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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- Bu sahifa navigatsiya:
- Harda, Hoshangabad, SeonI-Malwa, Soiiagpur, Itarsi
- Harda . . M 39 I 4OO 128,85s 1 >3 - io
- Seoni-Malwa . 490 I 196 66,793 136 — I 2-0 2 >
- Kallbhlt tract. In the stalistics, 96 square miles of waste land which have not been cadastially surveyed are excluded from the total area of the District.
M a k r a i lies in the centre of the Harda tahsll. The archaeological remains are unimportant. The island of Joga, picturesquely situated in the Narbada near Handia, has a fort and is supposed to be the site of an old cantonment, remains of masonry wells and buildings being found. At Khatama, ten miles from the 1 tarsi railway station, there is a cave dedicated to Mahadeo, consisting of a plain rectangular room with an enclosed shrine, the front of the cave being supported by four pillars. Bagra contains an old fort ascribed to Hoshang Shah Ghorl. The population of the District at the last three enumerations was as follows: (1881)467,191; (1891)497,487; and (1901) 449,165. Up to . 1891 development was rapid in the eastern portion * of the District, where large tracts of land had long been out of cultivation, but slower in the western /ahslls, which were already fully populated. In 1896 a strip of territory on the east of the Harda /ahsll, 572 square miles in area and containing 32,458 persons,
POPULATION was transferred to Nimar, and the figures of previous enumerations have been adjusted to allow for this 1 . The decrease of population in the present area of Hoshangabad, during the last dccade, was at the rate of nearly t o per cent., and the District suffered from partial or total failures of crops in six years of the decade. The District con tains
six towns—
Harda, Hoshangabad, SeonI-Malwa, Soiiagpur, Itarsi, and
Pachmarhi —and 1,334 inhabited villages. The chief statistics, of population according to the Census of 1901 arc shown below:—
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O' fcrt Si Tahsil. 1 C" , — c
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o. j Hoshangabad . 804 2 309
i I 156 - 9.2 5,746
Harda . . M 39
4OO 128,85s 1 >3
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4 2 9 ! 125,863 IOI
- 9.6 5.139
Seoni-Malwa . 490 I
66,793 136 — I 2-0 2
7
9
3,676 6
446
5 8 5 121 - 9.8 20,368 The figures for religion show that 84 per cent, of the population are Hindus, nearly
per cent. Animists, and 5 per cent. Muhammadans.* Of the 22,000 Muhammadans, nearly half live in towns. The majority of the population speak the Bundeli dialect of Western Hindi, but in the Harda tahsil the language presents some features of differ ence and is allied to the MalwT dialect of Rajputana. About half the Gonds and Korkus are shown as having abandoned their own languages. These tribes are fairly strongly represented in the population. Gonds numbering nearly 49,000, or ir per cent., and Korkus 22,500, or 5 per cent. The most important landholders are the Brahmans (34,000), who include families from both Hindustan and the Deccan, and also the local subdivision of Naramdeo or Narbada Brahmans, who are priests of the various sacred places on the Narbada and in villages, and also to a large extent paiwdris or village accountants. The important cultivating castcs are Rajputs (28,000), Gujars (22,000), and Raghu- vansis (7,000). Most of the Rajputs are Jadons or Jaduvansis of very impure descent. Jats, who have immigrated from Northern India, number 5,000. The menial and labouring classes are the Chamars (20,000), Balahis (15,000), Mehras (12,000), and Katias (10,000), 1 In 1904, 3S villages with an area of 51 square miles and a population of 2,580 persons were transferred from the llnrda tahsil to Nimar District, and also 2 93 square miles of the Kalibhil 'reserved’ forest. The adjusted District figures of area and popu lation are 3,676 square miles and 446,585 persons. hosiiang A b A d district About 61 per cent, of the whole population are returned as dependent on agriculture. Christians number 2,706, of whom 2,301 are natives. The Friends Foreign Mission Association has stations at five places in the District, with a European staff numbering 36 members. Its converts number 1,200. Altogether 13 schools and 4 dispensaries have been established by this body; and in their workshops at Rasulia near Hoshangabad, and at Lehl near SeonT, numerous trades are taught. The. Foreign Christian Missionary .Society has stations at Harda and Timurni, and supports a high school and middle school at the former place, besides two dispensaries and a leper asylum. The prevailing soil of the District is the rich black alluvial loam of great depth and fertility which is characteristic of the Narbada valley. . The average depth is estimated at 10 feet, but in gricu ure. man
y p] aces it exceeds 30 feet. Inferior soil is usually met with in undulating fields which have been denuded of the finer particles by scouring, or where the black soil is mixed with limestone pebbles or sand. A variety of sandy soil called sihar, which is formed from sandstone rock, produces only autumn crops, but responds to irrigation. The black soil of the Harda and Seoni-Malwa tahsils is the most fertile, and that of Sohagpur the least, being especially subject to deterioration by the action of the numerous rivers which intersect the fahsi/, and wash down sandy deposits from the hills. A small area of first-rate land round Pachlaora and Sobhapur must, however, be excepted. Sikar or regular sandy soil is also more common here than elsewhere. In the whole District the different kinds of black soil cover about 88 per cent, and sandy soil about 12 per cent, of the cultivated area. Wheat is generally grown in unembanked fields and without manure or rotation. When a field shows signs of exhaustion, gram is sown for a year or two, as this crop exercises a recuperative effect on the soil. As a rule autumn crops are grown only on the inferior soils, which will not support spring-crop grains ; but the case of jowar, which is now sown on black soil, is an exception to this. 1 Of the whole area of the District, 173 square miles are comprised in estates held on jdgirddri tenure ; 73 square miles, formerly Govern ment forest, are in process of settlement on the ryotwdri system ; and 103 square miles are held wholly or partially free of revenue from Government. An area of 22 square miles has been sold outright under the Waste Land Rules. The remaining area is held on the ordinary
malguzari tenure. The principal statistics of cultivation in 1903 4 are shown below, in square miles :— AGRICULTURE
1 8 5 TahsiL Total.
Cultivated. Irrigated. Cultivable waste.
Forests. lloshangabad . S04
I
84 Ilarda . . . 1 39 521 I • 315 2 79 Sohagpnr . . 1,243 397 I
433 Seonl-Malwa . 490 232
138 1 26
Total 3,676 3 >,077 922 Practically all the available land in the open country has been brought under the plough, and with the exception of a few isolated tracts there is little scope for extension of cultivation. A considerable quantity of land is under new and old fallow, the proportion amounting normally to about a fifth of the area occupied, and at present, owing to agricultural depression, to nearly 27 per cent. Fields are frequently, however, left fallow for the purpose of affording grazing to cattle. Wheat is the staple crop, with an area of 689 square miles, or 49 per cent, of the cropped area, while the crops next in importance are gram covering 200 square miles, joivar 56, til 79, and the small millets kodon and kutki 94. The severe disasters which have befallen the wheat crop, and the greater expense of its cultivation in view of the im poverished condition of the cultivators, have caused a decrease in the area under wheat. Only about 20 square miles are normally double cropped, the usual method being to get a catch-crop of pulse from an embanked wheat-field during the monsoon season. The betel-vine gardens of Sohagpur deserve mention. The leaf grown here has a good reputation and is sent outside the District. The principal agricultural improvement is the embankment of fields for wheat. Some embankments have been made experimentally by Government, and a few leading landowners have adopted this method. The cultivation of cotton has increased in recent years. An agricultural farm has been started at Hoshangabad, for the demonstration of improved methods of wheat cultivation. An American winnowing machine has been introduced, and several have been sold to the cultivators. During the ten years following 1894 about Rs. 28,000 was borrowed under the Land Improvement Loans Act, and 3-75 lakhs under the Agriculturists’ Loans Act. The cattle used in the District are to a large extent imported from the Native States of Indore, Gwalior, and Narsinghgarh, which occupy the Malwa plateau. The fair of Sankha in Narsinghgarh is the great market at which they arc purchased, and they are commonly known as Sankha bullocks. They are large*, strong, and sluggish, and generally white in colour. Cattle are also brought to a less extent
1 8 6 HOSHANGABAD district from Nimar, this breed being preferred for use in carts as they are light and active. The cattle bred in Hoshangabad itself are inferior to those imported. Buffaloes are not used for cultivation, but those agriculturists who can afford it keep buffalo cows for the production of
recently been opened at Hoshangabad. The number of ponies has diminished in recent years. The area irrigated from tanks is insignificant, consisting in 1903-4 of little more than 2,000 acres, which are mainly under vegetables and garden crops. In 1899-1900 it rose to 4,000 acres. A few hundred acres of wheat are also irrigated by means of wells. It is believed that the application of well-irrigation to wheat might be profitably extended. The practice of embanking wheat-fields, which may be considered a method of irrigation, is also growing; and though the crop in an embanked field is more liable to rust, this disadvantage is held to be more than counterbalanced by the increased out-turn, the saving in seed, and the greater facility of cultivation. The scope for tank-irrigation is limited. Government forests in 1903-4 covered 922 square miles, or 25 per cent, of the total area of the District. The forests are found almost For sts entirel
y on undulating and hilly country of the ' Satpuras, which bounds the Narbada valley to the south. Situated at heights ranging from 1,200 to 4,000 feet above the sea, the character of the forests varies with both the elevation and the nature of the soil. On the dry rocky peaks and plateaux, especially when of sandstone formation, the principal species is sa/ai (Boswellia
and lower slopes of the hill belt form stretches of flat and undulating land fit for cultivation, alternating with mixed forest, the principal trees of which are teak and saj (Terminalia iomeniosci), with other less valuable species. These forests contain frequent patches of grass land without trees, owing to the former practice of barrd or shifting cultiva tion and unrestricted fellings. Lastly, on the alluvial flats along rivers or on patches of red stony soil in the plains there is almost pure teak forest. Bamboos are fairly plentiful. The local consumption of forest produce comprises principally firewood, inferior timber, bamboos, and grass, while the exports consist of teak poles and scantlings, and bamboos. The demand is principally from Khandesh and Berar. The forest revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 74,000, of which Rs. 28,000 was realized from sales of timber, Rs. 7,400 from fuel, and Rs. 14,000 from grass. No mines are worked in Hoshangabad. Argentiferous galena occurs at Joga, and some old mines known locally as Chandi-katan are still to be seen there. The excavations are in two parallel lines on a band TRADE A,VD COMMUNICATIONS of transition limestone. Silver exists in the galena to the extent of 21 ounces to the ton. At Bagra an attempt was made to mine lead some years ago, but the metal was not found in sufficient quantities to make the undertaking profitable. Good red and white building stone is obtained near Hoshangabad town and Dhandiwara, and is exported and sold to railway companies. Most of the cloth worn in the District is still woven locally, though mill-spun thread is solely used. The principal centres are Sobhapur and Naharkola. Tasar silk was formerly woven at Sohagpur, but the industry is now extinct. There is a commutations, considerable dyeing industry at Sohagpur, the water of the river Palakmati, which flows by the town, being considered to have special qualities. Foreign dyes have now supplanted the indi genous madder and safflower. Considerable quantities of cloth are imported from the mills and dyed locally. Indigo from Northern India is also used, and castor oil is brought from Ahmadabad for use in dyeing. Brass-working is carried on at Hoshangabad, Handia, and Babai. Ornamental iron betel-nut cutters made at TimurnT are exported to other Districts. Bamboo walking-sticks are made at Hoshangabad. One cotton-ginning factory and three ginning and pressing factories are working at Harda, all of which have been opened since 1899. The four factories contain 136 gins and three presses, and the amount of capital invested in them is 3-15 lakhs. Nearly 500 operatives are employed. Wheat, til, linseed, and cotton are the staple exports of agricultural produce, and teak and other timber and myrabolams of forest pro duce. The exports of wheat have largely declined in recent years. The teak of Rajaborari and Bori is the best in the Central Provinces. Ghi is also exported to a considerable extent. Among minor articles are honey from the Pachmarhl hills, building and paving stone, brass vessels from Handia, and bamboo walking-sticks from Hoshangabad. Mahua is sent to Khandwa for the manufacture of country liquor. Salt comes from Ahmadabad and in small quantities from the Sambhar Lake, sugar from Mirzapur and the Mauritius, gur from Bctul and Berar, tobacco from Muzaffarpur, and rice from Chhattisgarh, as the quantity grown locally is insufficient for consumption. Itarsi, Babai, Handia, Sobhapur, and Bankheri are the chief weekly markets. Rahatgaon is a special market for timber. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway traverses the entire length of the District from west to east, with a length of 122 miles and 22 stations within its limits. At Itarsi the Indian Midland section branches off to the north and passes Hoshangabad town. Owing to its long narrow shape, nearly the whole District is thus within twenty miles of a railway. The principal trade routes are the Itarsi-Betul,
HO SI I A iVGAAA D DIS TRIC T Harda-Handia, Harda-Betul, Piparia-Chhindwara, and Piparia-Sandia roads. The District has 120 miles of metalled and 225 miles of unmetalled roads, and the annual expenditure on maintenance is Rs. 52,000. The Public Works department has charge of 177 miles of the most important roads, and the District council of the remainder. There are avenues of trees on 96 miles. Up to 1892 it was recorded that the agricultural population had been severely distressed in only six out of the preceding 220 years. On . three of these occasions the distress was due wholly, ' and on one occasion partially, to political disturb ances and the incursions of the Pindaris; while in the remaining two years, 1832 and 1888, the wheat crop was blighted by excessive rain. In spite of the abnormally small rainfall in 1868-9 there was no famine, the late rain in September and the capacity of the black cotton soil to retain moisture giving a fair wheat harvest. It is a local saying that the District is under the special protection of Mahadeo and may suffer from excess, but never from deficiency, of rainfall. In 1894 and 1895 untimely rain in the autumn and cold season produced rust in the wheat, and the harvests were very poor. The rains of 1895 stopped prematurely, and the spring crops were poor; and this was followed in 1896 by a cessation of the monsoon at the end of August, and an out-turn of only one-third of the normal. Famine conditions prevailed from November, 1896, to December, 1897, 69,000 persons, or 14 per cent, of the population, being in receipt of assistance in April and the whole expenditure amounting to 16 lakhs. In 1899-1900 the monsoon again failed completely, and both harvests were destroyed. There was severe famine throughout 1900, the numbers in receipt of assistance rising in July to 118,000 persons, or nearly 24 per cent, of the population, and the total expenditure being 20 lakhs. The railway embankment was doubled along a certain length, and several useful feeder roads were constructed. The Deputy-Commissioner has a staff of four executive Assistant or Extra-Assistant Commissioners. For administrative purposes the . . . District is divided into four tahslls, each of which A ministration. ^ as a tohsllddr and a naib-tahsildar. The Harda and Seoni-Malwa tahslls form a subdivision with a Subdivisional officer residing at Harda, while Pachmarhi has a tahsilddr and a Cantonment Magistrate. The Forest officer belongs to the Imperial Service, and the Executive Engineer of the Hoshangabad division, comprising the Hoshangabad, Nimar, and Betul Districts, is stationed at Hoshang abad town. The civil judicial staff consists of a District and three Subordinate Judges, and a Munsif at each tahsll. The Divisional and Sessions Judge of the Nerbudda Division has jurisdiction in Hoshangabad.
ADMINISTRA HON 1 8 9
Litigation is heavy, and at present consists almost entirely of suits for the recovery of loans on the security of valuables or immovable property. The District is almost free from professional criminals, but owing to its proximity to Native States is liable to raids by gangs of dacoits. Opium smuggling over the long border is also very common and rarely detected. Cases of cattle-lifting are not infrequent. During the early period of our administration the District did not include Harda. Several short-term settlements followed on the cession in 1818, which in Hoshangabad, as in the other northern Districts, were characterized by the mistake of over-assessment. After successive reductions of the revenue a twenty years’ settlement was made by Major Ouseley in 1836, at which a moderate demand was fixed, the share of the Government being 66 per cent, of the ‘assets.’ On the expiration of the twenty years, a survey of the District pre paratory to resettlement was begun in 1855, but operations had to be suspended on the outbreak of the Mutiny. The settlement was completed in 1865, being made by Mr. (now' Sir Charles A.) Elliott, whose Report is one of the most interesting works relating to the Central Provinces. The revenue payable by the District, including Harda, before resettlement, was 3 lakhs, which was raised to 4-24 lakhs, or by 37 per cent., the period of the settlement being thirty years. On this occasion proprietary rights were conferred on the village head men. During the currency of the settlement the general wealth and prosperity of the people increased very largely. Shortly after its con clusion the opening of the railway brought all parts of the District within easy distance of a market for their produce. Prices rose with a bound and the seasons were almost uniformly favourable. At the expiry of the thirty years the area under cultivation had increased by 38 per cent., the prices of grain had risen by 75 to 100 per cent., and the total rental of the tenants had been raised by the landowners by nearly 5 lakhs. The District was resettled between 1892 and 1896, the result being to increase the revenue by 3-68 lakhs, or 78 per cent, on the previous demand. For some years before and after the new settlement came into force the District was visited by a succession of failures of the valuable spring crops, on which its prosperity depends. The circumstances of the people were in consequence entirely altered, and while there has been a large decrease in the quantity and deterio ration in the value of the crops sown, the cultivators have become involved in debt. Substantial relief was accordingly given, by the reduction of the revenue demand by 2-19 lakhs for a period of three years from 1901-2, and by Rs. 82,000 for the full period of settlement. The term of the new settlement is from twelve to fourteen years in different areas, a shorter period than twenty years having been adopted, in order to produce a regular rotation of District settlements. The receipts of land revenue and total revenue are shown below, in thousands of rupees :— . 9 0
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