I m p e r I a L g a z e t t ee r o f I n d I a vol. X i I i
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- 1S80-1. 1890-1. 1900-1. 1903-4.
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> (1881) 363,899, (1891) 437,620, and (1901) ’ 484,558. The principal statistics of area and popu lation in 1901 are given in the following table :— Township. Area in square miles.
Number of Population. 1 Population per square mile. Percentage of variation in population be tween 1891 and 1901. Number of persons able to read and write.
Towns. Villages. Henzada . .
1 520 131,698 3 5 7 + I I 4 , 3 9 4
1 Zalun . . 276
I 362
69,502 252
+ 18 1 8 , 3 4 9 Okpo . .
694 4 3 6 84,046
121 +
2I,oSo Lemyethnâ . 4 3 8 I
60,314 138
+ 6 i8,iS6
Kanaung . . r> 15
I 42S
9 2 , 3 6 5 150
+ 16 23,089 Kyangin . . 47s
I 2 4 3 46,633
98 + 2 12,200 District total 2,870 5
169 + I I
97,29s Henzada contains more towns than any other District in Burma, the urban population in 1901
being 54,500,
which is above 11
per cent, of the total, compared with 7 per cent, for the Irrawaddy Division as a whole. The towns
are H enzada , the
head-quarters, Z alun , K vangin , M yanaung , and
L emyethna
. The
density of
population is very high for Burma. Burmese is the language of 418,000 of the
inhabitants, while Karen is spoken by 44,000.
In 1901 the Burmans numbered 422,800, or 87 per cent, of the District total. The Talaings have become merged with the Burmans, AGRICULTURE and are scarcely represented at all. The Karens in 1901 numbered 45.800. They arc distributed all over the District, except in the Kyangin township in the north, and form about one-fourth of the population of the southernmost township, Zalun, and one-seventh of that of Henzada. There are very few Shans, but the Chins on the hills in the west number 3,600, and retain their own language. They are commonest in the two northern townships. Buddhism is the religion of 468,800 persons, including both Chins and Karens ; Musalmans number rather more than 3,000, and Hindus exceed 4,000. The immigrants from India come almost entirely from Bengal and Madras. About half the Muhammadans and three-fourths of the Hindus reside in the municipalities. The number of persons dependent upon agricul ture in 1901 was 341,600, or 70 per cent, of the total, a figure higher than the Provincial average. Tai/ngya-cutters, or nomadic cultivators, numbered 5,000. The number of Christians (8,085) ’ s comparatively large. Of these 8,000 are native Christians, the great majority being Karens. The Roman Catholics have several missionaries at work, mostly among the Karens, and a mission to the Chins at Yenandaung has been started recently. The American Baptists have 48 churches and 42 vernacular schools, and also work mainly among the Karens. The flatness of the greater part of the District and its position at the head of the Irrawaddy delta render it an area particularly suitable for rice. The whole of the plain was until recently Agriculture flooded annually by the Irrawaddy, so that the soil ' is new alluvium, and the extensive system of protective embankments that has been introduced now shelters large areas under rice. Much land is still flooded, however, in the Okpo township north of the Bassein river, where it flows past the end of the Myanaung embank ment ; and in the Apyauk circle, on the eastern bank of the Irra waddy, where it makes a sweeping curve from south-east to south-west. The Bassein river, too, is confined only on its left bank, and inundates a large portion of the Lemyethna township lying west of it. On such lands, and in the low-lying kifins in the Henzada and Zalun townships, rice is sown broadcast, the floods frequently necessitating a second sowing; but over the rest of the District it is transplanted from nurseries after the rains have well set in. In the flooded portions of the Lemyethna township a kind of rice called kaukhnaung is planted as late as October or November; and to ensure a crop the villagers dam one of the streams crossing the plain, and tap it by subsidiary channels so as to make it flow on to the various holdings. The le (plough) is rarely met with, the tundon (which resembles the harrow) being in general use for preparing the ground. Manuring is not uncommon, but as a rule the only fertilization that the land i o 6 HENZADA DISTRICI receives is from the annual burning of rice stubble in the fields. A very large area of garden cultivation lies on the Akauktaung hill, along the Patashin and Okpo rivers, on the high lands adjoining Myanaung and overlooking the Tu lake in the Kanaung township, and along the road from Neikban to Aingthabyu in the Henzada township. The main agricultural statistics for 1903-4 are shown below, areas being in square miles :— Township. Total area. Cultivated. Irrigated. Forests.
Henzada . . 369
221 O-S
Zalun . . 276
124 O-l
Okpo . . 694
136 Lemyethnà . 43S 89
f e o
3 Kanaung . . 615 M
0-2 Kyangin . . 47S 60
2,S 7 0 779 7 803 Rice covered 681 square miles in that year. This is a very con siderable advance on the figures for 1881, when only 372 square miles were under rice. The increase has been largely the outcome of elaborate protective works. Henzada grows more tobacco than any other District in Burma, and the area under this crop (17 square miles) is extending yearly. Garden cultivation, including plantains, coco-nuts, pineapples, papayas, mangoes, and jack-fruit, increased from 23 square miles in 1881 to 56 square miles in 1903-4, the largest District total in Burma. Of this area, the orchards of the Henzada and Kanaung townships occupy two-thirds. A total of 4,700 acres, for the most part in the Henzada, Kanaung, and Kyangin townships, is under pulse (J>egyi), a cold-season crop. Miscellaneous non-food crops are grown on 6,400 acres, for the most part in the Zalun and Henzada townships; and maize, gram, and sesamum cover about 1,000 acres each. Havana and various kinds of Indian tobacco have' been tried, but hitherto without much success. The failure is attributed to the attrac tion these tobaccos have for insects, and to the necessity for greater care and attention than the ordinary Burmese husbandman is disposed to give to their cultivation. No use is made by the cultivators of the Agriculturists’ Loans Act; they still prefer to have recourse to the local money-lender when in need of ready cash. A co-operative credit society has, however, been recently started at Apyauk under the pro visions of Act X of 1904, and has so far worked successfully. There are no local breeds of cattle in the District; buffaloes are numerous, but are not by any means as plentiful as kine. Ponies are scarce and of poor quality. Goats are bred almost exclusively
FISHERIES 107
by Indians. Cattle graze for the most part on the higher land not used for rice cultivation, and, in the dry season, along the river banks. Considerable difficulty is found, however, in the southern townships in providing sufficient grazing-grounds for the live-stock. The embankments, designed to keep the floods back from the low-lying cultivated levels, are one of the main features of Henzada. The northernmost of these, the Kyangin embankment, on the right bank of the Irrawaddy in the north of the District, was begun in 1864 for the protection of Kyangin town and the paddy-fields behind it, along the line of a small embankment previously built by the Deputy- Commissioner. It is 6| miles long, and protects about 3,000 acres. The cost was a lakh and a half, and the net revenue from the land brought under cultivation by the work is less than 2 per cent, on the capital outlay; but the benefit the town derives from it has been, apart from this, sufficient to justify the undertaking. The Myanaung embankment is practically a southern continuation of the last-named work, and was constructed about 1868. It extends down the western bank of the Irrawaddy for 39 miles, and protects nearly 100 square miles. It cost n lakhs and now yields a steady profit.
The Henzada embankment, which shelters a further stretch of the western bank of the Irrawaddy, was begun in 1867, along the line of previous constructions made by the villagers or from Local funds, and gradually extended southwards across the District border into Ma-ubin. Its construction has cost nearly 19 lakhs. The total length is 76 miles, and the area protected about 340,000 acres, of which 41 miles and 73,000 acres are within Henzada. In 1903-4 the net addition to the land revenue that resulted from its construction was 36 per cent, on the capital outlay. Floods in 1868 and 1877 caused widespread destruction of crops, and breaches occurred in 1871 and 1890, but without doing much damage. The embankment has gradu ally been raised, and since the latter year no serious breach has occurred, though the flood of 1893 was the highest recorded. The Ngawun embankment branches off in a south-westerly direction from the northern end of the Henzada embankment into Bassein District. It was constructed between 1869 and 1884. It is 76 miles long, and, with the Henzada embankment, protects about 1,600 square miles. About 39 miles of embankment and about 500 square miles of protected land are within the limits of Henzada. There are 176 fresh-water river and lake fisheries in Henzada Dis trict, the leases of which are leased annually by auction for a total of rather more than 2 lakhs. None of the individual Fisheries fisheries is, however, very large. The most valuable " realizes between Rs. 12,000 and Rs. 13,000 at the auction sales. A i o 8 HENZADA DISTRICT good deal of the fish caught is converted locally into ngapi, and the fishing industry is on the whole flourishing. The ten forest Reserves in the District cover an area of 803 square miles, and an additional area of 120 square miles is under settlement. The Reserves are almost entirely in the western part and contain a fair proportion of teak. In the plains the in (.Dipterocarpus tuber
subdivision, while pyingado (Xylia dolabriformis) is plentiful at the foot of the hills, and is largely used for house-building. A fire-protection scheme was started in 1900, and will probably be extended throughout the Reserves. The forest receipts in 1903-4 were Rs. 64,000. The District is poor in minerals. An attempt to work the carbona ceous shale in the Okpo township failed in 1882. Petroleum has been discovered at Yenandaung near Myanaung, but the wells have been abandoned. Textile industries, largely subsidiary to agriculture, are common throughout the District, but are confined to local communications, requirements. Henzada and Kyangin excel in silk- weaving, and workers in gold, silver, and iron are fairly numerous in the towns. As in the other delta Districts, fish- curing is carried on largely. There are two rice-mills in Henzada town. Rice is exported in large quantities to Rangoon by rail, river steamers, and country boats for transhipment to foreign ports, and is also sent by river to Upper Burma in steamers. Other exports to Rangoon are betel-leaves, plantains, sugar-cane, and hides. The principal imports are cotton and silk piece-goods, umbrellas, china-ware, and other articles of European manufacture. Till recently they entered the District almost wholly by river; of late, however, the railway has begun to bring them. A steam ferry crosses the Irrawaddy between Henzada and Tharra- waw, a village in Tharrawaddy District on the opposite bank, 103 miles by rail from Rangoon. The railway from Henzada to Bassein (8r miles in length) runs south-westwards through the southern part of the District for a distance of 16 miles, with stations at Henzada, Natmaw, and Neikban. This line was opened in 1903, and a second line from Henzada northwards, through Okpo and Myanaung to Kyangin, is under construction. Henzada is a station of call for the mail and cargo steamers of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company plying between Rangoon and Mandalay, and in addition enjoys regular direct communication with Rangoon. In the rains launches run on the Bassein creek to Bassein and intermediate places, and for a few T months in the year there is steam traffic between Henzada and Okpo on the Thanbayadaing. The Irrawaddy is navigable throughout the year by large boats and river steamers, which call at all the principal stations
ADMINISTRA TION 1 0 9
along the banks. During the floods caused by the rains the sole inter village communication in the interior of the District is by boat. Roads are used only during the dry season. About 320 miles of road are maintained from Provincial funds, of which 30^ miles are metalled and 289 unmetalled. The District cess fund keeps up seven roads, 38 miles metalled and 30 miles unmetalled. The most important highways are from Henzada to Myanaung (64 miles), and from Henzada to Shage (20 miles). Alongside the embankments run roads from Ngawun to Myenu (25 miles), Ngawun to Nyaunggyaung (52 miles), and Myanaung to Ingauk (39 miles). The District is divided into two subdivisions : Henzada, consisting of the H
enzada , Z
alun , O
kpo , and L
emyethna townships; and Myanaung, consisting of the K anaung
and K yan
- . . . , . . • , r t
Administration. gin
townships. As 111 other parts of Lower Burma, the circle thugyi is being gradually abolished as deaths or resignations occur, the village headman
taking his place. Village head men now number 621. The District forms two subdivisions (Henzada and Myanaung) of the Henzada Public Works division. For forest purposes it constitutes part of the Myanaung subdivision of the Henzada-Thongwa Forest division. Litigation has largely increased of late years, and the Deputy-Com- missioner has recently been relieved of civil work by a District Judge with head-quarters at Bassein, who presides over the Bassein and Henzada District courts. The subdivisional courts are presided over by the subdivisional officers concerned, and the township courts of Henzada and Kanaung by a special township judge who sits at Henzada, while at Okpo and Lemyethna township judges have relieved the township officers of civil business. Sessions cases are tried by the Judge of the Bassein Division. The magistrates’ courts are presided over by the appropriate executive officers in the usual way, but the township magistrates of Henzada, Lemyethna, and Okpo have the assistance of the township judges in disposing of their criminal work. The crime of the District does not differ from that prevalent throughout the Irrawaddy Division, and, as elsewhere in the delta, criminal work is heavy. Dacoities, at one time very common, have decreased within the last few years ; but robberies, thefts, and grievous hurt cases are still numerous. At annexation, in 1852, the revenue paid by the District into the coffers of the king of Burma was slightly over 2 lakhs, though much more than this must no doubt have been collected. The chief items were the house-family tax, a tax on land per yoke of oxen, and one on fisheries. Taxes on brokers and transit dues also existed, but these were abolished and excise duties levied in their place after the British occupation. I IO HENZADA DISTRICT The greater part of the cultivated lands from the Irrawaddy to the foot of the Arakan Yoma was brought under settlement between 1862 and 1868, when rates varying from 12 annas (on the remote interior kwins) to Rs. 1-12-0 were levied on each acre of rice land. In 1873-4 a revision of rates took place in the Kyangin township and the northern circles of the Kanaung township, and the rates in this area were raised to R. 1 or Rs. 1-10-0 per acre on rice land, while the rate on gardens, which as a general rule was Rs. 1-12-0, was changed to one varying from Rs. 1-8-0 to Rs. 2. At the same time an enhancement was effected in the Henzada township, which raised the maximum from Rs. 1-12-0 to Rs. 2. In 1879-80 a general raising of assessment took place all over the District, ranging from 15 to 25 per cent. The rates prevailing after this enhancement varied from Rs. 1-4-0 to Rs. 2-2-0 on rice land, but the maximum on gardens continued to be Rs. 2. Resettlement operations were undertaken throughout the District in 1883-6, when rates were introduced varying from 12 annas to Rs. 2-8-0 for rice, and from Rs. 2 to Rs. 2-8-0 for gardens. In 1899-1901 the whole cultivated area of the District (except a portion referred to later) was regularly resettled. The new rates vary from 12 annas to Rs. 4 on rice lands, with uniform assess ments of Rs. 3 on gardens, Rs. 2 on
rice, Rs. 2-8-0 on tobacco and miscellaneous cultivation, and Rs. 10 on betel-vines. The interior of the three northern townships at the foot of the Yoma, where cultiva tion occurs only in patches, was not touched in the settlement opera tions in 1885-6, and this tract (averaging about 8 miles in width) was resettled in 1900-1. The following rates were then introduced and are still enforced : on kaukkyi rice lands, R. 1 to Rs. 3 ; on mayin rice lands, Rs. 2 ; on gardens, Rs. 2 and Rs. 3; and on miscellaneous cultivation, Rs. 1-8-0 to Rs. 2-8-0. The steady growth of the revenue in the past may be gathered from the following table, which shows land revenue and total revenue, in thousands of rupees, since 1880-1 :— 1S80-1. 1890-1. 1900-1. 1903-4. Download 5.53 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
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