Total revenue, ^18,984. the tdluk contained 2 criminal courts.
The
of
tdluk has
villages
many Buddhist remains
scattered over
it.
Near three
its
tdluk are at
diamonds have been found. the village of Nandigama.
The
head-quarters of the
Population (t88i) 2662;
number of houses, 481. Town Nandigarh.
—
in
District,
Bombay
7
Presidency.
Population (1881) 7912.
Khanapur Sub-division of Belgaum 15° 24' n., and long. 74° 37' e. Situated 23 miles south of Belgaum town,
the
Lat.
and about
south-east of Khanapur.
Nandigarh
is
an important trade
; ;
NAXDIKAXAMA—KAXD I 'RA.
centre;
dates,
1
93
the chief imports are
salt.
areca-nuts,
cocoa-nuts,
cocoa-nut
oil,
These articles are bought in exchange, from native Christian traders of Goa, for wheat and other grain. Not far from the town is the ruined fort of Pratapgarh, built by Alalia Sarya Desai of Nandigarh contains a post-office and three schools Kittiir in 1S09. weekly market on Wednesdays.
and
Nandikanama.
(Kurnool)
48'
7"
E.
— Pass
The
in
Cumbum (Kambham)
in lat.
tdluk^
Karniil
long. 78°
])istrict,
Madras, lying
15° 23' 30" n.,
to
and
Carries the
main road from Karniil
Cumbum
now
and the
1800
course
in
east
feet
coast at Ongole over the Nallamalai hills; height, about
above
sea-level.
Bellary-Kistna State Railway,
of construction, intersects this road near the crest. Formerly lead and diamond mines were worked near the entrance of the pass; recent experiments with the lead-ore have shown that it contains a high percentage of silver. The pass is much used for the transport of salt, and was utilized during the recent famine for carrying grain
from the coast to Karniil.
Nandikotkur.
— Tdluk
of Karniil
District,
Aladras
Presidency.
Area, 1323 square miles.
Population (1881) 72,741, namely, 36,875 males and 35,866 females, occupying 14,761 houses in 113 villages.
Hindus numbered 62,348; Muhammadans, 9770; and
10; regular police, 82 men.
Christians, 623. In 1885 the tdluk contained 2 criminal courts; police circles {thdiids)^
Land
Nandikotkur.
dency.
—Town
revenue, ^19,055.
in Karniil
(Kurnool)
District,
Madras
Presi;
Lat. 15° 52' N., long. 78° 18' 21" E.
Population (1881) 2175
fort.
number
54' N.,
of houses, 636.
Head-quarters of Nandikotkur tdluk ;
State,
Nandod.
Surat,
— Capital of Rajpfpla
73° 34'
E.
Bombay
Presidency.
Lat. 21°
long.
Situated about 32 miles east by north from
in a
on a
rising
ground
bend of
the Karjan river.
Population
(1872) 9768; (1881) 10,777, namely, 5625 males and 5152 females. Hindus numbered 7409; Muhammadans, 1607; Jains, 10; Parsis, 13;
Christians, 2
;
and
'
others,'
1
736.
As
early as 1304, the
are said to have driven the
Nandod
chief from his capital,
Muhammadans and made it
mosque and issuing though he had since the fall of the Muhammadan power (1730) recovered most of his territory, never brought back his capital from Rajpipla to Nandod until 1830.
the head-quarters of one of their districts, building a
coin.
The
chief,
Nandora.
— Town
in
Partabgarh
(Pratapgarh)
District,
Oudh
and 2 from Bihar town. Population Contains the (1881) 2953, namely, 1881 Hindus and 1072 Musalmans. large bazar of Lalganj, at which produce to the value of about ;£"3o,ooo
situated 3 miles north of the Ganges,
is
sold annually.
Town in Buldana District, Bcrar; a station on the Nandiira. Nagpur branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. Lnt. 20' 50' n.,
VOL. X.
—
Village school.
N
;
194
long.
NANDURBAR SUB-DIVISION AND TOWN
76° 32'
E.
;
324 miles from Bombay.
Population (1881) 6743,
7
namely, 5660 Hindus, 985 Musalmdns, 85 Jains,
Sikhs,
5
Parsis,
and /
Christian.
(Great Nandiira)
The Dayanganga river divides Kandura Buzurg from Nandiira Khurd (Little Nandiira). It is said
that Nandiira, then only a small village, was resorted to by some dyers about 100 years ago, to escape from the oppression of a deshmukh
named Fakirchand
;
but
more
probably,
when
plundered the pargajid of Pimpalgaon Raja in to Poona from the expedition against Ghulam Kadir Beg of Delhi, many refugees settled here. Since the estabUshment of a railway station, the weekly market has become perhaps the most important
in
Mahadaji Sindhia 1790 a.d., on his way
the District
;
the sales on market days
corn, cattle,
Staple
commodities— cotton,
except
in
2
amount to about ^2500. and cloth. The Dayanganga
supplies water
wells.
the hot season,
when
it
is
obtained from
Nandiira contains
station.
Government
schools, one of
which
is
for
Muhammadans,
and police
dency.
a sub-registrar's office, post-office, rest-house, dispensary,
Nandurbar.
— Sub-division
of
Khandesh
1
District,
Bombay
Presi
Area, 674 square miles, containing
town and 195
villages.
Population (1872) 45,285; (1881) 62,866, namely, 31,772 males and
31,094 females.
Hindus numbered 32,457; Muhammadans, 3328; Land revenue (1883), ^18,175. This Sub-division, acquired by the British in 181 8, is bounded on on the east by Virdel on the south-west by the north by the Tapti Pimpalner; and on the west by Baroda territory. The water-supply of the region is scanty, the streams of only the Tapti and the Siva
and
'others,' 27,081.
; ;
lasting throughout the year.
Average
rainfall,
29 inches.
In 1861-62,
the year of the survey settlement, there were 2447 holdings with an average rental of £^, 4s. n^d., and an average area of 29 acres;
In 1878, 108,113 acres incidence of land-tax per head, about 9s. 2d. were actually under tillage, and of these grain crops occupied 74, 73^
which 30,413 were under bdjra and 21,864 under w^heat occupied 11J15 acres; oil-seeds, 10,501 acres, of which 7850 pulses were under gingelly fibre?, 9412 acres, of which 9012 were under cotton; and miscellaneous crops, 1749 acres, of which 1224 were under
acres, of
;
chillies.
Imports are salt, cocoa-nuts, and spices. Nandurbar. Chief town, and municipality, of the Nandurbar Subdivision, Khandesh District, Bombay Presidency; situated 32 miles
—
north-west of Dhulia, in
lat.
21° 23' 10" n.,
and
long.
74° 18' 45"
E.
Population
1428;
^395
office,
;
6841. Municipal income (1883-84), 4; and 'others,' 365. Sub-judge's court, postincidence of municipal taxation, is. and dispensary; number of patients, 5099 in 1883. Formerly
(1881)
Hindus number 5044; Muhammadans,
Jains,
Nandurbar
carried on
a considerable
trade with Surat,
but a large
f
—
NANENWAR—NANG UNERL
portion of
tliis
195
now
finds
its
way eastward
to the north-east line of the
Great
kinds.
Indian
Peninsula
Railway.
The
exports are cotton, linseed,
cocoa-nuts,
wheat, gram, and grass-oil; imports
—
salt,
and
spices of all
The
staple industry
stills
is
the extraction of oil from a grass
known
as roya, about 100
in
being at work.
This
oil
has long been held
Nandurbar is one of the oldest was obtained by Mubdrak, chief of Khandesh, In 1665 it was a place of confrom the ruler of Gujarat in 1536. In 1666, an siderable prosperity, renowned for its grapes and melons.
towns in Khandesh.
It
repute as a remedy for rheumatism.
English factory was established at Nandurbar; in 1670,
so important a trading centre, that the English factory
hither from
rest of
it
had become was removed
with the
and when it came into the possession of the British Government in 1818, the town It contains many old mosques and was more than half deserted. According to local tradition, Nandurbar remains of ancient buildings. was founded by Nand Gauli, in whose family it remained until wrested from them by the jMuhammadans under Samin-moin-ud-din Chishti,
the troubles of Baji Rao's rule
;
Ahmadabad. Khandesh during
It
subsequently suffered in
common
assisted
by the Pir Sayyid Ala-ud-din.
Nanenwar.
India.
— Mountain
in
Kashmir (Cashmere)
e.
State,
Northern
its
Lat. 34° 31' n., long. 74° 50'
(Thornton).
One
of the lofty
sides
feet
range bounding the Kashmir valley on the north-east.
lies
Over
the
Bandarpur Pass into Tibet,
at
an elevation of about 11,000
above
sea-level.
Nangam.
Bombay
— Petty
of
State of the Sankhera
Mehwas
in
Rewa Kantha,
villages.
Presidency.
Area,
3 square miles, with 3
Held
joindy byfour proprietors entitled thdkurs.
Estimated revenue in 1882,
^217;
estate
is
tribute
^129
is
paid to the Gaekwar of Baroda.
little
The
very poor, the shareholders being
more than common
husbandmen. The people are chiefly Bhils, raising only the coarser and more easily grown crops. Nangambakam. Suburb of Madras. See Madras Git v. Nanguneri. Taluk or Sub-division of Tinnevelli District, Madras
—
—
Population (t8Si) 174,347, Area, 665 square miles. namely, 84,243 males and 90,104 females, dwelling in 227 villages Hindus number (mostly hamlets), and occupying 37,149 houses.
Presidency,
136,823; Muhammadans, 8992; Christians, 28,520; and 'others,' 12. Nanguneri taluk occupies the whole of the extreme south of the
District.
The
soil is
composed of red
clay,
loam, and sand, except
ing a narrow strip parallel with
the sea, where white sand prevails.
ruary
Palmyra groves occupy the east and south of the taluk ; from Febto August the juice, which flows from the flower spathe cut across, is boiled down to brown sugar before it has time to ferment.
In
the
centre
of
the
taluk
are
many
tanks,
both
rain-fed
and
1
96
NAA'G UNERI TO WN—NANJANGAD.
;
supplied by channels from the mountain streams
innumerable wells, under which small patches of two to three acres are cultivated and dry cultivation, poor and interrupted by fallows sometimes for two
;
years out of three.
The
great range of hills bordering the taluk on the
west
is
strikingly picturesque, rising to
5000
feet
above
sea-level, the
Several coffee estates nestle in the tops densely covered with forest. more sheltered valleys of the higher elevations. In 1883, Nanguneri
idliik
contained
2 criminal
courts; police circles {thdnds), 14; regular
police,
94 men.
Nanguneri.
— Town
Land
revenue, ;£'32,54i.
in
Tinnevelli
District,
Madras Presidency.
44 E. Population (1881) 4414, namely, Number of Plindus, 4184; IMuhammadans, 74; and Christians, 156. Nanguneri is the head-quarters of Nanguneri taluk, and houses, 1057. Weekly fair. has a richly endowed temple. Nanjangad. Tdluk in Mysore District, Mysore State. Area, 176 Population (1871) 64,535; square miles, of which 104 are cultivated. Hindus (1881) 68,451, namely, 33,597 males and 34,854 females. In numbered 66,669; Muhammadans, 1777; and Christians, 5.
77°
Lat. 8' 29' 20" N., long.
—
1883 the tdluk contained
regular police, 35
i
men
;
village
criminal court; police circles {thdnds), 3; watch (chaukiddrs), 377. Total revenue,
^12,673.
Nanjangad (' Town of the Swallo-iUer of Poison' so called from one of the attributes of Siva), Town in Mysore District, jMysore State; situated in lat. 12° 7' 20" n., and long. 76° 44' e., on both banks of the Kabbani and Gundal streams, 12 miles by road south Population (1881) 5202, namely, 4680 Hindus, 521 of Mysore city. Muhammadans, and i Christian. Head-quarters of the Nanjangad Said to be identical with the city of Nagarapura, founded tdluk. during the 8th century by a king from the north, and shortly afterwards Now celebrated for the temple of Siva, taken by a Chola monarch. under his name of Nanjandeswara. The present building, which has
—
superseded a smaller one of remote antiquity, was erected by Karachiiri Nanja Raja, the diwdn or prime minister of Mysore about 1740, and
embellished by the diwdn Purnaiya.
broad, and supported by 147 columns.
It is
with great elaboration and delicacy.
Some of the figures are The shrine receives an
Car
festivals are held
385 feet long by 160 feet carved
annual
allowance from the State of ^2020.
are attended
monthly
on the day of the full moon, two of which, in March and November, by thousands of devotees from all parts of Southern India. About a mile from Nanjangad is a fine bungalow, attached to the Mysore Residency, near which is a stone bridge over the Kabbani, An extensive tope of magnificent and constructed 100 years ago. shady trees extends from the bungalow to a distance of i mile along It has been proposed to connect the right bank of the Kabbani.
;
NANJARAJPA TXA—NANFARA.
Nanjangad with
surveyed.
1
97
Mysore by
railway,
and
the
line
is
now being
Nanjarajpatna.— 7;/////C' or Sub-division of Coorg, South India. Area, 264 square miles; number of villages, 122; number of houses,
4909.
Population
(18S1)
Jains,
26,984,
namely,
Christians.
Muhammadans, 4
and 161
26,018 Hindus, 801 Included among the
Hindus are 5383 native Coorgs. Nanjarajpatna occupies the northeast of Coorg, and is bounded on the east by the Kaveri (Cauvery) Teak and sandal- wood are found in the jungles. In the open river. country towards the Kaveri, 'dry' grains, such as rdgi, avare, and
also gram, coriander, and a little tobacco. have been opened out near Jambur and Head-quarters of taluk, Sonwarpet on the IMerkara-Kodlipet road.
tavare, are cultivated,
and
Some
fine
coffee
estates
Fraserpet.
Nannilam.
Presidency.
—
r.f////^'
or Sub-division of Tanjore
District,
Madras
Population (18S1) 220,202, 279 square miles. namely, 104,052 males and 116,150 females, dwelling in 397 villages, and occupying 41,143 houses. Hindus numbered 202,317; MuhamIn 1883, the madans, 11,877; Christians, 5967; and 'others,' 41.
Area,
taluk contained
i
civil
and
2
criminal courts
;
police circles,
7
;
and
regular police, 70 men.
Land revenue, ^75^^86.
The
head-quarters
of the taluk
is
at the village of
Nannilam, about 15 miles north-west
of Bahraich
District,
ofXegapatam.
Population (188 1) 2851.
or
Nanpara.— r^/^^/Y
Sub-division
Oudh
situated between 27° 39'
and 28° 24' n. lat, and between 81° 5' and 81° 52' E. long. Bounded on the north and east by the State of Nepal, on the south by Bahraich and Kaisarganj tahsils, and on the Area, 1037 square miles, of which 449 west by Nighasan tahsil.
are
under cultivation. Population (1872) 239,459; (1881) 270,721, namely, males 141,999, and females 128,722; total increase since 1872,
population, 31,262, or 13-1 per cent, in nine years; average density of 261 persons per square mile. Classified according to religion, there were
in
1881— Hindus,
219,810;
Muhammadans, 50,549 and
;
'others,' 362.
of towns and villages, 547, of which 350 contained in 1881 less than 500 inhabitants. This tahsil comprises the 3 pargands of Nanpara, Charda, and Dharmanpur, and a considerable portion of it is covered
Number
Government reserved forests. Revenue of the tahsil, £lZA~9' Nanpara contained i civil and 3 criminal courts; 5 police circles ithdnds) \ a regular police force of 80 men, and 762 village
with
In 1S84,
cliaukiddrs.
lAk£C^^XZ>.—Paroand
in
Bahraich District,
Oudh
;
bounded on the
north by Nepal, on the east by Charda, on the south by Bahraich, and on the west by Dharmanpur and the Gogra river. Area, 523 square
miles;
extreme length, ^Z miles;
breadth,
24 miles.
The
eastern
198
portion
lies
NANPARA TOWN.
high,
and forms part of the watershed of the two
river
systems of the Rapti and the Gogra.
of the basin
of the latter
in
all
The
western half
is
a portion
river
been furrowed
their
directions
and its affluent the Sarju, and has by old beds of these streams in
wanderings over the country. This section is peculiarly fertile, having a rich yet light alluvial soil, which requires no irrigation and but little labour to yield the finest crops. The pargand is not so well wooded as its neighbours to the south, only 171 per cent,
being grove land.
The
proximity of the jungle
for this
tracts,
is
however,
in
some degree compensates
drawback.
There
an immense
compared with 257 square miles of
square miles.
to
proportion of cultivable waste land, which covers 213 square miles, as cultivation, in a total area of 523
Irrigation there
is
none, except in the higher villages
Bahraich parga?id, there is every facility for irrigation, the water lying near the surface. Population (1881) Principal crops 168,942, namely, 88,587 males and 80,355 females.
where, as in
barley, rice, and Indian corn. Of the 311 villages comprising the pargand, 306 are held under tdlukddri tenure. The main road from Bahraich to Nepalganj passes through Nanpara town, and second-class roads run from Nanpara to Motipur (16 miles), to Bhinga (29 miles),
the east,
—
and
to Khairighat (12 miles).
Nanpara, and 8 village schools.
stations.
Government vernacular town school at Two post-offices and two police
The nucleus of the present estate of the Raja of Nanpara, comprising nearly the whole of the parga?id, consisted of a grant of 5
villages to
an Afghan
officer
named
Rasiil
Khan, who was commis-
sioned by Shan Jahan to coerce the Banjaras, a turbulent tribe who had long disturbed the peace of the country. The family gradually
extended their possessions the present Raja is the seventh in descent from the founder, Rasiil Khan. Nanpara was only constituted a distinct pargand after the British annexation of Oudh, having previously been nearly all included in pargand Bahraich.
;
Oudh, and head-quarters of 27° 52' x., and long. 81° 32' 45" E., 22 miles north of Bahraich town, on the road to Nepalganj. Tradition states that the town was founded by Nidhai, an oil-seller, whence the name Nidhaipurwa, corrupted into Nadpara, and latterly to Nanpara. About 1630, an Afghan ofiicer in the service of Shah Jahan, having received a grant of this and four other villages, laid the foundation of the present important estate. (1881) Population (1869) 6818 Hindus, 2706; and others,' 2. 7351, namely, IMuhammadans, 4643 Area of town site, 279 acres. Municipal revenue (1876-77), ^^242; (1883-84), ^556, of which p^37o was derived from octroi; average incidence of taxation, is. ojd. per head of population. Considerable traffic in grain, timber, and firewood. A valuable trade with
in
Nanpara.
—Town
Bahraich
District,
Nanpara
ta/isil dcU^
pargand ; situated
in
lat.
;
'
;
;
NA XSA RI—XA POKL U.
Nepal passes through Nanpard, the imports being returned
^^23,000,
at
1
59
about
and the exports
buildings are the Raja's
^20,000 in residence, 5 Hindu
at
value.
The
princijjal
temples, 4 mosques, the
;
and school. Nanpara is a flourishing town and now that it is a station on the newly-opened railway from Patna, the place will doubtless ra])idly grow in importance. Nansari.— Small chiefship in Bhandara District, Central Provinces villages, and occupying 9 miles south-east of Kamtha; comprising 9 are under cultivation. acres, of which 5878 an area of 8599 The chief is a Brahman, descended from an Population (1881) 4771.
iahsili, police station, sardi,
ofticial
family attached
to
is
the
late
Nagpur Government.
A
large
weekly market for cattle
Nanta.— Village
1859.
in
lat.
Situated in
held at KaUipar, on this estate. Population (1881) Kotah State, Rajputana. 25° 12' n., and long. 75° 51' e., on the route
from Kotah town to Biindi (Boondee), 5 miles north-west from Kotah and 19 south-east from Biindi. I'he palace of Zalim Singh, formerly minister of the Kotah State, is situated here, and Nanta was at one time a flourishing town, when full of Zalim Singh's numerous adherents. The place is now little more than an agricultural village, and the palace
(a fine
specimen of a Rajput baronial residence) and
its
gardens are
falling into decay.
Naodwar.— Forest
lying
reserve in the north of Darrang District, Assam,
rivers,
between the Bhoroli and Bar Dikrai
Hills.
and bounded north
by the Aka
Area, 82 square miles.
Assam.— 5^^ Nowgong. Sub-division of Rajshahi District, Bengal, comprising Naogaon.—
Naogaon.
District of
—
the three police circles {thdnds) of
Naogaon, Manda, and Panchpur.
Total Area, 603 square miles, with 1362 villages, and 43^062 houses. ^"^^ females 134,144population, 268,579, namely, males i34,435»
Average density of population, 445-4 persons per square mile. ClassiMuhammadans, iSSi fied according to religion, there were in
—
205,361
tains
I
;
Hindus, 63,204; and Christians,
14.
The
Sub-division con-
criminal court, a regular police force of 51 men, and a village
watch or rural police of 640 chaukiddrs. Naogaon.— Village in Rajshahi District, Bengal, and head-quarters
of
88' 58' 30"
Naogaon Sub-division situated in lat. 24° 45' 30" n., and Important E., on the west bank of the river Jamuna.
;
long. as the
this
centre of the gdnjd (hemp) cultivation of Rajshahi
;
it
is
from
small tract of country that nearly the whole of India
the narcotic.
is
supplied with
Population under 5000.
in
Naorangpur.— Town
Population (1881) 1467.
Vizagapatam
District,
Madras Presidency.
of Padinalknad
75°
Houses, 321.
Lat. 12°
19' N., long.
Napoklu.— A'^f^Z'cf
taluk, in the
or administrative head-quarters
territory of Coorg.
44
^'
200
l:)istant
NAR—NARA, EASTERN.
from Merkara 15 miles.
Population (1881) 896.
Anglo-ver-
nacular school, with 55 pupils in 1882. one via Murnad, the other %nd Bettakeri.
Two
roads lead to Merkara,
Nar.
7328.
— Town
in
the Petlad Sub-division of Baroda State,
22°
28' n., long.
Bombay
(1881)
Presidency.
Lat.
72°
45' e.
Population
School and two
rising,
d/iar??isdhis.
Nara, Eastern.
Presidency
;
— An
important water channel in Sind,
Bombay
by some, in the floods of Bahawalpur State, and running southward successively through the Rohri Sub-division of Shikarpur District, Khairpur State, and the Thar and Parkar District. The main source of supply of the Eastern Nara
as believed
is
still
undetermined.
The
first
well-defined head occurs at
Khari,
near the town of Rohri, whence the stream runs almost due south
through Khairpur, afterwards entering the Thar and Parkar District, where the channel is in some places broad, and in others scarcely
perceptible.
proceeding
two channels, the larger Wango-jo-got, where it meets the Piiran the other skirting the foot of the Thar, and joining the Piiran below Wango Bazar. In the valley of the Eastern Nara there
it
At Nawakot
divides
into
in
a south-easterly
;
direction
to
are about 400 lakes,
and there
is
good reason
for believing that this
canal was in former years entirely fed by the floods of the Indus.
Lieutenant Fife,
the Nara in
in his Report of 1852, states that the stoppage of the water-supply of the stream, which was attributed to a dyke put across
quantity in
to
Upper Sind, had some years being
in reality arisen
from natural causes, the
in others so deficient as
so excessive,
and
Acting upon his advice. Government conand, later on, structed a supply channel from the Indus near Rohri
prevent cultivation.
;
bed of the Nara so as to facilitate the Further improvements were effected by flow of the water southwards. erecting a series of embankments on the right side, to arrest the overThe principal canals in connection with the Eastern Nara are flow. the Mithrau (123 miles long, inclusive of branches), the Thar (44
excavations were
in the
made
miles),
edition of this
and the Dimwa (15 miles). The returns furnished for the first work showed that the aggregate cost of these works up to the end of 1873-74 amounted to ^274,749 the receipts in the same year were ^{^236, 7 2 7, and the total charges (exclusive of interest), ^66,094. The gross income was thus 84 per cent, on the capital expended, and the net receipts 60 per cent. The area irrigated was The cost of the entire works when completed is 124,793 acres. At the estimated at ;£i,o63,827, and the net revenue at ;£"66,533.
;
close of 1882-83,
it was reported that the protective embankments were advanced, and the land was recovering from the floods of past The works would now begin to show a gradual but steady years. The supply channel would be increase up to their full capabilities.
KARA, WESTERN— NARAIXGAXJ.
deepened
the Eastern
201
to ensure a proper rahi supply for all the existing canals in
Nara system. Nara, Western. An important water
—
channtil in
Sind,
Bombay
e.
),
Presidency; issuing from the Indus
(lat.
27° 29' N., long. 68° 20'
which
After
it
taps close to the village of Kathia in the tdluk of Larkhana.
a southerly course through portions of the Larkhana and Labdarya taluks of Larkhana Sub-division, it enters the JMehar Subdivision by the taluks of Kakar, Tigar, and Mehar, and, after a course of 138 miles, falls into the northern side of Lake ]SLanchhar, in the The Western Nara is a Sehwan Sub-division of Karachi District. improved and, being navigable for river natural channel artificially boats throughout its entire length, between May and September, it is
;
])referred to the
is
Indus as a boat route during the
floods, as the current
not so strong as in the river.
About
17 canals branch directly from
the Western Nara, 4 being in Larkhana, 7 in Mehar,
Sub-divisions.
and
for
6 in
Sehwan
in parts
Floods from
this
channel occur at times, and
prevent the cultivation of
rice.
The Western Nara
the
is,
purposes of
Ghar and Karachi canal system. The returns furnished for the first edition of this work showed a revenue realized in 1873-74 of ^40,211, against an expenditure of ^3339, leaving a profit or surplus of ^36,982. No later returns are
superintendence, included
in
available.
Narad.
trict,
—A name given
(i)
to three different streams in
Rajshahi Disit
Bengal,
The
first is
a small offshoot of the Ganges, which
leaves a few miles
flows into the
below the town of Rampur Beauleah, and thence
Putiya.
Musa Khan near
A
short distance north of
Putiya, (2) another stream, also called the Narad,
a continuation of the
though
in
no sense
former watercourse, leaves the
It is
is
Musa Khan, and
flows eastward past Nattor.
Its chief tributary
navigable for a great part of the year.
(3) the
from the south
united streams
Narad, a branch of the
Nandakuja. above
its
The
fall
eventually into the Atrai just
junction with the Nandakuja.
Naraina.
from Jaipur
—Town
city.
in
Jaipur State, Rajputana
;
distant
Contains several temples of
Nagas, are obtained.
interest,
40 miles west and famous as
the footis
the head-quarters of the sect of Dadii Panthis,
soldiers of the State, called
from
whom
sect
The
not very
numerous, and professes to worship one God, unrepresented by any image or without a temple their saints are celibates, and maintain succes;
sion
by adoption.
The Nagas number between 4000 and 5000
;
to
and moral influence as soldiers, is attributed the steadfastness of the general army of the Jaipur State to the British cause during the Mutiny of 1857. Sub- Division in Dacca District, Narainganj {Ndrdyanganj). Bengal. Area, 641 square miles; number of towns and villages, 2064;
their fidelity, daring,
—
;
202
houses,
54,104.
total,
NARAINGANJ TOWN.
Population
470,657.
38.
(1881),
males
229,873;
Classified
240,784, and females according to religion, there
were— Muhammadans, 334,439; Hindus,
and Buddhists,
132,937; Christians, 3243; Average density of population, 734 persons per square mile; villages per square mile, 3-22; persons per village, 228; houses per square mile, 87 ; persons per house, 87. This Sub-division comprises the three police circles (thdnds) of Narainganj, Riipganj, and
Raipura.
trate's
In 1883
it
i
contained
ranks,
i
civil
court and an honorary magis-
bench, with
criminal court.
all
The
police force consisted of
police or village watch-
63 regular police of
and 803
rural
men,
Narainganj {Ndrdyanganj).
situated in
lat.
— Town
long.
in
Dacca
District,
e.,
Bengal
and, with
23° 37' 15"
n.,
and
90° 32' 5"
on the western
;
bank of the Lakhmia,
its
at its
confluence with the Dhaleswari
bdzdrs^ extending for about 3 miles along the river.
The
munici-
pality also includes
Population (1872) 10,911; (1881) Hindus numbered 12,508, namely, males 7558, and females 4950. Narainganj with 6324; Muhammadans, 6160; and 'others,' 24.
Madanganj.
Madanganj has been constituted a first-class municipality. Municipal income (1883-84), ^2095, of which ;,^ 1966 was derived from taxation; average incidence of taxation, 3s. ifd. per head of population. Narainganj is distant from Dacca 9 miles by land, and about 16 or 18 by water, and is in reality the port of that city, including Madanganj, a little In the neighbourhood lower down on the opposite bank of the river.
are several forts built by
]\Iir
Kadam
Rasiil, a spot
held in great repute
Jumla; and almost opposite stands the among the pious Musalmans
communication with Calcutta
the
in this part of the country.
Narainganj
possesses regular steam
direct, with the railway station of
Goalanda, with
Assam
valley,
and with the
is
tea Districts
of Sylhet and Cachar.
A
considerable trade
on in country boats with Chittagong, and it has been proposed to establish a steamer-service to that port by means of the Meghna. The chief business of Narainganj is the collection of country
also carried
produce, especially jute, from the neighbouring Districts bution of piece-goods,
salt,
;
and the
distri-
and other European wares.
Many
English
the
are
and a few other European firms are engaged in this business, but There bulk of the trade is in the hands of native merchants.
jute in bales.
several steam-presses belonging to Europeans, for the preparation of
The
total
value
returns
of of
the
trade
of Narainganj,
according to
the
registration
1876-77, amounted to considerably more but this figure includes many exports than two millions sterling and imports twice over. The exports alone were valued at ;£^957>oo°' the chief items being jute, ^478,000; rice, ^141,000; piece-goods,
;
—
KARAJOL—NARAL.
^76,000; s:.It, ^67,000; tobacco, ^^34,000; raw The imports were valued at ^,'1,538,000, including
{i.e.
203
cotton,
^31,000.
—
jute,
^478,000
raw cotton,
^-£"70,000;
jjort
transit trade)
rice,
;
piece-goods, ^^324, 000
;
salt, ^,{^184, 000;
;
^122,000;
^121,000;
sugar,
;^95,ooo
oil-seeds,
tobacco, ;£"66,coo.
'J"he figures
do not include the subsidiary
of
Madanganj, which had a business valued at j[^\ 70,000. The imjjorts of jute are derived in almost equal quantities from the adjoining Districts
of
jute are all sent to Calcutta, either direct
Maimansingh and Tipperah, and from Dacca itself The exports of by steamer and country boat,
from Goalanda.
In 1876-77, out of a
total
or by railway
export of
i,6oo,oco maiDids of jute, 670,000 were despatched through Goalanda,
the total export of jute
In 1877-78, 2,137,000 mainids, or almost No later exactly the same quantity as that exported from Sirajganj.
570,000 by country boat, and 360,000 direct by steamer.
had
risen
to
statistics
are available, but trade, especially in jute, has largely increased
of late years.
The
trade with Chittagong chiefly consists of the export
of tobacco, food-grain,
and
oil-seeds,
and the import of raw
just
cotton,
which has been grown in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
the terminus
Narainganj forms
of the
new Dacca - Maimansingh Railway
in
opened
(December 1885).
situated on the and long. 87° 39' 4" e. Population beSeat of a large manufacture of cotton cloth and mats. tween 2000 and 3000, but not separately returned in the Census of 1881. Narakal. Town and port in the State of Cochin, Madras Presidency situated in lat. 10° 2' 30" n., and long. 76° 12' e., 3 miles west of Cochin city. The place owes its importPopulation (1881) 4254.
Narajol.
— Village
Midnapur
lat.
District,
Bengal
;
Palaspai, a small stream, in
22° 34' 8" n.,
—
;
ance to a so-called
mud
and
This
is
is
4 miles long.
Within
bank, which stretches about 2^ miles seaward, this, vessels can run in the worst of the
south-west
mud
monsoon, when all other ports on the coast are closed. apparently breaks the force of the sea, for the water within
is
calm when the weather
at its
roughest outside.
During the famine
of 1877, the port
grain,
was much used in the monsoon season for landing which was then conveyed by backwater to the railway at Tiriir,
to the distressed Districts.
is
and so
Coasting steamers
call
here regularly.
Narakal
mentioned as the seat of a considerable Christian population
of Jessor District, Bengal, lying between 22° lat., and between 89° 25' and 89° 51' 30" e. long.
;
by Fra Paolo Bartolomeo.
Naral.
55' 45"
— Sub-division
21' N.
and 23°
487
Area,
tion
square miles
villages,
802
;
houses,
36,440.
Popula-
(1881) 328,172, namely, 173,806 Hindus, 154,341 Muhammadans, and 25 Christians. Number of persons per square mile, 673-8; villages per square mile, 1*64; houses per square mile, 77; inmates per house, 9 ; proportion of males, 497 per cent. This Sub-division,
—
204
;
NARAL TOWN—NARAYANAVANAM.
circles {thdnds) of Naral,
civil
which comprises the three police
Lohagara,
magisterial
and
Kalia, contained, in
1883, 3
and revenue and
2
courts, with a force of 61 regular police, besides
Naral.
— Town
in Jessor District, Bengal,
lat.
Sub-division; situated in
miles east
23° 10' n.,
578 village watchmen. and head-quarters of Naral and long. 89° 32' 30" e., 22
which
is
of Jessor town, on the Chitra
river,
here very deep,
and
affords a regular route for large boats throughout the year.
Conland-
tains the usual Sub-divisional offices.
Two
bi-weekly markets are held,
family are the
first
but the trade
holders
liberality.
is
entirely local.
District,
The Naral
of Jessor
them.
A
and have always been noted for their Several works of public utility have been constructed by good school and charitable dispensary are also maintained at
their expense.
Naraoli. Agricultural town in North-Western Provinces; situated
E., 5
—
Bilari tahs'il,
Moradabad
and
District,
in
lat.
28° 29' n.,
long. 78° 45'
miles east of the river Sot.
Population (1881) 5069, namely,
Hindus, 3053, and Muhammadans, 2016 ; number of houses, 709. Naraoli is an old Rajput village in the possession of the Bargiyar Market held on family, the descendants of Raja Pratap Singh.
Mondays and Thursdays. Elementary school. Narasaraopet. Tdluk or Sub-division of Kistna
—
District,
Madras
Population (1881) 128,791, namely, 65,168 males and 63,623 females, dwelling in 114 villages, Hindus numbered 110,368; Muhamconsisting of 21,909 houses.
Presidency.
Area,
712
square
miles.
of the tdhik
madans, 9999; Christians, 8421; and others,' 3. is at Atluru, now called Narasaraopet
'
The
;
head-quarters
population (1881)
2
3928
;
number of houses,
police
circles
981.
In 1883 the tdluk contained
criminal
courts;
{thdfids),
7;
in
regular police,
56 men.
Total
revenue, ^33,887.
Narasinganalllir. dency; situated in lat.
Tinnevelli town.
—Village
8° 42' n.,
Tinnevelli
District,
Madras
Presi-
and
in
long. 77° 42' e.,
in Hospet tdluk, Bellary District, Population (1881) 3669, of whom 1741 are Madras Presidency. males and 1928 females; number of houses, 945. Hindus numbered 3084, and Muhammadans 585. Narayanavanam.— Town in North Arcot District, Madras Presi-
— Town Presidency. See Jamalaead. Narayanadevarakera. — Town
Narasinha - angadi.
Population (1881) 1724; number
3J miles west of of houses, 441.
District,
South Kanara
Madras
dency.
Lat. 13° 27' N., long.
79° 38'
E.
Population (1881) 3913^ of
whom
3776 were Hindus; number of houses, 692. Situated 3 miles east of Puttiir station on the north-west line of the Madras Railway. Narayanavanam is one of the most ancient places in North Arcot is believed to stand in what was once a forest much frequented it
—
NARA YANGANJ—NARBADA.
by Vishnu.
forts.
205
Three miles south of the town are the remains of two old
Nardyanganj.
See
— Sub-division and town
in
Dacca
District, Bengal.
Narainganj.
Division or Commissionership of the Central ProNarbad^. vinces; lying between 21° 41' and 23° 15' n. lat., and between 75° 50'
—
and 79°
35' E. long.
;
and comprising the
five Districts
of
Hoshangof which
ABAD, Narsinghpur, Betul,
see separately.
Chhindwara, and Nimar,
;
all
Bounded on the north by the States of the Central on the east by India Agency, and Sagar and Damoh Districts
;
Jabalpur (Jubbulpore) and Seoni Districts
;
on the south by Nagpur, Amraoti, EUichpur, and Akola Districts and on the west by Khandesh District, and States of the Central India Agency. The Narbada Division contains an area of 17,513 square miles;
population
Total towns and 6144 villages; number of houses, 363,444. (1S81) 1,763,105, namely, males 900,730, and females Average density of 862,375; proportion of males, 51*09 per cent.
II
village,
1007 persons per square mile; number of persons per inmates per houses per square mile, 2075 286 Classified according to sex and age, the Census returns house, 4-85. —under 15 years of age, boys 366,056, and girls 345^85; total
population,
town or
;
;
children, 711,841, or 40-1 per cent, of the
and upwards,
Re/igion.
or
males 534,674,
whole population: 15 years and females 516,590; total adults,
1,051,264, or 59-6 per cent.
—
Classified according to religion,
Hindus number 1,286,623,
per cent.; Kabir-
72-9 per cent.;
Muhammadans,
76,536, or 4-3
panthis,
141
;
9544; Satnamis, 85; Jains, 7536; Christians, 1786; Parsis, Sikhs, 13; and non-Hindu aboriginal tribes, 380,788, Jews, 51
;
or 2 1-6 per cent, of the population.
The
total aboriginal population,
however,
different
by race
tribes,
is
returned
at
476,007,
;
as
follows:
— Gonds
;
of
16,075
;
338,312; Korkus, 81,716 Bhils, 36,382; Kanwars, Mughias, 402 and Kharrias, 635 Kols, 1374; Savars, 1015
; ;
'others,' 34.
Of
high-caste Hindus,
;
Brahmans number 79,956
;
Rajputs, 102,70c;
7467; Kayasths, 6951; and Baniyas, 22,880. The Siidra, or low-caste Hindus, include the following: Kiirmi, the most numerous caste in the Division, 118,757; Ahi'r, 75,983; Mehra, 67,213; Lodhi, 49,373; Chamar, 45^922; Balahi, 43,^85; Giijar, Bhoer, 29,828 Dhimar, 28,485 41,699; Tell, 41,324; Kirar, 33,442
Bhats, 4825
Gosains,
—
;
;
;
Kachhi, 26,394; Nai, 25,239; Mali, 22,885; Barhai, 21,548; Sonar, 18,29c; Lobar, 18,155; Kallar, 17,804; Katiya, 17,015; Dhobi, 14,412; Kumbhar, 13,937; Banjara, 12,187; Gadaria, 9937; Basor, 9120; Kori, 8493; Maratha, 7347; Darzi, 7191 Koshti, 5966; and
;
T^Iahar,
5465.
The Muhammadan
sects
include
— Sunnis,
72,258;
2o6
Shias,
NARBADA.
2537; Wahabis, 80;
Christian
community
is
The Faraizis, 3; and unspecified, 1658. Roman Catholics, 960 returned as follows
:
—
;
Church of England,
21
350
;
Episcopalians,
;
Protestants not distinguished by sect, 42
;
Presbyterians, 86 134 Wesleyans, 30 Methodists,
;
;
;
cation, the Christians
;
— Europeans, 564; Eurasians, 178; Natives of India, 748 and unspecified, 205. Indo-Portuguese, 91 Town a7id Rural Population. — Narbada Division contains 11 towns with a population exceeding 5000 inhabitants — namely, Burhanpur,
comprise
;
and 'others' and unspecified, 163.
According
to another classifi-
30,017; Hoshangabad, 15,863; Khandwa, 15,142; Harda, 11,203; Narsinghpur, 10,222; Chhindwara, 8220; Gadarwara, 8100; Pandhurna, 7469; Sohagpur, 7027; Seoni, 6998; and Mohgaon, 5180. Total urban population, 125,441, or 7*2 per cent, of that of the whole
Of the 6203 rural villages, 3558 contain less than two Division. hundred inhabitants; 1896 between two and five hundred; 547 190 between one and three between five hundred and a thousand thousand and 1 2 between three and five thousand inhabitants. As regards occupation, the Census divides the male population into the (i) Professional, military, and official class, following six main classes: domestic class, inn and lodging-house keepers, etc., 9001 22,244; (2) carriers, (3) commercial class, including bankers, merchants, traders, etc., 15,778; (4) agricultural and pastoral class, including gardeners, 380,228 (5) manufacturing and industrial class, including artisans, 120,601 (6) indefinite and non-productive class, comprising general labourers and male children, 352,878.
; ;
—
;
;
;
Agriculture,
miles),
etc.
— Of the
total area of the
Division (17,513 square
5386 square miles were returned as under cultivation in 188384; 4251 square miles as cultivable, but not under cultivation; and 7876 square miles as uncultivable waste. The principal crops consist
1,186,462 acres; rice, 69,517 acres; other food-grains, 1,776,202 acres; oil-seeds, 258,504 acres ; cotton, 144,37° acres; and Of the total adult male and female agrisugar-cane, 17,561 acres.
of wheat,
cultural
population in
1881, landed
proprietors
numbered 22,196;
will,
tenants with rights of occupancy, 63,839; tenants-atassistants in
142,859;
;
home
cultivation, 200,921
;
agricultural labourers, 207,660
while shepherds, estate agents, farm
bailiffs, etc.,
bring the total up to
Average 639,229, or 36*26 per cent, of the Divisional population. area of cultivated and cultivable land per adult agriculturist, 10 acres. Total amount of Government land revenue assessment, including
local rates
and cesses levied on
is.
land,
^154,316, or an average of
lojd. per cultivated acre.
or an average of
1 1
Total rental paid by cultivators, ;£^349,i52,
iifd. per head.
roads,
Communication
is
afforded by
28 miles of
made
287 miles of railways, and 494 miles of
navigable rivers.
;
NARBADA
Administration.
RIVER,
Narhada
all
207
Division,
—Total
revenue
(1883-84) of
;£"277,oi8; total cost of officials and police of
Justice
is
kinds,
^61,964.
and 58 criminal courts. Total 2145 men. Average daily number of prisoners in jail (1883), 342-43. Total number of Governmentinspected schools (1883-84), 349, with 17,925 pupils. The Census of 1881 returned 16,236 boys and 482 girls as under instruction; besides 37,930 males and 714 females able to read and write, but not under
civil
administered by 44
strength of regular
and town
police,
instruction.
[For further
details,
see
the
accounts of the different
Districts in their alphabetical order.]
Narbada {Nerbudda^ Narniadd the Namadus of Ptolemy, Naninadius of the Ferip/us).—OnQ of the great rivers of India, traditionally regarded as the boundary between Hindustan Proper and the Deccan. It rises (lat. 22° 41' n., long. 81° 49' e.) in the dominions of the Raja
of Rewa, and, after a westward course of 800 miles, falls into the sea (lat. 21° 38' N., long. 72° 30' E.) below Broach in the Bombay District of that name.
Its source is at Amarkantak, a massive flat-topped hill, above sea-level, forming the eastern terminus of that long range which runs across the middle of India from west to east. All round lies a wild and desolate country but a little colony of priests
—
3493
feet
;
have reared their temples in the middle of these mighty solitudes, to guard the sources of the sacred river. The Narbada bubbles up gently
in a small
tank
in
mountain.
Then
one of the undulating glades on the summit of the for about three miles it meanders through green
meadows, receiving the waters of countless springs, till it reaches the edge of the Amarkantak plateau, where it falls over the black basaltic
cliff in
farther
a glistening cascade of 70 feet, called Kapila-Dhara. A little on is a smaller fall, known as Diidhdhara, or the Stream of IMilk the myth being that here the river once ran with milk instead of water. After descending some hundreds of feet by falls and rapids from the heights of Amarkantak, the Narbada enters the Central Provinces, and winds round the hills of Mandla, till it flows under the walls of the
ruined palace of Ramnagar.
At this point the Narbada has run a course of nearly a hundred miles, and received the drainage of an extensive hill country. Its swollen waters flow in several channels, between
which
rise
wooded
islands
;
while in mid-stream, peaks and ledf^es of
directions.
black trap protrude in
all
The banks
are clothed with
thick foliage to the water's edge,
and on every
side hills shut in the
horizon.
river
flows
But below Ramnagar for several miles down to Mandla, the in an unbroken expanse of blue water between banks
lofty
trees.
adorned with
Of
all
the pools or reaches
{do/is)
in the
rivers of the Central Provinces, this is the loveliest.
Below Mandla,
at
Gwarighat, where the Trunk
Road
crosses from
Jabalpur (Jubbulpore) to Nagpur, the Narbada river wears the look of
2oS
NARBADA
be floated
RIVER.
many hundred
logs of timber
industry; for at this point are collected
cut in the forests, to
down
the stream to the marts of
About 9 miles to the south-west of Jabalpur, the Narbada tumultously over a ledge with a fall of thirty feet, called Dhuan-dhara, or the Misty Shoot; and then enters on a narrow channel, cut through a mass of marble and basalt for nearly 2 miles, and known The river, which above this point had a Marble Rocks.' as the breadth of 100 yards, is here compressed within 20 yards, and flows in
Jabalpur.
flings itself
'
a swirling stream between marble bluffs from 50 to So feet high, till, escaping from its glittering prison, it spreads out once more in a broad
expanse.
The Narbada now
the
fertile valley,
leaves the
hill
country behind, and enters upon
over 200 miles long, which includes Narsinghpur and This is the first of those the greater part of Hoshangabad District. wide alluvial basins, which, alternating with rocky gorges, give so
varied a character to the rivers course.
lakes,
Probably they w^re originally
and fed by a slowly flowing river, down which clayey sediment was carried, and gradually and uniformly
more
or less closely connected,
distributed over a considerable extent of country.
On
the conglomerate
and clay thus deposited,
lie
20 feet of the rich alluvium,
known
as the
rail-
regar or black cotton-soil of Central India.
Passing under a great
way
viaduct, with massive piers, the
Narbada
flows along this valley,
which is shut in between the parallel ranges of the Vindhya and SatDuring the rainy season, the river affords the means pura mountains.
of a brief
and precarious
traffic.
At Barman Ghat,
after the rains, the
receding waters leave a broad space of sand, where, every November, The Narbada is held one of the largest fairs in the Central Provinces.
now flows past the coal-pits of Mohpani and the iron-mines of Tendiikhera, past cotton fields and plains clothed twice a year with waving harvests, past Hoshangabad, and the once famous towns of Handia and
Nimawar, past Jogigarh, where
the battlements and bastions,
it till it
rushes with clear rapids right beneath once more enters the jungle in the
Emerging from these wilds, it flows in a deep and District of Nimar. violent stream past the sacred island of Mandhata, crowded with
Sivaite temples,
and steep w^ith cliffs, from which devotees were wont to dash themselves on to the rocks in the river below\ During the passage of the Narbada through the Central Provinces, At Umaria, in Narsinghpur District, several falls interrupt its course. 10 feet; at Mandhar, 25 miles below Handia, a fall is a fall of about
of 40 feet
;
and at Dadri, near Punasa, another fall of 40 feet. The Narbada is fed principally from the south side, as the drainage of the Vindhyan table-land which bounds the valley on the north is almost
entirely northwards.
Its principal affluents are the
Makrar, Chakrar,
Kharmer, Burhner, and Banjar, then the Timar, the Soner, Sher, and
NARBADA
north bank, the Narbada receives,
Balai,
RIVER.
On
239
the
Shakar, the Dudhi, Korami, Machna, Tawa, Ganjal, and Ajnal.
among
others, the
mountain streams
Gaur, and Hiran. At Makrai, the Narbada finally leaves the table-land of Mahva to enter upon the broad plain of Gujarat. For the first 30 miles it separates the Gaekwar's territory of Baroda, on the right, from the State of Rajpipla, on the left and then, for the remaining 70 miles
;
of
its
course, including
Its
many
windings,
it
intersects the fertile District
average breadth here varies from about half a mile to a mile. Below Broach city it gradually widens into an estuary, whose shores are 13 miles apart where they fall away into the Gulf
of Broach.
ofCambay.
The influence of the tide is felt as far up as Rayanpur, about 25 miles above Broach. At the mouth of the estuary, spring tides sometimes rise to the height of 30 feet. In Broach District, the Narbada has cut for itself a deep and permanent bed through the hard alluvial soil. The right or north bank is generally high
and precipitous, but
set
eaten away by the present low and shelving. The fairweather level of the river is about 21 feet below the surface of the plain, and even the highest floods do but little damage to the surroundis
gradually being
left
of the current.
The
bank
is
ing country.
tributaries
In this part of
its
Kaveri (Cauvery) and Amravati on the left, and the Bukhi on the right. Opposite the mouth of the Bukhi lies a large uninhabited island, called the Alia Bet. This has undergone many
— the
course the Narbada receives three
changes of late years, and now has an area of about 22,000 acres, overgrown with dense jungle. The total length of the Narbada, from its source to the sea, is 801 miles and the total area of its drainage basin
;
is
estimated at 36,400 square miles. Its maximum flood discharge has been calculated at 2,500,000 cubic feet of water per second. The
velocity of the current in the dry season at
Broach
city
is
less
than one
mile an hour.
Throughout
for irrigation.
its
entire course the
it
the country through which
flows.
Narbada drains rather than waters It is therefore nowhere utilized
Navigation
in
within Gujarat.
ofticer
is confined to the lowest section, which lies In the height of the rainy season of 1847, a British
succeeded
making
his
way down stream from
^^landlesar, in
the territory of Indor; but the perils through which he passed are so great as to close the route to commerce. The highest point to which
navigation ordinarily extends
is
In the rainy season
— from July to
about 15 miles above the Makrai Falls. September boats of considerable
—
tonnage are able to sail up as far as Talakwara, about 65 miles above Broach city, assisted by the regular south-west monsoon. Sea-going ships of about 70 tons frequent the port of Broach but they arc
;
entirely
dependent upon the
tide,
as
they cannot
VOL. X.
come up O
in the
210
NARBADA
RIVER.
monsoon, and during the dry season there is no depth of fresh water. Though the foreign trade of Broach has greatly fallen off from what does not seem to be due to unit was in early days, this decline
The author of the favourable changes in the channel of the river. Periplus (ist century a.d.) dwells upon the difficulty of getting up to Barugaza (Broach), even by the help of skilful pilots, and moving
only with the
cross the bar.
tide.
Fryer (1680)
tells
a very similar story
;
and Heber
(1825) says that
no
vessels larger than moderately-sized lighters could
According to local legend, it was believed that the goddess of the Narbada would never suffer her stream to be crossed by a bridge. The Bombay and Baroda Railway Company, however, succeeded in proving the falsehood of this legend. Their first bridge, near the city of Broach, begun in i860, was seriously damaged by a flood in 1864, and though the repairs then required suffered from another flood in
1868, by 187 1 the bridge again stood complete, after a total expendiThe unprecedented flood of 1876, which rose ture of ;^47o,ooo. spans, to a height of 35 feet above high-water mark, washed away 26
The traffic was 1600 feet out of a total length of 4250 feet. and a new bridge was commenced carried on a temporary structure about 100 yards farther up-stream, and completed at an estimated cost Altogether, the bridging of the Narbada cannot have of ^375,000.
or
;
There are besides cost this company much less than a miUion sterling. three other bridges over the Narbada, one at Mortakka on the Malwa branch of the Rajputana-Malwa State Railway, the second at Hoshangabad on the Bhopal State Railway, and the third where the river is crossed by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway about 24 miles from Jabalpur. In religious sanctity, the Narbada ranks only second to the Ganges among the rivers of India. According to the Reivd Purdna (Rewa being another name for the river), the sanctity of the Ganges will cease
in the
Samvat year 1951 (1895 a.d.), while the purifying virtue of the Narbada will continue the same throughout all the ages of the world. So holy is the water, that the very pebbles in its bed are worn into the Few Hindus would dare to forswear shape of the emblem of Siva. standing in the Narbada with a garland of red flowers themselves, round the neck and some water in the right hand. The most meritois
rious act that a pilgrim can perform,
to walk
from the sea up to the
This source at Amarkantak, and then back along the opposite bank. parikram or pradakshana, is chiefly undertaken by pilgrimage, called devotees from Gujarat and the Deccan, and takes from one year to two
In Broach District, the most sacred spots years in accomphshment. are— Sukaltirth, with its ancient banian tree the site near Broach city
;
where Raja Bali performed the ten-horse Karod and Bhadbhut.
sacrifice
;
and the temples
at
—
NAREGAL—NARIAD.
Naregal.
55 miles
2
1
1 ;
—Town
of
in Dhcirwar District, in
Bombay
Presidency
n.,
;
situated
and long. 75° 54' E. Population (188 1) 6071, namely, 5422 Hindus and 649 Muhammadans. Naregal is an old town with temples and inscriptions dating from the eleventh to the thirteenth century a.d. Weekly markets on Monday. School with 191 pupils in 1883-84. Narglind. Town in Dharwar District, Bombay Presidency situated 60 miles east of Belgaum, and 32 miles north-east of Dharwar town, in lat. 15° 43' 22" N., and long. 75° 25' 30" e. Population (1881) 7874, namely, 6774 Hindus, 1049 Muhammadans, and 51 Jains. Nargilnd is a municipal town, with an income (1882) of ;£"i78. Though not a manufacturing town, it is a busy entrepot of trade, where the merchants of Dharwar and North Kanara exchange rice, sugar, spices, and other agricultural products. Nargiind was one of the earliest possessions
east
lat.
Dharwar town,
15° 36'
—
;
wrested from the feeble grasp of the
Muhammadan
kings of Bijapur
was subsequently handed over to Ramrao Bhave, with some surrounding villages. On the conquest of the Peshwa's territory by the British, it was restored by them to Dadaji Rao, the chief then found in possession. An agreement was concluded with him, by which he was exempted from the payment of his former tribute of ^347, from nazardna or presents on occasions, and from rendering service, on the conditions of loyalty to and dependence on
It
by the Maratha rulers of Satara.
the British Government.
This petty principality, containing 36 towns
and villages, with a population of about 25,000, was at the time of the Mutiny in 1857 held by Bhaskar Rao, alias Baba Sahib. Affected by the disturbances in the north, the chief rose in open rebellion, and murdered Mr. Manson, the Commissioner and Political Agent, Southern Maratha country. An English force was despatched at once to Nargiind; and, after a short but decisive engagement, the fort and town of Nargiind fell into the hands of the English. The fortifications have since been dismantled, and the fort has been rendered untenable by Four schools, with 300 pupils destroying some of the chief reservoirs.
in
1883-84.
Post-office.
Narhi. Agricultural town in Korantidih tahsil^ Ghazi'pur District, North-Western Provinces; situated in lat. 25° 42' 15" n., and long. 84° 4' 15" E., 2 miles north of the Ganges, and 36 miles east of Ghazipur town. Population (1881) 5415, namely, Hindus 5172, and Muham-
—
madans
residence of the
Number of houses, 799. The village is Bemwar Bhiimhar clan. Nari. Town in Chanda District, Central Provinces. Sub-division of Kaira District, Bombay Nariad.
243.
the principal
Sec Neri.
—
—
;
Presidency
situated in
Bounded on the north by on the south by Kapadvanj on the east by Thasra and Anand Baroda territory and on the west by Matar and Mehmadabad. Area,
the
centre of the District.
;
;
212
NARIAD TOIVN—NARKHER.
Population (1872) 151,483; (1881) 162,256, square miles. namely, 85,899 males and 76,357 females, dwelling in 2 towns and 91 Hindus numbered 142,265; villages, containing 39,256 houses. Of the total area of Muhammadans, 18,712; and 'others,' 1279.
224
224 square miles, seven are occupied by lands of alienated villages. contains 121,359 acres, or 37*8 per cent., of occupied land; 2675 acres of cultivable waste; 7034 acres of uncultivable In waste; and 7183 acres of roads, rivers, ponds, and village sites. acres, the area of occupied land and cultivable waste, there are 124,034
The remainder
The Sub66,791 acres of alienated lands in Government villages. was surveyed and settled in 1865-66. There were then 20,628 holdings, with an average area of 6 acres, and an average rental of
division
;^i, 15s. ifd.
acres, mostly
The
total area of cultivated
mider grains {bdjra,
contains
i
rice, millets,
land in 1876 was 49,056 and wheat); 199 acres
were under cotton.
Sub-division
{thdnds), 2
;
In 1883, the land revenue was ^35,144.
civil
The
circles
and 4 criminal courts
;
police
regular police, 100
men
;
village
watch {chaukiddrs), 693.
town of the Nariad Sub-division of Kaira District, Bombay Presidency, and a station on the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway; situated 29 miles south-east of Ahmadabad.
Naridd.
— Chief
Lat.
Population (1881) 28,304, Hindus numbered 23,978; namely, 14,773 n^ales and 13,531 females. Muhammadans, 4028; Jains, 218; Parsis, 52; and Christians, 28. Nariad is a municipality; income (1883-84), ^1932; incidence of
taxation,
is.
22° 40' 45" N., long. 72° 55' 20" E.
2|d. per head of population.
Small cause court, sub-
judge's court, post-office,
and dispensary.
glii
The
head-quarters of the
chief revenue
and
police officers of the Sub-division.
The town
is
the centre of the extensive tobacco and
trade of Kaira District, and
contains a cotton mill.
farm.
There
is
also a
Government model experimental
Including the High School, there were in 1883-84 eight schools
1
with 192
Chitra
scholars.
Narikelbaria.
river, 6
—Village
in
in Jessor District,
Bengal
;
situated
on the
miles from Baghapara.
One
of the seats of the Jessor
Lat. 23°
sugar trade.
Narisha.
— Town
—Town
city,
Dacca
District,
Bengal.
t^-^
45"
n,,
long. 90' 10' 45" E.
Population (1S81) 6377, namely, males 2898, and
females 3479.
in Nagpur District, Central Provinces; 52 miles on the Betiil road. Population (1881) 7061, Hindus numbered 6498; Muhammadans, 457; chiefly agricultural. and aboriginal tribes, 24. Narkher has a good marketJains, 82 place, school, and police buildings, and the river is embanked with
Narkher.
from Nagpur
;
masonry.
unhealthy.
The
place
is
surrounded by beautiful groves, but
is
reckoned
—
NARMADA—NARO JFAL.
Narmada.
Narnala.
N.,
2
1
3
— One of the great Akola — Hill
fortress in
p:.
rivers of India.
See
Nardada.
Lat. 21° 14' 30"
District, Berdr.
long.
77° 4' 20"
Situated
10 miles to the north of Akot.
Narnala is the highest point in the District, standing 3161 feet above sea -level, and forms a sort of advanced outwork, about 2 A central miles south of the main wall of the Gawilgarh range.
fort
occupies
all
the
upper plateau of the
hill,
while
two smaller
forts
and Jafarabdd) enclose two considerable spurs running out at opposite angles on a lower level, and in the direction of the The ramlength of the hill, which is from north-east to south-west.
(Teliagarh
parts,
which extend over a distance of several miles, consist generally
of a wall from 25 to 40 feet high, with 67 flanking towers.
six
large
and twenty -one small
four very curious
gates.
There are Four only of the nineteen
tanks within the walls held water throughout the year.
The
fort also
contains
stone cisterns, covered
in
by a masonry
remains
platform pierced by small apertures.
of arches.
On
is
this platform are the
The water
in the cisterns
remarkably sweet and cool.
They
are supposed
country before the
on which the Aurangzeb, an armoury, a twelve-doored pavilion, a music hall, and other buildings, all more or less in ruins, occupy the interior of the
central fort.
to have been built by the Jains who ruled the Musalman conquest, for many Jains drink no water The old palace, a mosque called after sun has fallen.
Perhaps the most beautiful architectural feature
is
is
the
Shahniir gate on the south, which
balconies on either side
;
of white sandstone, with projecting
the open stone lattice-work, the rich cornice, and tracery and panelling, with stone-cut verses from the Koran, are The walls are now admirable specimens of Pathan workmanship. falling into ruin and the fort is uninhabited. Narora. Town in Bulandshahr District, North-Western Provinces.
Lat. 28° 12' N., long. 78° 25' 45" E.
and municipality in Pathankot fa/isi/, Gurdaspur Punjab; situated in the trans-Ravi tract, in lat. 32° 17' 30" n., and long. 75° 30' e., half-way between the Ravi and the hills. Population (1881) 3706, namely, 2034 Hindus, 1668 Muhammadans, and Principal mart in the fertile submontane belt known as 4 Sikhs. Chak Andar, and the local collecting centre for the products of the hills below which it lies. Exports of rice and turmeric to Amritsar (Umritsur) and Lahore. Municipal revenue in 1883-84, ;£248, or IS. 4|d. per head of population within municipal limits. Narowal. Town and municipality in Riah fa^si/, Sidlkot District, Punjal). Lat. 32° 6' n., long. 74° 55' e. Distant from Sialkot town 35 miles south-east. Formerly head-quarters of a fa/isi/, now removed
District,
— Narot. — Town
—
to
Riah. Population (1881) 4558, namely, Muhammadans, 2935 Number of Hindus, 1429; Sikhs, 151; Jains, 24; and 'others,' 19.
;
4
—
NARRAKAL—NARSAFUR,
Post-office,
2
1
houses, 657.
court,
late
Government
houses
are
school,
and
rest-house.
Narovvdl town has
pohce station, iminsifs been much improved of
brick,
years;
many
of the
built of
to.
the
principal
streets paved,
and the drainage attended
The Church
of England
Mission have established a small settlement of Native Christians here,
and keep up a middle-class school, which receives a municipal grant of ;^5o a year. The principal trade consists in the export of agricultural produce, but the town is chiefly famous for its leather work native saddles and shoes of superior quality being made here, and sent to Good Amritsar and other large commercial centres in the Punjab. copper and brass vessels are also made, and there are a few Kashmiri settlers in the town, who make pashmina shawl edging, which is sent to
;
Amritsar for
sale.
Municipal income in 1883-84, ^305, or
in Cochin,
is.
4d.
per head of the town population.
Madras Presidency. See Narakal. Kohat District, Punjab; one of the series Lat. 33° 11' 15" n., extending along either bank of the Teri Toi river. lies on the southern side of the range of saltlong. 71° 12' 30" E.
Narrakal.
Narri.
—Town — Salt-mine
;
in
bearing
hills
north of the river, 31
miles west-south-west of Malgin
mine, and 34J miles south-south-west from Kohat town. The quarries of pure rock-salt extend over an area 2 miles long by half a mile broad.
The
by
excavated by blasting, and the mine is resorted to is Preventive Khataks, Bangashes, Mohmands, and Swati's. Formerly a Government military outpost, establishment of 13 men. held by a detachment from the Kohat garrison, but now abandoned.
mineral
Afridis,
salt
Average annual Government
revenue for the
District,
six
years ending
1881-82,^1022. Narsannapet.
— Town
in
Ganjam
Madras Presidency.
Population (1881) 8230, namely, Hindus 8223, and Muhammadans 7. Narsapur. Tdluk in Godavari District, Madras Presidency. Area, 437 square miles. Population (1881) 200,153, namely, 96,592 males
—
and 103,561 females, dwelling in 2 towns and 137 villages, and occupying 33,785 houses. Hindus number 196,040 Muhammadans, 3619; and Christians, 494. In 1883 the tdluk contained i civil and 3 criminal
;
courts
;
police
circles {thdnds)^
6
;
regular
police,
68
men.
Land
revenue, ^58,659. The tdhik lies in the south of the District, and has a seaboard on the
south.
The
There are 3 main canals used for irrigation and navigation. ProVasisht, an affluent of the Godavari, runs through the tdluk.
ducts
—
rice,
gram, yams, betel,
{Nuj-sapore).
in
lat.
cocoa and areca
in
nuts,
tobacco, and
sugar-cane.
Principal industry, toy-making.
Narsapur
mouth of
—Town
Godavari
District,
Madras
e.,
Presiat the
dency; situated
16° 26' 20" n.,
and
long. 81° 44' 30"
the Vasishta Godavari.
Population (iSSi) 7184, namely.
5
NARSINGHA—NARSINGIIGARIl.
Hindus, 6256;
flourishing port, but
2
1
Muhammadans, 829; and now nearly cut off from
Narsapur
is
Christians,
99.
Once a
the sea by the extension
of the (lodavari delta.
the head-cjuarters of the Narsapur
taluk, and contains the courts of a Sub-Magistrate and District munsif,
and several Government offices. There is a mission establishment and Toy-making and cloth-dyeing. The Dutch estab a fine market-place. The English lished themselves here in 1665, and had an iron foundry. occupied the north suburb, MddhavapaUiyam (whence the trade name MadapoUam)^ in 1677, and maintained their factory there for 150 years. There is still a good boat-building business. Trade (in country bottoms)
with
ing.
Burma, formerly of about ;£ 10,000 a
year,
but
now
languish-
The average annual
18S3-84 was
^711;
value of the imports for the five years ending In 1883-84, the and of the exports, £2^^^.
imports were valued at
^46, all from ports in India ; the exports at was from foreign ports. ^65 Narsingha. Dome-shaped rock in Seoni District, Central Provinces, The temple on the top, rising 100 feet out of the Wainganga valley. sacred to Narsingha, an incarnation of Vishnu, contains an image of the
^^626, of which
—
god.
Narsinghgarh. — Native
India.
A
village of the
same name
lies
State under the
below the hill. Bhopal Agency, Central
Population (1881) 112,427, namely, Area, 623 square miles. 60,420 males and 52,007 females, occupying 17,502 houses, scattered
Hindus number 100,952; Muhammadans, 4958; Jains, 318; Sikh, i; and aboriginal tribes, 6198, of whom 3104 were Minas, 2828 Bhils, 252 Desvvalis, and 14 Moghias.
over
I
town and 416
villages.
Parasa Ram, the founder of the Narsinghgarh Revenue, ^50,000. State, succeeded his father Ajab Singh in 1660 a.d. as minister to In 1681 he compelled the Rawat to divide the Rawat of Rajgarh. his territory with him, and Narsinghgarh thus became a separate chiefship. The State pays ^£"8500 as tribute to Holkar, under the mediation of the British Government. The chief receives a tankha (or pecuniary allowance in lieu of rights over land) of Half Rs. 1200
(say ^^{^120) from Sindhia,
the State of Dewas.
and another of Rs. 5100 (say;^5io) from These sums are received and paid through The chief is an Umat Rajput, and holds the British Political Agent. the title of Raja, which was conferred on him and his heirs by the
British
Government
is
military force
in 1872 he is entitled to a salute of 11 guns. A maintained of 10 guns, 24 artillerymen, 98 cavalry, and
;
625 infantry.
Narsinghgarh.
Central India.
— Chief town of Narsinghgarh
23° 42' 30" N., long. 77°
State,
5'
Bhopal Agency,
e.
Lat.
5°"
Population
(1881) 11,400; namely, 6207 males and 5193 females. ber 10,398, Muhammadans, 886; and 'others,' 116.
is
Hindus numNarsinghgarh
the town on a
built
on a
rising
ground
at the
edge of a
lake.
Above
;
2
1
6
NARSINGHGARH TO WN—NARSJNGHPUR.
hill
boldly scarped
Singh.
stands the
fort,
is
which was
built
in
1780 by Achal
The
palace of the chief
in the fort.
Post-office, dispensary,
and
hospital.
Narsinghgarh.
vinces
;
— Ancient
lat.
town
in
Damoh
District, Central
e.,
Pro-
situated in
23° 59' n., and long. 79^ 26'
12 miles north-
west of
to
it
Damoh town by
the river Sunar, and on the route from Sagar
built the fort
Rewa.
The Muhammadans, who
fort,
and mosque,
called
latter
Nasratgarh, and the Marathas gave the present name.
The
erected a second
1857.
which the British troops
partially destroyed in
Police station.
in the Chief Commissionership of the between 22° 45' and 23° 15' n. lat., and between 78° 38' and 79° 38' e. long. Bounded on the north by the State of Bhopal, with Sagar (Saugor), Damoh, and Jabalpur (Jubbulpore) Districts on the east by Seonf on the south by Chhindwara
Narsinghpur.
—
District
Central
Provinces, lying
;
;
and on the west by the river Dudhi, which separates it from the District of Hoshangabad. Population in 1881, Area, 191 6 square miles. The administrative head-quarters are at the town of Nar3 6 5? 1 7 3singhpur.
Physical Aspect.
—The
District of
of the Narbada (Nerbudda) valley proper.
alluvial basins which, alternating with
Narsinghpur forms the upper half The first of those wide
rocky gorges, give so varied a
character to the river's course, opens out just below the famous Marble
Rocks
at
westward
Bheraghat, 15 miles east of the District boundary, and extends for 225 miles, including the whole of Narsinghpur together
with the greater part of Hoshangabad.
originally lakes,
more
or less intimately connected
Probably these basins were and fed by a slowly
flowing river,
down which clayey sediment was carried, and gradually and uniformly distributed over a considerable expanse of country. On the conglomerate and clay thus deposited, lie 20 feet of the rich
alluvium
known
as the regar or black cotton-soil of Central India.
valley
Narsinghpur was confined to that part of the which is defined by three rivers the Narbada on the north, the Saoner on the east, and the Diidhi on the west while the Satpura heights shut it in on the south. But since its formation, the District has been enlarged by the addition of two isolated tracts across the Narbada. Of these, the easternmost is an insignificant patch of hill and ravine that to the west is a small but fertile valley, enclosed by the To speak of river in a crescent-shaped bend of the Vindhyan range. Seen from the the Vindhyas, however, as a range of hills, is incorrect. south, they present an almost uninterrupted series of headlands with projecting promontories and receding bays, like a weather-beaten coastline ; but these form the abrupt termination of a table-land stretching away to the north in gentle undulations, and not an independent range
originally constituted,
As
—
;
;
I
NARSIXGIIPUR.
of
hills.
217
They
afford
a
fine
cxami^le of
cliffs,
once formed by the
Ripple-marking,
is
denuding action of shore-waves, but
now
far inland.
almost totally absent in the other sandstone grouj^s of Central India,
found almost everywhere throughout the Vindhyan series
in
extra-
Twice in Narsinghi)ur the Vindhyan headlands ordinary perfection. abut on the river bed, and twice open out into the bay-like curves which
constitute the trans-Narbada portions of the District.
The
is
face of the Satpura range overlooking the valley from the south
generally regular, rising
hills
nowhere more than 500
feet
above the
plain.
run in a line almost parallel to the Narbada, at a distance from it of 15 or 20 miles; and the intervening space forms the greater Along the valley, the rich level is seldom broken, part of the District. except by occasional mounds of gravel or kankar (nodular limestone),
The
which
often
offer serviceable village sites.
Any
inequalities
of surface are
generally turned to account for the construction of tanks
and
reservoirs,
adorned by the graceful domed temples, which take the place of
the needle-shaped spires
common
;
in the
Hindu
shrines of
Upper
India.
Nearly every village
is
embellished by
its
deep mango groves, and old
pipal and tamarind trees
village),
are those derived from trees.
Imalia (the
and indeed the commonest village names Thus such names as Piparia (the /Z/'^?/ tamarind village), and Umaria (the wild fig village)
abound throughout the District. After the rains, the black soil softens into a stiff bog but in the winter months, the valley presents the appearance of a broad strip of land, w\illed in on either side by low hill ranges, and green from end to end with young wheat. As soon as the limits of the black soil are passed, the country changes. Below either range of hills, but more especially on the Satpura side, are broad belts of red gravelly soil, which merge through woody borders In these tracts, the wheat of into the lower slopes of the highlands.
;
the valley gives
way
to rice, sugar-cane,
and the poorer rain-crops
tile
;
;
the village roofs are of thatch instead of
forest trees take the
place
of
mango
groves,
less
and
reservoirs
are
replaced by mountain
streams.
But though
its
productive, the country has
become more
picturesque, with
short sward,
river gorges,
and
its
open glades, covered with
and dotted with old maJnid
is
trees.
The
hill
country of the District
insignificant in extent, being nearly
confined to the smaller of the tracts north of the Narbada.
forests of importance.
Nor
are the
Probably no District in the Central Provinces is so devoid of extensive wastes, and such as exist are too accessible for Narsinghpur presents few attractions jungle produce to be abundant. to the sportsman. The jungles are ill stocked with large game, and
remarkable for the scarcity of their birds.
The Narbada
affluents are the
is
fed almost entirely from the south.
latter
Its principal
Sher and the Shakar, the
of which was once
;
2i8
NARSINGHPUR,
the
known by
pity
for
name
of Siiar or pig,
till
a
Muhammadan
of rank took
on the stream, and, emptying into it a cart-load The fall from it a more honourable appellation.
narrow bed of
basalt, with
of sugar, gained east to west
is
so
gradual that, except when in flood, the Narbada creeps slowly along
its
precipitous banks on each side
;
but
their
the Sher and Shakar are mountain torrents throughout.
tributaries, the
With
Macha-Rewa and Chita-Rewa, they rise in the Satpuras, and pour through rocky channels, fringed on either hand with a series Here and there, however, their beds open out into small of ravines. oases of rich alluvial deposit, which are cultivated like gardens with the The Sonar resembles these finer kinds of sugar-cane and vegetables. streams but the Diidhi and Baru-Rewa flow along sandy channels, All these rivers, including utilized only for an occasional melon bed. the Narbada itself, rise with extraordinary rapidity in time of flood and even the little Singhri has more than once inundated the town of Kandeli, and caused serious loss of life and property.
; ;
Histoj-y.
District.
—The history of Narsinghpur
The
great
is
the history of an outlying
Sangram Sah, the forty-eighth Raja of the GarhaMandla line {see Mandla), extended his dominion over Narsinghpur and the surrounding country, and built the fortress of Chauragarh. Situated on the crest of the outer range of the Satpura table-land, embracing within its circle two hills, and supphed by numerous tanks and wells, this stronghold is less a fort than a huge fortified camp and it has been the theatre of most of the historic scenes enacted in
Narsinghpur.
After the defeat and heroic death of Queen Durgavati in 1564, Asaf Khan stormed Chauragarh, and seized the enormous booty of 100 Probably this expedition first jars of gold coin and 1000 elephants. out the valley to the foreign immigration which has reclaimed opened In 1593, when the Bundela invasion under Jujhar it from barbarism.
Singh took place, Prem Narayan sustained a siege of some months in Chauragarh and it was not till he had been treacherously assassinated At Chauragarh, also, Narhar Sa, the last of the that the fortress fell. Garha-Mandla line, took refuge when pressed by Moraji, the Maratha Governor of Sagar (Saugor). The Gond prince was betrayed, and ended
;
imprisonment at Kurai, while his dominions fell into the Their administration lasted for conquerors in 1781. seventeen years, and is only remarkable as having caused a considerable The Sagar Governors influx of Hindu immigrants from the north. were in their turn expelled by the powerful Bhonsla Rajas. Before occupying Narsinghpur, the Nagpur army overran Hoshangabad and that District, left utterly defenceless, was periodically plundered by
his days in
hands of
his
;
the Pindaris and the
Nawab
of Bhopal until 1802.
The
distress thus
occasioned resulted, in 1803 and 1804, in actual famine, and forced a
I
9
NARSINGHPUR.
number of people
singhpur.
into the
2
1
more secure and prosperous
District of Nar-
In the years 1S07 to iSio, similar accessions were received
from Bhopal, which had been ravaged by Amir Khan and his Pindari's. Thus recruited, Narsinghpur attained a degree of prosperity which it
Unfortunately, this happy period proved had never known before. In 1807, Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad Districts were transient. made over to Nawab Sadfk All Khan, for the partial support of the Soon afterwards, the remittances promised him from frontier force. Nagpur began to fail ; while the campaigns he waged against Amir Khan involved him in further financial difficulties, which gave rise to increased taxation, speedily followed by all kinds of irregular extortion. When main force failed, pdtels or village head-men were tempted by titles and dresses of honour to bid against each other; while, to meet the case of merchants and others unconnected with land, courts of justice were created, whose whole staff consisted of a guard of soldiers The only crime of which they took and a few ready witnesses. cognizance was adultery, and they threw on the wealthy defendant the burden of establishing his innocence. British rule in Narsinghpur dates from 18 18. In November of the preceding year, on the first intelligence of the treachery of Apa Sahib, Brigadier-General Hardyman was directed by Lord Hastings to advance On his force from the frontier of Rewa in the direction of Nagpur.
hearing of the success at Sitabaldi on the i6th December, he resolved
to take
up a position near Gadarwara,
to cut off the fugitives
from
Reinforcements were accordingly sent to a detachment already stationed at Gadarwara under Lieutenant-Colonel Macmorine, who was thus enabled to attack and defeat the Srinagar garrison, Chauragarh, however, still consisting of 3000 foot and 4000 horse.
Nagpur.
held out, and was only evacuated on the approach of the
of the
in
all
left
division
army under Brigadier-General Watson. The country was then an exhausted condition and the recent disorders had nearly ruined
;
except the predatory castes.
'
Of
the three principal Pindari leaders
who led 5000 horsemen, and Karim Khan, who commanded more than 1000 formerly held possessions in the District. Even in Captain Sleeman's time a gang of Thags or professional stranglers lived within 400 yards of his courthouse and the groves of Mandesar, 12 miles from Narsinghpur, formed one of the greatest bels or places of slaughter in India. These facts, however, only came to light in 1831. In dealing with the District, Sleeman was strengthened by the wise liberality of Mr. Molony, the chief civil
of the
Sindhia Shahi,' two
—
Chitii, a chief
—
;
authority of the Province ; and each successive settlement of the land revenue lightened the burdens of the agricultural class, till in 1835 they were in a position to reap the full benefits of the first long term settle-
ment, which was
made on terms
of great liberality.
Secure
at
once
2 20
NARSINGHPUR,
and the western
from foreign raids and domestic exactions, the people have grown rich; part of the District, though the most recentl}' developed, may bear comparison with most similar tracts in India. Population. A rough enumeration in 1866 returned the population
—
of Narsinghpur at 336,796 persons. The more careful Census of 1872 disclosed 339,395. The last enumeration in 1881 returned the total
population of Narsinghpur District at 365,173, showing an increase since 1872 of 25,778, or of 7*6 per cent, in nine years. The general
results arrived at
follows:
villages,
— Area
by the Census of 1881
may be
briefly
2
summarized
as
of District, 1916 square miles, with
towns and 985
and 79,765 houses. Total population, 365,173, namely, males 186,635, c>^ S^'^ P^^ cent., and females 178,538, or 48*9 per cent. xA^verage density of population, i90"6 persons per square mile;
"52;
villages per square mile,
square mile,
4r6; persons
per house, 4-6.
persons per village, 370; houses per Narsinghpur is at once
the smallest and the most densely populated District in the Central
Provinces. Classified according to sex and age, there were in i88t under 15 years of age, males 74,224, and females 67,807 ; total children, 142,031, or 38-9 per cent, of the population: 15 years and upwards, males 112,411, and females 110,731; total adults, 223,142, or 6i-i
—
per cent.
Classified
according to religion, the
Hindus
in
18S1
numbered
305,137, or 83-6 per cent, of the population ; Muhammadans, 13,425, or 37 per cent. ; Kabirpanthis, 411 ; Satnamis, 14 Jains, 2170 Parsis, 3 ; Christians, 103; and non-Hindu aboriginal tribes, 43,910, or 12 per
; ;
cent,
of the District population.
is
The
total aboriginal
population by
race
returned at 63,731, of whom 46,645 were Gonds and 15,903 Kawars. Among the Hindus in 1881, Brahmans numbered 26,696,
and Rajputs 15,603; the mass of the Hindu population consisting of the following castes: Lodhi, 33,197; Dher or Mahar, 18,218; Chamar, 17,988; Dhimar, 14,408; Kachhi, 14,152; Ahir, 12,355; Kirar, 11,866; Nai, 8043; Teli, 7735; Baniya, 7467; Kurmi, 7182; Barhai, 5879; Sonar, 531 1; and Dhobi, 5046. Of the Christian
—
population,
50 are Europeans, 9 Eurasians or Indo-Portuguese, 31
Natives, and 13 unspecified.
Owing
of
to their isolation, the residents of the valley
have assumed
in
dress and appearance a distinct type from that of the picturesque races
Upper
India.
Though
generally well grown, few are conspicuous
;
for stature or physical
appearance
nor does their costume become
them.
is
Among men,
the favourite colour of the angarkhd or long coat
yellow, with a green shade from the inahiui dye.
wrists,
The
usual
sleeves are
the
turned back on the
hips.
and the
chiefs
waist-cloth
is
worn on or below
the
tied
This, with a white
turban, constitutes
affect the
dress of a
so
prosperous peasant.
The
Maratha turban,
—
NARSIXGHPUR.
much on one
side as almost to cover
221
one
eye, or,
what appears
to
be
the Goncl fashion, a turban
composed of innumerable
folds of cloth
Their dress seldom matches their pretensions, twisted like a rope. and some of the oldest Rajas and Thakurs might be taken for poor It is true that titles of honour are so common as to have peasants. There is in Narsinghpur neither the lost much of their significance. strictness of ritual nor the social rigidity which prevail in Hindustan Among Brahmans, the Kanaujias still maintain their tradiProper.
tions
;
but the Sanorias,
lax,
who
take a high rank in
Upper
India, in
Narsinghpur are very
castes,
forming connections with
women
of other
and neglecting the neceties of Hindu ritual. There were, in 1881, only 2 towns in Toivn a7id Rural Population. Narsinghpur District with a population exceeding 5000 Narsinghpur, the District capital (population, 10,222), and Gadarwara (8100). Besides the above, three other towns have been created municipalities, namely, Kauria (population, 3295), Tendukhera (2977), and ChhindWARA (3519). These five towns disclose a total urban population of
—
28,113, or
77
per cent, of the District population.
Total municipal
income (1882-83), ^2877, of which ^2456 was derived from direct taxation, mainly octroi duties; average incidence of taxation, is. 8|d. Of the 982 minor villages, 462 per head of the town population. contain less than two hundred inhabitants ; 328 from two to five hundred 137 from five hundred to a thousand 44 from one thousand and i from three to 10 from two to three thousand to two thousand
;
;
;
;
five
thousand.
occupation
(2)
—
thus divided according to (i) Professional class, including civil and miHtary, 3912
is
The male
population
;
domestic servants, inn and lodging-house keepers, etc., 2991 ; (3) commercial class, including bankers, merchants, traders, and carriers,
and pastoral class, including gardeners, 68,702 and manufacturing class, 34,054 (6) indefinite and nonproductive, comprising general labourers, male children, and persons of no specified occupation, 73,937. Agricultu7'e. Out of the total area of 1916 square miles, 994 square miles are cultivated, and of the portion lying waste, 230 square miles are returned as cultivable, and 692 square miles as uncultivable waste; 4855 acres are irrigated, entirely by private enterprise. Wheat
3039;
(4) agricultural
;
(5) industrial
;
—
forms the staple crop
acres
;
of the District, occupying (in 1881) 269,674 20,375 acres were devoted to rice, and 279,947 to other food -grains, while sugar-cane was grown on 2059 acres, oil-seeds
on 20,550 acres, and cotton on 37,503 acres. Most of the cotton is produced, not on the so-called black cotton-soil, but on the light undulating lands near the banks of rivers and ?idlds. The out-turn of wheat from average land is about 420 lbs. per acre of rice, 400 lbs.
;
;
of inferior grain, 455 lbs.
;
of sugar {gur), 560 lbs.; of cleaned cotton.
1
222
NARSINGHPUR.
lbs.
60
Rotation of crops
is
not practised
;
but when the
is
soil
shows
signs of exhaustion,
gram or some other pulse
substituted for wheat
Cultivators dare not leave their lands fallow, for two or three years. even for a single year; for the ground would be immediately occupied by rank Jzd?is grass, which no exertions can eradicate till it has run its Irrigation and manure are used only for course of about ten years. sugar-cane and vegetables.
Of
per cent, of the District
at-will,
the total adult agricultural population in 1881 (115,530, or 31*64 population), 2455 were returned as landed
proprietors, 17,061 as possessing rights of occupancy, 10,759 as tenants-
42,857 as assistants in
labourers, while the remainder
home cultivation, 39,716 is made up of graziers,
7 acres.
as agricultural
tenants of un-
specified status, estate agents, etc.
Area of cultivated and cultivable
land available for each adult agriculturist,
Of
the total area of
the District, 191 6 square miles, only 1708 square miles are assessed for
Government revenue. Of these, 979 square miles are cultivated, 193 square miles are cultivable, and 536 square miles are uncultivable waste. Total amount of Government land revenue assessment, including local rates and cesses, -£44,^16, or an average of
cultivated acre.
is.
5|-d.
per
average of
wheat,
3s.
Total rental paid by the cultivators, ^95,894, or an o|d. per cultivated acre. The rent rates per acre for the
:
different qualities of land are returned as follows
5s. 6d.
;
— Land
—
suited for
;
;
for rice, 4s. 3d.
;
for inferior grain, is. 'jhd.
;
for sugar-
cane, 5s. 6d.
prices of
for cotton, 3s. 6d.
for oil-seeds, 4s. 4d.
The
ordinary
;
produce per cwt. in 1881 were as follows: Wheat, 5s. 3d. rice, 8s, lod. and cotton, 38s. 2d. The wages per diem of a skilled labourer average about 9d. of an unskilled labourer, 4jd. to 5d. a day. Commerce and Trade. Narsinghpur and Gadarwara are the only trading towns of the District. A considerable traffic, however, chiefly in English cloth, lac ornaments, and copper utensils, takes place at an
;
;
—
extensive
fair,
which
is
held yearly in
sands of the Narbada at
Hitherto, the only export
factures consist of brass
November and December on the Barman Ghat, 14 miles from Narsinghpur. The manuof consequence has been cotton.
and bell-metal vessels Gadarwara and tasar
;
at
Chichli
;
a kind of
stamped cotton
at
fabric at
silk
and saddle-cloths
Narsinghpur.
The
mineral resources of the District give rise to
an important industry among the Gond inhabitants. At Mohpani, 1 miles from the Gadarwara railway station, excavations for coal have
been made with success
the Satpura table-land.
is is
in the
gorge by which the Chita-Rewa leaves
;
that
known by
the
The method of subterranean work pursued name of pillar and stall and the produce
'
'
a strong non-coking coal, fairly
efi"ective
as a
steam
fuel.
A
small
vein in Sihora Ghat, on the Sher river, also supplies coal, said to be
hard and
jetty,
and
free
from pyrites of
iron.
The most
valuable iron-
NARSIXGIIFUR.
pits are
223
on the north of the Narbada
at
Tendiikhcra, and produce ore
of excellent quality.
smelting, the
From
free
the exclusive
employment of charcoal
in
town
is
from smoke, and only the ceaseless clink of
distinguishes it from the agricultural villages of the valley. mines are leased by the Narbada Coal and Iron Company. Besides the high-road from Jabalpur towards Bombay, which runs through the District from east to west, the chief lines of communication are the route northwards across the Narbada and through an opening in the hills towards Sagar the road southwards by Srinagar None of these towards Seoni and the road by Harai to Chhindwara. roads has yet been metalled, and they are only partially bridged, so that
All these
; ;
hammers
they
become impracticable during the
rainy season.
The Great Indian
Peninsula Railway passes through the District from east to west for a
total
length of 70 miles, with stations at Chhindwara, Korakbel, Nar-
singhpur, Kareli, Sihora, Mandesar,
the Narbada, Diidhi Shakar,
for
and Gadarwara. During the rains, and Sher afford means of transit by water
224 miles.
Adminisij-atiou.
District of the
— In
1861, Narsinghpur was formed into a separate
British
Government of the Central Provinces.
It is
administered by a Deputy Commissioner, with Assistants and tahsilddjs.
Total revenue in 1876-77, ^54,584, of which the land-tax yielded Total cost of District officials and police of all kinds, ^42,269.
;£"i3,362.
In 1883-84, the
total
of which the land-tax contributed ;^42,305,
officials
revenue of Narsinghpur was ^62,181, Total cost of District
of
civil
and
police, ;^i2,i56.
Number
and revenue judges
of
all
sorts within the
District (1883), 7; magistrates, 17.
Maximum
average
distance from any village to the
distance, 10 miles.
nearest
court,
32 miles;
Number
i
costing
^4853, being
of regular police. District and town, 360, policeman to about every 5 square miles
1023 inhabitants. There was also in 1883 a rural police The daily average number force or village watch of 1 1 2 7 chaukiddrs. The of convicts in jail in 1883 was 86, of whom 6 were females.
and
to every
total cost of the jail
was
;£"5o8.
schools in the District under
The number of Government or aided Government inspection in 1883 was ZZ^
attended by 4542 pupils. In 1876, the average temperature in the shade was Medical Aspects.
—
returned from observations taken at the civil station of Narsinghpur as follows: May, highest reading 111° F., lowest 92°; July, highest 86°,
—
lowest 74°; December, highest 78°, lowest 52°.
rainfall for a
The
average annual
In
period of 25 years ending 1881 amounted to 46*84 inches. 1883 the rainfall was 65-88 inches, or i9"04 inches above the
average.
The
prevailing diseases of the District are malarious fevers
;
and bowel complaints fatal to large numbers.
but cholera and small-pox occasionally prove
In 1883, three charitable dispensaries afforded
2
24
NARSIXGHFUR TAHSIL AND TOWN.
relief to
medical
showed
in the
17,416 in-door and out-door patients. Vital statistics same year a death-rate of 35-95 per thousand, the mean
[For further of the preceding five years being 3776 per thousand. Narsinghpur, see the Ce?itrai Provinces Gazetteer, information regarding by Mr. (now Sir Charles) Grant, pp. 354-37° (Nagpur, 1870); the
and the several Census Report of the Central Provinces for 1881 annual Administration and Departmental Reports of the Central Provinces Government.] Narsinghpur. The eastern tahsil or Sub-division of Narsinghpur
;
—
District,
Central Provinces.
villages,
and 538
and 41,922 houses.
Area, 1042 square miles, with i town Population (1872) 148,580;
(1881) 175,336, namely, males 89,343, and females 85,993; increase of population since 1872, 26,756, or iS-q per cent, in nine years. Average density of population, 168-3 persons per square mile. The total adult agricultural population (male and female) in 1881 numbered
population ; the 48,404, or 27-6 per cent, of the whole Sub-divisional and cultivable land being 8 acres average area of available cultivated Of the total area of the tahsil {1042 square per adult agriculturist.
miles), 135 square miles are held revenue free
;
while 907 square miles
Government revenue, of which 483 square miles are returned as under cultivation, and 95 square miles as available for Total amount of cultivation, the remainder being uncultivable waste. land revenue, including local rates and cesses levied on the Government
are assessed for
land, ;!^2 3,2 63, or an average of
Amount is. 4jd. per cultivated acre. of rent, including cesses, paid by the cultivators, ^46,514, or an average Narsinghpur Sub-division contained of 2S. ii|d. per cultivated acre.
in
1883, 5 civil and 10 criminal courts (including the District headquarter courts), with 4 police circles {thdnds), and 10 outpost stations {chaukis), a regular police force numbering 121 men, and 649 village
chaukiddrs.
Narsinghpur
Central Provinces; situated in
(with Kanderi).—Z\(\ti town of Narsinghpur District, lat. 22° 56' 35" n., and long. 79° 14'
45" E., on the river Singri, which has been dammed up to supply the The town was formerly called Gadaria-khera, or, town with water. under the Marathas, when it became the head-quarters of their force It took its in the Narbada (Nerbudda) valley, Chhota Gadarwara.
present
name after the erection of a large temple to Narsinha, one It is an important entrepot for the of the incarnations of Vishnu. Population (1872) grain and cotton trade of the Narbada valley. males 5134, and females 5088. 12,111 ; (1881) 10,222, namely, Hindus number 7816; Muhammadans, 1846; Kabirpanthis, 34; Jains,
316; Christians,
cipal revenue
69; Parsis, 3; and aboriginal tribes, 138. Muni(1882-83), ^967, of which ^815 was derived from per taxation (octroi duties); average incidence of taxation, is. 7jd.
NARSINGHPUR STATE— NARSIPUR.
225
head of town population. The chief Government buildings are the courts and offices of the Deputy Commissioner and the poHce superThe town has also a jail, a dispensary, a travellers' intendent.
bungalow, and a native travellers' rest-house
attended District school,
;
besides a post-office, well-
two private schools, and a police school. Narsinghpur. Native State of Orissa, Bengal, lying between 20° 24' and 20^ 37' N. lat., and between 85° and 85° 16' 15" e. long. Bounded on the north by a range of forest-clad mountains, which separate it from
—
;
Angul and Hindol on the east by Baramba on the south and southArea, 199 west by the Mahanadi river; and on the west by Angul. square miles, with 191 villages, and a total population (1881) of 32,583 Hindus number souls, namely, males 16,378, and females 16,205.
;
and Muhammadans no. There is a sprinkling of aboriginal Kandhs and Tadlas in the State, but their numbers are included in the The general Hindu population, and they are not shown separately. principal seat of local commerce is Kanpur, with bi-weekly markets, and trade in grain, cotton, oil-seeds, and sugar-cane. The State was founded about 300 years ago by a Rajput, who slew the former chief. It yields a yearly revenue of ^1600, and pays a tribute of ^145 to
32,473,
the British
Government.
The
State contains several schools
;
the
Raja's militia consists of a force
strong.
of 583 men,
and the police
State,
is
196
Narsinghpur.
i" E.
— Principal
in
village
of
Narsinghpur
Lat. 20°
Orissa,
Bengal, and the residence of the Raja.
28' n., long.
85°
7'
Narsipur.
— Tdluk
Hassan
District,
Mysore
State.
Area, 476
square miles, of which 37 are cultivated.
Population (1871) 42,345;
(1881) 32,117, namely, 15,518 males
number
Hindus and 16,599 females. Land 31,268; Muhammadans, 842; and Christians, 7. revenue (1881-82), exclusive of water rates, ^5380, or 4s. 5d. per Expenditure on internal tdluk administration for cultivated acre.
Watered by the Hemavati, and by the irrigation 1881-82, ;^765. channels drawn off from that river. In 1883 the taluk contained 2
criminal courts; police
village
circles {thdfids), 7; regular police, 61 men; watch {chaukiddrs)^ 453. Total revenue, ;^i4,763. Narsipur (known as Hole Narsipur^ to distinguish it from Tiruma-
kiidalu Narsipur).
lat.
Mysore State situated in on the right bank of the Hemavati river, 2 1 miles south-east of Hassan town head-quarters of the Narsipur /j7//>^'. Population (1881) 4647. The fort was built in 11 68 by a local chief called Narasinha Nayak, and annexed to Mysore in 1667. It is the residence of the guTu of the Madhava Brahmans of the Uttaraji branch. Flourishing manufactures of cotton cloth and gunny
in District,
e.,
;
— Town
Hassan
16'
12° 47' N.,
and
long.
76°
40"
;
bags.
VOL. X,
p
226
NARSIPUR TALUK—NARUKOT.
as
Narsipur (known
Mysore
District,
Timma-kudalu).
State.
— Taluk
or Sub-division of
Mysore
are cultivated.
Area, 377 square miles, of which 157 Population (1871) 82,311; (1881) 67,372, namely,
Hindus number 65,190; Mu33,356 males and 34,016 females. The taluk is extensively hammadans, 2180; and Christians, 2. irrigated by channels drawn off from the bed of the Kaveri (Cauvery)
river
of Talkad.
by anicuts or dams. It was formerly known under the name In 1883 the tdluk contained i civil and 2 criminal
courts; police circles (thdfids), 7 ; regular police, 67 {chaukiddrs), 278. Revenue, ^^16,079.
men;
village watch
Narsipur (known
distinguish
it
as Tiru7na-kudalu^ or
'
from
Hole Narsipur).
lat.
— Village
The most holy
in
Union,' to
District,
e.,
Mysore
Mysore State;
river with the
situated in
12° 12' 40" n.,
city, at
and
long.
76° 57' 21"
18 miles south-east of Mysore
the confluence of the Kabbani
Kaveri (Cauvery).
head-quarters of the Talkad tdluk^
Population (1881) 14 19. Since 1868, now known as Narsipur tdluk. A
One dedicated to Vishnu, sacred spot, containing two ancient temples. under his name of Gunja Narasinha, was repaired by the Dalawai of Mysore about 300 years ago, and now has an annual allowance from Government of ^96. The other, situated between the junction of the two rivers, and dedicated to Agasteswara, receives ^182 a
year.
Narukot.
Gujarat,
— Native
State
in
the
District
of the Panch Mahals,
Population 143 square miles. (1881) 6440, distributed in 52 villages, and occupying 13 13 houses.
Presidency.
Bombay
Area,
Hindus number 4216; Muhammadans, 57; and 'others,' 2167. Narukot is enclosed by the lands of Chhota Udepur, Rewa Kantha Agency. The ruling family are Kolis, and the inhabitants are of two tribes, Kolis and Naikdas. The latter, who are a turbulent race, closely allied to the Bhils, have on several occasions by their unruly habits given considerable trouble to the Government, but of late years have The country is wild, been remarkable for peace and good order. covered with low hills and thick forests. There is a fair supply of water, chiefly from ponds and wells, whose number is being gradually
In 1874, specimens of lead-ore were obtained; but in the opinion of the Superintendent of the Geological Survey they were not
increased.
rich
enough
tillage.
;
to
encourage further search.
the total area, one-fourth
is
The
it
soil is
capable of yield-
ing a larger out-turn and better crops than
does under the present
rude
hilly
Of
is
uncultivable, being mostly
and about one-half is cultivated. In 1878, a considerable area of cultivated land was thrown up, owing to the death, desertion, and insolvency of cultivators, and the loss of their live stock brought about by two successive bad seasons. The local cultivators are Naikdas and Kolis, who formerly lived chiefly by woodone-fourth
cultivable waste
;
NARWAR.
cutting.
227
They
are beginning to settle to
more
regular tillage and to
the use of the plough.
The Naikdas
of Narukot used to be notorious for their predatory
when the British Government took over their management from the Gaekwar; but on furnishing security for good behaviour, they were pardoned and left unmolested. In 1829, however, on the office of the Political Agent being abolished, the Gaekwar's Government again took up the management, but so oppressed the people that in 1837 they broke out in revolt, and a British force had to be engaged
habits until 1826,
it. The chief then offered half of his revenues to be taken under the protection of Government, which offer, at first refused, was afterwards accepted to provide funds for the management and recovery
to suppress
of the State.
The people soon
quieted down, but unsettled by the
movements of the rebels in 1858, they rose and attacked several forts. They again rose in 1868 to estabhsh a Naikda kingdom, but were dispersed, and the leaders caught and hanged. Since then there has been no disturbance. Jambughora is the largest place in the State.
The
chief resides at J hot war, a village half a mile to the north-west,
and pays an annual tribute of £^ to the Gaekwar of Baroda. The estate is managed by the British Government, who take half the total
revenue (estimated at
^600
annually), the remaining half going to the
chief under the agreement
made
in
1839.
The
State
contains a
dispensary and a vernacular school.
The
Collector of the
Panch
Mahals
District
is
the Political Agent.
Narwar
river Sind,
{Nenvar).
— Town
in
Gwalior State, Central India; situated
in lat. 25' 39' 2" X.,
e., on the right bank of the on the route from Kalpi to Kotah, 152 miles south-west of the former and 169 north-east of the latter; 44 miles south of Gwalior city. Narwar is a town of great antiquity, and although now decayed, was once a place of much splendour. Nishida, w^hich occupied the
and
long. 77° 56' 57"
site
A.D.
as
Kachwaha Raja in 295 and in the 9th century, the Kachwahas of Narwar are mentioned marching to the defence of Chittor. The fort, a fine and massive
;
of the present Narwar, was founded by a
structure,
was
built,
century,
several
and was soon
according to Ferishta, in the middle of the 13th after captured by Nasir-ud-di'n, after a siege of
months. In 1506 it was again blockaded and taken by Sikandar King of Delhi and, some time later, it appears to have fallen again into the hands of the Hindus. Towards the end of last century the Marathas gained possession of Narwar and it was guaranteed to Daulat
Lodi,
; ;
Rao Sindhia by
the
the treaty of Allahabad in 1805. assessed
annexed
territory,
In 1844 it was, with by the Government of Gwalior at
leaving
in the
The river overflows annually during the rains, ^22,500 a year. numerous swamps round the town. Magnetic iron-ore is found
neighbouring
hills.
;
2
28
NASARPUR—NASIK.
Nasarpur. Town in Alahyar-jo-Tando taluk, Hala Sub-division, Population (1881) Haidarabad District, Sind, Bombay Presidency. Trade insignificant. Small cloth manufacture. Police lines, 3206. The town is of very rest-house, post-office, and vernacular school. ancient construction, and said to have been built in 989 a.d.
—
Nasik {Nasica of Ptolemy). British District in the Bombay Presidency, lying between 19° 34' and 20° 52' n. lat., and between 73^ 18'
and
75°
E.
—
long.
Area, 5940
square miles.
Population in 1881,
;
Bounded on the north by the District of Khandesh 781,206 persons. on the east by the Nizam's Dominions on the south by Ahmadnagar
;
and on the west by Thana District, the territories of Dharampur, Surgana, and the Khandesh Dangs. The administrative head-quarters
are at
Nasik town.
Physical Aspects.
the whole District
—With
is is
the exception of a few villages in the west,
situated on a table-land, at an elevation of from
sea.
The western portion, from north to much divided by hills, and intersected by ravines and only the simplest kind of cultivation is possible. The eastern portion, called desk., is open, fertile, and well cultivated. The
1300 to 2000
feet
above the
south, called dang,
;
generally
Chander range of
hills
forms the watershed of the District, and divides
It stretches
the valley of the Girna from the valley of the Godavari.
from Peint east into the Nizam's Dominions, and is crossed by several The most important of these takes its name from the range, fair passes. and is traversed by a first-class bridged and metalled road. East of RaAll streams of any size hudi, the Chander range ceases to be a barrier. the principal to the south of that range are tributaries of the Godavari of these being the Darna, Kadwa, Deo, and Maralgin. To the north of
—
the watershed, the Girna
fertile
and
its
tributary the
Mosam
flow^
through
With the exception of the Sahyadri mountains, which run north and south, the general direction of the
valleys
into
the Tapti.
hill
ranges in Nasik
is
hill forts,
the scenes of
from west to east. The District contains several many engagements during the Maratha wars.
is
The geological formation
trap
— beds of basalt alternating, seemingly,
quite horizontally with amygdaloid, the ridges of the hills everywhere
capped with compact basalt, and the slopes below the upper basaltic escarpment formed by the weathering of the softer amygdaloid. No minerals are worked. Except in one or two Sub-divisions, where black soil is found, the soil is poor and stony. The forests which formerly covered the Sahyadri hills have nearly disappeared, but every effort is being made to prevent further destruction, and to re-clothe some of the hills. The forests that remain cover 1600 square miles, but contain few timber-trees of value on the other hand, there is a good deal of valuable coppice teak, and much wood useful both for house-building and firewood. The District generally is very destitute of trees. Of
;
—
NASIK.
wild animals,
tigers,
229
spotted deer are
leopards, bears, antelopes, and
found.
History.
District
—From
was under
the 2nd century B.C. to the 2nd century a.d. the rulers, notably the Andhrabrityas, who patronized
Buddhism, and some of whom are supposed to have had a capital at no miles below Nasik. Among other early Hindu dynasties were the Chalukyas, the Rathods, and the Chandor and Deogiri Jadavas. The Muhammadan period lasted from 1295 to 1760, during which the ]3istrict was successively under the Viceroys of Deogiri (Daulatabad), the Bahmanis of Kulbarga, the Nizam Shahis of Ahmadnagar, and the Mughals of Aurangabad. The Maratha ascendency lasted from 1760
Paithan,
until 18 18,
when
the British power crushed the last of the Peshwas.
Since then, twice only has the peace of the District
been disturbed
once in 1843, when serious breaches of order arose on the slaughter of
a
Rohillas, Arabs,
cow by some Europeans in Nasik; and again in 1857, when some and Bhils gathered under the outlaw, Bhagoji. The Census returns of 1872 disclosed a total population Population.
—
of 737^755' that of 188
1
a total of 781,206 persons, residing in 8 towns
122,816 occupied houses; unoccupied houses were returned at 29,736 density of the population, i3i'5i persons per scjuare mile villages per square mile, 0*2 ; houses per square mile, 25*6 ; persons per house, 6-36. Classified according persons per village, 472
and 1625
villages,
and
in
;
;
;
to sex, there
were 397,404 males and 383,802 females; proportion of under 50-8 per cent. Classified according to age, there were males,
—
15 years,
males 169,846, and females 161,401
:
;
total children,
331,247,
or 42-42 per cent, of the population and of 15 years and upwards there were 227,558 males and 222,401 females; total adults, 449^959' or Hindus, 683,579; Musalmans, Religious divisions 57-58 per cent.
—
35,294; Parsis, 288; Christians, 2644; Jews, loi ; Jains, 7609; Sikhs, 2 Buddhists, 2 ; and aboriginal tribes, 51,687, almost all Bhils. The Hindus were divided into the following main castes and social
;
distinctions:
daris,
Brahmans, 29,053; Rajputs, 7003; Berads, 291; Bhan56; Chamars, 10,003; Darjis, 7492; Dhangars, 14,889; Roll's, Dhobis, 3029; Nais, 7418; Jangams, 466 ; Kunbis, 276,359 Rumbhars, 4508 ; Lingayats, 1608; Lobars, Koshtis, 2663 78,558; 3877; Malis, 25,094; Mangs, 6323; Dhers, 70,351 3 Sonars, 9540;
;
;
—
The Muham7427; Tehs, 11,158; and Banjaras, 29,393. madans were divided thus Pathans, 5089; Sayyids, 1794; Shaikhs, Of the 2644 Christians, 1281 were Episco27,641; and 'others,' 770. palians, 102 1 Roman Catholics, and 147 Presbyterians. As regards occupation, the males were distributed by the Census (i) Professional class, of 1 88 1 into the following six main groups including State officials of every kind and members of the learned professions, 12,500; (2) commercial class, including bankers merchants,
Sutars,
—
:
—
—
230
carriers,
etc.,
NASIK.
2897
;
(3)
domestic servants,
inn
and lodging-house
including gardeners,
keepers, 5234; (4)
agricultural and pastoral
class,
manufacturers and artisans, and non-productive class, comprising male 39,542 children, general labourers, and persons of unspecified occupation,
166,095
;
all (5) industrial class, including
;
and
(6) indefinite
171,136.
Of
1881
the 1633 towns and villages in Nasik District, 558 contained in less than 200 inhabitants; 656 from two to five hundred; 288
; ;
from five hundred to one thousand 86 from one to two thousand 27 from two to three thousand; 13 from three to five thousand; 2 from i from fifteen to i from ten to fifteen thousand five to ten thousand twenty thousand; and i from twenty to fifty thousand. The towns Nasik (24,101); Deolali, cantonwith a population over 5000 are
;
;
ment
(variable,
according to troops cantoned en route to Bombay);
Yeola
(10,622); Malegaon, cantonment and Igatpuri (6306); of which places able); SiNNAR (7960);
(17,685);
Malegaon
(vari5
are
municipalities.
The
total
Trimbak, also a municipality, has a population of 3839. municipal income of the District (1882-83) is ^8795, levied
j
from a municipal population of 70,879, the incidence of municipal taxation being 2s. 3d. per head of the municipal population. It is characteristic of the population to collect into small compact
villages.
;
Except the village dealers, carpenters, smiths, and a few others, traders and artisans are almost exclusively confined to the towns. The labourers also constitute generally an urban class, inas-
I
!
1
much
to
as there are not
employ hired from a three-storied building (rvzVtz) to the ordinary Indian hovel, here called jhopdi. The vddd or mansion consists of a hollow square building, of which the rooms and offices form the four sides, and of which the centre quadrangle, open to the sky, has in a few^ cases shrubs and a fountain, but more often forms stabling for the cattle. Part of the roof left flat and protected by a parapet serves as a pleasant lounge
many cultivators who are sufficiently well-to-do The village houses range in respectability labour.
i
\
\
:
|
;
!
when
the heat of the day
is
over.
On many
roofs a few steps will lead
|
to a raised platform
commanding a view of the neighbourhood, and open to any breeze that may be blowing. The large central room of the house is used as parlour and dining-room. The smaller chambers are The the cooking-room, store-room, lying-in room, and family shrine.
zaiiihia or
I
\
dwelling.
women's quarters are generally separated from the common Furniture is scarce, but it is becoming customary to provide | A swing is common, and chair for chance visitors of distinction. a Wooden stools and numerous. usually there is a wooden bench. Daily life is much the same cooking pots complete the equipment.
,
among
labourers and ind?ndars,
All classes rise
who
are the landowners or gentry of
the District.
with the sun and work until noon.
Then
NASIK.
231
Work is rethey rest for an hour or two, taking a meal and a siesta. commenced at two, and goes on until dusk, when another meal is
taken.
Bed-time
is
between nine nnd
ten.
The
hills,
inhabitants of the western villages, at the foot of the Sahyadri Their poor lands seldom yield are to a great extent migratory.
crops for
more than two years
at
a time
;
and often
in the hot
weather
—
their stock of grain
running low
— they are compelled
to retire to the
and support themselves by felling and carrying timber, feeding on fish, berries, and even roots. Every caste, from a Brahman to a Bhil, forms a more or less complete community. The chief hill tribes are Kolis, The Kolis are more civilised Bhils, Thakurs, Warlis, and Kathodfs. and more generally engaged in agriculture than the rest the Bhils are poor cultivators, subsisting chiefly by gathering and selling forest timber, honey, and lac; the Thakurs and Warlis cultiproduce Thakodis, or catechu entirely by the hoe. little, but almost vate a makers, are the worst off, and poorest-looking, of all these tribes. The Marwaris, most of whom are said to have come into the District during the last fifty or sixty years, seem gradually to drop their peculiarities, and are now scarcely to be distinguished from other They have taken to wearing the Deccan turban and Hindus. they even ordinary shoes, and are clean in their dress and habits
forest
;
—
;
wear their hair as other Hindus, and speak Marathi, the common They engross the trade of money-lending. language of the District.
The
part
IVIusalmans are nearly
settled in
all
of foreign origin, and are for the most of the Sunnis,
towns.
Many
who numbered (1881)
in
34,887, are messengers
agriculture,
and policemen, others are employed
weaving,
389,
and
as labourers.
The
Shias,
who numbered (1881)
are
more frequently shopkeepers. Agncu/iure.—AgxicuXimQ supported (1881) 511,712 persons,
or 65-5
per cent, of the population; only 301,416 were agricultural workers. Of the total area of the District (5940 square miles), 3573 square miles were cultivated in 1881, of which 179 square miles were non-revenue-
paying;
the remaining 3394 square miles, together with 630 square miles, the area cultivable but unoccupied, were assessed for revenue, making a total of 4024 square miles; the uncultivable area was 1737 Total amount of Government assessment, including local square miles.
rates
rates
and cesses on land, ;£i42,585; average incidence, including local and cesses, is. 2d. per cultivated acre. Average area of cultivable
and uncultivated land per agricultural worker, 8*9 acres. The land of the reddish black mould the District may be divided in four classes along rivers a light black soil higher up a brown soil, stiffer and less deep, found on the higher lands near the Ghats; and highest and
—
;
;
lightest
of
all,
light
brown
or red, often strewn with boulders,
is
mixed with
lime.
A
second crop
not
often
raised.
and Manure
;
232
is
NASIK.
all
invariably used for
garden crops, but rarely
is
for others.
Over
47,000 acres are
Irrigation
surface,
is
irrigated, the cost per acre varying
from
2s.
to ;£"io.
generally practised where water
obtainable
near the
rivers.
and where a
dam can
be thrown across the streams and
The main works
are the Palkher, Vadali,
and Ojhar Tambat
canals,
the first-named being newly built at a cost of^ 14,8 7 2. Out of 3,389,838 acres, the total area of Government cultivable land,
2,258,197 acres, or 66-6 1 per cent, were taken up for cultivation in 1881-82; of these, 340,393 acres were fallow or under grass. Of
the remaining 1,924,213 acres under actual cultivation (6409 acres of which were twice cropped), grain occupied 1,310,643, or 68-ii per cent. ;
pulses, 154,762, or 8-04 per cent.
fibres,
;
•
oil-seeds, 168,876, or 8-77 per cent.
and miscellaneous crops, 266,070 Bdjra is the staple food of the people. In localities Vineyards are found in Nasik and Chander Sub-divisions. where there is good black soil, wheat, cotton, gram, and timer, and where water is available, sugar-cane, grapes, figs, guavas, and plantains
23,862, or 1-24 per cent.;
or
acres,
13 '8 2
per
cent.
are grown.
Potatoes were introduced into the District about 1837, and though at first disliked by the people, are now in request. On poor soil yWr and hdjra are cultivated. In 1882-83 the agricultural stock amounted to 64,080 ploughs, 14,361 carrying carts, 11,719 riding
carts,
202,883 bullocks, 195,372 cows, 56,663 buffaloes, 12,640 horses, 3877 asses, 216,749 sheep and goats. The great Durgadevi famine, lasting from Natural Calamities.
—
1396 to 1407, is said to have caused as much injury in Nasik as in the Southern Deccan and the memory of it has never been obliterated. Famines are also locally recorded as having occurred in 1460, 1520, and 1629, but the severest of which record remains was the famine Liberal remissions by the Peshwa, the piohibition of of 1791-92.
;
grain exportation,
and the regulation of
prices, alleviated the misery.
In 1802-04, the ravages of the Pindaris caused such scarcity, that a pound of grain is said to have cost is. 4d. Ten thousand people died of The scarcity of 1876-77 caused hunger and its incidental maladies.
great
distress.
Special
period
villages
nearly
18,000 persons
tickets
measures of relief were taken, and at one In the were employed on roads.
two kinds of
were given
pulse,
to
the
people,
tin
and
one
paper.
The
of
holders of tin tickets were allowed
while
to
full
rations of
pound
cooked bread and
paper
ticket-holders
Children were given half a pound. The a smaller quantity was issued. tickets were issued at the relief works up to half-past seven in the morning, the late comers getting paper tickets. The total expenditure
on famine
during the continuance of the scarcity was reckoned Every now and then in the District a frost destroys or damages such crops as plantains, grapes, etc., and hardly a year
relief
at ;£"42,967.
NASIK.
occurs
in
233
suffer
which some part of the District does not
Partial inundations frequently occur,
from
want
of rain.
and the flood of
its
1872— when
ravages.
the river at Nasik rose over 21 feet above
ordinary
level— caused great damage.
Haihcays,
Recently, locusts have committed serious
The communications of the District have been etc. by the opening of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway in improved 1861, and by the opening of the local Dhond and Manmad State Railway in 1878. The former line enters Nasik at Igatpuri, and on the no miles for which it passes through the District there are 11 The latter railway forms a chord line connecting Manmad stations.
in
—
Nasik
in
District,
162 miles
from Bombay north-east section, with
Dhond
Poona
District,
This chord line is 145 Besides the railway miles long, with 3 stations in Ndsik District. District, there are about 468 miles of good lines running through the
of the Great
Indian
167 miles from Peninsula Railway.
Bombay
south-east section
roads.
Trade, Maimfactiires, ^/r.— Cloth and silk goods are
at
woven
is
chiefly
Yeola,
and thence sent
as
far
as
Bombay, Poona,
(^150,000).
Satara,
and
silk
Sholapur.
lated
to
The
amount
value
to
of the
15
annual exports from Yeola
of
calcu-
Idkhs
rupees
The
This industry under the industry at Yeola supports 4000 fLunilies. IMuhammadans and Marathas was a monopoly, which was set aside
by a decision of the
has died out.
Bombay High Court
in
1864.
Blanket-weav-
ing prospers in the District,
but a former industry of paper-making
Copper, brass, and silver vessels are largely manufactured at Nasik itself, and thence sent to Bombay, Poona, and
other
places.
little
The
principal articles of export
silk
are grain,
oil-seeds,
molasses, a
silver ware.
cotton cloth and
goods, hemp, copper, brass, and
agents of
is bought up by Lasalgaum, on the railway, 146 miles from Bombay, where there is a permanent constant market. Nearly every day from February to May about 500 carts, and as many more pack-bullocks, come laden with wheat and other grain, chiefly from the Nizam's
A
great quantity of grain, chiefly wheat,
firms, at
Bombay
Dominions. Some of these take away salt. There is also a considerable The chief export of garden produce, onions, garlic, and betel-leaves. and brass, sugar, groceries, imports are raw silk, cotton thread, copper
and
salt.
Before the introduction of the railway, there was (chiefly along the
Bombay and Agra and
in
the i\hmadnagar
ing trade through the District.
The Banjaras
and Poona roads) a large carryor Lamans, and others
whose hands this traffic rested, have suffered much by the change. Such of them as remain have taken to agriculture. The chief traffic with the interior proceeds through the ancient Thai pass on its way to Bombay.
—
;
234
NASIK.
are held at every town,
Weekly markets
villages.
and
fairs
in
many
of the larger
Besides these weekly markets,
are held each year in
connection with certain temples and religious places, which partake
very
much
of the nature of the markets, but are larger, and the variety
of goods
fortnight,
displayed
is
greater.
and
attract great
They usually last for a week or a numbers of people, even from considerable
distances.
;^25o,ooo.
per
In 1882-83 the total value of the exports of the District was The rate of interest generally varies from 6 to 18 per cent,
;
annum
but in the case of poor cultivators,
it
is
sometimes as
Unskilled labourers earn 4^d. a day, bricklayers high as 24 per cent. and carpenters is. 6d. The current prices of the chief articles of food
during 1882-83 were, for a rupee {2s.)—jodr (Indian
wheat, 24
lbs.
;
millet),
47
lbs.
rice,
26
lbs.
Ad?ninistration.
imperial, local,
—The
24 lbs. revenue raised in 1881-82, under
;
and ^i/
(split peas),
and municipal
— amounted
5s.
all
heads
population of 781,206, an incidence of
tax
;^228,505, or, on a The landlod. per head.
to
forms the principal source of revenue,
per cent,
yielding
;^i4 1,540, or
61
"9 1
of the total revenue.
stamps,
stamps, excise, and local funds.
returned at ;£"io9,8oo;
licence-tax,
Other important items are In 1882-83 ^^^ l^"^^ revenue was ^17,400; excise, ;£io,5oo; and
;^3i8o.
utility
The
and
District local funds, created since 1863 for
rural education, yielded in 1882-83 ^ total There are 6 municipalities, with an aggregate population Their receipts are returned at ;£"8648, and the of 69,926 persons. incidence of taxation varied from 5d. to 3s. 6d. per head. In 1882-83 the municipal receipts were ^£"8795.
works of public
of ;£9i7o.
The
administration of the District in revenue matters
is
entrusted to
a Collector and 6 Assistants, of
judicial purposes,
whom
4 are covenanted
civilians.
For
Nasik
is
included in the jurisdiction of the Judge of
Thana.
There are 7 civil courts, which decided 11,801 suits in 1876, and 35,300 in 1882-83 2>Z ofificers share the administration of criminal
)
justice.
The
total strength of the regular police for the protection of
giving
person and property consisted, in 1881-82, of 729 officers and men, I man to every 107 1 of the population. The total cost was
^13,605, equal tOp^2, 5s. 9d. per square mile of area, and 4d. per head of the population. The number of persons convicted of any offence, great or small, was 1581, being i person to every 492 of the
population.
Education has widely spread of
only 17 schools, with 1268 pupils.
late years.
In 1855-56 there were In 1881-82 there were 251 schools,
with 12,744 names on the rolls, or an average of i school to every 6*5 The Census of 1881 returned 8664 males and 257 inhabited villages.
females as under instruction; and 20,820 males and 469 females as In 1883 there were schools, 293; scholars. able to read and write.
—
I
;
NASIK SUB-DIVISION AND HEADQUARTERS.
14,225.
235
There
is,
each 24
square miles.
on an average, one village with a school to There are 3 libraries and reading - rooms.
Two
vernacular newspapers were published weekly in the District in
1881-82.
The rainfall is liable to great variation according from the Ghats. The average rainfall at Nasik town during the five years ending 1881 was 29^- inches. The prevailing diseases are fever and skin affections. In 1881-82, six dispensaries afforded medical relief to 120 in-door and 41,663 out-door patients,
Medical Aspects.
to the distance
—
and 21,684 persons were vaccinated.
rate of 22-43 P^r thousand.
Vital statistics
showed a death-
[For further information regarding Nasik,
Bombay Presidency, published under Governand compiled by Mr. J. M. Campbell, C.S., vol. xvi., Nasik District (Government Central Press, Bombay, 1883). Also the Bombay Census Report {ox 1881 and the several annual Administration and Departmental Reports of the Bombay Government.] Nasik. Sub-division of Nasik District, Bombay Presidency. Area, 465 square miles, containing 2 towns and 134 villages. Population (1872) 92,177; (1881) 94,980, namely, 48,513 males and 46,467 females. Hindus numbered 85,644; Muhammadans, 5326; and
see the Gazetteer of the
ment
orders,
;
—
'others,' 4010.
Land revenue (1882), ^7940. The Sub -division is situated in the south-west
;
;
of the
;
District.
Bounded on the north by the Peint, Dindori, and Niphad on the east by Niphad and Sinnar on the south by Igatpuri and on the west by Thana District. The general character of the surface is undulating, and the west is hilly. In the Darna valley the soil is deep and rich. The Bombay-Jabalpur (Jubbulpore) Railway and the Bombay-Agra highroad traverse the Sub-division.
healthy;
the
Climate
varies,
but on the whole
is
average
rainfall,
27 inches.
Water-supply good, except near
the Godavari waters the
Sahyadris.
Besides the
Darna,
Sub-
division.
1880-81 there were 5982 holdings, with an average area of an average assessment of £.2, i6s. incidence of the land-tax, about 3s. per head. In 1880-81, of 147,649 acres
In
28 acres, paying
;
held for tillage, 24,196 acres were fallow or under grass. Of the remaining 123,453 acres, 1888 acres were twice cropped. Of 125,341 acres, the area under actual cultivation, grain crops occupied 88,131
acres;
pulses,
under brown
hemp
17,180 acres; oil-seeds, 16,974 acres; fibres, 400, all cotton is not grown ; and miscellaneous crops
—
2656
acres,
of which
1102 acres were under sugar-cane.
i civil
;
In
1883
and 4 criminal courts police circles {thdnds), 3; regular police, 87 men; village watch (chaukiddrs), 154. Chief town of Nasik District, Bombay Presidency Nasik. situated in lat. 19° 59' 45" n., and long. 73° 49' 50" e., 4 miles
the Sub-division contained
—
236
north-west
of the
iXASIK HEAD-QUARTERS.
Among
sula Railway.
Nasik road station of the Great Indian PeninHindus, Nasik is considered a spot of special About 30 miles from its source, the river interest and holiness. Godavari, flowing eastwards through a group of small hills, turns sharply
to the south, and, al'ter passing in that direction for
about a mile, again
Here, on both sides of the river, swerves suddenly towards the east. but chiefly on its right or south-eastern bank, Hes the town of Nasik.
Along the
right bank, the
town
stretches for about a mile, spreading
over three small
ings, covering
hills that rise
abruptly from the river-side.
The
build-
an area of about 2 square miles, are divided into two main parts the new town to the north and the old town to the south. Though, according to tradition, a place of extreme antiquity, the old town of Nasik is without ruins or buildings of any age. In style and
—
appearance, the houses do not differ from the
new
quarter,
little
of
which
is
more than a hundred years
old.
Panchwati, the portion of the city on the left bank of the river, in extent about one-seventh part of the whole, has several large temples
and substantial dwellings, owned and inhabited chiefly by Brahmans. Between Panchwati and the old town, the river banks are for about 400 On both yards Hned with masonry walls and flights of stone steps. sides, places of worship fringe the banks, and even the bed of the stream is thickly dotted with temples and shrines. Though the town is not walled, the streets opening on the river and leading to the southern and western suburbs are ornamented wuth gateways. The streets are for the most part narrow and crooked, and the houses, built on plinths 2 or 3 feet high, have almost all an upper floor, and most of them more than one storey. The fronts of many are rich in w^ell-carved woodwork, and the whole place has an air of wealth and comfort not to be seen in many Deccan towns. Though, since the misfortunes of Rama and Sita, Nasik has ranked among the most sacred places of Hindu pilgrimage, its early Hindu rulers do not seem to have raised the town to any position of wealth or The Musalmans made it the head-quarters of a Division, importance. and are said to have protected the town by building a fort, and to have fostered its trade, introducing the manufacture of paper and other On the rise of the Maratha power, Nasik, chosen by the industries. Peshwas as one of their capitals, increased in size and wealth. At first,
under British government, it passed through a time of depression. But of late years, the opening of railway communication and the establishment here of the head-quarters of the District, have added much to its
wealth and prosperity.
On
account of the great number of pilgrims who
visit its shrines,
the
population of Nasik varies
fixed population
much
at difterent times of the year.
The
would seem
to increase but slowly.
The
returns for
—
NASIRABAD HEAD-QUARTERS.
1850 gave a
total of 21,860,
237
of
whom
Parsi's,
;
other Hindus, 3009 Musalmans, 3
the inhabitants
6067 were Brahmans, 12,726 and 55 Christians. In 1872,
2969 number, 21,579 were Hindus, 3754 Muhammadans, 227 Jains, 1291 Christians, 80 Females numbered 12,994, and males Parsis, and 139 'others.' 14,076; the cantonment of Deolali returning 1091 females and 1878
dwelling in the cantonment of Deolali.
numbered 22,539
and
in 1881, 27,070, including
Of the
total
males.
The
industries of Nasik maintain something of their former import-
ance, although,
owing
to the competition of machinery, the
manufacture
is
of paper has greatly declined.
Neither wool nor
is
still
silk
woven
in
Nasik, but cotton hand-loom weaving
carried
and
in brass
and copper work Nasik ranks
first
on with success, among the towns of the
Bombay
day.
Presidency.
The
cotton-weavers can only earn about 6d. a
day for 20 days in the month;
women assist, and earn about iW. a and new palaces of the Peshwa accommodate the There Collector's court and the municipal and other public offices. court, a high and 8 vernacular schools, are also a subordinate judge's Besides being the head-quarters and post and telegraph offices. station of the District, the town is also the seat of the chief revenue The There are two travellers' bungalows. and police officers. municipality was established in 1864, and raised to a city municiIncome (1882-83), ;^4254; incidence of municipal pahty in 1874. The income is taxation, 3s. lid. per head within municipal limits. In chiefly drawn from octroi, a house-tax, a sanitary cess, and tolls.
The
old
hills
near Nasik are two sets of rock-cut temples
—a small
series
about
2
miles to the east,
and a
larger series about 5 miles to the west of the
town.
The climate is healthy and Nasirabad (or Maimansingh).
District,
Maimansingh
Nasirabad
(or
— Head quarters Sub -division of Bengal. See Maimansingh Sub-division. and administrative Mawmnsmgh). —
-
pleasant.
Civil station
;
head-quarters of Maimansingh District, Bengal
situated on the west bank of the Brahmaputra river (crossed here by a ferry), in lat. 24° 45' Population (1881) 10,561, namely, males 50" N., and long. 90° 26' 54" e. Muhammadans numbered 5307 Hindus and females 2938. 7623, 5180 and others,' 74. Area of town site, 960 acres. Municipal income (1871), ;£473; (1883-84), ^1056, of which ^^756 was derived from taxation; average incidence of taxation, is. 5|-d. per head of the town Nasirabad is of no great commercial importance, as the population.
;
'
;
is
Brahmaputra is only navigable by large boats during the rains nor it noted for any historical event. The only antiquities of any The town contains good English interest are two Hindu temples. and vernacular schools, and a charitable dispensary; small municipal
;
police force.
238
KASIRABAD SUB-DIVISION AND CANTONMENT.
Nasirabad.
dency.
— Sub-division
of
Khandesh
District,
Bombay
Presi-
Area, 318 square miles, containing 2 towns and 86 villages.
Population (1872) 60,109; (1881) 69,526, namely, 35,427 males and Hindus number 60,622 Muhammadans, 6725 and 34,099 females. Land revenue (1882), £^22,'^^^. 'others,' 2179.
;
;
and the Girna bound the Sub-division on and are perennial streams. The country highly cultivated. Climate is a rich black plain, most of which is In 1859-60 the survey settlehealthy; average rainfall, 307 inches. ment was introduced, and disclosed 6809 holdings, with an average
The
Tapti, the Vaghar,
east,
the north,
and
west,
incidence of land-tax,
the revenue
grass;
extent of 17 J acres, paying an average assessment of ^^2, 16s. 3d.; Of the total area of 318 7s. 8^d. per head.
square miles, 158,089 acres were returned as cultivable at the time of survey; 32,139 acres uncultivable ; 3002 acres under
and 10,403 acres of
village sites, roads, rivers,
and streams.
Of
the 158,089 acres of cultivable land, 12,761 acres were alienated lands. Of the remaining 145,328 acres, the area taken up for cultivation in
1878-79 was 119,031 acres. Grain crops occupied 72,588 acres, of which 36,427 acres were under yWr, and 21,390 under bdjra ; pulses occupied 2902 acres; oil-seeds, 6677 acres, of which 4043 were under linseed; fibres, 30,619 acres, of which 30,592 were under cotton; and
miscellaneous crops, 6145 acres. Nasirabad. Town in the Nasirabad Sub-division of Khandesh
—
District,
Bombay
Presidency
;
situated 2 miles south of Bhadli station,
on the North-Eastern Line of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, and
8 miles south-west of Bhusawal.
Lat. 20° 58' 30" n., long. 75° 41' 30"
e.
Population
(1881)
10,243, namely,
Hindus numbered 7693; The town is others,' 55. by ]\Iusalmans. There are several old mosques in the neighbourhood. Jalgaon, the head-quarters of the Sub-division, lies about 6 miles to Nasirabad was several times harried by the Bhils of the the west Satmala range before the occupation of the country by the British. In
'
114 females. Muhammadans, 2295; Jains, 200; and noted for the manufacture of glass bangles
5
5129 males and
1
80 1
it
was plundered by a freebooter named Juba, and again,
just
before the great famine of 1803, by one of the Peshwa's deputies.
After this the village wall was built by one of the Purandhari family, to
whom
in
the town was given in grant. Nasirabad. Cantonment in Ajmere-Merwara, Rajputana; situated 26° 18' 45" N., and long. 74° 47' e., on a bleak, open lat.
—
plain, sloping eastward
from the Aravalli
Hills.
Population (1881) of
2838; of town, 18,482: total, 21,320, namely, 11,462 Hindus numbered 14,843; i^Iuhammadans, males and 9858 females. Christians, 1029; Jains, 281; Parsis, 44; Jews, 73; and Sikhs, 5033; Area of town and cantonment, 8-5 square miles. The station, 17.
cantonment,
;
NASIKABAD TALUK— NASIVADI.
which was
built.
239
laid out in
1818 by Sir David Ochterlony, stretches over a
its
mile in length, and has upon
outskirts a native town, irregularly
Lines exist for a battery of Royal Artillery, a regiment of Euro-
cavalry.
pean infantry, a regiment of Native infantry, and a squadron of Native Nasirabad is garrisoned by troops of the Bombay army.
Drainage good
;
water brackish and
insufficient
in
quantity.
The
troops at Nasirabad mutinied on 28th
May
1857, but they met with no
attempting to attack Ajmere.
encouragement from the people, and marched away to Delhi without A station on the Malwa line of the Raj-
putana-Malwa State Railway. Post-office. Nasirabad. Taluk in Mehar Sub-division, Shikarpur District, Sind, Bombay Presidency, lying between 27° 17' and 27^ 33' n. lat, and 67° 34' and 68° 6' e. long. Area, 343 square miles. Population (1872) (1881) 46,278, namely, 25,163 males and 21,115 females, 33>597 Hindus dwelling in i town and 54 villages, containing 6400 houses. number 1792; Muhammadans, 40,844; and Sikhs, 3642. Gross Area assessed to land revenue, 58,629 revenue (1882), ;£"i2,5i9. acres; under actual cultivation, 49,635 acres. The taluk in 1883
—
^
contained
23 men.
2
criminal courts
;
police circles {t/idnds), 4
;
regular police,
Nasirabdd.
— Town
in
Nasirabad taluk, Shikarpur
lat.
District,
Sind,
e.,
Bombay Presidency;
situated in
27° 23' n.,
and
long. 67° 57' 30"
on the Chilo Canal, 10 miles east of Warah (the chief place in the taluk), 7 from the nearest railway station, Badra, on the Sind, Punjab, and
Delhi
line,
and 14 north-east of Mehar.
Local and
Head-quarters of a tappaddr ;
contains a staging bungalow, post-office,
and
police lines.
Population
under 2000.
transit trade in rice.
Nasirabad.
town, in
lat.
—Town
in
Salon
tahsil,
situated 14 miles north-east of Salon,
Rai Bareli District, Oudh and 16 miles from Rai Bareli
e.
26° 15' n.,
and
long. 81° 34'
namely,
Muhammadans
1815, and Hindus 1781.
Population (1881) 3596, New bazar, Govern-
ment vernacular school. Nasriganj. Town, municipal union, and police outpost station in Shahabad District, Bengal; situated in lat. 25° 3' 15" n., and long. 84" 22' 25" E., on the Koelwar-Dehri road, about half a mile from the river Son. Population (1881) 6063, namely, Hindus 4256, and Muhammadans 1807. Municipal income (1883-84), ;£"i56 average incidence of taxation, 6jd. per head of town population. The central town of the escheated Government estate of Bi'bi Maula Bakhsh. Large trade in bamboos and wood, and considerable manufacture of sugar and
—
;
paper.
Naswadi. Petty Bombay Presidency.
Estimated
revenue,
—
State of the Sindkhera
Mehwas
in
Rewa Kantha,
Area, 19J square miles, containing 27 villages. ^1000; tribute of ^£"169, 2s. is paid to the
2 40
NA TA GARH—NA THD WARA.
The
hilly
Gaekwar of Baroda.
north, but
chief
is
styled Thakur.
The Aswan
river
divides the estate into two nearly equal parts, an open plain on the
somewhat
and thickly wooded
in the soutli.
Natagarh.
Bengal.
school.
— Village
in
the District of the Twenty-four Parganas,
Manufactures of brass and iron work.
Aided vernacular
;
Nate-puta.
in
lat.
— Town
in
17° 53' 40" N.,
and
Sholapur District, Bombay Presidency situated long. 74° 47' 36" e., 42 miles north-west of
north of Sholapur town.
road,
Pandharpur, 66 miles east by north of Satara, and 78 miles west by Nate-puta is situated on the Poona-Sholapur
and
is
said to have
been founded or raised from a
village to a
market-place by Malik Sundar, a Bahmani minister (1342-1490). The weekly market is held on Wednesday, at which about ^19,500 worth
of goods are estimated to change hands annually.
About 100 looms
prepare blankets valued at ;2^5oo a year.
Dispensary.
Population (1881) 2261.
Nathdwd^ra. Town in the State of Udaipur(Oodeypore)or Meywar, Rajputana; situated 22 miles north-north-east of Udaipur city, on the right bank of the Banas. Population (1881) 8458, namely, Hindus 7906, and Muhammadans 552. Nathdwara is one of the most famous Vishnuite shrines in India, possessing the original image of Krishna which was worshipped at Muttra (Mathura). When Aurangzeb endeavoured to root out the worship of Krishna at Mathura, the Rana Raj Singh of
Udaipur, about 167 1, obtained permission to bring the renowned idol
—
Meywar; and it was escorted with vast pomp by the route of Kotah and Rampura, until at length, after entering the territory of Udaipur,
to
the chariot-wheels of the god stuck fast in a place called Siarh, in the
fief
of Dilwara.
The Rao
of Dilvvara, one of the sixteen great nobles
of Meywar, declared that by this omen Krishna had intimated his wish that this should be his residence, and immediately conferred on Nathji
(the idol) all the lands of the village
;
and the pious
gift
was subse-
quently confirmed by his overlord the Rana. Nathji was removed from his chariot ; in due time a temple was erected for his reception, and a
town of many thousands of inhabitants grew up around it, and was called Nathdwara, the portal of the Lord Krishna.' From the ridge of hills on the east, where large herds of cattle graze, to the banks of the Bands on the west, these precincts of the god have always been a sanctuary, within which no blood can be shed, no arrest made, and Rich offerings are sent here from the criminal is free from pursuit. every corner of India, and crowds of pilgrims flock to the sacred shrine. The guardians of the shrine belong to the Valabhacharya sect and the image is one of the seven famous images possessed by this division of [For further account, see Tod's Annals of the votaries of Krishna. Rdjdsthdn^ vol. i. pp. 449-459, 2nd edition; Madras, 1873.] Nathgreat
'
;
—
NA T-MA W—NA UPADA.
dwdra
is
241
to
be the terminus of a branch line of the Rajputana-Malwa
Raihvay.
Nat-maw.
Burma
;
—Village
lat.
in
Henzacla
District,
Irawadi Division, Lower
E.,
situated in
17° 34' 10" n.,
and
long. 95° 30' 30"
;
on the
of
bank of the Nat-maw stream.
houses, 147.
Population (1881) Soo
number
Nattor.
24°
E. 9'
— Sub-division
30" and 24° 48' N.
lat.,
of Rajshahi District, Bengal, lying between and between 88° 53' 15" and 89° 23' 30"
long. Area, 814 square miles; villages, 1580; houses, 83,933. Population (1881) 470,512, namely, males 228,625, ^^^ females 241,887; persons per square mile, 578; villages per square mile, 1-94; persons per village, 297 ; houses per square mile, 107 ; persons Classified according to religion, the population in per house, 5 "6.
Muhammadans, 359,523; Hindus, 110,983; and This Sub-division includes the 4 police circles {thdnds) In 1883 it contained i of Nattor, Baraigaon, Singra, and Lalpur. civil and 4 criminal courts; a regular police force of 100 men, and a
1881 consisted of
6.
—
Christians,
village
watch of
1 1
Nattor.
—The ancient
24 chattkidars.
capital of Rajshahi District,
;
and
at present the
head-quarters of Nattor Sub-division, Bengal
bank of the Narad
tion
river, in lat. 24° 25' 15" n.,
on the north and long 89' 2 21" e.
situated
Its central situation led to its
;
being
made
the early seat of administra-
but owing to
its
unhealthiness (the town being built on low marsh
land reclaimed from the river), the head-quarters have been transferred
to
Rampur Beauleah, 30
miles
;
distant.
Population (1881) 9094;
;
namely,
cipal
Muhammadans, 5368 Hindus, 3721 and 'others,' 5. Muniincome (1883-84), ^799, of which £1^0 was derived from
;
is. 7-Jd. per head of the town town clinging close around the Rajbari or palace of the Nattor Rajas, who rose into power in the earlier half of the last century, and gradually obtained possession of
taxation
average incidence of taxation,
population.
Nattor
is
a compact
almost the entire District.
fourth rank in Rajshahi.
Their estate
Benares
now
holds only the third or
Naubatpnr.
situated in
lat.
—Village
river,
in
District,
North-AVest Provinces
;
25° 14' 48" N.,
and
long. 83° 27'
40"
e.,
on the banks of
Population
the
Karamnasa
here crossed by a fine stone bridge.
(1881) 948, principally Musalmans, Brahmans, and Bhuinhars.
staging bungalow^
Bazar,
Naugaon. — A —See NowGOXG. Belgaum Naul Tirthu — Gorge See SoGAL. Ganjdm Naupada. — Town
in
in
and masonry sardi. British cantonment
in
Bundelkhand, Central India.
District,
Bombay
Presidency.
District,
Madras Presidency.
Lat. iS°
33' 30" N., long.
84' 20' 50"
E.
Population (1881) 1835; number of
VOL. X.
Q
242
houses, 389.
NAUSHAHRA TAHSIL AND TOWN.
The
is
place
is
notable for
its salt
manufacture, the annual
value of which
about
;£"
100,000.
also called
Naushahra {Nowshera ;
north of the Kabul
river,
Khalsd Khattak
ta/isll).
— Tahsil
or Sub-division of Peshawar District, Punjab, consisting of a small tract
and of a
larger tract stretching southwards from
the Kabul river to the Indus, on the Kohat border.
miles, with 121 towns
Area, 548 square
13,939 houses, and 17,510 families. Population (1881) 90,584, namely, males 52,373, and females 38,211 Classified average density of population, 165 persons per square mile.
villages,
and
;
according to religion,
the
population
consists
of
— Muhammadans,
jodi\
81,961; Hindus, 7005; Sikhs, 568; and Christians, 1050. The total average area of cultivated land for the five years 1877-78 to 1881-82,
is
returned at
in
:
square miles, or 70,853 acres, the principal crops
being the following
— Wheat, 30,353 acres;
The
tahsil
barley, 22,382 acres
tahsil^
;
3684 acres
;
and
cotton, 963 acres.
Revenue of the
The
and
administrative staff consists of a tahsilddi\
I
who
£i^^1S' presides over i civil
divided into 4 police circles {thduds)^ with a regular police force of 57 men, and a rural police or village watch of 156 chaukiddrs.
criminal court.
h
Naushahra {N'o7i'she?-a). Town, cantonment, and civil station in Peshawar District, Punjab, and head - quarters of the Naushahra or Khalsa Khattak tahsil; situated in lat. 33° 59' 50" n., long. 72° i' 45" e., on the right bank of the Kabul river, 27 miles east of Peshawar city, 19 The canmiles west of Attock, and 15 miles south of Hoti Mardan. tonment lies in a small sandy plain, 3 miles in width surrounded on the east, south, and west by hills, but open on the north toward the Kabul river. There are lines for a British regiment, a regiment of Native cavalry, and another of Native infantry. Bdzdr, police station, Protestant and Roman sardi, post - office and telegraph offices There are two towns of Naushahra, the native Catholic churches. town being on the left bank of the river, about 2 miles above the cantonment, and connected with it by a bridge of boats, \vhich is A first-class staging bungalow is maintained all the year round. situated close to the bridge of boats, and in the cantonment is a station The drainage is effectively of the Punjab Northern State Railway. performed by means of natural ravines, and a good and wholesome water-supply is obtained from the river, as w^ll as from wells. Population of Naushahra cantonment (1881) 5473, namely, males 4345, The native town of Naushahra, on the opposite and females 11 28.
; ;
—
bank
males
of the river, contains (1881) a separate population of 8090, namely,
cantonment and composed Muhammadans, 9032; Hindus, 2820; Sikhs, 93; and as follows: The native town others' (almost exclusively European trooj^sj, 1018.
3879,
and females
361
1.
Including
the
native town, Naushahra contains a total population of 12,963,
—
*
—
NAUSHAHRA TOWN—NAUSHAHRO.
of Naushahra
is
243
picturesquely situated, and
is
a prosperous agricultural
centre, with extensive lands irrigated
from
wells,
and a good GovernPunjab.
See
ment
school.
Naushahra
{Noivshera).
—Town
in
Hazara
District,
Nawashahr. Sub-division of Haidarabad (Hyderabad) District, Naushahro. Sind, Bombay Presidency; situated between lat. 26° i' 30" and 27° 15'
—
N.,
and between
long. 67° 51'
and 68^
54' e.
Area, 2939 square miles.
Bounded on the Population (1872) 219,596; (1881) 197,149 persons. west by the Indus on the east and north-east by Khairpui north and State and Thar and Parkar District ; and on the south by Hala Sub;
division.
Physical Aspects.
— Naushahro consists of a wide
chief are
alluvial plain, stretch-
ing from north to south, broken only by the forest lands bordering the
Indus.
The
irrigation
main
feeders.
The
system comprises 98 canals, of which 22 are the Mahrab, 36 miles long the Dadwah,
—
;
32! miles long, which taps the Indus at Mithani, and tails off at Yard Dahri the Nasrat, 30 miles long, tapping the Indus in Mohbat Dero the Ali-bahar Kacheri, 30 miles long, tapping the Indus at forest The Nasrat was dug during Nakiir and the Bagwah, 27^ miles long. the rule of Niir Muhammad Kalhora, and opened out from a dhandh near Gulshah, a fact which tends to show that the Indus formerly
;
;
;
extended farther eastward, the old bed being still traceable at places. Game and fish are abundant. The forests of this Sub-division, some of which are very extensive, are 13 in number, and cover a total area of
75,269 acres, yielding in 1S73-74 a revenue of ^6147, in 1878 of The decrease in the last year was ;^io,595, and in 1880 of ^4818. due to the abolition of the Indus flotilla, which had been a large
consumer of
History.
fuel.
—The
early history of
itself.
Naushahro cannot be separated from
that of the Province
On
the division of Sind
among
the Talpur
chiefs after the decisive battle of
Shahpur in 1786, when Abdul Nabi Kalhora was defeated by IMirs Fateh Ali and Rustam Khan, \\\, 21,764 acres; Indian corn,
17,370 acres; gram, 6086 acres;
sugar-cane,
tahsi/,
7fioth,
6012 acres; barley, 5266 acres;
301
1
8766 acres;
and
cotton,
is
acres.
Revenue of
the
^30,741.
The
administration
in the
hands of a tahsilddr and
2 minisifs,
who
preside over
;
police circles {thdnds), 2
i criminal and 3 civil courts ; strength of regular police force, 61
number
of
men
;
with
a village watch or rural police of 316 chaukiddrs. Nawashahr.— Town and municipality in Jalandhar District, Punjab, and head-quarters of Nawashahr tahsil. Lat. 31° 7' 30" n., long. 76°
9'
of the
Founded by Nausher Khan, an Afghan, during the reign Population (1881) 4960; namely, Hindus, Emperor Babar. Number of houses, 2891; Muhammadans, 1978; and Sikhs, 91. Municipal income (1883-84), ^184, or an average of 9d. per 328. Nawashahr is a thriving town, with paved streets and substanhead. It carries on a large trade in sugar, and a considerbuilt houses. tially The public able manufacture in hiiigis and other cotton goods. buildings consist of the usual tahsili courts and offices, post-office, middle school and girls' school, and sardi or native inn. Town and municipality in Abbottabad tahsil^ Nawashahr. Hazara District, Punjab; situated in lat. 34° 10' n., and long. 73° 18'
30"
E.
—
town.
on the road to Thandiani, about 3^ miles east of Abbottabad Population (1881) 4307; namely, Muhammadans 3251, and Hindus 1056. Number of houses, 768. Municipal income (1883-84),
45"
E.,
Khattri local traders, allied ;£i57, or an average of 8|d. per head. with those of Balakot, carry on a brisk business in salt from the Jehlam mines, and in English piece-goods, which are exported to
;
NA IVJBANDAR—NA YA-D UMKA.
Muzaffarabcid
255
and
Kashmir,
in
whence
large
quantities
of
glii
are
imported.
Nawibandar.
in lat. 21° 26' N.,
— Port
and
Kdthiawdr,
E.,
Bombay
Presidency
;
situated
long. 69° 50'
18 miles south-east of Porbandar,
and 15 north-west of Mahadeopur, on the south-west coast, at the mouth of the river Bhadar, which during the monsoon is navigable by
boats for about 18 miles.
the
The
is
port
is
available only for small craft, as
difficult
mouth of
the river
shallow and rocky and
of access.
The trade of the town Population, 1343 in 1872, and 1069 in 1881. is diminishing owing to the effects of the railway on the import trade in
tiniber,
which had
its
centre here.
Imports
in
1881
— ^4126;
exports,
^3920. Imports in 1882-83—^3258; exports, £\l^o. Na-win. River in Prome District, Pegu Division, Lower Burma formed by the junction of two streams, known as the North and South The north Na-win rises in the Pegu Yoma range to the Na-win. north of the Pa-dauk spur, and flows down a narrow rocky valley
—
opening on the plains.
is
From
it
its
source to Sin-won village,
till
its
course
north-west
;
thence
runs west and south-west
it
joins the South
The South Na-win also Pegu Yomas immediately south of the Pa-dauk spur, which forms the watershed between these two streams up to their union at its As far as the mouth of the Tin-gyi, a stream south-west extremity. draining a long and somewhat bell-shaped valley, and joining the South
Na-win, a mile south of Alyo-ma village.
the
rises in
Na-win near
Yat-thit, the
river has a south-westerly course,
down
fall
a gorge and fed by mountain torrents.
the Irawadi (Irrawaddy), in
E.,
Thence
49'
it
winding debouches on
n.,
the plains, and, after a short north-west course, turns south-west to
into
18'
lat.
18°
30"
and
long.
95°
near the town
its
of Prome.
The
chief affluents of the
Na-win, after
junction with the South Na-win, are the Kauk-gway,
Law-thaw, and Thit-gyi.
are dry
;
In the hot season, nearly
all
these streams
but during the rains they bring
down
vast volumes of water,
the drainage of an area of about 700 square miles finding its way out by means of the Na-win. These feeders are only navigable by small craft for a short time in the year. The Na-win is now mainly used as a channel for floating down the valuable timber from the forests on the
One of the chief channels by which the Padma or main stream of the Ganges now discharges its waters into the estuary of the Meghna. The Naya Bagni is south of the Kirtinasa, and within
the jurisdiction of Bakarganj District.
Yoma range. Naya Bagni.
—
Naya-Dumka
N.
lat.,
(or
Dumkd).
— Head-quarters
and 87°
Sub-division
23° 48'
of
the
50'
Santal Pargands District, Bengal, lying between
and 24°
Area,
and between 86°
30' 30"
villages,
58' e. long.
1426
square miles;
number of
2909; houses, 51,545.
Population
—
256
NAYA-DUMKA HEAD-QUARTERS— NAYAGARH.
Classi(1881) 363,186, namely, males 182,390, and females 180,796. Hindus, 187,198; were in 1881 fied according to religion, there
—
1208; Buddhists, 132; Muhammadans, 8603 54; non- Hindu aborigines, 165,991, of whom 155,854 were Santals, 3346 Kols, and 6791 other tribes or unspecified. Average number
;
Sikhs,
Christians,
of persons per square mile,
2547;
villages per
square mile, 2*04;
persons
per village,
7.
per house,
The
37*5; persons Sub-division consists of the single police circle of
125; houses
it
per
square mile,
Naya-Dumka.
chaukiddrs.
In 1883-84
contained
5
magisterial
and revenue
courts, a general police force
of 26 men, and a village watch of 703
Naya-Dumka
Bengal.
Lat.
(or
Dumka).
— Administrative
and
also of
head-quarters of the
Sub-division,
is
District of the Santal Parganas,
Naya-Dumka
e.
24° 16' n., long.
87° 17' 30"
It is
Dumka
one of the
oldest British stations in Bengal.
as
'
shown on the map of 1769
jurisdiction.
Dumcaw,' and was then a post of ghdtiudli police in the Birbhiim In 1795, Dumka was transferred to Bhagalpur, and was made the site of one of the four Kohistani police thdnds for the regulaThe name frequently occurs in the old tion of the Rajmahal Hills. correspondence as Dumkah or Doomka, till 1855, when it was first
called
Naya-Dumka by
the officer
commanding
a detachment of troops
is
stationed here during the
called by the latter
Santal rebellion.
It
only occasionally
is
name now, and
In 1855,
the present station
on the
site
of
the old
^/^^//year 1291 (1881-82) exhibit the the District from the fiscal point of view.
estates,
Excluding the zaminddri
available,
concerning which
villages
the area of the Government Of square miles, or about one-half the total area of the District. thi?, 3159 square miles were assessed for revenue, leaving 1330 square miles of cultivable and 1655 square miles of uncultivable waste.
no statistics are amounted to 4628
The
total assessment, levied
on the occupied
area,
was
at the
average rate of 5s. (including double crop lands) was 1,068,025 acres, of which 984,661 acres, or 92 per cent., were occupied by food-grains, including pulses.
per cultivated acre.
The
;£'2 28,899, being area under crops
The
area under each of the principal crops
is
thus given in detail
:
Rice, 234,763 acres; cholam ox jonna, 317,409; ragi, 36,501; varagu or allu, 187,059; kamhu or sujjalu, 61,002; maize, 5260; oil-seeds,
wheat,
1992; indigo, 46,875; tobacco, 3813; cotton, 15,830; chillies, 4586 130; cheyroot and other dyes, 160 acres. In the same year
:
;
(1881-82), the average rates of rent per acre for land suited for the inferior grains, Rice, iis. 8d. various crops was returned as follows The average produce per acre cotton, 2s. 8d. indigo, 6s. 3d. 4s. 4d.
—
;
;
;
^vas— rice, 2183
82
lbs.
The
indigo, 35 lbs. ; cotton, lbs. ; inferior grains, 920 lbs. average prices of produce in 1881-82 per i7iau7id of 80
;
NELLORE,
lbs.
267
focd-grains,
2s.;
were
—
rice,
4?.
;
wheat,
6s.;
inferior
indigo,
daily
£\^,
Of
8s.; cotton,
£\,
8s.; salt, 6s;
and
sugar,
rates of
wnges were
—
£\,
los.
The
the
for skilled labour, is.; for unskilled labour, 4d.
recent years there has been an
upward tendency
is
in
rate
of
wages.
The
Penner
irrigation of
Nellore
chief
District
is
not comprehended
under a
the
single system.
The
work
the anicut {anakatte) across
river near Nellore town, constructed in
tion for the lands lying
in length,
on the south bank.
1854 to provide irrigaThis anicut is 677 yards
and during the flood of 30th November 1882, the highest on record, had 19 feet 2 inches of water, in depth, passing over its crest. Up to 1880-81, the total amount of capital expended on this undertaking has been ^174,174; the gross income in that year was ;^ 1 4, 5 9 2, which, after deducting cost of repairs, etc., and interest on
The total capital at the rate of 5 per cent., left a net profit of ^4000Another anicut net income from this work up to 1881-82 was ^27,500.
now (1884) being constructed higher up the Penner, which will The other Government provide irrigation for lands north of the river. irrigation works comprise 665 tanks, 84 river channels, 25 spring
is
channels, 83 anicuts,
District, Kanigiri
and 671 wells. Among first-class tanks in the and AUiir in the Nellore fdluk, and Anantasagaram
Atmakiir tdhck, deserve mention.
In 1881-82, the
and Kalavya
total irrigated
in the
area was returned at 199,193 acres, yielding an assessment
of ^73,918, the total amount expended by Government on irrigation In addition, irrigation is everywhere conducted on being ^8239.
private account, chiefly from wells, tanks,
Cattle,
— The
goats,
;
live-stock returns in
and spring channels. 1882-83 ^^'^re as follows:
— Cattle,
121,227; sheep, 216,934; donkeys, 14,850; horses 252,110; Dead-stock— ploughs, 66,047; and ponies, 1015 and pigs, 12,859. and boats, 78. Nellore is famous for its breed of cattle, carts, 13,614 which are largely exported to neighbouring Districts. Historically, it is
;
said that the farmers devoted themselves to cattle-breeding, in despair
of obtaining remunerative
returns
from agriculture.
The
Nellore
bullocks are found in greatest perfection in the northern tdliiks borderThe value of a good bull ranges from £-] to ing on Kistna District.
;£2o.
January.
west.
An
annual cattle show is held at the village of Addanki in Sheep and goats are chiefly found in the barren taluks in the
The chief range of forest country in Nellore District lies Forests. along the Veligonda Hills, on the eastern slopes of the range in the In these forests taluks of Rapur, Atmakiir, Udayagiri, and Kanigiri.
the red sanders tree (Pterocarpus santalinus) occurs, as well as
—
Hardmarsupium, and teak, wath other valuable wickia binata, Pterocarpus kinds. It is proposed to bring them into the class of reserved
268
forests.
NELLORE.
The
isolated hill ranges at Udayagiri, Kanigiri,
and Chima-
kurti,
The have also been proposed, and a settlement is in progress. next in importance of the forests of Nellore District is that of This forest has long been worked Sriharikota island in Pulikat lake.
for the supply of fuel for the
Madras market.
The
chief trees are
Eugenia Jambolana, Pterospermum suberifolium, and Strychnos Nuxvomica. Soap-nuts are also found and tamarind trees in great numbers. Minor produce, such as tamarind, strychnine seeds, and the dye plants, Odenlandia umbellata and Ventilago Madraspatana, are largely exported. In the Canes, the produce of Calamus rotang, are also sent to Madras. plain taluks the forests consist of scrub jungle, some of which are in good growth and valuable for fuel and poles and the small wood most
necessary for native use.
plantations,
Very important also are the Casuarina 2000 acres of land on the sand Recent dunes of the sea-coast, and are now coming into working. investigations show that these plantations make annually an increment of about 4I tons per acre up to eight years of age, and
which
cover about
that
about
5000 tons may yearly be made
available.
A
number
of palmyra plantations and one of cocoa-nut have been made, while many groves have been planted about the District. In some groves
the
cashew
-
nut
(Anacardium occidentale)
is
grown
;
the
nuts are
exported.
Natural Calamities, Nellore, with a scanty rainfall and inadequate means of irrigation, has always been exposed to the calamities of nature. Drought is the most common and also the most terrible disaster, but floods of the Penner river and storms on the seaboard also contribute
to depress agriculture.
—
The
years of actual famine since the annexa-
tion in 1801, were 1S06-7, 1829-30, 1832-33, 1836-37,
and 1876-78. In 1804, 1852, 1874, and 1882, sudden inundations of the Penner and destructive storms are recorded in caused wide-spread damage 1820 and 1857. The recent famine of 1876-78 was felt in Nellore with special severity, for the District had scarcely recovered from the floods
;
of 1874.
There was an almost entire failure of crops. The only tracts which realized any harvest were the northern taluks of Ongole, the
za7fwiddri of Venkatagiri, and a few favoured villages along the seacoast and in the south. By March 1877, no less than 37 per cent, of
the cultivated land was thrown out of cultivation.
At the same
date,
the area under indigo had decreased from 57,000 to 20,000 acres, and In August of that year, 191,502 persons 60,000 cattle had perished.
were in receipt of relief, or 13 '92 per cent, of the total population. The distress was aggravated by the absence of all railway communication. The indigo cultivation is now recovering, and in 1882-83 there
were over 48,000 acres under this crop. Manufactures and Trade. In former times, Nellore was celebrated
—
NELLORE.
for its textile
269
poi-es'
fabrics. A speciality was the weaving of 'blue salamwhich found a ready market among the negroes in the West Indies. No cotton goods are now exported, but spinning and weaving for local consumption is still carried on in many villages. The total number of looms in 1881-82 was returned at 8825, and their estimated consumption was 391,648 lbs. of cotton; the total value of their produce was £2'],6()T,. At the village of Koviir near Nellore town, fine shirtings and pocket-handkerchiefs can still be obtained to order on a limited scale. Other industries are the weaving of hempen cloth,
dyeing, the
making of
vessels of brass,
copper, and bell-metal; the
;
carving of images, pillars, and cart-wheels from stone
boat-building.
mat-making and
These are carried on only on a small
scale.
The
trade of the District has considerably decreased since the time
before the opening of the railway,
the interior
when it formed the high-road between and the sea-coast. In those days the cotton of Cuddapah and Karniil (Kurnool) was brought down on pack-bullocks to be exchanged
for the salt of Nellore.
The
on
sea-borne trade,
in coasting craft,
now
confined almost
entirely to grain,
is
carried
ships used to Cc^rry salt to Bengal.
In
though formerly large 1881-82 the total value of
amounted to ^13,211; namely, merchandise, ^13,071, and treasure, ^140. The imports were valued at ^1502, consisting
the exports
purely of merchandise.
years ending
The average annual
value of exports for five
1883-84 was ^17,423; and of imports, ^2982. In 1883-84 the value of exports was ^24,797— the chief items being grain, bones, and seeds imports, ^866— chiefly rice, black gram, and tobacco. The two principal ports are Kottapatam and Itamukkula,
;
both in the extreme north of the District.
manufactured almost entirely by natives, in accordas the Bengal system, is sent by land and by the Buckinghan Canal to Madras to the amount of about 800,000 lbs. a
is
Indigo, which
ance with what
is
known
year.
Of
manufacture of
is
recent years, there has been a considerable decrease in the salt, owing to the circumstance that the foreign demand
now supplied from other quarters. In 1880-81, the total quantity made was 605,691 maiuids, or 22,172 tons, valued at ^"62,780; of
which 240,697 viaimds, or 881 1 tons, were exported by sea, and 338,521 viaujids, or 12,392 tons, were despatched inland. In 1882-83, the total quantity made was 541,174 viaimds, or 19,880 tons, valued at ;£io8,235 of which none was exported by sea, but 234,864 man mis
;
were despatched inland.
There is no railway in the District, but one has been commenced which is to run from Tirupati (Tripatty) station on the north-west line of Madras Railway to Nellore town. The chief means of land communication
is
the Great Northern
Trunk Road, which runs
parallel with the
coast through the whole length of the District.
A branch
known
as the
—
270
NELLORE,
Dorenal road, leading to Cuddapah, strikes off from Nellore town, while The Krishnaanother branch leads from Ongole to Haidarabad. patam road connects Nellore town with the Buckingham Canal, which The for at least nine months of the year is in good working order.
canal connects the District with Kistna in the north, and with Madras
in the south.
Admuiistration.
District
— In
to
;
1883-84,
the
total
net
revenue of Nellore
:
amounted
^401,294, derived from the following sources
excise, ^13,036; licence tax, salt, ^120,884; Land, ;£" 2 50,464 ;^i773; stamps, ^15,137- The total expenditure in the same year Land-tax, ;£i8,774; was ;2{^54,26[, under the following heads: justice, 6777; police, 13,812; provincial, ;^325c; salt, ^11,648. The District was first ceded to the British in 1801 and for the ten
—
;
years ending 18 10, the gross revenue averaged ;£"i8i,572, so that
it
has
more than doubled
since that time.
officers
In 1883-84 the police force numbered 11 76
tained at a total cost of ;£"i3,8i2.
to every 7
These
figures
and men, mainshow i poUceman
being
;£'i, los.
square miles and every 1037 of the population, the cost 7jd. per square mile, and 2jd. per head of population.
jail
i
The
Nellore
prisoners, being
contained in 1883 a daily average number of 124 prisoner always in jail to every 9839 of the District
population.
In 1870 there were in Nellore District only 246 schools, attended by 5178 pupils. The educational statistics for 1883-84 show a total of 440 schools, attended by 11,000 pupils, being 1 school to every 20 square miles, and 9 pupils to every thousand of the population. The Census of 1881 disclosed 13,048 as under instruction, of whom 810 were girls; besides 52,382 not under instruction but able to read The chief educational inand write, of whom 2681 were females. stitutions are the Free Church Mission school, and the Hindu Anglovernacular higher class school, in Nellore town, both assisted by
grants-in-aid.
Sixteen students passed the matriculation examination
from them
are, the
;
Ongole and Kandakur.
In the District the more important schools Government middle class, and the Baptist Mission School at and local fund middle-class schools at Venkatagiri, Naidupet,
in
1880-81.
The language spoken
ture.
in
Nellore
it
is
Telugu; and local tradition
litera-
claims for the District that
is
the head-quarters of Telugu
enumerated of 33 Nellore poets, including some who The petty chieftains have always prided themselves are still alive. upon their patronage of letters ; and some of them possess old libraries. The most famous Nellore authors are Thikana Somayajulu, who translated the Mahdbhdrata from Sanskrit into Telugu, and
list is is
A
said to have flourished in the 12th century; Molla, a poetess con-
NELLORE TALUK.
271
temporary with the preceding, who translated the Rdmdyana ; and Alasani Peddana, the poet-laureate at the court of Raja Krishna Devardyalu (1509-30), whose reign is regarded as the Augustan era of Telugu There is one printing-i)ress in the District, at which the ])oetry.
Nellore Gazette
is
published monthly
Medical Aspects.
as
— The
in
English and Telugu.
is
climate
of Nellore
to
generally
regarded
no sudden changes of The most trying season for Europeans is the period from temperature. April to June, when the westerly wind blows from the inland plateau. The monthly mean temperature varies from about 74° F. in December to 90° in May. The District receives its rainfall from both the north-east and the south-west monsoons, the former predominating in the north, and The average annual rainfall for six years ending the latter in the south. was returned at 36*4 inches, of which 22-15 inches were 1875
dry and
salubrious,
being
subject
brought by the north-east or early, and 14-32 inches by the south-west
or
rainy
monsoon. The rainfall in 1882-83 was 33-6 inches. The months are June and July, October, November, and December. In the famine year of 1876-77 both monsoons failed; and the total rainfall amounted to only 12-32 inches, or a deficiency of 21-15 inches. In 1882, however, between May and December, 48 inches were gauged
late,
at Nellore.
The
principal diseases are intermittent fever of a mild type, chronic
'
rheumatism, leprosy, elephantiasis or
of the foot
Cochin-leg,' the curious affection
Morbus entophyticus pedis, cancer of the face, and guinea-worm. Diarrhoea and dysentery are common, and both cholera and small-pox often make their appearance in an epidemic form. The
known
as
dispensary at Nellore town was attended in 1880-81 by 396 in-door and 12,762 out-door patients. Total number of persons vaccinated
(1880), 13,073; total cost,
^718.
Nellore District, see
Boswell, C.S. (Madras
Manual of
the Nellore District^
[For further information regarding by Mr. J. A. C.
Government Press, 1873). Also the Settlement Report of Nellore District, by Mr. C. Rundall, 1870 ; the Madras Census Report {qx 1881 ; and the several annual Administration and Departmental Reports of the Madras Government.]
Nellore.
sidency.
— rdluk
or
Sub-division of Nellore District, ]^Iadras Pre-
Area, 638 square miles.
Population (1881) 163,740, namely,
Hindus numbered 150,708; Muhammadans, 11,894; Christians, 1121; and 'others,' 17. The taluk In Nellore contains i town and 151 villages, with 33,975 houses.
81,167 niales and 82,573 females.
taluk there
is
comparatively
little
jungle
in
;
there
is
litde cultivation in
the eastern villages, but a
good deal
the western.
Two
supplying
channels from the south side of the Nellore anicut, with
numerous
feeders to the different tanks, bring a large area of rice land under cultivation. All land that can be irrigated is being rapidly taken up,
;
272
NELLORE TOWN,
cultivators
is
and the prosperity of the
the south the ground
is
yearly increasing.
Towards
high and covered with
the
quantities of laterite are quarried in
Large neighbourhood of Nellore
brushwood.
In 1883 town, and used for building and for the repairs of roads. were 2 civil and 5 criminal courts (including head-quarters Total courts); police circles {tJuUids), 14; regular police, 270 men.
there
revenue, ^54,676.
Nellore {Nelluru;
thiis
Nelii-urit, the village of the nelli tree,
Phyllan-
Embika).—C\\\d town of Nellore
lat.
District,
i'
^ladras Presidency
situated in
14° 26' 38" n., long. 80°
27"
e.,
on the
right
bank of
Population (1881) 27,505, the Penner, 107 miles north of Madras. males and 14,148 females; number of houses, namely, 13,357 Of the population, 22,128 are Hindus, 4672 T^Iuhammadans, 5800.
of which
700 Christians, and 5 'others.' jMunicipal income (1882-83), ^3611, ^2254 was derived from taxation; average incidence of taxaNellore town, which
is
tion, IS. 6|d.
traditionally said to be situated in the
famous
Dandaka Aranyam, is of considerable antiquity. Its ancient name was Smhapur (' lion city ') later it was called Durgametta, a name which survives in one of its suburbs. It was held by the Venkatagiri zaminddrs till the Musalman period, and in 1750 formed
\vilderness
;
2i
faiijddn of Arcot.
In 1752 the town was seized by a freebooter
twelve
the
governor, revolted
named Muhanmiad Komal, who was captured and executed
months
town.
later.
Najib-ulla,
English forces under Forde assisted in an The Marathas and the French both visited Nellore in 1758. The latter were received as friends ; but on the raising of the siege of
1757, and the unsuccessful siege of the
in
Fort Saint George in the same year, Najib-ulla murdered all the French soldiers in the town save one, and gave in his submission to the
English.
In 1787, while a peasant was ploughing near the town, he struck
upon the remains of a Hindu temple, beneath which was found a pot About thirty of these were saved ,from the containing gold coins. melting pot, and they proved to be Roman au7'ei of the 2nd century chiefly bearing the names of Trajan, Hadrian, and Faustina. A.D. Some were beautifully fresh, but others were worn and perforated, as if When the anient across they had been used as personal ornaments. the Penner was being constructed, the workmen engaged in excavating a bed of laterite found several coffins, apparently of burnt clay, embedded in quartz. Some of these coffins contained more than one body each and when at first seen, the bodies were in a perfect state of There were also preservation, although they quickly crumbled to dust. found with them spear-heads and other implements. The town of Nellore is tolerably clean and airy. The houses
;
;
NEO DHURA—XEOriXL
are irregularly built, but there are
273
occupied by the Municipal
some good
streets
wealthier
inhabitants.
in 1865,
Since
the
establishment of the
Commission
patent sanitary defects.
much has been done towards removing the most The houses of the European residents are on
bank of a
large tank,
the south of the town, along the
side
on the
farther
of which
rises
the
temple-crowned
hill
of Narasinha
;
Konda.
The
offices of the Collector are in the old fort
opposite stands the
police office,
which was formerly a range of barracks. The hospital, built in 1S50 by public subscription and Government grant, is now under Other charitable the control and management of the municipality. institutions include the langarkhdnd^ or poorhouse for natives, which and the European Poor receives an annual Government grant of £2C)4 Fund, supported by voluntary subscriptions, which distributes about jQ^o
;
a year in grants to European vagrants.
Christ's
Church was
built in
1854-66 at a total cost for material of ^450, convict labour being It is in the Gothic style of architecture, with given by Government. The old there are sittings for 128 persons. a chancel and two aisles cemetery has about 160 tombs, the oldest of which dates back to 1785, Among educational establishments are a school for European and Eurasian children ; a large boys' school and a girls' school under the
;
charge of the Free Church of Scotland
girls
;
and schools
for
boys and
conducted by the American Baptist Mission. Nellore town is connected with ^Madras by the Northern Trunk and with Road, and also by the newly opened Buckingham Canal A railway the Madras Railway at Renugunta station, distant 70 miles. is now under construction which will connect Nellore with Tirupati (Tripatty) station on the north-west line of the Madras Railway.
;
Neo Dhura
western Tibet;
(also called Ra?igbida?ig).
— Pass
in
Kumaun
e.,
District,
North-Western Provinces, over the Himalayas into Hundes or Southlies in lat.
30° 29'
n.,
and
long. 80° 37'
at the
head
:^Iuch frequented by Bhutias of Dharma, who of the Dhauli river. carry on a brisk trade with Hundes by means of pack-sheep and goats. They export grain, broad-cloth, cotton, hardware, and manufactured
goods generally, bringing back in return Elevation above sea-level, about 15,000
salt,
gold-dust, borax,
and wool.
feet.
;
situated on the right Neotini. Town in Unao District, Oudh bank of the Sai, 2 miles south-west of Mohan. The town is said to have been founded by a Dikhit, Raja Ram, who on a hunting expedition saw the spot, and, attracted by its beauty, cut away some of the thin grass that grew there, and founded a town which he called Neotini. An old dih in the place is still assigned as the site of his fort. It was held by the Dikhits till the time of Raja Apre, who was driven out in
—
the time of
Mahmiid of Ghazni by an army headed by Mi'ran Muhammad and Zahfr-ud-din, Avhose descendants still live here. A prosperous little
VOL. X.
s
274
NEPAL,
The town, with a population in i8Si of 3320 persons. around the town is extremely rich, and well cultivated with crops of pan creepers, poppy, vegetables, spices, and medicinal herbs.
Muhammadan
soil
Government school. Nepal. Independent kingdom, included in tlie southern ranges of the Himalayas, beyond the northern boundary of British India. Nepal, as independent territory, is beyond the strict scope of this book, but some account of it may be expected in The Imperial Gazetteer of India. It would be unsuitable, however, that any appearance of
—
official
authority
should attach to
this
account of a purely foreign
is
State.
To
prevent such a misapprehension, this article
confined to
:
materials already before the public, the chief of which are
— Colonel
been also largely used for the purposes of this article. Alterahave been made with a view to bringing the facts up to date. The great authority on Nepal is Mr. Brian Houghton Hodgson of the Bengal Civil Service, who was for long Resident at Khatmandu.
tions
history, ethnology,
past,
—has
and Dr. Buchanan's narratives Sir C. U. Aitchison's Treaties and Engagements ; and the essays of Mr. Brian Houghton Hodgson. With the kind permission of Messrs. A. & C. Black, the the ablest concise article on Nepal in the Encyclopcedia Britannica account of the country which has yet been made available to the public
Kirkpatrick's
;
—
Mr. Hodgson's works form a rich treasure-house with regard to the and languages of the country; its government in the
and
its
capabilities in the future.
A
tion of the ancient history of the country
volume containing a translaby two native Pandits from
Daniel Wright,
late
the Parbatiyd^
with
an
at
introduction
by Dr.
Residency Surgeon
University Press in
Khatmandu, published by the Cambridge 1877, and historical and descriptive sketches by
Oldfield, also for
in recent years.
Henry Ambrose mandu, are available
Dr.
many
Sir
years surgeon at Khat-
Joseph Hooker and the
valuable information with
brothers Schlagentweit have furnished
much
regard to the physical features and natural products of the Southern Himalayas the region of which Nepal forms the largest territorial
—
division.
Boundaries.
It
— The
northern boundary of Nepal marches with Tibet.
rims along elevated regions, which are for the most part desolate
and uninhabited.
absence of any
This circumstance
probably accounts
for
the
between the two countries. On the west, the Kali or Sarda river separates Nepal from the British Province of Kumaun on the south-west and south the British Districts of Pilibhit, Kheri, Bahraich, Gonda, Basti, Gorakhpur, Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Darbhangah, Bhdgalpur, and Purniah constitute the boundary, the line of frontier running through the plains at a varying
scientifically defined frontier
;
distance (up to about 30 miles) from the foot of the Himalayas, except
1
:
NEPAL.
in
275
the cases of the
hills
is
Dundwa
hills
of the
the boundary,
above l^astern Oudh, where the skirt and of the Sumesar hills, above northhills is
western Champaran, where the watershed of the
the boundary.
On
the east,
Nepal
hill
is
bounded by the Mechi
river,
the
Singatha
ridge,
and the
principality of Sikkim.
Strictly speaking, the
name
But
Nepal applies only to the valley in which
throughout
for the
this
Khatmandu
is
situated.
account, the word
is
taken to represent the kingdom
which the dominant race of Giirkhalis has been gradually establishing,
most part within the period of British rule in India, to the south of the Himalayan watershed, and between the rivers Sarda and
Mechha. Nepal
80°
6'
lies,
the extremes of north latitude 26° 25'
with an inclination from north-west to south-east, between and 30' 17', and of east longitude
14'.
and 88°
Its
greatest length
breadth varies from 70 to 150 miles. puted at about 54,000 square miles.
ranges from the British Government's
there has never
arbitrary,
The miles. is about 512 The total area has been comThe estimate of population
assumed
total of
2,000,000 to
the Nepalese Darbar's higher figure of from 5,200,000 to 5,600,000.
As
been a Census of the country, both estimates are
although there are reasons for supposing the British figures to
be nearer the truth.
The
chief administrative divisions are:
— In
the hills: Baitari, Doti
and Acham, Tumla, Satiana, Dhang and Deskhm, Palpa and Pokhra, Gurkha and Khatmandu, Sindhulia, Dhankuta, Ham. In the Tarai Naya Mulk ('new territory,' ceded in i860), Batwal, Newalpur and Chitawan, Bursa Bara and Rotahat, Sirlahi and Mihtari, Suptari, and Murang. With scarcely an exception, these Districts are governed by
Gurkhali
officers.
Aspect of the Country.
—The surface of Nepal
is
extremely diversified.
'
summits is Mount Everest (in the vernacular DudhGangd,' i.e. the Ganges of Milk), which, with an elevation of 29,002 feet, is the highest known summit of the globe, whilst almost the whole mountain system along which the northern boundary runs is at or All the most prominent peaks or above the level of perpetual snow.
Among
its
lofty
groups of peaks stand in advance,
great river of Tibet,
or, in
other words, to the south of the
elevated ground which forms the southern watershed of the Sanpu, or
and which is, so to speak, the backbone of the mountain barrier between Tibet and India. The peaks are connected with the watershed; and from them ridges with dependent spurs project, which serve as lateral barriers to the three great river basins of the Kurnali, the Gandak, and the Kosi. These basins have a southward slope, being broad at the top where they leave the southern watershed of the Sanpu, and gradually contracting like a fan from its
rim to the handle.
The
similar slope of the
huge ridges of Api,
2
76
NEPAL.
offshoots,
and
and Kanchanjanga, and their numerous spurs which overrule the effects of all other intervening inequalities of surface, however vast, cause the several groups of mountain streams between them to converge until they unite and constitute the three main rivers mentioned above. The valley of Khatmandu is drained by the comparatively small stream of the Bagmati, which rises on the northern face of the hills The drainage of the Tarai is for overlooking the capital on the north. In this intimately connected the most part of purely local origin. system of mountains and rivers are found at greatly differing elevations the considerable valleys of Sumla, Khatmandu, Pokhra, Dhang, Deskhm, and Chitawan. Otherwise, so far as is known, the hill country is close and confined, abounding in narrow and deep tortuous valleys,
Diwalagiri, Gosainthan,
in section like a V.
The
average elevation of the valley of Khatmandu,
is
measured by the barometer,
egg shape, with a
it
about 4000
feet.
It is
of an ovoid or
maximum
length from east to west of about 20 miles,
and a maximum breadth of
is
Although 15 miles from north to south. no higher latitude than 27' 35' to 27° 50' north, yet it enjoys nearly the same climate as the south of Europe. The average shade temperature in a house at Khatmandu in summer varies from 81° to
in
86° F.
in the
At sunrise
evening
it
it
is
commonly between
60° and 64°, and at nine
generally fluctuates from 70° to 75°.
The tempera;
ture varies necessarily wdth the elevation of the
ground
so that by
ascending the adjacent mountains, the heat of the
the
plains
may
in
course of a few days be exchanged for the cold of perpetual
snow.
Agriculture.
rattans
The products vary with the climate. In some parts and bamboos, often of considerable dimensions, are seen, while In several hill valleys the other tracts produce only oaks and pines. pine-apple and sugar-cane ripen, whilst others yield only barley, millets, Kirkpatrick, from the spontaneous productions and similar grains. which he saw on the spot namely, the peach, the raspberry, the thought that all the fruits and walnut, the mulberry, and others esculent vegetables of England might with proper attention be successfully raised in the mountain valleys of Nepal. Later experience in the gardens of the British Residency tends to confirm his views, as, with the exception of September, there is not a month in which European fruits or vegetables of some kind cannot, with due care, be grown. In the warmer valleys the pine-apple is good and abundant so too
—
—
—
;
is
the orange, which ripens in winter.
Some
fruits
in the hills spoil
owing to the excessive dampness of the rainy season. This moisture is, however, very favourable to the production of
Indian corn,
rice,
and other summer
crops.
On many
or
a piece of
land three crops are grown in the year
— wheat or barley,
buckwheat
NEPAL.
-77
the sprmg, or mustard in the winter, radishes or garlic or potatoes in The hills are during the rains. and Indian corn, rice, or pepper obtained are terraced very high up their slopes ; and the fields thus
transplanted for pulses and cereals, other than the grown in the lower lands, and for mustard, madder, The latter require to be near runnmg sugar-cane, and cardamoms. Ginger is a valuable product in the hill country between water.
chiefly
rice,
utilized
is
which
Nepal proper and the Kali river. Various dry Rice is everywhere the main food of the people. of ghya, rices are cultivated in Nepal, under the general name to bring them to some of which, so far from needing hot weather do maturity, are actually raised in exposed situations; whilst others
not require, as in Bengal, to be flooded, but flourish in the driest
loftiest si)ots.
'J
and
hroughout the
hills,
scarcely a plough or a cart
is
to
be seen, hand
of the labour being the almost universal agent for the preparation household and cattle manure, and soil. Great store is laid on the use of
which has remarkable fertilizing In the Tarai, the chief crops are rice, opium, rape, Imseed, Irrigation is frequent throughout the country. tobacco, and vshur. The most important of the forest trees in the Tarai are the sal, which
also of a blue unctuous-looking clay
qualities.
is
of great value for sleepers and house beams, owing to
size
its
durability,
the Mimosa, from which the catechu strength, straightness, and \ commerce is derived the sisu ; and the bhanja, the wood of which of
;
is
in
much
request for cart-axles.
Cotton
trees, acacias,
and
tree figs
are
The hill forests contain not unfrequent. dron, maple, chestnut, walnut, chai7ipa, hornbeam,
abundance
;
oak, holly,
pines,
rhododen-
but the timber
is
of
little
the inaccessible nature of the country.
tea tree, as well as the laurel, the alder,
and firs in owing to The cherry, the pear, and the the willow, and the oleander,
use, except locally,
are
all
found
wild.
of the soil include several edible considerable part of the sustenance of roots and herbs, which form a Several medicinal plants are known; and a the poorer inhabitants.
The spontaneous productions
procured from bitter or aromatic woods, which They/^z is a species of hemp, from the are held in great estimation. is a potent leaves of which is expressed a juice called charas, which qualities, burning with a flame narcotic, and possesses very valuable
rich variety of dyes is
as bright as that of the purest resin.
fibre,
Its leaves are fabricated
into a
a Irom which the Newars manufacture coarse linen, and likewise very strong kind of sackcloth. Animals.— T\\^ mountain pasture, though not so good as in the with low country, supports numerous flocks of sheep, which migrate
the
seasons, in winter to the lower valleys,
and
in
summer
to the
;
2
78
NEPAL.
Himalayan heights, where they feed upon the herbage of those extensive which lie in the neighbourhood of ])erpetual snow. The sheep In the in these altitudes are of considerable size, and have fine wool. great forests which are frequent on or near the southern frontier of Nepal, throughout its whole extent from the Sarda to the Tista
tracts
(Teesta), wild animals abound.
able numbers on the lower and
great sport of Nepal.
still found in considerand their capture is the The rhinoceros, tiger, and leopard abound in
Elephants are
hills,
central
the tardi, and there are species of the two latter peculiar to the
hills.
Deer are common throughout the country. The animal known in Bengal by the name of the Nepal dog is brought from Upper and Lower Tibet, of which it is a native. Several handsome birds are found in the mountainous regions, particularly pheasants {mandl^ Argus Damphyra) of golden and spotted plumage (Lophophorus Impeyanus,
Ceriornis Satyra, Melegris Satyra).
is
The
chikor, a species of partridge,
Europeans in India. and ores, that have been collected, indicate the existence of a variety of minerals in the mountains of Nepal. Copper is found quite near the surface of the earth, the ore being dug
well
to
known
Minerals.
—The stones
from open trenches, so that the work is entirely stopped by the rainy These ores are found in several varieties, and are said to be season. Iron-ore is also found near the surface, and unusually rich in metal. Sulphur is is not surpassed in purity by that of any other country.
likewise abundant,
and procured
in great quantities.
in great variety, particularly jasper
Stone is found and marble; but the houses are
is
universally built of brick, because the use of stone
impracticable
in a country where the roads do not admit of wheel-carriage, and
where there
said
is
to exist
;
no navigation. A considerable mass of rock-crystal is near Gurkha, and limestone as well as slate abounds
it
everywhere
yet limekilns are scarce,
because, as the natives assert,
mud being the cement preferred, answers better in their humid climate
valleys
than mortar.
Population.
— The
numerous
interspersed
throughout the
mountains of Nepal are inhabited by a variety of races. The aboriginal inhabitants appear, from their physiognomy, to be of Tartar or Chinese origin, bearing no resemblance to the Hindus either in features, religion, The period when the mountainous regions were first inor manners. vaded by the Hindus is uncertain but, according to the most authentic
;
traditions, the date
supposed to have been about the 14th century. In the eastern part of the country, aboriginal tribes still remain and until the predominance of the Gurkhas, they enjoyed unmolested
is
their
customs and
religion.
Kali or Sarda
sovereignty in
river,
In Kumaun, which and which passed from
lies to
the west of the
Nepalese to British
the case
is
the early part of this century,
different,
;
NEPAL.
almost
279
all the inhabitants claiming a descent from Hindu colonists. They accordingly consist princijjally f the two superior classes of Hindus, Brahmans and Kshattriyas, with their various sub-divisions.
(
To
were
the east of the Kali, the chief tribes which possessed the country
(i)
—
Magars,
who
originally
occupied the lower
hills
in
the
western parts between the Bheri and Marsyandi rivers, and who, with
the Gurangs
and the Khus, form the majority of the Giirkhali army
(2) the Gurangs, whose home is between the Magars and the snow (3) the Newars, who are the aborigines of the valley of Khatmandu,
and whose stout opposition to the Giirkhali invaders in the last century has deprived them of the chance of military service under their present masters they are good agriculturists, keen traders, and less backward in the mechanical arts than most of the other mountain tribes ; (4) Kirantis, and Lepchas, inhabiting the hill country the Limbus, between Khatmandu and the Sikkim and Darjiling frontier; (5) the Bhutias to the north of Khatmandu and the last-named three tribes (6) the Kaswars, IJenwars, Tharus, and other malaria-proof tribes belong to the low valleys and Tarai. Predominant over the above are the Giirkhalis, whose principal Brahman sub -divisions are those of Panre and Upadhya, and Rajput sub-divisions are those of Khus and Thappa. The ancestors of the Giirkhalis were mainly of Rajput origin, and are said to have migrated from Rajputana during the successes of the Afghan house of Gaur, at the end of the 12th century a.d. Their first Himalayan home was in Kumaun and thence they
:
;
;
gradually
moved
eastwards, intermarrying with the
for
hill
women,
until
they reached Gurkha, where they remained
about a couple of
proper began.
hundred years before Like all tribes of mixed
their
connection with
Nepal
race, they are great sticklers for the forms
and
ceremonies of their primitive (Hindu) religion, and are gradually, like
their brothers in British India, absorbing into the fold of
various aboriginal races
whom
they have conquered.
is
still
Hinduism the It is a mere
be wholly
question of time
of
when Buddhism, which
Bhutias,
the nominal creed
many Newars,
in
is
and other subject
races, shall
merged
Hinduism.
held by various tenures.
Raja's immediate estates are though there is hardly any portion of the Gurkha conquests in which the prince has not approl^riated land to his own use. Some of these domains are occupied by husbandmen, who receive a share of the produce ; others are tilled by the neighbouring villagers, who are obliged to dedicate a certain number of days in the year to this service. From this source the Raja
chiefly situated in the
Land
The
Gurkha
territory,
draws
all
the supplies necessary for the support of his household.
also possess lands, the title to
The
Brahmans
which
is
generally derived from
royal favour.
These grants are mostly
rent-free, saleable,
and heredi-
2 8o
NEPAL.
;
tary
but
they
may
nevertheless
chiefly
be
forfeited
for
is
certain
crimes.
Another tenure, found
considerable fine
of each prince.
among
the Newars,
the payment of a
when the original titles are renewed on the accession Other lands pay a rent to the crown, or to \\\^jagir-
ddr
is
(proprietor), in proportion to their produce.
The
bulk of the army
liable to military
paid by the assignment of lands renewed yearly.
Military Force.
to arms.
— All the martial
is
tribes of
Nepal are
service in times of public danger, though
all
are not regularly trained
There
also a standing irregular force dispersed throughout
the country, numbering 13,000 effective men, besides a large body of
regulars always stationed in
17,000 effective men.
and
officered after
and near the capital, numbering about These troops are regularly trained, disciplined, the manner of European troops. The material is
indifferendy taught, the firearms (Enfield
rifles
good, but the
drill is
of
and accoutrements and dress, which are on the European pattern, are uncared for, and the officers have only an elementary knowledge of their duties. The artillery mainly consists of small home-made field-pieces which would be of no value except at comparatively close quarters. The Nepal Government is fully alive to the shortcomings of its armament, and loses no opportunity for improvement which may present itself A system of short service has long been in force, and it is calculated that three times the number of
local manufacture)
men
field.
with the colours could at a month's notice be brought into the
Revenue.
are
—The
public revenue
is
derived from land rents, customs,
fines of various sorts, timber,
monopolies, and mines.
Annual presents
made by
the siibahs or governors, and by every one
who approaches
ranks, even the
the court; and at times, as on the accession of a
royal marriage, a forced contribution
is
new
sovereign or of a
levied from
all
sacred order,
to Colonel
who
possess free lands, not being exempted.
According
Kirkpatrick,
who
visited the country in
1792, and
who
derived his information from good authority, the revenue actually remitted to Khatmandu never exceeded 30 lakhs of rupees (^300,000),
and
it sometimes fell to 25 lakhs. At present it probably does not exceed 100 lakhs (^1,000,000) of Indian rupees a year. But in considering these figures, the fact that the army is for the most part paid in land must be borne in mind. This form of payment represents for
the regular troops alone at least 40 lakhs (^{^400,000) annually. Commerce. The external trade of Nepal falls under two
—
heads—
that
that which
is
carried
on across the Himalayas with Tibet, and
conducted along the extensive line of the British frontier. Of the extent of the former trade, very little is positively known. The chief route runs north-east from Khatmandu, and, following up a tributary of the Kosi, passes the trans-frontier station of Kuti or Nilam
is
which
NEPAL.
at
281
an elevation of about 14,000 feet above sea-level. Another route, of the also starting from Khatmandu, follows the main eastern stream near the station of Kirang (9000 feet), and Gandak, crosses the frontier This was the path ultimately reaches the Sanpu river at Tadam.
Both adopted by Captain Montgomerie's native explorer in 1866. The only beasts of burthen availthese routes are extremely difficult.
able are sheep
salt is
carried
and goats; and practically everything but grain and by men and women. The principal imports from Tibet
cloth, salt, borax,
are
pasJwmia or shawl wool, coarse woollen
musk, yak-
tails
or
or c/iauris, yellow arsenic, quick-silver, gold-dust, antimony, inatijif madder, cliaras (an intoxicating preparation of hemp), various
fruits.
medicinal drugs and dried
The
through Nepal on their way Tibet from Nepal include metal
iron,
to British territory.
majority of these articles pass The exports into
utensils of copper, bell
;
manufactured by the Newars
goods, spices,
stones.
ware, Indian cotton
metals,
and - metal, European piece-goods and hardtobacco, areca-nut and betel-leaf,
and precious
miles.
is
The
line
trade with India
of 700
conducted at various marts along the frontier The commercial policy of the Nepal Governis
based on the requirements of the State treasury rather the principle of protection, subjects most articles of export and than on import to the payment of duty, which is heavy in the case of luxuries,
ment, which
and
lighter in the case of necessaries.
is
trade route a toll station
established
;
At every mart and on every and the tolls are sometimes let
by auction to a thikdddr or farmer.
ivory,
A
few
articles,
such as timber,
copper
pice,
salt,
cardamoms, and tobacco, are Government
monopolies, which are usually granted to persons in favour at court. Trade in all other articles is free, subject to the payment of duties both
on export and import.
but the local
tariff is
These duties
differ greatly at different places
;
and is On the main route to Khatmandu, said to be not oppressively varied. certain duties are levied according to an ad valorem percentage on But the more common system is to charge a certain sum articles. by weight, by load, or by number, according to the character of the
always well
known
to the parties concerned,
goods.
The
principal route for through traffic
is
that which runs through the
Champaran, with Khatmandu and Patna for its two Starting from the military cantonment of Segauli, points of terminus. through this route crosses the frontier near Raksiil, and then proceeds the to Khatmandu Samrabasa, Hataura, Bhimphedi, and Thankot Within British territory there is a total length being about 92 miles. good fair-weather road, which was much improved as a relief work
British District of
;
during the scarcity of 1873-74; and
still
more
recently Segauli has
been put into railway communication with the
rest of India.
Beyond
—
282
the frontier
it
NEPAL.
degenerates into a mere cart-track.
As
far as
Ehimphedi
(67 miles), light carts can occasionally be taken; but as a matter of
fact,
the greater part of the traffic
is
bullocks and ponies, and by coolies.
the only
there
fit
conveyed to Bhimphedi on packBeyond Bhimphedi, coolies are
means of
carriage available.
is
Though
a portion of the road
is
for driving, there
hardly a cart to be found in the whole
valley of Ivhatmandu.
What
has been said of this route applies to the
other means of communication with Nepal.
There
is
scarcely a
made
used
road
in the country,
but carts and pack-bullocks from British territory
freely pass to for floating
and
fro
during the dry season.
The
rivers are only
down
timber.
articles of
The
principal
export from Nepal are
the following
:
Rice and
inferior grains, oil-seeds, ghi or clarified butter, ponies, cattle,
falcons for hawking, mainds as cage-birds, timber, opium, musk, chireta,
borax, madder, turpentine, catechu or cutch, jute, hides, and furs, dried
cardamoms, red chillies, turmeric, and chauris or yak-tails. raw cotton, cotton twist, and cotton piece-goods (both native and European), woollen cloth, shawls, rugs, flannel, silk,
ginger,
The
chief imports are
—
brocade, embroidery, sugar, spices, indigo, tobacco, areca-nut, vermilion,
a little fine rice, buffaloes, sheep and goats, sheet copper, copper and brass ornaments, beads, mirrors, precious stones, guns and
lac, oils, salt,
gunpowder
and Darjiling. form even an approximate estimate. Elaborate statistics have recently been compiled on the frontiers of Bengal, the North -Western Provinces, and Oudh ; but with a trade that passes by so many channels, and consists
for sporting
purposes, tea
from
is
Kumaun
Of
the aggregate value of this trade,
it
difficult
to
in
many
The
cases of articles of small bulk
and high
value, registration
necessarily omits
much.
following figures aff'ord
some indication of the general character
of trade, which
is
of the transactions.
The balance
always
much
in
favour
of Nepal,
is
adjusted by the
importation of silver into that
country.
This
silver is for
the most part hoarded.
In the year 1877-78,
;£^i53,ooo;
the total imports into Nepal from Bengal were valued at ^£^455,000, the chief items
piece-goods,
being
— European
;
piece-goods,
catde,
Indian
sugar,
;£"i9,ooo
salt,
;£32,ooo;
;^5 2,000
;
raw cotton, jQ']ooo\ brass and copper, ;£"22,ooo. The total exports into Bengal were valued at;^7o3,ooo, chiefly consisting of food-grains, oil-seeds, cattle, and timber. By weight, the total exports of rice and paddy amounted to nearly 35,000 tons, and of oil-seeds to
;£"i6,ooo;
nearly 13,000 tons.
registered in
The piece-goods imported were almost Champaran District.
entirely
The corresponding
total imports into
—
Value of statistics for 1882-83 are as follows: Nepal from Bengal, ;^ 5 5 5, 7 5 2, the chief items being European piece-goods, ^181,959; Indian piece-goods, ;£i7,8o5;
—
;
XEPAL.
salt,
283
^34, 64;
1
cattle,
^14,115;
sugar, ;£ 2 3,1 13; raw cotton,
total exports into
^13,861
1882-83
brass
and copper, ^49,292.
at
The
Bengal
for
;£787, 219, chiefly cattle (;£45'S95)> ^'i^^^ (^^56,196), paddy (^85,326), hides and skins (^3o»ooo)» S^^''' (jC3o,ooo), linseed Manufactured silk goods were (^63,844), and timber (^97,185). Bengal in the same year to the value of ;^i 1,286 in the imported from
were valued
;
and in 1880-81, ^5594- 'i'l^e in total traffic in tobacco between Nepal and Bengal was 2,500,000 lbs. The timber trade is carried on mostly through respect of weight. Champaran other routes are through Mirzapur in Darbhanga, and The value of the woollens sent to Nepal from Mirganj in Purniah.
previous year to the value of
^5255
;
;
Bengal was ^33^642 in 1882-83. In 1877-78, the total imports into Nepal from the North-Western Provinces and Oudh were valued at ^'"176,000, chiefly piece-goods, The total exports into the North-Western Prosalt, metals, and sugar.
in that year valued at ^352,000, including foodThe correspondaggregate weight of nearly 22,000 tons. grains to the ing figures for 1882-83 are as follows :— Total imports into Nepal from
vinces
and Oudh were
the North-Western
into the
Provinces, ;£256,682
;
total
exports from Nepal
addition of the North-AVestern Provinces, ^"576,610. grand total of ^1,686,000 for the registered figures for Bengal gives a trade of Nepal both ways in 1877-78, and of ^2,176,263 for the same
trade in 1882-83.
The
The
between the North-Western Provinces and Nepal
at
gain to British traders engaged in the traffic is officially estimated
the
;£ 1 00,000 yearly. Coinage and Cicrreiicy.—^\\Q current silver coin in Nepal
is
mohar, two of which go to the
the
Mohri rupee.
The
intrinsic value of
rupee
The Mohri is 6 dnnds 8 pies of British Indian currency. not an actual coin, but merely a matter of account, its minor 4 da?ns= i pice ; 4 pice=^ i luuid ; 16 denominations being as follows d?mds= I Mohri rupee. Three different kinds of copper/zV^ are coined,
mohar
is
:
—
all
of which circulate in British territory.
Along the
is
tract
from Bahraich
to Champaran, the current
coin of exchange
the Bhidwaliya or
Gorakhpuri pice, a square lump of purified copper, roughly cut by hand, with an apology for a stamp; 75 of these coins go to the Indian rupee, they are so popular i.e. they stand to the Indian //V^ as 75 to 72 ; but
with the people, that traders cannot pass Indian //c^ into Nepal, except These Bhutat the rate of 9 pice for 2 dnnds, or a discount of i in 8. In the 2oaIiyapice are made at Tansen, in the Palpa District of Nepal.
extreme east and north-east, the common coin is the black or Lohiya These are of no better pice, of which 107 go to the Indian rupee. Bhutivaliya pice, and they are of less shape or manufacture than the There are several mints value, owing to the large admixture of iron.
for their
production in the eastern
hills,
the best
known being
that of
284
NEPAL.
i
Khika Maccha. They are commonly met with in North Behar, from Champaran to Purniah. In the valley of Khatmandu, the thin or new pice, introduced in They 1865, have now nearly driven the Lo]ii}a pice out of circulation. Their value are circular, made by machinery, and fairly well stamped.
is
117 to the Indian rupee.
According to a report by Mr. Girdlestone,
the British Resident at the Court of Nepal, the average annual out-turn
of
all
the Nepalese mints during the four years ending 1875-76 was
Silver mohars^ Rs. 214,000; Lohiya pice^ Rs. 43,000; new pice, Rs. 123,000. The coinage of silver used formerly to be much larger than it is now but the Indian rupee has gradually expelled the native moJiar from the entire south of the country. Indian currency notes are
as follows, in
terms of Mohri rupees:
Rs.
186, coo;
—
Bhutwaliya
pice,
;
in slight
demand along
5
the border.
In
Khatmandu
they are highly
prized as a
means of remittance,
per cent.
usually fetching a
bills
premium varying
from 3 to
Formerly the
of the great trading firm of
currency notes. This firm acts as State bankers, and has corresponding houses at Patna, Benares, Cawnpur, and Calcutta. It suspended payment in 1873, but
has since been re-established.
ATamifactures. The Newars are almost the only artisans in Nepal. The Newar women, as well as the men of the hill tribe of Magars, weave two sorts of cotton cloth, partly for home use and partly for exportation. Those who are not very poor wear woollen blankets, which are manufactured by the Bhutias, who wear litde else. The dress of the higher
Dharm Narayan were bought up at higher prices even than
—
ranks
is
not manufactured at home, but
silks
is
imported
;
it
consists of
Chinese
and European muslins,
calicoes, velvet,
and broadcloth.
;
The Newars
manufactured
are workers in iron, copper, brass,
chief seats of the latter industry being Patan
at this
last
and bell-metal the and Bhatgaon. One bell
feet
place measured
5
in
diameter.
The
Tibet bells are superior to those of Nepal, though a great many bellmetal vessels of Nepal manufacture are exported to Tibet, along with those of brass and copper. The Newars have also a knowledge of
but it is remarkable that they rarely use a saw, dividing wood, when of any size, by a chisel and mallet. They manufacture from the bark of a shrub {dap/me) a very strong paper, remarkably
;
carpentry
their
They distil spirits from rice and other grains, and also prepare a fermicnted liquor from wheat, mahud, rice, etc., which they call riikshi. It is made somewhat in the manner of malt liquor, but is more intoxicating. History. The early history of Nepal, like that cf most eastern countries, is buried under a mass of fable. The inhabitants exhibit a list of princes for several thousand years back, which is given in Colonel Kirkpatrick's work, but without any evidence of its authenticity. We
well suited for packages.
—
NEPAL,
2S5
know, however, that Nepal was the scene of important revolutions, though it was never subjugated by the Delhi Emperors, or by any of
the other great Asiatic conciuerors.
It is said to have been completely subdued in 1323 a.d., by Hari Singh, one of the princes of Oudh, who had been driven out of his own i)ossessions by the Tathans. Hut from that period there exists no accurate information respecting the dynasties which ruled during the interval, or the race of princes who governed
Xei)al at the time
of the Giirkhali conquest.
Ranjit Mall, king of
Bhatgaon, was the
reigned in Nepal.
last of
the Surya-bansi race, or Children of the Sun, that
In order to strengthen himself against his rival at
alliance with Prithwi Narayan, which
Khatmandu, he formed an
in the loss
ended
of his dominions, of which he was stript by his ally in the
to
Newar year %Z%, corresponding
in the following year,
1768
a.d.
The conquest
of Patau,
made
the Gurkhas masters of the whole valley.
It was during this struggle that Captain Kinloch, with a British force, endeavoured to penetrate into Nepal. But from the sickness of the troops, and the difficult nature of the country, the enterprise was
abandoned. Prithwi Narayan died about three years after the final conquest of He left two sons. Singh Pratap and Bahadur Nepal, in the year 1771.
Shah.
The former
of these succeeded to the throne, and conceiving
a jealousy of his brother, threw
difficulty released
him into prison, whence he was with by the interference of one of the spiritual guides of the Gurkha royal family, on condition that he should live in exile. Singh Pratap, after having extended his father's conquests, died in 1775, Bahadur leaving one son, Ran Bahadur Shah, who was an infant. Shah, on the death of his brother, returned from his exile to Khatmandu and having placed his nephew on the throne, assumed the But the mother of the inflmt prince, Rajendra office of regent. l.akshmi, contrived to supplant Bahadur Shah in the regency, and to
;
secure the person of her
rival.
Through the mediation, however, of
one of the
priests,
matters were arranged, and Bahadur Shah was
Neglecting, howenabled to seize and confine the Rani in his turn. chief men of the State, he was again driven into ever, to conciliate the
banishment, from which he did not return
till
the death of the princess,
when he reassumed the regency without
his administration, the
opposition.
In the course of
dominions of Nepal were extended to the Mechi river on the east, and Garhwal District on the west; and from the border of Tibet to the border of Hindustan.
Towards the close of the administration of Warren Hastings, the
Giirkhali sovereigns were involved in difficulties with Tibet, which were
followed by a reference to China.
The Teshu Lama
after
of Tibet prothat city.
fled
ceeded to Pekin, and died soon
his
arrival
in
His
from
brother, Sumhur Lama, taking advantage of his absence,
286
NEPAL.
to the
Raja of Nepal, carrying along with him a considerable His representations so inflamed the avarice of the Nepalese Government that they marched a body of troops towards Lhasa, and extorted from the Lama a tribute of 3 lakhs of rupees In 1790 they sent a second force, who pillaged the (^30,000). temples, and succeeded in carrying off a large booty, though closely pursued by a Chinese army, and losing 2000 men in their retreat
Lhasa
quantity of treasure.
from the severity of the weather.
terrestrial protector
The Emperor
disciple of the
of China, as the
Lamas, incensed by these unprovoked aggressions, despatched an army of 70,000 men and against the Nepalese, who were overthrown in repeated battles the Chinese army advanced to Noakot, within 26 miles of Khatmandu, and 100 miles from the British frontier of Bengal. A peace was at last concluded, on terms ignominious to the Nepalese, who were compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of China, and to refund the spoil which It does not appear that tribute was they had taken from the Lamas. About this period (1792), Lord Cornwallis concluded ever exacted. An attempt to improve the a treaty of commerce with the Nepalese. advantage thus gained was frustrated by the indifference of the Giirkhalis. The queen-regent, Rajendra Lakshmi, died in 1786, when the care of the young Raja devolved entirely on his uncle, Bahadur Shah, who was accused of encouraging him in his debaucheries, in hopes of bringing him into contempt, and thus securing to himself the supreme authority. In this expectation, however, he was deceived, as the Raja, in 1795, when he had entered upon his twentieth year, suddenly announced that he had resolved to assume the reins of government. He rendered himBut this fair self extremely popular during the first year of his reign. prospect was speedily overcast, and the youth plunged into all the He caused excesses of the most furious despotism and cruelty. He daily his uncle to be arrested, and starved to death in prison. tortured and mutilated his subjects, and beheld their sufferings with In his outrages he made no distinction of age or sex. savage joy. Women of all castes, even those belonging to the sacred order, were subjected to abuse from the vilest characters. In 1795 a son was born to him by a Brahman widow, who being taken seriously ill next year, and finding her end approaching, reminded the Raja of the prediction of astrologers, that he would never complete his twenty-fourth year, and entreated him to provide for the unprotected orphan they were about to leave. The Raja, relying implicitly on the superstitious prophecy, immediately, and in the most solemn manner, before all the chiefs, abdicated the throne in favour of his son, though and an administration was then appointed, over illegitimate The abdicated which one of the Ranis was appointed to preside. monarch now devoted his whole time to attendance on the favourite
and
spiritual
;
;
NEPAL.
widow, who,
at
287
attention,
notwithstanding
all
his
and
rich
offerings
In his affliction the different tem})les, soon afterwards expired. he became quite frantic, and perpetrated atrocities, the bare mention Amongst various of which still causes the Nepalese to shudder.
he directed the sacred temple of Bhawani to be demo and the golden idol, which was a venerated object of worand when the soldiers to whom he had ship, to be ground to dust issued the orders demurred at such an act of sacrilege, he commanded None were exempt boilin*^ oil to be poured on their naked bodies. Even the chief members of the Government were from his rage. A conspiracy was scourged without mercy, and otherwise tortured. at last formed against the tyrant, who, finding himself abandoned, fled
enormities,
lished,
;
during the night, and ultimately reached Benares in May 1800. The presence of the Raja on British territory seemed to afford a
fTood opportunity for bringing about that closer connection with
Nepal
which had long been the aim of the Government of India. A treaty of alliance was accordingly concluded by Captain W. D. Knox, who was appointed as British ambassador, and proceeded to Khatmandu The terms of the treaty were favourin that capacity in 1802. interests; the Nepalese being anxious to secure the able to British
influence
of
such
powerful
still
neighbours against the faction of
the
contended for his restoration. But whatever advantages were attained by this treaty, were ultimately rendered nugatory by the jealous opposition of the subordinate officers amongst the Nepalese, who were probably instigated by their chiefs, the latter being entirely unable to fulfil the obligations into which they had
abdicated Raja,
who
entered.
The Residency
ment of
his
at
time the abdicated monarch,
his queen,
Khatmandu was withdrawn in 1804. About this Ran Bahadur Shah, by the able managehe had always
ill-treated,
whom
But
was restored to his
former authority.
as he continued to rule with his former barbarity,
In 1805 a second conspiracy was formed against him, and he was assassinated. His death was succeeded by the most violent conflicts between the rival parties in the State, which did not terminate until nearly the whole of the nobles at Khatreign was of short duration.
mandu had
at length
perished.
The
surviving adherents of the late Raja having
secured the person of his son, seized the reins of government, putting to death such of the opposite party as remained. During all these intestine commotions, it is remarkable that the
continued to extend their conquests on every side. To the west of Khatmandu, they found the hill chiefs distracted by mutual jealousies, and by no means in a condition to form a league for mutual
Gurkhas
still
defence.
The Gurkha armies
artillery,
very soon
hill
made themselves
masters,
without the aid of
of every
fort,
from the Ganges to the
2 88
NEPAL.
When
their their
Sutlej (Satlaj).
movements
general
first
attracted the notice of the
British
Government,
at
^vas
erecting
strong forts
and
stockades
Malaun.
The
line of fortified
convenient positions, namely Almora, Srfnagar, and frontier towards the Sikhs was also guarded by a strong posts and thus the consolidation of the Gurkha empire
;
proceeded with a slow but sure progress. The extensive tract which firm subjection by lies between Khatmandu and the Sutlej was held in military force; whilst to the east, the Sikkim Raja was deprived a strong
remainder. of half his territories, and compelled to pay tribute for the To the north, the progress of conquest was restrained by the Chinese power, with which the Gurkha chiefs had already found themselves
unable to cope, and also by a lofty range of barren mountains. But the fertile plains in the south presented a more alluring prospect, and greater probabilities of success in a contest with a new and untried
power.
The consequence was
a series
of encroachments along the whole
northern frontier of the British possessions, especially in the Districts The Government remonstrated against these of Gorakhpur and Saran. proceedings, and an investigation into the respective claims of the two powers was commenced by Commissioners jointly chosen ; the result of
which being entirely favourable to the British, a detachment of regulars was ordered to take possession of the debateable ground. But these being withdrawn during the rainy season, the chief police station upon officers the frontier was attacked by large bodies of Nepalese, and the Shortly of i8 killed and 6 wounded. were compelled to fly, with a loss
afterwards, a second attack was
made on another police station, and persons were killed, after which the whole body was withdrawn. several In 1814, war was declared. It is only necessary here to state generally,
that the invasion of the
Gurkha dominions
w^as
commenced on
the
western frontier, beyond the Jumna (Jamuna), and near the Sutlej, the country there being considered as easier of access than the mountainous But the British troops, in attempting to barrier on the side of Bengal.
storm the stockades and
severe loss.
at
hill forts,
The most
desperate resistance of the
were repeatedly driven back with enemy was perhaps
Here it was that General Gillespie fell, Kalunga, near Dehra. encouraging his troops to renew the attack. while By a In 18 15, Sir David Ochterlony assumed the chief command. series of skilful operations he dislodged the Gurkha troops from the
fortified heights of
Malaun, and ultimately so
hemmed
in their
renowned
Singh, and his son, that they were forced to sign a capitulation, by which they agreed, on being permitted to retreat with their remaining troops, to abandon the w^hole territory west of the Kali.
commander, Amar
In Kumaun,
before them;
also,
the British troops succeeded in driving the
enemy
and, in
consequence of these successes, a
definite treaty of
;
NEPAL.
peace was concluded on the 28th
of the Raja being withheld,
strike
it
2S9
18 15.
to
November
at
was determined
But the signature renew the war, and to
Prea great scale, a
a
decisive
blow directly
in
the capital of the country.
parations for this arduous enterprise were
force being
made on
large
assembled
Saran numbering about 13,000 troops, of
besides
a
whom 3000
amounting
were
Europeans,
body of
irregulars,
33,000 men. This formidable force took the field in the end of January 1816, and advanced from Bettia directly on Khatmandu. The greatest difficulties were encountered, from the
in all to over
ruggedness of the country, in marching along the dry beds of torrents, The Gurkhas made a through ravines, and in the face of precipices.
brave resistance, but they were defeated in several severe encounters and the British force approached within three days' march of Khatmandu. Deeming all further resistance vain, an ambassador was sent and on March 4th, 1816, to the British head-quarters, to sue for peace unratified treaty of the year 181 5 was accordingly received duly the By this treaty the Nepalese renounced all claims to the signed. They also ceded all the conquests they had made territory in dispute.
;
to the west of the Kali.
And
these, with the exception of
territory
Kumaun,
to the
the
Dehra
Diin,
and some other portions of
annexed
dominions, were restored to the families of the chiefs who had reigned there prior to the Gurkha invasion, and who were now to rule
British
as vassals of the British.
the aid of the Chinese.
In the course of this contest, the Nepalese had earnestly entreated Their application being transmitted by the
Grand Lama to Pekin, an answer was received, in which the Emperor of China expressed his conviction that the Gurkhas had themselves been the cause of the war by their unjust encroachments, and declined
After peace was concluded with the British, the Chinese interference. Emperor expressed deep offence against the rulers of Nepal, who, being merely tributaries, had presumed to make war or peace with the British, without the sanction of their superior and to back those lofty pretensions, a Chinese army of 15,000 men, commanded by five generals, and
all
;
attended by functionaries of superior rank, usually stationed at Ehasa, advanced towards the Nepalese territories. At the request of the Nepal But in the meanministers, the British consented to act as mediators. time they themselves despatched agents to the Chinese camp, who
succeeded in bringing about the restoration of the previous relations
between the two powers.
In
18 1
6,
Amar Singh Thappa, one
field
of the
Gurkha commanders
Ochterlony,
his
who had
so gallantly disputed the
with Sir David
died at the age of sixty-eight.
To
the last
day of
to
endeavouring,
VOL. X.
by every
art
of negotiation,
excite
he was amongst the
life
different States a spirit of hostility against the British, as the
common
T
290
NEPAL.
In November 181 6, the young Ran Bahadur Shah, died of small-pox, One of his queens, and one of his
enemies of Indian independence.
Raja, the successor of his father
at the age of
twenty-one years.
concubines, together with five female attendants, burned themselves on
the funeral pile along with the corpse.
He
left
one son, three years
the
of age,
throne,
named Rajendra Bikram Shah, who succeeded quietly to under the guardianship of the minister Bhim Singh Thappa.
this
From
excite interest.
time the internal history of Nepal presents little that can The late Prime Minister, Jang Bahadur, who died in
1877, was well known in England, and received the honours of a Grand Cross of the Bath and a Grand Commandership of the Star of India. He was the nephew of a man who had raised himself to a He murdered his uncle high position in the administration of affairs. a new ministry was formed, and Jang at the instigation of the queen Bahadur was appointed to the command of the army. Shortly afterwards, the new premier was assassinated, and the queen, with whom he was a favourite, demanded vengeance. Jang Bahadur undertook An assembly of chiefs and the task, and executed it with alacrit}^ nobles being convened (1846) within the palace, Jang Bahadur, backed by a small force on which he could depend, suddenly Fourteen of appeared among them, and did the work of massacre. Before the hostile chiefs fell by the hand of the commander-in-chief. the dawn of the succeeding day, Jang Bahadur was invested with the A conspiracy was formed for his destruction office of Prime Minister. but Jang seized and beheaded all the adherents of the chief conspirator.
:
;
The queen was banished with her two younger sons; and, the king having accompanied them, the heir-apparent, Surendra Bikram Shah, was raised to the throne. A feeble attempt was soon afterwards made
by the monarch to regain his kingdom, but the energy of Jang Bahadur baffled it, and the king w^as made prisoner. Jang Bahadur always professed a friendly feeling towards the British and at the commencement of the Mutiny in 1857, he proved the sincerity of his friendship by reinforcing the British army with a contingent of Gurkha troops, which did useful service in the recovery As already mentioned, he died in 1877. of Oudh.
;
A
dynastic revolution occurred at
Khatmandu
in
November
1885, in
which the Prime Minister, Sir Ranodwip Singh, General Jagat Jang, son of the late Sir Jang Bahadur, together with his own son, Yadha Pratap Jang, were murdered by Bir Shamsher Jang, the head of a rival faction. Bir Shamsher then seized upon the person of the young Maharaja, and established himself as Prime Minister, which in Nepal carries with The revolution was effected with complete supreme power. it the surprise, and with no further bloodshed than the three nmrders just mentioned. Sir Ranodwip Singh and his party had been for some
——
NER—NERUR.
—
291
time previously distrusted by the nobles of the State and by the people, and the change of Government was quietly acquiesced in by all classes. One result which the revolution is likely to produce is a thorough
reform both in the internal administration and in the foreign policy of
Nepal.
The
self-isolation
European
Ner.
in lat.
travellers will possibly
in
— Town
which has hitherto closed the country to be abandoned.
District,
20° 56'
N.,
Khandesh and long. 74°
Bombay Presidency
;
situated
34' e.,
on the southern or right bank
Population (1881) 2658.
of the Panjhra river, 18 miles west of Dhulia.
Ner was formerly an important Muhammadan town, and Muhammadan tombs still line the main road leading into it. Post-office, and engineer's
bungalow.
Ner
N.,
{Parsopant).
— Town
e.
in
Wiin
District,
Berar
;
situated north of
in
lat.
Darwa, and about 18 miles to the north-west of Yeotmal,
20^ 29'
and
long.
trade.
77° 55'
Noted
for
its
dyers,
who
here carry on a
thriving
school.
Weekly market,
police
station, registrar's office,
and
Population (1881) 3875; houses, 861. Nerbudda. Division of the Central Provinces.
Nerbudda.
Neri
Provinces
;
— — One of the great {Ndri). — Town Warora
in
See
rivers of India.
ta/isil,
See
Narbada. Narbada.
Central
e.,
Chanda
District,
situated in
lat.
20° 28' n.,
and
long. 79° 29'
5 miles east-
PopuHindus, 3117; Muhammadans, 126; non-Hindu aborigines, 121. Neri consists of an old and a new town, with an extensive stretch of rice land between. There are manufactures
south-east of Chimiir.
The
inhabitants are chiefly Marathas.
lation
(1881)
3364,
namely,
of brass
and copper
trade
is
utensils
and cotton cloth
for export
;
and a con-
siderable
carried
on
in grain, groceries,
;
and
salt.
The
old
town contains two ruined forts and an ancient temple, with pillars and carvings like those of the cave temples at Ajanta. Some graceful Panchal tombs, in which husband and wife lie side by side, are of later
date.
Nariad.
— Town Nerla. — Town
Neriad.
;
in
Kaira
District,
Bombay
Satara
Presidency.
'See
in
Walwa
e.
Sub-division,
District,
Bombay
lat.
Presidency
6' N.,
situated
44 miles south by
;
east of Satara town, in
17°
and Jains, 142 bungalow, vernacular school, and market.
;
and long. 74° 15' ]\Iuhammadans, 6605
Population (1881) 6807, namely, Hindus,
60.
Post-office,
travellers'
Ner
Pinglai.
6644, namely, Hindus, 5896; Musalmans, 600; and Jains, 148. Town in Karur tdluk^ Coimbatore District, Nerur {Nerrur). Madras Presidency. Lat. 11° o' 15" n., long. 78° 11' 40" e. Poj»ulation (1881)
—Town —
in
Amraoti
District, Berar.
Population (iSSi)
Christians, 118;
5610; number of houses, 1288. and Muhammadans, 25.
Hindus number 5467;
292
A^ERWAR—A'EWASA.
in
in the
Nerwar.— Town
Netai.— River
rises in lat.
Gwalior State, Central India.— ^.f^ Narwar. Garo Hills, Assam.— 6"^^ Nitai. Netravati.— River in South Kdnara District, Madras Tresidency
13°
10'
;
sea in
lat.
junction, at
and falls into the 52' 40" e. It is formed by the 12° 50' n., and long. 74° Uppinangadi, of two streams, the Netravati proper and the
15" n.,
and
long. 75° 26' 20"
e.,
Kumardari.
From Uppinangadi
is
the united stream flows to J^Iangalore.
In
floods, the Netravati
navigable above
Uppinangadi, and
Lat.
at all
times between that place and Mangalore.
Nevti.— Port
N., long. 73° 32'
in Ratndgiri District,
E.
Bombay Presidency.
1
5° 55'
North of Vengorla, 8 miles; south of Malwan, 61
' '
'
Rennell (1788) suggests that Nevti or Nivti fort is the Nitra' This is extremely doubtful, of Pliny. Nitrias of Ptolemy and the The fort is for the place is nowhere mentioned as a trade centre. captured by British troops in 1 819. now in ruins. It was stormed and Average annual value of trade during the five years ending 1881-82—
miles.
'
imports,
^740
;
;
exports,
^2050.
Newalganj-CUm-Maharajganj.— Two adjacent towns in Unao Dissituated 2 miles east of Mohan town, on the old Nawabi trict, Oudh Lucknow road. Lat. 26° 47' 10" n., long. 80° 45' 2 1" e. Newalganj was founded by Maharaja Newal Rai, the Naib or Deputy of Nawab Safdar
Jang
;
Maharajganj, which adjoins
it,
was
built
by
jNIaharaja Balkrishna,
the late finance minister of the ex-king of Oudh,
now
living in retire-
Garden Reach, near Calcutta. The town is approached by a long and handsome bridge, which terminates in an archway. The ganj or market-place is about one-fourth of a mile long, and ends in another
ment
at
archway, passing under which, a sharp turn to the right brings the traveller opposite a third arch, forming the entrance into Newalganj.
The
bi-weekly bazar, held in Maharajganj,
is
one of the
largest in the
neighbourhood.
piece-goods.
The
sales include all the usual
country produce of
grain, tobacco, spices,
and vegetables, with country cloth and European
is
There
a separate trade
at
in
brass vessels, which are
made
in
large
quantities
Newalganj.
Population (i88t)
District,
of the
united towns, 3084. Newasa. Sub-division of
—
Ahmadnagar
Bombay
Presidency.
Population Area, 607 square miles, containing i town and 144 villages. (1872)62,418; (1881)78,158, namely, 39,749 males and 38,409 females,
occupying 9049 houses.
3807; and
division
river.
'others,'
Hindus number 69,397; Muhammiadans, The general character of Newasa Sub4954.
is a flat plain, gently sloping northwards towards the Godavari In the south and south-east, the country has a more decided slope up towards the Nagar range of hills, and is deeply fissured by ravines, down which during heavy rains the water rushes with great The drainage is wholly towards the Godavari river, which violence.
I
NEIVASA TOnW—NGA-rU-TAlV.
293
One village forms the boundary of the Sub-division on the nortli. river, thus breaking the belonging to the Nizam lies south of the
It is the rule to plough heavy continuous boundary for three miles. The garden lands are generally manured, but not every year. lands
the dry-crop lands of the plain, though sheep are occasionally
penned
system
on them.
The
lands do not appear to be allowed a fallow.
is
A
of crop changes
observed, but
there is not a sufficient variety of
crops to admit of a good rotation.
The
area under rabi or late crops
under \harif ox early crops. The area of irrigated land is During the seven years ending 1881, an annual average is small. Of 193,254 acres, the actual area area of 157 acres was irrigated. under cultivation in 1881-82, grain crops occupied 165,203 acres pulses occupied 15,883 acres; oil(70,891 acres were under hdjrd) acres (7279 acres were under cotton) seeds, 3245 acres; fibres, 7380
double that
\ ;
and miscellaneous crops, 1543 acres. Land revenue (1882), y;i8,i46. The Sub-division in 1883 contained 3 civil and 3 criminal courts; regular police, 38 men; village watch {clumkipolice circle {thdnd\ i
;
ddrs), 205.
Newasa,— Head-quarter town
District,
of
Newasa
Sub-division,
Ahmadnagar
e.,
Bombay Presidency;
situated in
lat.
19° 34 n., long. 75°
35 miles north-east of Ahmadnagar town. Beside the Sub-divisional and police offices,
court, dispensary,
Population (1881) 3804. Newasa has a sub-judge's
and weekly market on Sundays. In 1290, Dnyaneswar, the great Maratha poet, wrote his commentary on the Bhagwadgita at Newasa, which he calls Nivas. Neyatankarai.— 7^7V///C' or Sub-division of Travancore State, Madras
Presidency.
karas,
151.
Area, 213 square miles
;
villages or collections of villages,
106,128; (1881) 110,410, namely, Hmdus houses. 55,318 males and 55,092 females, occupying 24,072 and Christians, 15,709number 89,464; Muhammadans, 5237
Population
(1875)
Nga-pi-seip.
Irawadi.
— Village
;
Irawadi Division,
Kan-aung township, Henzada District, Lower Burma; situated on the right bank of the
in
Nga-pu-taw.
Population under 300. Township occupying the
—
extreme south-western
It is
portion of Bassein
District, Irawadi Division, Lower Burma.
divided into two very dissimilar tracts by the Arakan
Yoma
range.
The
broad) lying in the Bassein
south-eastern one consists of a large island {zZ "^i^es long by 7 river, and intersected by numerous intertidal
communicating
Island
;
creeks.
is
Off the
Bassein mouth
reef.
is
Diamond
farther out to sea
is flat
is
the Ai.guada
Towards the north
extreme north
the country the surface
and covered with
forest, whilst in the
West of the Arakan dotted with small sandstone hills. range, nowhere more than 16 miles from the sea, the whole country is mountainous, the spurs extending by gradual slopes to the sandy beach,
— —
NGA-PU-TAW—NICOBARS.
294
,
and forming,
as at Cape Negrais, rugged and sea-washed escarpments. In a few places are small rice plains ; but as a rule such cultivation as The Arakan Yomas attain no great elevation exists is on the hillsides.
in this township.
Two
principal passes cross the range.
The
chief
Large vessels can enter rivers Nga-pii-taw comprises it revenue the latter and pass up about 6 miles, Gross revenue Population (1876-77) 20,037 ; (1881)23,346. circles.
are the Mvit-ta-ya and the Than-dwe.
^8013; (1881), ^11,022. Head-quarters of Nga-pu-taw township, Bassein Nga-pii-taw. Lower Burma situated on Nga-pu-taw island in the Bassein District, Population (1881) 928. river, 21 miles below Bassein town.
(1876-77),
—
;
Nga-thaing-chaung"
;
(or Nga-thaing-khyaimg).
— Head-quarters
of
the Nga-thaing-chaung Sub-division of Bassein District, Irawadi Division, Lower Burma situated on the Bassein river, in a rice-producing tract.
Contains a court-house and the usual public buildings.
(1881) 3557
;
Population
Nga-WOn.
Niamti.
Shimoga District, Mysore State. See Nyamti. in the Garo Hills District, Assam; situated on the Jinari or eastern source of the Jingiram river, where it debouches upon the plains of Goalpara. The Inizdr is a centre of trade where the
in
— —Village Nibari. —Village
revenue (1881-82), ^1144. River in Pegu Division, Lower Burma.
See Bassein.
Garos exchange their hill products for rice, cloth, dried fish, etc. The dwdr or lowland tract of the same name contains valuable sal timber, and an area of 10 square miles was yielding revenue to Government proclaimed a Government reserve in June 1883 under the name of the
;
Jinari Forest Reserve.
Nibrang.
— Pass
in
Bashahr (Bussahir)
;
State,
Punjab, over the range
which bounds Kunawar to the south lies in lat. 31° 22' n., and long. 78° 13' E., between two perpendicular rocks, 35 feet in height, and Elevation above sea-level, bears a striking resemblance to a gateway.
16,035
feet.
Maharajganj tahsil, Gorakhpur District, North-Western Provinces situated at the meeting of several unmetalled roads and cross country tracks, 5 1 miles north-north-east of Gorakhpur
NichlavaL
— Village
_,
in
;
town.
Although the population is not returned in the Census Report, is a large and important village, and the principal mart in the north of Gorakhpur District, from whence a large export of rice, The village contains both locally grown and from Nepal, takes place. A few miles third-class police station, and District post-office. a
Nichlaval
distant are the ruins
of a castle or
fort,
the
scene of a sharp
to
lat.
fight
during the Nepalese campaign. A cluster of Nicobars.
—
islands
lying
the
6°
south
40'
of
9°
the
20'
Andamans, in the Bay K., and long. 93' and 94'
of Bengal, between
e.
and
The
area of the whole
archipelago
NICO BARS.
:
295
amounts approximately to 426 square miles, and the population This group consists of 8 large and 12 to about 6000 persons. Chauri, islands, of which the following are the principal small Terressa, Bompoka, Tillangchong, Camorta, Nancowry, Katchall, The Car-Nicobar, the Little Nicobar, and the Great Nicobar. about 30 miles in length, largest of these is the Great Nicobar, which is
—
and between 12 and 15
The length of the others is as in breadth. Car-Nicobar, 6 miles; Terressa, 12 miles; Katchall, 9 miles; follows :— Nancowry, 4 miles; Camorta, 16 miles; and the Little Nicobar, 12 Nancowry gives its name to a splendid harbour, which is formed miles.
by the islands of Nancowry, Camorta, and a smaller one called Trinkati. Many of the channels which separate the islands form excellent and The station established by the Government of safe passages for ships.
India in
1869
in
this
situated at the south-east
of
Nancowry harbour.
It is islands, is called Nancowry. end of Camorta Island, and on the north side The station is supervised by an officer, who is
group of
periodically' relieved
from Port
Blair.
The
establishment, in 1882,
consisted of 50 native troops, 27 police, and 235 convicts, the object of the settlement being the protection of trade and suppression of Nancowry is the only station among the islands of the Nicobar piracy.
group.
Physical Aspects.— Most of the islands are hilly, and some of the Others again are flat, and covered peaks attain a considerable height. In All of them are well wooded. with forests of cocoa-nut trees.
is'ands, particularly Camorta and Nancowry, the forests alternate with extensive undulating plains covered with a long coarse The valleys grass, which in places afford excellent pasture for cattle.
some of the
of the hills, to a considerable height, are so thickly with trees that the light of the sun is never able to penetrate covered Among the principal trees are the cocoa-nut through their foliage. and areca palms, the mango, the lancm or viellori, and a variety of
and sides
timber-tree
which grows to an immense height, and would afford Tropical fruits excellent material for building and repairing ships. and yams of fine quality and size. The grow in great abundance, domestic animals are dogs, pigs, and a few fowls. Of birds, the Nicobar
^
swallow
is
the chief.
It
valued by the Chinese.
the islands,
the builder of the edible nests, so highly All kinds of fish abound in the waters around
is
and
is
shell-fish
are found
in great quantities.
the sea-shore
composed
;
of sand, coral, lime,
The soil on and vegetable mould,
lime, sand-
more
stone,
or less thick
the hills are red clay,
and the rocks
Specimens of coal have been found in various parts of the Nicobars, and though differing in appearance are alike in nature. The circumstance of their similarity is an indication of the probable
and
slate.
existence of one
srreat
bed extending through the
islands.
296
NICOBARS,
Populatio7U It is difficult to determine the origin of the Nicobarians. In some features they resemble the Malays, yet the shape of their eyes is so different, and their manners and customs so peculiar, that they must be considered as a separate race. They are of a copper colour,
well
—
proportioned
in
their
bodies,
short
rather
thick
than
lips,
tall,
with
Chinese eyes, small
built
flat
noses, large mouths,
large ears,
scanty beard, and straight black hair.
upon the beach, and
consist of fifteen
Their villages are generally or twenty houses, each
habitations are raised
These house containing a family of twenty persons and upwards. upon wooden pillars about lo feet from the
;
ground
covered with thatch.
they are round, and, having no windows, look like bee-hives The entry is by a trap-door below, through
is
which the family mount by a ladder, which
drawn up
at night.
Fishing forms the chief occupation of the Nicobarians. consists of pigs, poultry, turtle, fish, cocoa-nuts, yams,
Their food
fruits,
and a
bread made from the
are
lazy,
fruit
of the
inellori
tree.
In character they
They have comand drunken. on the crews of vessels under the British mitted repeated murders In several instances the natives received the crew hospitably, flag. and when the sailors were partaking of refreshment they suddenly rushed upon them and killed them before they had time to act in There now seems little doubt that many vessels supposed to defence.
cowardly,
treacherous,
have been
lost in the
Bay of Bengal were
islands.
in fact cut off
and plundered
by the natives of these
Since the British occupation of the
Nicobars, however, there have been no cases of piracy, and the islanders,
generally speaking, have behaved well.
They have no written
stood in another.
language, and the dialects spoken differ so
that the inhabitants of one island can scarcely
much make themselves under-
the evil genius, and are
Like other savage nations, the Nicobarians dread much addicted to superstition. They entertain
the highest opinion of such as can read and write, and believe that all Europeans, by this qualification, are able to perform acts more than
human.
The Nicobarians have a great reverence for their dead. Although they do not possess a clear conception of immortality, they suppose that the soul of the dead stays for a time in the neighbourhood in
which
it
lived.
Burials
is
are conducted
erected,
with great
solemnity,
and
over each body a post
daily used
on which are placed the
utensils
The Nicobarians hold in dishonour by the deceased. simultaneous polygamy. They never keep more than cne wife, but have no scruple in dismissing her on the slightest pretext, and taking another. A perfect equality subsists among them all. A few persons,
from their age, receive a certain measure of respect, but there is no Society seems bound appearance of authority one over another.
;
KI CO BARS.
together
received.
297
continually
rather
by
natural
obligations
conferred
and
Agriculture
cultivated,
trouble.
for local
fruit
The soil is nowhere is quite unknown on the Nicobars. though many valleys might be rendered fertile with a little A few plantains, sweet limes, yams, and other vegetables
are,
consumption
however, raised.
and
vegetables are
grown
been made
in the cultivation
At Nancowry sufficient and experiments have At of cotton and other tropical produce.
for local wants,
is the cocoa-nut palm, Edible birds' nests, tortoise-
present the principal product of these islands
and
its
ripe nuts form the chief export.
The ambergris, and irepavg (the sea-slug), are also shipped. yield annually ten million cocoa-nuts, northern islands are said to The estimated number exof which about one - half are exported.
shell,
As this important product is six ported in 1881-82 was 4,570,000. times cheaper here than on the coast of Bengal or in the Straits of Malacca, the number of English and Malay vessels that come to the
Nicobars for cocoa-nuts
black,
blue,
is
every year increasing.
In barter, they give
and red
in
cloths, handkerchiefs, cutlasses,
Burmese
daos,
si)oons, spirits, tobacco,
The
trade
red woollen caps, old clothes, and black hats. cocoa-nuts is carried on chiefly by native craft from
Settlements,
Burma, the
Straits
Ceylon,
etc.
Forty vessels,
of an
aggregate tonnage of 6276 tons, visited the islands for cocoa-nuts in 1881-82. The nuts are still obtained by barter. The importation of
arms, ammunition, and spirits
is
prohibited.
Hhtory,—T\\(^
first
attempt
in the
at the colonization
of the Nicobars was
made by
middle of the last century, but the little Still, notwithstanding other colony was soon swept away by fever.
the
Danes
unsuccessful attempts, the interest taken in these islands did not abate and in 1846, the Danish flag was hoisted at Nancowry, in the name of
King of Denmark. On the death of the king in 1858, Government, considering the course of political events at home, gave up the claim of possession. The report of an attack on an English vessel, and murder of the crew, in 1848, caused the British and authorities in India to inquire into the truth of this information
Christian
viii..
the Danish
;
by the survivors, it was thought advisable to bring the island under our authority, so that steps might be taken to check the piratical practices of the islanders. In 1869, the Nicobars were annexed by Her Majesty's Indian Government, and were placed for administration under the In 1872, the Nicobars Superintendent of the Andaman Islands. were included in the Chief Commissionership of the Andaman and
as
there was
every reason
to
believe
in
the
story related
Nicobars, and in 1876 a regulation for the peace
and government of
In 1877, the harbour these islands was passed, which is still in force. and in port under the Indian Ports Act of Nancowry was declared a
;
8
29
NIDADA UL—NIGHASAN
TAHSIL.
88 1, the whole group of islands was declared a settlement for the purposes of the above regulation. Climate.— '\\\^ dense jungles, which impede every current of free air, and extensive marshes, render the climate of the Nicobars very
1
The prevailing disease is malarious fever, which has proved fatal to many of the colonists who tried to effect a settlement on the island. The rainy months mark the predominant season of the year; even the driest months, from December to March, are not without rain. The heaviest rains occur in May, June, and July, and the south-west The wind is then very strong, and frequently rises to a storm.
unhealthy.
annual
inches.
rainfall at
Nancowry
for the nine years
ending i88i, was 104-6
taluk,
In 1881 the rainfall was 124-05 inches.
Nidadail {Niddadavok).
Madras Presidency
; ;
—Town
lat.
in
Tanuku
Godavari
District,
and long. 81° 42' 41" E. 63 miles north-east by north of Masulipatam, and about 10 miles south-west from Rajmahendri (Rajamundry), on the Ellore Canal, conThe fort was built under the necting the Godavari and Kistna rivers.
situated in
16° 54' 28" n.,
orders of Ibrahim Shah of Golconda about
1550 a.d.
Population
(1881) 3256, inhabiting 579 houses.
Hindus number 2978, and MuhamEtah
District,
madans
278.
Nidhauli.
Provinces.
—Village
in
Etah
tahsil,
North-Western
Remains of a fort built by Population (1881) 3673. Khushal Singh, the <7;;/// or revenue officer of the Nawab of Farukhabad. Police station, postBrisk trade in grain, indigo seed, and cotton.
office, village school.
A
small house-tax
is
levied for police
and con-
servancy purposes.
Nidugal
trict,
(lit.
'
Long or high
Lat.
stone').
— Fortified
hill in
7'
Chitaldriig Dise.
;
Mysore
State.
14° 9' 22" n., long. 77°
31"
3780
feet
is
above
sea-level.
The
residence of a line oi pdlegdrs, whose founder
said to have lived in the i6th century.
They maintained
a qualified
independence until swept away by Tipii Sultan in 1792. The village of Nidugal on the north side of the hill has a population (1881) of 450. Nighasan. 7<7/zj-/7 or Sub-division of Kheri District, Oudh situated between 27° 41' and 28^ 42' n. lat., and between 80^ 21' 15" and 81° 23' E. long. Bounded on the north by the independent State of Nepal, on the east by Nanpara tahsil, on the south by Biswan
—
;
and Sitapur
largest but
tahsils,
and on the west by Lakhimpur
tahsil in
tahsil.
The
Area,
the most thinly populated
the District.
according
Revenue Survey Report (1875-78), 936 to the last square miles, or 599,126 acres, of which 270,663 acres are returned
as
under
as
cultivation,
233,669
waste.
acres
as
cultivable,
and
94,794
acres
235,496; (1881) Total increase 268,306, namely, males 143,838, and females 124,468. of population since 1869, 32,810, or 13-8 per cent, in thirteen years.
uncultivable
Population
(1869)
;
NJGIIASAN PARGANA—NIGOIIAN.
Classified according to religion, there
299
239,268
;
were
in
1
881— Hindus,
JMuhammadans, 29,025
which 201 contain
less
;
and
than
'others,' 13.
five
Number of villages,
385, of
hundred inhabitants.
tahsil comprises the ^
Palia.
Government
pargands of
In 1883-84
land revenue, ;^'23,7i6.
Nighasan
it
and
Firozabad, Dhaurahra, Nighasan, Khairigarh, and contained 3 civil and 4 criminal courts, presitled over by a tahsiUidr honorary magistrates number of police circles {t/ubids), 2 regular
3
;
;
police,
45 men;
village
watch or rural police, 670.
Bounded on the '^ig\ii,%din.—Pa;ga?id in Kheri District, Oudh. on the river Sarju north by Khairigarh, from which it is separated by
;
Dhaurahra on the south by Bhiir, the Chauka river markand on the west by Palia. This/^rc^//^?, which has ing the boundary only been recently constituted, forms part of the low plain between the Along the banks of these rivers runs a broad Sarju and Chauka rivers. trees, fringe oUardi or jungle, consisting of k/iair, shisham, and ^7/Afr Between the autumnal rains. which is inundated every year during
the east by
; ;
long ridge of higher land, with a good loamy soil, forming a plain The pargand is intersected by varying from i to 9 miles in width. covered with sotas or backwaters of the Sarju and Chauka; and is
rises a
narrow semicircular marshes known as bhaggar, which mark old
channels.
river-
The
crops,
forests along the Sarju
lagoon swarm with wild animals; and
herds of wild hogs, deer, nilgai,
and antelopes do great injury to the and necessitate the constant watching of the fields, day and with. Tigers are seldom found but leopards are frequently met night. Survey Report (1875-78), Area o{i\\Q pargand, according to the Revenue
;
acres are returned 232 square miles, or 149,077 acres, of which 68,387 acres as cultivable, and 17,267 acres as as under cultivation, 63,423 The reserved forest area amounts to 15,971 ^'^cres. uncultivable waste. Government land revenue, ^6546. The prevailing tenure is tdliikddri
and 62 out of the 73
villages
comprised
in \\\q
pargand are owned by
(1881) 67,245,
Chauhan Rajputs, who
are also the greatest proprietors in the neigh-
bouring /^/"AW/^f of Bhiir.
Population (1869) 57.842
;
The population namely, Hindus 61,807, and Muhammadans 5438. and owing to the aversion with which the country is regarded is scanty spare land, by people belonging to other parts of Oudh, there is ample
;
roads and tenures are extremely favourable to the cultivator. The only Palia on the east to Matera Ghdt on the in the pargajid are one from one from Sirsi west, which is crossed at right angles at Balrampur, and maintained Ghat on the south to Khairigarh on the north. Ferries are at several points across the Chauka and Sarju rivers. on the Wi%^\iZ.Ti—Parga7id in Lucknow District, Oudh bounded and on the south by the Sdi river, north by Mohanlalganj pargand, wooded which separates it from Unao District. i:\{\s pargand is finely
;
300
to the south
NIGOHAN TO WN—NIHTOR.
and near the town of Nigohan, but to the north-west it is and covered by wide barren plains. Tfie soil along the Sai is light and sandy, and also along the banks of the Bank stream, which crosses \\\^ pargand obliquely from the north, and joins the Sai to the south of Nigohan. This sandy land amounts to 20 per cent, of the Except cultivated area, and injuriously affects the general fertility. round the large villages, and in the south-west of the pargand^ the cultibare,
vation
is
not so high as in the rest of the District.
Area, 72 square
which 39 are under cultivation. Population (1881) 32,331, namely, males 16,487, and females 15,844. Government land revenue, ^4754, equal to an incidence of 3s. 9d. per acre on the cultivated area, 2S. 4-id. per acre on the assessed area, or 2s. per acre on the total area The tenure is a lower rate than in any othQY pargami of Lucknow. principally tdliikddri ; out of 77 villages comprising the pargand, 38 belong to tdlukddrs, forming three estates. The only town with a population exceeding 2000 is Sissaindi, but 7 others contain over 1000
miles, of
—
inhabitants.
Schools are maintained in
five villages.
The pargaiid
is
traversed by three roads
— one
to
another from
Sissaindi
running from Rai Bareli to Lucknow, Mohanlalganj, while a third connects
Nigohan and Sissaindi with Lucknow through Bijnaur (Bijnor) on one side, and with Lucknow and Sultanpur through Nagram on the
other.
Nigohan.
^igoirkxi
Town in Lucknow District, Oudh, and head-quarters of pargand ; situated 23 miles from Lucknow city, on the road to
BrahPopulation (1881) 1968, inhabiting 365 houses. means of subsistence being the
—
Rai
Bareli.
mans
free.
are numerous, their principal
large groves surrounding the village,
which they have always held rent
Market, and Government vernacular school.
Nigriting. Village in Sibsagar District, Assam on the left or south bank of the Brahmaputra, about 16 miles north of the Sub-divisional town of Golaghat. Nigriting is the principal garden of the Brahmaputra Tea Company. It is also the port for Golaghat, and a stoppingplace for steamers plying on the Brahmaputra, which here disembark coolies and stores for the tea-gardens, and take return cargoes of
;
—
tea.
Nihalgarh Chak Jangla.
— Town
;
in
Sultanpur District,
Oudh;
Population 36 miles west of Sultanpur town, on the road to Lucknow. Three (1881) 2016, namely, Hindus 1093, and Muhammadans 923. Hindu temples police station Government school.
Nihtor. Town in Dhampur tahsii, Bijnaur (Bijnor) District, Northwestern Provinces; situated in lat. 29° 19' 30" n., and long. 78° 25' 35" E., on the banks of the Gangan, upon the Dhampur road, 16 miles from Bijnaur town. Population (1881) 9686, namely, Muhammadans, 7001; Hindus, 2438; Jains, 242; and Christians, 8. The town con-
—
;
NIJA GAL— NILESWARAM.
tains a
30 1
school,
fairs in
handsome mosque,
police
station, post-office,
and a
sardi or native inn.
Markets are held twice a week, and
in
March
and
July.
Nijagal.
of
— Hill
Bangalore
District,
Mysore
State,
crowned with
e.
ruined fortifications.
Lat. 13° 15' x., long. 77° 15' 20"
The scene
llie village
much
Nila
desperate fighting chronicled in local tradition,
hill is
at the
base of the
now
deserted.
Koh
{Blue Mou7iiains).
— Range
of mountains in the Derajat
Division of the
District,
Punjab, separating Dera Ismail
in the
Khan from Bannu
in
and culminating
(4516
feet).
District
peak of Shaikh Budin, The range consists of two divisions
the latter
— the Bhittani
towards the
range, which
frontier,
is a continuation of the Waziri hills upon the Bannu and the Shaikh Budin range, which curves towards the north-
west and north from the extremity of the Bhittani
Indus, and strikes the
hills
debouchement.
Bannu
and the
Districts
latter at
Bannu a few miles above its The principal passes between Dera Ismail Khan and are those of Bain and Pezu, the former at the western
river in
hills
;
Kuram
the eastern extremity of the Bhittani
there are
minor passes. Shaikh Budin is much higher than the rest of the range, and is almost an isolated hill. It is the sanitarium of the
also several
Derajat. The Nila Koh hills are devoid of cultivation, and are much broken up by ravines and precipices.
District,
Nilamblir (or Nelambur). Madras Presidency.
681
1
;
— Town
Lat.
in
Palladam
taluk,
Coimbatore
10° 46' 15" n., long. 77° 38' 20" e.
Population (1871)
houses.
tians, 13.
in
1881 reduced to 3643, occupying 677
Chris-
Hindus numbered 3608; Muhammadans, 22; and
(or
Nilamblir
Nelamlur).
76°
15'
—Town
E.
(or
more
correctly a group
of
hamlets) in Ernad taluk, Malabar District, Madras Presidency.
11° 17' N., long.
Lat.
45"
Population (1881)
11,384, namely,
Hindus num5980 males and 5404 females, occupying 1500 houses. bered 8921; Muhammadans, 2444; and Christians, 19. Noteworthy for its splendid teak plantations belonging to Government. Town in Godavari District, Madras PresiNilapalli {Nelkpally).
—
dency.
Lat. 16° 44' X., long. 82° 13'
e.
;
close to the
factories
ment of Yanaon, and one of the English
an Anglo-French agreement.
French settlefounded in 1751 by
Population
Five miles south of Coringa.
The factory was continued (1881) 3678; number of houses, 771. (although it was agreed that the fortifications should be removed)
by the Treaty of Pondicherri (1754).
Nileswaram
{Nilkdnta-Is/m'ara?n
;
also spelt Alliserajn).
— Town
in
Cassergode taluk, South Kanara District, Madras Presidency. Lat. 12° 15' X., long. 75° 9' 40" E. Population (1881) 8505, dwelling in 1606 houses. Hindus numbered 7175; Muhammadans, 1322; and
;
30 2
Christians,
8.
NILGIRI HILLS.
Residence of pensioned Rajas.
The southernmost
town of Kdnara, and, according to Wilks, the old limit of Kerala. District and range of mountains, Nilgiri Hills {^ Blue Mountains^). Madras Presidency. The District of the Nilgiris until recently consisted exclusively of a mountain plateau, lying at an average elevation
—
In 1873 the feet, with an area of about 725 sc^uare miles. was increased by the addition of the Ochterlony Valley section In 1877, the parishes {atnsams) of Nambalakod, of S.E. Wainad. Cheramkod, and Mananad, in the Wainad tdiuk of Malabar, at an average elevation of 3000 feet, were added to the District, which now may be said to lie between 11° 12' and 11° 37' n. lat, and 76''
of 6500
District
18'
and 77°
5' E.
long.
is
The
is
Nilgiri Hills District, with the exception
of Madras City,
length from north to south
Madras Presidency. Its extreme 36 miles its width from east to west, 48 miles. Area, 957 square miles. Population (1881) 91,034. Bounded on the north by Mysore (Maisur) State on the east and south-east
the smallest in the
;
;
by Coimbatore District on the south by portions of Malabar and CoimThe administrative head-quarters batore and on the west by Malabar.
; ;
are at
Utakamand. The Jurisdiction.
—
Nilgiri Hills
formed part of the District of Coim-
batore
83 1, when the greater portion was transferred to Malabar. In 1843 they were re-transferred to the jurisdiction of the Collector of Coimbatore, of which District they formed a Sub-division till ist
till
1
August 1868, when they were constituted a separate District, and placed under a Commissioner, who, in addition to his revenue functions as Collector, was invested with the powers of a Civil and Sessions Under him was an Assistant, who had the powers of a District Judge. Magistrate, Judge of Small Causes, and District vnuisif. There were two Joint Magistrates, one at Utakamand (Ootacamund) and one at The latter was abolished in 1879. Wellington. On February ist, 1882, radical changes, necessitated by the rapidly increasing importance and development of the District, took place. The Commissioner became Collector, District Magistrate, and additional Sessions Judge the District and Sessions Judge of Coimbatore becoming also Judge in the Nilgiris. The Assistant Commissioner was made Head-Assistant Collector and Magistrate, and a sub-Judge and a treasury deputy Collector were added to the upper staff, while the subordinate establishA deputy tahsilddr was further ment was materially strengthened. added at Utakamand to the two already existing at Coonoor and
Gudaliir, the joint-magistracy of
Utakamand being
bazar
'
abolished.
Utakamand was a It then became 1840.
Government of Madras.
'
military
under a
it
a
civil station;
is
head-quarters of the Nilgiri District, and the
Commandant till now the administrative summer capital of the
The
Nilgiri District contains 5 Sub-divisions
—
NILGIRI HILLS.
or ndds^ viz. PeranganaJ,
east
303
ToJanad, Mekanad, Kundananad, and South-
Wainad.
History. the local
— Nothing
tribes
is
known
of the early history of these
hills,
and
back beyond comparatively recent times. Cairns and cromlechs found all over the upper plateau put it beyond doubt that at a very early period some tribes inhabited the country, and the ethnological isolation of the Toda tribe confirms this. Their belief is that their own ancestors were autochthones. There is no evidence of there having been any sovereign ruler amongst them but according to the other hillmen, about a
are
singularly destitute of traditions reaching
;
century before the reign of Haidar Ali in Mysore, three chiefs ruled
in
Todanad,
^Nlekanad,
JNlalaikota,
and
Peranganad,
with
their
strongholds
and Kotagiri. It is not unreasonable to suppose that the hills formed part of the Kongudesa or Eastern Chera country, and so passed to Mysore in the 17th century. Haidar All appears to have seized two of the forts, viz. Hulikaldriig and Malaikota, which command the passes into the Coimbatore and Malayalam countries, and, after having strengthened and garrisoned them, controlled the hill tribes, and imposed upon them heavy taxes. It is said that Tipii, when he made his incursions into Wainad, ascended the hills through the Segiir ghdt^ and occupied the fort at Kotagiri. The Nilgiris were first explored in 18 14 by Messrs. Keys and ]\I'Mahon of the Survey Department. Five years later, Messrs. Whish and Kindersley of the Civil Service ascended (while in pursuit of a band of tobacco smugglers) through a pass near Kotagiri, thereby becoming 'acquainted with the existence of a table-land possessing a European climate.' A year after (1820), Mr. Sullivan, then Collector of Coimbatore, invited the attention of Government to Utakamand as a sanitarium and in 1821 he built the first Enghsh house on the plateau.
respectively at
Hulikaldriig,
;
Physical Aspects.
— The
original
District
consisted of a table-land
:
enclosed between two ranges of
'
hills,
thus described by Mr. Breeks
The mountains
rise
abruptly for two-thirds of their total height, pre-
senting from the plains below almost the aspect of a wall.
The
interior
of the plateau consists chiefly of grassy undulating hills divided by narrowvalleys, each of which invariably contains a stream or a swamp. In the hollows of the hillsides nestle small beautiful woods, locally known
as sholds.'
or plateau presents a most varied and diversiAlthough the undulating surface nowhere approaches the character of a champaign country, and frequently breaks into lofty ridges and abrupt rocky eminences, it may be called a plateau, and is
fied aspect.
The summit
practicable
to a degree
seldom found
in
mountain
tracts
of equal
elevation elsewhere in India.
is
On
all
sides, the
descent to the plains
level
sudden and abrupt. The average fall from the crest to the general below is about 6000 feet, save on the north, where the base
;
304
NILGIRI HILLS.
of the Nilgiri mountains rests upon the elevated land of Wainad and Mysore. These last-named tracts stand between 2000 and 3000 feet
above the level of the sea, and thus form, as it were, a step by which the main descent towards the sea is broken. From the Wainad and Mysore plateaux, the Nilgiris are separated by a broad extensive valley through which the Moyar river 'flows after descending from the hills by a fall at Neddiwattam in the The isolation of this mountain north-west angle of the plateau.
territory
would be complete, but
for
a singular sharp and precipitous
ridge of granite peaks, which projects from the base of a remarkable cone called Yerramalai on the western crest of the range, and, taking
a west by north course towards the coast, unites itself with the In the range popularly called the Western Ghats' (Ochterlony). south-west angle of the Nilgiris are the Kunda hills ; and spurs from
The Ochterlony range run southward to a considerable distance. and the recendy added amsams of South-east Wainad lie 3000 feet lower, and consist of a series of broken valleys, once forest-clad throughthis
valley
out,
but
now studded
with coffee-gardens.
The
highest peaks
are— Dodabetta, 8760
;
feet
;
;
Kudiakod, 8502
feet;
Bevoibetta, 8488 feet
Makurti, 8402 feet
Davarsolabett, 8380 feet
Kiinda, 8353 feet; Kiindamoge, 7816 feet; Utakamand, 7361 feet; Tambrabetta, 7292 feet; Hokabbetta, 7267 feet; Urbetta, 6915 feet;
Kodanad, 6815
Kundabetta,
feet
feet;
Devabetta,
Dimhatti,
6555
feet;
6571 feet; Kotagiri, 6571 feet; 6315 feet; Coonoor (Kiinur),
5882 feet; Rangaswami Peak, opposite the Gazzalhatti Pass, 5937 above sea-level. There are six well-known passes or ghats by which the District communicates with the neighbouring Provinces, viz. the Coonoor, The first three Segur, Gudaliir, Sispara, Kotagiri, and Sundapatti. The Coonoor and the fifth are practicable for wheeled traffic. and the road is of easy gradient and (rJidt is the principal approach The Kotagiri ghat has been much improved as to well made.
;
crradient,
and ranks next
to
Coonoor and Gudalur
in point of import-
The Segiir and Gudalur ghats give access to Mysore and Wainad. The Sispara or Kuniir ghat is now abandoned, owing to the 'opening of a new road from Utakamand to Neddiwattam, and thence a new ghat which joins the Government imperial roads at Gudalur running down the Karkur ghat at Nelambiir and Mambat'
ance.
(Ochterlony).
hills are the Moyar, which rises at the foot peak and flows into the Bhavani river near Danayakanof the Nilgiri the Paikara, which, after taking a northerly kotta in Coimbatore course, discharges itself into the Moyar (distance from Makurti peak to Near the travellers' the falls, about 10 miles); and the Bevpur.
The
only rivers in these
;
NIL GIRI HILLS.
bungalow, the Paikara
large boulders of rock.
is
305
about 40 yards wide during dry weather, and
contains a succession of deep pools divided by shallows, in which are
The
bed, which
is
gravelly
on the
fords,
is
generally covered by a fine red sand, with which the water appears im-
pregnated.
The Beypur
flows into the sea near Calicut town.
'
The
head of this stream is formed by the drainage of the elevated tabular mass of hills, which occurs to the north-west at Neddiwattam and though it descends the face of the hills at no great distance from the fall of the Moyar, the intervention of a sharp spur diverts its course into an exactly opposite direction, forcing it over the ridge called the Karkiir or Yerramalai Hills, to find its way to its embouchure on the
;
western coast
river,
(Ochterlony). Some of the main feeders of the Bhavani which joins the Moyar below Mettapolliem, take their rise in the
'
Kundananad.
level of the sea),
is that at Utakamand (7220 feet above the which is nearly 2 miles long. It is formed by an artificial embankment, thrown across the western outlet of the valley, by which the waters of the Dodabetta streams are dammed up. This lake is one of the distinctive features of the station, and round its banks is the favourite drive. Similar lakes might, no doubt, be formed in many other valleys. There are no indigenous fish on the plateau, except minnows. Tench, carp, and trout are, however, being acclimatized. In the Wainad, the wdhsir or Indian salmon is found in the upper waters of the Moyar and Beypur. The plateau is chiefly grass land studded with s/iolds or small woods.
The
only lake of note
On
the Kilndas, these sholds increase in extent
;
and on the lower
slopes, the forests
(Shorea
robusta),
integrifolia),
such as sal Marsupium), jack (Artocarpus blackwood (Dalbergia latifolia), teak (Tectona grandis).
fine
become dense with
ki?w
timber-trees,
(Pterocarpus
The
forest
area in the
;
square miles
wattle have
Wainad portion of the District is about 150 on the higher ground. Eucalypti and the Australian
been largely planted. The forest revenue was formerly in 1882-83 it was about ^5000. ; The sholds on the plateau are evergreen and the tints of the young leaves which come out at different seasons, but chiefly in spring, are very remarkable and beautiful. Each species has its own shade of green and its particular season when the young foliage comes out. It is difficult to say which is the most common or most characteristic tree
about
^7500
;
in
these sholds
;
and, indeed, their composition
varies
greatly with
elevation.
be convenient to begin with one of the most widely diffused trees, Michelia nilagirica, the tila champa of the hills, locally known as sheinpa?igan^ which gradually covers itself with large white
It will
flowers in July,
October. VOL. X.
and continues the chief ornament of the sholds until At other times of the year, this tree is remarkable for the
u
3o6
scarlet seeds with
NILGIRI HILLS.
which the ground under the tree is strewn. The is of a h'ght green colour, and contrasts with Three kinds of Eugenia form the dark green of most other species. a striking contrast with the Michelia, with their dense dark green Eugenia foliage, composed of masses of thick leathery aromatic leaves. montana, with large broad leaves, the shoots sharply quadrangular;
fohage of the MicheHa
Eugenia calophyllifolia, with small stiff blunt leaves, making a flattish and Eugenia Arnottiana, with larger pointed leaves dense crown and an abundance of white blossoms which come out early in spring. Other species with dark green foliage are Ilex Wightiana, with red
;
Ilex denticulata and Ilex Gardeniana, large trees belonging same genus as the English holly. Several species of Eloeocarpus, with large handsome leaves, which turn bright red before falling, and most elegant flowers, arranged in long branches, the petals white The fruit of these resembles the olive, or pink and deeply cut. and is eaten. Sideroxylon elengioides, a large tree with small white
berries.
to the
blossoms similar in structure
is
to,
but
much
smaller than, the inahud
it
of Central India, to the natural order of which
belongs.
The
fruit
and is eaten with curries. Meliosma pungens, with large ribbed leaves and upright panicles of small white blossoms which are an ornament to the hills in spring, and which again come out Cinnamomum zeylanicum, which botanists into flower after the rains. identify as the same species as the Ceylon shrub, the bark of which is the cinnamon of commerce, with shining leaves, easily distinguished by their aromatic scent, and three prominent veins running from base The cinnamon belongs to the same natural order as the true to apex. laurel, and there are numerous trees of the same order in the sholds, One of them, all easily known by more or less aromatic leaves. Litssea zeylanica, is distinguished by its pale bluish-green leaves. Two trees of the same order to which the Camellia and the Tea belong, remarkable for their handsome flowers, are the Gordonia obtusa, which adorns the sholds near Kiiniir in the months of June and
made
into a pickle,
July with
other
In the centre of each flower is a mass of its white flowers. The golden yellow antlers, resembling the flower of the tea bush.
is
the Ternstromia japonica, with
elegant yellow flowers.
A
third tree of the
smooth shining leaves and same order is the Eurya
japonica, with clusters of small white flowers in the axils of the leaves,
a handsome tree widely distributed over Eastern Asia, extending as far Euonymus crenulatus, a fine tree with dark brickas the Fiji Islands. red blossoms closely allied to the English spindle tree, and with its
capsules similarly shaped,
is
another of the shold trees near Utakaisolated
trees
mand.
Outside the
existing
forests,
are
often
found
in
ravines, or near villages
where they have been protected, the remains
NIL GIRr HILLS.
of former sholds.
307
These
is
trees are generally Eloeocarpus, the fruit of
which, like
species
a plum,
eaten, while the tuberculated stones of other
of the same genus are strung up for necklaces, known as rudrak (Eloeocarpus Ganitrus, lioxb.) all over India or they belong to a genus not yet mentioned (Celtis), a deciduous tree, of which one species, the rhask of the North-west Himalayas, is important on account of its One of the commonest trees of the Northfurnishing fodder for cattle.
;
west Himalayas, the Rhododendron arboreum, is abundant on the Nilgiris above an elevation of 5000 feet. It is found outside the sholds, often
associated with the red myrtle
Xilgiri gooseberry, the fruit
(Rhodomyrtus tomentosa),
also called the
being eaten, and being in appearance someelevations, for instance near Kiiniir,
what
like a gooseberry.
is
At lower
the rhododendron
associated with Vaccinium Leschenaultii, which
bears bunches of dark purple edible berries in summer, following after a
great
show of pale rose-coloured blossoms. The tree belongs to the same genus as the English whortle-berry. The shrubs and herbs of the shoids are as varied as the trees. On the edge of the forests, where there is plenty of light, there are generally masses of Leucas lancifolia, with heads of white woolly flowers. In the dark shade of the shoids the underwood consists of the small bamboo and large shrubs of Strobilanthes, which, like the bamboo, flowers only after periods of from five to fifteen years, and after flowering dies down. On rocks and among brushwood in ravines is the
charming and sweet-scented Xilgiri lily (Lilium nilagiricum), with long Grassy slopes are white flowers, containing an abundance of honey. covered with a small Strobilanthes, with hard stiff leaves and masses of blue flowers, which it is said have given these hills the name of the On grassy slopes above 7000 feet, the Anaphalis Blue Mountains.
nilagirica
is
common and
often gregarious
over considerable areas.
It is a small shrub with twisted stems, long masses of grey tufted foliage, from which stand out numerous slender stalks bearing clusters of woolly
yellowish-white flowers.
One
of the most characteristic herbs of the
plateau
Lobelia excelsa, with thick erect stems, carrying large tufts of long narrow hairy leaves, and in spring thick cylindrical spikes of
is
pale blue flowers.
Among
occur.
a great variety of shrubs, the species of brambles frequently
Rubus moluccanus, with round soft leaves, has pink flowers and no fruit. Rubus ellipticus, with ternate leaves and round leaflets, has white flowers and yellow berries; while Rubus lasiocarpus, with
The
white stems and pinnate leaves, has pink flowers and black hairy berries. first is a widely spread species found throughout Bengal, Assam,
Burma, and the Indian Archipelago
North-west Himalayas.
;
the two others are
common
in the
Large game, especially
tiger, bear, sdfnbhar,
and ibex were once very
3o8
plentiful
NILGIRI HILLS.
on the plateau, but constant and too often unsportsmanlike
shooting has reduced the
hog,
number
sadly.
Leopards, hysenas, wild
still
porcupines,
as
jungle
also
sheep,
and
snipe,
hares are
found
in
fair
abundance,
l)ea-fowl.
woodcock,
season has
spur -fowl, jungle -fowl,
and
for
A
close
been established by law (1879)
the preservation of deer and other useful species of game.
Populatioji.
—The
first
enumeration of the District was made
in 1848,
when
the population was returned at 17,057, distributed over 420 square
40 per square mile. According to the Census of 1871, the inhabitants numbered 49,501. The number of
miles, giving a proportion of
hill
tribes,
exclusive of the
inclusive of the
Kurumbas, was, in 1848, 7674; Kurumbas, 19,891 and in 1871, 23,364.
;
in
1866,
The most
recent Census, that of February 1881, disclosed a total
population of 91,034, of whom 50,976 were males and 40,058 females. These figures include a Wainad population of 25,440. The area is
957 square miles; number of towns
2,
and of
villages 8;
occupied
These figures show a density of houses, 17,844; unoccupied, 3746. 95 persons to the square mile, 19 occupied houses to the square mile, and
5
"I
persons to each house.
1
The
general population has increased
by 41,533. The Census returned as under 15 years of age, boys and 15,379 girls; total children, 31,853, or nearly 35 per 16,474 cent, of the population: and as 15 years and over, 34,502 males and
since 187
24,679 females; total adults, 59,181, or over 65 per cent. Classified according to religion, there were 78,970 Hindus, 3531 Muhammadans, 8488 Christians, 34 Parsis, 6 returned as Theists,
and
5
'others.'
Distributed into castes, the Hindus are thus subKshattriyas, 107; Shetties (traders), 2827;
divided:
— Brahmans, 440;
Vellalars (agriculturists),
10,588;
Idaiyars
(shepherds), 3463;
Kam-
malars (artisans), 1760; Kannakkans (writers), 153; Kaikalars (weavers),
419; Vanniyans (labourers), 2609; Kushavans (potters), 387; Satanis (mixed castes), 849 Shembadavans (fishermen), 291 Shanans (toddydrawers), 165 Ambattans (barbers), 247 Vannans (washermen), 547
; ;
;
;
;
The Muhammadans 20,397; 'others,' 33,721. are sub-divided into 21 Arabs, 198 Labbays, 140 Mappilas, 9 Mughals, 131 Pathans, 39 Sayyids, 375 Shaikhs, and 2618 'others.' Of the
Pariahs (outcastes),
whole
tians,
Muhammadan population, 2186 are Sunnis. Among the Chris852 are British-born subjects, 395 other British subjects, 451 other Europeans or Americans, 1012 Eurasians, 5462 natives, and 316 others.' According to another principle of classification, there were
'
511 1 Roman Catholics, 967 Protestants, and 2410 others of various denominations. As regards occupation, the Census divides the male population into
six
civil,
main groups, as follows: (i) Professional class, including State, and military officials of every kind, 1305, or 1*43 of the whole;
—
—
NILGIRI HILLS.
(2)
309
1*91 per
domestic
;
servants, inn
and lodging keepers, 1738, or
including
bankers,
(4) agricultural
;
cent.
(3)
commercial
class,
merchants,
and
class,
carriers,
1177, or 1-3 per cent.;
and pastoral
(5)
including gardeners,
22,031, or 23-5 per cent.
industrial class,
;
including
(6)
manufacturers and artisans, 3613, or 3-97 per cent. and indefinite and non-productive class, comprising all male children,
all
general labourers, and persons of unspecified occupations, 21,112, or
23' 1 9 per cent.
The languages spoken
returned as
the Nilgiris.
'
are English, Kanarese (with
its
dialects,
Toda,
Kota, and Badaga), and Tamil.
others
'
The number
all
of the
Hindu population
;
(42 J per cent.) are
aboriginal tribes belonging to
number (33,582) Badagas are returned at 24,130 The increase noticeable Irulars, 946; Kotas, 1065; and Todas, 675. in the decade since 187 1 is mostly due to immigration, the coffee and other plantations of the District attracting large numbers of coolies from the neighbouring Districts of Malabar (141 6) and Coimbatore (7524), and from the Native State of Mysore (21,234); and although the majority return at the end of the season, a small proportion remain. Of the total population of 91,034, the Census returned 51,351, or
their
Of
56-41
in the
per cent.,
as
people
born in the District; while elsewhere
Nilgiri people.
Madras Presidency were found 1189
That
is
to say, 2-26
per cent, of those born in Nilgiris had migrated.
balance of emigrants
of Malabar (108)
and immigrants left a gain of 38,494. emigrants had gone almost exclusively to the neighbouring Districts
and Coimbatore
(475).
The The
The
principal towns are
Utakamand (Ootacamund), population (1881) 12,335, including Lovedale Cooxoor (Kiiniir), population 4778. Wellington canThe local districts {iidd) are Paranganad, tonment, population 1725. The large population 18,116; Todanad, 11,557; Mekanad, 12,740.
;
majority of villages do not contain above a few hundred inhabitants each ; and even these are groups of scattered hamlets rather than
villages.
Utakamand and Coonoor
are municipalities.
Hill Tribes.
this range.
— Five
hill
tribes are
found on the Nilgiris— the Todas,
first
Badagas, Kotas, Kurumbas, and Irulas, the
three being peculiar to
The most
interesting of
*
all
these tribes are the Todas,
who
are described
'
by Ochterlony as tall, well-proportioned, and athletic' and finely moulded Their bold, independent carriage,' he continues, are sprung from no effeminate eastern and sinewy limbs attest that they race ; while the aquiline nose, receding forehead, and rounded profile,
'
combined with
their black
decidedly Jewish aspect.
Their dress
bushy beards and eyebrows, give them a is as peculiar as their habits and
appearance, consisting of a single cloth, a sort of toga, which they wear after a fashion well calculated to set o-ii to advantage their muscular forms, being disposed about the person like the plaid of a
31o
NIL GIRI HILLS.
The costume
of the
I
is
same that of the men, the toga or mantle being wrapped around them
Scotch Highlander.
the
as to cover the entire person from shoulder to ankle.
women
much
as
so
In habits the
Todas
are very dirty and indolent.
all
They
practise polyandry, a
woman
Females number about 3 to Their sole occupation is cattle-herding and dairy work. every 5 males. Their food consists of milk, curds, ghi^ and different millets and cereals.' Their language seems a mixture of Tamil and Kanarese, and is
marrying
the brothers of a family.
classed
family, lying
it
by Dr. Caldwell as a separate language of the Dravidian between Old Kanarese and Tamil. Dr. Oppert finds in
a closer affinity to Telugu.
The Todas
worship, besides their dairy
buffaloes, several deities, of
*
which the principal are Hiriadeva or the
belly-god,'
and the
'
hunting-god.'
'
They
believe that after death the
soul goes to OriMiorr or Avi-7wrr^
the great or other country.'
The Toda hamlets
or villages are called 7na7ids or molts^
'
:
and are thus
described by Dr. Shortt
Each maud
usually comprises about five
buildings or huts, three of which are used as dwellings, one as a dairy,
and the other
long,
for sheltering the calves at night.
These huts are of
a peculiar oval pent-shaped construction, usually 10 feet high, 18 feet
and 9 feet broad. The entrance or doorway is 32 inches in height and 18 in width, and is closed by means of a solid slab of wood
from 4 to 6 inches thick. This is inside the hut, and slides on two stout stakes. There are no other openings or outlets of any kind. The houses are neat in appearance, and are built of bamboo closely laid together, fastened with rattan, and thatched. Each building has end walls of solid wood, and the sides are covered in by the pent roofing, which slopes down to the ground. The interior of a hut is from 8 to On one side there is a raised platform or //.^/ formed 15 feet square. of clay, about 2 feet high, covered with deer or buffalo skins, or sometimes with a mat.
side
is
This
is
used as a sleeping-place.
is
On
piled
the opposite
a fire-place and a slight elevation on which the cooking utensils
Outside, an enclosure of loose stones
dairy,
are placed.
high.
up
2
or 3 feet
which is also the temple of the maud., is slightly larger, and contains two apartments separated by planking; one part is a storehouse for g/ii, milk, and curds.' In 1867 the number of mands was 106, with a population of 704. In 187 1 the total number of the Todas was returned at only 693, -405 men and 288 women; and in 1881, at 675, of whom 382 were males and 293 females. The Badagas or Vadagas (from Badaku or Vadaku, meaning north ') are supposed to have come from the north, in consequence of famine
The
—
'
dismemberment of the most numerous, wealthy, and civilised of the indigenous tribes, and are described by Dr. Shortt as being also the fairest of all. The men, he says, clothe themselves much
and persecution, about 300 years ago,
after the
Vijayanagar kingdom.
They
constitute the
NILGIRI HILLS.
like the natives of the plains, with
311
cloths, a sheet being
head and waist
The women wear used as a wrapper to cover the shoulders and body. a white cloth fastened by a cord under the arms, leaving bare the arms and shoulders, and the legs below the knees. The hair is thrown back
and knotted loosely on the nape of the neck. The Badagas are partial to ornaments, and wear rings, bracelets, armlets, necklets, and ear and nose rings of brass, iron, or silver. They pay a tribute called j^udu to the Todas. Their chief diet consists of korali and sdmi, two innutritions
cereals.
Their language
is
are Hindus, their principal deity being
situated
an old Kanarese dialect. In religion they Rangaswami, whose temple is
the Nilgiris
on the summit of Rangaswami peak, the easternmost point of they also worship many inferior divinities, male and female.
;
In 1871 they
numbered 19,476
souls;
;
The Kotas
(properly Gauhatars
and in 1881, 24,130. from the Sanskrit gau, a
'
cow,'
and hata, 'slaying,' i.e. and of tolerable height, rather good-featured and light-skinned, with shapely heads and long loose hair, elongated faces with sharply defined features, the forehead narrow but prominent, the ears flat and lying The women are of moderate height, of fair build, close to the skull. and not nearly so good-looking as the men. Most of them have prominent foreheads, snub noses, and a vacant expression.' The Kotas
cow-killers) are, according to Shortt, 'well
made
and various handicrafts, and are good carriers they Todas and Badagas, and, like the latter, They worship ideal gods which are not pay a gudu to the Todas. Their language is an old and rude dialect represented by any image. of the Kanarese, but without the guttural or pectoral sound peculiar to
])ractise agriculture
;
I)erform menial offices for the
The Kotas have about 7 villages altogether. Six of these on the hills, and the seventh is at Giidaliir. Each village contains from 30 to 60 or more huts, of tolerable size, built of mud the style walls, and covered with the usual thatch grass, somewhat after arrangement of the dwellings is far The of native huts in the plains. from neat. The floors are raised from 2 to 3 feet, with a short verandah
the Todas.
'
are located
in front,
and a //(a-/ or
seat
on
either side of the door.'
In 1871 the
five tribes,
Kotas numbered 1112; and in 1881, 1065. The Kurumbas (' shepherds '), the most uncivilised of the
'
small in stature, squalid and uncouth in are described by Shortt as They are appearance, with wild matted hair, and almost nude bodies. sickly-looking, pot-bellied, large-mouthed, prognathous, with prominent
The women have much the same lips. men, slighdy modified with a small pug-nose and surly aspect. They wear merely a piece of cloth, extending from under Both the arms to the knee; but some have only a waist -cloth. men and women wear ornaments of iron, brass, various seeds, shells, and srlass beads as ear-rings, necklets, armlets, bracelets, rings, etc.
outstanding teeth and thick
features as the
312
Their villages are
NILGIRI HILLS.
termed mutta^ and are generally located
is
at
an
elevation of 2000 or 3000 feet, in mountain clefts, glens, or forests.
A
one long apartment, extending from 30 to 50 feet high, loosely and scantily thatched, walled around by brushwood or bamboo plaitings, and divided by the same into several apartments, each not exceeding 8 or 10 feet square. There is neither door nor door-frame, but the huts are shut at nights by placing plaitings of bamboo or brushwood against the opening. The various grains, chillies, Their language is a corrupt Tamil. Indian corn, yams, and some of the commonest vegetables are grown
feet
Kurumba house
in
length, scarcely 5
by them
in
small quantities
;
but, as
a rule, they do
not cultivate.
They have
priests
a very vague form of religious belief, but they worship
many
natural objects.
to
Those Kurumbas, who live on the hills, officiate as They are a superstitious race and while the Badagas.
;
they keep
in
all
the other tribes of these
hills
in awe, they themselves
scale,
fear the Todas.'
Besides
cultivating
on a small
fruits,
they collect
the jungles several
kinds of grain,
soap-nuts, myrobalans,
dye -barks, shed deer -horns, mouse -deer, squirrels, tortoises, fish, medicinal herbs, roots, honey, and beeswax, which they barter on the plains for grain and cloth. A gang of them are employed on the Government cinchona plantations at Neddiwattam, and some few have
been met with in the coffee estates near Kotagiri and Giidalur. The Kurumbas on the Nilgiri Hills numbered 613 in 187 1, and 3185 in
1881.
(or benighted ones,' from the Tamil word iral, darkness') on the lowest slopes and forests extending from the base of the Nilgiris to the plains, and are not, strictly speaking, inhabitants of the
'
The Irulas
'
live
hills,
nor are they recognised as such by the other
tribes.
'
tolerably good-looking, very
bas,
much
superior in physique to the
They are Kurumand very
and
in
some
respects even to the Kotas.
The women
are strong
and
stoutly built, anything but prepossessing in appearance,
The men wear no clothing but a languti or waistband in their own homes but when w^orking on the plantations, they wear cloths like other natives. The women wear a double fold of wrapper cloth,
dark skinned.
;
which extends from the waist to the knees ; the upper part of their bodies with their bosoms, are nude. They are fond of ornaments, and wear strings of red and white beads about their necks, thin wire bracelets and armlets, with ear and nose rings.' They are an idle and dissolute tribe, although in physique well adapted to hard manual labour. They use animal food of every description, and are expert huntsmen. Their language is a rough Tamil, with many Kanarese and IMalayalam words. The Irulas on the Nilgiri Hills numbered 1400 in 1871, and 946 in 1881. With the exception of the Irulas and Kurumbas, who, owing to their
—3
NIL GIRI HILLS.
careless
3
1
and wandering
people, are
life,
are
always poor,
the
hill
tribes
are in
very comfortable circumstances.
cultivating
The Badagas, who
are an industrious
character of their houses
Agriculture.
—
becoming wealthy, as the improved and extended holdings testify. The crops grown on the Nilgiris include wheat, barley,
rapidly
;
and other cereals
oil
peas, beans, potatoes, garlic, onions, mustard, castor-
sometimes three crops of potatoes can be taken and the cultivation of this root is now growing into much importance, but is not free from the anxieties peculiar to potato-growing elsewhere. The area under potatoes in 1S82-83 was 801 acres. Besides potatoes, peas, turnips, cabbages, cauliflower, beetroot, celery, parsnips, artichokes, and nearly every variety of English vegetable grow well. Of fruits, the grape, plum, Brazil cherry,
seeds, etc.
off the soil in the
Two and
course of a year
;
and orange are grown. In some farms and gardens, managed by Europeans, oats, lucerne, and clover have Dairy farms are worked profitably, been cultivated successfully. but a small industry in silk that once promised well is now all but abandoned. Special Crops. The commercially important products of the Nilgiris are coffee, tea, and cinchona. Coffee cultivatiori was introduced on these hills about 1844, having
raspberry, apple, peach, pear,
—
already been established in the
coffee plantations in
^^'^^
Wainad and
126;
in
Coorg.
The number
in
of
1880, 354; in 1875 Of the 459 estates, 359 are in the 1881, 375; and in 1883, 459. Nilgiris proper, 24 in the Ochterlony valley, and 76 in South-east Wainad. These are exclusive of several hundreds of small native
in 1877,
213;
clearings.
The The
estates contained in 1883, 35,128 acres of coffee land,
of which
bearing.
22,897 were already planted, and 19,786 acres were in full cost of cultivation per acre under coffee was from ;^io to
;
^13
in
in 1881
fromp^6,
lbs. in
12s. to ^{^8 in
1882
;
{^o\\\
£(i, 6s. to
^15,
;
12s.
in 1883.
The
average yield per acre was 426
1883.
lbs. in
1881
1882; and 358
1881
;
These
figures refer to
350 lbs. mature plants.
The approximate
lbs. in
coffee yield of the Nilgiri plantations
lbs. in
6,003,778
1882
;
and 7,085,391
lbs. in
was 10,015,619 1883. Their
present value (1883) may be estimated at over a million sterling; and the annual out-turn averages about 4000 tons of coffee, which at present
prices
or 12,000 labourers.
would yield about ;^3oo,ooo. They give employment to 10,000 There are about 150 European coffee planters
Besides these,
and
are
estate superintendents in the District
many
estates
owned by
natives of India.
Tea Cultivation.
— Three
varieties of the tea-plant are cultivated,
the China, the indigenous plant of the
Assam and Manipur
useful variety.
It
valleys,
and the hybrid.
The hybrid
is
the most
combines
a great deal of the hardiness of the
China plant with the vigorous
4
;
3
1
NIL GIRI HILLS.
size, softness
growth,
It
of
leaf,
and
great productiveness of the indigenous.
its
seldom bears
sufficient
seed to hinder
out-turn of
is
leaf,
and
yields
more than twice as much leaf as the China plant. It of a more vigorous constitution than the indigenous and is less liable to disease.
also possessed
plant of Assam,
The
is
erroneous.
impression that the tea-plant succeeds best in a cold climate Tea-plants do not grow freely or mature their seed so
;
do lower down and the plant raised from seed so grown shares to some extent the weakness of the parent plant. In the western half of the Nilgiris the plantations are, as a rule,
well at a high elevation as they
situated at high elevations.
Their growth and yield are curtailed by
the cold
and by the sharp dry winds and nightly frost of the cold season. The severity of the climate there checks the plants to such an extent that bushes five years old show less vigorous growth and constitution than plants of half of that age grown at the same elevation on the eastern slope of the hills.
of the south-west monsoon,
damp winds
The
lands best suited to successful cultivation of the tea-plant
lie
along the southern and eastern slopes.
suitability of a plot of
One
of the safest tests of the
is
land for tea cultivation
a luxuriant growth of
it
the
common
bracken fern (Pteris aquilina), as
soil,
indicates sufficient
moisture and richness of
lay of the land, the less
with good drainage.
flat
In regard to the
lands possessing
suitable.
the slope the better;
to frosts, are the
is
good drainage and not subject
most
The
belts
first
operation performed
It
the clearing of the natural growth on
is
the land to be opened out.
necessary in forest lands to leave
;
from 20 to 30 yards wide on all exposed ridges or on the more open lands, to plant belts of quick-growing trees (Eucalyptus, etc.), to check the violence of the monsoon gales. Steep slopes are terraced and drained at intervals to break the force of the heavy rainfall.
The
spots chosen for the reception of the plants are then
marked out
4 feet by
4.
with pegs or slips of bamboos.
Cylindrical pits of 18 inches in width
and depth
are
dug
have
at a regular distance apart, generally
When
the holes have been exposed to the air for a short time, and the
rains
is
monsoon
etc.
set in, they are refilled, care
it
being taken that only
the best soil
returned and that
is
free
from roots, weeds, stones,
The
soil is
is
heaped
to
some height
in the centre.
Planting
the seed in
effected in either of the two following ways
—
(i) planting
from nurseries. I?i situ planting is performed by sowing three or four tea seeds, germinated or fresh, in each pit, and subsequently thinning them, when 2 or 3 inches high, leaving the strongest grower in the pit. Those removed serve to fill up vacancies, or are planted in a nursery for use during the followsitu,
and
(2) transplanting seedlings
ing season.
A
practice
now coming
into
split
favour consists of raising
germinated seed in small baskets of
bamboos, and afterwards
ML GIRI HILLS.
transferring
3
^
5
them
to the pits they are
rots,
covering of
roots.
bamboo soon
The outer meant to occupy. and allows free passage to the lateral
set m, the year after jilanting, so soon as the spring showers Until they have attained a shoot freely. young plants commence \o but when the height of from 1 8 to 24 inches they are left alone;
The
centre
and main
lateral
shoots show an
undue tendency
to
upward
As far as possible, the plants should be growth, they are cut back. A slight ground. trained to a single stem for at least 6 inches above of the south-west mcnsoon, followed surface trimming about the m.iddle
rains, will proby a somewhat severer one at the end of the north-east months found sufficient during the second year. A couple of bably be succulent shoots or so after this second trimming, a crowd of young when these have spring up all over the surface of each plant ; and to 8 inches, the upper leaves are attained a fair length, say from 6 branches greatest care must be taken to allow the lateral
picked.
to
The
height at grow unchecked. From 2 J to 3 feet is about the best This pruning. which to maintain the surface-level of the plants at the course of the allows from i to ij feet of upward growth during
picking season.
About
July, the plants are old
enough
to
matic pruning.
The
best time for i^runing
;
is
undergo their first systefrom early in June to
the middle of August
generally about this season that the the commg seed crop of the preceding year has matured, and that of Excepting at very low elevations, season has found its flower buds.
and
it
is
hard pruning
The growth at the higher elevations is not advisable. Severe pruning strong to enable the plants to stand it. not sufficiemly should be once in three or four years is sufficient and in old estates
is
;
accompanied by forking and manuring wherever practicable. The first tea-garden on the Nilgiri plateau was opened in 185 1. The number was 38 in 1875 53 in 1877 79 i^ 1880 86 in 1881 larger and (exclusive of some small gardens recently merged into
;
;
;
;
plantations)
Area under mature tea-plants, 3724 acres acres, as in 1882; under immature plants 1558 acres; total, 5282 up for tea-planting compared with 2392 acres in 1875. Area taken The produce of the gardens but not yet planted, 4273 acres in 1882. average in 1875, and 853,386 lbs. in 1882; was 220,070 lbs. of tea lbs. in yield per acre of mature plant, 145 lbs. in 1875, and 229
77 in
1882. 1882.
acres, of There are now (1883) 78 tea estates aggregating 11,764 The in full bearing. which 4772 acres are planted, and 3322
value of these estates
the
may be estimated at from ;2{^5o,ooo to ;£7 5,000, tea in approximate annual yield being about 510,280 lbs. of in 1883 was 154 1883; the average yield per acre of mature plants
6
3
1
NIL GIRT HILLS.
the
cost of cultivation, jQ^^
lb.
lbs.;
los.
to ;£^i7,
los.
per acre; the
was 2jd. to 6d. An experiment has recently been made of tea-growing on grass lands. It is too early to predict the result, but if it is even moderately successful, the tea-gardens of the Nilgiris may be developed almost indefinitely. About 4500 hands are employed on the several tea estates in the District. Cinchona Cultivation. The Madras Government commenced the
cost
of manufacture per
—
experimental cultivation of cinchona on the Nilgiris in i860.
The
plant was specially introduced from South America by Mr. Clements
ravine above the Government gardens on the an elevation of between 7600 and 7900 feet, was selected as suitable for the growth of such varieties as require high elevation. For species requiring a warmer and moister climate, a forest glen was chosen at Neddiwattam above Giidaliir, on the north-western slope
Markham.
A
wooded
at
Dodabetta range,
at an elevation of about 6000 feet. In 1862, two other planwere established on the wooded slopes on either side of the Paikara waterfall, having an elevation about the same as that of Neddiwattam. These plantations are known as the Wood and Hooker estates, the former being named in honour of the then Secretary of
of the
hills,
tations
and the latter after the celebrated botanist and Director Towards the end of 1863, a fifth plantation was opened out near Melkunda, about 9 miles south of Avalanchi bungalow, at an elevation of between 6000 and 7000 feet but this estate was abandoned in 187 1 by order of Government. The four existing Government cinchona plantations, namely, the Dodabetta, Neddiwattam, Wood, and Hooker estates, occupied an area of 2610 acres in 1883-84, and contained a total of 1,315,444 trees. The total cost to Government up to March 1883 amounted to ^£255, 850, and the total receipts had amounted to ;£34o,486, showing a surplus of ^84,636. The amount of bark collected in 1882-83 was 135,016 lbs., and in 1883-84, 186,652 lbs. The receipts in 1881-82 were ^,{^52,484, but fell to ^20,842 in 1882-83, owing to a destructive monsoon period. Half of the crop collected, sale of seeds, etc. sold in 1883-84 realized ;^8oi3, while the cost of maintenance and other expenses amounted to ^^94 18. This success shows that the undertaking has passed out of the region of experiment; and already private enterprise has followed in the steps of Government, and there are now 4 or 5 private cinchona-gardens planted
State for India,
of
Kew
Gardens.
;
out.
With regard
to
the
cultivation of the cinchona plant, seed
is
from
plantations where natural facilities for hybridization exist,
be preferred. The growth of hybrids is generally stronger, while they have a tendency towards a greater secretion of alkaloids. Hybrids of Canto
dominea and Succirubra
also partake in great
measure the vigour and
NIL GIRI HILLS.
strength of the true Succirubra,
alkaloids approximates
3
1
7
and
yield bark
whose richness
in
quinine
bark of the best varieties of Candominea. The natural tendency of the Nilgiri cinchonas to produce strong and rich hybrids is the most promising feature of the The use of guano, sulphate of ammonia, and farm-yard cultivation.
to that of the
litter
as
manure, has resulted
in
in
greatly increasing the
secretion of
alkaloids, particularly in the case of the varieties
in
known
as
Crown
barks,
which the supply
some
cases has been doubled.
is
The
ordinary process of gathering the bark
is
by stripping the
tree, a
process which
thus described by Mr. M'lvor, a former superintendent
:
of the plantations
—
'
A
labourer proceeds to an eight-year-old tree, and,
reaching up as far as he can, makes a horizontal incision of the required From either end of this incision he runs a vertical incision to width.
the ground,
and then,
carefully raising with his knife
the bark at the
horizontal incision until he
the bark to the
can seize
it
it
with his fingers, he strips off
ground and cuts
off.
The
strip
of bark then pre-
sents the appearance of a ribbon
tree to
more
or less long.
Supposing the
be of 28 inches in circumference, the labourer takes 9 ribbons, each \\ inches wide. ... As soon as he has removed the strips, he proceeds The to moss the trunk all round, tying on the moss with some fibre. This decorticated intervals are thus excluded from light and air.
exclusion of light
and
air
from a stem
partially
bared of bark, acts in
two ways
—
and
its
(2)
it
enables a healing process to be rapidly set up ... ; increases the secretion of quinine in the bark renewed under
(i)
it
bark
... At the end of six or twelve months the bands of untouched at the first stripping are removed, and the intervals At the end of 22 months, on they occupied on the trunk are mossed. an average, the spaces occupied by the ribbons originally taken are found to be covered with renewed bark much thicker than the natural bark of the same age; and this renewed bark can be removed and a In another six or fresh process of renewal again fostered by moss.
protection.
left
twelve months, the renewed bark of the natural ribbons left at the first Harvests are obtainable from the stripping can be taken, and so on.
trunk, alternately from the spaces left at the
first
stripping
and the
under-
spaces
left
by the second
stripping.
Experience does not show any
tree.
limit to the taking of these harvests
from a
Of course
it is
stood that at every stripping the ribbons taken are longer than at the preceding stripping, because the tree each year increases in height
and bulk, and therefore the top of every ribbon consists of natural bark and the lower part of renewed bark.' Another method of collecting the bark is that recently introduced by the Dutch in Java, namely by scraping or shaving off the outer layers
of the bark, leaving the inner
layer to protect the cambium.
The
alleged advantages of this system are said to be
—
(i) that
it
involves the
8
3
1
NIL GIRI HILLS.
;
removal of only the valuable portion of the bark (2) that all such is removed (3) that the bark is renewed in a shorter period (4) that the
;
;
health of the tree
is
not affected
;
and
(5) that
the protection of moss
is
not essential for renewal. It is necessary that the bark should be dried in partial shade, as the action of sunlight and exposure to the heat of a fire dissipate the
alkaloids.
Sheds with shelves of bamboo laths, so as to admit of a free should be erected in convenient localities. When the bark is tolerably dry, it should be placed in a room artificially heated The room may be so as to evaporate the remaining moisture in it. charcoal fires, but the temperature should not be heated by flues or Green bark of tolerably mature age permitted to rise above 100° F.
current of
air,
loses about two-thirds of
its
weight in the process of drying.
The best mode of packing the bark for shipment to Europe is in bags made of gunny cloth, consisting of two layers, with an intermediate
coating of
tar,
which ensures the purpose of uniting the
layers
and
effectually excluding moisture.
Ordinary Crops. The total area of the District is estimated at 957 square miles— 678 on the plateau, 39 in the Ochterlony valley, and 240 It is not accurately known how square miles in the Wainad addition.
—
much
of this area
is
actually
is
under
cultivation, as,
owing to the
in
different
systems upon which land
granted, the
Government accounts
show the area of
estates without reference to the extent cultivated,
is
one case and
in other cases the area cultivated
the only figure recorded.
The
regular Census of 1 88 1 returned loi square miles as 'cultivated.' of the District has now (1883) been completed, and a revenue survey
A
settlement is in progress, which is all but completed, except as regards the South-east Wainad, where the operations have not yet commenced. The Administration Report of Madras for 1882-83 returns the area
actually cultivated in the Nilgiri Hills in that year at 70,153
acres.
Of
these, 19,851 acres are
ragi,
2522 under cinchona. 4104 acres other cereals, 28,064 acres 801 acres; vegetables, 100 acres; onions,
;
shown as under coffee, 5282 under tea, and Wheat occupies 6543 acres; rice, 2388 acres;
;
pulses, 63 acres
;
potatoes,
194 acres;
and mustard
(1883)
seed, 241 acres.
Wages
are
high.
An
ordinary
unskilled
labourer earns
about 8 rupees (i6s.) a month;
(24s. to 30s.)
;
skilled
labourers,
12 to 15 rupees
when
in full
work.
handicraftsmen, 25 to 35 rupees (^2, los. to ^3, los.) At particular seasons on the coffee and tea gardens,
rate
is
wages are very high, but the ordinary
to 7id.) for pickers.
4 or
5
dnnds a day
(6d.
is
The
ordinary weight for grain in the bazar
half, or half the
a
ser of about a
pound and a
9s. 6d.
;
usual Madras measure.
—
The
prices current per j?iau?id of 80 lbs. were in
7s.
;
1882-83 as follows:
2s.
;
Rice,
wheat,
ragi, 3s. 7d.
;
other cereals,
potatoes,
NILGIRI HILLS.
6s.
3^9
Coffee was C^d. and tea is. 3d.; and sugar, ;£3. Cinchona sold at 3s. i^d. per lb. The live stock of the cows, 9528; bullocks, 8776; buffaloes, 8640; District comprises 9S5 ponies, 527 donkeys, 226 sheep, 948 goats, 972 pigs, horses, 60 dead stock ploughs, 465 7 and carts, 485. A plough bullock costs ^2, I OS. and a sheep, 6s. 3d. Carts can be hired for is. a day. In early traditions of the country, the evidence of the gudu or
4d.
;
salt,
8s.
loid. per
lb.
—
;
;
:
;
;
:
—
;
;
manorial fee paid to the Todas by the immigrant agricultural races who have settled in the country (a gudu paid, even by Government,
for the
occupation of the European settlements on the
hills),
and the
researches of the officers early connected with the administration of the
District,
—
all
point to the fact that the
nomadic race of Todas were the
immemorial and acknowledged owners of the hiil plateau, over every part of which they pastured and still pasture, except where occupied,
their large
rule,
The English herds of buffaloes according to the season. however, found the cultivable valleys and hillsides on the east and south the more genial tracts of the hills more or less completely occupied by villages of immigrant races, who carried on the
—
—
Much as was rude cultivation of dry grains within their rural limits. the case with hill tribes throughout Southern India, wide areas were
occupied, and extensive fallows necessarily the rule.
villages paid
These
agricultural
gudu
to the Todas,
and a moderate
village tribute for
this cultivation to
much
Conditions were not the State, from time to time. save as respects punctuality of payment and more rigid altered, assessment of extended culdvation, during the first half-century of
English rule.
A
village landholders
rdyatwdri settlement has since been gradually extended to the on the hills. All land within each village, held
exclusively,
its
is entered in the individual patta or notice of demand, with assigned assessment, and must be reUnquished unless paid for each
year, subject to sale in case of retention
and
for
final default.
The Waste Land Rules were introduced
of facilitating
in
1863, with the object
the
acquisition
of land
plantation
purposes
and
the like. The block of land selected by the applicant is, after three months' advertisement, and after demarcation and survey, sold to the The assessment 8 dfiuds (is.) highest bidder, whoever he may be.
is payable after three per acre on grass, and 2 rupees (4s.) on forest years in the Wainad, and five years on the plateau, when the land
—
—
is
coffee,
up for the cultivation of special products, such as tea, and cinchona. Such lands are redeemable in fee-simple by a single payment of twenty-five times the assessment, a privilege which does not extend to land occupied under the old rules and without The local Government, when sanctioning the introduction of auction.
taken
a revenue settlement
into the
District
in
March 1S81,
directed the
—
3 20
NIL GIRI HILLS.
planters
temporary relaxation of the Waste Land Rules, so far as to allow and native cultivators to take up, during the currency of the
to an annual assessment of 2 rupees (4s.) per
(is. 3d.)
settlement, waste lands adjoining their holdings, without auction or pay-
ment of price, but subject
of native
tribes.
acre in the case of planters, and 10 d?nids
an acre
in the case
Under
this rule,
which was
liberally interpreted, a
considerable area of unappropriated Government waste land has been
taken up.
The wide and immemorial
cally the
pasture-grounds of the
Toda
race
— practi-
whole unappropriated area of the plateau and the hill slopes have naturally remained unassessed to any land-tax, although largely occupied by catde some 25,000 or 30,000 head being now maintained on them. The natural pasture is exceptionally coarse and innutritions,
;
and the climate of the western and northern tracts of the range, which are especially pastoral, is so ungenial as to close them partially against herds for several months of the year and further, the area of
;
unappropriated land has become seriously narrowed.
Tipii Sultan
is
believed to have asserted a right to pasture the cattle belonging to the
Mysore State on the hills; transit duties were levied on the ,^///, in which the Todas traded with the lowlands; and a kind of mota?-fd tax has at times been levied on the cattle of this tribe, but no settlement or land-tax has been extended to these pastures. Since, however, a demand for land for European occupation has sprung up on the hills, these wide pasture lands have practically been declared Government waste, available for sale and appropriation by Government. However, to each inajid or Toda hamlet is reserved a 50-acre block of
pasture, with a proportion of forest for shade.
On
this,
a rental of 2
all
dnnds
(3d.)
an acre
is
payable.
This represents a reservation in
is
of
some 7000
acres, so that to
each adult male Toda there
an allowance
over
all
of over 30 acres.
Practically, the
Todas graze
their cattle
waste land, but the reservation has been granted to compensate for The Toda reserves, howthe gradual enclosure of private estates.
ever, are intended exclusively for pasture,
and
all
alienations are pro-
hibited.
In the European settlements, a few building grants, made before
1863, are held on quit-rents redeemable on twenty years' purchase; but more recent grants are subject to the general conditions specified
above, and are not allowed to exceed 10 acres in extent.
Another
tenure in the District
is
that of the i7idms or glebes of village officers,
the assessment on which used to be paid direct by the occupants to the
village officers as their remuneration.
These have now been amalgain
lieu a
mated with the Government lands Government direct, and the village
payment.
;
the pattiddr paying the revenue to
officers receiving
money
—
1
NIL GIRI HILLS.
Transfers of land are frequent and easy.
generally
effected
32
natives, these are
Between
by the traditional form of conveyance, and inBut the European practice of timated to the Settlement officer. conveying by stamped and registered document is becoming popular. The price of land, of course, varies very much according to class good forest land in the Wainad and Ochterlony valley sometimes
reaching ;£'ioo an acre
price for coffee land.
;
but ^£2 to
^10
an acre
is
the average auction
The
price of land in the Settlement of Utato the increased
kamand has of late risen very considerably owing demand for building sites. Natural Calamities. No famine is ever known
within the Nilgiri District.
here
and in European as well as
:
to have occurred But high prices in the plains affect prices 1877, serious distress was felt among the poorer classes,
native.
—
The District, notwithstanding the Meajis of Co??i??iiniicatio?L culties of construction and repair, is fairly supplied with roads
much
yet remains to be done in
this respect before the
—
diffi;
but
fully
country
is
opened for the introduction of European capital. There are altogether more than 280 miles of road bridged and open for wheeled traffic, of which 180 are on or leading to the plateau, and nearly 82 in South-east Wainad. The principal Nilgiri lines are the Coonoor ghat road, and
thence to Utakamand, 28 miles;
26
14
;
Utakamand
to Karkanhali for Mysore,
toGiidaliir, 30;
Coonoor
to Kotagiri, 12;
Utakamand
to Avalanchi,
;
Kotagiri ghat road, 20.
Several other ghats and plateau roads are
carts.
maintained for pack-bullocks, but are not practicable by
railway from Kaliar, at the foot of the ghat, to
A
had
Coonoor
(Kiiniir)
prospectus of the
been guaranteed by Government under certain conditions, and the Company had been published: but the promoters failed to raise the required capital on the terms sanctioned, and have made
(1883-84) fresh proposals to Government.
Ma7iiifactures aiid Trade.
—There are no special manufactures
and
sale of
in the
District, except the weaving of a coarse cotton cloth by the Badagas. Several European industries exist, for local purposes solely ; and there
are
two breweries.
The
trade consists in the import
Euro-
pean goods and
food-stuffs,
and the export of
tea, coffee,
and cinchona,
and some garden produce. The principal market, locally called shandy, At Coonoor a of the District is held at Utakamand every Tuesday. shandy is held on Sundays and Tuesdays, and at Kotagiri on Mondays. The Kadu festival of the Todas, at which is performed the annual ceremony for the dead, which consists of dancing and slaughtering The Badagas and Kotas also buffaloes, is held in different localities. have annual festivals, which are attended with dancing and music,
sacrifices of sheep, buffaloes, etc.
JfistitJitions.—Th^ Nilgiri Library at
Utakamand and
the
Lawrence
VOL. X.
X
322
NILGIRI HILLS.
Asylum
The at Lovedale are the only institutions deserving notice. former possesses a handsome building, erected in 1859 at a cost of ;^38oo; its annual income is £']^o, and it contains reading and The Lawrence Asylum, like writing rooms and about 10,908 volumes.
other institutions of the same name, is intended for children of British It accommodates at present 390 soldiers, whether orphans or not. The children are housed, fed, children (330 boys and 60 girls). They are taught trades, and employment is clothed, and educated.
Telegraph and survey classes, most of them on leaving. tailors', and shoemakers' shops, and a farm are attached to carpenters', It is supervised by a Principal and a Committee, and this institution. has an income from all sources of about ;£"i 0,000, derived from the endowments of the military male Orphan Asylum of Madras, GovernAn English newspaper is ment grants, and profits on industries.
found
for
published in the District.
principally centres
Monumental Remains.— i:\iQ antiquarian interest in the Nilgiri Hills round the rude stone monuments mentioned in a Such relics are generally situated in commanding previous paragraph. Some of the older summits of hills and ridges. situations on the
agrams,
or funeral circles, as now used by the Todas, have been opened, and found to contain weapons, pottery, etc. The best ancient bronzes and weapons have been found in Todanad and Paranganad.
A large
number of rude stone monuments cairns, barrows, kistvaens, and cromlechs— are found all over the plateau, and their origin has been much discussed. The cairns are of several forms, one commonly others seem to called the draw-well kind, consists of a circular wall
—
—
;
have been regularly built up, but the circle is enclosed by a heap of rough loose stones, sometimes built more carefully on the inner side of
the circle, or faced inside with larger slabs, but sloping outside into a third kind consists merely of a circle, sometimes of tumbled heap.
A
long stones laid round on a sort of ridge, sloping inwards, sometimes The kistvaens of common rough stones embedded in the surface soil. In these is found pottery with a rich red Kotdgiri. are situated below glaze, and many of the clay figures are represented with a high Tartar
These remains, says Dr. Caldwell, are not claimed by any hills, and seem to be of considerable this description opened by Mr. Breeks antiquity. immense tree growing out of it and over it, which was estimated had an The most numerous of these remains are to be at least 800 years old. the cairns and barrows, which resemble each other, and w-hich are found most often in groups and on the tops of hills and ridges. A few may
head-dress.
of the races
now existing on the One of the cairns of
be seen on the eastern sides of the Kiindas near the Avalanchi bungalow. In recent researches, more than 40 of these cairns have been opened,
NIL GJRI HILLS.
and were found
domestic
attributes
to contain
3
2
3
bronze vessels, such as vases, urns,
pottery,
etc.,
utensils,
glazed
and
spear-heads.
;
One
theory
Todas but against this Todas offer not the slightest objection to these Though they remains being opened and their contents carried away. use them as burial-places, they themselves attribute their origin to a Dr. race who lived anterior to them, and sometimes to the Kurumbas.
to Scythian ancestors of the
is
them
the fact that the
Shortt writes It is generally believed by the natives that these cairns and cromlechs are the work of the followers of the Pandian kings, who The Badagas likewise believe this, at one time ruled on the Nilgiris. while some of them attribute them to the Kurumbas. The Rev. Mr. IMetz is also of the latter opinion, and I am inclined to coincide We know that the Kurumbas were at one time with this gentleman. scattered all over Southern India, and were driven by their conquerors Dr. Caldwell perhaps to the jungles and hills they at present occupy.
:
'
rightly
calls
them
" Scytho-Druidical
"
remains,
as
they appear
etc.
to
partake both of the Scythian and Druidical in structure,
Similar
remains are found in most Madras Districts, and indeed
parts of India.'
in
many
other
There are
forests
traditions
on the
Hills
Nilgiri Hills of
an old
race of
Veddas apparently the same
as the
Veddas of Ceylon.
are
Forests.
(i)
— The
In the
of the
Nilgiri
of four classes
—
Those of the eastern and southern slopes; (2) the northern slopes and Moyar valley (4) the sholds of the (3) the South-east Wainad
; ;
plateau.
first
are found deciduous forest with teak, Anogeissus,
trees
Terminalias,
and other
on
the projecting southern spurs
and
slopes, while the valleys are filled with fine forest of partly evergreen,
deciduous growth. In these valleys, the chief tree is Pterocarpus Marsupium, but noticeable among others are Mesua ferrea, Cedrela The second Toona, Chickrassia tabularis, and Bischoffia javanica. region contains chiefly deciduous forest trees, with a fair amount of
partly
sandal-wood.
The
teak
third contains timber of large size, chief
among
which
are
and
black wood
(Dalbergia
latifolia),
Pterocarpus
The Marsupium, Terminalia tomentosa, and red and white cedar. These sholds are patches of thick forest of the shold is quite different. forest along ravines and watercourses, and separated by grass lands or downs. The forest is low, the trees rarely reaching 50 to 60 feet in
height.
The
trees of the sholds are described in a previous section of
this article (pp.
305-307)-
The Certain forest tracts are being selected for legal reservation. sholds are very slow in growing, and old trees are not easily replaced.
Arrangements have been made to plant the quick-growing wattles (Acacia melanoxylon and dealbata) and the Australian blue - gum Plantations of these trees have been formed (Eucalyptus globulus). The chief are 'Arambi' near Utakamand, Coonoor, and Wellington.
^24
NILGIRI HILLS.
'Batbri'
at
\
'
\
Bandi shohV at 'Old Forest' and Coonoor, and 'Rallia' near Wellington. These trees, especially the Eucalyptus, grow very fast, and are fit to cut at ten years of age, being then often loo feet high, with a girth of 2 to 3 feet or even more. The annual increment of Eucalyptus has been ascertained to be about 12
and
Utakamand,
{
j
|
|
|
tons per acre per
annum
;
that of wattles, 6 tons.
These plantations are
j
being worked
in regular rotation for the
The produce
bolams.
of the
Wainad
supply of fuel on the plateau. and Moyar forests consists of teak logs
forests
:
•
(which are brought for sale to Utakamand), sandal-wood, and rayra-
^
The
receipts from
in
1874 was
all
jP^2(i<^2\
in
1881,
;^4iio; and
in 1883,
;^437S.
total
Administratio7i.
— The
revenue from
sources in 1868-69,
^
the year in which the Nilgiri Commission was first established, was ^10,063, and the expenditure on civil administration, ^£"32,906; in
to
1874-75, the revenue had increased to ^^20,507, and the expenditure ^41.491. In 1881-82, the revenue was ^50,209, and the expendiThe different items of revenue in 1874-75 and ture ^35,210.
|
,
3881-82 were thus returned
1881
in
;
—land,
in
;^455i
in
"^
1874, and
;£'i6,389
^9060
in
in
;
dhkdri or excise,
^7276
1881.
in
1874, and
1881
forests,
^2692
in 1874,
and ;£4iii
1881
;
and
post-office, p^'2936
1874, and
;£"2o,649 in
Expenditure
— administrative
^^^
and
law
public departments,
^10,195
1874, and ;2<^i7,455
;
1881
;
^6542 in 1874, and ^^2651 in 18S1 ecclesiastical and medical services, ^7505 in 1874, and ^£"6787 in 1881 superannuation, etc. allowances, ^30^1 in 1874, and ^2460 in 1881; land revenue, ^5720 in 1874, and £z2()o in 18S1 forests, ^6586 in 1874, and ^1590 in 1881 post-office, y;'i7,247 in 1874, and ^977 in t88i. The number of magisterial courts in 1875-76 was 6, and of civil and revenue courts 4. The figures in 1881 were— magisterial courts 9,
and
justice,
;
;
^
j
I
;
;
,
'
revenue courts 4. The aggregate strength of the police in 1875 was The number of arrests 141 men, maintained at a cost of ^1193. was 373, with 222 convictions. In 1881, the force consisted of 179
;
;
men, costing
(including
District,
^£"4286.
Number
of arrests (1881),
1706; convictions
2
j
summoned cases), 1823. There are the jail at Utakamand and the European
one
at Wellington,
prisons
in
the
;
also 3 subsidiary jails,
one
at
There are Coonoor (Kiiniir), and
prison.
j
|
one at Giidaliir. The average daily number of prisoners during 1875 was 470, and 380 in 1881. Out of a population of 49,501 in 1871-72, 3990, or 8*1 per cent. (266 of whom were females), could read and
write.
\
'
In
1881, out of a population of 91,034, the
number who could
read and write (including 1000 females) was 5775, or d-^iy per cent. Among the hill tribes, education has made but little progress. The only two European schools of importance are the Lawrence Asylum,
Lovedale, and the
Breeks' Memorial
,
School at Utakamand.
The
;
1
NIL GIRI STA TE.
former has been already referred to
the
first
;
325
the latter, founded in
Commissioner,
institutions
is
an
efficient middle-class school.
memory of The total
I'^^e
number of
18S2-S3,
(including the vernacular schools) was 45 in
with
1869 pupils;
expenditure
thereon,
^13.354girls)
Census of 1881 returned 1765 (of
instruction.
whom
413 were
as under
Medical Aspects.
isolated
—Situated
as the Nilgiris are, at an average elevation
;
of 6000 feet; equidistant from two seas
from
and sharing two monsoons mountains of similar height, they possess a climate
;
which, for equability of temperature, for mildly invigorating qualities, for great salubrity, and for immunity from the disturbing influences
hill stations, is almost unrivalled within temperature deduced from the mean o^ The hottest season is in twenty-five months has been fixed at 58° F. April and May, but its occurrence depends upon the character and The extreme range period of setting in of the south-west monsoon.
common
the
to the climate of
most
tropics.
The
average
of temperature,
from sunrise to
In
i88t,
37-3°.
2
p.m.,
averages
commonly
at
16° F.
throughout
8o-i°,
the year.
the
maximum
in
Wellington
was
and the minimum
The mean temperature
the
in that year
was 61°.
The
rainfall
at Wellington
same year was 48-46.
The average annual rainfall for seven years ending 1881 was 45 inches. The year before 188 1, however, there was an average fall over the
District of 70 inches.
There are only two dispensaries
in the District
—at Utakamand and Coonoor. The European
from fevers and rheumatism.
Nilgiri Hills,
population suffer chiefly
[For further infoyiiation regarding the
and the tribes inhabiting the tract, see the Manual of the Nilgiri District, by H. B. Grigg, Esq., C.S. (Government Press, Madras, Also An Accoimt of the Primitive Tribes and Monuments of 1880). W. Breeks, Esq., C.S. (Allen & Co., London, the Nilgiris, by the late
J.
annual 1873); ^"^^ Madras Census Report for 1881 ; and the several Madras GovernAdministration and Departmental Reports of the
ment.]
Nilgiri.
— Native
N. lat.,
State of Orissa, Bengal, lying between 21° 18' 50"
and between 86° 29' and 86° 51' 30" e. long. Area, 278 square miles. Bounded on the north and west by the State of Morbhanj, and on the east and south by Balasor District. One-third one-third of waste of the area consists of uncultivated mountain land Valuable remaining third is under cultivation. jungle and the
and 21° 37'
; ;
quarries of black stone are worked, from which are
platters,
etc.
made
cups, bowls,
Population in
1881, 50,972, namely,
43'9o5 Hindus,
32
Musalmans,
aboriginal tribes,
returned at
lat.
2\
27'
Christians, 633 Santals, and 6366 non-Hindu namely Bhiimijs. The total number of villages was The capital and residence of the Raja is situated in 248. 20" N., and long. 86° 48' 41" e. The State yields a revenue
36
—
;
326
estimated at
NIL NAG—NIMACH.
ment.
^2179, and pays a tribute of ^390 to the British GovernThe Raja's miHtia consists of 28 men, and the poHce force of 76 men. The State contains 18 schools. Lake in Kashmir (Cashmere) State, Northern India, Nil Nag.
—
giving rise to a stream which joins the Jehlam (Jhelum) near Baramula.
Situated in
lat.
^^-^
48' n.,
and
long.
74° 47'
e.
(Thornton), on the
north-eastern declivity of the Pir Panjal Mountain, 21 miles south-west
of Srinagar.
Bengal.
houses,
Held
in great
veneration by the Hindus.
Nilphamari
56,609.
total,
(or
Bdgdogrd).
— Sub-division
;
Area, 638 square miles
of Rangpur District, number of towns or villages, 392
;
Population
(1881),
males
226,484,
and
females
213,002;
439,486.
Classified according to religion, there were
IMuhammadans, 219,906; Hindus, 219,362; Christians, 32; Jains, 47; Buddhists, 28; Brahmo, i; Santals, 12; other aborigines, 27;
unspecified, 71.
villages per square mile,
Density of population, 689 persons per square mile; houses per '61; persons per village, 1121
;
This Sub-division comprises square mile, 90; persons per house, 7"8, the three police circles {thdnds) of Dimla, Jaldhaka, and Darwani.
In 1883
of 89 of
it
contained
ranks,
i
criminal and 2 civil courts, with a regular police
rural police or village
all
Rangpur District, Bengal, head-quarters of Nilphamari Sub-division, and a station on the Northern Bengal State Railway. A purely agricultural village, of no importance except as
Nilphamari.
the head-quarters of a Sub-division.
—-Village in
and 962
watchmen.
Nilvala. Petty State in the Gohelwar division of Kathiawar, Bombay Presidency consisting of i village, with 2 separate tribute-payers.
;
—
tribute of ^51, 2s. is paid to the British Estimated revenue, ^245 The inGovernment, and £,\^, 8s. to the Nawab of Junagarh.
;
habitants are pure Kathis.
The
estate lies 13 miles north-north-west of
line.
Lathi railway station on the Bhaunagar-Gondal
miles.
Area, 2 square
Population (1881) 512.
{NeemucJi).
Nimach
in
lat.
—A
town and
British
cantonment, in the
e.,
terri-
tory of Gwalior, or the possessions of Sindhia, in Central India; situated
24° 27' 38" N.,
and
long. 74° 54'
15"
on the north-western
Rajputana.
border of Malwa, and at a short distance from the boundary separating
that tract of country from the State of
station
Mewar
in
Also a
on the Rajputc4na-Mahva State Railway. The British territory here was formerly limited to the site of the cantonment and some acres adjoining, sold by Daulat Rao Sindhia in 181 7, according to the provisions of the treaty of Gwalior concluded in that year, as space required by the British Government for stationing a force in the Malwa territory. By a later treaty, however, some more land in the vicinity was obtained. A small fort has been constructed to accommodate the families of the military when called to a distance on duty
—
NIMAL—NIMAR.
it
327
is
at
present
agreeable, the hottest season the niglits are generally cool.
sea-level
is
The climate of Nimach is used as a magazine. extreme of heat or cold even at never exhibiting either
;
Its elevation
above
16 13
feet.
Nimach occupies
rising ground, the
canton-
ment boundary being close under the
head-quarters of a District of Gwalior.
city
walls of the city.
The
city is the
In 1881 the population of the
; ;
was returned
'
at 5161,
and
others,' 66.
Muhammadans, 938 namely, Hindus, 4157 Population of the cantonment (1881) 13,069, namely,
Hindus numbered 9032; Muham7576 males and 5493 females. madans, 3218; and 'others,' including Europeans, 819. Nimach is distant 155 miles north-west of Mhow, 371 south-west of Delhi, 312
south-west
306 miles west of Sagar, 11 14 miles west of Calcutta via Allahabad and Sagar. Nimal. Town in Bannu (Bunnoo) District, Punjab See Namal. Nimar. District in the Chief Commissionership of the Central Provinces, lying between 21° 4' and 22° 26' N. lat, and between
of Agra,
— —
75° 50'
and 77"
i' E.
long.
territories of the
and is Raja of Dhar and of the Maharaja Holkar, on the south by Khandesh District and West Berar, and on the east by Hoshangabad. Area, 3340 square miles. Population (1881) 231,341. The head-quarters of the District are at Khandwa, which is rapidly
Central Provinces;
forms the westernmost District of the bounded on the north and west by the
It
taking the place of
Burhanptjr as the principal town. Physical Aspects.—Th^ modern District of Nimar
valleys,
consists of
two
river
parted by a range of
hills.
It
includes but
a
small
portion of the ancient
the
whole
of the
Vindhya
hills
Hindu Province of Prant Nimar, which occupitd Narbada (Nerbudda) valley, lying between the on the north and the Satpura range on the south, for
On the other hand, the about 225 miles, from 74° to 77° 10' e. long. valley was no part of old Prant Nimar, but belonged to the Tapti
Hindu Province of Talner, subsequently called by the Muhammadans Khandesh. The northern section of the District in the Narbada valley
and nowhere presents the open level It is drained surface of the more fertile Districts higher up the river. Abna, Wana, Bham, Baldi, and Phiprar, which unite in a by the Sukta, considerable stream, the Chhota Tawa, before joining the Narbada; and by the Ajnal, Kaveri, and Bakiir, which fall directly into that
is
broken by low irregular
hills,
river.
tract of
In the north-east corner of this section of the District, a large but waste extends along the Chhota Tawa and the Narbada is fairly well cultivated, though the barren ridges the rest of this region which cut up the country in every direction prevent it from presenting Its average elevation above the sea is 1000 a flourishing appearance.
;
feet.
The southern
section of
Nimar
District, in the
Tapti valley,
is
more
328
NIMAR.
But open and fertile. Towards the west it is carefully cultivated. higher up the valley, the land, though exceedingly rich, lies utterly desolate and instead of the thriving villages which occupied it during the Muhammadan period, now only a few Kurkiis carry on a rude This part of Nimar has an tillage here and there in a deadly climate. The irregular and average elevation above the sea of 850 feet. broken range which divides the two valleys of the Narbada and the
;
Tapti, has a width of about 15 miles.
hilly
It is
the only part of the great
backbone of the Central Provinces marked in maps as the Satpura On its chain, which is really known by that name to the people. highest point, about 850 feet above the plain, and 2200 feet above sea-level, stands the fortress of Asirgarh, commanding a pass through the hills which has for centuries been the chief highway between Upper The Hattis, another branch of the same great India and the Deccan.
range, with a height above sea-level of from 2000 to 3000
feet,
form the
they rise
southern boundary of the
District.
;
On
their
other face
steeply from the plains of Berar
but the ascent from the Tapti valley
is long and gradual, including some plateaux of considerable extent, Geologically considered, the with excellent soil here and there.
country consists almost entirely of
traps are horizontal
;
trap.
In
far
the greater portion the
is
but in the low
hills
west of Asirgarh there
15°.
a
strong
southern dip, in places amounting to
is
wanting; but iron-ore
found in the Dhar
forest
Coal is entirely near Punasa and
Chandgarh.
Of ment
the extensive forests in Nimar, the only tract reserved by Governis
the
Punasa
forest,
which stretches
for
about 120 miles along
the south bank of the Narbada, and contains very fine young teak (Tectona grandis), besides saj (Terminalia tomentosa), and aiijam
(Hardwickia binata) of great
District, in the
size.
is
The
south-eastern corner of the
forest of teak
;
young and other timber, over an area of about 400 square miles and a similar forest exists in pargand Chandgarh, north of the Narbada. There is, besides, much land overspread by low jungle. Tigers are numerous, and are easily got at along most of the rivers in Cattle and game being easily procurable by them, the the hot season. Nimar tigers seldom become regular man-eaters. Bears, leopards, and wolves are common in some parts, and also sdmbhar and spotted deer.
Tapti valley,
also covered with a promising
The Upper Tapti
alis),
valley
is
a favourite haunt of the bison (Bos front-
and wild hog abound throughout the District. Of small game, painted partridge, quail, hares, and pea-fowl are the chief. and the large rivers yield Jungle-fowl are found in the Tapti valley A shooting party has only to bring tents and horses to excellent fish. the Lal-bagh railway station, where cart-carriage is always available for hire, and march 15 or 20 miles up the Mohna valley, south-east of
and
nilgai
;
—
JSIIMAR,
329
useless,
Burhdnpur, to be in the centre of a very sportsman's paradise. It is however, to attempt such an expedition earHcr than March,
grass
is
when the jungle
burnt.
The
are
principal places of interest in
Khandwa and Raver,
;
the valley of the Tapti
Nimar District, besides Asirgarh, Narbada valley Burhanpur, in and Mandhata, the island in the Narbada
in the
;
sacred to Siva.
History. Ximar has always been a border land. Even its hill tribes belong to two distinct races, the Bhils and Kols of Western India here meeting the Gonds and Kurkiis from the east. The earliest
figures,
—
whether of legend or
history, are those of the
Haihai kings,
Nimar from Mahismati, the modern Maheswar, till they were expelled by the Brahmans. The new rulers introduced the worship of Siva on the island of Mandhata. At first the Brahman gods found supporters in the Chauhan Rajputs, who held Asirgarh, though
ruled Prant
who
was at Makavati (Garha Mandla) but subsequently the Pramara Rajputs, who founded the great Buddhist kingdom of Malwa, seized Asirgarh. A branch of this family called Tak held the fortress from the 9th to the 12th century, and are often commemorated by the poet Chand as leaders in the Hindu armies battling in Northern India against the Muhammadan invader. During this period, the Jain religion, a schism from Buddhism, prevailed in Nimar, and numerous remains of finely carved Jain temples still exist at Khandwa and near Mandhata. Before the invasion of the Muhammadans. however, the Chauhans appear to have recovered Asirgarh and the southern part of the District. In 1295, Sultan Ala-ud-din, returning from his bold raid into the Deccan, took that stronghold, and put all the Chauhans but one to the sword. About this time. Northern Nimar came into the possession of a Bhil, Ala Raja, whose descendants are still to be found in the chiefs of Bhamgarh, iMandhata, and Silani. Ferishta, indeed, relates a story of a shepherd chief called Asa ruling over all Southern Nimar, and building the fort which from Asa the Ahi'r (a herdsman) took the name of Asirgarh. But it is almost certain that the country was wholly in the hands of the Chauhan and Bhilala Rajas at the time of the Muhamtheir capital
;
madan
conquest.
About 1387, Northern Nimar became part of the independent ^luhammadan kingdom of IVIalwa, with its capital at Mandii on the Vindhyan hills. Before this, in 1370, Malak Raja Farukhi had obtained
Southern Nimar, then unconquered, from the Delhi Emperor. He reduced the Tapti valley ; and was succeeded by his son, Nasi'r Khan,
who captured
Zainabad.
Asirgarh, and founded the cities of Burhanpur and For eleven generations, from 1399 to 1600, the Farukhi dynasty of Khandesh ruled at Burhanpur; but their powerful neighbours
330
NIMAR,
of Gujarat and Malwa rendered their independence little more than nominal, and Burhanpur was several times sacked by invading armies.
In 1600, the great Emperor Akbar annexed Nimar and Khandesh, capturing Asirgarh by blockade from Bahadur Khan, the last of the Akbar divided Northern Nimar into the Districts of Bijagarh Fariikhis. and Handia, and attached it to the Siibah of Malwa. Southern Nimar
The Prince Danyal was made became part of Siibali Khandesh. Governor of the Deccan, with his seat at Burhanpur, where he drank
himself to death in 1605.
Under
plains
the enlightened rule of
Akbar and
it
;
his
successors,
reached the highest degree of prosperity
has ever known.
Nimar The
and
valleys
\a
ere carefully cultivated
the roads were thronged
;
between Malwa and the Deccan and everywhere resthouses and wells, aqueducts and reservoirs, studded the District. In 1670, the Marathas first invaded Khandesh, and wasted the country up to the gates of Burhanpur. During successive harvest seasons they and, in 1684, plundered the city itself immediately after returned Aurangzeb had left it with his unwieldy army to subdue the Deccan.
with
traffic
;
By 1690
or fourth of
they had overrun Northern Nimar; and in 17 16, the chaiith, all revenues, and the sardesmukhi^ or tenth part of the land
revenue, were formally conceded to them by the Mughals.
later,
Four years At but first he confirmed the alienations of revenue to the Marathas disputes soon arose, and the Peshwa repeatedly plundered the District, Fifteen until he acquired Northern Nimar by the Treaty of 1740. years afterwards, Southern Nimar was also ceded to the Peshwa, except Burhanpur and Asirgarh, which, however, followed in 1760. Under the Peshwa s Government, the District recovered from the evils which had befallen it during the strug^^le between the Mughals and
the Nizam, Asaf Jah, seized the
Government of the Deccan.
;
Marathas.
In 1778, the whole of the present
transferred to
District,
exctpt paro^ands
Kanapur and Beria, was the same time, acquired
Maharaja Sindhia.
Holkar, at
nearly
all
the rest of Print Nimar.
Up
to
1800 the District enjoyed tolerable peace; but from that year till 1818 it was subject to one increasing round of invasion and plunder, still known as the time of trouble,' from which it has not yet recovered. In 1803 a terrible famine befel the country, and in the same year Southern Nimar was taken by the British after the battle of Assaye, During the next fifteen years the District but restored to Sindhia. was constantly pillaged by Holkar's officers, by the Pindaris, and by The Pindaris, in fact, were the rebellious deputies of Sindhia himself.
'
at
home in Nimar their chief camps were in the dense wilds of Handia, between the Narbada (Nerbudda) and the Vindhyan hills; and it was in a Nimar jungle that their daring leader Chitii was killed
:
by a
tiger.
;
NIMAR,
The
last
331
Peshwa, Baji Rao, made bis way to Nimar afier his defeat in Asirgarh, the Deccan, and surrendered to Sir John Malcolm in 1818. Sahib, the former Raja of Nagpur, had taken refuge, was in which Apa
reduced by the British troops in the same year. The British thus acquired pargauds Kanapur and Beria as successors to the Peshwa, while Asirgarh and 1 7 villages round it were retained after the siege. The rest of Nimar came under our management by treaty with Sindhia
In 1854, several /^rj,'-^W^ were transferred from Hoshangin 1824. abad to Nimar; and in i860, Sindhia's pargands of Zainabad and Manjrod, with the city of Burhanpur, were obtained by exchange. At the same time, all the parga?ids which we had managed for Sindhia
since 1824
became
British
in
full
sovereignty.
Lastly, in
pargands in the north-west corner of the District
— Kasrawar, Dhargaon,
1867, 3
and Barwai— together with Mandleswar, were transferred to Maharaja Holkar in exchange for some territory in the Deccan. When the District of Nimar first came under British management
in 1818,
the country was nearly desolate.
cultivators
AVith the revival of peace,
;
however,
Bhils,
efforts
many of the who at first proved troublesome, were
of Captain (afterwards
fiscal
returned to their homes
and the
quieted, chiefly by the
Sir
James)
Outram.
Unfortunately,
our early
administration was unsuccessful.
The
District
was
greatly over-assessed,
leases, while
and
the revenue farmed to speculators on short
nothing was effected to assist the down-trodden cultivators. in 1845, the farming system utterly broke down, and all the At length,
villages
The ancient were again taken under direct management. head-men regained their proper position the cultivators were secured in possession at a moderate assessment old tanks repaired and new ones conagriculture was encouraged
hereditary pdte/s or village
;
;
structed
;
and through the
efforts
chiefly of Captains French, Evans,
and Keatinge, Nimar entered on a fresh period of prosperity. When the Mutiny broke out in 1857, Asirgarh and Burhanpur were garrisoned Major Keatinge collected by a detachment of the Gwalior contingent. a local force, and fortified the Rati Ghati Pass on the southern road, besides the old fort at Punasa, where the European families took refuge
with the treasure.
by a detachment of
the District with a
The Asirgarh troops were afterwards quietly disarmed Bombay infantry. In 1858, Tantia Topi traversed numerous body of starving followers, who plundered
the country on their way,
and burned the police buildings at Pi'plod, The people of the District, however, Khandwa, and Mokalgaon. signs of disaffection during the Mutiny. showed no
of
1866 returned the population Census of 1872 disclosed The last enumeration in 1881 returned the total population 211,176. of Nimar District at 231,341, showing an increase since 1872 of
Population.
—A
rough enumeration
in
Nimar
at
190,561 souls.
The more
careful
;
332
NIMAR,
arrived at by the Census of 1881
The general results 20,165 persons, or 9*5 per cent, in nine years. may be briefly summarized as follows:
Area of District, 3340 square miles, with 2 towns and 625 villages, and 48,592 houses. Total population, 231,341, namely, males 121,008, or 52*3 per cent, of the total population, and females 110,333, or 477
per
cent.
—
Density of population,
square mile, '19;
69-3
persons
per
square
mile;
villages per
square mile, 14*55 \ sex and age, there were in 1881
per village, 370; houses per persons per house, 476. Classified according to
persons
and females 42,545
years of age, males 45,369, 87,914, or 38*0 per cent, of the District population: 15 years and upwards, males 75,639, and females 67,788; total adults, 143,427, or 62 per cent. Religio7i. Classified according to religion, the Hindus in 1881
;
— under 15
total children,
—
numbered 199,290, or Muhammadans, 24,426,
86'i
per
cent,
of the
District
population;
or 10*5 per cent.; Jains, 1247; Kabirpanthis,
101; Satnamis, 54; Sikhs, 9; Christians, 789; Parsis, 97; Jews, 46;
and non-Hindu aboriginal
population.
tribes,
The
total
aboriginal
5282, or 2-3 per cent, of the total population by race is returned at
who
39,041, consisting chiefly of Bhils, who in 1881 numbered 16,935, and supply hereditary watchmen to nearly every village in Nimar;
Korkus, 9541; Bhilalas, 8648; Nahals, 3036; Gonds, 761; Kols, Among the Hindus in 1881, 99; and other aboriginal tribes, 21. Brahmans numbered 11,898; Rajputs, 19,295; Kurmis, 21,036;
the Christian population,
Of Mali's, 6563; and Ahirs, 6455. Eurasians and Europeans numbered 249 Indo-Portuguese, 139; natives, 309; and unspecified, 92. Town and Rural Population, There are only 2 towns in Nimar
Balahis, 19,320; Baniyas, 7145;
;
—
with a population in 1881 exceeding 5000,
capital (population
viz.
Khandwa,
(30,017).
the District
15,142),
and Burhanpur
Besides the
above,
been created municipalities, namely, Borgaon (1296), Zainabad (1078), and Mandhata (932). These six towns disclose a total urban population Total muniof 50,961, or 2 1*9 per cent, of the District population. cipal income (1882-83), ^8567, of which ^6972 was derived from
four
other towns have
2226),
Shahra (population
taxation; average incidence of taxation,
villages
2s. 9d.
per head.
Of
the 627
and towns, 335 contain fewer than two hundred inhabitants 192 from two to five hundred; 70 from five hundred to a thousand; 20 from one to two thousand; 7 from two to three thousand; i from three to five thousand and 2 from fifteen to fifty thousand
;
inhabitants.
The male population
military,
etc.,
;
of the District
is
thus classified in the Census
according to occupation:
class, including civil and 4283 (2) domestic servants, inn and lodging-house keepers, 1570 ; (3) commercial class, including merchants, bankers, carriers,
—
(i) Professional
NIMAR,
etc.,
S33
class, class,
3785
;
;
(4)
agricultural
4Sr295
(5) industrial
and pastoral and manufacturing
including gardeners,
18,637
;
(6)
indefinite
and non-])roductive class, comprising general labourers, male children, and persons of none or of unspecified occupation, 44,438.
Of the total area of 3340 square miles, only 642 are cultiand of the portion lying waste, 957 square miles are returned as cultivable, and 1741 square miles as uncultivable 268 acres are irrigated by Government works, and 12,765 acres by private enterprise. The prevailing soil throughout the District is a stiff brown soil termed i7idl, which
A^:;riculture.
;
—
vated
;
will
not, in ordinary seasons, bear a rabi crop without irrigation, but
the autumn harvest greatly preponIn 1883-84, wheat occupied 29.519 acres; rice, 13,077 acres; and other food-grains, 294,556 acres; 44,056 acres were devoted to oil-seeds; while sugar-cane was grow^n on 187
yields excellent rain crops.
Hence
derates over the spring harvest.
acres, cotton
on 44,444
acres,
and tobacco on 202
acres.
;
The
out-turn
of wheat from average land
160 lbs.;
880
lbs.
about 700 lbs. per acre inferior grain, oil-seeds, 240 lbs.; rice, 600 lbs.; cotton, 33 lbs.; sugar, Little manure is wasted in Nimar, though its use is generally
is
confined to the better
fallow instead.
soils,
the poorer being treated to a periodical
Irrigation from wells,
is
and also from dams thrown
stuffs.
:
across the smaller streams,
resorted to for opium, tobacco, gd?ijd,
wheat, gram, sugar-cane, chillies, and garden
stock
in
The
agricultural
and 3472; donkeys, 1406; sheep and goats, 19,294; pigs, 183; carts, 11,496; and ploughs, 25,578. The Nimar cultivator is both skilful and industrious, and well understands the value of manure, irrigation, and rotation of crops. The fine mango and mahud trees, which abound throughout the District, add considerably to the wealth of the landholding classes. Out of the total adult agricultural population (male and female) in 1881
District
is
the
returned as follows
;
— Cows,
bullocks,
buffaloes, 179,085; horses, 247
ponies,
(84,312,
or 36*44 per cent,
of the
;
District population),
9854 were
assist-
returned as landed proprietors
ants in
2901 as tenants holding
1
at fixed rents
or with rights of occupancy; 881
as tenants-at-will
;
29,151 as
home
cultivation;
is
and 31,638
as agricultural labourers; while
the remainder
made up
of graziers, tenants of unspecified status,
for
estate agents, etc.
Area of cultivated and cultivable land available
the total area of the District (3340 square miles), only 1327 square miles are assessed for Government revenue. Of these, 634 square miles are under cultivation, 419
each adult agriculturist, 12 acres.
Of
square miles are cultivable, and
waste.
274 square miles are uncultivable
Total amount of Government land revenue assessment, includ-
ing local rates
lofd. per cultivated acre.
or an average of
is. 9^'d.
and cesses levied upon land, ^19,317, or an average of Total rental paid by the cultivator, ^38,424,
per cultivated acre.
The
rent rates per acre
—
334
for the different qualities of
NIMAR.
land were returned as follows in 1883
;
:
Land
suited for wheat, 5s.
;
;
for inferior grain, is. 6d.
;
for oil-seeds, 2s.;
for rice, 7s.
for sugar-cane, 6s.
for cotton, 3s.
;
for tobacco, 2s. 6d.
The
6s.
Wheat, ordinary prices of produce per cwt. were as follows: cotton, 37s. The raw sugar {gur\ i8s. sd. id.; rice, 7s. 6d.
; ;
—
wages per diem of a
labourer, 4^d.
skilled labourer averaged is. 3d.
;
of an unskilled
Commerce and Trade. The trade of the District is chiefly carried on by means of weekly bazars, held in twenty-four of the principal towns, and by large fairs which take place every September at Singaji, and every October at Mandhata. The other yearly fairs are of less At these gatherings, English piece and other goods, importance. country cloth, copper vessels, and cattle form the chief articles of Wheat from Hoshangabad is the principal import. The extrafific.
ports consist almost entirely of the fine gold-embroidered cloth fabrics made at Burhanpur ; the gum of the dhdiird tree (Conocarpus latifolia),
—
of which there are large forests north of the Narbada, is also conexported, to be converted into the gum-arabic of commerce. There were, in 1883, traffic is carried on in Nimar. siderable through
A
first class, 70 miles of second class, and 189 miles of third The principal road connects Khandwa roads in the District. It carries a very large traffic in opium, cotton, etc., and with Indore. The road has travellers' bungalows and rest-houses at easy stages.
40 miles of
class
valley from
towards Hoshangabad for Jabalpur (Jubbulpore) runs easterly up the Khandwa. It was never metalled nor thoroughly bridged, and, except for local communication, is now superseded by the railway.
The principal are a other lines are merely fair-weather tracks. through the northern part of the District road passing east and west by Ghisiir, Mundi, and Punasa, to Barwdi another from Khandwa The
;
running south to the important town of Borgaon
and a third from Burhanpur penetrating the Upper Tapti valley as far as Gangra in Berar, which is much used by Banjara carriers, and for the export of The Great Indian Peninsula Railway traverses the forest produce.
;
length of 112 miles, with stations at LalBurhanpur, Chandni for Asirgarh, Dongargaon for Pandhana, Khandwa, Jawar, and Bir for Mundi. In 1864, Nimar was formed into a separate District Administration. It is administered British Government of the Central Provinces. of the
District throughout for a
for
bagh
—
by a Deputy Commissioner, with Assistants and tahsilddrs. Total revenue in 1883-84, £\Z,\2^, of which the land yielded £\^aZ^Number Cost of District officials and police of all kinds, ;^i 2,400.
and revenue judges of all sorts, 13 magistrates, 9. Maximum disdistance from any village to the nearest court, 40 miles average Number of regular District and town police, 421 men, tance 6 miles.
of
civil
;
;
KIMGIRI—NIMKHAR.
costing ^^65 22
;
335
being i policeman to every 7-99 miles and to every 553 inhabitants. The daily average number of convicts in jail in 18S3 was 127, of whom 11 were females. The number of Government or aided schools in the District under Government inspection was 87,
attended by 4758 pupils.
Aledical Aspects.
— The climate of the open parts of
is
whole, good, though the heat
valleys during April
and May. summer, while during the monsoon months the air is cool and clear. The average annual rainfall at Khandwa town for a period of seventeen years ending 1881, is 32-52 inches. In 1883, 37*28 inches fell, of which 34-51 inches were recorded from June to Sepheat
in
Ximar is, on the very fierce in the Narbada and Tapti Central Nimar does not suffer excessive
tember.
The
jungle parts of the District are extremely malarious from
July to December, and are consequently inhabited only by Kurkiis and other hill tribes. The monthly average temperature at the civil station of Khandwa for a period of six years ending 1S81, is returned as
follows
87-5°;
February, 71-2°; March, 79-9°; April, :— January, 66-5° F. May, 92-0°; June, 87-9°; July, 8o-i° August, 78-8° September, 78-6°; October, 77-1°; November, 70-2"; December, 65-9°: average
;
;
;
is fever, especially about Cholera used to be an almost annual scourge; but since the stoppage in 1864 of the great religious gatherings in the Upper Narbada valley during the hot season, cholera has rarely been epidemic. In 1883, 5 charitable dispensaries afforded medical relief to 30,171 in-door and out-door patients. Vital statistics
for the year, 78-0° F.
The
prevalent disease
the close of the
monsoon.
in that year
showed a death-rate of 50-94 per thousand, which
;
is
the
highest rate for that year in the Central Provinces
rate
for
the
mean
death-
the
previous
five
years
in
Nimar
District
was 40-93 per
thousand,
vinces.
still
[For
the highest rate for any District in the Central Profurther information regarding Nimar, see the Central
by Mr. (now Sir Charles) Grant, pp. 371-387 Settle jnent Report of Nimar District, by Captain James Forsyth (1869); the Ceiisics Report of the Central Provinces for 1881 ; and the several annual Administration and Departmental Reports of the Central Provinces Government.]
Provinces
Gazetteer,
(Xagpur, 1870).
Also the
Nimgiri
country,
long. 82° 30'
to the
{Nyd?ngiri).
— Range
of
mountains
in
Vizagapatam
District,
E.— rising
to
Madras Presidency lat. 19° a height of 5000 feet, and running
—
the
Jaipur
45'
n.,
parallel
main chain of the Eastern Ghats, from which it is se[)arated by in width. The Vamsadhara (sanisa = bamboo) river rises in this range. The road from Bissemkatak to
valleys not a quarter of a mile
Singapur crosses the Nimgiris by the
Nimkhar
on the
left
(or Nimsdr).
—Town
Papekonmama
gorge.
in Sitapur
District,
Oudh
;
situated
bank of the
Giimti, 20 miles
from Sitapur town,
in lat. 27°
336
20' 55" N.,
NIMKHERA—NIPANL
and long. 80° 31' 40" e. Population (1881) 2336, chiefly Brahmans and their dependants. Nimkhar is a place of great sanctity, A tradition relates that it was in with numerous tanks and temples. one of these holy tanks that Rama washed away his sin of having slain a Brahman in the person of Rdvana, the demon king of Ceylon, who
had
carried off his wife Sita.
Nimkhera.
— Petty
guaranteed
Thakurate
;
or
State
under the
Bhopawar or Bhil Agency of Central India situated among the spurs It contains several well -wooded valleys. of the Vindhyan range. Under a settlement effected by Sir John Malcolm, the Bhiimia or chief
tribute of about
holds the village of Tirla in hereditary succession, paying an annual ;^5o to the State of Dhar, and is answerable for all
robberies between
Dhar and Sultanpur.
in
Revenue,
^1530
in
1881-82.
10
miles
Expenditure, ;£"i34o.
Nimrana.
of Alwar.
— Town
Alwar
State,
Rajputana, situated
north-east of Behror.
The
estate
residence of the
Nimrana
revenue
fixed at
about ^2400. p^3oo from 1S68 to 1898.
is
Nimrana Raja, a feudatory comprises ten villages; and its annual The tribute to be paid by Nimrana was
in
Nimunia
{Nimuia).
—Village
6' E.
Champaran
District, Bengal.
Lat.
Population (1872) 5108. separately in the Census Report of 188 1.
26° 45' 30" N., long. 85°
Not returned
Nindo Shahr. Village in the Badin tdhik of Tando Muhammad Khan Sub-division, Haidarabad (Hyderabad) District, Sind, Bombay
situated on the left bank of the Sherwah, 69 miles southHaidarabad city. Roads to Wango Bazar, Kadhan, Luari, and Population ( 1 88 1 ) under 2000. Wahnai. Head-quarters of a tappdddr. Trade in grain, dates, ghi, sugar, molasses, cocoa-nuts, cochineal, cotton, An unhealthy Transit trade in millet and cloth. drugs, and cloth. low-lying town, built about 120 years ago by Nindo Khan Talpur. and
—
Presidency
;
east of
Lat. 24° 37' 30" N., long. 69° 5' E.
and municipality in Belgaum District, Bombay on the road from Belgaum to Kolhapur, 40 miles north of Belgaum town, in lat. 16° 23' 40" n., and long. 74° 25' 10" e. Population (1881) 9777, namely, Hindus, 8009; Muhammadans, 1039 Jains, 726 and Christians, 3. Nipani is a municipality with an income (1883-84) of ^£"1 184 incidence of municipal taxation, 2s. 3d. The estate of which this town was the principal place lapsed to the British Government in 1839, upon the demise of its proprietor, and
Nipani.
Presidency
;
— Town
situated
;
;
;
was annexed in 1842. In the following 3'enr the fort was dismantled. Nipani has a large trade, and a crowded weekly market on Thursdays on market days 2000 to 3000 cattle are offered for sale. Travellers' bungalow, rest-house, library, post office, four Government and two
;
private schools.
NIPHAD—NIR G UNDA.
Niphad.
337
Sub-division of Nasik District, Bombay Presidency. Population (1881) 411 square miles, containing 121 villages. Hindus number males and 43,695 females. 87,523, namely, 43,828 Muhammadans, 3353; and 'others,' 4059- 1^^"^ revenue 80,111;
Area,
(1881), ;^l8,232.
—
The Sub-division is bounded on the north by Chandor on the east by Yeola and Kopargaon on the south by Sinnar and on the west The region is an undulating by Dindori and Nasik Sub-divisions. The plain of deep black soil, yielding rich crops of wheat and gram. north-eastern branch of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway passes through Niphad Sub -division, which is also well supplied with
; ; ;
Climate good, but heat excessive in May and April. WaterIn 1880-81 the chief river being the Godavari. supply there were 5313 holdings, with an average area of 35 acres, and an
roads.
sufficient,
average rental of
per head of total population.
incidence of land-tax, about 6s. 9d. In 1880-81, of 167,649 acres held for Of the remaining cultivation, 17,931 were fallow or under grass. Of 150,104 acres, the area acres, 386 were twice cropped. 149,718 under actual cultivation, grain crops occupied 123,329 acres (66,007 oil-seeds, 6538 pulses occupied 1 4,444 acres being under wheat) and miscellaneous fibres occupied 202 acres, all under hemp acres
^5,
9s.
7jd.
;
;
;
;
;
crops,
5591
acres.
;
In 1884 the Sub-division contained
i
civil
and
4 criminal courts
number
of police circles {thdnds), 2
;
regular police,
men; village watch {cJuwkiddrs), 188. Chief town of Niphad Sub-division, Nasik District, Niphad. Bombay Presidency situated about 20 miles north-east of Nc4sik town.
54
—
;
Niphad is a station on the north-eastern Population (1881) 3585. Besides the ordinary Indian Peninsula Railway. branch of the Great Sub-divisional revenue and police offices, the town has a post-office.
Nir.
— Rich
agricultural village in
Hardoi
District,
Oudh
;
6 miles
south-east of Hardoi town.
Population (1881) 2733, chiefly Chamars. It was founded by Nir Singh, a Chamar-Gaur in the service of the Hindu kings of Kanauj, who drove the Thatheras out of their strongA ruined mound of brick hold at Besohra, and utterly destroyed it.
still
marks the
site.
Nirgunda.
the
—Village
E.
in Chitaldrug District,
Mysore
State.
Lat. 13°
47' N., long. 76° 15'
Jain
principality
of
Once Population (1881) 210. Nirgunda, included in the Ganga empire
tradition,
it
the capital of
1500 years ago.
Nilavati-patna.
According to
was founded 150
B.C.
by a
of
king from the north called Nila
Sekhara,
is
who gave
it
the
name
The name
still
of
Nirgunda
found on the celebrated
of ruins and several
Merkara plates of the 5th century a.d.
old temples are
1056. VOL. X.
Mounds
in existence, with a Hoysala-Ballala inscription of
—
338
NIRMAL—NOAKHALI.
%
Dominions. Lat. 19^ 5' on the old Secunderabad-Nagpur N., The fortifications, which are now in ruins, were the work of road. A few miles from French officers formerly in the Nizam's service. the town, bordering on the river Godavari, is an extensive forest, also called Nirmal, composed chiefly of teak trees, and abounding with game
Nirmal.
—
f'ortified
town
E.
in
the Nizam's
j
49"
long. 78° 25' 28"
;
situated
!
of
all
description.
^
Nitai.
— River
and
in the
Garo Hills
the
District,
Assam.
river
It rises
in
the
Tura
until
range,
it
flows a very winding course in a southerly direction
itself into
\
empties
Kans
or
Kanks
in
the Bengal
:
District of
Maimansingh. Niti.— Mountain pass
E.
in
Garhwal
District,
Punjab, leading over the
;
main Himalayan system
50"
It
lies
into Tibet.
Lat. 30° 46' 10" n., long. 79° 51'
river,
along the course of the Dhauli
sea-level of 16,570 feet.
{Pettipoike. or Pettapoly).
and has an
elevation above
Nizampatam
Kistna
35"
E.
— Seaport
in Repalli taluk,
District,
Madras Presidency. Lat. 15° 54' 30" n., number of houses, 879. Population (1881) 4128
;
long. 80° 42'
*
Frequented
1,225
^'^d
I
by native
craft
engaged
in the coasting trade.
The
average annual
;£"i
\
!
value of imports for the five years ending 1883-84 was
of exports, ;£25,6o6.
'
Value of imports in 1883-84, ^8036; and of Nizampatam is an important salt station. The exports, ^12,228. mangrove swamps supply firewood to Masulipatam, which is close by. Nizampatam was the first port at which the English commenced to They landed on 26th August trade on the eastern coast of India. 161 1, sent goods on shore, and left two supercargoes, picking them up They then proceeded again on the ship's return from Masulipatam. Factory established across the Bay of Bengal on their way to Bantam. Ceded to the French by the Nizam as part of the Northern in 1621. i\s part of the Nizampatam Circar, it was bestowed on the Circars. English by Salabat Jang, the Nizam, in 1759; and the grant was
confirmed by the Emperor's firman, i2th August 1765. The port is mentioned by Ferishta. The English, who had a temporary house on
the creek in 161
1,
]
j
j
j
j
\
j
1
;
j
!
called
it
Pettipollee,
of Pedapalli.
The proper
was
its
spelling of the
from the neighbouring village name is said to be Nysham-
|
patnam, as
it
in existence long previous to the establishment of
i
Nizampatam was the scene of a murder of Europeans by the Malay crew of the Dutch sloop, the Helena. Nizam's Dominions. State of Southern India. See Haidarabad.
HaidarabM and
Nizams.
•;
\
Noakhali
{Noacolly).
— —
|
District in the Lieutenant-Governorship of
j
Bengal, lying between 20° 22' and 23° 17' 30" n. lat., and between 90° Population (1881) Area, 1641 square miles. 43' and 91° 40' E. long.
820,772.
It is
i
The
District forms a portion
of the Chittagong Division.
,
bounded on
ihe north by the District of Tipperah
and the State
;
NOAKHALL
of Hill Tipperah
;
339
on the east by Hill Tipperah and the District of mouth of the Meghna, known as the (Sundeep) Channel on the south by the Bay of Bengal and Sandwip on the west by the main stream of the Meghna. The administrative
Chittagong, and by the eastern
;
;
head-quarters are at the town of
Sudharam
or Noakhali.
Physical Aspects.
— Noakhali
District consists of
an
alluvial tract of
mainland, together with several islands at the mouth of the Meghna. The mainland portion is intersected by watercourses in all directions
;
and during the rainy season, the whole country is submerged, with the exception of the villages, which are generally built on artificially raised The tanks are usually embanked, in order to keep out the sites. In general, each homestead is surrounded by a thick surface water.
In the north-west of the District, grove of areca and cocoa-nut palms. As in most deltaic forests of areca palms extend for miles. dense
that bordering
of the land between the river channels is lower than on them. The District is very fertile; and, with the exception of some sandbanks and recent accretions, every part of he only hill is part of under continuous cultivation. is it Raghunandan Hill, locally called Baraiar Dala, in the extreme northfeet above the level of the it is said to be 600 east of the District
tracts, the level
'1
;
sea.
The
river
its
Meghna
enters the District from Tipperah, and, after
falls
flowing along
western boundary,
into the sea
by a number of
mouths,
the principal being the Shahbazpur, the
Hatia, the Bamni,
and the Sandwip rivers— all of which are navigable throughout the The principal tributaries of the Meghna are the Dakatia and year.
the Bara Pheni (Great Fenny), both navigable throughout the year.
The banks of the Meghna are either sloping or abrupt and undermined, according as alluvion or diluvion is taking place. The sea-coast of the mainland and the island of Sandwip are now undergoing
diluvion on their southern face, whilst the island of Hatia
to
is
subject
the
same influence on
river.
its
eastern shore
islands,
;
corresponding accretions
at the
are being
formed on several of the
and on the mainland
soil
is
mouth of the Pheni
river,
Where
;
the older formations abut on the
the banks are cultivated
newly formed
commonly used
face— Sandwip,
as pasture ground.
Principal islands formed by the river along the sea
Lawrence char, Sibnath ^//^r (recently transferred toBakarganj DisThe process of alluvion trict), Tiim char, Bikatshu char, and Kali char. Several new chars have recently formed. is proceeding at a rapid rate. On the other hand, one considerable island, the Lakshmidia char, has
Hatia,
been eaten away, and has now completely disappeared. The Dakatia river is said to be silting up owing to the Chandpur Canal having Dr. Hooker wrote in 1854: diverted its waters into a new channel. gradually extending seawards, and has 'The mainland of Noakhali is
;
340
NO-AKHALL
advanced 4 miles within twenty-three years.' In the last century the river reached up to the head-quarters station of Sudharam, which is at The alluvial accretions to the south present 8 miles from the bank. and it is possible that the Meghna may again are now being cut away, But notwithstanding all temporary for a time approach the station. checks, the process of land-making is slowly but surely going on to the south and west, as is clearly indicated by a comparison of Rennel's Atlas with the recent Survey Maps. On the southern side of the mainland, and to the east of Hatia Island, the localities most exposed to
the
full
sweep of the
tide, diluvion takes place to
is
a great extent
;
but
the loss from this cause
more than compensated for by alluvion. The estuary of the Meghna, being encumbered with shoals and At every full and new moon, especially at islands, has two tidal waves.
'
'
or tidal wave runs up for several the time of the equinox, a bore It is highest at the mouth of the Pheni river, and in successive days.
the channel between Hatia and the mainland, where the tides meet and it is felt as far up as Raipur. The bore presents the appearance of a wall of water, sometimes 20 feet in height, with a velocity of
'
'
yielding
There are two canals in the District, and 35 ferries, The average annual number of revenue to Government. deaths by drowning during the ten years ending 1873 was 242. A large river traffic is carried on, by w^hich the surplus produce of
15 miles an hour.
the District finds
towns.
but there are no large river-side its way to Chittagong Since the manufacture of salt has been prohibited, the industries of the river and seaside population are of the same character
;
as those of the people living inland.
Nearly
all
get their living either
wholly or partly by which are pastured on the small islands or chars, which are covered Even the boatmen follow agriculture as an auxiliary with long grass.
agriculture or by keeping cattle, large herds of
means of subsistence, although many of them annually migrate to Akyab and Bakarganj for employment, while others work as boatmen
in Calcutta.
Almost the only people
in the District
who
live entirely
by on
river industries are the fishermen,
all the rivers and watercourses. Long-stemmed rice is extensively
whose small hamlets are met with
cultivated in
the
lowlands and
the rise
marshes in the interior of the District.
of the floods,
Reeds grow spontaneously on the new alluvial river formations, and can be had for the cutting. Long lines of embankments have been constructed along the sea face of the mainland and of the islands in the estuary
and
is
said to live in as
The plant grows with much as 14 feet of water.
of the
Meghna; but
these frequently
fail
to afford
adequate protection,
and as in the case of the cyclone of 1876, are sometimes overtopped and washed away by storm-waves, which inundate the country for miles inland, causing a vast destruction of human life and property.
1
NOAKHALL
34
The wild animals of Xoakhali include the tiger, leopard (both now extremely rare, and confined to the neighbourhood of the hills on the borders of Hill Tipperah), buffalo, boar, and several kinds of deer.
Of
small
game
there are hares, pheasants, partridges, quail, plovers,
snipe, duck, teal, etc.
History.
—
Little
is
known
of the early history of Noakhdli
settlements were
;
but
at
it is
supposed that the
in
first
Muhammadan
made
the
time of the invasion of South-Eastern Bengal by
Muhammad
Taghral,
1279 A.D.
Azi'm,
In
(iovernor of Bengal.
1353 the country was overrun by Shams-ud-din, In 1583, when the Afghans were defeated by
all
Khan
many
of them fled to the frontier, and some, in
pro-
bability,
took refuge in these parts.
A
few of the early Arab settlers
in Sind
and along the Malabar coast may have found their way hither any of the above-named immigrations, as the writings of the early Arab geographers show that they had some knowledge of this
by
sea, prior to
coast.
Caesar Frederick, the Venetian traveller, in 1565 described the
'
inhabitants of Sandvvip as
Moors,' and stated that the island was one
of the most
cultivated.
fertile
places in the country, densely populated,
;
Provisions, he says, were very cheap
two hundred ships were laden yearly with salt, abundance of materials for shipbuilding, that the Sultan of Constantinople found it cheaper to have his vessels built here than at Alexandria. Purchas, circa 1620, mentions that most of the inhabitants near and there are several mosques on the shore were Muhammadans Sandwip Island two hundred years old, and others at Bajra and else;
and well, and he adds that and that such was the
where on the mainland, of a still greater age. The Muhammadan population of the islands around the mouths of the Meghna practised The last pirate of note was piracy up to a comparatively recent date.
Dilai
eventually captured by the
Raja of Sandwip, who kept a small army in his pay. He was Nawab of Bengal, and ended his days in
at
an iron cage
Murshidabad. at one time played an important part in the affairs They first made their appearance about of this part of the country. the end of the i6th century, when they are mentioned as being in
The Portuguese
the
employ of the Raja of Arakan, many of them holding high commands, and possessing extensive grants on the mainland and in the In 1607 they gave offence to the Raja of Arakan, adjacent islands. who determined to expel them from his dominions. Many of them but a number escaped in small vessels, and were put to death to the congenial occupation of piracy, for which betook themselves the numerous islands at the mouths of the Ganges afforded ample
;
scope.
Against these pirates, the Mughal governor of Sandwip, Fateh Khan, sent an expedition of 40 vessels and 600 soldiers, having first ordered
342
all
NO AKHALT.
;
His fleet engaged and the result was most disastrous to the Mughals, Fateh Khan and the greater part of his troops being killed, and the whole of his ships captured. Elated by this victory, the pirates elected as their leader one Sebastian Gonzales, a common sailor, and resolved to establish for themselves a permanent settlement on the island of Sandwip. In 1609 they besieged and captured the fort in which the Muhammadan troops had taken refuge, and put the defenders to the sword in revenge for the murder of the Portuguese on Sandwip Island by Fateh Khan. Having thus made himself master of the island, Gonzales in a short time had an armed force under his command, consisting of 1000 Portuguese, 2000 Indian soldiers, 200 cavalry, and 80 vessels, well armed with cannon, with which he seized the islands of Shahbazpur and Patelbanga. In 1 6 10, the Raja of Arakan joined with the Portuguese to invade Bengal, the former by land, and the latter, with the fleet under the command of Gonzales, by sea. At first they met with little opposition, and both Lakshmipur and Bhulua, in the present District of Noakhali, fell into their hands but they were afterwards defeated by the Mughal troops, and pursued nearly as far as Chittagong. On hearing of the defeat of his ally, the Raja of Arakan, Gonzales
the Portuguese on the island to be put to death.
the Portuguese off the island of Dakshin Shahbazpur
;
treacherously put to death the captains of the ships, seized the
fleet,
and proceeded
however, in
Arakan coast. He was repulsed, an attack upon the capital and thereupon he induced the
to
plunder the
to
;
Portuguese Viceroy of Goa
with a view to
despatch an expedition against Arakan,
annexing the country.
An
expedition,
under the
command
of
Don
Francis de Menesis, was accordingly fitted out, and
in October 1615 arrived at Arakan, where it was subsequently joined by Gonzales with 50 ships. On the 15th November a combined The Arakanese were assisted by some Dutch vessels, attack was made. and after an obstinate fight, which lasted all day, they compelled the After this defeat the enterprise was abandoned, Portuguese to retire. and the expedition returned to Goa. In the following year, Sandwip was invaded by the Raja of Arakan, who defeated Gonzales, and took
possession of the island.
When
Shaista
Khan came
rid
;
to
Bengal as Nawab or Governor,
in 1664,
he resolved to
long devastated
the country of the piratical horde which had so
it and he intended, after doing this, to attack the King of Arakan, according to the orders of Aurangzeb. Seeing,
to
it was impossible, owing to the nature of the countr}^, an army by land from Bengal to Arakan, and fearing that the pirates would prevent his taking his troops by sea, he determined to interest the Dutch in his designs. AVith this object, he sent
however, that
transport
an ambassador to Batavia
to treat for the joint occupation of Arakan.
NOA KHALI.
The Batavian
Bengal in order to assist in the transport of the Mughal troops.
343
general consented, and despatched two vessels of war to
Meanwhile Shaista Khan, having prepared a
large transport fleet,
threatened the pirates with annihilation, telling them of the designs of
Aurangzeb on Arakan, and adding that a powerful army of Dutch was close at hand. By such threats, and the most liberal promises of land and pay, if they would leave the service of the Arakan Raja and enter that of Aurangzeb, he cajoled them into landing in Bengal with their wives and children. The Nawab received them with open arms, overwhelmed them with favours, and placed their families in Dacca. Then,
made them join his army in and capture of the island of Sandwip, then in the hands of the Raja of Arakan. From Sandwip he passed with all his forces to Chiitagong, which was taken in 1666. His purpose being accomplished, and having in his power the families of the Portuguese, he ridiculed
without giving them time to cool, he
the attack
all
his
previous
liberal
promises
their
;
taunted
;
the
pirates with
having
and treated them with great severity. They never recovered their independence and their descendants have gradually sunk to the level of the natives, whose dress and customs they have for the most part adopted. They are still Christians, and retain their old Portuguese names. About 1756, the East India Company established factories in Noakhali and I'ipperah, ruins of some of which still remain. In 1790, a Salt Agent was appointed at Sudharam to superintend the manufacture of salt on the islands. Much of the salt thus made was exported to Chittagong, and thence to Calcutta. In 1827, the Salt Agent was
master
;
abandoned the Arakan Raja,
invented with the powers of a Collector.
The
District, so far as its
revenue jurisdiction went, was then known as Zila Bhulua.
in
Afterwards,
consequence of the prevalence of robbery and dakdiii in this part of the country, a joint-magistrate was invested with the criminal administration of the District,
and the name of NoakhaH was adopted
to designate
is,
the
new
jurisdiction.
The
local
name
of the head-quarters station
however, neither Bhulua nor Noakhali, but Sudharam, after the
of a prominent landholder.
name
Population.
tain
— Previous
to 1872, several attempts
were made to ascer-
approximately the
population
in
of Noakhali.
In
1850,
it
was
estimated at 352,975 souls;
293,540.
1856, at 438,456; and in 1865, at According to an estimate based on an enumeration of the
houses in 1868, the population was returned at 348,250. All these estimates were, in 1872, found to be much below the truth, the Census
of that year disclosing a population,
on the District as
at
present
constituted, of 840,376, or of 713,934, exclusive of the Mirkasarai and Chhcigalnaiya thdnds, which have been added to Noakhali from Chitta-
gong and Tipperah
Districts since 1872.
At the
last
enumeration in
344
NOAKHALI.
1 88 1, the population of Noakhali was ascertained to be 820,772, showing a decrease, as compared with the population of the same area in 1872, of 19,604 persons, or 2*33 per cent. This decrease is entirely due to the disastrous loss of life caused by the cyclone and stormwave of 1876. The Bengal Census Report states The deaths from drowning caused by the cyclone and storm -wave are believed to have been 36,324, while 49,061 died of the sickness which followed it, making a total of 85,385 lives lost in this double calamity. Most of this mortality fell upon the southern thdnds of Hatia, Begamganj, and Sandwip, and its extent may be guessed by the fact that more than four years after the event these thdjids sho\v a falling off from the figures of 1872 of 25*58 per cent., 15 '54 per cent., and 16*72 per cent, respectively. But for this calamity, the District officer reports that there would certainly have been a large increase, for the peasantry who were destroyed were a most prosperous class. Cultivation is now everywhere extending, and population advances. In the north and east of the District there is a
:
'
slight falling
off,
very
marked among the males, which
at
is
explained by
the absence of
many persons
the time of the Census,
Hill Tipperah;
is
who were
employed
in
collecting forest produce in
asserted that from this portion of the District there
and it is some permanent
emigration to that State, as the Maharaja insists upon residence within
his territories as a qualification for grants of cultivable land.'
The
follows:
results
of
the
Census
of
1881
of District, 1641 square miles, with 2471 towns and villages, and 92,107 houses, of which 86,958 were occupied, and 5149
— Area
may be summarized
as
unoccupied.
Total population, 820,772, namely, males 415,248, and females 405,524; proportion of males, 50*6 per cent. Average density of population, 500*17 persons per square mile; villages per square
mile, 1*51; persons per village,
332; houses per square mile, 56*13; persons per house, 9*44. Classified according to sex and age, there were in 1881 under 15 years of age, males 184,408, and females
—
172,017;
population
Religion.
total
:
children, 356,425,
or 43*5
per cent, of the District
15 years
and upwards, males 230,840, and females 233,507;
to religion,
total adults, 464,347, or 56*5 per cent.
— Classified according
Muhammadans
In 1881,
Noakhali contains a larger
608,592, or
proportion of
than any other District in Bengal, except
Bogra and Rajshahi.
Muhammadans numbered
Hindus, 211,476, or 25*76 per cent. Christians, 588; Buddhists, 114; and 'others,' 2. The Muhammanans belong, almost without exception, to the Sunni sect, and most of them are Faraizfs, or observers of the strict commandments of the Kuran. They do not evince any open intolerance or
;
74*15 per cent, of the total population;
bigotry,
by
interfering with
Hindu
processions, or by annoying the
NOAKHALL
small Christian
345
The Muhammadans of Noakhali are They consider themselves to be the descendants of immigrants from the west, and of locally made converts and there is evidence to show that the Muhammadans have constituted
community.
probably of very mixed origin.
;
the majority of the population in these parts for the last three
years.
hundred
The Afghans
are believed to have fled to the frontier Districts
of Bengal after their defeat by
ever,
that,
Khan
Azi'm in 1583.
There must, how;
be a large element of Hindu blood
besides the children born to
among them for it is said 2^1uhammadans by Hindu women, it
in the
was their custom to purchase other children, and educate them
Muhammadan
faith
faith.
There may
also be a small infusion of
Arab blood;
and hence the various types of
of Islam
still
face observable.
Conversions to the
take place, but they are of rare occurrence.
cultivators are a thrifty class.
;
whole, the
Muhammadan
is
As a They seldom
spend money on passing enjoyments
madan husbandman
give
to save
and the chief ambition of a Muhamenough to buy a small estate, which will
him independence and
position
among
his neighbours.
Among
the Hindus, the most important castes are
— Brahmans,
the
priestly class,
who
are also landholders,
ministerial officers
and
clerks
in
and are largely employed as the Government courts and offices,
1881, 10,963; Jugis, weavers, 37,879; Kayasths, the writer caste of Bengal, largely employed in Government service, and as pleaders,
in
number
accountants,
tribe,
etc., 37,565 ; Chandals, a low semi-Hinduized aboriginal mostly engaged in agriculture, 18,644; Kaibarttds, agriculturists, 16,151; Dhobis, washermen, 15,151; Napiis, barbers, 12,671; Jaliyas,
;
and Sunn's, wine sellers and general traders, 5981. community in 1881 consisted of 8 Europeans, 19 Eurasians, and 561 natives of India. These latter include the descenfishermen, 8602
The
Christian
dants of the old Portuguese
the natives around them.
settlers,
who, save that they retain perverted
Catholics, to the
Portuguese names, are not to be distinguished by dress or feature from
The Roman
300, have a substantially built brick church,
'
Protestants' are returned as numbering 168
Town and Rural Population.
rural,
—The population
;
number of and a resident priest. and Baptists, 80.
of Noakhali
is
purely
and no towns worthy of the name are to be found. With the exception of one or two bazars or rows of shops, there is no such thing as a street of houses in the District. Each homestead stands by itself in the midst of a mass of areca palms and jungle. Sudharam (or Noakhali) town, the principal place and head-quarters station of the District, is merely a large village, with a population in 1881 of 5124 souls. It is, however, a municipality, with an income in 1883-84 of ^482, of which ;£"354 was derived from taxation average incidence
;
of taxation,
is.
4|d. per head.
The only
places of historical interest in the District are the
mosques
—
346
NOAKHALL
referred
on Sandwip Island and the ruins of the Company's factories, already Bhulua was one of the military outposts of the to. Mughal Empire, and was in 1610 the scene of a battle between the Mughals and the combined forces of the Portuguese and Arakanese.
Of
less
the 2471 villages comprising the District, 143 1 contained in 1881 than two hundred inhabitants 627 between two and five hundred;
; ;
98 between one and two thousand; 34 between two and three thousand; 11 between three and five thousand; and 9 between five and ten thousand inhabitants. These last, however, are only aggregates of small villages. As above
261 between five hundred and a thousand
stated,
Sudharam
five
is
the
only place
in
Noakhali with a population
exceeding
thousand.
Material Condition of the People. As in the other Districts of Eastern and South-Eastern Bengal, the people as a rule are extremely well off. They dress and live well, and their cattle also are in good condition. Each man has, the Collector states, his grove of areca palms around his house, which yields him a good profit, without any labour; and
every one, even the poorest, possesses a small plot of land.
—
The
signs
of great material prosperity are unmistakable, and strike every newThe rates of rent are low and the soil, comer to the District.
;
especially
on the
alluvial
accretions in the
rivers,
very productive,
yielding rich crops in return for a
minimum
of labour.
The
condition
of the people has distinctly improved within the last few years. On this subject, a late Collector of the District writes
'
:
This
improvement
is
seen both in their
dress and
in their dwellings.
A
peasant's dress formerly consisted of a piece of cloth round the loins,
worth not more than
six or eight dn7ids (9d.
or
is.).
He now
spends
four or five rupees (8s. or los.) on clothes every half-year, and wears a The introduction of English piece-goods has dhuti, chddar, and a cap.
made
these articles cheaper, and he is better able to pay for them. Houses, which used to be built of straw, bamboos, and reeds, on low marshy land, are now constructed on well-raised lands, and of better and more durable materials. Each homestead is surrounded by a grove,
which gives
it
The number of utensils in domestic use and there is much more comfort. The
say, for a cultivator,
a pleasing appearance, but interferes with ventilation. is much larger than formerly,
cost of living has
to
increased—
from
six pies (three-farthings)
an dn?id (three-
halfpence) per day.'
Occupations. As regards occupation, the Census Report of 1881 divides the male population into the following six main divisions
:
—
(i)
Professional class, including
all
persons engaged in Government
service, 11,120; (2)
etc.,
8762
;
(3)
domestic servants, inn and lodging-house keepers, commercial class, including merchants, traders, carriers,
class,
etc.,
11,419; (4) agricultural and pastoral
including gardeners,
;
NOAKHALI.
139,735
;
347
;
(5)
and non-productive
labourers, 210,961.
(6) indefinite manufacturing and industrial class, 33,251 class, comprising male children and 9960 general
Agriculture.
— Rice
forms in Noakhali, as elsewhere
It consists
in
Bengal, the
staple of cultivation.
rice,
of two great crops, the dus or early
and the dman or ^vinter rice, each of which is divided into two and again sub-divided into many varieties. The first class of aus rice is sown in March and April, and reaped in July and August the second description is sown in June and July, and reaped in October and November. The first kind of dman rice is sown in March and April, transplanted in June and July, and reaped in November and December the second kind, sown in July and August, is also trans])lanted, and is reaped in the latter part of November and throughout
classes,
;
December. named.
pulses,
Of
these four
rice
crops,
53 well-defined varieties are
Amongst other crops grown
mustard and other
little
in
the District
may be mentioned
areca
nut,
oil-seeds,
cocoa-nuts, chillies,
and a
for
betel-leaf,
turmeric, sugar-cane (a garden crop),
and jute
domestic consumption.
Areca-nut
of the north of the District, especially in
product is the most valuable Lakshmipur thdnd. According
to an official estimate made in 1873-74, out of the then total area of the District (996,480 acres), 747,360 acres were devoted to the cultivaRoughly speaking, a fair out-turn from an acre of tion of food-grains. land is about 17^ cwts. of paddy or unhusked rice, or about half that
quantity of husked
rice
rice.
The
grown
;
the best description of
2s. to
value varies according to the quality of dman paddy being worth, on an
average, from
2S.
2s. 8d. per cwt., and dus paddy from is. 4d. to second crop is obtained from nearly all good land, and the average out-turn of an acre of such land would be about 27 cwts. of paddy, valued at ;^3, los. Wages have more than doubled within the past twenty years.
per cwt.
A
Agricultural
day-labourers now receive
a day at harvest
time,
6d.
to
8d.
a
day,
or
as
much
three
as
is.
;
besides
all
employers
ordinary coolies are paid
two meals from their the year round at the rate of
men
for the rupee, or 8d. a
day per
man
;
smiths, carpenters,
and
Prices of bricklayers are seldom paid at a daily rate, but by the job. food-grains have also risen, but there is no evidence to show whether this rise has kept even pace with the increase in the rate of wages. The average price of the best cleaned rice during the years 1870-73
was 6s. 2d. per cwt, and of common cleaned rice, 4s. 1882-83 the average price of common rice was
5s. 5d.
id. per cwt.
4s.
id.,
In
in
and
In the latter year, prices ruled exceptionally 1883-84, high, owing to a less than average crop on the higher lands, caused
per cwt.
by deficient
rainfall.
348
NOAKHALI.
is
good deal of waste land in the District, but not much of Tenures for bringing waste lands into cultivation, called dbddkdri hd7vdlas and dbddkdri tdluks. are common at the present time, however, they are usually held by men of wealth, who underlet them to the actual cultivators. The general condition upon which such tenures are granted is, that rent is to be paid at first only upon so much of the area as is actually under cultivation. The
There
a
it is fit
for cultivation.
;
remainder
cultivate
is
held rent-free for a term of years, the tenant agreeing to
to
and
is
pay rent on increased portions of the area of
the entire cultivable area
is
his
holding
tillage.
year by year,
till
brought under
measured with a longer rod than that used in measurements of cultivated holdings, and the tenant is allowed a deduction of onefifth of the area of the rent-paying lands. These tenures are generally admitted to be hereditary, and to convey a right of occupancy in so much of the lands covered by them as has been actually brought into cultivation by the holders. In some instances, however, purchasers of estates have succeeded in cancelling these tenures, and reducing the holders to the status of mere tenants-at-will. It is not customary to allow lands to lie fallow, and no system of rotation of crops is followed. The estates of Noakhali may be divided into four classes (i) Government khds fnahdis (136 in number in 1883), in which the Govern-
The land
—
;
ment has retained the full proprietary right; (2) temporarily settled estates, and private estates under Government management, 24 (3) lands of which Government has only a right to a fixed revenue {zatninddris and khdrijd or independent taluks)^ numbering 1547 and (4) estates with respect to which the Government has neither a pro;
prietary right nor a claim to receive revenue, of which there are 56.
In addition to these, there are numerous intermediate tenures.
practice of sub-letting land
is
The
is
universal, each class
of tenure-holder
paying a different rate of
tdlukddr^
rent.
Under
the zaminddr or landlord
is
the
who pays one
rate
;
under him
the hawdladdr.
who pays
;
another
;
then comes the 7iim-hawdladdr^
then the rdyat or actual cultivator,
who pays a third rate and who may hold from any of the above,
and who pays a fourth
for the
rate. In the south of the District it is common rdyat to again sub-let portions of his holdings to yearly tenants
called jotddrs.
There are a few proprietors who
cultivate their
own
lands without either a superior landlord above, or a sub-tenant below
them.
They
is
are chiefly the owners of small plots of
resumed military
pargaiid.
tenures {Jdgirs)^ and the tdlukddrs in a portion of
Amrabad
no tendency towards the growth of any distinct class of With few exceptions, every man either landless day-labourers. Arrangements are possesses or rents some land, which he cultivates. sometimes made by which one man supplies the seed or cattle, or the labour required for cultivating land rented by another, in considera-
There
NOAKHALI.
tion of receiving a share of the crop.
349
This is, however, only a particular form of land tenure, and does not seem to be any indication of the Many of the poorer growth of a class of day-labourers proper. themselves out to work for the richer cultivators also occasionally hire
landholders.
owned by 8682 individual
payment of ^36,
proprietor.
los.
In 1883-84, Nodkhali District contained 1707 revenue-paying estates, In 1883-84 the proprietors or coparceners. equal to an average land revenue collections amounted to ^62,554,
3d. for each
estate, or
^7,
4s.
id.
by each
to
As explained above,
rent rates vary according
the
The rates paid by the actual tenure under which the land is held. Rice land on the maincultivators in 1872 were returned as follows: land, from 8s. 2d. to iis. 6d. per acre, according to situation and the
—
an acre. where the soil is of In 1872, the rates inferior quality, cultivators hold at favourable rates. of rent for rice land in these chars varied from 2s. 8d. to 6s. 3d. per acre. Natural Calamities.— Iw^^o.X.'i occasionally do great damage to the
quality of the rice
grown
;
garden land, from
13s. to i6s. 6d.
In the more
recently formed
Government
chars,
crops, but not
District.
on such a
scale as to affect the general harvest of the
is
The
calamity to which Noakhali
most subject
is
flood,
generally caused by southerly gales or cyclones occurring at the time when the Meghna is swollen by heavy rains, and when the tides are
highest
— namely,
These
at
new
or
full
moon about
the period
of
either
equinox.
floods are very destructive, the
damage being caused
not so
raised
The flood the mere inundation as by the sea-water. by a storm-wave subsides almost directly, but pools of salt water
much by
are
left
in every field.
When
evaporation sets
itself,
in,
the water of these
pools becomes Salter than the
and kills the growing rice. 1822 and 1825 by heavy floods The crops were destroyed generally in and in 1848, 1869, and 1876, the crops on the islands and along the river banks were destroyed from the same cause. The cyclone and storm-wave of the 31st October 1876 was terribly disastrous in its effects, sweeping over the delta of the Meghna, and
Meghna
;
spreading death and disease throughout the three Districts of Noakhali, The loss of life in Noakhali was appalling. Bakarganj, and Chittagong. The precise mortality in several small areas was at once ascertained ;
and from the information thus obtained,
total
it
was estimated
that,
out of a
population of 384,767 inhabiting the four mainland Sudharam, Bamni, Amirgaon, and Mirkasarai, principally
thdnds
aff"ected
of
by
In the island of the cyclone, no fewer than 30,000 had been drowned. Hatia, the number of deaths was estimated at 30,000 out of a population
and in Sandvvip, at 40,000 out of 87,016. In the two islands of 54,147 and four thdnds, therefore, the estimates give a total of 100,000 deaths out of a population of 525,930, or a mortality of 19 per cent.
;
;
350
NOAKHALI.
details of the calamity (a full
f
1
account of which is given iii the Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. vi. pp. 525-532) were very distressing. In one char alone, out of 177 people, 137 died. The flood occurred at
The
j
!
wave, several
in
A great midnight, and the whole damage was done in a few minutes. feet high, suddenly burst over the country ; this was immediately followed by another still higher, and by a third escape
;
j
;
'
most cases was simply impossible. No protective measure against these calamities seems practicable the trees which invariably surround the homesteads saved most of those who survived. The highest prices reached for food-grains during the famine of common husked 1866 were— for best husked rice, 19s. gd. a cwt. paddy, 14s. 7d. and common paddy, 9s. 9d. a best rice, i2S. lod. The famine, however, did not directly affect Noakhali District cwt. the rise in prices was solely owing to the demand caused by the failure
;
;
; ;
,
j
1
j
|
of the crops elsewhere. Commerce and Trade,
etc.
— Despite
its
extensive river coast, extend-
ing from Raipur to the mouth of the Bara Pheni, a distance of 2co miles, and its consequent favourable situation for the growth of comraerce, the trade of Noakhali is not extensive, and little enterprise is shown in developing its capabilities. Business is carried on by means There is a busy mart at Raipur on the of permanent markets. river, to which rice, areca-nuts, oranges, and garden produce Dakatia The traffic on the Little Pheni are brought from the neighbourhood.
1
j
]
:
,
;
;
and the Mahendra khdl supplies Chittagong with a large portion of its Cotton from Hill Tipperah and the Chittagong Hill Tracts, rice. kunda boats (dug-outs) also from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and jute from Tipperah, are imported into Noakhali by way of the Bara Pheni The principal exports are rice, areca-nuts, and and its tributaries.
cocoa-nuts
;
^
|
|
the chief
utensils, salt, sugar,
imports— European cotton goods, pulses, spices, iron, lime, bamboos, and salted fish.
brass
'
;
No
manufactures worthy of the
name
are at present carried
on
in
•
Noakhali.
A
coarse
description of sitalpati
;
mat
is
made.
Cloth-
,
but this industry, which weaving is also practised to some extent was formerly carried on by the East India Company on a large scale in the District, is rapidly disappearing, owing to the competition of
j
European piece-goods.
_
340 miles, of which Land com299 miles are rivers and khdls, and 41 miles are canals. Including roads of late years. munications have been much extended under construction, the total lengih of land communications in 1883
j
The
total extent of w^ater-ways in the District is
.
.
<
{
was 310 miles, exclusive of village roads. Noakhali was first formed into a separate District Administration. In 1824-25, the earliest year for which records are available, in 1822. the £rross revenue of the District amounted to ^51,828, and the
—
^
;
j
;
NOAKIJALl.
gross expenditure to
£(>()']().
351
the revenue had risen to
;
By 1850-51
;^ii5,4o8, and
the expenditure
to ;^i8,32i
so that
in
twenty-s'x
and expenditure had more than doubled. In 1870-7/ the revenue amounted to ^96,955, and the expenditure to In 1883-84 the six main items of revenue aggregated ;^23,o96. ^101,852, made up as follows: Land revenue, ^62,554; excise,
years both the revenue
—
^3137; road cess, ^73^9; and municipal taxes, ;^354. Cost of officials and police, ^idrniThe land revenue remained almost stationary during the thirty-five years
registration,
^1580;
stamps,
^26,838;
preceding 1884.
;^64,857
;
in
In 1842-43 it amounted to ^53,177; in 1850-51 1870-71 to ^55,024; and in 1883-84 to ^62,554.
to
For police purposes, the District is divided into 9 thdnds. In 1883-84 the regular police force numbered 288 men of all ranks, besides a municipal or town police of 15 men, maintained at a total cost of ^6140. There was also a rural police or village watch of 2013 men, maintained by the villagers, and costing in money or lands an estimated sum of ^7649. The total machinery, therefore, for
the protection of person
men, giving
to
i
and property consisted of 2316 officers and policeman to every 071 of a square mile of the area or
every 355 of the population.
The estimated
jail in
total cost
was ^13,789,
equal to an average of
of the population.
^8,
8s.
is
per square mile of area, or 4d. per head
the District, at Sudharam,
There
one
and
a subordinate prison at the head-quarters of the Pheni Sub-division
average prison population in
female.
1883-84, 113, of
1860-61, there was
whom
only
i
only
i
was a
In 1856-57, and
still
in
Government
school in the District, the
69,
number of
pupils in the former year being
and
in the latter 71.
In 1870-71 the number of Government and
aided schools was 26, attended by 596 pupils. Since 1872, when Sir George Campbell introduced his educational reforms, there has been a great increase in the number of schools aided and inspected by
Government.
3824
pupils.
In 1873
^^ number
the
of such schools
was 135, with
increased
classified
to
as
number of inspected schools had The schools were 1509, and the pupils to 32,855. follows: High School, with 329 pupils; 8 middle i
By 1881-82
—
English schools, with 514 pupils; 15 middle vernacular boys' schools, with 687 pupils; i middle vernacular girls' school, with 30 pupils; 11
upper
primary schools, with 466 pupils; 1226 lower primary boys' with 26,974 pupils ; 60 lower primary girls' schools, with 460 pupils; OfO pdtlishdlas (indigenous Hindu schools), with 572
schools,
pupils;
and 147 inaktabs (Muhammadan indigenous schools), with 2823 pupils. Of the total of 32,855 pupils, 357 were girls either attending female schools or mixed schools with boys. Further i)rogress has since been
made, and
in
1883-84 the boys' primary bchuols
—
352
—
NO A KHALI SUB-DIVISION— NO ARE AND.
alone numbered 1778, Avhich were attended by 41,736 pupils. For administrative purposes, the District is divided into 2 Sub-divisions
—
SuDHARAM and Pheni.
Medical Aspects.
are irregular.
season.
—The climate of Noakhali
is
damp, and the seasons
The
sea-breeze, however, tempers the heat in the worst
The
average annual rainfall for the twenty-five years ending
fall between June and September. In 1883-84, the rainfall at the head-quarters The average mean daily temperature during station was 142-68 inches.
1881
is
109*8 inches at Sudharam, of which three-fourths
the year
is
returned
at
79*58^ F., ranging from 96° to 52°.
The
endemic diseases of Noakhali are fevers, remittent and intermittent, caused chiefly by malaria diarrhoea, dysentery, rheumatism, and many Cholera and small-pox occasionally occur in an skin affections.
;
In 1883-84, the total number of deaths registered in was returned at 14,312, or at the ratio of 17*43 per There are three This, however, is far below the truth. thousand. dispensaries in the District, at Sudharam, Dulalbazar, and Faradnagar, which in 1883 afforded relief to 5310 in-door and out-door patients. [For further information regarding Noakhali, see the Statistical Account of Bengal, by W. W. Hunter, vol. vi. pp. 237-350, and Appendix, pp. 525-532 (London, Triibner & Co., 1876); the Bengal Cefisus Repoi't for 1881; and the several Administration and Departmental Reports
epidemic form.
District
the
of the Bengal Government from 1880 to 1884.] Noakhali. Sadr or head-quarters Sub-division of Noakhali Dis-
—
trict,
Bengal, lying between 22° 34' and 22° 53' n.
E.
lat.,
and between
has
its
90° 53' and 91° 18'
long.
It
was formed
in
1876, and
head - quarters at Sudharam. Area, 1298 square miles, with 1835 Total population (1881) towns and villages, and 63,685 houses. Density of 578,797, namely, males 296,916, and females 281,881.
population, 446
I '41
;
persons per square mile
village,
;
villages
per square mile,
;
persons per
per house, 9*09.
315 ; houses per square mile, 52"i4 inmates Classified according to religion, there were in 1881
; ; ;
Hindus,
dhists,
Muhammadans, 441,841 Christians, 585 Bud136,267 1 his Sub-division comprises the 7 police 102 and 'others,' 2.
;
circles of Sudharam, Bamni, Sandwip, Hatia, Lakshmipur, Begamganj, In 1884 it contained 7 civil and 8 criminal courts and Ramganj. (including head-quarters courts), a regular police force of 241 men, and
a rural police or village watch of 1485 chaiikiddrs. Noakhali. Town in Noakhali District, Bengal.
Noarband.
— — Outpost
in
Cachar
District,
See Sudharam. Assam; about 18 miles
south of Silchar.
Nodrband forms one of the chain of outposts which
constitute the southern line of defence against the Lushais or Kukis.
This
line
the range separating Sylhet from Cachar.
extends from Mainadhar on the Barak river to Chatachura on In 1883 it was garrisoned
1
—
NOBRA—NONG-KREAL
by a detachment of the
vicinity of the station.
—
35 3
12th
Khelat-i-Ghilzai
regiment of Native
is
Infantry, with head-quarters at Silchar.
A
large tea-plantation
in the
Nobra.
— Tract of country
in
Ladakh, Kashmir
State,
Northern India.
ranges,
A
wild and elevated region on the south of the
Karakoram
and
almost enclosed by the Shy-Yok or river of Nobra, a tributary of the
Indus.
P^levation,
11,000 feet and upwards above sea-level.
34° 35'
n.,
Chief
and long. 77° 37' e. Noh. Tahs'il and town in Gurgaon District, Punjab. See Nuh. Nohar. Fort in Bahawalpur State, Punjab. See Islamgarh. Nonai (or Nanai). The name of two rivers in Assam, (i) Rises in the Bhutan Hills, and, flowing due south through the extreme west of Darrang District, empties itself into the Brahmaputra almost opposite
village, Deskit, lat.
—
—
—
In recent years it has diverged widely from its old course, Gauhati. and overflowed a fertile tract of land. Beyond the frontier, a bed of travertin has been found on its banks, containing 90 per cent, of pure lime. In British territory, it is navigable by boats of 4 tons burden throughout the year. (2) The other river of the same name has
—
its
course entirely within
Nowgong
District.
It rises
in the
falls
Mikir
Hills,
and, after receiving the Salna and the Chapanala,
into the
of
Kalang, an important offshoot of the Brahmaputra, at the village of the Haria-mukh. It is navigable for about nine months
year.
Nong-khlao.
(188 1) 7389
is
;
— Petty State
The
in the
Khasi
Hills,
Assam.
Population
title is
revenue, ^{^206.
The
presiding chief, w^hose
siem^
named
is
U
Kin Singh.
natural products include potatoes, rice,
millet,
Cotton is woven, and Nong-khlao was the first In of the Khasi States with which the British came into contact. 1826, the sieJ7i entered into an agreement with certain Europeans to
Indian corn, cinnamon, and caoutchouc.
iron
made
into implements of native use.
allow a road to be
made
across the hills into
Assam
Proper.
But, in
1829, disputes arose,
and two
British officers then residing at
Nong-
khlao were massacred,
of the Political
together with their Sepoy guard.
first
After this
disturbance was quelled, Nong-khlao was chosen as the
head-quarters
Agent in the Khasi Hills, shortly afterwards removed to In the neighbourhood of NongCherra Piinji, and now at Shillong. khlao, a small cinchona plantation was started in 1867 by the superinof the
tendent
tion has
to the
Calcutta
Botanical
Gardens.
The quinine
-
giving
quahties of the bark w^cre unfavourably reported upon, and the planta-
been abandoned, the
locality
and elevation being found unsuited
Khyrim,
in the
growth of cinchona.
Nong-krem.
Assam
;
—Village
is
in the State of
is
Khdsi
Hills,
near which iron-ore
quality.
The
iron-ore
found in abundance, and of the best smelted on the spot, and the greater part is
z
VOL. X.
—
354
sent
NONG-SOH-PHOH—NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES.
down
into the
plains in
lumps
;
a
little
is
manufactured into
in the
implements of native use.
Nong-SOh-phoh
(or Nobosohphoh).
— Petty State
Khasi
Hills,
The presiding Population (1881) 841; revenue, ^13. Assam. named U Ksan, Potatoes, rice, Indian chief, whose title is siem, is and mats are manufactured. corn, etc., are grown Nong-spung. Petty State in the Khasi Hills, Assam. PopulaThe presiding chief, whose title is siem, is named tion (1881) 1506. U Santeu Singh. He derives his income from his commission as maiizdddr in Kamriip, and his share of the revenue of the Mathekar
;
—
forest
rice,
on the border of that
millets, potatoes,
District.
The
natural products include
honey, and beeswax.
Iron-ore
is
smelted and
Population
manufactured into implements of native use. Nong-Stoin. Petty State in the Khasi
—
Hills,
Assam.
The presiding chief, whose title is siem, (1881) 8473 revenue, ^425. named U Borson Singh. The natural products include rice, millets, is The manufactures tezpdt or bay-leaves, caoutchouc, lac, and beeswax.
;
are pottery, cotton cloth,
are found.
and
is
iron implements.
Nong-stoin
connected with Shillong by a
Nong-tar-men).
Limestone and coal fairly good
State
in
bridle-path, 52 miles in length.
Nong-tar-men
Khasi
Hills,
(or
Dwdra
— Petty
The
the
entirely
Assam. Population (1881) 424; revenue, ^25, almost The presiding chief, derived from dues on lime quarries.
is
whose
include
is
title
sarddr,
is
named
and
U
Jantrai.
natural
products
of net
oranges, betel-nuts,
pdri leaves.
A
description
manufactured out of the fibre of the leaf of the pine-apple, and limeis
stone
largely quarried.
Sub-division and village in Lakhimpur DisLakhimpur. North- Western Provinces and Oudh.— Lieutenant-Governorship and Chief Commissionership of British India, lying between 23° 52' and Area North 31° 7' N. lat, and between 77° 5' and 84° 40' e. long. Western Provinces, 81,858 square miles; Oudh, 24,246 square miles:
North Lakhimpur.
Assam.
See
—
rict,
—
total
Population North-Western Pro106,104 square miles. Oudh, 11,220,950 in 1872, and 32,720,128 in 1881 vinces, 30,781,947 (no census of Oudh was taken in 1872), and 11.387,741 in in 1869
area,
;
—
1881
;
total
British
census,
and 44,107,869
population, 42,002,897 at the time of the previous The native territory under the in 1881.
Lieutenant-Governorship, comprising the two States of Rampur and Garhvval, has an area of 5125 square miles, with a population of
741,750 in 1881.
Total area of the North-Western Provinces and
Oudh,
and Native, 111,229 square miles; total population, The territory is bounded on the north by Chinese 44,849,619. Tartary (Tibet), and on the north-east by the independent kingdom of
British
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDIL
Nepal abad
;
jd:)
on the
east
Districts
of
and south-east by Champdran, Saran, and ShahLower Bengal on the south by Hazaribagh
;
District
of Chutia Nagpur,
Rewa
State,
the Native States of Bun;
delkhand, and Sagar District of the Central Provinces
west
and on the
by the Native States of Gwalior, Dholpur, and Bhartpur, the Punjab Districts of Gurgaon, Delhi, Karnal, and Ambala, and the States of Sirmiir and Jabal, the Jumna river marking the boundary
strative capital
between the Punjab and the North-Western Provinces. The adminiand principal seat of the Lieutenant-Governor is at
Allahabad.
Districts.
The
table
North-Western Provinces and
Physical Aspects.
on the next page gives the population of the Oudh in 1872 and 1881 according to
Provinces and
—The North-Western
been
the
artificially
Oudh
occupy,
roughly speaking, the w^hole of the basins of the Ganges and the
Jumna
(Jamuna), corresponding to Hindustan Proper of the Muhammadan chroniclers. The tract comprising the valleys of the Gogra and
the Giimti has
of the
long
separated from the remainder
great plain, as
kingdom of
charge
respect
Oudh
its
\
under
the
administrative
it
of of
the
Lieutenant
courts,
and although now - Governor at
a
Allahabad,
remains,
in
distmct
Chief
With this exception, the North-Western Provinces include the whole upper portion of the wdde Gangetic basin, from the Himalayas and the Punjab plain to the Vindhyan plateau Taken as a whole, the Lieutenantand the rice-fields of Behar.
Commissionership.
Governorship consists of the richest wheat-bearing country in India, both naturally by the rivers which take their rise in the northern mountains, and artificially by the magnificent system of
irrigated
canals
It
and
distributaries,
which owe their origin to British enterprise.
contains
many
of the most famous cities of Indian history,
and
it
is
day with thriving villages, interspersed at greater Except during the hot-weather distances with commercial towns.
studded
at the present
months from
the
May
aspect
plain,
to
is
October,
that
when
the
crops
are
off the
fields,
general
of a
verdant and well -tilled
but very
monotonous
at
only merging into hilly or
mountainous country
the extreme
edges of the basin on the south and north.
The
course of the
great rivers
the land, which falls and the Vindhyan plateau, south-eastwards towards the Bay of Bengal. The chief natural features are thus determined by the main streams, whose alluvial deposits first formed the central portion of the North-Western Provinces while the currents afterwards cut for themselves deep channels through the detritus brought down by their own agency from the ring of hills or uplands on the north, south, and west. [ Con tin ued on p 357.
;
marks the prevailing south-east slope of away from the Himalayas, the Rajputana uplands,
356
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDH.
Lieut.-
Area and Population of Territory under the Administration of the GovERNOR of the North-Western Provin'ces and Oudh.
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VJNCES AND O UDB.
357
Continued from p. 355.] The extreme north-western or Himalayan tract comprises the Native State of Tehri or Independent Garhwal, together with the British Districts of Dehra Dun, Garhwal, and Kumaun. These mouninclude some of the wildest and most magnificent country in the whole range of the Himalayas, and among their snowclad peaks the sacred streams of the Ganges and the Jumna take
their rise.
tainous regions
Many
flimous temples and places of pilgrimage line the
upper
peaks
banks
attain
of the
a
Ganges, and
thousands
of
Hindus annually
repair to the holy source from all parts of India.
Several of the higher
;
height
exceeding 20,000 feet
while
Nandi Devi,
on the borders of British Garhwdl and Kumaun, rises to 25,661 feet above sea-level. Beautiful and romantic scenery abounds, especially near the lake and sanitarium of Naini Tal, and in the valley of Dehra Dun. The economic value of the mountains is almost entirely confined to the growth of tea in Kumaun, and the export of forest produce
to
the
plains.
A
sparse
;
Hindu
in the
population
lies
scattered
among
the mountain valleys
extreme northern passes into Chinese Tartary the people belong to the Tibetan race.
and
under the Government of these Provinces only a small portion of the immense geological region to which they belong, but they include part of one of the best and most widely -known of Indian rock formations (the gneissic).
tracts
The Himalayan
form
in themselves
The
exterior ranges rise sometimes abruptly
and sometimes gradually
to a height of
7000 or 8000
feet.
After passing a second range, the
elevation increases, till 10,000 and 11,000 feet are attained. We then meet the peaks of the Trisiil or trident mountain (23,382 feet), Nandi Devi (25,661 feet), and Nandi Kot (22,538 feet). These are all
situated to the south of the great central axis of the Himalayas, which
has a
only
mean
height of from 18,000 to 20,000
the north, below the
attention,
feet.
The
rocks of the
yet received
higher
hills to
snowy range, have as
non-fossiliferous
cursory
being
chiefly
crystalline schists.
it
Of
the formations in the
slates and snowy range, and beyond
Chinese territory, we have little real knowledge. South of the Himalayas and the bhdbar and tardi tracts, the Siwalik range, a mass of detritus from the greater chain, slopes downward
in
to
the plain of the Doab. It runs parallel to, and is separated from, the Himalayas by the valleys known as the eastern and western
duns (Dehra Dun District), which, taken together, have a length of about 45 miles, and an average breadth of about 1 1 miles. Under the name of Doab ('Two Waters') is included the whole wedge of land enclosed between the confluent streams of the Ganges and the Jumna, comprising the Districts of Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut
(Merath),
Bulandshahr, Aligarh,
part of
Muttra
(Mathura), and
358
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDH.
Farukhabad, Etawah, Cawnpur, Fateh-
Kq^^k, Mainpuri, Etah,
PUR, and part of Allahabad.
The
irregular horn-shaped tongue of
country thus enclosed runs in a sweeping south-eastward curve, following the general direction of the Ganges, from the Siwaliks to Allahabad.
On
by
either side, the great rivers flow through low-lying valleys, fertilized
their
while a high bank leads to the which consists of the older deposits. The western and southern portion of this central plateau, though naturally dry and unproductive, except when irrigated by wells, has been transformed into an almost unbroken sheet of cultivation by the great systems of irrigation works, consisting of the Upper and Lower Ganges and the Eastern Jumna Canals. The East Indian, the Sind Punjab and
overflow or percolation
;
central upland,
Delhi, the
Railways, pass through the
outlet for
its
Oudh and Rohilkhand, and the Doab in several
surplus agricultural produce.
recently constructed State
directions,
and
afford
an
Altogether, this favoured
inter-fluvial region
may be
fitly
regarded as the granary of Upper India.
A
considerable strip of country on the west bank of the Jumna,
its
above
junction with the Chambal, belongs historically and ethno-
graphically to the North-Western Provinces,
and contains the ancient
other important towns. Since the reorganization after the Mutiny of 1857-58, however, the greater part of this trans-Jumna tract has been made over to the
capital of Delhi, together with
Mughal
many
Punjab ; and the only portion north of the Chambal now retained under the Government at Allahabad consists of two outlying portions of Muttra and Agra Districts (including the two cities from which they
take their names), together with a small section of Etawah.
chiefly a flat
This
is
and naturally arid plain, now enriched by distributaries of the Agra Canal. North of the Ganges, and closed in between that river, the Garhwal and Kumaun Himalayas, and the Chief Commissionership of Oudh, lies the triangular plain of Rohilkhand the Katehr
—
of
Muhammadan
tract
level
This Division presents the general features of the Gangetic valley, only slightly varied by the
chronicles.
submontane
on the
north-east.
It is in
process of irrigation by
construction.
the Bijnaur and Rohilkhand Canals
now under
Close below the feet of the Kumaun Hills stretches the pestilential region of the Tarai, which extends into the neighbouring Districts.
The tardi is a tract of marshy forest about 10 miles wide, overrun with jungle and luxuriant undergrowth, sufficient to conceal a man on horseback. The air ceases to be malarious only during the coldest parts of winter, and while the rains are in progress. From the tardi,
the
plains gradually decrease in slope to
three
or
four
inches per
mile in the Doab.
hills, is
The
hhabar^ which separates the tardi from the
debris
formed of the boulders and
on the lower ranges of the
;
NOR TH- WES TERN PR O VIA CES AND O UDH.
Himalayas.
fall
359
In Rohilkhand the bhdbar
is
is
about 10 miles wide, with a
of from 17 to 50 feet per mile, and
rainy season.
irrigation.
unsupplied with water, except
in the
Wells cannot be dug, but crops are raised by
means of canal
South of the Jumna, the poor and irregular region known as BuNrises upvvard from the river bank to the edge of the Vindhyan plateau. This part of the Province is intersected by Native
DELKHAND
;
States
and
isolated portions of the surrounding principalities lie
in
many
places in the midst of British territory.
The
soil is
generally
rocky and unfertile, but considerable patches of rich black cotton soil are interspersed ; the population is impoverished, scanty, and ignorant
the crops mainly depend on the
rainfall
;
amount and
;
distribution of the annual
well-water lies far below the surface
as
and, as a whole, Bundel-
khand may rank
Jhansi,
the poorest and most backward region of the
It
North-Western Provinces.
comprises the British Districts of Jalaun,
The southernmost Hamirpur, and Banda. portion is much cut up by three spurs of sandstone and granite hills, running down from the Vindhyan system but the northern half, near the bank of the great river, possesses a somewhat richer soil, and approximates more nearly in character to the opposite plain of the Doab. The three ranges are known as the Vindhya-chal, the Panna, and the Bandair hills. They rise one behind the other. Irrigation
Lalitpur,
;
is
partially
provided
for,
but the greatest part of the work
is
not yet
completed.
Below the junction of the Jumna and the Ganges at Allahabad, the country begins to put on somewhat the appearance of the Bengal plains and it also once more expands northward, east of the interven;
ing block of Oudh, to the foot of the Nepal Himalayas.
This tract
respectively
may be conveniently considered under
separated by the Ganges and the Gogra.
three
portions,
The tract south of the Ganges comprises part of Allahabad, Benares, and Ghazipur Districts, together with the extensive District of Mirzapur. The general features of trans-Gangetic Allahabad and Mirzapur somewhat resemble those of Bundelkhand but the lowlands along the river bank are more fertile, while the hill country is more mountainous and of greater extent. The triangle between the Ganges, the Gogra, and the boundary of Oudh, includes part of Allahabad, Jaunpur, half Benares, part This fertile corner of the of Ghazipur, and the whole of Azamgarh.
;
Gangetic plain, lying wholly along the course of great
rivers, possesses
the densest population of the North-Western Provinces, and consists
lowlands over the wide upland which rises
of an almost unbroken sheet of cultivation, spreading from the alluvial from the river banks.
Numerous towns and
villages cover
its
surface
;
and
its
capital city,
36o
NORTH-WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
is
Benares,
at
once the
ecclesiastical metropolis of
Hinduism and
the most populous town in the North-Western Provinces.
The trans -Gogra region, comprising the Districts of Basti and GoRAKHPUR, presents a somewhat wilder, submontane appearance, especially in its northern portion. Even here, however, cultivation
widely prevails, and the general aspect
is
that of a well-tilled
and very
upon
verdant plain.
For a particular physical description of Gudh, see the
that Province.
Rivei's.
article
— The
principal rivers are the
Ganges
(Ganga), the
Jumna
(Jamuna), the Gogra (Ghagra), the Gumti (Gomati), and the RamGANGA. The Ganges rises in Garhwal, and flows with a south-easterly
course in these Provinces to
east of Ballia,
its
junction with the Gogra in the extreme
All the drainage
it.
where
the
it
enters the plains of Bengal.
directly or indirectly, into
of these Provinces
tributaries
falls,
Burh Ganga (in Meerut), Mahawa, Sot or Yar-i-wafadar, Burh Ganga (in Farukhabad), Kali, Ramganga, Kaliana, Isan, Pandu, Jumna, Tons (in Allahabad), Jirgo, Barna, Giimti, Gangi, Basu, Sarju, Gogra. The (xanges Canal is drawn off from the river near Hard war, and the Lower Ganges Canal at Narora in Bulandshahr District. The principal towns on its banks
are
following:
— Malin,
Its principal
are Bijnaur, Garhmuktesar, Aniipshahr, Farukhabad, Kanauj, Bilhaur,
Shiurajpur, Bithur, Cawnpur, Salimpur, Gunir, Dalmau, Kara, Allah-
abad, Alirzapur, Chunar, Benares, Ghazipur, Baxar, and Ballia.
the Ganges consists only of heavy
Since
the construction of railways, the trade carried in the boats that navigate
and bulky articles, timber and bamboos forming the most important items in the upper part of its course, and
stone, grain,
and cotton
also
in the
The Jumna
the
rises
;
in
lower part. Garhwal, and flows almost parallel with
it
the Ganges to Etawah
from here
into
it
begins gradually to approach
east
Ganges
till
it
falls
three miles
of Allahabad.
Its
principal tributaries are the IMaskarra, Katha, Hindan, Satr,
Karwan,
Utangan, Chambal (in Etawah), Sind, Nan, Sengar, Nun, Rind, SasurKhaderi, Betwa, and Ken. It passes the towns of Kutana, Baghpat, Delhi, Shergarh, Mat, Muttra, Mahaban, Farah, Agra, Firozabad, Batesar, Etawah, Kalpi, Hamirpur, and AUahabid. The Jumna, after issuing from the hills, has a longer course in these Provinces than the
Ganges
;
but
it
is
not so large or so important a
river,
dwindling to quite a small stream in the hot weather.
The
it
above Agra trade borne
surpasses
it
on
it now .is inconsiderable. The Gogra vies with the Ganges
itself in
volume, while
in velocity.
and after receiving the waters of the Suheli, Sarju, Chauka, Dahawar, Muchora, and Rapti, empties itself into the Ganges at Chapra. The Giimti rises in Pilibhit
It rises in
the Himalayas,
—
NORTH- WESTERN FRO VINCES AND O UDIL
District, and, passing the city of
361
Lucknow and
the towns of Sultdnpur
and Jaunpur, flows into the Ganges near Its tributaries are the Kathna, Sarayan, District.
in
Sayyidpur, in
Sai,
Ghazipur
and Nand.
The
DudutoU range of Garhwal, and, passing the Ramganga rises town of Moradabad, falls into the Ganges opposite Kanauj. Lakes afid Jhils.—Y^Mmk\m has several mountain lakes, which are known as Naini, Bhim, Nankuchiya, Malwa, Sat, Khurpa, Khuriya, In the Doab, in Oudh, and especially in the tdi: etc., with the aflix jhils or marshes are numerous, but none are of Benares Division,
the
'
sufficient
in Bailia.
importance to deserve mention, except, perhaps, the Surha tdl In Bundelkhand and Mirzapur there are artificial reservoirs
of water,
formed by embanking the mouths of
valleys.
These are
lakes
attributed to the former rulers of the country.
The Bundelkhand
are
now
under the
PubUc Works Department, and
land.
are capable of
irrigating
some extent of
Canals.
(i)
—The
;
irrigation canals of these Provinces are classified as
(2)
productive
ordinary
;
and
(3) protective.
The
first
includes the
Upper Ganges, the Lower Ganges, the Eastern Jumna, and the Agra Canals; the second, the Rohilkhand, the Dun, and the Bijnor Canals;
and the third, the Betwa Canal, which is still under construction. For particulars regarding these canals, see the section on irrigation canals themselves. (pp. 382-3), and also the separate articles on the Aryan race in India w^as The earliest settlement of the History. probably in that portion of the Punjab which surrounds the upper waters of the Sarsuti or Saraswati river, still regarded as one of the
—
most sacred spots of Hindu pilgrimage.
From
this centre, the fair-
ekinned colonists spread over the neighbouring lands, subduing or In the Doab exterminating the darker aborigines as they advanced. Hastinapur, the capital of the Lunar they founded the famous city of race, who also ruled at Muttra, Kasi (or Benares), Magadha, and Behar.
Solar race, on the other hand, gave princes to Ajodhya in Eastern Oudh, and founded colonies in many parts of the North-Western ProThe Vedas show us the Aryan settlements as almost confined to vinces. the upper basin of the Ganges and the Jumna, with a few ouilying branches in Northern Behar, Western Bengal, the Vindhya Hills, and the Narbada (Nerbudda) valley while the south of the Peninsula still remained Throughout the whole almost entirely in the hands of the Dravidians.
The
;
upper Gangetic valley retained its position as the chief seat of the Aryan supremacy in India, and afterwards the centre Its history, being thus of the Muhammadan Empire at Delhi or Agra.
historical period, the
almost co-extensive with that of the central power for several centuries,
can only be sketched in very brief outlines. A more detailed history of Oudh appears under that article {q.v). Of the pre-Aryan kingdoms, as of the pre-Aryan races themselves.
?,62
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
is
our knowledge
that
survive, in
limited to what can be gleaned, as to their extent and
the degree of civilisation attained by them, from the few
monuments
cities,
the shape of tanks,
forts,
and
the
sites
of ruined
which are only now beginning to receive attention.
representatives
The modern
Cheriis,
of the
aboriginal
races,
;
Bhars,
Kols,
Khar wars,
Suiris, etc., are still
found
but they have scarcely retained
even the traditions of their ancient greatness, and a few of the wealthier members seek to secure social rank by claiming an Aryan (generally
Rajput) origin.
earliest traditions of the North - Western Provinces which cluster round the city of Hastinapur, on the Ganges, in Meerut District, the ancient metropolis of the Pandavas. Only a few shapeless mounds now mark the site where lived the Children of the Moon, the descendants of Bharata, whose great war is chronicled in the Hindu epic of the Mahdbhdrata. The poem deals chiefly with the conflict between the five Pandavas, sons of Pandu and founders of Indraprastha {see Delhi City), and the Kauravas,
Among
the
are
those
who held
the
older
capital
of Hastinapur.
These
events,
if
not
absolutely mythical,
may be
assigned to the 15th century B.C.
But the earliest empire in this portion of Upper India of which any certain monuments remain was that of Magadha, associated with the growth of Buddhism. The founder of the Buddhist creed, Sakya Muni, was born at Kapila in 598 B.C., and died at Kasia in Gorakhpur District in 543. After his death, the creed which he had preached spread rapidly over Hindustan, and became for many centuries the dominant religion of the Aryan race. When Alexander the Great invaded the Punjab in 327 B.C., he heard of the great empire of Magadha, whose capital lay at Palibothra, generally identified with the modern city of Patna in Bengal. A Naga or serpent dynasty then ruled over Magadha, and the reigning prince at the date of Alexander's
invasion bore the
name of Nanda. His minister Chandra Gupta, the Sandrokottos of the Greeks, assassinated the Naga prince and seized upon the throne for himself.
Seleukos, the successor of Alexander in his easternmost dominions,
marched with a large army into the Ganges basin, and endeavoured to annex the whole of the modern Provinces to his own kingdom. Chandra Gupta, however, though defeated in the pages
of Hellenic
to
chroniclers, at
his
territory
least
intact,
succeeded
in actual fact so far as
preserve
and
to
receive
the
philosopher
Megasthenes as ambassador from Seleukos at his court in Palibothra. Under his grandson Asoka (260 B.C.) the empire of Magadha reached its highest development. The whole of Hindustan and
the Punjab, together with portions of the Deccan and Afghanistan, were included within its boundaries; and the pillars or rock-
—
NORTH-WESTERN riWVINCES AND
edicts
OUDII.
363
containing the inscriptions of Asoka may be found at Peshawar, at Allahabad, at Delhi, at Kalsi, at Radhia and Mattiar Asoka was the first of in Tirhiit, and on the Bay of Bengal.
his line to embrace the Buddhist faith, and he established it as the State religion throughout his wide dominions, with, however, a liberal
was an eclectic monarch like his in the empire of Hindustan, the great lo7igo intervallo successor arrogated to himself divine honours in his own Akbar, before Akbar
tolerance of the older religion.
—
He
person.
After the decline of the Gupta dynasty, during the 2nd century B.C., but scanty notices are found of the upper Ganges valley for several
hundred years. It would appear, however, that a Brahmanical reaction, headed apparently by the Rajputs, opposed the peaceful spread of the Buddhist creed, and that a long struggle took place between the
rival
religions.
Early in
the
7th
century
a.d.,
Hiuen Tsiang, a
Ghinese Buddhist pilgrim, visited all the most sacred sites in India, and found the Hindu pantheon re-established in many places, though the great kingdoms of Magadha and Kanauj still remained faithful to
the teachings of Sakya Muni.
Buddhism appears to have been finally and sword throughout the whole of Hindustan about the 8th century, and the existing monuments bear marks of During this violent treatment from the hands of the reactionary party. divided between intermediate period, numerous petty principalities them the valleys of the Jumna and the Ganges but the most important were probably those of Magadha, Kanauj, Benares, Delhi, and
stamped out by
fire
;
Mithila.
Continuous history begins
for the
North-Western Provinces with the
of Ghazni, in 1017 a.d., was the who led his army beyond the limits of the Musalman leader first Punjab into the plains of Hindustan. He entered the sacred city of Kanauj, in Farukhabad District, whose ruins yet cover a very large
Muhammadan
invasion.
Mahmud
area
and then sacked the holy shrines of Muttra, the birthplace of still one of the most deeply-venerated seats of the Hindu religion. But Mahmud did not succeed in permanently conquering any part of the Gangetic basin, the Provinces of Miiltan and Lahore
;
Krishna,
alone being incorporated with the dominions of Ghazni.
dynasty, really founded the
who overthrew the Ghaznivide Musalman power in Hindustan. At the period of his invasion (a.d. 1176), Prithwi Raj, the Tomar Raja of He had been long Delhi, was the leading ruler of Upper India.
Muhammad
Ghori (Shahab-ud-din),
engaged in a struggle for supremacy with the Rathor Rdja of Kanauj, and the rivalry of the Hindu princes gave an opportunity for Muhammad Ghori aggression to the Musalmin rulers of the Punjab.
attacked
Prithwi
Raj, and
though
at
Tirouri (1191) defeated with
364
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
Ganges
valley.
:
great loss, finally succeeded in establishing his
part of the
The Delhi Raja was taken
power over the norihern prisoner and
massacred
in
cold blood
and
Muhammad returned intriumph to Ghazni,
leaving his viceroy, Kutab-ud-din, to complete the conquest of the
Hindu kingdoms. In 1193 a.d., the viceroy conquered Koil (Aligarh) and Meerut, and fixed the seat of the Muhammadan empire at Delhi, where it remained, with few intermissions, till the British conquest. In the next year, Muhammad himself returned to India, and defeated Jai This Chand, Raja of Kanauj, in the ravines of Etawah District. victory added Oudh to the Delhi Empire, and not only destroyed one
Indian monarchies, but extended the Muhammadan dominion into Behar, and opened up the way to Bengal. Muhammad followed up the advantage by taking the holy city of Benares, the metropolis of Hinduism, w^here he is said to have destroyed the suspiciously symmetrical number of 1000 temples. After the same battle, Kanauj had fallen many of the Hindu towns were sacked, and the idols they contained broken and Jai Chand himself, identified by his false teeth as he lay among the slain, perished as a Rajput ought. Thereupon the Rahtors emigrated in a body to the desert of Rajputana, where they founded the kingdom of Md.rwar, and long
of the great
; ;
kept alive the military
spirit
of the
Hindu
race.
Ghori died by violence, at the hands of Ghakkar tribesmen, in 1206, having completely subdued the whole of Northern India, from the Himalayas to the Narbada (Nerbudda), and from the Indus His body was conveyed to Ghazni, where his to the Bay of Bengal. nephew Mahmud was proclaimed heir to his throne and accumulated
treasures.
Muhammad
once broke up into several States. practically succeeded to his Indian dominions, and became the founder of the Slave dynasty. The account of that line, and of the succeeding Ghilzai and Tughlak
at
But the kingdom
din,
Kutab - ud -
Muhammad's
viceroy,
dynasties, belongs rather to the general history of India than to the
restricted annals of the
North-Western Provinces.
The Muhammadan
power thenceforth remained supreme in the Ganges valley, which it Under the Tughlak ruled for the most part from the capital of Delhi. princes (1321-1411), however, the empire became disintegrated; and besides the more distant principalities founded by Musalman chiefs in Malwa and Gujardt, a separate kingdom arose at Jaunpur, within the
limits of the
North-Western Provinces themselves. In 1394, Malik Sarwar Khwaja, governor of Jaunpur for Muhammad The Tughlak, assumed the independent title of Sultan - us - shark.
dynasty thus established maintained
itself in
power
for
84
years,
and
in
constantly contested with the Delhi emperors the sovereignty of Kanauj
Four years and the other border Districts. the Mughal conqueror Timiir invaded 1398,
after the
secession,
India.
Crossing the
KORTTLWESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDIL
Indus
at Attock,
365
he marched through the Punjab to Delhi, under the walls of which he defeated the Sultan Muhammad Tughlak, who escaped Timiir entered in state the imperial capital, which his fierce to Gujarat.
soldiery sacked, apparently against his will.
From Delhi he made
his
way through the Doab, swept across Meerut District into Rohilkhand, recrossed the Ganges at Hardwar, and finally left the Provinces by Wherever he passed, massacres and plunder Saharanpur District. Hindustan recovered but slowly from this terrible path. marked his Muhammad Tughlak returned for awhile to Delhi, where he blow. exercised a precarious authority for 12 years, until Khizr Khan,
governor of the Punjab, seized upon the throne in 1414.
as that of the Sayyids, ruled nominally as Mughals, for 36 years, during which their sway the viceroys of the became gradually restricted to the country immediately visible from Meanwhile the Jaunpur kingdom had risen to the walls of Delhi.
The new
dynasty,
known
great power,
state in the
and under Sultan Ibrahim (1401-40) became the leading Ganges valley. Ibrahim adorned his capital with magnificent architectural works, and several times strove to wrest Kalpi, His son Mahmiid the key of the Jumna, from the Delhi Empire. succeeded in 1442 in his designs upon Kalpi after which he marched In 1450, eastward, reduced the fort of Chaxar, and invaded Orissa. Bahlol Lodi, of an Afghan family, deposed the last Sayyid Emperor, Ala-ud-dm, and made himself supreme at Delhi. Two years later, Mahmiid of Jaunpur laid siege to Delhi itself; but Bahlol Lodi returned from the Punjab, raised the siege, and drove Mahmiid back After 28 years of prolonged struggle between the to his own capital. two empires, Bahlol finally defeated Husain, the last of the Jaunpur
;
Sultans, in 1478
and the whole of the North-Western Provinces were once more united to the Delhi dominions under the Lodi dynasty. In 15 1 7, Ibrahim Lodi ascended the throne, and reigned for 9 years, At length, in 1526, Babar with constant revolts on every side. marched against Ibrahim from Ferghana, defeated him on the famous battle-field of Panipat, captured Delhi, and founded the famous In the fiftieth year of his age and the line of the 'Great Mughals.' reign, Babar died at Agra (1530), and his son fifth of his Indian Humayiin continued to reside in the same city. Agra had already formed a favourite residence of the Lodi princes and under the early
;
;
Mughal Emperors it ranked as the capital of India. The city then stood on the left bank of the Jumna, not, as now, on the right.
Humayiin's empire was almost restricted to the present Provinces by the the Punjab; revolt of his brother, who took possession of Kabul and to his while in 1539, the Emperor was driven back from the east Agra itself by Sher capital, and in the next year was expelled from
Shih, leader of the Bengal Afghans.
Humayiin,
after a serious defeat at
366
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND G UDH,
;
Kanauj, fled first to Delhi, then to Lahore, and finally to Sind while Sher Shah made himself Emperor, and proceeded to carry out a magnificent scheme for the consolidation of all India. For this purpose he constructed a great military road from Bengal to the Indus, and improved After a reign of the communications throughout his whole dominions.
however, he was killed by the explosion of a magazine at the Kalinjar, a hill fort in Bundelkhand. His two sons successively In followed him on the throne, but failed to maintain their dynasty. 1555, Humayiin returned from Kabul to Hindustan, which he found in a state of complete anarchy, and re-established himself as Emperor,
five years,
siege of
placing his capital at Delhi.
The Mughal
till
dynasty, thus restored, con-
tinued to hold the empire of India
the rise of the Maratha power.
During the flourishing period of the Mughals, the North-Western The great Akbar, the reorganizer of the Mughal system, lived for the most part at Agra,
Provinces had no proper history of their own.
built the magnificent
fort in
where he
1566, afterwards beautified by
the palace of Jahangir, the famous Taj Mahal, and the great mosque In 1570, Akbar founded the city of Fatehpur Sikri, of Shah Jahan.
where he intended to place the seat of government but after erecting several splendid architectural works, he again changed his plans, and It was not till the reign of Aurangzeb finally died at Agra in 1605. Amongst other incidents that Delhi became the permanent capital. of this prosperous age, may be mentioned the first construction of the Eastern Jumna Canal by Ali Mardan Khan, the engineer of Shah Jahan and the erection of many of the principal buildings which still
; ;
remain
in all the great
towns of the Provinces.
With the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, began the rapid downfall of The Maratha reaction to the south, and the rise the Mughal power.
of the Sikh religion to the north-west, began to threaten the integrity of
the Delhi empire, which received a severe shock in 1737
when
Baji
and a still more terrible reverse in the succeeding year, when Nadir Shah crossed the Indus, and, after defeating the Emperor, plundered Delhi of a vast treasure, Within the Northvariously stated from 9 to 32 millions sterling. Western Provinces, the process of disintegration had already begun.
Rao marched
to
the gates of the capital
;
As
early
as
167
1,
during the lifetime of Aurangzeb, Chhatar Sal,
had headed an insurrection in his native which continued intermittently throughout the next half-century. After a desperate struggle, Chhatar Sal {See Banda District.) finally accepted, in 1732, the aid of the Peshwa Baji Rao, who was then slowly working his way up through Khandesh and Malwa to Hindustan. About two years later, Chhatar Sal died, and bequeathed one-third of his dominions to the Peshwa, while the remainder was
a young Bundela chief,
hills,
divided amongst his
own
descendants.
;
NORTH-WESTERN PRO VTNCES AND O UDIL
In or about 1720, the Rohillds, an Afghan tribe,
similarly
36
7
made themselves
between the Ganges and the Himalayas now called Rohilkhand and though ihey had often to struggle against the Delhi court, they maintained their freedom till they were conquered in 1774 by the Oudh Wazir, with the aid of British troops lent by Warren Hastings. About the same time, Saadat Ali Khan laid
independent
in the tract
;
the foundations of the
kingdom of Oudh, though he and
his successor
Emperor. Shortly afterwards, Baji Rao appeared upon the Jumna, and in 1736 sent his general to plunder the Doab, whence he was driven back by Saadat Ali. The final supremacy of the Marathas after the retirement of Nadir Shah, and their establishment at Delhi in 1758, gave a show of unity to the Empire for awhile but their defeat at Panipat by Ahmad Shdh Durani in 1 761 drove them for a time from Hindustan and completed the dismemberment of the Mughal Empire. During the remainder of the century, the state of the Provinces was
remained
nominally subject to the
;
one of armed anarchy on every
restoration of order.
side, until the British
stepped in for the
the
The Nawab Wazir
of
Oudh and
Rohillas
achieved complete independence beyond the Ganges; Bundelkhand
remained divided between the Marathas and the native chiefs ; Sindhia slowly superseded the power of the Peshwa, and became gradually supreme in Delhi and the Doab was in turn overrun by the Bhartpur Jats, the Marathas, the Rohillas, and every other of the contending parties, though remaining nominally under the rule of the authorities at
;
Delhi.
The
British first
came
into connection with the
North-Western Pro-
vinces as they advanced along the valley of the Ganges from their foot-
hold in Bengal.
In 1763, the
Emperor Shah Alam, invaded
Nawab Wazir of Oudh, with the phantom Bengal. They received a crushing
defeat at Baxar (Baksar), which, as one of the decisive battles of India,
advanced the British frontier from the Vindhyas to Allahabad. The Emperor, with Balwant Singh, Raja of Benares, joined the British camp. By the subsequent agreement, Balwant Singh's estates were but the Court of Directors transferred from Oudh to the Company disapproved of the transfer, and a year later the territory was restored In to Oudh, the Nawab guaranteeing to keep the Raja in possession. 1775, however, the new Nawab, Asaf-ud-daula, ceded Benares, Jaunpur, and Ghazipur to the British, retaining Allahabdd and Kora, which had
;
been taken from the Emperor in the previous year, when the British The Nawab Wazir had agreed in 1773 to pay a sold them to Oudh. fixed sum for each brigade of English troops maintained for his aid and in 1797 this subsidy amounted to ;^76o,ooo a year. Being always
in arrear, the
Nawab
entered into negotiations for a cession of territory
in
in lieu of subsidy;
and
1801 the treaty of Lucknow was signed, by
68
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND
UDH.
which the whole of the Oudh dominions in the Doab, together with Rohilkhand, were made over to the British. The Nawab of Farukhabad, who had thus become a tributary of the Company, ceded his territories in the same year in return for a pension. As early as 1778 a British cantonment had been stationed at CawnPUR, then in the midst of the Nawab Wazir's territory and around it In 1801, the British a great commercial city has slowly grown up. dominions in the present North-Western Provinces were thus confined to the Benares and Jaunpur tract, Rohilkhand, and the Lower Doab, Next year, however, the treaty of including Allahabad and Cawnpur. Bassein was signed with the Peshwa, by which he agreed to cede certain
;
territory in the
Deccan
to the British of the annual value of 26 lakhs of
By rupees (;^26o,ooo) for the maintenance of an English contingent. this treaty the British obtained possession of Bundelkhand, though not
^^'^thout
the use of force.
Sindhia, though nominally the vassal of the
Peshwa, resisted the execution of the treaty ; and it became necessary to take up arms against him, both in Hindustan and in the Deccan. Lord Lake's campaign in 1803 against Sindhia's French general, Perron, brought the whole remaining portion of the North-Western He took by storm Aligarh, Sindhia's Provinces under British rule.
great arsenal in the
Doab.
city
Thence he advanced upon
defeated
Delhi,
and
within
sight
of
the
General
the
blind
Bourquien,
old
another of
the
Sindhia's partisan leaders,
capital
in
and three days
later entered
Mughal
triumph.
the
Reinstating
Emperor,
Alam
Marathas had long detained as a prisoner, he advanced upon Agra, which capitulated after a tedious siege. By the treaty of Sirji Arjangaon, which followed these brilliant successes and concluded the campaign, Sindhia agreed to cede all his territories in the Doab, together with his fiefs on the western bank of the Jumna. The new Districts thus acquired were at once amalgamated with those previously granted by the Nawab Wazir of Oudh, and formed into the Ceded and Conquered Provinces a title that long remained in familiar use. After the peace with Sindhia, war with Holkar, another chief of the Maratha confederacy, followed. It began disadvantageously for the Company, part of whose troops were annihilated as they advanced into Central India. Holkar directed his march on Delhi, but was diverted, and proceeded to lay waste the Doab. Overtaken by General Lake at Fatehgarh, he was routed and beaten back across the Jumna, only to learn that the rest of his forces had been dispersed at Dig. Then followed the unsuccessful siege of Bhartpur, the famous raid of the Pathan freebooter. Amir Khan, into Rohilkhand, and the renewed pursuit of Holkar by General Lake. A peace was concluded in 1805 by which Gohad and Gwalior were restored to Sindhia, and the ComShah,
' '
whom
—
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
369
pany became bound not to interfere between him and the Rajput chiefs. The war with Nepal ensued, which terminated in 18 16 with the treaty
Company of the Himdlayan DisNext came the outbreak of the Pindari or last Maratha war, closing in 18 18 with a peace by which the Narbada territories under the Raja of Nagpur were added to the North-Western Provinces. The Delhi territory remained the personal appanage of the Mughal royal family, under the charge of a Resident, until 1832, when it passed to the direct government of the Company. For the first thirty years after annexation, the North-Western Proof Segauli, and the cession to the
tricts
of
Kumaon and
Garhwal.
a portion of the Bengal
same government as that of Bengal, Board of Revenue being deputed to conduct the duties of that branch, generally at Allahabad, but sometimes on circuit elsewhere in the North-Western Provinces. In 1833, the 'Act for effecting an arrangement with the East India Company and for the better government of His Majesty's Indian territories,' sought to divide the Presidency of Bengal into two governments, the north-western portions going to form the Presidency of Agra. Sir Charles Metcalfe was appointed Governor but this scheme of a fourth Presidency fell through, and in 1835 '^^ Act was passed suspending the Act of 1833, and authorizing the Governor - General in Council to nominate a Lieutenant - Governor of the North Western Provinces. The new Provinces included the area known now under the name of the NorthWestern Provinces, excepting the Jhansi Division (Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur), but with the addition of Delhi and the Sagar or Narbada
vinces were administered by the
;
-
territories.
where in 1844 the local Board of and Criminal Courts were transferred from Allahabad. The Sudder Courts (revenue and judicial chief offices) have since been transferred to Allahabad, where costly High Court buildings have been provided. In 1853 Jhansi Avas added to the North-Western Provinces, and Nagpur was separately administered by a Commissioner. Gudh was annexed in 1856 in consequence of the continued misgovernment of the King (which title had been assumed by a former Nawab). The new Province of Gudh was at once placed under a Chief Commissioner, and a system of administration similar to that constituted in the Punjab was introduced. The next year (1857) saw the outbreak of the Mutiny. During the Mutiny (1857-58) Lord Canning removed the seat of government of the North-Western Provinces from Agra to Allahabad, which has ever since formed the head-quarters of the Lieutenant-Governor, and of all the chief offices of the governcapital
at Agra,
The
was fixed
Revenue and Appellate
Civil
ment.
Delhi, the historical metropolis of Northern India, was
2
made
over to the Punjab after the Mutiny of 1857. VOL. X.
A
370
NORTH- WESTERN FRO VINCES AND OUDH,
first
British occupation was a period cf Trade and agriculture rapidly developed. Roads peaceful progress. were pushed from end to end of the territory; the Eastern Jumna, Ganges, and Lower Ganges Canals were constructed for the irrigation of the Doab the predatory chiefs of Bundelkhand and the Gurkhas were restrained and the chief cities began once more to revive from The Doab especially rose the lethargy and decay of the i8th century. into a great agricultural and commercial tract, filled with new and growing cities, such as Cawnpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Riirki (Roorkee),
The
half-century of the
;
;
and Saharanpur.
first
This peaceful period was interrupted by the Mutiny of 1857, which broke out in the North-Western Provinces, and produced more
disastrous effects in this tract than in any other part of India.
rising
The
earliest
took place at Meerut, on
their
European
officers,
Having massacred There the mutinous cavalry escaped to Delhi.
10, 1857.
;
May
of the Mughal Empire
by the infantry, who proclaimed the restoration and forthwith all Hindustan was in a blaze. Within two months, most of the North-Western Provinces and all Oudh were in the hands of the revolted leaders. The massacre at Cawnpur, the rising at Allahabad, and the various local mutinies, In will be found detailed at length under their proper headings. Lucknow fell in the following September, Delhi was recaptured. March, and within the course of the year tranquillity was restored.
they were joined
in the Provinces has
Since the repression of the rebellion, the principal event of importance been the rapid development of the railway system,
which
is revolutionizing the commercial condition of the country and opening fresh oudets for the agricultural wealth of Rohilkhand and the Doab. The territorial changes since the Mutiny have not been numerous. In 1858, the Divisions of Delhi and Hissar were transferred to the In January 1859, Lord Canning's Foreign Secretary, Sir G. F. Punjab.
Edmonstone, was appointed to the Lieutenant-Governorship, and during his rule the new government of the Central Provinces was created out Sir G. F. Edmonstone was of the Sagar and Narbada territories. succeeded in 1863 by the Honourable E. Drummond, and he again in 1868 by Sir W. Muir. While Sir W. Muir was Lieutenant-Governor, the Districts of Ajmir (Ajmere) and Merwara were detached from the North-Western Provinces, and taken directly under the Government Sir J. Strachey succeeded Sir W. Muir in 1874, and after of India. two years was followed by Sir George Couper, the Chief Commissioner of Oudh, who soon after became governor of the combined territories. Sir George Couper retired in 1882, and was succeeded by Sir Alfred
Lyall, K.C.B., the present Lieutenant-Governor.
Fopdation.
—The North-Western
Provinces with
Oudh
contained in
—
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
37
i
1881 a population of 44,107,869, dispersed over an area of 106,104 square miles; density of i)opulation, 416 persons to the square mile.
The
of
territory
thus
contains a denser
(485),
tract
Europe excepting Belgium Wales (446) if the Himalayan
;
population than any country Saxony (438), and England and be excluded, and only the teeming
Gangetic valley be considered, the density of population exceeds that
of England taken by
itself (484).
is
the average per square mile
808
;
in
Jaunpur, 778
;
in
In some parts of the Gangetic valley enormous in Benares it is 894 in Ballia, Lucknow, 704. No less than twenty-one out
;
;
of forty-nine Districts contain over 500 persons to the square mile.
least
The
populated tracts are the unhealthy Tarai (221), Mirzapur (217), Jhansi (212), Lalitpur (128), Dehra Diin (121), Almora (82), and
Garhwal (63). There have been three enumerations of the population of the Northwestern Provinces prior to the Census of 1881 namely, in 1853, 1865, and 1872. The only previous Census of Oudh was taken in 1869. Considering the North- Western Provinces apart from Oudh, in 1872 the Census returned there a population of 30,781,947 in i88i,the Census over the same area returned a population of 32,720,128. Taking Oudh apart from the North - Western Provinces, the figures are, The total population 11,220,950 for 1869, and 11,387,741 for 1881. of the North-Western Provinces with Oudh in 1881 had increased since the previous Census by 2,104,972. The details of the Census of 1881 for the North-Western Provinces and Oudh together may now be given. Area, 106,104 square miles. Population 44,107,869 (males 22,912,556, and females 21,195,313); number of towns and villages, 105,421 number of houses, 6,866,503
—
;
;
From
mile,
Persons per square 416; towns and villages per square mile, i; houses per square
:
these the following averages are deducible
—
mile, 65
;
persons per house, 6 "4.
Classified according to sex, the native population in 1881
to 22,888,012
amounted
males and 21,185,448 females, thus yielding a percentage of 51-9 and 48 'I respectively. The European element was represented
by 34,409 persons, of
under 15 years
whom
24,544 were males and 9865 females.
Classified according to age, there were returned, of the entire population,
— males,
8,735,283; females, 7,661,764; total children,
:
above 15 years 16,397,047, or 37*2 per cent, of the total population males, 14,177,273; females, 13, 553*549; total adults, 27,710,822, or 62*8 per cent.
Religion
and
Caste.
— The great mass
of Islam were
of the people are
for
still
Hindus,
as
although
the
race.
followers
long
established
the
dominant
Jains
in
of 1881 returned 38,053,394 Hindus, or 86-3 per cent., as against 5,922,886 Muhammadans, or 13 "4 per cent.
The Census
1881 numbered
79,957;
Christians,
47,664;
Parsi's,
114;
372
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
caste,
Jews, loi; Buddhists, 103; Brahmos, 6; and Sikhs, 3644.
by
Rajputs, 3,027,400; Baniyas (traders),
4,655,204; 1,204,130; Ahirs, 3,584,185; Chamars, 5,360,548; Kahars, 1,209,350; Kiirmis, 2,075,026; Lodhs,
the
Hindus
are thus sub-divided
— Brahmans,
Distributed
1,000,599; Basis, 1,033,184; Teh's, 685,123; Sonars, 247,485; Mah's, 236,355; Ahars, 257,670; Barhais, 497,207 Bhangis, 426,243; Bhars, 349,113; Bhats, 129,921; Bhuinhars, 188,080; Bhurjis, 301,086; Dhanuks, 119,341; Dhobis, 518,872; Doms, 176,615; Gadarias, 860,220; Gosains, 118,259; Giijars, 269,036; Jats, 672,068; Kachhis, 1,941,663
;
;
Kalvvars, 345,365 ;Kathiks, 152,030; Kayasths, 513,495; Koris, 843,422;
Kumbhars,
633,989; Lobars, 496,547; Lonias, 378,619; Mallahs, 612,905; Nais, 639,957; Tagas, 101,615; Tambuh's, 209,777; other
Hindu
castes, 1,981,690.
As regards the
four great
Hindu
caste divi-
sions, the
Brahmans
are
most numerous
in the Benares, Allahabad,
and
Agra Divisions,
trading caste
;
their proportion being lowest in Jhansi.
and Agra Divisions. Upper Doab, Agra, Meerut, and Allahabad they confine themselves to the towns and large villages, where they act as shopkeepers, bankers, and petty money-lenders. Among the low castes, the Chamars, formerly serfs and now the lowest
are found chiefly in the Benares
The Rajputs The Baniyas or
reside
chiefly in the
menial
class,
rank
first
in point of
numbers, with 5,360,548 persons.
;
The
and herdsmen, were returned at 3,584,185 the Kurmis at 2,075,026 and the Jats at the Kahars at 1,209,350 Nearly three hundred less numerous castes find separate 672,068. mention in the Census Report and many of these are again minutely sub-divided into clans and minor divisions. The Musalmans muster strongest in the Rohilkhand, Benares, and Meerut Divisions, which contain more than half (3,383,971) the entire
Ahirs, cultivators
;
;
;
In the population of the Lieutenant-Governorship. Allahabad and iVgra Divisions they are also numerous, forming a proportion of 10-5 and 9'6 per cent, respectively. In the Jhansi Division, however, comprising the wilder parts of Bundelkhand, the proportion sinks to 47 per cent. The Hindu religion has everywhere left its
Muhammadan
upon the aboriginal tribes and castes, but also upon and it frequently happens that the descendants of Muhammadan converts, who may have embraced the faith of Islam at the edge of the sword, retain many Hindu customs, and adhere to purely Hindu observances and ceremonies. The converse is also true, and many low-caste Hindus embrace the usages if not the tenets of Islam. Among the Muhammadan population by race, as apart from
impress, not only
the
invaders
;
religion, are
Jats,
included the following Rajputs, 122,055; Giijars, 39,858; 10,401; Tagas, 20,070; and Mewatis, 26,666. The Christian population of the North - Western Provinces and
(1881) 47,664,
of
—
Gudh numbered
whom
26,613 were Europeans,
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND
natives.
OUDII.
373
7726 Eurasians or persons of mixed race, 70 Armenians, and 13.255 Classified by sect, the Christian population of the Northis
western Provinces and Oudh in 1881 of England, 26,048 (including 4606
thus sub-divided
— Church
natives);
Roman
Catholics,
3443 (including 1247 2447 (including 1500 natives); Baptists, 677 (including 276 natives); Lutherans, 482 (including 475 natives); and Almost the other miscellaneous sects, 5183 (including 3378 natives).
9384 (including 1782 natives); Methodists,
natives);
Presbyterians,
entire
army, only a
works.
male adult European population (18,117) are employed in the few (975) being in the civil employ of Government. Most of the Eurasian males are employed on the various railway
The
Jains are regarded
locally
as a sect
of Hindus.
in
The few
or Buddhists are composed The Sikhs belong to immigrants from beyond the Tibetan border. and a good the Punjabi regiments quartered in the Provinces
of
Chinamen employed
tea-gardens,
;
many
of
;
them are
in
the
police
force.
The
Brahmos
are
all
Bengalis
among
the people of the Provinces they are looked upon as
Hindus.
Occupatiojis.—'Xh^ Census of 188 1 distributes the adult male population and Oudh into the following six main classes :— (i) Professional class, including State officials of every kind,
of the North-Western Provinces
and members of the learned professions, 379,008; (2) domestic class, including lodging-house and inn keepers, 107,061; (3) commercial
class,
including
merchants,
bankers,
carriers,
etc.,
382,718;
10,587,739,
;
(4)
agricultural
and pastoral
all
class,
including gardeners,
or
nearly 70 per cent, of the whole adult male population
class,
(5) industrial
including
indefinite class,
manufacturers and artisans, 2,429,788; and (6) comprising male children, general labourers, and persons
There were returned as of no of unspecified occupation, 1,465,890. Of the Total male population, 22,912,556. occupation, 7,560,352. adult female population nearly 60 per cent. (4,547,183) are returned
under the agricultural class, while 26 per cent., or 2,000,086, are grouped under the heading industrial. Among the adult male population, Hindu priests number 81,318;
Muhammadan
musicians, dancers,
and surgeons, 11,857; physicians 569; 18,608; authors and editors, 18; painters, 206; teachers, 17,632; astrologers, 509; innkeepers, 8706; moneyuiullas,
etc.,
pedlars, 24,418. lenders, 37,900; shopkeepers, 16,641 mercantile class, more than half are money-lenders
;
Of
the entire
sub-
or their
ordinates
fabrics
and
clerks.
(985,226) are number about 600,000.
proprietors;
the largest; artisans and mechanics There are 71 persons returned as newspaper booksellers, 594; bookbinders, 424; printers, 1656;
Of the by much
industrial
classes,
workers in
textile
—
374
;
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDIL
Of
the half million males engaged in the cotton are
librarians, 8.
manu-
facture,
367,774
weavers,
cotton-spinners.
also
Barbers
62,044 cotton - cleaners, and 3367 are an important class (172,418), as are
washermen (103,512) and bangle-sellers (26,678). Retailers of alcohol number 10,038; of tobacco, 46,897; of bhafig, gdrija^ or other Bamboo intoxicants, 3019; of betel, 19,752; and of opium, 522.
sellers,
who
supply the
hithi, or iron-tipped club,
which
is
the universal
in minerals
weapon of the Provinces, number
are returned at over half a
78,883.
The workers
million.
The beggars and
professional
all.
mendicants of both sexes amount to 360,078 persons in
700,000
Over
employed in the cotton manufacture. To7cin and Rural Population. Of the 105,421 towns and villages in the North - Western Provinces and Oudh, 46,096 contained in 1881 less than two hundred inhabitants; 34,817 between two and five hundred 16,690 between five hundred and one thousand; 5941 between one and two thousand 1099 between two and three thousand 483 between three and five thousand; 192 between five and ten thousand; 51 between ten and fifteen thousand; 20 between fifteen and twenty thousand; 18 between twenty and fifty thousand and 14 upwards of fifty thousand. One city has more than two hundred thousand Five have populations inhabitants (Lucknow) in England there are six. ranging from one to two hundred thousand (Benares, Agra, Cawnpur,
are
women
—
;
;
;
;
in England there are seven. Taking the Lieutenant-Governorship as a whole, less than one-tenth (97 per cent.) of the whole population may be described as urban or dwelling in towns. The urban population is highest in the Meerut Division Bijnaur District has in particular (15-57) and lowest (1*57) in Bareilly.
Allahabad, Bareilly)
;
many
flourishing
little
towns.
The
average density per acre of persons
on a town site varies between 70 and 90. The density in London is If the mean density of the whole urban popula71, and Liverpool 94. tion be taken, and cantonments be omitted, there is a population of 3,639,706 persons living on a town area of 129,261 acres, or a mean density of 28-2 persons to the acre. In England the urban mean density is 6*34 persons to the acre. In mixed European and native towns the density falls low, owing to the space taken up by the compounds or gardens of the Europeans. In Meerut the density is 10 persons to the acre of town site. Most of the people are gathered into small
villages,
but as
many
though
to
as 282 towns have a population exceeding 5000.
No
brated
other
cities,
part
of India
late
famous of
all,
the
contains so large a proportion of celechanges have transferred Delhi, the most Punjab. Fourteen towns possess popula-
tions exceeding 50,000,
;
namely (i) Lucknow, the capital of Oudh, Benares, on the Ganges, one of the most sacred 261,303 (2) cities of the Hindus, 199,700; (3) Agra, on the Jumna, once the
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VEVCES AAEf OUDH.
375
Mughal capital, and the former provincial head -quarters, 160,203; the two great rivers, the modern (4) Allahabad, at the junction of administrative centre and a great commercial town, 148,547; (5) Cawnpur,' a creation of British rule and an important military cantonment, 151,444; (6) Bareli (Bareilly), the capital of Rohilkhand, the Upper 113,417; (7) iMeerut (Merath), the commercial centre of Farukhabad, (8) principal military station, 99,565 Doab, and a 62,437; (9) Shahjahanpur, 74,830; (10) MiRZAPUR, 56,378; (11) Moradabad, 67,387; (12) Saharanpur, 59,194; (13) Aligarh,
;
Eighteen towns have a 61,730; and (14) GoRAKHPUR, 57,922. Other places of interest in population between 50,000 and 20,000.
the Provinces are
—the
;
hill
sanitaria of
Naini Tal, Landaur, and
sites
MussooREE of Kanauj and Fatehpur Sikri and
(Masiiri)
;
the
sacred town of
;
Hard\var
;
the ruined
capital
Hastinapur
Akbar's
deserted
of
the ancient temples and fortresses of
Mahoba
and KALIN7AR. Most of the great towns lie along' the banks of the Ganges or the Jumna. Out of a total area of 106,104 square miles in the Agriculture. North-Western Provinces and Oudh, 52,192 square miles (33,402,880 20,164 as waste but acres) were returned in 1884 as under cultivation The Census of 1881 cultivable; and 33,748 as uncultivated waste. returned the area under crops at 34,586,880 acres and the male agri-
—
;
;
culturists at
10,506,868; giving an average of 3-29 cultivated acres to each male adult agriculturist, namely, 3*43 acres in the North-Western In Hamirpur and Jalaun Provinces Proper, and 2*99 acres in Oudh. No part of India bears Districts the average rose above 7 acres.
more luxuriant crops than the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, and the natural fertility has been much increased by a
finer
or
magnificent series of irrigation works.
The
course of tillage comprises
two principal harvests— the kharif or autumn crops, sown in June and reaped in October or November; and the rabi or spring crops, sown in October or November and reaped in March or April. The A fourth hewajit, a subsidiary third harvest, is reaped in December.
subsidiary harvest, the zaid,
staple
is is
reaped
in
May.
The
great agricultural
The wheat, but millets and rice are also largely cultivated. chief commercial crops include indigo (in the eastern Districts and Rice and sugarRohilkhand), cotton, sugar, opium, oil-seeds, and tea.
cane grow chiefly in the river valleys or in irrigated fields wheat is raised on the uplands by the aid of canals and wells; millets and
;
cotton grow on the drier soils; while tobacco, potatoes, vegetables, and other rich crops occupy the manured plots in the neighbourhood
simple, scarcely differing is period of which the Vedas give from that in vogue during the earhest
of the villages.
The mode
of tillage
information.
3 76
NORTH- WES2ERN FRO VINCES AND O UDH.
General Re?narks.
tricts
— Of the
total area, less
than half
is
returned as
fit
for cultivation, including all the poorer kinds of soil.
In
many
Dis-
the uncultivated land does not exceed the quantity required for
grazing.
The
true waste or uncultivable area comprises rivers, lakes,
village sites,
and roads.
Large areas of usar (or land which a saline
efflorescence renders unfit for the production of anything but special
kinds of coarse grass) are to be found in most of the Districts of the
Doab, said to be caused by percolation from the canals. The rainin the North-Western Provinces averages over the whole area But it is almost entirely confined to three or 25 inches in the year. four months, and a very general resort to artificial irrigation is thus rendered necessary. If the crops sown and reaped in the rainy season be excluded, 2 acres out of every 5 in the North-Western Provinces are irrigated, more than one-half from wells. The remainder depends in about equal proportions on canals and on natural sources of irrigation, such as tanks and streams. Large areas, including nearly all the land immediately round the village sites, bear two crops in the year, and as many as three are not unknown. Sugar is exceptional, as it occupies the field nearly the whole year, being put down in April, and not fully reaped till the end of February. The common practice of mixing several crops in one field makes it difficult to give an accurate representation of the area under each. The whole country is parcelled out into villages, each village being a
fall
proprietary unit,
and containing perhaps many inhabited
sites.
The
land
as
it
is
divided by the natives themselves into three
circles,
according
much manure,
is
approaches or recedes from the central homestead, and receives only a moderate supply, or none at all. The distinction
real,
very
and
easily recognised
is
by a trained eye.
is
The amount
fertility
of
manure
soil,
available
very limited, and the continued
of the
in spite of constant cropping,
difficult to explain.
The
too
con-
demnation often passed on native methods of
ing.
tillage
is
sweep-
The implements,
it
is
true,
are
of the rudest kind, but the
perseverance of the cultivator compensates in a great measure for the
imperfections of his tools.
Although a single ploughing may merely
scratch the surface, the twelve or fifteen ploughings which are
commonly
given for the more valuable crops produce a
which for depth and fineness might be envied by any English market gardener, and is superior to ordinary cultivation in Europe. Wheat. The most important of the food-grains is wheat, and of recent years the North-Western Provinces and Oudh have become prominent rivals with the other wheat-producing and wheat-exporting countries of the world. The area under wheat in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh in 1882-83 ^^'^s 3,567,586 acres, the principal
tilth
—
centres
of cultivation being Saharanpur, Meerut, and Muzaffarnagar
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDH.
Districts.
in
377
The
total
export of wheat increased from 2,922,573 inaunds
in 1882-83.
1879-80 to 4,599,140 inaunds Other Food Staples.— ^\CQ is
balance the exports.
to
largely grown, but the imports
as
a
rule
The imported rice comes This staple Rajputana and the Punjab. sub-Himalayan region, and in the eastern in the is mostly grown Area under rice in 1882-83 2,876,210 Districts of the Provinces. Barley is acres; exports, 569,196 inaunds ; imports, 795,535 maunds.
the exported rice goes
from Calcutta;
—
seldom grown alone, except
in
the
Benares
Division
;
in
Rohil-
mixed with wheat, and in manure and irrigation than wheat. Barley was sown, either alone or with wheat and pulse, over 4f million Maize is largely cultivated everywhere except in acres in 1 88 2-83. Bundelkhand. It requires good soil with plenty of moisture. About Millets and pulses, 1882-83. I million acres were under maize in moth, were raised on 2 J million acres comprising yWr, bdjra^ urd, and Two or more of these are sown on one field, a method in 1882-83.
khand
it
is
generally
It
Agra and Allahabad
with gram.
requires less
are
that forms the cultivator's insurance against total loss, as the chances some one of the crops will come up. As a rule, the heads of
jodr and bd/'ra are cut off and carried to the threshing-floor before the Gram, for food, as well as fodder for cattle, is sown stalks are cut.
with wheat and barley or alone, over 4 million acres.
crop.
It is
a hardy
Of Non-food Crops, cotton forms perhaps the most important staple, being grown on 5-8 per cent, of the total cultivated area, and 11 per
cent, of the area
in
under autumn crops. Aligarh, Muttra, Agra, and Banda
1882-83, 403,170 acres.
///; the first three
It is cultivated
most extensively
occupies gene-
Districts,
where
it
rally
over 10 per cent, of the total cultivated area.
Area under cotton
in
The
oil-seeds are rape, mustard, linseed,
grown for the spring and the last for the autumn Cotton-seeds are seldom used for oil, though very generally harvest. for fattening cattle, much in the same way as oil-cake is used in Europe. The export of oil-seeds in 1882-83 was 4,667,058 maunds.
and
principal sugar-cane growing tracts are Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Rohilkhand, and the portion of the Benares Division lying between the Ganges and Gogra. It is a curious fact that the cane is
The
no longer an important crop
in
the Districts
south of the Jumna,
in 1882-83,
although the presence of old disused stone mills points to sugar having
been formerly manufactured there.
883,323 acres. Special Crops
the
in
Area under sugar-cane
— 71'^.—The
and
cultivation
is
and manufacture of
tea
hi
North-Western Provinces
Nepalensis
confined to the sub-montane
Diin.
tracts
Kumaun, Garhwal, and Dehra
Eurya
Two
indigenous
in
plants
(Osyris
asp.),
very
similar
appearance
3 rS
XORTH- U'ESTERX PRO VIXCES AXD O UDH.
tea, are
foiiiul
to
growin^: wild in niaiiv
y::^{
the
tor
HinidUwan
the
valleys,
and
at
were
the
in
mistaken
time
by
that
early
first
travellers
genuine
Thea
1S35,
viridis.
This, however,
was
introduced
from
same
seeds
wore
distributed
China by the
in
Govern-
ment
Assam and
other parts of India.
Until 1842, the cultiva-
tion was
conducted by the Government in a few experimental j^lots ; but in that year, a party of 9 Chinese, with the necessary requisites The tea of manufacture, were brought from Assam to Almoni.
they
manufactured was tavourably reported on in the London market and from 1S43 ^^ i*^55 ^'"'^ business was continued, as a department of Government enterprise, under the supervision of Dr. William Jameson. Many mistakes were made at the beginning in the choice of soils and sites, and disappointment and loss resulted to several private planters who followed in the steps of the Government.
;
Kumaun and Dehra though on a smaller scale pated, or than has been attained in the more The produce is chiefly manufactured into
But
tea -planting in
staple industry,
sale
Diin has now become a than was originally antici-
lavoured valleys oi Assam.
green
tea,
which finds a
is
across
the frontiers
in
Central Asia:
but some
exported to
England.
In 1 8; 7 there were altogether, in the Districts of Kumaun and Garhwal, 4S gardens, owned by 25 proprietors, of whom only two were natives in 1S83-S4 there were 53 gardens in these two DisThe total yield in 1S77 was tricts, with a total area of 3043 acres.
:
333,747 lbs., of which the greater part was sold to Central Asian In 1871 merchants: in 1S83-84 the total yield was 433.269 lbs. there were 19 gardens in Dehra Diin, of which 7 were owned by natives the area under plant was 2024 acres: the yield was 300,000 lbs., valued
;
In 1877 the number of gardens in Dehra Diin was 16, and the yield 578.373 lbs.; in 1S83-S4 the number of gardens was The area under tea in Dehra Diin in 34, and the yield 768,878 lbs. 1S84 was 4775 acres. In 1877-78, the total amount of tea despatched by rail from the North-Western Provinces to Calcutta was 8co,ooo lbs., almost entirely from the railway stations of Saharanpur. Moraddbdd,
at ;£i 7,000.
and Bareli. By 1883-84, the rail-borne exports of tea from the Xorth-Western Provinces had increased to nearly 1,200,000 lbs., of
the value of over
^8 1,000.
sunk
in
The
total
capital
tea -planting
is
estimated
at
about
;/?5oo.ooo,
and the enterprise is almost entirely in the hands of In Dehra Diin the yield is returned at nearly 300 lbs. to the Europeans. and although information from Kumaun is incomplete, it would acre
:
be
safe
to
2,000,000
green tea
assume the total annual produce in the Provinces at about of which between a half and three-fourths is made into for the Central Asian market Up to the middle of 1879,
lbs.,
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDJL
;
379
an active demand carried off the whole crop at remunerative prices. but it is Since then the demand for Central Asia has entirely ceased hoped that this collapse may be only temporary. Kashmir offers Tibet, the nearest and most natural market, is a promising opening.
entirely closed
profit
by the avarice of the on the imports from China.
local
ofificiaLs,
who make
a large
Indian tea hardly
commands
half the price of Chinese for the Central
Asian market.
But it is noteworthy that while the former remains steady at about £(i per maund, the price of the latter has fallen from £iS in 1878 to ^11 per mattnd in 1882. The difference still existing as to the price is probably due to a prejudice, which may disappear in There is also some trade in black tea with Calcutta, but this too time.
shows signs of
Tobacco.
falling off.
rustica ought, perhaps, to
of Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana be included under raw products, but the drying process of the ordinar>' peasant is a species of manufacture, and the product may fairly be regarded as a manufactured staple. The crop is generally cultivated in small patches of highly manured land in
dried leaves
the neighbourhood of towns
—The
and
villages.
The
aggregate of these
patches in the whole of the Provinces amounts to less than ioo,coo The curing is acres, of which total about two-thirds are in Oudh.
generally a simple process.
the ground
for a while.
The leaves are cut and allowed to dr>' on They are then arranged in heaps with their
and the
stalks outwards.
apices towards the centre
sprinkled over
them and fermentation ensues.
period var}ing from three days to a month, after found pliable, are made up into ropes and coils and dried for sale. The tobacco factory at Ghazipur, established in 1881 by a European
firm,
is
Brackish water is This goes on for a which the leaves, being
an advantageous rate from the to grow superior kinds of tobacco, and to work up the produce after the American system of The curing, which has already met with a fair degree of success. lbs., or an average of 675 lbs. per total out-turn in 1881 was 326,000
worked on land rented
at
Government.
An
effort
is
being
made
cultivated acre.
inspissated juice of the poppy (Papaver somniferum) a Government monopoly in these Provinces as well as in Bengal. The cultivation is confined to certain Districts, none being grown in In the Doab north of Aligarh, or in Rohilkhand north of Moradabad.
Opium.— ^\\^
is
Shahjahanpur, Farukhabad, Etawah, and Mainpuri, and in the Districts total of the Benares Division, it is extensively grown, as also in Oudh. The of the provincial area amounts to about 250,000 acres, or 6 per cent,
whole cultivated area, and
spring crops.
i'3 per cent, of that portion of
Cultivation
is
carried
commends
itself to
the cultivators
it under on upon a s)'stem of advances, and by the ease with which these are
—
38o
NORTH- WESTERN PROVINCES AND O UDH.
fair
procured, together with the comparative certainty of a
crop and a
remunerative price.
The Government
merce
is
factory for the manufacture of the
opium of com-
at
Ghazipur, in the centre of the best poppy-growing region.
The total exports of opium from the North-Western Provinces and Oudh amounted to 1168 tons in 1879, and 2124 tons in 1881.
Forests, /u?igle Products,
etc.
— In
1883, the area of demarcated forest
reserve was 3339 square miles, about one-third of it lying in Oudh. The main forest products of the Provinces are timber, gums, resins, dyes, and
tans,
but none of them are produced in sufficient quantities to form
important articles of export.
Jhansi, Lalitpur,
The
lie
forests,
excepting small tracts in
and Banda,
along or near the Himalayas.
The
principal timber trees are
indica),
sal
(Shorea robusta), mango (Mangifera
shisham (Dalbergia Sissoo), tun (Cedrela Toona), babul (Acacia
arabica), pine or chir (Pinus longifolia), n'wi (Melia Azadirachta),
box
(Buxus sempervirens).
The gums are mostly the exudations of the following trees the kikar or babul (x\cacia arabica), common all over the North-Western
Provinces
tracts
; ;
—
the khair (Acacia Catechu),
ravines of the
the reunja (Acacia leucophloea),
common common
in the
sub-Himalayan
in
in
Saharanpur and
as
the
Jumna
Doab
;
the dhdk (Butea frondosa),
common
kamdrkds
in all jungles,
and supplying the astringent gum known
in the native bdzdrs.
chir,
The
chief resin
is
obtained from the pine or
a conifer
its
common
throughout
the
Kumaun
Division,
principal source of the turpentine in native use.
Tar
is
and the sometimes
which also supply an excellent torch. is obtained from the root of the Morinda citrifolia, found throughout Bundelkhand. For use the roots are mixed with sweet oil and ground to powder in a small hand-mill. Cloth is dyed by being boiled with the powder thus procured. A crimson dye is obtained from safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), the cultivation of which is almost wholly confined to the Meerut Division, where
chips,
made from
A
red dye called dl
is sown along with gram or carrots. The flowers contain a yellow and a red pigment. If intended for export, they are crushed while a stream of water flows over them and carries off the yellow colouring matter. They are then made up into round flat cakes
the safflower
for market. If intended for local use, they are not deprived of the yellow pigment until immediately before the dyeing process, when it is removed as above, and the crushed florets kneaded up with an alkali
(generally sajji, an impure carbonate of soda). An orange dye is obtained from the flowers o{ harsi?igha (Nyctanthes Arbor-tristis). The
tree
sweet-scented,
most common at the foot of the Himalayas. The flowers are and open only at night. They fall in numbers towards morning, and are then collected, dried, and kept till needed for
is
1
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDIL
dyeing purposes.
the
Tesu, a yellow dye,
is
38
obtained from the flowers ot
dhdk (Butea frondosa). The dye is extracted by steeping the flowers in a weak solution of lime in water. The bark of the babul is the commonest and most effective tanning agent used in the Northwestern Provinces. The Cawnpur saddle and harness factory uses from 1000 to 1500 tons of babul bark annually. Myrobolan, the fruit
of the Terminalia Chebula,
colour, but
is
is
used as a grey dye and concentrator of
It
is
really a tanning ingredient.
well
ground and mixed
with babul bark in the proportion of 16 per cent.
Fibres.
— The
only plants grown for their fibre in the Provinces
are
those
generally
known
is
(Crotalaria
juncea)
a
as sauai and patsau. The former leguminous plant, cultivated chiefly in
the Rohilkhand, Allahabad,
solely
for
making
is
ropes
and Agra T3ivisions. It is used almost and nets, being rarely woven into cloth
Patsan (Hibiscus cannabinus) belongs to the cotton-plant chiefly grown in the Meerut Division. It is hardly ever sown by itself, but generally as a border to fields of cane, cotton, and indigo. The fibre is softer, silkier, and whiter than that of sanai., but not as strong. It is chiefly used for making coarse cloth, sacking, and thin ropes. There is little or no export trade in these fibres. Two
of any kind.
family,
and
other fibrous plants are grown in these Provinces, but not solely for the
sake of the
in
fibre.
One
is
the true
hemp (Cannabis
sativa), cultivated
it
Kumaun on
for
account of the intoxicating drug
produces,
the
charas and bhang of the bazars.
used
seed.
making sacks
The fibre is sometimes extracted and and ropes. The other is linseed (a variety of
made
to utilize
Linum
usitatissimum, the flax plant), grown in India exclusively for the
None
of the numerous attempts that have been
called,
the fibre of linseed has proved a commercial success.
Lac.
— Lac, properly so
lacca),
is
the
gummy
deposit of the lac insect
found mainly on the twigs of the d/idk (Butea frondosa) and the pipal (Ficus religiosa). It is brought in large quantities from the wooded hills of the Central Provinces and Chutia Nagpur to Mirzapur, where 22 factories are engaged in the manufacture.
(Coccus
is
and
Two
lac,
kinds of lac are exported in considerable quantities.
One
other
is
is
the
red dye
in
lac, the form which the substance is brought in from the jungle. Ihe total exports were 2045 tons in 18S1 and 3500 tons in 1883. The Fi'uits a?id Vegetables of the North-Western Provinces are grown almost entirely for local consumption. The principal fruits are mango (Mangifera indica), orange (Citrus aurantium), lemon
made from the dead bodies of the insects. The which is made by the trituration and washing of stick
shell
—
(Citrus acida), citron (Citrus medica), lime (Citrus Limetta), (Citrus
decumana), guava (Psidium
guyava),
custard-aj^ple
pumelo (Anona
sativa),
squamosa), plantain (Musa paradisiaca), pine-apple (Ananassa
382
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDH.
J
pomegranate (Punica granatum), melon (Cucumis melo). The vegemost generally cultivated are the following :— Potato (Solanum tuberosum), very largely grown in both hills and plains carrot (Daucus carota), universally grown in the plains during the cold
tables
;
^
j
\
i
weather; onion (Allium cepa)
'
(Alhum sativum)
lower
hills,
;
cucumber (Cucumis sativus) turmeric (Curcuma longa), very common
;
;
garlic
in
the
where
;
it
many
_
forms an important crop; capsicums; gourds of
kinds
egg plant.
following is a list of the eleven systems of works which have been undertaken by the Government in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh up to 1883-84 :—(i) Ganges Canal, (2) Lower Ganges Canal, (3) Eastern Jumna Canal, (4) Agra
irrigation
Irrigation.
~Y\,^
^
1
'
Rohilkhand and Bijnaur Canals (7) Bundelkhand Lakes, (8) Bundelkhand Irrigation Survey, (9) Sardah Canal, (10) Cawnpur Branch of the Lower Ganges Canal, and (11) Betwa Canal. The first four systems are
(5)
(6)
Canal,
Diin
Canals,
^
I
classed
as
'productive
!
public works
insurance.'
the following six as 'irrigation and navigation works not classed as productive;' and the last as a work of
;'
'
the eleven works named, the first operation. Up to the close of the official year 1877-78, the total capital charges of all kinds amounted to ^5,673,400 ; the total charge for mterest in that year was ^241,197, while the net income was ^,294,152, thus showing an actual profit of ^52,955. But against this there must be set a sum of ^637,826, representing accumulated excess of interest charges over revenue. Up to the close of 1883-84 the total capital charges of all kinds amounted to ^7,153,247 ; the total charge for interest in that year was ^245,002, while the net income was ^420,716, tnus showing an actual profit of ^175,714. The enhancement to land revenue was ^94,963; and deducting some miscellaneous charges, the net profit to the State from irrigation works in
Of
'famine relief and seven are in full
i
I
\
'
^
!
;^257,i28.
Against
this there
must be
set
^178,939
for
1883-84 was accumulated
^
excess of interest charges over revenue.
has been definitely abandoned, after of ^£-27,000; the Bundelkhand Survevs, with an expenditure of ;^r7,322, and the Lower Ganges Canal,' upon which ^2,678,869 has been spent, have only of recent
The Eastern Ganges Canal
expenditure
:
an
years
begun
to
yield a return.
The
large undertaking
known
as the
1880, paid over 4 per cent, on the capital outlay. in operation, the total capital outlay is (1884) ^75153.247, and It is upon this sum that the following fio-ures are calculated. Total gross revenue in 1883-84, of which
Canal
Lower Ganges
has,
since
'
Upon
the systems
i
;£548,4ii was derived from actual water rates, enhanced land revenue; total working expenses, ;^222,758, leaving a net profit of ^420,716, or 5-8 per cent, on the capital expenditure;
^643,474, and ^94,963 from
'
I
|
\\
—
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDIL
interest charges,
383
^^245, 002, which, deducted from the net profit shown
above, gives an actual return to
Government of
;^'i75,7i4.
The
rains,
1877-78, owing to the general failure of the was the largest up to that year known, amounting to 1,461,428
area irrigated in
221,670; cotton, 105,309; indigo, 210,349; other food-grains, 262,867; oil-seeds, 6936; fibres, 300; sugar-cane, 139,374; opium, 10,072; other drugs, 1154; garden produce, 31,858; miscellaneous, 18,264
acres;
namely:
— Rice,
fodder crops, 37,616;
wheat, 415,659;
acres.
The grand
total area irrigated in
larger than in
any previous
year,
1S83-84, which was again was 2,297,674 acres: Rice, 106,443
—
acres; cotton, 93,546; indigo, 295,388; pulses, 116,967; wheat, 824,607;
barley,
3269
;
fibres,
;
292,028; other cereals, 184,697 sugar-cane, 155,147; oil-seeds, 5739 ; opium, 17,045 other drugs, 445 garden produce,
;
;
;
and the remainder (77,486) miscellaneous, of which 18,885 Of the crops raised on irrigated land, acres were under fodder crops. the chief kharif or autumn crops are rice, indigo, cotton, and sugarcane the rabi or spring crops, wheat, barley, pulse, oil-seed, and fibres. In 1884, the irrigated area under kharif cyo\)?, was 825,747 acres, and under rabi, 1,471,927. Ten years previously these figures were under khanf Qxo\)% 389,707 acres, and under rabi, 752,745 acres. The system of land tenure is based upon the ancient Tenures. Aryan communal type, with various modifications from the purest form of joint-village proprietorship down to the separate ownership of The subject is so complex and important, that a comparticular plots. plete account of the North-Western Provinces tenures will be given in the next three pages, somewhat condensed from the standing informaA summary tion in the A?miial Administration Report for 1882-83. from the most recent inquiries will then be given on pages 386-7.
24,867
;
—
—
When
ing
the British
classes,
from
whom
Government acquired the country, the followthe previous Government had realized its
revenue, were found in existence:
princely houses
—
(i)
The
representatives of old
who
paid the revenue on the w^hole, or as
inherited domains.
for
(2)
they could retain, of their
Contractors
much as who
farmed the Government revenue
of villages.
(3)
The
village zaniinddrs,
:
more or less considerable groups whose tenure was of one of
where the produce of the where the land in the whole where the land is divided in
the following four kinds
(a) zaniinddri,
;
whole
village is distributed
{b) pattiddri,
pa ttiddri, and the produce distributed in another part of the same one part, village, but the shares in the land and the shares in the produce bear
village is divided; {c) imipeTiect
the same, or nearly the same, proportion to the shares in the original
interest; (d) bhdyachdra,
where the land
is
divided
in part
and the
the
produce distributed
in the land
in
another part of the same
village,
but the shares
do not bear the same proportion
as the shares in
384
NOR TH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
interest,
produce to the original
another.
or where the whole land
is
divided
to
and the separate properties
(4)
have
no
rational
proportion
one
The
cultivators themselves, paying revenue through their
head-man.
By
the
British
Government, settlements
for
the
payment of the
revenue have been almost always made in the North- Western Provinces with either the village zaminddrs or the village head-men, and they are
now the proprietors of the land in nearly every part of the Provinces. There the position of the owners In Oudh the case was different. of large estates was found to be much stronger than it had been in the
North-Western Provinces half a century
cessful attempt to
villages, the
earlier;
and
after
an unsuc-
make a
settlement with the representatives of single
finally conferred
Government
who
of
are
now known
The
as tdlukddrs, the right to
on the large proprietors, engage for the revenue
it
all
the villages for which they
total
had paid
villages
in the year
preceding
annexation.
number of
in
the
North-Western
In
Provinces
is
81,084, with an average area of about a square mile each;
the greater
and by
far
number
are held by village proprietors.
Oudh
there are 24,337 villages, with the
same average
area, of
which
about two-thirds are held by single proprietors of large estates, and one-third by village communities. There are altogether 337 tdlukddrs,
of
whom
The
average payment by a tdliikddr
38 pay a revenue of more than ;£^5ooo per annum each. is between j[^\']oo and ;^i8oo,
while the average revenue of each
member
of the proprietary com-
munities
is less
Neither
in
than £^^. Oudh nor in the North-Western Provinces
is
the village
now
invariably the unit of revenue
demand.
the
responsibility for the
revenue of
all
The members
principle of joint
of the proprietary
body has
sharers
is
so far been relaxed that any individual sharer or group of
allowed to apply for a complete partition both of the land
liabilities
and of the
division
attached to
or
it.
Two
or
also be assessed for revenue in the aggregate.
more Each
villages
may
is
separate sub-
of
a village,
group of villages separately assessed,
and becomes, instead of the village, the ultimate unit of revenue demand, if not of assessment. In the eastern Districts there prevails a custom by which each member of a proprietary body in the possession of more villages than one, instead of taking compact shares in the whole property, is assigned a separate share in each of The result is that one property will often consist of a the villages. number of small detached shares scattered over as many villages, and in those cases the mahdl is usually the aggregate of scattered shares composing an individual property. Intermediate between the proprietors and the cultivators, are the sub-proprietors. The most common origin of this form of title was
as a mahdl,
known
NORTH- WESTERN FRO VINCES AND OUDIL
when
3S5
villages, of which the engagement under native rule had been retained by a rdjd or tdliikddr, also supported a family of village proThe relations on which the village proprietors stood to the ])rietors.
may have been of three kinds. They may have always collected the whole rents of the village, and paid them sometimes through the superior proprietor, and sometimes direct to the
superior proprietor
Government
official
;
or they
may have
;
always paid them through the
or while they held large areas
superior proprietor and never direct
of the village in their
own
under them, the superior proprietor
occupation, or in that of tenants cultivating may have realized the rents of the
The rule for the remainder of the village from the cultivators. decision of these rights in the North-Western Provinces was that, had kept alive their title by some species if the village proprietors
of possession or management over the entire area of their estate, In default they were entitled to a sub-settlement of the whole of it. of this, they must be content with the specific lands over which they
had managed
the
to
retain
the
possession or control.
it
In cases where
at the option of
sub-proprietary rights in whole villages existed,
was
Government
to
make
the inferior proprietor.
classes
the settlement either with the superior or with The rule adopted was, that when the tjvo
were of the same family or class, and mutually willing to mainsetdement should be made with the superior proprietor, and the inferior proprietor should pay him the Government demand, with all cesses, and a percentage of not less than 15 per cent, on the Government demand. When an engagement was taken from the
tain the connection, the
he paid his revenue and cesses to the Government and an addition of 10 per cent, on that demand, which In either case, was paid from the treasury to the superior proprietor. of the village, and the inferior proprietor had the whole management took all the profits that might be derived from it after paying the Government demand and the fixed allowance in favour of the superior All persons who have at any time been in proprietary proprietor.
inferior proprietor,
treasury,
possession of a village, but from any reason lose it, are entitled to retain their sir, or home-farm land, as ex-proprietary tenants, at a rent
which
in the
is
fixed at one-fourth less than
tenants-at-will.
the rent paid for similar land
neighbourhood by
with
the
superior
In Oudh, wherever there were two classes, the settlement was always
made
if
proprietor.
The
inferior
proprietor
was,
he
the satisfied certain conditions with regard to his possession of
whole village before annexation, and could prove the enjoyment of a
prescribed share of the profits, entitled to retain the management, paying the superior proprietor a certain percentage of the profits,
proportional
previously.
to
the
profits
which
less
he
appeared
to
have
2
enjoyed
B
This was rarely
than 10 per
cent., or
more than
VOL. X.
86
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDIL
Where
the inferior proprietor failed to
half of the estimated profits.
prove sufficiently continuous possession or the proper profits, he was decreed the largest area of land which he had held in his possession
for twelve years before annexation.
the
The rent on this was fixed for It was whole period of settlement and cannot be changed. either the rent he had been found to pay for the same land before annexation, if that could be discovered, or the Government revenue assessed on the particular land that was decreed to him plus a small
The
tenure
so created
is
percentage.
known
as sub-proprietary
sir.
But a special rule was inserted in the Oudh Rent Act to provide for the case of ex-proprietors whose claims were not sufificiently recent to entitle them to decrees under the rules for si}' and sub-settlement.
They
are
secured
the
possession
of
all
land
in
their
cultivating
occupancy which has not come into their possession for the first time since annexation, at a rent which is 12 J per cent, less than same neighbourhood, and is that paid by tenants -at -will in the The provision has affected only liable to revision once in five years. Besides the an infinitesimal proportion of the tenures in Oudh. rights retained by inferior or ex-proprietors, there are a number of small tenures held on special grants from either the Muhammadan
Government
in
or the proprietors, the conditions of tenure being settled
officer or the ordinary civil court.
each case by the settlement
In
the North-Western Provinces, in consequence of the rare occurrence
of large proprietors, the instances of two rights in the same village
are infrequent.
eighth of the whole
Oudh they are much more common, and onenumber of villages are held in sub-settlement. Summary of Tenures. The cultivating classes are sharply divided into those who have and those who have not a proprietory interest in When we succeeded to the Government of the country, the the soil. petty Hindu principalities, which had once covered nearly the whole The of it, had been generally destroyed by more powerful invaders. rule of Kanauj and Delhi had been long extinct; in more recent times, the Katahria Rajputs had succumbed to the Rohillas, and the Bhadauria
In
—
Chauhans
over nearly the whole of the Provinces.
and the same process had been going on The consequence is that there are now very few of the large estates which are the modern form of the By far the greater part of the country is owned by petty principality. village communities of the three principal types, i.e. zaminddri, in which the whole land is held and managed in common, the rents and profits of the entire estate being thrown into a common stock and divided amongst the shareholders, whose rights are estimated by fractions of a
to the Marathas,
rupee or of a bighd (the local unit of land measure) ; pattiddri, in which the lands are held severally by the different proprietors, all of w^hom are jointly responsible to Government for the revenue, though each is
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND OUDH,
3S7
primarily responsible; and bhdyachdra, in which portions of the land are held in severalty, while other portions may be held in common, with joint
responsibility for the
is
Government demand.
In this case the revenue
land,
if
made up from
the rents of the
common
any,
and by a cess
on the individual holdings, apportioned by custom, or on a fixed scale. Of the whole area under the plough, between one -fourth and
is cultivated by the proand the remainder is held by tenants who pay rent, in the more backward tracts in kind, but over by far the greater part of The tenants, again, are divided into two classes, the Provinces in cash.
one-fifth in the temporarily settled Districts
prietors themselves,
those with and those without rights of occupancy.
;
The
status of the
former depends on the length of his tenure and when a field has been held for twelve years continuously by the same cultivator, he cannot be ejected except by regular suit and on legally defined grounds, nor is
he
liable to
have his rent raised arbitrarily beyond the average rate
paid by the same class of tenants in the neighbourhood. of the second class holds his land entirely at the
The
will
tenant
of
the
In the three Divisions of Agra, Rohilkhand, and Allahabad, between a third and a half of the cultivated area is held with rights In Meerut and the temporarily settled portions of of occupancy.
owner.
Benares, about half that proportion.
at-will.
The remainder
is
held by tenants-
The
ingly minute
areas in the occupancy of each cultivating family are exceed; and the size of farms ranges from %\ acres in the
to
little
Upper Doab
Rent.
over 3 acres
in
the
more densely populated
Districts in the eastern part of the Provinces.
— As
regards rent,
it
is
in a fixed share of the produce.
probable that rent originally consisted This form of payment still exists over
is
a large portion of the Provinces, but
almost entirely confined to
special tracts, such as the northern Districts of
where the population
is
scanty and the produce precarious.
it
Oudh and Rohilkhand, The increasstyle of cultivation,
ing density of the population, while
improved the
the
made
it
difficult to
feed the
same number on
same area without
reducing the proportion of the produce paid as rent, and the conversion of grain rents into cash was facilitated by the recent large influx of
silver.
The
;
intermediate stages in the process were
many and
various.
Sometimes a cash rent was paid on every plough in lieu of the former sometimes a rate was fixed for every class of land corregrain rent sponding to its proved fertility and sometimes a rate on each kind But the most common of crop, which varied with its market value. landlord to send an appraiser at harvest time, who form was for the estimated the weight of the standing crop, calculated the share which
;
was due as
rent,
and
its
value in cash to be paid to the proprietor.
After a few years of valuation, a fixed
money
rent equal to the average
388
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
ascertained proceeds, was determined on by the agreement of the landlord and the cultivator.
Though
grain
rents were
not without
their
advantages, the chief
being that they varied with the season, and were a self-acting system
for adjusting the
rent to the produce,
it
is
probable that the
agri-
cultural
community has
rents,
largely benefited by their conversion into cash.
liable to vary
With cash
tenant
is is
which are not
exertions.
certain of enjoying the whole of the increased produce
from year to year, the which
taken
due
to his
own
With grain
rents, half of this is
by the landlord, and half the loss comes out of his pocket, even should the tenant refuse to cultivate altogether. There can be little doubt that, with the introduction of cash rents, the share of the produce
paid by the cultivator has very
half assets, the State
much
diminished.
;
When
grain
is
paid,
half of the produce goes to the landlord
would be entitled Commission estimates the Government revenue
and with an assessment at The Famine to a quarter.
in the
North-Western
rental,
;
Provinces at only
crop.
latter
yS
per cent., or one-twelfth, of the total value of the
the
to one-sixth of the gross
it is
Where
the assessment represents one-half of the
would therefore amount
in
produce
and
allowing for cases of under-assessment,
not likely to be more than
the
a
fifth
the
place
of the half which
landlords
would have
obtained under a system of grain payments.
occupancy and non-occupancy tenants in Western Provinces are approximately 7s. per acre while The farm of an occupancy tenant in Oudh the tenants-at-will pay us. is on an average 25 per cent, larger than that of a tenant-at-will, and he usually holds the best land in the village. These two facts combined enable him to pay in some Districts a higher rate of rent, and at the same time to be better off than the tenant-at-will. The area of farms and it is on this, varies with the density of the agricultural population
rents paid by both
-
Money
the North
:
;
rather than on the rate of rent paid, that the wealth of the agricultural
classes depends.
As regards
is
agricultural
capital,
in every part of the Provinces
it
the cultivator
cattle with
is
who
provides the whole of the expenses of cultivation.
;
irrigation
which the land is ploughed are his own the water for drawn from the well belonging to him and the ploughs and The seed he other implements of agriculture are his own property.
The
;
either saves from his last year's crop or buys from the village graindealer.
The
mill in
is
which the sugar
which he crushes his sugar-cane, and the pans in made, either belong to him or are hired from men
who make
a business of letting
them
out.
The only
is
part of the
agricultural capital belonging to the landlord
the cost of
some of
the wells, and even these are themselves.
more
often constructed
by the
cultivators
—
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDIL
Classes of Cultivators.
3S9
— Omitting
sub-proprietors, there arc in
Oudh
only two
classes
of cultivators,
the
landlords
themselves and the
tenants-at-will.
sub -proprietary
Occupancy tenants in that Province have only weak rights. In the North -Western Provinces, cultivators
who have no
privileged
at-will.
tenants
proprietary rights have been divided into three classes at fixed rates, occupancy tenants, and tenants-
The land which is cultivated by the proprietors themselves is In Oudh there are no restrictions on the known as their sir. landlord's power to take as much of the land belonging to him as he may wish into his own cultivation, nor does he enjoy any
special privileges with regard to
sir
it.
In the North-Western Provinces,
of
land
differs
tenant
cultivating
the village land, in that no from the rest acquire occupancy rights with respect to it can
it,
any
(i)
portion
of
and
(2)
its
definition
last
includes
settlement,
three
classes
:
—
;
Land recorded
;
as sir at the
and continuously
land cultivated by the proprietor continuously for twelve years with his own stock, or by his servants or hired labour
so recorded since
recognised by village custom as treated as such in the proprietary accounts.
(3) land
his
special
holding,
and
Any
other land which he
may
is
cultivate,
though
it
may be known
as such in
common
parlance,
does not bar the accrual of occupancy Sixteen per rights against cultivators to whom he may sub-let it. North-Western Provinces. cent, of the holders are sir proprietors in the Land in which the same person is both proprietor and cultivator cannot
not his sir in law, and
pay any true
rent.
K
in the village papers^ this being usually the
nominal rent may be assessed on it, and entered sum which the proprietor
has to contribute, in addition to the rental from his tenants, in order to adjust the accounts of the proprietary body of which he is a member. Privileged tenants occur only in the permanently-settled Districts of
the
tinuously at the
It
North-Western Provinces, and are those who have held consame rate since the time of the Permanent Settlement. a man who can prove continuous possession is presumed that
twenty years
has
held
since
for
the
settlement;
such tenants
are
have hitherto entitled to a right of occupancy at the rate accrues in respect of any land which has paid. Occupancy right been held by the same tenant for twelve years continuously, provided
they
that
it
is
not part of the
sir,
or of the tenure of another favoured
tenant,
or
granted
in
lieu
of
wages, and
that
no such
protects
right
can
It accrue during the term of a written lease. from eviction so long as the land is properly cultivated and the rent paid punctually, and from enhancement except by agreement, or at the similar order of a rent court, which will be guided by the rents paid by
a
tenant
the tenants for similar lands in the neighbouriiood, and will not revise
—
390
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
rent at shorter intervals than ten years, or unless a revision of the
revenue is in process. Tenants-at-will are liable to eviction at the end of the agricultural year, provided that the landlord serves a notice before ist i\pril in the North-Western Provinces and 15th April in Oudh, and pays the value of all unexhausted improvements. In the
North-Western Provinces 38*5 per cent., and in the cultivators are tenants-at-will.
Condition of the Peasantry.
fairly well off; in
Oudh
78 per cent., of
— In
the
hill Districts
favoured localities the peasantry are they are well-to-do and independent;
but in Bundelkhand they still suffer from the effects of former misrule and from the disasters of recent famine. The principal food of the people is wheat, barley, and the millets {jodr and bdjra). The highest castes among the agriculturists are said by Mr. J. C. Nesfield, in a work
specially devoted to the subject of caste in the North-West, to be the Tagas and Bhuinhars, who are distinguished from other agricultural castes by their forbidding the remarriage of their widows next the Mails (gardeners— w^7^' = a wreath of flowers), Tambulis (/^z;? raisers
;
tambiil
=
the
pan
creeper),
Kiirmis,
Kachhis {kachh
people
on a
bank);
jungle.
river's
lastly,
bank),
and
Kandus
(riverain
— kdnd =
are
=
alluvial
soil
river
the low-caste Bayars and Lodhas,
the
6d.
who
clearers
of
In
1
88 1,
2s.
average
payment
to
the State on
each cultivated
acre was
the ; average payment on each cultivated acre to local funds and cesses was 6d. in addition ; and the average payment per cultivated acre on
(by far the larger part
being land revenue)
account of rent was 6s. gd. In 1884, the average incidence of the land revenue (including local rates and cesses) over the cultivated area of the united Provinces was a fraction over 3s. 4d. per cultivated
acre.
The North-Western Provinces suffer, like the from drought and its consequence, famine. The first great scarcity of which there are definite records occurred in the year 1783-S4, and is known as the chalisa famine. Little rain fell for over
Calamiiies.
rest of India,
Natural
—
two years ; and the apathy of the native government, under which the greater part of the Provinces then remained, allowed the calamity to
proceed unchecked. Thousands died of starvation ; the bodies were not removed from where they lay ; no relief was given to the sick or dying; and universal anarchy prevailed. The distress extended to
Benares, where Warren Hastings witnessed its effects. devastated during this year never recovered, and their
Many
1
villages
sites are still
marked by vacant mounds. The next
;
great famine occurred in
803-04,
just after the British occupation of the
Doab. It was most severely felt in that part of the Provinces but it also caused a rise of prices in the Benares Division and Rohilkhand. In 1 813-14, 1828, and 1833 famine
NORTH- WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDH.
again affected the middle and lower
results in
391
Doab, and produced disastrous
Bundelkband. But the most terrible of
all
famines, since the British occupation,
took place in 1837-38. Its effects extended to all parts of the Provinces. In spite of strenuous efforts on the ])art of the authorities,
much
disorganization took place
— the peasantry had
and
recourse in
some
localities to plunder, the cattle starved
died, wells dried up, grass
and the people roamed from place to place in the vain Lord Auckland, then Governor-General, left Calcutta to take charge of the local government, and sanctioned the employment of the starving poor on relief works. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands perished of starvation, the sick or dying lined the roads, and pestilence followed in the wake of famine. Between January and July 838, the relief works at Cawnpur were attended by a vast multitude of people. The revenue suffered to the extent of one and a quarter million sterling. This frightful calamity led to increased attention being given to irrigation works ; and the Ganges Canal, shortly afterwards begun, has been largely instrumental in preventing the recurrence of similar distress. Another famine occurred in
perished,
expectation of finding food.
1
1860-61, when
relief
;
and Rohilkhand
works were opened throughout the Upper Doab and the Government made every effort to relieve the
starving peasantry.
In 1868-69, drought once more occurred; but, owing to the admirable
preventive measures adopted by the authorities, severe distress was
confined to the remoter Districts of Bundelkhand.
plan of operations, as soon as
;
Profiting
by the
experience of previous years, the Government sketched out beforehand
its
it
became evident
that famine
inevitable
his
and when the necessity
for
for action arose,
each
work ready prepared
him.
The
threatened tracts
was had were marked
official
out into convenient
and placed under special superintendence. Works of permanent utility, such as roads and tanks, gave employment to the able-bodied poor, while the aged and infirm received shelter in poorhouses. Every possible care was taken to prevent cases of starvation; and, although to a less extent in the more remote parts of Bundelkhand, the distress was greatly mitigated by the action of the Government. The last famine which affected these Provinces was in 1877-79, ^'^^ in point of severity it probably did not fall below any of those that have occurred during British rule. The autumn crop of 1877 was a total failure, no rain falling till October, when it was too late to be of use. The succeeding spring harvest of 1878 was damaged by rust, blight, and hailstorms, and in but few places yielded an average crop. Exports kept up the prices almost to famine rates all through the hot weather of 1878, and it was only in October and November of that year that
circles,
;
592
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND OUDH.
Relief works and poorhouses were provided
its
;
distress sensibly abated.
but the mortality from famine and
attendant diseases reached an
most, particularly
Bareli,
enormous
figure.
Bijnaur; then the
The Rohilkhand Districts suffered Oudh Districts of Lucknow, Rai
and Bara
Banki, followed by Basti, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Agra, and Muttra
but no District of the Lieutenant-Governorship
escaped altogether.
The Government expenditure on Provinces and Oudh is officially
relief operations for the
North-Western
returned at
;£"!
85,696, besides a State
outlay on charitable relief amounting to ;£^37,3i5.
At the present time, the system of
to protect the
irrigation canals, the
network of
railway communications, and the cross-country roads, probably suffice
Doab, the trans-Jumna Districts, Rohilkhand, and the Benares Division from the extremity of famine. But the country beyond
is
the Gogra
not yet well provided with
means of communication
irrigation,
;
and
the almost isolated position of the Jhansi Division, combined with
the poverty of
its
soil
and the absence of
render the
recurrence of drought in that tract especially dangerous.
years, however, the
Of
recent
Betwa Canal and railway lines that will traverse the Division north and south and east and west are being rapidly pushed on. The S^rda Canal project, when carried out, will do much to protect the Oudh Districts, and the eastern Districts of the Northwestern Provinces through which it will pass, from future visitations of famine. The new Agra Canal has already proved a great success in
Commerce and
Provinces
is
this respect.
T)'ade,
etc.
—The
export trade of the North-Western
chiefly confined to the
raw produce of
its
agriculture.
It
divided into two parts, the trade with Tibet and Nepal, and the trade with other Provinces of British India, including the ports of
Calcutta and Bombay. The export staples include wheat, oil- seeds, raw cotton, indigo, sugar, molasses, timber, and forest produce, dyestuffs, ghi, opium, and tobacco. The imports consist mainly of English
may be
piece-goods, metal -work,
goods.
manufactured wares,
salt,
and European
In 1880-81, the value of the trans-frontier export trade, as represented by the commodities exported to Tibet from the North- W^estern Provinces and Oudh, was ^16,882, and ;^23,648 in 1883-84; of
commodities exported to Nepal, ;^322,262 in 1881-82, and ^291,124 in 1883-84. The imports from Tibet and Nepal are as follow Values in i88i-82,;£'43,242 from Tibet and ^572,264 from Nepal in 1883-84, ;^6o,845 from Tibet and ;£'735,788 from Nepil. The chief exports to Tibet are grain, sugar, cotton goods, and pedlars' wares. The Tibetan lakes supply the people with salt and borax, and the pastures of Tibet rear goats of the finest fleece. These products are bartered for goods from India. Chief imports from Tibet (1883-84)— borax, ^33,793;
:
—
;
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDIL
salt,
393
;
^^13,749
;
wool,
^9254
one of
:
chief exports to Tibet
— cotton, ^2790
grains, ;£^i5,i63;
sugar,
;£^2933.
rice.
quantities of borax for
The usual rate of barter is two The borax comes to India by way of
Kumaun, wool by way
oil-seeds, timber,
of Dehra Diin, and salt through the Nilanghdti,
Dharma, and Bians Passes. The chief imports from Nepal are grains, gums, and resins and the chief exports, cotton goods, metals, sugar, and salt. The timber goes by way of the river Gandak.
;
The
passes through which the trade with Tibet flows are the Nilanghdti,
Ni'ti,
the Mana, the
the Johar, the
'
Dharma, and Bians.
articles
The
trade with
is
Nepal flows by nine
registration post.
streams of
traffic,' for
each of which there
except
a
Transactions
in all
wood and
grains
take place through British traders residing at or visiting the Nepalese
marts in the Tarai, as the policy of Nepal is to prevent the sales of Nepalese exports taking place in British territory. Transactions in wood are concluded with the Nepalese officials direct and for rice, engage;
ments are made with the Tarai
in advance.
cultivators,
who
are usually paid partly
are
chief centres of trade in the North- Western Provinces and Oudh Cawnpur, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Benares, Meerut, Koil, Hathras, Muttra, Agra, Farukhabad, Moradabad, Chandausi, Bareli, Saharanpur,
The
Ghaziabad, Kcisganj, Bijnaur, Nagina, Najibabad, Gorakhpur, Ghazipur,
Pilibhit,
and Shahjahanpur.
mostly in
In 1883-84, the value of the total
traffic
of Cawnpur, import and export,
Its trade is
amounted to over 9J millions sterling. cotton goods and grain. Agra city has a traffic
Delhi, although outside the
is,
valued at about 4 millions annually.
limits of the
for the purposes of trade connected with the Meerut Division as Agra is with the Agra Division. The trade of Delhi comes next to that of Cawnpur with an annual total of over 7 millions. In 1883-84, the year for which the most recent figures are available, Cawnpur imported from places inside as well as outside the Provinces, goods to
registration, as intimately
North-Western Provinces,
^5,344,278 and exported to places outside as well as goods to the value of ^4,416,728. Similar figures for Agra are— imports, ^2,237,343 Taking the exports, ^1,814,256. figures for Delhi in the same year, the imports were ;£^4, 136,674, and the exports ^3,235,989. The traffic of Cawnpur amounts to
;
the value of
inside the Provinces,
;
one-fourth of the total traffic of the united Provinces. The whole import and export trade of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh in
1883-84 was valued
Ajia/ysis of Trade.
at
three
methods of
carriage,
—The trade of the North-Western Provinces and the — the the and
railways,
rivers
^^28, 63 2,000.
finds
canals,
country roads, of which the
tural
cent,
Agriculfirst is much the most important. produce contributes about 60 per cent, of the exports and 12 per of the imports. The exports of agricultural produce are made up
394
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND OUDH.
from an enormous aggregate of very small items, the surplus out-turn of minute farms. The least failure of the rains, or any other temporary check to agriculture, changes the surplus into a deficit, and substitutes a large import for the export. The only parts of the Province where the export of agricultural produce shows any steadiness are Bundelkhand and the sub-Himalayan tract running from Pihbhit to Gonda, in both of which the population is scanty. It is next steadiest in xMeerut where the average size of a farm is greater than in any other part of the Provinces, except the two just mentioned. By far the chief customer of the Province is Calcutta, the combined value of whose exports and imports is very nearly half the value of the whole railway-borne trade of the Provinces.
followmg marts, with the
total
AVest:-Rajputana,
After Calcutta come the value of their trade with the North-
^4,034,000;
Punjab,
,/;2,99o,ooo
;
Bengal,
;62,847,ooo; Bombay, ^1,760,000.
Cawnpur still retains the pre-eminence among the local marts, with an annual trade worth about ten millions. But its pre-eminence is not so decided as it was ten years ago, and Agra, perhaps, threatens some day to challenge it. After Agra, in order
come Benares, Faizabad, Lucknow, Allahabad, and Meerut. The total value of the water-borne traffic is
millions sterling, of which
of relative importance,
estimated at nearly four
the
more than half is carried in about equal proportions by the Gogra and the Ganges. Next in order come the Rapti river, the Ganges Canal, the Jumna, the Giimti, and the Agra Canal. Agricultural produce forms by far the most important item of
trade, which, however, also includes
large
exports of
wood and
stone.
are available. But even the estimate of 30 millions sterling is much below the truth, if the inter-provincial road traffic were included. Trading Castes.~^\,^ general name for a trader in India is Baniyd oxBunma He keeps the small village shop, stored with meal, oil, and spices, with perhaps a little stock of Manchester calicoes; and he acts as the banker, pawnbroker, and money-lender of the neighbourhood. But there is a distinct series of trading castes under this generic description. The chief of them in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh are the ollowing:-(i) Banjaras, or forest
traders or carriers,
those relating to the trade with Tibet and Nepal (given above). Omitting the ordinary road traffic between the North- Western Provinces and their neighbours under the British Government, the whole foreign trade may be estimated at about 30 millions sterling annually, for which returns amounting to over 28.^ millions
There are no figures to show the traffic carried by the country roads beyond the frontiers of the Provinces, except
who
is
are the
least civilised of the trading classes,
and whose
speciality
carrying
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND OUDIL
395
merchandise on the backs of bullocks along obscure forest paths where any other than a gipsy would be lost. Besides acting as carrier, the Banjara follows the calling of a cattle grazier, and sometimes that of a
The Banjaras are chiefly to be found in the Tarai, or subThey are slowly becoming civilised. (2) Kunjras, tracts. or greengrocers, who carry their wares from door to door, and rarely keep a shop. They are not far removed from the nomadic state, and are held in low esteem. (3) Bhurjis, or grain-parchers, who sell grain
robber.
Himalayan
form of a powder or flour called sattu, and parched rice mixed. (4) The Raunia, Bilwar, Bhurtia, and Lohia castes, are small retail dealers and seldom keep regular shops. (5) The Kasondhan, Kasarbani, Vishnoi, Rastogi, Unaya, Orh, and Maheshwari castes are traders, keeping regular shops. (6) The Agrahari, Agarwala, Bohra, and Khatri castes The Bohra are bankers, wholesale dealers, and wealthy traders.
either in
its
whole
state or in the
consisting of parched grain
seldom keeps a shop, and
is
known
in
is
for
his
rapacity as an usurer.
is
He
bears the
same character
Bombay
the
as
attributed to
him
in
and most important The Northern India. He is a strictly orthodox Hindu, and is of all the trading castes. His operations found as a guru, or spiritual guide, among the Sikhs. He commands the markets of extend far beyond his own Province.
Khatri
highest
Afghanistan.
at
Vambery
the traveller met
Baku on the Caspian. Hindu trading castes, recorded in the Census western Provinces and Oudh was 1,204,130.
Artistic Handicrafts.
him offering his number of Baniyas, including The
of 1881
oblations
nearly
all
for the
North-
—The
principal are the carved
ebony of Nagi'na
(value of out-turn in 1883, (value of out-turn in 1883,
^3000); white wood-carving of Saharanpur £^06); wire inlaid wood-work of Mainpuri
;
(value of annual out-turn, ;£6oo)
wood-carving of Pilibhit (value of
out-turn in 1883, £^^^)'^
^^'^^^
inlaid
work of
Pilibhit (value
of out-
1883, ^^1700); Bareli, furniture (value of out-turn in 1883, ;^5ooo) Benares, brass-work (value of out-turn in 1883, ^5000); Moradabad, metal ware, mostly exported to Bombay (number of firms
turn in
;
engaged in the trade, 158 in 1883, employing 1400 workmen, who turned out work to the value of over ;£'3o,ooo) Lucknow, diamondcut silver-work, mostly bangles, the trade being supported almost
;
entirely
in
by European
visitors in
the cold weather (value of out-turn
Lucknow, embroidery (a craft giving employment to 156 firms and 750 workmen, most of the latter reported as being steeped in hopeless poverty, and earning the barest pittance for their work); Agra, mosaics (annual value of out-turn, ^^2000) Sikandrabad, muslin work; Tucknow, pottery and models in clay Rampur, Aligarh, pottery (mostly of Indian scenes and servants) Cawnpur, leather-work in portmanteaus, pottery, a blue glazed ware
1883,
^1800)
;
;
;
;
;
396
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
;
-,
saddlery and harness Saharanpur, leather-work in articles made from the skni of the sdmhhar C^^^x Benares, silk and cotton fabrics of two kinds— a thick woven brocade and a thin silk fabric— both made of silk and silver thread so as to form patterns of great variety and beauty (number of firms 417, number of workmen
and Lucknow, Masun, and Naini Tal, breweries. The number of indigo factories in 1884 was 1963, owned by 153 Europeans and 1810 natives; average number of employees, 84,172 value of out-turn,
;
Seventeen larc^e private Provinces are worked in whole or part \y steam Cawnpur has 3 cotton mills, 2 woollen mills, and i soap factory Lucknow has a paper mill Meerut, a soap factory ; Allahabad, a steani loundry; Shahjahanpur, a rum and sugar factory;
Jaunpur, scent, expressed from the Eaaories and Manufactures by
2926); Farukhabad and Kanauj cahco chintz fabrics; Mirzapur, carpets (value of out-turn in i^^3, ^5000); Kalpi, paper of two kinds, bakkar and mahajal and
ti/
seed.
Steam.
—
ketones
in
the
•
;
making, aloe-fibre making, munj twine-making, rope-makincr netValue of total out-turn of iail manufactures in 1884, ^32,500.
tile
Ice factories are worked at Agra and Allahabad. Engineering workshops are supported by the Government at Aligarh and Riirkf ; the latter, however, is about to be transferred to a private company. The chief jail industries are clothweaving, carpet-making, blanket-making, tent-making, and brick and
are 22 Lie factories in
^1,166,263.
There
Mirzapur
District.
making; basket and bamboo work.
The
Provinces contain
entirely confined
nmestone
iron-ores of
water-ways of the Ganges and the formerly afforded the principal outlet for the overflowing produce of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, and they still carry a large portion of the heavy traft^c. The Gogra forms the main channel for the grain and cotton of
Kumaun failed after Communications. -T\^^ great
little mineral wealth, the quarries being almost to the supply of building stone, and of nodulated {kankar) for road metal. company started to work
A
the
a few years'
trial.
Jumna
Gorakhpur,
Basti,
strikes south-westward, forming between Calcutta and Bombay The main line then crosses the Jumna from Naini to Allahabad, and runs north-westward through the Lower and Middle Doab, passing
superseded the rivers throughout the greater part of the Provinces. The East Indian Railway from Calcutta crosses the Bengal boundary near Baxar, and runs near the south bank of the Ganges through Mirzapur to Allahabad, giving off a short branch at Mogul Sarai to the shore opposite Benares, and to Ghazipur from Dildarnagar. From Naini junction, near Allahabad, the Jabalpur (Jubbulpore) branch
line
and for the forest products of Nepal. But a network of railways has now
and Azamgarh,
the
of communication
NORTH- WESTERX PRO VIXCES AND OUDIL
397
Fatehpur, Cawnpur, and Etawah, sending off a branch to Agra, and A short continuing by Aligarh and Gliaziabad junction to Delhi. Indian Railway, 12 miles in length, connects extension of the East From Ghaz^abad, the Sind, Punjab, and Dildarnagar with Ghazipur. Delhi Railway takes up the great trunk line to Meerut, Muzaffarnagar,
and Saharanpur, and finally crosses the Jumna into the Punjab. The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway, diverging from the former system opposite Benares, runs through Jaunpur to Faizabad, and thence to Lucknow. A branch runs south-west to Cawnpur but the main line continues north - west to Shahjahanpur, Bareli, IMoradabad, and
;
Saharanpur.
Bareli with
The Kumaun-Rohilkhand railway, a private line, connects Kathgodam (66 miles), at the foot of the Himalayas, on the
dausi, crossing the Ganges at Rajghat,
Another branch runs south-westward from Chanand joining the East Indian line The Cawnpur- Achnera line connects the former city with Alicrarh. at Farukhabad, Hathras, and Muttra. From Agra, the Rajputana State Railway diverges to Bhartpur and a narrow-gauge line connects Muttra
road to Nainf Tal.
;
and Hathras with the East Indian line. From Cawnpur to Farukhabad, 86 miles, a State railway on the metre gauge has been opened, and more recently extended for a distance of 103 miles to Hathras. The The ]\Iuttra-Achnera line, 23 miles, connects Muttra with Agra city. Bareli- Filibhit line has been recently opened, and the Patna-Bahraich
metre-gauge railway, 455 miles in length,
is
in course of construction.
other lines Besides this great ramifying system of railways, the Grand Trunk Road traverses the heart of the Provinces, and other good roads connect
the chief towns and villages. jumna, and Agra Canals are
course.
Numerous
are under construction or have been surveyed.
The Ganges, Lower Ganges, Eastern
also navigable
throughout their whole
Administraf207i.—i:\\Q chief governing power rests with the LieutenantGovernor and Chief Commissioner, whose Secretariat staff consists of
the Chief Secretary to Government, the Junior Secretary (in charge of Finance),
Oudh Revenue
Secretary, the
and three Under-Secretaries. Department of Public Works is under the The administration of the charge of the Chief Engineer (Buildings and Roads), who is Secretary Chief Engineer for Canals, in the Public Works Department, and of the
who
are
Next
Secretary in the Irrigation Branch. which there in de^^ree come the Commissioners of Divisions, of The Commissioner is the eleven in the Lieutenant-Governorship.
is
direct channel of
head of the
communication between the District officer and the Government and the Board of Revenue. He also hears rent and revenue appeals from the Collectors and their subordinates in A Compolice powers. cases, and is invested with large executive and
seven Districts missioner in the North-Western Provinces has six or
398
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND
;
OUDII.
subordinate to him
while in
Commissionership.
In
Oudh and Jhansi, three Districts form a Oudh and Jhansi also, the Commissioners
their
combine criminal jurisdiction with and are the Sessions Judges of
revenue and executive duties,
function
their Districts, a
held by
separate judicial officers in the North-Western Provinces proper.
Each District is administered by a District officer, styled Magistrate and Collector in the North-Western Provinces proper, and DeputyCommissioner in Oudh and Jhansi. The District officer is the direct representative of the Executive Government in all departments, and is ordinarily a member of the Covenanted Civil Service. Primarily he is responsible for the peace of the District and the collection of its revenue, but there is no branch of the administration with which he is not concerned. He is head of the police is responsible for the work of the District treasury superintends the excise and the collection of the
; ;
revenue from stamps
president of
all
;
is still
in
many
cases (and was always
till
lately)
the municipalities in his District,
and of the
District
committee
himself in
for the expenditure of local rates.
all
He
is
required to interest
matters in which Government has any concern, and to
look after sanitation, road, and arboriculture.
He
also hears criminal
and revenue appeals from the subordinate courts; he has always the power, and in some parts of the Province is expected, to take a share in the criminal work of the District and in Oudh and Jhansi his juris;
diction extends to the sentencing of criminals to seven years' imprison-
ment.
To
aid
him
in
performing these and other duties, he has a
staff
of assistants, of
whom
of these assistants,
covenanted officer. One generally an uncovenanted Deputy Collector, takes
one
at least is usually a
the work of the treasury, and
parcelled out amongst
officer,
the
ordinary work of the District
is
in the
officer.
The police are under a special the District Superintendent, who is the Magistrate's assistant Police Department, and who works immediately under that
the others.
tahsili or Sub-divisional head-quarters is a iahsilddr^ invested
At each
usually with both magisterial
of subordinates,
is
and
is
to the tahsil very
and revenue powers, who has a large staff much what the District officer
to the District. His duties are equally multifarious. Revenue and Expe7iditure. The following figures are reproduced from statements supplied for the purpose. They do not exactly tally with the gross returns as made up from the Provincial Treasury accounts. The total revenue of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh in 1883-84 imperial, Provincial, and local amounted to
—
—
—
^9,018,900, and the total expenditure to ^4,262,500. The difference between these two sums is almost wholly represented by the land revenue, which is credited to imperial funds. The land revenue in
1883-84 was ;£"5,68o,7oo, the cost of collecting
it
being ^800,700.
;
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES AND OUDH.
Other chief items of revenue
excise,
in the
399
same year were
(including
;
— stamps, ;^6oo,6oo;
post,
;;{^i
;
;£"5i9,ioo;
provincial
rates
school, District
road,
and other
justice,
local cesses), ;2^649,5oo
;
assessed taxes,
forests,
and
^161,100 registration, ^34,000 ^97,500; police (mostly fines), ^42,600;
;
19,500; law post-oftice, ^140,500
education,
rail-
;2^i2,ioo; medical, ;^i4,3oo; gross earnings of productive State
ways, ;£6i,2oo; direct receipts from productive irrigation and navigation
works, ;2£!'535,ooo
;
portion of land revenue due to irrigation, ^{^87,200;
and miscellaneous, ;,^264,ooo.
in 1883-84 was the cost of the shown above (^800,700), Other items were for collection of stamp duties, ;^i2,ooo; collection of excise, ^11,000; forest charges, ;^io4,ioo; registration, ^20,000; cost of post-office, ^154,500; general administration (salaries of civil servants, etc.), ^159,200; law and justice, p^^^S 18,900; police, p{;'6o3,9oo education, ^166,200; ecclesiastical, ^23,000; medical, ^108,300; superannuation, £,i 14,900 territorial and political pensions, ^99,800 stationery and printing, ^51,400; railway works protective against famine, ;^ii7,ioo; irrigation works protective against famine, ^111,700;
The
chief item
of expenditure
collection of land revenue
—
;
;
maintenance of ordinary irrigation works, ;£"2 18,600; interest charges irrigation works, ;£"247,ioo; cost of for capital already sunk in buildings, courts, etc., by Public Works Department, ^630,500, Excise. The duty received for licences to sell spirits in 18S3-84
North - Western Provinces ;^i 25,929, and ;£^32, 197 in Oudh. To sell country drugs and intoxicants, ^51,212 in the Northwestern Provinces, and ;£^io,9i9 in Oudh. To sell opium, ^9223 in the North-Western Provinces, and ;£ii6o in Oudh.
was
in the
Police.
—
—
— The
police force
officers
(regular)
of the
united
Provinces
for
1883-84, including
;;{^444,449.
The
I
officers
and men, numbered 33,059, and cost include i Inspector-General, 2 Deputy In-^t,
spectors-General,
personal Assistant to Inspector-General;
District
and 8 Assistant District Superintendents in the North-Western Provinces, and 12 District Superintendents in Oudh; i Inspector -General of Railway Police; 192 subordinate inspectors with a pay of more than
^10
a month 4053 subordinate officers with less than jP^\o a month; 638 mounted police; 17,308 regular foot constables; 828 municipal There is thus one regular officers; and 9982 municipal constables. policeman to every 3-2 square miles of area in the North-Western ProIn vinces and Oudh, and to every 1334 persons of the population.
;
urban
localities the
proportion
is
i
policeman to every 447 inhabitants.
As regards the race of the police force, 104 are Europeans, 47 Among the officers there are Eurasians, and the remainder natives. of the remainder (2438), Christians and 2089 Muhammadans 149
;
538 are Brahmans, 341 Rajputs, 45 Gurkhas, 310 Sikhs, 103 Punjabis,
400
NOR TH-WE STERN PRO VINCES AND O UDH.
55 Jats, 60 1 Kayasths, 412 of miscellaneous caste, 3 Bauris, and 30 Afghans. Of the men, 19 are Christians; Muhammadans, 6994; Brahmans, 4155 Rajputs, 3501 Gurkhas, 203 Sikhs, 753 Punjabis,
;
;
;
;
291
;
Jats,
265
;
;
Kayasths,
98.
867
;
of
miscellaneous
castes,
3582
;
Bauris,
33
and Afghans,
is
In addition
to the regular provincial
police, there
a force
of 92,099 village
watchmen
or chaukidars^
maintained
Jails.
at a total cost of
—The
^298,596.
daily average of the prison population in the jails of the
The jails are divided into 7 united Provinces was 23,362 in 1883-84. central prisons (at Meerut, Bareli, Agra, Fatehgarh, Allahabad, Benares,
and Lucknow), 45
District jails,
and 30 lock-ups.
Total number of
expenditure of
juvenile offenders 668, for
whom no
reformatory as yet exists; total
total jail
convicts despatched to the
Andamans, 214;
9d.
united Provinces, ;^9i,754 in 1883, the net cost to the State of each
convict being about
jail
;£"3,
7s.
Total profit to Government from
jail
labour,
^15,616.
of
Death-rate per 1000 of the
cognisable
population,
1973-
The number
crimes
reported
in
1883-84 was
144,611, of which 6138 were serious offences against the person, and The number of murders 48,981 serious offences against property.
in
1883 was 412
;
;
Oudh)
robberies,
of dakaiti or gang-robbery, 94 (of which 34 w^ere in 150 (mostly on private vehicles and on foot-
passengers); poisoning, 21;
certain criminal classes.
and
cattle-stealing,
is
55,000.
In
Meerut,
Agra, and Rohilkhand, cattle-lifting
of persons brought to
in
said to be a distinct pursuit of
As regards
1883
29,582.
criminal procedure, the
in
number
trial
the North-Western Provinces
civil
was 100,287, and
in
Oudh
As regards
procedure, the
number
suits.
of original suits instituted during 1883 in the North-Western
Provinces was 87,759, and in
Oudh
37,242, exclusive of 31,623 rent
There were in 1883-84, 109 towns in the NorthMimicipalities. Western Provinces and Oudh municipally organized total population
;
—
Income (1884), ;£"267,377, derived of the municipaHties, 3,087,719. taxation (mostly octroi), ^206,503; from the following sources
—
rents of houses, gardens, etc., ;£"3t,767
;
fines,
^1954;
miscellaneous,
;^i6,35o; grants-in-aid, ;£io,268; and smaller items. Octroi is the sole tax in 60 municipalities, the impost being levied on grain, sugar,
ghi, oil-seeds, tobacco, drugs, cloth,
house-tax, ;£"27oo; a tax on trades
and metals. Direct taxes are the and professions, ^11,606; and
incidence of municipal taxation
is
a property tax,
;?{^47 7 1.
The average
per
head
of the
municipal population
is.
4d.
for
the
united
Provinces.
University Education.
colleges which
— There
is
are thirteen colleges
or
sections of
give what
technically called University education.
r
NORTH- WESTERN PRO VINCES AND O UDIL
These are the English colleges
aided English colleges at
at
40
Agra, Allahdb^d, and Benares, and
the newly-established college class in the Faizabad
High School; the
Lucknow and
Aligarh
;
the unaided college
department of St. John's, Agra, and the London Mission College at Benares the oriental departments of the Government college at
;
Benares, and of the aided colleges at
law classes at Allahabad and Lucknow.
the
Lucknow and Aligarh and the La Martiniere at Lucknow and
;
Thomason Engineering College are not connected with the Education Department. Nine hundred and seventy-three students were on the rolls on the 31st of March 1883, of whom 223 were in the English Government colleges, 164 in aided and 28 in unaided English colleges 399 were
;
Government Sanskrit College at Benares, 124 in aided oriental colleges, and 35 in the aided law colleges. The average number on the rolls during the year was 882, and the average daily attendance The classification of the students according to race and creed 764. Europeans and Eurasians, 6 Native Christians, 9 was as follows Hindus, 835; and Muhammadans, 122. Of these students, 428 were learning English, and 837 a classical oriental language. The total cost of all the colleges was y^2 1,497, of which /^i 2, 7 77 came from provincial
in the
:
—
;
;
revenues,
from
fees,
^407 from and ^1768
local rates, ;£^5347
from endowments, ;2^ii94
is
from other sources.
Gene7-al State Education.
—The system of State education
the head of which
is
under an
Education Department,
Instruction.
at
the Director of Public
Under him
are the Divisional Inspectors of Schools in
the
North-Western Provinces, and
Assistant Inspector.
middle schools,
in
their tours.
in Oudh an Inspector and an The inspectors visit and examine all high and and as many of the primary schools as they can visit They superintend all the zild schools in their divi-
sions,
ment.
and the normal schools are under their immediate manageMiddle and primary vernacular schools in the North-Western Provinces have for some years been supervised and controlled by District school committees, the duties and powers of inspectors being
confined
gestion,
—
as regards these schools
report.
— to
inspection,
examination, sug-
and
These committees have been recently merged
powers
in the newly-constituted District boards, which, with increased
and responsibilities, are entrusted with the general supervision and management of all primary and middle vernacular schools, with the
financial
control
of zild
schools,
local
the
superintendence of boarding-
houses,
and the care of
scholarships
and endowments.
This
system has, since the
also.
ist of
April 1882, been introduced into
Oudh
The Deputy
District
Inspectors are the subordinates and ministers of
the
The Government colleges at Allahabad and Benares remain under the superintendence and control of the Director
boards.
of Public Instruction. VOL. X.
2
c
;
402
NORTH- U ESIEKX FROVIXCES AXD
UDH.
The number of schools of every class under the Department in 1S83-S4 was 6603, and the number of pupils in them was 246,987. Thus there is a Government aided or inspected school to every 6 square
miles
of area, while
is '55,
the
is,
percentage of scholars
i
among
The
the
whole
population
vinces
is
that
out of ever\^ 200 people in the united ProState.
under instruction supervised by the
returns for
primar}-, indigenous, or other
private schools are incomplete, but a
return
approximately attempted in 1883 gave the number of pupils
in such indigenous or other private schools at 68,305.
Assuming 15
it
per cent, of the population to be of school-going age,
6 '8 per cent, of the boys
appears that
and
'3
per cent, of the
girls
are actually under-
going instruction in the public schools of the Provinces. education is thus extremely backward.
Female
The
provincial expenditure
on instruction during 1SS3-S4, exclusive
etc.
of cost of direction, inspection,
funds, was ^7183,521
on Government colleges, ^11.537; on high and middle schools, ^^23,620 on lower (primar}-) schools, ^70,180; on special schools (mostly normal schools), ;^6867 ; on aided schools and colleges, ;^69,533 ; and on unaided institutions by
:
— namely,
(;^45,973) paid out of imperial
special grant, etc., ;/?i7Si.
in a
The annual
£^2\
:
cost of each pupil educated
Government
college was
the cost to
Government
in aided
colleges was ;£"io, the total cost of a pupil in an aided college being
about ^32. The pupils at the Muir College, Allahabad, cost ;^66 each to Government, and about jQi^^ in all; in the Canning College, Lucknow, jC\^ each to Government, and ^38 in all; in the Agra
College,
;^i3 each to Government, and jQd^i in
all.
The
average
is
yearly cost to the State of pupils receiving a higher education each,
;£\
.\n
and of pupils receiving a
primar}- education, 8s. 6d. each.
analysis of the cost of direction, inspection,
and miscellaneous, taken
from imperial funds, shows the expenditure on these heads as follows \— Direction, ^.^d^d inspection, ^22,1^0; building grants, ^11,843;
\
miscellaneous, including scholarships, ^^'8252.
The
total receipts
of
the Department in 1883 amounted
grants, ^£"6141
;
to £,^S^?>^A
— namely,
municipal
subscriptions and donations, ^30,116; fees, 7720,336 endowments, £,^'\^ European and Eurasian education in the united Provinces is cared for by 26 aided schools for boys and 12 for girls free education is provided
:
for the really indigent.
The male
pupils in these schools
number
15 iS,
and the female 837.
out
the
central
Total cost, 77 16,3 9 2.
is
making steady progress throughstill very backward in the Himalayan Districts, in Bundelkhand, and in the remoter parts of Rohilkhand and the trans-Gogra tract. As regards higher education, ^2 institutions sent up 779 candidates in 1883-84 for the examinations of
Gangetic plain, though
Generally speaking, education
NORTH- WESTERN PRO V/NCES AND O UDIL
the Calcutta University
;
403
and of these 393 passed
successfully.
Of
the 393 successful candidates, 293 passed the matriculation, 70 the First Arts, 22 the Bachelor of Arts, 7 the Master of Arts, and i the
Bachelor of
Law
examination.
Four
institutions containing
570 pupils
is
are affiliated to the University.
The Delhi
College
(in
the Punjab)
and Persian literature, as that of Benares is of Sanskrit. There are also a Government aided and Church Missionary Society (St. John's) college at Agra and there was a Government college at Bareilly, now abolished. The Muir Central College has recently been established at Allahabad, at which the higher education,
the representative of Arabic
;
in preparation for university
honours,
is
being gradually concentrated.
The number of normal schools is 12 Government and 2 aided, 3 of the whole number being for mistresses; pupils, 516. There are 2 aided industrial schools, with 169 pupils. Girls' schools number 18,
and contain 509
It
pupils.
should not be forgotten, in the history of Indian education, that under a former Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Thomason, the North- Western
the promotion of inspection
schools)
is
Provinces took the lead in the establishment of village schools, and of primary education. There are now three circles
;
and the number of halkdbandi schools
(village circle
so greatly increased as to bring primary education within
all
easy reach of
who choose
to avail themselves of
it.
Throughout the Provinces, Urdu or Hindustani is spoken by the Muhammadans and Kayasths but Hindi is the true vernacular of the country, being spoken by the rural population with greater or less purity,
;
according to the proportionate influence of
Muhammadan
colonization.
The educated
classes usually
employ the Persian character; the traders
letters.
use a corrupt form of the Nagari
printing presses in 1875-76,
societies
and 267
in 1884.
The Provinces contained 108 The number of literary
formed by natives is 19, the oldest dating back to 1861. Medical Aspects. The climate of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh as a whole may be classed as hot and dry. Excluding the observations taken at places of abnormal altitude, the general mean
—
temperature in 1883
inches
^^'^s 76-3° R, and the general mean rainfall 24 but of course these figures vary enormously with the District, ; the season of the year, and the time of the day or night. The Hima-
layan Districts are cool, and have a
plains.
greater rainfall than the 1883 was 56 inches. They are succeeded by a broad submontane belt, the Tarai, which is rendered moist by the mountain torrents, and is covered by forest from end to end. This region bears a singularly bad reputation as the most un-
much
In these Districts the
rainfall in
healthy in
all
India,
its
and
in
many
parts only the acclimatized aborigines
can withstand
deadly malaria.
The
plain country
is
generally
warm
level
and
dry, the
heat
becoming more oppressive as the general
404
NOSARI.
of Bundelkhand.
and Benares, or among the The mean temperature of 8 stations in 1883-84 was as follows: Highest monthly maximum, ii3"8° F. lowest monthly minimum, 39*2° F. general mean temperature, 76*3° F. The highest monthly maximum was 85° F. at Chakrata in Dehra Diin,
of the country sinks towards Allahabad
hills
—
;
;
lowest monthly
Tii*6° F. at Meerut, ii6*4° F. at Allahabad, and ii5°F. at Jhansi; the maximum was 27*8° F. at Chakrata, 357° F. at Meerut,
39*7° F. at Allahabad,
and 45°
F. at Jhansi.
The
general
mean was
77-2° F,
55-5° F. at Chakrata, 75-1° F. at Meerut,
at Allahabad, 77 "5° F. at Benares,
rainfall in
73° F. at Bareli,
F. at Jhansi.
and 75*2°
25*6
The
total
1883-84 amounted
19
at
to 56*94 inches at Chakrata,
Bareli,
at
56*43 at
Dehra,
i3'6 at Meerut,
Allahabad, 30*58 at
Benares, and 16*70 at Jhansi.
The
also
chief disease
is
fever.
Dysentery and bowel complaints are
endemic, and cholera and small-pox break out from time to
time in
an
epidemic form.
ever, afforded
The facilities for vaccination, howby Government, have done much to check the ravages The
total
of the last-named disease.
number of deaths
registered in
in
1875-76 amounted
to
to 671,491, or 21*8 per thousand,
and
1883-84
Of this rate per thousand, 27 per thousand. cholera carried off 0*39; fevers, 18*65; small-pox, 3*15; bowel comNearly 6500 plaints, i'37; injuries, 0*48; and all other causes, 3*01.
1,216,297,
or
persons perished from snake-bite or the attacks of wild beasts.
The
number women.
of suicides
Statistics
was 2070, of which 1556 were the suicides of available for the registration of births show a
birth-rate of 49*4 per thousand.
The total number of charitable disGovernment throughout the Provinces up to 1884 was 234, of which 60 are in Gudh. The number of persons relieved (in-door and out-door) was 793,765 in 1876, and 1,567,456 in
pensaries established by
1883;
namely,
in-door patients, 42,284;
out-door,
1,525,172.
Of
Of the whole number relieved in the in-door patients, 2549 died. the dispensaries, 364,364 were children, and 296,110 were women.
The number of persons Total expenditure during year, ^39,431. vaccinated in 1883 was 649,057 ; total cost of the operations, ^12,365.
Nosari.
— Division of the Native State of Baroda (Gaekwar's
territory).
Area, 1940 square miles. Population, 241,255 in 1872, and 287,549 in 1881, namely, 146,477 males and 141,072 females. Hindus number
164,094; Muhammadans, 23,009; aboriginal tribes, 91,317; Parsis, 7441; Jains, 1675; and Christians, 13. The Division lies, speaking roughly, north and south of the river Tapti, and contains the 3 Sub-divisions of Nosari, Songarh, and Viara. The two small mahdls of Gandevi and Nosari are the garden of the tract, rich in fruit, vegetables, and sugar-cane. Corn and cotton are cultivated farther north. In Viara and Songarh the surface is clothed with jungle, the resort of wild beasts.
NOSARI TOWN-NOWGONG DISTRICT.
The famous
hill forts
405
being the cradle
(188O, ^190,494.
former of Songarh and Saler lie in this region, the Land revenue royal house of Baroda. of the Chief towns of the Division— Nosari, Gandevi,
and Bilimora. Bombay Presidency. Nosari {^Navasdri).—i:o\sn in Baroda State, geographer (a.u. 150), as Nasaripa. Known to Ptolemy, the Greek
Nosari
is
situated
in
British an outlying tract surrounded by the
the river Purna, about 12 District of Surat, on the left or south bank of south from Surat city, miles from the sea, and distant by rail 18 miles Bombay. Lat. 22° 7' n., north from 99 from Baroda, and 149 niiles Hindus number 8406; Population (1881) 14,920. long. 73° 40' E. Christians, 3. Parsis, 4062; Jains, 134; and Muhammadans, 2315;
The Purna, which
bed
is
is
as the Navasari river.
mariners navigable up to this point, is known to though the It admits vessels of 100 tons; but
and cannot broad, the deep channel winds between sandbanks, the total exports by sea be safely entered without a pilot. In 1874, grand total, ^12,319. were valued at ^9788; the imports at £2c^z\ figures were— imports, ;£ 2969 ; exports, ^4852: In 1880-81, the Nosari, on In 1874, the traffic at the railway station of total, ^7821. consisted of 153,071 the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India line, number of passengers passengers and 6445 tons of goods. In 1879, the Nosari is a thrivmg town, its was 98,107 ; tons of goods carried, 9569. Many of the colony. prosperitv mainly depending upon its large Parsi number of cotton-weavers but there are also a considerable Parsis are Nosari town has given workers in copper, brass, iron, and wood. Dispensary, public in Surat city. its name to a gate and market-place Government distillery. Here the also a
:
;
library,
and
jail.
There
is
Before Gaekwar, Malhar Rao, married for the fourth time. Highness was in due form married to a silk-cotton the nuptials. His
celebrating
tree,
which was then as formally destroyed. The been married twice, marriage was to avert misfortune. The prince had it was hoped by destroying and no son and heir had been born but would prove fortunate. On his third wife, the tree, his fourth venture of reared the Towers of Silence, for the reception the Nosari creek are About the town are scattered the residences of many the Parsi dead. in Bombay and the Parsi merchants who have retired from business have a fire temple in the The Parsis Presidency provincial towns. inhabitants, Nosari Sub-division had (1881) a total of 47,507 town Area of Sub-division, 119 square and a land revenue of ^29,143.
;
object of this vegetable
miles.
.
.
Nowgong
Assam, lying between 25° 45' and central Districts of and 93° 54 E. long. Nowgong forms one of the bounded on the north by the Brahmaputra the Brahmaputra valley ;
of {Ndogdon\—\)\'s.\x\a in the Chief Commissionership 26° 40' n. lat., and between 92°
,
•
r
4o6
river
NOWGONG
separating
;
DISTRICT.
it from Darrang District; on the east by Sibsagar and the Naga Hills on the south by the Khasi and Jaintia Hills and on the west by Kamriip District, the Kalang river marking the boundary for the greater part of the distance. Area, 3417 square
District
;
miles.
Population (1881) 310,579.
river.
The
civil
station
tive head-quarters of the District
are at
Nowgong Town,
and administrasituated on
the east bank of the Kalang
Physical Aspects.
brakes.
— The greater portion of Nowgong
much overgrown
rivers
District presents
the appearance of a wide plain,
It
is
with jungle and cane-
intersected by
numerous
and streams, and dotted
In the north-
with shallow marshes.
clination of the
The
general line of drainage follows the ineast to west.
Brahmaputra valley from
eastern corner pf the District, the Mikir Hills encroach
upon the
plain
and approach the Brahmaputra. These hills are long ranges averaging from one to two thousand feet in height, the highest point being about three thousand five hundred feet above sea -level. Their area is estimated to be about 60 miles in length from north to south, by from They are generally table35 to 40 miles in breadth from east to west. shaped at the summits, but their slope is very steep, and in places can only be ascended by people of the plains by means of steps cut in their sides. Both hills and valleys are covered with heavy jungle, except where they have been reclaimed by the Miki'rs for the purposes of cultivation.
The Kamakhya Hills a small range stretching from the south bank of the Brahmaputra to the north bank of the
Kalang
river
—
feet high, flat on the top, and and in others covered with dense jungle. A considerable portion of one of these hills, the Kamakhya Parbat, on which there is a temple sacred to the goddess Durga, is now under tea cultivation. Besides these hills, a good deal of hilly and broken ground belonging to the Khasi and Jaintia hill system is
—are
;
about two hundred
places rocky,
easy of ascent
in
some
included in
Nowgong
District.
Nowgong, and the only one navigable throughout the year by steamers and large native cargo boats, is the Brahmaputra, which forms the entire northern boundary of the District. The principal offshoot of the Brahmaputra, and the second largest river, is
chief river of
The
the Kalang, which issues from the parent stream in the north-east of the District, flows a tortuous south and south-westerly course, till it
Brahmaputra on the western border of the District, about town. Although the upper mouth of the Kalang is closed at certain seasons by a large sandbank, it is a valuable means of communication, and is navigable throughout its course by large native boats for about six months in the year. Another smaller offshoot of the Brahmaputra is the Leteri. The numerous tributaries of the Brahmaputra are hill streams, all rising in the
rejoins the
15 miles above Gauhati
NOWGONG
DISTRICT.
4°;
llie prinnorth-westerly direction, southern ranges, and flowing in a and Deopani. (Uhansiri), Kaliani, D.kharu, cipal are the Dhaneswari Dniml and K.lmg Dikharu, Jamuna, Kapili, Barpani, The Dijt., Nandi, other channels into he either direct or through all pour their waters and are more or less navigable
Ka ang, and
so into the Brahmaputra,
portion of by .ood-sized boats for a considerable navigable minor streams and watercourses are rain°y season, about loo
the year.
Durmg
the
bv small
Nowgong are sources of The extensive forests and grass wastes of supplying building materials and considerable profit to the people, as valupasture for the cattle. 1 he most firewood, as well as affording girth have su but few trees of large able forest timber is the sal, allowed to cut when contractors from Bengal were vived the days plantations, however are now Young
down timber
beinat
boats.
r
their will.
1883-84 there were 51^8 acres ot three by the Forest Department m forest land specially protected acres; and acres; Daboka, 5reserves, namely, Kholahat, 1878 area in the There was also an unreserved forest Diiu 2730 acres. The Pa^"- '-^^ miles. square Tarn; yelr of .3:,c,57 acres, or 346
carefully preserved.
In
of
Nowcong
is
District are held in
common
;
the District
is waste, no restrictions pasture lands, /^e <:hief jungl any revenue derived from the gum) Brazil moad, and udal (a products consist of lac, beeswax, limestone abound Good building stone and collected by the Mikirs. quality are found in Coal and limestone of excellent at Pdnimur. and Dhaneswan rivers. Uild some parts of the bed of the Jamund a year causing an average of 50 deaths beasts of all kinds are numerous, and of los. for head, A Government reward of £2 is paid for a tiger's
have been put upon
as the greater portion of cattle grazing
nor
""
SVy.-Nowgong
District
possesses
no
site
history
apart
from the
uteres
ten^ple as Kdmdkhyd H.U, mentioned above. J^is is the temple on District, of the same name m Kamrup well as the more famous one dynasty, who is Behar with the founder of the Kuch
is
Prf mce-'of Assam
generally.
The
only
0^-^-'°^-
associated either variouslv reported to have been
It is said to
its
original builder or restorer
and to have been have been originally a Buddhist shrine, Narayan Singh, himself a Buddhist. restored in 1565 by Raja Nar to the that Kamakhya gave its name Indeed, local tradition asserts which inten-ened that troubled period entire valley of Assam, during ^amrup and the downfall of the old Hindu kingdom of between the the Darrang, on the nor h of Both Bijni and arrival of the Ahams. he of appanages of younger ^^embers Brahmaputra, which became kamakhja withm 'the Kuch Behar family, are spoken of as included
Kshettra.'
'^°^
It
firs
NOIVGONG DISTRICT.
is impossible to fix with certainty the date when the obtained possession of this region. Tlieir capital
Ahams
but
the
was situated
in
hev they
/h'^ r'u^^'""" had estabhshed themselves as low down
''
"'•
of Sibsagar farther up the valley;
as
Gauhati
MuhT^H
annJxeT.
',/!
'"""'^' "*^" '^'y successfully repelled the ''" "' ^""^'^ '^^^^ °"^ "'^ B--ese and
'""'^'"' '" "'^
'^^^'
eon'tt
''
T"^'
a
!;"
Anglo-Burmese war, Nowportion of
Sic
rulers
^,^™'"'^'-^''
h
- '°
integral
K^mrup
Th
t'l
\T
?
:'f:
even^eJlt'-f " '^3^"
have
far
1
^^™^i" under various native "^'"""'""^ "^^ ^°™^d '"'« -" independent °c Since that date, several changes in jurisdiction
'"'^'^'^'^
""'
''''' '''' Sub-division of Golaghat, on the "^^ Dhaneswari, was transferred to the neighbouring D rltoft-, '" '867 the area was still further diminished bv t e . ^'.'^^^^"J'/^"^ -^ ^^ unsurveyed mountains towards the south-east into a new District, under the name of the Naga Hills
er
t :/
imoanen
'
isf ,K~^"
soul
^°^'"^°"'= ^«./v>//e..
^...,«^./^„««,
-^
published in
AnT
,
r" '"'"'''
°' '''°"°"°"=" ^"'"^'
'"
'^''''^
The
fir.^
S^-" ^' '-'bout 90,000 '^" returned the number at 241,000.
"P°" trustworthy data, was the '" ""^ D'^'"" -''^ "°' effected
ineral
the
r''
'
<^"rf'"°"'
r'''^'T'^'
T, '/l"^"''
inXneo
hoe
"'"'^
'^ '" ^^"g^'' l^"' ^^- ^P^-^'l °-r ^'''^'^^ ^^^"'' 'J'-'^-d a total population of 256,390 persons, POPultion res.ding in 1293 «-«^«^ or vilbges
"'="'''
7"'V
''"""'"
^^''^
''"'"''' °" "^^ ?'"'"; This enumeration disclosed ?hi enl a total
svnclronn'°r
''^'
enumeration was in
"'Sl^'
T
1
88 r, when a
°f 'he 17th February. population of 310.379 souls show-
Census of 1871) of 54,189, or z::s7:sZ^r'''^°'''''''
Ions
'"'''''^' '° 21-14 per cent.
beiue'toirorsi:
t^-
::«
^,7'°"' '^'^ ''^""^ ""'^' ""^g« P^^ ^q"-e iJle, -44; per' sons per^ village, 208; houses per square mile, 15-56; p rsons per
n alef o^ no
'''' summarized as r'" f n'' -^'"'"^ "'^'^""^ ™^y ""^^' "'* '494 towns ° laleT InH f ?''''f' '^'^ ^°'^' Population,
fol-
and
2
;r 8 ^'''a '
'*
'
.
""'''' '5°'°99.
""f'
310,579,
namely,
Average density of popula^
emaL
62
02
po^ulaion '.c' t'^t^radi: 2s:r;8;-::t;:^'-
^""^ °^ '^'' 66,2z., Tff ?'"''"' ''''''' °'4r4 ™^'^^ cent, of °k^""'" '^ per
iiid
the
-^^^^ -<^ ^-'^^ ^-s^r,
Hindus
(as
''°r-P"P°^^^^ ""^'^^^ ^49,710, or 80-4 per cen T^of thrn""! . P°P"'^"°"; Muhammadans, 12,074, or 3-9 per " , cent cent., r Christians, .54; Jains, 32; Erahmo.s, 31; and non-Hindu
.
grolSrr'' f" "f'
C/..„/.„,/,„._The
loosely
;
NOIVGONG DISTRICT.
aboriginal
tribes
(Mi'kirs,
409
48,478,
o^
15-6
Garos,
and
Kuki's),
per
Europeans, The ethnical division of the population shows 50 cent aborigines and semi\mericans, and Eurasians; 9 Nepali's; 159^630 according to caste Hinduized aborigines; 138,467 Hindus sub-divided
12,074
Muhammadans
;
and 349
'
odiers,' principally native Christians,
'
Brahmos, and Jains.
r at'i are composed of Mikirs, great bulk of the aborigines by race The Mikirs, who number 47,497 persons, Lalungs, and Cacharis.
The
inhabit that part of the District
•ire
known
in
they as the Mikir Hills, whither
times from
the mountains
industrious race, cultivating
of agriculture
said
to have immigrated
recent
tarther south.
They
are a peaceable
and
the hillside
///;;/.
according to the primitive
mode
known
as
They form clearings in the jungle by agriculture than the dao or and cotton without any other implement of
fire,
and
raise crops of rice
hill-knife.
tillage, they abandon After three or four years' continuous The Lalungs, numbering 41,695, and their fields for fresh clearings. both reported to have immigrated the Cacharis, numbering 12,555, are Ihey the Aham kmgs. from the hills of Cachar during the rule of become more or less Hmduized in now live in the plains, and have the Hindus ot the manners and religion, and are included among their aboriginal forms ot Census returns, while the Mikirs still retain District areThe other aboriginal tribes inhabiting Nowgong faith.
Garos, 837; Kukis,
gardens.
A few Uraons, Santals, and 143; and Ndga, i. labourers on the teaKols from Chutia Nagpur, are employed as
Census Report, the most the semi-Hinduized aborigines of the of a people once numerous tribe is the Koch (42,878), descendants with the Rajbansis ot throughout the country, and identical
Of
dominant
Bengal,
In Assam, however, comparative honour, as may be the appellation of Koch is held in aboriginal converts do not become inferred from the local dictum that into the Hmdu seven generations after their admission pure Koch until who have given race of conquerors,
who have
rejected their original name.
caste system.
their
The Ahams, the last Nowgong they name to the Province, number only 5965 ^^ The Chutiyas cultivating class. have now sunk into the common
;
said to origin as the Ahams, and are (8055) are a tribe of the same 1 he hills of Burma. have preceded them in their migration from the Assam, where they Doms (25,553) are a race especially numerous in in Bengal or the Northoccupy a much more respectable position than
western Provinces
;
Brahmans as they accept Kolitas in preference to
their spiritual guides.
Among Hindus
sented,
proper, the
;
Brdhmans
Kayasths,
the Rajputs numbering 7502 The most numerous caste 2312.
are unusually strongly repreand the number only
is
77 the Kolitd (23,144;,
;
4IO
NOWGONG
DISTRICT.
who now rank
service.
;
the former priesthood of the country,
are engaged in agriculture or
as pure Siidras,
and
Government
Other Hindu castes
;
incUide the following
Keut, or Kewat, 17,896 Katani, 16,609 Boria, 9674; Chandal, 7243 Jugi, 7012; Patiya, 3758; and Hari, 2772. The Musalmans, 12,074 in number, are supposed to be the descendants partly of artisans introduced by the Aham kings, and partly of soldiers left by the Mughal armies. There are a few recent
:
—
;
Muhammadan
The
immigrants from Dacca among the class of shopkeepers.
great majority belong to the Faraizi or reforming sect, but they
are not actively fanatical.
The
native Christians, 204 in number, are
attached to the American Baptist Mission, which has had a branch
stationed in
Nowgong since 1840, and supports several schools. The Brahma Samaj, or theistic sect of Hindus, has a few followers among
rest of Assam, the population is entirely rural. no town with as many as 5000 inhabitants. The largest place is Nowgong Town, with only 4248 persons in 1881. Out of a total of 1494 villages returned in the Census Report, as many as 926 contain fewer than two hundred inhabitants 502 from two to five hundred; 61 from five hundred to a thousand; 4 from one to two thousand and i from three to five thousand. Material Conditio7i of the People. As a rule, the people are remark-
the Bengalis in Government service.
As throughout the
is
There
;
;
—
ably well
off,
and
their condition
is
easily to raise sufficient for their
steadily improving. They are able own requirements from their plots
of land
and hired labour is difficult to procure even on the tea where the work is very light. As far back as 1872-73, the Deputy Commissioner of the District reported Wherever I go, even in the heart of the mufassal, and away from the public thorough;
plantations,
—
'
fares, I
am
struck with the look of real comfort about the homesteads
of their villages and baiis, with the and poultry roaming about, confirms me in the belief that the peasantry are well-to-do and rich in the possession of a goodly stock of this world's goods as far as their own wants and requirements are concerned.' The dress of a well-to-do
of the rdyats.
The appearance
herds of
cattle,
and with the
pigs
shopkeeper or trader usually consists of a waistcloth idhitti)^ a turban, a close-fitting long coat {cliapkan), a cotton shawl, and a pair of shoes.
The
clothing of an ordinary
husbandman
is
composed simply of
a
waistcloth and a cotton shawl over the shoulders.
There are a few
brick-built shops in the District, but they are quite exceptional.
The
dwelling of an ordinary cultivator consists of from two to four rooms,
constructed of bamboo, canes, reeds, and grass, with sometimes a few
timber posts.
The food
of a prosperous trader consists of
oil,
rice, split-
peas, clarified butter {ghi),
vegetables,
fish,
milk,
and
salt; while
fish,
that of a peasant ordinarily consists of rice, split-peas, occasionally
—
1
NO 'GONG
JI
DISTRICT.
and acid
fruits,
4
1
vegetables,
oil, salt,
some vatcr
plants
and
also a little
potash or alkali, obtained by burning plantains.
As regards occupation,
lation of
(i)
the Census of 1881 returned the male popu:
under the following six main headings and professional class, 771; (2) domestic class, 360; (3) commercial class, including merchants, traders, carriers, etc., 1684 (5) (4) agricultural and pastoral class, including gardeners, 92,402 industrial class, including all manufacturers and artisans, 181 (6) indefinite and non-productive class, comprising general labourers and male children, 63,452.
District
Official
;
Nowgong
;
1
;
Agriculture.,
etc.
—The
staple crop
throughout the District
is
rice,
sown about June in low-lying lands, transplanted in the following month, and reaped in December. This furnishes the finest grain and the larger portion of the food supply. (2) The cius is sewn on comparatively high lands about March, and reaped about July, leaving the field ready A third for a second or cold-weather crop of oil-seeds or pulses. variety of bdo or long-stemmed rice is grown to some extent in marshes and along the banks of rivers. The area under rice cultivation has The only increased by about one-third within the past five years. other cereal is Indian corn, grown by the Mikirs on their forest clearings. Miscellaneous crops include mustard grown as an oil-seed, several varieties of pulses, sugar-cane, jute, rhea or China grass, /^f/z or betel-leaf, and tobacco. Cotton is cultivated by the Mikirs. The Revenue Survey of 1872 returned only 244,315 acres under cultivation, or one-ninth of the total area. By 1883-84 the cultivated area had
which supplies two main harvests,
(i)
sdli or Idhi is
The
increased to 291,069 acres, of which 32,582 acres produced two crops annually. The crop area was thus sub-divided Rice, 185.132 acres;
—
41,244 acres; sugar-cane, acres; cotton, 3846 acres; coffee, loo acres; tea, 10,786 acres; 4663 miscellaneous, 29,582 acres, of which 14,174 acres v.ere under food, and 15,408 acres under non-food crops. Manure, in the form of cowother food-grains,
15,716 acres;
oil-seeds,
dung,
is
used only for tobacco and sugar-cane.
Irrigation
is
commonly
practised by the aboriginal cultivators,
hill
who
divert the water from the
streams by means of
is
artificial
channels.
The
princii)le of fallow
acknowledged in the maxim that dus land cannot be kept The abundance continuously under crops for more than three years. of spare land on all sides permits the cultivator to abandon his fields for a new clearing, as soon as their natural fertility becomes impaired. Government is the immediate landlord of the whole soil, and grants For leases direct to the cultivators at the following rates of rent
land
:
—
bastu or
homestead land,
;
6s.
an acre
;
rupit or low rice land,
acre.
at
3s.
9d.
an acre
faritighdti or high land, 3s. an
ruj^it
The average
out-turn
sdli
from an acre of
land
is
estimated
about 18 cwts. of
—
412
; :
'
JVOJVGOA'G DISTRICT.
])addy or unhiisked rice; from an acre oi faringlidti land, 13 cwts. of
dus paddy, together with 11 cwts. ot mustard seed. Rates of wages have greatly increased in recent years, owing to the
introduction of tea cultivation, and
labour at
day,
as
all.
it is often difficult to procure Ordinary day-labourers now obtain from 6d. to Qd. a
compared with
ijd.
thirty
years
ago,
while
agricultural
labourers, where not remunerated in kind, receive about 12s. a
skilled artisans receive
month
;
from
is.
to
2s.
a day.
The
price of food-
grains has nearly trebled within the past thirty-five years.
rice sold at
2s.
Common
5d. in
8d. per cwt. in 1838, at 3s. 5d. in i860, at 5s.
1870, and at
7s.
4jd. in 1883-84.
In 1870, best rice imported from
rice, 2s. 6d.
Bengal fetched 13s. 8d. per cwt., and common unhusked During the Orissa famine of 1866, the price of common
8s. 2d.
rice rose to
per cwt.
District
is
The
flood,
exposed to the three natural calamities of
blight,
and drought, each of which has been known to seriously affect the general harvest. In 1822, swarms of locusts caused a complete destruction of the crops a widespread famine resulted, and the price of unhusked rice is traditionally reported to have risen to £,\, 2s. 6d. per cwt. Similar damage on a smaller scale was inflicted by locusts in 1840, and again in 1858. The low-lying lands are annually inundated by the rising of the Brahmaputra and other rivers, but these
;
The inundations, however, of 1825 and 1842 are said to have caused much distress; but the rivers are on such a scale, and the configuration of the country is such, that it is almost hopeless to think of constructing protective works, in the shape of embankments. Drought is almost entirely unknown, and has
floods rarely injure the general harvest.
never been severe
1835,
as
;
the only scarcity due to this cause happened in
Altogether,
when
there was a great deficiency in the local rainfall.
the danger of famine from either flood or drought
may be
put aside
most
unlikely.
etc.
Manufactures,
—The manufactures of Nowgong
;
are only sufficient
—
meet the local demand. The principal industries are the following Weaving of silk and cotton cloth jewellers' work in gold and silver; basket and mat making; and the making of various utensils from brass, bell-metal, and iron. Three varieties of silk are woven, of varying degrees of fineness Pat, from the cocoons of a worm fed on the mulberry 7nugd, from a worm fed on the siun and sodlu trees and erid, from a worm fed on the castor- oil plant (Ricinus communis). Other specialities are a kind of cotton cloth, with finely woven borders of gold or silver thread ; and jdpis or broad-brimmed hats, which
to
:
;
serve as umbrellas.
The commerce
of the District
:
is
chiefly
following permanent markets
— Nowgong town, Puranigudam, Kaliabar,
conducted by
river, at the
NOIVGONG DISTRICT.
Rahd, and Chaparimukli.
413
mustard seed, cotton, jungle
are tea, Tlie principal articles of export for products, and a little nee ; in return
or clarified butter, which are received salt, sugar, oil,,'/'/ the The profits of trade are almost ent.rely in goods. laneous European The principal means of comhands of Mdr«ar( traders from Rajputdna. except the Brahmaputra and munication are afforded by the rivers but
;
and m.scel-
the Kalang,
none of these are open
is
through. for navigation all the year
The
principal line of road
from Dhubri via Gauhati to
of the
Grand Trunk Road, which runs upper end Sibsdgar and U.brugarh at the
the .^ssam
Assam
valley, passing for
all It crosses several rivers,
District 96 miles through Nowgong of are bridged, with the exception of which
the Kalang. Deopanl, Dimal,
and Kiling. conducted with and manufacture of tea is largely The cultivation but the soil and supervision, European capital and under European The teaUpper .\ssam to be less favourable than in
climate are said
plant was
first
introduced into
Nowgong about 1834;
but the industry
1861, w-hen the was not carried on pri^te individuals by companies and speculative demand for tea property This season of sums being paid for suitable land. led to extravagant a period of depression by abnormal acdvity was naturally followed of beginning to recover. The difficulty from which the industry is now time large itself; and at the present imported labour has at last settled The statistics old-established gardens. extensions are being made to the cultivation, with an outshowed a total of 2878 acres under
after to any great extent until
for
employed The number of European assistants turn of ',87,085 lbs. numberof labourers averaged total was 5, w^th 51 native assistants; the under contract from Bengal or of whom 1.36 were imported .553 and manufacture of Since 1874, the cultivation other parts of India. In t88.-8., out of 75,3o6 acres strides. tea has advanced with rapid ro.or: tea cultivation in 64 gardens,
taken up for
1874
In 88, of 2,494,i°4 lbs. o. leaf mature plant, yielding an out-turn of 3, 03,475 acres, yielding an out-turn the area under tea was 10,786 On the 3.st plant. lbs. per acre of mature lbs., or an average of 382
-;-;-;
""/t
December .881, a
tel-gardens, of
total
of 6074
labourers
were eniployed on the
whom
the provis.ons of 1902 had been imported under
staff of
*!.ii«.-The administrative
Nowgong
District con-
Commissioners Commissioner, 2 extra Assistant sists of a Deputv ^'"d Police, District Engmeer, Assistant Superintendent of amounted to ^69,073, o«'-iJ<3s In 1870-71 the net revenue Suroeon or or 55 per cent., the land-ta'x contributed ^38,000, or net expenditure was X".573. the excise /26 ^'^o, or 38 per cent. of the In r88t-83 the revenue eTsthrn one fifth of Ihe revenue. contributed of which the land-tax Diltdct amounted to ^75,064,
Cm
S
Man
;
414
jVOJVGOiVG district.
cent.
^44,984, or 59-9 per cent and excise ^16.936, or .2-5 per The expenditure on the District in the same year was /-iq i ,
land revenue has multiplied
itself
The
show one policeman to every .4 square miles of area, or to every 217. of the population, the average cost of maintenance being 14s. ifd. per square mile, or ifd. per head There is no municipal police force in
chauhdars or
out
village
nearly fourfold Avithin the past thirty years, despite a diminution in the area of the District. In 1883-84 there were . i magisterial and 4 civil courts open. For police purposes the District is divided into 5 thdnds or police circles. In iSs' the regular police force consisted of 143 officers and men, maintained at a total cost of ^2418. These figures
Assam
proper.
watch of Bengal are not found anywhere throughDuring 1883-84, the total
Nowgong, and the
convicted of any offence, great or small, was 43S, or every 714 of the population. By far
the greater
is
number of persons
r
person
to
victions were for petty offences.
number of
at
the con-
There
one
jail
In 1883, the daily average number of pri.soners was 71-98, of whom -^ were women These figures show one prisoner to every 4313 of the District population. The total cost of the jail was ys. ,d 4, 'j a". gs 5 a. per prisoner.
Nowgong
town.
£^(,^JA ^t
second to
In the spread of education,
Nowgong
as
ranks
among
entire
all
the Districts of
is
Kamrup
Assam; but
In 1856 there were only attended by 679 pupils. The figures for i860 show a considerable falling off-, but by 1870 the number of schools had increased to 39, and the number of pupils to 1373. This improvement was due to the reform by which grants of money were awarded to vernacular schools; and since the latter date, the benefit of the grantin-aid rules has been further extended to the village schools or pdtldlds. By the close of 1873 the schools had risen to 85, and the pupils to In 1883-84 there were altogether 2357. 133 schools under Government inspection, attended by 5257 pupils, including 4 girls' schools with 77 pupils There were also in the same year 14 private uninspected schools,^attended by pupils.
12 schools in the
District,
^
Provmce
compared with Bengal the
in a
backward condition.
315
ishment
scL'ol!
is
the
'
Government English school
^''''
The chief educational estabat Nowgong town, attended
^"'"'^" ^^P"^'
Mission maintains 2 normal
District is divided for administrative purposes into the 5 P0l.ce circles of Nowgong, Rahi, 0/ Jagi, Kaliabar, and Dobaka Th Sub-divisional system has not The yet been extended to the District and there are no municipalities. The number of mauzds or village units for the collection of the land revenue amounts to 65, each undlr Its own viaiizadar or native fiscal officer
Nowgong
T
Medical Aspects.-'Y\.^ climate of Nowgong
is
considered extremely
JVOIVGOAG TOWN.
unhealthy, owing
partly to the
utter disregard of sanitary precautions displayed
tion.
415
numerous swamps and partly to the by the native popula-
Conservancy is enforced only in that part of the civil station occupied by Europeans. The prevailing diseases are fever, bowel complaints, small-pox, cholera, cutaneous and venereal complaints, rheumatism, goitre, elephantiasis, and leprosy. Cholera frequently occurs in a sporadic form, and it is said to make its appearance as an epidemic about once in every four years. It has been observed that this disease invariably approaches from the west, advancing along the banks of the Brahmaputra and minor streams. In 1883 the total number of registered deaths in Nowgong District was 6997, showing a death-rate of 2 2*8 per thousand, a rate considerably below the truth, although fair improvement in the registration of vital statistics has been made of late years. Of the registered deaths in 1883, 3586 were assigned
which
is
to fevers,
1560 to cholera, 81 to small-pox, 968 to bowel complaints, 56 to snake-bite or wild beasts, and 744 to other causes. The charitable dispensary at Nowgong station afforded medical relief to 2570 in-door
in 1883.
and out-door patients
In recent years, cattle plague, apparently
In 1867, an infectious disease, supposed is said to have destroyed
introduced from Bengal, has committed great havoc in this District, as
tliroughout the rest of Assam.
to be identical with the rinderpest of Europe,
one-fourch of the total
number of
disease.
escape, tigers, buffaloes,
all
its
Even wild animals did not cattle. and deer being found dead in the jungle with
In 1870 this epizootic again
the
symptoms of the
made
appearance; and out of 3210 cattle attacked, 2199, or 68 per cent., The average annual rainfall at the civil are ascertained to have died. In station for a period of 29 years ending 1881 was 80 "60 inches.
1883 the
average.
rainfall
amounted
to 72*32 inches, or 8-28 inches
below the
in-
No
thermometrical returns are available.
[For further
formation regarding Nowgong, see the Statistical Account of Assam, by W. W. Hunter, vol. i. pp. 171-223 (London, Triibner & Co., 1879)
'>
A
Descriptive Account of Assam, by
W. Robinson (1841)
;
Report on the
See Province of Assarn, hy Mr. A. J. Moffat Mills (Calcutta, 1854). also Memorandtun on the Revenue Administration of the Lower Provinces
of Bengal, by Mr. D.
1881
;
Assa?n Census Report for J. M'Neile (1873); the and the several Administration and Departmental Reports from
1880 to 1884.]
Nowgong".
District,
—Town
situated
and administrative head-quarters of Nowgong on the east bank of the Kalang river. Population
(1871) 2^2>^; (1881) 4248. Nowgong {Ndogdon or Auiugdon).
— Town
and
cantonment
in
Bundelkhand, Central India; situated between the British District of Hamirpur and the Native State of Chhatarpur. Population (1881) 7492 ; namely, 5391 Hindus, 2092 Muhammadans, and 9 'others.' The
6
—
in
—
NO WSIIERA—NUH.
Nowgong cantonment belong
to
—— —
the Sagar
—
Dis-
41
troops
trict
(Saugor)
within
the limits of the Central India Agency.
In 1883, the
detachment and a regiment of Native Infantry. The Rajkumar College, established by the native chiefs of Bundelkhand in memory of Lord Mayo, is at Nowgong; it was opened in the year 1875-76, and in its second year there were on the rolls the names of 35 young chiefs, including the minor Rajas of Chhatarpur, Sarila, and Khania-dhana. In 1883-84, the average attendance of young chiefs at the college was 10, and at one time during the year 18. There is a good metalled road between Nowgong and the sadr station of Banda. The main road from Satna station, on the Jabalpur extension of the East Indian Railway, to Gwalior The cantonment is generally described as a passes through Nowgong. healthy one; and in the year 1875-76, an epidemic of cholera, which appeared in Western Bundelkhand, died out to the west of Nowgong.
military force consisted of a battery of
Royal
Artillery, a
of the Rifle Brigade,
a detachment of Bengal Cavalry,
Dispensary.
—
Nowshera. Tahsil, cantonment, and town in Peshawar District, See Naushahra. Punjab. Nowshera. Town in Hazara District, Punjab. See Nawashahr. Nowshero. Tdluk in Shikarpur District, Sind, Bombay Presidency. See Naushahro Abro. Ncwshero. Sub-division, tdluk^ and town in Haidarabad District, See Naushahro. Sind, Bombay Presidency. Noyagni. Pass in Kashmir State, Northern India. See Nabog Nat.
—
— —
Noyil.
lat.
— River
— —
in
10° 55' 45" N.,
Coimbatore District, Madras Presidency rises in and long. 76° 45' 40" e., in the Velingiri Hills, and,
;
flowing across the District from west to east, joins the Kaveri (Cauvery) It has 16 anicuts, (lat. 11° 4' N., long. 77° 59' 30" E.) in Kariir tdhik.
from which 13,060 acres of land are about ^10,000.
irrigated, yielding a
revenue of
and town in Bengal. See Nadiya. Gurgaon District, Punjab, lying between 27° 57' and 28° 10' N. lat., and between 76° 58' and 77° 11' e. long. Area, 403 square miles, with 254 towns and villages, 11,691 houses,
Nuddea.
Nlih.
— — Central
District, Sub-division,
tahsil of
Population (1881) 120,324; namely, males and 36,822 families. 63,938, and females 56,386; average density of population, 299 persons per
tion
square mile.
of
;
Classified according to religion,
the popula;
consists
;
— Hindus,
62,457;
and Christians, 3. contain less than five hundred inhabitants, 36 from five hundred to The average area a thousand, and 28 from one to five thousand. under crops for the five years 1877-78 to 1881-82 is returned at 218 square, miles, the area under the principal crops being as follows
234
Sikhs, 17
:
Muhammadans, 57,613 Jains, Of the 254 towns and villages, 190
— —
NUH TOWN—NURABAD.
bdjra, 36,434 acres; barley,
;
7
41
26,200 acres yW^^V, 25,560 acres; gram, 23,023 acres; wheat, 13,190 acres; cotton, 12,770 acres; moth, 6889
acres;
and vegetables, 2277
acres.
Revenue of the
taJisil,
;^25,746.
presides
;
The
over
ta/ist/ddr,
I
who
i
is
the only local administrative
;
officer,
number of police circles {t/iands), 3 regular police, 41 men; village watchmen {chaukiddrs), 315. Town and municipality in Gurgaon District, Punjab, and Nlih.
civil
and
criminal court
—
head-(iuarters of Niih tahsH.
Situated in
lat.
28°
6'
30"
n.,
and
long.
77°
2'
15"
E.,
26 miles south of (iurgaon town, on the road to Ahvar.
The town was
saline
formerly important for its manufacture of salt from ponds and earth in the neighbourhood. Since the local industry was driven out of the market by the development of the Sambhar lake supply, and the extension of railways, the town has
declined rapidly.
Population (1881) 4219; namely,
Muhammadans,
2158; Hindus, 2020; Jains, 32; Sikhs, 6; and 'others,' 3. Number of houses, 412. Municipal income (1883-84), ^^226, or an average
of
IS.
per head.
The
and
public
buildings
consist
of the
usual
Subpost-
divisional courts
office.
offices,
school, rest-house, dispensary,
and
at the
Nujikal. River in Southern India, rising among the Western Ghats, head of the Sampaji valley, near Merkara in Coorg. It flows in
—
a westerly direction into the
finally falls into the
Madras District of South Kanara, and Arabian Sea near Kasergod (Cassergode), under the
It rises
name
of the Basavani.
Nlin.
— One
of the principal rivers of Puri District, Orissa.
in the central portion of the District,
falls
and
after a south-westerly course
into the
Daya, in
lat.
19° 53' 30" n.,
and
long. 85° 38' e.
The
united streams find their way, under the
name
of the Daya, into the
Chilka Lake.
Its
The Nun,
like the
Daya,
in
is
subject to disastrous floods.
parts artificially raised
banks are generally
steep,
and
many
and
protected by strong dykes.
Nuna.
— Great embankment, extending
Ankura pargand,
in
sea face of
to 21° 12' N.,
for about 15 miles along the Balasor District, Orissa. Lat. 20° 58' long. 86° 52' to 86° 55' e. It is intended to keep out
was constructed to river from escaping to the sea but the embankment fortunately gave way before the pressure, and the waters rushed through the breach. Nundy. Village in Kolar District, Mysore State. See Nandi. Nundydroog. Division and hill fort, Mysore State. See NandiDRUG.
evil as
it
the sea, but sometimes produces as
avert.
much
In 1867
it
prevented the floods of the
Gammai
;
—
—
Nurabad.
78° 3' 30"
E.,
—Town
in
Gwalior State, Central India
;
situated on the
right or south
bank of the river Sankh, in lat. 26° 24' 45" n., and long. on the route from Agra to Gwalior fort distant 60 miles
:
VOL. X.
2D
;
4i8
NUR MAHAL— NURPUR.
latter.
south from the former, and ii north-west from the
is
The Sankh
Near the
here crossed by a well-built masonry bridge of
is
7 arches.
which contains the mausoleum of Gunna Begam, wife of Ghdzi-ud-din Khan, Wazir ot Ahmad Shah, and afterwards of the Emperor Alamgir 11. (Thornton). Nlir Mahal. Town in Phillaur lahsil, Jalandhar District, Punjab.
a pleasure-ground
town
of considerable
size,
—
Situated in
Lit.
31°
6' n.,
and
long.
75° 37' 45"
e.,
16 miles south ot
was once occupied by an earlier town, which was restored by Jahangir, from whose empress, Niir Jahan, it derives its present name. An extensive sardi^ built at that time, forms the chief object of interest. Important Muhammadan fair, held annually
site
Jalandhar town.
The
at the tomb of a local saint. Population (1868) 7866; (1881) 8161, namely, Hindus, 4353; Muhammadans, 3559; and Sikhs, 249. Number of houses, 1209. Municipal revenue (1883-84), ^457, or an average
of IS. i|d. per head of the population. A considerable trade is carried on in wheat and sugar. Post-office, police station, dispensary. Government vernacular middle school, 2 girls' schools, and a few indigenous
elementary schools.
Highest peak of the Nurokal Nlirokal-betta {Toriandamondii). range of mountains, on the south-western spur of the Merkara plateau,
—
Western Ghats, in the territory of Coorg, forming part of the upper watershed of the Kaveri (Cauvery) river. Distant about 12 miles from Merkara, on the Siddapur Ghat road. The view from the summit is
one of the
finest in
Nlirpur.
— Tahsil oi Kangra
lat.,
Coorg.
District,
Punjab, lying between 31° 58'
and 32°
(1881),
and 76^ 11' e. long. Area 514 square miles, with 192 towns and villages, 13,693 houses, and 23,277 families. Population (i88t) 105,244, namely, males 58,191, and females 47,053; average density of population,
30' N. 38'
and between 75°
Classified according to religion, the 205 persons per square mile. population consists of Hindus, 88,268; Muhammadans, 16,781; Sikhs,
—
183
;
Jains, 4;
and
Christians, 8.
Of
the 192 towns and villages, 128
contain less than five hundred inhabitants; 37 from five hundred to a thousand; 24 from one to two thousand; and 3 between three thousand
and ten thousand. The average cultivated area for the five years 1877-78 to T881-82 is returned at 220 square miles, the area under
the
principal crops being as follow^s Rice, 31,409 acres; wheat, 26,871 acres; Indian corn, 23,708 acres; barley, 21,451 acres; gram, cotton, 1407 acres; and vegetables, 2 1 19 acres; sugar-cane, 2977 acres
:
—
;
3146
court
acres.
Revenue of
the tahsil^ ;j^'io,738.
The
i
tahsilddr^
who
is
the only local administrative officer, presides over
;
civil
and
i
revenue
village
number of police circles {thd?ids), 3 regular police, 45 men watchmen ichaiikiddrs)^ 220. Nlirpur. Town and municipality in Kangra District, Punjab, and
;
—
—
—
419
NUSSEERABAD CANTONMENT AND TOWN
head-ciiiarters of
Nurpur /^z//^-//. Situated in lat. 32" iS' 10" N.,and long. O" ^ small tributary of the Chakki torrent, 2000 feet above sea-level, and 37 miles west of Dharmsala sanitarium. Nurjjur was formerly the capital of a small Native State. It is ])icturesquely perched upon the side of a hill, crowned by the ruins of a fine oKl fort, erected by Raja Basu, who removed his ca[)ital hither from the ])lains. Niirpur was for long the chief town of the District, both in size and commercial importance but, owing to the decay of its chief industry, shawl - weaving, it now presents a poverty-stricken and The population of Niirpur, w^hich was depoi)ulated appearance. returned at 9928 in 1868, had fallen to 7337 in 1875, and to 5744
75° 55' 3°"
E-'
;
in
1881.
Classified
according to
religion,
the
population
;
in
the
latter year
comprised
— Hindus, 3298;
5.
Muhammadans, 2432
of
is.
Sikhs, 8;
Jain,
I
;
and Christians,
Number
the
of houses, 982.
iid.
Municipal income
per head of the
(18S3-84), ;£"558, being at
population.
rate
The
principal inhabitants are Rajputs, Kashmiris,
and
Khattris, the
fled
last-named being descendants of fugitives from Lahore,
the exactions of the later
in Niirpur in
who
from
Muhammadan
rulers.
The Kashmiris
They
settled
1783, driven from their country by famine; and were
carried with
reinforced by others from a like cause in 1833.
them the national manufacture of their native valley, that of shawls of pashmina wool, and made the town famous for the production of these and other woollen cloths. The value of the annual out-turn of pashinina goods was estimated in 1875 to be about two hikhs of rupees, or
;^2o,ooo.
The shawls, however, were inferior to those of Kashmir, even to those of Amritsar and other towns in the Punjab plains. They
found a local sale within the Province, but seldom penetrated to foreign The pashm used was imported in part direct from Ladakh, markets.
in part
from Amritsar.
Owing
to the collapse in the shawl trade
which
is
followed the Franco-Prussian war, the trade has dwindled, and
fabrics of
now
confined to the manufacture on a small scale of shawls and woollen
an inferior description.
The Kashmiris, thrown
out of employ,
are being encouraged to take to sericulture. hdzdr^ and, as
it
Niirpur contains a large
as of exit for the trade
forms an entrepot of supplies from the plains, as well from the north, still presents a comparatively
busy appearance.
courts
The
public buildings consist of the usual iahsili
and
offices,
a police station, post-office, dispensary, school-house,
sai'dis.
— Cantonment ABAD. town Nusseerabad. — Taluk
Nusseerabad.
2,x\^
staging bungalow, and two
in
Ajmere, Rajputana.
Shikarpur
District,
Sec Nasir-
in
District, Sind,
Bombay
Presidency.
See Nasirabad.
Nusseerabad.
— Town
in
Rdi Bareli
Oudh.
— ^t^NASiRADAD.
——
;
<2o
NUSSEERABAD TOWN—NYAUNG-DUN.
Nusseerabad.
See Nasirabad.
— Town
-
in
Khnndesh
in
District,
Bombay
District,
Presidency.
Nusseerabad.
Nasirabad.
Nlizvid.
20"
E.
— Town
in
Maimansingh
Ben^^al.-
See
—Town
on
Kistna District, Madras Presidency, and headLat.
quarters of the Niizvid zaininddri.
i6° 47' 25" n., long. 80° 53'
Population (1881) 5657; number of houses, 1213.
Christians,
6.
Hindus
number 4824; Muhammadans, 827; and
is
The town
its
situated
it
rising
ground about 24 miles north-east of Bezwada
around
are large tracts of jungle, which in the last century formed
It
chief defence.
contains an old
mud
it
fort
inhabited by the zaminddrs.
is
The
only
made road by which
town
is
can be approached
that
from
Perilsid,
a village 15 miles to the south-east of Niizvid.
the large gardens of cocoa-nut
feature of the
trees.
The chief palms and mango
Niizvid.
miles.
— ZajHinddri
in
Kistna
District,
Madras Presidency
One
of the oldest of the large estates in the District.
females, occupying 21,219 houses in
Area, 694 square
villages.
Population (i88t) 125,165, namely, 63,291 males and 61,874
i
town and 231
Hindus
number 120,407; Muhammadans, 3903; and
six
Christians,
divisions
of the zaminddri are
—Ventrapragada,
or
855.
The
with an annual
of ;^i57o;
rental
of
^8513, and paying a peshkash
rental J[[,Z^\-^, peshkash
;
quit-rent
Weyguru,
peshkash
^1593
^1570; Mirjapuram, rental ^8657, Kapileswarapuram, rental £Z6 if, peshkash £is^()
;
;
Teleprolu, rental ;£^^()6, peshkash ^2^1585
and Medura,
rental
^8864,
14° 9'
peshkash ^1635.
Nyamti.
10"
—Village
in
Shimoga
E.
District,
Mysore
;
State.
Lat.
N., long. 75° 36'
(1881-82), ^90; beginning of the present century, Nyamti has become a centre of through trade between the hill country and the plains. The merchants
all
Population (1881) 2753 municipal revenue Founded in the rate of taxation, 8Jd. per head.
55"
belong to the Lingayat sect. The grain, coarse sugar, and areca-nut produced in the neighbourhood are exchanged for cotton cloth and other manufactured wares brought up from Bellary (Madras) and Dharwar (Bombay). Nyaung-dun (or Yajidoon). Town 60 miiles north-west of Rangoon, at the junction of the Pan-hlaing or Nyaung-dun creek with the Irawadi,
—
in
Thongwa
District,
Irawadi Division, Lower Burma.
It is
the seat
of a large transit trade between the upper part of the Irawadi valley and Rangoon. The principal imports are wheat, gram, beans, pickled tea,
oil,
onions,
silk.
The
exports are nga-pi, rice (husked and unhusked),
piece-goods, crockery, earthenware, tobacco,
and areca-nuts.
Small
steamers occasionally run between this town and Rangoon, making the
trip,
with a favourable tide, in one day.
—
NYEHA TTEE—OK-KAA,
Nyehattee.
Naihati.
—
421
Parganas,
See
;
—Town
in
the
District of
tlie
Twenty-four
Bengal, and a railway station on the
Eastern Bengal
Railway.
0.
Sandiir State,
Obalagandi. The western pass from the Ramandriig plateau in the Madras Presidency. See Ablagundi. Ochterlony (so called after Colonel James Ochterlony). A beautiful valley 39 square miles in extent, at an average elevation of 3000 feet
—
—
above
Hills,
sea-level
;
situated below the south-western wall of the Ni'lgiri
Madras Presidency, between 11° 23' and 11° 29' 15" n. lat., and between 76° 27' and 76° 34' 15" e. long. This valley was first explored by Colonel J. Ochterlony, R.E., in 1844-45, ^^'^^ ^^'^^ ^^ that time
covered with virgin
valley at that time,
forest. Coffee cultivation was introduced in the and there are now (1883) 24 coffee estates, occupying about 4000 acres. Cinchona and tea also flourish. The whole valley has been converted into a busy English settlement, employing over 5000 native hands. The Guynd' estate contains one unbroken block The expenditure in the valley is of 800 acres of coffee in full bearing.
'
about ^90,000 annually.
Od.
—Town
in
Anand
Sub-division, Kaira District,
Bombay
Presi-
dency.
Lat. 22° 37' N., long. 73° 10' E.
Population (1872) 8423; and
(1881) 8500.
Town in Kheri District, Oudh 8 miles west of Lakhimpur, Oel. on the road to Sitapur. It lies in lat. 27° 50' 30" n., and long. 80° 46 55" E., on a plain of fine clay soil, highly cultivated and studded The two villages with trees, intermixed with clusters of bamboos. Oel and Dhakua adjoin each other and form one town, but the
;
—
dwelling-houses have a wretched appearance, consisting of ruinous
walls
mud
and thatched
and 587
Population (1881) 4159, namely, 3572 Hindus Sugar Handsome temple to jMahadeo. Muhammadans.
roofs.
manufactories.
Okhaldangd.
situated
—Village
rice of
in
Kumaun District, North- Western Provinces
on the craggy bank of the
to
Moradabad
(1881) 115.
it
29° 14' 20" N.,
river Kosila, on the route from Almora, 65 miles north-east of the former town, in lat. and long. 79° 39' e. Picturesque situation. Population
The
Okhaldanga
is
said to be remarkably fine,
and
bears in
commerce
the
name
of Pilibhit rice, being brought to market
feet.
at that town.
Ok-kan.
Burma.
— River
A
Elevation above sea, about 2000
in
Rises in
Hanthawadi District, Pegu Division, Lower the Pegu Yoma range, and falls into the Hlaing at
Pyin-ma-gon.
narrow stream, but navigable during the rains by large
422
OK-KAN—OLD UDAIPUR.
Large quantities of teak and other
boats as far as Ok-kan village.
timber are floated
down
the stream into the Hlaing.
IvOwer
Ok-kan. Village in the Ok-kan revenue circle, Hanthawadi District, Burma; situated about 5 miles west of the Hlaing river. It
public
is
—
contains two
rest-houses, a
said to have
pagodas.
Ok-kan
monastery, and two square-built been founded about 300 years ago
by a Talaing.
Village in Hill Tipperah State, Bengal. Old Agartala. See Agartala, Old. Old Maldah.— Town in Maldah District, Bengal— ^d'^ Maldah. Old Udaipur.— Village in Hill Tipperah State, Bengal the ancient capital of Udai Manikya Bahadur, who reigned over Tipperah in the latter half of the i6th century. Situated on the left bank of the river Giimti, a few miles higher up the river than the village known at present by the same name. The palace and all the buildings connected with it have been long deserted, and are now overgrown with dense jungle.
;
—
—
The
enclosing wall can with difficulty be traced amidst the profusion of
many houses in excellent preservation which seems to have once surrounded all the buildings in the occupation of the Raja and his family. Others again are fast falling to the ground, but enough remains to show their former strength, and the care with which they were constructed. The walls are rarely less than 4 feet in thickness, and the floors of most of the buildings are raised high above the ground the brick foundation in one case having an elevation of about 10 feet. There is one two-storied building with large doorways on each side of the upper storey, and on three sides of the lower storey. The doorways
vegetation.
There are
still
within
the wall referred
to,
;
are arched,
and the neat and simple carving above them is still almost unaffected by the length of time that the place has been deserted.
house are several large brick buildings, apparently monuments memory of deceased Rajas or their queens. The two principal ones are raised on the same brick foundation, and the open
this
Near
erected to the
space inside each
is
so small that there
is
utter darkness in the interior.
On
the ground outside one of the buildings in the enclosure, there lay,
lately,
an iron cannon 8 feet in length, bearing a Hindustani on a small copper plate. How it came to Udaipur the hill people do not know, but evidently it was either captured from or left by the Muhammadans on the occasion of one of their inroads in the i6th or 17th century. Every man who used to visit the spot made an obeisance before the gun, and placed on the top a leaf or branch, in the belief that if his offering was accepted, it would be miraculously removed from the position in which he placed it, and covered over by the gun. The gun was removed in 1881 to the Maharaja's capital at Agartala, where no such respect is now shown to it.
until
inscription
;
OLPAD—ONGOLE.
Olp^d.— Sub-division
of Surat District,
4^3
Presidency.
Bombay
Bounded
;
on the east by Baroda territory on the on the north by the river Cambay. Area, south bv the 'lai^ti; and on the west by the Gulf of namely, Population (1872) 57,842 (1881) 62,049, 323 square miles. in 120 villages, contammg 30,824 males and 31,225 females, dwelling and Hindus number 56,179; Muhammadans, 371 1 12,782 houses.
Kim
;
;
;
'others,' 2159.
the fields are Sub-division forms an almost unbroken plain, and inroads of the sea generally unenclosed owing to the low level and the Climate eastern villages. well irrigation is possible only in a few of the The Sub-division was inches. Average rainfall, 30 generally healthy. Total area, years. surveyed and settled in 1869-70 for a period of 30 which 7 square miles are occupied by the lands of 326 sciuare miles, of for tillage in 1873-74, alienated villages. Of a total of 100,444 acres held
The
Of the remainder, 82,704 grass. 17,740 acres were fallow or under acres were under second acres were under actual cultivation, and 1192 acres; pulses, 7776 acres oil-seeds, crop; grain crops occupied 48,837 were under cotton; 3014 acres; fibres, 22,326 acres, of which 22,321 In 1869 the survey disclosed miscellaneous crops, 1943 acres. and of 9 acres each, and paying an 13 832 holdings, with an average area The Sub-division average Government land revenue of ^4, is. 8id. police circles 2 criminal courts; in 1883 contained i civil and men; village watch {chauhiddrs\ 711. police, 41
;
ithdncU), i; regular
Land revenue, ;£58,492. Olpad —Head-quarters
Presidency
;
(1872) 4001. and police the ordinary Sub-divisional revenue
Bombay of Olpad Sub-division, Surat District, 21° 21' n., and long. 72° 48' e. Population situated in lat. Besides Not returned in the Census Report of 1881.
offices,
.
.
-n
u
the town
is
provided with a post-office
and dispensary. India, lying Tract of country in Malwa, Central Omatwara. 7^^' 23' and 77 16 between between 23° 35' and 24° n' n. lat, and breadth, 55 miles. 60 miles length from north to south, r Ionand parts Naiive States of Rajgarh and Narsinghgarh,
—
•
;
It
includes the
of Indore
political the two former Stales are under the name from The tract takes its superintendence of the Bhopil Agency. who emigrated from Rajputs, a sept of the great Pramara dan, the Omat during the decline of the period, and,
and Gwalior
;
Udaipur (Oodeypore) at an early Mughal Empire, overran and subjugated this part Principal towns— Rajgarh and Narsinghgarh.
of
the country.
^
dencv.
Population (1881) 188,593, namely, Area, 797 square miles. dwelling in 2 towns and 166 villages, 04,348 males and 94,245 females, Hindus number 176,888 Muhammadans, containing 34,404 houses.
;
OnffOle— r^V7//&
or Sub-division of Nellore District,
Madras
Presi-
6567; Christians,
5131; and
'others,' 7.
Ongole
Af///^ consists
of
an
—
424
——
ONGOLE—ORAL
1
extensive plain with a superior quality of soil, yielding fine crops. Garden lands extend along the banks of streams, and the water is obtained from wells sunk in the river beds. There are few tanks and but little
jungle.
The
taluk in 1883 contained
;
i
civil
and 3 criminal courts
;
police
circles {thdnds\ 13
^
regular police, 124 men.
Land revenue, ;£34,303.
Madras Presidency; 30 e., on the Miisi river, 189 miles north of Madras. Population (1881) 9200 number of houses, 2286. Hindus number 7556; Muhammadans, 923; Christians, 717; and others,' 4. A Sub-divisional and tahsili station, and at one time (1794) the sadr or head-quarters station of a Collectorate. Post-office,
District,
5'
Ong-Ole {Vangolii).—i:o\\n in Nellore
lat.
situated in
15° 30' 20" n.,
and long 80°
;
'
schools, etc. In 1876-77, Ongole was constituted a municipality. Municipal income in 1880-81, £Z^^. Ongole also has a civil
dispensary, at which in 1881, 204 in-patients
and 17 17 out-patients
were attended
principality,
to.
The town was
originally the capital of a native
held by the Mandapati family, who were always at war Raja of Venkatagiri until finally reduced by him. The family encouraged learning, hence Ongole earned a local celebrity for
with
the
'M-i
pandits.
An
important station of the American Baptist Mission.
in the District of the Santal Parganas,
OodeynullaL—Battle-field
Bengal.
See
Udhanala. Oodeypore.— State and town in Rajputana.— fe Udaipur. Oojein.— Town in Gwalior State, Central India.— 6"^^ Ujjain.
Ook-kan.— Village and river in Hanthawadi District, Pegu Division, Lower Burma.— 6>^ Ok-kan. Oomercote.— Tlf///^ and town in Thar and Parkar District, Sind, Bombay Presidency. See Umarkot. Oomrawuttee. District and town in the Haidarabad Assigned Districts (Berar).— ^V^ Amraoti.
—
in
Oomta.— Town
Oorcha.
—
State
Baroda State (Gaek war's territory).— ^"-^'^ Umta. and town in Bundelkhand, Central India. See
—
Orchha. Ooreettaung, East and West— Townships and pagoda in Akyab District, Lower Burma. See Urit-taung. Oossoor.— Town in Salem District, Madras Presidency.— 6".^^ Hosur
and UsuR.
Ootacamund.— Town
in the Nilgiri Hills,
Madras Presidency.— 6"^^?
District,
— See Ot-po.
Ut-pu.
Utakamand. Oot-hpo.— Township and town
Oot-poo.— Revenue
circle
in
Henzada
Lower Burma.
in
Tavoy
District,
Lower Burma.— 6'^-^
— See Urai.
Oral.- 7}?//^// and town
in
Jalaun District, North-Western Provinces.
; ;
ORCHHA.
Orchha {Oonha, Urchha ;
also
425
as
71'///-/
known
or
Tikamgarh).—
Native State in Bundelkhand, under the political superintendence of 26' and 25° the Bundelkhand Agency, Central India. It lies between 24° 23' e. long., to the south of 34' N. lat., and between 78° 28' 30" and 79°
the British District of Jhansi, being
much
intermixed with that District.
Orchha is bounded on the west by the Districts of Jhdnsi and Lalitpur on the south by Lalitpur and the States of Panna and Bijdwar and on the east by the States of Bijawar, Charkhari, and Garrauli. Population (1881) 311,514, Estimated area, about 2000 square miles. namely, males 162,611, and females i48>903- Hindus number 294,714; Muhammadans, 9560; Jains, 7233; and 'others,' 7. The principal towns are Tehri, the present capital, and Orchha,
Tehri, where the Raja now resides, is situated in the south-west corner of the State, about 40 miles from Orchha, with which town and Baumari it is connected by road. The fort of Tikamgarh within the town, and also the town itself, often give their names to the
the old capital.
State.
soil,
the
hill jungle and poor some magnificent tanks in Dense country, constructed by the ancestors of the ruling family.
A
great portion of the area
thinly populated.
is
covered with
and
is
I'here are
forests
afford
a
safe
shelter to robbers.
villages
In 1873-74, a gang gave
much trouble, The Political
committing ravages on
officer
and
travellers.
reported in 1873, that the best form of land He says, 'The native settlement for Orchha is still a problem. system— under which the State, while recognising in every village as a head-man, who enjoys certain advantages, yet maintains itself banker and seed-lender for the the proprietor of the land, acts as
cultivators,
and collects generally in proportion to produce or to area cultivated— avoids sundry of the difficulties unexpectedly found
accompany our North-Western Provinces zaminddri SNStem of making the head villa-er or some one else the proprietor, settling everything with him at a fixed amount, and
in
Bundelkhand
to
leaving
him and the cultivators to borrow from the money-lender as The former plan as worked in Orchha, while it keeps they need.
existing cultivation fairly together,
bad
and is the lightest for the people in does not give stimulus to its extension by allowing villages a sufficiently profitable interest in working up fresh land.' The State of Orchha is the oldest and highest in rank of all the
years,
subjection
and was the only one of them not held in The Marathas, however, severed from by the Peshwa. Raja Tehri that portion which afterwards formed the State of Jhansi. the British entered Vikramaditya Mahendra was the ruling chief when
Bundela
Principalities,
Bundelkhand, and with him a treaty of friendship and defensive When he died in 1834, a disputed alliance was concluded in 181 2.
succession led to disturbances;
but as the
adoption of Sujan
Smgh
;
I
426
ORCHHA CAPITAL-ORISSA.
|
wa. acquiesced in by tlie neiglibouring chiefs, the Government estabhed h,m m power. Soon afterwards, Sujan Singh died, and his « dou- was per.r^tted to adopt Hamir Singh,
a collateral relation of the
his
i
i
'
'
M
hJ'.
P
gross
"c"
"'""
""
^'^"^
f'"^''''
'
'"
'^74,
younger
brother
slceTsor"
'"' ^'""""' "'""^"^J^' "^^ ^^^og^'^ed as his
is
\
The
revenue of Orchha
tZZ
to
:
"---"« - ^'-nated
Th,s payment
fell
estimated
'
at
Rs. 900,000, but
to relations
in grants
of the
I
Jhans,.
to the
British
annexation of Jhans,, but .t was remitted as a reward for the loyalty of the Raja The fixed revenue of the village cf 1857. Mohanpur amounting to^.o, was also remitted at the same .fme. The
Covernment on the
'
m
\
1
ch ef
title
site
Tl """ ''V
"
''^''^'J' '"
«^5, and
in
r88a the honorific
i^
'
of
"'''\'^^^r''^
""
^'" ^""">-''
'"'^ ^"^i-f
^"titled to a
""'"'^'"ed of 200 cavalrv, 4400 nfnn, T""' mfantry, and 90 guns, with 100 gunners
situated in lat. 2;' .1' N., and long. 78^ on both banks of the river 42 Betwa. Population (1881) '"'344, ^'°°'> namely, males 94,9 and females Soo. "^"r'"^" y4j9 anu lemales 8905. Hindus number 11,414; M, 1, J Muhammadans, 3836; and others,' 1094. There ,s an imjosing
;
™!'"'''' ^^'''
I '
Bu^dl"?^ Tr^'"' ^."/"'J'' Bundelkhand, Central India
E.,
^'^'""g^'-'')-0\d capital of Orchha State.
I
^
<
the former residence of the Raja, and a palace built for the accommodation of the Emperor Jahangir. wooden bridge connects the fortress with the remainder of the town, which wouW otherwise be cut off during the rains by a branch of the
o
tress,
contammg
A
Onssa.-.^ Province of
h
;
river British India, forming a Division orCommis-
f
"^^J"'!'^-"°" -f 'he Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal '"' "° '' '5" •^'•' -d between 8, '36' "' ,0" 30 and 8, 31 30 E. long. 87 Along with its Tributary States, it forms the extreme s^uth-western portion of the Bengal Presiden y, bein' bounded on the north and north-east by Chutid Nagpur and BenJ ?' '''' """^ ^°""^-^^^' by the Bay of Bengal on the T'k' south by Madras Presidency (Ganjam District); and on the west by ;'""• ""f^ °^'"^ '^ °f ^'™-' -q-^' -'-' h Saxons ll '°''' ""'' "' 9°53 square miles, and a population
Zed
""
"
f
'^'^
Z
•
of Orissa have an area of 15,, 87 square miles, and a population of 1,469^^ °"'"^ '°^'^"^^^ •'"-'--' exa tly'quai to that oTo ;f''? a Aat of Oudh, with population almost exactly half that of Oudh mysua Aspecis.-On,,^ ™"^'^'^ °' '"'^ distinct territories-a fertile alluvial delta comprising the three British Districts of Cuitack Balasok, and Puk. bounded on the east and south by the Bay of Bengal; and on the west and north by the second distinct territory-
188. of I 1881) 3,730,73s persons.
W
-
T
•'•
In addition, the Tributary States
- --
;
—
ORISSA.
a wild region of sparsely populated intervenes between the alluvial delta
427
Trihutarv Hill States, which
and the Central Indian
plateau.
the
The Mahanadi on
Central
Orissa delta
is
the
formed from the deposits of three great rivers— and the south, the Brahmani in the centre,
Baitarani on the north.
in
;
waters from the
two of these take their rise deep obtains its the third has a shorter course, and India of Morbhanj and Keunjhar, two of the hill country
The
first
Tributary States.
coast,
The three rivers gradually converge towards the miles of and dash down their accumulated waters, within 30
upon the Orissa
interior
delta.
each
other,
During summer,
their
upper
channels in the
table-land dwindle
to insignificant streams,
Including pools. dotted here and there by stagnant almond-shaped represent the streams, the Salandi and Subarnarekha, they two other minor the height accumulated drainage of 63,350 square miles, which, during of 1690 cubic feet per of the hot weather, only amounts to a discharge cubic The average cold-weather discharge is, however, 5360 second. the the rains the rivers rise, as shown in but during feet per second aggregate of 2,760,000 cubic till they bring down an following table, feet per second in time of flood
;
:
The Orissa
Rivers.
Names of
Rivers.
^^^
oRissA.
''''"
;
Illustrates in a striking ilui'strateT'tn"f
Va'^"' manner
''°^'"
city.
''°""
the
'" "'^ P^^=^"' ^""^°^'^ Orissa,
l.fe
\
of
a
great
Indian
river
'
country, winding through mountain passes I , and sk,rt,ng the base of the hills. During this long part of its caree^ '"'"'^"^^ ^™™ "^^ highe'r 'country both hanks. So far, it answers to our common English idea of a river Bu no sooner does it reach the delta than its whole aspect c anies Inst ad of running along the lowest ground, it finds itsdf liftedip
t gorge just above^i'°"'' Cuttacli > IpvpI fhn„ fi,„
'nl
°" "'"
In
its
O"^^'-' delta
first
through a na row
i
Zt
^""oundmg
sta^e ^S^
rn„= " ™"S on a lower
if
'
'
.
i
LTloZrr'"''
L
|
rise
''' '^"'^ ^"•^"^">' ''""^-g "'^S-' "''-h above the adjacent"'' abo'T the'd'' country. Instead of
'
andtnt
„"'"'""•
"?'
receiving affluents
in the
it
''"^^ ^"'
'
S-<^-"y -umulatts
bed
owlet f,.^^^""'"'' outlet for the waters
::i?r!"
their total
channel shallows, and its capacity as an which pour into it from above diminishes The <=^'-^ °- ^^ ^'- '-^dred distHbutar in ^°^l°" '",
Its
|
L
dischargmg power becomes
less
and
off the water-supply to the sea, As the rivers in the delta thus
set sef of
less adequate to carry -luequate
gradually build themselves up into
'"•* '" ^^°"' half-way between'each h irdi^t'hV ''""n-t their distributaries. The country, in fact, slopes gently
its
down-
to
rivers. The waters stand deeo ^'"^ "" '"^'" ^"^^"-'^ have "n do™ Trvstvlvr'h'^''^^""^ '"'' °' ''^^'"^S^' --^"™"latiug in stagnant " stamps, drowning he crops, and s^mo d o poisoning the
make
way back again
into the
r
'
air with malaria, until
Z\wL"r
wTrd
h
"'
'
r"' ^mphca.ed network
"" ""
^''"
iiot^aSX—'es. ^W^.._The Brahmanical
''-'-'
P--d^ of quiescence, of channels, which crawl east!
'"
--'--=--
-^ --P°-y
-i-c-
archives of the temple of Jagannath give
consist of bundles of palm leaves, neatly cut,
and
written over with a sharp
dates for their reigns, from 3.01
B.C. to
the present day.
During the
to 57 B.C., twelve kings are said to have reigned in Orissa, averaging a .t tie more than .50 years a-piece. The first three of them, who ^re well-known '
monarchs of the MaA^ara^a, divided among them
r,"'''^>',<^.™^'"d^
o
'hat
it
?' India, th? seat of these kings, IdTa the before 1807 e.c.
did not start from Northern
The
first
king with any
;
ORISSA.
pretensions to bein;^ a local
429
Sankar
monarch
— namely,
It is
Deva— has
an
assigned reign of from 1807 to 1407 h.c.
successor,
that
only in the time of his
Gautama Deva, however, or between 1407 and 1036 B.C., we begin to catch the faintest glimpse of Orissa. During this reign, the Sanskrit colonists are said to have pushed their way down to
the Godavari river; but
it
is
not
till
the reign of the sixth monarch,
Mahendra Deva,
that
we hear
of
the
capital
city,
Rdjamahendri
(Rajamundry), being founded. This brings us down to between 1037 and 822 B.C., and (apart from such unsafe chronology) the foundation of the Aryan sea-coast kin^^dom of Kalinga may be reasonably placed
about that period.
last five hundred years anterior to the Christian era were those which Buddhism effected its settlements in Orissa. The Ceylon About texts place the advent of the Sacred Tooth in Puri at 543 k.c. this time, the country was repeatedly invaded by the Yavanas from In the present author's Orissa, the question has been gone the north.
The
in
into at
length as to the identity of these Yavanas, one of the most
interesting
enigmas of Indian
history.
From about 50
B.C.
till
319
a.d.
the palm-leaf writings yield
no materials
for the history of the
Province
but between 319 and 323 a.d., the last great inroad of Yavanas took It is certain place, and for 146 years their supremacy was complete.
that,
during the period of this long silence on the part of the records, honeycombed the mountains, and excavated the rock monasteries of Orissa, an account of which will be found under
the Buddhists
Raninur.
until
1
In 474 A.D., the Yavanas were finally expelled by Yayati Kesari, the founder of the Kesari or Lion line, which ruled Orissa
1
32 A.D.
rather than Buddhistic from the
signs
The new dynasty was Brahmanical
first.
and wonders, the orthodox founder of the Kesari line sought out the image of Jagannath in the jungles, where it had lain hidden during the Yavana occupation, and brought it back to During this period the great Sivaite temple at Puri in triumph. Bhuvaneswar was constructed. A warlike prince of the Lion line,
Guided by
who reigned from 941
to
953
a.d.,
perceived the military strength of
first
the tongue of land where the
Mahanadi
divides itself into several
branches, and founded the city of Cuttack, still the capital of Orissa. The Kesari dynasty came to an end in 11 32, and was succeeded by Chor-ganga, a king from the south, who by war, assisted by diplomacy,
obtained
during the
the
sovereignty.
The new
or
so-called
Gangetic dynasty
line,
revolutionized the religion of Orissa.
first
As
the
monarchs of the Province
seven centuries, before the accession of the Kesari
had been Buddhists, and as the Kesari line during the next seven so from the coming in of the centuries had been Siva-worshippers
;
Gangetic line
in
1132 down
to the present day, the reigning
house have
430
0R7SSA,
been Vishnuites. Anang Bhi'm Deo, the fifth monarch of the dynasty, reigned from 1175 to 1202 according to the temple archives, was one of the greatest of the Orissa kings. He made a survey of his whole kmgdom, measuring it with reeds; and he also built the present temple of Jagannath. A description of this edifice, and a brief sketch of the form of religion it represents, will be found in the article on Puri Town.
who
The Muhammadans, who had been harassing Orissa, now closed in upon the usurper and his successors. About 15 10, Ismail Ghazi, the general of Husain Shah, Afghan King of Bengal, had sacked the capital, Cuttack, and plundered the holy city, Puri, itself. But the
Orissa prince
up to the close of the Gangetic taken up by a narrative of confused ficrhting, an'd of expeditions against the rebellious southern portion of the kingdom, which had always given trouble to the Orissa monarchs. On the'death of the last king of the line in 1532, his prime minister murdered every male member of his family, and seized the kingdom in 1534 a.d.
dynasty
in
The
history of the next three centuries,
1532,
is
was yet able
to beat
back the invaders.
later.
The
final defeat
of the
Hindus
took place half a century
In 1567-68, Sulaiman, King of Bengal,
advanced with a great army under his general, Kala Pahar, into Orissa^ and defeated the last independent King of Orissa under the walls of Jajpur. The Afghan conqueror, on the defeat and death of the Orissa king, was not content, like previous invaders, with levying a ransom from the Province, but marched through it to its southern extremity and besieged and captured Puri. His second son, Daiid Khan, who succeeded to the Governorship of Bengal, threw off all
allegiance to
the
Mughal Emperor
the struggle that
and declared himself independent. ensued, the Afghans were worsted and retired
at Delhi,
In
into
Orissa. Early in 1574, a great battle took place at JNIughalmari, near Jaleswar in Balasor, between the Mughals and the Afghans, in which the latter were completely defeated. In 1578, after a second defeat of the Afghans, in which Daiid Khan was slain, Orissa became a Province of Akbar's Empire, and remained so until 1751, when the Marathas obtained it. The remnants of the Afghans still used it as a basis tor marauding expeditions, one of which, in 1695-98, attained the dignity of a revolt, and temporarily wrested Bengal and Orissa from the Empire.
Orissa, even after the extirpation of the Afghans, still remained a source of weakness rather than of strength to the Empire. The internal troubles which beset the Mughal (Government prevented anything like a settled government in Orissa the peasantry were left at the mercy of a succession of rude soldiers, who harried the Province and got together as much plunder as their brief tenure of office allowed them. In''i742 the Marathas came down upon Bengal, and found Orissa an admirable
;
basis for their annual inroads, exactly as the
Afghans had
for
their
a
ORISSA.
revolts.
431
Nine years later, in 1751, the Governor of Bengal, Ali Vardi Khan, bought them off, by practically ceding to them the Province of Orissa, and agreeing to jxay 12 lakhs of rupees as chautJi for Bengal. From that date till 1803, Orissa remained a Maratha Province. Wretched as the state of Orissa had been under the Mughals, a halfcentury of deeper misery remained for it under the Marathas. Their prince had his capital or standing camp at Xagpur in Central India, whence he waged incessant war with his neighbours. His deputies, who were constantly changed, and imprisoned on their recall, struggled
to wring out of Orissa
—the
only peaceful Province of his kingdom
—
sufficiency to supply the military necessities of their master.
Whoever
had money was the natural enemy of the State. The Province lay and any failure of the rice crop produced a famine. Within seven years two terrible scarcities afflicted Orissa. The famine of 1770,
untilled,
a scarcity of
much
greater intensity than that of 1866, instead of being
mitigated by State importations and relief depots, was intensified by a
While the people were dying by thousands on every road-side, the Maratha soldiery threw off the last vestige of control, and for many months ranged like wild beasts over the country. Seven years afterwards, in 1777, another great famine ensued: and as the central Maratha power at Nagpur decayed, each party into which it split separately harried and plundered the Province. The conquest of Orissa by the English forms part of the great campaign against the Marathas in Central India, undertaken by the The original plan was that the force, after ]\Iarquis of Wellesley. capturing Cuttack, and leaving a sufficient number of troops to hold it, should make its way by the Barmiil Pass through the Tributary States, and co-operate with General Sir Arthur Wellesley in Berar. The main body of the expedition started from Ganjam in September 1803, and on the 18th entered Puri without opposition. On the 14th October, the Equal success attended the expedition fort of Cuttack was taken. which had been despatched from Bengal against the town of Balasor. The three principal towns of the Province having fallen inio our hands, a part of the force was, in pursuance of the original plan of the campaign, despatched under Major Forbes to force the Barmiil Pass. This detachment penetrated through the hilly and jungly country which bounds Orissa on the west, and reached the Pass of Barmiil, the key to Berar and the Central Provinces. Here the Marathas made a last stand but on the 2nd November 1803 the Pass was forced, and the enemy, completely broken and defeated, escaped with difticulty across the hills. The Rajas of Bod and Sonpur, in consequence of this
mutiny of foreign troops.
;
defeat,
came to render their submission to the British. Meanwhile, Colonel Harcourt was aj)proaching from the east with the intention of effecting a junction with Major Forbes, and leading the combined
432
force
to
ORISSA.
co-operate with
that
Sir Arthur Wellesley in Berar; but news peace had been concluded both with Sindhia and with the Mardtha Raja at Nagpur, the troops marched back to Cuttack, and the force was broken up early in 1804. Colonel Harcourt and Mr. Melvill, as Joint Commissioners, thereupon set about placing the civil administration of Orissa on a satisfactory footmg. Courts were established, a Land Settlement arranged for, and the Bengal Civil Regulations extended to the Province. The office of the Commissioners for settling the affairs of Cuttack was abolished in 1805, and Orissa was placed under the charge of a Collector, and of a Judge and Magistrate. The head-quarters of the Province, which then consisted of only one District, were at Purf until 1816, when they were removed to Cuttack. In 1829 this unwieldy jurisdiction was split up
having
come
'
into the three Districts of Cuttack, Balasor, and Purf, with the nonRegulation Tributary States. The only instances of armed opposition to British rule which have occurred in Orissa Proper since 1803 ^vere
the rebellion of the Khurdha Raja in 1804, and the insurrection of the Khurdha pdiks in 181 7-18. narrative of these events will be found in the account of Puri District, to which they more properly ^ ^ ^ belong.
A
Area, Population,
etc.,
of British and Tributary Orissa.
to the
{According
Census ^/ 1881.)
Districts.
ORISSA.
Population.
433
consisting of the
three
— The
area of British Orissa,
regularly settled Districts of Cuttack, Balasor,
the two escheated estates
and Pun', together with of Angiil and Banki, amounted in 1881 to
9053 square miles, with a population of 3,730,735, dwelling 24,894 towns and villages, and occupying 631,504 houses. The Tributary States comprise an area of 15,187 square miles, with a total population
of 1,469,142, dwelling in
population, 5,199,877
m
of British Orissa and Tributary States
;
11,212 villages and 259,653 houses. Total area, 24,240 square miles;
—
The people
town
life,
live
towns and villages, 36,106 houses, 891,157. almost entirely by husbandry. No tendency towards
;
in the
European sense of the word, can be detected
Nevertheless, they have cities after their
is
in this
rural Province.
own
fashion.
The
built
princii)al of these
Cuttack, with a population (1881) of 42.656,
on the neck of land formed by the first bifurcation of the ]\Iahdnadi, at the head of the delta. It is the head-quarters of the Provincial Administration, and forms the starting-point of the great system of canals which irrigates the Province. The next important town, from a commercial point of view, is Balasor, with a population
(1881) of 20,265, the
official
head-quarters of the District of the same
name, and the earliest English factory on the seaboard of Bengal. PuRi, the capital of the third District of Orissa, and the religious
metropolis of the Province, has a population (1881) of 22,095 persons. Kendrapara, with 15,696 inhabitants, gives its name to the canal
which connects Cuttack with tidal waters. Jajpur, with a population of 11,233, is the only other town in the Province with a population exceeding five thousand.
The
following table exhibits
all
the towns of Orissa
of over 5000 inhabitants in 1881,
and
their chief municipal statistics.
i
Municipal Statistics of Orissa,
-84.
Towns of sooo Inhabitants and
upwards.
434
Religious Chissificatioji.
ORISSA.
— Classified
according to religion, the populaestates of
tion of British Orissa in 1881, including the three Districts of Cuttack,
Balasor, and composed as
Puri,
and the two minor
follows:
total population;
3,634,049, or 95'43 per cent, of the Muhammadans, 85,611, or 2-24 percent.; Sikhs,
— Hindus,
Angul and Banki, was
152;
*
Christians,
3982;
Buddhists,
7;
Brahmos,
tribes),
others' (principally
non-Hindu aboriginal
is
Hinduism.
—The staple of Orissa
On
3; Jew, 6930.
the
i;
and
the
religion.
From
moment
Hindu
crosses the Baitarani river he treads on holy ground.
rises shrine after shrine to Siva,
On
the
southern bank of the river
Destroyer.
the All-
leaving the stream he enters Jajpur, literally the City
of Sacrifice, the head-quarters of the region of pilgrimage sacred to
the wife of the All-Destroyer.
without
There is not a fiscal division in Orissa community of cenobites, scarcely a village without con secrated lands, and not a single ancient family which has not devoted
its
its
best acres to the gods.
its
Every town
is filled
with temples, and every
hamlet has
shrine.
The
national reverence of the
Hindus
for holy
places has been for ages concentrated on Puri, sacred to Vishnu under
his title of Jagannath, the
Lord of the World.
It
has been estimated
that sometimes as
many
as 300,000 pilgrims visit Puri in the course of
the year; the Car Festival alone having been attended in
some seasons
by upwards of 90,000. The popular form of Hinduism
the
is
Vishnuite, although the bulk of
Brahmans
are
Siva-worshippers.
classes
The Brahmans
divided into two great
Vaidik and the Laukik. The former are said to be immigrants from Bengal or Kanauj, and date their oldest settlements in Puri District from about the 12th century. The legend runs that they had been settled for some hundreds of years
previously at Jajpur in Cuttack, the ancient capital of Orissa, and that
— the
of Orissa are
Raja Anang Bhim Deo, the re-builder of the Temple of Jagannath, founded 450 colonies of them in Puri District, between 11 75 and 1202
A.D.
They
are called the southern line of Orissa Brahmans,
classes
sub-divided into two
— the
and are
Kulins and the Srotriyas.
The
Kulin Brahmans, who form the first class, include three families the Bachha, Nanda, and Gautriya. These live on lands granted by former Rajas, or by teaching private students, or as spiritual guides, or more rarely as temple priests. They are few in number, for the most part
in tolerable circumstances,
—
estimation that a Srotriya
get his
though often poor, but held in such high will give a large dower in order to daughter married to one of them. But the Kulin who thus
Brahman
intermarries with a Srotriya loses
somewhat of
his position
among
his
1 he pure Brahman rarely stoops below the Srotriyas, the class immediately next him, for a wdfe. The Srotriyas or ordinary
own
people.
Vaidik Brahmans include the following nine families
:
—The Bhattamisra,
ORISSA.
435
Upadhyaya, Misra, Rath, Ota, Tiari, Das, Pati, and Satpasti. Of these, some live on lands granted to them by former Rajas, some by teaching private students, some on presents from rich men, and many as They are domestic priests, spiritual guides, and temple priests. numerous, some of them are rich, but many are poor, and they rank
in social estimation a little lower than the
Kulins.
The
lowest class
of Brahmans, the Laukik, are supposed to represent the original
Aryan
Settlements in Orissa, and are sub-divided into six families
Senapati, Parhi, Bastia, Pani,
cultivating with their
— the Panda,
and Sahu.
These
live as
husbandmen,
merchants, as grain
are numerous,
own hands, as traders, vegetable dealers, rice and money lenders, and as pilgrim guides. They
rich,
some of them
the
better
but most of them in moderate
of husbandmen.
cir-
cumstances,
like
class
They
are
less
esteemed than either of the other two classes of Brahmans, but are The total number of generally respected as well-born, well-to-do men. Brahmans in British Orissa in 1881 was returned at 394,012.
Next
to
the
Brahmans comes the
is
Kshattriya
or
warrior
caste.
Strictly speaking, there
not a single Kshattriya in Orissa, although
the pedigree
is
claimed by many.
The
Kshattriyas are divided into
three great classes, with seven sub-divisions.
The
first
is
the so-called
Kshattriya proper, and includes the three following families
Lai,
— Deva,
and Raya. They consist of Rajas, landed proprietors, or holders of dependent tenures, and some of them lend money and grain on They are few in number, generally rich, and highly esteemed. interest. Their numbers are not returned separately in the Census of 1881, and
are probably included
among
the Rajputs,
who form
the second class
of Kshattriyas, and are sub-divided into the two families of Singh and Chand. These men are held in good estimation, and are generally
petty landholders, or are
employed
as military
and police
officers,
door-
keepers, or messengers.
the Census of 1881 at
The number of Rajputs was returned by 17,971. The Khandaits form the third class who
claim the rank of Kshattriya, although they are only recognised as They Siidras, and indeed are classified as such in the Census Report.
derive their
name from
tenures.
the Uriya khaiidd
—a
sword, and formed the
feudal military caste of the ancient Orissa Rajas, holding their lands
strictly
military
on At the present day they form the most
numerous caste in Orissa, being returned at 544,422 in 1881. Some of them are landowners, and holders of dependent tenures, but the great bulk are now absorbed among the agricultural population, and rank as
respectable cultivators.
The Karans form an
intermediate caste
between the high -caste
Brahmans and Rajputs and the undoubted Sudras.
represent the Vaisya or trading caste of ancient India.
are landholders, or lend
They claim to Many of them
but a large pro-
money and
rice
on
interest
;
;
436
OjRISSA.
and petty officials. They numbered good circumstances, and held in
portion are clerks, accountants,
93,689 esteem.
in
1881, are
generally in
The
Kayasths, or the class in Bengal corresponding to the
Karans, numbered 9416 in Orissa in 1881. The following is a list of the principal of the lower or Siidra castes
of Hindus in Orissa in 1881, arranged according to numerical superiority,
and not according to
289,715
social
rank:
— Chasa,
the principal
cultivating caste, 375,090; Gwala,
sellers, etc.,
;
pastoral caste of cowherds, milk-
Pan, a very low caste of semi-aborigines, one of
whose occupations
victims for the
in
former times was
Sacrifice,
the
procuring
;
of
human
Teli, oil pressers 147,362 and sellers, 146,423; Bauri, a low caste of day-labourers, 134,621; Kandara, a low caste of village watchmen, fishermen, and day-labourers,
Kandh Meriah
1^5)733^
;
Tanti,
Siidra,
97,459 83,241; Napit, 72,224; Dhobi, washermen, 71,999; Baniya, traders and shopkeepers, 69,131; Kumbhar, potters, 46,386; Barhai, carLobar, blackKandu, sweetmeat makers, 39,353 penters, 41,682
; ;
Kent or Kewat, fishermen, weavers, 100,345; a distinctive local name for a caste of good cultivators,
Chamar, skinners and leather dealers, 24,922; Mali, gardeners, 22,593; Hari, sweepers, 18,750; Madak, sweetmeat makers, 12,380; Dom, mat and basket makers, sometimes employed in fishing, and as executioners, 8860; Jugi, weavers, 8128; Sunri, spirit sellers and traders, 7595 Tambuli, betel sellers, 6721. The number of casterejecting Hindus is returned at 66,362, of whom 60,765 are Vaishnavs. The AIuha?nviadans, who, as before stated, number 85,611, or 2*24 per cent, of the population, are the descendants of a once dominant race in Orissa. They are generally poor, proud, and discontented. They contain representatives of good Afghan and Pathan families beyond the confines of Northern India; but, as a rule, they are the descendants of the common soldiery and camp-followers of the Afghan The Muhamgarrison of Orissa, and of low-caste Hindu converts. madan religion now makes no progress whatever among the people. The Aboriginal Tribes, both Hindu and non-Hindu, are returned as numbering 130,826, of whom 123,896 are Hindus by religion, while
smiths, 33,585;
;
6930
still
profess aboriginal forms of faith.
;
Gonds number 32,100
;
;
Santals,
Kharwars, 1171 ; Kols, Bhuiyas, 4003; Bhumijs, 2767 1062; while the balance is made up of other aboriginal tribes not
4646
returned separately in the Census Report.
The Christian community, according
519;
great
Eurasians,
28.
unspecified,
to race, consists of Europeans, 269; natives of India, 3246; other Asiatics, 6; Divided according to sect, the Baptists form the
;
—
Roman Catholics number 495 ; numbering 2965 Church of England, 311 Protestants, without specification of sect, 81 The native Christians Church of Scotland, 37; other sects, 93.
majority,
;
—
ORISSA.
437
principally belong to the different l>aptist Missions stationed in each
District,
and
for the
most part consist of persons rescued from
starva-
tion
when children, during the great famine of 1866. The Shrine of Jagannath. I'he following paragraphs,
—
descrip-
condensed from the present author's Orissa {vol. i. chapters 3 and 4), to which the reader may be referred for a further and more detailed disquisition on the position occupied by this worship among the religions of India For two thousand years Orissa has been the Holy Land of the Hindus. The Province is divided into four great regions of pilgrimage. From the moment the pilgrim passes the Baitarani river, on the high road forty miles north-east of Cuttack, he treads on holy ground. Behind him lies the secular world, with its cares for the things of this life before him is the promised land, which he has been taught to regard as a place of preparation for heaven. On the bank of the river
tive of the shrine of
Jagannath
at Puri, are
:
;
rises
shrine after shrine to Siva, the All-Destroyer.
On
leaving the
stream,
he enters Jajpur,
the wife
literally,
the City of Sacrifice, the
headof
quarters of the region of pilgrimage (Vijayi or Parvati kshetrd) sacred
to
Parvati,
of Siva.
To
the south-east
is
the region
pilgrimage sacred to the sun (Hara kshetrd)^ now^ rarely visited, with
its
matchless ruins looking
down
is
in desolate beauty across the
Bay of
Bengal.
To
the south-west
the region of pilgrimage dedicated to
its
Siva (Arka or
clustered,
Padma
kshdra), with
native
city of temples,
which once
is
according
to
tradition,
to
the
number of seven
to every hamlet
thousand around the sacred
lake.
Beyond
this,
nearly due south,
the region of pilgrimage beloved of Vishnu,
known
throughout India as the abode of Jagannath, the Lord of the World
(Vishnu or Purushottama kshetrd).
As the outlying position of Orissa long saved it from conquest and from that dilapidation of ancient Hindu shrines and rites which marks the Muhammadan line of march through India, so Puri, built upon its extreme south-eastern shore, and protected on the one side by the
surf
and on the other by swamps and inundations,
left
is
the corner of
Orissa that has been most
to
itself.
On
these inhospitable sands
Hindu
religion
and Hindu
superstition have stood at bay for eighteen
Here is the national temple, whither the Here is the people flock to worship from every Province of India. Swarga - dwara, the Gate of Heaven, whither thousands of pilgrims come to die, lulled to their last sleep by the roar of the eternal ocean.
centuries against the world.
Twenty generations of devout Hindus have gone through
with a
perpetual
life,
haunted
they
yearning
to
visit
these
fever
-
stricken
sandhills.
;
They
are Puri,
'the City'
of their religious aspirations on earth
'
are Purushottama, the dwelling of Vishnu,
are the symbolical Blue
the Best of
Men
;'
they
Mountain
;
they are the mystic navel of the
438
earth.
*
ORISSA.
A
tract sold to pilgrims at the
is
door of the temple
its
states that
even Siva
efforts
unable to comprehend of mortal men !'
glory
;
how
feeble, then, the
This great yearning after Jagannath
of centuries
their god.
is
to
some
extent the
outcome
of companionship in suffering between
the people and
In every disaster of Orissa, Jagannath has borne his share. cf the people before an invading power, he has been their companion. The priests, indeed, put the claim.s of their god
In every
flight
upon higher ground.
the Great God,
'
In the
call
first
boundless space,' they say, 'dwelt
history, the first indistinct
whom men
Narayan, or Parameswar, or Jagannath.'
this world's
But without venturing beyond
dawn
of
as
of Orissa tradition discloses Puri as the refuge of an exiled creed.
In the uncertain
dawn of Indian tradition, the highly spiritual doctrines Buddha obtained shelter here and the Golden Tooth of the founder
;
remained
it
for centuries
at Puri,
then the Jerusalem of the Buddhists,
has for centuries been of the Hindus.
liis first
Jagannath makes
historical
appearance
in
the year 318 a.d.,
an empty city to Rakta Bahu and his buccaneers {vide Statistical Accoimt of Bengal^ xviii. p. 182). For a century and a half, the image remained buried
left
when
the priests fled with the sacred image
and
in the western jungles,
till
a pious prince drove out the foreigners,
in the
sea, or
and brought back the deity. Three times has it been buried Chilka lake and whether the invaders were pirates from the
;
tlie
devouring cavalry of Afghanistan, the
first
thing that the people
saved was their god.
The
true source of Jagannath's undying hold
is
consists in the fact that he
the
upon the Hindu race god of the people. As long as his
will
towers rise upon the Puri sands, so long
apostles
there be in India a
perpetual and visible protest of the equality of penetrate
to
man
before God.
His
the
every
hamlet
of
Hindustan,
preaching
sacrament of the Holy Food {mahdprasdd).
that there
is
The poor
outcast learns
a city on the far eastern shore in which high and low
eat together.
In his own
village, if
he accidentally touches the clothes
of a
man
of good caste, he has committed a crime, and his outraged
superior has to wash away the pollution before he can partake of food
or approach his god.
In some parts of the country, the lowest castes
and their miserable hovels amid heaps of broken potsherds and dunghills on the outskirts. Throughout the southern part of the continent it used to be a law, that no man of these degraded castes might enter the village before nine in the morning or after four in the evening, lest the slanting rays of the sun should cast his shadow across the path of a Brahman. But in the presence of the Lord of the World, priest and peasant are equal. The rice that has once been placed before the god can never cease to be
cluster
are .not permitted to build within the towns,
—
ORISSA.
pure, or lose
its
439
reflected sanctity.
In the courts of Jagannath, and
outside the Lion Gate, 100,000 pilgrims every year are joined in the
sacrament of eating the holy food.
or give
it to,
The
;
lowest
may demand
all barriers,
it
from,
the highest.
Its
sanctity overleaps
not only
of caste, but of race and hostile faiths
test
and a Puri
priest will stand the
of receiving the food from a Christian hand.
The worship
Nothing
is
every form of Indian belief,
of Jagannath, too, aims at a Catholicism which embraces and every Indian conception of the deity.
is
too high, and nothing
too low, to find admission into
his temple.
The
fetishism and bloody rites of the aboriginal races,
the mild flower-worship of the Vedas,
and every compromise between
in the
the two, along with the lofty spiritualities of the great Indian reformers,
have here found refuge.
twelfth century, the
The
rigid
Monotheism of Ramanuja
Monastic System of Ramanand in the fifteenth, the mystic Quietism of Chaitanya at the beginning of the sixteenth, and the luxurious Love-Worship of the Vallabhcacharis towards its He close, mingle within the walls of Jagannath at this present day. is Vishnu, under whatever form and by whatever title men call upon
his
name.
Besides thus representing Vishnu in
all his
manifestations,
the priests have superadded the worship of the other
members
of the
Hindu
sect
trinity in their various
shapes
can find
his
beloved
rites,
and the disciple of every Hindu and some form of his chosen deity,
;
within the sacred precincts.
The very origin of Jagannath proclaims him not less the god of the The story of the Brahmans than of the low-caste aboriginal races. It is Divine Log is one of the most popular legends of Orissa. entitled the Daru Brahma,' and, like most of the stories of the
'
people,
find
is
an
adaptation
the
aboriginal
In this legend we from the Puranas. people worshipping a blue stone in the depths
tired of the jungle offerings
of the forest.
But the deity has gro\vn
and longs for the cooked food of the more civilised Aryan race. When the Aryan element at length comes on the scene, the rude blue stone disappears, and gives place to a carved image. At the present hour, in every hamlet of Orissa,
of the primitive people,
this
twofold
worship co-exists.
The common people have
their
which they adore with simple rites in the open air while side by side with it is a temple to one of the Aryan Some shapeless gods, with its carved image and elaborate worship.
shapeless stone or block,
;
log, or
a black stone, or a red-stained trunk of a
tree, is still
the object
of adoration
among
the masses.
beliefs,
about their religious
'
the
Whenever the villagers are questioned same answer is invariably given
The common people have no
The worship
idea of religion but to do right, and to
worship the village god.'
of Vishnu was not, however, the
fi.st
form of the Aryan
440
faith
ORISSA,
that
penetrated
these
remote jungles of the seaboard.
For
centuries before
and
after the birth of Christ, the
rock caves of Orissa
resounded with the chants of Buddhist monks. But about the fourth century of our era, Buddhism in Orissa began to lose its sharply marked identity, and gradually gave way to other developments of spiritual life, which took the form of Siva-worship. The great city of temples, Bhuvaneswar, dedicated to Siva, dates from the seventh century. This worship incorporated the doctrines of the Aryan conquerors
with the rites of the aboriginal races.
The
doctrines were spiritual,
;
and it kept them in the inner sanctuary for its Aryan priests the rites were gross and bloody, and it paraded them in the outer courts as an
mixed populace. It fixed its seat in the west of Puri where the mountains and forest tracts of Central India slope down on the alluvial plain. There it struck its roots deep in the ignorance and the fears of a people who knew God only by the more
attraction to the
District,
terrible manifestations of His power; as a God mighty indeed, but to be dreaded rather than loved. But side by side with Siva-worship, there can be dimly traced another spiritual form struggling into life. The worship of Vishnu
its doctrines and all its inner mysteries from the ancient and engrafted upon them rites which appealed to the imaginations and the passions of a tropical race. Both Sivaism and Vishnuism were attempts to bring the gods down to men. The
likewise took
Aryan
faith,
former plunged boldly into the abyss of superstition, and erected its empire without shame or scruple upon the ignorance and terrors of the people. The worship of Vishnu shrank from such lengths, and tried to create a system wade enough and strong enough for a national religion, by mixing a somewhat less base alloy with the fine gold of
was a religion in all things graceful. Its gods who walk and converse with men. Its legends breathe an almost Grecian beauty. But pastoral simplicities and an exquisite ritual had no chance against a system like Sivaism, that pandered to the grossest superstitions of the masses. The spiritual element in Vishnu-worship has no doubt always existed among the Aryan
spirituality. It
Aryan
are bright,
friendly beings,
settlements throughout India. But its popular conquests have generally been subsequent to those of Sivaism and this is the case in a very
;
marked manner
a great religious
in Orissa.
In the eleventh century, the Vishnuite doctrines were gathered into treatise. The Vishnu Purana, which dates from about 1045 A.D., probably represents, as indeed its name implies, 'ancient' forms of belief that had co-existed with Sivaism and Buddhism for
centuries.
direct channel, but filtered
Ramayana
; not, however, in a through the two great epic poems of the and the Mahabharata. It forms one of eighteen religious
It
derives
its
system from the Vedas
OlilSSA.
treatises,
441
which, under the
name
of Puranas or Ancient Sayings, are
devoted to the mythology and legendary history of the Hindus.
These
works especially extol the members of the Hindu the pre-eminence for Vishnu*, and now for Siva
flights
trinity,
now
claiming
;
but in their nobler
always rising to a recognition that both are but manifestations of
the one eternal
God
barely 800 years ago, starts with an
to
The Vishnu Purdna, compiled
intolerance
equal
that
declares the priests to
castes from the feet, of
It still code of Manu. have sprung from the mouth, and the low-
of the ancient
God.
Its
stately
theogony disdains to touch
cosmography confines itself to the Aryan world. It declares, indeed, that there is but one God but this God is the God of the Brahmans, to whom He gave the earth for an inheritance, and in whose eyes the ancient races are as demons or
the legends of the
people.
Its
;
wild beasts.
Vishnuism had to preach a far different doctrine before it could become, as it has for ages been, the popular religion of Qrissa. These withered sticks of mythology could never blossom forth into a national faith. Sivaism had also its ancient sayings, and it outrivalled Vishnuworship by a ritual singularly adapted to terrify and enchain the masses. But about the middle of the twelfth century a great change began to take place. Up to that time, Vishnuism had been the religion of the upper ranks. Jagannath, although unknown to the Vedas, had
ever been the companion of the
ruling
race in
Orissa.
We
find
him sharing the flights of the priests, and appearing in the dreams of kings. But from the twelfth century a curious movement began. Vishnuism in its turn began to throw itself upon the people. Sivaism had enlisted their ignorant terrors Vishnuism was soon to appeal to The movement the eternal instinct of human liberty and equality. first commenced in Southern India, where Ramanuja about 1150 a.d.
;
preached from
verts
city
to
city
the
unity
of
God under
the
title
of
Vishnu, the Cause and the Creator of
all.
The preacher made
an
article
con-
from every
class,
but
it
was reserved
for his successors formally
to enunciate equality of caste before
faith.
God
as
of the Vishnuite
And meanwhile
at Puri,
the great temple of Jagannath, which
It
now
stands
was
built.
was a
last
magnificent assertion of aristocratic
devotion.
In 11 74
a.d.,
all
King Anang Bhim Deo ascended the throne
of Orissa.
to the
He
ruled
the country from the Hiigli river on the north
Godavari on the south, and from the forest country of Sonpur on the west, eastward to the Bay of Bengal his kingdom comprising an area of over 40,000 square miles. But in the midst of his grandeur he was struck down by a great calamity. He unhappily slew a Brahman, and the rest of his life became one grand expiation of the guilt.
;
442
Tradition
relates
OA'/SSA.
that he built sixty stone temples to the gods broad rivers; dug forty great wells, and encased them
•
bndged
stairs
ten
with solid masonry; constructed one hundred and fifty-two flights of on the river banks, as landing and bathing places plante°d four hundred and fifty colonies of Brahmans upon lands granted out of the royal demesne and excavated one million tanks to ; protect the crops ol the husbandmen.
;
stands, in 1198 a D At the end of the thirteenth century, according to some -at the end of the fourteenth, according to others,-the
the twelfth year of his reign journeyed to Puri, and offered up his prayers. Thereafter he gathered around him his princes and vassals, and all the chief men of his state, and said Hear chiefs and princes It is known to you that the kings of tlie ancient Lion ine ruled over a wide country, and enjoyed a revenue of fifteen hundred thousand measures of gold. But by the grace of lord Jagannath, the princes of my line have subdued many chiefs and peoples, and en arged the kingdom, so that my revenues are now three and a half millions of measures of gold. Out of this I have assigned fixed sums for the payment of my generals, for the captains of my horses and of my elephants, for the priests, and for the temples of the gods. Princes and chiefs touch not these grants, lest ye suffer the penaltv which the holy scriptures denounce against those who take back that which has been given. Above all, in the countries under your chars^e be merciful to the people. Be just to the husbandmen, and exact no more than the established rates. And now I have gathered together a great treasure. Four millions of measures of gold have I taken from the nations I conquered, and jewels to the value of eight hundred thousand measures of gold besides. What can I do better with this great treasure than build a temple to the lord Jagannath.? Speak treely your mmds with regard to the work.' All the chiefs and princes applauded the king's speech. Gold and jewels to the value of a million and a half measures of gold were set apart for the work, being estimated at half a million sterling in the money o our time. For fourteen years the artificers laboured, and the temple was finished, as it now
: '
the king
To him appeared lord Jagannath in a dream, and commanded to journey to the sands of Puri, and there to call on his name.
him
So
m
O
!
!
_
authorities,
a line of disciples. The first in the inspired descent to illustrate the doctrine in Northern India was Ramanand, who wandered from place to place proclaiming the equality of man before God. One of his disciples, Kabir, carried his master's doctrine
mation took place which made Vishnu-worship a national religion of India. Ramanuja s early movement in Southern India had left behind
great refor-
a monastery called after his
name
exists in
throughout Bengal and Puri at the present daj•
i
OR/SSA.
As
in
443
all
his
master had laboured to gather together
castes of the
Hindus
in
one
common
faith,
so
Kabir, seeing that the
Hindus were
his
time no longer the whole inhabitants of India, tried to build up a
would embrace Hindu and Muhammadan alike. The voluminous writings of his sect contain the amplest acknowledgment His that the God of the Hindu is also the God of the Musalman.
religion that
name is The Inner, whether he may be invoked as the All of Muhammadans, or as the Rama of the Hindus. 'To Ali and Rama we owe our life, and should show like tenderness to all who live. What avails it to wash your mouth, to count your beads, to bathe in holy streams, to bow in temples, when, whilst you mutter your prayers The Hindu or journey on pilgrimage, deceitfulness is in your heart? Who fasts every eleventh day; the Musalman on the Ramazan.
universal
the
formed the remaining months and days, that you should venerate but one? If the Creator dwell in tabernacles, whose dwelling is the universe
The city ? Musalman God is
the
of the
Hindu God
;
is
to
the east, the city of the
to the west
but explore your
own
heart, for there
is
God
both of the Musalmans and of the Hindus.
Behold but
One
in all things.
He
to
whom
the world belongs,
of the worshippers alike of All and of
Rama.
is
He is the father He is my guide. He is
my
priest'
The moral code
of Kabir
as beautiful as his doctrine.
It consists in
humanity, in truthfulness, in retirement, and in obedience
to the spiritual guide.
labours of Kabir may be placed between 1380 and 1420 a.d. As Ramanand and Kabir were the 1485 Chaitanya was born. Vishnuite reformers of Hindustan and Bengal, so Chaitanya was the
The
In
prophet of Orissa, and for twelve years laboured to extend the worshij^
of Jagannath.
Signs
and wonders attended him through
life,
and
during four centuries he has been worshipped as an incarnation of
Vishnu.
eclipse
he entered the world. On the lonely shores of Puri On one occasion he he was visited by beatific sights and revelations. beheld the host of heaven sporting upon the blue waves, and plunged into the ocean in a religious ecstasy, but was miraculously returned to earth in a fisherman's net. After forty-two years of preaching, he
as
For ended
thirteen
months the holy
child lay in the
womb.
An
disappeared in a.d. 1527.
Extricating ourselves from the halo of legends which surround
and
that
;
obscure the
we know little of his he was the son of a Sylhet Brahman, settled
apostle,
private
at
life,
except
Nadiya, near Calcutta
;
that in his youth
he married the daughter of a celebrated saint that at twenty-four he forsook the world, and, renouncing the status of a householder, repaired to Orissa, and devoted the rest of his life to the propagation of his faith. But with regard to his doctrines, we have the most ample evidence. No caste and no race was beyond the pale
444
of salvation.
disciples
ORISSA.
The followers of Chaitanya belong to every caste but they acknowledge the rule of the descendants of the six original
(Gosains).
It
The
its
sect
is
unmarried.
religious
has
celibates
open alike to the married and'' the and wandering mendicants, but its
sort of family worship
teachers are generally married men. They live with their and dependants in little clusters of houses around a temple of Vishnu, and in this way the adoration of Chaitanya has become a
families
specially dedicated to his
over the country.
ignore his work.
IS
It
Vishnu; and of such joint temples there are at present 300 in the town of Pun, and 500 more throughout the District. The worship of Chaitanya extends through all Orissa; and there has been compiled a long list of landed families, who worship him with a daily ritual in household chapels dedicated to his name. At this moment, Chaitanya is the apostle of the common people. The Brahmans, unless they happen to enjoy grants of land in his name,
In almost every Brahman village the communal shrine dedicated to Siva; but in the villages of the ordinary
IS
In Puri there is a temple name, and many little shrines are scattered But he is generally adored in connection
with
throughout Orissa.
sanctuaries with licentious very difficult for a person not a Hindu to pronounce upon the real extent of this evil. None but a Hindu can enter any of the larger temples, and none but a Hindu priest really knows the truth about their inner mysteries. But between Vishnuism and Love^^orshIp there is but a step, and this step has been formally and publicly taken by a large sect of Vishnuites. As early as 1520, a teacher, Vallabha-Swami, appeared in
rites.
worshipped, and Chaitanya who is remembered as the great teacher of the popular faith. The death of Chaitanya marks the beginning of the spiritual decline of Vishnu-worship. The most deplorable of its corruptions at the present day is that which has covered the temple walls with indecent sculptures, and filled their innermost
is
Vishnu who
husbandmen,
It IS
Northern
India, preaching that the liberation of the soul depended not upon the mortification of the body, and that God was to be sought not in
nakedness and hunger and solitude, but amid the enjoyments of this The special object of his adoration .was Vishnu, in his pastoral incarnation as Krishna, leading a glorious Arcadian life in the forest The legends surround him with all that makes existence
hfe.
and everything that appeals to the luscious sensuousness of a tropical race, are mingled in his worship. His daily ritual consists of eight services, in which hi^ image is delicately bathed, anointed with essences, splendidly attired and sumptuously fed. His great annual ceremony in Lower Bengal is the Car Festival of Jagannath, hereafter to be
described.
It is
Shady bowers,
beautiful.
lovely w^omen,
exquisite viands,
a
i
ORISSA.
religion
first
445
of luxury and systematic indulgence.
The
followers of the
Vishnuite
reformers dwelt together in secluded monasteries,
or
went about scantily clothed, living upon alms. But this sect performs arrayed in costly apparel, anointed with oil, and its devotions
perfumed with camphor or sandal-wood
oil.
It
seeks
its
converts not
among
weavers, or leather-dressers, or barbers, but
among wealthy
bankers and merchants, who look upon life as a thing to be enjoyed, and upon pilgrimage as a means of extending their trading enterprises.
In Orissa,
Different
among
the
common
people, Jagannath reigns supreme.
Fiscal
Divisions claim, as a precious
hereditary right, the
privilege of rendering service to the god.
The
jungly highlands on
the west of the Chilka supply the timber for the
Car
Festival.
The
lowlands on the north of the lake annually send thousands of peasants
to
drag the sacred vehicle.
The
inhabitants delight to explain the
etymology of their towns and villages by referring the names to some
incident in the history of the god.
The
;
royal line has for centuries
image and as the sweeper caste is the lowest in the Hindu community, so the kings of Orissa have reached the climax of religious humility in their most cherished title of Hereditary Sweeper to Jagannath.
performed menial
offices before the
The
that
all
English Government has scrupulously respected the patrimony
of Jagannath.
On
taking over the country,
it
was practically decided
be
disbursements hitherto
made
for charitable uses should
continued, on the scale which the orthodox Maratha Government had established. Among these costly bequests, the superintendence of the
temple of Jagannath was the
their expulsion, the
chief. During the years that preceded Marathas had paid from ;£'3ooo to ^5000 a year
from their treasury, to make good the
the charges of the establishment.
deficit between the receipts and Lord Wellesley expressly enjoined the British troops, when they marched to occupy the Province in 1803, to respect the temple and the religious prejudices of the Brahmans and At the same time, British officers were to make no arrangepilgrims. ments that would hamper Government in any subsequent reform of The General communicated these orders to the i)riests temple abuses. of Jagannath when he entered the Province and a deputation of Brahmans accordingly came into the camp, and placed the temple under his protection without a blow being struck.
;
like an accurate estimate of the Accepting the computation of the rentroll of the monasteries connected with the temple at ;^2 7,000, and adding ^4000 as the present value of the lands granted by the State, we have a total of ^31,000. This sum, however, represents but a fraction of his actual income. The offerings of the pilgrims form the
It
is
difficult
to
form anything
present income of Jagannath.
446
great source of his wealth.
OR/SSA.
pilgrims heap gold
No one comes empty-handed. The richer and silver and jewels at the feet of the god, or spread before him charters and title-deeds, conveying rich lands in distant
Provinces.
his ability
;
Every one, from the richest to the poorest, gives beyond
many
frenzy of liberality;
cripple their fortunes for the rest of their lives in a and hundreds die on the way home, from not
having kept enough to support them on the journey. It may be mentioned that Ranjit Singh bequeathed the celebrated Koh-i-Nur diamond, which now forms one of the Crown jewels of England, to
Jagannath.
known.
The total annual value of these offerings can never be Some have stated it as high as ;£'7o,ooo. This is perhaps
it
excessive; although
historians, the
should be remembered
that,
according to native
the pilgrims before they entered the city at all. moderate computation estnnated the offerings to the priests at twice the gross sum which the British officers realized as pilgrim tax; and now that the tax is withdrawn and the pilgrims enter the city so much the richer, the oblations
Muhammadans managed
to extract
^100,000 from
A
cannot
yearly
fail much short of three times the amount. This would yield a sum of ^'37,000, which, added to the ^4000 derived from the
temple lands, and to the revenues of the religious houses valued at ;£27,ooo, makes the total income of Jagannath not less than ^68,000 per annum.
A religious society so ancient and so wealthy naturally gathers around it a vast body of retainers. A quarter of a century ago, there were as many as six thousand male adults as priests, warders of the
temple, and pilgrim guides.
then
;
The number has probably increased since and, including the monastic establishments, their servants and
hired labourers, along with the vast body of pilgrim guides who roam through every Province of India, it is probable that not less than 20,000
men, women, and children,
lord Jagannath.
live, directly
or indirectly,
by the service of
The immediate
orders and ninety-seven classes.
attendants on the god are divided into thirty-six At the head is the Raja of Khurdha,
the representative of the ancient royal house of Orissa, who takes upon himself the lowly office of sweeper to Jagannath. Decorators of the idols, strewers of flowers, priests of the wardrobe, bakers, cooks, guards, musicians, dancing - girls, torch - bearers, grooms, elephant-
department keeps up the temple records, and affords a asylum to a few learned men. The baser features of a worship which aims at a sensuous realization of God, by endowing Him with human passions, appear in a band of prostitutes who sing before the
special
literary
A
keepers, and artisans of every sort, follow. There are distinct sets of servants to put the god to bed, to dress him, and to bathe him.
image.
ORISSA.
447
The Temple. The sacred enclosure is nearly in the form of a square, from profane eyes by a massive stone wall 20 feet high, Within it rise about 120 temples, 652 feet long, and 630 feet broad. dedicated to the various forms in which the Hindu mind has imagined its God. In the list are counted no fewer than thirteen temples to
protected
Siva,
—
besides several to his queen, the great rivals of Vishnu.
is
The
most
nature-worship of primitive times
represented, even in this
complex development of modern superstition, by a temple to the sun. But the great pagoda is the one dedicated to Jagannath. Its conical tower rises like an elaborately carved sugar-loaf, 192 feet high, black with time, and surmounted by the mystic wheel and flag of Vishnu. Outside the principal entrance, or Lion Gate, in the square where the pilgrims chiefly throng, is an exquisite monolithic pillar which stood for centuries before the Teniple of the Sun, twenty miles up the coast. The temple of Jagannath consists, like all the larger shrines in Orissa, of four chambers opening one into the other. The first is the Hall of Ofl"erings {Bhog-mandir), where the bulkier oblations are made, only a small quantity of choice food being admitted into the
inner shrine.
The second
-
is
the Pillared Hall {N'at-niandir), for the
musicians
and dancing
is
girls.
The
itself
third
is
the
Hall of Audience
upon the god. surmounted by its lofty conical tower. Here sits Jagannath, with his brother Balabhadra and his sister Subhadra, in jewelled state. The images are rude logs, coarsely fashioned into the form of the human bust from the waist up. On certain festivals the priests fasten golden hands to the short stumps which project from the shoulders of Jagannath. The service of the temple consists partly in a daily round of oblations, and partly in sumptuous ceremonials at stated periods throughout the year. The offerings are simple enough fruits and flowers, and the various articles of food in use among a primitive people. Rice, pulse, clarified butter, milk, salt, vegetables, ginger, and cocoanuts are offered to the images and eaten by the priests. Four times every day the pritsts clear the sanctuary, and close the tower gates, while the god is at his meals. At the door stand Vishnuite ascetics, waving large fans and singing his praises. In the Pillared Hall, a choir of dancing -girls enliven the idol's repast by their airy gyrations, while a few favoured servants attend him in his inner
{/agamoIia}i), in which the pilgrims assemble to gaze
The
fourth
the
Sanctuary
{Bara
deul),
:
shrine.
The
service
edifice,
offerings are bloodless.
No
animal yields up his
of
life
in
the
of
Jagannath.
set
The
spilling
blood
pollutes
the whole
and a
of servants are
maintained to hurry away the
sacrificial
food that
may have been
thus contaminated.
Yet so deeply
'
448
rooted
is
ORISSA.
the spirit of
compromise
is
in this great national temple, that
'
the sacred enclosure also contains a shrine to Bimala, the
stainless
queen of the All-Destroyer, who rites and bloody sacrifices.
Festivals.
every year adored with midnight
reb'gious
year.
— Twenty
all.
-
four high festivals enliven the
They
consist chiefly of Vishnuite celebrations, but freely admit
sects.
the
ceremonials of the rival
A
vein of the old aboriginal
rites
runs
through them
occurs
in
the
procession of
Ai the Red-Powder Festival (Chafidan-Jdfrd), which month of Baisdkh, and lasts for three weeks, a boat Vishnu and the gods passes along the sacred lake.
in the
Siva enjoy equal honours in the ceremony.
commemorated
god,
ancient
abduction of the
fair
The wild age is yearly nymph by the enamoured
form of marriage pe?' raptione?n, acknowledged by The Aryan advance through India is celebrated on Rama's birthday, on which the god appears in the dress and arms of the Sanskrit hero who marched through the southern jungles of the ])eninsula, and slew the cannibal king of Ceylon. At the Bathing Festival {Snd?i-jdtrd)^ when the images are brought down in great pomp
a primitive
Hindu
law.
to
one of the
artificial lakes,
a proboscis
is
fastened to their noses, so
as to give
them the look of the elephant god of the aboriginal tribes (Ganesh). The supremacy of Vishnu is declared, however, in the
festival of the slaughter of the
deadly Cobra-da-Capello {Kdli-damana),
the familiar of Siva and his queen.
into A^ishnuism,
The indecent
rites that
have crept
and which, according
to the spirit of the worshipper,
are either high religious mysteries or simple obscenities, are represented
by the Birth Festival {Janam), in which a priest takes the part of the father, and a dancing-girl that of the mother, of Jagannath, and the ceremony of his nativity is performed to the life. The Car Festival {Rath-jdtrd) is the great event of the year. It takes place, according as the Hindu month falls, in June or July, and for weeks beforehand pilgrims come trooping into Puri by thousands every The whole District is in a ferment. The great car is 45 feet day. This vast structure is supported on sixteen wheels of 7 in height. The brother and sister of feet diameter, and is 35 feet square. Jagannath have separate cars a few feet smaller. When the sacred images are at length brought forth and placed upon their chariots, thousands fall on their knees and bow their foreheads in the dust. The vast multitude shouts with one throat, and, surging backwards and forwards, drags the wheeled edifices down the broad street towards the Music strikes up before and behind, country-house of lord Jagannath. drums beat, cymbals clash, the priests harangue from the cars, or shout a sort of fescennine medley enlivened with broad allusions and coarse
gestures,
which are received with roars of laughter by the crowd.
And
so the dense mass struggles forward by convulsive jerks, tugging and
ORISSA.
sweiting, shouting
449
and jumping,
singing,
and praying, and swearing.
is
The
days.
distance from the temple to the country-house
less
than a mile
in
;
but the wheels sink deep into the sand, and the journey takes several
After hours of severe
toil
and wild excitement
the
July
tropical sun, a reaction
flags before the
necessarily follows.
is
;
The
zeal of the pilgrims
garden-house
devotees, are dragged along
drawn grunts and groans.
at free quarters in Puri
reached and the cars, deserted by the by the professional pullers with deepThese men, 4200 in number, are peasants
live
festival.
from the neighbouring Fiscal Divisions, who generally manage to
during the
Once
or block
arrived at
the country-house, the enthusiasm subsides.
The
street,
pilgrims drop exhausted
upon the burning sand of the sacred
their prostrate bodies.
up the lanes with
When
they have
and ready for another of the strong religious stimulants of the season. Lord Jagannath is left to get back to his temple as best he can and in the quaint words of a writer half a century ago, but for the professional car-pullers the god would infallibly stick at his country-house. In a closely-packed, eager throng of a hundred thousand men and women, many of them unaccustomed to exposure or hard labour, and
slept off their excitement, they rise refreshed
;
'
'
all
of
tropical sun, deaths
them tugging and straining to the utmost under the blazing must occasionally occur. There have, doubtless,
;
frenzy of religious excitement
been instances of pilgrims throwing themselves under the wheels in a but such instances have always been rare, and are now unknown. At one time, several unhappy people
were killed or injured every year, but they were almost invariably cases The few suicides that did occur were for the of accidental trampling. most part cases of diseased and miserable objects, who took this
means to put themselves out of pain. The official returns now place this beyond doubt. Nothing, indeed, could be more opposed to the
spirit
of Vishnu- worship then self-immolation.
Accidental death within
the temple renders the whole place unclean.
The
ritual
suddenly stops,
and the polluted offerings are hurried away from the sight of the offended god. According to Chaitanya, the apostle of Jagannath, the
destruction of the least of God's creatures
is
a sin against the Creator.
Self-immolation he would have
regarded with horror.
The copious
religious literature of his sect frequently describes the Car Festival, but makes no mention of self-sacrifice, nor does it contain any passage
that
Abul Fazl, the keen could be twisted into a sanction for it. jMusalman observer, is equally silent, although from the context it is almost certain that, had he heard of the practice, he would have
mentioned it. It would be well for Jagannath only charges which his priests had
VOL. X.
if
these old
Cvilumnies were the
to answer.
Lascivious sculptures
2 F
450
ORISSA.
and dancingof
\
disfigure his walls, indecent ceremonies disgrace his ritual,
girls
put the modest female worshippers to the blush by their demeanour.
sole corruptions
But these are not the
of the
faith.
The temple
god,
Jagannath, that colluvio reiigionum^ in which every creed obtained an
asylum, and in which every class and sect can find
its
its
now
closes
gates against the low-caste population.
trace the history of this
were vain to attempt to gross violation of the spirit of the reformed
It
Vishnuite
exists
Even at the present moment no hard-and-fast line faith. between the admitted and the excluded castes and the priests
;
are said to be
much
less strict to
mark the
disqualification of caste in
pilgrims from a distance, than
among the non-paying local populace. Speaking generally, only those castes are shut out who retain the
aboriginal
flesh-eating
the
and animal-life-destroying propensities and professions of tribes. A man must be a very pronounced nonof the
Aryan to be excluded. Certain washermen and potters, may enter
god
within.
low
castes, such
as
the
in
half-way, and, standing
humbly
the court outside the great temple, catch a glimpse of the jewelled
But unquestionable non-Aryans, like the neighbouring and the landless servile castes of the lowlands, cannot go in at all. The same ban extends to those engaged in occupations either offensive in themselves, or repugnant to Aryan
hill tribes
or forest races,
ideas of
hunters,
purit}'',
such as wine-sellers, sweepers, skinners, corpse-bearers,
and bird-killers. Criminals who have been in jail, and women of bad character, except the privileged temple girls, are
fishers,
also
excluded
— with
this
difference, however, that
a criminal
may
expiate the defilement of imprisonment
fications
;
but a
woman once
still
fallen
by penance and costly puri can never more pass the temple
faithful
gates.
The name
every
of Jagannath
draws the
Provinces of India to the Puri sands.
Day and
from the most distant night throughout
;
month
of the year, troops of devotees arrive at Puri
and
for
300 miles along the great Orissa road, every village has its pilgrim encampment. The parties consist of from 20 to 300 persons. At the time of the great festivals, these bands follow so close as to touch each other and a continuous train of pilgrims, many miles long, may often be seen on the Puri high-road. They march in orderly procession, each party under its spiritual leader. At least five-sixths, and often nine-tenths, of them are females. Now a straggling band of slender, diminutive women, clothed in white muslin, and limping sadly along, shows a pilgrim company from Lower Bengal then a joyous retinue with flowing garments of bright red or blue, trudging stoutly forward, their noses pierced with elaborate rings, their faces freely tattooed, and their hands encumbered with bundles of very dirty cloth, proclaims Ninety-five out the stalwart female peasantry of Northern Hindustan.
; ;
1
ORISSA.
of a hundred are on foot.
various sorts,
45
the throng are devotees of
;
;
Mixed with
;
covered with ashes some ahiiost naked some and almost all with their foreheads with matted, yellow-stained hair streaked with red or white, a string of beads round their necks, and a Every now and then, covered waggons stout staft" in their hands.
— some
drawn by the high-humped bullocks of Upper
India, or by the smaller
breed of Bengal, according to the nationality of the owner, creak past on their wooden wheels. Those from the Northern Provinces still bear traces of the licentious Musalman rule, by being jealously shut up. The Bengali husband, on the other hand, keeps his women goodtempered, and renders pilgrimage pleasant, by piercing holes in the waggon-hood, through which dark female eyes constantly peep out. Then a lady in coloured trousers, from some village near Delhi, ambles
past
a female domestic, with a
husband submissively walking by her side, and hamper of Ganges water and a bundle of Next a great train of palanquins, dirty cloth, bringing up the rear. and his ladies, sweeps past. But the carrying a Calcutta banker
on a
tiny pony, her
greatest spectacle
is a north-country Raja, with his caravan of elephants, camels, led horses, and swordsmen, looking resigned and very helpless in his sedan of state, followed by all the indescribable confusion, dirt,
and noises of Indian
royalty.
army that thus marches its hundreds, and somethousands, of miles, along burning roads, across unbridged times its rivers, and through pestilent regions of jungle and swamp, is annually
The
great spiritual
recruited with as
military force.
much tact and regularity as is bestowed on any Attached to the temple is a body of emissaries, called pilgrim guides, numbering about three thousand men, who visit every
Province and District of India in search of devotees.
Each of the
leading priests keeps up a separate set of these men, sending them to the part of the country of which he enjoys the spiritual charge, and
claiming the profits of the disciples they bring
in.
They wander about
preaching pilgrimage
is
from
village to village within their allotted beats,
as the liberation
from
still
sin.
The
till
arrival of a pilgrim-guide
a
memorin
fields,
able event in the
Hfe of an Indian village.
He
seldom shines
out to the
public exhortation, but waits
the
men have gone
and then makes a round of visits to the women. Skilled in every artifice of persuasion, he works upon the religious fears and the worldly hopes and by the time the unsuspecting husbands come of the female mind
;
home from their work, every house has its fair The elder women, and some of the aged fathers see the face of the merciful god who will remit
of a less emphatic sort influence the majority.
apostle of pilgrimage.
of the hamlet, long to the sins of a
life,
and
are content to lay their bones within his precincts.
Religious motives
reward for a good deed swell the number.
The hopes of worldly The fashionableness of
452
pilgrimage
attracts
ORISSA.
the
frivolous.
are hooked by the Poor widows catch at anything to relieve the tedium of their blighted existence and barren wives long to yjick up the child-giving berries of the banyan tree within the sacred enclosure, and to pour out the petition of their souls before
The young
novelty of a journey through strange countries.
;
the kindly god.
In parties of thirty pilgrims, more than
three.
five
men
are
seldom met with, and sometimes not more than may be taken at ten per cent.
The
proportion
The
scene,
first
part
of the journey
races,
new
countries,
is pleasant enough. Change of and languages, and a world of strange
customs and sights, await the travellers from Upper India. A good part of the distance is now accomplished by railway, and the
northern pilgrims can thus get over their
first
thousand or even fourteen
hundred miles, if they choose to travel straight through, in three days. But they generally walk from three to six hundred miles, although within the last two or three years a steamboat service between Calcutta and Orissa has attracted large numbers of pilgrims, which is steadily Those who keep to the road have spent their strength increasing. The sturdy women of Hindustan long before the holy city is reached. brave it out, and sing songs till they drop but the weaker females of
;
Bengal limp piteously along with bleeding feet in silence, broken only by deep sighs and an occasional sob. The pilgrim-guide tries to keep up their spirits, and insists, with a necessary obduracy, on their doing
a
full
day's journey every day, in order that they
may
;
reach in time for
the festival.
Many
a sickly girl dies
upon the road
and by the time
they reach Puri, the w^hole party have their feet bound up in rags,
plastered with dirt
and blood.
city,
But, once within sight of the holy
the pains and miseries of the
journey are forgotten.
lakes,
They hurry
its
across the ancient Maratha bridge
with songs and ejaculations, and rushing towards one of the great
artificial
plunge beneath
sacred waters in a transport
of rags
of
religious emotion.
The
dirty bundles
now
yield
their inner
treasures of spotless cotton,
and the
pilgrims, refreshed
clean garments, proceed to the temple.
The
pilgrim-guide
and robed in makes over
the flock to his priestly employer, and every hour discloses
idol or
some new
solemn spectacle. As they pass the Lion Gate, a man of the sweeper caste strikes them with his broom to purify them of their sins, and forces them to promise, on pain of losing all the benefits of
pilgrimage, not to disclose the events of the journey or the secrets of
the shrine.
At first nothing can exceed But thoughts of the slender provision remaining for the return journey soon begin to cool their munificence, and the ghostly man's attentions slacken in proportion.
In a few days the excitement subsides.
their liberality to their spiritual guide.
ORISSA.
Before a week
shrine
is
453
over,
money
altercations
commence, which
in
process
of time resolve themselves into an acrimonious haggling over every
;
and the
last
few days of their stay are generally devoted to
schemes
possible.
for getting out of the holy city with as
few more payments as
lakes.
Every day the pilgrims bathe
artificial
in
one of the sacred
rising
sheets of water are
embanked
with solid masonry,
These vast honeycombed
by time, and adorned with temples
from beneath masses of rich
from the edge or peeping
At the principal one, 5000 bathers may be seen at once. On the masonry banks, which are formed into one continuous flight of steps all the way round, a good mile in length, there is sometimes not an inch of standing room to be had.
foliage.
Here, as in every spot where the
primitive adoration of local divinities
common
and
village
people congregate, the gods makes its appear-
ance.
In
this
centre of Vishnu-worship, half-way
lake, stands a venerable
down
the
grand
flight of steps to the
banyan
tree, the
abode
o( an ancient sylvan deity,
whom
the pilgrims propitiate by sticking red
flowers into the crevices of the weather-beaten trunk.
Not far off is the garden-house of Jagannath, whither the three sacred It stands at the end of a images are drawn during the Car Festival. long, broad, sandy avenue, somewhat under a mile in length, which runs direct from it to the temple. It is surrounded by a massive wall about twenty feet high, castellated at the top. The principal gateway
is a handsome structure, with a fine pointed roof adorned with lions in the most conventional style of Hindu sculpture. Inside, one catches glimpses of long straight walks, and groves
looks towards the temple, and
end of the vista. Another place visited by all pilgrims is the Swarga-dwara^ the Gate The devotee threads his way through the deep-sunk of Heaven. narrow alleys of the town, with their thatched huts of wattle and mud
of bright evergreen trees, with an ancient shrine at the
reaches the shore. till he he comes on a region of sandhills, bordered by temples and tombs behind, and with the surf-beaten beach in front. No distinct boundaries mark the limits of the Gate of Heaven.
gaily
painted with red and yellow gods,
city,
There, on the south of the
It
runs about a quarter of a mile along the coast, or
'
as
much
as
may
In the background the lofty tower of Jagannath rises from the heart of the city; and in the intervening space little monasteries cluster, each in its own hollow between the
be occupied by a thousand cows.'
sandy
wall
hills.
Sometimes an outlying rood or two of land
is
is
reclaimed,
with infinite labour, from the sandy slopes, and fenced in by a curious
made
of the red earth pots in which the holy food
served out to
vessel,
the pilgrims.
The
sacred rice can only be placed in a
new
and
every evening thousands of the unbroken pots are at the disposal of
any one
in
want of such slender building materials.
454
ORISS^.
I
Here the pilgrims bathe. At the great festival, as many as 40,000 rush together into the surf; and every evening, silent groups may be seen purifying themselves for their devotions under the slanting rays of the sun. It is a spot sanctified by the funeral rites of generations.
i
The low
castes
who bury
their dead, dig a hasty hole in the
sand
;
and
the hillocks are covered with bones and skulls, which have been washed
bare by the tropical rains, or dug up by the jackals.
Every evening,
i
funeral pyres are lighted here for the incremation of the bodies of the
i
more respectable Hindus who have died
in the town.
No
trustworthy statistics exist as to the
number of
pilgrims
who
visit
Jagannath.
But a native gentleman, who has spent
his life
on the
spot,
;
has published as his opinion that the number that daily flocks in and out of the holy city never falls short of 50,000 a year, and sometimes
'
;
amounts
in
to 300,000.
Not a day passes without long
At the Car
;
trains of footsore
is
travellers arriving at the shrine.
Festival, food
at
cooked
.
the temple kitchen for 90,000 devotees
another festival for
full
J
70,000; and on the morning of one of their solemn
pilgrims wash
moons, 40,000
fell
|
away
their sins in the surf.
The
old registers, during
|
the period
when
the pilgrim tax was levied, notoriously
below the
'
1820 and 1829, the between one and two hundred thousand. The pilgrims from the south are a mere handful compared with those who come from Bengal and Northern India, yet it has been ascertained that 65,000 find their way to Puri, across the Chilka lake, in two months alone. Along the great north road the stream flows day and night.
official
truth; yet in five out of the ten years between
return
amounted
to
-
I
j
!
As many
between sunrise and sunset. As many as 9613 were actually counted by the police leaving Puri on a single day, and 19,209 during the last six days in This is the number absolutely ascertained to have departed ; June.
as 20,000 arrive at a favourite halting-place
]
i
'
and probably many more slipped
off unperceived.
The
records of the
missionaries in Orissa estimate the
number of the
pilgrims present at
\
ihe Car Festival alone, in some years, as high as 145,000. Disease and death make havoc of the pilgrims. During their stay in Puri they are badly lodged and miserably fed. The priests impress
|
'
,
on them the impropriety of dressing food within the holy city and the temple kitchen thus secures the monopoly of cooking for the multitude.
;
!
The
tions.
eatables served out chiefly consist of boiled rice.
Peas, pulse,
clarified butter, sugar,
be reasonable enough a mess of rice - halfpence, except during the festivals, when the vast number of customers enables the cooks to raise their prices. Before being offered for sale, it is presented to Jagannath
to
;
and The charges seem
for
rice are also
made
into a variety of confec-
sufficient
two
men
costing three
in the outer hall, but within sight of the image,
and thus becomes holy
food.
When
fresh,
it is
not unwholesome, although pilgrims complain
ORISSA.
of the cooking being often very bad. of
it is
455
But, unfortunately, only a part
eaten fresh, as
it is
too sacred for the least fragment to be thrown
it
away.
Large quantities of
are sold in a state dangerous even to a
and deadly to the wayworn pilgrims, half of whom When reach Puri with some form or other of bowel complaint. examined after twenty-four hours, even in January,' writes Dr. Mouat, late Inspector-General of Jails, 'putrefactive fermentation had begun in all the rice compounds and after forty-eight hours, the whole was a
man
in robust health,
'
;
loathsome mass of putrid matter, utterly
of the beggars
It is
unfit for
human
aurmg
use.
This
food forms the chief subsistence of the pilgrims, and the sole subsistence
who
flock in
hundreds
to the shrines
its
the festival.
consumed by some one
or other, whatever
state of putrefaction,
to the very last morsel.'
But bad food is only one of many predisposing causes to disease which the pilgrims have to encounter. The low level of Puri, and the sandy ridges which check the natural drainage towards the sea, render it a very dirty city. Each house is built on a little mud platform about
four feet high.
In the centre of the platform
is
it
a drain which receives
in
the
filth
of the household, and discharges
the form of black,
itself
stinking ooze
on the
is
street
outside.
The
platform
becomes
gradually soaked with the pestiferous slime.
In
many
;
houses, indeed,
a deep, open cesspool
rule, the
sunk
in the earthen platform
this
and the wretched
inmates eat and sleep around
the other, without
lairs
perennial fountain of death.
cells
As a
houses consist simply of two or three
leading one into
sort.
windows
or roof ventilation of
any
In these
of disease the pilgrims are massed together in a
manner shocking
to humanity.
The city contains upwards of 6000 houses, with a resident But almost every citizen takes in population in 188 1 of 21,913 souls. pilgrims, and in 1869 there were not fewer than 5000 lodging-houses in
the
city.
The
baffle description.
scenes that formerly took place in these putrid dens I was shown one apartment,' says Dr. Mouat in the
' '
Report above
cited,
in
the best pilgrim hotel of the
It
})lace, in
which
eighty persons were said to have passed the night.
roof over
It
10 feet 5 inches broad, with side walls 6i feet in it. It had but one entrance, and no escape for the effete
was 13 feet long, height, and a low pent
air.
was*dark, dirty, and dismal when empty, and must have been a pestIn this house occurred the first case of house during the festival. If this be the normal state of the best cholera in the last outbreak.
lodging-house in the broad main street of Puri,
it
is
not
difficult to
imagine the condition of the worst,
back-slums of the town.'
in the narrow, confined,
undrained
About the time of the Car
Festival, there
can be
for
little doubt that as many as 90,000 people were often packed weeks together in the 5000 lodging-houses of Puri. At certain seasons of the year this misery is mitigated by sleeping
456
out of doors.
OJ^ISSA.
In the dry weather, the streets of Puri look like a great
encampment, without the tents. The soaking dews are unwholesome enough but as long as the people can spend the night outside, some
;
check exists to the overcrowding of pilgrims by rapacious house keepers. How slight this check practically proves, judged of from the fact that the official reports before cited are selected as referring to the season when people can sleep out
with impunity.
lodging-
may be
specially
of doors But the Car Festival, the great ceremony of the year, unfortunately falls at the beginning of the rains. The water pours down for hours in almost solid sheets. Every lane and alley becomes a torrent or a stinking canal, which holds in suspension the accumulated filth heaps of the hot weather. The wretched pilgrims are now penned
into the lodging-house cells without mercy.
Cholera invariably breaks
and the dying are huddled together, with a leaky roof above, and a miry clay floor under foot, the space allotted per head
out
living
'
The
being just as
much
as they
can cover lying down.'
reaches
on the return journey that the misery of the pilgrims The rapacity of the Puri priests and lodginghouse keepers has passed into a proverb. A week or ten days finishes the process of plundering, and the stripped and half-starved pilgrims crawl out of the city with their faces towards home. They stagger along under their burdens of holy food, w^hich is wrapped up in dirty cloth, or packed away in heavy baskets and red earthen pots. The men from the Upper Provinces further encumber themselves with a palm-leaf umbrella, and a bundle of canes dyed red, beneath whose strokes they did penance at the Lion Gate. After the Car Festival, they find every stream flooded. Hundreds of them have not money enough left to pay for being ferried over the network of rivers in the delta. Even those who can pay have often to sit for days in the rain on the bank, before a boat will venture to launch on the ungovernable torrent. At a single river, an English traveller once counted as many as forty corpses, over w^hich the kites and dogs
it
But
is
its
climax.
'
were
battling.
The
famished, drenched throng
toils
painfully backward, urged
by
the knowledge that their slender stock of
money
will
only last a very
few weeks, and
that, after
it is
done, nothing remains but to die.
The
till
missionaries along the line of
march have ascertained
that
sometimes
they travel forty miles a day, dragging their weary limbs along
they drop from sheer fatigue.
Hundreds die upon the roadside. Those are most happy whom insensibility overtakes in some English Station. The servants of the municipality pick them up and carry them to the hospital. The wretched pilgrims crowd into the villages and halting-places along the road, blocking up the streets, and creating
an
artificial
famine.
The
available sleeping places are soon
crammed
OJ^ISSA,
to overflowing,
457
shelter
and every night thousands have no
Miserable groups huddle under
lie
from the
lines,
pouring rain.
their
trees.
Long
with
heads on their bundles,
among
the carts and bullocks on the
side of the road.
It is
impossible to compute, with anything like precision, the
that thus perish
on the homeward journey.
fall
Personal inquiries
number among
the poorer pilgrims lead to the conclusion that the deaths in the city
and by the way seldom
one-fifth,
of
each
company;
this
below one-eighth, and often amount to and the Sanitary Commissioner for
Bengal
travel
in
confirms
estimate.
Among
the
richer
devotees,
far
who
bullock carts or by palanquin, the losses, so
as can be
ascertained,
journey performed
do not exceed the ordinary contingencies of a Ion o But, in the most trying season of the Indian year.
on the other hand, outbreaks of cholera take place, which, although controlled to some extent by science, spare neither rich nor poor. Indeed, few pilgrims from the distant Provinces of Upper India attend the great Car Festival in mid-summer, except the very fanatical, who first make their arrangements for dying on the road. While the
now
population of Lower Bengal flocks to this ceremonial, the northern
themselves with a cold-weather pilgrimage to the Swinging Festival in March and even then, the deadly hot season
devotees content
catches
to
;
them before they regain their native villages. reckon the total number of the poorer sort who
than 84,000.
It
is
1
It is
impossible
travel
on foot
at
less
equally impossible to reckon their deaths in
Puri and on the road at less than one-seventh, or
slaughter of 10,000 per
2,000 a year.
Denet
ducting 2000 from these for the ordinary death-rate,
we have a
annum.
not looked
prohibition
It may well be supposed that the British Government has unmoved on this appalling spectacle. Nothing but a total
of pilgrimage would put a stop to the annual massacre.
prohibition would
religious
But such a
amount to an interdict on one of the most cherished privileges, and would be regarded by every Hindu throughout
India as a great national wrong.
The
subject has
and, in 1867, ^ grand
come up from lime eff"ort was made
to time for official discussion
;
to enlist the educated classes
against so homicidal a practice.
Circular letters were sent to every
Division of Bengal, and the utmost influence of the higher officials
But the answers which came in from e\ery Bengal admitted of no hope. All that remained was to institute a system of sanitary surveillance and quarantine, which should reduce
was brought to bear.
part of
the inevitable loss of
life to a minimum. Such measures are of three kinds, the
—
first
being directed to lessen
the
number
;
of pilgrims
third, to
;
the second, to mitigate the dangers of the
road
and the
prevent epidemics in Puri.
Anything
like a
458
ORISSA.
upon the
religious
general prohibition of pilgrimage would be an outrage
feelings of the
people.
it
But, in seasons of cholera or of other great
calamity in Orissa,
by giving warning
might be possible to check the pilgrim stream, Government Gazette, and through the medium Thousands of devotees would put off the of the vernacular papers. It is very difficult, however, to give such enterprise to another year. warnings before the month in which the pilgrims usually start. But in
in the
extreme cases they could be stopped upon the road, and turned back This was done in the famine year 1866, before they entered Orissa. and native public opinion supported the action of Government. But it cannot be too distinctly understood, that such an interference is only
justifiable
The second
safety,
under extreme and exceptional circumstances. set of preventive measures can be applied with greater
certain results.
and with more
Thousands of pilgrims every
year die upon the journey from exhaustion and want of food.
Nor
does there seem any possibility of lessening the number of deaths
some thousands also died under the control of medical science. Within the last few years, pilgrim hospitals have been established along the main lines of road, and a medical patrol has been, through the energy and devotion of the Civil Surgeon of Puri, estabGreat good has been effected lished in the vicinity of the holy city. by these means but a heavy drawback to their utility consists in the fact that the devotees will not enter an hospital except at the last
from these causes.
of diseases which,
But, until very recently,
if
taken
in
time, are
;
extremity,
patients are
and the surgeons say that the great majority of pilgrim beyond the reach of aid when they are brought in. There exists, however, another means of decreasing the danger of the road besides medical patrols and pilgrim hospitals. The large
;
towns along the route always contain the seeds of cholera and, indeed, that disease is seldom wholly absent from any Indian city. The arrival of the pilgrim stream is, year after year, the signal for the ordinary sporadic cases to assume the dimensions of an epidemic. Cuttack, the
capital of Orissa, suffered so regularly
and so severely from the passage of
else, at last
the pilgrim army, that the doctors, having tried everything
determined to shut the devotees entirely out of the city. The result upon the public health has been marvellous. Police are stationed at the entrance to the town, and warn the pilgrims that they must skirt round the municipal boundaries. A sanitary cordon is thus maintained, and Cuttack is now free from the annual calamity to which it was for
centuries subject.
Agriculture. Rice is the great crop of Orissa. The husbandmen have developed every variety of it, from the low-growing plant 18 inches high, to the long-stemmed paddy which rears its head above 6 or 7 feet of water. Their skill in tillage has adapted this cereal to all
—
ORISSA.
classes of soil,
is
459
deep swamps. One variety and is reaped in March or April another is sown on high lands in May or June, and reaped in July or August a third, sown at the same time, is reaped in is September a fourth, sown on lands of middling elevation, reaped in October a fifth, sown on low lands throughout the whole
from the dry uplands
in
to the
sown on low lands
;
;
December
or January,
;
;
Province
at the
beginning of the rains, yields the great harvest of the
year in December.
population, and
is
Rice
is
the bountiful
gift
of nature to a deltaic
associated in the most intimate
lives,
its
manner with the
domestic ceremonies of their
and with
They
distinguish each stage of
worship of the gods. growth and of its preparation as an
their
article of food.
Besides
rice,
they have wheat,
many
varieties of pulse
and pease,
oil-seeds
— especially mustard — hemp, tobacco, cotton, sugarmany
kinds.
cane, the costly betel-leaf, tubers, and vegetables of
The rates From 6s. to
rent
of
los.
rent
vary according
to
the
quality
of the
soil
an acre
6d.
to
may be
5s.,
taken as the rent of
first-class
winter rice land, or of the best two-crop land.
of from
2S.
Medium
soils
pay a
acre
and
inferior
lands from 9d. an
Expensive and specially exhausting crops, such as tobacco and sugar-cane, pay as high as 25s. an acre, but their average rent
upwards.
is
from
12s.
to i8s.
In 1883-84,
at
common
lbs.
rice sold at
42
lbs.
for
the rupee
(a pulse),
(2s.),
and wheat
lbs. to
from 22
;
to 28 lbs. the rupee;
lbs. to
gram
from 32
36
lbs.
salt,
from 24
32
lbs.
In Pun'
District, 10 acres are
holding.
less
considered a fair-sized farm, and 30 acres a large In Cuttack District, it is estimated that small holdings of
than 10 acres absorb one-half of the total cultivated area.
Very
few farms exceed 25 acres. In the District of Balasor, with its 656,000 acres of cultivable land, there are not more than one hundred holdings
of from 20 to 100 acres; and the few farms that exist of these dimensions are generally held by families of brethren,
in
who
cultivate the land
common.
Sixty per cent, of the whole farms are below 10 acres,
cultivators in
and these are frequently held by several
common.
The
zaminddrs make advances of money and seed to the tenants.
Land
in
Revcjuie.
—The
total land
revenue collected
in
British Orissa
1883-84 was ^176,942, of which ^£"18,641 represented arrears. The number of estates from which the collection was made was 5839. The number of permanently settled estates was 174 (^14,680); of temporarily settled estates, 5634 (;/^i36,945) and of rdyatwdii During 1883-84 the revenue courts disposed tracts, 31 (;£^25,3i7). of 3629 suits to recover arrears of rent. The total amount of road and public works cesses collected in 1883-84 was ;^2 2,483. The area under irrigation was 48,359 acres (of which 45,981 acres were situated in Cuttack); land revenue demand on irrigated area, ^19,381, or 8s.
;
an acre.
46o
ORISSA.
ports of Orissa
Trade.—The
Puri,
are
Balasor,
False Point (Cuttack),
ports.
and Chandbali, together with
total
several
minor coasting
Rice
and cotton piece-goods
are the staples of Orissa trade.
The
and
ports,
export,
value of the sea-borne trade of Orissa, in 1883-84, import was p^i, 608,282, namely, imports, ;2{;749,5io, and ex-
^858,772. Almost the whole of the import trade, and nearly 60 per cent, of the export trade, is with Calcutta, about 12 per cent, of the whole trade being with other Indian ports, and about 20 per cent,
articles of
of the export trade being with foreign ports not Indian. imports are European cotton twist and yarn
The
chief
Indian do. (^^23,278), European cotton piece-goods Indian do. (^894), apparel (^49,163), gunny-bags (^49,724), metals (^81,305), oils (^17,837), spices (^18,861), areca-nuts (^29,960), tobacco (^20,691), and treasure (^91,103). The chief exports of
hides (^67,561), timber for railway Balasor is the leading Dis(^11,556). trict for rice exportation; number of tons exported from Balasor District (1883-84), 54,530; from Cuttack, from Puri, 12,713. 41, 597 The rice of Balasor finds its largest market in Mauritius, and the rice of Cuttack in Ceylon. The exports of Puri also mostly find their way to Ceylon. In 1883-84, the number of steam vessels that entered Balasor with cargo was 210, and of sailing vessels, 73 cleared with cargo— steam
sleepers
(^148,059), (^101,900),
Orissa are
rice
(^55 1^752),
lac
(^9982), and
;
:
vessels,
219;
sailing vessels,
;
113: number of steam vessels entering
sailing vessels, 7
:
Cuttack with cargo, 103
and of
cleared with cargo
of steam
i
:
—steam
vessels,
99
;
sailing
vessels,
35
:
number
2.
vessels
entering Puri with cargo, 21;
and of
sailing
vessels,
cleared with
cargo— steam
vessels,
32
;
sailing vessels,
;
Total vessels trading
Two steamers run weekly between Calcutta and Balasor, and four bi-weekly steamers connect Calcutta with Cuttack 7'id Chandbali. The traffic on the Orissa canals, down-stream, was valued at ^374,652
sailing, 231.
with Orissa ports in
1883-84— steam, 684
in
1883-84; and up-stream,
at
;£"294,386
:
total,
^669,038.
The
number of laden boats on
the canals was 7965. If Orissa has any mineral resources, they are as yet unworked. The only industry of the least importance is salt, which is manu-
factured
mostly in
salt
Puri
is
District,
but generally throughout Orissa.
Even
the
industry
not
flourishing,
and
it
is
thought that
Liverpool
salt will
Cuttack has some
eventually drive the native article from the market. reputation for its gold and filigree work. Tea is not
grown
in Orissa, and the same may be said of indigo and cinchona. Com7fm?iications.—0nssdi has no railroads, and the general system of road communication is miserably deficient. The Province is thus
exposed
to
the
earliest
and worst
effects
of
famine.
Only one
ORISSA.
461
main road (namely, the Grand Trunk Road running from Calcutta to Madras) passes through the alluvial region of the Province, with a A fair-weather road joins Cuttack branch from Cuttack to Puri. with Sambalpur in the Central Provinces, and another road from Midnapur to Sambalpur affords transit through the region of the A railway is now (1885) under survey from Tributary Hill States. Benares to Cuttack and Puri, passing on its way through Chutia Nagpur, and designed for the benefit of the enormous crowds of pilgrims which flock to the Hindu shrines of Benares, Gya, and Puri.
The
start,
distance from
to
Mughal
Sarai, near Benares,
is
Pun', the
Orissa terminus,
567 miles.
where the railway will This line will be
of especial Orissa
is
At present importance as a famine protective work. almost isolated from the world, being dependent for communication with the north, south, and west on bullock tracks, and
with the east on the seaports which are unsuitable for ships of any The means of rapidly throwing provisions considerable tonnage.
into
the
Province,
in
case
of
famine,
are
inadequate.
Vessels
must unload
into lighters or small country craft, of which the supply
is
along the coast
and during the monsoon or rainy period, and dangerous. The canal system the unloading of Orissa, regarded as a means of communication, can carry comThe High paratively small quantities of grain, and that slowly. Level Canal was originally designed to provide a navigable trade The Orissa Canal route between Cuttack and Calcutta, 230 miles. carried beyond the river Salandi in Balasor has not, however, been The section District, where the Canal ends opposite Bhadrakh town. intended to connect the Orissa Canal with the Midnapur Canal has, for
small
;
is
both
difficult
a time at
least,
been abandoned.
The Kendrcipara Canal
is
navigable
The Taldanda Canal, only from Cuttack (False Point) to Marsaghai. and irrigation, connects the city of Cuttack intended for both navigation
with the main branch of the Mahanadi within The Machhgaon Canal connects Cuttack with
(53 Orissa Canal system,
will
tidal
range (52 miles).
of the Devi
the
mouth
miles).
Its
chief purpose
its
is
irrigation.
A
general view
of the
irrigation capabilities
be found
in the article
and financial aspects, Mahanadi River, ante, Vol. ix. pp. on the
in British Orissa,
is
160-163.
Education is satisfactorily advanced Educatio?i. and one boy out of every three of school-going age
—
at school.
The
number
pupils.
with 104,953
of primary schools in the Orissa Division in 1883-84 was 8920, The indigenous schools numbered 73, with 95S pupils.
The payments-by-results system of State aid was introduced into Balasor District in 1877, into Cuttack in 1878, and into Puri in 1879 and has resulted in the absorption of the indigenous institutions of the territory. Under this system, each District has its staff of inspecting
;
462
ORISSA.
pundits or teachers, and Cuttack District has an auxiliary agency in the shape of chief gurus, or itinerant schoohiiasters, who receive no regular
salaries,
quality of the
but are rewarded at the end of the year by the quantity and work they do. Total State grant-in-aid of primary
education,
^5909
in
1883.
is one first-class municipality, Puri, erected under Act v. of 1876; income of Puri in 1884, ^1927, of which ;£'ii92 accrued from taxation proper, and the remainder from miscellaneous receipts. The natives on the municipal board number 14, and the Europeans 4. Cuttack, Balasor, Kendrapara, and Jajpur
Mu7iicipalities.
— There
are municipalities of the second-class
which
native
^4619
aggregate income, £,S^19^ of accrued from taxation proper; aggregate number of
;
members
of boards, 50
all
;
of Europeans, 13.
The
incidence of
Lower Bengal was is. 4-|d. in 1884; over British Orissa the incidence for the same year was is. o|d. Natural Calamities. Orissa owes to its rivers, not only its rare deltaic fertility, but also some of the greatest calamities which can afflict a country. Besides its copious water-supply, amounting to a
municipal taxation for
—
discharge of 2,760,000 cubic feet per second in time of floods, Orissa
has a local rainfall of 62J inches per annum.
Nevertheless, the un-
controlled state of the water-supply has subjected the Province, from
time immemorial, to drought no less than to inundation. A great drought followed by famine and fever devastated Orissa in 1830; and in a smaller measure, during 1833-34, 1836-37, 1839-40, 1840-41.
'i'he
flood of 1866 destructively inundated 1052
square miles of the
from 3 to 15 feet deep in most parts for thirty days, submerging the homesteads of ij million of husbandmen, and destroying crops to the value of 3 millions sterling. The Province was then just emerging from the terrible famine of 1865-66, which swept
delta, the waters lying
away one-fourth of the whole population, and the people WTre looking
forward to the approaching harvest as their one chance of safety when
calamity took place. This inundation does not stand alone. Eleven years previously, an equally ruinous flood had buried the country deeper in water, and forty years ago a tidal wave and river inundation had completely desolated a large part of Balasor
this fresh
District.
The
floods
and droughts of Orissa constitute a yearly
Province,
charge upon the revenues of the
the Tributary States.
exceeding in absolute
outlay three times the whole revenue derived from the inhabitants of
Engineering
skill
may
ultimately solve the great
problem of checking the flood water before it reaches the lower levels, and thereby free the country from the misery and desolation such calamities bring upon it. Much has already been done by Government to husband the abundant water-supply. The Orissa canals, which have been fully described in the article on the Mahanadi
ORISSA.
River, distribute the water and commerce.
^6'^
463
for
irrigation,
and
utilize
it
for
navigation
hitmdations.
—The
shore.
Orissa coast
is
also subject to cyclones
and
devastating tidal waves from the ocean.
Situated as
it is
at the con-
verging extremity of the Bay of Bengal, storms from the south heap up
the waters on
its
Such storms are frequently accompanied by
level
a heavy rainfall, which simultaneously floods the rivers, especially the
Mahdnadi.
tide,
The
elevated
of the sea, with
its
high
result
incoming
is
then meets the rivers in a state of flood.
tract,
The
a storm-
wave, which sweeps over the maritime
submerging the jungle, and
region.
drowning the sparse hamlets of that
catastrophe of this kind occurred in the
desolate
A
terrible
autumn
of 1885.
house establishment was buried under water, and a large people at False Point, including some of the port officials and their families, perished. The destruction to cattle and property was on an enormous scale. The storm-wave rushed in a few hours over several
The lightnumber of
hundred square
miles,
obliterating all
vestiges
of
human
habitation.
The
craft
shipping at False Point harbour and along the coast also suffered
Several vessels were driven on shore, and numberless native
severely.
were destroyed in the creeks and lesser harbours. The Famine of 1866. The famine of 1866 and the diseases conse-
—
quent thereon, which are estimated by the Famine Commissioners to have robbed Orissa of one-fourth of its population, deserve somewhat
detailed notice. Up to October 1865, rice continued to be tolerably cheap in Cuttack, and had not reached at all near 21 lbs. per rupee (2s.), which the Collector of an Orissa District would consider a famine In Puri District the prospect was price authorizing relief operations. gloomy to a degree, and prices there were about two and a half times When the expected rain had not fallen by October their average rates.
20, panic set in, the rice trade stopped, the country ceased to supply
the
towns, the bazars of Cuttack and Puri closed, and the missioner of Orissa in consequence telegraphed the position of On November 6, the for the information of Government.
Comaffairs
Com-
missioner reported that rice was priced at 16
lbs. to
the rupee; on the
nth December he recommended
mittees, but
it
the establishment of Relief
Com-
was not until April 1866 that actual want set widely in, when a rupee only purchased 1 1 lbs. of common rice, when death by starvation was imminent for the poorer classes, and when the general appearance of the land and the people bespoke the awful presence of famine. From June to July prices continued to rise, and in the latter month were eight times their normal amount, in most places
rice
was not
to
be obtained
fields
at
all,
grass
of the
as food.
and the people had recourse to the Meanwhile, the establishments of the
country began to grow disorganized.
On
the
28th
May
the
Com-
464
ORISSA.
:
a*
missioner telegraphed to Government as follows
difficulty
—
'
Rice with utmost
rupee.
procurable in insufficient quantity at 4 J sers (105 tolas) per Bazars again partially closed. Only one day's rations in store
1
for troops,
who
;
are reported discontented.
daily.
I
assistance
crime increasing
Public works
Commissariat have refused and relief works
of
stopped for want of food.
recommend immediate importation
and
to feed labourers
on relief works and to supply food to starving through Relief Committees. Rice can be landed at Balasor river, False Point, or mouth of Dhamra river for arrange to do so. Mahdjans (merchants) would Cuttack. I will supply on their own account, if Government gave a tug steamer to tow ships down the coast no rains, and the early-sown rice crop in
rice for use of troops, for jails,
;
danger.'
Relief Committee to
This telegram was foUo.wed up by one from the Cuttack Local Government on the 29th May 'The Committee,
:
—
observing that the market price of the very coarsest rice is 3 J Cuttack sers per rupee, and that supplies to any amount, even at that high
price, are not procurable, resolved that
an urgent application be made
Government of Bengal for importation of one lakh of rupees (^10,000) worth of rice direct from Calcutta to False Point by steamer.' On the same day, the Lieutenant-Governor directed the Board of Revenue to at once arrange for sending rice from Calcutta to Balasor, False Point, and Dhamra, as proposed by the Commissioner. Meanwhile the Committee had been extending their operations
to the
for gratuitous relief.
of rice to Kendrapara,
there.
In June, orders were given to send 500 maiinds and to raise the daily allowance to each pauper
Gratuitous distributions were
relief
commenced
;
at False
Point
;
six
branch
houses were opened in Cuttack town and it was resolved to open centres at Jajpur, Taldanda, and two other places in different parts of the District, besides that already opened at Kendrapara.
distribution.
light
Rice was also entrusted to the officers of the Irrigation Company for The Superintending Engineer had promised to provide
labour for those who, though not up to
full
work, were capable
of doing something, and
who were
to
be remunerated by a daily
portion of food from the Committee's centres.
light
labour considerably reduced
July, resolutions
the
The introduction of this number of those receiving
gratuitous relief
During
a certain
that
were passed
that, in the light labour yard,
minimum
of daily work should be required from each pauper,
;
on the performance of which he should be entitled to rations and any work done in excess of the minimum should be paid for upon a scale which would enable an industrious man to earn an dn7id a day in addition to his rations; that persons in receipt of more than Rs. 10 (^i) a month should be allowed to purchase rice from the Committee
—
ORISSA.
at
465
be made to selected
low rates
;
that low-rate sales should continue to
sers per
more than 4 At the meetmgs dfi?ids (6d.) worth was to be sold to each i)erson daily. for in uncooked in August it was decided that labour should be paid stray children should be searched for, clothed, that all orphans and rice and fed; that a system should be introduced of supplymg yarn to be
individuals at the rate of 5
rupee, but that no
;
spun in their houses by widows and respectable females, who should for be paid for their labour in rice. Arrangements were also made
for providing additional hospital accommodathe loth August, the Committee resolved to raise On tion for the sick. an adult, the allowance of cooked rations to 7 local ch/iatdks{i^ ozs.) for
clothing the naked,
and
and 4 chhatdks
for a child.
The
rates of relief sales
were also reduced
inferior rice ; on to 6 sers per rupee of good, and 9 sers per rupee of lowered to 7 sers of good, and 11 the 7th September they were further The establishment of additional sers of inferior rice for the rupee. The centres in the rural districts was also rapidly pushed on.
relief
following extension in the Committee's operations is shown by the each month from statement of the relief given in the last week of
Tune to October
:
Operations of the Relief Committee,
Number Number
Last week of
of
June— October
Dailv average Number of Persons Relieved.
cluded
[866.
of
Number
of Bags sold at
Number
who
rlid
in-
Bags of Rice
given in Gratuitous
Relief.
Centres in Operation.
in previous column
Cheap
Rates.
light
labour.
June,
July,
.
.
54
113
1,301
220
1,665
258
628
821
8,164
August,
20,562
5,503
September,
October,
41
1793
1374
841
32,000
^".,210
15,000
13,449
43
2556
was also afforded to the distressed in the shape These were of two kinds, namely, works executed of public works. those supervised by officers of the Public Works Department, and During the last seven months of District officers. by the local April 1866 inclusive), the official year 1865-66 (October 1865 to works out of a budget the sum of £1201 was expended in public During the first seven months of 1866-67 allotment of ^11,248. 1866 inclusive), £SSS?> ^^'^^s further expended, November
Government
relief
(May
to
Works total of ;^i6,8oi expended by the Public till from the commencement of the distress in October 1865,
making a
VOL. X.
^
officers
its
end
^
;
466
in
ORISSA.
1866.
also
November
;£"i358 was
During the same fourteen months, the sum of expended in works under the supervision of the
District officers.
The general condition of the country from June to September may be pictured from the following paragraphs, quoted in extenso
from the Report of the Famine Commissioners (vol. i. pp. 93, 94) :— In June, all Orissa was plunged in one universal famine of extreme Although there never were such crowds of starving people severity. and such mortality in the town of Cuttack as in Balasor and Bhadrakh, the state of Cuttack District, in which famine had been so recently
'
discovered, was already as
in June, at
bad as possible. Mr. Kirkwood says that Taldanda, the distress could not be exaggerated; it was
impossible to keep any sort of order
among
the famishing crowd, and
" for miles round you heard their yell for food." The relief afforded yet extremely small ; in fact, except in the town by importation was as
In Balasor town several thousand of Balasor, hardly appreciable. persons were fed throughout the month ; but at Bhadrakh, and in the In interior of the District, the unrelieved distress was very great. importation by sea, the relief afforded Puri, there having been no
was very
small.
There was
not, at this time, the
same
visible rush of
fact
starving masses in
Puri as in the
other Districts,
—a
due,
no
doubt, in part to the inability of the Collector to offer food, and n part attributed to the greater exhaustion of the people and the greater The only redeeming circummortality which had already occurred. stance was that the rains had commenced very favourably ; the agricultural classes (who set apart the seed-grain as something sacred,
and keep
still
in a different shape from that intended for food) had it seed to sow most of their fields ; and for those who could hope to live till harvest, there was a prospect of relief in the distant
future.
The mortality may be said to have reached its culminating point at the beginning of the second week of August, during the heavy rains which preceded, and caused, the disastrous floods of this same year.
*
The people were
then in the lowest stage of exhaustion
;
the emaciated
crowds collected at the feeding stations had no sufficient shelter, and The the cold and wet seems to have killed them in fearful numbers. defect of shelter was remedied, but the people throughout evinced great In August, the mountain dislike to occupy the sheds erected for them. which intersect Orissa rose to an almost unprecedented height streams
embankments were topped and breached in all directions, and the whole of the low-lying country was flooded by an inundation which lasted for an unusual time, and which caused the terrible aggravation "The Mr. Kirkwood thus reported to the Collector of the distress. houseless poor looked in vain for shelter from rain that penetrated everythe
:
—
OIUSSA.
where.
467
The known deaths from
still
diarrhoea and dysentery and other
It is
similar diseases increased greatly.
feared that the
unknown deaths
for support.
must have been
more numerous,
for persons
could not reach the
dnnd-chhatras or relief depots, to which alone they looked
In
most of the low-lying lands, the biali or autumn rice crop, which would have been reaped in another week or fortnight, was almost entirely destroyed, and the young cold-weather crops suffered much from protracted immersion. Although new relief centres were opened, yet in several cases it was found quite impossible to supply those already opened with rice, owing to the boats from False Point being unable to make way against the powerful current that then came down and at
;
several centres operations were altogether suspended.
this
The
result
of
was a great aggravation of the already existing distress; for those who were congregated at the centres found, when the stock of rice ran out, that they were cut off by the floods from other aid, and many died
from sheer starvation."
'
In
September there was some
relief,
not only
by the greater
extension and better supply of the feeding-centres and sale depots,
but also from the ripening of the small early crop of rice in tracts which had escaped the flood. At best, however, the distress was still rice still sold at 6, and even 5 sers for but a degree less than before the rupee and it may be doubted whether the results of previous
;
;
suffering, joined to its present continuance, and the eft'ect of unaccustomed food on those who were much reduced, did not increase
the distress.
'
In
November
to
the
siderable quantity,
new crop began to come into the market and then the general famine may be said
the
in con-
to
have
come
the
an end.
however,
The people
still
returned to their avocations, leaving only
very
emaciated,
orphans,
and the widows.
the
Considerable
distress,
suff'ered
existed in
unfortunate
tracts
which had
a second calamity by the floods of August, particularly in the Kendrapara Sub-division ; and in these, relief operations were continued
some time further.' Medical Aspects. The climate of Orissa is the same as that of Southern Bengal, and may be divided into three seasons, the hot, the rainy, and the cold. The hot season commences in March and lasts till about the middle of June, the rains last from the middle of June to
for
—
October, and the cold weather from the beginning of November till the end of February. The Meteorological Department has two stations in Orissa, one at False Point lighthouse, and the other at Cuttack town. In 1881, the maximum temperature at the former was 103° F. in April, and the minimum 49° 8' F. in January at the latter the maximum was 109° F. in April, and the minimum 51° 8' F. in January. At Cuttack town during the four months of March, April, May, and
—
;
—
468
ORISSA TRIBUTARY STATES.
The rainfall of June the thermometer registered over ioo° F. Orissa is gauged at Cuttack, False Point, Puri, and Balasor. At Cuttack the average fall for 24 years ending 1881 was 56I inches; at False Point, for 15 years ending 1881, it was 73 inches; at Puri, 56 inches and at Balasor, 66"6 inches. Cholera always breaks out in the months of June, July, and August, being brought by the pilgrims bound to or from the great festival of Jagannath. Measles appear to be unusually prevalent in Cuttack city and District. Small-pox generally makes its appearance about the beginning of the year, and as a rule ends before the middle
;
Surgeon states that its regular appearance during owing to the practice of inoculation with small-pox matter. The inoculators preserve the virus in cotton, and commence operations about the end of December or beginning of January. Smallpox thus spreads to the unprotected, and becomes general throughout the District. The Uriyas are perfectly regardless of contagion and it is no uncommon sight to see people in the streets, or walking about the crowded market-places, covered with the disease. Ancient prejudice stands in the way of vaccination, and even the more enlightened natives of Orissa will seldom allow their children to be touched with vaccine matter. The Civil Surgeon reports favourably of the precautions which
of April.
Civil
The
these months
is
;
have been adopted to keep the pilgrims (the main cause of cholera This is effected by a sanitary epidemics) out of the town of Cuttack. cordon drawn round the municipal limits. There are 14 hospitals and dispensaries in British Orissa (1883),
entertaining 1785 in-door patients in that year
patients
;
income
and 58,743 out-door Total average daily attendance, in-door and out-door, 440. of dispensaries, ;£3344, of which ^433 represented native
contributions.
Puri, Pipli,
Three of the dispensaries are in Puri District, namely, and Khurdha; number of patients treated in these three dispensaries, in-door 559, and out-door 12,326; almost all of whom
were pilgrims to the shrine of Jagannath. The registered death-rate for Orissa in 1883 was about 21 per thousand, but the registration is not to be relied on as accurate.
Orissa Tributary States. A cluster of 17 dependent territories which form the mountainous background of the Orissa Division, Lower Bengal. They lie between 19° 52' 15" and 22° 34' 15" n. lat,, and
between ^2)° 3^' 30" and 87° 13' e. long. The territory is situated between the Mahanadi Delta and the Central Provinces. The following table exhibits statistics of the 17 States in 1883-84:
^ Formerly, the Orissa Tributar)' States were 19 in number, but two have since been confiscated, and are now administered as British territory, namely, Angul, conand Banki, confiscated in 1840, the fiscated in 1847 for the rebellion of the Raja chief having been convicted of murder.
;
—
ORISSA TRIBUTARY STATES.
Tributary States of Orissa
in 1883-84.
469
;
470
ORISSA TRIBUTARY STATES.
Barambl
of Hindol
forms the boundary of the States of Narsinghpur and
the
On
and Dhenkanal, supplying countless little feeders to the Brahmani, which From the north bank of occupies the second of the three valleys.
other
side
they slope
down upon
the
States
this river, the hills again roll
back into magnificent ranges, running
in
same general direction as before, but more confused and wider, Keunjhar watershed, with peaks from 2500 to till they rise into the 3500 feet high, culminating in Malayagiri, 3895 feet above the sea, in the
the
This watershed, in turn, slopes down into the third from whose eastern or left bank rise the hitherto almost unexplored mountains of Morbhanj, heaped upon each other in noble masses of rock, from 3000 to nearly 4000 feet high, sending countless tributaries to the Baitarani on the south, and pouring down the Burabalang, with the feeders of the Subarnarekha, on the
State of Pal Lahara.
valley, that of the Baitarani,
north.
The
hill
ranges are densely
wooded
to the summit, and, except
at the regular passes, are inaccessible to beasts of burden.
The
inter-
mediate valleys yield rich crops in return for negligent cultivation and a vast quantity of land might be reclaimed on their outskirts and
lower slopes.
Rivers.
— The principal
rivers are the
Mahanadi, the Brahmani, the
and the Burabalang. The Mahanadi enters the Tributary States of Orissa in Bod, forming the boundary betwTcn that State on the south, and Athmallik and Angiil on the north, for forty-nine miles. It then divides Khandpara and Banki on the south, from Narsinghpur, Baramba, and Athgarh on the north. In the last State, it debouches through a narrow gorge upon the Cuttack delta. It is everywhere navigable throughout the Tributary States, and up to Sambalpur, by
Baitarani,
flat-bottomed boats of about twenty-five tons burden, and a considerable
trade
bed.
is
carried on.
river
Precious stones of different kinds are found in
its
would afford valuable facilities for navigation but for The boatmen carry rakes and the numerous sandbanks in its channel. with which they clear a narrow passage just sufficient to let their hoes, craft pass. Where rocks impede the nagivation, there is plenty of depth on either side ; and a little blasting would enlarge the water-way, and
thus lessen the force of the rapids.
to heavy floods, which have
The
When
full, it is
a magnificent river,
It is liable
varying from one to two miles in breadth, and of great depth.
of Bengal
States are
{Q,M\X2.Qk. District,
been described in The Statistical Account vol. xviii.), where a comprehensive account
Its chief feeders
of the Mahanadi will be found.
in
the
Tributary
— on
its
north or
in
left
bank, the Sapua
;
in
Athgarh, and the
on its south or right bank, the Khandpara, with the Joramu, Hinamanda Ganduni, Bolat, Salki Bagh, Marini, and Tel. This last stream divides the Orissa Tributary States from those of the Central
Athmallik
in
Dandatapa and Mano Kusumi and Kamai
1
KISSA
Provinces,
TRIBUTARY STATES
Stales
47
of
forming the boundary between the
Bod and
Sonpur.
It is navigable District. throu-h Talcher and Dhenkanal into Cuttack Talcher where as four miles below for a few months of the year as far up easily blasted some dangerous rocks, which might, however, be
The Brahmani
and passes enters the Tributary States in Talcher,
there are
Common
precious stones, in the bed jasper abounds, along with other forms in the State of Keunjhar, and The Baitarani rises of the river. In the State and Morbhanj for forty miles. the boundary between that but with difficulty, as far as dry season it is navigable by small boats, south or right bank, in \nandapur, a large village in Keunjhar on its considerable trade is carried on at 86° 11'. lat -^1° 13' and long. brought by land from the souththis place, the rural and forest produce Ihe carried by boats from the coast. west being bartered for salt,
A
described in The StatisBurabalang rises in ISIorbhanj, and has been fully for District, vol. xviii.); which also see tical Account of BenganB3\:xsor an account of the Salandi and Subarnarekha.
rising into The banks are generally abrupt, occasionally these rivers. of the sandy, with the exception of that fine heights, and the beds been formed Nor have any important islands Baitarani, which is rocky. but rocks and wooded cUtts rivers within the Tributary States, bv the middle of the Baitarani and have here and there been thrown up in the
No
important instances of diluvion are
known
in
the
courses
ot
the Mahanadi.
The banks
places ihev might be turned passage, but in reality merely larly rumoured to have a subterraneous
in many are generally buried in jungle, but The Baitarani is popuinto fertile fields.
Cow's Nostrils. The rivers flows through two rocky clefts, called the None of them are ordab e no lakes, and are far beyond tidal range. season they are all fordable durin- the rainv months, but in the dry Three towns on the Mahanadi subsist at certain parts of their course.
form
by
Padmabatiand Kantilo namely, Baideswar in Banki, and cocoa-nuts and These communities carry salt, spices, in Khandpara. the Central Provinces, bringing thence brass utensils up to Sambalpur, in
river traffic,
in
There are also several smaller etc. iron, turmeric, tasar cloth, rice, Mahanadi which carry on trade in timber, towns on both banks of the On the Brahmam the only bamboos, oil-seeds, and other local produce. with in the State of Dhenkancd larcre villages are Baulpur and Bhuvan, All the river banks lac, oil-seeds, etc.
a thriving river traffic in resin, are partly inhabited by fishermen.
clarified butter, exchange, cotton, wheat, oil-seeds,
oil,
molasses,
The
fisheries are of
no great
value.
and is believed to exist in Minerals.-X Limestone and building Angul and along the banks of the Mahanadi. Iron is found in Morbhanj, materials are found in all the States. Keunthal, and other regions.
coal-field exists in Talcher,
472
Populatioti.
ORISSA TRIBUTARY STATES.
—The
total
population of the Tributary States of Orissa
consisted in 1872 of 1,155,509 persons, namely, 581,458 males and 574,051 females: in 1881 of 1,469,142 persons, namely, 742,566
726,576 females. In the latter year, the proportion of males in the total population amounted to 50*5 per cent., and the average density of the population was 967 persons per square mile.
Classifying the population
males and
according to religion, the Census of 1881
gives
the
;
following
total,
results:
— Hindus,
total,
males 555,642,
and females
543j575
1,099,217, or 74*8 per cent:
total,
;
Muhammadans, males
:
3057, and females 2672; males 229, and females 229
i^3»347)
Ethnically
5729: Buddhists, 540: Christians, 458 Sikhs, 7 and 'others,' males
:
and females
divided,
179,844; total, 363,191, or 24*8 per cent. the population of the Tributary States consists
almost solely of (i) Hindu Uriyas, who inhabit the valleys, and who form the largest and most important section of the population and (2)
;
non-Hindu aboriginal and semi-aboriginal
etc.,
hill
tribes,
such as Kandhs,
Savars, Gonds, Bhumijs, Santals, Kols, Pans, Bhuiyas, Bathudis, Khairas,
who
figure in the
above
classification as
'
others,'
and who number
Details of these
363,191, or 24-8 per cent, of the whole population.
and semi-aboriginal as follows: Kandhs, 28,865
aboriginal
tribes,
Savars, 22,275; Gonds, 17,863; Bhumijs, ; 11,000; Santals, 922; Kols, 2962; Bhuiyas, 36,250; Pans, 92,488. The aboriginal tribes are most numerous in the mountainous jungle
—
who have
professed Hinduism, are
tracts of
them
MoRBHANj, KEUN7HAR, and Bod. The most important of Kandhs, who inhabit a large tract of country in Northern Madras, where they number 205,045 in the Native States of the Central Provinces, where they number 147,768; and in the Tributary
are the
;
States
and British numbering 36,911.
Districts
of Orissa, where
they are
returned as
This
last is
a considerable under-estimate, as the
number of Kandhs in the Tributary States of Orissa in 1872 was returned at 75,531. In 1881, the population of the Kandh-mals alone, a tract attached to Bod State, but under direct British administration,
a tract which, as implied by its name, is almost by Kandhs, who are not returned as such in the detailed Census Tables. The other Orissa States in which the Kandhs are strongest are Daspalla, Angiil, and Nayagarh. They are also scattered through nearly all the other States of Orissa, and are met with in the British Districts and in Northern Madras. They form one of a group of non-Aryan races who still occupy the position on the Bay of Bengal assigned to them by the Greek geographers 1500 years
at
was returned
58,959
—
entirely populated
ago.
day.
The Kandh idea of Government remains purely patriarchal to this The family is strictly ruled by the father. The grown-up sons
life,
have no property during his
but live in his house with their wives
ORISSa TRJB UTAR \ STA TES.
'
473
and children
mother.
;
and
all
share the
common meal
number made up
The
fluher
clan consists of a
;
of families
in like
prepared by the grandsprung from a
common
of clans
the tribe
and the
tribe
is
manner of
;
a
number
of the
if
who
is
is
claim descent from a
common
ancestor.
The head
but
usually the eldest son of the patriarchal family
he is set aside, and an uncle or a According to the old Kandh theory of existence, a state of war might lawfully be presumed against all neighbours with whom no express stipulation had been made to the contrary. Murders within the tribe were punished by blood revenge the kinsmen within a certain degree being one and all bound to pursue and kill A stolen the slayer, unless appeased by a payment of cattle or grain. This may seem article nmst be returned, or its equivalent made good.
eldest son
not
fit
for the post,
younger brother
is
appointed.
;
a slight penalty for theft.
But the
Kandh
twice convicted of stealing
was driven forth from
race.
trial
his tribe, the greatest
punishment known
to the
A
favourite
method of
settling disputes
among
the
Kandhs was
by combat. Such duels, and annual raids upon the lowlands, formed the principal recreations of the tribe till they came under
British rule, forty years ago.
The Kandh is a well-made man and his boldly developed muscles, broad forehead, and full but not thick lips, present a type of intelligence, strength, and determination, blended with good humour, which
;
make him an
war.
He
a feast.
agreeable companion in peace and a formidable enemy in never asks for quarter, and adorns himself for battle as for The Patriarch or Chief used to send out swift messengers
from glen to glen bearing an arrow as a summons to war. Before engaging, each side sacrificed to the gods. The most approved form was to go on fighting day after day, till one side or the other was
exterminated.
to the warriors
Such a
battle yielded a pleasurable excitement, not only
villages.
engaged, but to both their
The women and
stood behind the combatants, handing them pots of water and cooked food, together with much good advice as to the conduct of the fight. The father selects a wife for his son, and usually chooses one
old
men
older than the boy.
ten.
The
girl
may be
fourteen, while the
boy
is
only
The
reason of this
is,
till
that the bride remains as a servant in her
new
father-in-law's
house
her boy husband grows old enough to live
with her.
The Kandh engages
other work.
But attached
only in husbandry and war, and despises all to each village is a row of hovels inhabited
to
by a lower race, who are not allowed
battle, or to join in the village
worship.
hold land, or to go forth to These poor people do the
dirty
work of the hamlet, and can never rise in the social scale. They can give no account of their origin but they are supposed to be the remnants of ruder tribes, whom the Kandhs found in possession of
;
474
the
hills
ORISSA TRIBUTARY STATES.
when they themselves were pushed backwards by the Aryans The Kandhs have many deities race gods, tribe i)lains.
from the
—
gods, family gods, and a multitude of malignant spirits
—each
one of
is
whom
must be ap])eased with blood.
But
their great divinity
the
Earth-god,
who
at
represents the productive energy of nature.
at harvest,
Twice
of pro-
each year,
sowing time and
and
in all special seasons of
distress, the earth-god
required a
human
sacrifice.
The duty
viding the victims rested with the lower race of out-castes attached to
Kandh village. Brahmans and Kandhs were the only two classes exempted from being sacrificed and an ancient rule ordained that the Men of the lower race, attached offering must be bought with a price. and it was a mark to the villages, kidnapped victims from the plains of respectability for a Kandh hamlet to keep a small stock in reserve, The victim, as they said, to meet sudden demands for atonement.' on being brought to the hamlet, was welcomed at every threshold, He was then daintily fed, and kindly treated, till the fatal day arrived.
the
; ;
'
solemnly sacrificed to the Earth-god
ear,
'
;
the
Kandhs shouting
in his
dying
bought you with a price no sin rests with us.' His flesh blood were distributed among the village lands, a fragment being and solemnly buried in each field in the newly turned furrows. In 1835, the Kandhs passed under British rule, and these sacrifices had to cease.
;
We
The proud
hostilities
spirit
of the clans shrank from compulsion
tribal councils
;
but after
and many
they gave up their stock of
suzerain.
some human
victims,
British
as
a present to their
new
Government
that they should not obtain fresh ones.
Care was taken by the A law was
;
passed declaring kidnapping for human sacrifice to be a capital offence and the Kandh priests were led to discover that buffaloes did quite as
well for the Earth-god, under British rule, as
times.
human
made
sacrifices in the old
The
practice ceased under the firm supervision of the tribes
English
this
officers,
who
established
hill-fairs,
roads,
by and brought
WMld isolated people into
mercantile relations
with the rest of
mankind.
article
For further
details regarding this interesting tribe, see the
Kandhs,
afite, vol. vii.
OccKpation.
tion
—The Census of 1881
pp. 400-405.
distributes the adult
male popula-
Tributary States of Orissa into the following six main groups: (i) Professional class, including State officials of every kind and members of the learned professions, 18,371; (2) domestic
of the
—
servants, inn
including
bankers,
and lodging-house keepers, 5983; (3) commercial class, merchants, carriers, etc., 9608 (4) agricultural
;
and
pastoral class, including shepherds,
all
250,379;
;
(5)
industrial class,
including
and (6) indefinite manufacturers and artisans, 87,844 and unproductive class, comprising all male children and persons of
unspecified occupation, 370,381.
Throughout the whole 17 Tributary States of
Orissa,
covering an
OR/SSA TRIBUTARY STATES,
persons, there
five
475
area of 15,187 square miles, and containing a population of 1,469,142
is
only
i
town (Khand[)ara) containing
as
many as between
7
thousand and six thousand inhabitants, and only upwards of two thousand. The number of villages with
less
towns with than two
with from two to five hundred, in 1881 was 9101 1748 with from five hundred to one thousand, 305 with from one to two thousand, 50. A large village generally gathers around the house or fortress {garh) of the Chief; permanent collections of huts grow
hundred inhabitants
;
;
;
up
the
at
convenient
sites
for
trade
along
the
rivers
or
roads
;
but
with these exceptions, a village in the Tributary States simply
means
the
communal homestead of
contain
a
a
cultivated valley.
larger
Such homesteads,
than
however, generally
outside
population
more simple Kandh villages. For, besides the landless low castes, they require a small body of shopkeepers and tradesmen suited to the more advanced state of social existence which they have reached. The one town with a ])opulation exceeding 5000 is Khandpara, situated on It contains (1881) 5543 inhabitants, the right bank of the Mahanadi. and is a considerable seat of trade. Religion and Caste. As in other parts of Orissa, the great mass of
—
the inhabitants of the Tributary States are Hindus, with the aboriginal
fetish superstitions
more or less distinctly preserved. According to the Census of 1881, Brahmans number 71,672 Rajputs, 3030; Baniyas Dhobis (washermen), (traders), 16,664; Chasas (cultivators), 145,841 Goalas (cowherds), 123,818 Khandaits (the ancient peasant 15,468
;
;
;
;
militia of Orissa,
now almost
all cultivators),
66,862; Tanti's (weavers),
The number of Musalmans is and Telis (oilmen), 44,535. very small, and consists of the descendants of those v.'ho took service as soldiers under the Rajas in the time of the Marathas, when The JMuhamthere was constant fighting between the rival States. madan religion does not make any progress among the people. Sunn is In number 4573; Shias, 333; Wahabis, 13; and 'others,' 810. Athgarh there is a village called Chhagan Gobra, and in Nilgiri one called Mitrapur, entirely inhabited by agricultural communities of
25.066
;
native Christians.
The
principal places of pilgrimage are Kopilds in
Dhenkanal, Kusaleswar and Jotipur
and Samakul
devotees.
Agriculture.
in
Nayagarh
is
—
in
Keunjhar, Mantir
attract
in
Morbhanj,
all
of which
annual crowds of
whole Tributary States
conducted in two methods, common to the Rice cultivation in hollows and on low lands, with a command of irrigation. In the valleys, where the mountain rivulets can be utilized, the peasants throw a dam across the stream
:
— Tillage
—
(i)
and
store
up the
water.
The
lower levels
thus secure a supply of
cultivation
moisture
the whole
year
round, and wet rice
(2)
goes
on
throughout the twelve months.
Upland
or tdila cultivation,
upon
476
OJ^ISSA
TRIBUTARY STATES.
;
rainfall.
newly cleared patches of land, which depends entirely on the local The forest is cut down and burnt upon the spot and the soil, thus enriched with salts, yields abundant crops of early rice, oilseeds, and abandoned
At the end of four or five years, such clearings are new ones, and the land relapses into jungle. After years of rest, when a fresh growth of forest has sprung up, the trees and shrubs are again cut down and burnt, the whole process of
cotton.
for
clearing
and
cultivating for another period of five years being repeated
de novo.
Trade and Conununicatiojis. The population is generally scanty, and having abundance of waste lands to cultivate, is disinclined to emigra-
—
Trade and commerce, owing to the miserable condition of communications, are of no importance. There are said to be coalfields in Talcher and Angiil, and it is possible, if the Cuttack and
tion.
may be found of value. At Although the Mahanadi, Brahmani, and Baitarani rivers either pass through or take their rise in the Tributary States, they are only navigable for native boats from June to December, and the navigation is much impeded by large rocks. There are no land routes deserving the name, except some local roads in Dhenkanal, Keunjhar, and Morbhanj. The two existing lines from Cuttack to Sambalpur, one through Angiil and the other through Sonpur, are submerged in parts during the rainy season, and are neither
Benares Railway be constructed, that they
present they cannot be worked.
bridged nor metalled.
Forests.
— The
Tributary States of Orissa are
;
among
their
the best timberthe greater
producing
portion
is
tracts in India
but the native chiefs, by
little
whom
owned,
have taken
care
of
forests.
They
have established no reserves, and the forests are recklessly wasted without any corresponding gain to agriculture or to the general
prosperity of the country.
As
the territory
will
is
opened up and the
timber becomes more valuable, the Chiefs
preserve the forests.
valuable.
perhaps be induced to The Kandh-mal forests are considered to be
Reserved
the
forests in Angiil estate
total
have not yet been accurately
170,880
surveyed, but
acres.
area
is
reported approximately at
Administration.
their
—The Chiefs rule
is
their territories
much
is
according to
to leave
own
ideas of what
its
right.
The
British system
each
State under
disputes,
hereditary Raja, and allow
him
jurisdiction in civil
and
in all crimes not of
a heinous character.
The
Chiefs are
amenable
in
all
to the British
Commissioner of the Province,
in his character
as Superintendent of the Tributary States; this officer has jurisdiction
serious offences,
exceeding seven years.
and may imprison criminals for a term not Sentences for a longer period, although passed
for
by the Commissioner, must be reported to the Bengal Government
ORISSA TRIBUTARY STATES.
confirmation
generally
;
477
and
it
is
the
Government alone
nature
:
that
can imprison or
in
punish a Chief.
of the
The
treaty
engagements entered into by the Rajas are
following
— Besides
holding themselves
submission and loyal obedience to the British Government, they are
bound on demand
committed offences
troops
to surrender
fled into their territories, also
any residents of Orissa who may have any of their own subjects who may have
;
in British territory
to furnish supplies to British
;
and in case of any neighbouring Raja or other person offering opposition to the British Government, they are on demand to depute a contingent of their
their
territories
when passing through
own
troops to assist the forces of Government.
small tribute,
his total
now
fixed in perpetuity,
Each Raja pays a and bearing a very small ratio to
they are assured absolute
income.
In return for
this tribute,
security from foreign enemies, from domestic rebellions,
tribal feuds.
and from interIn one case, that of Angul, a Chief has been dispossessed but his family enjoy pensions from Government. for waging war In
;
murder and Both these States are now under direct Government management, the revenues being collected, and the affairs of the State generally managed, by a receiver {tahsilddr). The other 17 States still remain under their native Chiefs, or are temporarily managed and the only cases of English interference for Chiefs in their minority have been to prevent the aggression of the strong upon the weak, or to
his estate confiscated.
;
another, that of Banki, the Raja was convicted of flagrant
support the authority of the hereditary Chiefs against their domestic
enemies.
In 1885, Baramba, Dhenkanal, and Morbhanj were adminiis
stered for minor chieftains.
Educatio?i in the Tributary States
its
progress in British Orissa.
The number
backward, as compared with of boys of school-going
;
tary States
is one in three in the Tribuone in eight. In 1883, the number of aided primary and the number of pupils, 13,667 schools was 1060 indigenous There were also 4 middle English and 8 schools, 10; pupils, 124.
age at school in the British territory
it
is
;
:
middle vernacular schools
in
The aided and
the
in
inspected
1883, with an aggregate of 714 pupils. primary schools are gradually absorbing
latter
indigenous institutions, owing to the
order
is
seeking
enrolment
system,
to
in a
obtain
the
benefits
of
the
payment-by-results
which
modified form applied to Angiil, Dhenkanal, Morbhanj,
and Keunjhar States. Two schools in the Christian village of Chhagan in Athgarh are supported by contributions from mission funds. In most of the States, the lower primary schools are left entirely to themselves, and are wholly supported by the people of the locality. The total expenditure upon education in the Tributary States in 18S3 was ;£4i57, of which the British Government contributed £,2"]^. The number of civil and revenue suits instituted during 1883 was
478
ORISSA CANAL
SYSTEM— OT-PO.
affecting
6774; number of offences reported, 1456; offences
life,
;
human
24; dakditi (gang-robbery), 5 number of convictions in criminal In addition to the rural posts maintained but inefficiently cases, 1072.
by the chiefs, there are four State postal lines from Cuttack to Angiil, from Cuttack to Dhenkanal, from Balasor to Morbhanj, and from Russel-konda in Ganjam to Bisipara in the Kandh-mals. Two private postal lines run from Bhadrakh in Balasor to Keunjhar, and from
Baripada to Bahalda. Watch a?id IVard are matters of concern to the various States, there being no British system of police or imprisonment in force.
Climate,
etc.
—
Tributary States
tion
is little
average annual rainfall over the area of the Malarious fever is common. Vaccina55 inches. adopted. Some of the chiefs have established dispensaries
is
— The
of an inferior kind.
Orissa Canal System. See Mahanadi River. Otapidaram. Tdluk or Sub-division of Tinnevelli
—
—
District,
^Madras
Presidency.
the District,
This extensive tdluk occupies the north-eastern portion of and includes the zaminddri of Ettiapuram. Area, 1075
Population (1881) 269,797 namely, 131,624 males and dwelling in 3 towns and 373 villages, containing
;
square miles.
138,173
54,592
females,
Hindus number 236,845; Muhammadans, 5733; Otapidaram tdluk is almost 27,195; and 'others,' 24. an extensive black cotton plain wholly of a uniform character, relieved by scanty and poor groves of tamarind here and there, and Near the coast white sands prethickets of acacia in every tank bed.
houses.
Christians,
—
vail,
crneiss rock, rising
producing chiefly palmyras and acacia. A few detached masses of abruptly from the plains, form conspicuous objects
;
but generally the country is almost level, rising and falling slightly in long and broad slopes, which follow the drainage lines from north-west to south-east. The South Indian Railway enters the tdluk from Madura District a little south of Satiir, and has in the tdluk the Maniachi
Otapijunction station, Tuticorin terminus, and three road stations. daram contains Tuticorin, the principal seaport of Tinnevelli District,
and one of the most
statistics
civil
flourishing ports of the
Madras Presidency.
;
For
of trade, see Tuticorin.
The
tdluk contained in 1883, one
circles {thdnds)
police.
and two criminal courts; 16 police Land revenue, ^31,252.
153 regular
Otapidaram.
— Town
m
Tinnevelli District, Madras Presidency.
houses, 588.
;
Population (1881) 2854; number of
iahsilddr of Otapidaram tdluk.
Head-quarters of
Police station
post-office.
Ot-po. Township in Henzada District, Irawadi Division, Lower Burma; divided into six revenue circles. To the westward, the country
is
—
mountainous
;
it
is
low
in the east,
the annual rise of the Irawadi river, but
and was formerly inundated on is now protected by embank-
OT-PO—OUDH.
ments.
479
Gross revenue,
Population (1877) 37,7o7
in
;
(18S1) 70,230.
^17.903.
Ot-po.— Town
situated in
lat.
Henzada
>«•,
District,
17° 4^'
^^"d long.
Irawadi Division, Lower Burma; 95° 20' 10" e., on the Ka-nyin
south of stream, 4 miles west of the Irawadi river, and 29 miles
aune;.
Myan-
Population (1881) 3912.
in the Ni'lgiri Hills,
Ouchterlony.— Valley
OCHTERLONY.
Madras Presidency.— .S"^^
of British India, under the administration of the Northof a Chief Commissioner, who is also Lieutenant-Governor 25° 34' and 28° 42' n. lat., and It lies between AVestern Provinces. Area, 24,246 square miles. 79° 44' and 83' 9' e. long.
OudhM^iW//).— Province
between
Population (1881) 11,387,741.
the independent State of Nepal
is bounded on the north-east by on the north-west by the Rohilkhand on the south-west by the Division of the North-Western Provinces the Benares Division; and on river Ganges; on the south-east by
Oudh
;
;
The administrative head-quarters are at the east by Basti District. (Lakhnau), the capital of the former Kingdom of Oudh, and Lucknow the main centre of population and manufactures.
The
table
on following page
exhibits the area, population, etc., of
the Province of
Oudh
according to the Census of 1881, with the land
revenue for 1883-84. Physical Aspects.— T\\Q
Province
of Oudh,
the
latest
(until
the
annexation of Upper or Independent
Burma
in
1886)
among
the great
kingdoms of India to fall under the direct authority of the British Government, forms the central portion of the level Gangetic plain, foot of the stretching from the Ganges in the south-west to the It thus intervenes north-eastern boundary. Nepalese Himalayas on its between two sections of the previously acquired North-Western Prodensely populated vinces, cutting off the Rohilkhand Division from the
country around Benares. Oudh presents throughout the
alluvial
plain.
monotonous
east
features
of
a
vast
In
to
the the
extreme
lower
alone,
the
British
frontier
extends close up
slopes
of
the
Himalayan system,
embracing a portion of the damp and unhealthy submontane region known as the Tarai. For 60 miles along the northern border of Gonda and Bahraich Districts, the British boundary line skirts the foot of the mountain hills but westward of that point it recedes a little from the Tarai in this portion of the range has been ceded for the tract, and the
;
most part to the Native State of Nepal.
forest
skirts
A
narrow belt of Government
Province the northern frontier, but all the rest of the plain, only 6 per cent, of the consists of a fertile and densely-peopled No striking features anywhere break the surface being unfit for tillage. Rivers form the only ob:.tacles to the direct the horizon. dead level of
48o
OUDH.
tn
OUDIL
line of
481
communication.
Tlieir course
falls
slope of the country, which
is determined by the prevailing away gradually from the Himalayan
border towards the Ganges and the
the incline
attained
(in
is
sea.
The
plateau
general direction of
of
thus from the north-west, where the greatest elevation
the
jungle-clad
Khairigarh
Kheri
frontier
District)
is
amounts
230
feet
6co feet, while the extreme south-eastern above sea-level.
to
only
Four great
ing courses
Ganges, the Gumti, the Gogra, and the Rapti. Numerous smaller channels seam the whole face of the country, carrying off the surplus drainage in the rains, but drying up in the hot season. Mountain torrents, fed by the rains and the melting snow, bring down large quantities of detritus, which they spread during floods over the
surrounding
i)lain.
— the
rivers
traverse or skirt the plain of
Oudh
in converg-
The
deposits thus accumulated consist at times of
silt
;
pure sand, at others of rich clay
parts
but
in
any case
their
accumulation
causes a gradual rise in elevation, and has been accompanied in
many
by the formation of unhealthy swamps
at the foot of the hills.
All the larger rivers, except the Giimti, as well as
streams, have beds hardly sunk below the general level of floods, caused by the rains or melting
their confining
most of the smaller and in times
;
snow, they burst
through
banks and carve
Giimti rises
in
for
themselves new channels at various
points.
The
Pilibhit District of the
North-Western
Provinces, passes the cities of
flows into
territory.
Lucknow, Sultanpur, and Jaunpur, and the Ganges near Sayyidpur in Ghazipur District beyond Oudh Its tributaries are the Kathna, the Sarayan, the Sai, and the
Nand. Oudh possesses another valuable source of water-supply in its numerous shallow ponds ox jhils, many of which mark the former beds of the shifting rivers. These y/^/A are of value, not only as preservatives against inundation, but also as reservoirs for irrigation and for the supplying of water to cattle. Only two amongst them, however, those of Behti in Partahgarh District (10 square miles), and Sandi in Hardoi
(14 square miles), deserve the
name
of lakes.
A
country so
uniform in
;
its
physical features
can
hardly possess
any natural sub-divisions
Districts of
and, accordingly, the various administrative
general
aspect.
Oudh do not materially differ from one another in their The north-eastern angle, comprising Gonda and
is
Bahraich
Districts,
traversed
by the
river Rapti,
ward
to the
deeper channel of the Gogra.
and slopes southAlong the southern bank
of the latter stream stretches the thickly inhabited District of Faizabad,
and the three together compose the Division of the same name.
The
north-western Division of Sitapur comprises the three Districts of Kheri, Sitapur, and Hardoi, extending from the Khairigarh jungles on the
north, across the valleys of the Sarda
and the Gumti,
to the
banks of
the
Ganges opposite Kanauj.
The
central Division of
VOL. X.
Lucknow spreads 2 H
482
OUDH.
i
from the Gogra, also to the Ganges, and includes the three populous Districts of Bara Banki on the east, Lucknow in the middle, and Unao on the west. The south-eastern Division of Rai Bareli likewise
1
\
Rai Bareli and Partabgarh, along the contains three Districts of the Ganges, and Sultanpur on either side of the Gumti.
—
left
bank
;
The
soil
of
Oudh
consists of a rich alluvial deposit, the detritus of
the Himalayan system, washed down into the Ganges valley by ages of Usually a light loam, it passes here and there into pure fluvial action.
clay, or degenerates
|
\
occasionally into barren sand.
Water may be
)
reached at an average depth of 25 feet, with a minimum of 4 or 5 feet in the Tarai tract, and a maximum of 60 feet south of the Gogra. The narrow margin of uncultivable land consists chiefly of extensive usar plains, found in the southern and western Districts, which are
j
Only the covered by the deleterious saline efflorescence known as reh. The efflorescence hardiest grasses will grow upon these waste patches.
has been variously attributed to percolation and to over-cropping. Oudh possesses no valuable minerals. Salt was extensively manufactured during the native rule, but the British Government has prchibited the industry for fiscal reasons.
•
j
.
I
Nodules of carbonate of lime
]
{kankar) occur in considerable deposits, and are employed for metalling
the roads.
|
The
lakes,
waving and very varied
general aspect of the Province is that of a rich expanse crops, interspersed by numerous ponds
groves,
of
or
,
mango
and bamboo clumps.
The
villages
lie
thickly
1
scattered, consisting of low thatched cottages, surrounded
by patches
trees.
I
of garden
land, or groves of banyan, pipal,
and pdkar
The
|
dense foliage of the mango plantations mark the sites of almost every homestead; no less an area than 1000 square miles being little covered by these valuable fruit-trees. Tamarinds overhang the huts of
the poorer classes, while the neighbourhood of a wealthy family may be Plantains, generally recognised by the graceful clumps of bamboo.
guavas, jack-fruit, limes, and oranges add further beauty to the village The scenery, as a whole, has few claims to attention, except so plots.
far as trees
i
'
|
j
|
i
,
produce a pleasing effect ; but the varied colouring of the ripe crops, the sky, and the groves or buildings, often charms the eye under the soft haze of a
to
and water may occasionally combine
'.
j
tropical atmosphere.
!
The
flora of the reserved
Government
forests
is
rich
and
varied.
The
i
sal tree yields the
most important timber; the finest logs are cut in the Khairigarh jungles and floated down the Gogra to Bahramghat, where The hard wood of the they are sawn by steam into planks or beams.
shisham
is
j
I
I
also valuable
;
while several other timber-trees afford material
|
for furniture or roofing shingles.
Among
is
the scattered jungles in various
its
1
parts of the Province, the inaJmd tree
prized alike for
edible flowers,
.
OUDH.
its
483
and its timber. The jhils supply the villages with wild rice, and seeds of the lotus, and the water-nut known as singhdra. The area of reserved forest in Oudh in 1881 was 1079 square miles; felled by the area protected from fire, I73J54 --icres number of trees value of timber and other produce sold, the forest officers, 87,388; Department in 1881 was ^27,597. The revenue of the Oudh Forest ^28,198, and the expenditure ^^21,703 surplus profit, p{:6495. The fauna of the Province comprises most of the animals and birds common to the Gangetic plain but many species once of frequent
fruit,
the roots
;
;
;
occurrence
have now disappeared from
this thickly
populated
tract.
Wild elephants wandered till a very recent period in the forests which of Tulsipur skirt the north of Gonda, and afforded sport to the Rajas except when a stray specimen now, this animal is practically unknown, Herds of wild buffaloes, which loses his way at the foot of the hills. been in the woodlands of Kheri, have long since formerly roamed but Tigers once swarmed along the banks of the Rapti extirpated. their numbers, rewards ofi"ered by Government have now lessened
; ;
the
only and they have grown scarce even in the submontane region, being Leopards, the wilds of Khairigarh. found in any numbers among banks of however, still haunt the cane-brakes and thickets along the prey of streams as far south as the Gogra, and occasionally make Province, and in the Mlgdi are found all over the calves or pigs.
north commit depredations
among
the crops.
mar
plains of the
Ganges and
the
Giimti
in
Antelope frequent the Ingreat numbers.
the cold
numerable flocks of teal and wild duck stud they///A' during plentifully weather and snipe haunt their reedy banks, though not so Jungle fowl breed in the forests as among the rice-fields of Bengal. Wolves and Tarai, and peacock are found in every District.
;
of the
assiduously destroyed in snakes, the chief enemies to human life, are The their ravages still occasion much loss of life. but large numbers include horses, cattle, buffaloes, donkeys, pigs, sheep,
;
domestic animals
goats,
and fowls. Immense herds of dwarfish cattle graze along summer submontane belt, and are driven into the higher plateaux for the descended from the domesticated stock Herds of wild cattle, months. yet wander among the of villages depopulated under the native dynasty,
the
jungles at the edge of the cultivated land. very History.— "Wi^ legendary annals of Oudh date back to the
earliest period of
Indian poetry.
The
which the Province derives its Hindu religion. Faizabad, and forms one of the holiest places of the the upon the chariot-wheel of the creative god, it ranked as Founded descended from the dynasty, a line of princes who
capital of the Solar
name,
lies close to
sacred city of Ajodhva, from the modern town of
incarnate deity, Rama. sun and culminated after sixty generations in the the Rdmdyana, legends embodied Whatever faith may be reposed in the
m
484
there can be
little
OUDH.
doubt that the Province must have formed one of the Aryan colonization. The burial-place of Muni Agastya, a
is still
earliest seats of
pioneer of the conquering race,
pointed out near Colonelganj, a
history,
few miles north of the Gogra.
powerful sovereign.
At the dawn of
a flourishing kingdom, ruled over from Sravasti (Sahet
Oudh appears as Mahet) by a
;
In
its capital,
Sakya Miini began
his labours
and
the city long remained a seat of learning for the disciples of the Buddhist
first promulgation of the Buddhist religion, two of the great school of doctors who attended at the synod convened by the Scythian conqueror Kanishka in Kashmir. Ptolemy (150 a.d.) apparently divides the central Gangetic basin between the Tanganoi or Ganganoi, whose southern limit was the Gogra, and the jMaroundai or Marundse, whose territories stretch on his map from
faith.
Six centuries after the
Sravasti contributed
Central
Oudh
into the heart of modern Bengal.
The
first-named people,
whose boundaries correspond with the existing Districts of Gonda and Bahraich, seem to have been an aboriginal hill tribe, ethnically connected, perhaps, with the Tharus. The Marundae were probably a Scythian race, and are known as a trans-Indus people. The information to be derived regarding India from Ptolemy's text and maps, except on
the coast-line, can be trusted only
when supported by
to the
other evidence.
The
statements in this paragraph are at variance with the opinions of
Mr. W. C. Benett, to whose Introdiidmi
following article
is
Oudh
Gazetteer the
otherwise
much
indebted.
The epoch
fall
of Ptolemy coincides with the culmination and the downa
of Sravasti,
kingdom which
for
six
centuries
or
more had
maintained a high position among the States of Northern India. Vikramaditya (one of the several but unconnected Vikramadityas in Indian history), the last of its monarchs whose name has come down to
Meghavahana, the powerful king of Kashmir, and and holy places of Ajodhya, which had completely fallen into neglect. The trans-Gogra kingdom, hemmed in between the river and the mountains, was cut off towards the south by the dominions of the Maroundai, who had their capital at Patna and it was to them that Vikramaditya, or one of his successors, finally succumbed. A legend of Ajodhya faintly preserves the memory of a fierce and bloody war, in which the southern dynasty conquered the territories of Sravasti. The surrounding country became a desert. Two hundred and fifty years later, when the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fa-Hian {circ. 400 a.d.) visited Sravasti as one of the most famous historical seats of his relisfion, he found the once populous city still marked by lofty walls, enclosing the ruins of numerous temples, and palaces, but inhabited only by a few desdtute monks and devotees (200 households). Hiuen Tsiang made a similar pilgrimage in the 7th century, and found the desolation comlater history, defeated
restored the fanes
;
plete.
The approach
to the ruined city lay through an
all
but impassable
OUDH.
forest, the
4S5
'^history of
Oudh
haunt of numerous herds of wild elephants. The ancient and although it closes with its subjection to Tatna
;
may be
,
conjectured that after the fall of the last-named kingdom it formed part of the Kanauj Empire, no more is heard of its name as connected with any definite events until a much later period. of the It seems probable that this break in the historical continuity
j
Oudh
1
annals coincides with the extinction of its ancient civilisation, and the relapse of the country into a barbarous or even uninhabited condition. Forest and jungle appear once more to have spread over the
former kingdom of Sravasti, and the aborigines at the same tune recovered much of the territory which had been occupied for a while
It is to the most ancient period, before by the Aryan immigrants. should be attributed many of the remains of walled towns and forts which occur so plentifully throughout the Province. I Local tradition, indeed, universally refers them to the Bhars, an abruhng original people of small stature, the last in the series of extinct
this relapse, that
races in
\
Oudh. This, however, merely means that they are regarded as Musalman possessing considerable antiquity, and as antedating the ruins belong to the period. It can hardly be doubted that many of the
Northern early Buddhist civilisation which preceded the dark age of
Indian history.
1
The modern
ended
in the
chronicles of
Oudh
overthrow of Kanauj.
begin with the great struggle which The fall of that famous empire,
ruled over by the last native
Hindu dynasty which could claim the whole country north of the Vindhya range, gave a final deathBuddhist faith, and re-established the supremacy of the During the Kanauj period, the creed throughout all India. Brahman Province of Oudh once more reappears in history. According to local aboriginal tradition, about the 8th or 9th century a.d., the Tharus, an
to the
tribe,
.
blow
{\
'
•
descended from the hills, and began to clear the jungle, which had overgrown the deserted kingdom, as far as the sacred city of Ajodhya. To the present day, these aborigines are the only people who can withstand the influence of malaria, and so become the About a century later, pioneers of civilisation in the jungle tracts.
a family of Sombansi lineage, from
wild settlers to
the
north-west, subjected the
,
I
I
I
to the Jain its sway. ruled at or near the ruins of Sravasti when Sayyid faith, and occupied BahSalar, the famous Musalman fanatic and conqueror, The remains of that ancient city, raich with his invading force.
The new dynasty belonged
still
whose name has been corrupted
into Sahet
]Mahet, are
last
even
now
\
^^*
Sombansi ponUed out as the fort of Suhel Toward the close of the nth century, Sri Chandra Deo, dynasty. kingdom the Rahtor Emperor of Kanauj, subverted the little northern
Dal,
the
of the
;
and a
local legend keeps alive the
memory
of
its
fall.
Jain devotees
486
still
OUDH.
faith in
;
make pilgrimages to the spot, as the last stronghold of their Upper India while the only modern building which occupies
the mass of ruins
is
a place
among
Sambhunath. Meanwhile, Mahmiid of Ghazni had been building up his empire in North-Western India, and the Hindu ruling races were succumbing Immediately after the first Musalman in their outlying possessions. invasion, and the fall of the great powers which ruled in the upper
a small temple dedicated to
l)lains,
a Bhar
kingdom arose
in
country between the Ganges and Malwa.
Southern Oudh, the Doab, and the The Bhars, like the Tharus,
still
belong to the aboriginal tribes of India, and
exist in considerable
numbers on the
at this period
all
outskirts
of
the
cultivated
area.
They occupy
their
themselves in jungle -clearing and the chase;
Oudh
wide rule seems to show that a forest then spread over almost south of the Gogra. The rise of a low-statured, black-
and
skinned race to power on the ruins of their Aryan predecessors, But their sway is not without parallel in other parts of India.
was short-lived;
and when they were overthrown by Nasir-ud-din
of Delhi, in 1246 a.d., at
is
Muhammad, King
of
last
the firmer ground
Musalman
remain
history
reached, under the guidance of Ferishta.
The
fall
still
of the Bhars
in
introduced the
Oudh.
A
modern elements of society which number of small chiefships occupied the
country, ruled by clans which, whatever their origin, laid claim in every
case to a Kshattriya descent.
Some
of these, such as the Kanhpurias
of Partabgarh, the Gaurs of Hardoi, and the Amethias of Rai Bareli,
probably belong to tribes which flourished
ment.
derive
Others, as the Bisens of
their
under the Bhar Governand Partabgarh, appear to Gonda
from ancient Kshattriya families, long settled But by far the nobler houses, such as the Bais of Baiswara, the Sombansis of Partabgarh, and the Kalhans of Gonda, are shown by their traditions to have immigrated from distant
origin
near their present homes.
parts of India.
After his conquest of Kanauj, Shahab-ud-din Ghori, or his lieutenant,
overran
Oudh
in
11 94.
Muhammad
Bakhtiyar Khilji was the
first
Musalman
putra.
to organize the administration,
and
establish in
Oudh
a base
for his military operations,
which extended to the banks of the Brahma-
On
the death of Kutab-ud-din, he refused allegiance to Altamsh
slave
;
as a
governorship of Bengal.
son Ghiyas-ud-din established a hereditary Ajodhya, however, was wrested from the Bengal dynasty, and remained an outlying Province of Delhi. Therehis
mere
and
upon a Hindu
to have
rebellion ensued, in
been massacred.
which 120,000 Musalmans are said Prince Nasir-ud-din was sent to crush the
rebellion;
at Ajodhya.
in 1242, Kamr-ud-din Kairau is recorded as A^iceroy Thenceforth the Province remained an integral portion of the Muhammadan Empire.
and
OUJDH.
From
487
conciuest, in the beginning the date of the final Muhammadan Oudh becomes extremely involved of the 13th century, the history of upon the throne of down to the establishment of the Navvab Wazirs of Delhi supply a Lucknow. It is true, the Muhammadan historians wars ^vhlle the loca copious list of imperial governors and successful But of the national hfe. traditions of /^/^^;/.f^ give some account between the two. The foreign rule hardly any points of contact occur took the place of the old of the Delhi Emperors and their lieutenants Rij as from which formerly dominated over the local
;
paramount powers nationality in its wider Kanauj or Patna. The very memory of Hindu was confined to the petty form became extinct, and political interest than the smallest principalities of affairs of httle baronies, no larger compact social sys^tem of Germany. On the other hand, the old and
the
Hindus formed an
of the
Musalman
dissolving influence effectual barrier against the Although the foreign overlords reigned invasion.
still regulated supreme over the whole country, the Brahman Raja still gathered their levies to Kshattriya life of the people, and the by Hindu laws and administered justice in a court ruled
the family
battle,
or
observances.
In
lord.
spite of
the tyrannical governors or foreign wars,
cuhivator
to his
tilled his fields as
minale in their course.
The fortunes of the great Muhammadan name of the Delhi Empire from vasslls, who ruled over Oudh in the imperial story of B.HRAiCH or Manikpur, belong rather to the tangled than to provincial annals; while, the Afghan and Mu-hal dynasties into little Hindu principalities other hand, the vicissitudes of the
on the afford no material of which the country was parcelled out
the oreneral historian. The newly established
interest lor
.
Hindu
Thus
obedience of old, and paid his customary history seldom or never the two streams of
Southern Oudh appear during supremacy to have been engaged the earlvdays of the Muhammadan As soon as the abor.gmes receding Bhars. a desultory warfare with the
Hindu
chiefs of
m
Muhammadan had been entirely subdued, the of the Ganges. rose beyond them in the valley
Kmgdom
of
Jaunpur
Ibrahmi Shah Shark,
.
turned his attention to the frui ful the ablest of the Jaunpur rulers, path between his capital and Delh Province which lay in the direct the condition of a MusalHe attempted thoroughly to reduce Oudh to placed Muhammadan governors mdn country. For this purpose he appointed Muhammadan officials to adin every principal town, and lifetime and hated laws of Islam. During the minister the unknown their homes and chie.tains fled from of Ibrahim, the most powerful But on his death, the national spir.t sullenly acquiesced. the people and 1 native vitality of the Hindu creed reasseriid itself with all the probably a descendant of the Kanau, Rdja Tilok Chand, social system. movement. Ibrahim's foreign agents sovereigns, led the reactionary
488
fell
OUDH.
before the Hindu onslaught, and Tilok Chand established his own supremacy over the neighbouring chieftains. For a hundred years the land had peace, and the ruling Hindu clans established themselves more firmly in their hold, both by the erection of central forts, and by
the planting of new colonies among the uncultivated tracts under the leadership of their younger branches. Babar's invasion of Oudh has left little historical record, owing to the mutilated state of the conqueror's memoirs. But a mosque at Ajodhya, on the reputed site of the birthplace of Rama, preserves the name of the
Mughal leader, and suggests the idea that the Hindu princes may probably have rallied around the most sacred site of their religion. In the troubled times which followed the death of the first Mughal Emperor,
Oudh became the focus of disaffection against the reigning house. After the final defeat of the Afghan dynasty, and the firm establishment of Akbar, it settled down into one of the most important among the imperial
viceroyalties.
fiscal divisions
still
Akbar's great Revenue Survey contains full details of the in Oudh. The pargaiids into which the country is
divided afford ample proof of the vitality inherent in the Hindu system, as they almost always coincide with the dominions of a native Raja. Under the Mughal dynasty in its flourishing days, the Hindu chieftains accepted their position without difficulty. The empire was too strong for them to dispute its sway, and they were too strong for the empire to attempt their suppression. The
^
revenue divisions preserved the limits of their petty States ; and their authority, founded on the national creed, and engrained in the mental constitution of the people, could not fail to reassert itself on any change of government.
The Mughals
therefore
princes than to drive
them
endeavoured rather to conciliate the native into rebellion. Their leaders received
commands in the army, w^hile high-sounding and varying grades of dignity soothed the personal vanity of a people singularly impressible by such external signs of respect. The chieftain of Hasanpur Bandhua, descended from an ancient and honourable Kshattriya family, adopted the court religion, and obtained
titles
court appointments or
clans. The younger branches of the ruling houses were enabled to throw off their allegiance towards the heads of their families, and to carve out for themselves petty
the recognised headship of the southern chiefs, with the right to confer title of Raja. But while the Mughal court thus secured the loyalty of the Hindu aristocracy, the strength of the central Government proved disastrous in another way to the power of the native
the
principalities
asserted
to the
its
from the ancestral estates. When the Hindu element again independence, the ancient Rajas are found to have yielded
cadets, while the petty States
more vigorous amongst the
still
have
disintegrated into
smaller baronies,
upon which the modern system
itself.
of taluks or divisions presided over by feudal landowners bases
OUDIL
4S9
The rise of the Marathas broke down the decaying empire of Aurangzeb, and the chieftains of Oudh at once acquired an almost complete independence. From time to time an energetic governor at
Allahabad might endeavour to realize the revenue and justify the nominal sovereignty of Delhi but the Hindu princes always met him
;
in arms,
and compelled him
to relinquish
the attempt.
Meanwhile,
the petty Rajas broke into internecine quarrels, and the ablest leaders
enlarged their territories by the conquest of their neighbours.
the Kanhpurias of Tilol, the Bais of
Thus
Gonda acquired
States larger
Daundia Khera, and the Bisens of than any that had existed in Oudh since
the consolidation of the empire under Akbar.
Ali Khan, a Persian merchant of appointment of Subahdar of Oudh, and founded the Muhammadan dynasty which ruled down to our own times. His entry w-as opposed at first by the local Hindu chieftains ; but the Bais seem to have yielded without a blow, and the Kanhpurias after a sham resistance, while the Khichars of Fatehpur historically a part In of the Oudh viceroyalty were only quelled after a doubtful battle.
About the year 1732, Saadat
received
the
Naishapur,
—
—
Nawab's troops, and on payment of a small tribute. Saadat Khan was also Wazir of the empire, an office which continued hereditary in his family. Before his death, Oudh had
the north, the Raja of
actually defeated the
fief,
Gonda
retained his ancestral State as a separate
become
capital,
practically
an independent
State.
Faizabad was his nominal
but he seldom resided in the town, being constantly absent on
military enterprises.
In 1743, Saadat Ali
succeeded to the
of Oudh.
office of
Khan died, and Nawab Wazir,
his
son-in-law, Safdar Jang,
as well as to the principality
A man
of statesmanlike ability, he found himself exposed
to constant attacks from the Rohillas
on the other. under its two
subjects.
on the one side and the Marathas But the country enjoyed great internal prosperity first Nawabs while the numerous wells, forts, and bridges which they built showed their anxiety to conciliate their Hindu
;
With the reign of Safdar Jang's son, Shuja-ud-daula (1753), a new commenced. The Nawab attempted to take advantage of the war in Bengal between the British and Mir Kasim, to acquire for himself the rich Province of Behar. He therefore advanced upon Patna, taking with him the fugitive Emperor, Shah Alam, and the exiled Nawab of Bengal. The enterprise proved a failure, and Shuja-ud-daula retired to Baxar. In October 1764, Major ^lunro followed him up to that post, and won a decisive victory, which laid the whole of Upper India at the feet of the Company. The Nawab
state of affairs
fled
to Bareli
(Bareilly)
;
while the unfortunate
Emperor joined
the
British
camp.
490
OUDH.
the treaty of
1765,
By
which followed these events, Korah and
Allahabad, which had hitherto formed part of the
Oudh
viceroyalty,
were made over to the Emperor for the support of his dignity and expenses, all the remaining territories being restored to Shuja-ud-daula, who, reduced to extremities, had thrown himself upon the generosity
of the British Government.
Three years
la'er,
in
consequence of
some uneasiness as to the designs of the Nawab, who was ambitious of recovering Korah and Allahabad from the Emperor, an engagement (1768) was entered into for the restriction of Shuja's army to 35,000 men, none of them to be equipped or drilled like English troops. At this time,' says Mr. (now Sir) C. U. Aitchison, from whose Treaties and E?tgagements the later portion of this history is condensed, the position of the Marathas was most threatening. The Emperor had put himself in their hands, and been placed by them on the throne
'
'
name was used as a cloak Maratha usurpations. On leaving Allahabad in 1 77 1, the Emperor put the Wazir (Shuja-ud-daula) in possession of the fort. But when the Marathas extorted from him the cession of Korah and Allahabad, it was deemed necessary, for protection against the Marathas, that both the forts of Chanar (Chunar) and Allahabad should be held by English troops, and agreements to this effect were executed on 20th March 1772. The grant of Korah and Allahabad to the Marathas was considered to be contrary to the meaning of the treaty of 1765, by which these Districts were given to the Emperor for the support of his dignity; and as the Emperor had abandoned possession of them, they were sold to the Wazir for 50 Idk/is of rupees, and at the same time the Wazir agreed to pay Sicca Rs. 210,000 per month for each brigade of English troops that might march to
of Delhi, but he had no real power, and his
for the justification of the
his assistance.'
In 1775, Shuja-ud-daula died, and was succeeded by his son Asafud-daula. At his accession a new treaty was conc'uded, confirming
Korah and Allahabad, increasing the payment and ceding to the British Government Benares, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, and the possessions of Raja Chait Singh. Asafud-daula soon fell into pecuniary arrears, and attempted to deprive his mother, the famous Bahu Begam, of her property. On the complaint of the Begam, Government interfered, and an agreement was made between Asaf-ud-daula and his mother, maintaining the latter in the full enjoyment of her jagirs. Asaf-ud-daula consequently removed from Faizabad (Fyzabad), which had been the residence of his father, to Lucknow, leaving the Begam in undisturbed possession at Faizabad. In 1 781, at a personal interview with Warren Hastings at Chanar,
in possession of
for
him
British
troops,
a
new
treaty
all
was negotiated,
to give relief to the
Nawab by
the with-
drawal of
English troops, except a single brigade and one additional
—
OUDH,
regiment, and authorizing the
491
Nawab
to
resume
Jd^^irs,
hut recjuiring
estates were guaranteed by the British Government. This was taken advantage of by the Nawab for the resumption of the jdg'irs of the Begams (Shujaud-daul.i's mother and widow), which were subsequently in part
to
him
grant
equivalent
pensions
to jd^^irddrs
whose
restored,
and
for
the
spoliation
of their
in
treasures,
on the alleged
ground of
their
being implicated
Chait Singh's rebellion.
Warren
Hastings' share in these transactions formed one of the charges against
him on
his
impeachment.
The
annals of the reigning dynasty, from the time of Asaf-ud-daula's
removal of the seat of power to Lucknow, have already been fully sketched in the article on Lucknow City {q.v.). The succession of princes has scarcely any other interest than that
of a
list
of names.
Saadat Ali Khan,
who succeeded
his half-brother
Asaf-ud-daula (1798), threatened by Sindhia on the advance of Zaman Shah to the Indus, concluded a new treaty with the British in 1801,
of protection.
by which he gave up half his territories in return for increased means Rohilkhand thus passed under British rule, and the
still
Nawab became
title
more absolute within
his
restricted
first
dominions.
Saadat's son, Ghazi-ud-din Haidar (18 14), was the
to obtain the
Nasir-ud-din Haidar (1827), Muhammad All Shah and Amjad Ali Shah (1841) followed in rapid succession, (1837), and wasted away their lives in that alternation of sensuous luxury with ferocious excitement for which the court of Lucknow became proverbial. In 1847, Wajid All Shah, the last King of Oudh, ascended the throne. The condition of the Province had long attracted the attention of the British Government. In 1831, Lord AV. Bentinck had called upon the King for reforms which, however, were never
of King.
:
effected.
Twenty
years later, Colonel Sleeman, the Resident,
made
its
a tour through the country, and reported most unfavourably
state.
upon
The
King's army, receiving insufficient pay, recouped
itself
by constant depredations upon the people. The Hindu Chiefs, each had turned the surrounding country into a jungle as a means of resisting the demands of the court and its soldiery. The Resident was of opinion that the paramount power could not overlook the duty which it owed to the people.
isolated in his petty fort,
The
it
following extracts from Colonel Sleeman's Diary give a graphic
description of the state of the Province in
:
1849-50,
six years
before
came under British administration The head-men of some villages along the road mentioned that the fine state in which we saw them was owing to their being strong, and able to resist the Government authorities when disposed, as they that the landholders generally were, to oppress or rack-rent them owed their streng'h to their union, for all were bound to turn out and
'
;
492
afford
distress
OUDH.
aid
;
to
their
neighbour on hearing the
concerted signal
of
that this league, offensive
the Bangar district,
and our
last stage
;
and defensive, extended all over into which we entered about midway between this and that we should see how much better it was
peopled and cultivated in consequence, than the District of Muhamdf, to which we were going; that the strong only could keep anything under the Oudh Government; and as they could not be strong without union, all landholders were solemnly pledged to aid each other
to the death,
when oppressed or attacked by the local officers. 'The Nazim of the Tandiawan or Bangar district met me on his border, and told me " that he was too weak to enforce the King's orders that he had with him one efficient company or to collect his revenues of Captain Bunbury's corps, with one gun in good repair, and provided with draught-bullocks in good condidon, and that this was the only force he could rely upon while the landholders were strong, and so
; ;
leagued together for mutual defence, that
or any other concerted signal,
all
at the
sound of a matchlock,
the
men
of a dozen large villages
would
an hour concentrate upon and defeat the largest force the that they did so almost every year, and often frequently within the same year; that he had nominally eight guns on duty with him, but the carriage of one had already gone to pieces, and those of the rest had been so long without repair that they would go to pieces with very little firing that the draught-bullocks had not had any grain for many years, and were hardly able to walk, and he was in consequence obliged to hire plough-bullocks to draw the gun
in
King's officers could assemble
;
;
required to salute the Resident.
...
A
large portion of the surface
is
covered with jungle, useful only to robbers and refractory landholders, who abound in the pargand of Bangar. In this respect it is reported one of the worst districts in Oudh. Within the last few years, the
King's troops have been frequently beaten and driven out with loss, even when commanded by a European officer. The landholders and
armed
peasantry
of
the
different
villages
unite
their
quotas
of
auxiliaries,
and concentrate upon them on a concerted signal, when they are in pursuit of robbers and rebels. Almost every able-bodied man of every village in Bangar is trained to the use of arms of one kind or another, and none of the King's troops, save those who are disciplined and commanded by European officers, will venture to move against a landholder of this district; and when the local authorities
cannot obtain the aid of such troops, they are obliged to conciliate the most powerful and unscrupulous by reductions in the assessment of the
lands, or additions to their naiiark''
holders of the Bangar
and system of union among the chief landmay here mention a few facts within my own knowledge, and of recent date. Bhagwant Singh, who held the
'To
illustrate the spirit
district, I
OUDIL
estate of
493
sovereign,
lifted
Atwa Piparin, had been for some time in rebellion against his and he had committed many murders and robberies, and
many herds of cattle within our bordering District of Shahjahanpur, and he had given shelter on his own estate to a good many atrocious criminals from that and others of our bordering Districts.
He
had, too, aided and screened
many gangs
for
of badJiaks or dakdils by
hereditary profession.
The
be
Resident, Colonel Low, in
1841 directed
formidable
of the
every possible effort to
offender,
made
the
arrest
in
of this
and
Captain
Rollings,
the
second
command
second battalion of
him.
'
Oudh
Local Lifantry, sent intelligencers to trace
They
ascertained that he had, with a few followers, taken up a
position 200 yards to the north of the village of Ahrori, in a jungle of
palds trees and brushwood in the Bangar
about 28 miles to was cantoned, and about the south-west of Sitapur, where 14 miles west from Nimkhar. Captain Rollings made his arrangements and, on the evening of the 3rd of July 1841, he to surprise this party marched from Nimkhar at the head of three companies of that battalion,
district,
that battalion
;
and a
little
before midnight he
came within
all
three-quarters of a mile of
the rebel's post.
officers
After halting his party for a short time, to enable the
and
sipdhis to throw off
superfluous clothing and utensils.
Captain Rollings moved on to the attack.
When
the advanced guard
reached the outskirts of the robbers' position about midnight, they were The subahddr in first challenged and then fired upon by the sentries. command of this advance guard fell dead, and a non-commissioned
officer
'
and a sipdhi were severely wounded. One party now fired in upon the gang and rushed on. of the robbers was shot, and the rest all escaped out on the opposite The sipdhis believing, since the surprise had been side of the jungle. complete, that the robbers must have left all their wealth behind them, dispersed as soon as the firing ceased and the robbers disappeared, to While thus engaged, they were get every man as much as he could. surrounded by the Gohars (or body auxiliaries which these landholders send to each other's aid on the concerted signal), and fired in upon from the front and both right and left flanks. Taken by surprise, they collected together in disorder, while the assailants from the front and sides continued to pour in their fire upon them, and they were obliged
The whole
to retire in haste
and confusion,
closely followed
by the
auxiliaries,
who
gained confidence, and pressed closer as their number increased by the quotas they received from the villages the detachment had to pass in
their retreat.
ranks were vain.
on the part of Captain Rollings to preserve order in the Ris men returned the fire of their pursuers, but At the head of the auxiliaries were Pancham without aim or effect.
'All efforts
—
494
Singh of Ahrori, and
closuig in
OUDH.
;
and they were fast ]\Iirza Akbar Beg of Deoria upon the party, and might have destroyed it, when Girwar Sin^rh, tumanddr, came up with a detachment of the special police of the At this time, the three companies were thagi and dakditi department. altogether disorganized and disheartened, as the firing and pursuit had
lasted from
midnight to daybreak;
spirit in
but on seeing the special police
the defence, they rallied, and the assailcome up and join with the reinforcement more formidable than it really was, ants, thinking Captain Hollings mounted the fresh lost confidence and held back.
horse of the tumanddr, and led his detachment, without further loss or
molestation, back to Nimkhar.
His
loss
had been
1
i
subah.idr,
ndik,
i
havilddr,
sipdhis
and
3 sipdhis killed;
i
siibahddr, 2 havilddrs,
and 14
wounded and missing. Captain Rollings' groom was shot dead, and one of his palanquin-bearers was wounded. His horse, palanquin, desk, clothes, and all the superfluous clothing and utensils which the of sipdhis had thrown off preparatory to the attack, fell into the hands were made to take up and carry off the killed Attempts the assailants. and wounded, but the detachment was so sorely pressed that they were The loss would have been mucii oblic^ed to leave both on the ground. oreater than it was, but for the darkness of the night, which prevented all the assailants from taking good aim and the detachment would in
;
been cut to pieces, but for the timely arrival of the police under Girwar Singh. special Such attacks are usually made upon robber bands about the first Had dawni of the day, and this attack at midnight was a great error.
probability have
'
they not been assailed by the auxiliaries, they could not, in the darkIt was known that at the first shot ness, have secured one oi the gang. the assailing or defending party in that District, all the from either
around concentrate their quotas on the spot, to fight to the death against the King's troops, whatever might be their object and the detachment ought to have been prepared for such concentration when the firing began, and returned as quickly as possible from the (S/eema?i's Tour, ii. place when they saw that they could not succeed.'
villages
;
pp. 11-18.)
Before 1855, the chronic anarchy and oppression had reduced the Reform by its native ruler had people of Oudh to extreme misery. The only remaining remedy was deemed to be hopeless. lono- been
annexation, with a liberal provision for the reigning house. treaty was proposed to the King in 1856, which provided that the vested in the sole civil and military government of Oudh should be
A
British
Government
for ever
;
that the
continued to his Majesty,
the
and the
all
lawful heirs male of his
King should be treated with
King of Oudh should be body that due attention, respect, and honour,
title
of
;
and should have exclusive
jurisdiction within the palace at
Lucknow
OUDH.
495
of and the Dil-khusha and Bibi'pur parks, except as to the infliction should receive 12 capital punishment; that the King Wajid Ah' Shah a sum of lakhs a year for the support of his dignity and honour, besides successors should receive 12 lakhs a 3 lakhs for palace-guards; that his relations should be maintained separately year ; and that his collateral three days to by the British Government. The King was allowed in and sign the Treaty. He refused to sign it, and therefore, consider itself the governthe British Government assumed to
February 1856,
ment of Oudh,
exclusively
and
for ever.
A
provision of 12 lakhs a
in October 1859. year was offered to the King, which he accepted been sanctioned for his collateral relatives. Separate provision has of Oudh, Wajid All Shah has been allowed to retain the title of King pecuniary allowthe but on his death the title will cease absolutely, and
Government has ance will not be continued on its present scale. King at Garden Reach in the suburbs of purchased a residence for the within his estate, Calcutta the King has been allowed no jurisdiction
;
but provision has been made for precincts, through the officer who
serving
legal
process
as
within
its
appointed is In March 1862, an Majesty on the part of the British Government. King from the jurisdiction of criminal Act was passed to exempt the to provide for his trial, if necessary, courts, except for capital offences
;
Agent with
his
by commission
court
;
;
to
exempt him from appearance
as a witness
m
-n
any
Agent to the and to provide for his examination through the
•
•
Governor-General. On 13th Februarv 1856,
territory.
Oudh became an
integral part of the British
u
The country was immediately
constituted
into
a
Chief
of administration Commissionership, and organized on the model adopted in the Punjab eight years ijreviously. that had been
into
discontent in the Province burst Early in the succeeding year, the gave the fortnight after the mutiny at Meerut
open
rebellion, a
signal for a general rising.
; as^sumed the administration The remainder of the regiments broke into mutiny. of the native recovery of the capital have been events connected with the siege and City, and need only be recapitunarrated in the article on Lucknow revolt throughout the whole of Oudh A [general lated here in brief. and by the middle of native troops followed upon the defection of the Lucknow, was in Province, save only the Residency at Tune the entire Lawrence died from On 4th July, Sir Henry
;
at
In March 1857, Sir Henry Lawrence had Lucknow and on the 30th of ^lay, five
the hands of the rebels. wounds caused by a shell.
For twelve weeks the little garrison was mutineers, till relieved by Outram besieaed by an overwhelming body of In spite of this reinforce25th of September. and Havelock on the to fall back upon Cawnpur ment the British force found itself too weak Sir Colin Campbell on the lyih of and the siege continued till raised by
496
OUDIL
November. The women and children were then escorted to Cawnpur by the main body, while General Outram held the outlying post of the Alambagh with a small garrison. Lucknow itself remained in the hands
of the rebels, of Oudh.
who
fortified
it
carefully
under the direction of the Begam
Early in 1858, General Franks organized a force at Benares the south-eastern for the reconquest of the Province, and cleared Bahadur, regent of Nepal, At the same time, Jang Districts of rebels. came to the British aid with a body of 9000 Gurkhas, and twice
On the last day of the insurgents with great slaughter. February, Sir Colin Campbell crossed the Ganges and marched on Lucknow. Occupying the Dil-khusha palace on 5th March, he eftected the a junction with Franks and the Nepalese army, and began the siege town was captured after a desperate resistance, and the The next day.
defeated
work of reorganization of the Province was rapidly pushed forward.
included a
It
new arrangement
title
with the tdlukddrs or great feudal land-
owners, whose
acquired a fresh basis, and whose appointment as
honorary magistrates afterwards soothed their pride. Since the pacification in 1858, the Province has been administered by its new rulers without further vicissitudes. The opening of railways
has afforded fresh outlets for
courts of justice, practically
its
agricultural wealth
;
the institution of
kings, has
unknown
under the
;
Musalman
and the spread of educagiven unwonted security to much to develop the naturally keen intellect of the tion has done On the 17th of January 1877, Oudh was partially amalgamated people.
life
and property
with the North-Western Provinces by the unification of the two offices Nevertheless, the of Chief Commissioner and Lieutenant-Governor. administrative purposes a separate Province. country remains for most
rural
Population.— 0\\^\\ has probably the densest population of any equal The Census of 1869 returned a total of area in the world. yielding an 11,220,232 persons, spread over 23,992 square miles, mile the more recent Census of average of 468 persons to the square of 1881 returned a total of 11,387,741 persons, spread over an area square miles, dwelling in 24,337 towns and villages and
:
24,246
persons to the 2,066,113 occupied houses, yielding an average of 469 varies from 704 per square The density of population square mile. The average mile in Lucknow District to 278 in Kheri District.
square mile of cultivation is no less than 867 for the Province, while in the seven southern Districts it rises to over whole Belgium, the most populous country of Europe, has a density 1000.
density per
of only 486
to
the square
mile, while in
England and Wales the
The extraordinary pressure of figures amount to no more than 445. becomes still more remarkable from the fact, that whereas population European countries contain numerous large seats of manufacture,
and import immense
quantities
of food-stuffs,
Oudh
has
but
one
OUDH.
considerable commercial centre, Lucknow, and entirely feeds
its
497
own
com-
teeming millions, besides allowing a large surplus of produce
for export.
The
natural fertility of the
soil,
and the
salubrity of the climate,
tract,
bine to render the Province a thickly-peopled
industry of
its
and
to turn all the
inhabitants into the direction of agriculture.
In 1881,
72-59 per cent, of the people were agriculturists. A review of the area, population, etc., of each District of
Oudh
is
given in the table at the
commencement
of this article
(p.
480), but the
general results of the Census of February 1881 for the Province as a
whole are
briefly
summarized
in the following paragraphs.
males numbered 5,851,655, and the Classified according Classified according to age, the females 5,536,086; total, 11,387,741. boys, 2,229,232; girls, 1,974,472; Census shows, under 15 years
to sex, the
—
total
men, 3,622,423; women, The religious division yields the 3,561,614; total adults, 7,184,037. Hindus, 9,942,411; Sikhs, 1154; Muhammadans, following results:
children, 4,203,704:
above 15 years
—
—
1,433,443; Buddhist,
Christians,
i.
9060; Jains, 1623; Jews, 27; There are no aboriginal tribes returned
Parsis,
22;
in
as such
Oudh.
the
In spite of the long subjection of Oudh to a Musalman dynasty, than in any other far fewer adherents faith of Islam has The Muhammadans, indeed, form only Upper India. Province of
\2\ per cent, of the inhabitants;
they are
sub-divided
but
four
they have
increased
at
the
rate of 20 per cent, for the twelve years ending 1881.
As
elsewhere,
among
;
the
classes
of Sayyids,
Shaikhs,
Pathans, and Mughals
and
their scattered agricultural groups
form
centres of refuge from the degrading oppression to which Hinduism There is said to be no active Islamite consigns the lower castes.
propaganda; but a small stream of Hindu converts converts rather from necessity or interest than any religious feeling is continually passing over to Mubammadanism. The Musalmans, however, have lost In the greatly in social prestige since the downfall of the royal line.
— —
Some of these, as the still number 78 tdlickddrs. Rajas of Utraula and Nanpara, trace their descent from local chieftains, who long ago conquered for themselves places in the Hindu hierarchy, Others, and differ in religion alone from their Hindu compeers.
higher ranks they
Hasanpur Bandhua takes first rank, Hindu families, which changed their faith during the A days of the Musalman supremacy, to gain favour at Agra or Delhi. few later houses owe their position to the ofiiccs which they held under The Muhammadans still provide the the late dynasty of Lucknow. British Government in Oudh with many of its ablest servants, and
amongst
whom
the great Chief of
belong to ancient
As cultivators, supply almost entirely the native bar at Lucknow. they are spread widely over the country; while as weavers they
VOL. X.
2
1
498
OUDH.
As landowners they have share in the manufacture of cotton cloth. but a poor reputation, and are considered unimproving and litigious. The Census of 1881 distributes the whole Muhammadan population
into 1,365,356 Sunnis, 68,038 Shias, and 49 'unspecified.' Even more significant than the small number of Musalmans
is
the
preponderance of Brahmans, which marks out Oudh as a stronghold of Hinduism. The sacred class numbers no fewer than 1,364,783 persons, In spite of their being about one-eighth of the whole population. enormous social importance, as domestic directors of the whole community, they include only 6 among the tdlukddrs of the Province and
;
two of these owe
rule.
their
wealth
to
the later days of
Muhammadan
tenants.
As
cultivators
they
abound,
refuses
but
to
make
undesirable
One
of their great
divisions
touch the plough,
relying
and improvident. They supply The are often employed in trade. Rajputs or Kshattriyas, once rulers of the Province, and now landSoldiers by profession holders of the greater part of it, rank next. and hereditary instinct under the old regime, they are now driven to live an idle existence upon estates too narrow for their increasing numbers, and compelled to submit to a poverty which ill accords with In spite of their predominance in protheir traditions and feelings.
upon hired labour, and most good soldiers, however, and
are lazy
prietorship, they form only
1
about one-twentieth of the inhabitants.
In
88 1, according to the Census, they numbered 637,890. The Muhammadans, Brahmans, and Kshattriyas compose together about a quarter of the population, the quarter which represents the higher social
stratum.
The remainder
consists
of the
lower
Hindu
castes,
the
religious orders
which stand outside caste
classes
distinctions,
and the semi(147,432)
aboriginal tribes.
Amongst
the lower
of
Hindus,
the
Kayasths
and Vaisyas (237,497), or writing and trading classes, number hardly half a million. The Siidras or lowest class of Hindus include 1,185,512 Ahirs, whose proper duty consists in tending cattle, but who also engage largely in agriculture. The best tenantry and most industrious cultivators, however, are to be found amongst the Kiirmis (792,319) and Muraos, who together number in Oudh rather more than a million
souls.
They form
the depositaries of the agricultural wealth of the
Province, and, in respect of bravery hardly inferior to the Rajput, have
fought well under British
are represented by smaller numbers.
other Siidra and mixed castes At the base of the social superstructure are the aboriginal or semi-Hinduized tribes, the more or less pure descendants of the squat and black-skinned native race whom the Aryan colonists displaced. Some of these, such as the Basis, who number 718,906, provide material for possible soldiers, and furnish the greater part of the rural police. Others, Hke the Bhars (31,762) and
officers.
Many
OUDH.
499
Tharus (27,000 in the united Provinces), live in small isolated groups on the outskirts of the jungle or the hill country, and hold no comThe Nats (acrobats) and Kanjars munication with the outer world.
(rope -makers
and trappers) wander
like
gipsies over the face of the
country, with their small movable villages or
leaf-screens.
wigwams of matting and
(341,168) and Chamars (1,129,250), weavers and leather-cutters, reach the lowest depth of all, having been incorporated into the Hindu system as the most degraded class in the
The Koris
whole structure.
still
In the northern Districts of Oudh, many of them occupy the position of serfs, and descend with their children as bound to the soil, having seldom spirit enough to avail They hold themselves of the remedy afforded by our courts of law.
practically
the plough for the Brcihman or Kshattriya master,
and dwell with the
pigs in a separate quarter of the village, apart from their purer neighAlways on the verge of starvation, their lean, black, and illbours.
formed
figures, their stupid faces,
and
their filthy habits, reflect the long
degradation to which they have been hereditarily subjected. The total number of Europeans in Oudh was 5446 in 1869, and 6361
in 1881
;
of Eurasians, 985 in 1869,
in
Europeans
ratio of
i88r, males
and 1262 in 1881. Of the 6361 numbered 5234, and females 1127. The
males to females is nearly equal among the Eurasians of the Province; of the 1262 Eurasians in Oudh in 1881, males numbered
594, and females 668. State, in a military or
Most of the Europeans are in the service of the Most of the Eurasians are civil department.
engaged otherwise than in the service of the State. Occupation.— T\-\Q Census of 188 1 distributes the adult male population of Oudh into the following six main groups :—(i) Professional class, including State officials of every kind and members of the learned keepers, professions, 82,692 (2) domestic servants, inn and lodging commercial class, including bankers, merchants, and 22,454; (3)
;
carriers,
74,719
;
;
(4) agricultural
and
pastoral class, including gardeners,
2,827,720
479,945
;
all manufacturers and artisans, (5) industrial class, including and (6) indefinite class, comprising all male children, general
labourers,
and persons of unspecified occupation, 2,364,125. Town and Rural Population.— Om^\\ Q.QwX.'^v^^^ in 1881 the followLucknow, (i) ing 18 towns with a population over 10,000: population 261,303; (2) Faizabad, 43^927; (s) Bahraich, 19,439; Khairabad, 14,217 (6) Sandila, 14,865; (4) Shahabad, 18,510; (5)
—
;
(7)
Nawabganj, 13,933; (8) Balrampur, 12,811 (9) Tanda, 16,594; BiLGRAM, 11,067; (10) RUDAULI, 11,394; (11) GONDA, 13,743; (12) Mallanwan, 10,970; (15) Rai Bareli, (i3)RokhaJais, 11,044; (14) (i8)Hardoi, 11,781; (16) Laharpur, 10,437; (17) AjODHYA, 11,643;
;
Later figures for the municipal areas will be found under their respective names. Thirty-seven other towns have a population exceeding
10,026.
;
500
5000.
OUDH.
The
total
population of these 55 towns in 1881 aggregated Twentyper cent, of the population of the Province. 67 nine towns, with an aggregate of 626,938 inhabitants, have been conTotal municipal income (1883-84), ;£5o,87i, stituted municipalities.
770,540, or
of which
^37,691 was derived from
taxation, principally octroi duties;
average incidence of taxation,
is. 2-|-d.
per head.
Of
the entire
number
of towns and villages (24,337) in Oudh, the Census of 1881 makes the Containing less than two hundred inhabitants, following classification
:
—
81 14; with from two to five hundred, 9119 from five hundred to one thousand, 4982; from one to two thousand, 1694; from two to three thousand, 263; from three to five thousand, 11 1; from five to ten
;
thousand, 36
;
from ten to fifteen thousand, 13 from fifteen to twenty and over fifty thousand, i. thousand, 3 from twenty to fifty thousand, i larger towns, only one, Tanda, owes its prosperity to manufacOf the tures, and even this prosperity has rapidly sunk before the competition
;
;
;
of English textile fabrics.
Bahraich, Shahabad, Khairabad, Sandi'la,
RudauH, Bilgram,
colonies
Jais,
Sandi,
and Zaidpur were
share
originally military
of the
Muhammadans, and now
the decay
of the
jMusalman power. Balrampur, Gonda, Laharpur, Purwa, and Mallanwan trace their origin to litde centres where grain merchants and moneydealers collected round the protecting fort of a
Hindu
chieftain.
And
Faizabad and Lucknow sprang up about the courts of the Nawab Wazirs, But the population of the who selected them for their residence.
country
is
essentially rural, spread over
its
whole surface in small
culti-
vating communities.
The Census
of 1869 returned the
number of
separate hamlets at above 77,000, and the average number of inhabitants The Census of 1881 followed a different classiin each at only 150.
fication in returning the
number of villages
in
Oudh at
24,272, excluding
towns.
The
village
here meant
to the
may
include two or
more hamlets,
and corresponds rather
In this term parish used in England. The sense each parish in Oudh contains about 437 inhabitants. people are nowhere drawn together by the complex wants of our European civihsation. A few huts, clustering close to one another in
the immediate neighbourhood of most of the
fields,
form the
real unit
of society.
villagers
sist
Small
centres of trade, where the simple wants of the
may be
of a few
mud
supplied, occur at distances of 2 or 3 miles, and concottages, together with the tiled and two-storied
In their dwellings, house of the grain merchant and money-lender. as in their clothes and food, the wants of the people are very modest. Out of a total in 1869 of 2,610,000 houses, only 19,400 were of brick. Most of the latter were erected by Muhammadan settlers in the days
of their prosperity.
The Hindu
chieftain fortified himself in
an enclosure
surrounded by a moat, and defended by a thick belt of prickly shrubbery and though our peaceful rule has made the fort an anachronism, the
—
OUDH.
habits of past generations
501
still influence the existing race. The number of occupied houses returned by the Census of 1881 was 2,066,113, of
which 145,826 were situated in urban localities. The purely agricultural element in the population is returned by the Census of 1881 at 72-59 per cent. This element may be divided into 3 classes landowners (4 per cent.), cultivators (70 per cent.), and labourers (26
per cent.).
Agriculture.
sown
at the
Jienu^at
or
The year is divided into three harvests —the kharif^ commencement of the rains and cut in September; the aghdni, reaped in December; and the rabi, reaped in
—
But besides these regular season crops, sugar-cane comes to maturity in February, cotton in May, and sdmcchi in almost any month
of the year.
millets.
March.
The principal kharif staples are rice, Indian corn, and Rice grows best on low stiff land, where the water accumulates
Its
for considerable periods.
yield in
good
localities
is
returned for
1883 as 768 lbs. per acre. Indian corn thrives on a light soil, raised slightly above the floods, and produces from two to four cobs on each The smaller millets occupy inferior ground, demand less attenstalk. tion, and produce a poorer out-turn. In 1883, the out-turn varied
from 879 lbs. in Gonda to 407 lbs. in Sitapur. Fine rice, transplanted August from nurseries near the village sites, forms the most valuable item of the hoiwat harvest. The average yield is at least 20 per cent, higher than that of tlie autumnal varieties, and the grain is smaller and better flavoured. Contrary to the rule of the European market, the
in
price varies conversely with the size of the grain, native taste
j;
referring
the smallest kind.
as
The
other heinuat staples comprise mustard, grown
an
oil-seed, together with
Wheat forms
634
lbs.
iiidsh., two small species of pulse. an average good yield amounting to per acre over the Province. Sugar, which shares with rice,
mug and
the
main rabi
first
crop,
wheat, and oil-seeds a
following February.
place
land for a whole year, being laid
It
requires
among Oudh products, occupies the down in March, and not cut till the much labour and several waterings,
but the result in ordinary years amply rei)ays the outlay, the produce
of a single acre being often sold at over
yield was 137
lbs.
1
lbs.
per acre.
^10. In 1883-84, the average Sugar land in Bara Banki yields 2000
to the
The poppy cultivation is extensive, and remunerative husbandman. Numerous other crops are grown on small areas, and tobacco and vegetable fields surround the village sites. Land sown Hardoi is the richest with indigo yields an average of 79 lbs. per acre.
per acre.
indigo-growing District.
in Pariabgarh
amounting
is
Cotton land yields 53 to 212 lbs. per acre.
241
lbs.
lbs.
per acre, the yield
The
average yield of
land laid in oil-seeds
tobacco, 550
lbs.
per acre
In a i)urely agricultural
and of land laid under Province like Oudh, where
;
the absence of rain for eight
months
in
the year precludes the growth
—
;
502
of natural grasses,
OUDH.
much land is brought under the plough which would down in pasture. The average area of cultivation to
5
elsewhere be laid
a family
acres in Sitapur.
—
ranging from 3 acres in Pariabgarh to 8 number of cultivated acres in Oudh in 1883-84 was returned at 9,819,786 acres, under the following crops Rice, 1,907,599 acres; wheat, 1,405,105 acres; other food-grains,
is
about
acres,
The
total
:
5,929,677 acres oil-seeds, 175,955 acres ; sugar, 146,779 acres cotton, 56,790 acres; opium, 100,299 acres; indigo, 16,857 acres; fibres,
; ;
12,645 acres; tobacco, 10,739 acres; and vegetables, 57,341 acres. For In the same year, the average rent per acre was as follows
:
—
rice,
9s.;
wheat,
;
13s.
3d.;
19s.
inferior
grains,
8s.
4-^d.
;
;
indigo,
8s.
iis.
cotton, 9s. 9d,
sugar, 17s.
opium,
;
6id.
;
oil-seeds, 8s. lod.
fibres,
3d.;
and tobacco, ^i, 2s. The rent for wheat land was highest in Bara Banki District (^i, is. 4d. per acre), and lowest in Kheri District (7s.); for rice land, highest in Bara Banki (17s. 9d.), and lowest in Kheri (4s. 5W.) for cotton, highest in Partabgarh (13s. 9d.), and lowest in Gonda (6s. id.); for opium, highest in Sitapur (^i, 7s. 9d.), and lowest in Kheri (i6s.); for ordinary inferior food -grains, highest in Bara Banki (12s.), and lowest in
7id.
;
Bahraich
(7s.).
The
wheat
average prices in
(first
Oudh
9|d.
;
per majind oi 80
lbs.
were in 1883
3s.
quality),
7s.
3s.
;
wheat (second
salt, 7s.
quality),
;
8d.
;
rice
(first quality),
4|d.
rice
(second quality),
;
5s.
;
;^i, 5s. 6d. ;£2,
7s. 2d.
;
sugar (raw),
cotton,
6s. 7d.
9s.
;
6d.
sugar (refined), 6fd. ghi (clarified butter),
;
^i,
linseed, 5s. 6d.
The
ponies;
agricultural stock of
and bullocks;
labour
is
1,263,541
Oudh in 1883 included 5,133,805 cows sheep and goats; 517,681 pigs; 82,496
Skilled 15,770 horses; 54,185 carts; and 1,228,841 ploughs. paid at the rate of about 6 Jd. a day ; unskilled, 4d. a day.
The
hire of a cart wath
two bullocks
is
is.
2d. a
a day; of a score of donkeys, 4s. 8d. a day.
;
day; of a camel, iid. A plough-bullock can
be purchased for ^i, 15s. 3d. and a sheep for 2s. 2d. Land Survey and Settlement. The two great historical facts in the land history of Oudh are the first British annexation in 1856, and the ])acification after the Mutiny. Oudh became a British Province only a few months prior to the rebellion and the present revenue settlement, made upon the battle-field,' possesses rather the character of a
—
;
'
political
amnesty.
When
it
the British
first
took possession of the countrv,
in February 1856,
was determined
to effect a settlement of the land
revenue, village by village, according to the system prevailing in the
North-West Provinces.
actual occupants of the
The
soil,
desire
was
to
deal
directly
with
the
w^hether petty proprietors or coparcenary
communities, and to avoid the interposition of middle-men.
great idlukddis of
But the Oudh, whose position was thus too much ignored, were
;
OUDH.
the cultivators.
503
not mere middle-men, employed by the State to collect revenue from
Many
of
them heads of powerful
clans,
and
rei^re-
sentatives of ancient families, they were, in truth, a feudal aristocracy,
based upon rights in the soil which went back to traditional times and were heartily acknowledged by their dependants. At the date of annexation, 23,500 villages, or about two -thirds of the total area
of
the
Province, were
in
their
possession
;
and
at
this
day they
hold and
after the
own
nearly 60 per cent, of the area.
annexation paid no regard to their
The new Settlement claims. The great estate
Man Singh, which included 577 villages, and paid a revenue of ;^2o,ooo, was reduced by the stroke of a pen to 6 villages and the Maharaja was left with an income of £,z^o. Another ancient
of Maharaja
villages out of 378; in a third, 155 villages were con204; the result of the summary assessment thus made immediately after annexation was a demand of ^1,054,800 land revenue. While this work of disinheritance was going on, the Mutiny suddenly stopped operations. But it is not difhcult to understand
estate lost
266
fiscated out of
why
in
Oudh
alone almost the entire mass of the landowning classes
restored, in
joined the Sepoys, and the mutiny became a rebellion.
When
order was at
last
March
1858, Lord Canning, as
Governor-General, issued his celebrated proclamation, confiscating the
))roprietary right in the whole soil of Oudh. The task of building up from the foundation a new system of land administration was entrusted to Sir Robert Montgomery, the first Commissioner after the Mutiny, and was finally carried into execution in 1859 by his successor. Sir
Charles Wingfield.
ddrs
all
The
principle adopted was to restore to the taluk-
that
they had at the time of annexation possessed, but in
such a manner that their rights should depend upon the immediate
of the British Government. They were invited to come to Lucknow, under promise of a safe-conduct. About two-thirds of the number accepted this invitation, and there concluded political arrangements with the Government, defining the mutual obligations of either party. On the one hand, the tdlnkddrs bound themselves to level all forts, give up arras, and act loyally to pay punctually the revenue assessed upon them and the wages of the village officials, and to assist grant
;
the police in keeping order.
On
the other hand, the British Govern-
ment conferred
a
right
of
property,
full
unknown
alike
to
Hindu
will,
or
Muhammadan
law,
comprising
power of alienation by
;
and
land
succession according to primogeniture in case of intestacy.
The
revenue demand was fixed at one-half the gross rental subordinate tenure-holders were confirmed in their ancient privileges and a clause
;
was introduced to protect the actual cultivators from extortion. Such were the main features of the sanads issued by Sir C. Wingfield in October 1859, which constitute the land system of Oudh to the present
504
OUDH.
The
option of reverting to
day, subject to a few minor modifications.
the
Hindu
or
Muhammadan
law of succession, or to the ancient custom
but the
of the family, has been granted to every tdlnkddr^ subject to a record
in the
Oudh
Estates List of the rule applicable to each estate
is still
;
right to
bequeath
retained.
for
The
detailed operations
giving effect to
in i860,
this
Settlement were
in
carried out
by a revenue survey, begun
and finished
187
1.
They resulted in increasing the amount of the summary assessment made immediately after annexation by 38 per cent. This survey was conducted both by villages and by fields. Out of the total area of the
Province, which amounts to 24,246 square miles according to the latest
returns, the entire assessed
veyed by
23,101 '1
2
fields,
at
area of 23,239 square miles has been suran average cost of ^3, 17s. 4d. per field; and
square miles have been surveyed by villages, at a cost of
6s.
about ^4,
per village.
The
total
revenue assessed upon the area
of 23,239 square miles amounts (1883-84) to ;£i,449,i35, showing an average rate of ;^62, 7s. per square mile. This is the estimated land
revenue, according to Settlement returns.
actual receipts
The actual demand and the depend upon many circumstances, which vary year by year. In 1883-84, the actual demand was ;^i,4i6,075, and the actual receipts ^1,405,048. The estates on the revenue roll are di\ided
into three classes
—
(i) those
held under the tdlukddri rules described
above, covering 60 per cent, of the area of the Province; (2) those held by ordinary zami7iddri tenure, covering about 20 per cent, of the
area; and (3) those held hy pattiddri and bhdyachdra communities and in fee-simple or revenue-free, covering the remaining 20 per cent, of the
area.
There are altogether 430 tdlukddrs
in the Province, of whom
more
than one-half, with an area of about 2\ million acres, hold their estates under the rule of primogeniture. The zaminddri estates, locally known
by the name of imifrid^ may be the undivided property of a single owner; but far more commonly they are owned by a coparcenary community, who regard themselves as descendants of a common ancestor. In the latter case, the whole is sometimes shared in common and sometimes each member of the community looks after his own share only, leaving the common concerns to be managed by a lanibaradr^ or head-man, who is responsible to Government for the revenue. In 1883 the number of zaminddri estates was 1340, besides 3007 zanii7iddn communities cultivating in common. Pattiddri estates numbered 1032, and
bhdyachdra estates 3687. Revenue-free estates numbered 1046; fee-simple estates, 52 while there were 22 holdings under the Waste Land Rules.
;
;
The sub-tenures under these
—
(i) sub-settled villages,
estates may be classified under five headings comprised within tdlukddri estates, which have
obtained recognition under the Oudh Sub-Settlement Act of 1866, and which cover 900,000 acres; (2) lands covering 450,000 acres held by
;
OUDH.
proprietors
505
who have been unable
village,
to prove their right to the sub-settle-
ment of a whole
(3) groves covering
called sir^ daswant^
ndnkdn, and dihddri
85,000 acres held by cultivators who by immemorial custom give the landlord a certain share of the produce (4) lands
;
granted, either by sale or as gifts for religious
endowment, with
full
under-proprietary rights; (5) lands covering 240,000 acres held rentfree by village servants and officials. The number of tenants ejected
by process of law from their holdings in 1883 was 12,203. According to another principle of classification, the total assessed area
to the
of the Province (23,239 square miles) duration of the Settlement:
—
is
divided as follows with reference
(i)
Area
settled in
perpetuity,
aggregating 1908 square miles,
with an annual revenue of ;^87,487, or an average of ;^45, 17s. from each square mile. The greater portion of this area represents large estates, which were conferred upon
loyal tdlukddrs after the
Mutiny
at easy rates.
(2)
Area
settled for a
term of
thirty
years,
expiring at latest in
1908,
aggregating 21,185
square miles, with a revenue of ;£^i, 360,736, or ;^64, 4s. 6d. from each square mile. (3) 40 square miles, with a revenue of ^513, settled for periods between ten years and thirty. (4) 21 square miles, with a revenue of ^398, settled for less than ten years. (5) 85 square miles,
still
under Settlement
following
is
in
1883-84.
mode of conducting the Survey and Settlement, two connected operations which have everywhere gone on side by side. Two European officials are required the
a brief description of the
The
Revenue Surveyor and the Settlement
staff of native
village,
Officer
— — each with a numerous
subordinates.
The former measures
the area of every
and prepares two sets of maps, one on the scale of an inch to the mile, the other on the scale of four inches to the mile. These maps show the superficial marks of cultivated land, waste land, groves, roads, houses, and tanks. The Settlement Officer superintends the khasra or field survey, the unit of measurement being the bigha of Shah Jahan, equivalent to 3025 square yards. His special task is to consider the character of the soil, the methods of cultivation, the facility for irrigation, the means of communication in the present and
in the i)robable future, the current rates of rent, the liability to natural
calamities,
etc.
Then he
assesses the revenue on each village,
the
guiding principle being to
registers
demand
one-half of the gross rental.
all
The
he compiles include a record of
officers.
affecting inheritance, irrigation, fisheries,
of village
cally
concluded for According to the agricultural statistics for 1876-77, the total assessed area of the Province was 14,885,635 acres, or 23,256 square miles;
the total assessment was
^£"1, 448,404, at
and customs and the appointment These elaborate operations have been now practithe whole of Oudh.
local rights
groves,
an average rate of
is.
ii^d.
5o6
per assessed acre, ranging from
to IS.
in Kheri.
OUDH.
2S.
QjcL in the District of Bara Banki
In 1883-84 the area assessed was about the ifd. same (14,873,441 acres, or 23,239 square miles), the assessment being ;^i, 449,135, at an average rate of is. ii|d. per assessed acre, ranging from 2s. 9^d. in the District of Bara Banki to is. ijd. in
The total cuUivated area in 1876-77 was 8,276,175 acres, or 56 per cent, of the assessed area, of which 2,957,398 acres, or 20 per cent, of the grand total, was returned as irrigated, entirely by The total cultivated area in 1883-84 was 8,274,467 private enterprise.
Kheri.
2,957,765 acres were irrigated by private enterThe rate of There are no Government canals in Oudh. assessment on cultivated land averaged 3s. 6jd. per acre in 1876-77, The total area of uncultivated land in and 3s. 6d. in 1882-83. 1876-77 was 6,609,460 acres, or 44 per cent, of the assessed area; in
acres,
prise.
of which
1882-83, the
last figure
total area of uncultivated
land was 6,598,974 acres.
This
includes 4,031,916 acres of grazing and cultivable land, and 2,567,058 acres of uncultivable waste. The average rate of assessment on cultivated and cultivable land together was 2s. 5|d. per acre in 1876-77,
and was
2s.
4|d. in
1883-84.
The
highest assessment on cultivated land
in
Lucknow
District (4s. lod.),
and the lowest
in
Kheri District
(2S. 3d.).
Commerce and Manufactures.
practically non-existent.
—Under native
but
this
rule, trade in
Oudh was
only superfluities for export were salt and saltpetre, while the imports w^ere confined to articles of luxury required for the court at Lucknow. It is said that in those days the imports
The
exceeded the exports
in value
;
must be accepted, not so much
as a literal fact, as a lively indication of the impoverished condition of the people. With the introduction of British authority, though the
opulence of Lucknow^ has declined, countless small centres of traffic More especially, the opening have sprung up throughout the country.
of railways has permitted the agricultural wealth of
Oudh
to find a
market even in countries so distant as Europe
of
;
while English wares
exports at the
;
many kinds
are received in exchange.
The
staple
the imports present day are oil-seeds, wheat, and other food - grains It is impossible, howcotton piece-goods, cotton twist, and salt.
—
ever, to
quote any trustworthy figures showing the
total
value of the
trade.
A brisk trade is also carried on with the independent State of Nepal, The along the three frontier Districts of Kheri, Bahraich, and Gonda.
general policy of the Nepal darbdr aims at compelling this
transacted
at
traffic to
marts within
its
own dominions,
of which
the
be most
flourishing are Golamandi,
these
a
considerable
number of Oudh merchants
Banki or Nepalganj, and Butwal. At all of are permanently
for
settled,
whereas Nepali's rarely cross the frontier to trade, except
OUDH.
the purchase of petty necessaries.
507
by load or by weight, upon all average rate which approximately corresponds to 7 per cent, ad valorem. l^he ri-ht of levying these duties is farmed out to the highest bidder. concerned, do It is said that they seldom vary, and, being known to all
Duties are levied in Nepdl, either articles both of export and import, at an
The not operate as a hindrance to trade or as a means of extortion. are Indian and European principal exports from Oudh into Nepal
The i)rincipal salt, sugar, tobacco, spices, and chemicals. imports, which largely exceed the exports in value, are rice and other food -grains, timber, oil-seeds, ghi, or clarified butter, metal wares,
piece-goods,
spices, drugs,
and
cattle.
is
more destitute of wholesale manufactures than Oudh. Excepting Lucknow, there is not a single town of the first magnitude, and there are few industries carried on by European Indigo is rapidly capital, such as the preparation of indigo and tea. The developing in Oudh into a considerable and lucrative industry.
No
Province of India
number of
indigo
factories
in
1883 was 40,
affording
of which
6
were
to
in
European hands, the whole number A paper mill recently established at Lucknow 1400 persons. employs 340 hands, and in 1882-83 turned out goods to the value of Weaving, pottery, and smith's work of a coarse character ^£38,835. are carried on in many villages, but not to a sufficient extent to meet Almost all manufactured articles of any nicety the local demand. The only specialities are gold and silver lacerequire to be imported.
{chikaii), and rich embroidery, all confined At Lucknow the well-known diamond-cut pattern of work in silver bangles is turned out, as well as the bidri damascened which the pattern is raised. thin silver leaf, and the zarbiilajid work in But the city is best known in India for its gold embroidery; in 1882 the the number of firms employed in this industry was 127, and
employment
nearly
work, silver chasing, muslin
to
Lucknow.
number of
goods
still
artisans, 683.
The weaving
of a peculiar class of cotton
Tanda. The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway forms the great channel of Entering the Province opposite Benares, the main communications. Thence it Faizabad to Bara Banki and Lucknow. line runs via Bareli, passes north-westward through Hardoi to Shahjahanpur and A branch runs from rejoining the East Indian system at Aligarh. Lucknow through Unao to Cawnpur and another diverges at Bara
flourishes at
;
Bahramghat on the Gogra. The whole railway thus forms a the semicircular connection or loop-line between the East Indian and
Banki
for
and Delhi systems. A line 273 miles long to connect Bahraich and Sonpur, opposite Patna city, is (1885) under construction. towns, Metalled roads of excellent construction connect all the principal rivers which bound or and much traffic still passes along the great
Sind, Punjab,
5o8
intersect the Province.
OUDH.
The length of made roads in Oudh in 1884 was 5241 miles, and of railways 3772- miles. The land revenue demand under the government of Administration. the late king rose within the last ten years of his rule from ;£^i, 399,000 In spite of this enormous nominal increase, to ;^2, 7 02,000 a year. however, the amount actually realized fell in the same period from Practically speaking, no other taxes of ^£"1,318,000 to ;^i, 063,000.
—
any importance existed. When the British authorities took over the Province, a rough assessment was made reaching a little over Officers were shortly afterwards appointed to settle the ;£'i, 000,000. land revenue for thirty years on a more scientific basis and at the conclusion of their revision, the net amount stood at about ;^i, 500,000. This sum includes the revenue from 1908 square miles of estates in Oudh granted on a permanent assessment as a reward to their owners
;
during the Mutiny. Besides the land revenue (of which ^1,405,048 was collected in 1883-84), the chief remaining taxes include the excise on spirits, which yielded ;£73,ooo in 1876, and ;£i 14,603 in 1882-83 and the stamps on securities, etc., which brought Miscellaneous sources in ^'93,000 in 1876, and;^i2o,723 in 1882-83. of revenue, which do not come under the head of taxation, produce about ^65,000 more, the principal items being Government forests, ^28,000, and post-office, ^16,000. The imperial treasury also draws an income from two other sources, which, however, do not appear in The Oudh peasantry must contribute at the accounts of this Province. least ;^2oo,ooo annually to the proceeds of the salt-tax; while the profit on the Government opium monopoly must amount to ^,^5 00,000 Classifying these receipts under their proper headings, it may more.
for loyal services
;
be said that actual
yields
and stamps, Government monopolies, which involve no drain on the country, make up about ;£"6oo,ooo more. The pressure of the land revenue assessment upon
taxation, including land, salt, excise,
altogether
about
;^i,865,ooo
annually
;
while
the cultivated acre in
of
civil
Oudh was
amounts
3s.
6d. in
1883-84.
The
total cost
to ;£ 5 65,000, leaving a surplus of Local taxation ^£"1,900,000, or over 75 per cent, of the gross receipts. in rates, cesses, octroi, and ferry dues, yields a further income of
administration
^375,000. In 1882-83, the demand and for local rates, ;£^65,925.
for local cesses
was ;£36,669,
The
type,
administration in
Oudh
belongs to the general non-regulation
under which a single officer unites fiscal and judicial functions, The Province contains 12 Districts, each original and appellate. These 12 Districts, again, comunder a Deputy Commissioner. The Chief-Commissionership is prise 37 tahsils or Sub-divisions. now united with the Governorship of the North- Western Provinces;
but the two offices remain
distinct,
though held by a single person.
OUDH,
The High
ordinary
in
;
509
the ultimate court of appeal.
civil,
Court, presided over by the Judicial Commissioner, forms The number of suits instituted in the
small-cause,
and rent courts of the Province was 85,179
1883 of this total over 30,000 were in connection with rent. Each Deputy Commissioner has at his disposal a small staff of European and
native assistants,
who aggregated 173
under the
less
for the
whole Province
of each
in 1884.
The
average population
is little
control
Deputy Com-
missioner
than a million.
In 1883, the total police force
and men, being i policeman to every 3- 15 square miles of area, and to every 1482 persons of the population. The total cost was ^78,992, of which ;^i 5,043 was defrayed from The expenditure on buildother sources than provincial revenue. the Public Works Department was ings, communications, etc., by
numbered 7685
officers
^^79,963In 1877-78, the total number of schools of all kinds was 1423, attended by 64,571 pupils, being i school to every 17 square miles, and 57 pupils to every thousand of the population. In 1883-84, the
number of schools was 1455;
pupils,
60,432.
The Muhammadans,
who form only 12^ per cent, of the population, supply 22 per cent, of Lucknow possesses an important college, founded by the the scholars.
tdlukddrs in
memory
of Lord Canning,
whose name
it
bears,
with
Almost equally a separate establishment for the sons of tdlukddrs. efficacious in disseminating useful information is the private press of
Munshi Newal Kishor
literature
for
is
at
Lucknow, which
all
prints a
cheap and abundant
there were 14 ver-
use throughout
India.
An
English newspaper, the
Express,
published bi-weekly at
Lucknow; and
nacular periodicals published throughout the Province in 1884. Municipalities have been established at the following 29
large
towns
:
— Lucknow,
Biswan,
Faizabad (Fyzabad), Tanda, Bahraich,
Balrampur,
Shahabad,
Sandila,
Sitapur,
Rai Bareli, Gonda, Partabgarh, Unao, Muhamdi, Nawabganj (Bara Banki), Nawabganj (Gonda), Hardoi, Nanpara, Utraula, Lakhimpur, Bhinga, Sultanpur, Newalganj-with-Maharajganj, Bilgram, Sandi, MalIn 1884, these 29 towns had a total municipal lanwan, and Pahani. population of 626,938, and a total municipal income oi ^z^o.Z-ji, of which ^37,691 was derived from taxation; the average incidence of
Khairabad,
Dhaurehra,
taxation was
is.
2jd. per head.
chieftains
Roughly speaking, the
fifths
{tdlukddrs)
have retained three-
a
of the Province, while two-fifths have passed into the hands of The class intermediate between the cultivators and the chiefs.
village
communities consist of large coparcenary
societies,
each con-
taining a
in
number of separate proprietors, who either hold their lands common, dividing the net proceeds after payment of revenue and
soil,
other charges, or else have divided the
and each separately
collect
5
f
o
O UDH TO WN—PABAR,
and discharge
their several
their rents
Setilenie?it.
dues.
— See
Land Survey and
Medical Aspeas.— The climate of Oudh is less damp than that ot Lower Bengal, and has greater varieties of temperature. The year falls the rainy, from the middle of June to naturally into three seasons
—
the beginning of October the cold weather, from October to February During the five or March and the hot season, from March to June. from 1868 to 1872, the maximum temperature was 118° F. in the years
; ;
shade, and the
minimum
39° F.
In 188 1, the
Lucknow was
April,
111° F. in the shade, and the
maximum temperature at minimum 35-4° F. During
May, June, and July in that year the temperature was over 100° F. The heat proves most oppressive in the rainy season. The average rainfall, for a period of 14 years ending 30th September 1883, was 40 inches for the whole of Oudh, the highest being 49 inches in Kheri District. The heaviest downpours occur in July and September, but are extremely
capricious.
The average annual rainfall at Lucknow for the 15 years 1881 amounted to 37-5 inches, with a maximum of 65 inches in ending
187
1,
and a minimum of 22 inches and dispensaries
in
in
all
1866.
Government
charitable
dispensaries have been established in
of hospitals
;
out-door, 347,665. 9341 Province was 334,768 in 1883. The number of deaths from cholera w^as 2882; from small-pox, 75,588; from suicide, 545; from snakes
number Oudh, 60(1884); in-door patients, The number of deaths registered in the
the chief towns.
Total
or other wild beasts, 1816.
Total number of persons vaccinated (1884),
26,135, at a total cost of ;^i438. Oudh. Town on the Gogra river, in
—
Oudh;
properly Avadh, or
AjODHYA
(^.v.).
Oyster Reef. A dangerous sunken reef off the coast of Arakan, Lower Burma. An iron screw-pile lighthouse, constructed in 1876,
visible in clear
—
in
is
situated at the south edge of the reef in 4 fathoms at low-water springs,
weather for 15 miles.
It is
intended to
make
secure
is
the western
a fixed
and northern approaches to Akyab harbour. The light white dioptric, and is elevated 77 feet above high-water level.
Pa.
war,
— Petty State of Und Sarviya,
Presidency
;
in the
Gohelwar division of Kathiai
;
Bombay
consisting
of
village,
with
2
separate
14s.
is
shareholders.
Estimated
revenue,
^255
of
which ^30,
paid as tribute to the Gaekwar of Baroda, and 24s. to the Nawab of Two miles west of Jesar town. Population (1872) 416; Junagarh.
and (1881) 300.
Pabar.— River
in
Bashahr
State,
Punjab.
Thornton
states that
it
PABNA.
rises in
5
1 r
Lake Charamai, near the Barenda
78° 12'
E.,
Pass,
and
falls at
once over a
31° 22'
n.,
l)erpendicular crag in a fine waterfall.
The
source
lies in lat.
and
long.
at
an elevation of 13,839
feet
above
sea-level.
The
fall,
river flows in a general south-westerly direction, with a very rapid
through the most
fertile
finally joins the
Tons,
in lat.
30° 56'
and picturesque part of Bashahr; and N., and long. 77° 54' E., after a
course of about 58 miles. {Pubnd). District in the Lieutenant-Governorship of Bengal, lying between 23° 49' and 24° 45' n. lat., and between 89° 2' 30" and
total
Pabna
E.
—
89° 53'
long.
It
forms the south-east corner of the Rajshahi Division,
and is bordered along its entire east face by the main stream of the Brahmaputra or Jamuna, and along its south-west frontier by the Ganges Population (1881) 1,311,728. Area, 1847 square miles. or Padma.
The
is
administrative head-quarters are at
first
Pabna Town, but
Sirajgan'j
the
place in the District, both in population
and commercial
delta,
importance.
Physical Aspects.
—The
District lies at the
head of the Bengal
within the angle formed by the confluence of the Ganges and Brahmaputra.
It is entirely of alluvial origin,
lying strata of clay or sand.
it
the mud of the annual inundations overApart from the two great bordering rivers,
is
intersected by countless water-channels of varying magnitude, so
is accessible by boat, and by Almost the whole area is one green rice-field, the uniform being only broken by clumps of bamboos and fruit-trees, which
that during the rainy season every village
boat only.
level
conceal the village
sites.
is
The
locally
river
system
constituted by the Ganges
and Brahmaputra, and
the interlacing offshoots and tributaries of these two rivers.
The Ganges,
all
known
as the
Padma,
skirts
part of the west
and
the south
48 miles. Its chief offshoot is the Ichhamati, which flows through Pabna town and joins the This latter river, here Harasagar, itself a branch of the Brahmaputra. called the Jamuna, forms the eastern boundary of the District for 32 miles. Its principal branch is the Harasagar, which in turn sends off the Karatoya or Phiiljhur, and joining the Baral and Ichhamati, ultiBesides these rivers, the whole mately reunites with the Jamuna. District is intersected by a network of minor watercourses which are
navigable throughout the rainy season, and almost every place in the
District
is
boundary of the
District for a total length of
accessible by water during the rains.
arisen,
In the larger
rivers,
numerous chars have
but no iinportant islands have been formed.
Instances of alluvion and diluvion are constantly taking place, and the
streams themselves frequently change their courses.
rivers
Old beds of
large
abound throughout
the District
;
some
are dry except in the rains,
while others contain water throughout the year.
jhils or marshes,
There are numerous by means of which the surface drainage is carried off
512
PABNA,
The
three largest of
;
in a south-easterly direction into the large rivers.
these lakes are the Bara
hil,
bil,
with an area of
1
2
square miles
Sondpdtila
and the Ghughudah bil, 4 square miles in area. These The low lands along their small lakes abound with fish and wild duck. extensively cultivated, and rich crops of rice are grown margins are These /////i frequently represent old river beds, within which thereon. the main stream of the Ganges and Brahmaputra has formerly flowed. There are no embankments in the District, and artificial canals are not
6 miles
;
wanted.
The
large
game
of the District consists of tigers, leopards,
;
and wild
numbers.
hog, which are plentiful
and buffaloes and deer
plover, pigeons, doves,
is
in small
The most common game
quail, golden, silver,
birds are geese, duck, teal, widgeon, snipe,
History. — Pabna
rule,
and grey
District
and
own.
ortolans.
a comparatively
modern
creation
It
of
British
and possesses no
real history of its
was
first
formed in 1832, at a time when the needs of an active administration Originally it had formed part of were beginning to demand recognition. the great District of Rajshahi, which was the most extensive zaminddri
in all
Bengal when the
Company
obtained possession of the Province
But the hereditary Rajas of Rajshahi, whose representative still lives in the family palace at Nattor, soon fell into default in the collection of the land revenue from their unwieldy estate,
in
the last century.
and portion after portion was brought to the hammer for arrears. Thus And when it it happened that fresh families of landowners sprang up. became necessary, for the speedier administration of criminal and civil justice, that new courts should be opened in corners remote from the
original civil station,
it
was found comparatively easy
to erect such
new
In this courts into the head-quarters of independent revenue divisions. and Bogra, and also many portions of adjoining Districts, way, Pabna
not effected
separation, however, was and Deputy Collector was first stationed at Pabna town in 1832, but this officer remained in some Many of the Pabna matters subordinate to the Collector of Rajshahi. long retained the privilege, as it was deemed, of paying landowners and hence arose the anomalies their revenue into the parent treasury
were severed from Rajshahi.
all at
The complete
once.
A
Joint Magistrate
;
of conflicting jurisdictions, which have not entirely disappeared at the It was not until 1859 that the covenanted official in present dav. By charge of Pabna received the full title of Magistrate and Collector.
1845, the Sub-division of Sirajganj had been formed, which has since
developed into by far the more important half of the District. Frequent changes have taken place in the limits of the District jurisIn 1862, the large Sub-division of Kushtia, lying beyond the diction. was transferred from Pabna to Nadiya; and in 1 871, by the Ganges,
transfer of
two more outlying
thdjids or police
circles,
that river has
—
PABNA.
513
been constituted the uniform southern boundary of the District. In the meantime, the magisterial and revenue jurisdictions have been gradually brought into harmony but even at the present day there is scarcely a police circle in Pabnd, in which some estates do not pay their land revenue into the treasury of an alien District. The only event of late years which has disturbed the even current
;
of
civil
administration in Pabnd,
is
the agrarian riot of
in the large
1873.
The
first
quarrel between landlord
and tenant arose
five
pargand or
Fiscal Division of Yusafshahi, formerly part of the possessions of the
Nattor Raja, but
first,
now owned by
families of zaminddis.
From
the
the relations of these new-comers, with their rayats
another, appear to have been unfriendly.
their rent-rolls, partly
rent,
and with one They attempted to enhance
by consolidating customary cesses or dlnvdbs with
and partly by reducing the standard of the local measuring-pole. These attempts the rdyats resisted by every means in their power. They
refused to pay any rent at
all.
ment
in the courts of law.
Finally, they
if
They contested the claims for enhancebanded themselves together
necessary, their landlords' demands.
in a league, to oppose,
by force
The
agrarian combination
spread
through the
District,
and
in
some
strong
places led to serious breaches of the peace in July 1873.
A
body of police was marched into the District to quell the disturbances, and 302 persons were arrested, the majority of whom were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Since that date order has been preserved. The rdyats^ on the whole, congratulate themselves on having got the best of the contest. The ill-feeling on certain estates has been by no means allayed but it is hoped that recent legislation will settle this chronic difficulty between landlord and tenant, which is common to Eastern Bengal, and was only marked in Pabna by symptoms of special
;
acuteness.
Population.
— No
early estimates of the population exist sufficiently
trustworthy to deserve record.
The Census of 1872 ascertained the number to be 1,211,594 persons, residing in 2792 viauzds or villages, and in 198,220 houses. At the last enumeration in 1881, the population of Pabna District was returned at 1,311,728, showing an increase of
100,134, or 8'26 per cent, in nine years.
This increase
is
fairly distri-
buted throughout, and
into
in
the absence of any considerable migration
or from the District,
fairly
may be
taken as the natural increase of
population in a
healthy agricultural District.
:
Census of 1881 may be summarized as follows Area 1847 square miles, with 2 towns and 3919 villages, and 206,395 houses, of which 200,447 ^^^re occupied. Total populaAverage tion, 1,311,728, namely, males 648,311, and females 663,417. towns and density of population, 710" 19 persons per square mile villages per square mile, 2"i2; persons per town or villaiie, 334;
The
results of the
of District,
;
VOL. X.
2
K
514
houses per square
mile,
PABXA.
iir75; inmates per occupied house, 6*54. and sex there were in 1881 under 15 years of age, males 275,421, and females 267,407 total children, 542,828, or 4i"4 per cent, of the population 15 years and upwards, males 372,890, and females 396,010; total adults, 768,900, or 58*6 per cent. Religious Classification. The bulk of the population of Pabna District are Muhammadans by religion. In 1881 the Muhammadans numbered
Classified according to age
—
;
:
—
or 27*5 per cent.
949,908, or 72*4 per cent, of the District population; Hindus, 361,479, Christians, 114; and Buddhist, i. Jains, 226
;
;
As
in other Districts
bordering the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra,
that the majority willingly
there can be no doubt that the great bulk of the population are of
aboriginal descent
;
and
adopted the conquer-
ing faith of Islam, in preference to remaining out-castes beyond the pale
of exclusive Hinduism.
The Census Report
classification,
of 1881, however, does
are
all
not give any ethnological
and the aborigines
included in the general
Muhammadan
or
Hindu
population.
A
few
immigrants from the north-west are to be found, either as merchants in
Sirajganj, or as stalwart retainers at the offices of the zajninddrs.
Emihill
gration
tribes
is
unknown
to the natives of the District.
The
aboriginal
are very poorly represented,
and
consist of a few
Bunas from
Chutia Nagpur, occupied in reclaiming the marshy jungles.
higher caste
;
Of
the
Brahmans number 20,970 Rajputs, only 455 and Kayasths, 34,602. The lower Hindus include the following Chandal, the most numerous caste among the Hindus, 53,319
Hindu
population,
;
:
—
;
Jaliya,
39,279; Sunri, 26,049; Kaibartta, 23,306; Barhai, 12,714; Goala, 11,783; Napit, 11,718; Kumbhar, 9841; Teli, 9824; Lobar,
81 19;
Kapali,
Caste6378; Mallah, 5851; and Charaar, 5792. Hindus number 13,175, of whom 13,157 were Vaishnavs. The Brahma Samaj is represented by a few members at Pabna town and Sirajganj, who are almost all strangers from other Districts. Their numbers are not returned separately in the Census Report of
rejecting
1881.
strongly from their
The Muhammadans of Pabna do not appear to separate themselves Hindu neighbours, though doubtless the recent
or Faraizi revival has exercised
some influence upon their They are said to be declining in position, owing to their bigoted conservatism, which keeps them outside the Government system of education, and to the jealousy and competition of the more pushing Hindus, who monopohze all, or The leading cultivators nearly all, the Government appointments. are generally Muhammadans and they frequently rise to the position
Wahabi
religious
conduct and
mode
of
life.
;
of traders, boat-owners, and holders of small estates, their savings being
usually spent in building boats or in purchasing land.
Prosperous
feasts
Muham-
madan
cultivators
spend considerable sums
in
and marriage
—
PABNA.
ceremonials.
515
The
lower class of Musalmans mix freely with the
it
lower castes, and
is
said
Hindu
classes
their
religious
festivals
festival
Hindu many Muhammadans take observance of {puj'ds), while among the Hindus certain
of the Muharram, impartially with those of
honour the own Durga or
Kali.
Since the setting in of the Wahabi or Faraizi
religious revival, however, class rules are
becoming more
rigid,
and the
Muhammadans and Hindus more marked. The wives of the Muhammadan peasantry do not work in the fields, but The sons of the confine themselves to household domestic duties.
separation between
principal cultivators generally learn to
read and write, and a few of
them study the Kuran.
Pabna according to race consists of and natives, 21. By sect, Church of England, 56 Roman Catholics, 23; Church they include of Scotland, 4; Protestants, not otherwise distinguished, 18; and
Christian population of
;
The
Europeans, 62
African,
i
;
—
Eurasians, 30;
;
'
others,' 13.
Toum a fid Rural
urban,
traders,
Population.
— The population
section.
divides itself into an are mostly
a
rural,
and a
floating
The townsmen
and many of the wealthier landlords are non-resident.
Apart
from the growing importance of Sirajganj as a trading centre, no tendency is displayed by the people to gather into towns, but rather the The only two towns in the District in 1881 were Paexa, reverse. 15,267; and Sirajganj, 21,037; total urban population, 36,304, or
only
27
per cent, of the total inhabitants of the District.
1881, as
Of
the 3719
hundred 1308 from two to five hundred 573 from five hundred to a thousand; 166 from one to two thousand; 14 from two to three thousand and 2 from three to five thousand. The floating or boat
villages in
many
as 1856 contained less than two
;
inhabitants
;
;
population was returned at 6164.
As
tion
regards occupation, the Census of 18S1 divides the male populainto
six
classes:
—
(i)
Professional class,
including
Government
10,891; (2) domestic class, 15,677; (3) commercial class, including all merchants, carriers, boatmen, etc., 31,395 (4) agricultural
officials,
;
class,
including gardeners, 284,467 ; (5) manufacturing and industrial class, 56,505; (6) indefinite and non-productive class, comprising male
children
and 17,514 general
Agriculture.
— Rice
labourers, 249,376.
constitutes the staple crop throughout the District.
Of the total food supply, the dnian or late rice, grown on low lands, forms about one-half; the dus or early rice, grown on high lands, about and the remainder is furnished by cold-weather second cro})s, one-fifth
;
Oil-seeds and the usual vegesuch as wheat, barley, and various pulses. Indigo is now grown on only about 50C0 tables are also cultivated.
acres.
Of
recent
years, jute has risen into the
second place
in the
District agriculture.
This
fibre
has been grown for local use from time
5i6
PABNA.
immemorial; but up to about 1865 little or none had been exported. The European demand, however, at that time so stimulated the cultivators, that, without any direct interference, they had themselves placed Since the latter as much as 192 square miles under this crop by 1872. has somewhat fallen off, but jute still forms the date the cultivation source to which the petty farmer looks to pay his rent, and indeed has caused the withdrawal of rice land from cultivation to a certain extent.
Neither manure nor irrigation
is
commonly
is
practised or required.
The
acknowledged in the maxim that betel-leaf, and turmeric can none of them be conjute, sugar-cane, It may be broadly stated that there tinuously grown on the same field.
principle of the rotation of crops
is
now no cultivable spare land left in the District. The average produce of an acre of land, yielding two crops, is estimated to be about 21 cwts., worth about ^3, 7s. The rates of rent in Pabna vary The average rate for rice lands may be extremely on different estates.
said to
as
lie
between
3s.
and
6s.
per acre, but
some landlords obtain
There
is little
much
as 12s.
A
general attempt at enhancement led to the disthat
is
turbances which have been already described. peculiar in the land tenures of the District.
exists in
A
class of cultivators
the District
known
as
bargdits or hargdddrs,
who
cultivate
land under ihejotddrs or larger husbandmen, the latter giving half the seed and the land rent-free. The bargdit provides the cattle, implements, half the seed, and the labour, and in return keeps half the produce. All
the present landowners are supposed to
owe
their title to sales
from
the Raja of Nattor, which have taken place since the introduction of The number of permanent under-tenures of the paffii British rule.
class is comparatively small.
It
is
vators have
won
for
themselves occupancy
supposed that about half the cultirights, by the continuous
cultivation of their fields for
more than twelve years ; but this supposition would be strenuously contested by the landlords. The ordinary rates of wages have approximately doubled within the Since 1840, the wages of a common cooHe have risen past forty years. of an agricultural labourer, from to ^\d. or 5d. per diem from 2jd. The wages paid of a carpenter or smith, from 4W. to is. 2jd. to 4d.
; ;
at Sirajganj are considerably higher
than the rates current in other parts
children,
of the District, especially for
women and
who
6d.,
are
largely
employed in the jute factory. For unskilled labour men sometimes receive i6s, a month, women 7s.
5
s.
at that
busy mart,
and children
The
prices of food-grains appear to have risen in a yet greater
degree than wages.
cvvt.,
Common
rice,
which sold in 1850
for is. 8|d. per
5s. 4d. for
fetched
3s. 9d.
per cwt. in 1870, and an average of
the
five years
ending 1883-84; during the same period of 34 years, barley rose from is. 8id. to 4s. 9d., and wheat from 2s. 4M. in 1850 to an The highest average of 5s. 9d. for the five years ending 1883-S4.
PABNA.
price reached by
cut. in 1866,
517
was
los. 6.ld.
common
9s.
rice
in years of scarcity
per
and
id. in 1874.
Pabna is not specially liable to either of the calamities of flood or drought, and the means of water communication are sufficiently ample
to prevent a local scarcity
from intensifying into famine.
The
natural
rising of the rivers lays a great portion of the country
year,
under water every
and no irrigation works are needed. In 1874, the deficiency in the local rainfall was such as to render necessary relief operations on the part of Government; and about ^11,000 was expended on this
account.
cwt., that
If the price of rice were to rise in January to los. lod. per should be regarded as a sign of approaching distress. Manufactures, etc. At Machimpur, near Sirajganj, there is a large factory for gunny-weaving, maintained by European capital, which gives
—
employment
^t
to about
3450 men, women, and children.
The
is
total
value of gunny-bags exported from the District in 1876-77
returned
In 1883-84, the number of gunny-bags exported ^70,000. Pabna was 3,591,596. The cultivation and manufacture of indigo are on the decline, the total annual out-turn of this dye being now only about 300 cwts. The weaving industry, also, is no longer ])rosperous. A coarse paper is manufactured in certain villages of the
from
Sirajganj Sub-division from meshtd (Hibiscus cannabinus).
Mats and
;
commonly woven from reeds, canes, and bamboos and there is some export of these articles to other Districts. Conunerce and Trade. Pabna District is most favourably situated for
baskets are
—
river traffic.
Sirajganj
is,
perhaps, the most frequented mart in
Its
all
Bengal, both for steamers and native boats.
trade
all
is
mostly of a
through character,
Districts
the agricultural produce of
the neighbouring
being here exchanged for piece-goods,
But,
apart from Sirajganj, there are
wares.
which export their jute and rice direct to Calcutta. There is no article of Indian trade which does not figure in the Sirajganj returns on both sides of the account, but the chief exports
proper
are
;
and European numerous minor marts Goalanda and even to
salt,
jute,
rice,
pulses,
oil-seeds,
hay and straw,
hides and
salt,
gunny-bags
coal.
is
the imports comprise European cotton manufactures,
tobacco, betel-nuts, spices, cocoa-nuts,
It is calculated
lime and limestone, iron, and
that coin to the
in
amount of
the
at least ;£"4oo,ooo
annually imported,
order to
returns
liquidate
for
favourable
balance
1876-77 give a total value of exports amounting to ^2,205,277, of which ^1,722,502 was ;^i 82,548 by private steamers, and carried by country boats, ^300,226 by railway steamers. The total imi)orts were valued at carried by country boats, ^^'^s ;£'2, 324,590, of which ;^ 1,91 2,014 by rivate steamers, and ;!f 41 1,071 by railway steamers. These ^^1505 figures include the trade of Sirajganj, which will be shown in detail in
of trade.
registration
]
The
5i8
a separate article,
PABNA.
as well as a large
amount of commodities ranked
inawids,
both as exports and imports. Pabna District, is given at
largest supply of
The
in
net export of jute, the produce of
1,081,700
Bengal.
being
the
fourth
any District
Similarly, the net
export of
is nearly 500,000 inaimds^ and of oil-seeds, 249,000 maunds. Apart from Sirajganj, the chief marts are Bera, which exported jute, food-grains, and oil-seeds, valued at ^£^67,270, and imported ;£^i 3,630 of piece-goods and 50,000 maunds of salt; Ulapara, exports ;^59,o9o,
food-grains
—
Dhapara, exports /^ii,i8o, imports ^42,360; Pabna town, exports ;£^io,iio, imports ^£21,330; Pangasi, exports ;^5 0,840. Owing to a change in the system of registration, no later statistics are available showing the extent and value of the import and
imports ^£"11,420;
export trade of the District.
The Northern Bengal
State Railway runs across the south-western
The roads in the District corner of Pabna District for about 5 miles. are few and inferior, the communication even between Pabna town
and Sirajganj being interrupted by a marshy tract, 31 miles across. But this deficiency is amply compensated by the facility of water communication 126 miles of river are returned as navigable throughout the year (exclusive of the great skirting rivers), and 68 miles as naviAbout ;£"25oo is annually expended gable for a portion of the year. on the maintenance and construction of roads. There is a small watercourse, artificially deepened to serve as a canal, in the neighbourhood
;
of Sirajganj.
In 1870-71, the net revenue of Pabna District ^53,855, towards which the land-tax contributed ^£32,082, or 60 per cent. the net expenditure was £22,']!'], or about two-fifths
Administration.
to
—
amounted
of
the
;
revenue.
In
1883-84, the
six
principal
items
of revenue
Land revenue, ^39,742; aggregated ^77,380, made up as follows: excise, ^8381; stamps, ^£"20,832; registration, ;£"i39i ; road cess,
In 1883-84 there were 1822 ^,^2^1; municipal taxes, ^1793. separate estates on the Government rent-roll, owned by 13,189 individual proprietors. Average payment by each estate, ^{^21, i6s. 3d.; by each individual proprietor, ;^3, os. 2d. There were 4 covenanted officials stationed in the District in 1883, and 10 civil and criminal
courts open.
—
For police purposes, the
District
is
divided into 8 thdnds
or police circles, with 13 outposts.
police force
numbered 366 men
In 1883, the regular and municipal of all ranks, maintained at a total cost
of
I" addition, there was a rural watch or village police force numbering 2204, maintained by the villagers, and by grants of rent-free
^6899.
land, at an estimated cost of £,\ 1,486.
for the protection of
The
total
machinery, therefore,
men, giving
i
person and property consisted of 2570 officers and policeman to every 072 square mile of the area and to
every 514 persons of the population.
The
estimated total cost was
PABNA.
;£"i
519
3]d.
8,385, averaging
^9,
total
19s.
per
square mile and
in
per head
of population.
The
number of persons
Pabna
District convicted
of any offence, in 1883, great or small, was i6c8, being i person to By far the greater proportion of the every 816 of the population.
The District contains one jail and convictions were for petty offences. one lock-up at Sirajganj. In 1883, the average daily number of prisoners was 1587, of whom 4 were females; the labouring convicts averaged These figures show i prisoner to every 8265 of the population. 93. Education has widely spread of recent years, chiefly owing to the reforms of Sir G. Campbell, by which the benefit of the grant-in-aid rules In 1856 there has been extended to i\\Q pdthsdids or village schools. were only 5 Government-inspected schools in the District, attended by
508 pupils; by 1872 these numbers had grown
to 247 schools,
and
8833
pupils.
In the latter year the total expenditure on education was
;£"42i5, towards which
the schools
By 1876 Government contributed ;£222 8. had increased to 285, and the pupils to 9665 and by 1883-84 the schools under Government inspection had further increased to about 920, and the pupils to about 23,500, giving one school to every
;
square miles of area, and 17-9 pupils to every thousand of the population. Of the boys of school-going age, one in every 3-7 was attending
2
school in 1883-84.
The
District
is
divided into
2
administrative Sub-divisions
circles
and 8
police circles, namely,
Pabna, with the four poHce
;
of Pabna,
Chatmahar, Dulai, and Mathura and Sirajganj, with the four police There are 38 circles of Sirajganj, Shahzadpur, Raiganj, and Ulapara. pargands or Fiscal Divisions, with an aggregate of 1822 revenue-paying In 1883 there were 3 civil judges and 7 stipendiary magisestates. trates the maximum distance of any village from the nearest court was
;
32 miles,
the average distance 8 miles.
There are
2
municipalities
in the District,
35,941
;
population of Pabna town and Sirajganj, income in 1883-84 was returned at £^2\^(i, of the municipal
with a total
which
^1793
was derived from taxation, the average rate of taxation
is.
being a fraction under
per head.
climate of
Medical Aspects.
as
fall
—The
at
Pabna
is
mild,
and not unhealthy
compared with the neighbouring
is
Districts.
The
average annual rain-
returned at 68-41 inches for Pabna town, and 58-22 inches for In 1883-84, the rainfall at Pabna town was only 43-06 inches. Sirajganj.
The mean temperature
sufficiently
Pabna
is
about 80°
F.,
but no trustworthy
thermometrical returns are available.
cyclones.
The
estuary of the
Meghna
is
near to expose the District to the danger of occasional In September 1872, a storm of unusual violence swept over
all
the country, which levelled native houses and fruit-trees in
directions,
sunk more than 100 country boats large steamers and flats.
at Sirajganj,
and wrecked several
520
PABNA SUB-DIVISION— PACHAMALAL
chief diseases are malarious fevers of a mild type, splenitis,
The
every
and
for
slight attacks of
dysentery and diarrhoea.
Cholera usually breaks out
year in
a
more
or less
severe
form.
The
vital statistics
32,148 registered deaths in 1883, or a death-rate of 26*10 per thousand. These figures, however, are considerably below
total of
1883 show a
the truth.
District, at
There were,
which
in
1883, two
charitable dispensaries in the
patients were treated
^tZZ in-door
and 7415 out-door
during the year.
[For further information regarding Pabna, see The
Statistical Account of Bengal^ by W. W. Hunter, vol. ix. pp. 269-376 (London, Triibner & Co., 1876). Also the Bengal Census Report for 1 88 1, and the several Provincial Administration and Departmental Reports from 1880 to 1884.]
Pabna.
Bengal,
89°
3'
— Sadr
or
head-quarters
Sub-division
20'
of
lying
between 23° 49' and 24°
47' E. long.
n.
lat.,
Pabna District, and between
and 89°
Area, 901 square miles; villages, 1826;
houses, 102,904.
Population (1881) 611,964, namely, males 301,431,
and females 310,533. Hindus numbered 182,648; Muhammadans, 429,237; Christians, 76; Buddhist, i; and Jains, 2. Average number of persons per square mile, 679; villages per square mile, 2*03 houses
;
per square mile, 118; persons per village, 335 ; inmates per house, 5*9. This Sub-division consists of the 4 police circles of Pabna, Dulai,
Mathura, and Chatmahar.
civil
In 1883
it
contained 4 magisterial and 5
courts
;
a total regular police force of 236 men, with a village watch
numbering
11 12.
Pabna. Administrative head-quarters and second largest town of Pabna District, Bengal situated on both banks of the Ichhamati, in lat. 24° o' 30" N., and long. 89° 17' 25" e. Population (188 r) 15,267, namely, males 7701, and females 7566. Classified according to religion, Muhammadans numbered 8106; Hindus, 7134; and 'others,'
;
—
Municipal income (1883-84), ;£93i, of which ;£"872 was derived 27. from taxation; average incidence of taxation, is. 2d. per head of the population (14,883) within municipal limits. The Ichhamati flows through the centre of the town the old bed of the Ganges or Padma
;
lies
to
the south.
police
Chief buildings
dispensary.
5
house,
station,
Manjhipara Indigo Factory;
roads.
Government ofiices, circuitGovernment English school, and large bazars. Several good metalled
— the
—
Pachamalai {^ Green Mountains'). Mountain range in Trichinopoli and Salem Districts, Madras, lying between 11° 10' and 11° 24' n. lat., and between 78° 33' 30" and 78° 50' e. long. Average height above sea-level, 2000 feet; length of range, about 20 miles. In shape the
range has a slight resemblance to an hour-glass, being nearly cut in two
by ravines of great size and depth, opening to the north-east and southwest. Of the two parts into which the range is thus divided, the north-
1
FA CIIAMBA—PA CHHIMRA TIL
eastern
is
52
the larger, and, as a rule, reaches a higher level than the
south-eastern.
On
the Salem side, the
hills
are higher
is
and more
pre-
cipitous than towards the east, where the ascent
gradual and relieved
by long spurs trending into the
present of no economic value, having been
nomad
cultivation.
The
scrub
The forests are poor, and at much injured by the wasteful and bamboo wilds that remain are notoriplains.
ously feverish.
On
the western side the slopes are covered with jungle,
consisting chiefly of usilai (Albizzia
Amara)
;
towards the summits the
jungle
is
dense and intermixed with bamboo and thorny bushes.
are found forests
On
the summits
of considerable extent, consisting of
Marsupium), teak (Tectona grandis), blackwood and sandal-wood (Santalum album). The eastern slopes are covered with a dense jungle of bamboo, with vengai and small teak trees. In addition to the trees above mentioned, the principal products of the Pachamalai hills are gall-nuts a bark called vembddampattai, from which a red dye is extracted the fruit of the hillgooseberry (Rhodomyrtus tomentosa) and honey. Three villages are situated in the Pachamalai hills Vannadu, with 27 hamlets, and population (1881) 3281; Kombai, with 6 hamlets, and population (1881) 428; and Temparanadu, with 20 hamlets, and population (1881) 1669:
vetigai (Pterocarpus
(Dalbergia
latifolia),
—
;
;
;
—
total
population
(1881)
of Pachamalai
hills,
5378, occupying
11 16
houses.
Pachamba. Formerly a Sub-division of Hazaribagh District, Bengal, which has now (1885) been reconstituted as Giri'dhi Sub-division {q.v.). Pachamba. Town in Hazaribagh District, Bengal situated in lat. 24° 12' 29" N., and long. 86° 18' 38" e., 3 miles from Giridhi railway station. Head-quarters of the Free Church of Scotland Mission to the Santals dispensary and training school for teachers are attached to the Mission. The staff numbers 17 persons, 2 of whom are Europeans the funds are drawn mainly from subscriptions in Scotland, aided by surplus receipts of the Free Church of Scotland's Institution in Calcutta.
;
; ;
— —
The Mission
school for
in 1882.
also maintains 6 vernacular boys' schools,
girls.
The
total native Christian
and i boarding community numbered 182
Pachhegam. Petty State Bombay Presidency. Area,
with
of
2
—
in the
Gohelwar division of Kathiawar,
separate
4s. is
10 square miles; containing 4 villages, shareholders. Estimated revenue, ^3700; tribute
^212,
paid to the Gaekwar of Baroda, and ;^68 to the
Nawab
of Junagarh.
Situated 12 miles south-east of the Dhola junction of the
Bhaunagar-Gondal railway station. The head-quarters of an important body of Nagar Brahmans. Population (1881) 3655, of which 2679 inhabit Pachhegam village.
Pachhimrath.— /'^/'^'<7«^'
in
Faizabad (Fyzabad)
District,
Oudh
;
bounded on the north by Haweli Oudh, on the
east
by Majhaura,
—
52 2
J'A
CHHOHA—PA CHORA.
on the south by Sultanpur Baraunsi in Sultanpur District, and on the RudauH in Bara Banki. Intersected by two small streams, the Madha and Bisoi, which, after passing into Majhaura paroand, unite and form the Tons. Under native rule, the pan^and comprised a much
west by
larger area than at present, consisting of
fers
856 villages. Numerous transbeen made to neighbouring pargands, and Pachhimrath now contains an area of 350 square miles, of which 197 are cultivated
have
lately
;
Population (1881) 198,303, namely, 186,108 Hindus, 12,194 Muhammadans, and i 'other.' Formerly inhabited by Bhars, but now owned principally by Rajputs.
number
of villages, 502.
Pachhoha.
—Pargand
in
Hardoi
District,
Oudh
;
bounded on the
north by Shahjahanpur District, in the North-Western Provinces; on the east by Shahabad/<7r^^^7;/^f / on the south by Pali; and on the west
Watered by two small sandy {bhur). Area, about 88 square miles, or 56,280 acres, of which 42,361 acres are returned as cultivated, 10,275 as cultivable, and 3644 as uncultivable Population (1881) 30,253, namely, males 16,760, and females waste.
by Farukhabad and Shahjahanpur Districts. streams, the Garra and Sunsaha Chanab.
Soil chiefly
13,493, nearly
all
Hindus.
Government land revenue,
During native
rule,
£_A7i^7i-
The
landholders are chiefly Panwars.
the British annexation.
Pachhoha was
included within Pali, and was only constituted a separate /«ri,''^//^f after
Pachipeta.
— GJidt
in
Vizagapatam
District,
Madras Presidency.
tahsil,
See Panchipenta.
Pachmarhi.
abad
District,
— Small
za?nindd?'i estate in
;
Sohagpur
Hoshang-
Central Provinces
comprising 6
villages, in the heart
The chief has Population (1881) 507. of the Mahadeo Hills. arranged for the fine sdl timber being preserved by the Government
Forest Department.
He
is
a
Kurku by
caste,
and the
principal of the
Bhopas, or hereditary guardians of the temple on the Mahadeo Hills, in which capacity he receives yearly ^75 in lieu of pilgrim tax, less a quitrent
annum. and sanitarium in Hoshangabad District, surrounded by the Chauradeo Jata Pahar and Central Provinces It lies 2500 feet above Sohagpur, with an average Dhiipgarh Hills.
on
his estate of ;£"2, los. per
Pachmarhi
— Plateau
;
temperature nearly 10° F. lower than in the valley
;
and, though not free
from
an agreeable sanitarium and summer retreat for the Population (1881) 2054, namely, Hindus, 1530; Central Provinces.
fever, affords
Muhammadans, 400; Pachmarhi has some
Pachora.
Christians,
no; and non-Hindu
aborigines,
14.
interesting ancient temples.
It is a
convalescent
Presidency.
depot for European troops.
— Sub-division
of
Khandesh
District,
Bombay
Population Area, 535 square miles, containing i town and 186 villages. (1872) 84,880; (1881) 100,051, namely, 51,949 males and 48,102
PA CHORA VILLAGE— PA-DAUNG.
females.
;
523
;
4712.
Hindus number 85,989 Muhammadans, 9350 and 'others,' Land revenue (1882), ;£^33, 189. The Sub-division is bounded on the north by Amahier, Erandol, and Nasirabad Sub-divisions of Khdndesh on the east by Jamner and the
;
on the south by the Nizam's territory and on the west by ChaHsgaon and Dhiiha. The region is composed of a fairly wooded valley lying between the Satmala range to the south and
Nizam's
territory
;
;
low ranges of
28*9 inches.
hills
in the
north.
Climate healthy
is
;
average
rainfall,
In 1864-65, the survey settlement disclosed 8977 holdings, of an average area of incidence of 2o*4 acres, and an average assessment of £^2^ i6s. 8d.
only perennial stream
the Girna.
;
The
land-tax per head, about 8s.
6M.
Total cultivated area of Government
land in 1878-79, 212,505 acres ; the principal crops being 121,190 acres; pulses, 3286 acres; oil-seeds, 9588 acres;
—grain crops,
fibres,
75,049
acres; and miscellaneous, 3392 acres. In 1883, the Sub-division contained I civil and 3 criminal courts number of police circles [thdnds),
;
men; and village watch {chaukidars), 211. Pachora. — Village in Khandesh District, Bombay Presidency, and Not Population (1872) 2793. head-quarters of Pachora Sub-division.
2
;
regular police, 72
separately returned in the Census Report of 1881.
35 miles south-east of Dhiilia, and Peninsula Railway, 232 miles from
station to the Ajanta caves,
is
a station
Bombay.
connects the village with the railway station.
Travellers'
Pachora is situated on the Great Indian A good shaded road Pachora is the nearest
which lie about 30 miles to the south-east. bungalow post-office. Pa-daung. Township in Prome District, Pegu Division, Lower Burma, occupying the whole of the right bank of the Irawadi (Irrawaddy) from Thayet-myo on the north to Henzada on the south, and stretching westward to the Arakan Yoma range. Area, 1008 square miles. Popuand (1881) population, 47,993 lation (1877) 35,269; revenue, p^866 7 Along the bank of the Irawadi, for about a revenue, ;£^io,593. mile inland, the country is level, and under rice; west of this it begins to undulate, but the undulations soon pass into hills, and the whole
—
;
:
;
west of the township to the Arakan
Yomas
is
a succession of densely(or
/;/)
wooded
spurs
and mountain
torrents.
Eng
(Dipterocarpus
tuberculatus), pyin-ga-do (Xylia dolabriformis), sha (Acacia Catechu),
and teak (Tectona grandis), besides bamboos, abound in this tract. Cutch trees (Acacia Catechu) are very numerous, and a brisk manufacture of this article has sprung up.
The
principal rivers are
;
— the Tha-ni,
;
and Kyauk-bu the Thu-le-dan and the Ka-wa. The mineral products of Pa-daung are earth-oil and limestone. In the southern portion of the township are some salt springs, of no economic value at present, owing to the importation of cheap foreign salt.
with
its
tributaries the Bu-ro
The number
of revenue circles
is
19.
The
area under cultivation
may
—
524
—
PA- D AUNG
TOWN—PADIAALKNAD.
be put roughly
at 60 square miles, of which about seven-ninths are and the remainder under miscellaneous crops, such as These are exchanged for chillies, fruit, onions, sesamum, and tobacco. The chief road is that cotton, piece-goods, and nga-pi or fish paste. The leading from Prome into Arakan via the Taung-gup Pass. principal town is Pa-daung. Pa-daung. Head-quarters town of Pa-daung township in Prome District, Pegu Division, Lower Burma; situated in lat. 18° 41' n., and Populalong. 95° 10' E., on the right bank of the Irawadi (Irrawaddy). tion (1877-78) 2897 and (1881) 2267. Daily communication with Prome by a ferry-boat. It consists of one long street, which forms a
under
rice,
—
;
portion of the military road from
court-house, police station, market,
Prome
into Arakan.
Contains a
and school. Pa-daung is occasionally mentioned in Burmese history. About the end of the first century of the Christian era, Tha-pin-nyu, the last king of Old Prome, fled thither after the destruction of his capital, Tha-re-khettra, by the Kanran tribe. In both the first and second Anglo-Burmese wars, Pa-daung
was the scene of fighting. Padda {Padma). The name of the main stream of the Ganges during the lower part of its course. See Ganges.
—
in
Stream rising in the western slopes of the Pegu Yoma range, Lower Burma. After a westerly course for some distance, it enters Thayet-myo District, where it takes the name of the Bwot-lay, and The volume falls into the Irawadi (Irrawaddy) from the eastwards. Pa-de.
of water poured into the Irawadi during the rains
is
—
considerable
;
on account of the force of the current, and the rapidity with which the water rises and falls. Near its mouth it is spanned by a substantial wooden bridge, which carries the main road between Rangoon and Mye-de. During
but this channel
is
useless for navigation purposes
the rains, large quantities of teak are floated the Bwot-lay, where the timber
is
down
to the
collected into rafts for the
mouth of Rangoon
market.
miles;
Padinalknad. Tdhik or Sub-division in Coorg. Area, 400 square number of villages, 56; number of houses, 3351. Population (1871) 32,350; (1881) 28,219, namely, 16,342 males and 11,877
females;
of
—
whom
18,696 were Hindus, 6896 native Coorgs,
2499
Muhammadans,
chiefly Mappilas, 3 Jains,
and 125
Christians.
Padinalknad occupies the western portion of Coorg, and includes
the boundary range of the Nalknad, where the Kaveri takes
its
rise,
containing the highest peaks of the Western 'Ghats.
Highest peaks
;
Todianda-Mol (5729 feet); Soma-male in the Kadiethnad Tumbemale Igatapa and Brahmagiri. The valleys are winding and narrow.
; ;
The
rice cultivation
is
insufficient for the people,
many
of whom obtain a
in the
livelihood on the coffee estates.
Cardamom
plots
have been opened
—
PADMA—rADRA.
dense forests of the Ghats.
—
525
jungle produce, chiefly
The
tdliik is rich in
cardamoms 7m6. pun
coffee
rice-fields is
timber.
There are many
coffee plantations.
The
grown by the Coorgs
in the banes or forest
land attached to their
much
neglected.
fall
trees felled so as to
across them.
is
In the rains the streams are bridged by Into the sacred forests near the
source of the Kaveri no one
allowed to penetrate.
The
north-western
portion of the taluk contains
it
some of
the wildest tracts of Coorg;
and
by
is
inhabited by the Botwas or Kadalas, the most primitive class of
jungle people in Coorg.
The Botwas
are excellent archers,
and
live
Their huts, which they frequently change, are of the rudest description, made of sticks and covered with The women dress in leaves, which they leaves of the 7iatti palm.
the chase, seldom working for hire.
change four times a day
;
the
men
wear a coarse
cloth.
— The name of the main stream of the Ganges, See Ganges. course. during the lower portion of Vizagapatam Padmanabham. — Village Bimlipatam
Padma
{Paddd).
its
in
tiilnk,
District,
e.,
Madras
Presidency; situated in
port
lat.
\f
58' n.,
and
long.
83° 19'
near the
large
of Bimlipatam.
houses, 103.
A
Population (1881) 534; number of place of religious and historic interest, containing a
endowed Hindu temple of much
the Flodden of the Northern Circars scene of a decisive battle fought between Viziaram Raj of Vizianagaram and Col. Prendergast's Viziaram Raj was defeated and slain, force, on the loth June 1794.
'
—
local celebrity,
and marking the
'
and with him fell most of the principal chiefs of the country. The loss on the Company's side was 13 killed and 61 wounded. Padmavati {Fadmdbati). Town in Khandpara Tributary State, situated on the Mahanadi river, in lat. 20° 20' 45" n., Orissa, Bengal
—
;
and
nuts,
long. 85° 21' e.
Large
to
river traffic; exports of salt, spices, cocoa-
and brass
utensils
Sambalpur
in the Central Provinces,
oil,
and
return trade in cotton, wheat, oil-seeds, ghi,
silk, etc.
molasses, iron, tasar
of Baroda State, Gaekwar's territory, Bombay Area, about 250 square miles, of which 51,443 acres were Presidency. under cultivation in 1881. The river Mahi flows along the northern
Pddra.— Sub-division
boundary.
salubrious,
The
country presents an even surface to the eye, broken
trees,
only by numerous
Limbada and by ponds of
which
assist in
making the climate
1
large extent.
soil).
Three-fourths of the entire
Sub-division contains
land
is
of the rich gordth (light
The
1,000
holding's, varying in area from three-quarters of an acre to one hundred State assessment (1882), ^^76,667. acres; the average is five acres.
Cotton
is
raised
Padra.
;
Town
on over 6000 acres. in the Padra Sub-division of Baroda
State,
Bombay
Presidency situated 14 miles west-south-west of the city of Baroda, in 7' 30" e. Population (1881) 7668. lat. 22° 14 30" N., and long. 73°
526
Padra
is
PADRAUNA TAHSIL AND TOWN.
connected with Baroda
city
by narrow sandy roads, impassable good market, and Customs' office, postlies in the centre of a prosperous country. A municipality, and contains office, dispensary, and three rest-houses. From its situation, Padra was in former times the a Gujarathi school.
in the rains for
wheeled
traffic.
The
village contains a
usual place of detention for suspected
members
of the Gaekwar's family.
of
Padrauna
{Paniuna).
— North-eastern tahsil
;
Gorakhpur
District,
North-Western Provinces consisting of a level plain, lying along the west bank of the river Gandak, and co-extensive with the pargand of
Sidhua-Jobna.
The tahsil is a long and straggling tract extending from the wild and marshy tardi in the north to the confines of the
Bengal District of Champaran on the south, and presenting a
fertile
great variety of physical
and
agricultural features.
The Great Gandak
forms
its
eastern boundary in parts,
and the almost yearly changes of
bed effected by this river are a great obstacle to cultivation. In the neighbourhood of the Great Gandak, the agriculture is of an inferior description, and herdsmen and shepherds preponderate amongst the inhabitants. The other rivers are the Little Gandak, Jharahi, Banri, and Khanua while numerous shallow lagoons connected by watercourses, and natural and artificial ponds and tanks, are dotted over the tahsil. The villages are built wherever a little eminence is found, and are surrounded by mango groves and clumps of bamboos. The ordinary crops of the spring and winter harvests are produced but within the last 45 years, sugar-cane has become the staple crop. Area of the tahsil^ 934 square miles, of which 701 square miles are
; ;
returned as under cultivation.
Population (1868) 417,641;
(1881)
Total increase 559,838, namely, males 279,566, and females 280,272. Classified of population in 13 years, 142,197, or 34*05 per cent. Hindus, 477,806; Muhamaccording to religion, there w^re in 1881
—
Of the 1220 villages comprising madans, 82,003; and 'others,' 29. the tahsil, 908 contain less than five hundred inhabitants, while no Principal manufactures, sugar, which is place exceeds five thousand. carried on by at least 50 native factories; and the manufacture and Coarse hemp matting and sacking are also extenrefining of saltpetre.
sively
manufactured, and the luxuriant pasturage along the banks of
hides to
the
Gandak has induced a considerable export trade in Patna and Calcutta. Land revenue (1883), ^33,786; total
;
revenue,
rental paid by including local rates and cesses levied on land, ;z{^37,867 cultivators, ^113,948. Padrauna /^//i-// contains 2 criminal courts, with
6 police stations {thdnds)
;
strength of regular pohce, 75 men, besides
352
village police {chaukiddrs).
Padrauna. Town in Gorakhpur District, North-Western Provinces, and head-quarters of Padrauna tahsil. Lat. 26° 54' 20" n., long. 84° 1' 25" E. Distance from Gorakhpur town, 40 miles east. General
—
—
—
FA GARA—PAIIARI BANKA.
;
527
Cunningham
identifies
Padrauna with Pawa, mentioned
in
the Chinese
chronicles as the last halting-place of Sakya
Muni
or
Buddha
before
reaching Kusinagara, where he died, and which place received an eighth
share of his
relics.
The
village contains a large
mound
covered with
broken
cavated.
bricks,
from which several statues of Buddha have been exThe town is composed of five separate villages, with an
Besides the usual Sub-divisional
offices,
aggregate population in 1881 of 8939.
Padrauna contains a post-office, police station, The site is malarious and school, and excise warehouse. very unhealthy, and goitre is common. A small house-tax is raised for police and conservancy purposes.
courts
and Government
Pagara.
villages,
—Zammddri
among
a
estate in
Hoshangabad
Hills.
District, Central Pro-
vinces, lying
the
Mahadeo
The
estate comprises
12
with
is
The
the
chief
population (1881) of 1720, residing in 399 houses. one of the Bhopas or hereditary guardians of the temple on
Hills,
Mahadeo
and pays a
tribute of
^\o
a year to the British
Government.
Township in Amherst District, Tenasserim {Hpa-gat). Population (1881) 14,732; land revenue, Lower Burma. See Hpa-gat. ;£"8i8; capitation tax, ^167. Pa-gat {Upa-gat). Village in Amherst District, Tenasserim Division, Lower Burma. See Hpa-gat. Pagla (or Fdgli). River in Maldah District, Bengal. An offshoot of the Ganges on its left bank, into which the Chhota Bhagirathi, a smaller branch, flows, and which, before it regains the Ganges, encloses
Pa-gat
—
Division,
— —
a large island in the south of the District about 16 miles long.
During
the rainy season, the Pagla
its
is
navigable for boats of considerable size
in
floods deposit sand
and mud,
which rich early
rice
and other
crops are grown.
Paharapur.
the west by
miles, of
— Fari^ajid
north and east by
bounded on the in Gonda District, Oudh Gonda pargand, on the south by Guwarich, and on
;
Y^Xsim^m pargand in Bahraich District. Area, 115 square which 73 are cultivated. A level pargajid, watered by the Tirhi river, which intersects it from west to east, and occasionally causes damage to the neighbouring villages by inundation. A variety of longstemmed rice, known as du7isi d/id?i, is peculiar to this pargafid, which grows as the floods rise in the rainy season, and is never submerged.
Population, according to the Census of 1881, 75,260, namely, 65,647 Total Government Hindus, 9612 Muhammadans, and i 'other.'
revenue,
^£^9361.
The pargand
is
chiefly
owned by
the Rajas
of
Kapurthala and Chanda. The Bisambharpur estate belongs to the heirs Of the 128 villages of the late Maharaja Sir Man Singh, K.C.S.L comprising the pargand, 80 are held by Brahmans.
Pahari Banka.— One
of the petty y4'-/r^ in
Bundelkhand known
as
;
5
28
PAHARPUR—PAHRA.
Hasht Bhdya
Jdgirs, or
'
the
appanages of the eight brothers.'
It is
under the poHtical superintendence of the Central India Agency, and Area, of Jhansi District. is situated within the geographical limits
Population (i88i) 1049; estimated revenue, about 4 square miles. Tlie jagir contains the single village of Pahari Kalan, and is ^,^500. an offshoot from the Baragaon /Vt^V, which Diwan Rai Singh of Orchha divided among his eight sons. The present holder is named Diwan
Banka Piyariju Bahadur. He has the right of adoption. Paharpur. Town in Dera Ismail Khan District, Punjab situated Population (1881) 2496, namely, in lat. ^y^'' 7' X., and long. 71° 2' e. Muhammadans 1644, and Hindus 852. A third-class municipality, with
—
;
an income
18S3-84 of ;^i64, or an average of is. 3|d. per head. Old Gond chiefship, attached to Sambalpur District, Central Provinces ; 15 miles w^est of Sambalpur town. Area, 20 square miles, about three-fifths of which are cultivated, producing rice and
in
Pahar
Sirgira.
—
sugar-cane.
chiefs of
Number
of villages,
10.
Population (1881) 1962.
The
Pahar Sirgira, Bhedan, and Patholanda, all trace their origin to The principal a family which came from ^landla seven centuries ago. village, Pahar Sirgira (lat. 21° 27' x., long. 83° 48' e.), has a wellattended school.
The
estate contains
hills.
abutting on the Bara Pahar
much good forest on the The late chief, Danardhan
plains
Singh,
joined in the rebellion of 1858, and was outlawed.
He, however, came under the amnesty, and was restored to his estate and former position. He died in 1870, and was succeeded by his son the present chief,
Baijnath Singh.
of
The
in
estate pays a tribute or quit-rent to
Government
^14
per annum.
Pahasu.
situated
— Town
right
Bulandshahr
District,
river,
Xorth-Western Provinces
24 miles south of Buland-
on the
bank of the Kali
shahr town.
the Doab.
Population (1881) 3880, chiefly Rajputs and Musalmans.
Capital of Pratap Singh, one of the earliest Badgiijar immigrants into
Pahasu was the head-quarters of a inahal under Akbar, and was conferred, with a pargand of 54 villages, by the Emperor Shah Alam on Begam Samru as d^jdgir for the support of her troops. On her death in 1836 it was held for a time by Government, and then granted to ]\Iurad Ah Khan, from w^hom it passed to his son, the present proprietor, Nawab Sir Faiz All Khan, K.C.S.I., formerly prime minister of Jaipur (Jeypore) State. Pohce station, post-office, village
school.
A
small house-tax
is
levied for the conservancy
and pohce of
the town.
Pahlanpur.— Collection
dency.
—6't;d?
of States, State, and town,
Bombay
Presi-
Petty State in Bundelkhand under the political superinPahra. tendence of the Central India Agency. It is one of the Kahnjar Chaubes, that is, one of the shares in the district of Kahnjar belong-
—
Palaxpur.
—
PAl-BIN—PAINA,
ing to a
J
529
member
of the
Chaube
fiimily.
The
lands belonging to the
is
family were partitioned in 1812.
The
area of Pahra
10 square miles,
containing 11
villages.
Population (r88i)
;
4016.
Hindus number
52.
3892; Muhammadans, 72
revenue, ;£^i3oo.
and non-Hindu aborigines,
is
Estimated
The
present chief
named Chaube Radha Charan.
1881.
He
received formal charge of the jdgir in
Pahra Khas, the
84 persons. Creek in Bassein District, Irawadi Division, Lower Pai-bin. Burma. It unites the Da-ga and Bassein rivers, and can be navigated in all seasons for about 18 miles, as far as the village of Re-d win-gun. During the dry weather this channel is tidal for about 313 miles from
capital of the State, contained in 1881 a,population of 11
—
the Bassein mouth, and the water
sweet.
is
then brackish
river in
;
in
the rains
it
is
Pegu.
— Division, township, town, and Oudh. Kheri Paila. — Pargami
Pai-gli.
in
District,
5
1
Lower Burma.
See
This pa7'ga?id formerly
contained an area of
square miles, but has recently been enlarged
by the inclusion of the neighbouring pargand of Karanpur. Present Population (accordarea, 103 square miles, of which 58 are cultivated. ing to the Census of 1881) 38,005, namely, 33,719 Hindus and 4286
Muhammadans.
Pailani.
sected by
— Tahsil or
Provinces, lying
Land revenue, ^4967. Banda District, North-Western along the south bank of the Jumna river, and inter-
Number
of villages, 117.
Sub-division of
It consists of a level plain, much its tributary, the Ken. broken up by ravines in the neighbourhood of the rivers. Area, 361 Population square miles, of which 197 square miles are cultivated. (1869) 91,176; (1881) 83,033, namely, males 42,147? and females
40,886,
showing a decrease
in population
in
13 years
of 8143,
or
Hindus number 77,600; Muhammadans, 5429; and 8*9 per cent. Government land revenue (1883), ;£i 7,867, or including 'others,' 4. Rental paid by cultivators, ^33^352. local rates and cesses, ;^2 1,841. The tahsil contains i criminal court, with 3 police stations {thdnds) strength of regular police, 55 men, besides 205 village watchmen {chaiiki;
ddrs).
Village in Banda District, North-Western Provinces, and Pailani. head-quarters of Pailani tahsil, situated on the Ken river, 21 miles Of no importance, except as the head-quarters north of Banda town.
—
of the tahsil, for which
it
is
inconveniently situated.
The
population,
which is insignificant, consists for the most part of Gaur Thdkurs. Market held twice a week. The village contains a mosque in good preservation, built in 1702 by Himmat Bahadur Kasim, the governor
towards the close of Aurangzeb's reign. Paina {Paula). Town in Dcoria tahsil, Gorakhpur District, North-
—
Western Provinces; situated on the unmctalled Barhaj and Lirh road, 2 L VOL. X.
—
530
—
FAINAM—PAITHAN.
near the left bank of the Gogra river, and 44 miles south-south-east of Population (1872) 5331; (1881) 6642, namely, Gorakhpur town. Hindus 6127, and Muhammadans 515. Area of town site, 76 acres. Many of the villagers are boatmen who live by conveying traffic along But the chief castes are the Ghagra, between Barhaj and Patna. During the Mutiny the landholders plundered Rajputs and Ahirs. a Government commissariat train, in punishment for which the village was confiscated and bestowed on the loyal Raja of Majhauli. Painam. Village in Dacca District, Bengal. See Sonargaon,
—
Painda.
;
— Offshoot of the Surma —
river, in
the east of Sylhet District,
Assam navigable for boats of 4 tons burthen throughout the year. Painganga. River of Berar. See Pexganga. Paing-kyun {Faing-kyoon). Creek uniting the Pegu and Sittaung Formerly very tortuous, and about 33 miles rivers, Lower Burma.
—
long,
its
it
has been generally deepened, and various cuttings made, so that
length has been reduced to 18 miles.
Before the new canal to Myit-
kyo was opened, the Paing-kyun formed a portion of the main route from Rangoon to Taung-ngu. Paintepur. Town in Sitapur District, Oudh situated about 3 miles Lat. 27° 16' west of the high road from Bahramghat to Sitapur town. 40" N., long. 81° 13' 20" E. Said to have been founded about 3 00 years ago by one Paint Pal, an Ahban chief of Maholi, and to have been named after him. Population (1881) 5199, namely, Hindus, 2433 Muhammadans, 2665; and Jains, loi. A flourishing town, with a large community of bankers and merchants. Market twice a week ; Govern-
—
;
>
ment school. Paithan.
— Town in Aurangabad District, Haidarabad State (Nizam's
Situated on the left or north Dominions), Deccan, Southern India. bank of the Godavari river, about 30 miles south of Aurangabad town.
Paithan is one of the oldest cities in the Population (1881) 10,874. Deccan, but no authentic record exists regarding its foundation. It
was at one period the capital of the Shatakami or Andhrabhritya dynasty, which about B.C. 130 to about a.d. 180 seems to have ruled the Deccan; at times their power extended right across India from Sopara in Thana Paithan is believed to be to Dharnikot, near the mouth of the Kistna. the Paithan known to Ptolemy and to the author of the Periplus. The
present town occupies but a small portion of the
the ground to the east
is
site
of the ancient city;
covered with mounds of ruins.
temples,
The town
contains a
number of Hindu
some of which
are decorated with
The silk looms of Paithan were once famous throughout the Deccan and their productions fetched fabulous Some exceedingly good work is still turned out but the deprices.
exquisitely carved wood-work.
; ;
mand
having decreased of
late years, the out-turn
is
small.
A remarkable
at
sect of rehgious
mendicants,
known
as
Mangbhaus, was founded
FAKA UR—PAKIIAL.
at
531
Paitban by Khrishna Bhat, the spiritual adviser of a Raja who ruled Paithan about the middle of the 14th century \.v>.—See article RriPUR
for
an account of
Sub -division of the District of the Santal Parganas, Pakaur. With Rajmahal, it used to form one of the Sub-Districts of Bengal. the Santal Parganas, up till 1873, when it was constituted a magisterial In 1881 it was made a distinct Sub-division of outpost of Dumka.
the Santal Parganas District.
—
this sect.
Area, 683 square miles, with 1251 villages
and 25,794 houses. Total population (1881) 204,919, namely, males Density of population, 300 persons per 101,505, and females 103,414.
square mile; villages per square mile, 1-83; persons per
village,
164;
houses per square mile, 38-8
of the po])ulation
is
;
persons per house,
7*9.
The
great bulk
composed of
;
aboriginal tribes, the
non- Hindus
numbering 120,586, or 58-9 per cent., of whom Santals numbered 102,499 Rols, 321 and other aboriginal tribes, 17,766. The Hindus (also mcluding a number of Santals returned as Hindus by religion) numbered 58,242, or 28-5 per cent. Muhammadans, 25,712, or 12*6 In 1883, the Sub-division contained per cent.; and Christians, 379. a regular police force of 41 men, and 2 civil and 2 criminal courts
\
;
;
a rural or village police of 448 chaiikiddrs.
Pak-chan.
Burma.
14" N.,
River in Mergui District, Tenasserim Division, Lower Rising in the main watershed of the Province, in lat. 10° 48' and long. 98^ 55' 40" e., it is for the first 15 miles of its course a
—
mountain
affluents,
tion
torrent, with a rocky bed. Lower down, it is joined by several and widens to about 100 feet, being navigable up to this porFor about of its course by small boats from July to December.
far as
30 miles, as
the river
is
the Siamese village of Kra, the general direction of
;
south-west
after this
it
becomes exceedingly
tortuous.
The
other principal tributaries are the i\La-li-won, the Kya-un, and the ^Liynam-naw-ey. The Pak-chan falls into the Bay of Bengal at Victoria
Point;
its total
length
is
78 miles.
The
territory
on the
left
right
bank
is
and belongs Provinces of Kra and Re-naung, which are considered valuable for their At Kra the stream is 250 feet broad it gradually lead and tin mines. increases in width towards its mouth, where the distance from shore
called ]\La-li-won,
to the British.
;
On
the
are the Siamese
Tidal influence is felt in the dry season for 10 J miles. miles above Kra, at which place the rise at spring-tides is 8 feet. Immediately opposite the village an island has been formed, which is acknowto shore
is 2
ledged as British
territory.
Colonel Fytche, in the rainy season of
1864, succeeded in reaching Kra in the ship Nemesis, to meet the Siamese chiefs, and settle the southern boundary of British Burma.
Large lake or tank in Haidarabad State (Nizam's Southern India; situated close to Pakhal village, in lat. 17^ Dominions), Pakhal lake is about 12 square 57' 30" N., and long. 79° 59' 30" e.
Pakhal.
—
532
PA KFATTAN TAHSIL AND TO JIN.
miles in area, and
densely
is enclosed on three sides by ranges of low and wooded hills. On the western side is a strongly constructed embankment about a mile in length. The average depth of the water
between 30 and 40 feet. The lake abounds with fish and the hills which surround the lake contain game of ever>' description, including a lew wild elephants. Pakpattan.— South-western fa/isil of Montgomer}' District, Punjab, lying between 29° 58' and 30° 44' n. lat., and between 72° 39' and 73° 40' E. long., and consisting of a barren tract along the bank of the Area, 1305 square miles, with 366 towns and river Sutlej (Satlaj).
is
;
number of houses, 14,295; number of famihes, 16,073. Total population (1881) 78,612, namely, males 42,683, and females MuhamClassified according to religion, there were in 1881 35,929.
villages;
—
Of the 366 57,198; Hindus, 19,951; and Sikhs, 1463. villages comprising the fa/isi/, 334 contain less than five hundred in1 2 from one to two habitants ; 1 9 from five hundred to a thousand thousand and i from five to ten thousand inhabitants. The average
madans,
; ;
area under cultivation for the five years 1877-78 to 1881-82 was 91 square miles, or 58,758 acres, the area under the chief crops being as
30,165 3.cres jodr, 5328 acres; gram, 3002 acres; 3806 acres the remainder being taken up with a little rice, Revenue of the fa/isi/, ^9702. The Mj'ra, tobacco, and vegetables. tahsilddr is the only local administrative officer, and presides over i
follow:
cotton,
;
— Wheat,
;
civil
and
i
criminal court
;
nuniber of police circles
{thdfids), 3
;
strength
of regular police, 62 men, besides a village watch or rural police of 83
cha7ikidd?'S.
Pakpattan.
— Town
and municipality
in
Montgomery
District,
Situated in lat. 30° 20' Punjab, and head-quarters of Pakpattan tahsil. 25' 50" e., on the old high bank of the river 40" N., and long. 73°
Sutlej (Satlaj), 10 miles
from
its
present course, and 29 miles south of
IMontgomery town.
Anciently
known
;
as
Ajudhan.
Identified
by
General Cunningham with one of the towns belonging to the Sudrakae or Oxudrakae of Alexander's historians important at a later date as the Meeting-place of the two great western chief ferry over the Sutlej.
roads from Dera Ghazi
conquerors,
Khan and Dera
yjoint.
Ismail Khan.
Timiir,
The Musalman
Mahmiid of Ghazni and
')
Batuta, crossed the river at this
and the traveller Ibn The modern name of Pakpattan
('Ferry of the Pure
is
derived from the saint Farid-ud-din, one of the
most famous devotees of Northern India, who was instrumental in the conversion of the whole Southern Punjab to the faith of Islam. Pilgrims from all parts of India, and even from Afghanistan and Central Asia,
flock to this shrine
many
and during the great festival of the Miiharrain, as been estimated as present. On the afternight of the last day the characteristic ceremony of the festival noon and
;
as 60,000 persons have
—
PAL—FALAKOLLU.
takes place.
533
A well
'
adjoining the shrine
;
'
is
pierced by a narrow opening,
force his
known
through
as
the Gate of Paradise
and whoever can
is is
way
this aperture
during the prescribed hours
assured of a free
entrance into heaven.
The
crush
naturally excessive,
and often
results in severe injuries to the faithful.
The
lineal
descendants of the
saint enjoy the revenues of the shrine,
for sanctity.
and possess a high reputation on a
slight elevation over-
Pakpattan town
acquaintance.
is
picturescjuely situated
looking the plain, but disappoints the
visitor's
expectations
upon
closer
however, are well jxived, and although many of them are crooked and narrow the drainage and sanitary arrangements are excellent. Population (1881) 5993, namely, Muhammadans, 3610 Hindus, 2329; and Sikhs, 54. Number of houses, 1378. Pakpattan
The
streets,
;
is a town of considerable commercial importance, collecting wheat and pulses from the surrounding villages, gur and refined sugar from Hushiarpur and Jalandhar, piece-goods from Calcutta and Bombay, The exports consist principally of silk and fruits from Afghanistan. limgis and lacquered-work, for which the town has a local reputation. Municipal income (1883-84), ^520, or an average of is. 9d. per head. Besides the ordinary Sub-divisional courts and offices, the public buildings consist of a police station, distillery, post-office, town school, girls'
school,
and sardi. Pal.— Petty State
within the British Political
See Pol.
Agency of Mahi Kdntha,
Gujarat,
Bombay
Presidency.
State in the Hallar division of Katbiawar, Bombay Presidency. Area, 21 square miles, containing 5 villages, with i proprietor. Estimated revenue, ;?{;iooo; tribute of ^125, 6s. is paid to the
Pal— Petty
Gaekwar of Baroda, and £z^,
estate lies
7
8s.
to the
Nawab
the
of Junagarh.
The The
miles south-west of Rajkot,
Agency head-quarters.
Population (1881) of the State tdlnkddr is a Jareja Rajput, with
1214, and of Pal village 587.
fifth-class jurisdiction.
Palakollu {Falkok).—To\\n Madras Presidency; situated in
in
lat.
Narsapur
16° 31' N.,
taluk,
Godavari
District,
e.,
and
long. 81° 46' 6"
Population (1881) 7510; number 5 miles north of Narsapur town. Hindus number 7246; Muhammadans, 99 and of houses, 1 1 12. Palakollu was the first settlement of the Dutch on Christians, 165.
;
this part of the coast.
and for Dutch The Dutch founded indigo inscriptions as old as 1662 are still legible. large factories, ironworks, and extensive weaving industries, and planted for its orchards. orange and shaddock gardens. The town is still noted Palakollu fell to the Enghsh by the treaty of Versailles in 1783, but the Dutch remained in possession, paying a small quit-rent till 1804. On 31st March 1818 it was formally restored to Holland agreeably to the
They opened a
factory here in 1652,
a long time
it
was
their head-quarters.
In the churchyard,
—
534
FALAKONDA—PALAMA U.
Convention of the Allied Powers in 1814. On ist June 1825 it was ceded to Great Britain under the treaty of March 1824. Palakollu is
the seat of a Protestant mission.
Palakonda
{Palkonda^ Fakondah).
;
— Town
frontier,
in
Madras Presidency
coast
situated in
lat.
18° 36' n.,
the Languliya river, near the
Ganjam
Vizagapatam District, and long. 83° 48' e., on and connected with the
and Parvatipur by good roads. Population (1881) 9531, namely, Hindus males 4675, and females 4856, occupying 1992 houses. number 9099 Muhammadans, 95; Christians, 268; and others,' 69. Sub-magistrate's court, post-office, and good school. Palakonda. An ancient zaminddri in Vizagapatam District, Madras Presidency, granted by the Raja of Jaipur early in the i6th century, with the town of Palakonda for its capital. The founder of the Palakonda family was a Kandh. When the East India Company came into In possession, the Palakonda family were tributary to Vizianagaram. 1796 the Raj was taken from the zami?iddr iox rebellion, and given to his son. Each succeeding zaniifiddr gave the Company trouble, till in 1828 the Collector had to take charge for a time. The new zamiiidar in 1832 broke out into open rebellion, which led to the forfeiture of the estate, and the prolonged imprisonment of the male members of the family. For some years after this, the zaminddri was managed by the Collector; but from 1846 till the present time it has been rented to Messrs. Arbuthnot «Sc Co. of Madras, who pay ^13,100 to Government, and are said to receive ^15,800 per annum, the difference being nearly all spent in irrigation works and administration. The lessees
' ;
—
hold as 'farmers of land holding farms immediately from Government,'
and guarantee to all paities the rights and privileges of property confirmed by local custom. The people have thriven greatly, and cultivation
is
annually extending.
Indigo (grown here for the
first
time in
1848), sugar, cotton, and grains were in 1876-77 grown on 25,000 out
of a total of 48,500 acres.
Palakonda. Tdluk within the 'Agency Tracts' of Vizagapatam District, Madras Presidency. Population (1881) 9098, namely, 4733 males and 4365 females, occupying 103 villages, dwelling in 2143
houses.
All returned as Hindus.
—
No
later returns of cultivation are available.
Palali {Puldli).
— Petty State
Area,
in the
Jhalawar division of Kathiawar,
miles,
Bombay
with
2
Presidency.
separate
is
4
square
containing 2
villages
;
shareholders.
Estimated revenue,
^480
^4,
tribute
of ;£^35» 14s.
paid to the British Government, and
12s. to the
Nawab of Junagarh. Population (1881) 679. Palamainer {Fulmanair). Town in North Arcot
—
District,
Madras
Area,
Presidency.
Palamau.
4241
square
— Sub-division
miles;
See
Palmaner.
of
Lohardaga
District,
Bengal.
villages,
2859;
houses,
82,254.
Population
—
FALAMKOTTA—rALANPUR AGENCY,
(1881),
THE.
535
religion,
In 240,285, and females 24,4,537: total, 484,822. Hindus number 409, SS'"^; Muhammadans, 43^096; Chrisother aboriginal tribes, 27,140; tians, 18; Santal, i; Kols, 4664 Average number of persons per square mile, 114; unspecified, 345.
males
;
villages
square mile, 20
the
8
per square mile, 0-67; persons per village, 169; houses per This Sub-division consists of persons per house, 5-8. police circles of Barasaud, Chhattarpur, Daltonganj, Garwa,
;
iManka, Husainabad, Patun, and Rcimkunda.
civil
In 1883
it
contained 2
and
2 criminal courts, a regular police force of 165
men, and a
village
watch of 1069.
Tinnevelli
Pklamkotta
tdliik,
{Palamcottah, Fdldyam-kotfai).— Town in Tinnevelli head-quarters of the District, Madras Presidency
;
Collector,
;
and a municipality, with church, jail, telegraph and post offices situated in lat. 8' 42' 30" n., and long. 77° 46' 40" £•» ^h ""''^^s Population east of Tinnevelli, and i mile from the Tambraparni river. and (1881) 17,964, namely, 8764 males and 9200 (1871) 17,885;
females;
pied.
number
1881
of houses (1881)
3720, of which 3049 were
occu-
In
Hindus
numbered 15,098;
fort is
Muhammadans, 865;
the garrison reof municipality
and Christians, 2001. Palamkotta moved.
The
is
now dismantled and
Income
considered healthy.
from taxation in 1883-84, ;£i246; incidence of municipal taxation, The South Indian Railway opened a iijd. per head of population. Most of the civil officers of Tinnestation near Palamkotta in 1874. Anglo-vernacular school, and a velli District reside at Palamkotta. also a care of the Church Mission Society school for boys under the
;
boarding-school for
for Christian girls.
poor Christian boys and
in
girls,
and a training-school
Kangra District, Punjab; situated in lat. 32' 7 'n., and long. 76° 35' e., on the outer slope of the Dhaola Dhar. Important as the centre of the rising tea plantations of the Pdlam Government established a fair here in 1868, for the purpose valley. was at one time freit encouraging trade with Central Asia of quented by large numbers of Yarkandis, who brought with them
Palampur.— Town
;
^
silk,
charas,
pashm
wool, carpets,
and ponies
;
for sale.
The
fair
was
held annually for a number of years
traders
but the attendance of Yarkandi
1879 the fair had dwindled down to a merely gathering, and was then abolished. local
dropped
off, till
in
Palani
Presidency.
(/"///^O')-— Town
and
Hills
in
Madura
District,
Madras
in
See Palni.
States
Palanpur Agency, The.— A collection of Native Bombay Presidency, under the political superintendence
the
of the
Bombay
71° 16' Government. Situated between 23° 25' and 24° 41' n. lat., and and 72° 46' E. long. Area, 8000 square miles. Population (1881) Palanpur Agency is situated in the extreme north of Bombay 576,478.
536
Presidency
States
; ;
PALANPUR AGENCY,
THE.
bounded on the north by Udaipiir (Marwar) and Sirohi on the east by the Mahi Kantha Agency on the south by Baroda State and the Kathiawar Agency and on the west by the Rann of Cutch. For the most part the country is a sandy treeless plain, with, in some places, waving sandhills, and between them valleys of black clay. To the north and north-east, bordering on Sirohi, the country is extremely wild and picturesque, covered with rocks and forest-clad hill ranges, outliers from the Abu and Jasor Hills. Some of these hills are of considerable height chief among them is Jasor, about 3500 feet above the sea, a hill of gneiss with outbursts of
; ;
;
granite, situated
is
about 18 miles north of Palanpur town.
its
Jasor Hill
scanty.
well suited for a sanitarium, except that
water-supply
is
chief rivers are the Banas and the Saraswati. The Bands, rising Dhebar lake, among the hills of Udaipur, flows west past the town and cantonment of Disa (Deesa), and falls into the Rann of Cutch by two mouths. Except when in flood, the Banas may almost everywhere
in
The
be forded. Its chief tributaries are the Sipu and the Balaram. The Banas is not utilized for irrigation, though by building dams much of the water might be stored. The Saraswati, a small but sacred stream,
rising
in the
Mahi Kantha
hills,
Hills,
crosses the eastern corner of the
is
Agency.
Close to the
the water
plains.
near the surface, but gradually
sinks into the sandy western
especially scarce
Towards the Rann, water
is
and brackish, and
in this part a year of scanty rainfall
causes great hardship.
From March to June the heat is great, the thermometer in the shade rising to 120° F. the hot winds are so fierce as to keep even the people of the country from travelling during the From September to November it is unhealthy ; both Europeans day. and natives suffer from fevers of a bad type. Palanpur Agency includes a group of thirteen States, namely, Palanpur, Radhanpur, Tharad, Wao, Suigaon, Deodar, Bhabar, Terwara, Kankrej, Warai, Santalpur, Morwara, and Chadchat. The States are nominally divided into two divisions the northern division includes the seven first-named States under the charge of the Senior Political Agent the southern includes the six last-named States, under the Junior Political Agent. Of these States, four (Palanpur, Radhanpur, Warai, and Terwara) are under Muhammadan rulers two (Bhabar and Kankrej) under Koli Thakurs of partly Rajput origin and the remaining seven under Rajputs. Two of the whole number, Palanpur, with an area of 3150 square miles, and a population (1881) of 234,402, and Radhanpur, with an area of 1 150 square miles, and a population (1881) of 98,129, rank as first;
;
;
;
;
class States.
The remaining
all
eleven are petty States.
The
disposal of
work of the Sessions Court, and general supervision of the whole devolves on the Political Superintendent.
important political cases,
appeals, the
PAL ANPUR AGENCY, THE.
The
the
territory included
in the
537
Palan[)ur has, like
Political
Agency of
more central parts of Gujardt (Guzerit), passed during historical times under the sway of the different Rajput dynasties of Anhilvvdra (746-1304); then the Ahmaddbad Sultans ( 1390-15 73); then the
Mughal Emperors (1573-1757); then
last
the Marathas (1757-1819);
and
;
from 1809 with Radhanpur, from 1813; and with the remaining States, from 1S19, when, much harassed with freebooting raids from Sind, the chiefs prayed the British Government to help them, offering to pay a
the British.
British connection with Talanpur dates
In September 1822, share of the charges incurred in restoring order. the chiefs of the States agreed to forbid the transport of contraband
opium through
Population.
their territories.
at 576,478, namely, 301,550 males and 274,928 females, dwelling in 4 towns and Density of population, 1 104 villages, and occupying 125,237 houses.
2 7
'I
—The Census of 1881 returned the population
according to religion,
the
persons per square mile.
Distributed
Census returned — Hindus,
494^737? or 85-8 per cent, of the population; Muhammadans, 53,197? or 9-5 per cent.; Jains, 28,111, or 4*8 per cent.; Christians, 225;
Parsis,
207
;
and Jew,
i.
Among
the Hindus,
Brahmans numbered
23,503; Rajputs, 27,702; Chamars, 2846; Darji's (tailors), 4954; Napits (barbers), 8508; Kunbis (cultivators), 68,728; Koli's (labourers), Lohanas, 3156; Lobars (black137,077; Kumbhars (potters), 17,261
;
smiths), 11,147; Mails (gardeners),
3793; Mhars (low
castes),
42,647;
Sonars (goldsmiths), 3153; Sutars (carpenters), 9582. The Muhammadans, of whom 40,944 belonged to the Sunni sect, and 12,253 to Baluchis, 2338; Pathans, the Shia, were thus divided in tribes
—
4019; Sayyids, 417; Shaikhs,
27,764.
14,182; Sindhis,
4477; and
'others,'
The principal towns are— Palanpur (17,547) Radhanpur (14,722) Shami (5306) DiSA Town (3830), Cantonment (4546). Agriadture.—T\\t soil of Palanpur Agency is of three kinds :— (i) The black, suited to cotton, rice, millets, wheat, and (if there be
;
;
;
water) sugar-cane;
(2) a
light soil,
fitted
for the
different
kinds
of
pulse;
and the palmyra palm (Borassus (3) The country has not been surveyed, and the exact flabelliformis).
and
sandy
for pulses
cultivated area
three-fifths
is
unknown
is
;
but
it
may be
roughly stated that about
of the whole
cultivated, the remaining two-filths about
Except on equally divided between cultivable and uncultivable lands. Holdings vary from irrigated lands, manure is not generally used. Most of the land is in the hands of eight to fifty acres and upwards.
holders of service lands.
number, and the
husbandmen are comparatively few in majority of them are hampered with debt, and are
Skilled
more
or less in the hands of the village money-lenders.
538
PALANPUR AGENCY, THE.
saltpetre, grain, rape-seed,
Commerce and Trade.— The chief articles of trade are— Exportssesamum, cotton, attar of chdmpa (Michelia champaca), and of kevda (Pandanus odoratissimus), cattle, and ghi.
Imports— tobacco, fruit, spices, molasses, sugar-candy, sugar, cotton, and silk cloth. The estimated yearly value of the whole trade, which is about equally divided between exports and imports, is estimated at The exports go chiefly to Marwar, from ^100,000 to ^150,000. The imports come from Bombay. Cutch, Kathidwar, Gujarat, and Trade is carried on at Kaira, Marwar, Ahmadabad, and Pali. Bombay, permanent markets, the leading trade centres being Palanpur, Radhanpur, Disa, Sami,
and Munjpur. ddrs and Jdgirddrs), and by
from £2> ^o jQz^the Hmits of Palanpur Agency.
miles.
Horses are bred by large landlords
well-to-do cultivators.
{tdhiksell
The
horses
at
No made
roads, but cross country tracks exist within
The Bombay,
Baroda, and Central India
for
Railway crosses the north-east corner of the Agency
about 30
of Palanpur and Radhanpur States are invested with and civil powers, and in matters of revenue are almost full Over them, the Political Superintendent exercises only independent. a general supervision but over the remaining 1 1 petty States it was
The
chiefs
criminal
;
necessary to appoint karkuns,
are invested with power
suits
now
called ihdndddrs, six in
suits,
number, who
to try petty criminal
up
to
£2^
in
value.
There are
also
and to decide civil two European Political
who have higher powers, above whom is the Political Superintendent, who is the highest executive and appellate authority.
Assistants
But appeals
Division,
in important cases lie to the
Commissioner of the Northern
are local courts, from
Bombay
Presidency.
In Palanpur
and Radhanpur towns
lies
whose
decision a final appeal
to the chiefs in person,
who
follow codes
The Thakur of Tharad of their own, based on British-Indian laws. first class, and has powers to has been appointed a magistrate of the The Rana of Wao has also decide civil suits up to ^100 in value. been invested with lesser civil and criminal powers and a few of the minor chiefs have been invested with powers suitable to their rank and
;
intelligence.
In 1882-83, the estimated gross revenue of the States of the Agency amounted to ^124,950. The tributes paid amounted to £sS^^^ i4S., The average daily attendance at the all to the Gaekwar of Baroda.
29 schools in 1882-83 was 1354 pupils, and the amount spent on The States of the Agency decided in June education was ;£92 2. all educational expenses, receiving in return all school 1882 to defray
fees,
and agreed
that the expenditure shall be regulated
It is
of the Education Department.
school at Palanpur for
by proposals proposed to establish a tdlukddri In 1882-83, the education of young chiefs.
—
PALANFUR STATE.
481 prisoners were admitted into the Agency
prisons.
jail,
;
539
and 927
into the State
At the three
dispensaries,
11,677 persons were treated in
1SS2-83.
Except near the hills, the Pdlanpur States are liable to drought from want of rain. The years held in remembrance as times of scarcity and
and 1849.
straits
famine are 1747, 1756, 1785, 1791, 1804, 1813, 1825, 1834, 1839, 1842, Of these, the severest was the famine of 1813. To such
human
were the people brought, that some are said to have lived on flesh. In such numbers did they die that the survivors could
Villages were
left
not carry away the dead.
desolate,
and
parts of the
country, formerly cultivated, have ever since lain waste.
grain rose to 6 lbs. the rupee
(2s.).
On
the 15th
The price of December 1882, an
earthquake occurred with minor shocks and rumbling noise at intervals of a few days, ceasing in April 1883. The damage done thereby to
buildings
is
estimated at ;^i 5,000.
Palanpur.
Pdlanpur,
in
— Native
the
State
under the
of
Gujarat,
lat.,
British
Political
Agency of
;
Province
Bombay
Presidency
lying
and between 71° 51' and 72° 45' e. Population long. Area, 3150 square miles; i town and 451 villages. (1872) 215,972; (1881) 234,402, namely, 122,051 males and 112,351 Hindus number 193,317; females, dwelling in 52,389 houses. Muhammadans, 27,256; and 'others,' 13,829. Bounded on the north by the Sub-division of Marwar and Sirohi on the east by Sirohi and Danta States, the Aravalli range forming the boundary on the south by Baroda and on the west by other States under the Palanpur Agency. Length, east and west, 60 miles north and south, 45 miles. The southern and eastern portions are undulating and tolerably wooded. Towards the north the country becomes mountainous, with much forest the villages are far apart, and generally poor and small and the woods contain many useful the hills afford excellent pasture In the north-west, bordering on Marwar and Tharad, the timber-trees. country is a level plain, with a poor and sandy soil, generally producing but one crop during the year in the southern and eastern portions, on For the contrary, it is a rich black loam, yielding three crops annually.
between 23°
57'
and 24°
41' n.
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
the
first
crops slight rain
is is
sufficient,
but for the two latter heavy rain
Prices current in
;
is
required,
when
(2s.)
the yield
bdjra.^
is
very abundant.
;
per rupee 16
its
lbs.
The
State
whole length.
34 lbs. wheat, 30 lbs. watered by the Bands river, which flows through The Saraswati also crosses a part of the eastern
;
March 1883 gram, 44 lbs. and rice,
tracts.
The
climate
is
dry and hot, and fever
is
prevalent.
Rainfall
(1882), 26 inches.
grains,
The
principal products are wheat, rice
and other
The high road from Ahmaddbdd to Pdli in and sugar-cane. Mdrwdr, and also the road from Ahmaddbdd to Nasirdbdd, A j mere, ConsiderDelhi, and Agra via Disa (Deesa), pass through the State.
;
540
able
trade
is
PALANPUR POWN.
carried
on
with
Pali,
Dholera,
Ahmadabad,
and
Radhanpur.
family is of Afghan origin, belonging to the Lohdni and is said to have occupied Behar in the reign of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. From Akbar, in 1597, Ghazni Khan, the chief, obtained the title of Diwan for having successfully repulsed an invasion of the Afghan tribes. For his services on this occasion, he was also The chief who ruled in rewarded with the government of Lahore. 1682 received the Province of Jhalod, Sachor, Palanpur, and Disa His successor, being unable (Deesa) from the Emperor Aurangzeb. to withstand the increasing power of the Rahtors of Marwar, was compelled in 1698 to quit the country and retire with his family and dependants to Palanpur, where the family has remained ever since. Firoz Khan, the chief in 181 2, was murdered by his Sindi retinue. His son Fateh Khan applied for assistance to the British Government. A force was accordingly despatched under General Holmes, and Fateh
The Palanpur
tribe,
Khan was
But
ultimately, in
it
December
1813, installed as chief of Palanpur.
was necessary, on account of the mismanagement of the The State, to coerce the Diwan, and Palanpur was assaulted and taken. British pohtical connection with the State dates from 1809.
in 181 7
The present (1882-83) ruler is named Diwan Sher Muhammad Khan, and he administers the State in person. He is entitled to a salute of II guns, and has power to try any persons except British subjects. The chief enjoys a gross revenue of ^44,500, and pays a tribute of Land revenue (1882-83), ;^4375 to the Gaekwar of Baroda.
^16,106;
excise revenue, ;£"io,o62; taxes, ;^5676; tributes, ;^37oo.
The
chief maintains, at an annual cost of about ;^i 3,000, a force of
foot.
294 horse and 697
The
family hold a patent or sanad authorizing
schools, with
\\\
adoption, and follow the rule of primogeniture in point of succession.
Transit duties are levied in the State.
pupils.
There are 12
936
The
State area
is
now
(1885) undergoing survey.
1882-83,
expended ;£"ii68 on education, ^237 on dispensaries, ^51 on vaccination. The number of The mean temperature is persons vaccinated in 1882-83 was 2934. 59° in January and 83° in May. Chief town of Palanpur State, Bombay Presidency Palanpur. Population situated in lat. 24° 9' 58" N., and long. 72° 28' 9" e. (1872) 17,189; (1881) 17,547, namely, 8852 males and 8695 females. Hindus number 8030; Muhammadans, 6237; Jains, 3243; Parsis, 30; and Christians, 7. Situated 18 miles east of Disa (Deesa) cantonment and town, and 83 miles north of Ahmadabad. Palanpur is the head-quarters of Palanpur Political Agency, and the seat of the Diwan The town, lying low, is hidden and comor chief of Palanpur State. It is surrounded by a brick and manded by a circle of hillocks.
the
State
^£"2134 on public works, and
—
PALAR—PALASBA RL
mortar
feet
wall, built
541
1750 by Diwan Babaddr Kbanji, from 17 to 20 and 3 miles in circuit. The two suburbs of Jainpura and Tajpura are surrounded by a ditch once 12 feet deep and TFie houses are irregular and closely packed, and, with 22 feet broad. few exceptions, the streets and lanes are narrow and dirty. The supply of water, chiefly from wells, is unwholesome. The public health is not
in
bigb, 6
feet
tbick,
good, lung diseases and fevers being very prevalent.
A
beginning has
been made towards lighting the town. A traveller's bungalow has been recently built. Hospital, post and telegraph offices, school, and library. A station on the Bombay, Baroda, and Central Railway. Palar {'Milk River;' also called the KohiranatJii). River of Southern India. Rising in the State of Mysore, in lat. 13° 27' n., and
—
long.
78°
2'
E.,
it
flows south
and
east
into
North Arcot
District,
cutting off a small portion of North Salem, thence nearly due east across
North Arcot into Chengalpat (Chingleput), and finally south-east until into the sea in lat. 12° 27' 20" n., and long. 80° 12' 30" e., a few miles south of Sadras. Total length, about 230 miles. The chief tributaries of the Palar are the Poini and Cheyar and on its banks are the towns of Kistnapur, Vaniembadi, Ambiir, Gudiatham, Vellore, Arcot, Wallajabad, and Chengalpat. It is crossed by railway bridges at Malevatti in North Arcot (2376 feet long, 18 si)ans), and between Chengalpat and Madarantakam (2160 feet long, 18 spans). The waters The Palar anicut is thrown of the Palar are largely used for irrigation. Its length is 2600 feet, and is across the river near the town of Arcot. the head of a system which irrigates about 3800 acres. The original work was constructed in 1855; it was damaged seriously in 1874, but has been restored chiefly by famine labour. The receipts from this irrigation system were ;zfi 0,989 in 1882-83, ^^^ the expenditure ^10,531. Total capital expenditure up to end of 1883, ^211,276. There is some reason to believe that the Palar river once flowed in the present Cortelliar valley, which has been described as disproportionately large as compared with the river which runs through it in a
it falls
;
'
rather deep channel.'
The
present valley of the Palar
is
still
more
disproportionately small as
compared with
its
river;
the two alluvial
valleys join, or rather diverge, at a place about
10 miles east of the
town of Arcot. A stream is even now connected with the Palar, just at the fork, by which water is still carried down the Cortelliar valley for many miles, and eventually falls into that river. This stream is considered by the natives to be the old Palar, and bears a Sanskrit name meaning the old milk river,' the Tamil word Palar also signifying milk river, Palasbari. Market village in Kdmrup District, Assam ; situated in lat. 26° 8' N., and long. 91° 35' E., on the south or left bank of the Brahmaputra. Considerable river tratific, and a local market twice a Police outpost station and staging bungalow. week.
'
—
—
542
—
State in the
PALASBIHAR—PALGHA T.
Dang
in
Palasbihdr.— Petty
country,
Khandesh
District,
Bombay
trict,
Presidency.
Palasgaon.
east
— Zamuiddri
;
See
Dang
States.
Sakoli
tahsil,
estate
Bhandara Dismiles
2
Central Provinces
of
situated in a wild
and
hilly country, 7
Nawdgaon Lake.
timber,
Area, 71
square miles,
cultivation.
of which only
square miles are returned as under
valuable
The
forests
yield
Number
1296.
of villages,
and contain herds of wild buffaloes and bison. 10, with 228 houses, and a population (1881) of
estate in
Palasgarh.
—Zaimnddri
;
Warora
tahsil,
Chanda
262
District,
Central Provinces
situated 20 miles north-north-east of Wairagarh,
and
comprising 85
Population
villages,
spread over an
area
is
of
square miles.
(1881)
9430.
The
country
hilly.
The Marathas
occupied the
held by a
fort after the
Gond
This chiefship, formerly of the Wairagarh family, now belongs to a Raj prince
capture of Chanda.
the
Gond
of the Saigam section.
Kantha,
Palasni.— Petty State in Bombay Presidency.
Sankhera Mehwas
1
tract
of
Rewa
Area,
5
2
square miles
of ;^2i3,
;
number
2s.
is
of villages,
14; estimated revenue, Giiekwar of Baroda. A
^475
in
tribute
paid to the
fairly rich estate.
Palaveram.— Town
See
Chengalpat
District,
Madras Presidency.
Pallavaram.
Village in
Tenasserim Division, Lower and long. 98° 42' 40" e., on the Burma; situated in lat. miles north of Mergui town. left bank of the Pa-law stream, and 40 Pa-law stands in the 1481, and (1881) 973. Population (1877) centre of a large rice - producing country, and has a considerable
Pa-law.
Mergui
District,
12° 51' 4" n.,
trade.
Petty State in Bundelkhand under the political superinPaldeo. Area, 28 square miles. tendence of the Central India Agency. Muhammadans, Hindus number 8645 Population (1881) 8824.
;
—
Paldeo Estimated revenue, ^2000. and aboriginal tribes, 32. 147 Kahnjar Chaubes, that is, one of the shares in the is one of the
;
district
The
of Kalinjar belonging to a member of the Chaube family. The lands belonging to the family were partitioned in 181 2.
is
present chief
named Anrudh
Singh.
A
military force
is
kept up
The capital of the State is situated in lat. of about 250 infantry. 80° 50' e., and contained in 1881 a population of 25° 6' N., and long.
1087 persons.
or Sub - division of Malabar District, Madras Population (1881) 342,454, 613 square miles. namely, males 165,311, and females 177^1435 dweUing in i town and Hindus number 56 parishes or amshams, containing 60,351 houses.
Palghat.
— Taluk
Area,
Presidency.
306,662
;
Muhammadans, 32,330; and
Christians,
3462.
The
taluk
PALGIIAT TOWN—PALIIALLI.
contains
3
civil
543
{thdnds),
1 1
;
and
in
3
criminal courts
;
police circles
regular police, 134 men.
Land revenue
(1883),
^28,286.
;
Palghat.
a
—Town
;
Head
E.,
Assistant Collector
the Palghat tdluk
Malabar District, Madras Presidency station of and District munsif, and head-quarters of situated in lat. 10° 45' 49" n., and long. 76^41'
in
48"
68 miles east of Calicut,
the gap in the Western Ghats
through which the south-west monsoon finds its way up to Coimbatore Population (1881) 36,339, namely, males 17,673, and District. Hindus number 30,424; females 18,666; number of houses, 6081. Palghat, being the key to Muhammadans, 4854; Christians, 1061.
able
was formerly of considerby a Hindu, attests. In fell it for the first time into British hands. Colonel Wood 1768 Haidar, capturing it in his victorious raid on Haidar All's fortresses. however, retook Palghat and all the other forts a few months later. In 1783 it was again taken by Colonel FuUerton, and in 1790 by and from that time it was the basis of many of the Colonel Stuart
Travancore and
Malabar from the
as
its
east,
strategic importance,
fort,
built
;
operations against Tipii, which terminated in the storming of Seringa-
patam (1799).
Palghat
is
The
fort
still
stands,
but
is
no longer garrisoned.
a busy entrepot for exchange of produce between Malabar
and the upland country. The railway station (distant from Beypur 74 Municipal revenue, 1876-77, £\^\o; miles) was opened in 1862. in 1883-84, ;£"i547; average incidence, 6d. per head of municipal The easy ascent by the Palghat Pass, formerly covered population.
with teak forests, supplies the great route from the south-west coast
of India to the interior, and is traversed by the Madras Railway and There are Protestant (Basel) and Roman Catholic military road.
Missions.
Post and telegraph
Village in Badvel tdhik^ Cuddapah (Kadapa) Palguralapalli. District, Madras Presidency 39 miles north by east from Cuddapah Hindus Population (1881) 2046; number of houses, 445. town. number 1754; INIuhammadans, 151; and Christians, 141. Pharaoh says that a tope in the neighbourhood has long been a resort of
;
—
offices.
pelicans
and of a colony of
storks,
under the special protection of
the inhabitants.
Village in Mysore District, Mysore State situated on the bank of the Kaveri (Cauvery) river, 7 miles by road north of Population (1881) Mysore city, and 3 miles west of Seringapatam. Until 1871, head-quarters of the Ashtagram tdhik. inconsiderable. Palhalli was for many years the site of the Ashtagram Sugar Works, established in 1847 by Messrs. Groves 6c Co. The jaggery or inspissated
Palhalli.
—
;
right
juice
produced by the rdyats from
their
own
fields of sugar-cane,
was here
refined into sugar.
The
;
out-turn of sugar was estimated at 50 per cent,
of the raw material
of the remainder about 30 per cent, was utilized
544
PALHALLI.
The machinery, worked both by steam and water for distilling rum. power, was capable of producing about 2000 tons in the year, which afforded the growers of sugar-cane a market for ^17,000 worth of When in full operation, the works gave employment to their produce.
about 10 Europeans and 300 natives. Ashtagram sugar had won prizes at the London Exhibitions of 185 1 and 1861, and an honourable mention It was stated that the condition of the rdyats in the at Paris in 1867. neighbourhood had been sensibly improved by the opening of these
Recent information obtained from Mysore intimates that this once prosperous concern is now abandoned. A full description of the processes of manufacture is given in Mr. Rice's Gazetteer of Mysore and
works.
Coorg, vol.
i.
pp. 447-449-
END OF VOLUME
X.
33 d
MORRISON AND GIBB, EDINBURGH, PRINTKRS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.
^
UMASS/ BOSTON LIBRARIES
1002083945
DS405 .H94 1 RE The imperial gazetteer
10
o1
